The music aroused Longears, who sat up, so to speak, upon his forepaws, and with his head bent upon one side, gazed with dignified and solemn interest at his master.

The young man smiled, and continued playing; and as the rude border music floated from the instrument, the Verty of old days came back, and he was once again the forest hunter.

The old woman gazed at him with thoughtful affection, and returned his smile.  He went on playing, and the long hours of the autumn night went by like birds into the cloudland of the past.

When the forest boy ceased playing, it was nearly midnight, and the brands were flickering and dying.

Waked by the silence, Longears, who had gone to sleep again, rose up, and came and licked his master’s hand, and whined.  Verty caressed his head, and laying down his violin, looked at the old Indian woman with affectionate smiles, and murmured: 

“We are happy still, ma mere!”

CHAPTER LXI.

MISTRESS O’CALLIGAN’S WOOERS.

It will be remembered that Mr. Jinks had summed up the probable results of his deep laid schemes that morning when he returned from Mistress O’Calligan’s, in the strong and emphatic word-picture, “there will be gory blood, sir!”

Now, while these words, strictly construed, are, perhaps, ambiguous, from a certain redundancy in the arrangement, still, there is little difficulty in determining what Mr. Jinks meant.  Death and destruction dwelt in his imagination, and held there a riotous carnival; and to such a pitch of delight was our friend elevated by the triumphant anticipation of revenge upon O’Brallaghan, that he stalked about during the remaining portion of the day, talking to himself in the heroic vein, and presenting the appearance of an imperial grasshopper, arrived at the summit of felicity.

But Mr. Jinks was not idle; no one knew better than himself that vigilance was the price paid for success; and to vigilance our conspirator added cunning—­in which noble trait he was by no means deficient.

We have seen how, on returning from the heroic attack upon the peace-bound O’Brallaghan, Mr. Jinks threw out a series of observations which attracted the attention of the landlord at the tavern; and we have further seen these two gentlemen retire together into the hostelry, with significant looks and mutterings.  Of the exact nature of that interview we cannot speak, having nowhere discovered any memoranda to guide us, in the authentic documents from which this history is compiled.

But results define causes; and from after events it is not improbable that Mr. Jinks made an eloquent and stirring oration, addressed after the manner of all great orators to the prejudices of the auditor, and indicative of Mr. Jinks’ intention to overwhelm, with defeat and destruction, the anti-Germanic league and pageant, on St. Michael’s day.