rwards, but there were no sounds of uproar or interruption as they
reached it. All were very attentive. The preacher--the sight of whom
caused the blood to rush into Walter's face--was the same he had
encountered before. The good man was standing on his stool giving out
two lines of a well-known hymn. And then a noble volume of praise from
those united voices rolled up towards heaven.

Walter could see in a moment that the preacher's eye had rested on him,
and that he remembered him. So, flinging his horse's reins to his
brother, he slipped off his saddle and elbowed his way vigorously
through the crowd. "Stop, young man," said the evangelist calmly and
solemnly, as he saw Walter pressing forward. But Walter made his way
close up to him, and, while the other was evidently perplexed as to the
meaning of his conduct, said quietly to him, "I am not come here to-day
to hinder or make game, but to ask pardon." The other looked at him in
amazement, and for a moment knew not what to say. Then, while there
arose a strange buzz of surprise and excitement among the bystanders,
Walter asked, "May I stand in your place for a minute, and say a few
words to these people?" The good man was clearly taken quite aback by
this request, and looked hard at him who had made it. Was this a scheme
for turning the preacher and his work into open ridicule? The other
members of the evangelist's party seemed to think so, and advised him to
refuse; that it was only a dodge on the young man's part to get up a
piece of extra rich entertainment for his friends, who, no doubt, would
not be far off. The good man had come down from his stool while these
remarks were being addressed to him. He hesitated, but when he turned
to Walter and looked in his face his mind was made up at once; for there
was something, he said, in that face which satisfied him that good would
come out of his yielding to the request made, and not evil. So, while
the spectators were looking on and listening with breathless
expectation, he said, in a clear voice, audible to those on the utmost
verge of the great assembly,--"Friends, before I address you, a young
man has asked leave to occupy my place for a short time. He shall do
so, for I have confidence in him that he will not abuse the liberty I
give him."

There was a murmur of approbation and intense interest as Walter mounted
the stool and looked upon the sea of upturned faces round him. He was
very pale, and h