Terror mastered the natural feelings of two or three of the women present; but one, to whom the cruel order had been especially given, stood mute and motionless. Her face was colourless as marble; and grief had taken such entire possession of her mind and body, that neither seemed capable of any other sensation. Once only she raised her eyes, and it was to Raymond's face. They were tearless, but their silent depths told a woe that could not weep.

“Come on, Rachel ;" he said, "why do you linger? If the chariot that bore Elijah to heaven were here to take me up, you would not so grieve to let me go. The flames are God's chariot. He has sent them

to convey me home."

Rachel continued to gaze at Raymond; but she did not reply. The fagot was at her feet, but she did not stoop to raise it; and she was reminded of her disobedience by a repetition of the command, and a rough blow upon her shoulder.

"Stop!" exclaimed a voice close to the soldier who had dealt it. "Touch her not until you have further orders ;" and pushing through the crowd, Saveli sought the ear of Jacomel, whom he had immediately recognized as the director of the proceedings; and who, having listened to his whispered communication, called aloud, "Spare her, spare her! Her husband is a convert to the faith. Let the woman go!"

"Thanks, Father!" replied Lorenzo, in a tone of real gratitude and pleasure; for in the excitement of the moment he had failed to observe the sinister and sarcastic expression which lurked in every feature of Jacomel's face as he received and responded to his appeal; neither was he conscious, that the malicious eye of the wily inquisitor had followed him, as he moved back through the crowd; and that to his scrutinizing observation of his own conduct and person, all present were indebted for the privilege of hearing Raymond speak again.

"I am now ready to be offered up," he said, "and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing!

"Do you love his appearing, my precious ones? Do you feel that to 'depart and to be with Christ is far better than to abide in the flesh? Then hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering. Be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved! But how endure? Even by looking

unto the cross of Christ. You are diseased; there is your remedy. You are wounded; there is your balm. You are polluted; there is your cleansing. You are weary and heavy-laden; there is your rest. Look away from Jesus, and you are lost. Ground your hope of salvation on any other than Jesus, and you shall be eternally confounded; but look to the bleeding Saviour, and you shall live. Only confide in his finished work, and, despite the legions of earth and hell, you are SAFe. May not one of you be wanting in my crown of rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming! Join me in prayer

for those who have bound me here; that we, who are now fellowsinners, may meet, fellow-ransomed, in the Paradise above. And now, farewell, my spirit seeks communion with its God !"

The whole audience listened to this brief but emphatic address as if spell-bound. Curiosity had moved them to listen; amazement at the supernatural calmness of the speaker held them attentive; and as he uttered the last words, and turned his eyes from the human throng beneath him, to the clear, blue vault of heaven, his countenance became so radiant with hope and joy, so indicative of a soul already severed from the things of time, and sharing-ere yet stripped of its clay tabernacle— in "the blessedness of the just made perfect," that every eye became riveted upon it, with the rapture of admiring awe; and it was the breathless silence of the spectators which at length roused Jacomel from the oblivion to which alone all were indebted for the unwonted mercy of such a pause.

"Fire the fagots !" he exclaimed, fiercely, "what are you waiting for? Coward hearts, do your work !" and ere his sentence was finished, the match had been applied to the pile; but the fresh timber did not readily ignite; and before the fire was well kindled, a cloud of blue smoke enveloped the body of the martyr. It seemed to stupify him; for his head was seen to decline from its upright position; then the flames rose red and high. There was a fearful writhing of the fettered frame, and again the column of blue smoke concealed the horrid spectacle. But it is time to draw the veil over a scene which humanity shudders to contemplate. Let faith ascend to that which humanity cannot reach, and remember the white-robed and palm-bearing multitude which no man can number. "They are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall

lead them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”—Rev. vii. 15, 16, 17.

CHAPTER XVI.

"This corruptible must put on incorruption."-1 Cor. xv. 53.

THE shadows of night had fallen on the scene of Raymond's martyrdom ; and the cold, solemn moon, with all her glittering train, had ascended in the dark azure that canopied earth, and was gazing "deeply down," upon the spot which the happy martyr had lately called his home, when Lorenzo Saveli, under the influence of such emotions as court solitude and night, directed his steps towards an eminence from which he could discern, far beneath him, the desolate valley, with its blackened cottages, and ruined temple; for when the fire had done its work upon Raymond's body, it had been employed to consume the dwellings of his flock, one only, being allowed to stand, a mournful witness of the "tender mercy" that is cruel. The work of destruction was not yet complete; for the fierce flames were still ascending from many a roofless wall, rendering the various details of the picture distinctly visible to the eye of the spectator, as Saveli moved towards a point from which he knew that he could command the most satisfactory observation. Hardly had he gained it, however, when another object than that which he sought, fixed his eye, and riveted his attention. It was the form of a man standing a few paces in advance of him, with his arms across folded, and his head drooped upon his chest ; and apparently so absorbed in his own thoughts, that even Saveli's incautious step had not roused him from his meditations. The latter hesitated for an instant; then moved on, but more warily; and turning a little aside as he drew near, caught a distinct view of the profile of his unconscious companion. He directly recognized the face; paused a few seconds to contemplate its expression; and then in such accents as that countenance, and the eventful past with which it was so powerfully associated were calculated to inspire, he asked aloud, "Art thou mindful of the Rock of thy strength, now, Carl Rostaing ?"

Carl turned suddenly round. These words, or the voice that had uttered them, would at any time have roused him from a deeper reverie, but he was ill-prepared to have his solitude broken in upon in such a manner and at such a season; and his flushed cheek, and lowering brow, told soon enough how unwelcome was the intrusion. "Coward base wretch!" he exclaimed, fiercely: "You haunt me like an evil spirit; you mocked me in my weakness; and you did well. I forgive you for

that, but it is a brave man who mocks the heart of the sorrowful. Leave me alone."

"Carl Rostaing, you are mistaken," answered Saveli mildly; "I am not what I once was, and what I must still appear to you. Neither then, nor now, did I speak in mockery. Believe me, when I say, that my heart mourned for your fall; and that now it is drinking from the cup of your affliction."

There was an unquestionable tone of sincerity in Saveli's voice and manner. His countenance set its seal to the truth of his assertions; and Carl, having interrogated it for an instant, took, with a movement of glad surprise, the hand that was extended to him, and, without doubt or fear, pressed it firmly in his own. "I do believe you," he said. "Pardon my uncouth salutation; but my heart was wounded within me,' and I deemed it impossible"

"I understand you," interrupted Saveli; "but all things are possible with God; and it has pleased him, that I, who came first to these Valleys a bitter foe to your people, and to your creed, should return to mourn and rejoice together with you, in the hope and in the bonds of the gospel."

A mutual explanation followed this brief introduction; and just as the last speaker concluded his narrative, both were startled by a rustling sound quite close to the spot where they stood; and, turning simultaneously round, they distinctly saw a human head suddenly dart above the brushwood a little to the left, and as rapidly disappear. The young men experienced a momentary sensation of alarm at this unexpected apparition, for they feared, that it was no friendly intruder who would thus lurk within hearing of their protracted and dangerous conversation. Every circumstance, however, seemed to render it improbable, that the person whom they had observed could be an intentional spy upon their proceedings; and they were readily diverted from their conjectures, and from the alarm which had originated them, by another object of attraction in an opposite direction.

Far down in the valley, at the same spot which the mournful event of the morning had rendered ever-memorable and sacred, they descried a woman whose form and motions were rendered distinctly visible by the lurid glare proceeding from a neighbouring burning cottage. She had stooped down, and appeared to be gathering from the ground something which she carefully deposited in a vessel which she had placed by her side. After some minutes occupied in this work, she arose, and proceeded hastily to the cottage which we have already

mentioned as the only dwelling which had escaped the fury of the destroyers.

It was a wretched, heart-rending spectacle, that single human creature, moving like a spectre amid the dreary wreck; but affecting was it, beyond all description, to those who recognized her person and her errand.

"It is Rachel Rossi," said Carl, in a hollow voice. "She has anticipated me. Know you what she has been seeking beside that ruined tree ?"

"Ay," responded Saveli, with scarcely less emotion than his companion had shown; "pitiful is the relic which cruelty has spared to affection; but little do his murderers dream how the martyred pastor shall live in the hearts of his scattered flock. If in his life he gathered souls into the heavenly garner, what has he not done in his death? He rests from his labours, but his works do follow him.'"

"True;" responded Carl, warmly, "Well may it be said of our persecutors, that "they know not what they do." Behold yonder tenement that stands unscathed amid the ruin; the reward of the false coward who denied the truth, his testimony to which, Raymond sealed with his blood. But I must begone, I have yet a league to walk ere I reach my home; and I go thither to bear tidings to those who are anxiously awaiting my return."

A few further words of explanation, and Saveli gladly consented to be Carl's companion, and to accept his proffered lodging for the night. The company of each was most welcome to the oppressed spirit of the other; and so many subjects had they to discuss, of equal interest to both, that the hour seemed brief which brought them within sight of Carl's secluded cottage: nor had their animated conversation ceased, when they were again startled by the same sound which had alarmed them in the earlier part of their interview. This time, however, they looked in vain for a cause, and concluding that their steps had aroused a chamois or some other animal, from his repose, they continued their walk and their conversation, heedless of the viper who dogged their path, and whose ear every instant drank knowledge sufficient to debar them for ever from all hope of mercy, at a tribunal to which one of them at least might ere long be summoned.

On entering the cottage, such a sight met the eyes of the young men as arrested their steps almost at the threshold of the door. Blanchewhose approaching dissolution had been hurried on by the intelligence that afternoon suddenly communicated to her, of her father's capture