account for enough of sleepless misery. But great as his pain had been, it was almost unfelt by him, when compared with those pangs arising from reflections upon the events of an ill spent life. Having been for a considerable part of his earlier years the inhabitant of foreign countries, his deeds, whether good or evil, had, during that period, escaped observation. He had therefore passed with those into whose society he was thrown by his lawless trade as a bold and daring, but a free-hearted and generous man, possessing all the rough good qualities of a sailor, and only guilty of doing that which they were equally desirous, though more cautious of doing themselves. His boldness. and uniform success in this illicit traffic, being considered by those who profited by it as a proof of his clear head, admirable adroitness, and determined resolution, necessarily raised him high in their estimation. Then as to his dissipation and his dissolute life, those who had dealings with him were not the people most likely to object to such trifles. As he dashed on, therefore, through the foaming billows of life's ocean, without the least threatening of wreck or failure, he managed, amidst his unvarying prosperity, to silence "the

still small voice," and to drown the recollection of the earlier and darker scenes of his life, and, wildly enjoying the gales while they blew fair, and the tide whilst it set in his favour, he dauntlessly contended with every occasional adverse storm, cheered by the loud though worthless applause of those he served, and never bestowing one thought upon the future.

But, good Heavens! what years of past time did he not think over in the course of one single night, now that, for the first few hours of his life, he was stretched, desperately wounded, and a prisoner, on what, as far as he knew, was to be his bed of death! One may fancy the rapidity and variety of his thoughts, but the horrors and agogonies which shot through his terrified memory, it is impossible for us to know or describe.

The rug that hung over his pallet being drawn close, Miss Malcolm, on entering the cell, supposed that he might be asleep, and therefore, being unwilling to disturb him, she occupied herself in putting questions, and giving numerous little orders to those who were about her, all having reference to the cure of his wounds, and his future comforts. She was deceived in supposing

that her words were only heard by those to whom they were addressed. Though, from being exhausted with useless tossing to and fro, he was now lying quiet, yet he was not asleep, and hearing, as he now did, her who had suffered so much from him, and whom he had intended so deeply to injure, thus exerting her angel voice in accents of pity for his present state, and in words of charity and mercy towards him, he slowly and feebly pushed away the rug.

There had always been something handsome in his bold, manly, and determined countenance, though his features had been brutalized by reckless profligacy. But now, how altered was their expression!-Fear, a fear far above that of mere death; and torment, greatly more than that arising from common bodily suffering, seemed to have taken complete possession of them. But through all this there beamed a faint and solitary ray of gratitude, shooting feebly from his languid and distorted eyes towards Miss Malcolm, like the pale and momentary moon-beam amidst the horrors of a stormy ocean.

"Surely," said he, in a hollow and almost unintelligible voice, "surely if thou canst pardon.

me, angel upon earth, there may yet be mercy for me in Heaven!-But no! no! it cannot be," continued he, after a pause, " it cannot be! Oh for an endless night of oblivion, for mercy never, never can be for me!" With these words, dropping the rug, he again shrouded himself in darkness, and sank down on the bed, the violence of his mental agonies being manifested to all around by his deep and repeated groans.

In

Miss Malcolm advanced towards the pallet, and hung over it like an angel of peace. words dictated by the purest religious faith, she endeavoured to pour the balm of consolation upon his guilty and tormented soul; and her kindness, as well as her eloquence, seemed to operate powerfully upon him. He wept plentifully, and the big tears chased one another rapidly down his weather-beaten cheeks. They were like the refreshing rain drops to an arid soil, where good seeds had long lain dormant, until its quiescent energies were put in action by the fertilizing fluid. Ten thousand painful, but beneficial emotions were awakened in his bosom. He sobbed audibly, and sitting up in his bed, he continued to wring his hands without uttering a word, but

with a countenance completely subdued from its former fierceness, and that sufficiently indicated his internal sufferings.

Shocked by his agony, but, at the same time, gratified with the change that seemed to have been produced upon his mind, where contrition had manifestly begun to operate, Miss Malcolm promised to send some pious clergyman to converse with him, which afforded him inexpressible comfort. Meanwhile, she endeavoured to soothe his distracted mind with all the consolation she could urge, exhorting him to endeavour to prepare himself for the reception of those divine truths which God's minister should unfold to him. The miserable man listened with eager attention, and with his eyes fixed upon her as if he would have drank up her words.

Suddenly, however, they wandered beyond her as if to some object in the door-way, and all their former wildness was restored to them.

"What do I see? Can it be real? or do the phantoms of the past night return to torment me? Come then," continued he, as if assailed by sudden frenzy; "come you, too, and be revenged. There is enough here to glut the vengeance of