p instrument to do his vengeance and
gratify his savage malignity against the young and the gentle? If you
would do no murder, not so he. He will do it--he will make you do it,
but he will have it done. Approach me not--approach me not--let me
perish, rather! O God--my uncle, let him come not near me, if you would
not see me die upon the spot!" she exclaimed, in the most terrified
manner, and with a shuddering horror, as Rivers, toward the conclusion
of her speech, had approached her with the, view to an answer. To her
uncle she again addressed herself, with an energy which gave additional
emphasis to her language:--

"Uncle--you are my father now--you will not forget the dying prayer of a
brother! My prayer is his. Keep that man from me--let me not see
him--let him come not near me with his polluted and polluting breath!
You know not what he is--you know him but as a stabber--as a hater--as a
thief! But were my knowledge yours--could I utter in your ears the foul
language, the fiend-threatenings which his accursed lips uttered in
mine!--but no--save me from him is all I ask--protect the poor
orphan--the feeble, the trampled child of your brother! Keep me from the
presence of that bad man!"

As she spoke, she sank at the feet of the person she addressed, her
hands were clasped about his knees, and she lay there shuddering and
shrinking, until he lifted her up in his arms. Somewhat softened by his
kindness of manner, the pressure upon her brain of that agony was
immediately relieved, and a succession of tears and sobs marked the
diminished influence of her terrors. But, as Rivers attempted something
in reply, she started--

"Let me go--let me not hear him speak! His breath is pollution--his
words are full of foul threats and dreadful thoughts. If you knew all
that I know--if you feared what I fear, uncle--you would nigh slay him
on the spot."

This mental suffering of his niece was not without its influence upon
her uncle, who, as we have said before, had a certain kind and degree of
pride--pride of character we may almost call it--not inconsistent with
pursuits and a condition of life wild and wicked even as his. His eye
sternly settled upon that of his companion, as, without a word, he bore
the almost lifeless girl into the chamber of his wife, who, aroused by
the clamor, had now and then looked forth upon the scene, but was too
much the creature of timidity to venture entirely amid the disputants.
Placing her und