an jealousy was any thing but a
tiger's selfishness. I did not sow the seed that brought you forth;
too well I know it! Yet grateful and fair has been the vine as if
watered by the tears of angels; and when I sleep the demon in you
fades, and then, at least, your loving tendrils find all my nature an
arbor to take you up!"

"Would to God!" said Perry bitterly, "that in the sleep of everlasting
death we laid together. O my God! how I have loved you--father!"

The Judge enfolded the young man in his arms and like a child Perry
rested there. The lamp, previously burning very low, went out for want
of oil, as the old man nursed like his own babe the serpent's
offspring, not his own but another's untimely son, bred on the honor
of a husband's name. As they sat in the perfect darkness of the old
riverside mansion, Judge Whaley told his tale.

He had neglected to marry until he had become of settled legal and
business habits, and more than forty-five years of age when he chose
for a wife a young lady who professed to admire and love him. They had
no children. The wife was a coquette, and began to woo admiration
almost as soon as the nuptials were done. Judge Whaley thought nothing
ill of this; he was in the heyday of his practice and willing to let
one so much his junior enjoy herself. Among his law students was a
young man from South Carolina, of brilliant manners and insidious
address. This person had already become so intimate with Mrs. Whaley
as to draw upon the Judge anonymous letters notifying him that he was
too indifferent, to which letters he gave no attention, only bestowing
the more confidence and freedom upon her, when, happily, as it was
thought, the wife showed signs of maternity. Perry was born, to the
joy of his father. The young mother, however, hastened to recover her
health and gayety. The favor she expressed for the student's society
was revived and not opposed by her husband. Judge Whaley returned
unexpectedly one day to his residence; he came upon a scene that in an
instant destroyed faith and rendered explanation impossible. His wife
was false. The student passionately avowed himself her seducer. The
Judge went through the ordeal like a magistrate.

"Take her away with you," he said. "That is the only reparation you
can do her, until she is legally divorced, and after that, if
necessary, I will give her an allowance, but she cannot rest under
this roof another night. It has been the abode of chaste w