Year: 1859

have brought stain upon Argyles time
honored house had she become his brider'


This was too much. In another moment
Hamilton's dirk was cleaning in his hand
william, unsay that word,' he thundered
out; she is pure as driven snow"


"His lady light-o-love p repeated the
Campbell, with mocking smile, at the same
time preparing to defend himself; but the
furious Hamilton had closed with him ere the
the words had well passed his lips--one fierce
struggle followed, then the Highlander fell
heavily to the ground, as his assailant plunged
the dagger into his breast up to the very hilt,
exclaimingv'


"Die, then, with the foul lie in your throat!


One deep groan-one strong convulsion of
the stalwart limbs, and Campbell was a
corps. -


Hamilton stood transfxed, while his boil
ing bOoi gradually subsidized, and his passion
cooled in the presence of death. The whole
thing had taken place so suddenly, that he
could hardly believe the living, breathing
man he had been talking to so amicably but
a few moments before, was lying there muir
dered by his own hand But suddenly, as
he gazed, he felt his flesh creep with strange
horror, as he saw the soulless eyes Of the
blind maiden upturned toward him, as she
knelt on the ground by her dead father,
towards whom she had crept with step so
stealthy that he had not heard her. Hamil-
ton drew back, shuddering, from the fixed
stare, so dreadful seemed the expression of
hate on her white, CHASTITY face; but, as he
receded, she crept towards him on her knees
and laid her hand, which she had steeped
in her father blood, on his, till it bore the
same rel stain, and said, in low, stihed
voice: You have murdered him, and you
shall die for it. None saw the murder, for
my blind eyes saw it not but think not to
escape; the vengence of heaven will track
you out one dayr Then, flinging up her
arms to heaven, she exclaimed: MY father,
on my father!' and fell upon the corps with
shrek 50 wild and piercing, that Hamilton
felt as if it must have wrung upon the ears
of every person in the town, and reached
even through the massive walls of Inyerary
Castle. s .... -...... .....


That cry recalled him to himself. He must
escape right speedily, or another moment
would see him surrounded by those whom it
must rouse; the instinct of selfpreservatioa
at once took the place of every other feeling,
and with one bound he darted to the outer
door, opened it, rushed to the stable, mounted
his horse, without saddle or bride, and the
clatter ofhis horses feet, as he galloped away,
was all that the inhabitants heard of him "a
they rushed to the inn whence the blind
girls shriells we're still heard echoing.


Hamilton never slackened his pace till he
had'laid ten miles between him and Inyerary.
In those days the course of justice was as
stern as it was summary; and he felt well
assured that the present Marquis of Aragyle.
the younger brother of his rival would never
rest until he had found out the murderer of
his retainer, especially when he heard from
Elspeth the circumstances of his death; and, !,
if he succeeded in his Search the services of
the maiden would right speedily be called
into action for Kenelm himself.


When at last he ventured, under cover of
a dark fir-wood to stop his furious course, he



began to consider the best means to avoid
discovery, with no small anxiety as to the
issue. His best hope was in the fact that
none had been present during the murder
but the blind girl, who could not identify
him, and that not single inhabitant of In
verary had seen him, except her dead father
himself He was now not very far from the
house ofhis kinsman, where he originally in
tended to have passed the night. The time
he had spent so fatally in the inn at Inverary
had not extended beyond an hour, and the
rapid pace at which he had traversed thelast
ten miles had fully brought him to the time
when he would, according to his ordinary
style Of travelling, have reached his destina-
ton. He therefore resolved to proceed thith-
er at once, as if he were only arriving from
the village where he had left his servants,
and to trust that no one would ever suspect
him of having made his unfortunate detour
into the domain of his enemy. This plan
succeeded perfectly; he was expected by
his cousin; and next morning his servant
joined him, having left his comrade doing
well; so that no doubt was for moment
entertained that he had deviated from the
road he had been expected to take, and he
had once more started for Edinburgh before
the news Of the murder had spread beyond
Inverary. Nevertheless, great sensation,
chilly owing to the peculiar circumstances of
the Casa murder committed by an I'M
known assassin in the presence of one de-
prived of the power of seeing, who the mur-
derer was, even in those days of bloodshed,
a striking event, and the mysterious escape
of the criminal seemed altogether unaccoun-
table.


The Marquis of Argyle, who was at his
castle on the fatal night, left no stone un-
turned in his efforts to discover the perpe-
traitor of the decd being stimulated to un-