m they had
just torn from his bed. A loud shout from the rest spoke their eagerness
for his punishinent; and amidst prayers for mercy, and entreaties, he
was dragged to the centre of the garden, placed on his knees; and his
hands firmly tied behind his back.

"Now, Misther Whelan, _acushla_," asked! one, in a jeering tone,
"would you be jist pleased to make yer choice between two purty little
invintions of ours--_cardin_ an _ear-ticklin'_."

The poor man trembled violently, and his livid lips opened but he could
not utter a word.

"What an obstinate, silent ould baste you are," said the same man,
"not to give a civil answer to my question. Bud maybe the look o' this
plaything id drive spake outov you--oh, you may stare now!" Saying this,
he drew forth a board with a thick handle, the bottom part of which was
closely studded with nails and sharp pieces of iron, in imitation of the
cards they use for wool, and continued--"Would you admire the taste of
this in the flesh on your back, my informin' codger!--eh?"

Upon this, shouts of "card him! card him!" arose from the group, and his
hands were quickly unloosed, and he was violently dashed on his
face, while some held his legs and others his arms. Then his back was
stripped, and the stranger laid the board flatly on it, with the iron
points touching the flesh, while another stood up with the large mallet
ready to drive them in, the shrieks of the victim becoming more and
more faint. Just as the man who held the weapon last named was about to
strike, and just as a demon grin of satisfied vengeance distorted the
otherwise handsome features of the stranger, a light and tiny form
flew screaming towards them, her long yellow hair floating in the
night-breeze, and her white dress hanging loosely about her delicate
limbs. It was Minny, who, unmindful of all, and seeing only her father,
threw herself on her knees beside him, exclaiming in tones of agony:

"Oh, my father--my dear father--what is the matter?--what are they goin'
to do wid you?"

The stranger started at the tones of her voice, and on gazing at her for
a moment, flung the card to a distance, and catching her in his arms,
kissed away the tears which covered her cheeks, as she struggled for
release.

"Is it you," he said with much emotion, "that I promised to
purtect?--You, who succored an' saved me when I was dyin' for want? An'
are you the daughter ov Whelan the procthor?"

The men, perplexed at the apparitio