He bared his head and looked upward.

"O God," he said, solemnly, "if this is contrary to Thy will--Thy will
be done."

He paused a moment reverently, and then turned on his heel and strode
resolutely homeward.

A gust of wind crashed the branches overhead together like the clash
of cymbals in victory.

The early spring dawn was tingeing the eastern horizon before the gay
revel ceased and the mansion of the rich brewer was darkened. All the
long night, light, airy music had caused late passers-by to pause a
moment to listen, and to pity or envy the throng within, as disposition
dictated. Mr. Brown was a man who prided himself on lavish and rather
coarse hospitality. A table groaning under costly dishes and every
variety of liquor was the crowning feature, the blissful climax of all
his entertainments; and society from its highest circles furnished an
abundance of anxious candidates for his suppers, who ate and criticised,
drank to and disparaged, their plebeian host.

Mrs. Brown was heavy in every sense of the word, and with her huge
person draped with acres of silk, and festooned with miles of
point-lace, she waddled about and smiled and nodded good-naturedly at
everybody and everything.

It was just the place for a fashionable revel, where the gross, repulsive
features of coarse excess are veiled and masked somewhat by