Page:Orange Grove.djvu/189

 "Why, where are you going?"

"To the river!"

Walter shuddered as he stepped in front of him, and thought what might be his intention. Laying his hand on his arm, he said calmly, but firmly, "No James, you must not go yet, I have something more to say to you."

With that unconscious power Walter possessed over others, he swayed the impulsive James who sat down again, gentle and passive as a child.

"Can you not summon the resolution to say that you will never taste another drop?"

For the first time since they left the bar-room James mot the full glance of Walter's eye. He read in it something so confiding, so full of comfort, that the strong burst of passion was subdued, and he answered hopefully, "I will try if you will help me."

"I will, to the extent of my power; but it is your own will that must decide your fate."

"You, Walter, situated as you are, know nothing what it is for me to resist the temptations by which I am continually surrounded."

A slight tone of reproach curled his lips as he said these words which pained Walter, who felt the truth of the remark.

"I admit it, James, but that is no reason why I should not seek to save you. I have formed a plan for you to leave this place with all its associations, and beyond the reach of your present companions begin a new life. I know a place about six miles from here in a pleasant country town, where I think I can obtain a situation for you as clerk in a store,