पृष्ठ 749 / 896

The strong tide, so swift, so deep, and certain, was like a

congenial friend, in the morning stillness. He walked by the

stream, far from the houses, and in the light and warmth of the

sun fell asleep on the bank. When he awoke and was afoot again,

he lingered there yet a little longer, watching an eddy that

turned and turned purposeless, until the stream absorbed it, and

carried it on to the sea.--"Like me."

A trading-boat, with a sail of the softened colour of a dead

leaf, then glided into his view, floated by him, and died away.

As its silent track in the water disappeared, the prayer that had

broken up out of his heart for a merciful consideration of all

his poor blindnesses and errors, ended in the words, "I am the

resurrection and the life."