ghastly
a nature, and his suffering so acute, that I recognised from the very
outset, not only that it was impossible he should recover, but that
death must ensue in a very few hours. And it was dreadful to sit there
by his side, listening to his moans, liberally interspersed with curses
of the leopard, of me, and not infrequently of mankind in general, and
to reflect that that flood of blasphemy was issuing from the lips of a
man hovering on the brink of eternity! At length I could endure it no
longer, and I said to him, rather sharply, I am afraid:

"Stop that blasphemy, Svorenssen, for pity's sake, and rather turn your
thoughts to prayer--if you know how to pray. I fear that your life has
been a deplorably misspent one, and it can last but a few hours longer.
Before to-morrow's sun sets you will be face to face with God!
Therefore I urge you to devote the few remaining hours at your disposal
to making your peace with Him, instead of cursing those who have never
knowingly wronged you."

"What--d'ye--mean?" he gaspingly demanded. "I--ain't goin'--to--die--am
I?"

"Yes," I said, "you are; and it is well that you should know it.
Therefore, forget all your wrongs, real or imaginary, and--"

But here I was interrupted by an outburst of such vile and savage
profanity that it literally rendered me speechless. It lasted, I
suppose, fully ten minutes, and left its utterer gasping and in a state
of collapse. I administered stimulant, and at length the colour came
slowly back to the sufferer's cheeks and lips, and he opened his eyes.
For several minutes he lay there gazing up at me steadfastly,
questioningly; then he muttered:

"Thank 'e, Mister. If it hadn't been for you I'd have slipped my cable
that time. And so you think I'm goin' to die? Well, I'm beginnin' to
think so myself now. My God! it's awful to think that a few hours more
and I shall be face to face with my Maker, and bein' called to account
for a whole lifetime of wickedness. And there's no way out!"

"Oh, but there _is_," I said eagerly, and thereupon I began to expound,
with all the earnestness at my command, and as lucidly as I could, the
wonderful story of man's redemption. I got my Bible and read passage
after passage suited to the dying man's needs, until the expression of
terror and anxiety gradually faded from his features, and ultimately his
eyes closed and he seemed to fall asleep. Then the day dawned and
Billy, entering softly, took