imself in regard to the estimation in which he was
held by Mr. and Mrs. Birtwell, and was not willing to encounter the
humiliation of living under their roof and coming in daily but
restrained contact with them. So he took his bride to his mother's
house, and Mrs. Birtwell had no alternative but to submit, hard as the
trial was, to this separation from her child.

This was the shadow of the great evil in which Mrs. Birtwell was
sitting on the day Mr. Ridley found himself amid the new influences and
new friends that were to give him another start in life and another
chance to redeem himself. She had passed a night of tears and agony,
and though suffering deeply had gained a calm exterior. Ethel, after
leaving the Home, came with a heart full of new hope and joy to see
Mrs. Birtwell and tell her about her father.

The first impulse of the unhappy mother, sitting in the shadows of her
own great sorrow, was to send the girl away with a simple denial.

"Say that I cannot see her this morning," she said coldly. But before
the servant could leave the room she repented of this denial.

"Stay!" she called. Then, while the servant paused, she let her
thoughts go from herself to, Ethel and her father.

"Tell the young lady to wait for a little while," she said. "I will
ring for you in a few minutes." The servant went out, and Mrs. Birtwell
turned to her secretary and wrote a few lines, saying that she was not
feeling well and could not see Miss Ridley then, but would be glad to
have her call in two or three days. Placing this with a bank-bill in an
envelope, she rang for the servant, who took the letter down stairs and
gave it to Ethel.

But Mrs. Birtwell did not feel as though she had done her whole duty in
the case. A pressure was left upon her feelings. What of the father?
How was it faring with him? She hesitated about recalling the servant
until it was too late. Ethel took the letter, and without opening it
went away.

A new disquiet came from this cause, and Mrs. Birtwell could not shake
it off. Happily for her relief, Mr. Elliott, whose interest in the
fallen man was deep enough to take him to the Home that morning, called
upon her with the most gratifying intelligence. He had seen Mr. Ridley
and held a long interview with him, the result of which was a strong
belief that the new influences under which he had been brought would be
effectual in saving him.

"I have faith in these influences," said the clergyman, "be