lip
in a muttering of 'Confundite ipsos qui quaerunt animam meam,' the
whining rogue popped out his accursed weapon, and cried, 'Take care,
holy father! We only bargain for the blessing.'"

"They left you the fish, however?" said Norwood.

"Not an oyster!" sighed the priest.

"'You would not have us eat flesh on the fast, padre mio!' said the
hypocritical knave. 'Poor fellows like us have no dispensation, nor the
money to buy it' And so they packed up everything, and then, helping me
to my seat, wished me a pleasant journey, and departed."

"I am curious to know if you really forgave them, padre?" said Jekyl,
with an air of serious inquiry.

"Have I not said so!" rejoined the priest, testily.

"Why, you tried to insinuate something that surely was not a blessing,
father."

"And if I did, the fellow detected it. Ah, that rogue must have served
Mass once on a time, or his ears had never been so sharp!"

"Are yours quick enough to say if that be the tramp of a horse?" asked
Norwood, as he listened to the sounds.

"Yes, that is a horse," cried Jekyl.

"Now, then, for the soup," exclaimed the canon. "Ah, yes!" added
he, with a sigh, as he turned to Lady Hester, "these are the
crosses,----these are the trials of life; but they are good for
us,--they are good for us! Poor mortals that we are! Non est sanitas
in carne mea. Oime! oime!" And so moralizing, he gave her his arm as he
reentered the house. In less than a minute later, D'Esmonde galloped up
to the door, and dismounted.

"Has anything occurred?--you are late to-night," asked Norwood, hastily.

"Nothing. The city, however, was in great alarm, and the tocsin was
twice sounded in the churches when I left at ten o'clock; the guards
were doubled at the gates, and mounted patrols making the rounds in
every quarter."

"What was this for?" asked Norwood.

"A mere false alarm,----nothing more. The Austrians are harassed beyond
measure by these frequent calls to arms; and men grumble that they are
mustered twice or thrice during the night without any cause. A petard
exploded in the street, or a church bell rung, is sure to call out the
whole garrison."

"I begin to suspect that our Italian friends will be satisfied with
this, and never go further," said Norwood, contemptuously.

"You are wrong there. It is by the frequency and impunity of these
demonstrations, that they are working up courage for an overt movement
By the time that the Austrians have grown in