"Tom," said he, "be a man, and don't shame my white hairs nor your
own. I lost your mother, an' I was as fond of her, an' had as good a
right, too, as ever you were of her that's now an angel in heaven; but
if I lost her, I bore it as a man ought. I never yet bid you do a thing
that you didn't do, but I now bid you stop cryin', an don't fly in the
face o' God as you're doin'. You respect my white hairs, an' God will
help you as he has done!"
The venerable appearance of the old man, the melancholy but tremulous
earnestness with which he spoke, and the placid spirit of submission
which touched his whole bearing with the light of an inward piety
that no age could dim or overshadow, all combined to work a salutary
influence upon M'Mahon. He evidently made a great effort at composure,
nor without success. His grief became calm; he paid attention to other
matters, and by the aid of Bryan, and from an anxiety lest he should
disturb or offend his father by any further excess of sorrow, he was
enabled to preserve a greater degree of composure than might have been
expected.
CHAPTER XII.--Hycy Concerts a Plot and is urged to Marry.
The Hogans, who seldom missed a Wake, Dance, Cockfight or any other
place of amusement or tumult, were not present, we need scarcely assure
our readers, at the wake-house of Mrs.
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