blow fall, and all over, as the man who shall be
in two pieces in a second waits for the axe to drop. But while he looked
straight into the flaming eyes, it seemed to him that they were losing
their light and terror, that they were growing tame and dull; the charm
was dissolving, the numbness was passing away, he could move once more.
He heard a light breathing close to his ear, and, half turning, saw the
face of Elsie Venner, looking motionless into the reptile's eyes, which
had shrunk and faded under the stronger enchantment of her own.

CHAPTER XIV. FAMILY SECRETS.

It was commonly understood in the town of Rockland that Dudley Venner
had had a great deal of trouble with that daughter of his, so handsome,
yet so peculiar, about whom there were so many strange stories. There
was no end to the tales which were told of her extraordinary doings.
Yet her name was never coupled with that of any youth or man, until this
cousin had provoked remark by his visit; and even then it was oftener in
the shape of wondering conjectures whether he would dare to make love to
her, than in any pretended knowledge of their relations to each other,
that the public tongue exercised its village-prerogative of tattle.

The more common version of the trouble at the mansion-house was this:
Elsie was not exactly in her right mind. Her temper was singular, her
tastes were anomalous, her habits were lawless, her antipathies were
many and intense, and she was liable to explosions of ungovernable
anger. Some said that was not the worst of it. At nearly fifteen years
old, when she was growing fast, and in an irritable state of mind and
body, she had had a governess placed over her for whom she had conceived
an aversion. It was whispered among a few who knew more of the family
secrets than others, that, worried and exasperated by the presence and
jealous oversight of this person, Elsie had attempted to get finally rid
of her by unlawful means, such as young girls have been known to
employ in their straits, and to which the sex at all ages has a certain
instinctive tendency, in preference to more palpable instruments for
the righting of its wrongs. At any rate, this governess had been taken
suddenly ill, and the Doctor had been sent for at midnight. Old Sophy
had taken her master into a room apart, and said a few words to him
which turned him as white as a sheet. As soon as he recovered himself,
he sent Sophy out, called in the old Doctor, and g