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Show 312 niCIL\RD IIUHDJ~. coolly iook it into his haudl:i, tlm•w up the JHI Il, ~111d, with his iiugC'r, a ssurC'd himself that it wus l'ritnrd. Jlis toJJc was :~1- tcretl instantly. He dropped tltc drawling mnnner of the exhorting; and, though his conversation was still sprinkled witl1 the cnuting sla11g of the itinerant preacher, wltich l01q; usc hnd probably made Jwbitu:tl, yet ltc evidently ceased to think it uccessnry to Jdny the hypocrite with me any lougcr. "You nrc too bold a fellow," he J:Ulid, "to throw away your life in such :1 mnnncr, and that, too, because of the .want of mo11· ey. You shall have money-as much as you wish of it; anJ, 1 tnkc it, you woHld infinitely prefer shooting him who has it l'Hthcr than yoursc1f-" "Nay, u:.y, not tltnt neither, re,·erend sir. There's some danger of Leillg lntng for such a matter." "Not if you h:n-e money. You forget, my friend, your own principles. You said, and said ti·uly, that money was the power w!Jicll made virtue and opinion take all s!Hlpes mnong men; :mc.l, wl1en tlds is the case, justice Leeomes equally accommodating. You sh:dl have t!Jis money-you shall compel this OJJinion ns you plcnsc, so thnt you mny do wl1at you please, and be safe-only let me know that you wish this knowledge." I grasped his hand '·iolently. "Ask the wretch at the gallows if he wishes life, and the question is no less idle than tlwt whicil you put to me." "Come f~uth cr back fl·om the river-some of theRe Loatmen may be pulling about; and such matters as I have to reveal, need no bright blaze like that which gleams upon us from yon forge. That wood looks dismal enough Lehind us-let us go there.'' Thither we went; and, having Lmicd ourselvt•s sumciently among tl1e thit.:k undergi·owtiJ to be free of :my tlnngC'r of dis· covery or intcnuption, l1c began the nanati\'C wl1ich follows; and whicL, together with much additional but unncccssnl'j' mntter, I have aLridged to my own limits:- "There was a boy," said he, "a poor boy of 'Vest T ennessee, who knew no llarents, and had no friends-who worked for his bread and educat ion, such as it was, at the sume moment- and, in spite of all his labors, found, at the end of every year: after DEEPER IN TJ-Jg PLOT. 313 casting up his accounts, tiJat !Jc had 0' • - • • many more k icks than coppers." oamed durmg Its passage "~o uncommon fortune in a country like ours" "~o IJC thought it,,, continued the parson, avai.li I . . myJntcrrupti(JH-"so 1 tl l . ng 1nnsclfof t I' . 1e lOug Jt It. He wnsted no time 1 ee mg Ill idle r<'grcts of a condition wl1icl1 }1 f. 1 , an< ;'~nre 17-c;Jeral tlJaJJ b i'ateful to mnnkind, aildeo,~eUI{;~t;\~: ~~:~:~· umsc .. low. many years he was williug to ex )end in tr in get a ltvmg Ill an honest way 1" I y g to ::"'ell, a reasonable question. 'VJJat auswer ?'' A reasonable one-like tile question L'~ . l if we ltave monc , ·] 1 J • · ' e IS s tort even without it. Foll~:vsi~l'~ rt.Je :o ~;ms?lf; but we have no l ife at all something else." , p ouo l gtves me liOne-l must fo llow "Well?" "~Ir resolved on being honest no longer" " Indeed.! Dut how could he put JJis rc~olution into efl'cct . a country ]1kc oms , 1 . Ill fcssional virtue 1" ' v Iere we am muudatcd with so much pro· "~e put on tt 1n·ofessionnl cloak." "Excellent." ab;'.B~tt,.·tiJ01lg~~ commencing a new/ and, as it p roved, a profit. 't c utmcss, Je was not so selfish as to desire a tnonopOly of ;d~a~':v~~~:hc~~.~~a:?v, a little reflection suggested to him a gnmd you made jus; now.~lved by the very natmal reflection which "What wns tlmt 1" "Simply th·1t 1 · r · of thousand~.". ns con< ttton was not that of an individual, but ",yell, that is a truism. W hat could he make of that 1" "A brothcrlwod." "How1" th~:.~~v~~:c~~ved thtt, if there were thousands in his condition ' Ye all have ao~~~~~Ic s ?'ovcrne~l by his feelings and opinions: by lJabit y ltke?css m our hearts, however disguised cat· s, manners, cducatton i but when habits, manners ed • ton, arc agreed, and to tileS . dd ] . . . ' u tlJen the lik b . e .Js a e( a prevatlmg necessity, ing mauhoo~n:::olecomes tdentJty, and the boy who, on reach- • ved to be no longer despicably honest felt ]1 • |
