No,--all these
influences, these associations, would have proved worse than useless,
had I been calm enough to try them. I was not; but instinct, subtler
than reason, showed me the one safe clue by which to lead this troubled
soul from the labyrinth in which it groped and nearly fell. When I
paused, breathless, Robert turned to me, asking, as if human assurances
could strengthen his faith in Divine Omnipotence,--

"Do you believe, if I let Marster Ned live, the Lord will give me back
my Lucy?"

"As surely as there is a Lord, you will find her here or in the
beautiful hereafter, where there is no black or white, no master and no
slave."

He took his hand from his brother's throat, lifted his eyes from my
face to the wintry sky beyond, as if searching for that blessed
country, happier even than the happy North. Alas, it was the darkest
hour before the dawn!--there was no star above, no light below but the
pale glimmer of the lamp that showed the brother who had made him
desolate. Like a blind man who believes there is a sun, yet cannot see
it, he shook his head, let his arms drop nervously upon his knees, and
sat there dumbly asking that question which many a soul whose faith is
firmer fixed than his has asked in hours less dark than this,--

"Where is God?" I saw the tide had turned, and strenuously tried to
keep this rudderless lifeboat from slipping back into the whirlpool
wherein it had been so nearly lost.

"I have listened to you, Robert; now hear me, and heed what I say,
because my heart is full of pity for you, full of hope for your future,
and a desire to help you now. I want you to go away from here, from
the temptation of this place, and the sad thoughts that haunt it. You
have conquered yourself once, and I honor you for it, because, the
harder the battle, the more glorious the victory; but it is safer to
put a greater distance between you and this man. I will write you
letters, give you money, and send you to good old Massachusetts to
begin your new life a freeman,--yes, and a happy man; for when the
captain is himself again, I will learn where Lucy is, and move heaven
and earth to find and give her back to you. Will you do this, Robert?"

Slowly, very slowly, the answer came; for the purpose of a week,
perhaps a year, was hard to relinquish in an hour.

"Yes, Ma'am, I will."

"Good! Now you are the man I thought you, and I'll work for you with
all my heart. You need sleep, my poor fellow;