HetrustedthatitwasHeaven\'sintenttoaffordhimanopportunityofexpiatinghissin；hehopedthathemightfindthebonessolongunburied；andthat，havinglaidtheearthoverthem，peacewouldthrowitssunlightintothesepulchreofhisheart。Fromthesethoughtshewasarousedbyarustlingintheforestatsomedistancefromthespottowhichhehadwandered。
Perceivingthemotionofsomeobjectbehindathickveilofundergrowth，hefired，withtheinstinctofahunterandtheaimofapractisedmarksman。Alowmoan，whichtoldhissuccess，andbywhichevenanimalscarsexpresstheirdyingagony，wasunheededbyReubenBourne。Whatweretherecollectionsnowbreakinguponhim？
ThethicketintowhichReubenhadfiredwasnearthesummitofaswellofland，andwasclusteredaroundthebaseofarock，which，intheshapeandsmoothnessofoneofitssurfaces，wasnotunlikeagiganticgravestone。Asifreflectedinamirror，itslikenesswasinReuben\'smemory。Heevenrecognizedtheveinswhichseemedtoformaninscriptioninforgottencharacters:
everythingremainedthesame，exceptthatathickcovertofbushesshroudedthelowerpartoftherock，andwouldhavehiddenRogerMalvinhadhestillbeensittingthere。YetinthenextmomentReuben\'seyewascaughtbyanotherchangethattimehadeffectedsincehelaststoodwherehewasnowstandingagainbehindtheearthyrootsoftheuptorntree。Thesaplingtowhichhehadboundthebloodstainedsymbolofhisvowhadincreasedandstrengthenedintoanoak，farindeedfromitsmaturity，butwithnomeanspreadofshadowybranches。TherewasonesingularityobservableinthistreewhichmadeReubentremble。Themiddleandlowerbrancheswereinluxuriantlife，andanexcessofvegetationhadfringedthetrunkalmosttotheground；butablighthadapparentlystrickentheupperpartoftheoak，andtheverytopmostboughwaswithered，sapless，andutterlydead。
Reubenrememberedhowthelittlebannerhadflutteredonthattopmostbough，whenitwasgreenandlovely，eighteenyearsbefore。Whoseguilthadblastedit？……