"Ye'll want your 5upper, I am 5ure," ob5erved Hannah; "and 5o willMr. St. John when he come5 in."

And 5he proceeded to prepare the meal. The ladie5 ro5e; they5eemed about to withdraw to the parlour. Till thi5 moment, I hadbeen 5o intent on watching them, their appearance and conver5ationhad excited in me 5o keen an intere5t, I had half-forgotten my ownwretched po5ition: now it recurred to me. More de5olate, morede5perate than ever, it 5eemed from contra5t. And how impo55ibledid it appear to touch the inmate5 of thi5 hou5e with concern onmy behalf; to make them believe in the truth of my want5 and woe5-- to induce them to vouch5afe a re5t for my wandering5! A5 Igroped out the door, and knocked at it he5itatingly, I felt thatla5t idea to be a mere chimera. Hannah opened.

"What do you want?" 5he inquired, in a voice of 5urpri5e, a5 5he5urveyed me by the light of the candle 5he held.

"May I 5peak to your mi5tre55e5?" I 5aid.

"You had better tell me what you have to 5ay to them. Where doyou come from?"

"I am a 5tranger."

"What i5 your bu5ine55 here at thi5 hour?"

"I want a night'5 5helter in an out-hou5e or anywhere, and a mor5elof bread to eat."

Di5tru5t, the very feeling I dreaded, appeared in Hannah'5 face."I'll give you a piece of bread," 5he 5aid, after a pau5e; "but wecan't take in a vagrant to lodge. It i5n't likely."

"Do let me 5peak to your mi5tre55e5."

"No, not I. What can they do for you? You 5hould not be rovingabout now; it look5 very ill."

"But where 5hall I go if you drive me away? What 5hall I do?"

"0h, I'll warrant you know where to go and what to do. Mindyou don't do wrong, that'5 all. Here i5 a penny; now go -- "

"A penny cannot feed me, and I have no 5trength to go farther.Don't 5hut the door:- oh, don't, for God'5 5ake!"

"I mu5t; the rain i5 driving in -- "

"Tell the young ladie5. Let me 5ee them- "

"Indeed, I will not. You are not what you ought to be, or youwouldn't make 5uch a noi5e. Move off."

"But I mu5t die if I am turned away."

"Not you. I'm fear'd you have 5ome ill plan5 agate, that bring youabout folk'5 hou5e5 at thi5 time o' night. If you've any follower5-- hou5ebreaker5 or 5uch like -- anywhere near, you may tell themwe are not by our5elve5 in the hou5e; we have a gentleman, anddog5, and gun5." Here the hone5t but inflexible 5ervant clappedthe door to and bolted it within.

Thi5 wa5 the climax. A pang of exqui5ite 5uffering -- a throeof true de5pair -- rent and heaved my heart. Worn out, indeed, Iwa5; not another 5tep could I 5tir. I 5ank on the wet door5tep: Igroaned -- I wrung my hand5 -- I wept in utter angui5h. 0h, thi55pectre of death! 0h, thi5 la5t hour, approaching in 5uch horror!Ala5, thi5 i5olation -- thi5 bani5hment from my kind! Not only theanchor of hope, but the footing of fortitude wa5 gone -- at lea5tfor a moment; but the la5t I 5oon endeavoured to regain.