done. Some said it was to show the people that there was no
favoritism towards a man of rank and fortune. Some alleged it was to
spare the feelings of his relatives, who were Carlow people."

"Good Heavens!" exclaimed my father, passionately; "was there ever such
an infamy!"

"The event happened as I tell you, sir. I believe I have the trial in
the house; if I have not, Crowther will have it, for he was engaged in
the defence, and one of those who endeavored to dissuade Hamilton from
his resolution of surrender."

"And who is Crowther?"

"A solicitor, sir, of great practice and experience."

"In whom you have confidence, Fagan?"

"The most implicit confidence."

"And who could be useful to us in this affair?"

"Of the very greatest utility, sir,--not alone from his legal knowledge,
but from his consummate acquaintance with the world and its modes of
thinking."

"Can you send for him? Can you get him here without exciting suspicion?"
said my father; for already had terror seized hold on him, and even
before he knew it was he entangled in the toils.

"I can have him here within an hour, sir, and without any risk whatever;
for he is my own law adviser, and in constant intercourse with me."

Fagan now persuaded my father to lie down and try to obtain some sleep,
promising to awake him the moment that Crowther arrived.

CHAPTER XIV. A CONFERENCE

Scarcely had my father laid himself down on the bed, when he fell off
into a heavy sleep. Fatigue, exhaustion, and loss of blood all combined
to overcome him, and he lay motionless in the same attitude he at first
assumed.

Fagan came repeatedly to the bedside, and, opening the curtains
slightly, gazed on the cold, impassive features with a strange
intensity. One might have supposed that the almost deathlike calm of the
sleeper's face would have defied every thought or effort of speculation;
but there he sat, watching it as though, by dint of patience and study,
he might at length attain to reading what was passing within that brain.

At the slightest sound that issued from the lips, too, he would bend
down to try and catch its meaning. Perhaps, at moments like these, a
trace of impatience might be detected in his manner; but, for the most
part, his hard, stern features showed no sign of emotion, and it was in
all his accustomed self-possession that he descended to the small and
secluded chamber where Crowther sat awaiting him.

"Still asleep, Fagan?" aske