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Show 834 RICHARD HURDIS. those of the speaker. I could well bclieYe him when he said l1e conld not sleep. "Your life and death !" said Foster; "wl1y, what mean you, man 1 Don't stop to npologize for breaking my sleep, when such is the danger! Speak - speak out, and let liS know from what quarter the storm is coming. "\Vho is the enemy you fear 7" "You!" was the emphatic reply. "You are my enemy!" ".Me!" "You, your fel1ows, and mine - myself! These are my enemies, Foster ! It is from these that my apprehensions comeit is these that I fear ; my life is in their ]Jands! :i\Iore than lifc-nmch, much more!" "lla! wbat is all this 1" u You wonder. Hear me, Foster. I will tell you the truth -nothing but the truth! I must lea Yo the fraternity! I am uot fitted for its membership. I can not do the work it requires at my hands. I dare not-my soul sid;ens tit its duties, and I c<1n not perform them! I lack the will-the nerve!" 11 You know not what you say, Eberly," was the grave reply of Foster. u You surely do not forget the penalties wliich fol low such an avowal as this?" "No ! would I could forget them ! Have I not sa id that my life and death are in your hands 1"' u ' Vhereforc have you awakened me tlJCn 1" was the cold and inauspicious r eply. "I could tell yon no more than you already know." "Yes, you can save me! I come to you for pity! I implore you to save me, w!J ich you can ! A word from you wilt do it." "Can I -should I speak that word? It would ruin me - it would ruin us all !" "No ; it would not. You could lose nothing by letting me go fr ee - noth ing! for I can do notl1ing for you. I can not com· mit crime! I can neither l ie, nor rob, nor slay! I can not obey you ; and, sooner or later, you must execute your judgment upon me fo r neglect or perversion of my pledges!" "•rtlis is certa inly a very sudden attack of vi rtue, Ur. Eber· ly. You can neither Jie, nor steal, nor slay. You haYC become too pure for these duties; but I remember the time, and that, DESPAIR OF THE WEAK BROTHER. 335 too, no very distau.t time, wl1en you were guilty of one or more of these dreadful sms from which your soul now sln·inks." "Ay, nn~ I remember it too, Foster. I clicl not need that you should rcmH:d me_; would I could forget it! -l1encc came my bondage. l Ol~ dJSCOYcrcd my uulwppy secret, and forged my shackles! It IS to you that I come to break them!" "You deny it not that you were guilty of the robbery of old Harbers then?"' " I deny it not; and yet I know not, Foster, if it was an offcnrc of wl1ich I l1ave so much rcnson to be ns!Jamcd. Thank God! I took not l1iS money for myself; the wants of a dyin,... mvther, the presence of a cruel necessity, was my cxtenuatiOI~ if not excuse, for that hapless act-an act which hns been tl1c heavy millstone around my neck in each succeeding moment of my life! Bitterly have I repented-" "Yon can not repent - you sk1ll not repent!" was the sudden speech of Foster. "You l1avc not the right to repentyou are sworn tons agninst it, and can not re1Jent without our permission." " I t is for that permission, l~oster, that I come to implore you now. I know that you are superior to the colcl and cruel people whom you lead . You will, yon must, feel for my situation. I am of n~ us~ to you, I can not rub tile traveller, nor forge a note, nor tnve1gle a negro from his master - still less ctm I stab or shoo~ the unoffending man who opposes my unlawful attempts upon Ius pr011erty. I am, indeed, only an incumbrance upon you- " "You l1ave our secrets." "l will keep them-! swear to you, Foster, by all that is sacred that I will keep tl1em !" " You can not, to be honest - to go back to the paths of virt~ e. You. must reYeal our secrets; and not to clo so is a half VIrtu~ wlu.ch looks monstrously like hypocrisy. I t is a compromtse wtth vice, to say the least of it, wllich puts the blush upon your late returning innocence. No, Eberly, we must keep our secrets ourselves by keeping bound those who know them. Say that you are unable to serve us by any of the acts you mention - you are not less nble to serve na in other r e& pP.ets, equally sinful yet n ot so obnoxious to public censure or |
