"Won't you?" replied the beldame; "ay, _dher Creestha_, will you, whin you know what. I have to tell you about him an'--an'----"

"And who, granny?"

"_Diououl_, man, but I'm afeard to tell you, for fraid you'd kill me."

"Tut, Nelly; I'd not strike an Obeah-wo-man," said he, laughing.

"I suspect foul play between him an'--her."

"Eh? Fury of h.e.l.l, no!"

"He's very handsome," said the other, "an' young--far younger than you are, by thirteen--"

"Go on--go on," said the Dead Boxer, interrupting her, and clenching his fist, whilst his eyes literally glowed like live coals, "go on--I'll murder him, but not till--yes, I'll murder him at a blow--I will; but no--not till you secure the money first. If I give him the blow--THE BOX--I might never get it, granny. A dead man gives back nothing."

"I suspect," replied Nell, "_arraghid_--that is the money--is in other hands. Lord presarve us! but it's a wicked world, blackey."

"Where is it!" said the Boxer, with a vehemence of manner resembling that of a man who was ready to sink to perdition for his wealth. "Devil!

and furies! where is it?"

"Where is it?" said the imperturbable Nell; "why, manim a yeah, man, sure you don't think that I know where it is? I suspect that your landlord's daughter, his real sweetheart, knows something about it; but thin, you see, I can prove nothing; I only suspect. We must watch an'

wait. You know she wouldn't prosecute him."

"We will watch an' wait--but I'll finish him. Tell me, Nell--fury of h.e.l.l, woman--can it be possible--no--well--I'll murder him, though; but can it be possible that she's guilty? eh? She wouldn't prosecute him--No--no--she would not."

"She is not worthy of you, blackey. Lord save us! Well, troth, I remimber whin you wor in Lord S--'s, you were a fine young man of your color. I did something for the young lord in my way then, an' I used to say, when I called to see her, that you wor a beauty, barrin' the face.

Sure enough, there was no lie in that. Well, that was before you tuck to the fightin'; but I'm ravin'. Whisper, man. If you doubt what I'm sayin', watch the north corner of the orchard about nine to-night, an'

you'll see a meetin' between her an' O'Rorke. G.o.d be wid you! I must go."

"Stop!" said the Boxer; "don't--but do get a charm for the money."

"Good-by," said Nell; "_you_ a heart wid your money! No; _d.a.m.nho sherry_ on the charm ever I'll get you till you show more s.p.u.n.k. You! My curse on the money, man, when your disgrace is consarned!"

Nell pa.s.sed rapidly, and with evident indignation out of the room; nor could any entreaty on the part of the Dead Boxer induce her to return and prolong the dialogue.

She had said enough, however, to produce in his bosom torments almost equal to those of the d.a.m.ned. In several of their preceding dialogues, she had impressed him with a belief that young Lamh Laudher was the person who had robbed his wife; and now to the hatred that originated in a spirit of avarice, she added the deep and deadly one of jealousy. On the other hand, the Dead Boxer had, in fact, begun to feel the influence of Ellen Neil's beauty; and perhaps nothing would have given him greater satisfaction than the removal of a woman whom he no longer loved, except for those virtues which enabled him to acc.u.mulate money. And now, too, had he an equal interest in the removal of his double rival, whom, besides, he considered the spoliator of his h.o.a.rded property. The loss of this money certainly stung him to the soul, and caused his unfortunate wife to suffer a tenfold degree of persecution and misery.

When to this we add his sudden pa.s.sion for Ellen Neil, we may easily conceive what she must have endured. Nell, at all events, felt satisfied that she had shaped the strong pa.s.sions of her savage dupe in the way best calculated to gratify that undying spirit of vengeance which she had so long nurtured against the family of Lamh Laudher. The Dead Boxer, too, was determined to prosecute his amour with Ellen Neil, not more to gratify his lawless affection for her than his twofold hatred of Lamh Laudher.

At length nine o'clock arrived, and the scene must change to the northern part of Sheemus Neil's orchard. The Dead Boxer threw a cloak around him, and issuing through the back door of the inn, entered the garden, which was separated from the orchard only by a low clipped hedge of young whitethorn, in the middle of which stood of a small gate. In a moment he was in the orchard, and from behind its low wall he perceived a female proceeding to the north side m.u.f.fled like himself in a cloak, which he immediately recognized to be that of his wife. His teeth became locked together with the most deadly resentment; his features twitched with the convulsive spasms of rage, and his nostrils were distended as if his victims stood already within his grasp. He instantly threw himself over the wall, and nothing but the crashing weight of his tread could have saved the lives of the two unsuspecting persons before him.

Startled, however, by the noise of his footsteps, Lamh Laudher turned round to observe who it was that followed them, and immediately the ma.s.sy and colossal black now stripped of his cloak--for he had thrown it aside--stood in their presence. The female instinctively drew the cloak round her face, and Lamh Laudher was about to ask why he followed them, when the Boxer approached him in an att.i.tude of a.s.sault.

With a calmness almost unparalleled under the circ.u.mstances, Lamh Laudher desired the female by no means to cling to him.

"If you do," said he, "I am murdered where I stand."

"No," she shrieked, "you shall not. Stand back, man, stand back, if you murder him I will take care you shall suffer for it. Stand back. Lamh Laudher never injured you."

"Ha!" exclaimed the Boxer, in reply; "why, what is this! Who have we here?"

Ellen, for it was she, had already thrown back the cloak from her features, and stepped forward between them.

"Well, I am glad it is you," said the black, "and so may he. Come, I shall conduct you home."

He caught her arm as he spoke, and drew her over to his side like an infant.

"Come, my pretty girl, come; I will treat you tenderly, and all I shall ask is a kiss in return. Here, young fellow," said he to Lamh Laudher, with a sense of bitter triumph, "I will show you that one black kiss is worth two white ones."

Heavy, hard, and energetic was the blow which the Dead Boxer received upon the temple, as the reply of Lamh Laudher, and dead was the crash of his tremendous body on the earth. Ellen looked around her with amazement.

"Come," said she, seizing her lover's arm, and dragging him onward: "gracious heavens! I hope you haven't killed him. Come, John, the time is short, and we must make the most of it. That villain, as I tould you before, is a villain. Oh! if you knew it! John, I have been the manes of your disgrace and suffering, but I am willing to do what I can to remedy that. In your disgrace, Ellen will be ready, in four days from this, to become your wife. John, come to meet me no more. I will send that villain's innocent wife to your aunt Alley's, where you now live'. I didn't expect to see you myself; but I got an opportunity, and besides she was too unwell to bring my message, which was to let you know what I now tell you."

John, ere he replied, looked behind him at the Dead Boxer, and appeared as if struck with some sudden thought.

"He is movin'," said he, "an' on this night I don't wish to meet him again; but--yes, Ellen, yes--G.o.d bless you for the words you've said; but how could you for one minute doubt me about the robbery?"

"I did not, John--I did not; and if I did, think of your own words at our meetin' in the Quarry; it was a small suspicion, though--no more.

No, no; at heart I never doubted you."

"Ellen," said John, "hear me. You never will become my wife till my disgrace is wiped away. I love you too well ever to see you blush for your husband. My mind's made up--so say no more. Ay, an' I tell you that to live three months in this state would break my heart."

"Poor John!" she exclaimed, as they separated, and the words were followed by a gush of tears, "I know that there is not one of them, in either of the factions, so n.o.ble in heart and thought as you are."

"Ill prove that soon, Ellen; but never till my name is fair and clear, an' without spot, can you be my wife. Good night, dearest; in every thing but that I'll be guided by you."

They then separated, and immediately the Dead Boxer, like a drunken man, went tottering, rather crest-fallen, towards the inn. On reaching his own room, his rage appeared quite ungovernable; he stormed, stamped, and raved on reflecting that any one was able to knock him down. He called for brandy and water, with a curse to the waiter, swore deeply between every sip, and, ultimately dispatched another messenger for Nell M'Collum.

"That Obeah woman's playing on me," he exclaimed; "because my face is black, she thinks me a fool. Furies! I neither know what she is, nor who the other is. But I will know."

"Don't be too sure of that," replied Nell, gliding into the apartment--"You can say little, blackey, or think little, avourneen, that I'll not know. As to who she is, you needn't ax--she won't be long troublin' you; an' in regard to myself, I'm what you see me. Arra, _dher ma chuirp_, man alive, I could lave you in one night that a boy in his first _breestha_ (small clothes) could bate the marrow out of you."

"Where did you come from now, granny?"

"From her room; she's sick--that was what prevented her from meetin'

Lamh Laudher."

"Granny, do you know who she is? I'm tired of her--sick of her."

"You know enough about her to satisfy you. Wasn't she a beautiful creature when Lady S------ tuck her into the family, an' reared her till she was fit to wait upon herself. Warn't you then sarvant to the ould lord, an' didn't I make her marry you, something against her will, too; but she did it to plase me. That was before 'buildin' churches' druv you out of the family, an' made you take to the fightin' trade."

"Granny, you must bring this young fellow across me. Blood! woman, do you know what he did? He knocked me down, granny--struck me senseless!

Fury of h.e.l.l! Me! Only for attempting to kiss his sweetheart!"

"Ha!" said Nell, bitterly, "keep that to yourself, for heaven's sake!

_Dher ma chuirp_, man, if it was known, his name would be higher up than ever. Be my sowl, any how, that was the Lamh Laudher blow, my boy, an'

what that is, is well known. The devil curse him for it!"

"Granny, you must a.s.sist me in three things. Find a clue to the money--bring this fellow in my way, as you promised--and help me with the landlord's daughter."