hat great West, through which his tour had been as the triumphal
progress of a beloved monarch?

In the course of the talk, Madam Blennerhassett chanced to mention the
name of Miss Hale.

"Ah! Miss Hale!" said Burr, his eyes brightening, "I have often
thought of that splendid woman in connection with our court. She must
be approached on the subject, madam, and by you."

Theodosia glanced at her beautiful friend with a look of jealous
surprise.

"There are difficulties in the way, Colonel Burr," answered the lady
of the island, coloring deeply. "Her father, one of the most
influential citizens of Marietta, entertains a violent prejudice
against you."

"We want nothing to do with him, then," said Theodosia, sharply.

"Ah, my dear child, there are many good men who do not know Aaron Burr
as you know him, and whose political antipathies we must tolerate. But
his antagonism need not prevent his peerless daughter from accepting
the coronet of a countess."

"Countess!" exclaimed Theodosia. "Is this young woman a sorceress? Has
she bewitched you?"

Mrs. Blennerhassett glimpsed her own image in the mirror. "Perhaps
Colonel Burr anticipates raising the countess to the throne of an
empire."

"I will have a voice in that, and so will Gampy," declared Theodosia,
with a merry laugh. "The succession is fixed."

"You should become acquainted with Miss Evaleen Hale, Mrs. Alston.
Evaleen is my most intimate friend. She is now in much anxiety on
account of an uncle in New Orleans, a wealthy merchant, who was
stabbed in the back by a drunken Spaniard. The wound caused partial
paralysis, and Richard Hale desires his niece, who has always been a
favorite, to come and attend him in his helpless condition. Several
urgent letters have decided her to make the tedious and not altogether
safe journey down the river on a barge, which is to start from
Marietta within six weeks."

"Did I not say the gods are propitious?" broke in Burr; "Miss Hale is
going our way at an opportune time. Her rich uncle will bequeath her
his fortune and go to Heaven; she will take the money and go to
Mexico."

XV. THERE BE LAND RATS AND WATER RATS.

At some distance north of Natchez, and below the third Chickasaw
bluff, near the bank of one of the bayous, which seem to run from
rather than toward the Mississippi, a band of desperadoes had
established a temporary abode, sometime in the year 1805. They were an
organized league of robbers, bandits