epended on it, would only
plunge her into deeper distress. The evening consequently passed without
any allusion to the subject, unless a peculiar tendency to melody, on
his part, might be taken to mean something; to this we might add
short abrupt ejaculations unconsciously uttered--such as--"Whew, whew,
whew--o--whew--o--hang the fellow! Whew, whew--o--whew--he's a
cursed goose, but an obstinate--whew, whew--o--whew--o. Ay, but no
matter--well--whew, whew--o, whew, whew! Helen, a cup of tea. Now,
Helen, do you know a discovery I have made--but how could you? No, you
don't, of course; but listen and pay attention to me, because it deeply
affects myself."

The poor girl, apprehensive that he was about to divulge some painful
secret, became pale and a good deal agitated; she gave him a long,
inquiring look, but said nothing.

"Yes, Helen, and the discovery is this: I find from experience that tea
and Burgundy--or, indeed, tea and any kind of wine--don't agree with my
constitution: curse the fel--whew, whew, whew, whew--o--whew; no, the
confounded mixture turns my stomach into nothing more nor less than a
bag of aquafortis--if he had but common--whew--"

"Well, but, papa, why do you take tea, then?"

"Because I'm an old fool, Helen; and if I am, there are some young ones
besides; but it can't be helped now--whew, whew--it was done for the
best."

In this manner he went on for a considerable time, ejaculating mysteries
and enigmas, until he finished the second bottle, after which he went to
bed.

It may be necessary to state here that, notwithstanding the incredible
force and tenderness of his affection for his daughter, he had,
ever since her elopement with Reilly, kept her under the strictest
surveillance, and in the greatest seclusion--that is to say, as the
proverb has it, "he locked the stable door when the steed was stolen;"
or if he did not realize the aphorism, he came very near it.

Time, however, passes, and the assizes were at hand, a fearful Avatar of
judicial power to the guilty. The struggle between the parties who were
interested in the fate of Whitecraft, and those who felt the extent of
his unparalleled guilt, and the necessity not merely of making him an
example but of punishing him for his enormous crimes, was dreadful. The
infatuation of political rancor on one side, an infatuation which could
perceive nothing but the virtue of high and resolute Protestantism in
his conduct, blinded his supporter