nything! may he be better, wiser than his
father was! Mr. Lawyer, write down what I say in as many words. Why
should I make any mystery of it? I am standing before the presence of
God. I want my son to be better than I was. Perchance God will forgive
me for the sake of his virtues. May my country, too, forgive me, and my
ancestors who have led lives like mine, for our sins against her! May
his life make manifest what ours ought to have been! May his wealth
never spoil his heart, so that in his old age he may not repent him of
his youth. I would have my son a happy man. But what is happiness?
Money? possessions? power? No, none of these. I possessed them all, and
yet I was not happy. Let his soul be rich, and then he will be happy.
Let him be an honourable, wise, courageous citizen, a good patriot, a
nobleman not merely by name, but in heart and soul, and then he will be
happy.

"I am well aware," pursued Karpathy, "that if I left my son in the
guardianship of his nearest relative--I allude to my nephew Bela--it
would mean his utter ruin. I charge that kinsman of mine before God's
judgment-seat with being a bad man, a bad relative, a bad patriot, who
would be even worse than he is if he were not as mad as he is bad. No! I
will not have the heart of my boy ruined by such a man as that. I would
place him in the hands of those who would inspire him with all noble
ideas; who would guide him along the paths of honour and virtue; who
would cherish and defend him better than I could do were I able to
stretch forth my hand from the tomb in his defence. I would place him in
the hands of a man who will be a better father to him than I could ever
be, and who, if he cannot love him better than I love him, will, at
least, love him more wisely. The man whom I appoint the legal guardian
of my son is Count Rudolf Szentirmay."

The good old man warmly pressed the hands of the youth sitting on his
right, who thereupon arose from his chair and embraced the Nabob with
tears of emotion. On resuming his seat, he whispered, in a husky voice,
of which he was scarce the master, that he accepted the trust.

"'She' also wished it," said the Nabob. "In her last hour, as she placed
my child in the arms of your wife, she said these words: 'Be a mother
to my child!' I have not forgotten it; and now I say to you, 'Be a
father to my child!' Happy child! What a good father, what a good
mother, you will inherit!

"And now," continued the Nabob, "a wor