or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!  Didst thou not, in the olden time, hear the voice of the perishing child, Ishmael, and say, by thine angel, unto his weeping mother, Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.  Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand, for I will make him a great nation?  Even so now hast thou done unto me and remembered me in my low estate, for thy mercy endureth for ever.”

Thus the father poured out his heart, alike unconscious of the gathering crowd, which his unusual appearance and strange language had collected around him, and of the observations they made.

“I say, Haxall,” said a stout boy, whose dirty and ragged clothing, and vicious expression of face, proclaimed him one of those predestined candidates for the State Prison and gallows, bred to their fate by the criminal neglect of the State, “I say,” he said, addressing his companion, as wicked looking as himself, “isn’t it a rum old covey.”

“Why the old cuss is a crying,” answered Haxall, “or, perhaps, it’s the whisky leaking out he took for his morning bitters.”

“Whisky be d——­d,” said the other.  “He never got as far as that.  It’s nothing but sour cider.  I can smell it.”

Here there was a brutal laugh, in which some of the bystanders, equally degraded, joined.

“For shame, young men,” said a respectable-looking person, whose broad-brimmed hat, and formal and amply cut clothing, proclaimed him a Quaker; “is an old man, in tears, a proper subject for ribaldry?  It were better ye were engaged in some honest employment, than idling away your time, and disgracing yourselves by the use of profane language.”

“Smoke the old quiz, Haxall,” cried the boy who had first spoken.  “He opens rich.  Let’s see what’s in the prig.”

“Smoke him, smoke him,” cried several voices.

Thus exhorted, Haxall jerking his cap jauntily on one side of his head, throwing an additional quantity of impudence into his face, and placing his hands on the hips, so that the elbows stuck out on each side, approached the Quaker.

“So you set yourself up for a preacher of righteousness,” he said; “do ye?  Well, you may preach away without asking my leave, or I’ll give it to ye gratis, for nothing.  That’s cheap enough, I guess.  Most of your sort, though, don’t like to preach for nothing.  So here’s my contribution to set you a going.”  So saying, he held out a cent.  “There’s value received,” he added, “and, mind ye, ye give us a preachment equal to the consideration.  But first, beloved brother, I’ve a question to ask.  Up to the tip top of your judgment, now do you think your regimentals is just the right thing, and no mistake?  Did Saint Paul and Saint, Saint, d——­n the fellows, I forget their names”——­

“Saint Tammany,” suggested his companion.

“I owe you a drink for that, Bill,” said Haxall.  “Yes, Saint Tammany.  Now, do you think them gentlemen, who I’ve heard, was real respectable men, though it was rather a comedown to take to preaching, ever sported such an infernal broadbrim as that, or turned out a tail as broad as yours?”