r in his breast, and of the moral obtuseness that could not,
save by vanishing glimpses, distinguish between crime and its
consequences--between dishonour and detection--"Sir, I declare that I
never conceived that I was exposing you to danger; nay, I meant, out of
the money I had taken, to replace to you what you were about to raise,
as soon as I could invent some plausible story of having earned it
honestly. Stupid notions and clumsy schemes, as I now look back on them;
but, as you say, I had not long left boyhood, and, fancying myself
deep and knowing, was raw in the craft I had practised. _Basta, basta,
basta!_"

Jasper, who had risen from his knees while speaking, here stamped
heavily on the floor, as if with anger at the heart-stricken aspect of
his silenced father; and continued with a voice that seemed struggling
to regain its old imperious, rollicking, burly swell.

"What is done cannot be undone. Fling it aside, sir--look to the future;
you with your pedlar's pack, I with my empty pockets! What can save you
from the workhouse--me from the hulks or gibbet? I know not, unless the
persons sheltering that girl will buy me off by some provision which may
be shared between us. Tell me, then, where she is; leave me to deal in
the business as I best may. Pooh! why so scared? I will neither terrify
nor kidnap her. I will shuffle off the crust of blackguard that has
hardened round me. I will be sleek and smooth, as if I were still the
exquisite Lothario--copied by would-be rufflers, and spoiled by willing
beauties. Oh, I can still play the gentleman, at least for an hour or
two, if it be worth my while. Come, sir, come; trust me; out with the
secret of this hidden maiden, whose interests should surely weigh not
more with you than those of a starving son. What, you will not? Be
it so. I suspect that I know where to look for her--on what noble
thresholds to set my daring foot; what fair lady, mindful of former
days--of girlish friendship--of virgin love--wraps in compassionate
luxury Guy Darrell's rejected heiress? Ah, your looks tell me that I am
hot on the scent. That fair lady I knew of old; she is rich--I helped
to make her so. She owes me something. I will call and remind her of
it. And--tut, sir, tut--you shall not go to the workhouse, nor I to the
hulks."

Here the old man, hitherto seated, rose-slowly, with feebleness and
effort, till he gained his full height; then age, infirmity, and
weakness seemed to vanish.