 rich, for -«
    He was interrupted by a back handed, but violent blow on the mouth, that
caused him to totter, and which left the impression of its weight in the
starting blood, and swelling lips.
    »Asa!« said the Father, advancing with a portion of that dignity with which
the hand of Nature seems to have invested the parental character. »You have
struck the brother of your Mother!«
    »I have struck the abuser of the whole family,« returned the angry youth,
»and unless he teach his tongue a wiser language, he had better part with it,
altogether, as the unruly member. I'm no great performer with the knife, but, on
an occasion, could make out, myself, to cut off a slande -«
    »Boy; twice have you forgotten yourself to-day. Be careful that it does not
happen the third time. Where the law of the land is weak, it is right that the
law of natur should be strong. You understand me, Asa, and you know me. As for
you, Abiram, the child has done you wrong, and it is my place to see you
righted. Remember; I tell you, justice shall be done; it is enough. But you have
said hard things ag'in me and my family. If the hounds of the law have put their
bills on the trees and stumps of the clearings, it was for no act of dishonesty,
as you know, but because we maintain the rule that 'arth is common property. No,
Abiram; could I wash my hands, of things done by your advice, as easily as I can
of the things done by the whisperings of the devil, my sleep would be quieter at
night, and none, who bear my name, need blush to hear it mentioned. Peace, Asa,
and you too, man; enough has been said. Let us all think well, before any thing
is added, that may make what is already so bad still more bitter.«
    Ishmael wav'd his hand, with authority, as he ended, and turned away with
the air of one, who felt assured, that those he addressed would not have the
temerity to dispute his commands. Asa, evidently struggled with himself to
compel the required obedience, but his heavy nature quietly sunk into its
ordinary repose, and he soon appeared, again, the being he really was;
dangerous, only, at moments, and one whose passions were too sluggish to be long
maintained at the point of
