From one Shrove Tuesday to another, much may occur to
weigh down the heart; it is the reckoning of a whole year; much may
be forgotten, sins against heaven in word and thought, sins against
our neighbor, and against our own conscience. We are scarcely aware
of their existence; and Anne Lisbeth did not think of any of her
errors. She had committed no crime against the law of the land; she
was an honorable person, in a good position—that she
knew.
She continued her walk along by the margin of the sea.
What was it she saw lying there? An old hat; a man's hat. Now when
might that have been washed overboard? She drew nearer, she stopped
to look at the hat; "Ha! what was lying yonder?" She shuddered; yet
it was nothing save a heap of grass and tangled seaweed flung
across a long sto
