In sleep it was no better. He was then
the prisoner of darkness, fettered with the bonds of a long night and
exiled for a space from the eternal Providence.
At length, however, the sun rose and John awoke and brought the terror
to an end by the calling on One Name and by casting himself on the care
and mercy of that One, who is "a very present help in time of trouble."
That was all John needed. He did not expect to escape trouble. All he
asked was that God would be to him "a very present help" in it.
Slowly and thoughtfully he dressed, wondering the while from what depths
of awful and forgotten experiences such dreams came. He was yet
awestruck and his spirit quailed when he thought of the eternity
_behind_ him. Meanwhile his trouble with Jane had partly receded to the
background of thought and feeling. He did not expect to see her at his
breakfast table. That was now a long-time-ago pleasure and he thought
that by dinner-time he would be more able to cope with the
circumstances.
But when he reached the hall the wide door stood open, the morning
sunshine flooded the broad white marble steps which led to the entrance
and Jane was slowly ascending them.
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