"Ha! ha!" he exclaimed; "is that the old enemy's device? I'm not surprised--he's a crafty old fox; but the Lord's wiser than him. I see what he's been up to: he couldn't keep the sword of the Spirit out of your hand any longer, so he's been trying to make you turn the point away from him, and commit suicide with it. Set your mind at rest, William, about these verses, and about the unpardonable sin; those who are guilty of it never seek forgiveness, and so they never get it. These words ain't meant for such a case as yours. This is the sort of text for you: `God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Jesus said it, and he'll never go back from it. `Whosoever' means you and me; he said, `Whosoever,' and he'll never unsay it. If you'd committed the unpardonable sin, you wouldn't be caring now about the Bible and about your soul. If you'd committed it, God would never have given you the light he has done, for it has come from him; it can't have come from nowhere else. He don't open to you the door with one hand, and then shut it in your face with the other; that ain't his way at all He has let you in at the gate, and you may be sure as he'll never turn you off the road with his own hand, now that you're on it." "Thank God for that!" said Foster, reverently. "What you say, Thomas, carries conviction with it, for I am sure that my present views, and the change that has so far been made in me, must be the Lord's own work; and, if so, it is certainly only consistent that, as he has taken in hand such a wretched blasphemer as I have been, he should not undo his own work by casting me off again." "Hold fast to that, William," said Bradly, "and you can't go wrong. Just hand me your Bible; I'll show you where to find another text or two as'll suit you well.--Eh! What's this?" he cried, as having taken the little book into his hand, he noticed the red-ink lines which were drawn under many of the verses. Then he turned hastily to the inside of the cover, and uttered an exclamation of astonishment, then turned very pale, and then very red, and gazed at the book as if fascinated by it. There were the words on the cover,-- _Steal not this book for fear of shame_, _For here you see the owner's name_. _June 10, 1793_. _Mary Williams_.