is rolling away from my soul; I weep to look back on the past; but I can now bear to look forward to the grave, which I trust-I humbly trust-may be but a passage to the presence of Him who had mercy even on a penitent thief!"

In a few moments more the repentant girl was hiding her face on the bosom of her father.

CHAPTER V.-THE PEACEFUL END AND ITS LESSON.

Он, how much I owe you!" were the first words of Nina, when she saw Mrs. Searle on the following morning. "You have been to me an angel of mercy-the messenger of a God of love. Oh, that you could speak to every lonely heart, in that great dreary house in which you found me, those words of comfort and of peace which have shed such hope into mine!"

"I am thankful to be reminded of a neglected duty," replied Mrs. Searle, as she bent to kiss Nina's pallid brow. "It is but little that it is in my power to do; but the Almighty may bless that little."

"He will bless it," said the grey-haired father, who sat with his daughter's hand clasped in his own; "and the blessing of those who were ready to perish will be upon you for ever."

Leaving Nina to the care of her parent and sister, Mrs. Searle went to the house of God. All garlanded as it was in honour of the season; the bright berries glistening on the holly-bough; the evergreens that endure the frown of winter, beautiful and unchanging still, seemed emblems to her of that Christian hope which gladdens even the bed of death. As she blessed the Almighty for the inestimable gift of his Son, of him who had deigned to quit the mansions of bliss, to visit the abodes of sorrow, she mixed her deep and fervent prayer that she might be permitted, in however humble a degree, to follow his footsteps of mercy. Never had her heart overflowed with purer joy; it was such as we may believe that saints will know when welcomed at the radiant gate of heaven by those whom they have been the means of guiding thither,

Very solemn and still seemed her own house to Mrs. Searle as she returned from church. Ellen met her on the stairs, pale but calm, though her eyes bore traces of weeping. Her look gave the tidings which she could hardly utter. “All is over-her end was peace!"

With a noiseless step, the Christian entered the chamber of death, where, like a mourner sculptured upon a monument, the father watched the corpse of his child, silent, sorrowing, but not as one without hope. Mrs. Searle drew near and gazed on the young girl's features, calm and beautiful in death. No trace of pain or sorrow remained: all was peaceful, calm and still.'

Oh, change-oh, wondrous change!
Burst are the prison-bars!
Some moments past how low
In mortal pangs! and now,
Beyond the stars!"

Mrs. Searle knelt in silence by the lifeless form of Nina, and there, while the tears fell freely and fast, renewed the secret vow which she had made in the church, never to forsake the cause of the pauper; never, while God should vouchsafe her ability and strength, to discontinue those visits to the asylum of the poor, which had been so solemnly begun. And well did the Christian keep her vow. was her form seen in the wards, welcome as the dove when it fluttered its white wings in the window of the ark ; often were her gentle accents heard, speaking comfort and peace to the afflicted.

Often

Oh, reader, if to thee has been granted by Heaven, health, time, opportunity, and the knowledge required to bear the message of salvation to the poor, turn not coldly away from the sacred duty, put not from thee the rich blessing within thy reach; but, with humble faith and with earnest prayer, go and do thou likewise.

A. L. O. E.

A LABOUR SONG.

UP, up! and work! for we never were meant
To be idle and useless here;

Each youth for a mission on earth was sent;
We have all some duty near.

We pity the maiden whose fingers stir
At the task she must labour through;
But life is as earnest for us as for her-
We have each of us work to do.

We may fancy our lot upon earth is cast
Afar from distress and care,

That we need no defence from the stormy blast,
That our sky is serene and fair.

It may be so, but this fact alone

Bids a work more earnest still:

Where less of trouble the heart has known,
It yet has tasks to fulfil.

There are works which the veriest child may do,
Small genuine acts of love,

And works which her Father has ordered too-
"Tis her mission from above.

Some little deed of generous thought,

Self-love to sacrifice,

By Jesus himself to his children taught,
With a costly and noble price.

And for those who teach, there are duties sure,

Their task is more plain assign'd;

There is need of a kindly word to allure

The wayward and childish mind.

There is work for all; some wound to heal,

Some perishing soul to save;

Some word of comfort for others' weal,
That the sorrowing heart may crave.

Then up, and work! for we were not meant
To be idle and useless here;

We each for a mission on earth were sent;
Let us each find some duty near.

F. B.

PILGRIMAGE TO THE MOSLEM'S HOLY LAND.

PART II.

IN the previous chapter we left our pilgrim at Suez. The rules of this port enforce a system of rotation in the sailing of vessels, so that each captain has a monopoly in his turn, can keep his own time, and yet extort an

exorbitant sum as passage-money. Lieutenant Burton soon found that it would be no easy matter to procure a ship for the Red Sea voyage. The difficulties fortunately were greatly lightened by the experience and energy of certain companions whom he had picked up by the way. Among the number of his acquaintance at Cairo was a Meccan boy, Mohammed El Basyuni, a bold, beardless youth, who had travelled much, by which a mind naturally quick had been sharpened. His observant eye and ready tongue made him a dangerous associate for a pilgrim in disguise. They therefore separated; but chance threw them together again in the desert, and they entered Suez side by side. The very night of their arrival, Mohammed discovered a party of El Medinah men, his friends, returning to the pilgrimage after a begging tour through Egypt and Turkey. The lieutenant, overruled in his scruples, determined to profit by so favourable a conjuncture of circumstances; and by the prudent distribution of a loan among the wanderers, speedily established his influence over them.

After many futile inquiries and much importunity, the "Golden Wire," a pilgrim-ship bound for Jambu, was enlisted in their service. The whole party took places on the poop; they were eighteen in number, and the space allotted to them did not exceed ten feet by eight. The vessel throughout was similarly crowded, for the greedy owner, who had engaged to take sixty passengers, had packed as many as ninety-seven on board. Piles of luggage strewed the deck from stem to stern, and by squatting on the boxes or lolling on the bulwarks, the crowd of Hadjis sought to find room.

The fierce hot sun of a July day was flaming overhead when the sailors loosened the sail to catch the wind, and the ship stood slowly out to sea, the air burdened with the clamorous cries of many nations. A quarrel between some Turks from Anatolia, and some Maghrabi from the deserts about Tripoli and Tunis, was the first indication of an impending storm. Not content with standing-room, every one began to fight for greater comfort. In a few minutes nothing was visible but a confused mass of humanity, each man punching, pulling, scratching, biting, butting, and trampling, as his anger prompted; nor did the fray abate in the least till five poor fellows were com

pletely disabled. A truce thus secured, a deputation was despatched to the owner of the ship, complaining of its crowded state; but no satisfactory answer being given, the Maghrabi prepared to resume the encounter. Notorious for their insolence and ferocity, they now demanded that six of their number should be taken on the poop; and the El Medinah men of course refusing, they came swarming to the contest, shouting defiance, and brandishing their palm-sticks and short daggers. But they stood on lower ground, and the enemy from above laid about their heads and shoulders so lustily with stout ashen staves, as effectually to oppose their advance. Nothing dismayed, they continued the battle. Just over the thick of the fight stood a large and heavy earthen jar, full of water. Lieutenant Burton watched his opportunity, and suddenly rolled it down on the assailants. The din of clashing sticks, mingled with cries and curses, changed at once into a shrill shriek. Cut by the broken potsherds, bruised by the weight of the jar, surprised by the overwhelming shower, and fearing worse things yet to come, the Maghrabi took flight, found shelter where they could, and afterwards sent to solicit peace, which, of course, was granted on condition that they would bind themselves to keep it. This equivocal exploit of the lieutenant greatly raised him in the estimation of his fellows; and, as it was told wherever he went, helped to secure him the respect essential to safety.

On another occasion he also distinguished himself by a ruse, which shows the deplorable ignorance and degradation of his fellow-passengers. The vessel had grounded, and "Shaykhs" and patron saints had been in vain appealed to, when our pilgrim, seizing the moment when the tide came in, and calling, with a duplicity which we cannot excuse, his Indian gods to help him, so dexterously marshalled his men and directed his efforts, that the ship floated at once. His success was unanimously voted a miracle.

The ships of the Red Sea cruise along the coast by day, and at night anchor in the most convenient cove they can find. Twelve such days of voyaging-past magnificent coral reefs that colour the waves with the rich hues of the amethyst, and through scenes that shone in barbaric splendour, grand in their reflection of the grander heavens