, which he had once or
twice essayed to read for himself, acknowledging his great and grievous
error in the matter of the witches of Salem, and praying for the
forgiveness of God and of his people, ending with an entreaty that all
then present would join with him in prayer that his past conduct might
not bring down the displeasure of the Most High upon his country, his
family, or himself. That old man, who was no other than Justice Sewall,
remained standing all the time that his confession was read; and at the
end he said, 'The good and gracious God be pleased to save New England
and me and my family.' And then it came out that, for years past, Judge
Sewall had set apart a day for humiliation and prayer, to keep fresh in
his mind a sense of repentance and sorrow for the part he had borne in
these trials, and that this solemn anniversary he was pledged to keep
as long as he lived, to show his feeling of deep humiliation.

Ralph Lucy's voice trembled as he spoke:

'All this will not bring my Lois to life again, or give me back the
hope of my youth.'

But--as Captain Holdernesse shook his head (for what word could he say,
or how dispute what was so evidently true?)--Ralph added, 'What is the
day, know you, that this justice has set apart?'

'The twenty-ninth of April.'

'Then on that day will I, here at Barford in England, join my prayer as
long as I live with the repentant judge, that his sin may be blotted
out and no more had in remembrance. She would have willed it so.'

THE GREY WOMAN

Portion 1

There is a mill by the Neckar-side, to which many people resort for
coffee, according to the fashion which is almost national in Germany.
There is nothing particularly attractive in the situation of this mill;
it is on the Mannheim (the flat and unromantic) side of Heidelberg. The
river turns the mill-wheel with a plenteous gushing sound; the
out-buildings and the dwelling-house of the miller form a well-kept
dusty quadrangle. Again, further from the river, there is a garden full
of willows, and arbours, and flower-beds not well kept, but very
profuse in flowers and luxuriant creepers, knotting and looping the
arbours together. In each of these arbours is a stationary table of
white painted wood, and light moveable chairs of the same colour and
material.

I went to drink coffee there with some friends in 184--. The stately
old miller came out to greet us, as some of the party were known to him
of old. He wa