"'You must live for my sake,' cried the unhappy girl, clasping my cold hand to her heart, and covering it with kisses. 'If you fail me now, we are both lost. Dinah would never forgive me for betraying her and Moncton. Do you doubt that what I have told you is true?'
"'Not in the least, Alice; but I am so weak and ill—so forsaken and unhappy, that I no longer care for the life you offer.'
"'It was the gift of God. You must not throw it away. He may have work on the earth which he requires you to do.'
"These words saved me. I no longer hesitated to take the chance she offered me, though I entertained small hopes of its success. Yet if the hand of Providence was stretched out to rescue me from destruction, it was only right for me to yield to its guidance with obedient gratitude and praise.
"Alice was about to leave the room: she once more returned to my side.
"'Say that you forgive me, Philip.'
"I folded her in my thin wasted arms, and imprinted a kiss on her rigid brow.
"'From my very heart!'
"'God bless you! Philip. I will love and cherish your memory to my dying hour.'
"The house-door opened suddenly; she tore herself from my embrace. 'Dinah is coming—lie quite still—moan often, as if in pain, and leave me to manage the rest.'