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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4946-0.txt b/4946-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b5743e --- /dev/null +++ b/4946-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12508 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Madame Midas + +Author: Fergus Hume + + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4946] +This file was first posted on April 3, 2002 +Last Updated: November 8, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +MADAME MIDAS + +Fergus Hume + + + + + + +PROLOGUE + + + + +CAST UP BY THE SEA + + +A wild bleak-looking coast, with huge water-worn promontories jutting +out into the sea, daring the tempestuous fury of the waves, which dashed +furiously in sheets of seething foam against the iron rocks. Two of +these headlands ran out for a considerable distance, and at the base of +each, ragged cruel-looking rocks stretched still further out into the +ocean until they entirely disappeared beneath the heaving waste of +waters, and only the sudden line of white foam every now and then +streaking the dark green waves betrayed their treacherous presence to +the idle eye. Between these two headlands there was about half a mile of +yellow sandy beach on which the waves rolled with a dull roar, fringing +the wet sands with many coloured wreaths of sea-weed and delicate +shells. At the back the cliffs rose in a kind of semi-circle, black and +precipitous, to the height of about a hundred feet, and flocks of white +seagulls who had their nests therein were constantly circling round, or +flying seaward with steadily expanded wings and discordant cries. At the +top of these inhospitable-looking cliffs a line of pale green betrayed +the presence of vegetation, and from thence it spread inland into +vast-rolling pastures ending far away at the outskirts of the bush, +above which could be seen giant mountains with snow-covered ranges. Over +all this strange contrast of savage arid coast and peaceful upland there +was a glaring red sky--not the delicate evanescent pink of an ordinary +sunset--but a fierce angry crimson which turned the wet sands and dark +expanse of ocean into the colour of blood. Far away westward, where +the sun--a molten ball of fire--was sinking behind the snow-clad peaks, +frowned long lines of gloomy clouds--like prison bars through which the +sinking orb glowed fiercely. Rising from the east to the zenith of the +sky was a huge black cloud bearing a curious resemblance to a gigantic +hand, the long lean fingers of which were stretched threateningly out +as if to grasp the land and drag it back into the lurid sea of blood; +altogether a cruel, weird-looking scene, fantastic, unreal, and bizarre +as one of Dore’s marvellous conceptions. Suddenly on the red waters +there appeared a black speck, rising and falling with the restless +waves, and ever drawing nearer and nearer to the gloomy cliffs and sandy +beach. When within a quarter of a mile of the shore, the speck resolved +itself into a boat, a mere shallop, painted a dingy white, and much +battered by the waves as it tossed lightly on the crimson waters. It had +one mast and a small sail all torn and patched, which by some miracle +held together, and swelling out to the wind drew the boat nearer to the +land. In this frail craft were two men, one of whom was kneeling in the +prow of the boat shading his eyes from the sunlight with his hands and +gazing eagerly at the cliffs, while the other sat in the centre with +bowed head, in an attitude of sullen resignation, holding the straining +sail by a stout rope twisted round his arm. Neither of them spoke a word +till within a short distance of the beach, when the man at the +look-out arose, tall and gaunt, and stretched out his hands to the +inhospitable-looking coast with a harsh, exulting laugh. + +‘At last,’ he cried, in a hoarse, strained voice, and in a foreign +tongue; ‘freedom at last.’ + +The other man made no comment on this outburst of his companion, but +kept his eyes steadfastly on the bottom of the boat, where lay a small +barrel and a bag of mouldy biscuits, the remnants of their provisions on +the voyage. + +The man who had spoken evidently did not expect an answer from his +companion, for he did not even turn his head to look at him, but stood +with folded arms gazing eagerly ahead, until, with a sudden rush, the +boat drove up high and dry on the shore, sending him head-over-heels +into the wet sand. He struggled to his feet quickly, and, running up the +beach a little way, turned to see how his companion had fared. The +other had fallen into the sea, but had picked himself up, and was busily +engaged in wringing the water from his coarse clothing. There was a +smooth water-worn boulder on the beach, and, seeing this, the man who +had spoken went up to it and sat down thereon, while his companion, +evidently of a more practical turn of mind, collected the stale biscuits +which had fallen out of the bag, then, taking the barrel carefully on +his shoulder, walked up to where the other was sitting, and threw both +biscuits and barrel at his feet. + +He then flung himself wearily on the sand, and picking up a biscuit +began to munch it steadily. The other drew a tin pannikin from the bosom +of his shirt, and nodded his head towards the barrel, upon which the +eater laid down his biscuit, and, taking up the barrel, drew the bung, +and let a few drops of water trickle into the tin dish. The man on the +boulder drank every drop, then threw the pannikin down on the sand, +while his companion, who had exhausted the contents of the barrel, +looked wolfishly at him. The other, however, did not take the slightest +notice of his friend’s lowering looks, but began to eat a biscuit and +look around him. There was a strong contrast between these two waifs of +the sea which the ocean had just thrown up on the desolate coast. The +man on the boulder was a tall, slightly-built young fellow, apparently +about thirty years of age, with leonine masses of reddish-coloured +hair, and a short, stubbly beard of the same tint. His face, pale and +attenuated by famine, looked sharp and clever; and his eyes, forming +a strong contrast to his hair, were quite black, with thin, +delicately-drawn eyebrows above them. They scintillated with a peculiar +light which, though not offensive, yet gave anyone looking at him an +uncomfortable feeling of insecurity. The young man’s hands, though +hardened and discoloured, were yet finely formed, while even the coarse, +heavy boots he wore could not disguise the delicacy of his feet. He was +dressed in a rough blue suit of clothes, all torn and much stained by +sea water, and his head was covered with a red cap of wool-work which +rested lightly on his tangled masses of hair. After a time he tossed +aside the biscuit he was eating, and looked down at his companion with +a cynical smile. The man at his feet was a rough, heavy-looking fellow, +squarely and massively built, with black hair and a heavy beard of the +same sombre hue. His hands were long and sinewy; his feet--which were +bare--large and ungainly: and his whole appearance was that of a man in +a low station of life. No one could have told the colour of his eyes, +for he looked obstinately at the ground; and the expression of his +face was so sullen and forbidding that altogether he appeared to be an +exceedingly unpleasant individual. His companion eyed him for a short +time in a cool, calculating manner, and then rose painfully to his feet. + +‘So,’ he said rapidly in French, waving his hand towards the frowning +cliffs, ‘so, my Pierre, we are in the land of promise; though I must +confess’--with a disparaging shrug of the shoulders--‘it certainly +does not look very promising: still, we are on dry land, and that is +something after tossing about so long in that stupid boat, with only a +plank between us and death. Bah!’--with another expressive shrug--‘why +should I call it stupid? It has carried us all the way from New +Caledonia, that hell upon earth, and landed us safely in what may turn +out Paradise. We must not be ungrateful to the bridge that carried us +over--eh, my friend?’ + +The man addressed as Pierre nodded an assent, then pointed towards the +boat; the other looked up and saw that the tide had risen, and that the +boat was drifting slowly away from the land. + +‘It goes,’ he said coolly, ‘back again to its proper owner, I suppose. +Well, let it. We have no further need of it, for, like Caesar, we have +now crossed the Rubicon. We are no longer convicts from a French +prison, my friend, but shipwrecked sailors; you hear?’--with a sudden +scintillation from his black eyes--‘shipwrecked sailors; and I will tell +the story of the wreck. Luckily, I can depend on your discretion, as you +have not even a tongue to contradict, which you wouldn’t do if you had.’ + +The dumb man rose slowly to his feet, and pointed to the cliffs frowning +above them. The other answered his thought with a careless shrug of the +shoulders. + +‘We must climb,’ he said lightly, ‘and let us hope the top will prove +less inhospitable than this place. Where we are I don’t know, except +that this is Australia; there is gold here, my friend, and we must get +our share of it. We will match our Gallic wit against these English +fools, and see who comes off best. You have strength, I have brains; +so we will do great things; but’--laying his hand impressively on the +other’s breast--‘no quarter, no yielding, you see!’ + +The dumb man nodded violently, and rubbed his ungainly hands together in +delight. + +‘You don’t know Balzac, my friend,’ went on the young man in a +conversational tone, ‘or I would tell you that, like Rastignac, war +is declared between ourselves and society; but if you have not the +knowledge you have the will, and that is enough for me. Come, let us +make the first step towards our wealth;’ and without casting a glance +behind him, he turned and walked towards the nearest headland, followed +by the dumb man with bent head and slouching gait. + +The rain and wind had been at work on this promontory, and their +combined action had broken off great masses of rock, which lay in rugged +confusion at the base. This offered painful but secure foothold, and +the two adventurers, with much labour--for they were weak with the +privations endured on the voyage from New Caledonia--managed to climb +half way up the cliff, when they stopped to take breath and look around +them. They were now in a perilous position, for, hanging as they were +on a narrow ledge of rock midway between earth and sky, the least slip +would have cost them their lives. The great mass of rock which frowned +above them was nearly perpendicular, yet offered here and there certain +facilities for climbing, though to do so looked like certain death. The +men, however, were quite reckless, and knew if they could get to the +top they would be safe, so they determined to attempt the rest of the +ascent. + +‘As we have not the wings of eagles, friend Pierre,’ said the younger +man, glancing around, ‘we must climb where we can find foothold. God +will protect us; if not,’ with a sneer, ‘the Devil always looks after +his own.’ + +He crept along the narrow ledge and scrambled with great difficulty into +a niche above, holding on by the weeds and sparse grass which grew out +of the crannies of the barren crag. Followed by his companion, he went +steadily up, clinging to projecting rocks--long trails of tough grass +and anything else he could hold on to. Every now and then some seabird +would dash out into their faces with wild cries, and nearly cause them +to lose their foothold in the sudden start. Then the herbage began to +get more luxurious, and the cliff to slope in an easy incline, which +made the latter part of their ascent much easier. At last, after half an +hour’s hard work, they managed to get to the top, and threw themselves +breathlessly on the short dry grass which fringed the rough cliff. Lying +there half fainting with fatigue and hunger, they could hear, as in +a confused dream, the drowsy thunder of the waves below, and the +discordant cries of the sea-gulls circling round their nests, to which +they had not yet returned. The rest did them good, and in a short time +they were able to rise to their feet and survey the situation. In front +was the sea, and at the back the grassy undulating country, dotted here +and there with clumps of trees now becoming faint and indistinct in the +rapidly falling shadows of the night. They could also see horses and +cattle moving in the distant fields, which showed that there must be +some human habitation near, and suddenly from a far distant house which +they had not observed shone a bright light, which became to these weary +waifs of the ocean a star of hope. + +They looked at one another in silence, and then the young man turned +towards the ocean again. + +‘Behind,’ he said, pointing to the east, ‘lies a French prison and two +ruined lives--yours and mine--but in front,’ swinging round to the rich +fields, ‘there is fortune, food, and freedom. Come, my friend, let us +follow that light, which is our star of hope, and who knows what glory +may await us. The old life is dead, and we start our lives in this +new world with all the bitter experiences of the old to teach us +wisdom--come!’ And without another word he walked slowly down the slope +towards the inland, followed by the dumb man with his head still bent +and his air of sullen resignation. + +The sun disappeared behind the snowy ranges--night drew a grey veil over +the sky as the red light died out, and here and there the stars +were shining. The seabirds sought their nests again and ceased their +discordant cries--the boat which had brought the adventurers to shore +drifted slowly out to sea, while the great black hand that rose from +the eastward stretched out threateningly towards the two men tramping +steadily onward through the dewy grass, as though it would have drawn +them back again to the prison from whence they had so miraculously +escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PACTOLUS CLAIM + + +In the early days of Australia, when the gold fever was at its height, +and the marvellous Melbourne of to-day was more like an enlarged camp +than anything else, there was a man called Robert Curtis, who arrived +in the new land of Ophir with many others to seek his fortune. Mr Curtis +was of good family, but having been expelled from Oxford for holding +certain unorthodox opinions quite at variance with the accepted +theological tenets of the University, he had added to his crime by +marrying a pretty girl, whose face was her fortune, and who was born, +as the story books say, of poor but honest parents. Poverty and honesty, +however, were not sufficient recommendations in the eyes of Mr Curtis, +senior, to excuse such a match; so he promptly followed the precedent +set by Oxford, and expelled his son from the family circle. That young +gentleman and his wife came out to Australia filled with ambitious +dreams of acquiring a fortune, and then of returning to heap coals of +fire on the heads of those who had turned them out. + +These dreams, however, were destined never to be realised, for within a +year after their arrival in Melbourne Mrs Curtis died giving birth to +a little girl, and Robert Curtis found himself once more alone in the +world with the encumbrance of a small child. He, however, was not a man +who wore his heart on his sleeve, and did not show much outward grief, +though, no doubt, he sorrowed deeply enough for the loss of the pretty +girl for whom he had sacrificed so much. At all events, he made up his +mind at once what to do: so, placing his child under the care of an old +lady, he went to Ballarat, and set to work to make his fortune. + +While there his luck became proverbial, and he soon found himself a rich +man; but this did not satisfy him, for, being of a far-seeing nature, he +saw the important part Australia would play in the world’s history. So +with the gold won by his pick he bought land everywhere, and especially +in Melbourne, which was even then becoming metropolitan. After fifteen +years of a varied life he returned to Melbourne to settle down, and +found that his daughter had grown up to be a charming young girl, the +very image of his late wife. Curtis built a house, went in for politics, +and soon became a famous man in his adopted country. He settled a large +sum of money on his daughter absolutely, which no one, not even her +future husband, could touch, and introduced her to society. + +Miss Curtis became the belle of Melbourne, and her charming face, +together with the more substantial beauties of wealth, soon brought +crowds of suitors around her. Her father, however, determined to find +a husband for her whom he could trust, and was looking for one when he +suddenly died of heart disease, leaving his daughter an orphan and a +wealthy woman. + +After Mr Curtis had been buried by the side of his dead wife, the +heiress went home to her richly-furnished house, and after passing a +certain period in mourning, engaged a companion, and once more took her +position in society. + +Her suitors--numerous and persistent as those of Penelope--soon returned +to her feet, and she found she could choose a husband from men of all +kinds--rich and poor, handsome and ugly, old and young. One of these, +a penniless young Englishman, called Randolph Villiers, payed her such +marked attention, that in the end Miss Curtis, contrary to the wishes of +her friends, married him. + +Mr Villiers had a handsome face and figure, a varied and extensive +wardrobe, and a bad character. He, however, suppressed his real tastes +until he became the husband of Miss Curtis, and holder of the purse--for +such was the love his wife bore him that she unhesitatingly gave him +full control of all her property, excepting that which was settled on +herself by her father, which was, of course, beyond marital control. In +vain her friends urged some settlement should be made before marriage. +Miss Curtis argued that to take any steps to protect her fortune would +show a want of faith in the honesty of the man she loved, so went to the +altar and reversed the marriage service by endowing Mr Randolph Villiers +with all her worldly goods. + +The result of this blind confidence justified the warnings of her +friends--for as soon as Villiers found himself in full possession of his +wife’s fortune, he immediately proceeded to spend all the money he +could lay his hands on. He gambled away large sums at his club, betted +extensively on the turf, kept open house, and finally became entangled +with a lady whose looks were much better than her morals, and whose +capacity for spending money so far exceeded his own that in two years +she completely ruined him. Mrs Villiers put up with this conduct for +some time, as she was too proud to acknowledge she had made a mistake +in her choice of a husband; but when Villiers, after spending all her +wealth in riotous living, actually proceeded to ill-treat her in order +to force her to give up the money her father had settled on her, she +rebelled. She tore off her wedding-ring, threw it at his feet, renounced +his name, and went off to Ballarat with her old nurse and the remnants +of her fortune. + +Mr Villiers, however, was not displeased at this step; in fact, he was +rather glad to get rid of a wife who could no longer supply him with +money, and whose presence was a constant rebuke. He sold up the house +and furniture, and converted all available property into cash, which +cash he then converted into drink for himself and jewellery for his lady +friend. The end soon came to the fresh supply of money, and his lady +friend went off with his dearest companion, to whose purse she had taken +a sudden liking. Villiers, deserted by all his acquaintances, sank +lower and lower in the social scale, and the once brilliant butterfly +of fashion became a billiard marker, then a tout at races, and finally a +bar loafer with no visible means of support. + +Meantime Mrs Villiers was prospering in Ballarat, and gaining the +respect and good opinion of everyone, while her husband was earning the +contempt of not only his former friends but even of the creatures with +whom he now associated. When Mrs Villiers went up to Ballarat after her +short but brilliant life in Melbourne she felt crushed. She had given +all the wealth of her girlish affection to her husband, and had endowed +him with all kinds of chivalrous attributes, only to find out, as many +a woman has done before and since, that her idol had feet of clay. The +sudden shock of the discovery of his baseness altered the whole of +her life, and from being a bright, trustful girl, she became a cold +suspicious woman who disbelieved in everyone and in everything. + +But she was of too restless and ambitious a nature to be content with an +idle life, and although the money she still possessed was sufficient to +support her in comfort, yet she felt that she must do something, if +only to keep her thoughts from dwelling on those bitter years of +married life. The most obvious thing to do in Ballarat was to go in for +gold-mining, and chance having thrown in her way a mate of her father’s, +she determined to devote herself to that, being influenced in her +decision by the old digger. This man, by name Archibald McIntosh, was +a shrewd, hard-headed Scotchman, who had been in Ballarat when the +diggings were in the height of their fame, and who knew all about the +lie of the country and where the richest leads had been in the old days. +He told Mrs Villiers that her father and himself had worked together on +a lead then known as the Devil’s Lead, which was one of the richest +ever discovered in the district. It had been found by five men, who had +agreed with one another to keep silent as to the richness of the lead, +and were rapidly making their fortunes when the troubles of the Eureka +stockade intervened, and, in the encounter between the miners and the +military, three of the company working the lead were killed, and only +two men were left who knew the whereabouts of the claim and the value +of it. These were McIntosh and Curtis, who were the original holders. +Mr Curtis, went down to Melbourne, and, as previously related, died of +heart disease, so the only man left of the five who had worked the lead +was Archibald McIntosh. He had been too poor to work it himself, and, +having failed to induce any speculator to go in with him to acquire +the land, he had kept silent about it, only staying up at Ballarat and +guarding the claim lest someone else should chance on it. Fortunately +the place where it was situated had not been renowned for gold in the +early days, and it had passed into the hands of a man who used it as +pasture land, quite ignorant of the wealth which lay beneath. When Mrs +Villiers came up to Ballarat, this man wanted to sell the land, as he +was going to Europe; so, acting under the urgent advice of McIntosh, she +sold out of all the investments which she had and purchased the whole +tract of country where the old miner assured her solemnly the Devil’s +Lead was to be found. + +Then she built a house near the mine, and taking her old nurse, Selina +Sprotts, and Archibald McIntosh to live with her, sank a shaft in +the place indicated by the latter. She also engaged miners, and gave +McIntosh full control over the mine, while she herself kept the books, +paid the accounts, and proved herself to be a first-class woman of +business. She had now been working the mine for two years, but as yet +had not been fortunate enough to strike the lead. The gutter, however, +proved remunerative enough to keep the mine going, pay all the men, +and support Mrs Villiers herself, so she was quite content to wait till +fortune should smile on her, and the long-looked-for Devil’s Lead turned +up. People who had heard of her taking the land were astonished at +first, and disposed to scoff, but they soon begun to admire the plucky +way in which she fought down her ill-luck for the first year of her +venture. All at once matters changed; she made a lucky speculation in +the share market, and the Pactolus claim began to pay. Mrs Villiers +became mixed up in mining matters, and bought and sold on ‘Change with +such foresight and promptitude of action that she soon began to make a +lot of money. Stockbrokers are not, as a rule, romantic, but one of +the fraternity was so struck with her persistent good fortune that he +christened her Madame Midas, after that Greek King whose touch turned +everything into gold. This name tickled the fancy of others, and in a +short time she was called nothing but Madame Midas all over the country, +which title she accepted complacently enough as a forecast of her +success in finding the Devil’s Lead, which idea had grown into a mania +with her as it already was with her faithful henchman, McIntosh. + +When Mr Villiers therefore arrived in Ballarat, he found his wife +universally respected and widely known as Madame Midas, so he went to +see her, expecting to be kept in luxurious ease for the rest of his +life. He soon, however, found himself mistaken, for his wife told him +plainly she would have nothing to do with him, and that if he dared to +show his face at the Pactolus claim she would have him turned off by +her men. He threatened to bring the law into force to make her live with +him, but she laughed in his face, and said she would bring a divorce +suit against him if he did so; and as Mr Villiers’ character could +hardly bear the light of day, he retreated, leaving Madame in full +possession of the field. + +He stayed, however, in Ballarat, and took up stockbroking--living a +kind of hand-to-mouth existence, bragging of his former splendour, and +swearing at his wife for what he was pleased to call--her cruelty. Every +now and then he would pay a visit to the Pactolus, and try to see her, +but McIntosh was a vigilant guard, and the miserable creature was always +compelled to go back to his Bohemian life without accomplishing his +object of getting money from the wife he had deserted. + +People talked, of course, but Madame did not mind. She had tried married +life, and had been disappointed; her old ideas of belief in human nature +had passed away; in short, the girl who had been the belle of Melbourne +as Miss Curtis and Mrs Villiers had disappeared, and the stern, clever, +cynical woman who managed the Pactolus claim was a new being called +‘Madame Midas’. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SLIVERS + + +Everyone has heard of the oldest inhabitant--that wonderful piece of +antiquity, with white hair, garrulous tongue, and cast-iron memory,--who +was born with the present century--very often before it--and +remembers George III, the Battle of Waterloo, and the invention of the +steam-engine. But in Australia, the oldest inhabitant is localized, and +rechristened an early settler. He remembers Melbourne before Melbourne +was; he distinctly recollects sailing up the Yarra Yarra with Batman, +and talks wildly about the then crystalline purity of its waters--an +assertion which we of to-day feel is open to considerable doubt. His +wealth is unbounded, his memory marvellous, and his acquaintances of +a somewhat mixed character, comprising as they do a series of persons +ranging from a member of Parliament down to a larrikin. + +Ballarat, no doubt, possesses many of these precious pieces of antiquity +hidden in obscure corners, but one especially was known, not only in +the Golden City, but throughout Victoria. His name was Slivers--plain +Slivers, as he said himself--and, from a physical point of view, he +certainly spoke the truth. What his Christian name was no one ever knew; +he called himself Slivers, and so did everyone else, without even an +Esquire or a Mister to it--neither a head nor a tail to add dignity to +the name. + +Slivers was as well known in Sturt Street and at ‘The Corner’ as the +town clock, and his tongue very much resembled that timepiece, inasmuch +as it was always going. He was a very early settler; in fact, so +remarkably early that it was currently reported the first white men who +came to Ballarat found Slivers had already taken up his abode there, and +lived in friendly relations with the local blacks. He had achieved this +amicable relationship by the trifling loss of a leg, an arm, and an eye, +all of which portions of his body were taken off the right side, and +consequently gave him rather a lop-sided appearance. But what was left +of Slivers possessed an abundant vitality, and it seemed probable he +would go on living in the same damaged condition for the next twenty +years. + +The Ballarat folk were fond of pointing him out as a specimen of the +healthy climate, but this was rather a flight of fancy, as Slivers was +one of those exasperating individuals who, if they lived in a swamp or +a desert, would still continue to feel their digestions good and their +lungs strong. + +Slivers was reputed rich, and Arabian-Night-like stories were told of +his boundless wealth, but no one ever knew the exact amount of money he +had, and as Slivers never volunteered any information on the subject, no +one ever did know. He was a small, wizen-looking little man, who usually +wore a suit of clothes a size too large for him, wherein scandal-mongers +averred his body rattled like a dried pea in a pod. His hair was white, +and fringed the lower portion of his yellow little scalp in a most +deceptive fashion. With his hat on Slivers looked sixty; take it off and +his bald head immediately added ten years to his existence. His one eye +was bright and sharp, of a greyish colour, and the loss of the other was +replaced by a greasy black patch, which gave him a sinister appearance. +He was cleaned shaved, and had no teeth, but notwithstanding this want, +his lips gripped the stem of his long pipe in a wonderfully tenacious +and obstinate manner. He carried on the business of a mining agent, and +knowing all about the country and the intricacies of the mines, he was +one of the cleverest speculators in Ballarat. + +The office of Slivers was in Sturt Street, in a dirty, tumble-down +cottage wedged between two handsome modern buildings. It was a remnant +of old Ballarat which had survived the rage for new houses and highly +ornamented terraces. Slivers had been offered money for that ricketty +little shanty, but he declined to sell it, averring that as a snail grew +to fit his house his house had grown to fit him. + +So there it stood--a dingy shingle roof overgrown with moss--a quaint +little porch and two numerously paned windows on each side. On top of +the porch a sign-board--done by Slivers in the early days, and looking +like it--bore the legend ‘Slivers, mining agent.’ The door did not +shut--something was wrong with it, so it always stood ajar in a +hospitable sort of manner. Entering this, a stranger would find himself +in a dark low-roofed passage, with a door at the end leading to the +kitchen, another on the right leading to the bedroom, and a third on +the left leading to the office, where most of Slivers’ indoor life was +spent. He used to stop here nearly all day doing business, with the +small table before him covered with scrip, and the mantelpiece behind +him covered with specimens of quartz, all labelled with the name of the +place whence they came. The inkstand was dirty, the ink thick and the +pens rusty; yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, Slivers managed +to do well and make money. He used to recommend men to different mines +round about, and whenever a manager wanted men, or new hands wanted +work, they took themselves off to Slivers, and were sure to be satisfied +there. Consequently, his office was nearly always full; either of people +on business or casual acquaintances dropping in to have a drink--Slivers +was generous in the whisky line--or to pump the old man about some +new mine, a thing which no one ever managed to do. When the office was +empty, Slivers would go on sorting the scrip on his table, drinking +his whisky, or talking to Billy. Now Billy was about as well known in +Ballarat as Slivers, and was equally as old and garrulous in his own +way. He was one of those large white yellow-crested cockatoos who, in +their captivity, pass their time like galley-slaves, chained by one leg. +Billy, however, never submitted to the indignity of a chain--he mostly +sat on Slivers’ table or on his shoulder, scratching his poll with his +black claw, or chattering to Slivers in a communicative manner. People +said Billy was Slivers’ evil spirit, and as a matter of fact, there was +something uncanny in the wisdom of the bird. He could converse fluently +on all occasions, and needed no drawing out, inasmuch as he was +always ready to exhibit his powers of conversation. He was not a pious +bird--belonging to Slivers, he could hardly be expected to be--and his +language was redolent of Billingsgate. So Billy being so clever was +quite a character in his way, and, seated on Slivers’ shoulder with his +black bead of an eye watching his master writing with the rusty pen, +they looked a most unholy pair. + +The warm sunlight poured through the dingy windows of the office, and +filled the dark room with a sort of sombre glory. The atmosphere of +Slivers’ office was thick and dusty, and the sun made long beams of +light through the heavy air. Slivers had pushed all the scrip and loose +papers away, and was writing a letter in the little clearing caused by +their removal. On the old-fashioned inkstand was a paper full of grains +of gold, and on this the sunlight rested, making it glitter in +the obscurity of the room. Billy, seated on Slivers’ shoulder, was +astonished at this, and, inspired by a spirit of adventure, he climbed +down and waddled clumsily across the table to the inkstand, where he +seized a small nugget in his beak and made off with it. Slivers looked +up from his writing suddenly: so, being detected, Billy stopped and +looked at him, still carrying the nugget in his beak. + +‘Drop it,’ said Slivers severely, in his rasping little voice. Billy +pretended not to understand, and after eyeing Slivers for a moment or +two resumed his journey. Slivers stretched out his hand for the ruler, +whereupon Billy, becoming alive to his danger, dropped the nugget, and +flew down off the table with a discordant shriek. + +‘Devil! devil! devil!’ screamed this amiable bird, flopping up and down +on the floor. ‘You’re a liar! You’re a liar! Pickles.’ + +Having delivered himself of this bad language, Billy waddled to his +master’s chair, and climbing up by the aid of his claws and beak, soon +established himself in his old position. Slivers, however, was not +attending to him, as he was leaning back in his chair drumming in an +absent sort of way with his lean fingers on the table. His cork arm hung +down limply, and his one eye was fixed on a letter lying in front of +him. This was a communication from the manager of the Pactolus Mine +requesting Slivers to get him more hands, and Slivers’ thoughts had +wandered away from the letter to the person who wrote it, and from +thence to Madame Midas. + +‘She’s a clever woman,’ observed Slivers, at length, in a musing sort of +tone, ‘and she’s got a good thing on in that claim if she only strikes +the Lead.’ + +‘Devil,’ said Billy once more, in a harsh voice. + +‘Exactly,’ answered Slivers, ‘the Devil’s Lead. Oh, Lord! what a fool I +was not to have collared that ground before she did; but that infernal +McIntosh never would tell me where the place was. Never mind, I’ll be +even with him yet; curse him.’ + +His expression of face was not pleasant as he said this, and he grasped +the letter in front of him in a violent way, as if he were wishing his +long fingers were round the writer’s throat. Tapping with his wooden leg +on the floor, he was about to recommence his musings, when he heard a +step in the passage, and the door of his office being pushed violently +open, a man entered without further ceremony, and flung himself down on +a chair near the window. + +‘Fire!’ said Billy, on seeing this abrupt entry; ‘how’s your +mother!--Ballarat and Bendigo--Bendigo and Ballarat.’ + +The newcomer was a man short and powerfully built, dressed in a +shabby-genteel sort of way, with a massive head covered with black hair, +heavy side whiskers and moustache, and a clean shaved chin, which had +that blue appearance common to very dark men who shave. His mouth--that +is, as much as could be seen of it under the drooping moustache--was +weak and undecided, and his dark eyes so shifty and restless that they +seemed unable to meet a steady gaze, but always looked at some inanimate +object that would not stare them out of countenance. + +‘Well, Mr Randolph Villiers,’ croaked Slivers, after contemplating his +visitor for a few moments, ‘how’s business?’ + +‘Infernally bad,’ retorted Mr Villiers, pulling out a cigar and lighting +it. ‘I’ve lost twenty pounds on those Moscow shares.’ + +‘More fool you,’ replied Slivers, courteously, swinging round in his +chair so as to face Villiers. ‘I could have told you the mine was no +good; but you will go on your own bad judgment.’ + +‘It’s like getting blood out of a stone to get tips from you,’ growled +Villiers, with a sulky air. ‘Come now, old boy,’ in a cajoling manner, +‘tell us something good--I’m nearly stone broke, and I must live.’ + +‘I’m hanged if I see the necessity,’ malignantly returned Slivers, +unconsciously quoting Voltaire; ‘but if you do want to get into a good +thing--’ + +‘Yes! yes!’ said the other, eagerly bending forward. + +‘Get an interest in the Pactolus,’ and the agreeable old gentleman +leaned back and laughed loudly in a raucous manner at his visitor’s +discomfited look. + +‘You ass,’ hissed Mr Villiers, between his closed teeth; ‘you know as +well as I do that my infernal wife won’t look at me.’ + +‘Ho, ho!’ laughed the cockatoo, raising his yellow crest in an angry +manner; ‘devil take her--rather!’ + +‘I wish he would!’ muttered Villiers, fervently; then with an uneasy +glance at Billy, who sat on the old man’s shoulder complacently ruffling +his feathers, he went on: ‘I wish you’d screw that bird’s neck, Slivers; +he’s too clever by half.’ + +Slivers paid no attention to this, but, taking Billy off his shoulder, +placed him on the floor, then turned to his visitor and looked at him +fixedly with his bright eye in such a penetrating manner that Villiers +felt it go through him like a gimlet. + +‘I hate your wife,’ said Slivers, after a pause. + +‘Why the deuce should you?’ retorted Villiers, sulkily. ‘You ain’t +married to her.’ + +‘I wish I was,’ replied Slivers with a chuckle. ‘A fine woman, my good +sir! Why, if I was married to her I wouldn’t sneak away whenever I saw +her. I’d go up to the Pactolus claim and there I’d stay.’ + +‘It’s easy enough talking,’ retorted Villiers crossly, ‘but you don’t +know what a fiend she is! Why do you hate her?’ + +‘Because I do,’ retorted Slivers. ‘I hate her; I hate McIntosh; the +whole biling of them; they’ve got the Pactolus claim, and if they find +the Devil’s Lead they’ll be millionaires.’ + +‘Well,’ said the other, quite unmoved, ‘all Ballarat knows that much.’ + +‘But I might have had it!’ shrieked Slivers, getting up in an excited +manner, and stumping up and down the office. ‘I knew Curtis, McIntosh +and the rest were making their pile, but I couldn’t find out where; and +now they’re all dead but McIntosh, and the prize has slipped through my +fingers, devil take them!’ + +‘Devil take them,’ echoed the cockatoo, who had climbed up again on the +table, and was looking complacently at his master. + +‘Why don’t you ruin your wife, you fool?’ said Slivers, turning +vindictively on Villiers. ‘You ain’t going to let her have all the money +while you are starving, are you?’ + +‘How the deuce am I to do that?’ asked Villiers, sulkily, relighting his +cigar. + +‘Get the whip hand of her,’ snarled Slivers, viciously; ‘find out if +she’s in love, and threaten to divorce her if she doesn’t go halves.’ + +‘There’s no chance of her having any lovers,’ retorted Villiers; ‘she’s +a piece of ice.’ + +‘Ice melts,’ replied Slivers, quickly. ‘Wait till “Mr Right” comes +along, and then she’ll begin to regret being married to you, and then--’ + +‘Well?’ + +‘You’ll have the game in your own hands,’ hissed the wicked old man, +rubbing his hands. ‘Oh!’ he cried, spinning round on his wooden leg, +‘it’s a lovely idea. Wait till we meet “Mr Right”, just wait,’ and he +dropped into his chair quite overcome by the state of excitement he had +worked himself into. + +‘If you’ve quite done with those gymnastics, my friend,’ said a soft +voice near the door, ‘perhaps I may enter.’ + +Both the inmates of the office looked up at this, and saw that two men +were standing at the half-open door--one an extremely handsome young +man of about thirty, dressed in a neat suit of blue serge, and wearing a +large white wide-awake hat, with a bird’s-eye handkerchief twisted round +it. His companion was short and heavily built, dressed somewhat the +same, but with his black hat pulled down over his eyes. + +‘Come in,’ growled Slivers, angrily, when he saw his visitors. ‘What the +devil do you want?’ + +‘Work,’ said the young man, advancing to the table. ‘We are new arrivals +in the country, and were told to come to you to get work.’ + +‘I don’t keep a factory,’ snarled Slivers, leaning forward. + +‘I don’t think I would come to you if you did,’ retorted the stranger, +coolly. ‘You would not be a pleasant master either to look at or to +speak to.’ + +Villiers laughed at this, and Slivers stared dumbfounded at being spoken +to in such a manner. + +‘Devil,’ broke in Billy, rapidly. ‘You’re a liar--devil.’ + +‘Those, I presume, are your master’s sentiments towards me,’ said the +young man, bowing gravely to the bird. ‘But as soon as he recovers the +use of his tongue, I trust he will tell us if we can get work or not.’ + +Slivers was just going to snap out a refusal, when he caught sight +of McIntosh’s letter on the table, and this recalled to his mind the +conversation he had with Mr Villiers. Here was a young man handsome +enough to make any woman fall in love with him, and who, moreover, had a +clever tongue in his head. All Slivers’ animosity revived against Madame +Midas as he thought of the Devil’s Lead, and he determined to use this +young man as a tool to ruin her in the eyes of the world. With these +thoughts in his mind, he drew a sheet of paper towards him, and dipping +the rusty pen in the thick ink, prepared to question his visitors as +to what they could do, with a view to sending them out to the Pactolus +claim. + +‘Names?’ he asked, grasping his pen firmly in his left hand. + +‘Mine,’ said the stranger, bowing, ‘is Gaston Vandeloup, my friend’s +Pierre Lemaire--both French.’ + +Slivers scrawled this down in the series of black scratches, which did +duty with him for writing. + +‘Where do you come from?’ was his next question. + +‘The story,’ said M. Vandeloup, with suavity, ‘is too long to repeat at +present; but we came to-day from Melbourne.’ + +‘What kind of work can you do?’ asked Slivers, sharply. + +‘Anything that turns up,’ retorted the Frenchman. + +‘I was addressing your companion, sir; not you,’ snarled Slivers, +turning viciously on him. + +‘I have to answer for both,’ replied the young man, coolly, slipping +one hand into his pocket and leaning up against the door in a negligent +attitude, ‘my friend is dumb.’ + +‘Poor devil!’ said Slivers, harshly. + +‘But,’ went on Vandeloup, sweetly, ‘his legs, arms, and eyes are all +there.’ + +Slivers glared at this fresh piece of impertinence, but said nothing. He +wrote a letter to McIntosh, recommending him to take on the two men, and +handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow. + +‘The price of your services, Monsieur?’ he asked. + +‘Five bob,’ growled Slivers, holding out his one hand. + +Vandeloup pulled out two half-crowns and put them in the thin, claw-like +fingers, which instantly closed on them. + +‘It’s a mining place you’re going to,’ said Slivers, pocketing the +money; ‘the Pactolus claim. There’s a pretty woman there. Have a drink?’ + +Vandeloup declined, but his companion, with a grunt, pushed past him, +and filling a tumbler with the whisky, drank it off. Slivers looked +ruefully at the bottle, and then hastily put it away, in case Vandeloup +should change his mind and have some. + +Vandeloup put on his hat and went to the door, out of which Pierre had +already preceded him. + +‘I trust, gentlemen,’ he said, with a graceful bow, ‘we shall meet +again, and can then discuss the beauty of this lady to whom Mr Slivers +alludes. I have no doubt he is a judge of beauty in others, though he is +so incomplete himself.’ + +He went out of the door, and then Slivers sprang up and rushed to +Villiers. + +‘Do you know who that is?’ he asked, in an excited manner, pulling his +companion to the window. + +Villiers looked through the dusty panes, and saw the young Frenchman +walking away, as handsome and gallant a man as he had ever seen, +followed by the slouching figure of his friend. + +‘Vandeloup,’ he said, turning to Slivers, who was trembling with +excitement. + +‘No, you fool,’ retorted the other, triumphantly. That is “Mr Right”.’ + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MADAME MIDAS AT HOME + + +Madame Midas was standing on the verandah of her cottage, staring far +away into the distance, where she could see the tall chimney and huge +mound of white earth which marked the whereabouts of the Pactolus claim. +She was a tall voluptuous-looking woman of what is called a Junoesque +type--decidedly plump, with firm white hands and well-formed feet. Her +face was of a whitish tint, more like marble than flesh, and appeared +as if modelled from the antique--with the straight Greek nose, high and +smooth forehead, and full red mouth, with firmly-closed lips. She had +dark and piercing eyes, with heavy arched eyebrows above them, and her +hair, of a bluish-black hue, was drawn smoothly over the forehead, and +coiled in thick wreaths at the top of her small, finely-formed head. +Altogether a striking-looking woman, but with an absence of animation +about her face, which had a calm, serene expression, effectually hiding +any thoughts that might be passing in her mind, and which resembled +nothing so much in its inscrutable look as the motionless calm which the +old Egyptians gave to their sphinxes. She was dressed for coolness in a +loose white dress, tied round her waist with a crimson scarf of +Indian silk; and her beautifully modelled arms, bare to the elbow, +and unadorned by any trinkets, were folded idly in front of her as she +looked out at the landscape, which was mellowed and full of warmth under +the bright yellow glare of the setting sun. + +The cottage--for it was nothing else--stood on a slight rise immediately +in front of a dark wood of tall gum-trees, and there was a long row of +them on the right, forming a shelter against the winds, as if the wood +had thrown a protecting arm around the cottage, and wanted to draw it +closer to its warm bosom. The country was of an undulating character, +divided into fields by long rows of gorse hedges, all golden with +blossoms, which gave out a faint, peach-like odour. Some of these +meadows were yellow with corn--some a dull red with sorrel, others left +in their natural condition of bright green grass--while here and there +stood up, white and ghost-like, the stumps of old trees, the last +remnants of the forests, which were slowly retreating before the axe +of the settler. These fields, which had rather a harlequin aspect with +their varied colours, all melted together in the far distance into an +indescribable neutral tint, and ended in the dark haze of the bush, +which grew over all the undulating hills. On the horizon, however, +at intervals, a keen eye could see some tall tree standing boldly up, +outlined clearly against the pale yellow of the sky. There was a white +dusty road or rather a track between two rough fences, with a wide space +of green grass on each side, and here and there could be seen the cattle +wandering idly homeward, lingering every now and then to pull at a +particularly tempting tuft of bush grass growing in the moist +ditches which ran along each side of the highway. Scattered over this +pastoral-looking country were huge mounds of white earth, looking like +heaps of carded wool, and at the end of each of these invariably stood +a tall, ugly skeleton of wood. These marked the positions of the +mines--the towers contained the winding gear, while the white earth was +the clay called mulloch, brought from several hundred feet below the +surface. Near these mounds were rough-looking sheds with tall red +chimneys, which made a pleasant spot of colour against the white of +the clay. On one of these mounds, rather isolated from the others, and +standing by itself in the midst of a wide green paddock, Mrs Villiers’ +eyes were fixed, and she soon saw the dark figure of a man coming slowly +down the white mound, along the green field and advancing slowly up the +hill. When she saw him coming, without turning her head or raising her +voice, she called out to someone inside, + +‘Archie is coming, Selina--you had better hurry up the tea, for he will +be hungry after such a long day.’ + +The person inside made no answer save by an extra clatter of some +domestic utensils, and Madame apparently did not expect a reply, for +without saying anything else she walked slowly down the garden path, and +leaned lightly over the gate, waiting for the newcomer, who was indeed +none other than Archibald McIntosh, the manager of the Pactolus. + +He was a man of about medium height, rather thin than otherwise, with a +long, narrow-looking head and boldly cut features--clean shaved save for +a frill of white hair which grew on his throat up the sides of his head +to his ears, and which gave him rather a peculiar appearance, as if he +had his jaw bandaged up. His eyes were grey and shrewd-looking, his lips +were firmly compressed--in fact, the whole appearance of his face was +obstinate--the face of a man who would stick to his opinions whatever +anyone else might say to the contrary. He was in a rough miner’s dress, +all splashed with clay, and as he came up to the gate Madame could see +he was holding something in his hand. + +‘D’ye no ken what yon may be?’ he said, a smile relaxing his grim +features as he held up a rather large nugget; ‘’tis the third yin this +week!’ + +Madame Midas took the nugget from him and balanced it carefully in her +hand, with a thoughtful look in her face, as if she was making a mental +calculation. + +‘About twenty to twenty-five ounces, I should say,’ she observed in +her soft low voice; ‘the last we had was fifteen, and the one before +twenty--looks promising for the gutter, doesn’t it?’ + +‘Well, I’ll no say but what it micht mean a deal mair,’ replied +McIntosh, with characteristic Scotch caution, as he followed Madame into +the house; ‘it’s no a verra bad sign, onyhow; I winna say but what we +micht be near the Devil’s Lead.’ + +‘And if we are?’ said Madame, turning with a smile. + +‘Weel, mem, ye’ll have mair siller nor ye’ll ken what to dae wi’, an’ +‘tis to be hoped ye’ll no be making a fool of yersel.’ + +Madame laughed--she was used to McIntosh’s plain speaking, and it in no +wise offended her. In fact, she preferred it very much more than being +flattered, as people’s blame is always genuine, their praise rarely so. +At all events she was not displeased, and looked after him with a smile +in her dark eyes as he disappeared into the back kitchen to make himself +decent for tea. Madame herself sat down in an arm-chair in the bow +window, and watched Selina preparing the meal. + +Selina Jane Sprotts, who now acted as servant to Mrs Villiers, was +rather an oddity in her way. She had been Madame’s nurse, and had +followed her up to Ballarat, with the determination of never leaving +her. Selina was a spinster, as her hand had never been sought +in marriage, and her personal appearance was certainly not very +fascinating. Tall and gaunt, she was like a problem from Euclid, all +angles, and the small quantity of grey hair she possessed was screwed +into a hard lump at the back of her head. Her face was reddish in +colour, and her mouth prim and pursed up, as if she was afraid of saying +too much, which she need not have been, as she rarely spoke, and was +as economical of her words as she was of everything else. She was much +given to quoting proverbs, and hurled these prepared little pieces of +wisdom on every side like pellets out of a pop-gun. Conversation which +consists mainly of proverbs is rarely exhilarating; consequently Miss +Sprotts was not troubled to talk much, either by Madame or McIntosh. + +Miss Sprotts moved noiselessly about the small room, in a wonderfully +dextrous manner considering her height, and, after laying the table, +placed the teapot on the hob to ‘draw’, thereby disturbing a cat and +a dog who were lying in front of the fire--for there was a fire in the +room in spite of the heat of the day, Selina choosing to consider that +the house was damp. She told Madame she knew it was damp because her +bones ached, and as she was mostly bones she certainly had a good +opportunity of judging. + +Annoyed at being disturbed by Miss Sprotts, the dog resigned his +comfortable place with a plaintive growl, but the cat, of a more +irritable temperament, set up and made a sudden scratch at her hand, +drawing blood therefrom. + +‘Animals,’ observed Selina, grimly, ‘should keep their place;’ and she +promptly gave the cat a slap on the side of the head, which sent him +over to Madame’s feet, with an angry spit. Madame picked him up and +soothed his ruffled feelings so successfully, that he curled himself up +on her lap and went to sleep. + +By-and-bye Archie, who had been making a great splashing in the back +premises, came in looking clean and fresh, with a more obstinate look +about his face than ever. Madame went to the tea-table and sat down, +for she always had her meals with them, a fact of which they were very +proud, and they always treated her with intense respect, though every +now and then they were inclined to domineer. Archie, having seen that +the food on the table was worth thanking God for, asked a blessing in +a peremptory sort of manner, as if he thought Heaven required a deal of +pressing to make it attentive. Then they commenced to eat in silence, +for none of the party were very much given to speech, and no sound was +heard save the rattling of the cups and saucers and the steady ticking +of the clock. The window was open, and a faint breeze came in--cool and +fragrant with the scent of the forest, and perfumed with the peach-like +odour of the gorse blossoms. There was a subdued twilight through all +the room, for the night was coming on, and the gleam of the flickering +flames of the fire danced gaily against the roof and exaggerated all +objects to an immense size. At last Archie pushed back his chair to show +that he had finished, and prepared to talk. + +‘I dinna see ony new bodies coming,’ he said, looking at his mistress. +‘They, feckless things, that left were better than none, though they +should hae been skelped for their idleness.’ + +‘You have written to Slivers?’ said Madame, raising her eyes. + +‘That wudden-legged body,’ retorted McIntosh. ‘Deed and I have, but the +auld tyke hasna done onything to getting me what I want. Weel, weel,’ in +a resigned sort of a manner, ‘we micht be waur off than we are, an’ wha +kens but what Providence will send us men by-and-bye?’ + +Selina looked up at this, saw her opportunity, and let slip an +appropriate proverb. + +‘If we go by by-and-bye lane,’ she said sharply, ‘we come to the gate of +never.’ + +This being undeniable, no one gave her the pleasure of contradicting +her, for Archie knew it was impossible to argue with Selina, so handy +was she with her proverbial wisdom--a kind of domestic Tupper, whose +philosophy was of the most irritating and unanswerable kind. He did +the wisest thing he could under the circumstances, and started a new +subject. + +‘I say yon the day.’ + +‘Yon’ in this case meant Mr Villiers, whose name was tabooed in the +house, and was always spoken of in a half-hinting kind of way. As both +her servants knew all about her unhappy life, Madame did not scruple to +talk to them. + +‘How was he looking?’ she asked, smoothing the crumbs off her dress. + +‘Brawly,’ replied Archie, rising; ‘he lost money on that Moscow mine, +but he made a fine haul owre the Queen o’ Hearts claim.’ + +‘The wicked,’ observed Selina, ‘flourish like a green bay tree.’ + +‘Ou, ay,’ retorted McIntosh, drily; ‘we ken a’ aboot that, Selina--auld +Hornie looks after his ain.’ + +‘I think he leads a very hand-to-mouth existence,’ said Madame, calmly; +‘however rich he may become, he will always be poor, because he never +was a provident man.’ + +‘He’s comin’ tae see ye, mem,’ said Archie, grimly, lighting his pipe. + +Madame rose to her feet and walked to the window. + +‘He’s done that before,’ she said, complacently; ‘the result was not +satisfactory.’ + +‘Continual dropping wears away a stone,’ said Selina, who was now +clearing away. + +‘But not iron,’ replied Madame, placidly; ‘I don’t think his persistence +will gain anything.’ + +Archie smiled grimly, and then went outside to smoke his pipe, while +Madame sat down by the open window and looked out at the fast-fading +landscape. + +Her thoughts were not pleasant. She had hoped to cut herself off from +all the bitterness and sorrow of her past life, but this husband of +hers, like an unquiet spirit, came to trouble her and remind her of +a time she would willingly have forgotten. She looked calm and quiet +enough sitting there with her placid face and smooth brow; but this +woman was like a slumbering volcano, and her passions were all the more +dangerous from being kept in check. + +A bat flew high up in the air across the clear glow of the sky, +disappearing into the adjacent bush, and Madame, stretching out her +hand, idly plucked a fresh, dewy rose off the tree which grew round the +window. + +‘If I could only get rid of him,’ she thought, toying with the flower; +‘but it is impossible. I can’t do that without money, and money I never +will have till I find that lead. I must bribe him, I suppose. Oh, why +can’t he leave me alone now? Surely he has ruined my life sufficiently +in the past to let me have a few years, if not of pleasure, at least of +forgetfulness.’ And with a petulant gesture she hurled the rose out +of the window, where it struck Archie a soft and fragrant blow on the +cheek. + +‘Yes,’ said Madame to herself, as she pulled down the window, ‘I must +get rid of him, and if bribery won’t do--there are other means.’ + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOOD SAMARITAN + + +Is there anyone nowadays who reads Cowper--that charming, domestic poet +who wrote ‘The Task’, and invested even furniture with the glamour of +poesy? Alas! to many people Cowper is merely a name, or is known only as +the author of the delightfully quaint ballad of John Gilpin. Yet he +was undoubtedly the Poet Laureate of domesticity, and every householder +should possess a bust or picture of him--placed, not amid the frigid +splendours of the drawing room, but occupying the place of honour in +his own particular den, where everything is old-fashioned, cheery, and +sanctified by long usage. No one wrote so pleasantly about the pleasures +of a comfortable room as Cowper. And was he not right to do so? After +all, every hearth is the altar of the family, whereon the sacred fire +should be kept constantly burning, waxing and waning with the seasons, +but never be permitted to die out altogether. Miss Sprotts, as before +mentioned, was much in favour of a constant fire, because of the alleged +dampness of the house, and Madame Midas did not by any means object, as +she was a perfect salamander for heat. Hence, when the outward door +was closed, the faded red curtains of the window drawn, and the newly +replenished fire blazed brightly in the wide fireplace, the room was +one which even Cowper--sybarite in home comforts as he was--would have +contemplated with delight. + +Madame Midas was seated now at the small table in the centre of the +room, poring over a bewildering array of figures, and the soft glow of +the lamp touched her smooth hair and white dress with a subdued light. + +Archie sat by the fire, half asleep, and there was a dead silence in the +room, only broken by the rapid scratching of Madame’s pen or the click +of Selina’s needles. At last Mrs Villiers, with a sigh of relief, laid +down her pen, put all her papers together, and tied them neatly with a +bit of string. + +‘I’m afraid I’ll have to get a clerk, Archie,’ she said, as she put the +papers away, ‘the office work is getting too much for me.’ + +‘’Deed, mem, and ‘tis that same I was thinkin’ o’,’ returned Mr +McIntosh, sitting bolt upright in his chair, lest the imputation of +having been asleep should be brought against him. ‘It’s ill wark seein’ +ye spoilin’ your bonny eyes owre sic a muckle lot o’ figures as ye hae +there.’ + +‘Someone must do it,’ said Madame, resuming her seat at the table. + +‘Then why not get a body that can dae it?’ retorted Archie; ‘not but +what ye canna figure yersel’, mem, but really ye need a rest, and if I +hear of onyone in toun wha we can trust I’ll bring him here next week.’ + +‘I don’t see why you shouldn’t,’ said Madame, musingly; ‘the mine is +fairly under way now, and if things go on as they are doing, I must have +someone to assist me.’ + +At this moment a knock came to the front door, which caused Selina to +drop her work with a sudden start, and rise to her feet. + +‘Not you, Selina,’ said Madame, in a quiet voice; ‘let Archie go; it may +be some tramp.’ + +‘’Deed no, mem,’ replied Archie, obstinately, as he arose from his seat; +‘’tis verra likely a man fra the warks saying he wants to go. There’s +mair talk nor sense aboot them, I’m thinkin’--the yattering parrots.’ + +Selina resumed her knitting in a most phlegmatic manner, but Madame +listened intently, for she was always haunted by a secret dread of +her husband breaking in on her, and it was partly on this account that +McIntosh stayed in the house. She heard a murmur of voices, and then +Archie returned with two men, who entered the room and stood before +Madame in the light of the lamp. + +‘’Tis two men fra that wudden-legged gowk o’ a Slivers,’ said Archie, +respectfully. ‘Ain o’ them has a wee bit letter for ye’--turning to +receive same from the foremost man. + +The man, however, did not take notice of Archie’s gesture, but walking +forward to Madame, laid the letter down before her. As he did so, she +caught sight of the delicacy of his hands, and looked up suddenly with a +piercing gaze. He bore the scrutiny coolly, and took a chair in silence, +his companion doing the same, while Madame opened the letter and read +Slivers’ bad writing with a dexterity only acquired by long practice. +Having finished her perusal, she looked up slowly. + +‘A broken-down gentleman,’ she said to herself, as she saw the easy +bearing and handsome face of the young man; then looking at his +companion, she saw by his lumpish aspect and coarse hands, that he +occupied a much lower rank of life than his friend. + +Monsieur Vandeloup--for it was he--caught her eye as she was +scrutinising them, and his face broke into a smile--a most charming +smile, as Madame observed mentally, though she allowed nothing of her +thoughts to appear on her face. + +‘You want work,’ she said, slowly folding up the letter, and placing it +in her pocket; ‘do you understand anything about gold-mining?’ + +‘Unfortunately, no, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, coolly; ‘but we are willing +to learn.’ + +Archie grunted in a dissatisfied manner, for he was by no means in +favour of teaching people their business, and, besides, he thought +Vandeloup too much of a gentleman to do good work. + +‘You look hardly strong enough for such hard labour,’ said Mrs Villiers, +doubtfully eyeing the slender figure of the young man. ‘Your companion, +I think, will do, but you--’ + +‘I, Madame, am like the lilies of the field that neither toil nor spin,’ +replied Vandeloup, gaily; ‘but, unfortunately, I am now compelled by +necessity to work, and though I should prefer to earn my bread in an +easier manner, beggars,’--with a characteristic shrug, which did not +escape Madame’s eye--cannot be choosers.’ + +‘You are French?’ she asked quickly, in that language. + +‘Yes, Madame,’ he replied in the same tongue, ‘both my friend and myself +are from Paris, but we have not been long out here.’ + +‘Humph,’ Madame leaned her head on her hand and thought, while Vandeloup +looked at her keenly, and remembered what Slivers had said. + +‘She is, indeed, a handsome woman,’ he observed, mentally; ‘my lines +will fall in pleasant places, if I remain here.’ + +Mrs Villiers rather liked the looks of this young man; there was a +certain fascination about him which few women could resist, and Madame, +although steeled to a considerable extent by experience, was yet a +woman. His companion, however, she did not care about--he had a sullen +and lowering countenance, and looked rather dangerous. + +‘What is your name?’ she asked the young man. + +‘Gaston Vandeloup.’ + +‘You are a gentleman?’ + +He bowed, but said nothing. + +‘And you?’ asked Madame, sharply turning to the other. + +He looked up and touched his mouth. + +‘Pardon him not answering, Madame,’ interposed Vandeloup, ‘he has the +misfortune to be dumb.’ + +‘Dumb?’ echoed Madame, with a glance of commiseration, while Archie +looked startled, and Selina mentally observed that silence was golden. + +‘Yes, he has been so from his birth,--at least, so he gives me +to understand,’ said Gaston, with a shrug of his shoulders, which +insinuated a doubt on the subject; ‘but it’s more likely the result +of an accident, for he can hear though he cannot speak. However, he is +strong and willing to work; and I also, if you will kindly give me an +opportunity,’ added he, with a winning smile. + +‘You have not many qualifications,’ said Madame, shortly, angry with +herself for so taking to this young man’s suave manner. + +‘Probably not,’ retorted Vandeloup, with a cynical smile. ‘I fancy it +will be more a case of charity than anything else, as we are starving.’ + +Madame started, while Archie murmured ‘Puir deils.’ + +‘Surely not as bad as that?’ observed Mrs Villiers, in a softer tone. + +‘Why not?’ retorted the Frenchman, carelessly. ‘Manna does not fall from +heaven as in the days of Moses. We are strangers in a strange land, and +it is hard to obtain employment. My companion Pierre can work in your +mine, and if you will take me on I can keep your books’--with a sudden +glance at a file of papers on the table. + +‘Thank you, I keep my own books,’ replied Madame, shortly. ‘What do you +say to engaging them, Archie?’ + +‘We ma gie them a try,’ said McIntosh, cautiously. ‘Ye do need a figger +man, as I tauld ye, and the dour deil can wark i’ the claim.’ + +Madame drew a long breath, and then made up her mind. + +‘Very well,’ she said, sharply; ‘you are engaged, M. Vandeloup, as my +clerk, and your companion can work in the mine. As to wages and all +that, we will settle to-morrow, but I think you will find everything +satisfactory.’ + +‘I am sure of that, Madame,’ returned Vandeloup, with a bow. + +‘And now,’ said Madame Midas, graciously, relaxing somewhat now that +business was over, ‘you had better have some supper.’ + +Pierre’s face lighted up when he heard this invitation, and Vandeloup +bowed politely. + +‘You are very kind,’ he said, looking at Mrs Villiers in a friendly +manner; ‘supper is rather a novelty to both of us.’ + +Selina meanwhile had gone out, and returned with some cold beef and +pickles, a large loaf and a jug of beer. These she placed on the table, +and then retired to her seat again, inwardly rebellious at having two +tramps at the table, but outwardly calm. + +Pierre fell upon the victuals before him with the voracity of a starving +animal, and ate and drank in such a savage manner that Madame was +conscious of a kind of curious repugnance, and even Archie was startled +out of his Scotch phlegm. + +‘I wadna care aboot keepin’ yon long,’ he muttered to himself; ‘he’s +mair like a cannibal nor a ceevalized body.’ + +Vandeloup, however, ate very little and soon finished; then filling a +glass with beer, he held it to his lips and bowed again to Madame Midas. + +‘To your health, Madame,’ he said, drinking. + +Mrs Villiers bowed courteously. This young man pleased her. She was +essentially a woman with social instincts, and the appearance of this +young and polished stranger in the wilds of the Pactolus claim promised +her a little excitement. It was true that every now and then, when she +caught a glimpse from his scintillating eyes, she was conscious of a +rather unpleasant sensation, but this she put down to fancy, as the +young man’s manners were really charming. + +When the supper was ended, Pierre pushed back his chair into the shadow +and once more relapsed into his former gloom, but Vandeloup stood up and +looked towards Madame in a hesitating manner. + +‘I’m afraid, Madame, we disturb you,’ he murmured vaguely, though in +his heart he wished to stay in this pleasant room and talk to such a +handsome woman; ‘we had best be going.’ + +‘Not at all,’ answered Madame, graciously, ‘sit down; you and your +friend can sleep in the men’s quarters to-night, and to-morrow we will +see if we can’t provide you with a better resting-place.’ + +Vandeloup murmured something indistinctly, and then resumed his seat. + +‘Meanwhile,’ said Mrs Villiers, leaning back in her chair, and regarding +him fixedly, ‘tell me all about yourselves.’ + +‘Alas, Madame,’ answered Vandeloup, with a charming smile and +deprecating shrug of his shoulders, ‘there is not much to tell. I was +brought up in Paris, and, getting tired of city life, I came out to +India to see a little of the world; then I went over to Borneo, and was +coming down to Australia, when our vessel was wrecked and all on board +were drowned but myself and this fellow,’ pointing to Pierre, ‘who was +one of the sailors. We managed to get a boat, and after tossing about +for nearly a week we were cast up on the coast of Queensland, and from +thence came to Melbourne. I could not get work there, neither could +my friend, and as we heard of Ballarat we came up here to try to get +employment, and our lines, Madame,’--with another bow--‘have fallen in a +pleasant place.’ + +‘What a dreadful chapter of accidents,’ said Madame, coolly looking at +him to see if he was speaking the truth, for experience of her husband +had inspired her with an instinctive distrust of men. Vandeloup, +however, bore her scrutiny without moving a muscle of his face, so +Madame at last withdrew her eyes, quite satisfied that his story was +true. + +‘Is there no one in Paris to whom you can write?’ she asked, after a +pause. + +‘Luckily, there is,’ returned Gaston, ‘and I have already sent a letter, +asking for a remittance, but it takes time to get an answer, and as I +have lost all my books, papers, and money, I must just wait for a few +months, and, as I have to live in the meantime, I am glad to obtain +work.’ + +‘Still, your consul--’ began Mrs Villiers. + +‘Alas, Madame, what can I say--how can I prove to him that I am what +I assert to be? My companion is dumb and cannot speak for me, and, +unluckily, he can neither read nor write. I have no papers to prove +myself, so my consul may think me--what you call--a scamp. No; I will +wait till I receive news from home, and get to my own position again; +besides,’ with a shrug, ‘after all, it is experience.’ + +‘Experience,’ said Madame, quietly, ‘is a good schoolmaster, but the +fees are somewhat high.’ + +‘Ah!’ said Vandeloup, with a pleased look, ‘you know Heine, I perceive, +Madame. I did not know he was read out here.’ + +‘We are not absolute barbarians, M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, with a +smile, as she arose and held out her hand to the young man; ‘and now +good night, for I am feeling tired, and I will see you to-morrow. Mr +McIntosh will show you where you are to sleep.’ + +Vandeloup took the hand she held out to him and pressed it to his lips +with a sudden gesture. ‘Madame,’ he said, passionately, ‘you are an +angel, for to-day you have saved the lives of two men.’ + +Madame snatched her hand away quickly, and a flush of annoyance spread +over her face as she saw how Selina and Archie stared. Vandeloup, +however, did not wait for her answer, but went out, followed by Pierre. +Archie put on his hat and walked out after them, while Madame Midas +stood looking at Selina with a thoughtful expression of countenance. + +‘I don’t know if I’ve done a right thing, Selina,’ she said, at length; +‘but as they were starving I could hardly turn them away.’ + +‘Cast your bread on the waters and it shall come back after many +days--buttered,’ said Selina, giving her own version of the text. + +Madame laughed. + +‘M. Vandeloup talks well,’ she observed. + +‘So did HE,’ replied Selina, with a sniff, referring to Mr Villiers; +‘once bitten, twice shy.’ + +‘Quite right, Selina,’ replied Mrs Villiers, coolly; ‘but you are going +too fast. I’m not going to fall in love with my servant.’ + +‘You’re a woman,’ retorted Selina, undauntedly, for she had not much +belief in her own sex. + +‘Yes, who has been tricked and betrayed by a man,’ said Madame, +fiercely; ‘and do you think because I succour a starving human being +I am attracted by his handsome face? You ought to know me better than +that, Selina. I have always been true to myself,’ and without another +word she left the room. + +Selina stood still for a moment, then deliberately put away her work, +slapped the cat in order to relieve her feelings, and poked the fire +vigorously. + +‘I don’t like him,’ she said, emphasizing every word with a poke. ‘He’s +too smooth and handsome, his eyes ain’t true, and his tongue’s too +smart. I hate him.’ + +Having delivered herself of this opinion, she went to boil some water +for Mr McIntosh, who always had some whisky hot before going to bed. + +Selina was right in her estimate of Vandeloup, and, logically argued, +the case stood thus:-- + +Some animals of a fine organization have an instinct which warns them to +avoid approaching danger. + +Woman is one of these finely-organized animals. ERGO-- + +Let no woman go contrary to her instinct. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MAMMON’S TREASURE HOUSE + + +At the foot of the huge mound of white mulloch which marked the site +of the Pactolus Mine was a long zinc-roofed building, which was divided +into two compartments. In one of these the miners left their clothes, +and put on rough canvas suits before going down, and here also they were +searched on coming up in order to see if they had carried away any gold. +From this room a long, narrow passage led to the top of the shaft, so +that any miner having gold concealed upon him could not throw it away +and pick it up afterwards, but had to go right into the searching room +from the cage, and could not possibly hide a particle without being +found out by the searchers. The other room was the sleeping apartment of +such miners as stayed on the premises, for the majority of the men went +home to their families when their work was done. + +There were three shifts of men on the Pactolus during the twenty-four +hours, and each shift worked eight hours at a time--the first going +on at midnight and knocking off at eight in the morning, the second +commencing at eight and ending at four in the afternoon, and the third +starting at four and lasting until midnight again, when the first shift +of men began anew. + +Consequently, when M. Vandeloup awoke next morning at six o’clock the +first shift were not yet up, and some of the miners who had to go on +at eight were sleeping heavily in their beds. The sleeping places were +berths, ranging along two sides of the room, and divided into upper and +lower compartments like those on shipboard. + +Gaston having roused himself naturally wanted to see where he was, so +rubbing his eyes and yawning he leaned on his elbow and took a leisurely +survey of his position. + +He saw a rather large room lighted at regular intervals by three square +windows, and as these were uncurtained, the cold, searching light of +daybreak was slowly stealing through them into the apartment, and all +the dusky objects therein were gradually revealing themselves in the +still light. He could hear the heavy, monotonous breathing of the men, +and the restless turning and tossing of those who could not sleep. + +Gaston yawned once or twice, then feeling disinclined for any more +sleep, he softly put on his clothes, so as not to awake Pierre, who +slept in the berth below, and descending from his sleeping-place groped +his way to the door and went out into the cool fragrant morning. + +There was a chill wind blowing from the bush, bringing with it a faint +aromatic odour, and on glancing downwards he saw that the grass was wet +with dew. The dawn was burning redly in the east, and the vivid crimson +of the sky put him in mind of that sunset under which he had landed with +his companion on the Queensland coast. Suddenly a broad shaft of yellow +light broke into the pale pink of the sky, and with a burst of splendour +the sun rose slowly into sight from behind the dark bush, and all the +delicate workings of the dawn disappeared in the flood of golden light +which poured over the landscape. + +Vandeloup looked idly at all this beauty with an unobservant eye, being +too much occupied with his thoughts to take notice of anything; and it +was only when two magpies near him broke into a joyous duet, in which +each strove to emulate the other’s mellow notes, that he awoke from his +brown study, and began to walk back again to the mine. + +‘I must let nothing stand in my way to acquire money,’ he said, +musingly; ‘with it one can rule the world; without it--but how trite +and bald these well-worn maxims seem! Why do I repeat them, parrot-like, +when I see what I have to do so clearly before me? That woman, for +instance--I must begin by making her my friend. Bah! she is that +already; I saw it in her eyes, which she can’t control as she does +her face. Yes, I must make her my friend; my very dear friend--and +then--well, to my mind, the world-pivot is a woman. I will spare no one +in order to attain my ends--I will make myself my own God, and consider +no one but myself, and those who stand in my path must get out of it or +run the chance of being crushed. This,’ with a cynical smile, ‘is what +some would call the devil’s philosophy; at all events, it is good enough +for me.’ + +He was near the mine by this time, and hearing someone calling to him he +looked up, and saw McIntosh walking towards him. There was a stir in +the men’s quarters now, and he could see the door was open and several +figures were moving briskly about, while a number of others were +crossing the fields. The regular beat of the machinery still continued, +and the smoke was pouring out thick and black from the tall red chimney, +while the wheels were spinning round in the poppet-heads as the mine +slowly disgorged the men who had been working all night. + +McIntosh came slowly along with his hands in his pockets and a puzzled +look on his severe face. He could not make up his mind whether to like +or dislike this young man, but Madame Midas had seemed so impressed +that he had half made up his mind to dislike him out of a spirit of +contradiction. + +‘Weemen are sae easy pleased, puir feckless bodies,’ he said to himself, +‘a bonny face is a’ they fash their heads aboot, though the same may be +already in the grip of auld Nickyben. Weel, weel, if Madam does fancy +the lad--an’ he’s no bad lookin’, I’ll say that--she may just hae her +ain way, and I’ll keep my e’e on baith.’ + +He looked grimly at the young man as he came briskly forward with a gay +smile. + +‘Ye’re a verra early bird,’ he said, fondling his frill of white hair, +and looking keenly at the tall, slim figure of the Frenchman. + +‘Case of “must”, my friend,’ returned Vandeloup, coolly; ‘it’s only rich +men can afford to be in bed, not poor devils like me.’ + +‘You’re no muckle like ither folk,’ said the suspicious old Scotchman, +with a condemnatory sniff. + +‘Of that I am glad,’ retorted Vandeloup, with suavity, as he walked +beside him to the men’s quarters. ‘What a horrible thing to be the +duplicate of half-a-dozen other men. By the way,’ breaking off into a +new subject, ‘Madame Midas is charming.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ said Archie, jealously, ‘we ken all aboot they +French-fangled way o’ gieing pretty words, and deil a scrap of truth in +ony o’ them.’ + +Gaston was about to protest that he said no more than he felt, which was +indeed the truth, but Archie impatiently hurried him off to breakfast at +the office, as he declared himself famishing. They made a hearty meal, +and, having had a smoke and a talk, prepared to go below. + +First of all, they arrayed themselves in underground garments--not grave +clothes, though the name is certainly suggestive of the cemetery--which +consisted of canvas trousers, heavy boots, blue blouses of a rough +woollen material, and a sou’wester each. Thus accoutred, they went +along to the foot of the poppet heads, and Archie having opened a door +therein, Vandeloup saw the mouth of the shaft yawning dark and gloomy +at his feet. As he stood there, gazing at the black hole which seemed to +pierce down into the entrails of the earth, he turned round to take one +last look at the sun before descending to the nether world. + +This is quite a new experience to me,’ he said, as they stepped into the +wet iron cage, which had ascended to receive them in answer to Archie’s +signal, and now commenced to drop down silently and swiftly into the +pitchy darkness. ‘It puts me in mind of Jules Verne’s romances.’ + +Archie did not reply, for he was too much occupied in lighting his +candle to answer, and, moreover, knew nothing about romances, and cared +still less. So they went on sliding down noiselessly into the gloom, +while the water, falling from all parts of the shaft, kept splashing +constantly on the top of the cage and running in little streams over +their shoulders. + +‘It’s like a nightmare,’ thought the Frenchman, with a nervous shudder, +as he saw the wet walls gleaming in the faint light of the candle. +‘Worthy of Dante’s “Inferno”.’ + +At last they reached the ground, and found themselves in the main +chamber, from whence the galleries branched off to east and west. + +It was upheld on all sides by heavy wooden supports of bluegum and +stringy bark, the scarred surfaces of which made them look like the +hieroglyphic pillars in old Egyptian temples. The walls were dripping +with damp, and the floor of the chamber, though covered with iron +plates, was nearly an inch deep with yellow-looking water, discoloured +by the clay of the mine. Two miners in rough canvas clothes were +waiting here, and every now and then a trolly laden with wash would roll +suddenly out of one of the galleries with a candle fastened in front of +it, and would be pushed into the cage and sent up to the puddlers. Round +the walls candles fastened to spikes were stuck into the woodwork, and +in their yellow glimmer the great drops of water clinging to the roof +and sides of the chamber shone like diamonds. + +‘Aladdin’s garden,’ observed Vandeloup, gaily, as he lighted his candle +at that of Archie’s and went towards the eastern gallery, ‘only the +jewels are not substantial enough.’ + +Archie showed the Frenchman how to carry his candle in the miner’s +manner, so that it could not go out, which consisted in holding it low +down between the forefinger and third finger, so that the hollow palm of +the hand formed a kind of shield; and then Vandeloup, hearing the sound +of falling water close to him, asked what it was, whereupon Archie +explained it was for ventilating purposes. The water fell the whole +height of the mine through a pipe into a bucket, and a few feet above +this another pipe was joined at right angles to the first and stretched +along the gallery near the roof like a never-ending serpent right to the +end of the drive. The air was driven along this by the water, and then, +being released from the pipe, returned back through the gallery, so that +there was a constant current circulating all through the mine. + +As they groped their way slowly along, their feet splashed into pools +of yellow clayey water at the sides of the drive, or stumbled over the +rough ground and rugged rails laid down for the trollies. All along the +gallery, at regular intervals, were posts of stringy bark in a vertical +position, while beams of the same were laid horizontally across the top, +but so low that Vandeloup had to stoop constantly to prevent himself +knocking his head against their irregular projections. + +Clinging to these side posts were masses of white fungus, which the +miners use to remove discolorations from their hands, and from the roof +also it hung like great drifts of snow, agitated with every breath of +wind as the keen air, damped and chilled by the underground darkness, +rushed past them. Every now and then they would hear a faint rumble in +the distance, and Archie would drag his companion to one side while a +trolly laden with white, wet-looking wash, and impelled by a runner, +would roll past with a roaring and grinding of wheels. + +At intervals on each side of the main drive black chasms appeared, which +Archie informed his companion were drives put in to test the wash, and +as these smaller galleries continued branching off, Vandeloup thought +the whole mine resembled nothing so much as a herring-bone. + +Being accustomed to the darkness and knowing every inch of the way, the +manager moved forward rapidly, and sometimes Vandeloup lagged so far +behind that all he could see of his guide was the candle he carried, +shining like a pale yellow star in the pitchy darkness. At last McIntosh +went into one of the side galleries, and going up an iron ladder fixed +to the side of the wall, they came to a second gallery thirty feet above +the other, and branching off at right angles. + +This was where the wash was to be found, for, as Archie informed +Vandeloup, the main drives of a mine were always put down thirty or +forty feet below the wash, and then they could work up to the higher +levels, the reason of this being that the leads had a downward tendency, +and it was necessary for the main drive to be sunk below, as before +mentioned, in order to get the proper levels and judge the gutters +correctly. At the top of the ladder they found some empty trucks which +had delivered their burden into a kind of shoot, through which it fell +to the lower level, and there another truck was waiting to take it to +the main shaft, from whence it went up to the puddlers. + +Archie made Vandeloup get into one of these trucks, and though they were +all wet and covered with clay, he was glad to do so, and be smoothly +carried along, instead of stumbling over the rails and splashing among +the pools of water. Every now and then as they went along there would be +a gush of water from the dripping walls, which was taken along in +pipes to the main chamber, and from thence pumped out of the mine by a +powerful pump, worked by a beam engine, by which means the mine was kept +dry. + +At last, after they had gone some considerable distance, they saw the +dim light of a candle, and heard the dull blows of a pick, then found +themselves at the end of the drive, where a miner was working at the +wash. The wash wherein the gold is found was exceedingly well defined, +and represented a stratified appearance, being sandwiched in between a +bed of white pipe-clay and a top layer of brownish earth, interspersed +with gravel. Every blow of the pick sent forth showers of sparks in all +directions, and as fast as the wash was broken down the runner filled up +the trollies with it. After asking the miner about the character of the +wash, and testing some himself in a shovel, Archie left the gallery, +and going back to the shoot, they descended again to the main drive, and +visited several other faces of wash, the journey in each instance being +exactly the same in all respects. Each face had a man working at it, +sometimes two, and a runner who loaded the trucks, and ran them along to +the shoots. In spite of the ventilation, Vandeloup felt as if he was in +a Turkish bath, and the heat was in some places very great. At the end +of one of the drives McIntosh called Vandeloup, and on going towards +him the young man found him seated on a truck with the plan of the +mine before him, as he wanted to show him all the ramifications of the +workings. + +The plan looked more like a map of a city than anything else, with +the main drive doing duty as the principal street, and all the little +galleries, branching off in endless confusion, looked like the lanes and +alleys of a populous town. + +‘It’s like the catacombs in Rome,’ said Vandeloup to McIntosh, after +he had contemplated the plan for some time; ‘one could easily get lost +here.’ + +‘He micht,’ returned McIntosh, cautiously, ‘if he didna ken a’ aboot +the lie of the mine--o’er yonder,’ putting one finger on the plan +and pointing with the other to the right of the tunnel; ‘we found a +twenty-ounce nugget yesterday, and ain afore that o’ twenty-five, and +in the first face we were at twa months ago o’er there,’ pointing to the +left, ‘there was yin big ain I ca’d the Villiers nugget, which as ye ken +is Madame’s name.’ + +‘Oh, yes, I know that,’ said Vandeloup, much interested; ‘do you +christen all your nuggets?’ + +‘If they’re big enough,’ replied Archie. + +‘Then I hope you will find a hundred-ounce lump of gold, and call it the +Vandeloup,’ returned the young man, laughing. + +‘There’s mony a true word spoke in jest, laddie,’ said Archie, gravely; +‘when we get to the Deil’s Lead we may find ain o’ that size.’ + +‘What do you mean by leads?’ asked Vandeloup, considerably puzzled. + +Thereupon Archie opened his mouth, and gave the young man a scientific +lecture on mining, the pith of which was as follows:-- + +‘Did ye no ken,’ said Mr McIntosh, sagaciously, ‘in the auld days--I +winna say but what it micht be as far back as the Fa’ o’ Man, may be a +wee bit farther--the rains washed a’ the gold fra the taps o’ the hills, +where the quartz reefs were, down tae the valleys below, where the +rivers ye ken were flowin’. And as the ages went on, an’ nature, under +the guidance o’ the Almighty, performed her work, the river bed, wiv +a’ its gold, would be covered o’er with anither formation, and then the +river, or anither yin, would flow on a new bed, and the precious metal +would be washed fra the hills in the same way as I tauld ye of, and the +second river bed would be also covered o’er, and sae the same game went +on and is still progressin’. Sae when the first miners came doon tae +this land of Ophir the gold they got by scratchin’ the tap of the earth +was the latest deposit, and when ye gae doon a few hundred feet ye come +on the second river--or rather, I should say, the bed o’ the former +river-and it is there that the gold is tae be found; and these dried-up +rivers we ca’ leads. Noo, laddie, ye ma ken that at present we are in +the bed o’ ain o’ these auld streams three hun’red feet frae the tap o’ +the earth, and it’s here we get the gold, and as we gae on we follow the +wandrin’s o’ the river and lose sight o’ it.’ + +‘Yes,’ said Vandeloup quickly, ‘but you lost this river you call the +Devil’s Lead--how was that?’ + +‘Weel,’ said Mr McIntosh, deliberately, ‘rivers are varra like human +bein’s in the queer twists they take, and the Deil’s Lead seems to hae +been ain like that. At present we are on the banks o’ it, where we noo +get these nuggets; but ‘tis the bed I want, d’ye ken, the centre, for +its there the gold is; losh, man,’ he went on, excitedly, rising to his +feet and rolling up the plan, ‘ye dinna ken how rich the Deil’s Lead is; +there’s just a fortune in it.’ + +“I suppose these rivers must stop at a certain depth?” + +“Ou, ay,” returned the old Scotchman, “we gae doon an’ doon till we +come on what we ma ca’ the primary rock, and under that there is +nothin’--except,” with a touch of religious enthusiasm, “maybe ‘tis +the bottomless pit, where auld Hornie dwells, as we are tauld in the +Screepture; noo let us gae up again, an’ I’ll show ye the puddlers at +wark.” + +Vandeloup had not the least idea what the puddlers were, but desirous of +learning, he followed his guide, who led him into another gallery, which +formed a kind of loop, and joined again with the main drive. As Gaston +stumbled along, he felt a touch on his shoulder, and on turning, saw it +was Pierre, who had been put to work with the other men, and was acting +as one of the runners. + +“Ah! you are there, my friend,” said Vandeloup, coolly, looking at the +uncouth figure before him by the feeble glimmer of his candle; “work +away, work away; it’s not very pleasant, but at all events,” in a rapid +whisper, “it’s better than New Caledonia.” + +Pierre nodded in a sullen manner, and went back to his work, while +Vandeloup hurried on to catch up to McIntosh, who was now far ahead. + +“I wish,” said this pleasant young man to himself, as he stumbled along, +“I wish that the mine would fall in and crush Pierre; he’s such a dead +weight to be hanging round my neck; besides, he has such a gaol-bird +look about him that it’s enough to make the police find out where he +came from; if they do, good-bye to wealth and respectability.” + +He found Archie waiting for him at the entrance to the main drive, and +they soon arrived at the bottom of the shaft, got into the cage, and at +last reached the top of the earth again. Vandeloup drew a long breath of +the fresh pure air, but his eyes felt quite painful in the vivid glare +of the sun. + +“I don’t envy the gnomes,” he said gaily to Archie as they went on to +the puddlers; “they must have been subject to chronic rheumatism.” + +Mr McIntosh, not having an acquaintance with fairy lore, said nothing in +reply, but took Vandeloup to the puddlers, and showed all the process of +getting the gold. + +The wash was carried along in the trucks from the top of the shaft +to the puddlers, which were large circular vats into which water was +constantly gushing. The wash dirt being put into these, there was an +iron ring held up by chains, having blunt spikes to it, which was called +a harrow. Two of these being attached to beams laid crosswise were +dragged round and round among the wash by the constant revolution of +the cross-pieces. This soon reduced all the wash dirt to a kind of fine, +creamy-looking syrup, with heavy white stones in it, which were removed +every now and then by the man in charge of the machine. Descending to +the second story of the framework, Vandeloup found himself in a +square chamber, the roof of which was the puddler. In this roof was +a trap-door, and when the wash dirt had been sufficiently mixed the +trap-door was opened, and it was precipitated through on to the floor +of the second chamber. A kind of broad trough, running in a slanting +direction and called a sluice, was on one side, and into this a quantity +of wash was put, and a tap at the top turned on, which caused the +water to wash the dirt down the sluice. Another man at the foot, with +a pitchfork, kept shifting up the stones which were mixed up with the +gravel, and by degrees all the surplus dirt was washed away, leaving +only these stones and a kind of fine black sand, in which the gold being +heavy, had stayed. This sand was carefully gathered up with a brush +and iron trowel into a shallow tin basin, and then an experienced miner +carefully manipulated the same with clear water. What with blowing with +the breath, and allowing the water to flow gently over it, all the +black sand was soon taken away, and the bottom of the tin dish was +then covered with dirty yellow grains of gold interspersed with little +water-worn nuggets. Archie took the gold and carried it down to the +office, where it was first weighed and then put into a little canvas +bag, which would be taken to the bank in Ballarat, and there sold at the +rate of four pounds an ounce or thereabouts. + +‘Sae this, ye ken,’ said Archie, when he had finished all his +explanations, ‘is the way ye get gold.’ + +‘My faith,’ said Vandeloup, carelessly, with a merry laugh, ‘gold is as +hard to get in its natural state as in its artificial.’ + +“An’ harder,” retorted Archie, “forbye there’s nae sic wicked wark aboot +it.” + +“Madame will be rich some day,” remarked Vandeloup, as they left the +office and walked up towards the house. + +“Maybe she will,” replied the other, cautiously. “Australia’s a gran’ +place for the siller, ye ken. I’m no verra far wrang but what wi’ +industry and perseverance ye may mak a wee bit siller yersel’, laddie.” + +“It won’t be my fault if I don’t,” returned M. Vandeloup, gaily; “and +Madame Midas,” he added, mentally, “will be an excellent person to +assist me in doing so.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +KITTY + + +Gaston Vandeloup having passed all his life in cities found that his +existence on the Pactolus claim was likely to be very dreary. Day after +day he arose in the morning, did his office work, ate his meals, +and after a talk with Madame Midas in the evening went to bed at ten +o’clock. Such Arcadian simplicity as this was not likely to suit the +highly cultivated tastes he had acquired in his earlier life. As to the +episode of New Caledonia M. Vandeloup dismissed it completely from +his mind, for this young man never permitted his thoughts to dwell on +disagreeable subjects. + +His experiences as a convict had been novel but not pleasant, and he +looked upon the time which had elapsed since he left France in the +convict ship to the day he landed on the coast of Queensland in an open +boat as a bad nightmare, and would willingly have tried to treat it as +such, only the constant sight of his dumb companion, Pierre Lemaire, +reminded him only too vividly of the reality of his trouble. Often and +often did he wish that Pierre would break his neck, or that the mine +would fall in and crush him to death; but nothing of the sort happened, +and Pierre continued to vex his eyes and to follow him about with a +dog-like fidelity which arose--not from any love of the young man, +but--from the fact that he found himself a stranger in a strange land, +and Vandeloup was the only person he knew. With such a millstone round +his neck, the young Frenchman often despaired of being able to get on in +Australia. Meanwhile he surrendered himself to the situation with a kind +of cynical resignation, and looked hopefully forward to the time when a +kind Providence would rid him of his unpleasant friend. + +The feelings of Madame Midas towards Vandeloup were curious. She had +been a very impressionable girl, and her ill-fated union with Villiers +had not quite succeeded in deadening all her feelings, though it had +doubtless gone a good way towards doing so. Being of an appreciative +nature, she liked to hear Vandeloup talk of his brilliant life in Paris, +Vienna, London, and other famous cities, which to her were merely names. +For such a young man he had certainly seen a great deal of life, and, +added to this, his skill as a talker was considerable, so that he +frequently held Madame, Selina, and McIntosh spell-bound by his +fairy-like descriptions and eloquent conversation. Of course, he only +talked of the most general subjects to Mrs Villiers, and never by any +chance let slip that he knew the seamy side of life--a side with which +this versatile young gentleman was pretty well acquainted. As a worker, +Gaston was decidedly a success. Being quick at figures and easily taught +anything, he soon mastered all the details of the business connected +with the Pactolus claim, and Madame found that she could leave +everything to him with perfect safety, and could rely on all matters of +business being well and promptly attended to. But she was too clever +a woman to let him manage things himself, or even know how much she +trusted him; and Vandeloup knew that whatever he did those calm dark +eyes were on him, and that the least slip or neglect on his part would +bring Madame Midas to his side with her quiet voice and inflexible will +to put him right again. + +Consequently the Frenchman was careful not to digress or to take too +much upon himself, but did his work promptly and carefully, and soon +became quite indispensable to the work of the mine. In addition to this +he had made himself very popular with the men, and as the months rolled +on was looked upon quite as a fixture in the Pactolus claim. + +As for Pierre Lemaire, he did his work well, ate and slept, and kept his +eye on his companion in case he should leave him in the lurch; but no +one would have guessed that the two men, so different in appearance, +were bound together by a guilty secret, or were, morally speaking, both +on the same level as convicts from a French prison. + +A whole month had elapsed since Madame had engaged M. Vandeloup and his +friend, but as yet the Devil’s Lead had not been found. Madame, however, +was strong in her belief that it would soon be discovered, for her +luck--the luck of Madame Midas--was getting quite a proverb in Ballarat. + +One bright morning Vandeloup was in the office running up endless +columns of figures, and Madame, dressed in her underground garments, was +making ready to go below, just having stepped in to see Gaston. + +‘By the way, M. Vandeloup,’ she said in English, for it was only in the +evenings they spoke French, ‘I am expecting a young lady this morning, +so you can tell her I have gone down the mine, but will be back in an +hour if she will wait for me.’ + +‘Certainly, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, looking up with his bright smile; +‘and the young lady’s name?’ + +‘Kitty Marchurst,’ replied Madame, pausing a moment at the door of the +office; ‘she is the daughter of the Rev. Mark Marchurst, a minister at +Ballarat. I think you will like her, M. Vandeloup,’ she went on, in +a conversational tone; ‘she is a charming girl--only seventeen, and +extremely pretty.’ + +‘Then I am sure to like her,’ returned Gaston, gaily; ‘I never could +resist the charm of a pretty woman.’ + +‘Mind,’ said Madame, severely, holding up her finger, ‘you must not turn +my favourite’s head with any of your idle compliments; she has been very +strictly brought up, and the language of gallantry is Greek to her.’ + +Vandeloup tried to look penitent, and failed utterly. + +‘Madame,’ he said, rising from his seat, and gravely bowing, ‘I will +speak of nothing to Mademoiselle Kitty but of the weather and the crops +till you return.’ + +Madame laughed pleasantly. + +‘You are incorrigible, M. Vandeloup,’ she said, as she turned to go. +‘However, don’t forget what I said, for I trust you.’ + +When Mrs Villiers had gone, closing the office door after her, Gaston +was silent for a few minutes, and then burst out laughing. + +‘She trusts me,’ he said, in a mocking tone. ‘In heaven’s name, why? I +never did pretend to be a saint, and I’m certainly not going to be one +because I’m put on my word of honour. Madame,’ with an ironical bow in +the direction of the closed door, ‘since you trust me I will not speak +of love to this bread-and-butter miss, unless she proves more than +ordinarily pretty, in which case,’ shrugging his shoulders, ‘I’m afraid +I must betray your trust, and follow my own judgment.’ + +He laughed again, and then, going back to his desk, began to add up +his figures. At the second column, however, he paused, and commenced to +sketch faces on the blotting paper. + +‘She’s the daughter of a minister,’ he said, musingly. ‘I can guess, +then, what like she is--prim and demure, like a caricature by Cham. +In that case she will be safe from me, for I could never bear an ugly +woman. By the way, I wonder if ugly women think themselves pretty; their +mirrors must lie most obligingly if they do. There was Adele, she was +decidedly plain, not to say ugly, and yet so brilliant in her talk. I +was sorry she died; yes, even though she was the cause of my exile to +New Caledonia. Bah! it is always a woman one has to thank for one’s +misfortunes--curse them; though why I should I don’t know, for they +have always been good friends to me. Ah, well, to return to business, +Mademoiselle Kitty is coming, and I must behave like a bear in case she +should think my intentions are wrong.’ + +He went to work on the figures again, when suddenly he heard a high +clear voice singing outside. At first he thought it was a bird, but +no bird could execute such trills and shakes, so by the time the voice +arrived at the office door M. Vandeloup came to the conclusion that +the owner of the voice was a woman, and that the woman was Miss Kitty +Marchurst. + +He leaned back in his chair and wondered idly if she would knock at the +door or enter without ceremony. The latter course was the one adopted by +Miss Marchurst, for she threw open the door and stood there blushing and +pouting at the embarrassing situation in which she now found herself. + +‘I thought I would find Mrs Villiers here,’ she said, in a low, sweet +voice, the peculiar timbre of which sent a thrill through Gaston’s young +blood, as he arose to his feet. Then she looked up, and catching his +dark eyes fixed on her with a good deal of admiration in them, she +looked down and commenced drawing figures on the dusty floor with the +tip of a very dainty shoe. + +‘Madame has gone down the mine,’ said M. Vandeloup, politely, ‘but she +desired me to say that she would be back soon, and that you were to wait +here, and I was to entertain you;’ then, with a grave bow, he placed the +only chair in the office at the disposal of his visitor, and leaned +up against the mantelpiece in an attitude of unstudied grace. Miss +Marchurst accepted his offer, and depositing her small person in the +big cane chair, she took furtive glances at him, while Gaston, whose +experience of women was by no means limited, looked at her coolly, in +a manner which would have been rude but for the charming smile which +quivered upon his lips. + +Kitty Marchurst was a veritable fairy in size, and her hands and feet +were exquisitely formed, while her figure had all the plumpness and +roundness of a girl of seventeen--which age she was, though she really +did not look more than fourteen. An innocent child-like face, two limpid +blue eyes, a straight little nose, and a charming rose-lipped mouth +were Kitty’s principal attractions, and her hair was really wonderful, +growing all over her head in crisp golden curls. Child-like enough her +face looked in repose, but with the smile came the woman--such a smile, +a laughing merry expression such as the Greeks gave to Hebe. Dressed in +a rough white dress trimmed with pale blue ribbons, and her golden head +surmounted by a sailor hat, with a scarf of the same azure hue tied +around it, Kitty looked really charming, and Vandeloup could hardly +restrain himself from taking her up in his arms and kissing her, so +delightfully fresh and piquant she appeared. Kitty, on her side, had +examined Gaston with a woman’s quickness of taking in details, and she +mentally decided he was the best-looking man she had ever seen, only +she wished he would talk. Shyness was not a part of her nature, so after +waiting a reasonable time for Vandeloup to commence, she determined to +start herself. + +‘I’m waiting to be entertained,’ she said, in a hurried voice, raising +her eyes; then afraid of her own temerity, she looked down again. + +Gaston smiled a little at Kitty’s outspoken remark, but remembering +Madame’s injunction he rather mischievously determined to carry out her +desires to the letter. + +‘It is a very nice day,’ he said, gravely. Kitty looked up and laughed +merrily. + +‘I don’t think that’s a very original remark,’ she said coolly, +producing an apple from her pocket. ‘If that’s all you’ve got to say, I +hope Madame won’t be long.’ + +Vandeloup laughed again at her petulance, and eyed her critically as she +took a bit out of the red side of the apple with her white teeth. + +‘You like apples?’ he asked, very much amused by her candour. + +‘Pretty well,’ returned Miss Marchurst, eyeing the fruit in a +disparaging manner; ‘peaches are nicer; are Madame’s peaches ripe?’ +looking anxiously at him. + +‘I think they are,’ rejoined Gaston, gravely. + +‘Then we’ll have some for tea,’ decided Kitty, taking another bite out +of her apple. + +‘I’m going to stay to tea, you know,’ she went on in a conversational +tone. ‘I always stay to tea when I’m on a visit here, and then +Brown--that’s our man,’ in an explanatory manner, ‘comes and fetches me +home.’ + +‘Happy Brown!’ murmured Vandeloup, who really meant what he said. + +Kitty laughed, and blushed. + +‘I’ve heard all about you,’ she said, coolly, nodding to him. + +‘Nothing to my disadvantage, I hope,’ anxiously. + +‘Oh dear, no: rather the other way,’ returned Miss Marchurst, gaily. +‘They said you were good-looking--and so you are, very good-looking.’ + +Gaston bowed and laughed, rather amused at the way she spoke, for he was +used to being flattered by women, though hardly in the outspoken way of +this country maiden. + +‘She’s been strictly brought up,’ he muttered sarcastically, ‘I can see +that. Eve before the fall in all her innocence.’ + +‘I don’t like your eyes,’ said Miss Kitty, suddenly. + +‘What’s the matter with them?’ with a quizzical glance. + +‘They look wicked.’ + +‘Ah, then they belie the soul within,’ returned Vandeloup, seriously. ‘I +assure you, I’m a very good young man.’ + +Then I’m sure not to like you,’ said Kitty, gravely shaking her golden +head. ‘Pa’s a minister, you know, and nothing but good young men come to +our house; they’re all so horrid,’ viciously, ‘I hate ‘em.’ + +Vandeloup laughed so much at this that Kitty rose to her feet and looked +offended. + +‘I don’t know what you are laughing at,’ she said, throwing her +half-eaten apple out of the door; ‘but I don’t believe you’re a good +young man. You look awfully bad,’ seriously. ‘Really, I don’t think I +ever saw anyone look so bad.’ + +‘Suppose you undertake my reformation?’ suggested Vandeloup, eagerly. + +‘Oh! I couldn’t; it wouldn’t be right; but,’ brightly, ‘pa will.’ + +‘I don’t think I’ll trouble him,’ said Gaston, hastily, who by no means +relished the idea. ‘I’m too far gone to be any good.’ + +She was about to reply when Madame Midas entered, and Kitty flew to her +with a cry of delight. + +‘Why, Kitty,’ said Madame, highly pleased, ‘I am so glad to see you, my +dear; but keep off, or I’ll be spoiling your dress.’ + +‘Yes, so you will,’ said Kitty, retreating to a safe distance; ‘what a +long time you have been.’ + +‘Have I, dear?’ said Madame, taking off her underground dress; ‘I hope +M. Vandeloup has proved a good substitute.’ + +‘Madame,’ answered Vandeloup, gaily, as he assisted Mrs Villiers to +doff her muddy garments, ‘we have been talking about the crops and the +weather.’ + +‘Oh, indeed,’ replied Mrs Villiers, who saw the flush on Kitty’s cheek, +and by no means approved of it; ‘it must have been very entertaining.’ + +‘Very!’ assented Gaston, going back to his desk. + +‘Come along, Kitty,’ said Madame, with a keen glance at her clerk, and +taking Kitty’s arm within her own, ‘let us go to the house, and see if +we can find any peaches.’ + +‘I hope we’ll find some big ones,’ said Kitty, gluttonously, as she +danced along by the side of Mrs Villiers. + +‘Temptation has been placed in my path in a very attractive form,’ +said Vandeloup to himself, as he went back to those dreary columns of +figures, ‘and I’m afraid that I will not be able to resist.’ + +When he came home to tea he found Kitty was as joyous and full of life +as ever, in spite of the long hot afternoon and the restless energy with +which she had been running about. Even Madame Midas felt weary and worn +out by the heat of the day, and was sitting tranquilly by the window; +but Kitty, with bright eyes and restless feet, followed Selina all over +the house, under the pretence of helping her, an infliction which that +sage spinster bore with patient resignation. + +After tea it was too hot to light the lamp, and even Selina let the fire +go out, while all the windows and doors were open to let the cool +night wind blow in. Vandeloup sat on the verandah with McIntosh smoking +cigarettes and listening to Madame, who was playing Mendelssohn’s ‘In a +Gondola’, that dreamy melody full of the swing and rhythmic movement of +the waves. Then to please old Archie she played ‘Auld Lang +Syne’--that tender caressing air which is one of the most pathetic and +heart-stirring melodies in the world. Archie leaned forward with bowed +head as the sad melody floated on the air, and his thoughts went back +to the heather-clad Scottish hills. And what was this Madame was now +playing, with its piercing sorrow and sad refrain? Surely ‘Farewell to +Lochaber’, that bitter lament of the exile leaving bonny Scotland far +behind. Vandeloup, who was not attending to the music, but thinking +of Kitty, saw two big tears steal down McIntosh’s severe face, and +marvelled at such a sign of weakness. + +‘Sentiment from him?’ he muttered, in a cynical tone; ‘why, I should +have as soon expected blood from a stone.’ + +Suddenly the sad air ceased, and after a few chords, Kitty commenced to +sing to Madame’s accompaniment. Gaston arose to his feet, and leaned +up against the door, for she was singing Gounod’s charming valse from +‘Mirella’, the bird-like melody of which suited her high clear voice +to perfection. Vandeloup was rather astonished at hearing this innocent +little maiden execute the difficult valse with such ease, and her shake +was as rapid and true as if she had been trained in the best schools of +Europe. He did not know that Kitty had naturally a very flexible voice, +and that Madame had trained her for nearly a year. When the song was +ended Gaston entered the room to express his thanks and astonishment, +both of which Kitty received with bursts of laughter. + +‘You have a fortune in your throat, mademoiselle,’ he said, with a bow, +‘and I assure you I have heard all the great singers of to-day from +Patti downwards.’ + +‘I have only been able to teach her very little,’ said Madame, looking +affectionately at Miss Marchurst, who now stood by the table, blushing +at Vandeloup’s praises, ‘but when we find the Devil’s Lead I am going to +send her home to Italy to study singing.’ + +‘For the stage?’ asked Vandeloup. + +‘That is as it may be,’ replied Madame, enigmatically, ‘but now, M. +Vandeloup, you must sing us something.’ + +‘Oh, does he sing?’ said Kitty, joyously. + +‘Yes, and play too,’ answered Madame, as she vacated her seat at the +piano and put her arm round Kitty, ‘sing us something from the “Grand +Duchess”, Monsieur.’ + +He shook his head. + +‘Too gay for such an hour,’ he said, running his fingers lightly over +the keys; ‘I will give you something from “Faust”.’ + +He had a pleasant tenor voice, not very strong, but singularly pure and +penetrating, and he sang ‘Salve Dinora’, the exquisite melody of which +touched the heart of Madame Midas with a vague longing for love and +affection, while in Kitty’s breast there was a feeling she had never +felt before. Her joyousness departed, her eyes glanced at the singer in +a half-frightened manner, and she clung closer to Madame Midas as if she +were afraid, as indeed she was. + +When Vandeloup finished the song he dashed into a riotous student song +which he had heard many a time in midnight Paris, and finally ended +with singing Alfred de Musset’s merry little chanson, which he thought +especially appropriate to Kitty:-- + +Bonjour, Suzon, ma fleur des bois, Es-tu toujours la plus jolie, Je +reviens, tel que tu me vois, + +D’un grand votage en Italie. + +Altogether Kitty had enjoyed her evening immensely, and was quite sorry +when Brown came to take her home. Madame wrapped her up well and put her +in the buggy, but was rather startled to see her flushed cheeks, bright +eyes, and the sudden glances she stole at Vandeloup, who stood handsome +and debonair in the moonlight. + +‘I’m afraid I’ve made a mistake,’ she said to herself as the buggy drove +off. + +She had, for Kitty had fallen in love with the Frenchman. + +And Gaston? + +He walked back to the house beside Madame, thinking of Kitty, and +humming the gay refrain of the song he had been singing-- + +‘Je passe devant ta maison Ouvre ta porte, Bonjour, Suzon.’ + +Decidedly it was a case of love at first sight on both sides. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR VILLIERS PAYS A VISIT + + +Slivers and his friend Villiers were by no means pleased with the +existing state of things. In sending Vandeloup to the Pactolus claim, +they had thought to compromise Madame Midas by placing her in the +society of a young and handsome man, and counting on one of two things +happening--either that Madame would fall in love with the attractive +Frenchman, and seek for a divorce in order to marry him--which divorce +Villiers would of course resist, unless she bribed him by giving him an +interest in the Pactolus--or that Villiers could assume an injured tone +and accuse Vandeloup of being his wife’s lover, and threaten to divorce +her unless she made him her partner in the claim. But they had both +reckoned wrongly, for neither of these things happened, as Madame was +not in love with Vandeloup, and acted with too much circumspection to +give any opportunity for scandal. Consequently, Slivers and Co., not +finding matters going to their satisfaction, met one day at the office +of the senior partner for the purpose of discussing the affair, and +seeing what could be done towards bringing Madame Midas to their way of +thinking. + +Villiers was lounging in one of the chairs, dressed in a white linen +suit, and looked rather respectable, though his inflamed face and watery +eyes showed what a drunkard he was. He was sipping a glass of whisky +and water and smoking his pipe, while he watched Slivers stumping up and +down the office, swinging his cork arm vehemently to and fro as was his +custom when excited. Billy sat on the table and eyed his master with a +steady stare, or else hopped about among the papers talking to himself. + +‘You thought you were going to do big things when you sent that +jackadandy out to the Pactolus,’ said Villiers, after a pause. + +‘At any rate, I did something,’ snarled Slivers, in a rage, ‘which is +more than you did, you whisky barrel.’ + +‘Look here, don’t you call names,’ growled Mr Villiers, in a sulky tone. +‘I’m a gentleman, remember that.’ + +‘You were a gentleman, you mean,’ corrected the senior partner, with a +malignant glance of his one eye. ‘What are you now?’ + +‘A stockbroker,’ retorted the other, taking a sip of whisky. + +‘And a damned poor one at that,’ replied the other, sitting on the edge +of the table, which position caused his wooden leg to stick straight +out, a result which he immediately utilized by pointing it threateningly +in the direction of Villiers. + +‘Look here,’ said that gentleman, suddenly sitting up in his chair in a +defiant manner, ‘drop these personalities and come to business; what’s +to be done? Vandeloup is firmly established there, but there’s not the +slightest chance of my wife falling in love with him.’ + +‘Wait,’ said Slivers, stolidly wagging his wooden leg up and down; +‘wait, you blind fool, wait.’ + +‘Wait for the waggon!’ shrieked Billy, behind, and then supplemented +his remarks by adding, ‘Oh, my precious mother!’ as he climbed up on +Slivers’ shoulder. + +‘You always say wait,’ growled Villiers, not paying any attention to +Billy’s interruption; ‘I tell you we can’t wait much longer; they’ll +drop on the Devil’s Lead shortly, and then we’ll be up a tree.’ + +‘Then, suppose you go out to the Pactolus and see your wife,’ suggested +Slivers. + +‘No go,’ returned Villiers, gloomily, ‘she’d break my head.’ + +‘Bah! you ain’t afraid of a woman, are you?’ snarled Slivers, viciously. + +‘No, but I am of McIntosh and the rest of them,’ retorted Villiers. +‘What can one man do against twenty of these devils. Why, they’d kill me +if I went out there; and that infernal wife of mine wouldn’t raise her +little finger to save me.’ + +‘You’re a devil!’ observed Billy, eyeing Villiers from his perch on +Slivers’ shoulder. ‘Oh, Lord! ha! ha! ha!’ going into fits of laughter; +then drawing himself suddenly up, he ejaculated ‘Pickles!’ and shut up. + +‘It’s no good beating about the bush,’ said the wooden-legged man, +getting down from the table. ‘You go out near the claim, and see if you +can catch her; then give it to her hot.’ + +‘What am I to say?’ asked Villiers, helplessly. + +Slivers looked at him with fiery scorn in his one eye. + +‘Say!’ he shrieked, waving his cork arm, ‘talk about your darned honour! +Say she’s dragging your noble name through the mud, and say you’ll +divorce her if she don’t give you half a share in the Pactolus; that +will frighten her.’ + +‘Pickles!’ again ejaculated the parrot. + +‘Oh, no, it won’t,’ said Villiers; ‘Brag’s a good dog, but he don’t +bite. I’ve tried that game on before, and it was no go.’ + +‘Then try it your own way,’ grumbled Slivers, sulkily, going to his seat +and pouring himself out some whisky. ‘I don’t care what you do, as long +as I get into the Pactolus, and once I’m in the devil himself won’t get +me out.’ + +Villiers thought a moment, then turned to go. + +‘I’ll try,’ he said, as he went out of the door, ‘but it’s no go, I tell +you, she’s stone,’ and with a dismal nod he slouched away. + +‘Stone, is she?’ cried the old man, pounding furiously on the floor with +his wooden leg, ‘then I’d smash her; I’d crush her; I’d grind her into +little bits, damn her,’ and overcome by his rage, Slivers shook Billy +off his shoulder and took a long drink. + +Meanwhile Mr Villiers, dreading lest his courage should give way, went +to the nearest hotel and drank pretty freely so that he might bring +himself into an abnormal condition of bravery. Thus primed, he went +to the railway station, took the train to the Pactolus claim, and on +arriving at the end of his journey had one final glass of whisky to +steady his nerves. + +The last straw, however, breaks the camel’s back, and this last drink +reduced Mr Villiers to that mixed state which is known in colonial +phrase as half-cocked. He lurched out of the hotel, and went in the +direction of the Pactolus claim. His only difficulty was that, as a +matter of fact, the solitary mound of white earth which marked the +entrance to the mine, suddenly appeared before his eyes in a double +condition, and he beheld two Pactolus claims, which curious optical +delusion rather confused him, inasmuch as he was undecided to which he +should go. + +‘Itsh the drinksh,’ he said at length, stopping in the middle of the +white dusty road, and looking preternaturally solemn; ‘it maksh me see +double: if I see my wife, I’ll see two of her, then’--with a drunken +giggle--‘I’ll be a bigamist.’ + +This idea so tickled him, that he commenced to laugh, and, finding it +inconvenient to do so on his legs, he sat down to indulge his humour +freely. A laughing jackass perched on the fence at the side of the road +heard Mr Villiers’ hilarity, and, being of a convivial turn of mind +itself, went off into fits of laughter also. On hearing this echo Mr +Villiers tried to get up, in order to punish the man who mocked him, +but, though his intentions were good, his legs were unsteady, and after +one or two ineffectual attempts to rise he gave it up as a bad job. Then +rolling himself a little to one side of the dusty white road, he went +sound asleep, with his head resting on a tuft of green grass. In his +white linen suit he was hardly distinguishable in the fine white dust of +the road, and though the sun blazed hotly down on him and the mosquitos +stung him, yet he slept calmly on, and it was not till nearly four +o’clock in the afternoon that he woke up. He was more sober, but still +not quite steady, being in that disagreeable temper to which some men +are subject when suffering a recovery. Rising to his feet, with a hearty +curse, he picked up his hat and put it on; then, thrusting his hands +into his pockets, he slouched slowly along, bent upon meeting his wife +and picking a quarrel with her. + +Unluckily for Madame Midas, she had that day been to Ballarat, and was +just returning. She had gone by train, and was now leaving the station +and walking home to the Pactolus along the road. Being absorbed in +thought, she did not notice the dusty figure in front of her, otherwise +she would have been sure to have recognised her husband, and would have +given him a wide berth by crossing the fields instead of going by the +road. Mr Villiers, therefore, tramped steadily on towards the Pactolus, +and his wife tramped steadily after him, until at last, at the turn of +the road where it entered her property, she overtook him. + +A shudder of disgust passed through her frame as she raised her eyes and +saw him, and she made a sudden gesture as though to fall behind and +thus avoid him. It was, however, too late, for Mr Villiers, hearing +footsteps, turned suddenly and saw the woman he had come to see standing +in the middle of the road. + +Husband and wife stood gazing at one another for a few moments in +silence, she looking at him with an expression of intense loathing on +her fine face, and he vainly trying to assume a dignified carriage--a +task which his late fit of drunkenness rendered difficult. + +At last, his wife, drawing her dress together as though his touch would +have contaminated her, tried to pass, but on seeing this he sprang +forward, before she could change her position, and caught her wrist. + +‘Not yet!’ he hissed through his clenched teeth; ‘first you must have a +word with me.’ + +Madame Midas looked around for aid, but no one was in sight. They were +some distance from the Pactolus, and the heat of the afternoon being +intense, every one was inside. At last Madame saw some man moving +towards them, down the long road which led to the station, and knowing +that Vandeloup had been into town, she prayed in her heart that it might +be he, and so prepared to parley with her husband till he should come +up. Having taken this resolution, she suddenly threw off Villiers’ +grasp, and turned towards him with a superb gesture of scorn. + +‘What do you want?’ she asked in a low, clear voice, but in a tone of +concentrated passion. + +‘Money!’ growled Villiers, insolently planting himself directly in front +of her, ‘and I’m going to have it.’ + +‘Money!’ she echoed, in a tone of bitter irony; ‘have you not had enough +yet? Have you not squandered every penny I had from my father in your +profligacy and evil companions? What more do you want?’ + +‘A share in the Pactolus,’ he said, sullenly. + +His wife laughed scornfully. ‘A share in the Pactolus!’ she echoed, with +bitter sarcasm, ‘A modest request truly. After squandering my fortune, +dragging me through the mire, and treating me like a slave, this man +expects to be rewarded. Listen to me, Randolph Villiers,’ she said, +fiercely, stepping up to him and seizing his hand, ‘this land we now +stand on is mine--the gold underneath is mine; and if you were to go +on your knees to me and beg for a morsel of bread to save you from +starving, I would not lift one finger to succour you.’ + +Villiers writhed like a snake under her bitter scorn. + +‘I understand,’ he said, in a taunting tone; ‘you want it for your +lover.’ + +‘My lover? What do you mean?’ + +‘What I say,’ he retorted boldly, ‘all Ballarat knows the position that +young Frenchman holds in the Pactolus claim.’ + +Mrs Villiers felt herself grow faint--the accusation was so horrible. +This man, who had embittered her life from the time she married him, +was still her evil genius, and was trying to ruin her in the eyes of the +world. The man she had seen on the road was now nearly up to them, and +with a revulsion of feeling she saw that it was Vandeloup. Recovering +herself with an effort, she turned and faced him steadily. + +‘You lied when you spoke just now,’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘I will +not lower myself to reply to your accusation; but, as there is a God +above us, if you dare to cross my path again, I will kill you.’ + +She looked so terrible when she said this that Villiers involuntarily +drew back, but recovering himself in a moment, he sprang forward and +caught her arm. + +‘You devil! I’ll make you pay for this,’ and he twisted her arm till +she thought it was broken. ‘You’ll kill me, will you?--you!--you!’ he +shrieked, still twisting her arm and causing her intense pain, ‘you +viper!’ + +Suddenly, when Madame was almost fainting with pain, she heard a shout, +and knew that Vandeloup had come to the rescue. He had recognised Madame +Midas down the road, and saw that her companion was threatening her; so +he made all possible speed, and arrived just in time. + +Madame turned round to see Vandeloup throw her husband into a ditch by +the side of the road, and walk towards her. He was not at all excited, +but seemed as cool and calm as if he had just been shaking hands with Mr +Villiers instead of treating him violently. + +‘You had better go home, Madame,’ he said, in his usual cool voice, ‘and +leave me to deal with this--gentleman; you are not hurt?’ + +‘Only my arm,’ replied Mrs Villiers, in a faint voice; ‘he nearly broke +it. But I can walk home alone.’ + +‘If you can, do so,’ said Vandeloup, with a doubtful look at her. ‘I +will send him away.’ + +‘Don’t let him hurt you.’ + +‘I don’t think there’s much danger,’ replied the young man, with a +glance at his arms, ‘I’m stronger than I look.’ + +‘Thank you, Monsieur,’ said Madame Midas, giving him her hand; ‘you have +rendered me a great service, and one I will not forget.’ + +He bent down and kissed her hand, which action was seen by Mr Villiers +as he crawled out of the ditch. When Madame Midas was gone and Vandeloup +could see her walking homeward, he turned to look for Mr Villiers, and +found him seated on the edge of the ditch, all covered with mud and +streaming with water--presenting a most pitiable appearance. He regarded +M. Vandeloup in a most malignant manner, which, however, had no effect +on that young gentleman, who produced a cigarette, and having lighted it +proceeded to talk. + +‘I’m sorry I can’t offer you one,’ said Gaston, affably, ‘but I hardly +think you would enjoy it in your present damp condition. If I might +be permitted to suggest anything,’ with a polite smile, ‘a bath and a +change of clothes would be most suitable to you, and you will find +both at Ballarat. I also think,’ said Vandeloup, with an air of one who +thinks deeply, ‘that if you hurry you will catch the next train, which +will save you a rather long walk.’ + +Mr Villiers glared at his tormentor in speechless anger, and tried to +look dignified, but, covered as he was with mud, his effort was not +successful. + +‘Do you know who I am?’ he said at length, in a blustering manner. + +‘Under some circumstances,’ said M. Vandeloup, in a smooth voice, ‘I +should have taken you for a mud bank, but as you both speak and smile +I presume you are a man of the lowest type; as you English yourselves +say--a blackguard.’ + +‘I’ll smash you!’ growled Villiers, stepping forward. + +‘I wouldn’t try if I were you,’ retorted Vandeloup, with a disparaging +glance. ‘I am young and strong, almost a total abstainer; you, on the +contrary, are old and flabby, with the shaking nerves of an incurable +drunkard. No, it would be hardly fair for me to touch you.’ + +‘You dare not lay a finger on me,’ said Villiers, defiantly. + +‘Quite right,’ replied Vandeloup, lighting another cigarette, ‘you’re +rather too dirty for close companionship. I really think you’d better +go; Monsieur Sleeves no doubt expects you.’ + +‘And this is the man that I obtained work for,’ said Mr Villiers, +addressing the air. + +‘It’s a very ungrateful world,’ said Vandeloup, calmly, with a shrug of +his shoulders; ‘I never expect anything from it; I’m sorry if you do, +for you are sure to be disappointed.’ + +Villiers, finding he could make nothing out of the imperturbable +coolness of the young Frenchman, turned to go, but as he went, said +spitefully-- + +‘You can tell my wife I’ll pay her for this.’ + +‘Accounts are paid on Saturdays,’ called out M. Vandeloup, gaily; ‘if +you call I will give you a receipt of the same kind as you had to-day.’ + +Villiers made no response, as he was already out of hearing, and went on +his way to the station with mud on his clothes and rage in his heart. + +Vandeloup looked after him for a few minutes with a queer smile on his +lips, then turned on his heel and walked home, humming a song. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MADAME MIDAS STRIKES ‘ILE’ + + +Aesop knew human nature very well when he wrote his fable of the old +man and his ass, who tried to please everybody and ended up by pleasing +nobody. Bearing this in mind, Madame Midas determined to please herself, +and take no one’s advice but her own with regard to Vandeloup. She knew +if she dismissed him from the mine it would give colour to her husband’s +vile insinuations, so she thought the wisest plan would be to take no +notice of her meeting with him, and let things remain as they were. It +turned out to be the best thing she could have done, for though +Villiers went about Ballarat accusing her of being the young Frenchman’s +mistress, everyone was too well aware of existing circumstances to +believe what he said. They knew that he had squandered his wife’s +fortune, and that she had left him in disgust at his profligacy, so +they declined to believe his accusations against a woman who had +proved herself true steel in withstanding bad fortune. So Mr Villiers’ +endeavours to ruin his wife only recoiled on his own head, for the +Ballarat folk argued, and rightly, that whatever she did it was not his +place to cast the first stone at her, seeing that the unsatisfactory +position she was now in was mainly his own work. Villiers, therefore, +gained nothing by his attempt to blacken his wife’s character except +the contempt of everyone, and even the few friends he had gained turned +their backs on him until no one would associate with him but Slivers, +who did so in order to gain his own ends. The company had quarrelled +over the unsuccessful result of Villiers’ visit to the Pactolus, and +Slivers, as senior partner, assisted by Billy, called Villiers all +the names he could lay his tongue to, which abuse Villiers accepted +in silence, not even having the spirit to resent it. But though he was +outwardly sulky and quiet, yet within he cherished a deep hatred against +his wife for the contempt with which he was treated, and inwardly vowed +to pay her out on the first feasible opportunity. + +It was now nearly six months since Vandeloup had become clerk at the +Pactolus, and he was getting tired of it, only watching his opportunity +to make a little money and go to Melbourne, where he had not much doubt +as to his success. With a certain sum of money to work on, M. Vandeloup +thought that with his talents and experience of human nature he would +soon be able to make a fortune, particularly as he was quite unfettered +by any scruples, and as long as he made money he did not care how he +gained it. With such an adaptable nature he could hardly help doing +well, but in order to give him the start he required a little capital, +so stayed on at the Pactolus and saved every penny he earned in the hope +of soon accumulating enough to leave. Another thing that kept him there +was his love for Kitty--not a very pure or elevating love certainly, +still it was love for all that, and Vandeloup could not tear himself +away from the place where she resided. + +He had called on Kitty’s father, the Rev. Mark Marchurst, who lived +at the top of Black Hill, near Ballarat, and did not like him. Mr +Marchurst, a grave, quiet man, who was the pastor of a particular sect, +calling themselves very modestly ‘The Elect’, was hardly the kind of +individual to attract a brilliant young fellow like Vandeloup, and the +wonder was that he ever had such a charming daughter. + +Kitty had fallen deeply in love with Vandeloup, so as he told her he +loved her in return, she thought that some day they would get married. +But nothing was farther from M. Vandeloup’s thoughts than marriage, even +with Kitty, for he knew how foolish it would be for him to marry before +making a position. + +‘I don’t want a wife to drag me back,’ he said to himself one day when +Kitty had hinted at matrimony; ‘when I am wealthy it will be time enough +to think of marriage, but it will be long before I am rich, and can I +wait for Bebe all that time? Alas! I do not think so.’ + +The fact was, the young man was very liberal in his ideas, and +infinitely preferred a mistress to a wife. He had not any evil designs +towards Kitty, but her bright manner and charming face pleased him, +and he simply enjoyed the hours as they passed. She idolised him, and +Gaston, who was accustomed to be petted and caressed by women, accepted +all her affection as his due. Curiously enough, Madame Midas, lynx-eyed +as she was, never suspected the true state of affairs. Vandeloup had +told Kitty that no one was to know of their love for one another, and +though Kitty was dying to tell Madame about it, yet she kept silent +at his request, and acted so indifferently towards him when under Mrs +Villiers’ eye, that any doubts that lady had about the fascinations of +her clerk soon vanished. + +As to M. Vandeloup, the situation was an old one for him accustomed +as he had been to carry on with guilty wives under the very noses of +unsuspecting husbands, and on this occasion he acted admirably. He was +very friendly with Kitty in public--evidently looking upon her as a mere +child, although he made no difference in his manner. And this innocent +intrigue gave a piquant flavour to his otherwise dull life. + +Meanwhile, the Devil’s Lead was still undiscovered, many people +declaring it was a myth, and that such a lead had never existed. Three +people, however, had a firm belief in its existence, and were certain +it would be found some day--this trio being McIntosh, Madame Midas, and +Slivers. + +The Pactolus claim was a sort of Naboth’s vineyard to Slivers, who, in +company with Billy, used to sit in his dingy little office and grind his +teeth as he thought of all the wealth lying beneath those green fields. +He had once even gone so far as to offer to buy a share in the claim +from Madame Midas, but had been promptly refused by that lady--a +circumstance which by no means added to his love for her. + +Still the Devil’s Lead was not found, and people were beginning to +disbelieve in its existence, when suddenly indications appeared which +showed that it was near at hand. Nuggets, some large, some small, +began to be constantly discovered, and every day news was brought into +Ballarat about the turning-up of a thirty-ounce or a twenty-ounce nugget +in the Pactolus, when, to crown all, the news came and ran like wildfire +through the city that a three hundred ounce nugget had been unearthed. + +There was great excitement over this, as such a large one had not been +found for some time, and when Slivers heard of its discovery he cursed +and swore most horribly; for with his long experience of gold mining, +he knew that the long-looked for Devil’s Lead was near at hand. Billy, +becoming excited with his master, began to swear also; and these +two companions cursed Madame Midas and all that belonged to her most +heartily. If Slivers could only have seen the interior of Madame Midas’s +dining room, by some trick of necromancy, he would certainly not have +been able to do the subject justice in the swearing line. + +There were present Madame Midas, Selina, McIntosh, and Vandeloup, and +they were all gathered round the table looking at the famous nugget. +There it lay in the centre of the table, a virgin mass of gold, all +water-worn and polished, hollowed out like a honeycomb, and dotted over +with white pebbles like currants in a plum pudding. + +‘I think I’ll send it to Melbourne for exhibition,’ said Mrs Villiers, +touching the nugget very lightly with her fingers. + +‘’Deed, mum, and ‘tis worth it,’ replied McIntosh, whose severe face was +relaxed in a grimly pleasant manner; ‘but losh! ‘tis naething tae what +‘ull come oot o’ the Deil’s Lead.’ + +‘Oh, come, now,’ said Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile, ‘the Devil’s +Lead won’t consist of nuggets like that.’ + +‘Maybe no,’ returned the old Scotchman, dryly; ‘but every mickle makes +a muckle, and ye ken the Lead wull hae mony sma’ nuggets, which is mair +paying, to my mind, than yin large ain.’ + +‘What’s the time?’ asked Madame, rather irrelevantly, turning to Archie. + +Mr McIntosh drew out the large silver watch, which was part and parcel +of himself, and answered gravely that it was two o’clock. + +‘Then I’ll tell you what,’ said Mrs Villiers, rising; ‘I’ll take it in +with me to Ballarat and show it to Mr Marchurst.’ + +McIntosh drew down the corners of his mouth, for, as a rigid +Presbyterian, he by no means approved of Marchurst’s heretical opinions, +but of course said nothing as Madame wished it. + +‘Can I come with you, Madame?’ said Vandeloup, eagerly, for he never +lost an opportunity of seeing Kitty if he could help it. + +‘Certainly,’ replied Madame, graciously; ‘we will start at once.’ + +Vandeloup was going away to get ready, when McIntosh stopped him. + +‘That friend o’ yours is gangin’ awa’ t’ the toun the day,’ he said, +touching Vandeloup lightly on the shoulder. + +‘What for?’ asked the Frenchman, carelessly. + +‘’Tis to see the play actors, I’m thinkin’,’ returned Archie, dryly. +‘He wants tae stap all nicht i’ the toun, so I’ve let him gae, an’ have +tauld him to pit up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, the landlord o’ which is a +freend o’ mine.’ + +‘Very kind of you, I’m sure,’ said Vandeloup, with a pleasant smile; +‘but may I ask what play actors you refer to?’ + +‘I dinna ken anythin’ about sic folk,’ retorted Mr McIntosh, piously, +‘the deil’s ain bairns, wha wull gang into the pit of Tophet.’ + +‘Aren’t you rather hard on them, Archie?’ said Madame Midas, smiling +quietly. ‘I’m very fond of the theatre myself.’ + +‘It’s no for me to give ma opeenion about ma betters,’ replied Archie, +ungraciously, as he went out to see after the horse and trap; ‘but I +dinna care aboot sitting in the seat of the scornfu’, or walking in the +ways of the unrighteous,’ and with this parting shot at Vandeloup he +went away. + +That young man shrugged his shoulders, and looked at Madame Midas in +such a comical manner that she could not help smiling. + +‘You must forgive Archie,’ she said, pausing at the door of her bedroom +for a moment. ‘He has been brought up severely, and it is hard to rid +oneself of the traditions of youth.’ + +‘Very traditional in this case, I’m afraid,’ answered Gaston, referring +to McIntosh’s age. + +‘If you like,’ said Madame, in a kindly tone, ‘you can stay in to-night +yourself, and go to the theatre.’ + +‘Thank you, Madame,’ replied Gaston, gravely. ‘I will avail myself of +your kind permission.’ + +‘I’m afraid you will find an Australian provincial company rather a +change after the Parisian theatres,’ said Mrs Villiers, as she vanished +into her room. + +Vandeloup smiled, and turned to Selina, who was busy about her household +work. + +‘Mademoiselle Selina,’ he said, gaily, ‘I am in want of a proverb to +answer Madame; if I can’t get the best I must be content with what I can +get. Now what piece of wisdom applies?’ + +Selina, flattered at being applied to, thought a moment, then raised her +head triumphantly-- + +‘“Half a loaf is better than none,”’ she announced, with a sour smile. + +‘Mademoiselle,’ said Vandeloup, gravely regarding her as he stood at the +door, ‘your wisdom is only equalled by your charming appearance,’ and +with an ironical bow he went out. + +Selina paused a moment in her occupation of polishing spoons, and looked +after him, doubtful as to whether he was in jest or earnest. Being +unable to decide, she resumed her work with a stifled chuckle, and +consoled herself with a proverb. + +‘To be good is better than to be beautiful,’ which saying, as everyone +knows, is most consoling to plain-looking people. + +The great nugget was carefully packed in a stout wooden box by Archie, +and placed in the trap by him with such caution that Madame, who was +already seated in it, asked him if he was afraid she would be robbed. + +‘It’s always best to be on the richt side, mem,’ said Archie, handing +her the reins; ‘we dinna ken what may happen.’ + +‘Why, no one knows I am taking this to Ballarat to-day,’ said Madame, +drawing on her gloves. + +‘Don’t they?’ thought M. Vandeloup, as he took his seat beside her. ‘She +doesn’t know that I’ve told Pierre.’ + +And without a single thought for the woman whose confidence he was +betraying, and of whose bread and salt he had partaken, Vandeloup shook +the reins, and the horse started down the road in the direction of +Ballarat, carrying Madame Midas and her nugget. + +‘You carry Caesar and his fortunes, M. Vandeloup,’ she said, with a +smile. + +‘I do better,’ he answered, gaily, ‘I carry Madame Midas and her luck.’ + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM + + +Mr Mark Marchurst was a very peculiar man. Brought up in the +Presbyterian religion, he had early displayed his peculiarity by +differing from the elders of the church he belonged to regarding their +doctrine of eternal punishment. They, holding fast to the teachings of +Knox and Calvin, looked upon him in horror for daring to have an opinion +of his own; and as he refused to repent and have blind belief in the +teachings of those grim divines, he was turned out of the bosom of +the church. Drifting to the opposite extreme, he became a convert to +Catholicism; but, after a trial of that ancient faith, found it would +not suit him, so once more took up a neutral position. Therefore, as he +did not find either religion perfectly in accordance with his own views, +he took the law into his own hands and constructed one which was a queer +jumble of Presbyterianism, Catholicism, and Buddhism, of which last +religion he was a great admirer. As anyone with strong views and a +clever tongue will find followers, Mr Marchurst soon gathered a number +of people around him who professed a blind belief in the extraordinary +doctrines he promulgated. Having thus founded a sect he got sufficient +money out of them to build a temple--for so he called the barn-like +edifice he erected--and christened this new society which he had called +into existence ‘The Elect’. About one hundred people were members of his +church, and with their subscriptions, and also having a little money of +his own, he managed to live in a quiet manner in a cottage on the Black +Hill near to his temple. Every Sunday he held forth morning and evening, +expounding his views to his sparse congregation, and was looked upon +by them as a kind of prophet. As a matter of fact, the man had that +peculiar power of fascination which seems to be inseparable from the +prophetic character, and it was his intense enthusiasm and eloquent +tongue that cast a spell over the simple-minded people who believed in +him. But his doctrines were too shallow and unsatisfactory ever to take +root, and it could be easily seen that when Marchurst died ‘The Elect’ +would die also,--that is, as a sect, for it was not pervaded by that +intense religious fervour which is the life and soul of a new doctrine. +The fundamental principles of his religion were extremely simple; he +saved his friends and damned his enemies, for so he styled those who +were not of the same mind as himself. If you were a member of ‘The +Elect’, Mr Marchurst assured you that the Golden Gate was wide open for +you, whereas if you belonged to any other denomination you were lost for +ever; so according to this liberal belief, the hundred people who formed +his congregation would all go straight to Heaven, and all the rest of +mankind would go to the devil. + +In spite of the selfishness of this theory, which condemned so many +souls to perdition, Marchurst was a kindly natured man, and his religion +was more of an hallucination than anything else. He was very clever at +giving advice, and Madame Midas esteemed him highly on this account. +Though Marchurst had often tried to convert her, she refused to believe +in the shallow sophistries he set forth, and told him she had her own +views on religion, which views she declined to impart to him, though +frequently pressed to do so. The zealot regretted this obstinacy, as, +according to his creed, she was a lost soul, but he liked her too well +personally to quarrel with her on that account, consoling himself with +the reflection that sooner or later, she would seek the fold. He was +more successful with M. Vandeloup, who, having no religion whatever, +allowed Marchurst to think he had converted him, in order to see as much +as he could of Kitty. He used to attend the Sunday services regularly, +and frequently came in during the week ostensibly to talk to Marchurst +about the doctrines of ‘The Elect’, but in reality to see the old man’s +daughter. + +On this bright afternoon, when everything was bathed in sunshine, Mr +Marchurst, instead of being outside and enjoying the beauties of Nature, +was mewed up in his dismal little study, with curtains closely drawn +to exclude the light, a cup of strong tea, and the Bible open at ‘The +Lamentations of Jeremiah’. His room was lined with books, but they had +not that friendly look books generally have, but, bound in dingy brown +calf, looked as grim and uninviting as their contents, which were mostly +sermons and cheerful anticipations of the bottomless pit. It was against +Marchurst’s principles to gratify his senses by having nice things +around him, and his whole house was furnished in the same dismal manner. + +So far did he carry this idea of mortifying the flesh through the eyes +that he had tried to induce Kitty to wear sad-coloured dresses and +poke bonnets; but in this attempt he failed lamentably, as Kitty +flatly refused to make a guy of herself, and always wore dresses of the +lightest and gayest description. + +Marchurst groaned over this display of vanity, but as he could do +nothing with the obdurate Kitty, he allowed her to have her own way, and +made a virtue of necessity by calling her his ‘thorn in the flesh’. + +He was a tall thin man, of a bleached appearance, from staying so much +in the dark, and so loosely put together that when he bowed he did +not as much bend as tumble down from a height. In fact, he looked so +carelessly fixed up that when he sat down he made the onlooker feel +quite nervous lest he should subside into a ruin, and scatter his legs, +arms, and head promiscuously all over the place. He had a sad, pale, +eager-looking face, with dreamy eyes, which always seemed to be looking +into the spiritual world. He wore his brown hair long, as he always +maintained a man’s hair was as much his glory as a woman’s was hers, +quoting Samson and Absalom in support of this opinion. His arms were +long and thin, and when he gesticulated in the pulpit on Sundays flew +about like a couple of flails, which gave him a most unhappy resemblance +to a windmill. The ‘Lamentations of Jeremiah’ are not the most cheerful +of reading, and Mr Marchurst, imbued with the sadness of the Jewish +prophet, drinking strong tea and sitting in a darkened room, was rapidly +sinking into a very dismal frame of mind, which an outsider would have +termed a fit of the blues. He sat in his straight-backed chair taking +notes of such parts of the ‘Lamentations’ as would tend to depress the +spirits of the ‘Elect’ on Sunday, and teach them to regard life in a +proper and thoroughly miserable manner. + +He was roused from his dismal musings by the quick opening of the door +of his study, when Kitty, joyous and gay in her white dress, burst like +a sunbeam into the room. + +“I wish, Katherine,” said her father, in a severe voice, “I wish you +would not enter so noisily and disturb my meditations.” + +“You’ll have to put your meditations aside for a bit,” said Kitty, +disrespectfully, crossing to the window and pulling aside the curtains, +“for Madame Midas and M. Vandeloup have come to see you.” + +A flood of golden light streamed into the dusky room, and Marchurst put +his hand to his eyes for a moment, as they were dazzled by the sudden +glare. + +“They’ve got something to show you, papa,” said Kitty, going back to the +door: “a big nugget--such a size--as large as your head.” + +Her father put his hand mechanically to his head to judge of the size, +and was about to answer when Madame Midas, calm, cool, and handsome, +entered the room, followed by Vandeloup, carrying a wooden box +containing the nugget. It was by no means light, and Vandeloup was quite +thankful when he placed it on the table. + +“I hope I’m not disturbing you, Mr Marchurst,” said Madame, sitting down +and casting a glance at the scattered papers, the cup of tea, and the +open Bible, “but I couldn’t help gratifying my vanity by bringing the +new nugget for you to see.” + +“It’s very kind of you, I’m sure,” responded Mr Marchurst, politely, +giving way suddenly in the middle as if he had a hinge in his back, +which was his idea of a bow. “I hope this,” laying his hand on the box, +“may be the forerunner of many such.” + +“Oh, it will,” said Vandeloup, cheerfully, “if we can only find the +Devil’s Lead.” + +“An unholy name,” groaned Marchurst sadly, shaking his head. “Why did +you not call it something else?” + +“Simply because I didn’t name it,” replied Madame Midas, bluntly; “but +if the lead is rich, the name doesn’t matter much.” + +“Of course not,” broke in Kitty, impatiently, being anxious to see the +nugget. “Do open the box; I’m dying to see it.” + +“Katherine! Katherine!” said Marchurst, reprovingly, as Vandeloup opened +the box, “how you do exaggerate--ah!” he broke off his exhortation +suddenly, for the box was open, and the great mass of gold was +glittering in its depths. ‘Wonderful!’ + +‘What a size!’ cried Kitty, clapping her hands as Vandeloup lifted it +out and placed it on the table; ‘how much is it worth?’ + +‘About twelve hundred pounds,’ said Madame, quietly, though her heart +throbbed with pride as she looked at her nugget; ‘it weighs three +hundred ounces.’ + +‘Wonderful!’ reiterated the old man, passing his thin hand lightly over +the rough surface; ‘verily the Lord hath hidden great treasure in the +entrails of the earth, and the Pactolus would seem to be a land of Ophir +when it yields such wealth as this.’ + +The nugget was duly admired by everyone, and then Brown and Jane, who +formed the household of Marchurst, were called in to look at it. They +both expressed such astonishment and wonder, that Marchurst felt himself +compelled to admonish them against prizing the treasures of earth above +those of heaven. Vandeloup, afraid that they were in for a sermon, +beckoned quietly to Kitty, and they both stealthily left the room, while +Marchurst, with Brown, Jane, and Madame for an audience, and the nugget +for a text, delivered a short discourse. + +Kitty put on a great straw hat, underneath which her piquant face +blushed and grew pink beneath the fond gaze of her lover as they left +the house together and strolled up to the Black Hill. + +Black Hill no doubt at one time deserved its name, being then covered +with dark trees and representing a black appearance at a distance; but +at present, owing to the mines which have been worked there, the whole +place is covered with dazzling white clay, or mulloch, which now renders +the title singularly inappropriate. On the top of the hill there is a +kind of irregular gully or pass, which extends from one side of the +hill to the other, and was cut in the early days for mining purposes. +Anything more extraordinary can hardly be imagined than this chasm, for +the sides, which tower up on either side to the height of some fifty or +sixty feet, are all pure white, and at the top break into all sorts of +fantastic forms. The white surface of the rocks are all stained with +colours which alternate in shades of dark brown, bright red and delicate +pink. Great masses of rock have tumbled down on each side, often coming +so close together as to almost block up the path. Here and there in the +white walls can be seen the dark entrances of disused shafts; and one, +at the lowest level of the gully, pierces through the hill and comes +out on the other side. There is an old engine-house near the end of the +gully, with its red brick chimney standing up gaunt and silent beside +it, and the ugly tower of the winding gear adjacent. All the machinery +in the engine-house, with the huge wheels and intricate mechanism, +is silent now--for many years have elapsed since this old shaft was +abandoned by the Black Hill Gold Mining Company. + +At the lower end of the pass there is an engine-house in full working +order, and a great plateau of slate-coloured mulloch runs out for some +yards, and then there is a steep sloping bank formed by the falling +earth. In the moonlight this wonderful white gully looks weird and +bizarre; and even as Vandeloup and Kitty stood at the top looking down +into its dusty depths in the bright sunshine, it looks fantastic and +picturesque. + +Seated on the highest point of the hill, under the shadow of a great +rock, the two lovers had a wonderful view of Ballarat. Here and there +they could see the galvanized iron roofs of the houses gleaming like +silver in the sunlight from amid the thick foliage of the trees with +which the city is studded. Indeed, Ballarat might well be called the +City of Trees, for seen from the Black Hill it looks more like a huge +park with a sprinkling of houses in it than anything else. The green +foliage rolls over it like the waves of the ocean, and the houses rise +up like isolated habitations. Now and then a red brick building, or the +slender white spire of a church gave a touch of colour to the landscape, +and contrasted pleasantly with the bluish-white roofs and green trees. +Scattered all through the town were the huge mounds of earth marking +the mining-shafts of various colours, from dark brown to pure white, and +beside them, with the utmost regularity, were the skeleton towers of +the poppet heads, the tall red chimneys, and the squat, low forms of the +engine-houses. On the right, high up, could be seen the blue waters +of Lake Wendouree flashing like a mirror in the sunlight. The city was +completely encircled by the dark forests, which stretched far away, +having a reddish tinge over their trees, ending in a sharply defined +line against the clear sky; while, on the left arose Mount Warreneip +like an undulating mound and, further along, Mount Bunniyong, with the +same appearance. + +All this wonderful panorama, however, was so familiar to Kitty and her +lover that they did not trouble themselves to look much at it; but the +girl sat down under the big rock, and Vandeloup flung himself lazily at +her feet. + +‘Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, who had given her this pet name, ‘how long is +this sort of life going to last?’ + +Kitty looked down at him with a vague feeling of terror at her heart. +She had never known any life but the simple one she was now leading, and +could not imagine it coming to an end. + +‘I’m getting tired of it,’ said Vandeloup, lying back on the grass, +and, putting his hands under his head, stared idly at the blue sky. +‘Unfortunately, human life is so short nowadays that we cannot afford to +waste a moment of it. I am not suited for a lotus-eating existence, and +I think I shall go to Melbourne.’ + +‘And leave me?’ cried Kitty, in dismay, never having contemplated such a +thing as likely to happen. + +‘That depends on yourself, Bebe,’ said her lover, quickly rolling over +and looking steadily at her, with his chin resting on his hands; ‘will +you come with me?’ + +‘As your wife?’ murmured Kitty, whose innocent mind never dreamt of any +other form of companionship. + +Vandeloup turned away his face to conceal the sneering smile that crept +over it. His wife, indeed! as if he were going to encumber himself with +marriage before he had made a fortune, and even then it was questionable +as to whether he would surrender the freedom of bachelorhood for the +ties of matrimony. + +‘Of course,’ he said, in a reassuring tone, still keeping his face +turned away, ‘we will get married in Melbourne as soon as we arrive.’ + +‘Why can’t papa marry us,’ pouted Kitty, in an aggrieved tone. + +‘My dear child,’ said the Frenchman, getting on his knees and coming +close to her, ‘in the first place, your father would not consent to the +match, as I am poor and unknown, and not by any means the man he would +choose for you; and in the second place, being a Catholic,’--here M. +Vandeloup looked duly religious--‘I must be married by one of my own +priests.’ + +‘Then why not in Ballarat?’ objected Kitty, still unconvinced. + +‘Because your father would never consent,’ he whispered, putting his arm +round her waist; ‘we must run away quietly, and when we are married can +ask his pardon and,’ with a sardonic sneer, ‘his blessing.’ + +A delicious thrill passed through Kitty when she heard this. A real +elopement with a handsome lover--just like the heroines in the story +books. It was delightfully romantic, and yet there seemed to be +something wrong about it. She was like a timid bather, longing to +plunge into the water, yet hesitating through a vague fear. With a quick +catching of the breath she turned to Vandeloup, and saw him with his +burning scintillating eyes fastened on her face. + +‘Don’t look like that,’ she said, with a touch of virginal fear, pushing +him away, ‘you frighten me.’ + +‘Frighten you, Bebe?’ he said, in a caressing tone; ‘my heart’s idol, +you are cruel to speak like that; you must come with me, for I cannot +and will not leave you behind.’ + +‘When do you go?’ asked Kitty, who was now trembling violently. + +‘Ah!’ M. Vandeloup was puzzled what to say, as he had no very decided +plan of action. He had not sufficient money saved to justify him in +leaving the Pactolus--still there were always possibilities, and Fortune +was fond of playing wild pranks. At the same time there was nothing +tangible in view likely to make him rich, so, as these thoughts rapidly +passed through his mind, he resolved to temporize. + +‘I can’t tell you, Bebe,’ he said, in a caressing tone, smoothing her +curly hair. ‘I want you to think over what I have said, and when I do +go, perhaps in a month or so, you will be ready to come with me. No,’ he +said, as Kitty was about to answer, ‘I don’t want you to reply now, take +time to consider, little one,’ and with a smile on his lips he bent over +and kissed her tenderly. + +They sat silently together for some time, each intent on their own +thoughts, and then Vandeloup suddenly looked up. + +‘Will Madame stay to dinner with you, Bebe?’ he asked. + +Kitty nodded. + +‘She always does,’ she answered; ‘you will come too.’ + +Vandeloup shook his head. + +‘I am going down to Ballarat to the Wattle Tree Hotel to see my friend +Pierre,’ he said, in a preoccupied manner, ‘and will have something to +eat there. Then I will come up again about eight o’clock, in time to see +Madame off.’ + +‘Aren’t you going back with her?’ asked Kitty, in surprise, as they rose +to their feet. + +‘No,’ he replied, dusting his knees with his hand, ‘I stay all night +in Ballarat, with Madame’s kind permission, to see the theatre. Now, +good-bye at present, Bebe,’ kissing her, ‘I will be back at eight +o’clock, so you can excuse me to Madame till then.’ + +He ran gaily down the hill waving his hat, and Kitty stood looking after +him with pride in her heart. He was a lover any girl might have been +proud of, but Kitty would not have been so satisfied with him had she +known what his real thoughts were. + +‘Marry!’ he said to himself, with a laugh, as he walked gaily along; +‘hardly! When we get to Melbourne, my sweet Bebe, I will find some way +to keep you off that idea--and when we grow tired of one another, we can +separate without the trouble or expense of a divorce.’ + +And this heartless, cynical man of the world was the keeper into whose +hands innocent Kitty was about to commit the whole of her future life. + +After all, the fabled Sirens have their equivalent in the male sex, and +Homer’s description symbolizes a cruel truth. + + + +CHAPTER X + +FRIENDS IN COUNCIL + + +The Wattle Tree Hotel, to which Mr McIntosh had directed Pierre, was a +quiet little public-house in a quiet street. It was far away from the +main thoroughfares of the city, and a stranger had to go up any number +of quiet streets to get to it, and turn and twist round corners and down +narrow lanes until it became a perfect miracle how he ever found the +hotel at all. + +To a casual spectator it would seem that a tavern so difficult of access +would not be very good for business, but Simon Twexby, the landlord, +knew better. It had its regular customers, who came there day after day, +and sat in the little back parlour and talked and chatted over their +drinks. The Wattle Tree was such a quiet haven of rest, and kept such +good liquor, that once a man discovered it he always came back again; so +Mr Twexby did a very comfortable trade. + +Rumour said he had made a lot of money out of gold-mining, and that he +kept the hotel more for amusement than anything else; but, however this +might be, the trade of the Wattle Tree brought him in a very decent +income, and Mr Twexby could afford to take things easy--which he +certainly did. + +Anyone going into the bar could see old Simon--a stolid, fat man, with +a sleepy-looking face, always in his shirt sleeves, and wearing a white +apron, sitting in a chair at the end, while his daughter, a sharp, +red-nosed damsel, who was thirty-five years of age, and confessed to +twenty-two, served out the drinks. Mrs Twexby had long ago departed this +life, leaving behind her the sharp, red-nosed damsel to be her father’s +comfort. As a matter of fact, she was just the opposite, and Simon often +wished that his daughter had departed to a better world in company with +her mother. Thin, tight-laced, with a shrill voice and an acidulated +temper, Miss Twexby was still a spinster, and not even the fact of her +being an heiress could tempt any of the Ballarat youth to lead her to +the altar. Consequently Miss Twexby’s temper was not a golden one, and +she ruled the hotel and its inmates--her father included--with a rod of +iron. + +Mr Villiers was a frequent customer at the Wattle Tree, and was in the +back parlour drinking brandy and water and talking to old Twexby on the +day that Pierre arrived. The dumb man came into the bar out of the dusty +road, and, leaning over the counter, pushed a letter under Miss Twexby’s +nose. + +‘Bills?’ queried that damsel, sharply. + +Pierre, of course, did not answer, but touched his lips with his hand to +indicate he was dumb. Miss Twexby, however, read the action another way. + +‘You want a drink,’ she said, with a scornful toss of her head. ‘Where’s +your money?’ + +Pierre pointed out the letter, and although it was directed to her +father, Miss Twexby, who managed everything, opened it and found it was +from McIntosh, saying that the bearer, Pierre Lemaire, was to have a bed +for the night, meals, drinks, and whatever else he required, and that +he--McIntosh--would be responsible for the money. He furthermore added +that the bearer was dumb. + +‘Oh, so you’re dumb, are you,’ said Miss Twexby, folding up the letter +and looking complacently at Pierre. ‘I wish there were a few more men +the same way; then, perhaps, we’d have less chat.’ + +This being undeniable, the fair Martha--for that was the name of the +Twexby heiress--without waiting for any assent, walking into the back +parlour, read the letter to her father, and waited instructions, for she +always referred to Simon as the head of the house, though as a matter of +fact she never did what she was told save when it tallied with her own +wishes. + +‘It will be all right, Martha, I suppose,’ said Simon sleepily. + +Martha asserted with decision that it would be all right, or she would +know the reason why; then marching out again to the bar, she drew a pot +of beer for Pierre--without asking him what he would have--and ordered +him to sit down and be quiet, which last remark was rather unnecessary, +considering that the man was dumb. Then she sat down behind her bar +and resumed her perusal of a novel called ‘The Duke’s Duchesses, or +The Milliner’s Mystery,’ which contained a ducal hero with bigamistic +proclivities, and a virtuous milliner whom the aforesaid duke +persecuted. All of which was very entertaining and improbable, and gave +Miss Twexby much pleasure, judging from the sympathetic sighs she was +heaving. + +Meanwhile, Villiers having heard the name of Pierre Lemaire, and knowing +he was engaged in the Pactolus claim, came round to see him and try +to find out all about the nugget. Pierre was sulky at first, and sat +drinking his beer sullenly, with his old black hat drawn down so far +over his eyes that only his bushy black beard was visible, but Mr +Villiers’ suavity, together with the present of half-a-crown, had a +marked effect on him. As he was dumb, Mr Villiers was somewhat perplexed +how to carry on a conversation with him, but he ultimately drew forth a +piece of paper, and sketched a rough presentation of a nugget thereon, +which he showed to Pierre. The Frenchman, however, did not comprehend +until Villiers produced a sovereign from his pocket, and pointed first +to the gold, and then to the drawing, upon which Pierre nodded his head +several times in order to show that he understood. Villiers then drew a +picture of the Pactolus claim, and asked Pierre in French if the nugget +was still there, as he showed him the sketch. Pierre shook his head, +and, taking the pencil in his hand, drew a rough representation of a +horse and cart, and put a square box in the latter to show the nugget +was on a journey. + +‘Hullo!’ said Villiers to himself, ‘it’s not at her own house, and she’s +driving somewhere with it, I wonder where to?’ + +Pierre--who not being able to write, was in the habit of drawing +pictures to express his thoughts--nudged his elbow and showed him a +sketch of a man in a box waving his arms. + +‘Auctioneer?’ hazarded Mr Villiers, looking at this keenly. Pierre +stared at him blankly; his comprehension of English was none of the +best, so he did not know what auctioneer meant. However, he saw that +Villiers did not understand, so he rapidly sketched an altar with a +priest standing before it blessing the people. + +‘Oh, a priest, eh?--a minister?’ said Villiers, nodding his head to show +he understood. ‘She’s taken the nugget to show it to a minister! Wonder +who it is?’ + +This was speedily answered by Pierre, who, throwing down the pencil and +paper, dragged him outside on to the road, and pointed to the white top +of the Black Hill. Mr Villiers instantly comprehended. + +‘Marchurst, by God!’ he said in English, smiting his leg with his open +hand. ‘Is Madame there now?’ he added in French, turning to Pierre. + +The dumb man nodded and slouched slowly back into the hotel. Villiers +stood out in the blazing sunshine, thinking. + +‘She’s got the nugget with her in the trap,’ he said to himself; ‘and +she’s taken it to show Marchurst. Well, she’s sure to stop there to tea, +and won’t start for home till about nine o’clock: it will be pretty dark +by then. She’ll be by herself, and if I--’ here he stopped and looked +round cautiously, and then, without another word, set off down the +street at a run. + +The fact was, Mr Villiers had come to the conclusion that as his wife +would not give him money willingly, the best thing to be done would be +to take it by force, and accordingly he had made up his mind to rob her +of the nugget that night if possible. Of course there was a risk, for +he knew his wife was a determined woman; still, while she was driving in +the darkness down the hill, if he took her by surprise he would be able +to stun her with a blow and get possession of the nugget. Then he could +hide it in one of the old shafts of the Black Hill Company until he +required it. As to the possibility of his wife knowing him, there would +be no chance of that in the darkness, so he could escape any unpleasant +inquiries, then take the nugget to Melbourne and get it melted down +secretly. He would be able to make nearly twelve hundred pounds out +of it, so the game would certainly be worth the candle. Full of this +brilliant idea of making a good sum at one stroke, Mr Villiers went +home, had something to eat, and taking with him a good stout stick, the +nob of which was loaded with lead, he started for the Black Hill with +the intent of watching Marchurst’s house until his wife left there, and +then following her down the hill and possessing himself of the nugget. + +The afternoon wore drowsily along, and the great heat made everybody +inclined to sleep. Pierre had demanded by signs to be shown his bedroom, +and having been conducted thereto by a crushed-looking waiter, who +drifted aimlessly before him, threw himself on the bed and went fast +asleep. + +Old Simon, in the dimly-lit back parlour, was already snoring, and only +Miss Twexby, amid the glitter of the glasses in the bar and the glare +of the sunshine through the open door, was wide awake. Customers came +in for foaming tankards of beer, and sometimes a little girl, with a jug +hidden under her apron, would appear, with a request that it might be +filled for ‘mother’, who was ironing. Indeed, the number of women who +were ironing that afternoon, and wanted to quench their thirst, was +something wonderful; but Miss Twexby seemed to know all about it as she +put a frothy head on each jug, and received the silver in exchange. +At last, however, even Martha the wide-awake was yielding to the +somniferous heat of the day when a young man entered the bar and made +her sit up with great alacrity, beaming all over her hard wooden face. + +This was none other than M. Vandeloup, who had come down to see Pierre. +Dressed in flannels, with a blue scarf tied carelessly round his waist, +a blue necktie knotted loosely round his throat under the collar of his +shirt, and wearing a straw hat on his fair head, he looked wonderfully +cool and handsome, and as he leaned over the counter composedly smoking +a cigarette, Miss Twexby thought that the hero of her novel must have +stepped bodily out of the book. Gaston stared complacently at her while +he pulled at his fair moustache, and thought how horribly plain-looking +she was, and what a contrast to his charming Bebe. + +‘I’ll take something cool to drink,’ he said, with a yawn, ‘and also a +chair, if you have no objection,’ suiting the action to the word; ‘whew! +how warm it is.’ + +‘What would you like to drink, sir?’ asked the fair Martha, putting on +her brightest smile, which seemed rather out of place on her features; +‘brandy and soda?’ + +‘Thank you, I’ll have a lemon squash if you will kindly make me one,’ he +said, carelessly, and as Martha flew to obey his order, he added, ‘you +might put a little curacoa in it.’ + +‘It’s very hot, ain’t it,’ observed Miss Twexby, affably, as she cut up +the lemon; ‘par’s gone to sleep in the other room,’ jerking her head in +the direction of the parlour, ‘but Mr Villiers went out in all the heat, +and it ain’t no wonder if he gets a sunstroke.’ + +‘Oh, was Mr Villiers here?’ asked Gaston, idly, not that he cared much +about that gentleman’s movements, but merely for something to say. + +‘Lor, yes, sir,’ giggled Martha, ‘he’s one of our regulars, sir.’ + +‘I can understand that, Mademoiselle,’ said Vandeloup, bowing as he took +the drink from her hand. + +Miss Twexby giggled again, and her nose grew a shade redder at the +pleasure of being bantered by this handsome young man. + +‘You’re a furriner,’ she said, shortly; ‘I knew you were,’ she went on +triumphantly as he nodded, ‘you talk well enough, but there’s something +wrong about the way you pronounces your words.’ + +Vandeloup hardly thought Miss Twexby a mistress of Queen’s English, but +he did not attempt to contradict her. + +‘I must get you to give me a few lessons,’ he replied, gallantly, +setting down the empty glass; ‘and what has Mr Villiers gone out into +the heat for?’ + +‘It’s more nor I can tell,’ said Martha, emphatically, nodding her head +till the short curls dangling over her ears vibrated as if they were +made of wire. ‘He spoke to the dumb man and drew pictures for him, and +then off he goes.’ + +The dumb man! Gaston pricked up his ears at this, and, wondering what +Villiers wanted to talk to Pierre about, he determined to find out. + +‘That dumb man is one of our miners from the Pactolus,’ he said, +lighting another cigarette; ‘I wish to speak to him--has he gone out +also?’ + +‘No, he ain’t,’ returned Miss Twexby, decisively; ‘he’s gone to lie +down; d’ye want to see him; I’ll send for him--’ with her hand on the +bell-rope. + +‘No, thank you,’ said Vandeloup, stopping her, ‘I’ll go up to his room +if you will show me the way.’ + +‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ said Martha, preparing to leave the bar, but first +ringing the bell so that the crushed-looking waiter might come and +attend to possible customers; ‘he’s on the ground floor, and there ain’t +no stairs to climb--now what are you looking at, sir?’ with another +gratified giggle, as she caught Vandeloup staring at her. + +But he was not looking at her somewhat mature charms, but at a bunch of +pale blue flowers, among which were some white blossoms she wore in the +front of her dress. + +‘What are these?’ he asked, touching the white blossoms lightly with his +finger. + +‘I do declare it’s that nasty hemlock!’ said Martha, in surprise, +pulling the white flowers out of the bunch; ‘and I never knew it was +there. Pah!’ and she threw the blossom down with a gesture of disgust. +‘How they smell!’ + +Gaston picked up one of the flowers, and crushed it between his fingers, +upon which it gave out a peculiar mousy odour eminently disagreeable. It +was hemlock sure enough, and he wondered how such a plant had come into +Australia. + +‘Does it grow in your garden?’ he asked Martha. + +That damsel intimated it did, and offered to show him the plant, so that +he could believe his own eyes. + +Vandeloup assented eagerly, and they were soon in the flower garden at +the back of the house, which was blazing with vivid colours, in the hot +glare of the sunshine. + +‘There you are,’ said Miss Twexby, pointing to a corner of the garden +near the fence where the plant was growing; ‘par brought a lot of seeds +from home, and that beastly thing got mixed up with them. Par keeps it +growing, though, ‘cause no one else has got it. It’s quite a curiosity.’ + +Vandeloup bent down and examined the plant, with its large, round, +smooth, purple-spotted stem--its smooth, shining green leaves, and the +tiny white flowers with their disagreeable odour. + +‘Yes, it is hemlock,’ he said, half to himself; ‘I did not know it could +be grown here. Some day, Mademoiselle,’ he said, turning to Miss Twexby +and walking back to the house with her, ‘I will ask you to let me have +some of the roots of that plant to make an experiment with.’ + +‘As much as you like,’ said the fair Martha, amiably; ‘it’s a nasty +smelling thing. What are you going to make out of it?’ + +‘Nothing particular,’ returned Vandeloup, with a yawn, as they entered +the house and stopped at the door of Pierre’s room. ‘I’m a bit of a +chemist, and amuse myself with these things.’ + +‘You are clever,’ observed Martha, admiringly; ‘but here’s that man’s +room--we didn’t give him the best’--apologetically--‘as miners are so +rough.’ + +‘Mademoiselle,’ said Vandeloup, eagerly, as she turned to go, ‘I see +there are a few blossoms of hemlock left in your flower there,’ touching +it with his finger; ‘will you give them to me?’ + +Martha Twexby stared; surely this was the long-expected come at +last--she had secured a lover; and such a lover--handsome, young, and +gallant,--the very hero of her dreams. She almost fainted in delighted +surprise, and unfastening the flowers with trembling fingers, gave them +to Gaston. He placed them in a button-hole of his flannel coat, then +before she could scream, or even draw back in time, this audacious young +man put his arm round her and kissed her virginal lips. Miss Twexby was +so taken by surprise, that she could offer no resistance, and by the +time she had recovered herself, Gaston had disappeared into Pierre’s +room and closed the door after him. + +‘Well,’ she said to herself, as she returned to the bar, ‘if that isn’t +a case of love at first sight, my name ain’t Martha Twexby,’ and she sat +down in the bar with her nerves all of a flutter, as she afterwards told +a female friend who dropped in sometimes for a friendly cup of tea. + +Gaston closed the door after him, and found himself in a moderately +large room, with one window looking on to the garden, and having a +dressing-table with a mirror in front of it. There were two beds, one on +each side, and on the farthest of these Pierre was sleeping heavily, not +even Gaston’s entrance having roused him. Going over to him, Vandeloup +touched him slightly, and with a spring the dumb man sat up in bed as if +he expected to be arrested, and was all on the alert to escape. + +‘It’s only I, my friend,’ said Gaston, in French, crossing over to the +other bed and sitting on it. ‘Come here; I wish to speak to you.’ + +Pierre rose from his sleeping place, and, stumbling across the room, +stood before Gaston with downcast eyes, his shaggy hair all tossed and +tumbled by the contact with the pillow. Gaston himself coolly relit his +cigarette, which had gone out, threw his straw hat on the bed, and then, +curling one leg inside the other, looked long and keenly at Pierre. + +‘You saw Madame’s husband to-day?’ he said sharply, still eyeing the +slouching figure before him, that seemed so restless under his steady +gaze. + +Pierre nodded and shuffled his large feet. + +‘Did he want to know about his wife?’ + +Another nod. + +‘I thought so; and about the new nugget also, I presume?’ + +Still another nod. + +‘Humph,’ thoughtfully. ‘He’d like to get a share of it, I’ve no doubt.’ + +The dumb man nodded violently; then, crossing over to his own bed, +he placed the pillow in the centre of it, and falling on his knees, +imitated the action of miners in working at the wash. Then he arose to +his feet and pointed to the pillow. + +‘I see,’ said M. Vandeloup, who had been watching this pantomime with +considerable interest; ‘that pillow is the nugget of which our friend +wants a share.’ + +Pierre assented; then, snatching up the pillow, he ran with it to the +end of the room. + +‘Oh,’ said Gaston, after a moment’s thought, ‘so he’s going to run away +with it. A very good idea; but how does he propose to get it?’ + +Pierre dropped his pillow and pointed in the direction of the Black +Hill. + +‘Does he know it’s up there?’ asked Vandeloup; ‘you told him, I +suppose?’ As Pierre nodded, ‘Humph! I think I can see what Mr Villiers +intends to do--rob his wife as she goes home tonight.’ + +Pierre nodded in a half doubtful manner. + +‘You’re not quite sure,’ interrupted M. Vandeloup, ‘but I am. He won’t +stop at anything to get money. You stay all night in town?’ + +The dumb man assented. + +‘So do I,’ replied Vandeloup; ‘it’s a happy coincidence, because I see +a chance of our getting that nugget.’ Pierre’s dull eyes brightened, and +he rubbed his hands together in a pleased manner. + +‘Sit down,’ said Vandeloup, in a peremptory tone, pointing to the floor. +‘I wish to tell you what I think.’ + +Pierre obediently dropped on to the floor, where he squatted like a huge +misshapen toad, while Vandeloup, after going to the door to see that +it was closed, returned to the bed, sat down again, and, having lighted +another cigarette, began to speak. All this precaution was somewhat +needless, as he was talking rapidly in French, but then M. Vandeloup +knew that walls have ears and possibly might understand foreign +languages. + +‘I need hardly remind you,’ said Vandeloup, in a pleasant voice, ‘that +when we landed in Australia I told you that there was war between +ourselves and society, and that, at any cost, we must try to make money; +so far, we have only been able to earn an honest livelihood--a way of +getting rich which you must admit is remarkably slow. Here, however, is +a chance of making, if not a fortune, at least a good sum of money at +one stroke. This M. Villiers is going to rob his wife, and his plan +will no doubt be this: he will lie in wait for her, and when she drives +slowly down the hill, he will spring on to the trap and perhaps attempt +to kill her; at all events, he will seize the box containing the nugget, +and try to make off with it. How he intends to manage it I cannot tell +you--it must be left to the chapter of accidents; but,’ in a lower +voice, bending forward, ‘when he does get the nugget we must obtain it +from him.’ + +Pierre looked up and drew his hand across his throat. + +‘Not necessarily,’ returned Vandeloup, coolly; ‘I know your adage, “dead +men tell no tales,” but it is a mistake--they do, and to kill him is +dangerous. No, if we stun him we can go off with the nugget, and then +make our way to Melbourne, where we can get rid of it quietly. As +to Madame Midas, if her husband allows her to live--which I think is +unlikely--I will make our excuses to her for leaving the mine. Now, I’m +going up to M. Marchurst’s house, so you can meet me at the top of the +hill, at eight o’clock tonight. Madame will probably start at half-past +eight or nine, so that will give us plenty of time to see what M. +Villiers is going to do.’ + +They both rose to their feet. Then Vandeloup put on his hat, and, going +to the glass, arranged his tie in as cool and nonchalant a manner as +if he had been merely planning the details for a picnic instead of a +possible crime. While admiring himself in the glass he caught sight of +the bunch of flowers given to him by Miss Twexby, and, taking them from +his coat, he turned round to Pierre, who stood watching him in his usual +sullen manner. + +‘Do you see these?’ he asked, touching the white blossoms with the +cigarette he held between his fingers. + +Pierre intimated that he did. + +‘From the plant of these, my friend,’ said Vandeloup, looking at them +critically, ‘I can prepare a vegetable poison as deadly as any of Caesar +Borgia’s. It is a powerful narcotic, and leaves hardly any trace. Having +been a medical student, you know,’ he went on, conversationally, ‘I made +quite a study of toxicology, and the juice of this plant,’ touching the +white flower, ‘has done me good service, although it was the cause of my +exile to New Caledonia. Well,’ with a shrug of the shoulders as he +put the flowers back in his coat, ‘it is always something to have in +reserve; I did not know that I could get this plant here, my friend. But +now that I have I will prepare a little of this poison,--it will always +be useful in emergencies.’ + +Pierre looked steadily at the young man, and then slipping his hand +behind his back he drew forth from the waistband of his trousers a +long, sharp, cruel-looking knife, which for safety had a leather sheath. +Drawing this off, the dumb man ran his thumb along the keen edge, and +held the knife out towards Vandeloup, who refused it with a cynical +smile. + +‘You don’t believe in this, I can see,’ he said, touching the dainty +bunch of flowers as Pierre put the knife in its sheath again and +returned it to its hiding-place. ‘I’m afraid your ideas are still +crude--you believe in the good old-fashioned style of blood-letting. +Quite a mistake, I assure you; poison is much more artistic and neat +in its work, and to my mind involves less risk. You see, my Pierre,’ he +continued, lazily watching the blue wreaths of smoke from his cigarette +curl round his head, ‘crime must improve with civilization; and since +the Cain and Abel epoch we have refined the art of murder in a most +wonderful manner--decidedly we are becoming more civilized; and now, my +friend,’ in a kind tone, laying his slender white hand on the shoulder +of the dumb man, ‘you must really take a little rest, for I have +no doubt but what you will need all your strength tonight should M. +Villiers prove obstinate. Of course,’ with a shrug, ‘if he does not +succeed in getting the nugget, our time will be simply wasted, and +then,’ with a gay smile, touching the flowers, ‘I will see what I can do +in the artistic line.’ + +Pierre lay down again on the bed, and turning his face to the wall fell +fast asleep, while M. Vandeloup, humming a merry tune, walked gaily out +of the room to the bar, and asked Miss Twexby for another drink. + +‘Brandy and soda this time, please,’ he said, lazily lighting another +cigarette; ‘this heat is so enervating, and I’m going to walk up to +Black Hill. By the way, Mademoiselle,’ he went on, as she opened the +soda water, ‘as I see there are two beds in my friend’s room I will stay +here all night.’ + +‘You shall have the best room,’ said Martha, decisively, as she handed +him the brandy and soda. + +‘You are too kind,’ replied M. Vandeloup, coolly, as he took the drink +from her, ‘but I prefer to stay with my silent friend. He was one of the +sailors in the ship when I was wrecked, as you have no doubt heard, and +looks upon me as a sort of fetish.’ + +Miss Twexby knew all about the wreck, and thought it was beautiful that +he should condescend to be so friendly with a common sailor. Vandeloup +received all her speeches with a polite smile, then set down his empty +glass and prepared to leave. + +‘Mademoiselle,’ he said, touching the flowers, ‘you see I still have +them--they will remind me of you,’ and raising his hat he strolled idly +out of the hotel, and went off in the direction of the Black Hill. + +Miss Twexby ran to the door, and shading her eyes with her hands from +the blinding glare of the sun, she watched him lounging along the +street, tall, slender, and handsome. + +‘He’s just lovely,’ she said to herself, as she returned to the bar ‘but +his eyes are so wicked; I don’t think he’s a good young man.’ + +What would she have said if she had heard the conversation in the +bedroom? + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THEODORE WOPPLES, ACTOR + + +Mr Villiers walked in a leisurely manner along the lower part of the +town, with the intent of going up to his destination through the old +mining gully. He took this route for two reasons--first, because the +afternoon was hot, and it was easier climbing up that way than going +by the ordinary road; and, second, on his journey through the chasm he +would be able to mark some place where he could hide the nugget. With +his stick under his arm, Mr Villiers trudged merrily along in a happy +humour, as if he was bent on pleasure instead of robbery. And after +all, as he said to himself, it could not be called a genuine robbery, +as everything belonging to his wife was his by right of the marriage +service, and he was only going to have his own again. With this +comfortable thought he climbed slowly up the broken tortuous path which +led to the Black Hill, and every now and then would pause to rest, and +admire the view. + +It was now nearly six o’clock, and the sun was sinking amid a blaze of +splendour. The whole of the western sky was a sea of shimmering gold, +and this, intensified near the horizon to almost blinding brightness, +faded off towards the zenith of the sky into a delicate green, and +thence melted imperceptibly into a cold blue. + +Villiers, however, being of the earth, earthy, could not be troubled +looking very long at such a common-place sight as a sunset; the same +thing occurred every evening, and he had more important things to do +than to waste his time gratifying his artistic eye. Arriving on the +plateau of earth just in front of the gully, he was soon entering the +narrow gorge, and tramped steadily along in deep thought, with bent +head and wrinkled brows. The way being narrow, and Villiers being +preoccupied, it was not surprising that as a man was coming down in +the opposite direction, also preoccupied, they should run against one +another. When this took place it gave Mr Villiers rather a start, as it +suggested a possible witness to the deed he contemplated, a thing for +which he was by no means anxious. + +‘Really, sir,’ said the stranger, in a rich, rolling voice, and in a +dignified tone, ‘I think you might look where you are going. From what +I saw of you, your eyes were not fixed on the stars, and thus to cause +your unwatched feet to stumble; in fact,’ said the speaker, looking up +to the sky, ‘I see no stars whereon you could fix your gaze.’ + +This somewhat strange mode of remonstrance was delivered in a solemn +manner, with appropriate gestures, and tickled Mr Villiers so much that +he leaned up against a great rock abutting on the path, and laughed long +and loudly. + +‘That is right, sir,’ said the stranger, approvingly; ‘laughter is +to the soul what food is to the body. I think, sir,’ in a Johnsonian +manner, ‘the thought is a happy one.’ + +Villiers assented with a nod, and examined the speaker attentively. +He was a man of medium height, rather portly than otherwise, with a +clean-shaved face, clearly-cut features, and two merry grey eyes, which +twinkled like stars as they rested on Villiers. His hair was greyish, +and inclined to curl, but could not follow its natural inclination owing +to the unsparing use of the barber’s shears. He wore a coat and trousers +of white flannel, but no waistcoat; canvas shoes were on his feet, and +a juvenile straw hat was perched on his iron-grey hair, the rim of +which encircled his head like a halo of glory. He had small, well-shaped +hands, one of which grasped a light cane, and the other a white silk +pocket handkerchief, with which he frequently wiped his brow. He seemed +very hot, and, leaning on the opposite side of the path against a rock, +fanned himself first with his handkerchief and then with his hat, all +the time looking at Mr Villiers with a beaming smile. At last he took a +silver-mounted flask from his pocket and offered it to Villiers, with a +pleasant bow. + +‘It’s very hot, you know,’ he said, in his rich voice, as Villiers +accepted the flask. + +‘What, this?’ asked Villiers, indicating the flask, as he slowly +unscrewed the top. + +‘No; the day, my boy, the day. Ha! ha! ha!’ said the lively stranger, +going off into fits of laughter, which vibrated like small thunder amid +the high rocks surrounding them. ‘Good line for a comedy, I think. Ha! +ha!--gad, I’ll make a note of it,’ and diving into one of the pockets of +his coat, he produced therefrom an old letter, on the back of which he +inscribed the witticism with the stump of a pencil. + +Meanwhile Villiers, thinking the flask contained brandy, or at least +whisky, took a long drink of it, but found to his horror it was merely a +weak solution of sherry and water. + +‘Oh, my poor stomach,’ he gasped, taking the flask from his lips. + +‘Colic?’ inquired the stranger with a pleasant smile, as he put back the +letter and pencil, ‘hot water fomentations are what you need. Wonderful +cure. Will bring you to life again though you were at your last gasp. +Ha!’ struck with a sudden idea, ‘“His Last Gasp”, good title for a +melodrama--mustn’t forget that,’ and out came the letter and the pencil +again. + +Mr Villiers explained in a somewhat gruff tone that it was not colic, +but that his medical attendant allowed him to drink nothing but whisky. + +‘To be taken twenty times a day, I presume,’ observed the stranger, with +a wink; ‘no offence meant, sir,’ as Villiers showed a disposition to +resent this, ‘merely a repartee. Good for a comedy, I fancy; what do you +think?’ + +‘I think,’ said Mr Villiers, handing him back the flask, ‘that you’re +very eccentric.’ + +‘Eccentric?’ replied the other, in an airy tone, ‘not at all, sir. I’m +merely a civilized being with the veneer off. I am not hidden under an +artificial coat of manner. No, I laugh--ha! ha! I skip, ha! ha!’ with a +light trip on one foot. ‘I cry,’ in a dismal tone. ‘In fact, I am a man +in his natural state--civilized sufficiently, but not over civilized.’ + +‘What’s your name?’ asked Mr Villiers, wondering whether the portly +gentleman was mad. + +For reply the stranger dived into another pocket, and, bringing to light +a long bill-poster, held it up before Mr Villiers. + +‘Read! mark! and inwardly digest!’ he said in a muffled tone behind the +bill. + +This document set forth in red, black, and blue letters, that the +celebrated Wopples Family, consisting of twelve star artistes, were +now in Ballarat, and would that night appear at the Academy of Music in +their new and original farcical comedy, called ‘The Cruet-Stand’. Act I: +Pepper! Act II: Mustard! Act III: Vinegar. + +‘You, then,’ said Villiers, after he had perused this document, ‘are Mr +Wopples?’ + +‘Theodore Wopples, at your service,’ said that gentleman, rolling up the +bill, then putting it into his pocket, he produced therefrom a batch of +tickets. ‘One of these,’ handing a ticket to Villiers, ‘will admit you +to the stalls tonight, where you will see myself and the children in +“The Cruet-Stand”.’ + +‘Rather a peculiar title, isn’t it?’ said Villiers, taking the ticket. + +‘The play is still more peculiar, sir,’ replied Mr Wopples, restoring +the bulky packet of tickets to his pocket, ‘dealing as it does with +the adventures of a youth who hides his father’s will in a cruet stand, +which is afterwards annexed by a comic bailiff.’ + +‘But isn’t it rather a curious thing to hide a will in a cruet stand?’ +asked Villiers, smiling at the oddity of the idea. + +‘Therein, sir, lies the peculiarity of the play,’ said Mr Wopples, +grandly. ‘Of course the characters find out in Act I that the will is +in the cruet stand; in Act II, while pursuing it, they get mixed up +with the bailiff’s mother-in-law; and in Act III,’ finished Mr Wopples, +exultingly, ‘they run it to earth in a pawnshop. Oh, I assure you it is +a most original play.’ + +‘Very,’ assented the other, dryly; ‘the author must be a man of +genius--who wrote it?’ + +‘It’s a translation from the German, sir,’ said Mr Wopples, taking a +drink of sherry and water, ‘and was originally produced in London as +“The Pickle Bottle”, the will being hidden with the family onions. In +Melbourne it was the success of the year under the same title. I,’ with +an air of genius, ‘called it “The Cruet Stand”.’ + +‘Then how did you get a hold of it,’ asked Villiers. + +‘My wife, sir,’ said the actor, rolling out the words in his deep voice. +‘A wonderful woman, sir; paid a visit to Melbourne, and there, sir, +seated at the back of the pit between a coal-heaver and an apple-woman, +she copied the whole thing down.’ + +‘But isn’t that rather mean?’ + +‘Certainly not,’ retorted Wopples, haughtily; ‘the opulent Melbourne +managers refuse to let me have their new pieces, so I have to take the +law into my own hands. I’ll get all the latest London successes in the +same way. We play “Ours” under the title of “The Hero’s Return, or the +Soldier’s Bride”: we have done the “Silver King” as “The Living Dead”, +which was an immense success.’ + +Villiers thought that under such a contradictory title it would rather +pique the curiosity of the public. + +‘To-morrow night,’ pursued Mr Wopples, ‘we act “Called Back”, but it is +billed as “The Blind Detective”; thus,’ said the actor, with virtuous +scorn, ‘do we evade the grasping avarice of the Melbourne managers, who +would make us pay fees for them.’ + +‘By the way,’ said Mr Wopples, breaking off suddenly in a light and airy +manner, ‘as I came down here I saw a lovely girl--a veritable fairy, +sir--with golden hair, and a bright smile that haunts me still. I +exchanged a few remarks with her regarding the beauty of the day, and +thus allegorically referred to the beauty of herself--a charming flight +of fancy, I think, sir.’ + +‘It must have been Kitty Marchurst,’ said Villiers, not attending to the +latter portion of Mr Wopples’ remarks. + +‘Ah, indeed,’ said Mr Wopples, lightly, ‘how beautiful is the name of +Kitty; it suggests poetry immediately--for instance: + +Kitty, ah Kitty, You are so pretty, Charming and witty, That ‘twere a +pity I sung not this ditty In praise of my Kitty. + +On the spur of the moment, sir, I assure you; does it not remind you of +Herrick?’ + +Mr Villiers bluntly said it did not. + +‘Ah! perhaps it’s more like Shakespeare?’ observed the actor, quite +unabashed. ‘You think so?’ + +Mr Villiers was doubtful, and displayed such anxiety to get away that Mr +Wopples held out his hand to say goodbye. + +‘You’ll excuse me, I know,’ said Mr Wopples, in an apologetic tone, +‘but the show commences at eight, and it is now half-past six. I trust I +shall see you tonight.’ + +‘It’s very kind of you to give me this ticket,’ said Villiers, in whom +the gentlemanly instinct still survived. + +‘Not at all; not at all,’ retorted Mr Wopples, with a wink. ‘Business, +my boy, business. Always have a good house first night, so must go into +the highways and byways for an audience. Ha! Biblical illustration, you +see;’ and with a gracious wave of his hand he skipped lightly down the +path and disappeared from sight. + +It was now getting dark; so Mr Villiers went on his own way, and having +selected a mining shaft where he could hide the nugget, he climbed up to +the top of the hill, and lying down under the shadow of a rock where +he could get a good view of Marchurst’s house, he waited patiently till +such time as his wife would start for home. + +‘I’ll pay you out for all you’ve done,’ he muttered to himself, as he +lay curled up in the black shadow like a noisome reptile. ‘Tit for tat, +my lady!--tit for tat!’ + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HIGHWAY ROBBERY + + +Dinner at Mr Marchurst’s house was not a particularly exhilarating +affair. As a matter of fact, though dignified with the name of dinner, +it was nothing more than one of those mixed meals known as high tea. +Vandeloup knew this, and, having a strong aversion to the miscellaneous +collection of victuals which appeared on Mr Marchurst’s table, he dined +at Craig’s Hotel, where he had a nice little dinner, and drank a pint +bottle of champagne in order to thoroughly enjoy himself. Madame Midas +also had a dislike to tea-dinners, but, being a guest, of course had +to take what was going; and she, Kitty, and Mr Marchurst, were the only +people present at the festive board. At last Mr Marchurst finished and +delivered a long address of thanks to Heaven for the good food they had +enjoyed, which good food, being heavy and badly cooked, was warranted +to give them all indigestion and turn their praying to cursing. In fact, +what with strong tea, hurried meals, and no exercise, Mr Marchurst used +to pass an awful time with the nightmare, and although he was accustomed +to look upon nightmares as visions, they were due more to dyspepsia than +inspiration. + +After dinner Madame sat and talked with Marchurst, but Kitty went +outside into the warm darkness of the summer night, and tried to pierce +the gloom to see if her lover was coming. She was rewarded, for M. +Vandeloup came up about half-past eight o’clock, having met Pierre as +arranged. Pierre had found out Villiers in his hiding-place, and was +watching him while Villiers watched the house. Being, therefore, quite +easy in his mind that things were going smoothly, Vandeloup came up to +the porch where Kitty was eagerly waiting for him, and taking her in his +arms kissed her tenderly. Then, after assuring himself that Madame was +safe with Marchurst, he put his arm round Kitty’s waist, and they walked +up and down the path with the warm wind blowing in their faces, and the +perfume of the wattle blossoms permeating the drowsy air. And yet while +he was walking up and down, talking lover-like nonsense to the pretty +girl by his side, Vandeloup knew that Villiers was watching the house +far off, with evil eyes, and he also knew that Pierre was watching +Villiers with all the insatiable desire of a wild beast for blood. The +moon rose, a great shield of silver, and all the ground was strewn with +the aerial shadows of the trees. The wind sighed through the branches +of the wattles, and made their golden blossoms tremble in the moonlight, +while hand in hand the lovers strolled down the path or over the short +dry grass. Far away in the distance they heard a woman singing, and the +high sweet voice floated softly towards them through the clear air. + +Suddenly they heard the noise of a chair being pushed back inside +the house, and knew that Madame was getting ready to go. They moved +simultaneously towards the door, but in the porch Gaston paused for a +moment, and caught Kitty by the arm. + +‘Bebe,’ he whispered softly, ‘when Madame is gone I am going down the +hill to Ballarat, so you will walk with me a little way, will you not?’ + +Of course, Kitty was only too delighted at being asked to do so, +and readily consented, then ran quickly into the house, followed by +Vandeloup. + +‘You here?’ cried Madame, in surprise, pausing for a moment in the act +of putting on her bonnet. ‘Why are you not at the theatre?’ + +‘I am going, Madame,’ replied Gaston, calmly, ‘but I thought I would +come up in order to assist you to put the nugget in the trap.’ + +‘Oh, Mr Marchurst would have done that,’ said Madame, much gratified +at Vandeloup’s attention. ‘I’m sorry you should miss your evening’s +pleasure for that.’ + +‘Ah, Madame, I do but exchange a lesser pleasure for a greater one,’ +said the gallant Frenchman, with a pleasant smile; ‘but are you sure you +will not want me to drive you home?’ + +‘Not at all,’ said Madame, as they all went outside; ‘I am quite safe.’ + +‘Still, with this,’ said Mr Marchurst, bringing up the rear, with the +nugget now safely placed in its wooden box, ‘you might be robbed.’ + +‘Not I,’ replied Mrs Villiers, brightly, as the horse and trap were +brought round to the gate by Brown. ‘No one knows I’ve got it in the +trap, and, besides, no one can catch up with Rory when he once starts.’ + +Marchurst put the nugget under the seat of the trap, but Madame was +afraid it might slip out by some chance, so she put the box containing +it in front, and then her feet on the box, so that it was absolutely +impossible that it could get lost without her knowing. Then saying +goodbye to everyone, and telling M. Vandeloup to be out at the Pactolus +before noon the next day, she gathered up the reins and drove slowly +down the hill, much to the delight of Mr Villiers, who was getting tired +of waiting. Kitty and Vandeloup strolled off in the moonlight, while +Marchurst went back to the house. + +Villiers arose from his hiding-place, and looked up savagely at the +serene moon, which was giving far too much light for his scheme to +succeed. Fortunately, however, he saw a great black cloud rapidly +advancing which threatened to hide the moon; so he set off down the hill +at a run in order to catch his wife at a nasty part of the road some +distance down, where she would be compelled to go slowly, and thus give +him a chance to spring on the trap and take her by surprise. But quick +as he was, Pierre was quicker, and both Vandeloup and Kitty could see +the two black figures running rapidly along in the moonlight. + +‘Who are those?’ asked Kitty, with a sudden start. ‘Are they going after +Madame?’ + +‘Little goose,’ whispered her lover, with a laugh; ‘if they are they +will never catch up to that horse. It’s all right, Bebe,’ with a +reassuring smile, seeing that Kitty still looked somewhat alarmed, ‘they +are only some miners out on a drunken frolic.’ + +Thus pacified, Kitty laughed gaily, and they wandered along in the +moonlight, talking all the fond and foolish nonsense they could think +of. + +Meanwhile the great black cloud had completely hidden the moon, and the +whole landscape was quite dark. This annoyed Madame, as, depending on +the moonlight, the lamps of the trap were not lighted, and she could not +see in the darkness how to drive down a very awkward bit of road that +she was now on. + +It was very steep, and there was a high bank on one side, while on +the other there was a fall of about ten feet. She felt annoyed at the +darkness, but on looking up saw that the cloud would soon pass, so drove +on slowly quite content. Unluckily she did not see the figure on the +high bank which ran along stealthily beside her, and while turning a +corner, Mr Villiers--for it was he--dropped suddenly from the bank on to +the trap, and caught her by the throat. + +‘My God!’ cried the unfortunate woman, taken by surprise, and, +involuntarily tightening the reins, the horse stopped--‘who are you?’ + +Villiers never said a word, but tightened his grasp on her throat and +shortened his stick to give her a blow on the head. Fortunately, Madame +Midas saw his intention, and managed to wrench herself free, so the blow +aimed at her only slightly touched her, otherwise it would have killed +her. + +As it was, however, she fell forward half stunned, and Villiers, +hurriedly dropping his stick, bent down and seized the box which he felt +under his feet and intuitively guessed contained the nugget. + +With a cry of triumph he hurled it out on to the road, and sprang out +after it; but the cry woke his wife from the semi-stupor into which she +had fallen. + +Her head felt dizzy and heavy from the blow, but still she had her +senses about her, and the moon bursting out from behind a cloud, +rendered the night as clear as day. + +Villiers had picked up the box, and was standing on the edge of the +bank, just about to leave. The unhappy woman recognised her husband, and +uttered a cry. + +‘You! you!’ she shrieked, wildly, ‘coward! dastard! Give me back that +nugget!’ leaning out of the trap in her eagerness. + +‘I’ll see you damned first,’ retorted Villiers, who, now that he was +recognised, was utterly reckless as to the result. ‘We’re quits now, my +lady,’ and he turned to go. + +Maddened with anger and disgust, his wife snatched up the stick he had +dropped, and struck him on the head as he took a step forward. With a +stifled cry he staggered and fell over the embankment, still clutching +the box in his arms. Madame let the stick fall, and fell back fainting +on the seat of the trap, while the horse, startled by the noise, tore +down the road at a mad gallop. + +Madame Midas lay in a dead faint for some time, and when she came to +herself she was still in the trap, and Rory was calmly trotting along +the road home. At the foot of the hill, the horse, knowing every inch +of the way, had settled down into his steady trot for the Pactolus, but +when Madame grasped the situation, she marvelled to herself how she had +escaped being dashed to pieces in that mad gallop down the Black Hill. + +Her head felt painful from the effects of the blow she had received, but +her one thought was to get home to Archie and Selina, so gathering up +the reins she sent Rory along as quickly as she could. When she drove up +to the gate Archie and Selina were both out to receive her, and when the +former went to lift her off the trap, he gave a cry of horror at seeing +her dishevelled appearance and the blood on her face. + +‘God save us!’ he cried, lifting her down; ‘what’s come t’ ye, and +where’s the nugget?’ seeing it was not in the trap. + +‘Lost!’ she said, in a stupor, feeling her head swimming, ‘but there’s +worse.’ + +‘Worse?’ echoed Selina and Archie, who were both standing looking +terrified at one another. + +‘Yes,’ said Mrs Villiers, in a hollow whisper, leaning forward and +grasping Archie’s coat, ‘I’ve killed my husband,’ and without another +word, she fell fainting to the ground. + +At the same time Vandeloup and Pierre walked into the bar at the Wattle +Tree Hotel, and each had a glass of brandy, after which Pierre went to +his bed, and Vandeloup, humming a gay song, turned on his heel and went +to the theatre. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA + + +‘AH!’ says Thackeray, pathetically, ‘Prague is a pleasant city, but we +all lose our way to it late in life.’ + +The Wopples family were true Bohemians, and had not yet lost their way +to the pleasant city. They accepted good and bad fortune with wonderful +equanimity, and if their pockets were empty one day, there was always +a possibility of their being full the next. When this was the case they +generally celebrated the event by a little supper, and as their present +season in Ballarat bid fair to be a successful one, Mr Theodore Wopples +determined to have a convivial evening after the performance was over. + +That the Wopples family were favourites with the Ballarat folk was amply +seen by the crowded house which assembled to see ‘The Cruet Stand’. The +audience were very impatient for the curtain to rise, as they did not +appreciate the overture, which consisted of airs from ‘La Mascotte’, +adapted for the violin and piano by Mr Handel Wopples, who was the +musical genius of the family, and sat in the conductor’s seat, playing +the violin and conducting the orchestra of one, which on this occasion +was Miss Jemima Wopples, who presided at the piano. The Wopples family +consisted of twelve star artistes, beginning with Mr Theodore Wopples, +aged fifty, and ending with Master Sheridan Wopples, aged ten, who did +the servants’ characters, delivered letters, formed the background in +tableaux, and made himself generally useful. As the cast of the comedy +was only eight, two of the family acted as the orchestra, and the +remaining two took money at the door. When their duties in this respect +were over for the night, they went into the pit to lead the applause. + +At last the orchestra finished, and the curtain drew up, displaying an +ancient house belonging to a decayed family. The young Squire, present +head of the decayed family (Mr Cibber Wopples), is fighting with +his dishonest steward (admirably acted by Mr Dogbery Wopples), whose +daughter he wants to marry. The dishonest steward, during Act I, without +any apparent reason, is struck with remorse, and making his will in +favour of the Squire, departs to America, but afterwards appears in the +last act as someone else. Leaving his will on the drawing-room table, +as he naturally would, it is seized by an Eton boy (Master Sheridan +Wopples), who hides it, for some unexplained reason, in the cruet-stand, +being the last piece of family plate remaining to the decayed family. +This is seized by a comic bailiff (Mr Theodore Wopples), who takes it to +his home; and the decayed family, finding out about the will, start to +chase the bailiff and recover the stolen property from him. This brought +the play on to Act II, which consisted mainly of situations arising out +of the indiscriminate use of doors and windows for entrances and exits. +The bailiff’s mother-in-law (Mrs Wopples) appears in this act, and, +being in want of a new dress, takes the cruet stand to her ‘uncle’ and +pawns it; so Act II ends with a general onslaught of the decayed family +on Mrs Wopples. + +Then the orchestra played the ‘Wopples’ Waltz’, dedicated to Mr Theodore +Wopples by Mr Handel Wopples, and during the performance of this Mr +Villiers walked into the theatre. He was a little pale, as was only +natural after such an adventure as he had been engaged in, but otherwise +seemed all right. He walked up to the first row of the stalls, and took +his seat beside a young man of about twenty-five, who was evidently much +amused at the performance. + +‘Hullo, Villiers!’ said this young gentleman, turning round to the new +arrival, ‘what d’ye think of the play?’ + +‘Only just got in,’ returned Mr Villiers, sulkily, looking at his +programme. ‘Any good?’ in a more amiable tone. + +‘Well, not bad,’ returned the other, pulling up his collar; ‘I’ve +seen it in Melbourne, you know--the original, I mean; this is a very +second-hand affair.’ + +Mr Villiers nodded, and became absorbed in his programme; so, seeing he +was disinclined for more conversation, the young gentleman turned his +attention to the ‘Wopples Waltz’, which was now being played fast and +furiously by the indefatigable orchestra of two. + +Bartholomew Jarper--generally called Barty by his friends--was a bank +clerk, and had come up to Ballarat on a visit. He was well known in +Melbourne society, and looked upon himself quite as a leader of fashion. +He went everywhere, danced divinely--so the ladies said--sang two or +three little songs, and played the same accompaniment to each of them, +was seen constantly at the theatres, plunged a little at the races, and +was altogether an extremely gay dog. It is, then, little to be wondered +at that, satiated as he was with Melbourne gaiety, he should be vastly +critical of the humble efforts of the Wopples family to please him. He +had met Villiers at his hotel, when both of them being inebriated they +swore eternal friendship. Mr Villiers, however, was very sulky on this +particular night, for his head still pained him, so Barty stared round +the house in a supercilious manner, and sucked the nob of his cane for +refreshment between the acts. + +Just as the orchestra were making their final plunge into the finale +of the ‘Wopples’ Waltz’, M. Vandeloup, cool and calm as usual, strolled +into the theatre, and, seeing a vacant seat beside Villiers, walked over +and took it. + +‘Good evening, my friend,’ he said, touching Villiers on the shoulder. +‘Enjoying the play, eh?’ + +Villiers angrily pushed away the Frenchman’s hand and glared +vindictively at him. + +‘Ah, you still bear malice for that little episode of the ditch,’ said +Vandeloup with a gay laugh. ‘Come, now, this is a mistake; let us be +friends.’ + +‘Go to the devil!’ growled Villiers, crossly. + +‘All right, my friend,’ said M. Vandeloup, serenely crossing his legs. +‘We’ll all end up by paying a visit to that gentleman, but while we are +on earth we may as well be pleasant. Seen your wife lately?’ + +This apparently careless inquiry caused Mr Villiers to jump suddenly +out of his seat, much to the astonishment of Barty, who did not know for +what reason he was standing up. + +‘Ah! you want to look at the house, I suppose,’ remarked M. Vandeloup, +lazily; ‘the building is extremely ugly, but there are some redeeming +features in it. I refer, of course, to the number of pretty girls,’ and +Gaston turned round and looked steadily at a red-haired damsel behind +him, who blushed and giggled, thinking he was referring to her. + +Villiers resumed his seat with a sigh, and seeing that it was quite +useless to quarrel with Vandeloup, owing to that young man’s coolness, +resolved to make the best of a bad job, and held out his hand with a +view to reconciliation. + +‘It’s no use fighting with you,’ he said, with an uneasy laugh, as the +other took his hand, ‘you are so deuced amiable.’ + +‘I am,’ replied Gaston, calmly examining his programme; ‘I practise all +the Christian virtues.’ + +Here Barty, on whom the Frenchman’s appearance and conversation had +produced an impression, requested Villiers, in a stage whisper, to +introduce him--which was done. Vandeloup looked the young man coolly up +and down, and eventually decided that Mr Barty Jarper was a ‘cad’, for +whatever his morals might be, the Frenchman was a thorough gentleman. +However, as he was always diplomatic, he did not give utterance to his +idea, but taking a seat next to Barty’s, he talked glibly to him until +the orchestra finished with a few final bangs, and the curtain drew up +on Act III. + +The scene was the interior of a pawnshop, where the pawnbroker, a +gentleman of Hebraic descent (Mr Buckstone Wopples), sells the cruet +to the dishonest steward, who has come back from America disguised as +a sailor. The decayed family all rush in to buy the cruet stand, but on +finding it gone, overwhelm the pawnbroker with reproaches, so that +to quiet them he hides them all over the shop, on the chance that the +dishonest steward will come back. The dishonest steward does so, +and having found the will tears it up on the stage, upon which he +is assaulted by the decayed family, who rush out from all parts. +Ultimately, he reveals himself and hands back the cruet stand and the +estates to the decayed family, after which a general marrying all round +took place, which proceeding was very gratifying to the boys in the +gallery, who gave their opinions very freely, and the curtain fell amid +thunders of applause. Altogether ‘The Cruet Stand’ was a success, +and would have a steady run of three nights at least, so Mr Wopples +said--and as a manager of long standing, he was thoroughly well up in +the subject. + +Villiers, Vandeloup, and Barty went out and had a drink, and as none of +them felt inclined to go to bed, Villiers told them he knew Mr Theodore +Wopples, and proposed that they should go behind the scenes and see +him. This was unanimously carried, and after some difficulty with the +door-keeper--a crusty old man with a red face and white hair, that +stood straight up in a tuft, and made him look like an infuriated +cockatoo--they obtained access to the mysterious regions of the stage, +and there found Master Sheridan Wopples practising a breakdown while +waiting for the rest of the family to get ready. This charming youth, +who was small, dried-up and wonderfully sharp, volunteered to guide them +to his father’s dressing-room, and on knocking at the door Mr Wopples’ +voice boomed out ‘Come in,’ in such an unexpected manner that it made +them all jump. + +On entering the room they found Mr Wopples, dressed in a light tweed +suit, and just putting on his coat. It was a small room, with a flaring +gas-jet, under which there was a dressing-table littered over with +grease, paints, powder, vaseline and wigs, and upon it stood a small +looking-glass. A great basket-box with the lid wide open stood at the +end of the room, with a lot of clothes piled up on it, and numerous +other garments were hung up upon the walls. A washstand, with a basin +full of soapy water, stood under a curtainless window, and there was +only one chair to be seen, which Mr Wopples politely offered to his +visitor. Mr Villiers, however, told him he had brought two gentlemen +to introduce to him, at which Mr Wopples was delighted; and on the +introduction taking place, assured both Vandeloup and Barty that it was +one of the proudest moments of his life--a stock phrase he always used +when introduced to visitors. He was soon ready, and preceded the party +out of the room, when he stopped, struck with a sudden idea. + +‘I have left the gas burning in my dressing-room,’ he said, in his +rolling voice, ‘and, if you will permit me, gentlemen, I will go back +and turn it off.’ + +This was rather difficult to manage, inasmuch as the stairs were narrow, +and three people being between Mr Wopples and his dressing-room, he +could not squeeze past. + +Finally the difficulty was settled by Villiers, who was last, and who +went back and turned out the gas. + +When he came down he found Mr Wopples waiting for him. + +‘I thank you, sir,’ he said, grandly, ‘and will feel honoured if you +will give me the pleasure of your company at a modest supper consisting +principally of cold beef and pickles.’ + +Of course, they all expressed themselves delighted, and as the entire +Wopples family had already gone to their hotel, Mr Wopples with his +three guests went out of the theatre and wended their way towards the +same place, only dropping into two or three bars on the way to have +drinks at Barty’s expense. + +They soon arrived at the hotel, and having entered, Mr Wopples pushed +open the door of a room from whence the sound of laughter proceeded, and +introduced the three strangers to his family. The whole ten, together +with Mrs Wopples, were present, and were seated around a large table +plentifully laden with cold beef and pickles, salads, bottles of beer, +and other things too numerous to mention. Mr Wopples presented them +first to his wife, a faded, washed-out looking lady, with a perpetual +simper on her face, and clad in a lavender muslin gown with ribbons of +the same description, she looked wonderfully light and airy. In fact she +had a sketchy appearance as if she required to be touched up here and +there, to make her appear solid, which was of great service to her in +her theatrical career, as it enabled her to paint on the background of +herself any character she wished to represent. + +‘This,’ said Mr Wopples in his deep voice, holding his wife’s hand as if +he were afraid she would float upward thro’ the ceiling like a bubble--a +not unlikely thing seeing how remarkably ethereal she looked; ‘this is +my flutterer.’ + +Why he called her his flutterer no one ever knew, unless it was because +her ribbons were incessantly fluttering; but, had he called her his +shadow, the name would have been more appropriate. + +Mrs Wopples fluttered down to the ground in a bow, and then fluttered up +again. + +‘Gentlemen,’ she said, in a thin, clear voice, ‘you are welcome. Did you +enjoy the performance?’ + +‘Madame,’ returned Vandeloup, with a smile, ‘need you ask that?’ + +A shadowy smile floated over Mrs Wopples’ indistinct features, and then +her husband introduced the rest of the family in a bunch. + +‘Gentlemen,’ he said, waving his hand to the expectant ten, who stood in +a line of five male and five female, ‘the celebrated Wopples family.’ + +The ten all simultaneously bowed at this as if they were worked by +machinery, and then everyone sat down to supper, Mr Theodore Wopples +taking the head of the table. All the family seemed to admire him +immensely, and kept their eyes fastened on his face with affectionate +regard. + +‘Pa,’ whispered Miss Siddons Wopples to Villiers, who sat next to her, +‘is a most wonderful man. Observe his facial expression.’ + +Villiers observed it, and admitted also in a whisper that it was truly +marvellous. + +Cold beef formed the staple viand on the table, and everyone did full +justice to it, as also to beer and porter, of which Mr Wopples was very +generous. + +‘I prefer to give my friends good beer instead of bad champagne,’ he +said, pompously. ‘Ha! ha! the antithesis, I think, is good.’ + +The Wopples family unanimously agreed that it was excellent, and Mr +Handel Wopples observed to Barty that his father often made jokes worthy +of Tom Hood, to which Barty agreed hastily, as he did not know who Tom +Hood was, and besides was flirting in a mild manner with Miss Fanny +Wopples, a pretty girl, who did the burlesque business. + +‘And are all these big boys and girls yours, Madame?’ asked Vandeloup, +who was rather astonished at the number of the family, and thought +some of them might have been hired for theatrical purposes. Mrs Wopples +nodded affirmatively with a gratified flutter, and her husband endorsed +it. + +‘There are four dead,’ he said, in a solemn voice. ‘Rest their souls.’ + +All the ten faces round the board reflected the gloom on the parental +countenance, and for a few moments no one spoke. + +‘This,’ said Mr Wopples, looking round with a smile, at which all the +other faces lighted up, ‘this is not calculated to make our supper +enjoyable, children. I may tell you that, in consequence of the great +success of “The Cruet Stand”, we play it again to-morrow night.’ + +‘Ah!’ said Mr Buckstone Wopples, with his mouth full, ‘I knew it would +knock ‘em; that business of yours, father, with the writ is simply +wonderful.’ + +All the family chorused ‘Yes,’ and Mr Wopples admitted, with a modest +smile, that it was wonderful. + +‘Practise,’ said Mr Wopples, waving a fork with a piece of cold beef at +the end of it, ‘makes perfect. My dear Vandeloup, if you will permit me +to call you so, my son Buckstone is truly a wonderful critic.’ + +Vandeloup smiled at this, and came to the conclusion that the Wopples +family was a mutual admiration society. However, as it was now nearly +twelve o’clock, he rose to take his leave. + +‘Oh, you’re not going yet,’ said Mr Wopples, upon which all the family +echoed, ‘Surely, not yet,’ in a most hospitable manner. + +‘I must,’ said Vandeloup, with a smile. ‘I know Madame will excuse me,’ +with a bow to Mrs Wopples, who thereupon fluttered nervously; ‘but I +have to be up very early in the morning.’ + +‘In that case,’ said Mr Wopples, rising, ‘I will not detain you; early +to bed and early to rise, you know; not that I believe in it much +myself, but I understand it is practised with good results by some +people.’ + +Vandeloup shook hands with Mr and Mrs Wopples, but feeling unequal to +taking leave of the ten star artistes in the same way, he bowed in a +comprehensive manner, whereupon the whole ten arose from their chairs +and bowed unanimously in return. + +‘Good night, Messrs Villiers and Jarper,’ said Vandeloup, going out of +the door, ‘I will see you to-morrow.’ + +‘And we also, I hope,’ said Mr Wopples, ungrammatically. ‘Come and see +“The Cruet Stand” again. I’ll put your name on the free list.’ + +M. Vandeloup thanked the actor warmly for this kind offer, and took +himself off; as he passed along the street he heard a burst of laughter +from the Wopples family, no doubt caused by some witticism of the head +of the clan. + +He walked slowly home to the hotel, smoking a cigarette, and thinking +deeply. When he arrived at the ‘Wattle Tree’ he saw a light still +burning in the bar, and, on knocking at the door, was admitted by Miss +Twexby, who had been making up accounts, and whose virgin head was +adorned with curl-papers. + +‘My!’ said this damsel, when she saw him, ‘you are a nice young man +coming home at this hour--twelve o’clock. See?’ and, as a proof of her +assertion, she pointed to the clock. + +‘Were you waiting up for me, dear?’ asked Vandeloup, audaciously. + +‘Not I,’ retorted Miss Twexby, tossing her curl-papers; ‘I’ve been +attending to par’s business; but, oh, gracious!’ with a sudden +recollection of her head-gear, ‘you’ve seen me in undress.’ + +‘And you look more charming than ever,’ finished Vandeloup, as he took +his bedroom candle from her. ‘I will see you in the morning. My friend +still asleep, I suppose?’ + +‘I’m sure I don’t know. I haven’t seen him all the evening,’ replied +Miss Twexby, tossing her head, ‘now, go away. You’re a naughty, wicked, +deceitful thing. I declare I’m quite afraid of you.’ + +‘There’s no need, I assure you,’ replied Vandeloup, in a slightly +sarcastic voice, as he surveyed the plain-looking woman before him; ‘you +are quite safe from me.’ + +He left the bar, whistling an air, while the fair Martha returned to +her accounts, and wondered indignantly whether his last remark was a +compliment or otherwise. + +The conclusion she came to was that it was otherwise, and she retired to +bed in a very wrathful frame of mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + + +Madame Midas, as may be easily guessed, did not pass a very pleasant +night after the encounter with Villiers. Her head was very painful with +the blow he had given her, and added to this she was certain she had +killed him. + +Though she hated the man who had ruined her life, and who had tried to +rob her, still she did not care about becoming his murderess, and the +thought was madness to her. Not that she was afraid of punishment, +for she had only acted in self-defence, and Villiers, not she, was the +aggressor. + +Meanwhile she waited to hear if the body had been found, for ill news +travels fast; and as everyone knew Villiers was her husband, she was +satisfied that when the corpse was found she would be the first to be +told about it. + +But the day wore on, and no news came, so she asked Archie to go into +Ballarat and see if the discovery had been made. + +‘’Deed, mem,’ said Archie, in a consoling tone, ‘I’m thinkin’ there’s na +word at all. Maybe ye only stapped his pranks for a wee bit, and he’s a’ +richt.’ + +Madame shook her head. + +‘I gave him such a terrible blow,’ she said, mournfully, ‘and he fell +like a stone over the embankment.’ + +‘He didna leave go the nugget, onyhow, ye ken,’ said Archie, dryly; ‘so +he couldna hae been verra far gone, but I’ll gang intil the toun and see +what I can hear.’ + +There was no need for this, however, for just as McIntosh got to the +door, Vandeloup, cool and complacent, sauntered in, but stopped short at +the sight of Mrs Villiers sitting in the arm-chair looking so ill. + +‘My dear Madame,’ he cried in dismay, going over to her, ‘what is the +matter with you?’ + +‘Matter enow,’ growled McIntosh, with his hand on the door handle; ‘that +deil o’ a’ husband o’ her’s has robbed her o’ the nugget.’ + +‘Yes, and I killed him,’ said Madame between her clenched teeth. + +‘The deuce you did,’ said Vandeloup, in surprise, taking a seat, ‘then +he was the liveliest dead man I ever saw.’ + +‘What do you mean?’ asked Madame, leaning forward, with both hands +gripping the arms of her chair; ‘is--is he alive?’ + +‘Of course he is,’ began Vandeloup; ‘I--’ but here he was stopped by a +cry from Selina, for her mistress had fallen back in her chair in a dead +faint. + +Hastily waving for the men to go away, she applied remedies, and Madame +soon revived. Vandeloup had gone outside with McIntosh, and was asking +him about the robbery, and then told him in return about Villiers’ +movements on that night. Selina called them in again, as Madame wanted +to hear all about her husband, and Vandeloup was just entering when he +turned to McIntosh. + +‘Oh, by the way,’ he said, in a vexed tone, ‘Pierre will not be at work +today.’ + +‘What for no?’ asked McIntosh, sharply. + +‘He’s drunk,’ replied Vandeloup, curtly, ‘and he’s likely to keep the +game up for a week.’ + +‘We’ll see about that,’ said Mr McIntosh, wrathfully; ‘I tauld yon gowk +o’ a Twexby to give the mon food and drink, but I didna tell him to mack +the deil fu’.’ + +‘It wasn’t the landlord’s fault,’ said Vandeloup; ‘I gave Pierre +money--if I had known what he wanted it for I wouldn’t have done it--but +it’s too late now.’ + +McIntosh was about to answer sharply as to the folly of giving the man +money, when Madame’s voice was heard calling them impatiently, and they +both had to go in at once. + +Mrs Villiers was ghastly pale, but there was a look of determination +about her which showed that she was anxious to hear all. Pointing to a +seat near herself she said to Vandeloup-- + +‘Tell me everything that happened from the time I left you last night.’ + +‘My faith,’ replied Vandeloup, carelessly taking the seat, ‘there isn’t +much to tell--I said goodbye to Monsieur Marchurst and Mademoiselle +Kitty and went down to Ballarat.’ + +‘How was it you did not pass me on the way?’ asked Madame, quickly +fixing her piercing eyes on him. ‘I drove slowly.’ + +He bore her scrutiny without blenching or even changing colour. + +‘Easily enough,’ he said, calmly, ‘I went the other direction instead of +the usual way, as it was the shortest route to the place I was stopping +at.’ + +‘The “Wattle Tree”, ye ken, Madame,’ interposed McIntosh. + +‘I had something to eat there,’ pursued Vandeloup, ‘and then went to the +theatre. Your husband came in towards the end of the performance and sat +next to me.’ + +‘Was he all right?’ asked Mrs Villiers, eagerly. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘I didn’t pay much attention to him,’ he said, coolly; ‘he seemed to +enjoy the play, and afterwards, when we went to supper with the actors, +he certainly ate very heartily for a dead man. I don’t think you need +trouble yourself, Madame; your husband is quite well.’ + +‘What time did you leave him?’ she asked, after a pause. + +‘About twenty minutes to twelve, I think,’ replied Vandeloup, ‘at least, +I reached the “Wattle Tree” at about twelve o’clock, and I think it did +take twenty minutes to walk there. Monsieur Villiers stopped behind with +the theatre people to enjoy himself.’ + +Enjoying himself, and she, thinking him dead, was crying over his +miserable end; it was infamous! Was this man a monster who could thus +commit a crime one moment and go to an amusement the next? It seemed +like it, and Mrs Villiers felt intense disgust towards her husband +as she sat with tightly clenched hands and dry eyes listening to +Vandeloup’s recital. + +‘Weel,’ said Mr McIntosh at length, rubbing his scanty hair, ‘the deil +looks after his ain, as we read in Screepture, and this child of Belial +is flourishing like a green bay tree by mony waters; but we ma’ cut it +doon an’ lay an axe at the root thereof.’ + +‘And how do you propose to chop him down?’ asked Vandeloup, flippantly. + +‘Pit him intil the Tolbooth for rinnin’ awa’ wi’ the nugget,’ retorted +Mr McIntosh, vindictively. + +‘A very sensible suggestion,’ said Gaston, approvingly, smoothing his +moustache. ‘What do you say, Madame?’ + +She shook her head. + +‘Let him keep his ill-gotten gains,’ she said, resignedly. ‘Now that +he has obtained what he wanted, perhaps he’ll leave me alone; I will do +nothing.’ + +‘Dae naethin’!’ echoed Archie, in great wrath. ‘Will ye let that +freend o’ Belzibub rin awa’ wid a three hun’red ounces of gold an’ dae +naethin’? Na, na, ye mauna dae it, I tell ye. Oh, aye, ye may sit +there, mem, and glower awa’ like a boggle, but ye aren’a gangin’ to make +yoursel’ a martyr for yon. Keep the nugget? I’ll see him damned first.’ + +This was the first time that Archie had ever dared to cross Mrs +Villiers’ wishes, and she stared in amazement at the unwonted spectacle. +This time, however, McIntosh found an unexpected ally in Vandeloup, who +urged that Villiers should be prosecuted. + +‘He is not only guilty of robbery, Madame,’ said the young Frenchman, +‘but also of an attempt to murder you, and while he is allowed to go +free, your life is not safe.’ + +Selina also contributed her mite of wisdom in the form of a proverb:-- + +‘A stitch in time saves nine,’ intimating thereby that Mr Villiers +should be locked up and never let out again, in case he tried the same +game on with the next big nugget found. + +Madame thought for a few moments, and, seeing that they were all +unanimous, she agreed to the proposal that Villiers should be +prosecuted, with the stipulation, however, that he should be first +written to and asked to give up the nugget. If he did, and promised to +leave the district, no further steps would be taken; but if he declined +to do so, his wife would prosecute him with the uttermost rigour of +the law. Then Madame dismissed them, as she was anxious to get a little +sleep, and Vandeloup went to the office to write the letter, accompanied +by McIntosh, who wanted to assist in its composition. + +Meanwhile there was another individual in Ballarat who was much +interested in Villiers, and this kind-hearted gentleman was none other +than Slivers. Villiers was accustomed to come and sit in his office +every morning, and talk to him about things in general, and the Pactolus +claim in particular. On this morning, however, he did not arrive, and +Slivers was much annoyed thereat. He determined to give Villiers a piece +of his mind when he did see him. He went about his business at ‘The +Corner’, bought some shares, sold others, and swindled as many people +as he was able, then came back to his office and waited in all the +afternoon for his friend, who, however, did not come. + +Slivers was just going out to seek him when the door of his office was +violently flung open, and a tall, raw-boned female entered in a very +excited manner. Dressed in a dusty black gown, with a crape bonnet +placed askew on her rough hair, this lady banged on Slivers’ table a +huge umbrella and demanded where Villiers was. + +‘I don’t know,’ snapped Slivers, viciously; ‘how the devil should I?’ + +‘Don’t swear at me, you wooden-legged little monster,’ cried the virago, +with another bang of the umbrella, which raised such a cloud of dust +that it nearly made Slivers sneeze his head off. ‘He ain’t been home +all night, and you’ve been leading him into bad habits, you cork-armed +libertine.’ + +‘Hasn’t been home all night, eh?’ said Slivers, sitting up quickly, +while Billy, who had been considerably alarmed at the gaunt female, +retired to the fireplace, and tried to conceal himself up the chimney. +‘May I ask who you are?’ + +‘You may,’ said the angry lady, folding her arms and holding the +umbrella in such an awkward manner that she nearly poked Slivers’ +remaining eye out. + +‘Well, who are you?’ snapped Slivers, crossly, after waiting a +reasonable time for an answer and getting none. + +‘I’m his landlady,’ retorted the other, with a defiant snort. ‘Matilda +Cheedle is my name, and I don’t care who knows it.’ + +‘It’s not a pretty name,’ snarled Slivers, prodding the ground with his +wooden leg, as he always did when angry. ‘Neither are you. What do +you mean by banging into my office like an insane giraffe?’--this in +allusion to Mrs Cheedle’s height. + +‘Oh, go on! go on!’ said that lady defiantly; ‘I’ve heard it all before; +I’m used to it; but here I sit until you tell me where my lodger is;’ +and suiting the action to the word, Mrs Cheedle sat down in a chair with +such a bang that Billy gave a screech of alarm and said, ‘Pickles!’ + +‘Pickles, you little bag of bones!’ cried Mrs Cheedle, who thought that +the word had proceeded from Slivers, ‘don’t you call me “Pickles”--but +I’m used to it. I’m a lonely woman since Cheedle went to the cemetery, +and I’m always being insulted. Oh, my nerves are shattered under such +treatment’--this last because she saw the whisky bottle on the table, +and thought she might get some. + +Slivers took the hint, and filling a glass with whisky and water passed +it to her, and Mrs Cheedle, with many protestations that she never +touched spirits, drank it to the last drop. + +‘Was Villiers always in the habit of coming home?’ he asked. + +‘Always,’ replied Mrs Cheedle; ‘he’s bin with me eighteen months and +never stopped out one night; if he had,’ grimly, ‘I’d have known the +reason of his rampagin’.’ + +‘Strange,’ said Slivers, thoughtfully, fixing Mrs Cheedle with his one +eye; ‘when did you see him last?’ + +‘About three o’clock yesterday,’ said Mrs Cheedle, looking sadly at a +hole in one of her cotton gloves; ‘his conduct was most extraordinary; +he came home at that unusual hour, changed his linen clothes for a dark +suit, and, after he had eaten something, put on another hat, and walked +off with a stick under his arm.’ + +‘And you’ve never seen him since?’ + +‘Not a blessed sight of him,’ replied Mrs Cheedle; ‘you don’t think +any harm’s come to him, sir? Not as I care much for him--the drunken +wretch--but still he’s a lodger and owes me rent, so I don’t know but +what he might be off to Melbourne without paying, and leaving his boxes +full of bricks behind.’ + +‘I’ll have a look round, and if I see him I’ll send him home,’ said +Slivers, rising to intimate the interview was at end. + +‘Very well, mind you do,’ said the widow, rising and putting the empty +glass on the table, ‘send him home at once and I’ll speak to him. And +perhaps,’ with a bashful glance, ‘you wouldn’t mind seeing me up the +street a short way, as I’m alone and unprotected.’ + +‘Stuff!’ retorted Slivers, ungraciously, ‘there’s plenty of light, and +you are big enough to look after yourself.’ + +At this Mrs Cheedle snorted loudly like a war-horse, and flounced out +of the office in a rage, after informing Slivers in a loud voice that he +was a selfish, cork-eyed little viper, from which confusion of words it +will easily be seen that the whisky had taken effect on the good lady. + +When she had gone Slivers locked up his office, and sallied forth to +find the missing Villiers, but though he went all over town to that +gentleman’s favourite haunts, mostly bars, yet he could see nothing of +him; and on making inquiries heard that he had not been seen in Ballarat +all day. This was so contrary to Villiers’ general habits that Slivers +became suspicious, and as he walked home thinking over the subject he +came to the conclusion there was something up. + +‘If,’ said Slivers, pausing on the pavement and addressing a street +lamp, ‘he doesn’t turn up to-morrow I’ll have a look for him again. If +that don’t do I’ll tell the police, and I shouldn’t wonder,’ went on +Slivers, musingly, ‘I shouldn’t wonder if they called on Madame Midas.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE + + +Slivers was puzzled over Villiers’ disappearance, so he determined to +go in search of evidence against Madame Midas, though for what reason he +wanted evidence against her no one but himself--and perhaps Billy--knew. +But then Slivers always was an enigma regarding his reasons for doing +things, and even the Sphinx would have found him a difficult riddle to +solve. + +The reasons he had for turning detective were simply these: It soon +became known that Madame Midas had been robbed by her husband of the +famous nugget, and great was the indignation of everyone against Mr +Villiers. That gentleman would have fared very badly if he had made his +appearance, but for some reason or another he did not venture forth. In +fact, he had completely disappeared, and where he was no one knew. The +last person who saw him was Barty Jarper, who left him at the corner of +Lydiard and Sturt Streets, when Mr Villiers had announced his intention +of going home. Mrs Cheedle, however, asserted positively that she had +never set eyes on him since the time she stated to Slivers, and as it +was now nearly two weeks since he had disappeared things were beginning +to look serious. The generally received explanation was that he had +bolted with the nugget, but as he could hardly dispose of such a large +mass of gold without suspicion, and as the police both in Ballarat and +Melbourne had made inquiries, which proved futile, this theory began to +lose ground. + +It was at this period that Slivers asserted himself--coming forward, he +hinted in an ambiguous sort of way that Villiers had met with foul play, +and that some people had their reasons for wishing to get rid of him. +This was clearly an insinuation against Madame Midas, but everyone +refused to believe such an impossible story, so Slivers determined to +make good his words, and went in search of evidence. + +The Wopples Family having left Ballarat, Slivers was unable to see Mr +Theodore Wopples, who had been in Villiers’ company on the night of his +disappearance. + +Mr Barty Jarper, however, had not yet departed, so Slivers waylaid him, +and asked him in a casual way to drop into his office and have a drink, +with a view of finding out from him all the events of that night. + +Barty was on his way to a lawn tennis party, and was arrayed in a +flannel suit of many colours, with his small, white face nearly hidden +under a large straw hat. Being of a social turn of mind, he did not +refuse Slivers’ invitation, but walked into the dusty office and +assisted himself liberally to the whisky. + +‘Here’s fun, old cock!’ he said, in a free and easy manner, raising his +glass to his lips; ‘may your shadow never be less.’ + +Slivers hoped devoutly that his shadow never would be less, as that +would involve the loss of several other limbs, which he could ill +spare; so he honoured Mr Jarper’s toast with a rasping little laugh, and +prepared to talk. + +‘It’s very kind of you to come and talk to an old chap like me,’ said +Slivers, in as amiable a tone as he could command, which was not much. +‘You’re such a gay young fellow!’ + +Mr Jarper acknowledged modestly that he was gay, but that he owed +certain duties to society, and had to be mildly social. + +‘And so handsome!’ croaked Slivers, winking with his one eye at Billy, +who sat on the table. ‘Oh, he’s all there, ain’t he, Billy?’ + +Billy, however, did not agree to this, and merely observed ‘Pickles,’ in +a disbelieving manner. + +Mr Jarper felt rather overcome by this praise, and blushed in a modest +way, but felt that he could not return the compliment with any degree of +truth, as Slivers was not handsome, neither was he all there. + +He, however, decided that Slivers was an unusually discerning person, +and worthy to talk to, so prepared to make himself agreeable. + +Slivers, who had thus gained the goodwill of the young man by flattery, +plunged into the subject of Villiers’ disappearance. + +‘I wonder what’s become of Villiers,’ he said, artfully pushing the +whisky bottle toward Barty. + +‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ said Barty in a languid, used-up sort of voice, +pouring himself out some more whisky, ‘I haven’t seen him since last +Monday week.’ + +‘Where did you leave him on that night?’ asked Slivers. + +‘At the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets.’ + +‘Early in the morning, I suppose?’ + +‘Yes--pretty early--about two o’clock, I think.’ + +‘And you never saw him after that?’ + +‘Not a sight of him,’ replied Barty; ‘but, I say, why all this +thusness?’ + +‘I’ll tell you after you have answered my questions,’ retorted Slivers, +rudely, ‘but I’m not asking out of curiosity--its business.’ + +Barty thought that Slivers was very peculiar, but determined to humour +him, and to take his leave as early as possible. + +‘Well, go on,’ he said, drinking his whisky, ‘I’ll answer.’ + +‘Who else was with you and Villiers on that night?’ asked Slivers in a +magisterial kind of manner. + +‘A French fellow called Vandeloup.’ + +‘Vandeloup!’ echoed Slivers in surprise; ‘oh, indeed! what the devil was +he doing?’ + +‘Enjoying himself,’ replied Barty, coolly; ‘he came into the theatre and +Villiers introduced him to me; then Mr Wopples asked us all to supper.’ + +‘You went, of course?’ + +‘Rather, old chap; what do you take us for?’--this from Barty, with a +knowing wink. + +‘What time did Vandeloup leave?’ asked Slivers, not paying any attention +to Barty’s pantomime. + +‘About twenty minutes to twelve.’ + +‘Oh! I suppose that was because he had to drive out to the Pactolus?’ + +‘Not such a fool, dear boy; he stayed all night in town.’ + +‘Oh!’ ejaculated Slivers, in an excited manner, drumming on the table +with his fingers, ‘where did he stay?’ + +‘At the Wattle Tree Hotel.’ + +Slivers mentally made a note of this, and determined to go there and +find out at what time Vandeloup had come home on the night in question, +for this suspicious old man had now got it into his head that Vandeloup +was in some way responsible for Villiers’ disappearance. + +‘Where did Villiers say he was going when he left you?’ he asked. + +‘Straight home.’ + +‘Humph! Well, he didn’t go home at all.’ + +‘Didn’t he?’ echoed Barty, in some astonishment. ‘Then what’s become of +him? Men don’t disappear in this mysterious way without some reason.’ + +‘Ah, but there is a reason,’ replied Slivers, bending across the table +and clawing at the papers thereon with the lean fingers of his one hand. + +‘Why! what do you think is the reason?’ faltered Barty, letting his +eye-glass drop out of his eye, and edging his chair further away from +this terrible old man. + +‘Murder!’ hissed the other through his thin lips. ‘He’s been murdered!’ + +‘Lord!’ ejaculated Barty, jumping up from his chair in alarm; ‘you’re +going too far, old chap.’ + +‘I’m going further,’ retorted Slivers, rising from his chair and +stumping up and down the room; ‘I’m going to find out who did it, and +then I’ll grind her to powder; I’ll twist her neck off, curse her.’ + +‘Is it a woman?’ asked Barty, who now began to think of making a +retreat, for Slivers, with his one eye blazing, and his cork arm +swinging rapidly to and fro, was not a pleasant object to contemplate. + +This unguarded remark recalled Slivers to himself. + +‘That’s what I want to find out,’ he replied, sulkily, going back to his +chair. ‘Have some more whisky?’ + +‘No, thanks,’ answered Barty, going to the door, ‘I’m late as it is for +my engagement; ta, ta, old chap, I hope you’ll drop on the he or she +you’re looking for; but you’re quite wrong, Villiers has bolted with the +nugget, and that’s a fact, sir,’ and with an airy wave of his hand Barty +went out, leaving Slivers in anything but a pleasant temper. + +‘Bah! you peacock,’ cried this wicked old man, banging his wooden leg +against the table, ‘you eye-glass idiot--you brainless puppy--I’m wrong, +am I? we’ll see about that, you rag-shop.’ This last in allusion to +Barty’s picturesque garb. ‘I’ve found out all I want from you, and I’ll +track her down, and put her in gaol, and hang her--hang her till she’s +as dead as a door nail.’ + +Having given vent to this pleasant sentiment, Slivers put on his hat, +and, taking his stick, walked out of his office, but not before Billy +saw his intention and had climbed up to his accustomed place on the old +man’s shoulder. So Slivers stumped along the street, with the cockatoo +on his shoulder, looking like a depraved Robinson Crusoe, and took his +way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + +‘If,’ argued Slivers to himself, as he pegged bravely along, ‘if +Villiers wanted to get rid of the nugget he’d have come to me, for he +knew I’d keep quiet and tell no tales. Well, he didn’t come to me, and +there’s no one else he could go to. They’ve been looking for him all +over the shop, and they can’t find him; he can’t be hiding or he’d have +let me know; there’s only one explanation--he’s been murdered--but not +for the gold--oh, dear no--for nobody knew he had it. Who wanted him out +of the way?--his wife. Would she stick at anything?--I’m damned if she +would. So it’s her work. The only question is did she do it personally +or by deputy. I say deputy, ‘cause she’d be too squeamish to do it +herself. Who would she select as deputy?--Vandeloup! Why?--‘cause he’d +like to marry her for her money. Yes, I’m sure it’s him. Things look +black against him: he stayed in town all night, a thing he never +did before--leaves the supper at a quarter to twelve, so as to avoid +suspicion; waits till Villiers comes out at two in the morning and kills +him. Aha! my handsome jackadandy,’ cried Slivers, viciously, suddenly +stopping and shaking his stick at an imaginary Vandeloup; ‘I’ve got you +under my thumb, and I’ll crush the life out of you--and of her also, if +I can;’ and with this amiable resolution Slivers resumed his way. + +Slivers’ argument was plausible, but there were plenty of flaws in it, +which, however, he did not stop to consider, so carried away was he by +his anger against Madame Midas. He stumped along doggedly, revolving the +whole affair in his mind, and by the time he arrived at the Wattle Tree +Hotel he had firmly persuaded himself that Villiers was dead, and that +Vandeloup had committed the crime at the instigation of Mrs Villiers. + +He found Miss Twexby seated in the bar, with a decidedly cross face, +which argued ill for anyone who held converse with her that day; but as +Slivers was quite as crabbed as she was, and, moreover, feared neither +God nor man--much less a woman--he tackled her at once. + +‘Where’s your father?’ he asked, abruptly, leaning on his stick and +looking intently at the fair Martha’s vinegary countenance. + +‘Asleep!’ snapped that damsel, jerking her head in the direction of the +parlour; ‘what do you want?’--very disdainfully. + +‘A little civility in the first place,’ retorted Slivers, rudely, +sitting down on a bench that ran along the wall, and thereby causing his +wooden leg to stick straight out, which, being perceived by Billy, he +descended from the old man’s shoulder and turned the leg into a perch, +where he sat and swore at Martha. + +‘You wicked old wretch,’ said Miss Twexby, viciously--her nose getting +redder with suppressed excitement--‘go along with you, and take that +irreligious parrot with you, or I’ll wake my par.’ + +‘He won’t thank you for doing so,’ replied Slivers, coolly; ‘I’ve called +to see him about some new shares just on the market, and if you don’t +treat me with more respect I’ll go, and he’ll be out of a good thing.’ + +Now, Miss Twexby knew that Slivers was in the habit of doing business +with her parent, and, moreover was a power in the share market, so she +did not deem it diplomatic to go too far, and bottling up her wrath for +a future occasion, when no loss would be involved, she graciously asked +Slivers what he’d be pleased to have. + +‘Whisky,’ said Slivers, curtly, leaning his chin on his stick, and +following her movements with his one eye. ‘I say!’ + +‘Well?’ asked Miss Twexby, coming from behind the bar with a glass and a +bottle of whisky, ‘what do you say?’ + +‘How’s that good-looking Frenchman?’ asked Slivers, pouring himself out +some liquor, and winking at her in a rakish manner with his one eye. + +‘How should I know?’ snapped Martha, angrily, ‘he comes here to see that +friend of his, and then clears out without as much as a good day; a nice +sort of friend, indeed,’ wrathfully, ‘stopping here nearly two weeks +and drunk all the time; he’ll be having delirious trimmings before he’s +done.’ + +‘Who wills?’ said Slivers, taking a sip of his whisky and water. + +‘Why, that other Frenchman!’ retorted Martha, going to her place behind +the bar, ‘Peter something; a low, black wretch, all beard, with no +tongue, and a thirst like a lime-kiln.’ + +‘Oh, the dumb man.’ + +Miss Twexby nodded. + +‘That’s him,’ she said, triumphantly, ‘he’s been here for the last two +weeks.’ + +‘Drunk, I think you said,’ remarked Slivers, politely. + +Martha laughed scornfully, and took out some sewing. + +‘I should just think so,’ she retorted, tossing her head, ‘he does +nothing but drink all day, and run after people with that knife.’ + +‘Very dangerous,’ observed Slivers, gravely shaking his head; ‘why don’t +you get rid of him?’ + +‘So we are,’ said Miss Twexby, biting off a bit of cotton, as if she +wished it were Pierre’s head; ‘he is going down to Melbourne the day +after to-morrow.’ + +Slivers got weary of hearing about Pierre, and plunged right off into +the object of his visit. + +‘That Vandeloup,’ he began. + +‘Well?’ said Miss Twexby, letting the work fall on her lap. + +‘What time did he come home the night he stopped here?’ + +‘Twelve o’clock.’ + +‘Get along with you,’ said Slivers, in disgust, ‘you mean three +o’clock.’ + +‘No, I don’t,’ retorted Martha, indignantly; ‘you’ll be telling me I +don’t know the time next.’ + +‘Did he go out again? + +‘No, he went to bed.’ + +This quite upset Slivers’ idea--as if Vandeloup had gone to bed at +twelve, he certainly could not have murdered Villiers nearly a mile away +at two o’clock in the morning. Slivers was puzzled, and then the light +broke on him--perhaps it was the dumb man. + +‘Did the other stay here all night also?’ + +Miss Twexby nodded. ‘Both in the same room,’ she answered. + +‘What time did the dumb chap come in?’ + +‘Half-past nine.’ + +Here was another facer for Slivers--as it could not have been Pierre. + +‘Did he go to bed?’ + +‘Straight.’ + +‘And did not leave the house again?’ + +‘Of course not,’ retorted Miss Twexby, impatiently; ‘do you think I’m a +fool--no one goes either in or out of this house without my knowing +it. The dumb devil went to bed at half-past nine, and Mr Vandeloup at +half-past twelve, and they neither of them came out of their rooms till +next morning.’ + +‘How do you know Vandeloup was in at twelve?’ asked Slivers, still +unconvinced. + +‘Drat the man, what’s he worryin’ about?’ rejoined Miss Twexby, +snappishly; ‘I let him in myself.’ + +This clearly closed the subject, and Slivers arose to his feet in great +disgust, upsetting Billy on to the floor. + +‘Devil!’ shrieked Billy, as he dropped. ‘Oh, my precious mother. +Devil--devil--devil--you’re a liar--you’re a liar--Bendigo and +Ballarat--Ballarat and Bendigo--Pickles!’ + +Having thus run through a portion of his vocabulary, he subsided into +silence, and let Slivers pick him up in order to go home. + +‘A nice pair you are,’ muttered Martha, grimly, looking at them. ‘I wish +I had the thrashing of you. Won’t you stay and see par?’ she called out +as Slivers departed. + +‘I’ll come to-morrow,’ answered Slivers, angrily, for he felt very much +out of temper; then, in a lower voice, he observed to himself, ‘I’d like +to put that jade in a teacup and crush her.’ + +He stumped home in silence, thinking all the time; and it was only when +he arrived back in his office that he gave utterance to his thoughts. + +‘It couldn’t have been either of the Frenchmen,’ he said, lighting his +pipe. ‘She must have done it herself.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MCINTOSH SPEAKS HIS MIND + + +It was some time before Mrs Villiers recovered from the shock caused by +her encounter with her husband. The blow he had struck her on the side +of the head turned out to be more serious than was at first anticipated, +and Selina deemed it advisable that a doctor should be called in. +So Archie went into Ballarat, and returned to the Pactolus with Dr +Gollipeck, an eccentric medical practitioner, whose peculiarities were +the talk of the city. + +Dr Gollipeck was tall and lank, with an unfinished look about him, as +if Nature in some sudden freak had seized an incomplete skeleton from a +museum and hastily covered it with parchment. He dressed in rusty black, +wore dingy cotton gloves, carried a large white umbrella, and surveyed +the world through the medium of a pair of huge spectacles. His clothes +were constantly coming undone, as he scorned the use of buttons, and +preferred pins, which were always scratching his hands. He spoke very +little, and was engaged in composing an erudite work on ‘The Art of +Poisoning, from Borgia to Brinvilliers’. + +Selina was not at all impressed with his appearance, and mentally +decided that a good wash and a few buttons would improve him +wonderfully. Dr Gollipeck, however, soon verified the adage that +appearances are deceptive--as Selina afterwards remarked to Archie--by +bringing Madame Midas back to health in a wonderfully short space of +time. She was now convalescent, and, seated in the arm-chair by the +window, looked dreamily at the landscape. She was thinking of her +husband, and in what manner he would annoy her next; but she half +thought--and the wish was father to the half thought--that having got +the nugget he would now leave her alone. + +She knew that he had not been in Ballarat since that fatal night when he +had attacked her, but imagined that he was merely hiding till such time +as the storm should blow over and he could enjoy his ill-gotten gains in +safety. The letter asking him to give up the nugget and ordering him +to leave the district under threat of prosecution had been sent to his +lodgings, but was still lying there unopened. The letters accumulated +into quite a little pile as weeks rolled on, yet Mr Villiers, if he was +alive, made no sign, and if he was dead, no traces had been found of his +body. McIntosh and Slivers had both seen the police about the affair, +one in order to recover the nugget, the other actuated by bitter enmity +against Madame Midas. To Slivers’ hints, that perhaps Villiers’ wife +knew more than she chose to tell, the police turned a deaf ear, as they +assured Slivers that they had made inquiries, and on the authority of +Selina and McIntosh could safely say that Madame Midas had been home +that night at half-past nine o’clock, whereas Villiers was still alive +in Ballarat--as could be proved by the evidence of Mr Jarper--at two +o’clock in the morning. So, foiled on every side in his endeavours to +implicate Mrs Villiers in her husband’s disappearance, Slivers retired +to his office, and, assisted by his ungodly cockatoo, passed many hours +in swearing at his bad luck and in cursing the absent Villiers. + +As to M. Vandeloup, he was indefatigable in his efforts to find +Villiers, for, as he very truly said, he could never repay Madame Midas +sufficiently for her kindness to him, and he wanted to do all in his +power to punish her cruel husband. But in spite of all this seeking, the +whereabouts of Mr Randolph Villiers remained undiscovered, and at last, +in despair, everyone gave up looking. Villiers had disappeared entirely, +and had taken the nugget with him, so where he was and what he was doing +remained a mystery. + +One result of Madame’s illness was that M. Vandeloup had met Dr +Gollipeck, and the two, though apparently dissimilar in both character +and appearance, had been attracted to one another by a liking which they +had in common. This was the study of toxicology, a science at which +the eccentric old man had spent a lifetime. He found in Vandeloup a +congenial spirit, for the young Frenchman had a wonderful liking for +the uncanny subject; but there was a difference in the aims of both men, +Gollipeck being drawn to the study of poisons from a pure love of the +subject, whereas Vandeloup wanted to find out the secrets of toxicology +for his own ends, which were anything but disinterested. + +Wearied of the dull routine of the office work, Vandeloup was taking +a walk in the meadows which surrounded the Pactolus, when he saw Dr +Gollipeck shuffling along the dusty white road from the railway station. + +‘Good day, Monsieur le Medecin,’ said Vandeloup, gaily, as he came up to +the old man; ‘are you going to see our mutual friend?’ + +Gollipeck, ever sparing of words, nodded in reply, and trudged on in +silence, but the Frenchmen, being used to the eccentricities of his +companion, was in nowise offended at his silence, but went on talking in +an animated manner. + +‘Ah, my dear friend,’ he said, pushing his straw hat back on his fair +head; ‘how goes on the great work?’ + +‘Capitally,’ returned the doctor, with a complacent smile; ‘just +finished “Catherine de Medici”--wonderful woman, sir--quite a mistress +of the art of poisoning.’ + +‘Humph,’ returned Vandeloup, thoughtfully, lighting a cigarette, ‘I do +not agree with you there; it was her so-called astrologer, Ruggieri, +who prepared all her potions. Catherine certainly had the power, but +Ruggieri possessed the science--a very fair division of labour for +getting rid of people, I must say--but what have you got there?’ nodding +towards a large book which Gollipeck carried under his arm. + +‘For you,’ answered the other, taking the book slowly from under his +arm, and thereby causing another button to fly off, ‘quite new,--work on +toxicology.’ + +‘Thank you,’ said Vandeloup, taking the heavy volume and looking at the +title; ‘French, I see! I’m sure it will be pleasant reading.’ + +The title of the book was ‘Les Empoisonneurs d’Aujourd’hui, par MM. +Prevol et Lebrun’, and it had only been published the previous year; so +as he turned over the leaves carelessly, M. Vandeloup caught sight of +a name which he knew. He smiled a little, and closing the book put it +under his arm, while he turned smilingly towards his companion, whom he +found looking keenly at him. + +‘I shall enjoy this book immensely,’ he said, touching the volume. Dr +Gollipeck nodded and chuckled in a hoarse rattling kind of way. + +‘So I should think,’ he answered, with another sharp look, ‘you are a +very clever young man, my friend.’ + +Vandeloup acknowledged the compliment with a bow, and wondered mentally +what this old man meant. Gaston, however, was never without an answer, +so he turned to Gollipeck again with a nonchalant smile on his handsome +lips. + +‘So kind of you to think well of me,’ he said, coolly flicking the ash +off the end of his cigarette with his little finger; ‘but why do you pay +me such a compliment?’ + +Gollipeck answered the question by asking another. + +‘Why are you so fond of toxicology?’ he said, abruptly, shuffling his +feet in the long dry grass in which they were now walking in order to +rub the dust off his ungainly, ill-blacked shoes. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘To pass the time,’ he said, carelessly, ‘that is all; even office work, +exciting as it is, becomes wearisome, so I must take up some subject to +amuse myself.’ + +‘Curious taste for a young man,’ remarked the doctor, dryly. + +‘Nature,’ said M. Vandeloup, ‘does not form men all on the same pattern, +and my taste for toxicology has at least the charm of novelty.’ + +Gollipeck looked at the young man again in a sharp manner. + +‘I hope you’ll enjoy the book,’ he said, abruptly, and vanished into the +house. + +When he was gone, the mocking smile so habitual to Vandeloup’s +countenance faded away, and his face assumed a thoughtful expression. He +opened the book, and turned over the leaves rapidly, but without finding +what he was in search of. With an uneasy laugh he shut the volume with a +snap, and put it under his arm again. + +‘He’s an enigma,’ he thought, referring to the doctor; ‘but he can’t +suspect anything. The case may be in this book, but I doubt if even this +man with the barbarous name can connect Gaston Vandeloup, of Ballarat, +with Octave Braulard, of Paris.’ + +His face reassumed its usual gay look, and throwing away the half-smoked +cigarette, he walked into the house and found Madame Midas seated in her +arm-chair near the window looking pale and ill, while Archie was walking +up and down in an excited manner, and talking volubly in broad Scotch. +As to Dr Gollipeck, that eccentric individual was standing in front of +the fire, looking even more dilapidated than usual, and drying his red +bandanna handkerchief in an abstract manner. Selina was in another room +getting a drink for Madame, and as Vandeloup entered she came back with +it. + +‘Good day, Madame,’ said the Frenchman, advancing to the table, and +putting his hat and the book down on it. ‘How are you today?’ + +‘Better, much better, thank you,’ said Madame, with a faint smile; ‘the +doctor assures me I shall be quite well in a week.’ + +‘With perfect rest and quiet, of course,’ interposed Gollipeck, sitting +down and spreading his handkerchief over his knees. + +‘Which Madame does not seem likely to get,’ observed Vandeloup, dryly, +with a glance at McIntosh, who was still pacing up and down the room +with an expression of wrath on his severe face. + +‘Ou, ay,’ said that gentleman, stopping in front of Vandeloup, with a +fine expression of scorn. ‘I ken weel ‘tis me ye are glowerin’ at--div +ye no’ ken what’s the matter wi’ me?’ + +‘Not being in your confidence,’ replied Gaston, smoothly, taking a seat, +‘I can hardly say that I do.’ + +‘It’s just that Peter o’ yours,’ said Archie, with a snort; ‘a puir +weecked unbaptised child o’ Satan.’ + +‘Archie!’ interposed Madame, with some severity. + +‘Your pardon’s begged, mem,’ said Archie, sourly turning to her; ‘but as +for that Peter body, the Lord keep me tongue fra’ swearin’, an’ my hand +from itching to gie him ain on the lug, when I think o’ him.’ + +‘What’s he been doing?’ asked Vandeloup, coolly. ‘I am quite prepared to +hear anything about him in his present state.’ + +‘It’s just this,’ burst forth Archie, wrathfully. ‘I went intil the toun +to the hotel, to tell the body he must come back tae the mine, and I +find him no in a fit state for a Christian to speak to.’ + +‘Therefore,’ interposed Vandeloup, in his even voice, without lifting +his eyes, ‘it was a pity you did speak to him.’ + +‘I gang t’ the room,’ went on Archie excitedly, without paying any +attention to Vandeloup’s remark, ‘an’ the deil flew on me wi’ a dirk, +and wud hae split my weasand, but I hed the sense to bang the door to, +and turn the key in the lock. D’y ca’ that conduct for a ceevilized +body?’ + +‘The fact is, M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, quietly, ‘Archie is so annoyed +at this conduct that he does not want Lemaire to come back to work.’ + +‘Ma certie, I should just think so,’ cried McIntosh, rubbing his head +with his handkerchief. ‘Fancy an imp of Beelzebub like yon in the bowels +o’ the earth. Losh! but it macks my bluid rin cauld when I think o’ the +bluidthirsty pagan.’ + +To Vandeloup, this information was not unpleasant. He was anxious to get +rid of Pierre, who was such an incubus, and now saw that he could send +him away without appearing to wish to get rid of him. But as he was a +diplomatic young man he did not allow his satisfaction to appear on his +face. + +‘Aren’t you rather hard on him?’ he said, coolly, leaning back in his +chair; ‘he is simply drunk, and will be all right soon.’ + +‘I tell ye I’ll no have him back,’ said Archie, firmly; ‘he’s ain o’ +they foreign bodies full of revolutions an’ confusion o’ tongues, and +I’d no feel safe i’ the mine if I kenned that deil was doon below wi’ +his dirk.’ + +‘I really think he ought to go,’ said Madame, looking rather anxiously +at Vandeloup, ‘unless, M. Vandeloup, you do not want to part with him.’ + +‘Oh, I don’t want him,’ said Vandeloup, hastily; ‘as I told you, he +was only one of the sailors on board the ship I was wrecked in, and he +followed me up here because I was the only friend he had, but now he has +got money--or, at least, his wages must come to a good amount.’ + +‘Forty pounds,’ interposed Archie. + +‘So I think the best thing he can do is to go to Melbourne, and see if +he can get back to France.’ + +‘And you, M. Vandeloup?’ asked Dr Gollipeck, who had been listening to +the young Frenchman’s remarks with great interest; ‘do you not wish to +go to France?’ + +Vandeloup rose coolly from his chair, and, picking up his book and hat, +turned to the doctor. + +‘My dear Monsieur,’ he said, leaning up against the wall in a graceful +manner, ‘I left France to see the world, so until I have seen it I don’t +think it would be worthwhile to return.’ + +‘Never go back when you have once put your hand to the plough,’ observed +Selina, opportunely, upon which Vandeloup bowed to her. + +‘Mademoiselle,’ he said, quietly, with a charming smile, ‘has put the +matter into the shell of a nut; Australia is my plough, and I do not +take my hand away until I have finished with it.’ + +‘But that deil o’ a Peter,’ said Archie, impatiently. + +‘If you will permit me, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, ‘I will write out a +cheque for the amount of money due to him, and you will sign it. I will +go into Ballarat to-morrow, and get him away to Melbourne. I propose +to buy him a box and some clothes, as he certainly is not capable of +getting them himself.’ + +‘You have a kind heart, M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, as she assented with +a nod. + +A stifled laugh came from the Doctor, but as he was such an extremely +eccentric individual no one minded him. + +‘Come, Monsieur,’ said Vandeloup, going to the door, ‘let us be off +to the office and see how much is due to my friend,’ and with a bow to +Madame, he went out. + +‘A braw sort o’ freend,’ muttered Archie, as he followed. + +‘Quite good enough for him,’ retorted Dr Gollipeck, who overheard him. + +Archie looked at him approvingly, nodded his head, and went out after +the Frenchman, but Madame, being a woman and curious, asked the doctor +what he meant. + +His reply was peculiar. + +‘Our friend,’ he said, putting his handkerchief in his pocket and +seizing his greasy old hat, ‘our friend believes in the greatest +number.’ + +‘And what is the greatest number?’ asked Madame, innocently. + +‘Number one,’ retorted the Doctor, and took his leave abruptly, leaving +two buttons and several pins on the floor as traces of his visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST PART + + +Union is strength, and if Dr Gollipeck had only met Slivers and revealed +his true opinion of Vandeloup to him, no doubt that clever young man +would have found himself somewhat embarrassed, as a great deal of a +man’s past history can be found out by the simple plan of putting two +and two together. Fortunately, however, for Gaston, these two gentlemen +never met, and Gollipeck came to the conclusion that he could see +nothing to blame in Vandeloup’s conduct, though he certainly mistrusted +him, and determined mentally to keep an eye on his movements. What led +him to be suspicious was the curious resemblance the appearance of this +young man had to that of a criminal described in the ‘Les Empoisonneurs +d’Aujourd’hui’ as having been transported to New Caledonia for the crime +of poisoning his mistress. Everything, however, was vague and uncertain; +so Dr Gollipeck, when he arrived home, came to the above-named +conclusion that he would watch Vandeloup, and then, dismissing him from +his mind, went to work on his favourite subject. + +Meanwhile, M. Vandeloup slept the sleep of the just, and next morning, +after making his inquiries after the health of Madame Midas--a thing +he never neglected to do--he went into Ballarat in search of Pierre. +On arriving at the Wattle Tree Hotel he was received by Miss Twexby in +dignified silence, for that astute damsel was beginning to regard the +fascinating Frenchman as a young man who talked a great deal and meant +nothing. + +He was audacious enough to win her virgin heart and then break it, so +Miss Twexby thought the wisest thing would be to keep him at a distance. +So Vandeloup’s bright smiles and merry jokes failed to call forth any +response from the fair Martha, who sat silently in the bar, looking like +a crabbed sphinx. + +‘Is my friend Pierre in?’ asked Vandeloup, leaning across the counter, +and looking lovingly at Miss Twexby. + +That lady intimated coldly that he was in, and had been for the last two +weeks; also that she was sick of him, and she’d thank M. Vandeloup to +clear him out--all of which amused Vandeloup mightily, though he still +continued to smile coolly on the sour-faced damsel before him. + +‘Would you mind going and telling him I want to see him?’ he asked, +lounging to the door. + +‘Me!’ shrieked Martha, in a shrill voice, shooting up from behind the +counter like an infuriated jack-in-the-box. ‘No, I shan’t. Why, the last +time I saw him he nearly cut me like a ham sandwich with that knife of +his. I am not,’ pursued Miss Twexby, furiously, ‘a loaf of bread to be +cut, neither am I a pin-cushion to have things stuck into me; so if you +want to be a corpse, you’d better go up yourself.’ + +‘I hardly think he’ll touch me,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly, going +towards the door which led to Pierre’s bedroom. ‘You’ve had a lot of +trouble with him, I’m afraid; but he’s going down to Melbourne tonight, +so it will be all right.’ + +‘And the bill?’ queried Miss Twexby, anxiously. + +‘I will pay it,’ said Vandeloup, at which she was going to say he was +very generous, but suppressed the compliment when he added, ‘out of his +own money.’ + +Gaston, however, failed to persuade Pierre to accompany him round to buy +an outfit. For the dumb man lay on his bed, and obstinately refused to +move out of the room. He, however, acquiesced sullenly when his friend +told him he was going to Melbourne, so Vandeloup left the room, having +first secured Pierre’s knife, and locked the door after him. He gave +the knife to Miss Twexby, with injunctions to her to keep it safe, then +sallied forth to buy his shipwrecked friend a box and some clothes. + +He spent about ten pounds in buying an outfit for the dumb man, hired a +cab to call at the ‘Wattle Tree’ Hotel at seven o’clock to take the box +and its owner to the station. And then feeling he had done his duty +and deserved some recompense, he had a nice little luncheon and a small +bottle of wine for which he paid out of Pierre’s money. When he finished +he bought a choice cigar, had a glass of Chartreuse, and after resting +in the commercial room for a time he went out for a walk, intending to +call on Slivers and Dr Gollipeck, and in fact do anything to kill time +until it would be necessary for him to go to Pierre and take him to the +railway station. + +He walked slowly up Sturt Street, and as the afternoon was so warm, +thought he would go up to Lake Wendouree, which is at the top of +the town, and see if it was any cooler by the water. The day was +oppressively hot, but not with the bright, cheery warmth of a summer’s +day, for the sun was hidden behind great masses of angry-looking clouds, +and it seemed as if a thunderstorm would soon break over the city. Even +Vandeloup, full of life and animation as he was, felt weighed down by +the heaviness of the atmosphere, and feeling quite exhausted when he +arrived at the lake, he was glad enough to sit down on one of the seats +for a rest. + +The lake under the black sky was a dull leaden hue, and as there was +no wind the water was perfectly still. Even the trees all round it were +motionless, as there came no breeze to stir their leaves, and the only +sounds that could be heard were the dull croaking of the frogs amid the +water grasses, and the shrill cries of children playing on the green +turf. Every now and then a steamer would skim across the surface of the +water in an airy manner, looking more like a child’s clockwork toy than +anything else, and Vandeloup, when he saw one of these arrive at the +little pier, almost expected to see a man put in a huge key to the +paddle wheels and wind it up again. + +On one of the seats Vandeloup espied a little figure in white, and +seeing that it was Kitty, he strolled up to her in a leisurely manner. +She was looking at the ground when he came up, and was prodding holes in +the spongy turf with her umbrella, but glanced up carelessly as he came +near. Then she sprang up with a cry of joy, and throwing her arms around +his neck, she kissed him twice. + +‘I haven’t seen you for ages,’ said Kitty, putting her arm in his as +they sat down. ‘I just came up here for a week, and did not think I’d +see you.’ + +‘The meeting was quite accidental, I know,’ replied Gaston, leaning back +lazily; ‘but none the less pleasant on that account.’ + +‘Oh, no,’ said Kitty, gravely shaking her head; ‘unexpected meetings +are always pleasanter than those arranged, for there’s never any +disappointment about them.’ + +‘Oh, that’s your experience, is it?’ answered her lover, with an amused +smile, pulling out his cigarette case. ‘Well, suppose you reward me for +my accidental presence here, and light a cigarette for me.’ + +Kitty was of course delighted, and took the case while M. Vandeloup +leaned back in the seat, his hands behind his head, and stared +reflectively at the leaden-coloured sky. Kitty took out a cigarette from +the case, placed it between her pretty lips, and having obtained a match +from one of her lover’s pockets, proceeded to light it, which was not +done without a great deal of choking and pretty confusion. At length she +managed it, and bending over Gaston, placed it in his mouth, and gave +him a kiss at the same time. + +‘If pa knew I did this, he’d expire with horror,’ she said, sagely +nodding her head. + +‘Wouldn’t be much loss if he did,’ replied Vandeloup, lazily, glancing +at her pretty face from under his eyelashes; ‘your father has a great +many faults, dear.’ + +‘Oh, “The Elect” think him perfect,’ said Kitty, wisely. + +‘From their point of view, perhaps he is,’ returned Gaston, with a faint +sneer; ‘but he’s not a man given to exuberant mirth.’ + +‘Well, he is rather dismal,’ assented Kitty, doubtfully. + +‘Wouldn’t you like to leave him and lead a jollier life?’ asked +Vandeloup, artfully, ‘in Melbourne, for instance.’ + +Kitty looked at him half afraid. + +‘I--I don’t know,’ she faltered, looking down. + +‘But I do, Bebe,’ whispered Gaston, putting his arm round her waist; +‘you would like to come with me.’ + +‘Why? Are you going?’ cried Kitty, in dismay. + +Vandeloup nodded. + +‘I think I spoke about this before,’ he said, idly brushing some +cigarette ash off his waistcoat. + +‘Yes,’ returned Kitty, ‘but I thought you did not mean it.’ + +‘I never say anything I do not mean,’ answered Vandeloup, with the ready +lie on his lips in a moment; ‘and I have got letters from France with +money, so I am going to leave the Pactolus.’ + +‘And me?’ said Kitty, tearfully. + +‘That depends upon yourself, Bebe,’ he said rapidly, pressing her +burning cheek against his own; ‘your father would never consent to my +marriage, and I can’t take you away from Ballarat without suspicions, +so--’ + +‘Yes?’ said Kitty, eagerly, looking at him. + +‘You must run away,’ he whispered, with a caressing smile. + +‘Alone?’ + +‘For a time, yes,’ he answered, throwing away his cigarette; +‘listen--next week you must meet me here, and I will give you money to +keep you in Melbourne for some time; then you must leave Ballarat at +once and wait for me at the Buttercup Hotel in Gertrude Street, Carlton; +you understand?’ + +‘Yes,’ faltered Kitty, nervously; ‘I--I understand.’ + +‘And you will come?’ he asked anxiously, looking keenly at her, and +pressing the little hand he held in his own. Just as she was going to +answer, as if warning her of the fatal step she was about to take, a low +roll of thunder broke on their ears, and Kitty shrank back appalled from +her lover’s embrace. + +‘No! no! no!’ she almost shrieked, hysterically, trying to tear herself +away from his arms, ‘I cannot; God is speaking.’ + +‘Bah!’ sneered Vandeloup, with an evil look on his handsome face, ‘he +speaks too indistinctly for us to guess what he means; what are you +afraid of? I will join you in Melbourne in two or three weeks, and then +we will be married.’ + +‘But my father,’ she whispered, clasping her hot hands convulsively. + +‘Well, what of him?’ asked Vandeloup, coolly; ‘he is so wrapped up in +his religion that he will not miss you; he will never find out where you +are in Melbourne, and by the time he does you will be my wife. Come,’ +he said, ardently, whispering the temptation in her ear, as if he was +afraid of being heard, ‘you must consent; say yes, Bebe; say yes.’ + +She felt his hot breath on her cheek, and felt rather than saw the +scintillations of his wonderful eyes, which sent a thrill through her; +so, utterly exhausted and worn out by the overpowering nervous force +possessed by this man, she surrendered. + +‘Yes,’ she whispered, clinging to him with dry lips and a beating heart; +‘I will come!’ Then her overstrained nature gave way, and with a burst +of tears she threw herself on his breast. + +Gaston let her sob quietly for some time, satisfied with having gained +his end, and knowing that she would soon recover. At last Kitty grew +calmer, and drying her eyes, she rose to her feet wan and haggard, as if +she was worn out for the want of sleep, and not by any manner of means +looking like a girl who was in love. This appearance was caused by the +revolt of her religious training against doing what she knew was wrong. +In her breast a natural instinct had been fighting against an artificial +one; and as Nature is always stronger than precept, Nature had +conquered. + +‘My dear Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, rising also, and kissing her white +cheek, ‘you must go home now, and get a little sleep; it will do you +good.’ + +‘But you?’ asked Kitty, in a low voice, as they walked slowly along. + +‘Oh, I,’ said M. Vandeloup, airily; ‘I am going to the Wattle Tree Hotel +to see my friend Pierre off to Melbourne.’ + +Then he exerted himself to amuse Kitty as they walked down to town, and +succeeded so well that by the time they reached Lydiard Street, where +Kitty left him to go up to Black Hill, she was laughing as merrily as +possible. They parted at the railway crossing, and Kitty went gaily up +the white dusty road, while M. Vandeloup strolled leisurely along the +street on his way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + +When he arrived he found that Pierre’s box had come, and was placed +outside his door, as no one had been brave enough to venture inside, +although Miss Twexby assured them he was unarmed--showing the knife as a +proof. + +Gaston, however, dragged the box into the room, and having made Pierre +dress himself in his new clothes, he packed all the rest in a box, +corded it, and put a ticket on it with his name and destination, +then gave the dumb man the balance of his wages. It was now about six +o’clock, so Vandeloup went down to dinner; then putting Pierre and his +box into the cab, stepped in himself and drove off. + +The promise of rain in the afternoon was now fulfilled, and it was +pouring in torrents. The gutters were rivers, and every now and then +through the driving rain came the bluish dart of a lightning flash. + +‘Bah!’ said Vandeloup, with a shiver, as they got out on the station +platform, ‘what a devil of a night.’ + +He made the cab wait for him, and, having got Pierre’s ticket, put him +in a second-class carriage and saw that his box was safely placed in the +luggage-van. The station was crowded with people going and others coming +to say goodbye; the rain was beating on the high-arched tin roof, and +the engine at the end of the long train was fretting and fuming like a +living thing impatient to be gone. + +‘You are now on your own responsibility, my friend,’ said Vandeloup to +Pierre, as he stood at the window of the carriage; ‘for we must part, +though long together have we been. Perhaps I will see you in Melbourne; +if I do you will find I have not forgotten the past,’ and, with a +significant look at the dumb man, Vandeloup lounged slowly away. + +The whistle blew shrilly, the last goodbyes were spoken, the guard +shouted ‘All aboard for Melbourne,’ and shut all the doors, then, with +another shriek and puff of white steam, the train, like a long, lithe +serpent, glided into the rain and darkness with its human freight. + +‘At last I have rid myself of this dead weight,’ said Vandeloup, as he +drove along the wet streets to Craig’s Hotel, where he intended to stay +for the night, ‘and can now shape my own fortune. Pierre is gone, Bebe +will follow, and now I must look after myself.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +M. VANDELOUP IS UNJUSTLY SUSPECTED + + +‘It never rains but it pours’ is an excellent proverb, and a very true +one, for it is remarkable how events of a similar nature follow closely +on one another’s heels when the first that happened has set the ball +a-rolling. Madame Midas believed to a certain extent in this, and +she half expected that when Pierre went he would be followed by M. +Vandeloup, but she certainly did not think that the disappearance of her +husband would be followed by that of Kitty Marchurst. Yet such was the +case, for Mr Marchurst, not seeing Kitty at family prayers, had sent in +the servant to seek for her, and the scared domestic had returned with +a startled face and a letter for her master. Marchurst read the +tear-blotted little note, in which Kitty said she was going down to +Melbourne to appear on the stage. Crushing it up in his hand, he went +on with family prayers in his usual manner, and after dismissing his +servants for the night, he went up to his daughter’s room, and found +that she had left nearly everything behind, only taking a few needful +things with her. Seeing her portrait on the wall he took it down and +placed it in his pocket. Then, searching through her room, he found +some ribbons and lace, a yellow-backed novel, which he handled with the +utmost loathing, and a pair of gloves. Regarding these things as the +instruments of Satan, by which his daughter had been led to destruction, +he carried them downstairs to his dismal study and piled them in the +empty fireplace. Placing his daughter’s portrait on top he put a light +to the little pile of frivolities, and saw them slowly burn away. The +novel curled and cracked in the scorching flame, but the filmy lace +vanished like cobwebs, and the gloves crackled and shrank into mere +wisps of black leather. And over all, through the flames, her face, +bright and charming, looked out with laughing lips and merry eyes--so +like her mother’s, and yet so unlike in its piquant grace--until that +too fell into the hollow heart of the flames, and burned slowly away +into a small pile of white ashes. + +Marchurst, leaving the dead ashes cold and grey in the dark fireplace, +went to his writing table, and falling on his knees he passed the rest +of the night in prayer. + +Meanwhile, the man who was the primary cause of all this trouble was +working in the office of the Pactolus claim with a light heart and +cool head. Gaston had really managed to get Kitty away in a very clever +manner, inasmuch as he never appeared publicly to be concerned in it, +but directed the whole business secretly. He had given Kitty sufficient +money to keep her for some months in Melbourne, as he was in doubt when +he could leave the Pactolus without being suspected of being concerned +in her disappearance. He also told her what day to leave, and all that +day stayed at the mine working at his accounts, and afterwards spent the +evening very pleasantly with Madame Midas. Next day McIntosh went into +Ballarat on business, and on returning from the city, where he had heard +all about it--rumour, of course, magnifying the whole affair greatly--he +saw Vandeloup come out of the office, and drew up in the trap beside the +young man. + +‘Aha, Monsieur,’ said Vandeloup, gaily, rolling a cigarette in his +slender fingers, and shooting a keen glance at Archie; ‘you have had a +pleasant day.’ + +‘Maybe yes, maybe no,’ returned McIntosh, cautiously, fumbling in the +bag; ‘there’s naething muckle in the toun, but--deil tack the bag,’ +he continued, tetchily shaking it. ‘I’ve gotten a letter or so fra’ +France.’ + +‘For me?’ cried Vandeloup, eagerly, holding out his hands. + +‘An’ for who else would it be?’ grumbled Archie, giving the letter to +him--a thin, foreign looking envelope with the Parisian post mark on it; +‘did ye think it was for that black-avised freend o’ yours?’ + +‘Hardly!’ returned Vandeloup, glancing at the letter with satisfaction, +and putting it in his pocket. ‘Pierre couldn’t write himself, and I +doubt very much if he had any friends who could--not that I knew his +friends,’ he said, hastily catching sight of McIntosh’s severe face bent +inquiringly on him, ‘but like always draws to like.’ + +Archie’s only answer to this was a grunt. + +‘Are ye no gangin’ tae read yon?’ he asked sourly. + +‘Not at present,’ replied Vandeloup, blowing a thin wreath of blue +smoke, ‘by-and-bye will do. Scandal and oysters should both be fresh to +be enjoyable, but letters--ah, bah,’ with a shrug, ‘they can wait. Come, +tell me the news; anything going on?’ + +‘Weel,’ said McIntosh, with great gusto, deliberately flicking a fly off +the horse’s back with a whip, ‘she’s ta’en the bit intil her mouth and +gane wrang, as I said she would.’ + +‘To what special “she” are you alluding to?’ asked Vandeloup, lazily +smoothing his moustache; ‘so many of them go wrong, you see, one likes +to be particular. The lady’s name is--?’ + +‘Katherine Marchurst, no less,’ burst forth Archie, in triumph; ‘she’s +rin awa’ to be a play-actor.’ + +‘What? that child?’ said Vandeloup, with an admirable expression of +surprise; ‘nonsense! It cannot be true.’ + +‘D’ye think I would tell a lee?’ said Archie, wrathfully, glowering +down on the tall figure pacing leisurely along. ‘God forbid that my lips +should fa’ tae sic iniquity. It’s true, I tell ye; the lass has rin awa’ +an’ left her faither--a godly mon, tho’ I’m no of his way of thinkin--to +curse the day he had sic a bairn born until him. Ah, ‘tis sorrow and +dule she hath brought tae his roof tree, an’ sorrow and dule wull be her +portion at the hands o’ strangers,’ and with this scriptural ending +Mr McIntosh sharply whipped up Rory, and went on towards the stable, +leaving Vandeloup standing in the road. + +‘I don’t think he suspects, at all events,’ thought that young man, +complacently. ‘As to Madame Midas--pouf! I can settle her suspicions +easily; a little virtuous indignation is most effective as a blind;’ +and M. Vandeloup, with a gay laugh, strolled on towards the house in the +gathering twilight. + +Suddenly he recollected the letter, which had escaped his thoughts, in +his desire to see how McIntosh would take the disappearance of Kitty, +so as there was still light to see, he leaned up against a fence, and, +having lighted another cigarette, read it through carefully. It appeared +to afford him considerable satisfaction, and he smiled as he put it in +his pocket again. + +‘It seems pretty well forgotten, this trouble about Adele,’ he said, +musingly, as he resumed his saunter; ‘I might be able to go back again +in a few years, if not to Paris at least to Europe--one can be very +happy in Monaco or Vienna, and run no risk of being found out; and, +after all,’ he muttered, thoughtfully, fingering his moustache, ‘why +not to Paris? The Republic has lasted too long already. Sooner or later +there will be a change of Government, and then I can go back a free man, +with a fortune of Australian gold. Emperor, King, or President, it’s all +the same to me, as long as I am left alone.’ + +He walked on slowly, thinking deeply all the time, and when he arrived +at the door of Mrs Villiers’ house, this clever young man, with his +accustomed promptitude and decision, had settled what he was going to +do. + +‘Up to a certain point, of course,’ he said aloud, following his +thoughts, ‘after that, chance must decide.’ + +Madame Midas was very much grieved at the news of Kitty’s Escapade, +particularly as she could not see what motive she had for running away, +and, moreover, trembled to think of the temptations the innocent girl +would be exposed to in the metropolis. After tea, when Archie had gone +outside to smoke his pipe, and Selina was busy in the kitchen washing +the dishes, she spoke to Vandeloup on the subject. The young Frenchman +was seated at the piano in the darkness, striking a few random chords, +while Madame was by the fire in the arm-chair. It was quite dark, with +only the rosy glow of the fire shining through the room. Mrs Villiers +felt uneasy; was it likely that Vandeloup could have any connection with +Kitty’s disappearance? Impossible! he had given her his word of honour, +and yet--it was very strange. Mrs Villiers was not, by any means, +a timid woman, so she determined to ask Gaston right out, and get a +decided answer from him, so as to set her mind at rest. + +‘M. Vandeloup,’ she said, in her clear voice, ‘will you kindly come here +a moment? + +‘Certainly, Madame,’ said Gaston, rising with alacrity from the piano, +and coming to the fireside; ‘is there anything I can do?’ + +‘You have heard of Miss Marchurst’s disappearance?’ she asked, looking +up at him. + +Vandeloup leaned his elbow on the mantelpiece, and looked down into the +fire, so that the full blaze of it could strike his face. He knew Madame +Midas prided herself on being a reader of character, and knowing he +could command his features admirably, he thought it would be politic to +let her see his face, and satisfy herself as to his innocence. + +‘Yes, Madame,’ he answered, in his calm, even tones, looking down +inquiringly at the statuesque face of the woman addressing him; +‘Monsieur,’ nodding towards the door, ‘told me, but I did not think it +true.’ + +‘I’m afraid it is,’ sighed Madame, shaking her head. ‘She is going on +the stage, and her father will never forgive her.’ + +‘Surely, Madame--’ began Vandeloup, eagerly. + +‘No,’ she replied, decisively, ‘he is not a hard man, but his way of +looking at things through his peculiar religious ideas has warped his +judgment--he will make no attempt to save her, and God knows what she +will come to.’ + +‘There are good women on the stage,’ said Vandeloup, at a loss for a +reply. + +‘Certainly,’ returned Madame, calmly, ‘there are black and white sheep +in every flock, but Kitty is so young and inexperienced, that she may +become the prey of the first handsome scoundrel she meets.’ + +Madame had intuitively guessed the whole situation, and Vandeloup could +not help admiring her cleverness. Still his face remained the same, and +his voice was as steady as ever as he answered-- + +‘It is much to be regretted; but still we must hope for the best.’ + +Was he guilty? Madame could not make up her mind, so determined to speak +boldly. + +‘Do you remember that day I introduced her to you?’ + +Vandeloup bowed. + +‘And you gave me your word of honour you would not try to turn her +head,’ pursued Madame, looking at him; ‘have you kept your word?’ + +‘Madame,’ said Vandeloup, gravely, ‘I give you my word of honour that +I have always treated Mlle Kitty as a child and your friend. I did not +know that she had gone until I was told, and whatever happens to her, I +can safely say that it was not Gaston Vandeloup’s fault.’ + +An admirable actor this man, not a feature of his face moved, not a +single deviation from the calmness of his speech--not a quickening of +the pulse, nor the rush of betraying blood to his fair face--no! Madame +withdrew her eyes quite satisfied, M. Vandeloup was the soul of honour +and was innocent of Kitty’s disgrace. + +‘Thank God!’ she said, reverently, as she looked away, for she would +have been bitterly disappointed to have found her kindness to this man +repaid by base treachery towards her friend; ‘I cannot tell you how +relieved I feel.’ + +M. Vandeloup withdrew his face into the darkness, and smiled in a +devilish manner to himself. How these women believed--was there any lie +too big for the sex to swallow? Evidently not--at least, so he thought. +But now that Kitty was disposed of, he had to attend to his own private +affairs, and put his hand in his pocket for the letter. + +‘I wanted to speak to you on business, Madame,’ he said, taking out the +letter; ‘the long-expected has come at last.’ + +‘You have heard from Paris?’ asked Madame, in an eager voice. + +‘I have,’ answered the Frenchman, calmly; ‘I have now the letter in my +hand, and as soon as Mlle Selina brings in the lights I will show it to +you.’ + +At this moment, as if in answer to his request, Selina appeared with the +lamp, which she had lighted in the kitchen and now brought in to place +on the table. When she did so, and had retired again, Vandeloup placed +his letter in Madame’s hand, and asked her to read it. + +‘Oh, no, Monsieur,’ said Mrs Villiers, offering it back, ‘I do not wish +to read your private correspondence.’ + +Vandeloup had calculated on this, for, as a matter of fact, there was a +good deal of private matter in the letter, particularly referring to his +trip to New Caledonia, which he would not have allowed her to see. But +he knew it would inspire her with confidence in him if he placed it +wholly in her hands, and resolved to boldly venture to do so. The result +was as he guessed; so, with a smile, he took it back again. + +‘There is nothing private in it, Madame,’ he said, opening the letter; +‘I wanted you to see that I had not misrepresented myself--it is from my +family lawyer, and he has sent me out a remittance of money, also some +letters of introduction to my consul in Melbourne and others; in fact,’ +said M. Vandeloup, with a charming smile, putting the letter in his +pocket, ‘it places me in my rightful position, and I shall assume it as +soon as I have your permission.’ + +‘But why my permission ?’ asked Madame, with a faint smile, already +regretting bitterly that she was going to lose her pleasant companion. + +‘Madame,’ said Vandeloup, impressively, bending forward, ‘in the words +of the Bible--when I was hungry you gave me food; when I was naked you +gave me raiment. You took me on, Madame, an unknown waif, without money, +friends, or a character; you believed in me when no one else did; you +have been my guardian angel: and do you think that I can forget your +goodness to me for the last six months? No! Madame,’ rising, ‘I have a +heart, and while I live that heart will ever remember you with gratitude +and love;’ and bending forward he took her hand and kissed it gallantly. + +‘You think too much of what I have done,’ said Madame, who was, +nevertheless, pleased at this display of emotion, albeit, according to +her English ideas, it seemed to savour too much of the footlights. ‘I +only did to you what I would do to all men. I am glad, in this instance, +to find my confidence has not been misplaced; when do you think of +leaving us?’ + +‘In about two or three weeks,’ answered Vandeloup, carelessly, ‘but not +till you find another clerk; besides, Madame, do not think you have +lost sight of me for ever; I will go down to Melbourne, settle all my +affairs, and come up and see you again.’ + +‘So you say,’ replied Mrs Villiers, sceptically smiling. + +‘Well,’ replied M. Vandeloup, with a shrug, ‘we will see--at all +events, gratitude is such a rare virtue that there is decided novelty in +possessing it.’ + +‘M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, suddenly, after they had been chatting for +a few moments, ‘one thing you must do for me in Melbourne.’ + +‘I will do anything you wish,’ said Vandeloup, gravely. + +‘Then,’ said Madame, earnestly, rising and looking him in the face, ‘you +must find Kitty, and send her back to me.’ + +‘Madame,’ said Vandeloup, solemnly, ‘it will be the purpose of my life +to restore her to your arms.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DEVIL’S LEAD + + +There was great dismay at the Pactolus Mine when it became known that +Vandeloup was going to leave. During his short stay he had made himself +extremely popular with the men, as he always had a bright smile and a +kind word for everyone, so they all felt like losing a personal friend. +The only two who were unfeigningly glad at Vandeloup’s departure were +Selina and McIntosh, for these two faithful hearts had seen with dismay +the influence the Frenchman was gradually gaining over Madame Midas. +As long as Villiers lived they felt safe, but now that he had so +mysteriously disappeared, and was to all appearances dead, they dreaded +lest their mistress, in a moment of infatuation, should marry her clerk. +They need not, however, have been afraid, for much as Mrs Villiers liked +the young Frenchman, such an idea had never entered her head, and she +was far too clever a woman ever to tempt matrimony a second time, seeing +how dearly it had cost her. + +Madame Midas had made great efforts to find Kitty, but without success; +and, in spite of all inquiries and advertisements in the papers, nothing +could be discovered regarding the missing girl. + +At last the time drew near for Vandeloup’s departure, when all the +sensation of Kitty’s escapade and Villiers’ disappearance was swallowed +up in a new event, which filled Ballarat with wonder. It began in +a whisper, and grew into such a roar of astonishment that not only +Ballarat, but all Victoria, knew that the far-famed Devil’s Lead +had been discovered in the Pactolus claim. Yes, after years of weary +waiting, after money had been swallowed up in apparently useless work, +after sceptics had sneered and friends laughed, Madame Midas obtained +her reward. The Devil’s Lead was discovered, and she was now a +millionaire. + +For some time past McIntosh had not been satisfied with the character of +the ground in which he had been working, so abandoning the shaft he was +then in, he had opened up another gallery to the west, at right angles +from the place where the famous nugget had been found. The wash was poor +at first, but McIntosh persevered, having an instinct that he was on the +right track. A few weeks’ work proved that he was right, for the wash +soon became richer; and as they went farther on towards the west, +following the gutter, there was no doubt that the long-lost Devil’s Lead +had been struck. The regular return had formerly been five ounces to the +machine, but now the washing up invariably gave twenty ounces, and small +nuggets of water-worn gold were continually found in the three machines. +The main drive following the lead still continued dipping westward, and +McIntosh now commenced blocking and putting in side galleries, expecting +when this was done he would thoroughly prove the Devil’s Lead, for he +was quite satisfied he was on it. Even now the yield was three hundred +and sixty ounces a week, and after deducting working expenses, this gave +Madame Midas a weekly income of one thousand one hundred pounds, so she +now began to see what a wealthy woman she was likely to be. Everyone +unfeigningly rejoiced at her good fortune, and said that she deserved +it. Many thought that now she was so rich Villiers would come back +again, but he did not put in an appearance, and it was generally +concluded he had left the colony. + +Vandeloup congratulated Madame Midas on her luck when he was going away, +and privately determined that he would not lose sight of her, as, being +a wealthy woman, and having a liking for him, she would be of great use. +He took his farewell gracefully, and went away, carrying the good wishes +of all the miners; but McIntosh and Selina, still holding to their +former opinion, were secretly pleased at his departure. Madame Midas +made him a present of a hundred pounds, and, though he refused it, +saying that he had money from France, she asked him as a personal favour +to take it; so M. Vandeloup, always gallant to ladies, could not refuse. +He went in to Ballarat, and put up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, intending +to start for the metropolis next morning; but on his way, in order to +prepare Kitty for his coming, sent a telegram for her, telling her the +train he would arrive by, in order that she might be at the station to +meet him. + +After his dinner he suddenly recollected that he still had the volume +which Dr Gollipeck had lent him, so, calling a cab, he drove to the +residence of that eccentric individual to return it. + +When the servant announced M. Vandeloup, she pushed him in and suddenly +closed the door after her, as though she was afraid of some of the +doctor’s ideas getting away. + +‘Good evening, doctor,’ said Vandeloup, laying the book down on the +table at which Gollipeck was seated; ‘I’ve come to return you this and +say good-bye.’ + +‘Aha, going away?’ asked Gollipeck, leaning back in his chair, and +looked sharply at the young man through his spectacles, ‘right--see the +world--you’re clever--won’t go far wrong--no!’ + +‘It doesn’t matter much if I do,’ replied Vandeloup, shrugging his +shoulders, and taking a chair, ‘nobody will bother much about me.’ + +‘Eh!’ queried the doctor, sharply, sitting up. +‘Paris--friends--relations.’ + +‘My only relation is an aunt with a large family; she’s got quite enough +to do looking after them, without bothering about me,’ retorted M. +Vandeloup; ‘as to friends--I haven’t got one.’ + +‘Oh!’ from Gollipeck, with a cynical smile, ‘I see; let us +say--acquaintances.’ + +‘Won’t make any difference,’ replied Vandeloup, airily; ‘I turned my +acquaintances into friends long ago, and then borrowed money off +them; result: my social circle is nil. Friends,’ went on M. Vandeloup, +reflectively, ‘are excellent as friends, but damnable as bankers.’ + +Gollipeck chuckled, and rubbed his hands, for this cynicism pleased him. +Suddenly his eye caught the book which the young man had returned. + +‘You read this?’ he said, laying his hand on it; ‘good, eh?’ + +‘Very good, indeed,’ returned M. Vandeloup, smoothly; ‘so kind of you to +have lent it to me--all those cases quoted were known to me.’ + +‘The case of Adele Blondet, for instance, eh?’ asked the old man +sharply. + +‘Yes, I was present at the trial,’ replied Vandeloup, quietly; ‘the +prisoner Octave Braulard was convicted, condemned to death, reprieved, +and sent to New Caledonia.’ + +‘Where he now is,’ said Gollipeck, quickly, looking at him. + +‘I presume so,’ replied Vandeloup, lazily. ‘After the trial I never +bothered my head about him.’ + +‘He poisoned his mistress, Adele Blondet,’ said the doctor. + +‘Yes,’ answered Vandeloup, leaning forward and looking at Gollipeck, +‘he found she was in love with an Englishman, and poisoned her--you will +find it all in the book.’ + +‘It does not mention the Englishman,’ said the doctor, thoughtfully +tapping the table with his hand. + +‘Nevertheless he was implicated in it, but went away from Paris the day +Braulard was arrested,’ answered Vandeloup. ‘The police tried to find +him, but could not; if they had, it might have made some difference to +the prisoner.’ + +‘And the name of this Englishman?’ + +‘Let me see,’ said Vandeloup, looking up reflectively; ‘I almost forget +it--Kestroke or Kestrike, some name like that. He must have been a very +clever man to have escaped the French police.’ + +‘Ah, hum!’ said the doctor, rubbing his nose, ‘very interesting indeed; +strange case!’ + +‘Very,’ assented M. Vandeloup, as he arose to go, ‘I must say good-bye +now, doctor; but I am coming up to Ballarat on a visit shortly.’ + +‘Ah, hum! of course,’ replied Gollipeck, also rising, ‘and we can have +another talk over this book.’ + +‘That or any book you like,’ said Vandeloup, with a glance of surprise; +‘but I don’t see why you are so much taken up with that volume; it is +not a work of genius.’ + +‘Well, no,’ answered Gollipeck, looking at him; ‘still, it contains some +excellent cases of modern poisoning.’ + +‘So I saw when I read it,’ returned Vandeloup, indifferently. +‘Good-bye,’ holding out his hand, ‘or rather I should say au revoir.’ + +‘Wine?’ queried the Doctor, hospitably. + +Vandeloup shook his head, and walked out of the room with a gay smile, +humming a tune. He strolled slowly down Lydiard Street, turning over in +his mind what the doctor had said to him. + +‘He is suspicious,’ muttered the young man to himself, thoughtfully, +‘although he has nothing to go on in connecting me with the case. Should +I use the poison here I must be careful, for that man will be my worst +enemy.’ + +He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turning round saw Barty Jarper +before him. That fashionable young man was in evening dress, and +represented such an extent of shirt front and white waistcoat,--not to +mention a tall collar, on the top of which his little head was perched +like a cocoanut on a stick,--that he was positively resplendent. + +‘Where are you going to?’ asked the gorgeous Barty, smoothing his +incipient moustache. + +‘Well, I really don’t know,’ answered Vandeloup, lighting a cigarette. +‘I am leaving for Melbourne to-morrow morning, but to-night I have +nothing to do. You, I see, are engaged,’ with a glance at the evening +dress. + +‘Yes,’ returned Barty, in a bored voice; ‘musical party on,--they want +me to sing.’ + +Vandeloup had heard Barty’s vocal performance, and could not forbear +a smile as he thought of the young man’s three songs with the same +accompaniment to each. Suppressing, however, his inclination to laugh, +he asked Barty to have a drink, which invitation was promptly accepted, +and they walked in search of a hotel. On the way, they passed Slivers’ +house, and here Vandeloup paused. + +‘This was the first house I entered here,’ he said to Barty, ‘and I must +go in and say good-bye to my one-armed friend with the cockatoo.’ + +Mr Jarper, however, drew back. + +‘I don’t like him,’ he said bluntly, ‘he’s an old devil.’ + +‘Oh, it’s always as well to accustom oneself to the society of devils,’ +retorted Vandeloup, coolly, ‘we may have to live with them constantly +some day.’ + +Barty laughed at this, and putting his arm in that of Vandeloup’s, they +went in. + +Slivers’ door stood ajar in its usual hospitable manner, but all within +was dark. + +‘He must be out,’ said Barty, as they stood in the dark passage. + +‘No,’ replied Vandeloup, feeling for a match, ‘someone is talking in the +office.’ + +‘It’s that parrot,’ said Barty, with a laugh, as they heard Billy +rapidly running over his vocabulary; ‘let’s go in.’ + +He pushed open the door, and was about to step into the room, when +catching sight of something on the floor, he recoiled with a cry, and +caught Vandeloup by the arm. + +‘What’s the matter?’ asked the Frenchman, hastily. + +‘He’s dead,’ returned Barty, with a sort of gasp; ‘see, he’s lying on +the floor dead!’ + +And so he was! The oldest inhabitant of Ballarat had joined the great +majority, and, as it was afterwards discovered, his death was caused by +the breaking of a blood-vessel. The cause of it was not clear, but the +fact was, that hearing of the discovery of the Devil’s Lead, and knowing +that it was lost to him for ever, Slivers had fallen into such a fit of +rage, that he burst a blood-vessel and died in his office with no one by +him. + +The light of the street lamp shone through the dusty windows into the +dark room, and in the centre of the yellow splash lay the dead man, +with his one eye wide open, staring at the ceiling, while perched on his +wooden leg, which was sticking straight out, sat the parrot, swearing. +It was a most repulsive sight, and Barty, with a shudder of disgust, +tried to drag his companion away, but M. Vandeloup refused to go, and +searched his pockets for a match to see more clearly what the body was +like. + +‘Pickles,’ cried Billy, from his perch on the dead man’s wooden leg; +‘oh, my precious mother,--devil take him.’ + +‘My faith,’ said M. Vandeloup, striking a match, ‘the devil has taken +him,’ and leaving Barty shivering and trembling at the door, he advanced +into the room and stood looking at the body. Billy at his approach +hopped off the leg and waddled up to the dead man’s shoulder, where +he sat cursing volubly, and every now and then going into shrieks of +demoniacal laughter. Barty closed his ears to the devilish mirth, and +saw M. Vandeloup standing over the corpse, with the faint light of the +match flickering in his hand. + +‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked, turning to Barty. + +The other looked at him inquiringly. + +‘It is the comedy of death,’ said the Frenchman, throwing down the match +and going to the door. + +They both went out to seek assistance, and left the dark room with the +dead man lying in the pool of yellow light, and the parrot perched on +the body, muttering to itself. It was a strange mingling of the horrible +and grotesque, and the whole scene was hit off in the phrase applied to +it by Vandeloup. It was, indeed, ‘The Comedy of Death’! + + + + +PART II + + +CHAPTER I + +TEMPUS FUGIT + + +A whole year had elapsed since the arrival of Vandeloup in Melbourne, +and during that time many things had happened. Unfortunately, in spite +of his knowledge of human nature, and the fact that he started with a +good sum of money, Gaston had not made his fortune. This was due to the +fact that he was indisposed to work when his banking account was at all +decent; so he had lived like a prince on his capital, and trusted to his +luck furnishing him with more when it was done. + +Kitty had joined him in Melbourne as arranged, and Gaston had +established her in a place in Richmond. It was not a regular +boarding-house, but the lady who owned it, Mrs Pulchop by name, was in +the habit of letting apartments on reasonable terms; so Vandeloup had +taken up his abode there with Kitty, who passed as his wife. + +But though he paid her all the deference and respect due to a wife, and +though she wore a marriage ring, yet, as a matter of fact, they were not +married. Kitty had implored her lover to have the ceremony performed as +soon as he joined her; but as the idea was not to M. Vandeloup’s taste, +he had put her off, laughingly at first, then afterwards, when he began +to weary of her, he said he could not marry her for at least a year. The +reason he assigned for this was the convenient one of family affairs; +but, in reality, he foresaw he would get tired of her in that time, +and did not want to tie himself so that he could not leave her when he +wished. At first, the girl had rebelled against this delay, for she was +strongly biased by her religious training, and looked with horror on the +state of wickedness in which she was living. But Gaston laughed at her +scruples, and as time went on, her finer feelings became blunted, and +she accepted the position to which she was reduced in an apathetic +manner. + +Sometimes she had wild thoughts of running away, but she still loved him +too well to do so; and besides, there was no one to whom she could go, +as she well knew her father would refuse to receive her. The anomalous +position which she occupied, however, had an effect on her spirits, and +from being a bright and happy girl, she became irritable and fretful. +She refused to go out anywhere, and when she went into town, either +avoided the principal streets, or wore a heavy veil, so afraid was she +of being recognised by anyone from Ballarat and questioned as to how she +lived. All this was very disagreeable to M. Vandeloup, who had a horror +of being bored, and not finding Kitty’s society pleasant enough, he +gradually ceased to care for her, and was now only watching for an +opportunity to get rid of her without any trouble. He was a member of +the Bachelor’s Club, a society of young men which had a bad reputation +in Melbourne, and finding Kitty was so lachrymose, he took a room at the +Club, and began to stay away four or five days at a time. So Kitty +was left to herself, and grew sad and tearful, as she reflected on the +consequence of her fatal passion for this man. Mrs Pulchop was vastly +indignant at Vandeloup neglecting his wife, for, of course, she never +thought she was anything else to the young man, and did all in her +power to cheer the girl up, which, however, was not much, as Mrs Pulchop +herself was decidedly of a funereal disposition. + +Meanwhile, Gaston was leading a very gay life in Melbourne. His good +looks and clever tongue had made him a lot of friends, and he was very +popular both in drawing-room and club. The men voted him a jolly sort +of fellow and a regular swagger man, while the ladies said that he +was heavenly; for, true to his former tactics, Vandeloup always made +particular friends of women, selecting, of course, those whom he thought +would be likely to be of use to him. Being such a favourite entailed +going out a great deal, and as no one can pose as a man of fashion +without money, M. Vandeloup soon found that his capital was rapidly +melting away. He then went in for gambling, and the members of The +Bachelors, being nearly all rich young men, Gaston’s dexterity at ecarte +and baccarat was very useful to him, and considerably augmented his +income. + +Still, card-playing is a somewhat precarious source from which to derive +an income, so Vandeloup soon found himself pretty hard up, and was at +his wit’s end how to raise money. His gay life cost him a good deal, +and Kitty, of course, was a source of expense, although, poor girl, she +never went anywhere; but there was a secret drain on his purse of which +no one ever dreamed. This was none other than Pierre Lemaire, who, +having spent all the money he got at the Pactolus, came and worried +Vandeloup for more. That astute young man would willingly have refused +him, but, unfortunately, Pierre knew too much of his past life for him +to do so, therefore he had to submit to the dumb man’s extortions with +the best grace he could. So what with Kitty’s changed manner, Pierre +wanting money, and his own lack of coin, M. Vandeloup was in anything +but an enviable position, and began to think it was time his luck--if he +ever had any--should step in. He thought of running up to Ballarat and +seeing Madame Midas, whom he knew would lend him some money, but he had +a certain idea in his head with regard to that lady, so wished to retain +her good opinion, and determined not to apply to her until all other +plans for obtaining money failed. Meanwhile, he went everywhere, was +universally admired and petted, and no one who saw him in society with +his bright smile and nonchalant manner, would have imagined what crafty +schemes there were in that handsome head. + +Madame Midas was still up at Ballarat and occupying the same cottage, +although she was now so wealthy she could have inhabited a palace, had +she been so minded. But prosperity had not spoiled Mrs Villiers. She +still managed her own affairs, and did a great deal of good with her +money,--expending large sums for charitable purposes, because she really +wished to do good, and not, like so many rich people, for the purpose of +advertising herself. + +The Pactolus was now a perfect fortune, and Madame Midas being the sole +owner, her wealth was thought to be enormous, as every month a fresh +deluge of gold rolled into her coffers from the inexhaustible Devil’s +Lead. McIntosh, of course, still managed the mine, and took great pride +in his success, especially after so many people had scoffed at it. + +Various other mines had started in the vicinity, and had been floated on +the Melbourne market, where they kept rising and falling in unison with +the monthly yield of the Pactolus. The Devil’s Lead was rather unequal, +as sometimes the ground would be rich, while another time it would turn +out comparatively poor. People said it was patchy, and some day would +run out altogether, but it did not show any signs of exhaustion, +and even if it had, Madame Midas was now so wealthy that it mattered +comparatively little. When the monthly yield was small, the mines round +about would fall in the share market to a few shillings, but if it was +large, they would rush up again to as many pounds, so that the brokers +managed to do pretty well out of the fluctuations of the stock. + +One thing astonished Madame Midas very much, and that was the continuous +absence of her husband. She did not believe he was dead, and fully +expected to see him turn up some time; but as the months passed on, and +he did not appear, she became uneasy. The idea of his lurking round was +a constant nightmare to her, and at last she placed the matter in the +hands of the police, with instructions to try to ascertain what became +of him. + +The police did everything in their power to discover Villiers’ +whereabouts, but without success. Unfortunately, Slivers, who might have +helped them, being so well acquainted with the missing man’s habits, was +dead; and, after trying for about three months to find some traces +of Villiers, the police gave up the search in despair. Madame Midas, +therefore, came to the conclusion that he was either dead or had left +the colony, and though half doubtful, yet hoped that she had now seen +the last of him. + +She had invested her money largely in land, and thus being above the +reach of poverty for the rest of her life, she determined to take up +her abode in Melbourne for a few months, prior to going to England on a +visit. With this resolution, she gave up her cottage to Archie, who was +to live in it, and still manage the mine, and made preparations to come +down to Melbourne with Selina Sprotts. + +Vandeloup heard of this resolution, and secretly rejoiced at it, for he +thought that seeing she liked him so much, now that her husband was to +all appearances dead, she might marry him, and it was to this end he had +kept up his acquaintance with her. He never thought of the girl he had +betrayed, pining away in a dull lodging. No, M. Vandeloup, untroubled by +the voice of conscience, serenely waited the coming of Madame Midas, and +determined, if he could possibly arrange it, to marry her. He was the +spider, and Madame Midas the fly; but as the spider knew the fly he had +to inveigle into his web was a very crafty one, he determined to act +with great caution; so, having ascertained when Madame Midas would be in +Melbourne, he awaited her arrival before doing anything, and trusted in +some way to get rid of Kitty before she came. It was a difficult game, +for M. Vandeloup knew that should Kitty find out his intention she would +at once go to Mrs Villiers, and then Madame would discover his baseness +in ruining the girl. M. Vandeloup, however, surveyed the whole situation +calmly, and was not ill-pleased at the position of affairs. Life was +beginning to bore him in Melbourne, and he wanted to be amused. Here was +a comedy worthy of Moliere--a jealous woman, a rich lady, and a handsome +man. + +‘My faith,’ said M. Vandeloup, smiling to himself as he thought of the +situation, ‘it’s a capital comedy, certainly; but I must take care it +doesn’t end as a tragedy.’ + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DISENCHANTMENT + + +It is said that ‘creaking doors hang the longest,’ and Mrs Pulchop, of +Carthage Cottage, Richmond, was an excellent illustration of the truth +of this saying. Thin, pale, with light bleached-looking hair, +and eyebrows and eyelashes to match, she looked so shadowy and +unsubstantial, than an impression was conveyed to the onlooker that +a breath might blow her away. She was often heard to declare, when +anything extra-ordinary happened, that one might ‘knock her down with +a feather’, which, as a matter of fact, was by no means a stretch of +fancy, provided the feather was a strong one and Mrs Pulchop was taken +unawares. She was continually alluding to her ‘constitootion’, as if +she had an interest in politics, but in reality she was referring to her +state of health, which was invariably bad. According to her own showing, +there was not a single disease under the sun with which she had not been +afflicted, and she could have written a whole book on the subject of +medicine, and put herself in, in every instance, as an illustrative +case. + +Mr Pulchop had long since departed this life, being considerably +assisted in his exit from this wicked world by the quantity of +patent medicines his wife compelled him to take to cure him, which +unfortunately, however, had the opposite effect. + +Mrs Pulchop said he had been a handsome man, but according to the +portrait she had of him he resembled a bull-dog more than anything else +in nature. The young Pulchops, of which there were two, both of the +female sex, took after their father in appearance and their mother in +temperament, and from the time they could talk and crawl knew as much +about drops, poultices, bandages, and draughts as many a hospital nurse +of mature age. + +One day Vandeloup sent a telegram to Kitty saying he would be home to +dinner, and as he always required something extra in the way of cooking, +Kitty went to interview Mrs Pulchop on the subject. She found that +lady wrapped up in a heavy shawl, turning herself into a tea-kettle by +drinking hot water, the idea being, as she assured Kitty, to rouse up +her liver. Miss Topsy Pulchop was tying a bandage round her face, as she +felt a toothache coming on, while Miss Anna Pulchop was unfortunately +quite well, and her occupation being gone, was seated disconsolately at +the window trying to imagine she felt pains in her back. + +‘Ah!’ groaned Mrs Pulchop, in a squeaky voice, sipping her hot +water; ‘you don’t know, my dear, what it is to be aworrited by your +liver--tortures and inquisitions ain’t in it, my love.’ + +Kitty said she was very sorry, and asked her if nothing would relieve +her sufferings, but Mrs Pulchop shook her head triumphantly. + +‘My sweet young thing,’ said the patient, with great gusto, ‘I’ve tried +everything under the sun to make it right, but they ain’t no good; +it’s always expanding and a contracting of itself unbeknown to me, and +throwing the bile into the stomach, which ain’t its proper place.’ + +‘It does sound rather nasty,’ assented Kitty; ‘and Topsy seems to be +ill, too.’ + +‘Toothache,’ growled Topsy, who had a deep, bass voice, and being +modelled on the canine lines of her late lamented father, the growl +suited her admirably. ‘I had two out last week, and now this one’s +started.’ + +‘Try a roasted fig, Topsy dear,’ suggested her mother, who, now, having +finished her hot water, looked longingly at the kettle for more. + +‘Toothache,’ growled Topsy, in reply, ‘not gumboil;’ the remedy +suggested by Mrs Pulchop being for the latter of these ills. + +‘You are quite well, at any rate,’ said Kitty to Anna, cheerfully. + +Anna, however, declined to be considered in good health. ‘I fancy my +back is going to ache,’ she said, darkly placing her hand in the small +of it. ‘I’ll have to put a linseed poultice on it tonight, to draw the +cold out.’ + +Then she groaned dismally, and her mother and sister, hearing the +familiar sound, also groaned, so there was quite a chorus, and Kitty +felt inclined to groan also, out of sympathy. + +‘M. Vandeloup is coming to dinner tonight,’ she said, timidly, to Mrs +Pulchop. + +‘And a wonder it is, my sweet angel,’ said that lady, indignantly, +rising and glancing at the pretty girl, now so pale and sad-looking, +‘it’s once in a blue moon as he comes ‘ome, a--leaving you to mope at +home like a broken-hearted kitten in a coal box. Ah, if he only had a +liver, that would teach him manners.’ + +Groans of assent from the Misses Pulchops, who both had livers and were +always fighting with them. + +‘And what, my neglected cherub,’ asked Mrs Pulchop, going to a +looking-glass which always hung in the kitchen, for the three to examine +their tongues in, ‘what shall I give you for dinner?’ + +Kitty suggested a fowl, macaroni cheese, and fruit for dessert, which +bill of fare had such an effect on the family that they all groaned in +unison. + +‘Macaroni cheese,’ growled Topsy, speaking from the very depth of the +cork soles she wore to keep her feet dry; ‘there’s nothing more bilious. +I couldn’t look at it.’ + +‘Ah,’ observed Mrs Pulchop, ‘you’re only a weak gal, and men is that +obstinate they’d swaller bricks like ostriges sooner nor give in as it +hurt ‘em. You shall ‘ave a nice dinner, Mrs Vanloops, tho’ I can’t deny +but what it ull be bilious.’ + +Thus warned, Kitty retired into her own room and made herself nice for +Gaston to look on when he came. + +Poor thing, it was so rarely now that he came home to dinner, that a +visit from him was regarded by her in the light of a treat. She dressed +herself in a pretty white dress and tied a blue sash round her waist, +so that she might look the same to him as when he first saw her. But +her face was now worn and white, and as she looked at her pallor in the +glass she wished she had some rouge to bring a touch of colour to her +cheeks. She tried to smile in her own merry way at the wan reflection +she beheld, but the effort was a failure, and she burst into tears. + +At six o’clock everything was ready for dinner, and having seen that all +was in good order, Kitty walked outside to watch for Gaston. + +There was a faint, warm, light outside, and the sky was of a pale +opaline tint, while the breeze blowing across the garden brought the +perfume of the flowers to her, putting Kitty in mind of Mrs Villiers’ +garden at Ballarat. Oh, those innocent days! would they never come +again? Alas! she knew that they would not--the subtle feeling of youth +had left her for ever; and this girl, leaning up against the house with +her golden head resting on her arm, knew that the change had come over +her which turns all from youth to age. + +Suddenly she heard the rattle of wheels, and rousing herself from her +reverie, she saw a hansom cab at the gate, and M. Vandeloup standing on +the pavement paying the driver. She also heard her lover tell the cabman +to call for him at eight o’clock, and her heart sank within her as she +thought that he would be gone again in two hours. The cab drove off, +and she stood cold and silent on the verandah waiting for Gaston, +who sauntered slowly up the walk with one hand in the pocket of his +trousers. He was in evening dress, and the night being warm he did not +wear an overcoat, so looked tall and slim in his dark clothes as he came +up the path swinging his cane gaily to and fro. + +‘Well, Bebe,’ he said, brightly, as he bent down and kissed her, ‘here I +am, you see; I hope you’ve got a nice dinner for me?’ + +‘Oh, yes,’ answered Kitty, trying to smile, and walking before him into +the house; ‘I told Mrs Pulchop, and she has made special preparations.’ + +‘How is that walking hospital?’ asked Vandeloup, carelessly taking off +his hat; ‘I suppose she is ill as usual.’ + +‘So she says,’ replied Kitty, with a laugh, as he put his arm in hers +and walked into the room; ‘she is always ill.’ + +‘Why, Bebe, how charming you look tonight,’ said Vandeloup, holding her +at arm’s length; ‘quite like your old self.’ + +And indeed she looked very pretty, for the excitement of seeing him had +brightened her eyes and flushed her cheeks, and standing in the warm +light of the lamp, with her golden hair floating round her head, she +looked like a lovely picture. + +‘You are not going away very soon?’ she whispered to Gaston, coming +close to him, and putting her hand on his shoulder; ‘I see so little of +you now.’ + +‘My dear child, I can’t help it,’ he said, carelessly removing her hand +and walking over to the dinner table; ‘I have an engagement in town +tonight.’ + +‘Ah, you no longer care for me,’ said Kitty, with a stifled sob. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘If you are going to make a scene,’ he said, coldly, ‘please postpone +it. I don’t want my appetite taken away; would you kindly see if the +dinner is ready?’ + +Kitty dried her eyes and rang the bell, upon which Mrs Pulchop glided +into the room, still wrapped in her heavy shawl. + +‘It ain’t quite ready yet, sir,’ she said, in answer to Gaston’s +question; ‘Topsy ‘aving been bad with the toothache, which you can’t +expect people to cook dinners as is ill!’ + +‘Why don’t you send her to the hospital?’ said Vandeloup, with a yawn, +looking at his watch. + +‘Never,’ retorted Mrs Pulchop, in a decisively shrill voice; ‘their +medicines ain’t pure, and they leaves you at the mercy of doctors to be +practised on like a pianer. Topsy may go to the cemetery like her poor +dear father, but never to an inquisition of a hospital;’ and with this +Mrs Pulchop faded out of the room, for her peculiar mode of egress could +hardly be called walking out. + +At last dinner made its appearance, and Kitty recovering her spirits, +they had a very pleasant meal together, and then Gaston sat over his +coffee with a cigarette, talking to Kitty. + +He never was without a cigarette in his mouth, and his fingers were +all stained a yellowish brown by the nicotine. Kitty lay back in a big +arm-chair listening to his idle talk and admiring him as he sat at the +dinner table. + +‘Can’t you stay tonight?’ she said, looking imploringly at him. + +Vandeloup shook his head gently. + +‘I have an engagement, as I told you before,’ he said, lazily; ‘besides, +evenings at home are so dreary.’ + +‘I will be here,’ said Kitty, reproachfully. + +‘That will, of course, make a difference,’ answered Gaston, with a faint +sneer; ‘but you know,’ shrugging his shoulders, ‘I do not cultivate the +domestic virtues.’ + +‘What will you do when we are married?’ said Kitty, with an uneasy +laugh. + +‘Enough for the day is the evil thereof,’ replied M. Vandeloup, with a +gay smile. + +‘What do you mean?’ asked the girl, with a sudden start. + +Vandeloup arose from his seat, and lighting another cigarette he lounged +over to the fireplace, and leaned against the mantelpiece with his hands +in his pockets. + +‘I mean that when we are married it will be time enough to talk about +such things,’ he answered, looking at her through his eyelashes. + +‘Then we will talk about them very shortly,’ said Kitty, with an angry +laugh, as her hands clenched the arms of the chair tightly; ‘for the +year is nearly up, and you promised to marry me at the end of it.’ + +‘How many things do we intend to do that are never carried out?’ said +Gaston, gently. ‘Do you mean that you will break your promise?’ she +asked, with a scared face. + +Vandeloup removed the cigarette from his mouth, and, leaning one elbow +on the mantelpiece, looked at her with a smile. + +‘My dear,’ he said, quietly, ‘things are not going well with me at +present, and I want money badly.’ + +‘Well?’ asked Kitty in a whisper, her heart beating loudly. + +‘You are not rich,’ said her lover, ‘so why should we two paupers get +married, only to plunge ourselves into misery?’ + +‘Then you refuse to marry me?’ she said, rising to her feet. + +He bowed his head gently. + +‘At present, yes,’ he answered, and replaced the cigarette between his +lips. + +Kitty stood for a moment as if turned to stone, and then throwing up +her hands with a gesture of despair, fell back into the chair, and burst +into a flood of tears. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders in a resigned +sort of manner, and glanced at his watch to see when it would be time +for him to go. Meanwhile he smoked quietly on, and Kitty, after sobbing +for some time, dried her eyes, and sat up in the chair again. + +‘How long is this going to last?’ she asked, in a hard voice. + +‘Till I get rich!’ + +‘That may be a long time?’ + +‘It may.’ + +‘Perhaps never?’ + +‘Perhaps!’ + +‘And then I will never be your wife?’ + +‘Unfortunately, no.’ + +‘You coward!’ burst forth Kitty, rising from her seat, and crossing over +to him; ‘you made me leave my home with your false promises, and now you +refuse to make me the only reparation that is in your power.’ + +‘Circumstances are against any virtuous intentions I may entertain,’ +retorted Vandeloup, coolly. + +Kitty looked at him for a moment, then ran over to a desk near the +window, and took from thence a small bottle of white glass with two +red bands round it. She let the lid of the desk fall with a bang, then +crossed to Vandeloup, holding the bottle up before him. + +‘Do you know what this is?’ she asked, in a harsh voice. + +‘The poison I made in Ballarat,’ he answered, coolly, blowing a wreath +of smoke; ‘how did you get hold of it?’ + +‘I found it in your private desk,’ she said, coldly. + +‘That was wrong, my dear,’ he answered, gently, ‘you should never betray +confidences--I left the desk in your charge, and it should have been +sacred to you.’ + +‘Out of your own mouth are you condemned,’ said the girl, quickly; ‘you +have betrayed my confidence and ruined me, so if you do not fix a day +for our marriage, I swear I will drink this and die at your feet.’ + +‘How melodramatic you are, Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, coolly; ‘you put me in +mind of Croisette in “Le Sphinx”.’ + +‘You don’t believe I will do it.’ + +‘No! I do not.’ + +‘Then see.’ She took the stopper out of the bottle and held it to her +lips. Vandeloup did not stir, but, still smoking, stood looking at her +with a smile. His utter callousness was too much for her, and replacing +the stopper again, she slipped the bottle into her pocket and let her +hands fall idly by her side. + +‘I thought you would not do it,’ replied Gaston, smoothly, looking at +his watch; ‘you must really excuse me, I hear the cab wheels outside.’ + +Kitty, however, placed herself in front of him as he moved towards the +door. + +‘Listen to me,’ she said, in a harsh voice, with white face and flaming +eyes; ‘to-night I leave this house for ever.’ + +He bowed his head. + +‘As it pleases you,’ he replied, simply. + +‘My God!’ she cried, ‘have you no love for me now?’ + +‘No,’ he answered, coldly and brutally, ‘I am tired of you.’ + +She fell on her knees and clutched his hand. + +‘Dear Gaston! dear Gaston!’ she cried, covering it with kisses, ‘think +how young I am, how my life is ruined, and by you. I gave up everything +for your sake--home, father, and friends--you will not cast me off +like this after all I have sacrificed for you? Oh, for God’s sake, +speak--speak!’ + +‘My dear,’ said Vandeloup, gravely, looking down at the kneeling figure +with the streaming eyes and clenched hands, ‘as long as you choose to +stay here I will be your friend--I cannot afford to marry you, but +while you are with me our lives will be as they have been; good-bye +at present,’ touching her forehead coldly with his lips, ‘I will call +to-morrow afternoon to see how you are, and I trust this will be the +last of such scenes.’ + +He drew his hand away from hers, and she sat on the floor dull and +silent, with her eyes fixed on the ground and an aching in her heart. +Vandeloup went into the hall, put on his hat, then lighting another +cigarette and taking his stick, walked gaily out of the house, humming +an air from ‘La Belle Helene’. The cab was waiting for him at the door, +and telling the man to drive to the Bachelors’ Club, he entered the +cab and rattled away down the street without a thought for the +broken-hearted woman he left behind. + +Kitty sat on the floor with her folded hands lying carelessly on her lap +and her eyes staring idly at the carpet. This, then, was the end of all +her hopes and joys--she was cast aside carelessly by this man now that +he wearied of her. Love’s young dream had been sweet indeed; but, ah! +how bitter was the awakening. Her castles in the air had all melted into +clouds, and here in the very flower of her youth she felt that her life +was ruined, and she was as one wandering in a sterile waste, with a +black and starless sky overhead. She clasped her hands with a sensation +of pain, and a rose at her breast fell down withered and dead. She took +it up with listless fingers, and with the quiver of her hand the leaves +fell off and were scattered over her white dress in a pink shower. It +was an allegory of her life, she thought. Once it had been as fresh and +full of fragrance as this dead rose; then it had withered, and now she +saw all her hopes and beliefs falling off one by one like the faded +petals. Ah, there is no despair like that of youth; and Kitty, sitting +on the floor with hot dry eyes and a pain in her heart, felt that the +sun of her life had set for ever. + +** + +So still the night was. No moon as yet, but an innumerable blaze of +stars set like diamonds in the dark blue sky. A smoky yellowish haze +hung over the city, but down in the garden amid the flowers all was cool +and fragrant. The house was quite dark, and a tall mulberry tree on one +side of it was black against the clear sky. Suddenly the door opened, +and a figure came out and closed the door softly after it. Down the +path it came, and standing in the middle of the garden, raised a white +tear-stained face to the dark sky. A dog barked in the distance, and +then a fresh cold breeze came sweeping through the trees and stirring +the still perfumes of the flowers. The figure threw its hands out +towards the house with a gesture of despair, then gliding down the path +it went out of the gate and stole quietly down the lonely street. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +M. VANDELOUP HEARS SOMETHING TO HIS ADVANTAGE + + +As he drove rapidly into town Gaston’s thoughts were anything but +pleasant. Not that he was thinking about Kitty, for he regarded the +scene he had with her as merely an outburst of hysterical passion, and +did not dream she would take any serious step. He forgot all about her +when he left the house, and, lying back in the cab smoking one of his +everlasting cigarettes, pondered about his position. The fact was he +was very hard up for money, and did not know where to turn for more. His +luck at cards was so great that even the Bachelors, used as they were +to losing large sums, began to murmur among themselves that M. Vandeloup +was too clever, and as that young gentleman by no means desired to lose +his popularity he stopped playing cards altogether, and so effectually +silenced everyone. So this mode of making money was gone, and until +Madame Midas arrived in town Vandeloup did not see how he was going +to keep on living in his former style. But as he never denied himself +anything while he had the money, he ordered the cabman to drive to +Paton’s, the florist in Swanston Street, and there purchased a dainty +bunch of flowers for his button hole. From thence he drove to his club, +and there found a number of young fellows, including Mr Barty Jarper, +all going to the Princess Theatre to see ‘The Mikado’. Barty rushed +forward when Vandeloup appeared and noisily insisted he should come +with them. The men had been dining, and were exhilarated with wine, so +Vandeloup, not caring to appear at the theatre with such a noisy +lot, excused himself. Barty and his friends, therefore, went off by +themselves, and left Vandeloup alone. He picked up the evening paper +and glanced over it with a yawn, when a name caught his eye which he had +frequently noticed before. + +‘I say,’ he said to a tall, fair young fellow who had just entered, ‘who +is this Meddlechip the paper is full of?’ + +‘Don’t you know?’ said the other, in surprise; ‘he’s one of our richest +men, and very generous with his money.’ + +‘Oh, I see! buys popularity,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly; ‘how is it I’ve +never met him?’ + +‘He’s been to China or Chile--or--something commencing with a C,’ +returned the young man, vaguely; ‘he only came back to Melbourne last +week; you are sure to meet him sooner or later.’ + +‘Thanks, I’m not very anxious,’ replied Vandeloup, with a yawn; ‘money +in my eyes does not compensate for being bored; where are you going +to-night?’ + +‘“Mikado”,’ answered the other, whose name was Bellthorp; ‘Jarper asked +me to go up there; he’s got a box.’ + +‘How does he manage to pay for all these things?’ asked Vandeloup, +rising; ‘he’s only in a bank, and does not get much money.’ + +‘My dear fellow,’ said Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of +Vandeloup’s, ‘wherever he gets it, he always has it, so as long as he +pays his way it’s none of our business; come and have a drink.’ + +Vandeloup assented with a laugh, and they went to the bar. + +‘I’ve got a cab at the door,’ he said to Bellthorp, after they had +finished their drinks, and were going downstairs; ‘come with me, and +I’ll go up to the Princess also; Jarper asked me and I refused, but men +as well as women are entitled to change their minds.’ + +They got into the cab and drove up Collins Street to the Princess +Theatre. After dismissing the cab, they went up stairs and found +the first act was just over, and the bar was filled with a crowd of +gentlemen, among whom Barty and his friends were conspicuous. On the one +side the doors opened on to the wide stone balcony, where a number of +ladies were seated, and on the other balcony a lot of men were smoking. +Leaving Bellthorp with Jarper, Vandeloup ordered a brandy and soda and +went out on the balcony to smoke. + +The bell rang to indicate the curtain was going to rise on the second +act, and the bar and balconies gradually emptied themselves into the +theatre. M. Vandeloup, however, still sat smoking, and occasionally +drinking his brandy and soda, while he thought over his difficulties, +and wondered how he could get out of them. It was a wonderfully hot +night, and not even the dark blue of the moonless sky, studded with +stars, could give any sensation of coolness. Round the balcony were +several windows belonging to the dressing-rooms of the theatre, and the +lights within shone through the vivid red of the blinds with which they +were covered. The door leading into the bar was wide open, and within +everything seemed hot, even under the cool, white glare of the electric +lights, which shone in large oval-shaped globes hanging from the brass +supports in clusters like those grapes known as ladies’ fingers. In +front stretched the high balustrade of the balcony, and as Vandeloup +leaned back in his chair he could see the white blaze of the electric +lights rising above this, and then the luminous darkness of the summer’s +night. Beyond a cluster of trees, with a path, lit by gas lamps, going +through it, the lights of which shone like dull yellow stars. On the +right arose the great block of Parliament-buildings, with the confused +mass of the scaffolding, standing up black and dense against the sky. A +pleasant murmur arose from the crowded pavement below, and through the +incessant rattle of cabs and sharp, clear cries of the street boys, +Gaston could hear the shrill tones of a violin playing the dreamy melody +of the ‘One Summer’s Night in Munich’ valse, about which all Melbourne +was then raving. + +He was so occupied with his own thoughts that he did not notice two +gentlemen who came in from the bar, and taking seats a little distant +from him, ordered drinks from the waiter who came to attend to them. +They were both in evening dress, and had apparently left the opera in +order to talk business, for they kept conversing eagerly, and their +voices striking on Vandeloup’s ear he glanced round at them and then +relapsed into his former inattentive position. Now, however, though +apparently absorbed in his own thoughts, he was listening to every word +they said, for he had caught the name of The Magpie Reef, a quartz mine, +which had lately been floated on the market, the shares of which had +run up to a pound, and then, as bad reports were circulated about +it, dropped suddenly to four shillings. Vandeloup recognised one +as Barraclough, a well-known stockbroker, but the other was a dark, +wiry-looking man of medium height, whom he had never seen before. + +‘I tell you it’s a good thing,’ said Barraclough, vehemently laying his +hand on the table; ‘Tollerby is the manager, and knows everything about +it.’ + +‘Gad, he ought to,’ retorted the other with a laugh, ‘if he’s the +manager; but I don’t believe in it, dear boy, I never did; it started +with a big splash, and was going to be a second Long Tunnel according to +the prospectus; now the shares are only four shillings--pshaw!’ + +‘Yes, but you forget the shares ran up to a pound,’ replied Barraclough, +quickly; ‘and now they are so cheap we can snap them up all over the +market, and then--’ + +‘Well?’ asked the other, with interest. + +‘They will run up, old fellow--see?’ and the Broker rubbed his hands +gleefully. + +‘How are you going to get up a “Boom” on them?’ asked the wiry man, +sceptically; ‘the public won’t buy blindly, they must see something.’ + +‘And so they shall,’ said Barraclough, eagerly; ‘Tollerby is sending +down some of the stone.’ + +‘From the Magpie Reef?’ asked the other, suspiciously. + +‘Of course,’ retorted the Broker, indignantly; ‘you did not think it +was salted, did you? There is gold in the reef, but it is patchy. See,’ +pulling out a pocket-book, ‘I got this telegram from Tollerby at four +o’clock to-day;’ he took a telegram from the pocket-book and handed it +to his companion. + +‘Struck it rich--evidently pocket--thirty ounces to machine,’ read +the other slowly; ‘gad! that looks well, why don’t you put it in the +papers?’ + +‘Because I don’t hold enough shares,’ replied the other, impatiently; +‘don’t you understand? To-morrow I go on ‘Change and buy up all the +shares at four shillings I can lay my hands on, then at the end of the +week the samples of stone--very rich--come down. I publish this telegram +from the manager, and the “Boom” starts.’ + +‘How high do you think the shares will go?’ asked the wiry man, +thoughtfully. + +Barraclough shrugged his shoulders, and replaced the telegram in his +pocket-book. + +‘Two or three pounds, perhaps more,’ he replied, rising. ‘At all events, +it’s a good thing, and if you go in with me, we’ll clear a good few +thousand out of it.’ + +‘Come and see me to-morrow morning,’ said the wiry man, also rising. ‘I +think I’ll stand in.’ + +Barraclough rubbed his hands gleefully, and then slipping his arm +in that of his companion they left the balcony and went back to the +theatre. + +Vandeloup felt every nerve in his body tingling. Here was a chance to +make money. If he only had a few hundreds he could buy up all the Magpie +shares he could get and reap the benefit of the rise. Five hundred +pounds! If he could obtain that sum he could buy two thousand five +hundred shares, and if they went to three pounds, he could clear nearly +eight thousand. What an idea! It was ripe fruit tumbling off the tree +without the trouble of plucking it. But five hundred pounds! He had not +as many pence, and he did not know where to get it. If he could only +borrow it from someone--but then he could offer no security. A sense of +his own helplessness came on him as he saw this golden tide flowing +past his door, and yet was unable to take advantage of it. Five hundred +pounds! The sum kept buzzing in his head like a swarm of bees, and he +threw himself down again in his chair to try and think where he could +get it. + +A noise disturbed him, and he saw that the opera was over, and a crowd +of gentlemen were thronging into the bar. Jarper was among them, and he +thought he would speak to him on the subject. Yes, Barty was a clever +little fellow, and seemed always able to get money. Perhaps he would +be able to assist him. He stepped out of the balcony into the light and +touched Barty on the shoulder as he stood amid his friends. + +‘Hullo! it’s you!’ cried Barty, turning round. ‘Where have you been, old +chap?’ + +‘Out on the balcony,’ answered Vandeloup, curtly. + +‘Come and have supper with us,’ said Barty, hospitably. ‘We are going to +have some at Leslie’s.’ + +‘Yes, do come,’ urged Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of Vandeloup’s; +‘we’ll have no end of fun.’ + +Vandeloup was just going to accept, as he thought on the way he could +speak privately to Barty about this scheme he had, when he saw a stout +gentleman at the end of the room taking a cup of coffee at the counter, +and talking to another gentleman who was very tall and thin. The figure +of the stout gentleman seemed familiar to Vandeloup, and at this moment +he turned slowly round and looked down the room. Gaston gave a start +when he saw his face, and then smiled in a gratified manner to himself. + +‘Who is that gentleman with the coffee?’ he asked Barty. + +‘Those stout and lean kine,’ said Barty, airily, ‘puts one in mind of +Pharaoh’s dream, doesn’t it?’ + +‘Yes, yes!’ retorted Gaston, impatiently; ‘but who are they?’ + +‘The long one is Fell, the railway contractor,’ said Barty, glancing +with some surprise at Vandeloup, ‘and the other is old Meddlechip, the +millionaire.’ + +‘Meddlechip,’ echoed Vandeloup, as if to himself; ‘my faith!’ + +‘Yes,’ broke in Bellthorp, quickly; ‘the one we were speaking of at the +club--do you know him?’ + +‘I fancy I do,’ said Vandeloup, with a strange smile. ‘You must excuse +me to your supper to-night.’ + +‘No, we won’t,’ said Barty, firmly; ‘you must come.’ + +‘Then I’ll look in later,’ said Vandeloup, who had not the slightest +intention of going. ‘Will that do?’ + +‘I suppose it will have to,’ said Bellthorp, in an injured tone; ‘but +why can’t you come now?’ + +‘I’ve got to see about some business,’ said Vandeloup. + +‘What, at this hour of the night?’ cried Jarper, in a voice of disgust. + +Vandeloup nodded, and lit a cigarette. + +‘Well, mind you come in later,’ said Barty, and then he and his friends +left the bar, after making Vandeloup promise faithfully he would come. + +Gaston sauntered slowly up to the coffee bar, and asked for a cup in +his usual musical voice, but when the stout gentleman heard him speak he +turned pale and looked up. The thin one had gone off to talk to someone +else, so when Vandeloup got his coffee he turned slowly round and looked +straight at Meddlechip seated in the chair. + +‘Good evening, M. Kestrike,’ he said, quietly. + +Meddlechip, whose face was usually red and florid-looking, turned +ghastly pale, and sprang to his feet. + +‘Octave Braulard!’ he gasped, placing his coffee cup on the counter. + +‘At your service,’ said Vandeloup, looking rapidly round to see that no +one overheard the name, ‘but here I am Gaston Vandeloup.’ + +Meddlechip passed his handkerchief over his face and moistened his dry +lips with his tongue. + +‘How did you get here?’ he asked, in a strangled voice. + +‘It’s a long story,’ said M. Vandeloup, putting his coffee cup down and +wiping his lips with his handkerchief; ‘suppose we go and have supper +somewhere, and I’ll tell you all about it.’ + +‘I don’t want any supper,’ said Meddlechip, sullenly, his face having +regained its normal colour. ‘Possibly not, but I do,’ replied Vandeloup, +sweetly, taking his arm; ‘come, let us go.’ + +Meddlechip did not resist, but walked passively out of the bar with +Vandeloup, much to the astonishment of the thin gentleman, who called +out to him but without getting any answer. + +Meddlechip went to the cloak room and put on his coat and hat. Then +he followed Vandeloup down the stairs and paused at the door while the +Frenchman hailed a hansom. When it drove up, however, he stopped short +at the edge of the pavement. + +‘I won’t go,’ he said, determinedly. + +Vandeloup looked at him with a peculiar gleam in his dark eyes, and +bowed. + +‘Let me persuade you, Monsieur,’ he said, blandly, holding the door of +the cab open. + +Meddlechip glanced at him, and then, with a sigh of resignation, entered +the cab, followed by Vandeloup. + +‘Where to, sir?’ asked the cabman, through the trap. + +‘To Leslie’s Supper Rooms,’ replied the Frenchman, and the cab drove +off. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CASE OF ADELE BLONDET + + +Leslie’s Supper Rooms in Bourke Street East were very well known--that +is, among a certain class. Religious people and steady businessmen knew +nothing about such a place except by reputation, and looked upon it, +with horror, as a haunt of vice and dissipation. + +Though Leslie’s, in common with other places had to close at a certain +hour, yet when the shutters were up, the door closed, and the lights +extinguished in the front of the house, there was plenty of life and +bustle going on at the back, where there were charmingly furnished +little rooms for supper parties. Barty Jarper had engaged one of these +apartments, and with about a dozen young men was having a good time of +it when Vandeloup and Meddlechip drove up. After dismissing the cab and +looking up and down the street to see that no policeman was in +sight, Vandeloup knocked at the door in a peculiar manner, and it was +immediately opened in a stealthy kind of way. Gaston gave his name, +whereupon they were allowed to enter, and the door was closed after +them in the same quiet manner, all of which was very distasteful to Mr +Meddlechip, who, being a public man and a prominent citizen, felt that +he was breaking the laws he had assisted to make. He looked round in +some disgust at the crowds of waiters, and at the glimpses he caught +every now and then of gentlemen in evening dress, and what annoyed him +more than anything else--ladies in bright array. Oh! a dissipated place +was Leslie’s, and even in the daytime had a rakish-looking appearance as +if it had been up all night and knew a thing or two. Mr Meddlechip would +have retreated from this den of iniquity if he could, but as he wanted +to have a thorough explanation with Vandeloup, he meekly followed the +Frenchman through a well-lighted passage, with statues on either side +holding lamps, to a little room beautifully furnished, wherein a supper +table was laid out. Here the waiter who conducted them took their hats +and Meddlechip’s coat and hung them up, then waited respectfully for +M. Vandeloup to give his orders. A portly looking waiter he was, with +a white waistcoat, a white shirt, which bulged out in a most obtrusive +manner, and a large white cravat, which was tied round an equally large +white collar. When he walked he rolled along like a white-crested wave, +and with his napkin under his arm, the heel of one foot in the hollow of +the other, and his large red face, surmounted by a few straggling tufts +of black hair, he was truly wonderful to behold. + +This magnificent creature, who answered to the name of Gurchy, received +Vandeloup’s orders with a majestic bend of his head, then rolling up +to Mr Meddlechip, he presented the bill of fare to that gentleman, who, +however, refused it. + +‘I don’t want any supper,’ he said, curtly. + +Gurchy, though a waiter, was human, and looked astonished, while +Vandeloup remonstrated in a suave manner. + +‘But, my dear sir,’ he said, leaning back in his chair, ‘you must have +something to eat. I assure you,’ with a significant smile, ‘you will +need it.’ + +Meddlechip’s lips twitched a little as the Frenchman spoke, then, with +an uneasy laugh, he ordered something, and drew his chair up to the +table. + +‘And, waiter,’ said Vandeloup, softly, as Gurchy was rolling out of the +door, ‘bring some wine, will you? Pommery, I think, is best,’ he added, +turning to Meddlechip. + +‘What you like,’ returned that gentleman, impatiently, ‘I don’t care.’ + +‘That’s a great mistake,’ replied Gaston, coolly; ‘bad wine plays the +deuce with one’s digestion--two bottles of Pommery, waiter.’ + +Gurchy nodded, that is to say his head disappeared for a moment in the +foam of his collar, then re-appeared again as he slowly rolled out of +the door and vanished. + +‘Now, then, sir,’ said Meddlechip, sharply, rising from his seat and +closing the door, ‘what did you bring me here for?’ + +M. Vandeloup raised his eyebrows in surprise. + +‘How energetic you are, my dear Kestrike,’ he said, smoothly, lying down +on the sofa, and contemplating his shoes with great satisfaction; ‘just +the same noisy, jolly fellow as of yore.’ + +‘Damn you!’ said the other, fiercely, at which Gaston laughed. + +‘You had better leave that to God,’ he answered, mockingly; ‘he +understands more about it than you do.’ + +‘Oh, I know you of old,’ said Meddlechip, walking up and down excitedly; +‘I know you of old, with your sneers and your coolness, but it won’t do +here,’ stopping opposite the sofa, and glaring down at Vandeloup; ‘it +won’t do here!’ + +‘So you’ve said twice,’ replied M. Vandeloup, with a yawn. ‘How do you +want me to conduct myself? Do tell me; I am always open to improvement.’ + +‘You must leave Australia,’ said Meddlechip, sharply, and breathing +hard. + +‘If I refuse?’ asked M. Vandeloup, lazily, smiling to himself. + +‘I will denounce you as a convict escaped from New Caledonia!’ hissed +the other, putting his hands in his pockets, and bending forward. + +‘Indeed,’ said Gaston, with a charming smile, ‘I don’t think you will go +so far as that, my friend.’ + +‘I swear,’ said Meddlechip, loudly, raising his hand, ‘I swear--’ + +‘Oh, fie!’ observed M. Vandeloup, in a shocked tone; ‘an old man like +you should not swear; it’s very wrong, I assure you; besides,’ with a +disparaging glance, ‘you are not suited to melodrama.’ + +Meddlechip evidently saw it was no good trying to fight against the +consummate coolness of this young man, so with a great effort resolved +to adapt himself to the exigencies of the case, and fight his adversary +with his own weapons. + +‘Well,’ he said at length, resuming his seat at the table, and trying to +speak calmly, though his flushed face and quivering lips showed what +an effort it cost him; ‘let us have supper first, and we can talk +afterwards.’ + +‘Ah, that’s much better,’ remarked M. Vandeloup, sitting up to the +table, and unrolling his napkin. ‘I assure you, my dear fellow, if you +treat me well, I’m a very easy person to deal with.’ + +The eyes of the two men met for a moment across the table, and +Vandeloup’s had such a meaning look in them, that Meddlechip dropped his +own with a shiver. + +The door opened, and the billowy waiter rolled up to the table, and +having left a deposit of plates and food thereon, subsided once more out +of the door, then rolled in again with the champagne. He drew the cork +of one of the bottles, filled the glasses on the table, and then after +giving a glance round to see that all was in order, suddenly found that +it was ebb-tide, and rolled slowly out of the door, which he closed +after him. + +Meddlechip ate his supper in silence, but drank a good deal of champagne +to keep his courage up for the coming ordeal, which he knew he must go +through. Vandeloup, on the other hand, ate and drank very little, as he +talked gaily all the time about theatres, racing, boating, in fact of +everything except the thing the other man wanted to hear. + +‘I never mix up business with pleasure, my dear fellow,’ said Gaston, +amiably, guessing his companion’s thoughts; ‘when we have finished +supper and are enjoying our cigars, I will tell you a little story.’ + +‘I don’t want to hear it,’ retorted the other, harshly, having an +intuitive idea what the story would be about. + +‘Possibly not,’ replied M. Vandeloup, smoothly; ‘nevertheless it is my +wish that you should hear it.’ + +Meddlechip looked as if he were inclined to resent this plain speaking, +but after a pause evidently thought better of it, and went on tranquilly +eating his supper. + +When they had finished Gaston rang the bell, and when the billow rolled +in, ordered a fresh bottle of wine and some choice cigars of a brand +well known at Leslie’s. Gurchy’s head disappeared in foam again, and did +not emerge therefrom till he was out of the door. + +Try one of these,’ said M. Vandeloup, affably, to Meddlechip, when +the billow had rolled in with the cigars and wine, ‘it’s an excellent +brand.’ + +‘I don’t care about smoking,’ answered Meddlechip. + +‘To please me,’ urged M. Vandeloup, persuasively; whereupon Meddlechip +took one, and having lighted it puffed away evidently under protest, +while the billow opened the new bottle of wine, freshened up the +glasses, and then rolled majestically out of the door, like a tidal +wave. + +‘Now then for the story,’ said M. Vandeloup, leaning back luxuriously on +the sofa, and blowing a cloud of smoke. + +‘I don’t want to hear it,’ retorted the other, quickly; ‘name your terms +and let us end the matter.’ + +‘Pardon me,’ said M. Vandeloup, with a smile, ‘but I refuse to accept +any terms till I have given you thoroughly to understand what I mean; so +you must hear this little tale of Adele Blondet.’ + +‘For God’s sake, no!’ cried the other, hoarsely, rising to his feet; ‘I +tell you I am haunted by it; by day and by night, sleeping or waking, I +see her face ever before me like an accusing angel.’ + +‘Curious,’ murmured M. Vandeloup, ‘especially as she was not by any +means an angel.’ + +‘I thought it was done with,’ said Meddlechip, twisting his fingers +together, while the large drops of perspiration stood on his forehead, +‘but here you come like a spectre from the past and revive all the old +horrors.’ + +‘If you call Adele a horror,’ retorted Vandeloup, coolly, ‘I am +certainly going to revive her, so you had best sit down and hear me to +the end, for you certainly will not turn me from my purpose.’ + +Meddlechip sank back into his chair with a groan, while his relentless +enemy curled himself up on the sofa in a more comfortable position and +began to talk. + +‘We will begin the story,’ said M. Vandeloup, in a conversational tone, +with an airy wave of his delicate white hand, ‘in the good old-fashioned +style of our fairy tales. Once upon a time--let us say three years +ago--there lived in Paris a young man called Octave Braulard, who was +well born and comfortably off. He had a fancy to be a doctor, and was +studying for the medical profession when he became entangled with a +woman. Mademoiselle Adele Blondet was a charmingly ugly actress, who was +at that time the rage of Paris. She attracted all the men, not by +her looks, but by her tongue. Octave Braulard,’ went on M. Vandeloup, +complacently looking at himself, ‘was handsome, and she fell in love +with him. She became his mistress, and caused a nine days’ wonder in +Paris by remaining constant to him for six months. Then there came to +Paris an English gentleman from Australia--name, Kestrike; position, +independent; income, enormous. He had left Madame his wife in London, +and came to our wicked Paris to amuse himself. He saw Adele Blondet, and +was introduced to her by Braulard; result, Kestrike betrayed his friend +Braulard by stealing from him his mistress. Why was this? Was Kestrike +handsome? No. Was he fascinating? No. Was he rich? Yes. Therein lay +the secret; Adele loved the purse, not the man. Braulard,’ said Gaston, +rising from the sofa quickly and walking across the room, ‘felt his +honour wounded. He remonstrated with Adele, no use; he offered to fight +a duel with the perfidious Kestrike, no use; the thief was a coward.’ + +‘No,’ cried Meddlechip, rising, ‘no coward.’ + +‘I say, yes!’ said Vandeloup, crossing to him, and forcing him back +in his chair; ‘he betrayed his friend and refused to give him the +satisfaction of a gentleman. What did Braulard do? Rest quiet? +No. Revenge his honour? Yes! One night,’ pursued Gaston, in a low +concentrated voice, grasping Meddlechip’s wrist firmly, and looking at +him with fiery eyes, ‘Braulard prepared a poison, a narcotic which was +quick in its action, fatal in its results. He goes to the house of Adele +Blondet at half-past twelve o’clock--the hour now,’ he said, rapidly +swinging round and pointing to the clock on the mantelpiece, which +had just struck the half-hour; ‘he found them at supper,’ releasing +Meddlechip’s wrist and crossing to the sofa; ‘he sat opposite Kestrike, +as he does now,’ leaning forward and glaring at Meddlechip, who shrank +back in his chair. ‘Adele, at the head of the table, laughs and smiles; +she looks at her old lover and sees murder in his face; she is ill and +retires to her room. Kestrike follows her to see what is the matter. +Braulard is left alone; he produces a bottle and pours its contents into +a cup of coffee, waiting for Adele. Kestrike returns, saying Adele is +ill; she wants a drink. He takes her the poisoned cup of coffee; she +drinks it and falls’--with a long breath--‘asleep. Kestrike returns to +the room, asks Braulard to leave the house. Braulard refuses. Kestrike +is afraid, and would leave himself; he rises from the table; so does +Braulard;’--here Gaston rose and crossed to Meddlechip, who was also on +his feet--‘he goes to Kestrike, seizes his wrist, thus--drags him to +the bedroom, and there on the bed lies Adele Blondet--dead--killed by the +poison of one lover given her by the other--and the murderers look at +one another--thus.’ + +Meddlechip wrenched his hand from Vandeloup’s iron grip and fell back +ghastly white in his chair, with a strangled cry, while the Frenchman +stood over him with eyes gleaming with hatred. + +‘Kestrike,’ pursued Vandeloup, rapidly, ‘is little known in Paris--his +name is an assumed one--he leaves France before the police can discover +how he has poisoned Adele Blondet, and crosses to England--meets Madame, +his wife, and returns to Australia, where he is called--Meddlechip.’ + +The man in the chair threw up his hands as if to keep the other off, and +uttered a stifled cry. + +‘He then goes to China,’ went on Gaston, bending nearer to the shrinking +figure, ‘and returns after twelve months, where he meets Octave Braulard +in the theatre--yes, the two murderers meet in Melbourne! How came +Braulard here? Was it chance? No. Was it design? No. Was it Fate? Yes.’ + +He hissed the words in Meddlechip’s ear, and the wretched man shrank +away from him again. + +‘Braulard,’ pursued Vandeloup, in a calmer tone, ‘also left the house of +Adele Blondet. She is found dead; one of her lovers cannot be found; the +other, Braulard, is accused of the crime; he defies the police to prove +it; she has been poisoned. Bah! there is no trace. Braulard will be +free. Stop! who is this man called Prevol, who appears? He is a fellow +student of Braulard’s, and knows the poison. Braulard is lost! Prevol +examines the body, proves that poison has been given--by whom? Braulard, +and none other. He is sentenced to death; but he is so handsome that +Paris urges pardon. No; it is not according to the law. Still, spare his +life? Yes. His life is spared. The galleys at Toulon? No. New Caledonia? +Yes. He is sent there. But is Braulard a coward? No. Does he rest as a +convict? No. He makes friends with another convict; they steal a boat, +and fly from the island; they drift, and drift, for days and days; the +sun rises, the sun sets--still they drift; their food is giving out, the +water in the barrel is low--God! are they to die of thirst and famine? +No. The sky is red--like blood--the sun is sinking; land is in the +distance--they are saved!’ falling on his knees; ‘they are saved, thank +God!’ + +Meddlechip, who had recovered himself, wiped his face with his +handkerchief, and sneered with his white lips at the theatrical way +Gaston was behaving in. Vandeloup saw this, and, springing to his feet, +crossed to the millionaire. + +‘Braulard,’ he continued, quickly, ‘lands on the coast of Queensland; +he comes to Sydney--no work; to Melbourne--no work; he goes to +Ball’rat--work there at a gold-mine. Braulard takes the name of +Vandeloup and makes money; he comes to Melbourne, lives there a year, +he is in want of money, he is in despair; at the theatre he overhears a +plan which will give him money, but he needs capital--despair again, he +will never get it. Aha! Fate once more intervenes--he sees M. Kestrike, +now Meddlechip, he will ask him for the money, and the question is, will +he get it? So the story is at an end.’ He ended with his usual smile, +all his excitement having passed away, and lounging over to the +supper-table lit a cigarette and sat down on the sofa. + +Meddlechip sat silently looking at the disordered supper-table and +thinking deeply. The dishes were scattered about the white cloth, and +some vividly red cherries had fallen down from the fruit dish in the +centre, some salt was spilt near his elbow, the napkins, twisted +into thin wisps, were lying among the dirty dishes, and the champagne +glasses, half filled with the straw-coloured wine, were standing near +the empty bottles. Meddlechip thought for a few moments, and then looked +up suddenly in a cool, collected, business-like manner. + +‘As I understand you,’ he said, in a steady voice, ‘the case stands +thus: you know a portion, or rather, I should say, an episode of my +life, I would gladly forget. I did not commit the murder.’ + +‘No, but you gave her the poison.’ + +‘Innocently I did, I confess.’ + +‘Bah! who will believe that?’ retorted M. Vandeloup, with a shrug; ‘but +never mind this at present; let me hear what you intend to do.’ + +‘You know a secret,’ said Meddlechip, nervously, ‘which is dangerous to +me; you want to sell it; well, I will be the buyer--name your price.’ + +‘Five hundred pounds,’ said Vandeloup, quietly. + +‘Is that all?’ asked the other, with a start of surprise; ‘I was +prepared for five thousand.’ + +‘I am not exorbitant in my demands,’ answered Vandeloup, smoothly; ‘and +as I told you, I have a scheme on hand by which I may make a lot of +money-five hundred pounds is sufficient to do what I want. If the scheme +succeeds, I will be rich enough to do without any more money from you.’ + +‘Yes; but if it fails?’ said Meddlechip, doubtfully. + +‘If it fails, I will be obliged to draw on you again,’ returned Gaston, +candidly; ‘you can’t say, however, that I am behaving badly to you.’ + +‘No,’ answered Meddlechip, looking at him. ‘I must say you are easier +to deal with than I anticipated. Well, if I give you my cheque for five +hundred--’ + +‘Say six hundred,’ observed Vandeloup, rising and going to a small table +in the corner of the room on which were pens and ink. ‘I want an extra +hundred.’ + +‘Six hundred then be it,’ answered Meddlechip, quietly, rising and going +to his overcoat, from whence he took his cheque book. ‘For this amount +you will be silent.’ + +M. Vandeloup bowed gracefully. + +‘On my word of honour,’ he replied, gaily; ‘but, of course,’ with a +sudden glance at Meddlechip, ‘you will treat me as a friend--ask me to +your house, and introduce me to Madame, your wife.’ + +‘I don’t see the necessity,’ returned Meddlechip, angrily, going over to +the small table and sitting down. + +‘Pardon me, I do’ answered the Frenchman, with a dangerous gleam in his +eyes. + +‘Well, well, I agree,’ said Meddlechip, testily, taking up a pen and +opening his cheque book. ‘You, of course, can dictate your own terms.’ + +‘I understand that perfectly,’ replied Vandeloup, delicately, lighting +a cigarette, ‘and have done so. You can’t say they are hard, as I said +before.’ + +Meddlechip did not answer, but wrote out a cheque for six hundred +pounds, and then handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow and +slipped it into his waistcoat pocket. + +‘With this,’ he said, touching his pocket, ‘I hope to make nearly ten +thousand in a fortnight.’ + +Meddlechip stared at him. + +‘I hope you will,’ he answered, gruffly, ‘all the better for my purse if +you do.’ + +‘That, of course, goes without saying,’ replied Vandeloup, lazily. ‘Have +some more wine?’ touching the bell. + +‘No more, thank you,’ said Meddlechip, putting on his overcoat. ‘It’s +time I was off.’ + +‘By the way,’ said M. Vandeloup, coolly, ‘I have not any change in my +pocket; you might settle for the supper.’ + +Meddlechip burst out laughing. + +‘Confound your impudence,’ he said, quickly, ‘I thought you asked me to +supper.’ + +‘Oh, yes,’ replied Vandeloup, taking his hat and stick, ‘but I intended +you to pay for it.’ + +‘You were pretty certain of your game, then?’ + +‘I always am,’ answered Vandeloup, as the door opened, and Gurchy rolled +slowly into the room. + +Meddlechip paid the bill without making further objections, and then +they both left Leslie’s with the same precautions as had attended their +entry. They walked slowly down Bourke Street, and parted at the corner, +Meddlechip going to Toorak, while Vandeloup got into a cab and told the +man to drive to Richmond, then lit a cigarette and gave himself up to +reflection as he drove along. + +‘I’ve done a good stroke of business tonight,’ he said, smiling, as he +felt the cheque in his pocket, ‘and I’ll venture the whole lot on this +Magpie reef. If it succeeds I will be rich; if it does not--well, there +is always Meddlechip as my banker.’ Then his thoughts went back to +Kitty, for the reason of his going home so late was that he wanted to +find out in what frame of mind she was. + +‘She’ll never leave me,’ he said, with a laugh, as the cab drew up in +front of Mrs Pulchop’s house; ‘if she does, so much the better for me.’ + +He dismissed his cab, and let himself in with the latch key; then +hanging up his hat in the hall he went straight to the bedroom and +lit the gas. He then crossed to the bed, expecting to find Kitty sound +asleep, but to his surprise the bed was untouched, and she was not +there. + +‘Ah!’ he said, quietly, ‘so she has gone, after all. Poor little girl, +I wonder where she is. I must really look after her to-morrow; at +present,’ he said, pulling off his coat, with a yawn, ‘I think I’ll go +to bed.’ + +He went to bed, and laying his head on the pillow was soon fast asleep, +without even a thought for the girl he had ruined. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +THE KEY OF THE STREET + +When Kitty left Mrs Pulchop’s residence she had no very definite idea as +to what she was going to do with herself. Her sole thought was to get as +far away from her former life as possible--to disappear in the crowd +and never to be heard of again. Poor little soul, she never for a moment +dreamed that it was a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, and +that the world at large might prove more cruel to her than Vandeloup in +particular. She had been cut to the heart by his harsh cold words, but +notwithstanding he had spoken so bitterly she still loved him, and would +have stayed beside him, but her jealous pride forbade her to do so. She +who had been queen of his heart and the idol of his life could not bear +to receive cold looks and careless words, and to be looked upon as an +encumbrance and a trouble. So she thought if she left him altogether and +never saw him again he would, perhaps, be sorry for her and cherish her +memory tenderly for evermore. If she had only known Gaston’s true +nature she would not thus have buoyed herself up with false hopes of his +sorrow, but as she believed in him as implicitly as a woman in love with +a man always does, in a spirit of self-abnegation she cut herself off +from him, thinking it would be to his advantage if not to her own. + +She went into town and wandered about listlessly, not knowing where to +go, till nearly twelve o’clock, and the streets were gradually emptying +themselves of their crowds. The coffee stalls were at all the corners, +with hungry-looking people of both sexes crowded round them, and here +and there in door steps could be seen some outcasts resting in huddled +heaps, while the policemen every now and then would come up and make +them move on. + +Kitty was footsore and heart-weary, and felt inclined to cry, but +was nevertheless resolved not to go back to her home in Richmond. She +dragged herself along the lonely street, and round the corner came on +a coffee stall with no one at it except one small boy whose head just +reached up to the counter. Such a ragged boy as he was, with a broad +comical-looking face--a shaggy head of red hair and a hat without any +brim to it--his legs were bandy and his feet were encased in a pair +of men’s boots several sizes too large for him. He had a bundle of +newspapers under one arm and his other hand was in his pocket rattling +some coppers together while he bargained with the coffee-stall keeper +over a pie. The coffee stall had the name of Spilsby inscribed on it, so +it is fair to suppose that the man therein was Spilsby himself. He had +a long grey beard and a meek face, looking so like an old wether himself +it appeared almost the act of a cannibal on his part to eat a mutton +pie. A large placard at the back of the stall set forth the fact that +‘Spilsby’s Specials’ were sold there for the sum of one penny, and it +was over ‘Spilsby’s Specials’ the ragged boy was arguing. + +‘I tell you I ain’t agoin’ to eat fat,’ he said, in a hoarse voice, as +if his throat was stuffed up with one of his own newspapers. ‘I want a +special, I don’t want a hordinary.’ + +‘This are a special, I tells you,’ retorted Spilsby, ungrammatically, +pushing a smoking pie towards the boy; ‘what a young wiper you are, +Grattles, a-comin’ and spoilin’ my livin’ by cussin’ my wictuals.’ + +‘Look ‘ere,’ retorted Grattles, standing on the tips of his large boots +to look more imposing, ‘my stumick’s a bit orf when it comes to fat, +and I wants the vally of my penny; give us a muttony one, with lots of +gravy.’ + +‘’Ere y’are, then,’ said Spilsby, quite out of temper with his +fastidious customer; ‘’ere’s a pie as is all made of ram as ‘adn’t got +more fat on it than you ‘ave.’ + +Grattles examined the article classed under this promising description +with a critical air, and then laid down his penny and took the pie. + +‘It’s a special, ain’t it?’ he asked, suspiciously smelling it. + +‘It’s the specialest I’ve got, any’ow,’ answered Spilsby, testily, +putting the penny in his pocket; ‘you’d eat a ‘ole sheep if you could +get it for a penny, you greedy young devil, you.’ + +Here Kitty, who was feeling faint and ill with so much walking, came +forward and asked for a cup of coffee. + +‘Certainly, dear,’ said Spilsby, with a leer, pouring out the coffee; +‘I’m allays good to a pretty gal.’ + +‘It’s more nor your coffee is,’ growled Grattles, who had finished +his special and was now licking his fingers, ‘it’s all grounds and ‘ot +water.’ + +‘Go away, you wicious thing,’ retorted Spilsby, mildly, giving Kitty +her coffee and change out of the money she handed him, ‘or I’ll set the +perlice on yer.’ + +‘Oh, my eye!’ shrieked Grattles, executing a grimace after the fashion +of a favourite comedian; ‘he ain’t a tart, oh, no--‘es a pie, ‘e are, +a special, a muttony special; ‘e don’t kill no kittings and call ‘em +sheep, oh, no; ‘e don’t buy chicory and calls it coffee, blest if +‘e does; ‘e’s a corker, ‘e are, and ‘is name ain’t the same as ‘is +father’s.’ + +‘What d’ye mean,’ asked Spilsby, fiercely--that is, as fiercely as his +meek appearance would let him; ‘what do you know of my parents, you +bandy-legged little devil? who’s your--progenitor, I’d like to know?’ + +‘A dook, in course,’ said Grattles loftily; ‘but we don’t, in +consequence of ‘er Nibs bein’ mixed up with the old man’s mother, reweal +the family skeletons to low piemen,’ then, with a fresh grimace, he +darted along the street as quickly as his bandy legs could carry him. + +Spilsby took no notice of this, but, seeing some people coming round the +corner, commenced to sing out his praises of the specials. + +‘’Ere yer are--all ‘ot an’ steamin’,’ he cried, in a kind of loud +bleat, which added still more to his sheep-like appearance: ‘Spilsby’s +Specials--oh, lovely--ain’t they nice; my eye, fine muttin pies; who ses +Spilsby’s; ‘ave one, miss?’ to Kitty. + +Thank you, no,’ replied Kitty, with a faint smile as she put down her +empty cup; ‘I’m going now.’ + +Spilsby was struck by the educated manner in which she spoke and by the +air of refinement about her. + +‘Go home, my dear,’ he said, kindly, leaning forward; ‘this ain’t no +time for a young gal like you to be out.’ + +‘I’ve got no home,’ said Kitty, bitterly, ‘but if you could direct me--’ + +‘Here, you,’ cried a shrill female voice, as a woman dressed in a +flaunting blue gown rushed up to the stall, ‘give us a pie quick; I’m +starvin’; I’ve got no time to wait.’ + +‘No, nor manners either,’ said Spilsby, with a remonstrating bleat, +pushing a pie towards her; ‘who are you, a-shovin’ your betters, +Portwine Annie?’ + +‘My betters,’ scoffed the lady in blue, looking Kitty up and down with +a disdainful smile on her painted face; ‘where are they, I’d like to +know?’ + +‘’Ere, ‘old your tongue,’ bleated Spilsby, angrily, ‘or I’ll tell the +perlice at the corner.’ + +‘And much I care,’ retorted the shrill-voiced female, ‘seeing he’s a +particular friend of mine.’ + +‘For God’s sake tell me where I can find a place to stop in,’ whispered +Kitty to the coffee-stall keeper. + +‘Come with me, dear,’ said Portwine Annie, eagerly, having overheard +what was said, but Kitty shrank back, and then gathering her cloak +around her ran down the street. + +‘What do you do that for, you jade?’ said Spilsby, in a vexed tone; +‘don’t you see the girl’s a lady.’ + +‘Of course she is,’ retorted the other, finishing her pie; ‘we’re all +ladies; look at our dresses, ain’t they fine enough? Look at our houses, +aren’t they swell enough?’ + +‘Yes, and yer morals, ain’t they bad enough?’ said Spilsby, washing up +the dirty plate. + +‘They’re quite as good as many ladies in society, at all events,’ +replied Portwine Annie, with a toss of her head as she walked off. + +‘Oh, it’s a wicked world,’ bleated Spilsby, in a soft voice, looking +after the retreating figure. ‘I’m sorry for that poor gal--I am +indeed--but this ain’t business,’ and once more raising his voice he +cried up his wares, ‘Oh, lovely; ain’t they muttony? Spilsby’s specials, +all ‘ot; one penny.’ + +Meanwhile Kitty was walking quickly down Elizabeth Street, and turning +round the corner ran right up against a woman. + +‘Hullo!’ said the woman, catching her wrist, ‘where are you off to?’ + +‘Let me go,’ cried Kitty, in a panting voice. + +The woman was tall and handsome, but her face had a kindly expression on +it, and she seemed touched with the terrified tone of the girl. + +‘My poor child,’ she said, half contemptuously, releasing her, ‘I won’t +hurt you. Go if you like. What are you doing out at this time of the +night?’ + +‘Nothing,’ faltered Kitty, with quivering lips, lifting her face up to +the pale moon. The other saw it in the full light and marked how pure +and innocent it was. + +‘Go home, dear,’ she said, in a soft tone, touching the girl kindly on +the shoulder, ‘it’s not fit for you to be out at this hour. You are not +one of us.’ + +‘My God! no,’ cried Kitty, shrinking away from her. + +The other smiled bitterly. + +‘Ah! you draw away from me now,’ she said, with a sneer; ‘but what are +you, so pure and virtuous, doing on the streets at this hour? Go home in +time, child, or you will become like me.’ + +‘I have no home,’ said Kitty, turning to go. + +‘No home!’ echoed the other, in a softer tone; ‘poor child! I cannot +take you with me--God help me; but here is some money,’ forcing a +shilling into the girl’s hand, ‘go to Mrs Rawlins at Victoria Parade, +Fitzroy--anyone will tell you where it is--and she will take you in.’ + +‘What kind of a place is it?’ said Kitty. + +‘A home for fallen women, dear,’ answered the other, kindly. + +‘I’m not a fallen woman!’ cried the girl, wildly, ‘I have left my home, +but I will go back to it--anything better than this horrible life on the +streets.’ + +‘Yes, dear,’ said the woman, softly, ‘go home; go home, for God’s sake, +and if you have a father and mother to shield you from harm, thank +heaven for that. Let me kiss you once,’ she added, bending forward, ‘it +is so long since I felt a good woman’s kiss on my lips. Good-bye.’ + +‘Good-bye,’ sobbed Kitty, raising her face, and the other bent down and +kissed the child-like face, then with a stifled cry, fled away through +the moonlit night. + +Kitty turned away slowly and walked up the street. She knew there was +a cab starting opposite the Town Hall which went to Richmond, and +determined to go home. After all, hard though her life might be in the +future, it would be better than this cruel harshness of the streets. + +At the top of the block, just as she was about to cross Swanston Street, +a party of young men in evening dress came round the corner singing, and +evidently were much exhilarated with wine. These were none other than +Mr Jarper and his friends, who, having imbibed a good deal more than +was good for them, were now ripe for any mischief. Bellthorp and Jarper, +both quite intoxicated, were walking arm-in-arm, each trying to keep +the other up, so that their walking mostly consisted of wild lurches +forward, and required a good deal of balancing. + +‘Hullo!’ cried Bellthorp solemnly--he was always solemn when +intoxicated--‘girl--pretty--eh!’ + +‘Go ‘way,’ said Barty, staggering back against the wall, ‘we’re +Christian young men.’ + +Kitty tried to get away from this inebriated crew, but they all closed +round her, and she wrung her hands in despair. ‘If you are gentlemen you +will let me go,’ she cried, trying to push past. + +‘Give us kiss first,’ said a handsome young fellow, with his hat very +much on one side, putting his arm round her waist, ‘pay toll, dear.’ + +She felt his hot breath on her cheek and shrieked out wildly, trying +to push him away with all her force. The young man, however, paid no +attention to her cries, but was about to kiss her when he was taken by +the back of the neck and thrown into the gutter. + +‘Gentlemen!’ said a rich rolling voice, which proceeded from a portly +man who had just appeared on the scene. ‘I am astonished,’ with the +emphasis on the first person singular, as if he were a man of great +note. + +‘Old boy,’ translated Bellthorp to the others, ‘is ‘tonished.’ + +‘You have,’ said the stranger, with an airy wave of his hand, ‘the +appearance of gentlemen, but, alas! you are but whited sepulchres, fair +to look upon, but full of dead men’s bones within.’ + +‘Jarper,’ said Bellthorp, solemnly, taking Barty’s arm, ‘you’re a +tombstone with skeleton inside--come along--old boy is right--set of +cads ‘suiting an unprotected gal--good night, sir.’ + +The others picked up their companion out of the gutter, and the whole +lot rolled merrily down the street. + +‘And this,’ said the gentleman, lifting up his face to the sky in +mute appeal to heaven, ‘this is the generation which is to carry +on Australia. Oh, Father Adam, what a dissipated family you have +got--ah!--good for a comedy, I think.’ + +‘Oh!’ cried Kitty, recognising a familiar remark, ‘it’s Mr Wopples.’ + +‘The same,’ said the airy Theodore, laying his hand on his heart, ‘and +you, my dear--why, bless me,’ looking closely at her, ‘it is the pretty +girl I met in Ballarat--dear, dear--surely you have not come to this.’ + +‘No, no,’ said Kitty, quickly, laying her hand on his arm, ‘I will tell +you all about it, Mr Wopples; but you must be a friend to me, for I +sadly need one.’ + +‘I will be your friend,’ said the actor, emphatically, taking her arm +and walking slowly down the street; ‘tell me how I find you thus.’ + +‘You won’t tell anyone if I do?’ said Kitty, imploringly. + +‘On the honour of a gentleman,’ answered Wopples, with grave dignity. + +Kitty told him how she had left Ballarat, but suppressed the name of her +lover, as she did not want any blame to fall on him. But all the rest +she told freely, and when Mr Wopples heard how on that night she had +left the man who had ruined her, he swore a mighty oath. + +‘Oh, vile human nature,’ he said, in a sonorous tone, ‘to thus betray +a confiding infant! Where,’ he continued, looking inquiringly at the +serene sky, ‘where are the thunderbolts of Heaven that they fall not on +such?’ + +No thunderbolt making its appearance to answer the question, Mr Wopples +told Kitty he would take her home to the family, and as they were just +starting out on tour again, she could come with them. + +‘But will Mrs Wopples receive me?’ asked Kitty, timidly. + +‘My dear,’ said the actor, gravely, ‘my wife is a good woman, and a +mother herself, so she can feel for a poor child like you, who has been +betrayed through sheer innocence.’ + +‘You do not despise me?’ said Kitty, in a low voice. + +‘My dear,’ answered Wopples, quietly, ‘am I so pure myself that I can +judge others? Who am I,’ with an oratorical wave of the hand, ‘that I +should cast the first stone?--ahem!--from Holy Writ. In future I will +be your father; Mrs Wopples, your mother, and you will have ten brothers +and sisters--all star artistes.’ + +‘How kind you are,’ sobbed Kitty, clinging trustfully to him as they +went along. + +‘I only do unto others as I would be done by,’ said Mr Wopples, +solemnly. ‘That sentiment,’ continued the actor, taking off his hat, +‘was uttered by One who, tho’ we may believe or disbelieve in His +divinity as a God, will always remain the sublimest type of perfect +manhood the world has ever seen.’ + +Kitty did not answer, and they walked quickly along; and surely this one +good deed more than compensated for the rest of the actor’s failings. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON CHANGE + + +Young Australia has a wonderful love for the excitement of +gambling--take him away from the betting ring and he goes straight to +the share market to dabble in gold and silver shares. The Great Humbug +Gold Mining Company is floated on the Melbourne market--a perfect +fortune in itself, which influential men are floating in a kind of +semi-philanthropic manner to benefit mankind at large, and themselves in +particular. Report by competent geologists; rich specimens of the reef +exhibited to the confiding public; company of fifty thousand shares at +a pound each; two shillings on application; two shillings on allotment; +the balance in calls which influential men solemnly assure confiding +public will never be needed. Young Australia sees a chance of making +thousands in a week; buys one thousand shares at four shillings--only +two hundred pounds; shares will rise and Young Australia hopefully looks +forward to pocketing two or three thousand by his modest venture of two +hundred; company floated, shares rising slowly. Young Australia will not +sell at a profit, still dazzled by his chimerical thousands. Calls must +be made to put up machinery; shares have a downward tendency. Never +mind, there will only be one or two calls, so stick to shares as parents +of possible thousands. Machinery erected; now crushing; two or three +ounces to ton a certainty. Shares have an upward tendency; washing +up takes place--two pennyweights to ton. Despair! Shares run down to +nothing, and Young Australia sees his thousands disappear like snow in +the sun. The Great Humbug Reef proves itself worthy of its name, and the +company collapses amid the groans of confiding public and secret joy of +influential men, who have sold at the top price. + +Vandeloup knew all about this sort of thing, for he had seen it occur +over and over again in Ballarat and Melbourne. So many came to the +web and never got out alive, yet fresh flies were always to be found. +Vandeloup was of a speculative nature himself, and had he been possessed +of any surplus cash would, no doubt, have risked it in the jugglery of +the share market, but as he had none to spare he stood back and amused +himself with looking at the ‘spider and the fly’ business which was +constantly going on. Sometimes, indeed, the fly got the better of spider +number one, but was unable to keep away from the web, and was sure to +fall into the web of spider number two. + +M. Vandeloup, therefore, considered the whole affair as too risky to +be gone into without unlimited cash; but now he had a chance of making +money, he determined to try his hand at the business. True, he knew that +he was in for a swindle, but then he was behind the scenes, and would +benefit by the knowledge he had gained. If the question at issue had +really been that of getting gold out of the reef and paying dividends +with the profits, Gaston would have snapped his fingers scornfully, and +held aloof; but this was simply a running up of shares by means of a +rich reef being struck. He intended to buy at the present market value, +which was four shillings, and sell as soon as he could make a good +profit--say, at one pound--so there was not much chance of him losing +his money. The shares would probably drop again when the pocket of gold +was worked out, but then that would be none of his affair, as he would +by that time have sold out and made his pile. M. Vandeloup was a fly who +was going straight into the webs of stockbroking spiders, but then he +knew as much about this particular web as the spiders themselves. + +Full of his scheme to make money, Vandeloup started for town to see a +broker--first, however, having settled with Mrs Pulchop over Kitty’s +disappearance. He had found a letter from Kitty in the bedroom, in which +she had bidden him good-bye for ever, but this he did not show to Mrs +Pulchop, merely stating to that worthy lady that his ‘wife’ had left +him. + +‘And it ain’t to be wondered at, the outraged angel,’ she said to +Gaston, as he stood at the door, faultlessly dressed, ready to go into +town; ‘the way you treated her were shameful.’ + +Gaston shrugged his shoulders, lit a cigarette, and smiled at Mrs +Pulchop. + +‘My dear lady,’ he said, blandly, ‘pray attend to your medicine bottles +and leave my domestic affairs alone; you certainly understand the one, +but I doubt your ability to come to any conclusion regarding the other.’ + +‘Fine words don’t butter no parsnips,’ retorted Mrs Pulchop, viciously; +‘and if Pulchop weren’t an Apoller, he had a kind heart.’ + +‘Spare me these domestic stories, please,’ said Vandeloup, coldly, ‘they +do not interest me in the least; since my “wife”,’ with a sneer, ‘has +gone, I will leave your hospitable roof. I will send for all my property +either today or to-morrow, and if you make out your account in the +meantime, my messenger will pay it. Good day!’ and without another +word Vandeloup walked slowly off down the path, leaving Mrs Pulchop +speechless with indignation. + +He went into town first, to the City of Melbourne Bank, and cashed +Meddlechip’s cheque for six hundred pounds, then, calling a hansom, he +drove along to the Hibernian Bank, where he had an account, and paid +it into his credit, reserving ten pounds for his immediate use. Then +he reentered his hansom, and went along to the office of a stockbroker, +called Polglaze, who was a member of ‘The Bachelors’, and in whose hands +Vandeloup intended to place his business. + +Polglaze was a short, stout man, scrupulously neatly dressed, with iron +grey hair standing straight up, and a habit of dropping out his words +one at a time, so that the listener had to construct quite a little +history between each, in order to arrive at their meaning, and the +connection they had with one another. + +‘Morning!’ said Polglaze, letting the salutation fly out of his mouth +rapidly, and then closing it again in case any other word might be +waiting ready to pop out unknown to him. + +Vandeloup sat down and stated his business briefly. + +‘I want you to buy me some Magpie Reef shares,’ he said, leaning on the +table. + +‘Many?’ dropped out of Polglaze’s mouth, and then it shut again with a +snap. ‘Depends on the price,’ replied Vandeloup, with a shrug; ‘I see in +the papers they are four shillings.’ + +Mr Polglaze took up his share book, and rapidly turned over the +leaves--found what he wanted, and nodded. + +‘Oh!’ said Vandeloup, making a rapid mental calculation, ‘then buy +me two thousand five hundred. That will be about five hundred pounds’ +worth.’ + +Mr Polglaze nodded; then whistled. + +‘Your commission, I presume,’ said Vandeloup, making another +calculation, ‘will be threepence?’ + +‘Sixpence,’ interrupted the stockbroker. + +‘Oh, I thought it was threepence,’ answered Vandeloup, quietly; +‘however, that does not make any difference to me. Your commission at +that rate will be twelve pounds ten shillings?’ + +Polglaze nodded again, and sat looking at Vandeloup like a stony +mercantile sphinx. + +‘If you will, then, buy me these shares,’ said Vandeloup, rising, and +taking up his gloves and hat, ‘when am I to come along and see you?’ + +‘Four,’ said Polglaze. + +Today?’ inquired Vandeloup. + +A nod from the stockbroker. + +‘Very well,’ said Vandeloup, quietly, ‘I’ll give you a cheque for the +amount, then. There’s nothing more to be said, I believe?’ and he walked +over to the door. + +‘Say!’ from Polglaze. + +‘Yes,’ replied Gaston, indolently, swinging his stick to and fro. + +‘New?’ inquired the stockbroker. + +‘You mean to this sort of thing?’ said Vandeloup, looking at him, and +receiving a nod in token of acquiescence, added, ‘entirely.’ + +‘Risky,’ dropped from the Polglaze mouth. ‘I never knew a gold mine that +wasn’t,’ retorted Vandeloup, dryly. + +‘Bad,’ in an assertive tone, from Polglaze. + +‘This particular mine, I suppose you mean?’ said Gaston, with a yawn, +‘very likely it is. However, I’m willing to take the risk. Good day! See +you at four,’ and with a careless nod, M. Vandeloup lounged out of the +office. + +He walked along Collins Street, met a few friends, and kept a look-out +for Kitty. He, however, did not see her, but there was a surprise in +store for him, for turning round into Swanston Street, he came across +Archie McIntosh. Yes, there he was, with his grim, severe Scotch face, +with the white frill round it, and Gaston smiled as he saw the old man, +dressed in rigid broadcloth, casting disproving looks on the pretty +girls walking along. + +‘A set o’ hizzies,’ growled the amiable Archie to himself, ‘prancin’ +alang wi’ their gew-gaws an’ fine claes, like war horses--the daughters +o’ Zion that walk wi’ mincin’ steps an’ tinklin’ ornaments.’ + +‘How do you do?’ said Vandeloup, touching the broadcloth shoulder; upon +which McIntosh turned. + +‘Lord save us!’ he ejaculated, grimly, ‘it’s yon French body. An’ hoo’s +a’ wi’ ye, laddie? Eh, but ye’re brawly dressed, my young man,’ with a +disproving look; ‘I’m hopin’ they duds are paid for.’ + +‘Of course they are,’ replied Vandeloup, gaily, ‘do you think I stole +them?’ + +‘Weel, I’ll no gae sa far as that,’ remarked Archie, cautiously; ‘maybe +ye have dwelt by the side o’ mony waters, an’ flourished. If he ken the +Screepture ye’ll see God helps those wha help themselves.’ + +‘That means you do all the work and give God the credit,’ retorted +Gaston, with a sneer; ‘I know all about that.’ + +‘Ah, ye’ll gang tae the pit o’ Tophet when ye dee,’ said Mr McIntosh, +who had heard this remark with horror; ‘an’ ye’ll no be sae ready wi’ +your tongue there, I’m thinkin’; but ye are not speerin aboot Mistress +Villiers.’ + +‘Why, is she in town?’ asked Vandeloup, eagerly. + +‘Ay, and Seliny wi’ her,’ answered Archie, fondling his frill; ‘she’s +varra rich noo, as ye’ve nae doot heard. Ay, ay,’ he went on, ‘she’s +gotten a braw hoose doon at St Kilda, and she’s going to set up a +carriage, ye ken. She tauld me,’ pursued Mr McIntosh, sourly, looking +at Vandeloup, ‘if I saw ye I was to be sure to tell ye to come an’ see +her.’ + +‘Present my compliments to Madame,’ said Vandeloup, quickly, ‘and I will +wait on her as soon as possible.’ + +‘Losh save us, laddie,’ said McIntosh, irritably, ‘you’re as fu’ o’ fine +wards as a play-actor. Have ye seen onything doon in this pit o’ Tophet +o’ the bairn that rin away?’ + +‘Oh, Miss Marchurst!’ said Vandeloup, smoothly, ready with a lie at +once. ‘No, I’m sorry to say I’ve never set eyes on her.’ + +‘The mistress is joost daft aboot her,’ observed McIntosh, querulously; +‘and she’s ganging tae look all thro’ the toun tae find the puir wee +thing.’ + +‘I hope she will!’ said M. Vandeloup, who devoutly hoped she wouldn’t. +‘Will you come and have a glass of wine, Mr McIntosh?’ + +‘Til hae a wee drappy o’ whusky if ye’ve got it gude,’ said McIntosh, +cautiously, ‘but I dinna care for they wines that sour on a body’s +stomach.’ + +McIntosh having thus graciously assented, Vandeloup took him up to +the Club, and introduced him all round as the manager of the famous +Pactolus. All the young men were wonderfully taken up with Archie and +his plain speaking, and had Mr McIntosh desired he could have drunk +oceans of his favourite beverage. However, being a Scotchman and +cautious, he took very little, and left Vandeloup to go down to Madame +Midas at St Kilda, and bearing a message from the Frenchman that he +would call there the next day. + +Archie having departed, Vandeloup got through the rest of the day as +he best could. He met Mr Wopples in the street, who told him how he had +found Kitty, quite unaware that the young man before him was the villain +who had betrayed the girl. Vandeloup was delighted to think that Kitty +had not mentioned his name, and quite approved of Mr Wopples’ intention +to take the girl on tour. Having thus arranged for Kitty’s future, +Gaston went along to his broker, and found that the astute Polglaze had +got him his shares. + +‘Going up,’ said Polglaze, as he handed the scrip to Vandeloup and got a +cheque in exchange. + +‘Oh, indeed!’ said Vandeloup, with a smile. ‘I suppose my two friends +have begun their little game already,’ he thought, as he slipped the +scrip into his breast pocket. + +‘Information?’ asked Polglaze, as Vandeloup was going. + +‘Oh! you’d like to know where I got it,’ said M. Vandeloup, amiably. +‘Very sorry I can’t tell you; but you see, my dear sir, I am not a +woman, and can keep a secret.’ + +Vandeloup walked out, and Polglaze looked after him with a puzzled look, +then summed up his opinion in one word, sharp, incisive, and to the +point-- + +‘Clever!’ said Polglaze, and put the cheque in his safe. + +Vandeloup strolled along the street thinking. + +‘Bebe is out of my way,’ he thought, with a smile; ‘I have a small +fortune in my pocket, and,’ he continued, thoughtfully, ‘Madame Midas is +in Melbourne. I think now,’ said M. Vandeloup, with another smile, ‘that +I have conquered the blind goddess.’ + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE OPULENCE OF MADAME MIDAS + + +A wealthy man does not know the meaning of the word friendship. He is +not competent to judge, for his wealth precludes him giving a proper +opinion. Smug-faced philanthropists can preach comfortable doctrines in +pleasant rooms with well-spread tables and good clothing; they can talk +about human nature being unjustly accused, and of the kindly impulses +and good thoughts in everyone’s breasts. Pshaw! anyone can preach +thus from an altitude of a few thousands a year, but let these same +self-complacent kind-hearted gentlemen descend in the social scale--let +them look twice at a penny before spending it--let them face persistent +landladies, exorbitant landlords, or the bitter poverty of the streets, +and they will not talk so glibly of human nature and its inherent +kindness. No; human nature is a sort of fetish which is credited with +a great many amiable qualities it never possesses, and though there +are exceptions to the general rule, Balzac’s aphorism on mankind that +‘Nature works by self-interest,’ still holds good today. + +Madame Midas, however, had experienced poverty and the coldness of +friends, so was completely disillusionised as to the disinterested +motives of the people who now came flocking around her. She was very +wealthy, and determined to stop in Melbourne for a year, and then go +home to Europe, so to this end she took a house at St Kilda, which had +been formerly occupied by Mark Frettlby, the millionaire, who had been +mixed up in the famous hansom cab murder nearly eighteen months before. +His daughter, Mrs Fitzgerald, was in Ireland with her husband, and had +given instructions to her agents to let the house furnished as it stood, +but such a large rent was demanded, that no one felt inclined to give +it till Mrs Villiers appeared on the scene. The house suited her, as +she did not want to furnish one of her own, seeing she was only going to +stop a year, so she saw Thinton and Tarbet, who had the letting of +the place, and took it for a year. The windows were flung open, the +furniture brushed and renovated, and the solitary charwoman who had been +ruler in the lonely rooms so long, was dismissed, and her place taken by +a whole retinue of servants. Madame Midas intended to live in style, +so went to work over the setting up of her establishment in such an +extravagant manner that Archie remonstrated. She took his interference +in a good humoured way, but still arranged things as she intended; and +when her house was ready, waited for her friends to call on her, and +prepared to amuse herself with the comedy of human life. She had not +long to wait, for a perfect deluge of affectionate people rolled +down upon her. Many remembered her--oh, quite well--when she was +the beautiful Miss Curtis; and then her husband--that dreadful +Villiers--they hoped he was dead--squandering her fortune as he had +done--they had always been sorry for her, and now she was rich--that +lovely Pactolus--indeed, she deserved it all--she would marry, of +course--oh, but indeed, she must. And so the comedy went on, and all the +actors flirted, and ogled, and nodded, and bowed, till Madame Midas was +quite sick of the falseness and frivolity of the whole thing. She knew +these people, with their simpering and smiling, would visit her and +eat her dinners and drink her wines, and then go away and abuse her +thoroughly. But then Madame Midas never expected anything else, so she +received them with smiles, saw through all their little ways, and when +she had amused herself sufficiently with their antics, she let them go. + +Vandeloup called on Madame Midas the day after she arrived, and Mrs +Villiers was delighted to see him. Having an object in view, of course +Gaston made himself as charming as possible, and assisted Madame to +arrange her house, told her about the people who called on her, and made +cynical remarks about them, all of which amused Madame Midas mightily. +She grew weary of the inane gabble and narrow understandings of people, +and it was quite a relief for her to turn to Vandeloup, with his keen +tongue and clever brains. Gaston was not a charitable talker--few really +clever talkers are--but he saw through everyone with the uttermost ease +and summed them up in a sharp incisive way, which had at least the merit +of being clever. Madame Midas liked to hear him talk, and seeing what +humbugs the people who surrounded her were, and how well she knew their +motives in courting her for her wealth, it is not to be wondered at that +she should have been amused at having all their little weaknesses laid +bare and classified by such a master of satire as Vandeloup. So they sat +and watched the comedy and the unconscious actors playing their parts, +and felt that the air was filled with heavy sensuous perfume, and the +lights were garish, and that there was wanting entirely that keen cool +atmosphere which Mallock calls ‘the ozone of respectability’. + +Vandeloup had prospered in his little venture in the mining market, for, +true to the prediction of Mr Barraclough--who, by the way, was very +much astonished at the sudden demand for shares by Polglaze, and vainly +pumped that reticent individual to find out what he was up to--the +Magpie Reef shares ran up rapidly. A telegram was published from the +manager stating a rich reef had been struck. Specimens of the very +richest kind were displayed in Melbourne, and the confiding public +suddenly woke to the fact that a golden tide was flowing past their +doors. They rushed the share market, and in two weeks the Magpie Reef +shares ran from four shillings to as many pounds. Vandeloup intended +to sell at one pound, but when he saw the rapid rise and heard everyone +talking about this Reef, which was to be a second Long Tunnel, he held +his shares till they touched four pounds, then, quite satisfied with his +profit, he sold out at once and pocketed nearly ten thousand pounds, so +that he was provided for the rest of his life. The shares ran up +still higher, to four pounds ten shillings, then dropped to three, in +consequence of certain rumours that the pocket of gold was worked out. +Then another rich lead was struck, and they ran up again to five pounds, +and afterwards sank to two pounds, which gradually became their regular +price in the market. That Barraclough and his friend did well was +sufficiently proved by the former taking a trip to Europe, while his +friend bought a station and set up as a squatter. They, however, never +knew how cleverly M. Vandeloup had turned their conversation to his +advantage, and that young gentleman, now that he had made a decent sum, +determined to touch gold mining no more, and, unlike many people, he +kept his word. + +Now that he was a man of means, Vandeloup half decided to go to America, +as a larger field for a gentleman of his brilliant qualities, but +the arrival of Madame Midas in Melbourne made him alter his mind. Her +husband was no doubt dead, so Gaston thought that as soon as she had +settled down he would begin to pay his court to her, and without doubt +would be accepted, for this confident young man never for a moment +dreamed of failure. Meanwhile he sent all Kitty’s wardrobe after her as +she went with the Wopples family, and the poor girl, taking this as a +mark of renewed affection, wrote him a very tearful little note, which +M. Vandeloup threw into the fire. Then he looked about and ultimately +got a very handsome suite of rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne. +He furnished these richly, and having invested his money in good +securities, prepared to enjoy himself. + +Kitty, meanwhile, had become a great favourite with the Wopples family, +and they made a wonderful pet of her. Of course, being in Rome, she did +as the Romans did, and went on the stage as Miss Kathleen Wopples, being +endowed with the family name for dramatic reasons. The family were now +on tour among the small towns of Victoria, and seemed to be well-known, +as each member got a reception when he or she appeared on the stage. Mr +Theodore Wopples used to send his agent ahead to engage the theatre--or +more often a hall--bill the town, and publish sensational little notices +in the local papers. Then when the family arrived Mr Wopples, who was +really a gentleman and well-educated, called on all the principal people +of the town and so impressed them with the high class character of the +entertainment that he never failed to secure their patronage. He also +had a number of artful little schemes which he called ‘wheezes’, the +most successful of these being a lecture on ‘The Religious Teaching of +Shakespeare’, which he invariably delivered on a Sunday afternoon in +the theatre of any town he happened to be in, and not infrequently when +requested occupied the pulpit and preached capital sermons. By these +means Mr Wopples kept up the reputation of the family, and the upper +classes of all the towns invariably supported the show, while the lower +classes came as a matter of course. Mr Wopples, however, was equally as +clever in providing a bill of fare as in inducing the public to come to +the theatre, and the adaptability of the family was really wonderful. +One night they would play farcical comedy; then Hamlet, reduced to four +acts by Mr Wopples, would follow on the second night; the next night +burlesque would reign supreme; and when the curtain arose on the fourth +night Mr Wopples and the star artistes would be acting melodrama, and +throw one another off bridges and do strong starvation business with +ragged clothes amid paper snowstorms. + +Kitty turned out to be a perfect treasure, as her pretty face and +charming voice soon made her a favourite, and when in burlesque she +played Princess to Fanny Wopples’ Prince, there was sure to be a crowded +house and lots of applause. Kitty’s voice was clear and sweet as a +lark’s, and her execution something wonderful, so Mr Wopples christened +her the Australian Nightingale, and caused her to be so advertised in +the papers. Moreover, her dainty appearance, and a certain dash and +abandon she had with her, carried the audience irresistibly away, and +had Fanny Wopples not been a really good girl, she would have been +jealous of the success achieved by the new-comer. She, however, taught +Kitty to dance breakdowns, and at Warrnambool they had a benefit, when +‘Faust, M.D.’ was produced, and Fanny sang her great success, ‘I’ve just +had a row with mamma’, and Kitty sang the jewel song from ‘Faust’ in +a manner worthy of Neilson, as the local critic--who had never heard +Neilson--said the next day. Altogether, Kitty fully repaid the good +action of Mr Wopples by making his tour a wonderful success, and the +family returned to Melbourne in high glee with full pockets. + +‘Next year,’ said Mr Wopples, at a supper which they had to celebrate +the success of their tour, ‘we’ll have a theatre in Melbourne, and I’ll +make it the favourite house of the city, see if I don’t.’ + +It seemed, therefore, as though Kitty had found her vocation, and would +develop into an operatic star, but fate intervened, and Miss Marchurst +retired from the stage, which she had adorned so much. This was due to +Madame Midas, who, driving down Collins Street one day, saw Kitty at the +corner walking with Fanny Wopples. She immediately stopped her carriage, +and alighting therefrom, went straight up to the girl, who, turning and +seeing her for the first time, grew deadly pale. + +‘Kitty, my dear,’ said Madame, gravely, ‘I have been looking for you +vainly for a year--but I have found you at last.’ + +Kitty’s breast was full of conflicting emotions; she thought that Madame +knew all about her intimacy with Vandeloup, and that she would speak +severely to her. Mrs Villiers’ next words, however, reassured her. + +‘You left Ballarat to go on the stage, did you not?’ she said kindly, +looking at the girl; ‘why did you not come to me?--you knew I was always +your friend.’ + +‘Yes, Madame,’ said Kitty, putting out her hand and averting her head, +‘I would have come to you, but I thought you would stop me from going.’ + +‘My dear child,’ replied Madame, ‘I thought you knew me better than +that; what theatre are you at?’ + +‘She’s with us,’ said Miss Fanny, who had been staring at this grave, +handsomely-dressed lady who had alighted from such a swell carriage; ‘we +are the Wopples Family.’ + +‘Ah!’ said Mrs Villiers, thinking, ‘I remember, you were up at Ballarat +last year. Well, Kitty, will you and your friend drive down to St Kilda +with me, and I’ll show you my new house?’ + +Kitty would have refused, for she was afraid Madame Midas would perhaps +send her back to her father, but the appealing looks of Fanny Wopples, +who had never ridden in a carriage in her life, and was dying to do +so, decided her to accept. So they stepped into the carriage, and Mrs +Villiers told the coachman to drive home. + +As they drove along, Mrs Villiers delicately refrained from asking Kitty +any questions about her flight, seeing that a stranger was present, but +determined to find out all about it when she got her alone down at St +Kilda. + +Kitty, on her part, was thinking how to baffle Madame’s inquiries. She +knew she would be questioned closely by her, and resolved not to tell +more than she could help, as she, curiously enough--considering how he +had treated her--wished to shield Vandeloup. But she still cherished a +tender feeling for the man she loved, and had Vandeloup asked her to go +back and live with him, would, no doubt, have consented. The fact was, +the girl’s nature was becoming slightly demoralised, and the Kitty who +sat looking at Madame Midas now--though her face was as pretty, and her +eyes as pure as ever--was not the same innocent Kitty that had visited +the Pactolus, for she had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, and was +already cultured in worldly wisdom. Madame, of course, believed that +Kitty had gone from Ballarat straight on to the stage, and never thought +for a moment that for a whole year she had been Vandeloup’s mistress, +so when Kitty found this out--as she very soon did--she took the cue at +once, and asserted positively to Madame that she had been on the stage +for eighteen months. + +‘But how is it,’ asked Madame, who believed her fully, ‘that I could not +find you?’ + +‘Because I was up the country all the time,’ replied Kitty, quickly, +‘and of course did not act under my real name.’ + +‘You would not like to go back to your father, I suppose,’ suggested +Madame. + +Kitty made a gesture of dissent. + +‘No,’ she answered, determinedly; ‘I was tired of my father and his +religion; I’m on the stage now, and I mean to stick to it.’ + +‘Kitty! Kitty!’ said Madame, sadly, ‘you little know the temptations--’ + +‘Oh! yes, I do,’ interrupted Kitty, impatiently; ‘I’ve been nearly two +years on the stage, and I have not seen any great wickedness--besides, +I’m always with Mrs Wopples.’ + +‘Then you still mean to be an actress?’ asked Madame. + +‘Yes,’ replied Kitty, in a firm voice; ‘if I went back to my father, I’d +go mad leading that dull life.’ + +‘But why not stay with me, my dear?’ said Mrs Villiers, looking at her; +‘I am a lonely woman, as you know, and if you come to me, I will treat +you as a daughter.’ + +‘Ah! how good you are,’ cried the girl in a revulsion of feeling, +falling on her friend’s neck; ‘but indeed I cannot leave the stage--I’m +too fond of it.’ + +Madame sighed, and gave up the argument for a time, then showed the two +girls all over the house, and after they had dinner with her, she sent +them back to town in her carriage, with strict injunctions to Kitty to +come down next day and bring Mr Wopples with her. When the two girls +reached the hotel where the family was staying, Fanny gave her father +a glowing account of the opulence of Madame Midas, and Mr Wopples was +greatly interested in the whole affair. He was grave, however, when +Kitty spoke to him privately of what Madame had said to her, and asked +her if she would not like to accept Mrs Villiers’ offer. Kitty, however, +said she would remain on the stage, and as Wopples was to see Madame +Midas next day, made him promise he would say nothing about having +found her on the streets, or of her living with a lover. Wopples, who +thoroughly understood the girl’s desire to hide her shame from her +friends, agreed to this, so Kitty went to bed confident that she had +saved Vandeloup’s name from being dragged into the affair. + +Wopples saw Madame next day, and a long talk ensued, which ended in +Kitty agreeing to stay six months with Mrs Villiers, and then, if she +still wished to continue on the stage, she was to go to Mr Wopples. +On the other hand, in consideration of Wopples losing the services of +Kitty, Madame promised that next year she would give him sufficient +money to start a theatre in Melbourne. So both parted mutually +satisfied. Kitty made presents to all the family, who were very sorry to +part with her, and then took up her abode with Mrs Villiers, as a kind +of adopted daughter, and was quite prepared to play her part in the +comedy of fashion. + +So Madame Midas had been near the truth, yet never discovered it, and +sent a letter to Vandeloup asking him to come to dinner and meet an old +friend, little thinking how old and intimate a friend Kitty was to the +young man. + +It was, as Mr Wopples would have said, a highly dramatic situation, but, +alas, that the confiding nature of Madame Midas should thus have been +betrayed, not only by Vandeloup, but by Kitty herself--the very girl +whom, out of womanly compassion, she took to her breast. + +And yet the world talks about the inherent goodness of human nature. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +M. VANDELOUP IS SURPRISED + + +Owing to the quiet life Kitty had led since she came to Melbourne, +and the fact that her appearance on the stage had taken place in the +country, she felt quite safe when making her appearance in Melbourne +society that no one would recognise her or know anything of her past +life. It was unlikely she would meet with any of the Pulchop family +again, and she knew Mr Wopples would hold his tongue regarding his first +meeting with her, so the only one who could reveal anything about her +would be Vandeloup, and he would certainly be silent for his own sake, +as she knew he valued the friendship of Madame Midas too much to lose +it. Nevertheless she awaited his coming in considerable trepidation, as +she was still in love with him, and was nervous as to what reception +she would meet with. Perhaps now that she occupied a position as Mrs +Villiers’ adopted daughter he would marry her, but, at all events, +when she met him she would know exactly how he felt towards her by his +demeanour. + +Vandeloup, on the other hand, was quite unaware of the surprise in store +for him, and thought that the old friend he was to meet would be some +Ballarat acquaintance of his own and Madame’s. In his wildest flight +of fancy he never thought it would be Kitty, else his cool nonchalance +would for once have been upset at the thought of the two women he was +interested in being under the same roof. However, where ignorance is +bliss--well M. Vandeloup, after dressing himself carefully in evening +dress, put on his hat and coat, and, the evening being a pleasant one, +thought he would stroll through the Fitzroy Gardens down to the station. + +It was pleasant in the gardens under the golden light of the sunset, and +the green arcades of trees looked delightfully cool after the glare of +the dusty streets. Vandeloup, strolling along idly, felt a touch on his +shoulder and wheeled round suddenly, for with his past life ever before +him he always had a haunting dread of being recaptured. + +The man, however, who had thus drawn his attention was none other than +Pierre Lemaire, who stood in the centre of the broad asphalt path, +dirty, ragged and disreputable-looking. He had not altered much since he +left Ballarat, save that he looked more dilapidated-looking, but stood +there in his usual sullen manner, with his hat drawn down over his eyes. +Some stray wisps of grass showed that he had been camping out all the +hot day on the green turf under the shadow of the trees, and it was easy +to see from his appearance what a vagrant he was. Vandeloup was annoyed +at the meeting and cast a rapid look around to see if he was observed. +The few people, however, passing were too intent on their own business +to give more than a passing glance at the dusty tramp and the young man +in evening dress talking to him, so Vandeloup was reassured. + +‘Well, my friend,’ he said, sharply, to the dumb man, ‘what do you +want?’ + +Pierre put his hand in his pocket. + +‘Oh, of course,’ replied M. Vandeloup, mockingly, ‘money, money, always +money; do you think I’m a bank, always to be drawn on like this?’ + +The dumb man made no sign that he had heard, but stood sullenly rocking +himself to and fro an’d chewing a wisp of the grass he had picked off +his coat. + +‘Here,’ said the young man, taking out a sovereign and giving it to +Pierre; ‘take this just now and don’t bother me, or upon my word,’ with +a disdainful look, ‘I shall positively have to hand you over to the +law.’ + +Pierre glanced up suddenly, and Vandeloup caught the gleam of his eyes +under the shadow of the hat. + +‘Oh! you think it will be dangerous for me,’ he said, in a gay tone; +‘not at all, I assure you. I am a gentleman, and rich; you are a pauper, +and disreputable. Who will believe your word against mine? My faith! +your assurance is quite refreshing. Now, go away, and don’t trouble me +again, or,’ with a sudden keen glance, ‘I will do as I say.’ + +He nodded coolly to the dumb man, and strode gaily along under the shade +of the heavily foliaged oaks, while Pierre looked at the sovereign, +slipped it into his pocket, and slouched off in the opposite direction +without even a glance at his patron. + +At the top of the street Vandeloup stepped into a cab, and telling the +man to drive to the St Kilda Station, in Elizabeth Street, went off into +a brown study. Pierre annoyed him seriously, as he never seemed to get +rid of him, and the dumb man kept turning up every now and then like the +mummy at the Egyptian feast to remind him of unpleasant things. + +‘Confound him!’ muttered Vandeloup, angrily, as he alighted at the +station and paid the cabman, ‘he’s more trouble than Bebe was; she did +take the hint and go, but this man, my faith!’ shrugging his shoulders, +‘he’s the devil himself for sticking.’ + +All the way down to St Kilda his reflections were of the same unpleasant +nature, and he cast about in his own mind how he could get rid of this +pertinacious friend. He could not turn him off openly, as Pierre might +take offence, and as he knew more of M. Vandeloup’s private life than +that young gentleman cared about, it would not do to run the risk of an +exposure. + +‘There’s only one thing to be done,’ said Gaston, quietly, as he walked +down to Mrs Villiers’ house; ‘I will try my luck at marrying Madame +Midas; if she consents, we can go away to Europe as man and wife; if +she does not I will go to America, and, in either case, Pierre will lose +trace of me.’ + +With this comfortable reflection he went into the house and was shown +into the drawing room by the servant. There were no lights in the room, +as it was not sufficiently dark for them, and Vandeloup smiled as he saw +a fire in the grate. + +‘My faith!’ he said to himself, ‘Madame is as chilly as ever.’ + +The servant had retired, and he was all by himself in this large room, +with the subdued twilight all through it, and the flicker of the flames +on the ceiling. He went to the fire more from habit than anything else, +and suddenly came on a big armchair, drawn up close to the side, in +which a woman was sitting. + +‘Ah! the sleeping beauty,’ said Vandeloup, carelessly; ‘in these cases +the proper thing to do in order to wake the lady is to kiss her.’ + +He was, without doubt, an extremely audacious young man, and though he +did not know who the young lady was, would certainly have put his design +into execution, had not the white figure suddenly rose and confronted +him. The light from the fire was fair on her face, and with a sudden +start Vandeloup saw before him the girl he had ruined and deserted. + +‘Bebe?’ he gasped, recoiling a step. + +‘Yes!’ said Kitty, in an agitated tone, ‘your mistress and your victim.’ + +‘Bah!’ said Gaston, coolly, having recovered from the first shock of +surprise. ‘That style suits Sarah Bernhardt, not you, my dear. The first +act of this comedy is excellent, but it is necessary the characters +should know one another in order to finish the play.’ + +‘Ah!’ said Kitty, with a bitter smile, ‘do I not know you too well, as +the man who promised me marriage and then broke his word? You forgot all +your vows to me.’ + +‘My dear child,’ replied Gaston leisurely, leaning up against the +mantelpiece, ‘if you had read Balzac you would discover that he says, +“Life would be intolerable without a certain amount of forgetting.” I +must say,’ smiling, ‘I agree with the novelist.’ + +Kitty looked at him as he stood there cool and complacent, and threw +herself back into the chair angrily. + +‘Just the same,’ she muttered restlessly, ‘just the same.’ + +‘Of course,’ replied Vandeloup, raising his eyebrows in surprise. ‘You +have only been away from me six weeks, and it takes longer than that to +alter any one. By the way,’ he went on smoothly, ‘how have you been all +this time? I have no doubt your tour has been as adventurous as that of +Gil Bias.’ + +‘No, it has not,’ replied Kitty, clenching her hands. ‘You never cared +what became of me, and had not Mr Wopples met me in the street on that +fearful night, God knows where I would have been now.’ + +‘I can tell you,’ said Gaston, coolly, taking a seat. ‘With me. You +would have soon got tired of the poverty of the streets, and come back +to your cage.’ + +‘My cage, indeed!’ she echoed, bitterly, tapping the ground with her +foot. ‘Yes, a cage, though it was a gilded one.’ + +‘How Biblical you are getting,’ said the young man, ironically; ‘but +kindly stop speaking in parables, and tell me what position we are to +occupy to each other. As formerly?’ + +‘My God, no!’ she flashed out suddenly. + +‘So much the better,’ he answered, bowing. ‘We will obliterate the last +year from our memories, and I will meet you to-night for the first time +since you left Ballarat. Of course,’ he went on, rather anxiously, ‘you +have told Madame nothing?’ + +‘Only what suited me,’ replied the girl, coldly, stung by the coldness +and utter heartlessness of this man. + +‘Oh!’ with a smile. ‘Did it include my name?’ + +‘No,’ curtly. + +‘Ah!’ with a long indrawn breath, ‘you are more sensible than I gave you +credit for.’ + +Kitty rose to her feet and crossed rapidly over to where he sat calm and +smiling. + +‘Gaston Vandeloup!’ she hissed in his ear, while her face was quite +distorted by the violence of her passion, ‘when I met you I was an +innocent girl--you ruined me, and then cast me off as soon as you grew +weary of your toy. I thought you loved me, and,’ with a stifled sob, +‘God help me, I love you still.’ + +‘Yes, my Bebe,’ he said, in a caressing tone, taking her hand. + +‘No! no,’ she cried, wrenching them away, while an angry spot of colour +glowed on her cheek, ‘I loved you as you were--not as you are now--we +are done with sentiment, M. Vandeloup,’ she said, sneering, ‘and now our +relations to one another will be purely business ones.’ + +He bowed and smiled. + +‘So glad you understand the position,’ he said, blandly; ‘I see the age +of miracles is not yet past when a woman can talk sense.’ + +‘You won’t disturb me with your sneers,’ retorted the girl, glaring +fiercely at him out of the gathering gloom in the room; ‘I am not the +innocent girl I once was.’ + +‘It is needless to tell me that,’ he said, coarsely. + +She drew herself up at the extreme insult. + +‘Have a care, Gaston,’ she muttered, hurriedly, ‘I know more about your +past life than you think.’ + +He rose from his seat and approached his face, now white as her own, to +hers. + +‘What do you know?’ he asked, in a low, passionate voice. + +‘Enough to be dangerous to you,’ she retorted, defiantly. + +They both looked at one another steadily, but the white face of the +woman did not blench before the scintillations of his eyes. + +‘What you know I don’t know,’ he said, steadily; ‘but whatever it is, +keep it to yourself, or--,’ catching her wrist. + +‘Or what?’ she asked, boldly. + +He threw her away from him with a laugh, and the sombre fire died out of +his eyes. + +‘Bah!’ he said, gaily, ‘our comedy is turning into a tragedy; I am as +foolish as you; I think,’ significantly, ‘we understand one another.’ + +‘Yes, I think we do,’ she answered, calmly, the colour coming back to +her cheek. ‘Neither of us are to refer to the past, and we both go on +our different roads unhindered.’ + +‘Mademoiselle Marchurst,’ said Vandeloup, ceremoniously, ‘I am delighted +to meet you after a year’s absence--come,’ with a gay laugh, ‘let us +begin the comedy thus, for here,’ he added quickly, as the door opened, +‘here comes the spectators.’ + +‘Well, young people,’ said Madame’s voice, as she came slowly into the +room, ‘you are all in the dark; ring the bell for lights, M. Vandeloup.’ + +‘Certainly, Madame,’ he answered, touching the electric button, ‘Miss +Marchurst and myself were renewing our former friendship.’ + +‘How do you think she is looking?’ asked Madame, as the servant came in +and lit the gas. + +‘Charming,’ replied Vandeloup, looking at the dainty little figure in +white standing under the blaze of the chandelier; ‘she is more beautiful +than ever.’ + +Kitty made a saucy little curtsey, and burst into a musical laugh. + +‘He is just the same, Madame,’ she said merrily to the tall, grave +woman in black velvet, who stood looking at her affectionately, ‘full +of compliments, and not meaning one; but when is dinner to be ready?’ +pathetically, ‘I’m dying of starvation.’ + +‘I hope you have peaches, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, gaily; ‘the first +time I met Mademoiselle she was longing for peaches.’ + +‘I am unchanged in that respect,’ retorted Kitty, brightly; ‘I adore +peaches still.’ + +‘I am just waiting for Mr Calton,’ said Madame Midas, looking at her +watch; ‘he ought to be here by now.’ + +‘Is that the lawyer, Madame?’ asked Vandeloup. + +‘Yes,’ she replied, quietly, ‘he is a most delightful man.’ + +‘So I have heard,’ answered Vandeloup, nonchalantly, ‘and he had +something to do with a former owner of this house, I think.’ + +‘Oh, don’t talk of that,’ said Mrs Villiers, nervously; ‘the first time +I took the house, I heard all about the Hansom Cab murder.’ + +‘Why, Madame, you are not nervous,’ said Kitty, gaily. + +‘No, my dear,’ replied the elder, quietly, ‘but I must confess that for +some reason or another I have been a little upset since coming here; I +don’t like being alone.’ + +‘You shall never be that,’ said Kitty, fondly nestling to her. + +‘Thank you, puss,’ said Madame, tapping her cheek; ‘but I am nervous,’ +she said, rapidly; ‘at night especially. Sometimes I have to get Selina +to come into my room and stay all night.’ + +‘Madame Midas nervous,’ thought Vandeloup to himself; ‘then I can guess +the reason; she is afraid of her husband coming back to her.’ + +Just at this moment the servant announced Mr Calton, and he entered, +with his sharp, incisive face, looking clever and keen. + +‘I must apologise for being late, Mrs Villiers,’ he said, shaking hands +with his hostess; ‘but business, you know, the pleasure of business.’ + +‘Now,’ said Madame, quickly, ‘I hope you have come to the business of +pleasure.’ + +‘Very epigrammatic, my dear lady,’ said Calton, in his high, clear +voice; ‘pray introduce me.’ + +Madame did so, and they all went to dinner, Madame with Calton and Kitty +following with Vandeloup. + +‘This,’ observed Calton, when they were all seated at the dinner table, +‘is the perfection of dining; for we are four, and the guests, according +to an epicure, should never be less than the Graces nor greater than the +Muses.’ + +And a very merry little dinner it was. All four were clever talkers, +and Vandeloup and Calton being pitted against one another, excelled +themselves; witty remarks, satirical sayings, and well-told stories were +constantly coming from their lips, and they told their stories as their +own and did not father them on Sydney Smith. + +‘If Sydney Smith was alive,’ said Calton, in reference to this, ‘he +would be astonished at the number of stories he did not tell.’ + +‘Yes,’ chimed in Vandeloup, gaily, ‘and astounded at their brilliancy.’ + +‘After all,’ said Madame, smiling, ‘he’s a sheet-anchor for some people; +for the best original story may fail, a dull one ascribed to Sydney +Smith must produce a laugh.’ + +‘Why?’ asked Kitty, in some wonder. + +‘Because,’ explained Calton, gravely, ‘society goes mainly by tradition, +and our grandmothers having laughed at Sydney Smith’s jokes, they must +necessarily be amusing. Depend upon it, jokes can be sanctified by time +quite as much as creeds.’ + +‘They are more amusing, at all events,’ said Madame, satirically. +‘Creeds generally cause quarrels.’ + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘And quarrels generally cause stories,’ he said, smiling; ‘it is the law +of compensation.’ + +They then went to the drawing-room and Kitty and Vandeloup both sang, +and treated one another in a delightfully polite way. Madame Midas and +Calton were both clever, but how much cleverer were the two young people +at the piano. + +‘Are you going to Meddlechip’s ball?’ said Calton to Madame. + +‘Oh, yes,’ she answered, nodding her head, ‘I and Miss Marchurst are +both going.’ + +‘Who is Mr Meddlechip?’ asked Kitty, swinging round on the piano-stool. + +‘He is the most charitable man in Melbourne,’ said Gaston, with a faint +sneer. + +‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians,’ said Calton, mockingly. ‘Because +Mr Meddlechip suffers from too much money, and has to get rid of it to +prevent himself being crushed like Tarpeia by the Sabine shields, he is +called charitable.’ + +‘He does good, though, doesn’t he?’ asked Madame. + +‘See advertisement,’ scoffed Calton. ‘Oh, yes! he will give thousands of +pounds for any public object, but private charity is a waste of money in +his eyes.’ + +‘You are very hard on him,’ said Madame Midas, with a laugh. + +‘Ah! Mr Calton believes as I do,’ cried Vandeloup, ‘that it’s no good +having friends unless you’re privileged to abuse them.’ + +‘It’s one you take full advantage of, then,’ observed Kitty, saucily. + +‘I always take what I can get,’ he returned, mockingly; whereon she +shivered, and Calton saw it. + +‘Ah!’ said that astute reader of character to himself, ‘there’s +something between those two. ‘Gad! I’ll cross-examine my French friend.’ + +They said good-night to the ladies, and walked to the St Kilda station, +from thence took the train to town, and Calton put into force his +cross-examination. He might as well have tried his artful questions on +a rock as on Vandeloup, for that clever young gentleman saw through the +barrister at once, and baffled him at every turn with his epigrammatic +answers and consummate coolness. + +‘I confess,’ said Calton, when they said good-night to one another, ‘I +confess you puzzle me.’ + +‘Language,’ observed M. Vandeloup, with a smile, ‘was given to us to +conceal our thoughts. Good night!’ + +And they parted. + +‘The comedy is over for the night,’ thought Gaston as he walked along, +‘and it was so true to nature that the spectators never thought it was +art.’ + +He was wrong, for Calton did. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A PROFESSIONAL PHILANTHROPIST + + +We have professional diners-out, professional beauties, professional +Christians, then why not professional philanthropists? This brilliant +century of ours has nothing to do with the word charity, as it savours +too much of stealthy benevolence, so it has substituted in its place the +long word philanthropy, which is much more genteel and comprehensive. +Charity, the meekest of the Christian graces, has been long since +dethroned, and her place is taken by the blatant braggard Philanthropy, +who does his good deeds in a most ostentatious manner, and loudly +invites the world to see his generosity, and praise him for it. Charity, +modestly hooded, went into the houses of the poor, and tendered her +gifts with smiles. Philanthropy now builds almshouses and hospitals, +and rails at poverty if it has too much pride to occupy them. And +what indeed, has poverty to do with pride?--it’s far too sumptuous and +expensive an article, and can only be possessed by the rich, who can +afford to wear it because it is paid for. Mr Meddlechip was rich, so +he bought a large stock of pride, and wore it everywhere. It was not +personal pride--he was not good-looking; it was not family pride--he +never had a grandfather; nor was it pecuniary pride--he had too much +money for that. But it was a mean, sneaking, insinuating pride that +wrapped him round like a cloak, and pretended to be very humble, and +only holding its money in trust for the poor. The poor ye have always +with you--did not Mr Meddlechip know it? Ask the old men and women +in the almshouses, and they would answer yes; but ask the squalid +inhabitants of the slums, and they would probably say, ‘Meddlechip, +‘o’s ‘e?’ Not that the great Ebenezer Meddlechip was unknown--oh, +dear, no--he was a representative colonial; he sat in Parliament, and +frequently spoke at those enlarged vestry meetings about the prosperity +of the country. He laid foundation stones. He took the chair at public +meetings. In fact, he had his finger in every public pie likely to bring +him into notoriety; but not in private pies, oh, dear, no; he never did +good by stealth and blush to find it fame. Any blushes he might have had +would have been angry ones at his good deed not being known. + +He had come in the early days of the colony, and made a lot of money, +being a shrewd man, and one who took advantage of every tide in the +affairs of men. He was honest, that is honest as our present elastic +acceptation of the word goes--and when he had accumulated a fortune he +set to work to buy a few things. He bought a grand house at Toorak, +then he bought a wife to do the honours of the grand house, and when +his domestic affairs were quite settled, he bought popularity, which +is about the cheapest thing anyone can buy. When the Society for the +Supplying of Aborigines with White Waistcoats was started he headed the +list with one thousand pounds--bravo, Meddlechip! The Secretary of +the Band of Hard-up Matrons asked him for fifty pounds, and got five +hundred--generous Meddlechip! And at the meeting of the Society for the +Suppression of Vice among Married Men he gave two thousand pounds, and +made a speech on the occasion, which made all the married men present +tremble lest their sins should find them out--noble Meddlechip! He would +give thousands away in public charity, have it well advertised in the +newspapers, and then wonder, with humility, how the information got +there; and he would give a poor woman in charge for asking for a penny, +on the ground that she was a vagrant. Here, indeed, was a man for +Victoria to be proud of; put up a statue to him in the centre of the +city; let all the school children study a list of his noble actions as +lessons; let the public at large grovel before him, and lick the dust of +his benevolent shoes, for he is a professional philanthropist. + +Mrs Meddlechip, large, florid, and loud-voiced, was equally as well +known as her husband, but in a different way. He posed as benevolence, +she was the type of all that’s fashionable--that is, she knew everyone; +gave large parties, went out to balls, theatres, and lawn tennis, and +dressed in the very latest style, whether it suited her or not. She had +been born and brought up in the colonies, but when her husband went to +London as a representative colonial she went also, and stayed there +a whole year, after which she came out to her native land and ran +everything down in the most merciless manner. They did not do this in +England--oh! dear no! nothing so common--the people in Melbourne had +such dreadfully vulgar manners; but then, of course, they are not +English; there was no aristocracy; even the dogs and horses were +different; they had not the stamp of centuries of birth and breeding on +them. In fact, to hear Mrs Meddlechip talk one would think that England +was a perfect aristocratic paradise, and Victoria a vulgar--other place. +She totally ignored the marvellously rapid growth of the country, and +that the men and women in it were actually the men and women who had +built it up year by year, so that even now it was taking its place among +the nations of the earth. But Mrs Meddlechip was far too ladylike and +fashionable for troubling about such things--oh dear, no--she left +all these dry facts to Ebenezer, who could speak about them in his own +pompous, blatant style at public meetings. + +This lady was one of those modern inventions known as a frisky matron, +and said and did all manner of dreadful things, which people winked +at because--she was Mrs Meddlechip, and eccentric. She had a young +man always dangling after her at theatres and dances--sometimes one, +sometimes another, but there was one who was a fixture. This was Barty +Jarper, who acted as her poodle dog, and fetched and carried for her in +the most amiable manner. When any new poodle dog came on the scene Barty +would meekly resign his position, and retire into the background until +such time as he was whistled back again to go through his antics. +Barty attended her everywhere, made up her programmes, wrote out her +invitations, danced with whosoever he was told, and was rewarded for all +these services by being given the crumbs from the rich man’s table. +Mr Jarper had a meek little way with Mrs Meddlechip, as if he was +constantly apologising for having dared to have come into the world +without her permission, but to other people he was rude enough, and in +his own mean little soul looked upon himself quite as a man of fashion. +How he managed to go about as he did was a standing puzzle to his +friends, as he got only a small salary at the Hibernian Bank; yet he was +to be seen at balls, theatres, tennis parties; constantly driving about +in hansoms; in fact, lived as if he had an independent income. The +general opinion was that he was supplied with money by Mrs Meddlechip, +while others said he gambled; and, indeed, Barty was rather clever at +throwing sixes, and frequently at the Bachelors’ Club won a sufficient +sum to give him a new suit of clothes or pay his club subscription for +the year. He was one of those bubbles which dance on the surface of +society, yet are sure to vanish some day, and if God tempered the wind +to any particular shorn lamb, that shorn lamb was Barty Jarper. + +The Meddlechips were giving a ball, therefore the mansion at Toorak +was brilliantly illuminated and crowded with fashionable people. The +ball-room was at the side of the house, and from it French windows +opened on to a wide verandah, which was enclosed with drapery and hung +with many-coloured Chinese lanterns. Beyond this the smooth green lawns +stretched away to a thick fringe of trees, which grew beside the fence +and screened the Meddlechip residence from the curious gaze of vulgar +eyes. + +Kitty came under the guardianship of Mrs Riller, a young matron with +dark hair, an imperious manner, and a young man always at her heels. Mrs +Villiers intended to have come, but at the last moment was seized with +one of her nervous fits, so decided to stop at home with Selina for +company. Kitty, therefore, accompanied Mrs Riller to the ball, but the +guardianship of that lady was more nominal than anything else, as she +went off with Mr Bellthorp after introducing Kitty to Mrs Meddlechip, +and flirted and danced with him the whole evening. Kitty, however, +did not in the least mind being left to her own devices, for being an +extremely pretty girl she soon had plenty of young men round her anxious +to be introduced. She filled her programme rapidly and kept two valses +for Vandeloup, as she knew he was going to be present, but he as yet had +not made his appearance. + +He arrived about a quarter past ten o’clock, and was strolling leisurely +up to the house, when he saw Pierre, standing amid a number of idlers +at the gate. The dumb man stepped forward, and Vandeloup paused with a +smile on his handsome lips, though he was angry enough at the meeting. + +‘Money again, I suppose?’ he said to Pierre, in a low voice, in French; +‘don’t trouble me now, but come to my rooms to-morrow.’ + +The dumb man nodded, and Vandeloup walked leisurely up the path. Then +Pierre followed him right up to the steps which led to the house, saw +him enter the brilliantly-lighted hall, and then hid himself in the +shrubs which grew on the edge of the lawn. There, in close hiding, he +could hear the sound of music and voices, and could see the door of +the fernery wide open, and caught glimpses of dainty dresses and bare +shoulders within. + +Vandeloup, quite ignorant that his friend was watching the house, put on +his gloves leisurely, and walked in search of his hostess. + +Mrs Meddlechip glanced approvingly at Vandeloup as he came up, for he +was extremely good-looking, and good-looking men were Mrs Meddlechip’s +pet weakness. Barty was in attendance on his liege lady, and when he +saw how she admired Vandeloup, he foresaw he would be off duty for some +time. It would be Vandeloup promoted vice Jarper resigned, but Barty +very well knew that Gaston was not a man to conduct himself like a +poodle dog, so came to the conclusion he would be retained for use +and M. Vandeloup for ornament. Meanwhile, he left Mrs Meddlechip to +cultivate the acquaintance of the young Frenchman, and went off with a +red-haired girl to the supper-room. Red-haired girl, who was remarkably +ugly and self-complacent, had been a wallflower all the evening, but +thought none the less of herself on that account. She assured Barty she +was not hungry, but when she finished supper Mr Jarper was very glad, +for the supper’s sake, she had no appetite. + +‘She’s the hungriest girl I ever met in my life,’ he said to Bellthorp +afterwards; ‘ate up everything I gave her, and drank so much lemonade, I +thought she’d go up like a balloon.’ + +When Barty had satisfied the red-haired girl’s appetite--no easy +matter--he left her to play wallflower and make spiteful remarks on +the girls who were dancing, and took out another damsel, who smiled +and smiled, and trod on his toes when he danced, till he wished her in +Jericho. He asked if she was hungry, but, unlike the other girl, she was +not; he said she must be tired, but oh, dear no, she was quite fresh; so +she danced the whole waltz through and bumped Barty against everyone in +the room; then said his step did not suit hers, which exasperated him so +much--for Barty flattered himself on his waltzing--that he left her +just as she was getting up a flirtation, and went to have a glass of +champagne to soothe his feelings. Released from Mrs Meddlechip, Gaston +went in search of Kitty, and found her flirting with Felix Rolleston, +who was amusing her with his gay chatter. + +‘This is a deuced good-looking chappie,’ said Mr Rolleston, fixing his +eyeglass in his eye and looking critically at Gaston as he approached +them; ‘M. Vandeloup, isn’t it?’ + +Kitty said it was. + +‘Oh! yes,’ went on Felix, brightly, ‘saw him about town--don’t know him +personally; awfully like a fellow I once knew called Fitzgerald--Brian +Fitzgerald--married now and got a family; funny thing, married Miss +Frettlby, who used to live in your house.’ + +‘Oh! that hansom cab murder,’ said Kitty, looking at him, ‘I’ve heard +all about that.’ + +‘Egad! I should think you had,’ observed Mr Rolleston, with a grin, ‘it +was a nine days’ wonder; but here’s your friend, introduce me, pray,’ as +Vandeloup came up. + +Kitty did so, and Felix improved the occasion. + +‘Knew you by sight,’ he said, shaking hands with Gaston, ‘but it’s a +case of we never speak as we pass by, and all that sort of thing--come +and look me up,’ hospitably, ‘South Yarra.’ + +‘Delighted,’ said Gaston, smoothly, taking Kitty’s programme and putting +his name down for the two vacant waltzes. + +‘Reciprocal, I assure you,’ said the lively Felix. ‘Oh, by Jove! excuse +me, Miss Marchurst--there’s a polka--got to dance with a girl--you’ll +see me in a minute--she’s a maypole--I’m not, ha! ha! You’ll say it’s +the long and the short of it--ta-ta at present.’ + +He hopped off gaily, and they soon saw him steering the maypole round +the room, or rather, the maypole steered Felix, for her idea of the +dance was to let Felix skip gaily round her; then she lifted him up and +put him down a few feet further on, when he again skipped, and so the +performance went on, to the intense amusement of Kitty and Gaston. + +‘My faith!’ said Vandeloup, satirically, dropping into a seat beside +Kitty, ‘she is a maypole, and he’s a merry peasant dancing round it. By +the way, Bebe, why isn’t Madame here to-night?’ + +‘She’s not well,’ replied Kitty, unfurling her fan; ‘I don’t know what’s +come over her, she’s so nervous.’ + +‘Oh! indeed,’ said Vandeloup, politely; ‘Hum!--still afraid of her +husband turning up,’ he said to himself, as Kitty was carried away for a +valse by Mr Bellthorp; ‘how slow all this is?’ he went on, yawning, and +rising from his seat; ‘I shan’t stay long, or that old woman will be +seizing me again. Poor Kestrike, surely his sin has been punished enough +in having such a wife,’ and M. Vandeloup strolled away to speak to Mrs +Riller, who, being bereft of Bellthorp, was making signals to him with +her fan. + +Barty Jarper had been hard at work all night on the poodle-dog system, +and had danced with girls who could not dance, and talked with girls +that could not talk, so, as a reward for his work, he promised himself a +dance with Kitty. At the beginning of the evening he had secured a dance +from her, and now, all his duties for the evening being over, he went to +get it. Bellthorp had long since returned to Mrs Riller and flirtation, +and Kitty had been dancing with a tall young man, with unsteady legs and +an eye-glass that would not stick in his eye. She did not particularly +care about Mr Jarper, with his effeminate little ways, but was quite +glad when he came to carry her off from the unsteady legs and the +eye-glass. The dance was the Lancers; but Kitty declared she would not +dance it as she felt weary, so made Mr Jarper take her to supper. Barty +was delighted, as he was hungry himself, so they secured a pleasant +little nook, and Barty foraged for provisions. + +‘You know all about this house,’ said Kitty, when she saw how successful +the young man was in getting nice things. + +‘Oh, yes,’ murmured Barty, quite delighted, ‘I know most of the houses +in Melbourne--I know yours.’ + +‘Mrs Villiers’?’ asked Kitty. + +Barty nodded. + +‘Used to go down there a lot when Mr Frettlby lived there,’ he said, +sipping his wine. ‘I know every room in it.’ + +‘You’d be invaluable as a burglar,’ said Kitty, a little contemptuously, +as she looked at his slim figure. + +‘I dare say,’ replied Barty, who took the compliment in good faith. +‘Some night I’ll climb up to your room and give you a fright.’ + +‘Shows how much you know,’ retorted Miss Marchurst. ‘My room is next to +Madame’s on the ground floor.’ + +‘I know,’ said Barty, sagely, nodding his head. ‘It used to be a +boudoir--nice little room. By the way, where is Mrs Villiers to-night?’ + +‘She’s not well,’ replied Kitty, yawning behind her fan, for she was +weary of Barty and his small talk. ‘She’s very worried.’ + +‘Over money matters, I suppose?’ + +Kitty laughed and shook her head. + +‘Hardly,’ she answered. + +‘I dare say,’ replied Barty, ‘she’s awfully rich. You know, I’m in the +bank where her account is, and I know all about her. Rich! oh, she is +rich! Lucky thing for that French fellow if he marries her.’ + +‘Marries her?’ echoed Kitty, her face growing pale. ‘M. Vandeloup?’ + +‘Yes,’ replied Barty, pleased at having made a sensation. ‘Her first +husband has vanished, you know, and all the fellows are laying bets +about Van marrying the grass widow.’ + +‘What nonsense!’ said Kitty, in an agitated voice. ‘M. Vandeloup is her +friend--nothing more.’ + +Barty grinned. + +‘I’ve seen so much of that “friendship, and nothing more”, business,’ he +said, significantly, whereupon Kitty rose to her feet. + +‘I’m tired,’ she said, coldly. ‘Kindly take me to Mrs Riller.’ + +‘I’ve put my foot into it,’ thought Jarper, as he led her away. ‘I +believe she’s spoons on Van herself.’ + +Mrs Riller was not very pleased to see Kitty, as Mr Bellthorp was +telling her some amusing scandals about her dearest friends, and, of +course, had to stop when Kitty came up. + +‘Not dancing, dear?’ she asked, with a sympathetic smile, glancing +angrily at Bellthorp, who seemed more struck with Kitty than he had any +right to be, considering he was her property. + +‘No,’ replied Kitty, ‘I’m a little tired.’ + +‘Miss Marchurst,’ observed Bellthorp, leaning towards her, ‘I’m sure +I’ve seen you before.’ + +Kitty felt a chill running through her veins as she remembered where +their last meeting had been. The extremity of the danger gave her +courage. + +‘I dare say,’ she replied, coldly turning her back on the young man, +‘I’m not invisible.’ + +Mrs Riller looked with all her eyes, for she wanted to know all about +this pretty girl who dropped so unexpectedly into Melbourne society, so +she determined to question Bellthorp when she got him alone. To this end +she finessed. + +‘Oh! there’s that lovely valse,’ she said, as the band struck up ‘One +summer’s night in Munich’. ‘If you are not engaged, Mr Bellthorp, we +must have a turn.’ + +‘Delighted,’ replied Bellthorp, languidly offering his arm, but thinking +meanwhile, ‘confound these women, how they do work a man.’ + +‘You, I suppose,’ said Mrs Riller to Kitty, ‘are going to play +wallflower.’ + +‘Hardly,’ observed a cool voice behind them; ‘Miss Marchurst dances this +with me--you see, Mrs Riller,’ as that lady turned and saw Vandeloup, +‘she has not your capability at playing wallflower,’ with a significant +glance at Bellthorp. + +Mrs Riller understood the look, which seemed to pierce into the very +depths of her frivolous little soul, and flushed angrily as she moved +away with Mr Bellthorp and mentally determined to be even with Vandeloup +on the first occasion. + +Gaston, quite conscious of the storm he had raised, smiled serenely, and +then offered his arm to Kitty, which she refused, as she was determined +to find out from his own lips the truth of Jarper’s statement regarding +Madame Midas. + +‘I don’t want to dance,’ she said curtly, pointing to the seat beside +her as an invitation for him to sit down. + +‘Pardon me,’ observed Vandeloup, blandly, ‘I do; we can talk afterwards +if you like.’ + +Their eyes met, and then Kitty arose and took his arm, with a charming +pout. It was no good fighting against the quiet, masterful manner of +this man, so she allowed him to put his arm round her waist and swing +her slowly into the centre of the room. ‘One summer’s night in Munich’ +was a favourite valse, and everyone who could dance, and a good many who +could not, were up on the floor. Every now and then, through the steady +beat of the music, came the light laugh of a woman or the deeper tones +of a man’s voice; and the glare of the lights, the flashing jewels on +the bare necks and arms of women, the soft frou-frou of their dresses, +as their partners swung them steadily round, and the subtle perfume of +flowers gave an indescribable sensuous flavour to the whole scene. And +the valse--who does not know it? with its sad refrain, which comes in +every now and then throughout, even in the most brilliant passages. +The whole story of a man’s faith and a woman’s treachery is contained +therein. + +‘One summer’s night in Munich,’ sighed the heavy bass instruments, +sadly and reproachfully, ‘I thought your heart was true!’ Listen to the +melancholy notes of the prelude which recall the whole scene--do you not +remember? The stars are shining, the night wind is blowing, and we are +on the terrace looking down on the glittering lights of the city. Hark! +that joyous sparkling strain, full of riant laughter, recalls the sad +students who wandered past, and then from amid the airy ripple of +notes comes the sweet, mellow strain of the ‘cello, which tells of love +eternal amid the summer roses; how the tender melody sweeps on full +of the perfume and mystic meanings of that night. Hark! is that the +nightingale in the trees, or only the silvery notes of a violin, +which comes stealing through the steady throb and swing of the heavier +stringed instruments? Ah! why does the rhythm stop? A few chords +breaking up the dream, the sound of a bugle calling you away, and +the valse goes into the farewell motif with its tender longing and +passionate anguish. Good-bye! you will be true? Your heart is mine, +good-bye, sweetheart! Stop! that discord of angry notes--she is false +to her soldier lover! The stars are pale, the nightingale is silent, the +rose leaves fall, and the sad refrain comes stealing through the room +again with its bitter reproach, ‘One summer’s night in Munich I knew +your heart was false.’ + +Kitty danced for a little time, but was too much agitated to enjoy the +valse, in spite of the admirable partner M. Vandeloup made. She was +determined to find out the truth, so stopped abruptly, and insisted on +Vandeloup taking her to the conservatory. + +‘What for?’ he asked, as they threaded their way through the crowded +room. ‘Is it important?’ + +‘Very,’ she replied, looking straight at him; ‘it is essential to our +comedy.’ + +M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘My faith!’ he murmured, as they entered the fernery; ‘this comedy is +becoming monotonous.’ + + + + +CHAPTER X + +IN THE FERNERY + + +The fernery was a huge glass building on one side of the ballroom, +filled with Australian and New Zealand ferns, and having a large +fountain in the centre sending up a sparkling jet of water, which fell +into the shallow stone basin filled with water lilies and their pure +white flowers. At the end was a mimic representation of a mountain +torrent, with real water tumbling down real rocks, and here and there +in the crannies and crevices grew delicate little ferns, while overhead +towered the great fronds of the tree ferns. The roof was a dense mass of +greenery, and wire baskets filled with sinuous creepers hung down, with +their contents straggling over. Electric lights in green globes were +skilfully hidden all round, and a faint aquamarine twilight permeated +the whole place, and made it look like a mermaid’s grotto in the depths +of the sea. Here and there were delightful nooks, with well-cushioned +seats, many of which were occupied by pretty girls and their attendant +cavaliers. On one side of the fernery a wide door opened on to a low +terrace, from whence steps went down to the lawn, and beyond was the +dark fringe of trees wherein Pierre was concealed. + +Kitty and Vandeloup found a very comfortable nook just opposite the +door, and they could see the white gleam of the terrace in the luminous +starlight. Every now and then a couple would pass, black silhouettes +against the clear sky, and around they could hear the murmur of voices +and the musical tinkling of the fountain, while the melancholy music +of the valse, with its haunting refrain, sounded through the pale green +twilight. Barty Jarper was talking near them, in his mild little way, to +a tall young lady in a bilious-looking green dress, and further off Mr +Bellthorp was laughing with Mrs Riller behind the friendly shelter of +her fan. + +‘Well,’ said Vandeloup, amiably, as he sank into a seat beside Kitty, +‘what is this great matter you wish to speak about?’ + +‘Madame Midas,’ retorted Kitty, looking straight at him. + +‘Such a delightful subject,’ murmured Gaston, closing his eyes, as he +guessed what was coming; ‘go on, I’m all attention.’ + +‘You are going to marry her,’ said Miss Marchurst, bending towards him +and closing her fan with a snap. + +Vandeloup smiled faintly. + +‘You don’t say so?’ he murmured, opening his eyes and looking at her +lazily; ‘who told you this news--for news it is to me, I assure you?’ + +‘Then it’s not true?’ added Kitty, eagerly, with a kind of gasp. + +‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ he replied, indolently fingering his moustache; +‘I haven’t asked her yet.’ + +‘You are not going to do so?’ she said, rapidly, with a flush on her +face. + +‘Why not?’ in surprise; ‘do you object?’ + +‘Object? my God!’ she ejaculated, in a low fierce tone; ‘have you +forgotten what we are to one another?’ + +‘Friends, I understand,’ he said, looking at his hands, admiringly. + +‘And something more,’ she added, bitterly; ‘lovers!’ + +‘Don’t talk so loud, my dear,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly; ‘it doesn’t do +to let everyone know your private business.’ + +‘It’s private now,’ she said, in a voice of passion, ‘but it will soon +be public enough.’ + +‘Indeed! which paper do you advertise in?’ + +‘Listen to me, Gaston,’ she said, taking no notice of his sneer; ‘you +will never marry Madame Midas; sooner than that, I will reveal all and +kill myself.’ + +‘You forget,’ he said, gently; ‘it is comedy, not tragedy, we play.’ + +‘That is as I choose,’ she retorted; ‘see!’ and with a sudden gesture +she put her hand into the bosom of her dress and took out the bottle of +poison with the red bands. ‘I have it still.’ + +‘So I perceive,’ he answered, smiling. ‘Do you always carry it about +with you, like a modern Lucrezia Borgia?’ + +‘Yes,’ she answered quietly; ‘it never leaves me, you see,’ with a +sneer. ‘As you said yourself, it’s always well to be prepared for +emergencies.’ + +‘So it appears,’ observed Vandeloup, with a yawn, sitting up. ‘I +wouldn’t use that poison if I were you; it is risky.’ + +‘Oh, no, it’s not,’ answered Kitty; ‘it is fatal in its results, and +leaves no trace behind.’ + +‘There you are wrong,’ replied Gaston, coolly; ‘it does leave traces +behind, but makes it appear as if apoplexy was the cause of death. Give +me the bottle?’ peremptorily. + +‘No!’ she answered, defiantly, clenching it in her hand. + +‘I say yes,’ he said, in an angry whisper; ‘that poison is my secret, +and I’m not going to have you play fast and loose with it; give it up,’ +and he placed his hand on her wrist. + +‘You hurt my wrist,’ she said. + +‘I’ll break your wrist, my darling,’ he said, quietly, ‘if you don’t +give me that bottle.’ + +Kitty wrenched her hand away, and rose to her feet. + +‘Sooner than that, I’ll throw it away,’ she said, and before he could +stop her, she flung the bottle out on to the lawn, where it fell down +near the trees. + +‘Bah! I will find it,’ he said, springing to his feet, but Kitty was too +quick for him. + +‘M. Vandeloup,’ she said aloud, so that everyone could hear; ‘kindly +take me back to the ball-room, will you, to finish our valse.’ + +Vandeloup would have refused, but she had his arm, and as everyone +was looking at him, he could not refuse without being guilty of marked +discourtesy. Kitty had beaten him with his own weapons, so, with a +half-admiring glance at her, he took her back to the ball-room, where +the waltz was just ending. + +‘At all events,’ he said in her ear, as they went smoothly gliding round +the room, ‘you won’t be able to do any mischief with it now to yourself +or to anyone else.’ + +‘Won’t I?’ she retorted quickly; ‘I have some more at home.’ + +‘The deuce!’ he ejaculated. + +‘Yes,’ she replied, triumphantly; ‘the bottle I got that belonged to +you, I put half its contents into another. So you see I can still do +mischief, and,’ in a fierce whisper, ‘I will, if you don’t give up this +idea of marrying Madame Midas.’ + +‘I thought you knew me better than that,’ he said, in a tone of +concentrated passion. ‘I will not.’ + +Then I’ll poison her,’ she retorted. + +‘What, the woman who has been so kind to you?’ + +‘Yes, I’d rather see her dead than married to a devil like you.’ + +‘How amiable you are, Bebe,’ he said, with a laugh, as the music +stopped. + +‘I am what you have made me,’ she replied, bitterly, and they walked +into the drawing-room. + +After this Vandeloup clearly saw that it was a case of diamond cut +diamond, for Kitty was becoming as clever with her tongue as he was. +After all, though she was his pupil, and was getting as hardened and +cynical as possible, he did not think it fair she should use his own +weapons against himself. He did not believe she would try and poison +Madame Midas, even though she was certain of not being detected, for +he thought she was too tender-hearted. But, alas! he had taught her +excellently well, and Kitty was rapidly arriving at the conclusion +he had long since come to, that number one was the greatest number. +Besides, her love for Vandeloup, though not so ardent as it had been, +was too intense for her to let any other woman get a hold of him. +Altogether, M. Vandeloup was in an extremely unpleasant position, and +one of his own making. + +Having given Kitty over to the tender care of Mrs Rolleston, Vandeloup +hurried outside to look for the missing bottle. He had guessed the +position it fell in, and, striking a match, went to look over the smooth +close-shorn turf. But though he was a long time, and looked carefully, +the bottle was gone. + +‘The devil!’ said Vandeloup, startled by this discovery. ‘Who could have +picked it up?’ + +He went back into the conservatory, and, sitting down in his old place, +commenced to review the position. + +It was most annoying about the poison, there was no doubt of that. +He only hoped that whoever picked it up would know nothing about its +dangerous qualities. After all, he could be certain about that, as no +one but himself knew what the poison was and how it could be used. The +person who picked up the bottle would probably throw it away again as +useless; and then, again, perhaps when Kitty threw the bottle away the +stopper came out, and the contents would be lost. And then Kitty still +had more left, but--bah!--she would not use it on Madame Midas. That was +the vague threat of a jealous woman to frighten him. The real danger he +was in lay in the fact that she might tell Madame Midas the relations +between them, and then there would be no chance of his marrying at all. +If he could only stop Kitty’s mouth in some way--persuasion was thrown +away on her. If he could with safety get rid of her he would. Ah! that +was an idea. He had some of this poison--if he could only manage to give +it to her, and thus remove her from his path. There would be no risk of +discovery, as the poison left no traces behind, and if it came to the +worst, it would appear she had committed suicide, for poison similar +to what she had used would be found in her possession. It was a pity to +kill her, so young and pretty, and yet his safety demanded it; for if +she told Madame Midas all, it might lead to further inquiries, and M. +Vandeloup well knew his past life would not bear looking into. Another +thing, she had threatened him about some secret she held--he did not +know what it was, and yet almost guessed; if that was the secret she +must be got rid of, for it would imperil not only his liberty, but +his life. Well, if he had to get rid of her, the sooner he did so the +better, for even on the next day she might tell all--he would have to +give her the poison that night--but how? that was the difficulty. +He could not do it at this ball, as it would be too apparent if she +died--no--it would have to be administered secretly when she went home. +But then she would go to Madame Midas’ room to see how she was, and +then would retire to her own room. He knew where that was--just off +Mrs Villiers’ room; there were French windows in both rooms--two in Mrs +Villiers’, and one in Kitty’s. That was the plan--they would be left +open as the night was hot. Suppose he went down to St Kilda, and got +into the garden, he knew every inch of the way; then he could slip into +the open window, and if it was not open, he could use a diamond ring +to cut the glass. He had a diamond ring he never wore, so if Kitty was +discovered to be poisoned, and the glass cut, they would never suspect +him, as he did not wear rings at all, and the evidence of the cut window +would show a diamond must have been used. Well, suppose he got inside, +Kitty would be asleep, and he could put the poison into the water +carafe, or he could put it in a glass of water and leave it standing; +the risk would be, would she drink it or not--he would have to run that +risk; if he failed this time, he would not the next. But, then, suppose +she awoke and screamed--pshaw! when she saw it was he Kitty would not +dare to make a scene, and he could easily make some excuse for his +presence there. It was a wild scheme, but then he was in such a +dangerous position that he had to try everything. + +When M. Vandeloup had come to this conclusion he arose, and, going to +the supper room, drank a glass of brandy; for even he, cool as he was, +felt a little nervous over the crime he was about to commit. He thought +he would give Kitty one last chance, so when she was already cloaked, +waiting with Mrs Riller for the carriage, he drew her aside. + +‘You did not mean what you said tonight,’ he whispered, looking +searchingly at her. + +‘Yes, I did,’ she replied, defiantly; ‘if you push me to extremities, +you must take the consequences.’ + +‘It will be the worse for you,’ he said, threateningly, as the carriage +drove up. + +‘I’m not afraid of you,’ she retorted, shrugging her shoulders, a trick +she had learned from him; ‘you have ruined my life, but I’m not going to +let you ruin Madame’s. I’d sooner see her dead than in your arms.’ + +‘Remember, I have warned you,’ he said, gravely, handing her to the +carriage. ‘Good night!’ + +‘Good night!’ she answered, mockingly; ‘and to-morrow,’ in a low voice, +‘you will be astonished.’ + +‘And to-morrow,’ he said to himself, as the carriage drove off, ‘you +will be dead.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE VISION OF MISS KITTY MARCHURST + + +Everyone knows the story of Damocles, and how uncomfortable he felt with +the sword suspended by a hair over his head. No one could enjoy their +dinner under such circumstances, and it is much to be thankful for that +hosts of the present day do not indulge in these practical jokes. But +though history does not repeat itself exactly regarding the suspended +sword, yet there are cases when a sense of impending misfortune has the +same effect on the spirits. This was the case of Madame Midas. She +was not by any means of a nervous temperature, yet ever since the +disappearance of her husband she was a prey to a secret dread, which, +reacting on her nerves, rendered her miserable. Had Mr Villiers only +appeared, she would have known how to deal with him, and done so +promptly, but it was his absence that made her afraid. Was he dead? +If so, why was his body not found; if he was not dead, why did he not +reappear on the scene. Allowing, for the sake of argument, that he had +stolen the nugget and left the colony in order to enjoy the fruits of +his villainy--well, the nugget weighed about three hundred ounces--and +that if he disposed of it, as he must have done, it would give him a sum +of money a little over one thousand pounds. True, his possession of such +a large mass of gold would awake suspicions in the mind of anyone he +went to; but then, there were people who were always ready to do shady +things, provided they were well paid. So whomsoever he went to would +levy blackmail on him on threat of informing the police and having him +arrested. Therefore, the most feasible thing would be that he had got +about half of the value of the nugget, which would be about six hundred +pounds. Say that he did so, a whole year had elapsed, and Madame Midas +knew her husband well enough to know that six hundred pounds would soon +slip through his fingers, so at the present time he must once more be +penniless. If he was, why did he not come back to her and demand more +money now she was rich? Even had he gone to a distant place, he would +always have kept enough money to pay his way back to Victoria, so that +he could wring money out of her. It was this unpleasant feeling of being +watched that haunted her and made her uneasy. The constant strain began +to tell on her; she became ill and haggard-looking, and her eyes were +always glancing around in the anxious manner common to hunted animals. +She felt as though she were advancing on a masked battery, and at any +moment a shot might strike her from the most unexpected quarter. She +tried to laugh off the feeling and blamed herself severely for the +morbid state of mind into which she was falling; but it was no use, for +by day and night the sense of impending misfortune hung over her like +the sword of Damocles, ready to fall at any moment. If her husband would +only appear, she would settle an income on him, on condition he ceased +to trouble her, but at present she was fighting in the dark with an +unknown enemy. She became afraid of being left alone, and even when +seated quietly with Selina, would suddenly start and look apprehensively +towards the door, as if she heard his footstep. Imagination, when +uncontrolled, can keep the mind on a mental rack, to which that of the +Inquisition was a bed of roses. + +Selina was grieved at this state of things, and tried to argue and +comfort her mistress with the most amiable proverbs, but she was quite +unable to administer to a mind diseased, and Mrs Villiers’ life became a +perfect hell upon earth. + +‘Are my troubles never going to end?’ she said to Selina on the night of +the Meddlechip ball, as she paced restlessly up and down her room; ‘this +man has embittered the whole of my life, and now he is stabbing me in +the dark.’ + +‘Let the dead past bury its dead,’ quoted Selina, who was arranging the +room for the night. + +‘Pshaw!’ retorted Madame, impatiently, walking to the French window at +the end of the room and opening it; ‘how do you know he is dead? Come +here, Selina,’ she went on, beckoning to the old woman, and pointing +outside to the garden bathed in moonlight; ‘I have always a dread +lest he may be watching the house. Even now he may be concealed +yonder’--pointing down the garden. + +Selina looked out, but could see nothing. There was a smooth lawn, burnt +and yellow with the heat, which stretched for about fifty feet, and +ended in a low quickset hedge at the foot of a red brick wall which ran +down that side of the property. The top of this wall was set with broken +bottles, and beyond was the street, where they could hear people passing +along. The moonlight rendered all this as light as day, and, as Selina +pointed out to her mistress, there was no place where a man could +conceal himself. But this did not satisfy Madame; she left the window +half open, so that the cool night wind could blow in, and drew together +the red velvet curtains which hung there. + +‘You’ve left the window open,’ remarked Selina, looking at her mistress, +‘and if you are nervous it will not make you feel safe.’ + +Madame Midas glanced at the window. + +‘It’s so hot,’ she said, plaintively, ‘I will get no sleep. Can’t you +manage to fix it up, so that I can leave it open?’ + +‘I’ll try,’ answered Selina, and she undressed her mistress and put her +to bed, then proceeded to fix up a kind of burglar trap. The bed was a +four-poster, with heavy crimson curtains, and the top was pushed against +the wall, near the window. The curtains of the window and those of +the bed prevented any draught blowing in; and directly in front of the +window, Selina set a small wood table, so that anyone who tried to enter +would throw it over, and thus put the sleeper on the alert. On this she +put a night-light, a book, in case Madame should wake up and want to +read--a thing she very often did--and a glass of homemade lemonade, for +a night drink. Then she locked the other window and drew the curtains, +and, after going into Kitty’s room, which opened off the larger one, and +fixing up the one window there in the same way, she prepared to retire, +but Madame stopped her. + +‘You must stay all night with me, Selina,’ she said, irritably. ‘I can’t +be left alone.’ + +‘But, Miss Kitty,’ objected Selina, ‘she’ll expect to be waited for +coming home from the ball.’ + +‘Well, she comes in here to go to her own room,’ said Madame, +impatiently; ‘you can leave the door unlocked.’ + +‘Well,’ observed Miss Sprotts, grimly, beginning to undress herself, +‘for a nervous woman, you leave a great many windows and doors open.’ + +‘I’m not afraid as long as you are with me,’ said Madame, yawning; ‘it’s +by myself I get nervous.’ + +Miss Sprotts sniffed, and observed that ‘Prevention is better than +cure,’ then went to bed, and both she and Madame were soon fast asleep. +Selina slept on the outside of the bed, and Madame, having a sense of +security from being with someone, slumbered calmly; so the night wore +drowsily on, and nothing could be heard but the steady ticking of the +clock and the heavy breathing of the two women. + +A sleepy servant admitted Kitty when she came home from the ball, and +had said goodbye to Mrs Riller and Bellthorp. Then Mrs Riller, whose +husband had gone home three hours before, drove away with Bellthorp, and +Kitty went into Madame’s room, while the sleepy servant, thankful that +his vigil for the night was over, went to bed. Kitty found Madame’s door +ajar, and went in softly, fearful lest she might wake her. She did not +know that Selina was in the room, and as she heard the steady breathing +of the sleepers, she concluded that Madame was asleep, and resolved to +go quietly into her own room without disturbing the sleeper. So eerie +the room looked with the faint night-light burning on the table beside +the bed, and all the shadows, not marked and distinct as in a strong +glare, were faintly confused. Just near the door was a long +chevral glass, and Kitty caught sight of herself in it, wan and +spectral-looking, in her white dress, and, as she let the heavy blue +cloak fall from her shoulders, a perfect shower of apple blossoms were +shaken on to the floor. Her hair had come undone from its sleek, smooth +plaits, and now hung like a veil of gold on her shoulders. She looked +closely at herself in the glass, and her face looked worn and haggard in +the dim light. A pungent acrid odour permeated the room, and the heavy +velvet curtains moved with subdued rustlings as the wind stole in +through the window. On a table near her was a portrait of Vandeloup, +which he had given Madame two days before, and though she could not +see the face she knew it was his. Stretching out her hand she took the +photograph from its stand, and sank into a low chair which stood at +the end of the room some distance from the bed. So noiseless were her +movements that the two sleepers never awoke, and the girl sat in +the chair with the portrait in her hand dreaming of the man whom it +represented. She knew his handsome face was smiling up at her out of the +glimmering gloom, and clenched her hands in anger as she thought how he +had treated her. She let the portrait fall on her lap, and leaning back +in the chair, with all her golden hair showering down loosely over her +shoulders, gave herself up to reflection. + +He was going to marry Madame Midas--the man who had ruined her life; he +would hold another woman in his arms and tell her all the false tales he +had told her. He would look into her eyes with his own, and she would be +unable to see the treachery and guile hidden in their depths. She could +not stand it. False friend, false lover, he had been, but to see him +married to another--no! it was too much. And yet what could she do? A +woman in love believes no ill of the man she adores, and if she was to +tell Madame Midas all she would not be believed. Ah! it was useless +to fight against fate, it was too strong for her, so she would have to +suffer in silence, and see them happy. That story of Hans Andersen’s, +which she had read, about the little mermaid who danced, and felt that +swords were wounding her feet while the prince smiled on his bride--yes, +that was her case. She would have to stand by in silence and see him +caressing another woman, while every caress would stab her like a sword. +Was there no way of stopping it? Ah! what is that? The poison--no! no! +anything but that. Madame had been kind to her, and she could not repay +her trust with treachery. No, she was not weak enough for that. And yet +suppose Madame died? no one could tell she had been poisoned, and then +she could marry Vandeloup. Madame was sleeping in yonder bed, and on the +table there was a glass with some liquid in it. She would only have to +go to her room, fetch the poison, and put it in there--then retire to +bed. Madame would surely drink during the night, and then--yes, there +was only one way--the poison! + +How still the house was: not a sound but the ticking of the clock in the +hall and the rushing scamper of a rat or mouse. The dawn reddens faintly +in the east and the chill morning breeze comes up from the south, salt +with the odours of the ocean. Ah! what is that? a scream--a woman’s +voice--then another, and the bell rings furiously. The frightened +servants collect from all parts of the house, in all shapes of dress and +undress. The bell sounds from the bedroom of Mrs Villiers, and having +ascertained this they all rush in. What a sight meets their eyes. Kitty +Marchurst, still in her ball dress, clinging convulsively to the chair; +Madame Midas, pale but calm, ringing the bell; and on the bed, with one +arm hanging over, lies Selina Sprotts--dead! The table near the bed +was overturned on the floor, and the glass and the night-lamp both lie +smashed to pieces on the carpet. + +‘Send for a doctor at once,’ cried Madame, letting go the bell-rope and +crossing to the window; ‘Selina has had a fit of some sort.’ + +Startled servant goes out to stables and wakes up the grooms, one +of whom is soon on horseback riding for dear life to Dr Chinston. +Clatter--clatter along in the keen morning air; a few workmen on their +way to work gaze in surprise at this furious rider. Luckily, the doctor +lives in St Kilda, and being awoke out of his sleep, dresses himself +quickly, and taking the groom’s horse, rides back to Mrs Villiers’ +house. He dismounts, enters the house, then the bedroom. Kitty, pale and +wan, is seated in the chair; the window curtains are drawn, and the cold +light of day pours into the room, while Madame Midas is kneeling beside +the corpse, with all the servants around her. Dr Chinston lifts the arm; +it falls limply down. The face is ghastly white, the eyes staring; there +is a streak of foam on the tightly clenched mouth. The doctor puts his +hand on the heart--not a throb; he closes the staring eyes reverently, +and turns to the kneeling woman and the frightened servants. + +‘She is dead,’ he says, briefly, and orders them to leave the room. + +‘When did this occur, Mrs Villiers?’ he asked, when the room had been +cleared and only himself, Madame, and Kitty remained. + +‘I can’t tell you,’ replied Madame, weeping; ‘she was all right last +night when we went to bed, and she stayed all night with me because I +was nervous. I slept soundly, when I was awakened by a cry and saw Kitty +standing beside the bed and Selina in convulsions; then she became quite +still and lay like that till you came. What is the cause?’ + +‘Apoplexy,’ replied the doctor, doubtfully; ‘at least, judging from the +symptoms; but perhaps Miss Marchurst can tell us when the attack came +on?’ + +He turned to Kitty, who was shivering in the chair and looked so pale +that Madame Midas went over to her to see what was the matter. The +girl, however, shrank away with a cry as the elder woman approached, and +rising to her feet moved unsteadily towards the doctor. + +‘You say she,’ pointing to the body, ‘died of apoplexy?’ + +‘Yes,’ he answered, curtly, ‘all the symptoms of apoplexy are there.’ + +‘You are wrong!’ gasped Kitty, laying her hand on his arm, ‘it is +poison!’ + +‘Poison!’ echoed Madame and the Doctor in surprise. + +‘Listen,’ said Kitty, quickly, pulling herself together by a great +effort. ‘I came home from the ball between two and three, I entered +the room to go to my own,’ pointing to the other door; ‘I did not know +Selina was with Madame.’ + +‘No,’ said Madame, quietly, ‘that is true, I only asked her to stop at +the last moment.’ + +‘I was going quietly to bed,’ resumed Kitty, hurriedly, ‘in order not +to waken Madame, when I saw the portrait of M. Vandeloup on the table; I +took it up to look at it.’ + +‘How could you see without a light?’ asked Dr Chinston, sharply, looking +at her. + +‘There was a night light burning,’ replied Kitty, pointing to the +fragments on the floor; ‘and I could only guess it was M. Vandeloup’s +portrait; but at all events,’ she said, quickly, ‘I sat down in the +chair over there and fell asleep.’ + +‘You see, doctor, she had been to a ball and was tired,’ interposed +Madame Midas; ‘but go on, Kitty, I want to know why you say Selina was +poisoned.’ + +‘I don’t know how long I was asleep,’ said Kitty, wetting her dry lips +with her tongue, ‘but I was awoke by a noise at the window there,’ +pointing towards the window, upon which both her listeners turned +towards it, ‘and looking, I saw a hand coming out from behind the +curtain with a bottle in it; it held the bottle over the glass on the +table, and after pouring the contents in, then withdrew.’ + +‘And why did you not cry out for assistance?’ asked the doctor, quickly. + +‘I couldn’t,’ she replied, ‘I was so afraid that I fainted. I recovered +my senses, Selina had drank the poison, and when I got up on my feet and +went to the bed she was in convulsions; I woke Madame, and that’s all.’ + +‘A strange story,’ said Chinston, musingly, ‘where is the glass?’ + +‘It’s broken, doctor,’ replied Madame Midas; ‘in getting out of bed I +knocked the table down, and both the night lamp and glass smashed.’ + +‘No one could have been concealed behind the curtain of the window?’ +said the doctor to Madame Midas. + +‘No,’ she replied, ‘but the window was open all night; so if it is as +Kitty says, the man who gave the poison must have put his hand through +the open window.’ + +Dr Chinston went to the window and looked out; there were no marks of +feet on the flower bed, where it was so soft that anyone standing on it +would have left a footmark behind. + +‘Strange,’ said the doctor, ‘it’s a peculiar story,’ looking at Kitty +keenly. + +‘But a true one,’ she replied boldly, the colour coming back to her +face; ‘I say she was poisoned.’ + +‘By whom?’ asked Madame Midas, the memory of her husband coming back to +her. + +‘I can’t tell you,’ answered Kitty, ‘I only saw the hand.’ + +‘At all events,’ said Chinston, slowly, ‘the poisoner did not know that +your nurse was with you, so the poison was meant for Mrs Villiers.’ + +For me?’ she echoed, ghastly pale; ‘I knew it,--my husband is alive, and +this is his work.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A STARTLING DISCOVERY + + +Ill news travels fast, and before noon the death of Selina Sprotts was +known all over Melbourne. The ubiquitous reporter, of course, appeared +on the scene, and the evening papers gave its own version of the affair, +and a hint at foul play. There was no grounds for this statement, as Dr +Chinston told Kitty and Madame Midas to say nothing about the poison, +and it was generally understood that the deceased had died from +apoplexy. A rumour, however, which originated none knew how, crept about +among everyone that poison was the cause of death, and this, being added +to by some and embellished in all its little details by others, there +was soon a complete story made up about the affair. At the Bachelor’s +Club it was being warmly spoken about when Vandeloup came in about +eight o’clock in the evening; and when he appeared he was immediately +overwhelmed with inquiries. He looked cool and calm as usual, and stood +smiling quietly on the excited group before him. + +‘You know Mrs Villiers,’ said Bellthorp, in an assertive tone, ‘so you +must know all about the affair.’ ‘I don’t see that,’ returned Gaston, +pulling at his moustache, ‘knowing anyone does not include a knowledge +of all that goes on in the house. I assure you, beyond what there is in +the papers, I am as ignorant as you are.’ + +‘They say this woman--Sprotts or Potts, or something--died from +poison,’ said Barty Jarper, who had been all round the place collecting +information. + +‘Apoplexy, the doctor says,’ said Bellthorp, lighting a cigarette; +‘she was in the same room with Mrs Villiers and was found dead in the +morning.’ + +‘Miss Marchurst was also in the room,’ put in Barty, eagerly. + +‘Oh, indeed!’ said Vandeloup, smoothly, turning to him; ‘do you think +she had anything to do with it?’ + +‘Of course not,’ said Rolleston, who had just entered, ‘she had no +reason to kill the woman.’ + +Vandeloup smiled. + +‘So logical you are,’ he murmured, ‘you want a reason for everything.’ + +‘Naturally,’ retorted Felix, fixing in his eyeglass, ‘there is no effect +without a cause.’ + +‘It couldn’t have been Miss Marchurst,’ said Bellthorp, ‘they say that +the poison was poured out of a bottle held by a hand which came through +the window--it’s quite true,’ defiantly looking at the disbelieving +faces round him; ‘one of Mrs Villiers’ servants heard it in the house +and told Mrs Riller’s maid.’ + +‘From whence,’ said Vandeloup, politely, ‘it was transmitted to +you--precisely.’ + +Bellthorp reddened slightly, and turned away as he saw the other +smiling, for his relations with Mrs Riller were well known. + +‘That hand business is all bosh,’ observed Felix Rolleston, +authoritatively; ‘it’s in a play called “The Hidden Hand”.’ + +‘Perhaps the person who poisoned Miss Sprotts, got the idea from it?’ +suggested Jarper. + +‘Pshaw, my dear fellow,’ said Vandeloup, languidly; ‘people don’t go to +melodrama for ideas. Everyone has got their own version of this story; +the best thing to do is to await the result of the inquest.’ + +‘Is there to be an inquest?’ cried all. + +‘So I’ve heard,’ replied the Frenchman, coolly; ‘sounds as if there was +something wrong, doesn’t it?’ + +‘It’s a curious poisoning case,’ observed Bellthorp. + +‘Ah, but it isn’t proved that there is any poisoning about it,’ said +Vandeloup, looking keenly at him; ‘you jump to conclusions.’ + +‘There is no smoke without fire,’ replied Rolleston, sagely. ‘I expect +we’ll all be rather astonished when the inquest is held,’ and so the +discussion closed. + +The inquest was appointed to take place next day, and Calton had been +asked by Madame Midas to be present on her behalf. Kilsip, a detective +officer, was also present, and, curled up like a cat in the corner, was +listening to every word of the evidence. + +The first witness called was Madame Midas, who deposed that the +deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, was her servant. She had gone to bed in +excellent health, and next morning she had found her dead. + +The Coroner asked a few questions relative to the case. + +Q. Miss Marchurst awoke you, I believe? + +A. Yes. + +Q. And her room is off yours? + +A. Yes. + +Q. Had she to go through your room to reach her own? + +A. She had. There was no other way of getting there. + +Q. One of the windows of your room was open? + +A. It was--all night. + +Miss Kitty Marchurst was then called, and being sworn, gave her story +of the hand coming through the window. This caused a great sensation +in Court, and Calton looked puzzled, while Kilsip, scenting a mystery, +rubbed his lean hands together softly. + +Q. You live with Mrs Villiers, I believe, Miss Marchurst? + +A. I do. + +Q. And you knew the deceased intimately? + +A. I had known her all my life. + +Q. Had she anyone who would wish to injure her? + +A. Not that I knew of. She was a favourite with everyone. + +Q. What time did you come home from the ball you were at? + +A. About half-past two, I think. I went straight to Mrs Villiers’ room. + +Q. With the intention of going through it to reach your own? + +A. Yes. + +Q. You say you fell asleep looking at a portrait. How long did you +sleep? + +A. I don’t know. I was awakened by a noise at the window, and saw the +hand appear. + +Q. Was it a man’s hand or a woman’s? + +A. I don’t know. It was too indistinct for me to see clearly; and I was +so afraid, I fainted. + +Q. You saw it pour something from a bottle into the glass on the table? + +A. Yes; but I did not see it withdraw. I fainted right off. + +Q. When you recovered your senses, the deceased had drank the contents +of the glass? + +A. Yes. She must have felt thirsty and drank it, not knowing it was +poisoned. Q. How do you know it was poisoned? + +A. I only suppose so. I don’t think anyone would come to a window and +pour anything into a glass without some evil purpose. + +The Coroner then asked why the glass with what remained of the contents +had not been put in evidence, but was informed that the glass was +broken. + +When Kitty had ended her evidence and was stepping down, she caught +the eye of Vandeloup, who was looking at her keenly. She met his gaze +defiantly, and he smiled meaningly at her. At this moment, however, +Kilsip bent forward and whispered something to the Coroner, whereupon +Kitty was recalled. + +Q. You were an actress, Miss Marchurst? + +A. Yes. I was on tour with Mr Theodore Wopples for some time. + +Q. Do you know a drama called ‘The Hidden Hand’? + +A. Yes--I have played in it once or twice. + +Q. Is there not a strong resemblance between your story of this crime +and the drama? + +A. Yes, it is very much the same. + +Kilsip then gave his evidence, and deposed that he had examined the +ground between the window, where the hand was alleged to have appeared, +and the garden wall. There were no footmarks on the flower-bed under the +window, which was the only place where footmarks would show, as the lawn +itself was hard and dry. He also examined the wall, but could find no +evidence that anyone had climbed over it, as it was defended by broken +bottles, and the bushes at its foot were not crushed or disturbed in any +way. + +Dr Chinston was then called, and deposed that he had made a post-mortem +examination of the body of the deceased. The body was that of a woman of +apparently fifty or fifty-five years of age, and of medium height; the +body was well nourished. There were no ulcers or other signs of disease, +and no marks of violence on the body. The brain was congested and soft, +and there was an abnormal amount of fluid in the spaces known as the +ventricles of the brain; the lungs were gorged with dark fluid blood; +the heart appeared healthy, its left side was contracted and empty, but +the right was dilated and filled with dark fluid blood; the stomach was +somewhat congested, and contained a little partially digested food; the +intestines here and there were congested, and throughout the body the +blood was dark and fluid. + +Q. What then, in your opinion, was the cause of death? + +A. In my opinion death resulted from serous effusion on the brain, +commonly known as serous apoplexy. + +Q. Then you found no appearances in the stomach, or elsewhere, which +would lead you to believe poison had been taken? + +A. No, none. + +Q. From the post-mortem examination could you say the death of the +deceased was not due to some narcotic poison? + +A. No: the post-mortem appearances of the body are quite consistent with +those of poisoning by certain poisons, but there is no reason to suppose +that any poison has been administered in this case, as I, of course, +go by what I see; and the presence of poisons, especially vegetable +poisons, can only be detected by chemical analysis. + +Q. Did you analyse the contents of the stomach chemically? + +A. No; it was not my duty to do so; I handed over the stomach to the +police, seeing that there is suspicion of poison, and thence it will go +to the Government analyst. + +Q. It is stated that the deceased had convulsions before she died--is +this not a symptom of narcotic poisoning? + +A. In some cases, yes, but not commonly; aconite, for instance, always +produces convulsions in animals, seldom in man. + +Q. How do you account for the congested condition of the lungs? + +A. I believe the serous effusion caused death by suspended respiration. + +Q. Was there any odour perceptible? + +A. No, none whatsoever. + +The inquest was then adjourned till next day, and there was great +excitement over the affair. If Kitty Marchurst’s statement was true, the +deceased must have died from the administration of poison; but, on the +other hand, Dr Chinston asserted positively that there was no trace of +poison, and that the deceased had clearly died from apoplexy. Public +opinion was very much divided, some asserting that Kitty’s story was +true, while others said she had got the idea from ‘The Hidden Hand’, and +only told it in order to make herself notorious. There were plenty +of letters written to the papers on the subject, each offering a new +solution of the difficulty, but the fact remained the same, that Kitty +said the deceased had been poisoned; the doctor that she had died of +apoplexy. Calton was considerably puzzled over the matter. Of course, +there was no doubt that the man who committed the murder had intended to +poison Madame Midas, but the fact that Selina stayed all night with her, +had resulted in the wrong person being killed. Madame Midas told Calton +the whole story of her life, and asserted positively that if the poison +was meant for her, Villiers must have administered it. This was all very +well, but the question then arose, was Villiers alive? The police were +once more set to work, and once more their search resulted in nothing. +Altogether the whole affair was wrapped in mystery, as it could not even +be told if a murder had been committed, or if the deceased had died from +natural causes. The only chance of finding out the truth would be to +have the stomach analysed, and the cause of death ascertained; once that +was done, and the matter could be gone on with, or dropped, according +to the report of the analyst. If he said it was apoplexy, Kitty’s story +would necessarily have to be discredited as an invention; but if, on +the other hand, the traces of poison were found, search would have to be +made for the murderer. Matters were at a deadlock, and everyone waited +impatiently for the report of the analyst. Suddenly, however, a new +interest was given to the case by the assertion that a Ballarat doctor, +called Gollipeck, who was a noted toxicologist, had come down to +Melbourne to assist at the analysis of the stomach, and knew something +which would throw light on the mysterious death. + +Vandeloup saw the paragraph which gave this information, and it +disturbed him very much. + +‘Curse that book of Prevol’s,’ he said to himself, as he threw down the +paper: ‘it will put them on the right track, and then--well,’ observed +M. Vandeloup, sententiously, ‘they say danger sharpens a man’s wits; +it’s lucky for me if it does.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND + + +M. Vandeloup’s rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, were very +luxuriously and artistically furnished, in perfect accordance with the +taste of their owner, but as the satiated despot is depicted by the +moralists as miserable amid all his splendour, so M. Gaston Vandeloup, +though not exactly miserable, was very ill at ease. The inquest had been +adjourned until the Government analyst, assisted by Dr Gollipeck, had +examined the stomach, and according to a paragraph in the evening paper, +some strange statements, implicating various people, would be made next +day. It was this that made Vandeloup so uneasy, for he knew that Dr +Gollipeck would trace a resemblance between the death of Selina Sprotts +in Melbourne and Adele Blondet in Paris, and then the question would +arise how the poison used in the one case came to be used in the other. +If that question arose it would be all over with him, for he would not +dare to face any examination, and as discretion is the better part +of valour, M. Vandeloup decided to leave the country. With his usual +foresight he had guessed that Dr Gollipeck would be mixed up in the +affair, so had drawn his money out of all securities in which it was +invested, sent most of it to America to a New York bank, reserving only +a certain sum for travelling purposes. He was going to leave Melbourne +next morning by the express train for Sydney, and there would catch the +steamer to San Francisco via New Zealand and Honolulu. Once in America +and he would be quite safe, and as he now had plenty of money he could +enjoy himself there. He had given up the idea of marrying Madame Midas, +as he dare not run the risk of remaining in Australia, but then there +were plenty of heiresses in the States he could marry if he chose, so to +give her up was a small matter. Another thing, he would be rid of Pierre +Lemaire, for once let him put the ocean between him and the dumb man he +would take care they never met again. Altogether, M. Vandeloup had taken +all precautions to secure his own safety with his usual promptitude and +coolness, but notwithstanding that another twelve hours would see him on +his way to Sydney en route for the States, he felt slightly uneasy, for +as he often said, ‘There are always possibilities.’ + +It was about eight o’clock at night, and Gaston was busy in his rooms +packing up to go away next morning. He had disposed of his apartments to +Bellthorp, as that young gentleman had lately come in for some money and +was dissatisfied with the paternal roof, where he was kept too strictly +tied up. + +Vandeloup, seated in his shirt sleeves in the midst of a chaos of +articles of clothing, portmanteaux, and boxes, was, with the experience +of an accomplished traveller, rapidly putting these all away in the most +expeditious and neatest manner. He wanted to get finished before ten +o’clock, so that he could go down to his club and show himself, in order +to obviate any suspicion as to his going away. He did not intend to send +out any P.P.C. cards, as he was a modest young man and wanted to slip +unostentatiously out of the country; besides, there was nothing like +precaution, as the least intimation of his approaching departure would +certainly put Dr Gollipeck on the alert and cause trouble. The gas was +lighted, there was a bright glare through all the room, and everything +was in confusion, with M. Vandeloup seated in the centre, like Marius +amid the ruins of Carthage. While thus engaged there came a ring at the +outer door, and shortly afterwards Gaston’s landlady entered his room +with a card. + +‘A gentleman wants to see you, sir,’ she said, holding out the card. + +‘I’m not at home,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly, removing the cigarette he +was smoking from his mouth; ‘I can’t see anyone tonight.’ + +‘He says you’d like to see him, sir,’ answered the woman, standing at +the door. + +‘The deuce he does,’ muttered Vandeloup, uneasily; ‘I wonder what this +pertinacious gentleman’s name is? and he glanced at the card, whereon +was written ‘Dr Gollipeck’. + +Vandeloup felt a chill running through him as he rose to his feet. The +battle was about to begin, and he knew he would need all his wit and +skill to get himself out safely. Dr Gollipeck had thrown down the +gauntlet, and he would have to pick it up. Well, it was best to know +the worst at once, so he told the landlady he would see Gollipeck +downstairs. He did not want him to come up there, as he would see all +the evidences of his intention to leave the country. + +‘I’ll see him downstairs,’ he said, sharply, to the landlady; ‘ask the +gentleman to wait.’ + +The landlady, however, was pushed roughly to one side, and Dr Gollipeck, +rusty and dingy-looking as ever, entered the room. + +‘No need, my dear friend,’ he said in his grating voice, blinking at the +young man through his spectacles, ‘we can talk here.’ + +Vandeloup signed to the landlady to leave the room, which she did, +closing the door after her, and then, pulling himself together with a +great effort, he advanced smilingly on the doctor. + +‘Ah, my dear Monsieur,’ he said, in his musical voice, holding out both +hands, ‘how pleased I am to see you.’ + +Dr Gollipeck gurgled pleasantly in his throat at this and laughed, that +is, something apparently went wrong in his inside and a rasping noise +came out of his mouth. + +‘You clever young man,’ he said, affectionately, to Gaston, as he +unwound a long crimson woollen scarf from his throat, and thereby caused +a button to fly off his waistcoat with the exertion. Dr Gollipeck, +however, being used to these little eccentricities of his toilet, pinned +the waistcoat together, and then, sitting down, spread his red bandanna +handkerchief over his knees, and stared steadily at Vandeloup, who had +put on a loose velvet smoking coat, and, with a cigarette in his mouth, +was leaning against the mantelpiece. It was raining outside, and the +pleasant patter of the raindrops was quite audible in the stillness of +the room, while every now and then a gust of wind would make the windows +rattle, and shake the heavy green curtains. The two men eyed one another +keenly, for they both knew they had an unpleasant quarter of an hour +before them, and were like two clever fencers--both watching their +opportunity to begin the combat. Gollipeck, with his greasy coat, all +rucked up behind his neck, and his frayed shirt cuffs coming down on his +ungainly hands, sat sternly silent, so Vandeloup, after contemplating +him for a few moments, had to begin the battle. + +‘My room is untidy, is it not?’ he said, nodding his head carelessly at +the chaos of furniture. ‘I’m going away for a few days.’ + +‘A few days; ha, ha!’ observed Gollipeck, something again going wrong +with his inside. ‘Your destination is--’ + +‘Sydney,’ replied Gaston, promptly. + +‘And then?’ queried the doctor. + +Gaston shrugged his shoulders. + +‘Depends upon circumstances,’ he answered, lazily. + +‘That’s a mistake,’ retorted Gollipeck, leaning forward; ‘it depends +upon me.’ + +Vandeloup smiled. + +‘In that case, circumstances, as represented by you, will permit me to +choose my own destinations.’ + +‘Depends entirely upon your being guided by circumstances, as +represented by me,’ retorted the Doctor, grimly. + +‘Pshaw!’ said the Frenchman, coolly, ‘let us have done with allegory, +and come to common sense. What do you want?’ + +‘I want Octave Braulard,’ said Gollipeck, rising to his feet. + +Vandeloup quite expected this, and was too clever to waste time in +denying his identity. + +‘He stands before you,’ he answered, curtly, ‘what then?’ + +‘You acknowledge, then, that you are Octave Braulard, transported to New +Caledonia for the murder of Adele Blondet?’ said the Doctor tapping the +table with one hand. + +‘To you--yes,’ answered Vandeloup, crossing to the door and locking it; +‘to others--no.’ + +‘Why do you lock the door?’ asked Gollipeck, gruffly. + +‘I don’t want my private affairs all over Melbourne,’ retorted Gaston, +smoothly, returning to his position in front of the fireplace; ‘are you +afraid?’ + +Something again went wrong with Dr Gollipeck’s inside, and he grated out +a hard ironical laugh. + +‘Do I look afraid?’ he asked, spreading out his hands. + +Vandeloup stooped down to the portmanteau lying open at his feet, and +picked up a revolver, which he pointed straight at Gollipeck. + +‘You make an excellent target,’ he observed, quickly, putting his finger +on the trigger. + +Dr Gollipeck sat down, and arranged his handkerchief once more over his +knees. + +‘Very likely,’ he answered, coolly, ‘but a target you won’t practise +on.’ + +‘Why not?’ asked Vandeloup, still keeping his finger on the trigger. + +‘Because the pistol-shot would alarm the house,’ said Gollipeck, +serenely, ‘and if I was found dead, you would be arrested for my murder. +If I was only wounded I could tell a few facts about M. Octave Braulard +that would have an unpleasant influence on the life of M. Gaston +Vandeloup.’ + +Vandeloup laid the pistol down on the mantelpiece with a laugh, lit a +cigarette, and, sitting down in a chair opposite Gollipeck, began to +talk. + +‘You are a brave man,’ he said, coolly blowing a wreath of smoke, ‘I +admire brave men.’ + +‘You are a clever man,’ retorted the doctor; ‘I admire clever men.’ + +‘Very good,’ said Vandeloup, crossing one leg over the other. ‘As we now +understand one another, I await your explanation of this visit.’ + +Dr Gollipeck, with admirable composure, placed his hands on his knees, +and acceded to the request of M. Vandeloup. + +‘I saw in the Ballarat and Melbourne newspapers,’ he said, quietly, +‘that Selina Sprotts, the servant of Mrs Villiers, was dead. The papers +said foul play was suspected, and according to the evidence of Kitty +Marchurst, whom, by the way, I remember very well, the deceased had been +poisoned. An examination was made of the body, but no traces of +poison were found. Knowing you were acquainted with Madame Midas, and +recognising this case as a peculiar one--seeing that poison was asserted +to have been given, and yet no appearances could be found--I came down +to Melbourne, saw the doctor who had analysed the body, and heard what +he had to say on the subject. The symptoms were described as apoplexy, +similar to those of a woman who died in Paris called Adele Blondet, and +whose case was reported in a book by Messrs Prevol and Lebrun. Becoming +suspicious, I assisted at a chemical analysis of the body, and found +that the woman Sprotts had been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the +same poison used in the case of Adele Blondet. The man who poisoned +Adele Blondet was sent to New Caledonia, escaped from there, and came to +Australia, and prepared this poison at Ballarat; and why I called here +tonight was to know the reason M. Octave Braulard, better known as +Gaston Vandeloup, poisoned Selina Sprotts in mistake for Madame Midas.’ + +If Doctor Gollipeck had thought to upset Vandeloup by this recital, he +was never more mistaken in his life, for that young gentleman heard him +coolly to the end, and taking the cigarette out of his mouth, smiled +quietly. + +‘In the first place,’ he said, smoothly, ‘I acknowledge the truth of +all your story except the latter part, and I must compliment you on the +admirable way you have guessed the identity of Braulard with Vandeloup, +as you have no proof to show that they are the same. But with regard +to the death of Mademoiselle Sprotts, she died as you have said; but I, +though the maker of the poison, did not administer it.’ + +‘Who did, then?’ asked Gollipeck, who was quite prepared for this +denial. + +Vandeloup smoothed his moustache, and looked at the doctor with a keen +glance. + +‘Kitty Marchurst,’ he said, coolly. + +The rain was beating wildly against the windows and someone in the room +below was playing the eternal waltz, ‘One summer’s night in Munich’, +while Vandeloup, leaning back in his chair, stared at Dr Gollipeck, who +looked at him disbelievingly. + +‘It’s not true,’ he said, harshly; ‘what reason had she to poison the +woman Sprotts?’ + +‘None at all,’ replied Vandeloup, blandly; ‘but she had to poison Mrs +Villiers.’ + +‘Go on,’ said Gollipeck, gruffly; ‘I’ve no doubt you will make up an +admirable story.’ + +‘So kind of you to compliment me,’ observed Vandeloup, lightly; ‘but +in this instance I happen to tell the truth--Kitty Marchurst was my +mistress.’ + +‘It was you that ruined her, then?’ cried Gollipeck, pushing back his +chair. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘If you put it that way--yes,’ he answered, simply; ‘but she fell into +my mouth like ripe fruit. Surely,’ with a sneer, ‘at your age you don’t +believe in virtue?’ + +‘Yes, I do,’ retorted Gollipeck, fiercely. + +‘More fool you!’ replied Gaston, with a libertine look on his handsome +face. ‘Balzac never said a truer word than that “a woman’s virtue is +man’s greatest invention.” Well, we won’t discuss morality now. She came +with me to Melbourne and lived as my mistress; then she wanted to marry +me, and I refused. She had a bottle of the poison which I had made, and +threatened to take it and kill herself. I prevented her, and then she +left me, went on the stage, and afterwards meeting Madame Midas, went +to live with her, and we renewed our acquaintance. On the night of +this--well, murder, if you like to call it so--we were at a ball +together. Mademoiselle Marchurst heard that I was going to marry Madame +Midas. She asked me if it was true. I did not deny it; and she said she +would sooner poison Mrs Villiers than see her married to me. She went +home, and not knowing the dead woman was in bed with Madame Midas, +poisoned the drink, and the consequences you know. As to this story of +the hand, bah! it is a stage play, that is all!’ + +Dr Gollipeck rose and walked to and fro in the little clear space left +among the disorder. + +‘What a devil you are!’ he said, looking at Vandeloup admiringly. + +‘What, because I did not poison this woman?’ he said, in a mocking tone. +‘Bah! you are less moral than I thought you were.’ + +The doctor did not take any notice of this sneer, but, putting his hands +in his pockets, faced round to the young man. + +‘I give my evidence to-morrow,’ he said quietly, looking keenly at the +young man, ‘and I prove conclusively the woman was poisoned. To do this, +I must refer to the case of Adele Blondet, and then that implicates +you.’ + +‘Pardon me,’ observed Vandeloup, coolly, removing some ash from his +velvet coat, ‘it implicates Octave Braulard, who is at present,’ with a +sharp look at Gollipeck, ‘in New Caledonia.’ + +‘If that is the case,’ asked the doctor, gruffly, ‘who are you?’ + +‘I am the friend of Braulard,’ said Vandeloup, in a measured tone. +‘Myself, Braulard, and Prevol--one of the writers of the book you refer +to--were medical students together, and we all three emphatically knew +about this poison extracted from hemlock.’ + +He spoke so quietly that Gollipeck looked at him in a puzzled manner, +not understanding his meaning. + +‘You mean Braulard and Prevol were medical students?’ he said, +doubtfully. + +‘Exactly,’ assented M. Vandeloup, with an airy wave of his hand. ‘Gaston +Vandeloup is a fictitious third person I have called into existence +for my own safety--you understand. As Gaston Vandeloup, a friend of +Braulard, I knew all about this poison, and manufactured it in Ballarat +for a mere experiment, and as Gaston Vandeloup I give evidence against +the woman who was my mistress on the ground of poisoning Selina Sprotts +with hemlock.’ + +‘You are not shielding yourself behind this girl?’ asked the doctor, +coming close to him. + +‘How could I?’ replied Vandeloup, slipping his hand into his pocket. +‘I could not have gone down to St Kilda, climbed over a wall with glass +bottles on top, and committed the crime, as Kitty Marchurst says it was +done. If I had done this there would be some trace--no, I assure you +Mademoiselle Marchurst, and none other, is the guilty woman. +She was in the room--Madame Midas asleep in bed. What was +easier for her than to pour the poison into the glass, which +stood ready to receive it? Mind you, I don’t say she did it +deliberately--impulse--hallucination--madness--what you like--but she +did it.’ + +‘By God!’ cried Gollipeck, warmly, ‘you’d argue a rope round the girl’s +neck even before she has had a trial. I believe you did it yourself.’ + +‘If I did,’ retorted Vandeloup, coolly, ‘when I am in the witness-box I +run the risk of being found out. Be it so. I take my chance of that; but +I ask you to keep silent as to Gaston Vandeloup being Octave Braulard.’ + +‘Why should I?’ said the doctor, harshly. + +‘For many admirable reasons,’ replied Vandeloup, smoothly. ‘In the first +place, as Braulard’s friend, I can prove the case against Mademoiselle +Marchurst quite as well as if I appeared as Braulard himself. In the +next place, you have no evidence to prove I am identical with the +murderer of Adele Blondet; and, lastly, suppose you did prove it, what +satisfaction would it be to you to send me back to a French prison? I +have suffered enough for my crime, and now I am rich and respectable, +why should you drag me back to the depths again? Read “Les Miserables” + of our great Hugo before you answer, my friend.’ + +‘Read the book long ago,’ retorted Gollipeck, gruffly, more moved by the +argument than he cared to show; ‘I will keep silent about this if you +leave the colony at once.’ + +‘I agree,’ said Vandeloup, pointing to the floor; ‘you see I had already +decided to travel before you entered. Any other stipulation?’ + +‘None,’ retorted the doctor, putting on his scarf again; ‘with Octave +Braulard I have nothing to do: I want to find out who killed Selina +Sprotts, and if you did, I won’t spare you.’ + +‘First, catch your hare,’ replied Vandeloup, smoothly, going to the door +and unlocking it; ‘I am ready to stand the test of a trial, and surely +that ought to content you. As it is, I’ll stay in Melbourne long enough +to give you the satisfaction of hanging this woman for the murder, and +then I will go to America.’ + +Dr Gollipeck was disgusted at the smooth brutality of this man, and +moved hastily to the door. + +‘Will you not have a glass of wine?’ asked Vandeloup, stopping him. + +‘Wine with you?’ said the doctor, harshly, looking him up and down; ‘no, +it would choke me,’ and he hurried away. + +‘I wish it would,’ observed M. Vandeloup, pleasantly, as he reentered +the room, ‘whew! this devil of a doctor--what a dangerous fool, but +I have got the better of him, and at all events,’ he said, lighting +another cigarette, ‘I have saved Vandeloup from suffering for the crime +of Braulard.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + + +There was no doubt the Sprotts’ poisoning case was the sensation of the +day in Melbourne. The papers were full of it, and some even went so far +as to give a plan of the house, with dotted lines thereon, to show +how the crime was committed. All this was extremely amusing, for, as a +matter of fact, the evidence as yet had not shown any reasonable ground +for supposing foul play had taken place. One paper, indeed, said +that far too much was assumed in the case, and that the report of the +Government analyst should be waited for before such emphatic opinions +were given by the press regarding the mode of death. But it was no use +trying to reason with the public, they had got it into their sage heads +that a crime had been committed, and demanded evidence; so as the +press had no real evidence to give, they made it up, and the public, in +private conversations, amplified the evidence until they constructed a +complete criminal case. + +‘Pshaw!’ said Rolleston, when he read these sensational reports, ‘in +spite of the quidnuncs the mountain will only produce a mouse after +all.’ + +But he was wrong, for now rumours were started that the Government +analyst and Dr Gollipeck had found poison in the stomach, and that, +moreover, the real criminal would be soon discovered. Public opinion was +much divided as to who the criminal was--some, having heard the story +of Madame’s marriage, said it was her husband; others insisted Kitty +Marchurst was the culprit, and was trying to shield herself behind this +wild story of the hand coming from behind the curtains; while others +were in favour of suicide. At all events, on the morning when the +inquest was resumed, and the evidence was to be given of the analysis +of the stomach, the Court was crowded, and a dead silence pervaded the +place when the Government analyst stood up to give his evidence. Madame +Midas was present, with Kitty seated beside her, the latter looking pale +and ill; and Kilsip, with a gratified smile on his face which seemed +as though he had got a clue to the whole mystery, was seated next +to Calton. Vandeloup, faultlessly dressed, and as cool and calm as +possible, was also in Court; and Dr Gollipeck, as he awaited his turn to +give evidence, could not help admiring the marvellous nerve and courage +of the young man. + +The Government analyst being called, was sworn in the usual way, and +deposed that the stomach of the deceased had been sent to him to be +analysed. He had used the usual tests, and found the presence of the +alkaloid of hemlock, known under the name of conia. In his opinion the +death of the deceased was caused by the administration of an extract of +hemlock. (Sensation in the Court.) + +Q. Then in your opinion the deceased has been poisoned? + +A. Yes, I have not the least doubt on the subject, I detected the conia +very soon after the tests were applied. + +There was great excitement when this evidence was concluded, as it gave +quite a new interest to the case. The question as to the cause of death +was now set at rest--the deceased had been murdered, so the burning +anxiety of every one was to know who had committed the crime. All +sorts of opinions were given, but the murmur of voices ceased when Dr +Gollipeck stood up to give his evidence. + +He deposed that he was a medical practitioner, practising at Ballarat; +he had seen the report of the case in the papers, and had come down +to Melbourne as he thought he could throw a certain light on the +affair--for instance, where the poison was procured. (Sensation.) About +three years ago a crime had been committed in Paris, which caused a +great sensation at the time. The case being a peculiar one, was reported +in a medical work, by Messieurs Prevol and Lebrun, which he had obtained +from France some two years back. The facts of the case were shortly +these: An actress called Adele Blondet died from the effects of poison, +administered to her by Octave Braulard, who was her lover; the deceased +had also another lover, called Kestrike, who was supposed to be +implicated in the crime, but he had escaped; the woman in this case had +been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used as in the +case of Selina Sprotts, and it was the similarity of the symptoms that +made him suspicious of the sudden death. Braulard was sent out to New +Caledonia for the murder. While in Paris he had been a medical student +with two other gentlemen, one of whom was Monsieur Prevol, who had +reported the case, and the other was at present in Court, and was called +M. Gaston Vandeloup. (Sensation in Court, everyone’s eye being fixed on +Vandeloup, who was calm and unmoved.) M. Vandeloup had manufactured the +poison used in this case, but with regard to how it was administered to +the deceased, he would leave that evidence to M. Vandeloup himself. + +When Gollipeck left the witness-box there was a dead silence, as +everyone was too much excited at his strange story to make any comment +thereon. Madame Midas looked with some astonishment on Vandeloup as his +name was called out, and he moved gracefully to the witness-box, while +Kitty’s face grew paler even than it was before. She did not know what +Vandeloup was going to say, but a great dread seized her, and with dry +lips and clenched hands she sat staring at him as if paralysed. Kilsip +stole a look at her and then rubbed his hands together, while Calton sat +absolutely still, scribbling figures on his notepaper. + +M. Gaston Vandeloup, being sworn, deposed: He was a native of France, of +Flemish descent, as could be seen from his name; he had known Braulard +intimately; he also knew Prevol; he had been eighteen months in +Australia, and for some time had been clerk to Mrs Villiers at Ballarat; +he was fond of chemistry--yes; and had made several experiments +with poisons while up at Ballarat with Dr Gollipeck, who was a great +toxicologist; he had seen the hemlock in the garden of an hotel-keeper +at Ballarat, called Twexby, and had made an extract therefrom; he only +did it by way of experiment, and had put the bottle containing the +poison in his desk, forgetting all about it; the next time he saw that +bottle was in the possession of Miss Kitty Marchurst (sensation in +Court); she had threatened to poison herself; he again saw the bottle in +her possession on the night of the murder; this was at the house of M. +Meddlechip. A report had been circulated that he (the witness) was going +to marry Mrs Villiers, and Miss Marchurst asked him if it was true; +he had denied it, and Miss Marchurst had said that sooner than he +(the witness) should marry Mrs Villiers she would poison her; the next +morning he heard that Selina Sprotts was dead. + +Kitty Marchurst heard all this evidence in dumb horror. She now knew +that after ruining her life this man wanted her to die a felon’s death. +She arose to her feet and stretched out her hands in protest against +him, but before she could speak a word the place seemed to whirl +round her, and she fell down in a dead faint. This event caused great +excitement in court, and many began to assert positively that she must +be guilty, else why did she faint. Kitty was taken out of Court, and +the examination was proceeded with, while Madame Midas sat pale and +horror-struck at the revelations which were now being made. + +The Coroner now proceeded to cross-examine Vandeloup. + +Q. You say you put the bottle containing this poison into your desk; how +did Miss Marchurst obtain it? + +A. Because she lived with me for some time, and had access to my private +papers. + +Q. Was she your wife? + +A. No, my mistress (sensation in Court). + +Q. Why did she leave you? + +A. We had a difference of opinion about the question of marriage, so she +left me. + +Q. She wanted you to make reparation; in other words, to marry her? + +A. Yes. + +Q. And you refused? + +A. Yes. + +Q. It was on this occasion she produced the poison first? + +A. Yes. She told me she had taken it from my desk, and would poison +herself if I did not marry her; she changed her mind, however, and went +away. + +Q. Did you know what became of her? + +A. Yes; I heard she went on the stage with M. Wopples. + +Q. Did she take the poison with her? + +A. Yes. + +Q. How do you know she took the poison with her? + +A. Because next time I saw her it was still in her possession. + +Q. That was at Mr Meddlechip’s ball? + +A. Yes. + +Q. On the night of the commission of the crime? + +A. Yes. + +Q. What made her take it to the ball? + +A. Rather a difficult question to answer. She heard rumours that I was +to marry Mrs Villiers, and even though I denied it declined to believe +me; she then produced the poison, and said she would take it. + +Q. Where did this conversation take place? + +A. In the conservatory. + +Q. What did you do when she threatened to take the poison? + +A. I tried to take it from her. + +Q. Did you succeed? + +A. No; she threw it out of the door. + +Q. Then when she left Mr Meddlechip’s house to come home she had no +poison with her? + +A. I don’t think so. + +Q. Did she pick the bottle up again after she threw it out? + +A. No, because I went back to the ball-room with her; then I came out +myself to look for the bottle, but it was gone. + +Q. You have never seen it since. + +A. No, it must have been picked up by someone who was ignorant of its +contents. + +Q. By your own showing, M. Vandeloup, Miss Marchurst had no poison with +her when she left Mr Meddlechip’s house. How, then, could she commit +this crime? + +A. She told me she still had some poison left; that she divided the +contents of the bottle she had taken from my desk, and that she still +had enough left at home to poison Mrs Villiers. + +Q. Did she say she would poison Mrs Villiers? + +A. Yes, sooner than see her married to me. (Sensation.) + +Q. Do you believe she went away from you with the deliberate intention +of committing the crime. + +A. I do. + +M. Vandeloup then left the box amid great excitement, and Kilsip was +again examined. He deposed that he had searched Miss Marchurst’s room, +and found half a bottle of extract of hemlock. The contents of the +bottle had been analysed, and were found identical with the conia +discovered in the stomach of the deceased. + +Q. You say the bottle was half empty? + +A. Rather more than that: three-quarters empty. + +Q. Miss Marchurst told M. Vandeloup she had poured half the contents of +one bottle into the other. Would not this account for the bottle being +three-quarters empty? + +A. Possibly; but if the first bottle was full, it is probable she would +halve the poison exactly; so if it had been untouched, it ought to be +half full. + +Q. Then you think some of the contents of this bottle were used? + +A. That is my opinion. + +Vandeloup was recalled, and deposed that the bottle Kitty took from his +desk was quite full; and moreover, when the other bottle which had been +found in her room, was shown to him, he declared that it was as nearly +as possible the same size as the missing bottle. So the inference drawn +from this was that the bottle produced being three-quarters empty, some +of the poison had been used. + +The question now arose that as the guilt of Miss Marchurst seemed so +certain, how was it that Selina Sprotts was poisoned instead of her +mistress; but this was settled by Madame Midas, who being recalled, +deposed that Kitty did not know Selina slept with her on that night, and +the curtains being drawn, could not possibly tell two people were in the +bed. + +This was all the evidence obtainable, and the coroner now proceeded to +sum up. + +The case, he said, was a most remarkable one, and it would be necessary +for the jury to consider very gravely all the evidence laid before them +in order to arrive at a proper conclusion before giving their verdict. +In the first place, it had been clearly proved by the Government analyst +that the deceased had died from effects of conia, which was, as they had +been told, the alkaloid of hemlock, a well-known hedge plant which grows +abundantly in most parts of Great Britain. According to the evidence of +Dr Chinston, the deceased had died from serous apoplexy, and from all +the post-mortem appearances this was the case. But they must remember +that it was almost impossible to detect certain vegetable poisons, such +as aconite and atropia, without minute chemical analysis. They would +remember a case which startled London some years ago, in which the +poisoner had poisoned his brother-in-law by means of aconite, and it +taxed all the ingenuity and cleverness of experts to find the traces of +poison in the stomach of the deceased. In this case, however, thanks to +Dr Gollipeck, who had seen the similarity of the symptoms between the +post-mortem appearance of the stomach of Adele Blondet and the present +case, the usual tests for conia were applied, and as they had been told +by the Government analyst, the result was conia was found. So they could +be quite certain that the deceased had died of poison--that poison +being conia. The next thing for them to consider was how the poison was +administered. According to the evidence of Miss Marchurst, some unknown +person had been standing outside the window and poured the poison into +the glass on the table. Mrs Villiers had stated that the window was open +all night, and from the position of the table near it--nothing would +be easier than for anyone to introduce the poison into the glass as +asserted by Miss Marchurst. On the other hand, the evidence of the +detective Kilsip went to show that no marks were visible as to anyone +having been at the window; and another thing which rendered Miss +Marchurst’s story doubtful was the resemblance it had to a drama in +which she had frequently acted, called ‘The Hidden Hand’. In the last +act of that drama poison was administered to one of the characters +in precisely the same manner, and though of course such a thing might +happen in real life, still in this case it was a highly suspicious +circumstance that a woman like Miss Marchurst, who had frequently acted +in the drama, should see the same thing actually occur off the stage. +Rejecting, then, as improbable the story of the hidden hand, seeing that +the evidence was strongly against it, the next thing was to look into +Miss Marchurst’s past life and see if she had any motive for committing +the crime. Before doing so, however, he would point out to them that +Miss Marchurst was the only person in the room when the crime was +committed. The window in her own room and one of the windows in Mrs +Villiers’ room were both locked, and the open window had a table in +front of it, so that anyone entering would very probably knock it over, +and thus awaken the sleepers. On the other hand, no one could have +entered in at the door, because they would not have had time to escape +before the crime was discovered. So it was clearly shown that Miss +Marchurst must have been alone in the room when the crime was committed. +Now to look into her past life--it was certainly not a very creditable +one. M. Vandeloup had sworn that she had been his mistress for over +a year, and had taken the poison manufactured by himself out of his +private desk. Regarding M. Vandeloup’s motives in preparing such a +poison he could say nothing. Of course, he probably did it by way of +experiment to find out if this colonial grown hemlock possessed the same +poisonous qualities as it did in the old world. It was a careless thing +of him, however, to leave it in his desk, where it could be obtained, +for all such dangerous matters should be kept under lock and key. To +go back, however, to Miss Marchurst. It had been proved by M. Vandeloup +that she was his mistress, and that they quarrelled. She produced this +poison, and said she would kill herself. M. Vandeloup persuaded her to +abandon the idea, and she subsequently left him, taking the poison with +her. She then went on the stage, and subsequently left it in order to +live with Mrs Villiers as her companion. All this time she still had the +poison, and in order to prevent her losing it she put half of it into +another bottle. Now this looked very suspicious, as, if she had not +intended to use it she certainly would never have taken such trouble +over preserving it. She meets M. Vandeloup at a ball, and, hearing that +he is going to marry Mrs Villiers, she loses her head completely, and +threatens to poison herself. M. Vandeloup tries to wrench the poison +from her, whereupon she flings it into the garden. This bottle has +disappeared, and the presumption is that it was picked up. But if the +jury had any idea that the poison was administered from the lost bottle, +they might as well dismiss it from their minds, as it was absurd to +suppose such an improbable thing could happen. In the first place no one +but M. Vandeloup and Miss Marchurst knew what the contents were, and +in the second place what motive could anyone who picked it up have in +poisoning Mrs Villiers, and why should they adopt such an extraordinary +way of doing it, as Miss Marchurst asserted they did? On the other hand, +Miss Marchurst tells M. Vandeloup that she still has some poison left, +and that she will kill Mrs Villiers sooner than see her married to him. +She declares to M. Vandeloup that she will kill her, and leaves the +house to go home with, apparently, all the intention of doing so. She +comes home filled with all the furious rage of a jealous woman, and +enters Mrs Villiers’ room, and here the jury will recall the evidence of +Mrs Villiers, who said Miss Marchurst did not know that the deceased +was sleeping with her. So when Miss Marchurst entered the room, she +naturally thought that Mrs Villiers was by herself, and would, as a +matter of course, refrain from drawing the curtains and looking into the +bed, in case she should awaken her proposed victim. There was a glass +with drink on the table; she was alone with Mrs Villiers, her heart +filled with jealous rage against a woman she thinks is her rival. Her +own room is a few steps away--what, then, was easier for her than to go +to her own room, obtain the poison, and put it into the glass? The +jury will remember in the evidence of Mr Kilsip, the bottle was +three-quarters empty, which argued some of it had been used. All the +evidence against Miss Marchurst was purely circumstantial, for if +she committed the crime, no human eye beheld her doing so. But the +presumption of her having done so, in order to get rid of a successful +rival, was very strong, and the weight of evidence was dead against her. +The jury would, therefore, deliver their verdict in accordance with the +facts laid before them. + +The jury retired, and the court was very much excited. Everyone was +quite certain that Kitty was guilty, but there was a strong feeling +against M. Vandeloup as having been in some measure the cause, though +indirectly, of the crime. But that young gentleman, in accordance with +his usual foresight, had left the court and gone straight home, as he +had no wish to face a crowd of sullen faces, and perhaps worse. Madame +Midas sat still in the court awaiting the return of the jury, with the +calm face of a marble sphinx. But, though she suffered, no appearances +of suffering were seen on her serene face. She never had believed in +human nature, and now the girl whom she had rescued from comparative +poverty and placed in opulence had wanted to kill her. M. Vandeloup, +whom she admired and trusted, what black infamy he was guilty of--he had +sworn most solemnly he never harmed Kitty, and yet he was the man who +had ruined her. Madame Midas felt that the worst had come--Vandeloup +false, Kitty a murderess, her husband vanished, and Selina dead. All the +world was falling into ruins around her, and she remained alone amid +the ruins with her enormous fortune, like a golden statue in a deserted +temple. With clasped hands, aching heart, but impassive face, she sat +waiting for the end. + +The jury returned in about half an hour, and there was a dead silence as +the foreman stood up to deliver the verdict. + +The jury found as follows:-- + +That the deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, died on the 21st day of +November, from the effects of poison, namely, conia, feloniously +administered by one Katherine Marchurst, and the jury, on their oaths, +say that the said Katherine Marchurst feloniously, wilfully, and +maliciously did murder the said deceased. + +That evening Kitty was arrested and lodged in the Melbourne Gaol, to +await her trial on a charge of wilful murder. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +KISMET + + +Of two evils it is always best to choose the least, and as M. Vandeloup +had to choose between the loss of his popularity or his liberty, he +chose to lose the former instead of the latter. After all, as he argued +to himself, Australia at large is a small portion of the world, and +in America no one would know anything about his little escapade in +connection with Kitty. He knew that he was in Gollipeck’s power, and +that unless he acceded to that gentleman’s demand as to giving evidence +he would be denounced to the authorities as an escaped convict from New +Caledonia, and would be sent back there. Of course, his evidence could +not but prove detrimental to himself, seeing how badly he had behaved to +Kitty, but still as going through the ordeal meant liberty, he did so, +and the result was as he had foreseen. Men, as a rule, are not very +squeamish, and view each other’s failings, especially towards women, +with a lenient eye, but Vandeloup had gone too far, and the Bachelors’ +Club unanimously characterised his conduct as ‘damned shady’, so a +letter was sent requesting M. Vandeloup to take his name off the books +of the club. He immediately resigned, and wrote a polite letter to the +secretary, which brought uneasy blushes to the cheek of that gentleman +by its stinging remarks about his and his fellow clubmen’s morality. He +showed it to several of the members, but as they all had their little +redeeming vices, they determined to take no notice, and so M. Vandeloup +was left alone. Another thing which happened was that he was socially +ostracised from society, and his table, which used to be piled up with +invitations, soon became quite bare. Of course, he knew he could force +Meddlechip to recognise him, but he did not choose to do so, as all his +thoughts were fixed on America. He had plenty of money, and with a +new name and a brand new character, Vandeloup thought he would prosper +exceedingly well in the States. So he stayed at home, not caring to +face the stony faces of friends who cut him, and waited for the trial +of Kitty Marchurst, after which he intended to leave for Sydney at once, +and take the next steamer to San Francisco. He did not mind waiting, but +amused himself reading, smoking, and playing, and was quite independent +of Melbourne society. Only two things worried him, and the first of +these was the annoyance of Pierre Lemaire, who seemed to have divined +his intention of going away, and haunted him day and night like an +unquiet spirit. Whenever Vandeloup looked out, he saw the dumb man +watching the house, and if he went for a walk, Pierre would slouch +sullenly along behind him, as he had done in the early days. Vandeloup +could have called in the aid of a policeman to rid himself of this +annoyance, but the fact was he was afraid of offending Pierre, as he +might be tempted to reveal what he knew, and the result would not be +pleasant. So Gaston bore patiently with the disagreeable system of +espionage the dumb man kept over him, and consoled himself with the idea +that once he was on his way to America, it would not matter two straws +whether Pierre told all he knew, or kept silent. The other thing which +troubled the young man were the words Kitty had made use of in Mrs +Villiers’ drawing-room regarding the secret she said she knew. It made +him uneasy, for he half guessed what it was, and thought she might tell +it to someone out of revenge, and then there would be more troubles for +him to get out of. Then, again, he argued that she was too fond of him +ever to tell anything likely to injure him, even though he had put +a rope round her neck. If he could have settled the whole affair +by running away, he would have done so, but Gollipeck was still in +Melbourne, and Gaston knew he could not leave the town without the +terrible old man finding it out, and bringing him back. At last the +torture of wondering how much Kitty knew was too much for him, and he +determined to go to the Melbourne gaol and interview her. So he obtained +an order from the authorities to see her, and prepared to start next +morning. He sent the servant out for a hansom, and by the time it was at +the door, M. Vandeloup, cool, calm, and well dressed, came down stairs +pulling on his gloves. The first thing he saw when he got outside was +Pierre waiting for him with his old hat pulled down over his eyes, and +his look of sullen resignation. Gaston nodded coolly to him, and told +the cabby he wanted to go to the Melbourne gaol, whereupon Pierre +slouched forward as the young man was preparing to enter the cab, and +laid his hand on his arm. + +‘Well,’ said Vandeloup, in a quiet voice, in French, shaking off the +dumb man’s arm, ‘what do you want?’ + +Pierre pointed to the cab, whereupon M. Vandeloup shrugged his +shoulders. ‘Surely you don’t want to come to the gaol with me,’ he said, +mockingly, ‘you’ll get there soon enough.’ + +The other nodded, and made a step towards the cab, but Vandeloup pushed +him back. + +‘Curse the fool,’ he muttered to himself, ‘I’ll have to humour him or +he’ll be making a scene--you can’t come,’ he added aloud, but Pierre +still refused to go away. + +This conversation or rather monologue, seeing M. Vandeloup was the only +speaker, was carried on in French, so the cabman and the servant at the +door were quite ignorant of its purport, but looked rather astonished +at the conduct of the dirty tramp towards such an elegant-looking +gentleman. Vandeloup saw this and therefore determined to end the scene. + +‘Well, well,’ he said to Pierre in French, ‘get in at once,’ and +then when the dumb man entered the cab, he explained to the cabman in +English:--‘This poor devil is a pensioner of mine, and as he wants to +see a friend of his in gaol I’ll take him with me.’ + +He stepped into the cab which drove off, the cabman rather astonished +at the whole affair, but none the less contented himself with merely +winking at the pretty servant girl who stood on the steps, whereupon she +tossed her head and went inside. + +As they drove along Vandeloup said nothing to Pierre, not that he did +not want to, but he mistrusted the trap-door in the roof of the cab, +which would permit the cabman to overhear everything. So they went along +in silence, and when they arrived at the gaol Vandeloup told the cabman +to wait for him, and walked towards the gaol. + +‘You are coming inside, I suppose,’ he said, sharply, to Pierre, who +still slouched alongside. + +The dumb man nodded sullenly. + +Vandeloup cursed Pierre in his innermost heart, but smiled blandly and +agreed to let him enter with him. There was some difficulty with the +warder at the door, as the permission to see the prisoner was only made +out in the name of M. Vandeloup, but after some considerable trouble +they succeeded in getting in. + +‘My faith!’ observed Gaston, lightly, as they went along to the cell, +conducted by a warder, ‘it’s almost as hard to get into gaol as to get +out of it.’ + +The warder admitted them both to Kitty’s cell, and left them alone with +her. She was seated on the bed in the corner of the cell, in an attitude +of deepest dejection. When they entered she looked up in a mechanical +sort of manner, and Vandeloup could see how worn and pinched-looking her +face was. Pierre went to one end of the cell and leaned against the wall +in an indifferent manner, while Vandeloup stood right in front of +the unhappy woman. Kitty arose when she saw him, and an expression of +loathing passed over her haggard-looking face. + +‘Ah!’ she said, bitterly, rejecting Vandeloup’s preferred hand, ‘so you +have come to see your work; well, look around at these bare walls; +see how thin and ugly I have grown; think of the crime with which I am +charged, and surely even Gaston Vandeloup will be satisfied.’ + +The young man sneered. + +‘Still as good at acting as ever, I see,’ he said, mockingly; ‘cannot +you even see a friend without going into these heroics?’ + +‘Why have you come here?’ she asked, drawing herself up to her full +height. + +‘Because I am your friend,’ he answered, coolly. + +‘My friend!’ she echoed, scornfully, looking at him with contempt; ‘you +ruined my life a year ago, now you have endeavoured to fasten the guilt +of murder on me, and yet you call yourself my friend; a good story, +truly,’ with a bitter laugh. + +‘I could not help giving the evidence I did,’ replied Gaston, coolly, +shrugging his shoulders; ‘if you are innocent, what I say will not +matter.’ + +‘If I am innocent!’ she said, looking at him steadily; ‘you villain, you +know I am innocent!’ + +‘I know nothing of the sort.’ + +Then you believe I committed the crime?’ + +‘I do.’ + +Kitty sat helplessly down on the bed, and passed her hand across her +eyes. + +‘My God!’ she muttered, ‘I am going mad.’ + +‘Not at all unlikely,’ he replied, carelessly. + +She looked vacantly round the cell, and caught sight of Pierre shrinking +back into the shadow. + +‘Why did you bring your accomplice with you?’ she said, looking at +Gaston. + +M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘Really, my dear Bebe,’ he said, lazily, ‘I don’t know why you should +call him my accomplice, as I have committed no crime.’ + +‘Have you not?’ she said, rising to her feet, and bending towards him, +‘think again.’ + +Vandeloup shook his head, with a smile. + +‘No, I do not think I have,’ he answered, glancing keenly at her; ‘I +suppose you want me to be as black as yourself?’ + +‘You coward!’ she said, in a rage, turning on him, ‘how dare you +taunt me in this manner? it is not enough that you have ruined me, and +imperilled my life, without jeering at me thus, you coward?’ + +‘Bah!’ retorted Vandeloup, cynically, brushing some dust off his coat, +‘this is not the point; you insinuate that I committed a crime, perhaps +you will tell me what kind of a crime?’ + +‘Murder,’ she replied, in a whisper. + +‘Oh, indeed,’ sneered Gaston, coolly, though his lips twitched a little, +‘the same style of crime as your own? and whose murder am I guilty of, +pray?’ + +‘Randolph Villiers.’ + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +‘Who can prove it?’ he asked, contemptuously. + +‘I can!’ + +‘You,’ with a sneer, ‘a murderess?’ + +‘Who can prove I am a murderess?’ she cried, wildly. + +‘I can,’ he answered, with an ugly look; ‘and I will if you don’t keep a +quiet tongue.’ + +‘I will keep quiet no longer,’ boldly rising and facing Vandeloup, with +her hands clenched at her sides; ‘I have tried to shield you faithfully +through all your wickedness, but now that you accuse me of committing +a crime, which accusation you know is false, I accuse you, Gaston +Vandeloup, and your accomplice, yonder,’ wheeling round and pointing to +Pierre, who shrank away, ‘of murdering Randolph Villiers, at the Black +Hill, Ballarat, for the sake of a nugget of gold he carried.’ + +Vandeloup looked at her disdainfully. + +‘You are mad,’ he said, in a cold voice; ‘this is the raving of a +lunatic; there is no proof of what you say; it was proved conclusively +that myself and Pierre were asleep at our hotel while M. Villiers was +with Jarper at two o’clock in the morning.’ + +‘I know that was proved,’ she retorted, ‘and by some jugglery on your +part; but, nevertheless, I saw you and him,’ pointing again to Pierre, +‘murder Villiers.’ + +‘You saw it,’ echoed Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile; ‘tell me +how?’ + +‘Ah!’ she cried, making a step forward, ‘you do not believe me, but +I tell you it is true--yes, I know now who the two men were following +Madame Midas as she drove away: one was her husband, who wished to rob +her, and the other was Pierre, who, acting upon your instructions, +was to get the gold from Villiers should he succeed in getting it from +Madame. You left me a few minutes afterwards, but I, with my heart full +of love--wretched woman that I was--followed you at a short distance, +unwilling to lose sight of you even for a little time. I climbed down +among the rocks and saw you seat yourself in a narrow part of the path. +Curiosity then took the place of love, and I watched to see what you +were going to do. Pierre--that wretch who cowers in the corner--came +down the path and you spoke to him in French. What was said I did +not know, but I guessed enough to know you meditated some crime. Then +Villiers came down the path with the nugget in its box under his arm. +I recognised the box as the one which Madame Midas had brought to our +house. When Villiers came opposite you you spoke to him; he tried to +pass on, and then Pierre sprang out from behind the rock and the two men +struggled together, while you seized the box containing the gold, which +Villiers had let fall, and watched the struggle. You saw that Villiers, +animated by despair, was gradually gaining the victory over Pierre, and +then you stepped in--yes; I saw you snatch Pierre’s knife from the back +of his waist and stab Villiers in the back. Then you put the knife into +Pierre’s hand, all bloody, as Villiers fell dead, and I fled away.’ + +She stopped, breathless with her recital, and Vandeloup, pale but +composed, would have answered her, when a cry from Pierre startled them. +He had come close to them, and was looking straight at Kitty. + +‘My God!’ he cried; ‘then I am innocent?’ + +‘You!’ shrieked Kitty, falling back on her bed; ‘who are you?’ + +The man pulled his hat off and came a step nearer. + +‘I am Randolph Villiers!’ + +Kitty shrieked again and covered her face with her hands, while +Vandeloup laughed in a mocking manner, though his pale face and +quivering lip told that his mirth was assumed. + +‘Yes,’ said Villiers, throwing his hat on the floor of the cell, ‘it was +Pierre Lemaire, and not I, who died. The struggle took place as you have +described, but he,’ pointing to Vandeloup, ‘wishing to get rid of Pierre +for reasons of his own stabbed him, and not me, in the back. He thrust +the knife into my hand, and I, in my blind fury, thought that I had +murdered the dumb man. I was afraid of being arrested for the murder, +so, as suggested by Vandeloup, I changed clothes with the dead man and +wrapped my own up in a bundle. We hid the body and the nugget in one of +the old mining shafts and then came down to Ballarat. I was similar to +Pierre in appearance, except that my chin was shaven. I went down to the +Wattle Tree Hotel as Pierre after leaving my clothes outside the window +of the bedroom which Vandeloup pointed out to me. Then he went to +the theatre and told me to rejoin him there as Villiers. I got my own +clothes into the room, dressed again as myself; then, locking the door, +so that the people of the hotel might suppose that Pierre slept, I +jumped out of the window of the bedroom and went to the theatre. There +I played my part as you know, and while we were behind the scenes Mr +Wopples asked me to put out the gas in his room. I did so, and took from +his dressing-table a black beard, in order to disguise myself as Pierre +till my beard had grown. We went to supper, and then I parted with +Jarper at two o’clock in the morning, and went back to the hotel, where +I climbed into the bedroom through the window and reassumed Pierre’s +dress for ever. It was by Vandeloup’s advice I pretended to be drunk, as +I could not go to the Pactolus, where my wife would have recognised me. +Then I, as the supposed Pierre, was discharged, as you know. Vandeloup, +aping friendship, drew the dead man’s salary and bought clothes and +a box for me. In the middle of one night I still disguised as Pierre, +slipped out of the window, and went up to Black Hill, where I found the +nugget and brought it down to my room at the Wattle Tree Hotel. Then +Vandeloup brought in the box with my clothes, and we packed the nugget +in it, together with the suit I had worn at the time of the murder. +Following his instructions, I came down to Melbourne, and there disposed +of the nugget--no need to ask how, as there are always people ready to +do things of that sort for payment. When I was paid for the nugget, and +I only got eight hundred pounds, the man who melted it down taking the +rest, I had to give six hundred to Vandeloup, as I was in his power as +I thought, and dare not refuse in case he should denounce me for the +murder of Pierre Lemaire. And now I find that I have been innocent all +the time, and he has been frightening me with a shadow. He, not I, was +the murderer of Pierre Lemaire, and you can prove it.’ + +During all this recital, which Kitty listened to with staring eyes, +Vandeloup had stood quite still, revolving in his own mind how he +could escape from the position in which he found himself. When Villiers +finished his recital he raised his head and looked defiantly at both his +victims. + +‘Fate has placed the game in your hands,’ he said coolly, while they +stood and looked at him; ‘but I’m not beaten yet, my friend. May I ask +what you intend to do?’ + +‘Prove my innocence,’ said Villiers, boldly. + +‘Indeed!’ sneered Gaston, ‘at my expense, I presume.’ + +‘Yes! I will denounce you as the murderer of Pierre Lemaire.’ + +‘And I,’ said Kitty, quickly, ‘will prove Villiers’ innocence.’ + +Vandeloup turned on her with all the lithe, cruel grace of a tiger. + +‘First you must prove your own innocence,’ he said, in a low, fierce +voice. ‘Yes; if you can hang me for the murder of Pierre Lemaire, I can +hang you for the murder of Selina Sprotts; yes, though I know you did +not do it.’ + +‘Ah!’ said Kitty, quickly, springing forward, ‘you know who committed +the crime.’ + +‘Yes,’ replied Vandeloup, slowly, ‘the man who committed the crime +intended to murder Madame Midas, and he was the man who hated her and +wished her dead--her husband.’ + +‘I?’ cried Villiers, starting forward, ‘you lie.’ + +Vandeloup wheeled round quickly on him, and, getting close to him, spoke +rapidly. + +‘No, I do not lie,’ he said, in a concentrated voice of anger; ‘you +followed me up to the house of M. Meddlechip, and hid among the trees +on the lawn to watch the house; you saw Bebe throw the bottle out, and +picked it up; then you went to St Kilda and, climbing over the wall, +committed the crime, as she,’ pointing to Kitty, ‘saw you do; I met +you in the street near the house after you had committed it, and see,’ +plunging his hand into Villiers’ pocket, ‘here is the bottle which +contained the poison,’ and he held up to Kitty the bottle with the two +red bands round it, which she had thrown away. + +‘It is false!’ cried Villiers, in despair, seeing that all the evidence +was against him. + +‘Prove it, then,’ retorted Vandeloup, knocking at the door to summon the +warder. ‘Save your own neck before you put mine in danger.’ + +The door opened, and the warder appeared. Kitty and Villiers gazed +horror-struck at one another, while Vandeloup, without another word, +rapidly left the cell. The warder beckoned to Villiers to come, and, +with a deep sigh, he obeyed. + +‘Where are you going?’ asked Kitty, as he moved towards the door. + +‘Going?’ he repeated, mechanically. ‘I am going to see my wife.’ + +He left the cell, and when he got outside the gaol he saw the hansom +with Vandeloup in it driving rapidly away. Villiers looked at the +retreating vehicle in despair. ‘My God,’ he murmured, raising his face +to the blue sky with a frightful expression of despair; ‘how am I to +escape the clutches of this devil?’ + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BE SURE THY SIN WILL FIND THEE OUT + + +Madame Midas was a remarkably plucky woman, but it needed all her pluck +and philosophy to bear up against the terrible calamities which were +befalling her. Her faith in human nature was completely destroyed, and +she knew that all the pleasure of doing good had gone out of her life. +The discovery of Kitty’s baseness had wounded her deeply, and she found +it difficult to persuade herself that the girl had not been the victim +of circumstances. If Kitty had only trusted her when she came to live +with her all this misery and crime would have been avoided, for she +would have known Madame Midas would never have married Vandeloup, +and thus would have had no motive for committing the crime. Regarding +Vandeloup’s pretensions to her hand, Mrs Villiers laughed bitterly to +herself. After the misery of her early marriage it was not likely she +was going to trust herself and her second fortune again to a man’s +honour. She sighed as she thought what her future life must be. She was +wealthy, it was true, but amid all her riches she would never be able to +know the meaning of friendship, for all who came near her now would have +some motive in doing so, and though Madame Midas was anxious to do +good with her wealth, yet she knew she could never expect gratitude in +return. The comedy of human life is admirable when one is a spectator; +but ah! the actors know they are acting, and have to mask their faces +with smiles, restrain the tears which they would fain let flow, and +mouth witty sayings with breaking hearts. Surely the most bitter of +all feelings is that cynical disbelief in human nature which is so +characteristic of our latest civilization. + +Madame Midas, however, now that Melbourne was so hateful to her, +determined to leave it, and sent up to Mr Calton in order to confer with +him on the subject. Calton came down to St Kilda, and was shown into the +drawing-room where Mrs Villiers, calm and impenetrable looking as ever, +sat writing letters. She arose as the barrister entered, and gave him +her hand. + +‘It was kind of you to come so quickly,’ she said, in her usual quiet, +self-contained manner; ‘I wish to consult you on some matters of +importance.’ + +‘I am at your service, Madame,’ replied Calton, taking a seat, and +looking keenly at the marble face before him; ‘I am glad to see you +looking so well, considering what you have gone through.’ + +Mrs Villiers let a shadowy smile flit across her face. + +‘They say the Red Indian becomes utterly indifferent to the torture of +his enemies after a certain time,’ she answered, coldly; ‘I think it is +the same with me. I have been deceived and disillusionized so completely +that I have grown utterly callous, and nothing now can move me either to +sorrow or joy.’ + +‘A curious answer from a curious woman,’ thought Calton, glancing at +her as she sat at the writing-table in her black dress with the knots of +violet ribbons upon it; ‘what queer creatures experience makes us.’ + +Madame Midas folded her hands loosely on the table, and looked dreamily +out of the open French window, and at the trellis covered with creeping +plants beyond, through which the sun was entering in pencils of golden +light. Life would have been so sweet to her if she had only been content +to be deceived like other people; but then she was not of that kind. +Faith with her was a religion, and when religion is taken away, what +remains?--nothing. + +‘I am going to England,’ she said, abruptly, to Calton, rousing herself +out of these painful reflections. + +‘After the trial, I presume?’ observed Calton, slowly. + +‘Yes,’ she answered, hesitatingly; ‘do you think they will--they +will--hang the girl?’ + +Calton shrugged his shoulders. ‘I can’t tell you,’ he answered, with +a half smile; ‘if she is found guilty--well--I think she will be +imprisoned for life.’ + +‘Poor Kitty,’ said Madame, sadly, ‘it was an evil hour when you met +Vandeloup. What do you think of him?’ she asked, suddenly. + +‘He’s a scoundrel,’ returned Calton, decisively; ‘still, a clever one, +with a genius for intrigue; he should have lived in the times of Borgian +Rome, where his talents would have been appreciated; now we have lost +the art of polite murder.’ + +‘Do you know,’ said Mrs Villiers, musingly, leaning back in her chair, +‘I cannot help thinking Kitty is innocent of this crime.’ + +‘She may be,’ returned Calton, ambiguously, ‘but the evidence seems very +strong against her.’ + +‘Purely circumstantial,’ interrupted Madame Midas, quickly. + +‘Purely circumstantial, as you say,’ assented Calton; ‘still, some +new facts may be discovered before the trial which may prove her to be +innocent. After the mystery which enveloped the death of Oliver Whyte +in the hansom cab murder I hesitate giving a decided answer, in any case +till everything has been thoroughly sifted; but, if not Kitty Marchurst, +whom do you suspect--Vandeloup?’ + +‘No; he wanted to marry me, not to kill me.’ + +‘Have you any enemy, then, who would do such a thing?’ + +‘Yes; my husband.’ + +‘But he is dead.’ + +‘He disappeared,’ corrected Madame, ‘but it was never proved that he was +dead. He was a revengeful, wicked man, and if he could have killed me, +without hurting himself, he would,’ and rising from her seat she paced +up and down the room slowly. + +‘I know your sad story,’ said the barrister, ‘and also how your husband +disappeared; but, to my mind, looking at all the circumstances, you will +not be troubled with him again.’ + +A sudden exclamation made him turn his head, and he saw Madame Midas, +white as death, staring at the open French window, on the threshold of +which was standing a man--medium height, black beard, and a haggard, +hunted look in his eyes. + +‘Who is this?’ cried Calton, rising to his feet. + +Madame Midas tottered, and caught at the mantelpiece for support. + +‘My husband,’ she said, in a whisper. + +‘Alive?’ said Calton, turning to the man at the window. + +‘I should rather think so,’ said Villiers, insolently, advancing into +the room; ‘I don’t look like a dead man, do I?’ + +Madame Midas sprang forward and caught his wrist. + +‘So you have come back, murderer!’ she hissed in his ear. + +‘What do you mean?’ said her husband, wrenching his hand away. + +‘Mean?’ she cried, vehemently; ‘you know what I mean. You cut yourself +off entirely from me by your attempt on my life, and the theft of the +gold; you dare not have showed yourself in case you received the reward +of your crime; and so you worked in the dark against me. I knew you were +near, though I did not see you; and you for a second time attempted my +life.’ + +‘I did not,’ muttered Villiers, shrinking back from the indignant blaze +of her eyes. ‘I can prove--’ + +‘You can prove,’ she burst out, contemptuously, drawing herself up to +her full height, ‘Yes! you can prove anything with your cowardly nature +and lying tongue; but prove that you were not the man who came in the +dead of night and poisoned the drink waiting for me, which was taken by +my nurse. You can prove--yes, as God is my judge, you shall prove it, in +the prisoner’s dock, e’er you go to the gallows.’ + +During all this terrible speech, Villiers had crouched on the ground, +half terrified, while his wife towered over him, magnificent in her +anger. At the end, however, he recovered himself a little, and began to +bluster. + +‘Every man has a right to a hearing,’ he said, defiantly, looking from +his wife to Calton; ‘I can explain everything.’ + +Madame Midas pointed to a chair. + +‘I have no doubt you will prove black is white by your lying,’ she said, +coldly, returning to her seat; ‘I await this explanation.’ + +Thereupon Villiers sat down and told them the whole story of his +mysterious disappearance, and how he had been made a fool of by +Vandeloup. When he had ended, Calton, who had resumed his seat, and +listened to the recital with deep interest, stole a glance at Madame +Midas, but she looked as cold and impenetrable as ever. + +‘I understand, now, the reason of your disappearance,’ she said, coldly; +‘but that is not the point. I want to know the reason you tried to +murder me a second time.’ + +‘I did not,’ returned Villiers, quietly, with a gesture of dissent. + +‘Then Selina Sprotts, since you are so particular,’ retorted his wife, +with a sneer; ‘but it was you who committed the crime.’ + +‘Who says I did?’ cried Villiers, standing up. + +‘No one,’ put in Calton, looking at him sharply, ‘but as you had a +grudge against your wife, it is natural for her to suspect you, at the +same time it is not necessary for you to criminate yourself.’ + +‘I am not going to do so,’ retorted Villiers; ‘if you think I’d be such +a fool as to commit a crime and then trust myself to my wife’s tender +mercies, you are very much mistaken. I am as innocent of the murder as +the poor girl who is in prison.’ + +‘Then she is not guilty?’ cried Mrs Villiers, rising. + +‘No,’ returned Villiers, coldly, ‘she is innocent.’ + +‘Oh, indeed,’ said Calton, quietly; ‘then if you both are innocent, who +is the guilty person?’ + +Villiers was about to speak when another man entered the open window. +This was none other than Kilsip, who advanced eagerly to Villiers. + +‘He has come in at the gate,’ he said, quickly. + +‘Have you the warrant,’ asked Villiers, as a sharp ring was heard at the +front door. + +Kilsip nodded, and Villiers turned on his wife and Calton, who were too +much astonished to speak. + +‘You asked me who committed the crime,’ he said, in a state of +suppressed excitement; ‘look at that door,’ pointing to the door which +led into the hall, ‘and you will see the real murderer of Selina Sprotts +appear.’ + +Calton and Madame Midas turned simultaneously, and the seconds seemed +like hours as they waited with bated breath for the opening of the +fatal door. The same name was on their lips as they gazed with intense +expectation, and that name was--Gaston Vandeloup. + +The noise of approaching footsteps, a rattle at the handle of the door, +and it was flung wide open as the servant announced-- + +‘Mr Jarper.’ + +Yes, there he stood, meek, apologetic, and smiling--the fast-living +bank-clerk, the darling of society, and the secret assassin--Mr +Bartholomew Jarper. + +He advanced smilingly into the room, when suddenly the smile died away, +and his face blanched as his eyes rested on Villiers. He made a step +backward as if to fly, but in a moment Kilsip was on him. + +‘I arrest you in the Queen’s name for the murder of Selina Sprotts,’ and +he slipped the handcuffs on his wrists. + +The wretched young man fell down on the floor with an agonised shriek. + +‘It’s a lie--it’s a lie,’ he howled, beating his manacled hands on the +carpet, ‘none can prove I did it.’ + +‘What about Vandeloup?’ said Villiers, looking at the writhing figure at +his feet, ‘and this proof?’ holding out the bottle with the red bands. + +Jarper looked up with an expression of abject fear on his white face, +then with a shriek fell back again in a swoon. + +Kilsip went to the window and a policeman appeared in answer to his +call, then between them they lifted up the miserable wretch and took him +to a cab which was waiting, and were soon driving off up to the station, +from whence Jarper was taken to the Melbourne gaol. + +Calton turned to Madame Midas and saw that she also had fainted and was +lying on the floor. He summoned the servants to attend to her, then, +making Villiers come with him, he went up to his office in town in order +to get the whole story of the discovery of the murderer. + +The papers were full of it next day, and Villiers’ statement, together +with Jarper’s confession, were published side by side. It appeared that +Jarper had been living very much above his income, and in order to get +money he had forged Mrs Villiers’ name for several large amounts. Afraid +of being discovered, he was going to throw himself on her mercy and +confess all, which he would have done had Madame Midas come to the +Meddlechip’s ball. But overhearing the conversation between Kitty and +Vandeloup in the conservatory, and seeing the bottle flung out, he +thought if he secured it he could poison Madame Midas without suspicion +and throw the guilt upon Kitty. He secured the bottle immediately after +Vandeloup took Kitty back to the ball-room, and then went down to St +Kilda to commit the crime. He knew the house thoroughly as he had often +been in it, and saw that the window of Madame’s room was open. He then +put his overcoat on the glass bottles on top of the wall and leapt +inside, clearing the bushes. He stole across the lawn and stepped over +the flower-bed, carefully avoiding making any marks. He had the bottle +of poison with him, but was apparently quite ignorant how he was to +introduce it into the house, but on looking through the parting of the +curtains he saw the glass with the drink on the table. Guessing that +Madame Midas was in bed and would probably drink during the night, he +put his hand through the curtains and poured all the poison into the +glass, then noiselessly withdrew. He jumped over the wall again, put on +his overcoat, and thought he was safe, when he found M. Vandeloup was +watching him and had seen him in all his actions. Vandeloup, whose +subtle brain immediately saw that if Madame Midas was dead he could +throw the blame on Kitty and thus get rid of her without endangering +himself, agreed to keep silent, but made Jarper give up the bottle +to him. When Jarper had gone Vandeloup, a few yards further down, met +Villiers, but supposed that he had just come on the scene. Villiers, +however, had been watching the house all night, and had also been +watching Meddlechip’s. The reason for this was he thought his wife was +at the ball, and wanted to speak to her. He had followed Kitty and +Mrs Riller down to St Kilda by hanging on to the back of the brougham, +thinking the latter was his wife. Finding his mistake, he hung round the +house for about an hour without any object, and was turning round the +corner to go home when he saw Jarper jump over the wall, and, being +unseen in the shadow, overheard the conversation and knew that Jarper +had committed the crime. He did not, however, dare to accuse Jarper of +murder, as he thought it was in Vandeloup’s power to denounce him as the +assassin of Pierre Lemaire, so for his own safety kept quiet. When he +heard the truth from Kitty in the prison he would have denounced the +Frenchman at once as the real criminal, but was so bewildered by +the rapid manner in which Vandeloup made up a case against him, and +especially by the bottle being produced out of his pocket--which bottle +Vandeloup, of course, had in his hand all the time--that he permitted +him to escape. When he left the gaol, however, he went straight to the +police-office and told his story, when a warrant was immediately granted +for the arrest of Jarper. Kilsip took the warrant and went down to St +Kilda to Mrs Villiers’ house to see her before arresting Jarper; but, +as before described, Jarper came down to the house on business from the +bank and was arrested at once. + +Of course, there was great excitement over the discovery of the real +murderer, especially as Jarper was so well known in Melbourne society, +but no one pitied him. In the days of his prosperity he had been +obsequious to his superiors and insolent to those beneath him, so +that all he gained was the contempt of one and the hate of the other. +Luckily, he had no relatives whom his crime would have disgraced, and as +he had not succeeded in getting rid of Madame Midas, he intended to have +run away to South America, and had forged a cheque in her name for a +large amount in order to supply himself with funds. Unhappily, however, +he had paid that fatal visit and had been arrested, and since then had +been in a state of abject fear, begging and praying that his life might +be spared. His crime, however, had awakened such indignation that the +law was allowed to take its course, so early one wet cold morning +Barty Jarper was delivered into the hands of the hangman, and his mean, +pitiful little soul was launched into eternity. + +Kitty was of course released, but overwhelmed with shame and agony at +all her past life having been laid bare, she did not go to see Madame +Midas, but disappeared amid the crowd, and tried to hide her infamy from +all, although, poor girl, she was more sinned against than sinning. + +Vandeloup, for whom a warrant was out for the murder of Lemaire, had +also disappeared, and was supposed to have gone to America. + +Madame Midas suffered severely from the shocks she had undergone with +the discovery of everyone’s baseness. She settled a certain income on +her husband, on condition she never was to see him again, which offer he +readily accepted, and having arranged all her affairs in Australia, +she left for England, hoping to find in travel some alleviation, if not +forgetfulness, of the sorrow of the past. A good woman--a noble woman, +yet one who went forth into the world broken-hearted and friendless, +with no belief in anyone and no pleasure in life. She, however, was of +too fine a nature ever to sink into the base, cynical indifference of a +misanthropic life, and the wealth which she possessed was nobly used +by her to alleviate the horrors of poverty and to help those who needed +help. Like Midas, the Greek King, from whence her quaint name was +derived, she had turned everything she touched into gold, and though it +brought her no happiness, yet it was the cause of happiness to others; +but she would give all her wealth could she but once more regain that +trust in human nature which had been so cruelly betrayed. + + + + +EPILOGUE + +THE WAGES OF SIN + + +Such a hot night as it was--not a breath of wind, and the moon, full +orbed, dull and yellow, hangs like a lamp in the dark blue sky. Low +down on the horizon are great masses of rain clouds, ragged and +angry-looking, and the whole firmament seems to weigh down on the still +earth, where everything is burnt and parched, the foliage of the trees +hanging limp and heavily, and the grass, yellow and sere, mingling with +the hot, white dust of the roads. Absolute stillness everywhere down +here by the Yarra Yarra, not even the river making a noise as it sweeps +swiftly down on its winding course between its low mud banks. No bark of +a dog or human voice breaks the stillness; not even the sighing of the +wind through the trees. And throughout all this unearthly silence a +nervous vitality predominates, for the air is full of electricity, and +the subtle force is permeating the whole scene. A long trail of silver +light lies on the dark surface of the river rolling along, and here and +there the current swirls into sombre, cruel-looking pools--or froths, +and foams in lines of dirty white around the trunks of spectral-looking +gum trees, which stretch out their white, scarred branches over the +waters. + +Just a little way below the bridge which leads to the Botanical Gardens, +on the near side of the river, stands an old, dilapidated bathing-house, +with its long row of dressing-rooms, doorless and damp-looking. A broad, +irregular wooden platform is in front of these, and slopes gradually +down to the bank, from whence narrow, crazy-looking steps, stretching +the whole length of the platform, go down beneath the sullen waters. And +all this covered with black mould and green slime, with whole armies of +spiders weaving grey, dusky webs in odd corners, and a broken-down fence +on the left half buried in bush rank grass--an evil-looking place even +in the daytime, and ten times more evil-looking and uncanny under the +light of the moon, which fills it with vague shadows. The rough, +slimy platform is deserted, and nothing is heard but the squeaking and +scampering of the water-rats, and every now and then the gurgling of +the river as it races past, as if it was laughing quietly in a ghastly +manner over the victims it had drowned. + +Suddenly a black shadow comes gliding along the narrow path by the +river bank, and pauses a moment at the entrance to the platform. Then it +listens for a few minutes, and again hurries down to the crazy-looking +steps. The black shadow standing there, like the genius of solitude, is +a woman, and she has apparently come to add herself to the list of the +cruel-looking river’s victims. Standing there, with one hand on the +rough rail, and staring with fascinated eyes on the dull muddy water, +she does not hear a step behind her. The shadow of a man, who has +apparently followed her, glides from behind the bathing-shed, and +stealing down to the woman on the verge of the stream, lays a delicate +white hand on her shoulder. She turns with a startled cry, and Kitty +Marchurst and Gaston Vandeloup are looking into one another’s eyes. +Kitty’s charming face is worn and pallid, and the hand which clutches +her shawl is trembling nervously as she gazes at her old lover. There +he stands, dressed in old black clothes, worn and tattered looking, with +his fair auburn hair all tangled and matted; his chin covered with +a short stubbly beard of some weeks’ growth, and his face gaunt and +haggard-looking--the very same appearance as he had when he landed in +Australia. Then he sought to preserve his liberty; now he is seeking to +preserve his life. They gaze at one another in a fascinated manner for +a few moments, and then Gaston removes his hand from the girl’s shoulder +with a sardonic laugh, and she buries her face in her hands with a +stifled sob. + +‘So this is the end,’ he said, pointing to the river, and fixing his +scintillating eyes on the girl; ‘this is the end of our lives; for you +the river--for me the hangman.’ + +‘God help me,’ she moaned, piteously; ‘what else is left to me but the +river?’ + +‘Hope,’ he said, in a low voice; ‘you are young; you are beautiful; you +can yet enjoy life; but,’ in a deliberate cruel manner, ‘you will not, +for the river claims you as its victim.’ + +Something in his voice fills her with fear, and looking up she reads +death in his face, and sinking on her knees she holds out her helpless +hands with a pitying cry for life. + +‘Strange,’ observed M. Vandeloup, with a touch of his old airy manner; +‘you come to commit suicide and are not afraid; I wish to save you the +trouble, and you are, my dear--you are illogical.’ + +‘No! no!’ she mutters, twisting her hands together, ‘I do not want to +die; why do you wish to kill me?’ lifting her wan face to his. + +He bent down, and caught her wrist fiercely. + +‘You ask me that?’ he said, in a voice of concentrated passion, ‘you +who, with your long tongue, have put the hangman’s rope round my throat; +but for you, I would, by this time, have been on my way to America, +where freedom and wealth awaits me. I have worked hard, and committed +crimes for money, and now, when I should enjoy it, you, with your +feminine devilry, have dragged me back to the depths.’ + +‘I did not make you commit the crimes,’ she said, piteously. + +‘Bah!’ with a scoffing laugh, ‘who said you did? I take my own sins on +my own shoulders; but you did worse; you betrayed me. Yes; there is a +warrant out for my arrest, for the murder of that accursed Pierre. I +have eluded the clever Melbourne police so far, but I have lived the +life of a dog. I dare not even ask for food, lest I betray myself. I am +starving! I tell you, starving! you harlot! and it is your work.’ + +He flung her violently to the ground, and she lay there, a huddled heap +of clothing, while, with wild gesticulations, he went on. + +‘But I will not hang,’ he said, fiercely; ‘Octave Braulard, who escaped +the guillotine, will not perish by a rope. No; I have found a boat +going to South America, and to-morrow I go on board of her, to sail to +Valparaiso; but before I go I settle with you.’ + +She sprang suddenly to her feet with a look of hate in her eyes. + +‘You villain!’ she said, through her clenched teeth, ‘you ruined my +life, but you shall not murder me!’ + +He caught her wrist again, but he was weak for want of food, and she +easily wrenched it away. + +‘Stand back!’ she cried, retreating a little. + +‘You think to escape me,’ he almost shrieked, all his smooth cynical +mask falling off; ‘no, you will not; I will throw you into the river. I +will see you sink to your death. You will cry for help. No one will hear +you but God and myself. Both of us are merciless. You will die like a +rat in a hole, and that face you are so proud of will be buried in the +mud of the river. You devil! your time has come to die.’ + +He hissed out the last word in a low, sibilant manner, then sprang +towards her to execute his purpose. They were both standing on the verge +of the steps, and instinctively Kitty put out her hands to keep him +off. She struck him on the chest, and then his foot slipped on the green +slime which covered the steps, and with a cry of baffled rage he fell +backward into the dull waters, with a heavy splash. The swift current +gripped him, and before Kitty could utter a sound, she could see him +rising out in midstream, and being carried rapidly away. He threw up his +hands with a hoarse cry for help, but, weakened by famine, he could do +nothing for himself, and sank for the second time. Again he rose, and +the current swept him near shore, almost within reach of a fallen tree. +He made a desperate effort to grasp it, but the current, mocking his +puny efforts, bore him away once again in its giant embrace, and with a +wild shriek on God he sank to rise no more. + +The woman on the bank, with white face and staring eyes, saw the fate +which he had meant for her meted out to him, and when she saw him sink +for the last time, she covered her face with her hand and fled rapidly +away into the shadowy night. + +The sun is setting in a sea of blood, and all the west is lurid with +crimson and barred by long black clouds. A heavy cloud of smoke shot +with fiery red hangs over the city, and the din of many workings +sound through the air. Down on the river the ships are floating on the +blood-stained waters, and all their masts stand up like a forest of +bare trees against the clear sky. And the river sweeps on red and +angry-looking under the sunset, with the rank grass and vegetation on +its shelving banks. Rats are scampering along among the wet stones, and +then a vagrant dog poking about amid some garbage howls dismally. What +is that black speck on the crimson waters? The trunk of a tree perhaps; +no, it is a body, with white face and tangled auburn hair; it is +floating down with the current. People are passing to and fro on the +bridge, the clock strikes in the town hall, and the dead body +drifts slowly down the red stream far into the shadows of the coming +night--under the bridge, across which the crowd is hurrying, bent on +pleasure and business, past the tall warehouses where rich merchants are +counting their gains, under the shadow of the big steamers with their +tall masts and smoky funnels. Now it is caught in the reeds at the side +of the stream; no, the current carries it out again, and so down the +foul river, with the hum of the city on each side and the red sky above, +drifts the dead body on its way to the sea. The red dies out of the sky, +the veil of night descends, and under the cold starlight--cold and cruel +as his own nature--that which was once Gaston Vandeloup floats away into +the still shadows. + +FINIS + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + +***** This file should be named 4946-0.txt or 4946-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/4/4946/ + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Madame Midas + +Author: Fergus Hume + + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4946] +This file was first posted on April 3, 2002 +Last Updated: November 8, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + + + + +Text file produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + MADAME MIDAS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Fergus Hume + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PROL"> PROLOGUE — CAST UP BY THE SEA </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> <b>PART I.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. — THE PACTOLUS CLAIM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. — SLIVERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. — MADAME MIDAS AT HOME </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. — THE GOOD SAMARITAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. — MAMMON’S TREASURE HOUSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. — KITTY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. — MR VILLIERS PAYS A VISIT + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. — MADAME MIDAS STRIKES ‘ILE’ + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. — LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. — FRIENDS IN COUNCIL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. — THEODORE WOPPLES, ACTOR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. — HIGHWAY ROBBERY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. — A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. — A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. — SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. — MCINTOSH SPEAKS HIS MIND + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. — THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST + PART </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. — M. VANDELOUP IS UNJUSTLY + SUSPECTED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. — THE DEVIL’S LEAD </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> <b>PART II.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER I. — TEMPUS FUGIT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER II. — DISENCHANTMENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER III. — M. VANDELOUP HEARS SOMETHING + TO HIS ADVANTAGE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER IV. — THE CASE OF ADELE BLONDET + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER V. — THE KEY OF THE STREET </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER VI. — ON CHANGE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER VII. — THE OPULENCE OF MADAME MIDAS + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER VIII. — M. VANDELOUP IS SURPRISED + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER IX. — A PROFESSIONAL PHILANTHROPIST + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER X. — IN THE FERNERY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XI. — THE VISION OF MISS KITTY + MARCHURST </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER XII. — A STARTLING DISCOVERY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XIII. — DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER XIV. — CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0034"> CHAPTER XV. — KISMET </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0035"> CHAPTER XVI. — BE SURE THY SIN WILL FIND + THEE OUT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_EPIL"> EPILOGUE — THE WAGES OF SIN </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PROL" id="link2H_PROL"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PROLOGUE — CAST UP BY THE SEA + </h2> + <p> + A wild bleak-looking coast, with huge water-worn promontories jutting out + into the sea, daring the tempestuous fury of the waves, which dashed + furiously in sheets of seething foam against the iron rocks. Two of these + headlands ran out for a considerable distance, and at the base of each, + ragged cruel-looking rocks stretched still further out into the ocean + until they entirely disappeared beneath the heaving waste of waters, and + only the sudden line of white foam every now and then streaking the dark + green waves betrayed their treacherous presence to the idle eye. Between + these two headlands there was about half a mile of yellow sandy beach on + which the waves rolled with a dull roar, fringing the wet sands with many + coloured wreaths of sea-weed and delicate shells. At the back the cliffs + rose in a kind of semi-circle, black and precipitous, to the height of + about a hundred feet, and flocks of white seagulls who had their nests + therein were constantly circling round, or flying seaward with steadily + expanded wings and discordant cries. At the top of these + inhospitable-looking cliffs a line of pale green betrayed the presence of + vegetation, and from thence it spread inland into vast-rolling pastures + ending far away at the outskirts of the bush, above which could be seen + giant mountains with snow-covered ranges. Over all this strange contrast + of savage arid coast and peaceful upland there was a glaring red sky—not + the delicate evanescent pink of an ordinary sunset—but a fierce + angry crimson which turned the wet sands and dark expanse of ocean into + the colour of blood. Far away westward, where the sun—a molten ball + of fire—was sinking behind the snow-clad peaks, frowned long lines + of gloomy clouds—like prison bars through which the sinking orb + glowed fiercely. Rising from the east to the zenith of the sky was a huge + black cloud bearing a curious resemblance to a gigantic hand, the long + lean fingers of which were stretched threateningly out as if to grasp the + land and drag it back into the lurid sea of blood; altogether a cruel, + weird-looking scene, fantastic, unreal, and bizarre as one of Dore’s + marvellous conceptions. Suddenly on the red waters there appeared a black + speck, rising and falling with the restless waves, and ever drawing nearer + and nearer to the gloomy cliffs and sandy beach. When within a quarter of + a mile of the shore, the speck resolved itself into a boat, a mere + shallop, painted a dingy white, and much battered by the waves as it + tossed lightly on the crimson waters. It had one mast and a small sail all + torn and patched, which by some miracle held together, and swelling out to + the wind drew the boat nearer to the land. In this frail craft were two + men, one of whom was kneeling in the prow of the boat shading his eyes + from the sunlight with his hands and gazing eagerly at the cliffs, while + the other sat in the centre with bowed head, in an attitude of sullen + resignation, holding the straining sail by a stout rope twisted round his + arm. Neither of them spoke a word till within a short distance of the + beach, when the man at the look-out arose, tall and gaunt, and stretched + out his hands to the inhospitable-looking coast with a harsh, exulting + laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘At last,’ he cried, in a hoarse, strained voice, and in a foreign tongue; + ‘freedom at last.’ + </p> + <p> + The other man made no comment on this outburst of his companion, but kept + his eyes steadfastly on the bottom of the boat, where lay a small barrel + and a bag of mouldy biscuits, the remnants of their provisions on the + voyage. + </p> + <p> + The man who had spoken evidently did not expect an answer from his + companion, for he did not even turn his head to look at him, but stood + with folded arms gazing eagerly ahead, until, with a sudden rush, the boat + drove up high and dry on the shore, sending him head-over-heels into the + wet sand. He struggled to his feet quickly, and, running up the beach a + little way, turned to see how his companion had fared. The other had + fallen into the sea, but had picked himself up, and was busily engaged in + wringing the water from his coarse clothing. There was a smooth water-worn + boulder on the beach, and, seeing this, the man who had spoken went up to + it and sat down thereon, while his companion, evidently of a more + practical turn of mind, collected the stale biscuits which had fallen out + of the bag, then, taking the barrel carefully on his shoulder, walked up + to where the other was sitting, and threw both biscuits and barrel at his + feet. + </p> + <p> + He then flung himself wearily on the sand, and picking up a biscuit began + to munch it steadily. The other drew a tin pannikin from the bosom of his + shirt, and nodded his head towards the barrel, upon which the eater laid + down his biscuit, and, taking up the barrel, drew the bung, and let a few + drops of water trickle into the tin dish. The man on the boulder drank + every drop, then threw the pannikin down on the sand, while his companion, + who had exhausted the contents of the barrel, looked wolfishly at him. The + other, however, did not take the slightest notice of his friend’s lowering + looks, but began to eat a biscuit and look around him. There was a strong + contrast between these two waifs of the sea which the ocean had just + thrown up on the desolate coast. The man on the boulder was a tall, + slightly-built young fellow, apparently about thirty years of age, with + leonine masses of reddish-coloured hair, and a short, stubbly beard of the + same tint. His face, pale and attenuated by famine, looked sharp and + clever; and his eyes, forming a strong contrast to his hair, were quite + black, with thin, delicately-drawn eyebrows above them. They scintillated + with a peculiar light which, though not offensive, yet gave anyone looking + at him an uncomfortable feeling of insecurity. The young man’s hands, + though hardened and discoloured, were yet finely formed, while even the + coarse, heavy boots he wore could not disguise the delicacy of his feet. + He was dressed in a rough blue suit of clothes, all torn and much stained + by sea water, and his head was covered with a red cap of wool-work which + rested lightly on his tangled masses of hair. After a time he tossed aside + the biscuit he was eating, and looked down at his companion with a cynical + smile. The man at his feet was a rough, heavy-looking fellow, squarely and + massively built, with black hair and a heavy beard of the same sombre hue. + His hands were long and sinewy; his feet—which were bare—large + and ungainly: and his whole appearance was that of a man in a low station + of life. No one could have told the colour of his eyes, for he looked + obstinately at the ground; and the expression of his face was so sullen + and forbidding that altogether he appeared to be an exceedingly unpleasant + individual. His companion eyed him for a short time in a cool, calculating + manner, and then rose painfully to his feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘So,’ he said rapidly in French, waving his hand towards the frowning + cliffs, ‘so, my Pierre, we are in the land of promise; though I must + confess’—with a disparaging shrug of the shoulders—‘it + certainly does not look very promising: still, we are on dry land, and + that is something after tossing about so long in that stupid boat, with + only a plank between us and death. Bah!’—with another expressive + shrug—‘why should I call it stupid? It has carried us all the way + from New Caledonia, that hell upon earth, and landed us safely in what may + turn out Paradise. We must not be ungrateful to the bridge that carried us + over—eh, my friend?’ + </p> + <p> + The man addressed as Pierre nodded an assent, then pointed towards the + boat; the other looked up and saw that the tide had risen, and that the + boat was drifting slowly away from the land. + </p> + <p> + ‘It goes,’ he said coolly, ‘back again to its proper owner, I suppose. + Well, let it. We have no further need of it, for, like Caesar, we have now + crossed the Rubicon. We are no longer convicts from a French prison, my + friend, but shipwrecked sailors; you hear?’—with a sudden + scintillation from his black eyes—‘shipwrecked sailors; and I will + tell the story of the wreck. Luckily, I can depend on your discretion, as + you have not even a tongue to contradict, which you wouldn’t do if you + had.’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man rose slowly to his feet, and pointed to the cliffs frowning + above them. The other answered his thought with a careless shrug of the + shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘We must climb,’ he said lightly, ‘and let us hope the top will prove less + inhospitable than this place. Where we are I don’t know, except that this + is Australia; there is gold here, my friend, and we must get our share of + it. We will match our Gallic wit against these English fools, and see who + comes off best. You have strength, I have brains; so we will do great + things; but’—laying his hand impressively on the other’s breast—‘no + quarter, no yielding, you see!’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man nodded violently, and rubbed his ungainly hands together in + delight. + </p> + <p> + ‘You don’t know Balzac, my friend,’ went on the young man in a + conversational tone, ‘or I would tell you that, like Rastignac, war is + declared between ourselves and society; but if you have not the knowledge + you have the will, and that is enough for me. Come, let us make the first + step towards our wealth;’ and without casting a glance behind him, he + turned and walked towards the nearest headland, followed by the dumb man + with bent head and slouching gait. + </p> + <p> + The rain and wind had been at work on this promontory, and their combined + action had broken off great masses of rock, which lay in rugged confusion + at the base. This offered painful but secure foothold, and the two + adventurers, with much labour—for they were weak with the privations + endured on the voyage from New Caledonia—managed to climb half way + up the cliff, when they stopped to take breath and look around them. They + were now in a perilous position, for, hanging as they were on a narrow + ledge of rock midway between earth and sky, the least slip would have cost + them their lives. The great mass of rock which frowned above them was + nearly perpendicular, yet offered here and there certain facilities for + climbing, though to do so looked like certain death. The men, however, + were quite reckless, and knew if they could get to the top they would be + safe, so they determined to attempt the rest of the ascent. + </p> + <p> + ‘As we have not the wings of eagles, friend Pierre,’ said the younger man, + glancing around, ‘we must climb where we can find foothold. God will + protect us; if not,’ with a sneer, ‘the Devil always looks after his own.’ + </p> + <p> + He crept along the narrow ledge and scrambled with great difficulty into a + niche above, holding on by the weeds and sparse grass which grew out of + the crannies of the barren crag. Followed by his companion, he went + steadily up, clinging to projecting rocks—long trails of tough grass + and anything else he could hold on to. Every now and then some seabird + would dash out into their faces with wild cries, and nearly cause them to + lose their foothold in the sudden start. Then the herbage began to get + more luxurious, and the cliff to slope in an easy incline, which made the + latter part of their ascent much easier. At last, after half an hour’s + hard work, they managed to get to the top, and threw themselves + breathlessly on the short dry grass which fringed the rough cliff. Lying + there half fainting with fatigue and hunger, they could hear, as in a + confused dream, the drowsy thunder of the waves below, and the discordant + cries of the sea-gulls circling round their nests, to which they had not + yet returned. The rest did them good, and in a short time they were able + to rise to their feet and survey the situation. In front was the sea, and + at the back the grassy undulating country, dotted here and there with + clumps of trees now becoming faint and indistinct in the rapidly falling + shadows of the night. They could also see horses and cattle moving in the + distant fields, which showed that there must be some human habitation + near, and suddenly from a far distant house which they had not observed + shone a bright light, which became to these weary waifs of the ocean a + star of hope. + </p> + <p> + They looked at one another in silence, and then the young man turned + towards the ocean again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Behind,’ he said, pointing to the east, ‘lies a French prison and two + ruined lives—yours and mine—but in front,’ swinging round to + the rich fields, ‘there is fortune, food, and freedom. Come, my friend, + let us follow that light, which is our star of hope, and who knows what + glory may await us. The old life is dead, and we start our lives in this + new world with all the bitter experiences of the old to teach us wisdom—come!’ + And without another word he walked slowly down the slope towards the + inland, followed by the dumb man with his head still bent and his air of + sullen resignation. + </p> + <p> + The sun disappeared behind the snowy ranges—night drew a grey veil + over the sky as the red light died out, and here and there the stars were + shining. The seabirds sought their nests again and ceased their discordant + cries—the boat which had brought the adventurers to shore drifted + slowly out to sea, while the great black hand that rose from the eastward + stretched out threateningly towards the two men tramping steadily onward + through the dewy grass, as though it would have drawn them back again to + the prison from whence they had so miraculously escaped. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART I. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — THE PACTOLUS CLAIM + </h2> + <p> + In the early days of Australia, when the gold fever was at its height, and + the marvellous Melbourne of to-day was more like an enlarged camp than + anything else, there was a man called Robert Curtis, who arrived in the + new land of Ophir with many others to seek his fortune. Mr Curtis was of + good family, but having been expelled from Oxford for holding certain + unorthodox opinions quite at variance with the accepted theological tenets + of the University, he had added to his crime by marrying a pretty girl, + whose face was her fortune, and who was born, as the story books say, of + poor but honest parents. Poverty and honesty, however, were not sufficient + recommendations in the eyes of Mr Curtis, senior, to excuse such a match; + so he promptly followed the precedent set by Oxford, and expelled his son + from the family circle. That young gentleman and his wife came out to + Australia filled with ambitious dreams of acquiring a fortune, and then of + returning to heap coals of fire on the heads of those who had turned them + out. + </p> + <p> + These dreams, however, were destined never to be realised, for within a + year after their arrival in Melbourne Mrs Curtis died giving birth to a + little girl, and Robert Curtis found himself once more alone in the world + with the encumbrance of a small child. He, however, was not a man who wore + his heart on his sleeve, and did not show much outward grief, though, no + doubt, he sorrowed deeply enough for the loss of the pretty girl for whom + he had sacrificed so much. At all events, he made up his mind at once what + to do: so, placing his child under the care of an old lady, he went to + Ballarat, and set to work to make his fortune. + </p> + <p> + While there his luck became proverbial, and he soon found himself a rich + man; but this did not satisfy him, for, being of a far-seeing nature, he + saw the important part Australia would play in the world’s history. So + with the gold won by his pick he bought land everywhere, and especially in + Melbourne, which was even then becoming metropolitan. After fifteen years + of a varied life he returned to Melbourne to settle down, and found that + his daughter had grown up to be a charming young girl, the very image of + his late wife. Curtis built a house, went in for politics, and soon became + a famous man in his adopted country. He settled a large sum of money on + his daughter absolutely, which no one, not even her future husband, could + touch, and introduced her to society. + </p> + <p> + Miss Curtis became the belle of Melbourne, and her charming face, together + with the more substantial beauties of wealth, soon brought crowds of + suitors around her. Her father, however, determined to find a husband for + her whom he could trust, and was looking for one when he suddenly died of + heart disease, leaving his daughter an orphan and a wealthy woman. + </p> + <p> + After Mr Curtis had been buried by the side of his dead wife, the heiress + went home to her richly-furnished house, and after passing a certain + period in mourning, engaged a companion, and once more took her position + in society. + </p> + <p> + Her suitors—numerous and persistent as those of Penelope—soon + returned to her feet, and she found she could choose a husband from men of + all kinds—rich and poor, handsome and ugly, old and young. One of + these, a penniless young Englishman, called Randolph Villiers, payed her + such marked attention, that in the end Miss Curtis, contrary to the wishes + of her friends, married him. + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers had a handsome face and figure, a varied and extensive + wardrobe, and a bad character. He, however, suppressed his real tastes + until he became the husband of Miss Curtis, and holder of the purse—for + such was the love his wife bore him that she unhesitatingly gave him full + control of all her property, excepting that which was settled on herself + by her father, which was, of course, beyond marital control. In vain her + friends urged some settlement should be made before marriage. Miss Curtis + argued that to take any steps to protect her fortune would show a want of + faith in the honesty of the man she loved, so went to the altar and + reversed the marriage service by endowing Mr Randolph Villiers with all + her worldly goods. + </p> + <p> + The result of this blind confidence justified the warnings of her friends—for + as soon as Villiers found himself in full possession of his wife’s + fortune, he immediately proceeded to spend all the money he could lay his + hands on. He gambled away large sums at his club, betted extensively on + the turf, kept open house, and finally became entangled with a lady whose + looks were much better than her morals, and whose capacity for spending + money so far exceeded his own that in two years she completely ruined him. + Mrs Villiers put up with this conduct for some time, as she was too proud + to acknowledge she had made a mistake in her choice of a husband; but when + Villiers, after spending all her wealth in riotous living, actually + proceeded to ill-treat her in order to force her to give up the money her + father had settled on her, she rebelled. She tore off her wedding-ring, + threw it at his feet, renounced his name, and went off to Ballarat with + her old nurse and the remnants of her fortune. + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers, however, was not displeased at this step; in fact, he was + rather glad to get rid of a wife who could no longer supply him with + money, and whose presence was a constant rebuke. He sold up the house and + furniture, and converted all available property into cash, which cash he + then converted into drink for himself and jewellery for his lady friend. + The end soon came to the fresh supply of money, and his lady friend went + off with his dearest companion, to whose purse she had taken a sudden + liking. Villiers, deserted by all his acquaintances, sank lower and lower + in the social scale, and the once brilliant butterfly of fashion became a + billiard marker, then a tout at races, and finally a bar loafer with no + visible means of support. + </p> + <p> + Meantime Mrs Villiers was prospering in Ballarat, and gaining the respect + and good opinion of everyone, while her husband was earning the contempt + of not only his former friends but even of the creatures with whom he now + associated. When Mrs Villiers went up to Ballarat after her short but + brilliant life in Melbourne she felt crushed. She had given all the wealth + of her girlish affection to her husband, and had endowed him with all + kinds of chivalrous attributes, only to find out, as many a woman has done + before and since, that her idol had feet of clay. The sudden shock of the + discovery of his baseness altered the whole of her life, and from being a + bright, trustful girl, she became a cold suspicious woman who disbelieved + in everyone and in everything. + </p> + <p> + But she was of too restless and ambitious a nature to be content with an + idle life, and although the money she still possessed was sufficient to + support her in comfort, yet she felt that she must do something, if only + to keep her thoughts from dwelling on those bitter years of married life. + The most obvious thing to do in Ballarat was to go in for gold-mining, and + chance having thrown in her way a mate of her father’s, she determined to + devote herself to that, being influenced in her decision by the old + digger. This man, by name Archibald McIntosh, was a shrewd, hard-headed + Scotchman, who had been in Ballarat when the diggings were in the height + of their fame, and who knew all about the lie of the country and where the + richest leads had been in the old days. He told Mrs Villiers that her + father and himself had worked together on a lead then known as the Devil’s + Lead, which was one of the richest ever discovered in the district. It had + been found by five men, who had agreed with one another to keep silent as + to the richness of the lead, and were rapidly making their fortunes when + the troubles of the Eureka stockade intervened, and, in the encounter + between the miners and the military, three of the company working the lead + were killed, and only two men were left who knew the whereabouts of the + claim and the value of it. These were McIntosh and Curtis, who were the + original holders. Mr Curtis, went down to Melbourne, and, as previously + related, died of heart disease, so the only man left of the five who had + worked the lead was Archibald McIntosh. He had been too poor to work it + himself, and, having failed to induce any speculator to go in with him to + acquire the land, he had kept silent about it, only staying up at Ballarat + and guarding the claim lest someone else should chance on it. Fortunately + the place where it was situated had not been renowned for gold in the + early days, and it had passed into the hands of a man who used it as + pasture land, quite ignorant of the wealth which lay beneath. When Mrs + Villiers came up to Ballarat, this man wanted to sell the land, as he was + going to Europe; so, acting under the urgent advice of McIntosh, she sold + out of all the investments which she had and purchased the whole tract of + country where the old miner assured her solemnly the Devil’s Lead was to + be found. + </p> + <p> + Then she built a house near the mine, and taking her old nurse, Selina + Sprotts, and Archibald McIntosh to live with her, sank a shaft in the + place indicated by the latter. She also engaged miners, and gave McIntosh + full control over the mine, while she herself kept the books, paid the + accounts, and proved herself to be a first-class woman of business. She + had now been working the mine for two years, but as yet had not been + fortunate enough to strike the lead. The gutter, however, proved + remunerative enough to keep the mine going, pay all the men, and support + Mrs Villiers herself, so she was quite content to wait till fortune should + smile on her, and the long-looked-for Devil’s Lead turned up. People who + had heard of her taking the land were astonished at first, and disposed to + scoff, but they soon begun to admire the plucky way in which she fought + down her ill-luck for the first year of her venture. All at once matters + changed; she made a lucky speculation in the share market, and the + Pactolus claim began to pay. Mrs Villiers became mixed up in mining + matters, and bought and sold on ‘Change with such foresight and + promptitude of action that she soon began to make a lot of money. + Stockbrokers are not, as a rule, romantic, but one of the fraternity was + so struck with her persistent good fortune that he christened her Madame + Midas, after that Greek King whose touch turned everything into gold. This + name tickled the fancy of others, and in a short time she was called + nothing but Madame Midas all over the country, which title she accepted + complacently enough as a forecast of her success in finding the Devil’s + Lead, which idea had grown into a mania with her as it already was with + her faithful henchman, McIntosh. + </p> + <p> + When Mr Villiers therefore arrived in Ballarat, he found his wife + universally respected and widely known as Madame Midas, so he went to see + her, expecting to be kept in luxurious ease for the rest of his life. He + soon, however, found himself mistaken, for his wife told him plainly she + would have nothing to do with him, and that if he dared to show his face + at the Pactolus claim she would have him turned off by her men. He + threatened to bring the law into force to make her live with him, but she + laughed in his face, and said she would bring a divorce suit against him + if he did so; and as Mr Villiers’ character could hardly bear the light of + day, he retreated, leaving Madame in full possession of the field. + </p> + <p> + He stayed, however, in Ballarat, and took up stockbroking—living a + kind of hand-to-mouth existence, bragging of his former splendour, and + swearing at his wife for what he was pleased to call—her cruelty. + Every now and then he would pay a visit to the Pactolus, and try to see + her, but McIntosh was a vigilant guard, and the miserable creature was + always compelled to go back to his Bohemian life without accomplishing his + object of getting money from the wife he had deserted. + </p> + <p> + People talked, of course, but Madame did not mind. She had tried married + life, and had been disappointed; her old ideas of belief in human nature + had passed away; in short, the girl who had been the belle of Melbourne as + Miss Curtis and Mrs Villiers had disappeared, and the stern, clever, + cynical woman who managed the Pactolus claim was a new being called + ‘Madame Midas’. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — SLIVERS + </h2> + <p> + Everyone has heard of the oldest inhabitant—that wonderful piece of + antiquity, with white hair, garrulous tongue, and cast-iron memory,—who + was born with the present century—very often before it—and + remembers George III, the Battle of Waterloo, and the invention of the + steam-engine. But in Australia, the oldest inhabitant is localized, and + rechristened an early settler. He remembers Melbourne before Melbourne + was; he distinctly recollects sailing up the Yarra Yarra with Batman, and + talks wildly about the then crystalline purity of its waters—an + assertion which we of to-day feel is open to considerable doubt. His + wealth is unbounded, his memory marvellous, and his acquaintances of a + somewhat mixed character, comprising as they do a series of persons + ranging from a member of Parliament down to a larrikin. + </p> + <p> + Ballarat, no doubt, possesses many of these precious pieces of antiquity + hidden in obscure corners, but one especially was known, not only in the + Golden City, but throughout Victoria. His name was Slivers—plain + Slivers, as he said himself—and, from a physical point of view, he + certainly spoke the truth. What his Christian name was no one ever knew; + he called himself Slivers, and so did everyone else, without even an + Esquire or a Mister to it—neither a head nor a tail to add dignity + to the name. + </p> + <p> + Slivers was as well known in Sturt Street and at ‘The Corner’ as the town + clock, and his tongue very much resembled that timepiece, inasmuch as it + was always going. He was a very early settler; in fact, so remarkably + early that it was currently reported the first white men who came to + Ballarat found Slivers had already taken up his abode there, and lived in + friendly relations with the local blacks. He had achieved this amicable + relationship by the trifling loss of a leg, an arm, and an eye, all of + which portions of his body were taken off the right side, and consequently + gave him rather a lop-sided appearance. But what was left of Slivers + possessed an abundant vitality, and it seemed probable he would go on + living in the same damaged condition for the next twenty years. + </p> + <p> + The Ballarat folk were fond of pointing him out as a specimen of the + healthy climate, but this was rather a flight of fancy, as Slivers was one + of those exasperating individuals who, if they lived in a swamp or a + desert, would still continue to feel their digestions good and their lungs + strong. + </p> + <p> + Slivers was reputed rich, and Arabian-Night-like stories were told of his + boundless wealth, but no one ever knew the exact amount of money he had, + and as Slivers never volunteered any information on the subject, no one + ever did know. He was a small, wizen-looking little man, who usually wore + a suit of clothes a size too large for him, wherein scandal-mongers + averred his body rattled like a dried pea in a pod. His hair was white, + and fringed the lower portion of his yellow little scalp in a most + deceptive fashion. With his hat on Slivers looked sixty; take it off and + his bald head immediately added ten years to his existence. His one eye + was bright and sharp, of a greyish colour, and the loss of the other was + replaced by a greasy black patch, which gave him a sinister appearance. He + was cleaned shaved, and had no teeth, but notwithstanding this want, his + lips gripped the stem of his long pipe in a wonderfully tenacious and + obstinate manner. He carried on the business of a mining agent, and + knowing all about the country and the intricacies of the mines, he was one + of the cleverest speculators in Ballarat. + </p> + <p> + The office of Slivers was in Sturt Street, in a dirty, tumble-down cottage + wedged between two handsome modern buildings. It was a remnant of old + Ballarat which had survived the rage for new houses and highly ornamented + terraces. Slivers had been offered money for that ricketty little shanty, + but he declined to sell it, averring that as a snail grew to fit his house + his house had grown to fit him. + </p> + <p> + So there it stood—a dingy shingle roof overgrown with moss—a + quaint little porch and two numerously paned windows on each side. On top + of the porch a sign-board—done by Slivers in the early days, and + looking like it—bore the legend ‘Slivers, mining agent.’ The door + did not shut—something was wrong with it, so it always stood ajar in + a hospitable sort of manner. Entering this, a stranger would find himself + in a dark low-roofed passage, with a door at the end leading to the + kitchen, another on the right leading to the bedroom, and a third on the + left leading to the office, where most of Slivers’ indoor life was spent. + He used to stop here nearly all day doing business, with the small table + before him covered with scrip, and the mantelpiece behind him covered with + specimens of quartz, all labelled with the name of the place whence they + came. The inkstand was dirty, the ink thick and the pens rusty; yet, in + spite of all these disadvantages, Slivers managed to do well and make + money. He used to recommend men to different mines round about, and + whenever a manager wanted men, or new hands wanted work, they took + themselves off to Slivers, and were sure to be satisfied there. + Consequently, his office was nearly always full; either of people on + business or casual acquaintances dropping in to have a drink—Slivers + was generous in the whisky line—or to pump the old man about some + new mine, a thing which no one ever managed to do. When the office was + empty, Slivers would go on sorting the scrip on his table, drinking his + whisky, or talking to Billy. Now Billy was about as well known in Ballarat + as Slivers, and was equally as old and garrulous in his own way. He was + one of those large white yellow-crested cockatoos who, in their captivity, + pass their time like galley-slaves, chained by one leg. Billy, however, + never submitted to the indignity of a chain—he mostly sat on + Slivers’ table or on his shoulder, scratching his poll with his black + claw, or chattering to Slivers in a communicative manner. People said + Billy was Slivers’ evil spirit, and as a matter of fact, there was + something uncanny in the wisdom of the bird. He could converse fluently on + all occasions, and needed no drawing out, inasmuch as he was always ready + to exhibit his powers of conversation. He was not a pious bird—belonging + to Slivers, he could hardly be expected to be—and his language was + redolent of Billingsgate. So Billy being so clever was quite a character + in his way, and, seated on Slivers’ shoulder with his black bead of an eye + watching his master writing with the rusty pen, they looked a most unholy + pair. + </p> + <p> + The warm sunlight poured through the dingy windows of the office, and + filled the dark room with a sort of sombre glory. The atmosphere of + Slivers’ office was thick and dusty, and the sun made long beams of light + through the heavy air. Slivers had pushed all the scrip and loose papers + away, and was writing a letter in the little clearing caused by their + removal. On the old-fashioned inkstand was a paper full of grains of gold, + and on this the sunlight rested, making it glitter in the obscurity of the + room. Billy, seated on Slivers’ shoulder, was astonished at this, and, + inspired by a spirit of adventure, he climbed down and waddled clumsily + across the table to the inkstand, where he seized a small nugget in his + beak and made off with it. Slivers looked up from his writing suddenly: + so, being detected, Billy stopped and looked at him, still carrying the + nugget in his beak. + </p> + <p> + ‘Drop it,’ said Slivers severely, in his rasping little voice. Billy + pretended not to understand, and after eyeing Slivers for a moment or two + resumed his journey. Slivers stretched out his hand for the ruler, + whereupon Billy, becoming alive to his danger, dropped the nugget, and + flew down off the table with a discordant shriek. + </p> + <p> + ‘Devil! devil! devil!’ screamed this amiable bird, flopping up and down on + the floor. ‘You’re a liar! You’re a liar! Pickles.’ + </p> + <p> + Having delivered himself of this bad language, Billy waddled to his + master’s chair, and climbing up by the aid of his claws and beak, soon + established himself in his old position. Slivers, however, was not + attending to him, as he was leaning back in his chair drumming in an + absent sort of way with his lean fingers on the table. His cork arm hung + down limply, and his one eye was fixed on a letter lying in front of him. + This was a communication from the manager of the Pactolus Mine requesting + Slivers to get him more hands, and Slivers’ thoughts had wandered away + from the letter to the person who wrote it, and from thence to Madame + Midas. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s a clever woman,’ observed Slivers, at length, in a musing sort of + tone, ‘and she’s got a good thing on in that claim if she only strikes the + Lead.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Devil,’ said Billy once more, in a harsh voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Exactly,’ answered Slivers, ‘the Devil’s Lead. Oh, Lord! what a fool I + was not to have collared that ground before she did; but that infernal + McIntosh never would tell me where the place was. Never mind, I’ll be even + with him yet; curse him.’ + </p> + <p> + His expression of face was not pleasant as he said this, and he grasped + the letter in front of him in a violent way, as if he were wishing his + long fingers were round the writer’s throat. Tapping with his wooden leg + on the floor, he was about to recommence his musings, when he heard a step + in the passage, and the door of his office being pushed violently open, a + man entered without further ceremony, and flung himself down on a chair + near the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘Fire!’ said Billy, on seeing this abrupt entry; ‘how’s your mother!—Ballarat + and Bendigo—Bendigo and Ballarat.’ + </p> + <p> + The newcomer was a man short and powerfully built, dressed in a + shabby-genteel sort of way, with a massive head covered with black hair, + heavy side whiskers and moustache, and a clean shaved chin, which had that + blue appearance common to very dark men who shave. His mouth—that + is, as much as could be seen of it under the drooping moustache—was + weak and undecided, and his dark eyes so shifty and restless that they + seemed unable to meet a steady gaze, but always looked at some inanimate + object that would not stare them out of countenance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, Mr Randolph Villiers,’ croaked Slivers, after contemplating his + visitor for a few moments, ‘how’s business?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Infernally bad,’ retorted Mr Villiers, pulling out a cigar and lighting + it. ‘I’ve lost twenty pounds on those Moscow shares.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘More fool you,’ replied Slivers, courteously, swinging round in his chair + so as to face Villiers. ‘I could have told you the mine was no good; but + you will go on your own bad judgment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s like getting blood out of a stone to get tips from you,’ growled + Villiers, with a sulky air. ‘Come now, old boy,’ in a cajoling manner, + ‘tell us something good—I’m nearly stone broke, and I must live.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m hanged if I see the necessity,’ malignantly returned Slivers, + unconsciously quoting Voltaire; ‘but if you do want to get into a good + thing—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes! yes!’ said the other, eagerly bending forward. + </p> + <p> + ‘Get an interest in the Pactolus,’ and the agreeable old gentleman leaned + back and laughed loudly in a raucous manner at his visitor’s discomfited + look. + </p> + <p> + ‘You ass,’ hissed Mr Villiers, between his closed teeth; ‘you know as well + as I do that my infernal wife won’t look at me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ho, ho!’ laughed the cockatoo, raising his yellow crest in an angry + manner; ‘devil take her—rather!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I wish he would!’ muttered Villiers, fervently; then with an uneasy + glance at Billy, who sat on the old man’s shoulder complacently ruffling + his feathers, he went on: ‘I wish you’d screw that bird’s neck, Slivers; + he’s too clever by half.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers paid no attention to this, but, taking Billy off his shoulder, + placed him on the floor, then turned to his visitor and looked at him + fixedly with his bright eye in such a penetrating manner that Villiers + felt it go through him like a gimlet. + </p> + <p> + ‘I hate your wife,’ said Slivers, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why the deuce should you?’ retorted Villiers, sulkily. ‘You ain’t married + to her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I wish I was,’ replied Slivers with a chuckle. ‘A fine woman, my good + sir! Why, if I was married to her I wouldn’t sneak away whenever I saw + her. I’d go up to the Pactolus claim and there I’d stay.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s easy enough talking,’ retorted Villiers crossly, ‘but you don’t know + what a fiend she is! Why do you hate her?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Because I do,’ retorted Slivers. ‘I hate her; I hate McIntosh; the whole + biling of them; they’ve got the Pactolus claim, and if they find the + Devil’s Lead they’ll be millionaires.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said the other, quite unmoved, ‘all Ballarat knows that much.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But I might have had it!’ shrieked Slivers, getting up in an excited + manner, and stumping up and down the office. ‘I knew Curtis, McIntosh and + the rest were making their pile, but I couldn’t find out where; and now + they’re all dead but McIntosh, and the prize has slipped through my + fingers, devil take them!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Devil take them,’ echoed the cockatoo, who had climbed up again on the + table, and was looking complacently at his master. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why don’t you ruin your wife, you fool?’ said Slivers, turning + vindictively on Villiers. ‘You ain’t going to let her have all the money + while you are starving, are you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How the deuce am I to do that?’ asked Villiers, sulkily, relighting his + cigar. + </p> + <p> + ‘Get the whip hand of her,’ snarled Slivers, viciously; ‘find out if she’s + in love, and threaten to divorce her if she doesn’t go halves.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s no chance of her having any lovers,’ retorted Villiers; ‘she’s a + piece of ice.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ice melts,’ replied Slivers, quickly. ‘Wait till “Mr Right” comes along, + and then she’ll begin to regret being married to you, and then—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ll have the game in your own hands,’ hissed the wicked old man, + rubbing his hands. ‘Oh!’ he cried, spinning round on his wooden leg, ‘it’s + a lovely idea. Wait till we meet “Mr Right”, just wait,’ and he dropped + into his chair quite overcome by the state of excitement he had worked + himself into. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you’ve quite done with those gymnastics, my friend,’ said a soft voice + near the door, ‘perhaps I may enter.’ + </p> + <p> + Both the inmates of the office looked up at this, and saw that two men + were standing at the half-open door—one an extremely handsome young + man of about thirty, dressed in a neat suit of blue serge, and wearing a + large white wide-awake hat, with a bird’s-eye handkerchief twisted round + it. His companion was short and heavily built, dressed somewhat the same, + but with his black hat pulled down over his eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come in,’ growled Slivers, angrily, when he saw his visitors. ‘What the + devil do you want?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Work,’ said the young man, advancing to the table. ‘We are new arrivals + in the country, and were told to come to you to get work.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t keep a factory,’ snarled Slivers, leaning forward. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t think I would come to you if you did,’ retorted the stranger, + coolly. ‘You would not be a pleasant master either to look at or to speak + to.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers laughed at this, and Slivers stared dumbfounded at being spoken + to in such a manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Devil,’ broke in Billy, rapidly. ‘You’re a liar—devil.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Those, I presume, are your master’s sentiments towards me,’ said the + young man, bowing gravely to the bird. ‘But as soon as he recovers the use + of his tongue, I trust he will tell us if we can get work or not.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers was just going to snap out a refusal, when he caught sight of + McIntosh’s letter on the table, and this recalled to his mind the + conversation he had with Mr Villiers. Here was a young man handsome enough + to make any woman fall in love with him, and who, moreover, had a clever + tongue in his head. All Slivers’ animosity revived against Madame Midas as + he thought of the Devil’s Lead, and he determined to use this young man as + a tool to ruin her in the eyes of the world. With these thoughts in his + mind, he drew a sheet of paper towards him, and dipping the rusty pen in + the thick ink, prepared to question his visitors as to what they could do, + with a view to sending them out to the Pactolus claim. + </p> + <p> + ‘Names?’ he asked, grasping his pen firmly in his left hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mine,’ said the stranger, bowing, ‘is Gaston Vandeloup, my friend’s + Pierre Lemaire—both French.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers scrawled this down in the series of black scratches, which did + duty with him for writing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where do you come from?’ was his next question. + </p> + <p> + ‘The story,’ said M. Vandeloup, with suavity, ‘is too long to repeat at + present; but we came to-day from Melbourne.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What kind of work can you do?’ asked Slivers, sharply. + </p> + <p> + ‘Anything that turns up,’ retorted the Frenchman. + </p> + <p> + ‘I was addressing your companion, sir; not you,’ snarled Slivers, turning + viciously on him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have to answer for both,’ replied the young man, coolly, slipping one + hand into his pocket and leaning up against the door in a negligent + attitude, ‘my friend is dumb.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor devil!’ said Slivers, harshly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But,’ went on Vandeloup, sweetly, ‘his legs, arms, and eyes are all + there.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers glared at this fresh piece of impertinence, but said nothing. He + wrote a letter to McIntosh, recommending him to take on the two men, and + handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow. + </p> + <p> + ‘The price of your services, Monsieur?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Five bob,’ growled Slivers, holding out his one hand. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup pulled out two half-crowns and put them in the thin, claw-like + fingers, which instantly closed on them. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a mining place you’re going to,’ said Slivers, pocketing the money; + ‘the Pactolus claim. There’s a pretty woman there. Have a drink?’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup declined, but his companion, with a grunt, pushed past him, and + filling a tumbler with the whisky, drank it off. Slivers looked ruefully + at the bottle, and then hastily put it away, in case Vandeloup should + change his mind and have some. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup put on his hat and went to the door, out of which Pierre had + already preceded him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I trust, gentlemen,’ he said, with a graceful bow, ‘we shall meet again, + and can then discuss the beauty of this lady to whom Mr Slivers alludes. I + have no doubt he is a judge of beauty in others, though he is so + incomplete himself.’ + </p> + <p> + He went out of the door, and then Slivers sprang up and rushed to + Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you know who that is?’ he asked, in an excited manner, pulling his + companion to the window. + </p> + <p> + Villiers looked through the dusty panes, and saw the young Frenchman + walking away, as handsome and gallant a man as he had ever seen, followed + by the slouching figure of his friend. + </p> + <p> + ‘Vandeloup,’ he said, turning to Slivers, who was trembling with + excitement. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, you fool,’ retorted the other, triumphantly. That is “Mr Right”.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — MADAME MIDAS AT HOME + </h2> + <p> + Madame Midas was standing on the verandah of her cottage, staring far away + into the distance, where she could see the tall chimney and huge mound of + white earth which marked the whereabouts of the Pactolus claim. She was a + tall voluptuous-looking woman of what is called a Junoesque type—decidedly + plump, with firm white hands and well-formed feet. Her face was of a + whitish tint, more like marble than flesh, and appeared as if modelled + from the antique—with the straight Greek nose, high and smooth + forehead, and full red mouth, with firmly-closed lips. She had dark and + piercing eyes, with heavy arched eyebrows above them, and her hair, of a + bluish-black hue, was drawn smoothly over the forehead, and coiled in + thick wreaths at the top of her small, finely-formed head. Altogether a + striking-looking woman, but with an absence of animation about her face, + which had a calm, serene expression, effectually hiding any thoughts that + might be passing in her mind, and which resembled nothing so much in its + inscrutable look as the motionless calm which the old Egyptians gave to + their sphinxes. She was dressed for coolness in a loose white dress, tied + round her waist with a crimson scarf of Indian silk; and her beautifully + modelled arms, bare to the elbow, and unadorned by any trinkets, were + folded idly in front of her as she looked out at the landscape, which was + mellowed and full of warmth under the bright yellow glare of the setting + sun. + </p> + <p> + The cottage—for it was nothing else—stood on a slight rise + immediately in front of a dark wood of tall gum-trees, and there was a + long row of them on the right, forming a shelter against the winds, as if + the wood had thrown a protecting arm around the cottage, and wanted to + draw it closer to its warm bosom. The country was of an undulating + character, divided into fields by long rows of gorse hedges, all golden + with blossoms, which gave out a faint, peach-like odour. Some of these + meadows were yellow with corn—some a dull red with sorrel, others + left in their natural condition of bright green grass—while here and + there stood up, white and ghost-like, the stumps of old trees, the last + remnants of the forests, which were slowly retreating before the axe of + the settler. These fields, which had rather a harlequin aspect with their + varied colours, all melted together in the far distance into an + indescribable neutral tint, and ended in the dark haze of the bush, which + grew over all the undulating hills. On the horizon, however, at intervals, + a keen eye could see some tall tree standing boldly up, outlined clearly + against the pale yellow of the sky. There was a white dusty road or rather + a track between two rough fences, with a wide space of green grass on each + side, and here and there could be seen the cattle wandering idly homeward, + lingering every now and then to pull at a particularly tempting tuft of + bush grass growing in the moist ditches which ran along each side of the + highway. Scattered over this pastoral-looking country were huge mounds of + white earth, looking like heaps of carded wool, and at the end of each of + these invariably stood a tall, ugly skeleton of wood. These marked the + positions of the mines—the towers contained the winding gear, while + the white earth was the clay called mulloch, brought from several hundred + feet below the surface. Near these mounds were rough-looking sheds with + tall red chimneys, which made a pleasant spot of colour against the white + of the clay. On one of these mounds, rather isolated from the others, and + standing by itself in the midst of a wide green paddock, Mrs Villiers’ + eyes were fixed, and she soon saw the dark figure of a man coming slowly + down the white mound, along the green field and advancing slowly up the + hill. When she saw him coming, without turning her head or raising her + voice, she called out to someone inside, + </p> + <p> + ‘Archie is coming, Selina—you had better hurry up the tea, for he + will be hungry after such a long day.’ + </p> + <p> + The person inside made no answer save by an extra clatter of some domestic + utensils, and Madame apparently did not expect a reply, for without saying + anything else she walked slowly down the garden path, and leaned lightly + over the gate, waiting for the newcomer, who was indeed none other than + Archibald McIntosh, the manager of the Pactolus. + </p> + <p> + He was a man of about medium height, rather thin than otherwise, with a + long, narrow-looking head and boldly cut features—clean shaved save + for a frill of white hair which grew on his throat up the sides of his + head to his ears, and which gave him rather a peculiar appearance, as if + he had his jaw bandaged up. His eyes were grey and shrewd-looking, his + lips were firmly compressed—in fact, the whole appearance of his + face was obstinate—the face of a man who would stick to his opinions + whatever anyone else might say to the contrary. He was in a rough miner’s + dress, all splashed with clay, and as he came up to the gate Madame could + see he was holding something in his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘D’ye no ken what yon may be?’ he said, a smile relaxing his grim features + as he held up a rather large nugget; ‘’tis the third yin this week!’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas took the nugget from him and balanced it carefully in her + hand, with a thoughtful look in her face, as if she was making a mental + calculation. + </p> + <p> + ‘About twenty to twenty-five ounces, I should say,’ she observed in her + soft low voice; ‘the last we had was fifteen, and the one before twenty—looks + promising for the gutter, doesn’t it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, I’ll no say but what it micht mean a deal mair,’ replied McIntosh, + with characteristic Scotch caution, as he followed Madame into the house; + ‘it’s no a verra bad sign, onyhow; I winna say but what we micht be near + the Devil’s Lead.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And if we are?’ said Madame, turning with a smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘Weel, mem, ye’ll have mair siller nor ye’ll ken what to dae wi’, an’ ‘tis + to be hoped ye’ll no be making a fool of yersel.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame laughed—she was used to McIntosh’s plain speaking, and it in + no wise offended her. In fact, she preferred it very much more than being + flattered, as people’s blame is always genuine, their praise rarely so. At + all events she was not displeased, and looked after him with a smile in + her dark eyes as he disappeared into the back kitchen to make himself + decent for tea. Madame herself sat down in an arm-chair in the bow window, + and watched Selina preparing the meal. + </p> + <p> + Selina Jane Sprotts, who now acted as servant to Mrs Villiers, was rather + an oddity in her way. She had been Madame’s nurse, and had followed her up + to Ballarat, with the determination of never leaving her. Selina was a + spinster, as her hand had never been sought in marriage, and her personal + appearance was certainly not very fascinating. Tall and gaunt, she was + like a problem from Euclid, all angles, and the small quantity of grey + hair she possessed was screwed into a hard lump at the back of her head. + Her face was reddish in colour, and her mouth prim and pursed up, as if + she was afraid of saying too much, which she need not have been, as she + rarely spoke, and was as economical of her words as she was of everything + else. She was much given to quoting proverbs, and hurled these prepared + little pieces of wisdom on every side like pellets out of a pop-gun. + Conversation which consists mainly of proverbs is rarely exhilarating; + consequently Miss Sprotts was not troubled to talk much, either by Madame + or McIntosh. + </p> + <p> + Miss Sprotts moved noiselessly about the small room, in a wonderfully + dextrous manner considering her height, and, after laying the table, + placed the teapot on the hob to ‘draw’, thereby disturbing a cat and a dog + who were lying in front of the fire—for there was a fire in the room + in spite of the heat of the day, Selina choosing to consider that the + house was damp. She told Madame she knew it was damp because her bones + ached, and as she was mostly bones she certainly had a good opportunity of + judging. + </p> + <p> + Annoyed at being disturbed by Miss Sprotts, the dog resigned his + comfortable place with a plaintive growl, but the cat, of a more irritable + temperament, set up and made a sudden scratch at her hand, drawing blood + therefrom. + </p> + <p> + ‘Animals,’ observed Selina, grimly, ‘should keep their place;’ and she + promptly gave the cat a slap on the side of the head, which sent him over + to Madame’s feet, with an angry spit. Madame picked him up and soothed his + ruffled feelings so successfully, that he curled himself up on her lap and + went to sleep. + </p> + <p> + By-and-bye Archie, who had been making a great splashing in the back + premises, came in looking clean and fresh, with a more obstinate look + about his face than ever. Madame went to the tea-table and sat down, for + she always had her meals with them, a fact of which they were very proud, + and they always treated her with intense respect, though every now and + then they were inclined to domineer. Archie, having seen that the food on + the table was worth thanking God for, asked a blessing in a peremptory + sort of manner, as if he thought Heaven required a deal of pressing to + make it attentive. Then they commenced to eat in silence, for none of the + party were very much given to speech, and no sound was heard save the + rattling of the cups and saucers and the steady ticking of the clock. The + window was open, and a faint breeze came in—cool and fragrant with + the scent of the forest, and perfumed with the peach-like odour of the + gorse blossoms. There was a subdued twilight through all the room, for the + night was coming on, and the gleam of the flickering flames of the fire + danced gaily against the roof and exaggerated all objects to an immense + size. At last Archie pushed back his chair to show that he had finished, + and prepared to talk. + </p> + <p> + ‘I dinna see ony new bodies coming,’ he said, looking at his mistress. + ‘They, feckless things, that left were better than none, though they + should hae been skelped for their idleness.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have written to Slivers?’ said Madame, raising her eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘That wudden-legged body,’ retorted McIntosh. ‘Deed and I have, but the + auld tyke hasna done onything to getting me what I want. Weel, weel,’ in a + resigned sort of a manner, ‘we micht be waur off than we are, an’ wha kens + but what Providence will send us men by-and-bye?’ + </p> + <p> + Selina looked up at this, saw her opportunity, and let slip an appropriate + proverb. + </p> + <p> + ‘If we go by by-and-bye lane,’ she said sharply, ‘we come to the gate of + never.’ + </p> + <p> + This being undeniable, no one gave her the pleasure of contradicting her, + for Archie knew it was impossible to argue with Selina, so handy was she + with her proverbial wisdom—a kind of domestic Tupper, whose + philosophy was of the most irritating and unanswerable kind. He did the + wisest thing he could under the circumstances, and started a new subject. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say yon the day.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yon’ in this case meant Mr Villiers, whose name was tabooed in the house, + and was always spoken of in a half-hinting kind of way. As both her + servants knew all about her unhappy life, Madame did not scruple to talk + to them. + </p> + <p> + ‘How was he looking?’ she asked, smoothing the crumbs off her dress. + </p> + <p> + ‘Brawly,’ replied Archie, rising; ‘he lost money on that Moscow mine, but + he made a fine haul owre the Queen o’ Hearts claim.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The wicked,’ observed Selina, ‘flourish like a green bay tree.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ou, ay,’ retorted McIntosh, drily; ‘we ken a’ aboot that, Selina—auld + Hornie looks after his ain.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think he leads a very hand-to-mouth existence,’ said Madame, calmly; + ‘however rich he may become, he will always be poor, because he never was + a provident man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s comin’ tae see ye, mem,’ said Archie, grimly, lighting his pipe. + </p> + <p> + Madame rose to her feet and walked to the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s done that before,’ she said, complacently; ‘the result was not + satisfactory.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Continual dropping wears away a stone,’ said Selina, who was now clearing + away. + </p> + <p> + ‘But not iron,’ replied Madame, placidly; ‘I don’t think his persistence + will gain anything.’ + </p> + <p> + Archie smiled grimly, and then went outside to smoke his pipe, while + Madame sat down by the open window and looked out at the fast-fading + landscape. + </p> + <p> + Her thoughts were not pleasant. She had hoped to cut herself off from all + the bitterness and sorrow of her past life, but this husband of hers, like + an unquiet spirit, came to trouble her and remind her of a time she would + willingly have forgotten. She looked calm and quiet enough sitting there + with her placid face and smooth brow; but this woman was like a slumbering + volcano, and her passions were all the more dangerous from being kept in + check. + </p> + <p> + A bat flew high up in the air across the clear glow of the sky, + disappearing into the adjacent bush, and Madame, stretching out her hand, + idly plucked a fresh, dewy rose off the tree which grew round the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘If I could only get rid of him,’ she thought, toying with the flower; + ‘but it is impossible. I can’t do that without money, and money I never + will have till I find that lead. I must bribe him, I suppose. Oh, why + can’t he leave me alone now? Surely he has ruined my life sufficiently in + the past to let me have a few years, if not of pleasure, at least of + forgetfulness.’ And with a petulant gesture she hurled the rose out of the + window, where it struck Archie a soft and fragrant blow on the cheek. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Madame to herself, as she pulled down the window, ‘I must get + rid of him, and if bribery won’t do—there are other means.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — THE GOOD SAMARITAN + </h2> + <p> + Is there anyone nowadays who reads Cowper—that charming, domestic + poet who wrote ‘The Task’, and invested even furniture with the glamour of + poesy? Alas! to many people Cowper is merely a name, or is known only as + the author of the delightfully quaint ballad of John Gilpin. Yet he was + undoubtedly the Poet Laureate of domesticity, and every householder should + possess a bust or picture of him—placed, not amid the frigid + splendours of the drawing room, but occupying the place of honour in his + own particular den, where everything is old-fashioned, cheery, and + sanctified by long usage. No one wrote so pleasantly about the pleasures + of a comfortable room as Cowper. And was he not right to do so? After all, + every hearth is the altar of the family, whereon the sacred fire should be + kept constantly burning, waxing and waning with the seasons, but never be + permitted to die out altogether. Miss Sprotts, as before mentioned, was + much in favour of a constant fire, because of the alleged dampness of the + house, and Madame Midas did not by any means object, as she was a perfect + salamander for heat. Hence, when the outward door was closed, the faded + red curtains of the window drawn, and the newly replenished fire blazed + brightly in the wide fireplace, the room was one which even Cowper—sybarite + in home comforts as he was—would have contemplated with delight. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas was seated now at the small table in the centre of the room, + poring over a bewildering array of figures, and the soft glow of the lamp + touched her smooth hair and white dress with a subdued light. + </p> + <p> + Archie sat by the fire, half asleep, and there was a dead silence in the + room, only broken by the rapid scratching of Madame’s pen or the click of + Selina’s needles. At last Mrs Villiers, with a sigh of relief, laid down + her pen, put all her papers together, and tied them neatly with a bit of + string. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m afraid I’ll have to get a clerk, Archie,’ she said, as she put the + papers away, ‘the office work is getting too much for me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Deed, mem, and ‘tis that same I was thinkin’ o’,’ returned Mr McIntosh, + sitting bolt upright in his chair, lest the imputation of having been + asleep should be brought against him. ‘It’s ill wark seein’ ye spoilin’ + your bonny eyes owre sic a muckle lot o’ figures as ye hae there.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Someone must do it,’ said Madame, resuming her seat at the table. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then why not get a body that can dae it?’ retorted Archie; ‘not but what + ye canna figure yersel’, mem, but really ye need a rest, and if I hear of + onyone in toun wha we can trust I’ll bring him here next week.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t see why you shouldn’t,’ said Madame, musingly; ‘the mine is + fairly under way now, and if things go on as they are doing, I must have + someone to assist me.’ + </p> + <p> + At this moment a knock came to the front door, which caused Selina to drop + her work with a sudden start, and rise to her feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not you, Selina,’ said Madame, in a quiet voice; ‘let Archie go; it may + be some tramp.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Deed no, mem,’ replied Archie, obstinately, as he arose from his seat; + ‘’tis verra likely a man fra the warks saying he wants to go. There’s mair + talk nor sense aboot them, I’m thinkin’—the yattering parrots.’ + </p> + <p> + Selina resumed her knitting in a most phlegmatic manner, but Madame + listened intently, for she was always haunted by a secret dread of her + husband breaking in on her, and it was partly on this account that + McIntosh stayed in the house. She heard a murmur of voices, and then + Archie returned with two men, who entered the room and stood before Madame + in the light of the lamp. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis two men fra that wudden-legged gowk o’ a Slivers,’ said Archie, + respectfully. ‘Ain o’ them has a wee bit letter for ye’—turning to + receive same from the foremost man. + </p> + <p> + The man, however, did not take notice of Archie’s gesture, but walking + forward to Madame, laid the letter down before her. As he did so, she + caught sight of the delicacy of his hands, and looked up suddenly with a + piercing gaze. He bore the scrutiny coolly, and took a chair in silence, + his companion doing the same, while Madame opened the letter and read + Slivers’ bad writing with a dexterity only acquired by long practice. + Having finished her perusal, she looked up slowly. + </p> + <p> + ‘A broken-down gentleman,’ she said to herself, as she saw the easy + bearing and handsome face of the young man; then looking at his companion, + she saw by his lumpish aspect and coarse hands, that he occupied a much + lower rank of life than his friend. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Vandeloup—for it was he—caught her eye as she was + scrutinising them, and his face broke into a smile—a most charming + smile, as Madame observed mentally, though she allowed nothing of her + thoughts to appear on her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘You want work,’ she said, slowly folding up the letter, and placing it in + her pocket; ‘do you understand anything about gold-mining?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Unfortunately, no, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, coolly; ‘but we are willing + to learn.’ + </p> + <p> + Archie grunted in a dissatisfied manner, for he was by no means in favour + of teaching people their business, and, besides, he thought Vandeloup too + much of a gentleman to do good work. + </p> + <p> + ‘You look hardly strong enough for such hard labour,’ said Mrs Villiers, + doubtfully eyeing the slender figure of the young man. ‘Your companion, I + think, will do, but you—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I, Madame, am like the lilies of the field that neither toil nor spin,’ + replied Vandeloup, gaily; ‘but, unfortunately, I am now compelled by + necessity to work, and though I should prefer to earn my bread in an + easier manner, beggars,’—with a characteristic shrug, which did not + escape Madame’s eye—cannot be choosers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are French?’ she asked quickly, in that language. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, Madame,’ he replied in the same tongue, ‘both my friend and myself + are from Paris, but we have not been long out here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Humph,’ Madame leaned her head on her hand and thought, while Vandeloup + looked at her keenly, and remembered what Slivers had said. + </p> + <p> + ‘She is, indeed, a handsome woman,’ he observed, mentally; ‘my lines will + fall in pleasant places, if I remain here.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs Villiers rather liked the looks of this young man; there was a certain + fascination about him which few women could resist, and Madame, although + steeled to a considerable extent by experience, was yet a woman. His + companion, however, she did not care about—he had a sullen and + lowering countenance, and looked rather dangerous. + </p> + <p> + ‘What is your name?’ she asked the young man. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gaston Vandeloup.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a gentleman?’ + </p> + <p> + He bowed, but said nothing. + </p> + <p> + ‘And you?’ asked Madame, sharply turning to the other. + </p> + <p> + He looked up and touched his mouth. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pardon him not answering, Madame,’ interposed Vandeloup, ‘he has the + misfortune to be dumb.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Dumb?’ echoed Madame, with a glance of commiseration, while Archie looked + startled, and Selina mentally observed that silence was golden. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, he has been so from his birth,—at least, so he gives me to + understand,’ said Gaston, with a shrug of his shoulders, which insinuated + a doubt on the subject; ‘but it’s more likely the result of an accident, + for he can hear though he cannot speak. However, he is strong and willing + to work; and I also, if you will kindly give me an opportunity,’ added he, + with a winning smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘You have not many qualifications,’ said Madame, shortly, angry with + herself for so taking to this young man’s suave manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Probably not,’ retorted Vandeloup, with a cynical smile. ‘I fancy it will + be more a case of charity than anything else, as we are starving.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame started, while Archie murmured ‘Puir deils.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Surely not as bad as that?’ observed Mrs Villiers, in a softer tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why not?’ retorted the Frenchman, carelessly. ‘Manna does not fall from + heaven as in the days of Moses. We are strangers in a strange land, and it + is hard to obtain employment. My companion Pierre can work in your mine, + and if you will take me on I can keep your books’—with a sudden + glance at a file of papers on the table. + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you, I keep my own books,’ replied Madame, shortly. ‘What do you + say to engaging them, Archie?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We ma gie them a try,’ said McIntosh, cautiously. ‘Ye do need a figger + man, as I tauld ye, and the dour deil can wark i’ the claim.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame drew a long breath, and then made up her mind. + </p> + <p> + ‘Very well,’ she said, sharply; ‘you are engaged, M. Vandeloup, as my + clerk, and your companion can work in the mine. As to wages and all that, + we will settle to-morrow, but I think you will find everything + satisfactory.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am sure of that, Madame,’ returned Vandeloup, with a bow. + </p> + <p> + ‘And now,’ said Madame Midas, graciously, relaxing somewhat now that + business was over, ‘you had better have some supper.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre’s face lighted up when he heard this invitation, and Vandeloup + bowed politely. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are very kind,’ he said, looking at Mrs Villiers in a friendly + manner; ‘supper is rather a novelty to both of us.’ + </p> + <p> + Selina meanwhile had gone out, and returned with some cold beef and + pickles, a large loaf and a jug of beer. These she placed on the table, + and then retired to her seat again, inwardly rebellious at having two + tramps at the table, but outwardly calm. + </p> + <p> + Pierre fell upon the victuals before him with the voracity of a starving + animal, and ate and drank in such a savage manner that Madame was + conscious of a kind of curious repugnance, and even Archie was startled + out of his Scotch phlegm. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wadna care aboot keepin’ yon long,’ he muttered to himself; ‘he’s mair + like a cannibal nor a ceevalized body.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup, however, ate very little and soon finished; then filling a + glass with beer, he held it to his lips and bowed again to Madame Midas. + </p> + <p> + ‘To your health, Madame,’ he said, drinking. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Villiers bowed courteously. This young man pleased her. She was + essentially a woman with social instincts, and the appearance of this + young and polished stranger in the wilds of the Pactolus claim promised + her a little excitement. It was true that every now and then, when she + caught a glimpse from his scintillating eyes, she was conscious of a + rather unpleasant sensation, but this she put down to fancy, as the young + man’s manners were really charming. + </p> + <p> + When the supper was ended, Pierre pushed back his chair into the shadow + and once more relapsed into his former gloom, but Vandeloup stood up and + looked towards Madame in a hesitating manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m afraid, Madame, we disturb you,’ he murmured vaguely, though in his + heart he wished to stay in this pleasant room and talk to such a handsome + woman; ‘we had best be going.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not at all,’ answered Madame, graciously, ‘sit down; you and your friend + can sleep in the men’s quarters to-night, and to-morrow we will see if we + can’t provide you with a better resting-place.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup murmured something indistinctly, and then resumed his seat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Meanwhile,’ said Mrs Villiers, leaning back in her chair, and regarding + him fixedly, ‘tell me all about yourselves.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Alas, Madame,’ answered Vandeloup, with a charming smile and deprecating + shrug of his shoulders, ‘there is not much to tell. I was brought up in + Paris, and, getting tired of city life, I came out to India to see a + little of the world; then I went over to Borneo, and was coming down to + Australia, when our vessel was wrecked and all on board were drowned but + myself and this fellow,’ pointing to Pierre, ‘who was one of the sailors. + We managed to get a boat, and after tossing about for nearly a week we + were cast up on the coast of Queensland, and from thence came to + Melbourne. I could not get work there, neither could my friend, and as we + heard of Ballarat we came up here to try to get employment, and our lines, + Madame,’—with another bow—‘have fallen in a pleasant place.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What a dreadful chapter of accidents,’ said Madame, coolly looking at him + to see if he was speaking the truth, for experience of her husband had + inspired her with an instinctive distrust of men. Vandeloup, however, bore + her scrutiny without moving a muscle of his face, so Madame at last + withdrew her eyes, quite satisfied that his story was true. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is there no one in Paris to whom you can write?’ she asked, after a + pause. + </p> + <p> + ‘Luckily, there is,’ returned Gaston, ‘and I have already sent a letter, + asking for a remittance, but it takes time to get an answer, and as I have + lost all my books, papers, and money, I must just wait for a few months, + and, as I have to live in the meantime, I am glad to obtain work.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Still, your consul—’ began Mrs Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Alas, Madame, what can I say—how can I prove to him that I am what + I assert to be? My companion is dumb and cannot speak for me, and, + unluckily, he can neither read nor write. I have no papers to prove + myself, so my consul may think me—what you call—a scamp. No; I + will wait till I receive news from home, and get to my own position again; + besides,’ with a shrug, ‘after all, it is experience.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Experience,’ said Madame, quietly, ‘is a good schoolmaster, but the fees + are somewhat high.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Vandeloup, with a pleased look, ‘you know Heine, I perceive, + Madame. I did not know he was read out here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We are not absolute barbarians, M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, with a smile, + as she arose and held out her hand to the young man; ‘and now good night, + for I am feeling tired, and I will see you to-morrow. Mr McIntosh will + show you where you are to sleep.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup took the hand she held out to him and pressed it to his lips + with a sudden gesture. ‘Madame,’ he said, passionately, ‘you are an angel, + for to-day you have saved the lives of two men.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame snatched her hand away quickly, and a flush of annoyance spread + over her face as she saw how Selina and Archie stared. Vandeloup, however, + did not wait for her answer, but went out, followed by Pierre. Archie put + on his hat and walked out after them, while Madame Midas stood looking at + Selina with a thoughtful expression of countenance. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know if I’ve done a right thing, Selina,’ she said, at length; + ‘but as they were starving I could hardly turn them away.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Cast your bread on the waters and it shall come back after many days—buttered,’ + said Selina, giving her own version of the text. + </p> + <p> + Madame laughed. + </p> + <p> + ‘M. Vandeloup talks well,’ she observed. + </p> + <p> + ‘So did HE,’ replied Selina, with a sniff, referring to Mr Villiers; ‘once + bitten, twice shy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Quite right, Selina,’ replied Mrs Villiers, coolly; ‘but you are going + too fast. I’m not going to fall in love with my servant.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re a woman,’ retorted Selina, undauntedly, for she had not much + belief in her own sex. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, who has been tricked and betrayed by a man,’ said Madame, fiercely; + ‘and do you think because I succour a starving human being I am attracted + by his handsome face? You ought to know me better than that, Selina. I + have always been true to myself,’ and without another word she left the + room. + </p> + <p> + Selina stood still for a moment, then deliberately put away her work, + slapped the cat in order to relieve her feelings, and poked the fire + vigorously. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t like him,’ she said, emphasizing every word with a poke. ‘He’s + too smooth and handsome, his eyes ain’t true, and his tongue’s too smart. + I hate him.’ + </p> + <p> + Having delivered herself of this opinion, she went to boil some water for + Mr McIntosh, who always had some whisky hot before going to bed. + </p> + <p> + Selina was right in her estimate of Vandeloup, and, logically argued, the + case stood thus:— + </p> + <p> + Some animals of a fine organization have an instinct which warns them to + avoid approaching danger. + </p> + <p> + Woman is one of these finely-organized animals. ERGO— + </p> + <p> + Let no woman go contrary to her instinct. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — MAMMON’S TREASURE HOUSE + </h2> + <p> + At the foot of the huge mound of white mulloch which marked the site of + the Pactolus Mine was a long zinc-roofed building, which was divided into + two compartments. In one of these the miners left their clothes, and put + on rough canvas suits before going down, and here also they were searched + on coming up in order to see if they had carried away any gold. From this + room a long, narrow passage led to the top of the shaft, so that any miner + having gold concealed upon him could not throw it away and pick it up + afterwards, but had to go right into the searching room from the cage, and + could not possibly hide a particle without being found out by the + searchers. The other room was the sleeping apartment of such miners as + stayed on the premises, for the majority of the men went home to their + families when their work was done. + </p> + <p> + There were three shifts of men on the Pactolus during the twenty-four + hours, and each shift worked eight hours at a time—the first going + on at midnight and knocking off at eight in the morning, the second + commencing at eight and ending at four in the afternoon, and the third + starting at four and lasting until midnight again, when the first shift of + men began anew. + </p> + <p> + Consequently, when M. Vandeloup awoke next morning at six o’clock the + first shift were not yet up, and some of the miners who had to go on at + eight were sleeping heavily in their beds. The sleeping places were + berths, ranging along two sides of the room, and divided into upper and + lower compartments like those on shipboard. + </p> + <p> + Gaston having roused himself naturally wanted to see where he was, so + rubbing his eyes and yawning he leaned on his elbow and took a leisurely + survey of his position. + </p> + <p> + He saw a rather large room lighted at regular intervals by three square + windows, and as these were uncurtained, the cold, searching light of + daybreak was slowly stealing through them into the apartment, and all the + dusky objects therein were gradually revealing themselves in the still + light. He could hear the heavy, monotonous breathing of the men, and the + restless turning and tossing of those who could not sleep. + </p> + <p> + Gaston yawned once or twice, then feeling disinclined for any more sleep, + he softly put on his clothes, so as not to awake Pierre, who slept in the + berth below, and descending from his sleeping-place groped his way to the + door and went out into the cool fragrant morning. + </p> + <p> + There was a chill wind blowing from the bush, bringing with it a faint + aromatic odour, and on glancing downwards he saw that the grass was wet + with dew. The dawn was burning redly in the east, and the vivid crimson of + the sky put him in mind of that sunset under which he had landed with his + companion on the Queensland coast. Suddenly a broad shaft of yellow light + broke into the pale pink of the sky, and with a burst of splendour the sun + rose slowly into sight from behind the dark bush, and all the delicate + workings of the dawn disappeared in the flood of golden light which poured + over the landscape. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup looked idly at all this beauty with an unobservant eye, being + too much occupied with his thoughts to take notice of anything; and it was + only when two magpies near him broke into a joyous duet, in which each + strove to emulate the other’s mellow notes, that he awoke from his brown + study, and began to walk back again to the mine. + </p> + <p> + ‘I must let nothing stand in my way to acquire money,’ he said, musingly; + ‘with it one can rule the world; without it—but how trite and bald + these well-worn maxims seem! Why do I repeat them, parrot-like, when I see + what I have to do so clearly before me? That woman, for instance—I + must begin by making her my friend. Bah! she is that already; I saw it in + her eyes, which she can’t control as she does her face. Yes, I must make + her my friend; my very dear friend—and then—well, to my mind, + the world-pivot is a woman. I will spare no one in order to attain my ends—I + will make myself my own God, and consider no one but myself, and those who + stand in my path must get out of it or run the chance of being crushed. + This,’ with a cynical smile, ‘is what some would call the devil’s + philosophy; at all events, it is good enough for me.’ + </p> + <p> + He was near the mine by this time, and hearing someone calling to him he + looked up, and saw McIntosh walking towards him. There was a stir in the + men’s quarters now, and he could see the door was open and several figures + were moving briskly about, while a number of others were crossing the + fields. The regular beat of the machinery still continued, and the smoke + was pouring out thick and black from the tall red chimney, while the + wheels were spinning round in the poppet-heads as the mine slowly + disgorged the men who had been working all night. + </p> + <p> + McIntosh came slowly along with his hands in his pockets and a puzzled + look on his severe face. He could not make up his mind whether to like or + dislike this young man, but Madame Midas had seemed so impressed that he + had half made up his mind to dislike him out of a spirit of contradiction. + </p> + <p> + ‘Weemen are sae easy pleased, puir feckless bodies,’ he said to himself, + ‘a bonny face is a’ they fash their heads aboot, though the same may be + already in the grip of auld Nickyben. Weel, weel, if Madam does fancy the + lad—an’ he’s no bad lookin’, I’ll say that—she may just hae + her ain way, and I’ll keep my e’e on baith.’ + </p> + <p> + He looked grimly at the young man as he came briskly forward with a gay + smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ye’re a verra early bird,’ he said, fondling his frill of white hair, and + looking keenly at the tall, slim figure of the Frenchman. + </p> + <p> + ‘Case of “must”, my friend,’ returned Vandeloup, coolly; ‘it’s only rich + men can afford to be in bed, not poor devils like me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re no muckle like ither folk,’ said the suspicious old Scotchman, + with a condemnatory sniff. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of that I am glad,’ retorted Vandeloup, with suavity, as he walked beside + him to the men’s quarters. ‘What a horrible thing to be the duplicate of + half-a-dozen other men. By the way,’ breaking off into a new subject, + ‘Madame Midas is charming.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aye, aye,’ said Archie, jealously, ‘we ken all aboot they French-fangled + way o’ gieing pretty words, and deil a scrap of truth in ony o’ them.’ + </p> + <p> + Gaston was about to protest that he said no more than he felt, which was + indeed the truth, but Archie impatiently hurried him off to breakfast at + the office, as he declared himself famishing. They made a hearty meal, + and, having had a smoke and a talk, prepared to go below. + </p> + <p> + First of all, they arrayed themselves in underground garments—not + grave clothes, though the name is certainly suggestive of the cemetery—which + consisted of canvas trousers, heavy boots, blue blouses of a rough woollen + material, and a sou’wester each. Thus accoutred, they went along to the + foot of the poppet heads, and Archie having opened a door therein, + Vandeloup saw the mouth of the shaft yawning dark and gloomy at his feet. + As he stood there, gazing at the black hole which seemed to pierce down + into the entrails of the earth, he turned round to take one last look at + the sun before descending to the nether world. + </p> + <p> + This is quite a new experience to me,’ he said, as they stepped into the + wet iron cage, which had ascended to receive them in answer to Archie’s + signal, and now commenced to drop down silently and swiftly into the + pitchy darkness. ‘It puts me in mind of Jules Verne’s romances.’ + </p> + <p> + Archie did not reply, for he was too much occupied in lighting his candle + to answer, and, moreover, knew nothing about romances, and cared still + less. So they went on sliding down noiselessly into the gloom, while the + water, falling from all parts of the shaft, kept splashing constantly on + the top of the cage and running in little streams over their shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s like a nightmare,’ thought the Frenchman, with a nervous shudder, as + he saw the wet walls gleaming in the faint light of the candle. ‘Worthy of + Dante’s “Inferno”.’ + </p> + <p> + At last they reached the ground, and found themselves in the main chamber, + from whence the galleries branched off to east and west. + </p> + <p> + It was upheld on all sides by heavy wooden supports of bluegum and stringy + bark, the scarred surfaces of which made them look like the hieroglyphic + pillars in old Egyptian temples. The walls were dripping with damp, and + the floor of the chamber, though covered with iron plates, was nearly an + inch deep with yellow-looking water, discoloured by the clay of the mine. + Two miners in rough canvas clothes were waiting here, and every now and + then a trolly laden with wash would roll suddenly out of one of the + galleries with a candle fastened in front of it, and would be pushed into + the cage and sent up to the puddlers. Round the walls candles fastened to + spikes were stuck into the woodwork, and in their yellow glimmer the great + drops of water clinging to the roof and sides of the chamber shone like + diamonds. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aladdin’s garden,’ observed Vandeloup, gaily, as he lighted his candle at + that of Archie’s and went towards the eastern gallery, ‘only the jewels + are not substantial enough.’ + </p> + <p> + Archie showed the Frenchman how to carry his candle in the miner’s manner, + so that it could not go out, which consisted in holding it low down + between the forefinger and third finger, so that the hollow palm of the + hand formed a kind of shield; and then Vandeloup, hearing the sound of + falling water close to him, asked what it was, whereupon Archie explained + it was for ventilating purposes. The water fell the whole height of the + mine through a pipe into a bucket, and a few feet above this another pipe + was joined at right angles to the first and stretched along the gallery + near the roof like a never-ending serpent right to the end of the drive. + The air was driven along this by the water, and then, being released from + the pipe, returned back through the gallery, so that there was a constant + current circulating all through the mine. + </p> + <p> + As they groped their way slowly along, their feet splashed into pools of + yellow clayey water at the sides of the drive, or stumbled over the rough + ground and rugged rails laid down for the trollies. All along the gallery, + at regular intervals, were posts of stringy bark in a vertical position, + while beams of the same were laid horizontally across the top, but so low + that Vandeloup had to stoop constantly to prevent himself knocking his + head against their irregular projections. + </p> + <p> + Clinging to these side posts were masses of white fungus, which the miners + use to remove discolorations from their hands, and from the roof also it + hung like great drifts of snow, agitated with every breath of wind as the + keen air, damped and chilled by the underground darkness, rushed past + them. Every now and then they would hear a faint rumble in the distance, + and Archie would drag his companion to one side while a trolly laden with + white, wet-looking wash, and impelled by a runner, would roll past with a + roaring and grinding of wheels. + </p> + <p> + At intervals on each side of the main drive black chasms appeared, which + Archie informed his companion were drives put in to test the wash, and as + these smaller galleries continued branching off, Vandeloup thought the + whole mine resembled nothing so much as a herring-bone. + </p> + <p> + Being accustomed to the darkness and knowing every inch of the way, the + manager moved forward rapidly, and sometimes Vandeloup lagged so far + behind that all he could see of his guide was the candle he carried, + shining like a pale yellow star in the pitchy darkness. At last McIntosh + went into one of the side galleries, and going up an iron ladder fixed to + the side of the wall, they came to a second gallery thirty feet above the + other, and branching off at right angles. + </p> + <p> + This was where the wash was to be found, for, as Archie informed + Vandeloup, the main drives of a mine were always put down thirty or forty + feet below the wash, and then they could work up to the higher levels, the + reason of this being that the leads had a downward tendency, and it was + necessary for the main drive to be sunk below, as before mentioned, in + order to get the proper levels and judge the gutters correctly. At the top + of the ladder they found some empty trucks which had delivered their + burden into a kind of shoot, through which it fell to the lower level, and + there another truck was waiting to take it to the main shaft, from whence + it went up to the puddlers. + </p> + <p> + Archie made Vandeloup get into one of these trucks, and though they were + all wet and covered with clay, he was glad to do so, and be smoothly + carried along, instead of stumbling over the rails and splashing among the + pools of water. Every now and then as they went along there would be a + gush of water from the dripping walls, which was taken along in pipes to + the main chamber, and from thence pumped out of the mine by a powerful + pump, worked by a beam engine, by which means the mine was kept dry. + </p> + <p> + At last, after they had gone some considerable distance, they saw the dim + light of a candle, and heard the dull blows of a pick, then found + themselves at the end of the drive, where a miner was working at the wash. + The wash wherein the gold is found was exceedingly well defined, and + represented a stratified appearance, being sandwiched in between a bed of + white pipe-clay and a top layer of brownish earth, interspersed with + gravel. Every blow of the pick sent forth showers of sparks in all + directions, and as fast as the wash was broken down the runner filled up + the trollies with it. After asking the miner about the character of the + wash, and testing some himself in a shovel, Archie left the gallery, and + going back to the shoot, they descended again to the main drive, and + visited several other faces of wash, the journey in each instance being + exactly the same in all respects. Each face had a man working at it, + sometimes two, and a runner who loaded the trucks, and ran them along to + the shoots. In spite of the ventilation, Vandeloup felt as if he was in a + Turkish bath, and the heat was in some places very great. At the end of + one of the drives McIntosh called Vandeloup, and on going towards him the + young man found him seated on a truck with the plan of the mine before + him, as he wanted to show him all the ramifications of the workings. + </p> + <p> + The plan looked more like a map of a city than anything else, with the + main drive doing duty as the principal street, and all the little + galleries, branching off in endless confusion, looked like the lanes and + alleys of a populous town. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s like the catacombs in Rome,’ said Vandeloup to McIntosh, after he + had contemplated the plan for some time; ‘one could easily get lost here.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He micht,’ returned McIntosh, cautiously, ‘if he didna ken a’ aboot the + lie of the mine—o’er yonder,’ putting one finger on the plan and + pointing with the other to the right of the tunnel; ‘we found a + twenty-ounce nugget yesterday, and ain afore that o’ twenty-five, and in + the first face we were at twa months ago o’er there,’ pointing to the + left, ‘there was yin big ain I ca’d the Villiers nugget, which as ye ken + is Madame’s name.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes, I know that,’ said Vandeloup, much interested; ‘do you christen + all your nuggets?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If they’re big enough,’ replied Archie. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I hope you will find a hundred-ounce lump of gold, and call it the + Vandeloup,’ returned the young man, laughing. + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s mony a true word spoke in jest, laddie,’ said Archie, gravely; + ‘when we get to the Deil’s Lead we may find ain o’ that size.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you mean by leads?’ asked Vandeloup, considerably puzzled. + </p> + <p> + Thereupon Archie opened his mouth, and gave the young man a scientific + lecture on mining, the pith of which was as follows:— + </p> + <p> + ‘Did ye no ken,’ said Mr McIntosh, sagaciously, ‘in the auld days—I + winna say but what it micht be as far back as the Fa’ o’ Man, may be a wee + bit farther—the rains washed a’ the gold fra the taps o’ the hills, + where the quartz reefs were, down tae the valleys below, where the rivers + ye ken were flowin’. And as the ages went on, an’ nature, under the + guidance o’ the Almighty, performed her work, the river bed, wiv a’ its + gold, would be covered o’er with anither formation, and then the river, or + anither yin, would flow on a new bed, and the precious metal would be + washed fra the hills in the same way as I tauld ye of, and the second + river bed would be also covered o’er, and sae the same game went on and is + still progressin’. Sae when the first miners came doon tae this land of + Ophir the gold they got by scratchin’ the tap of the earth was the latest + deposit, and when ye gae doon a few hundred feet ye come on the second + river—or rather, I should say, the bed o’ the former river-and it is + there that the gold is tae be found; and these dried-up rivers we ca’ + leads. Noo, laddie, ye ma ken that at present we are in the bed o’ ain o’ + these auld streams three hun’red feet frae the tap o’ the earth, and it’s + here we get the gold, and as we gae on we follow the wandrin’s o’ the + river and lose sight o’ it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Vandeloup quickly, ‘but you lost this river you call the + Devil’s Lead—how was that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Weel,’ said Mr McIntosh, deliberately, ‘rivers are varra like human + bein’s in the queer twists they take, and the Deil’s Lead seems to hae + been ain like that. At present we are on the banks o’ it, where we noo get + these nuggets; but ‘tis the bed I want, d’ye ken, the centre, for its + there the gold is; losh, man,’ he went on, excitedly, rising to his feet + and rolling up the plan, ‘ye dinna ken how rich the Deil’s Lead is; + there’s just a fortune in it.’ + </p> + <p> + “I suppose these rivers must stop at a certain depth?” + </p> + <p> + “Ou, ay,” returned the old Scotchman, “we gae doon an’ doon till we come + on what we ma ca’ the primary rock, and under that there is nothin’—except,” + with a touch of religious enthusiasm, “maybe ‘tis the bottomless pit, + where auld Hornie dwells, as we are tauld in the Screepture; noo let us + gae up again, an’ I’ll show ye the puddlers at wark.” + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup had not the least idea what the puddlers were, but desirous of + learning, he followed his guide, who led him into another gallery, which + formed a kind of loop, and joined again with the main drive. As Gaston + stumbled along, he felt a touch on his shoulder, and on turning, saw it + was Pierre, who had been put to work with the other men, and was acting as + one of the runners. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you are there, my friend,” said Vandeloup, coolly, looking at the + uncouth figure before him by the feeble glimmer of his candle; “work away, + work away; it’s not very pleasant, but at all events,” in a rapid whisper, + “it’s better than New Caledonia.” + </p> + <p> + Pierre nodded in a sullen manner, and went back to his work, while + Vandeloup hurried on to catch up to McIntosh, who was now far ahead. + </p> + <p> + “I wish,” said this pleasant young man to himself, as he stumbled along, + “I wish that the mine would fall in and crush Pierre; he’s such a dead + weight to be hanging round my neck; besides, he has such a gaol-bird look + about him that it’s enough to make the police find out where he came from; + if they do, good-bye to wealth and respectability.” + </p> + <p> + He found Archie waiting for him at the entrance to the main drive, and + they soon arrived at the bottom of the shaft, got into the cage, and at + last reached the top of the earth again. Vandeloup drew a long breath of + the fresh pure air, but his eyes felt quite painful in the vivid glare of + the sun. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t envy the gnomes,” he said gaily to Archie as they went on to the + puddlers; “they must have been subject to chronic rheumatism.” + </p> + <p> + Mr McIntosh, not having an acquaintance with fairy lore, said nothing in + reply, but took Vandeloup to the puddlers, and showed all the process of + getting the gold. + </p> + <p> + The wash was carried along in the trucks from the top of the shaft to the + puddlers, which were large circular vats into which water was constantly + gushing. The wash dirt being put into these, there was an iron ring held + up by chains, having blunt spikes to it, which was called a harrow. Two of + these being attached to beams laid crosswise were dragged round and round + among the wash by the constant revolution of the cross-pieces. This soon + reduced all the wash dirt to a kind of fine, creamy-looking syrup, with + heavy white stones in it, which were removed every now and then by the man + in charge of the machine. Descending to the second story of the framework, + Vandeloup found himself in a square chamber, the roof of which was the + puddler. In this roof was a trap-door, and when the wash dirt had been + sufficiently mixed the trap-door was opened, and it was precipitated + through on to the floor of the second chamber. A kind of broad trough, + running in a slanting direction and called a sluice, was on one side, and + into this a quantity of wash was put, and a tap at the top turned on, + which caused the water to wash the dirt down the sluice. Another man at + the foot, with a pitchfork, kept shifting up the stones which were mixed + up with the gravel, and by degrees all the surplus dirt was washed away, + leaving only these stones and a kind of fine black sand, in which the gold + being heavy, had stayed. This sand was carefully gathered up with a brush + and iron trowel into a shallow tin basin, and then an experienced miner + carefully manipulated the same with clear water. What with blowing with + the breath, and allowing the water to flow gently over it, all the black + sand was soon taken away, and the bottom of the tin dish was then covered + with dirty yellow grains of gold interspersed with little water-worn + nuggets. Archie took the gold and carried it down to the office, where it + was first weighed and then put into a little canvas bag, which would be + taken to the bank in Ballarat, and there sold at the rate of four pounds + an ounce or thereabouts. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sae this, ye ken,’ said Archie, when he had finished all his + explanations, ‘is the way ye get gold.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith,’ said Vandeloup, carelessly, with a merry laugh, ‘gold is as + hard to get in its natural state as in its artificial.’ + </p> + <p> + “An’ harder,” retorted Archie, “forbye there’s nae sic wicked wark aboot + it.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame will be rich some day,” remarked Vandeloup, as they left the + office and walked up towards the house. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe she will,” replied the other, cautiously. “Australia’s a gran’ + place for the siller, ye ken. I’m no verra far wrang but what wi’ industry + and perseverance ye may mak a wee bit siller yersel’, laddie.” + </p> + <p> + “It won’t be my fault if I don’t,” returned M. Vandeloup, gaily; “and + Madame Midas,” he added, mentally, “will be an excellent person to assist + me in doing so.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — KITTY + </h2> + <p> + Gaston Vandeloup having passed all his life in cities found that his + existence on the Pactolus claim was likely to be very dreary. Day after + day he arose in the morning, did his office work, ate his meals, and after + a talk with Madame Midas in the evening went to bed at ten o’clock. Such + Arcadian simplicity as this was not likely to suit the highly cultivated + tastes he had acquired in his earlier life. As to the episode of New + Caledonia M. Vandeloup dismissed it completely from his mind, for this + young man never permitted his thoughts to dwell on disagreeable subjects. + </p> + <p> + His experiences as a convict had been novel but not pleasant, and he + looked upon the time which had elapsed since he left France in the convict + ship to the day he landed on the coast of Queensland in an open boat as a + bad nightmare, and would willingly have tried to treat it as such, only + the constant sight of his dumb companion, Pierre Lemaire, reminded him + only too vividly of the reality of his trouble. Often and often did he + wish that Pierre would break his neck, or that the mine would fall in and + crush him to death; but nothing of the sort happened, and Pierre continued + to vex his eyes and to follow him about with a dog-like fidelity which + arose—not from any love of the young man, but—from the fact + that he found himself a stranger in a strange land, and Vandeloup was the + only person he knew. With such a millstone round his neck, the young + Frenchman often despaired of being able to get on in Australia. Meanwhile + he surrendered himself to the situation with a kind of cynical + resignation, and looked hopefully forward to the time when a kind + Providence would rid him of his unpleasant friend. + </p> + <p> + The feelings of Madame Midas towards Vandeloup were curious. She had been + a very impressionable girl, and her ill-fated union with Villiers had not + quite succeeded in deadening all her feelings, though it had doubtless + gone a good way towards doing so. Being of an appreciative nature, she + liked to hear Vandeloup talk of his brilliant life in Paris, Vienna, + London, and other famous cities, which to her were merely names. For such + a young man he had certainly seen a great deal of life, and, added to + this, his skill as a talker was considerable, so that he frequently held + Madame, Selina, and McIntosh spell-bound by his fairy-like descriptions + and eloquent conversation. Of course, he only talked of the most general + subjects to Mrs Villiers, and never by any chance let slip that he knew + the seamy side of life—a side with which this versatile young + gentleman was pretty well acquainted. As a worker, Gaston was decidedly a + success. Being quick at figures and easily taught anything, he soon + mastered all the details of the business connected with the Pactolus + claim, and Madame found that she could leave everything to him with + perfect safety, and could rely on all matters of business being well and + promptly attended to. But she was too clever a woman to let him manage + things himself, or even know how much she trusted him; and Vandeloup knew + that whatever he did those calm dark eyes were on him, and that the least + slip or neglect on his part would bring Madame Midas to his side with her + quiet voice and inflexible will to put him right again. + </p> + <p> + Consequently the Frenchman was careful not to digress or to take too much + upon himself, but did his work promptly and carefully, and soon became + quite indispensable to the work of the mine. In addition to this he had + made himself very popular with the men, and as the months rolled on was + looked upon quite as a fixture in the Pactolus claim. + </p> + <p> + As for Pierre Lemaire, he did his work well, ate and slept, and kept his + eye on his companion in case he should leave him in the lurch; but no one + would have guessed that the two men, so different in appearance, were + bound together by a guilty secret, or were, morally speaking, both on the + same level as convicts from a French prison. + </p> + <p> + A whole month had elapsed since Madame had engaged M. Vandeloup and his + friend, but as yet the Devil’s Lead had not been found. Madame, however, + was strong in her belief that it would soon be discovered, for her luck—the + luck of Madame Midas—was getting quite a proverb in Ballarat. + </p> + <p> + One bright morning Vandeloup was in the office running up endless columns + of figures, and Madame, dressed in her underground garments, was making + ready to go below, just having stepped in to see Gaston. + </p> + <p> + ‘By the way, M. Vandeloup,’ she said in English, for it was only in the + evenings they spoke French, ‘I am expecting a young lady this morning, so + you can tell her I have gone down the mine, but will be back in an hour if + she will wait for me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, looking up with his bright smile; + ‘and the young lady’s name?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Kitty Marchurst,’ replied Madame, pausing a moment at the door of the + office; ‘she is the daughter of the Rev. Mark Marchurst, a minister at + Ballarat. I think you will like her, M. Vandeloup,’ she went on, in a + conversational tone; ‘she is a charming girl—only seventeen, and + extremely pretty.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I am sure to like her,’ returned Gaston, gaily; ‘I never could + resist the charm of a pretty woman.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mind,’ said Madame, severely, holding up her finger, ‘you must not turn + my favourite’s head with any of your idle compliments; she has been very + strictly brought up, and the language of gallantry is Greek to her.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup tried to look penitent, and failed utterly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame,’ he said, rising from his seat, and gravely bowing, ‘I will speak + of nothing to Mademoiselle Kitty but of the weather and the crops till you + return.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame laughed pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are incorrigible, M. Vandeloup,’ she said, as she turned to go. + ‘However, don’t forget what I said, for I trust you.’ + </p> + <p> + When Mrs Villiers had gone, closing the office door after her, Gaston was + silent for a few minutes, and then burst out laughing. + </p> + <p> + ‘She trusts me,’ he said, in a mocking tone. ‘In heaven’s name, why? I + never did pretend to be a saint, and I’m certainly not going to be one + because I’m put on my word of honour. Madame,’ with an ironical bow in the + direction of the closed door, ‘since you trust me I will not speak of love + to this bread-and-butter miss, unless she proves more than ordinarily + pretty, in which case,’ shrugging his shoulders, ‘I’m afraid I must betray + your trust, and follow my own judgment.’ + </p> + <p> + He laughed again, and then, going back to his desk, began to add up his + figures. At the second column, however, he paused, and commenced to sketch + faces on the blotting paper. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s the daughter of a minister,’ he said, musingly. ‘I can guess, then, + what like she is—prim and demure, like a caricature by Cham. In that + case she will be safe from me, for I could never bear an ugly woman. By + the way, I wonder if ugly women think themselves pretty; their mirrors + must lie most obligingly if they do. There was Adele, she was decidedly + plain, not to say ugly, and yet so brilliant in her talk. I was sorry she + died; yes, even though she was the cause of my exile to New Caledonia. + Bah! it is always a woman one has to thank for one’s misfortunes—curse + them; though why I should I don’t know, for they have always been good + friends to me. Ah, well, to return to business, Mademoiselle Kitty is + coming, and I must behave like a bear in case she should think my + intentions are wrong.’ + </p> + <p> + He went to work on the figures again, when suddenly he heard a high clear + voice singing outside. At first he thought it was a bird, but no bird + could execute such trills and shakes, so by the time the voice arrived at + the office door M. Vandeloup came to the conclusion that the owner of the + voice was a woman, and that the woman was Miss Kitty Marchurst. + </p> + <p> + He leaned back in his chair and wondered idly if she would knock at the + door or enter without ceremony. The latter course was the one adopted by + Miss Marchurst, for she threw open the door and stood there blushing and + pouting at the embarrassing situation in which she now found herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought I would find Mrs Villiers here,’ she said, in a low, sweet + voice, the peculiar timbre of which sent a thrill through Gaston’s young + blood, as he arose to his feet. Then she looked up, and catching his dark + eyes fixed on her with a good deal of admiration in them, she looked down + and commenced drawing figures on the dusty floor with the tip of a very + dainty shoe. + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame has gone down the mine,’ said M. Vandeloup, politely, ‘but she + desired me to say that she would be back soon, and that you were to wait + here, and I was to entertain you;’ then, with a grave bow, he placed the + only chair in the office at the disposal of his visitor, and leaned up + against the mantelpiece in an attitude of unstudied grace. Miss Marchurst + accepted his offer, and depositing her small person in the big cane chair, + she took furtive glances at him, while Gaston, whose experience of women + was by no means limited, looked at her coolly, in a manner which would + have been rude but for the charming smile which quivered upon his lips. + </p> + <p> + Kitty Marchurst was a veritable fairy in size, and her hands and feet were + exquisitely formed, while her figure had all the plumpness and roundness + of a girl of seventeen—which age she was, though she really did not + look more than fourteen. An innocent child-like face, two limpid blue + eyes, a straight little nose, and a charming rose-lipped mouth were + Kitty’s principal attractions, and her hair was really wonderful, growing + all over her head in crisp golden curls. Child-like enough her face looked + in repose, but with the smile came the woman—such a smile, a + laughing merry expression such as the Greeks gave to Hebe. Dressed in a + rough white dress trimmed with pale blue ribbons, and her golden head + surmounted by a sailor hat, with a scarf of the same azure hue tied around + it, Kitty looked really charming, and Vandeloup could hardly restrain + himself from taking her up in his arms and kissing her, so delightfully + fresh and piquant she appeared. Kitty, on her side, had examined Gaston + with a woman’s quickness of taking in details, and she mentally decided he + was the best-looking man she had ever seen, only she wished he would talk. + Shyness was not a part of her nature, so after waiting a reasonable time + for Vandeloup to commence, she determined to start herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m waiting to be entertained,’ she said, in a hurried voice, raising her + eyes; then afraid of her own temerity, she looked down again. + </p> + <p> + Gaston smiled a little at Kitty’s outspoken remark, but remembering + Madame’s injunction he rather mischievously determined to carry out her + desires to the letter. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is a very nice day,’ he said, gravely. Kitty looked up and laughed + merrily. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t think that’s a very original remark,’ she said coolly, producing + an apple from her pocket. ‘If that’s all you’ve got to say, I hope Madame + won’t be long.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup laughed again at her petulance, and eyed her critically as she + took a bit out of the red side of the apple with her white teeth. + </p> + <p> + ‘You like apples?’ he asked, very much amused by her candour. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pretty well,’ returned Miss Marchurst, eyeing the fruit in a disparaging + manner; ‘peaches are nicer; are Madame’s peaches ripe?’ looking anxiously + at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think they are,’ rejoined Gaston, gravely. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we’ll have some for tea,’ decided Kitty, taking another bite out of + her apple. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m going to stay to tea, you know,’ she went on in a conversational + tone. ‘I always stay to tea when I’m on a visit here, and then Brown—that’s + our man,’ in an explanatory manner, ‘comes and fetches me home.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Happy Brown!’ murmured Vandeloup, who really meant what he said. + </p> + <p> + Kitty laughed, and blushed. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve heard all about you,’ she said, coolly, nodding to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nothing to my disadvantage, I hope,’ anxiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh dear, no: rather the other way,’ returned Miss Marchurst, gaily. ‘They + said you were good-looking—and so you are, very good-looking.’ + </p> + <p> + Gaston bowed and laughed, rather amused at the way she spoke, for he was + used to being flattered by women, though hardly in the outspoken way of + this country maiden. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s been strictly brought up,’ he muttered sarcastically, ‘I can see + that. Eve before the fall in all her innocence.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t like your eyes,’ said Miss Kitty, suddenly. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the matter with them?’ with a quizzical glance. + </p> + <p> + ‘They look wicked.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, then they belie the soul within,’ returned Vandeloup, seriously. ‘I + assure you, I’m a very good young man.’ + </p> + <p> + Then I’m sure not to like you,’ said Kitty, gravely shaking her golden + head. ‘Pa’s a minister, you know, and nothing but good young men come to + our house; they’re all so horrid,’ viciously, ‘I hate ‘em.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup laughed so much at this that Kitty rose to her feet and looked + offended. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know what you are laughing at,’ she said, throwing her half-eaten + apple out of the door; ‘but I don’t believe you’re a good young man. You + look awfully bad,’ seriously. ‘Really, I don’t think I ever saw anyone + look so bad.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Suppose you undertake my reformation?’ suggested Vandeloup, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! I couldn’t; it wouldn’t be right; but,’ brightly, ‘pa will.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t think I’ll trouble him,’ said Gaston, hastily, who by no means + relished the idea. ‘I’m too far gone to be any good.’ + </p> + <p> + She was about to reply when Madame Midas entered, and Kitty flew to her + with a cry of delight. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, Kitty,’ said Madame, highly pleased, ‘I am so glad to see you, my + dear; but keep off, or I’ll be spoiling your dress.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, so you will,’ said Kitty, retreating to a safe distance; ‘what a + long time you have been.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have I, dear?’ said Madame, taking off her underground dress; ‘I hope M. + Vandeloup has proved a good substitute.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame,’ answered Vandeloup, gaily, as he assisted Mrs Villiers to doff + her muddy garments, ‘we have been talking about the crops and the + weather.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, indeed,’ replied Mrs Villiers, who saw the flush on Kitty’s cheek, + and by no means approved of it; ‘it must have been very entertaining.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very!’ assented Gaston, going back to his desk. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come along, Kitty,’ said Madame, with a keen glance at her clerk, and + taking Kitty’s arm within her own, ‘let us go to the house, and see if we + can find any peaches.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I hope we’ll find some big ones,’ said Kitty, gluttonously, as she danced + along by the side of Mrs Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Temptation has been placed in my path in a very attractive form,’ said + Vandeloup to himself, as he went back to those dreary columns of figures, + ‘and I’m afraid that I will not be able to resist.’ + </p> + <p> + When he came home to tea he found Kitty was as joyous and full of life as + ever, in spite of the long hot afternoon and the restless energy with + which she had been running about. Even Madame Midas felt weary and worn + out by the heat of the day, and was sitting tranquilly by the window; but + Kitty, with bright eyes and restless feet, followed Selina all over the + house, under the pretence of helping her, an infliction which that sage + spinster bore with patient resignation. + </p> + <p> + After tea it was too hot to light the lamp, and even Selina let the fire + go out, while all the windows and doors were open to let the cool night + wind blow in. Vandeloup sat on the verandah with McIntosh smoking + cigarettes and listening to Madame, who was playing Mendelssohn’s ‘In a + Gondola’, that dreamy melody full of the swing and rhythmic movement of + the waves. Then to please old Archie she played ‘Auld Lang Syne’—that + tender caressing air which is one of the most pathetic and heart-stirring + melodies in the world. Archie leaned forward with bowed head as the sad + melody floated on the air, and his thoughts went back to the heather-clad + Scottish hills. And what was this Madame was now playing, with its + piercing sorrow and sad refrain? Surely ‘Farewell to Lochaber’, that + bitter lament of the exile leaving bonny Scotland far behind. Vandeloup, + who was not attending to the music, but thinking of Kitty, saw two big + tears steal down McIntosh’s severe face, and marvelled at such a sign of + weakness. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sentiment from him?’ he muttered, in a cynical tone; ‘why, I should have + as soon expected blood from a stone.’ + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the sad air ceased, and after a few chords, Kitty commenced to + sing to Madame’s accompaniment. Gaston arose to his feet, and leaned up + against the door, for she was singing Gounod’s charming valse from + ‘Mirella’, the bird-like melody of which suited her high clear voice to + perfection. Vandeloup was rather astonished at hearing this innocent + little maiden execute the difficult valse with such ease, and her shake + was as rapid and true as if she had been trained in the best schools of + Europe. He did not know that Kitty had naturally a very flexible voice, + and that Madame had trained her for nearly a year. When the song was ended + Gaston entered the room to express his thanks and astonishment, both of + which Kitty received with bursts of laughter. + </p> + <p> + ‘You have a fortune in your throat, mademoiselle,’ he said, with a bow, + ‘and I assure you I have heard all the great singers of to-day from Patti + downwards.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have only been able to teach her very little,’ said Madame, looking + affectionately at Miss Marchurst, who now stood by the table, blushing at + Vandeloup’s praises, ‘but when we find the Devil’s Lead I am going to send + her home to Italy to study singing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For the stage?’ asked Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is as it may be,’ replied Madame, enigmatically, ‘but now, M. + Vandeloup, you must sing us something.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, does he sing?’ said Kitty, joyously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, and play too,’ answered Madame, as she vacated her seat at the piano + and put her arm round Kitty, ‘sing us something from the “Grand Duchess”, + Monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + He shook his head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Too gay for such an hour,’ he said, running his fingers lightly over the + keys; ‘I will give you something from “Faust”.’ + </p> + <p> + He had a pleasant tenor voice, not very strong, but singularly pure and + penetrating, and he sang ‘Salve Dinora’, the exquisite melody of which + touched the heart of Madame Midas with a vague longing for love and + affection, while in Kitty’s breast there was a feeling she had never felt + before. Her joyousness departed, her eyes glanced at the singer in a + half-frightened manner, and she clung closer to Madame Midas as if she + were afraid, as indeed she was. + </p> + <p> + When Vandeloup finished the song he dashed into a riotous student song + which he had heard many a time in midnight Paris, and finally ended with + singing Alfred de Musset’s merry little chanson, which he thought + especially appropriate to Kitty:— + </p> + <p> + Bonjour, Suzon, ma fleur des bois, Es-tu toujours la plus jolie, Je + reviens, tel que tu me vois, + </p> + <p> + D’un grand votage en Italie. + </p> + <p> + Altogether Kitty had enjoyed her evening immensely, and was quite sorry + when Brown came to take her home. Madame wrapped her up well and put her + in the buggy, but was rather startled to see her flushed cheeks, bright + eyes, and the sudden glances she stole at Vandeloup, who stood handsome + and debonair in the moonlight. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m afraid I’ve made a mistake,’ she said to herself as the buggy drove + off. + </p> + <p> + She had, for Kitty had fallen in love with the Frenchman. + </p> + <p> + And Gaston? + </p> + <p> + He walked back to the house beside Madame, thinking of Kitty, and humming + the gay refrain of the song he had been singing— + </p> + <p> + ‘Je passe devant ta maison Ouvre ta porte, Bonjour, Suzon.’ + </p> + <p> + Decidedly it was a case of love at first sight on both sides. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. — MR VILLIERS PAYS A VISIT + </h2> + <p> + Slivers and his friend Villiers were by no means pleased with the existing + state of things. In sending Vandeloup to the Pactolus claim, they had + thought to compromise Madame Midas by placing her in the society of a + young and handsome man, and counting on one of two things happening—either + that Madame would fall in love with the attractive Frenchman, and seek for + a divorce in order to marry him—which divorce Villiers would of + course resist, unless she bribed him by giving him an interest in the + Pactolus—or that Villiers could assume an injured tone and accuse + Vandeloup of being his wife’s lover, and threaten to divorce her unless + she made him her partner in the claim. But they had both reckoned wrongly, + for neither of these things happened, as Madame was not in love with + Vandeloup, and acted with too much circumspection to give any opportunity + for scandal. Consequently, Slivers and Co., not finding matters going to + their satisfaction, met one day at the office of the senior partner for + the purpose of discussing the affair, and seeing what could be done + towards bringing Madame Midas to their way of thinking. + </p> + <p> + Villiers was lounging in one of the chairs, dressed in a white linen suit, + and looked rather respectable, though his inflamed face and watery eyes + showed what a drunkard he was. He was sipping a glass of whisky and water + and smoking his pipe, while he watched Slivers stumping up and down the + office, swinging his cork arm vehemently to and fro as was his custom when + excited. Billy sat on the table and eyed his master with a steady stare, + or else hopped about among the papers talking to himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘You thought you were going to do big things when you sent that jackadandy + out to the Pactolus,’ said Villiers, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + ‘At any rate, I did something,’ snarled Slivers, in a rage, ‘which is more + than you did, you whisky barrel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here, don’t you call names,’ growled Mr Villiers, in a sulky tone. + ‘I’m a gentleman, remember that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You were a gentleman, you mean,’ corrected the senior partner, with a + malignant glance of his one eye. ‘What are you now?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A stockbroker,’ retorted the other, taking a sip of whisky. + </p> + <p> + ‘And a damned poor one at that,’ replied the other, sitting on the edge of + the table, which position caused his wooden leg to stick straight out, a + result which he immediately utilized by pointing it threateningly in the + direction of Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here,’ said that gentleman, suddenly sitting up in his chair in a + defiant manner, ‘drop these personalities and come to business; what’s to + be done? Vandeloup is firmly established there, but there’s not the + slightest chance of my wife falling in love with him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wait,’ said Slivers, stolidly wagging his wooden leg up and down; ‘wait, + you blind fool, wait.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wait for the waggon!’ shrieked Billy, behind, and then supplemented his + remarks by adding, ‘Oh, my precious mother!’ as he climbed up on Slivers’ + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘You always say wait,’ growled Villiers, not paying any attention to + Billy’s interruption; ‘I tell you we can’t wait much longer; they’ll drop + on the Devil’s Lead shortly, and then we’ll be up a tree.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, suppose you go out to the Pactolus and see your wife,’ suggested + Slivers. + </p> + <p> + ‘No go,’ returned Villiers, gloomily, ‘she’d break my head.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah! you ain’t afraid of a woman, are you?’ snarled Slivers, viciously. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, but I am of McIntosh and the rest of them,’ retorted Villiers. ‘What + can one man do against twenty of these devils. Why, they’d kill me if I + went out there; and that infernal wife of mine wouldn’t raise her little + finger to save me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re a devil!’ observed Billy, eyeing Villiers from his perch on + Slivers’ shoulder. ‘Oh, Lord! ha! ha! ha!’ going into fits of laughter; + then drawing himself suddenly up, he ejaculated ‘Pickles!’ and shut up. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s no good beating about the bush,’ said the wooden-legged man, getting + down from the table. ‘You go out near the claim, and see if you can catch + her; then give it to her hot.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What am I to say?’ asked Villiers, helplessly. + </p> + <p> + Slivers looked at him with fiery scorn in his one eye. + </p> + <p> + ‘Say!’ he shrieked, waving his cork arm, ‘talk about your darned honour! + Say she’s dragging your noble name through the mud, and say you’ll divorce + her if she don’t give you half a share in the Pactolus; that will frighten + her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pickles!’ again ejaculated the parrot. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no, it won’t,’ said Villiers; ‘Brag’s a good dog, but he don’t bite. + I’ve tried that game on before, and it was no go.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then try it your own way,’ grumbled Slivers, sulkily, going to his seat + and pouring himself out some whisky. ‘I don’t care what you do, as long as + I get into the Pactolus, and once I’m in the devil himself won’t get me + out.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers thought a moment, then turned to go. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll try,’ he said, as he went out of the door, ‘but it’s no go, I tell + you, she’s stone,’ and with a dismal nod he slouched away. + </p> + <p> + ‘Stone, is she?’ cried the old man, pounding furiously on the floor with + his wooden leg, ‘then I’d smash her; I’d crush her; I’d grind her into + little bits, damn her,’ and overcome by his rage, Slivers shook Billy off + his shoulder and took a long drink. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Mr Villiers, dreading lest his courage should give way, went to + the nearest hotel and drank pretty freely so that he might bring himself + into an abnormal condition of bravery. Thus primed, he went to the railway + station, took the train to the Pactolus claim, and on arriving at the end + of his journey had one final glass of whisky to steady his nerves. + </p> + <p> + The last straw, however, breaks the camel’s back, and this last drink + reduced Mr Villiers to that mixed state which is known in colonial phrase + as half-cocked. He lurched out of the hotel, and went in the direction of + the Pactolus claim. His only difficulty was that, as a matter of fact, the + solitary mound of white earth which marked the entrance to the mine, + suddenly appeared before his eyes in a double condition, and he beheld two + Pactolus claims, which curious optical delusion rather confused him, + inasmuch as he was undecided to which he should go. + </p> + <p> + ‘Itsh the drinksh,’ he said at length, stopping in the middle of the white + dusty road, and looking preternaturally solemn; ‘it maksh me see double: + if I see my wife, I’ll see two of her, then’—with a drunken giggle—‘I’ll + be a bigamist.’ + </p> + <p> + This idea so tickled him, that he commenced to laugh, and, finding it + inconvenient to do so on his legs, he sat down to indulge his humour + freely. A laughing jackass perched on the fence at the side of the road + heard Mr Villiers’ hilarity, and, being of a convivial turn of mind + itself, went off into fits of laughter also. On hearing this echo Mr + Villiers tried to get up, in order to punish the man who mocked him, but, + though his intentions were good, his legs were unsteady, and after one or + two ineffectual attempts to rise he gave it up as a bad job. Then rolling + himself a little to one side of the dusty white road, he went sound + asleep, with his head resting on a tuft of green grass. In his white linen + suit he was hardly distinguishable in the fine white dust of the road, and + though the sun blazed hotly down on him and the mosquitos stung him, yet + he slept calmly on, and it was not till nearly four o’clock in the + afternoon that he woke up. He was more sober, but still not quite steady, + being in that disagreeable temper to which some men are subject when + suffering a recovery. Rising to his feet, with a hearty curse, he picked + up his hat and put it on; then, thrusting his hands into his pockets, he + slouched slowly along, bent upon meeting his wife and picking a quarrel + with her. + </p> + <p> + Unluckily for Madame Midas, she had that day been to Ballarat, and was + just returning. She had gone by train, and was now leaving the station and + walking home to the Pactolus along the road. Being absorbed in thought, + she did not notice the dusty figure in front of her, otherwise she would + have been sure to have recognised her husband, and would have given him a + wide berth by crossing the fields instead of going by the road. Mr + Villiers, therefore, tramped steadily on towards the Pactolus, and his + wife tramped steadily after him, until at last, at the turn of the road + where it entered her property, she overtook him. + </p> + <p> + A shudder of disgust passed through her frame as she raised her eyes and + saw him, and she made a sudden gesture as though to fall behind and thus + avoid him. It was, however, too late, for Mr Villiers, hearing footsteps, + turned suddenly and saw the woman he had come to see standing in the + middle of the road. + </p> + <p> + Husband and wife stood gazing at one another for a few moments in silence, + she looking at him with an expression of intense loathing on her fine + face, and he vainly trying to assume a dignified carriage—a task + which his late fit of drunkenness rendered difficult. + </p> + <p> + At last, his wife, drawing her dress together as though his touch would + have contaminated her, tried to pass, but on seeing this he sprang + forward, before she could change her position, and caught her wrist. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not yet!’ he hissed through his clenched teeth; ‘first you must have a + word with me.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas looked around for aid, but no one was in sight. They were + some distance from the Pactolus, and the heat of the afternoon being + intense, every one was inside. At last Madame saw some man moving towards + them, down the long road which led to the station, and knowing that + Vandeloup had been into town, she prayed in her heart that it might be he, + and so prepared to parley with her husband till he should come up. Having + taken this resolution, she suddenly threw off Villiers’ grasp, and turned + towards him with a superb gesture of scorn. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you want?’ she asked in a low, clear voice, but in a tone of + concentrated passion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Money!’ growled Villiers, insolently planting himself directly in front + of her, ‘and I’m going to have it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Money!’ she echoed, in a tone of bitter irony; ‘have you not had enough + yet? Have you not squandered every penny I had from my father in your + profligacy and evil companions? What more do you want?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A share in the Pactolus,’ he said, sullenly. + </p> + <p> + His wife laughed scornfully. ‘A share in the Pactolus!’ she echoed, with + bitter sarcasm, ‘A modest request truly. After squandering my fortune, + dragging me through the mire, and treating me like a slave, this man + expects to be rewarded. Listen to me, Randolph Villiers,’ she said, + fiercely, stepping up to him and seizing his hand, ‘this land we now stand + on is mine—the gold underneath is mine; and if you were to go on + your knees to me and beg for a morsel of bread to save you from starving, + I would not lift one finger to succour you.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers writhed like a snake under her bitter scorn. + </p> + <p> + ‘I understand,’ he said, in a taunting tone; ‘you want it for your lover.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My lover? What do you mean?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What I say,’ he retorted boldly, ‘all Ballarat knows the position that + young Frenchman holds in the Pactolus claim.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs Villiers felt herself grow faint—the accusation was so horrible. + This man, who had embittered her life from the time she married him, was + still her evil genius, and was trying to ruin her in the eyes of the + world. The man she had seen on the road was now nearly up to them, and + with a revulsion of feeling she saw that it was Vandeloup. Recovering + herself with an effort, she turned and faced him steadily. + </p> + <p> + ‘You lied when you spoke just now,’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘I will not + lower myself to reply to your accusation; but, as there is a God above us, + if you dare to cross my path again, I will kill you.’ + </p> + <p> + She looked so terrible when she said this that Villiers involuntarily drew + back, but recovering himself in a moment, he sprang forward and caught her + arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘You devil! I’ll make you pay for this,’ and he twisted her arm till she + thought it was broken. ‘You’ll kill me, will you?—you!—you!’ + he shrieked, still twisting her arm and causing her intense pain, ‘you + viper!’ + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, when Madame was almost fainting with pain, she heard a shout, + and knew that Vandeloup had come to the rescue. He had recognised Madame + Midas down the road, and saw that her companion was threatening her; so he + made all possible speed, and arrived just in time. + </p> + <p> + Madame turned round to see Vandeloup throw her husband into a ditch by the + side of the road, and walk towards her. He was not at all excited, but + seemed as cool and calm as if he had just been shaking hands with Mr + Villiers instead of treating him violently. + </p> + <p> + ‘You had better go home, Madame,’ he said, in his usual cool voice, ‘and + leave me to deal with this—gentleman; you are not hurt?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Only my arm,’ replied Mrs Villiers, in a faint voice; ‘he nearly broke + it. But I can walk home alone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you can, do so,’ said Vandeloup, with a doubtful look at her. ‘I will + send him away.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t let him hurt you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t think there’s much danger,’ replied the young man, with a glance + at his arms, ‘I’m stronger than I look.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you, Monsieur,’ said Madame Midas, giving him her hand; ‘you have + rendered me a great service, and one I will not forget.’ + </p> + <p> + He bent down and kissed her hand, which action was seen by Mr Villiers as + he crawled out of the ditch. When Madame Midas was gone and Vandeloup + could see her walking homeward, he turned to look for Mr Villiers, and + found him seated on the edge of the ditch, all covered with mud and + streaming with water—presenting a most pitiable appearance. He + regarded M. Vandeloup in a most malignant manner, which, however, had no + effect on that young gentleman, who produced a cigarette, and having + lighted it proceeded to talk. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m sorry I can’t offer you one,’ said Gaston, affably, ‘but I hardly + think you would enjoy it in your present damp condition. If I might be + permitted to suggest anything,’ with a polite smile, ‘a bath and a change + of clothes would be most suitable to you, and you will find both at + Ballarat. I also think,’ said Vandeloup, with an air of one who thinks + deeply, ‘that if you hurry you will catch the next train, which will save + you a rather long walk.’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers glared at his tormentor in speechless anger, and tried to look + dignified, but, covered as he was with mud, his effort was not successful. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you know who I am?’ he said at length, in a blustering manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Under some circumstances,’ said M. Vandeloup, in a smooth voice, ‘I + should have taken you for a mud bank, but as you both speak and smile I + presume you are a man of the lowest type; as you English yourselves say—a + blackguard.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll smash you!’ growled Villiers, stepping forward. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wouldn’t try if I were you,’ retorted Vandeloup, with a disparaging + glance. ‘I am young and strong, almost a total abstainer; you, on the + contrary, are old and flabby, with the shaking nerves of an incurable + drunkard. No, it would be hardly fair for me to touch you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You dare not lay a finger on me,’ said Villiers, defiantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Quite right,’ replied Vandeloup, lighting another cigarette, ‘you’re + rather too dirty for close companionship. I really think you’d better go; + Monsieur Sleeves no doubt expects you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And this is the man that I obtained work for,’ said Mr Villiers, + addressing the air. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a very ungrateful world,’ said Vandeloup, calmly, with a shrug of + his shoulders; ‘I never expect anything from it; I’m sorry if you do, for + you are sure to be disappointed.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers, finding he could make nothing out of the imperturbable coolness + of the young Frenchman, turned to go, but as he went, said spitefully— + </p> + <p> + ‘You can tell my wife I’ll pay her for this.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Accounts are paid on Saturdays,’ called out M. Vandeloup, gaily; ‘if you + call I will give you a receipt of the same kind as you had to-day.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers made no response, as he was already out of hearing, and went on + his way to the station with mud on his clothes and rage in his heart. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup looked after him for a few minutes with a queer smile on his + lips, then turned on his heel and walked home, humming a song. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. — MADAME MIDAS STRIKES ‘ILE’ + </h2> + <p> + Aesop knew human nature very well when he wrote his fable of the old man + and his ass, who tried to please everybody and ended up by pleasing + nobody. Bearing this in mind, Madame Midas determined to please herself, + and take no one’s advice but her own with regard to Vandeloup. She knew if + she dismissed him from the mine it would give colour to her husband’s vile + insinuations, so she thought the wisest plan would be to take no notice of + her meeting with him, and let things remain as they were. It turned out to + be the best thing she could have done, for though Villiers went about + Ballarat accusing her of being the young Frenchman’s mistress, everyone + was too well aware of existing circumstances to believe what he said. They + knew that he had squandered his wife’s fortune, and that she had left him + in disgust at his profligacy, so they declined to believe his accusations + against a woman who had proved herself true steel in withstanding bad + fortune. So Mr Villiers’ endeavours to ruin his wife only recoiled on his + own head, for the Ballarat folk argued, and rightly, that whatever she did + it was not his place to cast the first stone at her, seeing that the + unsatisfactory position she was now in was mainly his own work. Villiers, + therefore, gained nothing by his attempt to blacken his wife’s character + except the contempt of everyone, and even the few friends he had gained + turned their backs on him until no one would associate with him but + Slivers, who did so in order to gain his own ends. The company had + quarrelled over the unsuccessful result of Villiers’ visit to the + Pactolus, and Slivers, as senior partner, assisted by Billy, called + Villiers all the names he could lay his tongue to, which abuse Villiers + accepted in silence, not even having the spirit to resent it. But though + he was outwardly sulky and quiet, yet within he cherished a deep hatred + against his wife for the contempt with which he was treated, and inwardly + vowed to pay her out on the first feasible opportunity. + </p> + <p> + It was now nearly six months since Vandeloup had become clerk at the + Pactolus, and he was getting tired of it, only watching his opportunity to + make a little money and go to Melbourne, where he had not much doubt as to + his success. With a certain sum of money to work on, M. Vandeloup thought + that with his talents and experience of human nature he would soon be able + to make a fortune, particularly as he was quite unfettered by any + scruples, and as long as he made money he did not care how he gained it. + With such an adaptable nature he could hardly help doing well, but in + order to give him the start he required a little capital, so stayed on at + the Pactolus and saved every penny he earned in the hope of soon + accumulating enough to leave. Another thing that kept him there was his + love for Kitty—not a very pure or elevating love certainly, still it + was love for all that, and Vandeloup could not tear himself away from the + place where she resided. + </p> + <p> + He had called on Kitty’s father, the Rev. Mark Marchurst, who lived at the + top of Black Hill, near Ballarat, and did not like him. Mr Marchurst, a + grave, quiet man, who was the pastor of a particular sect, calling + themselves very modestly ‘The Elect’, was hardly the kind of individual to + attract a brilliant young fellow like Vandeloup, and the wonder was that + he ever had such a charming daughter. + </p> + <p> + Kitty had fallen deeply in love with Vandeloup, so as he told her he loved + her in return, she thought that some day they would get married. But + nothing was farther from M. Vandeloup’s thoughts than marriage, even with + Kitty, for he knew how foolish it would be for him to marry before making + a position. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want a wife to drag me back,’ he said to himself one day when + Kitty had hinted at matrimony; ‘when I am wealthy it will be time enough + to think of marriage, but it will be long before I am rich, and can I wait + for Bebe all that time? Alas! I do not think so.’ + </p> + <p> + The fact was, the young man was very liberal in his ideas, and infinitely + preferred a mistress to a wife. He had not any evil designs towards Kitty, + but her bright manner and charming face pleased him, and he simply enjoyed + the hours as they passed. She idolised him, and Gaston, who was accustomed + to be petted and caressed by women, accepted all her affection as his due. + Curiously enough, Madame Midas, lynx-eyed as she was, never suspected the + true state of affairs. Vandeloup had told Kitty that no one was to know of + their love for one another, and though Kitty was dying to tell Madame + about it, yet she kept silent at his request, and acted so indifferently + towards him when under Mrs Villiers’ eye, that any doubts that lady had + about the fascinations of her clerk soon vanished. + </p> + <p> + As to M. Vandeloup, the situation was an old one for him accustomed as he + had been to carry on with guilty wives under the very noses of + unsuspecting husbands, and on this occasion he acted admirably. He was + very friendly with Kitty in public—evidently looking upon her as a + mere child, although he made no difference in his manner. And this + innocent intrigue gave a piquant flavour to his otherwise dull life. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the Devil’s Lead was still undiscovered, many people declaring + it was a myth, and that such a lead had never existed. Three people, + however, had a firm belief in its existence, and were certain it would be + found some day—this trio being McIntosh, Madame Midas, and Slivers. + </p> + <p> + The Pactolus claim was a sort of Naboth’s vineyard to Slivers, who, in + company with Billy, used to sit in his dingy little office and grind his + teeth as he thought of all the wealth lying beneath those green fields. He + had once even gone so far as to offer to buy a share in the claim from + Madame Midas, but had been promptly refused by that lady—a + circumstance which by no means added to his love for her. + </p> + <p> + Still the Devil’s Lead was not found, and people were beginning to + disbelieve in its existence, when suddenly indications appeared which + showed that it was near at hand. Nuggets, some large, some small, began to + be constantly discovered, and every day news was brought into Ballarat + about the turning-up of a thirty-ounce or a twenty-ounce nugget in the + Pactolus, when, to crown all, the news came and ran like wildfire through + the city that a three hundred ounce nugget had been unearthed. + </p> + <p> + There was great excitement over this, as such a large one had not been + found for some time, and when Slivers heard of its discovery he cursed and + swore most horribly; for with his long experience of gold mining, he knew + that the long-looked for Devil’s Lead was near at hand. Billy, becoming + excited with his master, began to swear also; and these two companions + cursed Madame Midas and all that belonged to her most heartily. If Slivers + could only have seen the interior of Madame Midas’s dining room, by some + trick of necromancy, he would certainly not have been able to do the + subject justice in the swearing line. + </p> + <p> + There were present Madame Midas, Selina, McIntosh, and Vandeloup, and they + were all gathered round the table looking at the famous nugget. There it + lay in the centre of the table, a virgin mass of gold, all water-worn and + polished, hollowed out like a honeycomb, and dotted over with white + pebbles like currants in a plum pudding. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think I’ll send it to Melbourne for exhibition,’ said Mrs Villiers, + touching the nugget very lightly with her fingers. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Deed, mum, and ‘tis worth it,’ replied McIntosh, whose severe face was + relaxed in a grimly pleasant manner; ‘but losh! ‘tis naething tae what + ‘ull come oot o’ the Deil’s Lead.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, come, now,’ said Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile, ‘the Devil’s + Lead won’t consist of nuggets like that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Maybe no,’ returned the old Scotchman, dryly; ‘but every mickle makes a + muckle, and ye ken the Lead wull hae mony sma’ nuggets, which is mair + paying, to my mind, than yin large ain.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the time?’ asked Madame, rather irrelevantly, turning to Archie. + </p> + <p> + Mr McIntosh drew out the large silver watch, which was part and parcel of + himself, and answered gravely that it was two o’clock. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I’ll tell you what,’ said Mrs Villiers, rising; ‘I’ll take it in + with me to Ballarat and show it to Mr Marchurst.’ + </p> + <p> + McIntosh drew down the corners of his mouth, for, as a rigid Presbyterian, + he by no means approved of Marchurst’s heretical opinions, but of course + said nothing as Madame wished it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can I come with you, Madame?’ said Vandeloup, eagerly, for he never lost + an opportunity of seeing Kitty if he could help it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly,’ replied Madame, graciously; ‘we will start at once.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup was going away to get ready, when McIntosh stopped him. + </p> + <p> + ‘That friend o’ yours is gangin’ awa’ t’ the toun the day,’ he said, + touching Vandeloup lightly on the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘What for?’ asked the Frenchman, carelessly. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Tis to see the play actors, I’m thinkin’,’ returned Archie, dryly. ‘He + wants tae stap all nicht i’ the toun, so I’ve let him gae, an’ have tauld + him to pit up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, the landlord o’ which is a freend + o’ mine.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very kind of you, I’m sure,’ said Vandeloup, with a pleasant smile; ‘but + may I ask what play actors you refer to?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I dinna ken anythin’ about sic folk,’ retorted Mr McIntosh, piously, ‘the + deil’s ain bairns, wha wull gang into the pit of Tophet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aren’t you rather hard on them, Archie?’ said Madame Midas, smiling + quietly. ‘I’m very fond of the theatre myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s no for me to give ma opeenion about ma betters,’ replied Archie, + ungraciously, as he went out to see after the horse and trap; ‘but I dinna + care aboot sitting in the seat of the scornfu’, or walking in the ways of + the unrighteous,’ and with this parting shot at Vandeloup he went away. + </p> + <p> + That young man shrugged his shoulders, and looked at Madame Midas in such + a comical manner that she could not help smiling. + </p> + <p> + ‘You must forgive Archie,’ she said, pausing at the door of her bedroom + for a moment. ‘He has been brought up severely, and it is hard to rid + oneself of the traditions of youth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very traditional in this case, I’m afraid,’ answered Gaston, referring to + McIntosh’s age. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you like,’ said Madame, in a kindly tone, ‘you can stay in to-night + yourself, and go to the theatre.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you, Madame,’ replied Gaston, gravely. ‘I will avail myself of your + kind permission.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m afraid you will find an Australian provincial company rather a change + after the Parisian theatres,’ said Mrs Villiers, as she vanished into her + room. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup smiled, and turned to Selina, who was busy about her household + work. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mademoiselle Selina,’ he said, gaily, ‘I am in want of a proverb to + answer Madame; if I can’t get the best I must be content with what I can + get. Now what piece of wisdom applies?’ + </p> + <p> + Selina, flattered at being applied to, thought a moment, then raised her + head triumphantly— + </p> + <p> + ‘“Half a loaf is better than none,”’ she announced, with a sour smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mademoiselle,’ said Vandeloup, gravely regarding her as he stood at the + door, ‘your wisdom is only equalled by your charming appearance,’ and with + an ironical bow he went out. + </p> + <p> + Selina paused a moment in her occupation of polishing spoons, and looked + after him, doubtful as to whether he was in jest or earnest. Being unable + to decide, she resumed her work with a stifled chuckle, and consoled + herself with a proverb. + </p> + <p> + ‘To be good is better than to be beautiful,’ which saying, as everyone + knows, is most consoling to plain-looking people. + </p> + <p> + The great nugget was carefully packed in a stout wooden box by Archie, and + placed in the trap by him with such caution that Madame, who was already + seated in it, asked him if he was afraid she would be robbed. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s always best to be on the richt side, mem,’ said Archie, handing her + the reins; ‘we dinna ken what may happen.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, no one knows I am taking this to Ballarat to-day,’ said Madame, + drawing on her gloves. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t they?’ thought M. Vandeloup, as he took his seat beside her. ‘She + doesn’t know that I’ve told Pierre.’ + </p> + <p> + And without a single thought for the woman whose confidence he was + betraying, and of whose bread and salt he had partaken, Vandeloup shook + the reins, and the horse started down the road in the direction of + Ballarat, carrying Madame Midas and her nugget. + </p> + <p> + ‘You carry Caesar and his fortunes, M. Vandeloup,’ she said, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘I do better,’ he answered, gaily, ‘I carry Madame Midas and her luck.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. — LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM + </h2> + <p> + Mr Mark Marchurst was a very peculiar man. Brought up in the Presbyterian + religion, he had early displayed his peculiarity by differing from the + elders of the church he belonged to regarding their doctrine of eternal + punishment. They, holding fast to the teachings of Knox and Calvin, looked + upon him in horror for daring to have an opinion of his own; and as he + refused to repent and have blind belief in the teachings of those grim + divines, he was turned out of the bosom of the church. Drifting to the + opposite extreme, he became a convert to Catholicism; but, after a trial + of that ancient faith, found it would not suit him, so once more took up a + neutral position. Therefore, as he did not find either religion perfectly + in accordance with his own views, he took the law into his own hands and + constructed one which was a queer jumble of Presbyterianism, Catholicism, + and Buddhism, of which last religion he was a great admirer. As anyone + with strong views and a clever tongue will find followers, Mr Marchurst + soon gathered a number of people around him who professed a blind belief + in the extraordinary doctrines he promulgated. Having thus founded a sect + he got sufficient money out of them to build a temple—for so he + called the barn-like edifice he erected—and christened this new + society which he had called into existence ‘The Elect’. About one hundred + people were members of his church, and with their subscriptions, and also + having a little money of his own, he managed to live in a quiet manner in + a cottage on the Black Hill near to his temple. Every Sunday he held forth + morning and evening, expounding his views to his sparse congregation, and + was looked upon by them as a kind of prophet. As a matter of fact, the man + had that peculiar power of fascination which seems to be inseparable from + the prophetic character, and it was his intense enthusiasm and eloquent + tongue that cast a spell over the simple-minded people who believed in + him. But his doctrines were too shallow and unsatisfactory ever to take + root, and it could be easily seen that when Marchurst died ‘The Elect’ + would die also,—that is, as a sect, for it was not pervaded by that + intense religious fervour which is the life and soul of a new doctrine. + The fundamental principles of his religion were extremely simple; he saved + his friends and damned his enemies, for so he styled those who were not of + the same mind as himself. If you were a member of ‘The Elect’, Mr + Marchurst assured you that the Golden Gate was wide open for you, whereas + if you belonged to any other denomination you were lost for ever; so + according to this liberal belief, the hundred people who formed his + congregation would all go straight to Heaven, and all the rest of mankind + would go to the devil. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the selfishness of this theory, which condemned so many souls + to perdition, Marchurst was a kindly natured man, and his religion was + more of an hallucination than anything else. He was very clever at giving + advice, and Madame Midas esteemed him highly on this account. Though + Marchurst had often tried to convert her, she refused to believe in the + shallow sophistries he set forth, and told him she had her own views on + religion, which views she declined to impart to him, though frequently + pressed to do so. The zealot regretted this obstinacy, as, according to + his creed, she was a lost soul, but he liked her too well personally to + quarrel with her on that account, consoling himself with the reflection + that sooner or later, she would seek the fold. He was more successful with + M. Vandeloup, who, having no religion whatever, allowed Marchurst to think + he had converted him, in order to see as much as he could of Kitty. He + used to attend the Sunday services regularly, and frequently came in + during the week ostensibly to talk to Marchurst about the doctrines of + ‘The Elect’, but in reality to see the old man’s daughter. + </p> + <p> + On this bright afternoon, when everything was bathed in sunshine, Mr + Marchurst, instead of being outside and enjoying the beauties of Nature, + was mewed up in his dismal little study, with curtains closely drawn to + exclude the light, a cup of strong tea, and the Bible open at ‘The + Lamentations of Jeremiah’. His room was lined with books, but they had not + that friendly look books generally have, but, bound in dingy brown calf, + looked as grim and uninviting as their contents, which were mostly sermons + and cheerful anticipations of the bottomless pit. It was against + Marchurst’s principles to gratify his senses by having nice things around + him, and his whole house was furnished in the same dismal manner. + </p> + <p> + So far did he carry this idea of mortifying the flesh through the eyes + that he had tried to induce Kitty to wear sad-coloured dresses and poke + bonnets; but in this attempt he failed lamentably, as Kitty flatly refused + to make a guy of herself, and always wore dresses of the lightest and + gayest description. + </p> + <p> + Marchurst groaned over this display of vanity, but as he could do nothing + with the obdurate Kitty, he allowed her to have her own way, and made a + virtue of necessity by calling her his ‘thorn in the flesh’. + </p> + <p> + He was a tall thin man, of a bleached appearance, from staying so much in + the dark, and so loosely put together that when he bowed he did not as + much bend as tumble down from a height. In fact, he looked so carelessly + fixed up that when he sat down he made the onlooker feel quite nervous + lest he should subside into a ruin, and scatter his legs, arms, and head + promiscuously all over the place. He had a sad, pale, eager-looking face, + with dreamy eyes, which always seemed to be looking into the spiritual + world. He wore his brown hair long, as he always maintained a man’s hair + was as much his glory as a woman’s was hers, quoting Samson and Absalom in + support of this opinion. His arms were long and thin, and when he + gesticulated in the pulpit on Sundays flew about like a couple of flails, + which gave him a most unhappy resemblance to a windmill. The ‘Lamentations + of Jeremiah’ are not the most cheerful of reading, and Mr Marchurst, + imbued with the sadness of the Jewish prophet, drinking strong tea and + sitting in a darkened room, was rapidly sinking into a very dismal frame + of mind, which an outsider would have termed a fit of the blues. He sat in + his straight-backed chair taking notes of such parts of the ‘Lamentations’ + as would tend to depress the spirits of the ‘Elect’ on Sunday, and teach + them to regard life in a proper and thoroughly miserable manner. + </p> + <p> + He was roused from his dismal musings by the quick opening of the door of + his study, when Kitty, joyous and gay in her white dress, burst like a + sunbeam into the room. + </p> + <p> + “I wish, Katherine,” said her father, in a severe voice, “I wish you would + not enter so noisily and disturb my meditations.” + </p> + <p> + “You’ll have to put your meditations aside for a bit,” said Kitty, + disrespectfully, crossing to the window and pulling aside the curtains, + “for Madame Midas and M. Vandeloup have come to see you.” + </p> + <p> + A flood of golden light streamed into the dusky room, and Marchurst put + his hand to his eyes for a moment, as they were dazzled by the sudden + glare. + </p> + <p> + “They’ve got something to show you, papa,” said Kitty, going back to the + door: “a big nugget—such a size—as large as your head.” + </p> + <p> + Her father put his hand mechanically to his head to judge of the size, and + was about to answer when Madame Midas, calm, cool, and handsome, entered + the room, followed by Vandeloup, carrying a wooden box containing the + nugget. It was by no means light, and Vandeloup was quite thankful when he + placed it on the table. + </p> + <p> + “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Mr Marchurst,” said Madame, sitting down + and casting a glance at the scattered papers, the cup of tea, and the open + Bible, “but I couldn’t help gratifying my vanity by bringing the new + nugget for you to see.” + </p> + <p> + “It’s very kind of you, I’m sure,” responded Mr Marchurst, politely, + giving way suddenly in the middle as if he had a hinge in his back, which + was his idea of a bow. “I hope this,” laying his hand on the box, “may be + the forerunner of many such.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it will,” said Vandeloup, cheerfully, “if we can only find the + Devil’s Lead.” + </p> + <p> + “An unholy name,” groaned Marchurst sadly, shaking his head. “Why did you + not call it something else?” + </p> + <p> + “Simply because I didn’t name it,” replied Madame Midas, bluntly; “but if + the lead is rich, the name doesn’t matter much.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not,” broke in Kitty, impatiently, being anxious to see the + nugget. “Do open the box; I’m dying to see it.” + </p> + <p> + “Katherine! Katherine!” said Marchurst, reprovingly, as Vandeloup opened + the box, “how you do exaggerate—ah!” he broke off his exhortation + suddenly, for the box was open, and the great mass of gold was glittering + in its depths. ‘Wonderful!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What a size!’ cried Kitty, clapping her hands as Vandeloup lifted it out + and placed it on the table; ‘how much is it worth?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘About twelve hundred pounds,’ said Madame, quietly, though her heart + throbbed with pride as she looked at her nugget; ‘it weighs three hundred + ounces.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wonderful!’ reiterated the old man, passing his thin hand lightly over + the rough surface; ‘verily the Lord hath hidden great treasure in the + entrails of the earth, and the Pactolus would seem to be a land of Ophir + when it yields such wealth as this.’ + </p> + <p> + The nugget was duly admired by everyone, and then Brown and Jane, who + formed the household of Marchurst, were called in to look at it. They both + expressed such astonishment and wonder, that Marchurst felt himself + compelled to admonish them against prizing the treasures of earth above + those of heaven. Vandeloup, afraid that they were in for a sermon, + beckoned quietly to Kitty, and they both stealthily left the room, while + Marchurst, with Brown, Jane, and Madame for an audience, and the nugget + for a text, delivered a short discourse. + </p> + <p> + Kitty put on a great straw hat, underneath which her piquant face blushed + and grew pink beneath the fond gaze of her lover as they left the house + together and strolled up to the Black Hill. + </p> + <p> + Black Hill no doubt at one time deserved its name, being then covered with + dark trees and representing a black appearance at a distance; but at + present, owing to the mines which have been worked there, the whole place + is covered with dazzling white clay, or mulloch, which now renders the + title singularly inappropriate. On the top of the hill there is a kind of + irregular gully or pass, which extends from one side of the hill to the + other, and was cut in the early days for mining purposes. Anything more + extraordinary can hardly be imagined than this chasm, for the sides, which + tower up on either side to the height of some fifty or sixty feet, are all + pure white, and at the top break into all sorts of fantastic forms. The + white surface of the rocks are all stained with colours which alternate in + shades of dark brown, bright red and delicate pink. Great masses of rock + have tumbled down on each side, often coming so close together as to + almost block up the path. Here and there in the white walls can be seen + the dark entrances of disused shafts; and one, at the lowest level of the + gully, pierces through the hill and comes out on the other side. There is + an old engine-house near the end of the gully, with its red brick chimney + standing up gaunt and silent beside it, and the ugly tower of the winding + gear adjacent. All the machinery in the engine-house, with the huge wheels + and intricate mechanism, is silent now—for many years have elapsed + since this old shaft was abandoned by the Black Hill Gold Mining Company. + </p> + <p> + At the lower end of the pass there is an engine-house in full working + order, and a great plateau of slate-coloured mulloch runs out for some + yards, and then there is a steep sloping bank formed by the falling earth. + In the moonlight this wonderful white gully looks weird and bizarre; and + even as Vandeloup and Kitty stood at the top looking down into its dusty + depths in the bright sunshine, it looks fantastic and picturesque. + </p> + <p> + Seated on the highest point of the hill, under the shadow of a great rock, + the two lovers had a wonderful view of Ballarat. Here and there they could + see the galvanized iron roofs of the houses gleaming like silver in the + sunlight from amid the thick foliage of the trees with which the city is + studded. Indeed, Ballarat might well be called the City of Trees, for seen + from the Black Hill it looks more like a huge park with a sprinkling of + houses in it than anything else. The green foliage rolls over it like the + waves of the ocean, and the houses rise up like isolated habitations. Now + and then a red brick building, or the slender white spire of a church gave + a touch of colour to the landscape, and contrasted pleasantly with the + bluish-white roofs and green trees. Scattered all through the town were + the huge mounds of earth marking the mining-shafts of various colours, + from dark brown to pure white, and beside them, with the utmost + regularity, were the skeleton towers of the poppet heads, the tall red + chimneys, and the squat, low forms of the engine-houses. On the right, + high up, could be seen the blue waters of Lake Wendouree flashing like a + mirror in the sunlight. The city was completely encircled by the dark + forests, which stretched far away, having a reddish tinge over their + trees, ending in a sharply defined line against the clear sky; while, on + the left arose Mount Warreneip like an undulating mound and, further + along, Mount Bunniyong, with the same appearance. + </p> + <p> + All this wonderful panorama, however, was so familiar to Kitty and her + lover that they did not trouble themselves to look much at it; but the + girl sat down under the big rock, and Vandeloup flung himself lazily at + her feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, who had given her this pet name, ‘how long is this + sort of life going to last?’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty looked down at him with a vague feeling of terror at her heart. She + had never known any life but the simple one she was now leading, and could + not imagine it coming to an end. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m getting tired of it,’ said Vandeloup, lying back on the grass, and, + putting his hands under his head, stared idly at the blue sky. + ‘Unfortunately, human life is so short nowadays that we cannot afford to + waste a moment of it. I am not suited for a lotus-eating existence, and I + think I shall go to Melbourne.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And leave me?’ cried Kitty, in dismay, never having contemplated such a + thing as likely to happen. + </p> + <p> + ‘That depends on yourself, Bebe,’ said her lover, quickly rolling over and + looking steadily at her, with his chin resting on his hands; ‘will you + come with me?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As your wife?’ murmured Kitty, whose innocent mind never dreamt of any + other form of companionship. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup turned away his face to conceal the sneering smile that crept + over it. His wife, indeed! as if he were going to encumber himself with + marriage before he had made a fortune, and even then it was questionable + as to whether he would surrender the freedom of bachelorhood for the ties + of matrimony. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course,’ he said, in a reassuring tone, still keeping his face turned + away, ‘we will get married in Melbourne as soon as we arrive.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why can’t papa marry us,’ pouted Kitty, in an aggrieved tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear child,’ said the Frenchman, getting on his knees and coming close + to her, ‘in the first place, your father would not consent to the match, + as I am poor and unknown, and not by any means the man he would choose for + you; and in the second place, being a Catholic,’—here M. Vandeloup + looked duly religious—‘I must be married by one of my own priests.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then why not in Ballarat?’ objected Kitty, still unconvinced. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because your father would never consent,’ he whispered, putting his arm + round her waist; ‘we must run away quietly, and when we are married can + ask his pardon and,’ with a sardonic sneer, ‘his blessing.’ + </p> + <p> + A delicious thrill passed through Kitty when she heard this. A real + elopement with a handsome lover—just like the heroines in the story + books. It was delightfully romantic, and yet there seemed to be something + wrong about it. She was like a timid bather, longing to plunge into the + water, yet hesitating through a vague fear. With a quick catching of the + breath she turned to Vandeloup, and saw him with his burning scintillating + eyes fastened on her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t look like that,’ she said, with a touch of virginal fear, pushing + him away, ‘you frighten me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Frighten you, Bebe?’ he said, in a caressing tone; ‘my heart’s idol, you + are cruel to speak like that; you must come with me, for I cannot and will + not leave you behind.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘When do you go?’ asked Kitty, who was now trembling violently. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ M. Vandeloup was puzzled what to say, as he had no very decided plan + of action. He had not sufficient money saved to justify him in leaving the + Pactolus—still there were always possibilities, and Fortune was fond + of playing wild pranks. At the same time there was nothing tangible in + view likely to make him rich, so, as these thoughts rapidly passed through + his mind, he resolved to temporize. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can’t tell you, Bebe,’ he said, in a caressing tone, smoothing her + curly hair. ‘I want you to think over what I have said, and when I do go, + perhaps in a month or so, you will be ready to come with me. No,’ he said, + as Kitty was about to answer, ‘I don’t want you to reply now, take time to + consider, little one,’ and with a smile on his lips he bent over and + kissed her tenderly. + </p> + <p> + They sat silently together for some time, each intent on their own + thoughts, and then Vandeloup suddenly looked up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Will Madame stay to dinner with you, Bebe?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + Kitty nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘She always does,’ she answered; ‘you will come too.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shook his head. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am going down to Ballarat to the Wattle Tree Hotel to see my friend + Pierre,’ he said, in a preoccupied manner, ‘and will have something to eat + there. Then I will come up again about eight o’clock, in time to see + Madame off.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aren’t you going back with her?’ asked Kitty, in surprise, as they rose + to their feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ he replied, dusting his knees with his hand, ‘I stay all night in + Ballarat, with Madame’s kind permission, to see the theatre. Now, good-bye + at present, Bebe,’ kissing her, ‘I will be back at eight o’clock, so you + can excuse me to Madame till then.’ + </p> + <p> + He ran gaily down the hill waving his hat, and Kitty stood looking after + him with pride in her heart. He was a lover any girl might have been proud + of, but Kitty would not have been so satisfied with him had she known what + his real thoughts were. + </p> + <p> + ‘Marry!’ he said to himself, with a laugh, as he walked gaily along; + ‘hardly! When we get to Melbourne, my sweet Bebe, I will find some way to + keep you off that idea—and when we grow tired of one another, we can + separate without the trouble or expense of a divorce.’ + </p> + <p> + And this heartless, cynical man of the world was the keeper into whose + hands innocent Kitty was about to commit the whole of her future life. + </p> + <p> + After all, the fabled Sirens have their equivalent in the male sex, and + Homer’s description symbolizes a cruel truth. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. — FRIENDS IN COUNCIL + </h2> + <p> + The Wattle Tree Hotel, to which Mr McIntosh had directed Pierre, was a + quiet little public-house in a quiet street. It was far away from the main + thoroughfares of the city, and a stranger had to go up any number of quiet + streets to get to it, and turn and twist round corners and down narrow + lanes until it became a perfect miracle how he ever found the hotel at + all. + </p> + <p> + To a casual spectator it would seem that a tavern so difficult of access + would not be very good for business, but Simon Twexby, the landlord, knew + better. It had its regular customers, who came there day after day, and + sat in the little back parlour and talked and chatted over their drinks. + The Wattle Tree was such a quiet haven of rest, and kept such good liquor, + that once a man discovered it he always came back again; so Mr Twexby did + a very comfortable trade. + </p> + <p> + Rumour said he had made a lot of money out of gold-mining, and that he + kept the hotel more for amusement than anything else; but, however this + might be, the trade of the Wattle Tree brought him in a very decent + income, and Mr Twexby could afford to take things easy—which he + certainly did. + </p> + <p> + Anyone going into the bar could see old Simon—a stolid, fat man, + with a sleepy-looking face, always in his shirt sleeves, and wearing a + white apron, sitting in a chair at the end, while his daughter, a sharp, + red-nosed damsel, who was thirty-five years of age, and confessed to + twenty-two, served out the drinks. Mrs Twexby had long ago departed this + life, leaving behind her the sharp, red-nosed damsel to be her father’s + comfort. As a matter of fact, she was just the opposite, and Simon often + wished that his daughter had departed to a better world in company with + her mother. Thin, tight-laced, with a shrill voice and an acidulated + temper, Miss Twexby was still a spinster, and not even the fact of her + being an heiress could tempt any of the Ballarat youth to lead her to the + altar. Consequently Miss Twexby’s temper was not a golden one, and she + ruled the hotel and its inmates—her father included—with a rod + of iron. + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers was a frequent customer at the Wattle Tree, and was in the + back parlour drinking brandy and water and talking to old Twexby on the + day that Pierre arrived. The dumb man came into the bar out of the dusty + road, and, leaning over the counter, pushed a letter under Miss Twexby’s + nose. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bills?’ queried that damsel, sharply. + </p> + <p> + Pierre, of course, did not answer, but touched his lips with his hand to + indicate he was dumb. Miss Twexby, however, read the action another way. + </p> + <p> + ‘You want a drink,’ she said, with a scornful toss of her head. ‘Where’s + your money?’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre pointed out the letter, and although it was directed to her father, + Miss Twexby, who managed everything, opened it and found it was from + McIntosh, saying that the bearer, Pierre Lemaire, was to have a bed for + the night, meals, drinks, and whatever else he required, and that he—McIntosh—would + be responsible for the money. He furthermore added that the bearer was + dumb. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, so you’re dumb, are you,’ said Miss Twexby, folding up the letter and + looking complacently at Pierre. ‘I wish there were a few more men the same + way; then, perhaps, we’d have less chat.’ + </p> + <p> + This being undeniable, the fair Martha—for that was the name of the + Twexby heiress—without waiting for any assent, walking into the back + parlour, read the letter to her father, and waited instructions, for she + always referred to Simon as the head of the house, though as a matter of + fact she never did what she was told save when it tallied with her own + wishes. + </p> + <p> + ‘It will be all right, Martha, I suppose,’ said Simon sleepily. + </p> + <p> + Martha asserted with decision that it would be all right, or she would + know the reason why; then marching out again to the bar, she drew a pot of + beer for Pierre—without asking him what he would have—and + ordered him to sit down and be quiet, which last remark was rather + unnecessary, considering that the man was dumb. Then she sat down behind + her bar and resumed her perusal of a novel called ‘The Duke’s Duchesses,’ or + ‘The Milliner’s Mystery,’ which contained a ducal hero with bigamistic + proclivities, and a virtuous milliner whom the aforesaid duke persecuted. + All of which was very entertaining and improbable, and gave Miss Twexby + much pleasure, judging from the sympathetic sighs she was heaving. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, Villiers having heard the name of Pierre Lemaire, and knowing + he was engaged in the Pactolus claim, came round to see him and try to + find out all about the nugget. Pierre was sulky at first, and sat drinking + his beer sullenly, with his old black hat drawn down so far over his eyes + that only his bushy black beard was visible, but Mr Villiers’ suavity, + together with the present of half-a-crown, had a marked effect on him. As + he was dumb, Mr Villiers was somewhat perplexed how to carry on a + conversation with him, but he ultimately drew forth a piece of paper, and + sketched a rough presentation of a nugget thereon, which he showed to + Pierre. The Frenchman, however, did not comprehend until Villiers produced + a sovereign from his pocket, and pointed first to the gold, and then to + the drawing, upon which Pierre nodded his head several times in order to + show that he understood. Villiers then drew a picture of the Pactolus + claim, and asked Pierre in French if the nugget was still there, as he + showed him the sketch. Pierre shook his head, and, taking the pencil in + his hand, drew a rough representation of a horse and cart, and put a + square box in the latter to show the nugget was on a journey. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ said Villiers to himself, ‘it’s not at her own house, and she’s + driving somewhere with it, I wonder where to?’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre—who not being able to write, was in the habit of drawing + pictures to express his thoughts—nudged his elbow and showed him a + sketch of a man in a box waving his arms. + </p> + <p> + ‘Auctioneer?’ hazarded Mr Villiers, looking at this keenly. Pierre stared + at him blankly; his comprehension of English was none of the best, so he + did not know what auctioneer meant. However, he saw that Villiers did not + understand, so he rapidly sketched an altar with a priest standing before + it blessing the people. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, a priest, eh?—a minister?’ said Villiers, nodding his head to + show he understood. ‘She’s taken the nugget to show it to a minister! + Wonder who it is?’ + </p> + <p> + This was speedily answered by Pierre, who, throwing down the pencil and + paper, dragged him outside on to the road, and pointed to the white top of + the Black Hill. Mr Villiers instantly comprehended. + </p> + <p> + ‘Marchurst, by God!’ he said in English, smiting his leg with his open + hand. ‘Is Madame there now?’ he added in French, turning to Pierre. + </p> + <p> + The dumb man nodded and slouched slowly back into the hotel. Villiers + stood out in the blazing sunshine, thinking. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s got the nugget with her in the trap,’ he said to himself; ‘and + she’s taken it to show Marchurst. Well, she’s sure to stop there to tea, + and won’t start for home till about nine o’clock: it will be pretty dark + by then. She’ll be by herself, and if I—’ here he stopped and looked + round cautiously, and then, without another word, set off down the street + at a run. + </p> + <p> + The fact was, Mr Villiers had come to the conclusion that as his wife + would not give him money willingly, the best thing to be done would be to + take it by force, and accordingly he had made up his mind to rob her of + the nugget that night if possible. Of course there was a risk, for he knew + his wife was a determined woman; still, while she was driving in the + darkness down the hill, if he took her by surprise he would be able to + stun her with a blow and get possession of the nugget. Then he could hide + it in one of the old shafts of the Black Hill Company until he required + it. As to the possibility of his wife knowing him, there would be no + chance of that in the darkness, so he could escape any unpleasant + inquiries, then take the nugget to Melbourne and get it melted down + secretly. He would be able to make nearly twelve hundred pounds out of it, + so the game would certainly be worth the candle. Full of this brilliant + idea of making a good sum at one stroke, Mr Villiers went home, had + something to eat, and taking with him a good stout stick, the nob of which + was loaded with lead, he started for the Black Hill with the intent of + watching Marchurst’s house until his wife left there, and then following + her down the hill and possessing himself of the nugget. + </p> + <p> + The afternoon wore drowsily along, and the great heat made everybody + inclined to sleep. Pierre had demanded by signs to be shown his bedroom, + and having been conducted thereto by a crushed-looking waiter, who drifted + aimlessly before him, threw himself on the bed and went fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + Old Simon, in the dimly-lit back parlour, was already snoring, and only + Miss Twexby, amid the glitter of the glasses in the bar and the glare of + the sunshine through the open door, was wide awake. Customers came in for + foaming tankards of beer, and sometimes a little girl, with a jug hidden + under her apron, would appear, with a request that it might be filled for + ‘mother’, who was ironing. Indeed, the number of women who were ironing + that afternoon, and wanted to quench their thirst, was something + wonderful; but Miss Twexby seemed to know all about it as she put a frothy + head on each jug, and received the silver in exchange. At last, however, + even Martha the wide-awake was yielding to the somniferous heat of the day + when a young man entered the bar and made her sit up with great alacrity, + beaming all over her hard wooden face. + </p> + <p> + This was none other than M. Vandeloup, who had come down to see Pierre. + Dressed in flannels, with a blue scarf tied carelessly round his waist, a + blue necktie knotted loosely round his throat under the collar of his + shirt, and wearing a straw hat on his fair head, he looked wonderfully + cool and handsome, and as he leaned over the counter composedly smoking a + cigarette, Miss Twexby thought that the hero of her novel must have + stepped bodily out of the book. Gaston stared complacently at her while he + pulled at his fair moustache, and thought how horribly plain-looking she + was, and what a contrast to his charming Bebe. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll take something cool to drink,’ he said, with a yawn, ‘and also a + chair, if you have no objection,’ suiting the action to the word; ‘whew! + how warm it is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What would you like to drink, sir?’ asked the fair Martha, putting on her + brightest smile, which seemed rather out of place on her features; ‘brandy + and soda?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you, I’ll have a lemon squash if you will kindly make me one,’ he + said, carelessly, and as Martha flew to obey his order, he added, ‘you + might put a little curacoa in it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s very hot, ain’t it,’ observed Miss Twexby, affably, as she cut up + the lemon; ‘par’s gone to sleep in the other room,’ jerking her head in + the direction of the parlour, ‘but Mr Villiers went out in all the heat, + and it ain’t no wonder if he gets a sunstroke.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, was Mr Villiers here?’ asked Gaston, idly, not that he cared much + about that gentleman’s movements, but merely for something to say. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lor, yes, sir,’ giggled Martha, ‘he’s one of our regulars, sir.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I can understand that, Mademoiselle,’ said Vandeloup, bowing as he took + the drink from her hand. + </p> + <p> + Miss Twexby giggled again, and her nose grew a shade redder at the + pleasure of being bantered by this handsome young man. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re a furriner,’ she said, shortly; ‘I knew you were,’ she went on + triumphantly as he nodded, ‘you talk well enough, but there’s something + wrong about the way you pronounces your words.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup hardly thought Miss Twexby a mistress of Queen’s English, but he + did not attempt to contradict her. + </p> + <p> + ‘I must get you to give me a few lessons,’ he replied, gallantly, setting + down the empty glass; ‘and what has Mr Villiers gone out into the heat + for?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s more nor I can tell,’ said Martha, emphatically, nodding her head + till the short curls dangling over her ears vibrated as if they were made + of wire. ‘He spoke to the dumb man and drew pictures for him, and then off + he goes.’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man! Gaston pricked up his ears at this, and, wondering what + Villiers wanted to talk to Pierre about, he determined to find out. + </p> + <p> + ‘That dumb man is one of our miners from the Pactolus,’ he said, lighting + another cigarette; ‘I wish to speak to him—has he gone out also?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, he ain’t,’ returned Miss Twexby, decisively; ‘he’s gone to lie down; + d’ye want to see him; I’ll send for him—’ with her hand on the + bell-rope. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, thank you,’ said Vandeloup, stopping her, ‘I’ll go up to his room if + you will show me the way.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ said Martha, preparing to leave the bar, but first + ringing the bell so that the crushed-looking waiter might come and attend + to possible customers; ‘he’s on the ground floor, and there ain’t no + stairs to climb—now what are you looking at, sir?’ with another + gratified giggle, as she caught Vandeloup staring at her. + </p> + <p> + But he was not looking at her somewhat mature charms, but at a bunch of + pale blue flowers, among which were some white blossoms she wore in the + front of her dress. + </p> + <p> + ‘What are these?’ he asked, touching the white blossoms lightly with his + finger. + </p> + <p> + ‘I do declare it’s that nasty hemlock!’ said Martha, in surprise, pulling + the white flowers out of the bunch; ‘and I never knew it was there. Pah!’ + and she threw the blossom down with a gesture of disgust. ‘How they + smell!’ + </p> + <p> + Gaston picked up one of the flowers, and crushed it between his fingers, + upon which it gave out a peculiar mousy odour eminently disagreeable. It + was hemlock sure enough, and he wondered how such a plant had come into + Australia. + </p> + <p> + ‘Does it grow in your garden?’ he asked Martha. + </p> + <p> + That damsel intimated it did, and offered to show him the plant, so that + he could believe his own eyes. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup assented eagerly, and they were soon in the flower garden at the + back of the house, which was blazing with vivid colours, in the hot glare + of the sunshine. + </p> + <p> + ‘There you are,’ said Miss Twexby, pointing to a corner of the garden near + the fence where the plant was growing; ‘par brought a lot of seeds from + home, and that beastly thing got mixed up with them. Par keeps it growing, + though, ‘cause no one else has got it. It’s quite a curiosity.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup bent down and examined the plant, with its large, round, smooth, + purple-spotted stem—its smooth, shining green leaves, and the tiny + white flowers with their disagreeable odour. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, it is hemlock,’ he said, half to himself; ‘I did not know it could + be grown here. Some day, Mademoiselle,’ he said, turning to Miss Twexby + and walking back to the house with her, ‘I will ask you to let me have + some of the roots of that plant to make an experiment with.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘As much as you like,’ said the fair Martha, amiably; ‘it’s a nasty + smelling thing. What are you going to make out of it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nothing particular,’ returned Vandeloup, with a yawn, as they entered the + house and stopped at the door of Pierre’s room. ‘I’m a bit of a chemist, + and amuse myself with these things.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are clever,’ observed Martha, admiringly; ‘but here’s that man’s room—we + didn’t give him the best’—apologetically—‘as miners are so + rough.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mademoiselle,’ said Vandeloup, eagerly, as she turned to go, ‘I see there + are a few blossoms of hemlock left in your flower there,’ touching it with + his finger; ‘will you give them to me?’ + </p> + <p> + Martha Twexby stared; surely this was the long-expected come at last—she + had secured a lover; and such a lover—handsome, young, and gallant,—the + very hero of her dreams. She almost fainted in delighted surprise, and + unfastening the flowers with trembling fingers, gave them to Gaston. He + placed them in a button-hole of his flannel coat, then before she could + scream, or even draw back in time, this audacious young man put his arm + round her and kissed her virginal lips. Miss Twexby was so taken by + surprise, that she could offer no resistance, and by the time she had + recovered herself, Gaston had disappeared into Pierre’s room and closed + the door after him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ she said to herself, as she returned to the bar, ‘if that isn’t a + case of love at first sight, my name ain’t Martha Twexby,’ and she sat + down in the bar with her nerves all of a flutter, as she afterwards told a + female friend who dropped in sometimes for a friendly cup of tea. + </p> + <p> + Gaston closed the door after him, and found himself in a moderately large + room, with one window looking on to the garden, and having a + dressing-table with a mirror in front of it. There were two beds, one on + each side, and on the farthest of these Pierre was sleeping heavily, not + even Gaston’s entrance having roused him. Going over to him, Vandeloup + touched him slightly, and with a spring the dumb man sat up in bed as if + he expected to be arrested, and was all on the alert to escape. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s only I, my friend,’ said Gaston, in French, crossing over to the + other bed and sitting on it. ‘Come here; I wish to speak to you.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre rose from his sleeping place, and, stumbling across the room, stood + before Gaston with downcast eyes, his shaggy hair all tossed and tumbled + by the contact with the pillow. Gaston himself coolly relit his cigarette, + which had gone out, threw his straw hat on the bed, and then, curling one + leg inside the other, looked long and keenly at Pierre. + </p> + <p> + ‘You saw Madame’s husband to-day?’ he said sharply, still eyeing the + slouching figure before him, that seemed so restless under his steady + gaze. + </p> + <p> + Pierre nodded and shuffled his large feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did he want to know about his wife?’ + </p> + <p> + Another nod. + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought so; and about the new nugget also, I presume?’ + </p> + <p> + Still another nod. + </p> + <p> + ‘Humph,’ thoughtfully. ‘He’d like to get a share of it, I’ve no doubt.’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man nodded violently; then, crossing over to his own bed, he + placed the pillow in the centre of it, and falling on his knees, imitated + the action of miners in working at the wash. Then he arose to his feet and + pointed to the pillow. + </p> + <p> + ‘I see,’ said M. Vandeloup, who had been watching this pantomime with + considerable interest; ‘that pillow is the nugget of which our friend + wants a share.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre assented; then, snatching up the pillow, he ran with it to the end + of the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh,’ said Gaston, after a moment’s thought, ‘so he’s going to run away + with it. A very good idea; but how does he propose to get it?’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre dropped his pillow and pointed in the direction of the Black Hill. + </p> + <p> + ‘Does he know it’s up there?’ asked Vandeloup; ‘you told him, I suppose?’ + As Pierre nodded, ‘Humph! I think I can see what Mr Villiers intends to do—rob + his wife as she goes home tonight.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre nodded in a half doubtful manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re not quite sure,’ interrupted M. Vandeloup, ‘but I am. He won’t + stop at anything to get money. You stay all night in town?’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man assented. + </p> + <p> + ‘So do I,’ replied Vandeloup; ‘it’s a happy coincidence, because I see a + chance of our getting that nugget.’ Pierre’s dull eyes brightened, and he + rubbed his hands together in a pleased manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sit down,’ said Vandeloup, in a peremptory tone, pointing to the floor. + ‘I wish to tell you what I think.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre obediently dropped on to the floor, where he squatted like a huge + misshapen toad, while Vandeloup, after going to the door to see that it + was closed, returned to the bed, sat down again, and, having lighted + another cigarette, began to speak. All this precaution was somewhat + needless, as he was talking rapidly in French, but then M. Vandeloup knew + that walls have ears and possibly might understand foreign languages. + </p> + <p> + ‘I need hardly remind you,’ said Vandeloup, in a pleasant voice, ‘that + when we landed in Australia I told you that there was war between + ourselves and society, and that, at any cost, we must try to make money; + so far, we have only been able to earn an honest livelihood—a way of + getting rich which you must admit is remarkably slow. Here, however, is a + chance of making, if not a fortune, at least a good sum of money at one + stroke. This M. Villiers is going to rob his wife, and his plan will no + doubt be this: he will lie in wait for her, and when she drives slowly + down the hill, he will spring on to the trap and perhaps attempt to kill + her; at all events, he will seize the box containing the nugget, and try + to make off with it. How he intends to manage it I cannot tell you—it + must be left to the chapter of accidents; but,’ in a lower voice, bending + forward, ‘when he does get the nugget we must obtain it from him.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre looked up and drew his hand across his throat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not necessarily,’ returned Vandeloup, coolly; ‘I know your adage, “dead + men tell no tales,” but it is a mistake—they do, and to kill him is + dangerous. No, if we stun him we can go off with the nugget, and then make + our way to Melbourne, where we can get rid of it quietly. As to Madame + Midas, if her husband allows her to live—which I think is unlikely—I + will make our excuses to her for leaving the mine. Now, I’m going up to M. + Marchurst’s house, so you can meet me at the top of the hill, at eight + o’clock tonight. Madame will probably start at half-past eight or nine, so + that will give us plenty of time to see what M. Villiers is going to do.’ + </p> + <p> + They both rose to their feet. Then Vandeloup put on his hat, and, going to + the glass, arranged his tie in as cool and nonchalant a manner as if he + had been merely planning the details for a picnic instead of a possible + crime. While admiring himself in the glass he caught sight of the bunch of + flowers given to him by Miss Twexby, and, taking them from his coat, he + turned round to Pierre, who stood watching him in his usual sullen manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you see these?’ he asked, touching the white blossoms with the + cigarette he held between his fingers. + </p> + <p> + Pierre intimated that he did. + </p> + <p> + ‘From the plant of these, my friend,’ said Vandeloup, looking at them + critically, ‘I can prepare a vegetable poison as deadly as any of Caesar + Borgia’s. It is a powerful narcotic, and leaves hardly any trace. Having + been a medical student, you know,’ he went on, conversationally, ‘I made + quite a study of toxicology, and the juice of this plant,’ touching the + white flower, ‘has done me good service, although it was the cause of my + exile to New Caledonia. Well,’ with a shrug of the shoulders as he put the + flowers back in his coat, ‘it is always something to have in reserve; I + did not know that I could get this plant here, my friend. But now that I + have I will prepare a little of this poison,—it will always be + useful in emergencies.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre looked steadily at the young man, and then slipping his hand behind + his back he drew forth from the waistband of his trousers a long, sharp, + cruel-looking knife, which for safety had a leather sheath. Drawing this + off, the dumb man ran his thumb along the keen edge, and held the knife + out towards Vandeloup, who refused it with a cynical smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘You don’t believe in this, I can see,’ he said, touching the dainty bunch + of flowers as Pierre put the knife in its sheath again and returned it to + its hiding-place. ‘I’m afraid your ideas are still crude—you believe + in the good old-fashioned style of blood-letting. Quite a mistake, I + assure you; poison is much more artistic and neat in its work, and to my + mind involves less risk. You see, my Pierre,’ he continued, lazily + watching the blue wreaths of smoke from his cigarette curl round his head, + ‘crime must improve with civilization; and since the Cain and Abel epoch + we have refined the art of murder in a most wonderful manner—decidedly + we are becoming more civilized; and now, my friend,’ in a kind tone, + laying his slender white hand on the shoulder of the dumb man, ‘you must + really take a little rest, for I have no doubt but what you will need all + your strength tonight should M. Villiers prove obstinate. Of course,’ with + a shrug, ‘if he does not succeed in getting the nugget, our time will be + simply wasted, and then,’ with a gay smile, touching the flowers, ‘I will + see what I can do in the artistic line.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre lay down again on the bed, and turning his face to the wall fell + fast asleep, while M. Vandeloup, humming a merry tune, walked gaily out of + the room to the bar, and asked Miss Twexby for another drink. + </p> + <p> + ‘Brandy and soda this time, please,’ he said, lazily lighting another + cigarette; ‘this heat is so enervating, and I’m going to walk up to Black + Hill. By the way, Mademoiselle,’ he went on, as she opened the soda water, + ‘as I see there are two beds in my friend’s room I will stay here all + night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall have the best room,’ said Martha, decisively, as she handed him + the brandy and soda. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are too kind,’ replied M. Vandeloup, coolly, as he took the drink + from her, ‘but I prefer to stay with my silent friend. He was one of the + sailors in the ship when I was wrecked, as you have no doubt heard, and + looks upon me as a sort of fetish.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Twexby knew all about the wreck, and thought it was beautiful that he + should condescend to be so friendly with a common sailor. Vandeloup + received all her speeches with a polite smile, then set down his empty + glass and prepared to leave. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mademoiselle,’ he said, touching the flowers, ‘you see I still have them—they + will remind me of you,’ and raising his hat he strolled idly out of the + hotel, and went off in the direction of the Black Hill. + </p> + <p> + Miss Twexby ran to the door, and shading her eyes with her hands from the + blinding glare of the sun, she watched him lounging along the street, + tall, slender, and handsome. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s just lovely,’ she said to herself, as she returned to the bar ‘but + his eyes are so wicked; I don’t think he’s a good young man.’ + </p> + <p> + What would she have said if she had heard the conversation in the bedroom? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. — THEODORE WOPPLES, ACTOR + </h2> + <p> + Mr Villiers walked in a leisurely manner along the lower part of the town, + with the intent of going up to his destination through the old mining + gully. He took this route for two reasons—first, because the + afternoon was hot, and it was easier climbing up that way than going by + the ordinary road; and, second, on his journey through the chasm he would + be able to mark some place where he could hide the nugget. With his stick + under his arm, Mr Villiers trudged merrily along in a happy humour, as if + he was bent on pleasure instead of robbery. And after all, as he said to + himself, it could not be called a genuine robbery, as everything belonging + to his wife was his by right of the marriage service, and he was only + going to have his own again. With this comfortable thought he climbed + slowly up the broken tortuous path which led to the Black Hill, and every + now and then would pause to rest, and admire the view. + </p> + <p> + It was now nearly six o’clock, and the sun was sinking amid a blaze of + splendour. The whole of the western sky was a sea of shimmering gold, and + this, intensified near the horizon to almost blinding brightness, faded + off towards the zenith of the sky into a delicate green, and thence melted + imperceptibly into a cold blue. + </p> + <p> + Villiers, however, being of the earth, earthy, could not be troubled + looking very long at such a common-place sight as a sunset; the same thing + occurred every evening, and he had more important things to do than to + waste his time gratifying his artistic eye. Arriving on the plateau of + earth just in front of the gully, he was soon entering the narrow gorge, + and tramped steadily along in deep thought, with bent head and wrinkled + brows. The way being narrow, and Villiers being preoccupied, it was not + surprising that as a man was coming down in the opposite direction, also + preoccupied, they should run against one another. When this took place it + gave Mr Villiers rather a start, as it suggested a possible witness to the + deed he contemplated, a thing for which he was by no means anxious. + </p> + <p> + ‘Really, sir,’ said the stranger, in a rich, rolling voice, and in a + dignified tone, ‘I think you might look where you are going. From what I + saw of you, your eyes were not fixed on the stars, and thus to cause your + unwatched feet to stumble; in fact,’ said the speaker, looking up to the + sky, ‘I see no stars whereon you could fix your gaze.’ + </p> + <p> + This somewhat strange mode of remonstrance was delivered in a solemn + manner, with appropriate gestures, and tickled Mr Villiers so much that he + leaned up against a great rock abutting on the path, and laughed long and + loudly. + </p> + <p> + ‘That is right, sir,’ said the stranger, approvingly; ‘laughter is to the + soul what food is to the body. I think, sir,’ in a Johnsonian manner, ‘the + thought is a happy one.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers assented with a nod, and examined the speaker attentively. He was + a man of medium height, rather portly than otherwise, with a clean-shaved + face, clearly-cut features, and two merry grey eyes, which twinkled like + stars as they rested on Villiers. His hair was greyish, and inclined to + curl, but could not follow its natural inclination owing to the unsparing + use of the barber’s shears. He wore a coat and trousers of white flannel, + but no waistcoat; canvas shoes were on his feet, and a juvenile straw hat + was perched on his iron-grey hair, the rim of which encircled his head + like a halo of glory. He had small, well-shaped hands, one of which + grasped a light cane, and the other a white silk pocket handkerchief, with + which he frequently wiped his brow. He seemed very hot, and, leaning on + the opposite side of the path against a rock, fanned himself first with + his handkerchief and then with his hat, all the time looking at Mr + Villiers with a beaming smile. At last he took a silver-mounted flask from + his pocket and offered it to Villiers, with a pleasant bow. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s very hot, you know,’ he said, in his rich voice, as Villiers + accepted the flask. + </p> + <p> + ‘What, this?’ asked Villiers, indicating the flask, as he slowly unscrewed + the top. + </p> + <p> + ‘No; the day, my boy, the day. Ha! ha! ha!’ said the lively stranger, + going off into fits of laughter, which vibrated like small thunder amid + the high rocks surrounding them. ‘Good line for a comedy, I think. Ha! ha!—gad, + I’ll make a note of it,’ and diving into one of the pockets of his coat, + he produced therefrom an old letter, on the back of which he inscribed the + witticism with the stump of a pencil. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Villiers, thinking the flask contained brandy, or at least + whisky, took a long drink of it, but found to his horror it was merely a + weak solution of sherry and water. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, my poor stomach,’ he gasped, taking the flask from his lips. + </p> + <p> + ‘Colic?’ inquired the stranger with a pleasant smile, as he put back the + letter and pencil, ‘hot water fomentations are what you need. Wonderful + cure. Will bring you to life again though you were at your last gasp. Ha!’ + struck with a sudden idea, ‘“His Last Gasp”, good title for a melodrama—mustn’t + forget that,’ and out came the letter and the pencil again. + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers explained in a somewhat gruff tone that it was not colic, but + that his medical attendant allowed him to drink nothing but whisky. + </p> + <p> + ‘To be taken twenty times a day, I presume,’ observed the stranger, with a + wink; ‘no offence meant, sir,’ as Villiers showed a disposition to resent + this, ‘merely a repartee. Good for a comedy, I fancy; what do you think?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think,’ said Mr Villiers, handing him back the flask, ‘that you’re very + eccentric.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Eccentric?’ replied the other, in an airy tone, ‘not at all, sir. I’m + merely a civilized being with the veneer off. I am not hidden under an + artificial coat of manner. No, I laugh—ha! ha! I skip, ha! ha!’ with + a light trip on one foot. ‘I cry,’ in a dismal tone. ‘In fact, I am a man + in his natural state—civilized sufficiently, but not over + civilized.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s your name?’ asked Mr Villiers, wondering whether the portly + gentleman was mad. + </p> + <p> + For reply the stranger dived into another pocket, and, bringing to light a + long bill-poster, held it up before Mr Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Read! mark! and inwardly digest!’ he said in a muffled tone behind the + bill. + </p> + <p> + This document set forth in red, black, and blue letters, that the + celebrated Wopples Family, consisting of twelve star artistes, were now in + Ballarat, and would that night appear at the Academy of Music in their new + and original farcical comedy, called ‘The Cruet-Stand’. Act I: Pepper! Act + II: Mustard! Act III: Vinegar. + </p> + <p> + ‘You, then,’ said Villiers, after he had perused this document, ‘are Mr + Wopples?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Theodore Wopples, at your service,’ said that gentleman, rolling up the + bill, then putting it into his pocket, he produced therefrom a batch of + tickets. ‘One of these,’ handing a ticket to Villiers, ‘will admit you to + the stalls tonight, where you will see myself and the children in “The + Cruet-Stand”.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Rather a peculiar title, isn’t it?’ said Villiers, taking the ticket. + </p> + <p> + ‘The play is still more peculiar, sir,’ replied Mr Wopples, restoring the + bulky packet of tickets to his pocket, ‘dealing as it does with the + adventures of a youth who hides his father’s will in a cruet stand, which + is afterwards annexed by a comic bailiff.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But isn’t it rather a curious thing to hide a will in a cruet stand?’ + asked Villiers, smiling at the oddity of the idea. + </p> + <p> + ‘Therein, sir, lies the peculiarity of the play,’ said Mr Wopples, + grandly. ‘Of course the characters find out in Act I that the will is in + the cruet stand; in Act II, while pursuing it, they get mixed up with the + bailiff’s mother-in-law; and in Act III,’ finished Mr Wopples, exultingly, + ‘they run it to earth in a pawnshop. Oh, I assure you it is a most + original play.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very,’ assented the other, dryly; ‘the author must be a man of genius—who + wrote it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a translation from the German, sir,’ said Mr Wopples, taking a drink + of sherry and water, ‘and was originally produced in London as “The Pickle + Bottle”, the will being hidden with the family onions. In Melbourne it was + the success of the year under the same title. I,’ with an air of genius, + ‘called it “The Cruet Stand”.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then how did you get a hold of it,’ asked Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘My wife, sir,’ said the actor, rolling out the words in his deep voice. + ‘A wonderful woman, sir; paid a visit to Melbourne, and there, sir, seated + at the back of the pit between a coal-heaver and an apple-woman, she + copied the whole thing down.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But isn’t that rather mean?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly not,’ retorted Wopples, haughtily; ‘the opulent Melbourne + managers refuse to let me have their new pieces, so I have to take the law + into my own hands. I’ll get all the latest London successes in the same + way. We play “Ours” under the title of “The Hero’s Return, or the + Soldier’s Bride”: we have done the “Silver King” as “The Living Dead”, + which was an immense success.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers thought that under such a contradictory title it would rather + pique the curiosity of the public. + </p> + <p> + ‘To-morrow night,’ pursued Mr Wopples, ‘we act “Called Back”, but it is + billed as “The Blind Detective”; thus,’ said the actor, with virtuous + scorn, ‘do we evade the grasping avarice of the Melbourne managers, who + would make us pay fees for them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By the way,’ said Mr Wopples, breaking off suddenly in a light and airy + manner, ‘as I came down here I saw a lovely girl—a veritable fairy, + sir—with golden hair, and a bright smile that haunts me still. I + exchanged a few remarks with her regarding the beauty of the day, and thus + allegorically referred to the beauty of herself—a charming flight of + fancy, I think, sir.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It must have been Kitty Marchurst,’ said Villiers, not attending to the + latter portion of Mr Wopples’ remarks. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, indeed,’ said Mr Wopples, lightly, ‘how beautiful is the name of + Kitty; it suggests poetry immediately—for instance: + </p> + <p> + Kitty, ah Kitty, You are so pretty, Charming and witty, That ‘twere a pity + I sung not this ditty In praise of my Kitty. + </p> + <p> + On the spur of the moment, sir, I assure you; does it not remind you of + Herrick?’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers bluntly said it did not. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! perhaps it’s more like Shakespeare?’ observed the actor, quite + unabashed. ‘You think so?’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers was doubtful, and displayed such anxiety to get away that Mr + Wopples held out his hand to say goodbye. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ll excuse me, I know,’ said Mr Wopples, in an apologetic tone, ‘but + the show commences at eight, and it is now half-past six. I trust I shall + see you tonight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s very kind of you to give me this ticket,’ said Villiers, in whom the + gentlemanly instinct still survived. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not at all; not at all,’ retorted Mr Wopples, with a wink. ‘Business, my + boy, business. Always have a good house first night, so must go into the + highways and byways for an audience. Ha! Biblical illustration, you see;’ + and with a gracious wave of his hand he skipped lightly down the path and + disappeared from sight. + </p> + <p> + It was now getting dark; so Mr Villiers went on his own way, and having + selected a mining shaft where he could hide the nugget, he climbed up to + the top of the hill, and lying down under the shadow of a rock where he + could get a good view of Marchurst’s house, he waited patiently till such + time as his wife would start for home. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll pay you out for all you’ve done,’ he muttered to himself, as he lay + curled up in the black shadow like a noisome reptile. ‘Tit for tat, my + lady!—tit for tat!’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — HIGHWAY ROBBERY + </h2> + <p> + Dinner at Mr Marchurst’s house was not a particularly exhilarating affair. + As a matter of fact, though dignified with the name of dinner, it was + nothing more than one of those mixed meals known as high tea. Vandeloup + knew this, and, having a strong aversion to the miscellaneous collection + of victuals which appeared on Mr Marchurst’s table, he dined at Craig’s + Hotel, where he had a nice little dinner, and drank a pint bottle of + champagne in order to thoroughly enjoy himself. Madame Midas also had a + dislike to tea-dinners, but, being a guest, of course had to take what was + going; and she, Kitty, and Mr Marchurst, were the only people present at + the festive board. At last Mr Marchurst finished and delivered a long + address of thanks to Heaven for the good food they had enjoyed, which good + food, being heavy and badly cooked, was warranted to give them all + indigestion and turn their praying to cursing. In fact, what with strong + tea, hurried meals, and no exercise, Mr Marchurst used to pass an awful + time with the nightmare, and although he was accustomed to look upon + nightmares as visions, they were due more to dyspepsia than inspiration. + </p> + <p> + After dinner Madame sat and talked with Marchurst, but Kitty went outside + into the warm darkness of the summer night, and tried to pierce the gloom + to see if her lover was coming. She was rewarded, for M. Vandeloup came up + about half-past eight o’clock, having met Pierre as arranged. Pierre had + found out Villiers in his hiding-place, and was watching him while + Villiers watched the house. Being, therefore, quite easy in his mind that + things were going smoothly, Vandeloup came up to the porch where Kitty was + eagerly waiting for him, and taking her in his arms kissed her tenderly. + Then, after assuring himself that Madame was safe with Marchurst, he put + his arm round Kitty’s waist, and they walked up and down the path with the + warm wind blowing in their faces, and the perfume of the wattle blossoms + permeating the drowsy air. And yet while he was walking up and down, + talking lover-like nonsense to the pretty girl by his side, Vandeloup knew + that Villiers was watching the house far off, with evil eyes, and he also + knew that Pierre was watching Villiers with all the insatiable desire of a + wild beast for blood. The moon rose, a great shield of silver, and all the + ground was strewn with the aerial shadows of the trees. The wind sighed + through the branches of the wattles, and made their golden blossoms + tremble in the moonlight, while hand in hand the lovers strolled down the + path or over the short dry grass. Far away in the distance they heard a + woman singing, and the high sweet voice floated softly towards them + through the clear air. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly they heard the noise of a chair being pushed back inside the + house, and knew that Madame was getting ready to go. They moved + simultaneously towards the door, but in the porch Gaston paused for a + moment, and caught Kitty by the arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bebe,’ he whispered softly, ‘when Madame is gone I am going down the hill + to Ballarat, so you will walk with me a little way, will you not?’ + </p> + <p> + Of course, Kitty was only too delighted at being asked to do so, and + readily consented, then ran quickly into the house, followed by Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘You here?’ cried Madame, in surprise, pausing for a moment in the act of + putting on her bonnet. ‘Why are you not at the theatre?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am going, Madame,’ replied Gaston, calmly, ‘but I thought I would come + up in order to assist you to put the nugget in the trap.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Mr Marchurst would have done that,’ said Madame, much gratified at + Vandeloup’s attention. ‘I’m sorry you should miss your evening’s pleasure + for that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, Madame, I do but exchange a lesser pleasure for a greater one,’ said + the gallant Frenchman, with a pleasant smile; ‘but are you sure you will + not want me to drive you home?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not at all,’ said Madame, as they all went outside; ‘I am quite safe.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Still, with this,’ said Mr Marchurst, bringing up the rear, with the + nugget now safely placed in its wooden box, ‘you might be robbed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not I,’ replied Mrs Villiers, brightly, as the horse and trap were + brought round to the gate by Brown. ‘No one knows I’ve got it in the trap, + and, besides, no one can catch up with Rory when he once starts.’ + </p> + <p> + Marchurst put the nugget under the seat of the trap, but Madame was afraid + it might slip out by some chance, so she put the box containing it in + front, and then her feet on the box, so that it was absolutely impossible + that it could get lost without her knowing. Then saying goodbye to + everyone, and telling M. Vandeloup to be out at the Pactolus before noon + the next day, she gathered up the reins and drove slowly down the hill, + much to the delight of Mr Villiers, who was getting tired of waiting. + Kitty and Vandeloup strolled off in the moonlight, while Marchurst went + back to the house. + </p> + <p> + Villiers arose from his hiding-place, and looked up savagely at the serene + moon, which was giving far too much light for his scheme to succeed. + Fortunately, however, he saw a great black cloud rapidly advancing which + threatened to hide the moon; so he set off down the hill at a run in order + to catch his wife at a nasty part of the road some distance down, where + she would be compelled to go slowly, and thus give him a chance to spring + on the trap and take her by surprise. But quick as he was, Pierre was + quicker, and both Vandeloup and Kitty could see the two black figures + running rapidly along in the moonlight. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who are those?’ asked Kitty, with a sudden start. ‘Are they going after + Madame?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Little goose,’ whispered her lover, with a laugh; ‘if they are they will + never catch up to that horse. It’s all right, Bebe,’ with a reassuring + smile, seeing that Kitty still looked somewhat alarmed, ‘they are only + some miners out on a drunken frolic.’ + </p> + <p> + Thus pacified, Kitty laughed gaily, and they wandered along in the + moonlight, talking all the fond and foolish nonsense they could think of. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the great black cloud had completely hidden the moon, and the + whole landscape was quite dark. This annoyed Madame, as, depending on the + moonlight, the lamps of the trap were not lighted, and she could not see + in the darkness how to drive down a very awkward bit of road that she was + now on. + </p> + <p> + It was very steep, and there was a high bank on one side, while on the + other there was a fall of about ten feet. She felt annoyed at the + darkness, but on looking up saw that the cloud would soon pass, so drove + on slowly quite content. Unluckily she did not see the figure on the high + bank which ran along stealthily beside her, and while turning a corner, Mr + Villiers—for it was he—dropped suddenly from the bank on to + the trap, and caught her by the throat. + </p> + <p> + ‘My God!’ cried the unfortunate woman, taken by surprise, and, + involuntarily tightening the reins, the horse stopped—‘who are you?’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers never said a word, but tightened his grasp on her throat and + shortened his stick to give her a blow on the head. Fortunately, Madame + Midas saw his intention, and managed to wrench herself free, so the blow + aimed at her only slightly touched her, otherwise it would have killed + her. + </p> + <p> + As it was, however, she fell forward half stunned, and Villiers, hurriedly + dropping his stick, bent down and seized the box which he felt under his + feet and intuitively guessed contained the nugget. + </p> + <p> + With a cry of triumph he hurled it out on to the road, and sprang out + after it; but the cry woke his wife from the semi-stupor into which she + had fallen. + </p> + <p> + Her head felt dizzy and heavy from the blow, but still she had her senses + about her, and the moon bursting out from behind a cloud, rendered the + night as clear as day. + </p> + <p> + Villiers had picked up the box, and was standing on the edge of the bank, + just about to leave. The unhappy woman recognised her husband, and uttered + a cry. + </p> + <p> + ‘You! you!’ she shrieked, wildly, ‘coward! dastard! Give me back that + nugget!’ leaning out of the trap in her eagerness. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll see you damned first,’ retorted Villiers, who, now that he was + recognised, was utterly reckless as to the result. ‘We’re quits now, my + lady,’ and he turned to go. + </p> + <p> + Maddened with anger and disgust, his wife snatched up the stick he had + dropped, and struck him on the head as he took a step forward. With a + stifled cry he staggered and fell over the embankment, still clutching the + box in his arms. Madame let the stick fall, and fell back fainting on the + seat of the trap, while the horse, startled by the noise, tore down the + road at a mad gallop. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas lay in a dead faint for some time, and when she came to + herself she was still in the trap, and Rory was calmly trotting along the + road home. At the foot of the hill, the horse, knowing every inch of the + way, had settled down into his steady trot for the Pactolus, but when + Madame grasped the situation, she marvelled to herself how she had escaped + being dashed to pieces in that mad gallop down the Black Hill. + </p> + <p> + Her head felt painful from the effects of the blow she had received, but + her one thought was to get home to Archie and Selina, so gathering up the + reins she sent Rory along as quickly as she could. When she drove up to + the gate Archie and Selina were both out to receive her, and when the + former went to lift her off the trap, he gave a cry of horror at seeing + her dishevelled appearance and the blood on her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘God save us!’ he cried, lifting her down; ‘what’s come t’ ye, and where’s + the nugget?’ seeing it was not in the trap. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lost!’ she said, in a stupor, feeling her head swimming, ‘but there’s + worse.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Worse?’ echoed Selina and Archie, who were both standing looking + terrified at one another. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Mrs Villiers, in a hollow whisper, leaning forward and + grasping Archie’s coat, ‘I’ve killed my husband,’ and without another + word, she fell fainting to the ground. + </p> + <p> + At the same time Vandeloup and Pierre walked into the bar at the Wattle + Tree Hotel, and each had a glass of brandy, after which Pierre went to his + bed, and Vandeloup, humming a gay song, turned on his heel and went to the + theatre. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. — A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA + </h2> + <p> + ‘AH!’ says Thackeray, pathetically, ‘Prague is a pleasant city, but we all + lose our way to it late in life.’ + </p> + <p> + The Wopples family were true Bohemians, and had not yet lost their way to + the pleasant city. They accepted good and bad fortune with wonderful + equanimity, and if their pockets were empty one day, there was always a + possibility of their being full the next. When this was the case they + generally celebrated the event by a little supper, and as their present + season in Ballarat bid fair to be a successful one, Mr Theodore Wopples + determined to have a convivial evening after the performance was over. + </p> + <p> + That the Wopples family were favourites with the Ballarat folk was amply + seen by the crowded house which assembled to see ‘The Cruet Stand’. The + audience were very impatient for the curtain to rise, as they did not + appreciate the overture, which consisted of airs from ‘La Mascotte’, + adapted for the violin and piano by Mr Handel Wopples, who was the musical + genius of the family, and sat in the conductor’s seat, playing the violin + and conducting the orchestra of one, which on this occasion was Miss + Jemima Wopples, who presided at the piano. The Wopples family consisted of + twelve star artistes, beginning with Mr Theodore Wopples, aged fifty, and + ending with Master Sheridan Wopples, aged ten, who did the servants’ + characters, delivered letters, formed the background in tableaux, and made + himself generally useful. As the cast of the comedy was only eight, two of + the family acted as the orchestra, and the remaining two took money at the + door. When their duties in this respect were over for the night, they went + into the pit to lead the applause. + </p> + <p> + At last the orchestra finished, and the curtain drew up, displaying an + ancient house belonging to a decayed family. The young Squire, present + head of the decayed family (Mr Cibber Wopples), is fighting with his + dishonest steward (admirably acted by Mr Dogbery Wopples), whose daughter + he wants to marry. The dishonest steward, during Act I, without any + apparent reason, is struck with remorse, and making his will in favour of + the Squire, departs to America, but afterwards appears in the last act as + someone else. Leaving his will on the drawing-room table, as he naturally + would, it is seized by an Eton boy (Master Sheridan Wopples), who hides + it, for some unexplained reason, in the cruet-stand, being the last piece + of family plate remaining to the decayed family. This is seized by a comic + bailiff (Mr Theodore Wopples), who takes it to his home; and the decayed + family, finding out about the will, start to chase the bailiff and recover + the stolen property from him. This brought the play on to Act II, which + consisted mainly of situations arising out of the indiscriminate use of + doors and windows for entrances and exits. The bailiff’s mother-in-law + (Mrs Wopples) appears in this act, and, being in want of a new dress, + takes the cruet stand to her ‘uncle’ and pawns it; so Act II ends with a + general onslaught of the decayed family on Mrs Wopples. + </p> + <p> + Then the orchestra played the ‘Wopples’ Waltz’, dedicated to Mr Theodore + Wopples by Mr Handel Wopples, and during the performance of this Mr + Villiers walked into the theatre. He was a little pale, as was only + natural after such an adventure as he had been engaged in, but otherwise + seemed all right. He walked up to the first row of the stalls, and took + his seat beside a young man of about twenty-five, who was evidently much + amused at the performance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo, Villiers!’ said this young gentleman, turning round to the new + arrival, ‘what d’ye think of the play?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Only just got in,’ returned Mr Villiers, sulkily, looking at his + programme. ‘Any good?’ in a more amiable tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, not bad,’ returned the other, pulling up his collar; ‘I’ve seen it + in Melbourne, you know—the original, I mean; this is a very + second-hand affair.’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Villiers nodded, and became absorbed in his programme; so, seeing he + was disinclined for more conversation, the young gentleman turned his + attention to the ‘Wopples Waltz’, which was now being played fast and + furiously by the indefatigable orchestra of two. + </p> + <p> + Bartholomew Jarper—generally called Barty by his friends—was a + bank clerk, and had come up to Ballarat on a visit. He was well known in + Melbourne society, and looked upon himself quite as a leader of fashion. + He went everywhere, danced divinely—so the ladies said—sang + two or three little songs, and played the same accompaniment to each of + them, was seen constantly at the theatres, plunged a little at the races, + and was altogether an extremely gay dog. It is, then, little to be + wondered at that, satiated as he was with Melbourne gaiety, he should be + vastly critical of the humble efforts of the Wopples family to please him. + He had met Villiers at his hotel, when both of them being inebriated they + swore eternal friendship. Mr Villiers, however, was very sulky on this + particular night, for his head still pained him, so Barty stared round the + house in a supercilious manner, and sucked the nob of his cane for + refreshment between the acts. + </p> + <p> + Just as the orchestra were making their final plunge into the finale of + the ‘Wopples’ Waltz’, M. Vandeloup, cool and calm as usual, strolled into + the theatre, and, seeing a vacant seat beside Villiers, walked over and + took it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good evening, my friend,’ he said, touching Villiers on the shoulder. + ‘Enjoying the play, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers angrily pushed away the Frenchman’s hand and glared vindictively + at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, you still bear malice for that little episode of the ditch,’ said + Vandeloup with a gay laugh. ‘Come, now, this is a mistake; let us be + friends.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Go to the devil!’ growled Villiers, crossly. + </p> + <p> + ‘All right, my friend,’ said M. Vandeloup, serenely crossing his legs. + ‘We’ll all end up by paying a visit to that gentleman, but while we are on + earth we may as well be pleasant. Seen your wife lately?’ + </p> + <p> + This apparently careless inquiry caused Mr Villiers to jump suddenly out + of his seat, much to the astonishment of Barty, who did not know for what + reason he was standing up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! you want to look at the house, I suppose,’ remarked M. Vandeloup, + lazily; ‘the building is extremely ugly, but there are some redeeming + features in it. I refer, of course, to the number of pretty girls,’ and + Gaston turned round and looked steadily at a red-haired damsel behind him, + who blushed and giggled, thinking he was referring to her. + </p> + <p> + Villiers resumed his seat with a sigh, and seeing that it was quite + useless to quarrel with Vandeloup, owing to that young man’s coolness, + resolved to make the best of a bad job, and held out his hand with a view + to reconciliation. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s no use fighting with you,’ he said, with an uneasy laugh, as the + other took his hand, ‘you are so deuced amiable.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am,’ replied Gaston, calmly examining his programme; ‘I practise all + the Christian virtues.’ + </p> + <p> + Here Barty, on whom the Frenchman’s appearance and conversation had + produced an impression, requested Villiers, in a stage whisper, to + introduce him—which was done. Vandeloup looked the young man coolly + up and down, and eventually decided that Mr Barty Jarper was a ‘cad’, for + whatever his morals might be, the Frenchman was a thorough gentleman. + However, as he was always diplomatic, he did not give utterance to his + idea, but taking a seat next to Barty’s, he talked glibly to him until the + orchestra finished with a few final bangs, and the curtain drew up on Act + III. + </p> + <p> + The scene was the interior of a pawnshop, where the pawnbroker, a + gentleman of Hebraic descent (Mr Buckstone Wopples), sells the cruet to + the dishonest steward, who has come back from America disguised as a + sailor. The decayed family all rush in to buy the cruet stand, but on + finding it gone, overwhelm the pawnbroker with reproaches, so that to + quiet them he hides them all over the shop, on the chance that the + dishonest steward will come back. The dishonest steward does so, and + having found the will tears it up on the stage, upon which he is assaulted + by the decayed family, who rush out from all parts. Ultimately, he reveals + himself and hands back the cruet stand and the estates to the decayed + family, after which a general marrying all round took place, which + proceeding was very gratifying to the boys in the gallery, who gave their + opinions very freely, and the curtain fell amid thunders of applause. + Altogether ‘The Cruet Stand’ was a success, and would have a steady run of + three nights at least, so Mr Wopples said—and as a manager of long + standing, he was thoroughly well up in the subject. + </p> + <p> + Villiers, Vandeloup, and Barty went out and had a drink, and as none of + them felt inclined to go to bed, Villiers told them he knew Mr Theodore + Wopples, and proposed that they should go behind the scenes and see him. + This was unanimously carried, and after some difficulty with the + door-keeper—a crusty old man with a red face and white hair, that + stood straight up in a tuft, and made him look like an infuriated cockatoo—they + obtained access to the mysterious regions of the stage, and there found + Master Sheridan Wopples practising a breakdown while waiting for the rest + of the family to get ready. This charming youth, who was small, dried-up + and wonderfully sharp, volunteered to guide them to his father’s + dressing-room, and on knocking at the door Mr Wopples’ voice boomed out + ‘Come in,’ in such an unexpected manner that it made them all jump. + </p> + <p> + On entering the room they found Mr Wopples, dressed in a light tweed suit, + and just putting on his coat. It was a small room, with a flaring gas-jet, + under which there was a dressing-table littered over with grease, paints, + powder, vaseline and wigs, and upon it stood a small looking-glass. A + great basket-box with the lid wide open stood at the end of the room, with + a lot of clothes piled up on it, and numerous other garments were hung up + upon the walls. A washstand, with a basin full of soapy water, stood under + a curtainless window, and there was only one chair to be seen, which Mr + Wopples politely offered to his visitor. Mr Villiers, however, told him he + had brought two gentlemen to introduce to him, at which Mr Wopples was + delighted; and on the introduction taking place, assured both Vandeloup + and Barty that it was one of the proudest moments of his life—a stock + phrase he always used when introduced to visitors. He was soon ready, and + preceded the party out of the room, when he stopped, struck with a sudden + idea. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have left the gas burning in my dressing-room,’ he said, in his rolling + voice, ‘and, if you will permit me, gentlemen, I will go back and turn it + off.’ + </p> + <p> + This was rather difficult to manage, inasmuch as the stairs were narrow, + and three people being between Mr Wopples and his dressing-room, he could + not squeeze past. + </p> + <p> + Finally the difficulty was settled by Villiers, who was last, and who went + back and turned out the gas. + </p> + <p> + When he came down he found Mr Wopples waiting for him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I thank you, sir,’ he said, grandly, ‘and will feel honoured if you will + give me the pleasure of your company at a modest supper consisting + principally of cold beef and pickles.’ + </p> + <p> + Of course, they all expressed themselves delighted, and as the entire + Wopples family had already gone to their hotel, Mr Wopples with his three + guests went out of the theatre and wended their way towards the same + place, only dropping into two or three bars on the way to have drinks at + Barty’s expense. + </p> + <p> + They soon arrived at the hotel, and having entered, Mr Wopples pushed open + the door of a room from whence the sound of laughter proceeded, and + introduced the three strangers to his family. The whole ten, together with + Mrs Wopples, were present, and were seated around a large table + plentifully laden with cold beef and pickles, salads, bottles of beer, and + other things too numerous to mention. Mr Wopples presented them first to + his wife, a faded, washed-out looking lady, with a perpetual simper on her + face, and clad in a lavender muslin gown with ribbons of the same + description, she looked wonderfully light and airy. In fact she had a + sketchy appearance as if she required to be touched up here and there, to + make her appear solid, which was of great service to her in her theatrical + career, as it enabled her to paint on the background of herself any + character she wished to represent. + </p> + <p> + ‘This,’ said Mr Wopples in his deep voice, holding his wife’s hand as if + he were afraid she would float upward thro’ the ceiling like a bubble—a + not unlikely thing seeing how remarkably ethereal she looked; ‘this is my + flutterer.’ + </p> + <p> + Why he called her his flutterer no one ever knew, unless it was because + her ribbons were incessantly fluttering; but, had he called her his + shadow, the name would have been more appropriate. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Wopples fluttered down to the ground in a bow, and then fluttered up + again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gentlemen,’ she said, in a thin, clear voice, ‘you are welcome. Did you + enjoy the performance?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame,’ returned Vandeloup, with a smile, ‘need you ask that?’ + </p> + <p> + A shadowy smile floated over Mrs Wopples’ indistinct features, and then + her husband introduced the rest of the family in a bunch. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, waving his hand to the expectant ten, who stood in a + line of five male and five female, ‘the celebrated Wopples family.’ + </p> + <p> + The ten all simultaneously bowed at this as if they were worked by + machinery, and then everyone sat down to supper, Mr Theodore Wopples + taking the head of the table. All the family seemed to admire him + immensely, and kept their eyes fastened on his face with affectionate + regard. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pa,’ whispered Miss Siddons Wopples to Villiers, who sat next to her, ‘is + a most wonderful man. Observe his facial expression.’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers observed it, and admitted also in a whisper that it was truly + marvellous. + </p> + <p> + Cold beef formed the staple viand on the table, and everyone did full + justice to it, as also to beer and porter, of which Mr Wopples was very + generous. + </p> + <p> + ‘I prefer to give my friends good beer instead of bad champagne,’ he said, + pompously. ‘Ha! ha! the antithesis, I think, is good.’ + </p> + <p> + The Wopples family unanimously agreed that it was excellent, and Mr Handel + Wopples observed to Barty that his father often made jokes worthy of Tom + Hood, to which Barty agreed hastily, as he did not know who Tom Hood was, + and besides was flirting in a mild manner with Miss Fanny Wopples, a + pretty girl, who did the burlesque business. + </p> + <p> + ‘And are all these big boys and girls yours, Madame?’ asked Vandeloup, who + was rather astonished at the number of the family, and thought some of + them might have been hired for theatrical purposes. Mrs Wopples nodded + affirmatively with a gratified flutter, and her husband endorsed it. + </p> + <p> + ‘There are four dead,’ he said, in a solemn voice. ‘Rest their souls.’ + </p> + <p> + All the ten faces round the board reflected the gloom on the parental + countenance, and for a few moments no one spoke. + </p> + <p> + ‘This,’ said Mr Wopples, looking round with a smile, at which all the + other faces lighted up, ‘this is not calculated to make our supper + enjoyable, children. I may tell you that, in consequence of the great + success of “The Cruet Stand”, we play it again to-morrow night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Mr Buckstone Wopples, with his mouth full, ‘I knew it would + knock ‘em; that business of yours, father, with the writ is simply + wonderful.’ + </p> + <p> + All the family chorused ‘Yes,’ and Mr Wopples admitted, with a modest + smile, that it was wonderful. + </p> + <p> + ‘Practise,’ said Mr Wopples, waving a fork with a piece of cold beef at + the end of it, ‘makes perfect. My dear Vandeloup, if you will permit me to + call you so, my son Buckstone is truly a wonderful critic.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup smiled at this, and came to the conclusion that the Wopples + family was a mutual admiration society. However, as it was now nearly + twelve o’clock, he rose to take his leave. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, you’re not going yet,’ said Mr Wopples, upon which all the family + echoed, ‘Surely, not yet,’ in a most hospitable manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘I must,’ said Vandeloup, with a smile. ‘I know Madame will excuse me,’ + with a bow to Mrs Wopples, who thereupon fluttered nervously; ‘but I have + to be up very early in the morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In that case,’ said Mr Wopples, rising, ‘I will not detain you; early to + bed and early to rise, you know; not that I believe in it much myself, but + I understand it is practised with good results by some people.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shook hands with Mr and Mrs Wopples, but feeling unequal to + taking leave of the ten star artistes in the same way, he bowed in a + comprehensive manner, whereupon the whole ten arose from their chairs and + bowed unanimously in return. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good night, Messrs Villiers and Jarper,’ said Vandeloup, going out of the + door, ‘I will see you to-morrow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And we also, I hope,’ said Mr Wopples, ungrammatically. ‘Come and see + “The Cruet Stand” again. I’ll put your name on the free list.’ + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup thanked the actor warmly for this kind offer, and took + himself off; as he passed along the street he heard a burst of laughter + from the Wopples family, no doubt caused by some witticism of the head of + the clan. + </p> + <p> + He walked slowly home to the hotel, smoking a cigarette, and thinking + deeply. When he arrived at the ‘Wattle Tree’ he saw a light still burning + in the bar, and, on knocking at the door, was admitted by Miss Twexby, who + had been making up accounts, and whose virgin head was adorned with + curl-papers. + </p> + <p> + ‘My!’ said this damsel, when she saw him, ‘you are a nice young man coming + home at this hour—twelve o’clock. See?’ and, as a proof of her + assertion, she pointed to the clock. + </p> + <p> + ‘Were you waiting up for me, dear?’ asked Vandeloup, audaciously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not I,’ retorted Miss Twexby, tossing her curl-papers; ‘I’ve been + attending to par’s business; but, oh, gracious!’ with a sudden + recollection of her head-gear, ‘you’ve seen me in undress.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you look more charming than ever,’ finished Vandeloup, as he took his + bedroom candle from her. ‘I will see you in the morning. My friend still + asleep, I suppose?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m sure I don’t know. I haven’t seen him all the evening,’ replied Miss + Twexby, tossing her head, ‘now, go away. You’re a naughty, wicked, + deceitful thing. I declare I’m quite afraid of you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s no need, I assure you,’ replied Vandeloup, in a slightly + sarcastic voice, as he surveyed the plain-looking woman before him; ‘you + are quite safe from me.’ + </p> + <p> + He left the bar, whistling an air, while the fair Martha returned to her + accounts, and wondered indignantly whether his last remark was a + compliment or otherwise. + </p> + <p> + The conclusion she came to was that it was otherwise, and she retired to + bed in a very wrathful frame of mind. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. — A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + </h2> + <p> + Madame Midas, as may be easily guessed, did not pass a very pleasant night + after the encounter with Villiers. Her head was very painful with the blow + he had given her, and added to this she was certain she had killed him. + </p> + <p> + Though she hated the man who had ruined her life, and who had tried to rob + her, still she did not care about becoming his murderess, and the thought + was madness to her. Not that she was afraid of punishment, for she had + only acted in self-defence, and Villiers, not she, was the aggressor. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile she waited to hear if the body had been found, for ill news + travels fast; and as everyone knew Villiers was her husband, she was + satisfied that when the corpse was found she would be the first to be told + about it. + </p> + <p> + But the day wore on, and no news came, so she asked Archie to go into + Ballarat and see if the discovery had been made. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Deed, mem,’ said Archie, in a consoling tone, ‘I’m thinkin’ there’s na + word at all. Maybe ye only stapped his pranks for a wee bit, and he’s a’ + richt.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame shook her head. + </p> + <p> + ‘I gave him such a terrible blow,’ she said, mournfully, ‘and he fell like + a stone over the embankment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He didna leave go the nugget, onyhow, ye ken,’ said Archie, dryly; ‘so he + couldna hae been verra far gone, but I’ll gang intil the toun and see what + I can hear.’ + </p> + <p> + There was no need for this, however, for just as McIntosh got to the door, + Vandeloup, cool and complacent, sauntered in, but stopped short at the + sight of Mrs Villiers sitting in the arm-chair looking so ill. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear Madame,’ he cried in dismay, going over to her, ‘what is the + matter with you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Matter enow,’ growled McIntosh, with his hand on the door handle; ‘that + deil o’ a’ husband o’ her’s has robbed her o’ the nugget.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, and I killed him,’ said Madame between her clenched teeth. + </p> + <p> + ‘The deuce you did,’ said Vandeloup, in surprise, taking a seat, ‘then he + was the liveliest dead man I ever saw.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you mean?’ asked Madame, leaning forward, with both hands + gripping the arms of her chair; ‘is—is he alive?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course he is,’ began Vandeloup; ‘I—’ but here he was stopped by + a cry from Selina, for her mistress had fallen back in her chair in a dead + faint. + </p> + <p> + Hastily waving for the men to go away, she applied remedies, and Madame + soon revived. Vandeloup had gone outside with McIntosh, and was asking him + about the robbery, and then told him in return about Villiers’ movements + on that night. Selina called them in again, as Madame wanted to hear all + about her husband, and Vandeloup was just entering when he turned to + McIntosh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, by the way,’ he said, in a vexed tone, ‘Pierre will not be at work + today.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What for no?’ asked McIntosh, sharply. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s drunk,’ replied Vandeloup, curtly, ‘and he’s likely to keep the game + up for a week.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We’ll see about that,’ said Mr McIntosh, wrathfully; ‘I tauld yon gowk o’ + a Twexby to give the mon food and drink, but I didna tell him to mack the + deil fu’.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It wasn’t the landlord’s fault,’ said Vandeloup; ‘I gave Pierre money—if + I had known what he wanted it for I wouldn’t have done it—but it’s + too late now.’ + </p> + <p> + McIntosh was about to answer sharply as to the folly of giving the man + money, when Madame’s voice was heard calling them impatiently, and they + both had to go in at once. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Villiers was ghastly pale, but there was a look of determination about + her which showed that she was anxious to hear all. Pointing to a seat near + herself she said to Vandeloup— + </p> + <p> + ‘Tell me everything that happened from the time I left you last night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith,’ replied Vandeloup, carelessly taking the seat, ‘there isn’t + much to tell—I said goodbye to Monsieur Marchurst and Mademoiselle + Kitty and went down to Ballarat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How was it you did not pass me on the way?’ asked Madame, quickly fixing + her piercing eyes on him. ‘I drove slowly.’ + </p> + <p> + He bore her scrutiny without blenching or even changing colour. + </p> + <p> + ‘Easily enough,’ he said, calmly, ‘I went the other direction instead of + the usual way, as it was the shortest route to the place I was stopping + at.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The “Wattle Tree”, ye ken, Madame,’ interposed McIntosh. + </p> + <p> + ‘I had something to eat there,’ pursued Vandeloup, ‘and then went to the + theatre. Your husband came in towards the end of the performance and sat + next to me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Was he all right?’ asked Mrs Villiers, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘I didn’t pay much attention to him,’ he said, coolly; ‘he seemed to enjoy + the play, and afterwards, when we went to supper with the actors, he + certainly ate very heartily for a dead man. I don’t think you need trouble + yourself, Madame; your husband is quite well.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What time did you leave him?’ she asked, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + ‘About twenty minutes to twelve, I think,’ replied Vandeloup, ‘at least, I + reached the “Wattle Tree” at about twelve o’clock, and I think it did take + twenty minutes to walk there. Monsieur Villiers stopped behind with the + theatre people to enjoy himself.’ + </p> + <p> + Enjoying himself, and she, thinking him dead, was crying over his + miserable end; it was infamous! Was this man a monster who could thus + commit a crime one moment and go to an amusement the next? It seemed like + it, and Mrs Villiers felt intense disgust towards her husband as she sat + with tightly clenched hands and dry eyes listening to Vandeloup’s recital. + </p> + <p> + ‘Weel,’ said Mr McIntosh at length, rubbing his scanty hair, ‘the deil + looks after his ain, as we read in Screepture, and this child of Belial is + flourishing like a green bay tree by mony waters; but we ma’ cut it doon + an’ lay an axe at the root thereof.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And how do you propose to chop him down?’ asked Vandeloup, flippantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pit him intil the Tolbooth for rinnin’ awa’ wi’ the nugget,’ retorted Mr + McIntosh, vindictively. + </p> + <p> + ‘A very sensible suggestion,’ said Gaston, approvingly, smoothing his + moustache. ‘What do you say, Madame?’ + </p> + <p> + She shook her head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let him keep his ill-gotten gains,’ she said, resignedly. ‘Now that he + has obtained what he wanted, perhaps he’ll leave me alone; I will do + nothing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Dae naethin’!’ echoed Archie, in great wrath. ‘Will ye let that freend o’ + Belzibub rin awa’ wid a three hun’red ounces of gold an’ dae naethin’? Na, + na, ye mauna dae it, I tell ye. Oh, aye, ye may sit there, mem, and glower + awa’ like a boggle, but ye aren’a gangin’ to make yoursel’ a martyr for + yon. Keep the nugget? I’ll see him damned first.’ + </p> + <p> + This was the first time that Archie had ever dared to cross Mrs Villiers’ + wishes, and she stared in amazement at the unwonted spectacle. This time, + however, McIntosh found an unexpected ally in Vandeloup, who urged that + Villiers should be prosecuted. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is not only guilty of robbery, Madame,’ said the young Frenchman, ‘but + also of an attempt to murder you, and while he is allowed to go free, your + life is not safe.’ + </p> + <p> + Selina also contributed her mite of wisdom in the form of a proverb:— + </p> + <p> + ‘A stitch in time saves nine,’ intimating thereby that Mr Villiers should + be locked up and never let out again, in case he tried the same game on + with the next big nugget found. + </p> + <p> + Madame thought for a few moments, and, seeing that they were all + unanimous, she agreed to the proposal that Villiers should be prosecuted, + with the stipulation, however, that he should be first written to and + asked to give up the nugget. If he did, and promised to leave the + district, no further steps would be taken; but if he declined to do so, + his wife would prosecute him with the uttermost rigour of the law. Then + Madame dismissed them, as she was anxious to get a little sleep, and + Vandeloup went to the office to write the letter, accompanied by McIntosh, + who wanted to assist in its composition. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile there was another individual in Ballarat who was much interested + in Villiers, and this kind-hearted gentleman was none other than Slivers. + Villiers was accustomed to come and sit in his office every morning, and + talk to him about things in general, and the Pactolus claim in particular. + On this morning, however, he did not arrive, and Slivers was much annoyed + thereat. He determined to give Villiers a piece of his mind when he did + see him. He went about his business at ‘The Corner’, bought some shares, + sold others, and swindled as many people as he was able, then came back to + his office and waited in all the afternoon for his friend, who, however, + did not come. + </p> + <p> + Slivers was just going out to seek him when the door of his office was + violently flung open, and a tall, raw-boned female entered in a very + excited manner. Dressed in a dusty black gown, with a crape bonnet placed + askew on her rough hair, this lady banged on Slivers’ table a huge + umbrella and demanded where Villiers was. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know,’ snapped Slivers, viciously; ‘how the devil should I?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t swear at me, you wooden-legged little monster,’ cried the virago, + with another bang of the umbrella, which raised such a cloud of dust that + it nearly made Slivers sneeze his head off. ‘He ain’t been home all night, + and you’ve been leading him into bad habits, you cork-armed libertine.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hasn’t been home all night, eh?’ said Slivers, sitting up quickly, while + Billy, who had been considerably alarmed at the gaunt female, retired to + the fireplace, and tried to conceal himself up the chimney. ‘May I ask who + you are?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You may,’ said the angry lady, folding her arms and holding the umbrella + in such an awkward manner that she nearly poked Slivers’ remaining eye + out. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, who are you?’ snapped Slivers, crossly, after waiting a reasonable + time for an answer and getting none. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m his landlady,’ retorted the other, with a defiant snort. ‘Matilda + Cheedle is my name, and I don’t care who knows it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s not a pretty name,’ snarled Slivers, prodding the ground with his + wooden leg, as he always did when angry. ‘Neither are you. What do you + mean by banging into my office like an insane giraffe?’—this in + allusion to Mrs Cheedle’s height. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, go on! go on!’ said that lady defiantly; ‘I’ve heard it all before; + I’m used to it; but here I sit until you tell me where my lodger is;’ and + suiting the action to the word, Mrs Cheedle sat down in a chair with such + a bang that Billy gave a screech of alarm and said, ‘Pickles!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pickles, you little bag of bones!’ cried Mrs Cheedle, who thought that + the word had proceeded from Slivers, ‘don’t you call me “Pickles”—but + I’m used to it. I’m a lonely woman since Cheedle went to the cemetery, and + I’m always being insulted. Oh, my nerves are shattered under such + treatment’—this last because she saw the whisky bottle on the table, + and thought she might get some. + </p> + <p> + Slivers took the hint, and filling a glass with whisky and water passed it + to her, and Mrs Cheedle, with many protestations that she never touched + spirits, drank it to the last drop. + </p> + <p> + ‘Was Villiers always in the habit of coming home?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Always,’ replied Mrs Cheedle; ‘he’s bin with me eighteen months and never + stopped out one night; if he had,’ grimly, ‘I’d have known the reason of + his rampagin’.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Strange,’ said Slivers, thoughtfully, fixing Mrs Cheedle with his one + eye; ‘when did you see him last?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘About three o’clock yesterday,’ said Mrs Cheedle, looking sadly at a hole + in one of her cotton gloves; ‘his conduct was most extraordinary; he came + home at that unusual hour, changed his linen clothes for a dark suit, and, + after he had eaten something, put on another hat, and walked off with a + stick under his arm.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you’ve never seen him since?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a blessed sight of him,’ replied Mrs Cheedle; ‘you don’t think any + harm’s come to him, sir? Not as I care much for him—the drunken + wretch—but still he’s a lodger and owes me rent, so I don’t know but + what he might be off to Melbourne without paying, and leaving his boxes + full of bricks behind.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll have a look round, and if I see him I’ll send him home,’ said + Slivers, rising to intimate the interview was at end. + </p> + <p> + ‘Very well, mind you do,’ said the widow, rising and putting the empty + glass on the table, ‘send him home at once and I’ll speak to him. And + perhaps,’ with a bashful glance, ‘you wouldn’t mind seeing me up the + street a short way, as I’m alone and unprotected.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Stuff!’ retorted Slivers, ungraciously, ‘there’s plenty of light, and you + are big enough to look after yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + At this Mrs Cheedle snorted loudly like a war-horse, and flounced out of + the office in a rage, after informing Slivers in a loud voice that he was + a selfish, cork-eyed little viper, from which confusion of words it will + easily be seen that the whisky had taken effect on the good lady. + </p> + <p> + When she had gone Slivers locked up his office, and sallied forth to find + the missing Villiers, but though he went all over town to that gentleman’s + favourite haunts, mostly bars, yet he could see nothing of him; and on + making inquiries heard that he had not been seen in Ballarat all day. This + was so contrary to Villiers’ general habits that Slivers became + suspicious, and as he walked home thinking over the subject he came to the + conclusion there was something up. + </p> + <p> + ‘If,’ said Slivers, pausing on the pavement and addressing a street lamp, + ‘he doesn’t turn up to-morrow I’ll have a look for him again. If that + don’t do I’ll tell the police, and I shouldn’t wonder,’ went on Slivers, + musingly, ‘I shouldn’t wonder if they called on Madame Midas.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. — SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE + </h2> + <p> + Slivers was puzzled over Villiers’ disappearance, so he determined to go + in search of evidence against Madame Midas, though for what reason he + wanted evidence against her no one but himself—and perhaps Billy—knew. + But then Slivers always was an enigma regarding his reasons for doing + things, and even the Sphinx would have found him a difficult riddle to + solve. + </p> + <p> + The reasons he had for turning detective were simply these: It soon became + known that Madame Midas had been robbed by her husband of the famous + nugget, and great was the indignation of everyone against Mr Villiers. + That gentleman would have fared very badly if he had made his appearance, + but for some reason or another he did not venture forth. In fact, he had + completely disappeared, and where he was no one knew. The last person who + saw him was Barty Jarper, who left him at the corner of Lydiard and Sturt + Streets, when Mr Villiers had announced his intention of going home. Mrs + Cheedle, however, asserted positively that she had never set eyes on him + since the time she stated to Slivers, and as it was now nearly two weeks + since he had disappeared things were beginning to look serious. The + generally received explanation was that he had bolted with the nugget, but + as he could hardly dispose of such a large mass of gold without suspicion, + and as the police both in Ballarat and Melbourne had made inquiries, which + proved futile, this theory began to lose ground. + </p> + <p> + It was at this period that Slivers asserted himself—coming forward, + he hinted in an ambiguous sort of way that Villiers had met with foul + play, and that some people had their reasons for wishing to get rid of + him. This was clearly an insinuation against Madame Midas, but everyone + refused to believe such an impossible story, so Slivers determined to make + good his words, and went in search of evidence. + </p> + <p> + The Wopples Family having left Ballarat, Slivers was unable to see Mr + Theodore Wopples, who had been in Villiers’ company on the night of his + disappearance. + </p> + <p> + Mr Barty Jarper, however, had not yet departed, so Slivers waylaid him, + and asked him in a casual way to drop into his office and have a drink, + with a view of finding out from him all the events of that night. + </p> + <p> + Barty was on his way to a lawn tennis party, and was arrayed in a flannel + suit of many colours, with his small, white face nearly hidden under a + large straw hat. Being of a social turn of mind, he did not refuse + Slivers’ invitation, but walked into the dusty office and assisted himself + liberally to the whisky. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here’s fun, old cock!’ he said, in a free and easy manner, raising his + glass to his lips; ‘may your shadow never be less.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers hoped devoutly that his shadow never would be less, as that would + involve the loss of several other limbs, which he could ill spare; so he + honoured Mr Jarper’s toast with a rasping little laugh, and prepared to + talk. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s very kind of you to come and talk to an old chap like me,’ said + Slivers, in as amiable a tone as he could command, which was not much. + ‘You’re such a gay young fellow!’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Jarper acknowledged modestly that he was gay, but that he owed certain + duties to society, and had to be mildly social. + </p> + <p> + ‘And so handsome!’ croaked Slivers, winking with his one eye at Billy, who + sat on the table. ‘Oh, he’s all there, ain’t he, Billy?’ + </p> + <p> + Billy, however, did not agree to this, and merely observed ‘Pickles,’ in a + disbelieving manner. + </p> + <p> + Mr Jarper felt rather overcome by this praise, and blushed in a modest + way, but felt that he could not return the compliment with any degree of + truth, as Slivers was not handsome, neither was he all there. + </p> + <p> + He, however, decided that Slivers was an unusually discerning person, and + worthy to talk to, so prepared to make himself agreeable. + </p> + <p> + Slivers, who had thus gained the goodwill of the young man by flattery, + plunged into the subject of Villiers’ disappearance. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wonder what’s become of Villiers,’ he said, artfully pushing the whisky + bottle toward Barty. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ said Barty in a languid, used-up sort of voice, + pouring himself out some more whisky, ‘I haven’t seen him since last + Monday week.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Where did you leave him on that night?’ asked Slivers. + </p> + <p> + ‘At the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Early in the morning, I suppose?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes—pretty early—about two o’clock, I think.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you never saw him after that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not a sight of him,’ replied Barty; ‘but, I say, why all this thusness?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll tell you after you have answered my questions,’ retorted Slivers, + rudely, ‘but I’m not asking out of curiosity—its business.’ + </p> + <p> + Barty thought that Slivers was very peculiar, but determined to humour + him, and to take his leave as early as possible. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, go on,’ he said, drinking his whisky, ‘I’ll answer.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who else was with you and Villiers on that night?’ asked Slivers in a + magisterial kind of manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘A French fellow called Vandeloup.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Vandeloup!’ echoed Slivers in surprise; ‘oh, indeed! what the devil was + he doing?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Enjoying himself,’ replied Barty, coolly; ‘he came into the theatre and + Villiers introduced him to me; then Mr Wopples asked us all to supper.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You went, of course?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Rather, old chap; what do you take us for?’—this from Barty, with a + knowing wink. + </p> + <p> + ‘What time did Vandeloup leave?’ asked Slivers, not paying any attention + to Barty’s pantomime. + </p> + <p> + ‘About twenty minutes to twelve.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! I suppose that was because he had to drive out to the Pactolus?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not such a fool, dear boy; he stayed all night in town.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ ejaculated Slivers, in an excited manner, drumming on the table with + his fingers, ‘where did he stay?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘At the Wattle Tree Hotel.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers mentally made a note of this, and determined to go there and find + out at what time Vandeloup had come home on the night in question, for + this suspicious old man had now got it into his head that Vandeloup was in + some way responsible for Villiers’ disappearance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where did Villiers say he was going when he left you?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Straight home.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Humph! Well, he didn’t go home at all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Didn’t he?’ echoed Barty, in some astonishment. ‘Then what’s become of + him? Men don’t disappear in this mysterious way without some reason.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, but there is a reason,’ replied Slivers, bending across the table and + clawing at the papers thereon with the lean fingers of his one hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why! what do you think is the reason?’ faltered Barty, letting his + eye-glass drop out of his eye, and edging his chair further away from this + terrible old man. + </p> + <p> + ‘Murder!’ hissed the other through his thin lips. ‘He’s been murdered!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lord!’ ejaculated Barty, jumping up from his chair in alarm; ‘you’re + going too far, old chap.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m going further,’ retorted Slivers, rising from his chair and stumping + up and down the room; ‘I’m going to find out who did it, and then I’ll + grind her to powder; I’ll twist her neck off, curse her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it a woman?’ asked Barty, who now began to think of making a retreat, + for Slivers, with his one eye blazing, and his cork arm swinging rapidly + to and fro, was not a pleasant object to contemplate. + </p> + <p> + This unguarded remark recalled Slivers to himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s what I want to find out,’ he replied, sulkily, going back to his + chair. ‘Have some more whisky?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, thanks,’ answered Barty, going to the door, ‘I’m late as it is for my + engagement; ta, ta, old chap, I hope you’ll drop on the he or she you’re + looking for; but you’re quite wrong, Villiers has bolted with the nugget, + and that’s a fact, sir,’ and with an airy wave of his hand Barty went out, + leaving Slivers in anything but a pleasant temper. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah! you peacock,’ cried this wicked old man, banging his wooden leg + against the table, ‘you eye-glass idiot—you brainless puppy—I’m + wrong, am I? we’ll see about that, you rag-shop.’ This last in allusion to + Barty’s picturesque garb. ‘I’ve found out all I want from you, and I’ll + track her down, and put her in gaol, and hang her—hang her till + she’s as dead as a door nail.’ + </p> + <p> + Having given vent to this pleasant sentiment, Slivers put on his hat, and, + taking his stick, walked out of his office, but not before Billy saw his + intention and had climbed up to his accustomed place on the old man’s + shoulder. So Slivers stumped along the street, with the cockatoo on his + shoulder, looking like a depraved Robinson Crusoe, and took his way to the + Wattle Tree Hotel. + </p> + <p> + ‘If,’ argued Slivers to himself, as he pegged bravely along, ‘if Villiers + wanted to get rid of the nugget he’d have come to me, for he knew I’d keep + quiet and tell no tales. Well, he didn’t come to me, and there’s no one + else he could go to. They’ve been looking for him all over the shop, and + they can’t find him; he can’t be hiding or he’d have let me know; there’s + only one explanation—he’s been murdered—but not for the gold—oh, + dear no—for nobody knew he had it. Who wanted him out of the way?—his + wife. Would she stick at anything?—I’m damned if she would. So it’s + her work. The only question is did she do it personally or by deputy. I + say deputy, ‘cause she’d be too squeamish to do it herself. Who would she + select as deputy?—Vandeloup! Why?—‘cause he’d like to marry + her for her money. Yes, I’m sure it’s him. Things look black against him: + he stayed in town all night, a thing he never did before—leaves the + supper at a quarter to twelve, so as to avoid suspicion; waits till + Villiers comes out at two in the morning and kills him. Aha! my handsome + jackadandy,’ cried Slivers, viciously, suddenly stopping and shaking his + stick at an imaginary Vandeloup; ‘I’ve got you under my thumb, and I’ll + crush the life out of you—and of her also, if I can;’ and with this + amiable resolution Slivers resumed his way. + </p> + <p> + Slivers’ argument was plausible, but there were plenty of flaws in it, + which, however, he did not stop to consider, so carried away was he by his + anger against Madame Midas. He stumped along doggedly, revolving the whole + affair in his mind, and by the time he arrived at the Wattle Tree Hotel he + had firmly persuaded himself that Villiers was dead, and that Vandeloup + had committed the crime at the instigation of Mrs Villiers. + </p> + <p> + He found Miss Twexby seated in the bar, with a decidedly cross face, which + argued ill for anyone who held converse with her that day; but as Slivers + was quite as crabbed as she was, and, moreover, feared neither God nor man—much + less a woman—he tackled her at once. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where’s your father?’ he asked, abruptly, leaning on his stick and + looking intently at the fair Martha’s vinegary countenance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Asleep!’ snapped that damsel, jerking her head in the direction of the + parlour; ‘what do you want?’—very disdainfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘A little civility in the first place,’ retorted Slivers, rudely, sitting + down on a bench that ran along the wall, and thereby causing his wooden + leg to stick straight out, which, being perceived by Billy, he descended + from the old man’s shoulder and turned the leg into a perch, where he sat + and swore at Martha. + </p> + <p> + ‘You wicked old wretch,’ said Miss Twexby, viciously—her nose + getting redder with suppressed excitement—‘go along with you, and + take that irreligious parrot with you, or I’ll wake my par.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He won’t thank you for doing so,’ replied Slivers, coolly; ‘I’ve called + to see him about some new shares just on the market, and if you don’t + treat me with more respect I’ll go, and he’ll be out of a good thing.’ + </p> + <p> + Now, Miss Twexby knew that Slivers was in the habit of doing business with + her parent, and, moreover was a power in the share market, so she did not + deem it diplomatic to go too far, and bottling up her wrath for a future + occasion, when no loss would be involved, she graciously asked Slivers + what he’d be pleased to have. + </p> + <p> + ‘Whisky,’ said Slivers, curtly, leaning his chin on his stick, and + following her movements with his one eye. ‘I say!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well?’ asked Miss Twexby, coming from behind the bar with a glass and a + bottle of whisky, ‘what do you say?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How’s that good-looking Frenchman?’ asked Slivers, pouring himself out + some liquor, and winking at her in a rakish manner with his one eye. + </p> + <p> + ‘How should I know?’ snapped Martha, angrily, ‘he comes here to see that + friend of his, and then clears out without as much as a good day; a nice + sort of friend, indeed,’ wrathfully, ‘stopping here nearly two weeks and + drunk all the time; he’ll be having delirious trimmings before he’s done.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who will?’ said Slivers, taking a sip of his whisky and water. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, that other Frenchman!’ retorted Martha, going to her place behind + the bar, ‘Peter something; a low, black wretch, all beard, with no tongue, + and a thirst like a lime-kiln.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, the dumb man.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Twexby nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s him,’ she said, triumphantly, ‘he’s been here for the last two + weeks.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Drunk, I think you said,’ remarked Slivers, politely. + </p> + <p> + Martha laughed scornfully, and took out some sewing. + </p> + <p> + ‘I should just think so,’ she retorted, tossing her head, ‘he does nothing + but drink all day, and run after people with that knife.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very dangerous,’ observed Slivers, gravely shaking his head; ‘why don’t + you get rid of him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So we are,’ said Miss Twexby, biting off a bit of cotton, as if she + wished it were Pierre’s head; ‘he is going down to Melbourne the day after + to-morrow.’ + </p> + <p> + Slivers got weary of hearing about Pierre, and plunged right off into the + object of his visit. + </p> + <p> + ‘That Vandeloup,’ he began. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well?’ said Miss Twexby, letting the work fall on her lap. + </p> + <p> + ‘What time did he come home the night he stopped here?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Twelve o’clock.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Get along with you,’ said Slivers, in disgust, ‘you mean three o’clock.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I don’t,’ retorted Martha, indignantly; ‘you’ll be telling me I don’t + know the time next.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Did he go out again? + </p> + <p> + ‘No, he went to bed.’ + </p> + <p> + This quite upset Slivers’ idea—as if Vandeloup had gone to bed at + twelve, he certainly could not have murdered Villiers nearly a mile away + at two o’clock in the morning. Slivers was puzzled, and then the light + broke on him—perhaps it was the dumb man. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did the other stay here all night also?’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Twexby nodded. ‘Both in the same room,’ she answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘What time did the dumb chap come in?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Half-past nine.’ + </p> + <p> + Here was another facer for Slivers—as it could not have been Pierre. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did he go to bed?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Straight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And did not leave the house again?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course not,’ retorted Miss Twexby, impatiently; ‘do you think I’m a + fool—no one goes either in or out of this house without my knowing + it. The dumb devil went to bed at half-past nine, and Mr Vandeloup at + half-past twelve, and they neither of them came out of their rooms till + next morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How do you know Vandeloup was in at twelve?’ asked Slivers, still + unconvinced. + </p> + <p> + ‘Drat the man, what’s he worryin’ about?’ rejoined Miss Twexby, + snappishly; ‘I let him in myself.’ + </p> + <p> + This clearly closed the subject, and Slivers arose to his feet in great + disgust, upsetting Billy on to the floor. + </p> + <p> + ‘Devil!’ shrieked Billy, as he dropped. ‘Oh, my precious mother. Devil—devil—devil—you’re + a liar—you’re a liar—Bendigo and Ballarat—Ballarat and + Bendigo—Pickles!’ + </p> + <p> + Having thus run through a portion of his vocabulary, he subsided into + silence, and let Slivers pick him up in order to go home. + </p> + <p> + ‘A nice pair you are,’ muttered Martha, grimly, looking at them. ‘I wish I + had the thrashing of you. Won’t you stay and see par?’ she called out as + Slivers departed. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll come to-morrow,’ answered Slivers, angrily, for he felt very much + out of temper; then, in a lower voice, he observed to himself, ‘I’d like + to put that jade in a teacup and crush her.’ + </p> + <p> + He stumped home in silence, thinking all the time; and it was only when he + arrived back in his office that he gave utterance to his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + ‘It couldn’t have been either of the Frenchmen,’ he said, lighting his + pipe. ‘She must have done it herself.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. — MCINTOSH SPEAKS HIS MIND + </h2> + <p> + It was some time before Mrs Villiers recovered from the shock caused by + her encounter with her husband. The blow he had struck her on the side of + the head turned out to be more serious than was at first anticipated, and + Selina deemed it advisable that a doctor should be called in. So Archie + went into Ballarat, and returned to the Pactolus with Dr Gollipeck, an + eccentric medical practitioner, whose peculiarities were the talk of the + city. + </p> + <p> + Dr Gollipeck was tall and lank, with an unfinished look about him, as if + Nature in some sudden freak had seized an incomplete skeleton from a + museum and hastily covered it with parchment. He dressed in rusty black, + wore dingy cotton gloves, carried a large white umbrella, and surveyed the + world through the medium of a pair of huge spectacles. His clothes were + constantly coming undone, as he scorned the use of buttons, and preferred + pins, which were always scratching his hands. He spoke very little, and + was engaged in composing an erudite work on ‘The Art of Poisoning, from + Borgia to Brinvilliers’. + </p> + <p> + Selina was not at all impressed with his appearance, and mentally decided + that a good wash and a few buttons would improve him wonderfully. Dr + Gollipeck, however, soon verified the adage that appearances are deceptive—as + Selina afterwards remarked to Archie—by bringing Madame Midas back + to health in a wonderfully short space of time. She was now convalescent, + and, seated in the arm-chair by the window, looked dreamily at the + landscape. She was thinking of her husband, and in what manner he would + annoy her next; but she half thought—and the wish was father to the + half thought—that having got the nugget he would now leave her + alone. + </p> + <p> + She knew that he had not been in Ballarat since that fatal night when he + had attacked her, but imagined that he was merely hiding till such time as + the storm should blow over and he could enjoy his ill-gotten gains in + safety. The letter asking him to give up the nugget and ordering him to + leave the district under threat of prosecution had been sent to his + lodgings, but was still lying there unopened. The letters accumulated into + quite a little pile as weeks rolled on, yet Mr Villiers, if he was alive, + made no sign, and if he was dead, no traces had been found of his body. + McIntosh and Slivers had both seen the police about the affair, one in + order to recover the nugget, the other actuated by bitter enmity against + Madame Midas. To Slivers’ hints, that perhaps Villiers’ wife knew more + than she chose to tell, the police turned a deaf ear, as they assured + Slivers that they had made inquiries, and on the authority of Selina and + McIntosh could safely say that Madame Midas had been home that night at + half-past nine o’clock, whereas Villiers was still alive in Ballarat—as + could be proved by the evidence of Mr Jarper—at two o’clock in the + morning. So, foiled on every side in his endeavours to implicate Mrs + Villiers in her husband’s disappearance, Slivers retired to his office, + and, assisted by his ungodly cockatoo, passed many hours in swearing at + his bad luck and in cursing the absent Villiers. + </p> + <p> + As to M. Vandeloup, he was indefatigable in his efforts to find Villiers, + for, as he very truly said, he could never repay Madame Midas sufficiently + for her kindness to him, and he wanted to do all in his power to punish + her cruel husband. But in spite of all this seeking, the whereabouts of Mr + Randolph Villiers remained undiscovered, and at last, in despair, everyone + gave up looking. Villiers had disappeared entirely, and had taken the + nugget with him, so where he was and what he was doing remained a mystery. + </p> + <p> + One result of Madame’s illness was that M. Vandeloup had met Dr Gollipeck, + and the two, though apparently dissimilar in both character and + appearance, had been attracted to one another by a liking which they had + in common. This was the study of toxicology, a science at which the + eccentric old man had spent a lifetime. He found in Vandeloup a congenial + spirit, for the young Frenchman had a wonderful liking for the uncanny + subject; but there was a difference in the aims of both men, Gollipeck + being drawn to the study of poisons from a pure love of the subject, + whereas Vandeloup wanted to find out the secrets of toxicology for his own + ends, which were anything but disinterested. + </p> + <p> + Wearied of the dull routine of the office work, Vandeloup was taking a + walk in the meadows which surrounded the Pactolus, when he saw Dr + Gollipeck shuffling along the dusty white road from the railway station. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good day, Monsieur le Medecin,’ said Vandeloup, gaily, as he came up to + the old man; ‘are you going to see our mutual friend?’ + </p> + <p> + Gollipeck, ever sparing of words, nodded in reply, and trudged on in + silence, but the Frenchmen, being used to the eccentricities of his + companion, was in nowise offended at his silence, but went on talking in + an animated manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, my dear friend,’ he said, pushing his straw hat back on his fair + head; ‘how goes on the great work?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Capitally,’ returned the doctor, with a complacent smile; ‘just finished + “Catherine de Medici”—wonderful woman, sir—quite a mistress of + the art of poisoning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Humph,’ returned Vandeloup, thoughtfully, lighting a cigarette, ‘I do not + agree with you there; it was her so-called astrologer, Ruggieri, who + prepared all her potions. Catherine certainly had the power, but Ruggieri + possessed the science—a very fair division of labour for getting rid + of people, I must say—but what have you got there?’ nodding towards + a large book which Gollipeck carried under his arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘For you,’ answered the other, taking the book slowly from under his arm, + and thereby causing another button to fly off, ‘quite new,—work on + toxicology.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you,’ said Vandeloup, taking the heavy volume and looking at the + title; ‘French, I see! I’m sure it will be pleasant reading.’ + </p> + <p> + The title of the book was ‘Les Empoisonneurs d’Aujourd’hui, par MM. Prevol + et Lebrun’, and it had only been published the previous year; so as he + turned over the leaves carelessly, M. Vandeloup caught sight of a name + which he knew. He smiled a little, and closing the book put it under his + arm, while he turned smilingly towards his companion, whom he found + looking keenly at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall enjoy this book immensely,’ he said, touching the volume. Dr + Gollipeck nodded and chuckled in a hoarse rattling kind of way. + </p> + <p> + ‘So I should think,’ he answered, with another sharp look, ‘you are a very + clever young man, my friend.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup acknowledged the compliment with a bow, and wondered mentally + what this old man meant. Gaston, however, was never without an answer, so + he turned to Gollipeck again with a nonchalant smile on his handsome lips. + </p> + <p> + ‘So kind of you to think well of me,’ he said, coolly flicking the ash off + the end of his cigarette with his little finger; ‘but why do you pay me + such a compliment?’ + </p> + <p> + Gollipeck answered the question by asking another. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why are you so fond of toxicology?’ he said, abruptly, shuffling his feet + in the long dry grass in which they were now walking in order to rub the + dust off his ungainly, ill-blacked shoes. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘To pass the time,’ he said, carelessly, ‘that is all; even office work, + exciting as it is, becomes wearisome, so I must take up some subject to + amuse myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Curious taste for a young man,’ remarked the doctor, dryly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nature,’ said M. Vandeloup, ‘does not form men all on the same pattern, + and my taste for toxicology has at least the charm of novelty.’ + </p> + <p> + Gollipeck looked at the young man again in a sharp manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘I hope you’ll enjoy the book,’ he said, abruptly, and vanished into the + house. + </p> + <p> + When he was gone, the mocking smile so habitual to Vandeloup’s countenance + faded away, and his face assumed a thoughtful expression. He opened the + book, and turned over the leaves rapidly, but without finding what he was + in search of. With an uneasy laugh he shut the volume with a snap, and put + it under his arm again. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s an enigma,’ he thought, referring to the doctor; ‘but he can’t + suspect anything. The case may be in this book, but I doubt if even this + man with the barbarous name can connect Gaston Vandeloup, of Ballarat, + with Octave Braulard, of Paris.’ + </p> + <p> + His face reassumed its usual gay look, and throwing away the half-smoked + cigarette, he walked into the house and found Madame Midas seated in her + arm-chair near the window looking pale and ill, while Archie was walking + up and down in an excited manner, and talking volubly in broad Scotch. As + to Dr Gollipeck, that eccentric individual was standing in front of the + fire, looking even more dilapidated than usual, and drying his red + bandanna handkerchief in an abstract manner. Selina was in another room + getting a drink for Madame, and as Vandeloup entered she came back with + it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good day, Madame,’ said the Frenchman, advancing to the table, and + putting his hat and the book down on it. ‘How are you today?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Better, much better, thank you,’ said Madame, with a faint smile; ‘the + doctor assures me I shall be quite well in a week.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘With perfect rest and quiet, of course,’ interposed Gollipeck, sitting + down and spreading his handkerchief over his knees. + </p> + <p> + ‘Which Madame does not seem likely to get,’ observed Vandeloup, dryly, + with a glance at McIntosh, who was still pacing up and down the room with + an expression of wrath on his severe face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ou, ay,’ said that gentleman, stopping in front of Vandeloup, with a fine + expression of scorn. ‘I ken weel ‘tis me ye are glowerin’ at—div ye + no’ ken what’s the matter wi’ me?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not being in your confidence,’ replied Gaston, smoothly, taking a seat, + ‘I can hardly say that I do.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s just that Peter o’ yours,’ said Archie, with a snort; ‘a puir + weecked unbaptised child o’ Satan.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Archie!’ interposed Madame, with some severity. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your pardon’s begged, mem,’ said Archie, sourly turning to her; ‘but as + for that Peter body, the Lord keep me tongue fra’ swearin’, an’ my hand + from itching to gie him ain on the lug, when I think o’ him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s he been doing?’ asked Vandeloup, coolly. ‘I am quite prepared to + hear anything about him in his present state.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s just this,’ burst forth Archie, wrathfully. ‘I went intil the toun + to the hotel, to tell the body he must come back tae the mine, and I find + him no in a fit state for a Christian to speak to.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Therefore,’ interposed Vandeloup, in his even voice, without lifting his + eyes, ‘it was a pity you did speak to him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I gang t’ the room,’ went on Archie excitedly, without paying any + attention to Vandeloup’s remark, ‘an’ the deil flew on me wi’ a dirk, and + wud hae split my weasand, but I hed the sense to bang the door to, and + turn the key in the lock. D’y ca’ that conduct for a ceevilized body?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The fact is, M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, quietly, ‘Archie is so annoyed + at this conduct that he does not want Lemaire to come back to work.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ma certie, I should just think so,’ cried McIntosh, rubbing his head with + his handkerchief. ‘Fancy an imp of Beelzebub like yon in the bowels o’ the + earth. Losh! but it macks my bluid rin cauld when I think o’ the + bluidthirsty pagan.’ + </p> + <p> + To Vandeloup, this information was not unpleasant. He was anxious to get + rid of Pierre, who was such an incubus, and now saw that he could send him + away without appearing to wish to get rid of him. But as he was a + diplomatic young man he did not allow his satisfaction to appear on his + face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aren’t you rather hard on him?’ he said, coolly, leaning back in his + chair; ‘he is simply drunk, and will be all right soon.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I tell ye I’ll no have him back,’ said Archie, firmly; ‘he’s ain o’ they + foreign bodies full of revolutions an’ confusion o’ tongues, and I’d no + feel safe i’ the mine if I kenned that deil was doon below wi’ his dirk.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I really think he ought to go,’ said Madame, looking rather anxiously at + Vandeloup, ‘unless, M. Vandeloup, you do not want to part with him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I don’t want him,’ said Vandeloup, hastily; ‘as I told you, he was + only one of the sailors on board the ship I was wrecked in, and he + followed me up here because I was the only friend he had, but now he has + got money—or, at least, his wages must come to a good amount.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Forty pounds,’ interposed Archie. + </p> + <p> + ‘So I think the best thing he can do is to go to Melbourne, and see if he + can get back to France.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you, M. Vandeloup?’ asked Dr Gollipeck, who had been listening to the + young Frenchman’s remarks with great interest; ‘do you not wish to go to + France?’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup rose coolly from his chair, and, picking up his book and hat, + turned to the doctor. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear Monsieur,’ he said, leaning up against the wall in a graceful + manner, ‘I left France to see the world, so until I have seen it I don’t + think it would be worthwhile to return.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never go back when you have once put your hand to the plough,’ observed + Selina, opportunely, upon which Vandeloup bowed to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mademoiselle,’ he said, quietly, with a charming smile, ‘has put the + matter into the shell of a nut; Australia is my plough, and I do not take + my hand away until I have finished with it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But that deil o’ a Peter,’ said Archie, impatiently. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you will permit me, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, ‘I will write out a + cheque for the amount of money due to him, and you will sign it. I will go + into Ballarat to-morrow, and get him away to Melbourne. I propose to buy + him a box and some clothes, as he certainly is not capable of getting them + himself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have a kind heart, M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, as she assented with a + nod. + </p> + <p> + A stifled laugh came from the Doctor, but as he was such an extremely + eccentric individual no one minded him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come, Monsieur,’ said Vandeloup, going to the door, ‘let us be off to the + office and see how much is due to my friend,’ and with a bow to Madame, he + went out. + </p> + <p> + ‘A braw sort o’ freend,’ muttered Archie, as he followed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Quite good enough for him,’ retorted Dr Gollipeck, who overheard him. + </p> + <p> + Archie looked at him approvingly, nodded his head, and went out after the + Frenchman, but Madame, being a woman and curious, asked the doctor what he + meant. + </p> + <p> + His reply was peculiar. + </p> + <p> + ‘Our friend,’ he said, putting his handkerchief in his pocket and seizing + his greasy old hat, ‘our friend believes in the greatest number.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And what is the greatest number?’ asked Madame, innocently. + </p> + <p> + ‘Number one,’ retorted the Doctor, and took his leave abruptly, leaving + two buttons and several pins on the floor as traces of his visit. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. — THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST PART + </h2> + <p> + Union is strength, and if Dr Gollipeck had only met Slivers and revealed + his true opinion of Vandeloup to him, no doubt that clever young man would + have found himself somewhat embarrassed, as a great deal of a man’s past + history can be found out by the simple plan of putting two and two + together. Fortunately, however, for Gaston, these two gentlemen never met, + and Gollipeck came to the conclusion that he could see nothing to blame in + Vandeloup’s conduct, though he certainly mistrusted him, and determined + mentally to keep an eye on his movements. What led him to be suspicious + was the curious resemblance the appearance of this young man had to that + of a criminal described in the ‘Les Empoisonneurs d’Aujourd’hui’ as having + been transported to New Caledonia for the crime of poisoning his mistress. + Everything, however, was vague and uncertain; so Dr Gollipeck, when he + arrived home, came to the above-named conclusion that he would watch + Vandeloup, and then, dismissing him from his mind, went to work on his + favourite subject. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, M. Vandeloup slept the sleep of the just, and next morning, + after making his inquiries after the health of Madame Midas—a thing + he never neglected to do—he went into Ballarat in search of Pierre. + On arriving at the Wattle Tree Hotel he was received by Miss Twexby in + dignified silence, for that astute damsel was beginning to regard the + fascinating Frenchman as a young man who talked a great deal and meant + nothing. + </p> + <p> + He was audacious enough to win her virgin heart and then break it, so Miss + Twexby thought the wisest thing would be to keep him at a distance. So + Vandeloup’s bright smiles and merry jokes failed to call forth any + response from the fair Martha, who sat silently in the bar, looking like a + crabbed sphinx. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is my friend Pierre in?’ asked Vandeloup, leaning across the counter, and + looking lovingly at Miss Twexby. + </p> + <p> + That lady intimated coldly that he was in, and had been for the last two + weeks; also that she was sick of him, and she’d thank M. Vandeloup to + clear him out—all of which amused Vandeloup mightily, though he + still continued to smile coolly on the sour-faced damsel before him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Would you mind going and telling him I want to see him?’ he asked, + lounging to the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Me!’ shrieked Martha, in a shrill voice, shooting up from behind the + counter like an infuriated jack-in-the-box. ‘No, I shan’t. Why, the last + time I saw him he nearly cut me like a ham sandwich with that knife of + his. I am not,’ pursued Miss Twexby, furiously, ‘a loaf of bread to be + cut, neither am I a pin-cushion to have things stuck into me; so if you + want to be a corpse, you’d better go up yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I hardly think he’ll touch me,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly, going towards + the door which led to Pierre’s bedroom. ‘You’ve had a lot of trouble with + him, I’m afraid; but he’s going down to Melbourne tonight, so it will be + all right.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And the bill?’ queried Miss Twexby, anxiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘I will pay it,’ said Vandeloup, at which she was going to say he was very + generous, but suppressed the compliment when he added, ‘out of his own + money.’ + </p> + <p> + Gaston, however, failed to persuade Pierre to accompany him round to buy + an outfit. For the dumb man lay on his bed, and obstinately refused to + move out of the room. He, however, acquiesced sullenly when his friend + told him he was going to Melbourne, so Vandeloup left the room, having + first secured Pierre’s knife, and locked the door after him. He gave the + knife to Miss Twexby, with injunctions to her to keep it safe, then + sallied forth to buy his shipwrecked friend a box and some clothes. + </p> + <p> + He spent about ten pounds in buying an outfit for the dumb man, hired a + cab to call at the ‘Wattle Tree’ Hotel at seven o’clock to take the box + and its owner to the station. And then feeling he had done his duty and + deserved some recompense, he had a nice little luncheon and a small bottle + of wine for which he paid out of Pierre’s money. When he finished he + bought a choice cigar, had a glass of Chartreuse, and after resting in the + commercial room for a time he went out for a walk, intending to call on + Slivers and Dr Gollipeck, and in fact do anything to kill time until it + would be necessary for him to go to Pierre and take him to the railway + station. + </p> + <p> + He walked slowly up Sturt Street, and as the afternoon was so warm, + thought he would go up to Lake Wendouree, which is at the top of the town, + and see if it was any cooler by the water. The day was oppressively hot, + but not with the bright, cheery warmth of a summer’s day, for the sun was + hidden behind great masses of angry-looking clouds, and it seemed as if a + thunderstorm would soon break over the city. Even Vandeloup, full of life + and animation as he was, felt weighed down by the heaviness of the + atmosphere, and feeling quite exhausted when he arrived at the lake, he + was glad enough to sit down on one of the seats for a rest. + </p> + <p> + The lake under the black sky was a dull leaden hue, and as there was no + wind the water was perfectly still. Even the trees all round it were + motionless, as there came no breeze to stir their leaves, and the only + sounds that could be heard were the dull croaking of the frogs amid the + water grasses, and the shrill cries of children playing on the green turf. + Every now and then a steamer would skim across the surface of the water in + an airy manner, looking more like a child’s clockwork toy than anything + else, and Vandeloup, when he saw one of these arrive at the little pier, + almost expected to see a man put in a huge key to the paddle wheels and + wind it up again. + </p> + <p> + On one of the seats Vandeloup espied a little figure in white, and seeing + that it was Kitty, he strolled up to her in a leisurely manner. She was + looking at the ground when he came up, and was prodding holes in the + spongy turf with her umbrella, but glanced up carelessly as he came near. + Then she sprang up with a cry of joy, and throwing her arms around his + neck, she kissed him twice. + </p> + <p> + ‘I haven’t seen you for ages,’ said Kitty, putting her arm in his as they + sat down. ‘I just came up here for a week, and did not think I’d see you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The meeting was quite accidental, I know,’ replied Gaston, leaning back + lazily; ‘but none the less pleasant on that account.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no,’ said Kitty, gravely shaking her head; ‘unexpected meetings are + always pleasanter than those arranged, for there’s never any + disappointment about them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, that’s your experience, is it?’ answered her lover, with an amused + smile, pulling out his cigarette case. ‘Well, suppose you reward me for my + accidental presence here, and light a cigarette for me.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty was of course delighted, and took the case while M. Vandeloup leaned + back in the seat, his hands behind his head, and stared reflectively at + the leaden-coloured sky. Kitty took out a cigarette from the case, placed + it between her pretty lips, and having obtained a match from one of her + lover’s pockets, proceeded to light it, which was not done without a great + deal of choking and pretty confusion. At length she managed it, and + bending over Gaston, placed it in his mouth, and gave him a kiss at the + same time. + </p> + <p> + ‘If pa knew I did this, he’d expire with horror,’ she said, sagely nodding + her head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wouldn’t be much loss if he did,’ replied Vandeloup, lazily, glancing at + her pretty face from under his eyelashes; ‘your father has a great many + faults, dear.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, “The Elect” think him perfect,’ said Kitty, wisely. + </p> + <p> + ‘From their point of view, perhaps he is,’ returned Gaston, with a faint + sneer; ‘but he’s not a man given to exuberant mirth.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, he is rather dismal,’ assented Kitty, doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wouldn’t you like to leave him and lead a jollier life?’ asked Vandeloup, + artfully, ‘in Melbourne, for instance.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty looked at him half afraid. + </p> + <p> + ‘I—I don’t know,’ she faltered, looking down. + </p> + <p> + ‘But I do, Bebe,’ whispered Gaston, putting his arm round her waist; ‘you + would like to come with me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why? Are you going?’ cried Kitty, in dismay. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think I spoke about this before,’ he said, idly brushing some cigarette + ash off his waistcoat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ returned Kitty, ‘but I thought you did not mean it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I never say anything I do not mean,’ answered Vandeloup, with the ready + lie on his lips in a moment; ‘and I have got letters from France with + money, so I am going to leave the Pactolus.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And me?’ said Kitty, tearfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘That depends upon yourself, Bebe,’ he said rapidly, pressing her burning + cheek against his own; ‘your father would never consent to my marriage, + and I can’t take you away from Ballarat without suspicions, so—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes?’ said Kitty, eagerly, looking at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘You must run away,’ he whispered, with a caressing smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘Alone?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For a time, yes,’ he answered, throwing away his cigarette; ‘listen—next + week you must meet me here, and I will give you money to keep you in + Melbourne for some time; then you must leave Ballarat at once and wait for + me at the Buttercup Hotel in Gertrude Street, Carlton; you understand?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ faltered Kitty, nervously; ‘I—I understand.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And you will come?’ he asked anxiously, looking keenly at her, and + pressing the little hand he held in his own. Just as she was going to + answer, as if warning her of the fatal step she was about to take, a low + roll of thunder broke on their ears, and Kitty shrank back appalled from + her lover’s embrace. + </p> + <p> + ‘No! no! no!’ she almost shrieked, hysterically, trying to tear herself + away from his arms, ‘I cannot; God is speaking.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah!’ sneered Vandeloup, with an evil look on his handsome face, ‘he + speaks too indistinctly for us to guess what he means; what are you afraid + of? I will join you in Melbourne in two or three weeks, and then we will + be married.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But my father,’ she whispered, clasping her hot hands convulsively. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, what of him?’ asked Vandeloup, coolly; ‘he is so wrapped up in his + religion that he will not miss you; he will never find out where you are + in Melbourne, and by the time he does you will be my wife. Come,’ he said, + ardently, whispering the temptation in her ear, as if he was afraid of + being heard, ‘you must consent; say yes, Bebe; say yes.’ + </p> + <p> + She felt his hot breath on her cheek, and felt rather than saw the + scintillations of his wonderful eyes, which sent a thrill through her; so, + utterly exhausted and worn out by the overpowering nervous force possessed + by this man, she surrendered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ she whispered, clinging to him with dry lips and a beating heart; + ‘I will come!’ Then her overstrained nature gave way, and with a burst of + tears she threw herself on his breast. + </p> + <p> + Gaston let her sob quietly for some time, satisfied with having gained his + end, and knowing that she would soon recover. At last Kitty grew calmer, + and drying her eyes, she rose to her feet wan and haggard, as if she was + worn out for the want of sleep, and not by any manner of means looking + like a girl who was in love. This appearance was caused by the revolt of + her religious training against doing what she knew was wrong. In her + breast a natural instinct had been fighting against an artificial one; and + as Nature is always stronger than precept, Nature had conquered. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, rising also, and kissing her white cheek, + ‘you must go home now, and get a little sleep; it will do you good.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But you?’ asked Kitty, in a low voice, as they walked slowly along. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I,’ said M. Vandeloup, airily; ‘I am going to the Wattle Tree Hotel + to see my friend Pierre off to Melbourne.’ + </p> + <p> + Then he exerted himself to amuse Kitty as they walked down to town, and + succeeded so well that by the time they reached Lydiard Street, where + Kitty left him to go up to Black Hill, she was laughing as merrily as + possible. They parted at the railway crossing, and Kitty went gaily up the + white dusty road, while M. Vandeloup strolled leisurely along the street + on his way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + </p> + <p> + When he arrived he found that Pierre’s box had come, and was placed + outside his door, as no one had been brave enough to venture inside, + although Miss Twexby assured them he was unarmed—showing the knife + as a proof. + </p> + <p> + Gaston, however, dragged the box into the room, and having made Pierre + dress himself in his new clothes, he packed all the rest in a box, corded + it, and put a ticket on it with his name and destination, then gave the + dumb man the balance of his wages. It was now about six o’clock, so + Vandeloup went down to dinner; then putting Pierre and his box into the + cab, stepped in himself and drove off. + </p> + <p> + The promise of rain in the afternoon was now fulfilled, and it was pouring + in torrents. The gutters were rivers, and every now and then through the + driving rain came the bluish dart of a lightning flash. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah!’ said Vandeloup, with a shiver, as they got out on the station + platform, ‘what a devil of a night.’ + </p> + <p> + He made the cab wait for him, and, having got Pierre’s ticket, put him in + a second-class carriage and saw that his box was safely placed in the + luggage-van. The station was crowded with people going and others coming + to say goodbye; the rain was beating on the high-arched tin roof, and the + engine at the end of the long train was fretting and fuming like a living + thing impatient to be gone. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are now on your own responsibility, my friend,’ said Vandeloup to + Pierre, as he stood at the window of the carriage; ‘for we must part, + though long together have we been. Perhaps I will see you in Melbourne; if + I do you will find I have not forgotten the past,’ and, with a significant + look at the dumb man, Vandeloup lounged slowly away. + </p> + <p> + The whistle blew shrilly, the last goodbyes were spoken, the guard shouted + ‘All aboard for Melbourne,’ and shut all the doors, then, with another + shriek and puff of white steam, the train, like a long, lithe serpent, + glided into the rain and darkness with its human freight. + </p> + <p> + ‘At last I have rid myself of this dead weight,’ said Vandeloup, as he + drove along the wet streets to Craig’s Hotel, where he intended to stay + for the night, ‘and can now shape my own fortune. Pierre is gone, Bebe + will follow, and now I must look after myself.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. — M. VANDELOUP IS UNJUSTLY SUSPECTED + </h2> + <p> + ‘It never rains but it pours’ is an excellent proverb, and a very true + one, for it is remarkable how events of a similar nature follow closely on + one another’s heels when the first that happened has set the ball + a-rolling. Madame Midas believed to a certain extent in this, and she half + expected that when Pierre went he would be followed by M. Vandeloup, but + she certainly did not think that the disappearance of her husband would be + followed by that of Kitty Marchurst. Yet such was the case, for Mr + Marchurst, not seeing Kitty at family prayers, had sent in the servant to + seek for her, and the scared domestic had returned with a startled face + and a letter for her master. Marchurst read the tear-blotted little note, + in which Kitty said she was going down to Melbourne to appear on the + stage. Crushing it up in his hand, he went on with family prayers in his + usual manner, and after dismissing his servants for the night, he went up + to his daughter’s room, and found that she had left nearly everything + behind, only taking a few needful things with her. Seeing her portrait on + the wall he took it down and placed it in his pocket. Then, searching + through her room, he found some ribbons and lace, a yellow-backed novel, + which he handled with the utmost loathing, and a pair of gloves. Regarding + these things as the instruments of Satan, by which his daughter had been + led to destruction, he carried them downstairs to his dismal study and + piled them in the empty fireplace. Placing his daughter’s portrait on top + he put a light to the little pile of frivolities, and saw them slowly burn + away. The novel curled and cracked in the scorching flame, but the filmy + lace vanished like cobwebs, and the gloves crackled and shrank into mere + wisps of black leather. And over all, through the flames, her face, bright + and charming, looked out with laughing lips and merry eyes—so like + her mother’s, and yet so unlike in its piquant grace—until that too + fell into the hollow heart of the flames, and burned slowly away into a + small pile of white ashes. + </p> + <p> + Marchurst, leaving the dead ashes cold and grey in the dark fireplace, + went to his writing table, and falling on his knees he passed the rest of + the night in prayer. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the man who was the primary cause of all this trouble was + working in the office of the Pactolus claim with a light heart and cool + head. Gaston had really managed to get Kitty away in a very clever manner, + inasmuch as he never appeared publicly to be concerned in it, but directed + the whole business secretly. He had given Kitty sufficient money to keep + her for some months in Melbourne, as he was in doubt when he could leave + the Pactolus without being suspected of being concerned in her + disappearance. He also told her what day to leave, and all that day stayed + at the mine working at his accounts, and afterwards spent the evening very + pleasantly with Madame Midas. Next day McIntosh went into Ballarat on + business, and on returning from the city, where he had heard all about it—rumour, + of course, magnifying the whole affair greatly—he saw Vandeloup come + out of the office, and drew up in the trap beside the young man. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aha, Monsieur,’ said Vandeloup, gaily, rolling a cigarette in his slender + fingers, and shooting a keen glance at Archie; ‘you have had a pleasant + day.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Maybe yes, maybe no,’ returned McIntosh, cautiously, fumbling in the bag; + ‘there’s naething muckle in the toun, but—deil tack the bag,’ he + continued, tetchily shaking it. ‘I’ve gotten a letter or so fra’ France.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For me?’ cried Vandeloup, eagerly, holding out his hands. + </p> + <p> + ‘An’ for who else would it be?’ grumbled Archie, giving the letter to him—a + thin, foreign looking envelope with the Parisian post mark on it; ‘did ye + think it was for that black-avised freend o’ yours?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hardly!’ returned Vandeloup, glancing at the letter with satisfaction, + and putting it in his pocket. ‘Pierre couldn’t write himself, and I doubt + very much if he had any friends who could—not that I knew his + friends,’ he said, hastily catching sight of McIntosh’s severe face bent + inquiringly on him, ‘but like always draws to like.’ + </p> + <p> + Archie’s only answer to this was a grunt. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are ye no gangin’ tae read yon?’ he asked sourly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not at present,’ replied Vandeloup, blowing a thin wreath of blue smoke, + ‘by-and-bye will do. Scandal and oysters should both be fresh to be + enjoyable, but letters—ah, bah,’ with a shrug, ‘they can wait. Come, + tell me the news; anything going on?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Weel,’ said McIntosh, with great gusto, deliberately flicking a fly off + the horse’s back with a whip, ‘she’s ta’en the bit intil her mouth and + gane wrang, as I said she would.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘To what special “she” are you alluding to?’ asked Vandeloup, lazily + smoothing his moustache; ‘so many of them go wrong, you see, one likes to + be particular. The lady’s name is—?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Katherine Marchurst, no less,’ burst forth Archie, in triumph; ‘she’s rin + awa’ to be a play-actor.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What? that child?’ said Vandeloup, with an admirable expression of + surprise; ‘nonsense! It cannot be true.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘D’ye think I would tell a lee?’ said Archie, wrathfully, glowering down + on the tall figure pacing leisurely along. ‘God forbid that my lips should + fa’ tae sic iniquity. It’s true, I tell ye; the lass has rin awa’ an’ left + her faither—a godly mon, tho’ I’m no of his way of thinkin—to + curse the day he had sic a bairn born until him. Ah, ‘tis sorrow and dule + she hath brought tae his roof tree, an’ sorrow and dule wull be her + portion at the hands o’ strangers,’ and with this scriptural ending Mr + McIntosh sharply whipped up Rory, and went on towards the stable, leaving + Vandeloup standing in the road. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t think he suspects, at all events,’ thought that young man, + complacently. ‘As to Madame Midas—pouf! I can settle her suspicions + easily; a little virtuous indignation is most effective as a blind;’ and + M. Vandeloup, with a gay laugh, strolled on towards the house in the + gathering twilight. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he recollected the letter, which had escaped his thoughts, in his + desire to see how McIntosh would take the disappearance of Kitty, so as + there was still light to see, he leaned up against a fence, and, having + lighted another cigarette, read it through carefully. It appeared to + afford him considerable satisfaction, and he smiled as he put it in his + pocket again. + </p> + <p> + ‘It seems pretty well forgotten, this trouble about Adele,’ he said, + musingly, as he resumed his saunter; ‘I might be able to go back again in + a few years, if not to Paris at least to Europe—one can be very + happy in Monaco or Vienna, and run no risk of being found out; and, after + all,’ he muttered, thoughtfully, fingering his moustache, ‘why not to + Paris? The Republic has lasted too long already. Sooner or later there + will be a change of Government, and then I can go back a free man, with a + fortune of Australian gold. Emperor, King, or President, it’s all the same + to me, as long as I am left alone.’ + </p> + <p> + He walked on slowly, thinking deeply all the time, and when he arrived at + the door of Mrs Villiers’ house, this clever young man, with his + accustomed promptitude and decision, had settled what he was going to do. + </p> + <p> + ‘Up to a certain point, of course,’ he said aloud, following his thoughts, + ‘after that, chance must decide.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas was very much grieved at the news of Kitty’s Escapade, + particularly as she could not see what motive she had for running away, + and, moreover, trembled to think of the temptations the innocent girl + would be exposed to in the metropolis. After tea, when Archie had gone + outside to smoke his pipe, and Selina was busy in the kitchen washing the + dishes, she spoke to Vandeloup on the subject. The young Frenchman was + seated at the piano in the darkness, striking a few random chords, while + Madame was by the fire in the arm-chair. It was quite dark, with only the + rosy glow of the fire shining through the room. Mrs Villiers felt uneasy; + was it likely that Vandeloup could have any connection with Kitty’s + disappearance? Impossible! he had given her his word of honour, and yet—it + was very strange. Mrs Villiers was not, by any means, a timid woman, so + she determined to ask Gaston right out, and get a decided answer from him, + so as to set her mind at rest. + </p> + <p> + ‘M. Vandeloup,’ she said, in her clear voice, ‘will you kindly come here a + moment? + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly, Madame,’ said Gaston, rising with alacrity from the piano, and + coming to the fireside; ‘is there anything I can do?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have heard of Miss Marchurst’s disappearance?’ she asked, looking up + at him. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup leaned his elbow on the mantelpiece, and looked down into the + fire, so that the full blaze of it could strike his face. He knew Madame + Midas prided herself on being a reader of character, and knowing he could + command his features admirably, he thought it would be politic to let her + see his face, and satisfy herself as to his innocence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, Madame,’ he answered, in his calm, even tones, looking down + inquiringly at the statuesque face of the woman addressing him; + ‘Monsieur,’ nodding towards the door, ‘told me, but I did not think it + true.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m afraid it is,’ sighed Madame, shaking her head. ‘She is going on the + stage, and her father will never forgive her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Surely, Madame—’ began Vandeloup, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ she replied, decisively, ‘he is not a hard man, but his way of + looking at things through his peculiar religious ideas has warped his + judgment—he will make no attempt to save her, and God knows what she + will come to.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There are good women on the stage,’ said Vandeloup, at a loss for a + reply. + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly,’ returned Madame, calmly, ‘there are black and white sheep in + every flock, but Kitty is so young and inexperienced, that she may become + the prey of the first handsome scoundrel she meets.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame had intuitively guessed the whole situation, and Vandeloup could + not help admiring her cleverness. Still his face remained the same, and + his voice was as steady as ever as he answered— + </p> + <p> + ‘It is much to be regretted; but still we must hope for the best.’ + </p> + <p> + Was he guilty? Madame could not make up her mind, so determined to speak + boldly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you remember that day I introduced her to you?’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup bowed. + </p> + <p> + ‘And you gave me your word of honour you would not try to turn her head,’ + pursued Madame, looking at him; ‘have you kept your word?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame,’ said Vandeloup, gravely, ‘I give you my word of honour that I + have always treated Mlle Kitty as a child and your friend. I did not know + that she had gone until I was told, and whatever happens to her, I can + safely say that it was not Gaston Vandeloup’s fault.’ + </p> + <p> + An admirable actor this man, not a feature of his face moved, not a single + deviation from the calmness of his speech—not a quickening of the + pulse, nor the rush of betraying blood to his fair face—no! Madame + withdrew her eyes quite satisfied, M. Vandeloup was the soul of honour and + was innocent of Kitty’s disgrace. + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank God!’ she said, reverently, as she looked away, for she would have + been bitterly disappointed to have found her kindness to this man repaid + by base treachery towards her friend; ‘I cannot tell you how relieved I + feel.’ + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup withdrew his face into the darkness, and smiled in a devilish + manner to himself. How these women believed—was there any lie too + big for the sex to swallow? Evidently not—at least, so he thought. + But now that Kitty was disposed of, he had to attend to his own private + affairs, and put his hand in his pocket for the letter. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wanted to speak to you on business, Madame,’ he said, taking out the + letter; ‘the long-expected has come at last.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have heard from Paris?’ asked Madame, in an eager voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have,’ answered the Frenchman, calmly; ‘I have now the letter in my + hand, and as soon as Mlle Selina brings in the lights I will show it to + you.’ + </p> + <p> + At this moment, as if in answer to his request, Selina appeared with the + lamp, which she had lighted in the kitchen and now brought in to place on + the table. When she did so, and had retired again, Vandeloup placed his + letter in Madame’s hand, and asked her to read it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no, Monsieur,’ said Mrs Villiers, offering it back, ‘I do not wish to + read your private correspondence.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup had calculated on this, for, as a matter of fact, there was a + good deal of private matter in the letter, particularly referring to his + trip to New Caledonia, which he would not have allowed her to see. But he + knew it would inspire her with confidence in him if he placed it wholly in + her hands, and resolved to boldly venture to do so. The result was as he + guessed; so, with a smile, he took it back again. + </p> + <p> + ‘There is nothing private in it, Madame,’ he said, opening the letter; ‘I + wanted you to see that I had not misrepresented myself—it is from my + family lawyer, and he has sent me out a remittance of money, also some + letters of introduction to my consul in Melbourne and others; in fact,’ + said M. Vandeloup, with a charming smile, putting the letter in his + pocket, ‘it places me in my rightful position, and I shall assume it as + soon as I have your permission.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But why my permission ?’ asked Madame, with a faint smile, already + regretting bitterly that she was going to lose her pleasant companion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame,’ said Vandeloup, impressively, bending forward, ‘in the words of + the Bible—when I was hungry you gave me food; when I was naked you + gave me raiment. You took me on, Madame, an unknown waif, without money, + friends, or a character; you believed in me when no one else did; you have + been my guardian angel: and do you think that I can forget your goodness + to me for the last six months? No! Madame,’ rising, ‘I have a heart, and + while I live that heart will ever remember you with gratitude and love;’ + and bending forward he took her hand and kissed it gallantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You think too much of what I have done,’ said Madame, who was, + nevertheless, pleased at this display of emotion, albeit, according to her + English ideas, it seemed to savour too much of the footlights. ‘I only did + to you what I would do to all men. I am glad, in this instance, to find my + confidence has not been misplaced; when do you think of leaving us?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In about two or three weeks,’ answered Vandeloup, carelessly, ‘but not + till you find another clerk; besides, Madame, do not think you have lost + sight of me for ever; I will go down to Melbourne, settle all my affairs, + and come up and see you again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So you say,’ replied Mrs Villiers, sceptically smiling. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ replied M. Vandeloup, with a shrug, ‘we will see—at all + events, gratitude is such a rare virtue that there is decided novelty in + possessing it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘M. Vandeloup,’ said Madame, suddenly, after they had been chatting for a + few moments, ‘one thing you must do for me in Melbourne.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will do anything you wish,’ said Vandeloup, gravely. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then,’ said Madame, earnestly, rising and looking him in the face, ‘you + must find Kitty, and send her back to me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame,’ said Vandeloup, solemnly, ‘it will be the purpose of my life to + restore her to your arms.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. — THE DEVIL’S LEAD + </h2> + <p> + There was great dismay at the Pactolus Mine when it became known that + Vandeloup was going to leave. During his short stay he had made himself + extremely popular with the men, as he always had a bright smile and a kind + word for everyone, so they all felt like losing a personal friend. The + only two who were unfeigningly glad at Vandeloup’s departure were Selina + and McIntosh, for these two faithful hearts had seen with dismay the + influence the Frenchman was gradually gaining over Madame Midas. As long + as Villiers lived they felt safe, but now that he had so mysteriously + disappeared, and was to all appearances dead, they dreaded lest their + mistress, in a moment of infatuation, should marry her clerk. They need + not, however, have been afraid, for much as Mrs Villiers liked the young + Frenchman, such an idea had never entered her head, and she was far too + clever a woman ever to tempt matrimony a second time, seeing how dearly it + had cost her. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas had made great efforts to find Kitty, but without success; + and, in spite of all inquiries and advertisements in the papers, nothing + could be discovered regarding the missing girl. + </p> + <p> + At last the time drew near for Vandeloup’s departure, when all the + sensation of Kitty’s escapade and Villiers’ disappearance was swallowed up + in a new event, which filled Ballarat with wonder. It began in a whisper, + and grew into such a roar of astonishment that not only Ballarat, but all + Victoria, knew that the far-famed Devil’s Lead had been discovered in the + Pactolus claim. Yes, after years of weary waiting, after money had been + swallowed up in apparently useless work, after sceptics had sneered and + friends laughed, Madame Midas obtained her reward. The Devil’s Lead was + discovered, and she was now a millionaire. + </p> + <p> + For some time past McIntosh had not been satisfied with the character of + the ground in which he had been working, so abandoning the shaft he was + then in, he had opened up another gallery to the west, at right angles + from the place where the famous nugget had been found. The wash was poor + at first, but McIntosh persevered, having an instinct that he was on the + right track. A few weeks’ work proved that he was right, for the wash soon + became richer; and as they went farther on towards the west, following the + gutter, there was no doubt that the long-lost Devil’s Lead had been + struck. The regular return had formerly been five ounces to the machine, + but now the washing up invariably gave twenty ounces, and small nuggets of + water-worn gold were continually found in the three machines. The main + drive following the lead still continued dipping westward, and McIntosh + now commenced blocking and putting in side galleries, expecting when this + was done he would thoroughly prove the Devil’s Lead, for he was quite + satisfied he was on it. Even now the yield was three hundred and sixty + ounces a week, and after deducting working expenses, this gave Madame + Midas a weekly income of one thousand one hundred pounds, so she now began + to see what a wealthy woman she was likely to be. Everyone unfeigningly + rejoiced at her good fortune, and said that she deserved it. Many thought + that now she was so rich Villiers would come back again, but he did not + put in an appearance, and it was generally concluded he had left the + colony. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup congratulated Madame Midas on her luck when he was going away, + and privately determined that he would not lose sight of her, as, being a + wealthy woman, and having a liking for him, she would be of great use. He + took his farewell gracefully, and went away, carrying the good wishes of + all the miners; but McIntosh and Selina, still holding to their former + opinion, were secretly pleased at his departure. Madame Midas made him a + present of a hundred pounds, and, though he refused it, saying that he had + money from France, she asked him as a personal favour to take it; so M. + Vandeloup, always gallant to ladies, could not refuse. He went in to + Ballarat, and put up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, intending to start for the + metropolis next morning; but on his way, in order to prepare Kitty for his + coming, sent a telegram for her, telling her the train he would arrive by, + in order that she might be at the station to meet him. + </p> + <p> + After his dinner he suddenly recollected that he still had the volume + which Dr Gollipeck had lent him, so, calling a cab, he drove to the + residence of that eccentric individual to return it. + </p> + <p> + When the servant announced M. Vandeloup, she pushed him in and suddenly + closed the door after her, as though she was afraid of some of the + doctor’s ideas getting away. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good evening, doctor,’ said Vandeloup, laying the book down on the table + at which Gollipeck was seated; ‘I’ve come to return you this and say + good-bye.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Aha, going away?’ asked Gollipeck, leaning back in his chair, and looked + sharply at the young man through his spectacles, ‘right—see the + world—you’re clever—won’t go far wrong—no!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It doesn’t matter much if I do,’ replied Vandeloup, shrugging his + shoulders, and taking a chair, ‘nobody will bother much about me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Eh!’ queried the doctor, sharply, sitting up. ‘Paris—friends—relations.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My only relation is an aunt with a large family; she’s got quite enough + to do looking after them, without bothering about me,’ retorted M. + Vandeloup; ‘as to friends—I haven’t got one.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ from Gollipeck, with a cynical smile, ‘I see; let us say—acquaintances.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Won’t make any difference,’ replied Vandeloup, airily; ‘I turned my + acquaintances into friends long ago, and then borrowed money off them; + result: my social circle is nil. Friends,’ went on M. Vandeloup, + reflectively, ‘are excellent as friends, but damnable as bankers.’ + </p> + <p> + Gollipeck chuckled, and rubbed his hands, for this cynicism pleased him. + Suddenly his eye caught the book which the young man had returned. + </p> + <p> + ‘You read this?’ he said, laying his hand on it; ‘good, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very good, indeed,’ returned M. Vandeloup, smoothly; ‘so kind of you to + have lent it to me—all those cases quoted were known to me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The case of Adele Blondet, for instance, eh?’ asked the old man sharply. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, I was present at the trial,’ replied Vandeloup, quietly; ‘the + prisoner Octave Braulard was convicted, condemned to death, reprieved, and + sent to New Caledonia.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Where he now is,’ said Gollipeck, quickly, looking at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I presume so,’ replied Vandeloup, lazily. ‘After the trial I never + bothered my head about him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He poisoned his mistress, Adele Blondet,’ said the doctor. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ answered Vandeloup, leaning forward and looking at Gollipeck, ‘he + found she was in love with an Englishman, and poisoned her—you will + find it all in the book.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It does not mention the Englishman,’ said the doctor, thoughtfully + tapping the table with his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nevertheless he was implicated in it, but went away from Paris the day + Braulard was arrested,’ answered Vandeloup. ‘The police tried to find him, + but could not; if they had, it might have made some difference to the + prisoner.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And the name of this Englishman?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let me see,’ said Vandeloup, looking up reflectively; ‘I almost forget it—Kestroke + or Kestrike, some name like that. He must have been a very clever man to + have escaped the French police.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, hum!’ said the doctor, rubbing his nose, ‘very interesting indeed; + strange case!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very,’ assented M. Vandeloup, as he arose to go, ‘I must say good-bye + now, doctor; but I am coming up to Ballarat on a visit shortly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, hum! of course,’ replied Gollipeck, also rising, ‘and we can have + another talk over this book.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That or any book you like,’ said Vandeloup, with a glance of surprise; + ‘but I don’t see why you are so much taken up with that volume; it is not + a work of genius.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, no,’ answered Gollipeck, looking at him; ‘still, it contains some + excellent cases of modern poisoning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So I saw when I read it,’ returned Vandeloup, indifferently. ‘Good-bye,’ + holding out his hand, ‘or rather I should say au revoir.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wine?’ queried the Doctor, hospitably. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shook his head, and walked out of the room with a gay smile, + humming a tune. He strolled slowly down Lydiard Street, turning over in + his mind what the doctor had said to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is suspicious,’ muttered the young man to himself, thoughtfully, + ‘although he has nothing to go on in connecting me with the case. Should I + use the poison here I must be careful, for that man will be my worst + enemy.’ + </p> + <p> + He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turning round saw Barty Jarper before + him. That fashionable young man was in evening dress, and represented such + an extent of shirt front and white waistcoat,—not to mention a tall + collar, on the top of which his little head was perched like a cocoanut on + a stick,—that he was positively resplendent. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where are you going to?’ asked the gorgeous Barty, smoothing his + incipient moustache. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, I really don’t know,’ answered Vandeloup, lighting a cigarette. ‘I + am leaving for Melbourne to-morrow morning, but to-night I have nothing to + do. You, I see, are engaged,’ with a glance at the evening dress. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ returned Barty, in a bored voice; ‘musical party on,—they + want me to sing.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup had heard Barty’s vocal performance, and could not forbear a + smile as he thought of the young man’s three songs with the same + accompaniment to each. Suppressing, however, his inclination to laugh, he + asked Barty to have a drink, which invitation was promptly accepted, and + they walked in search of a hotel. On the way, they passed Slivers’ house, + and here Vandeloup paused. + </p> + <p> + ‘This was the first house I entered here,’ he said to Barty, ‘and I must + go in and say good-bye to my one-armed friend with the cockatoo.’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Jarper, however, drew back. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t like him,’ he said bluntly, ‘he’s an old devil.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s always as well to accustom oneself to the society of devils,’ + retorted Vandeloup, coolly, ‘we may have to live with them constantly some + day.’ + </p> + <p> + Barty laughed at this, and putting his arm in that of Vandeloup’s, they + went in. + </p> + <p> + Slivers’ door stood ajar in its usual hospitable manner, but all within + was dark. + </p> + <p> + ‘He must be out,’ said Barty, as they stood in the dark passage. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ replied Vandeloup, feeling for a match, ‘someone is talking in the + office.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s that parrot,’ said Barty, with a laugh, as they heard Billy rapidly + running over his vocabulary; ‘let’s go in.’ + </p> + <p> + He pushed open the door, and was about to step into the room, when + catching sight of something on the floor, he recoiled with a cry, and + caught Vandeloup by the arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the matter?’ asked the Frenchman, hastily. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s dead,’ returned Barty, with a sort of gasp; ‘see, he’s lying on the + floor dead!’ + </p> + <p> + And so he was! The oldest inhabitant of Ballarat had joined the great + majority, and, as it was afterwards discovered, his death was caused by + the breaking of a blood-vessel. The cause of it was not clear, but the + fact was, that hearing of the discovery of the Devil’s Lead, and knowing + that it was lost to him for ever, Slivers had fallen into such a fit of + rage, that he burst a blood-vessel and died in his office with no one by + him. + </p> + <p> + The light of the street lamp shone through the dusty windows into the dark + room, and in the centre of the yellow splash lay the dead man, with his + one eye wide open, staring at the ceiling, while perched on his wooden + leg, which was sticking straight out, sat the parrot, swearing. It was a + most repulsive sight, and Barty, with a shudder of disgust, tried to drag + his companion away, but M. Vandeloup refused to go, and searched his + pockets for a match to see more clearly what the body was like. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pickles,’ cried Billy, from his perch on the dead man’s wooden leg; ‘oh, + my precious mother,—devil take him.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith,’ said M. Vandeloup, striking a match, ‘the devil has taken + him,’ and leaving Barty shivering and trembling at the door, he advanced + into the room and stood looking at the body. Billy at his approach hopped + off the leg and waddled up to the dead man’s shoulder, where he sat + cursing volubly, and every now and then going into shrieks of demoniacal + laughter. Barty closed his ears to the devilish mirth, and saw M. + Vandeloup standing over the corpse, with the faint light of the match + flickering in his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked, turning to Barty. + </p> + <p> + The other looked at him inquiringly. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is the comedy of death,’ said the Frenchman, throwing down the match + and going to the door. + </p> + <p> + They both went out to seek assistance, and left the dark room with the + dead man lying in the pool of yellow light, and the parrot perched on the + body, muttering to itself. It was a strange mingling of the horrible and + grotesque, and the whole scene was hit off in the phrase applied to it by + Vandeloup. It was, indeed, ‘The Comedy of Death’! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — TEMPUS FUGIT + </h2> + <p> + A whole year had elapsed since the arrival of Vandeloup in Melbourne, and + during that time many things had happened. Unfortunately, in spite of his + knowledge of human nature, and the fact that he started with a good sum of + money, Gaston had not made his fortune. This was due to the fact that he + was indisposed to work when his banking account was at all decent; so he + had lived like a prince on his capital, and trusted to his luck furnishing + him with more when it was done. + </p> + <p> + Kitty had joined him in Melbourne as arranged, and Gaston had established + her in a place in Richmond. It was not a regular boarding-house, but the + lady who owned it, Mrs Pulchop by name, was in the habit of letting + apartments on reasonable terms; so Vandeloup had taken up his abode there + with Kitty, who passed as his wife. + </p> + <p> + But though he paid her all the deference and respect due to a wife, and + though she wore a marriage ring, yet, as a matter of fact, they were not + married. Kitty had implored her lover to have the ceremony performed as + soon as he joined her; but as the idea was not to M. Vandeloup’s taste, he + had put her off, laughingly at first, then afterwards, when he began to + weary of her, he said he could not marry her for at least a year. The + reason he assigned for this was the convenient one of family affairs; but, + in reality, he foresaw he would get tired of her in that time, and did not + want to tie himself so that he could not leave her when he wished. At + first, the girl had rebelled against this delay, for she was strongly + biased by her religious training, and looked with horror on the state of + wickedness in which she was living. But Gaston laughed at her scruples, + and as time went on, her finer feelings became blunted, and she accepted + the position to which she was reduced in an apathetic manner. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes she had wild thoughts of running away, but she still loved him + too well to do so; and besides, there was no one to whom she could go, as + she well knew her father would refuse to receive her. The anomalous + position which she occupied, however, had an effect on her spirits, and + from being a bright and happy girl, she became irritable and fretful. She + refused to go out anywhere, and when she went into town, either avoided + the principal streets, or wore a heavy veil, so afraid was she of being + recognised by anyone from Ballarat and questioned as to how she lived. All + this was very disagreeable to M. Vandeloup, who had a horror of being + bored, and not finding Kitty’s society pleasant enough, he gradually + ceased to care for her, and was now only watching for an opportunity to + get rid of her without any trouble. He was a member of the Bachelor’s + Club, a society of young men which had a bad reputation in Melbourne, and + finding Kitty was so lachrymose, he took a room at the Club, and began to + stay away four or five days at a time. So Kitty was left to herself, and + grew sad and tearful, as she reflected on the consequence of her fatal + passion for this man. Mrs Pulchop was vastly indignant at Vandeloup + neglecting his wife, for, of course, she never thought she was anything + else to the young man, and did all in her power to cheer the girl up, + which, however, was not much, as Mrs Pulchop herself was decidedly of a + funereal disposition. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, Gaston was leading a very gay life in Melbourne. His good looks + and clever tongue had made him a lot of friends, and he was very popular + both in drawing-room and club. The men voted him a jolly sort of fellow + and a regular swagger man, while the ladies said that he was heavenly; + for, true to his former tactics, Vandeloup always made particular friends + of women, selecting, of course, those whom he thought would be likely to + be of use to him. Being such a favourite entailed going out a great deal, + and as no one can pose as a man of fashion without money, M. Vandeloup + soon found that his capital was rapidly melting away. He then went in for + gambling, and the members of The Bachelors, being nearly all rich young + men, Gaston’s dexterity at ecarte and baccarat was very useful to him, and + considerably augmented his income. + </p> + <p> + Still, card-playing is a somewhat precarious source from which to derive + an income, so Vandeloup soon found himself pretty hard up, and was at his + wit’s end how to raise money. His gay life cost him a good deal, and + Kitty, of course, was a source of expense, although, poor girl, she never + went anywhere; but there was a secret drain on his purse of which no one + ever dreamed. This was none other than Pierre Lemaire, who, having spent + all the money he got at the Pactolus, came and worried Vandeloup for more. + That astute young man would willingly have refused him, but, + unfortunately, Pierre knew too much of his past life for him to do so, + therefore he had to submit to the dumb man’s extortions with the best + grace he could. So what with Kitty’s changed manner, Pierre wanting money, + and his own lack of coin, M. Vandeloup was in anything but an enviable + position, and began to think it was time his luck—if he ever had any—should + step in. He thought of running up to Ballarat and seeing Madame Midas, + whom he knew would lend him some money, but he had a certain idea in his + head with regard to that lady, so wished to retain her good opinion, and + determined not to apply to her until all other plans for obtaining money + failed. Meanwhile, he went everywhere, was universally admired and petted, + and no one who saw him in society with his bright smile and nonchalant + manner, would have imagined what crafty schemes there were in that + handsome head. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas was still up at Ballarat and occupying the same cottage, + although she was now so wealthy she could have inhabited a palace, had she + been so minded. But prosperity had not spoiled Mrs Villiers. She still + managed her own affairs, and did a great deal of good with her money,—expending + large sums for charitable purposes, because she really wished to do good, + and not, like so many rich people, for the purpose of advertising herself. + </p> + <p> + The Pactolus was now a perfect fortune, and Madame Midas being the sole + owner, her wealth was thought to be enormous, as every month a fresh + deluge of gold rolled into her coffers from the inexhaustible Devil’s + Lead. McIntosh, of course, still managed the mine, and took great pride in + his success, especially after so many people had scoffed at it. + </p> + <p> + Various other mines had started in the vicinity, and had been floated on + the Melbourne market, where they kept rising and falling in unison with + the monthly yield of the Pactolus. The Devil’s Lead was rather unequal, as + sometimes the ground would be rich, while another time it would turn out + comparatively poor. People said it was patchy, and some day would run out + altogether, but it did not show any signs of exhaustion, and even if it + had, Madame Midas was now so wealthy that it mattered comparatively + little. When the monthly yield was small, the mines round about would fall + in the share market to a few shillings, but if it was large, they would + rush up again to as many pounds, so that the brokers managed to do pretty + well out of the fluctuations of the stock. + </p> + <p> + One thing astonished Madame Midas very much, and that was the continuous + absence of her husband. She did not believe he was dead, and fully + expected to see him turn up some time; but as the months passed on, and he + did not appear, she became uneasy. The idea of his lurking round was a + constant nightmare to her, and at last she placed the matter in the hands + of the police, with instructions to try to ascertain what became of him. + </p> + <p> + The police did everything in their power to discover Villiers’ + whereabouts, but without success. Unfortunately, Slivers, who might have + helped them, being so well acquainted with the missing man’s habits, was + dead; and, after trying for about three months to find some traces of + Villiers, the police gave up the search in despair. Madame Midas, + therefore, came to the conclusion that he was either dead or had left the + colony, and though half doubtful, yet hoped that she had now seen the last + of him. + </p> + <p> + She had invested her money largely in land, and thus being above the reach + of poverty for the rest of her life, she determined to take up her abode + in Melbourne for a few months, prior to going to England on a visit. With + this resolution, she gave up her cottage to Archie, who was to live in it, + and still manage the mine, and made preparations to come down to Melbourne + with Selina Sprotts. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup heard of this resolution, and secretly rejoiced at it, for he + thought that seeing she liked him so much, now that her husband was to all + appearances dead, she might marry him, and it was to this end he had kept + up his acquaintance with her. He never thought of the girl he had + betrayed, pining away in a dull lodging. No, M. Vandeloup, untroubled by + the voice of conscience, serenely waited the coming of Madame Midas, and + determined, if he could possibly arrange it, to marry her. He was the + spider, and Madame Midas the fly; but as the spider knew the fly he had to + inveigle into his web was a very crafty one, he determined to act with + great caution; so, having ascertained when Madame Midas would be in + Melbourne, he awaited her arrival before doing anything, and trusted in + some way to get rid of Kitty before she came. It was a difficult game, for + M. Vandeloup knew that should Kitty find out his intention she would at + once go to Mrs Villiers, and then Madame would discover his baseness in + ruining the girl. M. Vandeloup, however, surveyed the whole situation + calmly, and was not ill-pleased at the position of affairs. Life was + beginning to bore him in Melbourne, and he wanted to be amused. Here was a + comedy worthy of Moliere—a jealous woman, a rich lady, and a + handsome man. + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith,’ said M. Vandeloup, smiling to himself as he thought of the + situation, ‘it’s a capital comedy, certainly; but I must take care it + doesn’t end as a tragedy.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — DISENCHANTMENT + </h2> + <p> + It is said that ‘creaking doors hang the longest,’ and Mrs Pulchop, of + Carthage Cottage, Richmond, was an excellent illustration of the truth of + this saying. Thin, pale, with light bleached-looking hair, and eyebrows + and eyelashes to match, she looked so shadowy and unsubstantial, than an + impression was conveyed to the onlooker that a breath might blow her away. + She was often heard to declare, when anything extra-ordinary happened, + that one might ‘knock her down with a feather’, which, as a matter of + fact, was by no means a stretch of fancy, provided the feather was a + strong one and Mrs Pulchop was taken unawares. She was continually + alluding to her ‘constitootion’, as if she had an interest in politics, + but in reality she was referring to her state of health, which was + invariably bad. According to her own showing, there was not a single + disease under the sun with which she had not been afflicted, and she could + have written a whole book on the subject of medicine, and put herself in, + in every instance, as an illustrative case. + </p> + <p> + Mr Pulchop had long since departed this life, being considerably assisted + in his exit from this wicked world by the quantity of patent medicines his + wife compelled him to take to cure him, which unfortunately, however, had + the opposite effect. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Pulchop said he had been a handsome man, but according to the portrait + she had of him he resembled a bull-dog more than anything else in nature. + The young Pulchops, of which there were two, both of the female sex, took + after their father in appearance and their mother in temperament, and from + the time they could talk and crawl knew as much about drops, poultices, + bandages, and draughts as many a hospital nurse of mature age. + </p> + <p> + One day Vandeloup sent a telegram to Kitty saying he would be home to + dinner, and as he always required something extra in the way of cooking, + Kitty went to interview Mrs Pulchop on the subject. She found that lady + wrapped up in a heavy shawl, turning herself into a tea-kettle by drinking + hot water, the idea being, as she assured Kitty, to rouse up her liver. + Miss Topsy Pulchop was tying a bandage round her face, as she felt a + toothache coming on, while Miss Anna Pulchop was unfortunately quite well, + and her occupation being gone, was seated disconsolately at the window + trying to imagine she felt pains in her back. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ groaned Mrs Pulchop, in a squeaky voice, sipping her hot water; ‘you + don’t know, my dear, what it is to be aworrited by your liver—tortures + and inquisitions ain’t in it, my love.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty said she was very sorry, and asked her if nothing would relieve her + sufferings, but Mrs Pulchop shook her head triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘My sweet young thing,’ said the patient, with great gusto, ‘I’ve tried + everything under the sun to make it right, but they ain’t no good; it’s + always expanding and a contracting of itself unbeknown to me, and throwing + the bile into the stomach, which ain’t its proper place.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It does sound rather nasty,’ assented Kitty; ‘and Topsy seems to be ill, + too.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Toothache,’ growled Topsy, who had a deep, bass voice, and being modelled + on the canine lines of her late lamented father, the growl suited her + admirably. ‘I had two out last week, and now this one’s started.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Try a roasted fig, Topsy dear,’ suggested her mother, who, now, having + finished her hot water, looked longingly at the kettle for more. + </p> + <p> + ‘Toothache,’ growled Topsy, in reply, ‘not gumboil;’ the remedy suggested + by Mrs Pulchop being for the latter of these ills. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are quite well, at any rate,’ said Kitty to Anna, cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + Anna, however, declined to be considered in good health. ‘I fancy my back + is going to ache,’ she said, darkly placing her hand in the small of it. + ‘I’ll have to put a linseed poultice on it tonight, to draw the cold out.’ + </p> + <p> + Then she groaned dismally, and her mother and sister, hearing the familiar + sound, also groaned, so there was quite a chorus, and Kitty felt inclined + to groan also, out of sympathy. + </p> + <p> + ‘M. Vandeloup is coming to dinner tonight,’ she said, timidly, to Mrs + Pulchop. + </p> + <p> + ‘And a wonder it is, my sweet angel,’ said that lady, indignantly, rising + and glancing at the pretty girl, now so pale and sad-looking, ‘it’s once + in a blue moon as he comes ‘ome, a—leaving you to mope at home like + a broken-hearted kitten in a coal box. Ah, if he only had a liver, that + would teach him manners.’ + </p> + <p> + Groans of assent from the Misses Pulchops, who both had livers and were + always fighting with them. + </p> + <p> + ‘And what, my neglected cherub,’ asked Mrs Pulchop, going to a + looking-glass which always hung in the kitchen, for the three to examine + their tongues in, ‘what shall I give you for dinner?’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty suggested a fowl, macaroni cheese, and fruit for dessert, which bill + of fare had such an effect on the family that they all groaned in unison. + </p> + <p> + ‘Macaroni cheese,’ growled Topsy, speaking from the very depth of the cork + soles she wore to keep her feet dry; ‘there’s nothing more bilious. I + couldn’t look at it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah,’ observed Mrs Pulchop, ‘you’re only a weak gal, and men is that + obstinate they’d swaller bricks like ostriges sooner nor give in as it + hurt ‘em. You shall ‘ave a nice dinner, Mrs Vanloops, tho’ I can’t deny + but what it ull be bilious.’ + </p> + <p> + Thus warned, Kitty retired into her own room and made herself nice for + Gaston to look on when he came. + </p> + <p> + Poor thing, it was so rarely now that he came home to dinner, that a visit + from him was regarded by her in the light of a treat. She dressed herself + in a pretty white dress and tied a blue sash round her waist, so that she + might look the same to him as when he first saw her. But her face was now + worn and white, and as she looked at her pallor in the glass she wished + she had some rouge to bring a touch of colour to her cheeks. She tried to + smile in her own merry way at the wan reflection she beheld, but the + effort was a failure, and she burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + At six o’clock everything was ready for dinner, and having seen that all + was in good order, Kitty walked outside to watch for Gaston. + </p> + <p> + There was a faint, warm, light outside, and the sky was of a pale opaline + tint, while the breeze blowing across the garden brought the perfume of + the flowers to her, putting Kitty in mind of Mrs Villiers’ garden at + Ballarat. Oh, those innocent days! would they never come again? Alas! she + knew that they would not—the subtle feeling of youth had left her + for ever; and this girl, leaning up against the house with her golden head + resting on her arm, knew that the change had come over her which turns all + from youth to age. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she heard the rattle of wheels, and rousing herself from her + reverie, she saw a hansom cab at the gate, and M. Vandeloup standing on + the pavement paying the driver. She also heard her lover tell the cabman + to call for him at eight o’clock, and her heart sank within her as she + thought that he would be gone again in two hours. The cab drove off, and + she stood cold and silent on the verandah waiting for Gaston, who + sauntered slowly up the walk with one hand in the pocket of his trousers. + He was in evening dress, and the night being warm he did not wear an + overcoat, so looked tall and slim in his dark clothes as he came up the + path swinging his cane gaily to and fro. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, Bebe,’ he said, brightly, as he bent down and kissed her, ‘here I + am, you see; I hope you’ve got a nice dinner for me?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ answered Kitty, trying to smile, and walking before him into + the house; ‘I told Mrs Pulchop, and she has made special preparations.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How is that walking hospital?’ asked Vandeloup, carelessly taking off his + hat; ‘I suppose she is ill as usual.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So she says,’ replied Kitty, with a laugh, as he put his arm in hers and + walked into the room; ‘she is always ill.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, Bebe, how charming you look tonight,’ said Vandeloup, holding her at + arm’s length; ‘quite like your old self.’ + </p> + <p> + And indeed she looked very pretty, for the excitement of seeing him had + brightened her eyes and flushed her cheeks, and standing in the warm light + of the lamp, with her golden hair floating round her head, she looked like + a lovely picture. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are not going away very soon?’ she whispered to Gaston, coming close + to him, and putting her hand on his shoulder; ‘I see so little of you + now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear child, I can’t help it,’ he said, carelessly removing her hand + and walking over to the dinner table; ‘I have an engagement in town + tonight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, you no longer care for me,’ said Kitty, with a stifled sob. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you are going to make a scene,’ he said, coldly, ‘please postpone it. + I don’t want my appetite taken away; would you kindly see if the dinner is + ready?’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty dried her eyes and rang the bell, upon which Mrs Pulchop glided into + the room, still wrapped in her heavy shawl. + </p> + <p> + ‘It ain’t quite ready yet, sir,’ she said, in answer to Gaston’s question; + ‘Topsy ‘aving been bad with the toothache, which you can’t expect people + to cook dinners as is ill!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why don’t you send her to the hospital?’ said Vandeloup, with a yawn, + looking at his watch. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never,’ retorted Mrs Pulchop, in a decisively shrill voice; ‘their + medicines ain’t pure, and they leaves you at the mercy of doctors to be + practised on like a pianer. Topsy may go to the cemetery like her poor + dear father, but never to an inquisition of a hospital;’ and with this Mrs + Pulchop faded out of the room, for her peculiar mode of egress could + hardly be called walking out. + </p> + <p> + At last dinner made its appearance, and Kitty recovering her spirits, they + had a very pleasant meal together, and then Gaston sat over his coffee + with a cigarette, talking to Kitty. + </p> + <p> + He never was without a cigarette in his mouth, and his fingers were all + stained a yellowish brown by the nicotine. Kitty lay back in a big + arm-chair listening to his idle talk and admiring him as he sat at the + dinner table. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can’t you stay tonight?’ she said, looking imploringly at him. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shook his head gently. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have an engagement, as I told you before,’ he said, lazily; ‘besides, + evenings at home are so dreary.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will be here,’ said Kitty, reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘That will, of course, make a difference,’ answered Gaston, with a faint + sneer; ‘but you know,’ shrugging his shoulders, ‘I do not cultivate the + domestic virtues.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What will you do when we are married?’ said Kitty, with an uneasy laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Enough for the day is the evil thereof,’ replied M. Vandeloup, with a gay + smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you mean?’ asked the girl, with a sudden start. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup arose from his seat, and lighting another cigarette he lounged + over to the fireplace, and leaned against the mantelpiece with his hands + in his pockets. + </p> + <p> + ‘I mean that when we are married it will be time enough to talk about such + things,’ he answered, looking at her through his eyelashes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then we will talk about them very shortly,’ said Kitty, with an angry + laugh, as her hands clenched the arms of the chair tightly; ‘for the year + is nearly up, and you promised to marry me at the end of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How many things do we intend to do that are never carried out?’ said + Gaston, gently. ‘Do you mean that you will break your promise?’ she asked, + with a scared face. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup removed the cigarette from his mouth, and, leaning one elbow on + the mantelpiece, looked at her with a smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear,’ he said, quietly, ‘things are not going well with me at + present, and I want money badly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well?’ asked Kitty in a whisper, her heart beating loudly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are not rich,’ said her lover, ‘so why should we two paupers get + married, only to plunge ourselves into misery?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then you refuse to marry me?’ she said, rising to her feet. + </p> + <p> + He bowed his head gently. + </p> + <p> + ‘At present, yes,’ he answered, and replaced the cigarette between his + lips. + </p> + <p> + Kitty stood for a moment as if turned to stone, and then throwing up her + hands with a gesture of despair, fell back into the chair, and burst into + a flood of tears. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders in a resigned sort of + manner, and glanced at his watch to see when it would be time for him to + go. Meanwhile he smoked quietly on, and Kitty, after sobbing for some + time, dried her eyes, and sat up in the chair again. + </p> + <p> + ‘How long is this going to last?’ she asked, in a hard voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Till I get rich!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That may be a long time?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It may.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps never?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And then I will never be your wife?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Unfortunately, no.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You coward!’ burst forth Kitty, rising from her seat, and crossing over + to him; ‘you made me leave my home with your false promises, and now you + refuse to make me the only reparation that is in your power.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Circumstances are against any virtuous intentions I may entertain,’ + retorted Vandeloup, coolly. + </p> + <p> + Kitty looked at him for a moment, then ran over to a desk near the window, + and took from thence a small bottle of white glass with two red bands + round it. She let the lid of the desk fall with a bang, then crossed to + Vandeloup, holding the bottle up before him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you know what this is?’ she asked, in a harsh voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘The poison I made in Ballarat,’ he answered, coolly, blowing a wreath of + smoke; ‘how did you get hold of it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I found it in your private desk,’ she said, coldly. + </p> + <p> + ‘That was wrong, my dear,’ he answered, gently, ‘you should never betray + confidences—I left the desk in your charge, and it should have been + sacred to you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Out of your own mouth are you condemned,’ said the girl, quickly; ‘you + have betrayed my confidence and ruined me, so if you do not fix a day for + our marriage, I swear I will drink this and die at your feet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How melodramatic you are, Bebe,’ said Vandeloup, coolly; ‘you put me in + mind of Croisette in “Le Sphinx”.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You don’t believe I will do it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No! I do not.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then see.’ She took the stopper out of the bottle and held it to her + lips. Vandeloup did not stir, but, still smoking, stood looking at her + with a smile. His utter callousness was too much for her, and replacing + the stopper again, she slipped the bottle into her pocket and let her + hands fall idly by her side. + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought you would not do it,’ replied Gaston, smoothly, looking at his + watch; ‘you must really excuse me, I hear the cab wheels outside.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty, however, placed herself in front of him as he moved towards the + door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Listen to me,’ she said, in a harsh voice, with white face and flaming + eyes; ‘to-night I leave this house for ever.’ + </p> + <p> + He bowed his head. + </p> + <p> + ‘As it pleases you,’ he replied, simply. + </p> + <p> + ‘My God!’ she cried, ‘have you no love for me now?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ he answered, coldly and brutally, ‘I am tired of you.’ + </p> + <p> + She fell on her knees and clutched his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dear Gaston! dear Gaston!’ she cried, covering it with kisses, ‘think how + young I am, how my life is ruined, and by you. I gave up everything for + your sake—home, father, and friends—you will not cast me off + like this after all I have sacrificed for you? Oh, for God’s sake, speak—speak!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear,’ said Vandeloup, gravely, looking down at the kneeling figure + with the streaming eyes and clenched hands, ‘as long as you choose to stay + here I will be your friend—I cannot afford to marry you, but while + you are with me our lives will be as they have been; good-bye at present,’ + touching her forehead coldly with his lips, ‘I will call to-morrow + afternoon to see how you are, and I trust this will be the last of such + scenes.’ + </p> + <p> + He drew his hand away from hers, and she sat on the floor dull and silent, + with her eyes fixed on the ground and an aching in her heart. Vandeloup + went into the hall, put on his hat, then lighting another cigarette and + taking his stick, walked gaily out of the house, humming an air from ‘La + Belle Helene’. The cab was waiting for him at the door, and telling the + man to drive to the Bachelors’ Club, he entered the cab and rattled away + down the street without a thought for the broken-hearted woman he left + behind. + </p> + <p> + Kitty sat on the floor with her folded hands lying carelessly on her lap + and her eyes staring idly at the carpet. This, then, was the end of all + her hopes and joys—she was cast aside carelessly by this man now + that he wearied of her. Love’s young dream had been sweet indeed; but, ah! + how bitter was the awakening. Her castles in the air had all melted into + clouds, and here in the very flower of her youth she felt that her life + was ruined, and she was as one wandering in a sterile waste, with a black + and starless sky overhead. She clasped her hands with a sensation of pain, + and a rose at her breast fell down withered and dead. She took it up with + listless fingers, and with the quiver of her hand the leaves fell off and + were scattered over her white dress in a pink shower. It was an allegory + of her life, she thought. Once it had been as fresh and full of fragrance + as this dead rose; then it had withered, and now she saw all her hopes and + beliefs falling off one by one like the faded petals. Ah, there is no + despair like that of youth; and Kitty, sitting on the floor with hot dry + eyes and a pain in her heart, felt that the sun of her life had set for + ever. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + So still the night was. No moon as yet, but an innumerable blaze of stars + set like diamonds in the dark blue sky. A smoky yellowish haze hung over + the city, but down in the garden amid the flowers all was cool and + fragrant. The house was quite dark, and a tall mulberry tree on one side + of it was black against the clear sky. Suddenly the door opened, and a + figure came out and closed the door softly after it. Down the path it + came, and standing in the middle of the garden, raised a white + tear-stained face to the dark sky. A dog barked in the distance, and then + a fresh cold breeze came sweeping through the trees and stirring the still + perfumes of the flowers. The figure threw its hands out towards the house + with a gesture of despair, then gliding down the path it went out of the + gate and stole quietly down the lonely street. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — M. VANDELOUP HEARS SOMETHING TO HIS ADVANTAGE + </h2> + <p> + As he drove rapidly into town Gaston’s thoughts were anything but + pleasant. Not that he was thinking about Kitty, for he regarded the scene + he had with her as merely an outburst of hysterical passion, and did not + dream she would take any serious step. He forgot all about her when he + left the house, and, lying back in the cab smoking one of his everlasting + cigarettes, pondered about his position. The fact was he was very hard up + for money, and did not know where to turn for more. His luck at cards was + so great that even the Bachelors, used as they were to losing large sums, + began to murmur among themselves that M. Vandeloup was too clever, and as + that young gentleman by no means desired to lose his popularity he stopped + playing cards altogether, and so effectually silenced everyone. So this + mode of making money was gone, and until Madame Midas arrived in town + Vandeloup did not see how he was going to keep on living in his former + style. But as he never denied himself anything while he had the money, he + ordered the cabman to drive to Paton’s, the florist in Swanston Street, + and there purchased a dainty bunch of flowers for his button hole. From + thence he drove to his club, and there found a number of young fellows, + including Mr Barty Jarper, all going to the Princess Theatre to see ‘The + Mikado’. Barty rushed forward when Vandeloup appeared and noisily insisted + he should come with them. The men had been dining, and were exhilarated + with wine, so Vandeloup, not caring to appear at the theatre with such a + noisy lot, excused himself. Barty and his friends, therefore, went off by + themselves, and left Vandeloup alone. He picked up the evening paper and + glanced over it with a yawn, when a name caught his eye which he had + frequently noticed before. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say,’ he said to a tall, fair young fellow who had just entered, ‘who + is this Meddlechip the paper is full of?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t you know?’ said the other, in surprise; ‘he’s one of our richest + men, and very generous with his money.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I see! buys popularity,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly; ‘how is it I’ve + never met him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s been to China or Chile—or—something commencing with a + C,’ returned the young man, vaguely; ‘he only came back to Melbourne last + week; you are sure to meet him sooner or later.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thanks, I’m not very anxious,’ replied Vandeloup, with a yawn; ‘money in + my eyes does not compensate for being bored; where are you going + to-night?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘“Mikado”,’ answered the other, whose name was Bellthorp; ‘Jarper asked me + to go up there; he’s got a box.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How does he manage to pay for all these things?’ asked Vandeloup, rising; + ‘he’s only in a bank, and does not get much money.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear fellow,’ said Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of Vandeloup’s, + ‘wherever he gets it, he always has it, so as long as he pays his way it’s + none of our business; come and have a drink.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup assented with a laugh, and they went to the bar. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve got a cab at the door,’ he said to Bellthorp, after they had + finished their drinks, and were going downstairs; ‘come with me, and I’ll + go up to the Princess also; Jarper asked me and I refused, but men as well + as women are entitled to change their minds.’ + </p> + <p> + They got into the cab and drove up Collins Street to the Princess Theatre. + After dismissing the cab, they went up stairs and found the first act was + just over, and the bar was filled with a crowd of gentlemen, among whom + Barty and his friends were conspicuous. On the one side the doors opened + on to the wide stone balcony, where a number of ladies were seated, and on + the other balcony a lot of men were smoking. Leaving Bellthorp with + Jarper, Vandeloup ordered a brandy and soda and went out on the balcony to + smoke. + </p> + <p> + The bell rang to indicate the curtain was going to rise on the second act, + and the bar and balconies gradually emptied themselves into the theatre. + M. Vandeloup, however, still sat smoking, and occasionally drinking his + brandy and soda, while he thought over his difficulties, and wondered how + he could get out of them. It was a wonderfully hot night, and not even the + dark blue of the moonless sky, studded with stars, could give any + sensation of coolness. Round the balcony were several windows belonging to + the dressing-rooms of the theatre, and the lights within shone through the + vivid red of the blinds with which they were covered. The door leading + into the bar was wide open, and within everything seemed hot, even under + the cool, white glare of the electric lights, which shone in large + oval-shaped globes hanging from the brass supports in clusters like those + grapes known as ladies’ fingers. In front stretched the high balustrade of + the balcony, and as Vandeloup leaned back in his chair he could see the + white blaze of the electric lights rising above this, and then the + luminous darkness of the summer’s night. Beyond a cluster of trees, with a + path, lit by gas lamps, going through it, the lights of which shone like + dull yellow stars. On the right arose the great block of + Parliament-buildings, with the confused mass of the scaffolding, standing + up black and dense against the sky. A pleasant murmur arose from the + crowded pavement below, and through the incessant rattle of cabs and + sharp, clear cries of the street boys, Gaston could hear the shrill tones + of a violin playing the dreamy melody of the ‘One Summer’s Night in + Munich’ valse, about which all Melbourne was then raving. + </p> + <p> + He was so occupied with his own thoughts that he did not notice two + gentlemen who came in from the bar, and taking seats a little distant from + him, ordered drinks from the waiter who came to attend to them. They were + both in evening dress, and had apparently left the opera in order to talk + business, for they kept conversing eagerly, and their voices striking on + Vandeloup’s ear he glanced round at them and then relapsed into his former + inattentive position. Now, however, though apparently absorbed in his own + thoughts, he was listening to every word they said, for he had caught the + name of The Magpie Reef, a quartz mine, which had lately been floated on + the market, the shares of which had run up to a pound, and then, as bad + reports were circulated about it, dropped suddenly to four shillings. + Vandeloup recognised one as Barraclough, a well-known stockbroker, but the + other was a dark, wiry-looking man of medium height, whom he had never + seen before. + </p> + <p> + ‘I tell you it’s a good thing,’ said Barraclough, vehemently laying his + hand on the table; ‘Tollerby is the manager, and knows everything about + it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Gad, he ought to,’ retorted the other with a laugh, ‘if he’s the manager; + but I don’t believe in it, dear boy, I never did; it started with a big + splash, and was going to be a second Long Tunnel according to the + prospectus; now the shares are only four shillings—pshaw!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, but you forget the shares ran up to a pound,’ replied Barraclough, + quickly; ‘and now they are so cheap we can snap them up all over the + market, and then—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well?’ asked the other, with interest. + </p> + <p> + ‘They will run up, old fellow—see?’ and the Broker rubbed his hands + gleefully. + </p> + <p> + ‘How are you going to get up a “Boom” on them?’ asked the wiry man, + sceptically; ‘the public won’t buy blindly, they must see something.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And so they shall,’ said Barraclough, eagerly; ‘Tollerby is sending down + some of the stone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘From the Magpie Reef?’ asked the other, suspiciously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course,’ retorted the Broker, indignantly; ‘you did not think it was + salted, did you? There is gold in the reef, but it is patchy. See,’ + pulling out a pocket-book, ‘I got this telegram from Tollerby at four + o’clock to-day;’ he took a telegram from the pocket-book and handed it to + his companion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Struck it rich—evidently pocket—thirty ounces to machine,’ + read the other slowly; ‘gad! that looks well, why don’t you put it in the + papers?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Because I don’t hold enough shares,’ replied the other, impatiently; + ‘don’t you understand? To-morrow I go on ‘Change and buy up all the shares + at four shillings I can lay my hands on, then at the end of the week the + samples of stone—very rich—come down. I publish this telegram + from the manager, and the “Boom” starts.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How high do you think the shares will go?’ asked the wiry man, + thoughtfully. + </p> + <p> + Barraclough shrugged his shoulders, and replaced the telegram in his + pocket-book. + </p> + <p> + ‘Two or three pounds, perhaps more,’ he replied, rising. ‘At all events, + it’s a good thing, and if you go in with me, we’ll clear a good few + thousand out of it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Come and see me to-morrow morning,’ said the wiry man, also rising. ‘I + think I’ll stand in.’ + </p> + <p> + Barraclough rubbed his hands gleefully, and then slipping his arm in that + of his companion they left the balcony and went back to the theatre. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup felt every nerve in his body tingling. Here was a chance to make + money. If he only had a few hundreds he could buy up all the Magpie shares + he could get and reap the benefit of the rise. Five hundred pounds! If he + could obtain that sum he could buy two thousand five hundred shares, and + if they went to three pounds, he could clear nearly eight thousand. What + an idea! It was ripe fruit tumbling off the tree without the trouble of + plucking it. But five hundred pounds! He had not as many pence, and he did + not know where to get it. If he could only borrow it from someone—but + then he could offer no security. A sense of his own helplessness came on + him as he saw this golden tide flowing past his door, and yet was unable + to take advantage of it. Five hundred pounds! The sum kept buzzing in his + head like a swarm of bees, and he threw himself down again in his chair to + try and think where he could get it. + </p> + <p> + A noise disturbed him, and he saw that the opera was over, and a crowd of + gentlemen were thronging into the bar. Jarper was among them, and he + thought he would speak to him on the subject. Yes, Barty was a clever + little fellow, and seemed always able to get money. Perhaps he would be + able to assist him. He stepped out of the balcony into the light and + touched Barty on the shoulder as he stood amid his friends. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo! it’s you!’ cried Barty, turning round. ‘Where have you been, old + chap?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Out on the balcony,’ answered Vandeloup, curtly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come and have supper with us,’ said Barty, hospitably. ‘We are going to + have some at Leslie’s.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, do come,’ urged Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of Vandeloup’s; + ‘we’ll have no end of fun.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup was just going to accept, as he thought on the way he could + speak privately to Barty about this scheme he had, when he saw a stout + gentleman at the end of the room taking a cup of coffee at the counter, + and talking to another gentleman who was very tall and thin. The figure of + the stout gentleman seemed familiar to Vandeloup, and at this moment he + turned slowly round and looked down the room. Gaston gave a start when he + saw his face, and then smiled in a gratified manner to himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who is that gentleman with the coffee?’ he asked Barty. + </p> + <p> + ‘Those stout and lean kine,’ said Barty, airily, ‘puts one in mind of + Pharaoh’s dream, doesn’t it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, yes!’ retorted Gaston, impatiently; ‘but who are they?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The long one is Fell, the railway contractor,’ said Barty, glancing with + some surprise at Vandeloup, ‘and the other is old Meddlechip, the + millionaire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Meddlechip,’ echoed Vandeloup, as if to himself; ‘my faith!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ broke in Bellthorp, quickly; ‘the one we were speaking of at the + club—do you know him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I fancy I do,’ said Vandeloup, with a strange smile. ‘You must excuse me + to your supper to-night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, we won’t,’ said Barty, firmly; ‘you must come.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I’ll look in later,’ said Vandeloup, who had not the slightest + intention of going. ‘Will that do?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I suppose it will have to,’ said Bellthorp, in an injured tone; ‘but why + can’t you come now?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve got to see about some business,’ said Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘What, at this hour of the night?’ cried Jarper, in a voice of disgust. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup nodded, and lit a cigarette. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, mind you come in later,’ said Barty, and then he and his friends + left the bar, after making Vandeloup promise faithfully he would come. + </p> + <p> + Gaston sauntered slowly up to the coffee bar, and asked for a cup in his + usual musical voice, but when the stout gentleman heard him speak he + turned pale and looked up. The thin one had gone off to talk to someone + else, so when Vandeloup got his coffee he turned slowly round and looked + straight at Meddlechip seated in the chair. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good evening, M. Kestrike,’ he said, quietly. + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip, whose face was usually red and florid-looking, turned ghastly + pale, and sprang to his feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Octave Braulard!’ he gasped, placing his coffee cup on the counter. + </p> + <p> + ‘At your service,’ said Vandeloup, looking rapidly round to see that no + one overheard the name, ‘but here I am Gaston Vandeloup.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip passed his handkerchief over his face and moistened his dry + lips with his tongue. + </p> + <p> + ‘How did you get here?’ he asked, in a strangled voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a long story,’ said M. Vandeloup, putting his coffee cup down and + wiping his lips with his handkerchief; ‘suppose we go and have supper + somewhere, and I’ll tell you all about it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want any supper,’ said Meddlechip, sullenly, his face having + regained its normal colour. ‘Possibly not, but I do,’ replied Vandeloup, + sweetly, taking his arm; ‘come, let us go.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip did not resist, but walked passively out of the bar with + Vandeloup, much to the astonishment of the thin gentleman, who called out + to him but without getting any answer. + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip went to the cloak room and put on his coat and hat. Then he + followed Vandeloup down the stairs and paused at the door while the + Frenchman hailed a hansom. When it drove up, however, he stopped short at + the edge of the pavement. + </p> + <p> + ‘I won’t go,’ he said, determinedly. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup looked at him with a peculiar gleam in his dark eyes, and bowed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let me persuade you, Monsieur,’ he said, blandly, holding the door of the + cab open. + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip glanced at him, and then, with a sigh of resignation, entered + the cab, followed by Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where to, sir?’ asked the cabman, through the trap. + </p> + <p> + ‘To Leslie’s Supper Rooms,’ replied the Frenchman, and the cab drove off. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — THE CASE OF ADELE BLONDET + </h2> + <p> + Leslie’s Supper Rooms in Bourke Street East were very well known—that + is, among a certain class. Religious people and steady businessmen knew + nothing about such a place except by reputation, and looked upon it, with + horror, as a haunt of vice and dissipation. + </p> + <p> + Though Leslie’s, in common with other places had to close at a certain + hour, yet when the shutters were up, the door closed, and the lights + extinguished in the front of the house, there was plenty of life and + bustle going on at the back, where there were charmingly furnished little + rooms for supper parties. Barty Jarper had engaged one of these + apartments, and with about a dozen young men was having a good time of it + when Vandeloup and Meddlechip drove up. After dismissing the cab and + looking up and down the street to see that no policeman was in sight, + Vandeloup knocked at the door in a peculiar manner, and it was immediately + opened in a stealthy kind of way. Gaston gave his name, whereupon they + were allowed to enter, and the door was closed after them in the same + quiet manner, all of which was very distasteful to Mr Meddlechip, who, + being a public man and a prominent citizen, felt that he was breaking the + laws he had assisted to make. He looked round in some disgust at the + crowds of waiters, and at the glimpses he caught every now and then of + gentlemen in evening dress, and what annoyed him more than anything else—ladies + in bright array. Oh! a dissipated place was Leslie’s, and even in the + daytime had a rakish-looking appearance as if it had been up all night and + knew a thing or two. Mr Meddlechip would have retreated from this den of + iniquity if he could, but as he wanted to have a thorough explanation with + Vandeloup, he meekly followed the Frenchman through a well-lighted + passage, with statues on either side holding lamps, to a little room + beautifully furnished, wherein a supper table was laid out. Here the + waiter who conducted them took their hats and Meddlechip’s coat and hung + them up, then waited respectfully for M. Vandeloup to give his orders. A + portly looking waiter he was, with a white waistcoat, a white shirt, which + bulged out in a most obtrusive manner, and a large white cravat, which was + tied round an equally large white collar. When he walked he rolled along + like a white-crested wave, and with his napkin under his arm, the heel of + one foot in the hollow of the other, and his large red face, surmounted by + a few straggling tufts of black hair, he was truly wonderful to behold. + </p> + <p> + This magnificent creature, who answered to the name of Gurchy, received + Vandeloup’s orders with a majestic bend of his head, then rolling up to Mr + Meddlechip, he presented the bill of fare to that gentleman, who, however, + refused it. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want any supper,’ he said, curtly. + </p> + <p> + Gurchy, though a waiter, was human, and looked astonished, while Vandeloup + remonstrated in a suave manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘But, my dear sir,’ he said, leaning back in his chair, ‘you must have + something to eat. I assure you,’ with a significant smile, ‘you will need + it.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip’s lips twitched a little as the Frenchman spoke, then, with an + uneasy laugh, he ordered something, and drew his chair up to the table. + </p> + <p> + ‘And, waiter,’ said Vandeloup, softly, as Gurchy was rolling out of the + door, ‘bring some wine, will you? Pommery, I think, is best,’ he added, + turning to Meddlechip. + </p> + <p> + ‘What you like,’ returned that gentleman, impatiently, ‘I don’t care.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s a great mistake,’ replied Gaston, coolly; ‘bad wine plays the + deuce with one’s digestion—two bottles of Pommery, waiter.’ + </p> + <p> + Gurchy nodded, that is to say his head disappeared for a moment in the + foam of his collar, then re-appeared again as he slowly rolled out of the + door and vanished. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now, then, sir,’ said Meddlechip, sharply, rising from his seat and + closing the door, ‘what did you bring me here for?’ + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup raised his eyebrows in surprise. + </p> + <p> + ‘How energetic you are, my dear Kestrike,’ he said, smoothly, lying down + on the sofa, and contemplating his shoes with great satisfaction; ‘just + the same noisy, jolly fellow as of yore.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Damn you!’ said the other, fiercely, at which Gaston laughed. + </p> + <p> + ‘You had better leave that to God,’ he answered, mockingly; ‘he + understands more about it than you do.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I know you of old,’ said Meddlechip, walking up and down excitedly; + ‘I know you of old, with your sneers and your coolness, but it won’t do + here,’ stopping opposite the sofa, and glaring down at Vandeloup; ‘it + won’t do here!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So you’ve said twice,’ replied M. Vandeloup, with a yawn. ‘How do you + want me to conduct myself? Do tell me; I am always open to improvement.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You must leave Australia,’ said Meddlechip, sharply, and breathing hard. + </p> + <p> + ‘If I refuse?’ asked M. Vandeloup, lazily, smiling to himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘I will denounce you as a convict escaped from New Caledonia!’ hissed the + other, putting his hands in his pockets, and bending forward. + </p> + <p> + ‘Indeed,’ said Gaston, with a charming smile, ‘I don’t think you will go + so far as that, my friend.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I swear,’ said Meddlechip, loudly, raising his hand, ‘I swear—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, fie!’ observed M. Vandeloup, in a shocked tone; ‘an old man like you + should not swear; it’s very wrong, I assure you; besides,’ with a + disparaging glance, ‘you are not suited to melodrama.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip evidently saw it was no good trying to fight against the + consummate coolness of this young man, so with a great effort resolved to + adapt himself to the exigencies of the case, and fight his adversary with + his own weapons. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ he said at length, resuming his seat at the table, and trying to + speak calmly, though his flushed face and quivering lips showed what an + effort it cost him; ‘let us have supper first, and we can talk + afterwards.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, that’s much better,’ remarked M. Vandeloup, sitting up to the table, + and unrolling his napkin. ‘I assure you, my dear fellow, if you treat me + well, I’m a very easy person to deal with.’ + </p> + <p> + The eyes of the two men met for a moment across the table, and Vandeloup’s + had such a meaning look in them, that Meddlechip dropped his own with a + shiver. + </p> + <p> + The door opened, and the billowy waiter rolled up to the table, and having + left a deposit of plates and food thereon, subsided once more out of the + door, then rolled in again with the champagne. He drew the cork of one of + the bottles, filled the glasses on the table, and then after giving a + glance round to see that all was in order, suddenly found that it was + ebb-tide, and rolled slowly out of the door, which he closed after him. + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip ate his supper in silence, but drank a good deal of champagne + to keep his courage up for the coming ordeal, which he knew he must go + through. Vandeloup, on the other hand, ate and drank very little, as he + talked gaily all the time about theatres, racing, boating, in fact of + everything except the thing the other man wanted to hear. + </p> + <p> + ‘I never mix up business with pleasure, my dear fellow,’ said Gaston, + amiably, guessing his companion’s thoughts; ‘when we have finished supper + and are enjoying our cigars, I will tell you a little story.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want to hear it,’ retorted the other, harshly, having an + intuitive idea what the story would be about. + </p> + <p> + ‘Possibly not,’ replied M. Vandeloup, smoothly; ‘nevertheless it is my + wish that you should hear it.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip looked as if he were inclined to resent this plain speaking, + but after a pause evidently thought better of it, and went on tranquilly + eating his supper. + </p> + <p> + When they had finished Gaston rang the bell, and when the billow rolled + in, ordered a fresh bottle of wine and some choice cigars of a brand well + known at Leslie’s. Gurchy’s head disappeared in foam again, and did not + emerge therefrom till he was out of the door. + </p> + <p> + Try one of these,’ said M. Vandeloup, affably, to Meddlechip, when the + billow had rolled in with the cigars and wine, ‘it’s an excellent brand.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t care about smoking,’ answered Meddlechip. + </p> + <p> + ‘To please me,’ urged M. Vandeloup, persuasively; whereupon Meddlechip + took one, and having lighted it puffed away evidently under protest, while + the billow opened the new bottle of wine, freshened up the glasses, and + then rolled majestically out of the door, like a tidal wave. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now then for the story,’ said M. Vandeloup, leaning back luxuriously on + the sofa, and blowing a cloud of smoke. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want to hear it,’ retorted the other, quickly; ‘name your terms + and let us end the matter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pardon me,’ said M. Vandeloup, with a smile, ‘but I refuse to accept any + terms till I have given you thoroughly to understand what I mean; so you + must hear this little tale of Adele Blondet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For God’s sake, no!’ cried the other, hoarsely, rising to his feet; ‘I + tell you I am haunted by it; by day and by night, sleeping or waking, I + see her face ever before me like an accusing angel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Curious,’ murmured M. Vandeloup, ‘especially as she was not by any means + an angel.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought it was done with,’ said Meddlechip, twisting his fingers + together, while the large drops of perspiration stood on his forehead, + ‘but here you come like a spectre from the past and revive all the old + horrors.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you call Adele a horror,’ retorted Vandeloup, coolly, ‘I am certainly + going to revive her, so you had best sit down and hear me to the end, for + you certainly will not turn me from my purpose.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip sank back into his chair with a groan, while his relentless + enemy curled himself up on the sofa in a more comfortable position and + began to talk. + </p> + <p> + ‘We will begin the story,’ said M. Vandeloup, in a conversational tone, + with an airy wave of his delicate white hand, ‘in the good old-fashioned + style of our fairy tales. Once upon a time—let us say three years + ago—there lived in Paris a young man called Octave Braulard, who was + well born and comfortably off. He had a fancy to be a doctor, and was + studying for the medical profession when he became entangled with a woman. + Mademoiselle Adele Blondet was a charmingly ugly actress, who was at that + time the rage of Paris. She attracted all the men, not by her looks, but + by her tongue. Octave Braulard,’ went on M. Vandeloup, complacently + looking at himself, ‘was handsome, and she fell in love with him. She + became his mistress, and caused a nine days’ wonder in Paris by remaining + constant to him for six months. Then there came to Paris an English + gentleman from Australia—name, Kestrike; position, independent; + income, enormous. He had left Madame his wife in London, and came to our + wicked Paris to amuse himself. He saw Adele Blondet, and was introduced to + her by Braulard; result, Kestrike betrayed his friend Braulard by stealing + from him his mistress. Why was this? Was Kestrike handsome? No. Was he + fascinating? No. Was he rich? Yes. Therein lay the secret; Adele loved the + purse, not the man. Braulard,’ said Gaston, rising from the sofa quickly + and walking across the room, ‘felt his honour wounded. He remonstrated + with Adele, no use; he offered to fight a duel with the perfidious + Kestrike, no use; the thief was a coward.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ cried Meddlechip, rising, ‘no coward.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, yes!’ said Vandeloup, crossing to him, and forcing him back in his + chair; ‘he betrayed his friend and refused to give him the satisfaction of + a gentleman. What did Braulard do? Rest quiet? No. Revenge his honour? + Yes! One night,’ pursued Gaston, in a low concentrated voice, grasping + Meddlechip’s wrist firmly, and looking at him with fiery eyes, ‘Braulard + prepared a poison, a narcotic which was quick in its action, fatal in its + results. He goes to the house of Adele Blondet at half-past twelve o’clock—the + hour now,’ he said, rapidly swinging round and pointing to the clock on + the mantelpiece, which had just struck the half-hour; ‘he found them at + supper,’ releasing Meddlechip’s wrist and crossing to the sofa; ‘he sat + opposite Kestrike, as he does now,’ leaning forward and glaring at + Meddlechip, who shrank back in his chair. ‘Adele, at the head of the + table, laughs and smiles; she looks at her old lover and sees murder in + his face; she is ill and retires to her room. Kestrike follows her to see + what is the matter. Braulard is left alone; he produces a bottle and pours + its contents into a cup of coffee, waiting for Adele. Kestrike returns, + saying Adele is ill; she wants a drink. He takes her the poisoned cup of + coffee; she drinks it and falls’—with a long breath—‘asleep. + Kestrike returns to the room, asks Braulard to leave the house. Braulard + refuses. Kestrike is afraid, and would leave himself; he rises from the + table; so does Braulard;’—here Gaston rose and crossed to + Meddlechip, who was also on his feet—‘he goes to Kestrike, seizes + his wrist, thus—drags him to the bedroom, and there on the bed lies + Adele Blondet—dead—killed by the poison of one lover given her + by the other—and the murderers look at one another—thus.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip wrenched his hand from Vandeloup’s iron grip and fell back + ghastly white in his chair, with a strangled cry, while the Frenchman + stood over him with eyes gleaming with hatred. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kestrike,’ pursued Vandeloup, rapidly, ‘is little known in Paris—his + name is an assumed one—he leaves France before the police can + discover how he has poisoned Adele Blondet, and crosses to England—meets + Madame, his wife, and returns to Australia, where he is called—Meddlechip.’ + </p> + <p> + The man in the chair threw up his hands as if to keep the other off, and + uttered a stifled cry. + </p> + <p> + ‘He then goes to China,’ went on Gaston, bending nearer to the shrinking + figure, ‘and returns after twelve months, where he meets Octave Braulard + in the theatre—yes, the two murderers meet in Melbourne! How came + Braulard here? Was it chance? No. Was it design? No. Was it Fate? Yes.’ + </p> + <p> + He hissed the words in Meddlechip’s ear, and the wretched man shrank away + from him again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Braulard,’ pursued Vandeloup, in a calmer tone, ‘also left the house of + Adele Blondet. She is found dead; one of her lovers cannot be found; the + other, Braulard, is accused of the crime; he defies the police to prove + it; she has been poisoned. Bah! there is no trace. Braulard will be free. + Stop! who is this man called Prevol, who appears? He is a fellow student + of Braulard’s, and knows the poison. Braulard is lost! Prevol examines the + body, proves that poison has been given—by whom? Braulard, and none + other. He is sentenced to death; but he is so handsome that Paris urges + pardon. No; it is not according to the law. Still, spare his life? Yes. + His life is spared. The galleys at Toulon? No. New Caledonia? Yes. He is + sent there. But is Braulard a coward? No. Does he rest as a convict? No. + He makes friends with another convict; they steal a boat, and fly from the + island; they drift, and drift, for days and days; the sun rises, the sun + sets—still they drift; their food is giving out, the water in the + barrel is low—God! are they to die of thirst and famine? No. The sky + is red—like blood—the sun is sinking; land is in the distance—they + are saved!’ falling on his knees; ‘they are saved, thank God!’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip, who had recovered himself, wiped his face with his + handkerchief, and sneered with his white lips at the theatrical way Gaston + was behaving in. Vandeloup saw this, and, springing to his feet, crossed + to the millionaire. + </p> + <p> + ‘Braulard,’ he continued, quickly, ‘lands on the coast of Queensland; he + comes to Sydney—no work; to Melbourne—no work; he goes to + Ball’rat—work there at a gold-mine. Braulard takes the name of + Vandeloup and makes money; he comes to Melbourne, lives there a year, he + is in want of money, he is in despair; at the theatre he overhears a plan + which will give him money, but he needs capital—despair again, he + will never get it. Aha! Fate once more intervenes—he sees M. + Kestrike, now Meddlechip, he will ask him for the money, and the question + is, will he get it? So the story is at an end.’ He ended with his usual + smile, all his excitement having passed away, and lounging over to the + supper-table lit a cigarette and sat down on the sofa. + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip sat silently looking at the disordered supper-table and + thinking deeply. The dishes were scattered about the white cloth, and some + vividly red cherries had fallen down from the fruit dish in the centre, + some salt was spilt near his elbow, the napkins, twisted into thin wisps, + were lying among the dirty dishes, and the champagne glasses, half filled + with the straw-coloured wine, were standing near the empty bottles. + Meddlechip thought for a few moments, and then looked up suddenly in a + cool, collected, business-like manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘As I understand you,’ he said, in a steady voice, ‘the case stands thus: + you know a portion, or rather, I should say, an episode of my life, I + would gladly forget. I did not commit the murder.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, but you gave her the poison.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Innocently I did, I confess.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah! who will believe that?’ retorted M. Vandeloup, with a shrug; ‘but + never mind this at present; let me hear what you intend to do.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You know a secret,’ said Meddlechip, nervously, ‘which is dangerous to + me; you want to sell it; well, I will be the buyer—name your price.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Five hundred pounds,’ said Vandeloup, quietly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is that all?’ asked the other, with a start of surprise; ‘I was prepared + for five thousand.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am not exorbitant in my demands,’ answered Vandeloup, smoothly; ‘and as + I told you, I have a scheme on hand by which I may make a lot of + money-five hundred pounds is sufficient to do what I want. If the scheme + succeeds, I will be rich enough to do without any more money from you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes; but if it fails?’ said Meddlechip, doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘If it fails, I will be obliged to draw on you again,’ returned Gaston, + candidly; ‘you can’t say, however, that I am behaving badly to you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ answered Meddlechip, looking at him. ‘I must say you are easier to + deal with than I anticipated. Well, if I give you my cheque for five + hundred—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Say six hundred,’ observed Vandeloup, rising and going to a small table + in the corner of the room on which were pens and ink. ‘I want an extra + hundred.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Six hundred then be it,’ answered Meddlechip, quietly, rising and going + to his overcoat, from whence he took his cheque book. ‘For this amount you + will be silent.’ + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup bowed gracefully. + </p> + <p> + ‘On my word of honour,’ he replied, gaily; ‘but, of course,’ with a sudden + glance at Meddlechip, ‘you will treat me as a friend—ask me to your + house, and introduce me to Madame, your wife.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t see the necessity,’ returned Meddlechip, angrily, going over to + the small table and sitting down. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pardon me, I do’ answered the Frenchman, with a dangerous gleam in his + eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well, I agree,’ said Meddlechip, testily, taking up a pen and + opening his cheque book. ‘You, of course, can dictate your own terms.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I understand that perfectly,’ replied Vandeloup, delicately, lighting a + cigarette, ‘and have done so. You can’t say they are hard, as I said + before.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip did not answer, but wrote out a cheque for six hundred pounds, + and then handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow and slipped it + into his waistcoat pocket. + </p> + <p> + ‘With this,’ he said, touching his pocket, ‘I hope to make nearly ten + thousand in a fortnight.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip stared at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I hope you will,’ he answered, gruffly, ‘all the better for my purse if + you do.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That, of course, goes without saying,’ replied Vandeloup, lazily. ‘Have + some more wine?’ touching the bell. + </p> + <p> + ‘No more, thank you,’ said Meddlechip, putting on his overcoat. ‘It’s time + I was off.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By the way,’ said M. Vandeloup, coolly, ‘I have not any change in my + pocket; you might settle for the supper.’ + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip burst out laughing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Confound your impudence,’ he said, quickly, ‘I thought you asked me to + supper.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ replied Vandeloup, taking his hat and stick, ‘but I intended + you to pay for it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You were pretty certain of your game, then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I always am,’ answered Vandeloup, as the door opened, and Gurchy rolled + slowly into the room. + </p> + <p> + Meddlechip paid the bill without making further objections, and then they + both left Leslie’s with the same precautions as had attended their entry. + They walked slowly down Bourke Street, and parted at the corner, + Meddlechip going to Toorak, while Vandeloup got into a cab and told the + man to drive to Richmond, then lit a cigarette and gave himself up to + reflection as he drove along. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve done a good stroke of business tonight,’ he said, smiling, as he + felt the cheque in his pocket, ‘and I’ll venture the whole lot on this + Magpie reef. If it succeeds I will be rich; if it does not—well, + there is always Meddlechip as my banker.’ Then his thoughts went back to + Kitty, for the reason of his going home so late was that he wanted to find + out in what frame of mind she was. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’ll never leave me,’ he said, with a laugh, as the cab drew up in + front of Mrs Pulchop’s house; ‘if she does, so much the better for me.’ + </p> + <p> + He dismissed his cab, and let himself in with the latch key; then hanging + up his hat in the hall he went straight to the bedroom and lit the gas. He + then crossed to the bed, expecting to find Kitty sound asleep, but to his + surprise the bed was untouched, and she was not there. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ he said, quietly, ‘so she has gone, after all. Poor little girl, I + wonder where she is. I must really look after her to-morrow; at present,’ + he said, pulling off his coat, with a yawn, ‘I think I’ll go to bed.’ + </p> + <p> + He went to bed, and laying his head on the pillow was soon fast asleep, + without even a thought for the girl he had ruined. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — THE KEY OF THE STREET + </h2> + <p> + When Kitty left Mrs Pulchop’s residence she had no very definite idea as + to what she was going to do with herself. Her sole thought was to get as + far away from her former life as possible—to disappear in the crowd + and never to be heard of again. Poor little soul, she never for a moment + dreamed that it was a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, and + that the world at large might prove more cruel to her than Vandeloup in + particular. She had been cut to the heart by his harsh cold words, but + notwithstanding he had spoken so bitterly she still loved him, and would + have stayed beside him, but her jealous pride forbade her to do so. She + who had been queen of his heart and the idol of his life could not bear to + receive cold looks and careless words, and to be looked upon as an + encumbrance and a trouble. So she thought if she left him altogether and + never saw him again he would, perhaps, be sorry for her and cherish her + memory tenderly for evermore. If she had only known Gaston’s true nature + she would not thus have buoyed herself up with false hopes of his sorrow, + but as she believed in him as implicitly as a woman in love with a man + always does, in a spirit of self-abnegation she cut herself off from him, + thinking it would be to his advantage if not to her own. + </p> + <p> + She went into town and wandered about listlessly, not knowing where to go, + till nearly twelve o’clock, and the streets were gradually emptying + themselves of their crowds. The coffee stalls were at all the corners, + with hungry-looking people of both sexes crowded round them, and here and + there in door steps could be seen some outcasts resting in huddled heaps, + while the policemen every now and then would come up and make them move + on. + </p> + <p> + Kitty was footsore and heart-weary, and felt inclined to cry, but was + nevertheless resolved not to go back to her home in Richmond. She dragged + herself along the lonely street, and round the corner came on a coffee + stall with no one at it except one small boy whose head just reached up to + the counter. Such a ragged boy as he was, with a broad comical-looking + face—a shaggy head of red hair and a hat without any brim to it—his + legs were bandy and his feet were encased in a pair of men’s boots several + sizes too large for him. He had a bundle of newspapers under one arm and + his other hand was in his pocket rattling some coppers together while he + bargained with the coffee-stall keeper over a pie. The coffee stall had + the name of Spilsby inscribed on it, so it is fair to suppose that the man + therein was Spilsby himself. He had a long grey beard and a meek face, + looking so like an old wether himself it appeared almost the act of a + cannibal on his part to eat a mutton pie. A large placard at the back of + the stall set forth the fact that ‘Spilsby’s Specials’ were sold there for + the sum of one penny, and it was over ‘Spilsby’s Specials’ the ragged boy + was arguing. + </p> + <p> + ‘I tell you I ain’t agoin’ to eat fat,’ he said, in a hoarse voice, as if + his throat was stuffed up with one of his own newspapers. ‘I want a + special, I don’t want a hordinary.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘This are a special, I tells you,’ retorted Spilsby, ungrammatically, + pushing a smoking pie towards the boy; ‘what a young wiper you are, + Grattles, a-comin’ and spoilin’ my livin’ by cussin’ my wictuals.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Look ‘ere,’ retorted Grattles, standing on the tips of his large boots to + look more imposing, ‘my stumick’s a bit orf when it comes to fat, and I + wants the vally of my penny; give us a muttony one, with lots of gravy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Ere y’are, then,’ said Spilsby, quite out of temper with his fastidious + customer; ‘’ere’s a pie as is all made of ram as ‘adn’t got more fat on it + than you ‘ave.’ + </p> + <p> + Grattles examined the article classed under this promising description + with a critical air, and then laid down his penny and took the pie. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a special, ain’t it?’ he asked, suspiciously smelling it. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s the specialest I’ve got, any’ow,’ answered Spilsby, testily, putting + the penny in his pocket; ‘you’d eat a ‘ole sheep if you could get it for a + penny, you greedy young devil, you.’ + </p> + <p> + Here Kitty, who was feeling faint and ill with so much walking, came + forward and asked for a cup of coffee. + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly, dear,’ said Spilsby, with a leer, pouring out the coffee; ‘I’m + allays good to a pretty gal.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s more nor your coffee is,’ growled Grattles, who had finished his + special and was now licking his fingers, ‘it’s all grounds and ‘ot water.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Go away, you wicious thing,’ retorted Spilsby, mildly, giving Kitty her + coffee and change out of the money she handed him, ‘or I’ll set the + perlice on yer.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, my eye!’ shrieked Grattles, executing a grimace after the fashion of + a favourite comedian; ‘he ain’t a tart, oh, no—‘es a pie, ‘e are, a + special, a muttony special; ‘e don’t kill no kittings and call ‘em sheep, + oh, no; ‘e don’t buy chicory and calls it coffee, blest if ‘e does; ‘e’s a + corker, ‘e are, and ‘is name ain’t the same as ‘is father’s.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What d’ye mean,’ asked Spilsby, fiercely—that is, as fiercely as + his meek appearance would let him; ‘what do you know of my parents, you + bandy-legged little devil? who’s your—progenitor, I’d like to know?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A dook, in course,’ said Grattles loftily; ‘but we don’t, in consequence + of ‘er Nibs bein’ mixed up with the old man’s mother, reweal the family + skeletons to low piemen,’ then, with a fresh grimace, he darted along the + street as quickly as his bandy legs could carry him. + </p> + <p> + Spilsby took no notice of this, but, seeing some people coming round the + corner, commenced to sing out his praises of the specials. + </p> + <p> + ‘’Ere yer are—all ‘ot an’ steamin’,’ he cried, in a kind of loud + bleat, which added still more to his sheep-like appearance: ‘Spilsby’s + Specials—oh, lovely—ain’t they nice; my eye, fine muttin pies; + who ses Spilsby’s; ‘ave one, miss?’ to Kitty. + </p> + <p> + Thank you, no,’ replied Kitty, with a faint smile as she put down her + empty cup; ‘I’m going now.’ + </p> + <p> + Spilsby was struck by the educated manner in which she spoke and by the + air of refinement about her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go home, my dear,’ he said, kindly, leaning forward; ‘this ain’t no time + for a young gal like you to be out.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve got no home,’ said Kitty, bitterly, ‘but if you could direct me—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Here, you,’ cried a shrill female voice, as a woman dressed in a + flaunting blue gown rushed up to the stall, ‘give us a pie quick; I’m + starvin’; I’ve got no time to wait.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, nor manners either,’ said Spilsby, with a remonstrating bleat, + pushing a pie towards her; ‘who are you, a-shovin’ your betters, Portwine + Annie?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My betters,’ scoffed the lady in blue, looking Kitty up and down with a + disdainful smile on her painted face; ‘where are they, I’d like to know?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘’Ere, ‘old your tongue,’ bleated Spilsby, angrily, ‘or I’ll tell the + perlice at the corner.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And much I care,’ retorted the shrill-voiced female, ‘seeing he’s a + particular friend of mine.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘For God’s sake tell me where I can find a place to stop in,’ whispered + Kitty to the coffee-stall keeper. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come with me, dear,’ said Portwine Annie, eagerly, having overheard what + was said, but Kitty shrank back, and then gathering her cloak around her + ran down the street. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you do that for, you jade?’ said Spilsby, in a vexed tone; ‘don’t + you see the girl’s a lady.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course she is,’ retorted the other, finishing her pie; ‘we’re all + ladies; look at our dresses, ain’t they fine enough? Look at our houses, + aren’t they swell enough?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, and yer morals, ain’t they bad enough?’ said Spilsby, washing up the + dirty plate. + </p> + <p> + ‘They’re quite as good as many ladies in society, at all events,’ replied + Portwine Annie, with a toss of her head as she walked off. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s a wicked world,’ bleated Spilsby, in a soft voice, looking after + the retreating figure. ‘I’m sorry for that poor gal—I am indeed—but + this ain’t business,’ and once more raising his voice he cried up his + wares, ‘Oh, lovely; ain’t they muttony? Spilsby’s specials, all ‘ot; one + penny.’ + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Kitty was walking quickly down Elizabeth Street, and turning + round the corner ran right up against a woman. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ said the woman, catching her wrist, ‘where are you off to?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let me go,’ cried Kitty, in a panting voice. + </p> + <p> + The woman was tall and handsome, but her face had a kindly expression on + it, and she seemed touched with the terrified tone of the girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘My poor child,’ she said, half contemptuously, releasing her, ‘I won’t + hurt you. Go if you like. What are you doing out at this time of the + night?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nothing,’ faltered Kitty, with quivering lips, lifting her face up to the + pale moon. The other saw it in the full light and marked how pure and + innocent it was. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go home, dear,’ she said, in a soft tone, touching the girl kindly on the + shoulder, ‘it’s not fit for you to be out at this hour. You are not one of + us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My God! no,’ cried Kitty, shrinking away from her. + </p> + <p> + The other smiled bitterly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! you draw away from me now,’ she said, with a sneer; ‘but what are + you, so pure and virtuous, doing on the streets at this hour? Go home in + time, child, or you will become like me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I have no home,’ said Kitty, turning to go. + </p> + <p> + ‘No home!’ echoed the other, in a softer tone; ‘poor child! I cannot take + you with me—God help me; but here is some money,’ forcing a shilling + into the girl’s hand, ‘go to Mrs Rawlins at Victoria Parade, Fitzroy—anyone + will tell you where it is—and she will take you in.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What kind of a place is it?’ said Kitty. + </p> + <p> + ‘A home for fallen women, dear,’ answered the other, kindly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m not a fallen woman!’ cried the girl, wildly, ‘I have left my home, + but I will go back to it—anything better than this horrible life on + the streets.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, dear,’ said the woman, softly, ‘go home; go home, for God’s sake, + and if you have a father and mother to shield you from harm, thank heaven + for that. Let me kiss you once,’ she added, bending forward, ‘it is so + long since I felt a good woman’s kiss on my lips. Good-bye.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good-bye,’ sobbed Kitty, raising her face, and the other bent down and + kissed the child-like face, then with a stifled cry, fled away through the + moonlit night. + </p> + <p> + Kitty turned away slowly and walked up the street. She knew there was a + cab starting opposite the Town Hall which went to Richmond, and determined + to go home. After all, hard though her life might be in the future, it + would be better than this cruel harshness of the streets. + </p> + <p> + At the top of the block, just as she was about to cross Swanston Street, a + party of young men in evening dress came round the corner singing, and + evidently were much exhilarated with wine. These were none other than Mr + Jarper and his friends, who, having imbibed a good deal more than was good + for them, were now ripe for any mischief. Bellthorp and Jarper, both quite + intoxicated, were walking arm-in-arm, each trying to keep the other up, so + that their walking mostly consisted of wild lurches forward, and required + a good deal of balancing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ cried Bellthorp solemnly—he was always solemn when + intoxicated—‘girl—pretty—eh!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Go ‘way,’ said Barty, staggering back against the wall, ‘we’re Christian + young men.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty tried to get away from this inebriated crew, but they all closed + round her, and she wrung her hands in despair. ‘If you are gentlemen you + will let me go,’ she cried, trying to push past. + </p> + <p> + ‘Give us kiss first,’ said a handsome young fellow, with his hat very much + on one side, putting his arm round her waist, ‘pay toll, dear.’ + </p> + <p> + She felt his hot breath on her cheek and shrieked out wildly, trying to + push him away with all her force. The young man, however, paid no + attention to her cries, but was about to kiss her when he was taken by the + back of the neck and thrown into the gutter. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gentlemen!’ said a rich rolling voice, which proceeded from a portly man + who had just appeared on the scene. ‘I am astonished,’ with the emphasis + on the first person singular, as if he were a man of great note. + </p> + <p> + ‘Old boy,’ translated Bellthorp to the others, ‘is ‘tonished.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You have,’ said the stranger, with an airy wave of his hand, ‘the + appearance of gentlemen, but, alas! you are but whited sepulchres, fair to + look upon, but full of dead men’s bones within.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jarper,’ said Bellthorp, solemnly, taking Barty’s arm, ‘you’re a + tombstone with skeleton inside—come along—old boy is right—set + of cads ‘suiting an unprotected gal—good night, sir.’ + </p> + <p> + The others picked up their companion out of the gutter, and the whole lot + rolled merrily down the street. + </p> + <p> + ‘And this,’ said the gentleman, lifting up his face to the sky in mute + appeal to heaven, ‘this is the generation which is to carry on Australia. + Oh, Father Adam, what a dissipated family you have got—ah!—good + for a comedy, I think.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ cried Kitty, recognising a familiar remark, ‘it’s Mr Wopples.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The same,’ said the airy Theodore, laying his hand on his heart, ‘and + you, my dear—why, bless me,’ looking closely at her, ‘it is the + pretty girl I met in Ballarat—dear, dear—surely you have not + come to this.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, no,’ said Kitty, quickly, laying her hand on his arm, ‘I will tell + you all about it, Mr Wopples; but you must be a friend to me, for I sadly + need one.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will be your friend,’ said the actor, emphatically, taking her arm and + walking slowly down the street; ‘tell me how I find you thus.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You won’t tell anyone if I do?’ said Kitty, imploringly. + </p> + <p> + ‘On the honour of a gentleman,’ answered Wopples, with grave dignity. + </p> + <p> + Kitty told him how she had left Ballarat, but suppressed the name of her + lover, as she did not want any blame to fall on him. But all the rest she + told freely, and when Mr Wopples heard how on that night she had left the + man who had ruined her, he swore a mighty oath. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, vile human nature,’ he said, in a sonorous tone, ‘to thus betray a + confiding infant! Where,’ he continued, looking inquiringly at the serene + sky, ‘where are the thunderbolts of Heaven that they fall not on such?’ + </p> + <p> + No thunderbolt making its appearance to answer the question, Mr Wopples + told Kitty he would take her home to the family, and as they were just + starting out on tour again, she could come with them. + </p> + <p> + ‘But will Mrs Wopples receive me?’ asked Kitty, timidly. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear,’ said the actor, gravely, ‘my wife is a good woman, and a mother + herself, so she can feel for a poor child like you, who has been betrayed + through sheer innocence.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You do not despise me?’ said Kitty, in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear,’ answered Wopples, quietly, ‘am I so pure myself that I can + judge others? Who am I,’ with an oratorical wave of the hand, ‘that I + should cast the first stone?—ahem!—from Holy Writ. In future I + will be your father; Mrs Wopples, your mother, and you will have ten + brothers and sisters—all star artistes.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How kind you are,’ sobbed Kitty, clinging trustfully to him as they went + along. + </p> + <p> + ‘I only do unto others as I would be done by,’ said Mr Wopples, solemnly. + ‘That sentiment,’ continued the actor, taking off his hat, ‘was uttered by + One who, tho’ we may believe or disbelieve in His divinity as a God, will + always remain the sublimest type of perfect manhood the world has ever + seen.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty did not answer, and they walked quickly along; and surely this one + good deed more than compensated for the rest of the actor’s failings. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — ON CHANGE + </h2> + <p> + Young Australia has a wonderful love for the excitement of gambling—take + him away from the betting ring and he goes straight to the share market to + dabble in gold and silver shares. The Great Humbug Gold Mining Company is + floated on the Melbourne market—a perfect fortune in itself, which + influential men are floating in a kind of semi-philanthropic manner to + benefit mankind at large, and themselves in particular. Report by + competent geologists; rich specimens of the reef exhibited to the + confiding public; company of fifty thousand shares at a pound each; two + shillings on application; two shillings on allotment; the balance in calls + which influential men solemnly assure confiding public will never be + needed. Young Australia sees a chance of making thousands in a week; buys + one thousand shares at four shillings—only two hundred pounds; + shares will rise and Young Australia hopefully looks forward to pocketing + two or three thousand by his modest venture of two hundred; company + floated, shares rising slowly. Young Australia will not sell at a profit, + still dazzled by his chimerical thousands. Calls must be made to put up + machinery; shares have a downward tendency. Never mind, there will only be + one or two calls, so stick to shares as parents of possible thousands. + Machinery erected; now crushing; two or three ounces to ton a certainty. + Shares have an upward tendency; washing up takes place—two + pennyweights to ton. Despair! Shares run down to nothing, and Young + Australia sees his thousands disappear like snow in the sun. The Great + Humbug Reef proves itself worthy of its name, and the company collapses + amid the groans of confiding public and secret joy of influential men, who + have sold at the top price. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup knew all about this sort of thing, for he had seen it occur over + and over again in Ballarat and Melbourne. So many came to the web and + never got out alive, yet fresh flies were always to be found. Vandeloup + was of a speculative nature himself, and had he been possessed of any + surplus cash would, no doubt, have risked it in the jugglery of the share + market, but as he had none to spare he stood back and amused himself with + looking at the ‘spider and the fly’ business which was constantly going + on. Sometimes, indeed, the fly got the better of spider number one, but + was unable to keep away from the web, and was sure to fall into the web of + spider number two. + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup, therefore, considered the whole affair as too risky to be + gone into without unlimited cash; but now he had a chance of making money, + he determined to try his hand at the business. True, he knew that he was + in for a swindle, but then he was behind the scenes, and would benefit by + the knowledge he had gained. If the question at issue had really been that + of getting gold out of the reef and paying dividends with the profits, + Gaston would have snapped his fingers scornfully, and held aloof; but this + was simply a running up of shares by means of a rich reef being struck. He + intended to buy at the present market value, which was four shillings, and + sell as soon as he could make a good profit—say, at one pound—so + there was not much chance of him losing his money. The shares would + probably drop again when the pocket of gold was worked out, but then that + would be none of his affair, as he would by that time have sold out and + made his pile. M. Vandeloup was a fly who was going straight into the webs + of stockbroking spiders, but then he knew as much about this particular + web as the spiders themselves. + </p> + <p> + Full of his scheme to make money, Vandeloup started for town to see a + broker—first, however, having settled with Mrs Pulchop over Kitty’s + disappearance. He had found a letter from Kitty in the bedroom, in which + she had bidden him good-bye for ever, but this he did not show to Mrs + Pulchop, merely stating to that worthy lady that his ‘wife’ had left him. + </p> + <p> + ‘And it ain’t to be wondered at, the outraged angel,’ she said to Gaston, + as he stood at the door, faultlessly dressed, ready to go into town; ‘the + way you treated her were shameful.’ + </p> + <p> + Gaston shrugged his shoulders, lit a cigarette, and smiled at Mrs Pulchop. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear lady,’ he said, blandly, ‘pray attend to your medicine bottles + and leave my domestic affairs alone; you certainly understand the one, but + I doubt your ability to come to any conclusion regarding the other.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Fine words don’t butter no parsnips,’ retorted Mrs Pulchop, viciously; + ‘and if Pulchop weren’t an Apoller, he had a kind heart.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Spare me these domestic stories, please,’ said Vandeloup, coldly, ‘they + do not interest me in the least; since my “wife”,’ with a sneer, ‘has + gone, I will leave your hospitable roof. I will send for all my property + either today or to-morrow, and if you make out your account in the + meantime, my messenger will pay it. Good day!’ and without another word + Vandeloup walked slowly off down the path, leaving Mrs Pulchop speechless + with indignation. + </p> + <p> + He went into town first, to the City of Melbourne Bank, and cashed + Meddlechip’s cheque for six hundred pounds, then, calling a hansom, he + drove along to the Hibernian Bank, where he had an account, and paid it + into his credit, reserving ten pounds for his immediate use. Then he + reentered his hansom, and went along to the office of a stockbroker, + called Polglaze, who was a member of ‘The Bachelors’, and in whose hands + Vandeloup intended to place his business. + </p> + <p> + Polglaze was a short, stout man, scrupulously neatly dressed, with iron + grey hair standing straight up, and a habit of dropping out his words one + at a time, so that the listener had to construct quite a little history + between each, in order to arrive at their meaning, and the connection they + had with one another. + </p> + <p> + ‘Morning!’ said Polglaze, letting the salutation fly out of his mouth + rapidly, and then closing it again in case any other word might be waiting + ready to pop out unknown to him. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup sat down and stated his business briefly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I want you to buy me some Magpie Reef shares,’ he said, leaning on the + table. + </p> + <p> + ‘Many?’ dropped out of Polglaze’s mouth, and then it shut again with a + snap. ‘Depends on the price,’ replied Vandeloup, with a shrug; ‘I see in + the papers they are four shillings.’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Polglaze took up his share book, and rapidly turned over the leaves—found + what he wanted, and nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ said Vandeloup, making a rapid mental calculation, ‘then buy me two + thousand five hundred. That will be about five hundred pounds’ worth.’ + </p> + <p> + Mr Polglaze nodded; then whistled. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your commission, I presume,’ said Vandeloup, making another calculation, + ‘will be threepence?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sixpence,’ interrupted the stockbroker. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I thought it was threepence,’ answered Vandeloup, quietly; ‘however, + that does not make any difference to me. Your commission at that rate will + be twelve pounds ten shillings?’ + </p> + <p> + Polglaze nodded again, and sat looking at Vandeloup like a stony + mercantile sphinx. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you will, then, buy me these shares,’ said Vandeloup, rising, and + taking up his gloves and hat, ‘when am I to come along and see you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Four,’ said Polglaze. + </p> + <p> + Today?’ inquired Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + A nod from the stockbroker. + </p> + <p> + ‘Very well,’ said Vandeloup, quietly, ‘I’ll give you a cheque for the + amount, then. There’s nothing more to be said, I believe?’ and he walked + over to the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Say!’ from Polglaze. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ replied Gaston, indolently, swinging his stick to and fro. + </p> + <p> + ‘New?’ inquired the stockbroker. + </p> + <p> + ‘You mean to this sort of thing?’ said Vandeloup, looking at him, and + receiving a nod in token of acquiescence, added, ‘entirely.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Risky,’ dropped from the Polglaze mouth. ‘I never knew a gold mine that + wasn’t,’ retorted Vandeloup, dryly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bad,’ in an assertive tone, from Polglaze. + </p> + <p> + ‘This particular mine, I suppose you mean?’ said Gaston, with a yawn, + ‘very likely it is. However, I’m willing to take the risk. Good day! See + you at four,’ and with a careless nod, M. Vandeloup lounged out of the + office. + </p> + <p> + He walked along Collins Street, met a few friends, and kept a look-out for + Kitty. He, however, did not see her, but there was a surprise in store for + him, for turning round into Swanston Street, he came across Archie + McIntosh. Yes, there he was, with his grim, severe Scotch face, with the + white frill round it, and Gaston smiled as he saw the old man, dressed in + rigid broadcloth, casting disproving looks on the pretty girls walking + along. + </p> + <p> + ‘A set o’ hizzies,’ growled the amiable Archie to himself, ‘prancin’ alang + wi’ their gew-gaws an’ fine claes, like war horses—the daughters o’ + Zion that walk wi’ mincin’ steps an’ tinklin’ ornaments.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How do you do?’ said Vandeloup, touching the broadcloth shoulder; upon + which McIntosh turned. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lord save us!’ he ejaculated, grimly, ‘it’s yon French body. An’ hoo’s a’ + wi’ ye, laddie? Eh, but ye’re brawly dressed, my young man,’ with a + disproving look; ‘I’m hopin’ they duds are paid for.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course they are,’ replied Vandeloup, gaily, ‘do you think I stole + them?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Weel, I’ll no gae sa far as that,’ remarked Archie, cautiously; ‘maybe ye + have dwelt by the side o’ mony waters, an’ flourished. If he ken the + Screepture ye’ll see God helps those wha help themselves.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That means you do all the work and give God the credit,’ retorted Gaston, + with a sneer; ‘I know all about that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, ye’ll gang tae the pit o’ Tophet when ye dee,’ said Mr McIntosh, who + had heard this remark with horror; ‘an’ ye’ll no be sae ready wi’ your + tongue there, I’m thinkin’; but ye are not speerin aboot Mistress + Villiers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, is she in town?’ asked Vandeloup, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ay, and Seliny wi’ her,’ answered Archie, fondling his frill; ‘she’s + varra rich noo, as ye’ve nae doot heard. Ay, ay,’ he went on, ‘she’s + gotten a braw hoose doon at St Kilda, and she’s going to set up a + carriage, ye ken. She tauld me,’ pursued Mr McIntosh, sourly, looking at + Vandeloup, ‘if I saw ye I was to be sure to tell ye to come an’ see her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Present my compliments to Madame,’ said Vandeloup, quickly, ‘and I will + wait on her as soon as possible.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Losh save us, laddie,’ said McIntosh, irritably, ‘you’re as fu’ o’ fine + wards as a play-actor. Have ye seen onything doon in this pit o’ Tophet o’ + the bairn that rin away?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Miss Marchurst!’ said Vandeloup, smoothly, ready with a lie at once. + ‘No, I’m sorry to say I’ve never set eyes on her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The mistress is joost daft aboot her,’ observed McIntosh, querulously; + ‘and she’s ganging tae look all thro’ the toun tae find the puir wee + thing.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I hope she will!’ said M. Vandeloup, who devoutly hoped she wouldn’t. + ‘Will you come and have a glass of wine, Mr McIntosh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’l hae a wee drappy o’ whusky if ye’ve got it gude,’ said McIntosh, + cautiously, ‘but I dinna care for they wines that sour on a body’s + stomach.’ + </p> + <p> + McIntosh having thus graciously assented, Vandeloup took him up to the + Club, and introduced him all round as the manager of the famous Pactolus. + All the young men were wonderfully taken up with Archie and his plain + speaking, and had Mr McIntosh desired he could have drunk oceans of his + favourite beverage. However, being a Scotchman and cautious, he took very + little, and left Vandeloup to go down to Madame Midas at St Kilda, and + bearing a message from the Frenchman that he would call there the next + day. + </p> + <p> + Archie having departed, Vandeloup got through the rest of the day as he + best could. He met Mr Wopples in the street, who told him how he had found + Kitty, quite unaware that the young man before him was the villain who had + betrayed the girl. Vandeloup was delighted to think that Kitty had not + mentioned his name, and quite approved of Mr Wopples’ intention to take + the girl on tour. Having thus arranged for Kitty’s future, Gaston went + along to his broker, and found that the astute Polglaze had got him his + shares. + </p> + <p> + ‘Going up,’ said Polglaze, as he handed the scrip to Vandeloup and got a + cheque in exchange. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, indeed!’ said Vandeloup, with a smile. ‘I suppose my two friends have + begun their little game already,’ he thought, as he slipped the scrip into + his breast pocket. + </p> + <p> + ‘Information?’ asked Polglaze, as Vandeloup was going. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! you’d like to know where I got it,’ said M. Vandeloup, amiably. ‘Very + sorry I can’t tell you; but you see, my dear sir, I am not a woman, and + can keep a secret.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup walked out, and Polglaze looked after him with a puzzled look, + then summed up his opinion in one word, sharp, incisive, and to the point— + </p> + <p> + ‘Clever!’ said Polglaze, and put the cheque in his safe. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup strolled along the street thinking. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bebe is out of my way,’ he thought, with a smile; ‘I have a small fortune + in my pocket, and,’ he continued, thoughtfully, ‘Madame Midas is in + Melbourne. I think now,’ said M. Vandeloup, with another smile, ‘that I + have conquered the blind goddess.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. — THE OPULENCE OF MADAME MIDAS + </h2> + <p> + A wealthy man does not know the meaning of the word friendship. He is not + competent to judge, for his wealth precludes him giving a proper opinion. + Smug-faced philanthropists can preach comfortable doctrines in pleasant + rooms with well-spread tables and good clothing; they can talk about human + nature being unjustly accused, and of the kindly impulses and good + thoughts in everyone’s breasts. Pshaw! anyone can preach thus from an + altitude of a few thousands a year, but let these same self-complacent + kind-hearted gentlemen descend in the social scale—let them look + twice at a penny before spending it—let them face persistent + landladies, exorbitant landlords, or the bitter poverty of the streets, + and they will not talk so glibly of human nature and its inherent + kindness. No; human nature is a sort of fetish which is credited with a + great many amiable qualities it never possesses, and though there are + exceptions to the general rule, Balzac’s aphorism on mankind that ‘Nature + works by self-interest,’ still holds good today. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas, however, had experienced poverty and the coldness of + friends, so was completely disillusionised as to the disinterested motives + of the people who now came flocking around her. She was very wealthy, and + determined to stop in Melbourne for a year, and then go home to Europe, so + to this end she took a house at St Kilda, which had been formerly occupied + by Mark Frettlby, the millionaire, who had been mixed up in the famous + hansom cab murder nearly eighteen months before. His daughter, Mrs + Fitzgerald, was in Ireland with her husband, and had given instructions to + her agents to let the house furnished as it stood, but such a large rent + was demanded, that no one felt inclined to give it till Mrs Villiers + appeared on the scene. The house suited her, as she did not want to + furnish one of her own, seeing she was only going to stop a year, so she + saw Thinton and Tarbet, who had the letting of the place, and took it for + a year. The windows were flung open, the furniture brushed and renovated, + and the solitary charwoman who had been ruler in the lonely rooms so long, + was dismissed, and her place taken by a whole retinue of servants. Madame + Midas intended to live in style, so went to work over the setting up of + her establishment in such an extravagant manner that Archie remonstrated. + She took his interference in a good humoured way, but still arranged + things as she intended; and when her house was ready, waited for her + friends to call on her, and prepared to amuse herself with the comedy of + human life. She had not long to wait, for a perfect deluge of affectionate + people rolled down upon her. Many remembered her—oh, quite well—when + she was the beautiful Miss Curtis; and then her husband—that + dreadful Villiers—they hoped he was dead—squandering her + fortune as he had done—they had always been sorry for her, and now + she was rich—that lovely Pactolus—indeed, she deserved it all—she + would marry, of course—oh, but indeed, she must. And so the comedy + went on, and all the actors flirted, and ogled, and nodded, and bowed, + till Madame Midas was quite sick of the falseness and frivolity of the + whole thing. She knew these people, with their simpering and smiling, + would visit her and eat her dinners and drink her wines, and then go away + and abuse her thoroughly. But then Madame Midas never expected anything + else, so she received them with smiles, saw through all their little ways, + and when she had amused herself sufficiently with their antics, she let + them go. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup called on Madame Midas the day after she arrived, and Mrs + Villiers was delighted to see him. Having an object in view, of course + Gaston made himself as charming as possible, and assisted Madame to + arrange her house, told her about the people who called on her, and made + cynical remarks about them, all of which amused Madame Midas mightily. She + grew weary of the inane gabble and narrow understandings of people, and it + was quite a relief for her to turn to Vandeloup, with his keen tongue and + clever brains. Gaston was not a charitable talker—few really clever + talkers are—but he saw through everyone with the uttermost ease and + summed them up in a sharp incisive way, which had at least the merit of + being clever. Madame Midas liked to hear him talk, and seeing what humbugs + the people who surrounded her were, and how well she knew their motives in + courting her for her wealth, it is not to be wondered at that she should + have been amused at having all their little weaknesses laid bare and + classified by such a master of satire as Vandeloup. So they sat and + watched the comedy and the unconscious actors playing their parts, and + felt that the air was filled with heavy sensuous perfume, and the lights + were garish, and that there was wanting entirely that keen cool atmosphere + which Mallock calls ‘the ozone of respectability’. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup had prospered in his little venture in the mining market, for, + true to the prediction of Mr Barraclough—who, by the way, was very + much astonished at the sudden demand for shares by Polglaze, and vainly + pumped that reticent individual to find out what he was up to—the + Magpie Reef shares ran up rapidly. A telegram was published from the + manager stating a rich reef had been struck. Specimens of the very richest + kind were displayed in Melbourne, and the confiding public suddenly woke + to the fact that a golden tide was flowing past their doors. They rushed + the share market, and in two weeks the Magpie Reef shares ran from four + shillings to as many pounds. Vandeloup intended to sell at one pound, but + when he saw the rapid rise and heard everyone talking about this Reef, + which was to be a second Long Tunnel, he held his shares till they touched + four pounds, then, quite satisfied with his profit, he sold out at once + and pocketed nearly ten thousand pounds, so that he was provided for the + rest of his life. The shares ran up still higher, to four pounds ten + shillings, then dropped to three, in consequence of certain rumours that + the pocket of gold was worked out. Then another rich lead was struck, and + they ran up again to five pounds, and afterwards sank to two pounds, which + gradually became their regular price in the market. That Barraclough and + his friend did well was sufficiently proved by the former taking a trip to + Europe, while his friend bought a station and set up as a squatter. They, + however, never knew how cleverly M. Vandeloup had turned their + conversation to his advantage, and that young gentleman, now that he had + made a decent sum, determined to touch gold mining no more, and, unlike + many people, he kept his word. + </p> + <p> + Now that he was a man of means, Vandeloup half decided to go to America, + as a larger field for a gentleman of his brilliant qualities, but the + arrival of Madame Midas in Melbourne made him alter his mind. Her husband + was no doubt dead, so Gaston thought that as soon as she had settled down + he would begin to pay his court to her, and without doubt would be + accepted, for this confident young man never for a moment dreamed of + failure. Meanwhile he sent all Kitty’s wardrobe after her as she went with + the Wopples family, and the poor girl, taking this as a mark of renewed + affection, wrote him a very tearful little note, which M. Vandeloup threw + into the fire. Then he looked about and ultimately got a very handsome + suite of rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne. He furnished these + richly, and having invested his money in good securities, prepared to + enjoy himself. + </p> + <p> + Kitty, meanwhile, had become a great favourite with the Wopples family, + and they made a wonderful pet of her. Of course, being in Rome, she did as + the Romans did, and went on the stage as Miss Kathleen Wopples, being + endowed with the family name for dramatic reasons. The family were now on + tour among the small towns of Victoria, and seemed to be well-known, as + each member got a reception when he or she appeared on the stage. Mr + Theodore Wopples used to send his agent ahead to engage the theatre—or + more often a hall—bill the town, and publish sensational little + notices in the local papers. Then when the family arrived Mr Wopples, who + was really a gentleman and well-educated, called on all the principal + people of the town and so impressed them with the high class character of + the entertainment that he never failed to secure their patronage. He also + had a number of artful little schemes which he called ‘wheezes’, the most + successful of these being a lecture on ‘The Religious Teaching of + Shakespeare’, which he invariably delivered on a Sunday afternoon in the + theatre of any town he happened to be in, and not infrequently when + requested occupied the pulpit and preached capital sermons. By these means + Mr Wopples kept up the reputation of the family, and the upper classes of + all the towns invariably supported the show, while the lower classes came + as a matter of course. Mr Wopples, however, was equally as clever in + providing a bill of fare as in inducing the public to come to the theatre, + and the adaptability of the family was really wonderful. One night they + would play farcical comedy; then Hamlet, reduced to four acts by Mr + Wopples, would follow on the second night; the next night burlesque would + reign supreme; and when the curtain arose on the fourth night Mr Wopples + and the star artistes would be acting melodrama, and throw one another off + bridges and do strong starvation business with ragged clothes amid paper + snowstorms. + </p> + <p> + Kitty turned out to be a perfect treasure, as her pretty face and charming + voice soon made her a favourite, and when in burlesque she played Princess + to Fanny Wopples’ Prince, there was sure to be a crowded house and lots of + applause. Kitty’s voice was clear and sweet as a lark’s, and her execution + something wonderful, so Mr Wopples christened her the Australian + Nightingale, and caused her to be so advertised in the papers. Moreover, + her dainty appearance, and a certain dash and abandon she had with her, + carried the audience irresistibly away, and had Fanny Wopples not been a + really good girl, she would have been jealous of the success achieved by + the new-comer. She, however, taught Kitty to dance breakdowns, and at + Warrnambool they had a benefit, when ‘Faust, M.D.’ was produced, and Fanny + sang her great success, ‘I’ve just had a row with mamma’, and Kitty sang + the jewel song from ‘Faust’ in a manner worthy of Neilson, as the local + critic—who had never heard Neilson—said the next day. + Altogether, Kitty fully repaid the good action of Mr Wopples by making his + tour a wonderful success, and the family returned to Melbourne in high + glee with full pockets. + </p> + <p> + ‘Next year,’ said Mr Wopples, at a supper which they had to celebrate the + success of their tour, ‘we’ll have a theatre in Melbourne, and I’ll make + it the favourite house of the city, see if I don’t.’ + </p> + <p> + It seemed, therefore, as though Kitty had found her vocation, and would + develop into an operatic star, but fate intervened, and Miss Marchurst + retired from the stage, which she had adorned so much. This was due to + Madame Midas, who, driving down Collins Street one day, saw Kitty at the + corner walking with Fanny Wopples. She immediately stopped her carriage, + and alighting therefrom, went straight up to the girl, who, turning and + seeing her for the first time, grew deadly pale. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kitty, my dear,’ said Madame, gravely, ‘I have been looking for you + vainly for a year—but I have found you at last.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty’s breast was full of conflicting emotions; she thought that Madame + knew all about her intimacy with Vandeloup, and that she would speak + severely to her. Mrs Villiers’ next words, however, reassured her. + </p> + <p> + ‘You left Ballarat to go on the stage, did you not?’ she said kindly, + looking at the girl; ‘why did you not come to me?—you knew I was + always your friend.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, Madame,’ said Kitty, putting out her hand and averting her head, ‘I + would have come to you, but I thought you would stop me from going.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear child,’ replied Madame, ‘I thought you knew me better than that; + what theatre are you at?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s with us,’ said Miss Fanny, who had been staring at this grave, + handsomely-dressed lady who had alighted from such a swell carriage; ‘we + are the Wopples Family.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Mrs Villiers, thinking, ‘I remember, you were up at Ballarat + last year. Well, Kitty, will you and your friend drive down to St Kilda + with me, and I’ll show you my new house?’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty would have refused, for she was afraid Madame Midas would perhaps + send her back to her father, but the appealing looks of Fanny Wopples, who + had never ridden in a carriage in her life, and was dying to do so, + decided her to accept. So they stepped into the carriage, and Mrs Villiers + told the coachman to drive home. + </p> + <p> + As they drove along, Mrs Villiers delicately refrained from asking Kitty + any questions about her flight, seeing that a stranger was present, but + determined to find out all about it when she got her alone down at St + Kilda. + </p> + <p> + Kitty, on her part, was thinking how to baffle Madame’s inquiries. She + knew she would be questioned closely by her, and resolved not to tell more + than she could help, as she, curiously enough—considering how he had + treated her—wished to shield Vandeloup. But she still cherished a + tender feeling for the man she loved, and had Vandeloup asked her to go + back and live with him, would, no doubt, have consented. The fact was, the + girl’s nature was becoming slightly demoralised, and the Kitty who sat + looking at Madame Midas now—though her face was as pretty, and her + eyes as pure as ever—was not the same innocent Kitty that had + visited the Pactolus, for she had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, and was + already cultured in worldly wisdom. Madame, of course, believed that Kitty + had gone from Ballarat straight on to the stage, and never thought for a + moment that for a whole year she had been Vandeloup’s mistress, so when + Kitty found this out—as she very soon did—she took the cue at + once, and asserted positively to Madame that she had been on the stage for + eighteen months. + </p> + <p> + ‘But how is it,’ asked Madame, who believed her fully, ‘that I could not + find you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Because I was up the country all the time,’ replied Kitty, quickly, ‘and + of course did not act under my real name.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You would not like to go back to your father, I suppose,’ suggested + Madame. + </p> + <p> + Kitty made a gesture of dissent. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ she answered, determinedly; ‘I was tired of my father and his + religion; I’m on the stage now, and I mean to stick to it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Kitty! Kitty!’ said Madame, sadly, ‘you little know the temptations—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! yes, I do,’ interrupted Kitty, impatiently; ‘I’ve been nearly two + years on the stage, and I have not seen any great wickedness—besides, + I’m always with Mrs Wopples.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then you still mean to be an actress?’ asked Madame. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ replied Kitty, in a firm voice; ‘if I went back to my father, I’d + go mad leading that dull life.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But why not stay with me, my dear?’ said Mrs Villiers, looking at her; ‘I + am a lonely woman, as you know, and if you come to me, I will treat you as + a daughter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! how good you are,’ cried the girl in a revulsion of feeling, falling + on her friend’s neck; ‘but indeed I cannot leave the stage—I’m too + fond of it.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame sighed, and gave up the argument for a time, then showed the two + girls all over the house, and after they had dinner with her, she sent + them back to town in her carriage, with strict injunctions to Kitty to + come down next day and bring Mr Wopples with her. When the two girls + reached the hotel where the family was staying, Fanny gave her father a + glowing account of the opulence of Madame Midas, and Mr Wopples was + greatly interested in the whole affair. He was grave, however, when Kitty + spoke to him privately of what Madame had said to her, and asked her if + she would not like to accept Mrs Villiers’ offer. Kitty, however, said she + would remain on the stage, and as Wopples was to see Madame Midas next + day, made him promise he would say nothing about having found her on the + streets, or of her living with a lover. Wopples, who thoroughly understood + the girl’s desire to hide her shame from her friends, agreed to this, so + Kitty went to bed confident that she had saved Vandeloup’s name from being + dragged into the affair. + </p> + <p> + Wopples saw Madame next day, and a long talk ensued, which ended in Kitty + agreeing to stay six months with Mrs Villiers, and then, if she still + wished to continue on the stage, she was to go to Mr Wopples. On the other + hand, in consideration of Wopples losing the services of Kitty, Madame + promised that next year she would give him sufficient money to start a + theatre in Melbourne. So both parted mutually satisfied. Kitty made + presents to all the family, who were very sorry to part with her, and then + took up her abode with Mrs Villiers, as a kind of adopted daughter, and + was quite prepared to play her part in the comedy of fashion. + </p> + <p> + So Madame Midas had been near the truth, yet never discovered it, and sent + a letter to Vandeloup asking him to come to dinner and meet an old friend, + little thinking how old and intimate a friend Kitty was to the young man. + </p> + <p> + It was, as Mr Wopples would have said, a highly dramatic situation, but, + alas, that the confiding nature of Madame Midas should thus have been + betrayed, not only by Vandeloup, but by Kitty herself—the very girl + whom, out of womanly compassion, she took to her breast. + </p> + <p> + And yet the world talks about the inherent goodness of human nature. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. — M. VANDELOUP IS SURPRISED + </h2> + <p> + Owing to the quiet life Kitty had led since she came to Melbourne, and the + fact that her appearance on the stage had taken place in the country, she + felt quite safe when making her appearance in Melbourne society that no + one would recognise her or know anything of her past life. It was unlikely + she would meet with any of the Pulchop family again, and she knew Mr + Wopples would hold his tongue regarding his first meeting with her, so the + only one who could reveal anything about her would be Vandeloup, and he + would certainly be silent for his own sake, as she knew he valued the + friendship of Madame Midas too much to lose it. Nevertheless she awaited + his coming in considerable trepidation, as she was still in love with him, + and was nervous as to what reception she would meet with. Perhaps now that + she occupied a position as Mrs Villiers’ adopted daughter he would marry + her, but, at all events, when she met him she would know exactly how he + felt towards her by his demeanour. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup, on the other hand, was quite unaware of the surprise in store + for him, and thought that the old friend he was to meet would be some + Ballarat acquaintance of his own and Madame’s. In his wildest flight of + fancy he never thought it would be Kitty, else his cool nonchalance would + for once have been upset at the thought of the two women he was interested + in being under the same roof. However, where ignorance is bliss—well + M. Vandeloup, after dressing himself carefully in evening dress, put on + his hat and coat, and, the evening being a pleasant one, thought he would + stroll through the Fitzroy Gardens down to the station. + </p> + <p> + It was pleasant in the gardens under the golden light of the sunset, and + the green arcades of trees looked delightfully cool after the glare of the + dusty streets. Vandeloup, strolling along idly, felt a touch on his + shoulder and wheeled round suddenly, for with his past life ever before + him he always had a haunting dread of being recaptured. + </p> + <p> + The man, however, who had thus drawn his attention was none other than + Pierre Lemaire, who stood in the centre of the broad asphalt path, dirty, + ragged and disreputable-looking. He had not altered much since he left + Ballarat, save that he looked more dilapidated-looking, but stood there in + his usual sullen manner, with his hat drawn down over his eyes. Some stray + wisps of grass showed that he had been camping out all the hot day on the + green turf under the shadow of the trees, and it was easy to see from his + appearance what a vagrant he was. Vandeloup was annoyed at the meeting and + cast a rapid look around to see if he was observed. The few people, + however, passing were too intent on their own business to give more than a + passing glance at the dusty tramp and the young man in evening dress + talking to him, so Vandeloup was reassured. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, my friend,’ he said, sharply, to the dumb man, ‘what do you want?’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre put his hand in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, of course,’ replied M. Vandeloup, mockingly, ‘money, money, always + money; do you think I’m a bank, always to be drawn on like this?’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man made no sign that he had heard, but stood sullenly rocking + himself to and fro an’d chewing a wisp of the grass he had picked off his + coat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here,’ said the young man, taking out a sovereign and giving it to + Pierre; ‘take this just now and don’t bother me, or upon my word,’ with a + disdainful look, ‘I shall positively have to hand you over to the law.’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre glanced up suddenly, and Vandeloup caught the gleam of his eyes + under the shadow of the hat. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! you think it will be dangerous for me,’ he said, in a gay tone; ‘not + at all, I assure you. I am a gentleman, and rich; you are a pauper, and + disreputable. Who will believe your word against mine? My faith! your + assurance is quite refreshing. Now, go away, and don’t trouble me again, + or,’ with a sudden keen glance, ‘I will do as I say.’ + </p> + <p> + He nodded coolly to the dumb man, and strode gaily along under the shade + of the heavily foliaged oaks, while Pierre looked at the sovereign, + slipped it into his pocket, and slouched off in the opposite direction + without even a glance at his patron. + </p> + <p> + At the top of the street Vandeloup stepped into a cab, and telling the man + to drive to the St Kilda Station, in Elizabeth Street, went off into a + brown study. Pierre annoyed him seriously, as he never seemed to get rid + of him, and the dumb man kept turning up every now and then like the mummy + at the Egyptian feast to remind him of unpleasant things. + </p> + <p> + ‘Confound him!’ muttered Vandeloup, angrily, as he alighted at the station + and paid the cabman, ‘he’s more trouble than Bebe was; she did take the + hint and go, but this man, my faith!’ shrugging his shoulders, ‘he’s the + devil himself for sticking.’ + </p> + <p> + All the way down to St Kilda his reflections were of the same unpleasant + nature, and he cast about in his own mind how he could get rid of this + pertinacious friend. He could not turn him off openly, as Pierre might + take offence, and as he knew more of M. Vandeloup’s private life than that + young gentleman cared about, it would not do to run the risk of an + exposure. + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s only one thing to be done,’ said Gaston, quietly, as he walked + down to Mrs Villiers’ house; ‘I will try my luck at marrying Madame Midas; + if she consents, we can go away to Europe as man and wife; if she does not + I will go to America, and, in either case, Pierre will lose trace of me.’ + </p> + <p> + With this comfortable reflection he went into the house and was shown into + the drawing room by the servant. There were no lights in the room, as it + was not sufficiently dark for them, and Vandeloup smiled as he saw a fire + in the grate. + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith!’ he said to himself, ‘Madame is as chilly as ever.’ + </p> + <p> + The servant had retired, and he was all by himself in this large room, + with the subdued twilight all through it, and the flicker of the flames on + the ceiling. He went to the fire more from habit than anything else, and + suddenly came on a big armchair, drawn up close to the side, in which a + woman was sitting. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! the sleeping beauty,’ said Vandeloup, carelessly; ‘in these cases the + proper thing to do in order to wake the lady is to kiss her.’ + </p> + <p> + He was, without doubt, an extremely audacious young man, and though he did + not know who the young lady was, would certainly have put his design into + execution, had not the white figure suddenly rose and confronted him. The + light from the fire was fair on her face, and with a sudden start + Vandeloup saw before him the girl he had ruined and deserted. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bebe?’ he gasped, recoiling a step. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes!’ said Kitty, in an agitated tone, ‘your mistress and your victim.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah!’ said Gaston, coolly, having recovered from the first shock of + surprise. ‘That style suits Sarah Bernhardt, not you, my dear. The first + act of this comedy is excellent, but it is necessary the characters should + know one another in order to finish the play.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Kitty, with a bitter smile, ‘do I not know you too well, as the + man who promised me marriage and then broke his word? You forgot all your + vows to me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear child,’ replied Gaston leisurely, leaning up against the + mantelpiece, ‘if you had read Balzac you would discover that he says, + “Life would be intolerable without a certain amount of forgetting.” I must + say,’ smiling, ‘I agree with the novelist.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty looked at him as he stood there cool and complacent, and threw + herself back into the chair angrily. + </p> + <p> + ‘Just the same,’ she muttered restlessly, ‘just the same.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course,’ replied Vandeloup, raising his eyebrows in surprise. ‘You + have only been away from me six weeks, and it takes longer than that to + alter any one. By the way,’ he went on smoothly, ‘how have you been all + this time? I have no doubt your tour has been as adventurous as that of + Gil Bias.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, it has not,’ replied Kitty, clenching her hands. ‘You never cared + what became of me, and had not Mr Wopples met me in the street on that + fearful night, God knows where I would have been now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I can tell you,’ said Gaston, coolly, taking a seat. ‘With me. You would + have soon got tired of the poverty of the streets, and come back to your + cage.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My cage, indeed!’ she echoed, bitterly, tapping the ground with her foot. + ‘Yes, a cage, though it was a gilded one.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How Biblical you are getting,’ said the young man, ironically; ‘but + kindly stop speaking in parables, and tell me what position we are to + occupy to each other. As formerly?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My God, no!’ she flashed out suddenly. + </p> + <p> + ‘So much the better,’ he answered, bowing. ‘We will obliterate the last + year from our memories, and I will meet you to-night for the first time + since you left Ballarat. Of course,’ he went on, rather anxiously, ‘you + have told Madame nothing?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Only what suited me,’ replied the girl, coldly, stung by the coldness and + utter heartlessness of this man. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ with a smile. ‘Did it include my name?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ curtly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ with a long indrawn breath, ‘you are more sensible than I gave you + credit for.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty rose to her feet and crossed rapidly over to where he sat calm and + smiling. + </p> + <p> + ‘Gaston Vandeloup!’ she hissed in his ear, while her face was quite + distorted by the violence of her passion, ‘when I met you I was an + innocent girl—you ruined me, and then cast me off as soon as you + grew weary of your toy. I thought you loved me, and,’ with a stifled sob, + ‘God help me, I love you still.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, my Bebe,’ he said, in a caressing tone, taking her hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘No! no,’ she cried, wrenching them away, while an angry spot of colour + glowed on her cheek, ‘I loved you as you were—not as you are now—we + are done with sentiment, M. Vandeloup,’ she said, sneering, ‘and now our + relations to one another will be purely business ones.’ + </p> + <p> + He bowed and smiled. + </p> + <p> + ‘So glad you understand the position,’ he said, blandly; ‘I see the age of + miracles is not yet past when a woman can talk sense.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You won’t disturb me with your sneers,’ retorted the girl, glaring + fiercely at him out of the gathering gloom in the room; ‘I am not the + innocent girl I once was.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It is needless to tell me that,’ he said, coarsely. + </p> + <p> + She drew herself up at the extreme insult. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have a care, Gaston,’ she muttered, hurriedly, ‘I know more about your + past life than you think.’ + </p> + <p> + He rose from his seat and approached his face, now white as her own, to + hers. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you know?’ he asked, in a low, passionate voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Enough to be dangerous to you,’ she retorted, defiantly. + </p> + <p> + They both looked at one another steadily, but the white face of the woman + did not blench before the scintillations of his eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘What you know I don’t know,’ he said, steadily; ‘but whatever it is, keep + it to yourself, or—,’ catching her wrist. + </p> + <p> + ‘Or what?’ she asked, boldly. + </p> + <p> + He threw her away from him with a laugh, and the sombre fire died out of + his eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah!’ he said, gaily, ‘our comedy is turning into a tragedy; I am as + foolish as you; I think,’ significantly, ‘we understand one another.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, I think we do,’ she answered, calmly, the colour coming back to her + cheek. ‘Neither of us are to refer to the past, and we both go on our + different roads unhindered.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mademoiselle Marchurst,’ said Vandeloup, ceremoniously, ‘I am delighted + to meet you after a year’s absence—come,’ with a gay laugh, ‘let us + begin the comedy thus, for here,’ he added quickly, as the door opened, + ‘here comes the spectators.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, young people,’ said Madame’s voice, as she came slowly into the + room, ‘you are all in the dark; ring the bell for lights, M. Vandeloup.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly, Madame,’ he answered, touching the electric button, ‘Miss + Marchurst and myself were renewing our former friendship.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How do you think she is looking?’ asked Madame, as the servant came in + and lit the gas. + </p> + <p> + ‘Charming,’ replied Vandeloup, looking at the dainty little figure in + white standing under the blaze of the chandelier; ‘she is more beautiful + than ever.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty made a saucy little curtsey, and burst into a musical laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is just the same, Madame,’ she said merrily to the tall, grave woman + in black velvet, who stood looking at her affectionately, ‘full of + compliments, and not meaning one; but when is dinner to be ready?’ + pathetically, ‘I’m dying of starvation.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I hope you have peaches, Madame,’ said Vandeloup, gaily; ‘the first time + I met Mademoiselle she was longing for peaches.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am unchanged in that respect,’ retorted Kitty, brightly; ‘I adore + peaches still.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am just waiting for Mr Calton,’ said Madame Midas, looking at her + watch; ‘he ought to be here by now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is that the lawyer, Madame?’ asked Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ she replied, quietly, ‘he is a most delightful man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So I have heard,’ answered Vandeloup, nonchalantly, ‘and he had something + to do with a former owner of this house, I think.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, don’t talk of that,’ said Mrs Villiers, nervously; ‘the first time I + took the house, I heard all about the Hansom Cab murder.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, Madame, you are not nervous,’ said Kitty, gaily. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, my dear,’ replied the elder, quietly, ‘but I must confess that for + some reason or another I have been a little upset since coming here; I + don’t like being alone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You shall never be that,’ said Kitty, fondly nestling to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you, puss,’ said Madame, tapping her cheek; ‘but I am nervous,’ she + said, rapidly; ‘at night especially. Sometimes I have to get Selina to + come into my room and stay all night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame Midas nervous,’ thought Vandeloup to himself; ‘then I can guess + the reason; she is afraid of her husband coming back to her.’ + </p> + <p> + Just at this moment the servant announced Mr Calton, and he entered, with + his sharp, incisive face, looking clever and keen. + </p> + <p> + ‘I must apologise for being late, Mrs Villiers,’ he said, shaking hands + with his hostess; ‘but business, you know, the pleasure of business.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Now,’ said Madame, quickly, ‘I hope you have come to the business of + pleasure.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very epigrammatic, my dear lady,’ said Calton, in his high, clear voice; + ‘pray introduce me.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame did so, and they all went to dinner, Madame with Calton and Kitty + following with Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘This,’ observed Calton, when they were all seated at the dinner table, + ‘is the perfection of dining; for we are four, and the guests, according + to an epicure, should never be less than the Graces nor greater than the + Muses.’ + </p> + <p> + And a very merry little dinner it was. All four were clever talkers, and + Vandeloup and Calton being pitted against one another, excelled + themselves; witty remarks, satirical sayings, and well-told stories were + constantly coming from their lips, and they told their stories as their + own and did not father them on Sydney Smith. + </p> + <p> + ‘If Sydney Smith was alive,’ said Calton, in reference to this, ‘he would + be astonished at the number of stories he did not tell.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ chimed in Vandeloup, gaily, ‘and astounded at their brilliancy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘After all,’ said Madame, smiling, ‘he’s a sheet-anchor for some people; + for the best original story may fail, a dull one ascribed to Sydney Smith + must produce a laugh.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why?’ asked Kitty, in some wonder. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because,’ explained Calton, gravely, ‘society goes mainly by tradition, + and our grandmothers having laughed at Sydney Smith’s jokes, they must + necessarily be amusing. Depend upon it, jokes can be sanctified by time + quite as much as creeds.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They are more amusing, at all events,’ said Madame, satirically. ‘Creeds + generally cause quarrels.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘And quarrels generally cause stories,’ he said, smiling; ‘it is the law + of compensation.’ + </p> + <p> + They then went to the drawing-room and Kitty and Vandeloup both sang, and + treated one another in a delightfully polite way. Madame Midas and Calton + were both clever, but how much cleverer were the two young people at the + piano. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you going to Meddlechip’s ball?’ said Calton to Madame. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ she answered, nodding her head, ‘I and Miss Marchurst are both + going.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who is Mr Meddlechip?’ asked Kitty, swinging round on the piano-stool. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is the most charitable man in Melbourne,’ said Gaston, with a faint + sneer. + </p> + <p> + ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians,’ said Calton, mockingly. ‘Because Mr + Meddlechip suffers from too much money, and has to get rid of it to + prevent himself being crushed like Tarpeia by the Sabine shields, he is + called charitable.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He does good, though, doesn’t he?’ asked Madame. + </p> + <p> + ‘See advertisement,’ scoffed Calton. ‘Oh, yes! he will give thousands of + pounds for any public object, but private charity is a waste of money in + his eyes.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are very hard on him,’ said Madame Midas, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah! Mr Calton believes as I do,’ cried Vandeloup, ‘that it’s no good + having friends unless you’re privileged to abuse them.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s one you take full advantage of, then,’ observed Kitty, saucily. + </p> + <p> + ‘I always take what I can get,’ he returned, mockingly; whereon she + shivered, and Calton saw it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said that astute reader of character to himself, ‘there’s something + between those two. ‘Gad! I’ll cross-examine my French friend.’ + </p> + <p> + They said good-night to the ladies, and walked to the St Kilda station, + from thence took the train to town, and Calton put into force his + cross-examination. He might as well have tried his artful questions on a + rock as on Vandeloup, for that clever young gentleman saw through the + barrister at once, and baffled him at every turn with his epigrammatic + answers and consummate coolness. + </p> + <p> + ‘I confess,’ said Calton, when they said good-night to one another, ‘I + confess you puzzle me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Language,’ observed M. Vandeloup, with a smile, ‘was given to us to + conceal our thoughts. Good night!’ + </p> + <p> + And they parted. + </p> + <p> + ‘The comedy is over for the night,’ thought Gaston as he walked along, + ‘and it was so true to nature that the spectators never thought it was + art.’ + </p> + <p> + He was wrong, for Calton did. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. — A PROFESSIONAL PHILANTHROPIST + </h2> + <p> + We have professional diners-out, professional beauties, professional + Christians, then why not professional philanthropists? This brilliant + century of ours has nothing to do with the word charity, as it savours too + much of stealthy benevolence, so it has substituted in its place the long + word philanthropy, which is much more genteel and comprehensive. Charity, + the meekest of the Christian graces, has been long since dethroned, and + her place is taken by the blatant braggard Philanthropy, who does his good + deeds in a most ostentatious manner, and loudly invites the world to see + his generosity, and praise him for it. Charity, modestly hooded, went into + the houses of the poor, and tendered her gifts with smiles. Philanthropy + now builds almshouses and hospitals, and rails at poverty if it has too + much pride to occupy them. And what indeed, has poverty to do with pride?—it’s + far too sumptuous and expensive an article, and can only be possessed by + the rich, who can afford to wear it because it is paid for. Mr Meddlechip + was rich, so he bought a large stock of pride, and wore it everywhere. It + was not personal pride—he was not good-looking; it was not family + pride—he never had a grandfather; nor was it pecuniary pride—he + had too much money for that. But it was a mean, sneaking, insinuating + pride that wrapped him round like a cloak, and pretended to be very + humble, and only holding its money in trust for the poor. The poor ye have + always with you—did not Mr Meddlechip know it? Ask the old men and + women in the almshouses, and they would answer yes; but ask the squalid + inhabitants of the slums, and they would probably say, ‘Meddlechip, ‘o’s + ‘e?’ Not that the great Ebenezer Meddlechip was unknown—oh, dear, no—he + was a representative colonial; he sat in Parliament, and frequently spoke + at those enlarged vestry meetings about the prosperity of the country. He + laid foundation stones. He took the chair at public meetings. In fact, he + had his finger in every public pie likely to bring him into notoriety; but + not in private pies, oh, dear, no; he never did good by stealth and blush + to find it fame. Any blushes he might have had would have been angry ones + at his good deed not being known. + </p> + <p> + He had come in the early days of the colony, and made a lot of money, + being a shrewd man, and one who took advantage of every tide in the + affairs of men. He was honest, that is honest as our present elastic + acceptation of the word goes—and when he had accumulated a fortune + he set to work to buy a few things. He bought a grand house at Toorak, + then he bought a wife to do the honours of the grand house, and when his + domestic affairs were quite settled, he bought popularity, which is about + the cheapest thing anyone can buy. When the Society for the Supplying of + Aborigines with White Waistcoats was started he headed the list with one + thousand pounds—bravo, Meddlechip! The Secretary of the Band of + Hard-up Matrons asked him for fifty pounds, and got five hundred—generous + Meddlechip! And at the meeting of the Society for the Suppression of Vice + among Married Men he gave two thousand pounds, and made a speech on the + occasion, which made all the married men present tremble lest their sins + should find them out—noble Meddlechip! He would give thousands away in + public charity, have it well advertised in the newspapers, and then + wonder, with humility, how the information got there; and he would give a + poor woman in charge for asking for a penny, on the ground that she was a + vagrant. Here, indeed, was a man for Victoria to be proud of; put up a + statue to him in the centre of the city; let all the school children study + a list of his noble actions as lessons; let the public at large grovel + before him, and lick the dust of his benevolent shoes, for he is a + professional philanthropist. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Meddlechip, large, florid, and loud-voiced, was equally as well known + as her husband, but in a different way. He posed as benevolence, she was + the type of all that’s fashionable—that is, she knew everyone; gave + large parties, went out to balls, theatres, and lawn tennis, and dressed + in the very latest style, whether it suited her or not. She had been born + and brought up in the colonies, but when her husband went to London as a + representative colonial she went also, and stayed there a whole year, + after which she came out to her native land and ran everything down in the + most merciless manner. They did not do this in England—oh! dear no! + nothing so common—the people in Melbourne had such dreadfully vulgar + manners; but then, of course, they are not English; there was no + aristocracy; even the dogs and horses were different; they had not the + stamp of centuries of birth and breeding on them. In fact, to hear Mrs + Meddlechip talk one would think that England was a perfect aristocratic + paradise, and Victoria a vulgar—other place. She totally ignored the + marvellously rapid growth of the country, and that the men and women in it + were actually the men and women who had built it up year by year, so that + even now it was taking its place among the nations of the earth. But Mrs + Meddlechip was far too ladylike and fashionable for troubling about such + things—oh dear, no—she left all these dry facts to Ebenezer, + who could speak about them in his own pompous, blatant style at public + meetings. + </p> + <p> + This lady was one of those modern inventions known as a frisky matron, and + said and did all manner of dreadful things, which people winked at because—she + was Mrs Meddlechip, and eccentric. She had a young man always dangling + after her at theatres and dances—sometimes one, sometimes another, + but there was one who was a fixture. This was Barty Jarper, who acted as + her poodle dog, and fetched and carried for her in the most amiable + manner. When any new poodle dog came on the scene Barty would meekly + resign his position, and retire into the background until such time as he + was whistled back again to go through his antics. Barty attended her + everywhere, made up her programmes, wrote out her invitations, danced with + whosoever he was told, and was rewarded for all these services by being + given the crumbs from the rich man’s table. Mr Jarper had a meek little + way with Mrs Meddlechip, as if he was constantly apologising for having + dared to have come into the world without her permission, but to other + people he was rude enough, and in his own mean little soul looked upon + himself quite as a man of fashion. How he managed to go about as he did + was a standing puzzle to his friends, as he got only a small salary at the + Hibernian Bank; yet he was to be seen at balls, theatres, tennis parties; + constantly driving about in hansoms; in fact, lived as if he had an + independent income. The general opinion was that he was supplied with + money by Mrs Meddlechip, while others said he gambled; and, indeed, Barty + was rather clever at throwing sixes, and frequently at the Bachelors’ Club + won a sufficient sum to give him a new suit of clothes or pay his club + subscription for the year. He was one of those bubbles which dance on the + surface of society, yet are sure to vanish some day, and if God tempered + the wind to any particular shorn lamb, that shorn lamb was Barty Jarper. + </p> + <p> + The Meddlechips were giving a ball, therefore the mansion at Toorak was + brilliantly illuminated and crowded with fashionable people. The ball-room + was at the side of the house, and from it French windows opened on to a + wide verandah, which was enclosed with drapery and hung with many-coloured + Chinese lanterns. Beyond this the smooth green lawns stretched away to a + thick fringe of trees, which grew beside the fence and screened the + Meddlechip residence from the curious gaze of vulgar eyes. + </p> + <p> + Kitty came under the guardianship of Mrs Riller, a young matron with dark + hair, an imperious manner, and a young man always at her heels. Mrs + Villiers intended to have come, but at the last moment was seized with one + of her nervous fits, so decided to stop at home with Selina for company. + Kitty, therefore, accompanied Mrs Riller to the ball, but the guardianship + of that lady was more nominal than anything else, as she went off with Mr + Bellthorp after introducing Kitty to Mrs Meddlechip, and flirted and + danced with him the whole evening. Kitty, however, did not in the least + mind being left to her own devices, for being an extremely pretty girl she + soon had plenty of young men round her anxious to be introduced. She + filled her programme rapidly and kept two valses for Vandeloup, as she + knew he was going to be present, but he as yet had not made his + appearance. + </p> + <p> + He arrived about a quarter past ten o’clock, and was strolling leisurely + up to the house, when he saw Pierre, standing amid a number of idlers at + the gate. The dumb man stepped forward, and Vandeloup paused with a smile + on his handsome lips, though he was angry enough at the meeting. + </p> + <p> + ‘Money again, I suppose?’ he said to Pierre, in a low voice, in French; + ‘don’t trouble me now, but come to my rooms to-morrow.’ + </p> + <p> + The dumb man nodded, and Vandeloup walked leisurely up the path. Then + Pierre followed him right up to the steps which led to the house, saw him + enter the brilliantly-lighted hall, and then hid himself in the shrubs + which grew on the edge of the lawn. There, in close hiding, he could hear + the sound of music and voices, and could see the door of the fernery wide + open, and caught glimpses of dainty dresses and bare shoulders within. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup, quite ignorant that his friend was watching the house, put on + his gloves leisurely, and walked in search of his hostess. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Meddlechip glanced approvingly at Vandeloup as he came up, for he was + extremely good-looking, and good-looking men were Mrs Meddlechip’s pet + weakness. Barty was in attendance on his liege lady, and when he saw how + she admired Vandeloup, he foresaw he would be off duty for some time. It + would be Vandeloup promoted vice Jarper resigned, but Barty very well knew + that Gaston was not a man to conduct himself like a poodle dog, so came to + the conclusion he would be retained for use and M. Vandeloup for ornament. + Meanwhile, he left Mrs Meddlechip to cultivate the acquaintance of the + young Frenchman, and went off with a red-haired girl to the supper-room. + Red-haired girl, who was remarkably ugly and self-complacent, had been a + wallflower all the evening, but thought none the less of herself on that + account. She assured Barty she was not hungry, but when she finished + supper Mr Jarper was very glad, for the supper’s sake, she had no + appetite. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s the hungriest girl I ever met in my life,’ he said to Bellthorp + afterwards; ‘ate up everything I gave her, and drank so much lemonade, I + thought she’d go up like a balloon.’ + </p> + <p> + When Barty had satisfied the red-haired girl’s appetite—no easy + matter—he left her to play wallflower and make spiteful remarks on + the girls who were dancing, and took out another damsel, who smiled and + smiled, and trod on his toes when he danced, till he wished her in + Jericho. He asked if she was hungry, but, unlike the other girl, she was + not; he said she must be tired, but oh, dear no, she was quite fresh; so + she danced the whole waltz through and bumped Barty against everyone in + the room; then said his step did not suit hers, which exasperated him so + much—for Barty flattered himself on his waltzing—that he left + her just as she was getting up a flirtation, and went to have a glass of + champagne to soothe his feelings. Released from Mrs Meddlechip, Gaston + went in search of Kitty, and found her flirting with Felix Rolleston, who + was amusing her with his gay chatter. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is a deuced good-looking chappie,’ said Mr Rolleston, fixing his + eyeglass in his eye and looking critically at Gaston as he approached + them; ‘M. Vandeloup, isn’t it?’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty said it was. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! yes,’ went on Felix, brightly, ‘saw him about town—don’t know + him personally; awfully like a fellow I once knew called Fitzgerald—Brian + Fitzgerald—married now and got a family; funny thing, married Miss + Frettlby, who used to live in your house.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! that hansom cab murder,’ said Kitty, looking at him, ‘I’ve heard all + about that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Egad! I should think you had,’ observed Mr Rolleston, with a grin, ‘it + was a nine days’ wonder; but here’s your friend, introduce me, pray,’ as + Vandeloup came up. + </p> + <p> + Kitty did so, and Felix improved the occasion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Knew you by sight,’ he said, shaking hands with Gaston, ‘but it’s a case + of we never speak as we pass by, and all that sort of thing—come and + look me up,’ hospitably, ‘South Yarra.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Delighted,’ said Gaston, smoothly, taking Kitty’s programme and putting + his name down for the two vacant waltzes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Reciprocal, I assure you,’ said the lively Felix. ‘Oh, by Jove! excuse + me, Miss Marchurst—there’s a polka—got to dance with a girl—you’ll + see me in a minute—she’s a maypole—I’m not, ha! ha! You’ll say + it’s the long and the short of it—ta-ta at present.’ + </p> + <p> + He hopped off gaily, and they soon saw him steering the maypole round the + room, or rather, the maypole steered Felix, for her idea of the dance was + to let Felix skip gaily round her; then she lifted him up and put him down + a few feet further on, when he again skipped, and so the performance went + on, to the intense amusement of Kitty and Gaston. + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith!’ said Vandeloup, satirically, dropping into a seat beside + Kitty, ‘she is a maypole, and he’s a merry peasant dancing round it. By + the way, Bebe, why isn’t Madame here to-night?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s not well,’ replied Kitty, unfurling her fan; ‘I don’t know what’s + come over her, she’s so nervous.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! indeed,’ said Vandeloup, politely; ‘Hum!—still afraid of her + husband turning up,’ he said to himself, as Kitty was carried away for a + valse by Mr Bellthorp; ‘how slow all this is?’ he went on, yawning, and + rising from his seat; ‘I shan’t stay long, or that old woman will be + seizing me again. Poor Kestrike, surely his sin has been punished enough + in having such a wife,’ and M. Vandeloup strolled away to speak to Mrs + Riller, who, being bereft of Bellthorp, was making signals to him with her + fan. + </p> + <p> + Barty Jarper had been hard at work all night on the poodle-dog system, and + had danced with girls who could not dance, and talked with girls that + could not talk, so, as a reward for his work, he promised himself a dance + with Kitty. At the beginning of the evening he had secured a dance from + her, and now, all his duties for the evening being over, he went to get + it. Bellthorp had long since returned to Mrs Riller and flirtation, and + Kitty had been dancing with a tall young man, with unsteady legs and an + eye-glass that would not stick in his eye. She did not particularly care + about Mr Jarper, with his effeminate little ways, but was quite glad when + he came to carry her off from the unsteady legs and the eye-glass. The + dance was the Lancers; but Kitty declared she would not dance it as she + felt weary, so made Mr Jarper take her to supper. Barty was delighted, as + he was hungry himself, so they secured a pleasant little nook, and Barty + foraged for provisions. + </p> + <p> + ‘You know all about this house,’ said Kitty, when she saw how successful + the young man was in getting nice things. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ murmured Barty, quite delighted, ‘I know most of the houses in + Melbourne—I know yours.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Mrs Villiers’?’ asked Kitty. + </p> + <p> + Barty nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘Used to go down there a lot when Mr Frettlby lived there,’ he said, + sipping his wine. ‘I know every room in it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’d be invaluable as a burglar,’ said Kitty, a little contemptuously, + as she looked at his slim figure. + </p> + <p> + ‘I dare say,’ replied Barty, who took the compliment in good faith. ‘Some + night I’ll climb up to your room and give you a fright.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shows how much you know,’ retorted Miss Marchurst. ‘My room is next to + Madame’s on the ground floor.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know,’ said Barty, sagely, nodding his head. ‘It used to be a boudoir—nice + little room. By the way, where is Mrs Villiers to-night?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s not well,’ replied Kitty, yawning behind her fan, for she was weary + of Barty and his small talk. ‘She’s very worried.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Over money matters, I suppose?’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty laughed and shook her head. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hardly,’ she answered. + </p> + <p> + ‘I dare say,’ replied Barty, ‘she’s awfully rich. You know, I’m in the + bank where her account is, and I know all about her. Rich! oh, she is + rich! Lucky thing for that French fellow if he marries her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Marries her?’ echoed Kitty, her face growing pale. ‘M. Vandeloup?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ replied Barty, pleased at having made a sensation. ‘Her first + husband has vanished, you know, and all the fellows are laying bets about + Van marrying the grass widow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What nonsense!’ said Kitty, in an agitated voice. ‘M. Vandeloup is her + friend—nothing more.’ + </p> + <p> + Barty grinned. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve seen so much of that “friendship, and nothing more”, business,’ he + said, significantly, whereupon Kitty rose to her feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m tired,’ she said, coldly. ‘Kindly take me to Mrs Riller.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve put my foot into it,’ thought Jarper, as he led her away. ‘I believe + she’s spoons on Van herself.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs Riller was not very pleased to see Kitty, as Mr Bellthorp was telling + her some amusing scandals about her dearest friends, and, of course, had + to stop when Kitty came up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not dancing, dear?’ she asked, with a sympathetic smile, glancing angrily + at Bellthorp, who seemed more struck with Kitty than he had any right to + be, considering he was her property. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ replied Kitty, ‘I’m a little tired.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Miss Marchurst,’ observed Bellthorp, leaning towards her, ‘I’m sure I’ve + seen you before.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty felt a chill running through her veins as she remembered where their + last meeting had been. The extremity of the danger gave her courage. + </p> + <p> + ‘I dare say,’ she replied, coldly turning her back on the young man, ‘I’m + not invisible.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs Riller looked with all her eyes, for she wanted to know all about this + pretty girl who dropped so unexpectedly into Melbourne society, so she + determined to question Bellthorp when she got him alone. To this end she + finessed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! there’s that lovely valse,’ she said, as the band struck up ‘One + summer’s night in Munich’. ‘If you are not engaged, Mr Bellthorp, we must + have a turn.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Delighted,’ replied Bellthorp, languidly offering his arm, but thinking + meanwhile, ‘confound these women, how they do work a man.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You, I suppose,’ said Mrs Riller to Kitty, ‘are going to play + wallflower.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hardly,’ observed a cool voice behind them; ‘Miss Marchurst dances this + with me—you see, Mrs Riller,’ as that lady turned and saw Vandeloup, + ‘she has not your capability at playing wallflower,’ with a significant + glance at Bellthorp. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Riller understood the look, which seemed to pierce into the very + depths of her frivolous little soul, and flushed angrily as she moved away + with Mr Bellthorp and mentally determined to be even with Vandeloup on the + first occasion. + </p> + <p> + Gaston, quite conscious of the storm he had raised, smiled serenely, and + then offered his arm to Kitty, which she refused, as she was determined to + find out from his own lips the truth of Jarper’s statement regarding + Madame Midas. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want to dance,’ she said curtly, pointing to the seat beside her + as an invitation for him to sit down. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pardon me,’ observed Vandeloup, blandly, ‘I do; we can talk afterwards if + you like.’ + </p> + <p> + Their eyes met, and then Kitty arose and took his arm, with a charming + pout. It was no good fighting against the quiet, masterful manner of this + man, so she allowed him to put his arm round her waist and swing her + slowly into the centre of the room. ‘One summer’s night in Munich’ was a + favourite valse, and everyone who could dance, and a good many who could + not, were up on the floor. Every now and then, through the steady beat of + the music, came the light laugh of a woman or the deeper tones of a man’s + voice; and the glare of the lights, the flashing jewels on the bare necks + and arms of women, the soft frou-frou of their dresses, as their partners + swung them steadily round, and the subtle perfume of flowers gave an + indescribable sensuous flavour to the whole scene. And the valse—who + does not know it? with its sad refrain, which comes in every now and then + throughout, even in the most brilliant passages. The whole story of a + man’s faith and a woman’s treachery is contained therein. + </p> + <p> + ‘One summer’s night in Munich,’ sighed the heavy bass instruments, sadly + and reproachfully, ‘I thought your heart was true!’ Listen to the + melancholy notes of the prelude which recall the whole scene—do you + not remember? The stars are shining, the night wind is blowing, and we are + on the terrace looking down on the glittering lights of the city. Hark! + that joyous sparkling strain, full of riant laughter, recalls the sad + students who wandered past, and then from amid the airy ripple of notes + comes the sweet, mellow strain of the ‘cello, which tells of love eternal + amid the summer roses; how the tender melody sweeps on full of the perfume + and mystic meanings of that night. Hark! is that the nightingale in the + trees, or only the silvery notes of a violin, which comes stealing through + the steady throb and swing of the heavier stringed instruments? Ah! why + does the rhythm stop? A few chords breaking up the dream, the sound of a + bugle calling you away, and the valse goes into the farewell motif with + its tender longing and passionate anguish. Good-bye! you will be true? + Your heart is mine, good-bye, sweetheart! Stop! that discord of angry + notes—she is false to her soldier lover! The stars are pale, the + nightingale is silent, the rose leaves fall, and the sad refrain comes + stealing through the room again with its bitter reproach, ‘One summer’s + night in Munich I knew your heart was false.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty danced for a little time, but was too much agitated to enjoy the + valse, in spite of the admirable partner M. Vandeloup made. She was + determined to find out the truth, so stopped abruptly, and insisted on + Vandeloup taking her to the conservatory. + </p> + <p> + ‘What for?’ he asked, as they threaded their way through the crowded room. + ‘Is it important?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very,’ she replied, looking straight at him; ‘it is essential to our + comedy.’ + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith!’ he murmured, as they entered the fernery; ‘this comedy is + becoming monotonous.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. — IN THE FERNERY + </h2> + <p> + The fernery was a huge glass building on one side of the ballroom, filled + with Australian and New Zealand ferns, and having a large fountain in the + centre sending up a sparkling jet of water, which fell into the shallow + stone basin filled with water lilies and their pure white flowers. At the + end was a mimic representation of a mountain torrent, with real water + tumbling down real rocks, and here and there in the crannies and crevices + grew delicate little ferns, while overhead towered the great fronds of the + tree ferns. The roof was a dense mass of greenery, and wire baskets filled + with sinuous creepers hung down, with their contents straggling over. + Electric lights in green globes were skilfully hidden all round, and a + faint aquamarine twilight permeated the whole place, and made it look like + a mermaid’s grotto in the depths of the sea. Here and there were + delightful nooks, with well-cushioned seats, many of which were occupied + by pretty girls and their attendant cavaliers. On one side of the fernery + a wide door opened on to a low terrace, from whence steps went down to the + lawn, and beyond was the dark fringe of trees wherein Pierre was + concealed. + </p> + <p> + Kitty and Vandeloup found a very comfortable nook just opposite the door, + and they could see the white gleam of the terrace in the luminous + starlight. Every now and then a couple would pass, black silhouettes + against the clear sky, and around they could hear the murmur of voices and + the musical tinkling of the fountain, while the melancholy music of the + valse, with its haunting refrain, sounded through the pale green twilight. + Barty Jarper was talking near them, in his mild little way, to a tall + young lady in a bilious-looking green dress, and further off Mr Bellthorp + was laughing with Mrs Riller behind the friendly shelter of her fan. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said Vandeloup, amiably, as he sank into a seat beside Kitty, + ‘what is this great matter you wish to speak about?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Madame Midas,’ retorted Kitty, looking straight at him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Such a delightful subject,’ murmured Gaston, closing his eyes, as he + guessed what was coming; ‘go on, I’m all attention.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are going to marry her,’ said Miss Marchurst, bending towards him and + closing her fan with a snap. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup smiled faintly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You don’t say so?’ he murmured, opening his eyes and looking at her + lazily; ‘who told you this news—for news it is to me, I assure you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then it’s not true?’ added Kitty, eagerly, with a kind of gasp. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ he replied, indolently fingering his moustache; + ‘I haven’t asked her yet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are not going to do so?’ she said, rapidly, with a flush on her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why not?’ in surprise; ‘do you object?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Object? my God!’ she ejaculated, in a low fierce tone; ‘have you + forgotten what we are to one another?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Friends, I understand,’ he said, looking at his hands, admiringly. + </p> + <p> + ‘And something more,’ she added, bitterly; ‘lovers!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t talk so loud, my dear,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly; ‘it doesn’t do + to let everyone know your private business.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s private now,’ she said, in a voice of passion, ‘but it will soon be + public enough.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Indeed! which paper do you advertise in?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Listen to me, Gaston,’ she said, taking no notice of his sneer; ‘you will + never marry Madame Midas; sooner than that, I will reveal all and kill + myself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You forget,’ he said, gently; ‘it is comedy, not tragedy, we play.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That is as I choose,’ she retorted; ‘see!’ and with a sudden gesture she + put her hand into the bosom of her dress and took out the bottle of poison + with the red bands. ‘I have it still.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So I perceive,’ he answered, smiling. ‘Do you always carry it about with + you, like a modern Lucrezia Borgia?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ she answered quietly; ‘it never leaves me, you see,’ with a sneer. + ‘As you said yourself, it’s always well to be prepared for emergencies.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So it appears,’ observed Vandeloup, with a yawn, sitting up. ‘I wouldn’t + use that poison if I were you; it is risky.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no, it’s not,’ answered Kitty; ‘it is fatal in its results, and + leaves no trace behind.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There you are wrong,’ replied Gaston, coolly; ‘it does leave traces + behind, but makes it appear as if apoplexy was the cause of death. Give me + the bottle?’ peremptorily. + </p> + <p> + ‘No!’ she answered, defiantly, clenching it in her hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say yes,’ he said, in an angry whisper; ‘that poison is my secret, and + I’m not going to have you play fast and loose with it; give it up,’ and he + placed his hand on her wrist. + </p> + <p> + ‘You hurt my wrist,’ she said. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll break your wrist, my darling,’ he said, quietly, ‘if you don’t give + me that bottle.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty wrenched her hand away, and rose to her feet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sooner than that, I’ll throw it away,’ she said, and before he could stop + her, she flung the bottle out on to the lawn, where it fell down near the + trees. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah! I will find it,’ he said, springing to his feet, but Kitty was too + quick for him. + </p> + <p> + ‘M. Vandeloup,’ she said aloud, so that everyone could hear; ‘kindly take + me back to the ball-room, will you, to finish our valse.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup would have refused, but she had his arm, and as everyone was + looking at him, he could not refuse without being guilty of marked + discourtesy. Kitty had beaten him with his own weapons, so, with a + half-admiring glance at her, he took her back to the ball-room, where the + waltz was just ending. + </p> + <p> + ‘At all events,’ he said in her ear, as they went smoothly gliding round + the room, ‘you won’t be able to do any mischief with it now to yourself or + to anyone else.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Won’t I?’ she retorted quickly; ‘I have some more at home.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The deuce!’ he ejaculated. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ she replied, triumphantly; ‘the bottle I got that belonged to you, + I put half its contents into another. So you see I can still do mischief, + and,’ in a fierce whisper, ‘I will, if you don’t give up this idea of + marrying Madame Midas.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I thought you knew me better than that,’ he said, in a tone of + concentrated passion. ‘I will not.’ + </p> + <p> + Then I’ll poison her,’ she retorted. + </p> + <p> + ‘What, the woman who has been so kind to you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, I’d rather see her dead than married to a devil like you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How amiable you are, Bebe,’ he said, with a laugh, as the music stopped. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am what you have made me,’ she replied, bitterly, and they walked into + the drawing-room. + </p> + <p> + After this Vandeloup clearly saw that it was a case of diamond cut + diamond, for Kitty was becoming as clever with her tongue as he was. After + all, though she was his pupil, and was getting as hardened and cynical as + possible, he did not think it fair she should use his own weapons against + himself. He did not believe she would try and poison Madame Midas, even + though she was certain of not being detected, for he thought she was too + tender-hearted. But, alas! he had taught her excellently well, and Kitty + was rapidly arriving at the conclusion he had long since come to, that + number one was the greatest number. Besides, her love for Vandeloup, + though not so ardent as it had been, was too intense for her to let any + other woman get a hold of him. Altogether, M. Vandeloup was in an + extremely unpleasant position, and one of his own making. + </p> + <p> + Having given Kitty over to the tender care of Mrs Rolleston, Vandeloup + hurried outside to look for the missing bottle. He had guessed the + position it fell in, and, striking a match, went to look over the smooth + close-shorn turf. But though he was a long time, and looked carefully, the + bottle was gone. + </p> + <p> + ‘The devil!’ said Vandeloup, startled by this discovery. ‘Who could have + picked it up?’ + </p> + <p> + He went back into the conservatory, and, sitting down in his old place, + commenced to review the position. + </p> + <p> + It was most annoying about the poison, there was no doubt of that. He only + hoped that whoever picked it up would know nothing about its dangerous + qualities. After all, he could be certain about that, as no one but + himself knew what the poison was and how it could be used. The person who + picked up the bottle would probably throw it away again as useless; and + then, again, perhaps when Kitty threw the bottle away the stopper came + out, and the contents would be lost. And then Kitty still had more left, + but—bah!—she would not use it on Madame Midas. That was the + vague threat of a jealous woman to frighten him. The real danger he was in + lay in the fact that she might tell Madame Midas the relations between + them, and then there would be no chance of his marrying at all. If he + could only stop Kitty’s mouth in some way—persuasion was thrown away + on her. If he could with safety get rid of her he would. Ah! that was an + idea. He had some of this poison—if he could only manage to give it + to her, and thus remove her from his path. There would be no risk of + discovery, as the poison left no traces behind, and if it came to the + worst, it would appear she had committed suicide, for poison similar to + what she had used would be found in her possession. It was a pity to kill + her, so young and pretty, and yet his safety demanded it; for if she told + Madame Midas all, it might lead to further inquiries, and M. Vandeloup + well knew his past life would not bear looking into. Another thing, she + had threatened him about some secret she held—he did not know what + it was, and yet almost guessed; if that was the secret she must be got rid + of, for it would imperil not only his liberty, but his life. Well, if he + had to get rid of her, the sooner he did so the better, for even on the + next day she might tell all—he would have to give her the poison + that night—but how? that was the difficulty. He could not do it at + this ball, as it would be too apparent if she died—no—it would + have to be administered secretly when she went home. But then she would go + to Madame Midas’ room to see how she was, and then would retire to her own + room. He knew where that was—just off Mrs Villiers’ room; there were + French windows in both rooms—two in Mrs Villiers’, and one in + Kitty’s. That was the plan—they would be left open as the night was + hot. Suppose he went down to St Kilda, and got into the garden, he knew + every inch of the way; then he could slip into the open window, and if it + was not open, he could use a diamond ring to cut the glass. He had a + diamond ring he never wore, so if Kitty was discovered to be poisoned, and + the glass cut, they would never suspect him, as he did not wear rings at + all, and the evidence of the cut window would show a diamond must have + been used. Well, suppose he got inside, Kitty would be asleep, and he + could put the poison into the water carafe, or he could put it in a glass + of water and leave it standing; the risk would be, would she drink it or + not—he would have to run that risk; if he failed this time, he would + not the next. But, then, suppose she awoke and screamed—pshaw! when + she saw it was he Kitty would not dare to make a scene, and he could + easily make some excuse for his presence there. It was a wild scheme, but + then he was in such a dangerous position that he had to try everything. + </p> + <p> + When M. Vandeloup had come to this conclusion he arose, and, going to the + supper room, drank a glass of brandy; for even he, cool as he was, felt a + little nervous over the crime he was about to commit. He thought he would + give Kitty one last chance, so when she was already cloaked, waiting with + Mrs Riller for the carriage, he drew her aside. + </p> + <p> + ‘You did not mean what you said tonight,’ he whispered, looking + searchingly at her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, I did,’ she replied, defiantly; ‘if you push me to extremities, you + must take the consequences.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It will be the worse for you,’ he said, threateningly, as the carriage + drove up. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m not afraid of you,’ she retorted, shrugging her shoulders, a trick + she had learned from him; ‘you have ruined my life, but I’m not going to + let you ruin Madame’s. I’d sooner see her dead than in your arms.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Remember, I have warned you,’ he said, gravely, handing her to the + carriage. ‘Good night!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Good night!’ she answered, mockingly; ‘and to-morrow,’ in a low voice, + ‘you will be astonished.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And to-morrow,’ he said to himself, as the carriage drove off, ‘you will + be dead.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. — THE VISION OF MISS KITTY MARCHURST + </h2> + <p> + Everyone knows the story of Damocles, and how uncomfortable he felt with + the sword suspended by a hair over his head. No one could enjoy their + dinner under such circumstances, and it is much to be thankful for that + hosts of the present day do not indulge in these practical jokes. But + though history does not repeat itself exactly regarding the suspended + sword, yet there are cases when a sense of impending misfortune has the + same effect on the spirits. This was the case of Madame Midas. She was not + by any means of a nervous temperature, yet ever since the disappearance of + her husband she was a prey to a secret dread, which, reacting on her + nerves, rendered her miserable. Had Mr Villiers only appeared, she would + have known how to deal with him, and done so promptly, but it was his + absence that made her afraid. Was he dead? If so, why was his body not + found; if he was not dead, why did he not reappear on the scene. Allowing, + for the sake of argument, that he had stolen the nugget and left the + colony in order to enjoy the fruits of his villainy—well, the nugget + weighed about three hundred ounces—and that if he disposed of it, as + he must have done, it would give him a sum of money a little over one + thousand pounds. True, his possession of such a large mass of gold would + awake suspicions in the mind of anyone he went to; but then, there were + people who were always ready to do shady things, provided they were well + paid. So whomsoever he went to would levy blackmail on him on threat of + informing the police and having him arrested. Therefore, the most feasible + thing would be that he had got about half of the value of the nugget, + which would be about six hundred pounds. Say that he did so, a whole year + had elapsed, and Madame Midas knew her husband well enough to know that + six hundred pounds would soon slip through his fingers, so at the present + time he must once more be penniless. If he was, why did he not come back + to her and demand more money now she was rich? Even had he gone to a + distant place, he would always have kept enough money to pay his way back + to Victoria, so that he could wring money out of her. It was this + unpleasant feeling of being watched that haunted her and made her uneasy. + The constant strain began to tell on her; she became ill and + haggard-looking, and her eyes were always glancing around in the anxious + manner common to hunted animals. She felt as though she were advancing on + a masked battery, and at any moment a shot might strike her from the most + unexpected quarter. She tried to laugh off the feeling and blamed herself + severely for the morbid state of mind into which she was falling; but it + was no use, for by day and night the sense of impending misfortune hung + over her like the sword of Damocles, ready to fall at any moment. If her + husband would only appear, she would settle an income on him, on condition + he ceased to trouble her, but at present she was fighting in the dark with + an unknown enemy. She became afraid of being left alone, and even when + seated quietly with Selina, would suddenly start and look apprehensively + towards the door, as if she heard his footstep. Imagination, when + uncontrolled, can keep the mind on a mental rack, to which that of the + Inquisition was a bed of roses. + </p> + <p> + Selina was grieved at this state of things, and tried to argue and comfort + her mistress with the most amiable proverbs, but she was quite unable to + administer to a mind diseased, and Mrs Villiers’ life became a perfect + hell upon earth. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are my troubles never going to end?’ she said to Selina on the night of + the Meddlechip ball, as she paced restlessly up and down her room; ‘this + man has embittered the whole of my life, and now he is stabbing me in the + dark.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let the dead past bury its dead,’ quoted Selina, who was arranging the + room for the night. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw!’ retorted Madame, impatiently, walking to the French window at the + end of the room and opening it; ‘how do you know he is dead? Come here, + Selina,’ she went on, beckoning to the old woman, and pointing outside to + the garden bathed in moonlight; ‘I have always a dread lest he may be + watching the house. Even now he may be concealed yonder’—pointing + down the garden. + </p> + <p> + Selina looked out, but could see nothing. There was a smooth lawn, burnt + and yellow with the heat, which stretched for about fifty feet, and ended + in a low quickset hedge at the foot of a red brick wall which ran down + that side of the property. The top of this wall was set with broken + bottles, and beyond was the street, where they could hear people passing + along. The moonlight rendered all this as light as day, and, as Selina + pointed out to her mistress, there was no place where a man could conceal + himself. But this did not satisfy Madame; she left the window half open, + so that the cool night wind could blow in, and drew together the red + velvet curtains which hung there. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ve left the window open,’ remarked Selina, looking at her mistress, + ‘and if you are nervous it will not make you feel safe.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas glanced at the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s so hot,’ she said, plaintively, ‘I will get no sleep. Can’t you + manage to fix it up, so that I can leave it open?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll try,’ answered Selina, and she undressed her mistress and put her to + bed, then proceeded to fix up a kind of burglar trap. The bed was a + four-poster, with heavy crimson curtains, and the top was pushed against + the wall, near the window. The curtains of the window and those of the bed + prevented any draught blowing in; and directly in front of the window, + Selina set a small wood table, so that anyone who tried to enter would + throw it over, and thus put the sleeper on the alert. On this she put a + night-light, a book, in case Madame should wake up and want to read—a + thing she very often did—and a glass of homemade lemonade, for a + night drink. Then she locked the other window and drew the curtains, and, + after going into Kitty’s room, which opened off the larger one, and fixing + up the one window there in the same way, she prepared to retire, but + Madame stopped her. + </p> + <p> + ‘You must stay all night with me, Selina,’ she said, irritably. ‘I can’t + be left alone.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But, Miss Kitty,’ objected Selina, ‘she’ll expect to be waited for coming + home from the ball.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, she comes in here to go to her own room,’ said Madame, impatiently; + ‘you can leave the door unlocked.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ observed Miss Sprotts, grimly, beginning to undress herself, ‘for + a nervous woman, you leave a great many windows and doors open.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m not afraid as long as you are with me,’ said Madame, yawning; ‘it’s + by myself I get nervous.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Sprotts sniffed, and observed that ‘Prevention is better than cure,’ + then went to bed, and both she and Madame were soon fast asleep. Selina + slept on the outside of the bed, and Madame, having a sense of security + from being with someone, slumbered calmly; so the night wore drowsily on, + and nothing could be heard but the steady ticking of the clock and the + heavy breathing of the two women. + </p> + <p> + A sleepy servant admitted Kitty when she came home from the ball, and had + said goodbye to Mrs Riller and Bellthorp. Then Mrs Riller, whose husband + had gone home three hours before, drove away with Bellthorp, and Kitty + went into Madame’s room, while the sleepy servant, thankful that his vigil + for the night was over, went to bed. Kitty found Madame’s door ajar, and + went in softly, fearful lest she might wake her. She did not know that + Selina was in the room, and as she heard the steady breathing of the + sleepers, she concluded that Madame was asleep, and resolved to go quietly + into her own room without disturbing the sleeper. So eerie the room looked + with the faint night-light burning on the table beside the bed, and all + the shadows, not marked and distinct as in a strong glare, were faintly + confused. Just near the door was a long chevral glass, and Kitty caught + sight of herself in it, wan and spectral-looking, in her white dress, and, + as she let the heavy blue cloak fall from her shoulders, a perfect shower + of apple blossoms were shaken on to the floor. Her hair had come undone + from its sleek, smooth plaits, and now hung like a veil of gold on her + shoulders. She looked closely at herself in the glass, and her face looked + worn and haggard in the dim light. A pungent acrid odour permeated the + room, and the heavy velvet curtains moved with subdued rustlings as the + wind stole in through the window. On a table near her was a portrait of + Vandeloup, which he had given Madame two days before, and though she could + not see the face she knew it was his. Stretching out her hand she took the + photograph from its stand, and sank into a low chair which stood at the + end of the room some distance from the bed. So noiseless were her + movements that the two sleepers never awoke, and the girl sat in the chair + with the portrait in her hand dreaming of the man whom it represented. She + knew his handsome face was smiling up at her out of the glimmering gloom, + and clenched her hands in anger as she thought how he had treated her. She + let the portrait fall on her lap, and leaning back in the chair, with all + her golden hair showering down loosely over her shoulders, gave herself up + to reflection. + </p> + <p> + He was going to marry Madame Midas—the man who had ruined her life; + he would hold another woman in his arms and tell her all the false tales + he had told her. He would look into her eyes with his own, and she would + be unable to see the treachery and guile hidden in their depths. She could + not stand it. False friend, false lover, he had been, but to see him + married to another—no! it was too much. And yet what could she do? A + woman in love believes no ill of the man she adores, and if she was to + tell Madame Midas all she would not be believed. Ah! it was useless to + fight against fate, it was too strong for her, so she would have to suffer + in silence, and see them happy. That story of Hans Andersen’s, which she + had read, about the little mermaid who danced, and felt that swords were + wounding her feet while the prince smiled on his bride—yes, that was + her case. She would have to stand by in silence and see him caressing + another woman, while every caress would stab her like a sword. Was there + no way of stopping it? Ah! what is that? The poison—no! no! anything + but that. Madame had been kind to her, and she could not repay her trust + with treachery. No, she was not weak enough for that. And yet suppose + Madame died? no one could tell she had been poisoned, and then she could + marry Vandeloup. Madame was sleeping in yonder bed, and on the table there + was a glass with some liquid in it. She would only have to go to her room, + fetch the poison, and put it in there—then retire to bed. Madame + would surely drink during the night, and then—yes, there was only + one way—the poison! + </p> + <p> + How still the house was: not a sound but the ticking of the clock in the + hall and the rushing scamper of a rat or mouse. The dawn reddens faintly + in the east and the chill morning breeze comes up from the south, salt + with the odours of the ocean. Ah! what is that? a scream—a woman’s + voice—then another, and the bell rings furiously. The frightened + servants collect from all parts of the house, in all shapes of dress and + undress. The bell sounds from the bedroom of Mrs Villiers, and having + ascertained this they all rush in. What a sight meets their eyes. Kitty + Marchurst, still in her ball dress, clinging convulsively to the chair; + Madame Midas, pale but calm, ringing the bell; and on the bed, with one + arm hanging over, lies Selina Sprotts—dead! The table near the bed + was overturned on the floor, and the glass and the night-lamp both lie + smashed to pieces on the carpet. + </p> + <p> + ‘Send for a doctor at once,’ cried Madame, letting go the bell-rope and + crossing to the window; ‘Selina has had a fit of some sort.’ + </p> + <p> + Startled servant goes out to stables and wakes up the grooms, one of whom + is soon on horseback riding for dear life to Dr Chinston. Clatter—clatter + along in the keen morning air; a few workmen on their way to work gaze in + surprise at this furious rider. Luckily, the doctor lives in St Kilda, and + being awoke out of his sleep, dresses himself quickly, and taking the + groom’s horse, rides back to Mrs Villiers’ house. He dismounts, enters the + house, then the bedroom. Kitty, pale and wan, is seated in the chair; the + window curtains are drawn, and the cold light of day pours into the room, + while Madame Midas is kneeling beside the corpse, with all the servants + around her. Dr Chinston lifts the arm; it falls limply down. The face is + ghastly white, the eyes staring; there is a streak of foam on the tightly + clenched mouth. The doctor puts his hand on the heart—not a throb; + he closes the staring eyes reverently, and turns to the kneeling woman and + the frightened servants. + </p> + <p> + ‘She is dead,’ he says, briefly, and orders them to leave the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘When did this occur, Mrs Villiers?’ he asked, when the room had been + cleared and only himself, Madame, and Kitty remained. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can’t tell you,’ replied Madame, weeping; ‘she was all right last night + when we went to bed, and she stayed all night with me because I was + nervous. I slept soundly, when I was awakened by a cry and saw Kitty + standing beside the bed and Selina in convulsions; then she became quite + still and lay like that till you came. What is the cause?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Apoplexy,’ replied the doctor, doubtfully; ‘at least, judging from the + symptoms; but perhaps Miss Marchurst can tell us when the attack came on?’ + </p> + <p> + He turned to Kitty, who was shivering in the chair and looked so pale that + Madame Midas went over to her to see what was the matter. The girl, + however, shrank away with a cry as the elder woman approached, and rising + to her feet moved unsteadily towards the doctor. + </p> + <p> + ‘You say she,’ pointing to the body, ‘died of apoplexy?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ he answered, curtly, ‘all the symptoms of apoplexy are there.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are wrong!’ gasped Kitty, laying her hand on his arm, ‘it is poison!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poison!’ echoed Madame and the Doctor in surprise. + </p> + <p> + ‘Listen,’ said Kitty, quickly, pulling herself together by a great effort. + ‘I came home from the ball between two and three, I entered the room to go + to my own,’ pointing to the other door; ‘I did not know Selina was with + Madame.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ said Madame, quietly, ‘that is true, I only asked her to stop at the + last moment.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I was going quietly to bed,’ resumed Kitty, hurriedly, ‘in order not to + waken Madame, when I saw the portrait of M. Vandeloup on the table; I took + it up to look at it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How could you see without a light?’ asked Dr Chinston, sharply, looking + at her. + </p> + <p> + ‘There was a night light burning,’ replied Kitty, pointing to the + fragments on the floor; ‘and I could only guess it was M. Vandeloup’s + portrait; but at all events,’ she said, quickly, ‘I sat down in the chair + over there and fell asleep.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You see, doctor, she had been to a ball and was tired,’ interposed Madame + Midas; ‘but go on, Kitty, I want to know why you say Selina was poisoned.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know how long I was asleep,’ said Kitty, wetting her dry lips + with her tongue, ‘but I was awoke by a noise at the window there,’ + pointing towards the window, upon which both her listeners turned towards + it, ‘and looking, I saw a hand coming out from behind the curtain with a + bottle in it; it held the bottle over the glass on the table, and after + pouring the contents in, then withdrew.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And why did you not cry out for assistance?’ asked the doctor, quickly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I couldn’t,’ she replied, ‘I was so afraid that I fainted. I recovered my + senses, Selina had drank the poison, and when I got up on my feet and went + to the bed she was in convulsions; I woke Madame, and that’s all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A strange story,’ said Chinston, musingly, ‘where is the glass?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s broken, doctor,’ replied Madame Midas; ‘in getting out of bed I + knocked the table down, and both the night lamp and glass smashed.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No one could have been concealed behind the curtain of the window?’ said + the doctor to Madame Midas. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ she replied, ‘but the window was open all night; so if it is as + Kitty says, the man who gave the poison must have put his hand through the + open window.’ + </p> + <p> + Dr Chinston went to the window and looked out; there were no marks of feet + on the flower bed, where it was so soft that anyone standing on it would + have left a footmark behind. + </p> + <p> + ‘Strange,’ said the doctor, ‘it’s a peculiar story,’ looking at Kitty + keenly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But a true one,’ she replied boldly, the colour coming back to her face; + ‘I say she was poisoned.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By whom?’ asked Madame Midas, the memory of her husband coming back to + her. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can’t tell you,’ answered Kitty, ‘I only saw the hand.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘At all events,’ said Chinston, slowly, ‘the poisoner did not know that + your nurse was with you, so the poison was meant for Mrs Villiers.’ + </p> + <p> + For me?’ she echoed, ghastly pale; ‘I knew it,—my husband is alive, + and this is his work.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — A STARTLING DISCOVERY + </h2> + <p> + Ill news travels fast, and before noon the death of Selina Sprotts was + known all over Melbourne. The ubiquitous reporter, of course, appeared on + the scene, and the evening papers gave its own version of the affair, and + a hint at foul play. There was no grounds for this statement, as Dr + Chinston told Kitty and Madame Midas to say nothing about the poison, and + it was generally understood that the deceased had died from apoplexy. A + rumour, however, which originated none knew how, crept about among + everyone that poison was the cause of death, and this, being added to by + some and embellished in all its little details by others, there was soon a + complete story made up about the affair. At the Bachelor’s Club it was + being warmly spoken about when Vandeloup came in about eight o’clock in + the evening; and when he appeared he was immediately overwhelmed with + inquiries. He looked cool and calm as usual, and stood smiling quietly on + the excited group before him. + </p> + <p> + ‘You know Mrs Villiers,’ said Bellthorp, in an assertive tone, ‘so you + must know all about the affair.’ ‘I don’t see that,’ returned Gaston, + pulling at his moustache, ‘knowing anyone does not include a knowledge of + all that goes on in the house. I assure you, beyond what there is in the + papers, I am as ignorant as you are.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They say this woman—Sprotts or Potts, or something—died from + poison,’ said Barty Jarper, who had been all round the place collecting + information. + </p> + <p> + ‘Apoplexy, the doctor says,’ said Bellthorp, lighting a cigarette; ‘she + was in the same room with Mrs Villiers and was found dead in the morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Miss Marchurst was also in the room,’ put in Barty, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, indeed!’ said Vandeloup, smoothly, turning to him; ‘do you think she + had anything to do with it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course not,’ said Rolleston, who had just entered, ‘she had no reason + to kill the woman.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup smiled. + </p> + <p> + ‘So logical you are,’ he murmured, ‘you want a reason for everything.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Naturally,’ retorted Felix, fixing in his eyeglass, ‘there is no effect + without a cause.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It couldn’t have been Miss Marchurst,’ said Bellthorp, ‘they say that the + poison was poured out of a bottle held by a hand which came through the + window—it’s quite true,’ defiantly looking at the disbelieving faces + round him; ‘one of Mrs Villiers’ servants heard it in the house and told + Mrs Riller’s maid.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘From whence,’ said Vandeloup, politely, ‘it was transmitted to you—precisely.’ + </p> + <p> + Bellthorp reddened slightly, and turned away as he saw the other smiling, + for his relations with Mrs Riller were well known. + </p> + <p> + ‘That hand business is all bosh,’ observed Felix Rolleston, + authoritatively; ‘it’s in a play called “The Hidden Hand”.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps the person who poisoned Miss Sprotts, got the idea from it?’ + suggested Jarper. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw, my dear fellow,’ said Vandeloup, languidly; ‘people don’t go to + melodrama for ideas. Everyone has got their own version of this story; the + best thing to do is to await the result of the inquest.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is there to be an inquest?’ cried all. + </p> + <p> + ‘So I’ve heard,’ replied the Frenchman, coolly; ‘sounds as if there was + something wrong, doesn’t it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a curious poisoning case,’ observed Bellthorp. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, but it isn’t proved that there is any poisoning about it,’ said + Vandeloup, looking keenly at him; ‘you jump to conclusions.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There is no smoke without fire,’ replied Rolleston, sagely. ‘I expect + we’ll all be rather astonished when the inquest is held,’ and so the + discussion closed. + </p> + <p> + The inquest was appointed to take place next day, and Calton had been + asked by Madame Midas to be present on her behalf. Kilsip, a detective + officer, was also present, and, curled up like a cat in the corner, was + listening to every word of the evidence. + </p> + <p> + The first witness called was Madame Midas, who deposed that the deceased, + Selina Jane Sprotts, was her servant. She had gone to bed in excellent + health, and next morning she had found her dead. + </p> + <p> + The Coroner asked a few questions relative to the case. + </p> + <p> + Q. Miss Marchurst awoke you, I believe? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. And her room is off yours? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. Had she to go through your room to reach her own? + </p> + <p> + A. She had. There was no other way of getting there. + </p> + <p> + Q. One of the windows of your room was open? + </p> + <p> + A. It was—all night. + </p> + <p> + Miss Kitty Marchurst was then called, and being sworn, gave her story of + the hand coming through the window. This caused a great sensation in + Court, and Calton looked puzzled, while Kilsip, scenting a mystery, rubbed + his lean hands together softly. + </p> + <p> + Q. You live with Mrs Villiers, I believe, Miss Marchurst? + </p> + <p> + A. I do. + </p> + <p> + Q. And you knew the deceased intimately? + </p> + <p> + A. I had known her all my life. + </p> + <p> + Q. Had she anyone who would wish to injure her? + </p> + <p> + A. Not that I knew of. She was a favourite with everyone. + </p> + <p> + Q. What time did you come home from the ball you were at? + </p> + <p> + A. About half-past two, I think. I went straight to Mrs Villiers’ room. + </p> + <p> + Q. With the intention of going through it to reach your own? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. You say you fell asleep looking at a portrait. How long did you sleep? + </p> + <p> + A. I don’t know. I was awakened by a noise at the window, and saw the hand + appear. + </p> + <p> + Q. Was it a man’s hand or a woman’s? + </p> + <p> + A. I don’t know. It was too indistinct for me to see clearly; and I was so + afraid, I fainted. + </p> + <p> + Q. You saw it pour something from a bottle into the glass on the table? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes; but I did not see it withdraw. I fainted right off. + </p> + <p> + Q. When you recovered your senses, the deceased had drank the contents of + the glass? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. She must have felt thirsty and drank it, not knowing it was + poisoned. Q. How do you know it was poisoned? + </p> + <p> + A. I only suppose so. I don’t think anyone would come to a window and pour + anything into a glass without some evil purpose. + </p> + <p> + The Coroner then asked why the glass with what remained of the contents + had not been put in evidence, but was informed that the glass was broken. + </p> + <p> + When Kitty had ended her evidence and was stepping down, she caught the + eye of Vandeloup, who was looking at her keenly. She met his gaze + defiantly, and he smiled meaningly at her. At this moment, however, Kilsip + bent forward and whispered something to the Coroner, whereupon Kitty was + recalled. + </p> + <p> + Q. You were an actress, Miss Marchurst? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. I was on tour with Mr Theodore Wopples for some time. + </p> + <p> + Q. Do you know a drama called ‘The Hidden Hand’? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes—I have played in it once or twice. + </p> + <p> + Q. Is there not a strong resemblance between your story of this crime and + the drama? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes, it is very much the same. + </p> + <p> + Kilsip then gave his evidence, and deposed that he had examined the ground + between the window, where the hand was alleged to have appeared, and the + garden wall. There were no footmarks on the flower-bed under the window, + which was the only place where footmarks would show, as the lawn itself + was hard and dry. He also examined the wall, but could find no evidence + that anyone had climbed over it, as it was defended by broken bottles, and + the bushes at its foot were not crushed or disturbed in any way. + </p> + <p> + Dr Chinston was then called, and deposed that he had made a post-mortem + examination of the body of the deceased. The body was that of a woman of + apparently fifty or fifty-five years of age, and of medium height; the + body was well nourished. There were no ulcers or other signs of disease, + and no marks of violence on the body. The brain was congested and soft, + and there was an abnormal amount of fluid in the spaces known as the + ventricles of the brain; the lungs were gorged with dark fluid blood; the + heart appeared healthy, its left side was contracted and empty, but the + right was dilated and filled with dark fluid blood; the stomach was + somewhat congested, and contained a little partially digested food; the + intestines here and there were congested, and throughout the body the + blood was dark and fluid. + </p> + <p> + Q. What then, in your opinion, was the cause of death? + </p> + <p> + A. In my opinion death resulted from serous effusion on the brain, + commonly known as serous apoplexy. + </p> + <p> + Q. Then you found no appearances in the stomach, or elsewhere, which would + lead you to believe poison had been taken? + </p> + <p> + A. No, none. + </p> + <p> + Q. From the post-mortem examination could you say the death of the + deceased was not due to some narcotic poison? + </p> + <p> + A. No: the post-mortem appearances of the body are quite consistent with + those of poisoning by certain poisons, but there is no reason to suppose + that any poison has been administered in this case, as I, of course, go by + what I see; and the presence of poisons, especially vegetable poisons, can + only be detected by chemical analysis. + </p> + <p> + Q. Did you analyse the contents of the stomach chemically? + </p> + <p> + A. No; it was not my duty to do so; I handed over the stomach to the + police, seeing that there is suspicion of poison, and thence it will go to + the Government analyst. + </p> + <p> + Q. It is stated that the deceased had convulsions before she died—is + this not a symptom of narcotic poisoning? + </p> + <p> + A. In some cases, yes, but not commonly; aconite, for instance, always + produces convulsions in animals, seldom in man. + </p> + <p> + Q. How do you account for the congested condition of the lungs? + </p> + <p> + A. I believe the serous effusion caused death by suspended respiration. + </p> + <p> + Q. Was there any odour perceptible? + </p> + <p> + A. No, none whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + The inquest was then adjourned till next day, and there was great + excitement over the affair. If Kitty Marchurst’s statement was true, the + deceased must have died from the administration of poison; but, on the + other hand, Dr Chinston asserted positively that there was no trace of + poison, and that the deceased had clearly died from apoplexy. Public + opinion was very much divided, some asserting that Kitty’s story was true, + while others said she had got the idea from ‘The Hidden Hand’, and only + told it in order to make herself notorious. There were plenty of letters + written to the papers on the subject, each offering a new solution of the + difficulty, but the fact remained the same, that Kitty said the deceased + had been poisoned; the doctor that she had died of apoplexy. Calton was + considerably puzzled over the matter. Of course, there was no doubt that + the man who committed the murder had intended to poison Madame Midas, but + the fact that Selina stayed all night with her, had resulted in the wrong + person being killed. Madame Midas told Calton the whole story of her life, + and asserted positively that if the poison was meant for her, Villiers + must have administered it. This was all very well, but the question then + arose, was Villiers alive? The police were once more set to work, and once + more their search resulted in nothing. Altogether the whole affair was + wrapped in mystery, as it could not even be told if a murder had been + committed, or if the deceased had died from natural causes. The only + chance of finding out the truth would be to have the stomach analysed, and + the cause of death ascertained; once that was done, and the matter could + be gone on with, or dropped, according to the report of the analyst. If he + said it was apoplexy, Kitty’s story would necessarily have to be + discredited as an invention; but if, on the other hand, the traces of + poison were found, search would have to be made for the murderer. Matters + were at a deadlock, and everyone waited impatiently for the report of the + analyst. Suddenly, however, a new interest was given to the case by the + assertion that a Ballarat doctor, called Gollipeck, who was a noted + toxicologist, had come down to Melbourne to assist at the analysis of the + stomach, and knew something which would throw light on the mysterious + death. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup saw the paragraph which gave this information, and it disturbed + him very much. + </p> + <p> + ‘Curse that book of Prevol’s,’ he said to himself, as he threw down the + paper: ‘it will put them on the right track, and then—well,’ + observed M. Vandeloup, sententiously, ‘they say danger sharpens a man’s + wits; it’s lucky for me if it does.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. — DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND + </h2> + <p> + M. Vandeloup’s rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, were very + luxuriously and artistically furnished, in perfect accordance with the + taste of their owner, but as the satiated despot is depicted by the + moralists as miserable amid all his splendour, so M. Gaston Vandeloup, + though not exactly miserable, was very ill at ease. The inquest had been + adjourned until the Government analyst, assisted by Dr Gollipeck, had + examined the stomach, and according to a paragraph in the evening paper, + some strange statements, implicating various people, would be made next + day. It was this that made Vandeloup so uneasy, for he knew that Dr + Gollipeck would trace a resemblance between the death of Selina Sprotts in + Melbourne and Adele Blondet in Paris, and then the question would arise + how the poison used in the one case came to be used in the other. If that + question arose it would be all over with him, for he would not dare to + face any examination, and as discretion is the better part of valour, M. + Vandeloup decided to leave the country. With his usual foresight he had + guessed that Dr Gollipeck would be mixed up in the affair, so had drawn + his money out of all securities in which it was invested, sent most of it + to America to a New York bank, reserving only a certain sum for travelling + purposes. He was going to leave Melbourne next morning by the express + train for Sydney, and there would catch the steamer to San Francisco via + New Zealand and Honolulu. Once in America and he would be quite safe, and + as he now had plenty of money he could enjoy himself there. He had given + up the idea of marrying Madame Midas, as he dare not run the risk of + remaining in Australia, but then there were plenty of heiresses in the + States he could marry if he chose, so to give her up was a small matter. + Another thing, he would be rid of Pierre Lemaire, for once let him put the + ocean between him and the dumb man he would take care they never met + again. Altogether, M. Vandeloup had taken all precautions to secure his + own safety with his usual promptitude and coolness, but notwithstanding + that another twelve hours would see him on his way to Sydney en route for + the States, he felt slightly uneasy, for as he often said, ‘There are + always possibilities.’ + </p> + <p> + It was about eight o’clock at night, and Gaston was busy in his rooms + packing up to go away next morning. He had disposed of his apartments to + Bellthorp, as that young gentleman had lately come in for some money and + was dissatisfied with the paternal roof, where he was kept too strictly + tied up. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup, seated in his shirt sleeves in the midst of a chaos of articles + of clothing, portmanteaux, and boxes, was, with the experience of an + accomplished traveller, rapidly putting these all away in the most + expeditious and neatest manner. He wanted to get finished before ten + o’clock, so that he could go down to his club and show himself, in order + to obviate any suspicion as to his going away. He did not intend to send + out any P.P.C. cards, as he was a modest young man and wanted to slip + unostentatiously out of the country; besides, there was nothing like + precaution, as the least intimation of his approaching departure would + certainly put Dr Gollipeck on the alert and cause trouble. The gas was + lighted, there was a bright glare through all the room, and everything was + in confusion, with M. Vandeloup seated in the centre, like Marius amid the + ruins of Carthage. While thus engaged there came a ring at the outer door, + and shortly afterwards Gaston’s landlady entered his room with a card. + </p> + <p> + ‘A gentleman wants to see you, sir,’ she said, holding out the card. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m not at home,’ replied Vandeloup, coolly, removing the cigarette he + was smoking from his mouth; ‘I can’t see anyone tonight.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He says you’d like to see him, sir,’ answered the woman, standing at the + door. + </p> + <p> + ‘The deuce he does,’ muttered Vandeloup, uneasily; ‘I wonder what this + pertinacious gentleman’s name is? and he glanced at the card, whereon was + written ‘Dr Gollipeck’. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup felt a chill running through him as he rose to his feet. The + battle was about to begin, and he knew he would need all his wit and skill + to get himself out safely. Dr Gollipeck had thrown down the gauntlet, and + he would have to pick it up. Well, it was best to know the worst at once, + so he told the landlady he would see Gollipeck downstairs. He did not want + him to come up there, as he would see all the evidences of his intention + to leave the country. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll see him downstairs,’ he said, sharply, to the landlady; ‘ask the + gentleman to wait.’ + </p> + <p> + The landlady, however, was pushed roughly to one side, and Dr Gollipeck, + rusty and dingy-looking as ever, entered the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘No need, my dear friend,’ he said in his grating voice, blinking at the + young man through his spectacles, ‘we can talk here.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup signed to the landlady to leave the room, which she did, closing + the door after her, and then, pulling himself together with a great + effort, he advanced smilingly on the doctor. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah, my dear Monsieur,’ he said, in his musical voice, holding out both + hands, ‘how pleased I am to see you.’ + </p> + <p> + Dr Gollipeck gurgled pleasantly in his throat at this and laughed, that + is, something apparently went wrong in his inside and a rasping noise came + out of his mouth. + </p> + <p> + ‘You clever young man,’ he said, affectionately, to Gaston, as he unwound + a long crimson woollen scarf from his throat, and thereby caused a button + to fly off his waistcoat with the exertion. Dr Gollipeck, however, being + used to these little eccentricities of his toilet, pinned the waistcoat + together, and then, sitting down, spread his red bandanna handkerchief + over his knees, and stared steadily at Vandeloup, who had put on a loose + velvet smoking coat, and, with a cigarette in his mouth, was leaning + against the mantelpiece. It was raining outside, and the pleasant patter + of the raindrops was quite audible in the stillness of the room, while + every now and then a gust of wind would make the windows rattle, and shake + the heavy green curtains. The two men eyed one another keenly, for they + both knew they had an unpleasant quarter of an hour before them, and were + like two clever fencers—both watching their opportunity to begin the + combat. Gollipeck, with his greasy coat, all rucked up behind his neck, + and his frayed shirt cuffs coming down on his ungainly hands, sat sternly + silent, so Vandeloup, after contemplating him for a few moments, had to + begin the battle. + </p> + <p> + ‘My room is untidy, is it not?’ he said, nodding his head carelessly at + the chaos of furniture. ‘I’m going away for a few days.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A few days; ha, ha!’ observed Gollipeck, something again going wrong with + his inside. ‘Your destination is—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sydney,’ replied Gaston, promptly. + </p> + <p> + ‘And then?’ queried the doctor. + </p> + <p> + Gaston shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘Depends upon circumstances,’ he answered, lazily. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s a mistake,’ retorted Gollipeck, leaning forward; ‘it depends upon + me.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup smiled. + </p> + <p> + ‘In that case, circumstances, as represented by you, will permit me to + choose my own destinations.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Depends entirely upon your being guided by circumstances, as represented + by me,’ retorted the Doctor, grimly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw!’ said the Frenchman, coolly, ‘let us have done with allegory, and + come to common sense. What do you want?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I want Octave Braulard,’ said Gollipeck, rising to his feet. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup quite expected this, and was too clever to waste time in denying + his identity. + </p> + <p> + ‘He stands before you,’ he answered, curtly, ‘what then?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You acknowledge, then, that you are Octave Braulard, transported to New + Caledonia for the murder of Adele Blondet?’ said the Doctor tapping the + table with one hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘To you—yes,’ answered Vandeloup, crossing to the door and locking + it; ‘to others—no.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why do you lock the door?’ asked Gollipeck, gruffly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want my private affairs all over Melbourne,’ retorted Gaston, + smoothly, returning to his position in front of the fireplace; ‘are you + afraid?’ + </p> + <p> + Something again went wrong with Dr Gollipeck’s inside, and he grated out a + hard ironical laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do I look afraid?’ he asked, spreading out his hands. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup stooped down to the portmanteau lying open at his feet, and + picked up a revolver, which he pointed straight at Gollipeck. + </p> + <p> + ‘You make an excellent target,’ he observed, quickly, putting his finger + on the trigger. + </p> + <p> + Dr Gollipeck sat down, and arranged his handkerchief once more over his + knees. + </p> + <p> + ‘Very likely,’ he answered, coolly, ‘but a target you won’t practise on.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why not?’ asked Vandeloup, still keeping his finger on the trigger. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because the pistol-shot would alarm the house,’ said Gollipeck, serenely, + ‘and if I was found dead, you would be arrested for my murder. If I was + only wounded I could tell a few facts about M. Octave Braulard that would + have an unpleasant influence on the life of M. Gaston Vandeloup.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup laid the pistol down on the mantelpiece with a laugh, lit a + cigarette, and, sitting down in a chair opposite Gollipeck, began to talk. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a brave man,’ he said, coolly blowing a wreath of smoke, ‘I + admire brave men.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a clever man,’ retorted the doctor; ‘I admire clever men.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very good,’ said Vandeloup, crossing one leg over the other. ‘As we now + understand one another, I await your explanation of this visit.’ + </p> + <p> + Dr Gollipeck, with admirable composure, placed his hands on his knees, and + acceded to the request of M. Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + ‘I saw in the Ballarat and Melbourne newspapers,’ he said, quietly, ‘that + Selina Sprotts, the servant of Mrs Villiers, was dead. The papers said + foul play was suspected, and according to the evidence of Kitty Marchurst, + whom, by the way, I remember very well, the deceased had been poisoned. An + examination was made of the body, but no traces of poison were found. + Knowing you were acquainted with Madame Midas, and recognising this case + as a peculiar one—seeing that poison was asserted to have been + given, and yet no appearances could be found—I came down to + Melbourne, saw the doctor who had analysed the body, and heard what he had + to say on the subject. The symptoms were described as apoplexy, similar to + those of a woman who died in Paris called Adele Blondet, and whose case + was reported in a book by Messrs Prevol and Lebrun. Becoming suspicious, I + assisted at a chemical analysis of the body, and found that the woman + Sprotts had been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used + in the case of Adele Blondet. The man who poisoned Adele Blondet was sent + to New Caledonia, escaped from there, and came to Australia, and prepared + this poison at Ballarat; and why I called here tonight was to know the + reason M. Octave Braulard, better known as Gaston Vandeloup, poisoned + Selina Sprotts in mistake for Madame Midas.’ + </p> + <p> + If Doctor Gollipeck had thought to upset Vandeloup by this recital, he was + never more mistaken in his life, for that young gentleman heard him coolly + to the end, and taking the cigarette out of his mouth, smiled quietly. + </p> + <p> + ‘In the first place,’ he said, smoothly, ‘I acknowledge the truth of all + your story except the latter part, and I must compliment you on the + admirable way you have guessed the identity of Braulard with Vandeloup, as + you have no proof to show that they are the same. But with regard to the + death of Mademoiselle Sprotts, she died as you have said; but I, though + the maker of the poison, did not administer it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who did, then?’ asked Gollipeck, who was quite prepared for this denial. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup smoothed his moustache, and looked at the doctor with a keen + glance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kitty Marchurst,’ he said, coolly. + </p> + <p> + The rain was beating wildly against the windows and someone in the room + below was playing the eternal waltz, ‘One summer’s night in Munich’, while + Vandeloup, leaning back in his chair, stared at Dr Gollipeck, who looked + at him disbelievingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s not true,’ he said, harshly; ‘what reason had she to poison the + woman Sprotts?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None at all,’ replied Vandeloup, blandly; ‘but she had to poison Mrs + Villiers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Go on,’ said Gollipeck, gruffly; ‘I’ve no doubt you will make up an + admirable story.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘So kind of you to compliment me,’ observed Vandeloup, lightly; ‘but in + this instance I happen to tell the truth—Kitty Marchurst was my + mistress.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was you that ruined her, then?’ cried Gollipeck, pushing back his + chair. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you put it that way—yes,’ he answered, simply; ‘but she fell + into my mouth like ripe fruit. Surely,’ with a sneer, ‘at your age you + don’t believe in virtue?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, I do,’ retorted Gollipeck, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + ‘More fool you!’ replied Gaston, with a libertine look on his handsome + face. ‘Balzac never said a truer word than that “a woman’s virtue is man’s + greatest invention.” Well, we won’t discuss morality now. She came with me + to Melbourne and lived as my mistress; then she wanted to marry me, and I + refused. She had a bottle of the poison which I had made, and threatened + to take it and kill herself. I prevented her, and then she left me, went + on the stage, and afterwards meeting Madame Midas, went to live with her, + and we renewed our acquaintance. On the night of this—well, murder, + if you like to call it so—we were at a ball together. Mademoiselle + Marchurst heard that I was going to marry Madame Midas. She asked me if it + was true. I did not deny it; and she said she would sooner poison Mrs + Villiers than see her married to me. She went home, and not knowing the + dead woman was in bed with Madame Midas, poisoned the drink, and the + consequences you know. As to this story of the hand, bah! it is a stage + play, that is all!’ + </p> + <p> + Dr Gollipeck rose and walked to and fro in the little clear space left + among the disorder. + </p> + <p> + ‘What a devil you are!’ he said, looking at Vandeloup admiringly. + </p> + <p> + ‘What, because I did not poison this woman?’ he said, in a mocking tone. + ‘Bah! you are less moral than I thought you were.’ + </p> + <p> + The doctor did not take any notice of this sneer, but, putting his hands + in his pockets, faced round to the young man. + </p> + <p> + ‘I give my evidence to-morrow,’ he said quietly, looking keenly at the + young man, ‘and I prove conclusively the woman was poisoned. To do this, I + must refer to the case of Adele Blondet, and then that implicates you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Pardon me,’ observed Vandeloup, coolly, removing some ash from his velvet + coat, ‘it implicates Octave Braulard, who is at present,’ with a sharp + look at Gollipeck, ‘in New Caledonia.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If that is the case,’ asked the doctor, gruffly, ‘who are you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am the friend of Braulard,’ said Vandeloup, in a measured tone. + ‘Myself, Braulard, and Prevol—one of the writers of the book you + refer to—were medical students together, and we all three + emphatically knew about this poison extracted from hemlock.’ + </p> + <p> + He spoke so quietly that Gollipeck looked at him in a puzzled manner, not + understanding his meaning. + </p> + <p> + ‘You mean Braulard and Prevol were medical students?’ he said, doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘Exactly,’ assented M. Vandeloup, with an airy wave of his hand. ‘Gaston + Vandeloup is a fictitious third person I have called into existence for my + own safety—you understand. As Gaston Vandeloup, a friend of + Braulard, I knew all about this poison, and manufactured it in Ballarat + for a mere experiment, and as Gaston Vandeloup I give evidence against the + woman who was my mistress on the ground of poisoning Selina Sprotts with + hemlock.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You are not shielding yourself behind this girl?’ asked the doctor, + coming close to him. + </p> + <p> + ‘How could I?’ replied Vandeloup, slipping his hand into his pocket. ‘I + could not have gone down to St Kilda, climbed over a wall with glass + bottles on top, and committed the crime, as Kitty Marchurst says it was + done. If I had done this there would be some trace—no, I assure you + Mademoiselle Marchurst, and none other, is the guilty woman. She was in + the room—Madame Midas asleep in bed. What was easier for her than to + pour the poison into the glass, which stood ready to receive it? Mind you, + I don’t say she did it deliberately—impulse—hallucination—madness—what + you like—but she did it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘By God!’ cried Gollipeck, warmly, ‘you’d argue a rope round the girl’s + neck even before she has had a trial. I believe you did it yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If I did,’ retorted Vandeloup, coolly, ‘when I am in the witness-box I + run the risk of being found out. Be it so. I take my chance of that; but I + ask you to keep silent as to Gaston Vandeloup being Octave Braulard.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why should I?’ said the doctor, harshly. + </p> + <p> + ‘For many admirable reasons,’ replied Vandeloup, smoothly. ‘In the first + place, as Braulard’s friend, I can prove the case against Mademoiselle + Marchurst quite as well as if I appeared as Braulard himself. In the next + place, you have no evidence to prove I am identical with the murderer of + Adele Blondet; and, lastly, suppose you did prove it, what satisfaction + would it be to you to send me back to a French prison? I have suffered + enough for my crime, and now I am rich and respectable, why should you + drag me back to the depths again? Read “Les Miserables” of our great Hugo + before you answer, my friend.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Read the book long ago,’ retorted Gollipeck, gruffly, more moved by the + argument than he cared to show; ‘I will keep silent about this if you + leave the colony at once.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I agree,’ said Vandeloup, pointing to the floor; ‘you see I had already + decided to travel before you entered. Any other stipulation?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘None,’ retorted the doctor, putting on his scarf again; ‘with Octave + Braulard I have nothing to do: I want to find out who killed Selina + Sprotts, and if you did, I won’t spare you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘First, catch your hare,’ replied Vandeloup, smoothly, going to the door + and unlocking it; ‘I am ready to stand the test of a trial, and surely + that ought to content you. As it is, I’ll stay in Melbourne long enough to + give you the satisfaction of hanging this woman for the murder, and then I + will go to America.’ + </p> + <p> + Dr Gollipeck was disgusted at the smooth brutality of this man, and moved + hastily to the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Will you not have a glass of wine?’ asked Vandeloup, stopping him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wine with you?’ said the doctor, harshly, looking him up and down; ‘no, + it would choke me,’ and he hurried away. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wish it would,’ observed M. Vandeloup, pleasantly, as he reentered the + room, ‘whew! this devil of a doctor—what a dangerous fool, but I + have got the better of him, and at all events,’ he said, lighting another + cigarette, ‘I have saved Vandeloup from suffering for the crime of + Braulard.’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. — CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + </h2> + <p> + There was no doubt the Sprotts’ poisoning case was the sensation of the + day in Melbourne. The papers were full of it, and some even went so far as + to give a plan of the house, with dotted lines thereon, to show how the + crime was committed. All this was extremely amusing, for, as a matter of + fact, the evidence as yet had not shown any reasonable ground for + supposing foul play had taken place. One paper, indeed, said that far too + much was assumed in the case, and that the report of the Government + analyst should be waited for before such emphatic opinions were given by + the press regarding the mode of death. But it was no use trying to reason + with the public, they had got it into their sage heads that a crime had + been committed, and demanded evidence; so as the press had no real + evidence to give, they made it up, and the public, in private + conversations, amplified the evidence until they constructed a complete + criminal case. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pshaw!’ said Rolleston, when he read these sensational reports, ‘in spite + of the quidnuncs the mountain will only produce a mouse after all.’ + </p> + <p> + But he was wrong, for now rumours were started that the Government analyst + and Dr Gollipeck had found poison in the stomach, and that, moreover, the + real criminal would be soon discovered. Public opinion was much divided as + to who the criminal was—some, having heard the story of Madame’s + marriage, said it was her husband; others insisted Kitty Marchurst was the + culprit, and was trying to shield herself behind this wild story of the + hand coming from behind the curtains; while others were in favour of + suicide. At all events, on the morning when the inquest was resumed, and + the evidence was to be given of the analysis of the stomach, the Court was + crowded, and a dead silence pervaded the place when the Government analyst + stood up to give his evidence. Madame Midas was present, with Kitty seated + beside her, the latter looking pale and ill; and Kilsip, with a gratified + smile on his face which seemed as though he had got a clue to the whole + mystery, was seated next to Calton. Vandeloup, faultlessly dressed, and as + cool and calm as possible, was also in Court; and Dr Gollipeck, as he + awaited his turn to give evidence, could not help admiring the marvellous + nerve and courage of the young man. + </p> + <p> + The Government analyst being called, was sworn in the usual way, and + deposed that the stomach of the deceased had been sent to him to be + analysed. He had used the usual tests, and found the presence of the + alkaloid of hemlock, known under the name of conia. In his opinion the + death of the deceased was caused by the administration of an extract of + hemlock. (Sensation in the Court.) + </p> + <p> + Q. Then in your opinion the deceased has been poisoned? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes, I have not the least doubt on the subject, I detected the conia + very soon after the tests were applied. + </p> + <p> + There was great excitement when this evidence was concluded, as it gave + quite a new interest to the case. The question as to the cause of death + was now set at rest—the deceased had been murdered, so the burning + anxiety of every one was to know who had committed the crime. All sorts of + opinions were given, but the murmur of voices ceased when Dr Gollipeck + stood up to give his evidence. + </p> + <p> + He deposed that he was a medical practitioner, practising at Ballarat; he + had seen the report of the case in the papers, and had come down to + Melbourne as he thought he could throw a certain light on the affair—for + instance, where the poison was procured. (Sensation.) About three years + ago a crime had been committed in Paris, which caused a great sensation at + the time. The case being a peculiar one, was reported in a medical work, + by Messieurs Prevol and Lebrun, which he had obtained from France some two + years back. The facts of the case were shortly these: An actress called + Adele Blondet died from the effects of poison, administered to her by + Octave Braulard, who was her lover; the deceased had also another lover, + called Kestrike, who was supposed to be implicated in the crime, but he + had escaped; the woman in this case had been poisoned by an extract of + hemlock, the same poison used as in the case of Selina Sprotts, and it was + the similarity of the symptoms that made him suspicious of the sudden + death. Braulard was sent out to New Caledonia for the murder. While in + Paris he had been a medical student with two other gentlemen, one of whom + was Monsieur Prevol, who had reported the case, and the other was at + present in Court, and was called M. Gaston Vandeloup. (Sensation in Court, + everyone’s eye being fixed on Vandeloup, who was calm and unmoved.) M. + Vandeloup had manufactured the poison used in this case, but with regard + to how it was administered to the deceased, he would leave that evidence + to M. Vandeloup himself. + </p> + <p> + When Gollipeck left the witness-box there was a dead silence, as everyone + was too much excited at his strange story to make any comment thereon. + Madame Midas looked with some astonishment on Vandeloup as his name was + called out, and he moved gracefully to the witness-box, while Kitty’s face + grew paler even than it was before. She did not know what Vandeloup was + going to say, but a great dread seized her, and with dry lips and clenched + hands she sat staring at him as if paralysed. Kilsip stole a look at her + and then rubbed his hands together, while Calton sat absolutely still, + scribbling figures on his notepaper. + </p> + <p> + M. Gaston Vandeloup, being sworn, deposed: He was a native of France, of + Flemish descent, as could be seen from his name; he had known Braulard + intimately; he also knew Prevol; he had been eighteen months in Australia, + and for some time had been clerk to Mrs Villiers at Ballarat; he was fond + of chemistry—yes; and had made several experiments with poisons + while up at Ballarat with Dr Gollipeck, who was a great toxicologist; he + had seen the hemlock in the garden of an hotel-keeper at Ballarat, called + Twexby, and had made an extract therefrom; he only did it by way of + experiment, and had put the bottle containing the poison in his desk, + forgetting all about it; the next time he saw that bottle was in the + possession of Miss Kitty Marchurst (sensation in Court); she had + threatened to poison herself; he again saw the bottle in her possession on + the night of the murder; this was at the house of M. Meddlechip. A report + had been circulated that he (the witness) was going to marry Mrs Villiers, + and Miss Marchurst asked him if it was true; he had denied it, and Miss + Marchurst had said that sooner than he (the witness) should marry Mrs + Villiers she would poison her; the next morning he heard that Selina + Sprotts was dead. + </p> + <p> + Kitty Marchurst heard all this evidence in dumb horror. She now knew that + after ruining her life this man wanted her to die a felon’s death. She + arose to her feet and stretched out her hands in protest against him, but + before she could speak a word the place seemed to whirl round her, and she + fell down in a dead faint. This event caused great excitement in court, + and many began to assert positively that she must be guilty, else why did + she faint. Kitty was taken out of Court, and the examination was proceeded + with, while Madame Midas sat pale and horror-struck at the revelations + which were now being made. + </p> + <p> + The Coroner now proceeded to cross-examine Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + Q. You say you put the bottle containing this poison into your desk; how + did Miss Marchurst obtain it? + </p> + <p> + A. Because she lived with me for some time, and had access to my private + papers. + </p> + <p> + Q. Was she your wife? + </p> + <p> + A. No, my mistress (sensation in Court). + </p> + <p> + Q. Why did she leave you? + </p> + <p> + A. We had a difference of opinion about the question of marriage, so she + left me. + </p> + <p> + Q. She wanted you to make reparation; in other words, to marry her? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. And you refused? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. It was on this occasion she produced the poison first? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. She told me she had taken it from my desk, and would poison + herself if I did not marry her; she changed her mind, however, and went + away. + </p> + <p> + Q. Did you know what became of her? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes; I heard she went on the stage with M. Wopples. + </p> + <p> + Q. Did she take the poison with her? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. How do you know she took the poison with her? + </p> + <p> + A. Because next time I saw her it was still in her possession. + </p> + <p> + Q. That was at Mr Meddlechip’s ball? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. On the night of the commission of the crime? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes. + </p> + <p> + Q. What made her take it to the ball? + </p> + <p> + A. Rather a difficult question to answer. She heard rumours that I was to + marry Mrs Villiers, and even though I denied it declined to believe me; + she then produced the poison, and said she would take it. + </p> + <p> + Q. Where did this conversation take place? + </p> + <p> + A. In the conservatory. + </p> + <p> + Q. What did you do when she threatened to take the poison? + </p> + <p> + A. I tried to take it from her. + </p> + <p> + Q. Did you succeed? + </p> + <p> + A. No; she threw it out of the door. + </p> + <p> + Q. Then when she left Mr Meddlechip’s house to come home she had no poison + with her? + </p> + <p> + A. I don’t think so. + </p> + <p> + Q. Did she pick the bottle up again after she threw it out? + </p> + <p> + A. No, because I went back to the ball-room with her; then I came out + myself to look for the bottle, but it was gone. + </p> + <p> + Q. You have never seen it since. + </p> + <p> + A. No, it must have been picked up by someone who was ignorant of its + contents. + </p> + <p> + Q. By your own showing, M. Vandeloup, Miss Marchurst had no poison with + her when she left Mr Meddlechip’s house. How, then, could she commit this + crime? + </p> + <p> + A. She told me she still had some poison left; that she divided the + contents of the bottle she had taken from my desk, and that she still had + enough left at home to poison Mrs Villiers. + </p> + <p> + Q. Did she say she would poison Mrs Villiers? + </p> + <p> + A. Yes, sooner than see her married to me. (Sensation.) + </p> + <p> + Q. Do you believe she went away from you with the deliberate intention of + committing the crime. + </p> + <p> + A. I do. + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup then left the box amid great excitement, and Kilsip was again + examined. He deposed that he had searched Miss Marchurst’s room, and found + half a bottle of extract of hemlock. The contents of the bottle had been + analysed, and were found identical with the conia discovered in the + stomach of the deceased. + </p> + <p> + Q. You say the bottle was half empty? + </p> + <p> + A. Rather more than that: three-quarters empty. + </p> + <p> + Q. Miss Marchurst told M. Vandeloup she had poured half the contents of + one bottle into the other. Would not this account for the bottle being + three-quarters empty? + </p> + <p> + A. Possibly; but if the first bottle was full, it is probable she would + halve the poison exactly; so if it had been untouched, it ought to be half + full. + </p> + <p> + Q. Then you think some of the contents of this bottle were used? + </p> + <p> + A. That is my opinion. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup was recalled, and deposed that the bottle Kitty took from his + desk was quite full; and moreover, when the other bottle which had been + found in her room, was shown to him, he declared that it was as nearly as + possible the same size as the missing bottle. So the inference drawn from + this was that the bottle produced being three-quarters empty, some of the + poison had been used. + </p> + <p> + The question now arose that as the guilt of Miss Marchurst seemed so + certain, how was it that Selina Sprotts was poisoned instead of her + mistress; but this was settled by Madame Midas, who being recalled, + deposed that Kitty did not know Selina slept with her on that night, and + the curtains being drawn, could not possibly tell two people were in the + bed. + </p> + <p> + This was all the evidence obtainable, and the coroner now proceeded to sum + up. + </p> + <p> + The case, he said, was a most remarkable one, and it would be necessary + for the jury to consider very gravely all the evidence laid before them in + order to arrive at a proper conclusion before giving their verdict. In the + first place, it had been clearly proved by the Government analyst that the + deceased had died from effects of conia, which was, as they had been told, + the alkaloid of hemlock, a well-known hedge plant which grows abundantly + in most parts of Great Britain. According to the evidence of Dr Chinston, + the deceased had died from serous apoplexy, and from all the post-mortem + appearances this was the case. But they must remember that it was almost + impossible to detect certain vegetable poisons, such as aconite and + atropia, without minute chemical analysis. They would remember a case + which startled London some years ago, in which the poisoner had poisoned + his brother-in-law by means of aconite, and it taxed all the ingenuity and + cleverness of experts to find the traces of poison in the stomach of the + deceased. In this case, however, thanks to Dr Gollipeck, who had seen the + similarity of the symptoms between the post-mortem appearance of the + stomach of Adele Blondet and the present case, the usual tests for conia + were applied, and as they had been told by the Government analyst, the + result was conia was found. So they could be quite certain that the + deceased had died of poison—that poison being conia. The next thing + for them to consider was how the poison was administered. According to the + evidence of Miss Marchurst, some unknown person had been standing outside + the window and poured the poison into the glass on the table. Mrs Villiers + had stated that the window was open all night, and from the position of + the table near it—nothing would be easier than for anyone to + introduce the poison into the glass as asserted by Miss Marchurst. On the + other hand, the evidence of the detective Kilsip went to show that no + marks were visible as to anyone having been at the window; and another + thing which rendered Miss Marchurst’s story doubtful was the resemblance + it had to a drama in which she had frequently acted, called ‘The Hidden + Hand’. In the last act of that drama poison was administered to one of the + characters in precisely the same manner, and though of course such a thing + might happen in real life, still in this case it was a highly suspicious + circumstance that a woman like Miss Marchurst, who had frequently acted in + the drama, should see the same thing actually occur off the stage. + Rejecting, then, as improbable the story of the hidden hand, seeing that + the evidence was strongly against it, the next thing was to look into Miss + Marchurst’s past life and see if she had any motive for committing the + crime. Before doing so, however, he would point out to them that Miss + Marchurst was the only person in the room when the crime was committed. + The window in her own room and one of the windows in Mrs Villiers’ room + were both locked, and the open window had a table in front of it, so that + anyone entering would very probably knock it over, and thus awaken the + sleepers. On the other hand, no one could have entered in at the door, + because they would not have had time to escape before the crime was + discovered. So it was clearly shown that Miss Marchurst must have been + alone in the room when the crime was committed. Now to look into her past + life—it was certainly not a very creditable one. M. Vandeloup had + sworn that she had been his mistress for over a year, and had taken the + poison manufactured by himself out of his private desk. Regarding M. + Vandeloup’s motives in preparing such a poison he could say nothing. Of + course, he probably did it by way of experiment to find out if this + colonial grown hemlock possessed the same poisonous qualities as it did in + the old world. It was a careless thing of him, however, to leave it in his + desk, where it could be obtained, for all such dangerous matters should be + kept under lock and key. To go back, however, to Miss Marchurst. It had + been proved by M. Vandeloup that she was his mistress, and that they + quarrelled. She produced this poison, and said she would kill herself. M. + Vandeloup persuaded her to abandon the idea, and she subsequently left + him, taking the poison with her. She then went on the stage, and + subsequently left it in order to live with Mrs Villiers as her companion. + All this time she still had the poison, and in order to prevent her losing + it she put half of it into another bottle. Now this looked very + suspicious, as, if she had not intended to use it she certainly would + never have taken such trouble over preserving it. She meets M. Vandeloup + at a ball, and, hearing that he is going to marry Mrs Villiers, she loses + her head completely, and threatens to poison herself. M. Vandeloup tries + to wrench the poison from her, whereupon she flings it into the garden. + This bottle has disappeared, and the presumption is that it was picked up. + But if the jury had any idea that the poison was administered from the + lost bottle, they might as well dismiss it from their minds, as it was + absurd to suppose such an improbable thing could happen. In the first + place no one but M. Vandeloup and Miss Marchurst knew what the contents + were, and in the second place what motive could anyone who picked it up + have in poisoning Mrs Villiers, and why should they adopt such an + extraordinary way of doing it, as Miss Marchurst asserted they did? On the + other hand, Miss Marchurst tells M. Vandeloup that she still has some + poison left, and that she will kill Mrs Villiers sooner than see her + married to him. She declares to M. Vandeloup that she will kill her, and + leaves the house to go home with, apparently, all the intention of doing + so. She comes home filled with all the furious rage of a jealous woman, + and enters Mrs Villiers’ room, and here the jury will recall the evidence + of Mrs Villiers, who said Miss Marchurst did not know that the deceased + was sleeping with her. So when Miss Marchurst entered the room, she + naturally thought that Mrs Villiers was by herself, and would, as a matter + of course, refrain from drawing the curtains and looking into the bed, in + case she should awaken her proposed victim. There was a glass with drink + on the table; she was alone with Mrs Villiers, her heart filled with + jealous rage against a woman she thinks is her rival. Her own room is a + few steps away—what, then, was easier for her than to go to her own + room, obtain the poison, and put it into the glass? The jury will remember + in the evidence of Mr Kilsip, the bottle was three-quarters empty, which + argued some of it had been used. All the evidence against Miss Marchurst + was purely circumstantial, for if she committed the crime, no human eye + beheld her doing so. But the presumption of her having done so, in order + to get rid of a successful rival, was very strong, and the weight of + evidence was dead against her. The jury would, therefore, deliver their + verdict in accordance with the facts laid before them. + </p> + <p> + The jury retired, and the court was very much excited. Everyone was quite + certain that Kitty was guilty, but there was a strong feeling against M. + Vandeloup as having been in some measure the cause, though indirectly, of + the crime. But that young gentleman, in accordance with his usual + foresight, had left the court and gone straight home, as he had no wish to + face a crowd of sullen faces, and perhaps worse. Madame Midas sat still in + the court awaiting the return of the jury, with the calm face of a marble + sphinx. But, though she suffered, no appearances of suffering were seen on + her serene face. She never had believed in human nature, and now the girl + whom she had rescued from comparative poverty and placed in opulence had + wanted to kill her. M. Vandeloup, whom she admired and trusted, what black + infamy he was guilty of—he had sworn most solemnly he never harmed + Kitty, and yet he was the man who had ruined her. Madame Midas felt that + the worst had come—Vandeloup false, Kitty a murderess, her husband + vanished, and Selina dead. All the world was falling into ruins around + her, and she remained alone amid the ruins with her enormous fortune, like + a golden statue in a deserted temple. With clasped hands, aching heart, + but impassive face, she sat waiting for the end. + </p> + <p> + The jury returned in about half an hour, and there was a dead silence as + the foreman stood up to deliver the verdict. + </p> + <p> + The jury found as follows:— + </p> + <p> + That the deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, died on the 21st day of November, + from the effects of poison, namely, conia, feloniously administered by one + Katherine Marchurst, and the jury, on their oaths, say that the said + Katherine Marchurst feloniously, wilfully, and maliciously did murder the + said deceased. + </p> + <p> + That evening Kitty was arrested and lodged in the Melbourne Gaol, to await + her trial on a charge of wilful murder. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. — KISMET + </h2> + <p> + Of two evils it is always best to choose the least, and as M. Vandeloup + had to choose between the loss of his popularity or his liberty, he chose + to lose the former instead of the latter. After all, as he argued to + himself, Australia at large is a small portion of the world, and in + America no one would know anything about his little escapade in connection + with Kitty. He knew that he was in Gollipeck’s power, and that unless he + acceded to that gentleman’s demand as to giving evidence he would be + denounced to the authorities as an escaped convict from New Caledonia, and + would be sent back there. Of course, his evidence could not but prove + detrimental to himself, seeing how badly he had behaved to Kitty, but + still as going through the ordeal meant liberty, he did so, and the result + was as he had foreseen. Men, as a rule, are not very squeamish, and view + each other’s failings, especially towards women, with a lenient eye, but + Vandeloup had gone too far, and the Bachelors’ Club unanimously + characterised his conduct as ‘damned shady’, so a letter was sent + requesting M. Vandeloup to take his name off the books of the club. He + immediately resigned, and wrote a polite letter to the secretary, which + brought uneasy blushes to the cheek of that gentleman by its stinging + remarks about his and his fellow clubmen’s morality. He showed it to + several of the members, but as they all had their little redeeming vices, + they determined to take no notice, and so M. Vandeloup was left alone. + Another thing which happened was that he was socially ostracised from + society, and his table, which used to be piled up with invitations, soon + became quite bare. Of course, he knew he could force Meddlechip to + recognise him, but he did not choose to do so, as all his thoughts were + fixed on America. He had plenty of money, and with a new name and a brand + new character, Vandeloup thought he would prosper exceedingly well in the + States. So he stayed at home, not caring to face the stony faces of + friends who cut him, and waited for the trial of Kitty Marchurst, after + which he intended to leave for Sydney at once, and take the next steamer + to San Francisco. He did not mind waiting, but amused himself reading, + smoking, and playing, and was quite independent of Melbourne society. Only + two things worried him, and the first of these was the annoyance of Pierre + Lemaire, who seemed to have divined his intention of going away, and + haunted him day and night like an unquiet spirit. Whenever Vandeloup + looked out, he saw the dumb man watching the house, and if he went for a + walk, Pierre would slouch sullenly along behind him, as he had done in the + early days. Vandeloup could have called in the aid of a policeman to rid + himself of this annoyance, but the fact was he was afraid of offending + Pierre, as he might be tempted to reveal what he knew, and the result + would not be pleasant. So Gaston bore patiently with the disagreeable + system of espionage the dumb man kept over him, and consoled himself with + the idea that once he was on his way to America, it would not matter two + straws whether Pierre told all he knew, or kept silent. The other thing + which troubled the young man were the words Kitty had made use of in Mrs + Villiers’ drawing-room regarding the secret she said she knew. It made him + uneasy, for he half guessed what it was, and thought she might tell it to + someone out of revenge, and then there would be more troubles for him to + get out of. Then, again, he argued that she was too fond of him ever to + tell anything likely to injure him, even though he had put a rope round + her neck. If he could have settled the whole affair by running away, he + would have done so, but Gollipeck was still in Melbourne, and Gaston knew + he could not leave the town without the terrible old man finding it out, + and bringing him back. At last the torture of wondering how much Kitty + knew was too much for him, and he determined to go to the Melbourne gaol + and interview her. So he obtained an order from the authorities to see + her, and prepared to start next morning. He sent the servant out for a + hansom, and by the time it was at the door, M. Vandeloup, cool, calm, and + well dressed, came down stairs pulling on his gloves. The first thing he + saw when he got outside was Pierre waiting for him with his old hat pulled + down over his eyes, and his look of sullen resignation. Gaston nodded + coolly to him, and told the cabby he wanted to go to the Melbourne gaol, + whereupon Pierre slouched forward as the young man was preparing to enter + the cab, and laid his hand on his arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said Vandeloup, in a quiet voice, in French, shaking off the dumb + man’s arm, ‘what do you want?’ + </p> + <p> + Pierre pointed to the cab, whereupon M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + ‘Surely you don’t want to come to the gaol with me,’ he said, mockingly, + ‘you’ll get there soon enough.’ + </p> + <p> + The other nodded, and made a step towards the cab, but Vandeloup pushed + him back. + </p> + <p> + ‘Curse the fool,’ he muttered to himself, ‘I’ll have to humour him or + he’ll be making a scene—you can’t come,’ he added aloud, but Pierre + still refused to go away. + </p> + <p> + This conversation or rather monologue, seeing M. Vandeloup was the only + speaker, was carried on in French, so the cabman and the servant at the + door were quite ignorant of its purport, but looked rather astonished at + the conduct of the dirty tramp towards such an elegant-looking gentleman. + Vandeloup saw this and therefore determined to end the scene. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well,’ he said to Pierre in French, ‘get in at once,’ and then when + the dumb man entered the cab, he explained to the cabman in English:—‘This + poor devil is a pensioner of mine, and as he wants to see a friend of his + in gaol I’ll take him with me.’ + </p> + <p> + He stepped into the cab which drove off, the cabman rather astonished at + the whole affair, but none the less contented himself with merely winking + at the pretty servant girl who stood on the steps, whereupon she tossed + her head and went inside. + </p> + <p> + As they drove along Vandeloup said nothing to Pierre, not that he did not + want to, but he mistrusted the trap-door in the roof of the cab, which + would permit the cabman to overhear everything. So they went along in + silence, and when they arrived at the gaol Vandeloup told the cabman to + wait for him, and walked towards the gaol. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are coming inside, I suppose,’ he said, sharply, to Pierre, who still + slouched alongside. + </p> + <p> + The dumb man nodded sullenly. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup cursed Pierre in his innermost heart, but smiled blandly and + agreed to let him enter with him. There was some difficulty with the + warder at the door, as the permission to see the prisoner was only made + out in the name of M. Vandeloup, but after some considerable trouble they + succeeded in getting in. + </p> + <p> + ‘My faith!’ observed Gaston, lightly, as they went along to the cell, + conducted by a warder, ‘it’s almost as hard to get into gaol as to get out + of it.’ + </p> + <p> + The warder admitted them both to Kitty’s cell, and left them alone with + her. She was seated on the bed in the corner of the cell, in an attitude + of deepest dejection. When they entered she looked up in a mechanical sort + of manner, and Vandeloup could see how worn and pinched-looking her face + was. Pierre went to one end of the cell and leaned against the wall in an + indifferent manner, while Vandeloup stood right in front of the unhappy + woman. Kitty arose when she saw him, and an expression of loathing passed + over her haggard-looking face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ she said, bitterly, rejecting Vandeloup’s preferred hand, ‘so you + have come to see your work; well, look around at these bare walls; see how + thin and ugly I have grown; think of the crime with which I am charged, + and surely even Gaston Vandeloup will be satisfied.’ + </p> + <p> + The young man sneered. + </p> + <p> + ‘Still as good at acting as ever, I see,’ he said, mockingly; ‘cannot you + even see a friend without going into these heroics?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why have you come here?’ she asked, drawing herself up to her full + height. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because I am your friend,’ he answered, coolly. + </p> + <p> + ‘My friend!’ she echoed, scornfully, looking at him with contempt; ‘you + ruined my life a year ago, now you have endeavoured to fasten the guilt of + murder on me, and yet you call yourself my friend; a good story, truly,’ + with a bitter laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘I could not help giving the evidence I did,’ replied Gaston, coolly, + shrugging his shoulders; ‘if you are innocent, what I say will not + matter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If I am innocent!’ she said, looking at him steadily; ‘you villain, you + know I am innocent!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know nothing of the sort.’ + </p> + <p> + Then you believe I committed the crime?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I do.’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty sat helplessly down on the bed, and passed her hand across her eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘My God!’ she muttered, ‘I am going mad.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not at all unlikely,’ he replied, carelessly. + </p> + <p> + She looked vacantly round the cell, and caught sight of Pierre shrinking + back into the shadow. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why did you bring your accomplice with you?’ she said, looking at Gaston. + </p> + <p> + M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘Really, my dear Bebe,’ he said, lazily, ‘I don’t know why you should call + him my accomplice, as I have committed no crime.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you not?’ she said, rising to her feet, and bending towards him, + ‘think again.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shook his head, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I do not think I have,’ he answered, glancing keenly at her; ‘I + suppose you want me to be as black as yourself?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You coward!’ she said, in a rage, turning on him, ‘how dare you taunt me + in this manner? it is not enough that you have ruined me, and imperilled + my life, without jeering at me thus, you coward?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah!’ retorted Vandeloup, cynically, brushing some dust off his coat, + ‘this is not the point; you insinuate that I committed a crime, perhaps + you will tell me what kind of a crime?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Murder,’ she replied, in a whisper. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, indeed,’ sneered Gaston, coolly, though his lips twitched a little, + ‘the same style of crime as your own? and whose murder am I guilty of, + pray?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Randolph Villiers.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who can prove it?’ he asked, contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You,’ with a sneer, ‘a murderess?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who can prove I am a murderess?’ she cried, wildly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can,’ he answered, with an ugly look; ‘and I will if you don’t keep a + quiet tongue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will keep quiet no longer,’ boldly rising and facing Vandeloup, with + her hands clenched at her sides; ‘I have tried to shield you faithfully + through all your wickedness, but now that you accuse me of committing a + crime, which accusation you know is false, I accuse you, Gaston Vandeloup, + and your accomplice, yonder,’ wheeling round and pointing to Pierre, who + shrank away, ‘of murdering Randolph Villiers, at the Black Hill, Ballarat, + for the sake of a nugget of gold he carried.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup looked at her disdainfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are mad,’ he said, in a cold voice; ‘this is the raving of a lunatic; + there is no proof of what you say; it was proved conclusively that myself + and Pierre were asleep at our hotel while M. Villiers was with Jarper at + two o’clock in the morning.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know that was proved,’ she retorted, ‘and by some jugglery on your + part; but, nevertheless, I saw you and him,’ pointing again to Pierre, + ‘murder Villiers.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You saw it,’ echoed Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile; ‘tell me how?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ she cried, making a step forward, ‘you do not believe me, but I tell + you it is true—yes, I know now who the two men were following Madame + Midas as she drove away: one was her husband, who wished to rob her, and + the other was Pierre, who, acting upon your instructions, was to get the + gold from Villiers should he succeed in getting it from Madame. You left + me a few minutes afterwards, but I, with my heart full of love—wretched + woman that I was—followed you at a short distance, unwilling to lose + sight of you even for a little time. I climbed down among the rocks and + saw you seat yourself in a narrow part of the path. Curiosity then took + the place of love, and I watched to see what you were going to do. Pierre—that + wretch who cowers in the corner—came down the path and you spoke to + him in French. What was said I did not know, but I guessed enough to know + you meditated some crime. Then Villiers came down the path with the nugget + in its box under his arm. I recognised the box as the one which Madame + Midas had brought to our house. When Villiers came opposite you you spoke + to him; he tried to pass on, and then Pierre sprang out from behind the + rock and the two men struggled together, while you seized the box + containing the gold, which Villiers had let fall, and watched the + struggle. You saw that Villiers, animated by despair, was gradually + gaining the victory over Pierre, and then you stepped in—yes; I saw + you snatch Pierre’s knife from the back of his waist and stab Villiers in + the back. Then you put the knife into Pierre’s hand, all bloody, as + Villiers fell dead, and I fled away.’ + </p> + <p> + She stopped, breathless with her recital, and Vandeloup, pale but + composed, would have answered her, when a cry from Pierre startled them. + He had come close to them, and was looking straight at Kitty. + </p> + <p> + ‘My God!’ he cried; ‘then I am innocent?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You!’ shrieked Kitty, falling back on her bed; ‘who are you?’ + </p> + <p> + The man pulled his hat off and came a step nearer. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am Randolph Villiers!’ + </p> + <p> + Kitty shrieked again and covered her face with her hands, while Vandeloup + laughed in a mocking manner, though his pale face and quivering lip told + that his mirth was assumed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Villiers, throwing his hat on the floor of the cell, ‘it was + Pierre Lemaire, and not I, who died. The struggle took place as you have + described, but he,’ pointing to Vandeloup, ‘wishing to get rid of Pierre + for reasons of his own stabbed him, and not me, in the back. He thrust the + knife into my hand, and I, in my blind fury, thought that I had murdered + the dumb man. I was afraid of being arrested for the murder, so, as + suggested by Vandeloup, I changed clothes with the dead man and wrapped my + own up in a bundle. We hid the body and the nugget in one of the old + mining shafts and then came down to Ballarat. I was similar to Pierre in + appearance, except that my chin was shaven. I went down to the Wattle Tree + Hotel as Pierre after leaving my clothes outside the window of the bedroom + which Vandeloup pointed out to me. Then he went to the theatre and told me + to rejoin him there as Villiers. I got my own clothes into the room, + dressed again as myself; then, locking the door, so that the people of the + hotel might suppose that Pierre slept, I jumped out of the window of the + bedroom and went to the theatre. There I played my part as you know, and + while we were behind the scenes Mr Wopples asked me to put out the gas in + his room. I did so, and took from his dressing-table a black beard, in + order to disguise myself as Pierre till my beard had grown. We went to + supper, and then I parted with Jarper at two o’clock in the morning, and + went back to the hotel, where I climbed into the bedroom through the + window and reassumed Pierre’s dress for ever. It was by Vandeloup’s advice + I pretended to be drunk, as I could not go to the Pactolus, where my wife + would have recognised me. Then I, as the supposed Pierre, was discharged, + as you know. Vandeloup, aping friendship, drew the dead man’s salary and + bought clothes and a box for me. In the middle of one night I still + disguised as Pierre, slipped out of the window, and went up to Black Hill, + where I found the nugget and brought it down to my room at the Wattle Tree + Hotel. Then Vandeloup brought in the box with my clothes, and we packed + the nugget in it, together with the suit I had worn at the time of the + murder. Following his instructions, I came down to Melbourne, and there + disposed of the nugget—no need to ask how, as there are always + people ready to do things of that sort for payment. When I was paid for + the nugget, and I only got eight hundred pounds, the man who melted it + down taking the rest, I had to give six hundred to Vandeloup, as I was in + his power as I thought, and dare not refuse in case he should denounce me + for the murder of Pierre Lemaire. And now I find that I have been innocent + all the time, and he has been frightening me with a shadow. He, not I, was + the murderer of Pierre Lemaire, and you can prove it.’ + </p> + <p> + During all this recital, which Kitty listened to with staring eyes, + Vandeloup had stood quite still, revolving in his own mind how he could + escape from the position in which he found himself. When Villiers finished + his recital he raised his head and looked defiantly at both his victims. + </p> + <p> + ‘Fate has placed the game in your hands,’ he said coolly, while they stood + and looked at him; ‘but I’m not beaten yet, my friend. May I ask what you + intend to do?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Prove my innocence,’ said Villiers, boldly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Indeed!’ sneered Gaston, ‘at my expense, I presume.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes! I will denounce you as the murderer of Pierre Lemaire.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And I,’ said Kitty, quickly, ‘will prove Villiers’ innocence.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup turned on her with all the lithe, cruel grace of a tiger. + </p> + <p> + ‘First you must prove your own innocence,’ he said, in a low, fierce + voice. ‘Yes; if you can hang me for the murder of Pierre Lemaire, I can + hang you for the murder of Selina Sprotts; yes, though I know you did not + do it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Kitty, quickly, springing forward, ‘you know who committed the + crime.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ replied Vandeloup, slowly, ‘the man who committed the crime + intended to murder Madame Midas, and he was the man who hated her and + wished her dead—her husband.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I?’ cried Villiers, starting forward, ‘you lie.’ + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup wheeled round quickly on him, and, getting close to him, spoke + rapidly. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I do not lie,’ he said, in a concentrated voice of anger; ‘you + followed me up to the house of M. Meddlechip, and hid among the trees on + the lawn to watch the house; you saw Bebe throw the bottle out, and picked + it up; then you went to St Kilda and, climbing over the wall, committed + the crime, as she,’ pointing to Kitty, ‘saw you do; I met you in the + street near the house after you had committed it, and see,’ plunging his + hand into Villiers’ pocket, ‘here is the bottle which contained the + poison,’ and he held up to Kitty the bottle with the two red bands round + it, which she had thrown away. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is false!’ cried Villiers, in despair, seeing that all the evidence + was against him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Prove it, then,’ retorted Vandeloup, knocking at the door to summon the + warder. ‘Save your own neck before you put mine in danger.’ + </p> + <p> + The door opened, and the warder appeared. Kitty and Villiers gazed + horror-struck at one another, while Vandeloup, without another word, + rapidly left the cell. The warder beckoned to Villiers to come, and, with + a deep sigh, he obeyed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where are you going?’ asked Kitty, as he moved towards the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Going?’ he repeated, mechanically. ‘I am going to see my wife.’ + </p> + <p> + He left the cell, and when he got outside the gaol he saw the hansom with + Vandeloup in it driving rapidly away. Villiers looked at the retreating + vehicle in despair. ‘My God,’ he murmured, raising his face to the blue + sky with a frightful expression of despair; ‘how am I to escape the + clutches of this devil?’ + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. — BE SURE THY SIN WILL FIND THEE OUT + </h2> + <p> + Madame Midas was a remarkably plucky woman, but it needed all her pluck + and philosophy to bear up against the terrible calamities which were + befalling her. Her faith in human nature was completely destroyed, and she + knew that all the pleasure of doing good had gone out of her life. The + discovery of Kitty’s baseness had wounded her deeply, and she found it + difficult to persuade herself that the girl had not been the victim of + circumstances. If Kitty had only trusted her when she came to live with + her all this misery and crime would have been avoided, for she would have + known Madame Midas would never have married Vandeloup, and thus would have + had no motive for committing the crime. Regarding Vandeloup’s pretensions + to her hand, Mrs Villiers laughed bitterly to herself. After the misery of + her early marriage it was not likely she was going to trust herself and + her second fortune again to a man’s honour. She sighed as she thought what + her future life must be. She was wealthy, it was true, but amid all her + riches she would never be able to know the meaning of friendship, for all + who came near her now would have some motive in doing so, and though + Madame Midas was anxious to do good with her wealth, yet she knew she + could never expect gratitude in return. The comedy of human life is + admirable when one is a spectator; but ah! the actors know they are + acting, and have to mask their faces with smiles, restrain the tears which + they would fain let flow, and mouth witty sayings with breaking hearts. + Surely the most bitter of all feelings is that cynical disbelief in human + nature which is so characteristic of our latest civilization. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas, however, now that Melbourne was so hateful to her, + determined to leave it, and sent up to Mr Calton in order to confer with + him on the subject. Calton came down to St Kilda, and was shown into the + drawing-room where Mrs Villiers, calm and impenetrable looking as ever, + sat writing letters. She arose as the barrister entered, and gave him her + hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was kind of you to come so quickly,’ she said, in her usual quiet, + self-contained manner; ‘I wish to consult you on some matters of + importance.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am at your service, Madame,’ replied Calton, taking a seat, and looking + keenly at the marble face before him; ‘I am glad to see you looking so + well, considering what you have gone through.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs Villiers let a shadowy smile flit across her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘They say the Red Indian becomes utterly indifferent to the torture of his + enemies after a certain time,’ she answered, coldly; ‘I think it is the + same with me. I have been deceived and disillusionized so completely that + I have grown utterly callous, and nothing now can move me either to sorrow + or joy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘A curious answer from a curious woman,’ thought Calton, glancing at her + as she sat at the writing-table in her black dress with the knots of + violet ribbons upon it; ‘what queer creatures experience makes us.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas folded her hands loosely on the table, and looked dreamily + out of the open French window, and at the trellis covered with creeping + plants beyond, through which the sun was entering in pencils of golden + light. Life would have been so sweet to her if she had only been content + to be deceived like other people; but then she was not of that kind. Faith + with her was a religion, and when religion is taken away, what remains?—nothing. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am going to England,’ she said, abruptly, to Calton, rousing herself + out of these painful reflections. + </p> + <p> + ‘After the trial, I presume?’ observed Calton, slowly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ she answered, hesitatingly; ‘do you think they will—they will—hang + the girl?’ + </p> + <p> + Calton shrugged his shoulders. ‘I can’t tell you,’ he answered, with a + half smile; ‘if she is found guilty—well—I think she will be + imprisoned for life.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor Kitty,’ said Madame, sadly, ‘it was an evil hour when you met + Vandeloup. What do you think of him?’ she asked, suddenly. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s a scoundrel,’ returned Calton, decisively; ‘still, a clever one, with + a genius for intrigue; he should have lived in the times of Borgian Rome, + where his talents would have been appreciated; now we have lost the art of + polite murder.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you know,’ said Mrs Villiers, musingly, leaning back in her chair, ‘I + cannot help thinking Kitty is innocent of this crime.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She may be,’ returned Calton, ambiguously, ‘but the evidence seems very + strong against her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Purely circumstantial,’ interrupted Madame Midas, quickly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Purely circumstantial, as you say,’ assented Calton; ‘still, some new + facts may be discovered before the trial which may prove her to be + innocent. After the mystery which enveloped the death of Oliver Whyte in + the hansom cab murder I hesitate giving a decided answer, in any case till + everything has been thoroughly sifted; but, if not Kitty Marchurst, whom + do you suspect—Vandeloup?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No; he wanted to marry me, not to kill me.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you any enemy, then, who would do such a thing?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes; my husband.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But he is dead.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He disappeared,’ corrected Madame, ‘but it was never proved that he was + dead. He was a revengeful, wicked man, and if he could have killed me, + without hurting himself, he would,’ and rising from her seat she paced up + and down the room slowly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I know your sad story,’ said the barrister, ‘and also how your husband + disappeared; but, to my mind, looking at all the circumstances, you will + not be troubled with him again.’ + </p> + <p> + A sudden exclamation made him turn his head, and he saw Madame Midas, + white as death, staring at the open French window, on the threshold of + which was standing a man—medium height, black beard, and a haggard, + hunted look in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who is this?’ cried Calton, rising to his feet. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas tottered, and caught at the mantelpiece for support. + </p> + <p> + ‘My husband,’ she said, in a whisper. + </p> + <p> + ‘Alive?’ said Calton, turning to the man at the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘I should rather think so,’ said Villiers, insolently, advancing into the + room; ‘I don’t look like a dead man, do I?’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas sprang forward and caught his wrist. + </p> + <p> + ‘So you have come back, murderer!’ she hissed in his ear. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you mean?’ said her husband, wrenching his hand away. + </p> + <p> + ‘Mean?’ she cried, vehemently; ‘you know what I mean. You cut yourself off + entirely from me by your attempt on my life, and the theft of the gold; + you dare not have showed yourself in case you received the reward of your + crime; and so you worked in the dark against me. I knew you were near, + though I did not see you; and you for a second time attempted my life.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I did not,’ muttered Villiers, shrinking back from the indignant blaze of + her eyes. ‘I can prove—’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You can prove,’ she burst out, contemptuously, drawing herself up to her + full height, ‘Yes! you can prove anything with your cowardly nature and + lying tongue; but prove that you were not the man who came in the dead of + night and poisoned the drink waiting for me, which was taken by my nurse. + You can prove—yes, as God is my judge, you shall prove it, in the + prisoner’s dock, e’er you go to the gallows.’ + </p> + <p> + During all this terrible speech, Villiers had crouched on the ground, half + terrified, while his wife towered over him, magnificent in her anger. At + the end, however, he recovered himself a little, and began to bluster. + </p> + <p> + ‘Every man has a right to a hearing,’ he said, defiantly, looking from his + wife to Calton; ‘I can explain everything.’ + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas pointed to a chair. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have no doubt you will prove black is white by your lying,’ she said, + coldly, returning to her seat; ‘I await this explanation.’ + </p> + <p> + Thereupon Villiers sat down and told them the whole story of his + mysterious disappearance, and how he had been made a fool of by Vandeloup. + When he had ended, Calton, who had resumed his seat, and listened to the + recital with deep interest, stole a glance at Madame Midas, but she looked + as cold and impenetrable as ever. + </p> + <p> + ‘I understand, now, the reason of your disappearance,’ she said, coldly; + ‘but that is not the point. I want to know the reason you tried to murder + me a second time.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I did not,’ returned Villiers, quietly, with a gesture of dissent. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then Selina Sprotts, since you are so particular,’ retorted his wife, + with a sneer; ‘but it was you who committed the crime.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who says I did?’ cried Villiers, standing up. + </p> + <p> + ‘No one,’ put in Calton, looking at him sharply, ‘but as you had a grudge + against your wife, it is natural for her to suspect you, at the same time + it is not necessary for you to criminate yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I am not going to do so,’ retorted Villiers; ‘if you think I’d be such a + fool as to commit a crime and then trust myself to my wife’s tender + mercies, you are very much mistaken. I am as innocent of the murder as the + poor girl who is in prison.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then she is not guilty?’ cried Mrs Villiers, rising. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ returned Villiers, coldly, ‘she is innocent.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, indeed,’ said Calton, quietly; ‘then if you both are innocent, who is + the guilty person?’ + </p> + <p> + Villiers was about to speak when another man entered the open window. This + was none other than Kilsip, who advanced eagerly to Villiers. + </p> + <p> + ‘He has come in at the gate,’ he said, quickly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you the warrant,’ asked Villiers, as a sharp ring was heard at the + front door. + </p> + <p> + Kilsip nodded, and Villiers turned on his wife and Calton, who were too + much astonished to speak. + </p> + <p> + ‘You asked me who committed the crime,’ he said, in a state of suppressed + excitement; ‘look at that door,’ pointing to the door which led into the + hall, ‘and you will see the real murderer of Selina Sprotts appear.’ + </p> + <p> + Calton and Madame Midas turned simultaneously, and the seconds seemed like + hours as they waited with bated breath for the opening of the fatal door. + The same name was on their lips as they gazed with intense expectation, + and that name was—Gaston Vandeloup. + </p> + <p> + The noise of approaching footsteps, a rattle at the handle of the door, + and it was flung wide open as the servant announced— + </p> + <p> + ‘Mr Jarper.’ + </p> + <p> + Yes, there he stood, meek, apologetic, and smiling—the fast-living + bank-clerk, the darling of society, and the secret assassin—Mr + Bartholomew Jarper. + </p> + <p> + He advanced smilingly into the room, when suddenly the smile died away, + and his face blanched as his eyes rested on Villiers. He made a step + backward as if to fly, but in a moment Kilsip was on him. + </p> + <p> + ‘I arrest you in the Queen’s name for the murder of Selina Sprotts,’ and + he slipped the handcuffs on his wrists. + </p> + <p> + The wretched young man fell down on the floor with an agonised shriek. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a lie—it’s a lie,’ he howled, beating his manacled hands on + the carpet, ‘none can prove I did it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What about Vandeloup?’ said Villiers, looking at the writhing figure at + his feet, ‘and this proof?’ holding out the bottle with the red bands. + </p> + <p> + Jarper looked up with an expression of abject fear on his white face, then + with a shriek fell back again in a swoon. + </p> + <p> + Kilsip went to the window and a policeman appeared in answer to his call, + then between them they lifted up the miserable wretch and took him to a + cab which was waiting, and were soon driving off up to the station, from + whence Jarper was taken to the Melbourne gaol. + </p> + <p> + Calton turned to Madame Midas and saw that she also had fainted and was + lying on the floor. He summoned the servants to attend to her, then, + making Villiers come with him, he went up to his office in town in order + to get the whole story of the discovery of the murderer. + </p> + <p> + The papers were full of it next day, and Villiers’ statement, together + with Jarper’s confession, were published side by side. It appeared that + Jarper had been living very much above his income, and in order to get + money he had forged Mrs Villiers’ name for several large amounts. Afraid + of being discovered, he was going to throw himself on her mercy and + confess all, which he would have done had Madame Midas come to the + Meddlechip’s ball. But overhearing the conversation between Kitty and + Vandeloup in the conservatory, and seeing the bottle flung out, he thought + if he secured it he could poison Madame Midas without suspicion and throw + the guilt upon Kitty. He secured the bottle immediately after Vandeloup + took Kitty back to the ball-room, and then went down to St Kilda to commit + the crime. He knew the house thoroughly as he had often been in it, and + saw that the window of Madame’s room was open. He then put his overcoat on + the glass bottles on top of the wall and leapt inside, clearing the + bushes. He stole across the lawn and stepped over the flower-bed, + carefully avoiding making any marks. He had the bottle of poison with him, + but was apparently quite ignorant how he was to introduce it into the + house, but on looking through the parting of the curtains he saw the glass + with the drink on the table. Guessing that Madame Midas was in bed and + would probably drink during the night, he put his hand through the + curtains and poured all the poison into the glass, then noiselessly + withdrew. He jumped over the wall again, put on his overcoat, and thought + he was safe, when he found M. Vandeloup was watching him and had seen him + in all his actions. Vandeloup, whose subtle brain immediately saw that if + Madame Midas was dead he could throw the blame on Kitty and thus get rid + of her without endangering himself, agreed to keep silent, but made Jarper + give up the bottle to him. When Jarper had gone Vandeloup, a few yards + further down, met Villiers, but supposed that he had just come on the + scene. Villiers, however, had been watching the house all night, and had + also been watching Meddlechip’s. The reason for this was he thought his + wife was at the ball, and wanted to speak to her. He had followed Kitty + and Mrs Riller down to St Kilda by hanging on to the back of the brougham, + thinking the latter was his wife. Finding his mistake, he hung round the + house for about an hour without any object, and was turning round the + corner to go home when he saw Jarper jump over the wall, and, being unseen + in the shadow, overheard the conversation and knew that Jarper had + committed the crime. He did not, however, dare to accuse Jarper of murder, + as he thought it was in Vandeloup’s power to denounce him as the assassin + of Pierre Lemaire, so for his own safety kept quiet. When he heard the + truth from Kitty in the prison he would have denounced the Frenchman at + once as the real criminal, but was so bewildered by the rapid manner in + which Vandeloup made up a case against him, and especially by the bottle + being produced out of his pocket—which bottle Vandeloup, of course, + had in his hand all the time—that he permitted him to escape. When + he left the gaol, however, he went straight to the police-office and told + his story, when a warrant was immediately granted for the arrest of + Jarper. Kilsip took the warrant and went down to St Kilda to Mrs Villiers’ + house to see her before arresting Jarper; but, as before described, Jarper + came down to the house on business from the bank and was arrested at once. + </p> + <p> + Of course, there was great excitement over the discovery of the real + murderer, especially as Jarper was so well known in Melbourne society, but + no one pitied him. In the days of his prosperity he had been obsequious to + his superiors and insolent to those beneath him, so that all he gained was + the contempt of one and the hate of the other. Luckily, he had no + relatives whom his crime would have disgraced, and as he had not succeeded + in getting rid of Madame Midas, he intended to have run away to South + America, and had forged a cheque in her name for a large amount in order + to supply himself with funds. Unhappily, however, he had paid that fatal + visit and had been arrested, and since then had been in a state of abject + fear, begging and praying that his life might be spared. His crime, + however, had awakened such indignation that the law was allowed to take + its course, so early one wet cold morning Barty Jarper was delivered into + the hands of the hangman, and his mean, pitiful little soul was launched + into eternity. + </p> + <p> + Kitty was of course released, but overwhelmed with shame and agony at all + her past life having been laid bare, she did not go to see Madame Midas, + but disappeared amid the crowd, and tried to hide her infamy from all, + although, poor girl, she was more sinned against than sinning. + </p> + <p> + Vandeloup, for whom a warrant was out for the murder of Lemaire, had also + disappeared, and was supposed to have gone to America. + </p> + <p> + Madame Midas suffered severely from the shocks she had undergone with the + discovery of everyone’s baseness. She settled a certain income on her + husband, on condition she never was to see him again, which offer he + readily accepted, and having arranged all her affairs in Australia, she + left for England, hoping to find in travel some alleviation, if not + forgetfulness, of the sorrow of the past. A good woman—a noble + woman, yet one who went forth into the world broken-hearted and + friendless, with no belief in anyone and no pleasure in life. She, + however, was of too fine a nature ever to sink into the base, cynical + indifference of a misanthropic life, and the wealth which she possessed + was nobly used by her to alleviate the horrors of poverty and to help + those who needed help. Like Midas, the Greek King, from whence her quaint + name was derived, she had turned everything she touched into gold, and + though it brought her no happiness, yet it was the cause of happiness to + others; but she would give all her wealth could she but once more regain + that trust in human nature which had been so cruelly betrayed. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_EPIL" id="link2H_EPIL"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EPILOGUE -- THE WAGES OF SIN + </h2> + <p> + Such a hot night as it was—not a breath of wind, and the moon, full + orbed, dull and yellow, hangs like a lamp in the dark blue sky. Low down + on the horizon are great masses of rain clouds, ragged and angry-looking, + and the whole firmament seems to weigh down on the still earth, where + everything is burnt and parched, the foliage of the trees hanging limp and + heavily, and the grass, yellow and sere, mingling with the hot, white dust + of the roads. Absolute stillness everywhere down here by the Yarra Yarra, + not even the river making a noise as it sweeps swiftly down on its winding + course between its low mud banks. No bark of a dog or human voice breaks + the stillness; not even the sighing of the wind through the trees. And + throughout all this unearthly silence a nervous vitality predominates, for + the air is full of electricity, and the subtle force is permeating the + whole scene. A long trail of silver light lies on the dark surface of the + river rolling along, and here and there the current swirls into sombre, + cruel-looking pools—or froths, and foams in lines of dirty white + around the trunks of spectral-looking gum trees, which stretch out their + white, scarred branches over the waters. + </p> + <p> + Just a little way below the bridge which leads to the Botanical Gardens, + on the near side of the river, stands an old, dilapidated bathing-house, + with its long row of dressing-rooms, doorless and damp-looking. A broad, + irregular wooden platform is in front of these, and slopes gradually down + to the bank, from whence narrow, crazy-looking steps, stretching the whole + length of the platform, go down beneath the sullen waters. And all this + covered with black mould and green slime, with whole armies of spiders + weaving grey, dusky webs in odd corners, and a broken-down fence on the + left half buried in bush rank grass—an evil-looking place even in + the daytime, and ten times more evil-looking and uncanny under the light + of the moon, which fills it with vague shadows. The rough, slimy platform + is deserted, and nothing is heard but the squeaking and scampering of the + water-rats, and every now and then the gurgling of the river as it races + past, as if it was laughing quietly in a ghastly manner over the victims + it had drowned. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly a black shadow comes gliding along the narrow path by the river + bank, and pauses a moment at the entrance to the platform. Then it listens + for a few minutes, and again hurries down to the crazy-looking steps. The + black shadow standing there, like the genius of solitude, is a woman, and + she has apparently come to add herself to the list of the cruel-looking + river’s victims. Standing there, with one hand on the rough rail, and + staring with fascinated eyes on the dull muddy water, she does not hear a + step behind her. The shadow of a man, who has apparently followed her, + glides from behind the bathing-shed, and stealing down to the woman on the + verge of the stream, lays a delicate white hand on her shoulder. She turns + with a startled cry, and Kitty Marchurst and Gaston Vandeloup are looking + into one another’s eyes. Kitty’s charming face is worn and pallid, and the + hand which clutches her shawl is trembling nervously as she gazes at her + old lover. There he stands, dressed in old black clothes, worn and + tattered looking, with his fair auburn hair all tangled and matted; his + chin covered with a short stubbly beard of some weeks’ growth, and his + face gaunt and haggard-looking—the very same appearance as he had + when he landed in Australia. Then he sought to preserve his liberty; now + he is seeking to preserve his life. They gaze at one another in a + fascinated manner for a few moments, and then Gaston removes his hand from + the girl’s shoulder with a sardonic laugh, and she buries her face in her + hands with a stifled sob. + </p> + <p> + ‘So this is the end,’ he said, pointing to the river, and fixing his + scintillating eyes on the girl; ‘this is the end of our lives; for you the + river—for me the hangman.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘God help me,’ she moaned, piteously; ‘what else is left to me but the + river?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hope,’ he said, in a low voice; ‘you are young; you are beautiful; you + can yet enjoy life; but,’ in a deliberate cruel manner, ‘you will not, for + the river claims you as its victim.’ + </p> + <p> + Something in his voice fills her with fear, and looking up she reads death + in his face, and sinking on her knees she holds out her helpless hands + with a pitying cry for life. + </p> + <p> + ‘Strange,’ observed M. Vandeloup, with a touch of his old airy manner; + ‘you come to commit suicide and are not afraid; I wish to save you the + trouble, and you are, my dear—you are illogical.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No! no!’ she mutters, twisting her hands together, ‘I do not want to die; + why do you wish to kill me?’ lifting her wan face to his. + </p> + <p> + He bent down, and caught her wrist fiercely. + </p> + <p> + ‘You ask me that?’ he said, in a voice of concentrated passion, ‘you who, + with your long tongue, have put the hangman’s rope round my throat; but + for you, I would, by this time, have been on my way to America, where + freedom and wealth awaits me. I have worked hard, and committed crimes for + money, and now, when I should enjoy it, you, with your feminine devilry, + have dragged me back to the depths.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I did not make you commit the crimes,’ she said, piteously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bah!’ with a scoffing laugh, ‘who said you did? I take my own sins on my + own shoulders; but you did worse; you betrayed me. Yes; there is a warrant + out for my arrest, for the murder of that accursed Pierre. I have eluded + the clever Melbourne police so far, but I have lived the life of a dog. I + dare not even ask for food, lest I betray myself. I am starving! I tell + you, starving! you harlot! and it is your work.’ + </p> + <p> + He flung her violently to the ground, and she lay there, a huddled heap of + clothing, while, with wild gesticulations, he went on. + </p> + <p> + ‘But I will not hang,’ he said, fiercely; ‘Octave Braulard, who escaped + the guillotine, will not perish by a rope. No; I have found a boat going + to South America, and to-morrow I go on board of her, to sail to + Valparaiso; but before I go I settle with you.’ + </p> + <p> + She sprang suddenly to her feet with a look of hate in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘You villain!’ she said, through her clenched teeth, ‘you ruined my life, + but you shall not murder me!’ + </p> + <p> + He caught her wrist again, but he was weak for want of food, and she + easily wrenched it away. + </p> + <p> + ‘Stand back!’ she cried, retreating a little. + </p> + <p> + ‘You think to escape me,’ he almost shrieked, all his smooth cynical mask + falling off; ‘no, you will not; I will throw you into the river. I will + see you sink to your death. You will cry for help. No one will hear you + but God and myself. Both of us are merciless. You will die like a rat in a + hole, and that face you are so proud of will be buried in the mud of the + river. You devil! your time has come to die.’ + </p> + <p> + He hissed out the last word in a low, sibilant manner, then sprang towards + her to execute his purpose. They were both standing on the verge of the + steps, and instinctively Kitty put out her hands to keep him off. She + struck him on the chest, and then his foot slipped on the green slime + which covered the steps, and with a cry of baffled rage he fell backward + into the dull waters, with a heavy splash. The swift current gripped him, + and before Kitty could utter a sound, she could see him rising out in + midstream, and being carried rapidly away. He threw up his hands with a + hoarse cry for help, but, weakened by famine, he could do nothing for + himself, and sank for the second time. Again he rose, and the current + swept him near shore, almost within reach of a fallen tree. He made a + desperate effort to grasp it, but the current, mocking his puny efforts, + bore him away once again in its giant embrace, and with a wild shriek on + God he sank to rise no more. + </p> + <p> + The woman on the bank, with white face and staring eyes, saw the fate + which he had meant for her meted out to him, and when she saw him sink for + the last time, she covered her face with her hand and fled rapidly away + into the shadowy night. + </p> + <p> + The sun is setting in a sea of blood, and all the west is lurid with + crimson and barred by long black clouds. A heavy cloud of smoke shot with + fiery red hangs over the city, and the din of many workings sound through + the air. Down on the river the ships are floating on the blood-stained + waters, and all their masts stand up like a forest of bare trees against + the clear sky. And the river sweeps on red and angry-looking under the + sunset, with the rank grass and vegetation on its shelving banks. Rats are + scampering along among the wet stones, and then a vagrant dog poking about + amid some garbage howls dismally. What is that black speck on the crimson + waters? The trunk of a tree perhaps; no, it is a body, with white face and + tangled auburn hair; it is floating down with the current. People are + passing to and fro on the bridge, the clock strikes in the town hall, and + the dead body drifts slowly down the red stream far into the shadows of + the coming night—under the bridge, across which the crowd is + hurrying, bent on pleasure and business, past the tall warehouses where + rich merchants are counting their gains, under the shadow of the big + steamers with their tall masts and smoky funnels. Now it is caught in the + reeds at the side of the stream; no, the current carries it out again, and + so down the foul river, with the hum of the city on each side and the red + sky above, drifts the dead body on its way to the sea. The red dies out of + the sky, the veil of night descends, and under the cold starlight—cold + and cruel as his own nature—that which was once Gaston Vandeloup + floats away into the still shadows. + </p> + <h3> + FINIS + </h3> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + +***** This file should be named 4946-h.htm or 4946-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/4/4946/ + + +Text file produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Madame Midas + +Author: Fergus Hume + + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4946] +This file was first posted on April 3, 2002 +[Last updated: January 6, 2014] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +MADAME MIDAS + +Fergus Hume + + + + + + +PROLOGUE + + + + +CAST UP BY THE SEA + + +A wild bleak-looking coast, with huge water-worn promontories jutting +out into the sea, daring the tempestuous fury of the waves, which dashed +furiously in sheets of seething foam against the iron rocks. Two of +these headlands ran out for a considerable distance, and at the base of +each, ragged cruel-looking rocks stretched still further out into the +ocean until they entirely disappeared beneath the heaving waste of +waters, and only the sudden line of white foam every now and then +streaking the dark green waves betrayed their treacherous presence to +the idle eye. Between these two headlands there was about half a mile of +yellow sandy beach on which the waves rolled with a dull roar, fringing +the wet sands with many coloured wreaths of sea-weed and delicate +shells. At the back the cliffs rose in a kind of semi-circle, black and +precipitous, to the height of about a hundred feet, and flocks of white +seagulls who had their nests therein were constantly circling round, or +flying seaward with steadily expanded wings and discordant cries. At the +top of these inhospitable-looking cliffs a line of pale green betrayed +the presence of vegetation, and from thence it spread inland into +vast-rolling pastures ending far away at the outskirts of the bush, +above which could be seen giant mountains with snow-covered ranges. Over +all this strange contrast of savage arid coast and peaceful upland there +was a glaring red sky--not the delicate evanescent pink of an ordinary +sunset--but a fierce angry crimson which turned the wet sands and dark +expanse of ocean into the colour of blood. Far away westward, where +the sun--a molten ball of fire--was sinking behind the snow-clad peaks, +frowned long lines of gloomy clouds--like prison bars through which the +sinking orb glowed fiercely. Rising from the east to the zenith of the +sky was a huge black cloud bearing a curious resemblance to a gigantic +hand, the long lean fingers of which were stretched threateningly out +as if to grasp the land and drag it back into the lurid sea of blood; +altogether a cruel, weird-looking scene, fantastic, unreal, and bizarre +as one of Dore's marvellous conceptions. Suddenly on the red waters +there appeared a black speck, rising and falling with the restless +waves, and ever drawing nearer and nearer to the gloomy cliffs and sandy +beach. When within a quarter of a mile of the shore, the speck resolved +itself into a boat, a mere shallop, painted a dingy white, and much +battered by the waves as it tossed lightly on the crimson waters. It had +one mast and a small sail all torn and patched, which by some miracle +held together, and swelling out to the wind drew the boat nearer to the +land. In this frail craft were two men, one of whom was kneeling in the +prow of the boat shading his eyes from the sunlight with his hands and +gazing eagerly at the cliffs, while the other sat in the centre with +bowed head, in an attitude of sullen resignation, holding the straining +sail by a stout rope twisted round his arm. Neither of them spoke a word +till within a short distance of the beach, when the man at the +look-out arose, tall and gaunt, and stretched out his hands to the +inhospitable-looking coast with a harsh, exulting laugh. + +'At last,' he cried, in a hoarse, strained voice, and in a foreign +tongue; 'freedom at last.' + +The other man made no comment on this outburst of his companion, but +kept his eyes steadfastly on the bottom of the boat, where lay a small +barrel and a bag of mouldy biscuits, the remnants of their provisions on +the voyage. + +The man who had spoken evidently did not expect an answer from his +companion, for he did not even turn his head to look at him, but stood +with folded arms gazing eagerly ahead, until, with a sudden rush, the +boat drove up high and dry on the shore, sending him head-over-heels +into the wet sand. He struggled to his feet quickly, and, running up the +beach a little way, turned to see how his companion had fared. The +other had fallen into the sea, but had picked himself up, and was busily +engaged in wringing the water from his coarse clothing. There was a +smooth water-worn boulder on the beach, and, seeing this, the man who +had spoken went up to it and sat down thereon, while his companion, +evidently of a more practical turn of mind, collected the stale biscuits +which had fallen out of the bag, then, taking the barrel carefully on +his shoulder, walked up to where the other was sitting, and threw both +biscuits and barrel at his feet. + +He then flung himself wearily on the sand, and picking up a biscuit +began to munch it steadily. The other drew a tin pannikin from the bosom +of his shirt, and nodded his head towards the barrel, upon which the +eater laid down his biscuit, and, taking up the barrel, drew the bung, +and let a few drops of water trickle into the tin dish. The man on the +boulder drank every drop, then threw the pannikin down on the sand, +while his companion, who had exhausted the contents of the barrel, +looked wolfishly at him. The other, however, did not take the slightest +notice of his friend's lowering looks, but began to eat a biscuit and +look around him. There was a strong contrast between these two waifs of +the sea which the ocean had just thrown up on the desolate coast. The +man on the boulder was a tall, slightly-built young fellow, apparently +about thirty years of age, with leonine masses of reddish-coloured +hair, and a short, stubbly beard of the same tint. His face, pale and +attenuated by famine, looked sharp and clever; and his eyes, forming +a strong contrast to his hair, were quite black, with thin, +delicately-drawn eyebrows above them. They scintillated with a peculiar +light which, though not offensive, yet gave anyone looking at him an +uncomfortable feeling of insecurity. The young man's hands, though +hardened and discoloured, were yet finely formed, while even the coarse, +heavy boots he wore could not disguise the delicacy of his feet. He was +dressed in a rough blue suit of clothes, all torn and much stained by +sea water, and his head was covered with a red cap of wool-work which +rested lightly on his tangled masses of hair. After a time he tossed +aside the biscuit he was eating, and looked down at his companion with +a cynical smile. The man at his feet was a rough, heavy-looking fellow, +squarely and massively built, with black hair and a heavy beard of the +same sombre hue. His hands were long and sinewy; his feet--which were +bare--large and ungainly: and his whole appearance was that of a man in +a low station of life. No one could have told the colour of his eyes, +for he looked obstinately at the ground; and the expression of his +face was so sullen and forbidding that altogether he appeared to be an +exceedingly unpleasant individual. His companion eyed him for a short +time in a cool, calculating manner, and then rose painfully to his feet. + +'So,' he said rapidly in French, waving his hand towards the frowning +cliffs, 'so, my Pierre, we are in the land of promise; though I must +confess'--with a disparaging shrug of the shoulders--'it certainly +does not look very promising: still, we are on dry land, and that is +something after tossing about so long in that stupid boat, with only a +plank between us and death. Bah!'--with another expressive shrug--'why +should I call it stupid? It has carried us all the way from New +Caledonia, that hell upon earth, and landed us safely in what may turn +out Paradise. We must not be ungrateful to the bridge that carried us +over--eh, my friend?' + +The man addressed as Pierre nodded an assent, then pointed towards the +boat; the other looked up and saw that the tide had risen, and that the +boat was drifting slowly away from the land. + +'It goes,' he said coolly, 'back again to its proper owner, I suppose. +Well, let it. We have no further need of it, for, like Caesar, we have +now crossed the Rubicon. We are no longer convicts from a French +prison, my friend, but shipwrecked sailors; you hear?'--with a sudden +scintillation from his black eyes--'shipwrecked sailors; and I will tell +the story of the wreck. Luckily, I can depend on your discretion, as you +have not even a tongue to contradict, which you wouldn't do if you had.' + +The dumb man rose slowly to his feet, and pointed to the cliffs frowning +above them. The other answered his thought with a careless shrug of the +shoulders. + +'We must climb,' he said lightly, 'and let us hope the top will prove +less inhospitable than this place. Where we are I don't know, except +that this is Australia; there is gold here, my friend, and we must get +our share of it. We will match our Gallic wit against these English +fools, and see who comes off best. You have strength, I have brains; +so we will do great things; but'--laying his hand impressively on the +other's breast--'no quarter, no yielding, you see!' + +The dumb man nodded violently, and rubbed his ungainly hands together in +delight. + +'You don't know Balzac, my friend,' went on the young man in a +conversational tone, 'or I would tell you that, like Rastignac, war +is declared between ourselves and society; but if you have not the +knowledge you have the will, and that is enough for me. Come, let us +make the first step towards our wealth;' and without casting a glance +behind him, he turned and walked towards the nearest headland, followed +by the dumb man with bent head and slouching gait. + +The rain and wind had been at work on this promontory, and their +combined action had broken off great masses of rock, which lay in rugged +confusion at the base. This offered painful but secure foothold, and +the two adventurers, with much labour--for they were weak with the +privations endured on the voyage from New Caledonia--managed to climb +half way up the cliff, when they stopped to take breath and look around +them. They were now in a perilous position, for, hanging as they were +on a narrow ledge of rock midway between earth and sky, the least slip +would have cost them their lives. The great mass of rock which frowned +above them was nearly perpendicular, yet offered here and there certain +facilities for climbing, though to do so looked like certain death. The +men, however, were quite reckless, and knew if they could get to the +top they would be safe, so they determined to attempt the rest of the +ascent. + +'As we have not the wings of eagles, friend Pierre,' said the younger +man, glancing around, 'we must climb where we can find foothold. God +will protect us; if not,' with a sneer, 'the Devil always looks after +his own.' + +He crept along the narrow ledge and scrambled with great difficulty into +a niche above, holding on by the weeds and sparse grass which grew out +of the crannies of the barren crag. Followed by his companion, he went +steadily up, clinging to projecting rocks--long trails of tough grass +and anything else he could hold on to. Every now and then some seabird +would dash out into their faces with wild cries, and nearly cause them +to lose their foothold in the sudden start. Then the herbage began to +get more luxurious, and the cliff to slope in an easy incline, which +made the latter part of their ascent much easier. At last, after half an +hour's hard work, they managed to get to the top, and threw themselves +breathlessly on the short dry grass which fringed the rough cliff. Lying +there half fainting with fatigue and hunger, they could hear, as in +a confused dream, the drowsy thunder of the waves below, and the +discordant cries of the sea-gulls circling round their nests, to which +they had not yet returned. The rest did them good, and in a short time +they were able to rise to their feet and survey the situation. In front +was the sea, and at the back the grassy undulating country, dotted here +and there with clumps of trees now becoming faint and indistinct in the +rapidly falling shadows of the night. They could also see horses and +cattle moving in the distant fields, which showed that there must be +some human habitation near, and suddenly from a far distant house which +they had not observed shone a bright light, which became to these weary +waifs of the ocean a star of hope. + +They looked at one another in silence, and then the young man turned +towards the ocean again. + +'Behind,' he said, pointing to the east, 'lies a French prison and two +ruined lives--yours and mine--but in front,' swinging round to the rich +fields, 'there is fortune, food, and freedom. Come, my friend, let us +follow that light, which is our star of hope, and who knows what glory +may await us. The old life is dead, and we start our lives in this +new world with all the bitter experiences of the old to teach us +wisdom--come!' And without another word he walked slowly down the slope +towards the inland, followed by the dumb man with his head still bent +and his air of sullen resignation. + +The sun disappeared behind the snowy ranges--night drew a grey veil over +the sky as the red light died out, and here and there the stars +were shining. The seabirds sought their nests again and ceased their +discordant cries--the boat which had brought the adventurers to shore +drifted slowly out to sea, while the great black hand that rose from +the eastward stretched out threateningly towards the two men tramping +steadily onward through the dewy grass, as though it would have drawn +them back again to the prison from whence they had so miraculously +escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PACTOLUS CLAIM + + +In the early days of Australia, when the gold fever was at its height, +and the marvellous Melbourne of to-day was more like an enlarged camp +than anything else, there was a man called Robert Curtis, who arrived +in the new land of Ophir with many others to seek his fortune. Mr Curtis +was of good family, but having been expelled from Oxford for holding +certain unorthodox opinions quite at variance with the accepted +theological tenets of the University, he had added to his crime by +marrying a pretty girl, whose face was her fortune, and who was born, +as the story books say, of poor but honest parents. Poverty and honesty, +however, were not sufficient recommendations in the eyes of Mr Curtis, +senior, to excuse such a match; so he promptly followed the precedent +set by Oxford, and expelled his son from the family circle. That young +gentleman and his wife came out to Australia filled with ambitious +dreams of acquiring a fortune, and then of returning to heap coals of +fire on the heads of those who had turned them out. + +These dreams, however, were destined never to be realised, for within a +year after their arrival in Melbourne Mrs Curtis died giving birth to +a little girl, and Robert Curtis found himself once more alone in the +world with the encumbrance of a small child. He, however, was not a man +who wore his heart on his sleeve, and did not show much outward grief, +though, no doubt, he sorrowed deeply enough for the loss of the pretty +girl for whom he had sacrificed so much. At all events, he made up his +mind at once what to do: so, placing his child under the care of an old +lady, he went to Ballarat, and set to work to make his fortune. + +While there his luck became proverbial, and he soon found himself a rich +man; but this did not satisfy him, for, being of a far-seeing nature, he +saw the important part Australia would play in the world's history. So +with the gold won by his pick he bought land everywhere, and especially +in Melbourne, which was even then becoming metropolitan. After fifteen +years of a varied life he returned to Melbourne to settle down, and +found that his daughter had grown up to be a charming young girl, the +very image of his late wife. Curtis built a house, went in for politics, +and soon became a famous man in his adopted country. He settled a large +sum of money on his daughter absolutely, which no one, not even her +future husband, could touch, and introduced her to society. + +Miss Curtis became the belle of Melbourne, and her charming face, +together with the more substantial beauties of wealth, soon brought +crowds of suitors around her. Her father, however, determined to find +a husband for her whom he could trust, and was looking for one when he +suddenly died of heart disease, leaving his daughter an orphan and a +wealthy woman. + +After Mr Curtis had been buried by the side of his dead wife, the +heiress went home to her richly-furnished house, and after passing a +certain period in mourning, engaged a companion, and once more took her +position in society. + +Her suitors--numerous and persistent as those of Penelope--soon returned +to her feet, and she found she could choose a husband from men of all +kinds--rich and poor, handsome and ugly, old and young. One of these, +a penniless young Englishman, called Randolph Villiers, payed her such +marked attention, that in the end Miss Curtis, contrary to the wishes of +her friends, married him. + +Mr Villiers had a handsome face and figure, a varied and extensive +wardrobe, and a bad character. He, however, suppressed his real tastes +until he became the husband of Miss Curtis, and holder of the purse--for +such was the love his wife bore him that she unhesitatingly gave him +full control of all her property, excepting that which was settled on +herself by her father, which was, of course, beyond marital control. In +vain her friends urged some settlement should be made before marriage. +Miss Curtis argued that to take any steps to protect her fortune would +show a want of faith in the honesty of the man she loved, so went to the +altar and reversed the marriage service by endowing Mr Randolph Villiers +with all her worldly goods. + +The result of this blind confidence justified the warnings of her +friends--for as soon as Villiers found himself in full possession of his +wife's fortune, he immediately proceeded to spend all the money he +could lay his hands on. He gambled away large sums at his club, betted +extensively on the turf, kept open house, and finally became entangled +with a lady whose looks were much better than her morals, and whose +capacity for spending money so far exceeded his own that in two years +she completely ruined him. Mrs Villiers put up with this conduct for +some time, as she was too proud to acknowledge she had made a mistake +in her choice of a husband; but when Villiers, after spending all her +wealth in riotous living, actually proceeded to ill-treat her in order +to force her to give up the money her father had settled on her, she +rebelled. She tore off her wedding-ring, threw it at his feet, renounced +his name, and went off to Ballarat with her old nurse and the remnants +of her fortune. + +Mr Villiers, however, was not displeased at this step; in fact, he was +rather glad to get rid of a wife who could no longer supply him with +money, and whose presence was a constant rebuke. He sold up the house +and furniture, and converted all available property into cash, which +cash he then converted into drink for himself and jewellery for his lady +friend. The end soon came to the fresh supply of money, and his lady +friend went off with his dearest companion, to whose purse she had taken +a sudden liking. Villiers, deserted by all his acquaintances, sank +lower and lower in the social scale, and the once brilliant butterfly +of fashion became a billiard marker, then a tout at races, and finally a +bar loafer with no visible means of support. + +Meantime Mrs Villiers was prospering in Ballarat, and gaining the +respect and good opinion of everyone, while her husband was earning the +contempt of not only his former friends but even of the creatures with +whom he now associated. When Mrs Villiers went up to Ballarat after her +short but brilliant life in Melbourne she felt crushed. She had given +all the wealth of her girlish affection to her husband, and had endowed +him with all kinds of chivalrous attributes, only to find out, as many +a woman has done before and since, that her idol had feet of clay. The +sudden shock of the discovery of his baseness altered the whole of +her life, and from being a bright, trustful girl, she became a cold +suspicious woman who disbelieved in everyone and in everything. + +But she was of too restless and ambitious a nature to be content with an +idle life, and although the money she still possessed was sufficient to +support her in comfort, yet she felt that she must do something, if +only to keep her thoughts from dwelling on those bitter years of +married life. The most obvious thing to do in Ballarat was to go in for +gold-mining, and chance having thrown in her way a mate of her father's, +she determined to devote herself to that, being influenced in her +decision by the old digger. This man, by name Archibald McIntosh, was +a shrewd, hard-headed Scotchman, who had been in Ballarat when the +diggings were in the height of their fame, and who knew all about the +lie of the country and where the richest leads had been in the old days. +He told Mrs Villiers that her father and himself had worked together on +a lead then known as the Devil's Lead, which was one of the richest +ever discovered in the district. It had been found by five men, who had +agreed with one another to keep silent as to the richness of the lead, +and were rapidly making their fortunes when the troubles of the Eureka +stockade intervened, and, in the encounter between the miners and the +military, three of the company working the lead were killed, and only +two men were left who knew the whereabouts of the claim and the value +of it. These were McIntosh and Curtis, who were the original holders. +Mr Curtis, went down to Melbourne, and, as previously related, died of +heart disease, so the only man left of the five who had worked the lead +was Archibald McIntosh. He had been too poor to work it himself, and, +having failed to induce any speculator to go in with him to acquire +the land, he had kept silent about it, only staying up at Ballarat and +guarding the claim lest someone else should chance on it. Fortunately +the place where it was situated had not been renowned for gold in the +early days, and it had passed into the hands of a man who used it as +pasture land, quite ignorant of the wealth which lay beneath. When Mrs +Villiers came up to Ballarat, this man wanted to sell the land, as he +was going to Europe; so, acting under the urgent advice of McIntosh, she +sold out of all the investments which she had and purchased the whole +tract of country where the old miner assured her solemnly the Devil's +Lead was to be found. + +Then she built a house near the mine, and taking her old nurse, Selina +Sprotts, and Archibald McIntosh to live with her, sank a shaft in +the place indicated by the latter. She also engaged miners, and gave +McIntosh full control over the mine, while she herself kept the books, +paid the accounts, and proved herself to be a first-class woman of +business. She had now been working the mine for two years, but as yet +had not been fortunate enough to strike the lead. The gutter, however, +proved remunerative enough to keep the mine going, pay all the men, +and support Mrs Villiers herself, so she was quite content to wait till +fortune should smile on her, and the long-looked-for Devil's Lead turned +up. People who had heard of her taking the land were astonished at +first, and disposed to scoff, but they soon begun to admire the plucky +way in which she fought down her ill-luck for the first year of her +venture. All at once matters changed; she made a lucky speculation in +the share market, and the Pactolus claim began to pay. Mrs Villiers +became mixed up in mining matters, and bought and sold on 'Change with +such foresight and promptitude of action that she soon began to make a +lot of money. Stockbrokers are not, as a rule, romantic, but one of +the fraternity was so struck with her persistent good fortune that he +christened her Madame Midas, after that Greek King whose touch turned +everything into gold. This name tickled the fancy of others, and in a +short time she was called nothing but Madame Midas all over the country, +which title she accepted complacently enough as a forecast of her +success in finding the Devil's Lead, which idea had grown into a mania +with her as it already was with her faithful henchman, McIntosh. + +When Mr Villiers therefore arrived in Ballarat, he found his wife +universally respected and widely known as Madame Midas, so he went to +see her, expecting to be kept in luxurious ease for the rest of his +life. He soon, however, found himself mistaken, for his wife told him +plainly she would have nothing to do with him, and that if he dared to +show his face at the Pactolus claim she would have him turned off by +her men. He threatened to bring the law into force to make her live with +him, but she laughed in his face, and said she would bring a divorce +suit against him if he did so; and as Mr Villiers' character could +hardly bear the light of day, he retreated, leaving Madame in full +possession of the field. + +He stayed, however, in Ballarat, and took up stockbroking--living a +kind of hand-to-mouth existence, bragging of his former splendour, and +swearing at his wife for what he was pleased to call--her cruelty. Every +now and then he would pay a visit to the Pactolus, and try to see her, +but McIntosh was a vigilant guard, and the miserable creature was always +compelled to go back to his Bohemian life without accomplishing his +object of getting money from the wife he had deserted. + +People talked, of course, but Madame did not mind. She had tried married +life, and had been disappointed; her old ideas of belief in human nature +had passed away; in short, the girl who had been the belle of Melbourne +as Miss Curtis and Mrs Villiers had disappeared, and the stern, clever, +cynical woman who managed the Pactolus claim was a new being called +'Madame Midas'. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SLIVERS + + +Everyone has heard of the oldest inhabitant--that wonderful piece of +antiquity, with white hair, garrulous tongue, and cast-iron memory,--who +was born with the present century--very often before it--and +remembers George III, the Battle of Waterloo, and the invention of the +steam-engine. But in Australia, the oldest inhabitant is localized, and +rechristened an early settler. He remembers Melbourne before Melbourne +was; he distinctly recollects sailing up the Yarra Yarra with Batman, +and talks wildly about the then crystalline purity of its waters--an +assertion which we of to-day feel is open to considerable doubt. His +wealth is unbounded, his memory marvellous, and his acquaintances of +a somewhat mixed character, comprising as they do a series of persons +ranging from a member of Parliament down to a larrikin. + +Ballarat, no doubt, possesses many of these precious pieces of antiquity +hidden in obscure corners, but one especially was known, not only in +the Golden City, but throughout Victoria. His name was Slivers--plain +Slivers, as he said himself--and, from a physical point of view, he +certainly spoke the truth. What his Christian name was no one ever knew; +he called himself Slivers, and so did everyone else, without even an +Esquire or a Mister to it--neither a head nor a tail to add dignity to +the name. + +Slivers was as well known in Sturt Street and at 'The Corner' as the +town clock, and his tongue very much resembled that timepiece, inasmuch +as it was always going. He was a very early settler; in fact, so +remarkably early that it was currently reported the first white men who +came to Ballarat found Slivers had already taken up his abode there, and +lived in friendly relations with the local blacks. He had achieved this +amicable relationship by the trifling loss of a leg, an arm, and an eye, +all of which portions of his body were taken off the right side, and +consequently gave him rather a lop-sided appearance. But what was left +of Slivers possessed an abundant vitality, and it seemed probable he +would go on living in the same damaged condition for the next twenty +years. + +The Ballarat folk were fond of pointing him out as a specimen of the +healthy climate, but this was rather a flight of fancy, as Slivers was +one of those exasperating individuals who, if they lived in a swamp or +a desert, would still continue to feel their digestions good and their +lungs strong. + +Slivers was reputed rich, and Arabian-Night-like stories were told of +his boundless wealth, but no one ever knew the exact amount of money he +had, and as Slivers never volunteered any information on the subject, no +one ever did know. He was a small, wizen-looking little man, who usually +wore a suit of clothes a size too large for him, wherein scandal-mongers +averred his body rattled like a dried pea in a pod. His hair was white, +and fringed the lower portion of his yellow little scalp in a most +deceptive fashion. With his hat on Slivers looked sixty; take it off and +his bald head immediately added ten years to his existence. His one eye +was bright and sharp, of a greyish colour, and the loss of the other was +replaced by a greasy black patch, which gave him a sinister appearance. +He was cleaned shaved, and had no teeth, but notwithstanding this want, +his lips gripped the stem of his long pipe in a wonderfully tenacious +and obstinate manner. He carried on the business of a mining agent, and +knowing all about the country and the intricacies of the mines, he was +one of the cleverest speculators in Ballarat. + +The office of Slivers was in Sturt Street, in a dirty, tumble-down +cottage wedged between two handsome modern buildings. It was a remnant +of old Ballarat which had survived the rage for new houses and highly +ornamented terraces. Slivers had been offered money for that ricketty +little shanty, but he declined to sell it, averring that as a snail grew +to fit his house his house had grown to fit him. + +So there it stood--a dingy shingle roof overgrown with moss--a quaint +little porch and two numerously paned windows on each side. On top of +the porch a sign-board--done by Slivers in the early days, and looking +like it--bore the legend 'Slivers, mining agent.' The door did not +shut--something was wrong with it, so it always stood ajar in a +hospitable sort of manner. Entering this, a stranger would find himself +in a dark low-roofed passage, with a door at the end leading to the +kitchen, another on the right leading to the bedroom, and a third on +the left leading to the office, where most of Slivers' indoor life was +spent. He used to stop here nearly all day doing business, with the +small table before him covered with scrip, and the mantelpiece behind +him covered with specimens of quartz, all labelled with the name of the +place whence they came. The inkstand was dirty, the ink thick and the +pens rusty; yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, Slivers managed +to do well and make money. He used to recommend men to different mines +round about, and whenever a manager wanted men, or new hands wanted +work, they took themselves off to Slivers, and were sure to be satisfied +there. Consequently, his office was nearly always full; either of people +on business or casual acquaintances dropping in to have a drink--Slivers +was generous in the whisky line--or to pump the old man about some +new mine, a thing which no one ever managed to do. When the office was +empty, Slivers would go on sorting the scrip on his table, drinking +his whisky, or talking to Billy. Now Billy was about as well known in +Ballarat as Slivers, and was equally as old and garrulous in his own +way. He was one of those large white yellow-crested cockatoos who, in +their captivity, pass their time like galley-slaves, chained by one leg. +Billy, however, never submitted to the indignity of a chain--he mostly +sat on Slivers' table or on his shoulder, scratching his poll with his +black claw, or chattering to Slivers in a communicative manner. People +said Billy was Slivers' evil spirit, and as a matter of fact, there was +something uncanny in the wisdom of the bird. He could converse fluently +on all occasions, and needed no drawing out, inasmuch as he was +always ready to exhibit his powers of conversation. He was not a pious +bird--belonging to Slivers, he could hardly be expected to be--and his +language was redolent of Billingsgate. So Billy being so clever was +quite a character in his way, and, seated on Slivers' shoulder with his +black bead of an eye watching his master writing with the rusty pen, +they looked a most unholy pair. + +The warm sunlight poured through the dingy windows of the office, and +filled the dark room with a sort of sombre glory. The atmosphere of +Slivers' office was thick and dusty, and the sun made long beams of +light through the heavy air. Slivers had pushed all the scrip and loose +papers away, and was writing a letter in the little clearing caused by +their removal. On the old-fashioned inkstand was a paper full of grains +of gold, and on this the sunlight rested, making it glitter in +the obscurity of the room. Billy, seated on Slivers' shoulder, was +astonished at this, and, inspired by a spirit of adventure, he climbed +down and waddled clumsily across the table to the inkstand, where he +seized a small nugget in his beak and made off with it. Slivers looked +up from his writing suddenly: so, being detected, Billy stopped and +looked at him, still carrying the nugget in his beak. + +'Drop it,' said Slivers severely, in his rasping little voice. Billy +pretended not to understand, and after eyeing Slivers for a moment or +two resumed his journey. Slivers stretched out his hand for the ruler, +whereupon Billy, becoming alive to his danger, dropped the nugget, and +flew down off the table with a discordant shriek. + +'Devil! devil! devil!' screamed this amiable bird, flopping up and down +on the floor. 'You're a liar! You're a liar! Pickles.' + +Having delivered himself of this bad language, Billy waddled to his +master's chair, and climbing up by the aid of his claws and beak, soon +established himself in his old position. Slivers, however, was not +attending to him, as he was leaning back in his chair drumming in an +absent sort of way with his lean fingers on the table. His cork arm hung +down limply, and his one eye was fixed on a letter lying in front of +him. This was a communication from the manager of the Pactolus Mine +requesting Slivers to get him more hands, and Slivers' thoughts had +wandered away from the letter to the person who wrote it, and from +thence to Madame Midas. + +'She's a clever woman,' observed Slivers, at length, in a musing sort of +tone, 'and she's got a good thing on in that claim if she only strikes +the Lead.' + +'Devil,' said Billy once more, in a harsh voice. + +'Exactly,' answered Slivers, 'the Devil's Lead. Oh, Lord! what a fool I +was not to have collared that ground before she did; but that infernal +McIntosh never would tell me where the place was. Never mind, I'll be +even with him yet; curse him.' + +His expression of face was not pleasant as he said this, and he grasped +the letter in front of him in a violent way, as if he were wishing his +long fingers were round the writer's throat. Tapping with his wooden leg +on the floor, he was about to recommence his musings, when he heard a +step in the passage, and the door of his office being pushed violently +open, a man entered without further ceremony, and flung himself down on +a chair near the window. + +'Fire!' said Billy, on seeing this abrupt entry; 'how's your +mother!--Ballarat and Bendigo--Bendigo and Ballarat.' + +The newcomer was a man short and powerfully built, dressed in a +shabby-genteel sort of way, with a massive head covered with black hair, +heavy side whiskers and moustache, and a clean shaved chin, which had +that blue appearance common to very dark men who shave. His mouth--that +is, as much as could be seen of it under the drooping moustache--was +weak and undecided, and his dark eyes so shifty and restless that they +seemed unable to meet a steady gaze, but always looked at some inanimate +object that would not stare them out of countenance. + +'Well, Mr Randolph Villiers,' croaked Slivers, after contemplating his +visitor for a few moments, 'how's business?' + +'Infernally bad,' retorted Mr Villiers, pulling out a cigar and lighting +it. 'I've lost twenty pounds on those Moscow shares.' + +'More fool you,' replied Slivers, courteously, swinging round in his +chair so as to face Villiers. 'I could have told you the mine was no +good; but you will go on your own bad judgment.' + +'It's like getting blood out of a stone to get tips from you,' growled +Villiers, with a sulky air. 'Come now, old boy,' in a cajoling manner, +'tell us something good--I'm nearly stone broke, and I must live.' + +'I'm hanged if I see the necessity,' malignantly returned Slivers, +unconsciously quoting Voltaire; 'but if you do want to get into a good +thing--' + +'Yes! yes!' said the other, eagerly bending forward. + +'Get an interest in the Pactolus,' and the agreeable old gentleman +leaned back and laughed loudly in a raucous manner at his visitor's +discomfited look. + +'You ass,' hissed Mr Villiers, between his closed teeth; 'you know as +well as I do that my infernal wife won't look at me.' + +'Ho, ho!' laughed the cockatoo, raising his yellow crest in an angry +manner; 'devil take her--rather!' + +'I wish he would!' muttered Villiers, fervently; then with an uneasy +glance at Billy, who sat on the old man's shoulder complacently ruffling +his feathers, he went on: 'I wish you'd screw that bird's neck, Slivers; +he's too clever by half.' + +Slivers paid no attention to this, but, taking Billy off his shoulder, +placed him on the floor, then turned to his visitor and looked at him +fixedly with his bright eye in such a penetrating manner that Villiers +felt it go through him like a gimlet. + +'I hate your wife,' said Slivers, after a pause. + +'Why the deuce should you?' retorted Villiers, sulkily. 'You ain't +married to her.' + +'I wish I was,' replied Slivers with a chuckle. 'A fine woman, my good +sir! Why, if I was married to her I wouldn't sneak away whenever I saw +her. I'd go up to the Pactolus claim and there I'd stay.' + +'It's easy enough talking,' retorted Villiers crossly, 'but you don't +know what a fiend she is! Why do you hate her?' + +'Because I do,' retorted Slivers. 'I hate her; I hate McIntosh; the +whole biling of them; they've got the Pactolus claim, and if they find +the Devil's Lead they'll be millionaires.' + +'Well,' said the other, quite unmoved, 'all Ballarat knows that much.' + +'But I might have had it!' shrieked Slivers, getting up in an excited +manner, and stumping up and down the office. 'I knew Curtis, McIntosh +and the rest were making their pile, but I couldn't find out where; and +now they're all dead but McIntosh, and the prize has slipped through my +fingers, devil take them!' + +'Devil take them,' echoed the cockatoo, who had climbed up again on the +table, and was looking complacently at his master. + +'Why don't you ruin your wife, you fool?' said Slivers, turning +vindictively on Villiers. 'You ain't going to let her have all the money +while you are starving, are you?' + +'How the deuce am I to do that?' asked Villiers, sulkily, relighting his +cigar. + +'Get the whip hand of her,' snarled Slivers, viciously; 'find out if +she's in love, and threaten to divorce her if she doesn't go halves.' + +'There's no chance of her having any lovers,' retorted Villiers; 'she's +a piece of ice.' + +'Ice melts,' replied Slivers, quickly. 'Wait till "Mr Right" comes +along, and then she'll begin to regret being married to you, and then--' + +'Well?' + +'You'll have the game in your own hands,' hissed the wicked old man, +rubbing his hands. 'Oh!' he cried, spinning round on his wooden leg, +'it's a lovely idea. Wait till we meet "Mr Right", just wait,' and he +dropped into his chair quite overcome by the state of excitement he had +worked himself into. + +'If you've quite done with those gymnastics, my friend,' said a soft +voice near the door, 'perhaps I may enter.' + +Both the inmates of the office looked up at this, and saw that two men +were standing at the half-open door--one an extremely handsome young +man of about thirty, dressed in a neat suit of blue serge, and wearing a +large white wide-awake hat, with a bird's-eye handkerchief twisted round +it. His companion was short and heavily built, dressed somewhat the +same, but with his black hat pulled down over his eyes. + +'Come in,' growled Slivers, angrily, when he saw his visitors. 'What the +devil do you want?' + +'Work,' said the young man, advancing to the table. 'We are new arrivals +in the country, and were told to come to you to get work.' + +'I don't keep a factory,' snarled Slivers, leaning forward. + +'I don't think I would come to you if you did,' retorted the stranger, +coolly. 'You would not be a pleasant master either to look at or to +speak to.' + +Villiers laughed at this, and Slivers stared dumbfounded at being spoken +to in such a manner. + +'Devil,' broke in Billy, rapidly. 'You're a liar--devil.' + +'Those, I presume, are your master's sentiments towards me,' said the +young man, bowing gravely to the bird. 'But as soon as he recovers the +use of his tongue, I trust he will tell us if we can get work or not.' + +Slivers was just going to snap out a refusal, when he caught sight +of McIntosh's letter on the table, and this recalled to his mind the +conversation he had with Mr Villiers. Here was a young man handsome +enough to make any woman fall in love with him, and who, moreover, had a +clever tongue in his head. All Slivers' animosity revived against Madame +Midas as he thought of the Devil's Lead, and he determined to use this +young man as a tool to ruin her in the eyes of the world. With these +thoughts in his mind, he drew a sheet of paper towards him, and dipping +the rusty pen in the thick ink, prepared to question his visitors as +to what they could do, with a view to sending them out to the Pactolus +claim. + +'Names?' he asked, grasping his pen firmly in his left hand. + +'Mine,' said the stranger, bowing, 'is Gaston Vandeloup, my friend's +Pierre Lemaire--both French.' + +Slivers scrawled this down in the series of black scratches, which did +duty with him for writing. + +'Where do you come from?' was his next question. + +'The story,' said M. Vandeloup, with suavity, 'is too long to repeat at +present; but we came to-day from Melbourne.' + +'What kind of work can you do?' asked Slivers, sharply. + +'Anything that turns up,' retorted the Frenchman. + +'I was addressing your companion, sir; not you,' snarled Slivers, +turning viciously on him. + +'I have to answer for both,' replied the young man, coolly, slipping +one hand into his pocket and leaning up against the door in a negligent +attitude, 'my friend is dumb.' + +'Poor devil!' said Slivers, harshly. + +'But,' went on Vandeloup, sweetly, 'his legs, arms, and eyes are all +there.' + +Slivers glared at this fresh piece of impertinence, but said nothing. He +wrote a letter to McIntosh, recommending him to take on the two men, and +handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow. + +'The price of your services, Monsieur?' he asked. + +'Five bob,' growled Slivers, holding out his one hand. + +Vandeloup pulled out two half-crowns and put them in the thin, claw-like +fingers, which instantly closed on them. + +'It's a mining place you're going to,' said Slivers, pocketing the +money; 'the Pactolus claim. There's a pretty woman there. Have a drink?' + +Vandeloup declined, but his companion, with a grunt, pushed past him, +and filling a tumbler with the whisky, drank it off. Slivers looked +ruefully at the bottle, and then hastily put it away, in case Vandeloup +should change his mind and have some. + +Vandeloup put on his hat and went to the door, out of which Pierre had +already preceded him. + +'I trust, gentlemen,' he said, with a graceful bow, 'we shall meet +again, and can then discuss the beauty of this lady to whom Mr Slivers +alludes. I have no doubt he is a judge of beauty in others, though he is +so incomplete himself.' + +He went out of the door, and then Slivers sprang up and rushed to +Villiers. + +'Do you know who that is?' he asked, in an excited manner, pulling his +companion to the window. + +Villiers looked through the dusty panes, and saw the young Frenchman +walking away, as handsome and gallant a man as he had ever seen, +followed by the slouching figure of his friend. + +'Vandeloup,' he said, turning to Slivers, who was trembling with +excitement. + +'No, you fool,' retorted the other, triumphantly. That is "Mr Right".' + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MADAME MIDAS AT HOME + + +Madame Midas was standing on the verandah of her cottage, staring far +away into the distance, where she could see the tall chimney and huge +mound of white earth which marked the whereabouts of the Pactolus claim. +She was a tall voluptuous-looking woman of what is called a Junoesque +type--decidedly plump, with firm white hands and well-formed feet. Her +face was of a whitish tint, more like marble than flesh, and appeared +as if modelled from the antique--with the straight Greek nose, high and +smooth forehead, and full red mouth, with firmly-closed lips. She had +dark and piercing eyes, with heavy arched eyebrows above them, and her +hair, of a bluish-black hue, was drawn smoothly over the forehead, and +coiled in thick wreaths at the top of her small, finely-formed head. +Altogether a striking-looking woman, but with an absence of animation +about her face, which had a calm, serene expression, effectually hiding +any thoughts that might be passing in her mind, and which resembled +nothing so much in its inscrutable look as the motionless calm which the +old Egyptians gave to their sphinxes. She was dressed for coolness in a +loose white dress, tied round her waist with a crimson scarf of +Indian silk; and her beautifully modelled arms, bare to the elbow, +and unadorned by any trinkets, were folded idly in front of her as she +looked out at the landscape, which was mellowed and full of warmth under +the bright yellow glare of the setting sun. + +The cottage--for it was nothing else--stood on a slight rise immediately +in front of a dark wood of tall gum-trees, and there was a long row of +them on the right, forming a shelter against the winds, as if the wood +had thrown a protecting arm around the cottage, and wanted to draw it +closer to its warm bosom. The country was of an undulating character, +divided into fields by long rows of gorse hedges, all golden with +blossoms, which gave out a faint, peach-like odour. Some of these +meadows were yellow with corn--some a dull red with sorrel, others left +in their natural condition of bright green grass--while here and there +stood up, white and ghost-like, the stumps of old trees, the last +remnants of the forests, which were slowly retreating before the axe +of the settler. These fields, which had rather a harlequin aspect with +their varied colours, all melted together in the far distance into an +indescribable neutral tint, and ended in the dark haze of the bush, +which grew over all the undulating hills. On the horizon, however, +at intervals, a keen eye could see some tall tree standing boldly up, +outlined clearly against the pale yellow of the sky. There was a white +dusty road or rather a track between two rough fences, with a wide space +of green grass on each side, and here and there could be seen the cattle +wandering idly homeward, lingering every now and then to pull at a +particularly tempting tuft of bush grass growing in the moist +ditches which ran along each side of the highway. Scattered over this +pastoral-looking country were huge mounds of white earth, looking like +heaps of carded wool, and at the end of each of these invariably stood +a tall, ugly skeleton of wood. These marked the positions of the +mines--the towers contained the winding gear, while the white earth was +the clay called mulloch, brought from several hundred feet below the +surface. Near these mounds were rough-looking sheds with tall red +chimneys, which made a pleasant spot of colour against the white of +the clay. On one of these mounds, rather isolated from the others, and +standing by itself in the midst of a wide green paddock, Mrs Villiers' +eyes were fixed, and she soon saw the dark figure of a man coming slowly +down the white mound, along the green field and advancing slowly up the +hill. When she saw him coming, without turning her head or raising her +voice, she called out to someone inside, + +'Archie is coming, Selina--you had better hurry up the tea, for he will +be hungry after such a long day.' + +The person inside made no answer save by an extra clatter of some +domestic utensils, and Madame apparently did not expect a reply, for +without saying anything else she walked slowly down the garden path, and +leaned lightly over the gate, waiting for the newcomer, who was indeed +none other than Archibald McIntosh, the manager of the Pactolus. + +He was a man of about medium height, rather thin than otherwise, with a +long, narrow-looking head and boldly cut features--clean shaved save for +a frill of white hair which grew on his throat up the sides of his head +to his ears, and which gave him rather a peculiar appearance, as if he +had his jaw bandaged up. His eyes were grey and shrewd-looking, his lips +were firmly compressed--in fact, the whole appearance of his face was +obstinate--the face of a man who would stick to his opinions whatever +anyone else might say to the contrary. He was in a rough miner's dress, +all splashed with clay, and as he came up to the gate Madame could see +he was holding something in his hand. + +'D'ye no ken what yon may be?' he said, a smile relaxing his grim +features as he held up a rather large nugget; ''tis the third yin this +week!' + +Madame Midas took the nugget from him and balanced it carefully in her +hand, with a thoughtful look in her face, as if she was making a mental +calculation. + +'About twenty to twenty-five ounces, I should say,' she observed in +her soft low voice; 'the last we had was fifteen, and the one before +twenty--looks promising for the gutter, doesn't it?' + +'Well, I'll no say but what it micht mean a deal mair,' replied +McIntosh, with characteristic Scotch caution, as he followed Madame into +the house; 'it's no a verra bad sign, onyhow; I winna say but what we +micht be near the Devil's Lead.' + +'And if we are?' said Madame, turning with a smile. + +'Weel, mem, ye'll have mair siller nor ye'll ken what to dae wi', an' +'tis to be hoped ye'll no be making a fool of yersel.' + +Madame laughed--she was used to McIntosh's plain speaking, and it in no +wise offended her. In fact, she preferred it very much more than being +flattered, as people's blame is always genuine, their praise rarely so. +At all events she was not displeased, and looked after him with a smile +in her dark eyes as he disappeared into the back kitchen to make himself +decent for tea. Madame herself sat down in an arm-chair in the bow +window, and watched Selina preparing the meal. + +Selina Jane Sprotts, who now acted as servant to Mrs Villiers, was +rather an oddity in her way. She had been Madame's nurse, and had +followed her up to Ballarat, with the determination of never leaving +her. Selina was a spinster, as her hand had never been sought +in marriage, and her personal appearance was certainly not very +fascinating. Tall and gaunt, she was like a problem from Euclid, all +angles, and the small quantity of grey hair she possessed was screwed +into a hard lump at the back of her head. Her face was reddish in +colour, and her mouth prim and pursed up, as if she was afraid of saying +too much, which she need not have been, as she rarely spoke, and was +as economical of her words as she was of everything else. She was much +given to quoting proverbs, and hurled these prepared little pieces of +wisdom on every side like pellets out of a pop-gun. Conversation which +consists mainly of proverbs is rarely exhilarating; consequently Miss +Sprotts was not troubled to talk much, either by Madame or McIntosh. + +Miss Sprotts moved noiselessly about the small room, in a wonderfully +dextrous manner considering her height, and, after laying the table, +placed the teapot on the hob to 'draw', thereby disturbing a cat and +a dog who were lying in front of the fire--for there was a fire in the +room in spite of the heat of the day, Selina choosing to consider that +the house was damp. She told Madame she knew it was damp because her +bones ached, and as she was mostly bones she certainly had a good +opportunity of judging. + +Annoyed at being disturbed by Miss Sprotts, the dog resigned his +comfortable place with a plaintive growl, but the cat, of a more +irritable temperament, set up and made a sudden scratch at her hand, +drawing blood therefrom. + +'Animals,' observed Selina, grimly, 'should keep their place;' and she +promptly gave the cat a slap on the side of the head, which sent him +over to Madame's feet, with an angry spit. Madame picked him up and +soothed his ruffled feelings so successfully, that he curled himself up +on her lap and went to sleep. + +By-and-bye Archie, who had been making a great splashing in the back +premises, came in looking clean and fresh, with a more obstinate look +about his face than ever. Madame went to the tea-table and sat down, +for she always had her meals with them, a fact of which they were very +proud, and they always treated her with intense respect, though every +now and then they were inclined to domineer. Archie, having seen that +the food on the table was worth thanking God for, asked a blessing in +a peremptory sort of manner, as if he thought Heaven required a deal of +pressing to make it attentive. Then they commenced to eat in silence, +for none of the party were very much given to speech, and no sound was +heard save the rattling of the cups and saucers and the steady ticking +of the clock. The window was open, and a faint breeze came in--cool and +fragrant with the scent of the forest, and perfumed with the peach-like +odour of the gorse blossoms. There was a subdued twilight through all +the room, for the night was coming on, and the gleam of the flickering +flames of the fire danced gaily against the roof and exaggerated all +objects to an immense size. At last Archie pushed back his chair to show +that he had finished, and prepared to talk. + +'I dinna see ony new bodies coming,' he said, looking at his mistress. +'They, feckless things, that left were better than none, though they +should hae been skelped for their idleness.' + +'You have written to Slivers?' said Madame, raising her eyes. + +'That wudden-legged body,' retorted McIntosh. 'Deed and I have, but the +auld tyke hasna done onything to getting me what I want. Weel, weel,' in +a resigned sort of a manner, 'we micht be waur off than we are, an' wha +kens but what Providence will send us men by-and-bye?' + +Selina looked up at this, saw her opportunity, and let slip an +appropriate proverb. + +'If we go by by-and-bye lane,' she said sharply, 'we come to the gate of +never.' + +This being undeniable, no one gave her the pleasure of contradicting +her, for Archie knew it was impossible to argue with Selina, so handy +was she with her proverbial wisdom--a kind of domestic Tupper, whose +philosophy was of the most irritating and unanswerable kind. He did +the wisest thing he could under the circumstances, and started a new +subject. + +'I say yon the day.' + +'Yon' in this case meant Mr Villiers, whose name was tabooed in the +house, and was always spoken of in a half-hinting kind of way. As both +her servants knew all about her unhappy life, Madame did not scruple to +talk to them. + +'How was he looking?' she asked, smoothing the crumbs off her dress. + +'Brawly,' replied Archie, rising; 'he lost money on that Moscow mine, +but he made a fine haul owre the Queen o' Hearts claim.' + +'The wicked,' observed Selina, 'flourish like a green bay tree.' + +'Ou, ay,' retorted McIntosh, drily; 'we ken a' aboot that, Selina--auld +Hornie looks after his ain.' + +'I think he leads a very hand-to-mouth existence,' said Madame, calmly; +'however rich he may become, he will always be poor, because he never +was a provident man.' + +'He's comin' tae see ye, mem,' said Archie, grimly, lighting his pipe. + +Madame rose to her feet and walked to the window. + +'He's done that before,' she said, complacently; 'the result was not +satisfactory.' + +'Continual dropping wears away a stone,' said Selina, who was now +clearing away. + +'But not iron,' replied Madame, placidly; 'I don't think his persistence +will gain anything.' + +Archie smiled grimly, and then went outside to smoke his pipe, while +Madame sat down by the open window and looked out at the fast-fading +landscape. + +Her thoughts were not pleasant. She had hoped to cut herself off from +all the bitterness and sorrow of her past life, but this husband of +hers, like an unquiet spirit, came to trouble her and remind her of +a time she would willingly have forgotten. She looked calm and quiet +enough sitting there with her placid face and smooth brow; but this +woman was like a slumbering volcano, and her passions were all the more +dangerous from being kept in check. + +A bat flew high up in the air across the clear glow of the sky, +disappearing into the adjacent bush, and Madame, stretching out her +hand, idly plucked a fresh, dewy rose off the tree which grew round the +window. + +'If I could only get rid of him,' she thought, toying with the flower; +'but it is impossible. I can't do that without money, and money I never +will have till I find that lead. I must bribe him, I suppose. Oh, why +can't he leave me alone now? Surely he has ruined my life sufficiently +in the past to let me have a few years, if not of pleasure, at least of +forgetfulness.' And with a petulant gesture she hurled the rose out +of the window, where it struck Archie a soft and fragrant blow on the +cheek. + +'Yes,' said Madame to herself, as she pulled down the window, 'I must +get rid of him, and if bribery won't do--there are other means.' + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOOD SAMARITAN + + +Is there anyone nowadays who reads Cowper--that charming, domestic poet +who wrote 'The Task', and invested even furniture with the glamour of +poesy? Alas! to many people Cowper is merely a name, or is known only as +the author of the delightfully quaint ballad of John Gilpin. Yet he +was undoubtedly the Poet Laureate of domesticity, and every householder +should possess a bust or picture of him--placed, not amid the frigid +splendours of the drawing room, but occupying the place of honour in +his own particular den, where everything is old-fashioned, cheery, and +sanctified by long usage. No one wrote so pleasantly about the pleasures +of a comfortable room as Cowper. And was he not right to do so? After +all, every hearth is the altar of the family, whereon the sacred fire +should be kept constantly burning, waxing and waning with the seasons, +but never be permitted to die out altogether. Miss Sprotts, as before +mentioned, was much in favour of a constant fire, because of the alleged +dampness of the house, and Madame Midas did not by any means object, as +she was a perfect salamander for heat. Hence, when the outward door +was closed, the faded red curtains of the window drawn, and the newly +replenished fire blazed brightly in the wide fireplace, the room was +one which even Cowper--sybarite in home comforts as he was--would have +contemplated with delight. + +Madame Midas was seated now at the small table in the centre of the +room, poring over a bewildering array of figures, and the soft glow of +the lamp touched her smooth hair and white dress with a subdued light. + +Archie sat by the fire, half asleep, and there was a dead silence in the +room, only broken by the rapid scratching of Madame's pen or the click +of Selina's needles. At last Mrs Villiers, with a sigh of relief, laid +down her pen, put all her papers together, and tied them neatly with a +bit of string. + +'I'm afraid I'll have to get a clerk, Archie,' she said, as she put the +papers away, 'the office work is getting too much for me.' + +''Deed, mem, and 'tis that same I was thinkin' o',' returned Mr +McIntosh, sitting bolt upright in his chair, lest the imputation of +having been asleep should be brought against him. 'It's ill wark seein' +ye spoilin' your bonny eyes owre sic a muckle lot o' figures as ye hae +there.' + +'Someone must do it,' said Madame, resuming her seat at the table. + +'Then why not get a body that can dae it?' retorted Archie; 'not but +what ye canna figure yersel', mem, but really ye need a rest, and if I +hear of onyone in toun wha we can trust I'll bring him here next week.' + +'I don't see why you shouldn't,' said Madame, musingly; 'the mine is +fairly under way now, and if things go on as they are doing, I must have +someone to assist me.' + +At this moment a knock came to the front door, which caused Selina to +drop her work with a sudden start, and rise to her feet. + +'Not you, Selina,' said Madame, in a quiet voice; 'let Archie go; it may +be some tramp.' + +''Deed no, mem,' replied Archie, obstinately, as he arose from his seat; +''tis verra likely a man fra the warks saying he wants to go. There's +mair talk nor sense aboot them, I'm thinkin'--the yattering parrots.' + +Selina resumed her knitting in a most phlegmatic manner, but Madame +listened intently, for she was always haunted by a secret dread of +her husband breaking in on her, and it was partly on this account that +McIntosh stayed in the house. She heard a murmur of voices, and then +Archie returned with two men, who entered the room and stood before +Madame in the light of the lamp. + +''Tis two men fra that wudden-legged gowk o' a Slivers,' said Archie, +respectfully. 'Ain o' them has a wee bit letter for ye'--turning to +receive same from the foremost man. + +The man, however, did not take notice of Archie's gesture, but walking +forward to Madame, laid the letter down before her. As he did so, she +caught sight of the delicacy of his hands, and looked up suddenly with a +piercing gaze. He bore the scrutiny coolly, and took a chair in silence, +his companion doing the same, while Madame opened the letter and read +Slivers' bad writing with a dexterity only acquired by long practice. +Having finished her perusal, she looked up slowly. + +'A broken-down gentleman,' she said to herself, as she saw the easy +bearing and handsome face of the young man; then looking at his +companion, she saw by his lumpish aspect and coarse hands, that he +occupied a much lower rank of life than his friend. + +Monsieur Vandeloup--for it was he--caught her eye as she was +scrutinising them, and his face broke into a smile--a most charming +smile, as Madame observed mentally, though she allowed nothing of her +thoughts to appear on her face. + +'You want work,' she said, slowly folding up the letter, and placing it +in her pocket; 'do you understand anything about gold-mining?' + +'Unfortunately, no, Madame,' said Vandeloup, coolly; 'but we are willing +to learn.' + +Archie grunted in a dissatisfied manner, for he was by no means in +favour of teaching people their business, and, besides, he thought +Vandeloup too much of a gentleman to do good work. + +'You look hardly strong enough for such hard labour,' said Mrs Villiers, +doubtfully eyeing the slender figure of the young man. 'Your companion, +I think, will do, but you--' + +'I, Madame, am like the lilies of the field that neither toil nor spin,' +replied Vandeloup, gaily; 'but, unfortunately, I am now compelled by +necessity to work, and though I should prefer to earn my bread in an +easier manner, beggars,'--with a characteristic shrug, which did not +escape Madame's eye--cannot be choosers.' + +'You are French?' she asked quickly, in that language. + +'Yes, Madame,' he replied in the same tongue, 'both my friend and myself +are from Paris, but we have not been long out here.' + +'Humph,' Madame leaned her head on her hand and thought, while Vandeloup +looked at her keenly, and remembered what Slivers had said. + +'She is, indeed, a handsome woman,' he observed, mentally; 'my lines +will fall in pleasant places, if I remain here.' + +Mrs Villiers rather liked the looks of this young man; there was a +certain fascination about him which few women could resist, and Madame, +although steeled to a considerable extent by experience, was yet a +woman. His companion, however, she did not care about--he had a sullen +and lowering countenance, and looked rather dangerous. + +'What is your name?' she asked the young man. + +'Gaston Vandeloup.' + +'You are a gentleman?' + +He bowed, but said nothing. + +'And you?' asked Madame, sharply turning to the other. + +He looked up and touched his mouth. + +'Pardon him not answering, Madame,' interposed Vandeloup, 'he has the +misfortune to be dumb.' + +'Dumb?' echoed Madame, with a glance of commiseration, while Archie +looked startled, and Selina mentally observed that silence was golden. + +'Yes, he has been so from his birth,--at least, so he gives me +to understand,' said Gaston, with a shrug of his shoulders, which +insinuated a doubt on the subject; 'but it's more likely the result +of an accident, for he can hear though he cannot speak. However, he is +strong and willing to work; and I also, if you will kindly give me an +opportunity,' added he, with a winning smile. + +'You have not many qualifications,' said Madame, shortly, angry with +herself for so taking to this young man's suave manner. + +'Probably not,' retorted Vandeloup, with a cynical smile. 'I fancy it +will be more a case of charity than anything else, as we are starving.' + +Madame started, while Archie murmured 'Puir deils.' + +'Surely not as bad as that?' observed Mrs Villiers, in a softer tone. + +'Why not?' retorted the Frenchman, carelessly. 'Manna does not fall from +heaven as in the days of Moses. We are strangers in a strange land, and +it is hard to obtain employment. My companion Pierre can work in your +mine, and if you will take me on I can keep your books'--with a sudden +glance at a file of papers on the table. + +'Thank you, I keep my own books,' replied Madame, shortly. 'What do you +say to engaging them, Archie?' + +'We ma gie them a try,' said McIntosh, cautiously. 'Ye do need a figger +man, as I tauld ye, and the dour deil can wark i' the claim.' + +Madame drew a long breath, and then made up her mind. + +'Very well,' she said, sharply; 'you are engaged, M. Vandeloup, as my +clerk, and your companion can work in the mine. As to wages and all +that, we will settle to-morrow, but I think you will find everything +satisfactory.' + +'I am sure of that, Madame,' returned Vandeloup, with a bow. + +'And now,' said Madame Midas, graciously, relaxing somewhat now that +business was over, 'you had better have some supper.' + +Pierre's face lighted up when he heard this invitation, and Vandeloup +bowed politely. + +'You are very kind,' he said, looking at Mrs Villiers in a friendly +manner; 'supper is rather a novelty to both of us.' + +Selina meanwhile had gone out, and returned with some cold beef and +pickles, a large loaf and a jug of beer. These she placed on the table, +and then retired to her seat again, inwardly rebellious at having two +tramps at the table, but outwardly calm. + +Pierre fell upon the victuals before him with the voracity of a starving +animal, and ate and drank in such a savage manner that Madame was +conscious of a kind of curious repugnance, and even Archie was startled +out of his Scotch phlegm. + +'I wadna care aboot keepin' yon long,' he muttered to himself; 'he's +mair like a cannibal nor a ceevalized body.' + +Vandeloup, however, ate very little and soon finished; then filling a +glass with beer, he held it to his lips and bowed again to Madame Midas. + +'To your health, Madame,' he said, drinking. + +Mrs Villiers bowed courteously. This young man pleased her. She was +essentially a woman with social instincts, and the appearance of this +young and polished stranger in the wilds of the Pactolus claim promised +her a little excitement. It was true that every now and then, when she +caught a glimpse from his scintillating eyes, she was conscious of a +rather unpleasant sensation, but this she put down to fancy, as the +young man's manners were really charming. + +When the supper was ended, Pierre pushed back his chair into the shadow +and once more relapsed into his former gloom, but Vandeloup stood up and +looked towards Madame in a hesitating manner. + +'I'm afraid, Madame, we disturb you,' he murmured vaguely, though in +his heart he wished to stay in this pleasant room and talk to such a +handsome woman; 'we had best be going.' + +'Not at all,' answered Madame, graciously, 'sit down; you and your +friend can sleep in the men's quarters to-night, and to-morrow we will +see if we can't provide you with a better resting-place.' + +Vandeloup murmured something indistinctly, and then resumed his seat. + +'Meanwhile,' said Mrs Villiers, leaning back in her chair, and regarding +him fixedly, 'tell me all about yourselves.' + +'Alas, Madame,' answered Vandeloup, with a charming smile and +deprecating shrug of his shoulders, 'there is not much to tell. I was +brought up in Paris, and, getting tired of city life, I came out to +India to see a little of the world; then I went over to Borneo, and was +coming down to Australia, when our vessel was wrecked and all on board +were drowned but myself and this fellow,' pointing to Pierre, 'who was +one of the sailors. We managed to get a boat, and after tossing about +for nearly a week we were cast up on the coast of Queensland, and from +thence came to Melbourne. I could not get work there, neither could +my friend, and as we heard of Ballarat we came up here to try to get +employment, and our lines, Madame,'--with another bow--'have fallen in a +pleasant place.' + +'What a dreadful chapter of accidents,' said Madame, coolly looking at +him to see if he was speaking the truth, for experience of her husband +had inspired her with an instinctive distrust of men. Vandeloup, +however, bore her scrutiny without moving a muscle of his face, so +Madame at last withdrew her eyes, quite satisfied that his story was +true. + +'Is there no one in Paris to whom you can write?' she asked, after a +pause. + +'Luckily, there is,' returned Gaston, 'and I have already sent a letter, +asking for a remittance, but it takes time to get an answer, and as I +have lost all my books, papers, and money, I must just wait for a few +months, and, as I have to live in the meantime, I am glad to obtain +work.' + +'Still, your consul--' began Mrs Villiers. + +'Alas, Madame, what can I say--how can I prove to him that I am what +I assert to be? My companion is dumb and cannot speak for me, and, +unluckily, he can neither read nor write. I have no papers to prove +myself, so my consul may think me--what you call--a scamp. No; I will +wait till I receive news from home, and get to my own position again; +besides,' with a shrug, 'after all, it is experience.' + +'Experience,' said Madame, quietly, 'is a good schoolmaster, but the +fees are somewhat high.' + +'Ah!' said Vandeloup, with a pleased look, 'you know Heine, I perceive, +Madame. I did not know he was read out here.' + +'We are not absolute barbarians, M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, with a +smile, as she arose and held out her hand to the young man; 'and now +good night, for I am feeling tired, and I will see you to-morrow. Mr +McIntosh will show you where you are to sleep.' + +Vandeloup took the hand she held out to him and pressed it to his lips +with a sudden gesture. 'Madame,' he said, passionately, 'you are an +angel, for to-day you have saved the lives of two men.' + +Madame snatched her hand away quickly, and a flush of annoyance spread +over her face as she saw how Selina and Archie stared. Vandeloup, +however, did not wait for her answer, but went out, followed by Pierre. +Archie put on his hat and walked out after them, while Madame Midas +stood looking at Selina with a thoughtful expression of countenance. + +'I don't know if I've done a right thing, Selina,' she said, at length; +'but as they were starving I could hardly turn them away.' + +'Cast your bread on the waters and it shall come back after many +days--buttered,' said Selina, giving her own version of the text. + +Madame laughed. + +'M. Vandeloup talks well,' she observed. + +'So did HE,' replied Selina, with a sniff, referring to Mr Villiers; +'once bitten, twice shy.' + +'Quite right, Selina,' replied Mrs Villiers, coolly; 'but you are going +too fast. I'm not going to fall in love with my servant.' + +'You're a woman,' retorted Selina, undauntedly, for she had not much +belief in her own sex. + +'Yes, who has been tricked and betrayed by a man,' said Madame, +fiercely; 'and do you think because I succour a starving human being +I am attracted by his handsome face? You ought to know me better than +that, Selina. I have always been true to myself,' and without another +word she left the room. + +Selina stood still for a moment, then deliberately put away her work, +slapped the cat in order to relieve her feelings, and poked the fire +vigorously. + +'I don't like him,' she said, emphasizing every word with a poke. 'He's +too smooth and handsome, his eyes ain't true, and his tongue's too +smart. I hate him.' + +Having delivered herself of this opinion, she went to boil some water +for Mr McIntosh, who always had some whisky hot before going to bed. + +Selina was right in her estimate of Vandeloup, and, logically argued, +the case stood thus:-- + +Some animals of a fine organization have an instinct which warns them to +avoid approaching danger. + +Woman is one of these finely-organized animals. ERGO-- + +Let no woman go contrary to her instinct. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MAMMON'S TREASURE HOUSE + + +At the foot of the huge mound of white mulloch which marked the site +of the Pactolus Mine was a long zinc-roofed building, which was divided +into two compartments. In one of these the miners left their clothes, +and put on rough canvas suits before going down, and here also they were +searched on coming up in order to see if they had carried away any gold. +From this room a long, narrow passage led to the top of the shaft, so +that any miner having gold concealed upon him could not throw it away +and pick it up afterwards, but had to go right into the searching room +from the cage, and could not possibly hide a particle without being +found out by the searchers. The other room was the sleeping apartment of +such miners as stayed on the premises, for the majority of the men went +home to their families when their work was done. + +There were three shifts of men on the Pactolus during the twenty-four +hours, and each shift worked eight hours at a time--the first going +on at midnight and knocking off at eight in the morning, the second +commencing at eight and ending at four in the afternoon, and the third +starting at four and lasting until midnight again, when the first shift +of men began anew. + +Consequently, when M. Vandeloup awoke next morning at six o'clock the +first shift were not yet up, and some of the miners who had to go on +at eight were sleeping heavily in their beds. The sleeping places were +berths, ranging along two sides of the room, and divided into upper and +lower compartments like those on shipboard. + +Gaston having roused himself naturally wanted to see where he was, so +rubbing his eyes and yawning he leaned on his elbow and took a leisurely +survey of his position. + +He saw a rather large room lighted at regular intervals by three square +windows, and as these were uncurtained, the cold, searching light of +daybreak was slowly stealing through them into the apartment, and all +the dusky objects therein were gradually revealing themselves in the +still light. He could hear the heavy, monotonous breathing of the men, +and the restless turning and tossing of those who could not sleep. + +Gaston yawned once or twice, then feeling disinclined for any more +sleep, he softly put on his clothes, so as not to awake Pierre, who +slept in the berth below, and descending from his sleeping-place groped +his way to the door and went out into the cool fragrant morning. + +There was a chill wind blowing from the bush, bringing with it a faint +aromatic odour, and on glancing downwards he saw that the grass was wet +with dew. The dawn was burning redly in the east, and the vivid crimson +of the sky put him in mind of that sunset under which he had landed with +his companion on the Queensland coast. Suddenly a broad shaft of yellow +light broke into the pale pink of the sky, and with a burst of splendour +the sun rose slowly into sight from behind the dark bush, and all the +delicate workings of the dawn disappeared in the flood of golden light +which poured over the landscape. + +Vandeloup looked idly at all this beauty with an unobservant eye, being +too much occupied with his thoughts to take notice of anything; and it +was only when two magpies near him broke into a joyous duet, in which +each strove to emulate the other's mellow notes, that he awoke from his +brown study, and began to walk back again to the mine. + +'I must let nothing stand in my way to acquire money,' he said, +musingly; 'with it one can rule the world; without it--but how trite +and bald these well-worn maxims seem! Why do I repeat them, parrot-like, +when I see what I have to do so clearly before me? That woman, for +instance--I must begin by making her my friend. Bah! she is that +already; I saw it in her eyes, which she can't control as she does +her face. Yes, I must make her my friend; my very dear friend--and +then--well, to my mind, the world-pivot is a woman. I will spare no one +in order to attain my ends--I will make myself my own God, and consider +no one but myself, and those who stand in my path must get out of it or +run the chance of being crushed. This,' with a cynical smile, 'is what +some would call the devil's philosophy; at all events, it is good enough +for me.' + +He was near the mine by this time, and hearing someone calling to him he +looked up, and saw McIntosh walking towards him. There was a stir in +the men's quarters now, and he could see the door was open and several +figures were moving briskly about, while a number of others were +crossing the fields. The regular beat of the machinery still continued, +and the smoke was pouring out thick and black from the tall red chimney, +while the wheels were spinning round in the poppet-heads as the mine +slowly disgorged the men who had been working all night. + +McIntosh came slowly along with his hands in his pockets and a puzzled +look on his severe face. He could not make up his mind whether to like +or dislike this young man, but Madame Midas had seemed so impressed +that he had half made up his mind to dislike him out of a spirit of +contradiction. + +'Weemen are sae easy pleased, puir feckless bodies,' he said to himself, +'a bonny face is a' they fash their heads aboot, though the same may be +already in the grip of auld Nickyben. Weel, weel, if Madam does fancy +the lad--an' he's no bad lookin', I'll say that--she may just hae her +ain way, and I'll keep my e'e on baith.' + +He looked grimly at the young man as he came briskly forward with a gay +smile. + +'Ye're a verra early bird,' he said, fondling his frill of white hair, +and looking keenly at the tall, slim figure of the Frenchman. + +'Case of "must", my friend,' returned Vandeloup, coolly; 'it's only rich +men can afford to be in bed, not poor devils like me.' + +'You're no muckle like ither folk,' said the suspicious old Scotchman, +with a condemnatory sniff. + +'Of that I am glad,' retorted Vandeloup, with suavity, as he walked +beside him to the men's quarters. 'What a horrible thing to be the +duplicate of half-a-dozen other men. By the way,' breaking off into a +new subject, 'Madame Midas is charming.' + +'Aye, aye,' said Archie, jealously, 'we ken all aboot they +French-fangled way o' gieing pretty words, and deil a scrap of truth in +ony o' them.' + +Gaston was about to protest that he said no more than he felt, which was +indeed the truth, but Archie impatiently hurried him off to breakfast at +the office, as he declared himself famishing. They made a hearty meal, +and, having had a smoke and a talk, prepared to go below. + +First of all, they arrayed themselves in underground garments--not grave +clothes, though the name is certainly suggestive of the cemetery--which +consisted of canvas trousers, heavy boots, blue blouses of a rough +woollen material, and a sou'wester each. Thus accoutred, they went +along to the foot of the poppet heads, and Archie having opened a door +therein, Vandeloup saw the mouth of the shaft yawning dark and gloomy +at his feet. As he stood there, gazing at the black hole which seemed to +pierce down into the entrails of the earth, he turned round to take one +last look at the sun before descending to the nether world. + +This is quite a new experience to me,' he said, as they stepped into the +wet iron cage, which had ascended to receive them in answer to Archie's +signal, and now commenced to drop down silently and swiftly into the +pitchy darkness. 'It puts me in mind of Jules Verne's romances.' + +Archie did not reply, for he was too much occupied in lighting his +candle to answer, and, moreover, knew nothing about romances, and cared +still less. So they went on sliding down noiselessly into the gloom, +while the water, falling from all parts of the shaft, kept splashing +constantly on the top of the cage and running in little streams over +their shoulders. + +'It's like a nightmare,' thought the Frenchman, with a nervous shudder, +as he saw the wet walls gleaming in the faint light of the candle. +'Worthy of Dante's "Inferno".' + +At last they reached the ground, and found themselves in the main +chamber, from whence the galleries branched off to east and west. + +It was upheld on all sides by heavy wooden supports of bluegum and +stringy bark, the scarred surfaces of which made them look like the +hieroglyphic pillars in old Egyptian temples. The walls were dripping +with damp, and the floor of the chamber, though covered with iron +plates, was nearly an inch deep with yellow-looking water, discoloured +by the clay of the mine. Two miners in rough canvas clothes were +waiting here, and every now and then a trolly laden with wash would roll +suddenly out of one of the galleries with a candle fastened in front of +it, and would be pushed into the cage and sent up to the puddlers. Round +the walls candles fastened to spikes were stuck into the woodwork, and +in their yellow glimmer the great drops of water clinging to the roof +and sides of the chamber shone like diamonds. + +'Aladdin's garden,' observed Vandeloup, gaily, as he lighted his candle +at that of Archie's and went towards the eastern gallery, 'only the +jewels are not substantial enough.' + +Archie showed the Frenchman how to carry his candle in the miner's +manner, so that it could not go out, which consisted in holding it low +down between the forefinger and third finger, so that the hollow palm of +the hand formed a kind of shield; and then Vandeloup, hearing the sound +of falling water close to him, asked what it was, whereupon Archie +explained it was for ventilating purposes. The water fell the whole +height of the mine through a pipe into a bucket, and a few feet above +this another pipe was joined at right angles to the first and stretched +along the gallery near the roof like a never-ending serpent right to the +end of the drive. The air was driven along this by the water, and then, +being released from the pipe, returned back through the gallery, so that +there was a constant current circulating all through the mine. + +As they groped their way slowly along, their feet splashed into pools +of yellow clayey water at the sides of the drive, or stumbled over the +rough ground and rugged rails laid down for the trollies. All along the +gallery, at regular intervals, were posts of stringy bark in a vertical +position, while beams of the same were laid horizontally across the top, +but so low that Vandeloup had to stoop constantly to prevent himself +knocking his head against their irregular projections. + +Clinging to these side posts were masses of white fungus, which the +miners use to remove discolorations from their hands, and from the roof +also it hung like great drifts of snow, agitated with every breath of +wind as the keen air, damped and chilled by the underground darkness, +rushed past them. Every now and then they would hear a faint rumble in +the distance, and Archie would drag his companion to one side while a +trolly laden with white, wet-looking wash, and impelled by a runner, +would roll past with a roaring and grinding of wheels. + +At intervals on each side of the main drive black chasms appeared, which +Archie informed his companion were drives put in to test the wash, and +as these smaller galleries continued branching off, Vandeloup thought +the whole mine resembled nothing so much as a herring-bone. + +Being accustomed to the darkness and knowing every inch of the way, the +manager moved forward rapidly, and sometimes Vandeloup lagged so far +behind that all he could see of his guide was the candle he carried, +shining like a pale yellow star in the pitchy darkness. At last McIntosh +went into one of the side galleries, and going up an iron ladder fixed +to the side of the wall, they came to a second gallery thirty feet above +the other, and branching off at right angles. + +This was where the wash was to be found, for, as Archie informed +Vandeloup, the main drives of a mine were always put down thirty or +forty feet below the wash, and then they could work up to the higher +levels, the reason of this being that the leads had a downward tendency, +and it was necessary for the main drive to be sunk below, as before +mentioned, in order to get the proper levels and judge the gutters +correctly. At the top of the ladder they found some empty trucks which +had delivered their burden into a kind of shoot, through which it fell +to the lower level, and there another truck was waiting to take it to +the main shaft, from whence it went up to the puddlers. + +Archie made Vandeloup get into one of these trucks, and though they were +all wet and covered with clay, he was glad to do so, and be smoothly +carried along, instead of stumbling over the rails and splashing among +the pools of water. Every now and then as they went along there would be +a gush of water from the dripping walls, which was taken along in +pipes to the main chamber, and from thence pumped out of the mine by a +powerful pump, worked by a beam engine, by which means the mine was kept +dry. + +At last, after they had gone some considerable distance, they saw the +dim light of a candle, and heard the dull blows of a pick, then found +themselves at the end of the drive, where a miner was working at the +wash. The wash wherein the gold is found was exceedingly well defined, +and represented a stratified appearance, being sandwiched in between a +bed of white pipe-clay and a top layer of brownish earth, interspersed +with gravel. Every blow of the pick sent forth showers of sparks in all +directions, and as fast as the wash was broken down the runner filled up +the trollies with it. After asking the miner about the character of the +wash, and testing some himself in a shovel, Archie left the gallery, +and going back to the shoot, they descended again to the main drive, and +visited several other faces of wash, the journey in each instance being +exactly the same in all respects. Each face had a man working at it, +sometimes two, and a runner who loaded the trucks, and ran them along to +the shoots. In spite of the ventilation, Vandeloup felt as if he was in +a Turkish bath, and the heat was in some places very great. At the end +of one of the drives McIntosh called Vandeloup, and on going towards +him the young man found him seated on a truck with the plan of the +mine before him, as he wanted to show him all the ramifications of the +workings. + +The plan looked more like a map of a city than anything else, with +the main drive doing duty as the principal street, and all the little +galleries, branching off in endless confusion, looked like the lanes and +alleys of a populous town. + +'It's like the catacombs in Rome,' said Vandeloup to McIntosh, after +he had contemplated the plan for some time; 'one could easily get lost +here.' + +'He micht,' returned McIntosh, cautiously, 'if he didna ken a' aboot +the lie of the mine--o'er yonder,' putting one finger on the plan +and pointing with the other to the right of the tunnel; 'we found a +twenty-ounce nugget yesterday, and ain afore that o' twenty-five, and +in the first face we were at twa months ago o'er there,' pointing to the +left, 'there was yin big ain I ca'd the Villiers nugget, which as ye ken +is Madame's name.' + +'Oh, yes, I know that,' said Vandeloup, much interested; 'do you +christen all your nuggets?' + +'If they're big enough,' replied Archie. + +'Then I hope you will find a hundred-ounce lump of gold, and call it the +Vandeloup,' returned the young man, laughing. + +'There's mony a true word spoke in jest, laddie,' said Archie, gravely; +'when we get to the Deil's Lead we may find ain o' that size.' + +'What do you mean by leads?' asked Vandeloup, considerably puzzled. + +Thereupon Archie opened his mouth, and gave the young man a scientific +lecture on mining, the pith of which was as follows:-- + +'Did ye no ken,' said Mr McIntosh, sagaciously, 'in the auld days--I +winna say but what it micht be as far back as the Fa' o' Man, may be a +wee bit farther--the rains washed a' the gold fra the taps o' the hills, +where the quartz reefs were, down tae the valleys below, where the +rivers ye ken were flowin'. And as the ages went on, an' nature, under +the guidance o' the Almighty, performed her work, the river bed, wiv +a' its gold, would be covered o'er with anither formation, and then the +river, or anither yin, would flow on a new bed, and the precious metal +would be washed fra the hills in the same way as I tauld ye of, and the +second river bed would be also covered o'er, and sae the same game went +on and is still progressin'. Sae when the first miners came doon tae +this land of Ophir the gold they got by scratchin' the tap of the earth +was the latest deposit, and when ye gae doon a few hundred feet ye come +on the second river--or rather, I should say, the bed o' the former +river-and it is there that the gold is tae be found; and these dried-up +rivers we ca' leads. Noo, laddie, ye ma ken that at present we are in +the bed o' ain o' these auld streams three hun'red feet frae the tap o' +the earth, and it's here we get the gold, and as we gae on we follow the +wandrin's o' the river and lose sight o' it.' + +'Yes,' said Vandeloup quickly, 'but you lost this river you call the +Devil's Lead--how was that?' + +'Weel,' said Mr McIntosh, deliberately, 'rivers are varra like human +bein's in the queer twists they take, and the Deil's Lead seems to hae +been ain like that. At present we are on the banks o' it, where we noo +get these nuggets; but 'tis the bed I want, d'ye ken, the centre, for +its there the gold is; losh, man,' he went on, excitedly, rising to his +feet and rolling up the plan, 'ye dinna ken how rich the Deil's Lead is; +there's just a fortune in it.' + +"I suppose these rivers must stop at a certain depth?" + +"Ou, ay," returned the old Scotchman, "we gae doon an' doon till we +come on what we ma ca' the primary rock, and under that there is +nothin'--except," with a touch of religious enthusiasm, "maybe 'tis +the bottomless pit, where auld Hornie dwells, as we are tauld in the +Screepture; noo let us gae up again, an' I'll show ye the puddlers at +wark." + +Vandeloup had not the least idea what the puddlers were, but desirous of +learning, he followed his guide, who led him into another gallery, which +formed a kind of loop, and joined again with the main drive. As Gaston +stumbled along, he felt a touch on his shoulder, and on turning, saw it +was Pierre, who had been put to work with the other men, and was acting +as one of the runners. + +"Ah! you are there, my friend," said Vandeloup, coolly, looking at the +uncouth figure before him by the feeble glimmer of his candle; "work +away, work away; it's not very pleasant, but at all events," in a rapid +whisper, "it's better than New Caledonia." + +Pierre nodded in a sullen manner, and went back to his work, while +Vandeloup hurried on to catch up to McIntosh, who was now far ahead. + +"I wish," said this pleasant young man to himself, as he stumbled along, +"I wish that the mine would fall in and crush Pierre; he's such a dead +weight to be hanging round my neck; besides, he has such a gaol-bird +look about him that it's enough to make the police find out where he +came from; if they do, good-bye to wealth and respectability." + +He found Archie waiting for him at the entrance to the main drive, and +they soon arrived at the bottom of the shaft, got into the cage, and at +last reached the top of the earth again. Vandeloup drew a long breath of +the fresh pure air, but his eyes felt quite painful in the vivid glare +of the sun. + +"I don't envy the gnomes," he said gaily to Archie as they went on to +the puddlers; "they must have been subject to chronic rheumatism." + +Mr McIntosh, not having an acquaintance with fairy lore, said nothing in +reply, but took Vandeloup to the puddlers, and showed all the process of +getting the gold. + +The wash was carried along in the trucks from the top of the shaft +to the puddlers, which were large circular vats into which water was +constantly gushing. The wash dirt being put into these, there was an +iron ring held up by chains, having blunt spikes to it, which was called +a harrow. Two of these being attached to beams laid crosswise were +dragged round and round among the wash by the constant revolution of +the cross-pieces. This soon reduced all the wash dirt to a kind of fine, +creamy-looking syrup, with heavy white stones in it, which were removed +every now and then by the man in charge of the machine. Descending to +the second story of the framework, Vandeloup found himself in a +square chamber, the roof of which was the puddler. In this roof was +a trap-door, and when the wash dirt had been sufficiently mixed the +trap-door was opened, and it was precipitated through on to the floor +of the second chamber. A kind of broad trough, running in a slanting +direction and called a sluice, was on one side, and into this a quantity +of wash was put, and a tap at the top turned on, which caused the +water to wash the dirt down the sluice. Another man at the foot, with +a pitchfork, kept shifting up the stones which were mixed up with the +gravel, and by degrees all the surplus dirt was washed away, leaving +only these stones and a kind of fine black sand, in which the gold being +heavy, had stayed. This sand was carefully gathered up with a brush +and iron trowel into a shallow tin basin, and then an experienced miner +carefully manipulated the same with clear water. What with blowing with +the breath, and allowing the water to flow gently over it, all the +black sand was soon taken away, and the bottom of the tin dish was +then covered with dirty yellow grains of gold interspersed with little +water-worn nuggets. Archie took the gold and carried it down to the +office, where it was first weighed and then put into a little canvas +bag, which would be taken to the bank in Ballarat, and there sold at the +rate of four pounds an ounce or thereabouts. + +'Sae this, ye ken,' said Archie, when he had finished all his +explanations, 'is the way ye get gold.' + +'My faith,' said Vandeloup, carelessly, with a merry laugh, 'gold is as +hard to get in its natural state as in its artificial.' + +"An' harder," retorted Archie, "forbye there's nae sic wicked wark aboot +it." + +"Madame will be rich some day," remarked Vandeloup, as they left the +office and walked up towards the house. + +"Maybe she will," replied the other, cautiously. "Australia's a gran' +place for the siller, ye ken. I'm no verra far wrang but what wi' +industry and perseverance ye may mak a wee bit siller yersel', laddie." + +"It won't be my fault if I don't," returned M. Vandeloup, gaily; "and +Madame Midas," he added, mentally, "will be an excellent person to +assist me in doing so." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +KITTY + + +Gaston Vandeloup having passed all his life in cities found that his +existence on the Pactolus claim was likely to be very dreary. Day after +day he arose in the morning, did his office work, ate his meals, +and after a talk with Madame Midas in the evening went to bed at ten +o'clock. Such Arcadian simplicity as this was not likely to suit the +highly cultivated tastes he had acquired in his earlier life. As to the +episode of New Caledonia M. Vandeloup dismissed it completely from +his mind, for this young man never permitted his thoughts to dwell on +disagreeable subjects. + +His experiences as a convict had been novel but not pleasant, and he +looked upon the time which had elapsed since he left France in the +convict ship to the day he landed on the coast of Queensland in an open +boat as a bad nightmare, and would willingly have tried to treat it as +such, only the constant sight of his dumb companion, Pierre Lemaire, +reminded him only too vividly of the reality of his trouble. Often and +often did he wish that Pierre would break his neck, or that the mine +would fall in and crush him to death; but nothing of the sort happened, +and Pierre continued to vex his eyes and to follow him about with a +dog-like fidelity which arose--not from any love of the young man, +but--from the fact that he found himself a stranger in a strange land, +and Vandeloup was the only person he knew. With such a millstone round +his neck, the young Frenchman often despaired of being able to get on in +Australia. Meanwhile he surrendered himself to the situation with a kind +of cynical resignation, and looked hopefully forward to the time when a +kind Providence would rid him of his unpleasant friend. + +The feelings of Madame Midas towards Vandeloup were curious. She had +been a very impressionable girl, and her ill-fated union with Villiers +had not quite succeeded in deadening all her feelings, though it had +doubtless gone a good way towards doing so. Being of an appreciative +nature, she liked to hear Vandeloup talk of his brilliant life in Paris, +Vienna, London, and other famous cities, which to her were merely names. +For such a young man he had certainly seen a great deal of life, and, +added to this, his skill as a talker was considerable, so that he +frequently held Madame, Selina, and McIntosh spell-bound by his +fairy-like descriptions and eloquent conversation. Of course, he only +talked of the most general subjects to Mrs Villiers, and never by any +chance let slip that he knew the seamy side of life--a side with which +this versatile young gentleman was pretty well acquainted. As a worker, +Gaston was decidedly a success. Being quick at figures and easily taught +anything, he soon mastered all the details of the business connected +with the Pactolus claim, and Madame found that she could leave +everything to him with perfect safety, and could rely on all matters of +business being well and promptly attended to. But she was too clever +a woman to let him manage things himself, or even know how much she +trusted him; and Vandeloup knew that whatever he did those calm dark +eyes were on him, and that the least slip or neglect on his part would +bring Madame Midas to his side with her quiet voice and inflexible will +to put him right again. + +Consequently the Frenchman was careful not to digress or to take too +much upon himself, but did his work promptly and carefully, and soon +became quite indispensable to the work of the mine. In addition to this +he had made himself very popular with the men, and as the months rolled +on was looked upon quite as a fixture in the Pactolus claim. + +As for Pierre Lemaire, he did his work well, ate and slept, and kept his +eye on his companion in case he should leave him in the lurch; but no +one would have guessed that the two men, so different in appearance, +were bound together by a guilty secret, or were, morally speaking, both +on the same level as convicts from a French prison. + +A whole month had elapsed since Madame had engaged M. Vandeloup and his +friend, but as yet the Devil's Lead had not been found. Madame, however, +was strong in her belief that it would soon be discovered, for her +luck--the luck of Madame Midas--was getting quite a proverb in Ballarat. + +One bright morning Vandeloup was in the office running up endless +columns of figures, and Madame, dressed in her underground garments, was +making ready to go below, just having stepped in to see Gaston. + +'By the way, M. Vandeloup,' she said in English, for it was only in the +evenings they spoke French, 'I am expecting a young lady this morning, +so you can tell her I have gone down the mine, but will be back in an +hour if she will wait for me.' + +'Certainly, Madame,' said Vandeloup, looking up with his bright smile; +'and the young lady's name?' + +'Kitty Marchurst,' replied Madame, pausing a moment at the door of the +office; 'she is the daughter of the Rev. Mark Marchurst, a minister at +Ballarat. I think you will like her, M. Vandeloup,' she went on, in +a conversational tone; 'she is a charming girl--only seventeen, and +extremely pretty.' + +'Then I am sure to like her,' returned Gaston, gaily; 'I never could +resist the charm of a pretty woman.' + +'Mind,' said Madame, severely, holding up her finger, 'you must not turn +my favourite's head with any of your idle compliments; she has been very +strictly brought up, and the language of gallantry is Greek to her.' + +Vandeloup tried to look penitent, and failed utterly. + +'Madame,' he said, rising from his seat, and gravely bowing, 'I will +speak of nothing to Mademoiselle Kitty but of the weather and the crops +till you return.' + +Madame laughed pleasantly. + +'You are incorrigible, M. Vandeloup,' she said, as she turned to go. +'However, don't forget what I said, for I trust you.' + +When Mrs Villiers had gone, closing the office door after her, Gaston +was silent for a few minutes, and then burst out laughing. + +'She trusts me,' he said, in a mocking tone. 'In heaven's name, why? I +never did pretend to be a saint, and I'm certainly not going to be one +because I'm put on my word of honour. Madame,' with an ironical bow in +the direction of the closed door, 'since you trust me I will not speak +of love to this bread-and-butter miss, unless she proves more than +ordinarily pretty, in which case,' shrugging his shoulders, 'I'm afraid +I must betray your trust, and follow my own judgment.' + +He laughed again, and then, going back to his desk, began to add up +his figures. At the second column, however, he paused, and commenced to +sketch faces on the blotting paper. + +'She's the daughter of a minister,' he said, musingly. 'I can guess, +then, what like she is--prim and demure, like a caricature by Cham. +In that case she will be safe from me, for I could never bear an ugly +woman. By the way, I wonder if ugly women think themselves pretty; their +mirrors must lie most obligingly if they do. There was Adele, she was +decidedly plain, not to say ugly, and yet so brilliant in her talk. I +was sorry she died; yes, even though she was the cause of my exile to +New Caledonia. Bah! it is always a woman one has to thank for one's +misfortunes--curse them; though why I should I don't know, for they +have always been good friends to me. Ah, well, to return to business, +Mademoiselle Kitty is coming, and I must behave like a bear in case she +should think my intentions are wrong.' + +He went to work on the figures again, when suddenly he heard a high +clear voice singing outside. At first he thought it was a bird, but +no bird could execute such trills and shakes, so by the time the voice +arrived at the office door M. Vandeloup came to the conclusion that +the owner of the voice was a woman, and that the woman was Miss Kitty +Marchurst. + +He leaned back in his chair and wondered idly if she would knock at the +door or enter without ceremony. The latter course was the one adopted by +Miss Marchurst, for she threw open the door and stood there blushing and +pouting at the embarrassing situation in which she now found herself. + +'I thought I would find Mrs Villiers here,' she said, in a low, sweet +voice, the peculiar timbre of which sent a thrill through Gaston's young +blood, as he arose to his feet. Then she looked up, and catching his +dark eyes fixed on her with a good deal of admiration in them, she +looked down and commenced drawing figures on the dusty floor with the +tip of a very dainty shoe. + +'Madame has gone down the mine,' said M. Vandeloup, politely, 'but she +desired me to say that she would be back soon, and that you were to wait +here, and I was to entertain you;' then, with a grave bow, he placed the +only chair in the office at the disposal of his visitor, and leaned +up against the mantelpiece in an attitude of unstudied grace. Miss +Marchurst accepted his offer, and depositing her small person in the +big cane chair, she took furtive glances at him, while Gaston, whose +experience of women was by no means limited, looked at her coolly, in +a manner which would have been rude but for the charming smile which +quivered upon his lips. + +Kitty Marchurst was a veritable fairy in size, and her hands and feet +were exquisitely formed, while her figure had all the plumpness and +roundness of a girl of seventeen--which age she was, though she really +did not look more than fourteen. An innocent child-like face, two limpid +blue eyes, a straight little nose, and a charming rose-lipped mouth +were Kitty's principal attractions, and her hair was really wonderful, +growing all over her head in crisp golden curls. Child-like enough her +face looked in repose, but with the smile came the woman--such a smile, +a laughing merry expression such as the Greeks gave to Hebe. Dressed in +a rough white dress trimmed with pale blue ribbons, and her golden head +surmounted by a sailor hat, with a scarf of the same azure hue tied +around it, Kitty looked really charming, and Vandeloup could hardly +restrain himself from taking her up in his arms and kissing her, so +delightfully fresh and piquant she appeared. Kitty, on her side, had +examined Gaston with a woman's quickness of taking in details, and she +mentally decided he was the best-looking man she had ever seen, only +she wished he would talk. Shyness was not a part of her nature, so after +waiting a reasonable time for Vandeloup to commence, she determined to +start herself. + +'I'm waiting to be entertained,' she said, in a hurried voice, raising +her eyes; then afraid of her own temerity, she looked down again. + +Gaston smiled a little at Kitty's outspoken remark, but remembering +Madame's injunction he rather mischievously determined to carry out her +desires to the letter. + +'It is a very nice day,' he said, gravely. Kitty looked up and laughed +merrily. + +'I don't think that's a very original remark,' she said coolly, +producing an apple from her pocket. 'If that's all you've got to say, I +hope Madame won't be long.' + +Vandeloup laughed again at her petulance, and eyed her critically as she +took a bit out of the red side of the apple with her white teeth. + +'You like apples?' he asked, very much amused by her candour. + +'Pretty well,' returned Miss Marchurst, eyeing the fruit in a +disparaging manner; 'peaches are nicer; are Madame's peaches ripe?' +looking anxiously at him. + +'I think they are,' rejoined Gaston, gravely. + +'Then we'll have some for tea,' decided Kitty, taking another bite out +of her apple. + +'I'm going to stay to tea, you know,' she went on in a conversational +tone. 'I always stay to tea when I'm on a visit here, and then +Brown--that's our man,' in an explanatory manner, 'comes and fetches me +home.' + +'Happy Brown!' murmured Vandeloup, who really meant what he said. + +Kitty laughed, and blushed. + +'I've heard all about you,' she said, coolly, nodding to him. + +'Nothing to my disadvantage, I hope,' anxiously. + +'Oh dear, no: rather the other way,' returned Miss Marchurst, gaily. +'They said you were good-looking--and so you are, very good-looking.' + +Gaston bowed and laughed, rather amused at the way she spoke, for he was +used to being flattered by women, though hardly in the outspoken way of +this country maiden. + +'She's been strictly brought up,' he muttered sarcastically, 'I can see +that. Eve before the fall in all her innocence.' + +'I don't like your eyes,' said Miss Kitty, suddenly. + +'What's the matter with them?' with a quizzical glance. + +'They look wicked.' + +'Ah, then they belie the soul within,' returned Vandeloup, seriously. 'I +assure you, I'm a very good young man.' + +Then I'm sure not to like you,' said Kitty, gravely shaking her golden +head. 'Pa's a minister, you know, and nothing but good young men come to +our house; they're all so horrid,' viciously, 'I hate 'em.' + +Vandeloup laughed so much at this that Kitty rose to her feet and looked +offended. + +'I don't know what you are laughing at,' she said, throwing her +half-eaten apple out of the door; 'but I don't believe you're a good +young man. You look awfully bad,' seriously. 'Really, I don't think I +ever saw anyone look so bad.' + +'Suppose you undertake my reformation?' suggested Vandeloup, eagerly. + +'Oh! I couldn't; it wouldn't be right; but,' brightly, 'pa will.' + +'I don't think I'll trouble him,' said Gaston, hastily, who by no means +relished the idea. 'I'm too far gone to be any good.' + +She was about to reply when Madame Midas entered, and Kitty flew to her +with a cry of delight. + +'Why, Kitty,' said Madame, highly pleased, 'I am so glad to see you, my +dear; but keep off, or I'll be spoiling your dress.' + +'Yes, so you will,' said Kitty, retreating to a safe distance; 'what a +long time you have been.' + +'Have I, dear?' said Madame, taking off her underground dress; 'I hope +M. Vandeloup has proved a good substitute.' + +'Madame,' answered Vandeloup, gaily, as he assisted Mrs Villiers to +doff her muddy garments, 'we have been talking about the crops and the +weather.' + +'Oh, indeed,' replied Mrs Villiers, who saw the flush on Kitty's cheek, +and by no means approved of it; 'it must have been very entertaining.' + +'Very!' assented Gaston, going back to his desk. + +'Come along, Kitty,' said Madame, with a keen glance at her clerk, and +taking Kitty's arm within her own, 'let us go to the house, and see if +we can find any peaches.' + +'I hope we'll find some big ones,' said Kitty, gluttonously, as she +danced along by the side of Mrs Villiers. + +'Temptation has been placed in my path in a very attractive form,' +said Vandeloup to himself, as he went back to those dreary columns of +figures, 'and I'm afraid that I will not be able to resist.' + +When he came home to tea he found Kitty was as joyous and full of life +as ever, in spite of the long hot afternoon and the restless energy with +which she had been running about. Even Madame Midas felt weary and worn +out by the heat of the day, and was sitting tranquilly by the window; +but Kitty, with bright eyes and restless feet, followed Selina all over +the house, under the pretence of helping her, an infliction which that +sage spinster bore with patient resignation. + +After tea it was too hot to light the lamp, and even Selina let the fire +go out, while all the windows and doors were open to let the cool +night wind blow in. Vandeloup sat on the verandah with McIntosh smoking +cigarettes and listening to Madame, who was playing Mendelssohn's 'In a +Gondola', that dreamy melody full of the swing and rhythmic movement of +the waves. Then to please old Archie she played 'Auld Lang +Syne'--that tender caressing air which is one of the most pathetic and +heart-stirring melodies in the world. Archie leaned forward with bowed +head as the sad melody floated on the air, and his thoughts went back +to the heather-clad Scottish hills. And what was this Madame was now +playing, with its piercing sorrow and sad refrain? Surely 'Farewell to +Lochaber', that bitter lament of the exile leaving bonny Scotland far +behind. Vandeloup, who was not attending to the music, but thinking +of Kitty, saw two big tears steal down McIntosh's severe face, and +marvelled at such a sign of weakness. + +'Sentiment from him?' he muttered, in a cynical tone; 'why, I should +have as soon expected blood from a stone.' + +Suddenly the sad air ceased, and after a few chords, Kitty commenced to +sing to Madame's accompaniment. Gaston arose to his feet, and leaned +up against the door, for she was singing Gounod's charming valse from +'Mirella', the bird-like melody of which suited her high clear voice +to perfection. Vandeloup was rather astonished at hearing this innocent +little maiden execute the difficult valse with such ease, and her shake +was as rapid and true as if she had been trained in the best schools of +Europe. He did not know that Kitty had naturally a very flexible voice, +and that Madame had trained her for nearly a year. When the song was +ended Gaston entered the room to express his thanks and astonishment, +both of which Kitty received with bursts of laughter. + +'You have a fortune in your throat, mademoiselle,' he said, with a bow, +'and I assure you I have heard all the great singers of to-day from +Patti downwards.' + +'I have only been able to teach her very little,' said Madame, looking +affectionately at Miss Marchurst, who now stood by the table, blushing +at Vandeloup's praises, 'but when we find the Devil's Lead I am going to +send her home to Italy to study singing.' + +'For the stage?' asked Vandeloup. + +'That is as it may be,' replied Madame, enigmatically, 'but now, M. +Vandeloup, you must sing us something.' + +'Oh, does he sing?' said Kitty, joyously. + +'Yes, and play too,' answered Madame, as she vacated her seat at the +piano and put her arm round Kitty, 'sing us something from the "Grand +Duchess", Monsieur.' + +He shook his head. + +'Too gay for such an hour,' he said, running his fingers lightly over +the keys; 'I will give you something from "Faust".' + +He had a pleasant tenor voice, not very strong, but singularly pure and +penetrating, and he sang 'Salve Dinora', the exquisite melody of which +touched the heart of Madame Midas with a vague longing for love and +affection, while in Kitty's breast there was a feeling she had never +felt before. Her joyousness departed, her eyes glanced at the singer in +a half-frightened manner, and she clung closer to Madame Midas as if she +were afraid, as indeed she was. + +When Vandeloup finished the song he dashed into a riotous student song +which he had heard many a time in midnight Paris, and finally ended +with singing Alfred de Musset's merry little chanson, which he thought +especially appropriate to Kitty:-- + +Bonjour, Suzon, ma fleur des bois, Es-tu toujours la plus jolie, Je +reviens, tel que tu me vois, + +D'un grand votage en Italie. + +Altogether Kitty had enjoyed her evening immensely, and was quite sorry +when Brown came to take her home. Madame wrapped her up well and put her +in the buggy, but was rather startled to see her flushed cheeks, bright +eyes, and the sudden glances she stole at Vandeloup, who stood handsome +and debonair in the moonlight. + +'I'm afraid I've made a mistake,' she said to herself as the buggy drove +off. + +She had, for Kitty had fallen in love with the Frenchman. + +And Gaston? + +He walked back to the house beside Madame, thinking of Kitty, and +humming the gay refrain of the song he had been singing-- + +'Je passe devant ta maison Ouvre ta porte, Bonjour, Suzon.' + +Decidedly it was a case of love at first sight on both sides. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR VILLIERS PAYS A VISIT + + +Slivers and his friend Villiers were by no means pleased with the +existing state of things. In sending Vandeloup to the Pactolus claim, +they had thought to compromise Madame Midas by placing her in the +society of a young and handsome man, and counting on one of two things +happening--either that Madame would fall in love with the attractive +Frenchman, and seek for a divorce in order to marry him--which divorce +Villiers would of course resist, unless she bribed him by giving him an +interest in the Pactolus--or that Villiers could assume an injured tone +and accuse Vandeloup of being his wife's lover, and threaten to divorce +her unless she made him her partner in the claim. But they had both +reckoned wrongly, for neither of these things happened, as Madame was +not in love with Vandeloup, and acted with too much circumspection to +give any opportunity for scandal. Consequently, Slivers and Co., not +finding matters going to their satisfaction, met one day at the office +of the senior partner for the purpose of discussing the affair, and +seeing what could be done towards bringing Madame Midas to their way of +thinking. + +Villiers was lounging in one of the chairs, dressed in a white linen +suit, and looked rather respectable, though his inflamed face and watery +eyes showed what a drunkard he was. He was sipping a glass of whisky +and water and smoking his pipe, while he watched Slivers stumping up and +down the office, swinging his cork arm vehemently to and fro as was his +custom when excited. Billy sat on the table and eyed his master with a +steady stare, or else hopped about among the papers talking to himself. + +'You thought you were going to do big things when you sent that +jackadandy out to the Pactolus,' said Villiers, after a pause. + +'At any rate, I did something,' snarled Slivers, in a rage, 'which is +more than you did, you whisky barrel.' + +'Look here, don't you call names,' growled Mr Villiers, in a sulky tone. +'I'm a gentleman, remember that.' + +'You were a gentleman, you mean,' corrected the senior partner, with a +malignant glance of his one eye. 'What are you now?' + +'A stockbroker,' retorted the other, taking a sip of whisky. + +'And a damned poor one at that,' replied the other, sitting on the edge +of the table, which position caused his wooden leg to stick straight +out, a result which he immediately utilized by pointing it threateningly +in the direction of Villiers. + +'Look here,' said that gentleman, suddenly sitting up in his chair in a +defiant manner, 'drop these personalities and come to business; what's +to be done? Vandeloup is firmly established there, but there's not the +slightest chance of my wife falling in love with him.' + +'Wait,' said Slivers, stolidly wagging his wooden leg up and down; +'wait, you blind fool, wait.' + +'Wait for the waggon!' shrieked Billy, behind, and then supplemented +his remarks by adding, 'Oh, my precious mother!' as he climbed up on +Slivers' shoulder. + +'You always say wait,' growled Villiers, not paying any attention to +Billy's interruption; 'I tell you we can't wait much longer; they'll +drop on the Devil's Lead shortly, and then we'll be up a tree.' + +'Then, suppose you go out to the Pactolus and see your wife,' suggested +Slivers. + +'No go,' returned Villiers, gloomily, 'she'd break my head.' + +'Bah! you ain't afraid of a woman, are you?' snarled Slivers, viciously. + +'No, but I am of McIntosh and the rest of them,' retorted Villiers. +'What can one man do against twenty of these devils. Why, they'd kill me +if I went out there; and that infernal wife of mine wouldn't raise her +little finger to save me.' + +'You're a devil!' observed Billy, eyeing Villiers from his perch on +Slivers' shoulder. 'Oh, Lord! ha! ha! ha!' going into fits of laughter; +then drawing himself suddenly up, he ejaculated 'Pickles!' and shut up. + +'It's no good beating about the bush,' said the wooden-legged man, +getting down from the table. 'You go out near the claim, and see if you +can catch her; then give it to her hot.' + +'What am I to say?' asked Villiers, helplessly. + +Slivers looked at him with fiery scorn in his one eye. + +'Say!' he shrieked, waving his cork arm, 'talk about your darned honour! +Say she's dragging your noble name through the mud, and say you'll +divorce her if she don't give you half a share in the Pactolus; that +will frighten her.' + +'Pickles!' again ejaculated the parrot. + +'Oh, no, it won't,' said Villiers; 'Brag's a good dog, but he don't +bite. I've tried that game on before, and it was no go.' + +'Then try it your own way,' grumbled Slivers, sulkily, going to his seat +and pouring himself out some whisky. 'I don't care what you do, as long +as I get into the Pactolus, and once I'm in the devil himself won't get +me out.' + +Villiers thought a moment, then turned to go. + +'I'll try,' he said, as he went out of the door, 'but it's no go, I tell +you, she's stone,' and with a dismal nod he slouched away. + +'Stone, is she?' cried the old man, pounding furiously on the floor with +his wooden leg, 'then I'd smash her; I'd crush her; I'd grind her into +little bits, damn her,' and overcome by his rage, Slivers shook Billy +off his shoulder and took a long drink. + +Meanwhile Mr Villiers, dreading lest his courage should give way, went +to the nearest hotel and drank pretty freely so that he might bring +himself into an abnormal condition of bravery. Thus primed, he went +to the railway station, took the train to the Pactolus claim, and on +arriving at the end of his journey had one final glass of whisky to +steady his nerves. + +The last straw, however, breaks the camel's back, and this last drink +reduced Mr Villiers to that mixed state which is known in colonial +phrase as half-cocked. He lurched out of the hotel, and went in the +direction of the Pactolus claim. His only difficulty was that, as a +matter of fact, the solitary mound of white earth which marked the +entrance to the mine, suddenly appeared before his eyes in a double +condition, and he beheld two Pactolus claims, which curious optical +delusion rather confused him, inasmuch as he was undecided to which he +should go. + +'Itsh the drinksh,' he said at length, stopping in the middle of the +white dusty road, and looking preternaturally solemn; 'it maksh me see +double: if I see my wife, I'll see two of her, then'--with a drunken +giggle--'I'll be a bigamist.' + +This idea so tickled him, that he commenced to laugh, and, finding it +inconvenient to do so on his legs, he sat down to indulge his humour +freely. A laughing jackass perched on the fence at the side of the road +heard Mr Villiers' hilarity, and, being of a convivial turn of mind +itself, went off into fits of laughter also. On hearing this echo Mr +Villiers tried to get up, in order to punish the man who mocked him, +but, though his intentions were good, his legs were unsteady, and after +one or two ineffectual attempts to rise he gave it up as a bad job. Then +rolling himself a little to one side of the dusty white road, he went +sound asleep, with his head resting on a tuft of green grass. In his +white linen suit he was hardly distinguishable in the fine white dust of +the road, and though the sun blazed hotly down on him and the mosquitos +stung him, yet he slept calmly on, and it was not till nearly four +o'clock in the afternoon that he woke up. He was more sober, but still +not quite steady, being in that disagreeable temper to which some men +are subject when suffering a recovery. Rising to his feet, with a hearty +curse, he picked up his hat and put it on; then, thrusting his hands +into his pockets, he slouched slowly along, bent upon meeting his wife +and picking a quarrel with her. + +Unluckily for Madame Midas, she had that day been to Ballarat, and was +just returning. She had gone by train, and was now leaving the station +and walking home to the Pactolus along the road. Being absorbed in +thought, she did not notice the dusty figure in front of her, otherwise +she would have been sure to have recognised her husband, and would have +given him a wide berth by crossing the fields instead of going by the +road. Mr Villiers, therefore, tramped steadily on towards the Pactolus, +and his wife tramped steadily after him, until at last, at the turn of +the road where it entered her property, she overtook him. + +A shudder of disgust passed through her frame as she raised her eyes and +saw him, and she made a sudden gesture as though to fall behind and +thus avoid him. It was, however, too late, for Mr Villiers, hearing +footsteps, turned suddenly and saw the woman he had come to see standing +in the middle of the road. + +Husband and wife stood gazing at one another for a few moments in +silence, she looking at him with an expression of intense loathing on +her fine face, and he vainly trying to assume a dignified carriage--a +task which his late fit of drunkenness rendered difficult. + +At last, his wife, drawing her dress together as though his touch would +have contaminated her, tried to pass, but on seeing this he sprang +forward, before she could change her position, and caught her wrist. + +'Not yet!' he hissed through his clenched teeth; 'first you must have a +word with me.' + +Madame Midas looked around for aid, but no one was in sight. They were +some distance from the Pactolus, and the heat of the afternoon being +intense, every one was inside. At last Madame saw some man moving +towards them, down the long road which led to the station, and knowing +that Vandeloup had been into town, she prayed in her heart that it might +be he, and so prepared to parley with her husband till he should come +up. Having taken this resolution, she suddenly threw off Villiers' +grasp, and turned towards him with a superb gesture of scorn. + +'What do you want?' she asked in a low, clear voice, but in a tone of +concentrated passion. + +'Money!' growled Villiers, insolently planting himself directly in front +of her, 'and I'm going to have it.' + +'Money!' she echoed, in a tone of bitter irony; 'have you not had enough +yet? Have you not squandered every penny I had from my father in your +profligacy and evil companions? What more do you want?' + +'A share in the Pactolus,' he said, sullenly. + +His wife laughed scornfully. 'A share in the Pactolus!' she echoed, with +bitter sarcasm, 'A modest request truly. After squandering my fortune, +dragging me through the mire, and treating me like a slave, this man +expects to be rewarded. Listen to me, Randolph Villiers,' she said, +fiercely, stepping up to him and seizing his hand, 'this land we now +stand on is mine--the gold underneath is mine; and if you were to go +on your knees to me and beg for a morsel of bread to save you from +starving, I would not lift one finger to succour you.' + +Villiers writhed like a snake under her bitter scorn. + +'I understand,' he said, in a taunting tone; 'you want it for your +lover.' + +'My lover? What do you mean?' + +'What I say,' he retorted boldly, 'all Ballarat knows the position that +young Frenchman holds in the Pactolus claim.' + +Mrs Villiers felt herself grow faint--the accusation was so horrible. +This man, who had embittered her life from the time she married him, +was still her evil genius, and was trying to ruin her in the eyes of the +world. The man she had seen on the road was now nearly up to them, and +with a revulsion of feeling she saw that it was Vandeloup. Recovering +herself with an effort, she turned and faced him steadily. + +'You lied when you spoke just now,' she said in a quiet voice. 'I will +not lower myself to reply to your accusation; but, as there is a God +above us, if you dare to cross my path again, I will kill you.' + +She looked so terrible when she said this that Villiers involuntarily +drew back, but recovering himself in a moment, he sprang forward and +caught her arm. + +'You devil! I'll make you pay for this,' and he twisted her arm till +she thought it was broken. 'You'll kill me, will you?--you!--you!' he +shrieked, still twisting her arm and causing her intense pain, 'you +viper!' + +Suddenly, when Madame was almost fainting with pain, she heard a shout, +and knew that Vandeloup had come to the rescue. He had recognised Madame +Midas down the road, and saw that her companion was threatening her; so +he made all possible speed, and arrived just in time. + +Madame turned round to see Vandeloup throw her husband into a ditch by +the side of the road, and walk towards her. He was not at all excited, +but seemed as cool and calm as if he had just been shaking hands with Mr +Villiers instead of treating him violently. + +'You had better go home, Madame,' he said, in his usual cool voice, 'and +leave me to deal with this--gentleman; you are not hurt?' + +'Only my arm,' replied Mrs Villiers, in a faint voice; 'he nearly broke +it. But I can walk home alone.' + +'If you can, do so,' said Vandeloup, with a doubtful look at her. 'I +will send him away.' + +'Don't let him hurt you.' + +'I don't think there's much danger,' replied the young man, with a +glance at his arms, 'I'm stronger than I look.' + +'Thank you, Monsieur,' said Madame Midas, giving him her hand; 'you have +rendered me a great service, and one I will not forget.' + +He bent down and kissed her hand, which action was seen by Mr Villiers +as he crawled out of the ditch. When Madame Midas was gone and Vandeloup +could see her walking homeward, he turned to look for Mr Villiers, and +found him seated on the edge of the ditch, all covered with mud and +streaming with water--presenting a most pitiable appearance. He regarded +M. Vandeloup in a most malignant manner, which, however, had no effect +on that young gentleman, who produced a cigarette, and having lighted it +proceeded to talk. + +'I'm sorry I can't offer you one,' said Gaston, affably, 'but I hardly +think you would enjoy it in your present damp condition. If I might +be permitted to suggest anything,' with a polite smile, 'a bath and a +change of clothes would be most suitable to you, and you will find +both at Ballarat. I also think,' said Vandeloup, with an air of one who +thinks deeply, 'that if you hurry you will catch the next train, which +will save you a rather long walk.' + +Mr Villiers glared at his tormentor in speechless anger, and tried to +look dignified, but, covered as he was with mud, his effort was not +successful. + +'Do you know who I am?' he said at length, in a blustering manner. + +'Under some circumstances,' said M. Vandeloup, in a smooth voice, 'I +should have taken you for a mud bank, but as you both speak and smile +I presume you are a man of the lowest type; as you English yourselves +say--a blackguard.' + +'I'll smash you!' growled Villiers, stepping forward. + +'I wouldn't try if I were you,' retorted Vandeloup, with a disparaging +glance. 'I am young and strong, almost a total abstainer; you, on the +contrary, are old and flabby, with the shaking nerves of an incurable +drunkard. No, it would be hardly fair for me to touch you.' + +'You dare not lay a finger on me,' said Villiers, defiantly. + +'Quite right,' replied Vandeloup, lighting another cigarette, 'you're +rather too dirty for close companionship. I really think you'd better +go; Monsieur Sleeves no doubt expects you.' + +'And this is the man that I obtained work for,' said Mr Villiers, +addressing the air. + +'It's a very ungrateful world,' said Vandeloup, calmly, with a shrug of +his shoulders; 'I never expect anything from it; I'm sorry if you do, +for you are sure to be disappointed.' + +Villiers, finding he could make nothing out of the imperturbable +coolness of the young Frenchman, turned to go, but as he went, said +spitefully-- + +'You can tell my wife I'll pay her for this.' + +'Accounts are paid on Saturdays,' called out M. Vandeloup, gaily; 'if +you call I will give you a receipt of the same kind as you had to-day.' + +Villiers made no response, as he was already out of hearing, and went on +his way to the station with mud on his clothes and rage in his heart. + +Vandeloup looked after him for a few minutes with a queer smile on his +lips, then turned on his heel and walked home, humming a song. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MADAME MIDAS STRIKES 'ILE' + + +Aesop knew human nature very well when he wrote his fable of the old +man and his ass, who tried to please everybody and ended up by pleasing +nobody. Bearing this in mind, Madame Midas determined to please herself, +and take no one's advice but her own with regard to Vandeloup. She knew +if she dismissed him from the mine it would give colour to her husband's +vile insinuations, so she thought the wisest plan would be to take no +notice of her meeting with him, and let things remain as they were. It +turned out to be the best thing she could have done, for though +Villiers went about Ballarat accusing her of being the young Frenchman's +mistress, everyone was too well aware of existing circumstances to +believe what he said. They knew that he had squandered his wife's +fortune, and that she had left him in disgust at his profligacy, so +they declined to believe his accusations against a woman who had +proved herself true steel in withstanding bad fortune. So Mr Villiers' +endeavours to ruin his wife only recoiled on his own head, for the +Ballarat folk argued, and rightly, that whatever she did it was not his +place to cast the first stone at her, seeing that the unsatisfactory +position she was now in was mainly his own work. Villiers, therefore, +gained nothing by his attempt to blacken his wife's character except +the contempt of everyone, and even the few friends he had gained turned +their backs on him until no one would associate with him but Slivers, +who did so in order to gain his own ends. The company had quarrelled +over the unsuccessful result of Villiers' visit to the Pactolus, and +Slivers, as senior partner, assisted by Billy, called Villiers all +the names he could lay his tongue to, which abuse Villiers accepted +in silence, not even having the spirit to resent it. But though he was +outwardly sulky and quiet, yet within he cherished a deep hatred against +his wife for the contempt with which he was treated, and inwardly vowed +to pay her out on the first feasible opportunity. + +It was now nearly six months since Vandeloup had become clerk at the +Pactolus, and he was getting tired of it, only watching his opportunity +to make a little money and go to Melbourne, where he had not much doubt +as to his success. With a certain sum of money to work on, M. Vandeloup +thought that with his talents and experience of human nature he would +soon be able to make a fortune, particularly as he was quite unfettered +by any scruples, and as long as he made money he did not care how he +gained it. With such an adaptable nature he could hardly help doing +well, but in order to give him the start he required a little capital, +so stayed on at the Pactolus and saved every penny he earned in the hope +of soon accumulating enough to leave. Another thing that kept him there +was his love for Kitty--not a very pure or elevating love certainly, +still it was love for all that, and Vandeloup could not tear himself +away from the place where she resided. + +He had called on Kitty's father, the Rev. Mark Marchurst, who lived +at the top of Black Hill, near Ballarat, and did not like him. Mr +Marchurst, a grave, quiet man, who was the pastor of a particular sect, +calling themselves very modestly 'The Elect', was hardly the kind of +individual to attract a brilliant young fellow like Vandeloup, and the +wonder was that he ever had such a charming daughter. + +Kitty had fallen deeply in love with Vandeloup, so as he told her he +loved her in return, she thought that some day they would get married. +But nothing was farther from M. Vandeloup's thoughts than marriage, even +with Kitty, for he knew how foolish it would be for him to marry before +making a position. + +'I don't want a wife to drag me back,' he said to himself one day when +Kitty had hinted at matrimony; 'when I am wealthy it will be time enough +to think of marriage, but it will be long before I am rich, and can I +wait for Bebe all that time? Alas! I do not think so.' + +The fact was, the young man was very liberal in his ideas, and +infinitely preferred a mistress to a wife. He had not any evil designs +towards Kitty, but her bright manner and charming face pleased him, +and he simply enjoyed the hours as they passed. She idolised him, and +Gaston, who was accustomed to be petted and caressed by women, accepted +all her affection as his due. Curiously enough, Madame Midas, lynx-eyed +as she was, never suspected the true state of affairs. Vandeloup had +told Kitty that no one was to know of their love for one another, and +though Kitty was dying to tell Madame about it, yet she kept silent +at his request, and acted so indifferently towards him when under Mrs +Villiers' eye, that any doubts that lady had about the fascinations of +her clerk soon vanished. + +As to M. Vandeloup, the situation was an old one for him accustomed +as he had been to carry on with guilty wives under the very noses of +unsuspecting husbands, and on this occasion he acted admirably. He was +very friendly with Kitty in public--evidently looking upon her as a mere +child, although he made no difference in his manner. And this innocent +intrigue gave a piquant flavour to his otherwise dull life. + +Meanwhile, the Devil's Lead was still undiscovered, many people +declaring it was a myth, and that such a lead had never existed. Three +people, however, had a firm belief in its existence, and were certain +it would be found some day--this trio being McIntosh, Madame Midas, and +Slivers. + +The Pactolus claim was a sort of Naboth's vineyard to Slivers, who, in +company with Billy, used to sit in his dingy little office and grind his +teeth as he thought of all the wealth lying beneath those green fields. +He had once even gone so far as to offer to buy a share in the claim +from Madame Midas, but had been promptly refused by that lady--a +circumstance which by no means added to his love for her. + +Still the Devil's Lead was not found, and people were beginning to +disbelieve in its existence, when suddenly indications appeared which +showed that it was near at hand. Nuggets, some large, some small, +began to be constantly discovered, and every day news was brought into +Ballarat about the turning-up of a thirty-ounce or a twenty-ounce nugget +in the Pactolus, when, to crown all, the news came and ran like wildfire +through the city that a three hundred ounce nugget had been unearthed. + +There was great excitement over this, as such a large one had not been +found for some time, and when Slivers heard of its discovery he cursed +and swore most horribly; for with his long experience of gold mining, +he knew that the long-looked for Devil's Lead was near at hand. Billy, +becoming excited with his master, began to swear also; and these +two companions cursed Madame Midas and all that belonged to her most +heartily. If Slivers could only have seen the interior of Madame Midas's +dining room, by some trick of necromancy, he would certainly not have +been able to do the subject justice in the swearing line. + +There were present Madame Midas, Selina, McIntosh, and Vandeloup, and +they were all gathered round the table looking at the famous nugget. +There it lay in the centre of the table, a virgin mass of gold, all +water-worn and polished, hollowed out like a honeycomb, and dotted over +with white pebbles like currants in a plum pudding. + +'I think I'll send it to Melbourne for exhibition,' said Mrs Villiers, +touching the nugget very lightly with her fingers. + +''Deed, mum, and 'tis worth it,' replied McIntosh, whose severe face was +relaxed in a grimly pleasant manner; 'but losh! 'tis naething tae what +'ull come oot o' the Deil's Lead.' + +'Oh, come, now,' said Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile, 'the Devil's +Lead won't consist of nuggets like that.' + +'Maybe no,' returned the old Scotchman, dryly; 'but every mickle makes +a muckle, and ye ken the Lead wull hae mony sma' nuggets, which is mair +paying, to my mind, than yin large ain.' + +'What's the time?' asked Madame, rather irrelevantly, turning to Archie. + +Mr McIntosh drew out the large silver watch, which was part and parcel +of himself, and answered gravely that it was two o'clock. + +'Then I'll tell you what,' said Mrs Villiers, rising; 'I'll take it in +with me to Ballarat and show it to Mr Marchurst.' + +McIntosh drew down the corners of his mouth, for, as a rigid +Presbyterian, he by no means approved of Marchurst's heretical opinions, +but of course said nothing as Madame wished it. + +'Can I come with you, Madame?' said Vandeloup, eagerly, for he never +lost an opportunity of seeing Kitty if he could help it. + +'Certainly,' replied Madame, graciously; 'we will start at once.' + +Vandeloup was going away to get ready, when McIntosh stopped him. + +'That friend o' yours is gangin' awa' t' the toun the day,' he said, +touching Vandeloup lightly on the shoulder. + +'What for?' asked the Frenchman, carelessly. + +''Tis to see the play actors, I'm thinkin',' returned Archie, dryly. +'He wants tae stap all nicht i' the toun, so I've let him gae, an' have +tauld him to pit up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, the landlord o' which is a +freend o' mine.' + +'Very kind of you, I'm sure,' said Vandeloup, with a pleasant smile; +'but may I ask what play actors you refer to?' + +'I dinna ken anythin' about sic folk,' retorted Mr McIntosh, piously, +'the deil's ain bairns, wha wull gang into the pit of Tophet.' + +'Aren't you rather hard on them, Archie?' said Madame Midas, smiling +quietly. 'I'm very fond of the theatre myself.' + +'It's no for me to give ma opeenion about ma betters,' replied Archie, +ungraciously, as he went out to see after the horse and trap; 'but I +dinna care aboot sitting in the seat of the scornfu', or walking in the +ways of the unrighteous,' and with this parting shot at Vandeloup he +went away. + +That young man shrugged his shoulders, and looked at Madame Midas in +such a comical manner that she could not help smiling. + +'You must forgive Archie,' she said, pausing at the door of her bedroom +for a moment. 'He has been brought up severely, and it is hard to rid +oneself of the traditions of youth.' + +'Very traditional in this case, I'm afraid,' answered Gaston, referring +to McIntosh's age. + +'If you like,' said Madame, in a kindly tone, 'you can stay in to-night +yourself, and go to the theatre.' + +'Thank you, Madame,' replied Gaston, gravely. 'I will avail myself of +your kind permission.' + +'I'm afraid you will find an Australian provincial company rather a +change after the Parisian theatres,' said Mrs Villiers, as she vanished +into her room. + +Vandeloup smiled, and turned to Selina, who was busy about her household +work. + +'Mademoiselle Selina,' he said, gaily, 'I am in want of a proverb to +answer Madame; if I can't get the best I must be content with what I can +get. Now what piece of wisdom applies?' + +Selina, flattered at being applied to, thought a moment, then raised her +head triumphantly-- + +'"Half a loaf is better than none,"' she announced, with a sour smile. + +'Mademoiselle,' said Vandeloup, gravely regarding her as he stood at the +door, 'your wisdom is only equalled by your charming appearance,' and +with an ironical bow he went out. + +Selina paused a moment in her occupation of polishing spoons, and looked +after him, doubtful as to whether he was in jest or earnest. Being +unable to decide, she resumed her work with a stifled chuckle, and +consoled herself with a proverb. + +'To be good is better than to be beautiful,' which saying, as everyone +knows, is most consoling to plain-looking people. + +The great nugget was carefully packed in a stout wooden box by Archie, +and placed in the trap by him with such caution that Madame, who was +already seated in it, asked him if he was afraid she would be robbed. + +'It's always best to be on the richt side, mem,' said Archie, handing +her the reins; 'we dinna ken what may happen.' + +'Why, no one knows I am taking this to Ballarat to-day,' said Madame, +drawing on her gloves. + +'Don't they?' thought M. Vandeloup, as he took his seat beside her. 'She +doesn't know that I've told Pierre.' + +And without a single thought for the woman whose confidence he was +betraying, and of whose bread and salt he had partaken, Vandeloup shook +the reins, and the horse started down the road in the direction of +Ballarat, carrying Madame Midas and her nugget. + +'You carry Caesar and his fortunes, M. Vandeloup,' she said, with a +smile. + +'I do better,' he answered, gaily, 'I carry Madame Midas and her luck.' + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM + + +Mr Mark Marchurst was a very peculiar man. Brought up in the +Presbyterian religion, he had early displayed his peculiarity by +differing from the elders of the church he belonged to regarding their +doctrine of eternal punishment. They, holding fast to the teachings of +Knox and Calvin, looked upon him in horror for daring to have an opinion +of his own; and as he refused to repent and have blind belief in the +teachings of those grim divines, he was turned out of the bosom of +the church. Drifting to the opposite extreme, he became a convert to +Catholicism; but, after a trial of that ancient faith, found it would +not suit him, so once more took up a neutral position. Therefore, as he +did not find either religion perfectly in accordance with his own views, +he took the law into his own hands and constructed one which was a queer +jumble of Presbyterianism, Catholicism, and Buddhism, of which last +religion he was a great admirer. As anyone with strong views and a +clever tongue will find followers, Mr Marchurst soon gathered a number +of people around him who professed a blind belief in the extraordinary +doctrines he promulgated. Having thus founded a sect he got sufficient +money out of them to build a temple--for so he called the barn-like +edifice he erected--and christened this new society which he had called +into existence 'The Elect'. About one hundred people were members of his +church, and with their subscriptions, and also having a little money of +his own, he managed to live in a quiet manner in a cottage on the Black +Hill near to his temple. Every Sunday he held forth morning and evening, +expounding his views to his sparse congregation, and was looked upon +by them as a kind of prophet. As a matter of fact, the man had that +peculiar power of fascination which seems to be inseparable from the +prophetic character, and it was his intense enthusiasm and eloquent +tongue that cast a spell over the simple-minded people who believed in +him. But his doctrines were too shallow and unsatisfactory ever to take +root, and it could be easily seen that when Marchurst died 'The Elect' +would die also,--that is, as a sect, for it was not pervaded by that +intense religious fervour which is the life and soul of a new doctrine. +The fundamental principles of his religion were extremely simple; he +saved his friends and damned his enemies, for so he styled those who +were not of the same mind as himself. If you were a member of 'The +Elect', Mr Marchurst assured you that the Golden Gate was wide open for +you, whereas if you belonged to any other denomination you were lost for +ever; so according to this liberal belief, the hundred people who formed +his congregation would all go straight to Heaven, and all the rest of +mankind would go to the devil. + +In spite of the selfishness of this theory, which condemned so many +souls to perdition, Marchurst was a kindly natured man, and his religion +was more of an hallucination than anything else. He was very clever at +giving advice, and Madame Midas esteemed him highly on this account. +Though Marchurst had often tried to convert her, she refused to believe +in the shallow sophistries he set forth, and told him she had her own +views on religion, which views she declined to impart to him, though +frequently pressed to do so. The zealot regretted this obstinacy, as, +according to his creed, she was a lost soul, but he liked her too well +personally to quarrel with her on that account, consoling himself with +the reflection that sooner or later, she would seek the fold. He was +more successful with M. Vandeloup, who, having no religion whatever, +allowed Marchurst to think he had converted him, in order to see as much +as he could of Kitty. He used to attend the Sunday services regularly, +and frequently came in during the week ostensibly to talk to Marchurst +about the doctrines of 'The Elect', but in reality to see the old man's +daughter. + +On this bright afternoon, when everything was bathed in sunshine, Mr +Marchurst, instead of being outside and enjoying the beauties of Nature, +was mewed up in his dismal little study, with curtains closely drawn +to exclude the light, a cup of strong tea, and the Bible open at 'The +Lamentations of Jeremiah'. His room was lined with books, but they had +not that friendly look books generally have, but, bound in dingy brown +calf, looked as grim and uninviting as their contents, which were mostly +sermons and cheerful anticipations of the bottomless pit. It was against +Marchurst's principles to gratify his senses by having nice things +around him, and his whole house was furnished in the same dismal manner. + +So far did he carry this idea of mortifying the flesh through the eyes +that he had tried to induce Kitty to wear sad-coloured dresses and +poke bonnets; but in this attempt he failed lamentably, as Kitty +flatly refused to make a guy of herself, and always wore dresses of the +lightest and gayest description. + +Marchurst groaned over this display of vanity, but as he could do +nothing with the obdurate Kitty, he allowed her to have her own way, and +made a virtue of necessity by calling her his 'thorn in the flesh'. + +He was a tall thin man, of a bleached appearance, from staying so much +in the dark, and so loosely put together that when he bowed he did +not as much bend as tumble down from a height. In fact, he looked so +carelessly fixed up that when he sat down he made the onlooker feel +quite nervous lest he should subside into a ruin, and scatter his legs, +arms, and head promiscuously all over the place. He had a sad, pale, +eager-looking face, with dreamy eyes, which always seemed to be looking +into the spiritual world. He wore his brown hair long, as he always +maintained a man's hair was as much his glory as a woman's was hers, +quoting Samson and Absalom in support of this opinion. His arms were +long and thin, and when he gesticulated in the pulpit on Sundays flew +about like a couple of flails, which gave him a most unhappy resemblance +to a windmill. The 'Lamentations of Jeremiah' are not the most cheerful +of reading, and Mr Marchurst, imbued with the sadness of the Jewish +prophet, drinking strong tea and sitting in a darkened room, was rapidly +sinking into a very dismal frame of mind, which an outsider would have +termed a fit of the blues. He sat in his straight-backed chair taking +notes of such parts of the 'Lamentations' as would tend to depress the +spirits of the 'Elect' on Sunday, and teach them to regard life in a +proper and thoroughly miserable manner. + +He was roused from his dismal musings by the quick opening of the door +of his study, when Kitty, joyous and gay in her white dress, burst like +a sunbeam into the room. + +"I wish, Katherine," said her father, in a severe voice, "I wish you +would not enter so noisily and disturb my meditations." + +"You'll have to put your meditations aside for a bit," said Kitty, +disrespectfully, crossing to the window and pulling aside the curtains, +"for Madame Midas and M. Vandeloup have come to see you." + +A flood of golden light streamed into the dusky room, and Marchurst put +his hand to his eyes for a moment, as they were dazzled by the sudden +glare. + +"They've got something to show you, papa," said Kitty, going back to the +door: "a big nugget--such a size--as large as your head." + +Her father put his hand mechanically to his head to judge of the size, +and was about to answer when Madame Midas, calm, cool, and handsome, +entered the room, followed by Vandeloup, carrying a wooden box +containing the nugget. It was by no means light, and Vandeloup was quite +thankful when he placed it on the table. + +"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mr Marchurst," said Madame, sitting down +and casting a glance at the scattered papers, the cup of tea, and the +open Bible, "but I couldn't help gratifying my vanity by bringing the +new nugget for you to see." + +"It's very kind of you, I'm sure," responded Mr Marchurst, politely, +giving way suddenly in the middle as if he had a hinge in his back, +which was his idea of a bow. "I hope this," laying his hand on the box, +"may be the forerunner of many such." + +"Oh, it will," said Vandeloup, cheerfully, "if we can only find the +Devil's Lead." + +"An unholy name," groaned Marchurst sadly, shaking his head. "Why did +you not call it something else?" + +"Simply because I didn't name it," replied Madame Midas, bluntly; "but +if the lead is rich, the name doesn't matter much." + +"Of course not," broke in Kitty, impatiently, being anxious to see the +nugget. "Do open the box; I'm dying to see it." + +"Katherine! Katherine!" said Marchurst, reprovingly, as Vandeloup opened +the box, "how you do exaggerate--ah!" he broke off his exhortation +suddenly, for the box was open, and the great mass of gold was +glittering in its depths. 'Wonderful!' + +'What a size!' cried Kitty, clapping her hands as Vandeloup lifted it +out and placed it on the table; 'how much is it worth?' + +'About twelve hundred pounds,' said Madame, quietly, though her heart +throbbed with pride as she looked at her nugget; 'it weighs three +hundred ounces.' + +'Wonderful!' reiterated the old man, passing his thin hand lightly over +the rough surface; 'verily the Lord hath hidden great treasure in the +entrails of the earth, and the Pactolus would seem to be a land of Ophir +when it yields such wealth as this.' + +The nugget was duly admired by everyone, and then Brown and Jane, who +formed the household of Marchurst, were called in to look at it. They +both expressed such astonishment and wonder, that Marchurst felt himself +compelled to admonish them against prizing the treasures of earth above +those of heaven. Vandeloup, afraid that they were in for a sermon, +beckoned quietly to Kitty, and they both stealthily left the room, while +Marchurst, with Brown, Jane, and Madame for an audience, and the nugget +for a text, delivered a short discourse. + +Kitty put on a great straw hat, underneath which her piquant face +blushed and grew pink beneath the fond gaze of her lover as they left +the house together and strolled up to the Black Hill. + +Black Hill no doubt at one time deserved its name, being then covered +with dark trees and representing a black appearance at a distance; but +at present, owing to the mines which have been worked there, the whole +place is covered with dazzling white clay, or mulloch, which now renders +the title singularly inappropriate. On the top of the hill there is a +kind of irregular gully or pass, which extends from one side of the +hill to the other, and was cut in the early days for mining purposes. +Anything more extraordinary can hardly be imagined than this chasm, for +the sides, which tower up on either side to the height of some fifty or +sixty feet, are all pure white, and at the top break into all sorts of +fantastic forms. The white surface of the rocks are all stained with +colours which alternate in shades of dark brown, bright red and delicate +pink. Great masses of rock have tumbled down on each side, often coming +so close together as to almost block up the path. Here and there in the +white walls can be seen the dark entrances of disused shafts; and one, +at the lowest level of the gully, pierces through the hill and comes +out on the other side. There is an old engine-house near the end of the +gully, with its red brick chimney standing up gaunt and silent beside +it, and the ugly tower of the winding gear adjacent. All the machinery +in the engine-house, with the huge wheels and intricate mechanism, +is silent now--for many years have elapsed since this old shaft was +abandoned by the Black Hill Gold Mining Company. + +At the lower end of the pass there is an engine-house in full working +order, and a great plateau of slate-coloured mulloch runs out for some +yards, and then there is a steep sloping bank formed by the falling +earth. In the moonlight this wonderful white gully looks weird and +bizarre; and even as Vandeloup and Kitty stood at the top looking down +into its dusty depths in the bright sunshine, it looks fantastic and +picturesque. + +Seated on the highest point of the hill, under the shadow of a great +rock, the two lovers had a wonderful view of Ballarat. Here and there +they could see the galvanized iron roofs of the houses gleaming like +silver in the sunlight from amid the thick foliage of the trees with +which the city is studded. Indeed, Ballarat might well be called the +City of Trees, for seen from the Black Hill it looks more like a huge +park with a sprinkling of houses in it than anything else. The green +foliage rolls over it like the waves of the ocean, and the houses rise +up like isolated habitations. Now and then a red brick building, or the +slender white spire of a church gave a touch of colour to the landscape, +and contrasted pleasantly with the bluish-white roofs and green trees. +Scattered all through the town were the huge mounds of earth marking +the mining-shafts of various colours, from dark brown to pure white, and +beside them, with the utmost regularity, were the skeleton towers of +the poppet heads, the tall red chimneys, and the squat, low forms of the +engine-houses. On the right, high up, could be seen the blue waters +of Lake Wendouree flashing like a mirror in the sunlight. The city was +completely encircled by the dark forests, which stretched far away, +having a reddish tinge over their trees, ending in a sharply defined +line against the clear sky; while, on the left arose Mount Warreneip +like an undulating mound and, further along, Mount Bunniyong, with the +same appearance. + +All this wonderful panorama, however, was so familiar to Kitty and her +lover that they did not trouble themselves to look much at it; but the +girl sat down under the big rock, and Vandeloup flung himself lazily at +her feet. + +'Bebe,' said Vandeloup, who had given her this pet name, 'how long is +this sort of life going to last?' + +Kitty looked down at him with a vague feeling of terror at her heart. +She had never known any life but the simple one she was now leading, and +could not imagine it coming to an end. + +'I'm getting tired of it,' said Vandeloup, lying back on the grass, +and, putting his hands under his head, stared idly at the blue sky. +'Unfortunately, human life is so short nowadays that we cannot afford to +waste a moment of it. I am not suited for a lotus-eating existence, and +I think I shall go to Melbourne.' + +'And leave me?' cried Kitty, in dismay, never having contemplated such a +thing as likely to happen. + +'That depends on yourself, Bebe,' said her lover, quickly rolling over +and looking steadily at her, with his chin resting on his hands; 'will +you come with me?' + +'As your wife?' murmured Kitty, whose innocent mind never dreamt of any +other form of companionship. + +Vandeloup turned away his face to conceal the sneering smile that crept +over it. His wife, indeed! as if he were going to encumber himself with +marriage before he had made a fortune, and even then it was questionable +as to whether he would surrender the freedom of bachelorhood for the +ties of matrimony. + +'Of course,' he said, in a reassuring tone, still keeping his face +turned away, 'we will get married in Melbourne as soon as we arrive.' + +'Why can't papa marry us,' pouted Kitty, in an aggrieved tone. + +'My dear child,' said the Frenchman, getting on his knees and coming +close to her, 'in the first place, your father would not consent to the +match, as I am poor and unknown, and not by any means the man he would +choose for you; and in the second place, being a Catholic,'--here M. +Vandeloup looked duly religious--'I must be married by one of my own +priests.' + +'Then why not in Ballarat?' objected Kitty, still unconvinced. + +'Because your father would never consent,' he whispered, putting his arm +round her waist; 'we must run away quietly, and when we are married can +ask his pardon and,' with a sardonic sneer, 'his blessing.' + +A delicious thrill passed through Kitty when she heard this. A real +elopement with a handsome lover--just like the heroines in the story +books. It was delightfully romantic, and yet there seemed to be +something wrong about it. She was like a timid bather, longing to +plunge into the water, yet hesitating through a vague fear. With a quick +catching of the breath she turned to Vandeloup, and saw him with his +burning scintillating eyes fastened on her face. + +'Don't look like that,' she said, with a touch of virginal fear, pushing +him away, 'you frighten me.' + +'Frighten you, Bebe?' he said, in a caressing tone; 'my heart's idol, +you are cruel to speak like that; you must come with me, for I cannot +and will not leave you behind.' + +'When do you go?' asked Kitty, who was now trembling violently. + +'Ah!' M. Vandeloup was puzzled what to say, as he had no very decided +plan of action. He had not sufficient money saved to justify him in +leaving the Pactolus--still there were always possibilities, and Fortune +was fond of playing wild pranks. At the same time there was nothing +tangible in view likely to make him rich, so, as these thoughts rapidly +passed through his mind, he resolved to temporize. + +'I can't tell you, Bebe,' he said, in a caressing tone, smoothing her +curly hair. 'I want you to think over what I have said, and when I do +go, perhaps in a month or so, you will be ready to come with me. No,' he +said, as Kitty was about to answer, 'I don't want you to reply now, take +time to consider, little one,' and with a smile on his lips he bent over +and kissed her tenderly. + +They sat silently together for some time, each intent on their own +thoughts, and then Vandeloup suddenly looked up. + +'Will Madame stay to dinner with you, Bebe?' he asked. + +Kitty nodded. + +'She always does,' she answered; 'you will come too.' + +Vandeloup shook his head. + +'I am going down to Ballarat to the Wattle Tree Hotel to see my friend +Pierre,' he said, in a preoccupied manner, 'and will have something to +eat there. Then I will come up again about eight o'clock, in time to see +Madame off.' + +'Aren't you going back with her?' asked Kitty, in surprise, as they rose +to their feet. + +'No,' he replied, dusting his knees with his hand, 'I stay all night +in Ballarat, with Madame's kind permission, to see the theatre. Now, +good-bye at present, Bebe,' kissing her, 'I will be back at eight +o'clock, so you can excuse me to Madame till then.' + +He ran gaily down the hill waving his hat, and Kitty stood looking after +him with pride in her heart. He was a lover any girl might have been +proud of, but Kitty would not have been so satisfied with him had she +known what his real thoughts were. + +'Marry!' he said to himself, with a laugh, as he walked gaily along; +'hardly! When we get to Melbourne, my sweet Bebe, I will find some way +to keep you off that idea--and when we grow tired of one another, we can +separate without the trouble or expense of a divorce.' + +And this heartless, cynical man of the world was the keeper into whose +hands innocent Kitty was about to commit the whole of her future life. + +After all, the fabled Sirens have their equivalent in the male sex, and +Homer's description symbolizes a cruel truth. + + + +CHAPTER X + +FRIENDS IN COUNCIL + + +The Wattle Tree Hotel, to which Mr McIntosh had directed Pierre, was a +quiet little public-house in a quiet street. It was far away from the +main thoroughfares of the city, and a stranger had to go up any number +of quiet streets to get to it, and turn and twist round corners and down +narrow lanes until it became a perfect miracle how he ever found the +hotel at all. + +To a casual spectator it would seem that a tavern so difficult of access +would not be very good for business, but Simon Twexby, the landlord, +knew better. It had its regular customers, who came there day after day, +and sat in the little back parlour and talked and chatted over their +drinks. The Wattle Tree was such a quiet haven of rest, and kept such +good liquor, that once a man discovered it he always came back again; so +Mr Twexby did a very comfortable trade. + +Rumour said he had made a lot of money out of gold-mining, and that he +kept the hotel more for amusement than anything else; but, however this +might be, the trade of the Wattle Tree brought him in a very decent +income, and Mr Twexby could afford to take things easy--which he +certainly did. + +Anyone going into the bar could see old Simon--a stolid, fat man, with +a sleepy-looking face, always in his shirt sleeves, and wearing a white +apron, sitting in a chair at the end, while his daughter, a sharp, +red-nosed damsel, who was thirty-five years of age, and confessed to +twenty-two, served out the drinks. Mrs Twexby had long ago departed this +life, leaving behind her the sharp, red-nosed damsel to be her father's +comfort. As a matter of fact, she was just the opposite, and Simon often +wished that his daughter had departed to a better world in company with +her mother. Thin, tight-laced, with a shrill voice and an acidulated +temper, Miss Twexby was still a spinster, and not even the fact of her +being an heiress could tempt any of the Ballarat youth to lead her to +the altar. Consequently Miss Twexby's temper was not a golden one, and +she ruled the hotel and its inmates--her father included--with a rod of +iron. + +Mr Villiers was a frequent customer at the Wattle Tree, and was in the +back parlour drinking brandy and water and talking to old Twexby on the +day that Pierre arrived. The dumb man came into the bar out of the dusty +road, and, leaning over the counter, pushed a letter under Miss Twexby's +nose. + +'Bills?' queried that damsel, sharply. + +Pierre, of course, did not answer, but touched his lips with his hand to +indicate he was dumb. Miss Twexby, however, read the action another way. + +'You want a drink,' she said, with a scornful toss of her head. 'Where's +your money?' + +Pierre pointed out the letter, and although it was directed to her +father, Miss Twexby, who managed everything, opened it and found it was +from McIntosh, saying that the bearer, Pierre Lemaire, was to have a bed +for the night, meals, drinks, and whatever else he required, and that +he--McIntosh--would be responsible for the money. He furthermore added +that the bearer was dumb. + +'Oh, so you're dumb, are you,' said Miss Twexby, folding up the letter +and looking complacently at Pierre. 'I wish there were a few more men +the same way; then, perhaps, we'd have less chat.' + +This being undeniable, the fair Martha--for that was the name of the +Twexby heiress--without waiting for any assent, walking into the back +parlour, read the letter to her father, and waited instructions, for she +always referred to Simon as the head of the house, though as a matter of +fact she never did what she was told save when it tallied with her own +wishes. + +'It will be all right, Martha, I suppose,' said Simon sleepily. + +Martha asserted with decision that it would be all right, or she would +know the reason why; then marching out again to the bar, she drew a pot +of beer for Pierre--without asking him what he would have--and ordered +him to sit down and be quiet, which last remark was rather unnecessary, +considering that the man was dumb. Then she sat down behind her bar +and resumed her perusal of a novel called 'The Duke's Duchesses, or +The Milliner's Mystery,' which contained a ducal hero with bigamistic +proclivities, and a virtuous milliner whom the aforesaid duke +persecuted. All of which was very entertaining and improbable, and gave +Miss Twexby much pleasure, judging from the sympathetic sighs she was +heaving. + +Meanwhile, Villiers having heard the name of Pierre Lemaire, and knowing +he was engaged in the Pactolus claim, came round to see him and try +to find out all about the nugget. Pierre was sulky at first, and sat +drinking his beer sullenly, with his old black hat drawn down so far +over his eyes that only his bushy black beard was visible, but Mr +Villiers' suavity, together with the present of half-a-crown, had a +marked effect on him. As he was dumb, Mr Villiers was somewhat perplexed +how to carry on a conversation with him, but he ultimately drew forth a +piece of paper, and sketched a rough presentation of a nugget thereon, +which he showed to Pierre. The Frenchman, however, did not comprehend +until Villiers produced a sovereign from his pocket, and pointed first +to the gold, and then to the drawing, upon which Pierre nodded his head +several times in order to show that he understood. Villiers then drew a +picture of the Pactolus claim, and asked Pierre in French if the nugget +was still there, as he showed him the sketch. Pierre shook his head, +and, taking the pencil in his hand, drew a rough representation of a +horse and cart, and put a square box in the latter to show the nugget +was on a journey. + +'Hullo!' said Villiers to himself, 'it's not at her own house, and she's +driving somewhere with it, I wonder where to?' + +Pierre--who not being able to write, was in the habit of drawing +pictures to express his thoughts--nudged his elbow and showed him a +sketch of a man in a box waving his arms. + +'Auctioneer?' hazarded Mr Villiers, looking at this keenly. Pierre +stared at him blankly; his comprehension of English was none of the +best, so he did not know what auctioneer meant. However, he saw that +Villiers did not understand, so he rapidly sketched an altar with a +priest standing before it blessing the people. + +'Oh, a priest, eh?--a minister?' said Villiers, nodding his head to show +he understood. 'She's taken the nugget to show it to a minister! Wonder +who it is?' + +This was speedily answered by Pierre, who, throwing down the pencil and +paper, dragged him outside on to the road, and pointed to the white top +of the Black Hill. Mr Villiers instantly comprehended. + +'Marchurst, by God!' he said in English, smiting his leg with his open +hand. 'Is Madame there now?' he added in French, turning to Pierre. + +The dumb man nodded and slouched slowly back into the hotel. Villiers +stood out in the blazing sunshine, thinking. + +'She's got the nugget with her in the trap,' he said to himself; 'and +she's taken it to show Marchurst. Well, she's sure to stop there to tea, +and won't start for home till about nine o'clock: it will be pretty dark +by then. She'll be by herself, and if I--' here he stopped and looked +round cautiously, and then, without another word, set off down the +street at a run. + +The fact was, Mr Villiers had come to the conclusion that as his wife +would not give him money willingly, the best thing to be done would be +to take it by force, and accordingly he had made up his mind to rob her +of the nugget that night if possible. Of course there was a risk, for +he knew his wife was a determined woman; still, while she was driving in +the darkness down the hill, if he took her by surprise he would be able +to stun her with a blow and get possession of the nugget. Then he could +hide it in one of the old shafts of the Black Hill Company until he +required it. As to the possibility of his wife knowing him, there would +be no chance of that in the darkness, so he could escape any unpleasant +inquiries, then take the nugget to Melbourne and get it melted down +secretly. He would be able to make nearly twelve hundred pounds out +of it, so the game would certainly be worth the candle. Full of this +brilliant idea of making a good sum at one stroke, Mr Villiers went +home, had something to eat, and taking with him a good stout stick, the +nob of which was loaded with lead, he started for the Black Hill with +the intent of watching Marchurst's house until his wife left there, and +then following her down the hill and possessing himself of the nugget. + +The afternoon wore drowsily along, and the great heat made everybody +inclined to sleep. Pierre had demanded by signs to be shown his bedroom, +and having been conducted thereto by a crushed-looking waiter, who +drifted aimlessly before him, threw himself on the bed and went fast +asleep. + +Old Simon, in the dimly-lit back parlour, was already snoring, and only +Miss Twexby, amid the glitter of the glasses in the bar and the glare +of the sunshine through the open door, was wide awake. Customers came +in for foaming tankards of beer, and sometimes a little girl, with a jug +hidden under her apron, would appear, with a request that it might be +filled for 'mother', who was ironing. Indeed, the number of women who +were ironing that afternoon, and wanted to quench their thirst, was +something wonderful; but Miss Twexby seemed to know all about it as she +put a frothy head on each jug, and received the silver in exchange. +At last, however, even Martha the wide-awake was yielding to the +somniferous heat of the day when a young man entered the bar and made +her sit up with great alacrity, beaming all over her hard wooden face. + +This was none other than M. Vandeloup, who had come down to see Pierre. +Dressed in flannels, with a blue scarf tied carelessly round his waist, +a blue necktie knotted loosely round his throat under the collar of his +shirt, and wearing a straw hat on his fair head, he looked wonderfully +cool and handsome, and as he leaned over the counter composedly smoking +a cigarette, Miss Twexby thought that the hero of her novel must have +stepped bodily out of the book. Gaston stared complacently at her while +he pulled at his fair moustache, and thought how horribly plain-looking +she was, and what a contrast to his charming Bebe. + +'I'll take something cool to drink,' he said, with a yawn, 'and also a +chair, if you have no objection,' suiting the action to the word; 'whew! +how warm it is.' + +'What would you like to drink, sir?' asked the fair Martha, putting on +her brightest smile, which seemed rather out of place on her features; +'brandy and soda?' + +'Thank you, I'll have a lemon squash if you will kindly make me one,' he +said, carelessly, and as Martha flew to obey his order, he added, 'you +might put a little curacoa in it.' + +'It's very hot, ain't it,' observed Miss Twexby, affably, as she cut up +the lemon; 'par's gone to sleep in the other room,' jerking her head in +the direction of the parlour, 'but Mr Villiers went out in all the heat, +and it ain't no wonder if he gets a sunstroke.' + +'Oh, was Mr Villiers here?' asked Gaston, idly, not that he cared much +about that gentleman's movements, but merely for something to say. + +'Lor, yes, sir,' giggled Martha, 'he's one of our regulars, sir.' + +'I can understand that, Mademoiselle,' said Vandeloup, bowing as he took +the drink from her hand. + +Miss Twexby giggled again, and her nose grew a shade redder at the +pleasure of being bantered by this handsome young man. + +'You're a furriner,' she said, shortly; 'I knew you were,' she went on +triumphantly as he nodded, 'you talk well enough, but there's something +wrong about the way you pronounces your words.' + +Vandeloup hardly thought Miss Twexby a mistress of Queen's English, but +he did not attempt to contradict her. + +'I must get you to give me a few lessons,' he replied, gallantly, +setting down the empty glass; 'and what has Mr Villiers gone out into +the heat for?' + +'It's more nor I can tell,' said Martha, emphatically, nodding her head +till the short curls dangling over her ears vibrated as if they were +made of wire. 'He spoke to the dumb man and drew pictures for him, and +then off he goes.' + +The dumb man! Gaston pricked up his ears at this, and, wondering what +Villiers wanted to talk to Pierre about, he determined to find out. + +'That dumb man is one of our miners from the Pactolus,' he said, +lighting another cigarette; 'I wish to speak to him--has he gone out +also?' + +'No, he ain't,' returned Miss Twexby, decisively; 'he's gone to lie +down; d'ye want to see him; I'll send for him--' with her hand on the +bell-rope. + +'No, thank you,' said Vandeloup, stopping her, 'I'll go up to his room +if you will show me the way.' + +'Oh, I don't mind,' said Martha, preparing to leave the bar, but first +ringing the bell so that the crushed-looking waiter might come and +attend to possible customers; 'he's on the ground floor, and there ain't +no stairs to climb--now what are you looking at, sir?' with another +gratified giggle, as she caught Vandeloup staring at her. + +But he was not looking at her somewhat mature charms, but at a bunch of +pale blue flowers, among which were some white blossoms she wore in the +front of her dress. + +'What are these?' he asked, touching the white blossoms lightly with his +finger. + +'I do declare it's that nasty hemlock!' said Martha, in surprise, +pulling the white flowers out of the bunch; 'and I never knew it was +there. Pah!' and she threw the blossom down with a gesture of disgust. +'How they smell!' + +Gaston picked up one of the flowers, and crushed it between his fingers, +upon which it gave out a peculiar mousy odour eminently disagreeable. It +was hemlock sure enough, and he wondered how such a plant had come into +Australia. + +'Does it grow in your garden?' he asked Martha. + +That damsel intimated it did, and offered to show him the plant, so that +he could believe his own eyes. + +Vandeloup assented eagerly, and they were soon in the flower garden at +the back of the house, which was blazing with vivid colours, in the hot +glare of the sunshine. + +'There you are,' said Miss Twexby, pointing to a corner of the garden +near the fence where the plant was growing; 'par brought a lot of seeds +from home, and that beastly thing got mixed up with them. Par keeps it +growing, though, 'cause no one else has got it. It's quite a curiosity.' + +Vandeloup bent down and examined the plant, with its large, round, +smooth, purple-spotted stem--its smooth, shining green leaves, and the +tiny white flowers with their disagreeable odour. + +'Yes, it is hemlock,' he said, half to himself; 'I did not know it could +be grown here. Some day, Mademoiselle,' he said, turning to Miss Twexby +and walking back to the house with her, 'I will ask you to let me have +some of the roots of that plant to make an experiment with.' + +'As much as you like,' said the fair Martha, amiably; 'it's a nasty +smelling thing. What are you going to make out of it?' + +'Nothing particular,' returned Vandeloup, with a yawn, as they entered +the house and stopped at the door of Pierre's room. 'I'm a bit of a +chemist, and amuse myself with these things.' + +'You are clever,' observed Martha, admiringly; 'but here's that man's +room--we didn't give him the best'--apologetically--'as miners are so +rough.' + +'Mademoiselle,' said Vandeloup, eagerly, as she turned to go, 'I see +there are a few blossoms of hemlock left in your flower there,' touching +it with his finger; 'will you give them to me?' + +Martha Twexby stared; surely this was the long-expected come at +last--she had secured a lover; and such a lover--handsome, young, and +gallant,--the very hero of her dreams. She almost fainted in delighted +surprise, and unfastening the flowers with trembling fingers, gave them +to Gaston. He placed them in a button-hole of his flannel coat, then +before she could scream, or even draw back in time, this audacious young +man put his arm round her and kissed her virginal lips. Miss Twexby was +so taken by surprise, that she could offer no resistance, and by the +time she had recovered herself, Gaston had disappeared into Pierre's +room and closed the door after him. + +'Well,' she said to herself, as she returned to the bar, 'if that isn't +a case of love at first sight, my name ain't Martha Twexby,' and she sat +down in the bar with her nerves all of a flutter, as she afterwards told +a female friend who dropped in sometimes for a friendly cup of tea. + +Gaston closed the door after him, and found himself in a moderately +large room, with one window looking on to the garden, and having a +dressing-table with a mirror in front of it. There were two beds, one on +each side, and on the farthest of these Pierre was sleeping heavily, not +even Gaston's entrance having roused him. Going over to him, Vandeloup +touched him slightly, and with a spring the dumb man sat up in bed as if +he expected to be arrested, and was all on the alert to escape. + +'It's only I, my friend,' said Gaston, in French, crossing over to the +other bed and sitting on it. 'Come here; I wish to speak to you.' + +Pierre rose from his sleeping place, and, stumbling across the room, +stood before Gaston with downcast eyes, his shaggy hair all tossed and +tumbled by the contact with the pillow. Gaston himself coolly relit his +cigarette, which had gone out, threw his straw hat on the bed, and then, +curling one leg inside the other, looked long and keenly at Pierre. + +'You saw Madame's husband to-day?' he said sharply, still eyeing the +slouching figure before him, that seemed so restless under his steady +gaze. + +Pierre nodded and shuffled his large feet. + +'Did he want to know about his wife?' + +Another nod. + +'I thought so; and about the new nugget also, I presume?' + +Still another nod. + +'Humph,' thoughtfully. 'He'd like to get a share of it, I've no doubt.' + +The dumb man nodded violently; then, crossing over to his own bed, +he placed the pillow in the centre of it, and falling on his knees, +imitated the action of miners in working at the wash. Then he arose to +his feet and pointed to the pillow. + +'I see,' said M. Vandeloup, who had been watching this pantomime with +considerable interest; 'that pillow is the nugget of which our friend +wants a share.' + +Pierre assented; then, snatching up the pillow, he ran with it to the +end of the room. + +'Oh,' said Gaston, after a moment's thought, 'so he's going to run away +with it. A very good idea; but how does he propose to get it?' + +Pierre dropped his pillow and pointed in the direction of the Black +Hill. + +'Does he know it's up there?' asked Vandeloup; 'you told him, I +suppose?' As Pierre nodded, 'Humph! I think I can see what Mr Villiers +intends to do--rob his wife as she goes home tonight.' + +Pierre nodded in a half doubtful manner. + +'You're not quite sure,' interrupted M. Vandeloup, 'but I am. He won't +stop at anything to get money. You stay all night in town?' + +The dumb man assented. + +'So do I,' replied Vandeloup; 'it's a happy coincidence, because I see +a chance of our getting that nugget.' Pierre's dull eyes brightened, and +he rubbed his hands together in a pleased manner. + +'Sit down,' said Vandeloup, in a peremptory tone, pointing to the floor. +'I wish to tell you what I think.' + +Pierre obediently dropped on to the floor, where he squatted like a huge +misshapen toad, while Vandeloup, after going to the door to see that +it was closed, returned to the bed, sat down again, and, having lighted +another cigarette, began to speak. All this precaution was somewhat +needless, as he was talking rapidly in French, but then M. Vandeloup +knew that walls have ears and possibly might understand foreign +languages. + +'I need hardly remind you,' said Vandeloup, in a pleasant voice, 'that +when we landed in Australia I told you that there was war between +ourselves and society, and that, at any cost, we must try to make money; +so far, we have only been able to earn an honest livelihood--a way of +getting rich which you must admit is remarkably slow. Here, however, is +a chance of making, if not a fortune, at least a good sum of money at +one stroke. This M. Villiers is going to rob his wife, and his plan +will no doubt be this: he will lie in wait for her, and when she drives +slowly down the hill, he will spring on to the trap and perhaps attempt +to kill her; at all events, he will seize the box containing the nugget, +and try to make off with it. How he intends to manage it I cannot tell +you--it must be left to the chapter of accidents; but,' in a lower +voice, bending forward, 'when he does get the nugget we must obtain it +from him.' + +Pierre looked up and drew his hand across his throat. + +'Not necessarily,' returned Vandeloup, coolly; 'I know your adage, "dead +men tell no tales," but it is a mistake--they do, and to kill him is +dangerous. No, if we stun him we can go off with the nugget, and then +make our way to Melbourne, where we can get rid of it quietly. As +to Madame Midas, if her husband allows her to live--which I think is +unlikely--I will make our excuses to her for leaving the mine. Now, I'm +going up to M. Marchurst's house, so you can meet me at the top of the +hill, at eight o'clock tonight. Madame will probably start at half-past +eight or nine, so that will give us plenty of time to see what M. +Villiers is going to do.' + +They both rose to their feet. Then Vandeloup put on his hat, and, going +to the glass, arranged his tie in as cool and nonchalant a manner as +if he had been merely planning the details for a picnic instead of a +possible crime. While admiring himself in the glass he caught sight of +the bunch of flowers given to him by Miss Twexby, and, taking them from +his coat, he turned round to Pierre, who stood watching him in his usual +sullen manner. + +'Do you see these?' he asked, touching the white blossoms with the +cigarette he held between his fingers. + +Pierre intimated that he did. + +'From the plant of these, my friend,' said Vandeloup, looking at them +critically, 'I can prepare a vegetable poison as deadly as any of Caesar +Borgia's. It is a powerful narcotic, and leaves hardly any trace. Having +been a medical student, you know,' he went on, conversationally, 'I made +quite a study of toxicology, and the juice of this plant,' touching the +white flower, 'has done me good service, although it was the cause of my +exile to New Caledonia. Well,' with a shrug of the shoulders as he +put the flowers back in his coat, 'it is always something to have in +reserve; I did not know that I could get this plant here, my friend. But +now that I have I will prepare a little of this poison,--it will always +be useful in emergencies.' + +Pierre looked steadily at the young man, and then slipping his hand +behind his back he drew forth from the waistband of his trousers a +long, sharp, cruel-looking knife, which for safety had a leather sheath. +Drawing this off, the dumb man ran his thumb along the keen edge, and +held the knife out towards Vandeloup, who refused it with a cynical +smile. + +'You don't believe in this, I can see,' he said, touching the dainty +bunch of flowers as Pierre put the knife in its sheath again and +returned it to its hiding-place. 'I'm afraid your ideas are still +crude--you believe in the good old-fashioned style of blood-letting. +Quite a mistake, I assure you; poison is much more artistic and neat +in its work, and to my mind involves less risk. You see, my Pierre,' he +continued, lazily watching the blue wreaths of smoke from his cigarette +curl round his head, 'crime must improve with civilization; and since +the Cain and Abel epoch we have refined the art of murder in a most +wonderful manner--decidedly we are becoming more civilized; and now, my +friend,' in a kind tone, laying his slender white hand on the shoulder +of the dumb man, 'you must really take a little rest, for I have +no doubt but what you will need all your strength tonight should M. +Villiers prove obstinate. Of course,' with a shrug, 'if he does not +succeed in getting the nugget, our time will be simply wasted, and +then,' with a gay smile, touching the flowers, 'I will see what I can do +in the artistic line.' + +Pierre lay down again on the bed, and turning his face to the wall fell +fast asleep, while M. Vandeloup, humming a merry tune, walked gaily out +of the room to the bar, and asked Miss Twexby for another drink. + +'Brandy and soda this time, please,' he said, lazily lighting another +cigarette; 'this heat is so enervating, and I'm going to walk up to +Black Hill. By the way, Mademoiselle,' he went on, as she opened the +soda water, 'as I see there are two beds in my friend's room I will stay +here all night.' + +'You shall have the best room,' said Martha, decisively, as she handed +him the brandy and soda. + +'You are too kind,' replied M. Vandeloup, coolly, as he took the drink +from her, 'but I prefer to stay with my silent friend. He was one of the +sailors in the ship when I was wrecked, as you have no doubt heard, and +looks upon me as a sort of fetish.' + +Miss Twexby knew all about the wreck, and thought it was beautiful that +he should condescend to be so friendly with a common sailor. Vandeloup +received all her speeches with a polite smile, then set down his empty +glass and prepared to leave. + +'Mademoiselle,' he said, touching the flowers, 'you see I still have +them--they will remind me of you,' and raising his hat he strolled idly +out of the hotel, and went off in the direction of the Black Hill. + +Miss Twexby ran to the door, and shading her eyes with her hands from +the blinding glare of the sun, she watched him lounging along the +street, tall, slender, and handsome. + +'He's just lovely,' she said to herself, as she returned to the bar 'but +his eyes are so wicked; I don't think he's a good young man.' + +What would she have said if she had heard the conversation in the +bedroom? + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THEODORE WOPPLES, ACTOR + + +Mr Villiers walked in a leisurely manner along the lower part of the +town, with the intent of going up to his destination through the old +mining gully. He took this route for two reasons--first, because the +afternoon was hot, and it was easier climbing up that way than going +by the ordinary road; and, second, on his journey through the chasm he +would be able to mark some place where he could hide the nugget. With +his stick under his arm, Mr Villiers trudged merrily along in a happy +humour, as if he was bent on pleasure instead of robbery. And after +all, as he said to himself, it could not be called a genuine robbery, +as everything belonging to his wife was his by right of the marriage +service, and he was only going to have his own again. With this +comfortable thought he climbed slowly up the broken tortuous path which +led to the Black Hill, and every now and then would pause to rest, and +admire the view. + +It was now nearly six o'clock, and the sun was sinking amid a blaze of +splendour. The whole of the western sky was a sea of shimmering gold, +and this, intensified near the horizon to almost blinding brightness, +faded off towards the zenith of the sky into a delicate green, and +thence melted imperceptibly into a cold blue. + +Villiers, however, being of the earth, earthy, could not be troubled +looking very long at such a common-place sight as a sunset; the same +thing occurred every evening, and he had more important things to do +than to waste his time gratifying his artistic eye. Arriving on the +plateau of earth just in front of the gully, he was soon entering the +narrow gorge, and tramped steadily along in deep thought, with bent +head and wrinkled brows. The way being narrow, and Villiers being +preoccupied, it was not surprising that as a man was coming down in +the opposite direction, also preoccupied, they should run against one +another. When this took place it gave Mr Villiers rather a start, as it +suggested a possible witness to the deed he contemplated, a thing for +which he was by no means anxious. + +'Really, sir,' said the stranger, in a rich, rolling voice, and in a +dignified tone, 'I think you might look where you are going. From what +I saw of you, your eyes were not fixed on the stars, and thus to cause +your unwatched feet to stumble; in fact,' said the speaker, looking up +to the sky, 'I see no stars whereon you could fix your gaze.' + +This somewhat strange mode of remonstrance was delivered in a solemn +manner, with appropriate gestures, and tickled Mr Villiers so much that +he leaned up against a great rock abutting on the path, and laughed long +and loudly. + +'That is right, sir,' said the stranger, approvingly; 'laughter is +to the soul what food is to the body. I think, sir,' in a Johnsonian +manner, 'the thought is a happy one.' + +Villiers assented with a nod, and examined the speaker attentively. +He was a man of medium height, rather portly than otherwise, with a +clean-shaved face, clearly-cut features, and two merry grey eyes, which +twinkled like stars as they rested on Villiers. His hair was greyish, +and inclined to curl, but could not follow its natural inclination owing +to the unsparing use of the barber's shears. He wore a coat and trousers +of white flannel, but no waistcoat; canvas shoes were on his feet, and +a juvenile straw hat was perched on his iron-grey hair, the rim of +which encircled his head like a halo of glory. He had small, well-shaped +hands, one of which grasped a light cane, and the other a white silk +pocket handkerchief, with which he frequently wiped his brow. He seemed +very hot, and, leaning on the opposite side of the path against a rock, +fanned himself first with his handkerchief and then with his hat, all +the time looking at Mr Villiers with a beaming smile. At last he took a +silver-mounted flask from his pocket and offered it to Villiers, with a +pleasant bow. + +'It's very hot, you know,' he said, in his rich voice, as Villiers +accepted the flask. + +'What, this?' asked Villiers, indicating the flask, as he slowly +unscrewed the top. + +'No; the day, my boy, the day. Ha! ha! ha!' said the lively stranger, +going off into fits of laughter, which vibrated like small thunder amid +the high rocks surrounding them. 'Good line for a comedy, I think. Ha! +ha!--gad, I'll make a note of it,' and diving into one of the pockets of +his coat, he produced therefrom an old letter, on the back of which he +inscribed the witticism with the stump of a pencil. + +Meanwhile Villiers, thinking the flask contained brandy, or at least +whisky, took a long drink of it, but found to his horror it was merely a +weak solution of sherry and water. + +'Oh, my poor stomach,' he gasped, taking the flask from his lips. + +'Colic?' inquired the stranger with a pleasant smile, as he put back the +letter and pencil, 'hot water fomentations are what you need. Wonderful +cure. Will bring you to life again though you were at your last gasp. +Ha!' struck with a sudden idea, '"His Last Gasp", good title for a +melodrama--mustn't forget that,' and out came the letter and the pencil +again. + +Mr Villiers explained in a somewhat gruff tone that it was not colic, +but that his medical attendant allowed him to drink nothing but whisky. + +'To be taken twenty times a day, I presume,' observed the stranger, with +a wink; 'no offence meant, sir,' as Villiers showed a disposition to +resent this, 'merely a repartee. Good for a comedy, I fancy; what do you +think?' + +'I think,' said Mr Villiers, handing him back the flask, 'that you're +very eccentric.' + +'Eccentric?' replied the other, in an airy tone, 'not at all, sir. I'm +merely a civilized being with the veneer off. I am not hidden under an +artificial coat of manner. No, I laugh--ha! ha! I skip, ha! ha!' with a +light trip on one foot. 'I cry,' in a dismal tone. 'In fact, I am a man +in his natural state--civilized sufficiently, but not over civilized.' + +'What's your name?' asked Mr Villiers, wondering whether the portly +gentleman was mad. + +For reply the stranger dived into another pocket, and, bringing to light +a long bill-poster, held it up before Mr Villiers. + +'Read! mark! and inwardly digest!' he said in a muffled tone behind the +bill. + +This document set forth in red, black, and blue letters, that the +celebrated Wopples Family, consisting of twelve star artistes, were +now in Ballarat, and would that night appear at the Academy of Music in +their new and original farcical comedy, called 'The Cruet-Stand'. Act I: +Pepper! Act II: Mustard! Act III: Vinegar. + +'You, then,' said Villiers, after he had perused this document, 'are Mr +Wopples?' + +'Theodore Wopples, at your service,' said that gentleman, rolling up the +bill, then putting it into his pocket, he produced therefrom a batch of +tickets. 'One of these,' handing a ticket to Villiers, 'will admit you +to the stalls tonight, where you will see myself and the children in +"The Cruet-Stand".' + +'Rather a peculiar title, isn't it?' said Villiers, taking the ticket. + +'The play is still more peculiar, sir,' replied Mr Wopples, restoring +the bulky packet of tickets to his pocket, 'dealing as it does with +the adventures of a youth who hides his father's will in a cruet stand, +which is afterwards annexed by a comic bailiff.' + +'But isn't it rather a curious thing to hide a will in a cruet stand?' +asked Villiers, smiling at the oddity of the idea. + +'Therein, sir, lies the peculiarity of the play,' said Mr Wopples, +grandly. 'Of course the characters find out in Act I that the will is +in the cruet stand; in Act II, while pursuing it, they get mixed up +with the bailiff's mother-in-law; and in Act III,' finished Mr Wopples, +exultingly, 'they run it to earth in a pawnshop. Oh, I assure you it is +a most original play.' + +'Very,' assented the other, dryly; 'the author must be a man of +genius--who wrote it?' + +'It's a translation from the German, sir,' said Mr Wopples, taking a +drink of sherry and water, 'and was originally produced in London as +"The Pickle Bottle", the will being hidden with the family onions. In +Melbourne it was the success of the year under the same title. I,' with +an air of genius, 'called it "The Cruet Stand".' + +'Then how did you get a hold of it,' asked Villiers. + +'My wife, sir,' said the actor, rolling out the words in his deep voice. +'A wonderful woman, sir; paid a visit to Melbourne, and there, sir, +seated at the back of the pit between a coal-heaver and an apple-woman, +she copied the whole thing down.' + +'But isn't that rather mean?' + +'Certainly not,' retorted Wopples, haughtily; 'the opulent Melbourne +managers refuse to let me have their new pieces, so I have to take the +law into my own hands. I'll get all the latest London successes in the +same way. We play "Ours" under the title of "The Hero's Return, or the +Soldier's Bride": we have done the "Silver King" as "The Living Dead", +which was an immense success.' + +Villiers thought that under such a contradictory title it would rather +pique the curiosity of the public. + +'To-morrow night,' pursued Mr Wopples, 'we act "Called Back", but it is +billed as "The Blind Detective"; thus,' said the actor, with virtuous +scorn, 'do we evade the grasping avarice of the Melbourne managers, who +would make us pay fees for them.' + +'By the way,' said Mr Wopples, breaking off suddenly in a light and airy +manner, 'as I came down here I saw a lovely girl--a veritable fairy, +sir--with golden hair, and a bright smile that haunts me still. I +exchanged a few remarks with her regarding the beauty of the day, and +thus allegorically referred to the beauty of herself--a charming flight +of fancy, I think, sir.' + +'It must have been Kitty Marchurst,' said Villiers, not attending to the +latter portion of Mr Wopples' remarks. + +'Ah, indeed,' said Mr Wopples, lightly, 'how beautiful is the name of +Kitty; it suggests poetry immediately--for instance: + +Kitty, ah Kitty, You are so pretty, Charming and witty, That 'twere a +pity I sung not this ditty In praise of my Kitty. + +On the spur of the moment, sir, I assure you; does it not remind you of +Herrick?' + +Mr Villiers bluntly said it did not. + +'Ah! perhaps it's more like Shakespeare?' observed the actor, quite +unabashed. 'You think so?' + +Mr Villiers was doubtful, and displayed such anxiety to get away that Mr +Wopples held out his hand to say goodbye. + +'You'll excuse me, I know,' said Mr Wopples, in an apologetic tone, +'but the show commences at eight, and it is now half-past six. I trust I +shall see you tonight.' + +'It's very kind of you to give me this ticket,' said Villiers, in whom +the gentlemanly instinct still survived. + +'Not at all; not at all,' retorted Mr Wopples, with a wink. 'Business, +my boy, business. Always have a good house first night, so must go into +the highways and byways for an audience. Ha! Biblical illustration, you +see;' and with a gracious wave of his hand he skipped lightly down the +path and disappeared from sight. + +It was now getting dark; so Mr Villiers went on his own way, and having +selected a mining shaft where he could hide the nugget, he climbed up to +the top of the hill, and lying down under the shadow of a rock where +he could get a good view of Marchurst's house, he waited patiently till +such time as his wife would start for home. + +'I'll pay you out for all you've done,' he muttered to himself, as he +lay curled up in the black shadow like a noisome reptile. 'Tit for tat, +my lady!--tit for tat!' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HIGHWAY ROBBERY + + +Dinner at Mr Marchurst's house was not a particularly exhilarating +affair. As a matter of fact, though dignified with the name of dinner, +it was nothing more than one of those mixed meals known as high tea. +Vandeloup knew this, and, having a strong aversion to the miscellaneous +collection of victuals which appeared on Mr Marchurst's table, he dined +at Craig's Hotel, where he had a nice little dinner, and drank a pint +bottle of champagne in order to thoroughly enjoy himself. Madame Midas +also had a dislike to tea-dinners, but, being a guest, of course had +to take what was going; and she, Kitty, and Mr Marchurst, were the only +people present at the festive board. At last Mr Marchurst finished and +delivered a long address of thanks to Heaven for the good food they had +enjoyed, which good food, being heavy and badly cooked, was warranted +to give them all indigestion and turn their praying to cursing. In fact, +what with strong tea, hurried meals, and no exercise, Mr Marchurst used +to pass an awful time with the nightmare, and although he was accustomed +to look upon nightmares as visions, they were due more to dyspepsia than +inspiration. + +After dinner Madame sat and talked with Marchurst, but Kitty went +outside into the warm darkness of the summer night, and tried to pierce +the gloom to see if her lover was coming. She was rewarded, for M. +Vandeloup came up about half-past eight o'clock, having met Pierre as +arranged. Pierre had found out Villiers in his hiding-place, and was +watching him while Villiers watched the house. Being, therefore, quite +easy in his mind that things were going smoothly, Vandeloup came up to +the porch where Kitty was eagerly waiting for him, and taking her in his +arms kissed her tenderly. Then, after assuring himself that Madame was +safe with Marchurst, he put his arm round Kitty's waist, and they walked +up and down the path with the warm wind blowing in their faces, and the +perfume of the wattle blossoms permeating the drowsy air. And yet while +he was walking up and down, talking lover-like nonsense to the pretty +girl by his side, Vandeloup knew that Villiers was watching the house +far off, with evil eyes, and he also knew that Pierre was watching +Villiers with all the insatiable desire of a wild beast for blood. The +moon rose, a great shield of silver, and all the ground was strewn with +the aerial shadows of the trees. The wind sighed through the branches +of the wattles, and made their golden blossoms tremble in the moonlight, +while hand in hand the lovers strolled down the path or over the short +dry grass. Far away in the distance they heard a woman singing, and the +high sweet voice floated softly towards them through the clear air. + +Suddenly they heard the noise of a chair being pushed back inside +the house, and knew that Madame was getting ready to go. They moved +simultaneously towards the door, but in the porch Gaston paused for a +moment, and caught Kitty by the arm. + +'Bebe,' he whispered softly, 'when Madame is gone I am going down the +hill to Ballarat, so you will walk with me a little way, will you not?' + +Of course, Kitty was only too delighted at being asked to do so, +and readily consented, then ran quickly into the house, followed by +Vandeloup. + +'You here?' cried Madame, in surprise, pausing for a moment in the act +of putting on her bonnet. 'Why are you not at the theatre?' + +'I am going, Madame,' replied Gaston, calmly, 'but I thought I would +come up in order to assist you to put the nugget in the trap.' + +'Oh, Mr Marchurst would have done that,' said Madame, much gratified +at Vandeloup's attention. 'I'm sorry you should miss your evening's +pleasure for that.' + +'Ah, Madame, I do but exchange a lesser pleasure for a greater one,' +said the gallant Frenchman, with a pleasant smile; 'but are you sure you +will not want me to drive you home?' + +'Not at all,' said Madame, as they all went outside; 'I am quite safe.' + +'Still, with this,' said Mr Marchurst, bringing up the rear, with the +nugget now safely placed in its wooden box, 'you might be robbed.' + +'Not I,' replied Mrs Villiers, brightly, as the horse and trap were +brought round to the gate by Brown. 'No one knows I've got it in the +trap, and, besides, no one can catch up with Rory when he once starts.' + +Marchurst put the nugget under the seat of the trap, but Madame was +afraid it might slip out by some chance, so she put the box containing +it in front, and then her feet on the box, so that it was absolutely +impossible that it could get lost without her knowing. Then saying +goodbye to everyone, and telling M. Vandeloup to be out at the Pactolus +before noon the next day, she gathered up the reins and drove slowly +down the hill, much to the delight of Mr Villiers, who was getting tired +of waiting. Kitty and Vandeloup strolled off in the moonlight, while +Marchurst went back to the house. + +Villiers arose from his hiding-place, and looked up savagely at the +serene moon, which was giving far too much light for his scheme to +succeed. Fortunately, however, he saw a great black cloud rapidly +advancing which threatened to hide the moon; so he set off down the hill +at a run in order to catch his wife at a nasty part of the road some +distance down, where she would be compelled to go slowly, and thus give +him a chance to spring on the trap and take her by surprise. But quick +as he was, Pierre was quicker, and both Vandeloup and Kitty could see +the two black figures running rapidly along in the moonlight. + +'Who are those?' asked Kitty, with a sudden start. 'Are they going after +Madame?' + +'Little goose,' whispered her lover, with a laugh; 'if they are they +will never catch up to that horse. It's all right, Bebe,' with a +reassuring smile, seeing that Kitty still looked somewhat alarmed, 'they +are only some miners out on a drunken frolic.' + +Thus pacified, Kitty laughed gaily, and they wandered along in the +moonlight, talking all the fond and foolish nonsense they could think +of. + +Meanwhile the great black cloud had completely hidden the moon, and the +whole landscape was quite dark. This annoyed Madame, as, depending on +the moonlight, the lamps of the trap were not lighted, and she could not +see in the darkness how to drive down a very awkward bit of road that +she was now on. + +It was very steep, and there was a high bank on one side, while on +the other there was a fall of about ten feet. She felt annoyed at the +darkness, but on looking up saw that the cloud would soon pass, so drove +on slowly quite content. Unluckily she did not see the figure on the +high bank which ran along stealthily beside her, and while turning a +corner, Mr Villiers--for it was he--dropped suddenly from the bank on to +the trap, and caught her by the throat. + +'My God!' cried the unfortunate woman, taken by surprise, and, +involuntarily tightening the reins, the horse stopped--'who are you?' + +Villiers never said a word, but tightened his grasp on her throat and +shortened his stick to give her a blow on the head. Fortunately, Madame +Midas saw his intention, and managed to wrench herself free, so the blow +aimed at her only slightly touched her, otherwise it would have killed +her. + +As it was, however, she fell forward half stunned, and Villiers, +hurriedly dropping his stick, bent down and seized the box which he felt +under his feet and intuitively guessed contained the nugget. + +With a cry of triumph he hurled it out on to the road, and sprang out +after it; but the cry woke his wife from the semi-stupor into which she +had fallen. + +Her head felt dizzy and heavy from the blow, but still she had her +senses about her, and the moon bursting out from behind a cloud, +rendered the night as clear as day. + +Villiers had picked up the box, and was standing on the edge of the +bank, just about to leave. The unhappy woman recognised her husband, and +uttered a cry. + +'You! you!' she shrieked, wildly, 'coward! dastard! Give me back that +nugget!' leaning out of the trap in her eagerness. + +'I'll see you damned first,' retorted Villiers, who, now that he was +recognised, was utterly reckless as to the result. 'We're quits now, my +lady,' and he turned to go. + +Maddened with anger and disgust, his wife snatched up the stick he had +dropped, and struck him on the head as he took a step forward. With a +stifled cry he staggered and fell over the embankment, still clutching +the box in his arms. Madame let the stick fall, and fell back fainting +on the seat of the trap, while the horse, startled by the noise, tore +down the road at a mad gallop. + +Madame Midas lay in a dead faint for some time, and when she came to +herself she was still in the trap, and Rory was calmly trotting along +the road home. At the foot of the hill, the horse, knowing every inch +of the way, had settled down into his steady trot for the Pactolus, but +when Madame grasped the situation, she marvelled to herself how she had +escaped being dashed to pieces in that mad gallop down the Black Hill. + +Her head felt painful from the effects of the blow she had received, but +her one thought was to get home to Archie and Selina, so gathering up +the reins she sent Rory along as quickly as she could. When she drove up +to the gate Archie and Selina were both out to receive her, and when the +former went to lift her off the trap, he gave a cry of horror at seeing +her dishevelled appearance and the blood on her face. + +'God save us!' he cried, lifting her down; 'what's come t' ye, and +where's the nugget?' seeing it was not in the trap. + +'Lost!' she said, in a stupor, feeling her head swimming, 'but there's +worse.' + +'Worse?' echoed Selina and Archie, who were both standing looking +terrified at one another. + +'Yes,' said Mrs Villiers, in a hollow whisper, leaning forward and +grasping Archie's coat, 'I've killed my husband,' and without another +word, she fell fainting to the ground. + +At the same time Vandeloup and Pierre walked into the bar at the Wattle +Tree Hotel, and each had a glass of brandy, after which Pierre went to +his bed, and Vandeloup, humming a gay song, turned on his heel and went +to the theatre. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA + + +'AH!' says Thackeray, pathetically, 'Prague is a pleasant city, but we +all lose our way to it late in life.' + +The Wopples family were true Bohemians, and had not yet lost their way +to the pleasant city. They accepted good and bad fortune with wonderful +equanimity, and if their pockets were empty one day, there was always +a possibility of their being full the next. When this was the case they +generally celebrated the event by a little supper, and as their present +season in Ballarat bid fair to be a successful one, Mr Theodore Wopples +determined to have a convivial evening after the performance was over. + +That the Wopples family were favourites with the Ballarat folk was amply +seen by the crowded house which assembled to see 'The Cruet Stand'. The +audience were very impatient for the curtain to rise, as they did not +appreciate the overture, which consisted of airs from 'La Mascotte', +adapted for the violin and piano by Mr Handel Wopples, who was the +musical genius of the family, and sat in the conductor's seat, playing +the violin and conducting the orchestra of one, which on this occasion +was Miss Jemima Wopples, who presided at the piano. The Wopples family +consisted of twelve star artistes, beginning with Mr Theodore Wopples, +aged fifty, and ending with Master Sheridan Wopples, aged ten, who did +the servants' characters, delivered letters, formed the background in +tableaux, and made himself generally useful. As the cast of the comedy +was only eight, two of the family acted as the orchestra, and the +remaining two took money at the door. When their duties in this respect +were over for the night, they went into the pit to lead the applause. + +At last the orchestra finished, and the curtain drew up, displaying an +ancient house belonging to a decayed family. The young Squire, present +head of the decayed family (Mr Cibber Wopples), is fighting with +his dishonest steward (admirably acted by Mr Dogbery Wopples), whose +daughter he wants to marry. The dishonest steward, during Act I, without +any apparent reason, is struck with remorse, and making his will in +favour of the Squire, departs to America, but afterwards appears in the +last act as someone else. Leaving his will on the drawing-room table, +as he naturally would, it is seized by an Eton boy (Master Sheridan +Wopples), who hides it, for some unexplained reason, in the cruet-stand, +being the last piece of family plate remaining to the decayed family. +This is seized by a comic bailiff (Mr Theodore Wopples), who takes it to +his home; and the decayed family, finding out about the will, start to +chase the bailiff and recover the stolen property from him. This brought +the play on to Act II, which consisted mainly of situations arising out +of the indiscriminate use of doors and windows for entrances and exits. +The bailiff's mother-in-law (Mrs Wopples) appears in this act, and, +being in want of a new dress, takes the cruet stand to her 'uncle' and +pawns it; so Act II ends with a general onslaught of the decayed family +on Mrs Wopples. + +Then the orchestra played the 'Wopples' Waltz', dedicated to Mr Theodore +Wopples by Mr Handel Wopples, and during the performance of this Mr +Villiers walked into the theatre. He was a little pale, as was only +natural after such an adventure as he had been engaged in, but otherwise +seemed all right. He walked up to the first row of the stalls, and took +his seat beside a young man of about twenty-five, who was evidently much +amused at the performance. + +'Hullo, Villiers!' said this young gentleman, turning round to the new +arrival, 'what d'ye think of the play?' + +'Only just got in,' returned Mr Villiers, sulkily, looking at his +programme. 'Any good?' in a more amiable tone. + +'Well, not bad,' returned the other, pulling up his collar; 'I've +seen it in Melbourne, you know--the original, I mean; this is a very +second-hand affair.' + +Mr Villiers nodded, and became absorbed in his programme; so, seeing he +was disinclined for more conversation, the young gentleman turned his +attention to the 'Wopples Waltz', which was now being played fast and +furiously by the indefatigable orchestra of two. + +Bartholomew Jarper--generally called Barty by his friends--was a bank +clerk, and had come up to Ballarat on a visit. He was well known in +Melbourne society, and looked upon himself quite as a leader of fashion. +He went everywhere, danced divinely--so the ladies said--sang two or +three little songs, and played the same accompaniment to each of them, +was seen constantly at the theatres, plunged a little at the races, and +was altogether an extremely gay dog. It is, then, little to be wondered +at that, satiated as he was with Melbourne gaiety, he should be vastly +critical of the humble efforts of the Wopples family to please him. He +had met Villiers at his hotel, when both of them being inebriated they +swore eternal friendship. Mr Villiers, however, was very sulky on this +particular night, for his head still pained him, so Barty stared round +the house in a supercilious manner, and sucked the nob of his cane for +refreshment between the acts. + +Just as the orchestra were making their final plunge into the finale +of the 'Wopples' Waltz', M. Vandeloup, cool and calm as usual, strolled +into the theatre, and, seeing a vacant seat beside Villiers, walked over +and took it. + +'Good evening, my friend,' he said, touching Villiers on the shoulder. +'Enjoying the play, eh?' + +Villiers angrily pushed away the Frenchman's hand and glared +vindictively at him. + +'Ah, you still bear malice for that little episode of the ditch,' said +Vandeloup with a gay laugh. 'Come, now, this is a mistake; let us be +friends.' + +'Go to the devil!' growled Villiers, crossly. + +'All right, my friend,' said M. Vandeloup, serenely crossing his legs. +'We'll all end up by paying a visit to that gentleman, but while we are +on earth we may as well be pleasant. Seen your wife lately?' + +This apparently careless inquiry caused Mr Villiers to jump suddenly +out of his seat, much to the astonishment of Barty, who did not know for +what reason he was standing up. + +'Ah! you want to look at the house, I suppose,' remarked M. Vandeloup, +lazily; 'the building is extremely ugly, but there are some redeeming +features in it. I refer, of course, to the number of pretty girls,' and +Gaston turned round and looked steadily at a red-haired damsel behind +him, who blushed and giggled, thinking he was referring to her. + +Villiers resumed his seat with a sigh, and seeing that it was quite +useless to quarrel with Vandeloup, owing to that young man's coolness, +resolved to make the best of a bad job, and held out his hand with a +view to reconciliation. + +'It's no use fighting with you,' he said, with an uneasy laugh, as the +other took his hand, 'you are so deuced amiable.' + +'I am,' replied Gaston, calmly examining his programme; 'I practise all +the Christian virtues.' + +Here Barty, on whom the Frenchman's appearance and conversation had +produced an impression, requested Villiers, in a stage whisper, to +introduce him--which was done. Vandeloup looked the young man coolly up +and down, and eventually decided that Mr Barty Jarper was a 'cad', for +whatever his morals might be, the Frenchman was a thorough gentleman. +However, as he was always diplomatic, he did not give utterance to his +idea, but taking a seat next to Barty's, he talked glibly to him until +the orchestra finished with a few final bangs, and the curtain drew up +on Act III. + +The scene was the interior of a pawnshop, where the pawnbroker, a +gentleman of Hebraic descent (Mr Buckstone Wopples), sells the cruet +to the dishonest steward, who has come back from America disguised as +a sailor. The decayed family all rush in to buy the cruet stand, but on +finding it gone, overwhelm the pawnbroker with reproaches, so that +to quiet them he hides them all over the shop, on the chance that the +dishonest steward will come back. The dishonest steward does so, +and having found the will tears it up on the stage, upon which he +is assaulted by the decayed family, who rush out from all parts. +Ultimately, he reveals himself and hands back the cruet stand and the +estates to the decayed family, after which a general marrying all round +took place, which proceeding was very gratifying to the boys in the +gallery, who gave their opinions very freely, and the curtain fell amid +thunders of applause. Altogether 'The Cruet Stand' was a success, +and would have a steady run of three nights at least, so Mr Wopples +said--and as a manager of long standing, he was thoroughly well up in +the subject. + +Villiers, Vandeloup, and Barty went out and had a drink, and as none of +them felt inclined to go to bed, Villiers told them he knew Mr Theodore +Wopples, and proposed that they should go behind the scenes and see +him. This was unanimously carried, and after some difficulty with the +door-keeper--a crusty old man with a red face and white hair, that +stood straight up in a tuft, and made him look like an infuriated +cockatoo--they obtained access to the mysterious regions of the stage, +and there found Master Sheridan Wopples practising a breakdown while +waiting for the rest of the family to get ready. This charming youth, +who was small, dried-up and wonderfully sharp, volunteered to guide them +to his father's dressing-room, and on knocking at the door Mr Wopples' +voice boomed out 'Come in,' in such an unexpected manner that it made +them all jump. + +On entering the room they found Mr Wopples, dressed in a light tweed +suit, and just putting on his coat. It was a small room, with a flaring +gas-jet, under which there was a dressing-table littered over with +grease, paints, powder, vaseline and wigs, and upon it stood a small +looking-glass. A great basket-box with the lid wide open stood at the +end of the room, with a lot of clothes piled up on it, and numerous +other garments were hung up upon the walls. A washstand, with a basin +full of soapy water, stood under a curtainless window, and there was +only one chair to be seen, which Mr Wopples politely offered to his +visitor. Mr Villiers, however, told him he had brought two gentlemen +to introduce to him, at which Mr Wopples was delighted; and on the +introduction taking place, assured both Vandeloup and Barty that it was +one of the proudest moments of his life--a stock phrase he always used +when introduced to visitors. He was soon ready, and preceded the party +out of the room, when he stopped, struck with a sudden idea. + +'I have left the gas burning in my dressing-room,' he said, in his +rolling voice, 'and, if you will permit me, gentlemen, I will go back +and turn it off.' + +This was rather difficult to manage, inasmuch as the stairs were narrow, +and three people being between Mr Wopples and his dressing-room, he +could not squeeze past. + +Finally the difficulty was settled by Villiers, who was last, and who +went back and turned out the gas. + +When he came down he found Mr Wopples waiting for him. + +'I thank you, sir,' he said, grandly, 'and will feel honoured if you +will give me the pleasure of your company at a modest supper consisting +principally of cold beef and pickles.' + +Of course, they all expressed themselves delighted, and as the entire +Wopples family had already gone to their hotel, Mr Wopples with his +three guests went out of the theatre and wended their way towards the +same place, only dropping into two or three bars on the way to have +drinks at Barty's expense. + +They soon arrived at the hotel, and having entered, Mr Wopples pushed +open the door of a room from whence the sound of laughter proceeded, and +introduced the three strangers to his family. The whole ten, together +with Mrs Wopples, were present, and were seated around a large table +plentifully laden with cold beef and pickles, salads, bottles of beer, +and other things too numerous to mention. Mr Wopples presented them +first to his wife, a faded, washed-out looking lady, with a perpetual +simper on her face, and clad in a lavender muslin gown with ribbons of +the same description, she looked wonderfully light and airy. In fact she +had a sketchy appearance as if she required to be touched up here and +there, to make her appear solid, which was of great service to her in +her theatrical career, as it enabled her to paint on the background of +herself any character she wished to represent. + +'This,' said Mr Wopples in his deep voice, holding his wife's hand as if +he were afraid she would float upward thro' the ceiling like a bubble--a +not unlikely thing seeing how remarkably ethereal she looked; 'this is +my flutterer.' + +Why he called her his flutterer no one ever knew, unless it was because +her ribbons were incessantly fluttering; but, had he called her his +shadow, the name would have been more appropriate. + +Mrs Wopples fluttered down to the ground in a bow, and then fluttered up +again. + +'Gentlemen,' she said, in a thin, clear voice, 'you are welcome. Did you +enjoy the performance?' + +'Madame,' returned Vandeloup, with a smile, 'need you ask that?' + +A shadowy smile floated over Mrs Wopples' indistinct features, and then +her husband introduced the rest of the family in a bunch. + +'Gentlemen,' he said, waving his hand to the expectant ten, who stood in +a line of five male and five female, 'the celebrated Wopples family.' + +The ten all simultaneously bowed at this as if they were worked by +machinery, and then everyone sat down to supper, Mr Theodore Wopples +taking the head of the table. All the family seemed to admire him +immensely, and kept their eyes fastened on his face with affectionate +regard. + +'Pa,' whispered Miss Siddons Wopples to Villiers, who sat next to her, +'is a most wonderful man. Observe his facial expression.' + +Villiers observed it, and admitted also in a whisper that it was truly +marvellous. + +Cold beef formed the staple viand on the table, and everyone did full +justice to it, as also to beer and porter, of which Mr Wopples was very +generous. + +'I prefer to give my friends good beer instead of bad champagne,' he +said, pompously. 'Ha! ha! the antithesis, I think, is good.' + +The Wopples family unanimously agreed that it was excellent, and Mr +Handel Wopples observed to Barty that his father often made jokes worthy +of Tom Hood, to which Barty agreed hastily, as he did not know who Tom +Hood was, and besides was flirting in a mild manner with Miss Fanny +Wopples, a pretty girl, who did the burlesque business. + +'And are all these big boys and girls yours, Madame?' asked Vandeloup, +who was rather astonished at the number of the family, and thought +some of them might have been hired for theatrical purposes. Mrs Wopples +nodded affirmatively with a gratified flutter, and her husband endorsed +it. + +'There are four dead,' he said, in a solemn voice. 'Rest their souls.' + +All the ten faces round the board reflected the gloom on the parental +countenance, and for a few moments no one spoke. + +'This,' said Mr Wopples, looking round with a smile, at which all the +other faces lighted up, 'this is not calculated to make our supper +enjoyable, children. I may tell you that, in consequence of the great +success of "The Cruet Stand", we play it again to-morrow night.' + +'Ah!' said Mr Buckstone Wopples, with his mouth full, 'I knew it would +knock 'em; that business of yours, father, with the writ is simply +wonderful.' + +All the family chorused 'Yes,' and Mr Wopples admitted, with a modest +smile, that it was wonderful. + +'Practise,' said Mr Wopples, waving a fork with a piece of cold beef at +the end of it, 'makes perfect. My dear Vandeloup, if you will permit me +to call you so, my son Buckstone is truly a wonderful critic.' + +Vandeloup smiled at this, and came to the conclusion that the Wopples +family was a mutual admiration society. However, as it was now nearly +twelve o'clock, he rose to take his leave. + +'Oh, you're not going yet,' said Mr Wopples, upon which all the family +echoed, 'Surely, not yet,' in a most hospitable manner. + +'I must,' said Vandeloup, with a smile. 'I know Madame will excuse me,' +with a bow to Mrs Wopples, who thereupon fluttered nervously; 'but I +have to be up very early in the morning.' + +'In that case,' said Mr Wopples, rising, 'I will not detain you; early +to bed and early to rise, you know; not that I believe in it much +myself, but I understand it is practised with good results by some +people.' + +Vandeloup shook hands with Mr and Mrs Wopples, but feeling unequal to +taking leave of the ten star artistes in the same way, he bowed in a +comprehensive manner, whereupon the whole ten arose from their chairs +and bowed unanimously in return. + +'Good night, Messrs Villiers and Jarper,' said Vandeloup, going out of +the door, 'I will see you to-morrow.' + +'And we also, I hope,' said Mr Wopples, ungrammatically. 'Come and see +"The Cruet Stand" again. I'll put your name on the free list.' + +M. Vandeloup thanked the actor warmly for this kind offer, and took +himself off; as he passed along the street he heard a burst of laughter +from the Wopples family, no doubt caused by some witticism of the head +of the clan. + +He walked slowly home to the hotel, smoking a cigarette, and thinking +deeply. When he arrived at the 'Wattle Tree' he saw a light still +burning in the bar, and, on knocking at the door, was admitted by Miss +Twexby, who had been making up accounts, and whose virgin head was +adorned with curl-papers. + +'My!' said this damsel, when she saw him, 'you are a nice young man +coming home at this hour--twelve o'clock. See?' and, as a proof of her +assertion, she pointed to the clock. + +'Were you waiting up for me, dear?' asked Vandeloup, audaciously. + +'Not I,' retorted Miss Twexby, tossing her curl-papers; 'I've been +attending to par's business; but, oh, gracious!' with a sudden +recollection of her head-gear, 'you've seen me in undress.' + +'And you look more charming than ever,' finished Vandeloup, as he took +his bedroom candle from her. 'I will see you in the morning. My friend +still asleep, I suppose?' + +'I'm sure I don't know. I haven't seen him all the evening,' replied +Miss Twexby, tossing her head, 'now, go away. You're a naughty, wicked, +deceitful thing. I declare I'm quite afraid of you.' + +'There's no need, I assure you,' replied Vandeloup, in a slightly +sarcastic voice, as he surveyed the plain-looking woman before him; 'you +are quite safe from me.' + +He left the bar, whistling an air, while the fair Martha returned to +her accounts, and wondered indignantly whether his last remark was a +compliment or otherwise. + +The conclusion she came to was that it was otherwise, and she retired to +bed in a very wrathful frame of mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + + +Madame Midas, as may be easily guessed, did not pass a very pleasant +night after the encounter with Villiers. Her head was very painful with +the blow he had given her, and added to this she was certain she had +killed him. + +Though she hated the man who had ruined her life, and who had tried to +rob her, still she did not care about becoming his murderess, and the +thought was madness to her. Not that she was afraid of punishment, +for she had only acted in self-defence, and Villiers, not she, was the +aggressor. + +Meanwhile she waited to hear if the body had been found, for ill news +travels fast; and as everyone knew Villiers was her husband, she was +satisfied that when the corpse was found she would be the first to be +told about it. + +But the day wore on, and no news came, so she asked Archie to go into +Ballarat and see if the discovery had been made. + +''Deed, mem,' said Archie, in a consoling tone, 'I'm thinkin' there's na +word at all. Maybe ye only stapped his pranks for a wee bit, and he's a' +richt.' + +Madame shook her head. + +'I gave him such a terrible blow,' she said, mournfully, 'and he fell +like a stone over the embankment.' + +'He didna leave go the nugget, onyhow, ye ken,' said Archie, dryly; 'so +he couldna hae been verra far gone, but I'll gang intil the toun and see +what I can hear.' + +There was no need for this, however, for just as McIntosh got to the +door, Vandeloup, cool and complacent, sauntered in, but stopped short at +the sight of Mrs Villiers sitting in the arm-chair looking so ill. + +'My dear Madame,' he cried in dismay, going over to her, 'what is the +matter with you?' + +'Matter enow,' growled McIntosh, with his hand on the door handle; 'that +deil o' a' husband o' her's has robbed her o' the nugget.' + +'Yes, and I killed him,' said Madame between her clenched teeth. + +'The deuce you did,' said Vandeloup, in surprise, taking a seat, 'then +he was the liveliest dead man I ever saw.' + +'What do you mean?' asked Madame, leaning forward, with both hands +gripping the arms of her chair; 'is--is he alive?' + +'Of course he is,' began Vandeloup; 'I--' but here he was stopped by a +cry from Selina, for her mistress had fallen back in her chair in a dead +faint. + +Hastily waving for the men to go away, she applied remedies, and Madame +soon revived. Vandeloup had gone outside with McIntosh, and was asking +him about the robbery, and then told him in return about Villiers' +movements on that night. Selina called them in again, as Madame wanted +to hear all about her husband, and Vandeloup was just entering when he +turned to McIntosh. + +'Oh, by the way,' he said, in a vexed tone, 'Pierre will not be at work +today.' + +'What for no?' asked McIntosh, sharply. + +'He's drunk,' replied Vandeloup, curtly, 'and he's likely to keep the +game up for a week.' + +'We'll see about that,' said Mr McIntosh, wrathfully; 'I tauld yon gowk +o' a Twexby to give the mon food and drink, but I didna tell him to mack +the deil fu'.' + +'It wasn't the landlord's fault,' said Vandeloup; 'I gave Pierre +money--if I had known what he wanted it for I wouldn't have done it--but +it's too late now.' + +McIntosh was about to answer sharply as to the folly of giving the man +money, when Madame's voice was heard calling them impatiently, and they +both had to go in at once. + +Mrs Villiers was ghastly pale, but there was a look of determination +about her which showed that she was anxious to hear all. Pointing to a +seat near herself she said to Vandeloup-- + +'Tell me everything that happened from the time I left you last night.' + +'My faith,' replied Vandeloup, carelessly taking the seat, 'there isn't +much to tell--I said goodbye to Monsieur Marchurst and Mademoiselle +Kitty and went down to Ballarat.' + +'How was it you did not pass me on the way?' asked Madame, quickly +fixing her piercing eyes on him. 'I drove slowly.' + +He bore her scrutiny without blenching or even changing colour. + +'Easily enough,' he said, calmly, 'I went the other direction instead of +the usual way, as it was the shortest route to the place I was stopping +at.' + +'The "Wattle Tree", ye ken, Madame,' interposed McIntosh. + +'I had something to eat there,' pursued Vandeloup, 'and then went to the +theatre. Your husband came in towards the end of the performance and sat +next to me.' + +'Was he all right?' asked Mrs Villiers, eagerly. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'I didn't pay much attention to him,' he said, coolly; 'he seemed to +enjoy the play, and afterwards, when we went to supper with the actors, +he certainly ate very heartily for a dead man. I don't think you need +trouble yourself, Madame; your husband is quite well.' + +'What time did you leave him?' she asked, after a pause. + +'About twenty minutes to twelve, I think,' replied Vandeloup, 'at least, +I reached the "Wattle Tree" at about twelve o'clock, and I think it did +take twenty minutes to walk there. Monsieur Villiers stopped behind with +the theatre people to enjoy himself.' + +Enjoying himself, and she, thinking him dead, was crying over his +miserable end; it was infamous! Was this man a monster who could thus +commit a crime one moment and go to an amusement the next? It seemed +like it, and Mrs Villiers felt intense disgust towards her husband +as she sat with tightly clenched hands and dry eyes listening to +Vandeloup's recital. + +'Weel,' said Mr McIntosh at length, rubbing his scanty hair, 'the deil +looks after his ain, as we read in Screepture, and this child of Belial +is flourishing like a green bay tree by mony waters; but we ma' cut it +doon an' lay an axe at the root thereof.' + +'And how do you propose to chop him down?' asked Vandeloup, flippantly. + +'Pit him intil the Tolbooth for rinnin' awa' wi' the nugget,' retorted +Mr McIntosh, vindictively. + +'A very sensible suggestion,' said Gaston, approvingly, smoothing his +moustache. 'What do you say, Madame?' + +She shook her head. + +'Let him keep his ill-gotten gains,' she said, resignedly. 'Now that +he has obtained what he wanted, perhaps he'll leave me alone; I will do +nothing.' + +'Dae naethin'!' echoed Archie, in great wrath. 'Will ye let that +freend o' Belzibub rin awa' wid a three hun'red ounces of gold an' dae +naethin'? Na, na, ye mauna dae it, I tell ye. Oh, aye, ye may sit +there, mem, and glower awa' like a boggle, but ye aren'a gangin' to make +yoursel' a martyr for yon. Keep the nugget? I'll see him damned first.' + +This was the first time that Archie had ever dared to cross Mrs +Villiers' wishes, and she stared in amazement at the unwonted spectacle. +This time, however, McIntosh found an unexpected ally in Vandeloup, who +urged that Villiers should be prosecuted. + +'He is not only guilty of robbery, Madame,' said the young Frenchman, +'but also of an attempt to murder you, and while he is allowed to go +free, your life is not safe.' + +Selina also contributed her mite of wisdom in the form of a proverb:-- + +'A stitch in time saves nine,' intimating thereby that Mr Villiers +should be locked up and never let out again, in case he tried the same +game on with the next big nugget found. + +Madame thought for a few moments, and, seeing that they were all +unanimous, she agreed to the proposal that Villiers should be +prosecuted, with the stipulation, however, that he should be first +written to and asked to give up the nugget. If he did, and promised to +leave the district, no further steps would be taken; but if he declined +to do so, his wife would prosecute him with the uttermost rigour of +the law. Then Madame dismissed them, as she was anxious to get a little +sleep, and Vandeloup went to the office to write the letter, accompanied +by McIntosh, who wanted to assist in its composition. + +Meanwhile there was another individual in Ballarat who was much +interested in Villiers, and this kind-hearted gentleman was none other +than Slivers. Villiers was accustomed to come and sit in his office +every morning, and talk to him about things in general, and the Pactolus +claim in particular. On this morning, however, he did not arrive, and +Slivers was much annoyed thereat. He determined to give Villiers a piece +of his mind when he did see him. He went about his business at 'The +Corner', bought some shares, sold others, and swindled as many people +as he was able, then came back to his office and waited in all the +afternoon for his friend, who, however, did not come. + +Slivers was just going out to seek him when the door of his office was +violently flung open, and a tall, raw-boned female entered in a very +excited manner. Dressed in a dusty black gown, with a crape bonnet +placed askew on her rough hair, this lady banged on Slivers' table a +huge umbrella and demanded where Villiers was. + +'I don't know,' snapped Slivers, viciously; 'how the devil should I?' + +'Don't swear at me, you wooden-legged little monster,' cried the virago, +with another bang of the umbrella, which raised such a cloud of dust +that it nearly made Slivers sneeze his head off. 'He ain't been home +all night, and you've been leading him into bad habits, you cork-armed +libertine.' + +'Hasn't been home all night, eh?' said Slivers, sitting up quickly, +while Billy, who had been considerably alarmed at the gaunt female, +retired to the fireplace, and tried to conceal himself up the chimney. +'May I ask who you are?' + +'You may,' said the angry lady, folding her arms and holding the +umbrella in such an awkward manner that she nearly poked Slivers' +remaining eye out. + +'Well, who are you?' snapped Slivers, crossly, after waiting a +reasonable time for an answer and getting none. + +'I'm his landlady,' retorted the other, with a defiant snort. 'Matilda +Cheedle is my name, and I don't care who knows it.' + +'It's not a pretty name,' snarled Slivers, prodding the ground with his +wooden leg, as he always did when angry. 'Neither are you. What do +you mean by banging into my office like an insane giraffe?'--this in +allusion to Mrs Cheedle's height. + +'Oh, go on! go on!' said that lady defiantly; 'I've heard it all before; +I'm used to it; but here I sit until you tell me where my lodger is;' +and suiting the action to the word, Mrs Cheedle sat down in a chair with +such a bang that Billy gave a screech of alarm and said, 'Pickles!' + +'Pickles, you little bag of bones!' cried Mrs Cheedle, who thought that +the word had proceeded from Slivers, 'don't you call me "Pickles"--but +I'm used to it. I'm a lonely woman since Cheedle went to the cemetery, +and I'm always being insulted. Oh, my nerves are shattered under such +treatment'--this last because she saw the whisky bottle on the table, +and thought she might get some. + +Slivers took the hint, and filling a glass with whisky and water passed +it to her, and Mrs Cheedle, with many protestations that she never +touched spirits, drank it to the last drop. + +'Was Villiers always in the habit of coming home?' he asked. + +'Always,' replied Mrs Cheedle; 'he's bin with me eighteen months and +never stopped out one night; if he had,' grimly, 'I'd have known the +reason of his rampagin'.' + +'Strange,' said Slivers, thoughtfully, fixing Mrs Cheedle with his one +eye; 'when did you see him last?' + +'About three o'clock yesterday,' said Mrs Cheedle, looking sadly at a +hole in one of her cotton gloves; 'his conduct was most extraordinary; +he came home at that unusual hour, changed his linen clothes for a dark +suit, and, after he had eaten something, put on another hat, and walked +off with a stick under his arm.' + +'And you've never seen him since?' + +'Not a blessed sight of him,' replied Mrs Cheedle; 'you don't think +any harm's come to him, sir? Not as I care much for him--the drunken +wretch--but still he's a lodger and owes me rent, so I don't know but +what he might be off to Melbourne without paying, and leaving his boxes +full of bricks behind.' + +'I'll have a look round, and if I see him I'll send him home,' said +Slivers, rising to intimate the interview was at end. + +'Very well, mind you do,' said the widow, rising and putting the empty +glass on the table, 'send him home at once and I'll speak to him. And +perhaps,' with a bashful glance, 'you wouldn't mind seeing me up the +street a short way, as I'm alone and unprotected.' + +'Stuff!' retorted Slivers, ungraciously, 'there's plenty of light, and +you are big enough to look after yourself.' + +At this Mrs Cheedle snorted loudly like a war-horse, and flounced out +of the office in a rage, after informing Slivers in a loud voice that he +was a selfish, cork-eyed little viper, from which confusion of words it +will easily be seen that the whisky had taken effect on the good lady. + +When she had gone Slivers locked up his office, and sallied forth to +find the missing Villiers, but though he went all over town to that +gentleman's favourite haunts, mostly bars, yet he could see nothing of +him; and on making inquiries heard that he had not been seen in Ballarat +all day. This was so contrary to Villiers' general habits that Slivers +became suspicious, and as he walked home thinking over the subject he +came to the conclusion there was something up. + +'If,' said Slivers, pausing on the pavement and addressing a street +lamp, 'he doesn't turn up to-morrow I'll have a look for him again. If +that don't do I'll tell the police, and I shouldn't wonder,' went on +Slivers, musingly, 'I shouldn't wonder if they called on Madame Midas.' + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE + + +Slivers was puzzled over Villiers' disappearance, so he determined to +go in search of evidence against Madame Midas, though for what reason he +wanted evidence against her no one but himself--and perhaps Billy--knew. +But then Slivers always was an enigma regarding his reasons for doing +things, and even the Sphinx would have found him a difficult riddle to +solve. + +The reasons he had for turning detective were simply these: It soon +became known that Madame Midas had been robbed by her husband of the +famous nugget, and great was the indignation of everyone against Mr +Villiers. That gentleman would have fared very badly if he had made his +appearance, but for some reason or another he did not venture forth. In +fact, he had completely disappeared, and where he was no one knew. The +last person who saw him was Barty Jarper, who left him at the corner of +Lydiard and Sturt Streets, when Mr Villiers had announced his intention +of going home. Mrs Cheedle, however, asserted positively that she had +never set eyes on him since the time she stated to Slivers, and as it +was now nearly two weeks since he had disappeared things were beginning +to look serious. The generally received explanation was that he had +bolted with the nugget, but as he could hardly dispose of such a large +mass of gold without suspicion, and as the police both in Ballarat and +Melbourne had made inquiries, which proved futile, this theory began to +lose ground. + +It was at this period that Slivers asserted himself--coming forward, he +hinted in an ambiguous sort of way that Villiers had met with foul play, +and that some people had their reasons for wishing to get rid of him. +This was clearly an insinuation against Madame Midas, but everyone +refused to believe such an impossible story, so Slivers determined to +make good his words, and went in search of evidence. + +The Wopples Family having left Ballarat, Slivers was unable to see Mr +Theodore Wopples, who had been in Villiers' company on the night of his +disappearance. + +Mr Barty Jarper, however, had not yet departed, so Slivers waylaid him, +and asked him in a casual way to drop into his office and have a drink, +with a view of finding out from him all the events of that night. + +Barty was on his way to a lawn tennis party, and was arrayed in a +flannel suit of many colours, with his small, white face nearly hidden +under a large straw hat. Being of a social turn of mind, he did not +refuse Slivers' invitation, but walked into the dusty office and +assisted himself liberally to the whisky. + +'Here's fun, old cock!' he said, in a free and easy manner, raising his +glass to his lips; 'may your shadow never be less.' + +Slivers hoped devoutly that his shadow never would be less, as that +would involve the loss of several other limbs, which he could ill +spare; so he honoured Mr Jarper's toast with a rasping little laugh, and +prepared to talk. + +'It's very kind of you to come and talk to an old chap like me,' said +Slivers, in as amiable a tone as he could command, which was not much. +'You're such a gay young fellow!' + +Mr Jarper acknowledged modestly that he was gay, but that he owed +certain duties to society, and had to be mildly social. + +'And so handsome!' croaked Slivers, winking with his one eye at Billy, +who sat on the table. 'Oh, he's all there, ain't he, Billy?' + +Billy, however, did not agree to this, and merely observed 'Pickles,' in +a disbelieving manner. + +Mr Jarper felt rather overcome by this praise, and blushed in a modest +way, but felt that he could not return the compliment with any degree of +truth, as Slivers was not handsome, neither was he all there. + +He, however, decided that Slivers was an unusually discerning person, +and worthy to talk to, so prepared to make himself agreeable. + +Slivers, who had thus gained the goodwill of the young man by flattery, +plunged into the subject of Villiers' disappearance. + +'I wonder what's become of Villiers,' he said, artfully pushing the +whisky bottle toward Barty. + +'I'm sure I don't know,' said Barty in a languid, used-up sort of voice, +pouring himself out some more whisky, 'I haven't seen him since last +Monday week.' + +'Where did you leave him on that night?' asked Slivers. + +'At the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets.' + +'Early in the morning, I suppose?' + +'Yes--pretty early--about two o'clock, I think.' + +'And you never saw him after that?' + +'Not a sight of him,' replied Barty; 'but, I say, why all this +thusness?' + +'I'll tell you after you have answered my questions,' retorted Slivers, +rudely, 'but I'm not asking out of curiosity--its business.' + +Barty thought that Slivers was very peculiar, but determined to humour +him, and to take his leave as early as possible. + +'Well, go on,' he said, drinking his whisky, 'I'll answer.' + +'Who else was with you and Villiers on that night?' asked Slivers in a +magisterial kind of manner. + +'A French fellow called Vandeloup.' + +'Vandeloup!' echoed Slivers in surprise; 'oh, indeed! what the devil was +he doing?' + +'Enjoying himself,' replied Barty, coolly; 'he came into the theatre and +Villiers introduced him to me; then Mr Wopples asked us all to supper.' + +'You went, of course?' + +'Rather, old chap; what do you take us for?'--this from Barty, with a +knowing wink. + +'What time did Vandeloup leave?' asked Slivers, not paying any attention +to Barty's pantomime. + +'About twenty minutes to twelve.' + +'Oh! I suppose that was because he had to drive out to the Pactolus?' + +'Not such a fool, dear boy; he stayed all night in town.' + +'Oh!' ejaculated Slivers, in an excited manner, drumming on the table +with his fingers, 'where did he stay?' + +'At the Wattle Tree Hotel.' + +Slivers mentally made a note of this, and determined to go there and +find out at what time Vandeloup had come home on the night in question, +for this suspicious old man had now got it into his head that Vandeloup +was in some way responsible for Villiers' disappearance. + +'Where did Villiers say he was going when he left you?' he asked. + +'Straight home.' + +'Humph! Well, he didn't go home at all.' + +'Didn't he?' echoed Barty, in some astonishment. 'Then what's become of +him? Men don't disappear in this mysterious way without some reason.' + +'Ah, but there is a reason,' replied Slivers, bending across the table +and clawing at the papers thereon with the lean fingers of his one hand. + +'Why! what do you think is the reason?' faltered Barty, letting his +eye-glass drop out of his eye, and edging his chair further away from +this terrible old man. + +'Murder!' hissed the other through his thin lips. 'He's been murdered!' + +'Lord!' ejaculated Barty, jumping up from his chair in alarm; 'you're +going too far, old chap.' + +'I'm going further,' retorted Slivers, rising from his chair and +stumping up and down the room; 'I'm going to find out who did it, and +then I'll grind her to powder; I'll twist her neck off, curse her.' + +'Is it a woman?' asked Barty, who now began to think of making a +retreat, for Slivers, with his one eye blazing, and his cork arm +swinging rapidly to and fro, was not a pleasant object to contemplate. + +This unguarded remark recalled Slivers to himself. + +'That's what I want to find out,' he replied, sulkily, going back to his +chair. 'Have some more whisky?' + +'No, thanks,' answered Barty, going to the door, 'I'm late as it is for +my engagement; ta, ta, old chap, I hope you'll drop on the he or she +you're looking for; but you're quite wrong, Villiers has bolted with the +nugget, and that's a fact, sir,' and with an airy wave of his hand Barty +went out, leaving Slivers in anything but a pleasant temper. + +'Bah! you peacock,' cried this wicked old man, banging his wooden leg +against the table, 'you eye-glass idiot--you brainless puppy--I'm wrong, +am I? we'll see about that, you rag-shop.' This last in allusion to +Barty's picturesque garb. 'I've found out all I want from you, and I'll +track her down, and put her in gaol, and hang her--hang her till she's +as dead as a door nail.' + +Having given vent to this pleasant sentiment, Slivers put on his hat, +and, taking his stick, walked out of his office, but not before Billy +saw his intention and had climbed up to his accustomed place on the old +man's shoulder. So Slivers stumped along the street, with the cockatoo +on his shoulder, looking like a depraved Robinson Crusoe, and took his +way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + +'If,' argued Slivers to himself, as he pegged bravely along, 'if +Villiers wanted to get rid of the nugget he'd have come to me, for he +knew I'd keep quiet and tell no tales. Well, he didn't come to me, and +there's no one else he could go to. They've been looking for him all +over the shop, and they can't find him; he can't be hiding or he'd have +let me know; there's only one explanation--he's been murdered--but not +for the gold--oh, dear no--for nobody knew he had it. Who wanted him out +of the way?--his wife. Would she stick at anything?--I'm damned if she +would. So it's her work. The only question is did she do it personally +or by deputy. I say deputy, 'cause she'd be too squeamish to do it +herself. Who would she select as deputy?--Vandeloup! Why?--'cause he'd +like to marry her for her money. Yes, I'm sure it's him. Things look +black against him: he stayed in town all night, a thing he never +did before--leaves the supper at a quarter to twelve, so as to avoid +suspicion; waits till Villiers comes out at two in the morning and kills +him. Aha! my handsome jackadandy,' cried Slivers, viciously, suddenly +stopping and shaking his stick at an imaginary Vandeloup; 'I've got you +under my thumb, and I'll crush the life out of you--and of her also, if +I can;' and with this amiable resolution Slivers resumed his way. + +Slivers' argument was plausible, but there were plenty of flaws in it, +which, however, he did not stop to consider, so carried away was he by +his anger against Madame Midas. He stumped along doggedly, revolving the +whole affair in his mind, and by the time he arrived at the Wattle Tree +Hotel he had firmly persuaded himself that Villiers was dead, and that +Vandeloup had committed the crime at the instigation of Mrs Villiers. + +He found Miss Twexby seated in the bar, with a decidedly cross face, +which argued ill for anyone who held converse with her that day; but as +Slivers was quite as crabbed as she was, and, moreover, feared neither +God nor man--much less a woman--he tackled her at once. + +'Where's your father?' he asked, abruptly, leaning on his stick and +looking intently at the fair Martha's vinegary countenance. + +'Asleep!' snapped that damsel, jerking her head in the direction of the +parlour; 'what do you want?'--very disdainfully. + +'A little civility in the first place,' retorted Slivers, rudely, +sitting down on a bench that ran along the wall, and thereby causing his +wooden leg to stick straight out, which, being perceived by Billy, he +descended from the old man's shoulder and turned the leg into a perch, +where he sat and swore at Martha. + +'You wicked old wretch,' said Miss Twexby, viciously--her nose getting +redder with suppressed excitement--'go along with you, and take that +irreligious parrot with you, or I'll wake my par.' + +'He won't thank you for doing so,' replied Slivers, coolly; 'I've called +to see him about some new shares just on the market, and if you don't +treat me with more respect I'll go, and he'll be out of a good thing.' + +Now, Miss Twexby knew that Slivers was in the habit of doing business +with her parent, and, moreover was a power in the share market, so she +did not deem it diplomatic to go too far, and bottling up her wrath for +a future occasion, when no loss would be involved, she graciously asked +Slivers what he'd be pleased to have. + +'Whisky,' said Slivers, curtly, leaning his chin on his stick, and +following her movements with his one eye. 'I say!' + +'Well?' asked Miss Twexby, coming from behind the bar with a glass and a +bottle of whisky, 'what do you say?' + +'How's that good-looking Frenchman?' asked Slivers, pouring himself out +some liquor, and winking at her in a rakish manner with his one eye. + +'How should I know?' snapped Martha, angrily, 'he comes here to see that +friend of his, and then clears out without as much as a good day; a nice +sort of friend, indeed,' wrathfully, 'stopping here nearly two weeks +and drunk all the time; he'll be having delirious trimmings before he's +done.' + +'Who wills?' said Slivers, taking a sip of his whisky and water. + +'Why, that other Frenchman!' retorted Martha, going to her place behind +the bar, 'Peter something; a low, black wretch, all beard, with no +tongue, and a thirst like a lime-kiln.' + +'Oh, the dumb man.' + +Miss Twexby nodded. + +'That's him,' she said, triumphantly, 'he's been here for the last two +weeks.' + +'Drunk, I think you said,' remarked Slivers, politely. + +Martha laughed scornfully, and took out some sewing. + +'I should just think so,' she retorted, tossing her head, 'he does +nothing but drink all day, and run after people with that knife.' + +'Very dangerous,' observed Slivers, gravely shaking his head; 'why don't +you get rid of him?' + +'So we are,' said Miss Twexby, biting off a bit of cotton, as if she +wished it were Pierre's head; 'he is going down to Melbourne the day +after to-morrow.' + +Slivers got weary of hearing about Pierre, and plunged right off into +the object of his visit. + +'That Vandeloup,' he began. + +'Well?' said Miss Twexby, letting the work fall on her lap. + +'What time did he come home the night he stopped here?' + +'Twelve o'clock.' + +'Get along with you,' said Slivers, in disgust, 'you mean three +o'clock.' + +'No, I don't,' retorted Martha, indignantly; 'you'll be telling me I +don't know the time next.' + +'Did he go out again? + +'No, he went to bed.' + +This quite upset Slivers' idea--as if Vandeloup had gone to bed at +twelve, he certainly could not have murdered Villiers nearly a mile away +at two o'clock in the morning. Slivers was puzzled, and then the light +broke on him--perhaps it was the dumb man. + +'Did the other stay here all night also?' + +Miss Twexby nodded. 'Both in the same room,' she answered. + +'What time did the dumb chap come in?' + +'Half-past nine.' + +Here was another facer for Slivers--as it could not have been Pierre. + +'Did he go to bed?' + +'Straight.' + +'And did not leave the house again?' + +'Of course not,' retorted Miss Twexby, impatiently; 'do you think I'm a +fool--no one goes either in or out of this house without my knowing +it. The dumb devil went to bed at half-past nine, and Mr Vandeloup at +half-past twelve, and they neither of them came out of their rooms till +next morning.' + +'How do you know Vandeloup was in at twelve?' asked Slivers, still +unconvinced. + +'Drat the man, what's he worryin' about?' rejoined Miss Twexby, +snappishly; 'I let him in myself.' + +This clearly closed the subject, and Slivers arose to his feet in great +disgust, upsetting Billy on to the floor. + +'Devil!' shrieked Billy, as he dropped. 'Oh, my precious mother. +Devil--devil--devil--you're a liar--you're a liar--Bendigo and +Ballarat--Ballarat and Bendigo--Pickles!' + +Having thus run through a portion of his vocabulary, he subsided into +silence, and let Slivers pick him up in order to go home. + +'A nice pair you are,' muttered Martha, grimly, looking at them. 'I wish +I had the thrashing of you. Won't you stay and see par?' she called out +as Slivers departed. + +'I'll come to-morrow,' answered Slivers, angrily, for he felt very much +out of temper; then, in a lower voice, he observed to himself, 'I'd like +to put that jade in a teacup and crush her.' + +He stumped home in silence, thinking all the time; and it was only when +he arrived back in his office that he gave utterance to his thoughts. + +'It couldn't have been either of the Frenchmen,' he said, lighting his +pipe. 'She must have done it herself.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MCINTOSH SPEAKS HIS MIND + + +It was some time before Mrs Villiers recovered from the shock caused by +her encounter with her husband. The blow he had struck her on the side +of the head turned out to be more serious than was at first anticipated, +and Selina deemed it advisable that a doctor should be called in. +So Archie went into Ballarat, and returned to the Pactolus with Dr +Gollipeck, an eccentric medical practitioner, whose peculiarities were +the talk of the city. + +Dr Gollipeck was tall and lank, with an unfinished look about him, as +if Nature in some sudden freak had seized an incomplete skeleton from a +museum and hastily covered it with parchment. He dressed in rusty black, +wore dingy cotton gloves, carried a large white umbrella, and surveyed +the world through the medium of a pair of huge spectacles. His clothes +were constantly coming undone, as he scorned the use of buttons, and +preferred pins, which were always scratching his hands. He spoke very +little, and was engaged in composing an erudite work on 'The Art of +Poisoning, from Borgia to Brinvilliers'. + +Selina was not at all impressed with his appearance, and mentally +decided that a good wash and a few buttons would improve him +wonderfully. Dr Gollipeck, however, soon verified the adage that +appearances are deceptive--as Selina afterwards remarked to Archie--by +bringing Madame Midas back to health in a wonderfully short space of +time. She was now convalescent, and, seated in the arm-chair by the +window, looked dreamily at the landscape. She was thinking of her +husband, and in what manner he would annoy her next; but she half +thought--and the wish was father to the half thought--that having got +the nugget he would now leave her alone. + +She knew that he had not been in Ballarat since that fatal night when he +had attacked her, but imagined that he was merely hiding till such time +as the storm should blow over and he could enjoy his ill-gotten gains in +safety. The letter asking him to give up the nugget and ordering him +to leave the district under threat of prosecution had been sent to his +lodgings, but was still lying there unopened. The letters accumulated +into quite a little pile as weeks rolled on, yet Mr Villiers, if he was +alive, made no sign, and if he was dead, no traces had been found of his +body. McIntosh and Slivers had both seen the police about the affair, +one in order to recover the nugget, the other actuated by bitter enmity +against Madame Midas. To Slivers' hints, that perhaps Villiers' wife +knew more than she chose to tell, the police turned a deaf ear, as they +assured Slivers that they had made inquiries, and on the authority of +Selina and McIntosh could safely say that Madame Midas had been home +that night at half-past nine o'clock, whereas Villiers was still alive +in Ballarat--as could be proved by the evidence of Mr Jarper--at two +o'clock in the morning. So, foiled on every side in his endeavours to +implicate Mrs Villiers in her husband's disappearance, Slivers retired +to his office, and, assisted by his ungodly cockatoo, passed many hours +in swearing at his bad luck and in cursing the absent Villiers. + +As to M. Vandeloup, he was indefatigable in his efforts to find +Villiers, for, as he very truly said, he could never repay Madame Midas +sufficiently for her kindness to him, and he wanted to do all in his +power to punish her cruel husband. But in spite of all this seeking, the +whereabouts of Mr Randolph Villiers remained undiscovered, and at last, +in despair, everyone gave up looking. Villiers had disappeared entirely, +and had taken the nugget with him, so where he was and what he was doing +remained a mystery. + +One result of Madame's illness was that M. Vandeloup had met Dr +Gollipeck, and the two, though apparently dissimilar in both character +and appearance, had been attracted to one another by a liking which they +had in common. This was the study of toxicology, a science at which +the eccentric old man had spent a lifetime. He found in Vandeloup a +congenial spirit, for the young Frenchman had a wonderful liking for +the uncanny subject; but there was a difference in the aims of both men, +Gollipeck being drawn to the study of poisons from a pure love of the +subject, whereas Vandeloup wanted to find out the secrets of toxicology +for his own ends, which were anything but disinterested. + +Wearied of the dull routine of the office work, Vandeloup was taking +a walk in the meadows which surrounded the Pactolus, when he saw Dr +Gollipeck shuffling along the dusty white road from the railway station. + +'Good day, Monsieur le Medecin,' said Vandeloup, gaily, as he came up to +the old man; 'are you going to see our mutual friend?' + +Gollipeck, ever sparing of words, nodded in reply, and trudged on in +silence, but the Frenchmen, being used to the eccentricities of his +companion, was in nowise offended at his silence, but went on talking in +an animated manner. + +'Ah, my dear friend,' he said, pushing his straw hat back on his fair +head; 'how goes on the great work?' + +'Capitally,' returned the doctor, with a complacent smile; 'just +finished "Catherine de Medici"--wonderful woman, sir--quite a mistress +of the art of poisoning.' + +'Humph,' returned Vandeloup, thoughtfully, lighting a cigarette, 'I do +not agree with you there; it was her so-called astrologer, Ruggieri, +who prepared all her potions. Catherine certainly had the power, but +Ruggieri possessed the science--a very fair division of labour for +getting rid of people, I must say--but what have you got there?' nodding +towards a large book which Gollipeck carried under his arm. + +'For you,' answered the other, taking the book slowly from under his +arm, and thereby causing another button to fly off, 'quite new,--work on +toxicology.' + +'Thank you,' said Vandeloup, taking the heavy volume and looking at the +title; 'French, I see! I'm sure it will be pleasant reading.' + +The title of the book was 'Les Empoisonneurs d'Aujourd'hui, par MM. +Prevol et Lebrun', and it had only been published the previous year; so +as he turned over the leaves carelessly, M. Vandeloup caught sight of +a name which he knew. He smiled a little, and closing the book put it +under his arm, while he turned smilingly towards his companion, whom he +found looking keenly at him. + +'I shall enjoy this book immensely,' he said, touching the volume. Dr +Gollipeck nodded and chuckled in a hoarse rattling kind of way. + +'So I should think,' he answered, with another sharp look, 'you are a +very clever young man, my friend.' + +Vandeloup acknowledged the compliment with a bow, and wondered mentally +what this old man meant. Gaston, however, was never without an answer, +so he turned to Gollipeck again with a nonchalant smile on his handsome +lips. + +'So kind of you to think well of me,' he said, coolly flicking the ash +off the end of his cigarette with his little finger; 'but why do you pay +me such a compliment?' + +Gollipeck answered the question by asking another. + +'Why are you so fond of toxicology?' he said, abruptly, shuffling his +feet in the long dry grass in which they were now walking in order to +rub the dust off his ungainly, ill-blacked shoes. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'To pass the time,' he said, carelessly, 'that is all; even office work, +exciting as it is, becomes wearisome, so I must take up some subject to +amuse myself.' + +'Curious taste for a young man,' remarked the doctor, dryly. + +'Nature,' said M. Vandeloup, 'does not form men all on the same pattern, +and my taste for toxicology has at least the charm of novelty.' + +Gollipeck looked at the young man again in a sharp manner. + +'I hope you'll enjoy the book,' he said, abruptly, and vanished into the +house. + +When he was gone, the mocking smile so habitual to Vandeloup's +countenance faded away, and his face assumed a thoughtful expression. He +opened the book, and turned over the leaves rapidly, but without finding +what he was in search of. With an uneasy laugh he shut the volume with a +snap, and put it under his arm again. + +'He's an enigma,' he thought, referring to the doctor; 'but he can't +suspect anything. The case may be in this book, but I doubt if even this +man with the barbarous name can connect Gaston Vandeloup, of Ballarat, +with Octave Braulard, of Paris.' + +His face reassumed its usual gay look, and throwing away the half-smoked +cigarette, he walked into the house and found Madame Midas seated in her +arm-chair near the window looking pale and ill, while Archie was walking +up and down in an excited manner, and talking volubly in broad Scotch. +As to Dr Gollipeck, that eccentric individual was standing in front of +the fire, looking even more dilapidated than usual, and drying his red +bandanna handkerchief in an abstract manner. Selina was in another room +getting a drink for Madame, and as Vandeloup entered she came back with +it. + +'Good day, Madame,' said the Frenchman, advancing to the table, and +putting his hat and the book down on it. 'How are you today?' + +'Better, much better, thank you,' said Madame, with a faint smile; 'the +doctor assures me I shall be quite well in a week.' + +'With perfect rest and quiet, of course,' interposed Gollipeck, sitting +down and spreading his handkerchief over his knees. + +'Which Madame does not seem likely to get,' observed Vandeloup, dryly, +with a glance at McIntosh, who was still pacing up and down the room +with an expression of wrath on his severe face. + +'Ou, ay,' said that gentleman, stopping in front of Vandeloup, with a +fine expression of scorn. 'I ken weel 'tis me ye are glowerin' at--div +ye no' ken what's the matter wi' me?' + +'Not being in your confidence,' replied Gaston, smoothly, taking a seat, +'I can hardly say that I do.' + +'It's just that Peter o' yours,' said Archie, with a snort; 'a puir +weecked unbaptised child o' Satan.' + +'Archie!' interposed Madame, with some severity. + +'Your pardon's begged, mem,' said Archie, sourly turning to her; 'but as +for that Peter body, the Lord keep me tongue fra' swearin', an' my hand +from itching to gie him ain on the lug, when I think o' him.' + +'What's he been doing?' asked Vandeloup, coolly. 'I am quite prepared to +hear anything about him in his present state.' + +'It's just this,' burst forth Archie, wrathfully. 'I went intil the toun +to the hotel, to tell the body he must come back tae the mine, and I +find him no in a fit state for a Christian to speak to.' + +'Therefore,' interposed Vandeloup, in his even voice, without lifting +his eyes, 'it was a pity you did speak to him.' + +'I gang t' the room,' went on Archie excitedly, without paying any +attention to Vandeloup's remark, 'an' the deil flew on me wi' a dirk, +and wud hae split my weasand, but I hed the sense to bang the door to, +and turn the key in the lock. D'y ca' that conduct for a ceevilized +body?' + +'The fact is, M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, quietly, 'Archie is so annoyed +at this conduct that he does not want Lemaire to come back to work.' + +'Ma certie, I should just think so,' cried McIntosh, rubbing his head +with his handkerchief. 'Fancy an imp of Beelzebub like yon in the bowels +o' the earth. Losh! but it macks my bluid rin cauld when I think o' the +bluidthirsty pagan.' + +To Vandeloup, this information was not unpleasant. He was anxious to get +rid of Pierre, who was such an incubus, and now saw that he could send +him away without appearing to wish to get rid of him. But as he was a +diplomatic young man he did not allow his satisfaction to appear on his +face. + +'Aren't you rather hard on him?' he said, coolly, leaning back in his +chair; 'he is simply drunk, and will be all right soon.' + +'I tell ye I'll no have him back,' said Archie, firmly; 'he's ain o' +they foreign bodies full of revolutions an' confusion o' tongues, and +I'd no feel safe i' the mine if I kenned that deil was doon below wi' +his dirk.' + +'I really think he ought to go,' said Madame, looking rather anxiously +at Vandeloup, 'unless, M. Vandeloup, you do not want to part with him.' + +'Oh, I don't want him,' said Vandeloup, hastily; 'as I told you, he +was only one of the sailors on board the ship I was wrecked in, and he +followed me up here because I was the only friend he had, but now he has +got money--or, at least, his wages must come to a good amount.' + +'Forty pounds,' interposed Archie. + +'So I think the best thing he can do is to go to Melbourne, and see if +he can get back to France.' + +'And you, M. Vandeloup?' asked Dr Gollipeck, who had been listening to +the young Frenchman's remarks with great interest; 'do you not wish to +go to France?' + +Vandeloup rose coolly from his chair, and, picking up his book and hat, +turned to the doctor. + +'My dear Monsieur,' he said, leaning up against the wall in a graceful +manner, 'I left France to see the world, so until I have seen it I don't +think it would be worthwhile to return.' + +'Never go back when you have once put your hand to the plough,' observed +Selina, opportunely, upon which Vandeloup bowed to her. + +'Mademoiselle,' he said, quietly, with a charming smile, 'has put the +matter into the shell of a nut; Australia is my plough, and I do not +take my hand away until I have finished with it.' + +'But that deil o' a Peter,' said Archie, impatiently. + +'If you will permit me, Madame,' said Vandeloup, 'I will write out a +cheque for the amount of money due to him, and you will sign it. I will +go into Ballarat to-morrow, and get him away to Melbourne. I propose +to buy him a box and some clothes, as he certainly is not capable of +getting them himself.' + +'You have a kind heart, M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, as she assented with +a nod. + +A stifled laugh came from the Doctor, but as he was such an extremely +eccentric individual no one minded him. + +'Come, Monsieur,' said Vandeloup, going to the door, 'let us be off +to the office and see how much is due to my friend,' and with a bow to +Madame, he went out. + +'A braw sort o' freend,' muttered Archie, as he followed. + +'Quite good enough for him,' retorted Dr Gollipeck, who overheard him. + +Archie looked at him approvingly, nodded his head, and went out after +the Frenchman, but Madame, being a woman and curious, asked the doctor +what he meant. + +His reply was peculiar. + +'Our friend,' he said, putting his handkerchief in his pocket and +seizing his greasy old hat, 'our friend believes in the greatest +number.' + +'And what is the greatest number?' asked Madame, innocently. + +'Number one,' retorted the Doctor, and took his leave abruptly, leaving +two buttons and several pins on the floor as traces of his visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST PART + + +Union is strength, and if Dr Gollipeck had only met Slivers and revealed +his true opinion of Vandeloup to him, no doubt that clever young man +would have found himself somewhat embarrassed, as a great deal of a +man's past history can be found out by the simple plan of putting two +and two together. Fortunately, however, for Gaston, these two gentlemen +never met, and Gollipeck came to the conclusion that he could see +nothing to blame in Vandeloup's conduct, though he certainly mistrusted +him, and determined mentally to keep an eye on his movements. What led +him to be suspicious was the curious resemblance the appearance of this +young man had to that of a criminal described in the 'Les Empoisonneurs +d'Aujourd'hui' as having been transported to New Caledonia for the crime +of poisoning his mistress. Everything, however, was vague and uncertain; +so Dr Gollipeck, when he arrived home, came to the above-named +conclusion that he would watch Vandeloup, and then, dismissing him from +his mind, went to work on his favourite subject. + +Meanwhile, M. Vandeloup slept the sleep of the just, and next morning, +after making his inquiries after the health of Madame Midas--a thing +he never neglected to do--he went into Ballarat in search of Pierre. +On arriving at the Wattle Tree Hotel he was received by Miss Twexby in +dignified silence, for that astute damsel was beginning to regard the +fascinating Frenchman as a young man who talked a great deal and meant +nothing. + +He was audacious enough to win her virgin heart and then break it, so +Miss Twexby thought the wisest thing would be to keep him at a distance. +So Vandeloup's bright smiles and merry jokes failed to call forth any +response from the fair Martha, who sat silently in the bar, looking like +a crabbed sphinx. + +'Is my friend Pierre in?' asked Vandeloup, leaning across the counter, +and looking lovingly at Miss Twexby. + +That lady intimated coldly that he was in, and had been for the last two +weeks; also that she was sick of him, and she'd thank M. Vandeloup to +clear him out--all of which amused Vandeloup mightily, though he still +continued to smile coolly on the sour-faced damsel before him. + +'Would you mind going and telling him I want to see him?' he asked, +lounging to the door. + +'Me!' shrieked Martha, in a shrill voice, shooting up from behind the +counter like an infuriated jack-in-the-box. 'No, I shan't. Why, the last +time I saw him he nearly cut me like a ham sandwich with that knife of +his. I am not,' pursued Miss Twexby, furiously, 'a loaf of bread to be +cut, neither am I a pin-cushion to have things stuck into me; so if you +want to be a corpse, you'd better go up yourself.' + +'I hardly think he'll touch me,' replied Vandeloup, coolly, going +towards the door which led to Pierre's bedroom. 'You've had a lot of +trouble with him, I'm afraid; but he's going down to Melbourne tonight, +so it will be all right.' + +'And the bill?' queried Miss Twexby, anxiously. + +'I will pay it,' said Vandeloup, at which she was going to say he was +very generous, but suppressed the compliment when he added, 'out of his +own money.' + +Gaston, however, failed to persuade Pierre to accompany him round to buy +an outfit. For the dumb man lay on his bed, and obstinately refused to +move out of the room. He, however, acquiesced sullenly when his friend +told him he was going to Melbourne, so Vandeloup left the room, having +first secured Pierre's knife, and locked the door after him. He gave +the knife to Miss Twexby, with injunctions to her to keep it safe, then +sallied forth to buy his shipwrecked friend a box and some clothes. + +He spent about ten pounds in buying an outfit for the dumb man, hired a +cab to call at the 'Wattle Tree' Hotel at seven o'clock to take the box +and its owner to the station. And then feeling he had done his duty +and deserved some recompense, he had a nice little luncheon and a small +bottle of wine for which he paid out of Pierre's money. When he finished +he bought a choice cigar, had a glass of Chartreuse, and after resting +in the commercial room for a time he went out for a walk, intending to +call on Slivers and Dr Gollipeck, and in fact do anything to kill time +until it would be necessary for him to go to Pierre and take him to the +railway station. + +He walked slowly up Sturt Street, and as the afternoon was so warm, +thought he would go up to Lake Wendouree, which is at the top of +the town, and see if it was any cooler by the water. The day was +oppressively hot, but not with the bright, cheery warmth of a summer's +day, for the sun was hidden behind great masses of angry-looking clouds, +and it seemed as if a thunderstorm would soon break over the city. Even +Vandeloup, full of life and animation as he was, felt weighed down by +the heaviness of the atmosphere, and feeling quite exhausted when he +arrived at the lake, he was glad enough to sit down on one of the seats +for a rest. + +The lake under the black sky was a dull leaden hue, and as there was +no wind the water was perfectly still. Even the trees all round it were +motionless, as there came no breeze to stir their leaves, and the only +sounds that could be heard were the dull croaking of the frogs amid the +water grasses, and the shrill cries of children playing on the green +turf. Every now and then a steamer would skim across the surface of the +water in an airy manner, looking more like a child's clockwork toy than +anything else, and Vandeloup, when he saw one of these arrive at the +little pier, almost expected to see a man put in a huge key to the +paddle wheels and wind it up again. + +On one of the seats Vandeloup espied a little figure in white, and +seeing that it was Kitty, he strolled up to her in a leisurely manner. +She was looking at the ground when he came up, and was prodding holes in +the spongy turf with her umbrella, but glanced up carelessly as he came +near. Then she sprang up with a cry of joy, and throwing her arms around +his neck, she kissed him twice. + +'I haven't seen you for ages,' said Kitty, putting her arm in his as +they sat down. 'I just came up here for a week, and did not think I'd +see you.' + +'The meeting was quite accidental, I know,' replied Gaston, leaning back +lazily; 'but none the less pleasant on that account.' + +'Oh, no,' said Kitty, gravely shaking her head; 'unexpected meetings +are always pleasanter than those arranged, for there's never any +disappointment about them.' + +'Oh, that's your experience, is it?' answered her lover, with an amused +smile, pulling out his cigarette case. 'Well, suppose you reward me for +my accidental presence here, and light a cigarette for me.' + +Kitty was of course delighted, and took the case while M. Vandeloup +leaned back in the seat, his hands behind his head, and stared +reflectively at the leaden-coloured sky. Kitty took out a cigarette from +the case, placed it between her pretty lips, and having obtained a match +from one of her lover's pockets, proceeded to light it, which was not +done without a great deal of choking and pretty confusion. At length she +managed it, and bending over Gaston, placed it in his mouth, and gave +him a kiss at the same time. + +'If pa knew I did this, he'd expire with horror,' she said, sagely +nodding her head. + +'Wouldn't be much loss if he did,' replied Vandeloup, lazily, glancing +at her pretty face from under his eyelashes; 'your father has a great +many faults, dear.' + +'Oh, "The Elect" think him perfect,' said Kitty, wisely. + +'From their point of view, perhaps he is,' returned Gaston, with a faint +sneer; 'but he's not a man given to exuberant mirth.' + +'Well, he is rather dismal,' assented Kitty, doubtfully. + +'Wouldn't you like to leave him and lead a jollier life?' asked +Vandeloup, artfully, 'in Melbourne, for instance.' + +Kitty looked at him half afraid. + +'I--I don't know,' she faltered, looking down. + +'But I do, Bebe,' whispered Gaston, putting his arm round her waist; +'you would like to come with me.' + +'Why? Are you going?' cried Kitty, in dismay. + +Vandeloup nodded. + +'I think I spoke about this before,' he said, idly brushing some +cigarette ash off his waistcoat. + +'Yes,' returned Kitty, 'but I thought you did not mean it.' + +'I never say anything I do not mean,' answered Vandeloup, with the ready +lie on his lips in a moment; 'and I have got letters from France with +money, so I am going to leave the Pactolus.' + +'And me?' said Kitty, tearfully. + +'That depends upon yourself, Bebe,' he said rapidly, pressing her +burning cheek against his own; 'your father would never consent to my +marriage, and I can't take you away from Ballarat without suspicions, +so--' + +'Yes?' said Kitty, eagerly, looking at him. + +'You must run away,' he whispered, with a caressing smile. + +'Alone?' + +'For a time, yes,' he answered, throwing away his cigarette; +'listen--next week you must meet me here, and I will give you money to +keep you in Melbourne for some time; then you must leave Ballarat at +once and wait for me at the Buttercup Hotel in Gertrude Street, Carlton; +you understand?' + +'Yes,' faltered Kitty, nervously; 'I--I understand.' + +'And you will come?' he asked anxiously, looking keenly at her, and +pressing the little hand he held in his own. Just as she was going to +answer, as if warning her of the fatal step she was about to take, a low +roll of thunder broke on their ears, and Kitty shrank back appalled from +her lover's embrace. + +'No! no! no!' she almost shrieked, hysterically, trying to tear herself +away from his arms, 'I cannot; God is speaking.' + +'Bah!' sneered Vandeloup, with an evil look on his handsome face, 'he +speaks too indistinctly for us to guess what he means; what are you +afraid of? I will join you in Melbourne in two or three weeks, and then +we will be married.' + +'But my father,' she whispered, clasping her hot hands convulsively. + +'Well, what of him?' asked Vandeloup, coolly; 'he is so wrapped up in +his religion that he will not miss you; he will never find out where you +are in Melbourne, and by the time he does you will be my wife. Come,' +he said, ardently, whispering the temptation in her ear, as if he was +afraid of being heard, 'you must consent; say yes, Bebe; say yes.' + +She felt his hot breath on her cheek, and felt rather than saw the +scintillations of his wonderful eyes, which sent a thrill through her; +so, utterly exhausted and worn out by the overpowering nervous force +possessed by this man, she surrendered. + +'Yes,' she whispered, clinging to him with dry lips and a beating heart; +'I will come!' Then her overstrained nature gave way, and with a burst +of tears she threw herself on his breast. + +Gaston let her sob quietly for some time, satisfied with having gained +his end, and knowing that she would soon recover. At last Kitty grew +calmer, and drying her eyes, she rose to her feet wan and haggard, as if +she was worn out for the want of sleep, and not by any manner of means +looking like a girl who was in love. This appearance was caused by the +revolt of her religious training against doing what she knew was wrong. +In her breast a natural instinct had been fighting against an artificial +one; and as Nature is always stronger than precept, Nature had +conquered. + +'My dear Bebe,' said Vandeloup, rising also, and kissing her white +cheek, 'you must go home now, and get a little sleep; it will do you +good.' + +'But you?' asked Kitty, in a low voice, as they walked slowly along. + +'Oh, I,' said M. Vandeloup, airily; 'I am going to the Wattle Tree Hotel +to see my friend Pierre off to Melbourne.' + +Then he exerted himself to amuse Kitty as they walked down to town, and +succeeded so well that by the time they reached Lydiard Street, where +Kitty left him to go up to Black Hill, she was laughing as merrily as +possible. They parted at the railway crossing, and Kitty went gaily up +the white dusty road, while M. Vandeloup strolled leisurely along the +street on his way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + +When he arrived he found that Pierre's box had come, and was placed +outside his door, as no one had been brave enough to venture inside, +although Miss Twexby assured them he was unarmed--showing the knife as a +proof. + +Gaston, however, dragged the box into the room, and having made Pierre +dress himself in his new clothes, he packed all the rest in a box, +corded it, and put a ticket on it with his name and destination, +then gave the dumb man the balance of his wages. It was now about six +o'clock, so Vandeloup went down to dinner; then putting Pierre and his +box into the cab, stepped in himself and drove off. + +The promise of rain in the afternoon was now fulfilled, and it was +pouring in torrents. The gutters were rivers, and every now and then +through the driving rain came the bluish dart of a lightning flash. + +'Bah!' said Vandeloup, with a shiver, as they got out on the station +platform, 'what a devil of a night.' + +He made the cab wait for him, and, having got Pierre's ticket, put him +in a second-class carriage and saw that his box was safely placed in the +luggage-van. The station was crowded with people going and others coming +to say goodbye; the rain was beating on the high-arched tin roof, and +the engine at the end of the long train was fretting and fuming like a +living thing impatient to be gone. + +'You are now on your own responsibility, my friend,' said Vandeloup to +Pierre, as he stood at the window of the carriage; 'for we must part, +though long together have we been. Perhaps I will see you in Melbourne; +if I do you will find I have not forgotten the past,' and, with a +significant look at the dumb man, Vandeloup lounged slowly away. + +The whistle blew shrilly, the last goodbyes were spoken, the guard +shouted 'All aboard for Melbourne,' and shut all the doors, then, with +another shriek and puff of white steam, the train, like a long, lithe +serpent, glided into the rain and darkness with its human freight. + +'At last I have rid myself of this dead weight,' said Vandeloup, as he +drove along the wet streets to Craig's Hotel, where he intended to stay +for the night, 'and can now shape my own fortune. Pierre is gone, Bebe +will follow, and now I must look after myself.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +M. VANDELOUP IS UNJUSTLY SUSPECTED + + +'It never rains but it pours' is an excellent proverb, and a very true +one, for it is remarkable how events of a similar nature follow closely +on one another's heels when the first that happened has set the ball +a-rolling. Madame Midas believed to a certain extent in this, and +she half expected that when Pierre went he would be followed by M. +Vandeloup, but she certainly did not think that the disappearance of her +husband would be followed by that of Kitty Marchurst. Yet such was the +case, for Mr Marchurst, not seeing Kitty at family prayers, had sent in +the servant to seek for her, and the scared domestic had returned with +a startled face and a letter for her master. Marchurst read the +tear-blotted little note, in which Kitty said she was going down to +Melbourne to appear on the stage. Crushing it up in his hand, he went +on with family prayers in his usual manner, and after dismissing his +servants for the night, he went up to his daughter's room, and found +that she had left nearly everything behind, only taking a few needful +things with her. Seeing her portrait on the wall he took it down and +placed it in his pocket. Then, searching through her room, he found +some ribbons and lace, a yellow-backed novel, which he handled with the +utmost loathing, and a pair of gloves. Regarding these things as the +instruments of Satan, by which his daughter had been led to destruction, +he carried them downstairs to his dismal study and piled them in the +empty fireplace. Placing his daughter's portrait on top he put a light +to the little pile of frivolities, and saw them slowly burn away. The +novel curled and cracked in the scorching flame, but the filmy lace +vanished like cobwebs, and the gloves crackled and shrank into mere +wisps of black leather. And over all, through the flames, her face, +bright and charming, looked out with laughing lips and merry eyes--so +like her mother's, and yet so unlike in its piquant grace--until that +too fell into the hollow heart of the flames, and burned slowly away +into a small pile of white ashes. + +Marchurst, leaving the dead ashes cold and grey in the dark fireplace, +went to his writing table, and falling on his knees he passed the rest +of the night in prayer. + +Meanwhile, the man who was the primary cause of all this trouble was +working in the office of the Pactolus claim with a light heart and +cool head. Gaston had really managed to get Kitty away in a very clever +manner, inasmuch as he never appeared publicly to be concerned in it, +but directed the whole business secretly. He had given Kitty sufficient +money to keep her for some months in Melbourne, as he was in doubt when +he could leave the Pactolus without being suspected of being concerned +in her disappearance. He also told her what day to leave, and all that +day stayed at the mine working at his accounts, and afterwards spent the +evening very pleasantly with Madame Midas. Next day McIntosh went into +Ballarat on business, and on returning from the city, where he had heard +all about it--rumour, of course, magnifying the whole affair greatly--he +saw Vandeloup come out of the office, and drew up in the trap beside the +young man. + +'Aha, Monsieur,' said Vandeloup, gaily, rolling a cigarette in his +slender fingers, and shooting a keen glance at Archie; 'you have had a +pleasant day.' + +'Maybe yes, maybe no,' returned McIntosh, cautiously, fumbling in the +bag; 'there's naething muckle in the toun, but--deil tack the bag,' +he continued, tetchily shaking it. 'I've gotten a letter or so fra' +France.' + +'For me?' cried Vandeloup, eagerly, holding out his hands. + +'An' for who else would it be?' grumbled Archie, giving the letter to +him--a thin, foreign looking envelope with the Parisian post mark on it; +'did ye think it was for that black-avised freend o' yours?' + +'Hardly!' returned Vandeloup, glancing at the letter with satisfaction, +and putting it in his pocket. 'Pierre couldn't write himself, and I +doubt very much if he had any friends who could--not that I knew his +friends,' he said, hastily catching sight of McIntosh's severe face bent +inquiringly on him, 'but like always draws to like.' + +Archie's only answer to this was a grunt. + +'Are ye no gangin' tae read yon?' he asked sourly. + +'Not at present,' replied Vandeloup, blowing a thin wreath of blue +smoke, 'by-and-bye will do. Scandal and oysters should both be fresh to +be enjoyable, but letters--ah, bah,' with a shrug, 'they can wait. Come, +tell me the news; anything going on?' + +'Weel,' said McIntosh, with great gusto, deliberately flicking a fly off +the horse's back with a whip, 'she's ta'en the bit intil her mouth and +gane wrang, as I said she would.' + +'To what special "she" are you alluding to?' asked Vandeloup, lazily +smoothing his moustache; 'so many of them go wrong, you see, one likes +to be particular. The lady's name is--?' + +'Katherine Marchurst, no less,' burst forth Archie, in triumph; 'she's +rin awa' to be a play-actor.' + +'What? that child?' said Vandeloup, with an admirable expression of +surprise; 'nonsense! It cannot be true.' + +'D'ye think I would tell a lee?' said Archie, wrathfully, glowering +down on the tall figure pacing leisurely along. 'God forbid that my lips +should fa' tae sic iniquity. It's true, I tell ye; the lass has rin awa' +an' left her faither--a godly mon, tho' I'm no of his way of thinkin--to +curse the day he had sic a bairn born until him. Ah, 'tis sorrow and +dule she hath brought tae his roof tree, an' sorrow and dule wull be her +portion at the hands o' strangers,' and with this scriptural ending +Mr McIntosh sharply whipped up Rory, and went on towards the stable, +leaving Vandeloup standing in the road. + +'I don't think he suspects, at all events,' thought that young man, +complacently. 'As to Madame Midas--pouf! I can settle her suspicions +easily; a little virtuous indignation is most effective as a blind;' +and M. Vandeloup, with a gay laugh, strolled on towards the house in the +gathering twilight. + +Suddenly he recollected the letter, which had escaped his thoughts, in +his desire to see how McIntosh would take the disappearance of Kitty, +so as there was still light to see, he leaned up against a fence, and, +having lighted another cigarette, read it through carefully. It appeared +to afford him considerable satisfaction, and he smiled as he put it in +his pocket again. + +'It seems pretty well forgotten, this trouble about Adele,' he said, +musingly, as he resumed his saunter; 'I might be able to go back again +in a few years, if not to Paris at least to Europe--one can be very +happy in Monaco or Vienna, and run no risk of being found out; and, +after all,' he muttered, thoughtfully, fingering his moustache, 'why +not to Paris? The Republic has lasted too long already. Sooner or later +there will be a change of Government, and then I can go back a free man, +with a fortune of Australian gold. Emperor, King, or President, it's all +the same to me, as long as I am left alone.' + +He walked on slowly, thinking deeply all the time, and when he arrived +at the door of Mrs Villiers' house, this clever young man, with his +accustomed promptitude and decision, had settled what he was going to +do. + +'Up to a certain point, of course,' he said aloud, following his +thoughts, 'after that, chance must decide.' + +Madame Midas was very much grieved at the news of Kitty's Escapade, +particularly as she could not see what motive she had for running away, +and, moreover, trembled to think of the temptations the innocent girl +would be exposed to in the metropolis. After tea, when Archie had gone +outside to smoke his pipe, and Selina was busy in the kitchen washing +the dishes, she spoke to Vandeloup on the subject. The young Frenchman +was seated at the piano in the darkness, striking a few random chords, +while Madame was by the fire in the arm-chair. It was quite dark, with +only the rosy glow of the fire shining through the room. Mrs Villiers +felt uneasy; was it likely that Vandeloup could have any connection with +Kitty's disappearance? Impossible! he had given her his word of honour, +and yet--it was very strange. Mrs Villiers was not, by any means, +a timid woman, so she determined to ask Gaston right out, and get a +decided answer from him, so as to set her mind at rest. + +'M. Vandeloup,' she said, in her clear voice, 'will you kindly come here +a moment? + +'Certainly, Madame,' said Gaston, rising with alacrity from the piano, +and coming to the fireside; 'is there anything I can do?' + +'You have heard of Miss Marchurst's disappearance?' she asked, looking +up at him. + +Vandeloup leaned his elbow on the mantelpiece, and looked down into the +fire, so that the full blaze of it could strike his face. He knew Madame +Midas prided herself on being a reader of character, and knowing he +could command his features admirably, he thought it would be politic to +let her see his face, and satisfy herself as to his innocence. + +'Yes, Madame,' he answered, in his calm, even tones, looking down +inquiringly at the statuesque face of the woman addressing him; +'Monsieur,' nodding towards the door, 'told me, but I did not think it +true.' + +'I'm afraid it is,' sighed Madame, shaking her head. 'She is going on +the stage, and her father will never forgive her.' + +'Surely, Madame--' began Vandeloup, eagerly. + +'No,' she replied, decisively, 'he is not a hard man, but his way of +looking at things through his peculiar religious ideas has warped his +judgment--he will make no attempt to save her, and God knows what she +will come to.' + +'There are good women on the stage,' said Vandeloup, at a loss for a +reply. + +'Certainly,' returned Madame, calmly, 'there are black and white sheep +in every flock, but Kitty is so young and inexperienced, that she may +become the prey of the first handsome scoundrel she meets.' + +Madame had intuitively guessed the whole situation, and Vandeloup could +not help admiring her cleverness. Still his face remained the same, and +his voice was as steady as ever as he answered-- + +'It is much to be regretted; but still we must hope for the best.' + +Was he guilty? Madame could not make up her mind, so determined to speak +boldly. + +'Do you remember that day I introduced her to you?' + +Vandeloup bowed. + +'And you gave me your word of honour you would not try to turn her +head,' pursued Madame, looking at him; 'have you kept your word?' + +'Madame,' said Vandeloup, gravely, 'I give you my word of honour that +I have always treated Mlle Kitty as a child and your friend. I did not +know that she had gone until I was told, and whatever happens to her, I +can safely say that it was not Gaston Vandeloup's fault.' + +An admirable actor this man, not a feature of his face moved, not a +single deviation from the calmness of his speech--not a quickening of +the pulse, nor the rush of betraying blood to his fair face--no! Madame +withdrew her eyes quite satisfied, M. Vandeloup was the soul of honour +and was innocent of Kitty's disgrace. + +'Thank God!' she said, reverently, as she looked away, for she would +have been bitterly disappointed to have found her kindness to this man +repaid by base treachery towards her friend; 'I cannot tell you how +relieved I feel.' + +M. Vandeloup withdrew his face into the darkness, and smiled in a +devilish manner to himself. How these women believed--was there any lie +too big for the sex to swallow? Evidently not--at least, so he thought. +But now that Kitty was disposed of, he had to attend to his own private +affairs, and put his hand in his pocket for the letter. + +'I wanted to speak to you on business, Madame,' he said, taking out the +letter; 'the long-expected has come at last.' + +'You have heard from Paris?' asked Madame, in an eager voice. + +'I have,' answered the Frenchman, calmly; 'I have now the letter in my +hand, and as soon as Mlle Selina brings in the lights I will show it to +you.' + +At this moment, as if in answer to his request, Selina appeared with the +lamp, which she had lighted in the kitchen and now brought in to place +on the table. When she did so, and had retired again, Vandeloup placed +his letter in Madame's hand, and asked her to read it. + +'Oh, no, Monsieur,' said Mrs Villiers, offering it back, 'I do not wish +to read your private correspondence.' + +Vandeloup had calculated on this, for, as a matter of fact, there was a +good deal of private matter in the letter, particularly referring to his +trip to New Caledonia, which he would not have allowed her to see. But +he knew it would inspire her with confidence in him if he placed it +wholly in her hands, and resolved to boldly venture to do so. The result +was as he guessed; so, with a smile, he took it back again. + +'There is nothing private in it, Madame,' he said, opening the letter; +'I wanted you to see that I had not misrepresented myself--it is from my +family lawyer, and he has sent me out a remittance of money, also some +letters of introduction to my consul in Melbourne and others; in fact,' +said M. Vandeloup, with a charming smile, putting the letter in his +pocket, 'it places me in my rightful position, and I shall assume it as +soon as I have your permission.' + +'But why my permission ?' asked Madame, with a faint smile, already +regretting bitterly that she was going to lose her pleasant companion. + +'Madame,' said Vandeloup, impressively, bending forward, 'in the words +of the Bible--when I was hungry you gave me food; when I was naked you +gave me raiment. You took me on, Madame, an unknown waif, without money, +friends, or a character; you believed in me when no one else did; you +have been my guardian angel: and do you think that I can forget your +goodness to me for the last six months? No! Madame,' rising, 'I have a +heart, and while I live that heart will ever remember you with gratitude +and love;' and bending forward he took her hand and kissed it gallantly. + +'You think too much of what I have done,' said Madame, who was, +nevertheless, pleased at this display of emotion, albeit, according to +her English ideas, it seemed to savour too much of the footlights. 'I +only did to you what I would do to all men. I am glad, in this instance, +to find my confidence has not been misplaced; when do you think of +leaving us?' + +'In about two or three weeks,' answered Vandeloup, carelessly, 'but not +till you find another clerk; besides, Madame, do not think you have +lost sight of me for ever; I will go down to Melbourne, settle all my +affairs, and come up and see you again.' + +'So you say,' replied Mrs Villiers, sceptically smiling. + +'Well,' replied M. Vandeloup, with a shrug, 'we will see--at all +events, gratitude is such a rare virtue that there is decided novelty in +possessing it.' + +'M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, suddenly, after they had been chatting for +a few moments, 'one thing you must do for me in Melbourne.' + +'I will do anything you wish,' said Vandeloup, gravely. + +'Then,' said Madame, earnestly, rising and looking him in the face, 'you +must find Kitty, and send her back to me.' + +'Madame,' said Vandeloup, solemnly, 'it will be the purpose of my life +to restore her to your arms.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DEVIL'S LEAD + + +There was great dismay at the Pactolus Mine when it became known that +Vandeloup was going to leave. During his short stay he had made himself +extremely popular with the men, as he always had a bright smile and a +kind word for everyone, so they all felt like losing a personal friend. +The only two who were unfeigningly glad at Vandeloup's departure were +Selina and McIntosh, for these two faithful hearts had seen with dismay +the influence the Frenchman was gradually gaining over Madame Midas. +As long as Villiers lived they felt safe, but now that he had so +mysteriously disappeared, and was to all appearances dead, they dreaded +lest their mistress, in a moment of infatuation, should marry her clerk. +They need not, however, have been afraid, for much as Mrs Villiers liked +the young Frenchman, such an idea had never entered her head, and she +was far too clever a woman ever to tempt matrimony a second time, seeing +how dearly it had cost her. + +Madame Midas had made great efforts to find Kitty, but without success; +and, in spite of all inquiries and advertisements in the papers, nothing +could be discovered regarding the missing girl. + +At last the time drew near for Vandeloup's departure, when all the +sensation of Kitty's escapade and Villiers' disappearance was swallowed +up in a new event, which filled Ballarat with wonder. It began in +a whisper, and grew into such a roar of astonishment that not only +Ballarat, but all Victoria, knew that the far-famed Devil's Lead +had been discovered in the Pactolus claim. Yes, after years of weary +waiting, after money had been swallowed up in apparently useless work, +after sceptics had sneered and friends laughed, Madame Midas obtained +her reward. The Devil's Lead was discovered, and she was now a +millionaire. + +For some time past McIntosh had not been satisfied with the character of +the ground in which he had been working, so abandoning the shaft he was +then in, he had opened up another gallery to the west, at right angles +from the place where the famous nugget had been found. The wash was poor +at first, but McIntosh persevered, having an instinct that he was on the +right track. A few weeks' work proved that he was right, for the wash +soon became richer; and as they went farther on towards the west, +following the gutter, there was no doubt that the long-lost Devil's Lead +had been struck. The regular return had formerly been five ounces to the +machine, but now the washing up invariably gave twenty ounces, and small +nuggets of water-worn gold were continually found in the three machines. +The main drive following the lead still continued dipping westward, and +McIntosh now commenced blocking and putting in side galleries, expecting +when this was done he would thoroughly prove the Devil's Lead, for he +was quite satisfied he was on it. Even now the yield was three hundred +and sixty ounces a week, and after deducting working expenses, this gave +Madame Midas a weekly income of one thousand one hundred pounds, so she +now began to see what a wealthy woman she was likely to be. Everyone +unfeigningly rejoiced at her good fortune, and said that she deserved +it. Many thought that now she was so rich Villiers would come back +again, but he did not put in an appearance, and it was generally +concluded he had left the colony. + +Vandeloup congratulated Madame Midas on her luck when he was going away, +and privately determined that he would not lose sight of her, as, being +a wealthy woman, and having a liking for him, she would be of great use. +He took his farewell gracefully, and went away, carrying the good wishes +of all the miners; but McIntosh and Selina, still holding to their +former opinion, were secretly pleased at his departure. Madame Midas +made him a present of a hundred pounds, and, though he refused it, +saying that he had money from France, she asked him as a personal favour +to take it; so M. Vandeloup, always gallant to ladies, could not refuse. +He went in to Ballarat, and put up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, intending +to start for the metropolis next morning; but on his way, in order to +prepare Kitty for his coming, sent a telegram for her, telling her the +train he would arrive by, in order that she might be at the station to +meet him. + +After his dinner he suddenly recollected that he still had the volume +which Dr Gollipeck had lent him, so, calling a cab, he drove to the +residence of that eccentric individual to return it. + +When the servant announced M. Vandeloup, she pushed him in and suddenly +closed the door after her, as though she was afraid of some of the +doctor's ideas getting away. + +'Good evening, doctor,' said Vandeloup, laying the book down on the +table at which Gollipeck was seated; 'I've come to return you this and +say good-bye.' + +'Aha, going away?' asked Gollipeck, leaning back in his chair, and +looked sharply at the young man through his spectacles, 'right--see the +world--you're clever--won't go far wrong--no!' + +'It doesn't matter much if I do,' replied Vandeloup, shrugging his +shoulders, and taking a chair, 'nobody will bother much about me.' + +'Eh!' queried the doctor, sharply, sitting up. +'Paris--friends--relations.' + +'My only relation is an aunt with a large family; she's got quite enough +to do looking after them, without bothering about me,' retorted M. +Vandeloup; 'as to friends--I haven't got one.' + +'Oh!' from Gollipeck, with a cynical smile, 'I see; let us +say--acquaintances.' + +'Won't make any difference,' replied Vandeloup, airily; 'I turned my +acquaintances into friends long ago, and then borrowed money off +them; result: my social circle is nil. Friends,' went on M. Vandeloup, +reflectively, 'are excellent as friends, but damnable as bankers.' + +Gollipeck chuckled, and rubbed his hands, for this cynicism pleased him. +Suddenly his eye caught the book which the young man had returned. + +'You read this?' he said, laying his hand on it; 'good, eh?' + +'Very good, indeed,' returned M. Vandeloup, smoothly; 'so kind of you to +have lent it to me--all those cases quoted were known to me.' + +'The case of Adele Blondet, for instance, eh?' asked the old man +sharply. + +'Yes, I was present at the trial,' replied Vandeloup, quietly; 'the +prisoner Octave Braulard was convicted, condemned to death, reprieved, +and sent to New Caledonia.' + +'Where he now is,' said Gollipeck, quickly, looking at him. + +'I presume so,' replied Vandeloup, lazily. 'After the trial I never +bothered my head about him.' + +'He poisoned his mistress, Adele Blondet,' said the doctor. + +'Yes,' answered Vandeloup, leaning forward and looking at Gollipeck, +'he found she was in love with an Englishman, and poisoned her--you will +find it all in the book.' + +'It does not mention the Englishman,' said the doctor, thoughtfully +tapping the table with his hand. + +'Nevertheless he was implicated in it, but went away from Paris the day +Braulard was arrested,' answered Vandeloup. 'The police tried to find +him, but could not; if they had, it might have made some difference to +the prisoner.' + +'And the name of this Englishman?' + +'Let me see,' said Vandeloup, looking up reflectively; 'I almost forget +it--Kestroke or Kestrike, some name like that. He must have been a very +clever man to have escaped the French police.' + +'Ah, hum!' said the doctor, rubbing his nose, 'very interesting indeed; +strange case!' + +'Very,' assented M. Vandeloup, as he arose to go, 'I must say good-bye +now, doctor; but I am coming up to Ballarat on a visit shortly.' + +'Ah, hum! of course,' replied Gollipeck, also rising, 'and we can have +another talk over this book.' + +'That or any book you like,' said Vandeloup, with a glance of surprise; +'but I don't see why you are so much taken up with that volume; it is +not a work of genius.' + +'Well, no,' answered Gollipeck, looking at him; 'still, it contains some +excellent cases of modern poisoning.' + +'So I saw when I read it,' returned Vandeloup, indifferently. +'Good-bye,' holding out his hand, 'or rather I should say au revoir.' + +'Wine?' queried the Doctor, hospitably. + +Vandeloup shook his head, and walked out of the room with a gay smile, +humming a tune. He strolled slowly down Lydiard Street, turning over in +his mind what the doctor had said to him. + +'He is suspicious,' muttered the young man to himself, thoughtfully, +'although he has nothing to go on in connecting me with the case. Should +I use the poison here I must be careful, for that man will be my worst +enemy.' + +He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turning round saw Barty Jarper +before him. That fashionable young man was in evening dress, and +represented such an extent of shirt front and white waistcoat,--not to +mention a tall collar, on the top of which his little head was perched +like a cocoanut on a stick,--that he was positively resplendent. + +'Where are you going to?' asked the gorgeous Barty, smoothing his +incipient moustache. + +'Well, I really don't know,' answered Vandeloup, lighting a cigarette. +'I am leaving for Melbourne to-morrow morning, but to-night I have +nothing to do. You, I see, are engaged,' with a glance at the evening +dress. + +'Yes,' returned Barty, in a bored voice; 'musical party on,--they want +me to sing.' + +Vandeloup had heard Barty's vocal performance, and could not forbear +a smile as he thought of the young man's three songs with the same +accompaniment to each. Suppressing, however, his inclination to laugh, +he asked Barty to have a drink, which invitation was promptly accepted, +and they walked in search of a hotel. On the way, they passed Slivers' +house, and here Vandeloup paused. + +'This was the first house I entered here,' he said to Barty, 'and I must +go in and say good-bye to my one-armed friend with the cockatoo.' + +Mr Jarper, however, drew back. + +'I don't like him,' he said bluntly, 'he's an old devil.' + +'Oh, it's always as well to accustom oneself to the society of devils,' +retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'we may have to live with them constantly +some day.' + +Barty laughed at this, and putting his arm in that of Vandeloup's, they +went in. + +Slivers' door stood ajar in its usual hospitable manner, but all within +was dark. + +'He must be out,' said Barty, as they stood in the dark passage. + +'No,' replied Vandeloup, feeling for a match, 'someone is talking in the +office.' + +'It's that parrot,' said Barty, with a laugh, as they heard Billy +rapidly running over his vocabulary; 'let's go in.' + +He pushed open the door, and was about to step into the room, when +catching sight of something on the floor, he recoiled with a cry, and +caught Vandeloup by the arm. + +'What's the matter?' asked the Frenchman, hastily. + +'He's dead,' returned Barty, with a sort of gasp; 'see, he's lying on +the floor dead!' + +And so he was! The oldest inhabitant of Ballarat had joined the great +majority, and, as it was afterwards discovered, his death was caused by +the breaking of a blood-vessel. The cause of it was not clear, but the +fact was, that hearing of the discovery of the Devil's Lead, and knowing +that it was lost to him for ever, Slivers had fallen into such a fit of +rage, that he burst a blood-vessel and died in his office with no one by +him. + +The light of the street lamp shone through the dusty windows into the +dark room, and in the centre of the yellow splash lay the dead man, +with his one eye wide open, staring at the ceiling, while perched on his +wooden leg, which was sticking straight out, sat the parrot, swearing. +It was a most repulsive sight, and Barty, with a shudder of disgust, +tried to drag his companion away, but M. Vandeloup refused to go, and +searched his pockets for a match to see more clearly what the body was +like. + +'Pickles,' cried Billy, from his perch on the dead man's wooden leg; +'oh, my precious mother,--devil take him.' + +'My faith,' said M. Vandeloup, striking a match, 'the devil has taken +him,' and leaving Barty shivering and trembling at the door, he advanced +into the room and stood looking at the body. Billy at his approach +hopped off the leg and waddled up to the dead man's shoulder, where +he sat cursing volubly, and every now and then going into shrieks of +demoniacal laughter. Barty closed his ears to the devilish mirth, and +saw M. Vandeloup standing over the corpse, with the faint light of the +match flickering in his hand. + +'Do you know what this is?' he asked, turning to Barty. + +The other looked at him inquiringly. + +'It is the comedy of death,' said the Frenchman, throwing down the match +and going to the door. + +They both went out to seek assistance, and left the dark room with the +dead man lying in the pool of yellow light, and the parrot perched on +the body, muttering to itself. It was a strange mingling of the horrible +and grotesque, and the whole scene was hit off in the phrase applied to +it by Vandeloup. It was, indeed, 'The Comedy of Death'! + + + + +PART II + + +CHAPTER I + +TEMPUS FUGIT + + +A whole year had elapsed since the arrival of Vandeloup in Melbourne, +and during that time many things had happened. Unfortunately, in spite +of his knowledge of human nature, and the fact that he started with a +good sum of money, Gaston had not made his fortune. This was due to the +fact that he was indisposed to work when his banking account was at all +decent; so he had lived like a prince on his capital, and trusted to his +luck furnishing him with more when it was done. + +Kitty had joined him in Melbourne as arranged, and Gaston had +established her in a place in Richmond. It was not a regular +boarding-house, but the lady who owned it, Mrs Pulchop by name, was in +the habit of letting apartments on reasonable terms; so Vandeloup had +taken up his abode there with Kitty, who passed as his wife. + +But though he paid her all the deference and respect due to a wife, and +though she wore a marriage ring, yet, as a matter of fact, they were not +married. Kitty had implored her lover to have the ceremony performed as +soon as he joined her; but as the idea was not to M. Vandeloup's taste, +he had put her off, laughingly at first, then afterwards, when he began +to weary of her, he said he could not marry her for at least a year. The +reason he assigned for this was the convenient one of family affairs; +but, in reality, he foresaw he would get tired of her in that time, +and did not want to tie himself so that he could not leave her when he +wished. At first, the girl had rebelled against this delay, for she was +strongly biased by her religious training, and looked with horror on the +state of wickedness in which she was living. But Gaston laughed at her +scruples, and as time went on, her finer feelings became blunted, and +she accepted the position to which she was reduced in an apathetic +manner. + +Sometimes she had wild thoughts of running away, but she still loved him +too well to do so; and besides, there was no one to whom she could go, +as she well knew her father would refuse to receive her. The anomalous +position which she occupied, however, had an effect on her spirits, and +from being a bright and happy girl, she became irritable and fretful. +She refused to go out anywhere, and when she went into town, either +avoided the principal streets, or wore a heavy veil, so afraid was she +of being recognised by anyone from Ballarat and questioned as to how she +lived. All this was very disagreeable to M. Vandeloup, who had a horror +of being bored, and not finding Kitty's society pleasant enough, he +gradually ceased to care for her, and was now only watching for an +opportunity to get rid of her without any trouble. He was a member of +the Bachelor's Club, a society of young men which had a bad reputation +in Melbourne, and finding Kitty was so lachrymose, he took a room at the +Club, and began to stay away four or five days at a time. So Kitty +was left to herself, and grew sad and tearful, as she reflected on the +consequence of her fatal passion for this man. Mrs Pulchop was vastly +indignant at Vandeloup neglecting his wife, for, of course, she never +thought she was anything else to the young man, and did all in her +power to cheer the girl up, which, however, was not much, as Mrs Pulchop +herself was decidedly of a funereal disposition. + +Meanwhile, Gaston was leading a very gay life in Melbourne. His good +looks and clever tongue had made him a lot of friends, and he was very +popular both in drawing-room and club. The men voted him a jolly sort +of fellow and a regular swagger man, while the ladies said that he +was heavenly; for, true to his former tactics, Vandeloup always made +particular friends of women, selecting, of course, those whom he thought +would be likely to be of use to him. Being such a favourite entailed +going out a great deal, and as no one can pose as a man of fashion +without money, M. Vandeloup soon found that his capital was rapidly +melting away. He then went in for gambling, and the members of The +Bachelors, being nearly all rich young men, Gaston's dexterity at ecarte +and baccarat was very useful to him, and considerably augmented his +income. + +Still, card-playing is a somewhat precarious source from which to derive +an income, so Vandeloup soon found himself pretty hard up, and was at +his wit's end how to raise money. His gay life cost him a good deal, +and Kitty, of course, was a source of expense, although, poor girl, she +never went anywhere; but there was a secret drain on his purse of which +no one ever dreamed. This was none other than Pierre Lemaire, who, +having spent all the money he got at the Pactolus, came and worried +Vandeloup for more. That astute young man would willingly have refused +him, but, unfortunately, Pierre knew too much of his past life for him +to do so, therefore he had to submit to the dumb man's extortions with +the best grace he could. So what with Kitty's changed manner, Pierre +wanting money, and his own lack of coin, M. Vandeloup was in anything +but an enviable position, and began to think it was time his luck--if he +ever had any--should step in. He thought of running up to Ballarat and +seeing Madame Midas, whom he knew would lend him some money, but he had +a certain idea in his head with regard to that lady, so wished to retain +her good opinion, and determined not to apply to her until all other +plans for obtaining money failed. Meanwhile, he went everywhere, was +universally admired and petted, and no one who saw him in society with +his bright smile and nonchalant manner, would have imagined what crafty +schemes there were in that handsome head. + +Madame Midas was still up at Ballarat and occupying the same cottage, +although she was now so wealthy she could have inhabited a palace, had +she been so minded. But prosperity had not spoiled Mrs Villiers. She +still managed her own affairs, and did a great deal of good with her +money,--expending large sums for charitable purposes, because she really +wished to do good, and not, like so many rich people, for the purpose of +advertising herself. + +The Pactolus was now a perfect fortune, and Madame Midas being the sole +owner, her wealth was thought to be enormous, as every month a fresh +deluge of gold rolled into her coffers from the inexhaustible Devil's +Lead. McIntosh, of course, still managed the mine, and took great pride +in his success, especially after so many people had scoffed at it. + +Various other mines had started in the vicinity, and had been floated on +the Melbourne market, where they kept rising and falling in unison with +the monthly yield of the Pactolus. The Devil's Lead was rather unequal, +as sometimes the ground would be rich, while another time it would turn +out comparatively poor. People said it was patchy, and some day would +run out altogether, but it did not show any signs of exhaustion, +and even if it had, Madame Midas was now so wealthy that it mattered +comparatively little. When the monthly yield was small, the mines round +about would fall in the share market to a few shillings, but if it was +large, they would rush up again to as many pounds, so that the brokers +managed to do pretty well out of the fluctuations of the stock. + +One thing astonished Madame Midas very much, and that was the continuous +absence of her husband. She did not believe he was dead, and fully +expected to see him turn up some time; but as the months passed on, and +he did not appear, she became uneasy. The idea of his lurking round was +a constant nightmare to her, and at last she placed the matter in the +hands of the police, with instructions to try to ascertain what became +of him. + +The police did everything in their power to discover Villiers' +whereabouts, but without success. Unfortunately, Slivers, who might have +helped them, being so well acquainted with the missing man's habits, was +dead; and, after trying for about three months to find some traces +of Villiers, the police gave up the search in despair. Madame Midas, +therefore, came to the conclusion that he was either dead or had left +the colony, and though half doubtful, yet hoped that she had now seen +the last of him. + +She had invested her money largely in land, and thus being above the +reach of poverty for the rest of her life, she determined to take up +her abode in Melbourne for a few months, prior to going to England on a +visit. With this resolution, she gave up her cottage to Archie, who was +to live in it, and still manage the mine, and made preparations to come +down to Melbourne with Selina Sprotts. + +Vandeloup heard of this resolution, and secretly rejoiced at it, for he +thought that seeing she liked him so much, now that her husband was to +all appearances dead, she might marry him, and it was to this end he had +kept up his acquaintance with her. He never thought of the girl he had +betrayed, pining away in a dull lodging. No, M. Vandeloup, untroubled by +the voice of conscience, serenely waited the coming of Madame Midas, and +determined, if he could possibly arrange it, to marry her. He was the +spider, and Madame Midas the fly; but as the spider knew the fly he had +to inveigle into his web was a very crafty one, he determined to act +with great caution; so, having ascertained when Madame Midas would be in +Melbourne, he awaited her arrival before doing anything, and trusted in +some way to get rid of Kitty before she came. It was a difficult game, +for M. Vandeloup knew that should Kitty find out his intention she would +at once go to Mrs Villiers, and then Madame would discover his baseness +in ruining the girl. M. Vandeloup, however, surveyed the whole situation +calmly, and was not ill-pleased at the position of affairs. Life was +beginning to bore him in Melbourne, and he wanted to be amused. Here was +a comedy worthy of Moliere--a jealous woman, a rich lady, and a handsome +man. + +'My faith,' said M. Vandeloup, smiling to himself as he thought of the +situation, 'it's a capital comedy, certainly; but I must take care it +doesn't end as a tragedy.' + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DISENCHANTMENT + + +It is said that 'creaking doors hang the longest,' and Mrs Pulchop, of +Carthage Cottage, Richmond, was an excellent illustration of the truth +of this saying. Thin, pale, with light bleached-looking hair, +and eyebrows and eyelashes to match, she looked so shadowy and +unsubstantial, than an impression was conveyed to the onlooker that +a breath might blow her away. She was often heard to declare, when +anything extra-ordinary happened, that one might 'knock her down with +a feather', which, as a matter of fact, was by no means a stretch of +fancy, provided the feather was a strong one and Mrs Pulchop was taken +unawares. She was continually alluding to her 'constitootion', as if +she had an interest in politics, but in reality she was referring to her +state of health, which was invariably bad. According to her own showing, +there was not a single disease under the sun with which she had not been +afflicted, and she could have written a whole book on the subject of +medicine, and put herself in, in every instance, as an illustrative +case. + +Mr Pulchop had long since departed this life, being considerably +assisted in his exit from this wicked world by the quantity of +patent medicines his wife compelled him to take to cure him, which +unfortunately, however, had the opposite effect. + +Mrs Pulchop said he had been a handsome man, but according to the +portrait she had of him he resembled a bull-dog more than anything else +in nature. The young Pulchops, of which there were two, both of the +female sex, took after their father in appearance and their mother in +temperament, and from the time they could talk and crawl knew as much +about drops, poultices, bandages, and draughts as many a hospital nurse +of mature age. + +One day Vandeloup sent a telegram to Kitty saying he would be home to +dinner, and as he always required something extra in the way of cooking, +Kitty went to interview Mrs Pulchop on the subject. She found that +lady wrapped up in a heavy shawl, turning herself into a tea-kettle by +drinking hot water, the idea being, as she assured Kitty, to rouse up +her liver. Miss Topsy Pulchop was tying a bandage round her face, as she +felt a toothache coming on, while Miss Anna Pulchop was unfortunately +quite well, and her occupation being gone, was seated disconsolately at +the window trying to imagine she felt pains in her back. + +'Ah!' groaned Mrs Pulchop, in a squeaky voice, sipping her hot +water; 'you don't know, my dear, what it is to be aworrited by your +liver--tortures and inquisitions ain't in it, my love.' + +Kitty said she was very sorry, and asked her if nothing would relieve +her sufferings, but Mrs Pulchop shook her head triumphantly. + +'My sweet young thing,' said the patient, with great gusto, 'I've tried +everything under the sun to make it right, but they ain't no good; +it's always expanding and a contracting of itself unbeknown to me, and +throwing the bile into the stomach, which ain't its proper place.' + +'It does sound rather nasty,' assented Kitty; 'and Topsy seems to be +ill, too.' + +'Toothache,' growled Topsy, who had a deep, bass voice, and being +modelled on the canine lines of her late lamented father, the growl +suited her admirably. 'I had two out last week, and now this one's +started.' + +'Try a roasted fig, Topsy dear,' suggested her mother, who, now, having +finished her hot water, looked longingly at the kettle for more. + +'Toothache,' growled Topsy, in reply, 'not gumboil;' the remedy +suggested by Mrs Pulchop being for the latter of these ills. + +'You are quite well, at any rate,' said Kitty to Anna, cheerfully. + +Anna, however, declined to be considered in good health. 'I fancy my +back is going to ache,' she said, darkly placing her hand in the small +of it. 'I'll have to put a linseed poultice on it tonight, to draw the +cold out.' + +Then she groaned dismally, and her mother and sister, hearing the +familiar sound, also groaned, so there was quite a chorus, and Kitty +felt inclined to groan also, out of sympathy. + +'M. Vandeloup is coming to dinner tonight,' she said, timidly, to Mrs +Pulchop. + +'And a wonder it is, my sweet angel,' said that lady, indignantly, +rising and glancing at the pretty girl, now so pale and sad-looking, +'it's once in a blue moon as he comes 'ome, a--leaving you to mope at +home like a broken-hearted kitten in a coal box. Ah, if he only had a +liver, that would teach him manners.' + +Groans of assent from the Misses Pulchops, who both had livers and were +always fighting with them. + +'And what, my neglected cherub,' asked Mrs Pulchop, going to a +looking-glass which always hung in the kitchen, for the three to examine +their tongues in, 'what shall I give you for dinner?' + +Kitty suggested a fowl, macaroni cheese, and fruit for dessert, which +bill of fare had such an effect on the family that they all groaned in +unison. + +'Macaroni cheese,' growled Topsy, speaking from the very depth of the +cork soles she wore to keep her feet dry; 'there's nothing more bilious. +I couldn't look at it.' + +'Ah,' observed Mrs Pulchop, 'you're only a weak gal, and men is that +obstinate they'd swaller bricks like ostriges sooner nor give in as it +hurt 'em. You shall 'ave a nice dinner, Mrs Vanloops, tho' I can't deny +but what it ull be bilious.' + +Thus warned, Kitty retired into her own room and made herself nice for +Gaston to look on when he came. + +Poor thing, it was so rarely now that he came home to dinner, that a +visit from him was regarded by her in the light of a treat. She dressed +herself in a pretty white dress and tied a blue sash round her waist, +so that she might look the same to him as when he first saw her. But +her face was now worn and white, and as she looked at her pallor in the +glass she wished she had some rouge to bring a touch of colour to her +cheeks. She tried to smile in her own merry way at the wan reflection +she beheld, but the effort was a failure, and she burst into tears. + +At six o'clock everything was ready for dinner, and having seen that all +was in good order, Kitty walked outside to watch for Gaston. + +There was a faint, warm, light outside, and the sky was of a pale +opaline tint, while the breeze blowing across the garden brought the +perfume of the flowers to her, putting Kitty in mind of Mrs Villiers' +garden at Ballarat. Oh, those innocent days! would they never come +again? Alas! she knew that they would not--the subtle feeling of youth +had left her for ever; and this girl, leaning up against the house with +her golden head resting on her arm, knew that the change had come over +her which turns all from youth to age. + +Suddenly she heard the rattle of wheels, and rousing herself from her +reverie, she saw a hansom cab at the gate, and M. Vandeloup standing on +the pavement paying the driver. She also heard her lover tell the cabman +to call for him at eight o'clock, and her heart sank within her as she +thought that he would be gone again in two hours. The cab drove off, +and she stood cold and silent on the verandah waiting for Gaston, +who sauntered slowly up the walk with one hand in the pocket of his +trousers. He was in evening dress, and the night being warm he did not +wear an overcoat, so looked tall and slim in his dark clothes as he came +up the path swinging his cane gaily to and fro. + +'Well, Bebe,' he said, brightly, as he bent down and kissed her, 'here I +am, you see; I hope you've got a nice dinner for me?' + +'Oh, yes,' answered Kitty, trying to smile, and walking before him into +the house; 'I told Mrs Pulchop, and she has made special preparations.' + +'How is that walking hospital?' asked Vandeloup, carelessly taking off +his hat; 'I suppose she is ill as usual.' + +'So she says,' replied Kitty, with a laugh, as he put his arm in hers +and walked into the room; 'she is always ill.' + +'Why, Bebe, how charming you look tonight,' said Vandeloup, holding her +at arm's length; 'quite like your old self.' + +And indeed she looked very pretty, for the excitement of seeing him had +brightened her eyes and flushed her cheeks, and standing in the warm +light of the lamp, with her golden hair floating round her head, she +looked like a lovely picture. + +'You are not going away very soon?' she whispered to Gaston, coming +close to him, and putting her hand on his shoulder; 'I see so little of +you now.' + +'My dear child, I can't help it,' he said, carelessly removing her hand +and walking over to the dinner table; 'I have an engagement in town +tonight.' + +'Ah, you no longer care for me,' said Kitty, with a stifled sob. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'If you are going to make a scene,' he said, coldly, 'please postpone +it. I don't want my appetite taken away; would you kindly see if the +dinner is ready?' + +Kitty dried her eyes and rang the bell, upon which Mrs Pulchop glided +into the room, still wrapped in her heavy shawl. + +'It ain't quite ready yet, sir,' she said, in answer to Gaston's +question; 'Topsy 'aving been bad with the toothache, which you can't +expect people to cook dinners as is ill!' + +'Why don't you send her to the hospital?' said Vandeloup, with a yawn, +looking at his watch. + +'Never,' retorted Mrs Pulchop, in a decisively shrill voice; 'their +medicines ain't pure, and they leaves you at the mercy of doctors to be +practised on like a pianer. Topsy may go to the cemetery like her poor +dear father, but never to an inquisition of a hospital;' and with this +Mrs Pulchop faded out of the room, for her peculiar mode of egress could +hardly be called walking out. + +At last dinner made its appearance, and Kitty recovering her spirits, +they had a very pleasant meal together, and then Gaston sat over his +coffee with a cigarette, talking to Kitty. + +He never was without a cigarette in his mouth, and his fingers were +all stained a yellowish brown by the nicotine. Kitty lay back in a big +arm-chair listening to his idle talk and admiring him as he sat at the +dinner table. + +'Can't you stay tonight?' she said, looking imploringly at him. + +Vandeloup shook his head gently. + +'I have an engagement, as I told you before,' he said, lazily; 'besides, +evenings at home are so dreary.' + +'I will be here,' said Kitty, reproachfully. + +'That will, of course, make a difference,' answered Gaston, with a faint +sneer; 'but you know,' shrugging his shoulders, 'I do not cultivate the +domestic virtues.' + +'What will you do when we are married?' said Kitty, with an uneasy +laugh. + +'Enough for the day is the evil thereof,' replied M. Vandeloup, with a +gay smile. + +'What do you mean?' asked the girl, with a sudden start. + +Vandeloup arose from his seat, and lighting another cigarette he lounged +over to the fireplace, and leaned against the mantelpiece with his hands +in his pockets. + +'I mean that when we are married it will be time enough to talk about +such things,' he answered, looking at her through his eyelashes. + +'Then we will talk about them very shortly,' said Kitty, with an angry +laugh, as her hands clenched the arms of the chair tightly; 'for the +year is nearly up, and you promised to marry me at the end of it.' + +'How many things do we intend to do that are never carried out?' said +Gaston, gently. 'Do you mean that you will break your promise?' she +asked, with a scared face. + +Vandeloup removed the cigarette from his mouth, and, leaning one elbow +on the mantelpiece, looked at her with a smile. + +'My dear,' he said, quietly, 'things are not going well with me at +present, and I want money badly.' + +'Well?' asked Kitty in a whisper, her heart beating loudly. + +'You are not rich,' said her lover, 'so why should we two paupers get +married, only to plunge ourselves into misery?' + +'Then you refuse to marry me?' she said, rising to her feet. + +He bowed his head gently. + +'At present, yes,' he answered, and replaced the cigarette between his +lips. + +Kitty stood for a moment as if turned to stone, and then throwing up +her hands with a gesture of despair, fell back into the chair, and burst +into a flood of tears. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders in a resigned +sort of manner, and glanced at his watch to see when it would be time +for him to go. Meanwhile he smoked quietly on, and Kitty, after sobbing +for some time, dried her eyes, and sat up in the chair again. + +'How long is this going to last?' she asked, in a hard voice. + +'Till I get rich!' + +'That may be a long time?' + +'It may.' + +'Perhaps never?' + +'Perhaps!' + +'And then I will never be your wife?' + +'Unfortunately, no.' + +'You coward!' burst forth Kitty, rising from her seat, and crossing over +to him; 'you made me leave my home with your false promises, and now you +refuse to make me the only reparation that is in your power.' + +'Circumstances are against any virtuous intentions I may entertain,' +retorted Vandeloup, coolly. + +Kitty looked at him for a moment, then ran over to a desk near the +window, and took from thence a small bottle of white glass with two +red bands round it. She let the lid of the desk fall with a bang, then +crossed to Vandeloup, holding the bottle up before him. + +'Do you know what this is?' she asked, in a harsh voice. + +'The poison I made in Ballarat,' he answered, coolly, blowing a wreath +of smoke; 'how did you get hold of it?' + +'I found it in your private desk,' she said, coldly. + +'That was wrong, my dear,' he answered, gently, 'you should never betray +confidences--I left the desk in your charge, and it should have been +sacred to you.' + +'Out of your own mouth are you condemned,' said the girl, quickly; 'you +have betrayed my confidence and ruined me, so if you do not fix a day +for our marriage, I swear I will drink this and die at your feet.' + +'How melodramatic you are, Bebe,' said Vandeloup, coolly; 'you put me in +mind of Croisette in "Le Sphinx".' + +'You don't believe I will do it.' + +'No! I do not.' + +'Then see.' She took the stopper out of the bottle and held it to her +lips. Vandeloup did not stir, but, still smoking, stood looking at her +with a smile. His utter callousness was too much for her, and replacing +the stopper again, she slipped the bottle into her pocket and let her +hands fall idly by her side. + +'I thought you would not do it,' replied Gaston, smoothly, looking at +his watch; 'you must really excuse me, I hear the cab wheels outside.' + +Kitty, however, placed herself in front of him as he moved towards the +door. + +'Listen to me,' she said, in a harsh voice, with white face and flaming +eyes; 'to-night I leave this house for ever.' + +He bowed his head. + +'As it pleases you,' he replied, simply. + +'My God!' she cried, 'have you no love for me now?' + +'No,' he answered, coldly and brutally, 'I am tired of you.' + +She fell on her knees and clutched his hand. + +'Dear Gaston! dear Gaston!' she cried, covering it with kisses, 'think +how young I am, how my life is ruined, and by you. I gave up everything +for your sake--home, father, and friends--you will not cast me off +like this after all I have sacrificed for you? Oh, for God's sake, +speak--speak!' + +'My dear,' said Vandeloup, gravely, looking down at the kneeling figure +with the streaming eyes and clenched hands, 'as long as you choose to +stay here I will be your friend--I cannot afford to marry you, but +while you are with me our lives will be as they have been; good-bye +at present,' touching her forehead coldly with his lips, 'I will call +to-morrow afternoon to see how you are, and I trust this will be the +last of such scenes.' + +He drew his hand away from hers, and she sat on the floor dull and +silent, with her eyes fixed on the ground and an aching in her heart. +Vandeloup went into the hall, put on his hat, then lighting another +cigarette and taking his stick, walked gaily out of the house, humming +an air from 'La Belle Helene'. The cab was waiting for him at the door, +and telling the man to drive to the Bachelors' Club, he entered the +cab and rattled away down the street without a thought for the +broken-hearted woman he left behind. + +Kitty sat on the floor with her folded hands lying carelessly on her lap +and her eyes staring idly at the carpet. This, then, was the end of all +her hopes and joys--she was cast aside carelessly by this man now that +he wearied of her. Love's young dream had been sweet indeed; but, ah! +how bitter was the awakening. Her castles in the air had all melted into +clouds, and here in the very flower of her youth she felt that her life +was ruined, and she was as one wandering in a sterile waste, with a +black and starless sky overhead. She clasped her hands with a sensation +of pain, and a rose at her breast fell down withered and dead. She took +it up with listless fingers, and with the quiver of her hand the leaves +fell off and were scattered over her white dress in a pink shower. It +was an allegory of her life, she thought. Once it had been as fresh and +full of fragrance as this dead rose; then it had withered, and now she +saw all her hopes and beliefs falling off one by one like the faded +petals. Ah, there is no despair like that of youth; and Kitty, sitting +on the floor with hot dry eyes and a pain in her heart, felt that the +sun of her life had set for ever. + +** + +So still the night was. No moon as yet, but an innumerable blaze of +stars set like diamonds in the dark blue sky. A smoky yellowish haze +hung over the city, but down in the garden amid the flowers all was cool +and fragrant. The house was quite dark, and a tall mulberry tree on one +side of it was black against the clear sky. Suddenly the door opened, +and a figure came out and closed the door softly after it. Down the +path it came, and standing in the middle of the garden, raised a white +tear-stained face to the dark sky. A dog barked in the distance, and +then a fresh cold breeze came sweeping through the trees and stirring +the still perfumes of the flowers. The figure threw its hands out +towards the house with a gesture of despair, then gliding down the path +it went out of the gate and stole quietly down the lonely street. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +M. VANDELOUP HEARS SOMETHING TO HIS ADVANTAGE + + +As he drove rapidly into town Gaston's thoughts were anything but +pleasant. Not that he was thinking about Kitty, for he regarded the +scene he had with her as merely an outburst of hysterical passion, and +did not dream she would take any serious step. He forgot all about her +when he left the house, and, lying back in the cab smoking one of his +everlasting cigarettes, pondered about his position. The fact was he +was very hard up for money, and did not know where to turn for more. His +luck at cards was so great that even the Bachelors, used as they were +to losing large sums, began to murmur among themselves that M. Vandeloup +was too clever, and as that young gentleman by no means desired to lose +his popularity he stopped playing cards altogether, and so effectually +silenced everyone. So this mode of making money was gone, and until +Madame Midas arrived in town Vandeloup did not see how he was going +to keep on living in his former style. But as he never denied himself +anything while he had the money, he ordered the cabman to drive to +Paton's, the florist in Swanston Street, and there purchased a dainty +bunch of flowers for his button hole. From thence he drove to his club, +and there found a number of young fellows, including Mr Barty Jarper, +all going to the Princess Theatre to see 'The Mikado'. Barty rushed +forward when Vandeloup appeared and noisily insisted he should come +with them. The men had been dining, and were exhilarated with wine, so +Vandeloup, not caring to appear at the theatre with such a noisy +lot, excused himself. Barty and his friends, therefore, went off by +themselves, and left Vandeloup alone. He picked up the evening paper +and glanced over it with a yawn, when a name caught his eye which he had +frequently noticed before. + +'I say,' he said to a tall, fair young fellow who had just entered, 'who +is this Meddlechip the paper is full of?' + +'Don't you know?' said the other, in surprise; 'he's one of our richest +men, and very generous with his money.' + +'Oh, I see! buys popularity,' replied Vandeloup, coolly; 'how is it I've +never met him?' + +'He's been to China or Chile--or--something commencing with a C,' +returned the young man, vaguely; 'he only came back to Melbourne last +week; you are sure to meet him sooner or later.' + +'Thanks, I'm not very anxious,' replied Vandeloup, with a yawn; 'money +in my eyes does not compensate for being bored; where are you going +to-night?' + +'"Mikado",' answered the other, whose name was Bellthorp; 'Jarper asked +me to go up there; he's got a box.' + +'How does he manage to pay for all these things?' asked Vandeloup, +rising; 'he's only in a bank, and does not get much money.' + +'My dear fellow,' said Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of +Vandeloup's, 'wherever he gets it, he always has it, so as long as he +pays his way it's none of our business; come and have a drink.' + +Vandeloup assented with a laugh, and they went to the bar. + +'I've got a cab at the door,' he said to Bellthorp, after they had +finished their drinks, and were going downstairs; 'come with me, and +I'll go up to the Princess also; Jarper asked me and I refused, but men +as well as women are entitled to change their minds.' + +They got into the cab and drove up Collins Street to the Princess +Theatre. After dismissing the cab, they went up stairs and found +the first act was just over, and the bar was filled with a crowd of +gentlemen, among whom Barty and his friends were conspicuous. On the one +side the doors opened on to the wide stone balcony, where a number of +ladies were seated, and on the other balcony a lot of men were smoking. +Leaving Bellthorp with Jarper, Vandeloup ordered a brandy and soda and +went out on the balcony to smoke. + +The bell rang to indicate the curtain was going to rise on the second +act, and the bar and balconies gradually emptied themselves into the +theatre. M. Vandeloup, however, still sat smoking, and occasionally +drinking his brandy and soda, while he thought over his difficulties, +and wondered how he could get out of them. It was a wonderfully hot +night, and not even the dark blue of the moonless sky, studded with +stars, could give any sensation of coolness. Round the balcony were +several windows belonging to the dressing-rooms of the theatre, and the +lights within shone through the vivid red of the blinds with which they +were covered. The door leading into the bar was wide open, and within +everything seemed hot, even under the cool, white glare of the electric +lights, which shone in large oval-shaped globes hanging from the brass +supports in clusters like those grapes known as ladies' fingers. In +front stretched the high balustrade of the balcony, and as Vandeloup +leaned back in his chair he could see the white blaze of the electric +lights rising above this, and then the luminous darkness of the summer's +night. Beyond a cluster of trees, with a path, lit by gas lamps, going +through it, the lights of which shone like dull yellow stars. On the +right arose the great block of Parliament-buildings, with the confused +mass of the scaffolding, standing up black and dense against the sky. A +pleasant murmur arose from the crowded pavement below, and through the +incessant rattle of cabs and sharp, clear cries of the street boys, +Gaston could hear the shrill tones of a violin playing the dreamy melody +of the 'One Summer's Night in Munich' valse, about which all Melbourne +was then raving. + +He was so occupied with his own thoughts that he did not notice two +gentlemen who came in from the bar, and taking seats a little distant +from him, ordered drinks from the waiter who came to attend to them. +They were both in evening dress, and had apparently left the opera in +order to talk business, for they kept conversing eagerly, and their +voices striking on Vandeloup's ear he glanced round at them and then +relapsed into his former inattentive position. Now, however, though +apparently absorbed in his own thoughts, he was listening to every word +they said, for he had caught the name of The Magpie Reef, a quartz mine, +which had lately been floated on the market, the shares of which had +run up to a pound, and then, as bad reports were circulated about +it, dropped suddenly to four shillings. Vandeloup recognised one +as Barraclough, a well-known stockbroker, but the other was a dark, +wiry-looking man of medium height, whom he had never seen before. + +'I tell you it's a good thing,' said Barraclough, vehemently laying his +hand on the table; 'Tollerby is the manager, and knows everything about +it.' + +'Gad, he ought to,' retorted the other with a laugh, 'if he's the +manager; but I don't believe in it, dear boy, I never did; it started +with a big splash, and was going to be a second Long Tunnel according to +the prospectus; now the shares are only four shillings--pshaw!' + +'Yes, but you forget the shares ran up to a pound,' replied Barraclough, +quickly; 'and now they are so cheap we can snap them up all over the +market, and then--' + +'Well?' asked the other, with interest. + +'They will run up, old fellow--see?' and the Broker rubbed his hands +gleefully. + +'How are you going to get up a "Boom" on them?' asked the wiry man, +sceptically; 'the public won't buy blindly, they must see something.' + +'And so they shall,' said Barraclough, eagerly; 'Tollerby is sending +down some of the stone.' + +'From the Magpie Reef?' asked the other, suspiciously. + +'Of course,' retorted the Broker, indignantly; 'you did not think it +was salted, did you? There is gold in the reef, but it is patchy. See,' +pulling out a pocket-book, 'I got this telegram from Tollerby at four +o'clock to-day;' he took a telegram from the pocket-book and handed it +to his companion. + +'Struck it rich--evidently pocket--thirty ounces to machine,' read +the other slowly; 'gad! that looks well, why don't you put it in the +papers?' + +'Because I don't hold enough shares,' replied the other, impatiently; +'don't you understand? To-morrow I go on 'Change and buy up all the +shares at four shillings I can lay my hands on, then at the end of the +week the samples of stone--very rich--come down. I publish this telegram +from the manager, and the "Boom" starts.' + +'How high do you think the shares will go?' asked the wiry man, +thoughtfully. + +Barraclough shrugged his shoulders, and replaced the telegram in his +pocket-book. + +'Two or three pounds, perhaps more,' he replied, rising. 'At all events, +it's a good thing, and if you go in with me, we'll clear a good few +thousand out of it.' + +'Come and see me to-morrow morning,' said the wiry man, also rising. 'I +think I'll stand in.' + +Barraclough rubbed his hands gleefully, and then slipping his arm +in that of his companion they left the balcony and went back to the +theatre. + +Vandeloup felt every nerve in his body tingling. Here was a chance to +make money. If he only had a few hundreds he could buy up all the Magpie +shares he could get and reap the benefit of the rise. Five hundred +pounds! If he could obtain that sum he could buy two thousand five +hundred shares, and if they went to three pounds, he could clear nearly +eight thousand. What an idea! It was ripe fruit tumbling off the tree +without the trouble of plucking it. But five hundred pounds! He had not +as many pence, and he did not know where to get it. If he could only +borrow it from someone--but then he could offer no security. A sense of +his own helplessness came on him as he saw this golden tide flowing +past his door, and yet was unable to take advantage of it. Five hundred +pounds! The sum kept buzzing in his head like a swarm of bees, and he +threw himself down again in his chair to try and think where he could +get it. + +A noise disturbed him, and he saw that the opera was over, and a crowd +of gentlemen were thronging into the bar. Jarper was among them, and he +thought he would speak to him on the subject. Yes, Barty was a clever +little fellow, and seemed always able to get money. Perhaps he would +be able to assist him. He stepped out of the balcony into the light and +touched Barty on the shoulder as he stood amid his friends. + +'Hullo! it's you!' cried Barty, turning round. 'Where have you been, old +chap?' + +'Out on the balcony,' answered Vandeloup, curtly. + +'Come and have supper with us,' said Barty, hospitably. 'We are going to +have some at Leslie's.' + +'Yes, do come,' urged Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of Vandeloup's; +'we'll have no end of fun.' + +Vandeloup was just going to accept, as he thought on the way he could +speak privately to Barty about this scheme he had, when he saw a stout +gentleman at the end of the room taking a cup of coffee at the counter, +and talking to another gentleman who was very tall and thin. The figure +of the stout gentleman seemed familiar to Vandeloup, and at this moment +he turned slowly round and looked down the room. Gaston gave a start +when he saw his face, and then smiled in a gratified manner to himself. + +'Who is that gentleman with the coffee?' he asked Barty. + +'Those stout and lean kine,' said Barty, airily, 'puts one in mind of +Pharaoh's dream, doesn't it?' + +'Yes, yes!' retorted Gaston, impatiently; 'but who are they?' + +'The long one is Fell, the railway contractor,' said Barty, glancing +with some surprise at Vandeloup, 'and the other is old Meddlechip, the +millionaire.' + +'Meddlechip,' echoed Vandeloup, as if to himself; 'my faith!' + +'Yes,' broke in Bellthorp, quickly; 'the one we were speaking of at the +club--do you know him?' + +'I fancy I do,' said Vandeloup, with a strange smile. 'You must excuse +me to your supper to-night.' + +'No, we won't,' said Barty, firmly; 'you must come.' + +'Then I'll look in later,' said Vandeloup, who had not the slightest +intention of going. 'Will that do?' + +'I suppose it will have to,' said Bellthorp, in an injured tone; 'but +why can't you come now?' + +'I've got to see about some business,' said Vandeloup. + +'What, at this hour of the night?' cried Jarper, in a voice of disgust. + +Vandeloup nodded, and lit a cigarette. + +'Well, mind you come in later,' said Barty, and then he and his friends +left the bar, after making Vandeloup promise faithfully he would come. + +Gaston sauntered slowly up to the coffee bar, and asked for a cup in +his usual musical voice, but when the stout gentleman heard him speak he +turned pale and looked up. The thin one had gone off to talk to someone +else, so when Vandeloup got his coffee he turned slowly round and looked +straight at Meddlechip seated in the chair. + +'Good evening, M. Kestrike,' he said, quietly. + +Meddlechip, whose face was usually red and florid-looking, turned +ghastly pale, and sprang to his feet. + +'Octave Braulard!' he gasped, placing his coffee cup on the counter. + +'At your service,' said Vandeloup, looking rapidly round to see that no +one overheard the name, 'but here I am Gaston Vandeloup.' + +Meddlechip passed his handkerchief over his face and moistened his dry +lips with his tongue. + +'How did you get here?' he asked, in a strangled voice. + +'It's a long story,' said M. Vandeloup, putting his coffee cup down and +wiping his lips with his handkerchief; 'suppose we go and have supper +somewhere, and I'll tell you all about it.' + +'I don't want any supper,' said Meddlechip, sullenly, his face having +regained its normal colour. 'Possibly not, but I do,' replied Vandeloup, +sweetly, taking his arm; 'come, let us go.' + +Meddlechip did not resist, but walked passively out of the bar with +Vandeloup, much to the astonishment of the thin gentleman, who called +out to him but without getting any answer. + +Meddlechip went to the cloak room and put on his coat and hat. Then +he followed Vandeloup down the stairs and paused at the door while the +Frenchman hailed a hansom. When it drove up, however, he stopped short +at the edge of the pavement. + +'I won't go,' he said, determinedly. + +Vandeloup looked at him with a peculiar gleam in his dark eyes, and +bowed. + +'Let me persuade you, Monsieur,' he said, blandly, holding the door of +the cab open. + +Meddlechip glanced at him, and then, with a sigh of resignation, entered +the cab, followed by Vandeloup. + +'Where to, sir?' asked the cabman, through the trap. + +'To Leslie's Supper Rooms,' replied the Frenchman, and the cab drove +off. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CASE OF ADELE BLONDET + + +Leslie's Supper Rooms in Bourke Street East were very well known--that +is, among a certain class. Religious people and steady businessmen knew +nothing about such a place except by reputation, and looked upon it, +with horror, as a haunt of vice and dissipation. + +Though Leslie's, in common with other places had to close at a certain +hour, yet when the shutters were up, the door closed, and the lights +extinguished in the front of the house, there was plenty of life and +bustle going on at the back, where there were charmingly furnished +little rooms for supper parties. Barty Jarper had engaged one of these +apartments, and with about a dozen young men was having a good time of +it when Vandeloup and Meddlechip drove up. After dismissing the cab and +looking up and down the street to see that no policeman was in +sight, Vandeloup knocked at the door in a peculiar manner, and it was +immediately opened in a stealthy kind of way. Gaston gave his name, +whereupon they were allowed to enter, and the door was closed after +them in the same quiet manner, all of which was very distasteful to Mr +Meddlechip, who, being a public man and a prominent citizen, felt that +he was breaking the laws he had assisted to make. He looked round in +some disgust at the crowds of waiters, and at the glimpses he caught +every now and then of gentlemen in evening dress, and what annoyed him +more than anything else--ladies in bright array. Oh! a dissipated place +was Leslie's, and even in the daytime had a rakish-looking appearance as +if it had been up all night and knew a thing or two. Mr Meddlechip would +have retreated from this den of iniquity if he could, but as he wanted +to have a thorough explanation with Vandeloup, he meekly followed the +Frenchman through a well-lighted passage, with statues on either side +holding lamps, to a little room beautifully furnished, wherein a supper +table was laid out. Here the waiter who conducted them took their hats +and Meddlechip's coat and hung them up, then waited respectfully for +M. Vandeloup to give his orders. A portly looking waiter he was, with +a white waistcoat, a white shirt, which bulged out in a most obtrusive +manner, and a large white cravat, which was tied round an equally large +white collar. When he walked he rolled along like a white-crested wave, +and with his napkin under his arm, the heel of one foot in the hollow of +the other, and his large red face, surmounted by a few straggling tufts +of black hair, he was truly wonderful to behold. + +This magnificent creature, who answered to the name of Gurchy, received +Vandeloup's orders with a majestic bend of his head, then rolling up +to Mr Meddlechip, he presented the bill of fare to that gentleman, who, +however, refused it. + +'I don't want any supper,' he said, curtly. + +Gurchy, though a waiter, was human, and looked astonished, while +Vandeloup remonstrated in a suave manner. + +'But, my dear sir,' he said, leaning back in his chair, 'you must have +something to eat. I assure you,' with a significant smile, 'you will +need it.' + +Meddlechip's lips twitched a little as the Frenchman spoke, then, with +an uneasy laugh, he ordered something, and drew his chair up to the +table. + +'And, waiter,' said Vandeloup, softly, as Gurchy was rolling out of the +door, 'bring some wine, will you? Pommery, I think, is best,' he added, +turning to Meddlechip. + +'What you like,' returned that gentleman, impatiently, 'I don't care.' + +'That's a great mistake,' replied Gaston, coolly; 'bad wine plays the +deuce with one's digestion--two bottles of Pommery, waiter.' + +Gurchy nodded, that is to say his head disappeared for a moment in the +foam of his collar, then re-appeared again as he slowly rolled out of +the door and vanished. + +'Now, then, sir,' said Meddlechip, sharply, rising from his seat and +closing the door, 'what did you bring me here for?' + +M. Vandeloup raised his eyebrows in surprise. + +'How energetic you are, my dear Kestrike,' he said, smoothly, lying down +on the sofa, and contemplating his shoes with great satisfaction; 'just +the same noisy, jolly fellow as of yore.' + +'Damn you!' said the other, fiercely, at which Gaston laughed. + +'You had better leave that to God,' he answered, mockingly; 'he +understands more about it than you do.' + +'Oh, I know you of old,' said Meddlechip, walking up and down excitedly; +'I know you of old, with your sneers and your coolness, but it won't do +here,' stopping opposite the sofa, and glaring down at Vandeloup; 'it +won't do here!' + +'So you've said twice,' replied M. Vandeloup, with a yawn. 'How do you +want me to conduct myself? Do tell me; I am always open to improvement.' + +'You must leave Australia,' said Meddlechip, sharply, and breathing +hard. + +'If I refuse?' asked M. Vandeloup, lazily, smiling to himself. + +'I will denounce you as a convict escaped from New Caledonia!' hissed +the other, putting his hands in his pockets, and bending forward. + +'Indeed,' said Gaston, with a charming smile, 'I don't think you will go +so far as that, my friend.' + +'I swear,' said Meddlechip, loudly, raising his hand, 'I swear--' + +'Oh, fie!' observed M. Vandeloup, in a shocked tone; 'an old man like +you should not swear; it's very wrong, I assure you; besides,' with a +disparaging glance, 'you are not suited to melodrama.' + +Meddlechip evidently saw it was no good trying to fight against the +consummate coolness of this young man, so with a great effort resolved +to adapt himself to the exigencies of the case, and fight his adversary +with his own weapons. + +'Well,' he said at length, resuming his seat at the table, and trying to +speak calmly, though his flushed face and quivering lips showed what +an effort it cost him; 'let us have supper first, and we can talk +afterwards.' + +'Ah, that's much better,' remarked M. Vandeloup, sitting up to the +table, and unrolling his napkin. 'I assure you, my dear fellow, if you +treat me well, I'm a very easy person to deal with.' + +The eyes of the two men met for a moment across the table, and +Vandeloup's had such a meaning look in them, that Meddlechip dropped his +own with a shiver. + +The door opened, and the billowy waiter rolled up to the table, and +having left a deposit of plates and food thereon, subsided once more out +of the door, then rolled in again with the champagne. He drew the cork +of one of the bottles, filled the glasses on the table, and then after +giving a glance round to see that all was in order, suddenly found that +it was ebb-tide, and rolled slowly out of the door, which he closed +after him. + +Meddlechip ate his supper in silence, but drank a good deal of champagne +to keep his courage up for the coming ordeal, which he knew he must go +through. Vandeloup, on the other hand, ate and drank very little, as he +talked gaily all the time about theatres, racing, boating, in fact of +everything except the thing the other man wanted to hear. + +'I never mix up business with pleasure, my dear fellow,' said Gaston, +amiably, guessing his companion's thoughts; 'when we have finished +supper and are enjoying our cigars, I will tell you a little story.' + +'I don't want to hear it,' retorted the other, harshly, having an +intuitive idea what the story would be about. + +'Possibly not,' replied M. Vandeloup, smoothly; 'nevertheless it is my +wish that you should hear it.' + +Meddlechip looked as if he were inclined to resent this plain speaking, +but after a pause evidently thought better of it, and went on tranquilly +eating his supper. + +When they had finished Gaston rang the bell, and when the billow rolled +in, ordered a fresh bottle of wine and some choice cigars of a brand +well known at Leslie's. Gurchy's head disappeared in foam again, and did +not emerge therefrom till he was out of the door. + +Try one of these,' said M. Vandeloup, affably, to Meddlechip, when +the billow had rolled in with the cigars and wine, 'it's an excellent +brand.' + +'I don't care about smoking,' answered Meddlechip. + +'To please me,' urged M. Vandeloup, persuasively; whereupon Meddlechip +took one, and having lighted it puffed away evidently under protest, +while the billow opened the new bottle of wine, freshened up the +glasses, and then rolled majestically out of the door, like a tidal +wave. + +'Now then for the story,' said M. Vandeloup, leaning back luxuriously on +the sofa, and blowing a cloud of smoke. + +'I don't want to hear it,' retorted the other, quickly; 'name your terms +and let us end the matter.' + +'Pardon me,' said M. Vandeloup, with a smile, 'but I refuse to accept +any terms till I have given you thoroughly to understand what I mean; so +you must hear this little tale of Adele Blondet.' + +'For God's sake, no!' cried the other, hoarsely, rising to his feet; 'I +tell you I am haunted by it; by day and by night, sleeping or waking, I +see her face ever before me like an accusing angel.' + +'Curious,' murmured M. Vandeloup, 'especially as she was not by any +means an angel.' + +'I thought it was done with,' said Meddlechip, twisting his fingers +together, while the large drops of perspiration stood on his forehead, +'but here you come like a spectre from the past and revive all the old +horrors.' + +'If you call Adele a horror,' retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'I am +certainly going to revive her, so you had best sit down and hear me to +the end, for you certainly will not turn me from my purpose.' + +Meddlechip sank back into his chair with a groan, while his relentless +enemy curled himself up on the sofa in a more comfortable position and +began to talk. + +'We will begin the story,' said M. Vandeloup, in a conversational tone, +with an airy wave of his delicate white hand, 'in the good old-fashioned +style of our fairy tales. Once upon a time--let us say three years +ago--there lived in Paris a young man called Octave Braulard, who was +well born and comfortably off. He had a fancy to be a doctor, and was +studying for the medical profession when he became entangled with a +woman. Mademoiselle Adele Blondet was a charmingly ugly actress, who was +at that time the rage of Paris. She attracted all the men, not by +her looks, but by her tongue. Octave Braulard,' went on M. Vandeloup, +complacently looking at himself, 'was handsome, and she fell in love +with him. She became his mistress, and caused a nine days' wonder in +Paris by remaining constant to him for six months. Then there came to +Paris an English gentleman from Australia--name, Kestrike; position, +independent; income, enormous. He had left Madame his wife in London, +and came to our wicked Paris to amuse himself. He saw Adele Blondet, and +was introduced to her by Braulard; result, Kestrike betrayed his friend +Braulard by stealing from him his mistress. Why was this? Was Kestrike +handsome? No. Was he fascinating? No. Was he rich? Yes. Therein lay +the secret; Adele loved the purse, not the man. Braulard,' said Gaston, +rising from the sofa quickly and walking across the room, 'felt his +honour wounded. He remonstrated with Adele, no use; he offered to fight +a duel with the perfidious Kestrike, no use; the thief was a coward.' + +'No,' cried Meddlechip, rising, 'no coward.' + +'I say, yes!' said Vandeloup, crossing to him, and forcing him back +in his chair; 'he betrayed his friend and refused to give him the +satisfaction of a gentleman. What did Braulard do? Rest quiet? +No. Revenge his honour? Yes! One night,' pursued Gaston, in a low +concentrated voice, grasping Meddlechip's wrist firmly, and looking at +him with fiery eyes, 'Braulard prepared a poison, a narcotic which was +quick in its action, fatal in its results. He goes to the house of Adele +Blondet at half-past twelve o'clock--the hour now,' he said, rapidly +swinging round and pointing to the clock on the mantelpiece, which +had just struck the half-hour; 'he found them at supper,' releasing +Meddlechip's wrist and crossing to the sofa; 'he sat opposite Kestrike, +as he does now,' leaning forward and glaring at Meddlechip, who shrank +back in his chair. 'Adele, at the head of the table, laughs and smiles; +she looks at her old lover and sees murder in his face; she is ill and +retires to her room. Kestrike follows her to see what is the matter. +Braulard is left alone; he produces a bottle and pours its contents into +a cup of coffee, waiting for Adele. Kestrike returns, saying Adele is +ill; she wants a drink. He takes her the poisoned cup of coffee; she +drinks it and falls'--with a long breath--'asleep. Kestrike returns to +the room, asks Braulard to leave the house. Braulard refuses. Kestrike +is afraid, and would leave himself; he rises from the table; so does +Braulard;'--here Gaston rose and crossed to Meddlechip, who was also on +his feet--'he goes to Kestrike, seizes his wrist, thus--drags him to +the bedroom, and there on the bed lies Adele Blondet--dead--killed by the +poison of one lover given her by the other--and the murderers look at +one another--thus.' + +Meddlechip wrenched his hand from Vandeloup's iron grip and fell back +ghastly white in his chair, with a strangled cry, while the Frenchman +stood over him with eyes gleaming with hatred. + +'Kestrike,' pursued Vandeloup, rapidly, 'is little known in Paris--his +name is an assumed one--he leaves France before the police can discover +how he has poisoned Adele Blondet, and crosses to England--meets Madame, +his wife, and returns to Australia, where he is called--Meddlechip.' + +The man in the chair threw up his hands as if to keep the other off, and +uttered a stifled cry. + +'He then goes to China,' went on Gaston, bending nearer to the shrinking +figure, 'and returns after twelve months, where he meets Octave Braulard +in the theatre--yes, the two murderers meet in Melbourne! How came +Braulard here? Was it chance? No. Was it design? No. Was it Fate? Yes.' + +He hissed the words in Meddlechip's ear, and the wretched man shrank +away from him again. + +'Braulard,' pursued Vandeloup, in a calmer tone, 'also left the house of +Adele Blondet. She is found dead; one of her lovers cannot be found; the +other, Braulard, is accused of the crime; he defies the police to prove +it; she has been poisoned. Bah! there is no trace. Braulard will be +free. Stop! who is this man called Prevol, who appears? He is a fellow +student of Braulard's, and knows the poison. Braulard is lost! Prevol +examines the body, proves that poison has been given--by whom? Braulard, +and none other. He is sentenced to death; but he is so handsome that +Paris urges pardon. No; it is not according to the law. Still, spare his +life? Yes. His life is spared. The galleys at Toulon? No. New Caledonia? +Yes. He is sent there. But is Braulard a coward? No. Does he rest as a +convict? No. He makes friends with another convict; they steal a boat, +and fly from the island; they drift, and drift, for days and days; the +sun rises, the sun sets--still they drift; their food is giving out, the +water in the barrel is low--God! are they to die of thirst and famine? +No. The sky is red--like blood--the sun is sinking; land is in the +distance--they are saved!' falling on his knees; 'they are saved, thank +God!' + +Meddlechip, who had recovered himself, wiped his face with his +handkerchief, and sneered with his white lips at the theatrical way +Gaston was behaving in. Vandeloup saw this, and, springing to his feet, +crossed to the millionaire. + +'Braulard,' he continued, quickly, 'lands on the coast of Queensland; +he comes to Sydney--no work; to Melbourne--no work; he goes to +Ball'rat--work there at a gold-mine. Braulard takes the name of +Vandeloup and makes money; he comes to Melbourne, lives there a year, +he is in want of money, he is in despair; at the theatre he overhears a +plan which will give him money, but he needs capital--despair again, he +will never get it. Aha! Fate once more intervenes--he sees M. Kestrike, +now Meddlechip, he will ask him for the money, and the question is, will +he get it? So the story is at an end.' He ended with his usual smile, +all his excitement having passed away, and lounging over to the +supper-table lit a cigarette and sat down on the sofa. + +Meddlechip sat silently looking at the disordered supper-table and +thinking deeply. The dishes were scattered about the white cloth, and +some vividly red cherries had fallen down from the fruit dish in the +centre, some salt was spilt near his elbow, the napkins, twisted +into thin wisps, were lying among the dirty dishes, and the champagne +glasses, half filled with the straw-coloured wine, were standing near +the empty bottles. Meddlechip thought for a few moments, and then looked +up suddenly in a cool, collected, business-like manner. + +'As I understand you,' he said, in a steady voice, 'the case stands +thus: you know a portion, or rather, I should say, an episode of my +life, I would gladly forget. I did not commit the murder.' + +'No, but you gave her the poison.' + +'Innocently I did, I confess.' + +'Bah! who will believe that?' retorted M. Vandeloup, with a shrug; 'but +never mind this at present; let me hear what you intend to do.' + +'You know a secret,' said Meddlechip, nervously, 'which is dangerous to +me; you want to sell it; well, I will be the buyer--name your price.' + +'Five hundred pounds,' said Vandeloup, quietly. + +'Is that all?' asked the other, with a start of surprise; 'I was +prepared for five thousand.' + +'I am not exorbitant in my demands,' answered Vandeloup, smoothly; 'and +as I told you, I have a scheme on hand by which I may make a lot of +money-five hundred pounds is sufficient to do what I want. If the scheme +succeeds, I will be rich enough to do without any more money from you.' + +'Yes; but if it fails?' said Meddlechip, doubtfully. + +'If it fails, I will be obliged to draw on you again,' returned Gaston, +candidly; 'you can't say, however, that I am behaving badly to you.' + +'No,' answered Meddlechip, looking at him. 'I must say you are easier +to deal with than I anticipated. Well, if I give you my cheque for five +hundred--' + +'Say six hundred,' observed Vandeloup, rising and going to a small table +in the corner of the room on which were pens and ink. 'I want an extra +hundred.' + +'Six hundred then be it,' answered Meddlechip, quietly, rising and going +to his overcoat, from whence he took his cheque book. 'For this amount +you will be silent.' + +M. Vandeloup bowed gracefully. + +'On my word of honour,' he replied, gaily; 'but, of course,' with a +sudden glance at Meddlechip, 'you will treat me as a friend--ask me to +your house, and introduce me to Madame, your wife.' + +'I don't see the necessity,' returned Meddlechip, angrily, going over to +the small table and sitting down. + +'Pardon me, I do' answered the Frenchman, with a dangerous gleam in his +eyes. + +'Well, well, I agree,' said Meddlechip, testily, taking up a pen and +opening his cheque book. 'You, of course, can dictate your own terms.' + +'I understand that perfectly,' replied Vandeloup, delicately, lighting +a cigarette, 'and have done so. You can't say they are hard, as I said +before.' + +Meddlechip did not answer, but wrote out a cheque for six hundred +pounds, and then handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow and +slipped it into his waistcoat pocket. + +'With this,' he said, touching his pocket, 'I hope to make nearly ten +thousand in a fortnight.' + +Meddlechip stared at him. + +'I hope you will,' he answered, gruffly, 'all the better for my purse if +you do.' + +'That, of course, goes without saying,' replied Vandeloup, lazily. 'Have +some more wine?' touching the bell. + +'No more, thank you,' said Meddlechip, putting on his overcoat. 'It's +time I was off.' + +'By the way,' said M. Vandeloup, coolly, 'I have not any change in my +pocket; you might settle for the supper.' + +Meddlechip burst out laughing. + +'Confound your impudence,' he said, quickly, 'I thought you asked me to +supper.' + +'Oh, yes,' replied Vandeloup, taking his hat and stick, 'but I intended +you to pay for it.' + +'You were pretty certain of your game, then?' + +'I always am,' answered Vandeloup, as the door opened, and Gurchy rolled +slowly into the room. + +Meddlechip paid the bill without making further objections, and then +they both left Leslie's with the same precautions as had attended their +entry. They walked slowly down Bourke Street, and parted at the corner, +Meddlechip going to Toorak, while Vandeloup got into a cab and told the +man to drive to Richmond, then lit a cigarette and gave himself up to +reflection as he drove along. + +'I've done a good stroke of business tonight,' he said, smiling, as he +felt the cheque in his pocket, 'and I'll venture the whole lot on this +Magpie reef. If it succeeds I will be rich; if it does not--well, there +is always Meddlechip as my banker.' Then his thoughts went back to +Kitty, for the reason of his going home so late was that he wanted to +find out in what frame of mind she was. + +'She'll never leave me,' he said, with a laugh, as the cab drew up in +front of Mrs Pulchop's house; 'if she does, so much the better for me.' + +He dismissed his cab, and let himself in with the latch key; then +hanging up his hat in the hall he went straight to the bedroom and +lit the gas. He then crossed to the bed, expecting to find Kitty sound +asleep, but to his surprise the bed was untouched, and she was not +there. + +'Ah!' he said, quietly, 'so she has gone, after all. Poor little girl, +I wonder where she is. I must really look after her to-morrow; at +present,' he said, pulling off his coat, with a yawn, 'I think I'll go +to bed.' + +He went to bed, and laying his head on the pillow was soon fast asleep, +without even a thought for the girl he had ruined. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +THE KEY OF THE STREET + +When Kitty left Mrs Pulchop's residence she had no very definite idea as +to what she was going to do with herself. Her sole thought was to get as +far away from her former life as possible--to disappear in the crowd +and never to be heard of again. Poor little soul, she never for a moment +dreamed that it was a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, and +that the world at large might prove more cruel to her than Vandeloup in +particular. She had been cut to the heart by his harsh cold words, but +notwithstanding he had spoken so bitterly she still loved him, and would +have stayed beside him, but her jealous pride forbade her to do so. She +who had been queen of his heart and the idol of his life could not bear +to receive cold looks and careless words, and to be looked upon as an +encumbrance and a trouble. So she thought if she left him altogether and +never saw him again he would, perhaps, be sorry for her and cherish her +memory tenderly for evermore. If she had only known Gaston's true +nature she would not thus have buoyed herself up with false hopes of his +sorrow, but as she believed in him as implicitly as a woman in love with +a man always does, in a spirit of self-abnegation she cut herself off +from him, thinking it would be to his advantage if not to her own. + +She went into town and wandered about listlessly, not knowing where to +go, till nearly twelve o'clock, and the streets were gradually emptying +themselves of their crowds. The coffee stalls were at all the corners, +with hungry-looking people of both sexes crowded round them, and here +and there in door steps could be seen some outcasts resting in huddled +heaps, while the policemen every now and then would come up and make +them move on. + +Kitty was footsore and heart-weary, and felt inclined to cry, but +was nevertheless resolved not to go back to her home in Richmond. She +dragged herself along the lonely street, and round the corner came on +a coffee stall with no one at it except one small boy whose head just +reached up to the counter. Such a ragged boy as he was, with a broad +comical-looking face--a shaggy head of red hair and a hat without any +brim to it--his legs were bandy and his feet were encased in a pair +of men's boots several sizes too large for him. He had a bundle of +newspapers under one arm and his other hand was in his pocket rattling +some coppers together while he bargained with the coffee-stall keeper +over a pie. The coffee stall had the name of Spilsby inscribed on it, so +it is fair to suppose that the man therein was Spilsby himself. He had +a long grey beard and a meek face, looking so like an old wether himself +it appeared almost the act of a cannibal on his part to eat a mutton +pie. A large placard at the back of the stall set forth the fact that +'Spilsby's Specials' were sold there for the sum of one penny, and it +was over 'Spilsby's Specials' the ragged boy was arguing. + +'I tell you I ain't agoin' to eat fat,' he said, in a hoarse voice, as +if his throat was stuffed up with one of his own newspapers. 'I want a +special, I don't want a hordinary.' + +'This are a special, I tells you,' retorted Spilsby, ungrammatically, +pushing a smoking pie towards the boy; 'what a young wiper you are, +Grattles, a-comin' and spoilin' my livin' by cussin' my wictuals.' + +'Look 'ere,' retorted Grattles, standing on the tips of his large boots +to look more imposing, 'my stumick's a bit orf when it comes to fat, +and I wants the vally of my penny; give us a muttony one, with lots of +gravy.' + +''Ere y'are, then,' said Spilsby, quite out of temper with his +fastidious customer; ''ere's a pie as is all made of ram as 'adn't got +more fat on it than you 'ave.' + +Grattles examined the article classed under this promising description +with a critical air, and then laid down his penny and took the pie. + +'It's a special, ain't it?' he asked, suspiciously smelling it. + +'It's the specialest I've got, any'ow,' answered Spilsby, testily, +putting the penny in his pocket; 'you'd eat a 'ole sheep if you could +get it for a penny, you greedy young devil, you.' + +Here Kitty, who was feeling faint and ill with so much walking, came +forward and asked for a cup of coffee. + +'Certainly, dear,' said Spilsby, with a leer, pouring out the coffee; +'I'm allays good to a pretty gal.' + +'It's more nor your coffee is,' growled Grattles, who had finished +his special and was now licking his fingers, 'it's all grounds and 'ot +water.' + +'Go away, you wicious thing,' retorted Spilsby, mildly, giving Kitty +her coffee and change out of the money she handed him, 'or I'll set the +perlice on yer.' + +'Oh, my eye!' shrieked Grattles, executing a grimace after the fashion +of a favourite comedian; 'he ain't a tart, oh, no--'es a pie, 'e are, +a special, a muttony special; 'e don't kill no kittings and call 'em +sheep, oh, no; 'e don't buy chicory and calls it coffee, blest if +'e does; 'e's a corker, 'e are, and 'is name ain't the same as 'is +father's.' + +'What d'ye mean,' asked Spilsby, fiercely--that is, as fiercely as his +meek appearance would let him; 'what do you know of my parents, you +bandy-legged little devil? who's your--progenitor, I'd like to know?' + +'A dook, in course,' said Grattles loftily; 'but we don't, in +consequence of 'er Nibs bein' mixed up with the old man's mother, reweal +the family skeletons to low piemen,' then, with a fresh grimace, he +darted along the street as quickly as his bandy legs could carry him. + +Spilsby took no notice of this, but, seeing some people coming round the +corner, commenced to sing out his praises of the specials. + +''Ere yer are--all 'ot an' steamin',' he cried, in a kind of loud +bleat, which added still more to his sheep-like appearance: 'Spilsby's +Specials--oh, lovely--ain't they nice; my eye, fine muttin pies; who ses +Spilsby's; 'ave one, miss?' to Kitty. + +Thank you, no,' replied Kitty, with a faint smile as she put down her +empty cup; 'I'm going now.' + +Spilsby was struck by the educated manner in which she spoke and by the +air of refinement about her. + +'Go home, my dear,' he said, kindly, leaning forward; 'this ain't no +time for a young gal like you to be out.' + +'I've got no home,' said Kitty, bitterly, 'but if you could direct me--' + +'Here, you,' cried a shrill female voice, as a woman dressed in a +flaunting blue gown rushed up to the stall, 'give us a pie quick; I'm +starvin'; I've got no time to wait.' + +'No, nor manners either,' said Spilsby, with a remonstrating bleat, +pushing a pie towards her; 'who are you, a-shovin' your betters, +Portwine Annie?' + +'My betters,' scoffed the lady in blue, looking Kitty up and down with +a disdainful smile on her painted face; 'where are they, I'd like to +know?' + +''Ere, 'old your tongue,' bleated Spilsby, angrily, 'or I'll tell the +perlice at the corner.' + +'And much I care,' retorted the shrill-voiced female, 'seeing he's a +particular friend of mine.' + +'For God's sake tell me where I can find a place to stop in,' whispered +Kitty to the coffee-stall keeper. + +'Come with me, dear,' said Portwine Annie, eagerly, having overheard +what was said, but Kitty shrank back, and then gathering her cloak +around her ran down the street. + +'What do you do that for, you jade?' said Spilsby, in a vexed tone; +'don't you see the girl's a lady.' + +'Of course she is,' retorted the other, finishing her pie; 'we're all +ladies; look at our dresses, ain't they fine enough? Look at our houses, +aren't they swell enough?' + +'Yes, and yer morals, ain't they bad enough?' said Spilsby, washing up +the dirty plate. + +'They're quite as good as many ladies in society, at all events,' +replied Portwine Annie, with a toss of her head as she walked off. + +'Oh, it's a wicked world,' bleated Spilsby, in a soft voice, looking +after the retreating figure. 'I'm sorry for that poor gal--I am +indeed--but this ain't business,' and once more raising his voice he +cried up his wares, 'Oh, lovely; ain't they muttony? Spilsby's specials, +all 'ot; one penny.' + +Meanwhile Kitty was walking quickly down Elizabeth Street, and turning +round the corner ran right up against a woman. + +'Hullo!' said the woman, catching her wrist, 'where are you off to?' + +'Let me go,' cried Kitty, in a panting voice. + +The woman was tall and handsome, but her face had a kindly expression on +it, and she seemed touched with the terrified tone of the girl. + +'My poor child,' she said, half contemptuously, releasing her, 'I won't +hurt you. Go if you like. What are you doing out at this time of the +night?' + +'Nothing,' faltered Kitty, with quivering lips, lifting her face up to +the pale moon. The other saw it in the full light and marked how pure +and innocent it was. + +'Go home, dear,' she said, in a soft tone, touching the girl kindly on +the shoulder, 'it's not fit for you to be out at this hour. You are not +one of us.' + +'My God! no,' cried Kitty, shrinking away from her. + +The other smiled bitterly. + +'Ah! you draw away from me now,' she said, with a sneer; 'but what are +you, so pure and virtuous, doing on the streets at this hour? Go home in +time, child, or you will become like me.' + +'I have no home,' said Kitty, turning to go. + +'No home!' echoed the other, in a softer tone; 'poor child! I cannot +take you with me--God help me; but here is some money,' forcing a +shilling into the girl's hand, 'go to Mrs Rawlins at Victoria Parade, +Fitzroy--anyone will tell you where it is--and she will take you in.' + +'What kind of a place is it?' said Kitty. + +'A home for fallen women, dear,' answered the other, kindly. + +'I'm not a fallen woman!' cried the girl, wildly, 'I have left my home, +but I will go back to it--anything better than this horrible life on the +streets.' + +'Yes, dear,' said the woman, softly, 'go home; go home, for God's sake, +and if you have a father and mother to shield you from harm, thank +heaven for that. Let me kiss you once,' she added, bending forward, 'it +is so long since I felt a good woman's kiss on my lips. Good-bye.' + +'Good-bye,' sobbed Kitty, raising her face, and the other bent down and +kissed the child-like face, then with a stifled cry, fled away through +the moonlit night. + +Kitty turned away slowly and walked up the street. She knew there was +a cab starting opposite the Town Hall which went to Richmond, and +determined to go home. After all, hard though her life might be in the +future, it would be better than this cruel harshness of the streets. + +At the top of the block, just as she was about to cross Swanston Street, +a party of young men in evening dress came round the corner singing, and +evidently were much exhilarated with wine. These were none other than +Mr Jarper and his friends, who, having imbibed a good deal more than +was good for them, were now ripe for any mischief. Bellthorp and Jarper, +both quite intoxicated, were walking arm-in-arm, each trying to keep +the other up, so that their walking mostly consisted of wild lurches +forward, and required a good deal of balancing. + +'Hullo!' cried Bellthorp solemnly--he was always solemn when +intoxicated--'girl--pretty--eh!' + +'Go 'way,' said Barty, staggering back against the wall, 'we're +Christian young men.' + +Kitty tried to get away from this inebriated crew, but they all closed +round her, and she wrung her hands in despair. 'If you are gentlemen you +will let me go,' she cried, trying to push past. + +'Give us kiss first,' said a handsome young fellow, with his hat very +much on one side, putting his arm round her waist, 'pay toll, dear.' + +She felt his hot breath on her cheek and shrieked out wildly, trying +to push him away with all her force. The young man, however, paid no +attention to her cries, but was about to kiss her when he was taken by +the back of the neck and thrown into the gutter. + +'Gentlemen!' said a rich rolling voice, which proceeded from a portly +man who had just appeared on the scene. 'I am astonished,' with the +emphasis on the first person singular, as if he were a man of great +note. + +'Old boy,' translated Bellthorp to the others, 'is 'tonished.' + +'You have,' said the stranger, with an airy wave of his hand, 'the +appearance of gentlemen, but, alas! you are but whited sepulchres, fair +to look upon, but full of dead men's bones within.' + +'Jarper,' said Bellthorp, solemnly, taking Barty's arm, 'you're a +tombstone with skeleton inside--come along--old boy is right--set of +cads 'suiting an unprotected gal--good night, sir.' + +The others picked up their companion out of the gutter, and the whole +lot rolled merrily down the street. + +'And this,' said the gentleman, lifting up his face to the sky in +mute appeal to heaven, 'this is the generation which is to carry +on Australia. Oh, Father Adam, what a dissipated family you have +got--ah!--good for a comedy, I think.' + +'Oh!' cried Kitty, recognising a familiar remark, 'it's Mr Wopples.' + +'The same,' said the airy Theodore, laying his hand on his heart, 'and +you, my dear--why, bless me,' looking closely at her, 'it is the pretty +girl I met in Ballarat--dear, dear--surely you have not come to this.' + +'No, no,' said Kitty, quickly, laying her hand on his arm, 'I will tell +you all about it, Mr Wopples; but you must be a friend to me, for I +sadly need one.' + +'I will be your friend,' said the actor, emphatically, taking her arm +and walking slowly down the street; 'tell me how I find you thus.' + +'You won't tell anyone if I do?' said Kitty, imploringly. + +'On the honour of a gentleman,' answered Wopples, with grave dignity. + +Kitty told him how she had left Ballarat, but suppressed the name of her +lover, as she did not want any blame to fall on him. But all the rest +she told freely, and when Mr Wopples heard how on that night she had +left the man who had ruined her, he swore a mighty oath. + +'Oh, vile human nature,' he said, in a sonorous tone, 'to thus betray +a confiding infant! Where,' he continued, looking inquiringly at the +serene sky, 'where are the thunderbolts of Heaven that they fall not on +such?' + +No thunderbolt making its appearance to answer the question, Mr Wopples +told Kitty he would take her home to the family, and as they were just +starting out on tour again, she could come with them. + +'But will Mrs Wopples receive me?' asked Kitty, timidly. + +'My dear,' said the actor, gravely, 'my wife is a good woman, and a +mother herself, so she can feel for a poor child like you, who has been +betrayed through sheer innocence.' + +'You do not despise me?' said Kitty, in a low voice. + +'My dear,' answered Wopples, quietly, 'am I so pure myself that I can +judge others? Who am I,' with an oratorical wave of the hand, 'that I +should cast the first stone?--ahem!--from Holy Writ. In future I will +be your father; Mrs Wopples, your mother, and you will have ten brothers +and sisters--all star artistes.' + +'How kind you are,' sobbed Kitty, clinging trustfully to him as they +went along. + +'I only do unto others as I would be done by,' said Mr Wopples, +solemnly. 'That sentiment,' continued the actor, taking off his hat, +'was uttered by One who, tho' we may believe or disbelieve in His +divinity as a God, will always remain the sublimest type of perfect +manhood the world has ever seen.' + +Kitty did not answer, and they walked quickly along; and surely this one +good deed more than compensated for the rest of the actor's failings. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON CHANGE + + +Young Australia has a wonderful love for the excitement of +gambling--take him away from the betting ring and he goes straight to +the share market to dabble in gold and silver shares. The Great Humbug +Gold Mining Company is floated on the Melbourne market--a perfect +fortune in itself, which influential men are floating in a kind of +semi-philanthropic manner to benefit mankind at large, and themselves in +particular. Report by competent geologists; rich specimens of the reef +exhibited to the confiding public; company of fifty thousand shares at +a pound each; two shillings on application; two shillings on allotment; +the balance in calls which influential men solemnly assure confiding +public will never be needed. Young Australia sees a chance of making +thousands in a week; buys one thousand shares at four shillings--only +two hundred pounds; shares will rise and Young Australia hopefully looks +forward to pocketing two or three thousand by his modest venture of two +hundred; company floated, shares rising slowly. Young Australia will not +sell at a profit, still dazzled by his chimerical thousands. Calls must +be made to put up machinery; shares have a downward tendency. Never +mind, there will only be one or two calls, so stick to shares as parents +of possible thousands. Machinery erected; now crushing; two or three +ounces to ton a certainty. Shares have an upward tendency; washing +up takes place--two pennyweights to ton. Despair! Shares run down to +nothing, and Young Australia sees his thousands disappear like snow in +the sun. The Great Humbug Reef proves itself worthy of its name, and the +company collapses amid the groans of confiding public and secret joy of +influential men, who have sold at the top price. + +Vandeloup knew all about this sort of thing, for he had seen it occur +over and over again in Ballarat and Melbourne. So many came to the +web and never got out alive, yet fresh flies were always to be found. +Vandeloup was of a speculative nature himself, and had he been possessed +of any surplus cash would, no doubt, have risked it in the jugglery of +the share market, but as he had none to spare he stood back and amused +himself with looking at the 'spider and the fly' business which was +constantly going on. Sometimes, indeed, the fly got the better of spider +number one, but was unable to keep away from the web, and was sure to +fall into the web of spider number two. + +M. Vandeloup, therefore, considered the whole affair as too risky to +be gone into without unlimited cash; but now he had a chance of making +money, he determined to try his hand at the business. True, he knew that +he was in for a swindle, but then he was behind the scenes, and would +benefit by the knowledge he had gained. If the question at issue had +really been that of getting gold out of the reef and paying dividends +with the profits, Gaston would have snapped his fingers scornfully, and +held aloof; but this was simply a running up of shares by means of a +rich reef being struck. He intended to buy at the present market value, +which was four shillings, and sell as soon as he could make a good +profit--say, at one pound--so there was not much chance of him losing +his money. The shares would probably drop again when the pocket of gold +was worked out, but then that would be none of his affair, as he would +by that time have sold out and made his pile. M. Vandeloup was a fly who +was going straight into the webs of stockbroking spiders, but then he +knew as much about this particular web as the spiders themselves. + +Full of his scheme to make money, Vandeloup started for town to see a +broker--first, however, having settled with Mrs Pulchop over Kitty's +disappearance. He had found a letter from Kitty in the bedroom, in which +she had bidden him good-bye for ever, but this he did not show to Mrs +Pulchop, merely stating to that worthy lady that his 'wife' had left +him. + +'And it ain't to be wondered at, the outraged angel,' she said to +Gaston, as he stood at the door, faultlessly dressed, ready to go into +town; 'the way you treated her were shameful.' + +Gaston shrugged his shoulders, lit a cigarette, and smiled at Mrs +Pulchop. + +'My dear lady,' he said, blandly, 'pray attend to your medicine bottles +and leave my domestic affairs alone; you certainly understand the one, +but I doubt your ability to come to any conclusion regarding the other.' + +'Fine words don't butter no parsnips,' retorted Mrs Pulchop, viciously; +'and if Pulchop weren't an Apoller, he had a kind heart.' + +'Spare me these domestic stories, please,' said Vandeloup, coldly, 'they +do not interest me in the least; since my "wife",' with a sneer, 'has +gone, I will leave your hospitable roof. I will send for all my property +either today or to-morrow, and if you make out your account in the +meantime, my messenger will pay it. Good day!' and without another +word Vandeloup walked slowly off down the path, leaving Mrs Pulchop +speechless with indignation. + +He went into town first, to the City of Melbourne Bank, and cashed +Meddlechip's cheque for six hundred pounds, then, calling a hansom, he +drove along to the Hibernian Bank, where he had an account, and paid +it into his credit, reserving ten pounds for his immediate use. Then +he reentered his hansom, and went along to the office of a stockbroker, +called Polglaze, who was a member of 'The Bachelors', and in whose hands +Vandeloup intended to place his business. + +Polglaze was a short, stout man, scrupulously neatly dressed, with iron +grey hair standing straight up, and a habit of dropping out his words +one at a time, so that the listener had to construct quite a little +history between each, in order to arrive at their meaning, and the +connection they had with one another. + +'Morning!' said Polglaze, letting the salutation fly out of his mouth +rapidly, and then closing it again in case any other word might be +waiting ready to pop out unknown to him. + +Vandeloup sat down and stated his business briefly. + +'I want you to buy me some Magpie Reef shares,' he said, leaning on the +table. + +'Many?' dropped out of Polglaze's mouth, and then it shut again with a +snap. 'Depends on the price,' replied Vandeloup, with a shrug; 'I see in +the papers they are four shillings.' + +Mr Polglaze took up his share book, and rapidly turned over the +leaves--found what he wanted, and nodded. + +'Oh!' said Vandeloup, making a rapid mental calculation, 'then buy +me two thousand five hundred. That will be about five hundred pounds' +worth.' + +Mr Polglaze nodded; then whistled. + +'Your commission, I presume,' said Vandeloup, making another +calculation, 'will be threepence?' + +'Sixpence,' interrupted the stockbroker. + +'Oh, I thought it was threepence,' answered Vandeloup, quietly; +'however, that does not make any difference to me. Your commission at +that rate will be twelve pounds ten shillings?' + +Polglaze nodded again, and sat looking at Vandeloup like a stony +mercantile sphinx. + +'If you will, then, buy me these shares,' said Vandeloup, rising, and +taking up his gloves and hat, 'when am I to come along and see you?' + +'Four,' said Polglaze. + +Today?' inquired Vandeloup. + +A nod from the stockbroker. + +'Very well,' said Vandeloup, quietly, 'I'll give you a cheque for the +amount, then. There's nothing more to be said, I believe?' and he walked +over to the door. + +'Say!' from Polglaze. + +'Yes,' replied Gaston, indolently, swinging his stick to and fro. + +'New?' inquired the stockbroker. + +'You mean to this sort of thing?' said Vandeloup, looking at him, and +receiving a nod in token of acquiescence, added, 'entirely.' + +'Risky,' dropped from the Polglaze mouth. 'I never knew a gold mine that +wasn't,' retorted Vandeloup, dryly. + +'Bad,' in an assertive tone, from Polglaze. + +'This particular mine, I suppose you mean?' said Gaston, with a yawn, +'very likely it is. However, I'm willing to take the risk. Good day! See +you at four,' and with a careless nod, M. Vandeloup lounged out of the +office. + +He walked along Collins Street, met a few friends, and kept a look-out +for Kitty. He, however, did not see her, but there was a surprise in +store for him, for turning round into Swanston Street, he came across +Archie McIntosh. Yes, there he was, with his grim, severe Scotch face, +with the white frill round it, and Gaston smiled as he saw the old man, +dressed in rigid broadcloth, casting disproving looks on the pretty +girls walking along. + +'A set o' hizzies,' growled the amiable Archie to himself, 'prancin' +alang wi' their gew-gaws an' fine claes, like war horses--the daughters +o' Zion that walk wi' mincin' steps an' tinklin' ornaments.' + +'How do you do?' said Vandeloup, touching the broadcloth shoulder; upon +which McIntosh turned. + +'Lord save us!' he ejaculated, grimly, 'it's yon French body. An' hoo's +a' wi' ye, laddie? Eh, but ye're brawly dressed, my young man,' with a +disproving look; 'I'm hopin' they duds are paid for.' + +'Of course they are,' replied Vandeloup, gaily, 'do you think I stole +them?' + +'Weel, I'll no gae sa far as that,' remarked Archie, cautiously; 'maybe +ye have dwelt by the side o' mony waters, an' flourished. If he ken the +Screepture ye'll see God helps those wha help themselves.' + +'That means you do all the work and give God the credit,' retorted +Gaston, with a sneer; 'I know all about that.' + +'Ah, ye'll gang tae the pit o' Tophet when ye dee,' said Mr McIntosh, +who had heard this remark with horror; 'an' ye'll no be sae ready wi' +your tongue there, I'm thinkin'; but ye are not speerin aboot Mistress +Villiers.' + +'Why, is she in town?' asked Vandeloup, eagerly. + +'Ay, and Seliny wi' her,' answered Archie, fondling his frill; 'she's +varra rich noo, as ye've nae doot heard. Ay, ay,' he went on, 'she's +gotten a braw hoose doon at St Kilda, and she's going to set up a +carriage, ye ken. She tauld me,' pursued Mr McIntosh, sourly, looking +at Vandeloup, 'if I saw ye I was to be sure to tell ye to come an' see +her.' + +'Present my compliments to Madame,' said Vandeloup, quickly, 'and I will +wait on her as soon as possible.' + +'Losh save us, laddie,' said McIntosh, irritably, 'you're as fu' o' fine +wards as a play-actor. Have ye seen onything doon in this pit o' Tophet +o' the bairn that rin away?' + +'Oh, Miss Marchurst!' said Vandeloup, smoothly, ready with a lie at +once. 'No, I'm sorry to say I've never set eyes on her.' + +'The mistress is joost daft aboot her,' observed McIntosh, querulously; +'and she's ganging tae look all thro' the toun tae find the puir wee +thing.' + +'I hope she will!' said M. Vandeloup, who devoutly hoped she wouldn't. +'Will you come and have a glass of wine, Mr McIntosh?' + +'Til hae a wee drappy o' whusky if ye've got it gude,' said McIntosh, +cautiously, 'but I dinna care for they wines that sour on a body's +stomach.' + +McIntosh having thus graciously assented, Vandeloup took him up to +the Club, and introduced him all round as the manager of the famous +Pactolus. All the young men were wonderfully taken up with Archie and +his plain speaking, and had Mr McIntosh desired he could have drunk +oceans of his favourite beverage. However, being a Scotchman and +cautious, he took very little, and left Vandeloup to go down to Madame +Midas at St Kilda, and bearing a message from the Frenchman that he +would call there the next day. + +Archie having departed, Vandeloup got through the rest of the day as +he best could. He met Mr Wopples in the street, who told him how he had +found Kitty, quite unaware that the young man before him was the villain +who had betrayed the girl. Vandeloup was delighted to think that Kitty +had not mentioned his name, and quite approved of Mr Wopples' intention +to take the girl on tour. Having thus arranged for Kitty's future, +Gaston went along to his broker, and found that the astute Polglaze had +got him his shares. + +'Going up,' said Polglaze, as he handed the scrip to Vandeloup and got a +cheque in exchange. + +'Oh, indeed!' said Vandeloup, with a smile. 'I suppose my two friends +have begun their little game already,' he thought, as he slipped the +scrip into his breast pocket. + +'Information?' asked Polglaze, as Vandeloup was going. + +'Oh! you'd like to know where I got it,' said M. Vandeloup, amiably. +'Very sorry I can't tell you; but you see, my dear sir, I am not a +woman, and can keep a secret.' + +Vandeloup walked out, and Polglaze looked after him with a puzzled look, +then summed up his opinion in one word, sharp, incisive, and to the +point-- + +'Clever!' said Polglaze, and put the cheque in his safe. + +Vandeloup strolled along the street thinking. + +'Bebe is out of my way,' he thought, with a smile; 'I have a small +fortune in my pocket, and,' he continued, thoughtfully, 'Madame Midas is +in Melbourne. I think now,' said M. Vandeloup, with another smile, 'that +I have conquered the blind goddess.' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE OPULENCE OF MADAME MIDAS + + +A wealthy man does not know the meaning of the word friendship. He is +not competent to judge, for his wealth precludes him giving a proper +opinion. Smug-faced philanthropists can preach comfortable doctrines in +pleasant rooms with well-spread tables and good clothing; they can talk +about human nature being unjustly accused, and of the kindly impulses +and good thoughts in everyone's breasts. Pshaw! anyone can preach +thus from an altitude of a few thousands a year, but let these same +self-complacent kind-hearted gentlemen descend in the social scale--let +them look twice at a penny before spending it--let them face persistent +landladies, exorbitant landlords, or the bitter poverty of the streets, +and they will not talk so glibly of human nature and its inherent +kindness. No; human nature is a sort of fetish which is credited with +a great many amiable qualities it never possesses, and though there +are exceptions to the general rule, Balzac's aphorism on mankind that +'Nature works by self-interest,' still holds good today. + +Madame Midas, however, had experienced poverty and the coldness of +friends, so was completely disillusionised as to the disinterested +motives of the people who now came flocking around her. She was very +wealthy, and determined to stop in Melbourne for a year, and then go +home to Europe, so to this end she took a house at St Kilda, which had +been formerly occupied by Mark Frettlby, the millionaire, who had been +mixed up in the famous hansom cab murder nearly eighteen months before. +His daughter, Mrs Fitzgerald, was in Ireland with her husband, and had +given instructions to her agents to let the house furnished as it stood, +but such a large rent was demanded, that no one felt inclined to give +it till Mrs Villiers appeared on the scene. The house suited her, as +she did not want to furnish one of her own, seeing she was only going to +stop a year, so she saw Thinton and Tarbet, who had the letting of +the place, and took it for a year. The windows were flung open, the +furniture brushed and renovated, and the solitary charwoman who had been +ruler in the lonely rooms so long, was dismissed, and her place taken by +a whole retinue of servants. Madame Midas intended to live in style, +so went to work over the setting up of her establishment in such an +extravagant manner that Archie remonstrated. She took his interference +in a good humoured way, but still arranged things as she intended; and +when her house was ready, waited for her friends to call on her, and +prepared to amuse herself with the comedy of human life. She had not +long to wait, for a perfect deluge of affectionate people rolled +down upon her. Many remembered her--oh, quite well--when she was +the beautiful Miss Curtis; and then her husband--that dreadful +Villiers--they hoped he was dead--squandering her fortune as he had +done--they had always been sorry for her, and now she was rich--that +lovely Pactolus--indeed, she deserved it all--she would marry, of +course--oh, but indeed, she must. And so the comedy went on, and all the +actors flirted, and ogled, and nodded, and bowed, till Madame Midas was +quite sick of the falseness and frivolity of the whole thing. She knew +these people, with their simpering and smiling, would visit her and +eat her dinners and drink her wines, and then go away and abuse her +thoroughly. But then Madame Midas never expected anything else, so she +received them with smiles, saw through all their little ways, and when +she had amused herself sufficiently with their antics, she let them go. + +Vandeloup called on Madame Midas the day after she arrived, and Mrs +Villiers was delighted to see him. Having an object in view, of course +Gaston made himself as charming as possible, and assisted Madame to +arrange her house, told her about the people who called on her, and made +cynical remarks about them, all of which amused Madame Midas mightily. +She grew weary of the inane gabble and narrow understandings of people, +and it was quite a relief for her to turn to Vandeloup, with his keen +tongue and clever brains. Gaston was not a charitable talker--few really +clever talkers are--but he saw through everyone with the uttermost ease +and summed them up in a sharp incisive way, which had at least the merit +of being clever. Madame Midas liked to hear him talk, and seeing what +humbugs the people who surrounded her were, and how well she knew their +motives in courting her for her wealth, it is not to be wondered at that +she should have been amused at having all their little weaknesses laid +bare and classified by such a master of satire as Vandeloup. So they sat +and watched the comedy and the unconscious actors playing their parts, +and felt that the air was filled with heavy sensuous perfume, and the +lights were garish, and that there was wanting entirely that keen cool +atmosphere which Mallock calls 'the ozone of respectability'. + +Vandeloup had prospered in his little venture in the mining market, for, +true to the prediction of Mr Barraclough--who, by the way, was very +much astonished at the sudden demand for shares by Polglaze, and vainly +pumped that reticent individual to find out what he was up to--the +Magpie Reef shares ran up rapidly. A telegram was published from the +manager stating a rich reef had been struck. Specimens of the very +richest kind were displayed in Melbourne, and the confiding public +suddenly woke to the fact that a golden tide was flowing past their +doors. They rushed the share market, and in two weeks the Magpie Reef +shares ran from four shillings to as many pounds. Vandeloup intended +to sell at one pound, but when he saw the rapid rise and heard everyone +talking about this Reef, which was to be a second Long Tunnel, he held +his shares till they touched four pounds, then, quite satisfied with his +profit, he sold out at once and pocketed nearly ten thousand pounds, so +that he was provided for the rest of his life. The shares ran up +still higher, to four pounds ten shillings, then dropped to three, in +consequence of certain rumours that the pocket of gold was worked out. +Then another rich lead was struck, and they ran up again to five pounds, +and afterwards sank to two pounds, which gradually became their regular +price in the market. That Barraclough and his friend did well was +sufficiently proved by the former taking a trip to Europe, while his +friend bought a station and set up as a squatter. They, however, never +knew how cleverly M. Vandeloup had turned their conversation to his +advantage, and that young gentleman, now that he had made a decent sum, +determined to touch gold mining no more, and, unlike many people, he +kept his word. + +Now that he was a man of means, Vandeloup half decided to go to America, +as a larger field for a gentleman of his brilliant qualities, but +the arrival of Madame Midas in Melbourne made him alter his mind. Her +husband was no doubt dead, so Gaston thought that as soon as she had +settled down he would begin to pay his court to her, and without doubt +would be accepted, for this confident young man never for a moment +dreamed of failure. Meanwhile he sent all Kitty's wardrobe after her as +she went with the Wopples family, and the poor girl, taking this as a +mark of renewed affection, wrote him a very tearful little note, which +M. Vandeloup threw into the fire. Then he looked about and ultimately +got a very handsome suite of rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne. +He furnished these richly, and having invested his money in good +securities, prepared to enjoy himself. + +Kitty, meanwhile, had become a great favourite with the Wopples family, +and they made a wonderful pet of her. Of course, being in Rome, she did +as the Romans did, and went on the stage as Miss Kathleen Wopples, being +endowed with the family name for dramatic reasons. The family were now +on tour among the small towns of Victoria, and seemed to be well-known, +as each member got a reception when he or she appeared on the stage. Mr +Theodore Wopples used to send his agent ahead to engage the theatre--or +more often a hall--bill the town, and publish sensational little notices +in the local papers. Then when the family arrived Mr Wopples, who was +really a gentleman and well-educated, called on all the principal people +of the town and so impressed them with the high class character of the +entertainment that he never failed to secure their patronage. He also +had a number of artful little schemes which he called 'wheezes', the +most successful of these being a lecture on 'The Religious Teaching of +Shakespeare', which he invariably delivered on a Sunday afternoon in +the theatre of any town he happened to be in, and not infrequently when +requested occupied the pulpit and preached capital sermons. By these +means Mr Wopples kept up the reputation of the family, and the upper +classes of all the towns invariably supported the show, while the lower +classes came as a matter of course. Mr Wopples, however, was equally as +clever in providing a bill of fare as in inducing the public to come to +the theatre, and the adaptability of the family was really wonderful. +One night they would play farcical comedy; then Hamlet, reduced to four +acts by Mr Wopples, would follow on the second night; the next night +burlesque would reign supreme; and when the curtain arose on the fourth +night Mr Wopples and the star artistes would be acting melodrama, and +throw one another off bridges and do strong starvation business with +ragged clothes amid paper snowstorms. + +Kitty turned out to be a perfect treasure, as her pretty face and +charming voice soon made her a favourite, and when in burlesque she +played Princess to Fanny Wopples' Prince, there was sure to be a crowded +house and lots of applause. Kitty's voice was clear and sweet as a +lark's, and her execution something wonderful, so Mr Wopples christened +her the Australian Nightingale, and caused her to be so advertised in +the papers. Moreover, her dainty appearance, and a certain dash and +abandon she had with her, carried the audience irresistibly away, and +had Fanny Wopples not been a really good girl, she would have been +jealous of the success achieved by the new-comer. She, however, taught +Kitty to dance breakdowns, and at Warrnambool they had a benefit, when +'Faust, M.D.' was produced, and Fanny sang her great success, 'I've just +had a row with mamma', and Kitty sang the jewel song from 'Faust' in +a manner worthy of Neilson, as the local critic--who had never heard +Neilson--said the next day. Altogether, Kitty fully repaid the good +action of Mr Wopples by making his tour a wonderful success, and the +family returned to Melbourne in high glee with full pockets. + +'Next year,' said Mr Wopples, at a supper which they had to celebrate +the success of their tour, 'we'll have a theatre in Melbourne, and I'll +make it the favourite house of the city, see if I don't.' + +It seemed, therefore, as though Kitty had found her vocation, and would +develop into an operatic star, but fate intervened, and Miss Marchurst +retired from the stage, which she had adorned so much. This was due to +Madame Midas, who, driving down Collins Street one day, saw Kitty at the +corner walking with Fanny Wopples. She immediately stopped her carriage, +and alighting therefrom, went straight up to the girl, who, turning and +seeing her for the first time, grew deadly pale. + +'Kitty, my dear,' said Madame, gravely, 'I have been looking for you +vainly for a year--but I have found you at last.' + +Kitty's breast was full of conflicting emotions; she thought that Madame +knew all about her intimacy with Vandeloup, and that she would speak +severely to her. Mrs Villiers' next words, however, reassured her. + +'You left Ballarat to go on the stage, did you not?' she said kindly, +looking at the girl; 'why did you not come to me?--you knew I was always +your friend.' + +'Yes, Madame,' said Kitty, putting out her hand and averting her head, +'I would have come to you, but I thought you would stop me from going.' + +'My dear child,' replied Madame, 'I thought you knew me better than +that; what theatre are you at?' + +'She's with us,' said Miss Fanny, who had been staring at this grave, +handsomely-dressed lady who had alighted from such a swell carriage; 'we +are the Wopples Family.' + +'Ah!' said Mrs Villiers, thinking, 'I remember, you were up at Ballarat +last year. Well, Kitty, will you and your friend drive down to St Kilda +with me, and I'll show you my new house?' + +Kitty would have refused, for she was afraid Madame Midas would perhaps +send her back to her father, but the appealing looks of Fanny Wopples, +who had never ridden in a carriage in her life, and was dying to do +so, decided her to accept. So they stepped into the carriage, and Mrs +Villiers told the coachman to drive home. + +As they drove along, Mrs Villiers delicately refrained from asking Kitty +any questions about her flight, seeing that a stranger was present, but +determined to find out all about it when she got her alone down at St +Kilda. + +Kitty, on her part, was thinking how to baffle Madame's inquiries. She +knew she would be questioned closely by her, and resolved not to tell +more than she could help, as she, curiously enough--considering how he +had treated her--wished to shield Vandeloup. But she still cherished a +tender feeling for the man she loved, and had Vandeloup asked her to go +back and live with him, would, no doubt, have consented. The fact was, +the girl's nature was becoming slightly demoralised, and the Kitty who +sat looking at Madame Midas now--though her face was as pretty, and her +eyes as pure as ever--was not the same innocent Kitty that had visited +the Pactolus, for she had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, and was +already cultured in worldly wisdom. Madame, of course, believed that +Kitty had gone from Ballarat straight on to the stage, and never thought +for a moment that for a whole year she had been Vandeloup's mistress, +so when Kitty found this out--as she very soon did--she took the cue at +once, and asserted positively to Madame that she had been on the stage +for eighteen months. + +'But how is it,' asked Madame, who believed her fully, 'that I could not +find you?' + +'Because I was up the country all the time,' replied Kitty, quickly, +'and of course did not act under my real name.' + +'You would not like to go back to your father, I suppose,' suggested +Madame. + +Kitty made a gesture of dissent. + +'No,' she answered, determinedly; 'I was tired of my father and his +religion; I'm on the stage now, and I mean to stick to it.' + +'Kitty! Kitty!' said Madame, sadly, 'you little know the temptations--' + +'Oh! yes, I do,' interrupted Kitty, impatiently; 'I've been nearly two +years on the stage, and I have not seen any great wickedness--besides, +I'm always with Mrs Wopples.' + +'Then you still mean to be an actress?' asked Madame. + +'Yes,' replied Kitty, in a firm voice; 'if I went back to my father, I'd +go mad leading that dull life.' + +'But why not stay with me, my dear?' said Mrs Villiers, looking at her; +'I am a lonely woman, as you know, and if you come to me, I will treat +you as a daughter.' + +'Ah! how good you are,' cried the girl in a revulsion of feeling, +falling on her friend's neck; 'but indeed I cannot leave the stage--I'm +too fond of it.' + +Madame sighed, and gave up the argument for a time, then showed the two +girls all over the house, and after they had dinner with her, she sent +them back to town in her carriage, with strict injunctions to Kitty to +come down next day and bring Mr Wopples with her. When the two girls +reached the hotel where the family was staying, Fanny gave her father +a glowing account of the opulence of Madame Midas, and Mr Wopples was +greatly interested in the whole affair. He was grave, however, when +Kitty spoke to him privately of what Madame had said to her, and asked +her if she would not like to accept Mrs Villiers' offer. Kitty, however, +said she would remain on the stage, and as Wopples was to see Madame +Midas next day, made him promise he would say nothing about having +found her on the streets, or of her living with a lover. Wopples, who +thoroughly understood the girl's desire to hide her shame from her +friends, agreed to this, so Kitty went to bed confident that she had +saved Vandeloup's name from being dragged into the affair. + +Wopples saw Madame next day, and a long talk ensued, which ended in +Kitty agreeing to stay six months with Mrs Villiers, and then, if she +still wished to continue on the stage, she was to go to Mr Wopples. +On the other hand, in consideration of Wopples losing the services of +Kitty, Madame promised that next year she would give him sufficient +money to start a theatre in Melbourne. So both parted mutually +satisfied. Kitty made presents to all the family, who were very sorry to +part with her, and then took up her abode with Mrs Villiers, as a kind +of adopted daughter, and was quite prepared to play her part in the +comedy of fashion. + +So Madame Midas had been near the truth, yet never discovered it, and +sent a letter to Vandeloup asking him to come to dinner and meet an old +friend, little thinking how old and intimate a friend Kitty was to the +young man. + +It was, as Mr Wopples would have said, a highly dramatic situation, but, +alas, that the confiding nature of Madame Midas should thus have been +betrayed, not only by Vandeloup, but by Kitty herself--the very girl +whom, out of womanly compassion, she took to her breast. + +And yet the world talks about the inherent goodness of human nature. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +M. VANDELOUP IS SURPRISED + + +Owing to the quiet life Kitty had led since she came to Melbourne, +and the fact that her appearance on the stage had taken place in the +country, she felt quite safe when making her appearance in Melbourne +society that no one would recognise her or know anything of her past +life. It was unlikely she would meet with any of the Pulchop family +again, and she knew Mr Wopples would hold his tongue regarding his first +meeting with her, so the only one who could reveal anything about her +would be Vandeloup, and he would certainly be silent for his own sake, +as she knew he valued the friendship of Madame Midas too much to lose +it. Nevertheless she awaited his coming in considerable trepidation, as +she was still in love with him, and was nervous as to what reception +she would meet with. Perhaps now that she occupied a position as Mrs +Villiers' adopted daughter he would marry her, but, at all events, +when she met him she would know exactly how he felt towards her by his +demeanour. + +Vandeloup, on the other hand, was quite unaware of the surprise in store +for him, and thought that the old friend he was to meet would be some +Ballarat acquaintance of his own and Madame's. In his wildest flight +of fancy he never thought it would be Kitty, else his cool nonchalance +would for once have been upset at the thought of the two women he was +interested in being under the same roof. However, where ignorance is +bliss--well M. Vandeloup, after dressing himself carefully in evening +dress, put on his hat and coat, and, the evening being a pleasant one, +thought he would stroll through the Fitzroy Gardens down to the station. + +It was pleasant in the gardens under the golden light of the sunset, and +the green arcades of trees looked delightfully cool after the glare of +the dusty streets. Vandeloup, strolling along idly, felt a touch on his +shoulder and wheeled round suddenly, for with his past life ever before +him he always had a haunting dread of being recaptured. + +The man, however, who had thus drawn his attention was none other than +Pierre Lemaire, who stood in the centre of the broad asphalt path, +dirty, ragged and disreputable-looking. He had not altered much since he +left Ballarat, save that he looked more dilapidated-looking, but stood +there in his usual sullen manner, with his hat drawn down over his eyes. +Some stray wisps of grass showed that he had been camping out all the +hot day on the green turf under the shadow of the trees, and it was easy +to see from his appearance what a vagrant he was. Vandeloup was annoyed +at the meeting and cast a rapid look around to see if he was observed. +The few people, however, passing were too intent on their own business +to give more than a passing glance at the dusty tramp and the young man +in evening dress talking to him, so Vandeloup was reassured. + +'Well, my friend,' he said, sharply, to the dumb man, 'what do you +want?' + +Pierre put his hand in his pocket. + +'Oh, of course,' replied M. Vandeloup, mockingly, 'money, money, always +money; do you think I'm a bank, always to be drawn on like this?' + +The dumb man made no sign that he had heard, but stood sullenly rocking +himself to and fro an'd chewing a wisp of the grass he had picked off +his coat. + +'Here,' said the young man, taking out a sovereign and giving it to +Pierre; 'take this just now and don't bother me, or upon my word,' with +a disdainful look, 'I shall positively have to hand you over to the +law.' + +Pierre glanced up suddenly, and Vandeloup caught the gleam of his eyes +under the shadow of the hat. + +'Oh! you think it will be dangerous for me,' he said, in a gay tone; +'not at all, I assure you. I am a gentleman, and rich; you are a pauper, +and disreputable. Who will believe your word against mine? My faith! +your assurance is quite refreshing. Now, go away, and don't trouble me +again, or,' with a sudden keen glance, 'I will do as I say.' + +He nodded coolly to the dumb man, and strode gaily along under the shade +of the heavily foliaged oaks, while Pierre looked at the sovereign, +slipped it into his pocket, and slouched off in the opposite direction +without even a glance at his patron. + +At the top of the street Vandeloup stepped into a cab, and telling the +man to drive to the St Kilda Station, in Elizabeth Street, went off into +a brown study. Pierre annoyed him seriously, as he never seemed to get +rid of him, and the dumb man kept turning up every now and then like the +mummy at the Egyptian feast to remind him of unpleasant things. + +'Confound him!' muttered Vandeloup, angrily, as he alighted at the +station and paid the cabman, 'he's more trouble than Bebe was; she did +take the hint and go, but this man, my faith!' shrugging his shoulders, +'he's the devil himself for sticking.' + +All the way down to St Kilda his reflections were of the same unpleasant +nature, and he cast about in his own mind how he could get rid of this +pertinacious friend. He could not turn him off openly, as Pierre might +take offence, and as he knew more of M. Vandeloup's private life than +that young gentleman cared about, it would not do to run the risk of an +exposure. + +'There's only one thing to be done,' said Gaston, quietly, as he walked +down to Mrs Villiers' house; 'I will try my luck at marrying Madame +Midas; if she consents, we can go away to Europe as man and wife; if +she does not I will go to America, and, in either case, Pierre will lose +trace of me.' + +With this comfortable reflection he went into the house and was shown +into the drawing room by the servant. There were no lights in the room, +as it was not sufficiently dark for them, and Vandeloup smiled as he saw +a fire in the grate. + +'My faith!' he said to himself, 'Madame is as chilly as ever.' + +The servant had retired, and he was all by himself in this large room, +with the subdued twilight all through it, and the flicker of the flames +on the ceiling. He went to the fire more from habit than anything else, +and suddenly came on a big armchair, drawn up close to the side, in +which a woman was sitting. + +'Ah! the sleeping beauty,' said Vandeloup, carelessly; 'in these cases +the proper thing to do in order to wake the lady is to kiss her.' + +He was, without doubt, an extremely audacious young man, and though he +did not know who the young lady was, would certainly have put his design +into execution, had not the white figure suddenly rose and confronted +him. The light from the fire was fair on her face, and with a sudden +start Vandeloup saw before him the girl he had ruined and deserted. + +'Bebe?' he gasped, recoiling a step. + +'Yes!' said Kitty, in an agitated tone, 'your mistress and your victim.' + +'Bah!' said Gaston, coolly, having recovered from the first shock of +surprise. 'That style suits Sarah Bernhardt, not you, my dear. The first +act of this comedy is excellent, but it is necessary the characters +should know one another in order to finish the play.' + +'Ah!' said Kitty, with a bitter smile, 'do I not know you too well, as +the man who promised me marriage and then broke his word? You forgot all +your vows to me.' + +'My dear child,' replied Gaston leisurely, leaning up against the +mantelpiece, 'if you had read Balzac you would discover that he says, +"Life would be intolerable without a certain amount of forgetting." I +must say,' smiling, 'I agree with the novelist.' + +Kitty looked at him as he stood there cool and complacent, and threw +herself back into the chair angrily. + +'Just the same,' she muttered restlessly, 'just the same.' + +'Of course,' replied Vandeloup, raising his eyebrows in surprise. 'You +have only been away from me six weeks, and it takes longer than that to +alter any one. By the way,' he went on smoothly, 'how have you been all +this time? I have no doubt your tour has been as adventurous as that of +Gil Bias.' + +'No, it has not,' replied Kitty, clenching her hands. 'You never cared +what became of me, and had not Mr Wopples met me in the street on that +fearful night, God knows where I would have been now.' + +'I can tell you,' said Gaston, coolly, taking a seat. 'With me. You +would have soon got tired of the poverty of the streets, and come back +to your cage.' + +'My cage, indeed!' she echoed, bitterly, tapping the ground with her +foot. 'Yes, a cage, though it was a gilded one.' + +'How Biblical you are getting,' said the young man, ironically; 'but +kindly stop speaking in parables, and tell me what position we are to +occupy to each other. As formerly?' + +'My God, no!' she flashed out suddenly. + +'So much the better,' he answered, bowing. 'We will obliterate the last +year from our memories, and I will meet you to-night for the first time +since you left Ballarat. Of course,' he went on, rather anxiously, 'you +have told Madame nothing?' + +'Only what suited me,' replied the girl, coldly, stung by the coldness +and utter heartlessness of this man. + +'Oh!' with a smile. 'Did it include my name?' + +'No,' curtly. + +'Ah!' with a long indrawn breath, 'you are more sensible than I gave you +credit for.' + +Kitty rose to her feet and crossed rapidly over to where he sat calm and +smiling. + +'Gaston Vandeloup!' she hissed in his ear, while her face was quite +distorted by the violence of her passion, 'when I met you I was an +innocent girl--you ruined me, and then cast me off as soon as you grew +weary of your toy. I thought you loved me, and,' with a stifled sob, +'God help me, I love you still.' + +'Yes, my Bebe,' he said, in a caressing tone, taking her hand. + +'No! no,' she cried, wrenching them away, while an angry spot of colour +glowed on her cheek, 'I loved you as you were--not as you are now--we +are done with sentiment, M. Vandeloup,' she said, sneering, 'and now our +relations to one another will be purely business ones.' + +He bowed and smiled. + +'So glad you understand the position,' he said, blandly; 'I see the age +of miracles is not yet past when a woman can talk sense.' + +'You won't disturb me with your sneers,' retorted the girl, glaring +fiercely at him out of the gathering gloom in the room; 'I am not the +innocent girl I once was.' + +'It is needless to tell me that,' he said, coarsely. + +She drew herself up at the extreme insult. + +'Have a care, Gaston,' she muttered, hurriedly, 'I know more about your +past life than you think.' + +He rose from his seat and approached his face, now white as her own, to +hers. + +'What do you know?' he asked, in a low, passionate voice. + +'Enough to be dangerous to you,' she retorted, defiantly. + +They both looked at one another steadily, but the white face of the +woman did not blench before the scintillations of his eyes. + +'What you know I don't know,' he said, steadily; 'but whatever it is, +keep it to yourself, or--,' catching her wrist. + +'Or what?' she asked, boldly. + +He threw her away from him with a laugh, and the sombre fire died out of +his eyes. + +'Bah!' he said, gaily, 'our comedy is turning into a tragedy; I am as +foolish as you; I think,' significantly, 'we understand one another.' + +'Yes, I think we do,' she answered, calmly, the colour coming back to +her cheek. 'Neither of us are to refer to the past, and we both go on +our different roads unhindered.' + +'Mademoiselle Marchurst,' said Vandeloup, ceremoniously, 'I am delighted +to meet you after a year's absence--come,' with a gay laugh, 'let us +begin the comedy thus, for here,' he added quickly, as the door opened, +'here comes the spectators.' + +'Well, young people,' said Madame's voice, as she came slowly into the +room, 'you are all in the dark; ring the bell for lights, M. Vandeloup.' + +'Certainly, Madame,' he answered, touching the electric button, 'Miss +Marchurst and myself were renewing our former friendship.' + +'How do you think she is looking?' asked Madame, as the servant came in +and lit the gas. + +'Charming,' replied Vandeloup, looking at the dainty little figure in +white standing under the blaze of the chandelier; 'she is more beautiful +than ever.' + +Kitty made a saucy little curtsey, and burst into a musical laugh. + +'He is just the same, Madame,' she said merrily to the tall, grave +woman in black velvet, who stood looking at her affectionately, 'full +of compliments, and not meaning one; but when is dinner to be ready?' +pathetically, 'I'm dying of starvation.' + +'I hope you have peaches, Madame,' said Vandeloup, gaily; 'the first +time I met Mademoiselle she was longing for peaches.' + +'I am unchanged in that respect,' retorted Kitty, brightly; 'I adore +peaches still.' + +'I am just waiting for Mr Calton,' said Madame Midas, looking at her +watch; 'he ought to be here by now.' + +'Is that the lawyer, Madame?' asked Vandeloup. + +'Yes,' she replied, quietly, 'he is a most delightful man.' + +'So I have heard,' answered Vandeloup, nonchalantly, 'and he had +something to do with a former owner of this house, I think.' + +'Oh, don't talk of that,' said Mrs Villiers, nervously; 'the first time +I took the house, I heard all about the Hansom Cab murder.' + +'Why, Madame, you are not nervous,' said Kitty, gaily. + +'No, my dear,' replied the elder, quietly, 'but I must confess that for +some reason or another I have been a little upset since coming here; I +don't like being alone.' + +'You shall never be that,' said Kitty, fondly nestling to her. + +'Thank you, puss,' said Madame, tapping her cheek; 'but I am nervous,' +she said, rapidly; 'at night especially. Sometimes I have to get Selina +to come into my room and stay all night.' + +'Madame Midas nervous,' thought Vandeloup to himself; 'then I can guess +the reason; she is afraid of her husband coming back to her.' + +Just at this moment the servant announced Mr Calton, and he entered, +with his sharp, incisive face, looking clever and keen. + +'I must apologise for being late, Mrs Villiers,' he said, shaking hands +with his hostess; 'but business, you know, the pleasure of business.' + +'Now,' said Madame, quickly, 'I hope you have come to the business of +pleasure.' + +'Very epigrammatic, my dear lady,' said Calton, in his high, clear +voice; 'pray introduce me.' + +Madame did so, and they all went to dinner, Madame with Calton and Kitty +following with Vandeloup. + +'This,' observed Calton, when they were all seated at the dinner table, +'is the perfection of dining; for we are four, and the guests, according +to an epicure, should never be less than the Graces nor greater than the +Muses.' + +And a very merry little dinner it was. All four were clever talkers, +and Vandeloup and Calton being pitted against one another, excelled +themselves; witty remarks, satirical sayings, and well-told stories were +constantly coming from their lips, and they told their stories as their +own and did not father them on Sydney Smith. + +'If Sydney Smith was alive,' said Calton, in reference to this, 'he +would be astonished at the number of stories he did not tell.' + +'Yes,' chimed in Vandeloup, gaily, 'and astounded at their brilliancy.' + +'After all,' said Madame, smiling, 'he's a sheet-anchor for some people; +for the best original story may fail, a dull one ascribed to Sydney +Smith must produce a laugh.' + +'Why?' asked Kitty, in some wonder. + +'Because,' explained Calton, gravely, 'society goes mainly by tradition, +and our grandmothers having laughed at Sydney Smith's jokes, they must +necessarily be amusing. Depend upon it, jokes can be sanctified by time +quite as much as creeds.' + +'They are more amusing, at all events,' said Madame, satirically. +'Creeds generally cause quarrels.' + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'And quarrels generally cause stories,' he said, smiling; 'it is the law +of compensation.' + +They then went to the drawing-room and Kitty and Vandeloup both sang, +and treated one another in a delightfully polite way. Madame Midas and +Calton were both clever, but how much cleverer were the two young people +at the piano. + +'Are you going to Meddlechip's ball?' said Calton to Madame. + +'Oh, yes,' she answered, nodding her head, 'I and Miss Marchurst are +both going.' + +'Who is Mr Meddlechip?' asked Kitty, swinging round on the piano-stool. + +'He is the most charitable man in Melbourne,' said Gaston, with a faint +sneer. + +'Great is Diana of the Ephesians,' said Calton, mockingly. 'Because +Mr Meddlechip suffers from too much money, and has to get rid of it to +prevent himself being crushed like Tarpeia by the Sabine shields, he is +called charitable.' + +'He does good, though, doesn't he?' asked Madame. + +'See advertisement,' scoffed Calton. 'Oh, yes! he will give thousands of +pounds for any public object, but private charity is a waste of money in +his eyes.' + +'You are very hard on him,' said Madame Midas, with a laugh. + +'Ah! Mr Calton believes as I do,' cried Vandeloup, 'that it's no good +having friends unless you're privileged to abuse them.' + +'It's one you take full advantage of, then,' observed Kitty, saucily. + +'I always take what I can get,' he returned, mockingly; whereon she +shivered, and Calton saw it. + +'Ah!' said that astute reader of character to himself, 'there's +something between those two. 'Gad! I'll cross-examine my French friend.' + +They said good-night to the ladies, and walked to the St Kilda station, +from thence took the train to town, and Calton put into force his +cross-examination. He might as well have tried his artful questions on +a rock as on Vandeloup, for that clever young gentleman saw through the +barrister at once, and baffled him at every turn with his epigrammatic +answers and consummate coolness. + +'I confess,' said Calton, when they said good-night to one another, 'I +confess you puzzle me.' + +'Language,' observed M. Vandeloup, with a smile, 'was given to us to +conceal our thoughts. Good night!' + +And they parted. + +'The comedy is over for the night,' thought Gaston as he walked along, +'and it was so true to nature that the spectators never thought it was +art.' + +He was wrong, for Calton did. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A PROFESSIONAL PHILANTHROPIST + + +We have professional diners-out, professional beauties, professional +Christians, then why not professional philanthropists? This brilliant +century of ours has nothing to do with the word charity, as it savours +too much of stealthy benevolence, so it has substituted in its place the +long word philanthropy, which is much more genteel and comprehensive. +Charity, the meekest of the Christian graces, has been long since +dethroned, and her place is taken by the blatant braggard Philanthropy, +who does his good deeds in a most ostentatious manner, and loudly +invites the world to see his generosity, and praise him for it. Charity, +modestly hooded, went into the houses of the poor, and tendered her +gifts with smiles. Philanthropy now builds almshouses and hospitals, +and rails at poverty if it has too much pride to occupy them. And +what indeed, has poverty to do with pride?--it's far too sumptuous and +expensive an article, and can only be possessed by the rich, who can +afford to wear it because it is paid for. Mr Meddlechip was rich, so +he bought a large stock of pride, and wore it everywhere. It was not +personal pride--he was not good-looking; it was not family pride--he +never had a grandfather; nor was it pecuniary pride--he had too much +money for that. But it was a mean, sneaking, insinuating pride that +wrapped him round like a cloak, and pretended to be very humble, and +only holding its money in trust for the poor. The poor ye have always +with you--did not Mr Meddlechip know it? Ask the old men and women +in the almshouses, and they would answer yes; but ask the squalid +inhabitants of the slums, and they would probably say, 'Meddlechip, +'o's 'e?' Not that the great Ebenezer Meddlechip was unknown--oh, +dear, no--he was a representative colonial; he sat in Parliament, and +frequently spoke at those enlarged vestry meetings about the prosperity +of the country. He laid foundation stones. He took the chair at public +meetings. In fact, he had his finger in every public pie likely to bring +him into notoriety; but not in private pies, oh, dear, no; he never did +good by stealth and blush to find it fame. Any blushes he might have had +would have been angry ones at his good deed not being known. + +He had come in the early days of the colony, and made a lot of money, +being a shrewd man, and one who took advantage of every tide in the +affairs of men. He was honest, that is honest as our present elastic +acceptation of the word goes--and when he had accumulated a fortune he +set to work to buy a few things. He bought a grand house at Toorak, +then he bought a wife to do the honours of the grand house, and when +his domestic affairs were quite settled, he bought popularity, which +is about the cheapest thing anyone can buy. When the Society for the +Supplying of Aborigines with White Waistcoats was started he headed the +list with one thousand pounds--bravo, Meddlechip! The Secretary of +the Band of Hard-up Matrons asked him for fifty pounds, and got five +hundred--generous Meddlechip! And at the meeting of the Society for the +Suppression of Vice among Married Men he gave two thousand pounds, and +made a speech on the occasion, which made all the married men present +tremble lest their sins should find them out--noble Meddlechip! He would +give thousands away in public charity, have it well advertised in the +newspapers, and then wonder, with humility, how the information got +there; and he would give a poor woman in charge for asking for a penny, +on the ground that she was a vagrant. Here, indeed, was a man for +Victoria to be proud of; put up a statue to him in the centre of the +city; let all the school children study a list of his noble actions as +lessons; let the public at large grovel before him, and lick the dust of +his benevolent shoes, for he is a professional philanthropist. + +Mrs Meddlechip, large, florid, and loud-voiced, was equally as well +known as her husband, but in a different way. He posed as benevolence, +she was the type of all that's fashionable--that is, she knew everyone; +gave large parties, went out to balls, theatres, and lawn tennis, and +dressed in the very latest style, whether it suited her or not. She had +been born and brought up in the colonies, but when her husband went to +London as a representative colonial she went also, and stayed there +a whole year, after which she came out to her native land and ran +everything down in the most merciless manner. They did not do this in +England--oh! dear no! nothing so common--the people in Melbourne had +such dreadfully vulgar manners; but then, of course, they are not +English; there was no aristocracy; even the dogs and horses were +different; they had not the stamp of centuries of birth and breeding on +them. In fact, to hear Mrs Meddlechip talk one would think that England +was a perfect aristocratic paradise, and Victoria a vulgar--other place. +She totally ignored the marvellously rapid growth of the country, and +that the men and women in it were actually the men and women who had +built it up year by year, so that even now it was taking its place among +the nations of the earth. But Mrs Meddlechip was far too ladylike and +fashionable for troubling about such things--oh dear, no--she left +all these dry facts to Ebenezer, who could speak about them in his own +pompous, blatant style at public meetings. + +This lady was one of those modern inventions known as a frisky matron, +and said and did all manner of dreadful things, which people winked +at because--she was Mrs Meddlechip, and eccentric. She had a young +man always dangling after her at theatres and dances--sometimes one, +sometimes another, but there was one who was a fixture. This was Barty +Jarper, who acted as her poodle dog, and fetched and carried for her in +the most amiable manner. When any new poodle dog came on the scene Barty +would meekly resign his position, and retire into the background until +such time as he was whistled back again to go through his antics. +Barty attended her everywhere, made up her programmes, wrote out her +invitations, danced with whosoever he was told, and was rewarded for all +these services by being given the crumbs from the rich man's table. +Mr Jarper had a meek little way with Mrs Meddlechip, as if he was +constantly apologising for having dared to have come into the world +without her permission, but to other people he was rude enough, and in +his own mean little soul looked upon himself quite as a man of fashion. +How he managed to go about as he did was a standing puzzle to his +friends, as he got only a small salary at the Hibernian Bank; yet he was +to be seen at balls, theatres, tennis parties; constantly driving about +in hansoms; in fact, lived as if he had an independent income. The +general opinion was that he was supplied with money by Mrs Meddlechip, +while others said he gambled; and, indeed, Barty was rather clever at +throwing sixes, and frequently at the Bachelors' Club won a sufficient +sum to give him a new suit of clothes or pay his club subscription for +the year. He was one of those bubbles which dance on the surface of +society, yet are sure to vanish some day, and if God tempered the wind +to any particular shorn lamb, that shorn lamb was Barty Jarper. + +The Meddlechips were giving a ball, therefore the mansion at Toorak +was brilliantly illuminated and crowded with fashionable people. The +ball-room was at the side of the house, and from it French windows +opened on to a wide verandah, which was enclosed with drapery and hung +with many-coloured Chinese lanterns. Beyond this the smooth green lawns +stretched away to a thick fringe of trees, which grew beside the fence +and screened the Meddlechip residence from the curious gaze of vulgar +eyes. + +Kitty came under the guardianship of Mrs Riller, a young matron with +dark hair, an imperious manner, and a young man always at her heels. Mrs +Villiers intended to have come, but at the last moment was seized with +one of her nervous fits, so decided to stop at home with Selina for +company. Kitty, therefore, accompanied Mrs Riller to the ball, but the +guardianship of that lady was more nominal than anything else, as she +went off with Mr Bellthorp after introducing Kitty to Mrs Meddlechip, +and flirted and danced with him the whole evening. Kitty, however, +did not in the least mind being left to her own devices, for being an +extremely pretty girl she soon had plenty of young men round her anxious +to be introduced. She filled her programme rapidly and kept two valses +for Vandeloup, as she knew he was going to be present, but he as yet had +not made his appearance. + +He arrived about a quarter past ten o'clock, and was strolling leisurely +up to the house, when he saw Pierre, standing amid a number of idlers +at the gate. The dumb man stepped forward, and Vandeloup paused with a +smile on his handsome lips, though he was angry enough at the meeting. + +'Money again, I suppose?' he said to Pierre, in a low voice, in French; +'don't trouble me now, but come to my rooms to-morrow.' + +The dumb man nodded, and Vandeloup walked leisurely up the path. Then +Pierre followed him right up to the steps which led to the house, saw +him enter the brilliantly-lighted hall, and then hid himself in the +shrubs which grew on the edge of the lawn. There, in close hiding, he +could hear the sound of music and voices, and could see the door of +the fernery wide open, and caught glimpses of dainty dresses and bare +shoulders within. + +Vandeloup, quite ignorant that his friend was watching the house, put on +his gloves leisurely, and walked in search of his hostess. + +Mrs Meddlechip glanced approvingly at Vandeloup as he came up, for he +was extremely good-looking, and good-looking men were Mrs Meddlechip's +pet weakness. Barty was in attendance on his liege lady, and when he +saw how she admired Vandeloup, he foresaw he would be off duty for some +time. It would be Vandeloup promoted vice Jarper resigned, but Barty +very well knew that Gaston was not a man to conduct himself like a +poodle dog, so came to the conclusion he would be retained for use +and M. Vandeloup for ornament. Meanwhile, he left Mrs Meddlechip to +cultivate the acquaintance of the young Frenchman, and went off with a +red-haired girl to the supper-room. Red-haired girl, who was remarkably +ugly and self-complacent, had been a wallflower all the evening, but +thought none the less of herself on that account. She assured Barty she +was not hungry, but when she finished supper Mr Jarper was very glad, +for the supper's sake, she had no appetite. + +'She's the hungriest girl I ever met in my life,' he said to Bellthorp +afterwards; 'ate up everything I gave her, and drank so much lemonade, I +thought she'd go up like a balloon.' + +When Barty had satisfied the red-haired girl's appetite--no easy +matter--he left her to play wallflower and make spiteful remarks on +the girls who were dancing, and took out another damsel, who smiled +and smiled, and trod on his toes when he danced, till he wished her in +Jericho. He asked if she was hungry, but, unlike the other girl, she was +not; he said she must be tired, but oh, dear no, she was quite fresh; so +she danced the whole waltz through and bumped Barty against everyone in +the room; then said his step did not suit hers, which exasperated him so +much--for Barty flattered himself on his waltzing--that he left her +just as she was getting up a flirtation, and went to have a glass of +champagne to soothe his feelings. Released from Mrs Meddlechip, Gaston +went in search of Kitty, and found her flirting with Felix Rolleston, +who was amusing her with his gay chatter. + +'This is a deuced good-looking chappie,' said Mr Rolleston, fixing his +eyeglass in his eye and looking critically at Gaston as he approached +them; 'M. Vandeloup, isn't it?' + +Kitty said it was. + +'Oh! yes,' went on Felix, brightly, 'saw him about town--don't know him +personally; awfully like a fellow I once knew called Fitzgerald--Brian +Fitzgerald--married now and got a family; funny thing, married Miss +Frettlby, who used to live in your house.' + +'Oh! that hansom cab murder,' said Kitty, looking at him, 'I've heard +all about that.' + +'Egad! I should think you had,' observed Mr Rolleston, with a grin, 'it +was a nine days' wonder; but here's your friend, introduce me, pray,' as +Vandeloup came up. + +Kitty did so, and Felix improved the occasion. + +'Knew you by sight,' he said, shaking hands with Gaston, 'but it's a +case of we never speak as we pass by, and all that sort of thing--come +and look me up,' hospitably, 'South Yarra.' + +'Delighted,' said Gaston, smoothly, taking Kitty's programme and putting +his name down for the two vacant waltzes. + +'Reciprocal, I assure you,' said the lively Felix. 'Oh, by Jove! excuse +me, Miss Marchurst--there's a polka--got to dance with a girl--you'll +see me in a minute--she's a maypole--I'm not, ha! ha! You'll say it's +the long and the short of it--ta-ta at present.' + +He hopped off gaily, and they soon saw him steering the maypole round +the room, or rather, the maypole steered Felix, for her idea of the +dance was to let Felix skip gaily round her; then she lifted him up and +put him down a few feet further on, when he again skipped, and so the +performance went on, to the intense amusement of Kitty and Gaston. + +'My faith!' said Vandeloup, satirically, dropping into a seat beside +Kitty, 'she is a maypole, and he's a merry peasant dancing round it. By +the way, Bebe, why isn't Madame here to-night?' + +'She's not well,' replied Kitty, unfurling her fan; 'I don't know what's +come over her, she's so nervous.' + +'Oh! indeed,' said Vandeloup, politely; 'Hum!--still afraid of her +husband turning up,' he said to himself, as Kitty was carried away for a +valse by Mr Bellthorp; 'how slow all this is?' he went on, yawning, and +rising from his seat; 'I shan't stay long, or that old woman will be +seizing me again. Poor Kestrike, surely his sin has been punished enough +in having such a wife,' and M. Vandeloup strolled away to speak to Mrs +Riller, who, being bereft of Bellthorp, was making signals to him with +her fan. + +Barty Jarper had been hard at work all night on the poodle-dog system, +and had danced with girls who could not dance, and talked with girls +that could not talk, so, as a reward for his work, he promised himself a +dance with Kitty. At the beginning of the evening he had secured a dance +from her, and now, all his duties for the evening being over, he went to +get it. Bellthorp had long since returned to Mrs Riller and flirtation, +and Kitty had been dancing with a tall young man, with unsteady legs and +an eye-glass that would not stick in his eye. She did not particularly +care about Mr Jarper, with his effeminate little ways, but was quite +glad when he came to carry her off from the unsteady legs and the +eye-glass. The dance was the Lancers; but Kitty declared she would not +dance it as she felt weary, so made Mr Jarper take her to supper. Barty +was delighted, as he was hungry himself, so they secured a pleasant +little nook, and Barty foraged for provisions. + +'You know all about this house,' said Kitty, when she saw how successful +the young man was in getting nice things. + +'Oh, yes,' murmured Barty, quite delighted, 'I know most of the houses +in Melbourne--I know yours.' + +'Mrs Villiers'?' asked Kitty. + +Barty nodded. + +'Used to go down there a lot when Mr Frettlby lived there,' he said, +sipping his wine. 'I know every room in it.' + +'You'd be invaluable as a burglar,' said Kitty, a little contemptuously, +as she looked at his slim figure. + +'I dare say,' replied Barty, who took the compliment in good faith. +'Some night I'll climb up to your room and give you a fright.' + +'Shows how much you know,' retorted Miss Marchurst. 'My room is next to +Madame's on the ground floor.' + +'I know,' said Barty, sagely, nodding his head. 'It used to be a +boudoir--nice little room. By the way, where is Mrs Villiers to-night?' + +'She's not well,' replied Kitty, yawning behind her fan, for she was +weary of Barty and his small talk. 'She's very worried.' + +'Over money matters, I suppose?' + +Kitty laughed and shook her head. + +'Hardly,' she answered. + +'I dare say,' replied Barty, 'she's awfully rich. You know, I'm in the +bank where her account is, and I know all about her. Rich! oh, she is +rich! Lucky thing for that French fellow if he marries her.' + +'Marries her?' echoed Kitty, her face growing pale. 'M. Vandeloup?' + +'Yes,' replied Barty, pleased at having made a sensation. 'Her first +husband has vanished, you know, and all the fellows are laying bets +about Van marrying the grass widow.' + +'What nonsense!' said Kitty, in an agitated voice. 'M. Vandeloup is her +friend--nothing more.' + +Barty grinned. + +'I've seen so much of that "friendship, and nothing more", business,' he +said, significantly, whereupon Kitty rose to her feet. + +'I'm tired,' she said, coldly. 'Kindly take me to Mrs Riller.' + +'I've put my foot into it,' thought Jarper, as he led her away. 'I +believe she's spoons on Van herself.' + +Mrs Riller was not very pleased to see Kitty, as Mr Bellthorp was +telling her some amusing scandals about her dearest friends, and, of +course, had to stop when Kitty came up. + +'Not dancing, dear?' she asked, with a sympathetic smile, glancing +angrily at Bellthorp, who seemed more struck with Kitty than he had any +right to be, considering he was her property. + +'No,' replied Kitty, 'I'm a little tired.' + +'Miss Marchurst,' observed Bellthorp, leaning towards her, 'I'm sure +I've seen you before.' + +Kitty felt a chill running through her veins as she remembered where +their last meeting had been. The extremity of the danger gave her +courage. + +'I dare say,' she replied, coldly turning her back on the young man, +'I'm not invisible.' + +Mrs Riller looked with all her eyes, for she wanted to know all about +this pretty girl who dropped so unexpectedly into Melbourne society, so +she determined to question Bellthorp when she got him alone. To this end +she finessed. + +'Oh! there's that lovely valse,' she said, as the band struck up 'One +summer's night in Munich'. 'If you are not engaged, Mr Bellthorp, we +must have a turn.' + +'Delighted,' replied Bellthorp, languidly offering his arm, but thinking +meanwhile, 'confound these women, how they do work a man.' + +'You, I suppose,' said Mrs Riller to Kitty, 'are going to play +wallflower.' + +'Hardly,' observed a cool voice behind them; 'Miss Marchurst dances this +with me--you see, Mrs Riller,' as that lady turned and saw Vandeloup, +'she has not your capability at playing wallflower,' with a significant +glance at Bellthorp. + +Mrs Riller understood the look, which seemed to pierce into the very +depths of her frivolous little soul, and flushed angrily as she moved +away with Mr Bellthorp and mentally determined to be even with Vandeloup +on the first occasion. + +Gaston, quite conscious of the storm he had raised, smiled serenely, and +then offered his arm to Kitty, which she refused, as she was determined +to find out from his own lips the truth of Jarper's statement regarding +Madame Midas. + +'I don't want to dance,' she said curtly, pointing to the seat beside +her as an invitation for him to sit down. + +'Pardon me,' observed Vandeloup, blandly, 'I do; we can talk afterwards +if you like.' + +Their eyes met, and then Kitty arose and took his arm, with a charming +pout. It was no good fighting against the quiet, masterful manner of +this man, so she allowed him to put his arm round her waist and swing +her slowly into the centre of the room. 'One summer's night in Munich' +was a favourite valse, and everyone who could dance, and a good many who +could not, were up on the floor. Every now and then, through the steady +beat of the music, came the light laugh of a woman or the deeper tones +of a man's voice; and the glare of the lights, the flashing jewels on +the bare necks and arms of women, the soft frou-frou of their dresses, +as their partners swung them steadily round, and the subtle perfume of +flowers gave an indescribable sensuous flavour to the whole scene. And +the valse--who does not know it? with its sad refrain, which comes in +every now and then throughout, even in the most brilliant passages. +The whole story of a man's faith and a woman's treachery is contained +therein. + +'One summer's night in Munich,' sighed the heavy bass instruments, +sadly and reproachfully, 'I thought your heart was true!' Listen to the +melancholy notes of the prelude which recall the whole scene--do you not +remember? The stars are shining, the night wind is blowing, and we are +on the terrace looking down on the glittering lights of the city. Hark! +that joyous sparkling strain, full of riant laughter, recalls the sad +students who wandered past, and then from amid the airy ripple of +notes comes the sweet, mellow strain of the 'cello, which tells of love +eternal amid the summer roses; how the tender melody sweeps on full +of the perfume and mystic meanings of that night. Hark! is that the +nightingale in the trees, or only the silvery notes of a violin, +which comes stealing through the steady throb and swing of the heavier +stringed instruments? Ah! why does the rhythm stop? A few chords +breaking up the dream, the sound of a bugle calling you away, and +the valse goes into the farewell motif with its tender longing and +passionate anguish. Good-bye! you will be true? Your heart is mine, +good-bye, sweetheart! Stop! that discord of angry notes--she is false +to her soldier lover! The stars are pale, the nightingale is silent, the +rose leaves fall, and the sad refrain comes stealing through the room +again with its bitter reproach, 'One summer's night in Munich I knew +your heart was false.' + +Kitty danced for a little time, but was too much agitated to enjoy the +valse, in spite of the admirable partner M. Vandeloup made. She was +determined to find out the truth, so stopped abruptly, and insisted on +Vandeloup taking her to the conservatory. + +'What for?' he asked, as they threaded their way through the crowded +room. 'Is it important?' + +'Very,' she replied, looking straight at him; 'it is essential to our +comedy.' + +M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'My faith!' he murmured, as they entered the fernery; 'this comedy is +becoming monotonous.' + + + + +CHAPTER X + +IN THE FERNERY + + +The fernery was a huge glass building on one side of the ballroom, +filled with Australian and New Zealand ferns, and having a large +fountain in the centre sending up a sparkling jet of water, which fell +into the shallow stone basin filled with water lilies and their pure +white flowers. At the end was a mimic representation of a mountain +torrent, with real water tumbling down real rocks, and here and there +in the crannies and crevices grew delicate little ferns, while overhead +towered the great fronds of the tree ferns. The roof was a dense mass of +greenery, and wire baskets filled with sinuous creepers hung down, with +their contents straggling over. Electric lights in green globes were +skilfully hidden all round, and a faint aquamarine twilight permeated +the whole place, and made it look like a mermaid's grotto in the depths +of the sea. Here and there were delightful nooks, with well-cushioned +seats, many of which were occupied by pretty girls and their attendant +cavaliers. On one side of the fernery a wide door opened on to a low +terrace, from whence steps went down to the lawn, and beyond was the +dark fringe of trees wherein Pierre was concealed. + +Kitty and Vandeloup found a very comfortable nook just opposite the +door, and they could see the white gleam of the terrace in the luminous +starlight. Every now and then a couple would pass, black silhouettes +against the clear sky, and around they could hear the murmur of voices +and the musical tinkling of the fountain, while the melancholy music +of the valse, with its haunting refrain, sounded through the pale green +twilight. Barty Jarper was talking near them, in his mild little way, to +a tall young lady in a bilious-looking green dress, and further off Mr +Bellthorp was laughing with Mrs Riller behind the friendly shelter of +her fan. + +'Well,' said Vandeloup, amiably, as he sank into a seat beside Kitty, +'what is this great matter you wish to speak about?' + +'Madame Midas,' retorted Kitty, looking straight at him. + +'Such a delightful subject,' murmured Gaston, closing his eyes, as he +guessed what was coming; 'go on, I'm all attention.' + +'You are going to marry her,' said Miss Marchurst, bending towards him +and closing her fan with a snap. + +Vandeloup smiled faintly. + +'You don't say so?' he murmured, opening his eyes and looking at her +lazily; 'who told you this news--for news it is to me, I assure you?' + +'Then it's not true?' added Kitty, eagerly, with a kind of gasp. + +'I'm sure I don't know,' he replied, indolently fingering his moustache; +'I haven't asked her yet.' + +'You are not going to do so?' she said, rapidly, with a flush on her +face. + +'Why not?' in surprise; 'do you object?' + +'Object? my God!' she ejaculated, in a low fierce tone; 'have you +forgotten what we are to one another?' + +'Friends, I understand,' he said, looking at his hands, admiringly. + +'And something more,' she added, bitterly; 'lovers!' + +'Don't talk so loud, my dear,' replied Vandeloup, coolly; 'it doesn't do +to let everyone know your private business.' + +'It's private now,' she said, in a voice of passion, 'but it will soon +be public enough.' + +'Indeed! which paper do you advertise in?' + +'Listen to me, Gaston,' she said, taking no notice of his sneer; 'you +will never marry Madame Midas; sooner than that, I will reveal all and +kill myself.' + +'You forget,' he said, gently; 'it is comedy, not tragedy, we play.' + +'That is as I choose,' she retorted; 'see!' and with a sudden gesture +she put her hand into the bosom of her dress and took out the bottle of +poison with the red bands. 'I have it still.' + +'So I perceive,' he answered, smiling. 'Do you always carry it about +with you, like a modern Lucrezia Borgia?' + +'Yes,' she answered quietly; 'it never leaves me, you see,' with a +sneer. 'As you said yourself, it's always well to be prepared for +emergencies.' + +'So it appears,' observed Vandeloup, with a yawn, sitting up. 'I +wouldn't use that poison if I were you; it is risky.' + +'Oh, no, it's not,' answered Kitty; 'it is fatal in its results, and +leaves no trace behind.' + +'There you are wrong,' replied Gaston, coolly; 'it does leave traces +behind, but makes it appear as if apoplexy was the cause of death. Give +me the bottle?' peremptorily. + +'No!' she answered, defiantly, clenching it in her hand. + +'I say yes,' he said, in an angry whisper; 'that poison is my secret, +and I'm not going to have you play fast and loose with it; give it up,' +and he placed his hand on her wrist. + +'You hurt my wrist,' she said. + +'I'll break your wrist, my darling,' he said, quietly, 'if you don't +give me that bottle.' + +Kitty wrenched her hand away, and rose to her feet. + +'Sooner than that, I'll throw it away,' she said, and before he could +stop her, she flung the bottle out on to the lawn, where it fell down +near the trees. + +'Bah! I will find it,' he said, springing to his feet, but Kitty was too +quick for him. + +'M. Vandeloup,' she said aloud, so that everyone could hear; 'kindly +take me back to the ball-room, will you, to finish our valse.' + +Vandeloup would have refused, but she had his arm, and as everyone +was looking at him, he could not refuse without being guilty of marked +discourtesy. Kitty had beaten him with his own weapons, so, with a +half-admiring glance at her, he took her back to the ball-room, where +the waltz was just ending. + +'At all events,' he said in her ear, as they went smoothly gliding round +the room, 'you won't be able to do any mischief with it now to yourself +or to anyone else.' + +'Won't I?' she retorted quickly; 'I have some more at home.' + +'The deuce!' he ejaculated. + +'Yes,' she replied, triumphantly; 'the bottle I got that belonged to +you, I put half its contents into another. So you see I can still do +mischief, and,' in a fierce whisper, 'I will, if you don't give up this +idea of marrying Madame Midas.' + +'I thought you knew me better than that,' he said, in a tone of +concentrated passion. 'I will not.' + +Then I'll poison her,' she retorted. + +'What, the woman who has been so kind to you?' + +'Yes, I'd rather see her dead than married to a devil like you.' + +'How amiable you are, Bebe,' he said, with a laugh, as the music +stopped. + +'I am what you have made me,' she replied, bitterly, and they walked +into the drawing-room. + +After this Vandeloup clearly saw that it was a case of diamond cut +diamond, for Kitty was becoming as clever with her tongue as he was. +After all, though she was his pupil, and was getting as hardened and +cynical as possible, he did not think it fair she should use his own +weapons against himself. He did not believe she would try and poison +Madame Midas, even though she was certain of not being detected, for +he thought she was too tender-hearted. But, alas! he had taught her +excellently well, and Kitty was rapidly arriving at the conclusion +he had long since come to, that number one was the greatest number. +Besides, her love for Vandeloup, though not so ardent as it had been, +was too intense for her to let any other woman get a hold of him. +Altogether, M. Vandeloup was in an extremely unpleasant position, and +one of his own making. + +Having given Kitty over to the tender care of Mrs Rolleston, Vandeloup +hurried outside to look for the missing bottle. He had guessed the +position it fell in, and, striking a match, went to look over the smooth +close-shorn turf. But though he was a long time, and looked carefully, +the bottle was gone. + +'The devil!' said Vandeloup, startled by this discovery. 'Who could have +picked it up?' + +He went back into the conservatory, and, sitting down in his old place, +commenced to review the position. + +It was most annoying about the poison, there was no doubt of that. +He only hoped that whoever picked it up would know nothing about its +dangerous qualities. After all, he could be certain about that, as no +one but himself knew what the poison was and how it could be used. The +person who picked up the bottle would probably throw it away again as +useless; and then, again, perhaps when Kitty threw the bottle away the +stopper came out, and the contents would be lost. And then Kitty still +had more left, but--bah!--she would not use it on Madame Midas. That was +the vague threat of a jealous woman to frighten him. The real danger he +was in lay in the fact that she might tell Madame Midas the relations +between them, and then there would be no chance of his marrying at all. +If he could only stop Kitty's mouth in some way--persuasion was thrown +away on her. If he could with safety get rid of her he would. Ah! that +was an idea. He had some of this poison--if he could only manage to give +it to her, and thus remove her from his path. There would be no risk of +discovery, as the poison left no traces behind, and if it came to the +worst, it would appear she had committed suicide, for poison similar +to what she had used would be found in her possession. It was a pity to +kill her, so young and pretty, and yet his safety demanded it; for if +she told Madame Midas all, it might lead to further inquiries, and M. +Vandeloup well knew his past life would not bear looking into. Another +thing, she had threatened him about some secret she held--he did not +know what it was, and yet almost guessed; if that was the secret she +must be got rid of, for it would imperil not only his liberty, but +his life. Well, if he had to get rid of her, the sooner he did so the +better, for even on the next day she might tell all--he would have to +give her the poison that night--but how? that was the difficulty. +He could not do it at this ball, as it would be too apparent if she +died--no--it would have to be administered secretly when she went home. +But then she would go to Madame Midas' room to see how she was, and +then would retire to her own room. He knew where that was--just off +Mrs Villiers' room; there were French windows in both rooms--two in Mrs +Villiers', and one in Kitty's. That was the plan--they would be left +open as the night was hot. Suppose he went down to St Kilda, and got +into the garden, he knew every inch of the way; then he could slip into +the open window, and if it was not open, he could use a diamond ring +to cut the glass. He had a diamond ring he never wore, so if Kitty was +discovered to be poisoned, and the glass cut, they would never suspect +him, as he did not wear rings at all, and the evidence of the cut window +would show a diamond must have been used. Well, suppose he got inside, +Kitty would be asleep, and he could put the poison into the water +carafe, or he could put it in a glass of water and leave it standing; +the risk would be, would she drink it or not--he would have to run that +risk; if he failed this time, he would not the next. But, then, suppose +she awoke and screamed--pshaw! when she saw it was he Kitty would not +dare to make a scene, and he could easily make some excuse for his +presence there. It was a wild scheme, but then he was in such a +dangerous position that he had to try everything. + +When M. Vandeloup had come to this conclusion he arose, and, going to +the supper room, drank a glass of brandy; for even he, cool as he was, +felt a little nervous over the crime he was about to commit. He thought +he would give Kitty one last chance, so when she was already cloaked, +waiting with Mrs Riller for the carriage, he drew her aside. + +'You did not mean what you said tonight,' he whispered, looking +searchingly at her. + +'Yes, I did,' she replied, defiantly; 'if you push me to extremities, +you must take the consequences.' + +'It will be the worse for you,' he said, threateningly, as the carriage +drove up. + +'I'm not afraid of you,' she retorted, shrugging her shoulders, a trick +she had learned from him; 'you have ruined my life, but I'm not going to +let you ruin Madame's. I'd sooner see her dead than in your arms.' + +'Remember, I have warned you,' he said, gravely, handing her to the +carriage. 'Good night!' + +'Good night!' she answered, mockingly; 'and to-morrow,' in a low voice, +'you will be astonished.' + +'And to-morrow,' he said to himself, as the carriage drove off, 'you +will be dead.' + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE VISION OF MISS KITTY MARCHURST + + +Everyone knows the story of Damocles, and how uncomfortable he felt with +the sword suspended by a hair over his head. No one could enjoy their +dinner under such circumstances, and it is much to be thankful for that +hosts of the present day do not indulge in these practical jokes. But +though history does not repeat itself exactly regarding the suspended +sword, yet there are cases when a sense of impending misfortune has the +same effect on the spirits. This was the case of Madame Midas. She +was not by any means of a nervous temperature, yet ever since the +disappearance of her husband she was a prey to a secret dread, which, +reacting on her nerves, rendered her miserable. Had Mr Villiers only +appeared, she would have known how to deal with him, and done so +promptly, but it was his absence that made her afraid. Was he dead? +If so, why was his body not found; if he was not dead, why did he not +reappear on the scene. Allowing, for the sake of argument, that he had +stolen the nugget and left the colony in order to enjoy the fruits of +his villainy--well, the nugget weighed about three hundred ounces--and +that if he disposed of it, as he must have done, it would give him a sum +of money a little over one thousand pounds. True, his possession of such +a large mass of gold would awake suspicions in the mind of anyone he +went to; but then, there were people who were always ready to do shady +things, provided they were well paid. So whomsoever he went to would +levy blackmail on him on threat of informing the police and having him +arrested. Therefore, the most feasible thing would be that he had got +about half of the value of the nugget, which would be about six hundred +pounds. Say that he did so, a whole year had elapsed, and Madame Midas +knew her husband well enough to know that six hundred pounds would soon +slip through his fingers, so at the present time he must once more be +penniless. If he was, why did he not come back to her and demand more +money now she was rich? Even had he gone to a distant place, he would +always have kept enough money to pay his way back to Victoria, so that +he could wring money out of her. It was this unpleasant feeling of being +watched that haunted her and made her uneasy. The constant strain began +to tell on her; she became ill and haggard-looking, and her eyes were +always glancing around in the anxious manner common to hunted animals. +She felt as though she were advancing on a masked battery, and at any +moment a shot might strike her from the most unexpected quarter. She +tried to laugh off the feeling and blamed herself severely for the +morbid state of mind into which she was falling; but it was no use, for +by day and night the sense of impending misfortune hung over her like +the sword of Damocles, ready to fall at any moment. If her husband would +only appear, she would settle an income on him, on condition he ceased +to trouble her, but at present she was fighting in the dark with an +unknown enemy. She became afraid of being left alone, and even when +seated quietly with Selina, would suddenly start and look apprehensively +towards the door, as if she heard his footstep. Imagination, when +uncontrolled, can keep the mind on a mental rack, to which that of the +Inquisition was a bed of roses. + +Selina was grieved at this state of things, and tried to argue and +comfort her mistress with the most amiable proverbs, but she was quite +unable to administer to a mind diseased, and Mrs Villiers' life became a +perfect hell upon earth. + +'Are my troubles never going to end?' she said to Selina on the night of +the Meddlechip ball, as she paced restlessly up and down her room; 'this +man has embittered the whole of my life, and now he is stabbing me in +the dark.' + +'Let the dead past bury its dead,' quoted Selina, who was arranging the +room for the night. + +'Pshaw!' retorted Madame, impatiently, walking to the French window at +the end of the room and opening it; 'how do you know he is dead? Come +here, Selina,' she went on, beckoning to the old woman, and pointing +outside to the garden bathed in moonlight; 'I have always a dread +lest he may be watching the house. Even now he may be concealed +yonder'--pointing down the garden. + +Selina looked out, but could see nothing. There was a smooth lawn, burnt +and yellow with the heat, which stretched for about fifty feet, and +ended in a low quickset hedge at the foot of a red brick wall which ran +down that side of the property. The top of this wall was set with broken +bottles, and beyond was the street, where they could hear people passing +along. The moonlight rendered all this as light as day, and, as Selina +pointed out to her mistress, there was no place where a man could +conceal himself. But this did not satisfy Madame; she left the window +half open, so that the cool night wind could blow in, and drew together +the red velvet curtains which hung there. + +'You've left the window open,' remarked Selina, looking at her mistress, +'and if you are nervous it will not make you feel safe.' + +Madame Midas glanced at the window. + +'It's so hot,' she said, plaintively, 'I will get no sleep. Can't you +manage to fix it up, so that I can leave it open?' + +'I'll try,' answered Selina, and she undressed her mistress and put her +to bed, then proceeded to fix up a kind of burglar trap. The bed was a +four-poster, with heavy crimson curtains, and the top was pushed against +the wall, near the window. The curtains of the window and those of +the bed prevented any draught blowing in; and directly in front of the +window, Selina set a small wood table, so that anyone who tried to enter +would throw it over, and thus put the sleeper on the alert. On this she +put a night-light, a book, in case Madame should wake up and want to +read--a thing she very often did--and a glass of homemade lemonade, for +a night drink. Then she locked the other window and drew the curtains, +and, after going into Kitty's room, which opened off the larger one, and +fixing up the one window there in the same way, she prepared to retire, +but Madame stopped her. + +'You must stay all night with me, Selina,' she said, irritably. 'I can't +be left alone.' + +'But, Miss Kitty,' objected Selina, 'she'll expect to be waited for +coming home from the ball.' + +'Well, she comes in here to go to her own room,' said Madame, +impatiently; 'you can leave the door unlocked.' + +'Well,' observed Miss Sprotts, grimly, beginning to undress herself, +'for a nervous woman, you leave a great many windows and doors open.' + +'I'm not afraid as long as you are with me,' said Madame, yawning; 'it's +by myself I get nervous.' + +Miss Sprotts sniffed, and observed that 'Prevention is better than +cure,' then went to bed, and both she and Madame were soon fast asleep. +Selina slept on the outside of the bed, and Madame, having a sense of +security from being with someone, slumbered calmly; so the night wore +drowsily on, and nothing could be heard but the steady ticking of the +clock and the heavy breathing of the two women. + +A sleepy servant admitted Kitty when she came home from the ball, and +had said goodbye to Mrs Riller and Bellthorp. Then Mrs Riller, whose +husband had gone home three hours before, drove away with Bellthorp, and +Kitty went into Madame's room, while the sleepy servant, thankful that +his vigil for the night was over, went to bed. Kitty found Madame's door +ajar, and went in softly, fearful lest she might wake her. She did not +know that Selina was in the room, and as she heard the steady breathing +of the sleepers, she concluded that Madame was asleep, and resolved to +go quietly into her own room without disturbing the sleeper. So eerie +the room looked with the faint night-light burning on the table beside +the bed, and all the shadows, not marked and distinct as in a strong +glare, were faintly confused. Just near the door was a long +chevral glass, and Kitty caught sight of herself in it, wan and +spectral-looking, in her white dress, and, as she let the heavy blue +cloak fall from her shoulders, a perfect shower of apple blossoms were +shaken on to the floor. Her hair had come undone from its sleek, smooth +plaits, and now hung like a veil of gold on her shoulders. She looked +closely at herself in the glass, and her face looked worn and haggard in +the dim light. A pungent acrid odour permeated the room, and the heavy +velvet curtains moved with subdued rustlings as the wind stole in +through the window. On a table near her was a portrait of Vandeloup, +which he had given Madame two days before, and though she could not +see the face she knew it was his. Stretching out her hand she took the +photograph from its stand, and sank into a low chair which stood at +the end of the room some distance from the bed. So noiseless were her +movements that the two sleepers never awoke, and the girl sat in +the chair with the portrait in her hand dreaming of the man whom it +represented. She knew his handsome face was smiling up at her out of the +glimmering gloom, and clenched her hands in anger as she thought how he +had treated her. She let the portrait fall on her lap, and leaning back +in the chair, with all her golden hair showering down loosely over her +shoulders, gave herself up to reflection. + +He was going to marry Madame Midas--the man who had ruined her life; he +would hold another woman in his arms and tell her all the false tales he +had told her. He would look into her eyes with his own, and she would be +unable to see the treachery and guile hidden in their depths. She could +not stand it. False friend, false lover, he had been, but to see him +married to another--no! it was too much. And yet what could she do? A +woman in love believes no ill of the man she adores, and if she was to +tell Madame Midas all she would not be believed. Ah! it was useless +to fight against fate, it was too strong for her, so she would have to +suffer in silence, and see them happy. That story of Hans Andersen's, +which she had read, about the little mermaid who danced, and felt that +swords were wounding her feet while the prince smiled on his bride--yes, +that was her case. She would have to stand by in silence and see him +caressing another woman, while every caress would stab her like a sword. +Was there no way of stopping it? Ah! what is that? The poison--no! no! +anything but that. Madame had been kind to her, and she could not repay +her trust with treachery. No, she was not weak enough for that. And yet +suppose Madame died? no one could tell she had been poisoned, and then +she could marry Vandeloup. Madame was sleeping in yonder bed, and on the +table there was a glass with some liquid in it. She would only have to +go to her room, fetch the poison, and put it in there--then retire to +bed. Madame would surely drink during the night, and then--yes, there +was only one way--the poison! + +How still the house was: not a sound but the ticking of the clock in the +hall and the rushing scamper of a rat or mouse. The dawn reddens faintly +in the east and the chill morning breeze comes up from the south, salt +with the odours of the ocean. Ah! what is that? a scream--a woman's +voice--then another, and the bell rings furiously. The frightened +servants collect from all parts of the house, in all shapes of dress and +undress. The bell sounds from the bedroom of Mrs Villiers, and having +ascertained this they all rush in. What a sight meets their eyes. Kitty +Marchurst, still in her ball dress, clinging convulsively to the chair; +Madame Midas, pale but calm, ringing the bell; and on the bed, with one +arm hanging over, lies Selina Sprotts--dead! The table near the bed +was overturned on the floor, and the glass and the night-lamp both lie +smashed to pieces on the carpet. + +'Send for a doctor at once,' cried Madame, letting go the bell-rope and +crossing to the window; 'Selina has had a fit of some sort.' + +Startled servant goes out to stables and wakes up the grooms, one +of whom is soon on horseback riding for dear life to Dr Chinston. +Clatter--clatter along in the keen morning air; a few workmen on their +way to work gaze in surprise at this furious rider. Luckily, the doctor +lives in St Kilda, and being awoke out of his sleep, dresses himself +quickly, and taking the groom's horse, rides back to Mrs Villiers' +house. He dismounts, enters the house, then the bedroom. Kitty, pale and +wan, is seated in the chair; the window curtains are drawn, and the cold +light of day pours into the room, while Madame Midas is kneeling beside +the corpse, with all the servants around her. Dr Chinston lifts the arm; +it falls limply down. The face is ghastly white, the eyes staring; there +is a streak of foam on the tightly clenched mouth. The doctor puts his +hand on the heart--not a throb; he closes the staring eyes reverently, +and turns to the kneeling woman and the frightened servants. + +'She is dead,' he says, briefly, and orders them to leave the room. + +'When did this occur, Mrs Villiers?' he asked, when the room had been +cleared and only himself, Madame, and Kitty remained. + +'I can't tell you,' replied Madame, weeping; 'she was all right last +night when we went to bed, and she stayed all night with me because I +was nervous. I slept soundly, when I was awakened by a cry and saw Kitty +standing beside the bed and Selina in convulsions; then she became quite +still and lay like that till you came. What is the cause?' + +'Apoplexy,' replied the doctor, doubtfully; 'at least, judging from the +symptoms; but perhaps Miss Marchurst can tell us when the attack came +on?' + +He turned to Kitty, who was shivering in the chair and looked so pale +that Madame Midas went over to her to see what was the matter. The +girl, however, shrank away with a cry as the elder woman approached, and +rising to her feet moved unsteadily towards the doctor. + +'You say she,' pointing to the body, 'died of apoplexy?' + +'Yes,' he answered, curtly, 'all the symptoms of apoplexy are there.' + +'You are wrong!' gasped Kitty, laying her hand on his arm, 'it is +poison!' + +'Poison!' echoed Madame and the Doctor in surprise. + +'Listen,' said Kitty, quickly, pulling herself together by a great +effort. 'I came home from the ball between two and three, I entered +the room to go to my own,' pointing to the other door; 'I did not know +Selina was with Madame.' + +'No,' said Madame, quietly, 'that is true, I only asked her to stop at +the last moment.' + +'I was going quietly to bed,' resumed Kitty, hurriedly, 'in order not +to waken Madame, when I saw the portrait of M. Vandeloup on the table; I +took it up to look at it.' + +'How could you see without a light?' asked Dr Chinston, sharply, looking +at her. + +'There was a night light burning,' replied Kitty, pointing to the +fragments on the floor; 'and I could only guess it was M. Vandeloup's +portrait; but at all events,' she said, quickly, 'I sat down in the +chair over there and fell asleep.' + +'You see, doctor, she had been to a ball and was tired,' interposed +Madame Midas; 'but go on, Kitty, I want to know why you say Selina was +poisoned.' + +'I don't know how long I was asleep,' said Kitty, wetting her dry lips +with her tongue, 'but I was awoke by a noise at the window there,' +pointing towards the window, upon which both her listeners turned +towards it, 'and looking, I saw a hand coming out from behind the +curtain with a bottle in it; it held the bottle over the glass on the +table, and after pouring the contents in, then withdrew.' + +'And why did you not cry out for assistance?' asked the doctor, quickly. + +'I couldn't,' she replied, 'I was so afraid that I fainted. I recovered +my senses, Selina had drank the poison, and when I got up on my feet and +went to the bed she was in convulsions; I woke Madame, and that's all.' + +'A strange story,' said Chinston, musingly, 'where is the glass?' + +'It's broken, doctor,' replied Madame Midas; 'in getting out of bed I +knocked the table down, and both the night lamp and glass smashed.' + +'No one could have been concealed behind the curtain of the window?' +said the doctor to Madame Midas. + +'No,' she replied, 'but the window was open all night; so if it is as +Kitty says, the man who gave the poison must have put his hand through +the open window.' + +Dr Chinston went to the window and looked out; there were no marks of +feet on the flower bed, where it was so soft that anyone standing on it +would have left a footmark behind. + +'Strange,' said the doctor, 'it's a peculiar story,' looking at Kitty +keenly. + +'But a true one,' she replied boldly, the colour coming back to her +face; 'I say she was poisoned.' + +'By whom?' asked Madame Midas, the memory of her husband coming back to +her. + +'I can't tell you,' answered Kitty, 'I only saw the hand.' + +'At all events,' said Chinston, slowly, 'the poisoner did not know that +your nurse was with you, so the poison was meant for Mrs Villiers.' + +For me?' she echoed, ghastly pale; 'I knew it,--my husband is alive, and +this is his work.' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A STARTLING DISCOVERY + + +Ill news travels fast, and before noon the death of Selina Sprotts was +known all over Melbourne. The ubiquitous reporter, of course, appeared +on the scene, and the evening papers gave its own version of the affair, +and a hint at foul play. There was no grounds for this statement, as Dr +Chinston told Kitty and Madame Midas to say nothing about the poison, +and it was generally understood that the deceased had died from +apoplexy. A rumour, however, which originated none knew how, crept about +among everyone that poison was the cause of death, and this, being added +to by some and embellished in all its little details by others, there +was soon a complete story made up about the affair. At the Bachelor's +Club it was being warmly spoken about when Vandeloup came in about +eight o'clock in the evening; and when he appeared he was immediately +overwhelmed with inquiries. He looked cool and calm as usual, and stood +smiling quietly on the excited group before him. + +'You know Mrs Villiers,' said Bellthorp, in an assertive tone, 'so you +must know all about the affair.' 'I don't see that,' returned Gaston, +pulling at his moustache, 'knowing anyone does not include a knowledge +of all that goes on in the house. I assure you, beyond what there is in +the papers, I am as ignorant as you are.' + +'They say this woman--Sprotts or Potts, or something--died from +poison,' said Barty Jarper, who had been all round the place collecting +information. + +'Apoplexy, the doctor says,' said Bellthorp, lighting a cigarette; +'she was in the same room with Mrs Villiers and was found dead in the +morning.' + +'Miss Marchurst was also in the room,' put in Barty, eagerly. + +'Oh, indeed!' said Vandeloup, smoothly, turning to him; 'do you think +she had anything to do with it?' + +'Of course not,' said Rolleston, who had just entered, 'she had no +reason to kill the woman.' + +Vandeloup smiled. + +'So logical you are,' he murmured, 'you want a reason for everything.' + +'Naturally,' retorted Felix, fixing in his eyeglass, 'there is no effect +without a cause.' + +'It couldn't have been Miss Marchurst,' said Bellthorp, 'they say that +the poison was poured out of a bottle held by a hand which came through +the window--it's quite true,' defiantly looking at the disbelieving +faces round him; 'one of Mrs Villiers' servants heard it in the house +and told Mrs Riller's maid.' + +'From whence,' said Vandeloup, politely, 'it was transmitted to +you--precisely.' + +Bellthorp reddened slightly, and turned away as he saw the other +smiling, for his relations with Mrs Riller were well known. + +'That hand business is all bosh,' observed Felix Rolleston, +authoritatively; 'it's in a play called "The Hidden Hand".' + +'Perhaps the person who poisoned Miss Sprotts, got the idea from it?' +suggested Jarper. + +'Pshaw, my dear fellow,' said Vandeloup, languidly; 'people don't go to +melodrama for ideas. Everyone has got their own version of this story; +the best thing to do is to await the result of the inquest.' + +'Is there to be an inquest?' cried all. + +'So I've heard,' replied the Frenchman, coolly; 'sounds as if there was +something wrong, doesn't it?' + +'It's a curious poisoning case,' observed Bellthorp. + +'Ah, but it isn't proved that there is any poisoning about it,' said +Vandeloup, looking keenly at him; 'you jump to conclusions.' + +'There is no smoke without fire,' replied Rolleston, sagely. 'I expect +we'll all be rather astonished when the inquest is held,' and so the +discussion closed. + +The inquest was appointed to take place next day, and Calton had been +asked by Madame Midas to be present on her behalf. Kilsip, a detective +officer, was also present, and, curled up like a cat in the corner, was +listening to every word of the evidence. + +The first witness called was Madame Midas, who deposed that the +deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, was her servant. She had gone to bed in +excellent health, and next morning she had found her dead. + +The Coroner asked a few questions relative to the case. + +Q. Miss Marchurst awoke you, I believe? + +A. Yes. + +Q. And her room is off yours? + +A. Yes. + +Q. Had she to go through your room to reach her own? + +A. She had. There was no other way of getting there. + +Q. One of the windows of your room was open? + +A. It was--all night. + +Miss Kitty Marchurst was then called, and being sworn, gave her story +of the hand coming through the window. This caused a great sensation +in Court, and Calton looked puzzled, while Kilsip, scenting a mystery, +rubbed his lean hands together softly. + +Q. You live with Mrs Villiers, I believe, Miss Marchurst? + +A. I do. + +Q. And you knew the deceased intimately? + +A. I had known her all my life. + +Q. Had she anyone who would wish to injure her? + +A. Not that I knew of. She was a favourite with everyone. + +Q. What time did you come home from the ball you were at? + +A. About half-past two, I think. I went straight to Mrs Villiers' room. + +Q. With the intention of going through it to reach your own? + +A. Yes. + +Q. You say you fell asleep looking at a portrait. How long did you +sleep? + +A. I don't know. I was awakened by a noise at the window, and saw the +hand appear. + +Q. Was it a man's hand or a woman's? + +A. I don't know. It was too indistinct for me to see clearly; and I was +so afraid, I fainted. + +Q. You saw it pour something from a bottle into the glass on the table? + +A. Yes; but I did not see it withdraw. I fainted right off. + +Q. When you recovered your senses, the deceased had drank the contents +of the glass? + +A. Yes. She must have felt thirsty and drank it, not knowing it was +poisoned. Q. How do you know it was poisoned? + +A. I only suppose so. I don't think anyone would come to a window and +pour anything into a glass without some evil purpose. + +The Coroner then asked why the glass with what remained of the contents +had not been put in evidence, but was informed that the glass was +broken. + +When Kitty had ended her evidence and was stepping down, she caught +the eye of Vandeloup, who was looking at her keenly. She met his gaze +defiantly, and he smiled meaningly at her. At this moment, however, +Kilsip bent forward and whispered something to the Coroner, whereupon +Kitty was recalled. + +Q. You were an actress, Miss Marchurst? + +A. Yes. I was on tour with Mr Theodore Wopples for some time. + +Q. Do you know a drama called 'The Hidden Hand'? + +A. Yes--I have played in it once or twice. + +Q. Is there not a strong resemblance between your story of this crime +and the drama? + +A. Yes, it is very much the same. + +Kilsip then gave his evidence, and deposed that he had examined the +ground between the window, where the hand was alleged to have appeared, +and the garden wall. There were no footmarks on the flower-bed under the +window, which was the only place where footmarks would show, as the lawn +itself was hard and dry. He also examined the wall, but could find no +evidence that anyone had climbed over it, as it was defended by broken +bottles, and the bushes at its foot were not crushed or disturbed in any +way. + +Dr Chinston was then called, and deposed that he had made a post-mortem +examination of the body of the deceased. The body was that of a woman of +apparently fifty or fifty-five years of age, and of medium height; the +body was well nourished. There were no ulcers or other signs of disease, +and no marks of violence on the body. The brain was congested and soft, +and there was an abnormal amount of fluid in the spaces known as the +ventricles of the brain; the lungs were gorged with dark fluid blood; +the heart appeared healthy, its left side was contracted and empty, but +the right was dilated and filled with dark fluid blood; the stomach was +somewhat congested, and contained a little partially digested food; the +intestines here and there were congested, and throughout the body the +blood was dark and fluid. + +Q. What then, in your opinion, was the cause of death? + +A. In my opinion death resulted from serous effusion on the brain, +commonly known as serous apoplexy. + +Q. Then you found no appearances in the stomach, or elsewhere, which +would lead you to believe poison had been taken? + +A. No, none. + +Q. From the post-mortem examination could you say the death of the +deceased was not due to some narcotic poison? + +A. No: the post-mortem appearances of the body are quite consistent with +those of poisoning by certain poisons, but there is no reason to suppose +that any poison has been administered in this case, as I, of course, +go by what I see; and the presence of poisons, especially vegetable +poisons, can only be detected by chemical analysis. + +Q. Did you analyse the contents of the stomach chemically? + +A. No; it was not my duty to do so; I handed over the stomach to the +police, seeing that there is suspicion of poison, and thence it will go +to the Government analyst. + +Q. It is stated that the deceased had convulsions before she died--is +this not a symptom of narcotic poisoning? + +A. In some cases, yes, but not commonly; aconite, for instance, always +produces convulsions in animals, seldom in man. + +Q. How do you account for the congested condition of the lungs? + +A. I believe the serous effusion caused death by suspended respiration. + +Q. Was there any odour perceptible? + +A. No, none whatsoever. + +The inquest was then adjourned till next day, and there was great +excitement over the affair. If Kitty Marchurst's statement was true, the +deceased must have died from the administration of poison; but, on the +other hand, Dr Chinston asserted positively that there was no trace of +poison, and that the deceased had clearly died from apoplexy. Public +opinion was very much divided, some asserting that Kitty's story was +true, while others said she had got the idea from 'The Hidden Hand', and +only told it in order to make herself notorious. There were plenty +of letters written to the papers on the subject, each offering a new +solution of the difficulty, but the fact remained the same, that Kitty +said the deceased had been poisoned; the doctor that she had died of +apoplexy. Calton was considerably puzzled over the matter. Of course, +there was no doubt that the man who committed the murder had intended to +poison Madame Midas, but the fact that Selina stayed all night with her, +had resulted in the wrong person being killed. Madame Midas told Calton +the whole story of her life, and asserted positively that if the poison +was meant for her, Villiers must have administered it. This was all very +well, but the question then arose, was Villiers alive? The police were +once more set to work, and once more their search resulted in nothing. +Altogether the whole affair was wrapped in mystery, as it could not even +be told if a murder had been committed, or if the deceased had died from +natural causes. The only chance of finding out the truth would be to +have the stomach analysed, and the cause of death ascertained; once that +was done, and the matter could be gone on with, or dropped, according +to the report of the analyst. If he said it was apoplexy, Kitty's story +would necessarily have to be discredited as an invention; but if, on +the other hand, the traces of poison were found, search would have to be +made for the murderer. Matters were at a deadlock, and everyone waited +impatiently for the report of the analyst. Suddenly, however, a new +interest was given to the case by the assertion that a Ballarat doctor, +called Gollipeck, who was a noted toxicologist, had come down to +Melbourne to assist at the analysis of the stomach, and knew something +which would throw light on the mysterious death. + +Vandeloup saw the paragraph which gave this information, and it +disturbed him very much. + +'Curse that book of Prevol's,' he said to himself, as he threw down the +paper: 'it will put them on the right track, and then--well,' observed +M. Vandeloup, sententiously, 'they say danger sharpens a man's wits; +it's lucky for me if it does.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND + + +M. Vandeloup's rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, were very +luxuriously and artistically furnished, in perfect accordance with the +taste of their owner, but as the satiated despot is depicted by the +moralists as miserable amid all his splendour, so M. Gaston Vandeloup, +though not exactly miserable, was very ill at ease. The inquest had been +adjourned until the Government analyst, assisted by Dr Gollipeck, had +examined the stomach, and according to a paragraph in the evening paper, +some strange statements, implicating various people, would be made next +day. It was this that made Vandeloup so uneasy, for he knew that Dr +Gollipeck would trace a resemblance between the death of Selina Sprotts +in Melbourne and Adele Blondet in Paris, and then the question would +arise how the poison used in the one case came to be used in the other. +If that question arose it would be all over with him, for he would not +dare to face any examination, and as discretion is the better part +of valour, M. Vandeloup decided to leave the country. With his usual +foresight he had guessed that Dr Gollipeck would be mixed up in the +affair, so had drawn his money out of all securities in which it was +invested, sent most of it to America to a New York bank, reserving only +a certain sum for travelling purposes. He was going to leave Melbourne +next morning by the express train for Sydney, and there would catch the +steamer to San Francisco via New Zealand and Honolulu. Once in America +and he would be quite safe, and as he now had plenty of money he could +enjoy himself there. He had given up the idea of marrying Madame Midas, +as he dare not run the risk of remaining in Australia, but then there +were plenty of heiresses in the States he could marry if he chose, so to +give her up was a small matter. Another thing, he would be rid of Pierre +Lemaire, for once let him put the ocean between him and the dumb man he +would take care they never met again. Altogether, M. Vandeloup had taken +all precautions to secure his own safety with his usual promptitude and +coolness, but notwithstanding that another twelve hours would see him on +his way to Sydney en route for the States, he felt slightly uneasy, for +as he often said, 'There are always possibilities.' + +It was about eight o'clock at night, and Gaston was busy in his rooms +packing up to go away next morning. He had disposed of his apartments to +Bellthorp, as that young gentleman had lately come in for some money and +was dissatisfied with the paternal roof, where he was kept too strictly +tied up. + +Vandeloup, seated in his shirt sleeves in the midst of a chaos of +articles of clothing, portmanteaux, and boxes, was, with the experience +of an accomplished traveller, rapidly putting these all away in the most +expeditious and neatest manner. He wanted to get finished before ten +o'clock, so that he could go down to his club and show himself, in order +to obviate any suspicion as to his going away. He did not intend to send +out any P.P.C. cards, as he was a modest young man and wanted to slip +unostentatiously out of the country; besides, there was nothing like +precaution, as the least intimation of his approaching departure would +certainly put Dr Gollipeck on the alert and cause trouble. The gas was +lighted, there was a bright glare through all the room, and everything +was in confusion, with M. Vandeloup seated in the centre, like Marius +amid the ruins of Carthage. While thus engaged there came a ring at the +outer door, and shortly afterwards Gaston's landlady entered his room +with a card. + +'A gentleman wants to see you, sir,' she said, holding out the card. + +'I'm not at home,' replied Vandeloup, coolly, removing the cigarette he +was smoking from his mouth; 'I can't see anyone tonight.' + +'He says you'd like to see him, sir,' answered the woman, standing at +the door. + +'The deuce he does,' muttered Vandeloup, uneasily; 'I wonder what this +pertinacious gentleman's name is? and he glanced at the card, whereon +was written 'Dr Gollipeck'. + +Vandeloup felt a chill running through him as he rose to his feet. The +battle was about to begin, and he knew he would need all his wit and +skill to get himself out safely. Dr Gollipeck had thrown down the +gauntlet, and he would have to pick it up. Well, it was best to know +the worst at once, so he told the landlady he would see Gollipeck +downstairs. He did not want him to come up there, as he would see all +the evidences of his intention to leave the country. + +'I'll see him downstairs,' he said, sharply, to the landlady; 'ask the +gentleman to wait.' + +The landlady, however, was pushed roughly to one side, and Dr Gollipeck, +rusty and dingy-looking as ever, entered the room. + +'No need, my dear friend,' he said in his grating voice, blinking at the +young man through his spectacles, 'we can talk here.' + +Vandeloup signed to the landlady to leave the room, which she did, +closing the door after her, and then, pulling himself together with a +great effort, he advanced smilingly on the doctor. + +'Ah, my dear Monsieur,' he said, in his musical voice, holding out both +hands, 'how pleased I am to see you.' + +Dr Gollipeck gurgled pleasantly in his throat at this and laughed, that +is, something apparently went wrong in his inside and a rasping noise +came out of his mouth. + +'You clever young man,' he said, affectionately, to Gaston, as he +unwound a long crimson woollen scarf from his throat, and thereby caused +a button to fly off his waistcoat with the exertion. Dr Gollipeck, +however, being used to these little eccentricities of his toilet, pinned +the waistcoat together, and then, sitting down, spread his red bandanna +handkerchief over his knees, and stared steadily at Vandeloup, who had +put on a loose velvet smoking coat, and, with a cigarette in his mouth, +was leaning against the mantelpiece. It was raining outside, and the +pleasant patter of the raindrops was quite audible in the stillness of +the room, while every now and then a gust of wind would make the windows +rattle, and shake the heavy green curtains. The two men eyed one another +keenly, for they both knew they had an unpleasant quarter of an hour +before them, and were like two clever fencers--both watching their +opportunity to begin the combat. Gollipeck, with his greasy coat, all +rucked up behind his neck, and his frayed shirt cuffs coming down on his +ungainly hands, sat sternly silent, so Vandeloup, after contemplating +him for a few moments, had to begin the battle. + +'My room is untidy, is it not?' he said, nodding his head carelessly at +the chaos of furniture. 'I'm going away for a few days.' + +'A few days; ha, ha!' observed Gollipeck, something again going wrong +with his inside. 'Your destination is--' + +'Sydney,' replied Gaston, promptly. + +'And then?' queried the doctor. + +Gaston shrugged his shoulders. + +'Depends upon circumstances,' he answered, lazily. + +'That's a mistake,' retorted Gollipeck, leaning forward; 'it depends +upon me.' + +Vandeloup smiled. + +'In that case, circumstances, as represented by you, will permit me to +choose my own destinations.' + +'Depends entirely upon your being guided by circumstances, as +represented by me,' retorted the Doctor, grimly. + +'Pshaw!' said the Frenchman, coolly, 'let us have done with allegory, +and come to common sense. What do you want?' + +'I want Octave Braulard,' said Gollipeck, rising to his feet. + +Vandeloup quite expected this, and was too clever to waste time in +denying his identity. + +'He stands before you,' he answered, curtly, 'what then?' + +'You acknowledge, then, that you are Octave Braulard, transported to New +Caledonia for the murder of Adele Blondet?' said the Doctor tapping the +table with one hand. + +'To you--yes,' answered Vandeloup, crossing to the door and locking it; +'to others--no.' + +'Why do you lock the door?' asked Gollipeck, gruffly. + +'I don't want my private affairs all over Melbourne,' retorted Gaston, +smoothly, returning to his position in front of the fireplace; 'are you +afraid?' + +Something again went wrong with Dr Gollipeck's inside, and he grated out +a hard ironical laugh. + +'Do I look afraid?' he asked, spreading out his hands. + +Vandeloup stooped down to the portmanteau lying open at his feet, and +picked up a revolver, which he pointed straight at Gollipeck. + +'You make an excellent target,' he observed, quickly, putting his finger +on the trigger. + +Dr Gollipeck sat down, and arranged his handkerchief once more over his +knees. + +'Very likely,' he answered, coolly, 'but a target you won't practise +on.' + +'Why not?' asked Vandeloup, still keeping his finger on the trigger. + +'Because the pistol-shot would alarm the house,' said Gollipeck, +serenely, 'and if I was found dead, you would be arrested for my murder. +If I was only wounded I could tell a few facts about M. Octave Braulard +that would have an unpleasant influence on the life of M. Gaston +Vandeloup.' + +Vandeloup laid the pistol down on the mantelpiece with a laugh, lit a +cigarette, and, sitting down in a chair opposite Gollipeck, began to +talk. + +'You are a brave man,' he said, coolly blowing a wreath of smoke, 'I +admire brave men.' + +'You are a clever man,' retorted the doctor; 'I admire clever men.' + +'Very good,' said Vandeloup, crossing one leg over the other. 'As we now +understand one another, I await your explanation of this visit.' + +Dr Gollipeck, with admirable composure, placed his hands on his knees, +and acceded to the request of M. Vandeloup. + +'I saw in the Ballarat and Melbourne newspapers,' he said, quietly, +'that Selina Sprotts, the servant of Mrs Villiers, was dead. The papers +said foul play was suspected, and according to the evidence of Kitty +Marchurst, whom, by the way, I remember very well, the deceased had been +poisoned. An examination was made of the body, but no traces of +poison were found. Knowing you were acquainted with Madame Midas, and +recognising this case as a peculiar one--seeing that poison was asserted +to have been given, and yet no appearances could be found--I came down +to Melbourne, saw the doctor who had analysed the body, and heard what +he had to say on the subject. The symptoms were described as apoplexy, +similar to those of a woman who died in Paris called Adele Blondet, and +whose case was reported in a book by Messrs Prevol and Lebrun. Becoming +suspicious, I assisted at a chemical analysis of the body, and found +that the woman Sprotts had been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the +same poison used in the case of Adele Blondet. The man who poisoned +Adele Blondet was sent to New Caledonia, escaped from there, and came to +Australia, and prepared this poison at Ballarat; and why I called here +tonight was to know the reason M. Octave Braulard, better known as +Gaston Vandeloup, poisoned Selina Sprotts in mistake for Madame Midas.' + +If Doctor Gollipeck had thought to upset Vandeloup by this recital, he +was never more mistaken in his life, for that young gentleman heard him +coolly to the end, and taking the cigarette out of his mouth, smiled +quietly. + +'In the first place,' he said, smoothly, 'I acknowledge the truth of +all your story except the latter part, and I must compliment you on the +admirable way you have guessed the identity of Braulard with Vandeloup, +as you have no proof to show that they are the same. But with regard +to the death of Mademoiselle Sprotts, she died as you have said; but I, +though the maker of the poison, did not administer it.' + +'Who did, then?' asked Gollipeck, who was quite prepared for this +denial. + +Vandeloup smoothed his moustache, and looked at the doctor with a keen +glance. + +'Kitty Marchurst,' he said, coolly. + +The rain was beating wildly against the windows and someone in the room +below was playing the eternal waltz, 'One summer's night in Munich', +while Vandeloup, leaning back in his chair, stared at Dr Gollipeck, who +looked at him disbelievingly. + +'It's not true,' he said, harshly; 'what reason had she to poison the +woman Sprotts?' + +'None at all,' replied Vandeloup, blandly; 'but she had to poison Mrs +Villiers.' + +'Go on,' said Gollipeck, gruffly; 'I've no doubt you will make up an +admirable story.' + +'So kind of you to compliment me,' observed Vandeloup, lightly; 'but +in this instance I happen to tell the truth--Kitty Marchurst was my +mistress.' + +'It was you that ruined her, then?' cried Gollipeck, pushing back his +chair. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'If you put it that way--yes,' he answered, simply; 'but she fell into +my mouth like ripe fruit. Surely,' with a sneer, 'at your age you don't +believe in virtue?' + +'Yes, I do,' retorted Gollipeck, fiercely. + +'More fool you!' replied Gaston, with a libertine look on his handsome +face. 'Balzac never said a truer word than that "a woman's virtue is +man's greatest invention." Well, we won't discuss morality now. She came +with me to Melbourne and lived as my mistress; then she wanted to marry +me, and I refused. She had a bottle of the poison which I had made, and +threatened to take it and kill herself. I prevented her, and then she +left me, went on the stage, and afterwards meeting Madame Midas, went +to live with her, and we renewed our acquaintance. On the night of +this--well, murder, if you like to call it so--we were at a ball +together. Mademoiselle Marchurst heard that I was going to marry Madame +Midas. She asked me if it was true. I did not deny it; and she said she +would sooner poison Mrs Villiers than see her married to me. She went +home, and not knowing the dead woman was in bed with Madame Midas, +poisoned the drink, and the consequences you know. As to this story of +the hand, bah! it is a stage play, that is all!' + +Dr Gollipeck rose and walked to and fro in the little clear space left +among the disorder. + +'What a devil you are!' he said, looking at Vandeloup admiringly. + +'What, because I did not poison this woman?' he said, in a mocking tone. +'Bah! you are less moral than I thought you were.' + +The doctor did not take any notice of this sneer, but, putting his hands +in his pockets, faced round to the young man. + +'I give my evidence to-morrow,' he said quietly, looking keenly at the +young man, 'and I prove conclusively the woman was poisoned. To do this, +I must refer to the case of Adele Blondet, and then that implicates +you.' + +'Pardon me,' observed Vandeloup, coolly, removing some ash from his +velvet coat, 'it implicates Octave Braulard, who is at present,' with a +sharp look at Gollipeck, 'in New Caledonia.' + +'If that is the case,' asked the doctor, gruffly, 'who are you?' + +'I am the friend of Braulard,' said Vandeloup, in a measured tone. +'Myself, Braulard, and Prevol--one of the writers of the book you refer +to--were medical students together, and we all three emphatically knew +about this poison extracted from hemlock.' + +He spoke so quietly that Gollipeck looked at him in a puzzled manner, +not understanding his meaning. + +'You mean Braulard and Prevol were medical students?' he said, +doubtfully. + +'Exactly,' assented M. Vandeloup, with an airy wave of his hand. 'Gaston +Vandeloup is a fictitious third person I have called into existence +for my own safety--you understand. As Gaston Vandeloup, a friend of +Braulard, I knew all about this poison, and manufactured it in Ballarat +for a mere experiment, and as Gaston Vandeloup I give evidence against +the woman who was my mistress on the ground of poisoning Selina Sprotts +with hemlock.' + +'You are not shielding yourself behind this girl?' asked the doctor, +coming close to him. + +'How could I?' replied Vandeloup, slipping his hand into his pocket. +'I could not have gone down to St Kilda, climbed over a wall with glass +bottles on top, and committed the crime, as Kitty Marchurst says it was +done. If I had done this there would be some trace--no, I assure you +Mademoiselle Marchurst, and none other, is the guilty woman. +She was in the room--Madame Midas asleep in bed. What was +easier for her than to pour the poison into the glass, which +stood ready to receive it? Mind you, I don't say she did it +deliberately--impulse--hallucination--madness--what you like--but she +did it.' + +'By God!' cried Gollipeck, warmly, 'you'd argue a rope round the girl's +neck even before she has had a trial. I believe you did it yourself.' + +'If I did,' retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'when I am in the witness-box I +run the risk of being found out. Be it so. I take my chance of that; but +I ask you to keep silent as to Gaston Vandeloup being Octave Braulard.' + +'Why should I?' said the doctor, harshly. + +'For many admirable reasons,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly. 'In the first +place, as Braulard's friend, I can prove the case against Mademoiselle +Marchurst quite as well as if I appeared as Braulard himself. In the +next place, you have no evidence to prove I am identical with the +murderer of Adele Blondet; and, lastly, suppose you did prove it, what +satisfaction would it be to you to send me back to a French prison? I +have suffered enough for my crime, and now I am rich and respectable, +why should you drag me back to the depths again? Read "Les Miserables" +of our great Hugo before you answer, my friend.' + +'Read the book long ago,' retorted Gollipeck, gruffly, more moved by the +argument than he cared to show; 'I will keep silent about this if you +leave the colony at once.' + +'I agree,' said Vandeloup, pointing to the floor; 'you see I had already +decided to travel before you entered. Any other stipulation?' + +'None,' retorted the doctor, putting on his scarf again; 'with Octave +Braulard I have nothing to do: I want to find out who killed Selina +Sprotts, and if you did, I won't spare you.' + +'First, catch your hare,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly, going to the door +and unlocking it; 'I am ready to stand the test of a trial, and surely +that ought to content you. As it is, I'll stay in Melbourne long enough +to give you the satisfaction of hanging this woman for the murder, and +then I will go to America.' + +Dr Gollipeck was disgusted at the smooth brutality of this man, and +moved hastily to the door. + +'Will you not have a glass of wine?' asked Vandeloup, stopping him. + +'Wine with you?' said the doctor, harshly, looking him up and down; 'no, +it would choke me,' and he hurried away. + +'I wish it would,' observed M. Vandeloup, pleasantly, as he reentered +the room, 'whew! this devil of a doctor--what a dangerous fool, but +I have got the better of him, and at all events,' he said, lighting +another cigarette, 'I have saved Vandeloup from suffering for the crime +of Braulard.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + + +There was no doubt the Sprotts' poisoning case was the sensation of the +day in Melbourne. The papers were full of it, and some even went so far +as to give a plan of the house, with dotted lines thereon, to show +how the crime was committed. All this was extremely amusing, for, as a +matter of fact, the evidence as yet had not shown any reasonable ground +for supposing foul play had taken place. One paper, indeed, said +that far too much was assumed in the case, and that the report of the +Government analyst should be waited for before such emphatic opinions +were given by the press regarding the mode of death. But it was no use +trying to reason with the public, they had got it into their sage heads +that a crime had been committed, and demanded evidence; so as the +press had no real evidence to give, they made it up, and the public, in +private conversations, amplified the evidence until they constructed a +complete criminal case. + +'Pshaw!' said Rolleston, when he read these sensational reports, 'in +spite of the quidnuncs the mountain will only produce a mouse after +all.' + +But he was wrong, for now rumours were started that the Government +analyst and Dr Gollipeck had found poison in the stomach, and that, +moreover, the real criminal would be soon discovered. Public opinion was +much divided as to who the criminal was--some, having heard the story +of Madame's marriage, said it was her husband; others insisted Kitty +Marchurst was the culprit, and was trying to shield herself behind this +wild story of the hand coming from behind the curtains; while others +were in favour of suicide. At all events, on the morning when the +inquest was resumed, and the evidence was to be given of the analysis +of the stomach, the Court was crowded, and a dead silence pervaded the +place when the Government analyst stood up to give his evidence. Madame +Midas was present, with Kitty seated beside her, the latter looking pale +and ill; and Kilsip, with a gratified smile on his face which seemed +as though he had got a clue to the whole mystery, was seated next +to Calton. Vandeloup, faultlessly dressed, and as cool and calm as +possible, was also in Court; and Dr Gollipeck, as he awaited his turn to +give evidence, could not help admiring the marvellous nerve and courage +of the young man. + +The Government analyst being called, was sworn in the usual way, and +deposed that the stomach of the deceased had been sent to him to be +analysed. He had used the usual tests, and found the presence of the +alkaloid of hemlock, known under the name of conia. In his opinion the +death of the deceased was caused by the administration of an extract of +hemlock. (Sensation in the Court.) + +Q. Then in your opinion the deceased has been poisoned? + +A. Yes, I have not the least doubt on the subject, I detected the conia +very soon after the tests were applied. + +There was great excitement when this evidence was concluded, as it gave +quite a new interest to the case. The question as to the cause of death +was now set at rest--the deceased had been murdered, so the burning +anxiety of every one was to know who had committed the crime. All +sorts of opinions were given, but the murmur of voices ceased when Dr +Gollipeck stood up to give his evidence. + +He deposed that he was a medical practitioner, practising at Ballarat; +he had seen the report of the case in the papers, and had come down +to Melbourne as he thought he could throw a certain light on the +affair--for instance, where the poison was procured. (Sensation.) About +three years ago a crime had been committed in Paris, which caused a +great sensation at the time. The case being a peculiar one, was reported +in a medical work, by Messieurs Prevol and Lebrun, which he had obtained +from France some two years back. The facts of the case were shortly +these: An actress called Adele Blondet died from the effects of poison, +administered to her by Octave Braulard, who was her lover; the deceased +had also another lover, called Kestrike, who was supposed to be +implicated in the crime, but he had escaped; the woman in this case had +been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used as in the +case of Selina Sprotts, and it was the similarity of the symptoms that +made him suspicious of the sudden death. Braulard was sent out to New +Caledonia for the murder. While in Paris he had been a medical student +with two other gentlemen, one of whom was Monsieur Prevol, who had +reported the case, and the other was at present in Court, and was called +M. Gaston Vandeloup. (Sensation in Court, everyone's eye being fixed on +Vandeloup, who was calm and unmoved.) M. Vandeloup had manufactured the +poison used in this case, but with regard to how it was administered to +the deceased, he would leave that evidence to M. Vandeloup himself. + +When Gollipeck left the witness-box there was a dead silence, as +everyone was too much excited at his strange story to make any comment +thereon. Madame Midas looked with some astonishment on Vandeloup as his +name was called out, and he moved gracefully to the witness-box, while +Kitty's face grew paler even than it was before. She did not know what +Vandeloup was going to say, but a great dread seized her, and with dry +lips and clenched hands she sat staring at him as if paralysed. Kilsip +stole a look at her and then rubbed his hands together, while Calton sat +absolutely still, scribbling figures on his notepaper. + +M. Gaston Vandeloup, being sworn, deposed: He was a native of France, of +Flemish descent, as could be seen from his name; he had known Braulard +intimately; he also knew Prevol; he had been eighteen months in +Australia, and for some time had been clerk to Mrs Villiers at Ballarat; +he was fond of chemistry--yes; and had made several experiments +with poisons while up at Ballarat with Dr Gollipeck, who was a great +toxicologist; he had seen the hemlock in the garden of an hotel-keeper +at Ballarat, called Twexby, and had made an extract therefrom; he only +did it by way of experiment, and had put the bottle containing the +poison in his desk, forgetting all about it; the next time he saw that +bottle was in the possession of Miss Kitty Marchurst (sensation in +Court); she had threatened to poison herself; he again saw the bottle in +her possession on the night of the murder; this was at the house of M. +Meddlechip. A report had been circulated that he (the witness) was going +to marry Mrs Villiers, and Miss Marchurst asked him if it was true; +he had denied it, and Miss Marchurst had said that sooner than he +(the witness) should marry Mrs Villiers she would poison her; the next +morning he heard that Selina Sprotts was dead. + +Kitty Marchurst heard all this evidence in dumb horror. She now knew +that after ruining her life this man wanted her to die a felon's death. +She arose to her feet and stretched out her hands in protest against +him, but before she could speak a word the place seemed to whirl +round her, and she fell down in a dead faint. This event caused great +excitement in court, and many began to assert positively that she must +be guilty, else why did she faint. Kitty was taken out of Court, and +the examination was proceeded with, while Madame Midas sat pale and +horror-struck at the revelations which were now being made. + +The Coroner now proceeded to cross-examine Vandeloup. + +Q. You say you put the bottle containing this poison into your desk; how +did Miss Marchurst obtain it? + +A. Because she lived with me for some time, and had access to my private +papers. + +Q. Was she your wife? + +A. No, my mistress (sensation in Court). + +Q. Why did she leave you? + +A. We had a difference of opinion about the question of marriage, so she +left me. + +Q. She wanted you to make reparation; in other words, to marry her? + +A. Yes. + +Q. And you refused? + +A. Yes. + +Q. It was on this occasion she produced the poison first? + +A. Yes. She told me she had taken it from my desk, and would poison +herself if I did not marry her; she changed her mind, however, and went +away. + +Q. Did you know what became of her? + +A. Yes; I heard she went on the stage with M. Wopples. + +Q. Did she take the poison with her? + +A. Yes. + +Q. How do you know she took the poison with her? + +A. Because next time I saw her it was still in her possession. + +Q. That was at Mr Meddlechip's ball? + +A. Yes. + +Q. On the night of the commission of the crime? + +A. Yes. + +Q. What made her take it to the ball? + +A. Rather a difficult question to answer. She heard rumours that I was +to marry Mrs Villiers, and even though I denied it declined to believe +me; she then produced the poison, and said she would take it. + +Q. Where did this conversation take place? + +A. In the conservatory. + +Q. What did you do when she threatened to take the poison? + +A. I tried to take it from her. + +Q. Did you succeed? + +A. No; she threw it out of the door. + +Q. Then when she left Mr Meddlechip's house to come home she had no +poison with her? + +A. I don't think so. + +Q. Did she pick the bottle up again after she threw it out? + +A. No, because I went back to the ball-room with her; then I came out +myself to look for the bottle, but it was gone. + +Q. You have never seen it since. + +A. No, it must have been picked up by someone who was ignorant of its +contents. + +Q. By your own showing, M. Vandeloup, Miss Marchurst had no poison with +her when she left Mr Meddlechip's house. How, then, could she commit +this crime? + +A. She told me she still had some poison left; that she divided the +contents of the bottle she had taken from my desk, and that she still +had enough left at home to poison Mrs Villiers. + +Q. Did she say she would poison Mrs Villiers? + +A. Yes, sooner than see her married to me. (Sensation.) + +Q. Do you believe she went away from you with the deliberate intention +of committing the crime. + +A. I do. + +M. Vandeloup then left the box amid great excitement, and Kilsip was +again examined. He deposed that he had searched Miss Marchurst's room, +and found half a bottle of extract of hemlock. The contents of the +bottle had been analysed, and were found identical with the conia +discovered in the stomach of the deceased. + +Q. You say the bottle was half empty? + +A. Rather more than that: three-quarters empty. + +Q. Miss Marchurst told M. Vandeloup she had poured half the contents of +one bottle into the other. Would not this account for the bottle being +three-quarters empty? + +A. Possibly; but if the first bottle was full, it is probable she would +halve the poison exactly; so if it had been untouched, it ought to be +half full. + +Q. Then you think some of the contents of this bottle were used? + +A. That is my opinion. + +Vandeloup was recalled, and deposed that the bottle Kitty took from his +desk was quite full; and moreover, when the other bottle which had been +found in her room, was shown to him, he declared that it was as nearly +as possible the same size as the missing bottle. So the inference drawn +from this was that the bottle produced being three-quarters empty, some +of the poison had been used. + +The question now arose that as the guilt of Miss Marchurst seemed so +certain, how was it that Selina Sprotts was poisoned instead of her +mistress; but this was settled by Madame Midas, who being recalled, +deposed that Kitty did not know Selina slept with her on that night, and +the curtains being drawn, could not possibly tell two people were in the +bed. + +This was all the evidence obtainable, and the coroner now proceeded to +sum up. + +The case, he said, was a most remarkable one, and it would be necessary +for the jury to consider very gravely all the evidence laid before them +in order to arrive at a proper conclusion before giving their verdict. +In the first place, it had been clearly proved by the Government analyst +that the deceased had died from effects of conia, which was, as they had +been told, the alkaloid of hemlock, a well-known hedge plant which grows +abundantly in most parts of Great Britain. According to the evidence of +Dr Chinston, the deceased had died from serous apoplexy, and from all +the post-mortem appearances this was the case. But they must remember +that it was almost impossible to detect certain vegetable poisons, such +as aconite and atropia, without minute chemical analysis. They would +remember a case which startled London some years ago, in which the +poisoner had poisoned his brother-in-law by means of aconite, and it +taxed all the ingenuity and cleverness of experts to find the traces of +poison in the stomach of the deceased. In this case, however, thanks to +Dr Gollipeck, who had seen the similarity of the symptoms between the +post-mortem appearance of the stomach of Adele Blondet and the present +case, the usual tests for conia were applied, and as they had been told +by the Government analyst, the result was conia was found. So they could +be quite certain that the deceased had died of poison--that poison +being conia. The next thing for them to consider was how the poison was +administered. According to the evidence of Miss Marchurst, some unknown +person had been standing outside the window and poured the poison into +the glass on the table. Mrs Villiers had stated that the window was open +all night, and from the position of the table near it--nothing would +be easier than for anyone to introduce the poison into the glass as +asserted by Miss Marchurst. On the other hand, the evidence of the +detective Kilsip went to show that no marks were visible as to anyone +having been at the window; and another thing which rendered Miss +Marchurst's story doubtful was the resemblance it had to a drama in +which she had frequently acted, called 'The Hidden Hand'. In the last +act of that drama poison was administered to one of the characters +in precisely the same manner, and though of course such a thing might +happen in real life, still in this case it was a highly suspicious +circumstance that a woman like Miss Marchurst, who had frequently acted +in the drama, should see the same thing actually occur off the stage. +Rejecting, then, as improbable the story of the hidden hand, seeing that +the evidence was strongly against it, the next thing was to look into +Miss Marchurst's past life and see if she had any motive for committing +the crime. Before doing so, however, he would point out to them that +Miss Marchurst was the only person in the room when the crime was +committed. The window in her own room and one of the windows in Mrs +Villiers' room were both locked, and the open window had a table in +front of it, so that anyone entering would very probably knock it over, +and thus awaken the sleepers. On the other hand, no one could have +entered in at the door, because they would not have had time to escape +before the crime was discovered. So it was clearly shown that Miss +Marchurst must have been alone in the room when the crime was committed. +Now to look into her past life--it was certainly not a very creditable +one. M. Vandeloup had sworn that she had been his mistress for over +a year, and had taken the poison manufactured by himself out of his +private desk. Regarding M. Vandeloup's motives in preparing such a +poison he could say nothing. Of course, he probably did it by way of +experiment to find out if this colonial grown hemlock possessed the same +poisonous qualities as it did in the old world. It was a careless thing +of him, however, to leave it in his desk, where it could be obtained, +for all such dangerous matters should be kept under lock and key. To +go back, however, to Miss Marchurst. It had been proved by M. Vandeloup +that she was his mistress, and that they quarrelled. She produced this +poison, and said she would kill herself. M. Vandeloup persuaded her to +abandon the idea, and she subsequently left him, taking the poison with +her. She then went on the stage, and subsequently left it in order to +live with Mrs Villiers as her companion. All this time she still had the +poison, and in order to prevent her losing it she put half of it into +another bottle. Now this looked very suspicious, as, if she had not +intended to use it she certainly would never have taken such trouble +over preserving it. She meets M. Vandeloup at a ball, and, hearing that +he is going to marry Mrs Villiers, she loses her head completely, and +threatens to poison herself. M. Vandeloup tries to wrench the poison +from her, whereupon she flings it into the garden. This bottle has +disappeared, and the presumption is that it was picked up. But if the +jury had any idea that the poison was administered from the lost bottle, +they might as well dismiss it from their minds, as it was absurd to +suppose such an improbable thing could happen. In the first place no one +but M. Vandeloup and Miss Marchurst knew what the contents were, and +in the second place what motive could anyone who picked it up have in +poisoning Mrs Villiers, and why should they adopt such an extraordinary +way of doing it, as Miss Marchurst asserted they did? On the other hand, +Miss Marchurst tells M. Vandeloup that she still has some poison left, +and that she will kill Mrs Villiers sooner than see her married to him. +She declares to M. Vandeloup that she will kill her, and leaves the +house to go home with, apparently, all the intention of doing so. She +comes home filled with all the furious rage of a jealous woman, and +enters Mrs Villiers' room, and here the jury will recall the evidence of +Mrs Villiers, who said Miss Marchurst did not know that the deceased +was sleeping with her. So when Miss Marchurst entered the room, she +naturally thought that Mrs Villiers was by herself, and would, as a +matter of course, refrain from drawing the curtains and looking into the +bed, in case she should awaken her proposed victim. There was a glass +with drink on the table; she was alone with Mrs Villiers, her heart +filled with jealous rage against a woman she thinks is her rival. Her +own room is a few steps away--what, then, was easier for her than to go +to her own room, obtain the poison, and put it into the glass? The +jury will remember in the evidence of Mr Kilsip, the bottle was +three-quarters empty, which argued some of it had been used. All the +evidence against Miss Marchurst was purely circumstantial, for if +she committed the crime, no human eye beheld her doing so. But the +presumption of her having done so, in order to get rid of a successful +rival, was very strong, and the weight of evidence was dead against her. +The jury would, therefore, deliver their verdict in accordance with the +facts laid before them. + +The jury retired, and the court was very much excited. Everyone was +quite certain that Kitty was guilty, but there was a strong feeling +against M. Vandeloup as having been in some measure the cause, though +indirectly, of the crime. But that young gentleman, in accordance with +his usual foresight, had left the court and gone straight home, as he +had no wish to face a crowd of sullen faces, and perhaps worse. Madame +Midas sat still in the court awaiting the return of the jury, with the +calm face of a marble sphinx. But, though she suffered, no appearances +of suffering were seen on her serene face. She never had believed in +human nature, and now the girl whom she had rescued from comparative +poverty and placed in opulence had wanted to kill her. M. Vandeloup, +whom she admired and trusted, what black infamy he was guilty of--he had +sworn most solemnly he never harmed Kitty, and yet he was the man who +had ruined her. Madame Midas felt that the worst had come--Vandeloup +false, Kitty a murderess, her husband vanished, and Selina dead. All the +world was falling into ruins around her, and she remained alone amid +the ruins with her enormous fortune, like a golden statue in a deserted +temple. With clasped hands, aching heart, but impassive face, she sat +waiting for the end. + +The jury returned in about half an hour, and there was a dead silence as +the foreman stood up to deliver the verdict. + +The jury found as follows:-- + +That the deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, died on the 21st day of +November, from the effects of poison, namely, conia, feloniously +administered by one Katherine Marchurst, and the jury, on their oaths, +say that the said Katherine Marchurst feloniously, wilfully, and +maliciously did murder the said deceased. + +That evening Kitty was arrested and lodged in the Melbourne Gaol, to +await her trial on a charge of wilful murder. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +KISMET + + +Of two evils it is always best to choose the least, and as M. Vandeloup +had to choose between the loss of his popularity or his liberty, he +chose to lose the former instead of the latter. After all, as he argued +to himself, Australia at large is a small portion of the world, and +in America no one would know anything about his little escapade in +connection with Kitty. He knew that he was in Gollipeck's power, and +that unless he acceded to that gentleman's demand as to giving evidence +he would be denounced to the authorities as an escaped convict from New +Caledonia, and would be sent back there. Of course, his evidence could +not but prove detrimental to himself, seeing how badly he had behaved to +Kitty, but still as going through the ordeal meant liberty, he did so, +and the result was as he had foreseen. Men, as a rule, are not very +squeamish, and view each other's failings, especially towards women, +with a lenient eye, but Vandeloup had gone too far, and the Bachelors' +Club unanimously characterised his conduct as 'damned shady', so a +letter was sent requesting M. Vandeloup to take his name off the books +of the club. He immediately resigned, and wrote a polite letter to the +secretary, which brought uneasy blushes to the cheek of that gentleman +by its stinging remarks about his and his fellow clubmen's morality. He +showed it to several of the members, but as they all had their little +redeeming vices, they determined to take no notice, and so M. Vandeloup +was left alone. Another thing which happened was that he was socially +ostracised from society, and his table, which used to be piled up with +invitations, soon became quite bare. Of course, he knew he could force +Meddlechip to recognise him, but he did not choose to do so, as all his +thoughts were fixed on America. He had plenty of money, and with a +new name and a brand new character, Vandeloup thought he would prosper +exceedingly well in the States. So he stayed at home, not caring to +face the stony faces of friends who cut him, and waited for the trial +of Kitty Marchurst, after which he intended to leave for Sydney at once, +and take the next steamer to San Francisco. He did not mind waiting, but +amused himself reading, smoking, and playing, and was quite independent +of Melbourne society. Only two things worried him, and the first of +these was the annoyance of Pierre Lemaire, who seemed to have divined +his intention of going away, and haunted him day and night like an +unquiet spirit. Whenever Vandeloup looked out, he saw the dumb man +watching the house, and if he went for a walk, Pierre would slouch +sullenly along behind him, as he had done in the early days. Vandeloup +could have called in the aid of a policeman to rid himself of this +annoyance, but the fact was he was afraid of offending Pierre, as he +might be tempted to reveal what he knew, and the result would not be +pleasant. So Gaston bore patiently with the disagreeable system of +espionage the dumb man kept over him, and consoled himself with the idea +that once he was on his way to America, it would not matter two straws +whether Pierre told all he knew, or kept silent. The other thing which +troubled the young man were the words Kitty had made use of in Mrs +Villiers' drawing-room regarding the secret she said she knew. It made +him uneasy, for he half guessed what it was, and thought she might tell +it to someone out of revenge, and then there would be more troubles for +him to get out of. Then, again, he argued that she was too fond of him +ever to tell anything likely to injure him, even though he had put +a rope round her neck. If he could have settled the whole affair +by running away, he would have done so, but Gollipeck was still in +Melbourne, and Gaston knew he could not leave the town without the +terrible old man finding it out, and bringing him back. At last the +torture of wondering how much Kitty knew was too much for him, and he +determined to go to the Melbourne gaol and interview her. So he obtained +an order from the authorities to see her, and prepared to start next +morning. He sent the servant out for a hansom, and by the time it was at +the door, M. Vandeloup, cool, calm, and well dressed, came down stairs +pulling on his gloves. The first thing he saw when he got outside was +Pierre waiting for him with his old hat pulled down over his eyes, and +his look of sullen resignation. Gaston nodded coolly to him, and told +the cabby he wanted to go to the Melbourne gaol, whereupon Pierre +slouched forward as the young man was preparing to enter the cab, and +laid his hand on his arm. + +'Well,' said Vandeloup, in a quiet voice, in French, shaking off the +dumb man's arm, 'what do you want?' + +Pierre pointed to the cab, whereupon M. Vandeloup shrugged his +shoulders. 'Surely you don't want to come to the gaol with me,' he said, +mockingly, 'you'll get there soon enough.' + +The other nodded, and made a step towards the cab, but Vandeloup pushed +him back. + +'Curse the fool,' he muttered to himself, 'I'll have to humour him or +he'll be making a scene--you can't come,' he added aloud, but Pierre +still refused to go away. + +This conversation or rather monologue, seeing M. Vandeloup was the only +speaker, was carried on in French, so the cabman and the servant at the +door were quite ignorant of its purport, but looked rather astonished +at the conduct of the dirty tramp towards such an elegant-looking +gentleman. Vandeloup saw this and therefore determined to end the scene. + +'Well, well,' he said to Pierre in French, 'get in at once,' and +then when the dumb man entered the cab, he explained to the cabman in +English:--'This poor devil is a pensioner of mine, and as he wants to +see a friend of his in gaol I'll take him with me.' + +He stepped into the cab which drove off, the cabman rather astonished +at the whole affair, but none the less contented himself with merely +winking at the pretty servant girl who stood on the steps, whereupon she +tossed her head and went inside. + +As they drove along Vandeloup said nothing to Pierre, not that he did +not want to, but he mistrusted the trap-door in the roof of the cab, +which would permit the cabman to overhear everything. So they went along +in silence, and when they arrived at the gaol Vandeloup told the cabman +to wait for him, and walked towards the gaol. + +'You are coming inside, I suppose,' he said, sharply, to Pierre, who +still slouched alongside. + +The dumb man nodded sullenly. + +Vandeloup cursed Pierre in his innermost heart, but smiled blandly and +agreed to let him enter with him. There was some difficulty with the +warder at the door, as the permission to see the prisoner was only made +out in the name of M. Vandeloup, but after some considerable trouble +they succeeded in getting in. + +'My faith!' observed Gaston, lightly, as they went along to the cell, +conducted by a warder, 'it's almost as hard to get into gaol as to get +out of it.' + +The warder admitted them both to Kitty's cell, and left them alone with +her. She was seated on the bed in the corner of the cell, in an attitude +of deepest dejection. When they entered she looked up in a mechanical +sort of manner, and Vandeloup could see how worn and pinched-looking her +face was. Pierre went to one end of the cell and leaned against the wall +in an indifferent manner, while Vandeloup stood right in front of +the unhappy woman. Kitty arose when she saw him, and an expression of +loathing passed over her haggard-looking face. + +'Ah!' she said, bitterly, rejecting Vandeloup's preferred hand, 'so you +have come to see your work; well, look around at these bare walls; +see how thin and ugly I have grown; think of the crime with which I am +charged, and surely even Gaston Vandeloup will be satisfied.' + +The young man sneered. + +'Still as good at acting as ever, I see,' he said, mockingly; 'cannot +you even see a friend without going into these heroics?' + +'Why have you come here?' she asked, drawing herself up to her full +height. + +'Because I am your friend,' he answered, coolly. + +'My friend!' she echoed, scornfully, looking at him with contempt; 'you +ruined my life a year ago, now you have endeavoured to fasten the guilt +of murder on me, and yet you call yourself my friend; a good story, +truly,' with a bitter laugh. + +'I could not help giving the evidence I did,' replied Gaston, coolly, +shrugging his shoulders; 'if you are innocent, what I say will not +matter.' + +'If I am innocent!' she said, looking at him steadily; 'you villain, you +know I am innocent!' + +'I know nothing of the sort.' + +Then you believe I committed the crime?' + +'I do.' + +Kitty sat helplessly down on the bed, and passed her hand across her +eyes. + +'My God!' she muttered, 'I am going mad.' + +'Not at all unlikely,' he replied, carelessly. + +She looked vacantly round the cell, and caught sight of Pierre shrinking +back into the shadow. + +'Why did you bring your accomplice with you?' she said, looking at +Gaston. + +M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'Really, my dear Bebe,' he said, lazily, 'I don't know why you should +call him my accomplice, as I have committed no crime.' + +'Have you not?' she said, rising to her feet, and bending towards him, +'think again.' + +Vandeloup shook his head, with a smile. + +'No, I do not think I have,' he answered, glancing keenly at her; 'I +suppose you want me to be as black as yourself?' + +'You coward!' she said, in a rage, turning on him, 'how dare you +taunt me in this manner? it is not enough that you have ruined me, and +imperilled my life, without jeering at me thus, you coward?' + +'Bah!' retorted Vandeloup, cynically, brushing some dust off his coat, +'this is not the point; you insinuate that I committed a crime, perhaps +you will tell me what kind of a crime?' + +'Murder,' she replied, in a whisper. + +'Oh, indeed,' sneered Gaston, coolly, though his lips twitched a little, +'the same style of crime as your own? and whose murder am I guilty of, +pray?' + +'Randolph Villiers.' + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'Who can prove it?' he asked, contemptuously. + +'I can!' + +'You,' with a sneer, 'a murderess?' + +'Who can prove I am a murderess?' she cried, wildly. + +'I can,' he answered, with an ugly look; 'and I will if you don't keep a +quiet tongue.' + +'I will keep quiet no longer,' boldly rising and facing Vandeloup, with +her hands clenched at her sides; 'I have tried to shield you faithfully +through all your wickedness, but now that you accuse me of committing +a crime, which accusation you know is false, I accuse you, Gaston +Vandeloup, and your accomplice, yonder,' wheeling round and pointing to +Pierre, who shrank away, 'of murdering Randolph Villiers, at the Black +Hill, Ballarat, for the sake of a nugget of gold he carried.' + +Vandeloup looked at her disdainfully. + +'You are mad,' he said, in a cold voice; 'this is the raving of a +lunatic; there is no proof of what you say; it was proved conclusively +that myself and Pierre were asleep at our hotel while M. Villiers was +with Jarper at two o'clock in the morning.' + +'I know that was proved,' she retorted, 'and by some jugglery on your +part; but, nevertheless, I saw you and him,' pointing again to Pierre, +'murder Villiers.' + +'You saw it,' echoed Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile; 'tell me +how?' + +'Ah!' she cried, making a step forward, 'you do not believe me, but +I tell you it is true--yes, I know now who the two men were following +Madame Midas as she drove away: one was her husband, who wished to rob +her, and the other was Pierre, who, acting upon your instructions, +was to get the gold from Villiers should he succeed in getting it from +Madame. You left me a few minutes afterwards, but I, with my heart full +of love--wretched woman that I was--followed you at a short distance, +unwilling to lose sight of you even for a little time. I climbed down +among the rocks and saw you seat yourself in a narrow part of the path. +Curiosity then took the place of love, and I watched to see what you +were going to do. Pierre--that wretch who cowers in the corner--came +down the path and you spoke to him in French. What was said I did +not know, but I guessed enough to know you meditated some crime. Then +Villiers came down the path with the nugget in its box under his arm. +I recognised the box as the one which Madame Midas had brought to our +house. When Villiers came opposite you you spoke to him; he tried to +pass on, and then Pierre sprang out from behind the rock and the two men +struggled together, while you seized the box containing the gold, which +Villiers had let fall, and watched the struggle. You saw that Villiers, +animated by despair, was gradually gaining the victory over Pierre, and +then you stepped in--yes; I saw you snatch Pierre's knife from the back +of his waist and stab Villiers in the back. Then you put the knife into +Pierre's hand, all bloody, as Villiers fell dead, and I fled away.' + +She stopped, breathless with her recital, and Vandeloup, pale but +composed, would have answered her, when a cry from Pierre startled them. +He had come close to them, and was looking straight at Kitty. + +'My God!' he cried; 'then I am innocent?' + +'You!' shrieked Kitty, falling back on her bed; 'who are you?' + +The man pulled his hat off and came a step nearer. + +'I am Randolph Villiers!' + +Kitty shrieked again and covered her face with her hands, while +Vandeloup laughed in a mocking manner, though his pale face and +quivering lip told that his mirth was assumed. + +'Yes,' said Villiers, throwing his hat on the floor of the cell, 'it was +Pierre Lemaire, and not I, who died. The struggle took place as you have +described, but he,' pointing to Vandeloup, 'wishing to get rid of Pierre +for reasons of his own stabbed him, and not me, in the back. He thrust +the knife into my hand, and I, in my blind fury, thought that I had +murdered the dumb man. I was afraid of being arrested for the murder, +so, as suggested by Vandeloup, I changed clothes with the dead man and +wrapped my own up in a bundle. We hid the body and the nugget in one of +the old mining shafts and then came down to Ballarat. I was similar to +Pierre in appearance, except that my chin was shaven. I went down to the +Wattle Tree Hotel as Pierre after leaving my clothes outside the window +of the bedroom which Vandeloup pointed out to me. Then he went to +the theatre and told me to rejoin him there as Villiers. I got my own +clothes into the room, dressed again as myself; then, locking the door, +so that the people of the hotel might suppose that Pierre slept, I +jumped out of the window of the bedroom and went to the theatre. There +I played my part as you know, and while we were behind the scenes Mr +Wopples asked me to put out the gas in his room. I did so, and took from +his dressing-table a black beard, in order to disguise myself as Pierre +till my beard had grown. We went to supper, and then I parted with +Jarper at two o'clock in the morning, and went back to the hotel, where +I climbed into the bedroom through the window and reassumed Pierre's +dress for ever. It was by Vandeloup's advice I pretended to be drunk, as +I could not go to the Pactolus, where my wife would have recognised me. +Then I, as the supposed Pierre, was discharged, as you know. Vandeloup, +aping friendship, drew the dead man's salary and bought clothes and +a box for me. In the middle of one night I still disguised as Pierre, +slipped out of the window, and went up to Black Hill, where I found the +nugget and brought it down to my room at the Wattle Tree Hotel. Then +Vandeloup brought in the box with my clothes, and we packed the nugget +in it, together with the suit I had worn at the time of the murder. +Following his instructions, I came down to Melbourne, and there disposed +of the nugget--no need to ask how, as there are always people ready to +do things of that sort for payment. When I was paid for the nugget, and +I only got eight hundred pounds, the man who melted it down taking the +rest, I had to give six hundred to Vandeloup, as I was in his power as +I thought, and dare not refuse in case he should denounce me for the +murder of Pierre Lemaire. And now I find that I have been innocent all +the time, and he has been frightening me with a shadow. He, not I, was +the murderer of Pierre Lemaire, and you can prove it.' + +During all this recital, which Kitty listened to with staring eyes, +Vandeloup had stood quite still, revolving in his own mind how he +could escape from the position in which he found himself. When Villiers +finished his recital he raised his head and looked defiantly at both his +victims. + +'Fate has placed the game in your hands,' he said coolly, while they +stood and looked at him; 'but I'm not beaten yet, my friend. May I ask +what you intend to do?' + +'Prove my innocence,' said Villiers, boldly. + +'Indeed!' sneered Gaston, 'at my expense, I presume.' + +'Yes! I will denounce you as the murderer of Pierre Lemaire.' + +'And I,' said Kitty, quickly, 'will prove Villiers' innocence.' + +Vandeloup turned on her with all the lithe, cruel grace of a tiger. + +'First you must prove your own innocence,' he said, in a low, fierce +voice. 'Yes; if you can hang me for the murder of Pierre Lemaire, I can +hang you for the murder of Selina Sprotts; yes, though I know you did +not do it.' + +'Ah!' said Kitty, quickly, springing forward, 'you know who committed +the crime.' + +'Yes,' replied Vandeloup, slowly, 'the man who committed the crime +intended to murder Madame Midas, and he was the man who hated her and +wished her dead--her husband.' + +'I?' cried Villiers, starting forward, 'you lie.' + +Vandeloup wheeled round quickly on him, and, getting close to him, spoke +rapidly. + +'No, I do not lie,' he said, in a concentrated voice of anger; 'you +followed me up to the house of M. Meddlechip, and hid among the trees +on the lawn to watch the house; you saw Bebe throw the bottle out, and +picked it up; then you went to St Kilda and, climbing over the wall, +committed the crime, as she,' pointing to Kitty, 'saw you do; I met +you in the street near the house after you had committed it, and see,' +plunging his hand into Villiers' pocket, 'here is the bottle which +contained the poison,' and he held up to Kitty the bottle with the two +red bands round it, which she had thrown away. + +'It is false!' cried Villiers, in despair, seeing that all the evidence +was against him. + +'Prove it, then,' retorted Vandeloup, knocking at the door to summon the +warder. 'Save your own neck before you put mine in danger.' + +The door opened, and the warder appeared. Kitty and Villiers gazed +horror-struck at one another, while Vandeloup, without another word, +rapidly left the cell. The warder beckoned to Villiers to come, and, +with a deep sigh, he obeyed. + +'Where are you going?' asked Kitty, as he moved towards the door. + +'Going?' he repeated, mechanically. 'I am going to see my wife.' + +He left the cell, and when he got outside the gaol he saw the hansom +with Vandeloup in it driving rapidly away. Villiers looked at the +retreating vehicle in despair. 'My God,' he murmured, raising his face +to the blue sky with a frightful expression of despair; 'how am I to +escape the clutches of this devil?' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BE SURE THY SIN WILL FIND THEE OUT + + +Madame Midas was a remarkably plucky woman, but it needed all her pluck +and philosophy to bear up against the terrible calamities which were +befalling her. Her faith in human nature was completely destroyed, and +she knew that all the pleasure of doing good had gone out of her life. +The discovery of Kitty's baseness had wounded her deeply, and she found +it difficult to persuade herself that the girl had not been the victim +of circumstances. If Kitty had only trusted her when she came to live +with her all this misery and crime would have been avoided, for she +would have known Madame Midas would never have married Vandeloup, +and thus would have had no motive for committing the crime. Regarding +Vandeloup's pretensions to her hand, Mrs Villiers laughed bitterly to +herself. After the misery of her early marriage it was not likely she +was going to trust herself and her second fortune again to a man's +honour. She sighed as she thought what her future life must be. She was +wealthy, it was true, but amid all her riches she would never be able to +know the meaning of friendship, for all who came near her now would have +some motive in doing so, and though Madame Midas was anxious to do +good with her wealth, yet she knew she could never expect gratitude in +return. The comedy of human life is admirable when one is a spectator; +but ah! the actors know they are acting, and have to mask their faces +with smiles, restrain the tears which they would fain let flow, and +mouth witty sayings with breaking hearts. Surely the most bitter of +all feelings is that cynical disbelief in human nature which is so +characteristic of our latest civilization. + +Madame Midas, however, now that Melbourne was so hateful to her, +determined to leave it, and sent up to Mr Calton in order to confer with +him on the subject. Calton came down to St Kilda, and was shown into the +drawing-room where Mrs Villiers, calm and impenetrable looking as ever, +sat writing letters. She arose as the barrister entered, and gave him +her hand. + +'It was kind of you to come so quickly,' she said, in her usual quiet, +self-contained manner; 'I wish to consult you on some matters of +importance.' + +'I am at your service, Madame,' replied Calton, taking a seat, and +looking keenly at the marble face before him; 'I am glad to see you +looking so well, considering what you have gone through.' + +Mrs Villiers let a shadowy smile flit across her face. + +'They say the Red Indian becomes utterly indifferent to the torture of +his enemies after a certain time,' she answered, coldly; 'I think it is +the same with me. I have been deceived and disillusionized so completely +that I have grown utterly callous, and nothing now can move me either to +sorrow or joy.' + +'A curious answer from a curious woman,' thought Calton, glancing at +her as she sat at the writing-table in her black dress with the knots of +violet ribbons upon it; 'what queer creatures experience makes us.' + +Madame Midas folded her hands loosely on the table, and looked dreamily +out of the open French window, and at the trellis covered with creeping +plants beyond, through which the sun was entering in pencils of golden +light. Life would have been so sweet to her if she had only been content +to be deceived like other people; but then she was not of that kind. +Faith with her was a religion, and when religion is taken away, what +remains?--nothing. + +'I am going to England,' she said, abruptly, to Calton, rousing herself +out of these painful reflections. + +'After the trial, I presume?' observed Calton, slowly. + +'Yes,' she answered, hesitatingly; 'do you think they will--they +will--hang the girl?' + +Calton shrugged his shoulders. 'I can't tell you,' he answered, with +a half smile; 'if she is found guilty--well--I think she will be +imprisoned for life.' + +'Poor Kitty,' said Madame, sadly, 'it was an evil hour when you met +Vandeloup. What do you think of him?' she asked, suddenly. + +'He's a scoundrel,' returned Calton, decisively; 'still, a clever one, +with a genius for intrigue; he should have lived in the times of Borgian +Rome, where his talents would have been appreciated; now we have lost +the art of polite murder.' + +'Do you know,' said Mrs Villiers, musingly, leaning back in her chair, +'I cannot help thinking Kitty is innocent of this crime.' + +'She may be,' returned Calton, ambiguously, 'but the evidence seems very +strong against her.' + +'Purely circumstantial,' interrupted Madame Midas, quickly. + +'Purely circumstantial, as you say,' assented Calton; 'still, some +new facts may be discovered before the trial which may prove her to be +innocent. After the mystery which enveloped the death of Oliver Whyte +in the hansom cab murder I hesitate giving a decided answer, in any case +till everything has been thoroughly sifted; but, if not Kitty Marchurst, +whom do you suspect--Vandeloup?' + +'No; he wanted to marry me, not to kill me.' + +'Have you any enemy, then, who would do such a thing?' + +'Yes; my husband.' + +'But he is dead.' + +'He disappeared,' corrected Madame, 'but it was never proved that he was +dead. He was a revengeful, wicked man, and if he could have killed me, +without hurting himself, he would,' and rising from her seat she paced +up and down the room slowly. + +'I know your sad story,' said the barrister, 'and also how your husband +disappeared; but, to my mind, looking at all the circumstances, you will +not be troubled with him again.' + +A sudden exclamation made him turn his head, and he saw Madame Midas, +white as death, staring at the open French window, on the threshold of +which was standing a man--medium height, black beard, and a haggard, +hunted look in his eyes. + +'Who is this?' cried Calton, rising to his feet. + +Madame Midas tottered, and caught at the mantelpiece for support. + +'My husband,' she said, in a whisper. + +'Alive?' said Calton, turning to the man at the window. + +'I should rather think so,' said Villiers, insolently, advancing into +the room; 'I don't look like a dead man, do I?' + +Madame Midas sprang forward and caught his wrist. + +'So you have come back, murderer!' she hissed in his ear. + +'What do you mean?' said her husband, wrenching his hand away. + +'Mean?' she cried, vehemently; 'you know what I mean. You cut yourself +off entirely from me by your attempt on my life, and the theft of the +gold; you dare not have showed yourself in case you received the reward +of your crime; and so you worked in the dark against me. I knew you were +near, though I did not see you; and you for a second time attempted my +life.' + +'I did not,' muttered Villiers, shrinking back from the indignant blaze +of her eyes. 'I can prove--' + +'You can prove,' she burst out, contemptuously, drawing herself up to +her full height, 'Yes! you can prove anything with your cowardly nature +and lying tongue; but prove that you were not the man who came in the +dead of night and poisoned the drink waiting for me, which was taken by +my nurse. You can prove--yes, as God is my judge, you shall prove it, in +the prisoner's dock, e'er you go to the gallows.' + +During all this terrible speech, Villiers had crouched on the ground, +half terrified, while his wife towered over him, magnificent in her +anger. At the end, however, he recovered himself a little, and began to +bluster. + +'Every man has a right to a hearing,' he said, defiantly, looking from +his wife to Calton; 'I can explain everything.' + +Madame Midas pointed to a chair. + +'I have no doubt you will prove black is white by your lying,' she said, +coldly, returning to her seat; 'I await this explanation.' + +Thereupon Villiers sat down and told them the whole story of his +mysterious disappearance, and how he had been made a fool of by +Vandeloup. When he had ended, Calton, who had resumed his seat, and +listened to the recital with deep interest, stole a glance at Madame +Midas, but she looked as cold and impenetrable as ever. + +'I understand, now, the reason of your disappearance,' she said, coldly; +'but that is not the point. I want to know the reason you tried to +murder me a second time.' + +'I did not,' returned Villiers, quietly, with a gesture of dissent. + +'Then Selina Sprotts, since you are so particular,' retorted his wife, +with a sneer; 'but it was you who committed the crime.' + +'Who says I did?' cried Villiers, standing up. + +'No one,' put in Calton, looking at him sharply, 'but as you had a +grudge against your wife, it is natural for her to suspect you, at the +same time it is not necessary for you to criminate yourself.' + +'I am not going to do so,' retorted Villiers; 'if you think I'd be such +a fool as to commit a crime and then trust myself to my wife's tender +mercies, you are very much mistaken. I am as innocent of the murder as +the poor girl who is in prison.' + +'Then she is not guilty?' cried Mrs Villiers, rising. + +'No,' returned Villiers, coldly, 'she is innocent.' + +'Oh, indeed,' said Calton, quietly; 'then if you both are innocent, who +is the guilty person?' + +Villiers was about to speak when another man entered the open window. +This was none other than Kilsip, who advanced eagerly to Villiers. + +'He has come in at the gate,' he said, quickly. + +'Have you the warrant,' asked Villiers, as a sharp ring was heard at the +front door. + +Kilsip nodded, and Villiers turned on his wife and Calton, who were too +much astonished to speak. + +'You asked me who committed the crime,' he said, in a state of +suppressed excitement; 'look at that door,' pointing to the door which +led into the hall, 'and you will see the real murderer of Selina Sprotts +appear.' + +Calton and Madame Midas turned simultaneously, and the seconds seemed +like hours as they waited with bated breath for the opening of the +fatal door. The same name was on their lips as they gazed with intense +expectation, and that name was--Gaston Vandeloup. + +The noise of approaching footsteps, a rattle at the handle of the door, +and it was flung wide open as the servant announced-- + +'Mr Jarper.' + +Yes, there he stood, meek, apologetic, and smiling--the fast-living +bank-clerk, the darling of society, and the secret assassin--Mr +Bartholomew Jarper. + +He advanced smilingly into the room, when suddenly the smile died away, +and his face blanched as his eyes rested on Villiers. He made a step +backward as if to fly, but in a moment Kilsip was on him. + +'I arrest you in the Queen's name for the murder of Selina Sprotts,' and +he slipped the handcuffs on his wrists. + +The wretched young man fell down on the floor with an agonised shriek. + +'It's a lie--it's a lie,' he howled, beating his manacled hands on the +carpet, 'none can prove I did it.' + +'What about Vandeloup?' said Villiers, looking at the writhing figure at +his feet, 'and this proof?' holding out the bottle with the red bands. + +Jarper looked up with an expression of abject fear on his white face, +then with a shriek fell back again in a swoon. + +Kilsip went to the window and a policeman appeared in answer to his +call, then between them they lifted up the miserable wretch and took him +to a cab which was waiting, and were soon driving off up to the station, +from whence Jarper was taken to the Melbourne gaol. + +Calton turned to Madame Midas and saw that she also had fainted and was +lying on the floor. He summoned the servants to attend to her, then, +making Villiers come with him, he went up to his office in town in order +to get the whole story of the discovery of the murderer. + +The papers were full of it next day, and Villiers' statement, together +with Jarper's confession, were published side by side. It appeared that +Jarper had been living very much above his income, and in order to get +money he had forged Mrs Villiers' name for several large amounts. Afraid +of being discovered, he was going to throw himself on her mercy and +confess all, which he would have done had Madame Midas come to the +Meddlechip's ball. But overhearing the conversation between Kitty and +Vandeloup in the conservatory, and seeing the bottle flung out, he +thought if he secured it he could poison Madame Midas without suspicion +and throw the guilt upon Kitty. He secured the bottle immediately after +Vandeloup took Kitty back to the ball-room, and then went down to St +Kilda to commit the crime. He knew the house thoroughly as he had often +been in it, and saw that the window of Madame's room was open. He then +put his overcoat on the glass bottles on top of the wall and leapt +inside, clearing the bushes. He stole across the lawn and stepped over +the flower-bed, carefully avoiding making any marks. He had the bottle +of poison with him, but was apparently quite ignorant how he was to +introduce it into the house, but on looking through the parting of the +curtains he saw the glass with the drink on the table. Guessing that +Madame Midas was in bed and would probably drink during the night, he +put his hand through the curtains and poured all the poison into the +glass, then noiselessly withdrew. He jumped over the wall again, put on +his overcoat, and thought he was safe, when he found M. Vandeloup was +watching him and had seen him in all his actions. Vandeloup, whose +subtle brain immediately saw that if Madame Midas was dead he could +throw the blame on Kitty and thus get rid of her without endangering +himself, agreed to keep silent, but made Jarper give up the bottle +to him. When Jarper had gone Vandeloup, a few yards further down, met +Villiers, but supposed that he had just come on the scene. Villiers, +however, had been watching the house all night, and had also been +watching Meddlechip's. The reason for this was he thought his wife was +at the ball, and wanted to speak to her. He had followed Kitty and +Mrs Riller down to St Kilda by hanging on to the back of the brougham, +thinking the latter was his wife. Finding his mistake, he hung round the +house for about an hour without any object, and was turning round the +corner to go home when he saw Jarper jump over the wall, and, being +unseen in the shadow, overheard the conversation and knew that Jarper +had committed the crime. He did not, however, dare to accuse Jarper of +murder, as he thought it was in Vandeloup's power to denounce him as the +assassin of Pierre Lemaire, so for his own safety kept quiet. When he +heard the truth from Kitty in the prison he would have denounced the +Frenchman at once as the real criminal, but was so bewildered by +the rapid manner in which Vandeloup made up a case against him, and +especially by the bottle being produced out of his pocket--which bottle +Vandeloup, of course, had in his hand all the time--that he permitted +him to escape. When he left the gaol, however, he went straight to the +police-office and told his story, when a warrant was immediately granted +for the arrest of Jarper. Kilsip took the warrant and went down to St +Kilda to Mrs Villiers' house to see her before arresting Jarper; but, +as before described, Jarper came down to the house on business from the +bank and was arrested at once. + +Of course, there was great excitement over the discovery of the real +murderer, especially as Jarper was so well known in Melbourne society, +but no one pitied him. In the days of his prosperity he had been +obsequious to his superiors and insolent to those beneath him, so +that all he gained was the contempt of one and the hate of the other. +Luckily, he had no relatives whom his crime would have disgraced, and as +he had not succeeded in getting rid of Madame Midas, he intended to have +run away to South America, and had forged a cheque in her name for a +large amount in order to supply himself with funds. Unhappily, however, +he had paid that fatal visit and had been arrested, and since then had +been in a state of abject fear, begging and praying that his life might +be spared. His crime, however, had awakened such indignation that the +law was allowed to take its course, so early one wet cold morning +Barty Jarper was delivered into the hands of the hangman, and his mean, +pitiful little soul was launched into eternity. + +Kitty was of course released, but overwhelmed with shame and agony at +all her past life having been laid bare, she did not go to see Madame +Midas, but disappeared amid the crowd, and tried to hide her infamy from +all, although, poor girl, she was more sinned against than sinning. + +Vandeloup, for whom a warrant was out for the murder of Lemaire, had +also disappeared, and was supposed to have gone to America. + +Madame Midas suffered severely from the shocks she had undergone with +the discovery of everyone's baseness. She settled a certain income on +her husband, on condition she never was to see him again, which offer he +readily accepted, and having arranged all her affairs in Australia, +she left for England, hoping to find in travel some alleviation, if not +forgetfulness, of the sorrow of the past. A good woman--a noble woman, +yet one who went forth into the world broken-hearted and friendless, +with no belief in anyone and no pleasure in life. She, however, was of +too fine a nature ever to sink into the base, cynical indifference of a +misanthropic life, and the wealth which she possessed was nobly used +by her to alleviate the horrors of poverty and to help those who needed +help. Like Midas, the Greek King, from whence her quaint name was +derived, she had turned everything she touched into gold, and though it +brought her no happiness, yet it was the cause of happiness to others; +but she would give all her wealth could she but once more regain that +trust in human nature which had been so cruelly betrayed. + + + + +EPILOGUE + +THE WAGES OF SIN + + +Such a hot night as it was--not a breath of wind, and the moon, full +orbed, dull and yellow, hangs like a lamp in the dark blue sky. Low +down on the horizon are great masses of rain clouds, ragged and +angry-looking, and the whole firmament seems to weigh down on the still +earth, where everything is burnt and parched, the foliage of the trees +hanging limp and heavily, and the grass, yellow and sere, mingling with +the hot, white dust of the roads. Absolute stillness everywhere down +here by the Yarra Yarra, not even the river making a noise as it sweeps +swiftly down on its winding course between its low mud banks. No bark of +a dog or human voice breaks the stillness; not even the sighing of the +wind through the trees. And throughout all this unearthly silence a +nervous vitality predominates, for the air is full of electricity, and +the subtle force is permeating the whole scene. A long trail of silver +light lies on the dark surface of the river rolling along, and here and +there the current swirls into sombre, cruel-looking pools--or froths, +and foams in lines of dirty white around the trunks of spectral-looking +gum trees, which stretch out their white, scarred branches over the +waters. + +Just a little way below the bridge which leads to the Botanical Gardens, +on the near side of the river, stands an old, dilapidated bathing-house, +with its long row of dressing-rooms, doorless and damp-looking. A broad, +irregular wooden platform is in front of these, and slopes gradually +down to the bank, from whence narrow, crazy-looking steps, stretching +the whole length of the platform, go down beneath the sullen waters. And +all this covered with black mould and green slime, with whole armies of +spiders weaving grey, dusky webs in odd corners, and a broken-down fence +on the left half buried in bush rank grass--an evil-looking place even +in the daytime, and ten times more evil-looking and uncanny under the +light of the moon, which fills it with vague shadows. The rough, +slimy platform is deserted, and nothing is heard but the squeaking and +scampering of the water-rats, and every now and then the gurgling of +the river as it races past, as if it was laughing quietly in a ghastly +manner over the victims it had drowned. + +Suddenly a black shadow comes gliding along the narrow path by the +river bank, and pauses a moment at the entrance to the platform. Then it +listens for a few minutes, and again hurries down to the crazy-looking +steps. The black shadow standing there, like the genius of solitude, is +a woman, and she has apparently come to add herself to the list of the +cruel-looking river's victims. Standing there, with one hand on the +rough rail, and staring with fascinated eyes on the dull muddy water, +she does not hear a step behind her. The shadow of a man, who has +apparently followed her, glides from behind the bathing-shed, and +stealing down to the woman on the verge of the stream, lays a delicate +white hand on her shoulder. She turns with a startled cry, and Kitty +Marchurst and Gaston Vandeloup are looking into one another's eyes. +Kitty's charming face is worn and pallid, and the hand which clutches +her shawl is trembling nervously as she gazes at her old lover. There +he stands, dressed in old black clothes, worn and tattered looking, with +his fair auburn hair all tangled and matted; his chin covered with +a short stubbly beard of some weeks' growth, and his face gaunt and +haggard-looking--the very same appearance as he had when he landed in +Australia. Then he sought to preserve his liberty; now he is seeking to +preserve his life. They gaze at one another in a fascinated manner for +a few moments, and then Gaston removes his hand from the girl's shoulder +with a sardonic laugh, and she buries her face in her hands with a +stifled sob. + +'So this is the end,' he said, pointing to the river, and fixing his +scintillating eyes on the girl; 'this is the end of our lives; for you +the river--for me the hangman.' + +'God help me,' she moaned, piteously; 'what else is left to me but the +river?' + +'Hope,' he said, in a low voice; 'you are young; you are beautiful; you +can yet enjoy life; but,' in a deliberate cruel manner, 'you will not, +for the river claims you as its victim.' + +Something in his voice fills her with fear, and looking up she reads +death in his face, and sinking on her knees she holds out her helpless +hands with a pitying cry for life. + +'Strange,' observed M. Vandeloup, with a touch of his old airy manner; +'you come to commit suicide and are not afraid; I wish to save you the +trouble, and you are, my dear--you are illogical.' + +'No! no!' she mutters, twisting her hands together, 'I do not want to +die; why do you wish to kill me?' lifting her wan face to his. + +He bent down, and caught her wrist fiercely. + +'You ask me that?' he said, in a voice of concentrated passion, 'you +who, with your long tongue, have put the hangman's rope round my throat; +but for you, I would, by this time, have been on my way to America, +where freedom and wealth awaits me. I have worked hard, and committed +crimes for money, and now, when I should enjoy it, you, with your +feminine devilry, have dragged me back to the depths.' + +'I did not make you commit the crimes,' she said, piteously. + +'Bah!' with a scoffing laugh, 'who said you did? I take my own sins on +my own shoulders; but you did worse; you betrayed me. Yes; there is a +warrant out for my arrest, for the murder of that accursed Pierre. I +have eluded the clever Melbourne police so far, but I have lived the +life of a dog. I dare not even ask for food, lest I betray myself. I am +starving! I tell you, starving! you harlot! and it is your work.' + +He flung her violently to the ground, and she lay there, a huddled heap +of clothing, while, with wild gesticulations, he went on. + +'But I will not hang,' he said, fiercely; 'Octave Braulard, who escaped +the guillotine, will not perish by a rope. No; I have found a boat +going to South America, and to-morrow I go on board of her, to sail to +Valparaiso; but before I go I settle with you.' + +She sprang suddenly to her feet with a look of hate in her eyes. + +'You villain!' she said, through her clenched teeth, 'you ruined my +life, but you shall not murder me!' + +He caught her wrist again, but he was weak for want of food, and she +easily wrenched it away. + +'Stand back!' she cried, retreating a little. + +'You think to escape me,' he almost shrieked, all his smooth cynical +mask falling off; 'no, you will not; I will throw you into the river. I +will see you sink to your death. You will cry for help. No one will hear +you but God and myself. Both of us are merciless. You will die like a +rat in a hole, and that face you are so proud of will be buried in the +mud of the river. You devil! your time has come to die.' + +He hissed out the last word in a low, sibilant manner, then sprang +towards her to execute his purpose. They were both standing on the verge +of the steps, and instinctively Kitty put out her hands to keep him +off. She struck him on the chest, and then his foot slipped on the green +slime which covered the steps, and with a cry of baffled rage he fell +backward into the dull waters, with a heavy splash. The swift current +gripped him, and before Kitty could utter a sound, she could see him +rising out in midstream, and being carried rapidly away. He threw up his +hands with a hoarse cry for help, but, weakened by famine, he could do +nothing for himself, and sank for the second time. Again he rose, and +the current swept him near shore, almost within reach of a fallen tree. +He made a desperate effort to grasp it, but the current, mocking his +puny efforts, bore him away once again in its giant embrace, and with a +wild shriek on God he sank to rise no more. + +The woman on the bank, with white face and staring eyes, saw the fate +which he had meant for her meted out to him, and when she saw him sink +for the last time, she covered her face with her hand and fled rapidly +away into the shadowy night. + +The sun is setting in a sea of blood, and all the west is lurid with +crimson and barred by long black clouds. A heavy cloud of smoke shot +with fiery red hangs over the city, and the din of many workings +sound through the air. Down on the river the ships are floating on the +blood-stained waters, and all their masts stand up like a forest of +bare trees against the clear sky. And the river sweeps on red and +angry-looking under the sunset, with the rank grass and vegetation on +its shelving banks. Rats are scampering along among the wet stones, and +then a vagrant dog poking about amid some garbage howls dismally. What +is that black speck on the crimson waters? The trunk of a tree perhaps; +no, it is a body, with white face and tangled auburn hair; it is +floating down with the current. People are passing to and fro on the +bridge, the clock strikes in the town hall, and the dead body +drifts slowly down the red stream far into the shadows of the coming +night--under the bridge, across which the crowd is hurrying, bent on +pleasure and business, past the tall warehouses where rich merchants are +counting their gains, under the shadow of the big steamers with their +tall masts and smoky funnels. Now it is caught in the reeds at the side +of the stream; no, the current carries it out again, and so down the +foul river, with the hum of the city on each side and the red sky above, +drifts the dead body on its way to the sea. The red dies out of the sky, +the veil of night descends, and under the cold starlight--cold and cruel +as his own nature--that which was once Gaston Vandeloup floats away into +the still shadows. + +FINIS + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + +***** This file should be named 4946.txt or 4946.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/4/4946/ + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Not reporting them. + + +all this strange contrast of savage arid coast and peaceful upland there + Line 40 column 37 - Query possible scanno arid + +bar loafer with no visible means of support. + Line 342 column 2 - Query possible scanno bar + +'Ho, ho!' laughed the cockatoo, raising his yellow crest in an angry + Line 648 column 2 - Query possible scanno Ho + +'Ho, ho!' laughed the cockatoo, raising his yellow crest in an angry + Line 648 column 5 - Query possible scanno ho + +worked himself into. + Line 710 column 20 - Query punctuation after into? + +handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow. + Line 786 column 48 - Query possible scanno bow + +'I trust, gentlemen,' he said, with a graceful bow, 'we shall meet + Line 806 column 48 - Query possible scanno bow + +voice, she called out to someone inside, + Line 890 column 40 - No punctuation at para end? + +'D'ye no ken what yon may be?' he said, a smile relaxing his grim + Line 912 column 19 - Query possible scanno yon + +decent for tea. Madame herself sat down in an arm-chair in the bow + Line 939 column 64 - Query possible scanno bow + +'I say yon the day.' + Line 1021 column 8 - Query possible scanno yon + +'Ou, ay,' retorted McIntosh, drily; 'we ken a' aboot that, Selina--auld + Line 1035 column 1 - Query word Ou - not reporting duplicates + +A bat flew high up in the air across the clear glow of the sky, + Line 1067 column 3 - Query possible scanno bat + +'I am sure of that, Madame,' returned Vandeloup, with a bow. + Line 1272 column 57 - Query possible scanno bow + +'I wadna care aboot keepin' yon long,' he muttered to himself; 'he's + Line 1293 column 29 - Query possible scanno yon + +employment, and our lines, Madame,'--with another bow--'have fallen in a + Line 1336 column 51 - Query possible scanno bow + +there's just a fortune in it." + Line 1750 column 30 - Wrongspaced quotes? + +because I'm put on my word of honour. Madame,' with an ironical bow in + Line 1963 column 65 - Query possible scanno bow + +here, and I was to entertain you;' then, with a grave bow, he placed the + Line 2007 column 55 - Query possible scanno bow + +that. Eve before the fall in all her innocence.' + Line 2085 column 6 - Query possible scanno Eve + +'Very!' assented Gaston, going back to his desk. + Line 2134 column 6 - Query punctuation after very? + +'You have a fortune in your throat, mademoiselle,' he said, with a bow, + Line 2186 column 68 - Query possible scanno bow + +reviens, tel que tu me vois, + Line 2225 column 28 - No punctuation at para end? + +give any opportunity for scandal. Consequently, Slivers and Co., not + Line 2269 column 63 - Double punctuation? + +'That friend o' yours is gangin' awa' t' the toun the day,' he said, + Line 2748 column 38 - Query word t' - not reporting duplicates + +with an ironical bow he went out. + Line 2807 column 18 - Query possible scanno bow + +which was his idea of a bow. "I hope this," laying his hand on the box, + Line 2980 column 25 - Query possible scanno bow + +Anyone going into the bar could see old Simon--a stolid, fat man, with + Line 3230 column 23 - Query possible scanno bar + +day that Pierre arrived. The dumb man came into the bar out of the dusty + Line 3247 column 53 - Query possible scanno bar + +know the reason why; then marching out again to the bar, she drew a pot + Line 3280 column 53 - Query possible scanno bar + +considering that the man was dumb. Then she sat down behind her bar + Line 3283 column 65 - Query possible scanno bar + +Miss Twexby, amid the glitter of the glasses in the bar and the glare + Line 3370 column 53 - Query possible scanno bar + +somniferous heat of the day when a young man entered the bar and made + Line 3379 column 58 - Query possible scanno bar + +'Oh, I don't mind,' said Martha, preparing to leave the bar, but first + Line 3450 column 57 - Query possible scanno bar + +'Well,' she said to herself, as she returned to the bar, 'if that isn't + Line 3522 column 53 - Query possible scanno bar + +down in the bar with her nerves all of a flutter, as she afterwards told + Line 3524 column 13 - Query possible scanno bar + +fast asleep, while M. Vandeloup, humming a merry tune, walked gaily out + Line 3683 column 50 - Query possible scanno tune + +of the room to the bar, and asked Miss Twexby for another drink. + Line 3684 column 20 - Query possible scanno bar + +'He's just lovely,' she said to herself, as she returned to the bar 'but + Line 3713 column 65 - Query possible scanno bar + +pleasant bow. + Line 3791 column 10 - Query possible scanno bow + +At the same time Vandeloup and Pierre walked into the bar at the Wattle + Line 4156 column 55 - Query possible scanno bar + +Mrs Wopples fluttered down to the ground in a bow, and then fluttered up + Line 4401 column 47 - Query possible scanno bow + +with a bow to Mrs Wopples, who thereupon fluttered nervously; 'but I + Line 4475 column 8 - Query possible scanno bow + +burning in the bar, and, on knocking at the door, was admitted by Miss + Line 4501 column 16 - Query possible scanno bar + +'My!' said this damsel, when she saw him, 'you are a nice young man + Line 4505 column 4 - Query punctuation after my? + +He left the bar, whistling an air, while the fair Martha returned to + Line 4527 column 13 - Query possible scanno bar + +'We'll see about that,' said Mr McIntosh, wrathfully; 'I tauld yon gowk + Line 4611 column 64 - Query possible scanno yon + +yoursel' a martyr for yon. Keep the nugget? I'll see him damned first.' + Line 4694 column 23 - Query possible scanno yon + +He found Miss Twexby seated in the bar, with a decidedly cross face, + Line 5062 column 36 - Query possible scanno bar + +'Well?' asked Miss Twexby, coming from behind the bar with a glass and a + Line 5096 column 51 - Query possible scanno bar + +'Who will ?' said Slivers, taking a sip of his whisky and water. + Line 5108 column 11 - Spaced punctuation? + +the bar, 'Peter something; a low, black wretch, all beard, with no + Line 5111 column 5 - Query possible scanno bar + +tongue, and a thirst like a lime-kiln.' + Line 5112 column 29 - Query possible scanno lime + +Vandeloup acknowledged the compliment with a bow, and wondered mentally + Line 5337 column 46 - Query possible scanno bow + +with his handkerchief. 'Fancy an imp of Beelzebub like yon in the bowels + Line 5438 column 56 - Query possible scanno yon + +to the office and see how much is due to my friend,' and with a bow to + Line 5502 column 65 - Query possible scanno bow + +response from the fair Martha, who sat silently in the bar, looking like + Line 5559 column 56 - Query possible scanno bar + +'Are ye no gangin' tae read yon?' he asked sourly. + Line 5901 column 29 - Query possible scanno yon + +'But why my permission ?' asked Madame, with a faint smile, already + Line 6085 column 24 - Spaced punctuation? + +'Good-bye,' holding out his hand, 'or rather I should say au revoir.' + Line 6293 column 58 - Query word au - not reporting duplicates + +humming a tune. He strolled slowly down Lydiard Street, turning over in + Line 6298 column 11 - Query possible scanno tune + +Vandeloup assented with a laugh, and they went to the bar. + Line 7044 column 55 - Query possible scanno bar + +the first act was just over, and the bar was filled with a crowd of + Line 7053 column 38 - Query possible scanno bar + +act, and the bar and balconies gradually emptied themselves into the + Line 7061 column 14 - Query possible scanno bar + +were covered. The door leading into the bar was wide open, and within + Line 7069 column 41 - Query possible scanno bar + +gentlemen who came in from the bar, and taking seats a little distant + Line 7087 column 32 - Query possible scanno bar + +of gentlemen were thronging into the bar. Jarper was among them, and he + Line 7176 column 38 - Query possible scanno bar + +left the bar, after making Vandeloup promise faithfully he would come. + Line 7235 column 10 - Query possible scanno bar + +Gaston sauntered slowly up to the coffee bar, and asked for a cup in + Line 7237 column 42 - Query possible scanno bar + +Meddlechip did not resist, but walked passively out of the bar with + Line 7266 column 60 - Query possible scanno bar + +pounds, and then handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow and + Line 7678 column 65 - Query possible scanno bow + +his special and was now licking his fingers, 'it's all grounds and 'ot + Line 7828 column 67 - Query word ot - not reporting duplicates + +' 'Ere yer are--all 'ot an' steamin',' he cried, in a kind of loud + Line 7854 column 1 - Spaced quote? + +'Yes, and yer morals, ain't they bad enough?' said Spilsby, washing up + Line 7902 column 28 - Query had/bad error? + +'Lord save us!' he ejaculated, grimly, 'it's yon French body. An' hoo's + Line 8265 column 46 - Query possible scanno yon + +jealous of the success achieved by the new-comer. She, however, taught + Line 8518 column 44 - Query possible scanno comer + +Vandeloup well knew his past life would not bear looking into. Another + Line 9716 column 62 - Query punctuation after into? + +Mind you, I don't say she did it + Line 10727 column 32 - Short line 32? + +'First, catch your hare,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly, going to the door + Line 10761 column 20 - Query possible scanno hare + +Note: Queried word ou was duplicated 2 times + +Note: Queried word t' was duplicated 2 times + +Note: Queried word ot was duplicated 2 times diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9904534 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #4946 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4946) diff --git a/old/mdmmd10.txt b/old/mdmmd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd5d6d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mdmmd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12965 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume +#4 in our series by Fergus Hume + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Madame Midas + +Author: Fergus Hume + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4946] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 3, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +MADAME MIDAS + +Fergus Hume + + + + + + +PROLOGUE + +CAST UP BY THE SEA + + +A wild bleak-looking coast, with huge water-worn promontories +jutting out into the sea, daring the tempestuous fury of the waves, +which dashed furiously in sheets of seething foam against the iron +rocks. Two of these headlands ran out for a considerable distance, +and at the base of each, ragged cruel-looking rocks stretched still +further out into the ocean until they entirely disappeared beneath +the heaving waste of waters, and only the sudden line of white foam +every now and then streaking the dark green waves betrayed their +treacherous presence to the idle eye. Between these two headlands +there was about half a mile of yellow sandy beach on which the waves +rolled with a dull roar, fringing the wet sands with many coloured +wreaths of sea-weed and delicate shells. At the back the cliffs rose +in a kind of semi-circle, black and precipitous, to the height of +about a hundred feet, and flocks of white seagulls who had their +nests therein were constantly circling round, or flying seaward with +steadily expanded wings and discordant cries. At the top of these +inhospitable-looking cliffs a line of pale green betrayed the +presence of vegetation, and from thence it spread inland into vast- +rolling pastures ending far away at the outskirts of the bush, above +which could be seen giant mountains with snow-covered ranges. Over +all this strange contrast of savage arid coast and peaceful upland +there was a glaring red sky--not the delicate evanescent pink of an +ordinary sunset--but a fierce angry crimson which turned the wet +sands and dark expanse of ocean into the colour of blood. Far away +westward, where the sun--a molten ball of fire--was sinking behind +the snow-clad peaks, frowned long lines of gloomy clouds--like +prison bars through which the sinking orb glowed fiercely. Rising +from the east to the zenith of the sky was a huge black cloud +bearing a curious resemblance to a gigantic hand, the long lean +fingers of which were stretched threateningly out as if to grasp the +land and drag it back into the lurid sea of blood; altogether a +cruel, weird-looking scene, fantastic, unreal, and bizarre as one of +Dore's marvellous conceptions. Suddenly on the red waters there +appeared a black speck, rising and falling with the restless waves, +and ever drawing nearer and nearer to the gloomy cliffs and sandy +beach. When within a quarter of a mile of the shore, the speck +resolved itself into a boat, a mere shallop, painted a dingy white, +and much battered by the waves as it tossed lightly on the crimson +waters. It had one mast and a small sail all torn and patched, which +by some miracle held together, and swelling out to the wind drew the +boat nearer to the land. In this frail craft were two men, one of +whom was kneeling in the prow of the boat shading his eyes from the +sunlight with his hands and gazing eagerly at the cliffs, while the +other sat in the centre with bowed head, in an attitude of sullen +resignation, holding the straining sail by a stout rope twisted +round his arm. Neither of them spoke a word till within a short +distance of the beach, when the man at the look-out arose, tall and +gaunt, and stretched out his hands to the inhospitable-looking coast +with a harsh, exulting laugh. + +'At last,' he cried, in a hoarse, strained voice, and in a foreign +tongue; 'freedom at last.' + +The other man made no comment on this outburst of his companion, but +kept his eyes steadfastly on the bottom of the boat, where lay a +small barrel and a bag of mouldy biscuits, the remnants of their +provisions on the voyage. + +The man who had spoken evidently did not expect an answer from his +companion, for he did not even turn his head to look at him, but +stood with folded arms gazing eagerly ahead, until, with a sudden +rush, the boat drove up high and dry on the shore, sending him head- +over-heels into the wet sand. He struggled to his feet quickly, and, +running up the beach a little way, turned to see how his companion +had fared. The other had fallen into the sea, but had picked himself +up, and was busily engaged in wringing the water from his coarse +clothing. There was a smooth water-worn boulder on the beach, and, +seeing this, the man who had spoken went up to it and sat down +thereon, while his companion, evidently of a more practical turn of +mind, collected the stale biscuits which had fallen out of the bag, +then, taking the barrel carefully on his shoulder, walked up to +where the other was sitting, and threw both biscuits and barrel at +his feet. + +He then flung himself wearily on the sand, and picking up a biscuit +began to munch it steadily. The other drew a tin pannikin from the +bosom of his shirt, and nodded his head towards the barrel, upon +which the eater laid down his biscuit, and, taking up the barrel, +drew the bung, and let a few drops of water trickle into the tin +dish. The man on the boulder drank every drop, then threw the +pannikin down on the sand, while his companion, who had exhausted +the contents of the barrel, looked wolfishly at him. The other, +however, did not take the slightest notice of his friend's lowering +looks, but began to eat a biscuit and look around him. There was a +strong contrast between these two waifs of the sea which the ocean +had just thrown up on the desolate coast. The man on the boulder was +a tall, slightly-built young fellow, apparently about thirty years +of age, with leonine masses of reddish-coloured hair, and a short, +stubbly beard of the same tint. His face, pale and attenuated by +famine, looked sharp and clever; and his eyes, forming a strong +contrast to his hair, were quite black, with thin, delicately-drawn +eyebrows above them. They scintillated with a peculiar light which, +though not offensive, yet gave anyone looking at him an +uncomfortable feeling of insecurity. The young man's hands, though +hardened and discoloured, were yet finely formed, while even the +coarse, heavy boots he wore could not disguise the delicacy of his +feet. He was dressed in a rough blue suit of clothes, all torn and +much stained by sea water, and his head was covered with a red cap +of wool-work which rested lightly on his tangled masses of hair. +After a time he tossed aside the biscuit he was eating, and looked +down at his companion with a cynical smile. The man at his feet was +a rough, heavy-looking fellow, squarely and massively built, with +black hair and a heavy beard of the same sombre hue. His hands were +long and sinewy; his feet--which were bare--large and ungainly: and +his whole appearance was that of a man in a low station of life. No +one could have told the colour of his eyes, for he looked +obstinately at the ground; and the expression of his face was so +sullen and forbidding that altogether he appeared to be an +exceedingly unpleasant individual. His companion eyed him for a +short time in a cool, calculating manner, and then rose painfully to +his feet. + +'So,' he said rapidly in French, waving his hand towards the +frowning cliffs, 'so, my Pierre, we are in the land of promise; +though I must confess'--with a disparaging shrug of the shoulders-- +'it certainly does not look very promising: still, we are on dry +land, and that is something after tossing about so long in that +stupid boat, with only a plank between us and death. Bah!'--with +another expressive shrug--'why should I call it stupid? It has +carried us all the way from New Caledonia, that hell upon earth, and +landed us safely in what may turn out Paradise. We must not be +ungrateful to the bridge that carried us over--eh, my friend?' + +The man addressed as Pierre nodded an assent, then pointed towards +the boat; the other looked up and saw that the tide had risen, and +that the boat was drifting slowly away from the land. + +'It goes,' he said coolly, 'back again to its proper owner, I +suppose. Well, let it. We have no further need of it, for, like +Caesar, we have now crossed the Rubicon. We are no longer convicts +from a French prison, my friend, but shipwrecked sailors; you +hear?'--with a sudden scintillation from his black eyes-- +'shipwrecked sailors; and I will tell the story of the wreck. +Luckily, I can depend on your discretion, as you have not even a +tongue to contradict, which you wouldn't do if you had.' + +The dumb man rose slowly to his feet, and pointed to the cliffs +frowning above them. The other answered his thought with a careless +shrug of the shoulders. + +'We must climb,' he said lightly, 'and let us hope the top will +prove less inhospitable than this place. Where we are I don't know, +except that this is Australia; there is gold here, my friend, and we +must get our share of it. We will match our Gallic wit against these +English fools, and see who comes off best. You have strength, I have +brains; so we will do great things; but'--laying his hand +impressively on the other's breast--'no quarter, no yielding, you +see!' + +The dumb man nodded violently, and rubbed his ungainly hands +together in delight. + +'You don't know Balzac, my friend,' went on the young man in a +conversational tone, 'or I would tell you that, like Rastignac, war +is declared between ourselves and society; but if you have not the +knowledge you have the will, and that is enough for me. Come, let us +make the first step towards our wealth;' and without casting a +glance behind him, he turned and walked towards the nearest +headland, followed by the dumb man with bent head and slouching +gait. + +The rain and wind had been at work on this promontory, and their +combined action had broken off great masses of rock, which lay in +rugged confusion at the base. This offered painful but secure +foothold, and the two adventurers, with much labour--for they were +weak with the privations endured on the voyage from New Caledonia-- +managed to climb half way up the cliff, when they stopped to take +breath and look around them. They were now in a perilous position, +for, hanging as they were on a narrow ledge of rock midway between +earth and sky, the least slip would have cost them their lives. The +great mass of rock which frowned above them was nearly +perpendicular, yet offered here and there certain facilities for +climbing, though to do so looked like certain death. The men, +however, were quite reckless, and knew if they could get to the top +they would be safe, so they determined to attempt the rest of the +ascent. + +'As we have not the wings of eagles, friend Pierre,' said the +younger man, glancing around, 'we must climb where we can find +foothold. God will protect us; if not,' with a sneer, 'the Devil +always looks after his own.' + +He crept along the narrow ledge and scrambled with great difficulty +into a niche above, holding on by the weeds and sparse grass which +grew out of the crannies of the barren crag. Followed by his +companion, he went steadily up, clinging to projecting rocks--long +trails of tough grass and anything else he could hold on to. Every +now and then some seabird would dash out into their faces with wild +cries, and nearly cause them to lose their foothold in the sudden +start. Then the herbage began to get more luxurious, and the cliff +to slope in an easy incline, which made the latter part of their +ascent much easier. At last, after half an hour's hard work, they +managed to get to the top, and threw themselves breathlessly on the +short dry grass which fringed the rough cliff. Lying there half +fainting with fatigue and hunger, they could hear, as in a confused +dream, the drowsy thunder of the waves below, and the discordant +cries of the sea-gulls circling round their nests, to which they had +not yet returned. The rest did them good, and in a short time they +were able to rise to their feet and survey the situation. In front +was the sea, and at the back the grassy undulating country, dotted +here and there with clumps of trees now becoming faint and +indistinct in the rapidly falling shadows of the night. They could +also see horses and cattle moving in the distant fields, which +showed that there must be some human habitation near, and suddenly +from a far distant house which they had not observed shone a bright +light, which became to these weary waifs of the ocean a star of +hope. + +They looked at one another in silence, and then the young man turned +towards the ocean again. + +'Behind,' he said, pointing to the east, 'lies a French prison and +two ruined lives--yours and mine--but in front,' swinging round to +the rich fields, 'there is fortune, food, and freedom. Come, my +friend, let us follow that light, which is our star of hope, and who +knows what glory may await us. The old life is dead, and we start +our lives in this new world with all the bitter experiences of the +old to teach us wisdom--come!' And without another word he walked +slowly down the slope towards the inland, followed by the dumb man +with his head still bent and his air of sullen resignation. + +The sun disappeared behind the snowy ranges--night drew a grey veil +over the sky as the red light died out, and here and there the stars +were shining. The seabirds sought their nests again and ceased their +discordant cries--the boat which had brought the adventurers to +shore drifted slowly out to sea, while the great black hand that +rose from the eastward stretched out threateningly towards the two +men tramping steadily onward through the dewy grass, as though it +would have drawn them back again to the prison from whence they had +so miraculously escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PACTOLUS CLAIM + + +In the early days of Australia, when the gold fever was at its +height, and the marvellous Melbourne of to-day was more like an +enlarged camp than anything else, there was a man called Robert +Curtis, who arrived in the new land of Ophir with many others to +seek his fortune. Mr Curtis was of good family, but having been +expelled from Oxford for holding certain unorthodox opinions quite +at variance with the accepted theological tenets of the University, +he had added to his crime by marrying a pretty girl, whose face was +her fortune, and who was born, as the story books say, of poor but +honest parents. Poverty and honesty, however, were not sufficient +recommendations in the eyes of Mr Curtis, senior, to excuse such a +match; so he promptly followed the precedent set by Oxford, and +expelled his son from the family circle. That young gentleman and +his wife came out to Australia filled with ambitious dreams of +acquiring a fortune, and then of returning to heap coals of fire on +the heads of those who had turned them out. + +These dreams, however, were destined never to be realised, for +within a year after their arrival in Melbourne Mrs Curtis died +giving birth to a little girl, and Robert Curtis found himself once +more alone in the world with the encumbrance of a small child. He, +however, was not a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, and did not +show much outward grief, though, no doubt, he sorrowed deeply enough +for the loss of the pretty girl for whom he had sacrificed so much. +At all events, he made up his mind at once what to do: so, placing +his child under the care of an old lady, he went to Ballarat, and +set to work to make his fortune. + +While there his luck became proverbial, and he soon found himself a +rich man; but this did not satisfy him, for, being of a far-seeing +nature, he saw the important part Australia would play in the +world's history. So with the gold won by his pick he bought land +everywhere, and especially in Melbourne, which was even then +becoming metropolitan. After fifteen years of a varied life he +returned to Melbourne to settle down, and found that his daughter +had grown up to be a charming young girl, the very image of his late +wife. Curtis built a house, went in for politics, and soon became a +famous man in his adopted country. He settled a large sum of money +on his daughter absolutely, which no one, not even her future +husband, could touch, and introduced her to society. + +Miss Curtis became the belle of Melbourne, and her charming face, +together with the more substantial beauties of wealth, soon brought +crowds of suitors around her. Her father, however, determined to +find a husband for her whom he could trust, and was looking for one +when he suddenly died of heart disease, leaving his daughter an +orphan and a wealthy woman. + +After Mr Curtis had been buried by the side of his dead wife, the +heiress went home to her richly-furnished house, and after passing a +certain period in mourning, engaged a companion, and once more took +her position in society. + +Her suitors--numerous and persistent as those of Penelope--soon +returned to her feet, and she found she could choose a husband from +men of all kinds--rich and poor, handsome and ugly, old and young. +One of these, a penniless young Englishman, called Randolph +Villiers, payed her such marked attention, that in the end Miss +Curtis, contrary to the wishes of her friends, married him. + +Mr Villiers had a handsome face and figure, a varied and extensive +wardrobe, and a bad character. He, however, suppressed his real +tastes until he became the husband of Miss Curtis, and holder of the +purse--for such was the love his wife bore him that she +unhesitatingly gave him full control of all her property, excepting +that which was settled on herself by her father, which was, of +course, beyond marital control. In vain her friends urged some +settlement should be made before marriage. Miss Curtis argued that +to take any steps to protect her fortune would show a want of faith +in the honesty of the man she loved, so went to the altar and +reversed the marriage service by endowing Mr Randolph Villiers with +all her worldly goods. + +The result of this blind confidence justified the warnings of her +friends--for as soon as Villiers found himself in full possession of +his wife's fortune, he immediately proceeded to spend all the money +he could lay his hands on. He gambled away large sums at his club, +betted extensively on the turf, kept open house, and finally became +entangled with a lady whose looks were much better than her morals, +and whose capacity for spending money so far exceeded his own that +in two years she completely ruined him. Mrs Villiers put up with +this conduct for some time, as she was too proud to acknowledge she +had made a mistake in her choice of a husband; but when Villiers, +after spending all her wealth in riotous living, actually proceeded +to ill-treat her in order to force her to give up the money her +father had settled on her, she rebelled. She tore off her wedding- +ring, threw it at his feet, renounced his name, and went off to +Ballarat with her old nurse and the remnants of her fortune. + +Mr Villiers, however, was not displeased at this step; in fact, he +was rather glad to get rid of a wife who could no longer supply him +with money, and whose presence was a constant rebuke. He sold up the +house and furniture, and converted all available property into cash, +which cash he then converted into drink for himself and jewellery +for his lady friend. The end soon came to the fresh supply of money, +and his lady friend went off with his dearest companion, to whose +purse she had taken a sudden liking. Villiers, deserted by all his +acquaintances, sank lower and lower in the social scale, and the +once brilliant butterfly of fashion became a billiard marker, then a +tout at races, and finally a bar loafer with no visible means of +support. + +Meantime Mrs Villiers was prospering in Ballarat, and gaining the +respect and good opinion of everyone, while her husband was earning +the contempt of not only his former friends but even of the +creatures with whom he now associated. When Mrs Villiers went up to +Ballarat after her short but brilliant life in Melbourne she felt +crushed. She had given all the wealth of her girlish affection to +her husband, and had endowed him with all kinds of chivalrous +attributes, only to find out, as many a woman has done before and +since, that her idol had feet of clay. The sudden shock of the +discovery of his baseness altered the whole of her life, and from +being a bright, trustful girl, she became a cold suspicious woman +who disbelieved in everyone and in everything. + +But she was of too restless and ambitious a nature to be content +with an idle life, and although the money she still possessed was +sufficient to support her in comfort, yet she felt that she must do +something, if only to keep her thoughts from dwelling on those +bitter years of married life. The most obvious thing to do in +Ballarat was to go in for gold-mining, and chance having thrown in +her way a mate of her father's, she determined to devote herself to +that, being influenced in her decision by the old digger. This man, +by name Archibald McIntosh, was a shrewd, hard-headed Scotchman, who +had been in Ballarat when the diggings were in the height of their +fame, and who knew all about the lie of the country and where the +richest leads had been in the old days. He told Mrs Villiers that +her father and himself had worked together on a lead then known as +the Devil's Lead, which was one of the richest ever discovered in +the district. It had been found by five men, who had agreed with one +another to keep silent as to the richness of the lead, and were +rapidly making their fortunes when the troubles of the Eureka +stockade intervened, and, in the encounter between the miners and +the military, three of the company working the lead were killed, and +only two men were left who knew the whereabouts of the claim and the +value of it. These were McIntosh and Curtis, who were the original +holders. Mr Curtis, went down to Melbourne, and, as previously +related, died of heart disease, so the only man left of the five who +had worked the lead was Archibald McIntosh. He had been too poor to +work it himself, and, having failed to induce any speculator to go +in with him to acquire the land, he had kept silent about it, only +staying up at Ballarat and guarding the claim lest someone else +should chance on it. Fortunately the place where it was situated had +not been renowned for gold in the early days, and it had passed into +the hands of a man who used it as pasture land, quite ignorant of +the wealth which lay beneath. When Mrs Villiers came up to Ballarat, +this man wanted to sell the land, as he was going to Europe; so, +acting under the urgent advice of McIntosh, she sold out of all the +investments which she had and purchased the whole tract of country +where the old miner assured her solemnly the Devil's Lead was to be +found. + +Then she built a house near the mine, and taking her old nurse, +Selina Sprotts, and Archibald McIntosh to live with her, sank a +shaft in the place indicated by the latter. She also engaged miners, +and gave McIntosh full control over the mine, while she herself kept +the books, paid the accounts, and proved herself to be a first-class +woman of business. She had now been working the mine for two years, +but as yet had not been fortunate enough to strike the lead. The +gutter, however, proved remunerative enough to keep the mine going, +pay all the men, and support Mrs Villiers herself, so she was quite +content to wait till fortune should smile on her, and the long- +looked-for Devil's Lead turned up. People who had heard of her +taking the land were astonished at first, and disposed to scoff, but +they soon begun to admire the plucky way in which she fought down +her ill-luck for the first year of her venture. All at once matters +changed; she made a lucky speculation in the share market, and the +Pactolus claim began to pay. Mrs Villiers became mixed up in mining +matters, and bought and sold on 'Change with such foresight and +promptitude of action that she soon began to make a lot of money. +Stockbrokers are not, as a rule, romantic, but one of the fraternity +was so struck with her persistent good fortune that he christened +her Madame Midas, after that Greek King whose touch turned +everything into gold. This name tickled the fancy of others, and in +a short time she was called nothing but Madame Midas all over the +country, which title she accepted complacently enough as a forecast +of her success in finding the Devil's Lead, which idea had grown +into a mania with her as it already was with her faithful henchman, +McIntosh. + +When Mr Villiers therefore arrived in Ballarat, he found his wife +universally respected and widely known as Madame Midas, so he went +to see her, expecting to be kept in luxurious ease for the rest of +his life. He soon, however, found himself mistaken, for his wife +told him plainly she would have nothing to do with him, and that if +he dared to show his face at the Pactolus claim she would have him +turned off by her men. He threatened to bring the law into force to +make her live with him, but she laughed in his face, and said she +would bring a divorce suit against him if he did so; and as Mr +Villiers' character could hardly bear the light of day, he +retreated, leaving Madame in full possession of the field. + +He stayed, however, in Ballarat, and took up stockbroking--living a +kind of hand-to-mouth existence, bragging of his former splendour, +and swearing at his wife for what he was pleased to call--her +cruelty. Every now and then he would pay a visit to the Pactolus, +and try to see her, but McIntosh was a vigilant guard, and the +miserable creature was always compelled to go back to his Bohemian +life without accomplishing his object of getting money from the wife +he had deserted. + +People talked, of course, but Madame did not mind. She had tried +married life, and had been disappointed; her old ideas of belief in +human nature had passed away; in short, the girl who had been the +belle of Melbourne as Miss Curtis and Mrs Villiers had disappeared, +and the stern, clever, cynical woman who managed the Pactolus claim +was a new being called 'Madame Midas'. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SLIVERS + + +Everyone has heard of the oldest inhabitant--that wonderful piece of +antiquity, with white hair, garrulous tongue, and cast-iron memory,- +-who was born with the present century--very often before it--and +remembers George III, the Battle of Waterloo, and the invention of +the steam-engine. But in Australia, the oldest inhabitant is +localized, and rechristened an early settler. He remembers Melbourne +before Melbourne was; he distinctly recollects sailing up the Yarra +Yarra with Batman, and talks wildly about the then crystalline +purity of its waters--an assertion which we of to-day feel is open +to considerable doubt. His wealth is unbounded, his memory +marvellous, and his acquaintances of a somewhat mixed character, +comprising as they do a series of persons ranging from a member of +Parliament down to a larrikin. + +Ballarat, no doubt, possesses many of these precious pieces of +antiquity hidden in obscure corners, but one especially was known, +not only in the Golden City, but throughout Victoria. His name was +Slivers--plain Slivers, as he said himself--and, from a physical +point of view, he certainly spoke the truth. What his Christian name +was no one ever knew; he called himself Slivers, and so did everyone +else, without even an Esquire or a Mister to it--neither a head nor +a tail to add dignity to the name. + +Slivers was as well known in Sturt Street and at 'The Corner' as the +town clock, and his tongue very much resembled that timepiece, +inasmuch as it was always going. He was a very early settler; in +fact, so remarkably early that it was currently reported the first +white men who came to Ballarat found Slivers had already taken up +his abode there, and lived in friendly relations with the local +blacks. He had achieved this amicable relationship by the trifling +loss of a leg, an arm, and an eye, all of which portions of his body +were taken off the right side, and consequently gave him rather a +lop-sided appearance. But what was left of Slivers possessed an +abundant vitality, and it seemed probable he would go on living in +the same damaged condition for the next twenty years. + +The Ballarat folk were fond of pointing him out as a specimen of the +healthy climate, but this was rather a flight of fancy, as Slivers +was one of those exasperating individuals who, if they lived in a +swamp or a desert, would still continue to feel their digestions +good and their lungs strong. + +Slivers was reputed rich, and Arabian-Night-like stories were told +of his boundless wealth, but no one ever knew the exact amount of +money he had, and as Slivers never volunteered any information on +the subject, no one ever did know. He was a small, wizen-looking +little man, who usually wore a suit of clothes a size too large for +him, wherein scandal-mongers averred his body rattled like a dried +pea in a pod. His hair was white, and fringed the lower portion of +his yellow little scalp in a most deceptive fashion. With his hat on +Slivers looked sixty; take it off and his bald head immediately +added ten years to his existence. His one eye was bright and sharp, +of a greyish colour, and the loss of the other was replaced by a +greasy black patch, which gave him a sinister appearance. He was +cleaned shaved, and had no teeth, but notwithstanding this want, his +lips gripped the stem of his long pipe in a wonderfully tenacious +and obstinate manner. He carried on the business of a mining agent, +and knowing all about the country and the intricacies of the mines, +he was one of the cleverest speculators in Ballarat. + +The office of Slivers was in Sturt Street, in a dirty, tumble-down +cottage wedged between two handsome modern buildings. It was a +remnant of old Ballarat which had survived the rage for new houses +and highly ornamented terraces. Slivers had been offered money for +that ricketty little shanty, but he declined to sell it, averring +that as a snail grew to fit his house his house had grown to fit +him. + +So there it stood--a dingy shingle roof overgrown with moss--a +quaint little porch and two numerously paned windows on each side. +On top of the porch a sign-board--done by Slivers in the early days, +and looking like it--bore the legend 'Slivers, mining agent.' The +door did not shut--something was wrong with it, so it always stood +ajar in a hospitable sort of manner. Entering this, a stranger would +find himself in a dark low-roofed passage, with a door at the end +leading to the kitchen, another on the right leading to the bedroom, +and a third on the left leading to the office, where most of +Slivers' indoor life was spent. He used to stop here nearly all day +doing business, with the small table before him covered with scrip, +and the mantelpiece behind him covered with specimens of quartz, all +labelled with the name of the place whence they came. The inkstand +was dirty, the ink thick and the pens rusty; yet, in spite of all +these disadvantages, Slivers managed to do well and make money. He +used to recommend men to different mines round about, and whenever a +manager wanted men, or new hands wanted work, they took themselves +off to Slivers, and were sure to be satisfied there. Consequently, +his office was nearly always full; either of people on business or +casual acquaintances dropping in to have a drink--Slivers was +generous in the whisky line--or to pump the old man about some new +mine, a thing which no one ever managed to do. When the office was +empty, Slivers would go on sorting the scrip on his table, drinking +his whisky, or talking to Billy. Now Billy was about as well known +in Ballarat as Slivers, and was equally as old and garrulous in his +own way. He was one of those large white yellow-crested cockatoos +who, in their captivity, pass their time like galley-slaves, chained +by one leg. Billy, however, never submitted to the indignity of a +chain--he mostly sat on Slivers' table or on his shoulder, +scratching his poll with his black claw, or chattering to Slivers in +a communicative manner. People said Billy was Slivers' evil spirit, +and as a matter of fact, there was something uncanny in the wisdom +of the bird. He could converse fluently on all occasions, and needed +no drawing out, inasmuch as he was always ready to exhibit his +powers of conversation. He was not a pious bird--belonging to +Slivers, he could hardly be expected to be--and his language was +redolent of Billingsgate. So Billy being so clever was quite a +character in his way, and, seated on Slivers' shoulder with his +black bead of an eye watching his master writing with the rusty pen, +they looked a most unholy pair. + +The warm sunlight poured through the dingy windows of the office, +and filled the dark room with a sort of sombre glory. The atmosphere +of Slivers' office was thick and dusty, and the sun made long beams +of light through the heavy air. Slivers had pushed all the scrip and +loose papers away, and was writing a letter in the little clearing +caused by their removal. On the old-fashioned inkstand was a paper +full of grains of gold, and on this the sunlight rested, making it +glitter in the obscurity of the room. Billy, seated on Slivers' +shoulder, was astonished at this, and, inspired by a spirit of +adventure, he climbed down and waddled clumsily across the table to +the inkstand, where he seized a small nugget in his beak and made +off with it. Slivers looked up from his writing suddenly: so, being +detected, Billy stopped and looked at him, still carrying the nugget +in his beak. + +'Drop it,' said Slivers severely, in his rasping little voice. Billy +pretended not to understand, and after eyeing Slivers for a moment +or two resumed his journey. Slivers stretched out his hand for the +ruler, whereupon Billy, becoming alive to his danger, dropped the +nugget, and flew down off the table with a discordant shriek. + +'Devil! devil! devil!' screamed this amiable bird, flopping up and +down on the floor. 'You're a liar! You're a liar! Pickles.' + +Having delivered himself of this bad language, Billy waddled to his +master's chair, and climbing up by the aid of his claws and beak, +soon established himself in his old position. Slivers, however, was +not attending to him, as he was leaning back in his chair drumming +in an absent sort of way with his lean fingers on the table. His +cork arm hung down limply, and his one eye was fixed on a letter +lying in front of him. This was a communication from the manager of +the Pactolus Mine requesting Slivers to get him more hands, and +Slivers' thoughts had wandered away from the letter to the person +who wrote it, and from thence to Madame Midas. + +'She's a clever woman,' observed Slivers, at length, in a musing +sort of tone, 'and she's got a good thing on in that claim if she +only strikes the Lead.' + +'Devil,' said Billy once more, in a harsh voice. + +'Exactly,' answered Slivers, 'the Devil's Lead. Oh, Lord! what a +fool I was not to have collared that ground before she did; but that +infernal McIntosh never would tell me where the place was. Never +mind, I'll be even with him yet; curse him.' + +His expression of face was not pleasant as he said this, and he +grasped the letter in front of him in a violent way, as if he were +wishing his long fingers were round the writer's throat. Tapping +with his wooden leg on the floor, he was about to recommence his +musings, when he heard a step in the passage, and the door of his +office being pushed violently open, a man entered without further +ceremony, and flung himself down on a chair near the window. + +'Fire!' said Billy, on seeing this abrupt entry; 'how's your +mother!--Ballarat and Bendigo--Bendigo and Ballarat.' + +The newcomer was a man short and powerfully built, dressed in a +shabby-genteel sort of way, with a massive head covered with black +hair, heavy side whiskers and moustache, and a clean shaved chin, +which had that blue appearance common to very dark men who shave. +His mouth--that is, as much as could be seen of it under the +drooping moustache--was weak and undecided, and his dark eyes so +shifty and restless that they seemed unable to meet a steady gaze, +but always looked at some inanimate object that would not stare them +out of countenance. + +'Well, Mr Randolph Villiers,' croaked Slivers, after contemplating +his visitor for a few moments, 'how's business?' + +'Infernally bad,' retorted Mr Villiers, pulling out a cigar and +lighting it. 'I've lost twenty pounds on those Moscow shares.' + +'More fool you,' replied Slivers, courteously, swinging round in his +chair so as to face Villiers. 'I could have told you the mine was no +good; but you will go on your own bad judgment.' + +'It's like getting blood out of a stone to get tips from you,' +growled Villiers, with a sulky air. 'Come now, old boy,' in a +cajoling manner, 'tell us something good--I'm nearly stone broke, +and I must live.' + +'I'm hanged if I see the necessity,' malignantly returned Slivers, +unconsciously quoting Voltaire; 'but if you do want to get into a +good thing--' + +'Yes! yes!' said the other, eagerly bending forward. + +'Get an interest in the Pactolus,' and the agreeable old gentleman +leaned back and laughed loudly in a raucous manner at his visitor's +discomfited look. + +'You ass,' hissed Mr Villiers, between his closed teeth; 'you know +as well as I do that my infernal wife won't look at me.' + +'Ho, ho!' laughed the cockatoo, raising his yellow crest in an angry +manner; 'devil take her--rather!' + +'I wish he would!' muttered Villiers, fervently; then with an uneasy +glance at Billy, who sat on the old man's shoulder complacently +ruffling his feathers, he went on: 'I wish you'd screw that bird's +neck, Slivers; he's too clever by half.' + +Slivers paid no attention to this, but, taking Billy off his +shoulder, placed him on the floor, then turned to his visitor and +looked at him fixedly with his bright eye in such a penetrating +manner that Villiers felt it go through him like a gimlet. + +'I hate your wife,' said Slivers, after a pause. + +'Why the deuce should you?' retorted Villiers, sulkily. 'You ain't +married to her.' + +'I wish I was,' replied Slivers with a chuckle. 'A fine woman, my +good sir! Why, if I was married to her I wouldn't sneak away +whenever I saw her. I'd go up to the Pactolus claim and there I'd +stay.' + +'It's easy enough talking,' retorted Villiers crossly, 'but you +don't know what a fiend she is! Why do you hate her?' + +'Because I do,' retorted Slivers. 'I hate her; I hate McIntosh; the +whole biling of them; they've got the Pactolus claim, and if they +find the Devil's Lead they'll be millionaires.' + +'Well,' said the other, quite unmoved, 'all Ballarat knows that +much.' + +'But I might have had it!' shrieked Slivers, getting up in an +excited manner, and stumping up and down the office. 'I knew Curtis, +McIntosh and the rest were making their pile, but I couldn't find +out where; and now they're all dead but McIntosh, and the prize has +slipped through my fingers, devil take them!' + +'Devil take them,' echoed the cockatoo, who had climbed up again on +the table, and was looking complacently at his master. + +'Why don't you ruin your wife, you fool?' said Slivers, turning +vindictively on Villiers. 'You ain't going to let her have all the +money while you are starving, are you?' + +'How the deuce am I to do that?' asked Villiers, sulkily, relighting +his cigar. + +'Get the whip hand of her,' snarled Slivers, viciously; 'find out if +she's in love, and threaten to divorce her if she doesn't go +halves.' + +'There's no chance of her having any lovers,' retorted Villiers; +'she's a piece of ice.' + +'Ice melts,' replied Slivers, quickly. 'Wait till "Mr Right" comes +along, and then she'll begin to regret being married to you, and +then--' + +'Well?' + +'You'll have the game in your own hands,' hissed the wicked old man, +rubbing his hands. 'Oh!' he cried, spinning round on his wooden leg, +'it's a lovely idea. Wait till we meet "Mr Right", just wait,' and +he dropped into his chair quite overcome by the state of excitement +he had worked himself into. + +'If you've quite done with those gymnastics, my friend,' said a soft +voice near the door, 'perhaps I may enter.' + +Both the inmates of the office looked up at this, and saw that two +men were standing at the half-open door--one an extremely handsome +young man of about thirty, dressed in a neat suit of blue serge, and +wearing a large white wide-awake hat, with a bird's-eye handkerchief +twisted round it. His companion was short and heavily built, dressed +somewhat the same, but with his black hat pulled down over his eyes. + +'Come in,' growled Slivers, angrily, when he saw his visitors. 'What +the devil do you want?' + +'Work,' said the young man, advancing to the table. 'We are new +arrivals in the country, and were told to come to you to get work.' + +'I don't keep a factory,' snarled Slivers, leaning forward. + +'I don't think I would come to you if you did,' retorted the +stranger, coolly. 'You would not be a pleasant master either to look +at or to speak to.' + +Villiers laughed at this, and Slivers stared dumbfounded at being +spoken to in such a manner. + +'Devil,' broke in Billy, rapidly. 'You're a liar--devil.' + +'Those, I presume, are your master's sentiments towards me,' said +the young man, bowing gravely to the bird. 'But as soon as he +recovers the use of his tongue, I trust he will tell us if we can +get work or not.' + +Slivers was just going to snap out a refusal, when he caught sight +of McIntosh's letter on the table, and this recalled to his mind the +conversation he had with Mr Villiers. Here was a young man handsome +enough to make any woman fall in love with him, and who, moreover, +had a clever tongue in his head. All Slivers' animosity revived +against Madame Midas as he thought of the Devil's Lead, and he +determined to use this young man as a tool to ruin her in the eyes +of the world. With these thoughts in his mind, he drew a sheet of +paper towards him, and dipping the rusty pen in the thick ink, +prepared to question his visitors as to what they could do, with a +view to sending them out to the Pactolus claim. + +'Names?' he asked, grasping his pen firmly in his left hand. + +'Mine,' said the stranger, bowing, 'is Gaston Vandeloup, my friend's +Pierre Lemaire--both French.' + +Slivers scrawled this down in the series of black scratches, which +did duty with him for writing. + +'Where do you come from?' was his next question. + +'The story,' said M. Vandeloup, with suavity, 'is too long to repeat +at present; but we came to-day from Melbourne.' + +'What kind of work can you do?' asked Slivers, sharply. + +'Anything that turns up,' retorted the Frenchman. + +'I was addressing your companion, sir; not you,' snarled Slivers, +turning viciously on him. + +'I have to answer for both,' replied the young man, coolly, slipping +one hand into his pocket and leaning up against the door in a +negligent attitude, 'my friend is dumb.' + +'Poor devil!' said Slivers, harshly. + +'But,' went on Vandeloup, sweetly, 'his legs, arms, and eyes are all +there.' + +Slivers glared at this fresh piece of impertinence, but said +nothing. He wrote a letter to McIntosh, recommending him to take on +the two men, and handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow. + +'The price of your services, Monsieur?' he asked. + +'Five bob,' growled Slivers, holding out his one hand. + +Vandeloup pulled out two half-crowns and put them in the thin, claw- +like fingers, which instantly closed on them. + +'It's a mining place you're going to,' said Slivers, pocketing the +money; 'the Pactolus claim. There's a pretty woman there. Have a +drink?' + +Vandeloup declined, but his companion, with a grunt, pushed past +him, and filling a tumbler with the whisky, drank it off. Slivers +looked ruefully at the bottle, and then hastily put it away, in case +Vandeloup should change his mind and have some. + +Vandeloup put on his hat and went to the door, out of which Pierre +had already preceded him. + +'I trust, gentlemen,' he said, with a graceful bow, 'we shall meet +again, and can then discuss the beauty of this lady to whom Mr +Slivers alludes. I have no doubt he is a judge of beauty in others, +though he is so incomplete himself.' + +He went out of the door, and then Slivers sprang up and rushed to +Villiers. + +'Do you know who that is?' he asked, in an excited manner, pulling +his companion to the window. + +Villiers looked through the dusty panes, and saw the young Frenchman +walking away, as handsome and gallant a man as he had ever seen, +followed by the slouching figure of his friend. + +'Vandeloup,' he said, turning to Slivers, who was trembling with +excitement. + +'No, you fool,' retorted the other, triumphantly. That is "Mr +Right".' + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MADAME MIDAS AT HOME + + +Madame Midas was standing on the verandah of her cottage, staring +far away into the distance, where she could see the tall chimney and +huge mound of white earth which marked the whereabouts of the +Pactolus claim. She was a tall voluptuous-looking woman of what is +called a Junoesque type--decidedly plump, with firm white hands and +well-formed feet. Her face was of a whitish tint, more like marble +than flesh, and appeared as if modelled from the antique--with the +straight Greek nose, high and smooth forehead, and full red mouth, +with firmly-closed lips. She had dark and piercing eyes, with heavy +arched eyebrows above them, and her hair, of a bluish-black hue, was +drawn smoothly over the forehead, and coiled in thick wreaths at the +top of her small, finely-formed head. Altogether a striking-looking +woman, but with an absence of animation about her face, which had a +calm, serene expression, effectually hiding any thoughts that might +be passing in her mind, and which resembled nothing so much in its +inscrutable look as the motionless calm which the old Egyptians gave +to their sphinxes. She was dressed for coolness in a loose white +dress, tied round her waist with a crimson scarf of Indian silk; and +her beautifully modelled arms, bare to the elbow, and unadorned by +any trinkets, were folded idly in front of her as she looked out at +the landscape, which was mellowed and full of warmth under the +bright yellow glare of the setting sun. + +The cottage--for it was nothing else--stood on a slight rise +immediately in front of a dark wood of tall gum-trees, and there was +a long row of them on the right, forming a shelter against the +winds, as if the wood had thrown a protecting arm around the +cottage, and wanted to draw it closer to its warm bosom. The country +was of an undulating character, divided into fields by long rows of +gorse hedges, all golden with blossoms, which gave out a faint, +peach-like odour. Some of these meadows were yellow with corn--some +a dull red with sorrel, others left in their natural condition of +bright green grass--while here and there stood up, white and ghost- +like, the stumps of old trees, the last remnants of the forests, +which were slowly retreating before the axe of the settler. These +fields, which had rather a harlequin aspect with their varied +colours, all melted together in the far distance into an +indescribable neutral tint, and ended in the dark haze of the bush, +which grew over all the undulating hills. On the horizon, however, +at intervals, a keen eye could see some tall tree standing boldly +up, outlined clearly against the pale yellow of the sky. There was a +white dusty road or rather a track between two rough fences, with a +wide space of green grass on each side, and here and there could be +seen the cattle wandering idly homeward, lingering every now and +then to pull at a particularly tempting tuft of bush grass growing +in the moist ditches which ran along each side of the highway. +Scattered over this pastoral-looking country were huge mounds of +white earth, looking like heaps of carded wool, and at the end of +each of these invariably stood a tall, ugly skeleton of wood. These +marked the positions of the mines--the towers contained the winding +gear, while the white earth was the clay called mulloch, brought +from several hundred feet below the surface. Near these mounds were +rough-looking sheds with tall red chimneys, which made a pleasant +spot of colour against the white of the clay. On one of these +mounds, rather isolated from the others, and standing by itself in +the midst of a wide green paddock, Mrs Villiers' eyes were fixed, +and she soon saw the dark figure of a man coming slowly down the +white mound, along the green field and advancing slowly up the hill. +When she saw him coming, without turning her head or raising her +voice, she called out to someone inside, + +'Archie is coming, Selina--you had better hurry up the tea, for he +will be hungry after such a long day.' + +The person inside made no answer save by an extra clatter of some +domestic utensils, and Madame apparently did not expect a reply, for +without saying anything else she walked slowly down the garden path, +and leaned lightly over the gate, waiting for the newcomer, who was +indeed none other than Archibald McIntosh, the manager of the +Pactolus. + +He was a man of about medium height, rather thin than otherwise, +with a long, narrow-looking head and boldly cut features--clean +shaved save for a frill of white hair which grew on his throat up +the sides of his head to his ears, and which gave him rather a +peculiar appearance, as if he had his jaw bandaged up. His eyes were +grey and shrewd-looking, his lips were firmly compressed--in fact, +the whole appearance of his face was obstinate--the face of a man +who would stick to his opinions whatever anyone else might say to +the contrary. He was in a rough miner's dress, all splashed with +clay, and as he came up to the gate Madame could see he was holding +something in his hand. + +'D'ye no ken what yon may be?' he said, a smile relaxing his grim +features as he held up a rather large nugget; ''tis the third yin +this week!' + +Madame Midas took the nugget from him and balanced it carefully in +her hand, with a thoughtful look in her face, as if she was making a +mental calculation. + +'About twenty to twenty-five ounces, I should say,' she observed in +her soft low voice; 'the last we had was fifteen, and the one before +twenty--looks promising for the gutter, doesn't it?' + +'Well, I'll no say but what it micht mean a deal mair,' replied +McIntosh, with characteristic Scotch caution, as he followed Madame +into the house; 'it's no a verra bad sign, onyhow; I winna say but +what we micht be near the Devil's Lead.' + +'And if we are?' said Madame, turning with a smile. + +'Weel, mem, ye'll have mair siller nor ye'll ken what to dae wi', +an' 'tis to be hoped ye'll no be making a fool of yersel.' + +Madame laughed--she was used to McIntosh's plain speaking, and it in +no wise offended her. In fact, she preferred it very much more than +being flattered, as people's blame is always genuine, their praise +rarely so. At all events she was not displeased, and looked after +him with a smile in her dark eyes as he disappeared into the back +kitchen to make himself decent for tea. Madame herself sat down in +an arm-chair in the bow window, and watched Selina preparing the +meal. + +Selina Jane Sprotts, who now acted as servant to Mrs Villiers, was +rather an oddity in her way. She had been Madame's nurse, and had +followed her up to Ballarat, with the determination of never leaving +her. Selina was a spinster, as her hand had never been sought in +marriage, and her personal appearance was certainly not very +fascinating. Tall and gaunt, she was like a problem from Euclid, all +angles, and the small quantity of grey hair she possessed was +screwed into a hard lump at the back of her head. Her face was +reddish in colour, and her mouth prim and pursed up, as if she was +afraid of saying too much, which she need not have been, as she +rarely spoke, and was as economical of her words as she was of +everything else. She was much given to quoting proverbs, and hurled +these prepared little pieces of wisdom on every side like pellets +out of a pop-gun. Conversation which consists mainly of proverbs is +rarely exhilarating; consequently Miss Sprotts was not troubled to +talk much, either by Madame or McIntosh. + +Miss Sprotts moved noiselessly about the small room, in a +wonderfully dextrous manner considering her height, and, after +laying the table, placed the teapot on the hob to 'draw', thereby +disturbing a cat and a dog who were lying in front of the fire--for +there was a fire in the room in spite of the heat of the day, Selina +choosing to consider that the house was damp. She told Madame she +knew it was damp because her bones ached, and as she was mostly +bones she certainly had a good opportunity of judging. + +Annoyed at being disturbed by Miss Sprotts, the dog resigned his +comfortable place with a plaintive growl, but the cat, of a more +irritable temperament, set up and made a sudden scratch at her hand, +drawing blood therefrom. + +'Animals,' observed Selina, grimly, 'should keep their place;' and +she promptly gave the cat a slap on the side of the head, which sent +him over to Madame's feet, with an angry spit. Madame picked him up +and soothed his ruffled feelings so successfully, that he curled +himself up on her lap and went to sleep. + +By-and-bye Archie, who had been making a great splashing in the back +premises, came in looking clean and fresh, with a more obstinate +look about his face than ever. Madame went to the tea-table and sat +down, for she always had her meals with them, a fact of which they +were very proud, and they always treated her with intense respect, +though every now and then they were inclined to domineer. Archie, +having seen that the food on the table was worth thanking God for, +asked a blessing in a peremptory sort of manner, as if he thought +Heaven required a deal of pressing to make it attentive. Then they +commenced to eat in silence, for none of the party were very much +given to speech, and no sound was heard save the rattling of the +cups and saucers and the steady ticking of the clock. The window was +open, and a faint breeze came in--cool and fragrant with the scent +of the forest, and perfumed with the peach-like odour of the gorse +blossoms. There was a subdued twilight through all the room, for the +night was coming on, and the gleam of the flickering flames of the +fire danced gaily against the roof and exaggerated all objects to an +immense size. At last Archie pushed back his chair to show that he +had finished, and prepared to talk. + +'I dinna see ony new bodies coming,' he said, looking at his +mistress. 'They, feckless things, that left were better than none, +though they should hae been skelped for their idleness.' + +'You have written to Slivers?' said Madame, raising her eyes. + +'That wudden-legged body,' retorted McIntosh. 'Deed and I have, but +the auld tyke hasna done onything to getting me what I want. Weel, +weel,' in a resigned sort of a manner, 'we micht be waur off than we +are, an' wha kens but what Providence will send us men by-and-bye?' + +Selina looked up at this, saw her opportunity, and let slip an +appropriate proverb. + +'If we go by by-and-bye lane,' she said sharply, 'we come to the +gate of never.' + +This being undeniable, no one gave her the pleasure of contradicting +her, for Archie knew it was impossible to argue with Selina, so +handy was she with her proverbial wisdom--a kind of domestic Tupper, +whose philosophy was of the most irritating and unanswerable kind. +He did the wisest thing he could under the circumstances, and +started a new subject. + +'I say yon the day.' + +'Yon' in this case meant Mr Villiers, whose name was tabooed in the +house, and was always spoken of in a half-hinting kind of way. As +both her servants knew all about her unhappy life, Madame did not +scruple to talk to them. + +'How was he looking?' she asked, smoothing the crumbs off her dress. + +'Brawly,' replied Archie, rising; 'he lost money on that Moscow +mine, but he made a fine haul owre the Queen o' Hearts claim.' + +'The wicked,' observed Selina, 'flourish like a green bay tree.' + +'Ou, ay,' retorted McIntosh, drily; 'we ken a' aboot that, Selina-- +auld Hornie looks after his ain.' + +'I think he leads a very hand-to-mouth existence,' said Madame, +calmly; 'however rich he may become, he will always be poor, because +he never was a provident man.' + +'He's comin' tae see ye, mem,' said Archie, grimly, lighting his +pipe. + +Madame rose to her feet and walked to the window. + +'He's done that before,' she said, complacently; 'the result was not +satisfactory.' + +'Continual dropping wears away a stone,' said Selina, who was now +clearing away. + +'But not iron,' replied Madame, placidly; 'I don't think his +persistence will gain anything.' + +Archie smiled grimly, and then went outside to smoke his pipe, while +Madame sat down by the open window and looked out at the fast-fading +landscape. + +Her thoughts were not pleasant. She had hoped to cut herself off +from all the bitterness and sorrow of her past life, but this +husband of hers, like an unquiet spirit, came to trouble her and +remind her of a time she would willingly have forgotten. She looked +calm and quiet enough sitting there with her placid face and smooth +brow; but this woman was like a slumbering volcano, and her passions +were all the more dangerous from being kept in check. + +A bat flew high up in the air across the clear glow of the sky, +disappearing into the adjacent bush, and Madame, stretching out her +hand, idly plucked a fresh, dewy rose off the tree which grew round +the window. + +'If I could only get rid of him,' she thought, toying with the +flower; 'but it is impossible. I can't do that without money, and +money I never will have till I find that lead. I must bribe him, I +suppose. Oh, why can't he leave me alone now? Surely he has ruined +my life sufficiently in the past to let me have a few years, if not +of pleasure, at least of forgetfulness.' And with a petulant gesture +she hurled the rose out of the window, where it struck Archie a soft +and fragrant blow on the cheek. + +'Yes,' said Madame to herself, as she pulled down the window, 'I +must get rid of him, and if bribery won't do--there are other +means.' + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOOD SAMARITAN + + +Is there anyone nowadays who reads Cowper--that charming, domestic +poet who wrote 'The Task', and invested even furniture with the +glamour of poesy? Alas! to many people Cowper is merely a name, or +is known only as the author of the delightfully quaint ballad of +John Gilpin. Yet he was undoubtedly the Poet Laureate of +domesticity, and every householder should possess a bust or picture +of him--placed, not amid the frigid splendours of the drawing room, +but occupying the place of honour in his own particular den, where +everything is old-fashioned, cheery, and sanctified by long usage. +No one wrote so pleasantly about the pleasures of a comfortable room +as Cowper. And was he not right to do so? After all, every hearth is +the altar of the family, whereon the sacred fire should be kept +constantly burning, waxing and waning with the seasons, but never be +permitted to die out altogether. Miss Sprotts, as before mentioned, +was much in favour of a constant fire, because of the alleged +dampness of the house, and Madame Midas did not by any means object, +as she was a perfect salamander for heat. Hence, when the outward +door was closed, the faded red curtains of the window drawn, and the +newly replenished fire blazed brightly in the wide fireplace, the +room was one which even Cowper--sybarite in home comforts as he was- +-would have contemplated with delight. + +Madame Midas was seated now at the small table in the centre of the +room, poring over a bewildering array of figures, and the soft glow +of the lamp touched her smooth hair and white dress with a subdued +light. + +Archie sat by the fire, half asleep, and there was a dead silence in +the room, only broken by the rapid scratching of Madame's pen or the +click of Selina's needles. At last Mrs Villiers, with a sigh of +relief, laid down her pen, put all her papers together, and tied +them neatly with a bit of string. + +'I'm afraid I'll have to get a clerk, Archie,' she said, as she put +the papers away, 'the office work is getting too much for me.' + +''Deed, mem, and 'tis that same I was thinkin' o',' returned Mr +McIntosh, sitting bolt upright in his chair, lest the imputation of +having been asleep should be brought against him. 'It's ill wark +seein' ye spoilin' your bonny eyes owre sic a muckle lot o' figures +as ye hae there.' + +'Someone must do it,' said Madame, resuming her seat at the table. + +'Then why not get a body that can dae it?' retorted Archie; 'not but +what ye canna figure yersel', mem, but really ye need a rest, and if +I hear of onyone in toun wha we can trust I'll bring him here next +week.' + +'I don't see why you shouldn't,' said Madame, musingly; 'the mine is +fairly under way now, and if things go on as they are doing, I must +have someone to assist me.' + +At this moment a knock came to the front door, which caused Selina +to drop her work with a sudden start, and rise to her feet. + +'Not you, Selina,' said Madame, in a quiet voice; 'let Archie go; it +may be some tramp.' + +''Deed no, mem,' replied Archie, obstinately, as he arose from his +seat; ''tis verra likely a man fra the warks saying he wants to go. +There's mair talk nor sense aboot them, I'm thinkin'--the yattering +parrots.' + +Selina resumed her knitting in a most phlegmatic manner, but Madame +listened intently, for she was always haunted by a secret dread of +her husband breaking in on her, and it was partly on this account +that McIntosh stayed in the house. She heard a murmur of voices, and +then Archie returned with two men, who entered the room and stood +before Madame in the light of the lamp. + +''Tis two men fra that wudden-legged gowk o' a Slivers,' said +Archie, respectfully. 'Ain o' them has a wee bit letter for ye'-- +turning to receive same from the foremost man. + +The man, however, did not take notice of Archie's gesture, but +walking forward to Madame, laid the letter down before her. As he +did so, she caught sight of the delicacy of his hands, and looked up +suddenly with a piercing gaze. He bore the scrutiny coolly, and took +a chair in silence, his companion doing the same, while Madame +opened the letter and read Slivers' bad writing with a dexterity +only acquired by long practice. Having finished her perusal, she +looked up slowly. + +'A broken-down gentleman,' she said to herself, as she saw the easy +bearing and handsome face of the young man; then looking at his +companion, she saw by his lumpish aspect and coarse hands, that he +occupied a much lower rank of life than his friend. + +Monsieur Vandeloup--for it was he--caught her eye as she was +scrutinising them, and his face broke into a smile--a most charming +smile, as Madame observed mentally, though she allowed nothing of +her thoughts to appear on her face. + +'You want work,' she said, slowly folding up the letter, and placing +it in her pocket; 'do you understand anything about gold-mining?' + +'Unfortunately, no, Madame,' said Vandeloup, coolly; 'but we are +willing to learn.' + +Archie grunted in a dissatisfied manner, for he was by no means in +favour of teaching people their business, and, besides, he thought +Vandeloup too much of a gentleman to do good work. + +'You look hardly strong enough for such hard labour,' said Mrs +Villiers, doubtfully eyeing the slender figure of the young man. +'Your companion, I think, will do, but you--' + +'I, Madame, am like the lilies of the field that neither toil nor +spin,' replied Vandeloup, gaily; 'but, unfortunately, I am now +compelled by necessity to work, and though I should prefer to earn +my bread in an easier manner, beggars,'--with a characteristic +shrug, which did not escape Madame's eye--cannot be choosers.' + +'You are French?' she asked quickly, in that language. + +'Yes, Madame,' he replied in the same tongue, 'both my friend and +myself are from Paris, but we have not been long out here.' + +'Humph,' Madame leaned her head on her hand and thought, while +Vandeloup looked at her keenly, and remembered what Slivers had +said. + +'She is, indeed, a handsome woman,' he observed, mentally; 'my lines +will fall in pleasant places, if I remain here.' + +Mrs Villiers rather liked the looks of this young man; there was a +certain fascination about him which few women could resist, and +Madame, although steeled to a considerable extent by experience, was +yet a woman. His companion, however, she did not care about--he had +a sullen and lowering countenance, and looked rather dangerous. + +'What is your name?' she asked the young man. + +'Gaston Vandeloup.' + +'You are a gentleman?' + +He bowed, but said nothing. + +'And you?' asked Madame, sharply turning to the other. + +He looked up and touched his mouth. + +'Pardon him not answering, Madame,' interposed Vandeloup, 'he has +the misfortune to be dumb.' + +'Dumb?' echoed Madame, with a glance of commiseration, while Archie +looked startled, and Selina mentally observed that silence was +golden. + +'Yes, he has been so from his birth,--at least, so he gives me to +understand,' said Gaston, with a shrug of his shoulders, which +insinuated a doubt on the subject; 'but it's more likely the result +of an accident, for he can hear though he cannot speak. However, he +is strong and willing to work; and I also, if you will kindly give +me an opportunity,' added he, with a winning smile. + +'You have not many qualifications,' said Madame, shortly, angry with +herself for so taking to this young man's suave manner. + +'Probably not,' retorted Vandeloup, with a cynical smile. 'I fancy +it will be more a case of charity than anything else, as we are +starving.' + +Madame started, while Archie murmured 'Puir deils.' + +'Surely not as bad as that?' observed Mrs Villiers, in a softer +tone. + +'Why not?' retorted the Frenchman, carelessly. 'Manna does not fall +from heaven as in the days of Moses. We are strangers in a strange +land, and it is hard to obtain employment. My companion Pierre can +work in your mine, and if you will take me on I can keep your +books'--with a sudden glance at a file of papers on the table. + +'Thank you, I keep my own books,' replied Madame, shortly. 'What do +you say to engaging them, Archie?' + +'We ma gie them a try,' said McIntosh, cautiously. 'Ye do need a +figger man, as I tauld ye, and the dour deil can wark i' the claim.' + +Madame drew a long breath, and then made up her mind. + +'Very well,' she said, sharply; 'you are engaged, M. Vandeloup, as +my clerk, and your companion can work in the mine. As to wages and +all that, we will settle to-morrow, but I think you will find +everything satisfactory.' + +'I am sure of that, Madame,' returned Vandeloup, with a bow. + +'And now,' said Madame Midas, graciously, relaxing somewhat now that +business was over, 'you had better have some supper.' + +Pierre's face lighted up when he heard this invitation, and +Vandeloup bowed politely. + +'You are very kind,' he said, looking at Mrs Villiers in a friendly +manner; 'supper is rather a novelty to both of us.' + +Selina meanwhile had gone out, and returned with some cold beef and +pickles, a large loaf and a jug of beer. These she placed on the +table, and then retired to her seat again, inwardly rebellious at +having two tramps at the table, but outwardly calm. + +Pierre fell upon the victuals before him with the voracity of a +starving animal, and ate and drank in such a savage manner that +Madame was conscious of a kind of curious repugnance, and even +Archie was startled out of his Scotch phlegm. + +'I wadna care aboot keepin' yon long,' he muttered to himself; 'he's +mair like a cannibal nor a ceevalized body.' + +Vandeloup, however, ate very little and soon finished; then filling +a glass with beer, he held it to his lips and bowed again to Madame +Midas. + +'To your health, Madame,' he said, drinking. + +Mrs Villiers bowed courteously. This young man pleased her. She was +essentially a woman with social instincts, and the appearance of +this young and polished stranger in the wilds of the Pactolus claim +promised her a little excitement. It was true that every now and +then, when she caught a glimpse from his scintillating eyes, she was +conscious of a rather unpleasant sensation, but this she put down to +fancy, as the young man's manners were really charming. + +When the supper was ended, Pierre pushed back his chair into the +shadow and once more relapsed into his former gloom, but Vandeloup +stood up and looked towards Madame in a hesitating manner. + +'I'm afraid, Madame, we disturb you,' he murmured vaguely, though in +his heart he wished to stay in this pleasant room and talk to such a +handsome woman; 'we had best be going.' + +'Not at all,' answered Madame, graciously, 'sit down; you and your +friend can sleep in the men's quarters to-night, and to-morrow we +will see if we can't provide you with a better resting-place.' + +Vandeloup murmured something indistinctly, and then resumed his +seat. + +'Meanwhile,' said Mrs Villiers, leaning back in her chair, and +regarding him fixedly, 'tell me all about yourselves.' + +'Alas, Madame,' answered Vandeloup, with a charming smile and +deprecating shrug of his shoulders, 'there is not much to tell. I +was brought up in Paris, and, getting tired of city life, I came out +to India to see a little of the world; then I went over to Borneo, +and was coming down to Australia, when our vessel was wrecked and +all on board were drowned but myself and this fellow,' pointing to +Pierre, 'who was one of the sailors. We managed to get a boat, and +after tossing about for nearly a week we were cast up on the coast +of Queensland, and from thence came to Melbourne. I could not get +work there, neither could my friend, and as we heard of Ballarat we +came up here to try to get employment, and our lines, Madame,'--with +another bow--'have fallen in a pleasant place.' + +'What a dreadful chapter of accidents,' said Madame, coolly looking +at him to see if he was speaking the truth, for experience of her +husband had inspired her with an instinctive distrust of men. +Vandeloup, however, bore her scrutiny without moving a muscle of his +face, so Madame at last withdrew her eyes, quite satisfied that his +story was true. + +'Is there no one in Paris to whom you can write?' she asked, after a +pause. + +'Luckily, there is,' returned Gaston, 'and I have already sent a +letter, asking for a remittance, but it takes time to get an answer, +and as I have lost all my books, papers, and money, I must just wait +for a few months, and, as I have to live in the meantime, I am glad +to obtain work.' + +'Still, your consul--' began Mrs Villiers. + +'Alas, Madame, what can I say--how can I prove to him that I am what +I assert to be? My companion is dumb and cannot speak for me, and, +unluckily, he can neither read nor write. I have no papers to prove +myself, so my consul may think me--what you call--a scamp. No; I +will wait till I receive news from home, and get to my own position +again; besides,' with a shrug, 'after all, it is experience.' + +'Experience,' said Madame, quietly, 'is a good schoolmaster, but the +fees are somewhat high.' + +'Ah!' said Vandeloup, with a pleased look, 'you know Heine, I +perceive, Madame. I did not know he was read out here.' + +'We are not absolute barbarians, M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, with a +smile, as she arose and held out her hand to the young man; 'and now +good night, for I am feeling tired, and I will see you to-morrow. Mr +McIntosh will show you where you are to sleep.' + +Vandeloup took the hand she held out to him and pressed it to his +lips with a sudden gesture. 'Madame,' he said, passionately, 'you +are an angel, for to-day you have saved the lives of two men.' + +Madame snatched her hand away quickly, and a flush of annoyance +spread over her face as she saw how Selina and Archie stared. +Vandeloup, however, did not wait for her answer, but went out, +followed by Pierre. Archie put on his hat and walked out after them, +while Madame Midas stood looking at Selina with a thoughtful +expression of countenance. + +'I don't know if I've done a right thing, Selina,' she said, at +length; 'but as they were starving I could hardly turn them away.' + +'Cast your bread on the waters and it shall come back after many +days--buttered,' said Selina, giving her own version of the text. + +Madame laughed. + +'M. Vandeloup talks well,' she observed. + +'So did HE,' replied Selina, with a sniff, referring to Mr Villiers; +'once bitten, twice shy.' + +'Quite right, Selina,' replied Mrs Villiers, coolly; 'but you are +going too fast. I'm not going to fall in love with my servant.' + +'You're a woman,' retorted Selina, undauntedly, for she had not much +belief in her own sex. + +'Yes, who has been tricked and betrayed by a man,' said Madame, +fiercely; 'and do you think because I succour a starving human being +I am attracted by his handsome face? You ought to know me better +than that, Selina. I have always been true to myself,' and without +another word she left the room. + +Selina stood still for a moment, then deliberately put away her +work, slapped the cat in order to relieve her feelings, and poked +the fire vigorously. + +'I don't like him,' she said, emphasizing every word with a poke. +'He's too smooth and handsome, his eyes ain't true, and his tongue's +too smart. I hate him.' + +Having delivered herself of this opinion, she went to boil some +water for Mr McIntosh, who always had some whisky hot before going +to bed. + +Selina was right in her estimate of Vandeloup, and, logically +argued, the case stood thus:-- + +Some animals of a fine organization have an instinct which warns +them to avoid approaching danger. + +Woman is one of these finely-organized animals. ERGO-- + +Let no woman go contrary to her instinct. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MAMMON'S TREASURE HOUSE + + +At the foot of the huge mound of white mulloch which marked the site +of the Pactolus Mine was a long zinc-roofed building, which was +divided into two compartments. In one of these the miners left their +clothes, and put on rough canvas suits before going down, and here +also they were searched on coming up in order to see if they had +carried away any gold. From this room a long, narrow passage led to +the top of the shaft, so that any miner having gold concealed upon +him could not throw it away and pick it up afterwards, but had to go +right into the searching room from the cage, and could not possibly +hide a particle without being found out by the searchers. The other +room was the sleeping apartment of such miners as stayed on the +premises, for the majority of the men went home to their families +when their work was done. + +There were three shifts of men on the Pactolus during the twenty- +four hours, and each shift worked eight hours at a time--the first +going on at midnight and knocking off at eight in the morning, the +second commencing at eight and ending at four in the afternoon, and +the third starting at four and lasting until midnight again, when +the first shift of men began anew. + +Consequently, when M. Vandeloup awoke next morning at six o'clock +the first shift were not yet up, and some of the miners who had to +go on at eight were sleeping heavily in their beds. The sleeping +places were berths, ranging along two sides of the room, and divided +into upper and lower compartments like those on shipboard. + +Gaston having roused himself naturally wanted to see where he was, +so rubbing his eyes and yawning he leaned on his elbow and took a +leisurely survey of his position. + +He saw a rather large room lighted at regular intervals by three +square windows, and as these were uncurtained, the cold, searching +light of daybreak was slowly stealing through them into the +apartment, and all the dusky objects therein were gradually +revealing themselves in the still light. He could hear the heavy, +monotonous breathing of the men, and the restless turning and +tossing of those who could not sleep. + +Gaston yawned once or twice, then feeling disinclined for any more +sleep, he softly put on his clothes, so as not to awake Pierre, who +slept in the berth below, and descending from his sleeping-place +groped his way to the door and went out into the cool fragrant +morning. + +There was a chill wind blowing from the bush, bringing with it a +faint aromatic odour, and on glancing downwards he saw that the +grass was wet with dew. The dawn was burning redly in the east, and +the vivid crimson of the sky put him in mind of that sunset under +which he had landed with his companion on the Queensland coast. +Suddenly a broad shaft of yellow light broke into the pale pink of +the sky, and with a burst of splendour the sun rose slowly into +sight from behind the dark bush, and all the delicate workings of +the dawn disappeared in the flood of golden light which poured over +the landscape. + +Vandeloup looked idly at all this beauty with an unobservant eye, +being too much occupied with his thoughts to take notice of +anything; and it was only when two magpies near him broke into a +joyous duet, in which each strove to emulate the other's mellow +notes, that he awoke from his brown study, and began to walk back +again to the mine. + +'I must let nothing stand in my way to acquire money,' he said, +musingly; 'with it one can rule the world; without it--but how trite +and bald these well-worn maxims seem! Why do I repeat them, parrot- +like, when I see what I have to do so clearly before me? That +woman, for instance--I must begin by making her my friend. Bah! she +is that already; I saw it in her eyes, which she can't control as +she does her face. Yes, I must make her my friend; my very dear +friend--and then--well, to my mind, the world-pivot is a woman. I +will spare no one in order to attain my ends--I will make myself my +own God, and consider no one but myself, and those who stand in my +path must get out of it or run the chance of being crushed. This,' +with a cynical smile, 'is what some would call the devil's +philosophy; at all events, it is good enough for me.' + +He was near the mine by this time, and hearing someone calling to +him he looked up, and saw McIntosh walking towards him. There was a +stir in the men's quarters now, and he could see the door was open +and several figures were moving briskly about, while a number of +others were crossing the fields. The regular beat of the machinery +still continued, and the smoke was pouring out thick and black from +the tall red chimney, while the wheels were spinning round in the +poppet-heads as the mine slowly disgorged the men who had been +working all night. + +McIntosh came slowly along with his hands in his pockets and a +puzzled look on his severe face. He could not make up his mind +whether to like or dislike this young man, but Madame Midas had +seemed so impressed that he had half made up his mind to dislike him +out of a spirit of contradiction. + +'Weemen are sae easy pleased, puir feckless bodies,' he said to +himself, 'a bonny face is a' they fash their heads aboot, though the +same may be already in the grip of auld Nickyben. Weel, weel, if +Madam does fancy the lad--an' he's no bad lookin', I'll say that-- +she may just hae her ain way, and I'll keep my e'e on baith.' + +He looked grimly at the young man as he came briskly forward with a +gay smile. + +'Ye're a verra early bird,' he said, fondling his frill of white +hair, and looking keenly at the tall, slim figure of the Frenchman. + +'Case of "must", my friend,' returned Vandeloup, coolly; 'it's only +rich men can afford to be in bed, not poor devils like me.' + +'You're no muckle like ither folk,' said the suspicious old +Scotchman, with a condemnatory sniff. + +'Of that I am glad,' retorted Vandeloup, with suavity, as he walked +beside him to the men's quarters. 'What a horrible thing to be the +duplicate of half-a-dozen other men. By the way,' breaking off into +a new subject, 'Madame Midas is charming.' + +'Aye, aye,' said Archie, jealously, 'we ken all aboot they French- +fangled way o' gieing pretty words, and deil a scrap of truth in ony +o' them.' + +Gaston was about to protest that he said no more than he felt, which +was indeed the truth, but Archie impatiently hurried him off to +breakfast at the office, as he declared himself famishing. They made +a hearty meal, and, having had a smoke and a talk, prepared to go +below. + +First of all, they arrayed themselves in underground garments--not +grave clothes, though the name is certainly suggestive of the +cemetery--which consisted of canvas trousers, heavy boots, blue +blouses of a rough woollen material, and a sou'wester each. Thus +accoutred, they went along to the foot of the poppet heads, and +Archie having opened a door therein, Vandeloup saw the mouth of the +shaft yawning dark and gloomy at his feet. As he stood there, gazing +at the black hole which seemed to pierce down into the entrails of +the earth, he turned round to take one last look at the sun before +descending to the nether world. + +This is quite a new experience to me,' he said, as they stepped into +the wet iron cage, which had ascended to receive them in answer to +Archie's signal, and now commenced to drop down silently and swiftly +into the pitchy darkness. 'It puts me in mind of Jules Verne's +romances.' + +Archie did not reply, for he was too much occupied in lighting his +candle to answer, and, moreover, knew nothing about romances, and +cared still less. So they went on sliding down noiselessly into the +gloom, while the water, falling from all parts of the shaft, kept +splashing constantly on the top of the cage and running in little +streams over their shoulders. + +'It's like a nightmare,' thought the Frenchman, with a nervous +shudder, as he saw the wet walls gleaming in the faint light of the +candle. 'Worthy of Dante's "Inferno".' + +At last they reached the ground, and found themselves in the main +chamber, from whence the galleries branched off to east and west. + +It was upheld on all sides by heavy wooden supports of bluegum and +stringy bark, the scarred surfaces of which made them look like the +hieroglyphic pillars in old Egyptian temples. The walls were +dripping with damp, and the floor of the chamber, though covered +with iron plates, was nearly an inch deep with yellow-looking water, +discoloured by the clay of the mine. Two miners in rough canvas +clothes were waiting here, and every now and then a trolly laden +with wash would roll suddenly out of one of the galleries with a +candle fastened in front of it, and would be pushed into the cage +and sent up to the puddlers. Round the walls candles fastened to +spikes were stuck into the woodwork, and in their yellow glimmer the +great drops of water clinging to the roof and sides of the chamber +shone like diamonds. + +'Aladdin's garden,' observed Vandeloup, gaily, as he lighted his +candle at that of Archie's and went towards the eastern gallery, +'only the jewels are not substantial enough.' + +Archie showed the Frenchman how to carry his candle in the miner's +manner, so that it could not go out, which consisted in holding it +low down between the forefinger and third finger, so that the hollow +palm of the hand formed a kind of shield; and then Vandeloup, +hearing the sound of falling water close to him, asked what it was, +whereupon Archie explained it was for ventilating purposes. The +water fell the whole height of the mine through a pipe into a +bucket, and a few feet above this another pipe was joined at right +angles to the first and stretched along the gallery near the roof +like a never-ending serpent right to the end of the drive. The air +was driven along this by the water, and then, being released from +the pipe, returned back through the gallery, so that there was a +constant current circulating all through the mine. + +As they groped their way slowly along, their feet splashed into +pools of yellow clayey water at the sides of the drive, or stumbled +over the rough ground and rugged rails laid down for the trollies. +All along the gallery, at regular intervals, were posts of stringy +bark in a vertical position, while beams of the same were laid +horizontally across the top, but so low that Vandeloup had to stoop +constantly to prevent himself knocking his head against their +irregular projections. + +Clinging to these side posts were masses of white fungus, which the +miners use to remove discolorations from their hands, and from the +roof also it hung like great drifts of snow, agitated with every +breath of wind as the keen air, damped and chilled by the +underground darkness, rushed past them. Every now and then they +would hear a faint rumble in the distance, and Archie would drag his +companion to one side while a trolly laden with white, wet-looking +wash, and impelled by a runner, would roll past with a roaring and +grinding of wheels. + +At intervals on each side of the main drive black chasms appeared, +which Archie informed his companion were drives put in to test the +wash, and as these smaller galleries continued branching off, +Vandeloup thought the whole mine resembled nothing so much as a +herring-bone. + +Being accustomed to the darkness and knowing every inch of the way, +the manager moved forward rapidly, and sometimes Vandeloup lagged so +far behind that all he could see of his guide was the candle he +carried, shining like a pale yellow star in the pitchy darkness. At +last McIntosh went into one of the side galleries, and going up an +iron ladder fixed to the side of the wall, they came to a second +gallery thirty feet above the other, and branching off at right +angles. + +This was where the wash was to be found, for, as Archie informed +Vandeloup, the main drives of a mine were always put down thirty or +forty feet below the wash, and then they could work up to the higher +levels, the reason of this being that the leads had a downward +tendency, and it was necessary for the main drive to be sunk below, +as before mentioned, in order to get the proper levels and judge the +gutters correctly. At the top of the ladder they found some empty +trucks which had delivered their burden into a kind of shoot, +through which it fell to the lower level, and there another truck +was waiting to take it to the main shaft, from whence it went up to +the puddlers. + +Archie made Vandeloup get into one of these trucks, and though they +were all wet and covered with clay, he was glad to do so, and be +smoothly carried along, instead of stumbling over the rails and +splashing among the pools of water. Every now and then as they went +along there would be a gush of water from the dripping walls, which +was taken along in pipes to the main chamber, and from thence pumped +out of the mine by a powerful pump, worked by a beam engine, by +which means the mine was kept dry. + +At last, after they had gone some considerable distance, they saw +the dim light of a candle, and heard the dull blows of a pick, then +found themselves at the end of the drive, where a miner was working +at the wash. The wash wherein the gold is found was exceedingly well +defined, and represented a stratified appearance, being sandwiched +in between a bed of white pipe-clay and a top layer of brownish +earth, interspersed with gravel. Every blow of the pick sent forth +showers of sparks in all directions, and as fast as the wash was +broken down the runner filled up the trollies with it. After asking +the miner about the character of the wash, and testing some himself +in a shovel, Archie left the gallery, and going back to the shoot, +they descended again to the main drive, and visited several other +faces of wash, the journey in each instance being exactly the same +in all respects. Each face had a man working at it, sometimes two, +and a runner who loaded the trucks, and ran them along to the +shoots. In spite of the ventilation, Vandeloup felt as if he was in +a Turkish bath, and the heat was in some places very great. At the +end of one of the drives McIntosh called Vandeloup, and on going +towards him the young man found him seated on a truck with the plan +of the mine before him, as he wanted to show him all the +ramifications of the workings. + +The plan looked more like a map of a city than anything else, with +the main drive doing duty as the principal street, and all the +little galleries, branching off in endless confusion, looked like +the lanes and alleys of a populous town. + +'It's like the catacombs in Rome,' said Vandeloup to McIntosh, after +he had contemplated the plan for some time; 'one could easily get +lost here.' + +'He micht,' returned McIntosh, cautiously, 'if he didna ken a' aboot +the lie of the mine--o'er yonder,' putting one finger on the plan +and pointing with the other to the right of the tunnel; 'we found a +twenty-ounce nugget yesterday, and ain afore that o' twenty-five, +and in the first face we were at twa months ago o'er there,' +pointing to the left, 'there was yin big ain I ca'd the Villiers +nugget, which as ye ken is Madame's name.' + +'Oh, yes, I know that,' said Vandeloup, much interested; 'do you +christen all your nuggets?' + +'If they're big enough,' replied Archie. + +'Then I hope you will find a hundred-ounce lump of gold, and call it +the Vandeloup,' returned the young man, laughing. + +There's mony a true word spoke in jest, laddie,' said Archie, +gravely; 'when we get to the Deil's Lead we may find ain o' that +size.' + +'What do you mean by leads?' asked Vandeloup, considerably puzzled. + +Thereupon Archie opened his mouth, and gave the young man a +scientific lecture on mining, the pith of which was as follows:-- + +'Did ye no ken,' said Mr McIntosh, sagaciously, 'in the auld days--I +winna say but what it micht be as far back as the Fa' o' Man, may be +a wee bit farther--the rains washed a' the gold fra the taps o' the +hills, where the quartz reefs were, down tae the valleys below, +where the rivers ye ken were flowin'. And as the ages went on, an' +nature, under the guidance o' the Almighty, performed her work, the +river bed, wiv a' its gold, would be covered o'er with anither +formation, and then the river, or anither yin, would flow on a new +bed, and the precious metal would be washed fra the hills in the +same way as I tauld ye of, and the second river bed would be also +covered o'er, and sae the same game went on and is still +progressin'. Sae when the first miners came doon tae this land of +Ophir the gold they got by scratchin' the tap of the earth was the +latest deposit, and when ye gae doon a few hundred feet ye come on +the second river--or rather, I should say, the bed o' the former +river-and it is there that the gold is tae be found; and these +dried-up rivers we ca' leads. Noo, laddie, ye ma ken that at present +we are in the bed o' ain o' these auld streams three hun'red feet +frae the tap o' the earth, and it's here we get the gold, and as we +gae on we follow the wandrin's o' the river and lose sight o' it.' + +'Yes,' said Vandeloup quickly, 'but you lost this river you call the +Devil's Lead--how was that?' + +'Weel,' said Mr McIntosh, deliberately, 'rivers are varra like human +bein's in the queer twists they take, and the Deil's Lead seems to +hae been ain like that. At present we are on the banks o' it, where +we noo get these nuggets; but 'tis the bed I want, d'ye ken, the +centre, for its there the gold is; losh, man,' he went on, +excitedly, rising to his feet and rolling up the plan, 'ye dinna ken +how rich the Deil's Lead is; there's just a fortune in it." + +"I suppose these rivers must stop at a certain depth?" + +"Ou, ay," returned the old Scotchman, "we gae doon an' doon till we +come on what we ma ca' the primary rock, and under that there is +nothin'--except," with a touch of religious enthusiasm, "maybe 'tis +the bottomless pit, where auld Hornie dwells, as we are tauld in the +Screepture; noo let us gae up again, an' I'll show ye the puddlers +at wark." + +Vandeloup had not the least idea what the puddlers were, but +desirous of learning, he followed his guide, who led him into +another gallery, which formed a kind of loop, and joined again with +the main drive. As Gaston stumbled along, he felt a touch on his +shoulder, and on turning, saw it was Pierre, who had been put to +work with the other men, and was acting as one of the runners. + +"Ah! you are there, my friend," said Vandeloup, coolly, looking at +the uncouth figure before him by the feeble glimmer of his candle; +"work away, work away; it's not very pleasant, but at all events," +in a rapid whisper, "it's better than New Caledonia." + +Pierre nodded in a sullen manner, and went back to his work, while +Vandeloup hurried on to catch up to McIntosh, who was now far ahead. + +"I wish," said this pleasant young man to himself, as he stumbled +along, "I wish that the mine would fall in and crush Pierre; he's +such a dead weight to be hanging round my neck; besides, he has such +a gaol-bird look about him that it's enough to make the police find +out where he came from; if they do, good-bye to wealth and +respectability." + +He found Archie waiting for him at the entrance to the main drive, +and they soon arrived at the bottom of the shaft, got into the cage, +and at last reached the top of the earth again. Vandeloup drew a +long breath of the fresh pure air, but his eyes felt quite painful +in the vivid glare of the sun. + +"I don't envy the gnomes," he said gaily to Archie as they went on +to the puddlers; "they must have been subject to chronic +rheumatism." + +Mr McIntosh, not having an acquaintance with fairy lore, said +nothing in reply, but took Vandeloup to the puddlers, and showed all +the process of getting the gold. + +The wash was carried along in the trucks from the top of the shaft +to the puddlers, which were large circular vats into which water was +constantly gushing. The wash dirt being put into these, there was an +iron ring held up by chains, having blunt spikes to it, which was +called a harrow. Two of these being attached to beams laid crosswise +were dragged round and round among the wash by the constant +revolution of the cross-pieces. This soon reduced all the wash dirt +to a kind of fine, creamy-looking syrup, with heavy white stones in +it, which were removed every now and then by the man in charge of +the machine. Descending to the second story of the framework, +Vandeloup found himself in a square chamber, the roof of which was +the puddler. In this roof was a trap-door, and when the wash dirt +had been sufficiently mixed the trap-door was opened, and it was +precipitated through on to the floor of the second chamber. A kind +of broad trough, running in a slanting direction and called a +sluice, was on one side, and into this a quantity of wash was put, +and a tap at the top turned on, which caused the water to wash the +dirt down the sluice. Another man at the foot, with a pitchfork, +kept shifting up the stones which were mixed up with the gravel, and +by degrees all the surplus dirt was washed away, leaving only these +stones and a kind of fine black sand, in which the gold being heavy, +had stayed. This sand was carefully gathered up with a brush and +iron trowel into a shallow tin basin, and then an experienced miner +carefully manipulated the same with clear water. What with blowing +with the breath, and allowing the water to flow gently over it, all +the black sand was soon taken away, and the bottom of the tin dish +was then covered with dirty yellow grains of gold interspersed with +little water-worn nuggets. Archie took the gold and carried it down +to the office, where it was first weighed and then put into a little +canvas bag, which would be taken to the bank in Ballarat, and there +sold at the rate of four pounds an ounce or thereabouts. + +'Sae this, ye ken,' said Archie, when he had finished all his +explanations, 'is the way ye get gold.' + +'My faith,' said Vandeloup, carelessly, with a merry laugh, 'gold is +as hard to get in its natural state as in its artificial.' + +"An' harder," retorted Archie, "forbye there's nae sic wicked wark +aboot it." + +"Madame will be rich some day," remarked Vandeloup, as they left the +office and walked up towards the house. + +"Maybe she will," replied the other, cautiously. "Australia's a +gran' place for the siller, ye ken. I'm no verra far wrang but what +wi' industry and perseverance ye may mak a wee bit siller yersel', +laddie." + +"It won't be my fault if I don't," returned M. Vandeloup, gaily; +"and Madame Midas," he added, mentally, "will be an excellent person +to assist me in doing so." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +KITTY + + +Gaston Vandeloup having passed all his life in cities found that his +existence on the Pactolus claim was likely to be very dreary. Day +after day he arose in the morning, did his office work, ate his +meals, and after a talk with Madame Midas in the evening went to bed +at ten o'clock. Such Arcadian simplicity as this was not likely to +suit the highly cultivated tastes he had acquired in his earlier +life. As to the episode of New Caledonia M. Vandeloup dismissed it +completely from his mind, for this young man never permitted his +thoughts to dwell on disagreeable subjects. + +His experiences as a convict had been novel but not pleasant, and he +looked upon the time which had elapsed since he left France in the +convict ship to the day he landed on the coast of Queensland in an +open boat as a bad nightmare, and would willingly have tried to +treat it as such, only the constant sight of his dumb companion, +Pierre Lemaire, reminded him only too vividly of the reality of his +trouble. Often and often did he wish that Pierre would break his +neck, or that the mine would fall in and crush him to death; but +nothing of the sort happened, and Pierre continued to vex his eyes +and to follow him about with a dog-like fidelity which arose--not +from any love of the young man, but--from the fact that he found +himself a stranger in a strange land, and Vandeloup was the only +person he knew. With such a millstone round his neck, the young +Frenchman often despaired of being able to get on in Australia. +Meanwhile he surrendered himself to the situation with a kind of +cynical resignation, and looked hopefully forward to the time when a +kind Providence would rid him of his unpleasant friend. + +The feelings of Madame Midas towards Vandeloup were curious. She had +been a very impressionable girl, and her ill-fated union with +Villiers had not quite succeeded in deadening all her feelings, +though it had doubtless gone a good way towards doing so. Being of +an appreciative nature, she liked to hear Vandeloup talk of his +brilliant life in Paris, Vienna, London, and other famous cities, +which to her were merely names. For such a young man he had +certainly seen a great deal of life, and, added to this, his skill +as a talker was considerable, so that he frequently held Madame, +Selina, and McIntosh spell-bound by his fairy-like descriptions and +eloquent conversation. Of course, he only talked of the most general +subjects to Mrs Villiers, and never by any chance let slip that he +knew the seamy side of life--a side with which this versatile young +gentleman was pretty well acquainted. As a worker, Gaston was +decidedly a success. Being quick at figures and easily taught +anything, he soon mastered all the details of the business connected +with the Pactolus claim, and Madame found that she could leave +everything to him with perfect safety, and could rely on all matters +of business being well and promptly attended to. But she was too +clever a woman to let him manage things himself, or even know how +much she trusted him; and Vandeloup knew that whatever he did those +calm dark eyes were on him, and that the least slip or neglect on +his part would bring Madame Midas to his side with her quiet voice +and inflexible will to put him right again. + +Consequently the Frenchman was careful not to digress or to take too +much upon himself, but did his work promptly and carefully, and soon +became quite indispensable to the work of the mine. In addition to +this he had made himself very popular with the men, and as the +months rolled on was looked upon quite as a fixture in the Pactolus +claim. + +As for Pierre Lemaire, he did his work well, ate and slept, and kept +his eye on his companion in case he should leave him in the lurch; +but no one would have guessed that the two men, so different in +appearance, were bound together by a guilty secret, or were, morally +speaking, both on the same level as convicts from a French prison. + +A whole month had elapsed since Madame had engaged M. Vandeloup and +his friend, but as yet the Devil's Lead had not been found. Madame, +however, was strong in her belief that it would soon be discovered, +for her luck--the luck of Madame Midas--was getting quite a proverb +in Ballarat. + +One bright morning Vandeloup was in the office running up endless +columns of figures, and Madame, dressed in her underground garments, +was making ready to go below, just having stepped in to see Gaston. + +'By the way, M. Vandeloup,' she said in English, for it was only in +the evenings they spoke French, 'I am expecting a young lady this +morning, so you can tell her I have gone down the mine, but will be +back in an hour if she will wait for me.' + +'Certainly, Madame,' said Vandeloup, looking up with his bright +smile; 'and the young lady's name?' + +'Kitty Marchurst,' replied Madame, pausing a moment at the door of +the office; 'she is the daughter of the Rev. Mark Marchurst, a +minister at Ballarat. I think you will like her, M. Vandeloup,' she +went on, in a conversational tone; 'she is a charming girl--only +seventeen, and extremely pretty.' + +'Then I am sure to like her,' returned Gaston, gaily; 'I never could +resist the charm of a pretty woman.' + +'Mind,' said Madame, severely, holding up her finger, 'you must not +turn my favourite's head with any of your idle compliments; she has +been very strictly brought up, and the language of gallantry is +Greek to her.' + +Vandeloup tried to look penitent, and failed utterly. + +'Madame,' he said, rising from his seat, and gravely bowing, 'I will +speak of nothing to Mademoiselle Kitty but of the weather and the +crops till you return.' + +Madame laughed pleasantly. + +'You are incorrigible, M. Vandeloup,' she said, as she turned to go. +'However, don't forget what I said, for I trust you.' + +When Mrs Villiers had gone, closing the office door after her, +Gaston was silent for a few minutes, and then burst out laughing. + +'She trusts me,' he said, in a mocking tone. 'In heaven's name, why? +I never did pretend to be a saint, and I'm certainly not going to be +one because I'm put on my word of honour. Madame,' with an ironical +bow in the direction of the closed door, 'since you trust me I will +not speak of love to this bread-and-butter miss, unless she proves +more than ordinarily pretty, in which case,' shrugging his +shoulders, 'I'm afraid I must betray your trust, and follow my own +judgment.' + +He laughed again, and then, going back to his desk, began to add up +his figures. At the second column, however, he paused, and commenced +to sketch faces on the blotting paper. + +'She's the daughter of a minister,' he said, musingly. 'I can guess, +then, what like she is--prim and demure, like a caricature by Cham. +In that case she will be safe from me, for I could never bear an +ugly woman. By the way, I wonder if ugly women think themselves +pretty; their mirrors must lie most obligingly if they do. There was +Adele, she was decidedly plain, not to say ugly, and yet so +brilliant in her talk. I was sorry she died; yes, even though she +was the cause of my exile to New Caledonia. Bah! it is always a +woman one has to thank for one's misfortunes--curse them; though why +I should I don't know, for they have always been good friends to me. +Ah, well, to return to business, Mademoiselle Kitty is coming, and I +must behave like a bear in case she should think my intentions are +wrong.' + +He went to work on the figures again, when suddenly he heard a high +clear voice singing outside. At first he thought it was a bird, but +no bird could execute such trills and shakes, so by the time the +voice arrived at the office door M. Vandeloup came to the conclusion +that the owner of the voice was a woman, and that the woman was Miss +Kitty Marchurst. + +He leaned back in his chair and wondered idly if she would knock at +the door or enter without ceremony. The latter course was the one +adopted by Miss Marchurst, for she threw open the door and stood +there blushing and pouting at the embarrassing situation in which +she now found herself. + +'I thought I would find Mrs Villiers here,' she said, in a low, +sweet voice, the peculiar timbre of which sent a thrill through +Gaston's young blood, as he arose to his feet. Then she looked up, +and catching his dark eyes fixed on her with a good deal of +admiration in them, she looked down and commenced drawing figures on +the dusty floor with the tip of a very dainty shoe. + +'Madame has gone down the mine,' said M. Vandeloup, politely, 'but +she desired me to say that she would be back soon, and that you were +to wait here, and I was to entertain you;' then, with a grave bow, +he placed the only chair in the office at the disposal of his +visitor, and leaned up against the mantelpiece in an attitude of +unstudied grace. Miss Marchurst accepted his offer, and depositing +her small person in the big cane chair, she took furtive glances at +him, while Gaston, whose experience of women was by no means +limited, looked at her coolly, in a manner which would have been +rude but for the charming smile which quivered upon his lips. + +Kitty Marchurst was a veritable fairy in size, and her hands and +feet were exquisitely formed, while her figure had all the plumpness +and roundness of a girl of seventeen--which age she was, though she +really did not look more than fourteen. An innocent child-like face, +two limpid blue eyes, a straight little nose, and a charming rose- +lipped mouth were Kitty's principal attractions, and her hair was +really wonderful, growing all over her head in crisp golden curls. +Child-like enough her face looked in repose, but with the smile came +the woman--such a smile, a laughing merry expression such as the +Greeks gave to Hebe. Dressed in a rough white dress trimmed with +pale blue ribbons, and her golden head surmounted by a sailor hat, +with a scarf of the same azure hue tied around it, Kitty looked +really charming, and Vandeloup could hardly restrain himself from +taking her up in his arms and kissing her, so delightfully fresh and +piquant she appeared. Kitty, on her side, had examined Gaston with a +woman's quickness of taking in details, and she mentally decided he +was the best-looking man she had ever seen, only she wished he would +talk. Shyness was not a part of her nature, so after waiting a +reasonable time for Vandeloup to commence, she determined to start +herself. + +'I'm waiting to be entertained,' she said, in a hurried voice, +raising her eyes; then afraid of her own temerity, she looked down +again. + +Gaston smiled a little at Kitty's outspoken remark, but remembering +Madame's injunction he rather mischievously determined to carry out +her desires to the letter. + +'It is a very nice day,' he said, gravely. Kitty looked up and +laughed merrily. + +'I don't think that's a very original remark,' she said coolly, +producing an apple from her pocket. 'If that's all you've got to +say, I hope Madame won't be long.' + +Vandeloup laughed again at her petulance, and eyed her critically as +she took a bit out of the red side of the apple with her white +teeth. + +'You like apples?' he asked, very much amused by her candour. + +'Pretty well,' returned Miss Marchurst, eyeing the fruit in a +disparaging manner; 'peaches are nicer; are Madame's peaches ripe?' +looking anxiously at him. + +'I think they are,' rejoined Gaston, gravely. + +'Then we'll have some for tea,' decided Kitty, taking another bite +out of her apple. + +'I'm going to stay to tea, you know,' she went on in a +conversational tone. 'I always stay to tea when I'm on a visit here, +and then Brown--that's our man,' in an explanatory manner, 'comes +and fetches me home.' + +'Happy Brown!' murmured Vandeloup, who really meant what he said. + +Kitty laughed, and blushed. + +'I've heard all about you,' she said, coolly, nodding to him. + +'Nothing to my disadvantage, I hope,' anxiously. + +'Oh dear, no: rather the other way,' returned Miss Marchurst, gaily. +'They said you were good-looking--and so you are, very good- +looking.' + +Gaston bowed and laughed, rather amused at the way she spoke, for he +was used to being flattered by women, though hardly in the outspoken +way of this country maiden. + +'She's been strictly brought up,' he muttered sarcastically, 'I can +see that. Eve before the fall in all her innocence.' + +'I don't like your eyes,' said Miss Kitty, suddenly. + +'What's the matter with them?' with a quizzical glance. + +'They look wicked.' + +'Ah, then they belie the soul within,' returned Vandeloup, +seriously. 'I assure you, I'm a very good young man.' + +Then I'm sure not to like you,' said Kitty, gravely shaking her +golden head. 'Pa's a minister, you know, and nothing but good young +men come to our house; they're all so horrid,' viciously, 'I hate +'em.' + +Vandeloup laughed so much at this that Kitty rose to her feet and +looked offended. + +'I don't know what you are laughing at,' she said, throwing her +half-eaten apple out of the door; 'but I don't believe you're a good +young man. You look awfully bad,' seriously. 'Really, I don't think +I ever saw anyone look so bad.' + +'Suppose you undertake my reformation?' suggested Vandeloup, +eagerly. + +'Oh! I couldn't; it wouldn't be right; but,' brightly, 'pa will.' + +'I don't think I'll trouble him,' said Gaston, hastily, who by no +means relished the idea. 'I'm too far gone to be any good.' + +She was about to reply when Madame Midas entered, and Kitty flew to +her with a cry of delight. + +'Why, Kitty,' said Madame, highly pleased, 'I am so glad to see you, +my dear; but keep off, or I'll be spoiling your dress.' + +'Yes, so you will,' said Kitty, retreating to a safe distance; 'what +a long time you have been.' + +'Have I, dear?' said Madame, taking off her underground dress; 'I +hope M. Vandeloup has proved a good substitute.' + +'Madame,' answered Vandeloup, gaily, as he assisted Mrs Villiers to +doff her muddy garments, 'we have been talking about the crops and +the weather.' + +'Oh, indeed,' replied Mrs Villiers, who saw the flush on Kitty's +cheek, and by no means approved of it; 'it must have been very +entertaining.' + +'Very!' assented Gaston, going back to his desk. + +'Come along, Kitty,' said Madame, with a keen glance at her clerk, +and taking Kitty's arm within her own, 'let us go to the house, and +see if we can find any peaches.' + +'I hope we'll find some big ones,' said Kitty, gluttonously, as she +danced along by the side of Mrs Villiers. + +'Temptation has been placed in my path in a very attractive form,' +said Vandeloup to himself, as he went back to those dreary columns +of figures, 'and I'm afraid that I will not be able to resist.' + +When he came home to tea he found Kitty was as joyous and full of +life as ever, in spite of the long hot afternoon and the restless +energy with which she had been running about. Even Madame Midas felt +weary and worn out by the heat of the day, and was sitting +tranquilly by the window; but Kitty, with bright eyes and restless +feet, followed Selina all over the house, under the pretence of +helping her, an infliction which that sage spinster bore with +patient resignation. + +After tea it was too hot to light the lamp, and even Selina let the +fire go out, while all the windows and doors were open to let the +cool night wind blow in. Vandeloup sat on the verandah with McIntosh +smoking cigarettes and listening to Madame, who was playing +Mendelssohn's 'In a Gondola', that dreamy melody full of the swing +and rhythmic movement of the waves. Then to please old Archie she +played 'Auld Lang Syne'--that tender caressing air which is one of +the most pathetic and heart-stirring melodies in the world. Archie +leaned forward with bowed head as the sad melody floated on the air, +and his thoughts went back to the heather-clad Scottish hills. And +what was this Madame was now playing, with its piercing sorrow and +sad refrain? Surely 'Farewell to Lochaber', that bitter lament of +the exile leaving bonny Scotland far behind. Vandeloup, who was not +attending to the music, but thinking of Kitty, saw two big tears +steal down McIntosh's severe face, and marvelled at such a sign of +weakness. + +'Sentiment from him?' he muttered, in a cynical tone; 'why, I should +have as soon expected blood from a stone.' + +Suddenly the sad air ceased, and after a few chords, Kitty commenced +to sing to Madame's accompaniment. Gaston arose to his feet, and +leaned up against the door, for she was singing Gounod's charming +valse from 'Mirella', the bird-like melody of which suited her high +clear voice to perfection. Vandeloup was rather astonished at +hearing this innocent little maiden execute the difficult valse with +such ease, and her shake was as rapid and true as if she had been +trained in the best schools of Europe. He did not know that Kitty +had naturally a very flexible voice, and that Madame had trained her +for nearly a year. When the song was ended Gaston entered the room +to express his thanks and astonishment, both of which Kitty received +with bursts of laughter. + +'You have a fortune in your throat, mademoiselle,' he said, with a +bow, 'and I assure you I have heard all the great singers of to-day +from Patti downwards.' + +'I have only been able to teach her very little,' said Madame, +looking affectionately at Miss Marchurst, who now stood by the +table, blushing at Vandeloup's praises, 'but when we find the +Devil's Lead I am going to send her home to Italy to study singing.' + +'For the stage?' asked Vandeloup. + +'That is as it may be,' replied Madame, enigmatically, 'but now, M. +Vandeloup, you must sing us something.' + +'Oh, does he sing?' said Kitty, joyously. + +'Yes, and play too,' answered Madame, as she vacated her seat at the +piano and put her arm round Kitty, 'sing us something from the +"Grand Duchess", Monsieur.' + +He shook his head. + +'Too gay for such an hour,' he said, running his fingers lightly +over the keys; 'I will give you something from "Faust".' + +He had a pleasant tenor voice, not very strong, but singularly pure +and penetrating, and he sang 'Salve Dinora', the exquisite melody of +which touched the heart of Madame Midas with a vague longing for +love and affection, while in Kitty's breast there was a feeling she +had never felt before. Her joyousness departed, her eyes glanced at +the singer in a half-frightened manner, and she clung closer to +Madame Midas as if she were afraid, as indeed she was. + +When Vandeloup finished the song he dashed into a riotous student +song which he had heard many a time in midnight Paris, and finally +ended with singing Alfred de Musset's merry little chanson, which he +thought especially appropriate to Kitty:-- + +Bonjour, Suzon, ma fleur des bois, Es-tu toujours la plus jolie, Je +reviens, tel que tu me vois, + +D'un grand votage en Italie. + +Altogether Kitty had enjoyed her evening immensely, and was quite +sorry when Brown came to take her home. Madame wrapped her up well +and put her in the buggy, but was rather startled to see her flushed +cheeks, bright eyes, and the sudden glances she stole at Vandeloup, +who stood handsome and debonair in the moonlight. + +'I'm afraid I've made a mistake,' she said to herself as the buggy +drove off. + +She had, for Kitty had fallen in love with the Frenchman. + +And Gaston? + +He walked back to the house beside Madame, thinking of Kitty, and +humming the gay refrain of the song he had been singing-- + +'Je passe devant ta maison Ouvre ta porte, Bonjour, Suzon.' + +Decidedly it was a case of love at first sight on both sides. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR VILLIERS PAYS A VISIT + + +Slivers and his friend Villiers were by no means pleased with the +existing state of things. In sending Vandeloup to the Pactolus +claim, they had thought to compromise Madame Midas by placing her in +the society of a young and handsome man, and counting on one of two +things happening--either that Madame would fall in love with the +attractive Frenchman, and seek for a divorce in order to marry him-- +which divorce Villiers would of course resist, unless she bribed him +by giving him an interest in the Pactolus--or that Villiers could +assume an injured tone and accuse Vandeloup of being his wife's +lover, and threaten to divorce her unless she made him her partner +in the claim. But they had both reckoned wrongly, for neither of +these things happened, as Madame was not in love with Vandeloup, and +acted with too much circumspection to give any opportunity for +scandal. Consequently, Slivers and Co., not finding matters going to +their satisfaction, met one day at the office of the senior partner +for the purpose of discussing the affair, and seeing what could be +done towards bringing Madame Midas to their way of thinking. + +Villiers was lounging in one of the chairs, dressed in a white linen +suit, and looked rather respectable, though his inflamed face and +watery eyes showed what a drunkard he was. He was sipping a glass of +whisky and water and smoking his pipe, while he watched Slivers +stumping up and down the office, swinging his cork arm vehemently to +and fro as was his custom when excited. Billy sat on the table and +eyed his master with a steady stare, or else hopped about among the +papers talking to himself. + +'You thought you were going to do big things when you sent that +jackadandy out to the Pactolus,' said Villiers, after a pause. + +'At any rate, I did something,' snarled Slivers, in a rage, 'which +is more than you did, you whisky barrel.' + +'Look here, don't you call names,' growled Mr Villiers, in a sulky +tone. 'I'm a gentleman, remember that.' + +'You were a gentleman, you mean,' corrected the senior partner, with +a malignant glance of his one eye. 'What are you now?' + +'A stockbroker,' retorted the other, taking a sip of whisky. + +'And a damned poor one at that,' replied the other, sitting on the +edge of the table, which position caused his wooden leg to stick +straight out, a result which he immediately utilized by pointing it +threateningly in the direction of Villiers. + +'Look here,' said that gentleman, suddenly sitting up in his chair +in a defiant manner, 'drop these personalities and come to business; +what's to be done? Vandeloup is firmly established there, but +there's not the slightest chance of my wife falling in love with +him.' + +'Wait,' said Slivers, stolidly wagging his wooden leg up and down; +'wait, you blind fool, wait.' + +'Wait for the waggon!' shrieked Billy, behind, and then supplemented +his remarks by adding, 'Oh, my precious mother!' as he climbed up on +Slivers' shoulder. + +'You always say wait,' growled Villiers, not paying any attention to +Billy's interruption; 'I tell you we can't wait much longer; they'll +drop on the Devil's Lead shortly, and then we'll be up a tree.' + +'Then, suppose you go out to the Pactolus and see your wife,' +suggested Slivers. + +'No go,' returned Villiers, gloomily, 'she'd break my head.' + +'Bah! you ain't afraid of a woman, are you?' snarled Slivers, +viciously. + +'No, but I am of McIntosh and the rest of them,' retorted Villiers. +'What can one man do against twenty of these devils. Why, they'd +kill me if I went out there; and that infernal wife of mine wouldn't +raise her little finger to save me.' + +'You're a devil!' observed Billy, eyeing Villiers from his perch on +Slivers' shoulder. 'Oh, Lord! ha! ha! ha!' going into fits of +laughter; then drawing himself suddenly up, he ejaculated 'Pickles!' +and shut up. + +'It's no good beating about the bush,' said the wooden-legged man, +getting down from the table. 'You go out near the claim, and see if +you can catch her; then give it to her hot.' + +'What am I to say?' asked Villiers, helplessly. + +Slivers looked at him with fiery scorn in his one eye. + +'Say!' he shrieked, waving his cork arm, 'talk about your darned +honour! Say she's dragging your noble name through the mud, and say +you'll divorce her if she don't give you half a share in the +Pactolus; that will frighten her.' + +'Pickles!' again ejaculated the parrot. + +'Oh, no, it won't,' said Villiers; 'Brag's a good dog, but he don't +bite. I've tried that game on before, and it was no go.' + +'Then try it your own way,' grumbled Slivers, sulkily, going to his +seat and pouring himself out some whisky. 'I don't care what you do, +as long as I get into the Pactolus, and once I'm in the devil +himself won't get me out.' + +Villiers thought a moment, then turned to go. + +'I'll try,' he said, as he went out of the door, 'but it's no go, I +tell you, she's stone,' and with a dismal nod he slouched away. + +'Stone, is she?' cried the old man, pounding furiously on the floor +with his wooden leg, 'then I'd smash her; I'd crush her; I'd grind +her into little bits, damn her,' and overcome by his rage, Slivers +shook Billy off his shoulder and took a long drink. + +Meanwhile Mr Villiers, dreading lest his courage should give way, +went to the nearest hotel and drank pretty freely so that he might +bring himself into an abnormal condition of bravery. Thus primed, he +went to the railway station, took the train to the Pactolus claim, +and on arriving at the end of his journey had one final glass of +whisky to steady his nerves. + +The last straw, however, breaks the camel's back, and this last +drink reduced Mr Villiers to that mixed state which is known in +colonial phrase as half-cocked. He lurched out of the hotel, and +went in the direction of the Pactolus claim. His only difficulty was +that, as a matter of fact, the solitary mound of white earth which +marked the entrance to the mine, suddenly appeared before his eyes +in a double condition, and he beheld two Pactolus claims, which +curious optical delusion rather confused him, inasmuch as he was +undecided to which he should go. + +'Itsh the drinksh,' he said at length, stopping in the middle of the +white dusty road, and looking preternaturally solemn; 'it maksh me +see double: if I see my wife, I'll see two of her, then'--with a +drunken giggle--'I'll be a bigamist.' + +This idea so tickled him, that he commenced to laugh, and, finding +it inconvenient to do so on his legs, he sat down to indulge his +humour freely. A laughing jackass perched on the fence at the side +of the road heard Mr Villiers' hilarity, and, being of a convivial +turn of mind itself, went off into fits of laughter also. On hearing +this echo Mr Villiers tried to get up, in order to punish the man +who mocked him, but, though his intentions were good, his legs were +unsteady, and after one or two ineffectual attempts to rise he gave +it up as a bad job. Then rolling himself a little to one side of the +dusty white road, he went sound asleep, with his head resting on a +tuft of green grass. In his white linen suit he was hardly +distinguishable in the fine white dust of the road, and though the +sun blazed hotly down on him and the mosquitos stung him, yet he +slept calmly on, and it was not till nearly four o'clock in the +afternoon that he woke up. He was more sober, but still not quite +steady, being in that disagreeable temper to which some men are +subject when suffering a recovery. Rising to his feet, with a hearty +curse, he picked up his hat and put it on; then, thrusting his hands +into his pockets, he slouched slowly along, bent upon meeting his +wife and picking a quarrel with her. + +Unluckily for Madame Midas, she had that day been to Ballarat, and +was just returning. She had gone by train, and was now leaving the +station and walking home to the Pactolus along the road. Being +absorbed in thought, she did not notice the dusty figure in front of +her, otherwise she would have been sure to have recognised her +husband, and would have given him a wide berth by crossing the +fields instead of going by the road. Mr Villiers, therefore, tramped +steadily on towards the Pactolus, and his wife tramped steadily +after him, until at last, at the turn of the road where it entered +her property, she overtook him. + +A shudder of disgust passed through her frame as she raised her eyes +and saw him, and she made a sudden gesture as though to fall behind +and thus avoid him. It was, however, too late, for Mr Villiers, +hearing footsteps, turned suddenly and saw the woman he had come to +see standing in the middle of the road. + +Husband and wife stood gazing at one another for a few moments in +silence, she looking at him with an expression of intense loathing +on her fine face, and he vainly trying to assume a dignified +carriage--a task which his late fit of drunkenness rendered +difficult. + +At last, his wife, drawing her dress together as though his touch +would have contaminated her, tried to pass, but on seeing this he +sprang forward, before she could change her position, and caught her +wrist. + +'Not yet!' he hissed through his clenched teeth; 'first you must +have a word with me.' + +Madame Midas looked around for aid, but no one was in sight. They +were some distance from the Pactolus, and the heat of the afternoon +being intense, every one was inside. At last Madame saw some man +moving towards them, down the long road which led to the station, +and knowing that Vandeloup had been into town, she prayed in her +heart that it might be he, and so prepared to parley with her +husband till he should come up. Having taken this resolution, she +suddenly threw off Villiers' grasp, and turned towards him with a +superb gesture of scorn. + +'What do you want?' she asked in a low, clear voice, but in a tone +of concentrated passion. + +'Money!' growled Villiers, insolently planting himself directly in +front of her, 'and I'm going to have it.' + +'Money!' she echoed, in a tone of bitter irony; 'have you not had +enough yet? Have you not squandered every penny I had from my father +in your profligacy and evil companions? What more do you want?' + +'A share in the Pactolus,' he said, sullenly. + +His wife laughed scornfully. 'A share in the Pactolus!' she echoed, +with bitter sarcasm, 'A modest request truly. After squandering my +fortune, dragging me through the mire, and treating me like a slave, +this man expects to be rewarded. Listen to me, Randolph Villiers,' +she said, fiercely, stepping up to him and seizing his hand, 'this +land we now stand on is mine--the gold underneath is mine; and if +you were to go on your knees to me and beg for a morsel of bread to +save you from starving, I would not lift one finger to succour you.' + +Villiers writhed like a snake under her bitter scorn. + +'I understand,' he said, in a taunting tone; 'you want it for your +lover.' + +'My lover? What do you mean?' + +'What I say,' he retorted boldly, 'all Ballarat knows the position +that young Frenchman holds in the Pactolus claim.' + +Mrs Villiers felt herself grow faint--the accusation was so +horrible. This man, who had embittered her life from the time she +married him, was still her evil genius, and was trying to ruin her +in the eyes of the world. The man she had seen on the road was now +nearly up to them, and with a revulsion of feeling she saw that it +was Vandeloup. Recovering herself with an effort, she turned and +faced him steadily. + +'You lied when you spoke just now,' she said in a quiet voice. 'I +will not lower myself to reply to your accusation; but, as there is +a God above us, if you dare to cross my path again, I will kill +you.' + +She looked so terrible when she said this that Villiers +involuntarily drew back, but recovering himself in a moment, he +sprang forward and caught her arm. + +'You devil! I'll make you pay for this,' and he twisted her arm till +she thought it was broken. 'You'll kill me, will you?--you!--you!' +he shrieked, still twisting her arm and causing her intense pain, +'you viper!' + +Suddenly, when Madame was almost fainting with pain, she heard a +shout, and knew that Vandeloup had come to the rescue. He had +recognised Madame Midas down the road, and saw that her companion +was threatening her; so he made all possible speed, and arrived just +in time. + +Madame turned round to see Vandeloup throw her husband into a ditch +by the side of the road, and walk towards her. He was not at all +excited, but seemed as cool and calm as if he had just been shaking +hands with Mr Villiers instead of treating him violently. + +'You had better go home, Madame,' he said, in his usual cool voice, +'and leave me to deal with this--gentleman; you are not hurt?' + +'Only my arm,' replied Mrs Villiers, in a faint voice; 'he nearly +broke it. But I can walk home alone.' + +'If you can, do so,' said Vandeloup, with a doubtful look at her. 'I +will send him away.' + +'Don't let him hurt you.' + +'I don't think there's much danger,' replied the young man, with a +glance at his arms, 'I'm stronger than I look.' + +'Thank you, Monsieur,' said Madame Midas, giving him her hand; 'you +have rendered me a great service, and one I will not forget.' + +He bent down and kissed her hand, which action was seen by Mr +Villiers as he crawled out of the ditch. When Madame Midas was gone +and Vandeloup could see her walking homeward, he turned to look for +Mr Villiers, and found him seated on the edge of the ditch, all +covered with mud and streaming with water--presenting a most +pitiable appearance. He regarded M. Vandeloup in a most malignant +manner, which, however, had no effect on that young gentleman, who +produced a cigarette, and having lighted it proceeded to talk. + +'I'm sorry I can't offer you one,' said Gaston, affably, 'but I +hardly think you would enjoy it in your present damp condition. If I +might be permitted to suggest anything,' with a polite smile, 'a +bath and a change of clothes would be most suitable to you, and you +will find both at Ballarat. I also think,' said Vandeloup, with an +air of one who thinks deeply, 'that if you hurry you will catch the +next train, which will save you a rather long walk.' + +Mr Villiers glared at his tormentor in speechless anger, and tried +to look dignified, but, covered as he was with mud, his effort was +not successful. + +'Do you know who I am?' he said at length, in a blustering manner. + +'Under some circumstances,' said M. Vandeloup, in a smooth voice, 'I +should have taken you for a mud bank, but as you both speak and +smile I presume you are a man of the lowest type; as you English +yourselves say--a blackguard.' + +'I'll smash you!' growled Villiers, stepping forward. + +'I wouldn't try if I were you,' retorted Vandeloup, with a +disparaging glance. 'I am young and strong, almost a total +abstainer; you, on the contrary, are old and flabby, with the +shaking nerves of an incurable drunkard. No, it would be hardly fair +for me to touch you.' + +'You dare not lay a finger on me,' said Villiers, defiantly. + +'Quite right,' replied Vandeloup, lighting another cigarette, +'you're rather too dirty for close companionship. I really think +you'd better go; Monsieur Sleeves no doubt expects you.' + +'And this is the man that I obtained work for,' said Mr Villiers, +addressing the air. + +'It's a very ungrateful world,' said Vandeloup, calmly, with a shrug +of his shoulders; 'I never expect anything from it; I'm sorry if you +do, for you are sure to be disappointed.' + +Villiers, finding he could make nothing out of the imperturbable +coolness of the young Frenchman, turned to go, but as he went, said +spitefully-- + +'You can tell my wife I'll pay her for this.' + +'Accounts are paid on Saturdays,' called out M. Vandeloup, gaily; +'if you call I will give you a receipt of the same kind as you had +to-day.' + +Villiers made no response, as he was already out of hearing, and +went on his way to the station with mud on his clothes and rage in +his heart. + +Vandeloup looked after him for a few minutes with a queer smile on +his lips, then turned on his heel and walked home, humming a song. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MADAME MIDAS STRIKES 'ILE' + + +Aesop knew human nature very well when he wrote his fable of the old +man and his ass, who tried to please everybody and ended up by +pleasing nobody. Bearing this in mind, Madame Midas determined to +please herself, and take no one's advice but her own with regard to +Vandeloup. She knew if she dismissed him from the mine it would give +colour to her husband's vile insinuations, so she thought the wisest +plan would be to take no notice of her meeting with him, and let +things remain as they were. It turned out to be the best thing she +could have done, for though Villiers went about Ballarat accusing +her of being the young Frenchman's mistress, everyone was too well +aware of existing circumstances to believe what he said. They knew +that he had squandered his wife's fortune, and that she had left him +in disgust at his profligacy, so they declined to believe his +accusations against a woman who had proved herself true steel in +withstanding bad fortune. So Mr Villiers' endeavours to ruin his +wife only recoiled on his own head, for the Ballarat folk argued, +and rightly, that whatever she did it was not his place to cast the +first stone at her, seeing that the unsatisfactory position she was +now in was mainly his own work. Villiers, therefore, gained nothing +by his attempt to blacken his wife's character except the contempt +of everyone, and even the few friends he had gained turned their +backs on him until no one would associate with him but Slivers, who +did so in order to gain his own ends. The company had quarrelled +over the unsuccessful result of Villiers' visit to the Pactolus, and +Slivers, as senior partner, assisted by Billy, called Villiers all +the names he could lay his tongue to, which abuse Villiers accepted +in silence, not even having the spirit to resent it. But though he +was outwardly sulky and quiet, yet within he cherished a deep hatred +against his wife for the contempt with which he was treated, and +inwardly vowed to pay her out on the first feasible opportunity. + +It was now nearly six months since Vandeloup had become clerk at the +Pactolus, and he was getting tired of it, only watching his +opportunity to make a little money and go to Melbourne, where he had +not much doubt as to his success. With a certain sum of money to +work on, M. Vandeloup thought that with his talents and experience +of human nature he would soon be able to make a fortune, +particularly as he was quite unfettered by any scruples, and as long +as he made money he did not care how he gained it. With such an +adaptable nature he could hardly help doing well, but in order to +give him the start he required a little capital, so stayed on at the +Pactolus and saved every penny he earned in the hope of soon +accumulating enough to leave. Another thing that kept him there was +his love for Kitty--not a very pure or elevating love certainly, +still it was love for all that, and Vandeloup could not tear himself +away from the place where she resided. + +He had called on Kitty's father, the Rev. Mark Marchurst, who lived +at the top of Black Hill, near Ballarat, and did not like him. Mr +Marchurst, a grave, quiet man, who was the pastor of a particular +sect, calling themselves very modestly 'The Elect', was hardly the +kind of individual to attract a brilliant young fellow like +Vandeloup, and the wonder was that he ever had such a charming +daughter. + +Kitty had fallen deeply in love with Vandeloup, so as he told her he +loved her in return, she thought that some day they would get +married. But nothing was farther from M. Vandeloup's thoughts than +marriage, even with Kitty, for he knew how foolish it would be for +him to marry before making a position. + +'I don't want a wife to drag me back,' he said to himself one day +when Kitty had hinted at matrimony; 'when I am wealthy it will be +time enough to think of marriage, but it will be long before I am +rich, and can I wait for Bebe all that time? Alas! I do not think +so.' + +The fact was, the young man was very liberal in his ideas, and +infinitely preferred a mistress to a wife. He had not any evil +designs towards Kitty, but her bright manner and charming face +pleased him, and he simply enjoyed the hours as they passed. She +idolised him, and Gaston, who was accustomed to be petted and +caressed by women, accepted all her affection as his due. Curiously +enough, Madame Midas, lynx-eyed as she was, never suspected the true +state of affairs. Vandeloup had told Kitty that no one was to know +of their love for one another, and though Kitty was dying to tell +Madame about it, yet she kept silent at his request, and acted so +indifferently towards him when under Mrs Villiers' eye, that any +doubts that lady had about the fascinations of her clerk soon +vanished. + +As to M. Vandeloup, the situation was an old one for him accustomed +as he had been to carry on with guilty wives under the very noses of +unsuspecting husbands, and on this occasion he acted admirably. He +was very friendly with Kitty in public--evidently looking upon her +as a mere child, although he made no difference in his manner. And +this innocent intrigue gave a piquant flavour to his otherwise dull +life. + +Meanwhile, the Devil's Lead was still undiscovered, many people +declaring it was a myth, and that such a lead had never existed. +Three people, however, had a firm belief in its existence, and were +certain it would be found some day--this trio being McIntosh, Madame +Midas, and Slivers. + +The Pactolus claim was a sort of Naboth's vineyard to Slivers, who, +in company with Billy, used to sit in his dingy little office and +grind his teeth as he thought of all the wealth lying beneath those +green fields. He had once even gone so far as to offer to buy a +share in the claim from Madame Midas, but had been promptly refused +by that lady--a circumstance which by no means added to his love for +her. + +Still the Devil's Lead was not found, and people were beginning to +disbelieve in its existence, when suddenly indications appeared +which showed that it was near at hand. Nuggets, some large, some +small, began to be constantly discovered, and every day news was +brought into Ballarat about the turning-up of a thirty-ounce or a +twenty-ounce nugget in the Pactolus, when, to crown all, the news +came and ran like wildfire through the city that a three hundred +ounce nugget had been unearthed. + +There was great excitement over this, as such a large one had not +been found for some time, and when Slivers heard of its discovery he +cursed and swore most horribly; for with his long experience of gold +mining, he knew that the long-looked for Devil's Lead was near at +hand. Billy, becoming excited with his master, began to swear also; +and these two companions cursed Madame Midas and all that belonged +to her most heartily. If Slivers could only have seen the interior +of Madame Midas's dining room, by some trick of necromancy, he would +certainly not have been able to do the subject justice in the +swearing line. + +There were present Madame Midas, Selina, McIntosh, and Vandeloup, +and they were all gathered round the table looking at the famous +nugget. There it lay in the centre of the table, a virgin mass of +gold, all water-worn and polished, hollowed out like a honeycomb, +and dotted over with white pebbles like currants in a plum pudding. + +'I think I'll send it to Melbourne for exhibition,' said Mrs +Villiers, touching the nugget very lightly with her fingers. + +''Deed, mum, and 'tis worth it,' replied McIntosh, whose severe face +was relaxed in a grimly pleasant manner; 'but losh! 'tis naething +tae what 'ull come oot o' the Deil's Lead.' + +'Oh, come, now,' said Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile, 'the +Devil's Lead won't consist of nuggets like that.' + +'Maybe no,' returned the old Scotchman, dryly; 'but every mickle +makes a muckle, and ye ken the Lead wull hae mony sma' nuggets, +which is mair paying, to my mind, than yin large ain.' + +'What's the time?' asked Madame, rather irrelevantly, turning to +Archie. + +Mr McIntosh drew out the large silver watch, which was part and +parcel of himself, and answered gravely that it was two o'clock. + +'Then I'll tell you what,' said Mrs Villiers, rising; 'I'll take it +in with me to Ballarat and show it to Mr Marchurst.' + +McIntosh drew down the corners of his mouth, for, as a rigid +Presbyterian, he by no means approved of Marchurst's heretical +opinions, but of course said nothing as Madame wished it. + +'Can I come with you, Madame?' said Vandeloup, eagerly, for he never +lost an opportunity of seeing Kitty if he could help it. + +'Certainly,' replied Madame, graciously; 'we will start at once.' + +Vandeloup was going away to get ready, when McIntosh stopped him. + +'That friend o' yours is gangin' awa' t' the toun the day,' he said, +touching Vandeloup lightly on the shoulder. + +'What for?' asked the Frenchman, carelessly. + +''Tis to see the play actors, I'm thinkin',' returned Archie, dryly. +'He wants tae stap all nicht i' the toun, so I've let him gae, an' +have tauld him to pit up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, the landlord o' +which is a freend o' mine.' + +'Very kind of you, I'm sure,' said Vandeloup, with a pleasant smile; +'but may I ask what play actors you refer to?' + +'I dinna ken anythin' about sic folk,' retorted Mr McIntosh, +piously, 'the deil's ain bairns, wha wull gang into the pit of +Tophet.' + +'Aren't you rather hard on them, Archie?' said Madame Midas, smiling +quietly. 'I'm very fond of the theatre myself.' + +'It's no for me to give ma opeenion about ma betters,' replied +Archie, ungraciously, as he went out to see after the horse and +trap; 'but I dinna care aboot sitting in the seat of the scornfu', +or walking in the ways of the unrighteous,' and with this parting +shot at Vandeloup he went away. + +That young man shrugged his shoulders, and looked at Madame Midas in +such a comical manner that she could not help smiling. + +'You must forgive Archie,' she said, pausing at the door of her +bedroom for a moment. 'He has been brought up severely, and it is +hard to rid oneself of the traditions of youth.' + +'Very traditional in this case, I'm afraid,' answered Gaston, +referring to McIntosh's age. + +'If you like,' said Madame, in a kindly tone, 'you can stay in to- +night yourself, and go to the theatre.' + +'Thank you, Madame,' replied Gaston, gravely. 'I will avail myself +of your kind permission.' + +'I'm afraid you will find an Australian provincial company rather a +change after the Parisian theatres,' said Mrs Villiers, as she +vanished into her room. + +Vandeloup smiled, and turned to Selina, who was busy about her +household work. + +'Mademoiselle Selina,' he said, gaily, 'I am in want of a proverb to +answer Madame; if I can't get the best I must be content with what I +can get. Now what piece of wisdom applies?' + +Selina, flattered at being applied to, thought a moment, then raised +her head triumphantly-- + +'"Half a loaf is better than none,"' she announced, with a sour +smile. + +'Mademoiselle,' said Vandeloup, gravely regarding her as he stood at +the door, 'your wisdom is only equalled by your charming +appearance,' and with an ironical bow he went out. + +Selina paused a moment in her occupation of polishing spoons, and +looked after him, doubtful as to whether he was in jest or earnest. +Being unable to decide, she resumed her work with a stifled chuckle, +and consoled herself with a proverb. + +'To be good is better than to be beautiful,' which saying, as +everyone knows, is most consoling to plain-looking people. + +The great nugget was carefully packed in a stout wooden box by +Archie, and placed in the trap by him with such caution that Madame, +who was already seated in it, asked him if he was afraid she would +be robbed. + +'It's always best to be on the richt side, mem,' said Archie, +handing her the reins; 'we dinna ken what may happen.' + +'Why, no one knows I am taking this to Ballarat to-day,' said +Madame, drawing on her gloves. + +'Don't they?' thought M. Vandeloup, as he took his seat beside her. +'She doesn't know that I've told Pierre.' + +And without a single thought for the woman whose confidence he was +betraying, and of whose bread and salt he had partaken, Vandeloup +shook the reins, and the horse started down the road in the +direction of Ballarat, carrying Madame Midas and her nugget. + +'You carry Caesar and his fortunes, M. Vandeloup,' she said, with a +smile. + +'I do better,' he answered, gaily, 'I carry Madame Midas and her +luck.' + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM + + +Mr Mark Marchurst was a very peculiar man. Brought up in the +Presbyterian religion, he had early displayed his peculiarity by +differing from the elders of the church he belonged to regarding +their doctrine of eternal punishment. They, holding fast to the +teachings of Knox and Calvin, looked upon him in horror for daring +to have an opinion of his own; and as he refused to repent and have +blind belief in the teachings of those grim divines, he was turned +out of the bosom of the church. Drifting to the opposite extreme, he +became a convert to Catholicism; but, after a trial of that ancient +faith, found it would not suit him, so once more took up a neutral +position. Therefore, as he did not find either religion perfectly in +accordance with his own views, he took the law into his own hands +and constructed one which was a queer jumble of Presbyterianism, +Catholicism, and Buddhism, of which last religion he was a great +admirer. As anyone with strong views and a clever tongue will find +followers, Mr Marchurst soon gathered a number of people around him +who professed a blind belief in the extraordinary doctrines he +promulgated. Having thus founded a sect he got sufficient money out +of them to build a temple--for so he called the barn-like edifice he +erected--and christened this new society which he had called into +existence 'The Elect'. About one hundred people were members of his +church, and with their subscriptions, and also having a little money +of his own, he managed to live in a quiet manner in a cottage on the +Black Hill near to his temple. Every Sunday he held forth morning +and evening, expounding his views to his sparse congregation, and +was looked upon by them as a kind of prophet. As a matter of fact, +the man had that peculiar power of fascination which seems to be +inseparable from the prophetic character, and it was his intense +enthusiasm and eloquent tongue that cast a spell over the simple- +minded people who believed in him. But his doctrines were too +shallow and unsatisfactory ever to take root, and it could be easily +seen that when Marchurst died 'The Elect' would die also,--that is, +as a sect, for it was not pervaded by that intense religious fervour +which is the life and soul of a new doctrine. The fundamental +principles of his religion were extremely simple; he saved his +friends and damned his enemies, for so he styled those who were not +of the same mind as himself. If you were a member of 'The Elect', Mr +Marchurst assured you that the Golden Gate was wide open for you, +whereas if you belonged to any other denomination you were lost for +ever; so according to this liberal belief, the hundred people who +formed his congregation would all go straight to Heaven, and all the +rest of mankind would go to the devil. + +In spite of the selfishness of this theory, which condemned so many +souls to perdition, Marchurst was a kindly natured man, and his +religion was more of an hallucination than anything else. He was +very clever at giving advice, and Madame Midas esteemed him highly +on this account. Though Marchurst had often tried to convert her, +she refused to believe in the shallow sophistries he set forth, and +told him she had her own views on religion, which views she declined +to impart to him, though frequently pressed to do so. The zealot +regretted this obstinacy, as, according to his creed, she was a lost +soul, but he liked her too well personally to quarrel with her on +that account, consoling himself with the reflection that sooner or +later, she would seek the fold. He was more successful with M. +Vandeloup, who, having no religion whatever, allowed Marchurst to +think he had converted him, in order to see as much as he could of +Kitty. He used to attend the Sunday services regularly, and +frequently came in during the week ostensibly to talk to Marchurst +about the doctrines of 'The Elect', but in reality to see the old +man's daughter. + +On this bright afternoon, when everything was bathed in sunshine, Mr +Marchurst, instead of being outside and enjoying the beauties of +Nature, was mewed up in his dismal little study, with curtains +closely drawn to exclude the light, a cup of strong tea, and the +Bible open at 'The Lamentations of Jeremiah'. His room was lined +with books, but they had not that friendly look books generally +have, but, bound in dingy brown calf, looked as grim and uninviting +as their contents, which were mostly sermons and cheerful +anticipations of the bottomless pit. It was against Marchurst's +principles to gratify his senses by having nice things around him, +and his whole house was furnished in the same dismal manner. + +So far did he carry this idea of mortifying the flesh through the +eyes that he had tried to induce Kitty to wear sad-coloured dresses +and poke bonnets; but in this attempt he failed lamentably, as Kitty +flatly refused to make a guy of herself, and always wore dresses of +the lightest and gayest description. + +Marchurst groaned over this display of vanity, but as he could do +nothing with the obdurate Kitty, he allowed her to have her own way, +and made a virtue of necessity by calling her his 'thorn in the +flesh'. + +He was a tall thin man, of a bleached appearance, from staying so +much in the dark, and so loosely put together that when he bowed he +did not as much bend as tumble down from a height. In fact, he +looked so carelessly fixed up that when he sat down he made the +onlooker feel quite nervous lest he should subside into a ruin, and +scatter his legs, arms, and head promiscuously all over the place. +He had a sad, pale, eager-looking face, with dreamy eyes, which +always seemed to be looking into the spiritual world. He wore his +brown hair long, as he always maintained a man's hair was as much +his glory as a woman's was hers, quoting Samson and Absalom in +support of this opinion. His arms were long and thin, and when he +gesticulated in the pulpit on Sundays flew about like a couple of +flails, which gave him a most unhappy resemblance to a windmill. The +'Lamentations of Jeremiah' are not the most cheerful of reading, and +Mr Marchurst, imbued with the sadness of the Jewish prophet, +drinking strong tea and sitting in a darkened room, was rapidly +sinking into a very dismal frame of mind, which an outsider would +have termed a fit of the blues. He sat in his straight-backed chair +taking notes of such parts of the 'Lamentations' as would tend to +depress the spirits of the 'Elect' on Sunday, and teach them to +regard life in a proper and thoroughly miserable manner. + +He was roused from his dismal musings by the quick opening of the +door of his study, when Kitty, joyous and gay in her white dress, +burst like a sunbeam into the room. + +"I wish, Katherine," said her father, in a severe voice, "I wish you +would not enter so noisily and disturb my meditations." + +"You'll have to put your meditations aside for a bit," said Kitty, +disrespectfully, crossing to the window and pulling aside the +curtains, "for Madame Midas and M. Vandeloup have come to see you." + +A flood of golden light streamed into the dusky room, and Marchurst +put his hand to his eyes for a moment, as they were dazzled by the +sudden glare. + +"They've got something to show you, papa," said Kitty, going back to +the door: "a big nugget--such a size--as large as your head." + +Her father put his hand mechanically to his head to judge of the +size, and was about to answer when Madame Midas, calm, cool, and +handsome, entered the room, followed by Vandeloup, carrying a wooden +box containing the nugget. It was by no means light, and Vandeloup +was quite thankful when he placed it on the table. + +"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mr Marchurst," said Madame, sitting +down and casting a glance at the scattered papers, the cup of tea, +and the open Bible, "but I couldn't help gratifying my vanity by +bringing the new nugget for you to see." + +"It's very kind of you, I'm sure," responded Mr Marchurst, politely, +giving way suddenly in the middle as if he had a hinge in his back, +which was his idea of a bow. "I hope this," laying his hand on the +box, "may be the forerunner of many such." + +"Oh, it will," said Vandeloup, cheerfully, "if we can only find the +Devil's Lead." + +"An unholy name," groaned Marchurst sadly, shaking his head. "Why +did you not call it something else?" + +"Simply because I didn't name it," replied Madame Midas, bluntly; +"but if the lead is rich, the name doesn't matter much." + +"Of course not," broke in Kitty, impatiently, being anxious to see +the nugget. "Do open the box; I'm dying to see it." + +"Katherine! Katherine!" said Marchurst, reprovingly, as Vandeloup +opened the box, "how you do exaggerate--ah!" he broke off his +exhortation suddenly, for the box was open, and the great mass of +gold was glittering in its depths. 'Wonderful!' + +'What a size!' cried Kitty, clapping her hands as Vandeloup lifted +it out and placed it on the table; 'how much is it worth?' + +'About twelve hundred pounds,' said Madame, quietly, though her +heart throbbed with pride as she looked at her nugget; 'it weighs +three hundred ounces.' + +'Wonderful!' reiterated the old man, passing his thin hand lightly +over the rough surface; 'verily the Lord hath hidden great treasure +in the entrails of the earth, and the Pactolus would seem to be a +land of Ophir when it yields such wealth as this.' + +The nugget was duly admired by everyone, and then Brown and Jane, +who formed the household of Marchurst, were called in to look at it. +They both expressed such astonishment and wonder, that Marchurst +felt himself compelled to admonish them against prizing the +treasures of earth above those of heaven. Vandeloup, afraid that +they were in for a sermon, beckoned quietly to Kitty, and they both +stealthily left the room, while Marchurst, with Brown, Jane, and +Madame for an audience, and the nugget for a text, delivered a short +discourse. + +Kitty put on a great straw hat, underneath which her piquant face +blushed and grew pink beneath the fond gaze of her lover as they +left the house together and strolled up to the Black Hill. + +Black Hill no doubt at one time deserved its name, being then +covered with dark trees and representing a black appearance at a +distance; but at present, owing to the mines which have been worked +there, the whole place is covered with dazzling white clay, or +mulloch, which now renders the title singularly inappropriate. On +the top of the hill there is a kind of irregular gully or pass, +which extends from one side of the hill to the other, and was cut in +the early days for mining purposes. Anything more extraordinary can +hardly be imagined than this chasm, for the sides, which tower up on +either side to the height of some fifty or sixty feet, are all pure +white, and at the top break into all sorts of fantastic forms. The +white surface of the rocks are all stained with colours which +alternate in shades of dark brown, bright red and delicate pink. +Great masses of rock have tumbled down on each side, often coming so +close together as to almost block up the path. Here and there in the +white walls can be seen the dark entrances of disused shafts; and +one, at the lowest level of the gully, pierces through the hill and +comes out on the other side. There is an old engine-house near the +end of the gully, with its red brick chimney standing up gaunt and +silent beside it, and the ugly tower of the winding gear adjacent. +All the machinery in the engine-house, with the huge wheels and +intricate mechanism, is silent now--for many years have elapsed +since this old shaft was abandoned by the Black Hill Gold Mining +Company. + +At the lower end of the pass there is an engine-house in full +working order, and a great plateau of slate-coloured mulloch runs +out for some yards, and then there is a steep sloping bank formed by +the falling earth. In the moonlight this wonderful white gully looks +weird and bizarre; and even as Vandeloup and Kitty stood at the top +looking down into its dusty depths in the bright sunshine, it looks +fantastic and picturesque. + +Seated on the highest point of the hill, under the shadow of a great +rock, the two lovers had a wonderful view of Ballarat. Here and +there they could see the galvanized iron roofs of the houses +gleaming like silver in the sunlight from amid the thick foliage of +the trees with which the city is studded. Indeed, Ballarat might +well be called the City of Trees, for seen from the Black Hill it +looks more like a huge park with a sprinkling of houses in it than +anything else. The green foliage rolls over it like the waves of the +ocean, and the houses rise up like isolated habitations. Now and +then a red brick building, or the slender white spire of a church +gave a touch of colour to the landscape, and contrasted pleasantly +with the bluish-white roofs and green trees. Scattered all through +the town were the huge mounds of earth marking the mining-shafts of +various colours, from dark brown to pure white, and beside them, +with the utmost regularity, were the skeleton towers of the poppet +heads, the tall red chimneys, and the squat, low forms of the +engine-houses. On the right, high up, could be seen the blue waters +of Lake Wendouree flashing like a mirror in the sunlight. The city +was completely encircled by the dark forests, which stretched far +away, having a reddish tinge over their trees, ending in a sharply +defined line against the clear sky; while, on the left arose Mount +Warreneip like an undulating mound and, further along, Mount +Bunniyong, with the same appearance. + +All this wonderful panorama, however, was so familiar to Kitty and +her lover that they did not trouble themselves to look much at it; +but the girl sat down under the big rock, and Vandeloup flung +himself lazily at her feet. + +'Bebe,' said Vandeloup, who had given her this pet name, 'how long +is this sort of life going to last?' + +Kitty looked down at him with a vague feeling of terror at her +heart. She had never known any life but the simple one she was now +leading, and could not imagine it coming to an end. + +'I'm getting tired of it,' said Vandeloup, lying back on the grass, +and, putting his hands under his head, stared idly at the blue sky. +'Unfortunately, human life is so short nowadays that we cannot +afford to waste a moment of it. I am not suited for a lotus-eating +existence, and I think I shall go to Melbourne.' + +'And leave me?' cried Kitty, in dismay, never having contemplated +such a thing as likely to happen. + +'That depends on yourself, Bebe,' said her lover, quickly rolling +over and looking steadily at her, with his chin resting on his +hands; 'will you come with me?' + +'As your wife?' murmured Kitty, whose innocent mind never dreamt of +any other form of companionship. + +Vandeloup turned away his face to conceal the sneering smile that +crept over it. His wife, indeed! as if he were going to encumber +himself with marriage before he had made a fortune, and even then it +was questionable as to whether he would surrender the freedom of +bachelorhood for the ties of matrimony. + +'Of course,' he said, in a reassuring tone, still keeping his face +turned away, 'we will get married in Melbourne as soon as we +arrive.' + +'Why can't papa marry us,' pouted Kitty, in an aggrieved tone. + +'My dear child,' said the Frenchman, getting on his knees and coming +close to her, 'in the first place, your father would not consent to +the match, as I am poor and unknown, and not by any means the man he +would choose for you; and in the second place, being a Catholic,'-- +here M. Vandeloup looked duly religious--'I must be married by one +of my own priests.' + +'Then why not in Ballarat?' objected Kitty, still unconvinced. + +'Because your father would never consent,' he whispered, putting his +arm round her waist; 'we must run away quietly, and when we are +married can ask his pardon and,' with a sardonic sneer, 'his +blessing.' + +A delicious thrill passed through Kitty when she heard this. A real +elopement with a handsome lover--just like the heroines in the story +books. It was delightfully romantic, and yet there seemed to be +something wrong about it. She was like a timid bather, longing to +plunge into the water, yet hesitating through a vague fear. With a +quick catching of the breath she turned to Vandeloup, and saw him +with his burning scintillating eyes fastened on her face. + +'Don't look like that,' she said, with a touch of virginal fear, +pushing him away, 'you frighten me.' + +'Frighten you, Bebe?' he said, in a caressing tone; 'my heart's +idol, you are cruel to speak like that; you must come with me, for I +cannot and will not leave you behind.' + +'When do you go?' asked Kitty, who was now trembling violently. + +'Ah!' M. Vandeloup was puzzled what to say, as he had no very +decided plan of action. He had not sufficient money saved to justify +him in leaving the Pactolus--still there were always possibilities, +and Fortune was fond of playing wild pranks. At the same time there +was nothing tangible in view likely to make him rich, so, as these +thoughts rapidly passed through his mind, he resolved to temporize. + +'I can't tell you, Bebe,' he said, in a caressing tone, smoothing +her curly hair. 'I want you to think over what I have said, and when +I do go, perhaps in a month or so, you will be ready to come with +me. No,' he said, as Kitty was about to answer, 'I don't want you to +reply now, take time to consider, little one,' and with a smile on +his lips he bent over and kissed her tenderly. + +They sat silently together for some time, each intent on their own +thoughts, and then Vandeloup suddenly looked up. + +'Will Madame stay to dinner with you, Bebe?' he asked. + +Kitty nodded. + +'She always does,' she answered; 'you will come too.' + +Vandeloup shook his head. + +'I am going down to Ballarat to the Wattle Tree Hotel to see my +friend Pierre,' he said, in a preoccupied manner, 'and will have +something to eat there. Then I will come up again about eight +o'clock, in time to see Madame off.' + +'Aren't you going back with her?' asked Kitty, in surprise, as they +rose to their feet. + +'No,' he replied, dusting his knees with his hand, 'I stay all night +in Ballarat, with Madame's kind permission, to see the theatre. Now, +good-bye at present, Bebe,' kissing her, 'I will be back at eight +o'clock, so you can excuse me to Madame till then.' + +He ran gaily down the hill waving his hat, and Kitty stood looking +after him with pride in her heart. He was a lover any girl might +have been proud of, but Kitty would not have been so satisfied with +him had she known what his real thoughts were. + +'Marry!' he said to himself, with a laugh, as he walked gaily along; +'hardly! When we get to Melbourne, my sweet Bebe, I will find some +way to keep you off that idea--and when we grow tired of one +another, we can separate without the trouble or expense of a +divorce.' + +And this heartless, cynical man of the world was the keeper into +whose hands innocent Kitty was about to commit the whole of her +future life. + +After all, the fabled Sirens have their equivalent in the male sex, +and Homer's description symbolizes a cruel truth. + + + +CHAPTER X + +FRIENDS IN COUNCIL + + +The Wattle Tree Hotel, to which Mr McIntosh had directed Pierre, was +a quiet little public-house in a quiet street. It was far away from +the main thoroughfares of the city, and a stranger had to go up any +number of quiet streets to get to it, and turn and twist round +corners and down narrow lanes until it became a perfect miracle how +he ever found the hotel at all. + +To a casual spectator it would seem that a tavern so difficult of +access would not be very good for business, but Simon Twexby, the +landlord, knew better. It had its regular customers, who came there +day after day, and sat in the little back parlour and talked and +chatted over their drinks. The Wattle Tree was such a quiet haven of +rest, and kept such good liquor, that once a man discovered it he +always came back again; so Mr Twexby did a very comfortable trade. + +Rumour said he had made a lot of money out of gold-mining, and that +he kept the hotel more for amusement than anything else; but, +however this might be, the trade of the Wattle Tree brought him in a +very decent income, and Mr Twexby could afford to take things easy-- +which he certainly did. + +Anyone going into the bar could see old Simon--a stolid, fat man, +with a sleepy-looking face, always in his shirt sleeves, and wearing +a white apron, sitting in a chair at the end, while his daughter, a +sharp, red-nosed damsel, who was thirty-five years of age, and +confessed to twenty-two, served out the drinks. Mrs Twexby had long +ago departed this life, leaving behind her the sharp, red-nosed +damsel to be her father's comfort. As a matter of fact, she was just +the opposite, and Simon often wished that his daughter had departed +to a better world in company with her mother. Thin, tight-laced, +with a shrill voice and an acidulated temper, Miss Twexby was still +a spinster, and not even the fact of her being an heiress could +tempt any of the Ballarat youth to lead her to the altar. +Consequently Miss Twexby's temper was not a golden one, and she +ruled the hotel and its inmates--her father included--with a rod of +iron. + +Mr Villiers was a frequent customer at the Wattle Tree, and was in +the back parlour drinking brandy and water and talking to old Twexby +on the day that Pierre arrived. The dumb man came into the bar out +of the dusty road, and, leaning over the counter, pushed a letter +under Miss Twexby's nose. + +'Bills?' queried that damsel, sharply. + +Pierre, of course, did not answer, but touched his lips with his +hand to indicate he was dumb. Miss Twexby, however, read the action +another way. + +'You want a drink,' she said, with a scornful toss of her head. +'Where's your money?' + +Pierre pointed out the letter, and although it was directed to her +father, Miss Twexby, who managed everything, opened it and found it +was from McIntosh, saying that the bearer, Pierre Lemaire, was to +have a bed for the night, meals, drinks, and whatever else he +required, and that he--McIntosh--would be responsible for the money. +He furthermore added that the bearer was dumb. + +'Oh, so you're dumb, are you,' said Miss Twexby, folding up the +letter and looking complacently at Pierre. 'I wish there were a few +more men the same way; then, perhaps, we'd have less chat.' + +This being undeniable, the fair Martha--for that was the name of the +Twexby heiress--without waiting for any assent, walking into the +back parlour, read the letter to her father, and waited +instructions, for she always referred to Simon as the head of the +house, though as a matter of fact she never did what she was told +save when it tallied with her own wishes. + +'It will be all right, Martha, I suppose,' said Simon sleepily. + +Martha asserted with decision that it would be all right, or she +would know the reason why; then marching out again to the bar, she +drew a pot of beer for Pierre--without asking him what he would +have--and ordered him to sit down and be quiet, which last remark +was rather unnecessary, considering that the man was dumb. Then she +sat down behind her bar and resumed her perusal of a novel called +The Duke's Duchesses, or The Milliner's Mystery,' which contained a +ducal hero with bigamistic proclivities, and a virtuous milliner +whom the aforesaid duke persecuted. All of which was very +entertaining and improbable, and gave Miss Twexby much pleasure, +judging from the sympathetic sighs she was heaving. + +Meanwhile, Villiers having heard the name of Pierre Lemaire, and +knowing he was engaged in the Pactolus claim, came round to see him +and try to find out all about the nugget. Pierre was sulky at first, +and sat drinking his beer sullenly, with his old black hat drawn +down so far over his eyes that only his bushy black beard was +visible, but Mr Villiers' suavity, together with the present of +half-a-crown, had a marked effect on him. As he was dumb, Mr +Villiers was somewhat perplexed how to carry on a conversation with +him, but he ultimately drew forth a piece of paper, and sketched a +rough presentation of a nugget thereon, which he showed to Pierre. +The Frenchman, however, did not comprehend until Villiers produced a +sovereign from his pocket, and pointed first to the gold, and then +to the drawing, upon which Pierre nodded his head several times in +order to show that he understood. Villiers then drew a picture of +the Pactolus claim, and asked Pierre in French if the nugget was +still there, as he showed him the sketch. Pierre shook his head, +and, taking the pencil in his hand, drew a rough representation of a +horse and cart, and put a square box in the latter to show the +nugget was on a journey. + +'Hullo!' said Villiers to himself, 'it's not at her own house, and +she's driving somewhere with it, I wonder where to?' + +Pierre--who not being able to write, was in the habit of drawing +pictures to express his thoughts--nudged his elbow and showed him a +sketch of a man in a box waving his arms. + +'Auctioneer?' hazarded Mr Villiers, looking at this keenly. Pierre +stared at him blankly; his comprehension of English was none of the +best, so he did not know what auctioneer meant. However, he saw that +Villiers did not understand, so he rapidly sketched an altar with a +priest standing before it blessing the people. + +'Oh, a priest, eh?--a minister?' said Villiers, nodding his head to +show he understood. 'She's taken the nugget to show it to a +minister! Wonder who it is?' + +This was speedily answered by Pierre, who, throwing down the pencil +and paper, dragged him outside on to the road, and pointed to the +white top of the Black Hill. Mr Villiers instantly comprehended. + +'Marchurst, by God!' he said in English, smiting his leg with his +open hand. 'Is Madame there now?' he added in French, turning to +Pierre. + +The dumb man nodded and slouched slowly back into the hotel. +Villiers stood out in the blazing sunshine, thinking. + +'She's got the nugget with her in the trap,' he said to himself; +'and she's taken it to show Marchurst. Well, she's sure to stop +there to tea, and won't start for home till about nine o'clock: it +will be pretty dark by then. She'll be by herself, and if I--' here +he stopped and looked round cautiously, and then, without another +word, set off down the street at a run. + +The fact was, Mr Villiers had come to the conclusion that as his +wife would not give him money willingly, the best thing to be done +would be to take it by force, and accordingly he had made up his +mind to rob her of the nugget that night if possible. Of course +there was a risk, for he knew his wife was a determined woman; +still, while she was driving in the darkness down the hill, if he +took her by surprise he would be able to stun her with a blow and +get possession of the nugget. Then he could hide it in one of the +old shafts of the Black Hill Company until he required it. As to the +possibility of his wife knowing him, there would be no chance of +that in the darkness, so he could escape any unpleasant inquiries, +then take the nugget to Melbourne and get it melted down secretly. +He would be able to make nearly twelve hundred pounds out of it, so +the game would certainly be worth the candle. Full of this brilliant +idea of making a good sum at one stroke, Mr Villiers went home, had +something to eat, and taking with him a good stout stick, the nob of +which was loaded with lead, he started for the Black Hill with the +intent of watching Marchurst's house until his wife left there, and +then following her down the hill and possessing himself of the +nugget. + +The afternoon wore drowsily along, and the great heat made everybody +inclined to sleep. Pierre had demanded by signs to be shown his +bedroom, and having been conducted thereto by a crushed-looking +waiter, who drifted aimlessly before him, threw himself on the bed +and went fast asleep. + +Old Simon, in the dimly-lit back parlour, was already snoring, and +only Miss Twexby, amid the glitter of the glasses in the bar and the +glare of the sunshine through the open door, was wide awake. +Customers came in for foaming tankards of beer, and sometimes a +little girl, with a jug hidden under her apron, would appear, with a +request that it might be filled for 'mother', who was ironing. +Indeed, the number of women who were ironing that afternoon, and +wanted to quench their thirst, was something wonderful; but Miss +Twexby seemed to know all about it as she put a frothy head on each +jug, and received the silver in exchange. At last, however, even +Martha the wide-awake was yielding to the somniferous heat of the +day when a young man entered the bar and made her sit up with great +alacrity, beaming all over her hard wooden face. + +This was none other than M. Vandeloup, who had come down to see +Pierre. Dressed in flannels, with a blue scarf tied carelessly round +his waist, a blue necktie knotted loosely round his throat under the +collar of his shirt, and wearing a straw hat on his fair head, he +looked wonderfully cool and handsome, and as he leaned over the +counter composedly smoking a cigarette, Miss Twexby thought that the +hero of her novel must have stepped bodily out of the book. Gaston +stared complacently at her while he pulled at his fair moustache, +and thought how horribly plain-looking she was, and what a contrast +to his charming Bebe. + +'I'll take something cool to drink,' he said, with a yawn, 'and also +a chair, if you have no objection,' suiting the action to the word; +'whew! how warm it is.' + +'What would you like to drink, sir?' asked the fair Martha, putting +on her brightest smile, which seemed rather out of place on her +features; 'brandy and soda?' + +'Thank you, I'll have a lemon squash if you will kindly make me +one,' he said, carelessly, and as Martha flew to obey his order, he +added, 'you might put a little curacoa in it.' + +'It's very hot, ain't it,' observed Miss Twexby, affably, as she cut +up the lemon; 'par's gone to sleep in the other room,' jerking her +head in the direction of the parlour, 'but Mr Villiers went out in +all the heat, and it ain't no wonder if he gets a sunstroke.' + +'Oh, was Mr Villiers here?' asked Gaston, idly, not that he cared +much about that gentleman's movements, but merely for something to +say. + +'Lor, yes, sir,' giggled Martha, 'he's one of our regulars, sir.' + +'I can understand that, Mademoiselle,' said Vandeloup, bowing as he +took the drink from her hand. + +Miss Twexby giggled again, and her nose grew a shade redder at the +pleasure of being bantered by this handsome young man. + +'You're a furriner,' she said, shortly; 'I knew you were,' she went +on triumphantly as he nodded, 'you talk well enough, but there's +something wrong about the way you pronounces your words.' + +Vandeloup hardly thought Miss Twexby a mistress of Queen's English, +but he did not attempt to contradict her. + +'I must get you to give me a few lessons,' he replied, gallantly, +setting down the empty glass; 'and what has Mr Villiers gone out +into the heat for?' + +'It's more nor I can tell,' said Martha, emphatically, nodding her +head till the short curls dangling over her ears vibrated as if they +were made of wire. 'He spoke to the dumb man and drew pictures for +him, and then off he goes.' + +The dumb man! Gaston pricked up his ears at this, and, wondering +what Villiers wanted to talk to Pierre about, he determined to find +out. + +'That dumb man is one of our miners from the Pactolus,' he said, +lighting another cigarette; 'I wish to speak to him--has he gone out +also?' + +'No, he ain't,' returned Miss Twexby, decisively; 'he's gone to lie +down; d'ye want to see him; I'll send for him--' with her hand on +the bell-rope. + +'No, thank you,' said Vandeloup, stopping her, 'I'll go up to his +room if you will show me the way.' + +'Oh, I don't mind,' said Martha, preparing to leave the bar, but +first ringing the bell so that the crushed-looking waiter might come +and attend to possible customers; 'he's on the ground floor, and +there ain't no stairs to climb--now what are you looking at, sir?' +with another gratified giggle, as she caught Vandeloup staring at +her. + +But he was not looking at her somewhat mature charms, but at a bunch +of pale blue flowers, among which were some white blossoms she wore +in the front of her dress. + +'What are these?' he asked, touching the white blossoms lightly with +his finger. + +'I do declare it's that nasty hemlock!' said Martha, in surprise, +pulling the white flowers out of the bunch; 'and I never knew it was +there. Pah!' and she threw the blossom down with a gesture of +disgust. 'How they smell!' + +Gaston picked up one of the flowers, and crushed it between his +fingers, upon which it gave out a peculiar mousy odour eminently +disagreeable. It was hemlock sure enough, and he wondered how such a +plant had come into Australia. + +'Does it grow in your garden?' he asked Martha. + +That damsel intimated it did, and offered to show him the plant, so +that he could believe his own eyes. + +Vandeloup assented eagerly, and they were soon in the flower garden +at the back of the house, which was blazing with vivid colours, in +the hot glare of the sunshine. + +There you are,' said Miss Twexby, pointing to a corner of the garden +near the fence where the plant was growing; 'par brought a lot of +seeds from home, and that beastly thing got mixed up with them. Par +keeps it growing, though, 'cause no one else has got it. It's quite +a curiosity.' + +Vandeloup bent down and examined the plant, with its large, round, +smooth, purple-spotted stem--its smooth, shining green leaves, and +the tiny white flowers with their disagreeable odour. + +'Yes, it is hemlock,' he said, half to himself; 'I did not know it +could be grown here. Some day, Mademoiselle,' he said, turning to +Miss Twexby and walking back to the house with her, 'I will ask you +to let me have some of the roots of that plant to make an experiment +with.' + +'As much as you like,' said the fair Martha, amiably; 'it's a nasty +smelling thing. What are you going to make out of it?' + +'Nothing particular,' returned Vandeloup, with a yawn, as they +entered the house and stopped at the door of Pierre's room. 'I'm a +bit of a chemist, and amuse myself with these things.' + +'You are clever,' observed Martha, admiringly; 'but here's that +man's room--we didn't give him the best'--apologetically--'as miners +are so rough.' + +'Mademoiselle,' said Vandeloup, eagerly, as she turned to go, 'I see +there are a few blossoms of hemlock left in your flower there,' +touching it with his finger; 'will you give them to me?' + +Martha Twexby stared; surely this was the long-expected come at +last--she had secured a lover; and such a lover--handsome, young, +and gallant,--the very hero of her dreams. She almost fainted in +delighted surprise, and unfastening the flowers with trembling +fingers, gave them to Gaston. He placed them in a button-hole of his +flannel coat, then before she could scream, or even draw back in +time, this audacious young man put his arm round her and kissed her +virginal lips. Miss Twexby was so taken by surprise, that she could +offer no resistance, and by the time she had recovered herself, +Gaston had disappeared into Pierre's room and closed the door after +him. + +'Well,' she said to herself, as she returned to the bar, 'if that +isn't a case of love at first sight, my name ain't Martha Twexby,' +and she sat down in the bar with her nerves all of a flutter, as she +afterwards told a female friend who dropped in sometimes for a +friendly cup of tea. + +Gaston closed the door after him, and found himself in a moderately +large room, with one window looking on to the garden, and having a +dressing-table with a mirror in front of it. There were two beds, +one on each side, and on the farthest of these Pierre was sleeping +heavily, not even Gaston's entrance having roused him. Going over to +him, Vandeloup touched him slightly, and with a spring the dumb man +sat up in bed as if he expected to be arrested, and was all on the +alert to escape. + +'It's only I, my friend,' said Gaston, in French, crossing over to +the other bed and sitting on it. 'Come here; I wish to speak to +you.' + +Pierre rose from his sleeping place, and, stumbling across the room, +stood before Gaston with downcast eyes, his shaggy hair all tossed +and tumbled by the contact with the pillow. Gaston himself coolly +relit his cigarette, which had gone out, threw his straw hat on the +bed, and then, curling one leg inside the other, looked long and +keenly at Pierre. + +'You saw Madame's husband to-day?' he said sharply, still eyeing the +slouching figure before him, that seemed so restless under his +steady gaze. + +Pierre nodded and shuffled his large feet. + +'Did he want to know about his wife?' + +Another nod. + +'I thought so; and about the new nugget also, I presume?' + +Still another nod. + +'Humph,' thoughtfully. 'He'd like to get a share of it, I've no +doubt.' + +The dumb man nodded violently; then, crossing over to his own bed, +he placed the pillow in the centre of it, and falling on his knees, +imitated the action of miners in working at the wash. Then he arose +to his feet and pointed to the pillow. + +'I see,' said M. Vandeloup, who had been watching this pantomime +with considerable interest; 'that pillow is the nugget of which our +friend wants a share.' + +Pierre assented; then, snatching up the pillow, he ran with it to +the end of the room. + +'Oh,' said Gaston, after a moment's thought, 'so he's going to run +away with it. A very good idea; but how does he propose to get it?' + +Pierre dropped his pillow and pointed in the direction of the Black +Hill. + +'Does he know it's up there?' asked Vandeloup; 'you told him, I +suppose?' As Pierre nodded, 'Humph! I think I can see what Mr +Villiers intends to do--rob his wife as she goes home tonight.' + +Pierre nodded in a half doubtful manner. + +'You're not quite sure,' interrupted M. Vandeloup, 'but I am. He +won't stop at anything to get money. You stay all night in town?' + +The dumb man assented. + +'So do I,' replied Vandeloup; 'it's a happy coincidence, because I +see a chance of our getting that nugget.' Pierre's dull eyes +brightened, and he rubbed his hands together in a pleased manner. + +'Sit down,' said Vandeloup, in a peremptory tone, pointing to the +floor. 'I wish to tell you what I think.' + +Pierre obediently dropped on to the floor, where he squatted like a +huge misshapen toad, while Vandeloup, after going to the door to see +that it was closed, returned to the bed, sat down again, and, having +lighted another cigarette, began to speak. All this precaution was +somewhat needless, as he was talking rapidly in French, but then M. +Vandeloup knew that walls have ears and possibly might understand +foreign languages. + +'I need hardly remind you,' said Vandeloup, in a pleasant voice, +'that when we landed in Australia I told you that there was war +between ourselves and society, and that, at any cost, we must try to +make money; so far, we have only been able to earn an honest +livelihood--a way of getting rich which you must admit is remarkably +slow. Here, however, is a chance of making, if not a fortune, at +least a good sum of money at one stroke. This M. Villiers is going +to rob his wife, and his plan will no doubt be this: he will lie in +wait for her, and when she drives slowly down the hill, he will +spring on to the trap and perhaps attempt to kill her; at all +events, he will seize the box containing the nugget, and try to make +off with it. How he intends to manage it I cannot tell you--it must +be left to the chapter of accidents; but,' in a lower voice, bending +forward, 'when he does get the nugget we must obtain it from him.' + +Pierre looked up and drew his hand across his throat. + +'Not necessarily,' returned Vandeloup, coolly; 'I know your adage, +"dead men tell no tales," but it is a mistake--they do, and to kill +him is dangerous. No, if we stun him we can go off with the nugget, +and then make our way to Melbourne, where we can get rid of it +quietly. As to Madame Midas, if her husband allows her to live-- +which I think is unlikely--I will make our excuses to her for +leaving the mine. Now, I'm going up to M. Marchurst's house, so you +can meet me at the top of the hill, at eight o'clock tonight. Madame +will probably start at half-past eight or nine, so that will give us +plenty of time to see what M. Villiers is going to do.' + +They both rose to their feet. Then Vandeloup put on his hat, and, +going to the glass, arranged his tie in as cool and nonchalant a +manner as if he had been merely planning the details for a picnic +instead of a possible crime. While admiring himself in the glass he +caught sight of the bunch of flowers given to him by Miss Twexby, +and, taking them from his coat, he turned round to Pierre, who stood +watching him in his usual sullen manner. + +'Do you see these?' he asked, touching the white blossoms with the +cigarette he held between his fingers. + +Pierre intimated that he did. + +'From the plant of these, my friend,' said Vandeloup, looking at +them critically, 'I can prepare a vegetable poison as deadly as any +of Caesar Borgia's. It is a powerful narcotic, and leaves hardly any +trace. Having been a medical student, you know,' he went on, +conversationally, 'I made quite a study of toxicology, and the juice +of this plant,' touching the white flower, 'has done me good +service, although it was the cause of my exile to New Caledonia. +Well,' with a shrug of the shoulders as he put the flowers back in +his coat, 'it is always something to have in reserve; I did not know +that I could get this plant here, my friend. But now that I have I +will prepare a little of this poison,--it will always be useful in +emergencies.' + +Pierre looked steadily at the young man, and then slipping his hand +behind his back he drew forth from the waistband of his trousers a +long, sharp, cruel-looking knife, which for safety had a leather +sheath. Drawing this off, the dumb man ran his thumb along the keen +edge, and held the knife out towards Vandeloup, who refused it with +a cynical smile. + +'You don't believe in this, I can see,' he said, touching the dainty +bunch of flowers as Pierre put the knife in its sheath again and +returned it to its hiding-place. 'I'm afraid your ideas are still +crude--you believe in the good old-fashioned style of blood-letting. +Quite a mistake, I assure you; poison is much more artistic and neat +in its work, and to my mind involves less risk. You see, my Pierre,' +he continued, lazily watching the blue wreaths of smoke from his +cigarette curl round his head, 'crime must improve with +civilization; and since the Cain and Abel epoch we have refined the +art of murder in a most wonderful manner--decidedly we are becoming +more civilized; and now, my friend,' in a kind tone, laying his +slender white hand on the shoulder of the dumb man, 'you must really +take a little rest, for I have no doubt but what you will need all +your strength tonight should M. Villiers prove obstinate. Of +course,' with a shrug, 'if he does not succeed in getting the +nugget, our time will be simply wasted, and then,' with a gay smile, +touching the flowers, 'I will see what I can do in the artistic +line.' + +Pierre lay down again on the bed, and turning his face to the wall +fell fast asleep, while M. Vandeloup, humming a merry tune, walked +gaily out of the room to the bar, and asked Miss Twexby for another +drink. + +'Brandy and soda this time, please,' he said, lazily lighting +another cigarette; 'this heat is so enervating, and I'm going to +walk up to Black Hill. By the way, Mademoiselle,' he went on, as she +opened the soda water, 'as I see there are two beds in my friend's +room I will stay here all night.' + +'You shall have the best room,' said Martha, decisively, as she +handed him the brandy and soda. + +'You are too kind,' replied M. Vandeloup, coolly, as he took the +drink from her, 'but I prefer to stay with my silent friend. He was +one of the sailors in the ship when I was wrecked, as you have no +doubt heard, and looks upon me as a sort of fetish.' + +Miss Twexby knew all about the wreck, and thought it was beautiful +that he should condescend to be so friendly with a common sailor. +Vandeloup received all her speeches with a polite smile, then set +down his empty glass and prepared to leave. + +'Mademoiselle,' he said, touching the flowers, 'you see I still have +them--they will remind me of you,' and raising his hat he strolled +idly out of the hotel, and went off in the direction of the Black +Hill. + +Miss Twexby ran to the door, and shading her eyes with her hands +from the blinding glare of the sun, she watched him lounging along +the street, tall, slender, and handsome. + +'He's just lovely,' she said to herself, as she returned to the bar +'but his eyes are so wicked; I don't think he's a good young man.' + +What would she have said if she had heard the conversation in the +bedroom? + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THEODORE WOPPLES, ACTOR + + +Mr Villiers walked in a leisurely manner along the lower part of the +town, with the intent of going up to his destination through the old +mining gully. He took this route for two reasons--first, because the +afternoon was hot, and it was easier climbing up that way than going +by the ordinary road; and, second, on his journey through the chasm +he would be able to mark some place where he could hide the nugget. +With his stick under his arm, Mr Villiers trudged merrily along in a +happy humour, as if he was bent on pleasure instead of robbery. And +after all, as he said to himself, it could not be called a genuine +robbery, as everything belonging to his wife was his by right of the +marriage service, and he was only going to have his own again. With +this comfortable thought he climbed slowly up the broken tortuous +path which led to the Black Hill, and every now and then would pause +to rest, and admire the view. + +It was now nearly six o'clock, and the sun was sinking amid a blaze +of splendour. The whole of the western sky was a sea of shimmering +gold, and this, intensified near the horizon to almost blinding +brightness, faded off towards the zenith of the sky into a delicate +green, and thence melted imperceptibly into a cold blue. + +Villiers, however, being of the earth, earthy, could not be troubled +looking very long at such a common-place sight as a sunset; the same +thing occurred every evening, and he had more important things to do +than to waste his time gratifying his artistic eye. Arriving on the +plateau of earth just in front of the gully, he was soon entering +the narrow gorge, and tramped steadily along in deep thought, with +bent head and wrinkled brows. The way being narrow, and Villiers +being preoccupied, it was not surprising that as a man was coming +down in the opposite direction, also preoccupied, they should run +against one another. When this took place it gave Mr Villiers rather +a start, as it suggested a possible witness to the deed he +contemplated, a thing for which he was by no means anxious. + +'Really, sir,' said the stranger, in a rich, rolling voice, and in a +dignified tone, 'I think you might look where you are going. From +what I saw of you, your eyes were not fixed on the stars, and thus +to cause your unwatched feet to stumble; in fact,' said the speaker, +looking up to the sky, 'I see no stars whereon you could fix your +gaze.' + +This somewhat strange mode of remonstrance was delivered in a solemn +manner, with appropriate gestures, and tickled Mr Villiers so much +that he leaned up against a great rock abutting on the path, and +laughed long and loudly. + +'That is right, sir,' said the stranger, approvingly; 'laughter is +to the soul what food is to the body. I think, sir,' in a Johnsonian +manner, 'the thought is a happy one.' + +Villiers assented with a nod, and examined the speaker attentively. +He was a man of medium height, rather portly than otherwise, with a +clean-shaved face, clearly-cut features, and two merry grey eyes, +which twinkled like stars as they rested on Villiers. His hair was +greyish, and inclined to curl, but could not follow its natural +inclination owing to the unsparing use of the barber's shears. He +wore a coat and trousers of white flannel, but no waistcoat; canvas +shoes were on his feet, and a juvenile straw hat was perched on his +iron-grey hair, the rim of which encircled his head like a halo of +glory. He had small, well-shaped hands, one of which grasped a light +cane, and the other a white silk pocket handkerchief, with which he +frequently wiped his brow. He seemed very hot, and, leaning on the +opposite side of the path against a rock, fanned himself first with +his handkerchief and then with his hat, all the time looking at Mr +Villiers with a beaming smile. At last he took a silver-mounted +flask from his pocket and offered it to Villiers, with a pleasant +bow. + +'It's very hot, you know,' he said, in his rich voice, as Villiers +accepted the flask. + +'What, this?' asked Villiers, indicating the flask, as he slowly +unscrewed the top. + +'No; the day, my boy, the day. Ha! ha! ha!' said the lively +stranger, going off into fits of laughter, which vibrated like small +thunder amid the high rocks surrounding them. 'Good line for a +comedy, I think. Ha! ha!--gad, I'll make a note of it,' and diving +into one of the pockets of his coat, he produced therefrom an old +letter, on the back of which he inscribed the witticism with the +stump of a pencil. + +Meanwhile Villiers, thinking the flask contained brandy, or at least +whisky, took a long drink of it, but found to his horror it was +merely a weak solution of sherry and water. + +'Oh, my poor stomach,' he gasped, taking the flask from his lips. + +'Colic?' inquired the stranger with a pleasant smile, as he put back +the letter and pencil, 'hot water fomentations are what you need. +Wonderful cure. Will bring you to life again though you were at your +last gasp. Ha!' struck with a sudden idea, '"His Last Gasp", good +title for a melodrama--mustn't forget that,' and out came the letter +and the pencil again. + +Mr Villiers explained in a somewhat gruff tone that it was not +colic, but that his medical attendant allowed him to drink nothing +but whisky. + +'To be taken twenty times a day, I presume,' observed the stranger, +with a wink; 'no offence meant, sir,' as Villiers showed a +disposition to resent this, 'merely a repartee. Good for a comedy, I +fancy; what do you think?' + +'I think,' said Mr Villiers, handing him back the flask, 'that +you're very eccentric.' + +'Eccentric?' replied the other, in an airy tone, 'not at all, sir. +I'm merely a civilized being with the veneer off. I am not hidden +under an artificial coat of manner. No, I laugh--ha! ha! I skip, ha! +ha!' with a light trip on one foot. 'I cry,' in a dismal tone. 'In +fact, I am a man in his natural state--civilized sufficiently, but +not over civilized.' + +'What's your name?' asked Mr Villiers, wondering whether the portly +gentleman was mad. + +For reply the stranger dived into another pocket, and, bringing to +light a long bill-poster, held it up before Mr Villiers. + +'Read! mark! and inwardly digest!' he said in a muffled tone behind +the bill. + +This document set forth in red, black, and blue letters, that the +celebrated Wopples Family, consisting of twelve star artistes, were +now in Ballarat, and would that night appear at the Academy of Music +in their new and original farcical comedy, called 'The Cruet-Stand'. +Act I: Pepper! Act II: Mustard! Act III: Vinegar. + +'You, then,' said Villiers, after he had perused this document, 'are +Mr Wopples?' + +'Theodore Wopples, at your service,' said that gentleman, rolling up +the bill, then putting it into his pocket, he produced therefrom a +batch of tickets. 'One of these,' handing a ticket to Villiers, +'will admit you to the stalls tonight, where you will see myself and +the children in "The Cruet-Stand".' + +'Rather a peculiar title, isn't it?' said Villiers, taking the +ticket. + +'The play is still more peculiar, sir,' replied Mr Wopples, +restoring the bulky packet of tickets to his pocket, 'dealing as it +does with the adventures of a youth who hides his father's will in a +cruet stand, which is afterwards annexed by a comic bailiff.' + +'But isn't it rather a curious thing to hide a will in a cruet +stand?' asked Villiers, smiling at the oddity of the idea. + +'Therein, sir, lies the peculiarity of the play,' said Mr Wopples, +grandly. 'Of course the characters find out in Act I that the will +is in the cruet stand; in Act II, while pursuing it, they get mixed +up with the bailiff's mother-in-law; and in Act III,' finished Mr +Wopples, exultingly, 'they run it to earth in a pawnshop. Oh, I +assure you it is a most original play.' + +'Very,' assented the other, dryly; 'the author must be a man of +genius--who wrote it?' + +'Its a translation from the German, sir,' said Mr Wopples, taking a +drink of sherry and water, 'and was originally produced in London as +"The Pickle Bottle", the will being hidden with the family onions. +In Melbourne it was the success of the year under the same title. +I,' with an air of genius, 'called it "The Cruet Stand".' + +'Then how did you get a hold of it,' asked Villiers. + +'My wife, sir,' said the actor, rolling out the words in his deep +voice. 'A wonderful woman, sir; paid a visit to Melbourne, and +there, sir, seated at the back of the pit between a coal-heaver and +an apple-woman, she copied the whole thing down.' + +'But isn't that rather mean?' + +'Certainly not,' retorted Wopples, haughtily; 'the opulent Melbourne +managers refuse to let me have their new pieces, so I have to take +the law into my own hands. I'll get all the latest London successes +in the same way. We play "Ours" under the title of "The Hero's +Return, or the Soldier's Bride": we have done the "Silver King" as +"The Living Dead", which was an immense success.' + +Villiers thought that under such a contradictory title it would +rather pique the curiosity of the public. + +'To-morrow night,' pursued Mr Wopples, 'we act "Called Back", but it +is billed as "The Blind Detective"; thus,' said the actor, with +virtuous scorn, 'do we evade the grasping avarice of the Melbourne +managers, who would make us pay fees for them.' + +'By the way,' said Mr Wopples, breaking off suddenly in a light and +airy manner, 'as I came down here I saw a lovely girl--a veritable +fairy, sir--with golden hair, and a bright smile that haunts me +still. I exchanged a few remarks with her regarding the beauty of +the day, and thus allegorically referred to the beauty of herself--a +charming flight of fancy, I think, sir.' + +'It must have been Kitty Marchurst,' said Villiers, not attending to +the latter portion of Mr Wopples' remarks. + +'Ah, indeed,' said Mr Wopples, lightly, 'how beautiful is the name +of Kitty; it suggests poetry immediately--for instance: + +Kitty, ah Kitty, You are so pretty, Charming and witty, That 'twere +a pity I sung not this ditty In praise of my Kitty. + +On the spur of the moment, sir, I assure you; does it not remind you +of Herrick?' + +Mr Villiers bluntly said it did not. + +'Ah! perhaps it's more like Shakespeare?' observed the actor, quite +unabashed. 'You think so?' + +Mr Villiers was doubtful, and displayed such anxiety to get away +that Mr Wopples held out his hand to say goodbye. + +'You'll excuse me, I know,' said Mr Wopples, in an apologetic tone, +'but the show commences at eight, and it is now half-past six. I +trust I shall see you tonight.' + +'It's very kind of you to give me this ticket,' said Villiers, in +whom the gentlemanly instinct still survived. + +'Not at all; not at all,' retorted Mr Wopples, with a wink. +'Business, my boy, business. Always have a good house first night, +so must go into the highways and byways for an audience. Ha! +Biblical illustration, you see;' and with a gracious wave of his +hand he skipped lightly down the path and disappeared from sight. + +It was now getting dark; so Mr Villiers went on his own way, and +having selected a mining shaft where he could hide the nugget, he +climbed up to the top of the hill, and lying down under the shadow +of a rock where he could get a good view of Marchurst's house, he +waited patiently till such time as his wife would start for home. + +'I'll pay you out for all you've done,' he muttered to himself, as +he lay curled up in the black shadow like a noisome reptile. 'Tit +for tat, my lady!-tit for tat!' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HIGHWAY ROBBERY + + +Dinner at Mr Marchurst's house was not a particularly exhilarating +affair. As a matter of fact, though dignified with the name of +dinner, it was nothing more than one of those mixed meals known as +high tea. Vandeloup knew this, and, having a strong aversion to the +miscellaneous collection of victuals which appeared on Mr +Marchurst's table, he dined at Craig's Hotel, where he had a nice +little dinner, and drank a pint bottle of champagne in order to +thoroughly enjoy himself. Madame Midas also had a dislike to tea- +dinners, but, being a guest, of course had to take what was going; +and she, Kitty, and Mr Marchurst, were the only people present at +the festive board. At last Mr Marchurst finished and delivered a +long address of thanks to Heaven for the good food they had enjoyed, +which good food, being heavy and badly cooked, was warranted to give +them all indigestion and turn their praying to cursing. In fact, +what with strong tea, hurried meals, and no exercise, Mr Marchurst +used to pass an awful time with the nightmare, and although he was +accustomed to look upon nightmares as visions, they were due more to +dyspepsia than inspiration. + +After dinner Madame sat and talked with Marchurst, but Kitty went +outside into the warm darkness of the summer night, and tried to +pierce the gloom to see if her lover was coming. She was rewarded, +for M. Vandeloup came up about half-past eight o'clock, having met +Pierre as arranged. Pierre had found out Villiers in his hiding- +place, and was watching him while Villiers watched the house. Being, +therefore, quite easy in his mind that things were going smoothly, +Vandeloup came up to the porch where Kitty was eagerly waiting for +him, and taking her in his arms kissed her tenderly. Then, after +assuring himself that Madame was safe with Marchurst, he put his arm +round Kitty's waist, and they walked up and down the path with the +warm wind blowing in their faces, and the perfume of the wattle +blossoms permeating the drowsy air. And yet while he was walking up +and down, talking lover-like nonsense to the pretty girl by his +side, Vandeloup knew that Villiers was watching the house far off, +with evil eyes, and he also knew that Pierre was watching Villiers +with all the insatiable desire of a wild beast for blood. The moon +rose, a great shield of silver, and all the ground was strewn with +the aerial shadows of the trees. The wind sighed through the +branches of the wattles, and made their golden blossoms tremble in +the moonlight, while hand in hand the lovers strolled down the path +or over the short dry grass. Far away in the distance they heard a +woman singing, and the high sweet voice floated softly towards them +through the clear air. + +Suddenly they heard the noise of a chair being pushed back inside +the house, and knew that Madame was getting ready to go. They moved +simultaneously towards the door, but in the porch Gaston paused for +a moment, and caught Kitty by the arm. + +'Bebe,' he whispered softly, 'when Madame is gone I am going down +the hill to Ballarat, so you will walk with me a little way, will +you not?' + +Of course, Kitty was only too delighted at being asked to do so, and +readily consented, then ran quickly into the house, followed by +Vandeloup. + +'You here?' cried Madame, in surprise, pausing for a moment in the +act of putting on her bonnet. 'Why are you not at the theatre?' + +'I am going, Madame,' replied Gaston, calmly, 'but I thought I would +come up in order to assist you to put the nugget in the trap.' + +'Oh, Mr Marchurst would have done that,' said Madame, much gratified +at Vandeloup's attention. 'I'm sorry you should miss your evening's +pleasure for that.' + +'Ah, Madame, I do but exchange a lesser pleasure for a greater one,' +said the gallant Frenchman, with a pleasant smile; 'but are you sure +you will not want me to drive you home?' + +'Not at all,' said Madame, as they all went outside; 'I am quite +safe.' + +'Still, with this,' said Mr Marchurst, bringing up the rear, with +the nugget now safely placed in its wooden box, 'you might be +robbed.' + +'Not I,' replied Mrs Villiers, brightly, as the horse and trap were +brought round to the gate by Brown. 'No one knows I've got it in the +trap, and, besides, no one can catch up with Rory when he once +starts.' + +Marchurst put the nugget under the seat of the trap, but Madame was +afraid it might slip out by some chance, so she put the box +containing it in front, and then her feet on the box, so that it was +absolutely impossible that it could get lost without her knowing. +Then saying goodbye to everyone, and telling M. Vandeloup to be out +at the Pactolus before noon the next day, she gathered up the reins +and drove slowly down the hill, much to the delight of Mr Villiers, +who was getting tired of waiting. Kitty and Vandeloup strolled off +in the moonlight, while Marchurst went back to the house. + +Villiers arose from his hiding-place, and looked up savagely at the +serene moon, which was giving far too much light for his scheme to +succeed. Fortunately, however, he saw a great black cloud rapidly +advancing which threatened to hide the moon; so he set off down the +hill at a run in order to catch his wife at a nasty part of the road +some distance down, where she would be compelled to go slowly, and +thus give him a chance to spring on the trap and take her by +surprise. But quick as he was, Pierre was quicker, and both +Vandeloup and Kitty could see the two black figures running rapidly +along in the moonlight. + +'Who are those?' asked Kitty, with a sudden start. 'Are they going +after Madame?' + +'Little goose,' whispered her lover, with a laugh; 'if they are they +will never catch up to that horse. It's all right, Bebe,' with a +reassuring smile, seeing that Kitty still looked somewhat alarmed, +'they are only some miners out on a drunken frolic.' + +Thus pacified, Kitty laughed gaily, and they wandered along in the +moonlight, talking all the fond and foolish nonsense they could +think of. + +Meanwhile the great black cloud had completely hidden the moon, and +the whole landscape was quite dark. This annoyed Madame, as, +depending on the moonlight, the lamps of the trap were not lighted, +and she could not see in the darkness how to drive down a very +awkward bit of road that she was now on. + +It was very steep, and there was a high bank on one side, while on +the other there was a fall of about ten feet. She felt annoyed at +the darkness, but on looking up saw that the cloud would soon pass, +so drove on slowly quite content. Unluckily she did not see the +figure on the high bank which ran along stealthily beside her, and +while turning a corner, Mr Villiers--for it was he--dropped suddenly +from the bank on to the trap, and caught her by the throat. + +'My God!' cried the unfortunate woman, taken by surprise, and, +involuntarily tightening the reins, the horse stopped--'who are +you?' + +Villiers never said a word, but tightened his grasp on her throat +and shortened his stick to give her a blow on the head. Fortunately, +Madame Midas saw his intention, and managed to wrench herself free, +so the blow aimed at her only slightly touched her, otherwise it +would have killed her. + +As it was, however, she fell forward half stunned, and Villiers, +hurriedly dropping his stick, bent down and seized the box which he +felt under his feet and intuitively guessed contained the nugget. + +With a cry of triumph he hurled it out on to the road, and sprang +out after it; but the cry woke his wife from the semi-stupor into +which she had fallen. + +Her head felt dizzy and heavy from the blow, but still she had her +senses about her, and the moon bursting out from behind a cloud, +rendered the night as clear as day. + +Villiers had picked up the box, and was standing on the edge of the +bank, just about to leave. The unhappy woman recognised her husband, +and uttered a cry. + +'You! you!' she shrieked, wildly, 'coward! dastard! Give me back +that nugget!' leaning out of the trap in her eagerness. + +'I'll see you damned first,' retorted Villiers, who, now that he was +recognised, was utterly reckless as to the result. 'We're quits now, +my lady,' and he turned to go. + +Maddened with anger and disgust, his wife snatched up the stick he +had dropped, and struck him on the head as he took a step forward. +With a stifled cry he staggered and fell over the embankment, still +clutching the box in his arms. Madame let the stick fall, and fell +back fainting on the seat of the trap, while the horse, startled by +the noise, tore down the road at a mad gallop. + +Madame Midas lay in a dead faint for some time, and when she came to +herself she was still in the trap, and Rory was calmly trotting +along the road home. At the foot of the hill, the horse, knowing +every inch of the way, had settled down into his steady trot for the +Pactolus, but when Madame grasped the situation, she marvelled to +herself how she had escaped being dashed to pieces in that mad +gallop down the Black Hill. + +Her head felt painful from the effects of the blow she had received, +but her one thought was to get home to Archie and Selina, so +gathering up the reins she sent Rory along as quickly as she could. +When she drove up to the gate Archie and Selina were both out to +receive her, and when the former went to lift her off the trap, he +gave a cry of horror at seeing her dishevelled appearance and the +blood on her face. + +'God save us!' he cried, lifting her down; 'what's come t' ye, and +where's the nugget?' seeing it was not in the trap. + +'Lost!' she said, in a stupor, feeling her head swimming, 'but +there's worse.' + +'Worse?' echoed Selina and Archie, who were both standing looking +terrified at one another. + +'Yes,' said Mrs Villiers, in a hollow whisper, leaning forward and +grasping Archie's coat, 'I've killed my husband,' and without +another word, she fell fainting to the ground. + +At the same time Vandeloup and Pierre walked into the bar at the +Wattle Tree Hotel, and each had a glass of brandy, after which +Pierre went to his bed, and Vandeloup, humming a gay song, turned on +his heel and went to the theatre. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA + + +'AH!' says Thackeray, pathetically, 'Prague is a pleasant city, but +we all lose our way to it late in life.' + +The Wopples family were true Bohemians, and had not yet lost their +way to the pleasant city. They accepted good and bad fortune with +wonderful equanimity, and if their pockets were empty one day, there +was always a possibility of their being full the next. When this was +the case they generally celebrated the event by a little supper, and +as their present season in Ballarat bid fair to be a successful one, +Mr Theodore Wopples determined to have a convivial evening after the +performance was over. + +That the Wopples family were favourites with the Ballarat folk was +amply seen by the crowded house which assembled to see 'The Cruet +Stand'. The audience were very impatient for the curtain to rise, as +they did not appreciate the overture, which consisted of airs from +'La Mascotte', adapted for the violin and piano by Mr Handel +Wopples, who was the musical genius of the family, and sat in the +conductor's seat, playing the violin and conducting the orchestra of +one, which on this occasion was Miss Jemima Wopples, who presided at +the piano. The Wopples family consisted of twelve star artistes, +beginning with Mr Theodore Wopples, aged fifty, and ending with +Master Sheridan Wopples, aged ten, who did the servants' characters, +delivered letters, formed the background in tableaux, and made +himself generally useful. As the cast of the comedy was only eight, +two of the family acted as the orchestra, and the remaining two took +money at the door. When their duties in this respect were over for +the night, they went into the pit to lead the applause. + +At last the orchestra finished, and the curtain drew up, displaying +an ancient house belonging to a decayed family. The young Squire, +present head of the decayed family (Mr Cibber Wopples), is fighting +with his dishonest steward (admirably acted by Mr Dogbery Wopples), +whose daughter he wants to marry. The dishonest steward, during Act +I, without any apparent reason, is struck with remorse, and making +his will in favour of the Squire, departs to America, but afterwards +appears in the last act as someone else. Leaving his will on the +drawing-room table, as he naturally would, it is seized by an Eton +boy (Master Sheridan Wopples), who hides it, for some unexplained +reason, in the cruet-stand, being the last piece of family plate +remaining to the decayed family. This is seized by a comic bailiff +(Mr Theodore Wopples), who takes it to his home; and the decayed +family, finding out about the will, start to chase the bailiff and +recover the stolen property from him. This brought the play on to +Act II, which consisted mainly of situations arising out of the +indiscriminate use of doors and windows for entrances and exits. The +bailiff's mother-in-law (Mrs Wopples) appears in this act, and, +being in want of a new dress, takes the cruet stand to her 'uncle' +and pawns it; so Act II ends with a general onslaught of the decayed +family on Mrs Wopples. + +Then the orchestra played the 'Wopples' Waltz', dedicated to Mr +Theodore Wopples by Mr Handel Wopples, and during the performance of +this Mr Villiers walked into the theatre. He was a little pale, as +was only natural after such an adventure as he had been engaged in, +but otherwise seemed all right. He walked up to the first row of the +stalls, and took his seat beside a young man of about twenty-five, +who was evidently much amused at the performance. + +'Hullo, Villiers!' said this young gentleman, turning round to the +new arrival, 'what d'ye think of the play?' + +'Only just got in,' returned Mr Villiers, sulkily, looking at his +programme. 'Any good?' in a more amiable tone. + +'Well, not bad,' returned the other, pulling up his collar; 'I've +seen it in Melbourne, you know--the original, I mean; this is a very +second-hand affair.' + +Mr Villiers nodded, and became absorbed in his programme; so, seeing +he was disinclined for more conversation, the young gentleman turned +his attention to the 'Wopples Waltz', which was now being played +fast and furiously by the indefatigable orchestra of two. + +Bartholomew Jarper--generally called Barty by his friends--was a +bank clerk, and had come up to Ballarat on a visit. He was well +known in Melbourne society, and looked upon himself quite as a +leader of fashion. He went everywhere, danced divinely--so the +ladies said--sang two or three little songs, and played the same +accompaniment to each of them, was seen constantly at the theatres, +plunged a little at the races, and was altogether an extremely gay +dog. It is, then, little to be wondered at that, satiated as he was +with Melbourne gaiety, he should be vastly critical of the humble +efforts of the Wopples family to please him. He had met Villiers at +his hotel, when both of them being inebriated they swore eternal +friendship. Mr Villiers, however, was very sulky on this particular +night, for his head still pained him, so Barty stared round the +house in a supercilious manner, and sucked the nob of his cane for +refreshment between the acts. + +Just as the orchestra were making their final plunge into the finale +of the 'Wopples' Waltz', M. Vandeloup, cool and calm as usual, +strolled into the theatre, and, seeing a vacant seat beside +Villiers, walked over and took it. + +'Good evening, my friend,' he said, touching Villiers on the +shoulder. 'Enjoying the play, eh?' + +Villiers angrily pushed away the Frenchman's hand and glared +vindictively at him. + +'Ah, you still bear malice for that little episode of the ditch,' +said Vandeloup with a gay laugh. 'Come, now, this is a mistake; let +us be friends.' + +'Go to the devil!' growled Villiers, crossly. + +'All right, my friend,' said M. Vandeloup, serenely crossing his +legs. 'We'll all end up by paying a visit to that gentleman, but +while we are on earth we may as well be pleasant. Seen your wife +lately?' + +This apparently careless inquiry caused Mr Villiers to jump suddenly +out of his seat, much to the astonishment of Barty, who did not know +for what reason he was standing up. + +'Ah! you want to look at the house, I suppose,' remarked M. +Vandeloup, lazily; 'the building is extremely ugly, but there are +some redeeming features in it. I refer, of course, to the number of +pretty girls,' and Gaston turned round and looked steadily at a red- +haired damsel behind him, who blushed and giggled, thinking he was +referring to her. + +Villiers resumed his seat with a sigh, and seeing that it was quite +useless to quarrel with Vandeloup, owing to that young man's +coolness, resolved to make the best of a bad job, and held out his +hand with a view to reconciliation. + +'It's no use fighting with you,' he said, with an uneasy laugh, as +the other took his hand, 'you are so deuced amiable.' + +'I am,' replied Gaston, calmly examining his programme; 'I practise +all the Christian virtues.' + +Here Barty, on whom the Frenchman's appearance and conversation had +produced an impression, requested Villiers, in a stage whisper, to +introduce him--which was done. Vandeloup looked the young man coolly +up and down, and eventually decided that Mr Barty Jarper was a +'cad', for whatever his morals might be, the Frenchman was a +thorough gentleman. However, as he was always diplomatic, he did not +give utterance to his idea, but taking a seat next to Barty's, he +talked glibly to him until the orchestra finished with a few final +bangs, and the curtain drew up on Act III. + +The scene was the interior of a pawnshop, where the pawnbroker, a +gentleman of Hebraic descent (Mr Buckstone Wopples), sells the cruet +to the dishonest steward, who has come back from America disguised +as a sailor. The decayed family all rush in to buy the cruet stand, +but on finding it gone, overwhelm the pawnbroker with reproaches, so +that to quiet them he hides them all over the shop, on the chance +that the dishonest steward will come back. The dishonest steward +does so, and having found the will tears it up on the stage, upon +which he is assaulted by the decayed family, who rush out from all +parts. Ultimately, he reveals himself and hands back the cruet stand +and the estates to the decayed family, after which a general +marrying all round took place, which proceeding was very gratifying +to the boys in the gallery, who gave their opinions very freely, and +the curtain fell amid thunders of applause. Altogether 'The Cruet +Stand' was a success, and would have a steady run of three nights at +least, so Mr Wopples said--and as a manager of long standing, he was +thoroughly well up in the subject. + +Villiers, Vandeloup, and Barty went out and had a drink, and as none +of them felt inclined to go to bed, Villiers told them he knew Mr +Theodore Wopples, and proposed that they should go behind the scenes +and see him. This was unanimously carried, and after some difficulty +with the door-keeper--a crusty old man with a red face and white +hair, that stood straight up in a tuft, and made him look like an +infuriated cockatoo--they obtained access to the mysterious regions +of the stage, and there found Master Sheridan Wopples practising a +breakdown while waiting for the rest of the family to get ready. +This charming youth, who was small, dried-up and wonderfully sharp, +volunteered to guide them to his father's dressing-room, and on +knocking at the door Mr Wopples' voice boomed out 'Come in,' in such +an unexpected manner that it made them all jump. + +On entering the room they found Mr Wopples, dressed in a light tweed +suit, and just putting on his coat. It was a small room, with a +flaring gas-jet, under which there was a dressing-table littered +over with grease, paints, powder, vaseline and wigs, and upon it +stood a small looking-glass. A great basket-box with the lid wide +open stood at the end of the room, with a lot of clothes piled up on +it, and numerous other garments were hung up upon the walls. A +washstand, with a basin full of soapy water, stood under a +curtainless window, and there was only one chair to be seen, which +Mr Wopples politely offered to his visitor. Mr Villiers, however, +told him he had brought two gentlemen to introduce to him, at which +Mr Wopples was delighted; and on the introduction taking place, +assured both Vandeloup and Barty that it was one of the proudest +moments of his life-a stock phrase he always used when introduced to +visitors. He was soon ready, and preceded the party out of the room, +when he stopped, struck with a sudden idea. + +'I have left the gas burning in my dressing-room,' he said, in his +rolling voice, 'and, if you will permit me, gentlemen, I will go +back and turn it off.' + +This was rather difficult to manage, inasmuch as the stairs were +narrow, and three people being between Mr Wopples and his dressing- +room, he could not squeeze past. + +Finally the difficulty was settled by Villiers, who was last, and +who went back and turned out the gas. + +When he came down he found Mr Wopples waiting for him. + +'I thank you, sir,' he said, grandly, 'and will feel honoured if you +will give me the pleasure of your company at a modest supper +consisting principally of cold beef and pickles.' + +Of course, they all expressed themselves delighted, and as the +entire Wopples family had already gone to their hotel, Mr Wopples +with his three guests went out of the theatre and wended their way +towards the same place, only dropping into two or three bars on the +way to have drinks at Barty's expense. + +They soon arrived at the hotel, and having entered, Mr Wopples +pushed open the door of a room from whence the sound of laughter +proceeded, and introduced the three strangers to his family. The +whole ten, together with Mrs Wopples, were present, and were seated +around a large table plentifully laden with cold beef and pickles, +salads, bottles of beer, and other things too numerous to mention. +Mr Wopples presented them first to his wife, a faded, washed-out +looking lady, with a perpetual simper on her face, and clad in a +lavender muslin gown with ribbons of the same description, she +looked wonderfully light and airy. In fact she had a sketchy +appearance as if she required to be touched up here and there, to +make her appear solid, which was of great service to her in her +theatrical career, as it enabled her to paint on the background of +herself any character she wished to represent. + +'This,' said Mr Wopples in his deep voice, holding his wife's hand +as if he were afraid she would float upward thro' the ceiling like a +bubble--a not unlikely thing seeing how remarkably ethereal she +looked; 'this is my flutterer.' + +Why he called her his flutterer no one ever knew, unless it was +because her ribbons were incessantly fluttering; but, had he called +her his shadow, the name would have been more appropriate. + +Mrs Wopples fluttered down to the ground in a bow, and then +fluttered up again. + +'Gentlemen,' she said, in a thin, clear voice, 'you are welcome. Did +you enjoy the performance?' + +'Madame,' returned Vandeloup, with a smile, 'need you ask that?' + +A shadowy smile floated over Mrs Wopples' indistinct features, and +then her husband introduced the rest of the family in a bunch. + +'Gentlemen,' he said, waving his hand to the expectant ten, who +stood in a line of five male and five female, 'the celebrated +Wopples family.' + +The ten all simultaneously bowed at this as if they were worked by +machinery, and then everyone sat down to supper, Mr Theodore Wopples +taking the head of the table. All the family seemed to admire him +immensely, and kept their eyes fastened on his face with +affectionate regard. + +'Pa,' whispered Miss Siddons Wopples to Villiers, who sat next to +her, 'is a most wonderful man. Observe his facial expression.' + +Villiers observed it, and admitted also in a whisper that it was +truly marvellous. + +Cold beef formed the staple viand on the table, and everyone did +full justice to it, as also to beer and porter, of which Mr Wopples +was very generous. + +'I prefer to give my friends good beer instead of bad champagne,' he +said, pompously. 'Ha! ha! the antithesis, I think, is good.' + +The Wopples family unanimously agreed that it was excellent, and Mr +Handel Wopples observed to Barty that his father often made jokes +worthy of Tom Hood, to which Barty agreed hastily, as he did not +know who Tom Hood was, and besides was flirting in a mild manner +with Miss Fanny Wopples, a pretty girl, who did the burlesque +business. + +'And are all these big boys and girls yours, Madame?' asked +Vandeloup, who was rather astonished at the number of the family, +and thought some of them might have been hired for theatrical +purposes. Mrs Wopples nodded affirmatively with a gratified flutter, +and her husband endorsed it. + +'There are four dead,' he said, in a solemn voice. 'Rest their +souls.' + +All the ten faces round the board reflected the gloom on the +parental countenance, and for a few moments no one spoke. + +'This,' said Mr Wopples, looking round with a smile, at which all +the other faces lighted up, 'this is not calculated to make our +supper enjoyable, children. I may tell you that, in consequence of +the great success of "The Cruet Stand", we play it again to-morrow +night.' + +'Ah!' said Mr Buckstone Wopples, with his mouth full, 'I knew it +would knock 'em; that business of yours, father, with the writ is +simply wonderful.' + +All the family chorused 'Yes,' and Mr Wopples admitted, with a +modest smile, that it was wonderful. + +'Practise,' said Mr Wopples, waving a fork with a piece of cold beef +at the end of it, 'makes perfect. My dear Vandeloup, if you will +permit me to call you so, my son Buckstone is truly a wonderful +critic.' + +Vandeloup smiled at this, and came to the conclusion that the +Wopples family was a mutual admiration society. However, as it was +now nearly twelve o'clock, he rose to take his leave. + +'Oh, you're not going yet,' said Mr Wopples, upon which all the +family echoed, 'Surely, not yet,' in a most hospitable manner. + +'I must,' said Vandeloup, with a smile. 'I know Madame will excuse +me,' with a bow to Mrs Wopples, who thereupon fluttered nervously; +'but I have to be up very early in the morning.' + +'In that case,' said Mr Wopples, rising, 'I will not detain you; +early to bed and early to rise, you know; not that I believe in it +much myself, but I understand it is practised with good results by +some people.' + +Vandeloup shook hands with Mr and Mrs Wopples, but feeling unequal +to taking leave of the ten star artistes in the same way, he bowed +in a comprehensive manner, whereupon the whole ten arose from their +chairs and bowed unanimously in return. + +'Good night, Messrs Villiers and Jarper,' said Vandeloup, going out +of the door, 'I will see you to-morrow.' + +'And we also, I hope,' said Mr Wopples, ungrammatically. 'Come and +see "The Cruet Stand" again. I'll put your name on the free list.' + +M. Vandeloup thanked the actor warmly for this kind offer, and took +himself off; as he passed along the street he heard a burst of +laughter from the Wopples family, no doubt caused by some witticism +of the head of the clan. + +He walked slowly home to the hotel, smoking a cigarette, and +thinking deeply. When he arrived at the 'Wattle Tree' he saw a light +still burning in the bar, and, on knocking at the door, was admitted +by Miss Twexby, who had been making up accounts, and whose virgin +head was adorned with curl-papers. + +'My!' said this damsel, when she saw him, 'you are a nice young man +coming home at this hour--twelve o'clock. See?' and, as a proof of +her assertion, she pointed to the clock. + +'Were you waiting up for me, dear?' asked Vandeloup, audaciously. + +'Not I,' retorted Miss Twexby, tossing her curl-papers; 'I've been +attending to par's business; but, oh, gracious!' with a sudden +recollection of her head-gear, 'you've seen me in undress.' + +'And you look more charming than ever,' finished Vandeloup, as he +took his bedroom candle from her. 'I will see you in the morning. My +friend still asleep, I suppose?' + +'I'm sure I don't know. I haven't seen him all the evening,' replied +Miss Twexby, tossing her head, 'now, go away. You're a naughty, +wicked, deceitful thing. I declare I'm quite afraid of you.' + +'There's no need, I assure you,' replied Vandeloup, in a slightly +sarcastic voice, as he surveyed the plain-looking woman before him; +'you are quite safe from me.' + +He left the bar, whistling an air, while the fair Martha returned to +her accounts, and wondered indignantly whether his last remark was a +compliment or otherwise. + +The conclusion she came to was that it was otherwise, and she +retired to bed in a very wrathful frame of mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE + + +Madame Midas, as may be easily guessed, did not pass a very pleasant +night after the encounter with Villiers. Her head was very painful +with the blow he had given her, and added to this she was certain +she had killed him. + +Though she hated the man who had ruined her life, and who had tried +to rob her, still she did not care about becoming his murderess, and +the thought was madness to her. Not that she was afraid of +punishment, for she had only acted in self-defence, and Villiers, +not she, was the aggressor. + +Meanwhile she waited to hear if the body had been found, for ill +news travels fast; and as everyone knew Villiers was her husband, +she was satisfied that when the corpse was found she would be the +first to be told about it. + +But the day wore on, and no news came, so she asked Archie to go +into Ballarar and see if the discovery had been made. + +''Deed, mem,' said Archie, in a consoling tone, 'I'm thinkin' there's +na word at all. Maybe ye only stapped his pranks for a wee bit, and +he's a' richt.' + +Madame shook her head. + +'I gave him such a terrible blow,' she said, mournfully, 'and he +fell like a stone over the embankment.' + +'He didna leave go the nugget, onyhow, ye ken,' said Archie, dryly; +'so he couldna hae been verra far gone, but I'll gang intil the toun +and see what I can hear.' + +There was no need for this, however, for just as McIntosh got to the +door, Vandeloup, cool and complacent, sauntered in, but stopped +short at the sight of Mrs Villiers sitting in the arm-chair looking +so ill. + +'My dear Madame,' he cried in dismay, going over to her, 'what is +the matter with you?' + +'Matter enow,' growled McIntosh, with his hand on the door handle; +'that deil o' a' husband o' her's has robbed her o' the nugget.' + +'Yes, and I killed him,' said Madame between her clenched teeth. + +'The deuce you did,' said Vandeloup, in surprise, taking a seat, +'then he was the liveliest dead man I ever saw.' + +'What do you mean?' asked Madame, leaning forward, with both hands +gripping the arms of her chair; 'is--is he alive?' + +'Of course he is,' began Vandeloup; 'I--' but here he was stopped by +a cry from Selina, for her mistress had fallen back in her chair in +a dead faint. + +Hastily waving for the men to go away, she applied remedies, and +Madame soon revived. Vandeloup had gone outside with McIntosh, and +was asking him about the robbery, and then told him in return about +Villiers' movements on that night. Selina called them in again, as +Madame wanted to hear all about her husband, and Vandeloup was just +entering when he turned to McIntosh. + +'Oh, by the way,' he said, in a vexed tone, 'Pierre will not be at +work today.' + +'What for no?' asked McIntosh, sharply. + +'He's drunk,' replied Vandeloup, curtly, 'and he's likely to keep +the game up for a week.' + +'We'll see about that,' said Mr McIntosh, wrathfully; 'I tauld yon +gowk o' a Twexby to give the mon food and drink, but I didna tell +him to mack the deil fu'.' + +'It wasn't the landlord's fault,' said Vandeloup; 'I gave Pierre +money--if I had known what he wanted it for I wouldn't have done it- +-but it's too late now.' + +McIntosh was about to answer sharply as to the folly of giving the +man money, when Madame's voice was heard calling them impatiently, +and they both had to go in at once. + +Mrs Villiers was ghastly pale, but there was a look of determination +about her which showed that she was anxious to hear all. Pointing to +a seat near herself she said to Vandeloup-- + +'Tell me everything that happened from the time I left you last +night.' + +'My faith,' replied Vandeloup, carelessly taking the seat, 'there +isn't much to tell--I said goodbye to Monsieur Marchurst and +Mademoiselle Kitty and went down to Ballarar.' + +'How was it you did not pass me on the way?' asked Madame, quickly +fixing her piercing eyes on him. 'I drove slowly.' + +He bore her scrutiny without blenching or even changing colour. + +'Easily enough,' he said, calmly, 'I went the other direction +instead of the usual way, as it was the shortest route to the place +I was stopping at.' + +'The "Wattle Tree", ye ken, Madame,' interposed McIntosh. + +'I had something to eat there,' pursued Vandeloup, 'and then went to +the theatre. Your husband came in towards the end of the performance +and sat next to me.' + +'Was he all right?' asked Mrs Villiers, eagerly. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'I didn't pay much attention to him,' he said, coolly; 'he seemed to +enjoy the play, and afterwards, when we went to supper with the +actors, he certainly ate very heartily for a dead man. I don't think +you need trouble yourself, Madame; your husband is quite well.' + +'What time did you leave him?' she asked, after a pause. + +'About twenty minutes to twelve, I think,' replied Vandeloup, 'at +least, I reached the "Wattle Tree" at about twelve o'clock, and I +think it did take twenty minutes to walk there. Monsieur Villiers +stopped behind with the theatre people to enjoy himself.' + +Enjoying himself, and she, thinking him dead, was crying over his +miserable end; it was infamous! Was this man a monster who could +thus commit a crime one moment and go to an amusement the next? It +seemed like it, and Mrs Villiers felt intense disgust towards her +husband as she sat with tightly clenched hands and dry eyes +listening to Vandeloup's recital. + +'Weel,' said Mr McIntosh at length, rubbing his scanty hair, 'the +deil looks after his ain, as we read in Screepture, and this child +of Belial is flourishing like a green bay tree by mony waters; but +we ma' cut it doon an' lay an axe at the root thereof.' + +'And how do you propose to chop him down?' asked Vandeloup, +flippantly. + +'Pit him intil the Tolbooth for rinnin' awa' wi' the nugget,' +retorted Mr McIntosh, vindictively. + +'A very sensible suggestion,' said Gaston, approvingly, smoothing +his moustache. 'What do you say, Madame?' + +She shook her head. + +'Let him keep his ill-gotten gains,' she said, resignedly. 'Now that +he has obtained what he wanted, perhaps he'll leave me alone; I will +do nothing.' + +'Dae naethin'!' echoed Archie, in great wrath. 'Will ye let that +freend o' Belzibub rin awa' wid a three hun'red ounces of gold an' +dae naethin'? Na, na, ye mauna dae it, I tell ye. Oh, aye, ye may +sit there, mem, and glower awa' like a boggle, but ye aren'a gangin' +to make yoursel' a martyr for yon. Keep the nugget? I'll see him +damned first.' + +This was the first time that Archie had ever dared to cross Mrs +Villiers' wishes, and she stared in amazement at the unwonted +spectacle. This time, however, McIntosh found an unexpected ally in +Vandeloup, who urged that Villiers should be prosecuted. + +'He is not only guilty of robbery, Madame,' said the young +Frenchman, 'but also of an attempt to murder you, and while he is +allowed to go free, your life is not safe.' + +Selina also contributed her mite of wisdom in the form of a +proverb:-- + +'A stitch in time saves nine,' intimating thereby that Mr Villiers +should be locked up and never let out again, in case he tried the +same game on with the next big nugget found. + +Madame thought for a few moments, and, seeing that they were all +unanimous, she agreed to the proposal that Villiers should be +prosecuted, with the stipulation, however, that he should be first +written to and asked to give up the nugget. If he did, and promised +to leave the district, no further steps would be taken; but if he +declined to do so, his wife would prosecute him with the uttermost +rigour of the law. Then Madame dismissed them, as she was anxious to +get a little sleep, and Vandeloup went to the office to write the +letter, accompanied by McIntosh, who wanted to assist in its +composition. + +Meanwhile there was another individual in Ballarat who was much +interested in Villiers, and this kind-hearted gentleman was none +other than Slivers. Villiers was accustomed to come and sit in his +office every morning, and talk to him about things in general, and +the Pactolus claim in particular. On this morning, however, he did +not arrive, and Slivers was much annoyed thereat. He determined to +give Villiers a piece of his mind when he did see him. He went about +his business at 'The Corner', bought some shares, sold others, and +swindled as many people as he was able, then came back to his office +and waited in all the afternoon for his friend, who, however, did +not come. + +Slivers was just going out to seek him when the door of his office +was violently flung open, and a tall, raw-boned female entered in a +very excited manner. Dressed in a dusty black gown, with a crape +bonnet placed askew on her rough hair, this lady banged on Slivers' +table a huge umbrella and demanded where Villiers was. + +'I don't know,' snapped Slivers, viciously; 'how the devil should +I?' + +'Don't swear at me, you wooden-legged little monster,' cried the +virago, with another bang of the umbrella, which raised such a cloud +of dust that it nearly made Slivers sneeze his head off. 'He ain't +been home all night, and you've been leading him into bad habits, +you cork-armed libertine.' + +'Hasn't been home all night, eh?' said Slivers, sitting up quickly, +while Billy, who had been considerably alarmed at the gaunt female, +retired to the fireplace, and tried to conceal himself up the +chimney. 'May I ask who you are?' + +'You may,' said the angry lady, folding her arms and holding the +umbrella in such an awkward manner that she nearly poked Slivers' +remaining eye out. + +'Well, who are you?' snapped Slivers, crossly, after waiting a +reasonable time for an answer and getting none. + +'I'm his landlady,' retorted the other, with a defiant snort. +'Matilda Cheedle is my name, and I don't care who knows it.' + +'It's not a pretty name,' snarled Slivers, prodding the ground with +his wooden leg, as he always did when angry. 'Neither are you. What +do you mean by banging into my office like an insane giraffe?'--this +in allusion to Mrs Cheedle's height. + +'Oh, go on! go on!' said that lady defiantly; 'I've heard it all +before; I'm used to it; but here I sit until you tell me where my +lodger is;' and suiting the action to the word, Mrs Cheedle sat down +in a chair with such a bang that Billy gave a screech of alarm and +said, 'Pickles!' + +'Pickles, you little bag of bones!' cried Mrs Cheedle, who thought +that the word had proceeded from Slivers, 'don't you call me +"Pickles"--but I'm used to it. I'm a lonely woman since Cheedle went +to the cemetery, and I'm always being insulted. Oh, my nerves are +shattered under such treatment'--this last because she saw the +whisky bottle on the table, and thought she might get some. + +Slivers took the hint, and filling a glass with whisky and water +passed it to her, and Mrs Cheedle, with many protestations that she +never touched spirits, drank it to the last drop. + +'Was Villiers always in the habit of coming home?' he asked. + +'Always,' replied Mrs Cheedle; 'he's bin with me eighteen months and +never stopped out one night; if he had,' grimly, 'I'd have known the +reason of his rampagin'.' + +'Strange,' said Slivers, thoughtfully, fixing Mrs Cheedle with his +one eye; 'when did you see him last?' + +'About three o'clock yesterday,' said Mrs Cheedle, looking sadly at +a hole in one of her cotton gloves; 'his conduct was most +extraordinary; he came home at that unusual hour, changed his linen +clothes for a dark suit, and, after he had eaten something, put on +another hat, and walked off with a stick under his arm.' + +'And you've never seen him since?' + +'Not a blessed sight of him,' replied Mrs Cheedle; 'you don't think +any harm's come to him, sir? Not as I care much for him--the drunken +wretch--but still he's a lodger and owes me rent, so I don't know +but what he might be off to Melbourne without paying, and leaving +his boxes full of bricks behind.' + +'I'll have a look round, and if I see him I'll send him home,' said +Slivers, rising to intimate the interview was at end. + +'Very well, mind you do,' said the widow, rising and putting the +empty glass on the table, 'send him home at once and I'll speak to +him. And perhaps,' with a bashful glance, 'you wouldn't mind seeing +me up the street a short way, as I'm alone and unprotected.' + +'Stuff!' retorted Slivers, ungraciously, 'there's plenty of light, +and you are big enough to look after yourself.' + +At this Mrs Cheedle snorted loudly like a war-horse, and flounced +out of the office in a rage, after informing Slivers in a loud voice +that he was a selfish, cork-eyed little viper, from which confusion +of words it will easily be seen that the whisky had taken effect on +the good lady. + +When she had gone Slivers locked up his office, and sallied forth to +find the missing Villiers, but though he went all over town to that +gentleman's favourite haunts, mostly bars, yet he could see nothing +of him; and on making inquiries heard that he had not been seen in +Ballarat all day. This was so contrary to Villiers' general habits +that Slivers became suspicious, and as he walked home thinking over +the subject he came to the conclusion there was something up. + +'If,' said Slivers, pausing on the pavement and addressing a street +lamp, 'he doesn't turn up to-morrow I'll have a look for him again. +If that don't do I'll tell the police, and I shouldn't wonder,' went +on Slivers, musingly, 'I shouldn't wonder if they called on Madame +Midas.' + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE + + +Slivers was puzzled over Villiers' disappearance, so he determined +to go in search of evidence against Madame Midas, though for what +reason he wanted evidence against her no one but himself--and +perhaps Billy--knew. But then Slivers always was an enigma regarding +his reasons for doing things, and even the Sphinx would have found +him a difficult riddle to solve. + +The reasons he had for turning detective were simply these: It soon +became known that Madame Midas had been robbed by her husband of the +famous nugget, and great was the indignation of everyone against Mr +Villiers. That gentleman would have fared very badly if he had made +his appearance, but for some reason or another he did not venture +forth. In fact, he had completely disappeared, and where he was no +one knew. The last person who saw him was Barty Jarper, who left him +at the corner of Lydiard and Sturt Streets, when Mr Villiers had +announced his intention of going home. Mrs Cheedle, however, +asserted positively that she had never set eyes on him since the +time she stated to Slivers, and as it was now nearly two weeks since +he had disappeared things were beginning to look serious. The +generally received explanation was that he had bolted with the +nugget, but as he could hardly dispose of such a large mass of gold +without suspicion, and as the police both in Ballarat and Melbourne +had made inquiries, which proved futile, this theory began to lose +ground. + +It was at this period that Slivers asserted himself--coming forward, +he hinted in an ambiguous sort of way that Villiers had met with +foul play, and that some people had their reasons for wishing to get +rid of him. This was clearly an insinuation against Madame Midas, +but everyone refused to believe such an impossible story, so Slivers +determined to make good his words, and went in search of evidence. + +The Wopples Family having left Ballarat, Slivers was unable to see +Mr Theodore Wopples, who had been in Villiers' company on the night +of his disappearance. + +Mr Barty Jarper, however, had not yet departed, so Slivers waylaid +him, and asked him in a casual way to drop into his office and have +a drink, with a view of finding out from him all the events of that +night. + +Barty was on his way to a lawn tennis party, and was arrayed in a +flannel suit of many colours, with his small, white face nearly +hidden under a large straw hat. Being of a social turn of mind, he +did not refuse Slivers' invitation, but walked into the dusty office +and assisted himself liberally to the whisky. + +'Here's fun, old cock!' he said, in a free and easy manner, raising +his glass to his lips; 'may your shadow never be less.' + +Slivers hoped devoutly that his shadow never would be less, as that +would involve the loss of several other limbs, which he could ill +spare; so he honoured Mr Jarper's toast with a rasping little laugh, +and prepared to talk. + +'It's very kind of you to come and talk to an old chap like me,' +said Slivers, in as amiable a tone as he could command, which was +not much. 'You're such a gay young fellow!' + +Mr Jarper acknowledged modestly that he was gay, but that he owed +certain duties to society, and had to be mildly social. + +'And so handsome!' croaked Slivers, winking with his one eye at +Billy, who sat on the table. 'Oh, he's all there, ain't he, Billy?' + +Billy, however, did not agree to this, and merely observed +'Pickles,' in a disbelieving manner. + +Mr Jarper felt rather overcome by this praise, and blushed in a +modest way, but felt that he could not return the compliment with +any degree of truth, as Slivers was not handsome, neither was he all +there. + +He, however, decided that Slivers was an unusually discerning +person, and worthy to talk to, so prepared to make himself +agreeable. + +Slivers, who had thus gained the goodwill of the young man by +flattery, plunged into the subject of Villiers' disappearance. + +'I wonder what's become of Villiers,' he said, artfully pushing the +whisky bottle toward Barty. + +'I'm sure I don't know,' said Barty in a languid, used-up sort of +voice, pouring himself out some more whisky, 'I haven't seen him +since last Monday week.' + +'Where did you leave him on that night?' asked Slivers. + +'At the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets.' + +'Early in the morning, I suppose?' + +'Yes--pretty early--about two o'clock, I think.' + +'And you never saw him after that?' + +'Not a sight of him,' replied Barty; 'but, I say, why all this +thusness?' + +'I'll tell you after you have answered my questions,' retorted +Slivers, rudely, 'but I'm not asking out of curiosity--its +business.' + +Barty thought that Slivers was very peculiar, but determined to +humour him, and to take his leave as early as possible. + +'Well, go on,' he said, drinking his whisky, 'I'll answer.' + +'Who else was with you and Villiers on that night?' asked Slivers in +a magisterial kind of manner. + +'A French fellow called Vandeloup.' + +'Vandeloup!' echoed Slivers in surprise; 'oh, indeed! what the devil +was he doing?' + +'Enjoying himself,' replied Barty, coolly; 'he came into the theatre +and Villiers introduced him to me; then Mr Wopples asked us all to +supper.' + +'You went, of course?' + +'Rather, old chap; what do you take us for?'--this from Barty, with +a knowing wink. + +'What time did Vandeloup leave?' asked Slivers, not paying any +attention to Barty's pantomime. + +'About twenty minutes to twelve.' + +'Oh! I suppose that was because he had to drive out to the +Pactolus?' + +'Not such a fool, dear boy; he stayed all night in town.' + +'Oh!' ejaculated Slivers, in an excited manner, drumming on the +table with his fingers, 'where did he stay?' + +'At the Wattle Tree Hotel.' + +Slivers mentally made a note of this, and determined to go there and +find out at what time Vandeloup had come home on the night in +question, for this suspicious old man had now got it into his head +that Vandeloup was in some way responsible for Villiers' +disappearance. + +'Where did Villiers say he was going when he left you?' he asked. + +'Straight home.' + +'Humph! Well, he didn't go home at all.' + +'Didn't he?' echoed Barty, in some astonishment. 'Then what's become +of him? Men don't disappear in this mysterious way without some +reason.' + +'Ah, but there is a reason,' replied Slivers, bending across the +table and clawing at the papers thereon with the lean fingers of his +one hand. + +'Why! what do you think is the reason?' faltered Barty, letting his +eye-glass drop out of his eye, and edging his chair further away +from this terrible old man. + +'Murder!' hissed the other through his thin lips. 'He's been +murdered!' + +'Lord!' ejaculated Barty, jumping up from his chair in alarm; +'you're going too far, old chap.' + +'I'm going further,' retorted Slivers, rising from his chair and +stumping up and down the room; 'I'm going to find out who did it, +and then I'll grind her to powder; I'll twist her neck off, curse +her.' + +'Is it a woman?' asked Barty, who now began to think of making a +retreat, for Slivers, with his one eye blazing, and his cork arm +swinging rapidly to and fro, was not a pleasant object to +contemplate. + +This unguarded remark recalled Slivers to himself. + +That's what I want to find out,' he replied, sulkily, going back to +his chair. 'Have some more whisky?' + +'No, thanks,' answered Barty, going to the door, 'I'm late as it is +for my engagement; ta, ta, old chap, I hope you'll drop on the he or +she you're looking for; but you're quite wrong, Villiers has bolted +with the nugget, and that's a fact, sir,' and with an airy wave of +his hand Barty went out, leaving Slivers in anything but a pleasant +temper. + +'Bah! you peacock,' cried this wicked old man, banging his wooden +leg against the table, 'you eye-glass idiot--you brainless puppy-- +I'm wrong, am I? we'll see about that, you rag-shop.' This last in +allusion to Barty's picturesque garb. 'I've found out all I want +from you, and I'll track her down, and put her in gaol, and hang +her--hang her till she's as dead as a door nail.' + +Having given vent to this pleasant sentiment, Slivers put on his +hat, and, taking his stick, walked out of his office, but not before +Billy saw his intention and had climbed up to his accustomed place +on the old man's shoulder. So Slivers stumped along the street, with +the cockatoo on his shoulder, looking like a depraved Robinson +Crusoe, and took his way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + +'If,' argued Slivers to himself, as he pegged bravely along, 'if +Villiers wanted to get rid of the nugget he'd have come to me, for +he knew I'd keep quiet and tell no tales. Well, he didn't come to +me, and there's no one else he could go to. They've been looking for +him all over the shop, and they can't find him; he can't be hiding +or he'd have let me know; there's only one explanation--he's been +murdered--but not for the gold--oh, dear no--for nobody knew he had +it. Who wanted him out of the way?--his wife. Would she stick at +anything?--I'm damned if she would. So it's her work. The only +question is did she do it personally or by deputy. I say deputy, +'cause she'd be too squeamish to do it herself. Who would she select +as deputy?--Vandeloup! Why?--'cause he'd like to marry her for her +money. Yes, I'm sure it's him. Things look black against him: he +stayed in town all night, a thing he never did before--leaves the +supper at a quarter to twelve, so as to avoid suspicion; waits till +Villiers comes out at two in the morning and kills him. Aha! my +handsome jackadandy,' cried Slivers, viciously, suddenly stopping +and shaking his stick at an imaginary Vandeloup; 'I've got you under +my thumb, and I'll crush the life out of you--and of her also, if I +can;' and with this amiable resolution Slivers resumed his way. + +Slivers' argument was plausible, but there were plenty of flaws in +it, which, however, he did not stop to consider, so carried away was +he by his anger against Madame Midas. He stumped along doggedly, +revolving the whole affair in his mind, and by the time he arrived +at the Wattle Tree Hotel he had firmly persuaded himself that +Villiers was dead, and that Vandeloup had committed the crime at the +instigation of Mrs Villiers. + +He found Miss Twexby seated in the bar, with a decidedly cross face, +which argued ill for anyone who held converse with her that day; but +as Slivers was quite as crabbed as she was, and, moreover, feared +neither God nor man--much less a woman--he tackled her at once. + +'Where's your father?' he asked, abruptly, leaning on his stick and +looking intently at the fair Martha's vinegary countenance. + +'Asleep!' snapped that damsel, jerking her head in the direction of +the parlour; 'what do you want?'--very disdainfully. + +'A little civility in the first place,' retorted Slivers, rudely, +sitting down on a bench that ran along the wall, and thereby causing +his wooden leg to stick straight out, which, being perceived by +Billy, he descended from the old man's shoulder and turned the leg +into a perch, where he sat and swore at Martha. + +'You wicked old wretch,' said Miss Twexby, viciously--her nose +getting redder with suppressed excitement--'go along with you, and +take that irreligious parrot with you, or I'll wake my par.' + +'He won't thank you for doing so,' replied Slivers, coolly; 'I've +called to see him about some new shares just on the market, and if +you don't treat me with more respect I'll go, and he'll be out of a +good thing.' + +Now, Miss Twexby knew that Slivers was in the habit of doing +business with her parent, and, moreover was a power in the share +market, so she did not deem it diplomatic to go too far, and +bottling up her wrath for a future occasion, when no loss would be +involved, she graciously asked Slivers what he'd be pleased to have. + +'Whisky,' said Slivers, curtly, leaning his chin on his stick, and +following her movements with his one eye. 'I say!' + +'Well?' asked Miss Twexby, coming from behind the bar with a glass +and a bottle of whisky, 'what do you say?' + +'How's that good-looking Frenchman?' asked Slivers, pouring himself +out some liquor, and winking at her in a rakish manner with his one +eye. + +'How should I know?' snapped Martha, angrily, 'he comes here to see +that friend of his, and then clears out without as much as a good +day; a nice sort of friend, indeed,' wrathfully, 'stopping here +nearly two weeks and drunk all the time; he'll be having delirious +trimmings before he's done.' + +'Who will ?' said Slivers, taking a sip of his whisky and water. + +'Why, that other Frenchman!' retorted Martha, going to her place +behind the bar, 'Peter something; a low, black wretch, all beard, +with no tongue, and a thirst like a lime-kiln.' + +'Oh, the dumb man.' + +Miss Twexby nodded. + +'That's him,' she said, triumphantly, 'he's been here for the last +two weeks.' + +'Drunk, I think you said,' remarked Slivers, politely. + +Martha laughed scornfully, and took out some sewing. + +'I should just think so,' she retorted, tossing her head, 'he does +nothing but drink all day, and run after people with that knife.' + +'Very dangerous,' observed Slivers, gravely shaking his head; 'why +don't you get rid of him?' + +'So we are,' said Miss Twexby, biting off a bit of cotton, as if she +wished it were Pierre's head; 'he is going down to Melbourne the day +after to-morrow.' + +Slivers got weary of hearing about Pierre, and plunged right off +into the object of his visit. + +'That Vandeloup,' he began. + +'Well?' said Miss Twexby, letting the work fall on her lap. + +'What time did he come home the night he stopped here?' + +'Twelve o'clock.' + +'Get along with you,' said Slivers, in disgust, 'you mean three +o'clock.' + +'No, I don't,' retorted Martha, indignantly; 'you'll be telling me I +don't know the time next.' + +'Did he go out again? + +'No, he went to bed.' + +This quite upset Slivers' idea--as if Vandeloup had gone to bed at +twelve, he certainly could not have murdered Villiers nearly a mile +away at two o'clock in the morning. Slivers was puzzled, and then +the light broke on him--perhaps it was the dumb man. + +'Did the other stay here all night also?' + +Miss Twexby nodded. 'Both in the same room,' she answered. + +'What time did the dumb chap come in?' + +'Half-past nine.' + +Here was another facer for Slivers--as it could not have been +Pierre. + +'Did he go to bed?' + +'Straight.' + +'And did not leave the house again?' + +'Of course not,' retorted Miss Twexby, impatiently; 'do you think +I'm a fool--no one goes either in or out of this house without my +knowing it. The dumb devil went to bed at half-past nine, and Mr +Vandeloup at half-past twelve, and they neither of them came out of +their rooms till next morning.' + +'How do you know Vandeloup was in at twelve?' asked Slivers, still +unconvinced. + +'Drat the man, what's he worryin' about?' rejoined Miss Twexby, +snappishly; 'I let him in myself.' + +This clearly closed the subject, and Slivers arose to his feet in +great disgust, upsetting Billy on to the floor. + +'Devil!' shrieked Billy, as he dropped. 'Oh, my precious mother. +Devil--devil--devil--you're a liar--you're a liar--Bendigo and +Ballarat--Ballarat and Bendigo--Pickles!' + +Having thus run through a portion of his vocabulary, he subsided +into silence, and let Slivers pick him up in order to go home. + +'A nice pair you are,' muttered Martha, grimly, looking at them. 'I +wish I had the thrashing of you. Won't you stay and see par?' she +called out as Slivers departed. + +'I'll come to-morrow,' answered Slivers, angrily, for he felt very +much out of temper; then, in a lower voice, he observed to himself, +'I'd like to put that jade in a teacup and crush her.' + +He stumped home in silence, thinking all the time; and it was only +when he arrived back in his office that he gave utterance to his +thoughts. + +'It couldn't have been either of the Frenchmen,' he said, lighting +his pipe. 'She must have done it herself.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MCINTOSH SPEAKS HIS MIND + + +It was some time before Mrs Villiers recovered from the shock caused +by her encounter with her husband. The blow he had struck her on the +side of the head turned out to be more serious than was at first +anticipated, and Selina deemed it advisable that a doctor should be +called in. So Archie went into Ballarat, and returned to the +Pactolus with Dr Gollipeck, an eccentric medical practitioner, whose +peculiarities were the talk of the city. + +Dr Gollipeck was tall and lank, with an unfinished look about him, +as if Nature in some sudden freak had seized an incomplete skeleton +from a museum and hastily covered it with parchment. He dressed in +rusty black, wore dingy cotton gloves, carried a large white +umbrella, and surveyed the world through the medium of a pair of +huge spectacles. His clothes were constantly coming undone, as he +scorned the use of buttons, and preferred pins, which were always +scratching his hands. He spoke very little, and was engaged in +composing an erudite work on 'The Art of Poisoning, from Borgia to +Brinvilliers'. + +Selina was not at all impressed with his appearance, and mentally +decided that a good wash and a few buttons would improve him +wonderfully. Dr Gollipeck, however, soon verified the adage that +appearances are deceptive--as Selina afterwards remarked to Archie-- +by bringing Madame Midas back to health in a wonderfully short space +of time. She was now convalescent, and, seated in the arm-chair by +the window, looked dreamily at the landscape. She was thinking of +her husband, and in what manner he would annoy her next; but she +half thought--and the wish was father to the half thought--that +having got the nugget he would now leave her alone. + +She knew that he had not been in Ballarat since that fatal night +when he had attacked her, but imagined that he was merely hiding +till such time as the storm should blow over and he could enjoy his +ill-gotten gains in safety. The letter asking him to give up the +nugget and ordering him to leave the district under threat of +prosecution had been sent to his lodgings, but was still lying there +unopened. The letters accumulated into quite a little pile as weeks +rolled on, yet Mr Villiers, if he was alive, made no sign, and if he +was dead, no traces had been found of his body. McIntosh and Slivers +had both seen the police about the affair, one in order to recover +the nugget, the other actuated by bitter enmity against Madame +Midas. To Slivers' hints, that perhaps Villiers' wife knew more than +she chose to tell, the police turned a deaf ear, as they assured +Slivers that they had made inquiries, and on the authority of Selina +and McIntosh could safely say that Madame Midas had been home that +night at half-past nine o'clock, whereas Villiers was still alive in +Ballarat--as could be proved by the evidence of Mr Jarper--at two +o'clock in the morning. So, foiled on every side in his endeavours +to implicate Mrs Villiers in her husband's disappearance, Slivers +retired to his office, and, assisted by his ungodly cockatoo, passed +many hours in swearing at his bad luck and in cursing the absent +Villiers. + +As to M. Vandeloup, he was indefatigable in his efforts to find +Villiers, for, as he very truly said, he could never repay Madame +Midas sufficiently for her kindness to him, and he wanted to do all +in his power to punish her cruel husband. But in spite of all this +seeking, the whereabouts of Mr Randolph Villiers remained +undiscovered, and at last, in despair, everyone gave up looking. +Villiers had disappeared entirely, and had taken the nugget with +him, so where he was and what he was doing remained a mystery. + +One result of Madame's illness was that M. Vandeloup had met Dr +Gollipeck, and the two, though apparently dissimilar in both +character and appearance, had been attracted to one another by a +liking which they had in common. This was the study of toxicology, a +science at which the eccentric old man had spent a lifetime. He +found in Vandeloup a congenial spirit, for the young Frenchman had a +wonderful liking for the uncanny subject; but there was a difference +in the aims of both men, Gollipeck being drawn to the study of +poisons from a pure love of the subject, whereas Vandeloup wanted to +find out the secrets of toxicology for his own ends, which were +anything but disinterested. + +Wearied of the dull routine of the office work, Vandeloup was taking +a walk in the meadows which surrounded the Pactolus, when he saw Dr +Gollipeck shuffling along the dusty white road from the railway +station. + +'Good day, Monsieur le Medecin,' said Vandeloup, gaily, as he came +up to the old man; 'are you going to see our mutual friend?' + +Gollipeck, ever sparing of words, nodded in reply, and trudged on in +silence, but the Frenchmen, being used to the eccentricities of his +companion, was in nowise offended at his silence, but went on +talking in an animated manner. + +'Ah, my dear friend,' he said, pushing his straw hat back on his +fair head; 'how goes on the great work?' + +'Capitally,' returned the doctor, with a complacent smile; 'just +finished "Catherine de Medici"--wonderful woman, sir--quite a +mistress of the art of poisoning.' + +'Humph,' returned Vandeloup, thoughtfully, lighting a cigarette, 'I +do not agree with you there; it was her so-called astrologer, +Ruggieri, who prepared all her potions. Catherine certainly had the +power, but Ruggieri possessed the science--a very fair division of +labour for getting rid of people, I must say--but what have you got +there?' nodding towards a large book which Gollipeck carried under +his arm. + +'For you,' answered the other, taking the book slowly from under his +arm, and thereby causing another button to fly off, 'quite new,-- +work on toxicology.' + +'Thank you,' said Vandeloup, taking the heavy volume and looking at +the title; 'French, I see! I'm sure it will be pleasant reading.' + +The title of the book was 'Les Empoisonneurs d'Aujourd'hui, par MM. +Prevol et Lebrun', and it had only been published the previous year; +so as he turned over the leaves carelessly, M. Vandeloup caught +sight of a name which he knew. He smiled a little, and closing the +book put it under his arm, while he turned smilingly towards his +companion, whom he found looking keenly at him. + +'I shall enjoy this book immensely,' he said, touching the volume. +Dr Gollipeck nodded and chuckled in a hoarse rattling kind of way. + +'So I should think,' he answered, with another sharp look, 'you are +a very clever young man, my friend.' + +Vandeloup acknowledged the compliment with a bow, and wondered +mentally what this old man meant. Gaston, however, was never without +an answer, so he turned to Gollipeck again with a nonchalant smile +on his handsome lips. + +'So kind of you to think well of me,' he said, coolly flicking the +ash off the end of his cigarette with his little finger; 'but why do +you pay me such a compliment?' + +Gollipeck answered the question by asking another. + +'Why are you so fond of toxicology?' he said, abruptly, shuffling +his feet in the long dry grass in which they were now walking in +order to rub the dust off his ungainly, ill-blacked shoes. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'To pass the time,' he said, carelessly, 'that is all; even office +work, exciting as it is, becomes wearisome, so I must take up some +subject to amuse myself.' + +'Curious taste for a young man,' remarked the doctor, dryly. + +'Nature,' said M. Vandeloup, 'does not form men all on the same +pattern, and my taste for toxicology has at least the charm of +novelty.' + +Gollipeck looked at the young man again in a sharp manner. + +'I hope you'll enjoy the book,' he said, abruptly, and vanished into +the house. + +When he was gone, the mocking smile so habitual to Vandeloup's +countenance faded away, and his face assumed a thoughtful +expression. He opened the book, and turned over the leaves rapidly, +but without finding what he was in search of. With an uneasy laugh +he shut the volume with a snap, and put it under his arm again. + +'He's an enigma,' he thought, referring to the doctor; 'but he can't +suspect anything. The case may be in this book, but I doubt if even +this man with the barbarous name can connect Gaston Vandeloup, of +Ballarat, with Octave Braulard, of Paris.' + +His face reassumed its usual gay look, and throwing away the half- +smoked cigarette, he walked into the house and found Madame Midas +seated in her arm-chair near the window looking pale and ill, while +Archie was walking up and down in an excited manner, and talking +volubly in broad Scotch. As to Dr Gollipeck, that eccentric +individual was standing in front of the fire, looking even more +dilapidated than usual, and drying his red bandanna handkerchief in +an abstract manner. Selina was in another room getting a drink for +Madame, and as Vandeloup entered she came back with it. + +'Good day, Madame,' said the Frenchman, advancing to the table, and +putting his hat and the book down on it. 'How are you today?' + +'Better, much better, thank you,' said Madame, with a faint smile; +'the doctor assures me I shall be quite well in a week.' + +'With perfect rest and quiet, of course,' interposed Gollipeck, +sitting down and spreading his handkerchief over his knees. + +'Which Madame does not seem likely to get,' observed Vandeloup, +dryly, with a glance at McIntosh, who was still pacing up and down +the room with an expression of wrath on his severe face. + +'Ou, ay,' said that gentleman, stopping in front of Vandeloup, with +a fine expression of scorn. 'I ken weel 'tis me ye are glowerin' at- +-div ye no' ken what's the matter wi' me?' + +'Not being in your confidence,' replied Gaston, smoothly, taking a +seat, 'I can hardly say that I do.' + +'It's just that Peter o' yours,' said Archie, with a snort; 'a puir +weecked unbaptised child o' Satan.' + +'Archie!' interposed Madame, with some severity. + +'Your pardon's begged, mem,' said Archie, sourly turning to her; +'but as for that Peter body, the Lord keep me tongue fra' swearin', +an' my hand from itching to gie him ain on the lug, when I think o' +him.' + +'What's he been doing?' asked Vandeloup, coolly. 'I am quite +prepared to hear anything about him in his present state.' + +'It's just this,' burst forth Archie, wrathfully. 'I went intil the +toun to the hotel, to tell the body he must come back tae the mine, +and I find him no in a fit state for a Christian to speak to.' + +'Therefore,' interposed Vandeloup, in his even voice, without +lifting his eyes, 'it was a pity you did speak to him.' + +'I gang t' the room,' went on Archie excitedly, without paying any +attention to Vandeloup's remark, 'an' the deil flew on me wi' a +dirk, and wud hae split my weasand, but I hed the sense to bang the +door to, and turn the key in the lock. D'y ca' that conduct for a +ceevilized body?' + +'The fact is, M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, quietly, 'Archie is so +annoyed at this conduct that he does not want Lemaire to come back +to work.' + +'Ma certie, I should just think so,' cried McIntosh, rubbing his +head with his handkerchief. 'Fancy an imp of Beelzebub like yon in +the bowels o' the earth. Losh! but it macks my bluid rin cauld when +I think o' the bluidthirsty pagan.' + +To Vandeloup, this information was not unpleasant. He was anxious to +get rid of Pierre, who was such an incubus, and now saw that he +could send him away without appearing to wish to get rid of him. But +as he was a diplomatic young man he did not allow his satisfaction +to appear on his face. + +'Aren't you rather hard on him?' he said, coolly, leaning back in +his chair; 'he is simply drunk, and will be all right soon.' + +'I tell ye I'll no have him back,' said Archie, firmly; 'he's ain o' +they foreign bodies full of revolutions an' confusion o' tongues, +and I'd no feel safe i' the mine if I kenned that deil was doon +below wi' his dirk.' + +'I really think he ought to go,' said Madame, looking rather +anxiously at Vandeloup, 'unless, M. Vandeloup, you do not want to +part with him.' + +'Oh, I don't want him,' said Vandeloup, hastily; 'as I told you, he +was only one of the sailors on board the ship I was wrecked in, and +he followed me up here because I was the only friend he had, but now +he has got money--or, at least, his wages must come to a good +amount.' + +'Forty pounds,' interposed Archie. + +'So I think the best thing he can do is to go to Melbourne, and see +if he can get back to France.' + +'And you, M. Vandeloup?' asked Dr Gollipeck, who had been listening +to the young Frenchman's remarks with great interest; 'do you not +wish to go to France?' + +Vandeloup rose coolly from his chair, and, picking up his book and +hat, turned to the doctor. + +'My dear Monsieur,' he said, leaning up against the wall in a +graceful manner, 'I left France to see the world, so until I have +seen it I don't think it would be worthwhile to return.' + +'Never go back when you have once put your hand to the plough,' +observed Selina, opportunely, upon which Vandeloup bowed to her. + +'Mademoiselle,' he said, quietly, with a charming smile, 'has put +the matter into the shell of a nut; Australia is my plough, and I do +not take my hand away until I have finished with it.' + +'But that deil o' a Peter,' said Archie, impatiently. + +'If you will permit me, Madame,' said Vandeloup, 'I will write out a +cheque for the amount of money due to him, and you will sign it. I +will go into Ballarat to-morrow, and get him away to Melbourne. I +propose to buy him a box and some clothes, as he certainly is not +capable of getting them himself.' + +'You have a kind heart, M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, as she assented +with a nod. + +A stifled laugh came from the Doctor, but as he was such an +extremely eccentric individual no one minded him. + +'Come, Monsieur,' said Vandeloup, going to the door, 'let us be off +to the office and see how much is due to my friend,' and with a bow +to Madame, he went out. + +'A braw sort o' freend,' muttered Archie, as he followed. + +'Quite good enough for him,' retorted Dr Gollipeck, who overheard +him. + +Archie looked at him approvingly, nodded his head, and went out +after the Frenchman, but Madame, being a woman and curious, asked +the doctor what he meant. + +His reply was peculiar. + +'Our friend,' he said, putting his handkerchief in his pocket and +seizing his greasy old hat, 'our friend believes in the greatest +number.' + +'And what is the greatest number?' asked Madame, innocently. + +'Number one,' retorted the Doctor, and took his leave abruptly, +leaving two buttons and several pins on the floor as traces of his +visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST PART + + +Union is strength, and if Dr Gollipeck had only met Slivers and +revealed his true opinion of Vandeloup to him, no doubt that clever +young man would have found himself somewhat embarrassed, as a great +deal of a man's past history can be found out by the simple plan of +putting two and two together. Fortunately, however, for Gaston, +these two gentlemen never met, and Gollipeck came to the conclusion +that he could see nothing to blame in Vandeloup's conduct, though he +certainly mistrusted him, and determined mentally to keep an eye on +his movements. What led him to be suspicious was the curious +resemblance the appearance of this young man had to that of a +criminal described in the 'Les Empoisonneurs d'Aujourd'hui' as +having been transported to New Caledonia for the crime of poisoning +his mistress. Everything, however, was vague and uncertain; so Dr +Gollipeck, when he arrived home, came to the above-named conclusion +that he would watch Vandeloup, and then, dismissing him from his +mind, went to work on his favourite subject. + +Meanwhile, M. Vandeloup slept the sleep of the just, and next +morning, after making his inquiries after the health of Madame +Midas--a thing he never neglected to do--he went into Ballarat in +search of Pierre. On arriving at the Wattle Tree Hotel he was +received by Miss Twexby in dignified silence, for that astute damsel +was beginning to regard the fascinating Frenchman as a young man who +talked a great deal and meant nothing. + +He was audacious enough to win her virgin heart and then break it, +so Miss Twexby thought the wisest thing would be to keep him at a +distance. So Vandeloup's bright smiles and merry jokes failed to +call forth any response from the fair Martha, who sat silently in +the bar, looking like a crabbed sphinx. + +'Is my friend Pierre in?' asked Vandeloup, leaning across the +counter, and looking lovingly at Miss Twexby. + +That lady intimated coldly that he was in, and had been for the last +two weeks; also that she was sick of him, and she'd thank M. +Vandeloup to clear him out--all of which amused Vandeloup mightily, +though he still continued to smile coolly on the sour-faced damsel +before him. + +'Would you mind going and telling him I want to see him?' he asked, +lounging to the door. + +'Me!' shrieked Martha, in a shrill voice, shooting up from behind +the counter like an infuriated jack-in-the-box. 'No, I shan't. Why, +the last time I saw him he nearly cut me like a ham sandwich with +that knife of his. I am not,' pursued Miss Twexby, furiously, 'a +loaf of bread to be cut, neither am I a pin-cushion to have things +stuck into me; so if you want to be a corpse, you'd better go up +yourself.' + +'I hardly think he'll touch me,' replied Vandeloup, coolly, going +towards the door which led to Pierre's bedroom. 'You've had a lot of +trouble with him, I'm afraid; but he's going down to Melbourne +tonight, so it will be all right.' + +'And the bill?' queried Miss Twexby, anxiously. + +'I will pay it,' said Vandeloup, at which she was going to say he +was very generous, but suppressed the compliment when he added, 'out +of his own money.' + +Gaston, however, failed to persuade Pierre to accompany him round to +buy an outfit. For the dumb man lay on his bed, and obstinately +refused to move out of the room. He, however, acquiesced sullenly +when his friend told him he was going to Melbourne, so Vandeloup +left the room, having first secured Pierre's knife, and locked the +door after him. He gave the knife to Miss Twexby, with injunctions +to her to keep it safe, then sallied forth to buy his shipwrecked +friend a box and some clothes. + +He spent about ten pounds in buying an outfit for the dumb man, +hired a cab to call at the 'Wattle Tree' Hotel at seven o'clock to +take the box and its owner to the station. And then feeling he had +done his duty and deserved some recompense, he had a nice little +luncheon and a small bottle of wine for which he paid out of +Pierre's money. When he finished he bought a choice cigar, had a +glass of Chartreuse, and after resting in the commercial room for a +time he went out for a walk, intending to call on Slivers and Dr +Gollipeck, and in fact do anything to kill time until it would be +necessary for him to go to Pierre and take him to the railway +station. + +He walked slowly up Sturt Street, and as the afternoon was so warm, +thought he would go up to Lake Wendouree, which is at the top of the +town, and see if it was any cooler by the water. The day was +oppressively hot, but not with the bright, cheery warmth of a +summer's day, for the sun was hidden behind great masses of angry- +looking clouds, and it seemed as if a thunderstorm would soon break +over the city. Even Vandeloup, full of life and animation as he was, +felt weighed down by the heaviness of the atmosphere, and feeling +quite exhausted when he arrived at the lake, he was glad enough to +sit down on one of the seats for a rest. + +The lake under the black sky was a dull leaden hue, and as there was +no wind the water was perfectly still. Even the trees all round it +were motionless, as there came no breeze to stir their leaves, and +the only sounds that could be heard were the dull croaking of the +frogs amid the water grasses, and the shrill cries of children +playing on the green turf. Every now and then a steamer would skim +across the surface of the water in an airy manner, looking more like +a child's clockwork toy than anything else, and Vandeloup, when he +saw one of these arrive at the little pier, almost expected to see a +man put in a huge key to the paddle wheels and wind it up again. + +On one of the seats Vandeloup espied a little figure in white, and +seeing that it was Kitty, he strolled up to her in a leisurely +manner. She was looking at the ground when he came up, and was +prodding holes in the spongy turf with her umbrella, but glanced up +carelessly as he came near. Then she sprang up with a cry of joy, +and throwing her arms around his neck, she kissed him twice. + +'I haven't seen you for ages,' said Kitty, putting her arm in his as +they sat down. 'I just came up here for a week, and did not think +I'd see you.' + +'The meeting was quite accidental, I know,' replied Gaston, leaning +back lazily; 'but none the less pleasant on that account.' + +'Oh, no,' said Kitty, gravely shaking her head; 'unexpected meetings +are always pleasanter than those arranged, for there's never any +disappointment about them.' + +'Oh, that's your experience, is it?' answered her lover, with an +amused smile, pulling out his cigarette case. 'Well, suppose you +reward me for my accidental presence here, and light a cigarette for +me.' + +Kitty was of course delighted, and took the case while M. Vandeloup +leaned back in the seat, his hands behind his head, and stared +reflectively at the leaden-coloured sky. Kitty took out a cigarette +from the case, placed it between her pretty lips, and having +obtained a match from one of her lover's pockets, proceeded to light +it, which was not done without a great deal of choking and pretty +confusion. At length she managed it, and bending over Gaston, placed +it in his mouth, and gave him a kiss at the same time. + +'If pa knew I did this, he'd expire with horror,' she said, sagely +nodding her head. + +'Wouldn't be much loss if he did,' replied Vandeloup, lazily, +glancing at her pretty face from under his eyelashes; 'your father +has a great many faults, dear.' + +'Oh, "The Elect" think him perfect,' said Kitty, wisely. + +'From their point of view, perhaps he is,' returned Gaston, with a +faint sneer; 'but he's not a man given to exuberant mirth.' + +'Well, he is rather dismal,' assented Kitty, doubtfully. + +'Wouldn't you like to leave him and lead a jollier life?' asked +Vandeloup, artfully, 'in Melbourne, for instance.' + +Kitty looked at him half afraid. + +'I--I don't know,' she faltered, looking down. + +'But I do, Bebe,' whispered Gaston, putting his arm round her waist; +'you would like to come with me.' + +'Why? Are you going?' cried Kitty, in dismay. + +Vandeloup nodded. + +'I think I spoke about this before,' he said, idly brushing some +cigarette ash off his waistcoat. + +'Yes,' returned Kitty, 'but I thought you did not mean it.' + +'I never say anything I do not mean,' answered Vandeloup, with the +ready lie on his lips in a moment; 'and I have got letters from +France with money, so I am going to leave the Pactolus.' + +'And me?' said Kitty, tearfully. + +'That depends upon yourself, Bebe,' he said rapidly, pressing her +burning cheek against his own; 'your father would never consent to +my marriage, and I can't take you away from Ballarat without +suspicions, so--' + +'Yes?' said Kitty, eagerly, looking at him. + +'You must run away,' he whispered, with a caressing smile. + +'Alone?' + +'For a time, yes,' he answered, throwing away his cigarette; +'listen--next week you must meet me here, and I will give you money +to keep you in Melbourne for some time; then you must leave Ballarat +at once and wait for me at the Buttercup Hotel in Gertrude Street, +Carlton; you understand?' + +'Yes,' faltered Kitty, nervously; 'I--I understand.' + +'And you will come?' he asked anxiously, looking keenly at her, and +pressing the little hand he held in his own. Just as she was going +to answer, as if warning her of the fatal step she was about to +take, a low roll of thunder broke on their ears, and Kitty shrank +back appalled from her lover's embrace. + +'No! no! no!' she almost shrieked, hysterically, trying to tear +herself away from his arms, 'I cannot; God is speaking.' + +'Bah!' sneered Vandeloup, with an evil look on his handsome face, +'he speaks too indistinctly for us to guess what he means; what are +you afraid of? I will join you in Melbourne in two or three weeks, +and then we will be married.' + +'But my father,' she whispered, clasping her hot hands convulsively. + +'Well, what of him?' asked Vandeloup, coolly; 'he is so wrapped up +in his religion that he will not miss you; he will never find out +where you are in Melbourne, and by the time he does you will be my +wife. Come,' he said, ardently, whispering the temptation in her +ear, as if he was afraid of being heard, 'you must consent; say yes, +Bebe; say yes.' + +She felt his hot breath on her cheek, and felt rather than saw the +scintillations of his wonderful eyes, which sent a thrill through +her; so, utterly exhausted and worn out by the overpowering nervous +force possessed by this man, she surrendered. + +'Yes,' she whispered, clinging to him with dry lips and a beating +heart; 'I will come!' Then her overstrained nature gave way, and +with a burst of tears she threw herself on his breast. + +Gaston let her sob quietly for some time, satisfied with having +gained his end, and knowing that she would soon recover. At last +Kitty grew calmer, and drying her eyes, she rose to her feet wan and +haggard, as if she was worn out for the want of sleep, and not by +any manner of means looking like a girl who was in love. This +appearance was caused by the revolt of her religious training +against doing what she knew was wrong. In her breast a natural +instinct had been fighting against an artificial one; and as Nature +is always stronger than precept, Nature had conquered. + +'My dear Bebe,' said Vandeloup, rising also, and kissing her white +cheek, 'you must go home now, and get a little sleep; it will do you +good.' + +'But you?' asked Kitty, in a low voice, as they walked slowly along. + +'Oh, I,' said M. Vandeloup, airily; 'I am going to the Wattle Tree +Hotel to see my friend Pierre off to Melbourne.' + +Then he exerted himself to amuse Kitty as they walked down to town, +and succeeded so well that by the time they reached Lydiard Street, +where Kitty left him to go up to Black Hill, she was laughing as +merrily as possible. They parted at the railway crossing, and Kitty +went gaily up the white dusty road, while M. Vandeloup strolled +leisurely along the street on his way to the Wattle Tree Hotel. + +When he arrived he found that Pierre's box had come, and was placed +outside his door, as no one had been brave enough to venture inside, +although Miss Twexby assured them he was unarmed--showing the knife +as a proof. + +Gaston, however, dragged the box into the room, and having made +Pierre dress himself in his new clothes, he packed all the rest in a +box, corded it, and put a ticket on it with his name and +destination, then gave the dumb man the balance of his wages. It was +now about six o'clock, so Vandeloup went down to dinner; then +putting Pierre and his box into the cab, stepped in himself and +drove off. + +The promise of rain in the afternoon was now fulfilled, and it was +pouring in torrents. The gutters were rivers, and every now and then +through the driving rain came the bluish dart of a lightning flash. + +'Bah!' said Vandeloup, with a shiver, as they got out on the station +platform, 'what a devil of a night.' + +He made the cab wait for him, and, having got Pierre's ticket, put +him in a second-class carriage and saw that his box was safely +placed in the luggage-van. The station was crowded with people going +and others coming to say goodbye; the rain was beating on the high- +arched tin roof, and the engine at the end of the long train was +fretting and fuming like a living thing impatient to be gone. + +'You are now on your own responsibility, my friend,' said Vandeloup +to Pierre, as he stood at the window of the carriage; 'for we must +part, though long together have we been. Perhaps I will see you in +Melbourne; if I do you will find I have not forgotten the past,' +and, with a significant look at the dumb man, Vandeloup lounged +slowly away. + +The whistle blew shrilly, the last goodbyes were spoken, the guard +shouted 'All aboard for Melbourne,' and shut all the doors, then, +with another shriek and puff of white steam, the train, like a long, +lithe serpent, glided into the rain and darkness with its human +freight. + +'At last I have rid myself of this dead weight,' said Vandeloup, as +he drove along the wet streets to Craig's Hotel, where he intended +to stay for the night, 'and can now shape my own fortune. Pierre is +gone, Bebe will follow, and now I must look after myself.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +M. VANDELOUP IS UNJUSTLY SUSPECTED + + +'It never rains but it pours' is an excellent proverb, and a very +true one, for it is remarkable how events of a similar nature follow +closely on one another's heels when the first that happened has set +the ball a-rolling. Madame Midas believed to a certain extent in +this, and she half expected that when Pierre went he would be +followed by M. Vandeloup, but she certainly did not think that the +disappearance of her husband would be followed by that of Kitty +Marchurst. Yet such was the case, for Mr Marchurst, not seeing Kitty +at family prayers, had sent in the servant to seek for her, and the +scared domestic had returned with a startled face and a letter for +her master. Marchurst read the tear-blotted little note, in which +Kitty said she was going down to Melbourne to appear on the stage. +Crushing it up in his hand, he went on with family prayers in his +usual manner, and after dismissing his servants for the night, he +went up to his daughter's room, and found that she had left nearly +everything behind, only taking a few needful things with her. Seeing +her portrait on the wall he took it down and placed it in his +pocket. Then, searching through her room, he found some ribbons and +lace, a yellow-backed novel, which he handled with the utmost +loathing, and a pair of gloves. Regarding these things as the +instruments of Satan, by which his daughter had been led to +destruction, he carried them downstairs to his dismal study and +piled them in the empty fireplace. Placing his daughter's portrait +on top he put a light to the little pile of frivolities, and saw +them slowly burn away. The novel curled and cracked in the scorching +flame, but the filmy lace vanished like cobwebs, and the gloves +crackled and shrank into mere wisps of black leather. And over all, +through the flames, her face, bright and charming, looked out with +laughing lips and merry eyes--so like her mother's, and yet so +unlike in its piquant grace--until that too fell into the hollow +heart of the flames, and burned slowly away into a small pile of +white ashes. + +Marchurst, leaving the dead ashes cold and grey in the dark +fireplace, went to his writing table, and falling on his knees he +passed the rest of the night in prayer. + +Meanwhile, the man who was the primary cause of all this trouble was +working in the office of the Pactolus claim with a light heart and +cool head. Gaston had really managed to get Kitty away in a very +clever manner, inasmuch as he never appeared publicly to be +concerned in it, but directed the whole business secretly. He had +given Kitty sufficient money to keep her for some months in +Melbourne, as he was in doubt when he could leave the Pactolus +without being suspected of being concerned in her disappearance. He +also told her what day to leave, and all that day stayed at the mine +working at his accounts, and afterwards spent the evening very +pleasantly with Madame Midas. Next day McIntosh went into Ballarat +on business, and on returning from the city, where he had heard all +about it--rumour, of course, magnifying the whole affair greatly--he +saw Vandeloup come out of the office, and drew up in the trap beside +the young man. + +'Aha, Monsieur,' said Vandeloup, gaily, rolling a cigarette in his +slender fingers, and shooting a keen glance at Archie; 'you have had +a pleasant day.' + +'Maybe yes, maybe no,' returned McIntosh, cautiously, fumbling in +the bag; 'there's naething muckle in the toun, but--deil tack the +bag,' he continued, tetchily shaking it. 'I've gotten a letter or so +fra' France.' + +'For me?' cried Vandeloup, eagerly, holding out his hands. + +'An' for who else would it be?' grumbled Archie, giving the letter +to him--a thin, foreign looking envelope with the Parisian post mark +on it; 'did ye think it was for that black-avised freend o' yours?' + +'Hardly!' returned Vandeloup, glancing at the letter with +satisfaction, and putting it in his pocket. 'Pierre couldn't write +himself, and I doubt very much if he had any friends who could--not +that I knew his friends,' he said, hastily catching sight of +McIntosh's severe face bent inquiringly on him, 'but like always +draws to like.' + +Archie's only answer to this was a grunt. + +'Are ye no gangin' tae read yon?' he asked sourly. + +'Not at present,' replied Vandeloup, blowing a thin wreath of blue +smoke, 'by-and-bye will do. Scandal and oysters should both be fresh +to be enjoyable, but letters--ah, bah,' with a shrug, 'they can +wait. Come, tell me the news; anything going on?' + +'Weel,' said McIntosh, with great gusto, deliberately flicking a fly +off the horse's back with a whip, 'she's ta'en the bit intil her +mouth and gane wrang, as I said she would.' + +'To what special "she" are you alluding to?' asked Vandeloup, lazily +smoothing his moustache; 'so many of them go wrong, you see, one +likes to be particular. The lady's name is--?' + +'Katherine Marchurst, no less,' burst forth Archie, in triumph; +'she's rin awa' to be a play-actor.' + +'What? that child?' said Vandeloup, with an admirable expression of +surprise; 'nonsense! It cannot be true.' + +'D'ye think I would tell a lee?' said Archie, wrathfully, glowering +down on the tall figure pacing leisurely along. 'God forbid that my +lips should fa' tae sic iniquity. It's true, I tell ye; the lass has +rin awa' an' left her faither--a godly mon, tho' I'm no of his way +of thinkin--to curse the day he had sic a bairn born until him. Ah, +'tis sorrow and dule she hath brought tae his roof tree, an' sorrow +and dule wull be her portion at the hands o' strangers,' and with +this scriptural ending Mr McIntosh sharply whipped up Rory, and went +on towards the stable, leaving Vandeloup standing in the road. + +'I don't think he suspects, at all events,' thought that young man, +complacently. 'As to Madame Midas--pouf! I can settle her suspicions +easily; a little virtuous indignation is most effective as a blind;' +and M. Vandeloup, with a gay laugh, strolled on towards the house in +the gathering twilight. + +Suddenly he recollected the letter, which had escaped his thoughts, +in his desire to see how McIntosh would take the disappearance of +Kitty, so as there was still light to see, he leaned up against a +fence, and, having lighted another cigarette, read it through +carefully. It appeared to afford him considerable satisfaction, and +he smiled as he put it in his pocket again. + +'It seems pretty well forgotten, this trouble about Adele,' he said, +musingly, as he resumed his saunter; 'I might be able to go back +again in a few years, if not to Paris at least to Europe--one can be +very happy in Monaco or Vienna, and run no risk of being found out; +and, after all,' he muttered, thoughtfully, fingering his moustache, +'why not to Paris? The Republic has lasted too long already. Sooner +or later there will be a change of Government, and then I can go +back a free man, with a fortune of Australian gold. Emperor, King, +or President, it's all the same to me, as long as I am left alone.' + +He walked on slowly, thinking deeply all the time, and when he +arrived at the door of Mrs Villiers' house, this clever young man, +with his accustomed promptitude and decision, had settled what he +was going to do. + +'Up to a certain point, of course,' he said aloud, following his +thoughts, 'after that, chance must decide.' + +Madame Midas was very much grieved at the news of Kitty's Escapade, +particularly as she could not see what motive she had for running +away, and, moreover, trembled to think of the temptations the +innocent girl would be exposed to in the metropolis. After tea, when +Archie had gone outside to smoke his pipe, and Selina was busy in +the kitchen washing the dishes, she spoke to Vandeloup on the +subject. The young Frenchman was seated at the piano in the +darkness, striking a few random chords, while Madame was by the fire +in the arm-chair. It was quite dark, with only the rosy glow of the +fire shining through the room. Mrs Villiers felt uneasy; was it +likely that Vandeloup could have any connection with Kitty's +disappearance? Impossible! he had given her his word of honour, and +yet--it was very strange. Mrs Villiers was not, by any means, a +timid woman, so she determined to ask Gaston right out, and get a +decided answer from him, so as to set her mind at rest. + +'M. Vandeloup,' she said, in her clear voice, 'will you kindly come +here a moment? + +'Certainly, Madame,' said Gaston, rising with alacrity from the +piano, and coming to the fireside; 'is there anything I can do?' + +'You have heard of Miss Marchurst's disappearance?' she asked, +looking up at him. + +Vandeloup leaned his elbow on the mantelpiece, and looked down into +the fire, so that the full blaze of it could strike his face. He +knew Madame Midas prided herself on being a reader of character, and +knowing he could command his features admirably, he thought it would +be politic to let her see his face, and satisfy herself as to his +innocence. + +'Yes, Madame,' he answered, in his calm, even tones, looking down +inquiringly at the statuesque face of the woman addressing him; +'Monsieur,' nodding towards the door, 'told me, but I did not think +it true.' + +'I'm afraid it is,' sighed Madame, shaking her head. 'She is going +on the stage, and her father will never forgive her.' + +'Surely, Madame--' began Vandeloup, eagerly. + +'No,' she replied, decisively, 'he is not a hard man, but his way of +looking at things through his peculiar religious ideas has warped +his judgment--he will make no attempt to save her, and God knows +what she will come to.' + +'There are good women on the stage,' said Vandeloup, at a loss for a +reply. + +'Certainly,' returned Madame, calmly, 'there are black and white +sheep in every flock, but Kitty is so young and inexperienced, that +she may become the prey of the first handsome scoundrel she meets.' + +Madame had intuitively guessed the whole situation, and Vandeloup +could not help admiring her cleverness. Still his face remained the +same, and his voice was as steady as ever as he answered-- + +'It is much to be regretted; but still we must hope for the best.' + +Was he guilty? Madame could not make up her mind, so determined to +speak boldly. + +'Do you remember that day I introduced her to you?' + +Vandeloup bowed. + +'And you gave me your word of honour you would not try to turn her +head,' pursued Madame, looking at him; 'have you kept your word?' + +'Madame,' said Vandeloup, gravely, 'I give you my word of honour +that I have always treated Mlle Kitty as a child and your friend. I +did not know that she had gone until I was told, and whatever +happens to her, I can safely say that it was not Gaston Vandeloup's +fault.' + +An admirable actor this man, not a feature of his face moved, not a +single deviation from the calmness of his speech--not a quickening +of the pulse, nor the rush of betraying blood to his fair face--no! +Madame withdrew her eyes quite satisfied, M. Vandeloup was the soul +of honour and was innocent of Kitty's disgrace. + +'Thank God!' she said, reverently, as she looked away, for she would +have been bitterly disappointed to have found her kindness to this +man repaid by base treachery towards her friend; 'I cannot tell you +how relieved I feel.' + +M. Vandeloup withdrew his face into the darkness, and smiled in a +devilish manner to himself. How these women believed--was there any +lie too big for the sex to swallow? Evidently not--at least, so he +thought. But now that Kitty was disposed of, he had to attend to his +own private affairs, and put his hand in his pocket for the letter. + +'I wanted to speak to you on business, Madame,' he said, taking out +the letter; 'the long-expected has come at last.' + +'You have heard from Paris?' asked Madame, in an eager voice. + +'I have,' answered the Frenchman, calmly; 'I have now the letter in +my hand, and as soon as Mlle Selina brings in the lights I will show +it to you.' + +At this moment, as if in answer to his request, Selina appeared with +the lamp, which she had lighted in the kitchen and now brought in to +place on the table. When she did so, and had retired again, +Vandeloup placed his letter in Madame's hand, and asked her to read +it. + +'Oh, no, Monsieur,' said Mrs Villiers, offering it back, 'I do not +wish to read your private correspondence.' + +Vandeloup had calculated on this, for, as a matter of fact, there +was a good deal of private matter in the letter, particularly +referring to his trip to New Caledonia, which he would not have +allowed her to see. But he knew it would inspire her with confidence +in him if he placed it wholly in her hands, and resolved to boldly +venture to do so. The result was as he guessed; so, with a smile, he +took it back again. + +'There is nothing private in it, Madame,' he said, opening the +letter; 'I wanted you to see that I had not misrepresented myself-- +it is from my family lawyer, and he has sent me out a remittance of +money, also some letters of introduction to my consul in Melbourne +and others; in fact,' said M. Vandeloup, with a charming smile, +putting the letter in his pocket, 'it places me in my rightful +position, and I shall assume it as soon as I have your permission.' + +'But why my permission ?' asked Madame, with a faint smile, already +regretting bitterly that she was going to lose her pleasant +companion. + +'Madame,' said Vandeloup, impressively, bending forward, 'in the +words of the Bible--when I was hungry you gave me food; when I was +naked you gave me raiment. You took me on, Madame, an unknown waif, +without money, friends, or a character; you believed in me when no +one else did; you have been my guardian angel: and do you think that +I can forget your goodness to me for the last six months? No! +Madame,' rising, 'I have a heart, and while I live that heart will +ever remember you with gratitude and love;' and bending forward he +took her hand and kissed it gallantly. + +'You think too much of what I have done,' said Madame, who was, +nevertheless, pleased at this display of emotion, albeit, according +to her English ideas, it seemed to savour too much of the +footlights. 'I only did to you what I would do to all men. I am +glad, in this instance, to find my confidence has not been +misplaced; when do you think of leaving us?' + +'In about two or three weeks,' answered Vandeloup, carelessly, 'but +not till you find another clerk; besides, Madame, do not think you +have lost sight of me for ever; I will go down to Melbourne, settle +all my affairs, and come up and see you again.' + +'So you say,' replied Mrs Villiers, sceptically smiling. + +'Well,' replied M. Vandeloup, with a shrug, 'we will see--at all +events, gratitude is such a rare virtue that there is decided +novelty in possessing it.' + +'M. Vandeloup,' said Madame, suddenly, after they had been chatting +for a few moments, 'one thing you must do for me in Melbourne.' + +'I will do anything you wish,' said Vandeloup, gravely. + +'Then,' said Madame, earnestly, rising and looking him in the face, +'you must find Kitty, and send her back to me.' + +'Madame,' said Vandeloup, solemnly, 'it will be the purpose of my +life to restore her to your arms.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DEVIL'S LEAD + + +There was great dismay at the Pactolus Mine when it became known +that Vandeloup was going to leave. During his short stay he had made +himself extremely popular with the men, as he always had a bright +smile and a kind word for everyone, so they all felt like losing a +personal friend. The only two who were unfeigningly glad at +Vandeloup's departure were Selina and McIntosh, for these two +faithful hearts had seen with dismay the influence the Frenchman was +gradually gaining over Madame Midas. As long as Villiers lived they +felt safe, but now that he had so mysteriously disappeared, and was +to all appearances dead, they dreaded lest their mistress, in a +moment of infatuation, should marry her clerk. They need not, +however, have been afraid, for much as Mrs Villiers liked the young +Frenchman, such an idea had never entered her head, and she was far +too clever a woman ever to tempt matrimony a second time, seeing how +dearly it had cost her. + +Madame Midas had made great efforts to find Kitty, but without +success; and, in spite of all inquiries and advertisements in the +papers, nothing could be discovered regarding the missing girl. + +At last the time drew near for Vandeloup's departure, when all the +sensation of Kitty's escapade and Villiers' disappearance was +swallowed up in a new event, which filled Ballarat with wonder. It +began in a whisper, and grew into such a roar of astonishment that +not only Ballarat, but all Victoria, knew that the far-famed Devil's +Lead had been discovered in the Pactolus claim. Yes, after years of +weary waiting, after money had been swallowed up in apparently +useless work, after sceptics had sneered and friends laughed, Madame +Midas obtained her reward. The Devil's Lead was discovered, and she +was now a millionaire. + +For some time past McIntosh had not been satisfied with the +character of the ground in which he had been working, so abandoning +the shaft he was then in, he had opened up another gallery to the +west, at right angles from the place where the famous nugget had +been found. The wash was poor at first, but McIntosh persevered, +having an instinct that he was on the right track. A few weeks' work +proved that he was right, for the wash soon became richer; and as +they went farther on towards the west, following the gutter, there +was no doubt that the long-lost Devil's Lead had been struck. The +regular return had formerly been five ounces to the machine, but now +the washing up invariably gave twenty ounces, and small nuggets of +water-worn gold were continually found in the three machines. The +main drive following the lead still continued dipping westward, and +McIntosh now commenced blocking and putting in side galleries, +expecting when this was done he would thoroughly prove the Devil's +Lead, for he was quite satisfied he was on it. Even now the yield +was three hundred and sixty ounces a week, and after deducting +working expenses, this gave Madame Midas a weekly income of one +thousand one hundred pounds, so she now began to see what a wealthy +woman she was likely to be. Everyone unfeigningly rejoiced at her +good fortune, and said that she deserved it. Many thought that now +she was so rich Villiers would come back again, but he did not put +in an appearance, and it was generally concluded he had left the +colony. + +Vandeloup congratulated Madame Midas on her luck when he was going +away, and privately determined that he would not lose sight of her, +as, being a wealthy woman, and having a liking for him, she would be +of great use. He took his farewell gracefully, and went away, +carrying the good wishes of all the miners; but McIntosh and Selina, +still holding to their former opinion, were secretly pleased at his +departure. Madame Midas made him a present of a hundred pounds, and, +though he refused it, saying that he had money from France, she +asked him as a personal favour to take it; so M. Vandeloup, always +gallant to ladies, could not refuse. He went in to Ballarat, and put +up at the Wattle Tree Hotel, intending to start for the metropolis +next morning; but on his way, in order to prepare Kitty for his +coming, sent a telegram for her, telling her the train he would +arrive by, in order that she might be at the station to meet him. + +After his dinner he suddenly recollected that he still had the +volume which Dr Gollipeck had lent him, so, calling a cab, he drove +to the residence of that eccentric individual to return it. + +When the servant announced M. Vandeloup, she pushed him in and +suddenly closed the door after her, as though she was afraid of some +of the doctor's ideas getting away. + +'Good evening, doctor,' said Vandeloup, laying the book down on the +table at which Gollipeck was seated; 'I've come to return you this +and say good-bye.' + +'Aha, going away?' asked Gollipeck, leaning back in his chair, and +looked sharply at the young man through his spectacles, 'right--see +the world--you're clever--won't go far wrong--no!' + +'It doesn't matter much if I do,' replied Vandeloup, shrugging his +shoulders, and taking a chair, 'nobody will bother much about me.' + +'Eh!' queried the doctor, sharply, sitting up. 'Paris--friends-- +relations.' + +'My only relation is an aunt with a large family; she's got quite +enough to do looking after them, without bothering about me,' +retorted M. Vandeloup; 'as to friends--I haven't got one.' + +'Oh!' from Gollipeck, with a cynical smile, 'I see; let us say-- +acquaintances.' + +'Won't make any difference,' replied Vandeloup, airily; 'I turned my +acquaintances into friends long ago, and then borrowed money off +them; result: my social circle is nil. Friends,' went on M. +Vandeloup, reflectively, 'are excellent as friends, but damnable as +bankers.' + +Gollipeck chuckled, and rubbed his hands, for this cynicism pleased +him. Suddenly his eye caught the book which the young man had +returned. + +'You read this?' he said, laying his hand on it; 'good, eh?' + +'Very good, indeed,' returned M. Vandeloup, smoothly; 'so kind of +you to have lent it to me--all those cases quoted were known to me.' + +'The case of Adele Blondet, for instance, eh?' asked the old man +sharply. + +'Yes, I was present at the trial,' replied Vandeloup, quietly; 'the +prisoner Octave Braulard was convicted, condemned to death, +reprieved, and sent to New Caledonia.' + +'Where he now is,' said Gollipeck, quickly, looking at him. + +'I presume so,' replied Vandeloup, lazily. 'After the trial I never +bothered my head about him.' + +'He poisoned his mistress, Adele Blondet,' said the doctor. + +'Yes,' answered Vandeloup, leaning forward and looking at Gollipeck, +'he found she was in love with an Englishman, and poisoned her--you +will find it all in the book.' + +'It does not mention the Englishman,' said the doctor, thoughtfully +tapping the table with his hand. + +'Nevertheless he was implicated in it, but went away from Paris the +day Braulard was arrested,' answered Vandeloup. 'The police tried to +find him, but could not; if they had, it might have made some +difference to the prisoner.' + +'And the name of this Englishman?' + +'Let me see,' said Vandeloup, looking up reflectively; 'I almost +forget it--Kestroke or Kestrike, some name like that. He must have +been a very clever man to have escaped the French police.' + +'Ah, hum!' said the doctor, rubbing his nose, 'very interesting +indeed; strange case!' + +'Very,' assented M. Vandeloup, as he arose to go, 'I must say good- +bye now, doctor; but I am coming up to Ballarat on a visit shortly.' + +'Ah, hum! of course,' replied Gollipeck, also rising, 'and we can +have another talk over this book.' + +'That or any book you like,' said Vandeloup, with a glance of +surprise; 'but I don't see why you are so much taken up with that +volume; it is not a work of genius.' + +'Well, no,' answered Gollipeck, looking at him; 'still, it contains +some excellent cases of modern poisoning.' + +'So I saw when I read it,' returned Vandeloup, indifferently. 'Good- +bye,' holding out his hand, 'or rather I should say au revoir.' + +'Wine?' queried the Doctor, hospitably. + +Vandeloup shook his head, and walked out of the room with a gay +smile, humming a tune. He strolled slowly down Lydiard Street, +turning over in his mind what the doctor had said to him. + +'He is suspicious,' muttered the young man to himself, thoughtfully, +'although he has nothing to go on in connecting me with the case. +Should I use the poison here I must be careful, for that man will be +my worst enemy.' + +He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turning round saw Barty Jarper +before him. That fashionable young man was in evening dress, and +represented such an extent of shirt front and white waistcoat,--not +to mention a tall collar, on the top of which his little head was +perched like a cocoanut on a stick,--that he was positively +resplendent. + +'Where are you going to?' asked the gorgeous Barty, smoothing his +incipient moustache. + +'Well, I really don't know,' answered Vandeloup, lighting a +cigarette. 'I am leaving for Melbourne to-morrow morning, but to- +night I have nothing to do. You, I see, are engaged,' with a glance +at the evening dress. + +'Yes,' returned Barty, in a bored voice; 'musical party on,--they +want me to sing.' + +Vandeloup had heard Barty's vocal performance, and could not forbear +a smile as he thought of the young man's three songs with the same +accompaniment to each. Suppressing, however, his inclination to +laugh, he asked Barty to have a drink, which invitation was promptly +accepted, and they walked in search of a hotel. On the way, they +passed Slivers' house, and here Vandeloup paused. + +'This was the first house I entered here,' he said to Barty, 'and I +must go in and say good-bye to my one-armed friend with the +cockatoo.' + +Mr Jarper, however, drew back. + +'I don't like him,' he said bluntly, 'he's an old devil.' + +'Oh, it's always as well to accustom oneself to the society of +devils,' retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'we may have to live with them +constantly some day.' + +Barty laughed at this, and putting his arm in that of Vandeloup's, +they went in. + +Slivers' door stood ajar in its usual hospitable manner, but all +within was dark. + +'He must be out,' said Barty, as they stood in the dark passage. + +'No,' replied Vandeloup, feeling for a match, 'someone is talking in +the office.' + +'It's that parrot,' said Barty, with a laugh, as they heard Billy +rapidly running over his vocabulary; 'let's go in.' + +He pushed open the door, and was about to step into the room, when +catching sight of something on the floor, he recoiled with a cry, +and caught Vandeloup by the arm. + +'What's the matter?' asked the Frenchman, hastily. + +'He's dead,' returned Barty, with a sort of gasp; 'see, he's lying +on the floor dead!' + +And so he was! The oldest inhabitant of Ballarat had joined the +great majority, and, as it was afterwards discovered, his death was +caused by the breaking of a blood-vessel. The cause of it was not +clear, but the fact was, that hearing of the discovery of the +Devil's Lead, and knowing that it was lost to him for ever, Slivers +had fallen into such a fit of rage, that he burst a blood-vessel and +died in his office with no one by him. + +The light of the street lamp shone through the dusty windows into +the dark room, and in the centre of the yellow splash lay the dead +man, with his one eye wide open, staring at the ceiling, while +perched on his wooden leg, which was sticking straight out, sat the +parrot, swearing. It was a most repulsive sight, and Barty, with a +shudder of disgust, tried to drag his companion away, but M. +Vandeloup refused to go, and searched his pockets for a match to see +more clearly what the body was like. + +'Pickles,' cried Billy, from his perch on the dead man's wooden leg; +'oh, my precious mother,--devil take him.' + +'My faith,' said M. Vandeloup, striking a match, 'the devil has +taken him,' and leaving Barty shivering and trembling at the door, +he advanced into the room and stood looking at the body. Billy at +his approach hopped off the leg and waddled up to the dead man's +shoulder, where he sat cursing volubly, and every now and then going +into shrieks of demoniacal laughter. Barty closed his ears to the +devilish mirth, and saw M. Vandeloup standing over the corpse, with +the faint light of the match flickering in his hand. + +'Do you know what this is?' he asked, turning to Barty. + +The other looked at him inquiringly. + +'It is the comedy of death,' said the Frenchman, throwing down the +match and going to the door. + +They both went out to seek assistance, and left the dark room with +the dead man lying in the pool of yellow light, and the parrot +perched on the body, muttering to itself. It was a strange mingling +of the horrible and grotesque, and the whole scene was hit off in +the phrase applied to it by Vandeloup. It was, indeed, 'The Comedy +of Death'! + + + + +PART II + + +CHAPTER I + +TEMPUS FUGIT + + +A whole year had elapsed since the arrival of Vandeloup in +Melbourne, and during that time many things had happened. +Unfortunately, in spite of his knowledge of human nature, and the +fact that he started with a good sum of money, Gaston had not made +his fortune. This was due to the fact that he was indisposed to work +when his banking account was at all decent; so he had lived like a +prince on his capital, and trusted to his luck furnishing him with +more when it was done. + +Kitty had joined him in Melbourne as arranged, and Gaston had +established her in a place in Richmond. It was not a regular +boarding-house, but the lady who owned it, Mrs Pulchop by name, was +in the habit of letting apartments on reasonable terms; so Vandeloup +had taken up his abode there with Kitty, who passed as his wife. + +But though he paid her all the deference and respect due to a wife, +and though she wore a marriage ring, yet, as a matter of fact, they +were not married. Kitty had implored her lover to have the ceremony +performed as soon as he joined her; but as the idea was not to M. +Vandeloup's taste, he had put her off, laughingly at first, then +afterwards, when he began to weary of her, he said he could not +marry her for at least a year. The reason he assigned for this was +the convenient one of family affairs; but, in reality, he foresaw he +would get tired of her in that time, and did not want to tie himself +so that he could not leave her when he wished. At first, the girl +had rebelled against this delay, for she was strongly biased by her +religious training, and looked with horror on the state of +wickedness in which she was living. But Gaston laughed at her +scruples, and as time went on, her finer feelings became blunted, +and she accepted the position to which she was reduced in an +apathetic manner. + +Sometimes she had wild thoughts of running away, but she still loved +him too well to do so; and besides, there was no one to whom she +could go, as she well knew her father would refuse to receive her. +The anomalous position which she occupied, however, had an effect on +her spirits, and from being a bright and happy girl, she became +irritable and fretful. She refused to go out anywhere, and when she +went into town, either avoided the principal streets, or wore a +heavy veil, so afraid was she of being recognised by anyone from +Ballarat and questioned as to how she lived. All this was very +disagreeable to M. Vandeloup, who had a horror of being bored, and +not finding Kitty's society pleasant enough, he gradually ceased to +care for her, and was now only watching for an opportunity to get +rid of her without any trouble. He was a member of the Bachelor's +Club, a society of young men which had a bad reputation in +Melbourne, and finding Kitty was so lachrymose, he took a room at +the Club, and began to stay away four or five days at a time. So +Kitty was left to herself, and grew sad and tearful, as she +reflected on the consequence of her fatal passion for this man. Mrs +Pulchop was vastly indignant at Vandeloup neglecting his wife, for, +of course, she never thought she was anything else to the young man, +and did all in her power to cheer the girl up, which, however, was +not much, as Mrs Pulchop herself was decidedly of a funereal +disposition. + +Meanwhile, Gaston was leading a very gay life in Melbourne. His good +looks and clever tongue had made him a lot of friends, and he was +very popular both in drawing-room and club. The men voted him a +jolly sort of fellow and a regular swagger man, while the ladies +said that he was heavenly; for, true to his former tactics, +Vandeloup always made particular friends of women, selecting, of +course, those whom he thought would be likely to be of use to him. +Being such a favourite entailed going out a great deal, and as no +one can pose as a man of fashion without money, M. Vandeloup soon +found that his capital was rapidly melting away. He then went in for +gambling, and the members of The Bachelors, being nearly all rich +young men, Gaston's dexterity at ecarte and baccarat was very useful +to him, and considerably augmented his income. + +Still, card-playing is a somewhat precarious source from which to +derive an income, so Vandeloup soon found himself pretty hard up, +and was at his wit's end how to raise money. His gay life cost him a +good deal, and Kitty, of course, was a source of expense, although, +poor girl, she never went anywhere; but there was a secret drain on +his purse of which no one ever dreamed. This was none other than +Pierre Lemaire, who, having spent all the money he got at the +Pactolus, came and worried Vandeloup for more. That astute young man +would willingly have refused him, but, unfortunately, Pierre knew +too much of his past life for him to do so, therefore he had to +submit to the dumb man's extortions with the best grace he could. So +what with Kitty's changed manner, Pierre wanting money, and his own +lack of coin, M. Vandeloup was in anything but an enviable position, +and began to think it was time his luck--if he ever had any--should +step in. He thought of running up to Ballarat and seeing Madame +Midas, whom he knew would lend him some money, but he had a certain +idea in his head with regard to that lady, so wished to retain her +good opinion, and determined not to apply to her until all other +plans for obtaining money failed. Meanwhile, he went everywhere, was +universally admired and petted, and no one who saw him in society +with his bright smile and nonchalant manner, would have imagined +what crafty schemes there were in that handsome head. + +Madame Midas was still up at Ballarat and occupying the same +cottage, although she was now so wealthy she could have inhabited a +palace, had she been so minded. But prosperity had not spoiled Mrs +Villiers. She still managed her own affairs, and did a great deal of +good with her money,--expending large sums for charitable purposes, +because she really wished to do good, and not, like so many rich +people, for the purpose of advertising herself. + +The Pactolus was now a perfect fortune, and Madame Midas being the +sole owner, her wealth was thought to be enormous, as every month a +fresh deluge of gold rolled into her coffers from the inexhaustible +Devil's Lead. McIntosh, of course, still managed the mine, and took +great pride in his success, especially after so many people had +scoffed at it. + +Various other mines had started in the vicinity, and had been +floated on the Melbourne market, where they kept rising and falling +in unison with the monthly yield of the Pactolus. The Devil's Lead +was rather unequal, as sometimes the ground would be rich, while +another time it would turn out comparatively poor. People said it +was patchy, and some day would run out altogether, but it did not +show any signs of exhaustion, and even if it had, Madame Midas was +now so wealthy that it mattered comparatively little. When the +monthly yield was small, the mines round about would fall in the +share market to a few shillings, but if it was large, they would +rush up again to as many pounds, so that the brokers managed to do +pretty well out of the fluctuations of the stock. + +One thing astonished Madame Midas very much, and that was the +continuous absence of her husband. She did not believe he was dead, +and fully expected to see him turn up some time; but as the months +passed on, and he did not appear, she became uneasy. The idea of his +lurking round was a constant nightmare to her, and at last she +placed the matter in the hands of the police, with instructions to +try to ascertain what became of him. + +The police did everything in their power to discover Villiers' +whereabouts, but without success. Unfortunately, Slivers, who might +have helped them, being so well acquainted with the missing man's +habits, was dead; and, after trying for about three months to find +some traces of Villiers, the police gave up the search in despair. +Madame Midas, therefore, came to the conclusion that he was either +dead or had left the colony, and though half doubtful, yet hoped +that she had now seen the last of him. + +She had invested her money largely in land, and thus being above the +reach of poverty for the rest of her life, she determined to take up +her abode in Melbourne for a few months, prior to going to England +on a visit. With this resolution, she gave up her cottage to Archie, +who was to live in it, and still manage the mine, and made +preparations to come down to Melbourne with Selina Sprotts. + +Vandeloup heard of this resolution, and secretly rejoiced at it, for +he thought that seeing she liked him so much, now that her husband +was to all appearances dead, she might marry him, and it was to this +end he had kept up his acquaintance with her. He never thought of +the girl he had betrayed, pining away in a dull lodging. No, M. +Vandeloup, untroubled by the voice of conscience, serenely waited +the coming of Madame Midas, and determined, if he could possibly +arrange it, to marry her. He was the spider, and Madame Midas the +fly; but as the spider knew the fly he had to inveigle into his web +was a very crafty one, he determined to act with great caution; so, +having ascertained when Madame Midas would be in Melbourne, he +awaited her arrival before doing anything, and trusted in some way +to get rid of Kitty before she came. It was a difficult game, for M. +Vandeloup knew that should Kitty find out his intention she would at +once go to Mrs Villiers, and then Madame would discover his baseness +in ruining the girl. M. Vandeloup, however, surveyed the whole +situation calmly, and was not ill-pleased at the position of +affairs. Life was beginning to bore him in Melbourne, and he wanted +to be amused. Here was a comedy worthy of Moliere--a jealous woman, +a rich lady, and a handsome man. + +'My faith,' said M. Vandeloup, smiling to himself as he thought of +the situation, 'it's a capital comedy, certainly; but I must take +care it doesn't end as a tragedy.' + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DISENCHANTMENT + + +It is said that 'creaking doors hang the longest,' and Mrs Pulchop, +of Carthage Cottage, Richmond, was an excellent illustration of the +truth of this saying. Thin, pale, with light bleached-looking hair, +and eyebrows and eyelashes to match, she looked so shadowy and +unsubstantial, than an impression was conveyed to the onlooker that +a breath might blow her away. She was often heard to declare, when +anything extra-ordinary happened, that one might 'knock her down +with a feather', which, as a matter of fact, was by no means a +stretch of fancy, provided the feather was a strong one and Mrs +Pulchop was taken unawares. She was continually alluding to her +'constitootion', as if she had an interest in politics, but in +reality she was referring to her state of health, which was +invariably bad. According to her own showing, there was not a single +disease under the sun with which she had not been afflicted, and she +could have written a whole book on the subject of medicine, and put +herself in, in every instance, as an illustrative case. + +Mr Pulchop had long since departed this life, being considerably +assisted in his exit from this wicked world by the quantity of +patent medicines his wife compelled him to take to cure him, which +unfortunately, however, had the opposite effect. + +Mrs Pulchop said he had been a handsome man, but according to the +portrait she had of him he resembled a bull-dog more than anything +else in nature. The young Pulchops, of which there were two, both of +the female sex, took after their father in appearance and their +mother in temperament, and from the time they could talk and crawl +knew as much about drops, poultices, bandages, and draughts as many +a hospital nurse of mature age. + +One day Vandeloup sent a telegram to Kitty saying he would be home +to dinner, and as he always required something extra in the way of +cooking, Kitty went to interview Mrs Pulchop on the subject. She +found that lady wrapped up in a heavy shawl, turning herself into a +tea-kettle by drinking hot water, the idea being, as she assured +Kitty, to rouse up her liver. Miss Topsy Pulchop was tying a bandage +round her face, as she felt a toothache coming on, while Miss Anna +Pulchop was unfortunately quite well, and her occupation being gone, +was seated disconsolately at the window trying to imagine she felt +pains in her back. + +'Ah!' groaned Mrs Pulchop, in a squeaky voice, sipping her hot +water; 'you don't know, my dear, what it is to be aworrited by your +liver--tortures and inquisitions ain't in it, my love.' + +Kitty said she was very sorry, and asked her if nothing would +relieve her sufferings, but Mrs Pulchop shook her head triumphantly. + +'My sweet young thing,' said the patient, with great gusto, 'I've +tried everything under the sun to make it right, but they ain't no +good; it's always expanding and a contracting of itself unbeknown to +me, and throwing the bile into the stomach, which ain't its proper +place.' + +'It does sound rather nasty,' assented Kitty; 'and Topsy seems to be +ill, too.' + +'Toothache,' growled Topsy, who had a deep, bass voice, and being +modelled on the canine lines of her late lamented father, the growl +suited her admirably. 'I had two out last week, and now this one's +started.' + +'Try a roasted fig, Topsy dear,' suggested her mother, who, now, +having finished her hot water, looked longingly at the kettle for +more. + +'Toothache,' growled Topsy, in reply, 'not gumboil;' the remedy +suggested by Mrs Pulchop being for the latter of these ills. + +'You are quite well, at any rate,' said Kitty to Anna, cheerfully. + +Anna, however, declined to be considered in good health. 'I fancy my +back is going to ache,' she said, darkly placing her hand in the +small of it. 'I'll have to put a linseed poultice on it tonight, to +draw the cold out.' + +Then she groaned dismally, and her mother and sister, hearing the +familiar sound, also groaned, so there was quite a chorus, and Kitty +felt inclined to groan also, out of sympathy. + +'M. Vandeloup is coming to dinner tonight,' she said, timidly, to +Mrs Pulchop. + +'And a wonder it is, my sweet angel,' said that lady, indignantly, +rising and glancing at the pretty girl, now so pale and sad-looking, +'it's once in a blue moon as he comes 'ome, a--leaving you to mope +at home like a broken-hearted kitten in a coal box. Ah, if he only +had a liver, that would teach him manners.' + +Groans of assent from the Misses Pulchops, who both had livers and +were always fighting with them. + +'And what, my neglected cherub,' asked Mrs Pulchop, going to a +looking-glass which always hung in the kitchen, for the three to +examine their tongues in, 'what shall I give you for dinner?' + +Kitty suggested a fowl, macaroni cheese, and fruit for dessert, +which bill of fare had such an effect on the family that they all +groaned in unison. + +'Macaroni cheese,' growled Topsy, speaking from the very depth of +the cork soles she wore to keep her feet dry; 'there's nothing more +bilious. I couldn't look at it.' + +'Ah,' observed Mrs Pulchop, 'you're only a weak gal, and men is that +obstinate they'd swaller bricks like ostriges sooner nor give in as +it hurt 'em. You shall 'ave a nice dinner, Mrs Vanloops, tho' I +can't deny but what it ull be bilious.' + +Thus warned, Kitty retired into her own room and made herself nice +for Gaston to look on when he came. + +Poor thing, it was so rarely now that he came home to dinner, that a +visit from him was regarded by her in the light of a treat. She +dressed herself in a pretty white dress and tied a blue sash round +her waist, so that she might look the same to him as when he first +saw her. But her face was now worn and white, and as she looked at +her pallor in the glass she wished she had some rouge to bring a +touch of colour to her cheeks. She tried to smile in her own merry +way at the wan reflection she beheld, but the effort was a failure, +and she burst into tears. + +At six o'clock everything was ready for dinner, and having seen that +all was in good order, Kitty walked outside to watch for Gaston. + +There was a faint, warm, light outside, and the sky was of a pale +opaline tint, while the breeze blowing across the garden brought the +perfume of the flowers to her, putting Kitty in mind of Mrs +Villiers' garden at Ballarat. Oh, those innocent days! would they +never come again? Alas! she knew that they would not--the subtle +feeling of youth had left her for ever; and this girl, leaning up +against the house with her golden head resting on her arm, knew that +the change had come over her which turns all from youth to age. + +Suddenly she heard the rattle of wheels, and rousing herself from +her reverie, she saw a hansom cab at the gate, and M. Vandeloup +standing on the pavement paying the driver. She also heard her lover +tell the cabman to call for him at eight o'clock, and her heart sank +within her as she thought that he would be gone again in two hours. +The cab drove off, and she stood cold and silent on the verandah +waiting for Gaston, who sauntered slowly up the walk with one hand +in the pocket of his trousers. He was in evening dress, and the +night being warm he did not wear an overcoat, so looked tall and +slim in his dark clothes as he came up the path swinging his cane +gaily to and fro. + +'Well, Bebe,' he said, brightly, as he bent down and kissed her, +'here I am, you see; I hope you've got a nice dinner for me?' + +'Oh, yes,' answered Kitty, trying to smile, and walking before him +into the house; 'I told Mrs Pulchop, and she has made special +preparations.' + +'How is that walking hospital?' asked Vandeloup, carelessly taking +off his hat; 'I suppose she is ill as usual.' + +'So she says,' replied Kitty, with a laugh, as he put his arm in +hers and walked into the room; 'she is always ill.' + +'Why, Bebe, how charming you look tonight,' said Vandeloup, holding +her at arm's length; 'quite like your old self.' + +And indeed she looked very pretty, for the excitement of seeing him +had brightened her eyes and flushed her cheeks, and standing in the +warm light of the lamp, with her golden hair floating round her +head, she looked like a lovely picture. + +'You are not going away very soon?' she whispered to Gaston, coming +close to him, and putting her hand on his shoulder; 'I see so little +of you now.' + +'My dear child, I can't help it,' he said, carelessly removing her +hand and walking over to the dinner table; 'I have an engagement in +town tonight.' + +'Ah, you no longer care for me,' said Kitty, with a stifled sob. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'If you are going to make a scene,' he said, coldly, 'please +postpone it. I don't want my appetite taken away; would you kindly +see if the dinner is ready?' + +Kitty dried her eyes and rang the bell, upon which Mrs Pulchop +glided into the room, still wrapped in her heavy shawl. + +'It ain't quite ready yet, sir,' she said, in answer to Gaston's +question; 'Topsy 'aving been bad with the toothache, which you can't +expect people to cook dinners as is ill!' + +'Why don't you send her to the hospital?' said Vandeloup, with a +yawn, looking at his watch. + +'Never,' retorted Mrs Pulchop, in a decisively shrill voice; 'their +medicines ain't pure, and they leaves you at the mercy of doctors to +be practised on like a pianer. Topsy may go to the cemetery like her +poor dear father, but never to an inquisition of a hospital;' and +with this Mrs Pulchop faded out of the room, for her peculiar mode +of egress could hardly be called walking out. + +At last dinner made its appearance, and Kitty recovering her +spirits, they had a very pleasant meal together, and then Gaston sat +over his coffee with a cigarette, talking to Kitty. + +He never was without a cigarette in his mouth, and his fingers were +all stained a yellowish brown by the nicotine. Kitty lay back in a +big arm-chair listening to his idle talk and admiring him as he sat +at the dinner table. + +'Can't you stay tonight?' she said, looking imploringly at him. + +Vandeloup shook his head gently. + +'I have an engagement, as I told you before,' he said, lazily; +'besides, evenings at home are so dreary.' + +'I will be here,' said Kitty, reproachfully. + +'That will, of course, make a difference,' answered Gaston, with a +faint sneer; 'but you know,' shrugging his shoulders, 'I do not +cultivate the domestic virtues.' + +'What will you do when we are married?' said Kitty, with an uneasy +laugh. + +'Enough for the day is the evil thereof,' replied M. Vandeloup, with +a gay smile. + +'What do you mean?' asked the girl, with a sudden start. + +Vandeloup arose from his seat, and lighting another cigarette he +lounged over to the fireplace, and leaned against the mantelpiece +with his hands in his pockets. + +'I mean that when we are married it will be time enough to talk +about such things,' he answered, looking at her through his +eyelashes. + +'Then we will talk about them very shortly,' said Kitty, with an +angry laugh, as her hands clenched the arms of the chair tightly; +'for the year is nearly up, and you promised to marry me at the end +of it.' + +'How many things do we intend to do that are never carried out?' +said Gaston, gently. 'Do you mean that you will break your promise?' +she asked, with a scared face. + +Vandeloup removed the cigarette from his mouth, and, leaning one +elbow on the mantelpiece, looked at her with a smile. + +'My dear,' he said, quietly, 'things are not going well with me at +present, and I want money badly.' + +'Well?' asked Kitty in a whisper, her heart beating loudly. + +'You are not rich,' said her lover, 'so why should we two paupers +get married, only to plunge ourselves into misery?' + +'Then you refuse to marry me?' she said, rising to her feet. + +He bowed his head gently. + +'At present, yes,' he answered, and replaced the cigarette between +his lips. + +Kitty stood for a moment as if turned to stone, and then throwing up +her hands with a gesture of despair, fell back into the chair, and +burst into a flood of tears. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders in a +resigned sort of manner, and glanced at his watch to see when it +would be time for him to go. Meanwhile he smoked quietly on, and +Kitty, after sobbing for some time, dried her eyes, and sat up in +the chair again. + +'How long is this going to last?' she asked, in a hard voice. + +'Till I get rich!' + +'That may be a long time?' + +'It may.' + +'Perhaps never?' + +'Perhaps!' + +'And then I will never be your wife?' + +'Unfortunately, no.' + +'You coward!' burst forth Kitty, rising from her seat, and crossing +over to him; 'you made me leave my home with your false promises, +and now you refuse to make me the only reparation that is in your +power.' + +'Circumstances are against any virtuous intentions I may entertain,' +retorted Vandeloup, coolly. + +Kitty looked at him for a moment, then ran over to a desk near the +window, and took from thence a small bottle of white glass with two +red bands round it. She let the lid of the desk fall with a bang, +then crossed to Vandeloup, holding the bottle up before him. + +'Do you know what this is?' she asked, in a harsh voice. + +'The poison I made in Ballarat,' he answered, coolly, blowing a +wreath of smoke; 'how did you get hold of it?' + +'I found it in your private desk,' she said, coldly. + +'That was wrong, my dear,' he answered, gently, 'you should never +betray confidences--I left the desk in your charge, and it should +have been sacred to you.' + +'Out of your own mouth are you condemned,' said the girl, quickly; +'you have betrayed my confidence and ruined me, so if you do not fix +a day for our marriage, I swear I will drink this and die at your +feet.' + +'How melodramatic you are, Bebe,' said Vandeloup, coolly; 'you put +me in mind of Croisette in "Le Sphinx".' + +'You don't believe I will do it.' + +'No! I do not.' + +'Then see.' She took the stopper out of the bottle and held it to +her lips. Vandeloup did not stir, but, still smoking, stood looking +at her with a smile. His utter callousness was too much for her, and +replacing the stopper again, she slipped the bottle into her pocket +and let her hands fall idly by her side. + +'I thought you would not do it,' replied Gaston, smoothly, looking +at his watch; 'you must really excuse me, I hear the cab wheels +outside.' + +Kitty, however, placed herself in front of him as he moved towards +the door. + +'Listen to me,' she said, in a harsh voice, with white face and +flaming eyes; 'to-night I leave this house for ever.' + +He bowed his head. + +'As it pleases you,' he replied, simply. + +'My God!' she cried, 'have you no love for me now?' + +'No,' he answered, coldly and brutally, 'I am tired of you.' + +She fell on her knees and clutched his hand. + +'Dear Gaston! dear Gaston!' she cried, covering it with kisses, +'think how young I am, how my life is ruined, and by you. I gave up +everything for your sake--home, father, and friends--you will not +cast me off like this after all I have sacrificed for you? Oh, for +God's sake, speak--speak!' + +'My dear,' said Vandeloup, gravely, looking down at the kneeling +figure with the streaming eyes and clenched hands, 'as long as you +choose to stay here I will be your friend--I cannot afford to marry +you, but while you are with me our lives will be as they have been; +good-bye at present,' touching her forehead coldly with his lips, 'I +will call to-morrow afternoon to see how you are, and I trust this +will be the last of such scenes.' + +He drew his hand away from hers, and she sat on the floor dull and +silent, with her eyes fixed on the ground and an aching in her +heart. Vandeloup went into the hall, put on his hat, then lighting +another cigarette and taking his stick, walked gaily out of the +house, humming an air from 'La Belle Helene'. The cab was waiting +for him at the door, and telling the man to drive to the Bachelors' +Club, he entered the cab and rattled away down the street without a +thought for the broken-hearted woman he left behind. + +Kitty sat on the floor with her folded hands lying carelessly on her +lap and her eyes staring idly at the carpet. This, then, was the end +of all her hopes and joys--she was cast aside carelessly by this man +now that he wearied of her. Love's young dream had been sweet +indeed; but, ah! how bitter was the awakening. Her castles in the +air had all melted into clouds, and here in the very flower of her +youth she felt that her life was ruined, and she was as one +wandering in a sterile waste, with a black and starless sky +overhead. She clasped her hands with a sensation of pain, and a rose +at her breast fell down withered and dead. She took it up with +listless fingers, and with the quiver of her hand the leaves fell +off and were scattered over her white dress in a pink shower. It was +an allegory of her life, she thought. Once it had been as fresh and +full of fragrance as this dead rose; then it had withered, and now +she saw all her hopes and beliefs falling off one by one like the +faded petals. Ah, there is no despair like that of youth; and Kitty, +sitting on the floor with hot dry eyes and a pain in her heart, felt +that the sun of her life had set for ever. + +** + +So still the night was. No moon as yet, but an innumerable blaze of +stars set like diamonds in the dark blue sky. A smoky yellowish haze +hung over the city, but down in the garden amid the flowers all was +cool and fragrant. The house was quite dark, and a tall mulberry +tree on one side of it was black against the clear sky. Suddenly the +door opened, and a figure came out and closed the door softly after +it. Down the path it came, and standing in the middle of the garden, +raised a white tear-stained face to the dark sky. A dog barked in +the distance, and then a fresh cold breeze came sweeping through the +trees and stirring the still perfumes of the flowers. The figure +threw its hands out towards the house with a gesture of despair, +then gliding down the path it went out of the gate and stole quietly +down the lonely street. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +M. VANDELOUP HEARS SOMETHING TO HIS ADVANTAGE + + +As he drove rapidly into town Gaston's thoughts were anything but +pleasant. Not that he was thinking about Kitty, for he regarded the +scene he had with her as merely an outburst of hysterical passion, +and did not dream she would take any serious step. He forgot all +about her when he left the house, and, lying back in the cab smoking +one of his everlasting cigarettes, pondered about his position. The +fact was he was very hard up for money, and did not know where to +turn for more. His luck at cards was so great that even the +Bachelors, used as they were to losing large sums, began to murmur +among themselves that M. Vandeloup was too clever, and as that young +gentleman by no means desired to lose his popularity he stopped +playing cards altogether, and so effectually silenced everyone. So +this mode of making money was gone, and until Madame Midas arrived +in town Vandeloup did not see how he was going to keep on living in +his former style. But as he never denied himself anything while he +had the money, he ordered the cabman to drive to Paton's, the +florist in Swanston Street, and there purchased a dainty bunch of +flowers for his button hole. From thence he drove to his club, and +there found a number of young fellows, including Mr Barty Jarper, +all going to the Princess Theatre to see 'The Mikado'. Barty rushed +forward when Vandeloup appeared and noisily insisted he should come +with them. The men had been dining, and were exhilarated with wine, +so Vandeloup, not caring to appear at the theatre with such a noisy +lot, excused himself. Barty and his friends, therefore, went off by +themselves, and left Vandeloup alone. He picked up the evening paper +and glanced over it with a yawn, when a name caught his eye which he +had frequently noticed before. + +'I say,' he said to a tall, fair young fellow who had just entered, +'who is this Meddlechip the paper is full of?' + +'Don't you know?' said the other, in surprise; 'he's one of our +richest men, and very generous with his money.' + +'Oh, I see! buys popularity,' replied Vandeloup, coolly; 'how is it +I've never met him?' + +'He's been to China or Chile--or--something commencing with a C,' +returned the young man, vaguely; 'he only came back to Melbourne +last week; you are sure to meet him sooner or later.' + +'Thanks, I'm not very anxious,' replied Vandeloup, with a yawn; +'money in my eyes does not compensate for being bored; where are you +going to-night?' + +'"Mikado",' answered the other, whose name was Bellthorp; 'Jarper +asked me to go up there; he's got a box.' + +'How does he manage to pay for all these things?' asked Vandeloup, +rising; 'he's only in a bank, and does not get much money.' + +'My dear fellow,' said Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of +Vandeloup's, 'wherever he gets it, he always has it, so as long as +he pays his way it's none of our business; come and have a drink.' + +Vandeloup assented with a laugh, and they went to the bar. + +'I've got a cab at the door,' he said to Bellthorp, after they had +finished their drinks, and were going downstairs; 'come with me, and +I'll go up to the Princess also; Jarper asked me and I refused, but +men as well as women are entitled to change their minds.' + +They got into the cab and drove up Collins Street to the Princess +Theatre. After dismissing the cab, they went up stairs and found the +first act was just over, and the bar was filled with a crowd of +gentlemen, among whom Barty and his friends were conspicuous. On the +one side the doors opened on to the wide stone balcony, where a +number of ladies were seated, and on the other balcony a lot of men +were smoking. Leaving Bellthorp with Jarper, Vandeloup ordered a +brandy and soda and went out on the balcony to smoke. + +The bell rang to indicate the curtain was going to rise on the +second act, and the bar and balconies gradually emptied themselves +into the theatre. M. Vandeloup, however, still sat smoking, and +occasionally drinking his brandy and soda, while he thought over his +difficulties, and wondered how he could get out of them. It was a +wonderfully hot night, and not even the dark blue of the moonless +sky, studded with stars, could give any sensation of coolness. Round +the balcony were several windows belonging to the dressing-rooms of +the theatre, and the lights within shone through the vivid red of +the blinds with which they were covered. The door leading into the +bar was wide open, and within everything seemed hot, even under the +cool, white glare of the electric lights, which shone in large oval- +shaped globes hanging from the brass supports in clusters like those +grapes known as ladies' fingers. In front stretched the high +balustrade of the balcony, and as Vandeloup leaned back in his chair +he could see the white blaze of the electric lights rising above +this, and then the luminous darkness of the summer's night. Beyond a +cluster of trees, with a path, lit by gas lamps, going through it, +the lights of which shone like dull yellow stars. On the right arose +the great block of Parliament-buildings, with the confused mass of +the scaffolding, standing up black and dense against the sky. A +pleasant murmur arose from the crowded pavement below, and through +the incessant rattle of cabs and sharp, clear cries of the street +boys, Gaston could hear the shrill tones of a violin playing the +dreamy melody of the 'One Summer's Night in Munich' valse, about +which all Melbourne was then raving. + +He was so occupied with his own thoughts that he did not notice two +gentlemen who came in from the bar, and taking seats a little +distant from him, ordered drinks from the waiter who came to attend +to them. They were both in evening dress, and had apparently left +the opera in order to talk business, for they kept conversing +eagerly, and their voices striking on Vandeloup's ear he glanced +round at them and then relapsed into his former inattentive +position. Now, however, though apparently absorbed in his own +thoughts, he was listening to every word they said, for he had +caught the name of The Magpie Reef, a quartz mine, which had lately +been floated on the market, the shares of which had run up to a +pound, and then, as bad reports were circulated about it, dropped +suddenly to four shillings. Vandeloup recognised one as Barraclough, +a well-known stockbroker, but the other was a dark, wiry-looking man +of medium height, whom he had never seen before. + +'I tell you it's a good thing,' said Barraclough, vehemently laying +his hand on the table; 'Tollerby is the manager, and knows +everything about it.' + +'Gad, he ought to,' retorted the other with a laugh, 'if he's the +manager; but I don't believe in it, dear boy, I never did; it +started with a big splash, and was going to be a second Long Tunnel +according to the prospectus; now the shares are only four shillings- +-pshaw!' + +'Yes, but you forget the shares ran up to a pound,' replied +Barraclough, quickly; 'and now they are so cheap we can snap them up +all over the market, and then--' + +'Well?' asked the other, with interest. + +'They will run up, old fellow--see?' and the Broker rubbed his hands +gleefully. + +'How are you going to get up a "Boom" on them?' asked the wiry man, +sceptically; 'the public won't buy blindly, they must see +something.' + +'And so they shall,' said Barraclough, eagerly; 'Tollerby is sending +down some of the stone.' + +'From the Magpie Reef?' asked the other, suspiciously. + +'Of course,' retorted the Broker, indignantly; 'you did not think it +was salted, did you? There is gold in the reef, but it is patchy. +See,' pulling out a pocket-book, 'I got this telegram from Tollerby +at four o'clock to-day;' he took a telegram from the pocket-book and +handed it to his companion. + +'Struck it rich--evidently pocket--thirty ounces to machine,' read +the other slowly; 'gad! that looks well, why don't you put it in the +papers?' + +'Because I don't hold enough shares,' replied the other, +impatiently; 'don't you understand? To-morrow I go on 'Change and +buy up all the shares at four shillings I can lay my hands on, then +at the end of the week the samples of stone--very rich--come down. I +publish this telegram from the manager, and the "Boom" starts.' + +'How high do you think the shares will go?' asked the wiry man, +thoughtfully. + +Barraclough shrugged his shoulders, and replaced the telegram in his +pocket-book. + +'Two or three pounds, perhaps more,' he replied, rising. 'At all +events, it's a good thing, and if you go in with me, we'll clear a +good few thousand out of it.' + +'Come and see me to-morrow morning,' said the wiry man, also rising. +'I think I'll stand in.' + +Barraclough rubbed his hands gleefully, and then slipping his arm in +that of his companion they left the balcony and went back to the +theatre. + +Vandeloup felt every nerve in his body tingling. Here was a chance +to make money. If he only had a few hundreds he could buy up all the +Magpie shares he could get and reap the benefit of the rise. Five +hundred pounds! If he could obtain that sum he could buy two +thousand five hundred shares, and if they went to three pounds, he +could clear nearly eight thousand. What an idea! It was ripe fruit +tumbling off the tree without the trouble of plucking it. But five +hundred pounds! He had not as many pence, and he did not know where +to get it. If he could only borrow it from someone--but then he +could offer no security. A sense of his own helplessness came on him +as he saw this golden tide flowing past his door, and yet was unable +to take advantage of it. Five hundred pounds! The sum kept buzzing +in his head like a swarm of bees, and he threw himself down again in +his chair to try and think where he could get it. + +A noise disturbed him, and he saw that the opera was over, and a +crowd of gentlemen were thronging into the bar. Jarper was among +them, and he thought he would speak to him on the subject. Yes, +Barty was a clever little fellow, and seemed always able to get +money. Perhaps he would be able to assist him. He stepped out of the +balcony into the light and touched Barty on the shoulder as he stood +amid his friends. + +'Hullo! it's you!' cried Barty, turning round. 'Where have you been, +old chap?' + +'Out on the balcony,' answered Vandeloup, curtly. + +'Come and have supper with us,' said Barty, hospitably. 'We are +going to have some at Leslie's.' + +'Yes, do come,' urged Bellthorp, putting his arm in that of +Vandeloup's; 'we'll have no end of fun.' + +Vandeloup was just going to accept, as he thought on the way he +could speak privately to Barty about this scheme he had, when he saw +a stout gentleman at the end of the room taking a cup of coffee at +the counter, and talking to another gentleman who was very tall and +thin. The figure of the stout gentleman seemed familiar to +Vandeloup, and at this moment he turned slowly round and looked down +the room. Gaston gave a start when he saw his face, and then smiled +in a gratified manner to himself. + +'Who is that gentleman with the coffee?' he asked Barty. + +'Those stout and lean kine,' said Barty, airily, 'puts one in mind +of Pharaoh's dream, doesn't it?' + +'Yes, yes!' retorted Gaston, impatiently; 'but who are they?' + +'The long one is Fell, the railway contractor,' said Barty, glancing +with some surprise at Vandeloup, 'and the other is old Meddlechip, +the millionaire.' + +'Meddlechip,' echoed Vandeloup, as if to himself; 'my faith!' + +'Yes,' broke in Bellthorp, quickly; 'the one we were speaking of at +the club--do you know him?' + +'I fancy I do,' said Vandeloup, with a strange smile. 'You must +excuse me to your supper to-night.' + +'No, we won't,' said Barty, firmly; 'you must come.' + +'Then I'll look in later,' said Vandeloup, who had not the slightest +intention of going. 'Will that do?' + +'I suppose it will have to,' said Bellthorp, in an injured tone; +'but why can't you come now?' + +'I've got to see about some business,' said Vandeloup. + +'What, at this hour of the night?' cried Jarper, in a voice of +disgust. + +Vandeloup nodded, and lit a cigarette. + +'Well, mind you come in later,' said Barty, and then he and his +friends left the bar, after making Vandeloup promise faithfully he +would come. + +Gaston sauntered slowly up to the coffee bar, and asked for a cup in +his usual musical voice, but when the stout gentleman heard him +speak he turned pale and looked up. The thin one had gone off to +talk to someone else, so when Vandeloup got his coffee he turned +slowly round and looked straight at Meddlechip seated in the chair. + +'Good evening, M. Kestrike,' he said, quietly. + +Meddlechip, whose face was usually red and florid-looking, turned +ghastly pale, and sprang to his feet. + +'Octave Braulard!' he gasped, placing his coffee cup on the counter. + +'At your service,' said Vandeloup, looking rapidly round to see that +no one overheard the name, 'but here I am Gaston Vandeloup.' + +Meddlechip passed his handkerchief over his face and moistened his +dry lips with his tongue. + +'How did you get here?' he asked, in a strangled voice. + +'It's a long story,' said M. Vandeloup, putting his coffee cup down +and wiping his lips with his handkerchief; 'suppose we go and have +supper somewhere, and I'll tell you all about it.' + +'I don't want any supper,' said Meddlechip, sullenly, his face +having regained its normal colour. 'Possibly not, but I do,' replied +Vandeloup, sweetly, taking his arm; 'come, let us go.' + +Meddlechip did not resist, but walked passively out of the bar with +Vandeloup, much to the astonishment of the thin gentleman, who +called out to him but without getting any answer. + +Meddlechip went to the cloak room and put on his coat and hat. Then +he followed Vandeloup down the stairs and paused at the door while +the Frenchman hailed a hansom. When it drove up, however, he stopped +short at the edge of the pavement. + +'I won't go,' he said, determinedly. + +Vandeloup looked at him with a peculiar gleam in his dark eyes, and +bowed. + +'Let me persuade you, Monsieur,' he said, blandly, holding the door +of the cab open. + +Meddlechip glanced at him, and then, with a sigh of resignation, +entered the cab, followed by Vandeloup. + +'Where to, sir?' asked the cabman, through the trap. + +'To Leslie's Supper Rooms,' replied the Frenchman, and the cab drove +off. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CASE OF ADELE BLONDET + + +Leslie's Supper Rooms in Bourke Street East were very well known-- +that is, among a certain class. Religious people and steady +businessmen knew nothing about such a place except by reputation, +and looked upon it, with horror, as a haunt of vice and dissipation. + +Though Leslie's, in common with other places had to close at a +certain hour, yet when the shutters were up, the door closed, and +the lights extinguished in the front of the house, there was plenty +of life and bustle going on at the back, where there were charmingly +furnished little rooms for supper parties. Barty Jarper had engaged +one of these apartments, and with about a dozen young men was having +a good time of it when Vandeloup and Meddlechip drove up. After +dismissing the cab and looking up and down the street to see that no +policeman was in sight, Vandeloup knocked at the door in a peculiar +manner, and it was immediately opened in a stealthy kind of way. +Gaston gave his name, whereupon they were allowed to enter, and the +door was closed after them in the same quiet manner, all of which +was very distasteful to Mr Meddlechip, who, being a public man and a +prominent citizen, felt that he was breaking the laws he had +assisted to make. He looked round in some disgust at the crowds of +waiters, and at the glimpses he caught every now and then of +gentlemen in evening dress, and what annoyed him more than anything +else--ladies in bright array. Oh! a dissipated place was Leslie's, +and even in the daytime had a rakish-looking appearance as if it had +been up all night and knew a thing or two. Mr Meddlechip would have +retreated from this den of iniquity if he could, but as he wanted to +have a thorough explanation with Vandeloup, he meekly followed the +Frenchman through a well-lighted passage, with statues on either +side holding lamps, to a little room beautifully furnished, wherein +a supper table was laid out. Here the waiter who conducted them took +their hats and Meddlechip's coat and hung them up, then waited +respectfully for M. Vandeloup to give his orders. A portly looking +waiter he was, with a white waistcoat, a white shirt, which bulged +out in a most obtrusive manner, and a large white cravat, which was +tied round an equally large white collar. When he walked he rolled +along like a white-crested wave, and with his napkin under his arm, +the heel of one foot in the hollow of the other, and his large red +face, surmounted by a few straggling tufts of black hair, he was +truly wonderful to behold. + +This magnificent creature, who answered to the name of Gurchy, +received Vandeloup's orders with a majestic bend of his head, then +rolling up to Mr Meddlechip, he presented the bill of fare to that +gentleman, who, however, refused it. + +'I don't want any supper,' he said, curtly. + +Gurchy, though a waiter, was human, and looked astonished, while +Vandeloup remonstrated in a suave manner. + +'But, my dear sir,' he said, leaning back in his chair, 'you must +have something to eat. I assure you,' with a significant smile, 'you +will need it.' + +Meddlechip's lips twitched a little as the Frenchman spoke, then, +with an uneasy laugh, he ordered something, and drew his chair up to +the table. + +'And, waiter,' said Vandeloup, softly, as Gurchy was rolling out of +the door, 'bring some wine, will you? Pommery, I think, is best,' he +added, turning to Meddlechip. + +'What you like,' returned that gentleman, impatiently, 'I don't +care.' + +'That's a great mistake,' replied Gaston, coolly; 'bad wine plays +the deuce with one's digestion--two bottles of Pommery, waiter.' + +Gurchy nodded, that is to say his head disappeared for a moment in +the foam of his collar, then re-appeared again as he slowly rolled +out of the door and vanished. + +'Now, then, sir,' said Meddlechip, sharply, rising from his seat and +closing the door, 'what did you bring me here for?' + +M. Vandeloup raised his eyebrows in surprise. + +'How energetic you are, my dear Kestrike,' he said, smoothly, lying +down on the sofa, and contemplating his shoes with great +satisfaction; 'just the same noisy, jolly fellow as of yore.' + +'Damn you!' said the other, fiercely, at which Gaston laughed. + +'You had better leave that to God,' he answered, mockingly; 'he +understands more about it than you do.' + +'Oh, I know you of old,' said Meddlechip, walking up and down +excitedly; 'I know you of old, with your sneers and your coolness, +but it won't do here,' stopping opposite the sofa, and glaring down +at Vandeloup; 'it won't do here!' + +'So you've said twice,' replied M. Vandeloup, with a yawn. 'How do +you want me to conduct myself? Do tell me; I am always open to +improvement.' + +'You must leave Australia,' said Meddlechip, sharply, and breathing +hard. + +'If I refuse?' asked M. Vandeloup, lazily, smiling to himself. + +'I will denounce you as a convict escaped from New Caledonia!' +hissed the other, putting his hands in his pockets, and bending +forward. + +'Indeed,' said Gaston, with a charming smile, 'I don't think you +will go so far as that, my friend.' + +'I swear,' said Meddlechip, loudly, raising his hand, 'I swear--' + +'Oh, fie!' observed M. Vandeloup, in a shocked tone; 'an old man +like you should not swear; it's very wrong, I assure you; besides,' +with a disparaging glance, 'you are not suited to melodrama.' + +Meddlechip evidently saw it was no good trying to fight against the +consummate coolness of this young man, so with a great effort +resolved to adapt himself to the exigencies of the case, and fight +his adversary with his own weapons. + +'Well,' he said at length, resuming his seat at the table, and +trying to speak calmly, though his flushed face and quivering lips +showed what an effort it cost him; 'let us have supper first, and we +can talk afterwards.' + +'Ah, that's much better,' remarked M. Vandeloup, sitting up to the +table, and unrolling his napkin. 'I assure you, my dear fellow, if +you treat me well, I'm a very easy person to deal with.' + +The eyes of the two men met for a moment across the table, and +Vandeloup's had such a meaning look in them, that Meddlechip dropped +his own with a shiver. + +The door opened, and the billowy waiter rolled up to the table, and +having left a deposit of plates and food thereon, subsided once more +out of the door, then rolled in again with the champagne. He drew +the cork of one of the bottles, filled the glasses on the table, and +then after giving a glance round to see that all was in order, +suddenly found that it was ebb-tide, and rolled slowly out of the +door, which he closed after him. + +Meddlechip ate his supper in silence, but drank a good deal of +champagne to keep his courage up for the coming ordeal, which he +knew he must go through. Vandeloup, on the other hand, ate and drank +very little, as he talked gaily all the time about theatres, racing, +boating, in fact of everything except the thing the other man wanted +to hear. + +'I never mix up business with pleasure, my dear fellow,' said +Gaston, amiably, guessing his companion's thoughts; 'when we have +finished supper and are enjoying our cigars, I will tell you a +little story.' + +'I don't want to hear it,' retorted the other, harshly, having an +intuitive idea what the story would be about. + +'Possibly not,' replied M. Vandeloup, smoothly; 'nevertheless it is +my wish that you should hear it.' + +Meddlechip looked as if he were inclined to resent this plain +speaking, but after a pause evidently thought better of it, and went +on tranquilly eating his supper. + +When they had finished Gaston rang the bell, and when the billow +rolled in, ordered a fresh bottle of wine and some choice cigars of +a brand well known at Leslie's. Gurchy's head disappeared in foam +again, and did not emerge therefrom till he was out of the door. + +Try one of these,' said M. Vandeloup, affably, to Meddlechip, when +the billow had rolled in with the cigars and wine, 'it's an +excellent brand.' + +'I don't care about smoking,' answered Meddlechip. + +'To please me,' urged M. Vandeloup, persuasively; whereupon +Meddlechip took one, and having lighted it puffed away evidently +under protest, while the billow opened the new bottle of wine, +freshened up the glasses, and then rolled majestically out of the +door, like a tidal wave. + +'Now then for the story,' said M. Vandeloup, leaning back +luxuriously on the sofa, and blowing a cloud of smoke. + +'I don't want to hear it,' retorted the other, quickly; 'name your +terms and let us end the matter.' + +'Pardon me,' said M. Vandeloup, with a smile, 'but I refuse to +accept any terms till I have given you thoroughly to understand what +I mean; so you must hear this little tale of Adele Blondet.' + +'For God's sake, no!' cried the other, hoarsely, rising to his feet; +'I tell you I am haunted by it; by day and by night, sleeping or +waking, I see her face ever before me like an accusing angel.' + +'Curious,' murmured M. Vandeloup, 'especially as she was not by any +means an angel.' + +'I thought it was done with,' said Meddlechip, twisting his fingers +together, while the large drops of perspiration stood on his +forehead, 'but here you come like a spectre from the past and revive +all the old horrors.' + +'If you call Adele a horror,' retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'I am +certainly going to revive her, so you had best sit down and hear me +to the end, for you certainly will not turn me from my purpose.' + +Meddlechip sank back into his chair with a groan, while his +relentless enemy curled himself up on the sofa in a more comfortable +position and began to talk. + +'We will begin the story,' said M. Vandeloup, in a conversational +tone, with an airy wave of his delicate white hand, 'in the good +old-fashioned style of our fairy tales. Once upon a time--let us say +three years ago--there lived in Paris a young man called Octave +Braulard, who was well born and comfortably off. He had a fancy to +be a doctor, and was studying for the medical profession when he +became entangled with a woman. Mademoiselle Adele Blondet was a +charmingly ugly actress, who was at that time the rage of Paris. She +attracted all the men, not by her looks, but by her tongue. Octave +Braulard,' went on M. Vandeloup, complacently looking at himself, +'was handsome, and she fell in love with him. She became his +mistress, and caused a nine days' wonder in Paris by remaining +constant to him for six months. Then there came to Paris an English +gentleman from Australia--name, Kestrike; position, independent; +income, enormous. He had left Madame his wife in London, and came to +our wicked Paris to amuse himself. He saw Adele Blondet, and was +introduced to her by Braulard; result, Kestrike betrayed his friend +Braulard by stealing from him his mistress. Why was this? Was +Kestrike handsome? No. Was he fascinating? No. Was he rich? Yes. +Therein lay the secret; Adele loved the purse, not the man. +Braulard,' said Gaston, rising from the sofa quickly and walking +across the room, 'felt his honour wounded. He remonstrated with +Adele, no use; he offered to fight a duel with the perfidious +Kestrike, no use; the thief was a coward.' + +'No,' cried Meddlechip, rising, 'no coward.' + +'I say, yes!' said Vandeloup, crossing to him, and forcing him back +in his chair; 'he betrayed his friend and refused to give him the +satisfaction of a gentleman. What did Braulard do? Rest quiet? No. +Revenge his honour? Yes! One night,' pursued Gaston, in a low +concentrated voice, grasping Meddlechip's wrist firmly, and looking +at him with fiery eyes, 'Braulard prepared a poison, a narcotic +which was quick in its action, fatal in its results. He goes to the +house of Adele Blondet at half-past twelve o'clock--the hour now,' +he said, rapidly swinging round and pointing to the clock on the +mantelpiece, which had just struck the half-hour; 'he found them at +supper,' releasing Meddlechip's wrist and crossing to the sofa; 'he +sat opposite Kestrike, as he does now,' leaning forward and glaring +at Meddlechip, who shrank back in his chair. 'Adele, at the head of +the table, laughs and smiles; she looks at her old lover and sees +murder in his face; she is ill and retires to her room. Kestrike +follows her to see what is the matter. Braulard is left alone; he +produces a bottle and pours its contents into a cup of coffee, +waiting for Adele. Kestrike returns, saying Adele is ill; she wants +a drink. He takes her the poisoned cup of coffee; she drinks it and +falls'--with a long breath--'asleep. Kestrike returns to the room, +asks Braulard to leave the house. Braulard refuses. Kestrike is +afraid, and would leave himself; he rises from the table; so does +Braulard;'--here Gaston rose and crossed to Meddlechip, who was also +on his feet--'he goes to Kestrike, seizes his wrist, thus--drags him +to the bedroom, and there on the bed lies Adele Blonde--dead--killed +by the poison of one lover given her by the other--and the murderers +look at one another--thus.' + +Meddlechip wrenched his hand from Vandeloup's iron grip and fell +back ghastly white in his chair, with a strangled cry, while the +Frenchman stood over him with eyes gleaming with hatred. + +'Kestrike,' pursued Vandeloup, rapidly, 'is little known in Paris-- +his name is an assumed one--he leaves France before the police can +discover how he has poisoned Adele Blondet, and crosses to England-- +meets Madame, his wife, and returns to Australia, where he is +called--Meddlechip.' + +The man in the chair threw up his hands as if to keep the other off, +and uttered a stifled cry. + +'He then goes to China,' went on Gaston, bending nearer to the +shrinking figure, 'and returns after twelve months, where he meets +Octave Braulard in the theatre--yes, the two murderers meet in +Melbourne! How came Braulard here? Was it chance? No. Was it design? +No. Was it Fate? Yes.' + +He hissed the words in Meddlechip's ear, and the wretched man shrank +away from him again. + +'Braulard,' pursued Vandeloup, in a calmer tone, 'also left the +house of Adele Blondet. She is found dead; one of her lovers cannot +be found; the other, Braulard, is accused of the crime; he defies +the police to prove it; she has been poisoned. Bah! there is no +trace. Braulard will be free. Stop! who is this man called Prevol, +who appears? He is a fellow student of Braulard's, and knows the +poison. Braulard is lost! Prevol examines the body, proves that +poison has been given--by whom? Braulard, and none other. He is +sentenced to death; but he is so handsome that Paris urges pardon. +No; it is not according to the law. Still, spare his life? Yes. His +life is spared. The galleys at Toulon? No. New Caledonia? Yes. He is +sent there. But is Braulard a coward? No. Does he rest as a convict? +No. He makes friends with another convict; they steal a boat, and +fly from the island; they drift, and drift, for days and days; the +sun rises, the sun sets--still they drift; their food is giving out, +the water in the barrel is low--God! are they to die of thirst and +famine? No. The sky is red--like blood--the sun is sinking; land is +in the distance--they are saved!' falling on his knees; 'they are +saved, thank God!' + +Meddlechip, who had recovered himself, wiped his face with his +handkerchief, and sneered with his white lips at the theatrical way +Gaston was behaving in. Vandeloup saw this, and, springing to his +feet, crossed to the millionaire. + +'Braulard,' he continued, quickly, 'lands on the coast of +Queensland; he comes to Sydney--no work; to Melbourne--no work; he +goes to Ball'rat--work there at a gold-mine. Braulard takes the name +of Vandeloup and makes money; he comes to Melbourne, lives there a +year, he is in want of money, he is in despair; at the theatre he +overhears a plan which will give him money, but he needs capital-- +despair again, he will never get it. Aha! Fate once more intervenes- +-he sees M. Kestrike, now Meddlechip, he will ask him for the money, +and the question is, will he get it? So the story is at an end.' He +ended with his usual smile, all his excitement having passed away, +and lounging over to the supper-table lit a cigarette and sat down +on the sofa. + +Meddlechip sat silently looking at the disordered supper-table and +thinking deeply. The dishes were scattered about the white cloth, +and some vividly red cherries had fallen down from the fruit dish in +the centre, some salt was spilt near his elbow, the napkins, twisted +into thin wisps, were lying among the dirty dishes, and the +champagne glasses, half filled with the straw-coloured wine, were +standing near the empty bottles. Meddlechip thought for a few +moments, and then looked up suddenly in a cool, collected, business- +like manner. + +'As I understand you,' he said, in a steady voice, 'the case stands +thus: you know a portion, or rather, I should say, an episode of my +life, I would gladly forget. I did not commit the murder.' + +'No, but you gave her the poison.' + +'Innocently I did, I confess.' + +'Bah! who will believe that?' retorted M. Vandeloup, with a shrug; +'but never mind this at present; let me hear what you intend to do.' + +'You know a secret,' said Meddlechip, nervously, 'which is dangerous +to me; you want to sell it; well, I will be the buyer--name your +price.' + +'Five hundred pounds,' said Vandeloup, quietly. + +'Is that all?' asked the other, with a start of surprise; 'I was +prepared for five thousand.' + +'I am not exorbitant in my demands,' answered Vandeloup, smoothly; +'and as I told you, I have a scheme on hand by which I may make a +lot of money-five hundred pounds is sufficient to do what I want. If +the scheme succeeds, I will be rich enough to do without any more +money from you.' + +'Yes; but if it fails?' said Meddlechip, doubtfully. + +'If it fails, I will be obliged to draw on you again,' returned +Gaston, candidly; 'you can't say, however, that I am behaving badly +to you.' + +'No,' answered Meddlechip, looking at him. 'I must say you are +easier to deal with than I anticipated. Well, if I give you my +cheque for five hundred--' + +'Say six hundred,' observed Vandeloup, rising and going to a small +table in the corner of the room on which were pens and ink. 'I want +an extra hundred.' + +'Six hundred then be it,' answered Meddlechip, quietly, rising and +going to his overcoat, from whence he took his cheque book. 'For +this amount you will be silent.' + +M. Vandeloup bowed gracefully. + +'On my word of honour,' he replied, gaily; 'but, of course,' with a +sudden glance at Meddlechip, 'you will treat me as a friend--ask me +to your house, and introduce me to Madame, your wife.' + +'I don't see the necessity,' returned Meddlechip, angrily, going +over to the small table and sitting down. + +'Pardon me, I do' answered the Frenchman, with a dangerous gleam in +his eyes. + +'Well, well, I agree,' said Meddlechip, testily, taking up a pen and +opening his cheque book. 'You, of course, can dictate your own +terms.' + +'I understand that perfectly,' replied Vandeloup, delicately, +lighting a cigarette, 'and have done so. You can't say they are +hard, as I said before.' + +Meddlechip did not answer, but wrote out a cheque for six hundred +pounds, and then handed it to Vandeloup, who received it with a bow +and slipped it into his waistcoat pocket. + +'With this,' he said, touching his pocket, 'I hope to make nearly +ten thousand in a fortnight.' + +Meddlechip stared at him. + +'I hope you will,' he answered, gruffly, 'all the better for my +purse if you do.' + +'That, of course, goes without saying,' replied Vandeloup, lazily. +'Have some more wine?' touching the bell. + +'No more, thank you,' said Meddlechip, putting on his overcoat. +'It's time I was off.' + +'By the way,' said M. Vandeloup, coolly, 'I have not any change in +my pocket; you might settle for the supper.' + +Meddlechip burst out laughing. + +'Confound your impudence,' he said, quickly, 'I thought you asked me +to supper.' + +'Oh, yes,' replied Vandeloup, taking his hat and stick, 'but I +intended you to pay for it.' + +'You were pretty certain of your game, then?' + +'I always am,' answered Vandeloup, as the door opened, and Gurchy +rolled slowly into the room. + +Meddlechip paid the bill without making further objections, and then +they both left Leslie's with the same precautions as had attended +their entry. They walked slowly down Bourke Street, and parted at +the corner, Meddlechip going to Toorak, while Vandeloup got into a +cab and told the man to drive to Richmond, then lit a cigarette and +gave himself up to reflection as he drove along. + +'I've done a good stroke of business tonight,' he said, smiling, as +he felt the cheque in his pocket, 'and I'll venture the whole lot on +this Magpie reef. If it succeeds I will be rich; if it does not-- +well, there is always Meddlechip as my banker.' Then his thoughts +went back to Kitty, for the reason of his going home so late was +that he wanted to find out in what frame of mind she was. + +'She'll never leave me,' he said, with a laugh, as the cab drew up +in front of Mrs Pulchop's house; 'if she does, so much the better +for me.' + +He dismissed his cab, and let himself in with the latch key; then +hanging up his hat in the hall he went straight to the bedroom and +lit the gas. He then crossed to the bed, expecting to find Kitty +sound asleep, but to his surprise the bed was untouched, and she was +not there. + +'Ah!' he said, quietly, 'so she has gone, after all. Poor little +girl, I wonder where she is. I must really look after her to-morrow; +at present,' he said, pulling off his coat, with a yawn, 'I think +I'll go to bed.' + +He went to bed, and laying his head on the pillow was soon fast +asleep, without even a thought for the girl he had ruined. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +THE KEY OF THE STREET + +When Kitty left Mrs Pulchop's residence she had no very definite +idea as to what she was going to do with herself. Her sole thought +was to get as far away from her former life as possible--to +disappear in the crowd and never to be heard of again. Poor little +soul, she never for a moment dreamed that it was a case of out of +the frying pan into the fire, and that the world at large might +prove more cruel to her than Vandeloup in particular. She had been +cut to the heart by his harsh cold words, but notwithstanding he had +spoken so bitterly she still loved him, and would have stayed beside +him, but her jealous pride forbade her to do so. She who had been +queen of his heart and the idol of his life could not bear to +receive cold looks and careless words, and to be looked upon as an +encumbrance and a trouble. So she thought if she left him altogether +and never saw him again he would, perhaps, be sorry for her and +cherish her memory tenderly for evermore. If she had only known +Gaston's true nature she would not thus have buoyed herself up with +false hopes of his sorrow, but as she believed in him as implicitly +as a woman in love with a man always does, in a spirit of self- +abnegation she cut herself off from him, thinking it would be to his +advantage if not to her own. + +She went into town and wandered about listlessly, not knowing where +to go, till nearly twelve o'clock, and the streets were gradually +emptying themselves of their crowds. The coffee stalls were at all +the corners, with hungry-looking people of both sexes crowded round +them, and here and there in door steps could be seen some outcasts +resting in huddled heaps, while the policemen every now and then +would come up and make them move on. + +Kitty was footsore and heart-weary, and felt inclined to cry, but +was nevertheless resolved not to go back to her home in Richmond. +She dragged herself along the lonely street, and round the corner +came on a coffee stall with no one at it except one small boy whose +head just reached up to the counter. Such a ragged boy as he was, +with a broad comical-looking face--a shaggy head of red hair and a +hat without any brim to it--his legs were bandy and his feet were +encased in a pair of men's boots several sizes too large for him. He +had a bundle of newspapers under one arm and his other hand was in +his pocket rattling some coppers together while he bargained with +the coffee-stall keeper over a pie. The coffee stall had the name of +Spilsby inscribed on it, so it is fair to suppose that the man +therein was Spilsby himself. He had a long grey beard and a meek +face, looking so like an old wether himself it appeared almost the +act of a cannibal on his part to eat a mutton pie. A large placard +at the back of the stall set forth the fact that 'Spilsby's +Specials' were sold there for the sum of one penny, and it was over +'Spilsby's Specials' the ragged boy was arguing. + +'I tell you I ain't agoin' to eat fat,' he said, in a hoarse voice, +as if his throat was stuffed up with one of his own newspapers. 'I +want a special, I don't want a hordinary.' + +'This are a special, I tells you,' retorted Spilsby, +ungrammatically, pushing a smoking pie towards the boy; 'what a +young wiper you are, Grattles, a-comin' and spoilin' my livin' by +cussin' my wictuals.' + +'Look 'ere,' retorted Grattles, standing on the tips of his large +boots to look more imposing, 'my stumick's a bit orf when it comes +to fat, and I wants the vally of my penny; give us a muttony one, +with lots of gravy.' + +''Ere y'are, then,' said Spilsby, quite out of temper with his +fastidious customer; ''ere's a pie as is all made of ram as 'adn't +got more fat on it than you 'ave.' + +Grattles examined the article classed under this promising +description with a critical air, and then laid down his penny and +took the pie. + +'It's a special, ain't it?' he asked, suspiciously smelling it. + +'It's the specialest I've got, any'ow,' answered Spilsby, testily, +putting the penny in his pocket; 'you'd eat a 'ole sheep if you +could get it for a penny, you greedy young devil, you.' + +Here Kitty, who was feeling faint and ill with so much walking, came +forward and asked for a cup of coffee. + +'Certainly, dear,' said Spilsby, with a leer, pouring out the +coffee; 'I'm allays good to a pretty gal.' + +'It's more nor your coffee is,' growled Grattles, who had finished +his special and was now licking his fingers, 'it's all grounds and +'ot water.' + +'Go away, you wicious thing,' retorted Spilsby, mildly, giving Kitty +her coffee and change out of the money she handed him, 'or I'll set +the perlice on yer.' + +'Oh, my eye!' shrieked Grattles, executing a grimace after the +fashion of a favourite comedian; 'he ain't a tart, oh, no--'es a +pie, 'e are, a special, a muttony special; 'e don't kill no kittings +and call 'em sheep, oh, no; 'e don't buy chicory and calls it +coffee, blest if 'e does; 'e's a corker, 'e are, and 'is name ain't +the same as 'is father's.' + +'What d'ye mean,' asked Spilsby, fiercely--that is, as fiercely as +his meek appearance would let him; 'what do you know of my parents, +you bandy-legged little devil? who's your--progenitor, I'd like to +know?' + +'A dook, in course,' said Grattles loftily; 'but we don't, in +consequence of 'er Nibs bein' mixed up with the old man's mother, +reweal the family skeletons to low piemen,' then, with a fresh +grimace, he darted along the street as quickly as his bandy legs +could carry him. + +Spilsby took no notice of this, but, seeing some people coming round +the corner, commenced to sing out his praises of the specials. + +' 'Ere yer are--all 'ot an' steamin',' he cried, in a kind of loud +bleat, which added still more to his sheep-like appearance: +'Spilsby's Specials--oh, lovely--ain't they nice; my eye, fine +muttin pies; who ses Spilsby's; 'ave one, miss?' to Kitty. + +Thank you, no,' replied Kitty, with a faint smile as she put down +her empty cup; 'I'm going now.' + +Spilsby was struck by the educated manner in which she spoke and by +the air of refinement about her. + +'Go home, my dear,' he said, kindly, leaning forward; 'this ain't no +time for a young gal like you to be out.' + +'I've got no home,' said Kitty, bitterly, 'but if you could direct +me--' + +'Here, you,' cried a shrill female voice, as a woman dressed in a +flaunting blue gown rushed up to the stall, 'give us a pie quick; +I'm starvin'; I've got no time to wait.' + +'No, nor manners either,' said Spilsby, with a remonstrating bleat, +pushing a pie towards her; 'who are you, a-shovin' your betters, +Portwine Annie?' + +'My betters,' scoffed the lady in blue, looking Kitty up and down +with a disdainful smile on her painted face; 'where are they, I'd +like to know?' + +''Ere, 'old your tongue,' bleated Spilsby, angrily, 'or I'll tell +the perlice at the corner.' + +'And much I care,' retorted the shrill-voiced female, 'seeing he's a +particular friend of mine.' + +'For God's sake tell me where I can find a place to stop in,' +whispered Kitty to the coffee-stall keeper. + +'Come with me, dear,' said Portwine Annie, eagerly, having overheard +what was said, but Kitty shrank back, and then gathering her cloak +around her ran down the street. + +'What do you do that for, you jade?' said Spilsby, in a vexed tone; +'don't you see the girl's a lady.' + +'Of course she is,' retorted the other, finishing her pie; 'we're +all ladies; look at our dresses, ain't they fine enough? Look at our +houses, aren't they swell enough?' + +'Yes, and yer morals, ain't they bad enough?' said Spilsby, washing +up the dirty plate. + +'They're quite as good as many ladies in society, at all events,' +replied Portwine Annie, with a toss of her head as she walked off. + +'Oh, it's a wicked world,' bleated Spilsby, in a soft voice, looking +after the retreating figure. 'I'm sorry for that poor gal--I am +indeed--but this ain't business,' and once more raising his voice he +cried up his wares, 'Oh, lovely; ain't they muttony? Spilsby's +specials, all 'ot; one penny.' + +Meanwhile Kitty was walking quickly down Elizabeth Street, and +turning round the corner ran right up against a woman. + +'Hullo!' said the woman, catching her wrist, 'where are you off to?' + +'Let me go,' cried Kitty, in a panting voice. + +The woman was tall and handsome, but her face had a kindly +expression on it, and she seemed touched with the terrified tone of +the girl. + +'My poor child,' she said, half contemptuously, releasing her, 'I +won't hurt you. Go if you like. What are you doing out at this time +of the night?' + +'Nothing,' faltered Kitty, with quivering lips, lifting her face up +to the pale moon. The other saw it in the full light and marked how +pure and innocent it was. + +'Go home, dear,' she said, in a soft tone, touching the girl kindly +on the shoulder, 'it's not fit for you to be out at this hour. You +are not one of us.' + +'My God! no,' cried Kitty, shrinking away from her. + +The other smiled bitterly. + +'Ah! you draw away from me now,' she said, with a sneer; 'but what +are you, so pure and virtuous, doing on the streets at this hour? Go +home in time, child, or you will become like me.' + +'I have no home,' said Kitty, turning to go. + +'No home!' echoed the other, in a softer tone; 'poor child! I cannot +take you with me--God help me; but here is some money,' forcing a +shilling into the girl's hand, 'go to Mrs Rawlins at Victoria +Parade, Fitzroy--anyone will tell you where it is--and she will take +you in.' + +'What kind of a place is it?' said Kitty. + +'A home for fallen women, dear,' answered the other, kindly. + +'I'm not a fallen woman!' cried the girl, wildly, 'I have left my +home, but I will go back to it--anything better than this horrible +life on the streets.' + +'Yes, dear,' said the woman, softly, 'go home; go home, for God's +sake, and if you have a father and mother to shield you from harm, +thank heaven for that. Let me kiss you once,' she added, bending +forward, 'it is so long since I felt a good woman's kiss on my lips. +Good-bye.' + +'Good-bye,' sobbed Kitty, raising her face, and the other bent down +and kissed the child-like face, then with a stifled cry, fled away +through the moonlit night. + +Kitty turned away slowly and walked up the street. She knew there +was a cab starting opposite the Town Hall which went to Richmond, +and determined to go home. After all, hard though her life might be +in the future, it would be better than this cruel harshness of the +streets. + +At the top of the block, just as she was about to cross Swanston +Street, a party of young men in evening dress came round the corner +singing, and evidently were much exhilarated with wine. These were +none other than Mr Jarper and his friends, who, having imbibed a +good deal more than was good for them, were now ripe for any +mischief. Bellthorp and Jarper, both quite intoxicated, were walking +arm-in-arm, each trying to keep the other up, so that their walking +mostly consisted of wild lurches forward, and required a good deal +of balancing. + +'Hullo!' cried Bellthorp solemnly--he was always solemn when +intoxicated--'girl--pretty--eh!' + +'Go 'way,' said Barty, staggering back against the wall, 'we're +Christian young men.' + +Kitty tried to get away from this inebriated crew, but they all +closed round her, and she wrung her hands in despair. 'If you are +gentlemen you will let me go,' she cried, trying to push past. + +'Give us kiss first,' said a handsome young fellow, with his hat +very much on one side, putting his arm round her waist, 'pay toll, +dear.' + +She felt his hot breath on her cheek and shrieked out wildly, trying +to push him away with all her force. The young man, however, paid no +attention to her cries, but was about to kiss her when he was taken +by the back of the neck and thrown into the gutter. + +'Gentlemen!' said a rich rolling voice, which proceeded from a +portly man who had just appeared on the scene. 'I am astonished,' +with the emphasis on the first person singular, as if he were a man +of great note. + +'Old boy,' translated Bellthorp to the others, 'is 'tonished.' + +'You have,' said the stranger, with an airy wave of his hand, 'the +appearance of gentlemen, but, alas! you are but whited sepulchres, +fair to look upon, but full of dead men's bones within.' + +'Jarper,' said Bellthorp, solemnly, taking Barty's arm, 'you're a +tombstone with skeleton inside--come along--old boy is right--set of +cads 'suiting an unprotected gal--good night, sir.' + +The others picked up their companion out of the gutter, and the +whole lot rolled merrily down the street. + +'And this,' said the gentleman, lifting up his face to the sky in +mute appeal to heaven, 'this is the generation which is to carry on +Australia. Oh, Father Adam, what a dissipated family you have got-- +ah!--good for a comedy, I think.' + +'Oh!' cried Kitty, recognising a familiar remark, 'it's Mr Wopples.' + +'The same,' said the airy Theodore, laying his hand on his heart, +'and you, my dear--why, bless me,' looking closely at her, 'it is +the pretty girl I met in Ballarat--dear, dear--surely you have not +come to this.' + +'No, no,' said Kitty, quickly, laying her hand on his arm, 'I will +tell you all about it, Mr Wopples; but you must be a friend to me, +for I sadly need one.' + +'I will be your friend,' said the actor, emphatically, taking her +arm and walking slowly down the street; 'tell me how I find you +thus.' + +'You won't tell anyone if I do?' said Kitty, imploringly. + +'On the honour of a gentleman,' answered Wopples, with grave +dignity. + +Kitty told him how she had left Ballarat, but suppressed the name of +her lover, as she did not want any blame to fall on him. But all the +rest she told freely, and when Mr Wopples heard how on that night +she had left the man who had ruined her, he swore a mighty oath. + +'Oh, vile human nature,' he said, in a sonorous tone, 'to thus +betray a confiding infant! Where,' he continued, looking inquiringly +at the serene sky, 'where are the thunderbolts of Heaven that they +fall not on such?' + +No thunderbolt making its appearance to answer the question, Mr +Wopples told Kitty he would take her home to the family, and as they +were just starting out on tour again, she could come with them. + +'But will Mrs Wopples receive me?' asked Kitty, timidly. + +'My dear,' said the actor, gravely, 'my wife is a good woman, and a +mother herself, so she can feel for a poor child like you, who has +been betrayed through sheer innocence.' + +'You do not despise me?' said Kitty, in a low voice. + +'My dear,' answered Wopples, quietly, 'am I so pure myself that I +can judge others? Who am I,' with an oratorical wave of the hand, +'that I should cast the first stone?--ahem!--from Holy Writ. In +future I will be your father; Mrs Wopples, your mother, and you will +have ten brothers and sisters--all star artistes.' + +'How kind you are,' sobbed Kitty, clinging trustfully to him as they +went along. + +'I only do unto others as I would be done by,' said Mr Wopples, +solemnly. 'That sentiment,' continued the actor, taking off his hat, +'was uttered by One who, tho' we may believe or disbelieve in His +divinity as a God, will always remain the sublimest type of perfect +manhood the world has ever seen.' + +Kitty did not answer, and they walked quickly along; and surely this +one good deed more than compensated for the rest of the actor's +failings. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON CHANGE + + +Young Australia has a wonderful love for the excitement of gambling- +-take him away from the betting ring and he goes straight to the +share market to dabble in gold and silver shares. The Great Humbug +Gold Mining Company is floated on the Melbourne market--a perfect +fortune in itself, which influential men are floating in a kind of +semi-philanthropic manner to benefit mankind at large, and +themselves in particular. Report by competent geologists; rich +specimens of the reef exhibited to the confiding public; company of +fifty thousand shares at a pound each; two shillings on application; +two shillings on allotment; the balance in calls which influential +men solemnly assure confiding public will never be needed. Young +Australia sees a chance of making thousands in a week; buys one +thousand shares at four shillings--only two hundred pounds; shares +will rise and Young Australia hopefully looks forward to pocketing +two or three thousand by his modest venture of two hundred; company +floated, shares rising slowly. Young Australia will not sell at a +profit, still dazzled by his chimerical thousands. Calls must be +made to put up machinery; shares have a downward tendency. Never +mind, there will only be one or two calls, so stick to shares as +parents of possible thousands. Machinery erected; now crushing; two +or three ounces to ton a certainty. Shares have an upward tendency; +washing up takes place--two pennyweights to ton. Despair! Shares run +down to nothing, and Young Australia sees his thousands disappear +like snow in the sun. The Great Humbug Reef proves itself worthy of +its name, and the company collapses amid the groans of confiding +public and secret joy of influential men, who have sold at the top +price. + +Vandeloup knew all about this sort of thing, for he had seen it +occur over and over again in Ballarat and Melbourne. So many came to +the web and never got out alive, yet fresh flies were always to be +found. Vandeloup was of a speculative nature himself, and had he +been possessed of any surplus cash would, no doubt, have risked it +in the jugglery of the share market, but as he had none to spare he +stood back and amused himself with looking at the 'spider and the +fly' business which was constantly going on. Sometimes, indeed, the +fly got the better of spider number one, but was unable to keep away +from the web, and was sure to fall into the web of spider number +two. + +M. Vandeloup, therefore, considered the whole affair as too risky to +be gone into without unlimited cash; but now he had a chance of +making money, he determined to try his hand at the business. True, +he knew that he was in for a swindle, but then he was behind the +scenes, and would benefit by the knowledge he had gained. If the +question at issue had really been that of getting gold out of the +reef and paying dividends with the profits, Gaston would have +snapped his fingers scornfully, and held aloof; but this was simply +a running up of shares by means of a rich reef being struck. He +intended to buy at the present market value, which was four +shillings, and sell as soon as he could make a good profit--say, at +one pound--so there was not much chance of him losing his money. The +shares would probably drop again when the pocket of gold was worked +out, but then that would be none of his affair, as he would by that +time have sold out and made his pile. M. Vandeloup was a fly who was +going straight into the webs of stockbroking spiders, but then he +knew as much about this particular web as the spiders themselves. + +Full of his scheme to make money, Vandeloup started for town to see +a broker--first, however, having settled with Mrs Pulchop over +Kitty's disappearance. He had found a letter from Kitty in the +bedroom, in which she had bidden him good-bye for ever, but this he +did not show to Mrs Pulchop, merely stating to that worthy lady that +his 'wife' had left him. + +'And it ain't to be wondered at, the outraged angel,' she said to +Gaston, as he stood at the door, faultlessly dressed, ready to go +into town; 'the way you treated her were shameful.' + +Gaston shrugged his shoulders, lit a cigarette, and smiled at Mrs +Pulchop. + +'My dear lady,' he said, blandly, 'pray attend to your medicine +bottles and leave my domestic affairs alone; you certainly +understand the one, but I doubt your ability to come to any +conclusion regarding the other.' + +'Fine words don't butter no parsnips,' retorted Mrs Pulchop, +viciously; 'and if Pulchop weren't an Apoller, he had a kind heart.' + +'Spare me these domestic stories, please,' said Vandeloup, coldly, +'they do not interest me in the least; since my "wife",' with a +sneer, 'has gone, I will leave your hospitable roof. I will send for +all my property either today or to-morrow, and if you make out your +account in the meantime, my messenger will pay it. Good day!' and +without another word Vandeloup walked slowly off down the path, +leaving Mrs Pulchop speechless with indignation. + +He went into town first, to the City of Melbourne Bank, and cashed +Meddlechip's cheque for six hundred pounds, then, calling a hansom, +he drove along to the Hibernian Bank, where he had an account, and +paid it into his credit, reserving ten pounds for his immediate use. +Then he reentered his hansom, and went along to the office of a +stockbroker, called Polglaze, who was a member of 'The Bachelors', +and in whose hands Vandeloup intended to place his business. + +Polglaze was a short, stout man, scrupulously neatly dressed, with +iron grey hair standing straight up, and a habit of dropping out his +words one at a time, so that the listener had to construct quite a +little history between each, in order to arrive at their meaning, +and the connection they had with one another. + +'Morning!' said Polglaze, letting the salutation fly out of his +mouth rapidly, and then closing it again in case any other word +might be waiting ready to pop out unknown to him. + +Vandeloup sat down and stated his business briefly. + +'I want you to buy me some Magpie Reef shares,' he said, leaning on +the table. + +'Many?' dropped out of Polglaze's mouth, and then it shut again with +a snap. 'Depends on the price,' replied Vandeloup, with a shrug; 'I +see in the papers they are four shillings.' + +Mr Polglaze took up his share book, and rapidly turned over the +leaves--found what he wanted, and nodded. + +'Oh!' said Vandeloup, making a rapid mental calculation, 'then buy +me two thousand five hundred. That will be about five hundred +pounds' worth.' + +Mr Polglaze nodded; then whistled. + +'Your commission, I presume,' said Vandeloup, making another +calculation, 'will be threepence?' + +'Sixpence,' interrupted the stockbroker. + +'Oh, I thought it was threepence,' answered Vandeloup, quietly; +'however, that does not make any difference to me. Your commission +at that rate will be twelve pounds ten shillings?' + +Polglaze nodded again, and sat looking at Vandeloup like a stony +mercantile sphinx. + +'If you will, then, buy me these shares,' said Vandeloup, rising, +and taking up his gloves and hat, 'when am I to come along and see +you?' + +'Four,' said Polglaze. + +Today?' inquired Vandeloup. + +A nod from the stockbroker. + +'Very well,' said Vandeloup, quietly, 'I'll give you a cheque for +the amount, then. There's nothing more to be said, I believe?' and +he walked over to the door. + +'Say!' from Polglaze. + +'Yes,' replied Gaston, indolently, swinging his stick to and fro. + +'New?' inquired the stockbroker. + +'You mean to this sort of thing?' said Vandeloup, looking at him, +and receiving a nod in token of acquiescence, added, 'entirely.' + +'Risky,' dropped from the Polglaze mouth. 'I never knew a gold mine +that wasn't,' retorted Vandeloup, dryly. + +'Bad,' in an assertive tone, from Polglaze. + +'This particular mine, I suppose you mean?' said Gaston, with a +yawn, 'very likely it is. However, I'm willing to take the risk. +Good day! See you at four,' and with a careless nod, M. Vandeloup +lounged out of the office. + +He walked along Collins Street, met a few friends, and kept a look- +out for Kitty. He, however, did not see her, but there was a +surprise in store for him, for turning round into Swanston Street, +he came across Archie McIntosh. Yes, there he was, with his grim, +severe Scotch face, with the white frill round it, and Gaston smiled +as he saw the old man, dressed in rigid broadcloth, casting +disproving looks on the pretty girls walking along. + +'A set o' hizzies,' growled the amiable Archie to himself, 'prancin' +alang wi' their gew-gaws an' fine claes, like war horses--the +daughters o' Zion that walk wi' mincin' steps an' tinklin' +ornaments.' + +'How do you do?' said Vandeloup, touching the broadcloth shoulder; +upon which McIntosh turned. + +'Lord save us!' he ejaculated, grimly, 'it's yon French body. An' +hoo's a' wi' ye, laddie? Eh, but ye're brawly dressed, my young +man,' with a disproving look; 'I'm hopin' they duds are paid for.' + +'Of course they are,' replied Vandeloup, gaily, 'do you think I +stole them?' + +'Weel, I'll no gae sa far as that,' remarked Archie, cautiously; +'maybe ye have dwelt by the side o' mony waters, an' flourished. If +he ken the Screepture ye'll see God helps those wha help +themselves.' + +'That means you do all the work and give God the credit,' retorted +Gaston, with a sneer; 'I know all about that.' + +'Ah, ye'll gang tae the pit o' Tophet when ye dee,' said Mr +McIntosh, who had heard this remark with horror; 'an' ye'll no be +sae ready wi' your tongue there, I'm thinkin'; but ye are not +speerin aboot Mistress Villiers.' + +'Why, is she in town?' asked Vandeloup, eagerly. + +'Ay, and Seliny wi' her,' answered Archie, fondling his frill; +'she's varra rich noo, as ye've nae doot heard. Ay, ay,' he went on, +'she's gotten a braw hoose doon at St Kilda, and she's going to set +up a carriage, ye ken. She tauld me,' pursued Mr McIntosh, sourly, +looking at Vandeloup, 'if I saw ye I was to be sure to tell ye to +come an' see her.' + +'Present my compliments to Madame,' said Vandeloup, quickly, 'and I +will wait on her as soon as possible.' + +'Losh save us, laddie,' said McIntosh, irritably, 'you're as fu' o' +fine wards as a play-actor. Have ye seen onything doon in this pit +o' Tophet o' the bairn that rin away?' + +'Oh, Miss Marchurst!' said Vandeloup, smoothly, ready with a lie at +once. 'No, I'm sorry to say I've never set eyes on her.' + +'The mistress is joost daft aboot her,' observed McIntosh, +querulously; 'and she's ganging tae look all thro' the toun tae find +the puir wee thing.' + +'I hope she will!' said M. Vandeloup, who devoutly hoped she +wouldn't. 'Will you come and have a glass of wine, Mr McIntosh?' + +Til hae a wee drappy o' whusky if ye've got it gude,' said McIntosh, +cautiously, 'but I dinna care for they wines that sour on a body's +stomach.' + +McIntosh having thus graciously assented, Vandeloup took him up to +the Club, and introduced him all round as the manager of the famous +Pactolus. All the young men were wonderfully taken up with Archie +and his plain speaking, and had Mr McIntosh desired he could have +drunk oceans of his favourite beverage. However, being a Scotchman +and cautious, he took very little, and left Vandeloup to go down to +Madame Midas at St Kilda, and bearing a message from the Frenchman +that he would call there the next day. + +Archie having departed, Vandeloup got through the rest of the day as +he best could. He met Mr Wopples in the street, who told him how he +had found Kitty, quite unaware that the young man before him was the +villain who had betrayed the girl. Vandeloup was delighted to think +that Kitty had not mentioned his name, and quite approved of Mr +Wopples' intention to take the girl on tour. Having thus arranged +for Kitty's future, Gaston went along to his broker, and found that +the astute Polglaze had got him his shares. + +'Going up,' said Polglaze, as he handed the scrip to Vandeloup and +got a cheque in exchange. + +'Oh, indeed!' said Vandeloup, with a smile. 'I suppose my two +friends have begun their little game already,' he thought, as he +slipped the scrip into his breast pocket. + +'Information?' asked Polglaze, as Vandeloup was going. + +'Oh! you'd like to know where I got it,' said M. Vandeloup, amiably. +'Very sorry I can't tell you; but you see, my dear sir, I am not a +woman, and can keep a secret.' + +Vandeloup walked out, and Polglaze looked after him with a puzzled +look, then summed up his opinion in one word, sharp, incisive, and +to the point-- + +'Clever!' said Polglaze, and put the cheque in his safe. + +Vandeloup strolled along the street thinking. + +'Bebe is out of my way,' he thought, with a smile; 'I have a small +fortune in my pocket, and,' he continued, thoughtfully, 'Madame +Midas is in Melbourne. I think now,' said M. Vandeloup, with another +smile, 'that I have conquered the blind goddess.' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE OPULENCE OF MADAME MIDAS + + +A wealthy man does not know the meaning of the word friendship. He +is not competent to judge, for his wealth precludes him giving a +proper opinion. Smug-faced philanthropists can preach comfortable +doctrines in pleasant rooms with well-spread tables and good +clothing; they can talk about human nature being unjustly accused, +and of the kindly impulses and good thoughts in everyone's breasts. +Pshaw! anyone can preach thus from an altitude of a few thousands a +year, but let these same self-complacent kind-hearted gentlemen +descend in the social scale--let them look twice at a penny before +spending it--let them face persistent landladies, exorbitant +landlords, or the bitter poverty of the streets, and they will not +talk so glibly of human nature and its inherent kindness. No; human +nature is a sort of fetish which is credited with a great many +amiable qualities it never possesses, and though there are +exceptions to the general rule, Balzac's aphorism on mankind that +'Nature works by self-interest,' still holds good today. + +Madame Midas, however, had experienced poverty and the coldness of +friends, so was completely disillusionised as to the disinterested +motives of the people who now came flocking around her. She was very +wealthy, and determined to stop in Melbourne for a year, and then go +home to Europe, so to this end she took a house at St Kilda, which +had been formerly occupied by Mark Frettlby, the millionaire, who +had been mixed up in the famous hansom cab murder nearly eighteen +months before. His daughter, Mrs Fitzgerald, was in Ireland with her +husband, and had given instructions to her agents to let the house +furnished as it stood, but such a large rent was demanded, that no +one felt inclined to give it till Mrs Villiers appeared on the +scene. The house suited her, as she did not want to furnish one of +her own, seeing she was only going to stop a year, so she saw +Thinton and Tarbet, who had the letting of the place, and took it +for a year. The windows were flung open, the furniture brushed and +renovated, and the solitary charwoman who had been ruler in the +lonely rooms so long, was dismissed, and her place taken by a whole +retinue of servants. Madame Midas intended to live in style, so went +to work over the setting up of her establishment in such an +extravagant manner that Archie remonstrated. She took his +interference in a good humoured way, but still arranged things as +she intended; and when her house was ready, waited for her friends +to call on her, and prepared to amuse herself with the comedy of +human life. She had not long to wait, for a perfect deluge of +affectionate people rolled down upon her. Many remembered her--oh, +quite well--when she was the beautiful Miss Curtis; and then her +husband--that dreadful Villiers--they hoped he was dead--squandering +her fortune as he had done--they had always been sorry for her, and +now she was rich--that lovely Pactolus--indeed, she deserved it all- +-she would marry, of course--oh, but indeed, she must. And so the +comedy went on, and all the actors flirted, and ogled, and nodded, +and bowed, till Madame Midas was quite sick of the falseness and +frivolity of the whole thing. She knew these people, with their +simpering and smiling, would visit her and eat her dinners and drink +her wines, and then go away and abuse her thoroughly. But then +Madame Midas never expected anything else, so she received them with +smiles, saw through all their little ways, and when she had amused +herself sufficiently with their antics, she let them go. + +Vandeloup called on Madame Midas the day after she arrived, and Mrs +Villiers was delighted to see him. Having an object in view, of +course Gaston made himself as charming as possible, and assisted +Madame to arrange her house, told her about the people who called on +her, and made cynical remarks about them, all of which amused Madame +Midas mightily. She grew weary of the inane gabble and narrow +understandings of people, and it was quite a relief for her to turn +to Vandeloup, with his keen tongue and clever brains. Gaston was not +a charitable talker--few really clever talkers are--but he saw +through everyone with the uttermost ease and summed them up in a +sharp incisive way, which had at least the merit of being clever. +Madame Midas liked to hear him talk, and seeing what humbugs the +people who surrounded her were, and how well she knew their motives +in courting her for her wealth, it is not to be wondered at that she +should have been amused at having all their little weaknesses laid +bare and classified by such a master of satire as Vandeloup. So they +sat and watched the comedy and the unconscious actors playing their +parts, and felt that the air was filled with heavy sensuous perfume, +and the lights were garish, and that there was wanting entirely that +keen cool atmosphere which Mallock calls 'the ozone of +respectability'. + +Vandeloup had prospered in his little venture in the mining market, +for, true to the prediction of Mr Barraclough--who, by the way, was +very much astonished at the sudden demand for shares by Polglaze, +and vainly pumped that reticent individual to find out what he was +up to--the Magpie Reef shares ran up rapidly. A telegram was +published from the manager stating a rich reef had been struck. +Specimens of the very richest kind were displayed in Melbourne, and +the confiding public suddenly woke to the fact that a golden tide +was flowing past their doors. They rushed the share market, and in +two weeks the Magpie Reef shares ran from four shillings to as many +pounds. Vandeloup intended to sell at one pound, but when he saw the +rapid rise and heard everyone talking about this Reef, which was to +be a second Long Tunnel, he held his shares till they touched four +pounds, then, quite satisfied with his profit, he sold out at once +and pocketed nearly ten thousand pounds, so that he was provided for +the rest of his life. The shares ran up still higher, to four pounds +ten shillings, then dropped to three, in consequence of certain +rumours that the pocket of gold was worked out. Then another rich +lead was struck, and they ran up again to five pounds, and +afterwards sank to two pounds, which gradually became their regular +price in the market. That Barraclough and his friend did well was +sufficiently proved by the former taking a trip to Europe, while his +friend bought a station and set up as a squatter. They, however, +never knew how cleverly M. Vandeloup had turned their conversation +to his advantage, and that young gentleman, now that he had made a +decent sum, determined to touch gold mining no more, and, unlike +many people, he kept his word. + +Now that he was a man of means, Vandeloup half decided to go to +America, as a larger field for a gentleman of his brilliant +qualities, but the arrival of Madame Midas in Melbourne made him +alter his mind. Her husband was no doubt dead, so Gaston thought +that as soon as she had settled down he would begin to pay his court +to her, and without doubt would be accepted, for this confident +young man never for a moment dreamed of failure. Meanwhile he sent +all Kitty's wardrobe after her as she went with the Wopples family, +and the poor girl, taking this as a mark of renewed affection, wrote +him a very tearful little note, which M. Vandeloup threw into the +fire. Then he looked about and ultimately got a very handsome suite +of rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne. He furnished these +richly, and having invested his money in good securities, prepared +to enjoy himself. + +Kitty, meanwhile, had become a great favourite with the Wopples +family, and they made a wonderful pet of her. Of course, being in +Rome, she did as the Romans did, and went on the stage as Miss +Kathleen Wopples, being endowed with the family name for dramatic +reasons. The family were now on tour among the small towns of +Victoria, and seemed to be well-known, as each member got a +reception when he or she appeared on the stage. Mr Theodore Wopples +used to send his agent ahead to engage the theatre--or more often a +hall--bill the town, and publish sensational little notices in the +local papers. Then when the family arrived Mr Wopples, who was +really a gentleman and well-educated, called on all the principal +people of the town and so impressed them with the high class +character of the entertainment that he never failed to secure their +patronage. He also had a number of artful little schemes which he +called 'wheezes', the most successful of these being a lecture on +The Religious Teaching of Shakespeare', which he invariably +delivered on a Sunday afternoon in the theatre of any town he +happened to be in, and not infrequently when requested occupied the +pulpit and preached capital sermons. By these means Mr Wopples kept +up the reputation of the family, and the upper classes of all the +towns invariably supported the show, while the lower classes came as +a matter of course. Mr Wopples, however, was equally as clever in +providing a bill of fare as in inducing the public to come to the +theatre, and the adaptability of the family was really wonderful. +One night they would play farcical comedy; then Hamlet, reduced to +four acts by Mr Wopples, would follow on the second night; the next +night burlesque would reign supreme; and when the curtain arose on +the fourth night Mr Wopples and the star artistes would be acting +melodrama, and throw one another off bridges and do strong +starvation business with ragged clothes amid paper snowstorms. + +Kitty turned out to be a perfect treasure, as her pretty face and +charming voice soon made her a favourite, and when in burlesque she +played Princess to Fanny Wopples' Prince, there was sure to be a +crowded house and lots of applause. Kitty's voice was clear and +sweet as a lark's, and her execution something wonderful, so Mr +Wopples christened her the Australian Nightingale, and caused her to +be so advertised in the papers. Moreover, her dainty appearance, and +a certain dash and abandon she had with her, carried the audience +irresistibly away, and had Fanny Wopples not been a really good +girl, she would have been jealous of the success achieved by the +new-comer. She, however, taught Kitty to dance breakdowns, and at +Warrnambool they had a benefit, when 'Faust, M.D.' was produced, and +Fanny sang her great success, 'I've just had a row with mamma', and +Kitty sang the jewel song from 'Faust' in a manner worthy of +Neilson, as the local critic--who had never heard Neilson--said the +next day. Altogether, Kitty fully repaid the good action of Mr +Wopples by making his tour a wonderful success, and the family +returned to Melbourne in high glee with full pockets. + +'Next year,' said Mr Wopples, at a supper which they had to +celebrate the success of their tour, 'we'll have a theatre in +Melbourne, and I'll make it the favourite house of the city, see if +I don't.' + +It seemed, therefore, as though Kitty had found her vocation, and +would develop into an operatic star, but fate intervened, and Miss +Marchurst retired from the stage, which she had adorned so much. +This was due to Madame Midas, who, driving down Collins Street one +day, saw Kitty at the corner walking with Fanny Wopples. She +immediately stopped her carriage, and alighting therefrom, went +straight up to the girl, who, turning and seeing her for the first +time, grew deadly pale. + +'Kitty, my dear,' said Madame, gravely, 'I have been looking for you +vainly for a year--but I have found you at last.' + +Kitty's breast was full of conflicting emotions; she thought that +Madame knew all about her intimacy with Vandeloup, and that she +would speak severely to her. Mrs Villiers' next words, however, +reassured her. + +'You left Ballarat to go on the stage, did you not?' she said +kindly, looking at the girl; 'why did you not come to me?--you knew +I was always your friend.' + +'Yes, Madame,' said Kitty, putting out her hand and averting her +head, 'I would have come to you, but I thought you would stop me +from going.' + +'My dear child,' replied Madame, 'I thought you knew me better than +that; what theatre are you at?' + +'She's with us,' said Miss Fanny, who had been staring at this +grave, handsomely-dressed lady who had alighted from such a swell +carriage; 'we are the Wopples Family.' + +'Ah!' said Mrs Villiers, thinking, 'I remember, you were up at +Ballarat last year. Well, Kitty, will you and your friend drive down +to St Kilda with me, and I'll show you my new house?' + +Kitty would have refused, for she was afraid Madame Midas would +perhaps send her back to her father, but the appealing looks of +Fanny Wopples, who had never ridden in a carriage in her life, and +was dying to do so, decided her to accept. So they stepped into the +carriage, and Mrs Villiers told the coachman to drive home. + +As they drove along, Mrs Villiers delicately refrained from asking +Kitty any questions about her flight, seeing that a stranger was +present, but determined to find out all about it when she got her +alone down at St Kilda. + +Kitty, on her part, was thinking how to baffle Madame's inquiries. +She knew she would be questioned closely by her, and resolved not to +tell more than she could help, as she, curiously enough--considering +how he had treated her--wished to shield Vandeloup. But she still +cherished a tender feeling for the man she loved, and had Vandeloup +asked her to go back and live with him, would, no doubt, have +consented. The fact was, the girl's nature was becoming slightly +demoralised, and the Kitty who sat looking at Madame Midas now-- +though her face was as pretty, and her eyes as pure as ever--was not +the same innocent Kitty that had visited the Pactolus, for she had +eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, and was already cultured in worldly +wisdom. Madame, of course, believed that Kitty had gone from +Ballarat straight on to the stage, and never thought for a moment +that for a whole year she had been Vandeloup's mistress, so when +Kitty found this out--as she very soon did--she took the cue at +once, and asserted positively to Madame that she had been on the +stage for eighteen months. + +'But how is it,' asked Madame, who believed her fully, 'that I could +not find you?' + +'Because I was up the country all the time,' replied Kitty, quickly, +'and of course did not act under my real name.' + +'You would not like to go back to your father, I suppose,' suggested +Madame. + +Kitty made a gesture of dissent. + +'No,' she answered, determinedly; 'I was tired of my father and his +religion; I'm on the stage now, and I mean to stick to it.' + +'Kitty! Kitty!' said Madame, sadly, 'you little know the +temptations--' + +'Oh! yes, I do,' interrupted Kitty, impatiently; 'I've been nearly +two years on the stage, and I have not seen any great wickedness-- +besides, I'm always with Mrs Wopples.' + +'Then you still mean to be an actress?' asked Madame. + +'Yes,' replied Kitty, in a firm voice; 'if I went back to my father, +I'd go mad leading that dull life.' + +'But why not stay with me, my dear?' said Mrs Villiers, looking at +her; 'I am a lonely woman, as you know, and if you come to me, I +will treat you as a daughter.' + +'Ah! how good you are,' cried the girl in a revulsion of feeling, +falling on her friend's neck; 'but indeed I cannot leave the stage-- +I'm too fond of it.' + +Madame sighed, and gave up the argument for a time, then showed the +two girls all over the house, and after they had dinner with her, +she sent them back to town in her carriage, with strict injunctions +to Kitty to come down next day and bring Mr Wopples with her. When +the two girls reached the hotel where the family was staying, Fanny +gave her father a glowing account of the opulence of Madame Midas, +and Mr Wopples was greatly interested in the whole affair. He was +grave, however, when Kitty spoke to him privately of what Madame had +said to her, and asked her if she would not like to accept Mrs +Villiers' offer. Kitty, however, said she would remain on the stage, +and as Wopples was to see Madame Midas next day, made him promise he +would say nothing about having found her on the streets, or of her +living with a lover. Wopples, who thoroughly understood the girl's +desire to hide her shame from her friends, agreed to this, so Kitty +went to bed confident that she had saved Vandeloup's name from being +dragged into the affair. + +Wopples saw Madame next day, and a long talk ensued, which ended in +Kitty agreeing to stay six months with Mrs Villiers, and then, if +she still wished to continue on the stage, she was to go to Mr +Wopples. On the other hand, in consideration of Wopples losing the +services of Kitty, Madame promised that next year she would give him +sufficient money to start a theatre in Melbourne. So both parted +mutually satisfied. Kitty made presents to all the family, who were +very sorry to part with her, and then took up her abode with Mrs +Villiers, as a kind of adopted daughter, and was quite prepared to +play her part in the comedy of fashion. + +So Madame Midas had been near the truth, yet never discovered it, +and sent a letter to Vandeloup asking him to come to dinner and meet +an old friend, little thinking how old and intimate a friend Kitty +was to the young man. + +It was, as Mr Wopples would have said, a highly dramatic situation, +but, alas, that the confiding nature of Madame Midas should thus +have been betrayed, not only by Vandeloup, but by Kitty herself--the +very girl whom, out of womanly compassion, she took to her breast. + +And yet the world talks about the inherent goodness of human nature. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +M. VANDELOUP IS SURPRISED + + +Owing to the quiet life Kitty had led since she came to Melbourne, +and the fact that her appearance on the stage had taken place in the +country, she felt quite safe when making her appearance in Melbourne +society that no one would recognise her or know anything of her past +life. It was unlikely she would meet with any of the Pulchop family +again, and she knew Mr Wopples would hold his tongue regarding his +first meeting with her, so the only one who could reveal anything +about her would be Vandeloup, and he would certainly be silent for +his own sake, as she knew he valued the friendship of Madame Midas +too much to lose it. Nevertheless she awaited his coming in +considerable trepidation, as she was still in love with him, and was +nervous as to what reception she would meet with. Perhaps now that +she occupied a position as Mrs Villiers' adopted daughter he would +marry her, but, at all events, when she met him she would know +exactly how he felt towards her by his demeanour. + +Vandeloup, on the other hand, was quite unaware of the surprise in +store for him, and thought that the old friend he was to meet would +be some Ballarat acquaintance of his own and Madame's. In his +wildest flight of fancy he never thought it would be Kitty, else his +cool nonchalance would for once have been upset at the thought of +the two women he was interested in being under the same roof. +However, where ignorance is bliss--well M. Vandeloup, after dressing +himself carefully in evening dress, put on his hat and coat, and, +the evening being a pleasant one, thought he would stroll through +the Fitzroy Gardens down to the station. + +It was pleasant in the gardens under the golden light of the sunset, +and the green arcades of trees looked delightfully cool after the +glare of the dusty streets. Vandeloup, strolling along idly, felt a +touch on his shoulder and wheeled round suddenly, for with his past +life ever before him he always had a haunting dread of being +recaptured. + +The man, however, who had thus drawn his attention was none other +than Pierre Lemaire, who stood in the centre of the broad asphalt +path, dirty, ragged and disreputable-looking. He had not altered +much since he left Ballarat, save that he looked more dilapidated- +looking, but stood there in his usual sullen manner, with his hat +drawn down over his eyes. Some stray wisps of grass showed that he +had been camping out all the hot day on the green turf under the +shadow of the trees, and it was easy to see from his appearance what +a vagrant he was. Vandeloup was annoyed at the meeting and cast a +rapid look around to see if he was observed. The few people, +however, passing were too intent on their own business to give more +than a passing glance at the dusty tramp and the young man in +evening dress talking to him, so Vandeloup was reassured. + +'Well, my friend,' he said, sharply, to the dumb man, 'what do you +want?' + +Pierre put his hand in his pocket. + +'Oh, of course,' replied M. Vandeloup, mockingly, 'money, money, +always money; do you think I'm a bank, always to be drawn on like +this?' + +The dumb man made no sign that he had heard, but stood sullenly +rocking himself to and fro an'd chewing a wisp of the grass he had +picked off his coat. + +'Here,' said the young man, taking out a sovereign and giving it to +Pierre; 'take this just now and don't bother me, or upon my word,' +with a disdainful look, 'I shall positively have to hand you over to +the law.' + +Pierre glanced up suddenly, and Vandeloup caught the gleam of his +eyes under the shadow of the hat. + +'Oh! you think it will be dangerous for me,' he said, in a gay tone; +'not at all, I assure you. I am a gentleman, and rich; you are a +pauper, and disreputable. Who will believe your word against mine? +My faith! your assurance is quite refreshing. Now, go away, and +don't trouble me again, or,' with a sudden keen glance, 'I will do +as I say.' + +He nodded coolly to the dumb man, and strode gaily along under the +shade of the heavily foliaged oaks, while Pierre looked at the +sovereign, slipped it into his pocket, and slouched off in the +opposite direction without even a glance at his patron. + +At the top of the street Vandeloup stepped into a cab, and telling +the man to drive to the St Kilda Station, in Elizabeth Street, went +off into a brown study. Pierre annoyed him seriously, as he never +seemed to get rid of him, and the dumb man kept turning up every now +and then like the mummy at the Egyptian feast to remind him of +unpleasant things. + +'Confound him!' muttered Vandeloup, angrily, as he alighted at the +station and paid the cabman, 'he's more trouble than Bebe was; she +did take the hint and go, but this man, my faith!' shrugging his +shoulders, 'he's the devil himself for sticking.' + +All the way down to St Kilda his reflections were of the same +unpleasant nature, and he cast about in his own mind how he could +get rid of this pertinacious friend. He could not turn him off +openly, as Pierre might take offence, and as he knew more of M. +Vandeloup's private life than that young gentleman cared about, it +would not do to run the risk of an exposure. + +'There's only one thing to be done,' said Gaston, quietly, as he +walked down to Mrs Villiers' house; 'I will try my luck at marrying +Madame Midas; if she consents, we can go away to Europe as man and +wife; if she does not I will go to America, and, in either case, +Pierre will lose trace of me.' + +With this comfortable reflection he went into the house and was +shown into the drawing room by the servant. There were no lights in +the room, as it was not sufficiently dark for them, and Vandeloup +smiled as he saw a fire in the grate. + +'My faith!' he said to himself, 'Madame is as chilly as ever.' + +The servant had retired, and he was all by himself in this large +room, with the subdued twilight all through it, and the flicker of +the flames on the ceiling. He went to the fire more from habit than +anything else, and suddenly came on a big armchair, drawn up close +to the side, in which a woman was sitting. + +'Ah! the sleeping beauty,' said Vandeloup, carelessly; 'in these +cases the proper thing to do in order to wake the lady is to kiss +her.' + +He was, without doubt, an extremely audacious young man, and though +he did not know who the young lady was, would certainly have put his +design into execution, had not the white figure suddenly rose and +confronted him. The light from the fire was fair on her face, and +with a sudden start Vandeloup saw before him the girl he had ruined +and deserted. + +'Bebe?' he gasped, recoiling a step. + +'Yes!' said Kitty, in an agitated tone, 'your mistress and your +victim.' + +'Bah!' said Gaston, coolly, having recovered from the first shock of +surprise. 'That style suits Sarah Bernhardt, not you, my dear. The +first act of this comedy is excellent, but it is necessary the +characters should know one another in order to finish the play.' + +'Ah!' said Kitty, with a bitter smile, 'do I not know you too well, +as the man who promised me marriage and then broke his word? You +forgot all your vows to me.' + +'My dear child,' replied Gaston leisurely, leaning up against the +mantelpiece, 'if you had read Balzac you would discover that he +says, "Life would be intolerable without a certain amount of +forgetting." I must say,' smiling, 'I agree with the novelist.' + +Kitty looked at him as he stood there cool and complacent, and threw +herself back into the chair angrily. + +'Just the same,' she muttered restlessly, 'just the same.' + +'Of course,' replied Vandeloup, raising his eyebrows in surprise. +'You have only been away from me six weeks, and it takes longer than +that to alter any one. By the way,' he went on smoothly, 'how have +you been all this time? I have no doubt your tour has been as +adventurous as that of Gil Bias.' + +'No, it has not,' replied Kitty, clenching her hands. 'You never +cared what became of me, and had not Mr Wopples met me in the street +on that fearful night, God knows where I would have been now.' + +'I can tell you,' said Gaston, coolly, taking a seat. 'With me. You +would have soon got tired of the poverty of the streets, and come +back to your cage.' + +'My cage, indeed!' she echoed, bitterly, tapping the ground with her +foot. 'Yes, a cage, though it was a gilded one.' + +'How Biblical you are getting,' said the young man, ironically; 'but +kindly stop speaking in parables, and tell me what position we are +to occupy to each other. As formerly?' + +'My God, no!' she flashed out suddenly. + +'So much the better,' he answered, bowing. 'We will obliterate the +last year from our memories, and I will meet you to-night for the +first time since you left Ballarat. Of course,' he went on, rather +anxiously, 'you have told Madame nothing?' + +'Only what suited me,' replied the girl, coldly, stung by the +coldness and utter heartlessness of this man. + +'Oh!' with a smile. 'Did it include my name?' + +'No,' curtly. + +'Ah!' with a long indrawn breath, 'you are more sensible than I gave +you credit for.' + +Kitty rose to her feet and crossed rapidly over to where he sat calm +and smiling. + +'Gaston Vandeloup!' she hissed in his ear, while her face was quite +distorted by the violence of her passion, 'when I met you I was an +innocent girl--you ruined me, and then cast me off as soon as you +grew weary of your toy. I thought you loved me, and,' with a stifled +sob, 'God help me, I love you still.' + +'Yes, my Bebe,' he said, in a caressing tone, taking her hand. + +'No! no,' she cried, wrenching them away, while an angry spot of +colour glowed on her cheek, 'I loved you as you were--not as you are +now--we are done with sentiment, M. Vandeloup,' she said, sneering, +'and now our relations to one another will be purely business ones.' + +He bowed and smiled. + +'So glad you understand the position,' he said, blandly; 'I see the +age of miracles is not yet past when a woman can talk sense.' + +'You won't disturb me with your sneers,' retorted the girl, glaring +fiercely at him out of the gathering gloom in the room; 'I am not +the innocent girl I once was.' + +'It is needless to tell me that,' he said, coarsely. + +She drew herself up at the extreme insult. + +'Have a care, Gaston,' she muttered, hurriedly, 'I know more about +your past life than you think.' + +He rose from his seat and approached his face, now white as her own, +to hers. + +'What do you know?' he asked, in a low, passionate voice. + +'Enough to be dangerous to you,' she retorted, defiantly. + +They both looked at one another steadily, but the white face of the +woman did not blench before the scintillations of his eyes. + +'What you know I don't know,' he said, steadily; 'but whatever it +is, keep it to yourself, or--,' catching her wrist. + +'Or what?' she asked, boldly. + +He threw her away from him with a laugh, and the sombre fire died +out of his eyes. + +'Bah!' he said, gaily, 'our comedy is turning into a tragedy; I am +as foolish as you; I think,' significantly, 'we understand one +another.' + +'Yes, I think we do,' she answered, calmly, the colour coming back +to her cheek. 'Neither of us are to refer to the past, and we both +go on our different roads unhindered.' + +'Mademoiselle Marchurst,' said Vandeloup, ceremoniously, 'I am +delighted to meet you after a year's absence--come,' with a gay +laugh, 'let us begin the comedy thus, for here,' he added quickly, +as the door opened, 'here comes the spectators.' + +'Well, young people,' said Madame's voice, as she came slowly into +the room, 'you are all in the dark; ring the bell for lights, M. +Vandeloup.' + +'Certainly, Madame,' he answered, touching the electric button, +'Miss Marchurst and myself were renewing our former friendship.' + +'How do you think she is looking?' asked Madame, as the servant came +in and lit the gas. + +'Charming,' replied Vandeloup, looking at the dainty little figure +in white standing under the blaze of the chandelier; 'she is more +beautiful than ever.' + +Kitty made a saucy little curtsey, and burst into a musical laugh. + +'He is just the same, Madame,' she said merrily to the tall, grave +woman in black velvet, who stood looking at her affectionately, +'full of compliments, and not meaning one; but when is dinner to be +ready?' pathetically, 'I'm dying of starvation.' + +'I hope you have peaches, Madame,' said Vandeloup, gaily; 'the first +time I met Mademoiselle she was longing for peaches.' + +'I am unchanged in that respect,' retorted Kitty, brightly; 'I adore +peaches still.' + +'I am just waiting for Mr Calton,' said Madame Midas, looking at her +watch; 'he ought to be here by now.' + +'Is that the lawyer, Madame?' asked Vandeloup. + +'Yes,' she replied, quietly, 'he is a most delightful man.' + +'So I have heard,' answered Vandeloup, nonchalantly, 'and he had +something to do with a former owner of this house, I think.' + +'Oh, don't talk of that,' said Mrs Villiers, nervously; 'the first +time I took the house, I heard all about the Hansom Cab murder.' + +'Why, Madame, you are not nervous,' said Kitty, gaily. + +'No, my dear,' replied the elder, quietly, 'but I must confess that +for some reason or another I have been a little upset since coming +here; I don't like being alone.' + +'You shall never be that,' said Kitty, fondly nestling to her. + +'Thank you, puss,' said Madame, tapping her cheek; 'but I am +nervous,' she said, rapidly; 'at night especially. Sometimes I have +to get Selina to come into my room and stay all night.' + +'Madame Midas nervous,' thought Vandeloup to himself; 'then I can +guess the reason; she is afraid of her husband coming back to her.' + +Just at this moment the servant announced Mr Calton, and he entered, +with his sharp, incisive face, looking clever and keen. + +'I must apologise for being late, Mrs Villiers,' he said, shaking +hands with his hostess; 'but business, you know, the pleasure of +business.' + +'Now,' said Madame, quickly, 'I hope you have come to the business +of pleasure.' + +'Very epigrammatic, my dear lady,' said Calton, in his high, clear +voice; 'pray introduce me.' + +Madame did so, and they all went to dinner, Madame with Calton and +Kitty following with Vandeloup. + +'This,' observed Calton, when they were all seated at the dinner +table, 'is the perfection of dining; for we are four, and the +guests, according to an epicure, should never be less than the +Graces nor greater than the Muses.' + +And a very merry little dinner it was. All four were clever talkers, +and Vandeloup and Calton being pitted against one another, excelled +themselves; witty remarks, satirical sayings, and well-told stories +were constantly coming from their lips, and they told their stories +as their own and did not father them on Sydney Smith. + +'If Sydney Smith was alive,' said Calton, in reference to this, 'he +would be astonished at the number of stories he did not tell.' + +'Yes,' chimed in Vandeloup, gaily, 'and astounded at their +brilliancy.' + +'After all,' said Madame, smiling, 'he's a sheet-anchor for some +people; for the best original story may fail, a dull one ascribed to +Sydney Smith must produce a laugh.' + +'Why?' asked Kitty, in some wonder. + +'Because,' explained Calton, gravely, 'society goes mainly by +tradition, and our grandmothers having laughed at Sydney Smith's +jokes, they must necessarily be amusing. Depend upon it, jokes can +be sanctified by time quite as much as creeds.' + +'They are more amusing, at all events,' said Madame, satirically. +'Creeds generally cause quarrels.' + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'And quarrels generally cause stories,' he said, smiling; 'it is the +law of compensation.' + +They then went to the drawing-room and Kitty and Vandeloup both +sang, and treated one another in a delightfully polite way. Madame +Midas and Calton were both clever, but how much cleverer were the +two young people at the piano. + +'Are you going to Meddlechip's ball?' said Calton to Madame. + +'Oh, yes,' she answered, nodding her head, 'I and Miss Marchurst are +both going.' + +'Who is Mr Meddlechip?' asked Kitty, swinging round on the piano- +stool. + +'He is the most charitable man in Melbourne,' said Gaston, with a +faint sneer. + +'Great is Diana of the Ephesians,' said Calton, mockingly. 'Because +Mr Meddlechip suffers from too much money, and has to get rid of it +to prevent himself being crushed like Tarpeia by the Sabine shields, +he is called charitable.' + +'He does good, though, doesn't he?' asked Madame. + +'See advertisement,' scoffed Calton. 'Oh, yes! he will give +thousands of pounds for any public object, but private charity is a +waste of money in his eyes.' + +'You are very hard on him,' said Madame Midas, with a laugh. + +'Ah! Mr Calton believes as I do,' cried Vandeloup, 'that it's no +good having friends unless you're privileged to abuse them.' + +'It's one you take full advantage of, then,' observed Kitty, +saucily. + +'I always take what I can get,' he returned, mockingly; whereon she +shivered, and Calton saw it. + +'Ah!' said that astute reader of character to himself, 'there's +something between those two. 'Gad! I'll cross-examine my French +friend.' + +They said good-night to the ladies, and walked to the St Kilda +station, from thence took the train to town, and Calton put into +force his cross-examination. He might as well have tried his artful +questions on a rock as on Vandeloup, for that clever young gentleman +saw through the barrister at once, and baffled him at every turn +with his epigrammatic answers and consummate coolness. + +'I confess,' said Calton, when they said good-night to one another, +'I confess you puzzle me.' + +'Language,' observed M. Vandeloup, with a smile, 'was given to us to +conceal our thoughts. Good night!' + +And they parted. + +'The comedy is over for the night,' thought Gaston as he walked +along, 'and it was so true to nature that the spectators never +thought it was art.' + +He was wrong, for Calton did. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A PROFESSIONAL PHILANTHROPIST + + +We have professional diners-out, professional beauties, professional +Christians, then why not professional philanthropists? This +brilliant century of ours has nothing to do with the word charity, +as it savours too much of stealthy benevolence, so it has +substituted in its place the long word philanthropy, which is much +more genteel and comprehensive. Charity, the meekest of the +Christian graces, has been long since dethroned, and her place is +taken by the blatant braggard Philanthropy, who does his good deeds +in a most ostentatious manner, and loudly invites the world to see +his generosity, and praise him for it. Charity, modestly hooded, +went into the houses of the poor, and tendered her gifts with +smiles. Philanthropy now builds almshouses and hospitals, and rails +at poverty if it has too much pride to occupy them. And what indeed, +has poverty to do with pride?--it's far too sumptuous and expensive +an article, and can only be possessed by the rich, who can afford to +wear it because it is paid for. Mr Meddlechip was rich, so he bought +a large stock of pride, and wore it everywhere. It was not personal +pride--he was not good-looking; it was not family pride--he never +had a grandfather; nor was it pecuniary pride--he had too much money +for that. But it was a mean, sneaking, insinuating pride that +wrapped him round like a cloak, and pretended to be very humble, and +only holding its money in trust for the poor. The poor ye have +always with you--did not Mr Meddlechip know it? Ask the old men and +women in the almshouses, and they would answer yes; but ask the +squalid inhabitants of the slums, and they would probably say, +'Meddlechip, 'o's 'e?' Not that the great Ebenezer Meddlechip was +unknown--oh, dear, no--he was a representative colonial; he sat in +Parliament, and frequently spoke at those enlarged vestry meetings +about the prosperity of the country. He laid foundation stones. He +took the chair at public meetings. In fact, he had his finger in +every public pie likely to bring him into notoriety; but not in +private pies, oh, dear, no; he never did good by stealth and blush +to find it fame. Any blushes he might have had would have been angry +ones at his good deed not being known. + +He had come in the early days of the colony, and made a lot of +money, being a shrewd man, and one who took advantage of every tide +in the affairs of men. He was honest, that is honest as our present +elastic acceptation of the word goes--and when he had accumulated a +fortune he set to work to buy a few things. He bought a grand house +at Toorak, then he bought a wife to do the honours of the grand +house, and when his domestic affairs were quite settled, he bought +popularity, which is about the cheapest thing anyone can buy. When +the Society for the Supplying of Aborigines with White Waistcoats +was started he headed the list with one thousand pounds--bravo, +Meddlechip! The Secretary of the Band of Hard-up Matrons asked him +for fifty pounds, and got five hundred--generous Meddlechip! And at +the meeting of the Society for the Suppression of Vice among Married +Men he gave two thousand pounds, and made a speech on the occasion, +which made all the married men present tremble lest their sins +should find them out-noble Meddlechip! He would give thousands away +in public charity, have it well advertised in the newspapers, and +then wonder, with humility, how the information got there; and he +would give a poor woman in charge for asking for a penny, on the +ground that she was a vagrant. Here, indeed, was a man for Victoria +to be proud of; put up a statue to him in the centre of the city; +let all the school children study a list of his noble actions as +lessons; let the public at large grovel before him, and lick the +dust of his benevolent shoes, for he is a professional +philanthropist. + +Mrs Meddlechip, large, florid, and loud-voiced, was equally as well +known as her husband, but in a different way. He posed as +benevolence, she was the type of all that's fashionable--that is, +she knew everyone; gave large parties, went out to balls, theatres, +and lawn tennis, and dressed in the very latest style, whether it +suited her or not. She had been born and brought up in the colonies, +but when her husband went to London as a representative colonial she +went also, and stayed there a whole year, after which she came out +to her native land and ran everything down in the most merciless +manner. They did not do this in England--oh! dear no! nothing so +common--the people in Melbourne had such dreadfully vulgar manners; +but then, of course, they are not English; there was no aristocracy; +even the dogs and horses were different; they had not the stamp of +centuries of birth and breeding on them. In fact, to hear Mrs +Meddlechip talk one would think that England was a perfect +aristocratic paradise, and Victoria a vulgar--other place. She +totally ignored the marvellously rapid growth of the country, and +that the men and women in it were actually the men and women who had +built it up year by year, so that even now it was taking its place +among the nations of the earth. But Mrs Meddlechip was far too +ladylike and fashionable for troubling about such things--oh dear, +no--she left all these dry facts to Ebenezer, who could speak about +them in his own pompous, blatant style at public meetings. + +This lady was one of those modern inventions known as a frisky +matron, and said and did all manner of dreadful things, which people +winked at because--she was Mrs Meddlechip, and eccentric. She had a +young man always dangling after her at theatres and dances-- +sometimes one, sometimes another, but there was one who was a +fixture. This was Barty Jarper, who acted as her poodle dog, and +fetched and carried for her in the most amiable manner. When any new +poodle dog came on the scene Barty would meekly resign his position, +and retire into the background until such time as he was whistled +back again to go through his antics. Barty attended her everywhere, +made up her programmes, wrote out her invitations, danced with +whosoever he was told, and was rewarded for all these services by +being given the crumbs from the rich man's table. Mr Jarper had a +meek little way with Mrs Meddlechip, as if he was constantly +apologising for having dared to have come into the world without her +permission, but to other people he was rude enough, and in his own +mean little soul looked upon himself quite as a man of fashion. How +he managed to go about as he did was a standing puzzle to his +friends, as he got only a small salary at the Hibernian Bank; yet he +was to be seen at balls, theatres, tennis parties; constantly +driving about in hansoms; in fact, lived as if he had an independent +income. The general opinion was that he was supplied with money by +Mrs Meddlechip, while others said he gambled; and, indeed, Barty was +rather clever at throwing sixes, and frequently at the Bachelors' +Club won a sufficient sum to give him a new suit of clothes or pay +his club subscription for the year. He was one of those bubbles +which dance on the surface of society, yet are sure to vanish some +day, and if God tempered the wind to any particular shorn lamb, that +shorn lamb was Barty Jarper. + +The Meddlechips were giving a ball, therefore the mansion at Toorak +was brilliantly illuminated and crowded with fashionable people. The +ball-room was at the side of the house, and from it French windows +opened on to a wide verandah, which was enclosed with drapery and +hung with many-coloured Chinese lanterns. Beyond this the smooth +green lawns stretched away to a thick fringe of trees, which grew +beside the fence and screened the Meddlechip residence from the +curious gaze of vulgar eyes. + +Kitty came under the guardianship of Mrs Riller, a young matron with +dark hair, an imperious manner, and a young man always at her heels. +Mrs Villiers intended to have come, but at the last moment was +seized with one of her nervous fits, so decided to stop at home with +Selina for company. Kitty, therefore, accompanied Mrs Riller to the +ball, but the guardianship of that lady was more nominal than +anything else, as she went off with Mr Bellthorp after introducing +Kitty to Mrs Meddlechip, and flirted and danced with him the whole +evening. Kitty, however, did not in the least mind being left to her +own devices, for being an extremely pretty girl she soon had plenty +of young men round her anxious to be introduced. She filled her +programme rapidly and kept two valses for Vandeloup, as she knew he +was going to be present, but he as yet had not made his appearance. + +He arrived about a quarter past ten o'clock, and was strolling +leisurely up to the house, when he saw Pierre, standing amid a +number of idlers at the gate. The dumb man stepped forward, and +Vandeloup paused with a smile on his handsome lips, though he was +angry enough at the meeting. + +'Money again, I suppose?' he said to Pierre, in a low voice, in +French; 'don't trouble me now, but come to my rooms to-morrow.' + +The dumb man nodded, and Vandeloup walked leisurely up the path. +Then Pierre followed him right up to the steps which led to the +house, saw him enter the brilliantly-lighted hall, and then hid +himself in the shrubs which grew on the edge of the lawn. There, in +close hiding, he could hear the sound of music and voices, and could +see the door of the fernery wide open, and caught glimpses of dainty +dresses and bare shoulders within. + +Vandeloup, quite ignorant that his friend was watching the house, +put on his gloves leisurely, and walked in search of his hostess. + +Mrs Meddlechip glanced approvingly at Vandeloup as he came up, for +he was extremely good-looking, and good-looking men were Mrs +Meddlechip's pet weakness. Barty was in attendance on his liege +lady, and when he saw how she admired Vandeloup, he foresaw he would +be off duty for some time. It would be Vandeloup promoted vice +Jarper resigned, but Barty very well knew that Gaston was not a man +to conduct himself like a poodle dog, so came to the conclusion he +would be retained for use and M. Vandeloup for ornament. Meanwhile, +he left Mrs Meddlechip to cultivate the acquaintance of the young +Frenchman, and went off with a red-haired girl to the supper-room. +Red-haired girl, who was remarkably ugly and self-complacent, had +been a wallflower all the evening, but thought none the less of +herself on that account. She assured Barty she was not hungry, but +when she finished supper Mr Jarper was very glad, for the supper's +sake, she had no appetite. + +'She's the hungriest girl I ever met in my life,' he said to +Bellthorp afterwards; 'ate up everything I gave her, and drank so +much lemonade, I thought she'd go up like a balloon.' + +When Barty had satisfied the red-haired girl's appetite--no easy +matter--he left her to play wallflower and make spiteful remarks on +the girls who were dancing, and took out another damsel, who smiled +and smiled, and trod on his toes when he danced, till he wished her +in Jericho. He asked if she was hungry, but, unlike the other girl, +she was not; he said she must be tired, but oh, dear no, she was +quite fresh; so she danced the whole waltz through and bumped Barty +against everyone in the room; then said his step did not suit hers, +which exasperated him so much--for Barty flattered himself on his +waltzing--that he left her just as she was getting up a flirtation, +and went to have a glass of champagne to soothe his feelings. +Released from Mrs Meddlechip, Gaston went in search of Kitty, and +found her flirting with Felix Rolleston, who was amusing her with +his gay chatter. + +'This is a deuced good-looking chappie,' said Mr Rolleston, fixing +his eyeglass in his eye and looking critically at Gaston as he +approached them; 'M. Vandeloup, isn't it?' + +Kitty said it was. + +'Oh! yes,' went on Felix, brightly, 'saw him about town--don't know +him personally; awfully like a fellow I once knew called Fitzgerald- +-Brian Fitzgerald--married now and got a family; funny thing, +married Miss Frettlby, who used to live in your house.' + +'Oh! that hansom cab murder,' said Kitty, looking at him, 'I've +heard all about that.' + +'Egad! I should think you had,' observed Mr Rolleston, with a grin, +'it was a nine days' wonder; but here's your friend, introduce me, +pray,' as Vandeloup came up. + +Kitty did so, and Felix improved the occasion. + +'Knew you by sight,' he said, shaking hands with Gaston, 'but it's a +case of we never speak as we pass by, and all that sort of thing-- +come and look me up,' hospitably, 'South Yarra.' + +'Delighted,' said Gaston, smoothly, taking Kitty's programme and +putting his name down for the two vacant waltzes. + +'Reciprocal, I assure you,' said the lively Felix. 'Oh, by Jove! +excuse me, Miss Marchurst--there's a polka--got to dance with a +girl--you'll see me in a minute--she's a maypole--I'm not, ha! ha! +You'll say it's the long and the short of it--ta-ta at present.' + +He hopped off gaily, and they soon saw him steering the maypole +round the room, or rather, the maypole steered Felix, for her idea +of the dance was to let Felix skip gaily round her; then she lifted +him up and put him down a few feet further on, when he again +skipped, and so the performance went on, to the intense amusement of +Kitty and Gaston. + +'My faith!' said Vandeloup, satirically, dropping into a seat beside +Kitty, 'she is a maypole, and he's a merry peasant dancing round it. +By the way, Bebe, why isn't Madame here to-night?' + +'She's not well,' replied Kitty, unfurling her fan; 'I don't know +what's come over her, she's so nervous.' + +'Oh! indeed,' said Vandeloup, politely; 'Hum!--still afraid of her +husband turning up,' he said to himself, as Kitty was carried away +for a valse by Mr Bellthorp; 'how slow all this is?' he went on, +yawning, and rising from his seat; 'I shan't stay long, or that old +woman will be seizing me again. Poor Kestrike, surely his sin has +been punished enough in having such a wife,' and M. Vandeloup +strolled away to speak to Mrs Riller, who, being bereft of +Bellthorp, was making signals to him with her fan. + +Barty Jarper had been hard at work all night on the poodle-dog +system, and had danced with girls who could not dance, and talked +with girls that could not talk, so, as a reward for his work, he +promised himself a dance with Kitty. At the beginning of the evening +he had secured a dance from her, and now, all his duties for the +evening being over, he went to get it. Bellthorp had long since +returned to Mrs Riller and flirtation, and Kitty had been dancing +with a tall young man, with unsteady legs and an eye-glass that +would not stick in his eye. She did not particularly care about Mr +Jarper, with his effeminate little ways, but was quite glad when he +came to carry her off from the unsteady legs and the eye-glass. The +dance was the Lancers; but Kitty declared she would not dance it as +she felt weary, so made Mr Jarper take her to supper. Barty was +delighted, as he was hungry himself, so they secured a pleasant +little nook, and Barty foraged for provisions. + +'You know all about this house,' said Kitty, when she saw how +successful the young man was in getting nice things. + +'Oh, yes,' murmured Barty, quite delighted, 'I know most of the +houses in Melbourne--I know yours.' + +'Mrs Villiers'?' asked Kitty. + +Barty nodded. + +'Used to go down there a lot when Mr Frettlby lived there,' he said, +sipping his wine. 'I know every room in it.' + +'You'd be invaluable as a burglar,' said Kitty, a little +contemptuously, as she looked at his slim figure. + +'I dare say,' replied Barty, who took the compliment in good faith. +'Some night I'll climb up to your room and give you a fright.' + +'Shows how much you know,' retorted Miss Marchurst. 'My room is next +to Madame's on the ground floor.' + +'I know,' said Barty, sagely, nodding his head. 'It used to be a +boudoir--nice little room. By the way, where is Mrs Villiers to- +night?' + +'She's not well,' replied Kitty, yawning behind her fan, for she was +weary of Barty and his small talk. 'She's very worried.' + +'Over money matters, I suppose?' + +Kitty laughed and shook her head. + +'Hardly,' she answered. + +'I dare say,' replied Barty, 'she's awfully rich. You know, I'm in +the bank where her account is, and I know all about her. Rich! oh, +she is rich! Lucky thing for that French fellow if he marries her.' + +'Marries her?' echoed Kitty, her face growing pale. 'M. Vandeloup?' + +'Yes,' replied Barty, pleased at having made a sensation. 'Her first +husband has vanished, you know, and all the fellows are laying bets +about Van marrying the grass widow.' + +'What nonsense!' said Kitty, in an agitated voice. 'M. Vandeloup is +her friend--nothing more.' + +Barty grinned. + +'I've seen so much of that "friendship, and nothing more", +business,' he said, significantly, whereupon Kitty rose to her feet. + +'I'm tired,' she said, coldly. 'Kindly take me to Mrs Riller.' + +'I've put my foot into it,' thought Jarper, as he led her away. 'I +believe she's spoons on Van herself.' + +Mrs Riller was not very pleased to see Kitty, as Mr Bellthorp was +telling her some amusing scandals about her dearest friends, and, of +course, had to stop when Kitty came up. + +'Not dancing, dear?' she asked, with a sympathetic smile, glancing +angrily at Bellthorp, who seemed more struck with Kitty than he had +any right to be, considering he was her property. + +'No,' replied Kitty, 'I'm a little tired.' + +'Miss Marchurst,' observed Bellthorp, leaning towards her, 'I'm sure +I've seen you before.' + +Kitty felt a chill running through her veins as she remembered where +their last meeting had been. The extremity of the danger gave her +courage. + +'I dare say,' she replied, coldly turning her back on the young man, +'I'm not invisible.' + +Mrs Killer looked with all her eyes, for she wanted to know all +about this pretty girl who dropped so unexpectedly into Melbourne +society, so she determined to question Bellthorp when she got him +alone. To this end she finessed. + +'Oh! there's that lovely valse,' she said, as the band struck up +'One summer's night in Munich'. 'If you are not engaged, Mr +Bellthorp, we must have a turn.' + +'Delighted,' replied Bellthorp, languidly offering his arm, but +thinking meanwhile, 'confound these women, how they do work a man.' + +'You, I suppose,' said Mrs Riller to Kitty, 'are going to play +wallflower.' + +'Hardly,' observed a cool voice behind them; 'Miss Marchurst dances +this with me--you see, Mrs Riller,' as that lady turned and saw +Vandeloup, 'she has not your capability at playing wallflower,' with +a significant glance at Bellthorp. + +Mrs Riller understood the look, which seemed to pierce into the very +depths of her frivolous little soul, and flushed angrily as she +moved away with Mr Bellthorp and mentally determined to be even with +Vandeloup on the first occasion. + +Gaston, quite conscious of the storm he had raised, smiled serenely, +and then offered his arm to Kitty, which she refused, as she was +determined to find out from his own lips the truth of Jarper's +statement regarding Madame Midas. + +'I don't want to dance,' she said curtly, pointing to the seat +beside her as an invitation for him to sit down. + +'Pardon me,' observed Vandeloup, blandly, 'I do; we can talk +afterwards if you like.' + +Their eyes met, and then Kitty arose and took his arm, with a +charming pout. It was no good fighting against the quiet, masterful +manner of this man, so she allowed him to put his arm round her +waist and swing her slowly into the centre of the room. 'One +summer's night in Munich' was a favourite valse, and everyone who +could dance, and a good many who could not, were up on the floor. +Every now and then, through the steady beat of the music, came the +light laugh of a woman or the deeper tones of a man's voice; and the +glare of the lights, the flashing jewels on the bare necks and arms +of women, the soft frou-frou of their dresses, as their partners +swung them steadily round, and the subtle perfume of flowers gave an +indescribable sensuous flavour to the whole scene. And the valse-- +who does not know it? with its sad refrain, which comes in every now +and then throughout, even in the most brilliant passages. The whole +story of a man's faith and a woman's treachery is contained therein. + +'One summer's night in Munich,' sighed the heavy bass instruments, +sadly and reproachfully, 'I thought your heart was true!' Listen to +the melancholy notes of the prelude which recall the whole scene--do +you not remember? The stars are shining, the night wind is blowing, +and we are on the terrace looking down on the glittering lights of +the city. Hark! that joyous sparkling strain, full of riant +laughter, recalls the sad students who wandered past, and then from +amid the airy ripple of notes comes the sweet, mellow strain of the +'cello, which tells of love eternal amid the summer roses; how the +tender melody sweeps on full of the perfume and mystic meanings of +that night. Hark! is that the nightingale in the trees, or only the +silvery notes of a violin, which comes stealing through the steady +throb and swing of the heavier stringed instruments? Ah! why does +the rhythm stop? A few chords breaking up the dream, the sound of a +bugle calling you away, and the valse goes into the farewell motif +with its tender longing and passionate anguish. Good-bye! you will +be true? Your heart is mine, good-bye, sweetheart! Stop! that +discord of angry notes--she is false to her soldier lover! The stars +are pale, the nightingale is silent, the rose leaves fall, and the +sad refrain comes stealing through the room again with its bitter +reproach, 'One summer's night in Munich I knew your heart was +false.' + +Kitty danced for a little time, but was too much agitated to enjoy +the valse, in spite of the admirable partner M. Vandeloup made. She +was determined to find out the truth, so stopped abruptly, and +insisted on Vandeloup taking her to the conservatory. + +'What for?' he asked, as they threaded their way through the crowded +room. 'Is it important?' + +'Very,' she replied, looking straight at him; 'it is essential to +our comedy.' + +M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'My faith!' he murmured, as they entered the fernery; 'this comedy +is becoming monotonous.' + + + + +CHAPTER X + +IN THE FERNERY + + +The fernery was a huge glass building on one side of the ballroom, +filled with Australian and New Zealand ferns, and having a large +fountain in the centre sending up a sparkling jet of water, which +fell into the shallow stone basin filled with water lilies and their +pure white flowers. At the end was a mimic representation of a +mountain torrent, with real water tumbling down real rocks, and here +and there in the crannies and crevices grew delicate little ferns, +while overhead towered the great fronds of the tree ferns. The roof +was a dense mass of greenery, and wire baskets filled with sinuous +creepers hung down, with their contents straggling over. Electric +lights in green globes were skilfully hidden all round, and a faint +aquamarine twilight permeated the whole place, and made it look like +a mermaid's grotto in the depths of the sea. Here and there were +delightful nooks, with well-cushioned seats, many of which were +occupied by pretty girls and their attendant cavaliers. On one side +of the fernery a wide door opened on to a low terrace, from whence +steps went down to the lawn, and beyond was the dark fringe of trees +wherein Pierre was concealed. + +Kitty and Vandeloup found a very comfortable nook just opposite the +door, and they could see the white gleam of the terrace in the +luminous starlight. Every now and then a couple would pass, black +silhouettes against the clear sky, and around they could hear the +murmur of voices and the musical tinkling of the fountain, while the +melancholy music of the valse, with its haunting refrain, sounded +through the pale green twilight. Barty Jarper was talking near them, +in his mild little way, to a tall young lady in a bilious-looking +green dress, and further off Mr Bellthorp was laughing with Mrs +Riller behind the friendly shelter of her fan. + +'Well,' said Vandeloup, amiably, as he sank into a seat beside +Kitty, 'what is this great matter you wish to speak about?' + +'Madame Midas,' retorted Kitty, looking straight at him. + +'Such a delightful subject,' murmured Gaston, closing his eyes, as +he guessed what was coming; 'go on, I'm all attention.' + +'You are going to marry her,' said Miss Marchurst, bending towards +him and closing her fan with a snap. + +Vandeloup smiled faintly. + +'You don't say so?' he murmured, opening his eyes and looking at her +lazily; 'who told you this news--for news it is to me, I assure +you?' + +'Then it's not true?' added Kitty, eagerly, with a kind of gasp. + +'I'm sure I don't know,' he replied, indolently fingering his +moustache; 'I haven't asked her yet.' + +'You are not going to do so?' she said, rapidly, with a flush on her +face. + +'Why not?' in surprise; 'do you object?' + +'Object? my God!' she ejaculated, in a low fierce tone; 'have you +forgotten what we are to one another?' + +'Friends, I understand,' he said, looking at his hands, admiringly. + +'And something more,' she added, bitterly; 'lovers!' + +'Don't talk so loud, my dear,' replied Vandeloup, coolly; 'it +doesn't do to let everyone know your private business.' + +'It's private now,' she said, in a voice of passion, 'but it will +soon be public enough.' + +'Indeed! which paper do you advertise in?' + +'Listen to me, Gaston,' she said, taking no notice of his sneer; +'you will never marry Madame Midas; sooner than that, I will reveal +all and kill myself.' + +'You forget,' he said, gently; 'it is comedy, not tragedy, we play.' + +'That is as I choose,' she retorted; 'see!' and with a sudden +gesture she put her hand into the bosom of her dress and took out +the bottle of poison with the red bands. 'I have it still.' + +'So I perceive,' he answered, smiling. 'Do you always carry it about +with you, like a modern Lucrezia Borgia?' + +'Yes,' she answered quietly; 'it never leaves me, you see,' with a +sneer. 'As you said yourself, it's always well to be prepared for +emergencies.' + +'So it appears,' observed Vandeloup, with a yawn, sitting up. 'I +wouldn't use that poison if I were you; it is risky.' + +'Oh, no, it's not,' answered Kitty; 'it is fatal in its results, and +leaves no trace behind.' + +'There you are wrong,' replied Gaston, coolly; 'it does leave traces +behind, but makes it appear as if apoplexy was the cause of death. +Give me the bottle?' peremptorily. + +'No!' she answered, defiantly, clenching it in her hand. + +'I say yes,' he said, in an angry whisper; 'that poison is my +secret, and I'm not going to have you play fast and loose with it; +give it up,' and he placed his hand on her wrist. + +'You hurt my wrist,' she said. + +'I'll break your wrist, my darling,' he said, quietly, 'if you don't +give me that bottle.' + +Kitty wrenched her hand away, and rose to her feet. + +'Sooner than that, I'll throw it away,' she said, and before he +could stop her, she flung the bottle out on to the lawn, where it +fell down near the trees. + +'Bah! I will find it,' he said, springing to his feet, but Kitty was +too quick for him. + +'M. Vandeloup,' she said aloud, so that everyone could hear; 'kindly +take me back to the ball-room, will you, to finish our valse.' + +Vandeloup would have refused, but she had his arm, and as everyone +was looking at him, he could not refuse without being guilty of +marked discourtesy. Kitty had beaten him with his own weapons, so, +with a half-admiring glance at her, he took her back to the ball- +room, where the waltz was just ending. + +'At all events,' he said in her ear, as they went smoothly gliding +round the room, 'you won't be able to do any mischief with it now to +yourself or to anyone else.' + +'Won't I?' she retorted quickly; 'I have some more at home.' + +'The deuce!' he ejaculated. + +'Yes,' she replied, triumphantly; 'the bottle I got that belonged to +you, I put half its contents into another. So you see I can still do +mischief, and,' in a fierce whisper, 'I will, if you don't give up +this idea of marrying Madame Midas.' + +'I thought you knew me better than that,' he said, in a tone of +concentrated passion. 'I will not.' + +Then I'll poison her,' she retorted. + +'What, the woman who has been so kind to you?' + +'Yes, I'd rather see her dead than married to a devil like you.' + +'How amiable you are, Bebe,' he said, with a laugh, as the music +stopped. + +'I am what you have made me,' she replied, bitterly, and they walked +into the drawing-room. + +After this Vandeloup clearly saw that it was a case of diamond cut +diamond, for Kitty was becoming as clever with her tongue as he was. +After all, though she was his pupil, and was getting as hardened and +cynical as possible, he did not think it fair she should use his own +weapons against himself. He did not believe she would try and poison +Madame Midas, even though she was certain of not being detected, for +he thought she was too tender-hearted. But, alas! he had taught her +excellently well, and Kitty was rapidly arriving at the conclusion +he had long since come to, that number one was the greatest number. +Besides, her love for Vandeloup, though not so ardent as it had +been, was too intense for her to let any other woman get a hold of +him. Altogether, M. Vandeloup was in an extremely unpleasant +position, and one of his own making. + +Having given Kitty over to the tender care of Mrs Rolleston, +Vandeloup hurried outside to look for the missing bottle. He had +guessed the position it fell in, and, striking a match, went to look +over the smooth close-shorn turf. But though he was a long time, and +looked carefully, the bottle was gone. + +'The devil!' said Vandeloup, startled by this discovery. 'Who could +have picked it up?' + +He went back into the conservatory, and, sitting down in his old +place, commenced to review the position. + +It was most annoying about the poison, there was no doubt of that. +He only hoped that whoever picked it up would know nothing about its +dangerous qualities. After all, he could be certain about that, as +no one but himself knew what the poison was and how it could be +used. The person who picked up the bottle would probably throw it +away again as useless; and then, again, perhaps when Kitty threw the +bottle away the stopper came out, and the contents would be lost. +And then Kitty still had more left, but--bah!--she would not use it +on Madame Midas. That was the vague threat of a jealous woman to +frighten him. The real danger he was in lay in the fact that she +might tell Madame Midas the relations between them, and then there +would be no chance of his marrying at all. If he could only stop +Kitty's mouth in some way--persuasion was thrown away on her. If he +could with safety get rid of her he would. Ah! that was an idea. He +had some of this poison--if he could only manage to give it to her, +and thus remove her from his path. There would be no risk of +discovery, as the poison left no traces behind, and if it came to +the worst, it would appear she had committed suicide, for poison +similar to what she had used would be found in her possession. It +was a pity to kill her, so young and pretty, and yet his safety +demanded it; for if she told Madame Midas all, it might lead to +further inquiries, and M. Vandeloup well knew his past life would +not bear looking into. Another thing, she had threatened him about +some secret she held--he did not know what it was, and yet almost +guessed; if that was the secret she must be got rid of, for it would +imperil not only his liberty, but his life. Well, if he had to get +rid of her, the sooner he did so the better, for even on the next +day she might tell all--he would have to give her the poison that +night--but how? that was the difficulty. He could not do it at this +ball, as it would be too apparent if she died--no--it would have to +be administered secretly when she went home. But then she would go +to Madame Midas' room to see how she was, and then would retire to +her own room. He knew where that was--just off Mrs Villiers' room; +there were French windows in both rooms--two in Mrs Villiers', and +one in Kitty's. That was the plan--they would be left open as the +night was hot. Suppose he went down to St Kilda, and got into the +garden, he knew every inch of the way; then he could slip into the +open window, and if it was not open, he could use a diamond ring to +cut the glass. He had a diamond ring he never wore, so if Kitty was +discovered to be poisoned, and the glass cut, they would never +suspect him, as he did not wear rings at all, and the evidence of +the cut window would show a diamond must have been used. Well, +suppose he got inside, Kitty would be asleep, and he could put the +poison into the water carafe, or he could put it in a glass of water +and leave it standing; the risk would be, would she drink it or not- +-he would have to run that risk; if he failed this time, he would +not the next. But, then, suppose she awoke and screamed--pshaw! when +she saw it was he Kitty would not dare to make a scene, and he could +easily make some excuse for his presence there. It was a wild +scheme, but then he was in such a dangerous position that he had to +try everything. + +When M. Vandeloup had come to this conclusion he arose, and, going +to the supper room, drank a glass of brandy; for even he, cool as he +was, felt a little nervous over the crime he was about to commit. He +thought he would give Kitty one last chance, so when she was already +cloaked, waiting with Mrs Killer for the carriage, he drew her +aside. + +'You did not mean what you said tonight,' he whispered, looking +searchingly at her. + +'Yes, I did,' she replied, defiantly; 'if you push me to +extremities, you must take the consequences.' + +'It will be the worse for you,' he said, threateningly, as the +carriage drove up. + +'I'm not afraid of you,' she retorted, shrugging her shoulders, a +trick she had learned from him; 'you have ruined my life, but I'm +not going to let you ruin Madame's. I'd sooner see her dead than in +your arms.' + +'Remember, I have warned you,' he said, gravely, handing her to the +carriage. 'Good night!' + +'Good night!' she answered, mockingly; 'and to-morrow,' in a low +voice, 'you will be astonished.' + +'And to-morrow,' he said to himself, as the carriage drove off, 'you +will be dead.' + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE VISION OF MISS KITTY MARCHURST + + +Everyone knows the story of Damocles, and how uncomfortable he felt +with the sword suspended by a hair over his head. No one could enjoy +their dinner under such circumstances, and it is much to be thankful +for that hosts of the present day do not indulge in these practical +jokes. But though history does not repeat itself exactly regarding +the suspended sword, yet there are cases when a sense of impending +misfortune has the same effect on the spirits. This was the case of +Madame Midas. She was not by any means of a nervous temperature, yet +ever since the disappearance of her husband she was a prey to a +secret dread, which, reacting on her nerves, rendered her miserable. +Had Mr Villiers only appeared, she would have known how to deal with +him, and done so promptly, but it was his absence that made her +afraid. Was he dead? If so, why was his body not found; if he was +not dead, why did he not reappear on the scene. Allowing, for the +sake of argument, that he had stolen the nugget and left the colony +in order to enjoy the fruits of his villainy--well, the nugget +weighed about three hundred ounces--and that if he disposed of it, +as he must have done, it would give him a sum of money a little over +one thousand pounds. True, his possession of such a large mass of +gold would awake suspicions in the mind of anyone he went to; but +then, there were people who were always ready to do shady things, +provided they were well paid. So whomsoever he went to would levy +blackmail on him on threat of informing the police and having him +arrested. Therefore, the most feasible thing would be that he had +got about half of the value of the nugget, which would be about six +hundred pounds. Say that he did so, a whole year had elapsed, and +Madame Midas knew her husband well enough to know that six hundred +pounds would soon slip through his fingers, so at the present time +he must once more be penniless. If he was, why did he not come back +to her and demand more money now she was rich? Even had he gone to a +distant place, he would always have kept enough money to pay his way +back to Victoria, so that he could wring money out of her. It was +this unpleasant feeling of being watched that haunted her and made +her uneasy. The constant strain began to tell on her; she became ill +and haggard-looking, and her eyes were always glancing around in the +anxious manner common to hunted animals. She felt as though she were +advancing on a masked battery, and at any moment a shot might strike +her from the most unexpected quarter. She tried to laugh off the +feeling and blamed herself severely for the morbid state of mind +into which she was falling; but it was no use, for by day and night +the sense of impending misfortune hung over her like the sword of +Damocles, ready to fall at any moment. If her husband would only +appear, she would settle an income on him, on condition he ceased to +trouble her, but at present she was fighting in the dark with an +unknown enemy. She became afraid of being left alone, and even when +seated quietly with Selina, would suddenly start and look +apprehensively towards the door, as if she heard his footstep. +Imagination, when uncontrolled, can keep the mind on a mental rack, +to which that of the Inquisition was a bed of roses. + +Selina was grieved at this state of things, and tried to argue and +comfort her mistress with the most amiable proverbs, but she was +quite unable to administer to a mind diseased, and Mrs Villiers' +life became a perfect hell upon earth. + +'Are my troubles never going to end?' she said to Selina on the +night of the Meddlechip ball, as she paced restlessly up and down +her room; 'this man has embittered the whole of my life, and now he +is stabbing me in the dark.' + +'Let the dead past bury its dead,' quoted Selina, who was arranging +the room for the night. + +'Pshaw!' retorted Madame, impatiently, walking to the French window +at the end of the room and opening it; 'how do you know he is dead? +Come here, Selina,' she went on, beckoning to the old woman, and +pointing outside to the garden bathed in moonlight; 'I have always a +dread lest he may be watching the house. Even now he may be +concealed yonder'--pointing down the garden. + +Selina looked out, but could see nothing. There was a smooth lawn, +burnt and yellow with the heat, which stretched for about fifty +feet, and ended in a low quickset hedge at the foot of a red brick +wall which ran down that side of the property. The top of this wall +was set with broken bottles, and beyond was the street, where they +could hear people passing along. The moonlight rendered all this as +light as day, and, as Selina pointed out to her mistress, there was +no place where a man could conceal himself. But this did not satisfy +Madame; she left the window half open, so that the cool night wind +could blow in, and drew together the red velvet curtains which hung +there. + +'You've left the window open,' remarked Selina, looking at her +mistress, 'and if you are nervous it will not make you feel safe.' + +Madame Midas glanced at the window. + +'It's so hot,' she said, plaintively, 'I will get no sleep. Can't +you manage to fix it up, so that I can leave it open?' + +'I'll try,' answered Selina, and she undressed her mistress and put +her to bed, then proceeded to fix up a kind of burglar trap. The bed +was a four-poster, with heavy crimson curtains, and the top was +pushed against the wall, near the window. The curtains of the window +and those of the bed prevented any draught blowing in; and directly +in front of the window, Selina set a small wood table, so that +anyone who tried to enter would throw it over, and thus put the +sleeper on the alert. On this she put a night-light, a book, in case +Madame should wake up and want to read--a thing she very often did-- +and a glass of homemade lemonade, for a night drink. Then she locked +the other window and drew the curtains, and, after going into +Kitty's room, which opened off the larger one, and fixing up the one +window there in the same way, she prepared to retire, but Madame +stopped her. + +'You must stay all night with me, Selina,' she said, irritably. 'I +can't be left alone.' + +'But, Miss Kitty,' objected Selina, 'she'll expect to be waited for +coming home from the ball.' + +'Well, she comes in here to go to her own room,' said Madame, +impatiently; 'you can leave the door unlocked.' + +'Well,' observed Miss Sprotts, grimly, beginning to undress herself, +'for a nervous woman, you leave a great many windows and doors +open.' + +'I'm not afraid as long as you are with me,' said Madame, yawning; +'it's by myself I get nervous.' + +Miss Sprotts sniffed, and observed that 'Prevention is better than +cure,' then went to bed, and both she and Madame were soon fast +asleep. Selina slept on the outside of the bed, and Madame, having a +sense of security from being with someone, slumbered calmly; so the +night wore drowsily on, and nothing could be heard but the steady +ticking of the clock and the heavy breathing of the two women. + +A sleepy servant admitted Kitty when she came home from the ball, +and had said goodbye to Mrs Killer and Bellthorp. Then Mrs Riller, +whose husband had gone home three hours before, drove away with +Bellthorp, and Kitty went into Madame's room, while the sleepy +servant, thankful that his vigil for the night was over, went to +bed. Kitty found Madame's door ajar, and went in softly, fearful +lest she might wake her. She did not know that Selina was in the +room, and as she heard the steady breathing of the sleepers, she +concluded that Madame was asleep, and resolved to go quietly into +her own room without disturbing the sleeper. So eerie the room +looked with the faint night-light burning on the table beside the +bed, and all the shadows, not marked and distinct as in a strong +glare, were faintly confused. Just near the door was a long chevral +glass, and Kitty caught sight of herself in it, wan and spectral- +looking, in her white dress, and, as she let the heavy blue cloak +fall from her shoulders, a perfect shower of apple blossoms were +shaken on to the floor. Her hair had come undone from its sleek, +smooth plaits, and now hung like a veil of gold on her shoulders. +She looked closely at herself in the glass, and her face looked worn +and haggard in the dim light. A pungent acrid odour permeated the +room, and the heavy velvet curtains moved with subdued rustlings as +the wind stole in through the window. On a table near her was a +portrait of Vandeloup, which he had given Madame two days before, +and though she could not see the face she knew it was his. +Stretching out her hand she took the photograph from its stand, and +sank into a low chair which stood at the end of the room some +distance from the bed. So noiseless were her movements that the two +sleepers never awoke, and the girl sat in the chair with the +portrait in her hand dreaming of the man whom it represented. She +knew his handsome face was smiling up at her out of the glimmering +gloom, and clenched her hands in anger as she thought how he had +treated her. She let the portrait fall on her lap, and leaning back +in the chair, with all her golden hair showering down loosely over +her shoulders, gave herself up to reflection. + +He was going to marry Madame Midas--the man who had ruined her life; +he would hold another woman in his arms and tell her all the false +tales he had told her. He would look into her eyes with his own, and +she would be unable to see the treachery and guile hidden in their +depths. She could not stand it. False friend, false lover, he had +been, but to see him married to another--no! it was too much. And +yet what could she do? A woman in love believes no ill of the man +she adores, and if she was to tell Madame Midas all she would not be +believed. Ah! it was useless to fight against fate, it was too +strong for her, so she would have to suffer in silence, and see them +happy. That story of Hans Andersen's, which she had read, about the +little mermaid who danced, and felt that swords were wounding her +feet while the prince smiled on his bride--yes, that was her case. +She would have to stand by in silence and see him caressing another +woman, while every caress would stab her like a sword. Was there no +way of stopping it? Ah! what is that? The poison--no! no! anything +but that. Madame had been kind to her, and she could not repay her +trust with treachery. No, she was not weak enough for that. And yet +suppose Madame died? no one could tell she had been poisoned, and +then she could marry Vandeloup. Madame was sleeping in yonder bed, +and on the table there was a glass with some liquid in it. She would +only have to go to her room, fetch the poison, and put it in there-- +then retire to bed. Madame would surely drink during the night, and +then--yes, there was only one way--the poison! + +How still the house was: not a sound but the ticking of the clock in +the hall and the rushing scamper of a rat or mouse. The dawn reddens +faintly in the east and the chill morning breeze comes up from the +south, salt with the odours of the ocean. Ah! what is that? a +scream--a woman's voice--then another, and the bell rings furiously. +The frightened servants collect from all parts of the house, in all +shapes of dress and undress. The bell sounds from the bedroom of Mrs +Villiers, and having ascertained this they all rush in. What a sight +meets their eyes. Kitty Marchurst, still in her ball dress, clinging +convulsively to the chair; Madame Midas, pale but calm, ringing the +bell; and on the bed, with one arm hanging over, lies Selina +Sprotts--dead! The table near the bed was overturned on the floor, +and the glass and the night-lamp both lie smashed to pieces on the +carpet. + +'Send for a doctor at once,' cried Madame, letting go the bell-rope +and crossing to the window; 'Selina has had a fit of some sort.' + +Startled servant goes out to stables and wakes up the grooms, one of +whom is soon on horseback riding for dear life to Dr Chinston. +Clatter--clatter along in the keen morning air; a few workmen on +their way to work gaze in surprise at this furious rider. Luckily, +the doctor lives in St Kilda, and being awoke out of his sleep, +dresses himself quickly, and taking the groom's horse, rides back to +Mrs Villiers' house. He dismounts, enters the house, then the +bedroom. Kitty, pale and wan, is seated in the chair; the window +curtains are drawn, and the cold light of day pours into the room, +while Madame Midas is kneeling beside the corpse, with all the +servants around her. Dr Chinston lifts the arm; it falls limply +down. The face is ghastly white, the eyes staring; there is a streak +of foam on the tightly clenched mouth. The doctor puts his hand on +the heart--not a throb; he closes the staring eyes reverently, and +turns to the kneeling woman and the frightened servants. + +'She is dead,' he says, briefly, and orders them to leave the room. + +'When did this occur, Mrs Villiers?' he asked, when the room had +been cleared and only himself, Madame, and Kitty remained. + +'I can't tell you,' replied Madame, weeping; 'she was all right last +night when we went to bed, and she stayed all night with me because +I was nervous. I slept soundly, when I was awakened by a cry and saw +Kitty standing beside the bed and Selina in convulsions; then she +became quite still and lay like that till you came. What is the +cause?' + +'Apoplexy,' replied the doctor, doubtfully; 'at least, judging from +the symptoms; but perhaps Miss Marchurst can tell us when the attack +came on?' + +He turned to Kitty, who was shivering in the chair and looked so +pale that Madame Midas went over to her to see what was the matter. +The girl, however, shrank away with a cry as the elder woman +approached, and rising to her feet moved unsteadily towards the +doctor. + +'You say she,' pointing to the body, 'died of apoplexy?' + +'Yes,' he answered, curtly, 'all the symptoms of apoplexy are +there.' + +'You are wrong!' gasped Kitty, laying her hand on his arm, 'it is +poison!' + +'Poison!' echoed Madame and the Doctor in surprise. + +'Listen,' said Kitty, quickly, pulling herself together by a great +effort. 'I came home from the ball between two and three, I entered +the room to go to my own,' pointing to the other door; 'I did not +know Selina was with Madame.' + +'No,' said Madame, quietly, 'that is true, I only asked her to stop +at the last moment.' + +'I was going quietly to bed,' resumed Kitty, hurriedly, 'in order +not to waken Madame, when I saw the portrait of M. Vandeloup on the +table; I took it up to look at it.' + +'How could you see without a light?' asked Dr Chinston, sharply, +looking at her. + +'There was a night light burning,' replied Kitty, pointing to the +fragments on the floor; 'and I could only guess it was M. +Vandeloup's portrait; but at all events,' she said, quickly, 'I sat +down in the chair over there and fell asleep.' + +'You see, doctor, she had been to a ball and was tired,' interposed +Madame Midas; 'but go on, Kitty, I want to know why you say Selina +was poisoned.' + +'I don't know how long I was asleep,' said Kitty, wetting her dry +lips with her tongue, 'but I was awoke by a noise at the window +there,' pointing towards the window, upon which both her listeners +turned towards it, 'and looking, I saw a hand coming out from behind +the curtain with a bottle in it; it held the bottle over the glass +on the table, and after pouring the contents in, then withdrew.' + +'And why did you not cry out for assistance?' asked the doctor, +quickly. + +'I couldn't,' she replied, 'I was so afraid that I fainted. I +recovered my senses, Selina had drank the poison, and when I got up +on my feet and went to the bed she was in convulsions; I woke +Madame, and that's all.' + +'A strange story,' said Chinston, musingly, 'where is the glass?' + +'It's broken, doctor,' replied Madame Midas; 'in getting out of bed +I knocked the table down, and both the night lamp and glass +smashed.' + +'No one could have been concealed behind the curtain of the window?' +said the doctor to Madame Midas. + +'No,' she replied, 'but the window was open all night; so if it is +as Kitty says, the man who gave the poison must have put his hand +through the open window.' + +Dr Chinston went to the window and looked out; there were no marks +of feet on the flower bed, where it was so soft that anyone standing +on it would have left a footmark behind. + +'Strange,' said the doctor, 'it's a peculiar story,' looking at +Kitty keenly. + +'But a true one,' she replied boldly, the colour coming back to her +face; 'I say she was poisoned.' + +'By whom?' asked Madame Midas, the memory of her husband coming back +to her. + +'I can't tell you,' answered Kitty, 'I only saw the hand.' + +'At all events,' said Chinston, slowly, 'the poisoner did not know +that your nurse was with you, so the poison was meant for Mrs +Villiers.' + +Tor me?' she echoed, ghastly pale; 'I knew it,--my husband is alive, +and this is his work.' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A STARTLING DISCOVERY + + +Ill news travels fast, and before noon the death of Selina Sprotts +was known all over Melbourne. The ubiquitous reporter, of course, +appeared on the scene, and the evening papers gave its own version +of the affair, and a hint at foul play. There was no grounds for +this statement, as Dr Chinston told Kitty and Madame Midas to say +nothing about the poison, and it was generally understood that the +deceased had died from apoplexy. A rumour, however, which originated +none knew how, crept about among everyone that poison was the cause +of death, and this, being added to by some and embellished in all +its little details by others, there was soon a complete story made +up about the affair. At the Bachelor's Club it was being warmly +spoken about when Vandeloup came in about eight o'clock in the +evening; and when he appeared he was immediately overwhelmed with +inquiries. He looked cool and calm as usual, and stood smiling +quietly on the excited group before him. + +'You know Mrs Villiers,' said Bellthorp, in an assertive tone, 'so +you must know all about the affair.' 'I don't see that,' returned +Gaston, pulling at his moustache, 'knowing anyone does not include a +knowledge of all that goes on in the house. I assure you, beyond +what there is in the papers, I am as ignorant as you are.' + +'They say this woman--Sprotts or Potts, or something--died from +poison,' said Barty Jarper, who had been all round the place +collecting information. + +'Apoplexy, the doctor says,' said Bellthorp, lighting a cigarette; +'she was in the same room with Mrs Villiers and was found dead in +the morning.' + +'Miss Marchurst was also in the room,' put in Barty, eagerly. + +'Oh, indeed!' said Vandeloup, smoothly, turning to him; 'do you +think she had anything to do with it?' + +'Of course not,' said Rolleston, who had just entered, 'she had no +reason to kill the woman.' + +Vandeloup smiled. + +'So logical you are,' he murmured, 'you want a reason for +everything.' + +'Naturally,' retorted Felix, fixing in his eyeglass, 'there is no +effect without a cause.' + +'It couldn't have been Miss Marchurst,' said Bellthorp, 'they say +that the poison was poured out of a bottle held by a hand which came +through the window--it's quite true,' defiantly looking at the +disbelieving faces round him; 'one of Mrs Villiers' servants heard +it in the house and told Mrs Killer's maid.' + +'From whence,' said Vandeloup, politely, 'it was transmitted to you- +-precisely.' + +Bellthorp reddened slightly, and turned away as he saw the other +smiling, for his relations with Mrs Killer were well known. + +'That hand business is all bosh,' observed Felix Rolleston, +authoritatively; 'it's in a play called "The Hidden Hand".' + +'Perhaps the person who poisoned Miss Sprotts, got the idea from +it?' suggested Jarper. + +'Pshaw, my dear fellow,' said Vandeloup, languidly; 'people don't go +to melodrama for ideas. Everyone has got their own version of this +story; the best thing to do is to await the result of the inquest.' + +'Is there to be an inquest?' cried all. + +'So I've heard,' replied the Frenchman, coolly; 'sounds as if there +was something wrong, doesn't it?' + +'It's a curious poisoning case,' observed Bellthorp. + +'Ah, but it isn't proved that there is any poisoning about it,' said +Vandeloup, looking keenly at him; 'you jump to conclusions.' + +'There is no smoke without fire,' replied Rolleston, sagely. 'I +expect we'll all be rather astonished when the inquest is held,' and +so the discussion closed. + +The inquest was appointed to take place next day, and Calton had +been asked by Madame Midas to be present on her behalf. Kilsip, a +detective officer, was also present, and, curled up like a cat in +the corner, was listening to every word of the evidence. + +The first witness called was Madame Midas, who deposed that the +deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, was her servant. She had gone to bed +in excellent health, and next morning she had found her dead. + +The Coroner asked a few questions relative to the case. + +Q. Miss Marchurst awoke you, I believe? + +A. Yes. + +Q. And her room is off yours? + +A. Yes. + +Q. Had she to go through your room to reach her own? + +A. She had. There was no other way of getting there. + +Q. One of the windows of your room was open? + +A. It was--all night. + +Miss Kitty Marchurst was then called, and being sworn, gave her +story of the hand coming through the window. This caused a great +sensation in Court, and Calton looked puzzled, while Kilsip, +scenting a mystery, rubbed his lean hands together softly. + +Q. You live with Mrs Villiers, I believe, Miss Marchurst? + +A. I do. + +Q. And you knew the deceased intimately? + +A. I had known her all my life. + +Q. Had she anyone who would wish to injure her? + +A. Not that I knew of. She was a favourite with everyone. + +Q. What time did you come home from the ball you were at? + +A. About half-past two, I think. I went straight to Mrs Villiers' +room. + +Q. With the intention of going through it to reach your own? + +A. Yes. + +Q. You say you fell asleep looking at a portrait. How long did you +sleep? + +A. I don't know. I was awakened by a noise at the window, and saw +the hand appear. + +Q. Was it a man's hand or a woman's? + +A. I don't know. It was too indistinct for me to see clearly; and I +was so afraid, I fainted. + +Q. You saw it pour something from a bottle into the glass on the +table? + +A. Yes; but I did not see it withdraw. I fainted right off. + +Q. When you recovered your senses, the deceased had drank the +contents of the glass? + +A. Yes. She must have felt thirsty and drank it, not knowing it was +poisoned. Q. How do you know it was poisoned? + +A. I only suppose so. I don't think anyone would come to a window +and pour anything into a glass without some evil purpose. + +The Coroner then asked why the glass with what remained of the +contents had not been put in evidence, but was informed that the +glass was broken. + +When Kitty had ended her evidence and was stepping down, she caught +the eye of Vandeloup, who was looking at her keenly. She met his +gaze defiantly, and he smiled meaningly at her. At this moment, +however, Kilsip bent forward and whispered something to the Coroner, +whereupon Kitty was recalled. + +Q. You were an actress, Miss Marchurst? + +A. Yes. I was on tour with Mr Theodore Wopples for some time. + +Q. Do you know a drama called 'The Hidden Hand'? + +A. Yes--I have played in it once or twice. + +Q. Is there not a strong resemblance between your story of this +crime and the drama? + +A. Yes, it is very much the same. + +Kilsip then gave his evidence, and deposed that he had examined the +ground between the window, where the hand was alleged to have +appeared, and the garden wall. There were no footmarks on the +flower-bed under the window, which was the only place where +footmarks would show, as the lawn itself was hard and dry. He also +examined the wall, but could find no evidence that anyone had +climbed over it, as it was defended by broken bottles, and the +bushes at its foot were not crushed or disturbed in any way. + +Dr Chinston was then called, and deposed that he had made a post- +mortem examination of the body of the deceased. The body was that of +a woman of apparently fifty or fifty-five years of age, and of +medium height; the body was well nourished. There were no ulcers or +other signs of disease, and no marks of violence on the body. The +brain was congested and soft, and there was an abnormal amount of +fluid in the spaces known as the ventricles of the brain; the lungs +were gorged with dark fluid blood; the heart appeared healthy, its +left side was contracted and empty, but the right was dilated and +filled with dark fluid blood; the stomach was somewhat congested, +and contained a little partially digested food; the intestines here +and there were congested, and throughout the body the blood was dark +and fluid. + +Q. What then, in your opinion, was the cause of death? + +A. In my opinion death resulted from serous effusion on the brain, +commonly known as serous apoplexy. + +Q. Then you found no appearances in the stomach, or elsewhere, which +would lead you to believe poison had been taken? + +A. No, none. + +Q. From the post-mortem examination could you say the death of the +deceased was not due to some narcotic poison? + +A. No: the post-mortem appearances of the body are quite consistent +with those of poisoning by certain poisons, but there is no reason +to suppose that any poison has been administered in this case, as I, +of course, go by what I see; and the presence of poisons, especially +vegetable poisons, can only be detected by chemical analysis. + +Q. Did you analyse the contents of the stomach chemically? + +A. No; it was not my duty to do so; I handed over the stomach to the +police, seeing that there is suspicion of poison, and thence it will +go to the Government analyst. + +Q. It is stated that the deceased had convulsions before she died-- +is this not a symptom of narcotic poisoning? + +A. In some cases, yes, but not commonly; aconite, for instance, +always produces convulsions in animals, seldom in man. + +Q. How do you account for the congested condition of the lungs? + +A. I believe the serous effusion caused death by suspended +respiration. + +Q. Was there any odour perceptible? + +A. No, none whatsoever. + +The inquest was then adjourned till next day, and there was great +excitement over the affair. If Kitty Marchurst's statement was true, +the deceased must have died from the administration of poison; but, +on the other hand, Dr Chinston asserted positively that there was no +trace of poison, and that the deceased had clearly died from +apoplexy. Public opinion was very much divided, some asserting that +Kitty's story was true, while others said she had got the idea from +'The Hidden Hand', and only told it in order to make herself +notorious. There were plenty of letters written to the papers on the +subject, each offering a new solution of the difficulty, but the +fact remained the same, that Kitty said the deceased had been +poisoned; the doctor that she had died of apoplexy. Calton was +considerably puzzled over the matter. Of course, there was no doubt +that the man who committed the murder had intended to poison Madame +Midas, but the fact that Selina stayed all night with her, had +resulted in the wrong person being killed. Madame Midas told Calton +the whole story of her life, and asserted positively that if the +poison was meant for her, Villiers must have administered it. This +was all very well, but the question then arose, was Villiers alive? +The police were once more set to work, and once more their search +resulted in nothing. Altogether the whole affair was wrapped in +mystery, as it could not even be told if a murder had been +committed, or if the deceased had died from natural causes. The only +chance of finding out the truth would be to have the stomach +analysed, and the cause of death ascertained; once that was done, +and the matter could be gone on with, or dropped, according to the +report of the analyst. If he said it was apoplexy, Kitty's story +would necessarily have to be discredited as an invention; but if, on +the other hand, the traces of poison were found, search would have +to be made for the murderer. Matters were at a deadlock, and +everyone waited impatiently for the report of the analyst. Suddenly, +however, a new interest was given to the case by the assertion that +a Ballarat doctor, called Gollipeck, who was a noted toxicologist, +had come down to Melbourne to assist at the analysis of the stomach, +and knew something which would throw light on the mysterious death. + +Vandeloup saw the paragraph which gave this information, and it +disturbed him very much. + +'Curse that book of Prevol's,' he said to himself, as he threw down +the paper: 'it will put them on the right track, and then--well,' +observed M. Vandeloup, sententiously, 'they say danger sharpens a +man's wits; it's lucky for me if it does.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND + + +M. Vandeloup's rooms in Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, were very +luxuriously and artistically furnished, in perfect accordance with +the taste of their owner, but as the satiated despot is depicted by +the moralists as miserable amid all his splendour, so M. Gaston +Vandeloup, though not exactly miserable, was very ill at ease. The +inquest had been adjourned until the Government analyst, assisted by +Dr Gollipeck, had examined the stomach, and according to a paragraph +in the evening paper, some strange statements, implicating various +people, would be made next day. It was this that made Vandeloup so +uneasy, for he knew that Dr Gollipeck would trace a resemblance +between the death of Selina Sprotts in Melbourne and Adele Blondet +in Paris, and then the question would arise how the poison used in +the one case came to be used in the other. If that question arose it +would be all over with him, for he would not dare to face any +examination, and as discretion is the better part of valour, M. +Vandeloup decided to leave the country. With his usual foresight he +had guessed that Dr Gollipeck would be mixed up in the affair, so +had drawn his money out of all securities in which it was invested, +sent most of it to America to a New York bank, reserving only a +certain sum for travelling purposes. He was going to leave Melbourne +next morning by the express train for Sydney, and there would catch +the steamer to San Francisco via New Zealand and Honolulu. Once in +America and he would be quite safe, and as he now had plenty of +money he could enjoy himself there. He had given up the idea of +marrying Madame Midas, as he dare not run the risk of remaining in +Australia, but then there were plenty of heiresses in the States he +could marry if he chose, so to give her up was a small matter. +Another thing, he would be rid of Pierre Lemaire, for once let him +put the ocean between him and the dumb man he would take care they +never met again. Altogether, M. Vandeloup had taken all precautions +to secure his own safety with his usual promptitude and coolness, +but notwithstanding that another twelve hours would see him on his +way to Sydney en route for the States, he felt slightly uneasy, for +as he often said, 'There are always possibilities.' + +It was about eight o'clock at night, and Gaston was busy in his +rooms packing up to go away next morning. He had disposed of his +apartments to Bellthorp, as that young gentleman had lately come in +for some money and was dissatisfied with the paternal roof, where he +was kept too strictly tied up. + +Vandeloup, seated in his shirt sleeves in the midst of a chaos of +articles of clothing, portmanteaux, and boxes, was, with the +experience of an accomplished traveller, rapidly putting these all +away in the most expeditious and neatest manner. He wanted to get +finished before ten o'clock, so that he could go down to his club +and show himself, in order to obviate any suspicion as to his going +away. He did not intend to send out any P.P.C. cards, as he was a +modest young man and wanted to slip unostentatiously out of the +country; besides, there was nothing like precaution, as the least +intimation of his approaching departure would certainly put Dr +Gollipeck on the alert and cause trouble. The gas was lighted, there +was a bright glare through all the room, and everything was in +confusion, with M. Vandeloup seated in the centre, like Marius amid +the ruins of Carthage. While thus engaged there came a ring at the +outer door, and shortly afterwards Gaston's landlady entered his +room with a card. + +'A gentleman wants to see you, sir,' she said, holding out the card. + +'I'm not at home,' replied Vandeloup, coolly, removing the cigarette +he was smoking from his mouth; 'I can't see anyone tonight.' + +'He says you'd like to see him, sir,' answered the woman, standing +at the door. + +'The deuce he does,' muttered Vandeloup, uneasily; 'I wonder what +this pertinacious gentleman's name is? and he glanced at the card, +whereon was written 'Dr Gollipeck'. + +Vandeloup felt a chill running through him as he rose to his feet. +The battle was about to begin, and he knew he would need all his wit +and skill to get himself out safely. Dr Gollipeck had thrown down +the gauntlet, and he would have to pick it up. Well, it was best to +know the worst at once, so he told the landlady he would see +Gollipeck downstairs. He did not want him to come up there, as he +would see all the evidences of his intention to leave the country. + +'I'll see him downstairs,' he said, sharply, to the landlady; 'ask +the gentleman to wait.' + +The landlady, however, was pushed roughly to one side, and Dr +Gollipeck, rusty and dingy-looking as ever, entered the room. + +'No need, my dear friend,' he said in his grating voice, blinking at +the young man through his spectacles, 'we can talk here.' + +Vandeloup signed to the landlady to leave the room, which she did, +closing the door after her, and then, pulling himself together with +a great effort, he advanced smilingly on the doctor. + +'Ah, my dear Monsieur,' he said, in his musical voice, holding out +both hands, 'how pleased I am to see you.' + +Dr Gollipeck gurgled pleasantly in his throat at this and laughed, +that is, something apparently went wrong in his inside and a rasping +noise came out of his mouth. + +'You clever young man,' he said, affectionately, to Gaston, as he +unwound a long crimson woollen scarf from his throat, and thereby +caused a button to fly off his waistcoat with the exertion. Dr +Gollipeck, however, being used to these little eccentricities of his +toilet, pinned the waistcoat together, and then, sitting down, +spread his red bandanna handkerchief over his knees, and stared +steadily at Vandeloup, who had put on a loose velvet smoking coat, +and, with a cigarette in his mouth, was leaning against the +mantelpiece. It was raining outside, and the pleasant patter of the +raindrops was quite audible in the stillness of the room, while +every now and then a gust of wind would make the windows rattle, and +shake the heavy green curtains. The two men eyed one another keenly, +for they both knew they had an unpleasant quarter of an hour before +them, and were like two clever fencers--both watching their +opportunity to begin the combat. Gollipeck, with his greasy coat, +all rucked up behind his neck, and his frayed shirt cuffs coming +down on his ungainly hands, sat sternly silent, so Vandeloup, after +contemplating him for a few moments, had to begin the battle. + +'My room is untidy, is it not?' he said, nodding his head carelessly +at the chaos of furniture. 'I'm going away for a few days.' + +'A few days; ha, ha!' observed Gollipeck, something again going +wrong with his inside. 'Your destination is-- + +'Sydney,' replied Gaston, promptly. + +'And then?' queried the doctor. + +Gaston shrugged his shoulders. + +'Depends upon circumstances,' he answered, lazily. + +'That's a mistake,' retorted Gollipeck, leaning forward; 'it depends +upon me.' + +Vandeloup smiled. + +'In that case, circumstances, as represented by you, will permit me +to choose my own destinations.' + +'Depends entirely upon your being guided by circumstances, as +represented by me,' retorted the Doctor, grimly. + +'Pshaw!' said the Frenchman, coolly, 'let us have done with +allegory, and come to common sense. What do you want?' + +'I want Octave Braulard,' said Gollipeck, rising to his feet. + +Vandeloup quite expected this, and was too clever to waste time in +denying his identity. + +'He stands before you,' he answered, curtly, 'what then?' + +'You acknowledge, then, that you are Octave Braulard, transported to +New Caledonia for the murder of Adele Blondet?' said the Doctor +tapping the table with one hand. + +'To you--yes,' answered Vandeloup, crossing to the door and locking +it; 'to others--no.' + +'Why do you lock the door?' asked Gollipeck, gruffly. + +'I don't want my private affairs all over Melbourne,' retorted +Gaston, smoothly, returning to his position in front of the +fireplace; 'are you afraid?' + +Something again went wrong with Dr Gollipeck's inside, and he grated +out a hard ironical laugh. + +'Do I look afraid?' he asked, spreading out his hands. + +Vandeloup stooped down to the portmanteau lying open at his feet, +and picked up a revolver, which he pointed straight at Gollipeck. + +'You make an excellent target,' he observed, quickly, putting his +finger on the trigger. + +Dr Gollipeck sat down, and arranged his handkerchief once more over +his knees. + +'Very likely,' he answered, coolly, 'but a target you won't practise +on.' + +'Why not?' asked Vandeloup, still keeping his finger on the trigger. + +'Because the pistol-shot would alarm the house,' said Gollipeck, +serenely, 'and if I was found dead, you would be arrested for my +murder. If I was only wounded I could tell a few facts about M. +Octave Braulard that would have an unpleasant influence on the life +of M. Gaston Vandeloup.' + +Vandeloup laid the pistol down on the mantelpiece with a laugh, lit +a cigarette, and, sitting down in a chair opposite Gollipeck, began +to talk. + +'You are a brave man,' he said, coolly blowing a wreath of smoke, 'I +admire brave men.' + +'You are a clever man,' retorted the doctor; 'I admire clever men.' + +'Very good,' said Vandeloup, crossing one leg over the other. 'As we +now understand one another, I await your explanation of this visit.' + +Dr Gollipeck, with admirable composure, placed his hands on his +knees, and acceded to the request of M. Vandeloup. + +'I saw in the Ballarat and Melbourne newspapers,' he said, quietly, +'that Selina Sprotts, the servant of Mrs Villiers, was dead. The +papers said foul play was suspected, and according to the evidence +of Kitty Marchurst, whom, by the way, I remember very well, the +deceased had been poisoned. An examination was made of the body, but +no traces of poison were found. Knowing you were acquainted with +Madame Midas, and recognising this case as a peculiar one--seeing +that poison was asserted to have been given, and yet no appearances +could be found--I came down to Melbourne, saw the doctor who had +analysed the body, and heard what he had to say on the subject. The +symptoms were described as apoplexy, similar to those of a woman who +died in Paris called Adele Blondet, and whose case was reported in a +book by Messrs Prevol and Lebrun. Becoming suspicious, I assisted at +a chemical analysis of the body, and found that the woman Sprotts +had been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used in +the case of Adele Blondet. The man who poisoned Adele Blondet was +sent to New Caledonia, escaped from there, and came to Australia, +and prepared this poison at Ballarat; and why I called here tonight +was to know the reason M. Octave Braulard, better known as Gaston +Vandeloup, poisoned Selina Sprotts in mistake for Madame Midas.' + +If Doctor Gollipeck had thought to upset Vandeloup by this recital, +he was never more mistaken in his life, for that young gentleman +heard him coolly to the end, and taking the cigarette out of his +mouth, smiled quietly. + +'In the first place,' he said, smoothly, 'I acknowledge the truth of +all your story except the latter part, and I must compliment you on +the admirable way you have guessed the identity of Braulard with +Vandeloup, as you have no proof to show that they are the same. But +with regard to the death of Mademoiselle Sprotts, she died as you +have said; but I, though the maker of the poison, did not administer +it.' + +'Who did, then?' asked Gollipeck, who was quite prepared for this +denial. + +Vandeloup smoothed his moustache, and looked at the doctor with a +keen glance. + +'Kitty Marchurst,' he said, coolly. + +The rain was beating wildly against the windows and someone in the +room below was playing the eternal waltz, 'One summer's night in +Munich', while Vandeloup, leaning back in his chair, stared at Dr +Gollipeck, who looked at him disbelievingly. + +'It's not true,' he said, harshly; 'what reason had she to poison +the woman Sprotts?' + +'None at all,' replied Vandeloup, blandly; 'but she had to poison +Mrs Villiers.' + +'Go on,' said Gollipeck, gruffly; 'I've no doubt you will make up an +admirable story.' + +'So kind of you to compliment me,' observed Vandeloup, lightly; 'but +in this instance I happen to tell the truth--Kitty Marchurst was my +mistress.' + +'It was you that ruined her, then?' cried Gollipeck, pushing back +his chair. + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'If you put it that way--yes,' he answered, simply; 'but she fell +into my mouth like ripe fruit. Surely,' with a sneer, 'at your age +you don't believe in virtue?' + +'Yes, I do,' retorted Gollipeck, fiercely. + +'More fool you!' replied Gaston, with a libertine look on his +handsome face. 'Balzac never said a truer word than that "a woman's +virtue is man's greatest invention." Well, we won't discuss morality +now. She came with me to Melbourne and lived as my mistress; then +she wanted to marry me, and I refused. She had a bottle of the +poison which I had made, and threatened to take it and kill herself. +I prevented her, and then she left me, went on the stage, and +afterwards meeting Madame Midas, went to live with her, and we +renewed our acquaintance. On the night of this--well, murder, if you +like to call it so--we were at a ball together. Mademoiselle +Marchurst heard that I was going to marry Madame Midas. She asked me +if it was true. I did not deny it; and she said she would sooner +poison Mrs Villiers than see her married to me. She went home, and +not knowing the dead woman was in bed with Madame Midas, poisoned +the drink, and the consequences you know. As to this story of the +hand, bah! it is a stage play, that is all!' + +Dr Gollipeck rose and walked to and fro in the little clear space +left among the disorder. + +'What a devil you are!' he said, looking at Vandeloup admiringly. + +'What, because I did not poison this woman?' he said, in a mocking +tone. 'Bah! you are less moral than I thought you were.' + +The doctor did not take any notice of this sneer, but, putting his +hands in his pockets, faced round to the young man. + +'I give my evidence to-morrow,' he said quietly, looking keenly at +the young man, 'and I prove conclusively the woman was poisoned. To +do this, I must refer to the case of Adele Blondet, and then that +implicates you.' + +'Pardon me,' observed Vandeloup, coolly, removing some ash from his +velvet coat, 'it implicates Octave Braulard, who is at present,' +with a sharp look at Gollipeck, 'in New Caledonia.' + +'If that is the case,' asked the doctor, gruffly, 'who are you?' + +'I am the friend of Braulard,' said Vandeloup, in a measured tone. +'Myself, Braulard, and Prevol--one of the writers of the book you +refer to--were medical students together, and we all three +emphatically knew about this poison extracted from hemlock.' + +He spoke so quietly that Gollipeck looked at him in a puzzled +manner, not understanding his meaning. + +'You mean Braulard and Prevol were medical students?' he said, +doubtfully. + +'Exactly,' assented M. Vandeloup, with an airy wave of his hand. +'Gaston Vandeloup is a fictitious third person I have called into +existence for my own safety--you understand. As Gaston Vandeloup, a +friend of Braulard, I knew all about this poison, and manufactured +it in Ballarat for a mere experiment, and as Gaston Vandeloup I give +evidence against the woman who was my mistress on the ground of +poisoning Selina Sprotts with hemlock.' + +'You are not shielding yourself behind this girl?' asked the doctor, +coming close to him. + +'How could I?' replied Vandeloup, slipping his hand into his pocket. +'I could not have gone down to St Kilda, climbed over a wall with +glass bottles on top, and committed the crime, as Kitty Marchurst +says it was done. If I had done this there would be some trace--no, +I assure you Mademoiselle Marchurst, and none other, is the guilty +woman. She was in the room--Madame Midas asleep in bed. What was +easier for her than to pour the poison into the glass, which stood +ready to receive it? Mind you, I don't say she did it deliberately-- +impulse--hallucination--madness--what you like--but she did it.' + +'By God!' cried Gollipeck, warmly, 'you'd argue a rope round the +girl's neck even before she has had a trial. I believe you did it +yourself.' + +'If I did,' retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'when I am in the witness- +box I run the risk of being found out. Be it so. I take my chance of +that; but I ask you to keep silent as to Gaston Vandeloup being +Octave Braulard.' + +'Why should I?' said the doctor, harshly. + +'For many admirable reasons,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly. 'In the +first place, as Braulard's friend, I can prove the case against +Mademoiselle Marchurst quite as well as if I appeared as Braulard +himself. In the next place, you have no evidence to prove I am +identical with the murderer of Adele Blondet; and, lastly, suppose +you did prove it, what satisfaction would it be to you to send me +back to a French prison? I have suffered enough for my crime, and +now I am rich and respectable, why should you drag me back to the +depths again? Read "Les Miserables" of our great Hugo before you +answer, my friend.' + +'Read the book long ago,' retorted Gollipeck, gruffly, more moved by +the argument than he cared to show; 'I will keep silent about this +if you leave the colony at once.' + +'I agree,' said Vandeloup, pointing to the floor; 'you see I had +already decided to travel before you entered. Any other +stipulation?' + +'None,' retorted the doctor, putting on his scarf again; 'with +Octave Braulard I have nothing to do: I want to find out who killed +Selina Sprotts, and if you did, I won't spare you.' + +'First, catch your hare,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly, going to the +door and unlocking it; 'I am ready to stand the test of a trial, and +surely that ought to content you. As it is, I'll stay in Melbourne +long enough to give you the satisfaction of hanging this woman for +the murder, and then I will go to America.' + +Dr Gollipeck was disgusted at the smooth brutality of this man, and +moved hastily to the door. + +'Will you not have a glass of wine?' asked Vandeloup, stopping him. + +'Wine with you?' said the doctor, harshly, looking him up and down; +'no, it would choke me,' and he hurried away. + +'I wish it would,' observed M. Vandeloup, pleasantly, as he +reentered the room, 'whew! this devil of a doctor--what a dangerous +fool, but I have got the better of him, and at all events,' he said, +lighting another cigarette, 'I have saved Vandeloup from suffering +for the crime of Braulard.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + + +There was no doubt the Sprotts' poisoning case was the sensation of +the day in Melbourne. The papers were full of it, and some even went +so far as to give a plan of the house, with dotted lines thereon, to +show how the crime was committed. All this was extremely amusing, +for, as a matter of fact, the evidence as yet had not shown any +reasonable ground for supposing foul play had taken place. One +paper, indeed, said that far too much was assumed in the case, and +that the report of the Government analyst should be waited for +before such emphatic opinions were given by the press regarding the +mode of death. But it was no use trying to reason with the public, +they had got it into their sage heads that a crime had been +committed, and demanded evidence; so as the press had no real +evidence to give, they made it up, and the public, in private +conversations, amplified the evidence until they constructed a +complete criminal case. + +'Pshaw!' said Rolleston, when he read these sensational reports, 'in +spite of the quidnuncs the mountain will only produce a mouse after +all.' + +But he was wrong, for now rumours were started that the Government +analyst and Dr Gollipeck had found poison in the stomach, and that, +moreover, the real criminal would be soon discovered. Public opinion +was much divided as to who the criminal was--some, having heard the +story of Madame's marriage, said it was her husband; others insisted +Kitty Marchurst was the culprit, and was trying to shield herself +behind this wild story of the hand coming from behind the curtains; +while others were in favour of suicide. At all events, on the +morning when the inquest was resumed, and the evidence was to be +given of the analysis of the stomach, the Court was crowded, and a +dead silence pervaded the place when the Government analyst stood up +to give his evidence. Madame Midas was present, with Kitty seated +beside her, the latter looking pale and ill; and Kilsip, with a +gratified smile on his face which seemed as though he had got a clue +to the whole mystery, was seated next to Calton. Vandeloup, +faultlessly dressed, and as cool and calm as possible, was also in +Court; and Dr Gollipeck, as he awaited his turn to give evidence, +could not help admiring the marvellous nerve and courage of the +young man. + +The Government analyst being called, was sworn in the usual way, and +deposed that the stomach of the deceased had been sent to him to be +analysed. He had used the usual tests, and found the presence of the +alkaloid of hemlock, known under the name of conia. In his opinion +the death of the deceased was caused by the administration of an +extract of hemlock. (Sensation in the Court.) + +Q. Then in your opinion the deceased has been poisoned? + +A. Yes, I have not the least doubt on the subject, I detected the +conia very soon after the tests were applied. + +There was great excitement when this evidence was concluded, as it +gave quite a new interest to the case. The question as to the cause +of death was now set at rest--the deceased had been murdered, so the +burning anxiety of every one was to know who had committed the +crime. All sorts of opinions were given, but the murmur of voices +ceased when Dr Gollipeck stood up to give his evidence. + +He deposed that he was a medical practitioner, practising at +Ballarat; he had seen the report of the case in the papers, and had +come down to Melbourne as he thought he could throw a certain light +on the affair--for instance, where the poison was procured. +(Sensation.) About three years ago a crime had been committed in +Paris, which caused a great sensation at the time. The case being a +peculiar one, was reported in a medical work, by Messieurs Prevol +and Lebrun, which he had obtained from France some two years back. +The facts of the case were shortly these: An actress called Adele +Blondet died from the effects of poison, administered to her by +Octave Braulard, who was her lover; the deceased had also another +lover, called Kestrike, who was supposed to be implicated in the +crime, but he had escaped; the woman in this case had been poisoned +by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used as in the case of +Selina Sprotts, and it was the similarity of the symptoms that made +him suspicious of the sudden death. Braulard was sent out to New +Caledonia for the murder. While in Paris he had been a medical +student with two other gentlemen, one of whom was Monsieur Prevol, +who had reported the case, and the other was at present in Court, +and was called M. Gaston Vandeloup. (Sensation in Court, everyone's +eye being fixed on Vandeloup, who was calm and unmoved.) M. +Vandeloup had manufactured the poison used in this case, but with +regard to how it was administered to the deceased, he would leave +that evidence to M. Vandeloup himself. + +When Gollipeck left the witness-box there was a dead silence, as +everyone was too much excited at his strange story to make any +comment thereon. Madame Midas looked with some astonishment on +Vandeloup as his name was called out, and he moved gracefully to the +witness-box, while Kitty's face grew paler even than it was before. +She did not know what Vandeloup was going to say, but a great dread +seized her, and with dry lips and clenched hands she sat staring at +him as if paralysed. Kilsip stole a look at her and then rubbed his +hands together, while Calton sat absolutely still, scribbling +figures on his notepaper. + +M. Gaston Vandeloup, being sworn, deposed: He was a native of +France, of Flemish descent, as could be seen from his name; he had +known Braulard intimately; he also knew Prevol; he had been eighteen +months in Australia, and for some time had been clerk to Mrs +Villiers at Ballarat; he was fond of chemistry--yes; and had made +several experiments with poisons while up at Ballarat with Dr +Gollipeck, who was a great toxicologist; he had seen the hemlock in +the garden of an hotel-keeper at Ballarat, called Twexby, and had +made an extract therefrom; he only did it by way of experiment, and +had put the bottle containing the poison in his desk, forgetting all +about it; the next time he saw that bottle was in the possession of +Miss Kitty Marchurst (sensation in Court); she had threatened to +poison herself; he again saw the bottle in her possession on the +night of the murder; this was at the house of M. Meddlechip. A +report had been circulated that he (the witness) was going to marry +Mrs Villiers, and Miss Marchurst asked him if it was true; he had +denied it, and Miss Marchurst had said that sooner than he (the +witness) should marry Mrs Villiers she would poison her; the next +morning he heard that Selina Sprotts was dead. + +Kitty Marchurst heard all this evidence in dumb horror. She now knew +that after ruining her life this man wanted her to die a felon's +death. She arose to her feet and stretched out her hands in protest +against him, but before she could speak a word the place seemed to +whirl round her, and she fell down in a dead faint. This event +caused great excitement in court, and many began to assert +positively that she must be guilty, else why did she faint. Kitty +was taken out of Court, and the examination was proceeded with, +while Madame Midas sat pale and horror-struck at the revelations +which were now being made. + +The Coroner now proceeded to cross-examine Vandeloup. + +Q. You say you put the bottle containing this poison into your desk; +how did Miss Marchurst obtain it? + +A. Because she lived with me for some time, and had access to my +private papers. + +Q. Was she your wife? + +A. No, my mistress (sensation in Court). + +Q. Why did she leave you? + +A. We had a difference of opinion about the question of marriage, so +she left me. + +Q. She wanted you to make reparation; in other words, to marry her? + +A. Yes. + +Q. And you refused? + +A. Yes. + +Q. It was on this occasion she produced the poison first? + +A. Yes. She told me she had taken it from my desk, and would poison +herself if I did not marry her; she changed her mind, however, and +went away. + +Q. Did you know what became of her? + +A. Yes; I heard she went on the stage with M. Wopples. + +Q. Did she take the poison with her? + +A. Yes. + +Q. How do you know she took the poison with her? + +A. Because next time I saw her it was still in her possession. + +Q. That was at Mr Meddlechip's ball? + +A. Yes. + +Q. On the night of the commission of the crime? + +A. Yes. + +Q. What made her take it to the ball? + +A. Rather a difficult question to answer. She heard rumours that I +was to marry Mrs Villiers, and even though I denied it declined to +believe me; she then produced the poison, and said she would take +it. + +Q. Where did this conversation take place? + +A. In the conservatory. + +Q. What did you do when she threatened to take the poison? + +A. I tried to take it from her. + +Q. Did you succeed? + +A. No; she threw it out of the door. + +Q. Then when she left Mr Meddlechip's house to come home she had no +poison with her? + +A. I don't think so. + +Q. Did she pick the bottle up again after she threw it out? + +A. No, because I went back to the ball-room with her; then I came +out myself to look for the bottle, but it was gone. + +Q. You have never seen it since. + +A. No, it must have been picked up by someone who was ignorant of +its contents. + +Q. By your own showing, M. Vandeloup, Miss Marchurst had no poison +with her when she left Mr Meddlechip's house. How, then, could she +commit this crime? + +A. She told me she still had some poison left; that she divided the +contents of the bottle she had taken from my desk, and that she +still had enough left at home to poison Mrs Villiers. + +Q. Did she say she would poison Mrs Villiers? + +A. Yes, sooner than see her married to me. (Sensation.) + +Q. Do you believe she went away from you with the deliberate +intention of committing the crime. + +A. I do. + +M. Vandeloup then left the box amid great excitement, and Kilsip was +again examined. He deposed that he had searched Miss Marchurst's +room, and found half a bottle of extract of hemlock. The contents of +the bottle had been analysed, and were found identical with the +conia discovered in the stomach of the deceased. + +Q. You say the bottle was half empty? + +A. Rather more than that: three-quarters empty. + +Q. Miss Marchurst told M. Vandeloup she had poured half the contents +of one bottle into the other. Would not this account for the bottle +being three-quarters empty? + +A. Possibly; but if the first bottle was full, it is probable she +would halve the poison exactly; so if it had been untouched, it +ought to be half full. + +Q. Then you think some of the contents of this bottle were used? + +A. That is my opinion. + +Vandeloup was recalled, and deposed that the bottle Kitty took from +his desk was quite full; and moreover, when the other bottle which +had been found in her room, was shown to him, he declared that it +was as nearly as possible the same size as the missing bottle. So +the inference drawn from this was that the bottle produced being +three-quarters empty, some of the poison had been used. + +The question now arose that as the guilt of Miss Marchurst seemed so +certain, how was it that Selina Sprotts was poisoned instead of her +mistress; but this was settled by Madame Midas, who being recalled, +deposed that Kitty did not know Selina slept with her on that night, +and the curtains being drawn, could not possibly tell two people +were in the bed. + +This was all the evidence obtainable, and the coroner now proceeded +to sum up. + +The case, he said, was a most remarkable one, and it would be +necessary for the jury to consider very gravely all the evidence +laid before them in order to arrive at a proper conclusion before +giving their verdict. In the first place, it had been clearly proved +by the Government analyst that the deceased had died from effects of +conia, which was, as they had been told, the alkaloid of hemlock, a +well-known hedge plant which grows abundantly in most parts of Great +Britain. According to the evidence of Dr Chinston, the deceased had +died from serous apoplexy, and from all the post-mortem appearances +this was the case. But they must remember that it was almost +impossible to detect certain vegetable poisons, such as aconite and +atropia, without minute chemical analysis. They would remember a +case which startled London some years ago, in which the poisoner had +poisoned his brother-in-law by means of aconite, and it taxed all +the ingenuity and cleverness of experts to find the traces of poison +in the stomach of the deceased. In this case, however, thanks to Dr +Gollipeck, who had seen the similarity of the symptoms between the +post-mortem appearance of the stomach of Adele Blondet and the +present case, the usual tests for conia were applied, and as they +had been told by the Government analyst, the result was conia was +found. So they could be quite certain that the deceased had died of +poison--that poison being conia. The next thing for them to +consider was how the poison was administered. According to the +evidence of Miss Marchurst, some unknown person had been standing +outside the window and poured the poison into the glass on the +table. Mrs Villiers had stated that the window was open all night, +and from the position of the table near it--nothing would be easier +than for anyone to introduce the poison into the glass as asserted +by Miss Marchurst. On the other hand, the evidence of the detective +Kilsip went to show that no marks were visible as to anyone having +been at the window; and another thing which rendered Miss +Marchurst's story doubtful was the resemblance it had to a drama in +which she had frequently acted, called 'The Hidden Hand'. In the +last act of that drama poison was administered to one of the +characters in precisely the same manner, and though of course such a +thing might happen in real life, still in this case it was a highly +suspicious circumstance that a woman like Miss Marchurst, who had +frequently acted in the drama, should see the same thing actually +occur off the stage. Rejecting, then, as improbable the story of the +hidden hand, seeing that the evidence was strongly against it, the +next thing was to look into Miss Marchurst's past life and see if +she had any motive for committing the crime. Before doing so, +however, he would point out to them that Miss Marchurst was the only +person in the room when the crime was committed. The window in her +own room and one of the windows in Mrs Villiers' room were both +locked, and the open window had a table in front of it, so that +anyone entering would very probably knock it over, and thus awaken +the sleepers. On the other hand, no one could have entered in at the +door, because they would not have had time to escape before the +crime was discovered. So it was clearly shown that Miss Marchurst +must have been alone in the room when the crime was committed. Now +to look into her past life--it was certainly not a very creditable +one. M. Vandeloup had sworn that she had been his mistress for over +a year, and had taken the poison manufactured by himself out of his +private desk. Regarding M. Vandeloup's motives in preparing such a +poison he could say nothing. Of course, he probably did it by way of +experiment to find out if this colonial grown hemlock possessed the +same poisonous qualities as it did in the old world. It was a +careless thing of him, however, to leave it in his desk, where it +could be obtained, for all such dangerous matters should be kept +under lock and key. To go back, however, to Miss Marchurst. It had +been proved by M. Vandeloup that she was his mistress, and that they +quarrelled. She produced this poison, and said she would kill +herself. M. Vandeloup persuaded her to abandon the idea, and she +subsequently left him, taking the poison with her. She then went on +the stage, and subsequently left it in order to live with Mrs +Villiers as her companion. All this time she still had the poison, +and in order to prevent her losing it she put half of it into +another bottle. Now this looked very suspicious, as, if she had not +intended to use it she certainly would never have taken such trouble +over preserving it. She meets M. Vandeloup at a ball, and, hearing +that he is going to marry Mrs Villiers, she loses her head +completely, and threatens to poison herself. M. Vandeloup tries to +wrench the poison from her, whereupon she flings it into the garden. +This bottle has disappeared, and the presumption is that it was +picked up. But if the jury had any idea that the poison was +administered from the lost bottle, they might as well dismiss it +from their minds, as it was absurd to suppose such an improbable +thing could happen. In the first place no one but M. Vandeloup and +Miss Marchurst knew what the contents were, and in the second place +what motive could anyone who picked it up have in poisoning Mrs +Villiers, and why should they adopt such an extraordinary way of +doing it, as Miss Marchurst asserted they did? On the other hand, +Miss Marchurst tells M. Vandeloup that she still has some poison +left, and that she will kill Mrs Villiers sooner than see her +married to him. She declares to M. Vandeloup that she will kill her, +and leaves the house to go home with, apparently, all the intention +of doing so. She comes home filled with all the furious rage of a +jealous woman, and enters Mrs Villiers' room, and here the jury will +recall the evidence of Mrs Villiers, who said Miss Marchurst did not +know that the deceased was sleeping with her. So when Miss Marchurst +entered the room, she naturally thought that Mrs Villiers was by +herself, and would, as a matter of course, refrain from drawing the +curtains and looking into the bed, in case she should awaken her +proposed victim. There was a glass with drink on the table; she was +alone with Mrs Villiers, her heart filled with jealous rage against +a woman she thinks is her rival. Her own room is a few steps away-- +what, then, was easier for her than to go to her own room, obtain +the poison, and put it into the glass? The jury will remember in the +evidence of Mr Kilsip, the bottle was three-quarters empty, which +argued some of it had been used. All the evidence against Miss +Marchurst was purely circumstantial, for if she committed the crime, +no human eye beheld her doing so. But the presumption of her having +done so, in order to get rid of a successful rival, was very strong, +and the weight of evidence was dead against her. The jury would, +therefore, deliver their verdict in accordance with the facts laid +before them. + +The jury retired, and the court was very much excited. Everyone was +quite certain that Kitty was guilty, but there was a strong feeling +against M. Vandeloup as having been in some measure the cause, +though indirectly, of the crime. But that young gentleman, in +accordance with his usual foresight, had left the court and gone +straight home, as he had no wish to face a crowd of sullen faces, +and perhaps worse. Madame Midas sat still in the court awaiting the +return of the jury, with the calm face of a marble sphinx. But, +though she suffered, no appearances of suffering were seen on her +serene face. She never had believed in human nature, and now the +girl whom she had rescued from comparative poverty and placed in +opulence had wanted to kill her. M. Vandeloup, whom she admired and +trusted, what black infamy he was guilty of--he had sworn most +solemnly he never harmed Kitty, and yet he was the man who had +ruined her. Madame Midas felt that the worst had come--Vandeloup +false, Kitty a murderess, her husband vanished, and Selina dead. All +the world was falling into ruins around her, and she remained alone +amid the ruins with her enormous fortune, like a golden statue in a +deserted temple. With clasped hands, aching heart, but impassive +face, she sat waiting for the end. + +The jury returned in about half an hour, and there was a dead +silence as the foreman stood up to deliver the verdict. + +The jury found as follows:-- + +That the deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, died on the 21st day of +November, from the effects of poison, namely, conia, feloniously +administered by one Katherine Marchurst, and the jury, on their +oaths, say that the said Katherine Marchurst feloniously, wilfully, +and maliciously did murder the said deceased. + +That evening Kitty was arrested and lodged in the Melbourne Gaol, to +await her trial on a charge of wilful murder. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +KISMET + + +Of two evils it is always best to choose the least, and as M. +Vandeloup had to choose between the loss of his popularity or his +liberty, he chose to lose the former instead of the latter. After +all, as he argued to himself, Australia at large is a small portion +of the world, and in America no one would know anything about his +little escapade in connection with Kitty. He knew that he was in +Gollipeck's power, and that unless he acceded to that gentleman's +demand as to giving evidence he would be denounced to the +authorities as an escaped convict from New Caledonia, and would be +sent back there. Of course, his evidence could not but prove +detrimental to himself, seeing how badly he had behaved to Kitty, +but still as going through the ordeal meant liberty, he did so, and +the result was as he had foreseen. Men, as a rule, are not very +squeamish, and view each other's failings, especially towards women, +with a lenient eye, but Vandeloup had gone too far, and the +Bachelors' Club unanimously characterised his conduct as 'damned +shady', so a letter was sent requesting M. Vandeloup to take his +name off the books of the club. He immediately resigned, and wrote a +polite letter to the secretary, which brought uneasy blushes to the +cheek of that gentleman by its stinging remarks about his and his +fellow clubmen's morality. He showed it to several of the members, +but as they all had their little redeeming vices, they determined to +take no notice, and so M. Vandeloup was left alone. Another thing +which happened was that he was socially ostracised from society, and +his table, which used to be piled up with invitations, soon became +quite bare. Of course, he knew he could force Meddlechip to +recognise him, but he did not choose to do so, as all his thoughts +were fixed on America. He had plenty of money, and with a new name +and a brand new character, Vandeloup thought he would prosper +exceedingly well in the States. So he stayed at home, not caring to +face the stony faces of friends who cut him, and waited for the +trial of Kitty Marchurst, after which he intended to leave for +Sydney at once, and take the next steamer to San Francisco. He did +not mind waiting, but amused himself reading, smoking, and playing, +and was quite independent of Melbourne society. Only two things +worried him, and the first of these was the annoyance of Pierre +Lemaire, who seemed to have divined his intention of going away, and +haunted him day and night like an unquiet spirit. Whenever Vandeloup +looked out, he saw the dumb man watching the house, and if he went +for a walk, Pierre would slouch sullenly along behind him, as he had +done in the early days. Vandeloup could have called in the aid of a +policeman to rid himself of this annoyance, but the fact was he was +afraid of offending Pierre, as he might be tempted to reveal what he +knew, and the result would not be pleasant. So Gaston bore patiently +with the disagreeable system of espionage the dumb man kept over +him, and consoled himself with the idea that once he was on his way +to America, it would not matter two straws whether Pierre told all +he knew, or kept silent. The other thing which troubled the young +man were the words Kitty had made use of in Mrs Villiers' drawing- +room regarding the secret she said she knew. It made him uneasy, for +he half guessed what it was, and thought she might tell it to +someone out of revenge, and then there would be more troubles for +him to get out of. Then, again, he argued that she was too fond of +him ever to tell anything likely to injure him, even though he had +put a rope round her neck. If he could have settled the whole affair +by running away, he would have done so, but Gollipeck was still in +Melbourne, and Gaston knew he could not leave the town without the +terrible old man finding it out, and bringing him back. At last the +torture of wondering how much Kitty knew was too much for him, and +he determined to go to the Melbourne gaol and interview her. So he +obtained an order from the authorities to see her, and prepared to +start next morning. He sent the servant out for a hansom, and by the +time it was at the door, M. Vandeloup, cool, calm, and well dressed, +came down stairs pulling on his gloves. The first thing he saw when +he got outside was Pierre waiting for him with his old hat pulled +down over his eyes, and his look of sullen resignation. Gaston +nodded coolly to him, and told the cabby he wanted to go to the +Melbourne gaol, whereupon Pierre slouched forward as the young man +was preparing to enter the cab, and laid his hand on his arm. + +'Well,' said Vandeloup, in a quiet voice, in French, shaking off the +dumb man's arm, 'what do you want?' + +Pierre pointed to the cab, whereupon M. Vandeloup shrugged his +shoulders. 'Surely you don't want to come to the gaol with me,' he +said, mockingly, 'you'll get there soon enough.' + +The other nodded, and made a step towards the cab, but Vandeloup +pushed him back. + +'Curse the fool,' he muttered to himself, 'I'll have to humour him +or he'll be making a scene--you can't come,' he added aloud, but +Pierre still refused to go away. + +This conversation or rather monologue, seeing M. Vandeloup was the +only speaker, was carried on in French, so the cabman and the +servant at the door were quite ignorant of its purport, but looked +rather astonished at the conduct of the dirty tramp towards such an +elegant-looking gentleman. Vandeloup saw this and therefore +determined to end the scene. + +'Well, well,' he said to Pierre in French, 'get in at once,' and +then when the dumb man entered the cab, he explained to the cabman +in English:--'This poor devil is a pensioner of mine, and as he +wants to see a friend of his in gaol I'll take him with me.' + +He stepped into the cab which drove off, the cabman rather +astonished at the whole affair, but none the less contented himself +with merely winking at the pretty servant girl who stood on the +steps, whereupon she tossed her head and went inside. + +As they drove along Vandeloup said nothing to Pierre, not that he +did not want to, but he mistrusted the trap-door in the roof of the +cab, which would permit the cabman to overhear everything. So they +went along in silence, and when they arrived at the gaol Vandeloup +told the cabman to wait for him, and walked towards the gaol. + +'You are coming inside, I suppose,' he said, sharply, to Pierre, who +still slouched alongside. + +The dumb man nodded sullenly. + +Vandeloup cursed Pierre in his innermost heart, but smiled blandly +and agreed to let him enter with him. There was some difficulty with +the warder at the door, as the permission to see the prisoner was +only made out in the name of M. Vandeloup, but after some +considerable trouble they succeeded in getting in. + +'My faith!' observed Gaston, lightly, as they went along to the +cell, conducted by a warder, 'it's almost as hard to get into gaol +as to get out of it.' + +The warder admitted them both to Kitty's cell, and left them alone +with her. She was seated on the bed in the corner of the cell, in an +attitude of deepest dejection. When they entered she looked up in a +mechanical sort of manner, and Vandeloup could see how worn and +pinched-looking her face was. Pierre went to one end of the cell and +leaned against the wall in an indifferent manner, while Vandeloup +stood right in front of the unhappy woman. Kitty arose when she saw +him, and an expression of loathing passed over her haggard-looking +face. + +'Ah!' she said, bitterly, rejecting Vandeloup's preferred hand, 'so +you have come to see your work; well, look around at these bare +walls; see how thin and ugly I have grown; think of the crime with +which I am charged, and surely even Gaston Vandeloup will be +satisfied.' + +The young man sneered. + +'Still as good at acting as ever, I see,' he said, mockingly; +'cannot you even see a friend without going into these heroics?' + +'Why have you come here?' she asked, drawing herself up to her full +height. + +'Because I am your friend,' he answered, coolly. + +'My friend!' she echoed, scornfully, looking at him with contempt; +'you ruined my life a year ago, now you have endeavoured to fasten +the guilt of murder on me, and yet you call yourself my friend; a +good story, truly,' with a bitter laugh. + +'I could not help giving the evidence I did,' replied Gaston, +coolly, shrugging his shoulders; 'if you are innocent, what I say +will not matter.' + +'If I am innocent!' she said, looking at him steadily; 'you villain, +you know I am innocent!' + +'I know nothing of the sort.' + +Then you believe I committed the crime?' + +'I do.' + +Kitty sat helplessly down on the bed, and passed her hand across her +eyes. + +'My God!' she muttered, 'I am going mad.' + +'Not at all unlikely,' he replied, carelessly. + +She looked vacantly round the cell, and caught sight of Pierre +shrinking back into the shadow. + +'Why did you bring your accomplice with you?' she said, looking at +Gaston. + +M. Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'Really, my dear Bebe,' he said, lazily, 'I don't know why you +should call him my accomplice, as I have committed no crime.' + +'Have you not?' she said, rising to her feet, and bending towards +him, 'think again.' + +Vandeloup shook his head, with a smile. + +'No, I do not think I have,' he answered, glancing keenly at her; 'I +suppose you want me to be as black as yourself?' + +'You coward!' she said, in a rage, turning on him, 'how dare you +taunt me in this manner? it is not enough that you have ruined me, +and imperilled my life, without jeering at me thus, you coward?' + +'Bah!' retorted Vandeloup, cynically, brushing some dust off his +coat, 'this is not the point; you insinuate that I committed a +crime, perhaps you will tell me what kind of a crime?' + +'Murder,' she replied, in a whisper. + +'Oh, indeed,' sneered Gaston, coolly, though his lips twitched a +little, 'the same style of crime as your own? and whose murder am I +guilty of, pray?' + +'Randolph Villiers.' + +Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders. + +'Who can prove it?' he asked, contemptuously. + +'I can!' + +'You,' with a sneer, 'a murderess?' + +'Who can prove I am a murderess?' she cried, wildly. + +'I can,' he answered, with an ugly look; 'and I will if you don't +keep a quiet tongue.' + +'I will keep quiet no longer,' boldly rising and facing Vandeloup, +with her hands clenched at her sides; 'I have tried to shield you +faithfully through all your wickedness, but now that you accuse me +of committing a crime, which accusation you know is false, I accuse +you, Gaston Vandeloup, and your accomplice, yonder,' wheeling round +and pointing to Pierre, who shrank away, 'of murdering Randolph +Villiers, at the Black Hill, Ballarat, for the sake of a nugget of +gold he carried.' + +Vandeloup looked at her disdainfully. + +'You are mad,' he said, in a cold voice; 'this is the raving of a +lunatic; there is no proof of what you say; it was proved +conclusively that myself and Pierre were asleep at our hotel while +M. Villiers was with Jarper at two o'clock in the morning.' + +'I know that was proved,' she retorted, 'and by some jugglery on +your part; but, nevertheless, I saw you and him,' pointing again to +Pierre, 'murder Villiers.' + +'You saw it,' echoed Vandeloup, with a disbelieving smile; 'tell me +how?' + +'Ah!' she cried, making a step forward, 'you do not believe me, but +I tell you it is true--yes, I know now who the two men were +following Madame Midas as she drove away: one was her husband, who +wished to rob her, and the other was Pierre, who, acting upon your +instructions, was to get the gold from Villiers should he succeed in +getting it from Madame. You left me a few minutes afterwards, but I, +with my heart full of love--wretched woman that I was--followed you +at a short distance, unwilling to lose sight of you even for a +little time. I climbed down among the rocks and saw you seat +yourself in a narrow part of the path. Curiosity then took the place +of love, and I watched to see what you were going to do. Pierre-- +that wretch who cowers in the corner--came down the path and you +spoke to him in French. What was said I did not know, but I guessed +enough to know you meditated some crime. Then Villiers came down the +path with the nugget in its box under his arm. I recognised the box +as the one which Madame Midas had brought to our house. When +Villiers came opposite you you spoke to him; he tried to pass on, +and then Pierre sprang out from behind the rock and the two men +struggled together, while you seized the box containing the gold, +which Villiers had let fall, and watched the struggle. You saw that +Villiers, animated by despair, was gradually gaining the victory +over Pierre, and then you stepped in--yes; I saw you snatch Pierre's +knife from the back of his waist and stab Villiers in the back. Then +you put the knife into Pierre's hand, all bloody, as Villiers fell +dead, and I fled away.' + +She stopped, breathless with her recital, and Vandeloup, pale but +composed, would have answered her, when a cry from Pierre startled +them. He had come close to them, and was looking straight at Kitty. + +'My God!' he cried; 'then I am innocent?' + +'You!' shrieked Kitty, falling back on her bed; 'who are you?' + +The man pulled his hat off and came a step nearer. + +'I am Randolph Villiers!' + +Kitty shrieked again and covered her face with her hands, while +Vandeloup laughed in a mocking manner, though his pale face and +quivering lip told that his mirth was assumed. + +'Yes,' said Villiers, throwing his hat on the floor of the cell, 'it +was Pierre Lemaire, and not I, who died. The struggle took place as +you have described, but he,' pointing to Vandeloup, 'wishing to get +rid of Pierre for reasons of his own stabbed him, and not me, in the +back. He thrust the knife into my hand, and I, in my blind fury, +thought that I had murdered the dumb man. I was afraid of being +arrested for the murder, so, as suggested by Vandeloup, I changed +clothes with the dead man and wrapped my own up in a bundle. We hid +the body and the nugget in one of the old mining shafts and then +came down to Ballarat. I was similar to Pierre in appearance, except +that my chin was shaven. I went down to the Wattle Tree Hotel as +Pierre after leaving my clothes outside the window of the bedroom +which Vandeloup pointed out to me. Then he went to the theatre and +told me to rejoin him there as Villiers. I got my own clothes into +the room, dressed again as myself; then, locking the door, so that +the people of the hotel might suppose that Pierre slept, I jumped +out of the window of the bedroom and went to the theatre. There I +played my part as you know, and while we were behind the scenes Mr +Wopples asked me to put out the gas in his room. I did so, and took +from his dressing-table a black beard, in order to disguise myself +as Pierre till my beard had grown. We went to supper, and then I +parted with Jarper at two o'clock in the morning, and went back to +the hotel, where I climbed into the bedroom through the window and +reassumed Pierre's dress for ever. It was by Vandeloup's advice I +pretended to be drunk, as I could not go to the Pactolus, where my +wife would have recognised me. Then I, as the supposed Pierre, was +discharged, as you know. Vandeloup, aping friendship, drew the dead +man's salary and bought clothes and a box for me. In the middle of +one night I still disguised as Pierre, slipped out of the window, +and went up to Black Hill, where I found the nugget and brought it +down to my room at the Wattle Tree Hotel. Then Vandeloup brought in +the box with my clothes, and we packed the nugget in it, together +with the suit I had worn at the time of the murder. Following his +instructions, I came down to Melbourne, and there disposed of the +nugget--no need to ask how, as there are always people ready to do +things of that sort for payment. When I was paid for the nugget, and +I only got eight hundred pounds, the man who melted it down taking +the rest, I had to give six hundred to Vandeloup, as I was in his +power as I thought, and dare not refuse in case he should denounce +me for the murder of Pierre Lemaire. And now I find that I have been +innocent all the time, and he has been frightening me with a shadow. +He, not I, was the murderer of Pierre Lemaire, and you can prove +it.' + +During all this recital, which Kitty listened to with staring eyes, +Vandeloup had stood quite still, revolving in his own mind how he +could escape from the position in which he found himself. When +Villiers finished his recital he raised his head and looked +defiantly at both his victims. + +'Fate has placed the game in your hands,' he said coolly, while they +stood and looked at him; 'but I'm not beaten yet, my friend. May I +ask what you intend to do?' + +'Prove my innocence,' said Villiers, boldly. + +'Indeed!' sneered Gaston, 'at my expense, I presume.' + +'Yes! I will denounce you as the murderer of Pierre Lemaire.' + +'And I,' said Kitty, quickly, 'will prove Villiers' innocence.' + +Vandeloup turned on her with all the lithe, cruel grace of a tiger. + +'First you must prove your own innocence,' he said, in a low, fierce +voice. 'Yes; if you can hang me for the murder of Pierre Lemaire, I +can hang you for the murder of Selina Sprotts; yes, though I know +you did not do it.' + +'Ah!' said Kitty, quickly, springing forward, 'you know who +committed the crime.' + +'Yes,' replied Vandeloup, slowly, 'the man who committed the crime +intended to murder Madame Midas, and he was the man who hated her +and wished her dead--her husband.' + +'I?' cried Villiers, starting forward, 'you lie.' + +Vandeloup wheeled round quickly on him, and, getting close to him, +spoke rapidly. + +'No, I do not lie,' he said, in a concentrated voice of anger; 'you +followed me up to the house of M. Meddlechip, and hid among the +trees on the lawn to watch the house; you saw Bebe throw the bottle +out, and picked it up; then you went to St Kilda and, climbing over +the wall, committed the crime, as she,' pointing to Kitty, 'saw you +do; I met you in the street near the house after you had committed +it, and see,' plunging his hand into Villiers' pocket, 'here is the +bottle which contained the poison,' and he held up to Kitty the +bottle with the two red bands round it, which she had thrown away. + +'It is false!' cried Villiers, in despair, seeing that all the +evidence was against him. + +'Prove it, then,' retorted Vandeloup, knocking at the door to summon +the warder. 'Save your own neck before you put mine in danger.' + +The door opened, and the warder appeared. Kitty and Villiers gazed +horror-struck at one another, while Vandeloup, without another word, +rapidly left the cell. The warder beckoned to Villiers to come, and, +with a deep sigh, he obeyed. + +'Where are you going?' asked Kitty, as he moved towards the door. + +'Going?' he repeated, mechanically. 'I am going to see my wife.' + +He left the cell, and when he got outside the gaol he saw the hansom +with Vandeloup in it driving rapidly away. Villiers looked at the +retreating vehicle in despair. 'My God,' he murmured, raising his +face to the blue sky with a frightful expression of despair; 'how am +I to escape the clutches of this devil?' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BE SURE THY SIN WILL FIND THEE OUT + + +Madame Midas was a remarkably plucky woman, but it needed all her +pluck and philosophy to bear up against the terrible calamities +which were befalling her. Her faith in human nature was completely +destroyed, and she knew that all the pleasure of doing good had gone +out of her life. The discovery of Kitty's baseness had wounded her +deeply, and she found it difficult to persuade herself that the girl +had not been the victim of circumstances. If Kitty had only trusted +her when she came to live with her all this misery and crime would +have been avoided, for she would have known Madame Midas would never +have married Vandeloup, and thus would have had no motive for +committing the crime. Regarding Vandeloup's pretensions to her hand, +Mrs Villiers laughed bitterly to herself. After the misery of her +early marriage it was not likely she was going to trust herself and +her second fortune again to a man's honour. She sighed as she +thought what her future life must be. She was wealthy, it was true, +but amid all her riches she would never be able to know the meaning +of friendship, for all who came near her now would have some motive +in doing so, and though Madame Midas was anxious to do good with her +wealth, yet she knew she could never expect gratitude in return. The +comedy of human life is admirable when one is a spectator; but ah! +the actors know they are acting, and have to mask their faces with +smiles, restrain the tears which they would fain let flow, and mouth +witty sayings with breaking hearts. Surely the most bitter of all +feelings is that cynical disbelief in human nature which is so +characteristic of our latest civilization. + +Madame Midas, however, now that Melbourne was so hateful to her, +determined to leave it, and sent up to Mr Calton in order to confer +with him on the subject. Calton came down to St Kilda, and was shown +into the drawing-room where Mrs Villiers, calm and impenetrable +looking as ever, sat writing letters. She arose as the barrister +entered, and gave him her hand. + +'It was kind of you to come so quickly,' she said, in her usual +quiet, self-contained manner; 'I wish to consult you on some matters +of importance.' + +'I am at your service, Madame,' replied Calton, taking a seat, and +looking keenly at the marble face before him; 'I am glad to see you +looking so well, considering what you have gone through.' + +Mrs Villiers let a shadowy smile flit across her face. + +'They say the Red Indian becomes utterly indifferent to the torture +of his enemies after a certain time,' she answered, coldly; 'I think +it is the same with me. I have been deceived and disillusionized so +completely that I have grown utterly callous, and nothing now can +move me either to sorrow or joy.' + +'A curious answer from a curious woman,' thought Calton, glancing at +her as she sat at the writing-table in her black dress with the +knots of violet ribbons upon it; 'what queer creatures experience +makes us.' + +Madame Midas folded her hands loosely on the table, and looked +dreamily out of the open French window, and at the trellis covered +with creeping plants beyond, through which the sun was entering in +pencils of golden light. Life would have been so sweet to her if she +had only been content to be deceived like other people; but then she +was not of that kind. Faith with her was a religion, and when +religion is taken away, what remains?--nothing. + +'I am going to England,' she said, abruptly, to Calton, rousing +herself out of these painful reflections. + +'After the trial, I presume?' observed Calton, slowly. + +'Yes,' she answered, hesitatingly; 'do you think they will--they +will--hang the girl?' + +Calton shrugged his shoulders. 'I can't tell you,' he answered, with +a half smile; 'if she is found guilty--well--I think she will be +imprisoned for life.' + +'Poor Kitty,' said Madame, sadly, 'it was an evil hour when you met +Vandeloup. What do you think of him?' she asked, suddenly. + +'He's a scoundrel,' returned Calton, decisively; still, a clever +one, with a genius for intrigue; he should have lived in the times +of Borgian Rome, where his talents would have been appreciated; now +we have lost the art of polite murder.' + +'Do you know,' said Mrs Villiers, musingly, leaning back in her +chair, 'I cannot help thinking Kitty is innocent of this crime.' + +'She may be,' returned Calton, ambiguously, 'but the evidence seems +very strong against her.' + +'Purely circumstantial,' interrupted Madame Midas, quickly. + +'Purely circumstantial, as you say,' assented Calton; 'still, some +new facts may be discovered before the trial which may prove her to +be innocent. After the mystery which enveloped the death of Oliver +Whyte in the hansom cab murder I hesitate giving a decided answer, +in any case till everything has been thoroughly sifted; but, if not +Kitty Marchurst, whom do you suspect--Vandeloup?' + +'No; he wanted to marry me, not to kill me.' + +'Have you any enemy, then, who would do such a thing?' + +'Yes; my husband.' + +'But he is dead.' + +'He disappeared,' corrected Madame, 'but it was never proved that he +was dead. He was a revengeful, wicked man, and if he could have +killed me, without hurting himself, he would,' and rising from her +seat she paced up and down the room slowly. + +'I know your sad story,' said the barrister, 'and also how your +husband disappeared; but, to my mind, looking at all the +circumstances, you will not be troubled with him again.' + +A sudden exclamation made him turn his head, and he saw Madame +Midas, white as death, staring at the open French window, on the +threshold of which was standing a man--medium height, black beard, +and a haggard, hunted look in his eyes. + +'Who is this?' cried Calton, rising to his feet. + +Madame Midas tottered, and caught at the mantelpiece for support. + +'My husband,' she said, in a whisper. + +'Alive?' said Calton, turning to the man at the window. + +'I should rather think so,' said Villiers, insolently, advancing +into the room; 'I don't look like a dead man, do I?' + +Madame Midas sprang forward and caught his wrist. + +'So you have come back, murderer!' she hissed in his ear. + +'What do you mean?' said her husband, wrenching his hand away. + +'Mean?' she cried, vehemently; 'you know what I mean. You cut +yourself off entirely from me by your attempt on my life, and the +theft of the gold; you dare not have showed yourself in case you +received the reward of your crime; and so you worked in the dark +against me. I knew you were near, though I did not see you; and you +for a second time attempted my life.' + +'I did not,' muttered Villiers, shrinking back from the indignant +blaze of her eyes. 'I can prove--' + +'You can prove,' she burst out, contemptuously, drawing herself up +to her full height, 'Yes! you can prove anything with your cowardly +nature and lying tongue; but prove that you were not the man who +came in the dead of night and poisoned the drink waiting for me, +which was taken by my nurse. You can prove--yes, as God is my judge, +you shall prove it, in the prisoner's dock, e'er you go to the +gallows.' + +During all this terrible speech, Villiers had crouched on the +ground, half terrified, while his wife towered over him, magnificent +in her anger. At the end, however, he recovered himself a little, +and began to bluster. + +'Every man has a right to a hearing,' he said, defiantly, looking +from his wife to Calton; 'I can explain everything.' + +Madame Midas pointed to a chair. + +'I have no doubt you will prove black is white by your lying,' she +said, coldly, returning to her seat; 'I await this explanation.' + +Thereupon Villiers sat down and told them the whole story of his +mysterious disappearance, and how he had been made a fool of by +Vandeloup. When he had ended, Calton, who had resumed his seat, and +listened to the recital with deep interest, stole a glance at Madame +Midas, but she looked as cold and impenetrable as ever. + +'I understand, now, the reason of your disappearance,' she said, +coldly; 'but that is not the point. I want to know the reason you +tried to murder me a second time.' + +'I did not,' returned Villiers, quietly, with a gesture of dissent. + +'Then Selina Sprotts, since you are so particular,' retorted his +wife, with a sneer; 'but it was you who committed the crime.' + +'Who says I did?' cried Villiers, standing up. + +'No one,' put in Calton, looking at him sharply, 'but as you had a +grudge against your wife, it is natural for her to suspect you, at +the same time it is not necessary for you to criminate yourself.' + +'I am not going to do so,' retorted Villiers; 'if you think I'd be +such a fool as to commit a crime and then trust myself to my wife's +tender mercies, you are very much mistaken. I am as innocent of the +murder as the poor girl who is in prison.' + +'Then she is not guilty?' cried Mrs Villiers, rising. + +'No,' returned Villiers, coldly, 'she is innocent.' + +'Oh, indeed,' said Calton, quietly; 'then if you both are innocent, +who is the guilty person?' + +Villiers was about to speak when another man entered the open +window. This was none other than Kilsip, who advanced eagerly to +Villiers. + +'He has come in at the gate,' he said, quickly. + +'Have you the warrant,' asked Villiers, as a sharp ring was heard at +the front door. + +Kilsip nodded, and Villiers turned on his wife and Calton, who were +too much astonished to speak. + +'You asked me who committed the crime,' he said, in a state of +suppressed excitement; 'look at that door,' pointing to the door +which led into the hall, 'and you will see the real murderer of +Selina Sprotts appear.' + +Calton and Madame Midas turned simultaneously, and the seconds +seemed like hours as they waited with bated breath for the opening +of the fatal door. The same name was on their lips as they gazed +with intense expectation, and that name was--Gaston Vandeloup. + +The noise of approaching footsteps, a rattle at the handle of the +door, and it was flung wide open as the servant announced-- + +'Mr Jarper.' + +Yes, there he stood, meek, apologetic, and smiling--the fast-living +bank-clerk, the darling of society, and the secret assassin--Mr +Bartholomew Jarper. + +He advanced smilingly into the room, when suddenly the smile died +away, and his face blanched as his eyes rested on Villiers. He made +a step backward as if to fly, but in a moment Kilsip was on him. + +'I arrest you in the Queen's name for the murder of Selina Sprotts,' +and he slipped the handcuffs on his wrists. + +The wretched young man fell down on the floor with an agonised +shriek. + +'It's a lie--it's a lie,' he howled, beating his manacled hands on +the carpet, 'none can prove I did it.' + +'What about Vandeloup?' said Villiers, looking at the writhing +figure at his feet, 'and this proof?' holding out the bottle with +the red bands. + +Jarper looked up with an expression of abject fear on his white +face, then with a shriek fell back again in a swoon. + +Kilsip went to the window and a policeman appeared in answer to his +call, then between them they lifted up the miserable wretch and took +him to a cab which was waiting, and were soon driving off up to the +station, from whence Jarper was taken to the Melbourne gaol. + +Calton turned to Madame Midas and saw that she also had fainted and +was lying on the floor. He summoned the servants to attend to her, +then, making Villiers come with him, he went up to his office in +town in order to get the whole story of the discovery of the +murderer. + +The papers were full of it next day, and Villiers' statement, +together with Jarper's confession, were published side by side. It +appeared that Jarper had been living very much above his income, and +in order to get money he had forged Mrs Villiers' name for several +large amounts. Afraid of being discovered, he was going to throw +himself on her mercy and confess all, which he would have done had +Madame Midas come to the Meddlechip's ball. But overhearing the +conversation between Kitty and Vandeloup in the conservatory, and +seeing the bottle flung out, he thought if he secured it he could +poison Madame Midas without suspicion and throw the guilt upon +Kitty. He secured the bottle immediately after Vandeloup took Kitty +back to the ball-room, and then went down to St Kilda to commit the +crime. He knew the house thoroughly as he had often been in it, and +saw that the window of Madame's room was open. He then put his +overcoat on the glass bottles on top of the wall and leapt inside, +clearing the bushes. He stole across the lawn and stepped over the +flower-bed, carefully avoiding making any marks. He had the bottle +of poison with him, but was apparently quite ignorant how he was to +introduce it into the house, but on looking through the parting of +the curtains he saw the glass with the drink on the table. Guessing +that Madame Midas was in bed and would probably drink during the +night, he put his hand through the curtains and poured all the +poison into the glass, then noiselessly withdrew. He jumped over the +wall again, put on his overcoat, and thought he was safe, when he +found M. Vandeloup was watching him and had seen him in all his +actions. Vandeloup, whose subtle brain immediately saw that if +Madame Midas was dead he could throw the blame on Kitty and thus get +rid of her without endangering himself, agreed to keep silent, but +made Jarper give up the bottle to him. When Jarper had gone +Vandeloup, a few yards further down, met Villiers, but supposed that +he had just come on the scene. Villiers, however, had been watching +the house all night, and had also been watching Meddlechip's. The +reason for this was he thought his wife was at the ball, and wanted +to speak to her. He had followed Kitty and Mrs Killer down to St +Kilda by hanging on to the back of the brougham, thinking the latter +was his wife. Finding his mistake, he hung round the house for about +an hour without any object, and was turning round the corner to go +home when he saw Jarper jump over the wall, and, being unseen in the +shadow, overheard the conversation and knew that Jarper had +committed the crime. He did not, however, dare to accuse Jarper of +murder, as he thought it was in Vandeloup's power to denounce him as +the assassin of Pierre Lemaire, so for his own safety kept quiet. +When he heard the truth from Kitty in the prison he would have +denounced the Frenchman at once as the real criminal, but was so +bewildered by the rapid manner in which Vandeloup made up a case +against him, and especially by the bottle being produced out of his +pocket--which bottle Vandeloup, of course, had in his hand all the +time--that he permitted him to escape. When he left the gaol, +however, he went straight to the police-office and told his story, +when a warrant was immediately granted for the arrest of Jarper. +Kilsip took the warrant and went down to St Kilda to Mrs Villiers' +house to see her before arresting Jarper; but, as before described, +Jarper came down to the house on business from the bank and was +arrested at once. + +Of course, there was great excitement over the discovery of the real +murderer, especially as Jarper was so well known in Melbourne +society, but no one pitied him. In the days of his prosperity he had +been obsequious to his superiors and insolent to those beneath him, +so that all he gained was the contempt of one and the hate of the +other. Luckily, he had no relatives whom his crime would have +disgraced, and as he had not succeeded in getting rid of Madame +Midas, he intended to have run away to South America, and had forged +a cheque in her name for a large amount in order to supply himself +with funds. Unhappily, however, he had paid that fatal visit and had +been arrested, and since then had been in a state of abject fear, +begging and praying that his life might be spared. His crime, +however, had awakened such indignation that the law was allowed to +take its course, so early one wet cold morning Barty Jarper was +delivered into the hands of the hangman, and his mean, pitiful +little soul was launched into eternity. + +Kitty was of course released, but overwhelmed with shame and agony +at all her past life having been laid bare, she did not go to see +Madame Midas, but disappeared amid the crowd, and tried to hide her +infamy from all, although, poor girl, she was more sinned against +than sinning. + +Vandeloup, for whom a warrant was out for the murder of Lemaire, had +also disappeared, and was supposed to have gone to America. + +Madame Midas suffered severely from the shocks she had undergone +with the discovery of everyone's baseness. She settled a certain +income on her husband, on condition she never was to see him again, +which offer he readily accepted, and having arranged all her affairs +in Australia, she left for England, hoping to find in travel some +alleviation, if not forgetfulness, of the sorrow of the past. A good +woman--a noble woman, yet one who went forth into the world broken- +hearted and friendless, with no belief in anyone and no pleasure in +life. She, however, was of too fine a nature ever to sink into the +base, cynical indifference of a misanthropic life, and the wealth +which she possessed was nobly used by her to alleviate the horrors +of poverty and to help those who needed help. Like Midas, the Greek +King, from whence her quaint name was derived, she had turned +everything she touched into gold, and though it brought her no +happiness, yet it was the cause of happiness to others; but she +would give all her wealth could she but once more regain that trust +in human nature which had been so cruelly betrayed. + + + + +EPILOGUE + +THE WAGES OF SIN + + +Such a hot night as it was--not a breath of wind, and the moon, full +orbed, dull and yellow, hangs like a lamp in the dark blue sky. Low +down on the horizon are great masses of rain clouds, ragged and +angry-looking, and the whole firmament seems to weigh down on the +still earth, where everything is burnt and parched, the foliage of +the trees hanging limp and heavily, and the grass, yellow and sere, +mingling with the hot, white dust of the roads. Absolute stillness +everywhere down here by the Yarra Yarra, not even the river making a +noise as it sweeps swiftly down on its winding course between its +low mud banks. No bark of a dog or human voice breaks the stillness; +not even the sighing of the wind through the trees. And throughout +all this unearthly silence a nervous vitality predominates, for the +air is full of electricity, and the subtle force is permeating the +whole scene. A long trail of silver light lies on the dark surface +of the river rolling along, and here and there the current swirls +into sombre, cruel-looking pools--or froths, and foams in lines of +dirty white around the trunks of spectral-looking gum trees, which +stretch out their white, scarred branches over the waters. + +Just a little way below the bridge which leads to the Botanical +Gardens, on the near side of the river, stands an old, dilapidated +bathing-house, with its long row of dressing-rooms, doorless and +damp-looking. A broad, irregular wooden platform is in front of +these, and slopes gradually down to the bank, from whence narrow, +crazy-looking steps, stretching the whole length of the platform, go +down beneath the sullen waters. And all this covered with black +mould and green slime, with whole armies of spiders weaving grey, +dusky webs in odd corners, and a broken-down fence on the left half +buried in bush rank grass--an evil-looking place even in the +daytime, and ten times more evil-looking and uncanny under the light +of the moon, which fills it with vague shadows. The rough, slimy +platform is deserted, and nothing is heard but the squeaking and +scampering of the water-rats, and every now and then the gurgling of +the river as it races past, as if it was laughing quietly in a +ghastly manner over the victims it had drowned. + +Suddenly a black shadow comes gliding along the narrow path by the +river bank, and pauses a moment at the entrance to the platform. +Then it listens for a few minutes, and again hurries down to the +crazy-looking steps. The black shadow standing there, like the +genius of solitude, is a woman, and she has apparently come to add +herself to the list of the cruel-looking river's victims. Standing +there, with one hand on the rough rail, and staring with fascinated +eyes on the dull muddy water, she does not hear a step behind her. +The shadow of a man, who has apparently followed her, glides from +behind the bathing-shed, and stealing down to the woman on the verge +of the stream, lays a delicate white hand on her shoulder. She turns +with a startled cry, and Kitty Marchurst and Gaston Vandeloup are +looking into one another's eyes. Kitty's charming face is worn and +pallid, and the hand which clutches her shawl is trembling nervously +as she gazes at her old lover. There he stands, dressed in old black +clothes, worn and tattered looking, with his fair auburn hair all +tangled and matted; his chin covered with a short stubbly beard of +some weeks' growth, and his face gaunt and haggard-looking--the very +same appearance as he had when he landed in Australia. Then he +sought to preserve his liberty; now he is seeking to preserve his +life. They gaze at one another in a fascinated manner for a few +moments, and then Gaston removes his hand from the girl's shoulder +with a sardonic laugh, and she buries her face in her hands with a +stifled sob. + +'So this is the end,' he said, pointing to the river, and fixing his +scintillating eyes on the girl; 'this is the end of our lives; for +you the river--for me the hangman.' + +'God help me,' she moaned, piteously; 'what else is left to me but +the river?' + +'Hope,' he said, in a low voice; 'you are young; you are beautiful; +you can yet enjoy life; but,' in a deliberate cruel manner, 'you +will not, for the river claims you as its victim.' + +Something in his voice fills her with fear, and looking up she reads +death in his face, and sinking on her knees she holds out her +helpless hands with a pitying cry for life. + +'Strange,' observed M. Vandeloup, with a touch of his old airy +manner; 'you come to commit suicide and are not afraid; I wish to +save you the trouble, and you are, my dear--you are illogical.' + +'No! no!' she mutters, twisting her hands together, 'I do not want +to die; why do you wish to kill me?' lifting her wan face to his. + +He bent down, and caught her wrist fiercely. + +'You ask me that?' he said, in a voice of concentrated passion, 'you +who, with your long tongue, have put the hangman's rope round my +throat; but for you, I would, by this time, have been on my way to +America, where freedom and wealth awaits me. I have worked hard, and +committed crimes for money, and now, when I should enjoy it, you, +with your feminine devilry, have dragged me back to the depths.' + +'I did not make you commit the crimes,' she said, piteously. + +'Bah!' with a scoffing laugh, 'who said you did? I take my own sins +on my own shoulders; but you did worse; you betrayed me. Yes; there +is a warrant out for my arrest, for the murder of that accursed +Pierre. I have eluded the clever Melbourne police so far, but I have +lived the life of a dog. I dare not even ask for food, lest I betray +myself. I am starving! I tell you, starving! you harlot! and it is +your work.' + +He flung her violently to the ground, and she lay there, a huddled +heap of clothing, while, with wild gesticulations, he went on. + +'But I will not hang,' he said, fiercely; 'Octave Braulard, who +escaped the guillotine, will not perish by a rope. No; I have found +a boat going to South America, and to-morrow I go on board of her, +to sail to Valparaiso; but before I go I settle with you.' + +She sprang suddenly to her feet with a look of hate in her eyes. + +'You villain!' she said, through her clenched teeth, 'you ruined my +life, but you shall not murder me!' + +He caught her wrist again, but he was weak for want of food, and she +easily wrenched it away. + +'Stand back!' she cried, retreating a little. + +'You think to escape me,' he almost shrieked, all his smooth cynical +mask falling off; 'no, you will not; I will throw you into the +river. I will see you sink to your death. You will cry for help. No +one will hear you but God and myself. Both of us are merciless. You +will die like a rat in a hole, and that face you are so proud of +will be buried in the mud of the river. You devil! your time has +come to die.' + +He hissed out the last word in a low, sibilant manner, then sprang +towards her to execute his purpose. They were both standing on the +verge of the steps, and instinctively Kitty put out her hands to +keep him off. She struck him on the chest, and then his foot slipped +on the green slime which covered the steps, and with a cry of +baffled rage he fell backward into the dull waters, with a heavy +splash. The swift current gripped him, and before Kitty could utter +a sound, she could see him rising out in midstream, and being +carried rapidly away. He threw up his hands with a hoarse cry for +help, but, weakened by famine, he could do nothing for himself, and +sank for the second time. Again he rose, and the current swept him +near shore, almost within reach of a fallen tree. He made a +desperate effort to grasp it, but the current, mocking his puny +efforts, bore him away once again in its giant embrace, and with a +wild shriek on God he sank to rise no more. + +The woman on the bank, with white face and staring eyes, saw the +fate which he had meant for her meted out to him, and when she saw +him sink for the last time, she covered her face with her hand and +fled rapidly away into the shadowy night. + +The sun is setting in a sea of blood, and all the west is lurid with +crimson and barred by long black clouds. A heavy cloud of smoke shot +with fiery red hangs over the city, and the din of many workings +sound through the air. Down on the river the ships are floating on +the blood-stained waters, and all their masts stand up like a forest +of bare trees against the clear sky. And the river sweeps on red and +angry-looking under the sunset, with the rank grass and vegetation +on its shelving banks. Rats are scampering along among the wet +stones, and then a vagrant dog poking about amid some garbage howls +dismally. What is that black speck on the crimson waters? The trunk +of a tree perhaps; no, it is a body, with white face and tangled +auburn hair; it is floating down with the current. People are +passing to and fro on the bridge, the clock strikes in the town +hall, and the dead body drifts slowly down the red stream far into +the shadows of the coming night--under the bridge, across which the +crowd is hurrying, bent on pleasure and business, past the tall +warehouses where rich merchants are counting their gains, under the +shadow of the big steamers with their tall masts and smoky funnels. +Now it is caught in the reeds at the side of the stream; no, the +current carries it out again, and so down the foul river, with the +hum of the city on each side and the red sky above, drifts the dead +body on its way to the sea. The red dies out of the sky, the veil of +night descends, and under the cold starlight--cold and cruel as his +own nature--that which was once Gaston Vandeloup floats away into +the still shadows. + +FINIS + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME MIDAS *** + +This file should be named mdmmd10.txt or mdmmd10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, mdmmd11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, mdmmd10a.txt + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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