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diff --git a/old/60967-h/60967-h.htm b/old/60967-h/60967-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 723bf0e..0000000 --- a/old/60967-h/60967-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11493 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Change in the Cabinet, by Hilaire Belloc. - </title> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;} -div.titlepage p {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 2em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.ph1 {text-align: center; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph2 {text-align: center; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - - .tdc {text-align: center;} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} - -p.drop-cap { - text-indent: -0.2em; -} -p.drop-cap2 { - text-indent: -0.5em; -} -p.drop-cap:first-letter, p.drop-cap2:first-letter -{ - float: left; - margin: 0.15em 0.1em 0em 0em; - font-size: 250%; - line-height:0.55em; - text-indent: 0em; -} -@media handheld -{ - p.drop-cap, p.drop-cap2 { - text-indent: 0em; - } - p.drop-cap:first-letter, p.drop-cap2:first-letter - { - float: none; - margin: 0; - font-size: 100%; - } -} - - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 20%; - margin-right: 20%; -} - - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - - - -.hangingindent { text-indent: -1.5em; margin-left: 1.5em; } - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.xxxlarge {font-size: 200%;} - -.xlarge {font-size: 125%;} - -.gap {margin-left: 18em;} -.gap5 {margin-left: 8em;} -.gap2 {margin-left: 4em;} - -.gap4 {margin-right: 5em;} -.gapright {margin-right: 8em;} - -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 3em;} - -.poetry .versefirst {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 2.5em;} -.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: 3em;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Change in the Cabinet, by Hilaire Belloc - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Change in the Cabinet - -Author: Hilaire Belloc - -Release Date: December 19, 2019 [EBook #60967] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHANGE IN THE CABINET *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<h1>A CHANGE IN THE CABINET</h1> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<p><span class="xxxlarge">A CHANGE<br /> -IN THE CABINET</span></p> - -<p>BY<br /> -<span class="xlarge">H. BELLOC</span></p> - -<p><small> “STRIVE, STRIVE, HOWE’ER WE STRIVE<br /> -YOUTH DECLINES AT FIFTY-FIVE.”</small><br /> - -<span class="gap"><span class="smcap">Old Saw</span></span></p> - -<p>METHUEN & CO.<br /> -36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br /> -LONDON</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="center"><i>First Published in 1909</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="center"> -<small>TO</small><br /> -MISS ALICE BEARDSLEY</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span> - - - -<p class="ph1">A CHANGE IN THE<br /> -CABINET</p> - - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">SIR—or to speak more correctly, the Right Honourable -Sir T. Charles Repton, Bart., M.V.O., O.M., -Warden of the Court of Dowry, a man past middle -age but in the height of industry, sat at breakfast in -his house: a large house overlooking Hyde Park from -the North, close to the corner of the Edgware Road, -and therefore removed by at least a hundred yards -from the graphic representation which marks the -site of the old Permanent Gallows that once stood -at Tyburn.</p> - -<p>I have said that he was Warden of the Court of -Dowry, and the reader, if she has any acquaintance -with parliamentary affairs, will remember that at the -time of which I speak, the month of March, 1915, -that post commonly carried with it Cabinet rank. -The experienced in political matters will certainly -induce that he was also in the House of Commons.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -He sat there for Pailton, a borough which had been -the last to elect him after previous experiences in -Merionethshire, Kirkby, Bruton, Powkeley and the -Wymp division of Dorset, in which last his somewhat -constrained and cold manner had perhaps led -to his defeat.</p> - -<p>It was not his first experience of office, but he -had never stood so high in the Councils of the -Nation, nor had his presence in the Cabinet ever -more weighed with the young and popular Prime -Minister (who was suffering slightly from his left -lung) than at this moment. For though Charles -Repton did not belong by birth to the group of -families from which the Prime Minister had sprung, -he was of those who, as they advance through life, -accumulate an increasing number of clients, of dependents -and of friends who dare not trifle with such -friendships.</p> - -<p>In figure he was tall and somewhat lean; he was -clean-shaven; his brilliant white hair was well -groomed; his brown eyes were singularly piercing, -and, in contrast with his head, two thick, very dark -and strongly arched eyebrows emphasized his -expression. He was by persuasion at this time of -his life a Second Day Wycliffite, and had indeed -professed his connection with that body since at least -his fortieth year, before which period in his career he -had permanently resided in a suburb of Leicester, to -which in turn he had removed from Newcastle.</p> - -<p>By profession he was, or rather had been, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -solicitor, in which calling he had ever advised those -clients who had the wisdom to accumulate wealth -to leave the investment of it at his discretion, -nor were they disappointed in the regular receipt -of a moderate but secure income calculated at a -reasonable rate; while to those who (for whatever -reason) lay under the necessity of borrowing, he was -ever ready to advance at a somewhat higher rate -such sums as he had at his disposal.</p> - -<p>But this humdrum course of professional life could -never satisfy abilities of his calibre. Shortly after -his entry into political life he had undertaken the -management of numerous industrial ventures, several -of which had proved singularly successful, while -those which had been less fortunate came to grief -through the action of others than himself: nay it was -often shown when the winding-up order came that -such risks had attracted but little of his spare cash.</p> - -<p>He was that morning in March, 1915, eating an -egg. He had before him a copy of the <i>Times</i>, the -affairs of which newspaper were among his most -valued connections. The moments he could spare -from its perusal were given to the methodical cutting -open of envelopes and the glancing at their contents,—an -exercise which it was his rule most methodically -to pursue before he permitted his secretary to deal -with the answers. Indeed some one or two of these -missives he put into his pocket to be dealt with at -his private leisure.</p> - -<p>He was alone, for his wife—Maria, Lady Repton—would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -commonly affect to come down after he had -left the house; and this, no matter how late divisions -might have kept him upon the previous evening, he -invariably did at the hour of half-past nine. I may -add that he had no children, but could boast no less -than five horses in town and sixteen in the country, -all his own property, and used to drag in the country -I know not how many vehicles; in London three, -each suitable for its own function. Of motor cars he -kept but one, but that large and in colour a very -bright sky-blue. As he had no proficiency in riding, -he did not indulge in that exercise; but he was fond -of golf and was acquainted with all the technical -terms of the game.</p> - -<p>To do him justice he was not without means, nay, -he was what many would call wealthy, and the salary -of £5000 to which, amid the enthusiastic cheers of -the Legislature, the Wardenship of the Court of -Dowry had recently been raised was of no great -consequence to his position.</p> - -<p>To another, alas! in the vast and heartless city, -such a salary was shortly to mean far more,—and -<span class="smcap">George Mulross Demaine</span>, upon whom I will not -for the moment linger, would have been even more -benefited in pocket than in status by the handling -of it.</p> - -<p>Careless, however, as Sir Charles Repton might be -of a fringe of income obtainable only while his own -Party were in office, it was imagined that he was not -a little attached to other advantages connected with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -his Wardenship. It is doubtful whether a man of -this firm, reticent and dominating character could -really be attached to such accidents of his post as the -carrying of a model ship, bareheaded, in the great -procession upon Empire Day, the wearing upon -state occasions of shoes which curled up at the -toe and were caught back to the ankles by small -silver chains, or the presence upon these ornaments -of several tiny bells that jingled as he walked; -anachronisms of this kind can have produced little -but discomfort in one of his stern mould when, -upon the rare occasions of court functions, he was -compelled to adopt the official dress. But there -was more!</p> - -<p>The Wardenship of the Court of Dowry carried -with it something regal in that great world of affairs -in which he moved, and bitter as had been the -attacks upon his colleagues in the Nationalist -Cabinet,—especially during the futile attempt to -pass the Broadening of the Streets Bill—Sir Charles -had always been treated with peculiar and exceptional -respect, though he would never have used -methods so underhand as to foreclose upon any -newspaper with whom he might have a political -difference or to embarrass by official action any -considerable advertiser of patent medicines whose -manufacture came under the purview of his Department.</p> - -<p>It would be an exaggeration to say that he had -raised one of the minor Government posts to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -level of the Foreign Office, but, at any rate, it had -under his reign become almost as prominent as it -had been when GHERKIN had first raised it to the -rank of a principal function in the State. It was one -of the great spending departments; Repton saw to -that.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles Repton prepared to leave his house, -I say, at half-past nine; his mind was intent upon -the business of the morning, which was a Board -meeting of the Van Diemens. It need not yet -concern the reader, it is enough for her to know (and -the knowledge is consonant with Repton’s character) -that the Company was prepared to develop all that -North-eastern littoral of the Australian Continent -for which it had obtained a charter but which no -enterprise had as yet succeeded in bringing into line -with the vast energies of the Empire.</p> - -<p>Of the strategical advantages such a position can -give, I need not speak. Luckily they were in the -hands of patriots.</p> - -<p>The comparatively small sum of £4,000,000 which -by its charter the Company was permitted to raise -would have been subscribed twenty times over in -the rush for shares seven years before, and it is -common knowledge that at a particular moment -during which values must surely have been inflated, -they reached a premium of between 800 and 900 -per cent. The cool process of reflection which -often follows such errors had by this time driven -them if anything too low, and the original one pound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -share which had twice all but touched £9, had -been for now many months unsaleable at a nominal -price of 16/3.</p> - -<p>There exists a sound rule of public administration -of this country—inaugurated, I believe, by Mr. -Gladstone—which forbids a Cabinet Minister to hold -any public directorship at the same time as his official -post, and indeed it is this rule which renders it usual -for a couple of men upon opposite sides of the House -to come to an arrangement whereby the one shall be -Director while his colleague is in office, lest important -commercial affairs should be neglected through the -too rigid application of what is in principle so -excellent a rule. But there had been no necessity -for this arrangement in the case of so great an -Imperial business as the Van Diemens: it touched -too nearly the major interests of the country for its -connection with a Cabinet Minister to be remarkable, -and all patriotic opinion was sincerely glad when, -in the preceding January, Sir Charles Repton had -consented to acquire without direct purchase a few -thousand shares and to take an active part in raising -the fortunes of the scheme.</p> - -<p>It was recognised upon all sides that the act was -one of statesman-like self-sacrifice, and there were -perhaps but two papers in London (two evening -papers of large circulation but of no high standing) -which so much as alluded to Sir Charles’ labours in -this field.</p> - -<p>Of these one, the <i>Moon</i>, catered especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -for that very considerable public which will have -England mistress of the waves, which is interested -in the printed results of horse-racing, which had -formerly triumphantly carried at the polls the demand -for protection, and which was somewhat embittered by -so many years of office during which the Nationalist -Party had done little more than tax the parts of -motor cars, foreign unsweetened prunes, moss litter, -and such small quantities of foreign sulphuric acid -as are used in the manufacture of beer.</p> - -<p>The other, the <i>Capon</i>—to give it its entire name—was -of a finer stamp. All the young enthusiasts read -it, and it was enormously bought for its Notes on -Gardening, its caricatures, its clever headlines, and -its short, downright little leaders not twenty lines -long, printed, by a successful innovation, in capitals -throughout, and in a red ink that showed up finely -against the plain black and white of the remainder.</p> - -<p>Both these papers had continually and violently -attacked the connection of one of our few great -statesmen with the last of the vast enterprises of -Empire. The <i>Capon</i>, whose editor was a young man -with very wild eyes and hair like a weeping willow, -attacked it on principle. The <i>Moon</i>—whose proprietor -was an intimate friend of Sir Charles’ own—was -more practical, and attacked the connection -between Repton and the Company with good old -personalities worthy of a more virile age.</p> - -<p>Well then, at this hour of half-past nine on that -March day of 1915, Charles Repton rose from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -breakfast. He touched the crumbs upon his waistcoat -so that they fell, and those upon his trousers -also. He looked severely at the footman in the hall, -who quailed a little at that glance, he rapidly put on -his coat unaided, and asked briefly to see the butler.</p> - -<p>The butler came.</p> - -<p>“I’m out to lunch.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Charles.”</p> - -<p>“Tell Parker that if one of my letters is ever left -again on the table after I have gone, I shall speak to -Lady Repton.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Charles.”</p> - -<p>“The car is not to be used on any account.”</p> - -<p>“No, Sir Charles.”</p> - -<p>He turned round abruptly and went down the steps -and into the street, while one of his large footmen -shut the huge door ever so gently behind him.</p> - -<p>He was a man of such character, who conducted -his household so firmly, that the man, though now -five months in his service, dared exchange no jest -with the butler who went quietly off to his own part -of the house again. It was a singular proof of what -rigid domestic government can do.</p> - -<p>From her room Maria, Lady Repton, when she -was quite sure that her husband was gone, slunk -downstairs. With a cunning that was now a trifle -threadbare, she discovered from Parker the housekeeper, -from the secretary, from the butler, by -methods which she fondly believed to be indirect, -what plans her husband had formed for the day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -She sighed to learn that she might not have the -car, for she had designed to go and see her dear -old friend widow, Mrs. Hulker, formerly of Newcastle, -now of Ealing, a woman of great culture and -refinement and one who gave Maria, Lady Repton, -nearly all her information upon books and life. Of -course there was always the Tube and the Underground, -but they greatly wearied this elderly lady, -and it was too far to drive. She sighed a little at -her husband’s order.</p> - -<p>He, meanwhile, was out in Oxford Street, and -with the rapidity that distinguishes successful men, -had decided not to take a motor-bus but to walk. -The March day was cold and clear and breezy, and -he went eastward at a happy gait. He did not need -to be at his work until close upon eleven, and even -that he knew to be full early for at least one colleague, -the stupidest of all the Directors, a certain -Bingham, upon whose late rising he counted. For -the intolerable tedium of arguing against a man who -invariably took the unintelligent side was one of the -few things which caused Sir Charles to betray some -slight shade of impatience.</p> - -<p>The day pleased him, as indeed it pleased the -greater part of London, from its fineness. He -walked upon the sunny side of the street, and -his smile, though restrained and somewhat sadly -dignified, was the more genial from the influence of -the weather. His brain during this brief exercise -was not concerned, as those ignorant of our great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -men might imagine, with affairs of State, nor even -with the choice of investments upon which he was -in so short a time to determine. He was occupied -rather in planning (for his power of organisation was -famous) how exactly he should fit in his engagements -for the day.</p> - -<p>A Board meeting, especially if there is any chance -of long argument with a late riser of exceptional -stupidity, may last for an indefinite time. He gave -it an hour and a half.</p> - -<p>Then he must lunch, and that hour was earmarked -for a certain foreigner who could not wholly make -up his mind whether to build a certain bridge over a -certain river for a certain government or no.</p> - -<p>By a quarter to three he must be in the House of -Commons to answer questions, for those which fell to -his share came early upon the paper, and it was the -pride of this exact and efficient man to keep no one -waiting. Before four he must see the manager of a -bank; the matter was urgent, he did not wish to -write or telephone. By five he must be back again -in his room in the House of Commons to receive -a deputation of gentlemen who would arrive from -his distant constituency, and who proposed with a -mixture of insistence and of fear to demand certain -commercial advantages for their town at the expense -of a neighbouring borough whose representative but -rarely busied himself with the Great Council of the -Nation.</p> - -<p>At six he must order with particular care a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -dinner upon which (in his opinion) the chances of -the Saltoon Development largely depended. At -seven he must dress, at eight he must dine. His -guests (many of whom to his knowledge would drink -to excess) would certainly detain him till long after -ten. He must be back in the House to vote at -eleven; for some half-hour or so after eleven he -must be present to attend a short debate (or what -he hoped would prove a short debate) concerning his -own Department. He would be lucky if he was in -bed by twelve.</p> - -<p>Let the reader leave him there walking in Oxford -Street and turn her attention to George Mulross -Demaine, or rather, to Mount Popocatapetl.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">IT will generally be conceded that an underground -river flowing with terrific force through a region -of perennial fire, must, of its nature, form a most -insecure foundation for any large body of masonry; -and the danger of building upon such a bottom will -be the more apparent if the materials used in the -construction of the edifice be insufficiently cemented -through the business capacity of a contractor indifferent -to the voice of conscience.</p> - -<p>Yet such were the conditions upon the flanks of -Mt. Popocatapetl when, in the Autumn of 1914, -it was determined to erect on such a site the -Popocatapetl Dam, for the containment of the -Popocatapetl reservoir and the ultimate irrigation -of El Plan.</p> - -<p>Mt. Popocatapetl rises in a graceful cone to the -height of 22,130 feet above the level of the sea. Its -summit is crowned with eternal snows, while round -its base, in spite of numerous earthquakes, constantly -followed by the outburst of vast fountains of boiling -water, cling a score of towns and villages, some with -Spanish, others with unpronounceable names. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -these the beneficent and lengthy rule of Gen. Porfirio -Diaz has lent a political security which Nature would -do well to copy,—has led the inhabitants to seek -their treasure upon earth, and has bequeathed the -inestimable advantage of the great Popocatapetl -Dam.</p> - -<p>I say the “inestimable advantage,” for though the -construction of this remarkable barrage has wholly -cut off the insufficient water supply of this region, it -has brought into the neighbourhood very considerable -sums of American money, an active demand for -labour, and a line of railway at the terminus of which -can be purchased the most enlightened newspapers -of the New World. The simplest journalist,—should -such a being be possessed of the means to travel -in these distant regions—might also inform the -residents,—should they in turn be willing to hear -him patiently,—that the irrigation of El Plan, though -150 miles distant from their now desiccated homes, -can not but react to their advantage and create a -market for their wares.</p> - -<p>Mysterious designs of Providence! This mountain -(among the noblest of volcanic phenomena) was -destined to threaten with ruin a great English family, -to precipitate onto the Treasury bench a young man -of unassuming manners and of insufficient capacity, -to shake half the finances of the world, and to -determine a peerage for a man to whom such -ornaments were baubles!</p> - -<p>To appreciate by what chain of circumstances<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -Popocatapetl’s hoary head might with its nod produce -so distant a consequence, it is necessary for -the reader once again to fix her mind most firmly -upon the truth that an underground river flowing -with terrific force through a region of perennial fire, -must of its nature form a most insecure foundation -for any considerable body of masonry, and that the -danger of building upon such a bottom will be the -more apparent if the material used, etc.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the light of this knowledge, which (in common -with the majority of rational beings) Ole Man -Benson possessed, an investment in the stocks of -a Company whose dividends depended upon the -security of such an edifice might have seemed to -those ill-acquainted with our modern Captains of -Industry, an unpardonable folly.</p> - -<p>It is none the less true that Ole Man Benson -carried a heavy load of “Popocatapetls,” naked and -unashamed.</p> - -<p>He did not positively control Popocatapetls. -Heaven forbid! But apart from a considerable -block of which he was the actual owner, no small -fraction was held by the Durango Investment -Company, the majority of whose shares being the -property of the Texas and Western Equalisation -Syndicate, gave to Ole Man Benson in his capacity -of Chief Equaliser, a distant but effective control -over the second lot of Popocatapetls in question; -while the very large investment of which the N.N.O.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -and S.L. Line had made at his command of their -reserve funds in the same company, gave him in his -capacity of Chief Terroriser thereof yet a third grip -upon the venture.</p> - -<p>One way and another Ole Man Benson stood in -for Popocatapetls in a manner as healthy as it was -unmistakable. And strangely enough, the fiercer -the perennial fires and the louder the roaring of the -subterranean river, the more steadily did Popocatapetls -rise, the more sublimely did Wall Street urge their -ascension, the more vigorously did the American -investor (who was alone concerned) buy as he was -told until, upon a certain day, a great Republican -statesman of undoubted integrity but of perhaps too -high an idealism, was announced to speak upon -the great national enterprise.</p> - -<p>Ole Man Benson loved, trusted and revered this -statesman and supported him in every way: his -name escapes me, but upon his decision the future -of the undertaking would without question lie; and -such was the bond between the two men that the -politician had not hesitated to receive from the -capitalist certain rough notes which had been jotted -down in the office for the supreme verdict which was -to be delivered to the nation.</p> - -<p>It was to be delivered at Washington upon a -certain Wednesday (the date is memorable) at the -unconventional hour of ten, in order that a full report -of it might reach the foolish and the wise in New -York City in ample time for its effects to be fully felt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -upon the markets; and <i>Ole Man Benson</i> had given -instructions to sell not later than half-past three of -that same fateful Wednesday.</p> - -<p>But what, you cry (if such is your habit), what -of all this in connection with the ancient houses of -this land? With the Cabinet? With peerages and -the rest?</p> - -<p>Tut! Have you never heard how sensitive is -the modern world to every breath of commercial -news, and how all the modern world is one? Well -then, I must explain:</p> - -<p>Some two years before, in London, one <span class="smcap">George -Mulross Demaine</span> had lain languishing for lack -of money.</p> - -<p>He was of good birth, and doubtless had he possessed -a secure and flowing fortune, his natural -diffidence would have been less pronounced, and the -strange fatality by which he could hardly place his -hands and feet in any position without causing some -slight accident to the furniture, would have passed -unnoticed, or would have been put down to good -nature. But George Mulross was wholly devoid of -means.</p> - -<p>George Mulross Demaine, like so many of his -rank, was related to Mary Smith.</p> - -<p>Now Mary Smith, her pleasing, energetic person, -her lively eyes and dear soul, the reader can never -fully know unless she has perused or rather learned -by heart, that entrancing work, “Mr. Clutterbuck’s -Election,” in which, like a good fairy, she plumps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -across the scene and is perceived to be the friend, -the confidant, the cousin, the sister-in-law or the -aunt of at least three-quarters of what counts in -England.</p> - -<p>She will not feel, I say, unless she has made that -work her bible, how from St. James’s Place Mary -Smith blessed Society with her jolly little hands, and -indulged in the companionship of characters as varied -as the Peabody Yid and Victoria Mosel.</p> - -<p>What a woman! Her little shooting-box in -Scotland! Her place in the West Country! The -country house which she so rarely visited in the -Midlands but which she lent in the freest manner! -Her vivacity, her charm, her go, her scraps of French—her -inheritance from her late husband, himself an -American and Smith, as I need hardly say, by name!</p> - -<p>The reader unacquainted with the Work which -I refer her to, must further have introduced to her -at the proper place the notable figure of cousin -William Bailey, at what an expense of repetition -upon my part I need hardly say. He also was of -the gang; he also had been elected of the people: -but violent eccentricities now kept him apart from -his true world. Thus he professed a vast interest -in Jews, making them out to be the secret masters -of England. How far that fanaticism was sincere, -he could not himself have told you. It diverted him -hugely to discover mares’ nests of every kind; he was -never happier than when he was tracking the relationship -between governing families or the connection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -of some spotless politician with a spotted financial -adventure. There was but one excuse for his manias, -that he remained, through the most ardent pursuit -of them, a genial cynic. We shall meet him again.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith, then, was related to all of them and -they were all related to each other, and in their -relationship there was friendship also, and they -governed England and the taxes bore them on.</p> - -<p>That the Leader of the Opposition should be -Mary Smith’s close friend goes without saying; -much closer and dearer to her was her other cousin, -the young and popular Prime Minister, to his friends -Dolly, to the world a more dignified name, who -suffered slightly from his left lung. He had attained -his high position before his fiftieth year was closed. -For over four years he had conducted with consummate -skill the fortunes of the Nationalist Party, -and was at that very moment when Popocatapetl -nursed so sullenly its internal rage, piloting in distant -Westminster the Broadening of the Streets Bill -through an excited session of Parliament.</p> - -<p>But of all her relatives, near or distant, of all the -friends whom she called by their Christian name, not -the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not the First Sea -Lord, not the six chief members of the front Opposition -bench, not the eight or nine disappointed men -with corner seats, not the score or so of great financiers -whom she honoured at her board,—not the -Secretary of State for the Colonies (a diminished -post since the Sarawatta business),—not the young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -and popular Prime Minister himself, who suffered -slightly from the left lung,—was quite so dear to -her as that sort of nephew, George Mulross Demaine.</p> - -<p>The relationship was distant, and it was less on -account of the ties of blood than by reason of the -strong friendship that had always existed between his -father and herself that Mary Smith first befriended -the lad as she had already befriended so many others. -For Demaine’s father, though what the world would -call a failure and even for many years separated from -his wife, had always exercised a peculiar charm over -his acquaintance.</p> - -<p>Opinion had been sharply divided upon several -episodes of his life, so sharply that towards the -close of it he preferred to live abroad, and George’s -boyhood had been passed in the most uneasy of -experiences, now with his father in Ireland, now -with his mother in the neighbourhood of Constantinople, -and occasionally under the roof of Mary -Smith during her short married life.</p> - -<p>She had grown to do for him what she would not -do for another—for Charlie Fitzgerald for instance,—for -he was not a scatterbrain nor one to get rid -of money with nothing to show for it. He was -simply a quiet, unostentatious English lad, a little -awkward (as we know) with his hands and feet but -hiding a heart of gold, and destined to inherit -nothing. He was not yet of age when his mother -died, and during the first years of his manhood he -passed more and more time under the roof of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -kindly and powerful woman who had determined -that the misfortunes or faults of his parents should -not be visited upon him.</p> - -<p>She took him everywhere, she kept him in pocket -money and, most important of all, two years ago -she had arranged his marriage.</p> - -<p>The moment was opportune: he was twenty-five, -he had lost his father, he was penniless, the title of -Grinstead into which he would certainly come was -distant and was unprovided for. He had not chosen, -or rather had not been given, the opportunity of -entering, the army, but there had been just enough -bungling about that to make him miss the university -also. He was so unfitted for diplomacy that even -William Bailey, who was accustomed to recommend -for that profession the least vivacious of his young -friends, shook his head when it was proposed, and -after a very short experience in Paris he was withdrawn -from it.</p> - -<p>No profession naturally proposed itself to a man -of his talents, and he had not the initiative to live -as a free lance. His marriage, therefore, was one -of these providential things which seemed to fit -almost too exactly into the general scheme of life -to be true. He met his wife when Mary Smith -(after making all her inquiries at the Petheringtons’) -had caught and branded that heiress: and the wife -so branded was Sudie Benson, the daughter of so -wealthy an American as made the traffic of London -not infrequently halt for his convenience, and who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -rather more than two years before my story bursts -open, had seen fit to bring the radiant girl to -London.</p> - -<p>The two were forcibly introduced—I mean the -boy and the girl—they understood from the first -what their destiny was to be. She could find no -fault in the society which swam round her and to -which such a marriage would introduce her activities; -he saw no drawback to the alliance save one or two -mannerisms in his prospective father-in-law, which -time might modify—or on the other hand, might not.</p> - -<p>Ole Man Benson, to give him once more the name -by which he was known and hated in another sphere, -from the first ten thousand<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> which by the age of -forty-three he had laboriously accumulated in -shredded codfish, had dealt not with things, as do -lesser men, but with figures. He had gone boldly -forward like a young Napoleon, using, it must be -remembered, not only the money of others but very -often his own as well.</p> - -<p>He had been born of Scotch-Irish parents, probably -of the name of Benson, and certainly married in the -First Baptist Church of Cincinnati not quite three-quarters -of a century ago. He was the youngest -child of a numerous family, and was baptized or -named after the poet Theocritus, with a second or -middle name of Chepstow, which in his signature he -commonly reduced to its initial letter.</p> - -<p>Theocritus C. Benson, now familiar to the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -Anglo-Saxon race of every colour and clime, was -of that type always rare but now, though rare, conspicuous, -which can so organise and direct the acts -of others as to bring order out of chaos, chaos out -of order, and alternately accumulate and disperse -fortunes hitherto unprecedented in the history of -the world.</p> - -<p>He was accustomed (in the interviews which he -was proud to grant to the newspapers of England, -America and the Colonies) to ascribe his great -position to unwearied industry and to an abhorrence -of all excess (notably in the consumption of fermented -liquors) and particularly of the horrid practice -of gambling. His puritan upbringing, which had -taught him to look upon cards as the Devil’s picture-book, -and upon racing as akin to the drama in its -spiritual blight, was, he would constantly assert, -the key to all that he had done since he left his -father’s home. But in this manly self-judgment the -Hon. Mr. Benson did himself an injustice. These -high qualities are to be discovered in many million -of his fellow-citizens, and he might as well have -pointed, as sometimes he did point with pride, to -the number of his Lodge or to his ignorance of -foreign languages as the causes of his repeated -triumphs.</p> - -<p>There was more: To his hatred of hazard and to -his stern sense of duty and unbending industry, he -added something of that daring which has made for -the greatness of the blood in all its adventures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -Overseas, and for no branch more than for the -Scotch-Irish.</p> - -<p>He would boldly advance sums in blind confidence -of the future, the mere total of which would have -appalled a lesser man, and he would as boldly withdraw -them to the ruin of prosperous concerns, where -another would have been content to let production -take its own course. And this fine command of -cash and of credit which he used as a General uses -an army, had in it something of personal courage; -for towards the latter part of his life, when he had -come to control a vast private fortune, it was imperative -that in many a bold conception he himself -should stand to lose or gain.</p> - -<p>At the moment when his only daughter left her -happy Belgian convent to be presented at the Court -of St. James, he was, though at the height of his -fortunes, a lonely and to some extent an embittered -man.</p> - -<p>His wife had married another: their only child -he had not seen for three years, and though he knew -that her robust common sense would stand against -the religious environment of the gentle nuns who -had been entrusted with her upbringing, yet he could -not but feel that she had passed the most formative -years of her life in an alien air, and under influences -quite other than those of the Ohio Valley.</p> - -<p>He had therefore determined to decline numerous -and advantageous offers and to be present himself -in London during the season which saw her introduction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -to the world, and there, in spite of his -unfamiliarity with English ways, he soon appreciated -the central position of Mary Smith whose late -husband indeed he had come across a quarter of a -century before when he was freezing the Topekas -off the Pit.</p> - -<p>Theocritus C. Benson had seen young Demaine -and was contented; he was also naturally anxious -to come across old Lord Grinstead if possible, that -he might estimate for himself how long his daughter -might have to wait for her title. Indeed he would -not allow the marriage to take place until the old -man had been pointed out to him, shrivelled almost -to nothingness and pulled with extreme caution and -deliberation in a bath-chair through the private -gardens of Bayton House.</p> - -<p>Had he known that the figure thus exhibited to -him so far from being that of the aged peer was but -the carcase of a ruined dependant it would perhaps -have done little to alter his decision, for though -Lord Grinstead was of gigantic stature, with purple -face and thunderous voice, yet his habit of gross and -excessive drinking gave him a tenure of life at least -as precarious as that of the enfeebled figure upon -which the financier had gazed; and what is more, -Lord Grinstead, though an execrable horseman, -had suddenly begun to hunt upon hired mounts -with a recklessness and tenacity which, if from that -cause alone, should speedily ensure a violent death.</p> - -<p>When all was happily settled, when Demaine had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -been given away by his principal creditor, and Sudie -by her upright and handsome old father, when the -last of the wedding gifts had been exchanged at the -usual discount and the young couple had gone off to -Honiton Castle which had been lent them for £2000 -during the honeymoon, another aspect of life had to -be considered.</p> - -<p>A point upon which Mary Smith had done her -best and failed was the settlements—£1500 a year -to stand between his child and starvation or worse, -Theocritus was willing to determine. It was the -sum he had himself named before the first negotiations -were begun; but as they proceeded he refused -to change it by one penny, and at last the discussion -was abandoned in despair. All the young people -might need they should have—she was his only -child, they could trust him to be more than generous. -Capital sums when they were required for anything -but direct investment, should be always at their -disposal, and the half or more than the half of his -enormous income should be ready to their call; but -he resolutely retained to himself the right to control -the management of all save the infinitesimal sum -which was to stand between Sudie and her husband’s -tyranny, or the world’s harshness.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith’s veiled threats and open flattery were -alike useless. She capitulated, told the young -woman to earmark her tiny allowance for journeys, -and gained from Theocritus Chepstow only this:—that -he would buy a freehold for them, build and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -furnish it. Theocritus was on like a bird; and the -lovely little lodge which London now knows as -Demaine House, with its curious formal gardens, odd -Dutch stables and Grecian weathercock on the site -of the old mews in what is now Benson Street, is the -proof that he kept his promise.</p> - -<p>For a year Ole Man Benson had not only kept his -promise in the way of building and furnishing for -the young people: he had done more. He had -floated them upon London with all the revenue that -could be reserved from the new venture upon which -he designed to double the colossal sums which -directly or indirectly stood to his name, and every -penny that he could spare from his first early -purchases of Popocatapetls went into the status and -future social position of his daughter. Now, after -two years, Popocatapetl Dam was finished and yet -greater things lay before them.</p> - -<p>Demaine was put into Parliament by a majority -comparable only to the financial advantages which -had secured it. His birth, her voice and its timbre, -gathered into Demaine House all that so small a -Great House could hold.</p> - -<p>So things had stood to within a week of the -March day upon which we saw that very different -man, Charles Repton, walking into the City of -London....</p> - -<p>But from the name of Charles Repton let me -rapidly slew off to the sombre pyramid of that -peak in the neighbourhood of Darien and recall the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -caprice of Popocatapetl upon which so much was to -depend.</p> - -<p>It was a Wednesday in that March of 1915 that -the Statesman was to speak in Washington at ten: -(for two years Demaine House had thriven, it slept -that Tuesday night unconscious of its fate). It was -for the Wednesday at 3.30 that the order to sell -stood in Ole Man Benson’s name.... Well ...</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap2">LATE upon that Tuesday night Ole Man Benson -boarded the Louis XV. Rosewood Express -de Luxe as it steamed out of the Chicago Depot of -the M.N. & C.: he was off to his mountain property -in Idaho, and in the privacy of his section, Ole Man -Benson slept.</p> - -<p>Not so the forces of Nature, so often destructive -of the schemes of pigmy man!</p> - -<p>An appalling convulsion altogether exceeding -anything heard or dreamt of since the beginning of -time, totally destroyed the Popocatapetelian landscape -in the small hours of that same morning; and -as, a thousand miles to the north, the Louis XV. -Rosewood Express de Luxe rolled in a terrific -manner upon its insufficient rock ballast, the -subterranean river, the perennial fires and the unscrupulously -erected edifice of the great dam, shot -aloft in a vast confusion and were replaced by a -chasm some quarter of a mile in breadth and of a -depth unfathomable to mortal plummets. It was -March; March 1915. In Iowa in March it snows. -The locomotive and two of the cars attached to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -the Louis XV. Rosewood Express de Luxe were -buried a little beyond Blucher in a drift of snow -the height and dimensions of which exceeded -the experience of the oldest settler in that charming -prairie town. <i>The same storm which had caused -the misadventure had broken the wires for many miles -around.</i></p> - -<p>Ole Man Benson awoke, therefore, to a scene of -great discomfort, but upon such a date and with a -prospect of so considerable an increase of fortune -awaiting him upon that very day, he was the gayest -of the company, and in spite of his years he -shovelled away with the best of them, a-splendid-type-of-Anglo-Saxon-manhood.</p> - -<p>By one o’clock that noon the telegraph at last -was working, and the first messages came through -to the little depot; they concerned a riot in a local -home for paralytics. Next, before two, news was -conveyed of an outbreak of religious mania in the -town of Omaha. It was not till a late hour in the -evening that Ole Man Benson, waiting anxiously -for the report of the great speech, heard the earliest -tidings of the practical joke which Providence—in -spite of Gen. Porfirio Diaz’ equable and masterly -rule—had played him in the distant tropics.</p> - -<p>The same rapidity of thought which had enabled -Theocritus to accumulate his vast fortune enabled -him in that moment to perceive that he was ruined. -Not indeed necessarily for ever,—he had known -such things before—but at any rate in a manner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -sufficiently hefty to produce his immediate collapse.</p> - -<p>When, next morning, he could bring himself to -read the papers, the disaster appeared before him -in its exact proportions and tremendous scale.</p> - -<p>That speech, that statesman-like speech, had never -been delivered—and for the best of reasons: -Popocatapetl had unbosomed first! In the wild -fall of prices nothing had done more to ruin the -market than the heavy selling of agents acting on -account of Theocritus C. Benson. There were -dozens within the roaring walls of the building in -Wall Street, thousands in the anxious streets without, -who saw in the Benson selling yet another move of -diabolical cunning proceeding from that Napoleonic -brain. His agents had done their work thoroughly -and well. They had anticipated his orders with -such promptitude that no stock was left unsaleable -upon their hands, and when, before the end of that -black day, Popocatapetls were offering at the cost of -haulage, they could proudly say that every interest -of their client’s in the ruined concern had been -disposed of. And Theocritus C. Benson, henceforward -known as the Earthquake King, was left -with no unsaleable paper upon his hands, but on the -contrary with a solid cash result equivalent to at -least three cents on the dollar of his yesterday’s -fortune. This it is to be faithfully served in the -intricacies of modern speculation!</p> - -<p>A truce to Ole Man Benson! If I have introduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -his wretched commercial adventures at such -length it is but to explain the portentous effect -which they had upon the fortunes of one British -statesman.</p> - -<p>Far off in London (Eng.) George Mulross Demaine -saw nothing in his morning newspaper but the news -(to him a serious matter) that Pink Eye was scratched -for the Grand National. His wife, whom her father -had shielded from the vulgar atmosphere of -commerce, noted indeed the news from the Western -Hemisphere and was for a passing moment concerned; -but Ole Man Benson did not telegraph, -for there were no flies upon him, nor did Ole Man -Benson even write, and for the same entomological -reason.</p> - -<p>Oh! no. Ole Man Benson proceeded to New -York, had certain interviews with certain people, took -certain drugs, went through a certain cure, laid as -he hoped the foundations of yet another scheme, and -not until 30th of March, a full week after the matter -I have described, did Theocritus dictate a brief note -to his daughter, which I will here transcribe:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td>(If not delivered, please return <br /> - within three days to<br /> - Theocritus C. Benson.)<br /></td> - -<td class="tdc">“2909 <span class="smcap">Kanaka Building</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">New York City</span><br /> -30/3/’15</td></tr> - -</table> - -<p>Coming across on Potassic. Depart 4th—probable -arrival Plymouth 11th. Shall cable.</p> - -<p class="right"> -(Signed) <span class="smcap">Father</span>”</p></div> - -<p>With true business instinct the great organiser<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -dispatched the cable upon the 4th of April, so that -his daughter received upon the evening of the same -day in her London house the reassuring word -“eleventh,” which her reception of the letter a few -days later easily enabled her to comprehend; and -on 11th of April, sure enough, Ole Man Benson -in a grave and sober manner embraced his daughter -on the landing-stage at Plymouth. George Mulross -Demaine was also there, standing a little behind the -affectionate group, clothed in a large green ulster -and a cap of the same cloth and colour with an -enormous peak.</p> - -<p>They got into the train together and all the way -up to London the master of empty millions said -nothing.</p> - -<p>As they were driving to Demaine House he spoke: -“Any o’ your folk to supper?” he said.</p> - -<p>His daughter with filial gaiety assured him that -she had waited his orders, to which he replied, “Good -girl Sudie.”</p> - -<p>During the meal he was as silent as he had been -upon the journey, and at the end of it he gave his -son-in-law to understand that he desired to talk -business with his daughter and preferred to be alone -with her: and George Mulross went out, taking his -wine with him, for his wife’s father drank none, but -only Toxine.</p> - -<p>The message Ole Man Benson had to deliver to -Sudie was simple enough: there would, for he could -not say how long, be no more money forthcoming.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -He hoped the position might be retrieved; he was -confident it would be retrieved before the Fall, by -Thanksgiving at latest. Till then, nit!</p> - -<p>Sudie had all her father’s readiness; she pointed -out to him at once that under the conditions of -English politics the total cessation of an income the -source of which was familiar to her husband’s friends, -would at once affect her father’s credit in future -transactions, and clearly showed that no investment -could be more to his advantage than the placing of -sums at her disposal for the proper up-keep of his -daughter’s position in the society of London.</p> - -<p>To this powerful argument Theocritus immediately -replied that those who looked for hens’ teeth were -liable to be stung; that cigars containing explosive -matter had been offered him too frequently in the -past for him now to entertain the thought of consuming -them; and that when he was bulling London -he would advise. By which parables he intended to, -and did, convey to his daughter his fixed conclusion -that it was up to her to bear futures: and lest she -should have failed wholly to seize his point, he told -her briefly and in the plainest terms that whatever -rocks were going were wanted—badly—to sling at -something with more dough in it than Mayfair.</p> - -<p>With that their brief discourse was ended.</p> - -<p>This little conversation over, Demaine was given to -understand that he might re-enter the room. He -was a little shy in doing so, for interviews of this -sort usually meant some new gift or subsidy, but it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -was shyness of a pleasant sort and he had little -doubt that he should hear in a moment the extent -or at least the nature of the new bounty which his -young household was to receive. He was therefore -only puzzled by the novelty of phrasing when his -father-in-law, looking at him in a manner rather -humorous than severe, remarked:</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ve stacked it up with Sudie, and she may -stack it up with you.” Then in a kinder tone, he -added: “You catch?”</p> - -<p>“Yes sir,” said George untruthfully.</p> - -<p>“Why then, ’nuff’s said,” concluded the Captain of -Industry, and very thoughtfully he picked his teeth -with a long fine silver point which he habitually -carried in his waistcoat for that purpose of the -toilet. “It’s no call ter last long,” he muttered half -to himself and half to the bewildered Demaine; -“anyhow the pump’s sucking; and there’s no more -oil,”—to elucidate which somewhat cryptic phrase -Sudie begged her husband not to stand gaping there -like a booby, but to sit down and understand as much -of it as he could.</p> - -<p>Whereupon in the clearest possible language, -punctuated by her father’s decisive and approving -nods, she translated into older idioms exactly what -had happened, and exactly what it meant. They -were worth just £1500 a year between them from -that day onwards for—well, till there was a change.</p> - -<p>It was not tact but nervousness that prevented -George at the end of this dreadful passage from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -suggesting that his father-in-law could do again what -he had done before, that the strain was temporary, -and that he for his part hoped for the best; but his -wife, who was by this time fairly well accustomed to -follow his thought, was careful to point out that -whatever the future might do for them, the present -was dirt black, and the present meant at least two -years:</p> - -<p>“At least two years?” (to her father).</p> - -<p>To which her father very simply and plainly -answered her: “Yep.”</p> - -<p>There was much of the splendid blood of -Theocritus in Sudie; indeed it is often observed -that the genius of the father will descend to the -daughter—and <i>vice versa</i>. The very next sentence, -therefore, with which Sudie prodded her disconsolate -spouse, was a demand for a list of those who might -be ready to take Demaine House, to take it at once, -to take it furnished, to take it high, to take it by the -year and not for the season, and, when they had -taken it, to <i>pay</i>.</p> - -<p>Demaine immediately suggested the name of such -of his acquaintance as might most desire to occupy -such a position in London, and were also least able -to do so, but he was careful to add after each -name, some such remark as “But of course they -won’t do,” or “but I don’t think he can afford it,”—until -his father-in-law in a pardonable lassitude -went out.</p> - -<p>“The best thing you can do,” said his wife with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -renewed decision when they were alone, “is to get -up right here and go round to Mary’s.” For it was -a notable circumstance in Sudie’s relations with -Mrs. Smith that while that lady gave <i>her</i> her full -title, <i>she</i> would invariably allude to Mrs. Smith by -the more affectionate medium of the Christian -name.</p> - -<p>Demaine assented. He found his father-in-law at -the door; they went out together into the night, and -when he had timidly admitted that he was going -South towards St. James’s, the financier with rapid -decision announced that he was going North towards -Marylebone,—and they parted.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith was not in. It was only eleven and -the theatre detained her. George waited. He -took counsel from several valuable pictures, was -careful to touch and handle nothing upon her tables -(for he knew that she detested an accident and with -almost-canine-sagacity could invariably detect his -interference), and stood, not at ease.</p> - -<p>She came in at twelve; she brought a party with -her, and she insisted upon supper. It was one before -she could talk to him alone, and she talked to him -until two.</p> - -<p>The first thing she did was to tell him that he -could not let his house that season and that he must -make up his mind to it. The second was to discover -what balance there was at the bank—and to hear -that it was pitifully small. The third was to offer -him a short loan that would carry him over at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -a few weeks of necessary expense, and the fourth to -tell him that, not upon the morrow but upon the -day after, she would have decided.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile he must post a letter for her.</p> - -<p>She sat down and wrote at once to William -Bailey.</p> - -<p>“When you get outside, George,” she said as she -gave him the letter, “you will see a very large pillar -box. It is much larger than most pillar boxes; it -has two slits in it instead of one. Do you follow -me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he said humbly.</p> - -<p>“You will not put this letter in your pocket, -George,” she went on firmly and kindly, as certain -practitioners do when they propose to hypnotise -their patients. “You will carry it in front of you -like this.” She put it into his right hand, crooked -his arm, held his wrist upright, so that his eyes could -not help falling upon the missive. “The moment -you get outside you will put it in the <i>right</i>-hand slit -of the pillar box, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>He said “yes” again, as humbly as before. And -as he went out he did all that she had asked him, -though to make the matter more sure she watched -for a moment from the window.</p> - -<p>When William Bailey received the letter next -morning he was in the best of moods. For one -thing he was going to leave London for three weeks,—a -prospect that always delighted him. For -another he was going to do some sea fishing, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -sport of which he was passionately fond. For a -third, an Austrian money-lender and a baron at that, -had shot himself—it had of course been kept out of -the English papers, but he had read all the details in -one of the anti-semitic rags which are the disgrace of -Vienna, and his spirits had risen, buoyant at the -news. Finally, and what was of perhaps most -importance for an eccentric and middle-aged celibate, -the house which he had hired for a month he knew -exactly suited him. It was the house of Merry, the -architect, and stood just so far from Parham Town -as would give him the isolation he adored, yet just -so near to Parham Harbour as would put him in touch -with the sea.</p> - -<p>For all these reasons he read Mary Smith’s little -note in great gaiety of heart, and in a mood in which -men of influence are willing to do what they can for -their kind.</p> - -<p>Like many men of wealth and ability whom -opportunity has made eccentric, William Bailey -could not bear to handle the pen. He hesitated for -some moments between the extreme boredom of -writing and the tantalising business of the telephone, -decided in favour of the former, wrote on a form—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="center">“Get Dolly to make room for him.</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="gap">(Signed) <span class="smcap">Bill</span>”—</span> -</p></div> - -<p>and sent the message out to be telegraphed to his -cousin.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>Mary Smith, receiving it, received with it a great -light.</p> - -<p>It was not always easy for her to follow the changes -that took place in political appointments, but she -was certain of <i>this</i>, that the present administration -contained more unfamiliar names than she cared to -think of, and that there <i>must</i> be room in such a crowd -for a man of poor George’s standing.</p> - -<p>Now from the moment that such thoughts as these -entered Mary Smith’s head about a man’s appointment, -that man was safe: poor George’s future was -therefore ultimately secure. But there was no time -to lose. He must get on to the front bench, and he -must get there with a salary, and the salary must be -sufficient, and the promotion must be rapid. She -remembered that Dolly would be at the Petheringtons’ -that evening, and she determined to be there too. -She hoped and prayed that nothing would bring -George, though since George was everywhere the -chances were against her prayer being answered.</p> - -<p>For the moment she thought of warning him not -to come, then, remembering certain indiscretions of -his in the past, she thought it best to say nothing, -but to trust to chance.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">CHARLES REPTON, manifold as were his -financial interests, knew nothing of Popocatapetls, -and cared less.</p> - -<p>The manner in which his life was to be influenced -by that very distant cataclysm was hidden from him; -as (for that matter) it would be hidden from the reader -also had not this book been most boldly published.</p> - -<p>Yet another thing the full import of which may -escape the reader, is the fact that Sir Charles -Repton was extremely tender just behind the ears; -but for this the reader herself alone and not the -author is to blame, for if the reader had any knowledge -of Caryll’s Ganglia she would have guessed at -twenty things. But no matter: Caryll’s Ganglia and -their effect upon self-control very much interrupt -the chain of those absorbing adventures which, if she -will continue, the reader will presently peruse.</p> - -<p>Anyhow, those regions of the head which lie -behind either ear were for some reason or other very -tender, large, sensitive to pressure, and in a way -abnormal in Sir Charles Repton.</p> - -<p>When, therefore, somewhere about the corner of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -Tottenham Court Road (on that March day on which -we left him walking to his Board meeting), his hat -blew off: when he had run after it: when in doing -so he had ruffled his fine crop of white hair; and when, -to have it all set right, he had gone into a second-rate -barber’s, it may well be imagined that he gave -the man who served him minute instructions that the -head rest upon the back of the chair should be made -comfortable—and so it was. And on to it Sir -Charles Repton leant gingerly the head upon whose -clear action depended the future fortunes of Van -Diemens.</p> - -<p>The man in brushing his hair with an apparatus -of singular power, turned the monologue on to the -commonplaces of the moment, which included the -bestiality of the Government and the abhorrent -nature of the Italian people, of whom at that particular -moment in 1915 the people of London stood -in abject terror.</p> - -<p>Whether it was the pressure of the violent rotating -brush or some looseness in the screw that held the -support behind him, with a shock and a clang that -support slipped, and Sir Charles Repton’s head came -smartly down, first through nothingness and then -on to two iron nuts which exactly corresponded to -those processes of the skull just behind either ear, -in which, as I have taken pains to remark, he was -peculiarly sensitive: for they were largely developed -in him and nourished it would seem by an unusual -supply of blood.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>Sharp as was the pain, Charles Repton controlled -himself, listened to the explanations and apologies -of the barber, and submitted himself again to the -grooming for which he had entered.</p> - -<p>When he went out again into the street he had -almost forgotten the accident. The two places where -his head had been struck swelled slightly and he -touched them now and again, but they soon passed -from his mind; within ten minutes they were no -longer painful; yet was there set up in them from -that moment, an irritation which was to have no -inconsiderable consequence.</p> - -<p>He went on into the City, ordered one or two things -which he had set down in his memorandum before -starting, looked in at a City Club where he knew one -or two items of news were awaiting him, and slowly -betook himself to the offices of the Van Diemens -Company. He had thoroughly planned out the -scheme of that morning’s work; it needed no -recapitulation in his mind, yet as his habit was, just -before opening the door of the Board Room, in the -few seconds of going up the stairs, he briefly presented -his scheme of tactics to his own mind.</p> - -<p>The Directors must ask the shareholders for fresh -capital; a nominal million, an increase of 25 per -cent. upon the value of the shares at par. That was -the first point.</p> - -<p>The second point was the object for which this -levy should nominally be demanded. On that also -he had made up his mind. Paton had quite unconsciously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -suggested to him the master idea; a little -belt of untravelled and unknown country (locally -known as the “Out and Out”) wherein the degraded -Kawangas—so Paton had told him, and after all -Paton had been there—held their orgies in Mutchi-time, -alone separated Perks’ Bay from the Straits, -and the long detour which all traffic must now make -between the coaling station and the high road to the -East, could be cut off by a line crossing that region. -Paton had assured him with immense enthusiasm -that such a line would give its possessor the strategic -key to the gate of everything East of the Bay of -Bengal, and, what was more important in Sir Charles’ -eyes than Paton’s own opinion, a vast mass of -gentlemen in the suburbs of London and perhaps -five-sixths of the journalists in Fleet Street, were -ready to rally to the idea. It had been well preached -and well dinned in.</p> - -<p>These two points were clear: they must ask for -a million and they must ask it for the purpose of -building a railway that would at last ensure the -Empire against the nightmare of foreign rivals.</p> - -<p>There was a third point. The shareholders would -not or could not subscribe a million but that was easily -turned. They should be asked for no more than -200,000,—a shilling a share—in cash down, “the -remainder to be paid,” etc. etc.</p> - -<p>Had not Sir Charles possessed an iron control of -his face, the strong set smile which he wore as he -entered the Board Room would have broadened at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -the recollection of that last detail. On the other -hand had he not possessed such self-control some -movement of annoyance might have escaped him -to discover present at the table, among his other -colleagues, the late-rising and impervious Bingham. -The sight was sufficient to exasperate a man of less -balance. The hour had been carefully chosen to -avoid such an accident, and that accident meant -perhaps another half-hour or more of close argument -and of subtle effort.</p> - -<p>For his colleague Bingham added to a native -idiocy of solid texture and formidable dimensions, -the experience of extensive travel; and he was in -particular well acquainted with the district with -regard to which the Board must that day make its -decision. It was certain, therefore, that his fellow-Directors -would listen to him with peculiar respect, -not only on account of his stupidity which necessarily -commanded a certain attention, but also on account -of his intimacy with plain matters of fact: he had -been upon the spot: he was the man who knew.</p> - -<p>It was just as Repton had feared. Business that -might have been done in a quarter of an hour and a -decision which contained no more than the issue of -pieces of paper was turned into a long practical discussion -by the intolerable ponderance of Bingham, -who would wait until every one had had his say, and -then would bring in some dreadful little technical -point about a marsh, a rainy season or a fly; he was -careful to pepper his conversation with local terms a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -hundred times more remote than the Kawanga and -Mutchi-time; in every conceivable manner he put -his spoke into the wheels of business.</p> - -<p>So considerable was the effect produced by the -redoubtable Bingham at that table that, were Cæsarism -a common political theory in elderly men, the -whole conduct of Van Diemens would for the future -have been put into his hands. Luckily for the -Company its forms were not so democratic.</p> - -<p>Charles Repton waited patiently. When he spoke -his point was as simple as falling off a log: what was -wanted was not a railway in itself, it was a new issue -of capital. He was profoundly indifferent what label -should be tied onto that issue, so long as it was a -label good enough to get the original shareholders to -come in. The public would never come in as things -were: its pusillanimity was increased by the fact that -the Company had been in existence for now eleven -years and had hitherto failed to pay a dividend of -any kind. After some thought he had decided, in -company with one or two others upon the Board, that -a railway through a certain district of the concession, -locally known as “The Out and Out,” and remarkable -for the fact that no white man had yet visited it, would -be the best attraction he could offer. He was prepared -to show by the aid of maps upon which should -be marked all favourable things, that a line driven -through this district would unite with the world two -provinces teeming with inexhaustible wealth, of a -heavenly climate, and hitherto by the mere accident<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -of the Out and Out belt, cut off from the longing -embraces of commerce. More; he could show that -this single line of railway would bestow upon his -beloved country so vast a strategic superiority over -all other nations as would ensure her immediate -success in any campaign, no matter what the quality -of the troops she might employ. To this he added -the attractions of touring in the tropics and the allurements -of big game for those wealthy gentlemen whom -he designed in the new prospectus to term Shikaris.</p> - -<p>With the new capital subscribed and long before -the line was surveyed, there was little doubt that the -shares which had fallen from over £9 to the comparatively -low quotation—but oh! not price—of -16/3 (at which quotation he had first consented -to tender his services to the Company) would rise to -certainly over £1, perhaps to nearer £2, and what -was more to the point they would be readily saleable. -He was prepared in that event to transfer his property -in them to others, a course which he sincerely hoped -his fellow-shareholders would also follow, though of -course he would not take it upon himself to advise -any one of them.</p> - -<p>Bingham, like the practical man he was, pinned -himself to the railway. He <i>knew</i> the Out and Out; -not that he’d ever been there,—no white man had,—but -he had talked to several of the Kawanga in -Mutchi-time, and he shook his head despondently. -There was one continuous line of precipice 3000 feet -deep; there was a river which was now a stream<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -five miles broad, now a marsh and now again dry—, sometimes -for years on end. There was a dense mass -of forest; there was that much more difficult thing, -a belt of shifting sand dunes; there were nearly 300 -miles without water through these. He was prepared -to speak all day upon the difficulties of building a -railway which none but the least intelligent had ever -designed to build.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles Repton could ride himself on the curb, -and more than anything else this mastery had given -him his present great position; but that day he had to -exercise his will to the full, and in that exercise he felt -slight twinges behind the ear where the barber’s rest -had struck him. It was all he could do to prevent -himself from drumming on the table or from making -those interruptions which only serve as fuel to the -slow criticisms of the dull.</p> - -<p>At last—and heaven knows with what subtlety and -patience—he conquered. There was a vote (a thing -he had wished to avoid), but he carried it by two; -and it was agreed that the issue of new capital -should be made, that a General Meeting of the shareholders -should be called for Tuesday the 2nd of June, -and that he, Repton, should have the task of laying -the scheme before them. The new prospectus, which -he had already drafted, was passed round and with -a very few emendations accepted. Then, after as -heavy a bit of work as had ever been undertaken in -the way of persuasion, the principal brain in that -company was at last free for other things.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>It was half-past one. He had just time to meet -and to convince yet another fool upon another matter: -the foreigner acting as agent for his Government, on -the matter of the bridge: a bridge which the Foreign -Government might or might not build, and, if they -built, might or might not order from a firm which -Repton had reason to befriend. Repton must lunch -with that foreigner: he must persuade him to build: -he must get the order—then he must be in his place -in the House in time for questions.</p> - -<p>The foreigner was as wax in his hands: not as -good warm wax, adulterated wax, candle wax, but -rather as beeswax, very ancient and hard. It was -a full hour before that wax was pliable, but once -again the unceasing, managed, strict watchfulness, -the set face which had always in it something stern -but never anything aggressive, the balance of judgment, -conquered. Down to the smallest detail of -that conversation Repton was the artist, his host at -the lunch was the public, accepting and gradually -convinced, and the bridge was ordered for the -Foreign Government, though it was a useless bridge -leading from nowhere to nowhere, and though it -could have been built much more solidly and -much better by the people of the place than by -the English firm.</p> - -<p>Then Repton went on to the House of Commons, -and there, as in every duty of the day, the weight of -his character told.</p> - -<p>The questions were slight, there were not half a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -dozen that concerned his Department, but he answered -them all with that curious restraint of tone which somehow -made it difficult to cross-examine his Department. -And he faced the House with such a poise -and expression that one almost wondered, as one -looked at him, upon which side he was sitting, or -whether indeed the mere game of In’s and Out’s -entered into his brain at all.</p> - -<p>He seemed to be quite above the divisions of party. -He seemed a sort of Ambassador from the permanent -officials and to carry into the House of Commons an -atmosphere at once judicial and experienced which -no one could resist. When he had first accepted the -Wardenship of the Court of Dowry it had been -wondered that he should take so secondary a post. -Now, after these four years, it was rather wondered -why no one had seen till then the possibilities that -lay in the position.</p> - -<p>After that typical and decisive day, Repton, for -more than a month, refrained from debate.</p> - -<p>He was ever in his seat on those two days in each -week when it was his business to answer questions: -he never let his understrapper appear for him; for -one full fortnight he was permanently in attendance, -watching the fortunes before a select committee of a -certain Bill, for which the public cared nothing but -which he knew might change in a very important -particular the public fortune—but in general he -seemed to be in retirement. He was planning hard.</p> - -<p>A mixture of Imperial sentiment and personal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -pride urged him to put Van Diemens on their legs, -and all April, all through the Easter Recess, he -remained in London working. He worked right on -into May; for the first week after Parliament met -again he was seen but little; one thing only troubled -him, that at long intervals—sometimes as long as ten -days, an uneasy twinge behind the ears, the result of -that little half-forgotten accident, incommoded him. -These twinges came a trifle more frequently as May -advanced. After the last of them he had felt a little -dazed—no more. And still he worked and worked, -holding twenty reins in his hands.</p> - -<p>Before the end of May the fruit of all this labour -began to appear. Camptons were reconstructed, -arbitration had been forced upon the Docks combination -in the North just in time to prevent a wholesale -transference of shipping abroad, and more important -than all, perhaps, there had begun to crop up in the -papers, here, there, and everywhere, the mention—and -the flattering mention—of Van Diemens, and the -wealthy were already familiar with the conception of -a certain railway in the land which was under the -Van Diemens charter.</p> - -<p>The wealthy, but as yet only the wealthy; it is as -fatal to be too early as to be too late, and that brain -which knew how to drive and compel, had also known -so well how to restrain, that the shares still remained -unsaleable with the meaningless quotation of -sixteen shillings and a few fluctuating pence still -attached to them in the market lists.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>So Repton stood in the middle of May, 1915, when -he became aware that an obscure member (obscure -at least in the House of Commons—and Repton -noticed little of, and cared nothing for, the merely -luxurious world of London), an aristocrat of sorts, -one of the <i>Demaine</i>,—George Demaine it seemed, -was being talked about. He was being pushed somehow. -Repton hardly heeded so commonplace a -phenomenon, save perhaps to wonder what job -was on:—he continued to push Van Diemens.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE Petheringtons’ house, to which Mary Smith -drove on the evening of 12th of April, -under the two pretty little electric lights of her -car, one for either side of her face, was one of a -hundred similar London houses, a huge brown cube -in the middle of Grosvenor Square.</p> - -<p>It was no longer called Petherington House; it -had once again regained its more familiar appellation -of No. 89, under which it had been famous for the -complete lack of entertainment of any sort which had -distinguished the short session of 1912. Then old -Hooker had died, the changes in the Cabinet had -come, Hooker’s wife had married the Bishop and also -died immediately, and finally the Petheringtons had -taken the place, foolishly called it by their own title -for a few months, and finding it unknown to cabmen -and to their friends’ chauffeurs also under this -appellation, they slowly reverted to the old name.</p> - -<p>If hospitality is a fault when pushed to an extreme, -the Petheringtons exhibited that fault. But so -excellent were their arrangements—for business will -out even in the smallest details of domestic life—that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -no one suffered in the crush, and that it was -perfectly easy in the time a guest ordinarily allowed -himself for the function, to go up the stairs and down -again, though perhaps too much time was wasted -at the necessarily narrow entrance where men must -seek their hats and coats.</p> - -<p>The movement of Society in this particular case -was rendered the more facile by the emptiness of the -hall, from which everything had been taken except -the Great Stuffed Bear which had been shot by the -servant of a trapper who had sold it to the correspondent -of the furrier of Lady Petherington, and -which now stood holding a tray, with an expression -of extreme ferocity, and labelled “The Caucasus, -17th June, 1910,”—for in those mountains Mr. -Petherington—as he then was—had travelled.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith was not disappointed. Mooning -aimlessly about the crowded rooms above, in an -atmosphere surcharged with mauve Moravian -music—the loudest of its kind—shuffled the anxious -and slightly bowed form of Dolly, the young and -popular Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>A foreigner might have thought him to have few -friends, so slowly did he proceed and with so curious -a gaze from one group to another, seeming half -stunned by the vigour of the band and fascinated by -the vigorous contortions of Mr. Arthur Worth who -conducted it for all he was—I mean with his utmost -capacity of gesture and expression. That foreigner -would have suffered an illusion. The Prime Minister<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -was perfectly well known in face and figure to every -one in that room, and there were few who did not -hope for some advantage from his presence, but -fewer, far fewer still, who attempted to obtain it. I -must of course except Professor Kahn.</p> - -<p>Dolly knew his Mary Smith, and resigned himself -to suffer. She had not come there that night for -nothing. She got up to him within half a minute -of the view, and found him with peculiar dexterity -through a maze of wealthy people. She quietly took -him away, and sat him in a large chair that stood -in a remote recess, where the light was subdued; she -took advantage of a deafening crash in the music to -which its previous successes were child’s play, and -shouted:</p> - -<p>“When are you going to have your next move?”</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister implored her not to talk shop. -Then somewhat inconsequently he added, weakening: -“Why do you want to know?”</p> - -<p>The music was now whining and part of it was -taking breath for another charge. It was therefore -in quite a low but exceedingly business-like tone that -Mary Smith remarked:</p> - -<p>“Because I want you to do something for -Dimmy.”</p> - -<p>The name suggested to the Prime Minister one of -twenty little jobs; he thought of a jolly little one in -Ireland. But she added: “You know what has -happened?”</p> - -<p>He didn’t.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>She told him briefly: Ole Man Benson was broke.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister remembered the explosion of -Popocatapetl: he had vaguely connected the news -with something at the time: now he knew what it -was. He looked extremely grave. And when Mary -went on to tell him that Mrs. Demaine had only -£1500 he looked graver still.</p> - -<p>“There isn’t anything of a big sort going just now, -Mary,” he said in quite another tone. But he was -thinking his clearest. “I don’t know him as well as -you do,” he added. “Can he <i>do</i> anything?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mary Smith decidedly, “he can’t. But -he’d go well in harness.”</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister seemed to live more actively -as he considered the problem. The warm air, the -scent of clothes and flowers suited him well.</p> - -<p>The trouble with his left lung which had so -endeared him to his fellow-citizens, he felt far less -keenly in the beginning of a warm spring than at -any other time, and evenings such as this rewarded -him for the sacrifice he made every winter to his -duty and to England. Of the four years during -which he had held the highest of human offices he had -spent but one winter on the Riviera, and though it -had been necessary in one year to forego an Autumn -session, such a session had not in the other three -years delayed the meeting of Parliament beyond the -end of February. His youth stood him in good stead -during this ordeal; but there were those (and they -were they who loved him most) who looked with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -anxiety upon the frail form and thought, although -they dared not say, that the years were slipping by -and that what a man could do with impunity when -still upon the right side of fifty, would become -another matter when his fifty-fifth year was passed.... -There was of course always the hope of opposition -and its leisure.... The Broadening of the -Streets Bill had roused a tempest of Party passion.... -He had already been publicly stoned in the -North.... But no matter; for the moment the -Prime Minister was full of appreciation, and for his -cousin’s purposes in the kindliest of moods.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he thought (and his cousin read his -thoughts) that she was asking the impossible. An -idea struck him.</p> - -<p>“Has Dimmy been called to the Bar?” he -asked.</p> - -<p>She looked up, puzzled. “I don’t think so.... -No, I know he hasn’t. I put up a hundred for him -in 1908 and he buzzed it. I should certainly have -heard if he had done anything more before his -marriage. Naturally <i>since</i> then....”</p> - -<p>“Yes, naturally,” said the Prime Minister -sympathetically. He mused. “He wouldn’t go -abroad?” he said, looking round.</p> - -<p>“What on earth’s the good of that?” said Mary -Smith a little testily.</p> - -<p>“Well,” answered the Prime Minister vaguely, as -he reviewed certain posts in his mind, “... No. -There isn’t much in that. Anything that could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -of any use wants leading up to.” And he plunged -into thought again.</p> - -<p>Then with a gesture that many had noticed in him -and had thought a mere idle trick but which was -really an accompaniment to calculation, he put his -ten fingers down upon his knees and lifted them -slowly one after another. When he had so lifted -nine (it was the ring finger of his left hand) a touch -of animation passed over his face, an expression his -cousin could see even in that subdued light.</p> - -<p>“How long does he want it for?” he asked.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith was inclined to say “For ever,” but -she checked herself; she remembered the face and -manner of Theocritus C. Benson, she trusted his -future fortune, and she said:</p> - -<p>“I think even a little while would make a -difference.”</p> - -<p>They were both thinking of the same thing. But -the Prime Minister understood what perhaps she -did not, that there is no such thing as autocratic -intervention in our public life, that time is required -for every innovation, and that he who leads must -also follow. He was reviewing as she spoke the -prejudices and the ambitions of perhaps twenty men, -and the power of each. When he spoke again it was -as though his decision were final:</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how I could do anything for him in -the House. He’s hardly ever spoken, and when he -did he made a fool of himself.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said Mary sympathetically.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>“He’s the only man,” went on Dolly reflectively, -“whom I’ve ever seen fall right <i>off</i> a bench in the -House of Commons....”</p> - -<p>“You mean he’s physically awkward?” replied -Mary in the tone of a woman who knows how to -despise such trifles—but she scented danger. “I’ve -never known Dimmy betray one word that was -confided to him,” she continued gravely.</p> - -<p>“If one were beginning all over again,” said Dolly, -as though thinking aloud. “But then,” he added, -getting up from his chair and making as though to -walk away,—“<i>that’s</i> impossible,—there’s Repton.”</p> - -<p>It has been said that women are inconsequent in -their conversation and that if they desire to obtain a -favour they do so by disconnected hints which men -cannot follow. It may be so. But perhaps on this -very account do they succeed. At any rate from the -moment that the Prime Minister had let drop the -phrase “there’s Repton,” Mary Smith’s plan was -formed. She did not like Sir Charles Repton, largely -because he had not known her well. She had half -forgotten him; she understood now that in some way -he stood as an obstacle to what she desired for poor -George, and from that moment she determined that -Repton should be thrust into the House of Lords. -All she said was:</p> - -<p>“Yes, I forgot Repton.”</p> - -<p>And then she went back into the crowded rooms, -pushing the friend of her girlhood playfully before -her with her forefinger pressed into the small of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -back, until they reached the open door and entered -the main rooms.</p> - -<p>The music of Mr. Arthur Worth’s band rose, a -triumphant tyrant over, the howling talk, when, -during a sharp momentary and calculated pause in -the tornado of violins came the loud and unexpected -crash of some heavy object falling violently in the -hall below. Mary Smith moved very rapidly and -silently downstairs towards the sound.</p> - -<p>It was as she expected; George Mulross had come! -A little flushed and very much annoyed, he had upset -the Great Stuffed Bear which stood near the door -of the house. George was looking at the Prostrate -Monster with angry defiance, and nothing but his -dignity forbade him to attempt to raise it. The -accident was enough to decide Mary. She dreaded -the impression Dolly might receive if the poor lad -went up now and was flurried again. She went up -and put her hand on his shoulder as he stood there. -He jumped round and discovered her.</p> - -<p>“Oh Lord!” he said.</p> - -<p>“Dimmy,” she commanded firmly, “go out at -once. A great deal depends on it. Go out at once. -Don’t wait!”</p> - -<p>He began to say something about his wife and a -carriage.</p> - -<p>“<i>Go out at once!</i>” said Mary Smith.</p> - -<p>He tried to say something about his hat and coat.</p> - -<p>Some yards before them at the open door the -noise of a carriage was heard and there were servants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -waiting. Behind them more servants. But Mary -Smith knew her world.</p> - -<p>It was a choice of evils, and George Mulross -Demaine went out into the night, hatless and coatless. -The policemen were pleased to see such familiarity -among the great. They doubted not that the gentleman -was taking the air, but they wondered why he -walked so very rapidly eastward through Mayfair.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile from the carriage the daughter of -Theocritus C. Benson came out, not without decision, -and very soon the rooms of that house were filled and -even its Moravian music dominated by the acuteness -of her laugh and the tremendous decision of her tread.</p> - -<p>When every one had gone, one hat and coat -remained. The footman pawned them: they were -those of George Mulross Demaine.</p> - -<p>He, poor fellow, saw in all this nothing but that -eternity of bad luck to which he was born. When -his wife asked him next day why he had left the -Petheringtons’ so early, he told some ordinary lie: -he had left indeed because one wiser than he had -told him to leave, but he could make neither head -nor tail of the whole affair: and his foot hurt him -where the Bear had crushed it.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">EASTER, as those who survive will know, fell -early in 1915—to be exact, upon April 4th; -Ole Man Benson had returned on the 11th; on the -12th Mary had seen Dolly; and the week after Ole -Man Benson’s return to these shores, the week after he -had delivered his important and somewhat depressing -news to the young household, the week after -Mary and Dolly had conferred at the Petheringtons’—was -the week in which Parliament met after the -Recess, the third week in April.</p> - -<p>In that week also there began to crop up here -and there unexpectedly, beautifully, like the spring -flowers, short newspaper notes upon George Mulross -Demaine.</p> - -<p>They were notes of where he had been, whether -he had been there or not,—at least at first they were -notes of that kind. There had always been some -such notes on him in the papers, but they seemed -to be getting numerous.</p> - -<p>The public would hear that George Mulross loved -his great poodle dog; next that the pressure of his -engagements forbade him to open an Enormous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -Institution for the Cultivation and Study of Virulent -Diseases, and in connection with this news the -Institution was described at great length, and the -passionate regrets at the absence of George Mulross -Demaine sounded like a small but perceptible dirge -in the corners of the daily press.</p> - -<p>He was attacked gently but cleverly in a paper -upon his own side of politics; short biographical -notes, only a few among several score, gave details -of his happy little ways. He was fond of riding, said -one author who can have had but little intimacy with -her subject; he was fond of children, said another -who had even less. He had “an eye for black game,” -said a third, whose lack of intimacy included not -only George himself but certainly black game as -well.</p> - -<p>Later came anecdotes of his goodness of heart; -how he had run over a boy in the Park with his -motor and had then picked him up; and how he -had good-humouredly refrained from telling people -who he was in the railway accident, and had permitted -the wounded to be taken to hospital before he himself -would accept conveyance.</p> - -<p>Finally, as the month ended, and as May brought -in the London season, George Mulross began to find -himself uncomfortably prominent. For he very -sincerely and very heartily hated fame. He could -not so much as upset a glass of wine or stumble -over public stairs without hearing his name whispered; -and once when he had called at the wrong number,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -the servant, recognising him from some caricature in -the papers, had mentioned his own name to him with -reverence, though the door was the door of a house -whose occupants he did not know.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the tiny balance at the bank had gone. -The overdraft was large and at any moment there -might come a note which he dreaded. And Mary -Smith had compelled him to look for a small house -in Westminster and to make every preparation for -leaving Demaine House. He kicked feebly, but -she insisted: and even Sudie gave way.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t enough to keep the house dry,” Mary -said. And she compelled them both to a sense of -business which Theocritus himself would have failed -to make them feel.</p> - -<p>All this business was well advanced when Mary -Smith proceeded to the next stage of the campaign.</p> - -<p>She carefully looked up the nature of the Court of -Dowry, and when she had learned all that she could -learn from her books (it took her half a day—though -she was a woman of exceptional intelligence and -excellent education) she set herself to learn all that -could be learned from living men.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Court of Dowry, in its very survival and still -more perhaps in the functions to-day attached to it, -affords an admirable example of the value of fixed -institutions in the life of a people.</p> - -<p>It was originally instituted to try cases falling -within the jurisdiction of that Queen Mother of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -Middle Ages to whom the poet Gray so pathetically -alludes in the striking lines</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="versefirst">“She-wolf of France with unrelenting fangs</div> -<div class="verse">Tearing the bowels,” etc.</div> -</div></div> - -<p>It had cognizance of all Escheats, Novels Tabulate -and Malprisions Reguardaunt in the County of -Ponthieu and the Seniory of Lucq. But when active -jurisdiction over these continental territories was -interrupted under King Henry <small>VI.</small>, there remained -no function for the Court but the trial of cases arising -in or without foreign ports upon decks subject to the -Crown of England.</p> - -<p>It lingered thus into the beginning of the sixteenth -century, at which moment it was reduced to a Clerk -known as the <i>Mangeur</i>, and a Warden, each holding -what were virtually sinecures (and not highly paid -sinecures at that) about the Palace.</p> - -<p>Henry <small>VIII.</small>, whom we cannot call a good but -whom surely we may call a great man, rudely -suppressed the office of Mangeur with a cruel jest -at the executioner’s expense, and only permitted the -Wardenship itself to survive on the strict understanding -that the salary should be paid to himself. -The title, however, remained, a minor distinction -among the numerous baubles of the time, and was, -if I may so express it, resurrected from obscurity by -the great family of Heygate at the moment of the -Restoration of Charles <small>II.</small></p> - -<p>In their gladness at their recovery of a legitimate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -sovereign, this dominant house (now represented by -the Parrells) trapped themselves in every accoutrement -of joy, and, among other posts, the Wardenship -of the Court of Dowry was voted in 1661 an annual -salary of £2000, for which sum held by the same Act -as an hereditary right, the head of the House of -Heygate was content to license the annual holding -of the Court within the Royal Manor and Liberties -of Tooting.</p> - -<p>At first this Court sat for one full day in each year—St. -Luke’s—but later, from 1731, this session was -maintained in fiction alone. A crier in Westminster -Hall, at the opening of every Hilary Term, would -rapidly read out a list of three fictitious cases which -went by default, claim seventeen and sixpence, and -for ever after hold his peace.</p> - -<p>During the eighteenth century the fixed yearly salary -of £2000 hereditarily enjoyed by the Heygate family -steadily grew, till, by the time of the Reform Bill, it -had reached the very considerable sum of £15,000, -still payable to the Heygates though now all vestige -of activity in the office had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Our grandfathers, in the zeal of that somewhat -iconoclastic moment, swept away the corrupt figment. -The emoluments of the post were ruthlessly cut -down to the original £2000; its hereditary character -was, after a violent debate in the House of Lords, -destroyed by a majority of over fifty votes, determined -(as were so many of the great changes of that -time!) by the voice of Eldon. The Detainer of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -office (for such was his official title) received in -compensation a lump sum of half a million only—not -twenty years’ purchase—and certain apparently -unimportant functions were attached to the place -which from that day forward became an appointment -changing with the Administration.</p> - -<p>Mark here the silent virtue of organic constitutional -growth, and how a gentry can find it possible to create -where demagogues would have destroyed.</p> - -<p>Point by point and function by function, one -marine interest after another attached itself to the -Court of Dowry as the beautiful organisms of the -sea attach themselves to the ships that plough its -waters, until there had grown up round the Court of -Dowry by the end of the nineteenth century so considerable -a mass of precedent and custom and, with -the vast extension of our maritime commerce, duties -so manifold and of such moment to the nation, that -the office re-emerged after its life of six centuries, -an organ of capital importance in the workings of -English Government.</p> - -<p>As must be the case in any old and secure State, -certain anomalous duties were further attached to it: -the inspection of patent medicines for instance, the -giving out of contracts for buoys and rockets, and -the formal stamping of licences to sell sarsaparilla. -Even so the wretched and insufficient salary of -£2000 remained the sole remuneration of the -Warden, though the great name of GHERKIN had -raised it to be among the foremost posts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -Cabinet, and it had since seen the brilliancy, the -learning and the judgment respectively of a Dibley, a -Powker and a Hump. By 1912 its strict control over -the great steamship lines, its supervision of wrecks, -derelicts, Hunnage, Mixings, and Ports Consequent, -made it second only to the Foreign Office in the -matter of public interest, and, like the Foreign Office, -largely removed from the wranglings of party.</p> - -<p>Some months later the salary was raised, amid the -cheers (as I have said) of a united House, to £5000 -a year, with a further allowance of £5000 for the -expenses of entertainment and travel, which fall -with peculiar severity upon this great Department; -and in the hands of Charles Repton it had risen to -be something even more, if that were possible, than -GHERKIN had made it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>So much did Mary Smith discover: partly in what -she already knew, partly in her reading. The living -voices of men told her further things.</p> - -<p>It seemed that in the dingy offices which (by a -lovely trait in the character of politics!) house this -great Department—they stand between Parliament -Street and New Scotland Yard—a certain Mr. Sorrel -had for now seven years exercised his marvellous -and hidden powers, and while all were prepared to -admit the genius of Charles Repton, those who best -knew the workings of a great Government office, -spoke almost as though Mr. Sorrel were in himself -the Court of Dowry.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>The quaint customs attaching to the office of -Warden, the little bells upon the shoes, the bearing -of a model ship, bareheaded, upon Empire Day (a -recent innovation and one awkward only to the bald -or the blind), though to some they seemed a drawback, -to others were but an additional attraction, and -the ceremony of waggling in backwards upon all fours -into the presence of the Sovereign at Inauguration, -had been, with perhaps doubtful wisdom, abolished, -to suit the eccentric Radicalism of GHERKIN, who -refused to take office under any other condition.</p> - -<p>The Accolade, or Ceremonial Stroke, however, -heavily administered with a beam of ebony across the -back of the Warden Accept, was retained and has -often afforded a subject for illustration and archæological -research.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith learnt even more. She learnt that -while decency forbade any saving to be effected -on the further £5000 that was an allowance for entertainment -and travel, yet custom allowed it to be -spent in all forms of hospitality, and that travel -might include such social visits as were necessary to -the occupant of so high an office. When she learnt -this she was but the more confirmed in her determination -that Charles Repton who for the moment -encumbered the post of Warden, should accept a -barony, and that quickly; for she saw the agony of -Demaine House already begun. Upon a certain -morning in the mid-week of May the last stage of -her beneficent action was ready.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In his study on that same morning, Charles Repton, -a little weary but with all his action planned and -designed, suffered again for a moment that slight dull -pain behind the ears, where Caryll’s Ganglia are: he -was dazed. He went out and sought his wife, and she -was astonished to see as he put to her some simple -question on the management of the household, a -look of innocence in his eyes. It quickly faded. The -pain also departed, and he returned to his study.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Mary Smith sent a note over to Demaine House.</p> - -<p>Mary’s note found George Mulross Demaine risen -after a lonely lunch and wondering, as he regularly -wondered every day, what was going to turn up.</p> - -<p>His wonderment had bewilderment in it also. -Something was going to turn up he knew ... -people were noticing him so. Only last evening -there was a savage attack upon him in the <i>Moon</i>, -saying that he had torn Hares to pieces with his own -reeking hands, and killed a Carted Stag with a blunt -knife; while the <i>Capon</i>, with more truth, had pointed -out the beauty of the Sir Joshuas in his house, but -had erroneously suggested that they were heirlooms -in his family.</p> - -<p>He was still gazing at the May morning and -gloomily considering the buds in the formal garden, -when Mary’s note was forced upon him by a huge -Dependant.</p> - -<p>A note in the firm hand of Mary Smith was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -always a pleasant thing to get; for a bewildered -man it had something in it of salvation.</p> - -<p>George Mulross went in a mood lighter than any -he had known for many weeks, towards his cousin’s -house. He found her, of course, alone.</p> - -<p>“Dimmy,” she said, lifting his hand gently from -the chimneypiece where he was moving it aimlessly -among several breakable and valuable things,—“Dimmy, -when did you last ask a question in the -House?”</p> - -<p>He looked frightened, and said:</p> - -<p>“Oh! ages ago.”</p> - -<p>“Now look here, Dimmy,” she said smoothly, “I -want you to go and ask this to-day,”—and she -handed him a bit of paper.</p> - -<p>“Have you got any money in it?” he asked -innocently.</p> - -<p>“No, certainly not,” she answered. “You silly -ass! What could that have to do with it? Read it.”</p> - -<p>He read: “<i>Mr. G. M. Demaine: to ask the Prime -Minister whether his attention has been called to the -fact that the Van Huren Company is not registered -in London as the law provides, and what steps he -proposes to take in view of this evasion of a public -safeguard?</i>”</p> - -<p>“What on earth have I to do with that?” he -asked, looking up at her, a little put out and evidently -unwilling to take any risks. “What is it anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“Now look here, Dimmy,” she said, “do be a good -fellow: it’s all for your good.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>“Well anyhow,” he said, “I can’t get an answer -for two days.”</p> - -<p>“Yes you can,” she said, “I’ve sent Dolly a little -note typewritten, and signed it in your name; and -you can call it a ‘matter of which you have given -him private notice.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you have!” said Demaine, almost moved -to energy.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have,” said Mary Smith firmly. “There -are a hundred and eight questions to-day; it’s half-past -three and you’ve time to get down to the -House comfortably. I’ll take you there.”</p> - -<p>She did: and amid the general indifference of -most members in a crowded House, the amusement -of perhaps a couple of dozen, and the red-hot silent -rage of at least two, G. M. Demaine in a half-audible -voice, mumbled his query.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister received more than a murmur -of applause when he answered in his clear and rather -high voice that in a matter of such importance and -in a moment such as this, it was not to the interest -of the country to give a public reply.</p> - -<p>If there was one thing George Mulross Demaine -dreaded more than another it was to be questioned, -and still more to be congratulated, upon things he -did not understand. Luckily for him a scene of -some violence connected with the religious differences -of the Scotch, prevented the immediate -opening of the debate at the end of Questions, and -he had the opportunity to slip away. But to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -terror he found the motor waiting for him and -Mary Smith beckoning him from within; like the -fascinated bird of the legend he was captured. He -hoped that she would drive him to some more -congenial air. But no, she produced, from a large -and business-like wallet which she only carried in -her most imperious moments, two questions to be -set down for the day after the morrow.</p> - -<p>He took them with a groan and yielded as yield -he must to her command that he should set them -down. They were of no importance, the one was -to his uncle by a second marriage, the First Civil -Lord, to ask him the name of a Company that had -proved less able than was expected in the manufacture -of armour plates; the other to his cousin -the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking if the -action of some obscure servant of the Treasury in -a peaceful Buckinghamshire village had received the -attention which his recent services seemed to require.</p> - -<p>The day and hour came round. George Mulross -in a voice perhaps a little more assured than that -of two days before, said when his turn came: -“Twenty-nine.”</p> - -<p>To his surprise the Chancellor of the Exchequer -answered with some tartness that he had nothing -whatever to add to his predecessor’s answer of -July 9th ten years before, and added amid general -approval, that insinuations such as were those contained -in the question were greatly to be deplored.</p> - -<p>A man of excitable temperament had already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -leapt to his feet to ask a supplementary question -when he was sharply checked by the Chair and the -curious incident closed.</p> - -<p>Some ten minutes passed and once again, sweating -with fear, Demaine heard his name called out and -said in a voice still audible: “Fifty-four.—I mean -Forty-five.”</p> - -<p>The First Lord of the Admiralty rose solemnly -in all the dignity of his great white beard, adjusted -his spectacles, looked fully at the intruder upon his -peace, and said with his unmistakable accent, that -the name of the Company could be dithcovered -through the ordinary thourceth of information.</p> - -<p>So the game continued for ten days. In vain did -his friends assure him that he was losing position -in the House by this perpetual pose of the puritan -and the sleuth hound. Mary Smith was a woman -who must be obeyed, and of twenty-three questions -which she put into his unwilling lips at least one -had gone home. And the First Lord of the -Admiralty in the same dignity of the same white -beard and with the same striking accent, had -admitted the nethethity of thtriking from the litht -of contractorth the name of the firm of which, until -that moment, the unhappy George Mulross had -never even heard.</p> - -<p>He knew, he felt, that he, the most blameless of -men, was making enemies upon every side. The -allusions to his public spirit which were now occasionally -to be discovered in the Opposition papers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -the little bitter sentences in those which were upon -the contrary subsidised by his own party, filled him -with an equal dread.</p> - -<p>He was in no mood for going further, when upon -the top of all this Mary Smith quietly insisted that -he must make a speech.</p> - -<p>It need not be long: she would write it out for -him herself. He must learn it absolutely by heart -and must take the greatest care to pronounce the -words accurately. She chose a debate in which he -could talk more or less at large and put before -him as gentle, as well reasoned, as terse and as -broad-minded a piece of wisdom as the House might -have listened to for many months.</p> - -<p>Morning and afternoon, a patient governess, Mary -Smith heard him recite that speech; but as day -succeeded day she slowly determined that it wouldn’t -do. One slip might be his ruin. Upon the -tenth rehearsal he still said “very precious” for -“meretricious.” He was still unable to restrain a -sharp forward movement at the words “I will go -a step further”; and he could never get in its -right order the simple phrase: “I yield to no one in -my admiration for the right honourable gentleman.”</p> - -<p>First he would yield to a right honourable gentleman; -then no one would yield to him; then he -would yield to no admiration, and at last she gave -it up in despair.</p> - -<p>A woman of less tenacity would have abandoned -her design; not so Mary Smith. She discovered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -with careful art that there was no reason why a -Warden of the Court of Dowry should speak in the -House at all; he might hold his post for three years -and do no more than answer questions, leaving to a -subordinate the duty of speaking upon those very -rare public Bills, which, however distantly, concerned -his office.</p> - -<p>She had already made him a name; she was -determined not to destroy it by following up this -false scent of training him to public speaking. At -last, as the month of May was drawing to a close, -she determined to put him upon the rails.</p> - -<p>Dolly and she were agreed. Perhaps Dimmy -would need to be persuaded; he was naturally -modest, and what was more he would very certainly -be afraid, but still more certainly he wanted money -most abominably.</p> - -<p>When the day came for him to receive his great -illumination she called him to her once more, and -once more he found her alone. She lunched him -first, and gave him a wine of which she knew he -could drink in moderation, for she felt he would need -courage; she let him drink his coffee, she lit her own -tiny cigar, and at last she said:</p> - -<p>“Dimmy, what does it take you to live?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Dimmy with some terror in -his eyes.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith looked at him a little quizzically. He -did not like those looks though he was fond of her. -It made him feel like an animal.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>“Dimmy,” she said, “could you and Sudie -manage it on seven thousand a year, or say on six -thousand?”</p> - -<p>Dimmy thought long and painfully. For him -there were but two scales of income, the poor and -the rich. In the days when it was such a bore to -raise a sovereign, he was poor. For nearly two years -with an unlimited capital behind him, and about -twenty thousand a year for his wife to spend, he had -considered himself positively and fixedly among the -rich. He had felt comfortable: he had had elbow -room. Six thousand pounds puzzled him: it was -neither one thing nor the other. A brilliant thought -struck him.</p> - -<p>“Can you tell me, Mary,” he said gently, “some -one who has got about six thousand? I think I -could judge <i>then</i>.”</p> - -<p>“I can tell you one positively,” said Mary Smith. -“Charlie Fitzgerald and his wife. Till the old Yid -dies they’ve got six thousand exactly. I ought to -know, considering that I went over every scrap of -paper in order to make sure of Charlie repaying me.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Demaine judicially. “Charlie Fitzgerald -and his wife....” He thought for a long -time. “Well, they’re pretty comfortable,” he said -suddenly. “Of course they haven’t got a place -and grounds; I suppose if they had a place and -grounds they couldn’t do it.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mary, “but the house in Westminster -is very large when you get inside through the narrow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -part. When are you going into Westminster, -Dimmy?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Dimmy hopelessly. “Sudie’s -got all muddled about it. She saw ‘City of Westminster’ -stuck up on one of those khaki Dreadnought -hats that the street sweepers wear, an’ the -man was getting horrors into a cart right up by -our house, an’ she said that where we <i>were</i> was -Westminster anyhow. And then when I argued -with her she shoved me to the window and pointed -out his hat. She was quite rough.” And George -Mulross sighed.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith got testy. “Don’t talk rubbish,” -she said, “and don’t bother me about your wife. -Have you looked at anything in Westminster at -all?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Demaine humbly.</p> - -<p>“You must know,” said Mary sharply, and with a -strong inclination to slap him. “Have you looked -in Dean’s Yard, for instance?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Demaine, slowly reviewing his perambulations -of the last few days. “Yes, I’ve looked -at Dean’s Yard. There’s nothing there.... All the -rest seems to be so slummy, Mary.”</p> - -<p>“There are some exceedingly good new houses,” -said Mary severely, “and everybody’s going there; -and the old houses are perfectly delicious. Anyhow, -Westminster’s the place; and I’ll tell you something -else. You’ve got to take office!”</p> - -<p>George Mulross, worried as he always was when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -she began drilling him, on hearing the word “office” -said simply:</p> - -<p>“Well I won’t, that’s flat. I don’t believe in it. -I’ve seen lots of men do that kind of thing. They -get to the City and they think they’re learning -business, and they’re rooked before....”</p> - -<p>“I said ‘TAKE office’!” shouted Mary Smith, -“TAKE office—get a post.... Dolly will give you -a post. Now do you understand?”</p> - -<p>“What?” said Demaine vaguely.</p> - -<p>“Dimmy,” she said more quietly but with great -firmness, “look at me.”</p> - -<p>He looked at her. It was a muscular strain upon -his eyes to keep them fixed under her superior will.</p> - -<p>“That’s right.... Now listen carefully. The -salary of the Wardenship of the Court of Dowry is -five thousand a year—and ex’s.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Demaine.</p> - -<p>“When the Wardenship of the Court of Dowry is -vacant—if you play up worth tuppence, it’s yours -for the asking. Do ... you ... understand?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” repeated George Demaine.</p> - -<p>It was as though he had been told that he had -been asleep all these years, that his real name was -Jones and that he lived in Australia, or as though -he had discovered himself to be covered with feathers. -He was utterly at sea. Then he said slowly:</p> - -<p>“Repton’s Warden of the Court of Dowry.” He -was proud of knowing this, for he often blundered -about the Cabinet.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>“Will you or will you not fix your mind upon -what I have said?” said Mary Smith.</p> - -<p>The full absurdity of it grew increasingly upon -Demaine’s imagination. “The House would think -Dolly was mad,” he remarked with really beautiful -humility.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” said Mary Smith in disgust, “the -House will know nothing about it one way or the -other. The House doesn’t meddle with government—thank -God! You’re popular enough I -suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Demaine.</p> - -<p>“And you never speak, do you?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Demaine, “only once three years ago, -the time I fell down, you know; an’ that was quite -short.”</p> - -<p>“How many people do you know in the House?” -she asked.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Demaine.</p> - -<p>“Oh NONSENSE!... I mean how many people -would write to you for instance, and congratulate you?”</p> - -<p>Demaine gave it up. But one could see from his -demeanour what she had guessed from her own study -of the debates and from her great knowledge of -London: a month ago people just knew that -Demaine was in the House and that was about all. -They knew him now as a man whose name they had -seen fifty times and who asked questions. A better -candidature could not be conceived, and his close -family connection with so many men on both front<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -benches would render the appointment reasonable in -all eyes.</p> - -<p>All sorts of things were lumbering against each -other in George Mulross’ brain. He wondered -whether one had to know anything, or what one -had to do, and how the money was paid; and -whether income tax was deducted at source; and -how long the Government would stay in. Then -the absurdity of it recurred to him.</p> - -<p>“Of course there was Pitson,” he murmured, “and -everybody laughed and said he was a half-wit,—but -he was in with everybody, although he was a half-wit.”</p> - -<p>“So are you,” said Mary.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but I don’t laugh and go about as he did.”</p> - -<p>“It’s against a man to laugh much,” said Mary, -“and really, if it comes to going about, even a dog -can do that. You’ve only got to go and sniff round -people.”</p> - -<p>The conversation could not profitably be continued. -Demaine had been introduced to the idea, -and that was all Mary desired to do.</p> - -<p>She sent him home and invited herself that weekend -to a house in which she would find Dolly: the -Kahns’—but no matter. Dolly was there.</p> - -<p>When the Prime Minister saw that dear figure of -hers with its promise of importunities he groaned in -spirit. She brought him up to the sticking point -during a long walk on Sunday afternoon, and he -promised her that at least he would sound.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>“But I don’t know, Mary,” he said, half trying to -retreat, “Repton’s not a man to speak unless he -chooses, and he’s like a stone wall against one unless -he also chooses to hear.”</p> - -<p>“Take him walking as I’m taking you,” said Mary.</p> - -<p>It was Sunday, the 31st of May. The weather -had begun to be large and open and warm. He -thought there was something in what she said.</p> - -<p>“Meet him as he comes out of his house to-morrow. -Do you know when he comes out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the Prime Minister a little shamefacedly, -“I do. It’s always half-past nine.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mary, “I really don’t see what your -trouble is.”</p> - -<p>“It’s an absurd hour to catch a man, half-past nine—and -I should have to get up God knows when—besides -to-morrow’s a bad day,” said the Premier, -pressing his lips together when he had spoken. “It’s -a bad moment. It’s a big week for him. He’s got -a dinner on that’s something to do with his dam -companies to-morrow evening. I know that. And -then Tuesday he’s got that big Van Diemens meeting -in the City. And before the end of the week, I -know he’s talking at the big Wycliffite Conference—I -can’t remember the day though. Pottle told me -about it.”</p> - -<p>They had turned to go home, and Mary Smith for -the first hundred yards or so was honestly wondering -in her mind why men found so difficult what women -find so easy.</p> - - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>“I’ve told you what to do,” she said. “Catch him by -accident outside his house as he leaves after breakfast, -then he’ll walk with you. Say you’re walking. -Anything can be said when one’s walking.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure he’ll come with me?” asked the -Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>“Positive!” said Mary Smith in a very quiet tone.</p> - -<p>The air was serene above them, and one lark had -found his way so high that they could hardly hear -him singing. The Prime Minister wished from the -bottom of his heart that he could live in that field for -a week. He rose to one despairing rally:</p> - -<p>“Mary,” he said, “suppose it rains?”</p> - -<p>“Oh Dolly, Dolly, Dolly!” she answered, stopping -short and standing in front of him. “It’s for all the -world as though you were just back from school for -the last time, and I was a little girl who had been -sent for on the grand occasion to tea.”</p> - -<p>She put both hands on his awkward shoulders to -stop him, and she kissed him anywhere upon the -face.</p> - -<p>“It won’t rain, Dolly,” she said, “I’ve seen to that.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">CHARLES REPTON had taken no weekends. -Charles Repton had sat tight in -London.</p> - -<p>The end of that May did not tempt him to move; -he was right on to his business, and never had his -silent life been more silent or Maria, Lady Repton, -felt more alone, though she did as she was bid -and remained immovable in her London house, -only seeing, when the leisure was afforded her, -her few dear friends (none conspicuous), and -once or twice presiding at a great dinner of her -husband’s.</p> - -<p>Beyond all his other concerns one chief concern -was resolving itself in Charles Repton’s head. He -was wondering exactly where he stood between -commerce and politics.</p> - -<p>These moments, not of doubt but of a necessity -for decision, are the tests of interior power. Some -half-dozen such moments had marked the career of -his strict soul: one when he had determined to risk -the transition from his native town to Newcastle -carefully calculating the capital of clients and how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -much could be successfully lent in that centre: -another, when he had risked the expense of his -first election: a third when he had decided to -take office—and there were others.</p> - -<p>Now as May drew to its close, as the discussion -on the Budget was in full swing and as the eager -public notice of Van Diemens was on the point -of filling the press, he was in some balance as to -whether the precise proportion of activity which he -gave to the House of Commons—it was a large -proportion—might not be absorbing just too much -of his energy.</p> - -<p>He calculated most exactly—as a man calculates -a measurable thing, an acreage, or a weight of metal—what -the future proportions should be.</p> - -<p>He must remain in touch with everything that -passed at Westminster; on that he was fixed. But -he knew that there was a growing criticism of his -combination of high political idealism with affairs -in the City. The <i>Moon</i> had said one exceedingly -unpleasant thing about the Oil Concession in -Burmah—it was only a newspaper but he had had -to settle it. The <i>Capon</i> was paying a little more -attention than he liked to his position in the House -of Commons.</p> - -<p>He thought hard, and under the process of his -thought his mind somewhat cleared. But he had -come to no decision when, late in the night of -Sunday, the 31st of May, he marshalled the papers -upon his desk, deliberately turned his mind off the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -problems that had been engaging him, and drew up -a list of his next engagements.</p> - -<p>The next day, Monday the 1st of June, after leaving -his house punctually at half-past nine, he was to -give half the morning to the Wardenship. He was -to return home at noon. From noon to lunch he -must see to his accounts. It was doubly important, -for it was a Monday and it was the first of the -month. He would lunch: preferably alone, for he -would be tired, and he would give Maria to understand -that he must be undisturbed.</p> - -<p>On Tuesday, the 2nd, was the speech to the -General Meeting of Van Diemens. He glanced at -his notes for that speech; they were all in excellent -sequence, and he felt, so far as men of that stern -temper can feel it, a little touch of pride when he -noted the procession of the argument. He saw in -his mind’s eye first the conviction and then the -enthusiasm of the men whom he must convince: the -vivid portrayal of the Empire’s need of the railway: -the ease of building it,—the delivery of the great -metaphor wherein he compared that thin new line of -iron to the electrical connection which turns potential -and useless electrical energy into actual and working -force.</p> - -<p>He re-read the phrase in which he called it -“completing the circuit”; he did not doubt at all -that the meeting would follow him. Sentence after -sentence passed before his memory (for he had -carefully learned the peroration by heart); the name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -of Nelson shone in one of them, the name of Rhodes -in another, of Joel in a third, till the great oration -closed with a vision, brief, succinct (but how vivid!) -of the Gate of the East and of England’s hand upon -it, holding</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="indent2">“... the keys</div> -<div class="verse">Of such teeming destinies”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>through them: through them!</p> - -<p>It was a great speech.</p> - -<p>He turned more carelessly to the already typewritten -stuff which he must deliver upon the -Thursday to the Wycliffite Conference. It would -do—and it was of importance for the moment. It -reminded him a little contemptuously of the High -Meat Teas in the North of England and of his -youth, and of that maundering war between Church -and Chapel which was then of real moment to him, -and which now he still had wearily to wage,—at least -in public.</p> - -<p>Whether this little bout of study had been too -much for a man who had already spent a full month -glued to his work, or whatever else was the cause, he -felt as midnight approached a trifle brain-sick. He -leant his head upon his hand, and it seemed to him—he -hoped it was an illusion for the sensation was -yet vague—but it <i>did</i> seem to him that the pain -behind the ears, or at least an oppression there, was -beginning. He muttered an exclamation so sharp as -would have astonished those who had never seen him -under a strain. Then he went quickly upstairs to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -drawing-room and found his wife, sitting all alone -with her book.</p> - -<p>She looked up as he entered, and again she was -startled by that strange innocence in his eyes. Odd, -(but what living!) flashes of thirty, of forty years ago -pierced her heart. Youth goes down every lane, and -these two, just after their marriage, just before the -first loan he had made, had been, for a month or so, -young: the memory of it was a jewel to her.</p> - -<p>He came in at that instant loosened: he was -walking ill: he made towards her as though he were -seeking a refuge, and still that persistent innocence -shone from his eyes. He sat down beside her, -breathing uncertainly, groped out and took her -hand. He had made no such movement since—what -year? Since before what first hardening had -frightened her? How many years, how long a life -ago?</p> - -<p>The mood was of no long duration. She could -have wished it had been longer. He slept with a -sort of deep lethargy that was not his way, and twice -in the night she rose to watch him; but with the -morning all his powers and, alas! all that difference -had returned.</p> - -<p>She was to see nothing of him while he went -through every detail of his affairs for the week and -the month with his assistant; she was not even to -be allowed to see something of him at his midday -meal; she watched him as he went out of the house -at the invariable hour to drive to the office of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -Court of Dowry. And as she watched him with new -feelings in her, and the breaking of dead crusts, she -saw another man accost him, the cab turned away, -and the two go together, walking, towards the Park. -She knew the figure though she came so little into -the life of London, and she recognised, in the sloppy -clothes and the stooping walk, the Prime Minister.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>If you are a member of the governing classes -of this great Empire it is not an easy thing to -approach a house between the Edgware Road and -Hyde Park from the North, at half-past nine in the -morning it is supremely difficult if you are making -for Westminster.</p> - -<p>It presupposes being carted at an impossible hour -to some place in the North West, and there let loose -and making a run for home. And why should any -man of position be carted to any place in the North -West at dawn? On the whole the best excuse is -Paddington Station. Eton is a good place to come -from, for the liar comes in at Paddington. It was from -Eton, therefore, that the Prime Minister came that -morning ... anyhow he was N.W. of the Park before -nine. He walked slowly towards the Marble Arch. -As he approached Charles Repton’s house he walked -somewhat more slowly, but he had timed himself well.</p> - -<p>The tall straight figure came out and hailed a cab.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister crossed before him, turned -round in amiable surprise, and said: “My <i>dear</i> -Repton!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>And Repton greeted, with somewhat less effusion, -the Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>“I was walking from Paddington,” said the Prime -Minister.</p> - -<p>“Have you eaten?” said Sir Charles, as he paid -the cabman a shilling for nothing.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I breakfasted before I started. I was -walking down to Westminster. Can’t you come -with me?”</p> - -<p>Sir Charles found it perfectly easy, and the two -men walked through the Park together towards Hyde -Park Corner and Constitution Hill.</p> - -<p>To most men the difficulty of the transition from -daily converse to important transactions is so difficult -that they will postpone it to the very end of an -interview. The Prime Minister was not of that kind. -They had not got two hundred yards beyond that -large arena near the Marble Arch wherein every -Sunday the Saxon folk thresh out and determine for -ever the antinomy of predestination and free will—not -to mention other mysteries of the Christian -religion,—when the Prime Minister had reminded -Charles Repton of the absolute necessity of a new -man on the Government bench in the House of -Lords.</p> - -<p>Charles Repton heartily agreed, and for ten -minutes gave his reasons. He hoped, he said in an -iron sort of way, that he was talking sense, and that -he was not meddling with things not his business. -He was warmly encouraged to go on, and he minutely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -described the kind of man whom he thought was -wanted. They had too many business men as it -was, and there were too many men fresh from the -House of Commons. The Government forces in the -Upper House had come to be a sort of clique, half -of them very intelligent, but now and then, especially -in big debates, out of touch with their colleagues. -Could not some man of real position, a man with a -long established title, wealthy and thoroughly well -known if only in a small world for some proficiency -of his, be got to take an interest in the Government -programme? A man like Pulborough, for instance? -If Pulborough had had to earn his living he would -have been the best bantam breeder alive. And then, -look at his talents, why, he designed all the new -work at Harberry himself, etc. And so forth.</p> - -<p>As they were crossing by the Wellington statue, -the Prime Minister, in the uneasy intervals of dodging -the petrol traffic, explained that that was not in his -mind. He must have some one who had heard -everything in the Cabinet for the last two years. -“Repton,” he said ... (as they left the refuge -pavement—a taxi-cab all but killed him).... “Repton, -would you, have you thought of ....” Two gigantic -motor-buses swerved together and the politicians were -separated. The Prime Minister saw the Warden far -ahead, a successful man, whole upon the further shore. -The Prime Minister leapt in front of a bicycle, caught -the kerb and ended his sentence “... a peerage -yourself?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>They had come through all the perils of that space -and were walking quietly down Constitution Hill; -Dolly could develop his thought more freely, and in -the most natural way in the world he put it that they -could not do without Charles Repton.</p> - -<p>He was very careful not to force the position. -Charles Repton was absolutely essential: they must -have him or they must have nobody.</p> - -<p>An Egyptian smile, a smile of granite, could be -guessed rather than seen upon Charles Repton’s firm -lips.</p> - -<p>“Would you propose that I should be Master of -the Horse?” he said.</p> - -<p>“No,” said the Prime Minister, smiling very much -more easily, “nor Manager of the King’s Thoroughbred -Stud, either. But I know that Abenford is -mortally tired of the Household; though what there -is to be tired of,” he added....</p> - -<p>To the Prime Minister’s very great surprise, Charles -Repton simply replied: “If I went to the Lords, I -should go without office.”</p> - -<p>At this unexpected solution the Prime Minister -was in duty bound to propose a hundred reasons -against it. He implored Repton to remember his -great position and the peculiar value that he had for -him, the Prime Minister. “It’s never more than -three men that do the work, Repton, whether you’re -dealing with ten in committee or half a thousand. -You know that.”</p> - -<p>But Charles Repton was firm. These solid masters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -of finance are glad to think out their world; in a -sense nothing comes to them that is unexpected when -it comes. Their brains may be compared to the -great new War Office in Whitehall, where a hundred -minutely detailed plans for the invasion of Germany, -France, Russia, Spain, Italy and the Baltic States, -lie pigeonholed, in perfect order, ready to be put into -immediate execution at the pronouncement of the -stern words <i>Krieg-mobil</i>.</p> - -<p>Long before the simple intrigues of the drawing-rooms -had taken shape, Charles Repton had swept -the whole landscape with his inward eye. He knew -every fold of the terrain, he had measured every -range. He had determined that, upon the whole, -a peerage was worth his while: now; at the very -height of his fortune.</p> - -<p>To have a permanent place, free from office, with -the prestige of title, with committees open to him -and every official source permanently to his hand, -was worth his while. It was worth his while to go to -the House of Lords had it been a matter for his free -choice; and if he went to the House of Lords he -must go a free man. It would do more to save -Van Diemens than any other step, and that great -Company was worth twenty places in the Cabinet. -Van Diemens was the master of this Cabinet and -the last.</p> - -<p>He had made up his mind then that a peerage -was worth his while even if it depended entirely on -his choice. Now that he could make it a favour, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -was doubly worth his while. The alternative meant -useless friction.... Yes, he would take that peerage: -but there was one thing that he must have quite -clear:——</p> - -<p>The two men walked together in silence past the -Palace; they went through the superb new entrance -to St. James’s Park, crossed the bridge, and turned -towards Westminster.</p> - -<p>It had been a shock. The relief for the Prime -Minister was somewhat too great, and the last thing -that Repton had to say was awkward; but he was -accustomed to leap such hedges. He began boldly:</p> - -<p>“Do you happen to know what I have set aside -for the regular purposes of the Party?” he asked.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister shook his head. If there was -one thing he detested, it was the kitchen side of -politics.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll tell you,” said Repton. “I’ve put -exactly the same sum aside every year for fifteen -years, whether we’ve been in office or out of it. Not -a large sum, only five hundred pounds. Pottle will tell -you.”</p> - -<p>The Premier made such a movement with his head -as showed that he did not care.</p> - -<p>“Only five hundred pounds but exactly five -hundred pounds,” continued Repton firmly. “Now -Pottle must understand quite clearly that that subscription -will neither be increased nor diminished.” -He spoke as men speak in a shop, and in a shop of -which they have the whip hand.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>“That’s between you and Pottle,” said the Prime -Minister in the tone of one who doesn’t want to go -on with the subject.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Repton, looking straight in front of -him, “it <i>has</i> got to be understood quite clearly. I’ve -made it a standing order. Pottle’s never pestered -me, but he <i>can</i> pester like the deuce.... And I’ve -absolutely made up my mind.”</p> - -<p>“Of course, of course,” said the Prime Minister. -“I think it’s wise,” he went on,—“It isn’t my business, -but I do think it wise to keep in touch with the -Central Office. But it’s between you and Pottle.”</p> - -<p>There was another long silence as they went down -Great George Street.</p> - -<p>“That’s all,” said Repton, opposite the Pugin -fountain. The two men walked on. The statues of -great men long dead looked down upon them; those -statues were unused to such conversations. One of -the statues must have thought Charles Repton a -tactless fellow, but Charles Repton had calculated -everything, even to his chances of life and to the -number of active years that probably lay before him. -And nothing would have more offended or disturbed -him than any ambiguity upon the business side of -the transaction.</p> - -<p>They parted, one for the Court of Dowry, the other -for Downing Street, and the affair was settled.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>That afternoon the Prime Minister asked Demaine -to come and have a cup of tea. He said he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -rather it was in his own room; he took Demaine’s -arm and led him round.</p> - -<p>“Have you anything on to-night, Dimmy?” he -said.</p> - -<p>Dimmy thought. “I don’t know,” he answered -after a long examination of possible engagements.</p> - -<p>“Well, you’ve got to be here for the division -anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Dimmy. His high record of -divisions was the sheet anchor of his soul: he had -sat up all night sixteen times.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the Prime Minister hesitating, as -though after all he didn’t want to drink a cup of -tea, “you might see me then ... no, come along -now.”</p> - -<p>And as they drank their tea he told his companion -that there was to be a change in the Cabinet.</p> - -<p>“Now,” he said, “I want to leave you perfectly -free.” He seemed to be suffering a little as he said -it, but he went on tenaciously: “I want to leave you -perfectly free; ... but of course you know your -name has been put before me?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” began Demaine.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister stopped him with his hand. -“Well, anyhow it <i>has</i>.” He paused and thought. -“I can’t tell how it would suit you, but I think I can -tell how you would suit it. Now on <i>that</i> point I’m -satisfied, Dimmy. You know the kind of work -it is?”</p> - -<p>But Demaine didn’t know.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>“Well,” said the Prime Minister, leaning back easily -and joining his hands, “it’s like all those things: -you’ve got your staff ... in one way the work’s -cut and dried. It’s very varied work. No man can -be expected to grasp it all round. But,” (leaning -forward) “like all these things, it wants a sort of -general point of view, you understand me?”</p> - -<p>Dimmy did not dare to shake his head.</p> - -<p>“It wants a sort of ...” the Prime Minister swept -his hand over the table—“a sort of what I may call -a—well, a—a <i>common sense</i>, especially about sudden -things. You have to decide sometimes.... But -you’ll soon get into it,” he added in a tone of relief. -“You’ll have Sorrel with you all the first few -days; he’s exceedingly easy to get on with; he’s -been there for years—that is, of course, if you -take it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Demaine in a whirl, “yes, if I take it -I shall have Sorrel.”</p> - -<p>“Then of course,” went on the Prime Minister -rapidly, “it’s the kind of place which you can make -anything of. It can count enormously; it counted -enormously under Gherkin until he died. And -Repton of course has made quite a splash in it.”</p> - -<p>Demaine shuddered slightly.</p> - -<p>“But there’s no necessity,” continued the other -quickly, “it’s really better without a splash. It’s a -plodding sort of attention that’s wanted,” he ended -wearily; then with an afterthought he added: “Why -not go to Sorrel now?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>“Couldn’t you give me a note?” asked Demaine -nervously.</p> - -<p>“Oh nonsense,” answered his cousin, upon whom -the strain was beginning to tell. “Just go up and -see him in his office. He’s the mildest of men.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Demaine sighing. He finished -his tea and went out,—and as he left the Prime -Minister called after him: “Don’t forget to find me -after the division to-night. Then I can tell you if -anything is settled.”</p> - -<p>Demaine walked undeterminedly towards the -Dowry Offices behind Scotland Yard; his heart -failed him; he did not go in. He stood aimlessly -in Whitehall, staring at the traffic; his knees were -not quite straight and his mouth was half open.</p> - -<p>Past him, as he so stood, strode, full of vigour and -of will, the fixed form of Sir Charles Repton, walking -towards Trafalgar Square. The younger man -followed him with his eyes and felt in his heart -what a gulf there was between them. He was by -no means of those who dare, and the thought of -office appalled him. Then suddenly he remembered -the salary. His legs straightened beneath him and -he forced himself up the stairs to where he might -ask to see Mr. Sorrel.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VIII</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">SIR CHARLES REPTON strode up Whitehall. -His day’s work had been heavy, in the hours -since that morning conversation, and he was suffering.</p> - -<p>It was no spiritual suffering which affected that -strong character: his life was fixed; the decision -he had taken was final. Nay, every circumstance -surrounding that decision delighted him. The -peerage had been offered at precisely the right -moment; he himself could have chosen no better. It -was the moment when he particularly desired to be -at once more powerful, if that could be, and yet free; -more fixed in his political tenure, yet more at large -to catch the hand of opportunity. For all his -strategy was centred upon the Company which he -was determined to save.</p> - -<p>That from which he now suffered was physical; he -suffered that pain at the back of the head: it had -a novel intensity about it; it was not exactly a -headache, it was a sort of weight, an oppression, and -as he went on northward the pressure got worse and -more concentrated just behind either ear.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>He would not relax his pace. He saw a taxi -which had just discharged a fare at Cox’s Bank; in -spite of the trouble in his head which was rapidly -increasing, he was clear enough to note that the little -flag was up, that the man was free and was about to -go away. He signalled to him and got in, and gave -the address of his house, bidding him call at the Club -on his way.</p> - -<p>He remembered, though the bother was getting -worse, that there was a big dinner that evening; he -tried to remember the names, then quite suddenly a -stab of pain behind the right ear almost made him -cry out. But Repton was indomitable and he stifled -the cry. Hardly had he so conquered himself when -he felt another similar violent agony behind the left -ear: a man less master of himself would have fainted. -It was over in a moment, but he was white and -actually uncertain of his steps when he got out at the -Club and went up to the porter’s box to ask for -letters and messages. There were none.</p> - -<p>“Are you certain there are none?” he asked in a -weak voice.</p> - -<p>That query was so unusual from the man that the -porter looked up surprised.</p> - -<p>“Don’t look at me as though I was stuffed,” said -Sir Charles sharply, “don’t you know what your -place is worth?”</p> - -<p>The man grumbled a little.</p> - -<p>With the most unworthy ferocity, but perhaps the -pain must excuse him, Sir Charles bent his head in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -to the little window in the glass and hissed: “This -kind of thing has happened before. Just you bally -well sort the papers in front of you and make sure.”</p> - -<p>His hands were trembling with constricted rage -the porter ran through the bundle, and found a card.</p> - -<p>“What did I tell you, you b——y snipe!” darted -the now uncontrollable Baronet. Then recovering -himself he said with no shame but in a little -confusion: “I’ve had enough of this.” He looked -at the card: it was an advertisement inviting him to -spend a week for eleven guineas in lovely Lucerne, -and there was a picture of the Rigi Kulm. He tore -the card up savagely, threw it into the waste-paper -basket, hurriedly went down the steps of his Club, -bolted into the taxi and slammed the door behind -him.</p> - -<p>The driver had let the engine stop. Sir Charles -sat tapping either foot, his eyes alight, and his hands -working nervously. The man was working the -barrel organ in front of the machine; the piston -started once or twice vigorously, then died down -again. Sir Charles got out.</p> - -<p>“If you can’t make your damn kettle go,” he said,—then -he suddenly smiled. “What a good-natured -face you have,” he remarked with an abrupt transition -of tone. “It’s a brutal thing for men like me with -enormous incomes to bully people who have to be -out in all weathers, though I must say you taxi-men -are a privileged lot! You’ve always got a herd of -poor fellows round you, running messages for you and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -what not. You know,” he went on still more -familiarly, “if you didn’t look so jolly good-natured I -wouldn’t get into the cab again: but I will now. I -will now,” he nodded reassuringly to show there was -no ill-feeling, and he climbed again into the taxi, -which at last started off upon its journey.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles, within that vehicle, preserved for some -moments the expression of strong silence which was -at least one-half of his fortune. Suddenly that -expression broke down; something tickled him -hugely. Such a merry look came into his eyes as -had perhaps not visited them since he was a child—if -then. It occurred to him to look out of the -window. The fact that the window was up in no -way incommoded him. He butted his head through -it and then very cautiously drew it in again.</p> - -<p>“That’s dangerous,” he muttered, “might have cut -myself.”</p> - -<p>The driver of the taxi heard nothing. Sir Charles -looked through the star of broken glass for a moment, -then cautiously lowered the sash. He put his head -out again, smiling almost to the point of laughter, -and asked the driver whether he had noticed the -absurd pomposity of the two sentries and the -policemen outside Marlborough House. The taxi -man simply said “Yes sir,” and went on driving.</p> - -<p>For a few minutes Sir Charles was silent, ruminating -and smiling within. Then he put his head -out again.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but did you?” he asked.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>And just at that point the traffic was stopped to -allow a cross current from another street to pass.</p> - -<p>“What a fool a man can make of himself,” said -Sir Charles suddenly to nobody, communing half -aloud with his own soul. “It’s an amazing thing! -I can’t conceive why I should put my head out of a -window like that to tell him the way.... I suppose -I was telling him the way ... but my head is so -bad!... What a fool a man can make of himself!” -The sternness of his expression returned. He remembered -that the taxi-man knew his address and -he bethought him how to escape from humiliation. -When they had driven up to his house he would -pretend it was the wrong number and drive somewhere -else.</p> - -<p>Yet again his mood changed and he burst into an -explosion of laughter as he remembered the sentries. -Then the name over a shop which recalled to him -certain mortgages tickled his fancy. He almost -stopped the taxi to get out and have a bout of fun -with the proprietors of that shop but he was going -swiftly through the streets and he preferred his ease.</p> - -<p>Long before they reached the Marble Arch he -had forgotten all about his intention of secrecy. -Nay, he had forgotten about his dinner; he only -knew he was going home. And when he got out -he saw upon the little machine the notice “1/10.”</p> - -<p>“The register marks one and tenpence,” he said -slowly and gravely to the driver, upon whose honest -and happy face the tendency to astonishment was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -hardly controlled. “Now I don’t think these -machines are infallible—far from it—but it isn’t -worth my while, you understand, to argue it. So -there’s one and tenpence.” He laboriously counted -out the money. “Wait a moment,” he said, “give -me back three coppers.”</p> - -<p>The man hesitated.</p> - -<p>“Give me back three coppers,” snapped Sir Charles -testily, “I want to get rid of a thruppeny-bit,” and -he handed over the offensive coin.</p> - -<p>“Now wait a minute, wait a minute,” he added, -“don’t be in a hurry. I always give a tip to taxi -drivers—I really don’t know why,” he said with a -sudden change of expression, “there’s no particular -favour, and they earn lots of money. But one’s got -to—I suppose if one didn’t,” he continued in a -ruminative tone, “they’d mark one in some way, -same way they do the boxes in hotels, and your -watch, me boy, when you pawn it,” he ended with -an explosion of mirth, digging the man sharply in -the ribs. “Eh?” He pulled out two pence, added -another penny, and then another, took out a sixpence, -put it back again, finally put the three pence into the -man’s hand, and went up to his door.</p> - -<p>The taxi-man as he was driving off nodded -familiarly to a policeman, and, by drawing up all -one side of his face while he left the other in repose, -gave it to be understood that he had grave doubts of -the mental balance of the gentleman whom he had -just conveyed to his residence.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>Alas, for simple men! The policeman strode up -to him, rated him soundly, asked what he meant by -it, and in general gave him to understand that he -was dealing with no ordinary household. And the -taxi-man, who was but recently landed from the -sea, went off pondering, as far as the congested -traffic would allow him, upon the mysteries of -London.</p> - -<p>The policeman solemnly returned to his duty, -which was that of guarding the residence of so great -a citizen, and Sir Charles, putting his hat upon the -table in the hall, went past the two servants upon -whose presence in that vestibule he insisted, and -walked majestically up the staircase, as though the -last half-hour had not been.</p> - -<p>But he felt during this progress unaccountable -desires. Before he was half-way up they were too -strong for him. He stopped, leaned over the -bannisters, looked at the two well-trained domestics -who stood like statues below him, and said: -“Henry!”</p> - -<p>Henry, with a perfect turn of the head, answered, -“Yes, Sir Charles?”</p> - -<p>“William!”</p> - -<p>William, with a precisely similar change of attitude, -said, “Yes, Sir Charles?”</p> - -<p>“What does it feel like to stand like that when -another man, who simply happens to be richer than -you, is going by?”</p> - -<p>The well-trained domestics made no reply.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>“Are you dumb?” he shouted angrily. “What’s -it feel like, I say?... Blasted fools!” he muttered, -when he had endured for a few seconds their continued -silence. He went on up the stairs, saying -half to himself and half to them: “Catch <i>me</i> doing -it. Why, there’s more money in a whelk stall!”</p> - -<p>He found his wife reading. She put down her -book and asked him timidly what had been going on -in the House.</p> - -<p>His only answer was to put his hand to his head -and say that he was suffering.</p> - -<p>And so he was, for the pain, though less violent, -had returned. She suggested, though very hesitatingly, -that he should lie down. He made no reply. -He put his hand before his eyes and waited with set -teeth until the first violence of the pang had passed, -and then said to her gently: “I beg your pardon, -dear, what did you say?”</p> - -<p>It was nearly twenty years since she had heard -that tone from him. She was frightened.</p> - -<p>“Did you ask what was going on in the House?” he -sighed. “Well, I can tell you.” He put his hands -on the chimneypiece and looked down at the fender. -“There’s going on there,” he said decidedly, “as -crass, imbecile and hypocritical a piece of futility as -God permits: as Almighty God permits!”</p> - -<p>“Oh Charles!” she cried, “Charles! Is there any -trouble?”</p> - -<p>“No,” he said, looking round at her with mild -surprise, “just the usual thing. Nobody has the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -slightest idea what they’re talking about, and nobody -cares.”</p> - -<p>“Charles!” she said, feeling the gravity of the -moment, for he was evidently suffering in some -mysterious way. “Have you left it all right in -your room? Haven’t you any appointments or anything?”</p> - -<p>“I never thought of that,” he answered. His -eyes had in them an expression quite childlike and -he said suddenly: “One can still see what you were -like when I married you, Maria. Turn your face -round a little.”</p> - -<p>She did so, with her face full of colour.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he said, “they keep their profiles best. -You can remember them by their profiles.”</p> - -<p>“Charles darling,” said Lady Repton getting up, -her white hair shining against the flush of her -forehead. “Let me look after you.” She had not -used such a tone nor dreamed of such an endearment -for many many years.</p> - -<p>“I don’t mind, old girl,” he said, “I don’t mind,” -and the innocence of his eyes continued. Then as -though something else were battling within him he -began abruptly: “Maria, have you got a full list of -the people who are coming to-night? I thought not. -I’m sorry to have to speak of it again, I told you -when we first came to town, and I’ve told you fifty -times since, that I can do nothing without such a list.”</p> - -<p>“But I’ve got it,” she said, in great suffering, “I’ve -got it, Charles.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>His eyes changed again. “You’ve got what?”</p> - -<p>“The list of the people who are coming, Charles.”</p> - -<p>“Oh ... I didn’t understand. The list of the -people who are coming,” he repeated slowly. “Well, -show it to me in a moment.” He moved towards -the door.</p> - -<p>“I’ll come with you,” she said.</p> - -<p>For the first time since her husband had decided -to enter Parliament and had entered it, twenty years -before, while their child was still alive, Lady Repton -had to take a decision of importance. She decided -in favour of the dinner. It was too late to change it, -and she must trust to chance, but evidently some -terrible thing had befallen the Warden of the Court -of Dowry.</p> - -<p>As he was dressing she heard him now and then -humming a chance tune (a thing which in his normal -self he would no more have dreamed of doing than of -walking the streets without his hat) and now and -then commenting upon the character and attributes -of the opera singer whom he had last heard sing it. -She heard him launch out into a long monologue, -describing the exact career of the new soprano at -Covent Garden, the name of her father and her -mother, the name of the Russian Grand Duke, the -name of a wealthy English lady who had asked her -(and him) to supper, and then, oh horror! the name -of an English statesman. There was a burst of -laughter which Lady Repton could hardly bear: and -then a silence.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>When they met again and their guests had begun -to come he seemed right enough, except that now -and then he would say things which every one in the -room knew well enough to be true, but which were -by no means suitable to the occasion.</p> - -<p>It was thought eccentric in him, especially by -those who knew him best, that he should comment -somewhat upon what man was paired off with what -woman in the procession, and it was thought exceedingly -coarse by his partner that he should explain a -strong itching upon his right ankle to be due, not to -a flea, for his man was most careful, but to some little -skin trouble.</p> - -<p>The noise of talking during the dinner covered -any other indiscretions, and when the men were -alone with him over the wine, he sat gloomily enough, -evidently changed but guilty of nothing more exceptional -than a complete ignorance of where the wine -came from or what it was.</p> - -<p>There were the beginnings of a quarrel with a -pompous and little-known fellow-member of his -own Party who attempted to talk learnedly on -wine. Repton had begun, “What on earth d’you -know about wine? Why, your old father wouldn’t -allow you swipes when you went to fetch the -supper beer!” He had begun thus, I say, to -recall the humble origins of the politician, when he -added: “But there, what’s the good of quarreling? -You’re all the same herd,”—his evident illness -excused him. He led them back to the women, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -gloomy troupe; they began to leave uncommonly -early.</p> - -<p>The one who lingered last was a very honest man, -stupid, straightforward and rich. He was fond of -Charles Repton, simply because Repton had once -done him a very cheap good turn in the matter of -a legal dispute; he had stopped a lawsuit. And this -man ever, since—it was now five years ago,—was -ready to serve that household. His name, I should -add, was Withers, and he was a Commoner; he sat -for Ashington. He had not only this loyal feeling -for Charles Repton, which he was perhaps the only -man in London to feel; he had also a simple admiration -for him, for his career, for his speeches, for his -power of introducing impromptu such words as -“well,” and “now” and “I will beg the House to -observe” into his careful arguments. Lady Repton -trusted him, and she was glad to see him remaining -alone after the others had left. Charles Repton was -sitting at the end of the room, staring at nothingness.</p> - -<p>Withers whispered to Lady Repton a rapid query -as to what had happened. She could tell him -nothing, but her eyes filled with tears.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be better,” said Withers hurriedly, in -a low tone, “if I got him back to vote to-night? -There’ll be three divisions at eleven. There’s bound -to be a scandal if he doesn’t turn up.”</p> - -<p>“Yes—no—very well,” said Lady Repton. “I -don’t understand it. I don’t understand anything.” -She almost broke down.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>“Repton,” said Withers, “won’t you come along -with me? It’s half-past ten, there’ll be three -divisions.”</p> - -<p>Repton startled them both nearly out of their skins. -“Divisions?” he shrieked, jumping up. “Go down -and maunder past those green boxes in a great -stifling pack for nothing at all? Not if I know it! -Why I can guess you the majority from here. And -if there wasn’t any majority I should blasted well like -to know the difference it would make! Divisions! -Oh chase me!” And he snorted and sat down again.</p> - -<p>Withers did not know whether to stay or to go, but -before he could reply Charles Repton in the most -ordinary of tones went on: “I can’t understand a -man like you, Withers, putting up with it. You’re -rich, you’re a gentleman born, which I’m not; you’d -be just as big a man in Buckinghamshire, especially -nowadays when the county’s crawling with Jews, if -you were out of the House. You’d be infinitely freer. -You know perfectly well the country’ll stagger along -without the silly tom-fool business or with it, and that -neither it nor anything else can prevent the smash. -Why don’t you go and live your life of a squire like a -sensible chap? And make one prayer that you may -die before the whole bag of tricks comes to an end?”</p> - -<p>“Come along, Charles,” said Withers smoothly, “do -come along.”</p> - -<p>“Not I!” said Repton, “I’m going to bed. I’m -tired, and my head hurts me!” And he went out like -a boor.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>“Lady Repton,” said Withers very gently when he -had gone, “what has Charles got to do to-morrow?”</p> - -<p>“He never tells me,” said the wretched lady. “I -suppose he will go into the City as usual.”</p> - -<p>“It’s very unwise,” said Withers, “and yet I don’t -know after all. It might help him to be in harness, -and you’ll have him out of the house while you’re -making your plans. I’ll do what I can, Lady Repton, -I’ll do what I can. Isn’t to-morrow the meeting of -the Van Diemens Company?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell,” said Lady Repton despairingly. She -was impatient to be seeing to her husband. She had -grown terrified during the last few hours when he was -out of her sight.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is,” said Withers. “Oh that’ll be all right. -It’ll do him all the good in the world: I’m sure it will. -Good-night.”</p> - -<p>He came back again. He remembered something: -“Of course,” he said a little awkwardly, “ I don’t know -anything about these things, but I read in the paper -that he was down to speak at the big Wycliffite meeting. -Don’t let him go there, Lady Repton, until -you’re quite certain, will you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” she said with the terrified look coming -back again upon her face.</p> - -<p>“It’s not like business,” said Withers. “There’d be -excitement, you know. Good-night.” And he went out.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Those of Charles Repton’s guests who were -Members of the House of Commons had returned to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -it. One or two of them had hinted that things were -a little queer with Repton, but Withers when he got -back just in time for the divisions, found no rumours -as yet, and was profoundly grateful. One man only -who had been present at the dinner, took him aside -in the Lobby and asked him whether Charles Repton -had had any trouble.</p> - -<p>Withers laughed the question away, and explained -that he had known Repton for many years and that -now and then he did give way to these silly fits of -temper. It was digestion, he said; perhaps the guest -had noticed there were no onions.</p> - -<p>The House had something better to gossip about, -for after the divisions Demaine was seen going arm -in arm with the Prime Minister into his room for a -moment. There had been plenty of talk of Demaine -lately: that visit increased it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Certain members more curious or fussy than the -rest scoured the journalists in the lobbies: they had -news.</p> - -<p>It was all settled. The paragraphs had been sent -round to the papers. The Lobby correspondents had -each of them quite special and peculiar means of -knowing that Certain Changes were expected in the -Cabinet in the near future; that the House of Lords -was to be strengthened by the addition of talents -which were universally respected; several names had -been mentioned for the vacancy; perhaps Mr. -Demaine, with his special training and the experience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -drawn from his travels would, on the whole, form the -most popular appointment.</p> - -<p>Thus had the announcement been given in its -vaguest form by the Prime Minister’s secretary; two -or three favoured journals had been permitted to say -without doubt that Charles Repton had resigned; the -exact title under which he would accept a peerage was -suggested, and Demaine was put down in black and -white as being certainly his successor.</p> - -<p>All this Demaine was told meanwhile that evening -in the Prime Minister’s room.</p> - -<p>His interview with Sorrel had been exceedingly -satisfactory, and never in his life, not in the moments -when he could spend most of his father-in-law’s money, -had Demaine experienced so complete a respect and -so eager a service. He felt himself already Warden, -and what was better, he felt himself perfectly capable -of the Wardenship. His mood rose and rose. He forgot -Sudie; he had not even told her when he would -be home. He shook his cousin’s hand as warmly as -might a provincial, and went out by the entry under -Big Ben, to calm down the exuberance of his joy -with breaths of the fresh night air along the Embankment. -It was nearly twelve o’clock.</p> - -<p>So ended for George Mulross Demaine that -Monday, June 1st, 1915.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IX</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">WHEN Sir Charles Repton woke upon the -Tuesday morning he felt better than he -had felt at any moment since the loss of his -youth. There seemed something easy in the air -about him, and within his mind a lack of business -and friction which he did not account for at the -time, but which perhaps in a vague manner he may -have ascribed to the purity of the air and the beauty -of the day.</p> - -<p>The sun was streaming into his windows from -over the Park. It was already warm, and as he -dressed and shaved himself he allowed his thoughts -to wander with an unaccustomed freedom over the -simple things of life. He noted the colour of the -trees; he was glad to see the happiness of the -passers-by in the streets below; he felt an unaccountable -sympathy with the human race, and he was -even touched with contempt as he gazed at the long -procession of wealthy houses which marked the line -of Park Lane.</p> - -<p>At breakfast he ate heartily, though he was alone; -he looked at the small batch of letters which awaited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -him, and when he opened his newspaper he positively -laughed at the opinions expressed in the leading -article. He nearly broke into another laugh as he -read the news from America, and then—with a gesture -which horrified the two solemn servants who had -watched the unaccountable change in their master’s -manner, he tore the paper rapidly into four pieces -and threw it on the floor. Having done this he -jumped up gaily, nodded to the menials, said “You -didn’t expect that,” walked briskly out, took his hat -and coat and with no conscious purpose but as -habit moved him jumped into a motor-bus going -East.</p> - -<p>The conductor, who had a respect for Sir Charles -Repton’s clothes, and especially for his spats, and -who seemed to recognise his face, asked him gently -how much he desired to spend upon a ticket: to -which he answered in a breezy manner, “Penny of -course. Never pay more than a penny; then if the -beastly thing breaks down you’re not out of pocket ... ’sides -which,” he went on as though talking to -himself, “if they forget about you you can have -tuppence-worth or thruppence-worth for the same -money!” And he chuckled.</p> - -<p>The conductor looked at him first in terror, then -smiled responsively and went forward to deal with -less fortunate people, while Sir Charles hummed -gently to himself,—a little out of tune but none the -less cheerfully on that account—an air of ribald -associations.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>The top of the bus was pretty full, and a workman -who had occasion to travel in the same direction as -his betters saw fit to sit down in the one empty -place beside the Baronet. It would have been difficult -to decide upon what occupation this honest -man had most recently been engaged: but there -had certainly entered into it oil, wet clay, probably -soot, and considerable masses of oxidised copper. -It was not remarkable, therefore, that, beside such -a companion, especially as that companion was a -large man, Sir Charles should have found himself -considerably incommoded. What <i>was</i> remarkable -was the manner in which the Baronet expressed his -annoyance. He turned round upon the workman -with an irritated frown and said:</p> - -<p>“I can’t make out why they allow people like -you on omnibuses!”</p> - -<p>“Yer carn’t wort?” said the breadwinner in a -threatening voice.</p> - -<p>“I say I · can’t · make · out,” answered Sir Charles, -carefully picking out each word—“I · can’t · make · -out · why · they · allow · people · like · you on omnibuses,—dirty -<i>brutes</i> like you, I should say. Why -the devil....”</p> - -<p>At this moment the workman seized Sir Charles -by the collar. Sir Charles, though an older man, -was by no means weak; his tall body was well-knit -and active, and he felt unaccountably brawny that -morning; he got the thumb and forefinger of his -left hand like a pitchfork under his opponent’s chin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -and there began what promised to be a very pretty -scuffle. Everybody on the top of the bus got up, -a woman tittered, and a large consequential fellow -who attempted to interfere received a violent backhander -from the huge left hand of the Operative, -the wrist of which was firmly grasped by the right -of the Politician and was struggling in the air.</p> - -<p>The bus stopped, a crowd gathered, the workman, -as is customary with hard-working people, was -easily appeased; Sir Charles, a good deal ruffled, -got off the bus, and pressing two shillings into the -hand of a policeman who was preparing to take -notes, said loudly:</p> - -<p>“That’s all right! You can’t do anything against -<i>me</i>, and of course I can prevent the thing getting -into the papers; but it’s always better to give a -policeman money,—safe rule!”</p> - -<p>With that he wormed his way through the increasing -mob and disappeared into a taxi, the driver of -which, with singular sagacity, drove off rapidly -without asking for any direction. When he was -well out of it, Repton put his head out of the window -and addressed the driver in the following remarkable -words:</p> - -<p>“I don’t really know where you’d better go: of -course if you go to my Club I could change there” -(his collar was torn off him and his hat was badly -battered) “but on the whole you’d better take me -to Guy’s—No you hadn’t, go to the Club. Stop at -a Boy Messenger’s on your way.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>“What Club, sir?” asked the driver with the -deference due to a man at once wealthy and mad.</p> - -<p>“You won’t know it,” said Sir Charles kindly and -still craning in a constrained manner out of the -window. “By the way, why don’t they have a -speaking-tube or something from inside to you -people? It’s awkward turning one’s head outside -like a snake. You won’t know it, but I’ll shout to -you when we get to the bottom of St. James’s Street.”</p> - -<p>The driver, now convinced that he had to do with -something quite out of the ordinary, touched his cap -in a manner almost military, and fled through the -streets of London. At a Boy Messenger’s office Sir -Charles sent home for clothes and for a change, got -to his Club, informed the astonished porter that it -was a very fine day, that he had just had a fight -on the top of a bus, that by God the Johnnie didn’t -know who he was tackling! He, Sir Charles, was -no longer a young man, but he would have shown -him what an upper cut was if he could have got -a free swing! He proceeded to illustrate the nature -of this fence—then suddenly asked for his letters, -and for a dressing-room.</p> - -<p>After this, which had all been acted in the most -rapid and violent manner, he ran up the steps, stood -for a few moments with his hands in his pockets -gazing at the telegrams, and forgetful that he had -no collar on, that his coat was torn, that there was -blood upon his hands, and that half of his waistcoat -was wide open with two buttons missing. He found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -the telegrams of some interest; he did not notice -the glances directed towards him by those who -passed in and out of the building, nor the act of a -page who in passing the porter’s box tapped his -forehead twice with his forefinger.</p> - -<p>He stood for a moment in thought, then it -suddenly occurred to him that it would have been -a wiser thing to have gone straight home. He got -another taxi and drove to his house. There, after a -brief scene with the footman in which he rehearsed -all that he had already given them at the Club, he -ordered his clothes to be put out for him, and took a -very comfortable bath.</p> - -<p>Luckily for him he found lying upon his table -when he came down, a note which he had left there -the night before with regard to the Van Diemens -meeting.</p> - -<p>“Forgot that,” he said, a little seriously. “Good -thing I found it.”</p> - -<p>He picked it up, folded it once or twice, unfolded -it, re-read it perhaps three times, and while he was -so employed heard the grave voice of his secretary -begging him to go into town in the motor.</p> - -<p>Repton did not for the moment see any connection -between his recent adventures and this request, but -he was all compliance, and nodding cheerfully he -waited for the machine to come round. When it -had come he looked at it closely for a moment, -confided to the chauffeur that he intensely disliked -its colour, but that it was a bargain and he wasn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -going to spend any money on changing it, because -he meant to sell it to some fool at the end of the -season—got in, and was driven to the Cannon Street -Hotel.</p> - -<p>He was a little late. The platform was already -occupied and his empty chair was waiting for him.</p> - -<p>At his entry there was some applause, such as -would naturally greet the man who was known to -be the Directing Brain of all that interest. None -noticed a change in him. His clothes were perhaps -a little less spick and span: it was unusual to see -him stretch his arms two or three times before he -sat down, and those who knew him best, in his -immediate neighbourhood upon the platform, were -astonished to see him smile and nod familiarly to -several of the less important Directors; but on the -whole he behaved himself in a fairly consecutive -manner, and if he did whisper to a colleague upon -his right that he looked as though he had been -drinking a little too much overnight, the unaccustomed -jest was allowed to pass without -comment.</p> - -<p>When the moment came for him to speak, he -jumped up, perhaps a little too briskly, faced his -audience with less than his usual solemnity, nay, -with something very like a grin, and struck the first -note of his great speech in a manner which they had -hitherto never heard from his lips.</p> - -<p>It was certainly calculated to compel their attention -if not their conviction, for the very first words<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -which he shouted into the body of the hall, were -these:</p> - -<p>“<i>WHAT ARE WE HERE FOR?</i>”</p> - -<p>After that rhetorical question, delivered in a roar -that would have filled the largest railway station in -London, he repeated it in a somewhat lower tone, -clenched his fists, struck them squarely on the table, -and answered as though he were delivering a final -judgment:</p> - -<p>“<i>MONEY!....</i></p> - -<p>Ladies and gentlemen,” he went on, raising his -right hand and wagging his forefinger at them—“we -are here for money! And don’t you forget it!”</p> - -<p>He blew a great breath, watched them quizzically -a moment and then continued:</p> - -<p>“What <i>most</i> of you <i>most</i> lack is the power of -thinking clearly. I can see it in your faces. I can -see it in the way you sit. And people who can’t -think clearly don’t make <i>money</i>. No one can think -clearly who hasn’t got a good grip of his first -principles and doesn’t know first of all what he wants -before he tries to get it. Well, I repeat it, and -I challenge any one to deny it: what we want is -<i>money</i>! Let us make that quite clear. Let us -anchor ourselves to that ... and when we once -have that thoroughly fixed in our minds we can -go on to the matter of how we are to get it.”</p> - -<p>“Now ladies and gentlemen,” he proceeded in a -more conversational manner, rubbing his hands -together, and smiling at them with excessive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -freedom, “let us first of all take stock. Sitting -here before me and round me here upon this -platform (he waved his right arm in a large gesture) -are four million pounds of Van Diemens stock. -Four million pounds, ladies and gentlemen! But -wait a moment. At what price was that stock -bought? I am not asking at what price <i>I</i> bought,”—here -he looked to the left and the right, sweeping -the hundreds of faces before him—“I am not asking -at what price <i>I</i> bought: my position differs from -yours, my hearties; I’m in the middle of things and -my official position obtains me even more knowledge -than I should gather with my own very excellent -powers of observation: I’ve spent a whole lifetime -in watching markets, and I have never cared a <i>dump</i>—I -repeat, ladies and gentlemen, a DUMP, for -anything except the profit. I have never listened -to any talk about the ‘development of a country’ or -‘possibilities’ or ‘the future,’ or any kid of that sort. -I’ve bought paper and sold paper ... and I’ve done -uncommonly well out of it.”</p> - -<p>He paused a moment, more for breath than for -anything else, for he had been speaking very rapidly; -and in the terrified silence round him Bingham was -heard muttering as though in reply to some whispered -question: “You leave him <i>alone</i>! It may be unconventional, -but....”</p> - -<p>“The question is, ladies and gentlemen, at what -price have you bought ... on the average? Many -of you are country parsons, many of you ladies with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -far more money than you have knowledge what to -do with it. Not a few of you stock-brokers—an -exceptionally inexperienced class of men—you are -a fair average lot of British investors, and I ask -<i>at what price did you buy?</i>” He looked at them -fixedly for a few moments, then pulling out a scrap -of paper he read it briefly:</p> - -<p>“‘From figures that have been laid before me I -find that the average price at which the present -shareholders bought was eight pounds sixteen -shillings and a few pence,’” and then added “We’ll -call it eight pounds. Always be on the Conservative -side.”</p> - -<p>At this remark, which was supposed to contain a -political jest, two old ladies in the second row -tittered, but finding themselves alone, stopped -tittering.</p> - -<p>“I say take it at eight pounds. Well, that four -million of stock stands for thirty-two million pounds. -<i>Thirty-two million pounds!</i>” he said with a rising -voice—“THIRTY-TWO MILLION POUNDS!” he roared,—banging -the table with his fist and leaning forward -with a determined jowl.... “And what’s left of it? -<i>Nothing!</i>”</p> - -<p>There was another dead silence at the end of this -striking phrase, and Bingham was again heard to -mutter: “You leave him <i>alone</i>; he knows what he’s -at!” A certain uneasy shuffling of feet behind him -caused Repton to turn his head snappishly, then he -looked round again and resumed his great oration.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>“I say <i>nothing</i>.... Oh! I know there are some of -you stupid enough to think that you have still got -sixteen and thruppence a share. That was the -quotation in the paper this morning. Eugh!” he -sniffed sardonically, “You try and <i>sell</i> at that and -you’ll soon find what you’ve got! No! you haven’t -even got that sixteen and thruppence. You haven’t -got two shillings in the pound for what you put in. -You’ve got nothing! nothing! nothing!! Put that in -your pipes and smoke it....”</p> - -<p>“And so, gentlemen,” he added, leaning his body -backwards and putting his thumbs into his waistcoat, -“the business before us is how to get out of this hole. -There are perhaps some of you,” he went on, frowning -intellectually, “there are perhaps some of you who -imagine that the Government is going to buy. Well, -I’m a member of the Government and I can tell you -they are <i>not</i>.”</p> - -<p>At this appalling remark the elements of revolution -upon the platform all but exploded, but the solid -weight of Bingham was still there, and if I may hint -at a phrase with which the reader is already familiar, -he suggested that Sir Charles knew what he was -about and should be let <i>alone</i>.</p> - -<p>“Even if they did buy,” Repton went on seriously -and argumentatively, “they could hardly buy at more -than par. I’m the last man,” he continued rapidly “to -jaw about public opinion or things of that sort. The -real reason why they won’t buy is the Irish. But even -if they did buy they could hardly give more than par.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -And what’s par?” he said with great disdain. “No, -that cock won’t fight!... Mind you, I’m not saying -you couldn’t have got the Government to buy a little -time ago. I think you could. But you can’t now.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think there’s a single man on either front -bench—” this was said meditatively and tapping off -the fingers of one hand with the forefinger of the -other—“who’s personally interested, and I don’t -<i>think</i> there’s any direct connection since Cooke died -between the Cabinet and any one who is—except me. -No, that’s not the way out. What you’ve got to do, -ladies and gentlemen, is to throw a sprat to catch a -whale.”</p> - -<p>“A sprat,” he meditatively repeated, “to catch a -whale: a great Whale full o’ blubber! ... an’ how -are you going to do that?”</p> - -<p>“Now listen”—his tone had become very earnest -and he was leaning forward, bent and fixed and -holding them with his fine strong eyes, “listen, there -are three steps. You’ve got first of all to show the -public that you <i>believe</i> in the future of the Company; -next you’ve got to decide upon a dodge to show -that: something that’ll make every one think that you -the shareholders do really believe in that future. -What’s the third step? Why up goes the price—real -price—money offered—<i>then you can sell</i>. That’s my -opinion,” he concluded, clapping his hands together -and laying them upon the table before him: and he -let it sink in.</p> - -<p>“Now you’ll notice,” he went on, “in the prospectus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -you have received, some talk of a railway. -We’re asking money from you to build a railway. -Now why are we doing that? Please follow me -carefully.”</p> - -<p>The hundreds of heads bent forward and the -intelligences they contained were prepared to follow -him carefully. He was a great man.</p> - -<p>“We have asked you to build a railway,” he pronounced, -leaving a little space of time between each -word, “because a railway still catches on. I don’t -know why, but it <i>does</i>. Mines don’t. You might -discover ore all over the place and they wouldn’t go: -I’ve got two men of my own, engineers, <i>experts</i>, -who’ll discover ore anywhere; they’d discover tons -before three o’clock this afternoon and you might -swear your dying oath to them, but the public -wouldn’t believe you. As for agriculture,—Piff! -And as for climate, Boo! But <i>railways</i> still work.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. You raise your capital for your -railway. What that railway may be imagined to do -is set out in full before you and I won’t go into it. -But I will ask you especially to note the passage in -which it is described as giving a strategical supremacy -to the Empire. You know what the Empire is. You -<i>may</i> know, some o’ you, what strategy is. Looks as -if there were a fleecy general or two among you! -But that’s as may be—just note the phrase. It’s -safety! That’s what it is! No odds. No blighter -to run any risk of having to fight any one anywhere! -Grand!”... “I <i>think</i> also,” he mused, “something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -could be done with the tourist side ... there are -falls and mountains and things ... but no matter: -the point is the railway.”</p> - -<p>He drank from a glass of water on the table, -turned round angrily and said: “Good lord what -water! It’s bad enough to have to drink water in -public for a show, but it needn’t be tepid! If the -place wasn’t so public I’d spit it out again!” Then -facing the audience again: “However.... About -that railway. First understand clearly, ladies and -gentlemen, <i>that railway is not going to be built</i>! -There is no intention of building it. There is no -intention of surveying it.”</p> - -<p>Two or three voices rose in protest at the back of -the hall. Sir Charles leaned forward and put out his -hand appealingly:—</p> - -<p>“One moment, one moment pray! Hear me out! -I don’t mean that <i>no</i> one will build it. That’s not -our funeral. I mean that <i>we</i> won’t. The ‘Company’ -may, whatever that means. But you and I—the -people who have got into this hole—<i>we</i> won’t. It -won’t be <i>our</i> money. Seize that! Get a hold of that! -It’s the key to the whole business.”</p> - -<p>Little gasps and one profound sigh, but no -interruptions followed this explanation, and Sir -Charles with perfect coolness continued:</p> - -<p>“What we want is five shillings a share—only five -shillings a share. Five shillings where most of you have -already given a hundred and sixty! Five shillings a -share ... four million shares ... that’s a million.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -And mind you, only a nominal million. We don’t -want your two half-crowns; bless you no. All we -want in cash is a shilling. For the rest, you’ll see in -a moment. Well, there you are then, a shilling, a -miserable shilling. Now just see what that shilling -will do!”</p> - -<p>“In the first place it’ll give publicity and plenty -of it. Breath of public life, publicity! Breath o’ -finance too! We’ll have that railway marked in a -dotted line on the maps: all the maps: school maps: -office maps. We’ll have leaders on it and speeches -on it. And good hearty attacks on it. And -th-e-n....” He lowered his voice to a very -confidential wheedle,—“the price’ll begin to creep -up—Oh ... o ... oh! the <i>real</i> price, my beloved -fellow-shareholders, the price at which one can -really <i>sell</i>, the price at which one can handle the -<i>stuff</i>.”</p> - -<p>He gave a great breath of satisfaction. “Now -d’ye see? It’ll go to forty shillings right off, it -ought to go to forty-five, it may go to sixty!... -And then,” he said briskly, suddenly changing his -tone, “then, my hearties, you blasted well sell out: -you unload ... you dump ’em. Plenty more fools -where your lot came from. I won’t advise,—sell out -just when you see fit. Every man for himself, and -every woman too,” he said, bowing politely to the -two old ladies in the second row,—“and the devil -take the hindmost. But you’ll all have something, -you’ll none of you lose it all as it looked like last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -week. Most of you’ll lose on your first price: late -comers least: a few o’ ye’ll make if you bought -under two pounds. Anyhow <i>I</i> shall.... There! if -that isn’t finance I don’t know what is!”</p> - -<p>And with a large happy, final, satisfactory and -conclusive smile, the Builder of Empire, to the -astonishment of every one, looked at his watch, -called upon his Creator as a witness to the lateness -of the hour, and suddenly went out.</p> - -<p>It would be delicious to describe what happened -in the vast body of that hall when the Chief had -left it: how the shareholders made a noise like -angry bees swarming; how a curate who had done -no man any harm was squashed against a wall and -broke two ribs; how five or six excited and almost -tearful men surrounded the reporters and fought -for their notebooks; how Bingham continued to -reiterate that Charles Repton knew what he was at; -and how a certain quiet little man with a bronzed -face and very humorous eyes, slunk out and got -rid of his block of shares within the hour, to a -young hearty Colonial gentleman who was wealthy -and had come to London to learn the business ways -of our City.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>But I must follow Sir Charles in his rapid drive -to the House of Commons. I must mention his -unconventional remark to the policeman to the effect -that he hoped that old fool Pottle hadn’t come in -yet; and his taking his place on the front bench just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -after prayers with a look so merry and free that it -illumined the faces opposite like a sun.</p> - -<p>The questions to which he had to reply came -somewhat late on the paper, and he caused not a -little scandal by suggesting in a low tone such -answers to his colleagues for <i>their</i> questions as -seemed to him at once humorous and apposite.</p> - -<p>The aged Home Secretary especially afforded -him fine sport, and when a question was asked with -regard to the new Admiralty docks at Bosham, he -went to the length of chucking a cocked-hat note -to the principal contractor who sat solemnly upon -the benches behind him, nodding cheerfully over -his shoulder and whispering loudly: “It’s all up!”</p> - -<p>All this boded ill for what might happen when -his own turn came; and indeed the scene that -followed was of a kind entirely novel in the long -history of the House of Commons.</p> - -<p>It was a simple question; Question 63. Not ten -minutes of question-time were left when it was -asked. It was put by a gentle little man who -had put it down for the sake of a friend who lived -on the South Coast, and it was simply to ask the -right honourable Baronet, the Warden of the Court -of Dowry, whether his attention had been called -to the presence upon the Royal Sovereign shoals of -a wreck which endangered navigation, and what -he intended to do in the matter.</p> - -<p>Charles Repton jumped up like a bird; he -jovially and rapidly read the typewritten answer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -which his permanent officials had given him—to -the effect that he had nothing to add to the reply -given three years before with regard to the same -wreck, which was then, they were careful to point -out, far more dangerous than at the present day.</p> - -<p>But when he had finished reading the official -reply, he looked up genially at his interlocutor and -said:</p> - -<p>“We don’t want to interfere with that wreck: it’s -full of gin!”</p> - -<p>An angry fanatic hearing the word “gin” rose at -once and put the supplementary question: “May I -ask whether that gin was destined for the unfortunate -natives of the Lagos Hinterland?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the Warden of the Court of Dowry -politely, “Yes sir, you may: but they will never get -it. However, several thousand tons of gin I am -glad to say have gone out to the negroes of our -colonies since the ship was lost, to the no small -advantage,” he added, “of my friend Mr. Garey; -whom, by the way,” he continued with conversational -ease, “we all hope to see in this House shortly, for -old Southwick who’s up against him hasn’t got a -dog’s chance, and you probably know that we are -forcing Pipps to resign. Bound to be an election!”</p> - -<p>He sat down. It was a quarter to four and the -House was saved. But though the decorum of that -great assembly prevented one word from being -uttered as to what had passed, the Lobbies were full -of it, and when the first division was taken men who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -ordinarily filed past the Treasury bench avoided it, -while from distant and dark corners where one -cannot be observed, long and intent looks were -darted at the happy Warden of the Court of Dowry.</p> - -<p>He sat there gay and quite unconscious of the -effect he had produced, passed with his Party into -the Lobbies for the division, greeting with familiar -joy men who appeared rather anxious to avoid his -eye, and making, I regret to say, such unseemly -jests upon the Party system as had never been heard -within those walls before.</p> - -<p>The young Prime Minister, though suffering so -considerably from the left lung, was never at a loss -where tact, and especially tact combined with rapid -action, was necessary. A horrified servant called -him from his room and described what was passing. -He did not stop to ask why or how the thing had -happened. He came in rapidly through the door -behind the Speaker’s chair, and beckoned to Sir -Charles Repton who was at that moment occupied -in drawing a large caricature of the Leader of the -Opposition, with his hands deep into the pocket of -an amiable farmer-like gentleman in top-boots and -whiskers, who made a presentable image of John -Bull.</p> - -<p>Charles Repton got up at once and went out to -his Chief. “What d’you think of this?” he said, -showing his picture.</p> - -<p>The young Prime Minister smiled as death would -smile. “It’s very good, it’s very good,” he said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -hurriedly. “Have it coloured ... colour it yourself. -Oh, do what you like with it.... Come with me. -Come into my room, do. No, I’ll tell you what, -I want to speak to you. Let’s get out into the air.”</p> - -<p>He walked his subordinate away rapidly arm in -arm across Parliament Square towards St. James’s -Park, talking about a thousand things and never -giving Repton time for a word. Then he said -suddenly: “What I really want to say to you, -Repton, is ...” He abruptly broke off. “Is Lady -Repton at home?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Repton a little puzzled, “or she will -be by this time. I make her show me her plan for -the afternoon at lunch, and she’s got to suit me, or -there’s a row.”</p> - -<p>“Well now,” said the Prime Minister, “will you do -me a great favour?” He put his hand on Repton’s -shoulder and looked candidly into his eyes.</p> - -<p>“Certainly my dear fellow,” answered the Warden -of the Court of Dowry in the utmost good humour. -“After all my position depends upon you, and a -good deal of my income depends upon my position. -It isn’t likely I should put your back up, even if I -didn’t like you, which is far from being the case, -though I must say I don’t think you’re a man of -very exceptional talent. I think you owe most of -your position to birth.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,” said the Prime Minister hurriedly, -“I understand. Now what I want you to do is this: -jump into the first thing you see and <i>go straight home</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -You will see why when you get there. It’s absolutely -urgent. Will you?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” said Repton more puzzled than ever. -“All you politicians are such liars that I make a -point of believing the exact opposite of what you -say: but if you tell me it’s of any service to you, it -certainly does <i>me</i> no harm.” And whistling gaily -he walked off towards a cab that was meandering -across the Parade.</p> - -<p>When the Prime Minster had seen him well off -he went as rapidly as dignity would allow into -Downing Street, took the telephone from his -secretary and in an agony of apprehension lest he -should be too late, at last heard Lady Repton’s -voice. He told her that her husband was the -victim of a most distressing malady; she would -understand it when she saw him. He implored her -to save so valuable a man for the country by -managing in some way or other to confine him to -the house until he should be medically examined.</p> - -<p>It was a great relief to the young fellow to have -got this duty done. His fifty-four years seemed to -weigh less upon him: for the ten minutes between -leaving the House and seeing Repton off he had been -on a grill: there was still ridicule to be faced, but -he had a sentiment of having achieved his end and -of having just saved as difficult a situation as ever -the chief of a State had had to meet.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was an anxious moment, but many moments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -are necessarily anxious in the life of a man who -holds in his hands the destinies of Great Britain, and -the young and popular Prime Minister had the stuff -in him to stand worse scenes than that, but he was -exhausted and he was slightly troubled. The full -consequences of the dreadful affair had not yet shaped -themselves in his mind.</p> - -<p>He walked back to his room in the House of -Commons, ruminating during those few steps upon -the developments that might arise from Repton’s -terrible accident, and beginning to plan how he -should arrange matters with Demaine. It would -want caution, for Demaine was slow to understand -... but then there was a corresponding advantage -to that, for like all slow men, Dimmy could hold his -tongue.... In fact he couldn’t help it.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister was pleased to think that he -had that second string to his bow, and that opinion -had been sufficiently prepared for the change. -Repton would be certified of course, the sooner the -better,—that would prevent any necessity for a -peerage. Demaine’s taking the place would seem -more natural, and those gadflies, the <i>Moon</i> and the -<i>Capon</i>, would not fall into a fever about the appointment.... -Perhaps after all the Repton business -would be an advantage in the long run!</p> - -<p>The more he thought of his choice of Demaine -the more pleased he was, and he had almost persuaded -himself that the appointment was due to -some extreme cunning upon his own part, when,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -coming round from his room into the Lobbies, he -casually asked a colleague where Demaine was at -the moment.</p> - -<p>The colleague didn’t know. “I have my back -turned to the benches behind us you know,” he -explained elaborately.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister cast upon him a look of -contempt, and asked the doorkeeper whether he had -seen Mr. Demaine.</p> - -<p>“G. M. Demaine,” said the doorkeeper solemnly, -running his finger down a list.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister was almost moved to reprove -him, but dignity forbade.</p> - -<p>“Not in the House!” said the man curtly, -addressing as an equal the chief power in England; for -his post was secure, the Prime Minister’s precarious.</p> - -<p>“You mean not on the benches: I can see that -for myself!” said the Prime Minister sharply.</p> - -<p>“I mean he hasn’t passed this door, sir,” said the -official with quiet dignity, and Dolly went off -considerably nettled, and looked into the tea-room -and the libraries, and even wasted a little time in -going round by the smoking-room. The policemen -in the central hall had not seen Demaine, nay, a -constituent with an exceedingly long black moustache -and fierce eyes had been waiting by appointment -with Demaine for two hours, and Demaine had not -been found. The Prime Minister condescended so -much as to speak to this man, and the man, not -knowing whom he might be addressing, told him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -plainly that “if Mr. Demaine interpreted his duties -in this fashion, he couldn’t answer for his seat, that -was all!”</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister further condescended to go -out of the House in the ordinary way, and the -policeman who guarded the ordinary portal had not -seen Mr. Demaine.</p> - -<p>It was really very awkward and exasperating, -though it was only a detail. He must see Demaine -that afternoon: it was imperative. But it was also -important that he should see him as soon as possible. -He wanted to keep him out of the way till he was -coached.</p> - -<p>There is nothing in this happy English life of -ours more soothing to the brain in moments of -anxiety, than the perusal of any one of those great -Organs of Opinion which are the characteristic of -our people and the envy of Europe, and of these -it must be admitted none stand on quite the same -intellectual and moral plane as the best two or -three of our London evening papers. One of these -the Prime Minister had always found particularly -soothing. He bought it of the newsman at the -corner of Parliament Square and opened it as he -walked along at leisure towards Downing Street.</p> - -<p>There was one corner of this sheet which was -always a recreation to Dolly in the few moments -he could spare from the House: it was the corner -in which prizes were offered for the best pun, on -condition of course that nothing coarse or personally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -offensive should be sent in by the competitors. To -this he had turned an indifferent eye, when for the -second time that day he received a shock which was -almost like a blow in the face....</p> - -<p>There, in great letters, with a flamboyance surely -unworthy of a paper that professed to support his -own Party, was the headline:</p> - -<p class="center">“DISAPPEARANCE OF A MINISTER ELECT.”</p> - -<p>And his forebodings did not deceive him.... -It was ... it was ... the permanently unlucky -Demaine!</p> - -<p>He cursed the crass imbecility by which such a -thing could have got into the papers at all. He -strode to his house and to his room, crumpled the -paper which he was still holding, unfolded it, and -then read the news again. There were but a few -lines of it: Demaine had disappeared, and the full -detective power of London was attempting to solve -the mystery of his disappearance.</p> - -<p>What madness to let such things get out!</p> - -<p>Why, twenty things might have happened! He -might simply have stopped in the house of a friend -and not bothered to tell his wife that he was not -coming home; he might simply have fallen ill -and have been taken to a hospital or to a hotel. -What a piece of idiocy to put it into the Press at -all!</p> - -<p>Much as he hated the exercise, he rang to be put -through to Demaine House, and heard from Sudie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -herself, whom he knew but distantly, that her fears -had done all.</p> - -<p>She had sat up for George till nearly five o’clock -in the morning; underrating perhaps her husband’s -talents, and notably his ability to find his way home, -she thought it possible he had fallen a victim to -an unscrupulous taxi driver or that any one of a -thousand other fates might have befallen him.</p> - -<p>With too little comprehension of the social forces -that build up the society of the Mother Land, Sudie -had communicated at once with Scotland Yard, -and on learning that her husband had last been -seen leaving the House of Commons and walking -towards the river, she had taken the unpardonable -step of sending messages to all the evening papers -in the hope that such publicity would advance the -solution of the mystery.</p> - -<p>It was perfectly damnable! As though the cares -of his office were not enough, the Prime Minister -found himself upon this Tuesday afternoon with a -doubtful and anxious division awaiting him in the -evening, with one of his Ministers gone mad, and -his successor the subject at the best of a vulgar -mystery, and at the worst of a hopeless disappearance.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER X</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE phrase “intoxicated with pleasure,” too -common in our literature, would most inexactly -describe the condition of George Mulross -Demaine as he left the Prime Minister’s room upon -that Monday midnight.</p> - -<p>In the first place he was not and never had been -intoxicated, and even when he exceeded (as in youth -he frequently had) in the matter of wine, spirits, -liqueurs and fancy liquids, the effect of such excess -had rather been atrophy than intoxication. Nor -had he ever felt what poets finely call the “sting -of joy.”</p> - -<p>But he was pleased: he was very pleased. -Thoughts that in another more volatile and less -substantial brain might have crowded, appeared -slowly separated one from another and in a solemn -procession. They comforted rather than exhilarated -him.</p> - -<p>First of all there was the £5000 a year: that was -something.</p> - -<p>He ruminated on that about as far as Cleopatra’s -Needle; there, as he leant upon the parapet of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -Embankment and looked down into the water, -a second thought rose upon the horizon of his -mind: the £5000 a year would be his, not -Sudie’s.</p> - -<p>In the first stage of this nightly ramble he had -barged into two men: one a poor man who had -made the accident the excuse for the delivery of -money; the second a rich one who cursed him -abominably, but George was in too equable a mood -to mind. Now, as he left Cleopatra’s Needle behind -him and strolled still farther eastward, ruminating -upon the fact that the £5000 a year would be his -and not Sudie’s, he had the misfortune to cannon -against yet a third, to whom he apologised: but it -was a post, not a man.</p> - -<p>He looked at it with those slow, sensible eyes of -his for perhaps thirty seconds, and saw in large red -letters under the electric light “Motors to the right -of this post.”</p> - -<p>He repeated the phrase mechanically as was often -his wont upon reading anything, and it set up a new -train of thought. Post.... The post offered him -was not permanent ... but he considered the -careers of his friends and he could remember none, -neither Ted nor Johnny nor old Bill Curliss, nor -Fittleworth nor Glegg, who from the moment they -had received such promotion had not gone forward.</p> - -<p>It always meant something, even when one was -out of office, and then who knows? One might be -in office again. A Party may be in office twice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -running! Stranger things had happened. And -then, even if they went out of office, Ole Man -Benson would have brought something off by that -time.</p> - -<p>Look at it how he would, heaven was smiling on -him, and he in return, and as though in gratitude, -smiled at the gaunt front of Blackfriars Station, -opposite which he had now arrived.</p> - -<p>Between him and it there lay the street, and he -was naturally too cautious to attempt to cross until -he had gazed carefully to the front and right. But -at midnight there is no pressure of traffic in the City -of London, and when he had allowed a belated dray -and a steam roller to pass him at their leisure he -hurriedly crossed over with a vague intention of -taking the train.</p> - -<p>Like many men of the governing classes, whose -mental activities are naturally divorced from the -petty details of London life, and who are independent -of that daily round which makes the less fortunate -only too familiar with our means of communication, -George Mulross Demaine was not quite certain where -the Underground went to, nor what part of London -precisely it served. But he had been taught from -childhood that it was circular in form, and that round -it like Old Ocean<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> in a perpetual race, went along -streams of trains. Enter it where you would, and -you might leave it somewhere upon its periphery.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>He knew that St. James’s Park Station was at his -very door. He asked for and obtained a ticket with -that promptitude which distinguishes the service of -our premier Metropolitan line, left the change for -sixpence by an oversight on the ledge of the ticket -window, and then, as Fate would have it, turned to -the left-hand stairs.</p> - -<p>The official whose duty it was to examine and to -cut designs upon the tickets presented to him by the -public, was that evening (under the guidance of Fate) -most negligent.</p> - -<p>He should surely have seen that he was dealing -with an Obvious Gentleman and should gently have -directed him to the opposing platform. As it was -he did no more than half puncture the cardboard -without so much as glancing at it, and George -Mulross Demaine (in whom now yet another pleasing -thought had arisen—that there were such things -as Cabinet pensions—) sauntered down on to the -platform.</p> - -<p>A train roared in; he stumbled into it just in time -to save his coat from the shutting of the gate, and -sat contentedly until he should hear the conductor -shout “St. James’s Park!” But this cue word which -would have aroused him to action, he was destined -not to hear.</p> - -<p>The Mansion House went by, and Cannon Street, -but yet another pleasing thought having arisen in -his mind he noted them not.</p> - -<p>A shout of “Monument” startled him, for he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -heard in a general way of the Monument, and it was -nowhere near his home. When he came to Mark -Lane he was seriously alarmed, and at the cry of -Aldgate East, his mind was made up. He got out.</p> - -<p>He asked with the utmost courtesy of the man -who took the tickets what he should do to get to -St. James’s Park, and the man who took the tickets -replied with less courtesy but with great rapidity -that he had better turn sharp to the right and that -on his right again he would find Aldgate Station, -whence there was still a service of trains, late as was -the hour.</p> - -<p>Alas, for the various locutions of various ranks in -our society! he did turn sharp to the right; he went -right round the corner into Middlesex Street, and to -the right again into Wentworth Street, but not a -station could be seen. The summer night was of -a glimmering sort of darkness. It was hot, and -many of the local families were still seated upon -their steps, speaking to each other in a dialect of -the Lithuanian Ghetto which George Mulross -erroneously took for an accent native to the London -poor.</p> - -<p>He stepped up to one and asked whether he were -yet near the station. The voluble reply “Shriska -beth haumelshee! Chragso! Yeh!” illumined him -not at all, and as he moved off uncertainly up the -street, a roar of harsh laughter tended to upset his -nerves.</p> - -<p>He could not bear this raking fire: he turned,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -most imprudently, up a narrow court which was in -total darkness; and, then at first to his surprise but -almost immediately afterwards to his grave chagrin, -he felt a voluminous and exceedingly foul cotton -sheet drawn sharply round his throat, twisted, the -slack of it thrown over his head, and one end -crammed into his mouth for a gag; almost at the -same moment his wrists were jerked behind him, a -rope whose hardness must have been due to tar was -hitched round them with surely excessive violence, -putting him to grievous pain, his feet were lifted -from under him, he felt several hands grasping his -head and shoulders at random, a couple of them -seizing his ankles; he was reversed, and in the attitude -described at the Home Office as “The Frogs’ -March” he felt himself carried for some few yards, -and at last reversed again and placed face upwards -upon a narrow and hard surface.</p> - -<p>Through the filthy cotton which still enveloped -his face, the disgusting stains of which were dimly -apparent to him, he saw the glimmer of a light, and -he heard round him language the accent and many -of the words of which were so unfamiliar to him that -he could make nothing of it. He was incommoded -beyond words.</p> - -<p>Whatever his defects, George Mulross Demaine -was not lacking in physical courage; he begged -them in a mumble through the gag that covered his -mouth, to let him go. There was no direct reply, -but only a good deal of whispering, which so far as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -he could make it out—and much of it was foreign—related -to his person rather than to his request.</p> - -<p>An attempt to move betrayed the fact that some -heavy body was seated upon his shins; another -attempt to raise the upper half of his body was met -by so sharp a reminder upon the side of his head -that he thought it better for the moment to lie still.</p> - -<p>What followed was an examination of his clothes -and their contents, which showed his new neighbours -to be unacquainted with the sartorial habits of the -wealthy. The two slits in his cape were taken for -pockets and their emptiness provoked among other -comments the shrill curse of a woman. His trouser -pockets, wherein it was fondly hoped that metal -might lie hid, and wherein he would rather have died -than have put anything, similarly drew blank, and -to their disgust, of the two little lines on the waistcoat -one was a sham and the other contained nothing -but a spare stud. However, this contained a small -precious stone, and was the immediate object of a -pretty severe scuffle.</p> - -<p>He was next reversed yet a third time without -dignity, and in a manner the violence of which was -most wounding: but in his tail pocket was nothing but -a large new silk handkerchief which went (apparently -by custom, for there was no discussion) to the captain -of the tribe.</p> - -<p>Purse there was none, a thing that bewildered -them; not even a portmonnaie, until, to their mingled -astonishment and joy, some one acuter than the rest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -discovered in a mass of seals at his watch chain, a -little globular receptacle which opened with a spring, -and revealed no less than four sovereigns.</p> - -<p>It was a poor haul, but the clothes remained. Not -for long. They were all removed, and that not with -roughness but, he was glad to note, tenderly: less -perhaps from the respect they bore him than from a -consideration of the value of the cloth. The precise -manœuvre whereby the difficulty of the ankles and -the wrists was eliminated, I leave to those of my -readers who are better acquainted with such problems -than I. There are several well-known methods, I -understand, whereby a man may have his trousers -and his coat removed and yet his hands and feet -preserved in custody.</p> - -<p>His boots (they were astonished to note) were -elastic-sided. They were under the impression that -among the wealthy buttoned boots alone were -tolerated at the evening meal and thenceforward -until such hours as the wealthy seek repose. But -they were good mess boots, and take it all in all, -his clothing, every single article of which was soon -folded and put into its bundle, made the best part of -their booty.</p> - -<p>Then there was a considerable movement of feet, -a murmur of voices purposely low; there seemed to -be one person left, agile and rapid in movement ... -perhaps two: at any rate after these or this one had -held him for some thirty seconds, during which he -had the sense and prudence to lie still, there was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -sharp sliding of feet, the quick but almost noiseless -shutting of a door, and he found that he was free.</p> - -<p>His first act was to disembarrass himself of his -stinking head-gear, but his captors had laid their -trap with science, and it was precisely this which was -destined to give them the leisure for their escape. -The sheet was tied to his head by a series of small -hard knots which took him, between them, quite a -quarter of an hour to undo.</p> - -<p>At last he was free. He tore the filthy thing from -his head and the bunch of it from his mouth with the -same gesture, overcame a strong desire to vomit, and -looked round him.</p> - -<p>He found himself seated upon a sort of narrow -bench attached by iron clamps to the wall of a small -and exceedingly noisome room, which even at that -moment he had the wit to think that he would -certainly have dealt with by the local inspector when -he should have assumed what he had heard called -the reins of office.</p> - -<p>But for the moment other considerations occupied -him to the exclusion of the condition of the room. -A dirty paraffin lamp with no shade stood on the -rickety table; the one window was blinded by a -large old wooden shutter barred down against it; on -the cracked, distempered walls, stained with a generation -of grease and smoke, hung a paper upon which -a few figures had been scrawled roughly in pencil, -and most of them scratched out again, and here and -there the same pencil or others had inscribed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -surface of the plaster with sentiments and illustrations -most uncongenial to his breeding.</p> - -<p>The next thing that met his eye was a peculiarly -repulsive pair of breeches, an old green-black torn -overcoat, and a pair of workmen’s boots, cracked, -grey with weather, laceless and apparently as stiff as -wood. He had no choice: his first business was to -find aid. He must put these on, break his way out -of this den as best he could, and summon the Police.</p> - -<p>He had never had his feet in such things as those -boots before; it was like shuffling in boxes. He -hated to feel the clammy grease of the trousers and -coat against his skin.</p> - -<p>He left the lamp burning and made for the door. -To his astonishment the latch was open. To his -further astonishment it gave into an open passage -like a tunnel, with no door but a plain arch opening -into the court beyond. He shuffled out. He was glad -that it was not yet day. Fortunately it was not cold.</p> - -<p>He turned, he knew not whither, following the -streets aimlessly, but more or less in one direction, -until he saw in a blotted silhouette against the darkness -of the walls, the glad and familiar form of a -policeman. It was like coming home! It was like -making a known harbour light after three days of -lost reckonings and a gale.</p> - -<p>He went up to the man and began in that -pleasant but not condescending tone in which he -had ever addressed members of the force:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>“Policeman, can you tell me....”</p> - -<p>He got no further. The agile though weighty -custodian of order, with the low and determined -remark, “I know yer!” had seized him by the -shoulders, whirled him round and away, so that he -fell, bruised and a little dazed, against the steps of -a house.</p> - -<p>George was angered. He had already risen with -some remark on his lips about taking a number -when he saw his antagonist make a sharp gesture—there -was a shrill whistle, immediately afterwards -an answering whistle from perhaps a hundred yards -away, and George Mulross Demaine,—blame him if -you will,—kicked off the impossible boots, and ran -for it.</p> - -<p>They let him run, and it is not for us to criticise. -He left their district at any rate.</p> - -<p>He had run for but a few moments in his absurd -and horrible greatcoat and on his naked feet, until -he saw down the end of an alley a great gate, a light -to one side of it, and beyond it an empty space of -glimmering nightly sky. Ignorant of where he was -or what he did, but determined upon safety, he -looked round and to his horror saw the form of yet -another policeman pacing slowly towards the place -where he was crouching.</p> - -<p>That determined him. With an agility that none -of his acquaintances, not even his wife, would have -believed to be in him, he slunk quite close to earth -in the shadow of the great gate and entered the open -space beyond.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>Such a space he had never seen. Under the very -faint light which was now beginning to show over -the east of heaven, he guessed that he was upon the -river, for he saw masts against the sky and that -peculiar pale glint of water which, even at night, -may be distinguished between the hulls of ships. All -he sought was shadow, and the great wharves of the -docks—for he had blundered into the docks—give -ample opportunity.</p> - -<p>He heard a measured step pacing slowly towards -him. He crept along the edge of the quay into a -sort of narrow lane that lay between a row of high -barrels and the bulwarks of a big steamship which -just showed above the stone. He flattened himself -against the high barrels which, had he been better -acquainted with the details of commerce, he would -have known to contain fishbone manure.</p> - -<p>The measured tread came nearer; it passed, it -reached a certain point in the distance, it turned and -passed again. It reached yet another extreme of its -beat, turned and re-passed.... And all the while -the light was growing: and as it grew the nervous -agony of George Mulross grew with it, but more -rapidly.</p> - -<p>He could now just see the figure of the watchman -near the gate, he could distinguish part of the nearer -rigging; in half an hour he would be visible to whatever -eyes were watching for vagabonds. He knew -what that meant; further humiliation, perhaps further -dangers. There was not a gentleman for miles,—and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -with that thought the heart of this most unfortunate -of gentlemen beat slow.</p> - -<p>The reader has been sufficiently told that Mr. -Demaine, however solid the quality of his brain, was -not a man of rapid decision. But agony and peril -are sharp spurs, and as the conception of a gentleman -floated through his mind he suddenly remembered -that ships had captains.</p> - -<p>Upon their exact functions he was hazy; he would -know it better no doubt when he had undertaken -his functions in the Court of Dowry (the blessed -thought warmed him for a moment even in that -dreadful dawn!); anyhow, the word “captain” meant -something ... it wasn’t like a captain in the army of -course ... but then there were captains and captains -... of course the Royal Navy was superior to the -Merchant Service ... but it was all the same kind -of thing—only upper and lower, like a barrister and -a solicitor.... For instance there was the Naval -Reserve.... And he remembered a captain upon an -Atlantic liner who was a splendid great fellow, and -he was sure could tell any one at once. And the -captain of Billy’s schooner was better than that -because he understood about motor engines.</p> - -<p>He had just come to the point of remembering -that on the P. and O. it was rather a grand thing to -dine with the captain, when his mind arrived at its -conclusion. He would slip over the side of the big -ship, and when the proper time came he would reveal -himself to the captain for what he was. The captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -would show him every courtesy, he would give him -a change of clothes, ready-made but decent, he -would know where there was a telephone, he would -have authority to speak to the watchman and the -rest, he would send for a taxi, and George’s troubles -would be over....</p> - -<p>George prepared to slip over the side.</p> - -<p>Now to slip over the side in a book is one thing, -but to do it on a real ship is another. The bulwarks -were high and greasy and salt and slimy. Demaine -was weakened by a night of terrors, and he came -down on the hard iron deck of the tramp with a -noise resembling distant thunder, and in a manner -that hurt him very much indeed.</p> - -<p>It was a new misadventure and one that had to -be repaired. He heard voices and bolted for a large -coil of rope which lay beneath the shadow of the -turtle-deck. Here the stench, though somewhat -different in quality from that of the fishbone manure, -was not less noisome, and carried with it a reminiscence -of Channel passages which weakened the -very soul within George Mulross Demaine. But the -sensation was soon swamped in one much more -poignant; this was aroused in him by the approach -of two inharmonious voices, one of which was borne -towards him perpetually clamouring:</p> - -<p>“Yes ah deed!”</p> - -<p>While the other repeated as a sort of antiphon:</p> - -<p>“Noa ee diddun, tha silly fule!”</p> - -<p>When this dialogue was exhausted the first voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -in a lower and much more determined tone -hissed: “Ah’ll ave im aowt!” and a large stave which -might, for all Demaine knew, be a marlingspike or -some other horrid instrument, began rummaging -behind the coil of rope.</p> - -<p>“T’ould man sez ef ah doan catch next ’un ee’ll -skin me live!”</p> - -<p>To this the second voice reiterated his certitude -that his companion was a silly fool, and that he had -had stowaways upon the brain since he was last -made responsible for the presence of one of these -supercargoes upon the <i>Lily</i>.</p> - -<p>The voices moved away and Demaine, while he -breathed somewhat more freely, was back again in -his former doubt and terror.</p> - -<p>It grew to be broad day; he heard the rattling of -chains; the presence of men upon every hand made -him but the more determined to remain in his hiding-place -until he could approach the Captain in some -more convenient manner than through the medium -of the unfeeling and ill-educated North Countrymen -who seemed to compose the crew.</p> - -<p>He felt the great ship swinging, he could see the -patch of cloud in the sky of which he had a glimpse, -turning as she turned, he felt the slight throb of her -engines; she was passing down the dock, she was out -of the gate—she was almost in the river, when, to his -horror ... the coil of rope which had been his -bulwark against an unfeeling world, <i>began slowly to -uncoil at the top</i>, with the motion of some great and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -wicked snake that was making for its harmless -prey.</p> - -<p>Had George Mulross attained that acquaintance -with seafaring terms which is proper to an -administrator of this sea-girt isle (and especially to -a Warden of the Court of Dowry), he would have -known that the rapidly disappearing coil before him -was being used as a warping rope, and he would -have connected the steady clank of the donkey -engine which accompanied its disappearance with -the absorption of fathom after fathom of what had -been kindly shelter. But even had he known these -things it is doubtful whether they would have -interested him at the moment.</p> - -<p>He crouched lower and lower as the coil diminished, -occupying the smallest space compatible with -keeping his legs tucked away behind what was left -of the cable: but the Gods were deaf that morning -to all prayers. The last eighteen inches of the coil’s -height were reached and still the pitiless donkey -engine clanked, and still the lengths went slithering -away, until at last his back appeared above the -element it lived in,—the unmistakable back of a -human being, clothed in a ragged green-black -coat.</p> - -<p>To the trained and piercing eye of sailor-men the -object was unmistakable, and like two cats upon one -mouse his acquaintances of an hour before pounced -upon his trembling form: the sceptical one now converted -and protesting that he had been convinced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -from the first of the stowaway’s presence, the other -in cruel triumph dragging him along the deck and -threatening him with such consequences as not even -the peculiar idiom of the North Country could completely -veil.</p> - -<p>With such energy as remained to him, George -sprang up at the first opportunity they gave him. -He had the sense not to run upon those crowded -and confined decks. The button torn off his coat-collar -in the scramble showed his bare neck and -chest. Masses of grime, tar and dust streaked his -face; his hair was most untidy, and his bootless feet -were caked in mud.</p> - -<p>“I want to see the captain,” he said between his -gasps.</p> - -<p>“Tha wants...!” began his irate captor,—then -plain words failed him, and he took refuge in a few -oaths. The other said more quietly:</p> - -<p>“Tha’lt see im, ladd; ow! tha’lt see im,”—and -he nodded twice gravely in a manner which George -would have found reassuring had he not already -begun to suspect that the lower classes were capable -of sarcasm.</p> - -<p>“Tha’lt see im!” he suddenly repeated with the -utmost ferocity; and catching Demaine sharply by -the back of the neck he ran him in to the semi-darkness -under the bridge where, as luck would have -it, the first officer in a somewhat surly mood was -going down off duty.</p> - -<p>I should over-weight these pages were I so much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -as to attempt the language of the first officer when -he cast eyes upon the unfortunate figure before him. -A stowaway! It was the second time it had -happened in three months.</p> - -<p>One stammering attempt to make himself heard so -dreadfully increased the power of this man’s passion -that George perforce was silent. The first officer’s rage -rose into a sort of typhoon, and had the law or even the -custom of the sea permitted him to do one quarter of -that with which he threatened the poor vagabond, a -British ship would certainly be no fit place to live in. -As a matter of fact when his tirade was over he confined -himself to a general curse upon the town of London -and its inhabitants, to a particular one directed with -menace against the able seaman who had captured -the stowaway, and at last, with directions that he -should be shown to the captain when the ship was in -the fairway and the anxious business of getting her -out was over.</p> - -<p>For some little time, therefore, Demaine still stood -a butt for the occasional but half-exhausted ribaldry -of his two guardians, and not until the waterman’s -boat had dropped away from alongside and the -warping rope had splashed into the slime of the -Thames, not until the donkey engine had clanked -once more and got it aboard, horrible with all the -horrors of that water, and not until the engine -was going fairly and the <i>Lily</i> dropping swiftly -down the tide, was the captain ready to sit in -judgment.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>Captain Higgins was a man who had made method -and self-control the hinges of success in life. <i>His</i> -Caryll’s Ganglia were all right!</p> - -<p>Accuracy in accounts, faithfulness to employers, and -strict discipline aboard, were, as he was proud of repeating, -his motto. And when he heard that yet another -stowaway had claimed the hospitality of the <i>Lily</i>, he -betrayed no unusual perturbation but sat down at his -little desk, and ordered the prisoner to be brought in.</p> - -<p>George, somewhat hurriedly introduced by both -arms between his now silent captors, perceived -sitting at that table a sight very different from that -which he had expected. He saw a very small, thin -man with a little pointed red beard and the eyes of -a weasel, wearing a well-used and somewhat dirty -peaked cap, upon the front of which was embroidered -a coat of arms long indistinguishable, and surrounded -by a scroll of tawdry and threadbare gold braid.</p> - -<p>This was the individual upon whom Demaine’s -hopes of speedy restoration depended. He was -determined not to speak first, though he was certain -that the superior education of the officer would pierce -through his involuntary disguise.</p> - -<p>Captain Higgins pulled out a large, official-looking -paper divided into certain mysterious compartments, -each headed with a printed rubric, and said briefly, -without looking up and with his pen ready to write:</p> - -<p>“Name?”</p> - -<p>“Demaine,” said George, with all the dignity he -could summon.... “But——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>“Silence!” commanded Captain Higgins sharply, -still without looking up from the paper on which he -scratched rapidly and in an official manner: “Mane.” -“First name,” he chanted musingly, his pen suspended -to write further.</p> - -<p>“George Mulross,” enunciated that individual, and -“George Ross” went down onto the sheet.</p> - -<p>He began once more by clearing his throat, but -though he had not yet said a word, Captain Higgins -looked up with such an expression in his small and -unpleasing eyes as would brook no nonsense.</p> - -<p>“George Ross Mane,” said he, speaking through -his nose. “You have been discovered on my ship, -the <i>Lily</i>, one thousand three hundred and twenty -tons burthen, London rating, bound from London to -Portland with agricultural and general cargo.”</p> - -<p>Captain Higgins loved these formalities.</p> - -<p>“I have no jew-risdiction in the matter....” -And here he began speaking by rote out of a dirty -little book in which were laid down the elements of -his trade: “Of-breach-of-contract-tort-replevin-stave-jury-or-execution-major-and-minor-nor-authority-to-act-savin’-always-and-exceptin’-in-such-way-as-and-whereby-discipline-accoutrement-good -order-<i>and</i>-the-fear-of-the-Lord-proper-to-the-navigatin’-of-this-ship-from-her-departure-to-her-port-of-destination-is-concerned-<i>wherefore</i>-you-shall-be-fed-in-such-manner-as-shall-keep-you-livin’-until-the-next-port-or-ports-whereat-this-good-ship-may-touch-and-there-delivered-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>to-the-Sheriff-or-his-officers-or-other-justices-of-our-Sovereign-Lord-the-King-and-of-his-peace: -Take-away-the-prisoner! -Gawd-save-the-King.”</p> - -<p>This sentence, which was delivered in one breath -and with the rapidity of an expert, became towards -its close a torrent of syllables ending up sharp upon -the word “King” as upon a bell, and followed by a -stinging silence.</p> - -<p>“I demand,” shouted George in an uncontrolled -voice over his shoulder as they dragged him -away.</p> - -<p>“Put him in irons!” cried Captain Higgins as -loudly as was consistent with order, discipline and -self-control. “Put the —— in irons!” And after -this natural exhibition of feeling (which in his heart -he regretted) the navigator returned to the bridge, -relieved the second officer there present, and continued -to take his ship down the fairway.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In a little cubical space with iron sheeting above, -below and all round, and a dirty porthole still streaked -with the salt of the sea, the prospective Warden of -the Court of Dowry sat upon the floor in a despondent -mood.</p> - -<p>There was already a slight swell upon the vessel; -his dungeon was far forward and he felt it to the full. -They had brought him some detestable mess or other -in a battered pannikin at noon. He had sent it away -untasted. Whither they were taking him, what would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -be his fate, had formed for too many hours the -subject of his speculations.</p> - -<p>The movement of the ship was beginning to drive -even these gloomy considerations from his mind. -He had already discovered two things: first that the -term “irons” was a purely conventional one; and -signified no more than that his harsh treatment -might be made indefinitely severe. Secondly, that -he was permitted to communicate with an extraordinarily -lop-sided boy of some fifteen years who -acted as general drudge in the ship and was deputed -to bring him his food from the galley. He was about -to discover a third feature in his new life.</p> - -<p>A person evidently containing mixed the blood of -the Caucasian and of the Negroid races approached -him in his confinement and ordered him in broken -English to follow up on deck.</p> - -<p>The sea air revived him somewhat, but George was -far from well when the half-breed, kicking towards -him a lump of something which reminded poor -Demaine of a diseased brick, a bucket of dirty water -and a large and peculiarly evil mop, bade him scrub.</p> - -<p>But George’s first attempts at this new trade were -such that his overseer after looking at him first in -astonishment and then in anger, assured him that -any lack of good-will would necessarily be followed -by some form of physical compulsion, the which, so -far as his victim could gather from the torrent of -broken English, would probably consist in a larruping -with the rope’s end.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>Doggedly and despairingly the poor fellow scrubbed -away. He scrubbed perhaps too hard; at any rate -he produced a patch of surpassing brilliance though -of exiguous dimensions; and as the result of his -efforts turned faint and ill with something worse -than sea-sickness. He rose from his knees and -tottered to his legs, and began aimlessly swabbing -the odd patch of cleanliness with which he had -diversified the beastly decks of the <i>Lily</i>.</p> - -<p>But the friend and brother (if I may so term the -Eurafrican) could bear no more, and seizing the -unstable landsman by the arm he thrust him, -stumbling, down the stairway, and locked him again -into his cell.</p> - -<p>The exhaustion of nature had caused the unfortunate -politician to fall into a troubled doze, when -he was aroused by a gentle kick, and saw before him -the boy, the battered pannikin, a piece of bread which -had unfortunately dropped upon the deck aft of the -funnel on its way, and, within the tin, a peculiarly -loathsome liquid compound upon which, like the -magic island of Delos, floated at large a considerable -glob of fat.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want it,” said George feebly, “take it -away.”</p> - -<p>To his surprise—if surprise is not too strong a word -for the faint emotions that still stirred him, the boy -began, as the conventional term goes, to look ugly.</p> - -<p>“Na yer dahn’t!” he said, “yer dahn’t gemme inter -trouble, yer brute! Yer gort them two Newcastle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -men inter trouble, and the myte seyes yer nearly -gort im. And yer gort Blacky inter trouble; yer -dahn’t ger <i>me</i>! Yer gottereatit!”</p> - -<p>“I can’t!” again said George feebly.</p> - -<p>“Yer gottereatit!” repeated the boy, with that -dogged assumption of authority which so ill fits the -young. “By Gawd, if yer get cookie inter trouble, -I’ll ave the next watch dahn an’ they’ll skin yer.”</p> - -<p>“Throw it away,” said George, “there’s a good -boy. Throw it overboard. I’ll make it all right in -the long run,” he added, nodding encouragingly.</p> - -<p>The boy looked doubtful. “I dursent,” he said -sullenly. “Sides which, ow’ll yer myke it all -roight?”</p> - -<p>“Never you mind,” whispered George mysteriously. -“You leave me the bread—I might try that ... the -clean part,” he added after a sudden wave of nausea—“but -chuck the rest, there’s a good lad. I can’t -bear it.” His whisper almost rose to a little scream.... -“I can’t bear to look at it.”</p> - -<p>The boy still continued to eye him doubtfully and -contemptuously.</p> - -<p>“Yer cawn’t myke it all roight!” he said, but he -bethought him that if the wretched prisoner could -not eat he should catch it from the cook just the -same, and that his own interest lay in the disposal -of the garbage. He drank a good swill of it himself—he -was not over-fed on the <i>Lily</i>,—went up on deck -for a moment,—and George could hear the splash -as the horror went overboard.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>In a moment the boy had returned.</p> - -<p>“Yer ought ter be griteful,” he said, “I’ve sived yer -a lickin.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said George warmly, with his mouth -full. He had found himself able to munch the bread, -and it did him good.</p> - -<p>The boy lingered; he took the same interest in -the stowaway that he might have taken in an animal -at the Zoological Gardens, and the episode broke the -monotony of his fourth voyage.</p> - -<p>“Yer’ll ketch it at Parham!” he said in a cheery tone.</p> - -<p>George did not understand. “Why Parham?” he -asked weakly.</p> - -<p>“Coz that’s where they’ll land yer. That’s where -they’ll put yer shore. They’ll ave the cops there -roight on the quay wytin for yer, and they’ll put yer -ahverboard in the little dinghy, they wull: they wahn’t -thrah yer bundle arter ye, anforwhoy? acause yer -arn’t got none. But they’ll send one of th’ orficers -and ee’ll and yer ahver ter th’ cops, and ee’ll sye: ‘ee’s -been very vilent’—that’s what ee’ll sye; that’s what -they said wiv the larst un; and they clapped th’ -darbies on <i>im</i> ... saw em meself,” continued the -boy most untruthfully. Then not knowing his man -and going a step too far, he continued: “Ee was ung, -ee was: ung in Lewes Gaol,” he ended, to give the -story point and finish.</p> - -<p>The poor pedantry of maps does not weigh upon -the governing classes of this country, and Demaine -might have had some difficulty in answering in an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -examination exactly where Parham lay, but he -knew that it was on the south coast, he knew one -reached it easily in an hour or two from London, -because he had gone to golf there. He knew that -there was a good motor track between the harbour -and Highcliff, and altogether Parham sounded to -him like an echo from now forgotten, dearer, and -long dead days. He affected indifference.</p> - -<p>“Well,” he said, “it’s all the same to me.”</p> - -<p>“Ah,” said the boy, not ready to relinquish the -delicious morsel, “sah yer sye! Ut wahn’t be th’ -syme tomorrermornin’.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean,” said George, with—what might -seem in such a man impossible—a touch of cunning -lent him by adversity, “Do you mean that this old -tub can make Parham in twenty-four hours?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno bout arhs,” said the boy surlily, “an’ she’s -norr a tub either” (for they have a curious loyalty -to their temporary homes), “but it’s a dy’s run. Any -fool knahs that,” he added courteously.</p> - -<p>George dared not betray the hope that was rising -in his heart. Luckily for him the boy volunteered -his next information.</p> - -<p>“We’re orf Long Nahse now,” he said, “but I -dunno bout th’ toide outsoide.”</p> - -<p>“No?” said George, merely desiring to prolong -this all-important conversation.</p> - -<p>“Nah: I dahn’t, I tell yer!” said the boy defiantly, -“nor there’s norr many does. I’ll lye yer dahn’t -yerself.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>At this stage of the conversation and just as an -awkward pause interrupted it, a new terror struck -the boy.</p> - -<p>“Oh chise me!” he said, “look at yer tin!”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked George as he peered -into the empty tin.</p> - -<p>“It’s gorn empty,” whimpered the boy.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said George, his spirits already improved -by the news of Parham, “what of it?”</p> - -<p>“Whoy,” said the unhappy scullion, “Whoy, yer -cuddenever empty that tin—they’ll foind me aht!” -he said, and began to sniffle. “Wort are yer to -empty it wiv, yer fool? Yer eyn’t got a spoon!”</p> - -<p>“Say I licked it,” said George with attempted -humour.</p> - -<p>“They’d blieve ut of yer,” said the boy viciously, -“ye’re nothin but a woilbeast! Gettin us all -inter trouble!” He sniffled. “Ye’re a curse on -th’ ship, that’s wort you are, an I blieve she’ll -founder. I blieve she’ll stroike in th’ noight and go -to Ell. <i>You</i>’ll be drahwnded, anyow!” he viciously -added as he restrained his tears in prospect of the -wrath to come.</p> - -<p>But the thought of safety which the mention of -Parham had brought revived George, and he bore -no ill-will. “Look here,” he said, “I’ll swab it out -with my bread and they’ll think I cleaned it up, but -it’s on condition that you chuck the bread overboard,” -he added.</p> - -<p>The boy accepted the pact and was comforted. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -was a cheap act of kindness, but he hoped it might -stand him in good stead a few hours later.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The June night fell gradually upon the sea, the slight -swell dropped to something almost imperceptible. -Through his miserable porthole George could see -great sheets of moonlight playing upon the easy -surface, and there was no noise but the regular thud -of the engine.</p> - -<p>He fell into a profound sleep.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XI</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap2">AS George Mulross Demaine drifted down river -in his cell that Tuesday afternoon the 2nd of -June, Dolly sat blankly in Downing Street with the -waters of despair at his lips.</p> - -<p>Evil breeds evil.</p> - -<p>As he considered the gloomy prospect, new aspects -of it rose before him. Not only was he privately -between these two fires, the sudden madness of the -outgoing Warden, the disappearance of his successor, -but the retirement of Charles Repton had been -publicly announced and Dimmy’s nomination had -appeared alongside with it in the morning papers. -The double news was all over England.</p> - -<p>Yet another torturing thought suggested itself. -How and when should he fill the vacancy? What -was he to do?</p> - -<p>Repton was impossible. His disaster was not in -the papers, thank God, and could not be, under the -decent rules which govern our press. But it was -already the chief tittle-tattle of every house that -counted in London. There could be no interregnum -with Repton still nominally filling the place. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -might wait as long as he dared, give it to a third -man, and then have Demaine turn up smiling and -hungry: and if that happened the Prime Minister -would earn what he dreaded most on earth, the -enmity of those who had been his friends; perhaps a -breach with Mary Smith herself.</p> - -<p>He was not fit to do more than survey the -misfortune of the moment: he was still in his -perplexity, when he heard the bell ringing in the -next room, and was told that he himself was -personally and urgently wanted upon the telephone.</p> - -<p>He put up his hand but the secretary would take -no denial; it was something absolutely personal. -Who was it from? It was from Lady Repton.</p> - -<p>If it can be said of any wealthy and powerful man -that he ever betrays in his features or gait a purely -mental anxiety, then that might be said in some -degree of the unfortunate Prime Minister at that -moment. He suffered so acutely that his left lung, -the sense of which never wholly left him, seemed to -oppress him with actual physical pain.</p> - -<p>He took the telephone, dreading what he might -hear.</p> - -<p>It was a trifle less of a blow than he had expected. -All he heard was the agitated voice of Lady Repton -assuring him that she had waited as long as possible -before troubling him, but that she was now really -anxious, because Charles had not come home. Had -he gone in a taxi or a hansom, or how? It was more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -than half an hour since the Prime Minister had -telephoned her, and Charles was always <i>so</i> regular.</p> - -<p>It was perhaps weariness or perhaps a sense that -he could do nothing which made the Prime Minister -merely answer that he was sure to come in a -moment.</p> - -<p>“Repton has been very busy to-day,” he said, “and -has had a great deal on his mind. He has become -a little unhinged: that is the whole truth, Lady -Repton: nothing more. But I think he should be -carefully nursed. Pray do not be anxious.”</p> - -<p>The words faltered a little, for he himself was more -than anxious. Heaven only knew what Repton -might not be capable of, until they had got him safe -behind the four walls of his home.... And after -that the doctors.</p> - -<p>He stopped the conversation a little rudely, by -taking advantage of a long pause to ring off. While -he was in the act of doing so a servant asked him in -the most natural manner in the world whether he -would not see Sir Charles Repton who was waiting -below.</p> - -<p>I grieve to record that the young and popular -Prime Minister gave vent to the exclamation -“Good God!” For a moment he thought of -refusing to see him; then he heard coming up -through the distances of the official house a cheery -voice saying:</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s all very well for you, you’re a butler with -a regular place; when the Government goes out you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -don’t. You’re a sort of permanent official. But -we...!”</p> - -<p>“Show him up,” said the Prime Minister in a -qualm, “show him up at once. <i>At once!</i>” he -repeated, losing all dignity in his haste, and tempted -to push the solemn form of the domestic who stalked -upon his mission of doom as majestically as though -he were about to announce a foreign Ambassador, or -to give notice.</p> - -<p>In a moment Charles Repton had entered.</p> - -<p>He had bought, during his brief odyssey, a gigantic -Easter Lily in a Bond Street shop which sells such -ornaments. This blossom flourished in the lapel of -his coat and pervaded the whole room with its -perfume.</p> - -<p>“My dear fellow,” he shouted, running up to the -horrified Prime Minister and taking him by both -hands, “My dear fellow! Come, no pride; you know -as well as I do it’s all bunkum. Why, I could buy -and sell you any day of the week. It’s true,” he -mused, “there’s birth of course, but it’s a fair bargain. -Birth gives you your place and brains give me mine. -Do you mind smoking?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the Prime Minister, after which he said, -“No,—I don’t know ... I don’t care. Why didn’t -you go home?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t go home,” said Sir Charles solemnly, and -thinking what the reason was ... “didn’t ... go ... home, -because—Oh, I know, because I wanted -to talk to you about that peerage.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>“For God’s sake don’t talk so loud,” said Dolly -with real venom in his voice.</p> - -<p>“All right then I won’t,” shouted Sir Charles, -“though I really don’t see what there is to be -ashamed of. You’re going to give me a peerage and -I’m going to take one. You know as well as I do -that you didn’t think I’d take one and I wasn’t -quite sure myself. Mind you, it’s free,” he added -coarsely, “gratis, <i>and</i> for nothing.”</p> - -<p>“My dear fellow,” said the unhappy Premier,—</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I know, that’s the double-ruff dodge. -You won’t ask for anything, but old Pottle will. -And then when I come to you and complain you will -say you know nothing about it. Of course I shan’t -pay! It’ll be no good asking me; but what I want -is not to be <i>pestered</i>.”</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister almost forced him down into -the chair from which he had risen, and said again:</p> - -<p>“Do talk lower, Repton. Do remember for a -moment where you are. No, certainly you shan’t be -bothered.”</p> - -<p>“What else was there?” continued Sir Charles -genially, interrogating the ceiling and twiddling his -thumbs. “There was something, I know,” he continued, -looking sideways at the carpet.</p> - -<p>He got up, walking slowly towards the door, and -still murmuring: “There was something else, I -know.” He touched his forehead with his hand, -stood still a moment as if attempting to remember, -then shook his head and said: “No, it’s no use. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -was something to do with some concession or other, -but I’m not fit for business to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Repton,” said Dolly in a tone which he rarely -used and had never found ineffectual, “don’t say -anything as you go out, don’t say anything to anybody. -Do get into a cab and go straight home. -You promised me you would.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll keep my promise,” said Sir Charles with fine -candour, “I always do. See if I don’t. Look here, -to please you I’ll make him drive across the Parade -here under your windows. There!”</p> - -<p>And he was true to his word. He did indeed dig -the servant in the ribs as that functionary handed him -his hat, his malacca cane and his gloves, he also wished -to see if the butler could wrestle, and he winked a -great wink at one of the footmen, but he said no word. -He jumped into the cab that was waiting for him, and -told the driver to go round by Delahaye Street onto -the Parade.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister was cautiously watching from -a window to make sure that the new incubus upon his -life was on its way to incarceration, when he found -himself only too effectually assured: for he saw, -leaning out of a hansom which was going at a great -pace towards the Mall, a distant figure waving its hat -wildly and calling in tones that could be heard over -the whole space of the Parade:</p> - -<p>“I’m keeping my word, Dolly, I’m keeping my -word!”</p> - -<p>So went Sir Charles Repton homeward, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -settled darkness gathered and fell upon the Premier’s -heart.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Sir Charles did keep his word.</p> - -<p>He drove straight to his house, enlivening the way -by occasional whoops and shouting bits of secret -information very valuable to investors, to sundry -acquaintances whom he recognised upon the way. -At one point (it was during a block at the top of St. -James’s Street) he insisted on getting out for a -moment, seizing by the hand the dignified Lord -String who had advised the highest personages in -matters of finance, and telling him with a comical -grin that if he had bought Meccas that day on behalf -of the Great he had been most imprudent, for there -was an Arab rising and the big viaduct was cut—the -first misfortune that hitherto prosperous line had -suffered.</p> - -<p>Near the Marble Arch a change came over him. -He felt a sudden and violent pain behind the ears, -and clapped his hands to the place. He did more: -when the spasm was over he put up the little door -and told the cabby; he made him a confidant; he -told him the pain had been very severe.</p> - -<p>The driver, who was not sympathetic, replied in an -unsuitable manner, and they were in the midst of a -violent quarrel when two or three minutes later the -cabman, who was handicapped by having to conduct -his vehicle through heavy traffic, drove up to the house.</p> - -<p>Lady Repton was waiting near the door; she sent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -out no servant, she came out to the cab herself, -silenced the rising vocabulary of the driver with a -most unexpected piece of gold, and tripped up again -into the house.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles was philosophising aloud upon the gold -band round his umbrella, letting his domestics -thoroughly understand the precise advantages and -disadvantages of such an ornament, when she took -him by the arm quite gently and began leading -him upstairs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meanwhile in Downing Street an indispensable -secretary of the name of Edward was hearing what he -had to do.</p> - -<p>Edward had been at King’s, for his father had sent -him there. From the Treasury which he adorned -he had been assumed by the Prime Minister, his -father’s chief college friend, and given the position of -private secretary; admirably did he fill its functions.</p> - -<p>He was a silent Welshman, descended from a short -line of small squires, and he comprehended, in a -manner not wholly natural to a man under thirty, the -frailties of the human heart. The instructions he -received from his chief, however, were of the simplest -possible type, and called for the moment upon none -of his exceptional powers.</p> - -<p>There was to be no writing and no telephoning: -he was to call upon Bowker, because Bowker had the -largest specialist experience of nervous diseases in -London, and therefore in the world.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>He was to come as from the Reptons, and to give -an appointment at Repton’s house, telling the doctor -that he should there find Sir Anthony Poole. He -was to go at once to Sir Anthony Poole, whose general -reputation stood higher than any other medical -man’s, to approach him as from the Reptons, to give -him a similar appointment and to inform him that he -would meet there Dr. Bowker. He was to tell them -the whole sad truth, and beg for a certificate. The -unfortunate gentleman could then be given the advantages -of a complete rest cure.</p> - -<p>He was next to go to Lady Repton’s at once, and -ask her leave to call upon Dr. Bowker and Sir -Anthony Poole. She would give it: the Prime -Minister had no doubt of that. He was to suggest to -her the hour he had already named to those eminent -men. That very evening Sir Charles would be certified -a lunatic, and one load at least would be off the -Premier’s mind; and a load off his mind, remember, -was a load off his lung, and consequently an extension -of lease granted to a life invaluable to the State.</p> - -<p>Within three-quarters of an hour Edward Evans -had done all these things. He had even cut matters -so fine that the physicians were to call at seven, and -Lady Repton would telephone the result—she dared -trust no other agency.</p> - -<p>So far as a man in acute anxiety can be satisfied, -the young and popular Prime Minister was satisfied, -but his left lung was at least one-half of his being as -he went back again on his weary round to the House<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -of Commons, and the other half of his being was -fixed upon a contemplation of his fifty-fifth year.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At the door of Sir Charles Repton’s house was -drawn up an exceedingly neat brougham, and Dr. -Bowker had entered.</p> - -<p>A few moments later there walked up to it the tall -strong frame of a man a trifle over-dressed but redeeming -such extravagances by a splendidly strong -old face, and he was Sir Anthony Poole.</p> - -<p>Two things dominated the conceptions of Sir -Anthony: the first the antiquity of his family, which -was considerable; the second a healthy contempt for -the vagaries of the modern physical science.</p> - -<p>He was himself as learned in his profession as any -man would care to be, but his common sense, he -flattered himself, was far superior to his learning,—and -he flattered himself with justice. He was a devout -Christian of some Anglican persuasion; his family -numbered thirteen sons and one daughter. His -income was enormous. I should add that a knowledge -of the world had taught him what real value -lay behind men like Sir Charles Repton, who had -stood the strain of public life and had found it possible -to do such great service to their country.</p> - -<p>The mind of Dr. Bowker was dominated also by -two considerations: the first a permanent irritation -against the survival of those social forms which permitted -men an advantage purely hereditary; the -second a conviction, or rather a certitude, drawn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -from clear thinking, that organisation and method -could deal with the cloudy blunders of mere general -knowledge as a machine can deal with dead matter, -or as an army can deal with civilians.</p> - -<p>Dr. Bowker’s birth was reputable and sound; his -father had been a doctor before him in a country -town, and an earnest preacher in the local chapel; -his grandfather a sturdy miner, his great-grandfather -a turnkey in Nottingham Gaol.</p> - -<p>He was therefore of the middle rank of society; -but after all, his social gospel such as it was weighed -upon him less than his scientific creed. He did -not <i>think</i>: he <i>knew</i>. What he did not know he -did not pretend to know. For the rest he was -always a little nervous and awkward in society, -and preferred the communion of his books and an -occasional spin upon a bicycle to the conversation -of the rich.</p> - -<p>I should add that he revered Sir Charles Repton -not only as all men of the world must revere a great -statesman who has found it possible for many years -of the strain of public life to be of service to his -country, but also as a man of inestimable value in -proving that the solid Nonconformist stock could do -in administration, when it chose to enter that sphere, -what it had so triumphantly shown it could do in -commerce.</p> - -<p>The two men were shown into an enormous room -on the ground floor where it was the custom of Sir -Charles (in happier days!) to receive those whom he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -feared or would inveigle. Lady Repton at once -joined them.</p> - -<p>She was agitated; it was even distressing to watch -her agitation. She described to them the violent -pain which her husband had suffered twice, first the -yesterday evening just before dinner, next at this -moment on driving up to his house in a cab. She -described as best she could the situation of these -spasms of suffering, and she more than hinted that -she connected with them a novel and very astonishing -demeanour on her husband’s part which (here -she almost broke down) she hoped would justify -them in ordering him if necessary with their <i>fullest</i> -authority, to take a rest cure. She warned them -that she had told him nothing; she had always -heard it was wise in such cases. He thought they -had come merely as advisers upon the pains he had -felt behind the ear, but a few words of his conversation -would be enough to convince them of that much -graver matter.</p> - -<p>She left them for a moment together, and went to -prepare her husband. She was a woman of heroic -endurance. Her father had been in his time a -God-fearing man, and had accumulated a small -competence in the jute line.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dr. Bowker, let it be remembered, was a specialist -in nervous diseases. Sir Anthony Poole, let it also -be remembered, was not, but he was something -infinitely better in his own estimation: he was a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -who had attended more distinguished people and -with greater success than any other physician in -London. Dr. Bowker’s word as a specialist could not -be doubted. Sir Anthony Poole had only to express -an opinion upon a man’s health in any particular -and that opinion became positive gospel to all who -heard it.</p> - -<p>The medical judgment of no two men given concurrently -could carry greater weight. By an accident -not infrequent in all professions, these two great men, -though their rivalry was not strictly in the same -field, each undervalued the scientific aptitude of the -other. Each would have gone to the stake for the -corporate value of that small ring to which both belonged, -but neither would admit the claim of the -other to a special if undefined precedence.</p> - -<p>On the rare occasions when they met, however, -they observed all the courtesies of life, and on this -occasion in the large ground-floor room of Sir -Charles Repton’s house, they sat, when Lady Repton -had gone out, exchanging platitudes of a very -attenuated, refined sort, in a tone worthy of their -correct grooming and distinguished appearance. By -a singular inadvertence they were summoned together.</p> - -<p>“Sir Anthony,” said Dr. Bowker, bowing, smiling -and making a motion with his hand towards the -door.</p> - -<p>“Dr. Bowker,” said Sir Anthony, copying the -courteous inclination, and thus it was that Sir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -Anthony Poole had precedence, and first interrogated -Sir Charles Repton alone.</p> - -<p>The conversation was brief. When Sir Charles -had answered the first questions very simply, that -he had two or three times in the last twenty-four -hours felt shooting pains behind the ear, he began to -speak in an animated way upon a number of things, -and described a humorous incident he had recently -witnessed in the Strand with a vigour highly suspicious -to so experienced a physician as Sir Anthony -Poole.</p> - -<p>Sir Anthony asked him what he ate and drank, -received very commonplace answers, and was twice -assured by the Baronet, whose wife had used that -simple method to deceive him, that he had not for -weeks felt any return of his old complaint, and that -he only regretted that Lady Repton should have put -Sir Anthony to the trouble of calling. He understood -also that Dr. Bowker had been sent for.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Sir Anthony a little uneasily. “I -really imagined that the matter would be rather -worse than it seems to be. You know it is our -custom sometimes to call in another....”</p> - -<p>“Yes I know,” said Repton, with a slight smile, -“it’s a pity you called in old Bowker. I know he’s -very good at nerves or aches or something, but he’s -such an intolerable old stick. The fact is, Sir -Anthony,” he said, fixing that eminent scientist with -a keen look and slightly lowering his voice, “the -fact is, Dr. Bowker <i>isn’t quite a gentleman</i>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>“You’re a little severe,” said Sir Anthony, smiling, -“you’re a little severe, Sir Charles!”</p> - -<p>“Mind you,” added Repton, “I don’t say anything -against him in his professional capacity.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” said Sir Anthony.</p> - -<p>“But there are cases when a man’s manners do -make a difference,—especially in your profession.”</p> - -<p>Sir Anthony beamed. “Well, Sir Charles,” he said, -“I’m very glad to hear it’s no worse,”—and as Sir -Anthony went out he muttered to himself: “No -more mad than I am; but he mustn’t go talking -like that about other people.” And the physician -chuckled heartily.</p> - -<p>Dr. Bowker’s introduction to, and private stay -with, the patient was briefer even than had been Sir -Anthony’s. He chose for his gambit the remark: -“Sir Anthony Poole has just seen you I believe, Sir -Charles?”</p> - -<p>“Yes he has,” answered Charles Repton in a -pleasant and genial tone, “yes he has, Dr. Bowker, -though why,” he added, with a happy laugh, “I -can’t conceive. After all, if I wanted a doctor for -any reason I should naturally send to a specialist.”</p> - -<p>When Sir Charles had answered the next few questions -very simply, that he had two or three times in -the last twenty-four hours felt shooting pains behind -the ear, he then reverted to his praise of the specialist.</p> - -<p>“If I had any nervous trouble, for instance, Dr. -Bowker, I should send for you. If I had trouble -with my tibia, I should send for Felton.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>Dr. Bowker nodded the most vigorous approval. -It was evident that Sir Charles Repton’s considerable -if superficial learning was standing him in good -stead.</p> - -<p>“If I had trouble with my aural ducts I should -send for Durand, or,” he continued, in the tone of -one who continues to illustrate a little pompously, -“if my greater lymphatics were giving me trouble, -Pigge is the first name that would suggest itself.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Bowker’s enthusiasm knew no bounds. “You -are quite right, Sir Charles,” he said, “you are quite -right.” He almost took the Baronet’s hand in the -warmth of his agreement. “If more men—I will -not say of your distinction and position, but if more -people—er—of what I may call the—er—directing -brain of the nation, were of your opinion, it would -be a good day for Medicine.”</p> - -<p>“Now a man like Poole,” went on Charles Repton -nonchalantly, “what does he know, what <i>can</i> he -know, about any particular trouble? And mind -you, an educated man always knows in more or less -general terms what his particular trouble is. Why -Poole—well....” Here Sir Charles ended with a -pitying little smile.</p> - -<p>“At any rate,” said Dr. Bowker, bursting with -assent, “I understand the old trouble has not -returned. And if it had, as you very well said, -it would be Felton’s job rather than mine. Of -course it has a nervous aspect; everything has, but -every specialist has his own field.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>And Dr. Bowker went out, communing with -himself and deciding that the foolish anxiety of -wives might be an excellent thing for the profession, -but was hardly fair upon the purses of their -husbands.</p> - -<p>“Well, Sir Anthony?” said Dr. Bowker as he -entered the ground-floor room.</p> - -<p>“Well, Dr. Bowker?” said Sir Anthony with a -responsive smile.</p> - -<p>“I really don’t see why they sent for us,” said -Dr. Bowker.</p> - -<p>“I thoroughly agree,” said Sir Anthony Poole.</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing more to be done, I think?” said -Dr. Bowker.</p> - -<p>“Nothing,” said Sir Anthony Poole.</p> - -<p>“Shall we speak to Lady Repton?” said Dr. -Bowker.</p> - -<p>“We’ll write her,” said Sir Anthony Poole.</p> - -<p>They took leave of Lady Repton in a solemn and -sympathetic manner, assuring her that it was better -to give their impression in writing, and that she -should receive it in the course of that evening. And -having so fulfilled their mission, these two eminent -men went off together with a better feeling between -them than either would have thought possible an -hour before.</p> - -<p>“He is a singularly intelligent man,” said Sir -Anthony Poole as they parted at the door of Dr. -Bowker’s Club, “a singularly intelligent man. Of -course one would have expected it from his position,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -but I did not know until to-day how really remarkably -intelligent and cultivated he was.”</p> - -<p>“I thoroughly agree with you,” said Dr. Bowker, -taking his leave, “he is what I call....” He sought -a moment for a word.... “He is what I call a really -cultivated and intelligent man.”</p> - -<p>That evening Lady Repton received a short but -perfectly clear opinion signed by both these first-class -authorities, that her husband was in the full -possession of his faculties, and that it would be the -height of imprudence to set down any extravagance -of temper or momentary zeal upon any particular -question to mental derangement or to connect it -with a slight accidental headache.</p> - -<p>Lady Repton in her grievous anxiety (for at the -very moment she read the message she heard Sir -Charles talking to a policeman out of a window, -and telling him that it was ridiculous to try and -look dignified in such a uniform), Lady Repton I -say, at her wits’ end for advice, was bold enough to -ring up the Prime Minister whom she hardly knew, -and to tell him all: There was no chance of a -certificate; what, oh what should she do?</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister was not sympathetic. He -did not desire further acquaintance with the lady.</p> - -<p>The Premier’s cup was full. His Warden of the -Court of Dowry had resigned: the new Warden -was appointed. The Warden who had resigned -had gone mad; the Warden whom he had appointed -had fled. At least—at least he might have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -spared the madman! But no, he was not granted -even this! the madman was still loose over London -like a roaring lion, capable of doing infinite things -within the next twenty-four hours. What was a -peerage to a madman? What was a Wardenship -of the Court of Dowry to a man who was not? The -crumb of comfort that would have been afforded -him by locking up the wretched lunatic who was -the root of half his troubles was snatched from -him.</p> - -<p>It was enough to make a man cut his throat.</p> - -<p>So ended that dreadful Tuesday in Downing -Street, and all night long between his fits of tortured -and horror-stricken sleep wherein his left lung and -his fifty-fifth year were the baleful demons of his -dreams, the young and popular Prime Minister -would wake in a cold sweat and imagine some -new horror proceeding from Repton let loose.</p> - -<p>The summer night is short. Wednesday most -gloriously dawned, and after two hours of attempted -slumber under the newly risen light, the Prime -Minister arose, a haggard man.</p> - -<p>The lines on either side of the young Prime -Minister’s mouth had grown heavier during the -suffering of the night.</p> - -<p>Had he been married and had his wife felt for him -that affection which his character would surely have -called forth she would have been anxious to observe -the change. But such is the strain of political life -and such the ambitions it arouses, that his suffering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -passed unnoticed with the majority, and with the -rest was a subject for secret congratulation.</p> - -<p>He was down very early. Before he had eaten he -went rapidly and nervously into his secretary’s room -and said:</p> - -<p>“Any news, Edward?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said his secretary, looking if possible more -nervous than his chief, “I’m sorry to say there is. -The <i>Herald</i> is advertising an interview with Repton.”</p> - -<p>“The <i>Herald</i>!” said the Prime Minister between -his set teeth.</p> - -<p>“Yes, the <i>Herald</i>,” answered the secretary, “it -really doesn’t much matter,” he continued wearily, -(he had been up most of the night) “if it wasn’t the -<i>Herald</i> it would be somebody else.”</p> - -<p>“We must pot ’em as they come,” answered the -Premier grimly, “and the <i>Herald</i> won’t publish that -interview at any rate.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, let them publish it,” said the secretary.... -“I’ll write it if you like.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I mean,” said the Prime Minister. -“I mean they won’t publish what people think they -will.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Evans, “they won’t.... He’s been -shouting out of a window,” the secretary went on by -way of news.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister groaned.</p> - -<p>“What has he been shouting?” he breathed -hoarsely.</p> - -<p>“Oh just insults, nothing important, but the police<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -have complained. And late last night he pointed -out Betswick, who was a little buffy, stumbling down -the pavement—sitting down, some say—. He shouted -from his window to a lot of people in the street that -it was Betswick. And now Betswick is afraid of -going to open the Nurses’ Home this afternoon.... -It’s a damned shame!” ended the secretary, exploding. -“What the devil are you to do with a man ... it’s -like—it’s like—it’s like an anarchist with little packets -of dynamite.”</p> - -<p>“Have you looked at the papers yet, Edward?” -asked the Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>“Some of ’em,” answered his secretary gloomily.</p> - -<p>“Nothing in the <i>Times</i>?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Edward, “nothing in any of the -eleven London papers on the official list.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think the others count?”</p> - -<p>“Well,” answered the secretary thoughtfully, “there -are the two evening papers that have been making -such a fuss about the Concessions in Burmah.”</p> - -<p>“Edward,” said the Prime Minister, “it’s a -desperate remedy, but take the paper you have here, -write out a note and get them to lunch. Not with -me—with you. They’ll come.”</p> - -<p>“Lunch is no good,” said Edward.</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“Evening papers go to press in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“Do they indeed?” said the Prime Minister, with -the first lively glance he had delivered since the -beginning of this terrible debacle. “That’s really<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -worth knowing! I never knew that.” He gazed -into space, then suddenly waking up he said: “Why -then, Edward, there’s no time to lose! Go and see -them at once. Go and see them yourself, Edward.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t much good,” said Edward. “I know one -of them, and the other’s dotty.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said the Prime Minister, “never -mind. Do it somehow. Kill ’em if you must,” he -added jocosely, and his secretary went.</p> - -<p>The Premier left his secretary’s room and mournfully -approached his breakfast.</p> - -<p>Upon his table a time-honoured device constructed -of brass and wood was designed to hold the newspaper -while the tenant of that historic house might -be at meals. Upon this was propped up, open at -the leading page, a copy of the <i>Times</i>. The leaders -were discreet. He found no word from beginning -to end, save a little note in small type to the effect -that Sir Charles Repton would be unable to speak -at the great Wycliffite Congress, he was confined to -the house with influenza; a similar note he was -assured had appeared in all the eleven newspapers -upon the official list, and through them would be -distributed to the provincial press; the only thing -left to the discretion of their editorial departments -being the disease from which the distinguished patient -might be suffering, which appeared in one as phlebitis, -in another as tracheotomy, and in a third as a severe -cold.</p> - -<p>Of Demaine not a word.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>Dolly thanked Heaven for the discipline which -makes the Press of London the most powerful -instrument of Government in the world.</p> - -<p>His thanks were premature; and the gentle, somewhat -mournful atheism which was his only creed -received excellent support when he saw among certain -items of news which were laid upon his table every -morning, two cuttings from foreign papers which told -at great length and in the plainest details the whole -story of the dreadful episode in the City, and connected -it in so many words with the scandalous scene -in the House of Commons. He could only comfort -himself by reflecting that news which leaked out -abroad was rarely if ever permitted to enter the -Island. He reflected that time is a remedy for all -evils, and he made ready for the duties of the day.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meanwhile his secretary, Edward,—to give him -his full title, Teddy Evans—had come to the first of -the two offices which it was his business to visit. It -was not yet nine o’clock and there was still time to -cut on the machine.</p> - -<p>At the Treasury Evans had written regularly for a -large evening paper,—he knew his way about such -an organism. He betrayed no undue haste, well -knowing the subtle delight the menials would have -before such a display of retarding his every effort, -and when the fat man, Mr. Cerberus, who keeps the -door of the <i>Capon</i> offices, had pushed to him a dirty -scrap of paper on which he was to write his name and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -business, he quietly asked for an envelope as well. -It was given him with some grumbling.</p> - -<p>He wrote his message: “If you have begun machining, -stop. I’ve been sent up here urgently.—E. E.”</p> - -<p>He closed it, gummed it down, and waited. He -had not ten seconds to wait. A young man who -looked and was underfed, a gaunt tall young man -with hair as long and as dank as the waving weeds -of the sea, received him with immense solemnity. It -was not often that affairs of State came his way. -One such had come earlier in that very year. It had -been the occasion of his lunching with the exalted -individual who now sat before him, and he had -never forgotten it.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Evans,” he said rather pompously, lifting his -left hand and fixing two large burning, feverish eyes -upon the secretary, “this place is the confessional. -Anything you say shall be sacred ... absolutely -sacred!”</p> - -<p>But Evans was cheery enough.</p> - -<p>“It’s nothing of any importance,” he said, “but, -well, I’m a great friend of the Reptons.”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said the editor sympathetically, which -was odd, for Evans only just knew the Reptons’ -address from having to write them letters, and the -Reptons only just knew the look of Evans’ face from -having once had to ask him to a dinner of an -official sort.</p> - -<p>“Well,” went on Evans unblushingly (how valuable -are men of this kind!), “I am a great friend, especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -of dear old Lady Repton—through my mother,” he -added in an explanatory tone, “but I won’t go into -that. The point is this: the whole family are really -dreadfully concerned.”</p> - -<p>“I know, I know,” said the editor of the <i>Capon</i>, still -most sympathetic, and most grave.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Evans with affected ill-ease, “the fact -is we don’t want anything said about it at all—nothing. -That’s the simplest way, after all. It’s a -great trouble. You really would do me a personal -service, and they would be so grateful.”</p> - -<p>“By all means,” said the editor of the <i>Capon</i>. He -turned to a speaking-tube upon his right and was -about to pull out the whistle, when a violent blast -blew that instrument at the end of its chain into his -face. The editor expressed disgust, and when this -expression was over, asked for the statement. The -statement was brought.</p> - -<p>“They’re waiting for the machine, sir.”</p> - -<p>The editor ran his blue pencil down the list, made -a little X against one item, and said: “Bring me a -proof of that, will you?”</p> - -<p>A slip of proof came up: it was to the effect that -Sir Charles Repton was to speak at the Wycliffite -Congress and from his candid and vigorous action -of the day before, both in the House and outside it, -it was hoped that his address would act as a clarion -call in the present crisis of religion. (“And it -would!” thought Edward, all goose-flesh at the -thought).</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>“There’s no harm in that,” he said. Then with -sudden thought: “What’s the leader about?”</p> - -<p>“The Concessions,” said the editor of the <i>Capon</i>, -smiling.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Evans, “we don’t agree about that, do -we?” And he smiled back.</p> - -<p>“Shall I leave general orders about Repton items -during the day?” said the editor.</p> - -<p>“Why yes,” said Evans, and then remembering his -little subterfuge he added: “Don’t print anything -unless it’s directly from the family. You understand -me?”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” said the editor. “Riggles, the -sub-editor will be in charge after this. I’m going -home.”</p> - -<p>He wrote in a large hand upon a large sheet of -paper: “No Repton items, not even Press Agency, -except from the house itself. F. D.”—for his name -was Francis Davis. “Take that to Mr. Riggles,” -he said to the devil, and the two men went out -together.</p> - -<p>Well knowing that Davis’ house lay in the extreme -of the suburbs, and that he himself was going into -the heart of Fleet Street, Evans offered to give his -companion a lift. To his disgust it was accepted, -and he was constrained to drive the editor of the -<i>Capon</i> to St. Paul’s Station; it lost him ten minutes, -and those ten minutes were nearly fatal. For when -he had got back at full speed to the offices of the -<i>Moon</i>, the paper had gone to press. The machines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -were shaking and thundering away in the basement, -and mile after mile of diffused culture was pouring -out in a cataract to feed the divine thirst for -knowledge.</p> - -<p>It seemed too late, but Evans went boldly through -it all the same. The editor was gone, but to the -sub-editor he sent in his card and wrote upon it -“From the Prime Minister.” It was a time needing -heroic measures.</p> - -<p>He asked to see an advance copy. The leader -was Repton—Repton—Repton, nothing but Repton.... -Repton had given away the wickedness of -modern finance; Repton for purposes of his own -was prepared to expose the mockery of our politics; -Repton would tell them the truth about the Concessions; -they had a promise of an interview with -Repton. What motives might have caused Repton -to act as he had done they could not determine. -It was sufficient for them that Repton, etc....</p> - -<p>The leader had a title, and the title of the leader -was Repton. It had coined a new word: the word -was “to Reptonise,” upon the model of “to peptonise.” -The <i>Moon</i> threatened to reptonise the whole of our -public life.</p> - -<p>Evans spent about thirty seconds looking at the -floor.</p> - -<p>“Can they stop the machines, Mr. Price?” he -asked, for Price was the sub-editor’s name.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the sub-editor, “Why?”</p> - -<p>Evans walked to the window and looked out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -into the City street and said without showing his -face:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Price, your proprietor is a very valued -member of our party.”</p> - -<p>At the word “proprietor,” Mr. Price changed -colour. Yet Evans had not meant the proprietor -of Mr. Price, he had merely meant the proprietor of -the <i>Moon</i>.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Price, I will tell you all” (and he told him -more than all!). “Your proprietor left for Canada -during the Easter Recess; he was taken ill in -Montreal; he is on his way back, and he will be -home next week.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Price nodded and at the same time inwardly -admired the omniscience of the Government.</p> - -<p>“Now, Mr. Price,” continued Edward, still gazing -at the street opposite, “there is the promise of a -peerage. These things are hardly ever mentioned, -and I tell it to you quite frankly. If that leader -appears,”—turning round sharply—“the peerage will -not be conferred, and your proprietor shall be told -that that leader was the cause of it.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mr. Evans,” began the sub-editor blankly.</p> - -<p>Evans was suddenly determined. It was astonishing -to see the change in the man. His conduct -and attitude would have seemed remarkable to the -most indifferent observer: to one who knew that the -proprietor of the <i>Moon</i> had never been, until that -moment, within five hundred miles of a peerage, it -would have seemed amazing.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>“Mr. Price,” said Evans rapidly and very clearly, -“you are in a cleft stick. If you don’t print your -present issue, if you must delay it, it will cost your -proprietor a heavy sum directly and indirectly. I -know that. But if you <i>do</i> print it will cost him no -money, but....”</p> - -<p>Mr. Price thought of the little home at Peckham; -of the three young Prices, of Mrs. Price and of -sundry affections that grow up in the most arid and -most unexpected soils: he was in an agony as to -which course would least destroy him: he made one -last appeal:</p> - -<p>“May I have it in writing?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not!” said Evans.</p> - -<p>“Very well, Mr. Evans,” said the sub-editor -humbly, “I’ll stop the machines,” and with a heavy -heart he rang the bell.</p> - -<p>Thus it was that the <i>Moon</i> came out an hour -later than usual, and that the leader dealt at so -singular a moment with the pestilent vices of the -King of Bohemia, and with his gross maladministration -of Spitzbergen which it summoned to the bar of -European opinion.</p> - -<p>Those who have wondered why Edward, without -previous training so soon after this incident was -made a partner of the great bank he now adorns, -would wonder less if they had been present at that -interview.</p> - -<p>The press was safe.</p> - -<p>That the agencies were safe went of course without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -saying. Block A (as a group of eight papers owned -by one man is familiarly called by permanent -officials) had been squared, the day before. Block B, -another group of six owned by a friend of his, -was for private reasons unable to publish news of -this kind. The <i>Evening German</i> wouldn’t dare, and -the <i>Bird of Freedom</i> wouldn’t know. The <i>Press</i> was -safe so far as Repton was concerned.</p> - -<p>But what about Demaine?</p> - -<p>The <i>Herald</i> had been informed pretty sharply -that it was compelled for unavoidable reasons to -postpone its interview with Sir Charles Repton. -The very paragraph had been written out by -Edward, and the <i>Herald</i> had swallowed the pill.</p> - -<p>But what about Demaine?</p> - -<p><i>That</i> had got ahead of them, and there was -nothing to do but to wait until Demaine should be -found. The very moment that he was found they -could act and an explanation should be given that -would soon cause the mystery to be forgotten. But -a silence still surrounded that unlucky name.</p> - -<p>Nothing had been heard in the Lobbies, nothing -from Scotland Yard. Finally, and more important, -Mary Smith herself could tell Dolly nothing, and -if <i>she</i> could not, certainly no one else in London -could.</p> - -<p>She was really fond of her cousin, and for his -sake she comforted, and, what was more important, -restrained the imprudent Sudie.</p> - -<p>As for Ole Man Benson, beyond a natural regret<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -that such an asset as a son-in-law in the Cabinet -was still held over as a contingent and that he -could not for the moment close upon the option, -he took the matter in a calm and philosophical -spirit.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XII</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">“OH Liberty!” says the Bulgarian poet -Machinchose in a fine apostrophe, too little -known in this country. “Oh Liberty,” etc.</p> - -<p>Never had George Mulross Demaine known the -sweets of that word in the days when he enjoyed -its privilege to the full. Now, as the brilliant dawn -of that Wednesday awakened him upon the deep he -learned the beauty of Freedom.</p> - -<p>Its meaning saturated his very being as he woke -in his miserable cell, refreshed but very weak, and -saw shafts of the happy morning sun coming level -with the dancing of the sea, and making a rhythmic -change of unreal network in the oval patch of light -that was cast by the porthole against the filthy rust -of the walls.</p> - -<p>He felt mechanically for his watch and found -nothing but bare skin; then (such a teacher is -adversity!) he to whom induction was grossly -unfamiliar, began to induce away like any child -of Nature.</p> - -<p>The sunlight was level, for the image of the porthole -upon the wall was but little lower than the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -porthole itself:—therefore the sun had but just -risen.</p> - -<p>It was June, therefore if the sun had but just -risen the hour was very early: how early he -certainly could not have answered if you had asked -him a week ago, but adversity, that admirable -schoolmistress, was developing the mind of George -Mulross as the blossom of a narcissus develops -under the first airs of Spring, and he was capable -of remembering a sunrise after the ball at the -Buteleys’, and another after a big supper at Granges’. -He was in bed before half-past five on each occasion. -It must therefore be between four and five -o’clock.</p> - -<p>The term “solstice” was unfamiliar to this -expectant member of the British Executive, but he -seemed to remember that somewhere about this time -of year the nights were at their shortest.</p> - -<p>He was full of a new pride as he made these -discoveries. Then two things struck him at once: -the first that he was ravenously hungry, the second -that all motion of the ship had ceased. He heard -no sound of any kind except the gentle lapping of -the tiny waves alongside, for it was calm except -for the little breeze of morning.</p> - -<p>He attempted with his new-found powers to pass -the time in further induction, to guess by the -position of the light how the ship lay, but as he had -forgotten at which end of a ship the anchor is let -go, and as he had no notion of the tide in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -English Channel, nor even whether tides ran for -six hours or twelve (he was sure it was one of the -two), and as, in general, he was grossly ignorant of -the data upon which such an induction should -proceed, the effort soon fatigued him. He was -content to prop himself up against the wall and -crave for food.</p> - -<p>He heard a step outside, he struck the door with -his fist. To his delight a key turned in it, and -the doubtful visage of the boy once more appeared. -Early as was the hour, and divine the weather, the -boy was still gloomy.</p> - -<p>“Gettin’ us inter more trouble, orl on us, yer dirty -skunk!” was his greeting.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I’m very sorry,” said George. “I only -knocked because I’m so terribly hungry. Can’t -you get me something to eat?”</p> - -<p>“Yus,” said the boy thoughtfully, “I dahn’t think! -Yer’d myke me chuck it. Yer’s particler as a -orspital nuss,” he added, with a recollection of a -brazen woman in gaudy uniform whom a kind lady -had thrust upon his mother’s humble home just before -he had gone aboard.</p> - -<p>Demaine was in acute necessity. “Look here,” -he said, “get me some bread.”</p> - -<p>“Whaffor?” asked the boy.</p> - -<p>Demaine nodded mysteriously, and once again -was his gaoler torn between a desire for some -ultimate gain and the certitude that no present -gain was obtainable.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>He was a London lad, with all the advantages -that London birth implies, and it had already -occurred to him that Demaine’s accent, manner and -cuticle differed in a strange way from those of your -stock stowaway. He had been impressed in the -matter of the food; he was more impressed by -certain little turns of language which he associated -with those hateful, but, as he had been told, wealthy -people, who came down and did good amid his -mother’s neighbours in the East End; and when -he had thought it well over and tamed his prisoner -further by one more well-chosen epithet, he went -off and came back with a hunk of bread.</p> - -<p>“Yer lucky,” he said as he returned, “thet -yer on a short trip. Otherwyes t’d uv been -biscuit....” Then he added, “and gryte wurms -in ut!”</p> - -<p>George did not reply. He bit into the bread in -ecstasy, and his eyes, which his acquaintances in -London commonly discovered to be lifeless, positively -gleamed upon this summer morning.</p> - -<p>“They gotter communicyte wiv the orfferities fust,” -said the boy pompously.</p> - -<p>“Yes?” said George with his mouth full.</p> - -<p>“Ho! yus, it is!” sneered the boy, who thought -there was something of the toff in this use of the -simply affirmative. “An’ after that they’ll land yer, -and yer’ll ave the darbies on afore breakfast-toime.” -He added nothing this time about hanging. The -details of the moment were too absorbing.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>“How do you mean ‘communicate’?” asked -George carelessly and all ears.</p> - -<p>“Woy, wiv a flag, that’s ow,” said the boy.</p> - -<p>Demaine had often been told of the long and -complicated messages which little pieces of bunting -could convey, and he had himself presented to a -country school a whole series of flags which, in a -certain order, signified that England expected every -man to do his duty. But he could not conceive -how so complete a message as the presence and -desired arrest of an unfortunate stowaway could be -conveyed to the authorities ashore by any such -simple means, unless indeed the presence of stowaways -was so common an occurrence that a code -signal was used for the purpose of disembarking -that cargo.</p> - -<p>The boy illumined him.</p> - -<p>“They got th’ flag up,” he said, “syin’ ‘Send a -baht,’ and when they sees it they’ll run up one -theirselves—then’s yer toime.”</p> - -<p>But the boy’s information, as is common with the -official statements of inferiors, was grossly erroneous.</p> - -<p>A voice came bawling down from above, ordering -him to tumble up with the prisoner.</p> - -<p>Tumble up George did; that is, he crawled up -the steep and noisome ladder, and as he put his -head out into the glorious air, thought that never -was such contrast between heaven and hell. He -drank the air and put his shoulders back to it, to -the risk of the green-black coat.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>George Mulross was one of those few men who -have never written verse, but he was capable that -moment if not of the execution at least of the -sentiment which the more classical of my readers -are weary of in Prom. Vinc. Chor. A. 1-19, Oh the -god-like air! The depth and the expanse of sky!</p> - -<p>The fatherly sky was all light, the sun was -climbing, and a vivid belt of England lay, still -asleep, green and in repose under that beneficence; -and in the midst of it, set all round with fields, lay -a lovely little town. It was Parham.</p> - -<p>Demaine had once or twice noted how strangely -glad the houses of men seem from off the sea, but -as he was familiar rather with Calais and Dover, -with Ostend, Folkestone and Boulogne than with -other ports, and as he had more often approached -them in winter weather than in the London season, -there was something miraculously new to him in -this vision which had been the delight of his forefathers: -England from the summer sea.</p> - -<p>The clear spirit bubbling within him encountered -another and muddier but forceful current as his eyes -fell upon the first officer.</p> - -<p>That individual surveyed him with hatred but -did not deign to throw him a word. He bade the -lad stand by George in a particular place upon the -deck till he should be sent for; he next threatened -several of the boy’s vital organs if his prisoner were -not properly kept in view, and having pronounced -these threats, lurched away.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>“Th’ old man’ll want yer soon, ter fill in is sheet,” -said the lad by way of making conversation. -“Myebe ee’ll ave ye larrupped, myebe ee wahn’t. Ee -didn’t the larst un,” he put in as an afterthought, as -though it were the custom to larrup some seven -stowaways out of eight by way of parting, and to -make capricious exception of certain favourites.</p> - -<p>“Yer’ll ave to tyke thut sheet wiv yer; leastwyes -whoever’s in charge of the baht’ll ave ter, an thye -gives ut to th’ cops, and th’ cops shahs ut to the -beak. As to do ut, to ave everyin roight and -reglar. Otherwyes they cudden put yer awye—and -they’re bahnd ter do that: not arf!”</p> - -<p>But Demaine was not heeding the discomforting -comment of his warder. He was balancing in his -mind the poor chances of the morning, and as he -balanced them they seemed blacker with every -moment.</p> - -<p>The shore was perhaps half a mile away: the -hour say five, perhaps half-past. By six, or half-past -six at the latest, the earliest people in Parham -would be astir.</p> - -<p>The fixed inveterate hope of the governing class -that a gentleman can always get out of a hole, had -dwindled within him to that dying spark to which -it dwindles during invasions and at the hour of -death.</p> - -<p>He did not trust his accent, he did not trust his -skin, he did not trust his parentage, he did not -trust his wealth—alas, his former wealth!—to speak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -more accurately, his wife’s former wealth,—to speak -still more accurately, the former wealth of his wife’s -father.</p> - -<p>He trusted nothing but blind chance, his muscles -and flight.</p> - -<p>He hated the vision which was in immediate -prospect of the little weasel-faced captain with his -pointed red beard, reciting by rote yet another -string of idiotic sentences from a manual; he hated -the vision of the next step, the men in blue, with -their violence and their closing of his mouth by -brutal means. Whether he could convince a -magistrate he did not pause to inquire. The way -was too long—it was a dark corridor leading to -Doom.</p> - -<p>He heard a second voice calling the boy to the -accompaniment of oaths quite novel and individual -and in a high voice that he had not yet heard, and -he thought that his hour had come.</p> - -<p>But the boy’s reply undeceived him.</p> - -<p>“Oi dursn’t!” he yelled down the decks, “Oi -gotter look arter th’ Skunk.”</p> - -<p>Apparently, thought George bitterly, he already -had a fixed traditional name aboard the <i>Lily</i>, like -Blacky and the Old Man.</p> - -<p>The cook, for it was he, emerged from the galley -aft, stood in the brilliant sunlight and delivered rapid -blasphemy with tremendous velocity and unerring -aim.</p> - -<p>The boy whimpered and was irresolute.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>If the threats of the mate had been less practical, -those of the cook might have had less effect, but -between the prospect of the excision of his liver and -of a series of hearty buffets and mighty kicks endways, -what reasonable youth would hesitate in a -civilisation such as ours?</p> - -<p>The boy faltered visibly, and turning upon the Skunk -informed him once again that he was always gettin’ -people inter trouble. Nay, more, he threatened to -pay out the innocent cause of his despair for the -divided duty in which he found himself.</p> - -<p>The cook re-emerged; he had fixed on a new belt -of ammunition and began firing in a manner if -possible more direct and devastating and quite as -rapid, as that which had distinguished the first volley. -And the boy, who was, after all, more directly the -servant of the cook than of any one else on board, -wavered and broke. With a clear statement of the -consequences should Demaine move an inch from -the spot, and a promise to return before a man could -spit to leeward, the boy dashed off to the galley, -and for perhaps five seconds, perhaps ten, the -prospective Warden of the Court of Dowry was -free.</p> - -<p>The movement of the human mind, says Marcus -Aurelius (imitative in this sentence, as in most of -his egregious writings), resembles that of a serpent.</p> - -<p>There are serpents and serpents. Minds of -Demaine’s type move commonly with the motion -of a gorged python but just roused from sleep; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -even the python will, under compulsion, dart,—and, -in those five seconds, not reason but an animal -instinct drove the politician’s soul.</p> - -<p>He was up, on to the bale, over the bulwark and -down ten feet into the sea, before he had even had -time to formulate a plan. He could swim, and that -was enough for him.</p> - -<p>The splash made by Demaine’s considerable form -as it displaced in an amount equal to his weight the -waters of the English Channel, came to the ears of -the Watch, who was leaning comfortably over the -farther railing at the other end of the vessel, looking -out to seaward and ruminating upon a small debt -which he had left behind him in the parish of -Wapping. With no loss of dignity the Watch -shuffled forward to see whether aught was displaced. -The splash had been a loud one, but it might have -been something thrown from the galley.</p> - -<p>He first of all looked carefully over the starboard -bow to seaward. There was no foam upon the water: -everything was still. It occurred to him to cross -the deck; he did so in a leisurely manner and -thought he noted far down the side, and already -drifting astern with the tide, a rapidly disappearing -ring of foam. He was a stupid man (though I say -it that shouldn’t, for he came from Bosham, noble -and fateful Mistress of the Sea), and he looked at the -ring of foam in a fascinated manner, considering -what could have caused it, until he was roused to -life and to his duties by the thunder of the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -officer who from the bridge demanded of him in -perfectly unmistakable language what he had done -to the Skunk.</p> - -<p>The sense of innocence was so strong in the honest -seafaring soul that he replied by a simple stare which -almost gave the first officer a fit, and in the midst -of the language that followed, the boy, positively -pale with fear, came tearing from the galley and -found, not his charge, but the Bosham man gazing -like a stuck pig at his superior above, and at the -world in general.</p> - -<p>The reappearance of the boy was a welcome relief -to the chief officer’s lungs and intelligence; it added -fuel to his flame. He very nearly leapt down from -the bridge in his paroxysms of wrath, and heaven -only knows what he would have done to the wretched -lad whom he would render responsible for the misadventure -had he not at that moment caught sight -of a little speck upon the sunlit water far astern: it -was the head of George Mulross Demaine, battling -with fate.</p> - -<p>The prospective Warden of the Court of Dowry -could swim fairly well. It had been his practice to -swim in a tank. He had swum now and then near -shore, but he had no conception of the amount of -salt water that can get into a man’s mouth in a -really long push over a sea however slightly broken, -especially if one enters that sea in a sort of bundle, -without taking a proper header. Moreover, the -phenomenon of the tide astonished him; he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -imagined in his innocence that the sea also was a -kind of tank and that he had a dead course of it for -the shore, the nearest point of which lay just eastward -of the harbour mouth.</p> - -<p>As it was, England seemed to be flitting by at a -terrible rate, and the <i>Lily</i>, when he turned upon his -back and floated for a moment to observe her, had -all the appearance of a ship proceeding at full speed -up Channel, so rapidly did he drift away.</p> - -<p>He swam too hurriedly and he exhausted himself, -for his mind was full of terrors: they might fire upon -him—he did not know what dreadful arsenal the -<i>Lily</i> might not contain!</p> - -<p>He remembered having noticed upon the cross-Channel -steamers exceedingly bright little brass -guns, the purpose and use of which had often -troubled him. Now he knew!—and he hoped -against hope that no such instrument of death -swivelled upon the poop of the <i>Lily</i>.</p> - -<p>He dreaded every moment to catch the sharp spit -of flame against the sunlight, a curl of smoke, the -scream of the light shell, the ricochet, the boom -that would come later sullenly upon the air, and -all the rest that he had read of:—the first shot to -find the range: the dreadful second that would sink -him.</p> - -<p>He was relieved, as minute after minute passed, -and no such experiment in marine ballistics was -tried. There was faintly borne to his ears as he -was swept down the ceaseless stream of Ocean, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -little clamour which, on the spot itself, was a roaring -babel; he saw a group of men wrestling with the -davits, but the davits were stiff, and boat-drill was -not in the programme of the <i>Lily</i>. Indeed of all -the crew but two had ever handled such a contrivance -as a davit before, and of these one was an -Italian.</p> - -<p>Another man than Captain Higgins would have -been profoundly grateful to see the stowaway drown; -not so that conscientious servant of the Firm. The -stowaway received such food and lodging as had -kept him living until such time as he could be -handed over to the Sheriff or his officers or any -other servants or justices of our lord the King, who -were competent to deal with breach of contract, -tort, replevin and demurrer. The stowaway was -responsible to the Law, and Captain Higgins was -responsible for the stowaway; therefore must a boat -be lowered. And because there was something -grander in swinging out the davits in full view of -a British town and harbour than in chucking the -dinghy into the water, swing out the davits he would,—and -he lost ten minutes over it—ten precious -minutes during which the tide had carried the little -speck that was the head of George Mulross Demaine -almost beyond the power of his spyglass.</p> - -<p>Captain Higgins capitulated; he left the davits as -they were—one stuck fast, the other painfully -screwed half round, a deplorable spectacle for the -town of Parham, and one shameful to the reputation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -of the sailor-men aboard the <i>Lily</i>, and he ordered -the little dinghy out over the side.</p> - -<p>They unlashed her and let her down. Two men -tumbled into her, the second officer took command, -and they rowed away down tide with all the -vigour that Captain Higgins’ awful discipline could -inspire, directed in their course by his repeated -injunctions and proceeding at a pace that must surely -at last overhaul the fugitive.</p> - -<p>When Demaine heard the beat of the oars and -again floated to look backwards, he estimated the -distance between himself and the shore and gave -himself up for lost. Now indeed there could be -no doubt of the rope’s end! He could not disappear -like a whale for any appreciable time beneath the -surface; the tales he had read (and believed) of heroes -in the Napoleonic and other wars, who themselves, -single-handed and in the water, had fought a whole -ship’s crew with success, he now dismissed as idle -fables. There was nothing left for him but, somewhat -doggedly, to continue the overhand stroke, for -now that he was discovered there was no point in -the slower breast stroke that had helped to conceal -him. They were making (as they said in the days -of the Clippers) perhaps three feet to his one, but -freedom is dear to the human heart, and he pegged -away.</p> - -<p>The Shining Goddesses of the Sea loved him more -than they loved the odious denizens of the <i>Lily</i>; -they set the tide in shore, and the Sea Lady, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -Silver-Footed One, led the little waves along in his -favour.</p> - -<p>He had come to a belt of water where the tide set -inward very rapidly, along a gulley or deep of the -shore water. It was a godsend to him, for his pursuers -were still in the outer tide. He was now not a -quarter of a mile from the water-mark, and still going -strong, with perhaps two hundred yards between -the boat and him; he could not feel their hot breath -upon his neck, but he could hear the rhythmic yell -of the officer astern, criticising the moral characters -of his crew with a regular emphatic cadence that -followed the stroke of the oars ... when his cold, -numbed right foot struck something; then his left -struck sand: ... It was England! And the -English statesman, like Antæus, was glad and was -refreshed.</p> - -<p>He stumbled along out of it—the water on the -shelving sand was here not three feet deep. He -stumbled and raced along through the splashing -water. It fell to his knees, to his shins, to his ankles, -and he was on dry land!</p> - -<p>A very pretty problem for the amateur tactician -learned in the matter of landing-parties, was here -presented. The dinghy must ground far out: she -could not be abandoned; it was an even race, and -his pursuers would be one man short from the -necessity of leaving some one in a boat which had -grounded too far out for beaching.</p> - -<p>Some such combination occurred in a confused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -way to Demaine, but he had no time for following -it up. He did what he had done more than once in -the last unhappy days—he ran. His numbed feet -suffered agonies upon the shingle above the sand, -but he ran straight inland, he crossed a rough road, -went stumbling over a salted field, and made for a -wind-driven and scraggy spinney that lay some half -a mile inland, defying the sea winds. As he approached -that spinney he saw two men from the -boat just coming full tilt over the ridge of the sea -road; as he plunged into it they were in the midst -of the field beyond.</p> - -<p>The undergrowth in the spinney was thick, but -Demaine had the sense to double, and he crept -cautiously but rapidly along, separating the thick -branches as noiselessly as he could, and bearing -heroically with the innumerable brambles that tore -his flesh. He halted a moment to look through -a somewhat thinner place towards the field, and -there, to his considerable astonishment, he perceived -the two sailor-men dawdling along in amicable converse -and apparently taking their time, as though -they were out upon a holiday rather than in the -pursuit of a criminal.</p> - -<p>It dawned upon George that there was a reason -for this: the second officer could not leave the boat. -The boat and the sea were hidden by the ridge of -the sea road, and the longer the time the hearty -fellows could spend ashore, the greater their relief -from labour and their enjoyment of a pleasant day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -He saw them sauntering towards the spinney; they -took sticks and beat it in a sort of aimless, perfunctory -manner, poking into the brushwood half-heartedly -here and there, as though Demaine had been a hare -whom they desired to start from its form. They -wandered off along the edge of the wood in a direction -opposite to his own, and paused a moment to light -their pipes upon their way.</p> - -<p>It was a peaceful scene: but a moment would -come when that scene could not be prolonged, and -when their activity must be renewed. Demaine, -therefore, pushed through the brushwood, still going -as noiselessly as he could, and came out to the -landward side of it upon a disused lawn.</p> - -<p>The grass was brown and rank and trampled. It -had not been mown that season. An old sun-dial -stood in the midst of it; a wall bounded it upon -two sides, and there was the beginning of a gravel -path. He followed that path between two rows of -rusty laurels, and round a sharp turn came upon the -house to which this derelict domain belonged. He -came upon it suddenly.</p> - -<p>It stood low and had been masked from him by a -belt of trees. He saw a little back door, and,—fatal -as had such reasoning been in his immediate past,—he -reasoned once more: that where there was a house -with servants’ offices, there would be a difference -of social rank, there would be education, there would -be understanding, and he must certainly come into -his own.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>His bleeding feet, the soaked rags that clung upon -him, his hair hanging in absurd straight lines clogged -with salt, would, could he have seen them in a -looking-glass, have given him pause. But the exhaustion -of these terrible hours was now upon him; -the heat of the sun was increasing,—he was under -an absolute necessity for food and repose.</p> - -<p>He boldly opened the door and went in.</p> - -<p>He found himself in a little room of which this -door was evidently the private communication with -the garden; it was a room that lifted his heart.</p> - -<p>To begin with, it was lined everywhere with books, -and though he himself had read perhaps but eighteen -volumes in the whole course of his early manhood, -yet a room lined with books justly suggested to him -cultivation, leisure, and a certain amount of wealth. -A volume was lying with its flyleaf open upon the -table. He saw pasted in it a book-plate in the -modern style, made out in the name of Carolus -Merry Armiger. Mr. Armiger, it seemed, was his -unsuspecting host. Mr. Armiger’s literary occupations -did not interest George Mulross; such as they -were he gathered them to have some connection -with the Ten Lost Tribes.</p> - -<p>Manuscripts were lying upon the table, manuscripts -consisting of long double lists of names with -a date between them. The Jewish Encyclopedia -was ranged in awful solemnity before these manuscripts; -the Court Guides, reference books and -almanacs of London, Berlin, New York, Frankfort,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -Paris, Rome and Vienna, were laid ready to hand, and -sundry slips detailing the family origins and marital -connections of most European statesmen, including -of course our own, completed the work upon which -the chief resident of the house appeared to be -engaged.</p> - -<p>Forgetting the deplorable condition in which he -was, a big scarecrow reeking and dripping salt water -from sodden black rags that clung to his nakedness, -George Mulross sank into a large easy-chair and -breathed a sigh of profound content.</p> - -<p>They might look as long as they chose, he thought -they would look for him in vain! His pursuers did -not know who he was nor that he had come back -into his own rank of life again and had certainly -found, though they were as yet unknown to him, -equals who would as certainly befriend and protect -him.</p> - -<p>He pictured the scene to himself:—the owner of -the house enters—he is wearing spectacles, he is a -busy literary man, a professor perhaps—who could -tell?—a learned Rabbi! The papers and the books -upon the table seemed to concern the Hebrew race. -At any rate, a literary man—a solid literary man. -He would come in, preoccupied, as is the manner of -his tribe, he would look fussily for something that he -had mislaid upon the table, his eyes would light upon -the form of George Mulross Demaine. At first sight -he would be surprised. A man partially naked, -glistening in the salt of the sea, his hair falling in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -absurd straight wisps clotted with damp, his face a -mixture of grime and white patches where the water -had washed it, his nails a dense black, his bare feet -bleeding, would stand before him. But this strange -figure would speak a word, and all would be well. -He would say:</p> - -<p>“Sir, my name is Demaine. You are perhaps -acquainted with that name. I beg you to listen to -me and I will briefly tell you,” etc. etc.</p> - -<p>The literary man would be profoundly and -increasingly interested as the narrative proceeded, -and at its close a warm bath and refreshment of the -best would be provided, a certain deference even -would appear in his host’s manner when he had -fully gathered that he was speaking to a Cabinet -Minister, and from that moment the unhappy business -would be no more than an exciting memory.</p> - -<p>As George Mulross so mused he rose from his -chair and was horrified to note that there stood in -the hollow of it little pools of salt water, that the -back was dripping wet, and that where his feet had -reposed upon the Axminster carpet damp patches -recalling the discovery of the Man Friday, the marks -of human feet, were clearly apparent.</p> - -<p>Even as he noted these things and appreciated -that they would constitute some handicap to his -explanation, he heard voices outside the door.</p> - -<p>Alas, they were not the voices of the governing -classes, they were not the voices of refinement and -leisured ease. Oh! no. They were the voices of two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -domestics engaged in altercation, the one male, the -other female; and the latter, after affirming that -it was none of her partner’s business, evidently -approached the door of the room in which he was.</p> - -<p>For a moment his heart stopped beating. He -heard her hand upon the outer handle of the door; -by what form of address could he melt that uncultivated -heart? Those bitter hours of his just -passed had filled him with a mixture of terror and -hatred for such English men and women as work for -their living. He had always regarded them as of -another species: he beheld them now in the aspect -of unreasoning wolves.</p> - -<p>By the grace of heaven the door was locked. He -heard a female expletive, extreme in tone though -mild in phrase, directed towards the domestic habits -of her master, especially with regard to the privacy of -his study, and he next heard her steps moving away. -She was coming round by the garden; there was not -a moment to lose ... and there was not a cranny -in which to hide.</p> - -<p>I have expatiated on the effect of misery and of -terror upon George’s brain: I have but here to add -that for two seconds he was a veritable Napoleon in -his survey of terrain. He grasped in a flash that if -he retreated by the garden door he was full in the -line of the enemy’s advance without an alternative -route towards any base; and with such an inspiration -as decided Jena, he made for the chimney.</p> - -<p>The eccentricities of the master of the house (for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -he was obviously eccentric) appeared to include a -passion for old-fashioned fireplaces; at any rate there -was no register nor any other devilish device for -impeding the progress of the human form, and -George, with a dexterity remarkable in one of his -bulk, hoisted himself into the space immediately -above the grate. There the chimney narrowed -rapidly to a small flue, and he must perforce support -himself by the really painful method of pressing with -his feet against the one wall, and with his cramped -shoulders against the other, lying in the attitude of a -man curled up in bed upon his right side,—but in no -such comfort, for where the bed should be was air.</p> - -<p>He had not gained his lair a moment too soon. -He could discover from it the hearth-rug, a small -strip of the carpet, and the legs of sundry tables and -chairs, when he heard the garden door open, and -other legs,—human legs—natty, and their extremities -alone visible, passed among the legs of the inanimate -things. The head which owned them far above continued, -as the legs and feet bore it round the room, to -criticise the habits of its master. It dusted, it went -to the farther side of the apartment, the feet disappeared. -They reappeared suddenly within his -line of vision and stopped dead, while the invisible -head remarked in a tone of curiosity:</p> - -<p>“Whatever’s that!”</p> - -<p>She was looking at the imprint of the feet. Next -he heard her patting the damp arm-chair, and exclaiming -that she never!</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>The strain upon George Mulross Demaine was -increasing, but had it been tenfold as severe he -dared not descend. A slight involuntary movement -due to an effort to ease his shoulder off a point of -brick produced a fall of soot which most unpleasantly -covered his face.</p> - -<p>He could hear a startled exclamation from the -wench, her decision that she didn’t understand the -house at all, and her sudden exit.</p> - -<p>Hardly had she shut the garden door behind her -when a key was heard turning in the lock in the other -door opening into the house, and the Expected -Stranger, the Unknown Host, entered. The moment -of George’s salvation was at hand.</p> - -<p>Two very large flat boots slowly tramped into the -narrow region he could survey: above each nine -inches of creased grey trouser leg could be seen; the -boots, the trouser legs, did not approach the arm-chair; -they took little notice apparently of things -about them. Their owner grunted his satisfaction -that none of his papers had been removed by the -maid to whom he applied a most indiscreet epithet; -he grunted further satisfaction that she had laid his -fire and not lit it. Apparently it was among his -other eccentricities to have a fire upon a June morning -simply because the room was cold, and to let it die -down before noon.</p> - -<p>The Unknown came close to the grate. George -heard large hands fumbling upon the mantelpiece, -the unmistakable rattle of a match-box; next an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -arm midway to the shoulder, and at its extremity -a hand bearing a lighted match appeared, and the -Stranger Host thoughtfully lit the Newspaper upon -which the fire was laid.</p> - -<p>The dense and acrid smoke produced by our -Great Organs of Opinion when they are put to this -domestic purpose rose up and enveloped the unhappy -George. It was the limit! And with one cry and -with one roar, as Macaulay finely says of another -crisis, the prospective Warden of the Court of Dowry -slid down into the grate, ruining the careful structure -of coal and wood, and stood in the presence -of—he could scarcely believe his eyes—William -Bailey!</p> - -<p>That tall, bewhiskered, genial oligarch expressed -no marked astonishment. It is, alas! a characteristic -of the eccentric that, just as he sees the world all -wrong where it is normal, so, before the abnormal he -is incapable of expressing reasonable emotion. All -he said was, in a mild tone of voice:</p> - -<p>“Well! well! well!”</p> - -<p>To which Demaine answered, with the solemnity -the occasion demanded:</p> - -<p>“William, don’t you know me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know you,” said William Bailey thoughtfully, -“Dimmy, by God!... Dimmy, d’you know -that you present a most extraordinary spectacle?”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t tell me that,” said Dimmy bitterly, -drawing his hand across his mouth and displaying -two red lips which appeared in the midst of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -features like those of a comedy negro. “The point -is what can you do for me?”</p> - -<p>“My dear Dimmy,” said William Bailey, his -interest increasing as the situation grew upon him, -“I am delighted to hear that phrase! I haven’t -heard it since I gave up politics! I haven’t heard -it since they tried to make me an Under Secretary,—only -it used to be worded a little differently. Old -schoolfellows of mine whom I had thrashed with a -cricket stump in years gone by used to come up -washing their hands and saying, ‘What can I do -for you?’ Now for once in my life some one has -asked me what <i>I</i> can do for <i>him</i>. Sweet Dimmy, -all I have is at your disposal. Would you like -to borrow some money, or would you prefer to -wash?”</p> - -<p>“I wish you’d chuck that sort of thing,” said -Demaine, angrily and with insufficient respect for a -senior. “It isn’t London and I’m not out for jokes. -I’m in trouble.”</p> - -<p>“In trouble?” said William Bailey, asking the -question sympathetically. “Oh don’t say that! -Dirty, maybe, and very funnily dressed, but not, I -hope, in trouble?”</p> - -<p>“Damn it!” said the other, “what are you in this -house?”</p> - -<p>“What I am out of it,” said William Bailey cheerfully, -“a harmless eccentric with a small property, -several bees in my bonnet (the present one an anti-Semitic -bee), and a great lover of my friends, Dimmy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -especially men of my own blood. Now then, what -do you want?”</p> - -<p>“Do you own this house, or do you not?” demanded -Dimmy.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said William Bailey, “it is very good -of you to ask. I am what the law calls a lessor -or lessee, or perhaps I am a bailee of the -house. The house itself belongs to Merry. You -know Merry, the architect who builds his father’s -houses?”</p> - -<p>“The books have got ‘Armiger’ in them,” said -Dimmy suspiciously.</p> - -<p>“That’s a title,” replied William Bailey, “not an -English title,” he continued hurriedly, “it was given -him by the Pope.”</p> - -<p>“Anyhow, you’re master here?” said Demaine -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Bailey, “I’ve been master here since -the end of the first week. At first there was some -doubt whether it was Elise or the groom or Parrett, -the housekeeper, who was master. But I won, -Dimmy,” he said, rubbing his hands contentedly, “I -brought down my servant Zachary and between us -we won. They’re as tame as pheasants now.”</p> - -<p>“Very well then,” said Demaine, “you’ve got to -do two things. You’ve got to cleanse me and to -clothe me and to hide me during the next few hours -if the necessity arises.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know why you shouldn’t cleanse yourself,” -said William Bailey thoughtfully. “You’ve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -never learned a trade, Dimmy, and you were never -handy or quick at things, but you’re a grown man, -and there’s lots of hot water and soap and stuff in -the bathroom; there was a beastly thing called a -loofah that Merry had left there, but I’ve burned it.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be a fool, Bill!” pleaded Demaine, “there -isn’t time, really there isn’t. Then tell me, what -clothes have you?”</p> - -<p>“Mine are too narrow in the shoulders for you,” -said William Bailey, thinking, “Zachary is altogether -too thin. You’re big, Dimmy, not to say fat. The -trousers wouldn’t meet and the coat wouldn’t go on. -But I can put you to bed and send for clothes. -What d’you mean about hiding? I can see you have -some reasons for privacy; in fact if you <i>hadn’t</i>, -getting up that chimney would be a schoolboy sort -of thing to do at your age. Have you been bathing -without a licence, and some one stolen your clothes? -Or have they been having a jolly rag at the Buteleys’? -They’re close by.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you when I’ve washed,” said Demaine -wearily, “only now do let me slip up to the bathroom -like a good fellow. Good God, I’m tired!”</p> - -<p>William Bailey opened the door and peered -cautiously into the corridor, listened for footsteps and -heard none, and then, after locking the door of the -study behind him, as was his ridiculous habit, he -popped up a narrow pair of stairs, with Dimmy, -whose old nature had sufficiently returned to cause -him to stumble, following at his heels.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>They were not quite out of the range of the front -door when there came a violent pull at the bell, and -Elise went forward to open it.</p> - -<p>William Bailey pushed his guest and cousin into -the bathroom and went down to meet two policemen -who stood with awful solemnity, clothed in suspicion -and in power, at his threshold. From the depths of -his sanctuary and through the crack of the half-open -window, Demaine heard a conversation that did not -please him.</p> - -<p>“Very sorry to have to ask you sir,” a deep bass -was saying, “we’re bound to do it.”</p> - -<p>“We’re bound to do it,” echoed a tenor.</p> - -<p>Demaine did not hear his cousin’s reply.</p> - -<p>“Are you sure he’s been on the premises, sir?” -came from the first policeman, whom I will call -“<i>Basso Profondo</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Positive,” answered William Bailey’s voice, cheerful -and loud. “Positive!”</p> - -<p>“Did you see him with your own eyes, sir?” this -from the second policeman, whom I will call “<i>Tenore -Stridente</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly I did, or I wouldn’t be telling you -this,” came again from William Bailey a little -testily.</p> - -<p>“Well now, sir, we’ve suspicions that he’s on the -place still.”</p> - -<p>“You’re wrong there,” said William Bailey, “he -ran off down the Parham road when he heard my -dog bark.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>“We didn’t meet any one on the Parham road, sir:” -it was the voice of the Tenore policeman who spoke, -evidently a less ingenuous man than the Basso.</p> - -<p>“I can’t help that,” said William Bailey. “You’re -welcome to look over the house.”</p> - -<p>They thanked him and walked in like an army.</p> - -<p>“It is for your own good, sir,” said the first policeman, -in his deep bass.</p> - -<p>“Besides which it’s our duty,” said the second -policeman in his <i>tenore stridente</i>.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said William Bailey, “of course, and I -hope that while one of you is doing the good, the -other will look after the duty. It’s the kind of thing -people like me are very fond of doing, hiding stowaways. -I’ve hidden bushels of them.”</p> - -<p>The tenor was indifferent to his sarcasm, the bass -was touched.</p> - -<p>“You know very well, sir,” he said, “what the -criminal classes are, or rather you gentlemen don’t -know. Why, he’d cut the women’s throats in the -night and make off with the valuables.”</p> - -<p>“Would he cut mine?” asked William Bailey as -he followed them from room to room.</p> - -<p>“He’s capable of it,” said the bass, nodding -mysteriously. “He’s not an ordinary stowaway,” he -continued, lowering his voice almost to a gruff -whisper, “<i>he’s well known to the police</i>. He’s <i>Stappy</i>, -that’s what he is, <span class="smcap">Stappy the Clinker</span>! He’s done -this trick before, getting aboard a vessel and pretending -he’s a vagabun; the Chief knows all about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -him! He did a man in last Monday night in -London!”</p> - -<p>To the unhappy man in the bathroom there -returned with vivid horror the recollection of Lewes -Gaol; but so long as William Bailey’s wits did not -fail him he knew that more than even chances were -in his favour. His mood changed suddenly, however, -when the police, who had been perambulating the -small rooms near his retreat, suddenly rattled the -door of his bathroom and said:</p> - -<p>“What’s in here?”</p> - -<p>“I do beg of you to take care, gentlemen,” said -William Bailey angrily, “that’s the bathroom, and if -you want to know, my niece is inside.”</p> - -<p>“Oh I beg your pardon,” said the bass, “I’m sure.” -He had the sense not to doubt the master of the -house in a matter directly concerning his own -interest. But the tenor added:</p> - -<p>“We must make a note of it, sir.”</p> - -<p>“By all means,” said William Bailey, “by all -means. Her name is Rebecca.”</p> - -<p>George Mulross Demaine, in the delight of the -very warm water, was soothed to hear them -tramping heavily down the stairs once more.</p> - -<p>They examined every room and cranny of the -place until they came to the study door.</p> - -<p>“It’s my study,” said William Bailey apologetically, -“I always keep it locked.”</p> - -<p>He unlocked it and they entered. Their trained -eyes could see nothing unusual in the aspect of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -room until the tenor inadvertently putting his hand -upon the back of the arm-chair discovered it to be -both wet and to the taste salt. He had found a -clue! In a voice of excitement unworthy of his -office, the intelligent officer shouted:</p> - -<p>“We’ve got ’im sir, we’ve got ’im! He’s been -here! Look—sea water. We’ve got ’im!” He -looked round wildly as though expecting to see -the runaway appear suddenly in mid-air between -the floor and the ceiling.</p> - -<p>“It is certainly most disconcerting,” said William -Bailey in evident alarm. “But wait a minute. -Perhaps he came in here from the garden to see -what he could get, found the door locked on the -outside and made out through the garden again; -that would explain everything.”</p> - -<p>“No it wouldn’t sir,” said the bass respectfully, “it -wouldn’t explain <i>that</i>!” And his mind, which, if -slower than his colleague’s, was prone to sound -conclusions, pointed his hand to the wreck of the -fire, to the heaps of soot that lay upon it, and the -disturbance of the fender.</p> - -<p>“He’s gone up the chimney, that’s what he’s -done,” said the tenor.</p> - -<p>“That’s what he’s done,” said the bass, putting -the matter in his own way, “he’s gone up the -chimney.”</p> - -<p>William Bailey put his head in and looked up the -flue, the top of which was a little square of blue -June sunlight above. “I don’t see him,” said he.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>The constables, one after the other, solemnly -performed the same feat.</p> - -<p>“A man couldn’t get up that,” said Bailey -stoutly.</p> - -<p>“Ah, <i>Stappy</i> could,” said the bass in a tone of -one who talks of an old acquaintance, “Stappy -could get out of anywhere, or through anything! -He’s a wonderful man, sir!”</p> - -<p>Suddenly the tenor solved the whole business.</p> - -<p>“He’s on the roof!” he said.</p> - -<p>Nothing would suit them but ladders must be -brought, and they must climb upon the slates, while -William Bailey, consoling himself with the thought -that the property was not his, took the opportunity -of dashing up to the bathroom and banging at the -door.</p> - -<p>“Dimmy, Dimmy!” he whispered loudly, “Dimmy, -get out.”</p> - -<p>“I’m all wet,” said Dimmy.</p> - -<p>“You’re used to that,” said Bailey unfeelingly. -“Dry your feet. Never mind the rest. Quick!” -He threw a dressing-gown in, and Dimmy, as clean -as Sunday morning, emerged.</p> - -<p>“Are your feet quite dry, Dimmy?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said that great Commoner, still a trifle -ruffled.</p> - -<p>“Well then, let me think.... Go in there.”</p> - -<p>He pushed Demaine into a little writing-room that -gave out of the corridor.</p> - -<p>“Now then, go to that little table and sit perfectly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -tight. Do as I tell you and you are saved. Depart-by-but-one-iota-from-my-specific-instructions-and -though you’ll ultimately be redeemed by your -powerful relatives from the ignominy of incarceration, -you cannot fail to become a laughing-stock before -your fellow-citizens! Do you take me, Dimmy?”</p> - -<p>Dimmy, who like the rest of the family was never -quite certain whether William Bailey’s final outbreak -into downright lunacy might not take place at any -moment, suddenly sat where he was bid, and his -cousin returned within thirty seconds bearing a -woman’s walking-cloak and a respectable bonnet -which, I regret to say, were those of Parrett herself. -Bailey huddled the cloak upon the younger man, -banged the bonnet upon his head, tied the ribbons -under his chin, disposed his person with the back -to the door, in the attitude of one writing a note, -and said:</p> - -<p>“Dimmy, could you talk in a high voice?”</p> - -<p>“No, I can’t!” said Dimmy.</p> - -<p>“Try. Say ‘Oh don’t, I’m busy.’”</p> - -<p>“I can’t!” said Dimmy again.</p> - -<p>“Great heavens! is there no limit to the things -you can’t do?” said William Bailey testily. “Try.”</p> - -<p>At a vast sacrifice of that self-respect which was -his chiefest treasure, Dimmy uttered the grotesque -words in a faint falsetto.</p> - -<p>“Excellent!” said William Bailey. “Now when -you hear the word ‘Rebecca’ that’s your cue. Say -it again.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>The second step is easier than the first, and -Dimmy this time replied at once, the falsetto quite -just: “Oh don’t, I’m busy.” And William Bailey -was satisfied.</p> - -<p>By this time the policemen could be heard scrambling -down from the roof; they had found nothing, -which, seeing that the roof was in shape exactly pyramidical, -was not wonderful.</p> - -<p>“Well, he’s gone, sir,” said the bass a little -relieved.</p> - -<p>“We must see the bathroom before we leave, -though,” added the tenor fixedly.</p> - -<p>“By all means,” said William Bailey, “if it’s -empty,” he added with a decent reserve.</p> - -<p>They went upstairs and on their way he opened -the writing-room door, and said:</p> - -<p>“Oh, there she is. Rebecca!”</p> - -<p>“Oh don’t worry me, I’m busy,” boomed in a -manly voice from the seated figure.</p> - -<p>“Sorry I’m sure sir,” said the tenor, who was now -sincerely apologetic. “We have no desire to disturb -the lady, but it was our duty.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said William Bailey hurriedly, “of -course,” and he shut the door, mentally renewing -his profound faith in the imbecility of political life.</p> - -<p>The active and intelligent officers of the law gazed -mechanically round the bathroom; they were too -modest to examine a certain damp heap of black -cloth that was flung huddled into a corner. They -went out with every assurance that they would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -have disturbed Mr. Bailey for a moment had they -not been compelled by that sense of duty to their -country to which they had already so frequently -alluded.</p> - -<p>William Bailey accompanied them to the gate, in -the fixed desire to see them off the place, and with -a heartfelt silent prayer that Parrett would not go -into the writing-room until he had returned.</p> - -<p>As they reached the gate the bass, who remembered -the necessity for subscriptions to local clubs, charities -and balls, and especially to the Policemen’s balls, -charities and clubs, said once more that he hoped -Mr. Bailey understood they had only done their -duty.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” he added, “we know Mr. Merry very -well, and we take it you’re a friend of his.”</p> - -<p>“Yes sir,” said the tenor more severely, “and we -know who you are. We know everybody in the place, -sir. It’s our business. We know what they do, where -they come from and where they go to. They can’t -escape us.”</p> - -<p>With this cheerful assurance the bass and the tenor -both slightly saluted, and the gate shut behind them.</p> - -<p>Outside the gate a little crowd consisting of the -two sailor-men, a dingy officer of the mercantile -marine, three young boys, a draggle-tailed village -girl, and a spaniel, awaited the return of the police, -and when it was known that they had drawn blank, -this little crowd paradoxically enough gave cry. -Each was now as certain that he had seen the fugitive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -in some one of a hundred opposing and impossible -directions as he had formerly been determined that -the refugee was still concealed in Mr. Merry’s house.</p> - -<p>William Bailey hurried back: he went straight to -the writing-room. He thanked heaven that no one -had disturbed Rebecca. Without an apology he -rapidly untied the ribbons of the bonnet, hoicked off -the cloak and was bearing them back to Parrett’s -room when he heard the voice of that admirable -female raised in hot remonstrance against the misdeeds -of a domestic.</p> - -<p>In tactics as in strategy there is a disposition known -as the offensive-defensive. William Bailey was -familiar with it. He adopted it now, and in a voice -that silenced every other sort, he roared his complaint -that the servants perpetually left their clothes hanging -about at random right and left all over the -house.</p> - -<p>“Whose is this?” he demanded, pointing to the -cloak and bonnet where he had flung them sprawling -on a chair.</p> - -<p>“It’s mine, sir,” said Parrett with considerable -dignity.</p> - -<p>“Oh it is, is it?” said Bailey a little mollified. -“I’m sorry, Parrett. If I’d known it was yours I’d -have spoken to you privately.”</p> - -<p>“I never left them there, sir!” said Parrett all aruffle -with indignation.</p> - -<p>“I never said you did, I never said you did. It’s -none of my business. I don’t care who left them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -there; but I will have this house <i>orderly</i> or I will not -have it at <i>all</i>,” with which enigmatical sentence for -the further discipline of Merry’s impossible household, -he went back to Demaine in his dressing-gown and -brought him through the corridor to the study.</p> - -<p>“Now my dear fellow,” he said, “are you cold?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Dimmy.</p> - -<p>“Are you hungry?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Dimmy.</p> - -<p>“Are you thirsty?”</p> - -<p>“I am very tired,” said Dimmy.</p> - -<p>“Very well then, you shall eat and drink. I will -try and light the fire.”</p> - -<p>He did so and the room, which was already warm -with the June sun, became like an oven. As he rose -from his chair Demaine said in some anxiety: “For -heavens’ sake don’t send for the servants!”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to,” said William Bailey simply. -He went to a cupboard and brought out some ham, a -loaf and a bottle of wine.</p> - -<p>Demaine ate and drank. When he had eaten and -drunk he could hardly support himself for fatigue.</p> - -<p>William Bailey took him to his own room and told -him to sleep there. “I’ve established,” he said, in a -genial tone, “so healthy a reign of terror in this -house that you certainly will not be disturbed if you -sleep in my bed. I will see about the clothes.”</p> - -<p>And thus, after so many and so great adventures, -George Mulross Demaine slept once again between -sheets, in a bed well aired, in a room with reasonable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -pictures upon the walls, and reasonable books upon -the table, with blankets, with curtains, with pillows, -with mahogany tallboys, with three kinds of looking-glasses, -with an eider-down quilt, with a deep carpet, -with a silver reading lamp, soothed by a complete -cleanliness, and, in a word, amid all that the governing -classes have very properly secured for themselves -during their short pilgrimage through the wilderness -of this world.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIII</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap2">ALL through that hot noon and down the beginning -of the sun’s decline, George Mulross -slept heavily; he slept as in a death, in Parham.</p> - -<p>He slept in the house of Carolus Merry Armiger, -under the shield and tutelage of William Bailey, -eccentric, and with God’s benediction upon him. -His troubles were at an end.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meanwhile in London, the young and popular -Prime Minister had received his secretary’s report. -The <i>Moon</i> and the <i>Capon</i> were squared.</p> - -<p>How squared he was not busy to inquire. Gold -and silver he had none—for those purposes at -least—that would not be in the best traditions of -our public life: but they <i>were</i> squared: Edward -assured him they were squared, and there was an -end of it.</p> - -<p>There was more even than Edward’s assurance, -though that was as solid as marble; there were two -early copies of the papers themselves which had been -ordered and brought to him. The leader of the one -dealt with those eternal Concessions in Burma,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -and he smiled. There was not a word about Repton. -The leader of the other was on Fiddlededee, and the -Prime Minister experienced an immense relief.</p> - -<p>But there was still Demaine,—or rather, there was -still no Demaine. And there was still Repton, mad—mad—mad!</p> - -<p>Between Dolly and the awful unstable equilibrium -of the modern world, between him and a cosmic -explosion, was nothing but the four walls round -Repton, Lady Repton who bored him, and the -sagacity of Edward. It was a quarter to three, a -time when meaner men must wend them to the -House of Commons. He also wended. He was the -shepherd and he must look after his sheep.</p> - -<p>That august assembly was astonished to perceive -the Premier positively present upon the front bench -during the process of that appeal to the Almighty -which precedes the business of the day. But <i>that</i> -did not get into the papers:—there is a limit!</p> - -<p>As he knelt there he knew that a man whom he -could not disobey was about to ask a question of -which he had given private notice. He feared it -much, he more feared those supplementary questions -which are so useless to the scheme of our polity -but which buzz like unnecessary midges round the -cooking of the national food. And when prayers -were over and questions begun, not an inquiry as -to an Admiralty contract, not a simple demand for -information from the Home Secretary as to the -incarceration of a beggar or the torture of some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -insignificant pauper, but put his heart into his -mouth.</p> - -<p>Mr. Maloney’s long cross-examination on the -matter of the postmistress at Crosshaurigh gave -him a little breathing space. They couldn’t bring -Repton or Demaine in on that! But there was -an ominous question about a wreck, and who -should answer it? He had indeed arranged that -the answer should proceed from the Treasury, but -the clouds were lowering.</p> - -<p>The question came as mild as milk: it was -concerned with the wreck which still banged and -battered about on the Sovereign Shoals; it had -been put down days before, and the chief legal -adviser of the Crown rose solemnly to reply.</p> - -<p>“My right honourable friend has asked me to -answer this question. He has no further information -beyond that which he has already furnished to -the honourable gentleman, but every inquiry is being -made and papers will shortly be laid upon the table -of the House.”</p> - -<p>The fanatic rose, the inevitable fanatic, towering -from the benches, and thundered his supplementary -demand: What had been done with the gin? He -was told to give notice of the question.</p> - -<p>For three dreadful seconds the Prime Minister -feared some consequence. His fears were well -grounded. A gentleman rose and spoke from the -darkness under the gallery and desired to know why -the <i>Warden of the Court of Dowry</i> was not present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -to deal with matters concerning his Department? -He would have been reproved by the Chair had not -the young and popular Prime Minister taken it upon -himself to rise and reply.</p> - -<p>“It is the first time,” he said, “and I hope it will -be the last, that I have heard the illness of a colleague -made the excuse for such an interruption.”</p> - -<p>From the benches behind him those who knew the -truth applauded and those who did not applauded -more loudly still.</p> - -<p>With what genius had he not saved the situation! -And the questions meandered on, and all was well, -save for that last dreadful query of which he had had -private notice.</p> - -<p>It was put at the end of question-time, not, oddly -enough, by the member who most coveted the -apparently vacant Wardenship, nor even by any -relative of that member, nay, not even by a friend: -a member surely innocent of all personal motives put -that question. He desired to know, whether rumours -appearing in the papers upon the Wardenship of the -Court of Dowry were well founded, whether the -Wardenship of the Court of Dowry were not for the -moment vacant, and if so what steps were being -taken to fill that vacancy.</p> - -<p>The reply was curt and sufficient: “The honourable -member must not believe everything he reads in -the newspapers.”</p> - -<p>It is not often that wit of a lightning kind falls -zigzag and blasts the efforts of anarchy in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -National Council. Wit is very properly excluded -from the exercise of legislative power; but when it -appears—when there is good reason for its appearance—its -success is overwhelming: and by the -action of this one brilliant phrase, perhaps the -most dangerous crisis through which the Constitution -has passed since the flight of James <small>II.</small> was -triumphantly passed.</p> - -<p>Question-time was over. The young and popular -Prime Minister, now wholly oblivious of his left lung, -answered one or two minor questions, gave assurances -as to the order of business, and left the House -a happier man than he had entered it. He went -straight to Downing Street. When he got to his -room Edward was there awaiting him.</p> - -<p>“They’ve got Demaine,” he said.</p> - -<p>The luck had turned!</p> - -<p>For half a minute Dolly couldn’t speak: then he -gasped:</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Edward. “I don’t think -anybody knows. There was a telephone message -sent to the Press everywhere.”</p> - -<p>A thousand horrid thoughts! Found dead? Found -wandering and imbecile? Found——? He was faster -bound than ever—and that just in the hour when he -must act and decide. He said again:</p> - -<p>“Where did it come from?”</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t find out.”</p> - -<p>“Edward,” said the Premier faintly, as he sat down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -and fell to pieces, “you know how to do these -things.... Puff!— ... Do go like ... a good -fellow—find out ... quietly ... ch ... <i>where</i> it -came from.”</p> - -<p>Edward went into the next room and called up -009 Central. He was given 1009, kept his temper -and repeated his call. A Being replied to him in an -angry woman’s voice and begged him not to shout -into the receiver.</p> - -<p>He asked for the clerk in charge and waited ten -minutes. Nothing happened.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister in his room was not at ease. -His mood was if anything burdened by the delivery -of an express message which ran: “They’ve found -Dimmy. M. S.” The writing was the writing of -Mary Smith. He asked the messenger with some -indifference to find out who had sent the message and -where it had come from.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, in the absence of Edward, he went into -an outer room and begged them to call up Mrs. -Smith’s house. When he returned there was a -telegram from Charing Cross upon his table which -ran:</p> - -<p>“George found.”</p> - -<p>There was no signature. He waited patiently for -the return of Edward or the messenger or of something—hang -it all, <i>something</i>!</p> - -<p>The little buzzer on his table buzzed gently and -the telephone whispered into his ear that “Mrs. -Demaine wished him to know that Mr. Demaine was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -found.” He had already asked “Where is he?” -when he was cut off.</p> - -<p>He had received so much information and no more -when Edward returned with the information that the -news had come in from Trunk Seven.</p> - -<p>“What is Trunk Seven?” said the Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Edward.</p> - -<p>They sat together for a moment in silence. The -Premier, as befitted his office, was a man of resource. -Outside Westminster Bridge Underground Station -men of insufficient capital but of economic ambition -deal in the retail commerce of news. It occurred to -the Prime Minister to reassure himself from their -posters, and from a room that gave upon Westminster -Bridge Road, his excellent eyesight—for it was -among his points that his eyesight at fifty-four was -still strong—perused the placards opposite.</p> - -<p>They were clear enough.</p> - -<p class="center">“LOST MINISTER FOUND”</p> - -<p>said the most decent.</p> - - -<p class="center">“DEMAINE RESULT”</p> - -<p>said the <i>Capon</i>, which appeared to have forgotten its -good manners.</p> - -<p>It ought not to be difficult to get the <i>Capon</i> -without loss of dignity. He returned to his room -and in about five minutes the <i>Capon</i> was brought to -him.</p> - -<p>Under the heading “Stop Press News,” he saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -“Demaine Result,” and then underneath, more -courteously: “Mr. Demaine has been heard of.” It -was printed in faint wobbly type in a big blank -space—and there was nothing more.</p> - -<p>Edward, entering at that moment, told him that -the exact point from which the message had been -sent could not be discovered until Brighton had -cleared.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said the Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>He was going to call up Mary Smith, but Edward -assured him that nothing more than an inept -half-wit maid would answer the demand—he had -tried it.</p> - -<p>Dolly sat on in patience and wondered where -Demaine had been discovered. The matter was of -some moment. Without the least doubt he would -have to make up his mind as to the succession of -the office that very afternoon, and it was already -close on five.</p> - -<p>Demaine might be discovered suffering from a loss -of memory (though what he had to remember Dolly -couldn’t conceive); he might have been discovered -in the hands of the police. He might have been -discovered attempting for some unknown reason to -fly the country. Till the Premier knew more he -could not act.</p> - -<p>For a good half-hour he persuaded himself that it -was better to wait. Then he went out and motored -to Mary’s.</p> - -<p>And Mary of course was not at home.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>He went on to Demaine House, and found there -nothing but a man making a very careful inventory -of all the pictures, all the furniture and all the glass. -He came back to his room, and at last the mystery -was solved.</p> - -<p>All good things come to an end, as do all delays -and all vexations, and life itself. By a method less -expeditious than some of those which modern -civilisation has put at our disposal, the full truth -was revealed to him.</p> - -<p>George Mulross Demaine was at that moment (it -was six o’clock) upon that afternoon of Wednesday, -the 3rd of June, ... drinking brandy and soda in -great quantities and refusing tea, at the Liverpool -Street Hotel. A courteous message from the -Manager thereof was the source of the information, -and Edward—Edward who never failed—had been -the first to receive it.</p> - -<p>The message had gone up and down London -a good deal before it had got to the House of -Commons; at Demaine House the Manager had -been told to try Mary Smith’s number, and at Mary -Smith’s the half-wit having almost had her head -blown off by Edward’s repeated violence, very -sensibly suggested that the Manager should telephone -direct to the House of Commons and give a -body peace.</p> - -<p>An instant demand (said Edward) that Demaine -should himself come to the instrument, had been -followed by a very long pause, after which he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -told that the gentleman had gone off in a four-wheeler -with a lame horse, and had left the bill -unpaid.</p> - -<p>There was nothing to do but to wait.</p> - -<p>Half-past six struck, and the quarter. Their fears -were renewed when, just upon seven, a figure strangely -but neatly clothed was shown into the room, by a -servant who displayed such an exact proportion -between censure and respect as would have puzzled -the most wearisome of modern dramatists to depict.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>It was Demaine!</p> - -<p>His clothes were indeed extraordinary. You could -not say they fitted, and you could not say they did -not fit. The trousers and the coat and the waistcoat -were made of one cloth, a quiet yellow. The lines -of the shoulders, the arms, the legs, the very stomach, -were right lines: they were lines proceeding from -point to point; they were lines taking the shortest -route from point to point. They were straight: they -were plumb straight. The creases upon the trousers -were not those adumbrations of creases which the -most vulgar of the smart permit to hint at the -newness of their raiment: they were solid ridges -resembling the roofs of new barns or the keels of -racing ships. The lapels of the coat did not sit well -upon it; rather they were glued to it. The waistcoat -did not fit, it stuck. And above this strange -accoutrement shone, with more fitness than Edward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -and Dolly could have imagined, the simple face of -George Mulross Demaine.</p> - -<p>His hair—oh horror!—was oiled; one might have -sworn that his face was oiled as well.</p> - -<p>The colour of his skin resembled cedarwood save -on the nose, where it resembled old oak. If ever a -man was fit, that man was George Mulross, but if -ever a man was changed, George Mulross was also -that man.</p> - -<p>“Sit down,” said the Prime Minister delightedly. -“Oh my dear George, sit down!”</p> - -<p>“I can’t,” said George, using that phrase perhaps -for the twentieth time during the last forty-eight -hours. “They’re ready-made,” he explained, blushing -(as Homer beautifully puts it of Andromache) -through his tan. “I didn’t sit down in the train and -I didn’t sit down in the cab.”</p> - -<p>“Where have you been, George?” asked the Prime -Minister.</p> - -<p>“I’ve had an adventure,” said George modestly.</p> - -<p>“But hang it all, where have you <i>been</i>?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve been to sea,” said George.</p> - -<p>“Oh-h-h-h-h-h!” said the Prime Minister.</p> - -<p>“Beastly luck, isn’t it?” said George simply.</p> - -<p>“It’s worse than that,” said Edward grimly.</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked George with something like fright -upon his honest if oleaginous face.</p> - -<p>“Well, never mind,” said Dolly. “It must have -been pretty tough. Were you blown out to sea?”</p> - -<p>George Mulross Demaine’s only reply was to feel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -inside his coat for the place where pockets are often -constructed for the well-to-do, but where no pocket -seemed to exist. He made five or six good digs for -it, but it was not there. He looked up huntedly and -said: “Wait a minute.” He put his hand into his -waistcoat. There again there was no receptacle, -but that which should have held his watch—and even -the young idealism of the Prime Minister permitted -him to wonder why no watch was there. Then -George did what I hope no member of the governing -class has ever done before—he felt in his trousers -pocket, and thence he pulled out a bit of paper.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he said, concealing the writing from them, -“You’re quite right. I <i>was</i> blown out to sea. I had -a”—(here he peered closely at the paper and apparently -could not make out a word.) “Oh yes,” he -said, “a terrible time.” His diction was singularly -monotonous. “I-thought-I-should-never-have-survived-that-terrible-night. -A-foreign-ship-passed-me-but-the-scoundrels-left-me-to-my-fate. -I-was-nearly-dead-when-under-the-first-rays-of-morning-I-saw-the-British-flag-and-my-heart-leaped-within-me.”</p> - -<p>Edward, though not usually impetuous, bereft him -of the document, and as he did so the Prime Minister -saw the square firm characters.</p> - -<p>“Good lord!” shouted the Premier, “It’s Bill!”</p> - -<p>And it <i>was</i> the writing of William Bailey.</p> - -<p>“William’s been very good to me, if you mean -that,” said Demaine reproachfully.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>The Prime Minister burst into the first hearty -laugh he had enjoyed in fifteen years. After all, -men like Bailey were of some use in the world!</p> - -<p>In spite of Dimmy’s obvious choler, with the tears -of laughter in his eyes, and interrupted by little -screams of merriment, the Prime Minister completed -the reading.</p> - -<p>“‘I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, I cried “A -sail! a sail!”; and in less time than it takes to read -this, hearty English hands were tugging at the oars.’ -(“Oh Edward, Edward!” gasped the exhausted -man, and when he had recovered his breath continued:) -‘With the tenderness almost of a woman -he lifted ...’ (“Who lifted you?” he asked between -his shrieks and wagging his forefinger to George -Demaine. “Oh George, who lifted you?”) ... ‘He -lifted me on board the good ship <i>Lily</i>, and when I -told him of the treacherous action of the foreigners, -muttered “Scoundrel” between his teeth. But a man -has naught to fear when the brave hearts of his -countrymen are his shield. They landed me at -Lowestoft, pressing into my hands their petty -savings, and left me with three hearty cheers that -did me almost as much good as to feel my feet once -more upon British soil.’”</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister laid his head upon the table, -wagged it gently from side to side, uttered a series -of incongruous sounds, and very nearly broke -down.</p> - -<p>George Mulross Demaine was exceedingly angry.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>“It may seem very funny to you,” he began, -“but——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t, George!” said the Premier, going off -again, “Don’t!”</p> - -<p>But George was boiling. “How would you like -it——” he began shouting.... When the door -opened and there was announced with extreme -solemnity Mr. Pickle, Mr. Hogge, Mr. Gracechurch, -Mr. Fuell, Mr. Nydd, Sir John Clegg, Lord Cuthbertson, -and last but by no means least, Mr. -Howll....</p> - -<p>One would have said that nothing had happened. -There were three doors to the room—as is proper to -every room in which farces are played.</p> - -<p>Through one of these Edward very gently led the -stiff but still burning George.</p> - -<p>Through the second appeared an official gentleman -commonly present at interviews of this kind.</p> - -<p>Through the third the deputation had entered; -and the young and popular Prime Minister, all -sympathy, all heart, all ears, all teeth, all intelligence, -heard such an indictment of the maladministration -of Spitzbergen by the infamous King of Bohemia as -he had perhaps not listened to more than thirty-eight -times during the course of the last two years.</p> - -<p>Edward took George by the arm through room -after room, down a corridor, into a hall, then as -though by magic an excellent motor appeared.</p> - -<p>They got in, Edward still making himself perfectly -charming, Dimmy in a constrained attitude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -stretched tangentially to the edge of the seat, and -the motor drove them for a very great number of -miles, during which journey Edward learned all the -main story; the robbery, the refuge aboard-ship, the -escape, and the fortunate discovery of William Bailey.</p> - -<p>George was given to understand with that method -and insistence most proper to his character that <i>that</i> -story had better be forgotten and that only what -he had been given to read,—and only the gist of -that,—might very well be published to his wife and -to the world....</p> - -<p>It was an understood matter. George did now -and then like to row and fish; a friend had asked -him to run down to Port Victoria—it was only an -hour; the friend hadn’t turned up. George only -meant to go out for a minute, put up the sprits’l -like a fool, got blown right away in front of a -so’wester into the Swin; then the wind going round -a point-o’-two got blown, begad, right over the Gunfleet. -High tide luckily, and the rest naturally -followed.</p> - -<p>These nautical experiences filled George with -doubts.</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t any so’wester,” he said with bovine -criticism.</p> - -<p>“You silly ass,” said Edward, “who notices a -thing like that in London?”</p> - -<p>“You’d notice it at sea,” said George with profound -conviction.</p> - -<p>“Anyhow, unless you want a good story against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -you to the end of your life, you’ve got to be outside -for thirty-six hours, and you’ve got to land a dam -long way off from Parham,—I can tell you that!” -said Edward firmly.</p> - -<p>And George agreed.</p> - -<p>They dined together at Richmond, which suburban -town they had reached by Edward’s directions, and -George, replete after so much suffering, became most -genial. He betrayed in his conversation the fact -that Sudie might or might not know the truth; he -had not dared to communicate with her. William -Bailey had done so after getting his new clothes, but -there had been no one at home. There was only -a man in, making an inventory, and the footman -thought the message had something to do with him. -What Sudie might have heard from others he didn’t -know.</p> - -<p>“Where did the telephone message come from?” -asked Edward who remembered the torturing anxiety -of his Chief upon that point which now seemed so -futile.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” George bleated, if I may use so -disrespectful a term of a man with £100 a week. “I -really don’t know. He hired a motor, I know that, -and he drove it himself.”</p> - -<p>“Oh he did, did he? Where did he drive it to?”</p> - -<p>“To a station,” said George lucidly.</p> - -<p>“A long way off?” asked Edward.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear!” said George, “Don’t ask me. Right -away over all sorts of places.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>“Now, Demaine, listen,” said Evans, concentrating -“Could you see the sea?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said George with a shudder.</p> - -<p>“Could you see the river,—anything?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said George. “We got there at three, and -William telephoned from the station.”</p> - -<p>“But damn it all!” cried Edward, “what was the -name of the station?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said George, “I didn’t notice.”</p> - -<p>Edward tried another approach. “Were there -houses round it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, lots,” said George, “lots—and they had -laurels, and there was a lot of gas lamp-posts, and -there was a tramway—oh it was a beastly place!”</p> - -<p>Then Evans understood and Kent, the Garden of -England, was in his mind: Kent and one of its deeply -bosomed towns, Chislehurst haply or St. Mary Cray. -“But why did you go to Liverpool Street when you -got in at Cannon Street?” he said.</p> - -<p>“How did you know I got in at Cannon Street?” -asked George with wide-open eyes like a child who -sees the secretly marked card come out of the -pack.</p> - -<p>“Never mind. Why did you go to Liverpool -Street?”</p> - -<p>“William told me to,” answered George simply.</p> - -<p>“You’ll make a good front benchman,” said -Edward half to himself. “Do you know why he -told you to go to Liverpool Street?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said George, “I don’t.... I don’t know.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>“Well,” said Edward, as though conveying a profound -secret, “if ever you happen to be at Lowestoft, -that’s the way you get in to London.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, is it?” said George blankly.</p> - -<p>“Where did he buy your clothes?” asked Edward -suddenly, “what shop?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, in Parham somewhere,” said George, “I -don’t know where. I put ’em on before I started of -course. I couldn’t stay in a dressing-gown.”</p> - -<p>A thought occurred to Edward. He pulled back -the collar of Demaine’s coat, and saw marked upon a -tape, “Harrington Brothers, Parham.” Without so -much as asking his leave he cut the label.</p> - -<p>“What’s on the shirt?” he asked laconically.</p> - -<p>George opened his waistcoat and looked. “Six -sixty-six,” he said.</p> - -<p>“It is the mark of the beast,” said Edward.</p> - -<p>“Who do you mean?” said George, bewildered. -“William Bailey lent it to me.”</p> - -<p>“If you’d told me that,” said Edward, “I wouldn’t -have asked you what the mark was; and what’s more, -if you had told me the mark I could have told you -the owner. Good lord!” he muttered, “what other -man in England!... Had he hauled his Jewish -Encyclopedia down there?” he suddenly turned -round to ask.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said George eagerly, “how did you -know?”</p> - -<p>“Oh nothing,” said Edward, “only I know he is -fond of it. Did you eat ham?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>“Yes,” said George thinking closely, “I did. Yes, -I remember distinctly, I did.”</p> - -<p>The expression of Edward was completely satisfied.</p> - -<p>The time had come for their return. George, -whose carelessness about money had received very -distinct and very severe shocks in the last few -months—nay, in the last few days—insisted upon -paying, and Edward, who knew more than was good -for him, allowed him to pay: and further advised -him to spend the morrow, Thursday, in bed. -“At any rate,” he concluded, “not where the sharks -can get at you. Wait till Dolly sends, and that’ll be -Friday, I know.”</p> - -<p>They drove back to Demaine House, and Sudie, -having heard the news from half London, was left to -deal with the truant as she saw fit.</p> - -<p>As for Edward, he was back late at night in -Downing Street where bread-and-butter called him. -But he found his chief with the mood of that happy -afternoon long past, for, one encumbrance well discharged, -the other did but the more gravely harass -him, and the memory of Repton, of Repton doing he -knew not what,—perhaps at that very moment -wrecking any one of twenty political arrangements—tortured -him beyond bearing.</p> - -<p>But as the Premier had justly thought that afternoon, -the tide had turned; and when the tide -turns in the fairway of a harbour, though it turns -here and there with eddies and with doubt, at last -it sets full, and so it was now with the fortunes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -our beloved land and of its twentyfold beloved -Cabinet.</p> - -<p>Repton was at that very moment restored to -his right mind—his Caryll’s Ganglia were restored to -their normal function—and would never tell the truth -again.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIV</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap2">ALL night Sir Charles Repton had tossed in an -uneasy slumber; all night his faithful wife -Maria had sat up watching him. She dared not trust -a trained nurse; she dared not trust a single member -of the household, for he muttered as he slept strange -things concerning the governance of England, and -stranger things concerning his own financial schemes.</p> - -<p>At one moment, it was about half-past four in the -morning,—much at the time when Demaine, seventy -miles away, upon the bosom of the ocean, had woken -to see the sun—his predecessor in the Wardenship of -the Court of Dowry (and still the titular holder of -that office) had started suddenly up in bed, and -violently denounced a man with an Austrian name as -having cheated him by obtaining prior information -upon the Budget. He asked rapidly in his mania -why Consols had gone up in the first week of April, -and would not be pacified until his wife, with the tact -that is born of affection, had assumed the rôle of the -unpleasing foreigner and had confessed all. Then -and then only was he pacified and fell into the first -true sleep he had enjoyed for twenty-four hours. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -slept until eleven, and she, brave woman that she was, -snatched some little sleep at his side, but only upon -the edge of sleep as it were, waking at any moment -to shield him from the consequences of his disease.</p> - -<p>When he woke she herself made it her duty to go -downstairs and fetch him his breakfast, but though -his repose had recruited his body, his dear mind was -still unhinged.</p> - -<p>He would have it that the Royal Family when they -invested in some concern were not registered under -their true names, and he began a long wild rambling -harangue about the death duties and some new story -about yet another outlandish name, and the insufficiency -of the taxes for which it was responsible. -The whole thing was described in a manner so -clear and sensible as added to the horror of the -contrast between his sanity and that other dreadful -mood.</p> - -<p>By noon, still lying in his bed, he was contrasting -to her wearied ear the cost of the Tubes in London -as against those in Paris, and making jokes about -“boring through the London clay.” He went on to -ask why a friend of his had drawn his salary as a -Minister for some little time after his death, and -suddenly went off at a tangent upon the noble -self-sacrifice of Lord Axton in exiling himself to a -tropic clime, threatening that unfortunate peer with -certain bankruptcy and possible imprisonment unless -a report upon the Bitsu Marsh were favourable. -Then for a blessed half-hour he was silent.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>At the end of it he called for a pen and paper, and -wrote a number of short notes. Luckily he gave -them to her to be posted; she read but a few, and -with trembling hands she burned them all, even the -stamps, though she knew how particular he had been -in the old days on that detail.</p> - -<p>He dressed and came down. She persuaded him—oh -how lovingly,—to sit in his favourite room -overlooking the Park. She forgot that it overlooked -the crowded throng, and from close upon one until -late in the afternoon this devoted angel clung to him -while he poured out meaningless denunciations of all -his world, up hill and down dale, relieved from time -to time (a relief to him but not to her) by a sudden -throwing up of the window, and an address to the -passers-by.</p> - -<p>He warned more than one omnibus as it passed, of -an approaching combine between the various lines, -and urged the shareholders to buy while yet there -was time. At one awful moment he had begun -excitedly to point out the figure of a Bishop upon the -opposite pavement and to begin a full biography of -that hierarch, when she thought it her duty to slam -down the window and to bear the weight of his anger -rather than permit the scene.</p> - -<p>Small knots of people gathered outside the house, -but the police had been warned and they were -easily dispersed, with no necessity for violence beyond -the loss of a tooth or two on the part of the -crowd.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>As though her task were not enough, the house was -full of the noise of bells, message after message -calling for news and for information, but she had -already given orders to the secretary to write out -whatever commonplace messages might occur to him, -and he faithfully performed his duty.</p> - -<p>In her confusion she could see no issue but to try -yet another night’s sleep, and when he carried his -hand to his head as he now and then did, when the -touch of pain stung him, she comforted herself with -this assurance, that a paroxysm of such violence -could not long endure.</p> - -<p>I say a paroxysm of such violence, though there -was nothing violent in the man’s demeanour: the -horror lay in the cold contrast between the pleasant -easy tone in which the things were said and the -things that were said in that pleasant easy tone, while -the violence was no more than the violence of contrast -between his absurd affirmations and the quiet current -of the national life.</p> - -<p>The printing of one-tenth of those simple, easily -delivered words might have ruined the country. We -owe it to Lady Repton—and I trust it will never be -forgotten—that no syllable of them all was printed, -and that the greater part of them were not even heard -by any other ear than her own.</p> - -<p>She had persuaded him to an early dinner; she -had even put it at the amazing hour of half-past -seven. She had ordered such food as she knew he -best loved, and the wine that soothed him most—which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> -happened to be a Norman champagne. She -was particular to request a full service of attendance, -for her experience told her that in such surroundings -he was ever at his best.</p> - -<p>Another attack of pain in the head seized him and -passed. She sat doggedly, and endured. This -admirable wife after her day-long watch was -exhausted and heart-sick. She saw no issue anywhere. -She sat by her husband’s side, starting -nervously at the least sound from below, and -listening to his impossible commentaries upon -contemporary life, his hair-raising stories of his -friends, his colleagues and even of her own religious -pastors, and his bouts of self-revelations, or rather let -us hope, of diseased imaginings, when there was put -into her hand an express letter.</p> - -<p>The superscription was peculiar; it ran:</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="gapright">To the Rt. Hon.</span><br /> -<span class="gapright">To the</span><br /> -<span class="gap2">The Lady C. Repton, M.V.O.</span></p> - -<p>She opened it in wonderment. Its contents were far -simpler than its exterior: they ran as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Madam</span>,—Your husband’s case noted as per -enclosed cutting. I know what is wrong with him -and I can cure him. My price is five hundred dollars -($500.00) one hundred pounds (£100). The operation -is warranted not to take more than ten minutes of his -valuable time.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>“Will call upon you when you are through tea -and he is quite rested, somewheres round eight o’clock.</p> - -<p class="right">“Yrs. etc., <span class="smcap">Scipio Knickerbocker</span>”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>Caught in the fold of this short note was a newspaper -paragraph and a card printed in gold letters upon -imitation ivory:</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Dr. Scipio Knickerbocker, M.D.</span><br /> -415 Tenth St.<br /> -<span class="gap2">London, Ont.</span><br /> - -<span class="gap4">And the Savoy Hotel.</span></p> - -<p>Had she been alone she would have prayed for -guidance.</p> - -<p>Eight o’clock, of all hours! And what was -“Ont.”?</p> - -<p>Drowning women catch at straws. Under no -other conceivable circumstances would Lady Repton -have caught at such a wretched straw as this. But -the faculty had deserted her, she had no remedy; she -saw, she knew, everybody knew, that her husband -was mad; she divined from twenty indications and -especially from the suddenness of the pain, that -the madness was some simple case of mechanical -pressure. And suppose this man really knew how -to cure him? She dared not ask her husband to put -yet earlier the hour of his meal, at which he had -already grumbled; beside which, it was too late. -The incomprehensible Scipio would arrive.</p> - -<p>She was still in an agony of doubt when she -accompanied her husband (who as he went down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -the stairs and entered the dining-room was chatting -gaily upon the amours of a prominent member of -the Opposition) and as their lonely meal proceeded -in the presence of those great over-dressed mutes, -their servants, to all her other anxieties was added -her irresolution upon the prime question, whether -she should or should not accept the desperate -aid of an utterly unknown man, perhaps an -adventurer.</p> - -<p>Just as Sir Charles had finished his soup, and -with it his amusing little story about the Baronetcy -which though it had been paid for by the son and -heir (who was solvent) came out after all in the -Birthday List as a Knighthood,—just as he had -finished his soup I say, he gave a loud cry and put -both hands to his head just behind the ears.</p> - -<p>“Crickey how it hurts, William!” he remarked to -the butler.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Charles,” said the butler in the tone of -a hierarch at his devotions.</p> - -<p>“It’s gone now,” said the Baronet, with a sigh of -relief, “but it <i>does</i> hurt when it comes! What’s the -fish?” and he continued his meal.</p> - -<p>He drank a great gulp of wine and was better.... -“It’s dry,” he said doubtfully, “it’s too dry ... -but there are advantages to <i>that</i>. You know why -they make wine dry, William?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Charles.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! you do, do you? You’re getting too smart. -You couldn’t tell me, I’ll bet brazils!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>“No, Sir Charles.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Repton with a merry wink, “it’s to -save your mouth next morning!” Then up went -his hands to his head again and he groaned.</p> - -<p>“Is your head hurting you again, darling?” said -Lady Repton when she saw the gesture repeated.</p> - -<p>“Yes, damnably,” said Sir Charles in a loud tone. -“It’s hurting just under both ears, just where Sambo -gave ... ah! that’s better ... (a gasp) ... gave -the Tomtit that nasty one in the big fight I went -to see last week—the night I telephoned home to -say that I was kept at the House,” he added by -way of explanation.</p> - -<p>The servants stood around like posts, and Lady -Repton endured her agony.</p> - -<p>“I think what I should have enjoyed most,” mused -Sir Charles after this revelation, “would have been -to run across old Prout just as I came out of that -Club. Not that he knows anything about such -things, but still, it was a pretty lousy place. Besides -which, the people I was with! It would have been -fun to see old Prout sit up. Shouldn’t wonder if -he’d refused to let me speak at the Parson’s Show -after that; and in <i>that</i> case,” ended Sir Charles -significantly tapping his trousers pocket, “there’d -be an end to the wherewith!” He nodded genially -to his wife. “There’d be a drying up of the needful! -Wouldn’t there, William?” he suddenly demanded -of the gorgeous domestic, who was at that moment -pouring him out some wine.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>“Yes, Sir Charles,” said the hireling in a tone -of the deepest respect.</p> - -<p>“That’s what keeps ’em going, my dear,” he said, -“and here’s to you,” he added, lifting his glass. -“Are you put out about something?” he said, with -real kindness in his voice.</p> - -<p>“It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” said that really -Christian woman, nearly bursting into tears.</p> - -<p>“I’m really very sorry if I’ve hurt your feelings in -any way, my dear,” said Charles Repton.</p> - -<p>No symptom of his malady was more distressing -than this unmanly softness, it was so utterly different -from his daily habit.</p> - -<p>“I’d never dream of wounding her ladyship intentionally; -would I, William?” he asked again.</p> - -<p>“No, Sir Charles,” said William.</p> - -<p>“I think we’d better go upstairs, dear,” said the -unfortunate lady. “Oh dear!” she sighed as a -sudden peal rang through the house, and then subsiding, -she said: “Oh it’s only a bell!”</p> - -<p>“Her ladyship’s nervous to-night, William,” said -Repton as one man should to another.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Charles,” repeated William in a grave -monotone.</p> - -<p>A card was brought in upon a salver of enormous -dimensions and of remarkable if hideous workmanship.</p> - -<p>Lady Repton recognised the name.</p> - -<p>“I must go out a moment. I’ll be back in a -moment, Charles.” She looked at him with a world<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -of anxiety and affection, and left him chatting gaily -to the servant.</p> - -<p>Scipio Knickerbocker stood without.</p> - -<p>Any doubts upon the matter were settled not only -by his appearance but by his first phrase which ran -in a singular intonation:</p> - -<p>“Lady <i>C.</i> Repton? I am Scipio Knickerbocker, -M.D. (Phillipsville), Ma’am,”—and he bowed. He -was an exceedingly small man; he wore very long -hair beautifully parted in the middle; his jaw was so -square, deep and thrust forward as to be a positive -malformation, but to convey at the same time an -impression of indomitable will, not to say mulish -obstinacy. His arms and legs were evidently too -thin for health, and the development of his chest was -deplorable. He was dressed in exceedingly good -grey cloth, but his collar, oddly enough, was of -celluloid. His buttoned boots were of patent leather, -his tie had been tied once and for ever, and sewed -into the shape it bore. He carried in his left hand -an ominous little black leather bag.</p> - -<p>“Come into this room,” said Lady Repton hurriedly. -She took him into a small room next to the dining-room, -and communicating with it by a little door; -she switched on the electric light and stood while she -asked him breathlessly what credentials he had.</p> - -<p>“Ma’am,” said the physician in a metallic staccato, -“I hev no credentials. What I propose to-night will -be my sole credential.”</p> - -<p>In the silence before her reply, Sir Charles’ merry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> -monologue, occasionally broken by the grave assent -of the butler, could be heard in the next room.</p> - -<p>“What do you say you can do?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Ma’am, let me first tell <i>you</i> right now what -the Senator’s gotten wrawng with him. In nineteen -fourteen, month of September, I could not hev told -you; but in nineteen fourteen, month of October, -I could: fur your distinguished British physicist -<i>and</i> biologist, Henry Upton, then pro-mulgated his -eppoch-making discovery. You hev hurd tell of -Caryll’s Ganglia?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Lady Repton nervously, and in a -quavering voice, “I have not.”</p> - -<p>“Ma’am,” said the Imperial authority with perfect -composure, “I hev them here.”</p> - -<p>He dived into his bag and produced a little card -on which was perfectly indicated the back of the -human head, only with the skin and hair removed; -two lumps on either side of the neck of this diagram -bore in large red letters, “Caryll’s Ganglia,” and two -white lines leading from them bore in smaller -type, “Caryll’s Ducts.”</p> - -<p>This card he gravely put into her hands. She -looked at it with some disgust: it reminded her of -visits to the butchers’ during the impecuniosity of -her early married life.</p> - -<p>When, as the Son of Empire fondly imagined, -his hostess had thoroughly grasped the main lines -of cerebral anatomy, he suddenly thrust his hand -into the bag again and pulled out a little pamphlet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -which, as it is carefully printed at the end of this -book and as the reader will most certainly skip it, I -shall not inflict upon her in this place.</p> - -<p>It was a reproduction, in portable form, of the -great lecture delivered in the January of that year -at the Royal Institute. It set forth the late Henry -Upton’s discovery that Caryll’s Ganglia were the seat -of self-restraint and due caution in the Human Brain.</p> - -<p>The poor woman was too bewildered to make -head or tail of it, and whether the reader give herself -the pains to peruse it or no is indifferent, for -its contents in no way affect this powerful and -moving tale.</p> - -<p>“Madame,” he said when she lifted her eyes from -it and as he fondly imagined had mastered its details,—“you -do not perhaps see the con-nection.”</p> - -<p>Her face assured him that she did not.</p> - -<p>“Neither,” he added grandiloquently, “did the -world, until I perceived that if indeed such functions -attached to Caryll’s Ganglia, why the least obstruction -of their ducts would condemn the sufferer to -occasional violent pain accompanied by such inability -to refrain from expression as must ruin his career -and ultimately make a wreck of his bodily frame. -Madame, cases of such obstruction I hev found to -hev occurred in the ducts. Madame, <i>I</i> discovered -by what slight touch of the lancet the tiny <i>im</i>pediment -could be instantly removed. Madame,” he -continued, “the Caryll’s ducts in Sir Charles’ head -are ob-structed, hence the recurrent pain and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -lamentable attack of <small>VERACITITIS</small> from which he -in-dub-it-ab-ly suffers.”</p> - -<p>“Velossy what?” gasped Lady Repton.</p> - -<p>“<i>Veracititis</i>, Ma’am. The phrase is my own; for -it is I who have identified the relation between the -ganglia and the distressing symptoms you have -observed. He stands before you, <i>he</i> does. Madame, -it is already enshrined in the proofs of the Columbia -Encyclopedia”—he dived once more into his bag -and handed her yet another paper—“as <i>Veracititis -Knickerbockeriensis</i>. In Ontario since Washington’s -Birthday, we hev hed three cases; I was called over -privately a month ago for a most distressing case, -luckily suppressed—never hurd of, Madame, outside -the family. I hev operated with success. Ma’am, I -can operate with success upon your husband.”</p> - -<p>At this moment a loud scream of pain from the -next room, followed by a gasp of relief and the -expletive “Great Cæsar’s Ghost!” almost decided -Sir Charles’ faithful spouse. Another scream that -proved the spasms to be increasing in violence quite -decided her. She hurriedly re-entered the dining-room, -found Sir Charles white with the severity of -the suffering, and took him gently by the hand.</p> - -<p>“Darling,” she said, “I have a practitioner who -can relieve this. He is waiting for you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” sighed Sir Charles, as the pain left him, “I’m -glad to hear it, profoundly glad. They’re all such -scoundrels, Maria, ... but if he’s a surgeon and can -cut something out, I’ll trust him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>“It won’t be as bad as that,” said Maria, tenderly -helping the Baronet out through the small door -towards the inner room.</p> - -<p>Hardly had he set his eyes on the little doctor -when he burst into a hearty laugh.</p> - -<p>“What a ridiculous little ass, Maria!” he said at -the top of his voice. “Good lord, what a little -rat!”</p> - -<p>If proof were wanted of the truth of Scipio’s -contention, his demeanour at this painful moment -was sufficient. It was plainly evident to Lady -Repton’s not insufficient dose of intellect that no -man would have stood firm who had not seen the -ghastly disease in its worst forms before.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Sir Charles, “so you’re going to cut -me up, are you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! <i>My</i> no!” said Scipio. “Lady Repton -would never hev permitted a serious operation without -your full con-currence. My proposition, Senator, is -nawthing but two slight pricks in the neighbourhood -of the pain. Ye’ll hardly feel it, but it’ll change -ye,” added the determined Knickerbocker with a -suspicion of a smile upon his bony jaws.</p> - -<p>“What with?” said Sir Charles a little nervously. -(“Ouch!” by way of digression as there was a stab -of pain.) “Yes, anything, s’long as you can do it -quickly.”</p> - -<p>“It don’t take but a moment,” said Scipio. “But -there’d better be some one hold your hands. There’s -no pain worth accountin’.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>“Might we re-quest the Senator to be seated?” -he politely suggested to the lady.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles as politely commented: “I’m not a -Senator, you skimpy little fool! Good lord, Maria, -where do people like that come from?”</p> - -<p>And as he chatted thus, Scipio passed one firm hard -skeleton hand over the top of that great brain, and -with the other, even as Sir Charles, with his chin bent -upon his chest, was occupied in explaining to Maria -the physical deficiencies of his medical attendant, -he put the edge of the lancet in the precise position -behind the ear which his science had discovered.</p> - -<p>“It’s his beastly Yankee accent, if it isn’t that -beastlier thing, the Australian,” the great Imperialist -was in the act of saying when the lancet struck -suddenly and was as suddenly withdrawn.</p> - -<p>“You’re quite right, monkey,” said Sir Charles in -a weaker voice, “it’s only a prick, and I think”—his -voice still sinking,—“that it’s only due to your -great position in the medical world that I should -express my heartfelt thanks for your courteous -services. It is men like you, sir, who mean to -suffering humanity....” Sir Charles suddenly -stopped. His voice grew a little louder. “Did you -say he was a Yankee or an Australian, Maria? -Australians have the Cockney ‘a’; a filthy thing it -is, too!”</p> - -<p>The skeleton hand was poised again upon Sir -Charles’ head; he felt his chin pressed down upon -his chest; there was another sharp little stroke, this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> -time behind his left ear, and with a deep sigh he -seemed to sink into himself.</p> - -<p>Scipio quietly touched the delicate point of his -instrument with antiseptic wool, put it back into -its case and watched his patient with a professional -eye.</p> - -<p>The man was dazed. He gripped his wife’s hand -until he almost caused her pain, and they could -hear him mutter disconnected words:</p> - -<p>“The highest possible appreciation.... My -public position alone ... sufficient reward ... in -its way a link between ... provinces ... -our great Empire ... daughter ... daughter ... -daughter....” Then almost inaudibly “... <small>nations</small>.”</p> - -<p>For perhaps five minutes the Great Statesman -was silent, and his breathing was so regular that he -might have been asleep.</p> - -<p>“Will he go to sleep, doctor?” whispered Lady -Repton.</p> - -<p>Scipio Knickerbocker shook his head. “He’ll be -less rattled every minute, Ma’am,” was his pronouncement, -and once again he proved his science -by the justice of his prognostication.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles stood up, a little groggy, leant one -hand on the back of a chair, took a deep breath, -stood up more strongly, and said at last in a voice -still weak but quite clear:—</p> - -<p>“Thank you sir. How can I thank you? I seem -to remember”—he passed his hand over his forehead—“I -seem to remember some one telling me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -that you were born,—though I assure you it is -impossible for us in England to distinguish it,—in -one of our Britains Overseas. Sir, an action such as -that which you have just done—a good deed if I -may call it so,” he went on more loudly, seizing -Scipio’s right hand between both of his, “is a -cement of Empire! I will never forget it, never! -Will you excuse me a moment sir, while I speak to -Lady Repton?”</p> - -<p>With his best and most winning smile Sir Charles -asked this question of Scipio, who for the tenth or -eleventh time that evening, bowed with a kink in -the fourteenth vertebra.</p> - -<p>He drew his wife into the hall.</p> - -<p>“I suppose he wants payment on the spot, doesn’t -he, Maria? These specialists usually do.”</p> - -<p>“Yes dear,” said Lady Repton, her old awe -returning with his changed mood. “Yes dear, I’m -afraid he does ... he ... in fact, I’m afraid I -promised it him.”</p> - -<p>“How much?” said Sir Charles sternly.</p> - -<p>“Well dear, it doesn’t matter, does it? I’ll -pay.”</p> - -<p>“But it does matter. It matters a great deal, -Maria. It all comes out of <i>my</i> pocket in the long -run. How much did he stipulate for?”</p> - -<p>“A hundred pounds,” said Lady Repton.</p> - -<p>“Oh come,” said Sir Charles, greatly relieved. -“A hundred! That’s a good lot. How often will -he come for that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>“He won’t want to come again, dear,” said Lady -Repton.</p> - -<p>“What!” said Sir Charles, “a hundred pounds -for that?”</p> - -<p>“My dear—if you knew the difference!” said -Lady Repton.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, I know,” he said impatiently, “the -pain’s gone. It can’t be helped, and of course -ninety’s a broken sum. He’d have taken fifty, -Maria. I ought to have seen to this myself,” he -added.</p> - -<p>And so, the matter settled, he returned.</p> - -<p>“You’ll allow me to leave you one moment with -her ladyship,” he said in his most winning manner. -Then suddenly, “<i>Good</i>-night,” and with a warm grasp -of the hand Sir Charles left them.</p> - -<p>Lady Repton was moved beyond words. She -put into the young man’s hand a packet of notes -which she had carefully prepared. “It is nothing,” -she said, “it is nothing for what you have done, but -oh, doctor, will it last?”</p> - -<p>“It’ll last for ever—at least,” he corrected himself -hurriedly, “they’ve all lasted so fur, and it’s more’n -a year since I did the first. It isn’t the <i>kind</i> er -thing that comes on again. ’Tain’t a growth.” He -was almost going to say what it was, when he -remembered that he held the monopoly. Then, -lest he should stay too long in that house where -he was, after all, but a paid instrument, he very -courteously bade her good-night, and as he went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -home, carrying his little bag, Scipio reflected -that he liked Maria, Lady Repton, better than he -did her husband. But he remembered that operations -for Veracititis were, of their nature, causes for -grievous disillusion.</p> - -<p>He put the matter from his mind and took a cab -back to his hotel and to bed.</p> - -<p>Thus was Sir Charles Repton cured of Veracititis, -late upon Wednesday night, the 3rd of June, 1915, -and he slept his old sleep.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XV</h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">IT was Friday morning, the 5th of June, 1915, -and the young and popular Prime Minister -was busied in the Inaugural Ceremony of the -Wardenship of the Court of Dowry.</p> - -<p>Repton or no Repton, the place must be filled. -Demaine was back and Demaine must be there -on the front bench before there was an explosion.</p> - -<p>The Inaugural Ceremony which introduces a -Statesman to the Wardenship of the Court of -Dowry, technically called “L’Acceptance,” in strict -constitutional practice requires the presence of at -least three persons, the outgoing Warden (technically -the Dischargee), the incoming Warden (technically -the Discoverer) and the Sovereign; but since -GHERKIN had, in spite of his eccentric -Radicalism, raised the office to its present position, -the outgoing Warden could be represented by -proxy, though such a substitution was rarely made -since it eliminated the quaint custom of the “Braise”—one -hundred pounds one hundred shillings one -hundred pence, and a new brass farthing specially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -minted for the occasion, the whole in a silver-gilt -case, and handed over to the outgoer, to be regarded -with historic respect and some one of its coins to -be kept as an heirloom.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>But Dolly, as he considered the situation on the -Friday morning, Friday the 5th of June, 1915, could -see no way out of it; he must simply tell Lady -Repton briefly, and best by telephone, that she -must not dream of her husband’s appearing at Court, -even with a keeper, and that it would be necessary -for the Repton household to forego the hundred -sovereigns, the hundred shillings, the hundred pence -and the new brass farthing specially minted for the -occasion (the whole in a silver-gilt case), rather than -have a scandal.</p> - -<p>It was Friday, and he was glad to remember it, a -Private Members’ Day. There were no questions. -There was all Saturday and Sunday before him. -He would arrange for the Inauguration the very -next week. He was already advised that the -officials had been permitted by the highest authority, -in view of Demaine’s recent privations when he was -blown out to sea in the little boat, treacherously -abandoned by the foreign vessel and rescued by -the willing hands, etc., to omit the final accolade -with the ebony cudgel which had now for so many -generations formed the last and most picturesque -feature of the ritual.</p> - -<p>He took up his telephone and asked the next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> -room to put him on to the Reptons. He held the -receiver while a servant told him that his message -should be immediately communicated, and then in -a few seconds, heard, to his great astonishment, not -the tremulous tones of Maria, but the masterly voice -of Sir Charles, as incisive and direct as of old, -saying, “What is it?” in the tone of a man who -must come at once to business and has many things -to do.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” cried Dolly into the machine, quite taken -aback. “That’s you, Repton, is it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course,” came the answer shortly. -“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Oh nothing. Are you feeling better?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what you mean.” This in -restrained, quite unmistakable tones. “My headache’s -gone, if that’s what you mean.”</p> - -<p>“Ye-es,” said the Prime Minister, wondering -what on earth to say. “Yes.... Oh it’s gone, -has it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes it has; I’ve told you that already.” Then -after a pause, “Look here, I’m really very busy. I’ve -got three men here about that absurd concession. -You gave me a free hand, and I can’t wait. Hope -I’m not rude. It’s really very kind to ask after my -health. You’ll be in the House at twelve?” And -the telephone suddenly rang off.</p> - -<p>Dolly was in a stupor; he did what he always did, -when things perplexed him: he sent for Edward.</p> - -<p>“Edward,” he said, “that cracked Dissenter has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -got three men in his house and is talking about the -oil concession to them! Oh lord!”</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister was evidently frightened and -troubled, but he did not seem less frightened and -more troubled than the occasion warranted. He -couldn’t make Repton out: there seemed to be -another change.</p> - -<p>Edward answered simply: “Why that makes -three more who know,—that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Do get a taxi,” said the Prime Minister, “and see -what you can do.” And he waited anxiously till -Edward returned.</p> - -<p>“Well?” said Dolly as he entered.</p> - -<p>“Well!” said Edward. “He wasn’t very polite, -but—but—are you quite sure that you weren’t worried -when you saw him on Tuesday?”</p> - -<p>“Worried,” said Dolly, “I should think I was!”</p> - -<p>“Well that’s what I mean,” said Edward a little -uneasily. “Didn’t you ... didn’t you perhaps -exaggerate a little?”</p> - -<p>“<i>Exaggerate!</i>” said Dolly, jumping up with all -his youthful vigour, and looking for the moment -less than forty-eight in his excitement, “Why man -alive, he was wearing a huge great Easter Lily in his -buttonhole, and he tried to wrestle with the butler -in the hall!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but you know,” said Edward, “there’s gaiety -in everybody, and it comes out now and——”</p> - -<p>“Oh gaiety be blasted!” interrupted Dolly. “The -man was raving!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>“Well, they wouldn’t certify him anyhow,” said -Edward, “and he’s not raving <i>now</i>! He’s as sane -as a waxen image, and as sharp as an unexpected -pin. I’m glad <i>I’m</i> not doing business with him to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Look here,” protested the Prime Minister. “If -he wasn’t off, why did he stay at home like a prisoner -all Wednesday, with Lady Repton preventing any one -seeing him? And what was he doing all yesterday, -Thursday? Why didn’t he come down to the House, -eh, if he wasn’t off?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say he wasn’t ill,” said Edward blandly. -“I only said there might have been some exaggeration.”</p> - -<p>“Oh very well,” ended the Prime Minister wearily, -“oh very well!”</p> - -<p>Edward came to a swift decision and telephoned -first to the <i>Moon</i> then to the <i>Capon</i> privately that -“it was all right about Repton; there’d been a -mistake.” His chief went out on the duties of the -day.</p> - -<p>Yet <i>another</i> change of plan! More bother! He -would have to go through with the peerage now! -He went gloomily down to the House of Commons -and learned that Charles Repton was already in his -place, stiff, groomed and regular upon the Treasury -bench.</p> - -<p>Dolly came in nervously and shook hands with -him.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles took his hand rather coldly; he did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -not see why a couple of days’ headache which no one -had heard about should be made the excuse for so -much public affection. It emphasised the thing. -And he sat through the first hour of the debate -looking as if he would have been just as well pleased -to be made less fuss about. “Anyhow,” he thought -to himself by way of consolation, “I shall be rid of -it next week,” and his mind turned in an equable -fashion to his taking his seat in the Upper House and -to what his first business there might be.</p> - -<p>As he was so thinking George Mulross Demaine -came in quietly by one of the side doors. As he -entered there was a little subdued cheering from those -who remembered the announcement of his approaching -appointment. It flurried him a little. He sat -down and tried to forget it, while the debate -maundered on.</p> - -<p>In the Lobbies Repton continued to suffer somewhat -from occasional congratulations on his return to -health. He did not easily understand them, and he -was a trifle gruff in his replies. He was going into -the library for a little peace when a messenger put -a note into his hand; it was from the Duke of -Battersea.</p> - -<p>“More fuss!” he thought, but he went immediately -with his stiff, upright gait to where that great -Financier was waiting for him, and he greeted him -warmly enough.</p> - -<p>The Duke, like the business man he was, was very -brief and to the point. He congratulated Charles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> -Repton not (thank heaven!) on having got rid of the -slight headache which seemed to have filled the -thoughts of too many people, but upon the great -accession the Upper House was to receive, and then -the Duke having said so much went on to what he -really had to say, his pronunciation marred only -by that slight lisp which ill-natured reports so constantly -exaggerated. Sir Charles Repton (he said) -would remember the very disgraceful case of the -editor of the <i>Islington Hebdomadal Review</i>?</p> - -<p>Charles Repton tried to remember, but could not.</p> - -<p>Well, it wath the cathe of the man who had very -properly got twenty yearth of the betht for thaying -that he could reveal how old Ballymulrock had got -his peerage ... a dithgratheful cathe! There wath -blackmail behind it!</p> - -<p>Yes, Charles Repton could remember now, and he -smiled a grim smile as he considered the peculiar -ineptitude of that particular convict. Why old -Ballymulrock was the seventh in the title, he had -nothing a year, he was a doddering old bachelor of -eighty-seven, he had got it by a fluke from a half-nephew, -and it was only an Irish elective peerage at -that! The convict had pleaded a misprint! What -a fool! Yes, Sir Charles Repton could remember -the case. What about it? “I’m not going to take -any action to save him,” he said sharply, “if that’s -what you want: he deserved all he got! If you -want some one get Birdwhistlethorpe; Isaacs that -was: he knows North London.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>“Noh, noh, noh,” said the aged Duke of Battersea -in alarm, “you mithunderthand me!” And he -went on to tell the outgoing Warden that they -were determined to bring this sort of thing before -the House of Lords in a Resolution. Would he -move?</p> - -<p>“I don’t see what I’ve got to do with it,” said -Repton shortly.</p> - -<p>The Duke smiled as he had smiled years ago, -when he produced Lord Benthorpe’s paper and -brought that now forgotten personage to heel. Had -Sir Charles seen what the <i>Moon</i> had been saying -that very day?</p> - -<p>No, Sir Charles hadn’t. He supposed it was -about the oil concessions. He paid no attention -to the <i>Moon</i>. But Edward’s telephone to the <i>Moon</i> -and the <i>Capon</i> had borne dreadful fruit. Each editor -had thought to have regained his freedom.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Battersea’s smile grew more portentous; -he discovered a cutting in the inner pocket -of a coat which somehow or other always looked -greasy upon him, and as Sir Charles read it, his -face darkened.</p> - -<p>“It’s pretty scandalous,” he said as he laid it -down. For the leader in the <i>Moon</i> gave it to be -understood in no very roundabout way that there -had been a deal over Repton’s peerage.</p> - -<p>“The <i>Capon’th</i> worth, <i>far</i> worth!” insinuated the -Duke of Battersea.</p> - -<p>“Is it?” said Sir Charles, “indeed!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>“Yeth, indeed yeth,” said the aged Duke, putting -the paper forward as though over a counter; and -Sir Charles Repton could not forbear to read it. -It certainly <i>was</i> worse; it simply said point blank -that the Burmah Oil Concession was the price of -Repton’s promotion to the Upper House. And the -passage ended with these words:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“We have no desire to add to a domestic affliction -which no friend of the Government regrets more -sincerely than we do ourselves, and we are willing -to believe that the unfortunate gentleman, who we -fear can never again take his old place in public -life, was himself quite innocent of any such dealing; -but ambitions other than his own may have been -concerned in this matter, and the giving of permanent -legislative power to a man who now -notoriously can no longer take part in active public -life, does but add to the scandal.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>That decided him! He would nip off that headache -legend at once, and sharply!</p> - -<p>“Yes,” he said, “I’ll move as soon as you like, -and the sooner the better.” He did not say it as -though he was granting a favour; and it was -easy to see that the Duke was a little afraid of -him:—</p> - -<p>After a pause during which the two men rose -to part, the old gentleman suggested that Methlinghamhurst -should speak after him.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>“Messlingham <i>who</i>?” said Repton, puzzled. The -name was unfamiliar to him.</p> - -<p>“No, not Methlinghamhurtht! <i>Meth</i>linghamhurtht,” -said the Duke of Battersea, rather too -loud. “<i>Meth</i>linghamhurtht!”</p> - -<p>Sir Charles shook his head, still puzzled. “I -daresay he’s all right,” he said all starch.</p> - -<p>“<i>You</i> know,” said the Duke of Battersea, craning -forward in a confidential way, “Clutterbuck that -wath.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Clutterbuck! Yes, I remember. Well? -Can he speak?”</p> - -<p>“Not very well,” hesitated the Duke of Battersea, -“but you know he wanted....”</p> - -<p>“I really don’t care,” said Sir Charles moving -away. “Anyhow I’ll do it.”</p> - -<p>The Duke was profuse in his thanks.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Charles Repton returned to the House of -Commons. Another message!</p> - -<p>“The Prime Minister begged to see Sir Charles -Repton:” really there was no end to the number -of people wanting to see him that day! Charles -Repton went towards Dolly’s room with such -muscles showing upon his face as would have made -any one afraid to say another word about the headache,—but -it was not of the headache, at least not -of that directly, that Dolly had to speak.</p> - -<p>“Repton,” he said apologetically and in some -dread, “I’m afraid I made arrangements for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -proxy next week—I mean for L’Acceptance you -know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh you did!” said Sir Charles, really nettled. -“You might have asked me first I think!”</p> - -<p>“Well, you see,” began his unfortunate chief,—</p> - -<p>“As a fact I don’t see,” said Repton drily, “but -I suppose you’ve put it right. I’ve written to say I -should be there.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, certainly, certainly,” said Dolly hurriedly, -“I’ve changed it.” As a fact he’d done nothing of -the kind and was wondering what he should say -to the proxy. “Certainly!”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Charles Repton moving towards -the door. “That’s all, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s all,” said Dolly, with perhaps a -hundred more things to say. “I’ll see that you get -notice of the exact hour.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said Charles Repton briefly, and he -shut the door quietly but firmly behind him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The inaugural ceremony, though shorn for some -years of the backward entrance which was its most -picturesque feature, and now (though not as a precedent) -of the accost with the ebony cudgel, was -impressive enough. The silver-gilt case with the -Three Hundred and One specially minted Coins had -been put into Charles Repton’s Seisin by the Symbol -of the Flask of Palm Oil, and was already on its way -to his house; the tinkling shoes had been rapidly put -on and off, and Demaine had sworn fealty for sergeanty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -in Ponthieu and the Seniory of Lucq, and all the -embroglio was done.</p> - -<p>Lord Repton (for he was content with that simple -title—in the Manor of Giggleswick) was present for -the first time upon the red benches, awaiting the -moment for the debate upon the Resolution in which -he was to open and move.</p> - -<p>In the House of Commons George Mulross -Demaine, who for the last few days had been coaching -steadily in the duties of his post, and especially in the -really difficult technicalities of replying to questions, -was reading his notes for the last time in the comfortable -room assigned to his office, and repeating to -himself in a low tone the words he had so carefully -committed to memory. Edward was with him to -give him courage; and he needed such companionship.</p> - -<p>At last he was summoned.</p> - -<p>The House was very full for question-time, for it -was known or suspected that something of importance -would take place that day. The full nature of the -crisis had been understood by very few, but the disappearance -of Demaine and his return, his terrible -adventures in the fishing-boat, his night at sea, the -dastardly action of the foreign crew, and the heroic -succour which had ultimately reached him were public -property.</p> - -<p>The silent and little known young member whose -disappearance from the benches under the gallery -would never have been noticed, was half a hero<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> -already in the popular mind, and had become -particularly dear to his colleagues during the anxious -moments when he was believed to be lost, and when -the press of London had worked that mystery for all -it was worth.</p> - -<p>The House of Commons knows a <i>Man</i>.</p> - -<p>There was, therefore, loud and hearty cheering, -which, according to the beautiful tradition of our -public life, was confined to no one part of the assembly, -when, that happy Friday, George Mulross entered -rapidly from behind the Speaker’s chair, stumbled -over the outstretched foot of the Admiralty, his second -uncle by marriage, and took his seat for the first time -among his new colleagues upon the Treasury Bench.</p> - -<p>The Prime Minister accompanied him. Congratulations -suitable to the occasion were to be seen -in the gestures of those in his immediate neighbourhood, -and he himself wore the blest but sickly smile -of a man who is about to be hanged but who is -possessed of a fixed faith in a happy eternity.</p> - -<p>Only one question was set down to him; he had -read it and re-read it; he had read and re-read the -typewritten answer which Mr. Sorrel had furnished -him and which he had now got by heart beyond, he -hoped, the possibility of error. The questioner had -chivalrously offered to withdraw his query in deference -to the fatigues and anxieties through which the -new Warden of the Court of Dowry had so recently -passed, but the Prime Minister, though appreciative of -that offer, rather determined that his dear young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -relative should win his spurs; and trivial as the -subject was, Question No. 31 was by far the most -important upon the paper for most of those present.</p> - -<p>It concerned (of course) the wreck which still -banged about, the sport of wind and wave, upon -the Royal Sovereign Shoals. This aching tooth of -Empire had cropped up again in yet another aspect. -The Member for Harrowell, a landowner upon that -coast, wanted to know whether it was not a fact that -large planks studded, he was ashamed to say, with -long rusty nails, had not drifted shorewards from the -wreck and grievously scratched such persons as were -indulging in mixed bathing just off the popular and -rapidly rising seaside resort which lay a little east by -north of the wretched derelict.</p> - -<p>Question No. 29 was answered, Question 30 was -answered. Demaine’s ordeal had come.</p> - -<p>He heard a low mumbling noise some distance -down the benches which he would never have taken -to be the single word “Thirty-one” had not his -mother’s half-sister’s husband the Chancellor of the -Exchequer given him a sharp dig in the ribs with his -elbow and jolted him onto his feet. His hands shook -like a motor car at rest as he began his reply.</p> - -<p>“I have nothing to tell my right honourable -gentleman—I mean my honourable gentleman....” -Here there was a pause, painful to all present with the -exception of one ribald fellow who cackled twice and -then was silent.... “I have nothing to add,” George -Mulross began again with a lump in his throat, “in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -reply to my honourable friend—to what my predecessor -said in reply to a similar” (another pause) -... “Oh,—<i>question</i>—upon the tenth of this month.”</p> - -<p>He had read all of it out now, anyhow, and he sat -down, a trifle unsteadily, feeling for the seat.</p> - -<p>“Arre we to onderrstand,” boomed the voice of the -inevitable fanatic, “that the carrgo of GIN is yet -aboorrd...?”</p> - -<p>“Hey! what?” said Demaine over his shoulder, -with a startled air.</p> - -<p>“Get up and ask for notice,” whispered a colleague -very hurriedly. “Get up and say ‘I must ask for -notice of that question.’ Say ‘I must ask for notice -of that question.’ Get up quick.”</p> - -<p>Demaine got up, took hold of the box, turned his -back upon the questioner and looking full at the -harmless and startled Opposition said, not without -menace:</p> - -<p>“I must ask for a notice of that question”—and -sat down.</p> - -<p>There were a few more sympathetic cheers and -all was well. The Warden of the Court of Dowry -was launched upon his great career.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, beyond the Central Hall, Lord Repton -of Giggleswick was rising for the first time among -his Peers.</p> - -<p>That House also was full and was prepared to -give the spare towering figure and the stoical face -a sympathetic hearing, for the recognition of a man -who had served his country so faithfully and so well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> -and who had recently suffered a temporary malady -of so distressing a nature was universal and sincere.</p> - -<p>The House of Lords knows a <i>Man</i>.</p> - -<p>Lord Repton, even as plain Sir Charles, had always -been an admirable parliamentary speaker: not only -quick at debate but with a grave and lucid delivery -which, coupled with his intimate grasp of detail and -the sense of balanced judgment behind his tone, -made his one of the most effective voices in our -public life.</p> - -<p>It would be difficult to say by what art he contrived -to give in that large assembly the impression of -speaking as quietly as though he were in a private -room, and yet so managed that every word of his—every -syllable,—was heard in every corner of the -House.</p> - -<p>In the Peeresses’ Gallery women in mauve, heliotrope, -eau-de-nil, crapaud mort, and magenta, made -a brilliant scheme of colour.</p> - -<p>The Lords, who upon occasions of privilege are by -custom robed, gave to the splendid place the deeper -tone of red plush and white pelts with small black -tails which is otherwise reserved for such great -occasions of state as the Opening of Parliament, the -Coronation, an Impeachment or a Replevin at Large; -at the bar a crowd of Commoners pressed, many of -whom recognised in the faces before them those of -brothers, fathers, first cousins, debtors, creditors and -clients in business. It was an animated and an -impressive scene, and the audience, large as it was,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> -would doubtless have been larger but for an unfortunate -blunder by which the Eton and Harrow match -and a particularly interesting rehearsal of the Mizraim -dance were both fixed for that very afternoon.</p> - -<p>As it was, the two hundred or more Peers present -were finely representative of all that is best and -worst in the national life. The aged Duke of -Battersea had made a point not only of coming but -of speaking upon such an occasion; the Bishops had -turned up in full force, and the Colonial Peers, now -happily added to the ancient House, were remarkable -not only for their strict attention to this historic -business, but for their somewhat constrained attitudes: -not one was absent from his seat.</p> - -<p>The report of a speech, however excellent, is but -a dull reflection of the original, as all may judge who -consider the contrast between the entrancing rhetoric -which daily holds spellbound the House of Commons -and the plain prose appearing in the morning -papers.</p> - -<p>It would ill repay the reader for the courtesy and -charm she has shown throughout the perusal of these -pages, were I to inflict upon her a mere verbatim -transcript of Lord Repton’s famous harangue. But -the gist of it well merits record here, not only because -it did much to kill a poisonous spirit which had till -then been growing in English journalism—but also -because it was in itself a typical and splendid monument -of the things that build up the soul of a -great man.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>He began in the simplest manner with a review of -what had determined some of them to bring forward -this Resolution. It needed no reiteration upon his -part, and indeed the matter was so painful that -the mere recalling of it must be made as brief as -possible.</p> - -<p>“It has been suggested that places in that House -are acquired by process of purchase.</p> - -<p>“There, in plain English, is the accusation.”</p> - -<p>He would remark in passing that the cowards and -slanderers—he did not hesitate to use strong language—(and -even the sanctity of the precincts could not -check a murmur of approval), the cowards and -slanderers who brought forward that general accusation, -dared not make it particular.</p> - -<p>“In one case,” he said, turning gravely to the place -where he expected to see but was disappointed not -to see the very aged frame of Lord Ballymulrock, -“in one case which referred to a peer whose health I -am distressed to say has made it impossible for him -to be present upon this occasion” (a protest from an -exceedingly old man who sat folded up on high—it -was Bally himself!), “in one case a direct accusation -has been made.... Melords, you know the issue. -An appeal still lies, and it is not for me to deal with -a matter which is <i>sub judice</i>; but apart from that -case, these anonymous hacks who have for so long -corrupted or attempted to corrupt the public mind -in respect to this House, confine themselves to -generalities upon which the law can take no hold.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>It was upon this very account that the general -resolution of which he had spoken had been framed, -and he would pass at once from the unsavoury -recollection of such acts, to that part of his argument -which he thought would have most weight with his -fellow-subjects.</p> - -<p>“This House, including the more recent creations, -the Colonial Peers, and the ex-officio additions with -which a recent—and in my opinion a beneficent -reform—has recruited it, still numbers less than -fifteen hundred men. Of these the ex-officio members, -the lords spiritual” (and he bowed to the Bishop of -Shoreham, who was deaf) “the elected members from -the Britains Overseas (among whom I am glad to -see present the Nerbuddah Yah) between them -account for no less than forty-two. Two hundred -and eighty” (he quoted from a paper in his hand) “are -imbeciles, minors or permanent invalids; somewhat -over fifty are for one reason or another incapacitated -from attendance at their debates; ten are in -gaol.”</p> - -<p>“Now, Melords,” he continued, “of the eleven -hundred remaining—they are roughly eleven -hundred,—what do we find? We find”—emphatically -striking his right-hand fist into his left-hand -palm,—“we find no less than five hundred and -twelve to be the sons of their fathers—or in some -other way direct heirs: ninety-eight to have -succeeded to their titles from collaterals of the first -or of the second degree; sixteen to have succeeded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> -in some more distant manner; eleven to owe their -position to the revival of ancient tenures; the claims -of six to have been recently proved through the -female line; and one by Warranty and Novel -Disseizin. What remains?”</p> - -<p>He looked round the eager assembly before him -with an attitude of the head dignified but wonderfully -impressive.</p> - -<p>“Melords, I ask again, what remains? <i>Less than -four hundred men</i>, the representatives of all the chief -energies of our national life. We have here the -great champions of industry, the great admirals of -our fleets, the great generals of our armies—and -I am happy to include the Salvation Army, (the -head of that great organisation lifted his biretta)—men -who have distinguished themselves in every -conceivable path of public life, who have loyally -served their country and many of whom after such -service are still honourably poor.”</p> - -<p>At this phrase which was evidently the approach -to his peroration, many Peers who had hitherto been -sitting with their knees apart, crossed one leg over -the other; some few who, on the contrary, had had -their legs crossed, uncrossed them and reposed both -feet upon the floor; more than one took the -opportunity to recline his head upon his right hand, -and the most venerable member of the bench of -Bishops coughed in a manner that would have wrung -a heart of stone.</p> - -<p>When these slight interruptions were over, Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> -Repton of Giggleswick found it possible to proceed. -He showed by a strict process of inquiry how those -to whom the abominable suggestion might conceivably -apply, could not by any stretch of the -imagination amount to eighty in number.</p> - -<p>“Less than eighty men, Melords, in an assembly -of fifteen hundred! Hardly five per cent.—hardly, -if I may use a bold metaphor, thirteen pence in the -pound! It is by this proportion alone, even did -these detestable falsehoods contain—which they do -not—a grain of truth, that our whole body is forsooth -to be judged! But, Melords, who are these eighty -men, if I do not insult them by permitting my -argument to approach their names?</p> - -<p>“I will not cite my own case; my public career is -open for any man to examine, and I think I know -the temper of my own people too well to delay upon -that score. But there are around me others perhaps -(I know not) more sensitive, or less experienced in -the petty villainies of the world, than am I, who -may have thought themselves especially marked -out.</p> - -<p>“I ask, against which of them could such an -accusation be levelled by name, without the certitude -of such a result in any Court of Justice as would -silence the mouth of the libeller for many years? -Is it, Melords, the man to whom we owe the great -reservoir at Sing Yan? Is it that world-famous -Englishman who by his organising ability, his -untiring industry and his knowledge of men, has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> -built up the United Sausage Company’s emporiums -throughout the length and breadth of the land?</p> - -<p>“I might extend the list indefinitely: Melords, to -no one of these, to no one member of this House -I venture to say, can words of this kind be addressed -without their falsity being apparent almost without -need for proof.</p> - -<p>“I repeat in the words of Burke, ‘No, no, no, a -thousand times no.’ I am not ashamed to recall -the glorious phrase with which these walls echoed -to the voice of Ephraim ten years ago: ‘Give me such -principles as these and I will trample them into the -dust beneath my feet!’”</p> - -<p>Having said so much, Lord Repton sat down, and -it is a tribute to the fire and the conviction of the -man that a young heiress of African Origin but -recently married, who had been listening intently -from the Peeresses’ Gallery throughout the latter -part of the speech, gave a low moan and fainted clean -away.</p> - -<p>Her young form was borne down to the buttery -by a strong posse of attendants where the air from -the Terrace soon revived her. I mention the incident -only as a signal proof of the oratorical powers that -had illumined Repton’s great career.</p> - -<p>After such an effort Lord Methlinghamhurst -necessarily somewhat palled, especially as an imperfection -in his diction, failing eyesight and a certain -loss of memory compelled him to make long and -uncomfortable pauses over the large printed slip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> -which he held in his hand, but it was over at last, -and the Duke of Battersea rose amid the evident -interest of such as remained to hear him, no less than -five of whom were concerned with himself in the -Anapootra Ruby Mines.</p> - -<p>The great financier did well to interpose upon -such an occasion. His lisp, with which the House -was now familiar, was the only impediment to a -sincere and vigorous piece of English. There was -not a word which the most exuberant would presume -to add, nor one which the most fastidious would -dare to erase.</p> - -<p>The proceedings had occupied something close -upon three-quarters of an hour, and the Senate, -unused to such delays, was impatient to pass to the -vote, when, to the universal horror of that hall, -Ballymulrock tottered to his feet. There was almost -a stampede. Luckily the Aged Man was as brief -as he was inaudible. It was a couple of squeaks, -several mutters, and a collapse. They proceeded -to put the question.</p> - -<p>The Peers flocked back again to their places in -great numbers; others stood ready for the Lobbies—but -there was no need.</p> - -<p>It was one of those rare moments when many -hundreds of hearts, to quote a wild and lovely poem, -beat as one; and with a silent unanimity which eye-witnesses -declare to have formed the most impressive -sight since the first great review of Specials upon -Salisbury Plain, the Resolution was adopted.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>Thus was destroyed, let us hope for ever, what was -rapidly growing to be a formidable legend and one -that would have undermined the security of the -State and the honour of our public life in the eyes of -rival nations.</p> - -<p>It was not the least of the services which Charles -Repton had rendered to the State, and as we raise -our grateful hats to Providence for the recovery that -made his action possible, let us not forget the genius -of the Young Canadian Doctor who was the author of -that miraculous moment in a story of a thousand years.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Private Members’ time was ended. The -House sat on upon the Broadening of the Streets -Bill, the intense unpopularity of which rendered it -especially urgent.</p> - -<p>When the House of Commons rose, near midnight, -Dolly and Dimmy went out together by the door of -the private rooms into the cool air and there in the -courtyard were the glowing lamps of Mary’s motor car. -She beckoned them and they got in.</p> - -<p>“You got to come to supper to-night,” she said -mysteriously. “They’ll all be there.”</p> - -<p>Dimmy was agreeable. Dolly tried to plead something -but she shut him up, and after them in single -file raced through London half a dozen taxis and cars -and broughams all making in a stream for St. James’s.</p> - -<p>It made such a supper-party as Mary Smith alone -in London could gather!</p> - -<p>Her sister-in-law, with the Leader of the Opposition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> -and his brother; his right-hand man who had been -Chancellor in the last administration; his nephew, -the Postmaster General; Dolly himself; Dolly’s -brother-in-law, the Secretary for India; his little -nephew’s wife’s cousin at the Board of Trade, and his -stepmother’s brother at the Admiralty, sat down,—and -so did Dimmy, who was there without his wife, -and also, I regret to say, without a stud, or rather -without the head of a stud, in his shirt; for somehow -it had broken off.</p> - -<p>But the reader will have but an imperfect picture -of that jolly table if she imagines that it was a mere -family party.</p> - -<p>Our public life is a larger thing than that! Of -the five members of the two front benches who -were not connected by marriage, two were present: -the Minister for Education who could draw such -screamingly funny things on blotting-paper, and -Beagle, back two days before from Berlin, who could -imitate a motor car with his mouth better than any -man in Europe. And there also, by a sort of licence, -was the Duke of Battersea, brought by Charlie -Fitzgerald and his wife.</p> - -<p>They had already sat down when William Bailey, -whom no one had invited, came ponderously and -good-humouredly in, affected to stare at the Duke, -and made a place for himself as far as possible from -that controller of hemispheres, who was in his usual -chair on Mary Smith’s right hand, with bulbous -baggy eyes for none but her.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>William Bailey smiled all that evening and smiled -especially at Dimmy—but he remained very silent; -when, a little before two, they began to make a move, -he had not said a dozen words—and Dimmy was -exceedingly grateful.</p> - -<p>Nay, his friendship extended further: he saw -Demaine as they all got up from table nervously -stuffing a corner of the cloth in mistake for his -handkerchief into his trousers pocket.</p> - -<p>“Look out, Dimmy!” he said.</p> - -<p>Dimmy jumped, and the tablecloth jumped with -him, and then a crash—a great crash of broken glass, -and the falling of candles.</p> - -<p>Mary Smith was very nearly annoyed, but on such -an occasion she forgave him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>North of the Park, for now two hours, Lord Repton -of Giggleswick had slept an easy sleep.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak"><small>ON<br /> -THE PSEUDOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS<br /> -OF<br /> -CARYLL’S GANGLIA</small></h2></div> - -<p class="center">A PAMPHLET</p> - -<p class="drop-cap"><i>WHICH the reader need not read. It is quite as -easy to understand the book without it.</i></p> - -<p> </p> -<div class="blockquot"> -<div class="hangingindent"> -<p><span class="smcap">Extract</span> from a lecture delivered, for a grossly -insufficient fee, by a professor of great popular -reputation at the Royal Institution on January -26th, 1915:—</p></div></div> - -<p> </p> - -<p>“The <i>Review of Comparative Biology</i> in its October -issue contained a short and modest paper over the -name of Henry Upton which is destined to influence -modern thought more profoundly than anything that -has appeared since <i>Lux Mundi</i> or the <i>Origin of -Species</i>. Henry Upton has been taken from us. -Or, to use a phrase consecrated by his own reverent -quotation of it, he has ‘Passed beyond the Veil,’ he -has crossed the bar; but short as the time is since -this brief essay was given to the world, his name is -already famous.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>“You will have heard the echoes of passionate -discussions upon his famous theory; it is my business -this afternoon to put before you in clear and popular -language that you can easily understand, what that -theory was; and when I have done so I make no -doubt that you will see why it has been thought so -transcendently important.</p> - -<p>“Briefly, Henry Upton declared himself finally -convinced that between Man and the Simius Gabiensis -there existed a differentiation so marked as to destroy -all possibility of any recent common origin for the -two species.</p> - -<p>“When I add that Simius Gabiensis is but the -technical name for the Ringtailed Baboon of our -childhood you will at once appreciate what a revolution -such a pronouncement must work if it can be -sustained: and it has been sustained!</p> - -<p>“It is common knowledge and will be familiar to -the youngest child in this room that the Ringtailed -Baboon is the highest of the Anthropoids, and the -one nearest approaching the majesty of the Human -Species—Homo Sapiens; and if between him and ourselves -the link of affinity prove far removed, it seems -indeed as though the whole edifice of modern biology -and of modern thought itself will fall to the ground.</p> - -<p>“The superficial differences to be discovered -between a cleanly and well-bred gentleman and the -Ringtailed Baboon are common property: the beard -in the Anthropoid is not so clearly defined as in the -allied organism of Man, but covers the whole face;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> -the superciliary arch is more prominent, the diaphragm -tessarated and refulgent, while the Cardiac -Aneries are at once paler and less vasculate in form: -the rings upon the tail are of course peculiar to the -Simian, and almost universally absent in the human -species, while the speech of the latter is far more -complex and articulate than that of the former.</p> - -<p>“But I need not detain this cultured audience with -considerations quite unworthy of physical science. -All the weight of real evidence pointed to the close -relationship between the two types, and it was a -commonplace of the classroom that in all fundamentals -the two animals betrayed an ancestor less -remote than that of the dog and the wolf. Now, -since Henry Upton’s work appeared, we are certain -that that ancestor is more remote than the ancestor -of the hippopotamus and the Jersey cow, and -probably more remote than that of the mongoose -and the Great Auk.</p> - -<p>“In every text-book we read (and we believed the -statement) that between a really poor man and the -highest specimens of our race lay a gulf wider than -that which separated the former from the Ringtailed -Baboon and even from the Gorilla and the Barbary -Ape. To-day all that is gone!</p> - -<p>“Now let me turn to the evidence. Briefly, again, -Henry Upton proved that CARYLL’S GANGLIA -were not, as had been imagined, unimportant or -useless organs, but were organically necessary to the -full conduct of man.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>“It had of course been known since Caryll first -described and mapped these ganglia, that they were -present in Man and absent in all other animals. But -they were not unique in this, and the obscure part -which they seemed to play in our economy attracted -little attention from the student. Suddenly these -humble agglutinations of organic matter were lifted -into the blaze of fame by an Englishman whose -name will not perish so long as our civilisation -endures. For Henry Upton showed that in these -ganglia lay the capital distinction between man and -his congener; if I, myself, for instance, differ in any -way from ‘Pongo’ in Regent’s Park, it is to Caryll’s -Ganglia, under Providence, that I owe the privilege.</p> - -<p>“Henry Upton was not the man to proceed upon -<i>a priori</i> reasoning, or to state as a conclusion what -was still a bare hypothesis. He had suspected the -truth ten years before committing it to print: they -were ten years of anxiety, nay, of agony, during -which a bolder or less scrupulous man might snatch -from him the merit of prior discovery; but he felt it -was his duty to Science to continue the vast labour -and the patient research, until he could speak once -and for all.</p> - -<p>“Upton tabulated in all the enormous number of -57,752 recorded experiments. He first noted the -comparative sizes of the ganglia, in children and -adults, in women and in men, showing them to be -larger in men than in women, and in children rudimentary -before the seventh year. He next proved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> -that in certain professions, notably in those of the -money-lender, the solicitor and the politician, hypertrophy -of the ganglia was to be discovered. The -conclusions to which this pointed will soon be -evident. His theory already began to take shape. -Luckily for English science, this great man was -possessed of private means. He organised a staff of -enthusiastic young workers who occupied themselves -in treading upon the toes of people in omnibuses, -sitting upon top hats, asking direct questions of slight -acquaintances concerning their financial affairs, and -coughing violently and with long, uninterrupted -spasms at the most exciting moments of melodramatic -plays. The result was in each case -tabulated, and in over 5·08 per cent. of the cases it -was possible with care to discover the position of -the ganglia in those who responded to the stimuli. -Without a single exception the importance of the -ganglia varied directly with the self-restraint exercised -against such stimuli. Those who struck out, -swore, or in any other way betrayed immediate -violence, were found to possess small and sometimes -partially atrophied C. G’s. Those who protested -sullenly or confined themselves to angry glances -were normal; those who contained themselves as -though nothing had happened, invariably possessed -ganglia of a large and peculiarly healthy type, while -those who actually expressed enjoyment and begged -for a repetition of the performance had ganglia of so -astonishing a size as to cause protuberances on either<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> -side of the head, for Caryll’s Ganglia lie (as most of -you probably know) a little south-east and by east of -the Aural Cavity.</p> - -<p>“It might by this time have seemed sufficiently -proved that Caryll’s Ganglia were the seat of all -that restraint and balance upon which human -society depends; but Upton was not satisfied -until he had clinched the process of proof by a -negative experiment upon animals:—And here let -me point out in passing that had certain well-meaning -fanatics their own way, this great revelation -would never have been made. The horse, the -pig, the common house-fly, the bee, the dog and the -wild goose, to give but a few examples, were severally -tested, and in each case it was discovered that a -clout, a fillip, or any other simple stimulus was at -once responded to. In no case was a trace of -Caryll’s Ganglia to be found.</p> - -<p>“You all know the end!</p> - -<p>“The essay was printed, Upton’s name had already -flown to the utmost corners of the globe, when he -read in some obscure narrative of travel that the -little armadillo that can sleep without a pillow, -though possessing no ganglia, was capable of the -same balance and restraint as man, could control -himself under all but the most violent stimuli, -conceal his most poignant necessities, and smile in -the presence of death.</p> - -<p>“Upton was a Scientist of the Scientists. One -single exception and he would retract from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> -position. He sailed for the Amazon, interviewed the -armadillo, but at the first pin he thrust into the -fleshy portion of the animal’s steaks, a little below -the armoured belt, it belied the false report by -turning savagely round and biting off his head. His -remains were reverently brought home to London. -He lies in Westminster Abbey, the last and perhaps -the greatest of martyrs to scientific truth.</p> - -<p>“If Henry Upton’s immortal achievement seems -for a moment to have broken down the very keystone -in the arch of social progress, and to have -made null the whole structure of biological truth; if -it leaves Man no longer propped up by a knowledge -of cousinship and brotherhood with the beasts of the -field, but all alone, an exile upon earth, nevertheless -we must take courage. The Bishop of Shoreham -has told us (Etc., etc., etc.).”</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Printed by</i><br /> -<span class="smcap">Morrison & Gibb Limited</span><br /> -<i>Edinburgh</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="ph2">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Dollars, not pounds.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> He did.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> - - -<span class="gap5">... μέγα σθένος Ὠκεανοῖο</span><br /> -Ἄντυγα πὰρ πυμάτην σάκεος πύκα ποιητοῖο.<br /> -<br /> -[Greek:<span class="gap2"> ... mega sthenos Ôkeanoio</span><br /> -Antyga par pymatên sakeos pyka poiêtoio.]</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> I refer to Mr. Bulge, and I refer to him both as an actor and as an -author. Amen.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> There are two such farthings in the Heygate family to-day.</p></div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph2">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> - -<p>Archaic or alternate spelling that may have been in use at the time of publication has been retained.</p> - -<p>The cover image for this eBook was created by the transcriber and is entered into the public domain.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Change in the Cabinet, by Hilaire Belloc - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHANGE IN THE CABINET *** - -***** This file should be named 60967-h.htm or 60967-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/6/60967/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. 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