"'Oh, do buy it, Alice, my good angel; for the love of God! send and buy it. You will find my purse in my coat-pocket. It will be the best money that was ever laid out by me.'
"'You had better be still and go to sleep, Philip; you are too ill to bear the fatigue of reading yet.'
"This was dreadfully tantalizing, but I was forced to submit. The next morning she brought me a cup of tea. I looked wistfully in her face.
"'Dear Alice, you could give me something that would do me more good than this.'
"'Some broth, perhaps; sick people always fancy everything that is not at hand.'
"'That book.'
"'Are you thinking about that still?'
"'I long for the bread of life.'
"'Do you want to turn Methodist?'
"'I wish to become a Christian.'