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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Midas, by Fergus Hume
+#4 in our series by Fergus Hume
+
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+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]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+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 ***
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