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diff --git a/30266-0.txt b/30266-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1da84c2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30266-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6719 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30266 *** + + TALES + FROM + "BLACKWOOD" + + Contents of this Volume + + _My English Acquaintance._ _By F. Hardman, Esq._ + + _The Murderer's Last Night._ _By T. Doubleday, Esq._ + + _Narration of Certain Uncommon Things that did formerly + happen to me, Herbert Willis, B.D._ + + _The Wags_ + + _The Wet Wooing: A Narrative of '98_ + + _Ben-na-Groich_ + + + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS + EDINBURGH AND LONDON + + + + +TALES FROM "BLACKWOOD." + + + + +MY ENGLISH ACQUAINTANCE. + +BY FREDERICK HARDMAN, ESQ. + + +[_MAGA._ FEBRUARY 1848.] + +"I believe I have the pleasure of seeing Mr ----," said a voice in +English, as I paused for a moment, my breakfast concluded, before the +door of a Palais Royal coffee-house, planning the disposal of my day. + +I looked at the person who thus addressed me; and, although I pique +myself on rarely forgetting the face of an acquaintance, in this +instance my memory was completely at fault. But for his knowledge of +my name, I should have concluded my interlocutor mistaken as to my +identity. I was at least as much surprised at the perfectly good +English he spoke, as at having my acquaintance claimed by a person of +his profession and rank. He was a young man of about five-and-twenty, +attired in the handsome and well-fitting undress of a sergeant of +French light dragoons. His brown hair curled short and crisp from +under his smart green forage-cap, cavalierly placed upon one side of +his head; his clear blue eyes contrasted with the tawny colour of his +cheek, a tint for which it was evidently indebted to sun and weather; +his face was clean shaven, save and except small well-trimmed +mustaches and a chin-tuft. Altogether, he was as pretty a model of a +light cavalryman as I remember to have seen: square in the shoulder, +slender in the hip, well limbed, lithe and muscular. His carriage was +soldierly, without the exaggerated stiffness and swagger commonly +found amongst non-commissioned officers of dragoons; and altogether he +had a gentlemanly air which, I doubt not, would have made itself as +visible under the coarse drugget of a private soldier, as beneath the +garb of finer materials and more careful cut, which, in his capacity +of _maréchal des logis_, or sergeant, it was permitted him to wear. +But my admiration of this pretty model of a man-at-arms did not assist +me to recognise him, although, whilst gazing at him, and especially +when he slightly smiled at my visible embarrassment, his features +seemed not totally unfamiliar to me. I looked, I have no doubt, +considerably puzzled. The stranger came to my assistance. + +"I see you do not remember me," he said. "Not above four years since +we met, if so much; but four years, an African sun, and a French +uniform, have made a change. I met you in Warwickshire, at George +Clinton's. I have seen you once or twice since; but I think the last +time we spoke was when cantering over Harleigh Downs. My name is Frank +Oakley." + +I immediately recollected my man. About four summers previously, +whilst on a flying visit at a country house, I had formed a slight +acquaintance with Mr Frank Oakley, who had then just come of age, and +into possession--by the death of his father, which had occurred a +twelvemonth previously--of a few thousand pounds. The interest of this +sum, which would have been an agreeable and sufficient addition to a +subaltern's pay or curate's stipend, or which would have enabled a +struggling barrister to bide his briefs, was altogether insufficient +to supply the wants and caprices of an idler, especially such an idler +as Oakley. Master Francis was what young gentlemen fresh from school +or at college, sucking ensigns, precocious templars, _et id genus +omne_, are accustomed to call a "fast" man; the said fastness not +referring, as Johnson's dictionary teaches us it might do, to any +particular strength or firmness of character, but merely to the +singular rapidity with which such persons get through their money and +into debt. At the time I speak of, Oakley was going his fastest--that +is to say, spending the utmost amount of coin, for the least possible +value; indeed he could hardly have run madder riot with his moderate +patrimony, had he cast his sovereigns into bullets and made +pipe-lights of his bank-notes. But verily, he had his reward in the +open-mouthed admiration of three or four younkers of his own standing, +then assembled at Harleigh Hall, who looked up to him as something +between a hero and an oracle; and in the encouraging familiarity and +approval of one or two gentlemen of maturer age, who swore he was a +fine fellow, and proved they thought so by winning bets of him at +billiards, and by selling him horses that would have fetched "twice +the money at Tattersall's," with other bargains of an equally +advantageous description. Although we were four days in the same +house, meeting each evening at dinner, and occasionally riding and +walking in the same group, our acquaintance continued of the very +slightest description, and I took my departure without anything +approaching to intimacy having sprung up between us. Amongst the large +party of visitors at the Hall, were not wanting persons of tastes more +suited to my own than those of Oakley and his little knot of +flatterers and admirers; and he, on his part, was far too much taken +up with his newly-inherited fortune--which he evidently considered +inexhaustible--with planning amusements, and inhaling adulatory +incense, to pay attention to a man whom, as full fifteen years his +senior, he doubtless set down as an old fellow, a "slow coach," and +perhaps even as a member of that distinguished corporation known as +the "Fogie Club." So that when we met in London, during the ensuing +season, occasionally in the street and once or twice in a ballroom, a +slight bow or word of recognition was all that passed between us. I +could perceive, however, that Oakley still kept up the rapid pace at +which he had started, and lived, with a few hundreds a-year, as if he +had possessed as many thousands. The proximity of my quiet club to the +fashionable and expensive one into which he had obtained admission, +gave me many opportunities of observing his proceedings, and those +opportunities, in my capacity of a student of human nature, I did not +neglect. I had marked his career and ultimate fate in my mind, and was +curious to see my predictions verified, although I sincerely wished +they might not be, for they were anything but favourable to the +welfare of Oakley, who, in spite of his follies, had generous and +manly qualities. His prodigality was not of that purely egotistical +description most commonly found in spendthrifts of his class. He would +give a lavish alms to a whining beggar, as freely as he would throw +away a handful of gold on some folly of the moment or extravagant +debauch; and I had heard an old one-armed soldier, who sometimes held +his horse at the club door, utter blessings, when he had ridden out +of hearing, on his kind heart and open hand. These and similar little +traits that came under my notice, made me regret to see him going post +to perdition. That he was doing so, I could not for one moment doubt. +His extravagance knew no limit, and in six months he must have got +through as many years' income. Wherever pleasure was to be had, no +matter at what price, Oakley was to be seen.--Upon a revenue overrated +at five hundred a-year, he kept half a dozen horses, a cab, and a +strange nondescript vehicle, made after an eccentric design of his +own, and which everybody turned to look at, as he drove down +Piccadilly of an afternoon, on his way to the Park. He had his stall +at the opera, of course, and an elegant set of apartments in the most +expensive street in London, where he gave suppers and dinners of +extravagant delicacy to thirsty friends and greedy _danseuses_. The +former showed their gratitude for his good cheer by winning his money +at cards; the latter evinced their affection by carrying off the +costly nicknacks that strewed his rooms, and by taking his diamond +shirt-pins to fasten their shawls. In short, he regularly delivered +himself over to the harpies. In addition to these minor drafts upon +his exchequer, came others of a more serious nature. He played high, +and never refused a bet. Like many silly young men (and some silly old +ones), he had a blind veneration for rank, and held that a lord could +do no wrong. Even a baronetcy conferred a certain degree of +infallibility in his eyes. No amount of respectable affidavits would +have convinced him that if Lord Rufus Slam, who not unfrequently +condescended to win a cool fifty of him at écarté, did not turn the +king each time he dealt, it was only because he despised so hackneyed +a swindle, and had other ways of securing the game, equally nefarious +but less palpable. Neither would it have been possible to persuade him +that Sir Tantivy Martingale, "that prime fellow and thorough +sportsman," as Frank admiringly and confidingly styled him, was +capable of taking his bet upon a horse which he, the aforesaid Sir +Tantivy, had just made "safe to lose." In short, poor Oakley, who, +during his father's lifetime, had been little, if at all, in London, +thought himself excessively knowing and fully up to all the wiles and +snares of the metropolis. In reality he was exceedingly raw, was +victimised accordingly, and, at the end of a few months in town, found +himself minus a sum that brought reflection, I suspect, even to his +giddy head. I conjectured so, at least, when, at the end of the +season, I encountered him on a Boulogne steamer, looking fagged and +out of spirits. It was only a year since we had met at Harleigh Hall, +but that year had told upon him. Dissipation had driven the flush of +health from his cheek, and his youthful brow was already care-loaded. +I spoke to him, and made an attempt to converse; but he seemed sulky +and unwilling; and, on reaching Boulogne, I lost sight of him. After a +short tour, I went to winter at Paris, and there I frequently saw him. +He had forgotten, apparently, the annoyances that weighed on him when +he left London, and was again the gayest of the gay; living as if his +purse were bottomless, and his _Gibus_ the wishing cap of Fortunatus. +Nothing was too hot or too strong for him: rated a "fast man" in +England, in France he was held a _viveur enragé_. I did not much +admire the society he selected. I saw him alternately with the most +_roué_ and dissolute young Frenchmen of fashion, and with an English +set which, if it comprised men against whom nothing positively bad +could be proved, also included others whose reputation was more than +doubtful. At first he was chiefly with the French, whose language, +from long residence in the country when a boy, he spoke as one of +themselves; then he seemed to abandon them for the English clique, and +then he suddenly disappeared. I no longer saw him pacing the Boulevard +or riding in the Bois, or issuing at night from the Café Anglais, +flushed with wine and bent on riotous debauch. All his former +companions remained, pursuing their old amusements, frequenting the +same haunts; but he was no more with them. I could not understand his +leaving Paris just as the best season commenced, and at first I +supposed him ill. But week after week slipped by, and, no Oakley +appearing, I made up my mind he had departed, whither I knew not. I +was rather vexed at this, for I had proposed watching him to the end +of his career. Moreover, although we never spoke, and had almost left +off bowing, my idle habit of observing his proceedings had given me a +sort of interest in him. Once only, after his eclipse, did I fancy I +caught a glimpse of him. I was fond of long rambles in the low and +remote quarters of Paris, through those labyrinths of narrow streets, +filthy courts, and rickety houses, where the character and +peculiarities of the humbler classes of Parisians are best to be +studied. Returning, after dark, from an expedition of this kind, I was +surprised by a violent shower in a shabby street of the Faubourg St +Antoine, and took refuge under a doorway. Immediately opposite to me +was the wretched shop of a _traiteur_, in whose dingy window a cloudy +white bowl of mashed spinach, a plate of bouilli, dry as a deal plank, +and some triangular fragments of pear, stewed with cochineal and +exposed in a saucer, served as indications of the luxurious fare to be +obtained within. On one of the grimy shutters, whose scanty coat of +green paint the weather had converted into a sickly blue, was the +announcement, in yellow letters, that "_Fricot, Traiteur, donne à +Boire et à Manger_;" whilst upon the other the hieroglyphical +representation of a bottle and glass, flanked by the words "_Bon Vin +de Macon à 8 et à 10 S._" hinted intelligibly at the well-provided +state of Monsieur Fricot's cellar. It was one of those humble +eating-houses, abounding in the French capital, where a very hungry +man may stave off starvation for about the price of a tooth-pick at +the _Café_ or the _Trois Frères_, and where an exceedingly thirsty one +may get intoxicated upon potato brandy and essence of logwood for a +similar amount. It needs a three days' fast or a paviour's appetite to +induce entrance into such a place. I was gazing with some curiosity at +the windows of this poor tavern, through whose starred and patched +panes, crowded with bottles, and backed by a curtain of dirty muslin, +the waving of iron forks and spoons was dimly discernible by the light +of two flickering candles, when the door suddenly opened, a man came +out, heedless of the rain, which fell in torrents, and walked rapidly +away. It was but a second, and he was lost in the darkness of the +ill-lighted street, but in that second I thought I distinguished the +gait and features of Frank Oakley. But my view of him was very +indistinct, and I concluded myself misled by a resemblance. Since that +day nothing had occurred to remind me of him, and for a long time I +had entirely forgotten the good-hearted but reckless scamp, who for a +brief period had attracted my attention. + +Frank Oakley, then, it was, who now stood before me under the arcades +of the Palais Royal. I held out my hand, with a word or two of apology +for my slowness in remembering him. + +"No excuse, I beg," was his reply. "Not one in twenty of my former +acquaintances recognises the spendthrift dandy in the humble sergeant +of dragoons, and in the few who do, I observe, upon my approach, a +strong partiality for the opposite side of the street. They give +themselves unnecessary trouble, for I have no wish to intrude upon +them. I have been four months in Paris, and have constantly met former +intimates, but have never spoken to one of them. And I cannot say what +induced me to address you, with whom my acquaintance is so slight, +except that I should be very glad to have a talk about dear old +England, and if I am not mistaken you are a likely man to grant it +me." + +"With pleasure, Mr Oakley," said I. "I am glad to see you, although I +confess myself surprised at your present profession. For an +Englishman, I should have thought our own service preferable to a +foreign one; and doubtless your friends would have got you a +commission--that is--if--" + +I hesitated, and paused, for I felt that I was upon delicate ground, +getting run away with by my own foregone conclusions, and likely, +unintentionally, to wound my interlocutor's feelings. Oakley observed +my embarrassment, smiled, and completed my unfinished sentence. + +"If I had not money left after my extravagance, to buy one for myself. +Well, I had not; and moreover--but you shall hear all about it, if you +care to learn the adventures of a scapegrace, now, I hope, reformed. +And, in return, you shall tell me if London is still in the same +place, and as wicked and pleasant as ever; and how it fares with old +George Clinton, and all the jolly Warwickshire lads. Have you an hour +to spare?" + +"Half a dozen, if you like," I replied warmly, for I was greatly taken +with the frank manly tone of the young man, whom I had last known as a +conceited frivolous coxcomb. "Half a dozen. Shall we walk?" + +"I will not tax your kindness so long," replied Oakley; "and as for +walking," he added, glancing from the silver stripe upon his sleeve, +indicative of his non-commissioned rank, to my suit of civilian +broadcloth, "although I am by no means ashamed of my position, that is +no reason for exposing you to the stare and wonder of your English +acquaintances, by parading in your company the public promenade. So, +if you have no objection, we will step up here. The place is +respectable; but unfrequented, I dare say, by any you know." + +And without giving me time to protest my utter indifference to the +supercilious criticism referred to, he turned into a doorway, upon a +pane of glass above which was painted a ship in full sail, with the +words "Café Estaminet Hollandais." Ascending a flight or two of +stairs, we entered a suite of spacious apartments, furnished with +several billiard tables, with cue-racks, chairs, benches, and small +tables for the use of drinkers. Several of the windows, which looked +out upon the garden of the Palais Royal, were open, in the vain hope, +perhaps, of purifying the place from the inveterate odour of tobacco +remaining there from the previous night. Although it was not yet noon, +the billiard balls rattled vigorously upon more than one of the +tables, and a few early drinkers, chiefly foreigners, professional +billiard players and non-commissioned officers of the Paris garrison, +sipped their Strasburg beer or morning dram of brandy. The further end +of the long gallery, however, was unoccupied, and there Oakley drew a +couple of chairs to a window, called for refreshment as a pretext for +our presence, and seating himself opposite to me, assailed me with a +volley of questions concerning persons and things in England. To these +I replied as satisfactorily as I was able, and allowed the stream of +interrogation to run itself dry, before assuming, in my turn, the +character of questioner. At last, having in some degree appeased +Oakley's eager desire for information about the country whence he had +been so long absent, I intimated a curiosity concerning his own +adventures, and the circumstances that had made a soldier of him. He +at once took the hint, and, perceiving that I listened with friendly +attention and interest, gave me a detailed narrative of his life since +I had first made his acquaintance. He told his story with a spirit and +military conciseness that riveted my attention as much as the real +pungency of the incidents. Its first portion, relating to his London +career, informed me of little beyond what I already knew, or, at +least, had conjectured. It was the everyday tale of a heedless, +inexperienced youth, suddenly cast without guide or Mentor upon the +ocean of life, and striking in turn against all the shoals that +strew the perilous waters. He had been bubbled by gentlemanly +swindlers--none of your low, seedy rapscallions, but men of style +and fashion, even of family, but especially of _honour_, who +would have paraded and shot him, had he presumed to doubt their +word, but made no scruple of genteelly picking his pocket. He had +been duped by designing women, spunged upon by false friends, +pillaged by unprincipled tradesmen. He never thought of making a +calculation--except on a horse-race, and then he was generally +wrong,--or of looking at an account, or keeping one; but, when he +wanted money, and his banker wrote him word he had overdrawn, he just +sent his autograph to his stockbroker, prefixing the words, "Sell five +hundred, or a thousand," as the case might be. For some time these +laconic mandates were obeyed without remark, but at last, towards the +close of the London season, the broker, the highly respectable Mr +Cashup, of Change Alley, called upon his young client, whose father he +had known for many years, and ventured a gentle remonstrance on such +an alarming consumption of capital. Frank affected to laugh at the old +gentleman's caution, and told an excellent story that evening, after a +roaring supper, about the square-toed cit, the wise man of the East, +who made a pilgrimage to St James's, to preach a sermon on frugality. +Nevertheless, the prodigal was startled by the statements of the man +of business. He was unaware how deeply he had dipped into his +principal, and felt something like alarm upon discovering that he had +got through more than half his small fortune. This, in little more +than a year! For a moment he felt inclined to reform, abandon +dissipation, and apply to some profession. But the impulse was only +momentary. How could he, the gay Frank Oakley, the flower of fashion, +and admiration of the town (so at least he thought himself,) bend his +proud spirit to pore over parchments in a barrister's chambers, or to +smoke British Havanas, and spit over the bridge of a country town, as +ensign in a marching regiment? Was he to read himself blind at +college, to find himself a curate at thirty, with a hundred a-year, +and a breeding wife? Or was he to go to India, to get shot by Sikhs, +or carried off by a jungle fever? Forbid it, heaven! What would Slam +and Martingale, and Mademoiselle Entrechat, and all his fast and +fashionable acquaintances, male and female, say to such declension? +The thought was overwhelming, and thereupon Oakley resolved to give up +all idea of earning an honest living, to "drown care," "d-- the +consequences," and act up to the maxim he had frequently professed, +when the champagne corks were flying at his expense for the benefit of +a circle of admiring friends, of "a short life and a merry one." So he +stopped in London till the very close of the season, "keeping the game +alive," as he expressed it, to the last, and then started for the +Continent. An attempt to recruit his finances at Baden-Baden +terminated, as might be expected, in their further reduction, and at +last he found his way to Paris. Unfortunately for him, his ruinous +career in England had been so short, and his self-conceit, and great +opinion of his own knowingness, had made him so utterly reject the +advice and experience of the very few friends who cared a rush for his +welfare, that he was still in the state of a six-day-old puppy, and as +unable to take care of himself. More than half-ruined, he preserved +his illusions; still believed in the sincerity of fashionable +acquaintances, in the fidelity of histrionic mistresses, in the +disinterestedness of mankind in general, or at least of that portion +of it with which he habitually associated. The bird had left half its +feathers with the fowler, but was as willing as ever to run again +into the snare. And at Paris snares were plentiful, well-baited and +carefully covered up. + +"I can scarcely define the society into which I got at Paris," said +Oakley, when he came to this part of his history. "It was of a motley +sort, gathered from all quarters, and, upon the whole, rather pleasant +than respectable. It consisted partly of persons I had known in +England, either Englishmen or dashing young Frenchmen of fortune, +whose acquaintance I had made during their visits to London a few +months previously. I had also several letters of introduction, some of +which gave me entrance into the best Parisian circles, but these I +generally neglected, preferring the gay fellows for whom I bore +commendatory scrawls from my London associates. But probably my best +recommendation was my pocket, still tolerably garnished, and the +recklessness with which I scattered my cash. I felt myself on the high +road to ruin, but my down-hill course had given such impetus to my +crazy vehicle, that I despaired of checking it, and shut my eyes to +the inevitable smash awaiting me at the bottom. + +"It was not long in coming. Although educated in France, and +consequently speaking the language as a native, I always took more +kindly to my own countrymen than to Frenchmen, and gradually I +detached myself unconsciously from those with whom I had spent much +of my time when first in Paris. I exchanged for the worse, in making +my sole companions of a set of English scamps, who asked no better +than to assist at the plucking of such a pigeon as myself. At first +they treated me with tenderness, fearing to spoil their game by a +measure of wholesale plunder. They made much of me, frequently +favoured me with their company at dinner, occasionally forgot their +purses and borrowed from mine, forgetting repayment, and got up card +parties, at which, however, I was sometimes allowed to come off a +winner. But my gains were units and my losses tens. An imprudent +revelation accelerated the catastrophe. My chosen intimate was one +Harry Darvel, a tall pale man, several years older than myself, who +would have been good-looking, but for the unpleasant shifting +expression of his grey eyes, and for a certain cold rigidity of +feature, frequently seen in persons of the profession I afterwards +found he exercised. I first made his acquaintance at Baden, met him by +appointment at Paris, and he soon became my chief associate. I knew +little of him, except that he had a large acquaintance, lived in good +style, spent his money freely, and was one of the most amusing +companions I had ever had. By this time I began to see through +flattery, when it was not very adroitly administered, and to suspect +the real designs of some of the vultures that flocked about me Darvel +never flattered me; his manner was blunt, almost to roughness; he +occasionally gave me advice, and affected sincere friendship and +anxiety for my welfare. 'You are young in the world,' he would say to +me, 'you know a good deal for the time you have been in it, but I am +an old stager, and have been six seasons in Paris for your one. I +don't want to dry-nurse you, nor are you the man to let me, but two +heads are better than one, and you may sometimes be glad of a hint. +This is a queer town, and there are an infernal lot of swindlers +about.' I little dreamed that my kind adviser was one of the most +expert of the class he denounced, but reposed full trust in him, and, +by attending to his disinterested suggestions, gradually detached +myself from my few really respectable associates, and delivered myself +entirely into his hands, and those of his assistant Philistines. Upon +an unlucky day, when a letter of warning from my worthy old +stockbroker had revived former anxieties in my mind, I made Darvel my +confidant, and asked counsel of him to repair my broken fortunes. He +heard me without betraying surprise, said he would think the matter +over, and that something would assuredly turn up, talked vaguely of +advantageous appointments which he had interest in England to procure, +assured me of his sympathy and friendship, and bade me not despond, +but keep my heart up, for that I had plenty of time to turn in, and +meanwhile I must limit my expenses, and not be offended if he +occasionally gave me a friendly check when he saw me 'outrunning the +constable.' His tone and promises cheered me, and I again forgot my +critical position. Little did I dream that my misplaced confidence had +sealed my doom. If I had hitherto been spared, it was from no excess +of mercy, but because my real circumstances were unknown, my fortune +overrated, and a fear entertained of prematurely scaring the game by +too rapid an attack. It was now ascertained that the goose might be +slaughtered, without any sacrifice of golden eggs. Darvel now knew +exactly what I was worth,--barely two thousand pounds. That gone, +I should be a beggar. For two days he never lost sight of me, +accompanied me everywhere and kept me in a whirl of dissipation, +exerted to the utmost his amusing powers, which were very +considerable, and did all he could to raise my spirits. The third +morning he came to breakfast with me. + +"'Dine at my rooms, to-day,' said he, as he sat puffing a Turkish +pipe, after making me laugh to exhaustion at a ridiculous adventure +that had befallen him the night before. 'Bachelor fare, you +know--brace of fowls and a gigot, a glass of that Chambertin you +so highly approve, and a little chicken hazard afterwards. Quite +quiet--shan't allow you to play high. We'll have a harmless, +respectable evening. I will ask Lowther and the Bully. Dine at seven, +to bed at twelve.' + +"I readily accepted, and we strolled out to invite the other guests. A +few minutes' walk brought us to the domicile of Thomas Ringwood, Esq., +known amongst his intimates as the Bully, a sobriquet he owed to +his gruff voice, blustering tone, and skill as a pugilist and +cudgel-player. He was member of a well-known and highly respectable +English family, who had done all in their power to keep him from +disgracing their name by his disreputable propensities. In dress and +manner he affected the plain bluff Englishman, wore a blue coat, +beaver gloves (or none at all), and a hat broad in the brim, spoke of +all foreigners with supreme contempt, and of himself as _honest_ Tom +Ringwood. This lip honesty and assumed bluntness were a standing joke +with those who knew his real character, but passed muster as perfectly +genuine with ingenious and newly imported youngsters like myself, who +took him for a wealthy and respectable English gentleman, the champion +of fair play, just as at a race, or fair, boobies take for a bona-fide +farmer the portly individual in brown tops, who so loudly expresses +his confidence in the chances of the thimble rig, and in the probity +of the talented individual who manoeuvres the 'little pea.' + +"Ringwood was at his rooms, having 'half a round' with the Oxford +Chicken, a promising young bruiser who, having recently killed his +man in a prize-fight, had come over to Paris for change of air. There +was bottled English porter on the table, sand upon the floor to +prevent slipping, and the walls were profusely adorned with portraits +of well-known pugilists, sketches of steeple-chases, boxing-gloves, +masks, and singlesticks. In the comfortable embraces of an arm-chair +sat Archibald Lowther, honest Tom's particular ally, who, in every +respect, was the very opposite of his Achates. Lowther affected the +foreigner and dandy as much as Ringwood assumed the bluff and rustic +Briton; wore beard and mustaches, and brilliant waistcoats, owned +shirt-studs by the score and rings by the gross, lisped out his words +with the aid of a silver tooth-pick, and was never seen without a +smile of supreme amiability upon his dark, handsome countenance. +Fortunately, both these gentlemen were disengaged for the evening. The +day passed in lounging and billiard-playing, varied by luncheon and a +fair allowance of liquids, and at half-past seven we sat down to +dinner. It did not occur to me at the time that, although Darvel's +invitation had the appearance of an impromptu, he did not warn his +servant of expected guests, or return home till within an hour of +dinner-time. Nevertheless, all was in readiness; not the promised fowl +and leg of mutton, but an exquisite repast, redolent of spices and +truffles, with wines of every description. I was in high spirits, and +drank freely, mixing my liquor without scruple, and towards ten +o'clock I was much exhilarated, although not yet drunk, and still +tolerably cognisant of my actions. Then came coffee and liqueurs, and +whilst Darvel searched in an adjoining room for some particularly fine +cigars for my special smoking, Lowther cleared a table, and rummaged +in the drawers for cards and dice, whilst Ringwood called for lemons +and sugar, and compounded a fiery bowl of _Kirschwasser_ punch. It was +quite clear we were to have a night of it. Darvel's declaration that +he would have no high play in his rooms, and would turn every one out +at midnight, was replied to by me with a boisterous shout of laughter, +in which I was vociferously joined by Lowther, who, to all appearance, +was more than half tipsy. We sat down to play for moderate stakes; +fortune favoured me at the expense of Ringwood and Lowther. The former +looked sulky, the latter became peevishly noisy and excited, cursed +his luck, and insisted on increasing the stakes. Darvel strongly +objected; as winner, I held myself bound to oppose him, and the +majority carried the day. The stakes were doubled, quadrupled, and +at last became extravagantly high. Presently in came a couple +more 'friends,' in full evening costume, white-waistcoated and +gold-buttoned, patent leather, starch and buckram from heel to +eyebrow. They were on their way to a rout at the Marchioness of +Montepulciano's, but, seeing light through Darvel's windows, came up +'just to see what was going on.' With great difficulty they were +prevailed upon to take a cigar and a hand at cards, and to disappoint +the Marchioness. It was I who, inspired by deep potations and +unbounded good fellowship, urged and insisted upon their stopping. My +three friends did not seem nearly so cordial in their solicitations, +and subsequently, when I came to think over the night's proceedings, +I remembered a look of vexation exchanged between them, upon the +entrance of the uninvited vultures who thus intruded for their share +of the spoil. Doubtless, the worthy trio would rather have kept me to +themselves. They suppressed their discontent, however; externally all +was honeyed cordiality and good feeling; the Bully made perpetual +bowls of punch, and I quaffed the blazing alcohol till I could +scarcely distinguish the pips on the cards. But scenes like these have +been too often described for their details to have much interest. +Enough, that at six o'clock the following morning I threw myself upon +my bed, fevered, frantic, and a beggar. I had given orders upon my +London agent for the very last farthing I possessed. + +"Lowther, to all appearance the least sober and worst player of the +party, had been chief winner. Ringwood had won a little; Madame +Montepulciano's friends did not make a bad night's work of it, +although they declared their gains trifling, but as there had been a +good deal of gold and some bank-notes upon the table, it was difficult +to say exactly how the thing had gone. Darvel, who had frequently made +attempts to stop the play--attempts frustrated by Lowther's drunken +violence, Ringwood's dogged sullenness, and my own mad eagerness--was +visibly a loser; but what mattered that, when his confederates won? +There is honour amongst thieves, and no doubt next day witnessed an +equitable division of the spoils. + +"It was the second day after the debauch before I again saw any of my +kind friends. I spent the greater part of the intervening one in bed, +exhausted and utterly desponding, revolving in my mind my desperate +position. I had no heart to go out or see anybody. At last Darvel +called upon me, affected great sorrow for my losses, deplored my +obstinacy in playing high against his advice, and inveighed against +Lowther for his drunken persistence. Anxiety and previous excess +had rendered me really unwell; Darvel insisted on sending me his +physician, and left me with many expressions of kindness, and a +promise to call next day. All this feigned sympathy was not lavished +without an object; the gang had discovered I might still be of use to +them. In what way, I did not long remain ignorant. During a week or +more that I remained in the house, suffering from a sort of low +fever, Darvel came daily to sit with me, brought me newspapers, told +me the gossip of the hour, and not unfrequently threw out hints of +better times near at hand, when the blind goddess should again +smile upon me. At last I learned in what way her smiles were to be +purchased. I was convalescent; my doctor had paid his farewell visit, +and pocketed my last napoleon, when Darvel entered my room. After the +usual commonplace inquiries, he sat down by the fire, silent, and with +a gloomy countenance. I could not help noticing this, for I was +accustomed to see him cheerful and talkative upon his visits to me; +and I presently inquired if any thing had gone wrong. + +"'Yes--no--nothing with me exactly, but for you. I am disappointed on +your account.' + +"'On my account?' + +"'Yes. I wrote to England some days ago, urging friends of mine in +high places to get you a snug berth, and to-day I have received +answers.' + +"'Well?' + +"'No, ill--cold comfort enough. Lots of promises, but with an +unmistakeable hint that many are to be served before me, and that +we must wait several months--which with those people means several +years--before there will be a chance of a good wind blowing your +way. I am infernally sorry for it.' + +"'And I also,' I replied, mournfully. There was a short pause. + +"'How are you off for the sinews of war?' said Darvel. + +"'You may find some small change on the chimney-piece--my last money.' + +"'The devil! This won't do. We must fill your exchequer somehow. You +must be taken care of, my boy.' + +"'Easy to say,' I answered, 'but how? Unless you win me a lottery +prize, or show me a hidden treasure, my purse is likely to continue +empty.' + +"'Pshaw! hidden treasure indeed! There are always treasures to be +found by clever seekers. Nothing without trouble.' + +"'I should not grudge that.' + +"'Perhaps not; but you young gentlemen are apt to be proud and +squeamish.' + +"'Pshaw!' said I in my turn, 'you know I can't afford to be that. +Money I must have, no matter how.' + +"I spoke thoughtlessly, and without weighing my words, but also +without evil meaning. I merely meant to express my willingness +to work for my living, in ways whose adoption I should have +scoffed at a fortnight previously. Darvel doubtless understood +me differently--thought dissipation and reckless extravagance +had blunted my sense of honour and honesty, and that I was ripe +for his purpose. After a minute or two's silence-- + +"'By the bye,' he said, 'are not you intimate with the young D----s, +sons of that rich old baronet Sir Marmaduke D----?' + +"'Barely acquainted,' I replied, 'I have seen them once or twice, but +it is a long time back, and we should hardly speak if we met. They +are poor silly fellows, brought up by a fool of a mother, and by a +puritanical private tutor.' + +"'They have broken loose from the apron-string then, for they arrived +here yesterday on their way to Italy, Greece, and the Lord knows +where. Why don't you call upon them. They are good to know. They have +swinging letters of credit on Paris and half the towns in Europe.' + +"'I see no use in calling on them, nor any that their letters of +credit can be to me.' + +"'Pshaw! who knows? They are to be a month here. It might lead to +something.' + +"'To what?' I inquired indifferently. A gesture of impatience escaped +Darvel. + +"'You certainly are dull to-day--slow of comprehension, as I may say. +Recollect what some play-writing man has said about the world being an +oyster for clever fellows to open. Now these D----s are just the sort +of natives it is pleasant to pick at, because their shells are lined +with pearls. Well, since you won't take a hint, I must speak plainly. +Dine to-day at the table-d'hôte of the _Hôtel W----_. The D----s are +staying there, and you are safe to fall in with them. Renew your +acquaintance, or strike up a fresh one, whichever you please. You are +a fellow of good address, and will have no difficulty in making +friends with two such Johnny Newcomes. Ply them with Burgundy, bring +them here or to my rooms, we will get Lowther and Ringwood, and it +shall be a hundred pounds in your pocket.' + +"I must have been a fool indeed, had I doubted for another instant the +meaning and intentions of my respectable ally. As by touch of +enchanter's wand, the scales fell from my eyes; illusions vanished, +and I saw myself and my associates in the right colours, myself as a +miserable dupe, them as vile sharpers. So confounded was I by the +suddenness of the illumination, that for a moment I stood speechless +and motionless, gazing vacantly into the tempter's face. He took my +silence for acquiescence, and opened his lips to continue his base +hints and instructions. Roused into vehement action by the sound of +his odious voice, I grasped his collar, and seizing a horsewhip that +lay opportunely near, I lashed the miscreant round the room till my +arm could strike no longer, and till the inmates of the house, alarmed +by his outcries, assembled at the door of my apartment. Too infuriated +to notice them, I kicked the fellow out and remained alone, to +meditate at leisure upon my past folly and present embarrassments. The +former was irreparable, the latter were speedily augmented. I know +not what Darvel told the master of the house (I subsequently found he +had had an interview with him after his ejection from my room), but +two days later, the month being at an end, I received a heavy bill, +with an intimation that my apartments were let to another tenant, and +a request for my speedy departure. I was too proud to take notice of +this insolence, and too poor, under any circumstances, to continue in +so costly a lodging. Money I had none, and it took the sacrifice of my +personal effects, including even much of my wardrobe, to satisfy my +landlord's demand. I settled it, however, and removed, with a heavy +heart, a light portmanteau, and a hundred francs in my pocket, to a +wretched garret in a cheap faubourg. + +"You will think, perhaps, that I acted rashly, and should have sought +temporary assistance from friends before proceeding to such +extremities. But the very few persons who might have been disposed +to help me, I had long since neglected for the society of the +well-dressed thieves by whom I had been so pitilessly fleeced. And had +it been otherwise, I knew not how to beg or borrow. My practice had +been in giving and lending. The first thing I did, when installed in +my _sixième_ at twenty francs a-month, was to write to my uncle in +England, informing him, without entering into details, of the knavery +of which I had been victim, expressing my penitence for past follies, +and my desire to atone them by a life of industry. I craved his +advice as to the course I should adopt, declared a preference for the +military profession, and entreated, as the greatest of favours, and +the only one I should ever ask of him, that he would procure me a +commission, either in the British service or Indian army. I got an +answer by return of post, and, before opening it, augured well from +such promptitude. Its contents bitterly disappointed me. My uncle's +agent informed me, by his employer's command, that Mr Oakley, of +Oakley Manor, was not disposed to take any notice of a nephew who had +disgraced him by extravagance and evil courses, and that any future +letters from me would be totally disregarded. I felt that I deserved +this; but yet I had hoped kinder words from my dead father's elder +brother. The trifling assistance I asked would hardly have been missed +out of his unencumbered income of ten thousand a-year. This was my +first advertisement of the wide difference that sometimes exists +between relatives and friends. Gradually I gathered experience, paid +for, in advance, at a heavy rate. + +"Of course, I did not dream of renewing an application thus cruelly +repulsed, but resolved to rely on myself alone, and to find some +occupation, however humble, sufficient for my subsistence. I had no +idea, until I tried, of the immense difficulty of procuring such +occupation. Master of no trade or handicraft, I knew not which way to +turn, or what species of employment to seek. I was a good swordsman, +and once I had a vague notion of teaching fencing; but even had I +had the means to establish myself, the profession was already +over-stocked; and not a regiment of the Paris garrison but could turn +out a score of _prévôts_ to button me six times for my once. I could +ride, which qualified me for a postilion, and had sufficient knowledge +of billiards to aspire to the honourable post of a marker; but even to +such offices--could I have stooped to compete for them--I should have +been held ineligible without certificates of character. And to whom +was I to apply for these? To my gay acquaintances of the Café de +Paris? To the obsequious banker to whom I had come handsomely +accredited, and who had given me a sumptuous dinner in his hotel of +the Rue Bergère? To the noble and fashionable families to whom I had +brought letters of recommendation, and whom I had neglected after a +single visit? To which of these should I apply for a character as +groom? And how was I to exist without condescending to some such +menial office? To aught better, gentleman though I was, I had no +qualifications entitling me to aspire. It was a sharp but wholesome +lesson to my vanity and pride, to find myself, so soon as deprived of +my factitious advantage of inherited wealth, less able to provide for +my commonest wants than the fustian-coated mechanic and hob-nailed +labourer, whom I had been wont to splash with my carriage-wheel and +despise as an inferior race of beings. Bitter were my reflections, +great was my perplexity, during the month succeeding my sudden change +of fortune. I passed whole days lying upon the bed in my melancholy +lodging, or leaning out of the window, which looked over a dreary +range of roofs, ruminating my forlorn position, and endeavouring, but +in vain, to find a remedy. This was urgent; but no cudgelling of my +brain suggested one, and at last I saw myself on the brink of +destitution. A score of five-franc pieces had constituted my whole +fortune after satisfying my former extortionate landlord. These were +nearly gone, and I knew not how to obtain another shilling; for my kit +was reduced to linen and the most indispensable necessaries. I now +learned upon how little a man may live, and even thrive and be +healthy. During that month, I contrived to keep my expenses of food +and lodging within two francs a-day, making the whole month's +expenditure considerably less than I had commonly thrown away on an +epicurean breakfast or dinner. And I was all the better for the coarse +regimen to which I thus suddenly found myself reduced. Harassed in +mind though I was, my body felt the benefit of unusual abstinence from +deep potations, late hours, and sustained dissipation. The large +amount of foot-exercise I took during these few weeks, doubtless +contributed also to restore tone and vigour to a constitution which +my dissolute career, however mad and reckless, had not been long +enough seriously to impair. When weary of my lonesome attic, I would +start through the nearest barrier, avoiding the streets and districts +where I might encounter former acquaintances, and take long walks in +the environs of Paris, returning with an appetite that gave a relish +even to the tough and unsavoury viands of a cheap _traiteur_. + +"It chanced, upon a certain day, when striding along the road to +Orleans, that I met a regiment of hussars changing their quarters +from that town to Paris. The morning sun shone brightly on their +accoutrements; the hoofs of their well-groomed horses rang upon the +frosty road; the men, closely wrapped in their warm pelisses, looked +cheerful, in good case, and in high spirits at the prospect of a +sojourn in the capital. I seated myself upon a gate to see them pass, +and could not avoid making a comparison between my position and that +of a private dragoon, which resulted considerably to my disadvantage. +I was not then so well aware as I have since become, of all the +hardships and disagreeables of a soldier's life; and it appeared to me +that these fellows, well clothed, well mounted, and with their daily +wants provided for, were perfect kings compared to a useless, +homeless, destitute being like myself. Their profession was an +honourable one; their regiment was their home; they had comrades and +friends; and their duty as soldiers properly done, none could reproach +or oppress them. The column marched by, and was succeeded by the +rear-guard, half-a-dozen smart, sunburned hussars, with carbine +on thigh; one of whom sang, in a mellow tenor voice, and with +considerable taste, the well-known soldier's song out of _La Dame +Blanche_. In their turn they disappeared behind a bend of the road; +but the spirited burthen of the ditty still reached my ears after +they were lost to my view-- + + 'Ah, quel plaisir! ah, quel plaisir! + Ah, quel plaisir d'être soldat!' + +I repeated to myself, as the last notes died in the distance, and +jumping off the gate, I turned my steps towards Paris, my mind +strongly inclining to the sabre and worsted lace. + +"My half-formed resolution gathered strength from reflection, and on +reaching Paris I proceeded straight to the Champ de Mars. The +spectacle that there met my eyes was of a nature to encourage my +inclination to embrace a military career, even in the humble capacity +of a private trooper. It was a cavalry field-day, and a number of +squadrons manoeuvred in presence of several general officers and of +a brilliant staff, whilst soldiers of various corps,--dragoons, +lancers, cuirassiers and hussars, stood in groups watching the +evolutions of their comrades. Veterans from the neighbouring Hôtel +des Invalides--scarred and mutilated old warriors, who had shared +the triumphs and reverses of the gallant French armies from Valmy +to Waterloo--talked of their past campaigns and criticised the +movements of their successors in the ranks. Several of these parties +I approached within ear-shot, and overheard, with strong interest, +many a stirring reminiscence of those warlike days when the Corsican +firebrand set Europe in a flame, and spread his conquering legions +from Moscow to Andalusia. At last I came to a group of younger +soldiers, who discussed more recent if less glorious deeds of arms. +The words _Bédouins_, _razzia_, _Algérie_, recurred frequently in +their discourse. I started at the sounds. They reminded me of what I +had previously forgotten, that there was still a battle-field in the +world where danger might be encountered and distinction won. True, I +might have wished more civilised foes than the tawny denizens of the +desert, and a more humane system of warfare than that pursued by the +French in Africa. But my circumstances forbade over-nicety, and that +day I enlisted as volunteer in the light cavalry, merely stipulating +that I should be placed in a corps then serving in Africa. + +"Should you care to hear, I will give you at a future time some +details of my military novitiate and African adventures. The former +was by no means easy, the latter had little to distinguish them from +those of thousands of my comrades. A foreign service is rarely an +agreeable refuge, and that of France is undoubtedly the very worst an +Englishman can enter. The old antipathy to England, weakened in the +breasts of French civilians, still exists to a great extent amongst +the military classes of the population. A traditionary feeling of +hatred and humiliation has been handed down from the days of our +Peninsular victories, and especially from that of the crowning triumph +at Waterloo,--the battle won by treachery, as many Frenchmen affirm, +and some positively believe. A French barrack-room, I can assure you, +is anything but a bed of roses to a British volunteer. I was better +off, however, than most of my countrymen would have been under similar +circumstances. Speaking the language like a native--better, indeed, +than the majority of those with whom I now found myself associated--I +escaped the mockery and annoyances which an English accent would +inevitably have perpetuated. My country was known, however; it was +moreover discovered that in birth and education I was superior to +those about me, and these circumstances were sufficient to draw upon +me envy and insult. Of the former I took no heed, the latter I +promptly and fiercely resented, feeling that to do so was the only +means of avoiding a long course of molestation. Two or three +duels, whence my skill with the foils brought me out unscathed and +with credit, made me respected in my regiment, and whilst thus +establishing my reputation for courage, I did my best to conciliate +the good-will of those amongst whom I was henceforward to live. To a +great extent I was successful. My quality of an Englishman gradually +ceased to give umbrage or invite aggression, and, if not forgotten, +was rarely referred to. + +"I was found an apt recruit, and after far less than the usual amount +of drill I was dismissed to my duty in the ranks of my present +regiment, with which I returned from Africa at the beginning of this +winter, and am now in garrison at Paris. My steady attention to my +duties, knowledge of writing and accounts, and conduct in one or two +sharply-contested actions, obtained me promotion to the grades of +corporal and _fourrier_. For my last advancement, to the highest +non-commissioned rank, I am indebted to an affair that occurred a few +weeks before we left Africa. A small division, consisting of three +battalions and as many squadrons, including mine, moved from Oran and +its neighbourhood, for the purpose of a reconnaissance. After marching +for a whole day, we halted for the night near a lonely cistern of +water. The only living creature we saw was a wretched little Arab boy, +taking care of three lean oxen, who told us that, with the exception +of his parents, the whole tribe inhabiting that district had fled on +news of our approach, and were now far away. This sounded rather +suspicious, and all precautions were taken to guard against surprise. +Pickets and outposts were established, the bivouac fires blazed +cheerily up, rations were cooked and eaten, and, wrapped in our +cloaks, we sought repose after the day's fatigue. Tired though we +were, sleep was hard to obtain, especially for us cavalry men, by +reason of the uneasiness of our horses, which scarcely ceased for a +moment to neigh and kick and fight with each other. Troopers always +look upon this as a bad omen, and more than one old soldier, whilst +caressing and calming his restless charger, muttered a prediction of +danger at hand. For once, these military prophets were not mistaken. +About two hours after midnight, the bivouac was sunk in slumber, the +horses had become quieter, and the silence was rarely broken, save by +the warning cry of '_Sentinelle, garde à vous!_' when suddenly a few +dropping shots were heard, the drum of a picket rattled a loud alarm, +and a shout arose of '_Les Arabes!_' In an instant, the encampment, so +still before, swarmed like a hive of bees. Luckily we had all laid +down fully accoutred, with our weapons beside us, so that, as we +sprang to our feet, we found ourselves ready for action. The general, +who alone had a small tent, rushed half-dressed from under his +canvass. Our veteran colonel was on foot with the first, cool as on +parade, and breathing defiance. '_Chasseurs_, to your horses!' shouted +he in stentorian tones, hoarse from the smoke of many battles. At the +word we were in the saddle. On every side we heard wild and savage +shouts, and volleys of small arms, and the pickets, overpowered by +numbers, came scampering in, with heavy loss and in much confusion. +There was no moon, but by the starlight we saw large bodies of white +shadowy figures sweeping around and towards our encampment. Our +infantry had lain down in order, by companies and battalions, +according to a plan of defence previously formed, and now they stood +in three compact squares, representing the three points of a triangle; +whilst in the intervals the squadrons manoeuvred, and the +artillerymen watched opportunities to send the contents of their light +mountain-howitzers amongst the hostile masses. With whoop and wild +hurrah, and loud invocations of Allah and the Prophet, the Bedouin +hordes charged to the bayonet's point, but recoiled again before +well-directed volleys, leaving the ground in front of the squares +strewed with men and horses dead and dying. Then the artillery gave +them a round, and we cavalry dashed after them, pursuing and sabring +till compelled to retire before fresh and overwhelming masses. This +was repeated several times. There were many thousand Arabs collected +around us, chiefly horsemen; and had their discipline equalled their +daring, our position would have been perilous indeed. Undismayed by +their heavy loss, they returned again and again to the attack. At +last the general, impatient of the protracted combat, wheeled up the +wings of the squares, reserved the fire till the last moment, and +received the assailants with so stunning a discharge that they fled to +return no more. The cavalry of course followed them up, and our +colonel, Monsieur de Bellechasse, an old soldier of Napoleon's, ever +foremost where cut and thrust are passing, headed the squadron to +which I belong. Carried away by his impetuosity, and charging home the +flying Bedouins, he lost sight of prudence, and we soon found +ourselves surrounded by a raging host, who, perceiving how few we +were, stood at bay, and in their turn assumed the offensive. Seen in +the dim starlight, with their tawny faces, gleaming eyes, white +burnous, and furious gesticulations, the Arabs seemed a legion of +devils let loose for our destruction. Our ranks were disordered by the +pursuit, and we thus lost one of our chief advantages; for the +Bedouins, unable to resist the charge in line of disciplined cavalry, +are no despicable opponents in a hand-to-hand mêlée. And this the +combat soon became. Greatly outnumbered, we fought for our lives, and +of course fought our best. I found myself near the colonel, who was +assailed by two Arabs at one time. He defended himself like a lion, +but his opponents were strong and skilful, and years have impaired the +activity and vigour which procured him, a quarter of a century ago, +the reputation of one of the most efficient dragoons in Buonaparte's +armies. There were none to aid him, for all had their hands full, and +I myself was sharpset with a brawny Bedouin, who made excellent use of +his scimitar. At last I disabled him by a severe cut on the sword arm; +he gnashed his teeth with rage, turned his beautiful horse with +lightning swiftness, and fled from the fight before I had time to +complete my work. I was glad to be quit of him at any price, as I was +now able to strike in by the colonel's side. The old warrior was hard +put-to; a sabre cut had knocked off his shako, and inflicted a wound +on his high, bald forehead, slight indeed, but the blood from which, +trickling into his eyes, nearly blinded him, and he was fain to leave +go his reins to dash it away with his hand. The Arabs perceived their +advantage, and pressed him hard, when I charged one of them in the +flank, bringing the breast of my horse against the shoulder of his, +and cutting at the same time at his head. Man and beast rolled upon +the ground. M. de Bellechasse had scarcely time to observe from whom +the timely succour came, when I dashed in before him, and drew upon +myself the fury of his remaining foe. Just then, to my infinite +relief, I heard at a short distance a steady regular fire of musketry. +It was the infantry, advancing to our support. The Arabs heard it +also, and having had, for one day, a sufficient taste of French +lead, beat a precipitate retreat, scouring away like phantoms, and +disappearing in the gloom of the desert. I was triply recompensed for +my share in this action, by honourable mention in general orders, by +promotion to the rank of _maréchal des logis_--equivalent to troop +sergeant-major in the English service--and by the personal thanks of +my excellent old colonel, who shook me heartily by the hand, and swore +'_Mille millions de sabres!_' that after successfully guarding his +head against Russian, Prussian, and Austrian, Englishman and Spaniard, +he would have been ignominiously cut to pieces by a brace of +black-faced heathens, but for my timely interposition. Since then he +has shown me unvarying kindness, for which I am indebted chiefly to my +preservation of his life, but partly also to his high approval of the +summary manner in which I upset, by a blow of my sabre and bound of my +horse, one of his swarthy antagonists, reminding him, as he always +mentions when telling the story, of a similar feat of his own when +attacked on the Russian retreat by three gigantic Tartars from the +Ukraine. Since we have been in garrison here, he has frequently had me +at his house, nominally to assist in the arrangement of regimental +accounts and orders, but in reality to take opportunities of rendering +me small kindnesses; and latterly, I am inclined to think, a little +for the pleasure of talking to me of his old campaigns. He soon +discovered, what he previously had some inkling of, that my original +position in the world was superior to my present one; and I am not +without hopes, from hints he has let fall, that he will, at no very +distant day, procure my promotion to a cornetcy. These hopes and +alleviations enable me to support, with tolerable patience and +cheerfulness, the dull ordeal of a garrison life, seldom so pleasantly +varied as by my meeting with you. And now, that I have inflicted my +whole history upon you," added Oakley, with a smile, "I must bid you +good-by, for duty calls,--no longer, it is true, to action in the +field, but to the monotonous routine of barrack ordinances." + +Thanking Oakley for his interesting narrative, I gave him my address, +and begged him to visit me. This he promised to do, and we parted. +Three days later he called upon me; I kept him to dine with me at my +lodgings, and had reason, during an evening of most agreeable +conversation, to be more than ever pleased with the tone of his mind +and tenor of his discourse. The unthinking rake of former days must +have learned and reflected much during his period of adversity and +soldiering, to convert himself into the intelligent, well-informed, +and unaffected man he had now become. One thing that struck me in him, +however, was an occasional absence of mind and proneness to reverie. +If there was a short pause in the conversation, his thoughts seemed +to wander far away; and at times an expression of perplexed +uneasiness, if not of care, came over his countenance. I had only to +address him, however, to dissipate these clouds, whencesoever they +came, and to recall his usual animated readiness of manner. + +A fortnight now elapsed without my again seeing him. I was to return +to England in a couple of days, and was busy one evening writing +letters and making preparations for departure, when the bell at the +door of my apartment was hastily rung. I opened, and Oakley entered. +At first I hardly recognised him, for he was in plain clothes, which +had the effect of converting the smart sergeant into an exceedingly +handsome and gentlemanlike civilian. It struck me he looked paler than +usual, and grave, almost anxious. His first words were an apology for +his intrusion at so late an hour, which I cut short by an assurance of +my gladness to see him, and an inquiry if I could do anything for him +in England. + +"When do you go?" said he. + +"The day after to-morrow." + +"I want nothing there," was his reply; "but before you go you can +render me a great service, if you will." + +"If I can, be sure that I will." + +"You may perhaps hesitate, when you hear what it is. I want you to be +my second in a duel." + +"In a duel!" I repeated, greatly astonished, and not over-pleased at +the idea of being mixed up in some barrack-room quarrel. "In a duel! +and with whom?" + +"With an officer of my regiment." + +"Of your own rank, I presume?" said I, a little surprised at the sort +of assumption by which he called a sergeant an officer. + +"In that case I need not have troubled you," he replied; "I could have +found a dozen seconds. But my antagonist is a commissioned officer--a +lieutenant of the same regiment with myself, although in a different +squadron." + +"The devil he is!" I exclaimed. "That becomes a case for +court-martial." + +"Undoubtedly," replied Oakley, "for me, but no harm can accrue to you. +I am your countryman; I come to you in plain clothes and ask you to be +my second in a duel. You consent; we go on the ground and meet another +man, apparently a civilian, of whose military quality or grade you are +in no way supposed cognisant. Duels occur daily in France, as you +know, and no notice is taken of them, even when fatal. I assure you +there is no danger for you." + +"I was not thinking of myself. But if you escape unhurt from the +encounter, you will be shot for attempting the life of your superior." + +Oakley shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, "I know that, but must +take my chance;" but made no other reply to my remark. + +"I will tell you the circumstances," he said, "and you shall judge +for yourself if I can avoid the duel. When talking to you of my kind +old colonel, I did not tell you of his only daughter, Bertha de +Bellechasse, the most beautiful and fascinating of her sex. On our +return from Africa, the colonel, in his gratitude for the man who had +saved his life, presented me to his wife and child, pronouncing at the +same time an exaggerated encomium on my conduct. The ladies gave me +their hands to kiss, and had I shed half my blood in saving that of +the colonel, I should have been more than repaid by Bertha's gracious +smile, and by her warm expression of thanks to her father's preserver. +Madame de Bellechasse, I suspect, was about to give me her purse, but +was checked by a sign from her husband, who doubtless told them, after +my departure, as much as he knew of my history,--that I was a +foreigner and a gentleman, whom circumstances had driven to don the +coarse vest of the private dragoon. He may perhaps have added some of +the romantic stories current in the regiment when I first joined. I +had never been communicative concerning my past life, which I felt was +nothing to boast of; and regimental gossips had drawn upon their +invention for various strange tales about the Milord Anglais. When +I became domesticated in the corps, and my country was almost +forgotten, these fictitious histories ceased to be repeated, and fell +into oblivion; but some of them were revived for the benefit of the +colonel, when, after the action near Oran, he instituted inquiries +concerning me amongst his officers. It was not till some weeks later +that he asked and received from me a plain unvarnished account of my +very commonplace career. It is possible that the sort of mystery +previously attaching to me, combined with her father's glowing +eulogiums and her own gratitude for his preservation, worked upon +Bertha's ardent and susceptible imagination, prepossessing her in my +favour. For my part, I had been struck to the heart by the very first +glance from the dark eyes that sparkled like diamonds beneath their +lashes of sable silk; I had been captivated and fettered on the +instant, by the smile of enchanting sweetness that played round her +graceful lips. For a while I struggled steadfastly against the +passionate impulse; its indulgence I felt would be madness, and could +result but in misery. What folly for the penniless soldier, even +though time and her father's protection should convert him into an +equally penniless officer, to raise his eyes to the rich, the +beautiful, the brilliant daughter of the Count de Bellechasse! +Rejection, ridicule, contempt, could be the sole recompense of such +presumption. M. de Bellechasse, although an officer of Napoleon's, is +of old French nobility; his wealth is very great; and if he still +continues to serve, it is solely from enthusiastic love of his +profession. His daughter is a match for the first in the land. All +these and many more such arguments did I again and again repeat to +myself; but when had reason a chance against love? Repeatedly did I +vow to forget the fair vision that had crossed my path and troubled +my repose, or to think of her only as the phantom of a dream, +unsubstantial and unattainable. But the resolution was scarcely +formed, when I found myself dwelling on her perfections, +recapitulating the few gentle words she had addressed to me, recalling +her voice, her look, her gesture. One moment, in view of the precipice +on whose brink I stood, I swore to shun her perilous presence, and to +avert my eyes should I again find myself in it: not an hour afterwards +I eagerly seized a pretext that led me to her father's house, and +afforded me the possibility of another glimpse of my idol. Such +glimpses were not difficult to obtain. The colonel's partiality to me +daily increased, and when I went to him on regimental matters, and he +was alone with his wife and daughter, he would receive me in the +drawing-room in their presence, and waiving for the time the +difference of grade, would converse with me as affably as with an +equal, and make me repeat, for the amusement of the ladies, some of +our African skirmishes and adventures. Doubtless I should have +avoided these dangerous interviews, but how was it to be done without +an appearance of ingratitude and discourtesy? Truth to tell, I taxed +my invention but little for means of escaping them. I continued to see +Bertha, and at each interview my passion gathered strength. She +listened with marked attention to my anecdotes of our campaigns. These +I always addressed to her father or mother; but without looking at +her, I could feel her eyes fixed upon me with an expression of +interest, and, I at last ventured to think, of a more tender feeling. +About this time the colonel frequently kept me for hours together at +his house, arranging regimental papers and accounts, in a room upon +the ground floor, set apart for the purpose. Within this room is +another, used as a library; and thus it happened that one day, when +immersed in states and muster-rolls, I beheld the door open, and the +fairy form of Bertha upon the threshold. She appeared confused at +seeing me; I rose and bowed in silence as she passed through the +apartment, but I was taken too much by surprise to have full command +over myself, and doubtless my eyes said something of what my lips +would gladly have spoken, for before Bertha reached the outer door, +her cheeks were suffused with blushes. Again and again these meetings, +sweet as transient, occurred. But I will not weary you by dwelling +upon such passages. + +"We abandoned ourselves to the charm of our attachment, sadly +embittered by its hopelessness. Since then, I have had almost daily +occupation at the colonel's house, and Bertha has found means to +afford me brief but frequent interviews. At these we discussed, but +ever in vain, the possibility of breaking our secret to M. de +Bellechasse. Frank and affable though he be, the colonel's pride of +birth is great, and we were well assured that the disclosure of our +correspondence would produce a terrific explosion of fury, consign +Bertha to the seclusion of a convent, and draw upon me his hatred and +revenge. This morning Bertha came into the room, upon the usual +pretext of seeking a book from the library, and the painful and +perplexing topic that has long and unceasingly occupied our thoughts +was again resumed. For the first time, she had heard her father state +his intention of recommending me in the strongest terms for a +commission. This let in a ray of hope upon our despondency; and we +resolved that, so soon as the epaulet was on my shoulder, I should +hazard a confession to the colonel. The prospect of a termination to +our cruel state of suspense, and the possibility, faint though it +indeed was, of a result favourable to our wishes, brought a joyful +gleam over Bertha's lovely features, which have lately grown pale with +anxiety. On my part, I did my utmost to inspire her with hopes I +myself scarce dared to entertain; when, as she stood beside me, her +hand clasped in mine, a smile of affection upon her countenance, the +door suddenly opened, and, before we had time to separate, Victor de +Berg, a lieutenant in my regiment, and a suitor of Bertha's, made a +step into the room. For an instant he stood like one thunderstruck, +and then, without uttering a word, abruptly turned upon his heel and +went out. The next minute the sound of his step in the court warned us +that he had left the house. + +"Overwhelmed with terror and confusion to an extent that precluded +reflection, Bertha fled to her apartment, leaving me to deliberate on +the best course to adopt. My mind was presently made up. The only plan +was to seek Monsieur de Berg, inform him of our mutual attachment, and +appeal to his honour and generosity to preserve inviolate the secret +he had surprised. I hurried to his quarters, which were at no great +distance. He had already arrived there, and was pacing his apartment +in manifest agitation. Since our return from Africa, he had been a +declared admirer of Bertha's; by family and fortune he was an eligible +suitor, and her father favoured his pretensions, contingent, however, +upon his daughter's consent. Dismissing the servant who ushered me in, +he addressed me before I had time to enter upon the object of my +visit. + +"'It is unnecessary,' he said, in a voice choked with passionate +emotion, as I was about to speak. 'I can guess all you would say. A +single instant informed me of the state of affairs; the half hour that +has elapsed since then, has sufficed to mark out my line of conduct. +Mr Oakley, I know that by birth and breeding you are above your +station. You have forgotten your present position; I will follow your +example so far as to waive our difference of military rank. As the +friend of Colonel de Bellechasse, I ought, perhaps, instantly to tell +him what I have this day learned; as his daughter's suitor, and the +son-in-law of his choice, I select another course. Your secret is safe +with me. To-night you shall receive a leave of absence, entitling you +to quit your uniform; and to-morrow we will meet in the wood of +Vincennes, not as officer and sergeant, but as private gentlemen, with +arms in our hands. The man whom Bertha de Bellechasse distinguishes by +her preference, cannot be unworthy of the proposal I now make to you. +Do you accept it?' + +"I was astounded by the words. Accustomed to the iron rigidity of +military discipline, and to the broad gulf placed between officer and +soldier by the king's commission, the possibility of a duel between +M. de Berg and myself, although it would have been no unnatural +occurrence between rivals of equal rank, had never occurred to me. For +a moment I could not comprehend the singular and unheard-of proposal; +but a glance at my challenger's countenance, on which the passions +agitating him were plainly legible, solved the mystery of his motives. +He was a prey to jealous fury; and, moreover, the chivalrous +generosity of his character, combined, perhaps, with the fear of +irretrievably offending Bertha, prevented his pursuing the course most +persons, in his place, would have adopted, and revealing to Colonel de +Bellechasse his daughter's predilection for an inferior. By a duel he +hoped to rid himself of a favoured rival, whom he might replace in +Bertha's heart. It was not necessary she should know by whose hand I +had fallen. Such were the reasons that flashed across me, explaining +his strange offer of a personal encounter. Doubtless, I defined them +more clearly than he himself did. I believe he spoke and acted upon +the first vague impulse of a passionate nature, racked by jealousy, +and thirsting for revenge upon its cause. I saw at once, however, that +by accepting the duel I virtually secured his silence; and overjoyed +to preserve my secret, and shield Bertha from her father's wrath at so +cheap a price as the exposure of my life, I eagerly accepted M. de +Berg's proposal, thanking him warmly for his generosity in thus +repudiating the stern prejudices of military rank. + +"After fixing hour and weapons, I left him, and then only did the +difficulty of finding a second occur to me. For obvious reasons I +could not ask the assistance of a comrade; and out of my regiment I +had not a single friend in Paris. In my difficulty I thought of you. +Our brief acquaintance scarcely warrants my request; but the kindness +you have already shown me encourages the hope that you will not refuse +me this service. M. de Berg is a man of strict honour, and you may +depend on your name and share in the affair remaining undivulged. Even +were they known, you, as a foreigner and civilian, would in no way be +compromised by the relative position of my opponent and myself, which +renders me liable, should the affair get wind, to a court-martial and +severe punishment." + +Although opposed to duelling, except under circumstances of +extraordinary aggravation, I had been more than once unavoidably mixed +up in affairs of the kind; and the apprehension of unpleasant results +from accession to Oakley's request did not for an instant weigh with +me. I was greatly struck by the chivalrous conduct of M. de Berg, and +felt strong sympathy with Oakley, in the painful and most peculiar +position into which his early follies and unfortunate attachment had +brought him. Very brief deliberation was necessary to decide me to act +as his second. There was no time to lose, and I begged him to put me +at once in possession of the details of the affair, and to tell me +where I could find De Berg's second. I was not sorry to learn that it +was unnecessary for me to see him, and that all preliminaries were in +fact arranged. The duel not being one of those that the intervention +of friends may prevent, and Oakley having already fixed time and place +with his antagonist, my functions became limited to attending him on +the ground. It grew late, and Oakley left me for the night. In order +to preserve my incognito in the business--for I had no desire to +figure in newspaper paragraphs, or to be arraigned before a criminal +tribunal, even with certainty of acquittal--we agreed to meet at eight +o'clock the next morning, at a certain coffee-house, a considerable +distance from my lodgings, whence a cabriolet would convey us to the +place of rendezvous. + +It was a fresh and beautiful spring morning, when Oakley and myself +descended from our hack vehicle, near the little village of St Mande, +and struck into the Bois de Vincennes. There had been rain during the +night, and the leaves and grass were heavy with water drops. The sky +was bright blue, and the sun shone brilliantly; but over the ground +and between the tree trunks floated a light mist, like the smoke of a +skirmish, growing thinner as it ascended, and dissipated before it +reached the topmost branches. At some distance within the wood, we +turned into a secluded glade, seated ourselves upon a fallen tree, +and waited. We had come faster than we expected, and were fully a +quarter of an hour before our time; but in less than five minutes we +heard the sound of steps and voices, soon succeeded by the appearance +of three gentlemen, one of whom, by his military gait and aspect, I +conjectured to be the officer of Chasseurs. In one of his companions +I recognised, after a brief puzzle of memory, a well-known and popular +_littérateur_; doubtless M. de Berg, from motives of delicacy, had not +chosen to ask the aid of a brother officer in his duel with a military +inferior. The black coat and grave aspect of the third stranger +sufficiently indicated the doctor, who, on reaching the ground, +separated himself from his companions and retired a little to one +side. The others bowed to Oakley and myself. M. de Berg's second +stepped forward, and I advanced to meet him. I was particularly +pleased with the appearance of Oakley's antagonist. He was a young man +of six or seven and twenty, of very dark complexion, with flashing +black eyes and a countenance expressive of daring resolution and a +fiery temperament. I should have taken him for an Italian, and I +afterwards learned that he was a native of Provence, born within +a stone's-throw of Italy. I never saw an ardent and enthusiastic +character more strongly indicated by physiognomy, than in the case of +this young officer; and I began to understand and explain to myself +the feelings that had impelled him to challenge the man preferred by +the mistress of his choice, even although that man's position was such +as, in the eyes of society, forbade the encounter. + +More as a matter of duty than with expectation of success, I asked De +Berg's second if there were no chance of this meeting terminating +peaceably. He shook his head with a decided gesture. + +"Impossible," he said. "I am ignorant of the cause of quarrel: I know +not even your principal's name. My friend, who may possibly be equally +unknown to you, has asked my assistance, pledging himself that the +duel is a just and honourable one, which cannot be avoided, but whose +motive he has reasons to conceal even from me. Satisfied with this +assurance, reposing implicit confidence in his word, I inquire no +further. Moreover, once upon the ground, it is difficult creditably to +arrange an affair of this kind." + +I bowed without replying. The ground was measured, the pistols loaded, +the men placed. The toss-up of a five-franc piece gave the first fire +to M. de Berg. His bullet grazed Oakley's cheek, but so slightly as +scarcely to draw blood. Oakley fired in return. The officer staggered, +turned half round, and fell to the ground, the bone of his right leg +broken. His second, the doctor, and I, ran forward to his assistance. +As we did so, three soldiers, who it afterwards appeared had +witnessed, from their concealment amongst the trees, the whole of the +proceedings, emerged from the shelter of the foliage, and walked +across one end of the open space where the duel had taken place, +casting curious and astonished glances in our direction. They had not +yet disappeared, when De Berg, whom we had raised into a sitting +posture, caught sight of them. He started, and uttered an exclamation +of vexation, then looked at Oakley, who had left his ground and stood +near to the wounded man. + +"Do you see that?" said De Berg, hurriedly, wincing as he spoke, under +the hands of the surgeon, who by this time had cut off boot and +trousers, and was manipulating the damaged limb. + +The soldiers were now again lost to view in the thick wood. It +occurred to me that two of them wore dragoon uniforms. + +Oakley bowed his head assentingly. + +"You had better be off, and instantly," said the lieutenant. "Go to +England or Germany. You have leave for a week. I will procure you a +prolongation; but be off at once, and get away from Paris. Those +fellows have recognised us, and will not be prevented talking." + +He spoke in broken sentences, and with visible effort, for the surgeon +was all the while poking and probing at the leg in a most +uncomfortable manner, and De Berg was pale from pain and loss of +blood. Oakley looked on with an expression of regret, and showed no +disposition to the hasty flight recommended him. + +"Well, doctor," said the officer, with a painful smile, "my dancing is +spoilt, eh?" + +"_Bagatelle!_" replied the man of lancets. "Clean fracture, neat +wound, well as ever in a month. Your blood's too hot, _mon +lieutenant_; you'll be all the better for losing a little of it." + +"There, there," said De Berg kindly to Oakley, "no harm done, you +see--to me at least. I should be sorry that any ensued to you. Away +with you at once. Take him away, sir," he added to me; "he risks his +life by this delay." + +I took Oakley's arm, and led him unresistingly away. He was deep in +thought, and scarcely replied to one or two observations I addressed +to him whilst walking out of the wood. Our cabriolet was waiting; we +got in, and took the road to Paris. "I hope you intend following M. de +Berg's advice," said I, "and leaving the country for a while, until +you are certain this affair does not become known. He evidently fears +its getting wind through those soldiers." + +"And he is right," said Oakley. "Two of them are of my squadron, and +of those two, one is a bad character whom I have frequently had to +punish. He will assuredly not lose this opportunity of revenge." + +"Then you must be off at once to England. My passport is already +countersigned, and you can have it. There is not much similarity in +our age and appearance, but that will never be noticed." + +"A thousand thanks. But I think I shall remain in Paris." + +"And be brought to a court-martial? To what punishment are you +liable?" + +"Death, according to the letter of the law. The French articles of war +are none of the mildest. But, under the circumstances, I daresay I +should get off with a few years' imprisonment, followed, perhaps, by +serving in a condemned regiment." + +"A pleasant alternative, indeed," said I. + +"I am no way anxious to incur it," replied Oakley; "but, in fact, I am +as safe in Paris as anywhere, at least for a day or two; and possibly +M. de Berg may find means of securing the silence of the witnesses. At +any rate, it will be time enough to-morrow or the next day to make a +run of it. I cannot go upon the instant. There is one person I must +see or communicate with before I leave." + +I guessed whom he meant, and saw, from his manner, he was resolved to +remain, so used no farther arguments to dissuade him. Before entering +Paris, we dismissed our vehicle and separated; he betook himself to a +small retired lodging, where he had taken up his quarters since the +previous evening, and I went home to resume my preparations for +departure. I remained in-doors till after dinner, and then repaired to +a well-known coffee-house, frequented chiefly by military men. As I +had feared, the strange duel between Victor de Berg and a sergeant of +his regiment was already the talk of the town. It had been immediately +reported by the soldiers who had seen it; M. de Berg was under close +arrest, and the police were diligently seeking his antagonist. I left +the café, jumped into a cabriolet, and made all speed to Oakley's +lodging. He was out. I went again, as late as eleven o'clock, but +still he was absent; and I was obliged to content myself with leaving +a note, containing a word of caution and advice, which I prudently +abstained from signing. I then went home and to bed, not a little +uneasy about him. The next morning I breakfasted at the coffee-house, +in order to get the news; and the first thing I heard was intelligence +of Oakley's capture. He had been taken the previous evening, in the +neighbourhood of the colonel's house, around which he doubtless +hovered in hopes to obtain sight or speech of Bertha. + +Few courts-martial ever excited a stronger interest in the French +military world than those held upon Lieutenant Victor de Berg and the +_maréchal des logis_ Francis Oakley. The case was one almost +unparalleled in the annals of military offences. A duel between an +officer and a sergeant was a thing previously unheard of; and the +mystery in which its causes were enveloped aggravated the universal +curiosity and excitement. The offenders resolutely refused to throw +light upon the subject; it had been vainly endeavoured to ascertain +their seconds; the surgeon who attended on the ground had been sought +for equally in vain; after placing the first dressings he had +disappeared, and another had been summoned to the sufferer's bedside. +The wound proved of little importance, and, with the assistance of +crutches, De Berg was soon able to get out. Upon their trials, he and +Oakley persisted in the same system of defence. When off duty, they +said, they had met in society, and had had a dispute on a subject +unconnected with the service; the result had been an agreement to +settle their difference with pistols. Oakley refused to state from +whom the challenge proceeded; but Lieutenant de Berg proclaimed +himself the aggressor, and, aware that the sentence would weigh far +more heavily on Oakley than on himself, generously assumed a large +share of blame. As to the cause of quarrel, names of the seconds, and +all other particulars, both culprits maintained a determined silence, +which no endeavours of friends or judges could induce them to break. +Colonel de Bellechasse and various other officers visited Oakley in +his prison, and did their utmost to penetrate the mystery. Their high +opinion both of him and De Berg, convinced them there was something +very extraordinary and unusual at the bottom of the business, and that +its disclosure would tell favourably for the prisoners. But nothing +could be got out of the obstinate duellists, who called no witnesses, +except to character. Of these a host attended, for both Oakley and De +Berg; and nothing could be stronger than the laudatory testimonials +given them by their superiors and comrades. These, doubtless, had +weighed with the court, for its sentence was considered very lenient. +Oakley was condemned to five years' imprisonment, for attempting the +life of his officer; De Berg was reprimanded for his forgetfulness of +discipline, in provoking or consenting to a personal encounter with a +subordinate, was removed from his regiment and placed in non-activity, +which, under the circumstances, was equivalent to dismissal from the +service, less the disgrace. + +I remained in Paris till the sentence of the court was known. Although +by no means desirous to be brought forward in the business, I was +willing to waive my repugnance, if by so doing I could benefit Oakley. +With some difficulty I obtained access to him, begged him to prescribe +a course for my adoption, and frankly to tell me if my evidence could +be of service. He assured me it could not; there was no question of +the fairness of the duel, and the sole crime was in the breach of +military discipline. This crime my testimony could in no way palliate. +He requested me to see M. de Berg, and to tell him that, to avoid the +possibility of the cause of the duel becoming known, he should refuse +to answer questions, plead guilty to the charge, and state, as sole +extenuation, that the quarrel occurred off duty, and had no connection +with military matters. This commission I duly executed. Another which +he intrusted to me I found greater difficulty in performing. It was to +procure information concerning Bertha de Bellechasse. After some +unsuccessful attempts, I at last ascertained that she had been for +some days confined to her bed by indisposition. This was sad news for +Oakley, and I was loth to convey them to him, but I had promised him +the exact truth. Fortunately I was able to tell him at the same time +that the young lady's illness was not of a dangerous character, +although the species of nervous languor which had suddenly and +unaccountably seized her, caused great alarm to her parents, and +especially to the colonel, who idolised his only child. Oakley was +sadly depressed on learning the effect upon Bertha of his imprisonment +and dangerous position, and made me promise to keep him informed of +the variations in her state of health. This I did, but the bulletins +were not of a very satisfactory nature, and in Oakley's pale and +haggard countenance upon the day of trial, attributed by the +spectators to uneasiness about his own fate, I read the painful and +wearing anxiety the illness of his mistress occasioned him. + +The sentence was no sooner published, than every effort was made to +procure Oakley's pardon, or, failing that, a commutation of his +punishment. Colonel de Bellechasse used all the interest he could +command; Monsieur de Berg set his friends to work; and I, on my part, +did everything in my power to obtain mercy for the unfortunate young +man. All our endeavours were fruitless. The minister of war refused to +listen to the applications by which he was besieged. In a military +view, the crime was flagrant, subversive of discipline, and especially +dangerous as a precedent in an army where promotion from the ranks +continually placed between men, originally from the same class of +society and long comrades and equals, the purely conventional barrier +of the epaulet. The court-martial, taking into consideration the +peculiar character of the offence, had avoided the infliction of an +ignominious punishment. Oakley was not sentenced to the _boulet_, or +to be herded with common malefactors; his doom was to simple +imprisonment. And that doom the authorities refused to mitigate. + +Some days had elapsed since Oakley's condemnation. Returning weary and +dispirited from a final attempt to interest an influential personage +in his behalf, I was startled by a smart tap upon the shoulder, and +looking round, beheld the shrewd, good-humoured countenance of Mr +Anthony Scrivington, a worthy man and excellent lawyer, who had long +had entire charge of my temporal affairs. Upon this occasion, however, +I felt small gratification at sight of him, for I had a lawsuit +pending, on account of which I well knew I ought to have been in +England a month previously, and should have been but for this affair +of Oakley's, which had interested and occupied me to the exclusion of +my personal concerns. My solicitor's unexpected appearance made me +apprehend serious detriment from my neglect. He read my alarm, upon my +countenance. + +"Ah!" said he, "conscience pricks you, I see. You know I have been +expecting you these six weeks. No harm done, however; we shall win the +day, not a doubt of it." + +"Then you are not come about my business?" + +"Not the least, although I shall take you back with me, now I have +found you. A very different affair brings me over. By the by, you may +perhaps help me. You know all Paris. I am come to look for an +Englishman." + +"You need not look long," said I, glancing at a party of unmistakable +Britons, who stood talking broad Cockney on the Boulevard. + +"Ay, but not _any_ Englishman. I want one in particular, the heir to a +pretty estate of eight or ten thousand a-year. He was last heard of in +Paris three years ago, and since then all trace of him is lost. 'Tis +an odd affair enough. No one could have expected his coming to the +estate. A couple of years since, there were two young healthy men in +his way. Both have died off,--and he is the owner of Oakley Manor." + +"Of what?" I exclaimed, in a tone of voice that made Scrivington +stagger back, and for a moment drew the eyes of the whole street upon +us. "What did you say?" + +"Oakley Manor," stammered the alarmed attorney, settling his +well-brushed hat, which had almost fallen from his head with the start +he had given. "Old Valentine Oakley died the other day, and his nephew +Francis comes into the estate. But what on earth is the matter with +you?" + +For sole reply I grasped his arm, and dragged him into my house, close +to which we had arrived. There, five minutes cleared up everything, +and convinced Scrivington and myself that the man he sought now +languished, a condemned criminal, in a French military prison. + +It is unnecessary to dwell upon what all will conjecture; superfluous +to detail the active steps that were at once taken in Oakley's behalf, +with very different success, now that the unknown sergeant had +suddenly assumed the character of an English gentleman of honourable +name and ample fortune. Persons of great influence and diplomatic +weight, who before had refused to espouse the cause of an obscure +adventurer in a foreign service, suffered themselves to be prevailed +upon, and interceded efficaciously for the master of Oakley Manor. It +was even said that a letter was written on the subject by an English +general of high distinction to an old opponent in arms. Be that as it +may, all difficulties were at length overcome, and Oakley received his +free pardon and discharge from the French service. And that equal +measure of clemency might be shown, De Berg, upon the same day, was +allowed to resume his place in his regiment. + +I would tell how the news of her lover's pardon proved more potent +than all the efforts of the faculty to bring back joy to Bertha's +heart and the roses to her cheek; how Colonel Count de Bellechasse, on +being informed of the attachment between his daughter and Oakley, and +of the real cause of the duel, at first stormed and was furious, but +gradually allowed himself to be mollified, and finally gave his +consent to their union; how De Berg exchanged into a regiment serving +in Africa, and has since gained laurels and high rank. But I have no +time to expatiate upon any of these interesting matters, for I leave +town to-morrow morning for Oakley Manor, to pay my annual visit to MY +ENGLISH ACQUAINTANCE. + + + + +THE MURDERER'S LAST NIGHT + +BY THOMAS DOUBLEDAY, ESQ. + +[_MAGA._ JUNE 1829.] + + +"Let him, to whom experience hath been allotted, think it a duty to +impart it. We know not of how long a growth goodness is; nor how slow +an approach even a protracted culture makes towards perfection. A life +of holiness may end in an apostle. As the tree, that hath felt all the +winds of heaven, strikes root in that direction whence they oftenest +blow, so goodness must have known vicissitude, to know when to resist +and when to bend. To know ourselves is to have endured much and long. +We must trace and limn out the map of our whole nature to be sure +where it is desert, and where it is fruitful--to know the 'stony +ground,'--to discover which needeth the plough, and which doth not. +That piety, which is built on ignorance, holds up the shield where the +arrow comes not; and sleeps unmailed when the enemy is at the gate. It +dismounts to pursue the Parthian; and would dig a deep trench around +the tents of the Nomades. It is long ere we root out the weaknesses +of our nature, or know the art to preserve the virtue we have +attained. For goodness, by over earnestness, may unwittingly be +changed from its own essence, as he who knoweth not the vintage shall +make vinegar of wine. When we have stubbed up and consumed the first +growth of our sinfulness, there ariseth a second crop from the ashes +of that which was destroyed. Even as 'the flax and the barley were +smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled: but +the wheat and the rye were not smitten, _for they were not grown up_;' +so will SELF-SATISFACTION arise, after worldly pride and vanity have +been withered up. Let him who has found inward peace content himself +that he is arrived at the Pillars of Hercules, beyond which there is +no safe way. That self-integrity which deems itself immaculate is +dangerous. Well hath it been said, 'Make no suppletories to thyself +when thou art disgraced or slighted, by pleasing thyself with the +supposition that thou didst deserve praise--neither do thou get +thyself a private theatre and flatterers, in whose vain noises and +fantastic praises thou mayst keep up thy good opinion of thyself.' Be +the act never so good, yet if it be performed rather with reference to +him who does than to that which is done, there is a taint in it for +which Eve is hardly answerable. It is but as a fair tower which the +builder has set on an unknown quicksand, and which the floods shall +damage or carry away. Oh! whosoever thou art that readest this, forget +not these words, but grave them as on marble, and in golden letters. +'While the altar sends up a holy flame, have a care thou dost not +suffer the birds to come and carry away the sacrifice--and let not +that which began well end in thine own praise or temporal +satisfaction, or a sin!'" + + * * * * * + +Until my twenty-seventh year I resided in the small cathedral town of +C----r in which I was born. My parents--especially my mother--were of +a serious cast. She had been educated as a Quaker, but following her +own notions as to religion, she in the latter part of her life became +attached to the tenets of that sect known by the name of Moravians, +and last of all to those which, when held in connection with the +ritual of the Church of England, are termed "Evangelical;" or, in +dissent from it, "Methodistical." + +She was warm and fanciful in her devotional practice; for which the +belief as to the palpable and plenary influence of the Holy Spirit +upon the human mind, in which she was bred, may help to account. Of +these aspirations I, an ardent and sensitive boy, soon learned to +partake. My mind was never naturally _prone_ to vice; and my +imagination, though forward, was pure. I was brought up by my +excellent parents in the practice of virtue; and I loved it. With +an outward conduct thus guaranteeing inward persuasions--with +professions borne out by an unquestioned and pure, if not altogether +unostentatious piety of behaviour, what wonder that I soon became a +distinguished votary of the peculiar principles to which I had +attached myself. It is difficult for a young man to know himself +looked up to--be the cause what it may--without his feelings and his +conduct being affected by such homage. Nature had endowed me, if not +with eloquence, at least with considerable fluency of speech; and as +my natural diffidence--which at first was great--wore away, whether by +extempore prayer or seasonable exhortation, the effects I produced +exceeded those, the fruits of zeal, of those about me. I became +admired as one more than usually gifted, and was gradually exalted +into a leader. The occasional tendency to gloom and nervous +irritability to which my temperament inclined me, was yet only marked +enough to throw no unbecoming seriousness and gravity into the +features of so young an apostle. It was strange to see persons of all +ages and both sexes admiring at the innate seriousness of so early a +preacher, and owning the sometimes really fervid earnestness of my +appeals, my warnings, or my denunciations. I began more and more to +feel myself in a station above that of my fellows, and that I had now +a character to sustain before the eyes of men. Young as I was, could +it well have been otherwise? Let me, however, speak the truth. +Spiritual pride at last crept upon me. Devotion by insensible degrees +became tainted with self, and the image of God was, I fear, sometimes +forgotten for that of His frail and unworthy creature. True it was, I +still, without slackening, spoke comfort to the ear of suffering or +repentant sin--I still exhorted the weak and strengthened the strong. +I still warned the besotted in corruption that the fruits of vice, +blossom as she will, are but like those of the shores of the Dead Sea, +seeming gay, but only emptiness and bitter ashes. But alas! the bearer +of the blessed message spoke as if the worm that bore, could add grace +to the tidings he conveyed to his fellow-worm. I was got upon a +precipice, but knew it not--that of self-worship and conceit--the +worst creature-idolatry. It was bitterly revealed to me at last. + +About the year 1790, at the Assizes for the county of which the town +of C----r is the county town, was tried and convicted a wretch guilty +of one of the most horrible murders upon record. He was a young man, +probably (for he knew not his own years) of about twenty-two years of +age--one of those wandering and unsettled creatures, who seem to be +driven from place to place, they know not why. Without home, without +name, without companion, without sympathy, without sense,--heartless, +friendless, idealess, almost soulless! and so ignorant, as not even to +seem to know whether he had ever heard of a Redeemer, or seen His +written Word. It was on a stormy Christmas eve when he begged shelter +in the hut of an old man, whose office it was to regulate the transit +of conveyances upon the road of a great mining establishment in the +neighbourhood. The old man had received him, and shared with him his +humble cheer and his humble bed; for on that night the wind blew, and +the sleet drove, after a manner that would have made it a crime to +have turned a stranger dog to the door. The next day the poor old +creature was found dead in his hut--his brains beaten out with an old +iron implement which he used, and his little furniture rifled and in +confusion. The wretch had murdered him for the supposed hoard of a few +shillings. The snow, from which he afforded his murderer shelter, had +drifted in at the door, which the miscreant, when he fled, had left +open, and was frozen red with the blood of his victim. But it betrayed +a footstep hard frozen in the snow and blood; and the nails of the +murderer's shoe were counted, even as his days were soon to be. He was +taken a few days after with a handkerchief of the old man's upon his +neck. So blind is blood-guiltiness. + +Up to the hour of condemnation he remained reckless as the +wind--unrepenting as the flint--venomous as the blind worm. With that +deep and horrible cunning which is so often united to unprincipled +ignorance, he had almost involved in his fate another vagrant with +whom he had chanced to consort, and to whom he had disposed of some of +the blood-bought spoils. The circumstantial evidence was so involved +and interwoven, that the jury, after long and obvious hesitation as to +the latter, found both guilty; and the terrible sentence of death, +within forty-eight hours, was passed upon both. The culprit bore it +without much outward emotion; but when taken from the dock, his +companion, infuriated by despair and grief, found means to level a +violent blow at the head of his miserable and selfish betrayer, which +long deprived the wretch of sense and motion, and, for some time, was +thought to have anticipated the executioner. Would it had done so! But +let me do my duty as I ought--let me repress the horror which one +scene of this dreadful drama never fails to throw over my spirit--that +I may tell my story as a man--and my confession at least be clear. +When the felon awoke out of the death-like trance into which this +assault had thrown him, his hardihood was gone; and he was reconveyed +to the cell, in which he was destined agonisingly to struggle out his +last hideous and distorted hours, in a state of abject horror which +cannot be described. He who felt nothing, knew nothing, had now his +eyes opened with terrible clearness to one object--the livid phantasma +of a strangling death. All the rest was convulsive despair and +darkness. Thought shudders at it--but let me go on. + +The worthy clergyman, whose particular duty it was to smooth and +soften, and, if possible, illuminate the last dark hours of the dying +wretch, was not unwilling to admit the voluntary aid of those whom +religious predispositions and natural commiseration excited to share +with him in the work of piety. The task was in truth a hard one. The +poor wretch, for the sake of the excitement which such intercourse +naturally afforded him, and which momentarily relieved his sick and +fainting spirit, groaned out half-articulate expressions of +acquiescence in the appeals that were made to him; but the relief was +physical merely. The grasp of the friendly hand made waver for a +moment the heavy shadow of death which hung upon him--and he grasped +it. The voice breathing mercy and comfort in his ear, stilled for a +second the horrid echo of doom--and he listened to it. It was as the +drowning man gasps at the bubble of air which he draws down with him +in sinking--or as a few drops of rain to him at the stake, around whom +the fire is kindled and hot. This, alas! we saw not as we ought to +have done; but when the sinking wretch, at the word "mercy," laid his +head upon our shoulder and groaned, we, sanguine in enthusiasm, +deemed it deep repentance. When his brow seemed smooth for a space at +the sound of eternal life, we thought him as "a brand snatched from +the burning." In the forward pride (for pride it was) of human +perfectibility, we took him--him the murderer--as it were under our +tutelage and protection. We prayed with him, we read to him, we +watched with him, we blessed his miserable sleeps, and met his more +wretched awakings. In the presumption of our pity, we would cleanse +that white, in the world's eye, which God had, for inscrutable +purposes, ordained should seem to the last murky as hell. We would +paint visibly upon him the outward and visible sign of sin washed +away, and mercy found. That that intended triumph may not have helped +to add or to retain one feather's weight in the balance against him, +let me humbly hope and trust. That I was a cause, and a great one, of +this unhappy delusion, let me not deny. God forgive me, if I thought +sometimes less of the soul to be saved than of him who deemed he might +be one of the humble instruments of grace. It is but too true that I +fain would have danced, like David, before the ark. Within and without +was I assailed by those snares which, made of pride, are seen in the +disguise of charity. The aspirations of my friends, the eyes of mine +enemies, the wishes of the good, and the sneers of the mistrustful, +were about me, and upon me; and I undertook to pass with the +murderer--HIS LAST NIGHT--_such_ a last!--but let me compose myself. + + * * * * * + +It was about the hour of ten, on a gusty and somewhat raw evening of +September, that I was locked up alone with the murderer. It was the +evening of the Sabbath. Some rain had fallen, and the sun had not been +long set without doors; but for the last hour and a half the dungeon +had been dark, and illuminated only by a single taper. The clergyman +of the prison, and some of my religious friends, had sat with us until +the hour of locking-up, when, at the suggestion of the gaoler, they +departed. I must confess their "good-night," and the sound of the +heavy door, which the gaoler locked after him when he went to +accompany them to the outer gate of the gaol, sounded heavily on my +heart. I felt a sudden shrink within me, as their steps quickly ceased +to be heard upon the stone stairs; and when the distant prison-door +was finally closed, I watched the last echo. I had for a moment +forgotten my companion. When I turned round he was sitting on the side +of his low pallet, towards the head of it, supporting his head by his +elbow against the wall, apparently in a state of half stupor. He was +motionless, excepting a sort of convulsive movement, between sprawling +and clutching of the fingers of the right hand, which was extended on +his knee. His shrunk cheeks exhibited a deadly ashen paleness, with a +slight tinge of yellow, the effect of confinement. His eyes were +glassy and sunken, and seemed in part to have lost the power of +gazing. They were turned with an unmeaning and vacant stare upon the +window, where the last red streak of day was faintly visible, which +they seemed vainly endeavouring to watch. The sense of my own +situation now recoiled strongly upon me; and the sight of the wretch +sitting stiffened in quiet agony (for it was no better), affected me +with a faint sickness. I felt that an effort was necessary, and, with +some difficulty, addressed a few cheering and consolatory phrases to +the miserable creature I had undertaken to support. My words might +not,--but I fear my _tone_ was too much in unison with his feelings, +such as they were. His answer was a few inarticulate mutterings, +between which the spasmodic twitching of his fingers became more +apparent than before. A noise at the door seemed decidedly to rouse +him; and as he turned his head with a sudden effort, I felt relieved +to see the gaoler enter. He was used to such scenes; and with an air +of commiseration, but in a tone which lacked none of the firmness with +which he habitually spoke, he asked the unhappy man some question of +his welfare, and seemed satisfied with the head-shake and +inarticulately muttered replies of the again drooping wretch, as if +they were expected, and of course. Having directed the turnkey to +place some wine and slight refreshments on the table, and to trim the +light, he told me in a whisper that my friends would be at the prison, +with the clergyman, at the hour of six; and bidding the miserable +convict and myself, after a cheering word or two, "good-night," he +departed--the door was closed--and the murderer and I were finally +left together. + +It was now past the hour of ten o'clock; and it became my solemn duty +to take heed that the last few hours of the dying sinner passed not +without such comfort to his struggling soul as human help might hold +out. After reading to him some passages of the gospel, the most +apposite to his trying state, and some desultory and unconnected +conversation--for the poor creature at times seemed to be unable, +under his load of horror, to keep his ideas connected further than as +they dwelt upon his own nearing and unavoidable execution--I prevailed +upon him to join in prayer. He at this time appeared to be either so +much exhausted, or labouring under so much lassitude from fear and +want of rest, that I found it necessary to take his arm and turn him +upon his knees by the pallet-side. The hour was an awful one. No sound +was heard save an occasional ejaculation between a sigh and a +smothered groan from the wretched felon. The candle burned dimly; and +as I turned I saw, though I scarcely noticed it at the moment, a dim +insect of the moth species fluttering hurriedly round it, the sound of +whose wings mournfully filled up the pauses of myself and my +companion. When the nerves are strained to their uttermost, by such +trifling circumstances are we affected. _Here_ (thought I) there has +been no light, at such an hour, for many years; and yet here is one +whose office it seems to be to watch it! My spirit felt the necessity +of some exertion; and, with an energy for which a few minutes before I +had hardly dared to hope, I poured out my soul in prayer. I besought +mercy upon the blood-stained creature who was grovelling beside me; I +asked that repentance and peace might be vouchsafed him; I begged, for +our Redeemer's sake, that his last moments might know that untasted +rapture of sin forgiven, and a cleansed soul, which faith alone can +bring to fallen man; I conjured him to help and aid me to call upon +the name of Christ; and I bade him put off life and forget it, and to +trust in that name alone; I interceded that his latter agony might be +soothed, and that the leave-taking of body and soul might be in +quietness and peace. But he shook and shivered, and nature clung to +the miserable straw of existence which yet floated upon the wide and +dismal current of oblivion, and he groaned heavily and muttered, "No! +no! no!" as if the very idea of death was unbearable, even for a +moment; and "to die," even to him that must, were a thing impossible, +and not to be thought of or named. And as I wrestled with the +adversary that had dominion over him, he buried his shrunk and +convulsed features in the covering of his miserable pallet; while his +fingers twisted and writhed about, like so many scotched snakes, and +his low sick moans made the very dungeon darker. + +When I lifted him from his kneeling position, he obeyed my movement +like a tired child, and again sat on the low pallet, in a state of +motionless and unresisting torpor. The damp sweat stood on my own +forehead, though not so cold as on his; and I poured myself out a +small portion of wine, to ward off the exhaustion which I began to +feel unusually strong upon me. I prevailed upon the poor wretch to +swallow a little with me; and, as I broke a bit of bread, I thought, +and spoke to him, of that last repast of Him who came to call sinners +to repentance; and methought his eye grew lighter than it was. The +sinking frame, exhausted and worn down by anxiety, confinement, +and the poor allowance of a felon's gaol, drew a short respite +from the cordial; and he listened to my words with something of +self-collectedness--albeit slight tremblings might still be seen to +run along his nerves at intervals; and his features collapsed, ever +and anon, into that momentary vacuity of wildness which the touch of +despair never fails to give. I endeavoured to improve the occasion. I +exhorted him, for his soul's sake, and the relief of that which needed +it too much, to make a full and unreserved confession, not only to +God, who needed it not, but to man, who did. I besought him, for the +good of all, and as he valued his soul's health, to detail the +particulars of his crime, but _his eye fell_. That dark enemy, who +takes care to leave in the heart just hope enough to keep despair +alive, tongue-tied him, and he would not--even now, at the eleventh +hour--give up the vain imagination that the case of his companion +might yet be confounded with his, to the escape of both--and vain it +was. It had not been felt advisable so far to make him acquainted with +the truth, that this had already been sifted and decided; and I judged +this to be the time. Again and again I urged confession upon him. I +put it to him that this act of justice might now be done for its own +sake, and for that of the cleansing from spot of his stained spirit. I +told him, finally, that it could no longer prejudice him in this +world, where his fate was written and sealed, for that his companion +_was reprieved_. I knew not what I did. Whether the tone of my voice, +untutored in such business, had raised a momentary hope, I know not, +but the revulsion was dreadful. He stared with a vacant look of sudden +horror--a look which those who never saw cannot conceive, and which +(the remembrance is enough) I hope never to see again--and twisting +round, rolled upon his pallet with a stifled moan that seemed tearing +him in pieces. As he lay, moaning and writhing backwards and forwards, +the convulsions of his legs, the twisting of his fingers, and the +shiverings that ran through his frame were terrible. + +To attempt to rouse him seemed only to increase their violence, as if +the very sound of the human voice was, under his dreadful +circumstances, intolerable, as renewing the sense of reality to a +reason already clouding, and upon the verge of temporary delirium. He +was the picture of despair. As he turned his face to one side, I saw +that a few, but very few hot tears had been forced from his glassy and +blood-shot eyes; and in his writhings he had scratched one cheek +against his iron bedstead, the red discoloration of which contrasted +sadly with the deathly pallidness of hue which his visage now showed: +during his struggles, one shoe had come off, and lay unheeded on the +damp stone-floor. The demon was triumphant within him; and when he +groaned, the sound seemed scarcely that of a human being, so much had +horror changed it. I kneeled over him,--but in vain. He heard +nothing--he felt nothing--he knew nothing, but that extremity of +prostration to which a moment's respite would be Dives' drop of water, +and yet, in such circumstances, anything but a mercy. He could not +bear for a moment to think upon his own death--a moment's respite +would only have added new strength to the agony: he might _be_ dead, +but could not "--die;" and in the storm of my agitation and pity, I +prayed to the Almighty to relieve him at once from sufferings which +seemed too horrible even to be contemplated. + +How long this tempest of despair continued, I do not know. All that I +can recall is, that after almost losing my own recollection under the +agitation of the scene, I suddenly perceived that his moans were less +loud and continuous, and that I ventured to look at him, which I had +not done for some space. Nature had become exhausted, and he was +sinking gradually into a stupor, which seemed something between sleep +and fainting. This relief did not continue long--and as soon as I saw +him begin to revive again to a sense of his situation, I made a strong +effort, and lifting him up, seated him again on the pallet, and, +pouring out a small quantity of wine, gave it him to drink, not +without a forlorn hope that even wine might be permitted to afford him +some little strength to bear what remained of his misery, and collect +his ideas for his last hour. After a long pause of returning +recollection, the poor creature got down a little of the cordial, and +as I sat by him and supported him, I began to hope that his spirits +calmed. He held the glass and sipped occasionally, and appeared in +some sort to listen, and to answer to the words of consolation I felt +collected enough to offer. At this moment the low and distant sound of +a clock was heard, distinctly striking one. The ear of despair is +quick; and as he heard it, he shuddered, and in spite of a strong +effort to suppress his emotion, the glass had nearly fallen from his +hand. A severe nervous restlessness now rapidly grew upon him, and he +eagerly drank up one or two small portions of wine, with which I +supplied him. His fate was now evidently brought one degree nearer to +him. He kept his gaze intently and unceasingly turned to the window of +the dungeon. His muttered replies were incoherent or unintelligible, +and his sunk and weakened eye strained painfully on the grated window, +as if he momentarily expected to see the first streak of the dawn of +that morning, which to him was to be night. His nervous agitation +gradually became horrible, and his motions stronger. He seemed not to +have resolution enough to rise from his seat and go to the window, and +yet to have an overpowering wish or impulse to do so. The lowest sound +startled him--but with this terrible irritation, his muscular power, +before debilitated, seemed to revive, and his action, which was +drooping and languid, became quick and angular. I began to be seized +with an undefined sense of fear and alarm. In vain I combated it; it +grew upon me; and I had almost risen from my seat to try to make +myself heard, and obtain, if possible, assistance. The loneliness of +the gaol, however, rendered this, even if attempted, almost +desperate--the sense of duty, the dread of ridicule, came across me, +and chained me to my seat by the miserable criminal, whose state was +becoming every minute more dreadful and extraordinary. + + * * * * * + +Let us not scorn or distrust our obscurest misgivings, for we are +strangely constituted; and though the evidence for such conclusions +often be in a manner unknown to ourselves, they are not the less +veritable and just. Exhausted by the wearing excitement and anxiety of +my situation, I had for a moment sunk into that confused absence of +mind with which those who have been in similar circumstances cannot be +unacquainted, when my miserable companion, with a convulsive shudder, +grasped my arm suddenly. I was for a few seconds unaware of the cause +of this emotion and movement, when a low indistinct sound caught my +ear. It was the rumbling of a cart, mingled with two or three +suppressed voices; and the cart appeared to be leaving the gate of the +dismal building in which we were. It rolled slowly and heavily as if +cumbrously laden, under the paved gateway; and after a few minutes, +all was silent. The agonised wretch understood its import better than +I did. A gust of the wildest despair came suddenly over him. He +clutched with his hands whatever met his grasp. His knees worked. His +frame became agitated with one continued movement, swaying backwards +and forwards, almost to falling, and his inarticulate complaints +became terrific. I attempted to steady him by an exertion of strength; +I spoke kindly to him, but he writhed in my grasp like an adder, and +as an adder was deaf--grief and fear had horrible possession: myself +almost in a state of desperation--for the sight was pitiful. I at last +endeavoured to awe him into a momentary quiescence, and strongly bade +him at last to _die like a man_; but the word "Death" had to him only +the effect it may be supposed to have upon a mere animal nature and +understanding: how could it have any other? He tried to bear it, and +could not, and uttering a stifled noise, between a yell and a moan, he +grasped his own neck: his face assumed a dark-red colour, and he fell +into a state of stifled convulsion. + + * * * * * + +When despair had wrought with him, I lifted him with difficulty from +the floor on which he had fallen. His relaxed features had the hue of +death, and his parched lips, from a livid blue, became of an ashy +whiteness. In appearance he was dying; and in the agitation of the +moment I poured a considerable portion of the wine which had been +left with us into a glass, and, after wetting his temples, held it +to his lips. He made an effort to swallow, and again revived to +consciousness; and holding the vessel firmly in his hands, got down +with difficulty and at intervals the entire draught. When he found it +totally exhausted, the glass fell from his hands; but he seized and +held one of mine with a grasp so firm and iron-like that the contrast +startled me. He seemed to be involved in a confused whirl of +sensations. He stared round the cell with a wildness of purpose that +was appalling; and after a time I began to see, with deep remorse, +that the wine I had unguardedly given was, as is always the case, +adding keenness to his agony and strength to his despair. He half rose +once or twice and listened; all was silent--when, after the pause of a +minute or two, a sudden fit of desperation seemed to seize upon him. +He rushed to the window, and hurriedly surveying the grates, wrenched +at them with a strength demoniac and superhuman, till the iron bars +shook in their imbedments. + +From this period my recollections are vague and indistinct. I remember +strongly remonstrating with the poor creature, and being pushed away +by hands which were now bleeding profusely with the intense efforts of +his awful delirium. I remember attempting to stop him, and hanging +upon him, until the insane wretch clutched me by the throat, and a +struggle ensued, during which I suppose I must at length have fainted +or become insensible; for the contest was long, and, while +consciousness remained, terrible and appalling. My fainting, I +presume, saved my life, for the felon was in that state of maniacal +desperation which nothing but a perfect unresistingness could have +evaded. + +After this, the first sensation I can recall is that of awakening out +of that state of stupor into which exhaustion and agitation had thrown +me. Shall I ever forget it? The anxiety of some of my friends had +brought them early to the gaol; and the unusual noises which had been +heard by some of its miserable inmates occasioned, I believe, the door +of the cell in which we were to be unlocked before the intended hour. +Keenly do I recollect the struggling again into painful consciousness, +the sudden sense of cheering daylight, the sound of friendly voices, +the changed room, and the strange looks of all around me. The passage +was terrible to me; but I had yet more to undergo. I was recovered +just in time to witness the poor wretch, whose prop and consolation I +had undertaken to be, carried, exhausted and in nerveless horror, to +the ignominious tree--his head drooping on his breast, his eyes +opening mechanically at intervals, and only kept from fainting and +utter insensibility by the unused and fresh morning air, which +breathed in his face as if in cruel mockery. I looked once, but looked +no more.--Let me hasten to conclude. I was ill for many weeks, and +after recovering from a nervous fever, was ordered by my physicians +into the country. This was the first blessing and relief I +experienced, for the idea of society was now terrible to me. I was +secluded for many months. Time, however, who ameliorates all things, +at length softened and wore away the sharper parts of these +impressions, but to this hour I dare not dwell upon the events of that +awful night. If I dream of them, although the horrors fall far short +of the appalling reality, yet for the next sun I am discomposed, and +can only seek for rest from that Almighty Power, who, in his +inscrutable providence, thought fit I should read a lesson so hideous, +but--so salutary.--Reader, farewell. + + + + +NARRATION OF CERTAIN UNCOMMON THINGS THAT DID FORMERLY HAPPEN TO ME, +HERBERT WILLIS, B.D. + +[_MAGA._ JUNE 1844.] + + +It had pleased Heaven in the year 1672, when I had finished my studies +in Magdalen College, Oxford, whereof I was a Demy, and had taken my +degree of bachelor of arts in the preceding term, to visit me with so +severe an affliction of fever, which many took at first for the +commencement of the small-pox, that I was recommended by the +physicians, when the malady had abated, to return to my father's house +and recover my strength by diet and exercise. This I was fain to do; +and having hired a small horse of Master John Nayler in the +corn-market, to take me as far as to the mansion of a gentleman, an +ancient friend of my father's, who had a house near unto Reading in +Berkshire, and in those troubled times, when no man knew whereunto +things might turn from day to day, did keep himself much retired,--I +bade adieu to the university with a light heart but a weakened habit +of body, and turned my horse's head to the south. I performed the +journey without accident in one day; but the exertion thereof had so +exhausted my strength, that Mr Waller (which was the name of my +father's friend, and of kin to the famous poet, Edmund Waller, +Esquire, who hath been ever in such favour with our governors and +kings), perceiving I was nigh discomfited, did press me to go to my +chamber without delay. He was otherwise very gracious in his reception +of me, and professed great amity to me, as being the son of his fast +friend and companion; but yet I marked, as it were, a cloud that lay +obscure behind his external professions, as if he was uneasy in his +mind, and was not altogether pleased with having a stranger within his +gates. Howbeit I thanked him very heartily for his hospitality, and +betook myself to the chamber that was assigned for my repose. It was a +pretty, small room, whereof I greatly admired the fashion; and the +furnishing thereof was extreme gay, for the bed hangings were of +bright crimson silk, and on a table was placed a mirror of true +Venetian glass. Also, there were chests of mahogany wood, and other +luxurious devices, which my weariness did not hinder me from +observing; but finally I was overcome by my weakness, and I threw +myself on the bed without removing my apparel, and sustained, as I +believe, though I have no certain warranty thereof, an access of +deliquium or fainting. When I did recover my senses after this +interval of suspended faculty (whether proceeding from sleep or the +other cause above designated), I lay for many minutes revolving +various circumstances in my mind. I resolved, if by any means my +bodily powers were thereunto sufficient, to depart on the morrow, and +borrow one of Mr Waller's horses to convey me on my way, for I was +uneasy to be thought an intruder; but when I had settled upon this in +my mind, a new incident occurred which altered the current of my +thoughts, for I perceived a slight noise at the door of my chamber as +of one stealthily turning the handle, and I lay, without making any +motion, to watch whereunto this proceeding would tend. The door was +put gently open, and a figure did enter the room, so disguised with +fantastical apparel that I was much put to it to guess what the issue +would be. It was of a woman, tall and majestical, with a red turbaund +round her head, and over her shoulders a shawl much bedizened with +needlework. Her gown was of green cloth, and I was made aware by the +sound, as she passed along the floor, that the heels of her shoes were +more than commonly high. With this apparition, of which I took only a +very rapid observation through my half-closed eyelids, I was greatly +astonished; for she was an exact resemblance to those bold Egyptian +queans who were at first called Bohemians, but are nothing better +than thieves and vagabonds, if indeed they be not the chosen people of +the prince of darkness himself. She looked carefully all round the +room, and after opening one of the drawers of mahogany wood, and +taking something therefrom which I could not discern, she approached +to the side of my bed, and looked earnestly upon me as I lay. I could +not keep up the delusion any longer, and opened my eyes. She continued +gazing steadfastly upon me without alteration of her countenance or +uttering any word, whether of apology or explanation; and I was so +held in by the lustre of her large eyes, and the fixed rigidity of her +features, that for some time I was unable to give utterance to my +thoughts. + +"Woman," I said at last, "what want you with me?" + +"Your help, if you will be gracious to poor mourners such as we." + +I interrogated her much and curiously as to what service she required +at my hands; for I had a scrupulosity to promise anything to one whose +external made me think her a disciple of Mahomet, as those gypsies are +said to be. After much hesitating, she could not conceal from me that +she was in this disguise for some special and extraordinary purpose; +nevertheless, she condescended on no particulars of her state or +condition; but when I finally promised to satisfy her demand, if it +might be done by a Christian gentleman, and a poor candidate for the +holy ministry, she cautioned me not to be startled by whatever I +should see, and beckoned me to follow her--the which I did in no easy +frame of mind. Opening a little door which I had not seen when I took +observation of the apartment, she disappeared down two or three steps, +where I pursued the slight sound of her footfall; for there was great +darkness, so that I could see nothing. We went, as I conjectured, +through several passages of some length, till finally she paused, and +knocked very gently three times at a door. The door was speedily +opened; and in answer to a question of my guide, whether godly Mr Lees +was yet arrived, a voice answered that he was there, and expecting us +with impatience. When I passed through the door, I found myself in a +small chamber, dimly lighted by one small lamp, which was placed upon +a table by the side of a bed; and when I looked more fixedly, I +thought I perceived the figure of a person stretched on the bed, but +lying so fixed and still that I marvelled whether it was alive or +dead. At the foot of the bed stood a venerable old man, in the dress +of a clergyman of our holy church, with a book open in his hand; and +my strange guide led me up to where he was standing, and whispered to +him, but so that I could hear her words, "This gentleman hath promised +to assist us in this matter." + +But hereupon I interposed with a few words to the same reverend +divine. "Sir," I said, "I would be informed wherefore I am summoned +hither, and in what my assistance is needful?" + +"He hath not then been previously informed?" he said to the Egyptian; +and receiving some sign of negation from her, he closed the book, and +leading me apart into a corner of the apartment, discovered the matter +in a very pious and edifying manner. + +"It is to be godfather in the holy rite of baptism, to one whom it is +our duty, as Christian men, to rescue from the dangerous condition of +worse than unregenerate heathenism." + +"The child of that Egyptian woman?" I asked; but he said, "No. She who +is now disguised in that attire is no Egyptian, but a true Samaritan, +who hath been the means of working much good in the evil times past, +and is likely to be a useful instrument in the troubled times yet to +come. If this dissolute court, and Popish heir-presumptive, do proceed +in their attempts to overthrow our pure Reformed church, depend on it, +young man, that that woman will not be found wanting in the hour of +trial. But for the matter in hand, will you be godfather to the person +now to be received into the ark?" + +I told him I could not burden my conscience with so great and +important duties, without some assurance that I should be able to +fulfil them. Whereto he replied, that such scrupulosities, however +praiseworthy in calmer times, ought now to yield to the paramount +consideration of saving a soul alive. + +A faint voice, proceeding from the bed, was here heard mournfully +asking if the ceremony was now to begin, for death was near at hand. + +I went up to the bed and saw the face of a pale dying woman, whose +eyes, albeit they encountered mine, had no sense of sight in them, for +the shadows of the Great King were already settled upon her +countenance. "Begin then," I said to the clergyman; and on a motion +from him, the woman who had conducted me went out, and shortly +returned, leading by the hand a child of two, or haply three years of +age, exceeding beautiful to look on, and dressed in the same style of +outlandish apparel as her conductor. I had little time to look +attentively at her, for her hand was put into mine, while the other +was held by the Egyptian (as I still call her, notwithstanding I knew +she was a devout woman), and another person, whom I guessed to be an +attendant on the sick lady, stationed herself near; whereupon the +clergyman commenced from our book of common prayer the form of +baptism. The lady seemed to acquire strength at the sound of his low +solemn voice, and half raised herself in the bed, and looked anxiously +towards where we were; when the name was given, which was Lucy +Hesseltine, she stretched herself back on her pillow with a faint +smile. The ceremony was soon over, and the Egyptian took the new +Christian to the side of the bed, and whispered in the lady's ear, +"Jessica, the child is now one of the Christian flock; she prays your +blessing." She waited for an answer, during which time the clergyman +took me apart, and had again entered into discourse. But the Egyptian +came to us. "Hush!" she said, "the ways of God are inscrutable; our +friend is gone to her account." Hereupon she hurried me through the +same passages by which we had come, and bidding me God-speed at the +hidden door of my chamber, told me to keep what I had seen a secret +from all men, yea, if possible, to forget it myself, as there might be +danger in having it spread abroad. + +Tormented with many thoughts, and uneasy at the great risk I ran of +bringing guilt on my own soul by having made sponsorial promises which +I could not execute, I rested but indifferently that night. The next +day I pursued my journey home in the manner I had proposed, and was +glad to avoid the chance of being interrogated by Mr Waller as to what +had occurred. In a short time my good constitution and home restored +me to my former strength, and the memory of that strange incident grew +more faint as other things came to pass which made deeper impressions +on my heart and mind. Among these is not to be forgotten the death of +my father, which happened on the 14th of June in the following year, +_videlicet_ 1673; and the goodness of the lord bishop of Oxford in +giving me priests' orders on my college Demyship, whereby I was +enabled to present myself to this living, and hold it, having at that +time attained the canonical age. My courtship also and marriage, which +befell in the year 1674, had great effect in obliterating past +transactions. I was married on Thursday, the 24th day of June. + + * * * * * + +(Here several pages are omitted as irrelevant, containing family +incidents for some years.) + +Howbeit things did not prosper with us so much as we did expect; for +the payers of tithes were a stiff-necked generation, as were the Jews +of old, and withheld their offerings from the priest at the very time +when Providence sent a plentiful supply of mouths to which the +offerings would have been of use. Charles was our only son, and was +now in his third year--the two girls, Henrietta and Sophia, were six +and seven--my eldest girl was nine years past, and I had named her, in +commemoration of my father's ancient friend, by the prenomen of +Waller. It hath been remarked by many wise men of old, and also by our +present good bishop, that industry and honesty are the two Herculeses +that will push the heaviest waggon through the mire, and more +particularly so, if the waggoner aids also by putting his shoulder to +the wheel. And easy was it to see, that the wheel of the domestic +plaustrum--wherein, after the manner of the ancient Parthians, I +included all my family, from the full beauty of my excellent wife to +the sun-lighted hair of my prattling little Charles (the which reminds +me of those beautiful lines which are contained in a translation of +the _Iliad_ of Homer by Mr Hobbes, descriptive of the young Astyanax +in his mother Andromache's arm-- + + "And like a star upon her bosom lay + His beautiful and shining golden head")-- + +It was easy, I say, to see that, with such an additional number of +passengers, the domestic plaustrum would sink deeper and deeper in the +miry ways of the world. And consultations many and long did my +excellent wife and I hold over the darkening prospect of our future +life. At last she bethought her of going to take counsel of her near +friend and most kind godfather, Mr William Snowton of Wilts, which was +a managing man for many of the nobility, and much renowned for probity +and skilful discernment. He was steward on many great estates, and +gave plentiful satisfaction to his employers, without neglecting his +own interest, which is a thing that does always go with the other, +namely, a care for your master's affairs; for how shall a man pretend +to devote his time and services to another man's estate, and take no +heed for himself? The thing is contra the nature of man, and the +assertion thereof is fit only for false patriots and other evil men. +It was with much weariness of heart and anxious tribulation that I +parted from that excellent woman, even for so short a period of time; +but Master George Sprowles of this parish having it in mind to travel +into the village where the said Mr William Snowton kept his abode, I +availed myself of his friendly offer to conduct my wife thither upon a +pillion; and thereupon having sent forward her luggage two days before +by a heavy waggon which journeyeth through Sarum, I took leave of the +excellent woman, commending her heartily unto the care of Providence +and Master George, which (Providence I mean) will not let a sparrow +fall to the ground, much less the mother of a family, which moreover +was riding on a strong sure-footed horse, which also was bred in our +parish, and did sometimes pasture on the glebe. It was the first time +we had been separated since our wedding-day. I took little Charles +into my room that night, and did carefully survey the other children +before I went to rest. They did all sleep soundly, and some indeed did +wear a smile upon their innocent faces as I looked upon them, and I +thought it was, perhaps, the reflection of the prayers which their +mother, I well knew, was pouring out for them at that hour. That was +on a Tuesday, and as the distance was nearly sixty miles, I could not +hear of her safe arrival till the return of Master George, which could +not be till the following Monday; for he was a devout man, and had +imbibed his father's likings in his youth, which was a champion for +the late Man, and would rather have done a murder on a Thursday than +have travelled on the Sabbath-day. "Better break heads," he was used +to say, "than break the Sabbath." I did always find him--the father I +mean--a sour hand at a bargain; and when he was used to drive me hard +upon his tithes and agistments, I could fancy he took me for one of +the Amalekites, or one of the Egyptians, whom he thought it a +meritorious Christian deed to spoil. The Monday came at last, and +Master George Sprowles, before he rode to his own home, trotted his +horse up our church avenue, and delivered into my hands a packet of +writing carefully sealed with a seal, whereof the device was a +true-love knot. Great was my delight and great my anxiety to read what +was written therein, and all that evening I pored over the manuscript, +on which she had bestowed great pains, and crossed all the _t_'s +without missing one. But it is never an easy task to decipher a +woman's meaning, particularly when not addicted to penmanship; and +although my excellent wife had attended a penman's instructions, and +had acquired the reputation, in her native place, of being an +accomplished clerk, still, since her marriage, she had applied her +genius to the making of tarts and other confections, rather than to +the parts of scholarship, and it was difficult for me to make out the +significance of her epistle in its whole extent. Howbeit, it was a +wonderful effort of calligraphy, considering she had only had two days +wherein to compose and write it, and she had been so little used to +this manner of communication, and it consisted of three whole sides of +a large sheet of paper. She said therein that Mr Snowton was a father +unto her in his affection and urbanity, and that he highly approved +the motion for us to make provision of the meat that perishes, seeing +it is indispensable for young children and also for adults; and that +he had already bethought him of a way wherein he might be serviceable +to us--viz. in procuring for me certain youth of the upper kinds, to +be by me instructed in the learned tongues, and such other branches as +I had proficiency in; and, in addition thereto, he said, that +peradventure he might obtain a similar charge for my excellent wife in +superintending the perfectionment of certain young ladies of his +acquaintance in samplers, and millinery, and cookery, and such other +of the fine and useful arts as she was known to excel in; and he +subjoined thereto, that the charges for each pupil would be so large, +being only those of consideration which he recommended unto me, that +a few years would be sufficient wherein to consolidate portions for +all my children. Such, with some misgivings touching my own +interpretation, did I make out to be the substance of my excellent +wife's letter; and I rejoiced greatly that such an opening was made +for me, by the which I might attain to such eminence of estate that I +might place my Charles in the first ranks of the law, yea, might live +to see him raised to the fullness of temporal grandeur, and sitting, +as Lord High Keeper, among the peers and princes of the land, with a +crown of pure gold upon his head. But there was no crown but a +heavenly one, that fadeth not nor groweth dim, that could have added a +fresh beauty to the fair head of my Charles. But the sweetest part of +her missive was contained in the _post scriptum_. Therein she said, +and in this I could not be wrong, that Mr Snowton had undertaken to +forward her in his light wheeled cart, by reason of the conveniency it +would be of to her in the transportation of herself and luggage, and +also of Miss Alice Snowton, of Mr Snowton's kindred, a young lady +which he had adopted (being the only child of his only brother, Mr +Richard Snowton, deceased), and advised my wife to accept the care of +her as a beginning, and for the charges of the same he would be +answerable for fifty golden Caroluses at Ladyday and Michaelmas. A +hundred Caroluses each year! My heart bounded with joy. Great were my +preparations for the reception of my new inmate, and busy were we all +from my busy Waller down to Charles. He with much riotousness did +superintend all, and rejoiced greatly at the noise caused by the +hammering, and taking down and putting up of bed-hangings, and did in +no slight measure add thereto by strange outbreaks of riotous mirth, +such as whooping and screaming; causing confusion, at the same time, +by various demonstrations of his enjoyments, such as throwing nails +against the windows, beating on the floor with the poker, and +occasionally interrupting our operations by tumbling down stairs, and +causing us for a moment to believe him killed outright, or at least +maimed for life. But there is a special providence over happy +children; and save that he fell on one occasion into the bucket of +soap and water, wherewith a domestic was scouring the chintz room +floor, and suffered some inconvenience from the hotness thereof, he +escaped in a manner truly miraculous from any accident affecting life +or limb. When the time drew near in the which I expected the return of +my excellent wife, I took all the children to the upper part of the +church field which faces the high-road, upon which the large stones +have recently been laid down in the manner of a causeway, but which, +at that period, was left to the natural hardness, or rather softness, +of the soil, and was, in consequence thereof, dangerous to travel on +by reason of the ruts and hollows; to that portion, I say, of the +church field I conveyed all my little ones, to give the gratulations +necessary on such an occasion to their excellent mother. The spot +whereon we were stationed commanded a view of the hill which +superimpends our village, and we were therefore gratified to think +that we should have an early view of the expected travellers; and many +quarrels and soft reconcilements did take place between my younger +ones, upon the point of who would be the first to see their approach. +In the midst of these sweet contentions, whilst I was in the +undignified and scarcely clerical act of carrying little Charles upon +my shoulder, having decorated his head with my broad-brimmed hat, in +order to enable him--vain imagination, which pleased the boy's +heart--to see over and beyond the hill, there did pass, in all her +wonted state and dignity, with two outriders in the Mallerden livery, +two palfreniers at her side, and four mounted serving-men behind, the +ancient Lady Mallerden, which was so famous an upholder of our +venerated church in the evil days through which it so happily passed; +and with no little perturbation of mind, and great confusion of face, +did I see the look of astonishment, not to say disdain, with which she +regarded my position; more particularly as little Charles, elevated, +as I have said, upon my shoulders, with his legs on each side of my +neck, did lift up the professional hat, which did entirely absorb his +countenance, with great courtesy, and made a most grave and +ceremonious obeisance unto the lofty lady. She pursued her path, +returning the salutation with a kind of smile, and at the same easy +ambling pace as was her wont, proceeded up the hill. Just as she +reached the summit thereof our eyes were gladdened with the sight, so +long desired, of the light equipage on two wheels of the kind Mr +Snowton, containing my excellent wife and her young charge, and also +various boxes of uncommon size, in which were laid great store of +bodily adornment for both the ladies; as was more fully seen +thereafter, on the opening of the boxes, by reason of Mr Snowton +having privily conveyed into them various changes of apparel for the +use of my excellent wife, as also for each of the three girls. To +Charles he also sent the image of an ass, which, by touching a certain +string, did open its mouth and wave its ears in a manner most curious +to behold, wherewith the infant was infinitely delighted, as was I, +without inquiring at that time into the exquisite mechanism whereby +the extraordinary demonstrations were produced. But in the course of +little more than a month he was led, by his inquiring turn of mind, to +pry into the mystery; and in the pursuit of knowledge--laudable surely +in a person of his years, and demonstrative of astonishing sagacity +and research--he did take the animal entirely to pieces, and saw the +inward parts thereof. The great lady, with all the retinue, stopped +short as she encountered with my excellent wife at the top of the +hill, and did most courteously make tender inquiries of her state of +health, and also of her plans--whereof she seemed some little +instructed--and expressed her satisfaction therein, and did make many +sweet speeches to her, and also to the pupil, and trusted that she +would be good and dutiful, and an earnest and affectionate daughter of +the Church of England. To all which my excellent wife replied in +fitting terms, and Alice Snowton--so was she named--made promise so to +do, God being her helper and I her teacher; and thereupon the great +lady bended her head with smiles, and rode on. When they got down to +where we stood in the church field, the flush of modesty, and perhaps +of pride, at being spoken to in such friendly guise by the haughty +Lady Mallerden, had not yet left the cheek of my excellent wife, upon +which I impressed a kiss of true love, and held up little Charles as +high as I could, to enable him to do likewise, which he did, with a +pretty set speech which I had taught him, in gratulation of her +return. Alice Snowton also did blush, and held out her cheek, whereon +I pressed my lip, with fervent prayers for her advance in holiness and +virtue, and also in useful learning, under my excellent wife's +instructions. She was a short girl, not much taller than my Waller, +though she seemed to be three or even four years more advanced in age. +She was a sweet engaging child of thirteen, and I loved her as one of +my flock from the moment I saw her, as in duty bound. My children were +divided between joy at seeing their excellent mother, and wonder at +the stranger. But a short period wore off both these sentiments of the +human mind, or rather the outward manifestation of them; and I will +venture to assert that the quietude of night, and the clearness of the +starry heavens, fell on no happier household on that evening than the +parsonage of Welding. And next day it was the same; and next, and +next, and a great succession of happy, useful days. Alice was a dear +girl, and we loved her as our own; and she loved Charles above all, +and was his friend, his nurse, his playfellow. Their gambols were +beautiful to behold; and, to complete the good work which was so well +begun, good Mr Snowton did send to my care, at the same remuneration, +two young gentlemen of tender years, Master Walter Mannering and +Master John Carey--the elder of them being eight and the other seven; +and, as if fortune never tired of raining down on us her golden +favours, the great Lady Mallerden herself did use her interest on my +behalf, and obtained for me the charge of a relative of her noble +house--the honourable Master Fitzoswald, of illustrious lineage in the +north, of the age of nine years. But doubtless, as the philosopher +has remarked, there is no sweet without its bitter, or, as the poet +has said, "no rose without its thorn," or, better perhaps, as another +great poet of antiquity has clothed the sentiment-- + + ----"Medio de fonte leporum + Surgit amari aliquid;" + +for it was made an express stipulation of the latter office--namely, +the charge of the honourable young gentleman, being the second son of +the noble Earl Fitzoswald, in Yorkshire--that the great Lady Mallerden +should have joint superintendence of his studies with me, and the +direction of his conduct, and also his religious education. And this +was a sore drawback to the pleasure I experienced, for I knew her to +be proud and haughty beyond most women, or even men; and also that she +was of so active and inquisitive a turn of mind, that she would +endeavour to obtain all power and authority unto herself, whereto I +determined by no means to submit. Two hundred golden guineas was the +_honorarium_ per annum for his education; and my excellent wife, who +was addicted, like the most of her sex, to dreams and omens, did very +often have a vision in the night, of the Right Hon. the Earl +Fitzoswald presenting me to a great office in the church--yea, even a +seat among the right reverend the lord bishops of the Upper House of +Parliament. Nor were portents and auguries wanting, such as +this--which made an uncommon impression on my excellent wife's +mind--_videlicet_, it chanced that Alice Snowton did make a hat of +paper, to be placed on Charles's head when he was more than usually +naughty, to be called the fool's-cap out of derision; but this same +paper hat, which was of a fantastic shape, being conical and high, the +boy with scissors did dexterously mutilate and nearly destroy, and, +coming quietly behind me when I was meditating the future with my +excellent wife, he placed it on my head; and, to all our eyes, there +was no mistaking the shape into which, fortuitously, and with no view +or knowledge of such emblems, he had cut the paper-cap. It was +evidently a mitre, and nothing else! But this, and various other +concurring incidents, I pass over, having frequently rebuked my +excellent wife for thinking more highly of such matters than she ought +to think. + +The course pursued in our studies was the following, which I +particularly write down, having had great experience in that sort, and +considering it may be useful, if perchance this account should fall +into the hands of any who follow the honourable and noble calling of +educating the rising generation. The _Colloquies_ of Corderius, as +also the _Fables_ of Æsopus, with those also of Phædrus his Roman +continuator.... + + * * * * * + +(Many pages are here omitted as irrelevant.) + +... And my excellent wife, after much entreaty, consented thereto. +Accordingly, on the very next Sunday, the great Lady Mallerden +attended at my house after church, and did closely question, not only +the young gentlemen on the principles of their faith, but also Alice +Snowton, and did, above all, clearly and emphatically point out to +them the iniquities of the great Popish delusion; and exhorted them, +whatever might be their future fate or condition, to hold fast by the +pure Reformed church. And so much did my eldest daughter, who was now +a great tall girl of twelve years of age, win upon the heart of the +great lady, that she invited her to come up for several days and +reside with her at Mallerden Court, which was a great honour to my +daughter, invitations not being extended to any to enter that noble +mansion under the degree of nobility. Nor did her beneficence end +here; for she did ask Alice Snowton, who was now a fine young woman of +fifteen or thereby, to be her guest at the same time. Alice was not so +stout in proportion to her years as my Waller; but there was a certain +gracefulness about her when she moved, and a sweet smile when she +spoke, which was very gainful on the affections, as Charles could +testify; for he loved her, and made no secret thereof, better than any +of his sisters, and also, I really and unfeignedly believe, better +than that excellent woman his mother. And so great was the impression +made on the great lady by my Waller's cleverness and excellent manner +of conducting herself, that, on her return at the end of three days, a +letter, in the noble lady's own hand, bore testimony to her +satisfaction, and a request, or rather a command, was laid on me to +send her, under charge, as she expressed it, of Alice Snowton, to the +Court for a longer period the following week. And such was the mutual +happiness of the noble lady, and of that young girl (my Waller, I +mean), who could now write a beautiful flowing hand, and spell with +uncommon accuracy and expedition, that erelong it was an arranged +thing, that three days in each week were spent by the two children at +Mallerden Court; and a horse at last, on every Wednesday, was in +waiting to convey them, on a double pillion, to the stately mansion. + +I have not alluded to the state of public affairs, of which I was far +from cognisant, saving that the writhings and strugglings which this +tortured realm did make, shook also the little parsonage of Welding. +We heard, at remote intervals of time, rumours of dangers and +difficulties hanging over this church and nation; but were little +alarmed thereat, putting faith in the bill of exclusion, and the +honour of our most gracious and religious lord the king. Nor did I +anticipate great harm even if the Duke of York, in the absence of +lawful posterity of his brother, should get upon the throne, trusting +in the truth of his royal word, and the manifold declarations of +favour and amicableness to the church, which he from time to time put +forth. But Æsopus hath it, when bulls fight in a marsh the frogs are +crushed to death. It was on the tenth day of February, in the year of +our Lord 1685, I was busy with my dear friends, the youths under my +charge, in the Campus Martius (which was a level space of ground in +one of the glebe fields by the side of the river, whereon we performed +our exercises of running, jumping, wrestling, and other athletic +exercitations), when we were startled by the hearing the sound of many +horses galloping up the hill above the village; and looking over the +hedge on to the road, we saw a cavalier going very fast on a fine +black horse, which had fire in its eyes and nostrils, as the poet +says, followed by a goodly train of serving-men, all well mounted, and +proceeding at the same rate. We went on with our games for an hour or +two, when all at once I was peremptorily sent for to go to my house +without delay; and accordingly I hurried homewards, much marvelling +what the summons could portend. I went into my study, and sitting in +my arm-chair I saw the great Lady Mallerden; but she was so deep in +thought, that for some minutes she kept me standing, and waiting her +commands. At last she started to herself, and ordered me to be seated, +and in her rapid glancing manner began to speak-- + +"I have been visited by my son, who rode post haste from London to +tell me the king was dead. He has been dead four days." + +I was astonished and much saddened at the news. + +"Sorry--yes--but there is no time for sorrow," said the noble lady; +"we must be up and doing. We are betrayed." + +"Did your son, the noble Viscount Mallerden, tell you this?" + +"He is one of the betrayers--know you not what manner of man he +is?--Then I will tell you." And here a strange light flashed from +her eyes, and her lips became compressed till all the colour +disappeared--"He is a viper that stung me once--and would sting me +again if I took him to my bosom, and laid it open for his poisonous +tooth. I tell you the Lord Mallerden is a godless, hopeless, faithless +man--bound hand and foot to the footstool of the despotic, cruel +monster--the Jesuit who has now his foot upon the English throne. He +is a Papist, fiercer, bitterer, crueller, because he has no belief +neither in priest nor pope--but he is ambitious, reckless, base, a +courtier. He prideth himself in his shame, and says he has openly +professed. It is to please the hypocritical master he serves. And he +boasts that our late king--defender of the faith--was shrived on his +deathbed by a Popish friar." + +"I cannot believe it, my lady." + +"You are a good man--a good simple man, Master Willis," she said; and +although the words of her designation were above my deserts, seeing +that simplicity and goodness are the great ornaments of the Christian +character, still the tone in which she spoke did not partake of the +nature of a compliment, and I bowed, but made no observation in reply. + +"But it needs men of other minds in these awful times which I see +approaching--men of firmness, men of boldness--yea, who can shed blood +and shudder not; for great things are at stake." + +"I trust not, my lady--albeit the shedding of blood"---- + +"I know, is generally condemned; yet be there texts which make it +imperative, and I think I foresee that the occasion for giving them +forth is at hand. All means in their power they will try; yes, though +James of York has been but four days a king, he had already made +perquisition for such as may be useful to him, not in settling the +crown upon his head, but in carrying off this people and kingdom, a +bound sacrifice to the blind idol which he worshippeth at Rome. You +know not the history of that man; no, nor of my son. Alas! that a +mother's lips should utter such words about her own flesh and blood! +The one of them I tell you is a bigot, a pursuer, a persecutor--the +other a sensualist, a Gallio, a tool. For many years he has never +beheld his mother's face; he married in his youth; he injured, +deserted, yea, he killed his wife--not with his own hand or with the +dagger, but by the surer weapons of hatred, neglect, unkindness. And +she died. He has but one child; that child was left in charge of my +honoured and loving daughter, the Lady Pevensey of Notts, and hath +been brought up in a Christian manner; but now he--this man of +Belial--wishes to get this infant in his own hands; nay, he boldly has +made a demand of her custody both on me and Pevensey, my daughter. We +will not surrender her; he is now great and powerful. The king will +back his efforts with all the weight of the crown; and we have +considered, if we could confide the persecuted dove to the hands of +some assured friend--some true son of our holy church--some steady, +firm-hearted, strong-nerved man, who in such cause would set lord and +king at defiance"---- + +Here she paused, and looked upon me with her eyes dilated, and her +nostrils panting with some great thought which was within her; and I +availed myself of the pause to say-- + +"Oh, my lady! if you did mean me for such charge, I confess my +deficiency for such a lofty office; for I do feel in me no stirrings +of an ambitious spirit. Sufficient is it for me to take care of the +innocent flock committed to my care, in the performance of which +charge I have the approbation of my own heart, and also, I make bold +to hope it, of your ladyship, seeing that I have instructed them in +the true principles both of faith and practice; and although there are +shortcomings in them all, by reason the answers in the Catechism are +not adapted to the capacities of the younger ones, especially of +Charles (who, notwithstanding, has abilities and apprehensions above +his years), yet are they all imbued with faithful doctrine, from Alice +Snowton, which is the most advanced in stature, to the honourable +Master Fitzoswald, which is somewhat deficient in growth, being only +three inches taller than my little Charles." + +The great lady looked at me while I spoke, and made no answer for a +long time. At last she said with a sort of smile, which at the same +time was not hilarious or jocular in its nature-- + +"Perhaps 'tis better as it is. There is a providence in all things, +and our plans and proposals are all overruled for the best--for which +may God be praised! Therefore I will press you no more on the subject +of the guardianship of my grandchild. But Mallerden will move heaven +and earth to get her into his power--yes, though he has neglected her +so long, never caring to see her since her childhood; yet now, when he +sees 'twill gain him the treasurership of the royal household to sell +the greatest heiress and noblest blood in England to the Papists, he +will make traffic of his own child, and marry her to some +prayer-mumbler to a wooden doll. Let us save her, good sir--but I +forgot. No--I will save her myself. I, that have steered her through +so many quicksands, will not let her make shipwreck at last. I will +guard her like the apple of my eye, and possess my soul in patience +until this tyranny be overpast." And so ended the interview, during +which my heart was tossed to and fro with the utmost agitation, and my +whole frame so troubled that I various times lost all mastery of +myself, and only saw before me a great black gulf of ruin, into which +some invisible power was pushing me and all my little ones. Great, +therefore, was my delight, and sweet the relief to my soul, when the +great lady left me unconnected with her quarrels. For, in the crash of +such contending powers, there was no chance of escape for such a weak +instrument as I was; and fervent were my hopes, and deep my prayers, +that the perils and evils prognosticated by the religious fears of my +great protectress might be turned aside, and all good subjects and +sincere churchmen left each under his own vine and his own fig-tree, +with nobody to make them afraid. But vain are the hopes of men. We +read in no long time in all men's looks the fate we were condemned to; +for it seemed as if a great cloud, filled with God's wrath, was spread +out over this realm of England, and the faces of all men grew dark. We +heard the name of Jeffreys whispered in corners, and trembled as if it +had been a witch's spell to make our blood into water. The great lady +kept herself much in solitude in the ancient Court, and saw not even +her favourite companion, my daughter Waller, for many months; but did +ever write affectionate letters to her, and sent presents of rich +fruits, and other delectations in which the young take pleasure. There +was much riding to and fro of couriers, but whither, or whence, she +did never tell, and it was not my province to enquire; but at last an +order came for me to send up my Waller and her friend to the mansion. +And at evening they were conveyed on horseback as before; but on this +occasion their escort was not Master Wilkinson the under butler, but +no less a person than my lady's kinsman, the senior brother of my +honourable pupil, the honourable Master Fitzoswald of Yorkshire, a +stately young cavalier as could be seen, strong and tall, and his +style and title was the Lord Viscount Lessingholm--being the eldest +son and heir to that ancient earldom. He was an amiable and pleasant +gentleman, full of courtesies and kindness, and particularly pleased +with the newfangled fashion of a handsome cap which formed the +headpiece of my excellent wife. He said also many handsome things +about the brightness of my Waller's eyes, and assured my excellent +wife that he saw so promising an out-sprout of talent in my Charles, +that he doubted not to see him one of the judges of the realm, if so +be he applied his intellectuals to the bar. He was also extreme civil +to Alice Snowton, which answered his civilities in like manner; and +seldom in so short a space as half an hour has any person made so +favourable an impression as he did, particularly on his brother, by +reason of his bestowing on him a large Spanish doubloon, and promising +him a delicate-coloured maneged horse immediately on his return to +Yorkshire. It is a pleasant sight to see (and reflected some credit on +my ministration of the moralities in this particular instance) the +disinterested love of brethren, one towards another; and I failed not +to ascertain that the Lord Lessingholm had been boarded in the house +of an exemplary divine, to wit, Mr Savage of Corpus Christi College, +Oxford--a fact which I think it proper to mention to the honour of +that eloquent member of our church--inasmuch as any man might be proud +of having had the training up in the way he should go, of so excellent +and praiseworthy a youth. + +It was many days before my young ones came back (I would be understood +to include in this Alice Snowton, whom I looked upon with the +tenderness of a father and the pride of a teacher all in one); and +when they returned to me, I thought I perceived that they were both +more sorrowful than of wont. Alice (and my Waller also) looked +oppressed with some secret that weighed upon their hearts, and I was +fearful the great lady had made them partakers of her cares in the +matter of her son and her grandchild. Yet did I not think such a thing +possible as that either of them should have been taken into her +confidence on so high and momentous a concernment, by reason of my +Waller being so young, though thoughtful and considerate, and also +fuller grown than persons much more advanced in life; and Alice +Snowton was of so playful and gentle a disposition, that she seemed +unfitted for the depository of any secret, unless those more strictly +appertaining to her youth and sex, and moreover was a stranger to this +part of the country; being of a respectable family, as I have +observed, in Wilts--namely, a brother of Mr Snowton, my kind patron +and friend. I called them into my study, after my labours were over +with the other pupils, and I said to them-- + +"Dear children, ill would it become me to pry into the secrets of my +honoured lady, the Lady Mallerden; yet may there arise occasions +wherein it is needful for one in my situation (parent to the one of +you, and _in loco parentis_ to the other), to make perquisition into +matters of weight and importance to your well-being, even at the risk +of appearing inquisitive into other peoples' affairs. Answer me, +therefore, Alice, my dear child, has the Lady Mallerden instructed you +in any portion of her family story?" + +"She has in some degree, sir," said Alice Snowton, "but not deeply." + +"You know of her disagreement on certain weighty points with her son, +the Lord Viscount, and how that he is a wicked man, seeking to break +into the pasture of the Lord, and tear down the hedges and destroy the +boundaries thereof; and that in this view he is minded to get his +daughter into his power, to use her as an instrument towards his +temporal elevation?" + +"Something of all this we have heard, but not much," said Alice +Snowton. + +"And furthermore, I must tell you that overtures were made to me to +aid and assist in the resistance to be offered to this man of sin, and +I did, for deep and wholesome reasons, refuse my assent thereto, and +in this refusal I meant you, my children, to be included; therefore, +whatever propositions may be made to you, to hear, or know, or +receive, or in any manner aid, in the concealment of the Lord +Viscount's daughter--which is at present in charge of an honourable +lady in the north--I charge you, refuse them; they may bring ruin on +an unambitious and humble household, and in no case can do good. We +must fear God ever, and honour the king while he is intrusted with the +sword of power; and family arrangements we must leave to the strong +hands and able head of the great Lady Mallerden herself. In this +caution I know I fulfil the intentions of my honoured friend, your +esteemed uncle, Mr William Snowton, which is concerned with too many +noble families to desire to get into enmity with any--and therefore be +grateful for all the kindness you experience from my honoured lady; +but if perchance she brings her grandchild to the Court, and wishes to +make you of her intimates, inform me thereof; and greatly as it would +be to be regretted, I would break off the custom of your visits to the +noble house, for even that honour may be too dearly purchased by the +enmity of powerful and unscrupulous men--if with sceptres in their +hands, so much the more to be held in awe." And I ended with Æsopus +his fable of the frogs and bulls. This discourse (whereof I had +prepared the heads in the course of the morning) I delivered with the +full force of my elocution, and afterwards I dismissed them, leaving +to my excellent wife the duty of enlarging on the same topic, and also +of giving such advice to Alice, which was now a full-grown young +woman, and very fair to look on, in respect of the young cavaliers she +might see at the great house, particularly the noble lord, the Lord +Lessingholm. Such advice I considered useless in regard to my Waller, +she being only about fourteen years of age, but in other respects a +fair and womanly creature to see; for her waist was nearly twice as +large as Alice Snowton's, and her shoulders also, and in weight she +would have been greatly an overmatch; and certes, putting aside all +parental fondness, which we know to be such a beautifier of one's own +kindred as to make the crow a more lovely animal than the dove (in the +eyes of the parent crow), I will confess that in my estimation, and +also in that of my excellent wife, there was no comparison between the +two fair maidens, either in respect of fulness of growth or redness of +complexion--the advantage being, in both these respects, on the side +of the junior. Some sentiment of this sort I saw at the time must have +possessed the honourable breast of the Viscount Lessingholm; for +although he made much profession of visiting at the parsonage for the +sake of seeing his juvenile brother, still there were certain looks +and tokens whereby I was clearly persuaded that the magnet was of a +different kind; and whereas it would have been vain and ambitious in +me to lift my eyes so high, in view of matrimonial proposals, as to +nearly the topmost branch in the peerage of England (the Earls +Fitzoswald being known to have been barons of renown at the period of +the Norman Conquest); still it would ill have become me to prevent my +daughter from gathering golden apples if they fell at her feet, +because they had grown on such a lofty bough of the tree; and I will +therefore confess, that it was with no little gratification I saw the +unfoldings of a pure and virtuous disposition in the honourable young +nobleman. And I will further state, that it seemed as if his presence +when he came (and that was often, nay, sometimes twice in one day), +did make holiday in the whole house; and Charles was by no means +backward in his friendship--receiving the fishing-rods presented unto +him by the right honourable with so winning an eagerness, and pressing +Alice (his constant friend) to go with him and the noble donor with so +much zeal to the brook, therein to try the virtues of the gift, that I +found it impossible to refuse permission; and therefore did those +three often consume valuable hours (yet also I hope not altogether +wasted)--_videlicet_, Alice and Charles, and the honourable +viscount--in endeavouring to catch the finny tribe, yet seldom with +much success. But whatever was the result of their industry--yea, +though it was but a minnow--it was brought and presented to my Waller +by the honourable hands of the young man, with so loving an air, that +it was easy to behold how gladly he would have consented, if she had +been the companion of their sports, if by any means Charles could have +been persuaded to have exchanged Alice Snowton for her. But the very +mention of such an idea did throw the child into such wrathful +indignation, that the right honourable was fain to bestow on him whole +handfuls of sugar-plums, and promise that Alice should not be left +behind. So fared the time away; and at last I began to hope that the +fears of the great lady were unfounded, and that nothing would occur +to trouble her repose. The manner of living had been resumed again, +with the difference that, on the days the young maidens did not visit +the noble mansion, the honourable viscount was, as it were, domiciled +in the parsonage; and I perceived that, by this arrangement, the great +lady was highly pleased; perhaps because the presence of a kinsman, a +courageous gentleman, gave her some security against the rudenesses +she seemed to be afraid of on the part of her own son--a grievous +state of human affairs when the fifth commandment is not held in +honour, and reducing us below the level of puppy-dogs and kittens, to +whom that commandment, along with the rest of the decalogue, is +totally unknown. Sundry times I did observe symptoms of alarm; and +care did write a sad story of mental suffering on the brow of the +great lady, which was a person of the magnanimity of an ancient +matron, and bore up in a manner surprising to behold in one who stood, +as it were, with one hand upon her coffin, while her other stretched +backward through the shadow of fourscore years to touch her cradle. +And ever, from time to time, couriers came to the noble mansion, while +others flew in various directions on swift horses at utmost speed; and +looking up into that lofty atmosphere, we saw clouds and ominous signs +of coming storms, before we could hear the voice of the thunder. And +once a royal messenger (called a pursuivant-at-arms) came down in +person, and carried the great lady to London, and there she staid +many days, and was threatened with many things and great punishments, +yea, even to be tried by the Lord Jeffreys for high treason, in +resisting the king's order to deliver up her grandchild to its natural +guardian--which was its father the Viscount Mallerden, now created by +royal favour Marquess of Danfield. But even this last danger she +scorned; and after months of confinement near the royal court, her +enemies gave up persecuting her for that season, and at last she came +back to Mallerden Court. In the meanwhile, we went on in a quiet and +comfortable manner in the parsonage--the Viscount Lessingholm +frequently with us (almost as if he were a pupil of the house); and on +one or two occasions we had a visit for an evening from my honoured +friend, Mr William Snowton of Wilts. He was pleased to use great +commendations, both of my excellent wife and me, for the mode in which +we attended to the mind and manners of his niece, the culinary and +other accomplishments, and the rational education wherein he saw her +advanced. He never staid later than day-dawn on the following morning, +and kept himself reserved, as one used to the intimacy of the great, +and not liking to make his news patent to humble people such as we; +and he would on no account open his mouth on the quarrels of our great +lady and her son, the new Marquess of Danfield, but kept the +conversation in equable channels of everyday matters, and expounded +how my glebe-lands might be made to yield a greater store of provision +by newer modes of cultivation--the which I considered, however, a +tampering with Providence, which gives to every field its increase, +and no more. But by this time my glebe was not the only land on which +I could plant my foot and say, Lo, thou art mine! for I had so +prospered in the five years during which I had held a ladder for my +pupils to the tree of knowledge, that much golden fruit had fallen to +my share (being kicked down, as it were, by their climbing among the +branches); so that I had purchased the fee-simple of the estate of my +friend, Master George Sprowles, who had taken some alarm at the state +of public affairs, and gone away over the seas to the plantation +called, I think, Massachusetts, in the great American continent. + +It was in the beginning of October 1688, that another call was made on +the great lady to make her appearance within a month from that time in +the city of London, to give a final answer for her contumacy in +refusing obedience to the King and the Lord High Treasurer. I felt in +hopes the object of their search (namely, the young maiden his +daughter, for it was bruited they rummaged to find her out in all +directions) was safe with some foreign friends which the great lady +possessed in the republic of Holland, where the Prince of Orange was +then the chief magistrate; but of this I had no certain assurance. +For some days no preparations were made at the noble mansion for so +momentous a journey; but at length there were great signs of something +being in prospect. First of all, the Viscount Lessingholm rode up from +Yorkshire, whither he had been gone three weeks, attended by near a +score of fine dressed serving-men, and took up his abode at Mallerden +Court; then came sundry others of the great lady's kinsfolk, attended +also by their servants in stately liveries; and we did expect that the +proud imperial-minded lady was to go up with such great escort as +should impress the king with a just estimate of her power and dignity. +With this expectation we kept ourselves ready to see the noble +procession when it should start on its way; but far other things were +in store for me, and an instrument called a pea-spitter, wherewith +Charles had provided himself for the purpose of saluting various of +the serving-men as they passed, was rendered useless. It was on the +first day of November that the Lord Viscount Lessingholm (who had +conveyed the young maidens, _videlicet_ Alice Snowton and my Waller, +to the Court on the previous day) did ride post haste up to my door, +making his large grey horse jump over the gate at the end of the walk, +as if he had been Perseus flying on his winged steed to the rescue of +Andromede (as the same is so elegantly described in the ancient poet), +and did summon me to go that moment to the noble mansion on matter of +the highest import. Much marvelling, and greatly out of breath, I +followed the noble gentleman's motions as rapidly as was beseeming one +in my responsible situation, in regard to the spiritual ministrations +in the parish, while in sight of any of my flock; for nothing detracts +more from the dignity of the apostolical character than rapid +motions--such as running, or jumping, or an unordered style of +apparel, without hatband or cassock. When out of the village street, I +put (as the vulgar phrase expresses it) my best foot foremost, and +enacted the part of a running serving-man in the track of my noble +conductor; and finally I arrived, in such state as may be conceived, +at the entrance-hall of the noble mansion. In the courtyard were +numerous serving-men mounted in silent gravity, and ranged around the +wall. Each man was wrapped up in a dark-coloured cloak; and underneath +it I saw, depending from each, the clear polished extremity of a steel +sword-sheath. They did bear their reins tightened, and their heels +ornamented with spurs, as if ready to spring forth at a word, and +great tribulation came over my soul. Howbeit I mounted the grand +staircase, and following the western corridor, I opened the door of +the green-damask withdrawing-room, and found myself in the middle of a +large and silent company. There were, perhaps, a dozen persons there +assembled--motionless in their chairs; and at the further end of the +apartment sat the great lady in whispered conversation with a tall +dark gentleman of mature years, say fifty or thereabouts, and with a +wave of her hand, having instructed me to be seated, she pursued her +colloquies in the same under-tones as before. When I had placed myself +in a chair, and was in somewhat recovering my breath, which much +hurrying and the surprising scene I saw had greatly impaired, a hand +was laid upon my shoulder, and I turned round, and, sitting in the +next chair to me, I beheld my honoured friend Mr William Snowton of +Wilts. + +"Good Master Willis," he said, "you little expected to see me here, I +do well believe; but it was but lately I was summoned." + +"And know you wherefore we are here assembled?" I inquired. + +"Somewhat I know, but not all. The persons here be men of great power, +some of them being those by whom I am employed in managing their +worldly affairs, and shortly we shall hear what is determined on." + +"On what subject do they mean to consult us? I shall be ready," said +I, "to give what advice may be needed, if peradventure it suits with +my sacred calling." + +"I fear they will hardly consult a person of your holy profession," +said Mr Snowton with a sober kind of smile. "It is of life or death +we are now to take our choice." + +A great fear fell upon me, as a great shadow falls upon the earth +before a thunder-storm. "What mean ye?" I whispered. "There is no +shedding of blood." + +"There will be _much_ shedding of blood, good Master Willis; yea, the +rivers in England will run red with the same, unless some higher power +interferes to deliver us." + +"And wherefore am I summoned to such fearful conference? I am no man +of blood. I meddle not with lofty matters. I----" + +But here I was interrupted by Mr Snowton in a low grave tone. "Then +you have not heard that the wicked man of sin, the false Papist, the +Marquess of Danfield, hath discovered his child?" + +"No, I have not been informed thereof. And hath he gained possession +of her?" + +"No, nor shall not!" and hereupon he frowned a great frown, and let +his sword-sheath strike heavily upon the floor. All the company looked +sharply round; but seeing it was by hazard, they took no notice of +what occurred. + +"And where, then, is the maiden bestowed?" I demanded. + +"In this house; you shall see her soon." + +"And what have I to do with these matters? They are above my +concernment!" I exclaimed, in great anguish of mind. + +"You have to unite her in the holy bands of wedlock." + +"Nay, that is clearly impossible! Where, I pray thee, is the license?" + +"All that has been cared for by means of a true bishop of our church. +There can be no scruple on canonical grounds; and if there be +hesitation in obeying the Lady Mallerden's orders (provided she +finally makes up her mind to deliver the same), I would not answer for +the recusant's life, no, not for an hour." + +"But wherefore in such secresy, with such haste?" I said, in dreadful +sort. + +"Because we know that the father slept at Oxford last night with store +of troops, and that he will be here this night with a royal warrant to +enforce his right to the bestowal of his child; and he hath already +promised her to the leader of the malignant Papists." + +"And are we here to resist the king's soldiers and the mandate of the +king?" + +"Yea, to the death!" he said, and sank into gloomy thoughts and said +no more. + +I looked around among the assembly, and recognised no other faces that +I knew, and in a short space the great lady, having finished her +colloquy with her next neighbour, rose up and said--"My lords, I +believe ye be all of kin to this house, and the other gentlemen be its +friends--a falling house, as represented by a feeble woman of +fourscore years and five. Yet in the greatness of the cause, may we +securely expect a gift of strength even to so frail an instrument as I +am. I have consulted with you all, and finally I have taken counsel +with my kind cousin and sweet friend, the Earl of Fitzoswald, now at +my side, and he hath agreed to what I have proposed. It now, then, but +remains to carry our project into effect; and for that purpose I have +summoned hither a good man and excellent divine, Master Willis of this +neighbourhood, to be efficacious in that behalf." + +I started up, and said in great agitation--"Oh, my lady!"----but had +not proceeded further when I was broken in upon by a voice of +thunder-- + +"Silence, I say! What, is it for the frailness of a reed like you that +such noble enterprise must perish? Make no remonstrance, sir, but do +what is needed, or----" + +Although the great lady did not finish her words, I felt an assurance +steal like ice over my soul that my hours were numbered if I +hesitated, and I bowed low, while Mr William Snowton did privily pull +me down into my seat by the hinder parts of my cassock. + +"You--you, Master Willis, of all men, should least oppose this godly +step. For the noise thereof will sound unto the ends of the earth, and +make the old Antichrist on his seven hills quake and tremble, and +shake the pitiful spirit of the apostate of Whitehall. Say I not well, +my lords?" + +"You say well," ran round the room in a murmur of consent. + +"And you--you, Master Willis," she went on, "least of all, should +object to keep a lamb within the true fold--yea, a lamb which you did +see with your own eyes introduced into the same. Remember you nought +of godly Master Waller's in Berkshire, or of the scene you saw in a +certain chamber, where the baptismal waters were poured forth, and +murmured like a pleasant fountain in the dying ears of a devout +Christian woman?" + +I was so held back with awe that I said not a word, and she went on-- + +"Oh, if good Master Lees had yet been spared, we should not have asked +for the ministry of trembling and unwilling hands like yours! And now, +my lords--and you, kind gentlemen, my plan as arranged with good Lord +Fitzoswald is this:--I give my grandchild's hand where her heart has +long been bestowed; I then go with her through lanes and byways, under +good escort, to the city of Exeter, where ere long we shall cast in +our lot with certain friends. The bridegroom shall see nought of his +bride till happier days arrive, except at this altar; and you shall go +directly to your respective stations, and be ready at the first +blowing of the horns before which the walls of this Jericho are to +fall. In the next chamber I have made preparation for the ceremony, +and in a few minutes, when I have arranged me for the journey, I will +summon you." + +Something of this I heard--the sense namely forced its way into my +brain; but I was confused and panic-stricken. The whole sad scene +enacted so many years before, at the house of good Master Waller, on +my way home from Oxford, came back upon my heart, and I marvelled at +the method whereby the great lady had acquired a knowledge of the +secret. I was deep sunk in these cogitations when the door of the +inner library was at last thrown open, and such light flashed upon us +from the multitude of candles, which were illuminated in all parts of +the chamber, that my eyes were for some time dazzled. When I came to +myself I looked, and at a table under the eastern window, on which was +spread out a golden-clasped prayer-book, opened at the form of +solemnisation of matrimony, I saw, along with two young men of about +his own age (all girt with swords, and booted and spurred), the right +honourable the Viscount Lessingholm, which I at once concluded was +acting as bridegroom's man to one of the other youths. The company, +which had been assembled in the withdrawing-room, placed themselves +gravely, as if some solemn matter was in hand, at the side of the +table; and I took my place, by a motion from the Earl Fitzoswald, and +laid my hand upon the prayer-book, as ready to begin. The door at the +other end of the room, which leadeth to the outer staircase, was +opened, and there came noiselessly in a tall woman, dressed in the +same fantastical apparel, like the apparel of the Bohemians or +gypsies, which I remembered so well on the fatal night of the +christening; and, when she cast her eyes on me, I could not have +thought an hour had passed since that time, and I recognised in her, +with awe and wonderment, the features of the great lady, the Lady +Mallerden herself. In each hand she led a young person, in her left my +daughter Waller, and I will not deny that at the sight my heart leapt +up with strange but not unpleasing emotion, as, remembering the +habitudes of the noble Viscount Lessingholm, I thought there was a +possibility of a double wedding; and in her other hand, dressed as for +a journey, with close-fitting riding-coat, and a round hat with sable +feathers upon her head, she conducted Alice Snowton, the which looked +uncommon lovely, though by no means so healthy or stout-looking as her +other companion--_videlicet_, my Waller. They walked up to the place +whereat we stood, and the Lord Viscount springing forward, did give +his hand to Alice Snowton, and did not let it go for some time; but +looked upon her with such soft endearing looks that she held down her +head, and a red blush appeared upon her cheek, as if thereupon there +had been reflected the shadow of a rose. For it was not of the deep +tinge which formed the ornament of the complexion of my Waller. + +"This is no time for useless dalliance," said the great lady; "let us +to work. By no other means can we root out for ever the hopes of our +enemies." + +"Where then, madam," I said, "is the bride?--and who, I pray you, is +the bridegroom?" + +"The bridegroom is the Viscount Lessingholm. This maiden is the +bride." + +"But Alice Snowton, my lady!--I did think it was your honourable +grandchild who was to be united to this noble gentleman." + +"And so it is--and so it is! She is Alice Snowton no longer. Our good +friend, Master Snowton, the steward on my daughter Pevensey's +Wiltshire manor, was good enough to adopt her as his niece; and for +her better concealment we placed her in the charge of a person whose +character for meekness and simplicity was too notorious to raise +suspicion of his being concerned in such a plot. Even to herself, till +lately, her parentage was unknown, as Master Snowton kept well the +secret." + +"And one other question," I said; "the child to whom I became bound as +godfather?" + +"'Tis the same. This is the poor Lucy Hesseltine, whose orphanship you +witnessed in that lone and yet comfortable death." + +The lady Lucy Hesseltine, or rather Alice Snowton, for by that name I +loved her best, did throw her arms about my neck, and kissed my cheek, +and said I had been a kind godfather to her, yea, had been a father to +her, and my excellent wife a mother. At this my heart was much moved, +and I saw tears come to the eyes of several of the bystanders, but no +tear came to the eyes of the great lady herself. + +"Let this be enough," she said. "Let us finish what we have yet to +do." + +And thereupon, all being ready and in their due places, I began; but +when I came to the question--"Lucy Hesseltine, wilt thou have this man +to be thy lawful husband?" a sudden noise in the courtyard under the +window made me pause; but the great lady commanded me with a frown to +go on, and I concluded the question, and received in reply a sweet but +audible "yes." But the noise was again repeated, and the assistants +sprang to their feet, for it was the sound of the sharp shooting off +of pistols. + +"Stir not for your lives till the ceremony is over!" cried the great +lady; and I hurried with trembling lips over the remainder of the +service. A loud voice in the yard was heard amid the trampling of much +horse. "In the king's name, surrender!" the voice said. "We have a +warrant here, and soldiers!" + +"Forasmuch as Frederick Fitzoswald and Lucy Hesseltine" (I said as +calmly as I could, though with my heart quaking within me), "have +consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before +God and this company and thereto have given and pledged their troth +either to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of +a ring, and by joining of hands--I pronounce that they be man and wife +together!" + +"Now then, my lords and gentlemen," cried the great lady, springing to +her feet, "to the defence! We are witnesses of this marriage, and +clashing swords must play the wedding peal. If need be, fear not in +such quarrel to do your best; yea, to the shedding of blood! Though +the blood were my son's, it were well shed in such a holy cause. Now +then, Lucy, come! Guard the front entrance but an hour, and we shall +be beyond pursuit." + +And so saying she glided rapidly, with the nearly fainting bride, +towards the hidden stairs, while Viscount Lessingholm rushed rapidly +with drawn sword down the grand flight, and sprang on his grey horse. +In the confusion my Waller had disappeared, and in great agonies of +fear I slipped into the courtyard. Oh, what a sight met my eyes! There +were several men lying dead, which had been shot or otherwise killed, +and their horses were galloping hither and thither with loose reins +and stirrups flapping; other men were groaning, and writhing in great +pains, tearing the ground with bleeding hands, and dragging +themselves, if such were possible, away from the _mêlée_. Meanwhile, +horsemen drawn up on either side were doing battle with sword and +pistol; and the trampling and noise of the shouting, the groans and +deep execrations, all resounding at once in that atmosphere of smoke +and approaching night, were fearful to listen to, and I bethought me +of some way of escape. I slipped within the piazza of the servants' +court, and made my way towards the gate; but here the battle raged the +fiercest, the noble Viscount Lessingholm being determined to keep it +closed, and the furious marquess resolute to force it open, whereby an +accession of men might come to him which were shut out on the other +side--the warder of the door having only admitted the marquess +himself, and about fifty of the king's dragoons. The retainers which I +had seen on my entrance amounted to seventy or more; and seeing they +had most of them been soldiers, yea, some which had grizzled locks, +having been among the shouters at Dunbar, and on many fields besides, +under the cruel eye of the ferocious Oliver himself, they did cry, +"Ha, ha! at the spur of the rider, and smelt the battle afar off." The +Marquess of Danfield did spur his black war-horse, with his sword +poised high in air towards the noble Viscount of Lessingholm, and with +fierce cries the noble viscount raised also his sword, and was in the +act to strike the undefended head of his assailant. "Stop, +Frederick!" cried a voice, which proceeded from the Earl Fitzoswald; +"it is Danfield himself!" whereupon the young gentleman did ward off +the blow aimed at him by the marquess, and passed on. All this I saw +ere I gave up hopes of getting out by the gate; but seeing this was +hopeless, I pursued my way back again, with intent to get out by one +of the postern windows, and hurry homeward across the fields; and +having opened a window near unto the buttery, I hung by my hands, and +then shutting my eyes and commending my soul to Heaven, I let go, and +dropt safely down upon the greensward. But ere I could recover myself +sufficiently, I was set upon as if I had been an armed enemy, by a +large number of mounted men, which were of the company of the +marquess, whereby I saw that the house was surrounded, and feared the +great lady and Alice (I would say the Viscountess Lessingholm) were +intercepted in their retreat. Howbeit, I gave myself up prisoner, by +reason of various blows with the flats of sabres, and sundry monitions +to surrender or die. I was led in great fear to the front of the +court, and brought before a proud, fierce-browed commander, which +interrogated me "of all that was going on, and whether the Lady Lucy +Mallerden was in the Court?" Whereto I answered, that I was so +overcome with terror that I knew little of what I had seen; and, with +regard to the noble lady, I was persuaded she was not within the +walls. "If you answer me," he said, "truly, and tell me what road she +has taken, I will send you away in safety, and secure you his +majesty's pardon for anything you may have done against his crown and +dignity; but if you refuse, I will assuredly hang you on the +courtyard-gate the moment we gain possession thereof. Now, say which +way went they?" I was sore put to it, for it was like betraying +innocent blood to tell these savage men the course my godchild pursued +in her escape; and yet to tell an untruth was repugnant to my nature, +and I said to the captain, "It is a hard matter for me to point out +where my friends are fleeing unto." + +"Then you'll be hung as high as Haman at daybreak; so you can take +your choice," said he. + +"If I direct you unto the place whereunto she is gone," I said, "it +will be a hard matter to find her." + +"That's our business, not yours. Tell us where it is." + +"For, suppose she were in hiding in a city, a large busy place like +Bristol, and waited for a conveyance to a foreign land----" + +"In Bristol! Oho, say no more! Ensign Morley, take ten of the best +mounted of the troop and scour the northern roads towards Bristol. You +will overtake them ere they are far advanced." + +"I pray you, captain," I said, "to observe--I have not told you she +is gone towards Bristol." + +"I know you haven't," he said smiling, "I will bear witness you have +kept her secret well; but here we are about to enter the Court, for +the firing is finished. The rebels will be on gibbets within +twenty-four hours, every one." + +But there was no sign of the gate being opened. Contrariwise there did +appear, in the dimness of the evening-sky, certain dark caps above the +outside wall, which I did recognise as being worn by the serving-men +of the great lady's friends; and while we were yet talking, a flight +of bullets passed close over our heads, and three or four of the +troopers fell off dead men, leaving their saddles empty and their +horses masterless. + +"Draw close, my men," cried the captain, "right wheel;" and setting +his men an example, he did gallop with what speed he might from the +propinquity of the wall. As for myself, I was in some sort relieved by +the knowledge that the noble mansion still continued in possession of +the Viscount Lessingholm; and comforting myself with the assurance +that no evil could befall my daughter Waller while under his +protection, I did contrive to seize by the bridle one of the dragoons' +horses (a stout black horse, which, being never claimed, did do my +farming work for fifteen years), and climbing up into the saddle, +betook me home to inform my excellent wife of all these dreadful +events. All next day, and all the next--yea, for three whole days--I +staid in my quiet home, receiving information quietly by means of a +note brought to me by my servants, that the mansion still held out, +that Waller was quite safe, and that, provided no artillery was +brought to bear against them, they could hold out _till the time +came_. What was the meaning of the latter phraseology, I did not know; +but considering it desirable at that period to cut down certain trees +on my recently purchased estate, I proceeded with Thomas Hodge the +carpenter, and various other artificers of my parishioners (all being +friends and dependents of the great lady), and with saws and other +instruments did level the whole row of very large oaks and elm trees +which bordered the only high-road from Oxford; and by some strange +accident, all the trees did fall exactly across the same, and made it +utterly impossible to move thereupon with cart or waggon; so that it +was much to be suspected that the guns, which we heard were ordered to +come up from Wallingford, could by no means get over the obstruction. +It is also to be observed that Master George Railsworth, the mason, +who had contracted to repair the strong bridge over our stream, did +take this opportunity of taking down two of the arches of the same, +and could find no sufficient assistance to enable him to restore them, +which made the road impassable for horse or man. On the following +day, namely, the fifth day of November, we heard that all the king's +soldiers were suddenly ordered from all parts up to London, and that +the Marquess of Danfield had been left to his imprisonment in +Mallerden Court. Whereupon I bethought me it would be safe to venture +up once more, and bring my daughter Waller to the securer custody of +my excellent wife. Next morning, at early dawn, I accordingly did go +up, and was admitted, after a short parley, by the gatekeeper, which +had a helmet on his head and a sword in his hand. Speedily I was in +the arms of my daughter Waller, who looked as happy as if none of +these scenes had been transacted before her eyes; and moreover did +refuse, in very positive terms, to leave the Court till her dear +friend Alice--I would say the Lady Lucy--returned. I reasoned with +her, and reprimanded her, and showed her in what a fearful state of +danger we all were, by reason of the rebellion we had been guilty of +against his majesty the king. Whereupon the child did only laugh, and +told me, "Here she would abide until the time came." And with this +enigmatical expression I was fain to be content; for she would +vouchsafe me no other. And, corroborative of all which, she said, she +relied on the assurances made unto her to that effect by Sir Walter +Ouseley, one of the young gentlemen which had acted as bridegroom's +man to the noble Viscount Lessingholm, and was now in the Court as +his lieutenant in the defence of the same. A goodly young gentleman he +was, and fair to look upon, and extraordinary kind to me, soothing my +fears, and encouraging me to hope for better things than those my +terrors made me anticipate. I inquired of the behavings of the +Marquess of Danfield, and learned to my surprise that it was expected +that before this day was over, if he did receive a courier, as was +thought, from the Lord Churchill, one of the king's favourite +officers, he would withdraw all his objections to the marriage, and +rather be an encourager and advocate of the same. In these discourses +the time passed away, and about three of the clock, after we had dined +in the great hall, we were looking out from the battlements and saw a +dust on the western road. + +"It is Churchill's letter," said the noble Viscount Lessingholm, "and +he has kept his promise for once." + +"There is too much dust for only one courier's heels--there be twenty +in company at least," replied Sir Walter Ouseley, which had the arm of +my Waller closely locked in his. + +"There may be a surprise intended," cried the noble viscount. "Hoist +the flag, man the walls, treble the watchers, and sound for the men +into the yard." + +We of the peaceful professions--_videlicet_, my daughter Waller and +I--did descend from the bartisan, and betook ourselves to the great +withdrawing-room, to wait for the result of the approach. We had not +waited long when the door opened, and no other than the great lady +herself, and my loved and lovely godchild, the Viscountess +Lessingholm, came into the apartment. The great lady was now appareled +as became her rank, having discarded those Bohemian habiliments which +were her disguise in times of danger. Oh! it was a great sight to +behold, the meeting between the Lady Lucy and my daughter Waller; but +when hurried steps sounded on the stairs, and the door opened, and the +noble viscount rushed into her arms, it was impossible to keep from +tears. My feeble pen can venture on no such lofty flights of +description, and therefore I will not attempt it. Meanwhile, in the +outer court, great shouting was heard. Sir Walter Ouseley came up to +us, and announced that the Marquess of Danfield "presented his +respects to his noble mother, and congratulated her on the glorious +news." + +"I knew how it would be," she said, "with base natures such as his and +Churchill's. We accept their assistance, but despise the instrument. +He will now be fierce against his benefactor (who, though a bad king, +was tender to his friends), and bitterer against his faith than if he +had never been either a courtier or a bigot. I receive his +congratulations, Sir Walter Ouseley, but I decline an interview for +some time to come." + +"He desired me also, my lady," said Sir Walter, "to convey his +blessing to the bride, and his tender love to his new son, the +Viscount Lessingholm." + +"Well, let them not reject it. The blessing even of such a father has +its value. But we must now make preparation for the celebration of the +happy nuptials, in a style fitting the rank of the parties. The prince +is pleased with what we have done"---- + +The young man, Sir Walter Ouseley, who had been whispering in my ear, +here broke in on the great lady's speech. + +"If it would please you, madam, at the same time, to permit two others +to be happy, I have obtained Master Willis's consent thereto, and also +the consent of this fair maiden." + +The viscountess took Waller in her arms, and kissed her cheek, and the +great lady smiled. + +"I knew not, Sir Walter Ouseley, that you were so perfect a soldier as +to sustain an attack and lay siege at the same time; but since in both +you have been successful, I give you my hearty good wishes. And so, +dear friends and true supporters, let us be thankful for the great +deliverance wrought for this land and nation, as well as for +ourselves. Our defender, the noble William, landed three days ago at +Torbay, and is now in Hampton Court. The king has taken flight, never +to be restored. Therefore, God save the Prince of Orange and the Lady +Mary, the props and ornaments of a true Protestant throne!" + + + + +THE WAGS. + +[_MAGA._ OCT. 1840.] + + +In a town which we will call Middletown, because it was of the middle +size, dwelt a worthy shopkeeper bearing the odd name of Jeremiah Wag. +By dealing in all sorts of commodities, and steady attention to his +business, he had managed to keep up his respectability, and doubtless +would have considerably increased his store, but for the gradual +increase of his family. For several years after his marriage a new +little Wag was ushered annually into the world; and though there had +latterly been somewhat less of regularity, as many as ten small heads +might be counted every evening in his back parlour. Jerry, the eldest +boy, was, however, almost fourteen years of age, and therefore began +"to make himself useful," by carrying out small parcels and assisting +behind the counter. All the rest were, to use their parent's phrase, +"dead stock," and "were eating their heads off;" for, sooth to say, +they were a jolly little set, and blessed with most excellent +appetites. Such was the state of family matters at the time when our +narrative commences. + +Now, on the opposite side of the street, exactly facing the modest +board on which Jeremiah's name was painted, with the usual +announcement of certain commodities in which he dealt, was another +board of a very different description. On it were emblazoned the arms +of his Majesty, with the supporters, a lion and a unicorn, as the +country folks said, "a-fighting for the crown." + +The establishment indicated by this display, was upheld by a very +different class of customers to that which patronised the shop. Two or +three times in each day some private carriage or post-chaise would +stop to change horses at the King's Arms, and occasionally "a family" +took up their quarters there for the night; but the latter was a piece +of good-luck not often to be expected, as there were no lions to be +seen in Middletown save the red rampant guardian on the sign-board. + +It was haymaking time, and business was very "slack" with the worthy +Jeremiah; but he said that he didn't care much about it, as the +country folks were earning money, part of which he trusted would find +its way into his till in due course. So, after rummaging about among +his stock to see if he was "out of anything," he took his stand at the +door, just to breathe a mouthful of fresh air. Titus Twist, the +landlord, made his appearance at the same moment, in his own gateway, +apparently with the same salubrious intent, and immediately beckoned +to his neighbour just to step across. + +"Well, how are you, Master Wag?" said he, when they met. "Did you +observe that green chariot that stands down in the yard there, and +came in more than an hour ago?" Jeremiah answered in the negative. +"Well," continued mine host, "it belongs to one of the oddest, +rummest, little old gentlemen I ever clapped my eyes on. He's been +asking me all sorts of questions, and seems mightily tickled with your +name above all things. I think he's cracked. Howsomever, he's ordered +dinner; but hush! here he comes." + +The little gentleman in question seemed between sixty and seventy; +but, excepting a certain sallowness of complexion, carried his years +well, his motions being lively, and wearing a good-humoured smile, as +though habitual, on his countenance. His dress was plain, but good, +and altogether becoming his apparent rank. + +"I shall be back in a quarter of an hour," said he to the landlord; +"I'm only going over the way to the shop to buy something;" and away +he went, and, of course, was followed by Jeremiah, who, immediately on +entering his own house, skipped nimbly behind the counter to wait upon +his new customer. + +After trying on some gloves, and purchasing two pair, the little +strange gentleman looked round the shop, as though examining its +contents to find something he wanted. + +"Anything else I can do for you, sir?" replied Jeremiah.--"You sell +almost everything, I see, Mr Wag?" observed the old gentleman. "Mr +Wag? _Your_ name _is_ Wag, I suppose?"--"Yes, sir," replied the +shopkeeper drily. + +"Wag, Wag, Wag!" repeated the stranger, briskly. "Funny name! +eh?"--"It was my father's before me," observed Jeremiah, scarcely +knowing what to think of the matter. + +"Very good name!" continued the little gentleman, "Like it very much. +Got any children? Any little Wags, eh? Like to see 'em. Fond of +children--little Wags in particular--he, he, he!" + +"Much obliged to ye for inquiring, sir," replied the senior Wag; "I've +got just half-a-score, sorted sizes. That's the eldest!" and he +pointed to young Jerry, whose lanky limbs were at the moment +displayed, spread-eagle fashion, against the shelves, from the topmost +of which he was reaching down some commodity for a customer. + +"That's right. Bring 'em up to industry," said the little gentleman. +"Well, I can't stay now, because my dinner's ready; but I see you sell +Irish linen, and I want a piece for shirts; so, perhaps, you'll be so +good as to look me out a good one and bring it over to me." + +"You may rely," commenced Mr Wag; but his new customer cut him short +by adding, "I know that well enough," as he briskly made his exit. + +The industrious shopkeeper forthwith selected certain of his primest +articles, folded them in a wrapper, and, at the appointed time, +carried the whole across to the King's Arms. + +He was immediately ushered into the presence of the eccentric elderly +gentleman, who was seated alone behind a bottle of white and a bottle +of red. "Suppose you've dined, Master Wag?" said he. "So, come! No +ceremony, sit down and take a glass of wine." + +"I'm very much obliged to you, I'm sure, sir," replied Jeremiah; "but +I have just brought over half-a-dozen pieces of Irish for you to look +at and choose." + +"Phoo, phoo!" quoth the small stranger, "I don't want to see them. I +know nothing about 'em. Leave all to you. Only meant to have had a +piece; but, as you have brought half-a-dozen, I may as well take 'em. +'Store's no sore,' they say. There's a fifty-pound note! Reckon 'em +up, and see if there's any change." + +Jeremiah stared at this unusual wholesale mode of dealing, stammered +his thanks, and observed, that the goods would not amount to half the +money. + +"So much the worse," said the little gentleman. "Must see if I can't +buy something else in your line presently; but, sit down now: that's a +good fellow! I want to have some talk with you." + +The bashful shopkeeper hereupon perched himself on the extreme front +edge of a chair, at a respectful distance from the table; but was told +to draw up closer by his hospitable entertainer. Then they took three +or four glasses of wine together, and gradually Jeremiah found himself +more at home, and scrupled not to reply to the odd stranger's +questions respecting his family and occupations. And so they went on +chatting till they appeared as two very old and intimate friends; for +Mr Wag was of an open, unsuspecting disposition, and talked as though +he had no objection that all the world should know all about his +affairs. + +"Well, but, my dear Wag," said the stranger, "can't you tell what part +of the country your father came from?" + +"No, sir, I can't," replied Jeremiah, "he died when I was about eight +years old, and the London merchant to whom he was clerk put me to +school, and after that apprenticed me to old Hicks, who lived over the +way where I do now. Well, there I served my time, and then married his +daughter, and so came in for the business when he died; but I've +increased it a pretty deal; and if I'd more capital, could make a snug +thing of it by going into the wholesale, and serving village shops +with grocery, and so on." + +"Why don't you try it?" asked the little gentleman. + +"It won't do unless one has got the _ready_ to go to market with," +replied Jeremiah knowingly; "and then one must be able to give credit, +and ought to keep one's own waggon to carry out goods. No, no, it +won't do. Many a man has made bad worse by getting out of his depth; +and, as it is, thank God, I _can live_. The only thing that puzzles me +now and then is, what I shall do with all the children." + +"Harkye, my worthy Wag," said the odd stranger, "I have not got any +children; so, if you'll let me pick among the lot, I don't care if I +take two or three off your hands." + +"Sir!" exclaimed the astonished shopkeeper. + +"I mean what I say," replied the old gentleman, demurely. "Take me +with you. Introduce me to your wife and family, and let us all have a +friendly cup of tea together in your back parlour. Don't stare, my +good Wag; but fill your glass. I don't want to buy your little Wags, +but I happen to have more of the ready, as you call it, than I want; +so I'll put them to school or what you like. What say you?" + +Jeremiah rubbed his eyes, as though doubtful if he were awake, and +then uttered his thanks for such extraordinary kindness in the best +way he was able; and about an hour after, the whimsical little old +rich gentleman was sitting by the side of Mrs Wag, with a little +curly-headed Wag on each knee, while the rest were playing round, or +gazing open-mouthed at the stranger with childish wonder. + +By degrees all stiffness wore off; and, before the evening concluded, +nothing could exceed the merriment of the whole party. The eccentric +elderly gentleman had learned to call all the Wags by their names, and +he played and frolicked, and rolled upon the floor with the little +people, in a style that made the parents suspect, with the landlord, +that he must be "cracked." + +However, at parting, he became more serious, and invited Jeremiah to +come and breakfast with him in the morning, and to bring with him a +copy of the names and birthdays of his children, as entered in the +Family Bible. + +Mr and Mrs Wag of course lay awake for an hour that night, talking +over the strange incidents of the day, and perhaps building a few +castles in the air, after the style of affectionate parents for their +children. + +On the following morning Jeremiah dressed himself in his Sunday suit, +and repaired to fulfil his engagement. His new old friend received him +in the most cordial manner, and they breakfasted together, chatting +over family concerns as on the preceding day. When their repast was +ended, the little gentleman read over the list of the young Wags, and +smilingly observed, "A jolly set of them! We must contrive to make +them all good and happy Wags if we can, eh? Eldest, Jerry, almost +fourteen--useful to you in business. That's right. Leave him there, +eh? Next, Thomas, almost thirteen--fond of reading--told me so. A good +school first, eh? Then three girls running, Mary, Anne, and Fanny. +Pack them off to a good school too. Never mind. Then comes William, +eight--and Stephen, seven. Think I know where to place them----Just +the right age. Perhaps can't do it at once, though. Humph. That's all +I can take _at present_. The other three, Sarah, Henry, and Philip, +too young. Well, my worthy Wag, you will hear about what I mean to do +with them before long, and a friend of mine will call upon you some +day to consult about the best way of increasing your business. Settle +all in time. No more to say now, but good-by--eh? Paid the landlord's +bill before breakfast, 'cause don't like to be kept waiting. Didn't +mean to have stopped longer than to change horses when I came +yesterday. Glad I have, though. Hope you won't be sorry. Holla! +waiter! is my carriage ready?"--"At the door, sir," shouted the +landlord in reply. "That's right!" exclaimed the extraordinary elderly +gentleman. "Good-by, my worthy Wag! Remember me to Mrs Wag, and give +my love to all the little Wags. Ten besides yourselves! A dozen Wags +in one family! Never expected to see such a sight as that! He, he, he! +See it again, though, hope. Wag together, all of you, like a bundle of +sticks, hope!" And, laughing and uttering similar incoherent sentences +alternately, he walked briskly along the passage to his carriage, into +which he forthwith jumped, and, having repeated his valediction to the +astounded shopkeeper, ordered the postilion to drive on. + +Thus Jeremiah was prevented from expressing his grateful feelings for +such wonderful promises, and so stood gaping in silence till the +carriage was out of sight. + +"Why, you seem regularly 'mazed, neighbour!" exclaimed the landlord. + +"Enough to make me," replied Mr Wag. "If one-half what I've heard this +morning should come true, I shall be a lucky fellow, that's all!" + +"The old fellow's cracked," observed Titus Twist. "He's a gentleman, +however, every inch of him, that I will say for him. Didn't make a +word about nothing. All right. Used to good living, no doubt. More's +the pity, as he's cracked. He certainly ought not to be allowed to +travel without a servant as he does." + +"Well," observed Jeremiah, "I don't know what to say or what to think +about it; but, if he is cracked--humph! I don't know. It may be so. +However, there's no harm done yet." + +"So he's been cramming you, eh!" said mine host. "Made you a present +of the moon, perhaps? They do fancy strange things, and think +themselves kings, and very rich in particular." + +The truth of this latter assertion made an impression upon our worthy +shopkeeper, who communicated it to his wife; but she had taken a great +fancy to the odd old gentleman, and was not to be shaken in her +conviction that he would really be "as good as his word." + +"Well," observed her husband, "time will show; and, at all events, it +was no bad thing to sell six pieces of fine linen at once. We don't +have such customers every day. However, the best thing we can do is, +to keep our own secret; for, if the neighbours were to hear of it, we +should never hear the last of it." + +Mrs Wag agreed in the propriety of her spouse's suggestion; but, +nevertheless, was unable to refrain from dropping hints to sundry +gossips concerning her anticipations of coming good fortune; and the +vagueness and mysterious importance of her manner created a sensation, +and caused many strange surmises. Some decided that the Wags had been +so imprudent as to purchase a whole lottery ticket, and blamed them +accordingly; while others shook their heads, and hinted that, with so +large a family, it would be a very fortunate circumstance if Jeremiah +could manage so as not to go back in the world; and, for their parts, +they never liked to hear folks talk mysteriously about good luck: so, +for some time, the stranger's visit appeared to have produced results +somewhat the reverse of beneficial; but, at the end of a month, an +elderly gentleman, dressed in black, entered the shop, and requested a +private interview with Mr Wag; and as the back parlour was full of +little Wags, then undergoing the ceremonies of ablution, combing, &c., +he proposed that they should adjourn to the King's Arms. + +When they were seated there, the stranger very deliberately proceeded +to arrange a variety of papers upon the table in a business-like +manner; and when his task was completed, apparently to his +satisfaction, he smiled, rubbed his hands, and thus addressed the +wondering shopkeeper, + +"My name is Stephen Goodfellow. I am an attorney, living in London; +and there" (handing a card) "is my address. You will probably guess +who is my client, but my instructions are to conceal his name. Well, +he has consulted with me as to the best mode of carrying your +intention of increasing your business into effect, and I have, +consequently, had interviews with certain commercial gentlemen, and, +ahem! the result is, that as the thing must be done gradually, I have +to present you, in the first place, with this order for a thousand +pounds. You will then be so good as to sign this document, by reading +which you will perceive that you _cannot_ be called upon for repayment +before the expiration of three years. Ahem! don't interrupt me. That +will do to begin with; but, after a little while, as you must give +credit, and some of your commodities, particularly grocery, amount to +considerable sums, you may want more, so--ahem!--yes, this is the +paper. You are to put your usual signature here; and, mark me, in +precisely six months from this day, an account will be opened in your +name with the London bankers, whose check-book I now present you with. +They will have assets in their hands, and instructions to honour your +drafts for any sum or sums not exceeding four thousand pounds. You +understand?" + +"I hear what you say, sir," stammered Jeremiah; "but, really, I'm so +astonished, that----" + +"Well, well," observed Mr Goodfellow, smiling, "it certainly is not an +everyday transaction; but my respected client is a little eccentric, +and so we must allow him to do things in his own way. He has taken a +fancy to you, that's clear; and when he takes anything in hand, he +doesn't mind trifles." + +"But so much!" exclaimed Mr Wag. "One thousand--four thousand--five +thousand pounds! It is like a dream! Surely, sir," and he hesitated; +"surely the gentleman can't be in--ahem!--in--his--right senses?" + +"Sound as a bell," replied the lawyer. "I hope you may have as clear a +head to carry on your new business. At present you are a little +bewildered, that's plain enough; but no great marvel. However, my time +is precious, so just let me have your signature, and I'm off." + +He then placed the papers before Jeremiah, who, after a little more +demur, and a great deal of trepidation, wrote his name twice, and +received the money order and the banker's check-book. Mr Goodfellow +then ordered a chaise, and chatted familiarly till it was ready, when +he shook Mr Wag by the hand, wished him good luck, and departed. + +"I told you so!" exclaimed Mrs Wag, when her spouse related the +morning's adventure. "He seemed so fond of the children. I knew how it +would be. But you should have asked his name. I wonder who he can be! +Some great lord, no doubt. Well, bless him, I say! God bless him, +whoever he is. Oh, Jerry! my dear Jerry Wag! I feel as if I was +a-going to cry. How foolish! Well, I can't help it, and that's the +truth;" and the good housewife wiped her eyes, and then threw her arms +round the neck of her dearly beloved Wag, who, albeit that he was +unused to the melting mood, found his eyes suddenly grow dim, and so +they performed a weeping duet together. + +It is pleasant to record that, at the termination of this natural +paroxysm, they neglected not to return thanks to a higher Power for +the wonderful change that had thus suddenly taken place in their +prospects. + +Their subsequent task was to take counsel together; but that was a +work requiring more of calmness than they possessed for the first few +days. However, by degrees, as time rolled on, the industrious couple +made their arrangements, and, at the end of six months, Mr Wag had so +increased his business, that it became advisable for him to have +recourse to his London bankers. In the meanwhile, he had sent his son +Tom and the three eldest girls to school, agreeably to the intimation +of his unknown friend, which he considered as a command that he was in +duty bound to comply with. Still it appeared very extraordinary that +the little elderly gentleman neither communicated with nor came to see +them; but, as the whole affair was out of the common way, Jeremiah +resolved industriously to avail himself of the advantages of his new +position, as the best means of testifying his gratitude during his +benefactor's absence. + +Much marvelling, of course, there was in the town and neighbourhood at +the steady increase in Mr Wag's "concern," in spite of his very plain +statement that a kind friend had advanced him a considerable sum. + +"Who could that friend be?" was the puzzling question which no one +could answer; but his unremitting attention to business, the +punctuality of his payments, and other evidences of his prosperity, +sufficed to insure him general respect, though certain envious +busybodies would venture now and then to hint significantly that "all +is not gold that glistens." + +So matters went on pleasantly with the Wags till winter, when Tom and +his three sisters came home for the holidays, and the latter assisted +their mother in preparing for the festivities of the season. + +It was Christmas eve, and the whole of the family were congregated in +the little back parlour, when young Jerry started up at the well-known +sound of a customer at the shop-door, at which he arrived with a hop, +step, and jump; and, jerking it open, beheld a little old gentleman +wrapped in a large cloak. + +"Please to walk in, sir," said Jerry Wag. + +"Hush!" whispered the stranger, placing his forefinger on his mouth, +"I want to surprise them. You're all together to-night, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Jerry, smiling, for he thought he knew to whom he +was speaking. + +"That's right," said the odd elderly gentleman, advancing cautiously +towards the darkest part of the shop, and throwing off his cloak. "Now +for a Christmas frolic! Come here, you rogue! Why, you've grown +taller than me. That's right! a thriving Wag! Now, mind, you go back +as if nothing had happened, and give me hold of your coat-tail, so +that I can't be seen. That'll do. No laughing, you young monkey. +There, step along." + +Jerry did as he was bid, save that, though he bit his lips +unmercifully, his risible muscles would not remain inactive; and thus +the oddly-joined pair made their way into the family apartment just as +the eldest daughter had exclaimed, "Now, mamma, it's your turn to +wish!" + +They were sitting in a semicircle before the fire, and the stranger +and his shield, of course, stood behind them. + +"Heigho!" said Mrs Wag, "there's only one thing I wish for to-night, +and that is the addition of _one_ more to our party." + +"Name! name! You must name your wish!" cried three or four juvenile +voices, in full glee. + +"I wish I could tell you his name," said Mrs Wag, "but your father +knows who I mean. Don't you, my dear?" + +"I can't mistake you, my love," replied Jeremiah, affectionately, "and +I wish he could see how happy we are. It would do his heart good, I +really think." + +"Who _can_ he be!" exclaimed the eldest daughter. + +"Perhaps it's somebody like me!" cried the little odd gentleman, +stepping briskly forward. + +"It is! it is!" shrieked mamma, and up jumped the whole party, and +down went Mrs Wag upon her knees, while, utterly unconscious of what +she did, her arms were clasped round the neck of her benefactor, whose +bodily frame, being unable to sustain her matronly weight, gave way, +and so they rolled together on the floor. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the eccentric elderly gentleman, as soon as he +recovered breath, but without attempting to rise. "This is a Christmas +gambol, eh! Master Wag?--eh! my merry little Wags? Needn't ask you all +how you are." + +"My dear sir!" exclaimed Jeremiah, "allow me to assist you. I hope you +are not hurt." + +"Hurt!" cried the little gentleman, jumping up and offering his hand +to Mrs Wag. "Hurt! Why, I feel myself twenty years younger than I did +five minutes ago. Never mind, ma'am. Like Christmas gambols. Always +did. Happen to have such a thing as a bunch of mistletoe, eh?" + +"I am sure, sir," whimpered Mrs Wag--"I am sure I shall never forgive +myself. To think of taking such a liberty; I--I--can't conceive how I +could----" + +"As often as ever you please, my good lady," said the eccentric, +handing her to a chair; "but sit down and compose yourself, while I +shake hands all round;" and, turning toward Jeremiah, he commenced the +ceremony, which he went through with from the eldest to the youngest, +calling them all by their names, as correctly as though he were a +constant visitor. + +A right merry Christmas eve was that. The young Wags were, ever and +anon, obliged to hold their sides, as they laughed and screamed with +delight at the funny stories told by the funny little old gentleman, +who romped and played with them with as much glee as though he had +been the youngest of the party. So the hours passed quickly away till +the unwelcome sound of "bed-time" was whispered among the little +circle; and then one after another departed, until Mr and Mrs Wag were +left alone with their honoured guest. + +The hearts of both were full, and they began to endeavour to express +their feelings; but the singular old gentleman stopped them by +saying--"Needn't tell me. Know it all. Shall run away if you go on so. +Remember, I told you I had more of the 'ready' than I knew what to do +with. Couldn't have done better with it, eh? Out at interest now. Best +sort of interest, too. More pleasure this evening than receiving +dividends, eh! Never was happier. So come, let us wind up for the +night. I've a memorandum or two for you in my pocket-book," and he +placed it on the table, and began to turn over divers papers, as he +continued--"Hem! ha! Yes. Those two. You'd better take them, my good +sir. They'll admit William and Stephen to Christ Church--what they +call the Blue-Coat School. Capital school, eh?" + +"My dear sir!" exclaimed Jeremiah. + +"Don't interrupt me, that's a good fellow," said the old gentleman. +"Hem! Do you ever smoke a pipe?" + +"Very rarely," replied the wondering Mr Wag. + +"Well," continued his guest, "take that paper to light your next with. +Put it in your pocket, and don't look at it till I'm gone. Hem! Tom's +master says he will make a good scholar; so, if you've no objection, I +was thinking he might as well go to college in a year or two. Not in +your way, perhaps? Never mind. I know some of the big-wigs. See all +right, and enter his name. _Should_ have one parson in a large family, +eh?" + +Here Mrs Wag could no longer refrain from giving vent to her +overcharged feelings by certain incoherent ejaculations, which +terminated in a flood of tears. + +"Humph!" said the old gentleman, "my spectacles want wiping;" and he +took the opportunity of rubbing them and blowing his nose, while +Jeremiah was comforting the wife of his bosom, and telling her not to +be so foolish, although he could scarcely avoid snivelling himself. + +"Hem! ahem!" resumed their guest; "think I've got some of the +mince-pie sticking in my throat. Stupid old fellow to eat so much, +eh?" + +"Better take another glass of wine, sir," said Jeremiah. "Give me +leave, sir, to pour it out." + +"No, no!" exclaimed Mrs Wag, starting up and smiling through her +tears, "let me! Nobody else! God bless you, sir!" + +"And you, too!" ejaculated the old gentleman gaily; "come, that's a +challenge! Glasses round! and then we must say, good-night. Don't let +us make a dull end of a merry evening." + +Warm benedictions were forthwith uttered, and the "compliments of the +season" were wished, with more than common sincerity, by all three, as +their glasses met jingling together. Then, the whimsical guest tossed +off his wine, jumped up, shook his hosts heartily by the hand, wished +them good-night, and sallied into the shop to find his cloak. Mr and +Mrs Wag followed, and expressed a hope that he would honour their +Christmas dinner by his presence on the following day; but all they +could draw from him was--"Can't promise. Ate and drank a little too +much to-night, perhaps. Getting shockingly old. See how I am in the +morning. Enjoyed myself this evening. A jolly set of Wags altogether! +Merry Wags all, eh?--young and old. Well, well, wag along happily, my +dear Mr and Mrs Wag! Good-night!" And after once more shaking hands +with them, he nimbly whisked himself out at the shop-door, and trotted +across to the King's Arms. + +No sooner were the worthy couple alone than curiosity led them to +examine the piece of paper which their benefactor had presented to +Jeremiah for the purpose of lighting his pipe, and it proved to be the +promissory note which the latter had signed for the first thousand +pounds. The donor's intention was plain enough, as it was regularly +cancelled, so Mrs Wag was obliged to use her pocket-handkerchief once +more; and her spouse, after striding three or four times rapidly +across the room, felt himself also under the necessity of taking out +his, and blowing his nose with unusual vehemence. Then they +congratulated and comforted each other, and said their prayers, and +offered up their thanks-givings with a fervour and sincerity that +proved they were not unworthy of their good fortune. Then they retired +to rest, though not immediately to sleep, for they were each beset by +strange waking dreams, and beheld in their minds' eye a black clerical +Wag, two long-coated little blue Wags, with yellow nether investments, +and other Wags of sorted sizes, but all very happy. + +On the following morning, being Christmas day, our fortunate +shopkeeper equipped himself in his best apparel, and, before +breakfast, stepped across the road, and found Mr Titus Twist rubbing +his eyes in his own gateway. Mutual salutations, and "compliments of +the season," were exchanged in good neighbourly style, and then mine +host exclaimed, "There's a box here for you, Master Wag, left by that +queer little old gentleman. I'm sure he's cracked! In he comes here +yesterday, just after dark, posting in his own carriage. Well, he +orders up anything as we happened to have ready, and I sets him down +to as good a dinner as ever any gentleman need sit down to, though I +say it, because why, you see, our larder's pretty considerably well +stocked at this season. So down he sits, rubbing his hands, and +seeming as pleased as Punch, and orders a bottle of wine; but, before +he'd been ten minutes at table, up he jumps, claps on his cloak and +hat, and runs smack out o' the house, and never comes back again till +past eleven at night, when he pays his bill, and orders horses for six +o'clock this morning." + +"Is he gone, then?" exclaimed Jeremiah. + +"Off, sure enough," replied Titus; "but he's left a great box for you, +which I was just going to send over. So, I suppose you and he have +some dealings together." + +"Yes," said Mr Wag, "I shall have cause to bless and thank him the +latest day I have to live; but I wish he had stopped here to-day. +Well, God bless him, wherever he is gone. Hark ye, neighbour--you have +often heard me speak of having a friend--well, that's him. I don't +know why, but he's taken a fancy to me and my wife and family, and has +done for us more than you'd believe, if I was to tell you. However, +we can chat that over another day, as I can't stop now, as Mrs Wag and +the children are waiting breakfast. But where's the box? I'll take it +with me, if you please." + +"If two of the strongest fellows in my yard can take it over, it's as +much as they can," replied Titus. "However, they shall try; and I hope +you'll come over this afternoon and crack a bottle of my best to drink +the little queer old gentleman's health. But, mind me, he's cracked to +a certainty, and you'll find it out some of these days." + +The box was accordingly delivered, and, on being opened, was found to +contain a dozen separate packages, each directed for one member of the +Wag family, the largest for Jeremiah, the father, and the smallest for +little Philip, a "rising three" year old Wag. Their contents were far +too various for precise specification, but could not have been more +judiciously appropriated nor more gratefully received, so that +Christmas day was a day of rejoicing; and the only regret felt by one +and all the Wags was, that their very kind friend had not stayed to +spend it with them. + +When the festive season was over, matters went on as usual with +Jeremiah, save that perhaps there was more of cheerfulness in his +manner while pursuing his course of steady industry. The fact was, +that he never now felt perplexed about money affairs, which were wont +formerly to occupy much of his time by day, and cause him many +sleepless hours by night. Those who called for payment were as welcome +as those who came to pay, and consequently his credit stood high; and +the travellers and London houses strove, by tempting bargains and +peculiar attention in "selecting the best articles, to complete his +kind orders," to keep his name upon their books. So he went on and +prospered in all his undertakings, and in the course thereof visited +the metropolis to make purchases, and, when there, called upon Mr +Goodfellow, who gave him a hearty welcome, but could not be persuaded +to reveal the name of his eccentric client, though he scrupled not to +say that he was in good health, adding, with a smile, "and in perfect +possession of his intellects." + +Jeremiah next endeavoured to worm the secret from his bankers, but +with no better success. The partner who received him, assured him that +the steady increase and respectability of his account had wrought such +an impression in a quarter which he was not permitted to name, that +their house would feel much pleasure in making advances whenever +anything advantageous offered itself for purchase. + +"It is wonderful!" exclaimed Jeremiah. + +"A good character, my dear sir," observed the banker, "is everything +in trade. We are dealers in money; and nothing pleases us more than +placing it where we know it is safe, and have every reason to suppose +it may be useful." + +"But," observed Jeremiah, "you know nothing about me." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Wag," said the banker; "you are what we call a +good man, and have got a back." + +"A back!" exclaimed the bewildered shopkeeper. + +"Yes," said the banker, smiling, "that is, a good friend to your back; +and though he chooses to keep himself in the background, depend upon +it he'll not forsake you so long as you go on as you have done. +Therefore, buy away for ready cash as largely as you please, and we'll +honour your drafts." + +On this hint Jeremiah subsequently acted, by making purchases which +enabled him to serve his customers "on terms that defied all +competition." Therefore, and by dint of strict attention and civility, +his trade continued to increase, till he was obliged to add warehouses +to his shop, and employ a regular clerk and collector, besides +shopmen, porters, and waggoner. + +In the meanwhile young Tom Wag studied Latin and Greek with a +neighbouring curate; William and Stephen were, in due course, +admitted into the Blue-Coat School, and the education of the other +children went on precisely as had been recommended by their eccentric +benefactor, whose advice Mr and Mrs Wag considered equivalent to +commands. Still they were often uneasy about him, and more +particularly after another Christmas eve had passed without his +appearance. Poor Mrs Wag was sure he was ill, and would occasionally +charge him with unkindness for not letting her know, that she might go +and nurse him. But again months and months rolled away, and at last +autumn arrived, and with it brought the grand _dénouement_ of the +mystery, as suddenly and unexpectedly as their former good-luck. + +All the Wags who were at home were sitting round a tea-table, in the +little garden at the back of the house, and Mrs Wag was sedately +filling their cups, when one of the younger children exclaimed, "Who's +that?" + +Jeremiah looked round to where the child was gazing, and beheld his +benefactor stealthily approaching from the back door, with an arch +smile on his countenance, as though wishing to take them by surprise; +but perceiving that he was discovered, he stepped nimbly forward, +according to his usual custom, and holding out his hand, said, "Well, +my dear Wag, how are you? How are you, my dear Mrs Wag?--and how are +you, young Jerry Wag, Mary Wag, Sarah Wag, Henry Wag, and Philip +Wag?" + +All expressed their delight at his appearance, according to their +different ages and abilities, but all were evidently delighted, and +none more than the strange little gentleman himself, whose eyes +sparkled with gratification as he took his seat, looked round at the +joyous group, and begged to join their family party. Mrs Wag felt +somewhat tremulous at first, and doubtless her visitor perceived it, +as he turned his attention to the little Wags till she had finished +her table arrangements and presented him with a cup of tea. + +"Thank you, my good lady," said he, "that's as it should be. All merry +Wags, together, eh?" + +"We--we--thank God!" whimpered Mrs Wag, "we are--Yes! But it's all +your doing, sir. I wish I could thank--thank you--as I ought." + +Here Jeremiah, perceiving that his spouse was too nervous to make an +excellent speech, "took up the cudgels" of gratitude; but, saving that +there could be no doubt of his sincerity, displayed no great +oratorical talents. Brief, however, as his speeches, or rather +ejaculations, were, the funny old gentleman stopped him by the +apparently funny observation,-- + +"So, my good Jeremiah Wag, you don't know where your father came +from?" + +"No, sir, indeed," replied the shopkeeper, marvelling at the oddity of +the question. + +"Well, then, I do," said his benefactor; "I was determined to find it +out, because the name is so uncommon. Hard work I had, though. +Merchant, to whom he was clerk, dead. Son in the West Indies. Wrote. +No answer for some time--then not satisfactory. Obliged to wait till +he came back. Long talk. No use. Well, well. Tell you all about it +another day. Cut it short now. Found out a person at last who was +intimate friend and fellow-clerk with your father. Made all right. +Went down into the north. Got his register." + +"Really, sir," stammered Jeremiah, "it was very kind of you, but I am +sorry you should have given yourself so much trouble; but I'm sure, if +I have any poor relations that I can be of service to in employing +them, now that your bounty has put me in the way of doing well, I +shall be very glad, though I never did hear talk of any." + +"No, Master Jeremiah," said the eccentric old gentleman, "you +have no poor relations now, nor ever had; but your father had a +good-for-nothing elder brother, who left home at an early age, after +your grandmother's death, and was enticed to go abroad by fair +promises, which were not fulfilled. So, not having anything agreeable +to write about, he didn't write at all, like a young scamp as he was, +and when the time came that he had something pleasant to communicate, +it was too late, as his father was no more, and his only brother (your +father) was gone nobody knew where. Well, to make a short story of it, +that chap, your uncle, was knocked about in the world, sometimes up +and sometimes down, but at last found himself pretty strong upon his +legs, and then made up his mind to come back to Old England, where he +found nobody to care for him, and went wandering hither and thither, +spending his time at watering-places, and so on, for several years." + +"And pray, sir," inquired Jeremiah, as his respected guest paused, +"have you any idea what became of him?" + +"Yes, I have," replied the little gentleman, smiling significantly at +his host and hostess. "One day he arrived in a smallish town, very +like this, and terribly low-spirited he was, for he'd been ill some +time before, and was fretting himself to think that he had been +toiling to scrape money together, and was without children or kindred +to leave it to. No very pleasant reflection that, my worthy Wags, let +me tell you! Well, he ordered dinner, for form's sake, at the inn, and +then went yawning about the room; and then he took his stand at the +window, and, looking across the road, he saw the name of Wag over a +shop-door, and then----You know all the rest! The fact is, I am a +Wag, and, Jeremiah Wag, you are my nephew, and you, my dear Mrs Wag, +are my niece, and so let us be merry Wags together." + +Here we might lay down the pen, were it not for our dislike to strut +in borrowed plumes; and that inclineth us to inform the gentle reader +that no part of this simple story is of our invention, except the last +disclosure of the senior Wag's relationship to his namesake, which we +ventured to add, fearing that the _truth_ might appear _incredible_. +The other facts occurred precisely as we have stated. An elderly +gentleman, bearing a name more singular than Wag, returned home from +India with a handsome fortune somewhat more than half a century back, +and sought in vain for relatives; but one day, from the window of an +inn, at which he had arrived in his own dark-green travelling-chariot, +he espied the shop of a namesake, whose acquaintance he instantly +made. His expressed hope was to discover that they were connected by +some distant tie of consanguinity; but failing in that object, after +most minute investigation, he never withdrew his patronage. For many +years he watched over the rising fortunes of the family; and as the +young people arrived at maturity, provided for them as though they +were his own children, to the extent of many thousand pounds; and when +he died, he left among them the whole of his property. Now, though +the heart and conduct of this good man were truly benevolent, there +can be no question respecting the motive of his actions, for he often +avowed it. He was determined to _keep up_ the respectability of his +_name_; and with great pleasure we have to record that the few who now +bear it, move in a much higher circle than would have been their lot +but for him whose memory they hold in reverence, and consider as the +founder of their family. Reader! imitate him, and "keep up" the +respectability of your name. + + + + +THE WET WOOING. + +A NARRATIVE OF NINETY-EIGHT. + +[_MAGA._ APRIL 1832.] + + +It was in the autumn of 1798, when the North of Ireland had settled +down into comparative tranquillity, that I took up my quarters at +Knowehead, the grazing farm of a substantial relative, in the remote +pastoral valley of Glen---- in Antrim. + +The second morning of my stay I had fished a considerable distance up +the river; but having broken my top in an unlucky leap, was sitting in +impatient bustle, lapping the fracture, and lamenting my ill fortune, +as ever and anon I would raise my eyes and see the fresh curl running +past my feet; when I perceived by the sudden blackening of the water, +and by an ominous but indescribable sensation of the air, that +something unusual was brewing overhead. I looked up: there it was, a +cloud, low-hung and lurid, and stretching across the whole northern +side of the horizon. I had scarce time to gather my clews and bobbins +into a hurried wisp, and take shelter under an overhanging bank hard +by, when down it came, heavy, hissing, and pelting the whole surface +of the river into spray. I drew myself close to the back of the +hollow, where I lay in a congratulatory sort of reverie, watching the +veins of muddy red, as they slowly at first, and then impetuously, +flowed through and finally displaced the dark spring water--the +efforts of the beaten rushes and waterflags, as they quivered and +flapped about under the shower's battery--the gradual increase of +swell and turbulence in the river opposite; and lower down, the war +which was already tossing and raging at the conflux, where + + "Tumbling brown, the burn came down, + And roar'd frae bank to brae." + +But why do I dilate upon an aspect thus wild and desolate, when I +could so much more pleasantly employ my reader's and my own mind's eye +with that which next presented itself? I confess, so pleasant was the +contrast then, that I still, in recalling that scene to memory, +prepare myself, by the renewed vision of its dreariness and +desolation, for the more grateful reception of an image than which +earth contains none lovelier--it was a lovely girl. She fled thither +for shelter: I did not see her until she was close by me; but never +surely did man's eyes rest on a fairer apparition. I have, at this +instant, every lineament of the startled beauty, as, drawing back +with a suppressed cry and gesture of alarm, she shrank from the +unexpected companion who stood by her side; for I had started from my +reverie, and now presented myself, baring my head in the rain with +involuntary respectfulness of gallantry, and half unconsciously +leading her by the hand into my retreat. She yielded, blushing and +confused, while I, apologising, imploring, and gazing with new +admiration at every look, unstrapped my basket, placed it in the least +exposed corner, spread over it my outside coat, and having thus +arranged a seat (which, however, she did not yet accept), retired to +the opposite side, and reluctantly ceasing to gaze, gave up my whole +faculties to wonder--who could she be? Her rich dress--velvet habit, +hat and feathers--her patrician elegance of beauty and manner, at once +proclaimed her rank; but who could there be in Glen---- above the +homely class to which my host belonged? And his daughter, Miss Janet, +was certainly a brilliant of a very different water. But, heavens! how +the water is running down from my companion's rich hair, and +glistening upon her neck with what a breathing lustre!--"Oh, madam, +let me entreat you, as you value your safety, use my handkerchief (and +I pulled a muffler from my neck) to bind up and dry your hair. Wrap, I +beseech you, your feet in my greatcoat; and withdraw farther from the +wind and rain." + +One by one, notwithstanding her gracious refusals, I carefully +fulfilled my prescriptions; and now knelt before her, lapping the +skirts and sleeves of my envied coat about the little feet and +delicate ankles. Yet it seemed to me that she received my services +rather with a grateful condescension, than, as I desired, with frank +enjoyment of them. So, pausing a moment to account for such a manner, +I recollected--and the recollection covered me with confusion--that I +must have been, to say the least, as rough a comrade as any one need +wish to meet with under a hedge; for, purposing to leave Ireland in +another month for Germany, I had, during the last week, allowed my +beard to grow all round--putting off from day to day the forming of +the moustache, to which I meant to reduce it--and so had my face, at +no time very smooth, now covered from ear to ear with a stubble, long, +strong, and black as a shoe-brush. My broad-brimmed hat was battered +and dinted into strangely uncouth cavities, and the leaf hung flapping +over my brows like a broken umbrella; my jacket was tinselled indeed, +but it was with the ancient scales of trout; my leathern overalls were +black-glazed and greasy; and my whole equipment bore, I must confess, +the evident signs of an unexceptionable rascal. + +Indignant at my unworthy appearance, I put myself upon my mettle; and +after drawing my fair companion from her intrenchments of shyness and +hauteur, succeeded in engaging her in the fair field of a +conversation the most animated and interesting, in which it was ever +my good fortune and credit to bear a part. She had at first, indeed, +when I began by running a parallel between our positions, explained +the circumstances of her being driven thither alone, in a manner so +general, and with such evident painfulness of hesitation, that I had +hardly expected a few slow commonplaces at the most. Such wit, then, +and vivacity, tempered with such dignified discretion, as she evinced, +when I turned the conversation from what I perceived to be perplexing, +were by their unexpectedness doubly delightful. + +Time and the tempest swept on equally unheeded; topic induced topic, +smile challenged smile, and when at last, in obedience to her wishes, +I looked towards the north, to see whether the sky were clearing, I +only prayed that it might rain on till sunset, when I might accompany +her to her home, which, to my surprise, I learned was within a few +miles, although I did not ascertain exactly where. My prayers were +likely enough to be fulfilled; the sky was still one rush of +rain--but, heaven and earth! the river had overflowed its banks above: +a broad sheet of water was sailing down the hollow behind; and there +we were, no human habitation within sight, in the midst of a tempest, +between two rapid rivers, with no better shelter, during the +continuance of a Lammas flood, than the hollow of a bank which might +be ten feet under water in an hour. + +I ran down the back of the hill to the edge of the interposing flood; +a stunted tree was in the middle, the fork of which I knew was as high +as my shoulder; a mass of weeds and briars was already gathered +against it; the water had raised them within a foot of the first +branch; then I might still ford a passage; no moment was to be lost; I +ran back for the lady, but met her half-way in wild alarm, her head +bare, her beautiful hair shaken out into the blast, her hands clasped, +and her figure just sinking. I caught her in my arms, and bore her +forward with all my speed; but before I again reached the sweeping +inundation, insensibility had released her from the terrors of our +passage. + +I dashed in, holding her across my body, with her head resting on my +shoulder; the first step took me to the knee. I raised my burden and +plunged forward; the water rose to my haunches. I lifted her again +across my breast, rushed on, and sank to the waist. I felt that I +could not long support a dead weight in that position; so lowering her +limbs into the water, I profited by that relief, and reached the tree. + +The flood had now covered me to the breast, and the lady's neck and +bosom were all that remained unimmersed. I leaned against the old +trunk, and breathed myself. I raised her drooping head on my +shoulder, and pressed my cheek to her forehead; but neither lip nor +eyelid moved. I could not but gaze upon her face; it lay among the +long floating tresses and turbulent eddies, fair as the water's own +lily, and as unconscious. My heart warmed to the lovely being, and I +bent over her, kissing her lips, and pressing her bosom to mine, with +an affection so strangely strong, that I might have stood thus till +escape had been impossible, but that the rustling of the rubbish, as +it crept up the rugged stump with the rise of the waters, caught my +ear. A thunderbolt smouldering at my feet could not have sounded so +horrible. All my fresh affections rushed back to my heart in +multiplied alarm for the safety of their new-found treasure. I started +from my resting-place, and swinging back the long hair from my eyes, +once more breasted the stream with clenched teeth and dripping brows. +But still, as farther I advanced, the water grew deeper and deeper, +and the current split upon my shoulder, and twisted through my legs, +still stronger and stronger. Lumps of black moss, dried peats, and +heavy sods, now struck me, and tumbled on; while wisps of yellow grass +and long straws doubled across my body and entangled me. My limbs +wavered at every step as I strained and writhed them through the +current. I gave way--I was half lifted--the river and the burn met not +a hundred yards below. Had I had the strength of ten men, I could not +have supported her through that tumult. Every step swerved towards the +conclusion of at least her existence; yet with love tenfold did I now +press her to my heart, and with tenfold energy struggle to make good +her rescue. Her eyes opened--I murmured prayers, comforts, and +endearments--she saw the red torrent around, the tawny breakers +before, the black storm overhead; but she saw love in my eye, she +heard it in my words; and there, within her probable deathbed, and in +the embrace of her probable companion in death, she was wooed among +the waters, and was won. Another effort--but the eddy swung me round, +and I had given up all as lost, save my interest in that perishing +girl; when suddenly I heard, through the dashing of waves and the +hissing of rain, the hoarse cry of a man, "Courage--hold up, sir--this +way, halloo!" I turned, half thinking it imagination, but there I +really saw a man up to the breast in the flood, supporting with arms +and shoulders a powerful black horse, which he urged across the +current. Another minute, and I stood firm behind the breakwater they +formed at my side. My dear charge had again fainted; he assisted me to +raise her to the saddle; but suddenly, as he looked at her, he uttered +a wild cry of astonishment, and kissing and embracing her, exclaimed, +"My Madeline, my daughter, my dear child!--Why, sir, how is this?" + +"Oh, sir, the river is rising a foot a-minute--take the bridle, I +beseech you, and let me support the lady and the horse's flank--I will +explain all when she is out of danger." So saying, I laid my shoulder +to the work and urged him on; we had an easier task, and in another +minute succeeded in getting safe out of that perilous passage. + +I now looked at our preserver; he was a handsome, tall, and vigorous +man, about forty--evidently a soldier and gentleman. He lifted his +daughter from the saddle; and while I recounted the particulars of her +adventure, unclasped her habit and chafed her forehead; but all was of +no avail. He looked distractedly, first at his daughter and then at +me; and after a pause of contending emotions, rose, laid her across +the pommel, placed his foot in the stirrup, and turning to me said, "I +am embarrassed by many circumstances--take my blessings for this day's +help--and forget us." + +"I can never forget." + +"Then take this trifling remembrance." He pulled a ring from his +finger and handed it to me; threw himself into the saddle; placed his +daughter across his body, and crying, ere I could say a word for sheer +amazement, "Farewell, farewell!" and once more, with some emotion, +"Farewell, sir, and may God bless you!" put spurs to his horse, and +dashed off at full speed for a pass which leads into the wild country +of the Misty Braes. + +Till they disappeared among the hills, I stood watching them from the +bank where they had left me, bare-headed, numbed, and indignant; with +the rain still pelting on me, and the ring between my fingers. It was +a costly diamond; I pitched it after him with a curse, and bent my +weary way towards Knowehead, a distance of full five miles, in a maze +of uncertainty and speculation. She had not told her name, and she +seemed to desire a concealment of her residence; her father's conduct +more plainly evinced the same motive; many of the heads of the +rebellion were still lurking with their families among the mountains +of Ulster; the only house in the direction they had taken, at all +likely to be the retreat of respectable persons, was the old Grange of +Moyabel; and it was the property of a gentleman then abroad, but +connected with all the chief Catholic rebels in the North. All this +made me naturally conclude that these were some of that unhappy party; +and when I considered that both daughter and father had been riding +from different quarters to the same destination--for, as well as I +could surmise from her vague account of herself, she had left the +servant, behind whom she had come so far, to wait the arrival of her +father, who had promised to join them there--I was able to satisfy +myself of their being only on their way to Moyabel; and I therefore +determined not to create suspicion by making useless inquiries as to +the present family there, but to take the first opportunity of +judging for myself of the new comers. But how, after such a dismissal, +introduce myself? Here lay the difficulty, and beyond this I could fix +on nothing; so with a heavy heart I climbed the hill before my +kinsman's house, and presented myself at the wide door of the kitchen, +just as the twilight was darkening down into night. + +I found my host sitting as was his wont--his nightcap on his head, his +long staff in his hand, and two greyhounds at his feet--behind the +fire upon his oaken settle. "I'm thinkin', Willie," he began as he saw +me enter--"I'm thinkin' ye hae catched a wet sark. Janet, lass, fetch +your cusin a dram. Nane o' your piperly smellin' bottles," cried he, +as she produced some cordials in an ancient liquor-stand--"Nane o' +your auld wife's jaups for ane o' my name--fetch something +purpose-like; for when my nevoy has changed himsell, we'll hae a stoup +o' whisky, and a crack thegither." In a few minutes I was seated in +dry clothes, before a bowl of punch and a blazing fire, beside the old +gentleman on his oaken sofa. At any other time I would have enjoyed +the scene with infinite satisfaction; for the national tipple, in my +mind, drinks nowhere so pleasantly as on a bench behind the broad +hearthstone of such a kitchen-hall as my friend's. Our smaller gentry +had, it is true, long since betaken themselves to their parlours and +their drawing-rooms; and the steams of whisky-punch had already risen +with the odours of bohea, and the smoke of sea-borne coals, to the +damask hangings and alabaster cornices of many high-ceiled and stately +apartments. Yet there were still some of the old school, who, like my +good friend, continued to make their headquarters, after the ancient +fashion, among their own domestics, and behind their own hearthstone; +for in all old houses the fire is six feet at least from the gable, +and the space between is set apart for the homely owner. + +It was strange then, that I, who hitherto had so intensely relished +such a scene, should be so absent now that it was spread round me in +its perfection. The peat and bog-fir fire before me, and the merry +faces glistening through the white smoke beyond; the chimney overhead, +like some great minster bell (the huge hanging pot for the clapper); +the antlers, broadsword, and sporting tackle on the wall behind; the +goodly show of fat flitches and briskets around me and above, and that +merry and wise old fellow, glass in hand, with endless store of good +stories, pithy sayings, and choice points of humour, by my side; yet +with all I sat melancholy and ill at ease. In vain did the rare old +man tell me his best marvels; how he once fought with Tom Hughes, a +wild Welshman, whom he met in a perilous journey through the forests +of Cheshire; how Tom would not let go his grip when he had him down +("whilk was a foul villany"); and how he had to roll into a running +water before he could get loose ("whilk showed the savage natur of +thae menseless barbarians"). In vain he told me that pleasant jest, +how my grandfather "ance wiled the six excisemen into a lone house, +and then gaed in himsell and pyed them through the windows, whilk +cleared the country-side o' that vermin as lang as auld Redrigs was to +the fore." In vain he told me how his old dog Stretcher hunted the +black hare from Dunmoss to Skyboe. I left him in the subtlest of the +doubles, and in another minute was in the penthouse of clay, the river +boiling at my feet, and the rain rushing round my head; but before me +were the rich delighted eyes and quickening features of my unknown +beauty. Again I bore her through the flood; again I bent over her, and +pressed her to my breast, and once more in fancy I had felt the thrill +of her returned embrace; once more I had kissed her lips, and once +more we had vowed to live or die together, when I was startled from my +reverie by a question which the unsuspecting old man was now repeating +for the third time. I stammered an excuse, and roused myself to the +hearing of another excellent jest; but what it might have been I know +not, for the entrance of a young labourer, an old acquaintance of my +own, with whom he had business, cut it short. "Aleck," he said, "get +ready to set out for the fair upon the morn's e'en; and, Aleck, my +man, keep yoursell out o' drink and fechtin'--and, my bonny man, I'm +saying, the neist time ye gang a-courtin' to the Grange (I pricked up +my ears all at once), see that ye're no ta'en for ane o' thae rebel +chiels, wha, they say, are burrowin' e'en noo about the auld wa's as +thick as mice in a meal-ark."--"But Aleck," crooned old Mause from the +corner, "whilk ane o' the lasses are you for?" This was enough. I +watched my opportunity, slipped out to the stable, found Aleck, who +had retreated thither in his confusion, and point-blank proposed that +he should take me with him that very night, and introduce me to one of +the girls at Moyabel, as I longed to have an hour's courting after the +old fashion before I left the country. I concluded by offering him a +handsome consideration, which, however, he refused; but, sitting +down in the manger, began to consider my proposal, with such +head-scratching and nail-biting, as confirmed me in my opinion that +there was something mysterious about the family of the Grange. "Master +William," said he at last, "I canna refuse ye, and you gaun awa', +maybe never to see a lass o' your ain country again; but ye maun +promise never to speak o' whatever ye may see strange aboot the hoose; +for, atween oursells, there are anes expeckit there this verra night +wha's names wadna cannily bear tellin'; and Jeanie trusts me, and I +maunna beguile her. But the waters are out, and we will hae a lang +and cauld tramp through the bogs, sae get a drap o' somethin' for the +road, and I'll hae Tam Herron's Sunday suit ready for you after +bed-time. Saul! ye'll mak a braw weaver wi' the beard; and wi' a' your +Englified discoorsin' ye can talk as like a Christian as ever when ye +like. Nanny will think hersell fitted at last; but ye maunna be ower +crouse wi' Nanny, Master William." I promised everything; waited +impatiently till the family had gone to rest; found Aleck true to his +engagement; put on the clothes he had prepared, and we stole out about +midnight. + +It was pitch dark, but fair and calm; so, with the hopes of getting to +our journey's end not wet above the knee, we commenced stumbling and +bolting along the great stones and ruts of the causeway; this we +cleared without any accident, farther than my slipping once into the +ditch, and now found ourselves upon the open hill-side, splashing +freely over the soaked turf and slippery pathway. I was in high +spirits, and though squirting the black puddle to my knees at every +step, and seeing no more of the road I was to travel on than another +one in advance, yet faced onward with great gaiety and good humour. +After some time, however, Aleck began snuffing the air, and, with +evident concern, announced the approach of a mist, which soon +thickened into perceptibility to me also. Our path, which hitherto had +swept across sheep-grazing uplands and grassy knolls, now began to +thread deep rushy bottoms, with here and there a quaking spot of +quagmire, or a mantled stream, which I knew by the cold water running +sharp below, and by the thick, dull gathering of the weeds about my +legs--for the mist made all so dark, that I can only give a blind +man's description. The way now became more intricate and broken, but +still I followed Aleck cheerily, pushing through all obstacles, and +thinking only of the best measures to be taken when we should arrive +at Moyabel, when I suddenly perceived that my footsteps were treading +down the long wet grass and heavy sedge itself, and that any distinct +pathway no longer remained to guide us. I began to doubt Aleck's +knowledge of the road, which he still maintained to be unshaken; but +the next two steps settled the matter, by bringing us both up to the +middle in a running river. We scrambled out without saying a word, +Aleck being silent from confusion, and I fearing to increase it by +reproaches. He began to grope about for the path we had come by; and +finding what he thought our track, pursued it a few steps to the +right. I thought I had it to the left, and began to explore in that +direction. "Hallo! where are you now?" I cried, as I missed him from +my side. He answered, "Here," from a considerable distance lower down. +"Where?" I repeated.--"Hereawa," he answered.--"Hereawa, thereawa, +wandering Willie," I hummed in bitter jollity, as I proceeded in the +direction of the voice, "Hereawa, thereawa, haud your way hame," +when--squash, crash, bolt, heels over head--plump I went over a brow +into a very Devil's Punch-Bowl; for bottom I found none, though shot +from the bank with the impetus of an arrow. Down I went, the water +closing over me in strata and substrata, each one colder than the +other, till I expected to find my head at last clashing against the +young ice wedges of a preternatural frost below. I sank at least +fifteen feet before I could collect my energies and turn. I thought I +would never reach the top. To it at last I came, sputtering, blown, +and fairly frightened. I never waited to consider my course, but +striking desperately out, swam straight forward till I came bump +against the bank. I clambered up, and listened. The first sound I +could distinguish, after the bubbling and hissing left my ears, was +Aleck's voice nearly before me, on the opposite side. He was singing +out something between a howl and a halloo; for he also had got into +the water, and could not find bottom anywhere but on the spot he +occupied. He could not swim a stroke. There was nothing for it but to +go back and rescue him. The unexpectedness alone of my first dip had +caused my confusion. That was gone off, and I again plunged resolutely +into the river, which I now could discern grey in the clearing mist. +A few strokes brought me to where the poor fellow stood, with his arms +extended upon the water, and his neck stretched to the utmost to keep +it out of his mouth. I knew the danger of taking an alarmed man of +greater weight and strength than myself upon my back; and therefore, +comforting him with assurances of safety, I tried in all directions +for bottom, which at last I found; and having sounded the bed of the +river to the opposite side, returned, and with some difficulty +succeeded in guiding and supporting him across. + +The mist was now rapidly thinning away, and I could distinguish the +high bank black against the sky. It was a joyful sight, and induced, +by a natural association, the pleasant thought of the comforter in my +pocket. I took a mighty dram; then feeling for Aleck's head (he had +lain down, streaming like Father Nile in the pictures, among the +rushes, at my feet), I directed the bottle's mouth to his. He had been +making his moan in an under-whine ever since I first heard him +lamenting his condition on the opposite side; but no sooner did his +lips feel the smooth insinuator's presence, than (his tongue being put +out of the way) they closed with instinctive affection, and went +together when the long embrace was past, with a smack quite cheering. +Then slowly rising, and fetching a deep sigh as he gathered himself +together, "Lord, Lord," said he "I'm nane the waur o' that. But, +Master William, to tell God's truth, I dinna ken whaur we are. That we +hae crossed Glen---- water, or the Hill-head burn, or the Marcher's +dyke, I'm positive sure; but whilk I'm no just equal to say--but +there's somethin' black atween us and the lift; I judge it to be +Dunmoss Cairn: let's haud on to it, and we maun soon come to biggit +wa's." So saying, he led me forward in the direction of what seemed to +me also a distant hill; but being occupied in placing my footsteps I +had ceased to look at it, when all at once there was a crush of leaves +about my head, and I found myself under a green tree. "When will this +weary night of error have an end?" I mentally exclaimed; but was +surprised by Aleck taking my hand, rubbing the palm along the rough +stem, and asking in an elate tone what I felt? "A damnably rough +bark," growled I; "what do you mean?" He cut a caper full three feet +into the air. "Here is a pleasant occurrence now--this rascal is +drunk--he will roll into the next ditch and suffocate--I shall be the +death of the poor fellow--I shall lose"--here he broke my agreeable +meditations. "I'll tell you how it was, Master William; Jeanie and I +were partners at the shearin' ("Evidently drunk," thought I), and I +canna tell how it was ("I well believe you--you can not--but 'twas all +my own folly," I muttered), but I found the maid in a sair fluster +that e'en when we parted: ("You'll be in sorer fluster presently if I +begin to you--you drunken idiot!" was my running commentary,) and sae +just as I came by this auld thorn"--"Then you _do_ know where you +are--do you?" I cried aloud.--"Sure enough," said he, "for didn't I +carve my heart wi' Jeanie's heuk stuck out through it that very night; +and isna it here to this minute?"--"Oh, ho, lead on then, in God's +name; but tell me where we are, and how far we have to go."--"Why," +said he, "the bridge is just a step overby that we ought to hae +crossed; and troth, I wonner a dishfu' at mysell for no kennin' the +black moss and the dolochan's hole that we hae just come through; for +I hae cut turf in the ane, and weshed in the ither, since I was the +bouk o' a peat--but here we are at the end o' the causey that will +take us to the Grange." We entered on a raised and moated bank, which +crossed a mossy flat to the old house; but ere we had advanced a dozen +steps, there suddenly appeared a light moving about, and giving +occasional glimpses of the white walls and thick trees at the further +end; it then came steadily and swiftly towards us; I could presently +distinguish the dull beat of hoofs on the greensward, and soon after, +the figures of two mounted men. + +The sides of the old moat were overgrown with furze and brambles, and +we stole into this cover as they approached. The foremost bore the +light, was armed at all points, and mounted on a fresh horse. I +started with exultation where I lay--he was _her_ father. His +companion's black breeches and canting seat proclaimed a priest. They +were conversing as they passed. "Another month, good father, and we +will be behind the bastions of Belle Isle; were it not for my +Madeline's sake, I would make it six; but this bloodhound having been +slipped upon us."--The sounds were here lost in the trampling of their +horses; I heard the man of masses mumble something in reply, and they +wheeled out of hearing up the rugged pathway to the bridge. "Now, mind +your promise, Master William," said Aleck, as we rose and proceeded to +the house. We soon arrived there; and he led me to a low wing, +repeating his cautions, and, in answer to my questions, denying all +knowledge of the strangers. Placing me behind a low wall, he now stole +forward and tapped at a window, and presently I heard the inmates +moving and whispering. The door was soon opened, and a parley took +place, in which I heard my assumed name made honourable mention of by +my intruder. He led me forward, pushed me gently before him, and I +found myself in a dark passage, soft hands welcoming me, and warm +breath playing on my cheek. + +The door was closed, and we were led into a wide rude apartment, dim +in the low glow of a heap of embers. A splinter of bogwood was soon +kindled, and by its light I saw that we had been conducted by two +girls. One, whom from her attention to Aleck I concluded to be her of +the reaping-hook, was a pretty interesting soft maiden. The other, +however, had attractions of a very different class: fine-featured, +dark-eyed, coal-black-haired and tall; as she stood--her right hand +holding the rude torch over her head, while the left gathered the +folds of a long cloak under her bosom, with her eyes of coy +expectation and merry amazement--she seemed more the ideal of a +robber's daughter in some old romance, than a menial in a moorland +farm-house. I attempted to salute her, but she held me at bay with her +hand. "Hech, lad! ye're no blate--is it knievin' troots[A] ye think +ye are? But, my stars, ye _are_ as droukit as if ye had been through +a' the pools o' the burn! Sit down, my jo, till we dry ye; and be +qu'et till I get a fire." Peats and bogwood were now heaped upon the +hearth; and, kneeling down upon the broad stone, she began puffing +away with her pretty puckered mouth; partly, I suppose, because there +are no bellows in Glen----; and partly, I took it for granted, to +afford me an opportunity of kneeling beside and preeing it. The smoke +now rose before me in thick volumes, and for a while I lost sight of +Aleck and his Jeanie. By and by, however, on raising my head, I +started back at seeing a figure the most extraordinary standing at the +further end of the apartment. A blanket covered the shoulders; the +feet and legs were bare; a red handkerchief was tied about the head; +and, strangest of all, although the hairy neck and whiskers argued him +a man, yet was he from the waist to the knees clad in a petticoat! + +[Footnote A: "Knieving trouts" (they call it tickling in England) is +good sport. You go to a stony shallow at night, a companion bearing a +torch; then, stripping to the thighs and shoulders, wade in; grope +with your hands under the stones, sods, and other harbourage, till you +find your game, then gripe him in your "knieve" and toss him ashore. + +I remember, when a boy, carrying the splits for a servant of the +family, called Sam Wham. Now Sam was an able young fellow, well-boned +and willing; a hard-headed cudgel-player, and a marvellous tough +wrestler, for he had a backbone like a sea-serpent; this gained him +the name of the Twister and Twiner. He had got into the river, and +with his back to me, was stooping over a broad stone, when something +bolted from under the bank on which I stood, right through his legs. +Sam fell with a great splash upon his face, but in falling jammed +whatever it was against the stone. "Let go, Twister," shouted I, "'tis +an otter, he will nip a finger off you."--"Whisht," sputtered he, as +he slid his hand under the water; "may I never read a text again, if +he isna a sawmont wi' a shouther like a hog!"--"Grip him by the gills, +Twister," cried I.--"Saul will I!" cried the Twiner; but just then +there was a heave, a roll, a splash, a slap like a pistol-shot; down +went Sam, and up went the salmon, spun like a shilling at pitch and +toss, six feet into the air. I leaped in just as he came to the water; +but my foot caught between two stones, and the more I pulled the +firmer it stuck. The fish fell in a spot shallower than that from +which he had leaped. Sam saw the chance, and tackled to again; while +I, sitting down in the stream as best I might, held up my torch, and +cried fair play, as shoulder to shoulder, throughout and about, up and +down, roll and tumble, to it they went, Sam and the salmon. The +Twister was never so twined before. Yet through crossbuttocks and +capsizes innumerable, he still held on; now haled through a pool; now +haling up a bank; now heels over head; now head over heels; now head +and heels together; doubled up in a corner; but at last stretched +fairly on his back, and foaming for rage and disappointment; while the +victorious salmon, slapping the stones with his tail, and whirling the +spray from his shoulders at every roll, came boring and snoring up the +ford. I tugged and strained to no purpose; he flashed by me with a +snort, and slid into the deep water. Sam now staggered forward with +battered bones and peeled elbows, blowing like a grampus, and cursing +like nothing but himself. He extricated me, and we limped home. +Neither rose for a week; for I had a dislocated ankle, and the Twister +was troubled with a broken rib. Poor Sam! he had his brains discovered +at last by a poker in a row, and was worm's meat within three months; +yet, ere he died, he had the satisfaction of feasting on his old +antagonist, who was man's meat next morning. They caught him in a net. +Sam knew him by the twist in his tail.] + +I started to my feet, visions of sleepwalkers and lunatics thronging +through my imagination, but was caught hold of by Nanny, who, shaking +with suppressed laughter, whispered me, while the tears ran out and +danced upon her long lashes for very fun, that it was only precious +Aleck, "wham Jeanie had cled in her bit wyliecoat, since she dauredna +wake the house to look for aught else;" then, laying her hand upon my +shoulder (and the wet oozed from between her fingers), she proposed, +with a maidenly mixture of kindliness and hesitation, that I should go +and do so likewise. Who knows how I might have stood the temptation, +had she not in time perceived my error, and, blushing deeply, +explained, that as Aleck had done--undressed himself alone--so should +I. Under these stipulations, I declined parting with more than my +coat, for which she substituted a curiously quilted coverlet; then +bringing me warm water, insisted on my bathing my feet. I gladly +consented; but hardly had I pulled off the coarse stockings, and +washed the black soil from my hands, when there began a grievous +coughing and grumbling in the room from which the girls had come. + +"Lord haud a grip o' us!" cried Aleck; "it's auld _Peg_ +hoastin'--De'il wauken her, the cankered rush! she'll breed a bonny +splore gin she finds me here." + +"Whisht, whisht," whispered Nanny, "she's as keen as colly i' the +lugs; and glegger than baudrons i' the dark." + +The libelled Mistress Margaret gave no further time for calumniation; +slamming open the door, she came down upon us, gaunt, grim, and +unescapable--"Ye menseless tawpies! ye bauld cutties! ye wanton +limmers! ye--_wha's this_?" She snatched the light from Nannie's hand, +and poked it close to my face--"Wha's this? I say, wha's this?" + +"Hoots, woman!" cried Nanny, spiritedly, yet with an air of +conciliation, "I'se bail ye mony a boy has come over the moss to crack +wi' yoursell when ye were a lassie." + +"_When_ I was a lassie!" + +I thought she would have choked; but her indignation at last made its +way up in thunder upon my devoted head. + +"Wha are ye? what are ye? what fetches ye sornin' here? ye----" + +Nanny again interposed. "He's just a weaver lad, I tell ye, that Aleck +Lowther fetched frae the Langslap Moss to keep him company." + +"A weaver lad!" (I had raised my foot to the rim of the tub, and sat +with my chin upon my hand, and my elbow on my knee, laughing, to the +great aggravation of her anger). "A weaver lad!--there's ne'er a +wabster o' the Langslap Moss wi' siccan a leg as that!--there's ne'er +a ane o' a' the creeshy clan wha's shins arena bristled as red as a +belly rasher!--there's ne'er a wabster o' the Langslap Moss wi' the +track o' a ring upon his wee finger!--there's ne'er a wabster o' the +Langslap Moss wi' aughteen hunner linen in his sark-frill!--Jamie, +hoi! Jamie Steenson, here's a spy!" + +So sudden and overpowering was her examination and judgment, and her +voice had risen to such a pitch of clamour, that all my attempts at +interruption and explanation were lost; while the screams which the +girls could not control when they heard her call in assistance, +prevented a reply. One after another, five ruffianly-looking fellows +rushed in at her call; and ere I could free myself from the +importunate exculpations of poor Nanny, they were crowding and cursing +round me; while one, apparently their leader, held a lantern to my +face, a pike to my throat, and demanded my name and business. That +these were one unhappy remnant of the rebel party I could not doubt; +if I declared my real name, I might expect all that exasperation could +prompt and desperation execute against a disguised enemy in the camp +(for the only one from whom I could expect protection was, as I had +seen, beyond my appeal). Again, to give a fictitious name, and keep up +the character of a country weaver, was revolting to my pride, and in +all likelihood beyond my ability. Which horn of this dilemma I might +have impaled myself on, I cannot tell; for a sudden interruption +prevented my answer. + +Aleck, who had with difficulty been hitherto restrained by the united +exertions of the three women, here burst from their arms, tossed off +his blanket, and leaped with a whoop into the middle of the +floor;--except the short petticoat about his loins he was stark naked. +"I'm twal stane wecht--my name's Aleck Lawther--I'll slap ony man o' +ye for four-an'-twenty tens!" As he uttered this challenge, tossing +his long arms about his head, bouncing upright, and cutting like a +posture-master at the end of every clause, while the scanty kilt +fluttered and flapped about his sinewy hams, the men fell back in a +panic, as if from a spectre; but their astonishment soon gave place to +indignation, and my questioner, clubbing his pike, stepped forward, +and making the shaft rattle off the white array of ribs, which poor +Aleck's flourish had left unprotected, reduced his proposals to +practice in a trice. He, wisely making up for disparity of forces by +superiority of weapon, started back, and adroitly unhooking the long +iron chain and pot-hooks from the chimney, set them flying round his +head like a slinger of old; and meeting his antagonist with a clash, +shot him rocketwise into the corner: then giving another whirl to his +stretcher, and leaping out with the full swing of his long body, he +brought it to bear upon the next. There was another clattering crash, +and the man went down; but pitching with his shoulder into the tub, +upset it, and sent a flood of water into the fire. Smoke, steam, and +white ashes, whirled up in clouds; the lantern was trampled out, and +the battle became general: for one rascal, lifting his fallen +comrade's pike (there was luckily but one among them), advanced upon +me. I had just light to see the thrust and parry it. Another second, +and we had closed in the midst of that strange atmosphere, striking +and sneezing at each other across the pike shaft, as we each strove to +wrest it to himself. My antagonist was a lusty fellow, and tugged me +stoutly, while I kept him between me and the main fight, now raging +through the water and the fire: this I could just distinguish among +the vapour and smoke, dashed about in red showers of embers, as each +new tramp and whirl of the combatants swept it from the hearthstone. +How Aleck fought his two opponents I could not imagine; yet once, +during a minute's relaxation on our parts, when, having got the pike +jammed between a table and the wall, we were reduced to the by-play of +kicking one another's shin-bones, I could hear, every now and again, +above the medley of curses and screams (for the women were all busy) +his lusty "Hah!" as he put in each successive blow; and then the bolt +and thud of some one gone down, far away in the distance; or the rush +of a capsize among the loose lumber at my feet. But I had no longer an +opportunity of noting his prowess; for my antagonist, getting the +weapon disentangled, hauled me after him into the open floor, and then +began upon the swinging system. So away we went, sweeping down chairs +and stools, and rolling fallen bodies over in our course; till tired +and dizzy, I suddenly planted myself, let go both holds, and dashing +in right and left together, sent him whirling like a comet, impetuous +and hot, into the void beyond. But my own head here fell heavily upon +my breast; and the whole scene, smoke, fire, and shifting shapes, with +all their mingled hissing, and battering, oaths, shrieks, and +imprecations, shut upon my senses. + +A Babel of dull sound, chiming and sawing within my head, announced +my returned consciousness. This is no dream, thought I; I have been +hurt, but I am afraid to ask myself where. If my skull should be +fractured now, and I should be an idiot all my life, or if my arm +should be broken--farewell to the river! But can I be still doubled up +among those pots and pans which I crushed beneath me in my fall? +No,--dark as it is, I feel that I am laid straight and soft. I must be +in bed, but where? where? It was some time before I had courage to +confirm my doubts of my head's condition: it was carefully bandaged, +and doubtless much shattered: I could feel that I was in a +close-panelled bedstead, such as are usual in old houses; but had too +much discretion to attempt the hazardous experiment of rising without +knowing either my strength or situation. So I lay, fancying all sorts +of means to account for my preservation: need I say that the main +agent in all was the fair Madeline? + +My curiosity was at length relieved; a rude folding-door opened +opposite, and showed a low dim sitting-room beyond, from which there +rose a few steps to the entrance of my chamber. On these appeared, +not, alas! the fancied visitant who was to flit about my bedside, and +mix her bright presence with my dreams, but stately and severe, with a +pale cheek and compressed lip, her father--my aversion. + +I lay silent, sick at the thoughts of my own meanness in his eyes; +while he advanced, shading the light of the candle from my face, and +in a low cold tone, asked if I desired anything? + +I shall never forget him as he stood, the light thrown full upon his +strong features and broad chest, and shining purple through the +fingers of his large hand. "I asked, sir, did you require any +assistance?" he repeated. "Are you in pain?" he went on. I now replied +that my chief pain was caused by my own unworthy appearance; made a +confused apology for my misconduct, and offered my acknowledgments for +the protection I had received. "You have saved the life of my child," +he said, turning slightly from me, "and protection is a debt which +must be paid; for your follower, he must thank the same circumstance +for what little life his own mad conduct has left him." Without +another word, he took a phial from the table, and, pouring out a +draught, handed it to me; I mechanically drunk it off; but ere I had +taken it from my lips, he was gone. I heard the doors close and the +bolts shoot after him with strange forebodings; and when the sound of +his footsteps had died away in the long passage beyond, fell back in a +wild maze of apprehension and self-censure, till I again sank into a +heavy sleep. + +When I awoke, there was a yellow twilight in my little cabin, from the +scattering of a red ray of the sunset which streamed through a +crevice in the door. I had therefore slept a whole day; my fever was +abated; the gnawing pain had left my head, and I longed to eat. I +knocked upon the boards, and the door was presently opened; but it was +some time ere my eyes could endure the flood of light which then burst +in. The figure which at length became visible amid it, was little +worthy so goodly a birth. The lank, slack, ill-hinged anatomy of Peg, +with a bottle in one hand, and a long horn spoon in the other, +advanced, and in no gracious tone demanded what was my will. I turned +and lay silent; for I never felt an awkward situation so embarrassing +as then. My gorge rose at the malignant cause of all my disasters; but +interest and discretion told me to be civil if I spoke at all. I gave +no answer; she was in no humour to suffer such trifling with her time. +"Hear till him, Jamie!" she exclaimed to some one behind her, "hear +till him, the fashious scunner! he dunts folk frae their wark as if he +was the laird o' the Lang Marches himsell, and then----" "Good +Mistress Margaret----" "Mistress me nae mistresses! there's ne'er a +wife i' the parish has a right to be mistressed, since she deeit wha's +wean ye wad betray! Deil hae me gin I can keep my knieves aff ye, ye +ill-faured bluid-seller!"--"Ill-faured _what_?" shouted I. "No just +ill-faured neither, blest be the Maker, and mair's the pity; ye're a +clean boy eneugh, as I weel may say, wha had the strippin' and +streekin' o' ye; but I say that ye're just a bluid-seller, a reformer, +a spy, gin ye like it better!" She backed down the steps, and holding +a leaf of the door at each side, stretched in her neck, and went on, +"Ay, spy, Willie Macdonnell, spy to your teeth.--Isna your name upon +your sark breast? and arena the arms that ye disgrace upon your seal, +and daur ye deny them? daur ye deny that ye're the swearer away o' the +innocent bluid o' puir Hughy Morrison, wham ye hangit like a doug upon +the lamp-posts o' Doonpatrick? Daur ye hae the face to deny that ye +come here e'en noo to reform upon Square O'More and his bonny wean? +Daur ye hae the impurence to deny it?" Here I was relieved by the +entrance of Mr O'More himself. I addressed him in a tone as cool and +conciliatory as I could command. "I am much relieved to find, sir, +that any harshness I may have to complain of, has originated in a +mistake. I am Mr Macdonnell of Redrigs. It was only last week that I +returned from England. I have not been in this part of the country for +many years; and can only say, that if any person bearing my name +deserves the character you seem to impute to me, I detest him as +cordially as you do." He eyed me with visibly increased disgust. "It +will not pass, sir, it will not pass. I have had notice of your +intentions. Mr Macdonnell of Redrigs is in Oxford."--"I tell you, sir, +he is here!" I cried, starting up in bed. "Back, back!" he exclaimed +to the servants who were pressing round; they fell back, and he came +up to me. "Hark ye, sir, instead of assuming a name to which you have +no right----" The passion which had been burning within me all along, +blazed out in uncontrollable fury. I started with a sudden energy out +into the floor; dashed backwards and forwards through the room, +stamping with indignation, while I asserted my honour, and demanded +satisfaction; but the fire which had for a minute animated me failed; +my tongue became confused and feeble; the whole scene whirled and +flickered round me, and I sank exhausted, and in a burning fever, on a +seat. + +Every one who has suffered fever knows what a fiery trance it is. How +long mine had continued I could not guess; when the crisis came, it +was favourable, and I awoke, cool and delighted, from a long sweet +sleep. That scene I had already witnessed, of sunset through the room +beyond, was again before me; the same grey and purple haze hung over +the mountain, and the same rich sky from above lit up the +river-reaches; the dim old room was warm in the mellow light; the +folding-doors stood wide open, but on the steps where the marrer of +the whole had stood before, lo! the radiance revelling through her +hair; the rich light flushing warm through the outline of her face and +neck; the sweet repose of satisfaction and conscious care beaming +over her whole countenance; benign and beautiful stood Madeline +O'More, her finger on her lips. "She, too, thinks me a spy," I +muttered, in the bitterness of my heart, and hid my face upon +the pillow. But who can describe my delight when I heard her +well-remembered accents murmur beside me, "Oh no, believe me, indeed +I do not!" I looked up. She was covered with blushes--I felt them +reflected on my own cheek--there was a conscious pause. "Then you do +believe that I am what I have told you?" I said at last. "O yes! but +indeed you must forgive the error," she replied; and readily did I +admit its justifiableness, when she went on to tell me that a friend +had ridden a long journey to warn them against a person bearing my +name, and answering to my appearance--an apostate from their own +cause, and a noted spy, who, upon some vague information of their +retreat, had set out with the intention of discovering and betraying +them; and that their friend (in whom I at once recognised the priest I +had seen her father conduct from the house) had left them but a few +minutes before I arrived. + +It was now my turn to apologise and explain. She listened, with many +pleas of palliation for the indignities I had endured, to my account +of my business in Ireland, and the circumstances which had led me to +Glen----; but when I came to account for my appearance at Moyabel, +her confusion satisfied me that the motive was already known. I felt +suddenly conscious of having been dreaming about her; and I knew that +a fevered man's dream is his nurse's perquisite: dissimulation, after +what I knew and suspected to have passed, would have been as +impossible as repugnant. So then and there, among that mellow sunset +in the sick chamber, I confessed to her how my whole thoughts had been +haunted by her image, since the time when her father had hurried her +from the scene of our meeting; how I could not rest while any scheme, +how wild soever, promised me even a chance of again beholding her; how +this had induced me to snatch at the first opportunity of discovering +her, and had brought on that disastrous adventure which had ended in +my wound; but that I still endured another, which I feared would prove +incurable, if I might not live upon the hope (and I took her hand) of +gaining her to be my heart's physician constantly. + +Footsteps suddenly sounded in the passage. I released her hand, and +she hid her confusion, in a hasty escape through a side-door, just +before her father made his appearance at that of the hall. He advanced +with a frank expression of pleasure and concern; took his seat by my +bedside; congratulated me on the favourable issue of my illness, and +repeated those apologies and explanations which his daughter had +already made; adding that his first intention had been to detain me +prisoner, so that I could have no opportunity of betraying them until +their departure for France; but that the moment he had heard my +undisguised ravings, he perceived the injustice of which he had been +guilty; that Aleck's speech having returned soon after, (for the poor +fellow was so beaten that he could not say a word for three days--but +I have taken good care of him), another evidence, however unnecessary, +was afforded by his declaration; and that, therefore, a messenger was +immediately despatched to Knowehead, with private letters, explaining +our situation and its causes, and resting on the honour of my friend +for the security of all. The trust had been well reposed: Aleck, who +was able to go home in a few days, had come the night before (although +returned that morning) with the intelligence of the real spy having +applied for information to the old gentleman; but that, loyal subject +and zealous Protestant as he was, he had given him no more than a +civil indication of his door. All this he told with a gratified and +grateful air, and left me to a night of happy dreams. + +Next morning, however, he came to me, and in a serious, nay severe +manner, told me, that as I had divulged the motive which brought me +thither in my ravings, he felt it a duty to himself and to me, now +that I was established in my recovery, to inform me that, while he +forgave my intrusion on a privacy he had already begged me not to +break, he must desire that there should be no recurrence of attentions +to his daughter, which might distract a heart destined either for the +service of a free Catholic in regenerated Ireland, or for that of +Heaven in a nunnery. + +He had laid his hand upon the table, and it unconsciously rested upon +the seals of my watch. "Look," said I, "at these trinkets; I shall +tell you what they are, and let them be my answer. That rude silver +seal, with the arms and initials, was dug from my father's orchard, +along with the bones of his ancestor, who fell there beneath the +knives of free Catholics in --41, a greyhaired man, among the seven +bodies of his murdered wife and children. Look again at that curious +ring; it was worn by his son, the sole survivor of all that ancient +family who escaped, a maimed and famished spectre, out of Derry, after +the same party had driven him to eat his sword-belt for hunger. Look +once again at this more antique locket; it contains the hair of a +maternal ancestor, who perished for the faith among the fagots of +Smithfield; and look, here, at my own arm--that wound I received when +a child, from the chief of a 'Heart of Steel' banditti, who, under the +same banner, lighted our family's escape from rape and massacre, by +the flames of their own burning roof-tree; and yet I--I, every drop of +whose blood might well cry out for vengeance, when I see these +remembrancers of my wrongs in the hands of my wrongs' defender, do yet +take that hand, and long to call him father." + +I was here interrupted by the sudden entrance of a splashed and +wearied messenger: advancing with a military salute, he presented a +letter to Mr O'More. "Pardon me," he said, hastily tearing it open, +"this is on a matter of life and death." He read it in great +agitation; led the messenger aside; gave some hurried orders; took +down his arms from the mantelpiece; and drawing his belt, and fixing +in his pistols while he spoke, addressed me:--"Notwithstanding what +you have urged, my determination remains unaltered. I must leave +Moyabel, for I cannot now say how long: you shall be taken care of in +my absence: farewell, sir, farewell." He shook me by the hand, and +hurried away. I heard confusion in the house, and thought I could +distinguish the sweet voice of Madeline, broken by sobs at his +departure. A considerable party seemed to leave the house; for there +was a great trampling of horses in the courtyard, and two or three +mounted men passed by the windows. At length they were out of hearing, +and I determined not to lose another minute of the precious +opportunity. My clothes had been brought from Knowehead, and I was so +much recovered that I found myself able to rise, and set about +dressing immediately. My continental visions of beard were more than +realised; and if I failed to produce a shapely moustache, 'twas not +for lack of material. With fluttering expectation, I selected the most +graceful of the pantaloons; drew on my rings; arrayed myself in the +purple velvet slippers, cap, and brocade dressing-gown; took one +lingering last look at the little mirror, and descended into the +parlour. I drew a writing-table to me, and penned a long letter to +Knowehead, another to Redrigs, and had half-finished a sonnet to +Madeline. The day was nearly past, and she had not yet made her +appearance. + +For the first time the thought struck me, and that with a pang which +made me leap to my feet, that she had accompanied her father, and was +gone! gone, perhaps, to a nunnery in France! gone, and lost to me for +ever! "Hilloa, Peg!" and I thumped the floor with the poker, "Peg, I +say! as you would not have me in another fever, come here!" She came +to the door: the poor old creature's eyes were swollen and blood-shot: +she made a frightened curtsy to me as I stood, the papers crumpled up +in one hand, and the poker in the other.--"Peggy; oh, Peggy! where is +your young mistress?" + +"Save us, your honour! Ye are na weel; sall I fetch you a drap +cordial?" + +"Your mistress? your mistress? where is your young mistress?" + +"Oh, sir, dear! take anither posset, and gang to your bed." + +"To the devil I pitch your posset! where is your young mistress? where +is Madeline O'More?" + +She turned to escape: I leaped forward, and caught her by the +shoulder--"Since ye maun ken, then," she screamed, "by God's +providence, she's on the saut water wi' the Square, her father"--I +sank back upon the sofa--"wha," she continued in a soothing strain, +"has left me to take charge o' your honour's head till ye can gang +your lane: A' the ithers are awa, but wee Jeanie and mysell; and ye +wadna, surely your honour wadna gang to frichten twa lane weemen, by +dwamin' awa that gait, and deein' amang their hands? But save us, if +there's no auld Knowehead himsell, wi' that bauld sorner, Aleck +Lawther, on a sheltie at his heels, trottin' doon the causey!--Jeanie, +hoi, Jeanie, rin and open the yett." + +I lay back--sick--sick--sick. The old man, booted and spurred, strode +in-- + +"I'm thinkin', Willie, ye hae catched a cloured head?" + +"If I do not catch a strait-waistcoat, sir, it will be the less +matter." + +"Willie, man," said he, without noticing my comment, "she's weel awa, +and you are weel redd--but toss off thae wylie-coats and nightcaps, +and lap yoursell up in mensefu' braid-claith; for, donsie as you are, +you maun come alang wi' me to Knowehead--there's a troop o' dragoons +e'en now on Skyboe side, wi' your creditable namesake at their head, +and they'll herry Moyabel frae hearthstane to riggin' before sax hours +are gane--best keep frae under a lowin' king-post, and on the outside +o' the four wa's o' a prevost.--You're no fit to ride, man; and you +couldna thole the jolting o' a wheel-car--but never fear, we'll slip +you hame upon a feather-bed.--Nae denial, Willie--here, draw on your +coat: now, that's something purpose-like--cram thae flim-flams into a +poke, my bonny Jean, and fetch me a handkerchief to tie about his +head: Come, Willie, take my arm--come awa, come awa." + +I was passive in his hands, for I felt as weak as an infant. They +wrapped me up in greatcoats and blankets, and supported me to the +courtyard. I had hardly strength to speak to Aleck, whom I now saw for +the first time since the night of his disaster; the poor fellow's face +still bore the livid marks of his punishment, but he was active and +assiduous as ever. A slide car or slipe--a vehicle something like a +Lapland sledge--was covered with bedding in the middle of the square: +a cart was just being hurried off, full of loose furniture, with Peggy +and Jenny in front. I was placed upon my hurdle, apparently as little +for this world as if Tyburn had been its destination: Knowehead and +Aleck mounted their horses, took the reins of that which drew me at +either side, and hauled me off at a smart trot along the smooth turf +of the grass-grown causeway. The motion was sliding and agreeable, +except on one occasion, when we had to take a few perches of the +highway in crossing the river; but when we struck off into the green +horse-track again, and began to rise and sink upon the ridges of the +broad lea, I could have compared my humble litter to the knight's +horses, which felt like proud seas under them. From the sample I had +had of that part of the country on the night of the flood, I had +anticipated a "confused march forlorn, through bogs, caves, fens, +lakes, dens, and shades of death," but was agreeably surprised to see +the Longslap Moss a simple stripe along the water's edge, lying dark +in the deepening twilight, a full furlong from our path, which, +instead of weltering through the soaked and spungy flats that I had +expected, wound dry and mossy up the gentle slope of a smooth green +hill; so that, although the night closed in upon us ere half our +journey was completed, we arrived at Knowehead without farther +accident than one capsize (the beauty of slipping consists in the +impossibility of breaks down), and so far from being the worse of my +"sail," I felt actually stronger than on leaving the Grange; +nevertheless I was put to bed, where I continued for a week. + +Next day brought intelligence of the wrecking of Moyabel in the +search for the rebel general and the sick Frenchman: our measures had +been so well taken, however, that no suspicion attached itself to +Knowehead. I learned from Peggy, so soon as her lamentations subsided, +that Mr O'More was a south country gentleman, who had married her +master's sister, and that Madeline was his only child; that this had +been his first visit to the north since the death of his lady, which +had taken place at her brother's house, but that Moyabel had long been +the resort of his friends and emissaries. The old woman left Knowehead +that night, and I learned no more; for Jenny (who remained with Miss +Janet) had been so busy with her care of Aleck during his illness, and +afterwards so unwell herself, that she knew nothing more than I. + +Another week completely re-established me in my strength; but the +craving that had never left me since the last sight of Madeline, kept +me still restless and impatient. Meanwhile Aleck's courtship had +ripened in the golden sun of matrimony, and the wedding took place on +the next Monday morning. He was a favourite with all at Knowehead, and +the event was celebrated by a dance of all the young neighbours. After +witnessing the leaping and flinging in the barn for half an hour, I +retired to Miss Janet's parlour, where I was lolling away the evening +on her high-backed sofa, along with the old gentleman, who, driven +from his capitol in the kitchen by the bustle of the day, had +installed himself in the unwonted state of an embroidered arm-chair +beside me. We were projecting a grand coursing campaign before I +should leave the country, and listening to the frequent bursts of +merriment from the barn and kitchen, when little Davie came in to tell +his master that "Paul Ingram was speerin' gain he wad need ony tey, or +brendy, or prime pigtail, or Virginney leaf." + +"I do not just approve of Paul's line of trade," observed the old man, +turning to me; "for I'm thinking his commodities come oftener frae the +smuggler's cave than the king's store; but he's a merry deevil, Paul, +and has picked up a braw hantle o' mad ballads ae place and another; +some frae Glen---- here, some frae Galloway, some frae the Isle o' +Man, and some queer lingos he can sing, that he says he learned frae +the Frenchmen." + +A sudden thought struck me. "I will go out and get him to sing some to +me, sir."--"Is Rab Halliday there, Davie?" inquired he. + +"Oh aye, sir," said Davie; "it's rantin' Rab that ye hear roarin' e'en +noo." + +"Weel, tell him, Davie, that here's Mr William, wha has learned to +speel Parnassus by a step-ladder, has come to hear the sang he made +about my grandmither's wooin'." + +Accordingly Davie ushered me to the kitchen. I could distinguish +through the reaming fumes of liquor and tobacco about half a dozen of +carousers; they were chorusing at the full stretch of their lungs the +song of a jolly fellow in one corner, who, nodding, winking, and +flourishing his palms, in that state of perfect bliss "that good ale +brings men to," was lilting up + + "Till the house be rinnin' round about, + It's time enough to flit; + When we fell, we aye gat up again, + And sae will we yet!" + +This was ranting Rab Halliday--they all rose at my entrance; but being +able to make myself at home in all companies, I had little difficulty +in soon restoring them to their seats and jollity; while Davie +signified what was to him intelligible of his master's wishes to the +tuneful ranter. Rab, after praying law for any lack of skill that +might be detected by my learning, sang with great humour the following +verses, which he entitled + + THE CANNY COURTSHIP. + + Young Redrigs walks where the sunbeams fa'; + He sees his shadow slant up the wa'-- + Wi' shouthers sae braid, and wi' waist sae sma', + Guid faith he's a proper man! + He cocks his cap, and he streeks out his briest; + And he steps a step like a lord at least; + And he cries like the deevil to saddle his beast, + And aff to court he's gaun. + + The Laird o' Largy is far frae hame, + But his dochter sits at the quiltin' frame, + Kamin' her hair wi' a siller kame, + In mony a gowden ban': + Bauld Redrigs loups frae his blawin' horse, + He prees her mou' wi' a freesome force-- + "Come take me, Nelly, for better for worse, + To be your ain guidman." + + "I'll no be harried like bumbee's byke-- + I'll no be handled unleddy like-- + I winna hae ye, ye worryin' tyke, + The road ye came gae 'lang!" + He loupit on wi' an awsome snort, + He bang'd the fire frae the flinty court; + He's aff and awa' in a snorin' sturt, + As hard as he can whang. + + It's doon she sat when she saw him gae, + And a' that she could do or say, + Was--"O! and alack! and a well-a-day! + I've lost the best guidman!" + But if she was wae, it's he was wud; + He garr'd them a' frae his road to scud; + But Glowerin' Sam gied thud for thud, + And then to the big house ran. + + The Glowerer ran for the kitchen-door; + Bauld Redrigs hard at his heels, be sure, + He's wallop'd him roun' and roun' the floor, + As wha but Redrigs can? + Then Sam he loups to the dresser-shelf-- + "I daur ye wallop my leddy's delf; + I daur ye break but a single skelf + Frae her cheeny bowl, my man!" + + But Redrigs' bluid wi' his hand was up; + He'd lay them neither for crock nor cup, + He play'd awa' wi' his cuttin' whup, + And doon the dishes dang; + He clatter'd them doon, sir, raw by raw; + The big anes foremost, and syne the sma'; + He came to the cheeny cups last o' a'-- + They glanced wi' goud sae thrang! + + Then bonny Nelly came skirlin' butt; + Her twa white arms roun' his neck she put-- + "O Redrigs, dear, hae ye tint your wut? + Are ye quite and clean gane wrang? + O spare my teapot! O spare my jug! + O spare, O spare my posset-mug! + And I'll let ye kiss, and I'll let ye hug, + Dear Redrigs, a' day lang." + + "Forgie, forgie me, my beauty bright + Ye are my Nelly, my heart's delight; + I'll kiss and I'll hug ye day and night, + If alang wi' me you'll gang." + "Fetch out my pillion, fetch out my cloak, + You'll heal my heart if my bowl you broke." + These words, whilk she to her bridegroom spoke, + Are the endin' o' my sang. + +I got this copy of his song since, else I could not have recollected +it from that hearing; for I was too impatient to put the plan into +execution for which I had come out, to attend even to this +immortalising of an ancestor. + +I knew Ingram at once by his blue jacket, and the corkscrews which +bobbed over each temple as he nodded and swayed his head to the +flourishes of "the gaberlunzie man" (the measure which Halliday had +chosen for his words); so when the song was finished, and I had drank +a health to Robin's muse, I stepped across to where he sat, and said I +wished to speak with him alone. He put down his jug of punch, and +followed me into my own room. I closed the door and told him, that as +I understood him to be in the Channel trade, I applied to know if he +could put me on any expeditious conveyance to the coast of France. +"Why, sir," said he, "I could give you a cast myself in our own tight +thing, the Saucy Sally, as far as Douglas or the Calf; and for the +rest of the trip, why there's our consort, the Little Sweep, that will +be thereabouts this week, would run you up, if it would lie in your +way, as far as Guernsey, or, if need be, to Belle Isle." "Belle Isle!" +repeated I, with a start; for the words of O'More to the priest came +suddenly upon my recollection, "Has any boat left this coast or that +of Man for Belle Isle within the last fortnight?" "Not a keel, sir; +there's ne'er a boat just now in the Channel that could do it but +herself--they call her the Deil-sweep, sir, among the revenue sharks; +for that's all that they could ever make of her. She is the only boat, +sir, as I have said, and if so be you are a gentleman in distress, you +will not be the only one that will have cause to trust to her--but, +d--n it (he muttered), those women--well, what of that?--Mayn't I +lend a hand to save a fine fellow for all that?--but harkye, brother, +this is all in confidence." + +"Your confidence shall not be abused," whispered I, hardly able to +breathe for eager hope--the female passengers--the desire for +exclusion--the only boat that fortnight, all confirmed me. "Mr O'More +and I are friends; fear neither for him nor yourself; let me only get +first on board, and I can rough it all night on deck, as many a time +I've done before: his daughter and her woman can have your cabin to +themselves." It was a bold guess, but all right; he gaped at me for a +minute in dumb astonishment; then closing one hand upon the earnest +which I here slipped into it, drew the other across his eyes, as if to +satisfy himself that he was not dreaming, and in a respectful tone +informed me that they intended sailing on the next night from Cairn +Castle shore. "We take the squire up off Island Magee, sir; he has +been lying to on the look-out for us there for the last ten days; so +that if you want to bear a hand in getting the young lady aboard, it +will be all arranged to your liking." + +During this conversation, my whole being underwent a wonderful change; +from the collapsing sickness of bereavement, I felt my heart and limbs +expand themselves under the delightful enlargement of this new spring +of hope: I shook Ingram by the hand, led him back to the kitchen, and +returned turned to the old man with a step so elated, and with such a +kindling of animation over my whole appearance, that he exclaimed, in +high glee, "Heard ye ever sic verses at Oxford, Willie? Odd! man, Rab +Halliday is as good as a dozen o' Janet's possets for ye; I'll hae him +here again to sing to ye the morn's e'en." + +"He is a very pleasant fellow--a very pleasant fellow indeed, sir; but +I fear I shall not be able to enjoy his company to-morrow night, as I +purpose taking my passage for the Isle of Man in Ingram's +boat."--"Nonsense, Willy, nonsense; ye wadna make yoursell 'hail, +billy, weel met,' wi' gallows-birds and vagabonds--though, as for Paul +himsell"----"My dear sir, you know I have my passport, and need not +care for the reputation of my hired servants; besides, sir, you know +how fond I am of excitement of all sorts, and the rogue really sings +so well"---- + +"That he does, Willy. Weel, weel--he that will to Cupar maun to +Cupar!" and so saying, he lifted up his candle and marched off the +field without another blow. + +Ingram and I started next evening about four o'clock, attended by +little Davie, who was to bring back the horse I rode next day; Ingram, +whose occupation lay as much on land as sea, was quite at home on his +rough sheltie, which carried also a couple of little panniers at +either side of the pommel, well-primed with samples of his contraband +commodities. We arrived a little after nightfall in Larne, where we +left Davie with the horses, while Ingram, having disposed of his pony, +joined me on foot, and we set off by the now bright light of the moon +along the hills for Cairn Castle. + +During the first three or four miles of our walk, he entertained me +with abundance of songs echoed loud and long across the open mountain; +but when we descended from it towards the sea, we both kept silence +and a sharp look-out over the unequal and bleak country between. We +now got among low clumpy hills and furzy gullies, and had to pick our +steps through loose scattered lumps of rock, which were lying all +round us white in the clear moonshine, like flocks of sheep upon the +hill-side. The wind was off the shore, and we did not hear the noise +of the water till, at the end of one ravine, we turned the angular jut +of a low promontory, and beheld the image of the moon swinging in its +still swell at our feet. + +Ingram whistled, and was answered from the shore a little farther on; +he stepped out a few paces in advance, and led forward; presently I +saw a light figure glide out of the shadow in front and approach us. + +"Vell, mine Apostéle Paul, vat news of the Ephesiens?" + +"All right, Munsher Martin, and here is another passenger." + +He whispered something, and the little Frenchman touched his hat with +an air, and expressed, in a compound of Norman-French, Manx, and +English, the great pleasure he had in doing a service to the +illustrious cavalier, the friend of liberty. Hearing a noise in front, +I looked up and discerned the light spar of a mast peeping over an +intervening barrier of rock; we wound round it, and on the other side +found a cutter-rigged boat of about eighteen tons hauled close to the +natural quay, with her mainsail set and flapping heavily in the night +wind. Here we met another seaman. In ten minutes we were under way; +the smooth groundswell running free and silent from our quarter, and +the boat laying herself out with an easy speed, as she caught the +breeze freshening over the lower coast. The Saucy Sally was a +half-decked cutter (built for a pleasure-boat in Guernsey), and a +tight thing, as Ingram had said. I did not go into the cabin, which +occupied all the forecastle, but wrapping myself in my cloak, lay down +along the stern-sheets, and feigned to be asleep, for I was so excited +by the prospect of meeting Madeline, that I could no longer join in +the conversation of the crew. In about half an hour I heard them say +that we were in sight of Island Magee, and rising, beheld it dark over +our weather-bows. I went forward and continued on the forecastle in +feverish impatience as we neared it. The breeze stiffened as we +opened Larne Lough, and the Saucy Sally tossed two or three +sprinklings of cold spray over my shoulders, but I shook the water +from my cloak and resumed my look-out. At last we were within a +quarter of a mile of the coast, and a light appeared right opposite; +we showed another and lay to. With a fluttering heart I awaited the +approach of a boat. Twice I fancied I saw it distinguish itself from +the darkness of the coast, and twice I felt the blank recoil of +disappointment. At last it did appear, dipping distinct from among the +rocks, and full of people. They neared us; my heart leapt at every jog +of their oars in the loose thewels; for I could now plainly discern +two female figures, two boatmen, and a muffled man in the stern. All +was now certain; they shot alongside, laid hold of the gunnel, and I +heard O'More's voice call on Ingram to receive the lady. I could +hardly conceal my agitation as she was lifted on deck, but had no +power to advance; Nancy followed, and O'More himself leaped third on +deck--the boat shoved off, the helmsman let the cutter's head away, +the mainsail filled, and we stood out to sea. + +Here I was then, and would be for four-and-twenty hours at the least, +by the side of her whom a little time before I would have given years +of my life to have been near but for a minute; yet, with an +unaccountable irresolution, I still delayed, nay, shrunk from, the +long-sought interview. It was not till her father had gone into the +little cabin to arrange it for her reception, and had closed the door +between us, that I ventured from my hiding-place behind the foresail, +and approached her where she stood gazing mournfully over the boat's +side at the fast passing shores of her country. I whispered her name; +she knew my voice at the first syllable, and turned in amazed delight; +but the flush of pleasure which lit up her beautiful features as I +clasped her hand, had hardly dawned ere it was chased by the rising +paleness of alarm. I comforted her by assurances of eternal love, and +vowed to follow her to the ends of the earth in despite of every human +power. We stood alone; for two sailors were with O'More and the girl +in the cabin, and the third, having lashed the tiller to, was fixing +something forward. We stood alone I cannot guess how long--time is +short, but the joy of those moments has been everlasting. We exchanged +vows of mutual affection and constancy, and I had sealed our blessed +compact with a kiss, witnessed only by the moon and stars, when the +cabin-door opened, and her father stood before me. I held out my hand, +and accosted him with the free confidence of a joyful heart. The +severe light of the moon sharpened his strong features into startling +expression, as he regarded me for a second with mingled astonishment +and vexation. He did not seem to notice my offered hand; but, saying +something in a low cold tone about the unexpected pleasure, turned to +the steersman, and demanded fiercely why he had not abided by his +agreement? The sailor, quailing before the authoritative tone and +aspect of his really noble-looking questioner, began an exculpatory +account of my having been brought thither by Ingram, to whom he +referred. + +Bold Paul was beginning with "Lookee, Squire, I'm master of this same +craft," when I interrupted him by requesting that he would take his +messmates to the bows, and leave the helm with me, as I wished to +explain the matter myself in private. He consigned his soul, in set +terms, to the devil, if any other man than myself should be allowed to +make a priest's palaver-box of the Saucy Sally, and sulkily retired, +rolling his quid with indefatigable energy, and squirting jets of +spittle half-mast high. + +O'More almost pushed the reluctant Madeline into the cabin, closed the +door, and addressed me.--"To what motive am I to attribute your +presence here, Mr Macdonnell?" + +"To one which I am proud to avow, the desire of being near the object +of my sole affections--your lovely daughter; as well, sir, as from a +hope that I may still be able to overcome those objections which you +once expressed." + +He pointed over the boat's side to the black piled precipices of +the shore, as they stood like an iron wall looming along the +weather-beam.--"Look there, sir; look at the Bloody Gobbins, and hear +me--When a setting moon shall cease to fling the mourning of their +shadows over the graves of _my_ butchered ancestors, and when a +rising sun shall cease to bare before abhorring Christendom"---- + +"Luff, sir, luff," cried Ingram, from the forecastle. + +"Come aft yourself, Paul," I replied in despair and disgust. + +O'More retired to the cabin bulkhead, and leaned against the door, +without completing his broken vow. Ingram took the helm, and I sat +down in silence. Paul saw our unpleasant situation, and ceasing to +remember his own cause for ill-humour, strove to make us forget ours. +He talked with a good deal of tact, but with little success, for the +next half hour. O'More remained stern and black as the Gobbins +themselves, now rapidly sinking astern, while the coast of Island +Magee receded into the broad Lough of Belfast upon our quarter. The +moon was still shining with unabated lustre, and we could plainly +discern the bold outline of the hills beyond; while the coast of Down +and the two Copelands lay glistening in grey obscure over our +starboard bow. No sail was within sight; we had a stiff breeze with a +swinging swell from the open bay; and as the cutter lay down and +showed the glimmer of the water's edge above her gunnel, the glee of +the glorying sailor burst out in song:-- + + Haul away, haul away, down helm, I say; + Slacken sheets, let the good boat go.-- + Give her room, give her room for a spanking boom; + For the wind comes on to blow-- + (Haul away!) + For the wind comes on to blow, + And the weather-beam is gathering gloom, + And the scud flies high and low. + + Lay her out, lay her out, till her timbers stout, + Like a wrestler's ribs, reply + To the glee, to the glee of the bending tree, + And the crowded canvass high-- + (Lay her out!) + And the crowded canvass high; + Contending, to the water's shout, + With the champion of the sky. + + Carry on, carry on; reef none, boy, none; + Hang her out on a stretching sail: + Gunnel in, gunnel in! for the race we'll win, + While the land-lubbers so pale-- + (Carry on!) + While the land-lubbers so pale + Are fumbling at their points, my son, + For fear of the coming gale! + +All but O'More joined in the chorus of the last stanza, and the bold +burst of harmony was swept across the water like a defiance to the +eastern gale. Our challenge was accepted. "Howsomever," said Ingram, +after a pause, and running his glistening eye along the horizon, "as +we are not running a race, there will be no harm in taking in a +handful or two of our cloth this morning; for the wind is chopping +round to the north, and I wouldn't wonder to hear Sculmarten's +breakers under our lee before sunrise." + +"And a black spell we will have till then, for when the moon goes down +you may stop your fingers in your eyes for starlight," observed the +other sailor, as he began to slacken down the peak halliards; while +they brought the boat up and took in one reef in the mainsail; but the +word was still "helm a-larboard," and the boat's head had followed the +wind round a whole quarter of the compass within the next ten minutes. +We went off before the breeze, but it continued veering round for the +next hour; so that when we got fairly into the Channel, the +predictions of the seamen were completely fulfilled; for the moon had +set, the wind was from the east, and a hurrying drift had covered all +the sky. + +We stood for the north of Man; but the cross sea, produced by the +shifting of the wind, which was fast rising to a gale, buffeted us +with such contrary shocks, that after beating through it almost till +the break of day, we gave up the hope of making Nesshead, and, +altering our course, took in another reef, and ran for the Calf. + +But the gale continued to increase; we pitched and plunged to no +purpose; the boat was going bows in at every dip, and the straining of +her timbers as she stooped out to every stretch, told plainly that we +must either have started planks or an altered course again. The +sailors, after some consultation, agreed on putting about; and, for +reasons best known to themselves, pitched upon Strangford Lough as +their harbour of refuge. Accordingly, we altered our course once more, +and went off before the wind. Day broke as we were still toiling ten +miles from the coast of Down. The grey dawn showed a black pile of +clouds overhead, gathering bulk from rugged masses which were driving +close and rapid from the east. By degrees the coast became distinct +from the lowering sky; and at last the sun rose lurid and large above +the weltering waters. It was ebb tide, and I represented that +Strangford bar at such a time was peculiarly dangerous in an eastern +gale; nevertheless the old sailor who was now at the helm insisted on +standing for it. When we were yet a mile distant, I could distinguish +the white horses running high through the black trembling strait, and +hear the tumult of the breakers over the dashing of our own bows. +Escape was impossible; we could never beat to sea in the teeth of such +a gale; over the bar we must go, or founder. We took in the last reef, +hauled down our jib, and, with ominous faces, saw ourselves in ten +minutes more among the cross seas and breakers. + +The waters of a wide estuary running six miles an hour, and meeting +the long roll of the Channel, might well have been expected to produce +a dangerous swell; but a spring-tide, combining with a gale of wind, +had raised them at flood to an extraordinary height, and the violence +of their discharge exceeded our anticipations accordingly. We had +hardly encountered the first two or three breakers, when Ingram was +staggered from the forecastle by the buffet of a counter sea, which +struck us forward just as the regular swell caught us astern; the boat +heeled almost on her beam ends, and he fell over the cabin door into +the hold; the man at the helm was preparing for the tack as he saw his +messmate's danger, and started forward to save him: he was too late; +the poor fellow pitched upon his head and shoulders among the ballast; +at the same instant the mainsail caught the wind, the boom swung +across, and striking the helmsman on the back of the neck, swept him +half overboard, where he lay doubled across the gunnel, with his arms +and head dragging through the water, till I hauled him in. He was +stunned and nearly scalped by the blow. Ingram lay moaning and +motionless; the boat was at the mercy of the elements, while I +stretched the poor fellows side by side at our feet. I had now to take +the helm, for the little Frenchman was totally ignorant of the coast; +he continued to hand the main-sheet; and O'More, who all night long +had been sitting in silence against the cabin bulkhead, leaped +manfully upon the forecastle and stood by the tackle there. We had +now to put the boat upon the other tack, for the tide made it +impossible to run before the wind. O'More belayed his sheet, and, +as the cutter lay down again, folded his arms and leaned back on the +weather-bulwark, balancing himself with his feet against the skylight. + +The jabble around us was like the seething of a caldron; for the waves +boiled up all at once, and ran in all directions. I was distracted by +their universal assault, and did not observe the heaviest and most +formidable of all, till it was almost down upon our broadside. I put +the helm hard down, and shouted with all my might to O'More--"Stand by +for a sea, sir--lay hold, lay hold." It was too late. I could just +prevent our being swamped by withdrawing our quarter from the shock, +when it struck us on the weather-bows, where he stood: it did not +break. Our hull was too small an obstacle: it swept over the +forecastle as the stream leaps a pebble, stove in the bulwark, lifted +him right up, and launched him on his back, with his feet against the +foresail. The foresail stood the shock a moment, and he grappled to +it, while we were swept on in the rush, like a sparrow in the clutches +of a hawk; but the weight of water bore all before it--the sheets were +torn from the deck, the sail flapped up above the water, and I saw him +tossed from its edge over the lee-bow. The mainsail hid him for a +moment; he reappeared, sweeping astern at the rate of fifteen knots an +hour. He was striking out, and crying for a rope; there was no rope +at hand, and all the loose spars had been stowed away. He could not be +saved. I have said that the sun had just risen: between us and the +east his rays shone through the tops of the higher waves with a pale +and livid light; as O'More drifted into these, his whole agonised +figure rose for a moment dusk in the transparent water, then +disappeared in the hollow beyond; but at our next plunge I saw him +heaved up again, struggling dim amid the green gloom of an +overwhelming sea. An agonising cry behind me made me turn my head. "O +save him, save him! turn the boat, and save him! O William, as you +love me, save my father!" It was Madeline, frantic for grief, +stumbling over, and unconsciously treading on the wounded men, as she +rushed from the cabin, and cast herself upon her knees before me. I +raised my eyes to heaven, praying for support; and though the clouds +rolled, and the gale swept between, strength was surely sent me from +above; for what save heavenly help could have subdued that fierce +despair, which, at the first sight of the complicated agonies around, +had prompted me to abandon hope, blaspheme, and die? I raised her +gently but firmly in my arms; drew her, still struggling and screaming +wild entreaties, to my breast, and not daring to trust myself with a +single look at her imploring eyes, fixed my own upon the course we had +to run, and never swerved from my severe determination, till the +convulsive sobs had ceased to shake her breast upon mine, and I had +felt the warm gush of her relieving tears instead; then my stern +purpose melted, and, bending over the desolate girl, I murmured, "Weep +no more, my Madeline, for, by the blessing of God, I will be a father +and a brother to you yet!" Blessed be he who heard my holy vow!--when +I looked up again we were in the smooth water. + +Drenched, numbed, and dripping all with the cold spray, one borne +senseless and bloody in his messmate's arms, we climbed the quay of +Strangford. The threatened tempest was bursting in rain and thunder; +but our miserable plight had attracted a sympathising crowd. No +question was asked of who? or whence? by a generous people, to wounded +and wearied men and helpless women; till there pressed through the +ring of bystanders a tall fellow, with a strong expression of +debasement and desperate impudence upon his face, that seemed to say, +"Infamy, you have done your worst." He demanded our names and +passports, and arrested us all in the king's name, almost in the same +breath. I struck him in the face with my fist, and kicked him into the +kennel. No one attempted to lift him; but he scrambled to his feet, +with denunciations of horrible revenge. He was hustled about by the +crowd till he lost temper, and struck one of them. He had now rather +too much work upon his hands to admit of a too close attention to us; +three or four persons stepped forward and offered us protection. + +Ingram and the other wounded sailor were taken off, along with the +Frenchman, by some of their own associates; while a respectable and +benevolent looking man addressed me, "I am a Protestant, sir, and an +Orangeman; but put these ladies under my protection, and you will not +repent your confidence; for, next to the Pope, I love to defeat an +informer;" and he pointed with a smile to our arrester, who was just +measuring his length upon the pavement. + +"Is his name Macdonnell?" asked I. + +"The same, sir," he replied; "but come away with me before he gets out +of my Thomas's hands, and I will put your friends out of the reach of +his." + +I shall never be able to repay the obligation I owe to this good man, +who received Miss O'More, with her attendant, into the bosom of his +family, till I had arranged her journey to the house of a female +relative, whence, after a decent period of mourning, our marriage +permitted me to bear her to my own. + + + + +BEN-NA-GROICH. + +[_MAGA._ MARCH 1839.] + + +A plain dark-coloured chariot, whose dusty wheels gave evidence of a +journey, stopped to change horses at Fushie Bridge, on the 7th of +August 1838. The travellers seemed listless and weary, and remained, +each ensconced in a corner of the carriage. The elder was a lady of +from forty to fifty years of age--thin, and somewhat prim in her +expression, which was perhaps occasioned by a long upper lip, rigidly +stretched over a chasm in her upper gum, caused by the want of a front +tooth. Her companion had taken off her bonnet, and hung it to the +cross strings of the roof. The heat and fatigue of the journey seemed +to have almost overcome her, and she had placed her head against the +side, and was either asleep or very nearly so. It is impossible to say +what her appearance might be when her eyes were open; all that we can +say under present circumstances is, that the rest of her features +were beautifully regular--that what appeared of her form was +unimpeachable--that her hair was disengaged from combs and other +entanglement, and floated at its own sweet will over cheek, and neck, +and shoulders. In the rumble were seated two servants, who seemed to +have a much better idea of the art of enjoying a journey than the +party within. A blue cloak, thrown loosely over the gentleman's +shoulders, succeeded (as was evidently his object) in concealing a +certain ornamental strip of scarlet cloth that formed the collar of +his coat; but revealed, at the same time, in spite of all the efforts +he could make to draw up the apron, the upper portion of a pair of +velvet integuments, which, according to Lord Byron's description of +them, were "deeply, darkly, beautifully blue." The lady, reclining on +his arm, which was gallantly extended, so as to save her from bumping +against the iron, requires no particular description. She was dressed +in very gay-coloured clothes--had a vast quantity of different-hued +ribbons floating like meteors on the troubled air--from the top and +both sides of her bonnet; while a glistening pink silk cloak was in +correct keeping with a pair of expansive cheeks, where the roses had +very much the upperhand of the lilies. While Mistress Wilson, the +respectable landlady of the posting-house, was busy giving orders +about the horses, a carriage was heard coming down the hill at a +prodigious rate, and, with a sort of prophetic spirit, the old woman +knew in an instant that four horses more would be required; and then +she recollected as instantaneously that there would only be one pair +in the stable. Under these circumstances, she went directly to the +door of the plain chariot, whose inmates still showed no signs of +animation, and tried to set their minds at rest as to the further +prosecution of their journey--though, as they had no knowledge of the +possibility of any difficulty arising, they had never entertained any +anxiety on the subject. + +"Dinna be fleyed, my bonny burdy," she said, addressing the +unbonnetted young lady, who was still apparently dozing in the corner. +"Ye sal hae the twa best greys in Fussie stables; they'll trot ye in +in little mair than an hour; an' the ither folk maun just be doin' wi' +a pair, as their betters hae dune afore them." + +The young lady started up in surprise, and looked on the shrewd +intelligent features of the well-known Meg Dods, without understanding +a syllable of her address. + +"Haena ye got a tongue i' yer head, for a' ye're sae bonny?" continued +the rather uncomplimentary landlady--"maybe the auld wife i' the +corner'll hae mair sense. Hear ye what I said? ye sall hae the twa +greys--and Jock Brown to drive them; steady brutes a' the three, an' +very quick on the road." + +The elder lady gazed with lack-lustre eyes upon the announcer of these +glad tidings. + +"Greys, did you say?" she asked, catching at the only words she had +understood in the address. + +"Yes, did I. An' ye dinna seem over thankful for the same. I tell ye, +if ye hadna a woman o' her word to deal wi', ye wad likely hae nae +horses ava';--for here comes ane o' the things thae English idewuts +ca's a dug-cart that they come doon wi', filled inside an' out wi' +men, and dugs, an' guns--a' hurryin' aff to the muirs, an' neither to +haud nor bind if they haena four horses the minute they clap their +hands. They'll mak' a grand fecht, ye'll see, to get your twa greys; +but bide a wee--the twa greys ye sall hae, if it was the laird o' +Dalhousie himsell." + +And in fact in a very few seconds after the venerable hostess had +uttered these sybilline vaticinations, they received an exact +fulfiment-- + +"Four horses on!" exclaimed a voice from the last arrived vehicle, +which sorely puzzled the knowing ones of Fushie Brig to determine to +what genus or species it belonged. It was a long high carriage, fitted +for the conveyance both of men and luggage; and its capabilities in +both these respects were, on this occasion, very severely tried. On +the high driving-seat were perched two gentlemen, counterbalanced on +the dicky-seat behind by two sporting-looking servants. Inside, four +other gentlemen found ample room; while a sort of second body swinging +below, seemed to carry as many packages, trunks, and portmanteaus, as +the hold of a Leith smack. "Four horses on!" repeated the voice, which +proceeded from one of the sporting-looking servants on the seat +behind. + +"Blaw awa', my man," murmured Mrs Wilson; "it'll be a gey while or the +second pair comes out, for a' yer blawin'. Did ye want onything, +sirs?" she inquired, going up to the equipage. + +"To be sure," answered one of the gentlemen; "four horses +immediately--we're pushed for time." + +"Hech, sirs, so are we a', but time'll hae the best o't," replied the +hostess. "Ye maun just hae patience, sirs, for ye canna get on this +three hours." + +"Three hours!" exclaimed the gentleman; "why, what's the matter? Why +the deuce don't they get out the horses?" + +"Just for the same raison the Hielanman couldna' get out the bawbee," +replied the imperturbable Meg Dods; "the deil a plack was in his +pouch, puir body--an' sae, ye see, ye maun just stay still." + +"My lord," interposed one of the servants, touching his hat, "there's +a pair of very natty greys just coming out of the stable, and a pair +of bays with the harness on. I have seen them in stall"-- + +"Then let us have them, Charles, by all means," replied his lordship. + +"Yes, my lord." + +In a very short time high words were heard, from which it was evident +that by no means a complimentary opinion was entertained of the +gentlemanly conduct of the nobleman's dependant by the guard and +ornament of the plain chariot. + +"I say, my fine chap, you leave them there grey 'osses alone, will ye? +they ain't none o' yourn." + +"Quite a mistake, Johnny," replied the noble retainer, with a +supercilious glance at our friend, who was still perched high in air. + +"Oh! if ye come to go to be a-leaving off of names, old Timothy, +you'll find I've a way of writing my card with my five fingers here in +a text hand as no gentleman can mistake." + +While boasting of his literary acquirements, our Hector in livery +slewed himself down from the side of the red-cheeked Andromache, and +presented an appearance which apparently induced the gentleman in the +cockade to believe that the mistake might possibly be on his own side. + +"My lord is in a great hurry." + +"So is my ladies." + +"He must have four horses." + +"They must have two." + +"Lauds!" exclaimed the voice of the hostess, addressing three or four +stable-men who had been gaping spectators of this altercation, "bring +yer grapes and pitchin' forks here, an' lift this birkie wi' the +cockaud in his head back till his seat again. Tell Jock Brown to get +his boots on wi' a' his micht, and drive thir ladies to Douglas's +Hotel. An' I'm sayin', if ony o' thae English bit craturs, wi' their +clippy tongues, lays hand on bit or bridle o' ony o' my horses, dinna +spare the pitchin' fork--pit it through them as ye wad a lock strae; +I'll hae nae rubbery in my stable-yaird--I'm braw freens wi' the +Justice-Clerk." + +As affairs now appeared to grow serious, the Noah's Ark disembogued +the whole of its living contents, and a minute inspection of the +stables was commenced by the whole party. The ladies, in the mean +time, who had some confused idea that all was not right, were looking +anxiously from the windows; and if the elder lady had been an +attentive observer of her companion's looks, she would have seen a +flush of surprise suffuse her whole countenance as her eyes for an +instant rested on one of the gentlemen, who stood apparently an +uninterested spectator of the proceedings of his friends. A similar +feeling of amazement seemed to take possession of the champion of the +ladies, as he recognised the same individual. He left his antagonist +in the very middle of a philippic that ought to have sunk that +gentleman in his own estimation for ever, and walking hurriedly up to +the gentleman, who was still in what is called a reverie, said-- + +"Mr Harry!--hope ye're quite well, sir?" + +"What?--Copus?" replied the gentleman. "I'm delighted to see you +again. Who are you with just now?" + +"Family, sir--great family--equal to a duke, master says;--lady's-maid +uncommon pleasant, and all things quite agreeable." + +"Do you mean you are with a duke, Copus?" + +"Bless ye! no, sir, only equal to it. Master has bought a Scotch +chiefship, and we're all a-going down to take possession. Master made +all the tartans himself afore we left off trade." + +"I don't understand you--what is he?" + +"Smith, Hobbins, and Huxtable, they called us at Manchester,--great +way of business--but master, old Smith, has retired, and bought this +here Scotch estate, and makes us all call him Ben-na-Groich." + +"And his family, Copus?" + +"Only his old sister, and our young lady." + +"Well,--her name?" + +"Miss Jane. She's a niece, they say, of old Smith--Ben-na-Groich, I +means; but I don't b'lieve it. She's a real lady, and no mistake; and, +they say, will have a prodigious fortin. By dad, our old 'ooman takes +prodigious care of her, and is always a snubbing." + +"My dear Copus, say not a word of having seen me; you can be the +greatest friend I ever had in my life--you'll help me?" + +"Won't I?--that's all;--'clect all about Oriel, Mr Harry, and +Brussels? Ah! them was glorious days!" + +"We shall have better days yet, Copus, never fear." + +After a few minutes' conversation, the face of affairs entirely +changed. An apology was made by his lordship in person for the mistake +of his servant; that individual was severely reprimanded, greatly to +the satisfaction of Mr Copus; the two greys were peaceably yoked to +the plain chariot, and Jock Brown cracked his whip and trotted off at +a pace that set loose the tongues of all the dogs in the village. + +"What a barbarous set of people these Lowlanders are!" exclaimed the +senior lady--"so different from the brave and noble mountaineers. My +brother, the chieftain, is lucky in having such a splendid set of +retainers, and the tartan he invented is very becoming." + +"Vell, only to think of picking up my old master in a inn-yard!" +murmured Mr Copus, resuming his old position, and fixing his guarding +arm once more inside of the rumble-rail; "after all the rum goes we +had together at Oxford and Brussels. Nothing couldn't be luckier than +meeting a old friend among them Scotch savages. Do ye know, Mariar, +they haven't no breeches?" + +"For shame, Mr Copus!" + + +CHAPTER II. + +It must be evident to the most unpractised eye that the young +gentleman recognised by his old servant, and the pretty young lady in +the plain chariot, are the hero and heroine of this true story. And a +very fitting hero and heroine they would have been for a tale of far +higher pretensions than the plain unvarnished one which it is now our +duty to deliver. At present, all we can afford to tell the reader is +the fact of their being consumedly in love--that their love proved its +truth by not running very smoothly--and that, at the moment at which +we have brought them on the stage, they had had no communication for +several months before. The delight, therefore, of Henry Raymond on +recognising Jane Somers at Meg Dods's door, was equalled by his +surprise. He formed one of a party going down for the twelfth of +August to the moors of his friend, Lord Teysham; but the interview he +had had with his former domestic, Bill Copus, who had attended him +through his career at Oxford, and afterwards for a short time to the +Continent, somewhat cooled his zeal as a sportsman, by adding to his +hopes as a lover. The forced embargo laid on them by the hostess of +Fushie Bridge--for she was resolute in refusing to take them on with a +pair, and the cattle of the last stage were miserably tired--gave him +time to lay so much of his plans before his friends as he saw fit; +and, long before the second pair, which had been with a party to +Leith, had been refreshed, and were ready to start, his companions had +unanimously passed a resolution, "that it was incumbent on the members +of this excursion, collectively and individually, to give all possible +aid and assistance to Henry Raymond, in overthrowing the plans of all +persons of the name of Smith, or of any other name or denomination +whatever, and marrying a certain young lady of the name of Jane +Somers." + +But Lord Teysham, who united a great deal of good plain sense with his +buoyancy of spirits, took him quietly aside, and asked him-- + +"Why, in heaven's name, if he liked the girl, he didn't propose for +her in form?" + +"I have, my dear fellow," replied Harry, "and been refused." + +"By whom?" + +"The uncle. He wrote me a letter, saying my favour of 3d ult. had come +duly to hand, and he declined the offer as expressed therein,--and he +remains, sir, for self and niece, my obedient servant, Thomas Smith." + +"But had he a right to send you this letter?" + +"As guardian and uncle, I suppose he has; but as empowered by Jane +herself, none whatever." + +"But what's his objection?" + +"I've an elder brother." + +"Well, but your governor is a close old boy. He has metal enough for a +frigate besides his First-rate." + +"Yes; but he has told me a hundred times that tit for tat is the only +game he plays at--whatever fortune I bring he will pay me over the +same; if I marry for love, I must live on it. I could give you a score +or two more of his wise sayings." + +"Oh! thank ye--I've a good stock of my own; but why, in the name of +wonder, is he so distrustful? Can't he give you credit for being able +to choose, without bribing you, as it were, to look out for a +fortune?" + +"My father won't give credit to any one, especially to me; besides, he +has some little cause to be suspicious, for I've cleaned him out of a +trifle once or twice, in a way that makes him slow to bite now. I have +been on the point of marriage twice--once to old Crocky, and once to +Stulz." + +"How?" + +"Why, you see, last year I was dipt a little to the fishmonger, and +wrote a matrimonial letter home hinting at trousseaus and other +expenses, but mentioning no names. Nothing could please the old +gentleman so much, and it was on that occasion he sent me up the +paper, properly signed and attested, binding himself to give me guinea +for guinea whatever fortune I might get with my wife. A thousand he +sent me to do the needful in the way of jewels and other presents, set +me square with all the world." + +"And your progenitor was indignant at the disappointment?" + +"Oh! horribly; and unless it had been for a four-year bill of Stulz, I +shouldn't have troubled him so soon. But, as I was aware that Walter +knew of the obligation about my future fortune, I gave him to +understand that I was devoted to Miss Coutts, and that I had no reason +to despair. The very thought of such a thing was death both to the old +Jack Daw and the young. The squire and his eldest hope would have been +both in the poor-house if I had succeeded in carrying off the heiress, +and had kept them to their bond. So, after a week or two, I let them +off for their alarm, and a moderate tip. But all these things, my dear +Teysham, are over now. I am resolved to marry Jane Somers, and cut +both Stulz and Crocky." + +"If you can get her; but this old monster, with the uncommon name, has +her in his power. We must concert measures calmly, and we need not +despair. Will she herself help us?" + +"To be sure she will. Her new home must be misery to her. She is the +daughter of a sister of this old Smith, who, by some chance or other, +married a gentleman. She had a large fortune, which now belongs to +this only child. Colonel Somers has long been dead; the widow died a +few years ago. Jane was then educated in the house of another +guardian, a cousin of Colonel Somers, who lived near Bath; and, on his +lately being sent to India on a high command, she was claimed by this +Manchester hobgoblin, and torn from all her old friends." + +"Yourself among the rest?" + +"Just so--and now you know the whole story." + +In which respect, as we conclude, the reader is by this time on a par +with Lord Teysham, we quit the conclave at Fushie Bridge, and proceed +to the more splendid apartments in Douglas's Hotel. + +In the little drawing-room that looks to St Andrew Square, the evening +seemed to have passed stupidly enough. Aunt Alice, after yawning till +tea time, and scolding the greater part of that excellent time-killer, +had at last, at about nine o'clock, betaken herself to her bedroom, to +bring down the _Scottish Chiefs_--a book of manners and statistics +from which all her notions of the Scottish nation of an early period +were derived. _Waverley_, and the other northern stories of the +enchanter, supplied her with all her modern information; and not very +bad sources they would have been, if Miss Alice had been able to +understand the language in which they were written. But our noble +vernacular was to her a more impenetrable mystery than any revealed at +Eleusis, and it was, perhaps, on this account that she entertained so +decided a preference for the performance of Miss Porter. + +Jane Somers, whom we have hitherto represented as either listless or +sleeping, was sitting busily engaged in the somewhat unusual +occupation of thinking. And, as her thoughts were wandering about +Lansdowne, and a vast apartment, nobly lighted and filled with the +sounds of revelry by night, we need not be surprised if they +occasionally made a detour to the stables of Fushie Bridge, and the +sight that met her there. While musing deeply on these very +interesting subjects, our friend Copus entered the room and said-- + +"Please, mum, one of the vaiters here knows all about them there +places as master talks so much on; p'raps Miss Alice would like to +hear about 'em?" + +"I will tell my aunt, William," said the young lady, and returned to +her former musings. + +Copus retired and shut the door. + +A low voice at her ear as she again rested her head upon the arm of +the sofa, whispered "Jane!" + +On looking up she saw a tall man dressed in the usual waiter's +costume, with a large white cloth spread over his left arm. + +"Harry Raymond!" she said, but by some unaccountable instinct +speaking, even in the extremity of her surprise, in a tone of voice +that scarcely reached beyond the person she addressed,--"In Heaven's +name, what do you here?--in this disguise? Aunt Alice will detect you, +and then my situation will be made doubly miserable." + +"Then it _is_ miserable, Jane? Why do you submit to it? Ah, Jane, +you have forgotten, surely, the promises you gave me." + +"Forgetfulness seems to have existed on more sides than one. I have +been four months in Lancashire, and am indebted, at last, to a chance +meeting in Scotland for being recalled to your recollection." + +"Recollection!" echoed the young man, in the liveliness of his emotion +flinging the white cloth upon the floor. "Good heavens! what can have +put such a notion into your head? I have written letter upon letter, +both to you and your guardian--that is, after I found out where you +had gone to. My letters to you have not been answered; my letter to +him was answered by a refusal." + +"Harry, Harry, he never consulted me--I never"----but here she checked +herself, as perhaps she considered that the vehemence of her denial +might be construed into something very like an anxiety to retract it; +and whether this was the construction put on it or not, all we have to +say is, that on Miss Alice Smith slipping quietly into the room, with +a volume of the _Scottish Chiefs_ in her hand, she almost screamed, +as she saw a stranger seated on the sofa beside her niece, and holding +her very earnestly by the hand. + +"How! what's all this?" exclaimed Miss Alice. "Them Scotch is the +oddest people!" + +"Young lady nearly fainted, ma'am, at some accounts I was giving her +of the Highlands, ma'am. I'm waiter here, ma'am; and it's part of my +business, ma'am, to give all sorts of information to the English +families as they pass through the city, ma'am." + +"And what were you a-telling of to this young lady?" + +"Only a few incidents that occasionally happen in such wild scenes as +Fash-na-Cairn or Ben-na-Groich. They say the new Ben-na-Groich is an +English nobleman, with a very handsome sister;--I was merely telling +this young lady here what would probably be the fate of the beautiful +English-woman." + +"Gracious me!" exclaimed Miss Alice: "no wonder she fainted, poor +thing. What was it? for mercy's sake--what will they do to her?" + +"Fash-na-Cairn and all his clan have been at war for hundreds of years +with Ben-na-Groich. He will probably lead a foray upon the new chief +and carry off his sister." + +"Gracious! how old is this Fash-na-Cairn?" + +"About five-and-twenty. He has buried his fifteenth wife. They seldom +live more than three months." + +"Oh, Jane! Jane! we're lost--ruined--murdered! Waiter, _I'm_ the +sister of Ben-na-Groich, the victim of Fash-na-Cairn!" + +"Sorry, ma'am, I've alarmed you; but, perhaps, the friends of the clan +may gather round Ben-na-Groich, and succeed in capturing +Fash-na-Cairn." + +"And what then?" inquired Miss Alice, with a glimpse of hope. + +"Oh, then, it is the universal custom for the next in blood of the +chieftain, if she be unmarried, to cut off a finger of the prisoner +every day with an old hereditary hatchet kept for that purpose, till +he relents, and offers to make her his bride. If he does so before he +has lost the fingers of both hands, the feud is at an end." + +Miss Alice shuddered at the thoughts of cutting off a young man's +fingers. + +"Oh, waiter, this is dreadful news! I'm certain my poor brother knew +nothing of this when he purchased that horrible property. And what +will they do to _him_ if the furry succeeds?" + +"Tie him up in a wolf's skin, and hunt him to death with bloodhounds." + +"My poor brother, my poor brother! And he so fat, and subject to the +gout! But it's quite true--it's exactly what they did to the Bohemian +in _Quentin Durward_." + +"The present Fash-na-Cairn is a descendant of Le Balafré." + +"Oh, the monster! Have they no police at Ben-na-Groich, nor even +special constables?--no justice of peace?" + +"The only justice there is the dirk and claymore. But the young lady +seems revived now. Do you take supper? I'll send the chambermaid +directly, ma'am." + +When the historical and veracious waiter left the room, the long and +stately figure of Miss Alice sank slowly down upon the sofa. Jane +Somers's face was buried in her hands, and, by the tremors that ran +through her whole frame, and the redness of what was visible of her +cheeks and neck, it was evident that she was nearly in convulsions +with some powerfully suppressed feeling. The aunt, of course, +considered it to be the result of terror, whatever sager guess the +reader may make upon the subject, and gave way to a fit of dolorous +lamentation, that did not much contribute to her niece's recovery. + +"This comes of pride, and being one of the Scottish chiefs! To be +eaten up by bloodhounds, and have his sister carried off by +Fash-na-Cairn! Blue-Beard was a joke to him; fifteen wives, and only +five-and-twenty!--more than three per annum since he came of age! I +will put my brother on his guard the moment we arrive. This is truly a +barbarous country, and inhabited by nobody but murderers and +cannibals. Hobbins and Huxtable will be amazed to hear of their +partner's fate--and my brother never was partial to dogs!" + + +CHAPTER III. + +The castle of Ben-na-Groich was an old square building, situated in a +wild ravine of the North Highlands. It consisted of little more than a +high tower, of the rough stone of the country, at one corner of a low +mass of building, in many parts fallen into decay, and presenting an +appearance of strength and massiveness, on which any attempt at beauty +would have been thrown away. One side of the square had something more +of a habitable look than the remaining portions, from the circumstance +of its chimneys being newly rebuilt and tastefully whitewashed; the +roof also was repaired, and the windows fitted with glass--a luxury +which was considered useless by the inhabitants of the remaining three +sides--the said inhabitants consisting of two or three cows, half a +score of dogs, and one or two old representatives of Fingal, who clung +to their ancient habitation with a local attachment that would have +done honour to a cat. + +On the evening of the 10th of August, the parlour (for it was nothing +more, though bearing the nobler designation of the hall) was occupied +by a solitary gentleman of somewhat solid dimensions, who cheered his +loneliness by an occasional stir of the fire, and a frequent sip at a +tumbler of whisky-toddy. From time to time he went to the window and +listened. The cataract that rushed down the ravine would have drowned +any other external sound, even if such had existed; and with an +expression of increased ill humour after every visit to the window, +the gentleman renewed his former occupation of sipping the toddy and +stirring the fire. + +"Some folly or other of sister Alice," at last he grunted, "putting +off her time in Edinburgh. They ought to have been here by two +o'clock, and here it is eight, and not a sound of their wheels. That +cursed rivulet, to be sure, drowns everything else; 'tis worse than +our hundred-horse engine. I wish they were here, for being a Highland +chieftain is lonely work after all--no coffee-house--no club--no +newspaper. Hobbins was right enough in saying, 'I should soon tire;' +but tire or not, I am too proud to go back--no! Young Charles Hobbins +shall marry Jane Somers. I will settle them here for three or four +months in the summer, and we can all go back to his house for the rest +of the year. A real chieftain will be something to look at there, +though, in this cursed country, it does not seem to create much +admiration. What can be keeping sister Alice?" + +The gentleman walked to the window once more, and, opening it a little +way, shouted "Angus Mohr! Angus Mohr!" A feeble voice in a short time +answered from the dilapidated end of the building. + +"Her's comin'--fat ta teil does ta fat havril want?" Uncertain steps +not long after sounded along the creaking passage; the door was +opened, and presented to the impatient glance of the new proprietor +the visage of the grumbling Gael. He was an old decrepit man, with +bright ferocious eyes gleaming through his elf-locks. If he had +succeeded in making a "swap" of his habiliments with any scarecrow +south of the Tay, he would have had by far the best of the bargain, +for his whole toilet consisted in a coarse blue kilt or petticoat (for +it had none of the checkers that give a showy appearance to the kilt); +his stocking--for he only rejoiced in one--was wrinkled down almost +over his shoe; his coat was tattered and torn in every variety of +raggedness; and the filth, which was almost thick enough to cover the +glaring redness of his fortnight's beard, showed that Angus Mohr took +very little interest in the great question about the soap duties. "Fat +d'ye want, auld man?" inquired the visitor--"bringin' a poddy a' this +way to hear yer havers." + +"I merely wish to know, Angus, if there is any lad here you can send +to the side of the hill to see if a carriage is coming this way." + +"Tere's a laud oot in the byre," replied Angus; "but he's four score +year auld, an' has been teaf and blind since they took him to +Inferness jail for dirking the packman--teil tak their sowls for +pittin an honest man in ony such places--ye can pid him gang, if ye +like." + +"Why, if he's deaf and blind, Angus, he will be no great help." + +"Ten gang yersell; petter that than sitting filling yer pig wame wi' +whisky." + +"You shall have a glass, Angus, when I have tea brought in." + +"An' little thanks for it too. It's a small reward for comin' a' this +way through the cauld." + +"You may go now," said our fat friend, who was now more anxious to get +quit of his visitor than he had been for his appearance. + +"Teil a pit, teil a pit; no without the glass ye promised." + +"Be off, sir--be more respectful to your superiors. I am chief of this +clan." + +"He's ta chief!" cried old Angus, with a laugh that shot a chill into +the gallant chieftain's heart--"he's ta chief, is he? Hu! hu! hu!" + +"For goodness' sake, old man, go back to your own room. You shall have +a whole bottle; I'll send it to you directly." + +"Mak it a gallon, an' I'll gang. Mak it a gallon--it will do for twa +days." + +"Well, well, you shall have a gallon--only go," urged the now alarmed +proprietor; for Angus, perceiving his advantage, went on increasing in +his demands, and the self-elected chief began to perceive that his +subjects were not so obedient as he had expected; and vague ideas of +dirks and drownings occurred hurriedly to his mind. + +Angus, however, seemed for this time satisfied with his prize, and +resumed his way to the lower regions, muttering and growling as he +went, as if he had been a highly injured individual, and leaving the +fat gentleman in a very uncomfortable frame of mind. + +"Savages!" he murmured to himself; "by dad, we shall all be murdered +to a certainty. However, when all my own servants arrive, we shall +turn Angus and the blind old man out of the castle, and have things a +little better managed than this. But it certainly is very strange my +sister does not come! Our new man, Copus, is a stout fellow, and would +keep this old rascal Angus in order." + +"Fat, in the teil's name, are ye skirlin' there for?" said the sharp +voice of that uncourteous seneschal, as he put his shaggy head out of +the glassless orifice that served as a window; "are we a' teaf, think +ye?" + +"Hallo, old feller!" shouted the voice of Copus in reply, "leave off +your hinfernal jabber, and open the door, will ye?" + +"Open't yersell, and be t--d till ye," screamed the old man; "her's no +servant o' your's, I'm thinking." + +"William, isn't there never a bell?" inquired Miss Alice. + +"Bell!" re-echoed Mr Copus; "no, nor nothing else that a gentleman is +acquainted with; so here I thinks, ma'am, we must stay all night, for +that 'ere waterfall wont let nobody hear, and the old lunatic, as +peeps out of the hole in the wall, don't seem inclined to be civil." + +"Oh, for heaven's sake, William, try again--shout as loud as you are +able." + +"Hillo! hillo! hillo!" + +"What's the matter?" exclaimed the voice of the new proprietor +himself, at the same moment that his head appeared at the window. + +"Here we are, sir," replied Copus, "half-dead with fear and hunger, +and yet can't get into our own house for love or money." + +"I'll open the door myself," said the chieftain, and putting for the +nonce his newly acquired dignity into his pocket, he waddled through +the blustering passages, and turned the key with his own hand. + +"And this, then, is Ben-na-Groich Castle," sighed Miss Alice, as at +length she entered the parlour, leaning on the arm of her niece, and +looking round with a dolorous expression that would have furnished a +study for a picture of despair. + +"Even so," replied her brother, with an attempt at a joyous chuckle +that died off into a groan. + +"Oh, brother Ben--since Ben-na-Groich you insist on being called--oh, +brother Ben, what tempted you to buy such a place as this?--in such a +country?--among such hideous people?" + +"Partly a bad debt that the late owner was on our books--partly a +desire to be a regular chief, and astonish the Huxtables; but cheer +up, sister, things will be better in a day or two. We shall all put on +our tartans--cheer up you too, niece Jane, Charles Hobbins will be +here ere long; I've got some clothes ready for him too, and intend to +give him a black feather, and make him as good a downy-whistle as you +can desire." + +"Ah, brother!" interposed Miss Alice, "that would have been all very +well a short time ago, and it would have been delightful to see you +with your henchman, and jellies, and downy-whistles--but 'tis too late +now. Oh, brother! we are doomed to destruction. Copus will tell you +what he has seen this very day." + +"Why, what has he seen?--a ghost? they are wery superstitious, and +believe in the second sight." + +"Oh, first sight is quite enough for us. I saw them myself, though +they were at such a distance, I confess, I took them for a flock of +sheep." + +"Who?--what was it you saw?--speak, Copus." Thus adjured, our +travelled friend, with a face from which the expression of alarm had +not yet entirely subsided, commenced his narrative. + +"This morning, sir, when we first changed 'osses, I gets off the +rumble, sir, and leaves Mariar by herself. I goes into the small +house while the cattle was a-coming--a lonely place, sir, in the midst +of a moor, sir--and says I to the landlady, says I, 'here's a fine +day,' says I.' + +"'Make the most of it,' says she, 'you bid fair never to see another.' + +"'You're wery purlite,' says I; 'I don't think I'm in a dying +condition.' + +"'You carry your death-sentence at your breast,' says she, in a hollow +voice, like a drum with a hoarseness. + +"'What do you elude to,' says I?--and looking at my breast, sir, I +seed nothing in life but this here watch-ribbon as you gived me, of +your own tartan, you know, sir. + +"'Why wear ye the badge of the doomed Ben-na-Groich?' says she; 'know +you not that his web is spun?' + +"'There you're misinformed,' says I, 'ma'am; they're all done by +machinery.' + +"'Fool,' says she, quite in a passion, 'you've put yourself under a +ruined wall, and will be crushed to the dust by the tumble.' + +"'Wrong again,' says I, 'for master has had the whole building +repaired.' + +"'Blind mole, you will take no warning; perhaps because you don't +believe--see there!' And when I looked in to where she pointed, sure +enough I sees ten or a dozen stout chaps all a-sharping of their +swords upon great grinding-stones, at the other end of the house. + +"'What's all them fellows arter?' says I. + +"'Blood,' says she. + +"'Blood and wounds!' says I, 'I never heared such a woman. 'Clect, at +Oxford, hearing of an old Roman Catholic lady they called the Civil, +as spoke in that 'ere fashion, and was a dealer in books and +stationery, but, cuss me, if you doesn't beat her hollow. Whose blood +do you mean, ma'am?' + +"'His who calls himself Ben-na-Groich.'" + +"Oh, brother Thomas, did you ever hear of the like?" shuddered Miss +Alice. + +"A witch," said the gentleman thus appealed to, with a very +unsuccessful effort to appear disdainful. "What more, Copus?--did she +say anything else?" + +"Lots more, but I've nearly forgotten it." + +"How long did this detain you?" + +"Oh, he kept us waiting three or four hours," interposed Miss Alice; +"and when he came out, he couldn't have been more unsteady if he had +been a-drinking." + +"Yes, indeed, sir," added Maria, "his manners has been wery +extraordinary ever since; he has been either singing songs or sleeping +the whole way here." + +"The interview was a very strange one. Did any one else see the ten or +twelve men?" inquired the chief. + +"I seed one of them, sir," replied Maria--"a tall, handsome gentleman, +in a green frock coat. He went towards a horse that was tied near a +stack of fuel, just at the moment Copus came out." + +"Indeed? Did _you_ see him, Copus?" + +"Oh yes. I saw a figure something as she describes it. He is the +surest sign, the wild woman said, of something awful; they calls him +Kickan-drubb." + +"How strange!" repeated the chieftain, for the hundredth time--"a +regular conspiracy, and nobody here to defend us. The old tiger +down-stairs, Angus Mohr, would be the first to kill us if he could, +and what is to become of us, Heaven only knows." + +"Better let the horses stay at the door, sir; the carriage may be +useful," suggested Copus. + +"There's no time to be lost, indeed," replied the master; "but yet +what would be the use of flying? We are safer here than on the road." + +"No, no; let us go, brother Ben--brother Thomas, I mean--for do you +know that Fash-na-Cairn has vowed he'll have your life?" + +"Who the devil is Fash-na-Cairn? I never did him any harm." + +"But his clan has been opposed to Ben-na-Groich for hundreds of years. +He'll murder _you_--and _me_!--oh dear! oh dear! he'll force me to be +Mrs Fash-na-Cairn!" Here Miss Alice, overcome by her horrible +imaginings, covered her face with her hands; but whether she wept or +not history does not record. + +"Will ye no let a poddy sleep, and be d--d till ye?" again screamed +the shrill voice of Angus Mohr; "hoo mony mair o' ye southron prutes +is coming yammering to the door?" + +No answer, apparently, was given to this inquiry, for it was renewed +with bitterer tones than before. + +"Fat's a' this o't?--wi' swords and targets, an' the Stuart stripe in +yer plaids. Are ye come to harry ta auld fat man? huigh! hurra! Cot, +an Angus had a dirk himsell, he'd pit it up to the handle in ta fat +cairl's wame." + +While these words of encouragement or inquiry were issuing from the +wrathful native, a hurry of steps was heard upon the stairs--the clank +of steel, as if of the crossing of swords, sounded in the passage, and +with a shout, Fash-na-Cairn! Fash-na-Cairn! the parlour door was burst +open, and six wild figures in the full Highland costume rushed in upon +the deliberations of the new chieftain and his household. One of the +party seized the arm of Aunt Alice; another, with a flat-sided blow of +his claymore, laid our heroic friend Copus quietly on the floor; a +third took Jane Somers by the hand as she sat retired in a corner of +the room, and kept guard over her during the whole of the scene; while +the others placed themselves opposite the astonished Ben-na-Groich +himself, and pointed their weapons at his throat without saying a +word. + +"What do you want, gentlemen?" said that individual, with a tremor in +his voice that revealed the conflict within. "I'll give you a cheque +for as much as you require--fix your own price! What shall it be?" + +"Revenge!" said a hollow voice, proceeding from the chief of the +party. "I have you now in my power--the first time after a search of +eight hundred years." + +"What have I done? I never did you a mischief; if I did, I'm willing +to pay damages, assessed by your own surveyor." + +"Your ancestor, Fin of the crooked finger, stabbed my ancestor, +Kenneth of the flat nose, as he dined with him in this hall in the +reign of Fergus the First--give me back his blood." + +"Can't, indeed--haven't a drop of it, or any one else's blood; but I +will pay the worth of it--only spare my life." + +"Fash-na-Cairn may spare, but on one condition--you have a sister." + +"Oh no, indeed he hasn't, sir," said Miss Alice, "she died when she +was quite a baby." + +"Speak, dog," said the ruthless Fash-na-Cairn, kicking Copus as he lay +on the carpet; "who is the sister of Ben-na-Groich?" + +"That 'ere middle-aged lady with the red nose. That's our Miss Alice." + +"She must be Fash-na-Cairn's bride, or the wolf's skin must cover +Ben-na-Groich." + +"Oh dear, oh dear," sighed the disconsolate lady, "will nothing do but +that?" + +"Even that won't save him--I see another maiden." + +"Oh, I'm sure you are quite welcome to Jane Somers," said Miss Alice; +"my brother will give his consent directly--won't you, Thomas?" + +"Say the word, and I give you the hand of friendship." + +"What word?" asked the sorely puzzled Ben-na-Groich; "I will say +whatever is needful." + +"Does the maiden herself consent?--Bring hither the fair one of the +hill." + +Jane Somers was brought forward by her guard. + +"Now, Jane," began the Chieftain, "this here gentleman, Mr +Fash-na-Cairn, is anxious to marry some one of my family--are you +disposed to save me from murder and robbery by giving him your hand?" + +"To save you, my dear uncle, from anything unpleasant, there is no +sacrifice I would not make." + +"There's a dear, good girl," cried the Chieftain, delighted. "Take +her; you are very welcome; and when I get home, which will be in three +days from this time, I will send you some marriage presents. If you +have any fancy for this estate, you shall have it a bargain; in the +mean time let the rest of us get into the carriage, and be off as fast +as we can. Come, Copus, get up, you lazy hound--we must be off." + +"Off or not off, sir, I doesn't budge a foot. I stays with my young +missus." + +"Very well, only let us out of the house." While preparations were +making for a rapid retreat, one of the brigands went up to Jane Somers +and whispered, "my carriage is waiting on the bridge. Lady Teysham, +and the other ladies at my shooting-box, expect us every moment; so be +under no alarm." + +Jane bowed her head and yielded to her destiny, and since that time +has been as happy a specimen of the married life as is often to be met +with. Ben-na-Groich, on finding out the hoax, was too much afraid of +the ridicule of his friends to make it public; and to this hour, Aunt +Alice tells the most wondrous tales of the lawlessness of the +Highlands, and the blood-thirstiness and revenge characteristic of a +Scottish Chieftain. "Only to think of people cherishing a resentment +for nearly a thousand years, and only satisfying it at last by +marriage or murder. Oh, Mrs Hobbins, never believe what people says +when they talk to you about the foodle system--the starvation system +would be a much better name for it, for the whole country is made of +nothing but heath, and the gentlemen's clothes is no covering from the +cold; and besides all that, they are indelicate to a degree!"---- + + * * * * * + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor corrections have been made to correct obvious typesetters' +errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the +author's word and intent. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales from Blackwood, Volume 7, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30266 *** |