Page:Irish assassin, or, The misfortunes of the family of O'Donnel (2).pdf/16

16 of Maria, and with it the fierce desires of the base McPherson. Again did he seize her in his accursed arms and again did she repeat, though faintly, her struggles, and her ejaculations for assistance—which, ere her infernal assaulter had triumphed, through the intervention of all-seeing Providence, arrived on the spot, and at a moment when an instant’s delay might have been fatal to the chastity of Maria, the villian received a blow from a cutlass, which deprived him of all sensation, and almost in the same instant the almost senseless innocent was raised to the affectionate arms of her parent, who having set out from the cottage to meet his beloved daughter, was alarmed by her first cries, and with as much speed as his lameness would permit, proceeded to her assistance, which happily he was enabled to give in time to preserve unsullied the only comfort of his existence. Most fortunately, his stick having been mislaid, he brought with him his trusty sword, on which he leaned to support his tottering frame, and which enabled him to bestow a deserved chastisement on the monster McPherson.

Conceiving he had killed the impious ruffian, he proceeded slowly on his way towards the cottage, with difficulty supporting Maria, who could not utter a word from agitation. He at length arrived at home, and consigned to the care of her foster-mother, who had always lived with him, his tender charge. On the ensuing morning Maria told her unhappy parent her little tale, and they together returned thanks to Heaven for her happy escape; while Captain Farrell expressed his intention of going to Lady O’Donnel to inform her of the miscreant she had in her service.

We must now return to the villain M'Pherson, who soon recovered from the effects of the blow he had received, which was attended with no dangerous symptoms. On rising from the ground, he observed a small casket lying a few paces from him, which he picked up, and on examining its contents, discovered the certificate of Arthur and Maria’s marriage, together with their wedding