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BY WILLIAM CHARLES MCKINNON,
AUTHOR OF "ST. CASTINE," A LEGEND OF CAPE BRETON, &C.

From my very birth

My soul was drunk with love, which did pervade
And mingle with whate'er I saw on earth;-
Of objects all inanimate I made

Idols, and out of wild and lonely flowers,

And rocks, whereby they grew, a paradise;
Where I did lay me down within the shade
Of waving trees, and dream'd uncounted hours,
Though I was chid for wandering; and the wise
Shook their white, aged heads o'er me, and said,
Of such materials wretched men were made,
And such a truant boy would end in woe.".

THE PROPHECY OF DANTE.

VOLUME II.

HALIFAX:

ELBRIDGE GERRY FULLER.
1852.

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ST. GEORGE:

OR,

THE CANADIAN LEAGUE.

CHAPTER I.

THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE.

RODOLPHE himself was now deadly pale, and slightly agitated. He drew forth from his pocket a sheet of paper, and placed it on the table beside the inkstand, as if for the purpose of taking notes. He then locked all the doors, and apPlacing his finger on the forehead of the latter, he said to him, "You are still deaf?"

proached St. George.

The latter gazed at him vacantly, but made no reply.Meanwhile Edmund Rodolphe stood in the middle of the apartment, as if spell bound, until the return of his enchanter. When the latter again approached him, he appeared all attentive, and stood as if waiting his commands.

"Now," said the Biologist, "I wish you to answer me truly, and speak low

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"I am Edmund Rodolphe-but I am known by the name of Ferrars."

"And how long have you borne the latter name?"

"Since my return to this city."

"Then you have been in this city before?"

"I was born in it, and I left it when about sixteen years of age."

"And what other name have you borne ?"

Edmund shuddered, and replied not.

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Speak!" cried his Inquisitor, pointing his forefinger at

his forehead, "speak! I will it!"

"I have borne the name of Julian Erleloff."

"And what recollections are coupled with that name?" "I dare not breathe them aloud."

"Then whisper, what character you assumed when you assumed that name."

He bent down his head, and the other with pallid lips, and the sweat trickling from his brow, stooped forward, and whispered in his ear.

"Ah," said the Biologist, drawing his breath between his shut teeth, with a whistling sound, when his brother had concluded, "wait a moment"-he bent over the table, and traced a few lines on the paper before him. He again confronted his victim

"And what other name have you ever been known by ?" he resumed.

Edmund paused. "Henry Beauchamp," he said, "but I have borne many names-but they are of little importance." "And what did you represent when you bore this appellation ?"

“A man of fortune, traveling for pleasure."

"Where was it?"

"In England."

"How did you acquire that fortune?"

"In the manner I have already described to you, and during the time I bore the cognomen of Erleloff."

"Ha, yes! well, what object had you in view, in returning to Canada ?"

"Revenge and ambition."

"On whom did you wish to become revenged?"

"On all !"

"On all—but all had not rendered themselves subjects to your vengeance. Myself for instance ?"

"You?-you had rendered yourself obnoxious by having thwarted me in my ambition."

"And why did the whole population come within the sweeping effects of your revenge."

"Because they are all a set of reptiles-because they had trampled on me when I was already in the dust, and I returned armed with power, determined to crush them lower than they crushed me. I was going to make them the tools to work out my own ends-for by elevating me, I intended they should give me the power of depressing them."

"And you did not contemplate revenging yourself on all in the same manner?"

"Oh, no-some I intended to sacrifice at once by summary means-others I intended to make the tools of my ambition."

"What was the aim of that ambition ?"

"I intended to raise myself to power-it mattered not by what means, or by what name I wielded that power-president-king-dictator-it availed not."

The sweat now rolled from the elder brother's face as well as from his victim's. "And who were these parties you intended sacrificing?" he asked.

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"Then you have accomplished your object with regard to Fergusson, and intend deserting him?"

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