480
WYLDER'S HAJVD.
Mr. Jos Larkin had a holy reliance upon his religious
reputation, which had always stood him in stead. But a
worldly Judge will sometimes disappoint the expectations
of the Christian suitor; and the language of the Court, in
commenting upon Mr. Jos Larkin, was, I am sorry to say,
in the highest degree offensive—"flagitious," "fraud-
ulent," and kindred epithets, were launched against that
tall, bald head, in a storm that darkened the air and ob-
literated the halo that usually encircled it. He was dis-
missed, in a tempest, with costs. He vanished from court,
like an evil spirit, into the torture-chamber of taxation.
But the cup of his tribulation was not yet quite full.
Jos Larkin's name was ultimately struck from the roll of
solicitors and attorneys, and there were minute and merci-
less essays in the papers, surrounding his disgrace with a
dreadful glare. People say he has not enough left to go
on with. He had lodgings somewhere near Richmond, as
Howard Larkin, Esq. and is still a religious character.
Some summers ago, I was, for a few days, in the won-
drous city of Venice. Gliding near the Lido — where
so many rings of Doges lie lost beneath the waves — I
heard the pleasant sound of female voices upon the water,
and then, with a sudden glory, rose a sad, wild hymn, like
the musical wail of the forsaken sea : —
The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord.
The song ceased. The gondola which bore the musicians
floated by — a slender hand over the gunwale trailed its
fingers in the water. Unseen, I saw. Rachel and Dor-
cas, beautiful in the sad moonlight, passed so near we could
have spoken — passed me like spirits, never more, it may
be, to cross my sight in life.
THE END.