The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-04-25
GOOD rHNGsI
NEW ORLEANS, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL Is. 1869

vi VIGNiINU, Al nIL 20, IcO9.
ton already excited by the apparitfon at the
castle and the anticipated discovery of some
important secret. The young man remained
silent and stationary, until the loneliness of
| the place and the excitement under which The
iabored became intoIerabIe. Unable longer to
restrain himself, he exclaimed: am here"
And after few seconds pause he continued,
in a calmer tone, "Speak what You have to
say; for l have bnt spare time to tarry, and
may never again have an opportunity to hear
The silence remained unbroken, and then
the thought flashed across his mind that the
appointment was but trick of Bingham's-
smiling ut his own incredulity, he was about
to quit the abbey, when the same apparition
which had SO startled him at Dunseverick
stood on the outside of the mullioned window.
He paused i'll anticipation of the promised
communications, but tho figure before him
neither moved nor spoke. Summoning all his
resolution, Pennant advanced into the strip of
moonlight, when he became plainly visible :;
and then said
am prepared to hear what you may have
to reveal to me-"
The figure moved and spoke, and the delu-
sion vanished as Col Blake replied 1T seems
providentially arranged, sir, that we should
meet now, and here, too, in the most fitting
place, for an explanation. Either you are ig-
norant of your parentage, as you have pro
fessed to be, Or You are guilty of a grievous
crime in seeking to connect yourself with my
famiiy-perhaps for the base purpose of after
cent victim. In either case my course must be
thse s1aier The Gikbet as ap iasQner
son of UHck Martin, an executed murderer,
and the niece of Maurice Blake. - And here,
where your father committed and atoned for
his crime, bid you fly my presence, or be pre-
pared, should we ever meet again, for public
exposure of your family disgrace"
The colonel at once departed without wait
ing for reply. Pennant remained stupefed
and overwhelmed by the terrible announce
ment. He could not now doubt that his mys-
terious visitor of the preceding night was Col
Blake, and that the abbey was selected for
their interview for the double purpose of avoid
ing painful scene at home aud of cutting off,
by a solemn denunciation, all hope of future
intercourse. He had often heard the story of
the murder and subsequent execution detailed
+ by Bingham, and still more recently by Mike,
and had warmly Joined i'll execrating the heart
less villainy of the assassin Was he, then,
the son of him whose crime he held in such de-
testation-whose memory he had cursed How
could he appear again amongst his brethren IN
arms-men of unblemished honor and unfair
nished descentf Could he, despised and de-
graded he soon must be, venture to seek
their future fellowship, and hazard the risk of
the threatened discovery in their presence
The dreadful secret must soon be known by his
dearest friend must be disclosed to that
innocent and f,HFe-E4i#aea girl whose affections
he had but Just engaged. and on whose love his
future happiness depended"
II Ali these reflections passed rapidly thruug il
his mind. His first impulse was at once to lily
|, the country and bury himself in some foreign
land, where none should know of his existence
but on further reflection he bethought that the
position in which he was placed, while 1T for
babe the desertion of his duty, might yet afford
him an opportunity of quitting life with hon
or, and of leaving a reputation calculated to
counterbalance i'll some degree his inherited
iguominy. He mechanically bent his steps to-
wards the ship, determined not to survive the
anticipated action. As he proceeded, his mind
became gradually more collected-his resolu-
ton more fxed-at times the consoling thought
would arise that perhaps twas but some hallu-
cination of Col Blalxe's distenlpered mind, and
his heart cheercd at the thought that after all
he might not be the child of snch parent F.;
but then again. when he remembered that his
mother had always preserved a studied silence
upon the subject of his father-that she refused
to let him have his portrait, and carefully
avoided all reference to his mode of life, all
particulars regarding his death, the most ha-
RAISING doubts succeeded the transient CLEANS
of comfort, and left him plunged still deeper in
despair In the event of mis- ships not meeting
the enemy, he resolved, to seek his mother as
speedily as possible, and demand from her q
full and explicit account of his fathers history.
AS he neared the shore, day commenced to
dawn, and in the still calm of the early morn
ing he could distinctly hear the clanking of
the capstan as they heaved the anchor. On
gaining the hills crest, which sheltered the
harbor, he saw the frigate, with all sail set,
Enthusiastically moving from her moorings. The
sight revived him. He hurried to the beach,
jumped into boat which lay in waiting, and
soon stood upon the quarterback, which he
had so often paced while proudly anticipating
glorious and successful career.
Fortunately for Pennant, such of the officers
as were on duty had too much occupation to
mark his altered appearance, question him
as to its cause; while the hustle and excite
ment of the moment tended to distract his own
attention and withdraw his thoughts from the
awfnl discovery which weighed so cTnshingly
upon his mind.
Capt. Beaumont determined to sail north
wards, in the expectation that his absence be-
coming known to the disaffected shore,
would soon be communicated to the French
man when he approached the coast, and might
induce him to enter Deerhaven Bay, and by
returning about midnight, before the arms and
necessaries which the French ship was sup
posed to carry could probabIy be landed, he