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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lha Dhu; Or, The Dark Day, by William Carleton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Lha Dhu; Or, The Dark Day
+       The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two
+
+Author: William Carleton
+
+Illustrator: M. L. Flanery
+
+Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #16006]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LHA DHU; OR, THE DARK DAY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+LHA DHU;
+
+OR, THE DARK DAY.
+
+
+
+By William Carleton
+
+
+
+
+There is no country in the world whose scenery is more sweetly
+diversified, or more delicately shaded away into that exquisite variety
+of surface which presents us with those wavy outlines of beauty that
+softly melt into each other, than is that of our own green island. Alas!
+how many deep valleys, wild glens, green meadows, and pleasant hamlets,
+lie scattered over the bosom of a country, peopled by inhabitants who
+are equally moved by the impulses of mirth and sorrow; each valley, and
+glen, and pleasant hamlet marked by some tearful remembrance of humble
+calamity of which the world never hears. How little do its proud
+nobility know of the fair and still beauty which marks the unbroken
+silence of its most delightful retreats, or of the unassuming records
+of love or sorrow, which pass down through a single generation, and
+are soon lost in the rapid stream of life. We do not love to
+remember sorrow, but its traces, notwithstanding, are always the most
+uneffaceable, and, what is strange as true, its mournful imprint remains
+ever the longest upon the heart that is most mirthful. We talk not now
+of the hollow echo, like mirth, which comes from thousands only because
+the soul is wanting. No; but we say that as the diamond is found in the
+darkness of the mine, as the lightning shoots with most vivid flashes
+from the gloomiest cloud, so does mirthfulness frequently proceed from
+a heart susceptible of the deepest melancholy. Many and true are the
+simple tales of Irish life which could prove this. Many a fair laughing
+girl who has danced in happiness, light as a mote in the sunbeam, has
+been suddenly left in darkness, bowed down in youth and beauty to the
+grave, and though the little circle of which she was the centre may have
+been disturbed by her untimely life, yet in brief space, except to a few
+yearning and stricken hearts who could not forget her who was once their
+pride and hope, her Memory has passed away like a solitary bird, viewed
+as it goes over us, and followed wistfully, by the eye, until by degrees
+it lessens and lessens--becomes dim--then fades into a speck, and
+ultimately melts into the blue distance of heaven. One such a "simple
+annal," brought about by the inscrutable hand that guides the destinies
+of life, we are now about to present to our readers. Were it the mere
+creation of our fancy, it might receive many of those embellishments at
+our hand with which we scruple not to adorn the shadowy idealities of
+fiction.
+
+It is, however, one of those distressing realities so often produced
+by the indulgence of vehement passion, that we are compelled by the
+melancholy severity of its truth to give the details of, not, alas, as
+we could have wished them to happen, but simply as they occurred.
+
+The village of _Ballydhas_ was situated in the bosom of as sweet a
+valley as ever gladdened the eye and the heart of a man to look upon.
+Contentment, peace, and prosperity, walked step by step with its happy
+inhabitants. The people were marked by a pastoral simplicity of manners,
+such as is still to be found in some of the remote and secluded hamlets
+of Ireland. The vale was green and shelving, having its cornfields,
+its pasturage, and its patches of fir, poplar, and mountain-ash
+intermingled, and creeping up on each side in wild but quiet beauty to
+the very mountain tops that enclosed it. At the head of the glen reposed
+a small clear sheet of water, as calm and unruffled as the village
+itself. By this sweet lake was fed the pure stream which murmured down
+between the banks, here and there opened, and occasionally covered by
+hazel, black-thorn, or birches. As it approached the village the scenery
+about it became more soft and tranquil. The banks spread away into
+meadows flower-spangled and green; the fields became richer; the corn
+waved to the soft breezes of summer; the noon-day smoke of the dinner
+fires rose up, and was gently borne away to the more wide-spread scene
+of grandeur and cultivation that lay in the champaign country below it.
+On each side of the glen were masses of rock and precipices, just large
+enough to give sufficient wildness and picturesque beauty to a view
+which in itself was calm and serene. In the distance about a mile to the
+north, stood out a bold but storm-vexed headland, that heaved back the
+mighty swell of the Atlantic, of which a glimpse could be caught from
+an eminence above the village. Nothing indeed could be finer than the
+booming fury of the giant billows, as they shivered themselves into
+spray, and thundered around the gloomy caverns of the headland,
+especially when contrasted with the calm sense of peace and security
+which reposed upon the neat white village in the glen.
+
+How sweet of a summer Sabbath morning to sit upon the brow of this
+delightful valley, and contemplate in the light dreams of a happy heart
+its humble images of all that is pure, and peaceful, and soothing in
+life; the little bustle of preparation for the cheerful but solemn
+duties of the day; the glad voices of bright-faced boys and girls,
+eager to get on their Sunday clothes; the busy stirring about of each
+tucked-up matron, washing, and combing, and pinning her joyous little
+ones; and the contented father now dressed, placidly smoking his
+after-breakfast pipe, looking upon their little cares, and their
+struggles for precedence in being decked out with their humble finery;
+now rebuking an elder boy for his impatience and want of consideration
+in not allowing his juniors to get first dressed, and again soothing a
+younger one until his turn came.
+
+"Barney, troth you ought to have more sinse, avick, than to be
+quarrellin' wid poor Jemmy about gettin' an you. Don't you know he's
+but a child, an' must of coorse get his little things an before you,
+espishially as this is the first Sunday of the crathur's new jacket an'
+throwsers. Blood alive, Barney, be manly, and don't make comparishment
+wid a _pasitah_ (child). I hope you've got off your lesson in the
+catechiz this mornin', and that you wont have to hang down your head wid
+the blush of shame among the _bouchaleens_ (little boys) in the chapel
+to-day. Go 'way, avick, and rehearse it, an' whin your mother finishes
+him, and Dick, and little Mary, she'll have yourself as clane as a new
+sixpence."
+
+Then came the moment when the neat and well-dressed groups issued out
+of their happy homes, and sought in cheerful companionship with those
+of different creeds, their respective places of worship; for, gentle
+reader, the inhabitants of Ballydhas were, in point of religion, some
+Protestant, some Roman Catholic, and others Presbyterian. Many a time
+have we seen them proceed together in peace and friendship along the
+same road, until they separated either to church, to meeting, or to
+chapel; and again return on their way home, in a spirit equally cordial
+and kind. The demon of political discord and religious rancor had not
+come among them. Each class in the parish worshipped God after its own
+manner. All were happy, and industrious, and independent, for they had
+not then been taught that they were slaves and natural enemies groaning
+under the penal yoke of oppression.
+
+Their fairs and markets were equally peaceful. Neither faction-fight nor
+party-fight ever stained the streets with blood. The whoop of strife was
+never raised by neighbor against neighbor, nor the coat trailed, or the
+caubeen thrown up into the air to challenge an opposite faction. There
+was, in truth, none of all this. The people were moral and educated.
+Religion they attended with that decorous sense of decency which always
+results from a sincere perception of its obligations and influence.
+
+Yet were they not without their sports and rustic amusements. Where
+the bitterness of malignity is absent, cheerfulness has full play, and
+candor, ever open and benevolent, is the exponent of mirth and good
+will. Though their fairs and markets were undisturbed by the savage
+violence of mutual conflict, yet were they enlivened by the harmless
+pastimes which throw the charm of uncorrupted life over the human heart
+and the innocent scenes from which it draws in its amusements. Life is
+harsh enough, and we are no friends to those who would freeze its genial
+current by the gloomy chill of ascetic severity.
+
+Within about two miles of Ballydhas stood the market town of the parish.
+It also bore the traces of peace and happiness. Around it lay a rich
+fertile country, studded with warm homesteads, waving fields, and
+residences of a higher rank, at once elegant and fashionable. The gentry
+were not, it is true, of the highest class; but in lieu of that they
+were kind, considerate, and what was before all, resident. If an
+accidental complaint happened to be preferred by one man against
+another, they generally were qualified by a knowledge of their
+characters to administer justice between them, without the risk of being
+misled by misrepresentation. This prevented many complaints founded
+in malice or party-spirit, and consequently reduced litigation to
+an examination of the very few cases in which actual injury had been
+sustained.
+
+Many a fair day have we witnessed in this quiet and thriving market
+town. And it is sweet to us--yes, intensely sweet to leave, for a
+moment, the hollow and slippery pathways of artificial life--of that
+unfeeling, unholy and loathsome selfishness of heart, and soul, and
+countenance, which marks as with a brand of infamy, the fictions of
+fashionable and metropolitan society, where every person and profession
+you meet, is a lie or a libel to be guarded against. Yes, it is pleasant
+to us to leave all this, and to go back in imagination to a fair day in
+the town of Balaghmore. Like an annual festival, it stole upon us with
+many yearning wish, that time, at least for a month before, should be
+annihilated. And when the fair morning came, what a drifting tide of
+people, cows, sheep, horses, and pigs, passed on in the eager tumult
+of business, before our eyes. The comfortable farmer in his best gray
+frize; the young man in spruce corduroy breeches, home-made blue coat,
+and bran new hat; the tidy maiden with neat bunch of yarn, spun by her
+own fingers, giving sufficient proof to her bachelor that a young woman
+of industrious habits uniformly makes the best wife for a poor man.
+Various, indeed, were the classes that, in multitudinous groups, drifted
+towards the fair green. The spruce, well-mounted horse-jockey, with
+bottle-green coat closely buttoned, tight buckskin inexpressibles,
+long-lashed hunting-whip, and top-boots; the drover on his plump hack,
+pacing slowly after his fat beeves; the gentleman farmer, trundling
+along in his gig, or trotting smartly on a bit of half-blood. Here go
+a family group, the children with new hats and ruffles, grandfather a
+little behind, with the hand of an own pet boy or a girl in his;
+observe the joy of their faces; what complacent happiness on the ruddy
+countenance of the healthy old man. The parents are also happy, but
+betray the unconscious anxiety of those who love their children, and
+are sensible of the serious duties inseparable from their condition;
+the four little ones know not the cares of affection, and, consequently,
+their looks are full of delight, eagerness, and curiosity. What a tide
+of bewildered interrogatories does the fifth urchin pour upon the ear of
+the old grandfather, who is foolish enough to stop the whole group,
+in order to relate the precocious pertinency of some particular query.
+There goes a snug farmer, his wife, and good-looking daughters, seated
+upon a farm-car that is trussed with straw, covered by a blue quilt. We
+will wager that some "good woman" has somewhere about the premises a few
+cakes of hard griddle-wheat, to eat when they get hungry, with a glass
+of punch, and, it may be, a good slice or two of excellent hung beef or
+bacon. But now they approach town, and the stream thickens. There go the
+beggars, mendicants, and impostors, showing a degree of agility rather
+impracticable with their respective maladies, grievous and deplorable as
+they all, of course, are; and toiling vehemently after them, hops "Bill
+i' the Bowl," pitching himself along in a copper-fastened dish, with a
+small stool or _creepie_ supporting each hand. But now the whole sweep
+of the town and fair-green open to us; tents, and standings, and tables,
+and roasting and boiling are all about us; for the _spoileen_ fires are
+in operation, and many a fat sheep will be cut up, as well for those
+who have never tasted mutton before, as for hundreds who eat rather
+from hunger than curiosity. Heavens! what an astounding multitude of
+discordant noises all blend into one hoarse, deep, drowsy body of sound,
+for which we can find no suitable term. Cows lowing, sheep bleating,
+pigs grunting, horses neighing, men shouting, women screaming, fiddlers
+playing, pipes squeeling, youngsters, dancing, hammering up of standings
+and tents, thumping of restive or lazy animals, the show-man's drum, the
+lottery-man's speech, the ballad-singer's squall, all come upon us; and
+lastly, the unheeded sweep of the death-bell, as it tells with sullen
+tongues that some poor mortal has for ever departed from the cares and
+amusements, the trade and traffic, of this transitory life.
+
+About twelve o'clock the fair-tide is full; for that is the time in
+which the greatest interchange of property, and the most vigorous
+transactions of business, with all accompanying bustle and activity,
+take place. For an hour or two this continues. About three o'clock the
+tide is evidently on the ebb; business begins to slacken, and those
+who have their transactions brought to a close, meet their families and
+friends at the place of rendezvous--always a public house. It is now,
+indeed, when the heat and burden of the day have passed, and refreshment
+becomes both grateful and necessary, that the people fall into distinct
+groups for the purpose of social enjoyment. If two young folk have been
+for some time "_coortin_" one another, "the bachelor," which in Ireland
+means a suitor, generally contrives to bring his friends and those of,
+his sweetheart together. The very fact of their accepting the "thrate,"
+on either side, or both, is a good omen, and considered tantamount to
+a mutual consent of their respective connections. This, however, is not
+always so; for it often happens that a match is broken off after many
+a friendly compotation has been held "upon the head of it," which means
+upon that subject. Let the reader stand with us for a few minutes, and
+we will point out to him one or two groups who have met for the purpose
+of settling a marriage. Do you see that tall _sthreel_ of a fellow,
+who slings awkwardly along, for which reason he is nicknamed by his
+acquaintances "a sling-poke"? Observe the lazy grotesque repose of his
+three-featured face, for more it does not present, viz.--mouth, eyes,
+and nose. His long legs are without calves, and he is in-kneed; yet the
+fellow has such taste, that in order to show his shape he must needs
+wear breeches! Look at his coat, which was made for him about five years
+ago, when he was but "a slip of a boy." The thin collar only reaches
+to the upper part of his shoulder; and as he is what is called
+"crane-necked," of course the distance between his hat and the collar
+is incredible. The arms of the said coat are set so far in, that they
+appear almost to meet behind; but, on the other hand, two naked bones,
+each about six inches in length, project from the cuffs, which come not
+far below his elbows. The coat itself is what is called a jerkin; and
+as the buttons behind are half-way up his back, it is a matter of course
+that the tail, which runs rapidly to a point, is ludicrously scanty.
+Now, that youth, who is probably under no sense of gratitude to the
+graces, has put his "co-medher" on the prettiest girl, with one or
+two exceptions, in the whole parish. The miserable pitch-fork, the
+longitudinal rake--we speak now in a hay-making sense--has contrived
+to oust half a dozen of the handsomest and best-looking fellows in the
+parish. How he has done this is a mystery to his acquaintances; but
+it is none to us--we know him. The kraken has a tongue dripping with
+honey--one that would smooth a newly-picked millstone. There they go,
+each of them laughing and cheerful, except himself; yet the fellow,
+though conscious of his own influence, enters the public-house as if
+he were going on the forlorn hope, or trailing his straggling limbs to
+confide his last wishes to the ear of the sheriff or hangman. He is,
+however, an Irishman at heart, though little indeed of the national
+bearing is visible in his deportment.
+
+Here again comes a second group. Keep your eye on that good-humored,
+ruddy-faced young man, compact and vigorous, who is evidently the wag of
+his party. Observe his tight-titling, comfortable frize, neat brogues,
+and breeches, on the knees of which are two double knots of silk ribbon.
+See with what a smart, decisive air he wears his hat--"jauntily," as
+Leigh Hunt would say--upon one side of his head. That fellow has a high
+character for gallantry, and is allowed to be "the very sorrow among
+the girls"--"a Brinoge," "wid an eye that 'ud steal cold praties off
+a dresser." He is now leading in a girl, handsome no doubt, but who,
+nevertheless, does not possess sixpence, or sixpence worth for her
+portion. Not so the sword-fish we have pointed out to you a while ago,
+the tail of whose short coat lay as closely to him as that of a crab.
+The cassoway has secured a girl who, in point of wealth and dower, will
+be the making of him. However, you know the secret, Solomon says that
+a soft answer turneth away wrath; but what will not a soft question do,
+when put to a pretty girl, where there is no wrath?
+
+Here comes another party, fewer in point of number than those we have
+shown you; a young man, a middle-aged woman, and her two daughters--one
+grown,the other only about fifteen. Who is--ah!--it is not necessary to
+inquire. Alley Bawn Murray! Gentle reader bow with heartfelt respect to
+humble beauty and virtue! She is that widow's daughter, the pride of the
+parish, and the beloved of all who can appreciate goodness, affection,
+and filial piety. The child accompanying them is her sister, and that
+fine, manly, well-built, handsome youth is even now pledged to the
+modest and beautiful girl. He is the son of a wealthy farmer, some time
+dead; but in purity, in truth, and an humble sense of religion, their
+hearts are each rich and each equal.
+
+Alas! alas! that it should be so! but we cannot control the inscrutable
+designs of Heaven. The spirit of our narrative must change, and our tale
+can henceforth breathe nothing but what is as mournful as it is true.
+There they pass into that public-house, true-hearted and attached;
+unconscious, too, poor things, of the almost present calamity that
+is soon to wither that noble boy and his beautiful betrothed. Their
+history, up to the period of their entering the public-house, is very
+brief and simple. Felix O'Donnell was the son of a farmer, as we have
+said, sufficiently extensive and industrious to be wealthy, without
+possessing any of the vulgar pride which rude independence frequently
+engrafts upon the ignorant and narrow-hearted. His family consisted of
+two sons and a daughter--Maura, the last-named, being the eldest, and
+Felix by several years the junior of his brother Hugh. Between the two
+brothers there was in many things a marked contrast of character, whilst
+in others there might be said to exist a striking similarity. Hugh was
+a dark-brown, fiery man when opposed, though in general quiet and
+inoffensive. His passions blazed out with fury for a moment, and only
+for a moment; for no sooner had he been borne by their vehemence
+into the commission of an error, that he became quickly alive to
+the promptings of a heart naturally affectionate and kind. In money
+transactions he had the character of being a hard man; yet were there
+many in the parish who could declare that they found him liberal and
+considerate. The truth was, that he estimated money at more than its
+just value, without absolutely giving up his heart to its influence.
+When a young man, though in good circumstances, he looked cautiously
+about him, less for the best or the handsomest wife than the largest
+dower. In the speculation, so far as it was pecuniary, he succeeded; but
+his domestic peace was overshadowed by the gloom of his own character,
+and not unfrequently disturbed by the violent temper of a wife who
+united herself to him with an indifferent heart. He was, in short, a man
+more respected than loved; one of whom it was often said, "Well, well,
+he's a decent man, nabours--a little hard or so about money, but for all
+that there's worse. Sure we all have our failin's. There's one thing in
+him any how, that if he offinds a man he's sorry for it: ay, an' when he
+does chance to do a good turn, sorra a word ever any one hears about it
+from his own lips. To be sure there's a great deal of the nager in him
+no doubt, an' in troth he didn't take afther his own father for that.
+Devil a dacenter man than ould Felix O'Donnell ever broke bread."
+
+His brother Felix, in all that was amiable and affectionate, strongly
+resembled him; but there the resemblance terminated Felix was subject to
+none of his gloomy moods or violent outbursts of temper. He was
+manly, liberal, and cheerful--valued money at its proper estimate,
+and frequently declared, that in the choice of a wife he would never
+sacrifice his happiness to acquire it.
+
+"I have enough of my own," he would say; "and when I meet the woman that
+my heart chooses, whether she has fortune or not, that's the girl that I
+will bring to share it, if she can love me."
+
+Felix and his sister both, resided together; for after his father's
+death he succeeded to the inheritance that had been designed for him.
+Maura O'Donnell was in that state of life in which we feel it extremely
+difficult to determine whether a female is hopeless or not upon the
+subject of marriage. Her humors had begun to ferment and to clear off
+into that thin vinegar serum which engenders the exquisite perception of
+human error, and the equally keen touch with which it is reproved. Time,
+in fact, had begun to crimp her face, and the vinegar to sparkle in her
+eye with that fiery gleam which is so easily lit up at five and thirty.
+Still she loved Felix, whose good-humor constituted him a butt for the
+irascible sallies of a temper more nearly allied to his brother Hugh's
+than his own. He was her younger brother, too, of whom she was justly
+proud; and she knew that Felix, in spite of the pungency of her frequent
+reproofs, loved her deeply, as was evident by the many instances of his
+considerate attention in bringing her home presents of dress, and in
+contributing, as far as lay in his power, to her comfort.
+
+The world, indeed, is too much in the habit of drawing distorted
+inferences from the transient feuds that occasionally appear in domestic
+life. It would be hard to find a family in which they do not sometimes
+occur; and when noticed by strangers, it is both uncharitable and unjust
+to conclude that there is an absence of domestic affection in the hearts
+of those who, after all, prove no more than that they are subject to
+the errors and passions of human nature, like their fellow creatures.
+No sister, for instance, ever loved another with stronger affection than
+poor Maura did her brother Felix, notwithstanding the repeated scoldings
+which, for very trivial causes, he experienced at her tongue. Woe,
+keen and scathing, be to those who dared, in her presence to utter an
+insinuation against him.
+
+"If she abused him, she only did it for his good, and because she loved
+him; an' good right she had to love him, for a better brother never
+breathed the breath of life. Wasn't he a mere boy, only one-and-twenty
+years come next Lammas; and surely it stood to reason that he wanted
+sometimes to be checked and scolded too. He had neither father or mother
+to guide him, poor boy; and who would guide him, and advise him too, if
+his own sister wouldn't do it? Only one-and-twenty, and six feet in his
+shoes; but no _punhial_, no cabbage upon two pot-sticks, like some she
+knew, that were ready enough to give boy a harsh word when they ought to
+look nearer home, and--may-be--but she said nothing--as God forbid that
+she'd make or meddle with any neighbor's character; but still, may-be,
+they'd find enough to blame at home, if they'd open their eyes to their
+own failings, as well as they do to the failings of their neighbors."
+
+Another circumstance also strongly characteristic of the woman's heart,
+was evinced in the high and vigorous tone she assumed towards Hugh,
+whenever, in any of his dark moods, he happened to take Felix to task.
+These fierce encounters, however, never occurred in Felix's presence;
+for she thought that to take his part then, would remove, in a great
+degree, the 'vantage ground on which she stood with reference to
+himself. Difficult, indeed, was the part she found herself compelled
+to play on those delicate occasions. She could not, as a moralist and
+disciplinarian, proverbially strict, seem in any degree to countenance
+the charges brought by Hugh against Felix; nor, on the other hand, was
+it without a command of temper and heroic self-denial, rarely attained,
+that she was able to keep, her indignation against Hugh pent up within
+decorous and plausible limits. During the remonstrance of the latter,
+she usually pushed the charges against Felix into the notorious failings
+of Hugh himself, and this she did in a tone of irony so dry and cutting,
+that Hugh was almost in every case, as willing to abandon the attack as
+he had been to begin it.
+
+"Ay, indeed," she would proceed--"troth an' conscience, Hugh,
+avourneen"--avourneen being pronounced with a civil bitterness that was
+perfectly withering--"troth an' conscience, Hugh, avourneen, it's truth
+you're speaking, and not only that, Hugh darling, but he's as dark as
+the old _dioul_ betimes, so he is, and runs into such fits of blackness
+and anger, for no reason--Hugh, _dheelish_, for no reason in life, man
+alive. Are, you listening, Hugh? for it's to you I'm speaking, dear--for
+no reason in life, acushla, only because he's a dirty, black bodagh,
+that his whole soul and body's not worth the scrapings of a pot in a
+hard summer. Did you hear me, Hugh jewel? Felix, go out, avourneen, ye
+onbiddable creature, and look after them ditchers, and see that they
+don't play upon us to-day, as they did on Saturday."
+
+Felix, who understood the sister's irony, went out on every such,
+occasion with perfect good will, and indulged in an uncontrollable fit
+of laughter at her masked attack upon his brother.
+
+No sooner was he gone than Hugh either fled at once, or gathered himself
+up against the vehement assault he knew she was about to make upon him.
+
+"Why then, Hugh O'Donnell, ar'n't you a dirty, black bodagh, to go to
+open upon the poor boy for no reason in life? What did he do that you
+should abuse him, you nager you? and it's well known that you're a
+nager, and that your heart's in the shillin'. Oh! it's long before you'd
+go to fair or market and bring home the best gown, or shawl, or mantle
+in it to the only sister you have, as he does. Ay, ar'n't you the cream
+of a dirty, black bodagh, for to go to attack the poor boy only for
+speaking to a dacent and a purty girl that hasn't a stain upon her name,
+or upon the name of one of her seed, breed, or generation, you miserly
+nager. I wouldn't say that before him, because I want to keep him under
+me; but where, I say, could you get so fine a young slip as poor Felix
+is'? My soul to the dev--God pardon me! I was going to say what I
+oughtn't to say: but I tell you, Hugh, that you must quit of it; he's
+the only brother we have, and it's the least we should be kind to him."
+
+During this harangue poor Hugh's flush of passion usually departed from
+him. As we said, he loved his only brother; and so vivid were Maura's
+representations of his virtues, that Hugh, his passion having subsided,
+was usually borne away by the pathos with which she closed her
+observations respecting him. A burst of tears always concluded the
+dialogue on her part, and deep regret on the part of Hugh; for, in fact,
+the charges against Felix were such only as none except they themselves
+in the very exuberance of their affection, would think of bringing
+against him.
+
+The reader is already acquainted with the allusion made by Maura to the
+"dacent and purty girl that hasn't a stain upon her name, or upon the
+name of one of her seed, breed, or generation." This "purty" girl is no
+other than Alley Bawn Murray; and although Maura, from a sheer spirit
+of contradiction, spoke of her to Hugh in a favorable point of view, yet
+nothing could be more obstinately bitter than her opposition to such a
+match on the part of Felix.
+
+This, however, is human nature. To those who cannot understand such a
+character, we offer no apology--to the few who do, none is necessary.
+
+The courtship of Alley Bawn and Felix had arrived, on the fair-day of
+Ballaghmore, to a crisis which required decision on the part of the
+wooer. They went in, as we have shown the reader, to a public-house.
+Their conversation, which was only such as takes place in a thousand
+similar instances, we do not mean to detail. It was tender and firm on
+the part of Felix, and affectionate between him and her. With that high
+pride, which is only another name for humility, she urged him to
+forget her, "if it was not plasin' to his frinds. You know, Felix," she
+continued, "that I am poor and you are rich, an' I wouldn't wish to be
+dragged into a family that couldn't respect me."
+
+"Alley dear," replied Felix, "I know that both Hugh and Maura love me in
+their hearts; and although they make a show of anger in the beginnin',
+yet they'll soon soften, and will love you as they do me."
+
+"Well, Felix," replied Alley, "my mother and you are present; if my
+mother says I ought----"
+
+"I do, darling," said her mother; "that is, I can't feel any particular
+objection to it. Yet somehow my mind is troubled. I know that what he
+says is what will happen; but, for all that--och, Felix, aroon, there's
+something over me about the same match--I don't know--I'm willin' an'
+I'm not willin'."
+
+They arose to depart; and as both families lived in the beautiful
+village of Ballydhas, which we have already described to the reader, of
+course their walk home was such as lovers could wish.
+
+Evening had arrived; the placid summer sun shone down with a mild flood
+of light upon Ballaghmore and the surrounding country. There was nothing
+in the evening whose external phenomena could depress any human heart.
+The ocean lay like a mirror, on which the beams of the sun glistened
+in magnificent shafts, in whatsoever position you looked upon it. Not a
+wave or a ripple broke the expansive sheet, that stretched away till
+it melted into the dipping sky; yet to the ear its mysterious and deep
+murmurs were audible, and the lonely eternal sobbing of the awful sea,
+struck upon the heart of the superstitious mother with a sense of fear
+and calamity. Felix and Alley went before them, and the conversation
+which we are about to detail, took place between herself and her
+youngest daughter.
+
+"Susy, darlin'," said she, "you see the happy pair before us; but why
+is it, acushla, that my heart is sunk when I think of their marriage? Do
+you hear that _say_? There's not a wave on it, but still it's angry, if
+one can judge by its voice. Darlin' it's a bad sign, for the same
+say isn't always so. Sometimes it is as asy as a sleepin' baby, and
+sometimes, although its waves are quiet enough, it looks like a murderer
+asleep. Now it breathes heavily avourneen, as if all was not right.
+Susy, darlin', I'm afeard, I say, that it's a bad sign."
+
+"Mother dear," replied Susy, "what makes you speak that way? Sure it
+wouldn't be the little-sup o' punch that Felix made you take that 'ud
+get into your head!"
+
+"No, darlin'! Look at the pair before us; there they go, the pride, both
+o' them, God knows, of the whole parish; but still when I think of the
+bitterness of Felix's friends, Susy, I can't help being afeard. His
+brother Hugh is a dark man, and his sister Maura is against it. God pity
+them! It's a cruel world, acushla, when people like them can't do as
+they'd wish to do. But, Susy, you're a child, and knows nothing at all
+about it."
+
+Felix and Alley walked on, unconscious of me ominous forebodings which
+the superstition of the affectionate woman prompted her to utter. The
+arrangements for their marriage were on that night concluded, and the
+mother, after some feebly expressed misgivings, at which Felix and
+Alley laughed heartily, was induced, to consent that on the third Sunday
+following they should be joined in wedlock. Had Felix been disposed to
+conceal his marriage from Hugh and Maura, at least until the eve of its
+occurrence, the publishing of their banns in the chapel would have, of
+course, disclosed it. When his sister heard that the arrangements
+were completed, she poured forth a torrent of abuse against what she
+considered the folly and simplicity of a mere boy, who allowed himself
+to be caught in the snares of an artful girl, with nothing but a
+handsome face to recommend her. Felix received all this with good humor,
+and replied only in a strain of jocularity to every thing she said.
+
+Hugh, on the other hand, contented himself with a single observation.
+"Felix," said he, "I won't see you throw yourself away upon a girl that
+is no fit match for you. If you can't take care of yourself, I will.
+Once for all, I tell you that this marriage must not take place."
+
+As he uttered these words his dark brows were bent, and his eyes
+flashed with a gleam of that ungovernable passion for which he was
+so remarkable. Felix, at all times peaceable, and always willing to
+acknowledge his elder brother's natural right to exercise a due degree
+of authority over him, felt that this was stretching it too far. Still
+he made no reply, nor indeed did Hugh allow him time to retort, had he
+been so disposed. They separated without more words, each resolved to
+accomplish his avowed purpose.
+
+The opposition of Hugh and Maura to his marriage, only strengthened
+Felix's resolution to make his beloved and misrepresented Alley
+Bawn, the rightful mistress of his hearth, as she already was of his
+affections. Nay, his love burned for her with a purer and tenderer
+flame, when he looked upon the artless girl, and thought of the cruel
+hearts that would make her a martyr to a spirit so worldly-minded and
+selfish. Their deep-rooted prejudice against her poverty, he delicately
+concealed from her, together with the length to which their opposition
+had gone. As for himself, he acted precisely as if the approaching
+marriage had their full sanction; he saw Alley every day, became still
+more deeply enamored, and heard his sister's indignant remonstrances
+without uttering a single syllable in reply.
+
+At length the happy Sunday morning arrived, and never did a more
+glorious sun light up the beautiful valley of Ballydhas than that which
+shed down its smiling radiance from heaven upon their union. Felix's
+heart was full of that eager and trembling delight, which, where there
+is pure and disinterested love, always marks our emotions upon that
+blessed epoch in human life. Maura, contrary to her wont, was unusually
+silent during the whole morning; but Felix could perceive that she
+watched all his emotions with the eye of a lynx. When the hour of going
+to chapel approached, he deemed it time to dress, and, for that purpose,
+went to a large oaken tallboy that stood in the kitchen, in order to
+get out his clothes. It was locked, however, and his sister told him at
+once, that the key, which was in her possession, should not pass into
+his hands that day. "No," she continued, "nor sorra the ring you'll put
+on the same girl with my consent. Aren't you a purty young omadhaun,
+you spiritless creature, to go to marry sich a _niddy-nauddhy_, when you
+know that the best fortunes in the glen would jump at you! Yes, faiks!
+to bring home that mane, useless creature, that hasn't a penny to the
+good! A purty farmer's wife she'll make, and purtily she'll fill my poor
+mother's shoes, God be good to her! A poor, unsignified, smooth-faced
+thing, that never did a dacent day's work out of doors, barring to
+shake up a cock of hay, or pull the growing of a peck of flax! Oh! thin,
+mother darlin', that's in glory this day! but it's a purty head of a
+house he's puttin' afther you; and myself, too, must knock under to the
+like of her, and see her put up in authority over my head. Let me
+alone, Felix; your laughing wont pass. The sorra kay you'll get from me
+to-day."
+
+Felix, who was resolved to procure the key, saw that there was
+nothing for it but a little friendly violence. A good-humored struggle
+accordingly commenced between them--good-humored on his side, but bitter
+and determined on the part of Maura. Finding it difficult to secure the
+key, even by violence, Felix was about to give up the contest, and force
+the lock at once, when Hugh entered.
+
+"What's all this?" he inquired. "What racket's this? Is it beating your
+sister you are? Is the young headstrong profligate beating you, Maura,
+eh?"
+
+"No, Hugh, not that; but he wants the kay to deck himself up for
+marrying that pot of his. God knows, I'd rather he did beat me than do
+what he's going to do."
+
+"Felix," said his brother, "I'm over you in place of your father, and
+I tell you that it'll cost me a sore fall, or I'll put a stop to this
+day's work. A purty bridegroom you are, and a 'sponsible father of a
+family you'll make! By my sowl, it's a horsewhip I ought to take to you,
+and lash all thoughts of marriage out of you. What a hurry you are in
+to go a shoolin' (to become the rustic _chevalier d'industrie_). You
+had betther provide yourself the bag and staff at once, for if you marry
+this portionless, good-for-nothing hussy----"
+
+Felix's eye flashed, and, for the first time in his life, he turned a
+fierce glance upon his brother.
+
+"She's no hussy, Hugh; and if another man said it----" he paused, for it
+was but the 'hectic of a moment.'
+
+"You'd knock him down, I suppose," said Hugh. "Why don't you speak it
+out? Why, Maura, he's a man on our hands, and I suppose he'll be a bully
+to-morrow, or next day, and put us all under his feet, and make us all
+knuckle down to his poppet of a wife."
+
+"Hugh," said Felix, "I am willin to forget and forgive all the harshness
+ever you showed me, and to remimber nothing but your kindness, and you
+wor kind, to me; you're my brother--my only, and my eldest brother,
+and I beg it as a favor to one that loves you both, that you'll not
+interfere in my marriage this day."
+
+"So far only," replied Hugh, "that I'll stop it for good an' all. You'll
+get no clothes out of this press to-day. In ten years or so you may be
+thinkin' of it. There's Madge M'Gawley, take her, with all my heart; a
+girl that has fifty pounds, five cows, and threescore sheep: ay, an'
+a staid sober girl. To be sure she's no beauty, an' not fit for
+'gintlemen' that must have purty faces, and empty pockets. I say again,
+Felix, I'll put an end to this match."
+
+This was too much for Felix's patience. After several unsuccessful
+remonstrances, and even supplications very humbly expressed, a fierce
+struggle ensued between the brothers which was only terminated by the
+interference of the two servant-men, who with some difficulty forced the
+elder out of the house, and brought him across the fields towards his
+own home. Maura then gave up the key, and the youthful bridegroom was
+soon dressed and prepared to meet his "man," and a few friends whom he
+had invited, at the chapel. His mind, however, was disturbed, and his
+heart sank at this ill-omened commencement of his wedding day.
+
+"Maura," said he, when about to leave the house, "I'm heavy at heart for
+what has happened. Will you say that you forgive me, dear, before I go?
+and tell Hugh that I forgive him everything, and that the last words I
+said before I went, wor--'that the blessin' of God may rest upon him
+and his,' and upon you too, Maura, dear."
+
+These expressions are customary among Irish families when a marriage is
+about to take place; but upon this occasion they came spontaneously from
+a generous and feeling heart. Felix saw with sorrow that his brother and
+sister had not blessed him, and he resolved that his part of a duty so
+tender should not remain unperformed.
+
+Maura, who suddenly averted her face when he addressed her, made no
+reply; but after he had departed from the threshold, her eyes followed
+him, and the tears slowly forced their way down her cheeks.
+
+"It's no use," said she, "it's no use, I love him, I love my kind
+brother in spite of every thing. May God bless you Felix! may God bless
+you, and all you love! God forgive me for opposin' the boy as I did; and
+God forgive Hugh! but he thinks it would be all for Felix's good to stop
+his marriage with Alley Bawn."
+
+Felix, who heard neither his sister's blessing nor the expression of the
+affection she bore him, passed on with hasty steps through the fields.
+He had not gone far, however, when he saw his brother walking towards
+him; his arms folded, and his eyes almost hidden by his heavy brows;
+sullen ferocity was in his looks, and his voice, as he addressed him,
+was hollow with suppressed rage.
+
+"So," said he, "you will ruin yourself! Go back home, Felix."
+
+"For God's sake, Hugh, let me alone, let me pass."
+
+"You will go?" said the other.
+
+"I will, Hugh."
+
+"Then may bad luck go with you, if you do. I order you to stay at home,
+I say."
+
+"Mind your own business, Hugh, and I'll mind mine," was the only reply
+given him.
+
+Felix walked on by making a small circuit out of the direct path, for
+he was anxious not only to proceed quickly, as his time was limited, but
+above all things, to avoid a collision with his brother.
+
+[Illustration: PAGE 75-- Felix fell forward in an instant]
+
+The characteristic fury of the latter shot out in a burst that resembled
+momentary madness as much as rage. "Is that my answer?" he shouted, in
+the hoarse, quivering accents of passion; and with the rapid energy of
+the dark impulse which guided him, he snatched up a stone from a ditch,
+and flung it at his brother, whose back was towards him. Felix fell
+forward in an instant, but betrayed after his fall no symptoms of
+motion--the stillness of apparent death was in every limb. Hugh, after
+the blow had been given, stood rooted to the earth, and looked as if the
+demon which possessed him had fled the moment the fearful act had been
+committed. His now bloodless lips quivered, his frame became relaxed,
+and the wild tremor of horrible apprehension shook him from limb to
+limb. Immediately a fearful cry was heard far over the field's, and the
+words--"Oh! yeah! yeah, yeah, Felix, my brother, agra, can't you spake
+to me?" struck upon the heart of Maura and the servant-men, with a
+feeling of dismay, deep and deadly.
+
+"O God!" she exclaimed, with clasped hands and upturned eyes, "O God! my
+boy, my boy--Felix, Felix, what has happened to you?"
+
+Again the agonized cry of the brother was heard loud and frantic.
+
+"Oh, yeah, yeah, Felix, are you dead? brother, agra, can't you speak to
+me?"
+
+With rapid steps they rushed to the spot; but, ah! what a scene was
+there to blast their sight and sear the brain of his sister, and indeed
+of all who could look upon it. The young bridegroom smote down when
+his foot was on the very threshold of happiness, and by the hand of a
+brother?
+
+Hugh, in the mean time, had turned up Felix from the prone posture in
+which he lay, with a hope--a frenzied, a desperate hope of ascertaining
+whether or not life was extinct. In this position the stricken boy was
+lying, his brother, like a maniac, standing over him, when Maura and
+the servants arrived. One glance, a shudder, then a long ghastly gaze at
+Hugh, and she sank down beside the insensible victim of his fury.
+
+"What," said Hugh, wildly clenching his hands, "Mother of glory, have
+I killed both? Oh, Felix, Felix! you are happy, you are happy, agra,
+brother; but for me, oh, for me, my hour of mercy is past an' gone. I
+can never look to heaven more! How can I live," he muttered furiously
+to himself, "how can I live? and I daren't die. O God! O God! my brain's
+turnin'. I needn't pray to God to curse the hand that struck you dead,
+Felix dear, for I feel this minute that His curse is on me."
+
+Felix was borne in, but no arm would Hugh suffer to encircle him but
+his own. Poor Maura recovered and although in a state of absolute
+distraction, yet she had presence of mind to remember that they ought
+to use every means in their power to restore the boy to life if it were
+possible. Water was got, with which his face was sprinkled; in a little
+time he breathed, opened his eyes, looked mournfully about him, and
+asked what had happened him. Never was pardon to the malefactor, nor the
+firm tread of land to the shipwrecked mariner, so welcome as the dawn of
+returning life in Felix was to his brother. The moment he saw the poor
+youth's eyes fixed upon him, and heard his voice, he threw himself on
+his knees at the bedside, clasped him in his arms, and with an impetuous
+tide of sensations, in which were blended joy, grief, burning affection,
+and remorse, he kissed his lips, strained him to his bosom, and wept
+with such agony, that poor Felix was compelled to console him.
+
+"Oh! Felix, Felix," exclaimed Hugh "what was it I did to you? or how
+could the devil out of hell tempt me to--to--to--oh! Felix agra, say
+you're not hurted--say only that you'll be as well as ever, an I take
+God and every one present to witness, that from this minute till the day
+of my death, a harsh word 'll never crass my lips to you. Say you're not
+hurted, Felix dear! Don't you know, Felix, in spite of my dark-temper's
+putting me into a passion with you sometimes, that I always loved you?"
+
+"Yes you did, Hugh," replied Felix, "an' I still knew you did. I didn't
+often contradict you, because I knew, too, that the passion would soon
+go off of you, and that you'd be kind to me again."
+
+"Yeah, yeelish," said the other, while the scalding tears flowed
+profusely down his cheeks, and the deep sobs almost choked him. "Oh,
+yeah, yeelish! what could come over me! As judgment's before me, he was
+the best brother ever God created--you were, Felix darling--you were,
+you were!" He again pressed him to his heart, and kissed his lips with
+an overwhelming fulness of remorse and love.
+
+"An' another thing, Felix dear--but first tell me are you gettin'
+betther?"
+
+"I am," replied the youth, "my head is a little confused, but I have no
+pain."
+
+Hugh raised his hands and streaming eyes to heaven.
+
+"Thanks, thanks, oh thanks an' praise be to God for that news! thanks
+an' praise be to you, blessed Father, for what he has said this minute,
+for it takes the weight, the dead crushin' weight that lay on my heart,
+off it. And now, Felix jewel, here, alanna, lay over your head upon my
+breast, an' I'll hould you anything I whisper into your own ear what 'll
+make you as stout as ever--keep away all of yees--the nerra one o' ye
+'ll hear it but himself. Sure, Felix dear," he continued, in a lower
+voice, "sure I'm willin' that you should marry your own Alley Bawn. An'
+listen, sure, I'll give her a portion myself--I'm able to do it an' I
+will too."
+
+Felix, on hearing her name, looked around and endeavored, as appeared by
+his manner, to collect himself. He put his hand to his head for a moment
+and his eyes were without meaning. Hugh observed it, and felt his grief
+instantly checked by a fearful surmise as to a possible consequence of
+the blow which he had not contemplated.
+
+"Felix dear," said he in a voice low, hollow, and full of terror, "what
+ails you? Is the pain coming back?"
+
+Felix spoke not for about a minute, during which time he had become
+quite collected. Then with an affectionate look towards his brother, he
+replied--
+
+"God bless you, Hugh, for the words you have said to me! Poor Alley?
+Hugh, God bless you! Would Maura consent? Will you consent, agra, to it,
+Maura dear?"
+
+Maura, who had been all this time weeping, now advanced, and, smiling
+through her tears, embraced him tenderly. "Yes, Felix, darling, an' I'm
+only heart-broken, that ever Hugh or myself refused to consent, or ever
+set ourselves against it."
+
+The boy's eyes sparkled with a light more brilliant than had ever shone
+from them before: his whole face became animated, and the cloud
+of sorrow which had rested on his pale brow melted away before the
+effulgence of reviving hope. In a few minutes he arose and expressed
+his determination to proceed and keep his appointment. Hugh and Maura
+requested to accompany him, and the latter begged to be allowed the
+privilege to give the bride away.
+
+"Maura," said Felix, "will you desire the servants to have a decent
+dinner prepared, and we'll eat it here. I intend, if you and Hugh will
+let me, to bring her home at once!"
+
+"Och, God help the poor boy!" exclaimed Maura--"yes, darling, all that
+must be done."
+
+When ready to depart, he again put his hand to his head--"It comes on
+here," said he, "for about a minute or so--this confusion--I think I'll
+tie a handkerchief about my head. It 'ill be an asy thing for me to make
+some excuse, or I can take it off at the chapel."
+
+This was immediately acquiesced in; but at Hugh's suggestion a car was
+prepared, a horse yoked in a few minutes, and Felix, accompanied and
+supported by his brother and sister, set out for Mass. On arriving at
+the "green," he felt that his short journey had not been beneficial to
+him; on the contrary, he was worse, and very properly declined to go
+into the heated atmosphere of the chapel. A message by his sister soon
+brought the blushing, trembling, serious, yet happy-looking girl to
+his side. Her neat white dress, put on with that natural taste which
+is generally accompanied by as clear sense of moral propriety, and her
+plain cottage bonnet, bought for the occasion, showed that she came
+prepared, not beyond, but to the utmost reach of her humble means. And
+this she did more for Felix's sake than her own, for she resolved that
+her appearance should not, if possible, jar upon the feelings of one
+who, she knew, in marrying her, had sacrificed prospects of wealth and
+worldly happiness for her sake. At sight of her, Felix smiled, but it
+was observed that his face, which had a moment before been pale, was
+instantly flushed, and his eye unusually bright. When he had kissed her,
+she replied to the friendly greetings of his brother and Maura with the
+most comely dignity, well suited to her situation and circumstances.
+Then turning to the elected husband of her heart, she said--
+
+"Why thin, Felix, but it's little credit you do me this happy morning,
+coming with your night-cap on, as if you weren't well;" but as she saw
+the smile fade from his lips, and the color from his cheek, her heart
+sank, and "pallid as death's dedicated bride," with her soft blue eyes
+bent upon his changing color and bandaged head, she exclaimed, "God be
+merciful to us! Felix dear, you are ill--you are hurted! Felix, Felix
+darling, what ails you? What is wrong?"
+
+"Don't be frightened, jewel," he replied, "Don't, darling--it won't
+signify--my foot slipped afther laving you last night on my way home,
+and my head came against a stone--it's only a little sore outside.
+It 'ill be very well as soon as the priest puts your heart and mine
+together--never to be parted--long--long an' airnestly have I wished
+an' prayed for this happy day. Isn't your mother here, jewel, an' my own
+little Ellen?"
+
+Her eye had been fixed upon his countenance with all the love and
+anxiety of a young bride about to be united to the husband of her
+heart's first choice. She saw that despite of every effort to the
+contrary, there was in his mind a source of some secret sorrow. A single
+tear rolled down her cheek, which he kissed away, and as he did it,
+whispered her in a tone of affectionate confidence, that it was but a
+trifle and signified nothing. Maura took her hand, and assured her that
+no cause for apprehension existed; so did Hugh, but as he held her hand
+in his, he perceived that she got pale again, and trembled as if seized
+with some sudden fear.
+
+When the ceremony was concluded, those who attended it of course
+returned to Felix's house to partake of the wedding-dinner. He, indeed,
+seemed to be gifted with new life; his eyes sparkled, and a deep
+carmine of his cheek was dazzling to look upon. Courtesy, and the usages
+prevalent on such occasions, compelled him to drink more than his
+state of health was just then capable of bearing; he did not, however,
+transgress the bounds of moderation. Still the noise of many
+tongues, the sounds of laughter, and the din of mirth, joined to the
+consciousness that his happiness was now complete, affected him with
+the feverish contagion of the moment. He talked hurriedly and loud, and
+seemed to feel as if the accomplishment of his cherished hopes was too
+much for his heart to bear.
+
+In the midst of all this jollity a change which none observed came over
+him. His laugh became less frequent than his shudder or his sigh, and
+taking Alley aside, he begged she would walk with him to the beach.
+
+"The say-breeze," said he, "and a sate upon the rocks--upon our
+thyme-bank, where we've often sat happily, Alley dear, will bring me
+to myself soon. I am tired, asthore machree, of all this noise and
+confusion. Come away, darling, we'll be happier with one another than
+with all these people about us."
+
+His young bride accompanied him, and as they went, her happy heart
+beating under that arm to whose support she had now a right, her love
+the while calm and secure in its own deep purity, she saw before them,
+in bright perspective, many, many years of domestic affection and peace.
+
+There they sat in the mellow sunset, until the soft twilight had
+gradually melted away the lengthened shadows of the rocks about them.
+Their hands were locked in each other, their hearts burned within
+them, and a tenderness which can be felt only by souls equally pure and
+innocent touched their delighted converse into something that might be
+deemed beautiful and holy.
+
+Artless, humble, and happy pair! Sit on and enjoy the only brief glimpse
+of this earth's heaven which you will ever get. It is the last time that
+heart will beat responsive to heart, and soul tremble to and mingle with
+soul between you.
+
+Long before the hour of their, return, Felix had felt much worse than
+during any preceding part of the day. The vivid and affectionate
+hopes of future happiness expressed by Alley added to his concern, and
+increased his tenderness towards her, especially when he contrasted his
+own physical sensations with the unsuspicious character of her opinion
+concerning his illness and the cause that produced it. 'Tis true he
+disguised all this as long as he could; but at length, notwithstanding
+his firmness, he was forced to acknowledge that pain overcame him. With
+the burning chill of fever bubbling through his blood--shivering yet
+scorching--he complained of the shooting pain in his head, and a strange
+confusion of mind, which the poor girl, from some of his incoherent
+expressions, had attributed to his excess of affection. With words
+of comfort she soothed him; her arm now returned the support she had
+received from his; she led him home, languid and half-delirious, whilst
+she herself felt stunned as well by the violence as by the unaccountable
+nature of his illness. On reaching home they found that the noise of
+social enjoyment had risen to the outrage of convivial extravagance; but
+the moment he staggered in, supported only by the faithful arm of
+his wife, a solemn and apprehensive spirit suddenly hushed their
+intemperance, and awed them into a conviction that such an illness upon
+the marriage day must be as serious as it was uncommon. Felix was put to
+bed in pain and danger; but Alley smoothed his pillow, bound his head,
+and sat patient, and devoted, and wife-like, by his side. During all
+that woeful night of sorrow she watched the feverish start, the wild
+glare of the half-opened eye, the momentary conscious glance, and the
+miserable gathering together of the convulsed limbs, hoping that each
+pang would diminish in agony and that the morning might bring ease and
+comfort.
+
+     "Poor girl, put on thy stifling widow's weeds,
+     And 'scape at once from Hope's accursed bands!"
+
+We feel utterly incapable of describing, during the progress of this
+heavy night, the scorching and fiery anguish of his brother Hugh, or
+the distracted and wailing sorrow of poor Maura. The unexpected and
+delightful revulsion of feeling produced upon both, especially on the
+former, by his temporary recovery, now utterly incapacitated them from
+bearing his relapse with anything like fortitude. The frantic remorse of
+the guilty man, and the stupid but pungent grief of his sister, appeared
+but as the symptoms of weak minds and strong passions, when contrasted
+with the deep but patient affliction of his innocent and uncomplaining
+wife. She wasted no words in sorrow; for during this hopeless night,
+self, happiness, affection, hope, were all forgotten in the absorbing
+efforts at his recovery. Never, indeed, did the miseries and calamities
+of life draw from the fruitful source of a wife's attached and faithful
+heart, a nobler specimen of that pure and disinterested devotion which
+characterizes woman, than was exhibited by the stricken-hearted Alley
+Bawn.
+
+There was something in this peculiar case, as, indeed there are in all
+family occurrences of a similar nature, which induced them to try upon
+the suffering boy the full extent of their humble skill, rather than
+call in a strange physician to witness the disastrous, perhaps fatal,
+effects of domestic violence. Had the cause of Felix's illness been
+unknown to Hugh or Maura, they would have procured medical advice in the
+early part of the night. Let us, however, not press too severely on the
+repentant brother. Shame, and remorse, and penitence, ought to plead
+strongly for "the hope deferred that made his heart sick." Hugh's
+passions arose to violence, but not to murder, a distraction which both
+law and morality too frequently forget to make.
+
+When Hugh saw, however, that nothing except medical skill could save
+him, he forgot his crime and its consequences. Stung to madness by his
+love of Felix, and his fears for his recovery, he mounted a horse, and
+had almost broken down the animal by over-exertion, ere he reached the
+village of B------, where the doctor he sought lived.
+
+After an impetuous and violent knocking the door was opened, and a man
+pale and horror-struck entered, whom the doctor was inclined to receive
+rather as the patient than the messenger. Yes! haggard, wild, yet weak
+and trembling, he staggered into the room, and, sinking on a seat, in a
+voice husky and hoarse said--
+
+"Docthor! oh, docthor, you won't refuse to come! It's thrue he was my
+brother--but I had not--I had not--oh--no--no--I had it not in my heart
+to murdher him! My brother is dyin'. Oh, come, docthor! come to my
+brother, he's dyin', and 'twas I that struck, the blow."
+
+With a vehemence of grief that was pitiable, and an exhibition of the
+wildest gestures which characterize despair, he then uttered a cry that
+rang through the house.
+
+"Oh, Felix agra, my brother, I'm your murdherer! My sister and I are
+both wealthy--he's dyin' docthor--come, come. Oh, agra Felix--agra
+Felix! To see you well--to see you well--the wealth of the world, if
+I had it, would go. My life--my life--docthor! Oh, that would be but
+little--but it, too, would go--I'd give it--all we have, my sister and
+I, to our blanket--to the shoes on our feet, and the coat and gown on
+our backs--all--all--you'll get--if you can save our brother, that I
+struck down and murdhered!"
+
+The doctor, a man of great skill and humanity, immediately ordered
+his horse, and mounting him, accompanied Hugh to the sick bed of his
+brother. On arriving there, they found him worse; and never before, nor
+during his whole professional experience, had the doctor witnessed
+such a scene. Hugh took his place behind Felix, who, by the doctor's
+direction, was placed in a half-sitting, half-recumbent posture in the
+bed; his arms were placed distractedly about him, his breast was his
+pillow, and his cheek, wildly and with voracious affection, laid to
+his. He was restrained from crying aloud, but his groans were enough to
+wrench the heart from which they proceeded to pieces. Sympathy, in fact,
+was transferred from the sick boy to his brother; and perhaps more tears
+were shed by the lookers-on from pity towards Hugh than Felix.
+
+But where was she, the bride and wife of a changeful day--of a day, in
+which the extremities of happiness and misery met? Oh, where but where
+she should and ought to be, at his bed-side, hoping against hope,
+soothing his wild ravings by her soft sweet voice; and when, in his
+delirium, the happy scene of the past day seemed reacted, then she
+knelt, ever ready to lead him, by her words and caresses, into a
+forgetfulness of his present pain. In his desperate struggles he fancied
+they were tearing her from him; and when the strength of several men
+could scarce restrain him, then came the mildness of her power. With her
+gentle hands and her fond, kind words she laid him in peace once more,
+and, kneeling by his side, cooled his burning temples with her pale
+fingers, and wetted his parched lips with the draught prescribed by the
+physician. When the crisis, however, approached, she saw by the keen
+glance of observant affection, that the doctor's manner betrayed his
+hopelessness of her husband's recovery. Then did her strength give way,
+and one violent fit of hysteric sobbing almost broke down her reason
+and physical powers. Unavailing was all their tenderness, and fruitless
+every attempt at consolation. Even her own beloved mother failed.
+"Alley, asthore agruc machree," said she, "don't give way to this, for
+it's sinful; it's wrong to cry so bitterly for the livin'. You know that
+while there's life there's hope. God is merciful, and may think fit to
+pity you, anien machree, and to spare him for the sake of our prayers,
+that your heart mayn't be broken. Here's the priest, too, an' sure it's
+a comfort, if the Lord does take him from us, that he's not goin' widout
+the holy sacraments of the Church, to clear away any stain of sin that
+may be on him."
+
+Felix, tranquilized by the satisfaction that always results from the
+consciousness of having received the rites of the Church, yet moved
+by the deep sobbings of his miserable brother, took his hand, and thus
+addressed him--
+
+"Hugh dear!"
+
+"Oh, Felix, Felix, Felix darling, if you spake kind to me my brain will
+turn, and my heart will burst to pieces! Harsh, harsh, avourneen, speak
+harshly, cruelly, blackly--oh, say you won't forgive me--but no, that I
+couldn't bear--forgive me in your heart, and before God, but don't spake
+wid affection to me, for then I'll not be able to bear it."
+
+"Hugh," said Felix, from whose eyes the keenness of his brother's
+repentance wrung tears, despite his burning agony; "Hugh dear"--and he
+looked pitifully in the convulsed face of the unhappy man. "Hugh, dear,
+it was only an accident, for if you had thought--that it would turn
+out--as it has done----But no matter now--you have my forgiveness--and
+you deserve it; for Hugh dear, it was as much and more my own
+thoughtlessness and self-will that caused it. Hugh dear, comfort and
+support Alley here, and Maura, too, Hugh; be kind to them both for poor
+Felix's sake." He sank back, exhausted, holding his brother's hand in
+his left, and his mute heart-broken bride's in his right. A calm, or
+rather torpor, followed, which lasted until his awakening spirit, in
+returning consciousness of life and love, made a last effort to dissolve
+in a farewell embrace upon the pure bosom of his virgin wife.
+
+"Alley," said he, "are you not my wife, and amn't I your husband? Whose
+hand should be upon me--in what arms but yours should I die? Alley,
+think of your own Felix--oh, don't let me pass altogether out of your
+memory an' if you'd wear a lock of my hair (many a time you used to curl
+it over on my cheek, for you used to say it was the same shade as your
+own, and you used to compare them together), wear it for my sake, next
+your heart, and if ever you think of doin' a wrong thing, look at it,
+and you'll remember that Felix, who's now in the dust, always desired
+you to pray for the Almighty's grace, an' trust to Him for strength
+against evil. But where are you, asthore? My eyes want a last look of
+you; I feel you--ay, I feel you in my breakin' heart, and sweet your
+presence in it, avourneen machree; but how is it that I cannot see you?
+Oh, my wife, my young wife, my spotless wife, be with me--near me!" He
+clasped her to his heart, as if while he held her there he thought it
+could not cease to beat; but in a moment, after one slight shudder, one
+closing pang, his grasp relaxed--his head fell upon her bosom--and he,
+Felix, who that morning stood up in the bloom of youth and manly beauty,
+with the cup of happiness touching his lips, was now a clod of the
+valley. Half unconscious--almost unbelieving that all could be over, she
+gently laid him down. On looking into his face, her pale lips quivered;
+and as her mute wild gaze became fixed upon the body, slowly the
+desolating truth forced itself upon her heart. She then sank upon her
+knees, and prayed to God that, if it were His will, and lawful for her
+in her misery to utter such a prayer, He would not part her in
+death from him who had been to her far dearer than all that life now
+contained--without whom the world was now empty to her for ever.
+
+Quietly and calmly she then arose, and but for the settled wretchedness
+of her look, the stillness of her spirit might have been mistaken for
+apathy. Without resistance, without a tear, in the dry agony of burning
+grief she gently gave herself up to the guidance of those who wept,
+while they attempted to soothe her. In reply to their attempts at
+consolation she only uttered one brief sentence in Irish. "Oh," said
+she, "God is good--still, still, this was a dark day to Felix and to
+me!"
+
+At the inquest which followed, there was no proof to criminate the
+wretched brother; nor, to speak truly, were the jury anxious to find
+any. The man's shrieking misery was more wild and frightful than death
+itself. From "the Dark Day" until this on which I write, he has never
+been able to raise his heart or his countenance. Home he never leaves,
+except when the pressure of business compels him; and when he does, in
+every instance he takes the most unfrequented paths and the loneliest
+by-roads, in order to avoid the face and eye of man. Better, indeed,
+to encounter flood or fire, than to suffer what he has borne, when the
+malicious or coarse-minded have reproached him, in what we trust, is his
+repentance, with his great affliction.
+
+Alley contrary to the earnest solicitations of Hugh and Maura, went back
+to reside with her mother. Four years have now passed, and the virgin
+widow is constant to her grief. With a bunch of yarn on her arm, she may
+be occasionally seen in the next market-town; the chastened sorrow of
+her look agreeing well with her mournful weeds. In vain is she pressed
+to mingle in the rustic amusements of her former companions; she cannot
+do it, even to please her mother; the poor girl's heart is sorrow-struck
+for ever. She will never smile again. As it is, however, the steady
+subdued melancholy of her manner increases the respect, without
+lessening the love, of all who know her. Who, indeed, could see her,
+and hear her sad history without loving her purity, and her devoted
+affection to the memory of him that was only the husband of a day,
+without pitying the stricken girl who suffered so much, and wishing that
+time, which weans us from our greatest sorrows, may, by its influence,
+mellow her afflictions, until the bitterness of their spirit passes out
+of her soul.
+
+Reader, if you want a moral, look upon the wasted brow of Hugh
+O'Donnell, and learn to restrain your passions and temper within its
+proper limits.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Lha Dhu; Or, The Dark Day, by William Carleton
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