his own life--the woman he has striven to forgive and forget, and has succeeded in accomplishing neither the one nor the other--leave a shabby house in a disreputable suburb, whither she has been in the society of a notorious libertine! He clenched his fist and strode forward from an impulse of rightful indignation, which made him burn to annihilate the scoundrel who stood triumphing in his villainy before him: but he checked himself as the bitter remembrance flashed across him that _he_ had no claim on her which could give him a right to interfere, although--and this, even at that moment, was the most painful thought of all--another had!--who was evidently incompetent to fulfil the sacred trust which he had undertaken. So, with old wounds thus cruelly re-opened, Arthur Hazlehurst, heart-sick and weary, returned to his chambers, pondering many things, both of this life and of the life to come. CHAPTER XLI.--ADVICE GRATIS. It is a dreary thing when much of life seems still before us, and a dark, unfathomable future lies between us and the grave; it is a bitter thing to sit alone and ponder on the days to come, and discover no bright spot in the darkness--discern no kind hand to beckon us forward--hear no friendly voice to council and encourage us in the battle of life; it is an uphill task to struggle through existence without an object on this side the tomb--a hard and cruel lot to hope for nothing until death shall have changed hope into fruition! To live in order to fit oneself to die is the duty of every Christian, but to live for that alone requires a far higher degree of spirituality than to lay down one’s life for the faith: the stake and the axe of persecution are tender mercies compared with the chronic martyrdom of such a life-long sacrifice.