glance was firm as that of the tried soldier who awaits his enemy.

"The men of blood have come to seek me," he observed, with calmness.
"They have heard how I was moved to return from banishment, and now am
I to be led to prison, and thence to death. It is an end I have long
looked for. I will open unto them lest they say, 'Lo, he feareth!'"

"Nay; I will present myself before them," said Pearson, with recovered
fortitude. "It may be that they seek me alone and know not that thou
abidest with me."

"Let us go boldly, both one and the other," rejoined his companion.
"It is not fitting that thou or I should shrink."

They therefore proceeded through the entry to the door, which they
opened, bidding the applicant "Come in, in God's name!" A furious
blast of wind drove the storm into their faces and extinguished the
lamp; they had barely time to discern a figure so white from head to
foot with the drifted snow that it seemed like Winter's self come in
human shape to seek refuge from its own desolation.

"Enter, friend, and do thy errand, be it what it may," said Pearson.
"It must needs be pressing, since thou comest on such a bitter night."

"Peace be with this household!" said the stranger, when they stood on
the floor of the inner apartment.

Pearson started; the elder Quaker stirred the slumbering embers of the
fire till they sent up a clear and lofty blaze. It was a female voice
that had spoken; it was a female form that shone out, cold and wintry,