y earth and sky," he exclaimed, "but that's the most comical affair I
have seen yet. Comical! no, not a touch of comicality in it. Zounds, is
it possible that the, jade has coerced and beaten me?--dared to beard
the lion in his own den--to strip him, as it were, of his claws, and
to pull the very fangs out of his jaws, and, after all, to walk away in
triumph? Hang me, but I must have a strong touch of the coward in me
or I would not have knuckled as I did to the jade. Yet, hold--can I, or
ought I to be angry with her, when I know that this hellish racket all
proceeded from her love to Helen. Hang me, but she's a precious bit
of goods, and I'll contrive to make her a present, somehow, for her
courage. Beat me! by sun and sky she did."

He then proceeded to Helen's chamber, and ordered her attendants out of
the room; but, on looking at her, he felt surprised to perceive that
her complexion, instead of being pale, was quite flushed, and her
eyes flashing with a strange wild light that he had never seen in them
before.

"Helen," said he, "what's the matter, love? are you unwell?"

She placed her two snowy hands on her temples, and pressed them tightly,
as if striving to compress her brain and bring it within the influence
of reason.

"I fear you are unwell, darling," he continued; "you look flushed and
feverish. Don't, however, be alarmed; if you're not well, I'd see that
knave of a fellow hanged before I'd marry you to him, and you in that
state. The thing's out of the question, my darling Helen, and must not
be done. No: God forbid that I should be the means of murdering my own
child."

So much, we may fairly presume, proceeded from the pithy lecture of
Ellen Connor; but the truth was, that the undefinable old squire was the
greatest parental coward in the world. In the absence of his daughter
he would rant and swear and vapor, strike the ground with his staff, and
give other indications of the most extraordinary resolution, combined
with fiery passion, that seemed alarming. No sooner, however, did he go
into her presence, and contemplate not only her wonderful beauty, but
her goodness, her tenderness and affection for himself, than the bluster
departed from him, his resolution fell, his courage oozed away, and he
felt that he was fairly subdued, under which circumstances he generally
entered into a new treaty of friendship and affection with the enemy.

Helen's head was aching dreadfully, and she felt feverish and