ar against him; and if we can only
prevail upon Helen to state the facts as they occurred, there is little
doubt that he shall suffer; for hang he must, in consequence of the
disgrace he has brought upon my daughter's name and mine. Whatever I
might have forgiven, I will never forgive him that."

He then rode on at a rapid pace, and did not slacken his speed until he
reached home. Dinner was ready, and he sat down with none but Helen, who
could scarcely touch a morsel. Her father saw at once the state of her
mind, and felt that it would be injudicious to introduce any subject
that might be calculated to excite her. They accordingly talked upon
commonplace topics, and each assumed as much cheerfulness, and more than
they could command. It was a miserable sight, when properly understood,
to see the father and daughter forced, by the painful peculiarity of
their circumstances, thus to conceal their natural sentiments from each
other. Love, however, is often a disturber of families, as in the case
of Reilly and _Cooleen Bawn_; and so is an avaricious ambition,
when united to a selfish and a sensual attachment, as in the case of
Whitecraft.

It is unnecessary now, and it would be only tedious, to dwell upon the
energetic preparations that were made for the three approaching trials.
Public rumor had taken them up and sent them abroad throughout the
greater portion of the kingdom. The three culprits were notorious--Sir
Robert Whitecraft, the priest-hunter and prosecutor; the notorious Red
Rapparee, whose exploits had been commemorated in a thousand ballads;
and "Willy Reilly," whose love for the far-famed _Cooleen Bawn_,
together with her unconquerable passion for him, had been known
throughout the empire. In fact, the interest which the public felt in
the result of the approaching trials was intense, not only in Ireland,
but throughout England and Scotland, where the circumstances connected
with them were borne on the wings of the press. Love, however,
especially the romance of it--and here were not only romance but reality
enough--love, we say, overcomes all collateral interests--and the
history of the loves of Willy Reilly and his "dear _Cooleen Bawn_" even
then touched the hearts of thousands, and moistened many a young eye for
his calamities and early fate, and the sorrows of his _Cooleen Bawn_.

Helen's father, inspired by the devilish suggestions of Whitecraft, now
kept aloof from her as much as he could with decency