his watch and purse were found on the body."

Have they taken the body away ?" "No, sir. It remains for the coroner's inquest, which is to assemble immediately.'

"Had Rutledge any political enemies? Is it supposed that the event was in any way connected with party?"

"That could scarcely be," said Fagan. "He was one who gave himself little concern about state affairsan easy fop, that fluttered about the Court, caring for little above the pleasures of his valueless existence !"

"For such men you have few sympathies, Fagan!"

"None, sir. Not one. Their his tory is ever the same. A life of de

bauch-a death of violence!"

"This is to speak hardly, Fagan," said my father, mildly. "Men like poor Rutledge have their good qualities, though they be not such as you and I set store by. I never thought so myself, but others, indeed, deemed him a most amusing companion, and with more than an ordinary share of wit and pleasantry."

"The wit and pleasantry were both exerted to make his friends ridiculous, sir," said Fagan, severely. "He was

a man that lived upon a reputation for smartness, gained at the expense of every good feeling."

"I'll wager a trifle, Tony," said my father, laughing, "that he died deep in your books. Come, be frank, and how much this unhappy affair will cost you."

say

"Not so dearly as it may you, sir," whispered Fagan in my father's ear; and the words nearly overcame him.

"How so?-what do you mean?" muttered my father, in a broken, faltering voice.

"Čome this way, for a moment, Mr. Carew," said the other, aloud, "and I'll show you my snuggery, where I live, apart from all the world.'

My father followed him into a small chamber, where Fagan at once closed the door, and locked it; and then approaching him, pulled forth from beneath his loose cuff, a lace ruffle, stained and clotted with blood.

"It is fortunate for you, Mr. Carew," said he," that Raper is so unobservant; any other than he would have seen this, and this;" and as he spoke the last words, he pointed to a small

portion of a bloody handkerchief which projected outside the shirt-frill.

So overwhelmed was my father by these evidences, that he sank powerless into a chair, without strength to speak.

"How was it?-how did it occur?" asked Fagan, sitting down in front of him, and placing one hand familiarly on my father's knee. Simple as the action was, it was a liberty that he had never dared before to take with my father, who actually shuddered at the touch, as though it had been a pollution.

"Unpremeditated, of course, I conclude," said Fagan, still endeavouring to lead him on to some explanation. My father nodded.

Unwitnessed also," said Fagan, slowly. Another nod implied assent.

"Who knows of your presence in Dublin? Who has seen you, since your arrival in Dublin ?" asked he.

"None of my acquaintances, so far, at least, as I know. I went, by a mere accident, to a hotel where I am not known. By another accident, if I dare so call it, I fell upon this rencontre. I will endeavour to tell you the whole, as it occurred that is, if I can sufficiently collect myself; but first let me have some wine, Fagan, for I am growing weak."

As Fagan left the room, he passed the desk where Raper was already seated, hard at work, and, laying his hand on the clerk's shoulder, he whispered

"Be cautious that you do not mention Mr. Carew's arrival here. There is a writ out against him for debt, and he has come up here to be out of the way."

Raper heard the words without even discontinuing to write, and merely muttered a brief "very well," in reply.

When Fagan re-entered the chamber, he found my father just rallying from a fainting-fit, which loss of blood and agitation together, had brought Two or three glasses of wine hastily swallowed, restored him, and he was again able to converse.

on.

"Can you be traced to this house?. is there any clue to you here?" asked Fagan, resuming his former seat.

"None, so far as I know. The affair occurred thus—”

"Pardon my interrupting you," broke in Fagan; "but the most important thing at this moment is, to

provide for your safety, in the event of any search after you. Have you any ground to apprehend this ?" "None whatever. You shall hear the story."

"They are talking of it outside!" whispered Fagan, with a gesture of his hand to enforce caution; "let us listen to them." And he slowly unlocked the door, and left it to stand ajar.

The outer shop was by this time filling with the small fruit-venders of the capital—a class peculiarly disposed to collect and propagate the gossip of the day; and Fagan well knew how much the popular impression would depend upon the colouring of their recital.

"Tis lucky," said one, "that his watch and money was on him, or they'd say at once it was the boys done it."

"Faix! they couldn't do that," broke in another; "there's marks about the place would soon contradict them." "What marks?"

"The print of an elegant boot. I saw it myself; it is small in the heel and sharp in the toe, very unlike yours or mine, Tim."

"Begad! so much the better," said the other, laughing.

"And I'll tell you more," resumed the former speaker: "it was a dress sword what they wear at the Castle -killed him. You could scarce see the hole. It's only a little blue spot between the ribs."

"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" exclaimed a woman's voice; "and they say he was an elegant, fine man!"

"As fine a figure of a man as ever ye looked at !"

"And nobody knows the reason of it at all?" asked she again.

"I'll engage it was about a woman!" muttered a husky, old, cracked voice, that was constantly heard, up to this moment, bargaining for oranges.

And Fagan quickly made a sign to my father to listen attentively.

"I often said what Barry Rutledge 'ud come to; ay, and I told himself so. 'You've a bad tongue,' says I, 'and you've a bad heart. Some day or other you'll be found out; and ye see, so he was."

"I wonder who did it," exclaimed another.

"My wonder is," resumed Denny, "that it wasn't done long ago; or instead of one wound in his skin, that he hadn't fifty. Do you know that when I used to go up to the officers' room with oranges, I'd hear more wickedness out of his mouth in one mornin', than I'd hear in Pill-lane, here, in a month of Sundays. There wasn't a man dined at the Castle-there wasn't a lady danced at the Coort, that he hadn't a bad story about; and he always began by saying-He and I was old schoolfellows,' or 'she's a great friend of mine.' I was up there the morning after the Coort came home from Carew Castle; and if ye heard the way he went on about the company. He began with Curtis, and finished with Carew himself."

Fagan closed the door here, and walking over, sat down beside my father's chair.

"We've heard enough now, sir," said he, "to know what popular opinion will pronounce upon this man. Denny speaks with the voice of a large mass of this city; and if they be not either very intelligent or exalted, they are, at least, fellows who back words by deeds, and are quite ready to risk their heads for their convictions-a test of honesty that their betters, perhaps, would shrink from. From what

he says, there will be little sympathy for Rutledge. The law, of course, will follow its due path; but the law against popular feeling is like the effort of the wind to resist the current of a fast river. It may ruffle the surface, but never will arrest the stream. Now, sir, just tell me in a few words, what took place between you?"

My father detailed everything, from the hour of his arrival in Dublin, down to the very moment of his de

F

scending at Fagan's door. He faltered, indeed, and hesitated about the con versation of the coffee-room, for even in all the confidence of a confession, he shrunk from revealing the story of his marriage. And in doing so, he stammered and blundered so much, that Fagan could collect little above the bare facts, that my mother had been wagered at a card-table, and won by my father.

Had my father been in a cooler mood, he could not have failed to remark, how much deeper was the interest Fagan took in the story of his first meeting with my mother, than in all the circumstances of the duel. So far as it was safe-farther than it would have been so at any other moment-the Grinder cross-questioned my father as to her birth, the manner of her education, and the position she held before her marriage.

"This is all beside the matter," cried my father, at last, impatiently. "I am now to think what is best to be done here. Shall I give myself up at once?—and why not, Fagan?" added he, abruptly, interrogating the look of the other.

"For two sufficient reasons, sir: first, that you would be needlessly exposing yourself to great peril; and, secondly, you would certainly be exposing another to great- He stopped and faltered, for there was that in my father's face that made the utterance of a wrong word dangerous.

"Take care what you say, Master Tony; for, however selfish you may deem me, I have still enough of heart left to consider those far worthier of thought than myself."

"And yet, sir, the fact is so, whether I speak it or not," said Fagan. "Once let this affair come before a public tribunal, and what is there that can be held back from the prying impertinence of the world? And I see no more reason why you should peril life than risk all that makes life desirable."

"But what or where is all this peril, Fagan? You talk as if I had been committing a murder."

"It is precisely the name they would give it in the indictment, sir," said the other, boldly. "Nay, hear me out, Mr. Carew. Were I to tell the adventure of last night, as the bare facts reveal it, who would suggest the possibility of its being a duel? Think of

the place the hour-the solitudethe mere accident of the meeting! Oh no, sir; duels are not fought in this fashion."

"You are arguing against yourself, Tony. You have convinced me that there is but one course open. I must surrender myself!"

"Think well of it, first, Mr. Carew," said Fagan, drawing his chair closer, and speaking in a lower tone. "We must not let any false delicacy deceive us. There never was a case of this

kind yet that did not less depend upon its own merits than on fifty things over which one has no control. The temper of the judge —the rank in life of the jury-the accidental tone of public opinion at the moment the bias of the press; these are the agencies to be thought of. When Grogan Hamilton was tried for shooting John Adair, in the mess-room, at Carlow, his verdict was pronounced before the jury was empannelled!"

"I never heard of that case," said my father, anxiously.

The

"It occurred when you were a boy at school, sir; and although the facts would not read so condemnatory now, at that time there was not one voice to be heard on the side of mercy. duel, if duel it could be called, took place after every one, save themselves, had left the table. The quarrel was an old grudge, revived over the bottle. They fought without witnesses; and with Heaven knows what inequality of weapons, and although Hamilton gave himself up

"He gave himself up?" interrupted my father.

66

Yes, sir-in direct opposition to his friends' advice, he did so; but, had he followed a different course-had he even waited till the excitement had calmed down a little-till men began to talk more dispassionately on the subject, the result might have been diffe

rent."

"And what was the result?" "I have already told you, sir-a conviction."

"And what followed?"

"He was hanged-hanged in front of the old gaol at Naas, where the regiment he once had served in were quartered. I don't know how or why this was done. Some said it was to show the people that there was no favouritism towards a man of rank and fortune. Some alleged it was to spare

the feelings of his relatives, who were Carlow people."

"Good Heavens !" exclaimed my father, passionately, "was there ever such an infamy!"

"The event happened as I tell you, sir. I believe I have the trial in the house if I have not, Crowther will have it, for he was engaged in the defence, and one of those who endeavoured to dissuade Hamilton from his resolution of surrender."

"And who is Crowther?"

"A solicitor, sir, of great practice and experience."

"In whom you have confidence, Fagan ?"

"The most implicit confidence." "And who could be useful to us in this affair ?"

"Of the very greatest utility, sir; not alone from his legal knowledge, but from his consummate acquaintance with the world and its modes of thinking."

Can you send for him. Can you get him here without exciting suspi cion?" said my father; for already had terror seized hold on him, and even before he knew it, was he entangled in the toils.

"I can have him here within an hour, sir, and without any risk whatever, for he is my own law-adviser, and in constant intercourse with me."

Fagan now persuaded my father to lie down, and try to obtain some sleep, promising to awake him the moment that Crowther arrived.

SCARCELY had my father laid himself down on the bed, when he fell off into a heavy sleep. Fatigue, exhaustion, and loss of blood, all combined to overcome him, and he lay motionless in the same attitude he at first assumed.

Fagan came repeatedly to the bedside, and opening the curtains slightly, gazed on the cold, impassive features with a strange intensity. One might have supposed that the almost deathlike calm of the sleeper's face, would have defied every thought or effort of speculation; but there he sat, watching it, as though, by dint of patience and study, he might at length attain to reading what was passing within that brain.

At the slightest sound that issued from the lips, too, he would bend down to try and catch its meaning. Per

haps, at moments like these, a trace of impatience might be detected in his manner; but for the most part, his hard, stern features showed no sign of emotion, and it was in all his accustomed self-possession that he descended to the small and secluded chamber, where Crowther sat awaiting him.

"Still asleep, Fagan?" asked the lawyer, looking hastily up from the papers and documents he had been perusing.

"He is asleep; and like enough to continue so," replied the other, slowly, while he sank down into an arm-chair, and gave himself up to deep reflection.

"I have been thinking a good deal over what you have told me," said Crowther, and, I own, I see the very

"My own opinion!" rejoined Fagan, curtly.

66

Even if it were an ordinary duel, with all the accustomed formalities of time, place, and witnesses, the temper of the public mind is just now in a critical state on these topics-MacNamara's death, and that unfortunate affair at Kells, have made a deep impression. I'd not trust too much to such dispositions. Besides, the chances are, they would not admit him to bail, so that he'd have to pass three, nearly four months in Newgate before he could be brought to trial."

"He'd not live through the imprisonment. It would break his heart, if it did not kill him otherwise."

"By no means unlikely."

"I know him well, and I am convinced he'd not survive it. Why the very thought of the accusation—the bare idea that he could be arraigned as a criminal, so overcame him here this morning, that he staggered back, and sunk into that chair, half fainting."

He thinks that he was not known at that hotel where he stopped?"

"He is quite confident of that-the manner of the waiters towards him convinces him that he was not recognised."

"Nor has he spoken with any one since his arrival, except yourself?"

"Not one, save the hackney carman, who evidently did not know him.”

“He left home, you say, without a servant?"

"Yes! he merely said that he was going over, for a day or two, to the mines, and would be back by the end of the week. But, latterly, he has often absented himself in this fashion; and, having spoken of visiting one place, has changed his mind, and gone to another, in an opposite direction." "Who has seen him since he arrived here?"

"No one but myself and Raper." "Ah! Raper has seen him? "That matters but little. Joe has forgotten all about it already, or if he has not, I have but to say, that it was a mistake for him to fancy that it was so. You shall see, if you like, that he will not even hesitate the moment I tell him the thing is so."

"It only remains, then, to determine where he should go-I mean Carew; for, although any locality would serve in one respect, we must bethink ourselves of every issue to this affair; and, should there be any suspicion attaching to him, he ought to be out of danger the danger of arrest. Where do his principal estates lie?"

"In Wicklow-immediately around Castle Carew."

"But he has other property?"

"Yes! he has some northern estates; and there is a mine, also, on Lough Allen belonging to him."

"Well, why not go there?"

"There is no residence; there is nothing beyond the cabins of the peasantry, or the scarcely more comfortable dwelling of the overseer.

I have it, Crowther," cried he, suddenly, as though a happy notion had just struck him; "I have it. You have heard of that shooting-lodge of mine at the Killeries? It was Carew's property, but has fallen into my hands: he shall go there. So far as seclusion goes, I defy Ireland to find its equal. They who have seen it, tell me it is a perfect picture of landscape beauty. He can shoot, and fish, and sketch for a week or so, till we see what turn this affair is like to take. Nothing could be better; the only difficulty is the distance."

"You tell me that he is ill."

"It is more agitation than actual illness: he was weak and feeble before this happened, and of course his nerves are terribly shaken by it."

"The next consideration is, how to

apprise his wife, at least, what we ought to tell her if he be incapable of writing."

"I hinted that already as I accompanied him up stairs, and by his manner it struck me that he did not lay much stress on the matter; he merely said, 'Oh! she has no curiosity; she never worries herself about what does not concern her.''

"A rare quality in a wife, Fagan," said the other, with a smile.

Whether it was the prompting of his own thoughts, or that some real or fancied emphasis on the word "wife!" caught him, but Fagan asked, suddenly, What did you say?"

"I remarked that it was a rare quality for a wife to possess. You thought, perhaps, it was rather the gift of those who enjoy the privilege, and not the name of such."

Maybe you're right, then, Crowther. Shall I own to you, it was the very thought that was passing through my own brain.”

"How strange that Rutledge should have hinted the very same suspicion to myself, the last time we ever spoke together," said Crowther, in a low, confidential whisper. "We were sitting in my back office, he had come to show me some bills of money won at play, and ask my advice about them. Carew was the endorser of two or three amongst them, and Rutledge remarked at the tremendous pace the other was going, and how impossible it was that any fortune could long maintain it. There was some difficulty in catching exactly his meaning, for he spoke rapidly, and with more than his accustomed warmth. It was something, however, to this effect- All this extravagant display is Madame's doing, and the natural consequence of his folly in France. If, instead of this absurd mistake, he had married and settled in Ireland, his whole career would have taken a different turn.' Now, when I reflected on the words after he left me, I could not satisfy myself whether he had said that Carew ought to have married, in contradis tinction to have formed this French attachment, or simply that he deemed an Irish wife would have been a wiser choice than a French one."

"The former strikes me as the true interpretation," said Fagan, "and the more I think on every circumstance of this affair, the more do I incline to this