We have spoken of the singular magnetic influence of our hero's eyes, and the perturbation which it caused in the bosoms of the fair sex. When young Burr turned his full black eyes upon the nuns, and regarded them with passionate admiration—they exhibited much emotion. There was a fluttering among them, as if a bomb-shell had burst in their midst. They blushed, turned pale, their lips quivered, they looked at each other, and, finally, at Burr again, reminding one of the passage in Solomon's Song:
"Thou hast ravished me with one of thy eyes!"
These girls were very generally interesting, and one of them was eminently handsome. Her large blue eyes swam with tenderness, and her abundant hair was of the finest and most glossy brown; her features were regular, and her mouth peculiarly beautiful. Her form was voluptuous, and her general appearance bewitching in the extreme.
This was sister Catharine; her real name was Antoinette Mortier. She had been bewitched by the attentions of a handsome French officer, who left her for another, but without having received any favors from her, if we except a few amorous kisses.
She was disconsolate when her lover deserted her, and, in a fit of melancholy, threw herself into a convent. Two years had passed, and it is probable that the Frenchman was forgotten, for she fastened her blue eyes upon the countenance of young Burr, with an earnestness that told how capable she was of feeling the most passionate desire for the opposite sex.
Now that the lady superior was absent, Burr looked very tenderly at the amorous and beautiful nun, and she scarcely turned away her eyes from his, so thrilled was she by the magnetic influence, while her passions, long controlled, were threatening to consume her.
All this, Burr saw, in an instant. He knew that Sister Catharine was dying for the embrace of a man, and his natural benevolence prompted him to undertake her cure, if such a thing were possible.
But how could this be effected? The nuns were under the strict supervision of the lady superior, and how could so great a sacrilege be committed without discovery, and the mortal offence would be given to the church authorities, and to the priests who encouraged the expedition, and upon whom Burr depended for protection?
Many men would have been discouraged, by those prudent reflections, from making any attempt to comfort and console this amorous young lady. But Burr was too mindful of the welfare of the sex to let any consideration intimidate him.
He believed it impossible for these nuns to continue always within doors, and he did not doubt that, when darkness veiled all outward objects, they were in the habit of taking the air.
