n the little household were at
rest; a slight rustling of the curtain attracted me, and I felt his hand
steal from the clothes and grasp my own.

"I have been thinking of you, my dear boy," said he, "and what is to
become of you when I'm gone. There, do not sob! The time is short now,
and I begin to feel it so; for somehow, as we approach the confines of
eternity, our mental vision grows clearer and more distinct,--doubts
that have long puzzled us seem doubts no longer. Many of our highest
hopes and aspirations--the daydreams that made life glorious--pass
before our eyes, and become the poor and empty pageants of the hour.
Like the traveller, who as he journeys along sees little of the way,
but at the last sits down upon some grassy bank, and gazes over the long
line of road; so, as the close of life draws near, we throw a backward
glance upon the past. But how differently does all seem to our eyes!
How many of those we envied once do we pity now! how many of those who
appeared low and humble, whose thoughts seemed bowed to earth, do we now
recognize as soaring aloft, high above their fellow-men, like creatures
of some other sphere!" He paused; then in a tone of greater earnestness
added: "You must not join these people, Tom. The day is gone by when
anything great or good could have been accomplished. The horrors of
civil war will ever prevent good men from uniting themselves to a cause
which has no other road save through bloodshed; and many wise ones, who
weigh well the dangers, see it hopeless. France is your country: there
liberty has been won; there lives one great man, whose notice, were it
but passingly bestowed, is fame. If life were spared me, I could have
served you there; as it is, I can do something."

He paused for a while, and then drawing the curtain gently to one side,
said,--"Can it be moonlight? it is so very bright."

"Yes," said I; "the moon is at the full."

He sat up as I spoke, and looked eagerly out through the little window.

"I have got a fancy,--how strange, too; it is one I have often smiled at
in others, but I feel it strongly now: it is to choose some spot where
I shall be laid when I am dead. There is a little ruin at the bottom of
this glen; you must remember it well. If I mistake not, there is a well
close beside it. I remember resting there one hot and sultry day in
July. It was an eventful day, too. We beat the King's troops, and took
seventy prisoners; and I rode from Arklow down