Such was the agitation caused by this sudden, this unlooked for rencounter, that Talbot and I stood mute and breathless from emotion, and during some minutes were incapable of speaking. Such was the impetuosity of my feelings, that I was quite overwhelmed, and for a short space resisted the evidence of my senses, determined rather to believe that a vision had appeared to my disordered fancy than that what I saw could indeed be true. At length we recovered from our surprise, and mutual inquiry quickly followed.
I now learned that the stranger who accompanied my Captain of the Mountain Muster, was the person for whose apprehension so much diligence had been employed, and such large rewards offered. So critical was his escape, that the violence of that storm under which he embarked, alone prevented the activity of his pursuers from being successful, and Kelly, whose secret services had often been useful, confiding in his skill, volunteered in conveying the fugitive to a vessel which lay off the bay hovering on the coast to receive him. Talbot had no design of accompanying the stranger's flight, but the melancholy catastrophe which occurred on the return of the boat towards the land, altered his purpose. He swam on shore, and aware of the consequences which would ensue from investigation, resolved to make his way to Dublin, travelling by night, and lying in concealment all day. From thence he easily contrived, with the aid of people who were ready to abet every scheme that favoured the cause of rebellion, to procure a passage on board an American trader, and it so chanced that the young man who now stood before me, did not arrive till after Talbot had reached Quebec.
Ferney had been for some weeks the place of this young man's retreat before he left Ireland. He had suffered the greatest bodily fatigue, as well as agonizing uneasiness of mind, and even after he had taken refuge in the mountains, could not venture to rest his weary limbs in the same cavern for two successive nights. The last preceding his departure, had been passed in the rock-surrounded cottage of poor Kelly, and the following witnessed that sad catastrophe which it was supposed had engulphed its inhabitants, together with Albinia Talbot, who would not be deterred from the enterprize, her youngest brother, and Richard Lovett, in the depths of ocean!
The two friends whom it was my fortune to meet this day, were now preparing to return secretly to Ireland, and were to leave Quebec on the next day. They obtained from me a promise of the most profound silence respecting our interview. We agreed to correspond, and I engaged their warmest interest in endeavouring to procure my liberation from a profession which was irksome to me beyond measure. The young stranger was deeply affected at sight of the seal and ring which I restored to him along with the case in which I found them.
The impression made by this interesting youth upon my mind was indelible. Brief as was my acquaintance with that ill fated, but highly gifted being, the memory of it will never be effaced from my heart, and even now, when my whole character has undergone a change, I recollect him with the same vivid enthusiasm which this romantic meeting inspired. He and I appeared to be drawn towards each other by some mutual attraction, which brought us at once into contact, while I observed that towards Talbot there was an involuntary restraint of manner which seemed to say, "leagued as we are by similar fortunes, and bound as I am in chains of gratitude, we cannot unite in the bonds of friendship, so different are the materials of which we are formed."
Truth had placed her throne on that countenance, which wore a noble expression of mildness and sincerity. A natural grace marked every movement, while candour and moderation characterized every word which flowed from the lips of one, who in this transient glimpse, when I beheld him for the first moment in my life, infused into my soul such assurance of his worth, that I would have followed him to the limits of creation, and trusted more implicitly to a "yes" or "no" pronounced by his lips, than to all the oaths which could have been sworn upon a thousand altars. "Here," said I to myself, "is the effect of integrity. Here is the triumph of a single heart over all the arts and ingenuity of dissimulation."
I did not wonder now at my brother's devotion to such a leader, whose judgment only led him astray. My leave of absence drew to a close, and every moment was so precious to the fugitives as well as so dangerous while we lingered together, that taking a hasty farewell we parted, with a promise to meet if possible at night on the heights of Montmorenci. I regained my boat in a state of spirits very unlike that in which I had left it. My mind was filled with bright hopes, and my uncle, mistaking my cheerfulness for the effect of beautiful scenery and healthful recreation, rejoiced benevolently in the indulgence which he had granted, while I encouraged the error that I might profit by it again.
The vessel in which my friends were to sail was delayed for some days by contrary winds. During this interval of anxiety they dared not appear abroad in day-light; but we held a nightly congress, and I gave myself much credit for the skill with which, as I imagined, I evaded all suspicion in my various contrivances for quitting our house after the doors and windows were barred and bolted, but I deceived myself, as I had often done before.
At length the parting scene approached, and my feelings were not to be envied when I bid farewell for ever to one who had taken complete possession of my mind, and who professed the warmest attachment to me not only for Harold's sake but my own. He promised to see my family when he conveyed the ring to my brother, and I gazed on the sail which bore him away till it was lost in distance.
An aching void now succeeded, I became absent and abstracted, blotted the letters which I was desired to copy, made mistakes in the accounts which I was ordered to look over, and manifested in every way how far my thoughts were wandering from the work of my hands. One day I had been more careless than usual, and after committing several shameful blunders, was going as usual to ruminate in a solitary walk, when my uncle entered the room, and with an air of gravity which marked displeasure, addressed me in the following words: