fell senseless upon the ground, the pieces of gold, and the pieces of silver strewn about her. The birds above once more burst into a flood of melody, but she heard them not.

CHAPTER XI

I

AFTER THE DUEL

T was the evening of the day of the tragedy. Myriads of stars scintillated, and a full moon shone in the heavens. Its bright rays fell upon the rushing river and formed a wondrous maze above it, while its surface beneath resembled the glare of silver or the glint of highly-burnished steel. It seemed as though fair Luna had with one grasp taken a thousand arrows from her crystal quiver and cast them upon the earth. The little moonbeams romped and played like elfin sprites upon the trees and shrubs and flowers that grew upon, or about, the field where the conflict of the morning had taken place. They lighted up the bright green of its carpet and showed some dark red stains upon the spot where the wounded man had fallen. From this scene of radiant light which fell upon sea and river, road and field, come to the lordly mansion, dark as Erebus, upon the summit of Richmond Hill.

In this great house but a single light was burninga solitary candle which stood upon a large table in the great library. Although the master of the house had not retired to rest, the great candelabrum in the hall was not lighted. The servants, who had heard exaggerated rumors of the occurrence in the morning. had gathered together at the rear of the house and talked in low whispers with bated breath. Even the voice of the loquacious Peggy was stilled, and she had no word of condemnation, as was her wont, for her fellow-servants.

In his great armchair in the library sat the master of the house. The same picture that greeted his eyes early that morning, and which had been before them all day, was before them now. He saw again and again the form of the prostrate man, and heard his words: "This is a mortal wound." Of course the wound was mortal, for Hamilton had said so himself. Who could know so well as he. The master of the house had been alone for several hours. His friends, Van Ness, Swartwout, and Davis, had passed the greater part of the day with him, but all of them had gone down town to learn the latest intelligence. Would they never come back? Yes! there was a loud knock at the door. The servants had been informed that the master would open the door himself, if anyone called. He did so, and admitted Van Ness.

"What do they say?" asked Burr, as soon as they had entered the library.

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Your enemies say-" Van Ness began.

"Stop!" cried Burr, "I do not care to hear what my enemies say. What do my friends say?

They seated themselves in the dimly-lighted room. "Some of them say," remarked Van Ness, "that it is a righteous judgment, but that it has been deferred too long. Some say they are sorry that he is mortally wounded; it would have answered your purpose just as well if the injury had been slight."

No doubt," said Burr, "but it was the decree of Fate. If I had actually tried to kill him, as I did not, I should probably have given him a flesh wound only. But go on, Van Ness."

"Some say," the latter continued, "that they wish the duel had taken place as soon as Cooper's letter appeared; that is, before election. They say that in such a case, if you had wounded Hamilton slightly, your honor would have been vindicated; his scandalous tongue and those of his myrmidons would have been

silenced, and then you would undoubtedly have been elected Governor of New York, and your way to the presidential chair assured."

"No doubt," said Burr again, "but Fate did not so decree."

"Then again," continued Van Ness, "if that tool of Hamilton's had only died a couple of months sooner and you had given me liberty to publish that deposition

"Hold, Van Ness," cried Burr. "The matter of the deposition has been settled finally. I never could have used it against a living antagonist, and I have provided that it cannot be used against a dead one. But is he dead? You have not told me."

Not yet," Van Ness answered, "but the doctors give no hope. A couple of surgeons from the French frigates in the harbor came up this afternoon, but their decision was the same as that arrived at by Doctor Hosack. He will probably linger until to-morrow, but the end is certain."

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Is he in great pain?" asked Burr.

They say he was," replied Van Ness, "until he was placed in bed in Mr. Bayard's house. Then Doctor Hosack was able to relieve him."

In a short time, Van Ness took his leave. Burr extinguished the candle, and, throwing himself upon a couch in the library, slept soundly until morning. It did not prove that he was a revengeful or hard-hearted man. He had been in battles when hundreds of men instead of one had fallen, and yet he had thrown himself upon the ground beside them, and, exhausted then as he was now, had slept throughout the night.

The master of Richmond Hill passed the day following the duel in writing letters to his daughter, his sonin-law, and to many friend's in different parts of the country. The second evening came, and again the great mansion was dark except for the single light in

the library. That evening he had two visitors, Judge Van Ness and Doctor Hosack. The latter, who was a friend to both the participants in the fatal affray, had come at Van Ness's request to give Colonel Burr a correct account of the last hours of his antagonist.

It was a most affecting sight," said Doctor Hosack, 66 when the General's wife and his seven children stood by his bedside. He could not speak, but he gave them a look which said as plainly as words could have done, 'I love you all; farewell.' Two clergymen visited him in his last hours. I left the room, for I knew he would wish to be alone with them. He died about half-past two this afternoon."

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What was the nature of the wound?" asked Burr calmly.

"The

"A most peculiar one," the doctor replied. bullet struck him in the right side. It fractured one of the ribs and, in doing so, was deflected so that it continued its course through his body and finally lodged in the lumbar region. Had it not been for the fractured rib, the wound would have been a comparatively slight one."

Burr nodded his head.

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The funeral," said Van Ness, "is fixed for Friday."

The two gentlemen soon withdrew, and the victor of that terrible morning passed another night in the solitude of his library.

In the early part of the following week, the candelabrum in the hall was again lighted. A dozen candles were burning in the great library.

A little company had gathered to talk over the events of the preceding week. Among them were the everready Van Ness, the always-faithful John Swartwout, M. L. Davis, and Colonel Troup.

The ante-duellum statement to which Hamilton had called Mr. Pendleton's attention on the morning