bitterly; "I was one myself--in the past."

A bitter groan escaped the lips of the speaker as he uttered the
sentence, and his face became stone-like in expression.

"It is of no use; I must not give up. The fellow is good; but what
is that to me now? If he win the day, I am lost forever--for it is
only through her I will be a better man--and surely, with Lawson's
nature, he would willingly make the sacrifice. But here I am,
moralizing like a preacher," cried the young man, as he arose and
began pacing up and down the floor in an excited manner. "By heaven!
it won't do to give up! If I ever expect to be a better man I must
first fall still lower!"

A strange method of reasoning indeed! But a striking illustration of
the fact that degenerate natures have always some loop-hole to crawl
through in order to shield themselves from just reproach.

Hubert Tracy had not sufficient moral courage to take upon himself
the responsibility of his actions. He had not faith to strike out on
the path of right, and with a sense of his own helplessness, turn to
Providence for his guide. Oh no, he could not see ahead of him with
an honest hopefulness; but instead "an ever-during dark surrounds
him," and he, with all the cowardice of his nature, consoles himself
with the thought that the nobility of Phillip Lawson is apology for
his base actions.

It was after such reverie that Hubert Tracy bethought himself of an
engagement he had made to join a number of acquaintances at a whist
party. He straightened himself up and cast a glance in the mirror