will feel your pulse upon this point again."

Mrs. Weston noticed a difference in George that evening. He seemed as
if he had got something upon his mind which was perplexing him. He was
not so cheerful and merry as usual, but his mother attributed it partly
to his late hours, followed by a hard day's work, and therefore she said
nothing to him about it.

A day or two elapsed, and George was still brooding upon the same
subject. He did not know that the great tempter was weaving a subtle net
around him, to lure him into the broad road which leadeth to
destruction. He tried a hundred times to fight against the strange
influence he felt upon him; but he did not fight with the right weapons,
and therefore he failed. Had the tempter suggested to him that, as he
was a young man, he should do as his fellow-clerks, or even Ashton did,
and have his way in all things, he would have seen the temptation; but
it came altogether in a different way. The evil voice said, "You are
under restraint. Ask any young man of your own age, and he will tell you
so. It is high time you should unloose yourself from apron-strings." And
this idea of restraint was preying upon him, and he could not throw it
off. George was anxious to do the right, but did not know how to fight
against the wrong. Conscience whispered to him, "Do you remember that
motto your dying father gave you, 'For me to live is Christ?'" George
replied, "Yes, I remember it; and it is still my desire to follow it."
Conscience said again, "Do you recollect that sermon you heard, and the
resolutions you made, 'My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not?'" And he answered, "I remember it well; but I am not aware that any
are endeavouring to entice me."

This was the effect of the unconscious influence of Harry Ashton. He had