leaving the room; but he detained me by importunity, by holding my hand,
by standing against the door.

How irresistible is supplication! The glossings and plausibilities of
eloquence are inexhaustible. I found my courage wavering. After a few
ineffectual struggles, I ceased to contend. He saw that little remained to
complete his conquest; and, to effect that little, by convincing me that
his tale was true, he stepped out a moment, to bring in his creditor,
whose anxiety had caused him to accompany Frank to the door.

This momentary respite gave me time to reflect. I ran through the door,
now no longer guarded; up-stairs I flew into my mother's chamber, and told
her from what kind of persecution I had escaped.

While I was speaking, some one knocked at the door. It was a servant,
despatched by my brother to summon me back. My mother went in my stead. I
was left, for some minutes, alone.

So persuasive had been my brother's rhetoric, that I began to regret my
flight.

I felt something like compunction at having deprived him of an
opportunity to prove his assertions. Every gentle look and insinuating
accent reappeared to my memory, and I more than half repented my
inflexibility.

While buried in these thoughts, my mother returned. She told me that my
brother was gone, after repeatedly requesting an interview with me, and
refusing to explain his business to any other person.