"I don't mean to insult you, stranger; but facts is facts, all over the
world," said Jerry, untouched by the other's rebuke.
"What mean you?"
"Nothin', stranger, only I know you. Your mother arn't livin'."
"No," returned Vernon, with a start; for, with all his vices and his
crimes, a sense of respect for the name and honor of his family had
outlived the good principles imbibed upon a mother's knee. Although a
villain in almost every sense of the word, there were many redeeming
traits in his character, which the reader will be willing to believe, on
recalling his expressions of conscientiousness uttered to Maxwell.
Family pride is often hereditary, and the reverses and degradations of a
lifetime cannot extinguish it. It was so with Vernon. His real name was
unknown, even among his most intimate associates. He had early taken the
precaution--not in deference to the feelings of his father--to assume a
name; it was from pride of birth, which shuddered more at the thought of
a stain upon the family escutcheon than at all the crimes which may
canker and corrode the heart.
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