"I am totally ignorant in what manner I can have deserved them."
"Out upon thee! out upon thee!" exclaimed Mucklewrath, starting up; "the word that thou hast spurned shall become a rock to crush and to bruise thee; the spear which thou wouldst have broken shall pierce thy side; we have prayed, and wrestled, and petitioned, for an offering to atone the sins of the congregation, and, lo! the very head of the offence is delivered into our band. He hath burst in like a thief through the window; he is a ram caught in the thicket, whose blood shall be a drink-offering to redeem vengeance from the church, and the place shall from henceforth be called Jehovah Jirah, for the sacrifice is provided. Up then, and bind the victim with cords to the horns of the altar!"
There was a movement among the party; and deeply did Morton regret at that moment the incautious haste with which he had ventured into their company. He was
