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Show .I I - ..... ) ~-· 248 RICHARD llUUDIS. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE UEAR'l' FAILS. "Like dastard curres, thnt having nt nbuy The savage beast embost in wenrie chnce, Dare not ndventurtl on the stubborn prey, Ne byte bdoJ•e, but rome from plncc to place, To get n suntch, when turned is his fnce."Faery Queen. •ruE emissnry of the mystic confederacy .]lad .bec_n ;veil ch~~ .sen for the business upon which he came. -He .d J scrnm~nted. t a O"Ianco between tlLC characters of John IIurdJs and !us n~cn.t. The imbecility of the one had been th? dlief oceaswn of IJJ~ vice@ ; the destitution of the other !tad M1gmated Ills. ~_1nope1 education, alone, with dnc refcreuce to the ir seYcral dehca·uc.'es, could ha,·c saved them; and, under strict guidance and JUSt guardianship, they had, doubtlessly, been bot}~ good men. T11ey were not, however; and the task of tl1e cun ssary was_ to make the pnrticular deficiencies of each, the llg'CJJt for securmg tho required degree of influence over them. To llic~ett,_ when Hm·dis left them, he had tLat to say, which, ~houg.h Jt diCI' B~t entirely answer the intended purpose of sccur.JUg h_1s he,n~t) c 1~ operation, had, at least, the effect of confoumlwg hun. ~hong the agent of llurdis could not be immediately changed mto an enemy, he was effectua1ly prevented from appenring for . ever after in the attitude of an activo friend. The words were few which effected this object. . If "That is a poor creature fOr whom you :isk?d yot;r l ~f~.him he dared, he would even now have you nsk 1t ngam fot · 'fhere is no need to risk it for yourself. Tie would pay ~ou well to murder me! 'rhe fool! as if I, only, n~ in p_ossess:: of his secret-as if I were utterly ungnardcd m commg do I TIH: JIE.\R1' l-'AJLS. 249 into his jaws, or stood in a11y sort of clnngct· of tl1e ir closing upon me! I'll tell you what, brother-when you stab or shoot, let it Lu on your 011'11 nccount. 1f you do it for m10ther, let it be for one wl10 is uot too grC'at a COI\'Hrd to do it for himself. Hero's a wretcl1 would kill his cncmy-tlJat's nothing-if his own arm held the weapon! Has tho feeling which makes h im hale-the malignity which prompts l1im to revenge-yet lacks the very qu:dity which alone c1m make lmte IJOnorable, and mnlignity m:mly. Dy the seal of the grand council, if 'twerc with me, I'd compound with tho fellow for his life-take l1is money, as much as he could gi\·c-and let him off from the coHfcdcrary. I despise such sncnks, and would trust them with nothing. And yet, they haxo tlJCi•· uses. 'l'o save l1is own thront, he can tell us where others arc to be found, and do the business of a spy, if he lacks the boldness to tnkc tim ·weapon of the so ldier. 'l'l•c scoundrel, too, to strike l1is own brother; there's no trusting such a chap, P ickett, and it's fortunate for you t liat another has him on the skirts, as well as yourself. If ever th is business had come out, you would have suffered all; he'd have mndo you tho scnpcgont, nnd would l•a,·e lncked the will, as well as t he com agc, to have helped you, by a proper effort, out of the halter. He is l}lnnning sometlling now-I know it-something ngainst me; but he must be a keener hunter of blood than I think him, to find me napping. By mid.d:ty to-morrow, I'll put another hound upon his track, so that he shall tnke no step without the council k nowing it." Thus speaking, the emiss:u·y led the way back to the hovel of Pickett, with a nwnuer of tile utmost unconcern. 'l' l1e latter was too much bewildered by wlwt he l1eard-by his own !lCCil· liar situation, aucl tl•c position in which his former coadjutor was likely to be placed - to th ink of nnyth ing c:tlmly, or to mnke any answer. He bcgnn, with that easy pliability to vice and its suggestions, wl1ich lta.d nlways marked his character, to feel that there was no need for him to struggle against a power that nlmost seemed like a fn te; and, if he had any r efl ections at all, they were those of one, who, buffeting much with the world's troubles, had, at last, lea.med to make something of the worst of them. His mind began to address itself to tho advantages which might result from this new association, and it was not an emia. 11• |