"Where has he strayed to now?" demanded the
notary.

"Into the hands of justice, perhaps;" was the
fierce reply: "into the grip of the law; up to the
foot of the gallows; on to the hill of my extreme
disgrace."

"Where is he, where can I find him? tell me only
where," cried Veuillot.

"Where! let echo answer, -- would you wish to
hunt him?" said the advocate, mocking. "Did you
ever gallop, sir, after a hedgehog? have you assisted
to draw a badger? I am badgered by him, and will
blame him, ay, ban him, for he is my curse, my
bane; why should I not curse him as Noah cursed
that foul whelp Canaan? Beshrew him for a block-
head, a little black-browed beetle, a blot of ink,
a shifting shadow, a roving rat, a mouse, yes, sir, a
very mouse, that creeps in and out of its hole when
the old cat is away. Away, Mr. Notary, away; go,
good Monsieur Veuillot. There are more concep-
tions in man than he has yet expressed either in sta-
tutes or in testaments. Go; you are a deed-drawer;
I'll be a deed doer: I'll do, I'll do, -- I do not know
what I'll do, but something shall be done. He shall
be shaken over perdition; sent to grind in the prison
house; sold into slavery: -- fool! he shall be banished
to Caughnawaga, or to Loretto; -- the further the bet-
ter; he shall be sent to the Lake of the Two Moun-
tains, sir, or to Saint Regis to learn the war-whoop
and gallant the squaws. You smile: -- but to your er-
rand, Veuillot; it is not known where my son is: I
saw him last night, may I never see him again!
Then, dying, my old age, perhaps, may close in
peace: not else, not else."

[[23]]

p022 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p023w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p024

v?