" The strong lineaments of the stranger grew even more than
usually austere, and as the Puritan continued, the hand which rested on
the handle of a pistol grasped the weapon, until the fingers seemed
imbedded in the wood. He bowed, however, as if to acknowledge the personal
allusion, and remained silent.
"If any mourn the early death of those who have rendered up their being,
struggling, as it may be permitted, in behalf of life and dwelling,"
continued Mark Heathcote, regarding a female near him, "let her remember,
that from the beginning of the world were his days numbered, and that not
a sparrow falleth without answering the ends of wisdom. Rather let the
fulfilment of things remind us of the vanity of life, that we may learn
how easy it is to become immortal. If the youth hath been cut down,
seemingly like unripened grass, he hath fallen by the sickle of one who
knoweth best when to begin the in-gathering of the harvest to his eternal
garners. Though a spirit bound unto his, as one feeble is wont to lean on
the strength of man and mourn over his fall, let her sorrow be mingled
with rejoicing.
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