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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58434 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ MINKIE
+
+ BY LOUIS TRACY
+
+ Author of "_The Wings of the Morning_," "_The Pillar of Light_," "_The
+ Captain of the Kansas_," etc.
+
+ Toronto McLeod & Allen Publishers 1907
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1907 BY EDWARD J. CLODE.
+
+ _Entered at Stationers' Hall_
+
+ _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A._
+
+
+
+
+ Illustration: _Minkie_
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                   PAGE
+          CHAPTER I
+ HOW A BOGEY-MAN CAME TO DALE END                                     3
+
+          CHAPTER II
+ PRINCE JOHN'S STRANGE ALLY                                          41
+
+          CHAPTER III
+ THE WHITE MAN'S WAY                                                 73
+
+          CHAPTER IV
+ THE BLACK MAN'S WAY                                                107
+
+          CHAPTER V
+ THE UNDOING OF SCHWARTZ                                            143
+
+
+
+
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ "Minkie"                                                _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                                   PAGE
+
+ "Oh, indeed. And you are Miss Millicent, I suppose?"                 8
+
+ Minkie took the ivory doll from her pocket and surveyed it
+ seriously                                                           69
+
+ But she stood there quite motionless                                91
+
+ The Old Man read the typewritten letter which Schwartz gave him    114
+
+ My first call was at a jeweller's in Piccadilly                    157
+
+
+
+
+HOW A BOGEY-MAN CAME TO DALE END
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HOW A BOGEY-MAN CAME TO DALE END
+
+_Told by Bobby, the Horse_
+
+
+Minkie says I ought to begin this story, because I am the biggest
+and strongest. I don't see that at all, but she thinks I can't see
+much, anyhow, owing to my silly habit of wearing blinkers, which is
+just her irritating way of settling an argument--as if _I_ made the
+harness. And she knows better, too. I have an eye stuck on each side
+of my head to enable me to look nearly all round the circle; but that
+clever individual, man, tries to improve on Providence by making me don
+the rogue's badge. Well, it would make any horse laugh. You watch how
+the clever individual came to grief when Minkie and her gang tackled
+him. Yes, that is what they call us--her "gang"--although Dandy, the
+fox-terrier, won't admit that Tibbie belongs to our crowd, and he
+gets furious if one even mentions the Parrot. Perhaps he is prejudiced
+against Tibbie--I have noticed that most dogs seldom have a good word
+for a cat--but I do agree with him about that green idiot, Polly. Of
+all the back-biting, screeching--Eh, what? Oh, don't worry, as I tell
+Dan when he trots in to my place to look for a rat--you'll be in the
+middle of a real up-to-date yarn in two buzzes of a gad-fly....
+
+The fun started last Christmas Eve, when a small blue boy on a big red
+bicycle came to our front door and tried to pull the bell out by the
+roots after playing tricks with the knocker. Everybody thought it was
+a parcel for herself. Dorothy sailed out of the drawing-room; Cookie
+and Evangeline, our housemaid (Mam wanted to call her Mary, but she
+threatened to give notice), rushed from the kitchen; even dearest Mam
+dropped her sewing and wondered what the Guv'nor had sent her; but
+Minkie tobogganed downstairs on a tray, and came in an easy first. Dan
+was close up, as he simply hates every sort of postman; so Minkie
+grabbed him with one hand and opened the door with the other.
+
+And it was only a telegram.
+
+When Mam opened it, she said "Good gracious!"
+
+"What is it, mother?" inquired Dorothy.
+
+But Minkie had read it over Mam's shoulder and it was just this:
+
+"Schwartz arrived unexpectedly to-day. Have invited him to spend
+Christmas and New Year with us. Send victoria meet 2.15. Tom."
+
+Tom is the Old Man. His other name is Grosvenor. He isn't really old,
+but Jim calls him the Old Man, or the Guv'nor, and we are all pretty
+free and easy in the stable, you know.
+
+"Good gracious!" said Mam again, "he will be here in half an hour.
+Evangeline, run and tell James to drive to the station at once. Mr.
+Grosvenor is bringing a friend home with him."
+
+Now, it is to be observed, in the first place, that ladies are always
+flustered by telegrams. The Old Man said nothing about "bringing"
+Schwartz by the 2.15, and Mam knew quite well that he expected to be
+detained at the office until the 5.30. Next, when two-legged people are
+in a hurry, they put the rush on to their four-legged helpers. I was
+just enjoying a nice wisp of hay when Jim banged in and rattled me into
+my harness, while Mole, the gardener, who also cleans the knives and
+boots, pulled the victoria out of the shed.
+
+I was going through the gate in fine style when Minkie came flying.
+
+"Don't stop," she said, and skipped inside.
+
+Jim thought Mam had sent her, but Jim is always wrong when he imagines
+anything about Minkie. The fact was, as she told me afterwards, she had
+heard a lot of talk about this Schwartz, and she felt that it would be
+good for all parties if she took his measure a few minutes ahead of
+the rest of the family; so she jammed on a pirate cap and Dorothy's
+fur coat, and slid across the lawn without any one's being the wiser,
+except Dan, and he was sore with her on account of the escape of the
+telegraph boy. He tried to take it out of Tibbie, but she nipped up a
+tree, and the parrot, who was watching him head downwards through the
+drawing-room window, yelled "Yah!" at him. That settled it. He came
+after me and jumped up at my bit.
+
+"Race you to the station," he said, pretending he hadn't seen Minkie.
+
+"Right," said I; "but, to make a match of it, you ought to get Mole to
+harness you to his little girl's toy pram."
+
+This remark seemed to hurt his feelings, but I didn't know then about
+the rat-tatling messenger boy. Anyhow, he met the doctor's poodle in
+the village, so he joined us at the station in a good temper.
+
+When the train arrived, it brought heaps of people. It always puzzles
+me that folk should gorge more at Christmas time than any other. Every
+man, woman, and child carried half-a-dozen parcels, and nearly every
+parcel held something to eat. Some of the men hugged long narrow boxes,
+which looked as if they contained wax candles, but which really held a
+bottle of whisky. I know, because Jim....
+
+"Mr. Grosvenor hasn't come, miss," said Jim, when the crowd thinned.
+
+"Who said he was coming?" asked Minkie.
+
+"Well, Evangeline thought--"
+
+"Evangeline never thinks. The doctor has warned her against it. If ever
+she tries to do anything of the kind the excitement will kill her.
+No, Jim. Dad has told a Mr. Schwartz to come on by this train, and
+make himself at home until he joins him later. Schwartz is German for
+black. Most Germans are dumpy. But things often go by contraries. Our
+green-grocer is named Brown, so Mr. Schwartz should be a tall thin man,
+with straw hair and white eyebrows."
+
+Nail my shoes, she wasn't far out of it. A humpbacked porter came along
+with a couple of portmanteaux, followed by a heavy swell who was up to
+specification except as to the color of his hair, which was chestnut.
+
+"This is Mr. Grosvenor's carriage, sir," said the porter.
+
+"Oh, indeed. And you are Miss Millicent, I suppose?" said the newcomer,
+grinning at Minkie.
+
+Illustration: "Oh, indeed. And you are Miss Millicent, I suppose?"
+
+"Are you Mr. Schwartz?" she asked, and Dan inspected his calf, because
+Minkie's tone told us she had taken a violent dislike to the visitor at
+first sight.
+
+"Yes," he smirked, being so busy looking at her that he paid no heed to
+the porter, who was waiting for his tip.
+
+"Well, if you give the porter a shilling I'll drive you to our place.
+Mother is expecting you."
+
+"Are you particular as to the exact amount?" he inquired, still
+grinning. In fact, he was one of those silly men who believe that you
+must laugh when you want to be amiable; so please imagine Mr. Schwartz
+always guffawing--at least, not always, because he could scowl very
+unpleasantly at times. Tickle my withers, we made him scowl all right
+before we were through with him.
+
+"No," said Minkie, giving the porter just one little look. "As it is
+Christmas time, you might make it half a crown."
+
+Schwartz got his hand down quick. Because he was a rich man, he thought
+tuppence would be ample. He produced a florin, but Minkie spotted it.
+
+"If you haven't another sixpence I can lend you one," she said sweetly,
+and I saw Dan licking his lips when he heard her speak in that way.
+
+"Don't trouble," said Schwartz, rather shortly, and he handed the
+porter three shillings. That was another of his queer ways. He liked to
+impress people, but cheaply. He wanted a girl of fourteen to realize
+what a grand person he was, yet he was afraid she would spring him up
+to a crown, or even half a sovereign, if he didn't make haste.
+
+Then Minkie made room for him by her side, and Dan hopped in too.
+
+"Is that dog yours?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And does your father permit a beast with muddy paws to sit in his
+carriage?"
+
+"Not often," said Minkie, looking at his boots. "Dandy, you wicked imp,
+get out at once."
+
+Dan took a header into the roadway, and ran up alongside me, barking
+for all he was worth.
+
+"Tell you what, Bob," he cried, nearly choking himself with joy, "this
+red-headed Jew is going to find trouble. He is sure to drop into the
+stable to-morrow. I'll keep you posted in affairs inside the house,
+and, when I give you the office, you'll let him have both heels in the
+right place, eh?"
+
+"I'll do my best," I coughed, and Jim wondered what was the matter, as
+there are no flies about in winter-time.
+
+Meanwhile, Minkie took Schwartz in hand, and my long ears were not
+given me for amusement.
+
+"We thought you were not coming until next week," she said, by way of
+being polite.
+
+"I finished some business in Paris sooner than I expected, and Mr.
+Grosvenor was good enough to ask me to spend Christmas and New Year at
+Dale End. I shall enjoy the visit immensely, I am sure. I have not had
+a Christmas at home for many years."
+
+"At home?" Minkie raised her large blue eyes so innocently. I knew
+exactly how she looked, and I rattled my harness to tell her I was
+listening.
+
+"Yes; in England, I mean."
+
+"Ah."
+
+"Don't you call England 'home,' too?"
+
+"Of course, but I live here."
+
+"So do I."
+
+"Sorry. I fancied you just said you had been in some other country for
+a long time."
+
+"Well, I'm a bit of a cosmopolitan, I admit. Do you know what a
+cosmopolitan is?"
+
+"It means anything but English."
+
+Mr. Schwartz roared. "Gad!" he cried, "that is not so far wrong."
+
+An old gentleman passed us in a mail phaeton, drawn by a pair of fat
+cobs, your bellows-to-mend and step-short sort. They don't like me,
+because I always make a point of giving them the dust in summer, so one
+of them snorted, "Station hack!"
+
+"Going to have a shave?" I asked, quite civilly, he being all of a
+lather.
+
+Minkie gave the old gentleman a smile and a bow. He was rather
+surprised, which was reasonable enough, seeing that she usually sails
+along without seeing anybody; but he got his hat off in good time.
+
+"Who is that?" inquired Schwartz.
+
+"Jack's uncle," said Minkie.
+
+"Jack is a friend of yours, eh?"
+
+"Um, yes, but he--perhaps I shouldn't say anything about it. Jack is
+twenty-five, you see."
+
+"Oh, is he?" Schwartz was not smiling now. It was easy to guess that
+by his voice. "I suppose he is better acquainted with your sister than
+with you?"
+
+"Yes, heaps."
+
+"What is his other name?"
+
+"Percival Stanhope."
+
+"Mr. John Percival Stanhope, in fact? Odd that I should not have heard
+of him, if he is such a great friend of the family?"
+
+"Dolly doesn't say much about him. He's in India, and India is such a
+long way off."
+
+"Jolly good job, too, or you would be frizzling to-day." Mr. Schwartz
+was brightening up again.
+
+"I think you are mistaken," said Minkie, quietly. "Jack says it is ever
+so cold in the Punjab at Christmas-time."
+
+"Does he write to you, then?" demanded Schwartz.
+
+"No; that was in a letter to Dolly."
+
+"A recent letter?"
+
+"He was talking about Christmas two years ago. But please don't mention
+him to her. We have no right to discuss her affairs, have we?"
+
+"No, no; of course not. It was just by way of conversation, eh?"
+
+"That is the cemetery," said Minkie, pointing to a low tree-lined wall
+in the distance. "Some day, if you like, I shall take you there, and
+show you his mother's grave."
+
+"Thanks, but I am not fond of cemeteries, as a rule."
+
+"Perhaps you would prefer to be cremated?"
+
+"I haven't considered the matter."
+
+"But you ought to. You are quite old, nearly forty, and I saw in a pill
+advertisement the other day that forty is a dangerous age if your liver
+is out of order."
+
+"Here, young lady, not quite so fast, please. How do you know I am
+forty, and why do you think I have a diseased liver?"
+
+"It said so in the paper."
+
+"The deuce it did."
+
+"Yes; in one of those little spicy bits, telling you all about people,
+you know. It said: 'Mr. Montague Schwartz is one of the Chosen People.'
+You are Mr. Montague Schwartz, aren't you?"
+
+"Go on, do."
+
+"Oh, I remember every word '--one of the Chosen People--' that means
+you are a Jew, doesn't it?"
+
+"Of Jewish descent, certainly."
+
+"Well, it went on: 'His rise has been meteoric. At twenty he quitted
+the paternal fried fish shop in the Mile End Road, at thirty he was
+running a saloon and other industries at Kimberley, and at forty he is
+building a mansion in Mayfair.' There was a lot more, but now you see
+how I knew your age."
+
+"It is perfectly clear. There only remains the liver."
+
+"I got that from the pill advertisement. There are several sure signs
+of congestion, and you have all of them in your face and eyes. Shall I
+show it to you? Those pills might cure you."
+
+"Really, you are too kind for words. May I ask if your sister shares
+your knowledge of my career and state of health?"
+
+"Did I show her the paper, do you mean?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"No, I had forgotten all about it, but if you would like her to see
+it--"
+
+"Look here, Miss Millicent, you are a sharp girl. Now, I'll
+make a bargain with you. Find that paper, say no more about the
+paragraph--which, I may tell you, is rank nonsense from start to
+finish--and your Christmas box will be five sovereigns."
+
+"Done," said Minkie, coolly. "And here we are at Dale End. Mile
+End--Dale End. Funny, isn't it, how names run together that way
+occasionally."
+
+Before Jim led me around to the stable I heard Mam express her surprise
+that Mr. Schwartz had come alone. She had expected her husband by the
+same train. And she did not know Millicent had gone in the victoria.
+How on earth did the child recognise Mr. Schwartz, as she had never
+seen him?
+
+"I rather fancy your younger daughter would pick me out in the Strand
+if she were so minded," explained the visitor, cheerfully.
+
+"I hope she did not bore you by her chatter," said dear, innocent Mam.
+"Or perhaps she was in one of her silent moods?"
+
+"No. We got along famously; didn't we, Millicent?"
+
+"It was a nice drive," said Minkie, "not too cold, and the village is
+quite gay."
+
+"Well, I find the air rather chilly," said Mam. "Why are we all
+standing here? Come into the drawing-room, Mr. Schwartz. Dorothy is
+there, and we shall have tea brought a little earlier than usual.
+Evangeline, tell James to take Mr. Schwartz's portmanteaux to the Blue
+Room."
+
+Of course, I should not have heard what happened next if Tibbie had
+not looked in to see me that night. As a matter of fact, the gang does
+not miss much in the way of gossip. One or other of us is always on
+hand. And that parrot--though he is no friend of mine--is a terror for
+picking up news. Jim hangs his cage on a tree opposite my door every
+fine morning, and the things he tells me are surprising. He has hardly
+a good word for anybody, but then, what a dull world it would be if we
+only told the nice things about our friends. Why, we should all be dumb
+soon.
+
+Dan tried to sneak in behind Minkie, but Mam had her eye on him.
+
+"I do believe that naughty Dandy has been in the wars again," she said.
+"Millicent, did you see him fighting any other dog?"
+
+"No, mother. He met the doctor's poodle, but there was no fight."
+Minkie was always strictly accurate.
+
+"What a wonder! Anyhow, he is muddy and wet. Ask cook to rub him over
+with a damp cloth."
+
+Tibbie, pretending to be asleep, twitched one ear as she saw Dan being
+led off to the kitchen. "Gnar!" muttered Dan, who hates damp cloths,
+"wait till I catch you in the garden!" Tibbie just smiled. I must say
+that cats take life easily; they are given the best of everything, and
+do nothing. A friend of mine, a regular old stager, who pulls near in
+the Black Lion bus, tells me that Tibbie's method is the only way to
+get on, and he sees a lot of different people at the inn, so he ought
+to be a bit of a philosopher. "Make other people work for you," he
+says. "That's the ticket; when they bring you chaff tell 'em you must
+have oats, an' snap their heads off if they don't move quick enough.
+Bless your hoof, they like it. You hear 'em say: 'There's blood for
+you, a born aristocrat, he is,' an' they'll do any mortal thing you
+want."
+
+Well, Tibbie curled up like a hedgehog, and listened, because we
+don't have many strangers at Dale End. The talk turned on Ostend--no,
+it's as true as I'm standing on four legs, but the very first place
+mentioned had an "end" in it--where the Old Man and Mam and Dorothy had
+been in the summer. Minkie had measles, or something spotty, so she
+was forbidden to travel, and we had a ripping July all to ourselves.
+Eclipse wasn't in it; why, I had beer every day. They met Mr. Schwartz
+at Ostend, it seems, and he took such a fancy to Dolly that he wanted
+to marry her straight off. She wouldn't do that, even if Mam and the
+Guv'nor were agreeable, but she had not heard from Jack for ages, and
+Schwartz was really very attentive, besides being tremendously rich.
+Now, we at Dale End find it difficult to pay the hay and corn bills,
+so you see that a wealthy son-in-law would be what the sale catalogues
+call "a desirable acquisition."
+
+I have heard a lot of people in the village say that Dolly is so pretty
+she ought to make a good match. When she did a skirt dance at the
+Cottage Hospital Bazaar, the local paper spoke of her as "the beautiful
+Miss Grosvenor." She pretended to be very angry about that, but Tibbie
+says she bought a dozen papers and sent them to her girl friends, so
+the rest of the report must have been suitable. I suppose she is all
+right for a grownup. For my part, I prefer Minkie, who has a yellow
+mane, and blue eyes, and freckles. She is as straight as a soldier, and
+has small hands and feet, and the loveliest brown legs.... Eh, what?
+Well, say stockings, then, but when I took first prize and the cup for
+the best hackney in the show, everybody admired my legs; so why not
+Minkie's?
+
+Anyhow, by the time tea was served, Schwartz had further established
+himself in Mam's good graces. He was a clever chap in his way, and he
+could say the right thing to women occasionally, and he was wise enough
+not to bother Dorothy too much, though Tibbie saw, out of the tail of
+her eye, that the girl could not move from one side of the room to
+the other without Schwartz's watching her approvingly. Tibbie knew by
+his eyes that he was saying to himself: "She will look all right in
+Brook-street."
+
+Dan announced the postman while Dorothy was pouring out the tea, and
+Minkie brought in a heap of letters, mostly Christmas cards. Minkie had
+a baker's dozen to herself, and five of them were addressed to "Minkie
+and her Gang"; each of the five contained pictures of a girl, a horse,
+a dog, a cat, and a parrot. She soon made out by the postmark and the
+handwriting who had sent every card, even though the names were not
+given. One seemed to puzzle her at first, and she slipped it into her
+pocket. The others were handed round, before Dorothy arranged them on
+the mantel-piece with a number which had come by earlier deliveries,
+and Mr. Schwartz admired them immensely.
+
+"It is so interesting to come back to the old country and find these
+pleasant customs in full swing," he said. "I have neither sent nor
+received a Christmas card for years. I was telling Millicent on our way
+from the station that, by chance, I have been out of England at this
+season every year for ten years."
+
+"You did not mention the exact period, Mr. Schwartz," said Minkie. "I
+rather thought that ten years ago you were in Kimberley?"
+
+"Oh, one speaks in round numbers. By the way, have you received a card
+from your elderly friend--the man we met driving the pair?"
+
+"Driving a pair. Who was that, Millie?" asked her mother.
+
+"Mr. Stanhope, Jack's uncle."
+
+Dorothy dropped a piece of toast, and Mam bent over her letters, but
+she said quietly:
+
+"I fear my girls will not be honored by any such attention on his part,
+Mr. Schwartz. Indeed, I think he is the only enemy we possess in the
+neighborhood. How did you come to describe him as a friend of yours,
+Millie?"
+
+"I didn't."
+
+"Perhaps I was mistaken," put in Schwartz, who was beginning to hate
+Minkie, yet had no wish to quarrel with her.
+
+"I said Jack was my friend. Isn't that right, mother?"
+
+"Oh, yes. I understand now. By the way, dearie, are you going to meet
+your father? It is nearly time to start. And be careful to wrap up
+well."
+
+"The victoria will not be ready for another five minutes. I have time
+to bring you that paper if you would care to see it before dinner, Mr.
+Schwartz."
+
+"Thanks. I shall be delighted--you wretched little imp," he added under
+his breath, but Tibbie heard him.
+
+Minkie brought the paper.
+
+"That is the paragraph I told you of," said she, pointing very
+daintily to something on one of the pages. I have seen her point that
+way to a dead rat when she wished Jim or Mole to throw it away.
+
+"Much obliged. And here are the five sovereigns I promised you as a
+Christmas box."
+
+"Mr. Schwartz--" broke in Mam, but he turned to her with his best
+manner.
+
+"I beg of you to allow me to do this, Mrs. Grosvenor. It is really a
+harmless joke between Millicent and myself," he said.
+
+"But five pounds--" protested Mam.
+
+"That was in the bond. Pray let me explain. By chance, she mentioned
+some very useful information which this newspaper contained; I might
+not have heard of it otherwise. So I am adding a little to her
+Christmas present--that is all."
+
+"It seems a great deal of money," sighed Mam, who often wanted a fiver
+and had to do without it, "but you two appear to have the matter cut
+and dried, so I suppose it is all right. What are you going to do with
+your fabulous wealth, Millicent?"
+
+"Make a corner in toffee. Make every kid in Dale End pay a penny for a
+ha'penny-worth. That is the proper thing, isn't it, Mr. Schwartz?"
+
+"I don't think I can teach you much," he replied with his usual grin.
+
+"Oh yes, you can. Read the next paragraph, the one beginning: 'The
+unhappy natives of the Upper Niger.' It tells about gas-pipe guns and
+coal-dust powder. Yes, mother dear, going now."
+
+It was quite dark, of course, when I brought Minkie to the station a
+second time. The weather had changed, too, from what the farmers call
+"soft" to a touch of frost, which made both Jim and me pleased that my
+shoes had been sharped by the blacksmith that morning.
+
+The train was rather late, so Minkie went into the station and
+interviewed a porter. He told her something which seemed to interest
+her, so she asked the booking-clerk for change of a sovereign and gave
+the man a shilling.
+
+She picked out her father the instant the train drew up at the
+platform. He looked worried, she told me afterwards, but that passed
+when he saw her. He had the usual number of parcels which people carry
+at Christmas time, and Minkie grabbed all of them, but he stopped her
+with a laugh.
+
+"We can't rush off in the orthodox way to-night, Minkie," he said. "Mr.
+Schwartz's servant is on this train, and I promised to take him with us
+to the house. By the way, is Dandy with you in the carriage?"
+
+"No, father dear. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because this valet of Schwartz's is a black man, and Dandy might not
+approve of him at first sight."
+
+"A black man."
+
+"Yes, polished ebony. Rather smart, too. Speaks English perfectly. He
+came to me at Waterloo and said--Oh, there he is. Hi, you. Just follow
+me, will you."
+
+Minkie thought that the negro was an extraordinarily fine fellow, and
+very well dressed. It was odd that Schwartz had not mentioned him,
+and she wondered where he would sleep. Perhaps he curled up on a mat
+outside his master's room. In that case, she must make Dan clearly
+understand that she rather approved of the Ethiopian than otherwise.
+
+His luggage appeared to be a small handbag. He almost made the mistake
+of entering the carriage with Minkie and her father, but he showed his
+teeth in a good-natured grin, and climbed to Jim's side on the box.
+I had a look at him as he passed the near lamp, and he certainly did
+startle me; I am quite sure I should have shifted him if Minkie had not
+said quietly:
+
+"All right, Bobby. Steady, old chap."
+
+On the way home I heard Minkie trying to cheer up her father by telling
+him little bits of village news, and he did his best to respond, but
+both of us felt there was something wrong, as the Guv'nor is likely
+enough most days.
+
+"Mr. Schwartz has arrived, of course?" he inquired, soon after we
+quitted the station. "I forgot to ask you sooner. I took it for granted
+when his servant turned up and told me he had missed the earlier train."
+
+"Yes. He came according to your telegram."
+
+"How has he got on at home?"
+
+"Oh, first rate. Mam and Dolly seemed quite pleased to see him."
+
+"What do _you_ think of him, Minkie?"
+
+"I hardly know yet, father dear. I shall tell you--let me see--on New
+Year's Eve."
+
+"You demand seven days' experience, eh? Wise child. I wish some one had
+taught me at your age to wait a bit before I formed my opinions."
+
+"One might form them quickly enough, but not express them."
+
+"Which means that you don't like Schwartz? Well, he is not exactly my
+sort, I admit, but he is wealthy, Minkie, and one must bow the knee
+before the golden calf occasionally. And his repute stands high in the
+city, so he might be a useful friend. We must make the best of him, eh?"
+
+"One always does that with one's guests, of course," said Minkie, who
+could feel a heavy assortment of gold and silver coins in her pocket.
+
+Minkie jumped out when I pulled up at the front entrance. Dan was
+standing on the top step and wondering what in the world was sitting
+beside Jim on the box. Before he could say a word, Minkie grabbed him
+and whispered in his ear. But he was very uneasy, because the black
+man sprang down almost as promptly as Minkie, and nearly frightened
+Evangeline into a fit when she met him in the hall. He took his hat off
+in quite an elegant way.
+
+"I am Mr. Schwartz's valet," he said. "Mr. Grosvenor was good enough to
+bring me with him from London. Is my master in his room now?"
+
+"N-no, sir," stuttered Evangeline. He gave her the queerest feeling,
+she told Cookie later.
+
+"Well, if you will kindly show me to his suite I will prepare his
+clothes for dinner," went on the negro, who appeared to be more anxious
+to get to work than any of our servants.
+
+Evangeline glanced at Minkie and the Guv'nor; she was sure it must be
+all right, as the negro had arrived in their company, but she dared
+not go upstairs with him. Wild horses would not drag her there, she
+said, though I would back myself to haul her to the top attic before
+she could say "knife." "It's the Blue Room," she said. "First on the
+left in that corridor," and she pointed to the side of the house where
+Mr. Schwartz was lodged. The big darky went up at once. Evangeline
+helped to carry in some of the parcels, and Minkie took her father's
+overcoat and hat, but kept an eye on Dan, who was looking at the stairs
+anxiously. Dolly came running to kiss the Old Man, and Mam appeared.
+
+"Where is Mr. Schwartz?" asked the Guv'nor.
+
+"Here I am," said Schwartz, appearing in the drawing-room doorway. "I
+am afraid you had a cold journey from town. It was exceedingly kind of
+you to send me on ahead. My only regret is that you could not come with
+me."
+
+"Business, my dear fellow. It pursues me to the last hour, even in
+holiday time."
+
+"But that is good. It argues success. Your idle man is rarely
+successful."
+
+"I fear it is possible for a busy man to score a loss occasionally. I
+expect you have finished tea long since? Can you squeeze the pot, Mam?"
+
+"It will be here in a minute, Tom," said Mam, smiling. "My husband
+hates to miss his tea, Mr. Schwartz. He would drink three cups now if I
+were to let him, though we dine at seven."
+
+"By the way, that reminds me," said the Old Man, dropping into his
+regular chair in the drawing-room. "I fell in with your servant at
+Waterloo, Schwartz."
+
+"My servant!" said Schwartz, blankly, and both Dan and Tibbie heard
+every word, as Minkie had collected Dan again before she took her usual
+perch on a hassock near her father. If the Guv'nor had said he came
+across Schwartz's balloon at the Southwestern terminus our visitor
+could not have put more bewilderment into his voice.
+
+"Yes, your black valet," explained the Guv'nor.
+
+"My black valet! I don't possess such an article. I left my man at
+Brook-street, and he is a Frenchman."
+
+Schwartz had risen to his feet. He looked strangely pale--Minkie told
+me his face was a flea-bitten grey. The Guv'nor jumped up, too. So did
+Minkie, and Dan, and Tibbie. You see, Mam and Dorothy knew nothing
+about the gentleman who had gone to Schwartz's bedroom to arrange his
+dress suit and put the studs in his shirt.
+
+"Then who the blazes is the nigger who is in your room upstairs at this
+moment?" said the Old Man, forgetting that there were ladies present.
+
+"Nigger! My room!"
+
+Schwartz's voice cracked. He gasped as though he had run a mile. He
+glared at the Guv'nor and then glared at Minkie. Stifle me, he thought
+it was some trick she had played on him. But if the head of our family
+was not much good at business he was in the front row where prompt
+action was needed.
+
+"Follow me, quick!" he shouted, and made for the door. He was just a
+second too late. The tall negro was coming downstairs three at a time.
+He bounded across the hall and had his hand on the latch just as the
+Guv'nor rushed at him. Out went the black, out went Mr. Grosvenor after
+him, with Minkie and Dan a dead heat half a length behind, and Schwartz
+whipping in. On the level the nigger drew away; but Dan overhauled him
+at the turn near the clump of rhododendrons, and Dan never makes the
+mistake of advertising his whereabouts when the matter is serious. So
+he nailed the make-believe valet by the ankle, and his teeth closed on
+bone and sinew without ever a sound. Down went the nigger with a crash
+and a yell. It was pitch dark among the shrubs, but the Old Man groped
+for him and got a knee in the small of his back, bending his head
+upwards at the same time by grabbing a handful of wool. That is a good
+trick. It simply paralyses the other fellow.
+
+"I've got him," he shouted, but Schwartz just roared "Help!" at the top
+of his voice, and kept to the open drive. Minkie heard Dan sawing away,
+and growling a bit, now; she closed in, clutched a loose leg that was
+kicking wildly, and said:
+
+"Are you all right, dad?"
+
+"Yes. Tell James to fetch a stable lantern and a rope."
+
+Minkie wasn't going to leave her father nor miss any of the fun. She
+sung out directions, and Jim came along at a gallop. The unfortunate
+nigger was screaming that the dog was eating him, but, when they had
+tied his hands behind his back, and Minkie pulled Dan off, he seemed to
+be more frightened than hurt. Polly told me next day that these black
+fellows are always weak below the knee joints, however gigantic they
+may be otherwise.
+
+But the previous excitement was a small affair compared with the row
+which sprang up when Jim held the lantern so that Schwartz could see
+the negro's face.
+
+"Gott in himmel!" he shrieked, in a kind of frenzy, "it's Prince John."
+
+"Yes--you thief!" said the prisoner, who seemed to regain his
+self-possession and his dignity when he set eyes on Schwartz.
+
+"Where is it? Where is it? Give it to me, or I'll tear your liver
+out!" squealed the other, dancing close up to him in an extraordinary
+passion, being one of those men who fly into a delirium when rage gets
+the better of them.
+
+"I have not got it," said Prince John, if that was his name. He turned
+to the Guv'nor. "If you will take me back to the house, Mr. Grosvenor,"
+he continued, "and keep that dog off, I will explain everything,
+and trust to your sense of justice to clear me of any suspicion of
+wrong-doing. That man is the thief, not me," and he actually spat at
+Schwartz.
+
+Jim said that it gave him a turn to hear a buck nigger talking like
+that, but it took him and the Guv'nor all their time to keep Schwartz
+from using his nails on the man's eyes. Then the two began to shout at
+one another, and it appeared that all the trouble arose about a thing
+called a ju-ju, which the black man said Schwartz had stolen from his
+people, a tribe on the Upper Niger. Anyhow, the Guv'nor marched his
+captive back to the house, and Schwartz rushed upstairs. He tore down
+again, more like a lunatic than ever, as the ju-ju had gone from the
+dressing-case in which he had left it.
+
+He searched the negro, and was almost ready to cut him open in case he
+had swallowed it, but the ju-ju was not in the man's possession. Then
+he went out with Jim and the lantern, and hunted every inch of the
+drive and shrubbery, but could find nothing, though it was easy enough
+to discover the place where Dan had brought down his highness.
+
+The odd thing was that he refused to send for the police, and the more
+certain it became that the ju-ju was missing, the more jubilant grew
+Prince John's face as he sat in the hall. At last, there was nothing
+for it but the nigger must be set at liberty. Schwartz wanted the
+Guv'nor to lock him up all night. Of course, that could not be done, as
+Surrey isn't West Africa, and the Old Man had come to the conclusion
+that there was not much in the dispute between them, anyhow.
+
+So Prince John's bonds were untied, and the Guv'nor told him if he
+showed his black muzzle inside our gateway again he would be locked
+up. He was very polite and apologetic, especially to the ladies, and
+the house party went in to dinner greatly mystified by the whole
+affair. Schwartz did not say much, and his appetite was spoiled. After
+dinner he had another hunt in his bedroom and among the shrubs, but
+finally he gave up the search until daylight, and came in and asked for
+a whisky and soda.
+
+Meanwhile, Minkie brought Dan to the stable to see me. She came the
+back way, and climbed to the hay-loft with Jim's lantern. Dan began to
+look around for a rat, but she stopped him.
+
+"Are you awake, Bobby?" she asked.
+
+"Awake!" said I. "I should rather think I am, after such goings on in
+the house."
+
+"Well," said she, pulling a small black bag from among the hay, "if
+you are a good horse, and listen carefully, I will now tell you what a
+ju-ju is. Come here, Dan. If it is alive, I may want you to bite it."
+
+Skin me and sell my hide, what do you think it was? Just a small chunk
+of ivory, carved to represent a man with a monkey's head. It had a
+little coat of colored beads tied where its waist was meant to be, and
+its eyes were two shiny green stones. And that was all.
+
+"Well," cried Minkie, "this _is_ a surprise. At first sight, I don't
+think much of a ju-ju, but that may be only my beastly ignorance, as
+the man said when he tried to boil a china egg."
+
+
+
+
+PRINCE JOHN'S STRANGE ALLY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+PRINCE JOHN'S STRANGE ALLY
+
+_Told by Dandy, the Terrier_
+
+
+I made a mistake once, and nipped a tramp's wooden leg. Since then, I
+look before I take hold. But even a poodle could see that this thing
+was old bone, though its eyes glinted like Tibbie's in the dark, and
+there was a smell of grease about its beaded kilt. And, talking of
+kilts, there's a bare-legged fellow who comes here every summer and
+struts up and down the road, making the beastliest row with some sort
+of instrument all pipes and ribbons. Wow! don't I change his tune if I
+get out before anybody can catch me!
+
+"Why, it's a baby's toy," said I, seeing that Minkie was rather taken
+with it.
+
+"Let's have a look," said a voice I hated, and Tibbie walked up
+Bobby's neck, and perched between his ears.
+
+"Hello!" cried I, in my most sarcastic snarl, "are you there? And what
+is this acrobatic business? Is it a circus, or what?"
+
+"Speak when you're spoken to," spat Tibbie. "And let me give you fair
+warning that the next time you sneak any meat off my skewer I'll--"
+
+"Oh, shut up, both of you," commanded Minkie; so I just pretended to
+lick my lips, though I really care very little for the rather high
+stuff that cats make such a song about. I like mine underdone.
+
+"Have you ever before heard of a ju-ju, Bob?" went on Minkie.
+
+"No," said Bob. He didn't shake his head, because Tibbie was there, and
+she has a nasty habit of hanging on with her claws before you can say
+"Rats!" Why do cats have such sharp nails, anyhow? They used to scar my
+muzzle something awful before I learnt to jump on them feet first. But
+they can't bite for nuts. If they could, I must admit--
+
+"I think _I_ might tell you something about it," broke in Tibbie,
+backing down Bob's mane and settling on his withers again.
+
+"Well, go on," said Minkie, bending a bit, so as to watch Tibbie's
+green eyes.
+
+"It's a long time ago since I had the story from a blue Persian."
+
+"Cookie has some liver in the larder." You see, Minkie knew her cat.
+
+"Has she? I was out when the butcher came."
+
+"Yes. It's liver and bacon for breakfast in the morning. And SOLES!"
+
+P-r-r-r, you could feel Tibbie's fur rising.
+
+"I'll try to remember," she said in a rather thick voice. "It seems
+that we cats used to be worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. The cat
+deity was named Elurus, and we were also venerated as a symbol of the
+moon--"
+
+I couldn't help it. Even Bob coughed, and then pretended to be chewing
+hay. But, because I laughed, Minkie clouted my ear.
+
+"The Romans always placed a cat at the feet of the Goddess of Liberty;
+they realized that no animal resists the loss of its freedom so
+furiously as a cat," continued Tibbie in her best purr. "That is why
+you never see a cat wearing a collar, the badge of servitude, like a
+dog."
+
+Wow! I'll give her "servitude" next time I have a chance. "Like a dog!"
+indeed.
+
+"What has all this got to do with a ju-ju?" asked Minkie.
+
+"I am coming to that. The Egyptians were a very wise people, obviously,
+and their ways were sure to be copied by the black men who lived near
+them. They thought so much of cats that whoever killed one, even
+accidentally, was punished by death. This cat-headed god, Elurus, had
+a human body, and his image brought luck and good fortune to those who
+carried it about with them. Now, there are no cats where the black men
+live, but there are plenty of monkeys, so I am just guessing."
+
+"I see," said Minkie, quite seriously.
+
+"Regarding that fish and liver?" cried Tibbie, trying to talk in an
+off-hand way.
+
+"I am going to interview Cookie now," was the reply.
+
+"Hold on! Where do _I_ come in?" I simply had to interfere. The thing
+was an outrage. Fancy getting fish and liver for a blue-mouldy yarn
+like that.
+
+"And me?" snorted Bob.
+
+"You're both too fat already," said Minkie calmly, but she kicked down
+another lot of hay before she blew the lantern out, and I got a snack
+of steak while Tibbie was filling up on fish heads and _foie de veau_.
+I lapped the best part of her milk, too, when she wasn't looking.
+
+There was a keen frost that night, and the scent of the nigger, not
+to mention some beery singers who call themselves "the waits," kept
+me awake for hours. Every man has a different smell, though some folk
+get mad if you tell them so, but the Upper Niger tang was new to me,
+and I couldn't help thinking what a place that must be for a hunt if
+even a well-washed black prince left such a _bouquet_ behind him. I
+suppose you are surprised to hear a fox-terrier using French words, but
+I learnt them from Mademoiselle, Minkie's governess, who went away last
+month.
+
+Next morning, at breakfast, all the talk was of Prince John and the
+ju-ju. Schwartz had hunted high and low for his doll, but, considering
+that it was in Minkie's pocket, he was not likely to find it. If only
+he had a nose like me he would soon have been on its track. I fancied
+the Guv'nor was not altogether pleased that such a rough-and-tumble
+performance should have taken place at Holly Lodge on a Christmas
+Eve, and Schwartz was so put out by the loss of the ju-ju that it
+cast rather a gloom over the household--excepting Minkie, Tibbie and
+me, of course. As for that fool of a parrot, he, or she--blessed if
+I can tell one parrot from another, but this one never lays an egg,
+though everyone calls him "Polly"--well, he was nearly delirious with
+excitement, because Christmas time brings nuts into his cage. Once the
+conversation came pretty close to our little secret.
+
+"By the way, Millicent, that negro had a black bag in his hand when
+he drove home with us last night, didn't he?" inquired the Old Man,
+tackling Minkie rather suddenly.
+
+"Oh, yes, father dear. I saw it quite plainly. Did he take it upstairs,
+Evangeline?"
+
+"I dunno, miss. He fair flummaxed me, he did, with his bowin' and
+scrapin' an, lah-di-dah manners. As I said to Cook--"
+
+"That will do, Evangeline," put in Mam. "Bring some more toast, please."
+
+Minkie had steered the question off smartly, but the Guv'nor stuck to
+his point.
+
+"There can be no doubt the rascal brought the bag into the house. I
+remember now seeing him carry it into the hall. Yet it was not in his
+possession when we caught him in the garden, and it must have been
+found if it were lying among the shrubs, or he had left it in the
+house. By Jove! Is it possible that he had an accomplice? Really,
+Schwartz, you ought to have called in the police if the matter is so
+serious."
+
+"This quarrel is between Prince John and myself," said Schwartz,
+sullenly. "He may have had others to help, though it is difficult to
+see how that could be, under the circumstances. But this is only the
+second round of a big fight. He and I will meet again, probably on a
+certain island in the Niger which we both know well. Then we shall
+settle the ownership of that small god, for keeps."
+
+"Oh!" cried Dolly, "is it an idol?"
+
+Then Schwartz tried to pull himself together.
+
+"No, Miss Dorothy, not an idol, but a fetish," he said, with his usual
+grin. "The fact is, I fear I have led you to believe that I attach an
+exaggerated value to it. It is only a bit of carved ivory, which the
+natives regard as a talisman. But it had a sentimental interest for me,
+much as a gambler at Monte Carlo might prize a champagne cork, or a
+piece of coal, or some equally ridiculous charm which he had carried in
+his pocket on the night of a big _coup_."
+
+"Me-ow!" said Tibbie, looking up at Minkie.
+
+"Yes, darling," said Minkie, "the dish is going out now, and I have
+told cook to save you the tit-bits. Dan, come back here! Who stole
+Tibbie's milk last night?"
+
+"_Misère de Dieu!_" as mademoiselle said when she was turning over
+the strawberry plants and grabbed a wasp--who split on me? Was it
+Evangeline? Wait till I catch her sliding down to the front gate
+to-night when her young man whistles "Annie Rooney." I'll raise the
+house.
+
+"I suppose you had some lively times occasionally in West Africa,
+Schwartz?" said the Old Man cheerfully, his idea being to swing the
+talk away from a topic which his guest seemed to avoid.
+
+"Y-yes, for a few minutes every now and then. But the excitement soon
+passed. For the rest, it was deadly dull, a sort of slow crescendo up
+to the boiling point of fever, and a gradual diminuendo back to flabby
+health again. It is no country for a white man, unless he wants his
+relations to collect his life insurance."
+
+"Yet you made money there?"
+
+"Oh, yes. Why else should one go to such a filthy swamp?"
+
+"Do you mean to say that the natives of a fever-laden district are
+physically up to the standard of the fellow we collared last night?"
+
+"No; he comes from the highlands, where the country is altogether
+different. But the money is made at the ports and trading stations."
+
+"Any sport?"
+
+"Very little, the bush is too dense."
+
+"Then why do the blacks want gas-pipe guns and coal-dust gunpowder?"
+asked Minkie, who was making a jam sandwich.
+
+"To shoot the whites," replied Schwartz. "So you see it would be bad
+for our health if the traders gave them good weapons and ammunition."
+
+"That explains it," said Minkie.
+
+"Explains what, dear?" inquired Mam, and Schwartz squirmed a bit until
+Minkie said:
+
+"Something I read in a paper, mother. These wicked negroes pay high
+prices for rifles, and of course it is best to let them believe they
+are buying the genuine article."
+
+Mam was puzzled, but the Guv'nor laughed.
+
+"Excellent!" he cried. "I am glad to hear that one member of the family
+has grasped the true principles of commercial success."
+
+"I'm sure I don't know where Millicent gets her ideas from," sighed
+Mam. "When I was her age I could no more have said such a thing than I
+could have flown."
+
+"And you certainly were never built for flying, less now than ever,"
+smiled her husband. Of course, I paid little heed to all this chaff,
+because I was bolting half that jam sandwich, which Minkie had dropped.
+Evangeline saw what happened, and said nothing, so it will be "Whistle
+and I'll come to you, my lad," to-night. But I woke up to the sounds
+of battle when Mam wanted to know who was going to church. Everybody
+said "I," except Schwartz, who had letters to write. You ought to have
+watched his face when Minkie said quietly:
+
+"In that case you will miss seeing Jack Stanhope, the friend of whom I
+was telling you yesterday."
+
+"Jack! Is he at home?" Dolly blurted out, and then blushed right down
+her neck.
+
+"Yes. Didn't you know?"
+
+"How could I? If it comes to that, how do you know?"
+
+"He sent me a Christmas picture postcard last evening, one of the new
+ones, with the season's wishes and a lot of robins on one side and a
+ha-penny stamp with the address and a little bit of a letter on the
+other. Here it is. Shall I read it?"
+
+"Yes," said the Guv'nor rather grimly. Outside the gang, he understood
+Minkie better than anybody else, and he evidently wondered why she was
+making such a dead set against Schwartz.
+
+Minkie produced the card from the pocket which held the ju-ju. It was a
+deep pocket, lengthened by herself; she often needed it to hide a young
+rabbit when I had induced one to leave his home and friends, because
+keepers make a beastly fuss about these small matters if they hear of
+them.
+
+"It has the West Strand postmark, 9 A.M., December 24th," said
+she, "and this is what he writes: 'Dear Minkie: Just arrived from
+Marseilles, ex s.s. Persia. It was enough to freeze Dan's tail off
+crossing the Channel, but I am glad to be here early, as I can do a bit
+of shopping (being in need of decoration) before I run down to Dale
+End. I shall be strolling past the Lodge about six o'clock, and will
+be delighted if you are visible. Otherwise, we shall meet at Church
+to-morrow, and exchange winks if Grampus is there too. Yours ever,
+Jack. P.S. I have brought you a pet mongoose.' That is all."
+
+"Quite enough, too. May I ask who 'Grampus' is?" said her father.
+
+"His uncle. Jack depends on him for his allowance, so he has to humor
+him, but he never agreed with him about that shooting squabble, you
+know."
+
+"I know nothing about his views, and care less, and I do not wish you
+to exchange either postcards or winks with him or any of his name."
+
+"Tom," put in Mam, gently, "this is Christmas morning."
+
+"I have not forgotten that, my dear. Nor have I forgotten this day two
+years ago, when the other Stanhope ignored my proffered hand before a
+dozen of our mutual acquaintances. You hear, Millicent? I have spoken."
+
+"Yes, father dear, but it is such a pity about the mongoose. And I had
+a new word I wanted to surprise Jack with. Christmas picture postcard
+is such a mouthful, so I intended to call it a Chris-card. Don't you
+think that rather neat?"
+
+"I do, but it is not comparable to the neatness with which you draw a
+red herring across the scent. Of course, if he sends you the mongoose,
+you may keep it, and write a civil note of thanks, but we can hardly
+indulge in a close friendship with the nephew when the uncle cannot
+find a good word to say for us."
+
+I was that delighted that I scraped Minkie's leg to tell her I was
+underneath the table. A mongoose coming to join the family! What _is_ a
+mongoose, anyhow? Has it four legs, or two? Can it fight? I must have
+murmured my thoughts aloud, because the parrot gave a screech that made
+Schwartz jump.
+
+"Go and hide in the nearest rabbit burrow, little dog," he yelled. "Run
+away and bury yourself with a bone. When that mongoose turns up he'll
+chase you into the next parish. Oh, Christopher! Aren't we havin' a
+beano? Another rum 'ot, please, miss."
+
+I kept my temper. There is no use arguing with a parrot. You can't get
+at him, and he has an amazing variety of language at command; but I
+must state one small point in his favor; if you pay no heed to his
+vulgarity, and cut out of his talk the silly bits which seem to please
+people who wear clothes, he gives one a lot of useful information. He
+will not say a word in a friendly way, same as I give even Tibbie the
+nod if there's a mouse in the kitchen. The best plan is to sauce him,
+or sneer at him. Then he flies into a rage and talks like a book.
+
+So, "Polly," said I, "you shouldn't strain your voice in that fashion.
+It will make your feet ache."
+
+He knew what I meant well enough, because just then he was hanging head
+downwards from his perch. He reached out and took a grip of a steel bar
+in his beak, pretending he had hold of me by the neck.
+
+"If I were you I'd whitewash my face in the hope that the mongoose
+would not recognize me after the first round," he croaked.
+
+"I believe you are afraid of the thing yourself."
+
+"Say not so, whiskers. Kiss me, mother, kiss your darling. A
+full-grown mongoose will make you the sickest dog in the British Isles.
+Whoop at him, Boxer! Back to him, Bendigo! O my sainted aunt, I'll
+watch that snake-catcher chuck you into the lake. Nah, then, who'll
+tike odds. I'll back the fee-ald. The fee-ald a powney!"
+
+"Evangeline," said Mam, "put the green cloth over that bird. He grows
+worse daily, and I cannot make out where he learns so much cockney
+slang."
+
+Minkie kicked me under the table. She guessed I had been teasing him.
+At any rate, the parrot clearly expected to witness a first-rate set-to
+when the mongoose arrived. In his own mind he had already taken a
+ticket for the front row of the stalls, and I meant to oblige him with
+a star turn. A mongoose may be able to catch a snake, but he must not
+put on airs with a dog who killed thirty rats in one minute the last
+time Farmer Hodson threshed his barley stack.
+
+I heard Schwartz telling Dolly that he had changed his mind and would
+go to church, so at half-past ten they walked off to the village. It
+was quite warm in the sun, but the air was nippy, so I gave Tib a run
+across the lawn when I found her stalking a sparrow; then I went round
+to see Bob. He was busy eating. I suppose a horse has to get through a
+lot of hay before he fills up. Hay is dry stuff at the best. I like an
+odd snack between meals myself, but the only chew worth considering is
+something you can load in quickly before any other fellow has a chance
+of grabbing it.
+
+Anyhow, when I asked Bob what a mongoose was, he was rather short, and
+said he had no time for riddles, as he had been dreaming of niggers all
+night.
+
+"Tell you what," said I, "hay makes you nervous. It must be like tea.
+Cookie says--"
+
+Then Bob gave his horse laugh.
+
+"Cookie calls it 'tea,' does she?" he roared. "You give her my
+compliments and ask her to draw some of that tea for me in a jug. Tib
+knows where the barrel is."
+
+So I trotted back to Polly.
+
+"Look here!" I said, "tell me what a mongoose is, and I'll nick some
+grapes for you."
+
+He was singing "Hello, my baby," but he stopped.
+
+"It's an ichneumon," he answered. That nettled me.
+
+"Anything like a cockatoo?" I asked.
+
+"You're a low-bred cur," he screamed, "an ignorant mongrel. You
+shouldn't seek information. What you want is a ticket for the Dogs'
+Home. Help! Help!"
+
+"Why, you hook-nosed nut-cracker, what's the good of telling anybody
+that a mongoose is an ichneumon? How would you like it if I said you
+were a zygodactyl?"
+
+He nearly had a fit. His language brought Evangeline from the attic:
+she thought the house was on fire. The fact is, Minkie dug that word
+out of the dictionary, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to hand
+it on to Polly; now he has had it, fair between the eyes.
+
+I heard afterwards that if affairs were lively at Holly Lodge it
+was not all peace and goodwill to men at the parish church. Grampus
+had an attack of gout--a day earlier than usual--so Jack went to
+Christmas service alone. He winked twice at Minkie, but she gazed at
+him steadily with the only eye he could see. Dolly was entirely taken
+up with her prayer-book, so Jack took careful stock of the red-haired
+man with the map of Judea in his face. But a captain of hussars who has
+won the D. S. O. has no reason to be ashamed of being alive, so, when
+our people came through the lych gate, there was Captain Stanhope with
+his hat off, smiling quite pleasantly, and wishing them the compliments
+of the season.
+
+Of course, Mam and the Guv'nor, being gentlefolk, had to respond.
+Schwartz made to walk on with Dolly, but she stopped, too, and Minkie
+shook hands with Jack first of anybody.
+
+The old man was hardly comfortable; he nudged Mam's arm, and they would
+have joined Schwartz if Jack hadn't said:
+
+"By the way, Mr. Grosvenor, I want to have a chat with you on a matter
+of some importance. Can you spare me a few minutes now, or shall I call
+later in the day?"
+
+Dolly blushed, and her father saw it. He stiffened a bit, just as I do
+when my hair rises.
+
+"I am sorry, Captain Stanhope, but I fear that any exchange of
+confidences between us will not only be useless but open to
+misinterpretation," he said coldly.
+
+"Let me explain that I am running dead against my uncle's wishes in
+seeking this interview," protested Jack. "Believe me, I am actuated by
+the best of good feeling towards you and your family, sir."
+
+"I do credit that; but any discussion of the point must inflict
+unnecessary pain."
+
+"This is really a serious matter."
+
+"So is everything where your uncle and I are concerned. Come on, my
+dear. We cannot keep Mr. Schwartz waiting."
+
+The Guv'nor lifted his hat and marched away. Mam said nothing, Dolly
+didn't care tuppence how her skirt draped, Minkie said that if the
+frost continued there would soon be thick ice, and Schwartz grinned.
+Dolly thought she would like to slap Schwartz, so she joined Minkie on
+the high path above the road, where the hens have to fly when I get
+after them.
+
+"I think it's too bad of father to snub Jack in that way," she said,
+half sobbing.
+
+"Dad is making a mistake," agreed Minkie. "If you take my advice you
+will come with me this afternoon and find out what it is Jack wants to
+say."
+
+"How can I? Where can I see him? We can't go to the Manor House."
+
+"I have arranged to meet Jack at half-past two near the Four Lanes."
+
+"You have arranged!--"
+
+"Yes. While you were squinting up to find out if your hat was at the
+right tilt I was watching Jack drawing a cross and 2.30 on the gravel
+with his stick. I nodded, so that is all right. Are you coming?"
+
+Dolly was flurried. "I dunno," she murmured. "You don't understand
+things, Minkie. Dad is desperately anxious that we should not offend
+Mr. Schwartz, who can be either a very good friend or a dangerous
+enemy. Oh, sis! What a happy world it would be if we had all the money
+we want!"
+
+"P'raps. Schwartz is rich, and he looked happy last night, didn't he?
+Jack's uncle is rolling in coin, and to-day he is nursing a foot the
+size of an elephant's."
+
+"I am not thinking of myself, Minkie."
+
+"I know that. You are trying to help Dad, and he is fretting because he
+has to pay a lot of money on the 10th of January."
+
+Dolly opened her eyes widely.
+
+"Who told _you_?" she cried.
+
+"Sh-s-s-sh. There's Mam calling. She wants us to look in at nurse's
+cottage. What about Jack--quick!"
+
+"I'll see," whispered Dolly.
+
+People who play poker are a bit doubtful when they say that. If you
+add the recognized fact that the woman who hesitates is lost you will
+understand at once that when Minkie and I climbed over the orchard
+fence at 2.15, Miss Dorothy came running after us.
+
+"Mam has gone upstairs, and Mr. Schwartz and father are in the library,
+so I will join you in your stroll," she said, trying to keep up a
+pretence.
+
+"Step out, then," said Minkie. "Jack will be waiting."
+
+He was. He saw us coming long before we reached the cross roads, and
+his first words meant war.
+
+"Who is this fellow Schwartz?" he demanded.
+
+"A friend of--father's," said Dorothy.
+
+"Well, he is a rogue," said Jack. "I wanted to warn Mr. Grosvenor about
+him this morning, but he wouldn't listen to me."
+
+"Oh, was that it?" and Dorothy's nose went up in the air.
+
+"Partly. Not all. I say, Minkie, if you take Dan into the warren you
+will find a heap of rabbits. The keepers are a mile away. I told them
+you were coming."
+
+"Then Dan can go by himself. I am far more interested in Schwartz than
+Dot is. Do you know anything about ju-jus?"
+
+"By Jove, Minkie, you do come to the point. Why, that blessed nigger
+prince is at the Manor now, plotting all sorts of mischief with my
+uncle."
+
+"How did he get there? I suppose you met him last night?"
+
+"Yes. I was passing along the road when I heard Jim turn him out of
+the gate, and order him not to show his black mug inside the grounds
+again. I wondered what on earth a darky was doing at Dale End. Thinking
+he was a Hindu, one of the natives who come to England to read up law,
+I spoke to him, but as soon as we reached a lamp I saw he was a negro.
+He was in awful trouble, and appeared to have been badly handled. As
+soon as he discovered that I was a friend of yours--which I mean to
+remain, no matter how your father and my uncle disagree--he became very
+excited and appealed to me for assistance. The villagers spotted him
+and began to gather, so I took him to the Manor, unfortunately."
+
+"Why unfortunately?" demanded Minkie.
+
+"Because some of the servants told my uncle he was there, and the old
+boy made me bring him upstairs."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I nearly lost my temper with both of them. It seems that Schwartz,
+who was a low-down trader on the Niger, stole some sort of ju-ju, or
+small fetish, belonging to the Kwantu bushmen, the most powerful tribe
+in the hinterland. That was three years ago. Since then he has become
+enormously wealthy, and the niggers say it is because he holds this
+ju-ju, which is the luckiest thing in Africa. They, at least, have
+had all sorts of plagues since they lost it, tsetse fly, smallpox,
+bad rubber years, and I don't know what besides. At any rate they are
+on the verge of rebellion. Their ju-ju men, or wizards, are preaching
+wholesale murder of the whites. Some German traders have supplied
+them with Mannlicher rifles and ammunition, and there is real danger
+of a terrific mutiny. Now, I am a British officer, and I have some
+experience of superstitious natives, if not of negroes, so I can quite
+realize what may happen out there if the cause of disaffection is not
+removed. You can hardly grasp the serious nature of the business,
+Minkie, but Dorothy, being older--"
+
+"Can appreciate it much better, of course," said Minkie. "Yet I am
+beginning to see things. Did Prince John say what would happen if the
+ju-ju were restored?"
+
+"That is a very sensible question for a kid," observed Jack,
+approvingly. "He vows that the whole affair will end the instant the
+Kwantu ju-ju men receive back their fetish. He, and a few leading
+bushmen, some of whom have been educated in England, remember, have
+restrained the mutiny by a solemn undertaking to bring the god home
+before the spring rains begin. They have offered Schwartz all the money
+they can scrape together if he will only give it up, but he laughs at
+them and defies them."
+
+"He didn't seem to laugh last night," put in Minkie.
+
+"Do you believe he has really lost it?"
+
+"Oh yes. I am quite sure of that?" and she felt in her pocket
+absent-mindedly.
+
+"Well, I am at my wits' end to decide how to act. Prince John is
+equally certain that Schwartz has recovered it. When Dan brought him
+down, a small bag in which he had placed the ju-ju was knocked out of
+his hand, and it must, therefore, be in Holly Lodge somewhere. The
+negro is a determined man, and there is a look in his eyes which I have
+seen in a Pathan's when--Well, no matter. If your father will not meet
+me he will at least read a letter. Now, Minkie, it will soon be too
+dark to find anything among the bushes--"
+
+"Rats!" cried Minkie, so sharply that I jumped, thinking she meant it.
+"You've got six months' furlough, so you'll meet Dot often enough.
+Please go on. What does Prince John intend to do next?"
+
+"He may endeavor to burgle your house. He will kill Schwartz if need
+be. He will certainly kill Dan."
+
+Oh, _in_deed! I pricked up my ears at this. What between the nigger
+and the mongoose I'm in for a lively time. Nobody is going to be happy
+until I am cold meat.
+
+"But they will put him in gaol if he tries burglary?" said Minkie, who
+was unmoved by the prospect of my early death.
+
+"He says that Schwartz simply dare not face him in a court of law."
+
+"It is our house, you know?"
+
+Captain Stanhope sighed perplexedly. He was a man, discussing hard
+things with two girls. Minkie gave me a look as much as to say "Don't
+miss a word of this," and went on:
+
+"Of course, one can't credit the absurd idea that a piece of wood, or
+brass, or whatever it is, can bring good luck to anyone who possesses
+it."
+
+"Our ebony acquaintance holds so strongly to the absurdity that he
+will stop short of nothing in the effort to secure it. And my old
+fool of an--I beg your pardon, I mean my respected uncle, is actually
+plotting with him as to ways and means. He is in favor of informing
+the Government, but the Kwantu gentleman says the Colonial office will
+scoff at the notion. He is right there. The officials in Whitehall
+always do scoff until a certain number of white men and women are
+murdered, and an army corps has to be sent to exact vengeance."
+
+"It seems to me that the killing will begin here, probably with a white
+dog--r-r-rip!" observed Minkie, stooping to dig me in the ribs.
+
+"Mongoose!" I yelled, but she didn't appear to take any notice.
+
+Illustration: Minkie took the ivory doll from her pocket and surveyed
+it seriously.
+
+"I wouldn't write to dad if I were you," she continued. "He would
+simply take sides with Schwartz. But you can write to me, if you like,
+only you must not wink, nor send postcards."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Dorothy will tell you. Come on, Dan, let's have a look at the warren."
+
+When we were quite by ourselves Minkie took the ivory doll from her
+pocket and surveyed it seriously.
+
+"Ju-ju," she said, "I hope you can really accomplish these wonders,
+because I'm going to do things, and there will be a fearful row if I
+don't succeed."
+
+I nearly killed twice in ten minutes, but a warren is the deuce and
+all if some of the holes are not stopped and you have no ferret. When
+we rejoined the others any dog could see that Dorothy had been crying.
+Yet she didn't exactly look miserable, like Jim's wife looked when her
+first baby died. Women are queer. Sometimes you can't tell whether they
+are glad or sorry, because they weep just the same.
+
+The girls were dressing for dinner when a man in livery came with a
+wooden box and a note for "Miss Millicent Grosvenor."
+
+Oh, wow and wag everlasting--it's the mongoose!
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE MAN'S WAY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE WHITE MAN'S WAY
+
+_Told by Tibbie, the Cat_
+
+
+As this record of events at Dale End now enters on a phase demanding
+intelligence of a somewhat high order for its recital, I take up the
+tale at a point where Dan becomes incoherent. I admit I was greatly
+interested myself when Minkie, without waiting for Evangeline to do up
+her blouse, glissaded down the stair rail and rushed the cage into the
+morning-room. I had heard of mongooses from Tommy Willoughby, who lives
+in our road, as he had come across them when the Colonel commanded the
+Galway Blazers at Alexandria. He says they eat crocodiles' eggs, and
+are therefore held in high regard by the Egyptians, and the Egyptians,
+judged by their treatment of cats, are evidently a sensible race.
+Yet there are no crocodiles' eggs at Dale End, fresh ones, that is,
+so I pity this poor stranger if Jim or Mole catches him dining in the
+hen-house. I tried a young Dorking myself once, and Jim behaved very
+unfeelingly with a whip.
+
+Dan, of course, tore after Minkie with his mouth open, and his stump of
+a tail pointing north. I crept in noiselessly, and watched proceedings
+from beneath a wide and deep leather chair. I could see a thing like
+a big red rat behind some wooden bars which ran down one side of a
+soap box. The animal had a sharp muzzle, small paws with fairly useful
+claws, and a tail that was almost the size of the remainder of its body.
+
+"A mongoose can fight," I reasoned, "and its huge tail shows that it
+can turn quickly." Dan, naturally, took no stock of these essentials.
+He was nearly beside himself with excitement, and Minkie had to grab
+him with one hand while she held Captain Stanhope's letter in the other.
+
+"Do be quiet, Dan!" she cried, shaking him. "Tibbie, where are you?"
+
+"Here," I meow'd.
+
+"Then listen, the pair of you. Jack writes: 'Dear Minkie--I send the
+mongoose. He is very tame, quite a lovable little chap. You can let him
+run about the house at once if all the doors are closed. After a day or
+two he can go out into the garden safely, as he will always come back
+to his box if you leave it open. He is accustomed to my dogs, and there
+are terriers among them, so make Dan understand that the mongoose wants
+to play with him when he stands up as if he were going to box with his
+fore-paws. You may have more trouble with Tib, but she will soon learn
+to treat him as one of the family. For that matter, Rikki (that is his
+name) can keep either of them in order if he is not taken by surprise
+by reason of his friendliness with all my live stock. He will eat most
+things they eat. When the frost goes, and he can hunt in the garden, he
+will keep himself. Yours, Jack.' So there! Just try and behave decently
+when I introduce Rikki."
+
+Dan's growls died away in a sort of groan.
+
+"I'll have that buck nigger stroking me and saying 'Good dog' next,"
+he muttered bitterly. And then it was all I could do to keep from
+smiling when I saw Minkie open the cage and take the mongoose out,
+gripping Dan tightly lest his feelings should overcome him. Will you
+believe it, that queer-looking beast seemed quite pleased to see Dan!
+It jumped up and licked his whiskers, and tickled his ears with its
+little hands, while all poor Dan could say was "Gnar-r!" and roll his
+eyes wildly to see what it was doing, Minkie's fingers being like
+bits of steel. At last, grief and curiosity conquered him. He sniffed
+it, and Minkie let go. The parrot, from the dining-room, guessed what
+was happening, and shouted "Hark to him, Boxer! Back to him, Bendigo!
+At him, boy! At him!" But it was no use. May I never have another
+night out if Dan and Rikki were not having a friendly wrestle on the
+hearth-rug in half a minute.
+
+The mongoose had quick eyes. When it rolled over in the game it saw
+me. I must say it had some sense, too; it seemed to know that I was
+not given to any dog-foolery, and it squared itself for battle. Dan,
+thinking to show off, charged full tilt for my chair, so I determined
+to take a rise out of him. I began to purr, walked straight up to him,
+with my tail well aloft and the tip twiddling, and began to rub myself
+against his ribs.
+
+You never saw a dog so taken aback. I'm sure he thought I was crazy,
+and even Minkie said softly:
+
+"Well, I never! Is the ju-ju beginning to work already?"
+
+Odd, isn't it? She attributed my little joke to that chunk of ivory in
+her pocket. Anyhow, the mongoose took no liberties with me. When all is
+said and done, Dan and I are in one camp, and every sort of rat in the
+other--but I am surprised at Dan.
+
+Now, parcels turn up so continuously at Christmas time that no one
+else was aware of Rikki's arrival until he sat up and begged from
+Mr. Schwartz while our visitor was drinking his soup. The parrot was
+watching, and made a horrid noise at the right moment, just as Schwartz
+looked down and saw a pair of fierce red eyes glaring at him. The
+mongoose put on his best grin, which made matters worse. Schwartz
+nearly overturned the dinner-table. I would never have credited six
+feet of man with being in such a funk. Everybody was glad he expressed
+his emotions in German--he himself more than the others when he calmed
+down. Minkie nearly came in for a scolding, but the Guv'nor, who is
+a real sport, was soon taken by Rikki's antics, and rather chaffed
+Schwartz about his alarm.
+
+"That is all very well Grosvenor," said Schwartz, "but you have not
+lived where poisonous spiders, centipedes, scorpions, and all sorts of
+snakes come prowling into the house. I have jumped for my life far too
+often to be ashamed of a momentary forgetfulness that I was in England.
+Moreover, I was not aware that Millicent was forming a menagerie."
+
+"I hope to have a monkey soon," observed Minkie.
+
+"I'll take jolly good care you don't," said her father. "Monkeys are
+most mischievous brutes, and they disagree with every other animal near
+them. By the way, has Dan seen your new pet?"
+
+"Yes. They had quite a romp in the morning-room. You see I had to read
+Jack's letter to both Tibbie and Dan before I introduced Rikki."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't allude to Captain Stanhope as 'Jack.' It argues a
+familiarity which does not exist."
+
+"If you are speaking of the young gentleman who hailed you after
+church to-day, I should say you were justified in that remark," put in
+Schwartz.
+
+That showed the man's bad taste; but it told me something more. Since
+the morning, his manner towards the Guv'nor had altered. People say
+I am cruel when I play with a mouse, forgetting that I must practice
+every tricky twist and sidelong spring or I shall not be able to kill
+mice at all. However that may be, I can recognize the trait when I
+see it in others, and Schwartz looked and talked like a man who has
+another man under his thumb. Although her father may speak sharply to
+Minkie at times, he very strongly resents such a liberty being taken
+by an outsider. Perhaps he thought Schwartz regarded the allusion
+to a monkey as a personal matter. At any rate, when the parrot told
+Evangeline to go and boil her head there was a laugh, and the incident
+passed.
+
+Of course, I knew Minkie far too well to believe that she meant to let
+Schwartz say what he liked, but I did not expect her to drop such a
+bombshell on the table as she produced after the pudding appeared.
+
+"Talking of monkeys, Mr. Schwartz," she said when there was a pause in
+the conversation, "are there many in West Africa?"
+
+"Swarms," he replied, rather snappy, because he noticed that Minkie
+gave his name the German sound, which is funnier than our English way
+of saying it.
+
+"Do they worship them?"
+
+"No, they eat them."
+
+"Then why should they make one of their most powerful ju-jus like a
+monkey?"
+
+I imagine that for a moment Schwartz really forgot where he was. His
+eyes bulged forward, his face grew red, and big veins stood out on his
+forehead.
+
+"What--do you--know about it?" he gasped, glaring at her as though he
+wanted to run round the table and wring her neck.
+
+"Nothing," she answered meekly. "That is why I am asking you."
+
+"But you have some motive. Such a question is impossible coming from a
+child. Who told you anything of a ju-ju resembling a monkey?" Schwartz
+was almost shouting now, and the Old Man gave Mam an imploring glance.
+Mam tried to press Minkie's toes under the table, but Minkie just
+tucked her legs beneath her chair out of harm's way, and not a soul
+could catch her eye, because she and Schwartz were looking straight at
+each other.
+
+"After the affair last night I read about ju-jus and fetishism in the
+Encyclopædia," she said. "That was very interesting, but I really had
+in my mind what Jack--I mean Captain Stanhope--told me to-day. Prince
+John assures him that if the ju-ju you took from his people is not sent
+back before the spring rains there will be a rebellion in that country.
+So I felt certain it must be a monkey-headed one, made of ivory, with
+a little beaded skirt, as that is the most powerful ju-ju known among
+the Kwantus."
+
+I wonder Schwartz did not leap at her there and then. His eyes
+positively glittered. He exercised all his powers to regain his
+self-control, but his hands shook, and there was a curious tremor in
+his voice.
+
+"This information is, indeed, valuable to me," he said, dropping his
+tone to the ordinary level again. "No, I beg of you, Grosvenor, let
+Millicent continue. Do I gather that Captain Stanhope is in league with
+the negro thief who made his way to my room last night?"
+
+"Did I say that?" inquired Minkie, smiling at Schwartz in a way that
+those who knew her dreaded.
+
+"You implied it. Evidently your military friend enjoys Prince John's
+confidence."
+
+"Oh, if you put it that way you are right. Prince John is staying at
+the Manor House and Captain Stanhope is using his influence to keep him
+quiet."
+
+"He told you that."
+
+"And I believe him."
+
+"Did he actually describe the ju-ju to you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then how are you able to hit off its appearance so exactly?"
+
+"Because I'm a good guesser. Isn't that so, father dear?"
+
+The Guv'nor didn't seem to realize that Minkie had deliberately pulled
+him into the conversation. He was dreadfully upset, and he tried to
+cover his confusion by tackling her on the question of disobedience.
+
+"I told you to have nothing further to do with the Manor House people,"
+he said, and his voice was very harsh and stern, "yet it is evident you
+met and talked with young Stanhope to-day without my cognizance."
+
+"Yes. I met him near the Four Lanes. You said, father dear, that we
+were not to exchange postcards and winks, and that was all."
+
+"You knew quite well that I meant you to cut the acquaintance entirely.
+Millicent, what has come to you that you should disregard my wishes in
+this way?"
+
+"I am very sorry, dad. I did not think I was doing wrong. I promise
+now that I shall not speak to Captain Stanhope again until you give me
+permission. If I had really meant to disobey you I would hardly have
+told you so openly at table. My idea was that you would like to know
+all about this ju-ju which Mr. Schwartz has lost, and the queer effect
+it may have in causing a West African war."
+
+Poor Mam was nearly crying, and Dorothy's face was a study; she was
+terrified lest Minkie should blurt out the fact that she, too, was at
+the Four Lanes. As it happened, Minkie could not have mentioned a worse
+locality. It was the Four Lanes warren which first led to the quarrel
+between old Mr. Stanhope and the Guv'nor. There was a lawsuit about
+the shooting rights, which ought to have gone with our estate, but Mr.
+Stanhope's lawyers made out a flaw in a copyhold, whatever that may
+mean, and we lost. I wonder why men invented law. If they followed our
+example, and fought in the good old way, our Old Man would now own that
+warren.
+
+There might have been more unpleasant things said had not Polly yelled
+suddenly:
+
+"Fire! Murder! Per-lice! 'E dunno where 'e are!"
+
+The mongoose had just discovered that it was the parrot who was
+growling nasty remarks at Evangeline because she took the nuts from the
+sideboard without giving him any. Naturally, being a newcomer, Rikki
+was surprised, so he had jumped on to the window-sill to have a look
+at this queer bird. Minkie was told to put the mongoose in his box, as
+Evangeline declared she wouldn't touch such an awful objec', not for a
+million pounds.
+
+While Minkie was out of the room the Guv'nor tried to recover his good
+humor.
+
+"You must not pay heed to my little girl's way of expressing herself,
+Schwartz," he said. "We have rather encouraged her to be outspoken, and
+she has always been remarkably intelligent. Try that port. You will
+find it good, a '74, the last bottle, worse luck."
+
+"Here's to Holly Lodge and its owner, his wife and his charming
+daughters. May we all be sitting here this time next year!" cried
+Schwartz, lifting his glass and glancing at Dolly.
+
+It was a pleasant enough toast in its way, but again I had that feeling
+under the fur that the words meant a lot more than they expressed. Dan
+naturally said he saw nothing particular in them, but you will find I
+was right. I noticed, too, that Schwartz drank two glasses of the wine
+in quick succession, though he had declined a liqueur the previous
+evening. I mentioned this to Dan, but he only growled:
+
+"You see a sparrow behind every bush. Schwartz is a rotter, but he is
+behaving himself. Why, I have known Jim shift a quart of beer after
+he had said he wasn't thirsty, just because Mam told him to get some
+lemonade."
+
+"Have _you_ ever picked a bone after turning up your nose at a dog
+biscuit?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, but there might have been cat in the biscuit."
+
+I turned my back on him. He thinks that sort of low-down humor is
+clever, and he hurries away to tell Bob how he scored off me. Of
+course, he made tracks to the stable the moment dinner was ended, with
+the result that he missed quite a thrilling episode.
+
+Mam and Dorothy went to the drawing-room, but Schwartz, who was
+listening intently, heard Minkie go into the morning-room, whither I
+had followed her to study the mongoose at leisure. After a minute or
+two, he made the excuse that he wanted to show the Guv'nor a letter
+which he had left upstairs, and he came out, though I heard Poll
+warbling "Kiss me and call me your darling."
+
+He closed the door, walked across the hall to the foot of the stairs,
+and tip-toe'd back to the morning-room. Minkie looked at me, and I
+looked at Minkie.
+
+"Now for it!" she whispered.
+
+Schwartz entered. He had the glint in his eyes which I feel when I have
+a young thrush within range of a spring. He never turned his head, but
+kept glaring at Minkie while he fumbled with the lock till the door was
+shut. Then he crept, rather than walked, towards her.
+
+"Now, you young devil!" he hissed, "give it to me, or I'll strangle
+you."
+
+That was the right opening; I began to feel nervous, and when I say
+"nervous" I don't mean "frightened," like Evangeline is when the
+villain says something of the sort in the story she reads each week in
+the _Society Girl's Companion_; in fact, if she begins to wash up after
+finishing the instalment she is sure to smash something. No; that is
+the mistake Dan always makes. Had he been in the room during the next
+few minutes he would have alarmed the house by his stupid barking,
+because any one could see that Schwartz meant mischief. Certainly Dan
+would have bitten him first, whereas I hid under the leather chair.
+_Chacun à son gout_, as mademoiselle used to say when she saw Minkie
+kissing Bob's nose--my motto is "Defence, not defiance." But the
+species of nervousness I experienced was shared by Minkie. It was a
+kind of spiritual exaltation, a bracing of the muscles, a tuning of the
+heart-strings which carries one through a desperate crisis.
+
+For Schwartz was primed with wine, and maddened by the knowledge that
+he had been tricked by a girl, a girl who was able to survey his mean
+soul and appraise its miserable insufficiency. He thought to frighten
+her by letting the beast in him peep forth at her. Even if she screamed
+for protection, he counted on either securing the ju-ju or learning its
+whereabouts before her father could come to her rescue. Then he would
+explain that he was joking, while Minkie would receive scant sympathy
+when it became known that she had kept mum as to her possession of an
+article which he prized so greatly. Of course, he was sure she had the
+ju-ju, and Minkie did not commit the error of pretending she did not
+understand him.
+
+"Even if you were able to strangle me I could not give you what I have
+not got," said she, very quietly, standing straight, with her hands
+behind her back. I noticed that the fingers of her right hand were
+lightly resting in those of her left, with thumbs crossed, and that
+showed she was not going to struggle. I was somewhat surprised, because
+with those wiry hands of hers I have seen her bend a stout poker
+across her knee, and she could vault astride Bob's back from the ground
+by taking a twist of his mane in them. She has done that several times
+since she had an argument with Dolly one day last November, when she
+proved that Sir Walter Scott made young Lochinvar perform a remarkable
+gymnastic feat in the lines:
+
+     So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,
+     So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
+
+It was evident that young Lochinvar's right leg must have gone clean
+over the fair lady's picture hat, so _I_ think that the poet meant
+"clung"; but, anyhow, what I want to convey now is that Minkie could
+have landed on Schwartz's shoulders and tapped the bald spot on his
+head with one of the fire-irons at one and the same instant if she had
+meant to fight.
+
+Her attitude seemed to me to be rather foolhardy. No matter what you
+may say about the triumph of mind over matter I believe in having the
+brute force side of the thesis ready for action if necessary. Schwartz,
+however, thought she was afraid, which proves conclusively that he
+was a man of limited ideas, even if he were rich as Croesus. He did
+not believe her, though a gentleman should always pretend to believe
+a lady, even though he knows she is telling a fib. His mouth opened
+and he held his tongue between his teeth. He came nearer, carrying his
+hands up like a hawk's talons. This was partly pantomime and partly
+real. The pantomime was essential in Dale End; had Minkie been in the
+Kwantu bush she might have seen more of the reality; but then, under
+the latter conditions, she would have shown Schwartz a _savate_ kick
+which I taught her, and he must have bitten off the end of his tongue
+in learning it. One acquires a lot of capital dodges, I assure you,
+when defending the top of a wall on a dark night.
+
+Illustration: But she stood there quite motionless.
+
+But she stood there, quite motionless, a slight, elegant figure in
+white Surah silk, with black stockings and nice shiny shoes, on which
+were a pair of her Grandmother Faulkner's paste buckles, which Mam had
+just given her as a Christmas present. Her flaxen hair was tied with a
+ribbon of almost the same tint, and she wore a strip of the ribbon as a
+waist-belt. I wish somebody could have drawn her as she faced Schwartz,
+who was well dressed, of course, but whose leering face was like the
+satyr's in our garden. And he had called her a devil! Well, tastes
+differ, as I have remarked previously. Being only a cat, I don't know
+much about these things, but my money goes on Schwartz if there is a
+prize competition for a model of old Hoof and Horns.
+
+I have taken my time over this part of the story to enable you to
+realise the suspense, the wolfish aspect, the stealthy threatening of
+Schwartz's advance towards Minkie. Obviously, the mere clock ticking
+was short enough.
+
+"You lie!" he breathed again, so close that his wine-laden breath was
+offensive to her. Then he grasped her arms, and began to pass his
+coarse hands down her body. I am telling you the simple truth. He
+actually searched her clothes, pressing them to her limbs to make sure
+that his precious ju-ju was not secreted somewhere about her. I held
+my breath, and I really had it in my mind to jump up at his staring
+eyes, when I chanced to catch Minkie's contemptuous smile. Then I knew
+that she had fooled Schwartz again, had, in fact, expected him to adopt
+some such futile dodge, and had put the fetish in a secure hiding-place.
+
+Disappointment nearly drove the man off his balance. He was so enraged
+that he shook her violently.
+
+"You _must_ give it up," he said hoarsely. "I am determined to have it,
+now, this instant."
+
+Minkie remained quite passive.
+
+"If I call my father he will horsewhip you," she said coolly.
+
+"Give me that ju-ju," he almost whimpered, such was his fury.
+
+"You have satisfied yourself that I have not got it," she answered.
+"Take your hands off me, or it will be bad for you. If you ever dare to
+touch me again, you will never see it. If you try to behave as decently
+as you know how, I may, perhaps, discuss terms."
+
+It was ludicrous to watch his change of attitude. From a bold lion he
+became a cringing jackal. He almost wept with relief at the mention of
+the word "terms."
+
+"Anything you like," he cried eagerly. "What do you want--money,
+diamonds, anything?--but I must have it now."
+
+The man was crazy, talking that way to a girl just turned fourteen. Had
+she been ten years older she might have listened; twenty, and she might
+have closed the deal straight off. But Minkie was young enough to be
+chivalrous, and she meant to make Schwartz eat mud.
+
+"You cannot obtain it now," she said, speaking as calmly as she does
+to Mole when she wants the tennis net fixed. "You had better cool down
+rapidly, because you will not see your ju-ju until New Year's Day--"
+
+"What!" he yelled, forgetting himself and trying to grab her again.
+This time Minkie adopted tactics which I fully approved of. She sprang
+back and sideways, placing my chair between Schwartz and herself. Then
+she seized a heavy glass encrière.
+
+"One inch nearer and you receive this in the face," she said. "And I
+never miss," she added, seeing that Schwartz halted.
+
+Of course, I had to move quickly, too; as I passed Rikki's box I saw
+him gazing out with such a puzzled expression. It did not occur to me
+previously that he understands Hindustani better than English, which
+is a pity, as we never before have had any real excitement like this
+at Holly Lodge. It was as good as a play to see Schwartz glowering at
+Minkie, and estimating the effect of a two-pound inkpot if applied to
+his nose with a velocity of X miles per second. Talk about motor traps
+and policemen's stop watches--he made a lightning calculation I can
+assure you, and it was dead against any forward movement.
+
+"Suppose we abandon hostilities and discuss matters reasonably," he
+said, with another violent effort at self-control. "To begin with, I
+can compel you to hand over my property."
+
+"It is not your property. You stole it. It belongs to the Kwantu tribe.
+If I were to act with strict honesty, I should hand it to Prince John."
+
+Schwartz fell into the net like the silliest bunny that ever ran for a
+hedge. He assumed instantly that Minkie could be bribed.
+
+"You are too young to judge of such matters," he sneered. "Moreover, I
+have only to appeal to your father--"
+
+"You will find him in the dining-room."
+
+Poor Schwartz! I was beginning to pity him. Even the mongoose saw the
+joke, and grinned, because we hunting animals know all about bluff--we
+meet with lots of it down our way. He determined that it was advisable
+to deal with Minkie herself, which was precisely what she wanted. You
+see, these rich men think money will buy anything.
+
+"Why New Year's Day?" he asked anxiously, while I noticed that his
+collar was limp with perspiration. "Why not to-night? I have plenty of
+money in notes. And if more is needed, I would never dream of stopping
+a cheque once it is written."
+
+"I cannot give you the ju-ju before this day week," said Minkie. "I
+have my reasons, and I decline to state them. Nor can I tell you my
+terms until two or three days have passed. But I want £50 now for
+expenses. If you have not that sum with you, I can wait until to-morrow
+or the day after."
+
+Schwartz gazed at her with amazement. He was burning to ask her a
+dozen questions, but Dan came scratching and sniffing at the door, so
+they might be interrupted any moment. The man dared not forego the
+opportunity of clinching the bargain, yet his greed kept him back.
+
+"Fifty pounds!--expenses!" he protested. "Why, how much do you expect
+me to pay for the thing itself?"
+
+"No matter," said Minkie. "I can easily get the money elsewhere."
+
+He knew she meant the Manor House, and that frightened him. Dan kept
+scratching away, and saying: "Let me in! What's on? Bones and cleavers,
+open the door!" Schwartz produced a pocketbook, and pulled out a note.
+
+"There!" he cried, "will that suffice?"
+
+It was fifty pounds all right, but Minkie did not trouble to examine it.
+
+"Yes," she said. "I can change it at the bank if necessary."
+
+"And you promise--"
+
+"You shall have your ju-ju on New Year's Day."
+
+"But I insist on learning something further as to its safety. How can
+you be sure Prince John--"
+
+Just then Mam heard Dan damaging our best paint; she crossed the hall
+and flung the door wide.
+
+"This wretched dog--" she began, but stopped short on seeing Schwartz
+and Minkie. Schwartz swallowed something, and grinned like a death's
+head.
+
+"This mongoose is an extraordinary creature," he said. "I have taken
+quite a fancy to him...."
+
+He rejoined the Guv'nor, as he had the letter in his pocketbook all the
+time. Dolly was playing and singing "Du, du liegst mir im Herzen," so
+Mam thought she had a good chance of explaining matters to Minkie.
+
+"I hope you will be nice to Mr. Schwartz if he takes an interest in
+your pets," she said. "You annoyed your father considerably during
+dinner by your unwarrantable hostility to our guest. I am more than
+surprised at you."
+
+"Please forgive me, mother dear. And you might tell Dad that I have
+cleared away all misunderstandings between Mr. Schwartz and myself."
+
+"Misunderstandings, child! How can you possibly use such a word where a
+gentleman is concerned of whom you have seen so little?"
+
+"There are some people whom one gets to know very quickly. Do you
+remember the burglar whom our policeman caught as he was climbing the
+rectory wall? Those two had never seen each other before, yet we met
+them coming down the road arm-in-arm."
+
+Mam laughed. "You are always ready enough to turn a difficult
+conversation when it suits your purpose. Why don't you show equal tact
+in your remarks to Mr. Schwartz? I would not ask this, Millicent, if I
+had not a special reason."
+
+"Tell me, mummy dear. Is Mr. Schwartz going to lend Dad some money?"
+
+"You certainly are the most amazing child!" cried Mam. "Who told you
+that?"
+
+"No one. I just imagined it; and I will tell you why. One day last week
+I saw that Dad was awfully cut up about something he read in the paper.
+It was about the Kwantu Mines, Limited. I know, because I picked up the
+paper in order to see what was worrying Dad."
+
+"But you shouldn't," said Mam, though her lips quivered a little. Now,
+there is not a person alive who can be more affectionate than Minkie
+with those whom she loves. I like being petted myself, so I know. She
+put her arms round her mother and whispered:
+
+"I hope Dad and you won't fret. I am sure everything will come right in
+the end. Don't you think it is a sign of something out of the common
+going to happen when this black prince comes to our house, a man from
+the very place which is causing Dad so much trouble?"
+
+While Mam searched for her handkerchief Dan muttered to me:
+
+"A pretty game you've been having here while I was looking after
+affairs outside. What has Schwartz been up to? And what good is a cat,
+anyhow?"
+
+That put my back up.
+
+"Let me tell you that if you had been in this room during the past five
+minutes you would have made a beastly fool of yourself and spoiled the
+finest bit of sport we've ever had," said I.
+
+He was so tickled with conceit that he sneezed.
+
+"Go away and play, pussy," he sniggered. "You me-ow while I act. Why,
+I've been chasing niggers all over the place."
+
+That startled me. Bad as he is, Dan never lies.
+
+"Chasing niggers!" I cried. "Is there more of 'em?"
+
+"I counted no less than five," he growled, strutting about in great
+style, and rather alarming the mongoose. I assure you his news so upset
+me that I paid no attention to what Minkie and Mam were saying until I
+heard Minkie mention Jack's name.
+
+"I wish you could persuade Dad to see Captain Stanhope," she said. "The
+merest little note would bring him here to-morrow, and there can be no
+doubt he would give Dad some very useful information."
+
+"Ah, my dear, if I had my way things would be different," sighed Mam;
+then, feeling that discussion would do no good, she bustled out,
+bidding Minkie turn the gas low and come to the drawing-room.
+
+Dan was bursting to get Minkie outside and let her know about the
+suspicious characters who were prowling round our house, but she
+wouldn't listen to him.
+
+"Oh, be quiet," she commanded. "I want to do a sum."
+
+First, she took the crisp note out of her pocket and looked to see if
+it was really fifty pounds.
+
+"Let me reckon up," she said then. "I began yesterday with a crooked
+sixpence. I gave the porter a shilling out of Schwartz's fiver for
+telling me Jack arrived by the 4.20. So now I have fifty-four pounds,
+nineteen shillings and sixpence. Good old ju-ju! Keep it going! I am
+pretty strong in arithmetic, but if you maintain that rate of increase
+until New Year's Day, I shall lose count. Anyhow, they'll want a
+bigger bank at Dale End. Now, Dan, I'm ready. What is it?"
+
+But, before she crossed the hall, she rescued the ju-ju from its
+hiding-place at the back of the grandfathers clock.
+
+
+
+
+THE BLACK MAN'S WAY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE BLACK MAN'S WAY
+
+_Told by Polly, the Parrot_
+
+
+You will observe that I was left in the dining-room with the Guv'nor.
+Those insignificant quadrupeds, Dan and Tib, thought that I was out of
+the fun. They always do think that, until they come smirking to me for
+news; then they go off and backbite me behind my tail feathers. That
+impudent whelp, Dan, sidled up this morning to ask me what a mongoose
+was. When I was weak enough, at the mention of grapes, to tell him it
+was an ichneumon, he had the cheek to call me some outlandish name
+that no decent bird would dream of using. I'll make it hot for him,
+see if I don't. And that yellow-eyed Tibbie, for all her dainty ways
+and quiet talk, is not much better. Sometimes, when I have a bath, I
+flick a few drops of water over her, and she looks at me as much as
+to say: "Oh, if only I could lay a paw on you!" Yet, mark my word,
+she'll be trotting in here for a chat as soon as I say a word about the
+discussion between Schwartz and the Old Man.
+
+I have been keeping an eye on the Guv'nor recently. Between you and me,
+it was he who taught me all the funny bits I know. There is nothing he
+enjoys more than to hear Mam exclaim: "Dear me! How in the world does
+the bird learn those vulgar songs?" It's as easy as sitting on a rail.
+Some Italian ragamuffins come to Dale End occasionally with a Handel
+piano--eh, what? not that sort of handle; well, you know the thing I
+mean--and I pick up the tunes. When the Guv'nor hears me whistling them
+he sings the words, and at the next chance I get I amaze Mam with "My
+Irish Molly O" or "Why do they call me the Gibson Girl?" The Guv'nor
+finds out all about these things in London. Once Minkie asked him how
+he did it, and he told her he learnt them from the office-boy. I wish I
+knew that boy.
+
+Now, it's a solemn fact that I have not added a line to my collection
+during the past month. I know several new airs, and I have whistled
+them regularly, but the Old Man remains silent. At first I imagined
+that perhaps the office-boy had a swollen face, but soon I felt sure
+my teacher had lost his spirits. Minkie noticed it, but I found it out
+long before her. You see, we parrots are very wise birds, quick to
+observe, and able to examine any new notion from all points of view; my
+habit of looking at Dan upside down riles him far more than the silly
+things I shout at him.
+
+Minkie, I gathered, guessed that her father was in trouble over some
+Stock Exchange business, and the mention of Kwantu by Captain Stanhope
+brought back to her mind the name of the mining company whose affairs,
+as discussed in a newspaper, seemed to be the cause of the worry. But
+it was I, the "giddy acrobat," as Dan calls me, who hit on the real
+mystery, and I made even stolid Bob wild before I told him all about it
+next day.
+
+While Schwartz was interviewing Minkie in the morning-room, the Guv'nor
+sat and stared at the fire. He was smoking, but he didn't seem to
+enjoy his cigar, and he had that queer look in his face which men call
+despair. 'Pon my honor, I would rather be a bird than a man any day. We
+feathered folk don't sigh and abandon hope when things go wrong. Why,
+the commonest little sparrow in the garden would chirp his contempt if
+anybody suggested to him that he should lie down and die just because
+he couldn't find an insect under the first leaf he turned over. Die,
+indeed! Not he! He works all the harder, and is very likely to be
+rewarded by a fine fat grub under the next bush.
+
+It was quite evident that the Guv'nor had not realized the length of
+Schwartz's absence when that gentleman reappeared. He looked up, rather
+miserably, and said:
+
+"I am sorry to have troubled you in the matter, Schwartz. And I fear
+you are having a poor time of it, what between the recital of my
+difficulties and the unfortunate incident which took place last night."
+
+"Last night's affair will adjust itself in a day or two," answered
+Schwartz, grimly, thinking, no doubt, of the £50 note he had just
+tossed to Minkie. "The really important item now is this absurd
+predicament of yours, Grosvenor--"
+
+"Don't forget that the suggestion came from you in the first instance."
+
+"I am well aware you asked me to let you know if there was anything
+good going," said Schwartz, rather stiffly. "My friends usually follow
+my judgment with satisfactory results, and I was quite certain that
+this Kwantu mine was a swindle, but how was I to ascertain that this
+special flotation was to be made use of for a squeeze? And you are not
+the only fish struggling in the net."
+
+"Then the others have my sympathy. Yet it was a piece of lunacy on my
+part to indulge in a heavy bear speculation in interests of which I
+was utterly ignorant. I don't mind losing a hundred or two in a fair
+gamble, and I have usually come out on the right side of the ledger,
+but it was the worst sort of madness to sell a thousand shares in a
+West African Company. Good heavens! What right has a man who is almost
+a sleeping partner in a city warehouse to dabble in concerns like
+that!"
+
+"Let me see," said Schwartz, giving his friend a quick side look as he
+took a letter from his pocket, "you sold at something over par?"
+
+"Yes," answered the Guv'nor, still gazing at the fire.
+
+"And they are now at 6-1/4?"
+
+"Yes. Over £5,000 gone already, and the special settlement due on the
+10th of next month."
+
+"Can you buy at that price?"
+
+"I suppose so. Unhappily, I am a child in these matters. I honestly
+believe that my little Millicent would have avoided this trap which I
+blundered into so easily."
+
+"Um-m," said Schwartz.
+
+"But surely your inquiries have not led you to expect the price to go
+higher?" demanded the Guv'nor, growing almost white with misery.
+
+"My dear fellow," cried the other man blandly, "when you are in
+the hands of unscrupulous rascals you never know when they will be
+satisfied. The thing is beautifully simple. You and others have sold a
+bear. You are called on to deliver your shares, which you cannot do,
+for the very good reason that the market is controlled by the people
+who bought all the shares offered. You have fallen among thieves. There
+is no telling what price they may force things up to before they let
+go."
+
+"Then the issue is quite plain," said the Guv'nor, rising with the air
+of a man who has no more to say. "It will cripple, indeed, almost ruin
+me to raise five thousand pounds. Any material advance on that amount
+means bankruptcy, with goodness knows what evil results to my wife and
+daughters. If there is any law in the land it should not be possible
+for men to crush others in this barefaced way."
+
+"The law cannot help you. But sit down, Grosvenor. Let us hammer this
+thing out. I have tried to ascertain the identity of the promoters, and
+I have failed. Here is the letter my brokers wrote me yesterday. You
+see they say that the company is registered in Jersey, and the nominal
+directors are mere figure-heads. The real manipulators of the stock do
+not appear on the surface--"
+
+"Surely you, who are so well acquainted with West Africa, can make a
+tolerably accurate guess as to the people behind the scenes?"
+
+"If I had the slightest grounds for naming any one I should not only
+tell you, Grosvenor, but I would gladly lend my personal assistance in
+arranging matters."
+
+The Old Man read the typewritten letter which Schwartz gave him.
+Of course, I did not know then what was in it, but it seemed to
+substantiate Schwartz's statements.
+
+"Amazing thing!" he murmured. "And that I should be such a fool! I
+only wanted to earn an extra hundred or so, for the sake of the girls,
+to give them some little luxuries which diminishing dividends hardly
+permit of, and this is the result--I find myself on the very brink of
+ruin. Ah, well! Let me apologize again for--"
+
+"Have you any objection, then, to a full and frank discussion of the
+matter with me?"
+
+Illustration: The Old Man read the typewritten letter which Schwartz
+gave him.
+
+"Great Scott, no! Why do you put such a question?"
+
+"Please sit down, then. The ladies can spare us from the drawing-room
+a little longer. Dorothy is singing, and Millicent is--er--engaged
+with her new pet, while Mrs. Grosvenor will not object, I am sure,
+if we smoke another cigar. Now, to come to the point. I have been
+thinking matters over during the day, and I have a proposition to make
+which may commend itself to you. It is no secret to you that I admire
+your elder daughter very much. Were I your prospective son-in-law,
+Grosvenor, I would be prepared to take your liabilities on to my own
+shoulders. And let me say at once that I am not bargaining with you for
+Dorothy's hand. You know that I was anxious to pay her my addresses in
+Ostend, and this Kwantu business was not in existence at that time. You
+gave a conditional assent to my suit then. Now I am only asking you
+to exercise a little judicious parental pressure on a charming girl
+who hardly knows her own mind. I am sure you will not think the less
+of me because I endeavor to gain my own ends whilst coming to your
+assistance."
+
+I whistled loudly in my surprise. I couldn't help it, but it seemed to
+annoy Schwartz, who glared at me quite vindictively. The Guv'nor, of
+course, paid no heed, being accustomed to my interruptions.
+
+"It is awfully good of you," he said slowly, "and I admit the justice
+of your contention that your wish to marry Dorothy is nothing new. But
+I have always held it a fixed principle, which my wife shares with me,
+that parents should neither force their children to marry for money nor
+withhold their consent to marriages based on love, unless the drawbacks
+are out of all reason. As I understand the position, Dorothy did not
+exactly refuse you at Ostend, but simply declared that she had no wish
+to leave her home for some years to come?"
+
+"Yes. That is so."
+
+"Then, if I go to her now, and tell her you stipulate for her hand as a
+condition for extricating me from--"
+
+"Forgive me," broke in Schwartz, with a certain prompt candor which did
+him credit as an actor. "I don't ask that. I only want your permission
+to approach her myself."
+
+"But you had that six months ago."
+
+"Yes, and I am exceedingly grateful to you. What I seek to-day is your
+promise to further my request by varying your attitude from passive
+approval to active support."
+
+He was artful, that Schwartz. The Old Man wriggled a bit, but he hardly
+knew what to say. He was a thoroughbred, you see, and he hated the idea
+of bartering one of his girls for five thousand pounds. Yet Schwartz
+was what ladies who come to tea call "a good catch," and it was quite
+true that he was after Dorothy months before anybody at Holly Lodge so
+much as heard the word "Kwantu." And the Guv'nor was a proud man, too.
+It was Schwartz himself who had led him to believe that it would be an
+easy thing to make money by selling shares in this mine, yet Minkie
+told me afterwards that he seemed to be quite surprised when her father
+informed him that he had taken the "tip" and sold heavily. That was
+in November, when the mine was floated, and Schwartz had been absent
+in Paris until the third week in December. Now, as the German was a
+millionaire, and had landed a friend in a hole by his advice, it was
+reasonable enough to expect him to lend a helping hand, yet there could
+be no doubt he meant to take advantage of the difficulty and compel
+Dorothy to marry him to save her father.
+
+I saw the bearings of the game far more clearly than the Guv'nor. My
+own opinion was that Schwartz was a regular scamp, and my experience of
+scamps is fairly wide, as I hail from South America. You would hardly
+credit the ups and downs of my life--no wonder I can take a man's
+measure with fair accuracy. I began my education in an Indian village,
+after discovering that a baited trap is not exactly what it looks like.
+Then I went by train to Montevideo, and the things I learnt there would
+make you weep if I told you even the half which the Spanish language
+permits. A nigger fireman knifed my owner, a saloon-keeper, and was
+one of a crowd which cleared out the bar before the patrol came. He
+brought me to New York, and pawned me to an East-side crimp. I was
+stolen from there, and hung outside a sixth-floor tenement until I was
+sold to a bird-fancier in Eighth Avenue. He was a Dago, so I need say
+no more about him. If Mam understood the least little bit of Italian
+she wouldn't keep me in the house five minutes, but you bet I take a
+rise out of those organ-grinders when they come touting for coppers.
+Giovanni traded me for five dollars to a patriotic American named
+O'Reilly, and he gave me a university course which ended suddenly by
+his going to Sing-Sing, while I was seized, with the remainder of the
+furniture, by another American citizen named Rosenbaum. During the
+annual fire at his place I was rescued by a ship's steward, who liked
+the way I talked. On the way to England he died from want of proper
+liquid nourishment, and the crew would have kept me in the forecastle
+if some old girl had not complained to the captain of the dreadful
+language used by one of the men whenever she leaned over the forward
+rail. How was I to know she could speak the tongues of the Sunny South?
+
+Believe me, even after I arrived at Liverpool, my adventures would fill
+a book, but I have said enough to show that I was ready to appreciate a
+good home when the Guv'nor found me in Leadenhall Market, and took me
+to Dale End as a present to Minkie. More than that, you never really
+appreciate a good home until you have had a few bad ones, and it is in
+the latter that you obtain any genuine schooling in the darker side of
+human nature.
+
+So it is obvious that I watched Schwartz with my eyes skinned. I sized
+up the situation this way. Schwartz meant to press the Old Man just
+a little short of breaking point, and was far more anxious to bring
+about an agreement than he permitted to be seen. I was aching to give
+the Guv'nor a pointer, but I couldn't, as my acquaintance with English
+is peculiar, and he is not able to catch on my meaning like Minkie. If
+only he had raised Schwartz before the draw, as they say in poker, his
+adversary would not have been so sure of his cards. As it was, he tried
+to evade the final struggle.
+
+"After all," he said, with a brave attempt at a smile, "this is a poor
+way to spend Christmas night. Suppose we adjourn to the drawing-room
+now, and try to forget for a while that mines may be bottomless pits."
+
+Schwartz was well content to leave it at that.
+
+"May I have my letter?" he said.
+
+The Guv'nor handed it to him, but it was not yet refolded when Minkie
+burst into the room.
+
+"Please come, dad!" she cried. "And you, too, Mr. Schwartz! Jim says
+that the house is simply surrounded by black men."
+
+Of course, Schwartz had no grit in him: his type of man never has.
+He went pale, shook a bit, and leaned back against the table, and I
+noticed that the letter fell from his fingers to the floor. After a
+breathless question or two from the men as to what Jim meant by his
+extraordinary statement, they all rushed out. I turned a couple of
+summersaults, and was about to sing "Tell me, pretty maiden," when I
+saw a sharp snout thrust inquiringly round the jamb of the door. It was
+the mongoose.
+
+"Welcome, little stranger," I said, but he didn't seem to grasp idioms
+quickly, so I gave him the only chunk of Hindustani I possess.
+
+"Jao! you soor-ka-butcha," I shouted. One of my sailor friends says
+that is a polite way of asking after another gentleman's health, but
+the mongoose looked up at me and wanted to know (in proper animalese)
+why I was calling him names.
+
+"I didn't," I said.
+
+"But you did," he retorted.
+
+"Well, I didn't mean to. I thought that when the first mate said that
+to a lascar he meant 'Wot oh, 'ow's yer pore feet?'"
+
+"You shouldn't use words you don't understand," said Rikki, quite sharp.
+
+"Keep your wool on; you'll need it before the frost breaks. What's this
+I hear about niggers outside? Are they after the fowls?"
+
+"Dan says they want to kidnap Schwartz."
+
+"Look here, young fuzzy-wuzzy, not so free with your 'Dan' and
+'Schwartz.' You haven't joined the Gang until I pass you. Just try to
+remember that. Nice thing! You'll be addressing me as 'Poll' next, I
+suppose? Now, if you want to make yourself useful, pick up that piece
+of paper on the carpet near the leg of the table, and carry it into
+your cage. Mind you don't eat it. Miss Millicent may want it."
+
+"Is that Minkie?"
+
+"There you go again. 'Minkie,' indeed, and you not two hours in the
+house!"
+
+"Sorry."
+
+"Well, if you behave yourself properly I'll forgive you this time.
+Before you go, kindly pass those nuts from the sideboard."
+
+"What kind of nuts are they?" said Rikki, thoughtfully.
+
+"Brazil. They're rank poison for mongooses."
+
+"Oh." He leaped up and gazed at the dish. "Shabàsh!" he said, cracking
+one. "They're good eating."
+
+"I'll shabàsh you," I screamed. "Help! Thieves! Hi, hi, hi! Oh, mother,
+look at Dick!"
+
+"What's the row now?" demanded Tib, trotting in from the hall.
+
+"Tib, if you love me, chase that red-haired vagabond away from my
+nuts," I implored her.
+
+"Oh, it's always the same old song with you," she grinned. "Any one
+would think you were being murdered. Rikki is really doing you a good
+turn, Poll. Too many nuts are bad for you. Evangeline said so."
+
+Ingratitood, thy name is cat! I fairly boiled over. I even called
+Evangeline such things that she came running in with a stick. And, of
+course, she never saw that cunning fox, Rikki. He sneaked out while she
+was beating me, but he took the letter with him, and I wouldn't be the
+least bit astonished if he told Minkie he had done it off his own bat.
+
+Exactly why Minkie brought the Guv'nor and Schwartz out of the
+dining-room in such a whirl I never discovered. She would have told
+me in a minute if I had thought of asking her, but things happened
+at such a rate during the next few days that I had plenty to do to
+keep track of current events without bothering my head over ancient
+history. I fancy she disturbed their conversation purposely. She knew
+Schwartz was in a desperate mood, and would endeavor to force her
+father to serve his ends. Mam's statement, too, backed up by Dorothy's
+hints and the plain tale she had read in the newspaper, gave her an
+all-round glimpse of the facts concerning Kwantus, and Dan was quite
+right when he said that Minkie had invoked the ju-ju's aid in a plan
+for the undoing of Schwartz. She told us what it was when we all met in
+the stable on Boxing Day, but, of course, you will excuse me for not
+mentioning it yet. To be candid, I daren't. We renewed the vow of the
+Gang in solemn state, and Rikki was sworn in as a new member at the
+same time. He was admitted thus promptly on account of his services
+with regard to that letter, which was a jolly sight more important than
+it sounded, and I must say he behaved rather handsomely, because he not
+only gave me full credit for the suggestion that he should nab it, but
+he told me privately he was sorry about those nuts.
+
+Our vow is a jolly serious affair. We bind ourselves to be loyal to
+the Gang "by hoof and claw, by beak and tooth, in air, on earth, and
+in water." Each member pledges himself or herself to "sink all private
+feud the instant any other member is threatened by an external enemy,
+whether with two, three, or four legs." We also promise to be loyal to
+our leader Minkie, and to protect and help all inmates of Holly Lodge,
+and, in token of fealty and allegiance, each of us has to hold up a
+foot or claw.
+
+Dan, naturally, tried to be clever, and suggested that the words "or
+itself" should be inserted after the word "herself," on the ground
+that no one knew the sex of a zygodactyl; he could not meet my eye,
+and pretended to snigger, but Minkie told him not to be rude. It
+may surprise some people to hear that we made common cause against
+three-legged adversaries, but that is easily explained. One day last
+summer, while Jim was washing Bob in the yard, and Dan was routing
+among some plant pots for a rat, a travelling menagerie passed our
+house, and a kangaroo leaped over the garden wall and landed in the
+midst of us. My cage was slung to the walnut tree, and I was so scared
+that I fell from my perch. Dan, with all his faults, is certainly a
+courageous beast, because he sprang at the stranger, and received a
+kick that knocked him clean over the cucumber frame. Jim fell into
+the pail, but Bob whisked round and gave the kangaroo a postman's
+double tap on the ribs that sent him flying back to his caravan. Dan,
+who was furious, alleged that the beast used his tail as a leg, and
+never touched the ground with his fore-legs at all. Jim bore out his
+statement, so the vow brought in the three-legged variety, to make sure.
+
+I asked if Evangeline were included in the word "inmates," and Minkie
+said it was a frivolous question. I quite agree with her. Holly Lodge
+isn't a lunatic asylum.
+
+Yet any outsider might be pardoned the mistake if he heard our
+light-headed housemaid telling Cookie the things she saw when she went
+to the post, just before she beat me with a cane. _I_ know that post.
+It is a gate-post, and it has a young man leaning against it.
+
+"Fust one nigger kem past, an' his eyes rolled something 'orrible,"
+she said. "Then two kem from the hoppo-site direction, an' their eyes
+rolled wuss nor the other's. 'Tell you wot, Lena,' Bill said to me, 'I
+don't like this. I'm for 'ome,' and he left me standin' there, with all
+those orful blacks prowlin' round like lions. Did you ever 'ear of such
+a thing? I'm finished with Bill; I wouldn't look at him again not if he
+had twenty milk-walks. I ran for my life, an' found Jim. He whistled
+Dan, an' it did me good to see the way that dorg began to clear the
+road, but Jim called him orf, 'cause he says a nigger has as much right
+to live as any other sort of man, and those fellows were a-behavin' of
+themselves. That's as may be; if there's much more of these goin's on
+'ere I give my month's notice."
+
+What do you think of that for a School Board education? If I couldn't
+talk better than Evangeline I'd borrow some black-lead and set up as a
+jack daw.
+
+It seems that the Old Man and Schwartz did not come across any negroes.
+Probably Dan had frightened them, if Prince John had told his friends
+what sort of a Rugger tackle Dan could put up. But Minkie is sharp,
+dreadful sharp. The moment I mentioned Jim's remark to Evangeline,
+she fastened on to it instantly. Jim was washing the victoria in the
+coach-house, and she went straight to him.
+
+"When did you last meet Prince John?" she inquired, planting her
+feet well apart, and holding her hands behind her back. She wore her
+blue serge that morning, and had a beaver hat set well clear of her
+forehead. As the weather was cold, though fine, she had tight-fitting
+brown gaiters over her strong boots, and she looked fit for any game
+that might present itself.
+
+Jim shuffled from one foot to the other, and scratched the tip of his
+ear.
+
+"I don't exactly remember, miss," he said.
+
+"Take time, James. There is no hurry. Just think."
+
+"Well, it might ha' bin at the Marquis o' Granby; yesterday after tea."
+
+"And what did he say?"
+
+"He said it was a powerful shame a furriner should come to a British
+colony an' steal a thing which a lot o' pore blacks thought more of
+than anybody could imagine."
+
+"And then he paid for another round of beer?"
+
+"Well, miss, if you put it that way--"
+
+"And he asked you to search for his black bag, and particularly for a
+little ivory doll which was inside it?"
+
+"Why, _you_ must ha' bin talkin' to him, too, miss!"
+
+"No, James. I'm just guessing. What did you say to him?"
+
+"I didn't see any harm in tellin' him that there was no sich thing
+anywheres in our grounds, an' Evangeline is sure it isn't in Mr.
+Schwartz's bedroom."
+
+"Do you think it quite right, James, to go to the Marquis o' Granby and
+discuss our affairs with a negro in a public bar?"
+
+"You'll pardon me, miss, but that ain't a fair way of puttin' it. This
+prince chap an' the rest of us had a rough an' tumble on Christmas
+Eve, an' I slung him out of the front gate all fair an' square. It was
+a perfectly nateral thing to meet 'im afterwards an' 'ave a friendly
+chat over a pint."
+
+"All right. The matter remains between you and me. But I want you to
+promise that if Prince John, or any other negro, approaches you again,
+and tries to get information, you will tell me everything at the first
+opportunity."
+
+"Of course, miss, I promise that. You can't think I would go agin the
+people in Holly Lodge, can you?"
+
+Applause from the stable. Even Rikki joined in with his squeak, though
+he could hardly make out what Jim was saying. Nevertheless, Minkie had
+not finished with our unhappy groom yet. I was glad to hear Jim getting
+it. He grumbles every time he puts fresh sand in my cage.
+
+"Did you arrange to meet him to-day?" she demanded.
+
+"Yes, miss," he said.
+
+"When and where?"
+
+"Well, I said as 'ow the carriage might not be wanted after five, an' I
+would walk to the other side of the green, when there would not be so
+many people about."
+
+"And what were you to tell him?"
+
+"Well, just any gossip that was goin', especially about Mr. Schwartz."
+
+"And how much did he promise to give you?"
+
+Jim looked rather sheepish. His skin is the color of a brick, but I
+fancy he took on a beet-root tinge.
+
+"I believe a sovereign was mentioned, miss," he admitted.
+
+"Here is your sovereign, James. Please oblige me by not meeting Prince
+John to-night."
+
+"Oh, I can't take it. I really can't; not from you, Miss Millicent.
+Why, I could never look you in the face again."
+
+"Take it, please. It is not my money. You know very well that I have
+no sovereigns to give away. And, when you meet the prince, I want you
+to tell him plainly that you must not hold any further conversation
+with him. If my father knew of yesterday's talk he would be exceedingly
+angry."
+
+"I thought that already, miss. Blest if I can imagine how _you_ found
+out so much."
+
+I laughed. I was the only member of the Gang, except Minkie, who saw
+how important was Evangeline's yarn to Cookie. Dan was very sore about
+what he called Jim's treachery, but Bob told him not to be a fool.
+"When the beer is in the wit is out," he said, and Bob ought to know,
+as he soaked up gallons of it while the Guv'nor and Mam and Dorothy
+were in Ostend last summer.
+
+All that day there was electricity in the atmosphere. Tibbie said she
+felt it in her fur. Everybody in the village could speak of nothing
+else but the extraordinary collection of negroes who had invaded what
+the guidebook calls "a peaceful retreat." At last, even the local
+policeman became aware that something unusual was taking place, and he
+strolled majestically up our drive to make inquiries.
+
+The Guv'nor met him, and said Mr. Schwartz's presence accounted for the
+sudden access of color to the landscape.
+
+"My friend has large interests in West Africa," he explained, "and
+the mere fact that he is staying at Dale End has drawn to this
+neighborhood many natives who are at present residing in England."
+
+"From information received," quoth Robert, "I have reason to believe,
+sir, that a larceny on your premises is intended by some of these
+blacks."
+
+"Nonsense! That story has arisen owing to one of them's thrusting
+himself in here on Christmas Eve."
+
+Schwartz asked the Old Man to head off any police interference in that
+way. So the law marched back to the village and took off its belt. Yet
+every man, woman, and child in Dale End resembled so many full soda
+syphons: the moment you touched them they spurted bubbles, and all
+the gas that escaped was chat concerning our sable visitors. It soon
+became known that there were three negroes staying at the Manor, and
+four at the Marquis o' Granby. They had plenty of money, which they
+spent freely; but there could not be the slightest doubt that they were
+hostile to us at Holly Lodge, and the maids at the Marquis o' Granby
+spread the story that the blacks had some awful-looking choppers among
+their luggage. From the description I recognized these as machetes.
+
+When Schwartz accompanied Dorothy to her old nurse's cottage during the
+afternoon, some idiot told two negroes who were standing at the door
+of the inn that the millionaire was just walking across the green with
+Miss Grosvenor. The black men muttered something, rolled their eyes in
+a manner that would have given Evangeline hysterics, and dogged the
+couple all the way back to our place.
+
+That started a rumor of attempted murder which set the village in an
+uproar, and there was some danger of an attack on the strangers until
+P. C. Banks gave his personal assurance that Mr. Grosvenor himself had
+said the negroes were perfectly harmless. Altogether, Boxing Day was
+lively. I began to think of old times in South America, when we had a
+revolution every twenty-four hours, and I used to ask the baker each
+morning, "Who is President to-day?"
+
+But the night passed without any special incident. I had a few words
+with the mongoose after dinner because I chanced to call him "Mickey"
+instead of "Rikki," and Dan and Tib had a spar about some cutlet bones;
+such breezes, however, are not uncommon in the best families, and, in
+distinct contrast with us, harmony reigned in the drawing-room, where
+Schwartz made himself agreeable to all parties, even to Minkie.
+
+Picture to yourself, then, the terrific excitement which sprang up next
+day at luncheon-time when Minkie was missing! I first heard of it from
+Dan, who rushed in and yelped:
+
+"Have you seen Minkie anywhere?"
+
+"Yes," said I, breathlessly.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Here."
+
+"When?"
+
+"At breakfast."
+
+"Goose!" he hissed, and ran out again.
+
+Of course, I was only taking a rise out of him. I had no notion that
+his search was serious until I heard Mam weeping when the Guv'nor came
+back after driving all round the village, and calling at every house he
+could think of.
+
+"Oh, Tom," she sobbed, crying as if her heart would break, "if any
+harm has befallen our darling I shall not survive it."
+
+"Why do you take such a gloomy view of a trivial absence from home?" he
+asked, though his voice did not bear out the carelessness of his words.
+"You know well enough what an extraordinary child Millicent is. We can
+never tell what queer thing she may be doing."
+
+Mam was not to be comforted in that way.
+
+"Millicent has always asked permission if she wished to be away at meal
+time, and Dandy is not with her. I would not be so frightened if the
+dog had gone, too. Tom, what shall we do if she is not home before it
+is dark? I shall go mad."
+
+Dorothy was weeping also, and I heard Evangeline snivel something
+about them there black villains as was up to no good, she was sure.
+That was the worst thing she could have said. Mam simply refused to
+remain in the house when the light failed. She was going to ask Captain
+Stanhope's help, she declared. He knew a good deal about these negroes,
+and she was certain he would move heaven and earth to discover Minkie's
+whereabouts, because he loved the child as if she were his own sister.
+
+The Guv'nor saw that Mam was not fit to venture out, so he persuaded
+her to let him go to the Manor and see Jack. Schwartz, who was really
+beside himself with anxiety, tried hard to console Mam and Dorothy
+during the Guv'nor's absence, though he personally was in a fine pickle
+which they knew nothing of.
+
+He was afraid Minkie had been attacked, either on account of the ju-ju
+or the money he had given her, but he simply dared not say anything
+about his suspicions. At last, after an hour that had a thousand
+minutes, the Guv'nor returned. Mam saw by her first glance at his face
+that he brought bad news. She gave a deep sigh, and fainted clean away.
+
+I heard Bob telling Dan something outside, but I was forced to
+listen to what the Guv'nor was saying to Schwartz, while Dorothy and
+Evangeline and Cookie were trying to revive Mam.
+
+"It's a bad business, I fear," he whispered, holding on to the back
+of a chair like a man who thinks he may fall. "I met Stanhope and
+his uncle at the Manor, and even the older Stanhope was aghast when
+I told him my errand. It was the first they had heard of Minkie's
+disappearance, and Jack is now procuring the arrest of every negro in
+Dale End."
+
+"I would like to burn them alive," broke in Schwartz, and he meant it,
+too, for he was on the rack.
+
+"But that is not all," went on the Old Man hoarsely. "My poor little
+girl was seen talking to one of these devils last evening, at dusk, at
+the further end of the green. And to-day, the moment the Bank was open,
+she changed a fifty-pound note. There can be no doubt about it. The
+manager himself told me. Of course, he thought the money was mine. God
+in heaven! what does it all mean, and what has become of her?"
+
+Schwartz sat down, and bent his head. He gave it up. He didn't know
+what to do. Neither did I. I was acquainted with Minkie's plan, but, so
+far as I could see, it had nothing in it which was likely to keep her
+away from home.
+
+No wonder people in Dale End called that a Black Christmas. It was
+nearly being a fiery one also, because others in the village shared
+Schwartz's idea, and it was actually proposed that the police-station
+should be burnt down and the negroes roasted inside it. Isn't there a
+proverb about scratching a Russian and finding a Tartar? Well, to my
+thinking, you will not find such a world of difference between Surrey
+and Alabama when a black man is suspected of doing away with a white
+girl.
+
+And our Minkie, too! Oh, look here, I'm off into the Latin tongues.
+I can't express my feelings in pure Anglo-Saxon. Give me a torch and
+a bucket of tar; I'll find the feathers! _Saperlotte!_ What was it
+Giovanni used to say?
+
+
+
+
+THE UNDOING OF SCHWARTZ
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE UNDOING OF SCHWARTZ
+
+_Told by Minkie_
+
+
+I suppose it was very wrong of me to leave home without warning. Mam
+says that if I had told her what I meant to do she would have been
+spared all anxiety. Of course, Mam means that _now_; my own private
+impression is that all sorts of objections might have occurred to her
+_then_; and any interference with my plan might have upset things
+altogether. However, if I tell the story in my own way, you will see I
+had several good reasons for acting as I did. One of my copy-books had
+a head-line: "It is a dangerous yet true axiom that the end justifies
+the means," and I never understood that sentence until I read in a
+paper how a clever little boy had extinguished a fire in a bedroom by
+pulling a plug out of the cistern in an attic overhead. Had there been
+no fire, that clever little boy would have got spanked. See?
+
+And there was no time to be lost. Seven powerful negroes had not come
+to Dale End for amusement. They meant mischief. Without going so far as
+killing us all in our beds, they could easily have attacked the house
+and held us up, as they say in America, until the ju-ju was found. They
+were not afraid of the law; six of them were ready to go to prison
+provided the seventh got clear away with their funny little god. And
+what would Mam have thought then? And Evangeline? And what would Polly
+have said?
+
+Jim, too, was in league with our own maids to search everywhere for the
+ju-ju. Isn't it odd that you can't trust your fellow-mortals? Dan, or
+Bob, or Tib would die sooner than play the sneak; even that sarcastic
+old parrot would never betray the Gang, and little Rikki, though he is
+a newcomer, is with us tooth and nail. Anyhow, what between Schwartz
+and the servants inside, and Prince John and his tribesman outside, I
+made up my mind to act a bit sooner than I intended. Perhaps the ju-ju
+egged me on also. You never can tell. The mysteries of fetish-worship
+are beyond me.
+
+Of course, _I_ kept Jim's appointment with the African Prince. It was
+nearly dark when I crossed the green, and there were four negroes
+standing in the road near the Manor gate. They were all much of a size,
+and I thought I should not be able to recognize the man who came to
+our house. But I spotted him at once. There must be something in being
+born a ruler, even a savage one. Prince John was quite different to
+the others in his manners and appearance. I was sorry he wore English
+clothes. It would have been fine if he were stalking about in feathers
+and a leopard skin, though I expect, poor fellow, he would have caught
+his death of cold.
+
+The four paid no heed to me until I stopped and said "Hello!"
+
+That made them look at me, and Prince John said: "Have you a message
+for me?"
+
+He thought I was some girl from the village, but I quickly put him
+right on that point.
+
+"Yes," I answered. "Come here. I wish to speak to you alone."
+
+Then he knew me, as he had heard me talking to Dad on our way from the
+station in the victoria. He advanced a few steps.
+
+"Oh," he said, "one of Mr. Grosvenor's daughters? I remember. My ankle
+is still stiff where you held it. You must have strong hands, for a
+child. Now, what can I do for you? Have you brought me what I seek?"
+
+He spoke as if he were a king, not a bit like the affected drawl of our
+local M.P. when he opens a bazaar, but it was necessary that I should
+make him jump, so I replied, rather off-handedly:
+
+"It all depends on the price you are willing to pay."
+
+That fetched him like a shot. He came quite close and looked down at me
+eagerly. I could see the whites of his eyes, and they reminded me of a
+pollywog, but I kept a straight face.
+
+"Do you mean to say you have found a bit of carved ivory, with a
+monkey's head and a little beaded skirt? If so, girl, give it to me,
+and I will reward you with a handful of gold," he cried.
+
+"I have not got your ju-ju in my possession at this moment," I said,
+speaking slowly, and watching him as intently as Dan watches the mouth
+of a burrow when he hears the rabbits squeaking at the sight of a
+ferret. "But I am fairly certain I can lay my hand on it, on terms."
+
+"Terms! Anything you ask! What is your price? Take me with you now--"
+
+"Not so fast, Prince John," said I, drawing away a foot or so--because
+a negro does look rather horrid when you are too near him, although he
+may only be showing animation, which, in his case, means teeth--"there
+is nothing to be gained by hurry. You can't have your ju-ju to-night,
+but you may have it to-morrow night, provided you are willing to pay my
+father exactly half the sum you offered Mr. Schwartz."
+
+My heart beat a trifle faster when the words were out. Jack did not
+mention the amount. It might have been a few hundred pounds, or several
+thousands. I imagined it was a tolerably large figure, or Schwartz
+would not have been so ready to hand me fifty pounds for the mere
+expenses.
+
+Prince John did not hesitate a second.
+
+"I agree," he cried, "yet surely Mr. Grosvenor has not sent _you_ to
+arrange such an important matter with _me_!"
+
+He might have been his own ju-ju addressing a black-beetle, or Lord
+Kitchener talking to a tin soldier, but I didn't budge another inch.
+What I wanted to know was the price. So I made him jump again.
+
+"Mr. Grosvenor knows nothing whatever about it," I said. "This affair
+is absolutely between you and me, and must remain so until you bring
+the money to our house to-morrow evening."
+
+"Do I understand that the ju-ju is in your hands, that no one else is
+aware of the fact, and that you alone are in treaty with me for its
+restoration?"
+
+I caught the change in his voice. If I hadn't a well-trained ear I
+could never distinguish the various shades of meaning in the speech
+of other members of the Gang, because they really don't use words,
+you know, but just sounds which tell me what they want to say. After
+all, that is talking, in a sense. And his prince-ship forgot he was
+in Surrey. Perhaps, like me, when I read an exciting book, he fancied
+himself far away, in a land where a big yellow river gurgles through a
+swamp all dark with trees, and a hundred thousand black men were ready
+to do anything he commanded. Anyhow, _I_ wasn't black.
+
+"You have stated the facts," I answered coolly.
+
+"But isn't it somewhat daring? Are you not afraid? You are a small
+English girl, and we are big, strong Africans. You are taking a great
+risk, eh?"
+
+Again he came nearer, but I stood my ground, though he could not tell
+that my nails were digging into the palms of my hands.
+
+"I am English, of course, though not so small," I said, "and I am so
+perfectly well aware you are an African that I have arranged for your
+ju-ju to be burnt to ashes unless I am home at six o'clock."
+
+_Parbleu!_ as mademoiselle used to forbid me to say, though it only
+means "By blue!" he altered his tune mighty sharp, or it would be more
+correct to put it that he came back with a flop from the Upper Niger to
+Dale End.
+
+"It is very extraordinary," he muttered, "but I cannot bring myself to
+disbelieve you. Captain Stanhope said that if you were friendly to us,
+something might be done. I accept your proposal. Hand over my property
+and I, in return, will hand your father five thousand pounds."
+
+There! It was out. You know what it is like when you wade into the sea
+and take your first header through a curling breaker. That is how I
+felt. Something buzzed in my ears, but I was determined to keep control
+over my voice.
+
+"In notes?" I managed to say.
+
+"Certainly. One does not carry such sums in gold. I have the money
+here; I was prepared, as you are aware, to pay Mr. Schwartz twice as
+much. But what guarantee have I that you will not sell the ju-ju to him
+for a higher amount?"
+
+"You have my word, and the knowledge that I came to you of my own free
+will."
+
+"Your groom told you I would be here?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I trust you. What time shall I come to your house?"
+
+"At nine o'clock."
+
+"I warn you I am in no mood to be tricked in this matter. You see those
+men there?" and he glanced over his shoulder towards the other negroes.
+"They will face death cheerfully to gain our common object."
+
+"You may rely on what I have said."
+
+"Thank you. Yet it is amazing, quite amazing."
+
+I thought so, too. But I wanted some information, and I had to hurry,
+as it was growing late.
+
+"Your people are Kwantus, aren't they? Have you ever heard of the
+Kwantu mine?"
+
+"Of course I have. It is in my kingdom. Schwartz owns it, the thief."
+
+Well, I never! I did gasp a bit at that.
+
+"Are you sure?" I was forced to say.
+
+"Who should know better than I? It is the best mine in West Africa.
+The price of the shares shows that its value is appreciated by others,
+though I cannot understand how so much is known in England about it, as
+it has hardly been opened up. Schwartz obtained the concession solely
+because we hoped he would give us back our ju-ju."
+
+Yet I had in my pocket a letter from some Stock Exchange people to
+Schwartz himself, telling him they could not ascertain the name of the
+real owner! That was the letter Rikki secured at Polly's bidding, and
+hid in his cage.
+
+Somehow, it seemed to prove that Schwartz was really the bad man
+Prince John made him out to be. I did not quite grasp the meaning of
+it all, though I was sure that dear old Dad was being swindled, but
+with fifty-three pounds nineteen and sixpence in my pocket, and five
+thousand pounds as good as paid to father, and the ju-ju safe in the
+scullery copper, where Evangeline would light a fire after supper,
+it would be queer if I failed to bring Schwartz to reason. Besides,
+I meant to secure the assistance of an older head than mine, as this
+company business rather bothered me, and I was too young to be well up
+in "squeezes."
+
+My new friend lifted his hat with a grand air when I said "Good night."
+I walked away quietly, and I heard such a hubbub of strange talk when
+Prince John rejoined his companions.
+
+I met two other negroes on the road across the green. I fancied they
+were watching the turning to the railway station to make sure that
+Schwartz did not leave Holly Lodge without their knowledge. At any
+rate, I determined to take no risks next morning, as it was more than
+probable Prince John would tell his confederates of the new power
+behind the ju-ju.
+
+That night, in my locked bedroom, I examined the little idol very
+carefully. It was roughly carved; the ivory was yellow with age, and
+covered with tiny cracks, which looked like a net of fine hair. The
+skirt was made of a sort of hemp, plaited together, with a small
+colored bead between each knot. It was just a strip of beaded cloth,
+which lapped over at the joint, and was held in position by a piece of
+string. The beads differed from any I had ever seen, but I was almost
+certain the monkey's eyes were emeralds, but not good ones, as Mam has
+a nice emerald and diamond ring, so I know.
+
+I don't mind telling you now that I was half afraid of the thing. It
+seemed to be quite absurd that so many grown men should be willing to
+kill each other for its ownership. One might imagine a baby crying for
+it, because babies always prefer the most disreputable wooden horse
+or dirtiest rag doll, but it made one's hair tingle to think of war,
+and money, and good or bad fortune for goodness knows how many people,
+depending on the whereabouts of this eight-inch piece of tusk. Worst
+of all, I was beginning to believe in it. It seemed to squint at me in
+a chummy way with its wicked little eyes. Before I so much as heard of
+its existence or knew its name it brought me luck, just because it was
+lying in Schwartz's portmanteau in the carriage. You will remember I
+touched Schwartz for five pounds in five minutes on Christmas Eve. On
+Christmas Day I got fifty out of him, and now Prince John was ready to
+give me five thousand. I couldn't help wondering if it would keep up
+the pace, and add another nought each day I held it.
+
+And that made me feel rather horrid, so I stuffed it out of sight under
+the bolster, and said my prayers; then the creeps passed away, and I
+fell asleep.
+
+There was a sunshiny frost when I awoke, and every tree and shrub in
+the garden was decked with sparkling gems. Evangeline seemed to be
+annoyed when I unlocked the door.
+
+"Nice thing," she said, "makin' me bump me nose in that fashion!"
+
+Dan came in with her, and I found that she had clattered along with
+the hot water without looking where she was going. Of course, the door
+didn't yield as usual, so her head struck the panel.
+
+Dan and I laughed, and Evangeline rubbed her nose with a black finger.
+Then we laughed some more, and Evangeline looked at herself in the
+glass.
+
+"We'll all be niggers in this house soon," she declared in a rage, and
+slammed out.
+
+"Well, what's the game to-day?" said Dan, sitting on his tail.
+
+"Nothing more than yesterday," I answered.
+
+"I told the parrot that, but the blessed bird is swinging on his perch
+and roaring something about another revolution."
+
+"What does he mean?"
+
+"He's talking Spanish, I believe. The few words I could make sense of
+showed that he regarded last night's general contentment as the calm
+before the storm."
+
+"Dan," said I, "you are only two years old. Polly is twenty, at the
+least. If you count up you will find that he is ten times wiser than
+you."
+
+Dan looked at me suspiciously. After thinking for a minute or two and
+scratching hard on the back of his head, he got me to let him out.
+When I came down to breakfast I discovered him listening to Polly, who
+was singing extracts from the latest musical comedies. The instant
+I appeared Polly became silent. He clung to the wires sideways, and
+watched me steadily, first with one eye and then with the other. Even
+Tibbie sat blinking at me from the hearth-rug, and when I went round
+to the stable, dear old Bob turned in his stall and stared at me
+solemnly. Talk about a ju-ju, the Gang can read my very thoughts!
+
+Illustration: My first call was at a jeweller's in Piccadilly.
+
+Dan and Tibbie and Rikki began to follow at my heels, and it grieved
+me very much to be compelled to shut them up in the coach-house. But
+I had to do it. I put on my beaver hat and an astrachan jacket, went
+out through the front gate, doubled down the paddock, crossed the fir
+plantation, and made my way by a field path to Breckonhurst, the next
+station to Dale End. I took a return ticket to London, remained in the
+waiting-room until a train came in, and then popped quickly into the
+nearest empty carriage. At Waterloo I sat in the train until the other
+passengers had quitted the platform. After that, I took my chance of
+not being recognized.
+
+My first call was at a jeweller's in Piccadilly. I showed him the
+ju-ju, and asked him what the beads were. He screwed a funny-shaped
+glass into his right eye and examined them.
+
+"They are different varieties of chalcedony," he said. "There are
+agates, carnelians, cat's eyes, onyx, sards, and three kinds of flints
+in this collection."
+
+"Good gracious!" said I.
+
+"What is it?" he asked, looking curiously at the idol.
+
+"A jou-jou," I answered, blessing mademoiselle inwardly.
+
+The man didn't speak French, so I told him _jou-jou_ meant "toy," and
+that satisfied him. We had some more talk, and I am sure I surprised
+him, but he was very civil, and took no end of trouble to discover an
+address I wanted. It turned out to be a little street off Tottenham
+Court Road. I drove there in a hansom, remained ten minutes, and hired
+the same cab back to the West-end. The cabman wanted to charge me four
+shillings, but I gave him half-a-crown and looked for his number.
+
+"S'elp me!" he cried, "wot's things a-comin' to?" And, with that, he
+whipped his poor horse into a canter, which is the nasty, vindictive
+way that sort of man has of expressing his feelings.
+
+Then I had a real slice of luck. I met Mr. Warden, my father's
+solicitor, just coming out of his office. He was quite taken aback at
+seeing me, especially when he found that Dad or Mam was not with me,
+and my good fortune was that had I been a few seconds later I should
+have missed him, as he was going to join Mrs. Warden in Brighton,
+having simply run up to town for an hour to glance at his letters. I
+was sorry for Mrs. Warden, but I had to keep him.
+
+Although he was a lawyer, and a very smart one, Dad says, he did open
+his eyes wide when I got fairly started with my story. I told him
+everything, or nearly everything, and the only bits that puzzled him
+were my references to Dan, or Bob, or Tib. As for what the parrot
+said, or Rikki did, he was too polite to smile, but he kept balancing
+his gold-rimmed spectacles on his nose, and pressing the tips of his
+fingers together, until I thought it best not to mention the Gang any
+more, because they seemed to bother him.
+
+But, oh my, didn't he look serious when I showed him the letter from
+Schwartz's brokers, and told him about the "squeeze" in Kwantus! He
+asked me if I knew what paper I got my information from, and I said
+"yes," so he tinkled a little bell and sent a clerk to buy a copy in
+Fleet-street. I was not sure about the date, but the clerk, who was
+such a nice boy, said he could search the file.
+
+By the time I had finished, the clerk returned with the newspaper. Mr.
+Warden changed his spectacles, and said "Hum" and "Ha" several times
+while he was reading the paragraph. Then he put on the gold ones again,
+and gazed at me.
+
+"You are a very remarkable girl, Millicent," he said.
+
+"I suppose my story sounds odd," I answered, "but it all happened
+exactly as I have told you, and there is hardly anything that takes
+place in Dale End which the Gang cannot form a reliable opinion about."
+
+"The Gang?" he repeated.
+
+"I beg your pardon, I meant my animal friends, but, of course, you
+don't quite believe in them."
+
+"I believe that you talk to them, and thus teach yourself to express
+your views very clearly. At any rate, we can let that pass. May I see
+this phenomenon of a ju-ju?"
+
+I smiled, because I was expecting him to say that.
+
+"If you don't mind," I explained, "I would rather show it to you in the
+train this evening."
+
+"This evening? Are we not going to Dale End at once?"
+
+"I shall not be ready until nearly six o'clock. I have a lot of things
+to do. Are you quite sure you will meet me at the station?"
+
+He was positive, he said, but he was distressed at the notion that I
+should be hours and hours alone in London, so the nice young clerk was
+ordered to take care of me. I led him rather a dance, and the way I
+spent Schwartz's gold seemed to give him a pain. Mr. Warden promised to
+telegraph to Mam to tell her I was quite safe, and that we should both
+be home about seven, but he was so astounded by my adventures that he
+wrote Southend in place of Dale End, and the telegram reached us in a
+letter two days later, with Mr. Warden's apologies. Do you know, I am
+convinced the ju-ju had something to do with that. If Schwartz had
+heard who Mr. Warden was, he might have smelt a rat. And isn't it odd,
+as Bob pointed out, that Southend should come after West-end, and Dale
+End, and Ostend and Mile End?
+
+The clerk and I had lunch and tea together and he insisted on paying,
+though I had ever so much more money in my pocket than he. By the time
+we reached Waterloo he looked rather tired, because we took no more
+cabs, and I went to lots of places I wanted to see, so I bought him a
+box of cigarettes as a present, and he said he hoped I would often come
+to London on business.
+
+Mr. Warden was waiting for me, and the moment the guard set eyes on me
+he came running up.
+
+"So you're here, are you, Miss Grosvenor?" he cried. "A fine thing
+you've bin and gone and done. All Dale End is inquirin' after you, an'
+your pore father is nearly wild."
+
+Mr. Warden gave him a shilling, saying it was all right. But it wasn't.
+When we reached our station, and began to walk to the Lodge, as Bob
+was not there to meet us, every person we met turned and followed us,
+until there was quite a mob at our heels when we crossed the green. We
+didn't know then that Mr. Banks, our policeman, had all the negroes,
+including Prince John, locked up in his tiny police-station. Jack and
+several men from the Manor were helping him to mount guard over them
+until more policemen arrived, as the Dale-enders wanted to lynch the
+black men, which would have been a sad job for everybody.
+
+Our escort blocked the road in front of our gate, but they did not
+venture to come inside the grounds. Dan was the first to hear the
+noise, and he barked. Then he caught my step on the gravel, and Mam
+will never again say that a dog can't speak, for he told her quite
+plainly that I was coming.
+
+Well, you can guess all the crying and kissing that went on, and how
+Dad tried to be angry while he took me in his arms, but Mr. Warden
+spoke about the telegram, and declared he would write to the _Times_
+and the Postmaster General. Tib climbed up on my shoulder, and Rikki
+gave my hand such a queer little lick, while Poll did several lightning
+twists on the cross-bar, and whistled "Won't you come home, Bill
+Bailey." I heard dear Bob neighing in the stable, and I went to kiss
+his velvety nose the first minute I could spare.
+
+Mr. Schwartz was really as delighted as anybody that I had turned up,
+so he failed to notice how cool Mr. Warden was when Dad introduced
+them. I had hardly got my hat and jacket off, and was hugging Mam for
+the tenth time, when Dad called me into the morning-room, where he and
+Schwartz and Mr. Warden were standing.
+
+Solicitors can be very sharp if they like, and our lawyer surprised me
+with the way he tackled Schwartz.
+
+"My young friend here," he said, meaning me, "tells me she has promised
+to restore to you a certain article known as a ju-ju, which you lost on
+Christmas Eve."
+
+"Yes," said Schwartz, quite calmly. You see, he was a smart man of
+business, and I suppose he was not afraid of lawyers, or he would not
+have been able to keep all the money he was worth.
+
+"Well," went on Mr. Warden, "she is prepared to hand it to you in
+return for your quittance of her father's obligation to find you one
+thousand shares in the Kwantu Mines, Limited."
+
+That staggered Schwartz somewhat, but he said, in a husky voice: "I
+fail to understand you."
+
+"That is a pity. I wish to avoid a scandal. If you compel candor I
+shall be obliged to tell you who is the real owner of that property,
+and the law of England punishes fraudulent conspiracy very heavily. The
+links in the chain are quite complete; they even include our possession
+of a letter to you from a certain firm of brokers stating that they had
+failed to discover the genuine proprietors of the company."
+
+"Eh?" cried Dad, looking at Schwartz, "what is this? Are you sure of
+your facts, Warden?"
+
+I once read in a paper that some man who was fighting another man "went
+down and out." I didn't know what it meant, but it seemed to fit
+Schwartz's case. He went limp all at once.
+
+"Quite sure, Grosvenor," said the solicitor. "You can thank your
+daughter for putting me on the track of a very discreditable and
+unsavory business. I have prepared the necessary documents, Mr.
+Schwartz. Will you execute them without further explanation?"
+
+"Where is the ju-ju?" demanded Schwartz, pulling himself together, and
+glaring at me with eyes like flint marbles.
+
+"Here," said I, hauling it out of my pocket.
+
+He took it, held it in his left hand, and signed the papers placed
+before him by the lawyer. Dad signed, too, and Mr. Warden witnessed the
+signatures. Not a word was spoken. Schwartz went out of the room, and
+Dad rang for Evangeline to tell Jim to get the victoria ready at once.
+
+When Schwartz drove through our gate on his way to the station the
+mob cheered him. I expect he felt like being cheered. Bob told me
+afterwards that he said a naughty word to our lame porter when he
+wanted to carry the small bag in which the ju-ju was placed, I
+suppose, because gentlemen's pockets are not like mine. Still, from
+what I heard later, he must have taken it out of the bag when he was
+safe in the train.
+
+It was then nearly eight o'clock, and Dad sent Mole with a note to
+Jack to say that the negroes ought to be liberated at once. Jack, who
+has plenty of brains, brought his uncle with him to congratulate Dad
+and Mam about me, and they stayed to dinner. Jack and Dorothy sat
+together, so matters looked all right in that quarter. They did not say
+a great deal. Just as in Schwartz's case, silence was eloquent. Dad
+brought me once to see a play at Drury Lane, and I imagined all sorts
+of terrifying things when the villain crept nearer the defenceless
+heroine. If either of them spoke it was not half so thrilling. I had
+just the same feeling when Mr. Warden kept waiting for Schwartz to
+admit he was beaten.
+
+Prince John rang our bell exactly at nine o'clock.
+
+"Wah!" shrieked Evangeline when she opened the door. Then she fled. I
+had to rush and grab Dan, but I smiled sweetly at my dark visitor, and
+asked him to come into the morning-room. I knew that Mr. Warden and
+Uncle Stanhope were telling each other that every motorist should be
+sent to penal servitude on a second conviction, so I had no trouble in
+beckoning Dad to join me for a minute.
+
+He was rather surprised at meeting the negro, but he apologized quite
+nicely for the Christmas Eve incident, and also for any inconvenience
+which the other might have undergone owing to the action of the police.
+I was wondering if Dad meant to put his hand in his pocket and produce
+some money, but he told me afterwards that he felt exactly the same as
+I did with regard to Prince John. The man looked every inch a king, and
+I have reckoned up that he was at least seventy-four inches high.
+
+But, before I could stop him, Dad nearly gave me away badly.
+
+"I ought to tell you," he went on, "that, from circumstances which have
+come to my knowledge, I now sympathize deeply with you in your search
+for the--er--curious West African--er--god which you wish to recover,
+and I must say that if my--er--daughter Millicent had consulted me--"
+
+So Dad was just beginning to tell the Kwantu chief in his best J.P.
+manner that Schwartz was again the proud possessor of the ju-ju, when I
+broke in:
+
+"One moment, father dear," I cried, "you will understand things ever so
+much better when you hear what Prince John and I have to say to each
+other. Have you kept your part of the bargain?" I asked the black man
+quickly.
+
+He took from his coat pocket a small bundle tied with pink tape.
+
+"Here are fifty Bank of England notes for £100 each," he said.
+
+"Then here is your ju-ju," I answered, diving into my skirt pocket, and
+handing him the original piece of ivory, beaded kilt and all complete,
+and you may now know what a trouble it was to get a fair copy of it
+made for Schwartz during the few hours I had at my disposal in London.
+
+Dad looked awfully severe, after his first gasp of amazement had passed.
+
+"Millicent," he said, "what have you done?"
+
+"I have served Mr. Schwartz as he tried to serve you, father dear,"
+I replied. "As for Prince John, he offered the man who stole the
+ju-ju ten thousand pounds if it were given back, so I saw no harm in
+arranging that half the amount should be paid to you. In any case, I
+always meant the poor black people to have it. It was a very great
+shame for Mr. Schwartz to take from them a thing which they thought so
+much of."
+
+For a little while he could say nothing. Like me, he was watching the
+black prince, who really treated that absurd--I mean that extraordinary
+scrap of carved ivory, as if it were the most precious article in the
+world. It might have been all one blazing diamond by the reverent way
+he handled it. When he was quite sure that it was his own ju-ju--and
+he did not take for granted, like Schwartz, that it was the genuine
+thing until he had looked at every mark--he pressed its funny monkey
+face to his lips, his forehead, and his breast. He paid not the least
+heed to us or what we were saying. It was not until he had produced a
+small, finely woven mat from the pocket in which he kept the notes, and
+wrapped the ju-ju in it before putting it away, that he gave us any
+attention.
+
+Of course, Dad started a second time to talk as if he were at a
+Conservative meeting.
+
+"It has given me the greatest pleasure to observe that my--er--daughter
+Millicent has restored to you the--er--interesting object which you
+seem to value so highly, but I need hardly say that--er--the payment of
+any such--er--astounding reward as five thousand pounds is utterly out
+of the question."
+
+"My people pay the money gladly," said the negro prince, dragging
+himself up in the grandest way imaginable. "I tell you, too, that
+your daughter's name will be honored in my country, and when I and my
+friends return home we shall not fail to send her other tokens of our
+regard and good will."
+
+"We cannot accept this money," said Dad, firmly.
+
+"It is quite essential that you should," said the other with equal
+coolness. "If you refuse it now, I shall simply be compelled to send it
+to you through the post. We lost our ju-ju owing to the remissness of
+its guardians. We must atone for that, and the payment must be made in
+treasure--or blood."
+
+You can have no idea how he uttered those last two words. He spoke
+quietly, and in a low voice, but somehow I could feel in them the
+edge of one of those sharp, heavy choppers--called "machetes," Polly
+says--which the maids in the Marquis o' Granby saw in the negroes'
+bedrooms.
+
+So it ended in our shaking hands with Prince John, and in Dad's
+bringing the notes into the drawing-room to show them to Mam and the
+others before he put them away in the silver safe. Everybody made a
+tremendous fuss over me, and Poll sang "The man who broke the Bank at
+Monte Carlo," but I was only too delighted that we had had such a jolly
+Christmas, and were all good friends again, though it looked rather
+glum at one time. They made me talk nearly all this story before I
+went to bed, and I heard old Mr. Stanhope growl that if Dorothy was in
+such a hurry to get married he didn't see why she shouldn't.
+
+Dad did not tell me until long after, but he sent Mr. Schwartz his
+fifty-five pounds next day, when he also bought me the loveliest bay
+pony to ride. I christened him "Prince John" when I introduced him to
+the gang.
+
+And that reminds me. In the morning paper the day afterwards, I found
+a most exciting paragraph. I whistled Dan, took Tibbie and Rikki under
+each arm, and asked Mole to carry Poll's cage to the stable.
+
+Bob and Prince John looked round in their stalls to see what was the
+matter, and Bob said:
+
+"What is it now? Has a North American Indian arrived in Dale End, or
+what?"
+
+"You listen," I said. "I came across this in the paper just now: 'An
+extraordinary outrage was committed in the precincts of Waterloo
+Station on Thursday evening--'"
+
+"Thursday evening!" cried Tib. "Why, that's the evening Schwartz--"
+
+"Don't interrupt," I said, and went on reading: "'Mr. Montague
+Schwartz, the well-known West African millionaire, was leaving the
+station in a four-wheeled cab when two gigantic negroes rushed to the
+near side of the vehicle as it was descending the steep slope into
+Waterloo Road, and threw it bodily over.'"
+
+"Ha! ha!" roared Dan, but I silenced him with a look.
+
+"'The cabman was, of course, flung headlong from his seat; Mr. Schwartz
+was imprisoned inside, and ran grave risk of serious injury owing to
+the plunging of the frightened horse.'"
+
+"Silly creatures, some horses," observed Poll, and Bob didn't like it,
+but I continued:
+
+"'In the darkness and confusion no one seems to have noticed the
+negroes, who made off with Mr. Schwartz's luggage, even appropriating
+a leather dressing-case which was on the front seat inside, and had
+fallen on top of the alarmed occupant. Mr. Schwartz, when extricated
+from his dangerous position, behaved with admirable coolness. He felt
+in his pockets, and declared that the rascals who had adopted this
+novel and exceedingly daring method of highway robbery had only secured
+some clothing and other articles which could be easily replaced. He
+was naturally somewhat shaken, however. After liberally compensating
+the cab-driver, Mr. Schwartz sought the escort of two policemen, when
+he entered another vehicle to proceed to his house in Brook-street.
+During the course of yesterday the police arrested several negroes,
+but neither the cabman nor Mr. Schwartz could identify any of them,
+and they were set at liberty.' I think that's rather fine; don't you?
+Please don't all speak at once."
+
+But they did, and lost their tempers because nobody could get a
+hearing; Bob and Prince John stamped and rattled the chains of their
+head-stalls, Dan chased Tibbie up the loft ladder, and Poll shrieked at
+Rikki:
+
+"You're a miserable, cat-whiskered _soor-ka butcha_, that's what you
+are, and I mean it this time, whatever it is!"
+
+And that is all, I think, for this time.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Minor changes have been made to regularize hyphenation and correct
+minor printer errors.
+
+Illustrations have been moved below paragraphs to allow smoother
+reading in this e-book. Additionally, the titles of the Illustrations
+from the "List of Illustrations" have been added to the illustration
+line to make it more apparent what the illustration contained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Minkie, by Louis Tracy
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58434 ***