"Lass," gasped he, with his eyes yet riveted, spell-bound, on the hideous spectacle; "lass, what hast thee done wi' t' poor haand?" "Fetch yond Bible from t' shelf, lad, and read t' neanth chaapter o' Maark, and t' forty-third verse." John obeyed, and read aloud the verse which had been the subject of his wife's meditations a few Sabbath evenings before. "Noo, lad, aw'll tell thee all aboot it. Thee'd just goon ter woork yester morn, when Emma Ward stepped in, and 'Lass,' she said, 'thee mun coom oop t' hill wi' me, for Jim Green's little un's deein', and t' mother's well nigh craazed;' thee knows aw couldn't be unneeboorloike, so aw good, and gi'ed a helpin' haand, and they o'er persuaded me ter tak' a glass o' waarm speerit to keep t' cold oot, and I set my faace against it at first, but it looked so temptin', at aw stretched oot t' reet haand and finished glaas cleean off, and coomin' hoom, deevil, he saaid: 'thee ud best feenish oop at t' ale-hoose,' and aw were paarched for more o' cursed stoof, and t' knows t' rest; and coom t' morn, aw saaid, 'Aw'll cut un off, t' reet haand 'at took glaass, for aw'll goo inter t' kingdom maimed sooner aw'll goo to yond plaace o' daarkness wi' my two haands,' and aw'd gotten t' axe ter chop un off, when aw thowt o' thee and the childer, and how thee and them 'ud miss t' haand, and aw coomd baack ter kitchen, and said: 'Aw'll gi'en a good lesson, anyhow; aw'll gi'en a taaste o' t' fire as'll mind un o' t' fire 'at burns for aye', and aw put un in and held un in, and thee 'lt ha'e ter see ter thy own meals coom a while, and if t' nasty thing offends again aw'll cut un off, and thee'lt ha' ter do t' best thee can for thysen, for aw've promised to mind all t' Book says;" and Sarah Ann turned the apron carefully over the poor maimed hand, and rocked herself to and fro, in her cruel pain. "Thee's a braave lass; and if thou'rt gooin' ter turn t' faace from t' drink agaain, aw'll hould on ter thee, and help thee; but thee'st been reeadin' t' Bible oopside doon, aw reeckon; aw never heeard tell o' fouks maimin' theirsens in looike faashion; thee'ud best get paarson ter mak' t' verse reet;" and John walked away to his work with new thoughts stirring in his breast; and a tenderness, to which it had long been a stranger, swelling within his heart at the remembrance of his suffering wife, who was so earnest in her purpose of breaking through the power of evil habit, and, at all costs, finding her way into the kingdom of heaven. "T' lass shall not goo alone," was his decision at length, and John Ibbetson made up his mind that next Sabbath he and his wife would walk up the hill in company, and for the first time since their marriage, enter the house of God together.