“Well, my girl,” said he, when she entered the dining-room, for he seldom left it unless when they had company, “Well, darling, what do you think of this Mr. Mahon—­pooh!—­no—­oh, Reilly—­he who saved my life, and, probably, was the means of rescuing you from worse than death?  Isn’t he a fine—­a noble young fellow?”

“Indeed, I think so, papa; he appear’s to be a perfect gentleman.”

“Hang perfect gentlemen, Helen! they are, some of them, the most contemptible whelps upon earth.  Hang me, but any fellow with a long-bodied coat, tight-kneed breeches, or stockings and pantaloons, with a watch in each fob, and a frizzled wig, is considered a perfect gentleman—­a perfect puppy, Helen, an accomplished trifle.  Reilly, however, is none of these, for he is not only a perfect gentleman, but a brave man, who would not hesitate to risk his life in order to save that of a fellow-creature, even although he is a Papist, and that fellow-creature a Protestant.”

“Well, then, papa, I grant you,” she replied with a smile, which our readers will understand, “I grant you that he is a—­ahem!—­all you say.”

“What a pity, Helen that he is a Papist.”

“Why so, papa?”

“Because, if he was a staunch Protestant, by the great Deliverer that saved us from brass money, wooden shoes, and so forth, I’d marry you and him together.  I’ll tell you what, Helen, by the memory of Schomberg, I have a project, and it is you that must work it out.”

“Well, papa,” asked his daughter, putting the question with a smile and a blush, “pray what is this speculation?”

“Why, the fact is, I’ll put him into your hands to convert him—­make him a staunch Protestant, and take him for your pains.  Accomplish this, and let long-legged, knock-kneed Whitecraft, and his twelve thousand a year, go and bite some other fool as he bit me in ‘Hop-and-go-constant.’”

“What are twelve thousand a year, papa, when you know that they could not secure me happiness with such a wretch?  Such a union, sir, could not be—­cannot be—­must not be, and I will add, whilst I am in the possession of will and reason, shall not be.”

[Illustration:  PAGE 28 (and Frontispiece)—­You must endeavor to convert him from Popery]

“Well, Helen,” said her father, “if you are obstinate, so am I; but I trust we shall never have to fight for it.  We must have Reilly here, and you must endeavor to convert him from Popery.  If you succeed, I’ll give long-shanks his nunc dimittis, and send him home on a trot.”

“Papa,” she replied, “this will be useless—­it will be ruin—­I know Reilly.”

“The devil you do!  When, may I ask, did you become acquainted?”

“I mean,” she replied, blushing, “that I have seen enough of him during his short stay here to feel satisfied that no earthly persuasion, no argument, could induce him, at this moment especially, to change his religion.  And, sir, I will add myself—­yes, I will say for myself, dear papa, and for Reilly too, that if from any unbecoming motive—­if for the sake of love itself, I felt satisfied that he could give up and abandon his religion, I would despise him.  I should feel at once that his heart was hollow, and that he was unworthy either of my love or my respect.”