ath; he thought of the
sins he had committed, and endeavoured to repent of them; he forgave all
his enemies, even those who were about to kill him, and then, claiming
no merit for anything he had ever done, he cast himself at the feet of
One he knew to be full of love, and mighty to save. Such is the way a
true Christian and a brave man would prepare himself for that great
change which must come on all of us.

"Are you going to say your prayers, young man, before we heave you off?"
asked a smuggler, in a gruff voice.

"I have said them, thank you," answered Charley, calmly. "Tom, have you
said yours? Have you made your peace with Heaven in the only way it can
be made?"

"Yes, Mr Charles, I've done that for many a day. When I first came to
live on shore with the captain, `Tom,' says he, `we must all die, and as
we know not the day we should always be ready,' so he showed me the way
to be ready, and I've kept ready ever since."

"Now, friends," said Tom, addressing the smugglers, "what do you intend
to do? I've again to tell you that you'll gain nothing by committing a
cruel murder, and you'll repent of it as long as you live, and longer,
far longer."

"Stop his canting mouth, and over the cliff with him! let him preach to
the lobsters and crabs if he's a mind!" exclaimed one of the smugglers,
and others joined in the vindictive cry.

Charley and Tom on this found themselves dragged along by the shoulders
till their feet were over the cliff.

"Now, over with them, let them drop!" cried one of the men.

"No, no," exclaimed another, "let them grip on to the edge with their
hands. They'll have time to think about that where they're going, and
pleasant thoughts to them!"

This last sally of wit produced a roar of laughter from the savage
smugglers who, passing their lives in systematically outraging the laws
of their country, seemed no longer to be moved by any of the better
feelings of our nature. Still Charley and Tom felt grateful for the few
moments of existence allowed them, and clutched the edge of the cliff
with all the energy of despair. No sooner had they been lowered into
their perilous position than they heard the smugglers, with heartless
indifference to the agony they were suffering, moving off, some actually
laughing, as if enjoying their misery, though none of them apparently
were so utterly inhuman as to wait to see them dashed to pieces by their
fall.

Charley, light and strong, felt that