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Show 3~ 0 RICHAHD HURDIS . that proved him a person to resent as quickly as l1e :clt : but the emotion soon gave way to another of more controllmg mflnencc. His tone changed to mildness, as he proceeded:- "No sir· no force shall be necessary. Lead me wl1crc you please.' D~ with me as you please. I know not whether it would not be better and wiser for me, henceforward, to forego my own will and wis11es altogether. God knows it had _been far better and wiser, had I distrusted them lwlf as much lHthcrto ns l now distrust them. I had now- but, lead on, sir; conduct me as you will, aud wl1c rc you will. I_ will 110t trouble you longer-evcu with my despondency. It IS base enough to be humbled as I am now- 1 will not further dcUnse myself by the id le language of regret. I have 1)ut down. a boy's st~kc .ill the fooligh game which I have playetl-I w1ll hear w1th 1ts loss as a man. 1 will go before yon, sir, or follow even ns you desire. It shall not be necessary to employ Yiolcnce. I filii ready." . \Ve could not l1elp pitying tlte youth, as we conOucted lnm up stairs into the small garret-room, which lw.d been prC'parc<l for him. lie was evidently of noble stuff at fir::;t-naturally well fnshioneJ in mind and moral-with instinct$, which, hut for circumstances, would have carried ldm right- nnd f'cc~in~s gen tle and noble enough to have wrougltt cxceli~Hce w1tlnn }tim, coula it ha,·c been t httt l1e h:H) been blessed With a better education, and less doubtful associates, tlu1n it was his for:m~c to h:we found. lie certainly rose greatly in my esteem wtthm the last two hours, simply by the propriety of l1is mn_nners, nnc1 the degree of correct feeling with which he ~Jnd, "'ntho~t an! ostentation, coupled tl1cir cxltibition. Securlllg the w~ut1°" 8 as well as we could, and placing a sturdy and confidential scrYant at the door of the chamber, which was double-locket~ upon l1im we descended to the lower apartment, where we unmcdiat, ely proceed eel to confer up~n the other toils before us . .. "There is some public good," said Colonel Grnft011, wlth a tlc;;rrc of composure, which spoke admirably f~r the coutr~l which his mind l•nt1 o,·cr his feelings- " there JS some pu~lt: ooll coming from the personal evil which has fallen to my 0 · ~he proposed festival, which was this night to have taken })lac~, brings together the very friends, as guests, whom I Rhould ba' o f;.TJ1AT AG ~~ MS . 381 souo-ht in our proposed 1 . t 1 ° k at ' 011 nrc to-morrow, and whom it wouiJ uwc taO en me some time to have hunted up, and got in readin~ ss. m· party was to_ have been large, and I trust tlmt it wtll ~c, though the occasiOn now is so much less lovin and at-tractive than was expected." g '~'b is ~\·as said with some bitterness, and a pause en!:med, in wluch Grafton turned away from me and proceeded to the wind_ ow. \ Vhen he rctumed: he hm1 succeeded quite in obliteratmg tl~c traces of tht1t gncf which he was evidently ttnwilling that }us face should show. lie continued:- " VIe sltall CCitHinly have some fifteen able-bodied and fearle. ss men, 1~ot including ourselves; there may be more. Some of them will, I mn sure, bring their weapons; they haYe done so .usuall~; and, for the rest, I can make out to supply them, I thmk .. 'You sha~ l sec I have a tolerable armory, which though anythmg but umform, can be made to do mischief in the hands of men able and willing enough when occ::.sion serves to use it. T here is a rifle or two, nn old musket, two excellent doublebarrelled guns, and a few pistols, nll of which can be made use of. You, I believe, are already well proviOed." I showed him my state of preparation, and he then proceeded:- " I know the region where tl1ese fellows harbor, much better than you do, and, perhaps, much more intimately than they imagine. My plan is to surprise them. by daybreak. If we can do th is, our fifteen or twenty men will be more than a match for their thirty. And then, I trust, we lmve no less an ndvantage in the sort of men we bring to the conflict; men of high character, and among the most resolute of the surrounding country. I have no doubt that we shall be able to destroy at least one half of them, and disperse the rest. "Ve must strike at your master-spirits-your Foster and your Webbcr - thouo-h the former, according to your account, seems not without l~is good qualities. 'l'he latter is a tough villain, but l1e fears me, deny it as he may. If he did not, having such a feeling toward me as be l1as so openly avowed, he would l1ave drawn trigger on me before now. I must endeavor, this time, to wipe out old scores, and balance all my accounts with him. rrhese two, and one Ol' two more provided for, and we may be content with the |
