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engaged in close and deadly strife。



Captain N was far the stronger of

the two; but; on the other hand; O'Mara

possessed far more skill in the use of the

fatal weapon which they employed。 But

the narrowness of the room rendered this

advantage hardly available。



Almost instantly O'Mara received a

slight wound upon the forehead; which;

though little more than a scratch; bled so

fast as to obstruct his sight considerably。



Those who have used the foil can tell

how slight a derangement of eye or of

hand is sufficient to determine a contest of

this kind; and this knowledge will prevent

their being surprised when I say; that;

spite of O'Mara's superior skill and

practice; his adversary's sword passed

twice through and through his body; and

he fell heavily and helplessly upon the

floor of the chamber。



Without saying a word; the successful

combatant quitted the room along with

his companion; leaving Dwyer to shift

as best he might for his fallen comrade。



With the assistance of some of the

wondering menials of the place; Dwyer

succeeded in conveying the wounded man

into an adjoining room; where he was laid

upon a bed; in a state bordering upon

insensibilitythe blood flowing; I might

say WELLING; from the wounds so fast as

to show that unless the bleeding were

speedily and effectually stopped; he could

not live for half an hour。



Medical aid was; of course; instantly

procured; and Colonel O'Mara; though at

the time seriously indisposed; was urgently

requested to attend without loss of time。

He did so; but human succour and

support were all too late。 The wound had

been truly dealtthe tide of life had ebbed;

and his father had not arrived five minutes

when young O'Mara was a corpse。 His

body rests in the vaults of Christ Church; in

Dublin; without a stone to mark the spot。



The counsels of the wicked are always

dark; and their motives often beyond

fathoming; and strange; unaccountable;

incredible as it may seem; I do believe;

and that upon evidence so clear as to

amount almost to demonstration; that

Heathcote's visit to Dublinhis betrayal

of the secretand the final and terrible

catastrophe which laid O'Mara in the

grave; were brought about by no other

agent than Dwyer himself。



I have myself seen the letter which

induced that visit。 The handwriting is

exactly what I have seen in other alleged

specimens of Dwyer's penmanship。 It is

written with an affectation of honest alarm

at O'Mara's conduct; and expresses a

conviction that if some of Lady Emily's

family be not informed of O'Mara's real

situation; nothing could prevent his

concluding with her an advantageous alliance;

then upon the tapis; and altogether throwing

off his allegiance to Ellena step

which; as the writer candidly asserted;

would finally conduce as inevitably to his

own disgrace as it immediately would to

her ruin and misery。



The production was formally signed

with Dwyer's name; and the postscript

contained a strict injunction of secrecy;

asserting that if it were ascertained that

such an epistle had been despatched from

such a quarter; it would be attended with

the total ruin of the writer。



It is true that Dwyer; many years after;

when this letter came to light; alleged it to

be a forgery; an assertion whose truth;

even to his dying hour; and long after he

had apparently ceased to feel the lash of

public scorn; he continued obstinately to

maintain。 Indeed this matter is full of

mystery; for; revenge alone excepted;

which I believe; in such minds as Dwyer's;

seldom overcomes the sense of interest;

the only intelligible motive which could

have prompted him to such an act was the

hope that since he had; through young

O'Mara's interest; procured from the

colonel a lease of a small farm upon the

terms which he had originally stipulated;

he might prosecute his plan touching the

property of Martin Heathcote; rendering

his daughter's hand free by the removal of

young O'Mara。 This appears to me too

complicated a plan of villany to have

entered the mind even of such a man as

Dwyer。 I must; therefore; suppose his

motives to have originated out of

circumstances connected with this story which

may not have come to my ear; and perhaps

never will。



Colonel O'Mara felt the death of his

son more deeply than I should have

thought possible; but that son had been

the last being who had continued to

interest his cold heart。 Perhaps the pride

which he felt in his child had in it more of

selfishness than of any generous feeling。

But; be this as it may; the melancholy

circumstances connected with Ellen

Heathcote had reached him; and his

conduct towards her proved; more strongly

than anything else could have done; that

he felt keenly and justly; and; to a certain

degree; with a softened heart; the fatal

event of which she had been; in some

manner; alike the cause and the victim。



He evinced not towards her; as might

have been expected; any unreasonable

resentment。 On the contrary; he exhibited

great consideration; even tenderness; for

her situation; and having ascertained

where his son had placed her; he issued

strict orders that she should not be

disturbed; and that the fatal tidings; which

had not yet reached her; should be withheld

until they might be communicated in

such a way as to soften as much as

possible the inevitable shock。



These last directions were acted upon

too scrupulously and too long; and;

indeed; I am satisfied that had the event

been communicated at once; however

terrible and overwhelming the shock

might have been; much of the bitterest

anguish; of sickening doubts; of harassing

suspense; would have been spared her;

and the first tempestuous burst of sorrow

having passed over; her chastened spirit

might have recovered its tone; and her life

have been spared。 But the mistaken

kindness which concealed from her the

dreadful truth; instead of relieving her

mind of a burden which it could not support;

laid upon it a weight of horrible

fears and doubts as to the affection of

O'Mara; compared with which even the

certainty of his death would have been

tolerable。



One evening I had just seated myself

beside a cheerful turf fire; with that true

relish which a long cold ride through a

bleak and shelterless country affords;

stretching my chilled limbs to meet the

genial influence; and imbibing the warmth

at every pore; when my comfortable

meditations were interrupted by a long

and sonorous ringing at the door…bell

evidently effected by no timid hand。



A messenger had arrived to request my

attendance at the Lodgesuch was the

name which distinguished a small and

somewhat antiquated building; occupying

a peculiarly secluded position among the

bleak and heathy hills which varied the

surface of that not altogether uninteresting

district; and which had; I believe; been

employed by the keen and hardy ancestors

of the O'Mara family as a convenient

temporary residence during the sporting

season。



Thither my attendance was required; in

order to administer to a deeply distressed

lady such comforts as an afflicted mind can

gather from the sublime hopes and consolations

of Christianity。



I had long suspected that the occupant

of this sequestered; I might say desolate;

dwelling…house was the poor girl whose

brief story we are following; and feeling a

keen interest in her fateas who that had

ever seen her DID NOT?I started from my

comfortable seat with more eager alacrity

than; I will confess it; I might have

evinced had my duty called me in another

direction。



In a few minutes I was trotting rapidly

onward; preceded by my guide; who urged

his horse with the remorseless rapidity of

one who seeks by the speed of his progress

to escape observation。 Over roads and

through bogs we splashed and clattered;

until at length traversing the brow of a

wild and rocky hill; whose aspect seemed

so barren and forbidding that it might

have been a lasting barrier alike to mortal

sight and step; the lonely building became

visible; lying in a kind of swampy flat;

with a broad reedy pond or lake stretching

away to its side; and backed by a farther

range of monotonous sweeping hills;

marked with irregular lines of grey rock;

which; in the distance; bore a rude and

colossal resemblance to the walls of a

fortification。



Riding with undiminished speed along

a kind of wild horse…track; we turned the

corner of a high and somewhat ruinous

wall of loose stones; and making a sudden

wheel we found ourselves in a small

quadrangle; surmounted on two sides by

dilapidated stables and kennels; on

another by a broken stone wall; and upon

the fourth by the front of the lodge itself。



The whole character of the place was that

of dreary des

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