During this part of the discourse the cat swelled to the size of a tiger, and his eyes glowed like fiery coals. He made a motion as if he would spring forward, but the voice of prayer arrested him, and he shrank back to his former size.
"Poor Jennet is ensnared by the Fiend," murmured the maiden, "and will perish eternally. Would I could save her!"
"It cannot be," replied the young man. "She is beyond redemption."
The little girl gnashed her teeth with rage.
"But my mother—I do not now despair of her," said Alizon. "She has broken the bondage by which she was enchained, and, if she resists temptation to the last, I am assured will be saved."
"Heaven aid her!" exclaimed Richard.
Scarcely were the words uttered, than the cat disappeared.
"Why, Tib!—where are yo, Tib? Ey want yo!" cried the little girl in a low tone.
But the familiar did not respond to the call.
"Where con he ha' gone?" cried Jennet; "Tib! Tib!"