He sighed repeatedly, burying his emaciated features in his more emaciated hands.
"We will both forget the past," she said seriously. "You are a countryman; a stranger in a strange land; and we are friends, anxious to do you good."
"It's no use. I've given up trying long ago. The first temptation that came I was overcome."
"Does it tire you to talk?" she asked, with lively interest.
"Not so much as it comforts me to feel I have one friend near."
She motioned to Pedro, who was leaving the room, to remain, and drawing a chair to the bed, said tenderly:
"You have one Friend, Paul, who has never left you. It is He who caused our paths to cross; and who ordered this meeting. Have you never felt anxious to secure the blessings he can give you?"
She was astonished to witness the emotions this question excited. The poor man's breast heaved and fell; his face became agitated, till his features were almost convulsed.
"I thought my heart was dead long ago," he gasped, "dead and buried. It's no use to revive that old grief; I've tried hard enough to forget it."
"What do you mean? You say you gave up trying to do right. Did you rely on your own strength? Don't you remember how Dr. Gilbert used to tell us to seek help from above? There is a fountain from which we are allowed to draw freely."