"
A groan struggled from the chest of Content, and the muscular hand of
Dudley compressed itself on the shoulder of his wife, until the
breathlessly attentive woman withdrew, unconsciously, with pain.
"I've said as much to Mark, for he doth not always remember thy
warnings, mother; and those children do so love to wander together!--but
Mark is, in common, good; do not chide, if he stray too far--mother,
thou wilt not chide!"
The youth turned his head, for even at that moment, the pride of young
manhood prompted him to conceal his weakness.
"Hast prayed to-day, my daughter?" said Ruth, struggling to be composed.
"Thou shouldst not forget thy duty to His blessed name, even though we are
houseless in the woods."
"I will pray now, mother," said the creature of this mysterious
hallucination, struggling to bow her face into the lap of Ruth. Her wish
was indulged, and for a minute, the same low childish voice was heard
distinctly repeating the words of a prayer adapted to the earliest period
of life. Feeble as were the sounds, none of their intonations escaped the
listeners, until near the close, when a species of holy calm seemed to
absorb the utterance.
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