'Why, you don't mane to say anything agen her charakther, do you?" said Andy.

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Charakther, indeed!" said his mother, with a sneer.

By this an' that," said Andy, "if she was the child unborn she couldn't make a greater hullabaloo about her charakther than she did the mornin' afther.'

"Afther what?" said his mother.

"Afther I was tuk away up to the hill beyant, and found her there, and--but I b'lieve I didn't tell you how it happened."

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No," said Oonah, coming forward, deadly pale, and listening anxiously, with a look of deep pity in her soft eyes.

Andy then related his adventure as the reader already knows it; and when it was ended, Oonah burst into tears, and in passionate exclamations blamed herself for all that had happened, saying it was in the endeavour to save her that Andy had lost himself.

"Oh, Oonah! Oonah!" said Andy, with more meaning in his voice than the girl had ever heard before, "it isn't the loss of myself I mind, but I've lost you too. Oh, if you had ever given me a tendher word or look before this day, 'twould never have happened, and that desaiver in the hills never could have deludhered me. And tell me, lanna machree, is my suspicions right in what I hear,―tell me the worst at oncet,—is she non compos ?"

Oh, I never heerd her called by that name before," sobbed Oonah, "but she has a great many others just as bad."

"Ow! ow! ow!" exclaimed Andy.

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'Now I know what Mr. Dick

laughed at,-well, death before dishonour,-I'll go list for a soier, and never live with her."

Y

CHAPTER XLIV.

Ir has been necessary in an earlier chapter to notice the strange freaks madness will sometimes play. It was then the object to show how strong affections of the mind will recall an erring judgment to its true balance; but the action of the counterpoise growing weaker by time, the disease returns, and reason again kicks the beam.-Such was the old dowager's case: the death of her son recalled her to herself; but a few days produced relapse, and she was as foolish as ever. Nevertheless, as Polonius remarks of Hamlet,

"There is method in his madness,"

so in the dowager's case there was method-not of a sane intention, as the old courtier implies of the Danish prince, but of insane birth— begot of a chivalrous feeling on an enfeebled mind.

To make this clearly understood, it is necessary to call attention to one other peculiarity of madness;-that, while it makes those under its influence liable to say and enact all sorts of nonsense on some subjects, it never impairs their powers of observation on those which chance to come within the reach of the undiseased portion of the mind; and moreover, they are quite as capable of arriving at just conclusions upon what they so see and hear as the most reasonable person, and, perhaps, in proportion as the reasoning power is limited within a smaller compass, so the capability of observation becomes stronger by being concentrated.

Such was the case with the old dowager, who, while Furlong was "doing devotion" to Augusta, and appeared the pink of faithful swains, saw very clearly that Furlong did not like it a bit, and would gladly be off his bargain. Yea, while the people in their sober senses on the same plane with the parties were taken in, the old lunatic, even from the toppling height of her own mad chimney-pot, could look down and see that Furlong would not marry Augusta if he could help it.

It was even so.-Furlong had acted under the influence of terror when poor Augusta, shoved into his bed-room through the devilment of that rascally imp Ratty, and found there, through the evil destiny of Andy, was flung into his arms by her enraged father, and accepted as his wife. The immediate hurry of the election had delayed the marriage the duel and its consequences further interrupted "the happy event"-and O'Grady's death caused a further postponement. It was delicately hinted to Furlong, that when matters had gone so far as to the wedding-dresses being ready, that the sooner the contracting parties under such circumstances were married, the better

But Furlong, with that affectation of propriety which belongs to his time-serving tribe, pleaded the "regard to appearances,"" so soon after the ever-to-be-deplored event," and other such specious excuses, which were but covers to his own rascality, and used but to postpone the " wedding-day." The truth was, the moment Furlong had no longer the terrors of O'Grady's pistol before his eyes, he had resolved never to make so bad a match as that with Augusta appeared to be, indeed, manifestly was, as far as regarded money; though Furlong should only have been too glad to be permitted to mix his plebeian blood with the daughter of a man of high family, whose crippled circumstances and consequent truckling conduct had reduced Lim to the wretched necessity of making such a cur as Furlong the inmate of his house.-But so it was.

The family began at last to suspect the real state of the case, and all were surprised except the old dowager :-she had expected what was coming, and had prepared herself for it. All her pistol practice was with a view to call Furlong to the "last arbitrement" for this slight to her house. Gusty was too young, she considered, for the duty; therefore, she, in her fantastic way of looking at the matter, looked upon herself as the head of the family, and, as such, determined to resent the affront put upon it.

But of her real design, the family at Neck-or-Nothing Hall had not the remotest notion. Of course, an old lady going about with a pistol, powder-flask, and bullets, and practising on the trunks of the trees in the park, could not pass without observation, and surmises there were on the subject; then her occasional exclamation of " tremble, villain!" would escape her; and sometimes in the family circle, after sitting for a while in a state of abstraction, she would lift her attenuated hand, armed with a knitting-needle or a ball of worsted, and, assuming the action of poising a pistol, execute a smart click with her tongue, and say, "I hit him that time."

These exclamations, indicative of vengeance, were supposed at length by the family to apply to Edward O'Connor, but excited pity rather than alarm. When, however, one morning, the dowager was nowhere to be found, and Ratty and the pistols had also disappeared an inquiry was instituted as to the old lady's whereabouts, and Mount Eskar was one of the first places where she was sought, but without success; and all other inquiries were equally unavailing.

The old lady had contrived, with that cunning peculiar to insane people, to get away from the house at an early hour in the morning, unknown to all except Ratty, to whom she confided her intention, and he managed to get her out of the domain unobserved, and thence together they proceeded to Dublin in a post-chaise.

It was the day after this secret expedition was undertaken, that Mr. Furlong was sitting in his private apartment at the castle, doing "the state some service," by reading the morning papers, which heavy official duty he relieved occasionally by turning to some scented notes which lay near a morocco writing-case, whence they had been drawn by the lisping dandy to flatter his vanity. He had been carrying on a correspondence with an anonymous fair one, in whose

heart, if her words might be believed, Furlong had made desperate

navoc.

It happened, however, that these notes were all fictitious, being the work of Tom Loftus, who enjoyed playing on a puppy as much as playing on the organ; and he had the satisfaction of seeing Furlong going through his paces in certain squares he had appointed, wearing a flower of Tom's choice, and going through other antics which Tom had demanded under the signature of "Phillis," written in a delicate hand, on pink satin note-paper, with a lace border: one of the last notes suggested the possibility of a visit from the lady, and after assurances of "secrecy and honour" had been returned by Furlong, he was anxiously expecting "what would come of it," and, filled with pleasing reflections of what "a devil of a fellow" he was among the ladies, he occasionally paced the room before a handsome dressingglass, (with which his apartment was always furnished,) and ran his fingers through his curls with a complacent smile. While thus occupied, and in such a frame of mind, the hall messenger entered the apartment, and said a lady wished to see him.

"A lady!" exclaimed Furlong, in delighted surprise. "She won't give her name, sir, but -"

"Show her up! show her up!" exclaimed the Lothario, eagerly. All anxiety, he awaited the appearance of his donna,—and quite a donna she seemed, as a commanding figure, dressed in black, and enveloped in a rich veil of the same, glided into the room.

"How vewy Spanish! exclaimed Furlong, as he advanced to meet his incognita, who, as soon as she entered, locked the door, and withdrew the key.

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Quite pwactised in such secwet affairs," said Furlong, slily. "Fai' lady, allow me to touch you' fai' hand, and lead you to

a seat."

The mysterious stranger made no answer, but lifting her long veil, turned round on the lisping dandy, who staggered back to the table, on which he leaned for support, when the dowager O'Grady appeared before him, drawn up to her full height, and anything but an agreeable expression in her eye. She stalked up towards him, something in the style of a spectre in a romance, which she was not very unlike, and as she advanced, he retreated, until he got the table between him and this most unwelcome apparition.

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"I am come," said the dowager, with an ominous tone of voice. 'Vewy happy of the honou', I am sure, Mistwess O'Gwady," faltered Furlong.

"The avenger has come."

Furlong opened his eyes.

"I have come to wash the stain ! said she, tapping her fingers in a theatrical manner on the table, and, as it happened, she pointed to a large blotch of ink on the table-cover. Furlong opened his eyes wider than ever, and thought this the queerest bit of madness he ever heard of; nowever, thinking it best to humour her, he answered, "Yes, it was a little awkwa'dness of mine-I upset the inkstand the othe' day."