"Give him to me for a prey. Lord, give him to me for a prey," were the strange words that came to Anne's ear, falling low through the tremulous darkness; "I ask not for his life. Thou knowest that I ask not for his life. My Father, wilt Thou not hear? wilt Thou forget the prayers that have risen to Thee day by day and night by night since Thou didst hide Thy countenance from us? My Lord! hast Thou said any word in vain? shall any promise be forgotten before Thee?" The listener sat still in awe; she dared not interrupt this agony of supplication with any token of her presence. Christian was pacing the room quickly, with tremulous step, and passionate low voice, too mightily absorbed to think of form or posture. "If it be Thy will--Thy will--and Thy will is to seek and save the lost; and this is lost in sin, in blindness, and the deep gloom of unbelief, and it was such that Thou camest to save--such, and not the righteous. It is Thy will--it is Thy will. Grant me Thy will of salvation to this sinner--Lord! Lord!" She paused; she threw herself on her knees; there was an indefinite sound of entreaty--groaning that could not be uttered.--Then she started to her feet again, and the words poured forth aloud, as one who finds a new argument and can scarce pause for language in which to state and plead it. "Thou who art a man! Thou who bearest a human heart in Thy high heaven! Thou who hast entreated, and yearned, and wept over sinful brethren, whom the adversary sifted as wheat! Thou, O Lord! who wearest Thy humanity upon Thy throne!--he is a sinner--so were they whom Thou didst call Thy friends.--He hath denied Thee--so did he, for whom Thy holy lips prayed, that his faith might not fail. My Lord!--my Lord!--thou hearest always. Look down upon us, and send us deliverance." She sat down; she put back her wet hair, and wiped the heavy dew from her forehead. Then she clasped her hands over her brow. "Not life--not joy--not temporal deliverance--whatsoever is in Thy hands is well--be it to us as seemeth good to Thee. But light, O, my Father! light to this darkness--deliverance to this bondman--the grace of Thine infinite mercy--the touch of Thy divine compassion. Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst deliver him." There was a faint call from another room. Christian Lillie paused for a moment to compose her agitated features, and then hastened to the restless sick-bed. Anne Ross sat still at the high turret window, looking out through silent tears upon the dim country, and the gleaming sea. That sky serene, and calm, and boundless, beholding all beneath its infinite extent--that mighty eye above, looking down amid the countless myriads of its universe, as certainly upon the untold agonies of this house as if all humanity were centered there--that One, at the right hand of the Father, who, in the might of His eternal Godhead, doth dwell in heaven--a man! The appeal of the broken heart was to these; and they do not fail to answer. CHAPTER XXVII.