ne set of vital images, usurped his brain and
would not vanish or fade. It showed a grassy ledge guarded by rocks
and forest growths, in a secluded spot overlooking the Hudson. There
stands himself confronting his political rival and partisan foe; the
figures speak and move; a ghastly tragedy is imminent. Yes,
imagination compels the repetition--the men are placed--Burr takes
deliberate aim, touches the trigger, the fatal bullet pierces
Hamilton's breast and the slain Federalist falls heavily, his face
upon the sward. But before he falls, his pistol, which he had resolved
not to fire, is accidentally discharged, sending its ball eight feet
over the head of his antagonist and cutting off a leafy twig from an
overhanging bough. Burr's attention is strangely affected by the fate
of the green branch which he heard the bullet sever, and, as he sees
it come wavering to the ground, he cannot resist the fancy that he
beholds an emblem of his own ruin--a symbol of his future self--a
living thing cut off from its nourishing stock as he was destined to
be from a nation's sympathy and support.

The gloomy retrospect, the dismal forecast, were too painful; by a
strong effort of the will, Burr strove to expunge the past and
illuminate the future. Rising, he took a brisk turn or two, pacing the
deck. His cigar had gone out; casting it into the river, he lit a
fresh one, and again sat down. The kindled roll diffused its searching
perfume and wrought a soothing change of mood. By some subtle chain of
new associations Burr was led to think of the words of Milton's hero
in _Paradise Lost_:

"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell."

He puffed at the long cigar, and began to build a future out of
rolling smoke. Toppled fortunes may be rebuilt; lost reputation may be
retrieved. There are new worlds to discover, to conquer, and to
possess. What may not be achieved by genius and courage? What to
undertake, what to dare and do! Shall he span the Ohio with a bridge,
and dig a canal around the falls? Would he find success by settling in
some rising city of the West, and resuming the practice of law? Or
might he not reasonably hope to be returned to Congress from one of
the new States? Or to secure from the President an appointment as
Minister to a foreign court, perhaps that of St. James? Better than
these schemes and more independent, to embark in a stupendous land
speculation in Louisiana, and open a spl