midnight
`` Well now , '' said M'Loughlin , rising up , whilst his honest features were lit with indignation , `` this joke or this impudence on your part , has gone far enough -- listen to me . What did I or my family do , I ask my own conscience in the name of God -- what sin did we commit -- whom did we oppress -- whom did we rob -- whom did we persecute -- that a scoundrel like you , the bastard spawn of an unprincipled profligate , remarkable only for drunkenness , debauchery , and blasphemy -- what , I say , did I and my family do , that you , his son , who were , and are to this day , the low , mean , willing scourge of every oppressor , the agent of their crimes -- the instrument of their villianies -- you who undermined the honest man -- who sold and betrayed the poor man -- who deceived and misled the widow and her orphans , and rose upon their ruin -- who have robbed your employers as well as those you were employed against -- a double traitor -- steeped in treachery , and perjured a thousand times to the core of your black and deceitful heart -- what crime , I say again , did I or mine commit -- that we , whose name and blood has been without a stain for a thousand years , should suffer the insult that you now have offered Us -- eh , look me in the face now if you can , and answer me if you are able ? '' M'Cloughlin as he concluded , calmly folded his arms , and looked at his companion resolutely but sternly . The other , to do him justice , did certainly raise his head , and fix his evil eye upon him for a moment -- it dropped after a single glance ; in truth , he quailed before M'Loughlin ; his upper lip , as usual , quivered -- his brow lowered , and looked black as midnight , whilst all the rest of his face became the color of ashes . In fact , that white smile , which is known to be the very emblem of cowardice and revenge , sat upon his countenance , stamping upon it at once the character of the spectre and the demon -- a being to be both feared and hated . `` Well , Brian M'Loughlin , '' returned the other , `` hear me . '' `` Do n't dare to Brian me , sir , '' returned M'Loughlin ; `` I 'm a very humble man , and ought to be an humble man , for I know well what a sinner I am before God -- but for all that , and if it were against even religion itself -- I feel too proud to suffer you to speak to me as you do -- no -- do n't Brian me , but listen and let me show you what you are , and what you have been ; I ca n't say what you will be , that does not lie with any but God . ''