"Capital, splendid!" cried Rufinus enthusiastically. He took up his hat
and stick, and the radiant expression of his face changed to a very grave
one. He went up to the young man with solemn dignity, looked at him with
fatherly kindliness, and said:

"I know what woes befell your house through those of our confession, the
fellow-believers of these whom you propose to protect with so much
prudence and courage; and that, young man, is noble, nay, is truly great.
I find in you--you who were described to me as a man of the world and not
over-precise--for the first time that which I have sought in vain for
many years and in many lands, among the pious and virtuous: the spirit
of willing self-sacrifice to save an enemy of a different creed from
pressing peril.--But you are young, Orion, and I am old. You triumph
in the action only, I foresee the consequences. Do you know what lies
before you, if it should be discovered that you have covered the escape
of the prey whom the patriarch already sees in his net? Have you
considered that Benjamin, the most implacable and most powerful hater
among the Jacobites, will pursue you as his mortal foe with all the
fearful means at his command?"

"I have considered it," replied Orion.

Rufinus laid his left hand on the young man's shoulder, and his right
hand on his head, saying, "Then take with you, to begin with, an old
man's--a father's blessing."

"Yes, a father's," repeated Orion softly. A happy thrill ran through his
body and soul, and he fell on the old man's neck deeply moved.