drawer in which it had been
laid--by accident, we should say, if there were any accident. And so
they approached the town.

CHAPTER LXVI.

THE HOUR AND THE NECKLACE.

As they entered the town, something strange seemed to be going on; the
place was evidently in commotion. A great thrill seemed to run through
the population, who were gathered at the doors and windows--such of
them as did not throng the streets; and as the hoofs of the horses
struck upon the beaten way, a drum suddenly was heard thundering
indignantly through the narrow streets.

The crowd rushed toward it--hurried, muttering, armed with nondescript
weapons, as though the Indians were come down from the mountain
fastnesses once more; and then, as the cortege from Apple Orchard
passed beyond the old fort, the meaning of all the commotion was
visible.

Marching slowly along in confused masses, a large portion of the Irish
population came toward the fort, and from their appearance, these men
seemed ripe for commotion.

They were armed with clubs, heavy canes, bludgeons, and old rusty
swords; and these weapons were flourished in the air in a way which
seemed to indicate the desire to inflict death and destruction on some
hostile party which did not appear.

But the most singular portion of the pageant was undoubtedly the
personage borne aloft by the shouting crowd. This was the Dutch St.
Michael himself--portly, redfaced, with a necklace of sour krout,
clad, as had been said by Mr. Jinks, in six pairs of pantaloons, and
resembling a hogshead.

St. Michael was borne aloft on a species of platform, supported on
the shoulders of a dozen men; and when the saint raised the huge beer
glass from his knee, and buried his white beard in it, the swaying
crowd set up a shout which shook the houses.

This was the Irish defiance of the Dutch: the Emerald Isle against
the Low Countries--St. Patrick against St. Michael. The figure of St.
Michael was paraded in defiance of the Dutch--the thundering drum and
echoing shouts were all so many ironical and triumphant defiances.

The shouting crowd came on, tramping heavily, brandishing their clubs,
and eager for the fray.

Miss Lavinia becomes terrified; the ladies of the party, by an
unanimous vote, decide that they will draw up to one side by Mr.
Rushton's office, and permit the crowd to pass. Mr. Rushton desires to
advance upon the peacebreakers, and engage in single combat with St.
Michael and all his s