"Young man, beware!" Mr. Hurst had in some degree mastered himself, but the huskiness of his voice, the vivid gleam of his eyes, gave warning that the fire within him though smothered was not quenched. "I am silent, sir," cried the wretch, completely cowed by the strong will of his antagonist. "I know all--all, and have but few words to cast upon a thing so vile as you have become. If I submit to your presence for a moment it is because that agony must be endured in order that I may cast you from me at once, like the viper that had stung me." "Sir, these are hard words," faltered Jameson; but Mr. Hurst lifted his hand sharply, and went on. "You want money. How much did you expect to obtain from me?" "I--I--this is too abrupt, Mr. Hurst, you impute motives--" "I say, sir," cried the merchant, sternly interrupting the stammered attempt at defense, "I say you have done this for money--impunity for your crime first, and then money. You see I know you thoroughly." The wretch shrunk from the withering smile that swept over that white face; he looked the thing he was--a worthless, miserable coward, with all the natural audacity of his character dashed aside by the strong will of the man he had wronged. "You are too much excited, Mr. Hurst, I will call some other time," he faltered out. "Now--now, sir, I give you impunity! I will give you money. Say, how much will release me from the infamy of your presence; I will pay well, sir, as I would the physician who drives a pestilence from my hearth?" "Mr. Hurst, what do you wish--what am I to do?" "You are to leave this country now and forever--leave it without speaking the name of my daughter. You are never to step your foot again upon the land which she inhabits. Do this, and I will invest fifty thousand dollars for your benefit, the income to be paid you in any country that you may choose to infest, any except this." "And what if I refuse to sell my liberty, my--" he paused, for Mr. Hurst was keenly watching him, and he dared not mention Florence as his wife, though the word trembled on his lip. "What then," said the merchant, firmly, "why you pass from this door to the presence of a magistrate--from thence to prison--after that to trial--not on a single indictment, but on charges urged one after another that shall keep you during half your life within the walls of a convict's cell." "But remember--" "I do remember everything; and I, who never yet violated my word to mortal man, most solemnly assure you that such is your destination, let the consequences fall where they will." Jameson sat down, and with his eyes fixed on the floor, fell into a train of subtle calculation. Mr. Hurst sat watching him with stern patience. At last Jameson spoke, but without lifting his eyes, "You are a very wealthy man, Mr. Hurst, and fifty thousand dollars is not exactly the portion that--"