ssible, a new and better
interest in life--his father ventured upon the doubtful experiment we
spoke of yesterday; that of placing capital in his hands, and making
him an equal partner in the business of distilling and cotton-spinning.
The disastrous--I might say disgraceful--result you know. The young man
squandered his own capital and heavily embarrassed his father.

"The effect of all this upon Mrs. Hammond has been painful in the
extreme. We can only dimly imagine the terrible suffering through which
she has passed. Her present aberration was first visible after a long
period of sleeplessness, occasioned by distress of mind. During the
whole of two weeks, I am told, she did not close her eyes; the most of
that time walking the floor of her chamber, and weeping. Powerful
anodynes, frequently repeated, at length brought relief. But, when she
awoke from a prolonged period of unconsciousness, the brightness of her
reason was gone. Since then, she has never been clearly conscious of
what was passing around her, and well for her, I have sometimes thought
it was, for even obscurity of intellect is a blessing in her case. Ah,
me! I always get the heart-ache, when I think of her."

"Did not this event startle the young man from his fatal dream, if I
may so call his mad infatuation?" I asked.

"No. He loved his mother, and was deeply afflicted by the calamity; but
it seemed as if he could not stop. Some terrible necessity appeared to
be impelling him onward. If he formed good resolutions--and I doubt not
that he did--they were blown away like threads of gossamer, the moment
he came within the sphere of old associations. His way to the mill was
by the 'Sickle and Sheaf'; and it was not easy for him to pass there
without being drawn into the bar, either by his own desire for drink,
or through the invitation of some pleasant companion, who was lounging
in front of the tavern."

"There may have been something even more impelling than his love of
drink," said I.

"What?"

I related, briefly, the occurrences of the preceding night.

"I feared--nay, I was certain--that he was in the toils of this man!
And yet your confirmation of the fact startles and confounds me," said
he, moving about his office in a disturbed manner. "If my mind has
questioned and doubted in regard to young Hammond, it questions and
doubts no longer. The word 'mystery' is not now written over the door
of his habitation. Great Father! and is it thus that