nd ten times as
much upon him, so certain am I that his heart and hand are free from
thought or deed that's either treacherous or dishonorable."

"Marry him!" said her brother, losing temper; "nobody doubts but you'd
marry him on the gallows, wid the rope about his neck."

"I would do it, and unite myself to a true heart. Don't mistake me,
and mother, dear, don't blame me," she added, her tears flowing still
faster; "he's in disgrace--sunk in shame and sorrow--and I won't conceal
the force of what I feel for him; I won't desert him now as the world
will do; I know his heart, and on the scaffold to-morrow I would become
his wife, if it would take away one atom of his misery."

"If he's innocent," said her father, "you have more pinetration than
any girl in Europe; but if he's guilty of such an act against any one
connected with you, Una, the guilt of all the divils in hell is no
match for his. Well, you have heard all we wanted to say to you, and you
needn't stay."

"As she herself says," observed John, "perhaps time will place
everything in its true light. At present all those who are not in love
with him have little doubt of his guilt. However, even as it is, in
principle Una is right; putting love out of the question, we should
prejudge no one."

"Time will," said his sister, "or rather God will in His own good time.
On God I'm sure he depends; on his providence I also rely for seeing
his name and character cleared of all that has been brought against him.
John, I wish to speak to you in my own room; not that I intend to make
any secret of it, but I want to consult with you first."

"_Cheerna dheelish_," exclaimed her mother; "what a wife that child
would make to any man that desarved her!"

"It's more than I'm able to do, to be angry with her," returned the
Bodagh. "Did you ever know her to tell a lie, Bridget?"

"A lie! no, nor the shadow of a lie never came out of her lips; the
desate's not in her; an' may God look down on her wid compunction this
day; for there's a dark road I doubt before her!"

"Amen," responded her father; "amen, I pray the Saviour. At all evints,
O'Donovan's guilt or innocence will soon be known," he added; "the
'sizes begin this day week, so that the business will soon be settled
either one way or other."

Una, on reaching her own room, thus addressed her affectionate brother:

"Now, John, you know that my grandfather left rue two hundred guineas in
his will, and you know, too, t