CHAPTER X.

MARRIAGE OF THE YOUNG RECRUIT WITH THE DAUGHTER OF O'KELLY-APPEARANCE OF BOB UPON THE STAGEHIS CLAIM ΤΟ THE NORBERRY PROPERTY- AN IRISH NOBLEMAN AND LANDLORD.

IMMEDIATELY after young Norberry concluded his narrative, O'Kelly led him to an apartment furnished in a style of oriental grandeur, where his daughter Isabella was seated with her female attendants. "Here," said he to her, "is the son of a well beloved, but long lost friend, whom I have discovered, I may say, almost miraculously, amongst the last recruits that have come from Europe. You are to look upon him at present as your brother. He shall be released from the duties of a soldier, till a commission is obtained for him from England; and in the mean time he shall become one of our family." Then, turning to Norberry, he said, "Behold my daughter, in whom all my earthly hopes are centred."

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The young man was overwhelmed with confusion, and lost in admiration of Miss O'Kelly, whose beauty was of such a character as to make beholders feel that it would not be idolatry to worship it. She cast a quick glance from her lustrous eye upon the tall, graceful, and delicate youth who stood before her, and her heart felt that it had at length discovered another object which it could love besides her father. She advanced with a majestic air, and taking her parent by the hand, exclaimed, “ I have long felt the loss of a brother to attend me in my walks, and be my protector in your absence upon military duty; and, my dear father, you have made me happy by having brought me one. I know," continued the artless and noble-minded creature, "that he must be my brother indeed, for already I love him as such. You never told me about him before, but you wished, I suppose, to overpower me with joy. My dear father, you have been always so kind to me that I love you more than my own life, and don't think, father, that I shall love you the less because I have got a brother to share it with."

The astonished Norberry stood motionless, whilst he beheld this, to him, strange scene, and heard poured out the innocent but impassioned effusions of the enthusiastic young girl. He never saw such a being before, bred as he had been, amongst the rustic population of a mountain district in Ireland. Indeed, such women are not to be found in the variable climate of the north and west; they partake too much of the atmosphere which they breathe, they are moulded in somewhat colder clay,

and are strangers to those fervid passions and strong impulses that animate the hearts of the children of more sunny climes. Isabella was scarcely seventeen; for two or three years her heart had been in search of some object to love besides her father, and when a young man of graceful mien and prepossessing appearance was introduced to her as one whom she was to regard as a brother, it is by no means improbable that she should, without a moment's hesitation, declare that she loved him as such. Perhaps the coy maiden of a northern country would not have done so, but the ladies themselves will be better judges, and the chronicler of events should give facts as he finds them, leaving their improbability as a peg for critics and reviewers to hang their complaints on.

It is unnecessary to say that the feelings thus frankly acknowledged by Miss O'Kelly met a response in the heart of young Norberry; and it is equally needless to prove that they were of a much more ardent character than those of fraternal affection.

O'Kelly took the necessary steps to forward, by the next mail for England, directions to an eminent firm of solicitors in Dublin (Messrs. Fisher and Hope) to institute a suit to establish the right of young Norberry to the property of his father. Instructions were also given to an army agent in London to purchase for him a lieutenant's commission in the regiment of which O'Kelly was major.

Nearly twelve months elapsed before any answer was received from Europe; and in the mean time those feelings of esteem which Miss O'Kelly thought at the first moment of meeting with Norberry, were such as a sister ought to entertain towards a brother, had ripened into the fervid affection of a devoted lover. She was loved in return with all the devotion of a pure and benevolent heart. The father saw that, let the news with regard to his protegee be what it might, the bond of union between them should be indissolubly sealed, and he was resolved, as soon as the commission arrived, and that Norberry joined the regiment as an officer, that the marriage should take place, for he perceived that the happiness of both depended on it. His daughter was a creature of impulse; her every wish and movement sprung from a noble and generous mind; and if conscious of the force and purity of their source, her wishes resisted with effect all control. She told her father with candour that she loved the young man, and when the true history of his condition and the mystery that still hung over him were explained to her, they only served to increase the fervour of her passion, and to excite in her bosom a sympathy in his fate, which would cause her to love if she had before been indifferent about him. The year pending the arrival of news from Europe was one of delight to Miss O'Kelly and her lover, and of anxious hope and solici

tude to her parent. At length the expected tidings came, and before the letters from the solicitors in Dublin were opened, Norberry was presented with his commission, and having mounted the splendid uniform prepared for the occasion, was undoubtedly one of the handsomest officers that ever joined the regiment. He was, however, from the early sorrows he had encountered, of a delicate constitution, and a pensive and thoughtful cast of countenance, which made him appear ill suited to a tropical climate, and the fatigues and horrors of the camp and battle field. When Isabella saw him attired in his glittering uniform and gold-hilted sword, she embraced her father as the donor of the object of her soul's affections, and then throwing her veil over her face, the contending emotions of her heart found vent in tears.

After

It was arranged that the packages from Dublin should not be opened for a day or two, until Norberry should be formally presented to his brother officers, and dine at the mess. dinner his health was proposed, and it being known that he had mysteriously risen from the ranks, and obtained a commission without ever having seen even a day's service, it was supposed by some of the officers lately arrived from their cantonments that he would be sadly embarrassed in returning thanks; but to their infinite surprise he delivered a speech suited to the occasion, which had rarely been surpassed for beauty of style and elegance of diction. All his hearers probably did not know that "the schoolmaster was abroad," but all were astonished at his eloquence and deportment; and the whisper ran round, "He is a gentleman and a scholar, no matter where he came from or what he may be." The major was so delighted, that when they left the mess-room he embraced him with renewed affection, and when he expatiated to his daughter upon the ease, elegance, and eloquence displayed by the young officer that evening, she, as was usual when commendation was bestowed upon her lover, embraced her father with all that ardour of affection that she felt for both.

The morning after young Norberry had dined at the mess, the letters from the Dublin solicitors were opened, and their contents eagerly perused. Nothing could be more cheering than the intelligence they gave. They stated that no doubt whatever could remain of the ultimate success of the suit, although the parties who would be defendants in the cause were rich and powerful, and could bring to bear even government influence against their opponents; but they had no doubt that with judicious management "right" would succeed in the end. The letter already alluded to, which had been sent over to them, was of the most vital importance in the cause. It bore the postmark and date a very few days before the coroner's inquest was

held at Wexford, and several respectable witnesses were able to prove that it was the hand-writing of Gripe. They had also obtained a copy of the confession of that gentleman, and the depositions of two clerks who had been in his office at the time the commission of lunacy was sued out against Old Hawk, and after comparing all the facts, and perusing the whole details of the case, no doubt remained that the young recruit was the heir of Old Hawk. There was, however, one important witness whom they could not discover, and that was the nurse. No account could be had whether she was living or dead, but even without her there was proof enough to convince a court of justice that the present claimant was the lawful heir. They added, that it was necessary he should make a lengthened deposition, containing all the facts of which he was cognizant, and that in their opinion it would be ultimately necessary that he should come to Ireland. Those tidings spread universal joy amongst the family of the gallant major. The heart of his daughter was filled with an ecstacy of delight. A day was fixed for the wedding, and in the mean time fresh instructions, including the depositions of young Norberry, and a draft upon a banker in London to supply the necessary funds for the suit, were transmitted to the solicitors.

The marriage at length was celebrated with oriental splendor. There were fireworks, music, dancing, illuminations, singingmen, and improvisatories, to describe the beauty and the splendor of the bride, and the great fortune and bravery of the bridegroom, so that to this day the people of Bangalore delight to talk of the marriage of the beautiful daughter of the major with the young recruit, who became heir to a large fortune.

The arrival of further news from Ireland was hardly thought of for many months, amidst the joyous scenes that followed the marriage of the youthful lovers. The summer was the warmest and most oppressive that had been known in India for many years, and young Norberry, who, as already stated, was of a delicate constitution, began to sink under the effects of it. O'Kelly perceived it much sooner than his daughter, and became greatly alarmed; a removal to some portion of the presidency adjoining the sea was recommended, and before any further news arrived from Ireland, he and his wifewent several hundred miles down the country to a villa on the sea shore, where, after a few months' residence, he became much improved; he was, however, far from being able to bear the fatigues of a soldier, and O'Kelly saw that it would be necessary for him to sell out, and return to Europe. Fortunately the regiment, which had been upwards of twenty years in India, was ordered home, and in three or four years after the marriage all the parties landed safely at Southampton, and soon afterwards proceeded to Dublin, as the head quarters of the