SPF.CIMKN OF THE BLACK AllT ! 271 



ejaculating loud enough to be heard, and with that emphasis which 

 people use when they wish to persuade us they are praying in down- 

 right earnest, 



" God's will be done !" 



" What about ?" said the lieutenant, bristling up ; " I suppose my 

 mother has taken a drop too much ; its not the first time ; dont be 

 alarmed, my friends, she'll soon come round again, never fear." 



" God's will be done !" again exclaimed Mrs. Gregory <f What's 

 the matter," grumbled the men ; " what can it be," squalled the 

 women. 



" There cannot be a finer or stronger little boy in the varsal world," 

 said Mrs. G., " but Lord bless us !" continued she, " its not so so 

 while as it should be !" 



" Not white !" exclaimed every one of the company in a breath. 



" God's will be done !" again ejaculated the resigned Mistress Gre- 

 gory ; "but as sure as you live the cliild is as black as his father ; 

 and sure that's none other but Beelzebub himself." A deep groan 

 escaped from the breast of Mr. Washington; 



" JBlood and ouns !" said the lieutenant. 



Sufficient could now be gathered to demonstrate that young Master 

 had not one single white spot on his whole body, and that some 

 frizzled hair was already beginning to show itself on its little pate ; 

 but that no nurse could be found to give him a drop of nourishment, 

 even if he were famishing, all the women verily believing, that as 

 Mrs. Washington was herself an unexceptionable woman, it must be 

 a son of the devil by a dream, and nothing else than an imp ; never 

 was there such a buzz and hubbub in any neighbourhood as now 

 took place here. Mrs. W. and the lieutenant were by no means at ease 

 on the subject of this freak of nature. Palmer was of course in high 

 blood for the honour of his sister, and Mr. Washington cock-a- whoop 

 for the character of his wife. The father and uncle at last decided 

 calmly and deliberately to lay the whole before a consultation of 

 doctors, to know if it was not a regular imagination mark. All the 

 doctors in the neighbourhood were called in to the consultation. Old 

 Butler, the farrier, came with all haste to Dureen, and begged leave 

 to give his opinion and offer his services, wishing to see Master 

 Washington before the doctors arrived, as he had a scent for turning 

 any skin however brown, as white as milk. On seeing the young gentle- 

 man, however, he declared that he was too black intirely for his me- 

 dicine. Dr. Bathron, who had the lead, declared with great gravity, 

 that from what he had read, he could take upon himself to assert, that 

 the child was decidedly a casus omissus ; the others, not exactly com- 

 prehending the nature of a casus omissus, thought it best to accede, 

 all subscribed to the opinion that the child was a casus omissus. 



Dr. Bathron, however, was determined on this case to found his 

 fame. By diligently searching old book-stalls in Dublin, whither he 

 went for the purpose, he found an ancient treatise, translated from 

 the works of the High German Doctor, Cratorious, (who nourished 

 in the fourteenth century,) on skinning certain parts of the body to 

 change the colour, and effectually to disguise criminals who had 

 escaped from prison. He, therefore, decided, that if this could be 



