lan of a compromise the less I
like it, and I cannot for the life of me see how it secures finality. If
this charge is to be revived in my son's time, it will certainly not be
met with more vigor or more knowledge than I can myself contribute to
it. Every impostor gains by the lapse of years--bear _that_ in mind. The
difficulties which environ explanations are invaribly in favor of the
rogue, just because fiction is more plausible often than truth. It is
not pleasant to admit, but I am forced to own that there is not one
amongst my sons who has either the stamina or the energy to confront
such a peril; so that, if the battle be really to be fought, let it come
on while I am yet here, and in health and vigor to engage in it.

"'There are abundant reasons why I cannot confide the matter to any of
my family--one will suffice: there is not one of them except my eldest
daughter who would not be crushed by the tidings, and though she has
head enough, she has not the temper for a very exciting and critical
struggle.

"'What you tell me of Jack and his indiscretion will serve to show you
how safe I should be in the hands of my sons, and he is possibly about
as wise as his brothers, though less pretentious than the diplomatist;
and as for Augustus, I have great misgivings. If the time should ever
come when he should have convinced himself that this claim was good--and
sentimental reasons would always have more weight with him than either
law or logic--I say, if such a time should arrive, he 's just the
sort of nature that would prefer the martyrdom of utter beggary to the
assertion of his right, and the vanity of being equal to the sacrifice
would repay him for the ruin. There _are_ fellows of this stamp, and I
have terrible fears that I have one of them for a son.'"

Augustus laid down the letter and tried to smile, but his lip trembled
hysterically, and his voice was broken and uncertain as he said: "This
is a hard sentence, George--I wish I had never read it. What can it all
mean?" cried he, after a minute or more of what seemed cruel suffering.
"What is this claim? Who is this rogue? and what is this charge that
can be revived and pressed in another generation? Have you ever heard
of this before? or can you make anything out of it now? Tell me, for
mercy's sake, and do not keep me longer in this agony of doubt and
uncertainty."

"I have not the faintest clew to the meaning of all this. It reads as if
some one was about t