fulfil every duty as far as I am able--and yet, my friends, for two
whole days in the week that is past, I was as dry as--a paper bag! I
felt no fervour of spirit, no uplifting of soul; in fact, dear people,
it was low tide with me, the rocks were bare, the sands were dry, and I
was almost despairing. But thank the Lord! the tide turned, grace and
praise and joy flowed in upon me once more; I have received the
'Invoice' of good things to come, and I am filled with the peace and
content I generally enjoy."

A few words of congratulation and sympathy were spoken by another
grey-headed deacon, after which a silence fell upon the meeting, the
preacher making no comment upon what he had heard. The tick of the
clock on the gallery, the distant swish of the waves, and the soft
sighing of the evening breeze alone were audible.

At length another voice broke the silence. It was Ebben Owens, who was
standing up, and for a moment looking round at the old familiar faces
of his fellow worshippers.

It had been a frequent custom of his to relate his religious
experiences at the "Sciets," so neither Ann nor her husband were
surprised; but Morva detected something unusual in the old man's
manner. At many a meeting he had confessed to the frailties of human
nature, with platitudes, and expressions of repentance, which had lost
all reality from constant repetition. But he had satisfied the
meeting, and at the end of it he had taken up his hat, smoothed his
hair down over his forehead, and walked out of the chapel in the odour
of sanctity. To-night it was a very different man who stood there. At
first his voice was low and trembling, but as he proceeded it gathered
strength, so that his words were audible even in the corner pew, whose