ck. Half forgetful of the presence of the brother,
and remembering nothing well but _her_ and her most pitiable tale,
oppressed by a hundred recollections, I pronounced her name.

"Poor, poor, much-tried Emma!" I ejaculated, gazing still upon her
image. The idiot leaped from my side at the word, and clapped his
hands, and laughed and shrieked. He ran to me again, and seized my
palm, and pressed it to his lips. His excitement was unbounded. He
could only point to the picture, endeavour to repeat the word which
I had spoken, and direct his finger to my lips beseechingly, as
though he _prayed_ to hear the sound again. Alarmed already at what
I had done, and dreading the consequences of a disclosure, because
ignorant of the effect it would produce upon the idiot, I checked
myself immediately, and spake no more. Robin returned. I contrived
to subdue by degrees the sudden ebullition, and having succeeded, I
restored the criminal to his keeper, and departed.

It was however, necessary that I should act in some way, possessed of
the information which had so strangely come to me. I desired to be
alone to collect myself, and to determine quietly. I retired to my
bedroom, endeavoured to think composedly, and to mark out the line
of duty. It was a fruitless undertaking. My mind would rest on
nothing but the tragedy in which this miserable creature held so sad
a part, and his unlooked-for resuscitation here--here, under the
roof which sheltered his sister's paramour. Whether to keep the
secret hidden in my bosom, or to communicate it to the physician,
was my duty, I could not settle now. It had been a parting injunction
of my friend Thompson to sleep upon all matters of difficulty, and
to avoid rashness above all things. Alas! I had not profited by his
counsel, nor, in my own case, recurred to it, even for a moment; but
it was different now. The fate, perhaps the life, of another was
involved in my decision; and not to act upon the good advice, not to
be temperate and cautious, would be sinful in the extreme. What, had
she been alive, would the sister have required--entreated at my hands?
And now, if the freed spirit of the injured one looked down upon the
world, what would it expect from him to whom had been committed the
forlorn and stricken wanderer? What if not justice, charity, and
mercy? "And he shall have it!" I exclaimed. "I will act on his behalf.
I will be cool and calm. I will do nothing until tomorrow, when the
excitem