ompletely his own, he had in him no great
deal of that magnanimous virtue, of itself sufficiently strong to have
persuaded him to such a risk, as that which he had undertaken at the
supplication of Lucy. The more he reflected upon the matter, the more
trifling seemed the consideration. With such a man, to reflect is simply
to _calculate_. Money, now--the spoil or the steed of the
traveller--would have been a far more decided stimulant to action. In
regarding such an object, he certainly would have overlooked much of the
danger, and have been less heedful of the consequences. The selfishness
of the motive would not merely have sanctioned, but have smoothed the
enterprise; and he thought too much with the majority--allowing for any
lurking ambition in his mind--not to perceive that where there is gain
there must be glory.

None of these consolatory thoughts came to him in the contemplation of
his present purpose. To adventure his own life--perhaps to exchange
places with the condemned he proposed to save--though, in such a risk,
he only sought to rescue the innocent from the doom justly due to
himself--was a flight of generous impulse somewhat above the usual aim
of the landlord; and, but for the impelling influence of his niece--an
influence which, in spite of his own evil habits, swayed him beyond his
consciousness--we should not now have to record the almost redeeming
instance in the events of his life at this period--the _one_ virtue,
contrasting with, if it could not lessen or relieve, the long tissue of
his offences.

There were some few other influences, however--if this were not
enough--coupled with that of his niece's entreaty, which gave strength
and decision to his present determination. Munro was not insensible to
the force of superior character, and a large feeling of veneration led
him, from the first, to observe the lofty spirit and high sense of honor
which distinguished the bearing and deportment of Ralph Colleton. He
could not but admire the native superiority which characterized the
manner of the youth, particularly when brought into contrast with that
of Guy Rivers, for whom the same feeling had induced a like, though not
a parallel respect, on the part of the landlord.

It may appear strange to those accustomed only to a passing and
superficial estimate of the thousand inconsistencies which make up that
contradictory creation, the human mind, that such should be a feature in
the character of a ruff