diff options
Diffstat (limited to '61456-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 61456-0.txt | 8682 |
1 files changed, 8682 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/61456-0.txt b/61456-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7ed833 --- /dev/null +++ b/61456-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8682 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 61456 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Frontispiece: BLOODWORTH PROMISES TO REVEAL ALL. (see p. 308.)] + + + + + THE BLACK + TROOPERS + + AND OTHER STORIES + + + + WITH FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS + + + + LONDON + THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY + 4 Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard, E.C. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE BLACK TROOPERS-- + + CHAP. + + I. A MEETING--THE RIDE ROUND THE RUN + II. 'OLD MAN TOBY' + III. THE NIGHT ATTACK + IV. THE CONFESSION + V. PREPARATIONS FOR PURSUIT + VI. ON THE TRAIL + VII. THE END OF THE CHASE + +CAPTAIN STAUNCY'S VOW + +THE FORGED WILL + + + + +THE BLACK TROOPERS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +A MEETING--THE RIDE ROUND THE RUN. + +The drays with which I was travelling (it was in the month of March, +1849) had arrived as far as Lake Boga, on the Lower Murray River, +within a day's journey of our destination. We had halted for the +night close to a sheep-station established there. In the course of +the evening the gentleman in charge of it--Macfarlane was his +name--walked over to our camp; and I was informed by him that Mr. +Stevenson, the superintendent of the run I was about to visit, had on +the previous day ridden over to meet me, and had only returned home +that afternoon. Having ascertained from him that I was a medical +man, Mr. Macfarlane had come to invite me to his hut, and to ask me +to visit one of his blacks, who had been wounded by a party from a +tribe fifty miles up the river. These men had started originally for +the purpose of surprising the blacks on Stevenson's station; but, +traces of their presence in that neighbourhood having been +discovered, they were forced to beat a retreat. In their rage at +their disappointment, they had resolved, if possible, to slaughter +some of the Lake blacks, rather than return empty-handed; but there +also they were happily frustrated in their design, and only succeeded +in wounding one man, whose leg they broke with a musket ball. + +After this second disappointment, it was confidently anticipated that +they would, as they generally did when their intended surprise proves +a failure, return home, and await a more favourable opportunity. But +they did not do so in this instance, as the result will show; for I +subsequently had an opportunity of witnessing a striking illustration +of the savage and barbarous mode of warfare of the Australian +aboriginal, an opportunity not often afforded to the white man. + +I set the wounded black's limb as well as I could with bark splints, +and next day we started on our way to the banks of the Murray. The +drays had to cross the river in order to reach the station I was +going to. This was done by means of a punt, which had lately been +built by a man who had also opened an inn for the use of travellers +to South Australia, the road to which passed by the banks of the +stream. + +As we came in sight of this building, which was of weatherboard, with +a verandah in front, I saw a man standing in the middle of the track +or road, and watching our approach; and upon drawing near I observed +that he was a black. When the driver, by whose team I was, +recognised him, he uttered an exclamation, and stopped his dray. + +'If there isn't that villain himself I was talking about to you, sir!' + +'What do you mean?' I said. + +'Why, I told you those blacks we heard of at the Lake yesterday, and +who came to attack ours, wanted to kill one man in particular. +That's him! His name is Bobby Peel, and he's the biggest rascal in +the whole country round. It's a wonder he's alive yet, for when we +left the run for this last trip to town, six or seven weeks ago, the +black police were after him; and yet there he stands, as cool as you +please, as if he hadn't ever killed a white man. Look at him!' he +added, as his mate came up with his team. + +'Why, it's Sir Robert! So he isn't settled yet. It isn't for want +of trying; for if he's been shot at once, he has been twenty times at +least. He'd a been dead long ago, only for our super, who won't let +our men shoot him, as any one of them would only be too glad to do. +There's not a place in the whole country round where he durst show +himself, only ours.' + +'How is that?' I asked. + +'Because he's allers been a-robbing the out-station huts, sneaking in +when the hut-keeper's away. He's a capital rider; and he'd get +horses as he'd stole planted away in the bush, tethered handy; and he +gallops off thirty miles one way, and robs a hut, and then gallops +back and shows himself at our station. Then, when the squatters +complain to our super about it, he says, "It couldn't ha' been Bobby, +cos Bobby was at my head station that day you say your hut was +robbed." Then next day, perhaps, away goes Master Bobby another way, +and plays the same game! You see he isn't like the other blacks, +who're afraid to travel alone after dark on account of the +"devil-devils" they believe walk at night in the bush. But he was +bowled out at that game at last, not long before we started this +trip, and the super threatened he'd shoot him himself if he heard +tell of any more of his games!' + +The drays had moved on as he was speaking, and drew up at the door of +the inn, for the punt-man to put them across the river; but no one +appeared, and we found upon entering that the publican was away, and +that the women of the place had locked themselves into one of the +rooms. Hearing our voices, and the teams stopping, they ventured out. + +'Oh, Bill, is it you?' said the publican's wife to the driver; 'I'm +so glad! Send that horrid man away. You know it was him killed Mr. +Berridge. I wonder they let him go about that way; he ought to be +shot! He knew my husband was away, and the punt-man gone across the +river, or he wouldn't have dared to show.' + +'He would run very quickly if any of the young Mr. Berridges happened +to come this way and catch sight of him,' said the other woman. +'They have often hunted for him.' + +I turned to look at the man thus spoken of, and who seemed to be an +object of hatred to black and white alike. He was still standing in +the middle of the road, where he could command a view up and down and +across the river, so that no foe could approach him unobserved. He +seemed about twenty-five, slenderly built and tall, and was dressed +in a complete suit of cast-off European clothing,--brown linen +jacket, trousers, and waistcoat,--so that at a distance he might pass +for a European. His eye had that peculiar, watchful, suspicious +glance characteristic of the hunted man; it never for a instant +ceased to wander over the landscape, except now and then, when he +fixed them upon me as I stood with the others in the verandah. He +was a good-looking fellow for a black, but there was a dark and +desperate expression lurking beneath the appearance of carelessness +which he put on under the looks of our party. + +'How he looks at you, doctor!' said the driver. 'Hullo! here he +comes. What's he got to say?' and, paying no regard to the women, +who ordered him off, the black walked up to where I stood. + +'Name--you?' he said, looking keenly at me. + +'He wants to know your name,' said the driver, Bill. + +'This one--doc--doc?' he asked the man, and pointing at the same time +to me. + +'See that, now!' said the other driver; 'if he doesn't know already +you're a doctor! How could he know that?' + +'Easy enough!' said his comrade. 'Either he was at the Lake, or else +met some black from there, and they've told him about the doctor +setting the other one's leg; that's how he knows.' + +Meanwhile Bobby went back to the middle of the road, and, after +casting a comprehensive glance all round, beckoned to me to go to him. + +'Don't you go near him, sir,' said the women; 'it's well known he has +killed many white men, and you may depend his spears are lying handy +somewhere close by!' + +But I had no fears on that score, and, curious to know what he could +want with me, I left the rest and approached him. He led the way to +the river bank, which was about thirty or forty yards in front of the +house, and very steep, and descended the cutting in it formed to +permit the drays to be driven down on to the deck of the punt. Here +he was hidden from the sight of those in the verandah, but he kept in +such a position that he could see over the top of the cutting if any +of the party approached. I told them, however, not to follow me, as +I intended to keep within call. Here Bobby threw off his jacket, and +showed me his left shoulder and arm, on which were the marks of two +wounds. Upon examining, I found that two slugs had lodged in them, +and the black intimated that he wished me to cut them out. One had +entered and lodged above the shoulder-blade, and was easily extracted +by the forceps of my pocket-case, aided by a slight incision. The +other had entered half-way up the arm, and travelled downwards until +it reached the elbow, where it prevented free motion of the joint. +This required rather a deep incision to get out, but he stood it +without flinching. The whole affair did not occupy many minutes; and +when it was over he said,-- + +'You got um--'bacca?' + +I had a cake of cavendish in my pocket, and I gave it him, and he +then stretched out his arm with a pleased look at having again +recovered the free use of it. Then, taking me by the hand, he said,-- + +'_Good_ white fellow, you!' Then looking round at the house near, +and spreading his hand out, to indicate all the stations about his +native place, he said, while a savage scowl settled upon his face,-- + +'All about--white fellow--no good!' and he shook his fist and uttered +a fearful execration. For, ignorant as most blacks are of English, +in swearing at us they rapidly become proficient. Just then we heard +the noise of a horse's hoofs coming down the road, and, after giving +one look over the bank at the rider, Bobby turned to me and said,-- + +'Good-bye, doc, doc!' and plunged into the river, gained the other +side, and disappeared in the reeds, which just there grew in thick +patches. He had good reason for leaving in a hurry. The horseman +was one of the sons of a neighbouring squatter whom he, in +conjunction with others, had the credit of having killed. Vengeance +had overtaken all his companions in that exploit; but Bobby was still +at large. + +* * * * * + +The squatting-station of which Mr. Stevenson was the superintendent +was of very considerable size, extending for twenty miles along one +side of the Murray, and for nearly the same distance back from the +stream, which there flows through a level country, consisting of open +plains alternating with belts and forests of timber, the latter +giving place in many parts to patches, more or less extensive, of +mallee scrub. Three-fourths of the run were reserved for sheep, the +remainder for cattle, the head station huts being placed on the river +banks, not far from the crossing-place. Besides the superintendent, +the only other occupant of his hut was a young gentleman named +Harris, who acted as overseer, and who was fitting himself for one +day being able to manage a station of his own. + +I had been some weeks on the run when Stevenson invited me to +accompany him and the overseer on a visit of inspection they were +about to make round to the different out-stations. The main object +of this ride round was to supply the hut-keepers and shepherds with +some strychnine he had just received from Melbourne, and with which +he intended, if possible, to destroy the dingoes, or warrigals (wild +dogs), whose ravages amongst the sheep had of late been frightful, +twenty, thirty, and in one instance thirty-seven sheep of a flock +being bitten in a single night. And as every sheep bitten, however +slightly, dies (pining away as imprisoned by the wound), and as there +were eight or nine out-stations, each equally exposed to attack, the +losses may be imagined. Four hundred were killed, or died, during +the first fortnight of my visit; indeed, the gentleman who formed the +station some two years previously had sold it solely on account of +this pest. Stevenson had determined to try what systematic poisoning +of the run would do to diminish if not destroy this nuisance.[1] + + +[1] The dingo is now almost extinct in Victoria. Strychnine has +greatly hastened its extermination. + + +It was a beautiful morning in April, the beginning of the Australian +winter, when we started on our trip, which was to occupy two days. +Our first day's ride was almost one continued hunt, for on nearly +every plain we passed over one or more groups of kangaroo were +visible, and, as my companions had brought their two dogs with them, +chase was always given, and to me, who had lately been cooped up on +shipboard, the change was glorious. The day was warm, but a cool +breeze swept over the plains. We were mounted on stock horses, +fleet, and in excellent trim; the dogs were well-bred, and always +selected the foremost kangaroo of the herd, passing by all the rest; +and as this animal often runs in a circle, and the plains were +frequently two or three miles or more in diameter, the hunt was in +full view from the beginning to the end. + +It was curious to watch the hawks, which to my surprise had followed +us all day, ever since we left the home station. They had found out +by experience that when the dogs accompanied the horsemen a dinner +was always left for them on the plains. High above us they followed +the course of the chase, and when kangaroo and dogs were lost in the +timber, we could always tell, by watching the hawks, the direction +they were taking. At the cattle-station where we passed the night, +the old stockman, Steve, assured me that these birds had learned to +distinguish between his cattle dogs and the kangaroo hounds, as they +never offered to accompany him in his daily rides unless he had the +latter with him. + +The consequences of all this rough bush-riding were, however, rather +unpleasant to me, who had not mounted a horse except at rare +intervals for years; and when we started next morning to resume our +journey I had some difficulty in reaching my saddle, and hoped that +our ride home would be a more quiet one. In this, however, I was +disappointed, for we had scarcely left the cattle-station a mile +before the dogs sighted an emu; and, after killing that, some wild +cattle from the mallee were seen, and a long gallop after them +ensued, in which my horse, a wilful, hard-mouthed brute, would take +part, despite my protests to the contrary; so that by noon I was +completely done up, and heartily wished the day's ride were ended. + +As we came up to an out-station hut close to the border of the +cattle-run, the hut-keeper stood at the door to receive us. + +'I expected you yesterday, sir,' he said; 'or else old Steve.' + +'Why?' + +'Didn't you get my message?' the man asked. + +'No; I got no message. What about?' + +'There's been some games going on among the cattle,' replied the +hut-keeper. 'The shepherd thought he heard a shot early in the +morning, and saw them scampering out of the timber on to the plain +where his sheep were. Here is the shepherd coming now,' he added; +'he must have seen you riding across the plain.' + +The man presently reached the hut, and corroborated the hut-keeper's +statement, adding that he thought he saw a spear sticking in the side +of a beast which passed nearer him than the rest of the herd. + +'I knew there were blacks about the day before, for I see their +tracks; and I bet any money,' he added, 'it's that vagabond Bobby +Peel and his mob have been killing a beast.' + +'He had better not go too far,' said Stevenson, with an ominous look. +'Which part of the timber was it, Dick, and when did it happen?' + +'Day before yesterday; there was a traveller passed here that morning +on his way down to the river, and he said he intended staying that +night at the head station, and would tell you.' + +'He never called. What kind of a traveller--a horseman?' + +'No, sir; a shepherd looking for a job, with his swag on his back. +He must have passed the station and gone on to the public-house; yet +he promised faithfully to tell you.' + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +'OLD MAN TOBY.' + +'Well, Dick,' said Stevenson, after a thoughtful pause, 'you had +better go back to your flock. Show us the place you saw the cattle +come out of.' + +The man pointed out a spot on the line of timber, about two miles +off, and left us, while we rode off to the place indicated. For some +time the superintendent remained in deep thought; then, addressing +the young man, he said,-- + +'You heard what the shepherd said about sending me a message by a +traveller?' + +'Yes.' + +'Well, three weeks or a month ago, when I was over on the Wakool, Mr. +James asked me if I had engaged the two men he had sent me, as I had +told him one day when he was passing our way that I was short-handed, +and asked him to direct any men who might be looking for work over to +me. Neither of those men ever came. One started two days before the +other, and there is no station between James's place and our own. +Still, I did not think it strange, as these men might have been mere +skulkers, walking from out-station to out-station, and only +pretending to look for a job. There are hundreds of such fellows +tramping about the colony. But now--I don't half like the look of +it!' + +'Why, what do you fear?' I asked. + +'I think it very strange that, of three men known to have started +with the intention of coming to Swan Hill (the name of the locality), +not one should have arrived. And this man mentioned by my hut-keeper +could only have stayed either at the public-house two miles beyond +us, or else gone fifteen miles down the river one way, or the same +distance up the stream to the Lake station, and that after dark too, +for he would only reach the ferry late in the afternoon. Now this is +so utterly improbable, that if I find, on inquiry, that he did not +call at the Ferry Inn that night'-- + +'Why, what do you suspect?' I asked, observing that he looked very +grave. + +'That he has been killed by the blacks?' asked Harris eagerly. + +'I fear so; and in that case he is not the only victim. You see,' +said Stevenson to me, 'owing to the crossing-place of the river being +near us, all passing travellers from the Edward, the Wakool, and +other places higher up, must come through our run; and only think, in +the twenty or thirty miles of wild country, what facilities are +offered in the innumerable swamps, reed-beds, and scrub-patches, for +the cutting-off of solitary travellers passing on foot through such a +wilderness, where the only inhabitants are the shepherd with his +flock, and the hut-keeper in the lonely out-stations eight or ten +miles from each other!' + +'What will you do?' I asked. + +'I will write to Mr. Brown, who is a magistrate on the Edward, and +mention my suspicions, and tell him to send one of his constables to +make secret inquiries at the different out-stations near that +locality as to the travellers who have passed that way during the +last two months. But, in the meantime, do not mention the matter to +any one. I do not think any of our home-station blacks are concerned +in it; still, if they know that anything of the kind has happened, +and suspect that we are aware of it, they will pass the word on to +the murderers (that is, supposing any murders have taken place). Do +you know, Harris, where the main body of our blacks are?' + +'Old Steve told me to-day they were still on the Ballima, but were +going to shift their camp to Wingong; that is about six miles from +the home station.' + +Just then we reached the timber indicated by the shepherd, and soon +found the tracks made by the cattle in rushing out on the plain; and +after following them up for a short distance we came upon the remains +of a dead cow. A number of the dingoes, or wild dogs before +mentioned, hundreds of which then infested the station, were busy at +the carcases; and, as Harris and the superintendent were each +provided with one of the formidable stock-whips used in driving +cattle, instant chase was given, the two dogs selecting one each, and +Stevenson following a third, which, after a smart gallop, he +succeeded in heading and turning on to the plain. I had no wish to +join in this chase, but my horse would not stay behind the others. +The dingo held his own for a mile, but he had too much of the cow +inside him for a longer run, and the superintendent soon overtook +him, and brought his whip down in a style that poor dingo could not +have relished. The unfortunate animal tried to escape the infliction +by crouching to the earth and letting the horse shoot past him, and +then doubling away at an angle to right or left. But the stock +horses we were mounted on could double almost as quickly as he, and +after a severe run of about twenty minutes he gave in. In his +doublings he had again approached the timber, and he now lay down at +the foot of a tree in a small detached clump, and awaited his fate. + +I said I had no desire to join in the hunt. The fact was, I was +awkwardly burdened. It happened that young Harris had, for the +purpose of gaining practical experience, formerly resided at one of +the out-stations we had visited. He had returned to the head station +to live, but had all his clothes still at the hut. Being desirous of +removing them, he had emptied his box on to the horses' backs. +Stevenson had a great heap in front of him, which he threw to me when +he started. I had a quantity also, and as Harris could not use his +whip while carrying his lot, he hastily transferred that as well to +me. I was thus barricaded to the chin with flannels and cotton +shirts, trousers, coats, etc., for it was an outfit he had brought +from England, provided by an anxious mother. I could scarcely see +before me, and when he started off after the superintendent I +actually had to grope for the reins. I had hardly thrown my arms +over the 'swag' (to use a colonial phrase), when off started my +excited horse after the others. As I galloped about, the articles +worked loose one after another, and I must have cut a ridiculous +figure, as I helplessly scudded hither and thither, dropping a shirt +here, and a pair of trousers there. I faithfully tried to fulfil the +duty assigned me, and held on to the bundles as long as I could, but +at last a shirt, which worked loose and streamed out like a banner, +got over my head and blinded me, and I was obliged to let them go, in +order to see where I was rushing to. + +We all dismounted and surrounded the dingo. It was a touching sight +(to me, at least, who was not a squatter) to see with what stoical +resignation it met its doom. After it once lay down it never moved, +except to turn its head to watch the preparations being made to +finish him. It was not long left in agony. But I could not have +credited that the eye of an animal like that could have been capable +of so much expression! There seemed to me a mingled resignation and +despair in its glance as it calmly looked at its executioner until +the film of death gathered over its eyes. + +'Why, doctor! you look quite sentimental over it! There's one rascal +the less. No more mutton for you, at any rate,' said Stevenson, as +he turned away. + +After this small tragedy, we returned to the dead cow, picking up +Harris's traps by the way. We found upon examination that its leg +had been broken by a ball, and that it had been afterwards despatched +by spears; although, as Stevenson would not allow the blacks on his +station to possess firearms, his men being strictly forbidden to +supply them, it was a mystery where the gun came from which inflicted +the wound. + +'Not that we ourselves apprehend any danger now-a-days from them +possessing them,' said Stevenson to me, in explanation. 'But, as you +are aware, they are always engaged amongst themselves in a murderous +kind of warfare,--sneaking by night on each other, and killing by +stealth,--and as I found that the possession of the guns we gave them +encouraged that sort of thing, I took them away again.' + +'Perhaps Bobby Peel has been robbing some hut again, and stolen a +gun,' said Harris; 'it's a wonder to me they can't catch that fellow.' + +'He is an ungrateful rascal,' said Stevenson, as he remounted his +horse, 'to kill my cow with it, if he has. I have got into very bad +odour with my neighbours for standing between such a pestilent knave +and summary vengeance. The fellow dare not show his face anywhere +within thirty miles round; he would be shot down like a dingo if he +did. And this is the return he makes for it! I only hope, however, +he is not concerned in any foul play with those missing men. I +strongly suspect him. Robbing a hut now and then for a supply of +flour, or killing a sheep, I could wink at, though, forsooth, he +might leave my cattle alone, and only rob those who have injured him. +But bloodshed is a very different matter, and so he will find.' + +We visited another out-station, and then turned our horses' heads +towards home. It was sunset, and as we had been, with short +intervals of rest at the different huts, in the saddle since dawn of +the preceding day, I was not at all sorry that the end of our ride +approached. But we were not to reach the head station without having +another chase. + +The dogs had rejoined us a short time after we left the slaughtered +beast, and as we were crossing a small plain, and were within half a +mile of the timber, all at once they picked up some scent and set off +at a smart pace. + +'What on earth have they got hold of now?' said Stevenson. 'There +are no kangaroo likely to be here, so near home.' + +We followed hard after, however, and managed to keep them in sight, +until presently they broke into full speed and disappeared in the +timber. They had sighted the game they were after, whatever it was. +We rode in the direction they had taken, but, not seeing them, we +pulled up to listen if they gave tongue. _They_ did not, but +somebody else did, without mistake; for we all at once heard most +vociferous cries of distress from a human voice. We galloped up as +fast as possible, and arrived just in time to save from destruction +'old man Toby,' one of our head-station blacks, who was walking +quietly along when, he happened to hear the rush of the dogs behind +him. He had instantly made for a tree, but was too late; for Rush, a +dog lately brought from Melbourne, who was young, and unused as yet +to blacks, sprang up as if he would tear him down. Old Toby, +however, managed to keep on his feet, and resisted most gallantly. +He had his yam-stick in his hand (a pointed stick used for digging up +a small edible root which grows on the plains), and with this he met +the rushes of the dogs, jobbing them with the sharpened end, and +tearing them as badly as they had torn him. It was wonderful, during +the half-minute or so that we were galloping up, to witness the +coolness and dexterity, and, above all, the agility the old fellow +displayed in avoiding the bounds the dogs made at him; while leaping +to one side to avoid the onset of one, he would meet the other with a +dexterous prod of his insignificant-looking weapon, which would send +it sprawling with a wound in its side. + +The stock-whips soon brought the animals to their senses; and we +found, upon examining them all, that the dogs were the worst off for +the encounter; for one had an eye wounded, and the other had a very +ugly tear in his flank, which required to be sewn up. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE NIGHT ATTACK. + +One evening, about ten days after our ride, I was sitting in the hut +with young Harris. I had been engaged in cleaning my own gun, as +well as a rifle belonging to the superintendent, who had ridden over +on the previous day to the Edward River, and was expected home that +night. While the barrels were drying before the fire--which occupied +the centre of a hearth extending nearly the whole breadth of the +hut--I put on my hat and walked down to the miamis of the blacks, two +or three families of whom the superintendent allowed to camp in his +paddock; the main body he kept at a distance. Old Toby's wounds were +fast healing, a circumstance he seemed rather to regret, as he had +been pensioned by three substantial meals daily from the kitchen, and +was getting quite sleek and fat. I went from fire to fire, chatting +with the occupants, Jimmy and Billy who, with their lubras, occupied +two of them. + +Polly and Kitty were two fine young women. One had a picanniny about +twelve months old; the other a little boy of four or five years. The +latter was coiled up fast asleep; but the other was kicking and +sprawling in his mother's arms, while Jimmy, its father, on the other +side of the fire, sat gravely cutting away at a boomerang he was +fashioning, now and then stopping to notice the child, which was +crowing at him, or to say, in an insinuating tone to me, 'Doc, doc! +you carry 'moke um bacca?' Billy sat at the second fire close by, +busy in preparing a new pipe he had got, and making it fit for black +fellows' use. This process consisted in rubbing it thickly with fat, +and tying a greasy rag round it, and burning it in the ashes. At the +third fire were my old patient Toby, and two lads of eighteen or +nineteen respectively, named Pothook and 'little Toby,' to +distinguish him from 'old man Toby,' who was either his father or +grandfather, I could not make out which. + +The miami where these last were was at some little distance from the +other two, and I thought I saw a fourth figure; but when I came up I +found only the old man and the lads. I asked where the other man +was, but they denied that any other man had been there. I could see, +however, they were lying, and believed that, from the glimpse I had +got, it was Bobby Peel, although he was without his European +clothing, and had on a 'possum-skin cloak. I had distinctly seen his +face by the light of the fire, as I quietly approached from the huts +across the grass of the paddock; and, although I had not met him +since the day of our first interview, his features were too strongly +impressed upon my memory for me to forget them. I found shortly +afterwards that he had excellent reasons for keeping out of the way. + +After staying some time, and having my pockets emptied of the tobacco +which was in them, I left and strolled on to the river. As I drew +near its margin I heard a slight splash, as of a turtle startled by +my step, and throwing itself into the water; but all was quiet when I +reached it; no cry of duck or other waterfowl broke the stillness of +the night; and the stream itself, fifty or sixty feet in depth, +flowed on silently. The banks were very steep, and the surface of +the water was some four yards beneath the level where I stood. There +were no trees growing anywhere near; but the dead trunks of several +left by former floods projected above the water, or rested against +the banks, where, in the dim light, they resembled so many huge +antediluvian reptiles. The opposite side of the river, which was 100 +yards wide, was an island formed by an _ana_[1] branch, which left +the main stream four miles above the paddock, and joined it again +just below it. As I stood looking down on the dark waters, and up +and down the reach, and observed that the blacks' fires were less +than fifty yards off, I could not help thinking how easily their +enemies, if still in the neighbourhood, could, under cover of the +river banks, steal unawares upon them. I little thought that in the +deep shade beneath the very spot I was then standing on, in the water +at my feet, and with their heads concealed behind one of the tree +trunks on the margin, already lay hidden the murderous band who, +twice baffled, had stolen back for their revenge. + + +[1] _Ana_ branch is a channel which, leaving the main stream above, +again joins it below. These ana branches are very characteristic of +Australian rivers, often forming networks of creeks, which supply +vast tracks of country, back from the main stream, which would +otherwise be destitute of water. + + +As I walked past them on my way back to the hut, the blacks began one +of their monotonous chants, to which the two women beat time with +sticks, which they struck together, their eyes sparkling and white +teeth glistening in the firelight, as they shouted a merry +'Good-night, doc, doc,' to me. + +At the door of our hut I found the superintendent, who had just +dismounted. Harris had gone to bed. 'I have some news for you,' +Stevenson said to me when we had entered. + +He hung his saddle up on a peg projecting from the partition which +divided it into two parts, one being used as a storeroom, the other +as a bed and sitting, as well as a dining-room. The beds being +boards or sheets of bark, with sheepskins laid on them, on which were +stretched mattresses stuffed with the 'wongul,' or down of the reeds +which abounded everywhere near the river banks. There were four of +these beds in the room, two on each side; they were placed on posts +driven in the ground, and in the day-time were used as seats. The +only other articles of furniture were a movable table standing +against the partition, an easy chair made out of a flour-cask, and +some shelves fixed on the walls. The centre of the room was +therefore clear. After ascertaining that no blacks were lounging +about the hut, Stevenson continued,-- + +'You know I wrote to Brown, the magistrate over on the Edward, and +sent the note by Scott's overseer, who happened to pass here the day +after our ride round the run. That was eight or ten days ago, and up +to the day before yesterday I had got no answer; so I rode over to +find out the reason. And would you believe it?--for nearly a week +the fellow had actually taken no steps whatever in the matter.' + +'How was that? Had he got your note?' + +'Oh yes, he got it; and a pretty fellow he is to have J.P. written +after his name. Can you credit it?--on the very morning after he got +my letter, he had discovered that the horse-stealers had swept his +paddock! Above all, had taken his two hunters! For you must know he +keeps hounds to hunt the dingo, as the fox is hunted in England. +Actually had the impudence to tell me he was surprised and shocked to +hear that I was laying poison for those animals!--hoped I would give +up such a design! They ought to be hunted, he said, _fairly_; not +poisoned like rats, or other vermin. This to me! who had lost from +first to last, during the few months I have been here, nearly a +thousand sheep by these creatures. His is a cattle-station +principally, and his sheep country is all open plain, so that he is +not troubled by these pests. He can bear other people's misfortunes +in that line very easily. I told him a piece of my mind'-- + +These same dingoes were the plague of poor Stevenson's life, and when +once started on the subject he forgot everything else; so I ventured +to interrupt and bring him back to the point. + +'But how was it nothing was done about these suspected murders?' I +inquired. + +'How? Why, because the fellow sent all three of the constables +attached to the lock-up there off in different directions to look for +his horses! The lives of poor fellows travelling in the bush are +nothing compared to his hunters! I told him I should report his +conduct to the authorities in Melbourne, and so I will too!' + +'But has nothing been yet done?' I asked. + +'One of the constables came back three days ago, and he has been +making inquiries at the most likely out-stations. He returned before +I left; and from his report my suspicions are confirmed. Eleven +travellers called in the course of the last three weeks at the places +he visited, on their way to this crossing-place, from the Edward. +Now only five or six have arrived here from that part. I inquired +before I started at our own men's huts, and all agree in that.' + +'Then you may depend that rascal Peel is concerned in the matter,' +said Harris, sitting up in bed. + +'I forgot to tell you,' said Stevenson, 'that I came upon that fellow +yesterday as I was drawing a carcase across the run, and leaving the +poisoned baits in its track. It was in a scrub which my horse could +hardly get through; and I had no idea that any human being was near +me at the time. He might have speared me easily enough too, for I +was unarmed and dismounted, and he touched me on the shoulder as I +was stooping to place the bait to the ground. The fellow has some +gratitude, I suppose; for, much as he hates white men, he knows he +owes his life to me.' + +'Twenty times over!' said Harris; 'for he would have been finished +long ago but for you.' + +'You told us, doctor,' continued the superintendent, 'that you +extracted some slugs from his arm and shoulder the day you first saw +him. How long, do you think, had those wounds been there?' + +'About ten days or so, I should think.' + +'What were the slugs like? a bullet cut up?' + +'Yes.' + +'Then the rascal is decidedly guilty! I will tell you how I found it +out,' said Stevenson. 'Ever since you told me of the circumstance I +have wondered how he got those wounds; and on my rides about this and +neighbouring runs I have inquired, but could not hear that he had +been shot at lately. In fact, ever since he was detected in those +hut robberies, he has kept quiet, and out of white men's sight. + +'Yesterday, on my way to the Edward, I called at the inn on the +Wakool. In the bar I noticed a beautiful specimen of the "loouee," +as the blacks call a rare bird which inhabits the mallee; and I asked +the innkeeper who had stuffed it and set it up for him. He replied +that a man who had been up on the Darling, making a collection of +birds, had stopped there, and sold him this specimen. "But," added +the man, "didn't he call at your place?" + +'"No," I said; "did he tell you he was coming over?" + +'"He told me that he intended staying a week at Swan Hill before +going to town by the mail-cart. He sold me his horse, as he said he +was going to walk across, and shoot birds along the swamps and +reed-beds. Perhaps he altered his mind, and went somewhere else." + +'Upon hearing this I told the innkeeper in confidence my own +suspicions; and, as the distance was not great, we both rode over to +the out-stations the man must pass on his way. At one of these the +hut-keeper told us that such a man had slept at his place one night, +and had left to shoot in the neighbourhood promising to come back to +sleep there again; but he never came; and in the course of our +conversation it came out that, before starting in the morning, the +man, having used all his large shot, had cut up some bullets he had +into slugs of different sizes, to load one barrel, in case he fell in +with turkey or wallaby. So that he has been waylaid and murdered is, +I fear, only too certain; and Peel must have been wounded by him. It +was with the unfortunate man's gun, too, that that cow was shot which +we found killed on the day of our ride round the out-stations. But,' +continued Stevenson, 'is that woman going to give me anything to eat +or not? I have had nothing since breakfast this morning, and am +starving;' and he went out to the door to call out to the kitchen to +hasten operations. + +The night was calm, but dense clouds threatening rain obscured the +moon. The fires of the blacks gleamed brightly from the low ground +near the river, which was open and quite free from trees or bushes; +and a cheerful blaze also shone from the window and from between the +slabs of the kitchen, a separate hut, where the hut-keeper's wife was +giving the finishing touch to the steak she was cooking for the +superintendent's supper. All was peaceful and quiet; the hissing of +the frying-pan and the distant chant of the blacks being the only +sounds audible; except at intervals when the mopoke uttered its +cuckoo-like cry from the timber ranges across the river. In a few +moments the woman brought in the dishes, and Stevenson, having +satisfied the first cravings of his hunger, was about to renew the +conversation which the meal had stopped, when all at once the +monotonous song of the blacks was interrupted by several musket shots +fired in rapid succession. Shrieks and yells succeeded; and we +instantly guessed what had happened. Our blacks had been attacked by +their enemies! + +Our first impulse was to rush off to their assistance; but the guns +were in pieces, and a brace of pistols kept in the hut were unloaded. +Stevenson hastily proceeded to charge the latter, while young Harris +and I endeavoured as speedily as possible to put the other weapons in +order. Through the open door the fires were visible; and now and +then dark objects would flit rapidly past them and disappear. +Mingled with the screams of the women was the clatter of blows, and +old Toby's voice, replying defiantly to the yells of his enemies, +could be plainly distinguished. Presently, one after the other in +quick succession, three dark figures dashed with the frantic speed of +fear into the hut, and, rushing up to the fireplace, crouched in the +ashes on each side. Two of these were Pothook and little Toby; the +third was no other than 'Sir Robert,' or, as he was more commonly +called by the men, Bobby Peel, himself, whose suspected doings we had +that evening been discussing--now, like his companions, in a state of +mortal terror. + +As generally happens in such emergencies, the proverb, 'More haste, +less speed,' proved applicable to the present case. Never was I so +long in putting a gun together; Stevenson could not find the +bullet-pouch; while Harris, who knew the hut-keeper had a loaded +double-barrelled piece in the kitchen, kept calling out to him to run +down the slope and fire a shot over the heads of the attacking party; +but no answer was given. The man was a new arrival in the colony, +had always been terribly afraid of the blacks, and on the first alarm +had barricaded himself in the kitchen, whence all his wife's taunts +could not induce him to stir, or hand out the gun to Harris, who had +at last to run for it. As the young man peeped through the crevices +of the slabs he saw, by the glare of his eye, that the fellow was +well-nigh delirious with terror. By the time the superintendent and +I had armed ourselves, full five minutes had elapsed; and the cries +had ceased some time. Upon procuring a light and searching the +paddock, four mutilated bodies were found--Jimmy and Billy having +been shot as they sat by their fires, and their bodies dragged away +and hastily opened, and the kidney fat, the great trophy of these +barbarous exploits, removed. The two lubras had fled, but in their +terror they ran from our huts instead of towards them. Polly was +overtaken soon, and killed by a blow on the head; the infant she +carried could not be found; doubtless they had taken away the body. +Kitty's screams were long heard, as she fled hither and thither in +the paddock with her fell pursuers after her. Had she run for the +huts, or had the cowardly hut-keeper run down and fired a shot, she +might have escaped. Her little boy we found crouching in a small +patch of reeds by the river, trembling like a leaf; and we plainly +heard the triumphant laugh of the wretches, as they watched our +search from the island to which they had swum. + +'I know who those fellows are,' said Stevenson. 'They are Gunbower +blacks--I was there some months ago, when that scoundrel Peel and a +party of curs sneaked on them, and played just such another trick as +this. They have paid us off for that exploit, at any rate! But +where is old Toby? Can it be possible that he has escaped?' + +After some further search we found the old man's body at some +distance from the fires, his head, arms, and body covered with +wounds. By the traces, as seen next day, we found he had made a most +desperate resistance. His hand still grasped the yam-stick with +which he had done battle with the dogs; probably it was the first +thing he had caught up. His prolonged resistance had saved him from +the mutilation which had befallen the others, as our approach had +disturbed the murderers and forced them to recross the stream. For +fear they should return and complete their work, the bodies were +drawn up to the huts by Stevenson and myself, while Harris started +for the ferry, where some more of our blacks were camped, to warn +them of what had occurred. Except the hut-keeper, who was still +quaking in the kitchen, there happened to be no other men on the head +station that night, the two bullock-drivers and carpenter being +absent, one splitting and drawing timber in the bush, the other +bringing a load of salt from the lake. + +'Did you say you saw Bobby Peel when at the camp with the others?' +inquired Stevenson of me. + +'Yes,' I replied; 'but he saw me coming and slipped away. Will you +detain him in custody?' + +He replied that he was uncertain what to do; but presently a +circumstance decided him. + +In searching the paddock and the banks of the river with the lantern, +we found a double-barrelled gun, powder-flask, etc., hidden in some +reeds. It was a very superior article, not at all likely to be +honestly in possession of a black, and no doubt existed in our minds +but that this was the piece belonging to the unfortunate +bird-collector, and that it had been hidden there by Peel before he +came to the camp fires; but the attack had been so sudden that he had +no choice but to run for the huts. It was resolved, therefore, that +he should be secured and handed over to the authorities. + +'Although our head-station blacks,' said the superintendent, +'probably had nothing to do with the actual murders, I am sure they +were aware of what had happened. I have noticed a great change in +them for the last week. The two boys, Pothook and little Toby, were +always hanging about the huts before, but of late I observed they +kept away from us. They know of the murders, and are frightened. +Now you must back me up, doctor,' he said to me; 'I am going to try +and obtain a confession from them. In their present state they will +tell all.' + +We made our arrangements accordingly, and returned. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONFESSION. + +He had been absent from the huts for nearly half an hour, but we +found the three blacks still in a state of the most abject fear. +They started with dread even at our approach; and, what surprised me +much, Peel seemed even more panic-stricken than his younger +companions. His eyes rolled, his teeth chattered, and every now and +then he would shiver convulsively. When I had first seen him he was +dressed in jacket and trousers, but now he was in his aboriginal +costume, an opossum-skin cloak wrapped round his otherwise perfectly +naked form. He was squatting on his heels by the fire, but with his +face towards the door. The superintendent was a tall, powerful man, +and a formidable antagonist to face. He stood in the centre of the +hut (which, as I have explained, happened to be clear, the table +having been placed against the partition), and looked sternly down on +the three crouching, shivering figures beneath him. He had purposely +left the gun we had found in the kitchen, telling the hut-keeper and +his wife not to come near, whatever they might hear. In his hand he +held a pistol, while I stood with another in my belt, and my gun in +my hand, ready for action. We had provided ourselves also with a +stout piece of cord, which I had ready to give to him when he should +ask for it. + +For nearly a minute Stevenson thus stood and looked at them in +silence. I observed that, after the first glance at him, the two +boys stared round the hut and hung their heads without looking at him +again. Not so Peel. As his eyes met the superintendent's I noticed +that they became fixed. The pupils, before dilated, suddenly +contracted; the lids, previously wide open, half closed, and a spasm +seemed to pass over him. His head sank lower in the folds of his +rug, but never for an instant did he remove his glance from +Stevenson's face. He saw something there which made him suspect that +his villainy was known, and that he had run into a trap; and the +second danger counteracted the panic caused by the first. + +'Bobby Peel,' said Stevenson, 'where gun belongin' to white fellow +_you kill_?' + +At this question the two youngest absolutely grovelled in the ashes, +and seemed to give themselves up for lost. Peel did not answer, but +drew his cloak over his head, and gathered himself together beneath +it, as if he had resigned himself to his fate. + +'Give me the rope, doctor,' said the superintendent, turning his face +towards me. + +It was but for a moment that he did so, but that moment was enough +for the wary and agile black, who from beneath his covering had still +watched every movement. Dropping his cloak, with one bound he sprang +from his heels and shot himself forward against his antagonist, who +was about five or six feet from him. His hands, held out at full +length, caught the superintendent in the chest, and sent him reeling +the whole length of the hut, until he came crash against the table, +which was covered with dishes and plates, and fell heavily in the +corner. Not hesitating an instant, the now naked black rushed to the +door. I stepped back outside and raised the gun, but he paid no +attention to my threat and order to stop, and slipped out and made +off. + +'Shoot him, doctor!' roared Stevenson in a towering rage, and for +some time I had him covered, but somehow I could not pull the +trigger; I felt a repugnance, guilty as he might be, at the thought +of being his executioner. + +I still had the gun pointed at the fugitive, who was fast +disappearing in the gloom, when a shout arose from the +superintendent, who had just risen from the ground in time to seize +Pothook, who had decided--five seconds too late, however--upon +following Peel's example. I barred the door, and the two were +ordered to resume their places on each side of the fire. + +'We have got these two fellows safe enough, doctor. Do you know they +have been killing white men all about the run? Why did you not shoot +Peel? I told you to fire.' + +'But have they been killing white men?' I asked. + +'Plenty. I heard of it to-day over at the Wakool--Peel, Pothook, +little Toby, and Jumboy.' + +In a low tone, as if for me, but taking care the two boys should hear +us, we discussed what we should do. + +The two hoys listened to us in silent terror. They knew, unhappily, +only too well, from past experience, how little valued black lives +were by the majority of the white men. With no provocation whatever, +and in the mere wantonness of the power to slay, they had often been +slaughtered by the settlers. But now, conscious that they were privy +to many murders of the whites, and that a justification for their +death existed,--kind and just as they knew Stevenson to be in +general,--they believed that their hour was come. Their fear grew +every moment stronger while we talked, and, as they thought, took +counsel together how best to dispose of them. The end of it was +that, only too anxious to save their own lives, they made a clean +breast of it. Pothook had overheard Peel describe his doings to +Jimmy--one of the head-station blacks. There were three or four +others principally concerned, whose names were given. They waylaid +their victims, sometimes spearing them from behind trees; at others +accosting, and, after throwing them off their guard, striking them +down unawares. Altogether Pothook knew of five or six thus killed. +The bird-skin collector had met Peel when the latter was apparently +alone, and had spoken to him. The two were walking along together, +when the black made a sudden snatch at the gun the man carried, but +he failed to obtain it, and took to his heels. Unfortunately, the +white man, instead of letting the fellow go, and keeping his gun +charged, fired the only barrel he had loaded at him as he ran away, +wounding him slightly in the shoulder and arm. The other barrel was +empty, he having shortly before discharged the shot it contained at a +bird; and this Peel and his companions, who were lurking near, well +knew. In an instant he was surrounded, and a volley of spears thrown +at him, and he fell, pierced through and through. + +Cupidity and revenge were the motives for these murders. Almost +every man killed had a supply of tobacco; many had tea and sugar; and +all had blankets. To them such spoil was of great value; but +revenge, and the improbability of being found out, were doubtless +inducements, for the class of men who wander about the interior from +station to station are known to none: going nowhere in particular, +but looking for employment as shepherds or hut-keepers, and heading +in the direction of the districts where they are informed it can be +obtained. Merely making this the pretext for lounging from one +out-station to another, until shearing-time came on, they could earn +money enough to indulge in their usual debauchery at that season, and +were often marked as victims. Such men might disappear from the +earth in numbers, and never be missed. + +The lads seemed to have told all they knew, but Stevenson, to try +them, pretended they had not done so. + +''Pose you no tell what all about black fellow do,--eberyting,--mine +hang you! You tell all.' + +Thus urged, they informed us of the slaughter of another cow, killed +the previous day (a thing we were as yet ignorant of). This was a +great crime to any settler, and Stevenson threatened them severely if +they kept anything back which they knew about destruction of sheep or +cattle on the run; and they then confessed to several misdemeanours +of that kind, though on a small scale, during the time he had been on +the station. + +In his anxiety to save himself, and tell 'eberyting what all about +black fellow do,' Pothook confessed every piece of petty roguery his +tribe had been guilty of for a long time past. It was now that we +learned that, on two occasions when the slip panel of the paddock had +been left down, and the horses all escaped into the bush--by the +carelessness of some passing traveller, as we supposed--it was one of +the blacks who had played the trick, and who had been rewarded with +two sticks of tobacco for speedily finding and bringing them back. +Percussion caps had been stolen, tobacco lying about the hut +purloined, and even charges of powder taken from the flasks when our +backs were turned. But, above all, it was a black fellow's dog which +had killed the cat, which, on account of the snakes infesting the +neighbourhood of the huts, the superintendent had taken such trouble +and pains to procure, riding forty miles with it in a basket strapped +behind him, and the unaccountable loss of which had much surprised +and vexed him, for it had disappeared the day after its arrival. + +'Whose dingo killed my cat, Pothook?' asked the superintendent. + +Pothook rolled his eye towards young Toby, who hung his head with a +guilty look. + +'So, you scoundrel! that was the way the Colonel went, was it? And +you pretended to hunt for it so diligently that I gave you your +dinner and a stick of tobacco. If ever I see you or your dog after +this within a mile of the head station, I'll take the stock-whip and +make it a caution to the pair of you. What did you do with the body? +Where put um pussy?' + +No answer from the criminal; but Pothook, anxious to curry favour at +everybody else's expense, informed us, 'Him yeat um.' + +'Ate him?' + +'Yes; him tink that one very good, white fellov 'possum.' + +And Pothook furthermore let out that, under a somewhat similar +delusion respecting a bottle of cold-drawn castor oil, from which he +had one day seen young Harris draw the cork and swallow a glass, said +little Toby had, at a moment when the hut was empty, slipped in, and, +seizing the bottle as it stood on the shelf, hastily gulped down a +goodly portion, under the impression that it was something of an +intoxicating nature. + +I observed that Pothook, in his narrative of delinquencies, did not +mention any of his own exploits. This excessive modesty seemed quite +misplaced to his companion, whose evil deeds he was bringing to +light; and, plucking up a spirit, Toby junior retorted,-- + +'Mitta Tiffyson' (I may here observe that the superintendent's name +was a great trial for most of the blacks. Almost every one of them +had a method of his own of surmounting the difficulty. Some called +him 'Mr. Stiffison,' others went further, and called him +'Stiffunson;' but plain 'Stiffuns,' with a splutter at the end, was +the favourite pronunciation. I have, however, heard him called +'Stubbomson'),--'Mitta Tiffyson,' said young Toby eagerly, looking up +at the superintendent, and pointing at Pothook as he spoke, 'this one +marn (take) um fiz-fiz belongin' to flour.' + +'Fiz-fiz for flour!' I said; 'what is that?' + +'Oh, he means yeast!' said Stevenson. + +'Yes, yist,' said little Toby; 'porter belongin' to bread. Pothook +steal um that one.' + +'Since you have been here,' said Stevenson to me, 'we have had yeast +bread instead of damper. Mrs. Laidlaw got some from the publican's +wife across the river. I remember her telling me that she had most +unaccountably lost a quart bottle of it; she thought somebody had +emptied it out in mistake. So Pothook take it, Toby?' + +'Yes; him drink it all. Greedy fellow that one! no gib me any. Him +tink it very good porter,' added the black, with a grin at the +recollection. And upon further inquiry it was elicited that, having +observed the woman place it on the table on her return home, and +concluding it to be porter, Pothook had abstracted it, for he had +often longed to taste that liquor. It would have been better for him +if had shared the responsibility, as Toby junior proposed, and given +him half, for the result was more than he could well bear. + +Finding that the two had no more to tell, the superintendent informed +them that their lives were spared for the present, but if they +attempted to leave the hut they would be shot down. And in this +Stevenson was quite in earnest, for after such a confession it was +his duty to convey immediate information to the commander of the +Border Black Police, the 'Black Troopers,' who were travelling down +the river, and who, he had heard, would arrive at a station twenty +miles off that evening. He resolved to start at once, and endeavour +to return with them at daybreak, before the blacks, who might think +themselves perfectly safe for that night, would suspect their +vicinity and take to the scrub. + +'It will be useless my starting to fetch the police if either of +those two fellows escape out of your sight; and they are slippery as +eels. Do you think you will be able to keep them safely?' said +Stevenson to us. + +I was very tired, and so was Harris; and the idea of sitting up all +night was not pleasant. However, there was no help for it, and we +promised to watch alternately during his absence. 'Where do you +expect to find the troopers?' I asked; 'and how will you get to +them?' I said. + +'That is the question,' replied the superintendent. 'Lieutenant +Walters, I heard, was to reach the Junction, twenty miles up on this +side of the river, at sunset to-day; but the blacks are camped not +far from the road I must go by, as it is too dark to travel through +the bush. I must therefore cross the river here and go up by the +other side, and then swim the river again--not a pleasant prospect +truly. If I attempt to cross on horseback here, at the punt, the +blacks there will instantly suspect the truth; so swim it I must, +somewhere in our neighbourhood. Nice, isn't it?' + +Finally it was decided that he should cross just below the island, +carrying his clothes in a bundle, wrapped in a waterproof coat and +placed in a bucket, which he held as he swam. He would then walk to +the inn, taking care to approach it from behind, so that the blacks +there, who, warned by Harris, had left their fires and were squatted +in the verandah, should not hear him. A hundred yards behind the inn +was the hut where the punt-man lived. He was to be roused and sent +to the house, to tell the innkeeper to quietly saddle his mare, which +was kept stabled at night, and bring her to Stevenson, while the man +engaged the blacks in talk in the front of the house. + +We watched until he had safely swam across and ascended the bank on +the other side, and then returned to the hut. As we passed by the +kitchen we looked in. Laidlaw, the hut-keeper, was sitting by the +fire, and, to do him justice, seemed heartily ashamed of himself, for +he did not turn his head as we appeared. His wife had made up a +sleeping-place for the poor child whose parents had been so suddenly +cut off. The poor thing was overcome by drowsiness, and every now +and then would sink into sleep, from which, however, it would almost +instantly spring up, screaming out violently that the blacks were +coming to kill it, and clinging in the utmost terror to the woman's +gown. It had found its way to the bodies of its mother and father +behind the hut, and in its endeavours to arouse and awaken them had +got covered with blood, which the woman was washing off as we +entered, her tears falling plentifully the while; for she was much +attached to the two lubras--who helped her in such household work as +peeling potatoes, washing dishes, and bringing water, and the like, +while their husbands caught fish or (before I came) shot wildfowl +with the superintendent's fowling-piece. She was therefore much +shocked at what had occurred, and was, moreover, heartily ashamed of +her husband's pusillanimity. + +We re-entered our hut, thinking that our adventures for that night at +least were over--but I was mistaken. + +It had been agreed that Harris and I should start an hour before +daybreak and ride to a spot fixed upon, there to await the arrival of +the superintendent with the troopers; and, having arranged that each +of us should take a watch, I threw myself on one of the beds, and +slept till two o'clock, when Harris woke me, and I took his place. + +For some time I sat by the fire, musing over the different events +which had occurred, and in imagination following the superintendent +in his night ride up the river. It was about eleven o'clock when he +started; and, allowing him an hour to reach the inn and get mounted, +he would then have a straight gallop across a large bend of the river +for about fifteen miles. He would then have to tether his horse and +again swim the stream, as there were no other means of crossing at +that spot, and walk a mile through the bush to the station where the +troopers were. Allowing him till three o'clock to do this, he would +have time to start with them on their errand, and be at the +rendezvous fixed on before daybreak, always supposing no accident +delayed him. Bobby Peel, we knew, would head for Winyong directly; +but both he and the other murderers would certainly calculate upon +having at least twenty-four hours undisturbed wherein to escape, +during which they would be comparatively safe from the white man's +vengeance. + +I put some fresh logs on the fire, for the nights were now becoming +very cold. The two blacks were lying sprawling by its side on the +earthen floor of the hut; while Harris lay just above them on the bed +next the chimney. The blaze from the burning wood and the light from +the lamp fell strongly on the three sleepers, fully revealing their +faces and figures, and I could not help being struck by the different +aspect of the physiognomies before me, illustrations as they were of +the highest and almost the lowest types of the animal man. For some +time my mind wandered in a maze of theories as to the origin of +types--effects of climate, food, and other modifying agencies in +influencing the development of the _genus homo_, until all at once I +became conscious that my ethnological speculations were rapidly +coveying me into the land of dreams; so, jumping up to shake off the +drowsiness creeping over me (for I had been shooting all day in the +reed-beds), I slung the kettle, to make myself a pot of tea, and then +went outside to look at the night. + +The heavens were overcast with dense masses of clouds, and a light +breeze blew from the southward, the damp feel of which indicated that +the long-expected winter rains would not much longer be withheld from +the parched-up country. After pacing up and down in front of the hut +for some time, I turned to re-enter it, when all at once I heard one +of the horses in the paddock neigh. Under ordinary circumstances +this of itself would have signified nothing; but we were obliged to +be constantly on the alert against the horse thieves, who often +cleared out all the animals on several stations in a single night, +and swept away with them over the borders and into the neighbouring +colonies by routes known only to themselves, and where pursuit was in +general utterly vain. As we had several valuable horses in our lot, +I listened for some time, and, after giving a look at my charge, and +ascertaining that both still slept soundly, I walked down to where +they were grazing. + +The paddock extended for nearly a mile up and down the river, and our +huts were situated inside its fence and about in the centre. I found +most of the animals a few hundred yards off, grazing quietly enough; +but as I stood near one of them again neighed, and upon putting my +ear to the ground I thought I heard a distant sound, which seemed to +come from across the river. I went down to the bank and again +listened. Sometimes it would die away, but presently it arose more +strongly, until I plainly made it out to be the rushing gallop of +either horses or cattle, my bush experience being then too slight to +enable me to distinguish which. I concluded it must be the latter, +as the sounds came from the island, which was some miles in length, +being a broad, rolling plain, everywhere surrounded by deep water, +and occupied exclusively by cattle, which, as they could not escape, +had no one to look after them. It was not possible that any horsemen +could be there by accident; for even our own stockman had to swim his +horse over when Stevenson wished to muster the herd. Perhaps (I +thought) the blacks who had made that night's murderous onslaught +were still there, and the cattle on the island had been startled by +them; for cattle have the greatest aversion to blacks, scenting them +at a great distance and fleeing from their vicinity. Sometimes they +will rush at the natives, charging them with great fury. Poor +Leichardt relates, in the account of his most wonderful journey from +Brisbane to Port Essington, that, having killed and eaten all their +cattle but one, a bullock named Redman, to which they had become much +attached for his patience and docility, the party was reduced to the +very verge of starvation. For weeks they lived on boiled hide alone, +and a very scanty allowance of that. Still, none could endure the +thought of killing the faithful Redman, who had travelled with them +for fifteen months through the wilderness, led by a rope passed +through a ring in his nose. And the party did succeed in taking the +animal into their destination, though at the cost of great suffering +to themselves. In the last month or two of their journey, the +explorers fell in with numerous tribes of blacks, who treated the +white men with great kindness. Some of these tribes numbered five or +six hundred souls. Whenever Redman, however, caught sight of them, +it was with the utmost difficulty that he could be restrained. He +would break away from his leader and charge the blacks with the +utmost fury. 'Had the natives been hostile,' says Leichardt, 'Redman +would have protected us and routed them all. I have seen three +hundred men flee from his rush, for they were terribly afraid of him.' + +All at once the sounds ceased, and for some minutes I heard nothing; +but as my eye wandered over the river banks, suddenly I caught sight +of objects moving on the island, and a short inspection convinced me +that they were horses, and I fancied that they were mounted. I +crouched down, to avoid being seen, but of that there was not much +fear, as the shade of the rising ground behind me effectually +concealed me. It was now darker than in the earlier part of the +night, and the river was a hundred yards across, so that it was only +when they passed along the summit of the bank and against the lighter +background of the sky that I could distinguish them. They stopped +opposite where I was, and at the only spot for many miles (except at +the punt) where animals could descend and ascend to and from the +water, the banks of the Murray being exceedingly precipitous. By +this I felt convinced they were horse-stealers, and men, moreover, +well acquainted with the locality, for they could not have passed +down the river behind the inn, because the scrub, impenetrable at +night, approached so close to the house that it would necessitate +their passing within earshot. Higher up the river they could not +cross without getting involved in a network of ana branches, +impossible to ford in the dark. They were therefore obliged to cross +at our paddock, and doubtless had the felonious intention of picking +up our horses on their way. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PREPARATIONS FOR PURSUIT. + +As I lay watching their movements, as well as the darkness permitted, +I suddenly remembered that there was a canoe, or little punt, a +miserable, leaky, flat-bottomed affair, lying under the bank before +me. The reason Stevenson had not used it to paddle down to the +bottom of the island (a mile off) was the necessity of constant +baling to keep it afloat in going such a distance. Merely to cross +and recross the stream she would do well enough, as she would carry +two men. I was determined the thieves should not have her for +transporting their saddles and swags, and went forward to remove her. +I crept along until I came to the huge log of dead timber to which +the canoe was attached. Here I was completely in the shade, and +sheltered, moreover, by the massive trunk, behind the upper end of +which I crouched. I had reached out my hand to loosen the painter, +when my eye fell on an object moving along the surface of the water, +which was comparatively light. It was the head of a man swimming +across for the boat; and I resolved to secure him. + +As he approached nearer, I saw it was a black fellow. I was not +surprised at this, as I had been informed that the organized gangs of +depredators who carried on operations on a large scale between the +different colonies generally secured the services of some of these +dexterous children of the soil to assist them in travelling through +the bush by the remotest and most unfrequented tracks; and, above +all, to aid them in swimming the horses across streams when flooded +with the winter rains. He did not seem to anticipate any ambush or +interruption, for he came boldly though silently on, and, reaching +the boat, hauled himself on, and, grasping the rope, lifted himself +out of the water by its aid, and in two steps ascended to where it +was fastened. I had drawn my pistol from its belt, and the moment he +reached out his hand, I pointed it at him, and said quietly, 'If you +move, I shoot you!' + +Beyond turning his face quickly to the spot whence my voice +proceeded, the black made not the slightest motion, but remained in +the same attitude, as if suddenly paralyzed by this unexpected +rencontre; and I stood up to seize and take him up the bank. I +confess I acted like a blockhead; but I was new to such matters then; +yet, after the example I had already witnessed that evening of the +cunning, dexterity, and agility of the blacks, I ought to have known +better. + +Instead of keeping him covered with my pistol, and ordering him to +come up the bank to me, I descended the steep face of it to him, and, +reaching out my left hand, took hold of his wrist to lead him up. +The fellow yielded without uttering a syllable, and as if he had not +the slightest intention of resisting, and ascended a step or two, +thus bringing himself close to and just beneath me. Another step +would have placed us on a level, and he was in the act of making it, +when, quick as lightning, the rascal, finding himself quite close to +me, threw his arm round my body and hurled himself back into the +river, head foremost, dragging me with him, and, when under water, +instantly making the most desperate efforts to get loose from my +grasp. I was a good swimmer, fortunately, and in falling I had let +go his wrist and seized him by his bushy head of hair, which I kept a +tight hold of. I was desperately enraged at having been so simply +done, and when we reached the surface I gave him a blow or two with +the pistol. I soon found I was the stronger of the two; but still he +struggled viciously. + +'What for white fellow kill black drooper?' + +'Trooper!' I said; 'what do you mean?' + +'Mine belongin' to p'leece!' he roared, while voices from the other +side, which the noise and splashing of our struggle had hitherto +prevented me from hearing, called out to know what was the matter. + +'You blockhead!' I said; 'why didn't you say so at first?' and I +scrambled out. + +'Who is there?' I said. + +'Lieutenant Walters and the native police. Is that you, doctor? +Will you bring the punt over?' + +It was Stevenson's voice. In a few moments I and my late antagonist +were on the other side. + +'What have you and the darky been up to?' he said. + +'I took you for a lot of horse-stealers. Who could have dreamt it +was you? Back so soon, and on the island too!' + +'But how did you manage to get into the river? You fell in, did you +not?' + +'It was this black fellow pulled me in,' I said. 'What for you pull +me in along a water, eh? What for no speak?' + +'What for you poke 'um pissel along a me, eh? What for you pabber +"mine shoot"? You stupid white fellow--you! Crack um cobra +belongin' to mine!' and he rubbed said 'cobra' very gingerly. +However, as his head was as hard as the generality of blacks', there +was no great harm done. + +'Mistakes on both sides, apparently,' said Stevenson; 'but you had +better get across as soon as possible. I will go over with you. Are +the two boys safe?' + +'Fast as a church, when I saw them last,' said I, seizing the paddle +and sculling vigorously, for I was getting benumbed with cold. One +of the blacks swam alongside, to bring back the punt, and hurried +home to change. As we went Stevenson explained that, when some +distance on his journey, he had met the troop on the plains, and was +told that, having found a note awaiting his arrival, with orders on +the subject from Brown, the lieutenant had determined to push on that +very night, and beat up the blacks' quarters next morning, if +possible. Knowing that his every movement was closely watched, and +that information is passed on from tribe to tribe with wonderful +celerity, he was obliged to be very cautious. Feigning that the note +was an unwelcome summons to another place, he, in apparent +ill-humour, gave orders that the troop should cross the river that +evening, in order to be ready for an early start for the Avoca, where +he pretended that his presence was urgently required. At midnight he +sent out two or three scouts to examine the neighbourhood for any +lurking spies, and, finding that his ruse had succeeded, he quietly +saddled up and started, and met Stevenson on his way. + +Upon approaching the station, they debated whether they should try to +surprise and secure the four or five blacks at the Ferry Inn, and +then recross the river by the punt, or whether they should get on to +the island, and swim the river opposite the huts. As the blacks were +on their guard, the first idea was abandoned; and the more readily, +as it transpired that one of the troopers on a former marauding +expedition had discovered a ford across the branch, by which they +could reach the island without the necessity of swimming. They were +thus enabled to ferry over their saddles and clothes. + +While Stevenson was giving me these particulars, and I was changing +my clothes and imbibing some hot tea, the troopers swam their horses +across, and presently mustered before the huts. Their commander was +a young fellow of four or five-and-twenty, in some respects well +fitted for his post, for he was a dashing, reckless fellow, with +plenty of courage and hardihood. But, as regarded discipline or +organization of any kind, his troop was sadly deficient. They were +simply black fellows clapped into uniforms, armed with carbine, +sword, and pistol, and mounted on horseback; and wonderful airs they +gave themselves as they strutted about. When I say they wore +uniforms, I must except boots. These supposed essentials to the +equipment of the cavalry soldier were dispensed with by them, except +on grand occasions, such as the review of the force. Then, with +great agony and numerous contortions, these were dragged on, and +their usual springy, elastic gait was instantly changed to a most +unsoldierlike and pitiful hobble. But on active service the boots +were hung at the saddle-bow, while each sable warrior inserted his +great toe into the stirrup, the spurs being lashed to the naked heel. + +The hut-keeper and his wife had been roused to prepare supper, or +breakfast, for it was now long past three o'clock, and soon the +frying-pan was hard at work. + +'Do you think any of your head-station blacks who were killed last +night had anything to do with the murders?' asked Walters, when he +had returned from inspecting the bodies. + +'They knew of them, but took no active part, I believe; Pothook had +overheard Peel telling poor Jimmy about them.' + +'It was a good thought of yours, keeping these fellows,' said the +lieutenant to me; 'shouldn't have caught them for months if they had +got wind of our coming. Sorry that fool of mine gave you such a +ducking; he always was a stupid blockhead. Now, the question is, +Where are these fellows we want? What kind of country are they +camped in? Can I get at them so as to surround their miamis? Who +knows the locality? I must have that fellow Peel this time, he has +dodged me so often.' + +'I rather think the doctor here knows that ground better than any +one, as he has shot ducks up and down the creek almost every day, and +fished for eels in nearly every water-hole,' said Stevenson. + +'But does he know the murderers? I have got orders to catch the next +lot, and send them prisoners to town. It makes more impression on +the rest than shooting.' + +'Harris and I know them all. We will both go with you. When will +you start?' + +'In time to reach and surround their camp just before daybreak. Will +you be good enough to give me a rough sketch of the ground near it?' +he said to me. + +I made out a plan; and, while he was studying it, Harris went to the +woolshed and brought down a number of sheepskins, which each trooper +quickly made into pads for putting on their horses' feet on +approaching near to the camp, in order to deaden the sound. + +'I see there is a swamp near the camp; can horses cross it?' + +'No; it is all soft ground, boggy in many places--I have walked over +it often,' I replied. + +'Then we must try and cut them off from it, that's all. When we have +had something to eat, it will be time to start.' + +He sat down to the meal the woman had just brought in; and while he +was engaged with it Stevenson took me aside. We went towards the +kitchen, where the troopers were crowded together, eating their +supper also, some sitting at the table, the rest squatted on the +floor. After examining them through the window for a while, +Stevenson pointed out three of the twelve, whom he knew to belong to +the same tribe which had made the onslaught on his blacks that night. + +'I saw those fellows just now, when you and Walters went to look at +the bodies, spitting and stamping upon the tracks made by our blacks +about the hut, and shaking their fists towards the camp they are +going to attack. They are gloating over the prospect before them, +and the scoundrels will kill lubras and children without scruple, for +Walters alone will not be able to restrain them. He is altogether +too young and reckless--in fact, too indifferent about the lives of +these poor creatures; and in that respect he resembles too many of +the squatters, I am sorry to say. Now, I am determined that my +blacks shall not be cut up by these fellows, if I can prevent it. +You will come with us, of course?' + +'Not I. I have not the slightest wish to see the pour wretches +killed or captured, I assure you.' + +'Still I hope you'll come,' he urged. 'Your presence, as a stranger, +will be even a greater restraint upon them than mine, who am supposed +to have an interest in the destruction of these troublesome pests to +the squatter. Walters will exert himself to obey the orders he has +received, and take them alive; and I must offer these fellows some +bribe or other to induce them to behave mercifully, and prevent the +slaughter of women and children at least.' + +'If you think my presence will have any good effect, I shall, of +course, be only to happy to go with you. But the fact is, I am sick +of bloodshed after what happened last night,' I said. + +'I don't wonder at it; and yet, just look at those fellows,' he +added, pointing to where the troopers were enjoying their sweetened +tea, damper, and beef. 'What fills us with such loathing is to them +a source of the keenest delight. They are in their glory now. +Strange, is it not--this dreadful instinct to kill, even in the case +of men living far apart, and who never, perhaps, saw each other +before? And yet I must not be unjust to them either. They kill +because they are under the impression that every death, or sickness, +or other misfortune which occurs to themselves or friends, is the +work of some distant enemy, who has bewitched or stolen away his +kidney fat. But here comes Walters; I suppose he intends making a +start.' + +In a short time all were ready, our horses driven up to the stockyard +and saddled. The troopers, under the guidance of Harris, mounted and +started, while Walters and we then entered the hut once more, to look +at the two blacks, to whom I had given a dose of something to make +them sleep. + +'I want to make sure of these fellows,' said the former. 'It would +never do if, the moment our backs are turned, one of them jumped up +and made off. He could easily reach the camp before daybreak, and +all our trouble would be thrown away. Try them again, doctor, +please.' + +I did so. Little Toby could be roused only with difficulty. +Pothook, however, was not so drowsy; and upon shaking him he opened +his eyes and fixed them for a moment on Walters and a trooper, who, +in their shining accoutrements, stood before him. His head almost +instantly fell back, and apparently he was sound asleep again in a +moment. Something, however, in the glance aroused my suspicions, and +I quietly asked the lieutenant if the blacks here knew him. + +'Oh yes! they all know me very well.' + +'Then Pothook recognised you! I believe he is wide awake at this +moment, and will continue so, as the shock of the discovery that you +are here will rouse him thoroughly. He must be guarded. Shall we +tie them together?' + +'No need of that, if your hut-keeper will only mount guard over them +for one hour. It is half-past four now, and day dawns at six. Call +him in.' + +Laidlaw came in, and, having received his orders not to lose sight of +them for an instant until daylight, we mounted our horses and pushed +on to overtake the troop. + +'I am vexed that you should be dragged out on such a miserable +expedition as this,' said Stevenson to me as we rode together; 'but +you know my motives. I feel very sad when I think of the fate about +to befall these unhappy wretches. I can venture to say this much to +you. Were I to speak thus to nine out of ten squatters, they would +stare at me in astonishment. It is enough for them that these blacks +have killed white men. They must, therefore, be shot down if they +run, or be hanged if they are taken alive. But I cannot help feeling +that all those so-called murders were perpetrated by these ignorant +savages in retaliation for innumerable atrocities practised by the +overlanders and their men, who, until a year or two back, when this +station was first formed, used to travel from the Sydney side with +their sheep and cattle to take up this country. Had we white men +only done our duty by these poor creatures, and used our superior +power a little more mercifully when we seized and occupied their +country, such atrocities as those we are now going to punish would +never have occurred. It is enough to make one's blood run cold to +hear some of my neighbours speak of these blacks. "How many did you +shoot when you came over?" one will ask another. "Only eleven," he +will reply. "How many did you?" "Fourteen altogether." And in town +I have more than once met--gentlemen, I suppose I must call them--who +openly asserted that they made it a point to shoot all they came +across.' + +'I have heard men say the same,' I replied, 'more than once, when in +Melbourne. It is perfectly horrible.' + +Walters riding up at this moment put a stop to the conversation, and +presently we overtook the troop. + +The blacks whom we were going to surprise were stationed six miles +off, at the upper end of a long plain, and a hundred yards or so from +the banks of a creek, which for some miles above their camp was +closely bordered on one side by a swamp and on the other by mallee +scrub. The miamis were pitched near the lower end of the swamp +(which was on the right or station side of the watercourse), and in +such a position that the blacks could see all over the plain the +approach of danger, and, taking to the reeds, could escape across the +creek into the mallee, which there ended, abruptly extending back in +a solid wall at right angles with the bank for half a mile. After +passing the camp, the creek wound through the centre of a perfectly +level open plain, which plain was bounded on one side by a dense wall +of scrub, and on the other by a line of open timber; both the mallee +and the timber running parallel to the general course of the creek, +at a distance of ten or twelve hundred yards, except at a spot one +mile down, where a point or promontory of scrub approached the bank +much more closely. At that part of the creek there was an +out-station hut. + +It happened, however, that the lower portion of the swamp, which +protected the rear of the blacks from the approach of horsemen, was +almost entirely detached from the upper by a bay or indentation of +the plain; and guided by young Harris, who also knew the ground well, +and favoured by the hour, the darkness, and a high cold wind which +had sprung up, accompanied with a drizzling rain, the troops +succeeded in passing the blacks and reaching this spot unobserved. +Descending into the bed of the stream, which was nearly dry, and ten +feet below the surrounding plain, nine of the twelve, with Walters +and myself, then silently crept down it, until we came opposite to +the fires. A scout sent forward to reconnoitre reported that, +entirely unsuspicious that their dreaded enemies were near them, the +blacks and their dogs were all lying close, and sheltered from the +cold wind and rain beneath their miamis, and apparently all asleep. +Walters had planted three sentries in the interval between the two +swamps, and across the creek at the edge of the scrub, which +terminated just opposite that spot; the lower part of the swamp +continuing some two hundred yards farther down the watercourse. If +any of the blacks, therefore, escaped into this lower patch of reeds, +they would be prevented from passing higher up the creek, or across +the intervening two hundred yards of plain, into the mallee scrub. + +My feelings were not very pleasant as I stood by my horse's head +shivering, and watching over the edge of the bank the showers of +sparks which the wind, now increased to a gale, caught up and +scattered over the plain. I felt sorry for the miserable destiny of +the poor creatures for whom we had prepared so unpleasant an +awakening. But I cannot say my sentiments were at all shared by my +companions. The rascals were all alive with energy, and waited +impatiently for the moment when they were to be let loose on their +unfortunate countrymen. Not that they had the slightest desire to +avenge the deaths of the white men; they were not so weak; but +because, under the guise of duty, they hoped to wreak their vengeance +upon those whom they regarded as their hereditary enemies. I had +heard their commander tell them to capture, not kill; and very much +disgusted they were with the order. I fully appreciated Stevenson's +reluctance to let loose such a set on his blacks. + +The different colonial governments, well aware of the savage and +bloodthirsty character of these same native border police, had often +meditated suppressing the force altogether. But they had hitherto +found themselves unable to do so. White constables are useless on +the borders. It is only the aboriginal, with his keen senses and +power of tracking his enemy, who can be depended upon to protect the +settlers in those districts where native outrages prevail, or to +inflict chastisement upon the perpetrators of them. + +With the first faint streak of dawn the cry of the mopoke rang +through the foliage above our heads. It was the signal agreed upon, +and emerging from the bed of the creek the troopers silently placed +themselves in a semicircle between the reeds and the eight or ten +miamis which constituted the camp; and, removing the pads which had +deadened the sound of their advance, waited until the blacks should +become aware of their presence. Like most savages who are given to +surprise their enemies, the Australian aboriginal is yet careless in +guarding against surprise. It was broad daylight before a shrill cry +announced that they were at last aware of their danger. Springing up +from their sleep, and taking in the whole situation at a glance, they +fled in a body over the plain, the only way left open for them. +Guided by Harris and Stevenson, who had remained behind the reeds, +but who now rode out and across the course of the fugitives, the +troopers galloped after, and soon succeeded in securing the +murderers, of whom one only offered any resistance. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ON THE TRAIL. + +When the troopers passed through the camp, each man gave a sharp look +at the miamis, to see that no blacks remained. These were merely +sheets of bark, or boughs set up on end, so as to form a sloping wall +between the fires and the wind, so that they could not conceal +anybody. Owing to the haste, apparently, with which the blacks had +sprung up, one of these miamis had got knocked down, and the boughs +had fallen on the fire in front, where the leaves, damp with the rain +which had fallen, were smouldering. Beneath these fallen boughs, and +running the risk of being burned to death, lay hidden the black +Walters so much wished to capture. He had had the presence of mind, +on the alarm being given, to roll himself close to the fire, and, +lying flat under his blanket, to knock away the prop which supported +the bark and boughs of his miami; and as I rode up to the camp from +the creek, for I had remained behind the troop, having no desire to +be other than a mere spectator, Bobby Peel, dressed once more in +cotton shirt, jacket, and trousers, was just rolling himself from +beneath them. + +My first impulse was to detain him, but he gave me such an appealing, +eloquent look, that I hesitated. I remembered what Stevenson had +told me as to the infamous treatment endured by this man's tribe; how +Peel's first experience of white men was being fired on when awaiting +the approach of a party of overlanders who came near, making signs of +friendship until within range, when they delivered a volley which +killed his father and two brothers. Old Toby had often shown me the +patch of reeds he and Peel, then a lad, took shelter in on that +occasion. I had warned Stevenson I would not in any way aid in the +capture, even if I saw them escaping. In the short time I had been +on the run, I had mingled much with them, had taken long shooting and +botanical excursions with two of these very murderers, and been of +service to them professionally; for European disease was rife amongst +their miamis, and that they were grateful to me I could easily see by +the gleam of pleasure which lightened up their visages when 'doc, +doc,' as they called me, appeared amongst them. Moreover, as I +looked round, there seemed no possibility of escape for Peel. The +mallee and swamp were guarded, and across the plain he could not move +unseen. Was it for me to hasten the miserable creature's doom by a +few minutes? I could not do it; and when the black, raising himself +on his elbow, after a keen look at the troop, at that moment in full +career after his countrymen, pushed the wet boughs farther on to the +fire, so as to raise a dense smoke, which the high wind blowing +carried along the ground, and ran unobserved under its shelter to the +reeds, I did not interfere to prevent him. + +A very short time, however, elapsed before Walters was on his track. +Not finding him with the rest, and suspecting what had actually +occurred, he galloped down to the camp, and his men soon found the +foot-marks of the fugitive in the wet grass. But upon following +these through the swamp, the bird was flown. Peel had crept to the +margin of the creek, and there seeing the sentry by the mallee, +instantly suspected that the upper swamp also was guarded, for he +knew well the number of the troop. His only resource, then, was to +enter the bed of the creek and run down it until near enough to the +point where the scrub approached its banks, to afford him a chance of +reaching it before being overtaken. This was, as I said above, only +a thousand yards or so away in a straight line, but by the creek bed, +owing to its great winding, the distance was nearly doubled. To +succeed, he required a far longer start than Walters' vigilance had +left him, for not many minutes had elapsed from the time he had +disappeared in the reeds, before the lieutenant had sent troopers +down to guard the bed of the watercourse and the plain on both sides; +after which he put three expert trackers on the trail. Then, riding +to where Stevenson and I were patching up two or three wounded +blacks,--for, in spite of all his injunctions and efforts, some of +his men would use their weapons,--and hastily ordering the prisoners +to be taken to the head station, whither Harris also went, to bring +the spring cart for one of the wounded men who had bled very much, he +invited me to join him in the hunt; for I had in the course of +conversation the previous night expressed a wish to witness a +specimen of the tracking powers of his men. I eagerly consented, not +only because I was desirous of seeing exercised some of those keen +faculties which the savage possesses in such perfection, but because +I somehow felt a great interest in the fate of the miserable +fugitive, and wished to be present to witness the result of the +chase, whatever it might be, whether escape or capture. I could not +help secretly hoping, as I noted the eager and ardent way in which +his own countrymen set to work to hunt him down, that the poor wretch +might escape. But there was, to all appearance, but small hope of +that. + +The creek down the bed of which the fugitive had fled was not an ana +branch of the Murray, but one of the ordinary watercourses called by +that name in Australia, which is, however, only properly applicable +to an inlet of the sea. A raging torrent in winter, it was in summer +a succession of 'water-holes' or pools, with spaces of dry ground +between them. Some of these water-holes were from fifty to a hundred +yards in length,--a few much larger, but in general they resembled +small ponds,--the breadth being some forty or fifty feet. In depth +many greatly exceeded this. The banks were fringed with the 'yarra' +trees, which almost invariably, even when they are passing through +plains otherwise treeless, margin the smaller watercourses of +Australia, and which in this particular creek grew more closely than +usual together at that level of the bank reached by the floods in +winter-time. Unlike the generality of Australian timber, which +shoots up to a considerable height before giving off any branches, +these yarra trees in form more often resemble those of English growth +(such as the oak); the trunk, gnarled and stunted, dividing at a few +feet into large branches, the inner ones growing with an inclination +downwards towards the water, into which at flood-time their ends +often dip. From the blacks' camp to the out-station hut, a mile off, +the course of the creek somewhat resembled the letter S. + +We soon overtook the trackers, who had not much difficulty in +following, as the fugitive had not had time to resort to any +elaborate artifices. At one spot he had taken to the water, and some +time passed before the place where he left it could be ascertained. +The margin of that particular water-hole was rocky in some places. A +slight drizzling rain had continued to fall, but beneath the trees +the ground as yet was comparatively dry. The drippings from the +fugitive's clothes would quickly betray his passage, but none such +could be seen. It was concluded that he lay hidden in a patch of +reeds which grew in a shallow part of the water at one end, and +search was being made there by two of the blacks as we rode up. The +third, however, more cunning than the rest, instead of joining them, +ascended on to the plain, and commenced making casts round about in +the neighbourhood. At first he also was unsuccessful, but in working +his way round the water-hole he caught sight of a tuft of pretty +thick bushes some thirty feet or so out. Instantly he ran up to +them, as if pretty certain of there finding what he was looking for, +and, stooping, he drew out a couple of dead, flattened, bushy boughs. +Beneath these were the footmarks of the hunted man. + +The bush in Australia is everywhere littered with dead trees and +branches, the beds of the creeks in particular, where they are torn +from the banks and deposited in heaps by floods. The leaves of one +small bushy species adhere most tenaciously for months after death, +and are not easily broken. Picking up two of these as he fled, and +keeping them dry as he entered the water and swam, Peel had placed +them on the dry, rocky part of the bank. Hastily pressing and +squeezing as much moisture as possible out of his clothes, he had +lifted himself out upon them, and allowed them to receive the +droppings from his person. Shifting one before the other, and always +keeping upon them, he had ascended the bank, and in this manner +reached the tuft of bushes without leaving any moisture or footprint +to betray him. We found that the bend of the creek at this spot +would hide him from view. + +After leaving the tuft of bushes, he had run for some distance at +full speed, and again descended into the bed. Upon coming to that +part where it approached the mallee sufficiently close to enable the +fugitive, had he left the creek, to reach the scrub before the +horseman on watch could overtake him, the trackers found that the +traces still continued to keep within the banks. By this they were +sure that he had not had time to try it, and that Walters had been +too quick for him. His resorting to these artifices was another +proof, and the trackers now proceeded cautiously, for fear he should +double on them and take the back track. + +We at length came to a water-hole of great size, being nearly three +hundred yards in length, and in parts very broad. Along the side of +this the tracks led for a good distance, and then suddenly +disappeared. The mallee came closer here than in any other part; and +the trooper on sentry there was riding up and down in its front. He +examined the ground where he was; and the blacks with us, thinking +that by chance he might have dodged in unobserved by the sentry, +examined the plain in their own vicinity; but no marks could be seen. +The fugitive had evidently taken to the water. But had he left it, +and how? was the question; for, search as they would, not a mark to +indicate the whereabouts of his exit could be seen. The long, dry +summer had sunk the water so much, that on both sides a broad margin +of damp clay bank extended, which would have quickly betrayed his +passage; and the blacks had soon ascertained that Peel had not +repeated his former ruse. They decided, therefore, that he was still +in the water, concealed; and that, moreover, there was another black +concealed there with him. + +The farther end of the larger lagoon was connected by a narrow, +shallow strait, a few feet wide, with a smaller one; and on walking +round this, one of the troopers had come upon some other tracks, +which also led to the margin of the pool, and there disappeared. An +examination of these soon led to the decision that they had very +recently been made, that they were the footmarks of a black, and that +it was not Peel. And upon examining the narrow strait of shallow +water, they furthermore asserted that the individual, whoever he was, +had passed through it hurriedly on his way to the larger lagoon. + +When Walters conveyed this information to the superintendent and +myself, who were present, I was much surprised. I could not imagine +how it could be possible for the men to be concealed in such a place. + +'How can they tell that anybody has passed through this water?' I +said to their commander. 'It is only two or three feet deep, but the +bottom is invisible, owing to the dark colour of the clay, and the +shade cast by the trees.' + +'They examined the edge of it,' he replied, 'and found that a ripple +or wave had recently washed over the pebbles, grass, and clay of the +bank for several inches. If he had walked gently through, the mark +left would have been much slighter than if he had passed through in a +hurry. This fellow rushed through in a hurry, evidently. Probably +just then he caught sight of the troopers coming over the plain to +station themselves by the scrub here, close by, and made for the +larger water directly.' + +'Perhaps,' I suggested, 'the tracks are Peel's, made by walking +backwards out of the water, to deceive you.' + +'He knew well he could not deceive the blacks that way,' said +Walters. 'No! this is the track of a man running, and running fast. +Doubtless it was one of the head-station blacks, from the +public-house, who had heard or suspected something, and was coming to +give the others warning, but was too late. Whoever he is, he is +hidden somewhere in the water still, and Peel too, most likely.' + +'In the water?' I said, astonished. + +'Yes; amongst the reeds.' + +'But,' said I, 'there are no reeds, or scarcely any; only those +narrow strips, barely a yard or two in width, round the margin; and +you can see right down into them from the banks, and detect any man's +head above the surface, even if it were in the thickest patch I see +hereabouts; for they are not more than ten or twelve inches above the +water, at most.' + +'Yes; if they were such fools as to keep their heads above water,' +replied the lieutenant. 'But these chaps are stowed away underneath.' + +'With their heads under water? What do you mean?' + +'I mean that you might pass this lagoon, walk round its banks, and +look as closely as you will down upon those scanty reeds fringing the +margin,--you will see nothing, and hear nothing but the rustling of +the wind in the leaves. And yet a hundred blacks might be lying +hidden there all the time! And so closely will they be concealed +that a flock of wild ducks might alight and see nothing to startle +them, so solitary and quiet will be the aspect of the place.' + +'How can they manage it?' + +'Simply enough. Almost every one of them keeps about him, concealed +in his thick, bushy hair, a piece of hollow reed tube. When closely +pressed, they take to the water, and, diving beneath, thrust their +heads into a patch of reeds. Turning on their backs first, they +allow their faces to come near enough to the surface for the tube to +project, and they breathe through it. The sharpest eye could not +detect this, hidden as it is amongst the thick growth; and even +without it, it would be impossible to detect their nostrils, which, +in that case, they only allow to project above water. See!' he +added; 'they are groping for them.' + +Some spears had been brought from the deserted camp for this very +purpose; and, walking round the margin, two of the troopers thrust +these in all directions into the water, but for some time without any +result; the other black continuing his search round the banks for the +trail, in case they had after all left it. All at once, however, I +noticed one of them, as he was bending forward, and probing with his +weapon, slip and partly fall in. His spear had been jerked out of +his hand, and a movement in the reeds betrayed the cause. Running +up, I caught sight, for an instant, of the twinkling soles of the +feet (which are much lighter-coloured than the skin of the rest of +the body) of the diver, as he proceeded to swim under water to some +other part of the lagoon. But his pursuers had also seen them, and +had been able to follow, with their keener gaze, the passage of the +dark body itself, which, after the first glimpse, was invisible to +me, to its new hiding-place. There was not the slightest disturbance +of the surface, or any greater movement amongst the wind-tossed reeds +than was observable elsewhere on the water-hole, to betray its +whereabouts, yet the blacks unerringly selected the spot, and with +poised spears were about to thrust the unfortunate through, whoever +he was, when Stevenson interposed. + +'No, we must have none of that kind of work, Walters,' he said. 'Get +him out alive;' and after poking and following the fugitive to two or +three different parts of the lagoon, finding it useless to persist, +he at length popped his head above water, revealing to our gaze the +features, not of Bobby Peel, but of the boy Pothook, whom we had left +at home. Finding a brandy bottle on the shelf of our hut, his +custodian had gone to get some water to mix himself a glass, thinking +that as the boy was snoring he must be asleep; and the lad had seized +the opportunity, slipped out, and made off, and was out of range +before the hut-keeper had missed him. But Pothook was too late to +warn his friends. + +He was in mortal terror at finding himself in the hands of the +dreaded troopers, and would not come out of the water until he had +made Stevenson and me promise they should not kill him. + +'Where Bobby Peel?' asked the superintendent of the lad. + +'Him pull away over yonder,' he replied, pointing to the out-station +hut, which was invisible, being hidden by some bushes out in the +plain. + +'Likely story that!' said the lieutenant contemptuously. 'It's no +use asking him anything; he wants to get us away from here; and he'll +lie till he's white in the face to do it. No! Peel is in this +water-hole, I am positive. We shall have him presently, never fear. +I must have that rascal this time; he has dodged me so often. But I +think he won't slip through my fingers now.' + +But 'the rascal' seemed destined not to be caught. The blacks +stripped and swam about the lagoon, groping amongst the remaining +reeds, and now and then diving to take a look below, but in vain. +Half an hour had altogether been spent in the search, and still there +were no signs of the fugitive. + +'I begin to think the boy may be speaking the truth after all,' said +the superintendent to me; 'though why Peel should make for the hut, +where the men hate him so much, is a puzzle to me. Surely he would +not dare. I will ride across and see.' + +Just at that moment, however, we observed one of the blacks, who was +coursing round the water-hole like a baffled bloodhound, suddenly +stop, and look up at the branches of the trees which everywhere +surrounded it. These had been examined by them upon first coming, in +order to make sure that no boughs hung near enough to the surface for +any swimmer to lift himself out by their aid. But the water was so +low at this time that every branch was at first sight apparently too +far out of reach. Finding no trace, however, on the broad clay +margin on either side, the idea again suggested itself, and a more +minute examination of the different trees was made; but the bough +which approached the water most nearly was five or six feet from the +surface, and belonged to a tree which was situated on the side +nearest to the hut. Jumping into the creek, however, the black above +mentioned swam out until he came beneath it, and, although the +water-hole was at least fifty feet deep, to our surprise the man's +body presently emerged until he stood up, and, reaching out his +hands, grasped the bough and swung himself up on to it. The manner +in which Peel had left the water was now made manifest. A large tree +was there sunk,[1] a bough of it coming to within a few inches of the +surface. From the banks this was invisible, owing to the dark shade +cast by the branches above; but the fugitive, who was familiar with +every foot of the water-hole from infancy, had availed himself of it, +and had landed on the side nearest to the hut, and away from the +scrub. + + +[1] The Australian woods, with a few exceptions, sink in water. + + +The black scrambled along until he reached the trunk, and, slipping +down, looked at the ground at its foot. The grass along the edge of +the plain above, for the breadth of a few feet back from the bank, +had already been examined up and down the water-hole on his side, but +without effect, and no tracks could now be seen at the foot of this +particular tree. The black, however, again looking up, observed that +a long bough projected out over the plain, and walking out to the end +of this he again examined the ground. One glance was sufficient for +him, although I could see nothing, and giving a cooey to the rest, +who were still hunting in the bed of the creek, Walters and his +companions joined him. + +'Got it--track belongin' to Bobby,' said the trooper, pointing to the +ground, and trotting farther out on the plain towards the hut. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE END OF THE CHASE. + +'Now what dodge has the fellow been up to?' said Walters. 'If he is +skulking in this myrtle patch, hoping to double back to the creek, he +is mistaken. Unless he has passed my men on the plain, which isn't +likely, we'll soon have him.' + +I observed Stevenson looking round for Pothook, but that youth had +prudently slipped off. We afterwards questioned him as to what took +place when he and Peel met each other. It seems that, cut off from +his only chance, the scrub on one side of the creek, and informed, by +the way, that the bed of it lower down was guarded, the black had for +a few moments given up all hope of escape. He looked in despair +between the trunks of the yarra trees towards the out-station hut, +which lay a quarter of a mile off, hidden in a belt of myrtle and +quandong bushes, some three or four hundred yards long, and extending +across the bend so as to shut out the view of the great plain beyond. +That plain, he knew, was carefully guarded, and, moreover, it led to +the home station. But as he looked he saw an object which excited a +gleam of hope, and inspired him with a desperate resolve. The sunken +tree was some distance back from where he stood, and to avoid showing +his return traces he jumped into the water and swam to it, emerging +in the manner described, while the boy took to the creek, intending +to remain concealed under the surface until the danger which he +fancied menaced himself passed by. In going towards the hut, Peel +ran no danger of being seen by the black stationed by the mallee, for +on such a level plain the yarra trees which fringed the water-hole +completely screened from those at a distance on one side whatever +passed on the other side of the creek. + +The open space between the part of the banks where we now stood and +the belt of small timber above mentioned, was less than a quarter of +a mile, and while the blacks who had been swimming in the water-hole +were dressing themselves, Walters galloped across it, and through the +bushes and on to the large plain beyond, to see whereabouts his +sentries were. He could see two, who were riding up and down just +within sight of each other, while between and beyond them, far out, +was the shepherd with his flock. There was not a bush to conceal the +view, and far away, by the edge of the distant timber, the blacks and +their guard were still in sight, on their way to the home station. +The timber opened opposite to him, and through this opening he could +see miles away on to another plain beyond. The road from the punt to +the upper part of the river passed that way, and came up to near +where he stood, crossing the creek near the out-station hut, and +going through a narrow portion of the mallee, which had been cleared +for the purpose. On this road, at a considerable distance off, was a +solitary horseman, apparently riding to the home station. + +Meanwhile the blacks had again taken up the trail, which led straight +to the brush in which the hut was concealed. Just before we reached +the edge of this, Walters joined us again. + +'I can't make the fellow out,' he said; 'he can't have crossed the +plain; and if he is skulking here, we shall soon have him.' + +The sentry across at the mallee had been called over, and, with +another man, now watched in the open, to give notice if Peel doubled +out and made back tracks for the creek again; and we proceeded to +enter the bushes of quandong and myrtle. All at once there was a +commotion amongst the trackers, who sprang to their horses, shouting +something to Walters, who thereupon raged and stormed; and no wonder. +The distant horseman he had a few minutes before seen was the very +man he was after. + +'Has either of your men here got a horse?' he asked the +superintendent hastily. + +'Yes,' replied Stevenson (who, I suspected, had been for some time +aware of the trick Peel had played), 'the shepherd has one. He +bought it to shepherd his flock with on these level plains, as he was +always losing his sheep. He is a very little man, and consequently +could only see a short distance.' + +'But he hadn't it to-day, had he?' + +'No. The fact is, he was taken in, knowing nothing about horses, and +bought a thorough buck-jumper, who pitched him off as fast as he got +on. And the brute won't let you catch him in hobbles; so, as he +expects to sell it again, he keeps it tethered about the hut handy. +I am afraid,' added Stevenson to me, as Walters, too impatient to +listen further, spurred on after his men,--'I am afraid that vagabond +has been up to some mischief. I hope Watkins, the hut-keeper here, +is all right. Peel would be desperate, and not stick at a trifle in +the fix he was in. I suspected what he had been up to.' + +'So I thought,' I replied, as we rushed on after the trackers. + +Just as they reached the hut door, a man was crawling out on his +hands and knees. This turned out to be the hut-keeper, who was +covered with blood, which had flowed from a wound on his head. + +'Why, Bill! what's the matter?' said the superintendent. 'Did Peel +do that?' + +'Oh, is that you, Mr. Stevenson?' said the man, looking up at our +party, and raising himself with difficulty. 'Yes, it was; are you +after him?' + +'Yes, we are; but how came you to let him do that?' + +'You had best put your men on his track at once, Mr. Walters. He's +got King's horse.' + +'We know he has, the villain!' said Walters, as he directed the three +trackers to follow instantly (Peel was still in sight, but soon +disappeared in the timber), while he and the rest waited behind a few +moments to hear the hut-keeper's account of the attack made on him, +which he gave as I bound up his wound. + +It appeared that, while engaged in his usual morning work of shifting +the hurdles, after the flock had gone out at daylight, he saw some +one riding (as he thought) through the bushes towards his hut, and +left his work to see who it was. To his surprise, he found the +shepherd's horse, which he himself had tethered out that morning at +the edge of the myrtle, tied to the door, but immediately concluded +that the man himself had come for it, as he was daily expecting to +sell it, and that perhaps the intending purchaser had joined him +while with his flock. He therefore entered the hut quite +unsuspiciously; but it was apparently empty. While turning round, he +was felled by a blow with his own gun; and, staggering forwards, fell +close to his bed. He was not entirely stunned, and instantly rolled +himself underneath it. At first he thought that Peel (whom he had +recognised) was going to drag him out and finish him, but the black +was in too great a hurry. He stayed long enough, however, to saddle +the horse, and load himself with the tea and sugar bags, as well as +the flour and half a damper which was on the table. Moreover, the +man found that he had taken down his looking-glass, which hung on a +nail in the wall. His object in doing this was that he might whiten +his face with the dirty outside of the flour bag. With a +cabbage-tree hat and a shooting coat which he put on, at a distance +he would not look like a black, and he could pass the sentries +unsuspected. In fact, we heard afterwards from them that he went +between them, walking, and leading his horse, and pretending to read +an old newspaper he had picked up off the table in the hut. It was +so natural that a passing horseman coming from higher up the river +should call at the out-station, and he turned his whitened, or rather +whitey-browned, face towards them both so coolly, that, disguised as +he was in hat and coat, and having the horse as well, it was no +wonder that, at several hundred yards distance, they should be +deceived. + +I felt rather queer when I saw the hut-keeper's condition, and +reflected that, had he been killed, I should have been indirectly the +cause of his death. And what if the black, driven to desperation, +committed more murders? There was no chance now of their catching +him. He was making straight for the large reed-bed, which extended +miles down the river below the head station. + +'I don't see the use of following him any longer. He has got off +clear!' said Stevenson, after we had gone some miles. 'Upon my word, +he deserves his liberty too.' + +We at last reached the reeds, and followed the traces along their +margin, thick timber with brush being on our right. In passing the +head station all but two of the most expert of the troopers were sent +away. With these, the superintendent, Walters, and I, continued the +chase, although with very slight hopes of capturing the fugitive, now +that he had succeeded in reaching the neighbourhood of the reedy +swamps, which communicated with the main body of the mallee, +extending in the direction of South Australia for hundreds of miles +down the river. + +'Dodged me once more!' said Walters. 'Oh, if I had only thought of +telling one of my men to call as he passed the hut where he stole the +horse! We should have had him, for they would have been on the +look-out. But now-- What's the matter, Doolibut?' + +The track had hitherto led for several miles in a straight line, +parallel with the river; but now the leading black pulled up his +horse and looked about him. The hoof-marks had changed their +character, and swerved from their former course, zigzagging in +different directions; these signs indicating that a severe struggle +had here taken place between the horse and his rider. + +'His horse has been playing up!' said the superintendent. 'These are +the marks made by his hack jumping about. I wonder the beast went so +far with the black on his back without doing so before, for he is a +regular brute. No one on the station will ride him.' + +It seemed, however, that Peel had conquered, for presently the tracks +of the horse once more galloping were taken up, and we followed them +on. But again we came to the marks of a struggle; and these +increased in number at every mile or so, until we came to a place +about half a mile from the scrub for which the black was making, and +where the reeds and the timber, mingled with brush, approached each +other closely. We were passing along a narrow, winding opening or +path between these, having the reeds on our left, when once more the +leading black pulled up, and after a brief glance at the ground, +dismounted. + +The sandy, loose soil on which the trees grew was margined by and +intermingled with the soft boggy ground on which were the reeds, here +five or six feet in height, and very dense. The spot was thickly +overgrown with ferns and small bushes, which in several places were +broken and trampled, while the ground was deeply imprinted with +hoof-marks. Besides these, however, the blacks evidently saw other +signs; for, pointing to one particular place, and speaking eagerly to +each other, they stooped down to examine it more narrowly; and then, +walking on a few steps, came to the foot of an immense tree, which, +growing on the very margin of the swamp, had one portion of its roots +bathed by its waters, there being hardly room for a man to pass +between the reeds and the trunk on that side. On the other were some +bushes, which concealed the view immediately beyond. + +'Why, there is the horse!' said the superintendent suddenly, pointing +to the right amongst the trees. 'He has left it, and taken to the +swamp on foot. He's safe now.' + +The two blacks paused and raised themselves up as he spoke; and, +following the direction in which Stevenson pointed, one of them +walked forward a few paces to look. He stood a single instant, and +was in the act of turning to rejoin his companion, when a puff of +smoke rose beyond the bushes, we heard a report, and saw him fall to +the earth. He was shot right through the heart. + +The other trooper, knowing that Peel's gun was a single barrel, and +that he had now no charge left, ran round the bushes to fire; and +Stevenson and I rode in the same direction. Beyond these bushes was +a small open space, margined on one side by a pool of water. Half in +this water and half out lay an immense prostrate tree; and sitting on +the ground, leaning his back against this, was Bobby Peel. He knew +that his last hour was come, for he had evidently made up his mind to +die. He had delayed too long leaving his horse, for the animal had +at length succeeded in throwing him; and in the fall he came on one +of the roots of this large tree, and his leg was broken. He had +dragged himself round to the edge of the pool, probably for the +purpose of obtaining a drink of water, to assuage the thirst which is +always the greatest torture in such calamities. + +The dead tree against which he was leaning was that kind of +Eucalyptus the bark of which is cellular, and very thick. This bark +had peeled off the trunk, and lay in great hard dry flakes by its +side; and the black had employed himself in breaking up this heavy, +brittle material into pieces about the size of a cheese-plate. +Several heaps thus prepared lay ready to his hand on both sides of +him. He was busy in reloading his gun; and for a few moments, from +my horse's back, I had an opportunity of noticing these particulars, +for, owing to the dense brush which surrounded the place in which he +was, it was some little time before the troopers could fairly +approach him. + +'Take him alive, Mr. Walters,' I urged. 'Don't let your fellow shoot +him. Tell him to surrender, and lay down his gun, Stevenson.' + +But Walters was naturally much incensed at the loss of his man, and +felt very little inclination to do anything of the kind; and to the +superintendent's summons the black replied by a volley of curses and +imprecations against all white men,--in the midst of which the +trooper fired, and the ball passed through Peel's chest. + +The gun, which was nearly reloaded, fell from his hands, and Walters +dismounted and walked forward to take possession of it. But the +moment he appeared within the little open space the black, seizing a +handful of the pieces of heavy bark, hurled them edgeways at his head +and face with a rapidity and certainty of aim perfectly wonderful. +The first piece he flung struck Walters across the forehead; and +piece followed piece in such quick succession that the lieutenant was +compelled to turn his back while he drew and cocked his pistol. For +some time he found it impossible to aim, so unerringly did the +missiles come rapping at him; but when at length he fired the black +fell dead. + +Years have passed, but all the incidents of that exciting and tragic +chase are still fresh in my memory. The fierce strength of that last +terrible effort almost appalled us, and we were loud in our regrets +that so much skill and endurance should come to such an end. Times +have changed since then, but it remains a reproach to our +civilisation that the aboriginal races are fast vanishing before it. +At the same time, there is cause for thankfulness that the efforts of +Christian benevolence have not been in vain on behalf of the natives. +There are still occasional outrages, but reckless treatment of the +blacks is now held in check by a healthier public opinion. + + + + +CAPTAIN STAUNCY'S VOW. + + +CHAPTER I. + +In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four there stood on +the old quay at Appledore--a maritime village in the north of +Devon--a sombre-looking abode of respectability, with an air of faded +greatness about it, which towered above its more humble neighbours, +and commanded an unbroken view of the so-called 'Pool.' + +That self-same 'Pool' is not unworthy of notice; for there the tidal +waters of the Torridge and the Taw form a spacious basin, in which +shipping of no mean tonnage may swim and swing. It is there that +those waters assume the hue and mimic the mien of their capricious +stepmother, the ocean, becoming greener and more wavy; and when the +old lady, rushing in over Bideford Bar, takes these children in her +arms, the swelling and dancing and splashing of that Pool in the +pride of its heart is beyond all common belief. It is there, too, +that, having parted company for a time, and sailed miles into the +country, they return again, and, bidding their tidal convoy farewell +for a season, allow her to glide out by the side of the Burrows, +until she joins once more with the Atlantic in Bideford Bay. + +There are not a few who leave smoky cities, and breezeless plains, +and monotonous landscapes, during the summer months, for seaside air +and scenery; and to such we would say, Search out this meeting of the +waters. Make acquaintance with North Devon, and pay your respects to +Northam, the birthplace and the resting-place of that valiant +adventurous knight Sir Amyas Leigh. Run down from thence to the +Burrows, with its thousand acres of greensward like a bowling-green, +studded with grazing cattle, and fenced by a long sea-wall of +innumerable pebbles, beyond which is a strand that would amaze +Ilfracombe or Weston. Inhale there the strong sea-breezes fresh up +from the Atlantic. Walk fearlessly out into the surf, to meet the +breakers rolling majestically, and harmless withal as the ripples on +a mill-pond. Creep over the slaty rocks with oarweed strewed, +surveying thence the frowning head of Hartland, or the burnt turf +slopes and beetling cliffs of Baggy, and you will meet with marine +enjoyments which few of the more fashionable resorts have ever dreamt +of, and can never hope to supply. + +In one of the front rooms of that sombre abode of respectability sat +the wealthiest and most renowned of Appledore's merchants--and then +they were princes indeed. Mr. Phillipson was a shrewd and determined +man. Descended from ancestors who had contributed much to the +commercial prosperity of Devon, when Bideford was one of the most +stirring and thriving of British trading ports, he inherited their +business habits, their passion for speculation, their greed for gain, +and consequently their remorseless rapacity; and, at the time of +which we write, he was busily engaged in the American and Russian +trade, which yielded him a handsome income. Though well educated, +and accustomed to good society, his manners were anything but +refined; and so rough and coarse was his language at times that the +common people honoured him with epithets not very flattering to his +respectability. It was said by those who pretended to know that he +was a hard drinker. There were whispers, too, that he had so far +departed from the line of rectitude as to traffic in contraband +goods, and that some of his craft were in fact no better than +out-and-out smugglers. These rumours, however, were attributed by +all genteel inhabitants to the tongue of scandal; for true it is that +evil-speaking, lying, and slandering were very strong-handed in that +maritime village. And so it came to pass that money and station did +then what they have always done, and will always do--stave off +suspicions, make the possibility of crime a hard thing to be +believed, and keep a fence around the character which it is next door +to sacrilege to touch. + +It was a winter morning. The fire which burned brightly on the +hearth was clear and glowing as a frosty air could make it; and as +the merchant gazed on the ruddy mass and flickering flame, he seemed +absorbed in some dreamy reverie; but, recovering occasionally from +the fit of abstraction into which his musings had thrown him, he cast +his eyes hurriedly and anxiously on the papers that lay on the table +before him. + +His reverie was interrupted at the moment he had apparently come to +some definite conclusion. A servant entered and announced that +Captain Stauncy wished to speak with him. + +'Show him in,' he said smartly, as though annoyed at being +interrupted and intruded on just then; adding, in a more +self-possessed tone, 'See that no one is admitted whilst the captain +is here.' + +James Stauncy entered, and a goodly specimen of a British tar was he. +His manly, open, sunburnt countenance, his broad and strong-built +figure, his smart and jaunty air, his bold and sparkling eye, his +spruce and expensive fittings, proclaimed him a worthy son of +Neptune. Under other circumstances, and with opportunities more +favourable, he would have become an extraordinary man. Generous and +disinterested, brave and devoted, self-possessed and strong-minded, +he would have stood out from and proved himself superior to his +class. But his education had been scanty; and, having reached the +quarter-deck through the hawse-hole, as the sailors express it,--that +is, having passed through all possible gradations, from the cabin-boy +to the captain,--he had not been able to rub off the rough manners of +early days, nor had he furnished his mind with any literature beyond +that of the log-book. + +The habits and associations of the forecastle had marked him +strongly; and the only wonder is that, having passed through many a +slough in his sailor's career, there was comparatively so little mire +adhering to him. His moral code was for the most part comprised in +one word, _duty_, comprehending fidelity to his employer and +devotedness to his family; and faithfully must it be recorded that he +seldom felt much scruple about the means, provided the ends were 'all +right' in his estimation. + +Having respectfully saluted his superior, he seated himself near the +fire, at the request of the merchant, who, without giving him an +immediate opportunity of explaining his errand, said, 'You will join +me, Mr. Stauncy?' and, taking a bottle of brandy from the cupboard, +he held it for a moment in his hand reflectingly; then, raising it +between his eye and the window, he smiled as he surveyed the +brilliant liquor, and observed, 'Here's something, captain, that +never blushed at the face of a gauger: help yourself;' and he helped +himself, remarking, as he smacked his lips, 'Prime stuff for priming, +Mr. Stauncy, I'll warrant you. Captain,' he added, evidently +speaking out of the fulness of his heart, and continuing audibly what +he had been revolving mentally, 'the road to fortune is what we make +it--long or short, broad or narrow. There is the long roundabout +turnpike road, and there is the short cut through brake and spinney. +I was thinking about this just as you entered, and I should like to +have your opinion. It strikes me that two words comprehend +everything--work and wit: work is the turnpike--wit is the short cut.' + +'I don't know, Mr. Phillipson,' replied the captain; 'short cuts for +a sailor are often dangerous things; and the fellows that I am +acquainted with who live by their wits are a ragged lot, sure enough.' + +'Bah! you don't understand me; but you'll be wiser some day. I tell +you what it is, Stauncy: the higher up you get in life, the shorter +the cuts are. Chances multiply as you run up the ladder. What is +knavery amongst the poor at the bottom is "unfortunate speculation," +or something of that sort, amongst the wealthy at the top; whilst all +the way through, according to a graduated scale, artifice, or roguery +if you like, changes both its name and its aspect. Dangerous at one +end, it gradually becomes safer and safer; for, whilst it exposes the +wits _you_ speak of to a few lessons on the treadmill, it rewards the +wits _I_ speak of with the fawning homage of everybody. I would only +observe,' he added, helping himself at the same time, 'that you and I +are fools if we don't make our brains serve us as others do. And +now, what is it?' + +'I came, sir,' replied Stauncy, 'to ask for orders, as we shall be +ready to move off to-morrow morning. The men say that the vessel is +bound to Jersey or Marseilles.' + +'Never mind what the men say,' exclaimed the merchant; 'there is +gossip enough in this place to ballast a man-of-war. The Sarah Ann +is bound to a far more comfortable and profitable port.' + +'Any where you please, sir,' said the captain, who had been +accustomed for some time to receive orders at the last moment. 'I am +not particularly curious; and, indeed,' he added, laughing, 'it's +part of my agreement, you know, to ask no questions, and do as I'm +bid.' + +'Exactly so,' Mr. Phillipson responded. '_I_ do as I am bid by +circumstances and chances; _you_ do as you are bid by my honourable +self; and, as I have always endeavoured to be faithful to my masters, +so you have always been faithful to me.' + +'Thank you, sir,' replied Stauncy, evidently flattered. 'I hope I +know my duty;' and, preparing for himself a fresh potation, he added, +'Long life to you, sir, and all the success you wish for.' + +'All the success I wish for, Stauncy, is more than I can expect to +secure; but you can help me, if you will, to a large slice of it. I +have trusted you more than any man living.' + +'Mr. Phillipson,' replied the captain, 'all I say is, I've +endeavoured to do my duty.' + +'You _have_, Stauncy; and I'll make a man of you when you return from +this voyage. You'll be able to sing "With shiners in my sack" to +some purpose.' + +'It'll be a short cut, then,' answered the captain, who had often +heard the same thing before, but whose love of money was keener than +his sense of disappointment; 'and maybe I shall get to the top of the +ladder after all. I suppose we are bound for kegs, as usual?' + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +By this time the potency of their morning beverage began to betray +itself. The merchant, no longer irresolute, put on the air of a +determined man, ready to do the utmost bidding of his covetous +spirit. And the captain, no longer calm and self-controlled, grew +self-complacent, and, in the pride of his heart, felt brave and true +enough to do anything. + +'Kegs!' replied the governor; 'no. The last was a poor speculation, +and Lundy Cave is gorged enough by this time. I'm for a short cut, +Mr. Stauncy, a short cut; and, if I can only get a bold heart to help +me, I'll go through with it.' + +'Here you are then!' exclaimed the captain. 'A bold heart? It isn't +much _I_ fear. I should like to see what I wouldn't face. Why, I +once ran for the bar with a king's ship at my heels, when it was +blowing a gale of wind, and hardly half-tide on; when the bay was +like a boiling caldron, and every wave sprinkled our topmast-head. +Twice we were on our beam ends; and, as we neared the South Tail, a +huge sea struck us, which cleaned our deck and carried away the +rudder, leaving us to the mercy of the surge, which roared and hissed +as it leapt around such daring prey. My heart feared nothing, +however, and, by manoeuvring with the sails, we got safely through +it, and reached the Pool. Then there was that affair in Cawsand Bay, +when Heard, the vagabond, betrayed me, and I was taken on board the +three-decker'-- + +'Say no more, Stauncy,' responded the merchant, interrupting him. +'You have a heart bold enough, I know; but the courage you are +thinking of is not exactly what I want just now. There are plenty +who could be cool and resolute under such circumstances; but show me +the man whose conscience is not governed by human laws, but by human +rights; who, with such a conscience, can face the shame which the +violation of those laws may incur. Show me the man who, in a land +where poverty is a crime and wealth a virtue, and where imposts are +so levied as to oppress the class least able to bear them, has spirit +enough to give the revenue the go-by rather than slave on, without +the chance of doing what his heart tells him he ought to do, for +himself and family.' + +'Ay, ay, sir,' said the captain, wondering at the merchant's +earnestness, and little suspecting his base design in giving +utterance to such atrocious sentiments; 'our circumstances, you mean, +must determine our duties, and not our one-sided laws. I should +think I've courage enough to follow out that creed any day.' + +'I believe it, captain, and I'll put you to the proof now: help +yourself.' Then, rising from his chair and pacing the room, he +continued, 'The worst of a thing does not always appear at the first; +but my scheme has this advantage, that you can see all its darkness, +if there be any, at once. I want to improve the state of my pocket, +and of yours too, Stauncy, and nothing can be easier. The way of it +is'--And then, approaching close to the captain, he whispered for a +few moments in his ear. + +The seaman compressed his lips and was silent, whilst the merchant +continued to pace the room, ejaculating occasionally to himself, and +waiting until his victim had taken in the idea. + +[Illustration: 'FIFTY POUNDS, AND THE QUARTER-DECK OF THE "ARIADNE."'] + +'Fifty pounds, Stauncy!' he at length exclaimed; for he began to fear +lest the captain's heart was misgiving him, and promptly stated a sum +about which he had long haggled with himself an hour or so +before,--'fifty pounds and the quarter-deck of the Ariadne when she +is launched. A mushroom like that is not kicked up every day.' + +'The money is tempting, Mr. Phillipson, but the scheme is new. I +don't see any bravery in it either.' + +'The less the bravery the less the risk, captain; and let the waves +cast up what they may against smugglers, they will never tell tales +after such a pretty funeral.' + +'Not likely, sir, not likely. Fifty pounds, you said, Mr. +Phillipson? Well, I don't see why I shouldn't do as I'm bid, and ask +no questions. Pay me down the money, and I'm at your service.' + +'I said,' observed the merchant, 'that the less the bravery the less +the risk; but you must remember that in my case the risk is +considerable. I put myself completely into your hands, and must +therefore secure myself by a pledge from you, if I secure you by +paying down the money.' + +'What pledge do you want, sir?' said Stauncy, colouring, and looking +displeased. 'One halter has been about our necks for many years, and +I'm not the man to slip it, unless we can slip it together. Do you +think I shall turn king's evidence?' + +'No fear of that,' said Mr. Phillipson blandly. 'I'm as sure of you +as I am of myself. All I want you to do is, to promise that my name +shall never be mentioned in the matter, come what may.' + +'Granted,' said the captain; 'I promise.' + +'Stop, stop!' exclaimed the merchant hurriedly; 'let us do it +regular--and make it what it ought to be.' + +'Anything you like,' responded the captain. 'What I say I mean. +I'll pledge my life if you will.' And then, by a solemn vow, the +blinded and seduced sailor bound himself never to divulge the name of +his tempter, imprecating fearful judgments on himself if he violated +his promise. + +'I am satisfied,' said the merchant. 'Here's the money, Stauncy; and +now all you have to do is to whistle for a breeze.' + +A gust of wind that moment rushing through the passage shrieked into +the keyhole. The fire cracked and flared with intense excitement. +The merchant's dog, which had lain quietly under the table, gave one +short bark and one long howl; and so they separated. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The village of Northam, which lies on the slope of a high tongue of +land between Bideford Bay and the Torridge, is neither pretty, nor +picturesque, nor romantic, nor anything of the kind. It is a plain, +antiquated, countrified-looking place, with irregular rows of +cottages, representing the style of architecture which prevailed +centuries ago, relieved occasionally by a dilapidated building of +statelier proportions, disclosing signs of former gentility, at a +time when the houses of the poor were at a respectful distance from +it, and it could boast of shrubbery, lawn, and orchard. The +plainness of the village, however, by no means detracts from its +merit, for historic associations of no small interest have gathered +round this little hamlet, from the days of Ubba, the Danish chieftain +and robber, to the days of James Stauncy; and warriors of note, +seamen of renown, friars of doubtful reputation, have in their turn +given Northam a name, and made it, 'for the nonce,' a small lion. It +is not of these, however that we have now to write. Had the +captain's dwelling been elsewhere, the village would have been left +alone in its quietude; but there, in the street which lies at right +angles to the main road, and which leads to the Appledore Causeway, +is the selfsame cottage he once called his home. Time has not +changed it greatly. The huge chimney projects where it always +projected, supporting the front wall, and wasting its comfortable +warmth upon the front air. The window by its side is somewhat +modernized, indeed, and instead of the double hatch there is a +panelled door. In all other respects it is the same cottage still. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN STAUNCY REPORTS PROGRESS AT HOME.] + +By the side of a bright fire in that happy home sat Mary Stauncy, +waiting the return of her husband. The children were settled for the +night, and everything in the little sitting-room was made to wear an +air of cheeriness, that would have brightened a cloudy brow had it +darkened the door. But Stauncy's brow was not clouded when he +stepped in lightly, and saluted his smiling wife. On the contrary, +his manner was unusually lively, and, being quite himself again, +having shaken off the effects of his morning potations, he laughingly +said, 'The old boy was in good cue for once, Mary, and I'm a richer +man than I was yesterday. He has come out handsome.' + +Now, Mary Stauncy, who was a woman of a penetrating mind, and +thoroughly sterling in character, had a marvellous contempt for the +said Mr. Phillipson. She mistrusted and scorned him, and her dislike +was the barbed arrow of a woman's aversion. She therefore replied, +in a tone which showed that strong feelings were on the instant +awakened, 'And not before it was time, James. He has often promised +to do something; but his promises, like himself, are worthless. Here +are your best years running out, and what do you get for it? Depend +upon it, when you answer his purpose no longer, he'll send you adrift +with as little compunction as he turned Nanny Heale out of house and +home--the poor old creature!' + +'Cut the painter, eh, Mary?' he replied, smiling. + +'Yes--cut the painter, James, and no joke in it either. It'll be a +serious thing to get older and poorer at the same time, living, as I +may say, from hand to mouth, and letting time go by us until every +opportunity for bettering ourselves has passed away, because your +unprincipled employer is pleased to keep us off and on, promising and +promising, without ever intending to perform.' + +'Nonsense, Mary!' replied the captain; 'we're young enough yet, and +all our spring tides are not done with. Though you think so ill of +the merchant, it isn't all breath he deals in;' and, laying the +fifty-pound note on the table, he added, 'Look, there's a hansel.' + +The little woman coloured scarlet. Surprise, pleasure, hope, +suspicion, marshalled themselves hastily in her bosom; and, as there +are times when the whelming tide of the heart keeps back the +faculties of thought and utterance, she remained for a few moments +silent. But as the blood stole gradually from her cheeks, and a +pallor all the more death-like spread over them, she gave utterance +to her uppermost thought--the offspring of that intuition which is +woman's surest and safest logic, and said, 'Well, James, that's a +fine prize surely; but I'm certain there's roguery in it.' + +'Roguery?' + +'Yes, roguery, James. That covetous, dishonourable old man would as +soon part with his blood as with his money, unless he had some bad +scheme in his mind. It's no little would make him hand over a +fifty-pound note; and, to my eyes, every letter of it spells a +warning.' + +'Come, come, Mary! you are too hard upon him; and really you might +have been gossiping with that old croaking witch, Betty Eastman, you +speak so solemnly about warning. The worst thing of the kind I know +of is the warning to pack up and go over the bar the first tide.' + +'To-night, James?' + +'To-night, Mary; and a fine wind we shall have for it, I reckon. But +you're all out at sea yourself, and look as melancholy as if you were +going to a funeral. The note, which I thought would raise your +spirits, has put a damper on them, sure enough.' + +'And no wonder,' she replied, with tears in her eyes. 'I've had a +weight on my mind all day, and a presentiment that something +unfortunate would happen. I dreamt about you last night, James; and, +though our sleep-thoughts may be nothing but airy fancies most times, +we cannot always dismiss them as such. They hang about our minds +like living realities, and there's no reason why they shouldn't now +and then be true warnings. I have no wish to make too much of my +dream, but it haunts me whether I will or not. I saw you, as plain +as could be, walking among the sandhills, and soon the sky grew +suddenly dark--so dark that I lost sight of your form, until, by the +glare of a vivid flash of lightning, I beheld you sinking in a +quicksand. A wild shriek sounded above the roaring wind, drowned +only by the pealing thunder, and when the cloud passed away, and the +sun shone out brightly again as before, you were gone--lost to me, I +thought, for ever. As soon, therefore, as you showed me the note, it +flashed across my mind in a moment--_that's_ the quicksand: old +Phillipson will make us sup sorrow yet.' + +'I hope not, Mary,' the captain replied, with as cheerful and easy a +manner as he could assume in the face of an upbraiding conscience; +'things are brighter than you think for. Get my traps together, and +all will be right, you'll see.' And when the church clock tolled out +the hour of eleven, the captain, who had talked himself into a +comfortable state again, rose to depart. + +'James,' said his wife, who was still struggling with her misgivings, +'you haven't told me where you're bound, and when I may expect you +again.' + +'You know, my love,' he answered, 'that Phillipson always gives his +orders the last thing. You shall hear from me as soon as possible; +so don't be down-hearted.' And, folding her in his arms, he bade her +farewell, with a warmth of true affection which did but make the pang +more poignant which apprehension had inflicted. + +'God bless you and keep you!' she said, sobbing; and before those +strange emotions which were conflicting within could express +themselves further he was on his way to Appledore. + +She watched him down the street, as he walked briskly along, +encountering the frosty night air; and when his footfall no longer +resounded on the hard causeway she clasped her hands, and said, 'Lead +us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil!' + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The Sarah Arm was as smart a little brig as ever crossed Bideford +Bar. She lay in the Pool that night with her head seaward, dividing +the flowing tide as though she were rushing through it, and rising to +the gentle swell with a seeming impatience to be gone. And shortly +after midnight the word was given to weigh anchor and shake out the +sails; and James Stauncy once more bade farewell to the Tonidge and +the Taw. + +A light haze had gathered over the waters, but the gibbous moon, +which still rode high in the heavens, shone brightly. In queenly +majesty she looked down on that quiet scene, watching over +unconscious slumberers; and though little of the landscape could be +seen as the vessel passed Graysand, yet, when she had cleared the +bar, the land-mist was left behind, and the bay, distinctly +traceable, sparkled everywhere with silvery brightness. + +The ship's company, besides the skipper and Mr. Mogford, the mate, +consisted of eight seamen and an apprentice, whose name was Jim +Ortop, a cross-grained, vexatious youngster, whose cunning at one +time and sulkiness at another procured for him most days what the +sailors called 'monkeys' 'lowance.' + +The men, having seen all snug, were lounging in the forecastle, where +the look-out was stationed; and as the vessel sped along under +courses, with a fine breeze, they beguiled the time by giving +utterance to sundry and divers reflections. + +'We shall have a change of weather soon, I'm thinking,' said Harry +Cole. 'D'ye hear how the sea roars at the Rock's Nose?' + +'Ay, ay,' replied Jem Kelly; 'a ring round the moon and a roar at the +Snuffler is a sure sign of a slapping sou-wester, and it'll be ready +for us, all brewed, before we reach the chops of the Channel.' + +'Do you know where we're bound?' said Sam Pickard. 'I made sure we +were going foreign when Mr. Phillipson said to the cap'n, as he bade +him good-bye, "Keep your weather eye open, cap'n."' + +'I didn't like the way the gov'nor and the cap'n whispered and +laughed as they parted,' answered Kelly. 'I overheard the cap'n tell +the mate just now that we were going up the Straits, and that, +according to the ship's papers, the bales we've got on board are +bales of broadcloth, which he said were heavily insured.' And, +having thus delivered himself, he winked hard for his own private +amusement. + +'Bales of broadcloth!' responded Jack Purden, with a sarcastic laugh; +'bales of list, more like; and a fine market the old rogue will make +of it, I'll warrant you.' And Jim Ortop saw by the bright moonlight +that he too winked in a very knowing and emphatic manner. + +'The last time we were up the Mediterranean,' Jim chimed in, 'the +cap'n knocked me overboard; and if it hadn't been for Ned Birch I +should have been drowned. If he serves me so again, I'll run away.' + +'Where will you run to, you young scapegrace?' said Pickard. 'How is +it you haven't got that rope stowed away yet? Look sharp, or the end +of it will make acquaintance with your shoulders.' + +And so they talked and joked, and moralized too, by times, until the +day began to dawn; and the order was given, as the wind had +freshened, to clew up the courses and wash the deck. + +They were still within sight of the Cornish coast when the sun rose +gloomily into the thickening sky, assuming the cold red hue which +characterizes a frosty morning, and then the dull greasy look which +bespeaks a thaw, or maybe a storm. + +Before nine o'clock the ship had been so far eased of canvas that she +was scudding under topsails. Dark banks of clouds began to lower in +the horizon. The wind, which had risen to a gusty gale, and veered +frequently, swept and howled through the rigging; and so threatening +were appearances that when Jim Ortop went whistling up the shrouds to +execute some trifling order, he had to run the gauntlet for it as +soon as he reached the deck. + +'You whistling rascal!' said Cole; 'don't you know you can't be +whistling when there's a wind without raising a hurricane? If I hear +you at that again, I'll make a figure-head of you.' + +But the warning came too late. The wind, which had been chopping +about, determinately settled into a stern sou-wester, and began to +muster its forces for a deadly assault. Gusty and gustier still, it +swept the rain-clouds hurriedly along the sky, exciting the billows +into a wild tumult. + +The captain was obliged to alter his course a point or two, in +consequence of this state of things; but he kept the vessel's head as +close to the wind as possible, and carried all the sail she would +bear. + +'We shall have a dirty time of it, Mr. Mogford,' he said, 'We must +batten all down, and keep her facing it as long as we can.' + +'There's no telling, sir,' replied the mate, 'how it may go. We +haven't got the worst of it yet, for certain.' + +Nor had they. Hour after hour the tempest increased in violence, +until it became a perfect hurricane. Pausing to take breath, and +sobbing and sighing, as if in vexation whilst it lulled, the raging +wind recovered itself to blow more frantically, bending the brig to +the gunwale, and sending green waves over her, whose hissing crests +rose haughtily, and broke in briny showers amid her spars and +rigging. Right skilfully did Stauncy handle her, and gallantly she +carried herself, struggling bravely with the wild, writhing billows, +which chased each other like giants at their gambols. + +The evening began to draw in, and, until the moon arose to cast a +pale and sickly light over the wide waste of tumultuous waters, the +darkness added to the terror of the storm. The men, who had lashed +themselves to different parts of the vessel for safety, began to +despair; and Stauncy himself perceived that the case was serious. +Still, however, he carried on, until a gust more wilful than its +fellows rent the staysail into strips, which streamed out into the +wind or flogged and cracked with restless fury; and a monster wave, +bent on destruction, broke over the trembling vessel, sweeping the +caboose and part of the bulwarks overboard, and with them the pride +and life of the crew, Jim Kelly. + +'He's gone, sir!' shouted the men,--'Jim's overboard, sir!' and the +order to wear the ship was immediately given. But the seaman was +beyond the reach of help, and all that Stauncy could do was to look +after the safety of the rest. + +'We'll run before it, Mr. Mogford,' he said; 'I don't know what else +we can do.' And away flew the brig with bare poles, plunging and +rolling in the seething waters. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Swiftly and successfully the little brig retraced her steps, +careering like a sea-fowl over the watery mountains that rose in her +path, ever and anon plunging into the yawning abyss; but gallantly +she rose again, and, shaking herself from brine and foam, bounded +onward. Having ventured, after awhile, on the smallest show of +canvas possible, the captain gave orders to sound the pumps, and sent +Mogford below to ascertain how things looked in the hold. + +The mate slipped down the fore hatchway, making his way over tightly +packed bales, empty crates and barrels, which were stowed on an +extemporized half orlop-deck; and, watching his opportunity, Jim +Ortop, the 'prentice, descended too, for the purpose of getting an +hour or two's undisturbed sleep. Discovering a crate half-filled +with straw, he quietly stole into it, and, almost before the mate +reached the deck again, was wrapped in slumber. + +'There are two feet of water, sir, or a little more,' said Mogford, +when he reappeared; 'but I don't think there is much wrong, and the +weather is moderating.' + +'See that there's a good look-out kept,' replied the captain. 'We +shall soon, at this rate, be upon the coast.' And scarcely were the +words uttered, when a voice was heard from the forecastle, struggling +for audience against the humming wind, 'Land on the starboard bow!' + +A misty line of elevated land was speedily traceable in the distance; +and, wishing to avoid proximity to such a shore, the captain directed +that the vessel should be brought up towards the wind. Such, +however, was the force of the gale, and such the difficulty of +spreading even a modicum of canvas, that Stauncy's seamanship was +taxed to the utmost to save the ship from the grasp of that +rock-bound coast. They were driven sufficiently near to discern, by +the dusky moonlight, its frowning precipices, against which the sea +broke heavily with deafening roar, sending up jets of spray into +nooks and crannies where gulls and puffins had sought a +roosting-place, and scaring them away to seek, with angry scream, a +quieter retreat; but as yet there was no manifest danger. + +'We're handy Bude Bay,' said Pickard, who was assisting Cole at the +wheel; 'I know the look of that ugly headland well enough. We were +coming home from America one time, and by our dead reckoning we +ought'-- + +'Down helm! run up the jib, and shake out the foretopsail,' said the +captain sharply. 'We're well in for Bude Bay, and shall hardly clear +the land without making all the sail we can.' + +The vessel answered well to her helm, springing her luff to Stauncy's +satisfaction, but yawed alarmingly when a heavy sea struck her on the +beam; so that he perceived at once how much depended on vigorous +measures. + +Accordingly, the closely-reefed maintopsail and mainsail were set, an +experiment which made the Sarah Ann heel over so much that she was +well-nigh on her beam ends; but it succeeded, so that the brig was +kept at a respectful distance from the grim-looking rocks which +scowled behind snowy foam; and every heart felt light and hopeful +when Hartland Point stood out in the distance, like a huge fog-bank, +and the arms of Bideford Bay seemed stretched out rejoicingly, to +welcome them back again. + +'Sound the pumps again,' said the captain, 'and I'll go below myself.' + +'The water has gained on us rapidly, Mr. Mogford,' was his first +remark on emerging from the hold, where he had unconsciously +disturbed the slumbers of Jim Ortop. 'Every time she pitches, it +seems to pour in; we'll run up under Lundy, and wait for the tide. +Keep the pumps agoing.' + +In less than half an hour he descended again, and seemed to examine +with some care the state of the seams. The lantern carried in his +hand was suddenly extinguished, and the apprentice, who had fallen +into a doze, was aroused by a harsh rasping sound which startled him, +and stirred his curiosity. It went on for some minutes, and then, as +though every barrel in the hold had been pierced at once, a gurgling, +gushing noise assailed his ears, which taxed his powers of +consideration no little; and, as it lasted for a considerable time, +his brain became greatly excited. A scrambling over bales and crates +succeeded; and, as the captain swung himself up the hatchway, Jim +heard him say, 'Mr. Mogford, I've been watching the water below, and +it's gaining on us every minute;' and then, in a louder tone, 'All +hands to the pumps! Where's that skulking Ortop got to?' + +Now, Ortop was just beginning to engage in a small expedition on his +own account. Creeping quietly down to the part from whence the +grating noise had proceeded, he passed his hands inquiringly in all +directions; but nothing could he discover save a little trickling +stream, which seemed to spring from under a projecting trenail, +standing out from the ship's side like a giant vent-peg. So he made +his way to the crate again, and, considering that he might as well be +rope's-ended for a long nap as a short one, made himself as +comfortable as he could. + +Daylight at length began faintly to appear, and the ship rolled and +laboured as before; for, though the tempest had spent itself and was +hushing up, she had now a considerable depth of water in her, as +Stauncy had reported. + +'Land ahead, sir!' said the mate. + +'I see it, Mogford. Up helm! We'll run round off the cave.' + +The brig fell off, and before she had passed Rat Island, to the south +of Lundy, the captain made another descent into the hold, guided by +the light of a lantern. The candle was extinguished, the old +creaking sound followed, and then that self-same rushing, splashing +commotion which had astonished the apprentice before astonished him +again, as though the skipper were tapping the casks for his private +gratification. On, and on, and on, the mysterious rush continued; +and the captain, having once more groped his way upward, exclaimed, +'Get the boats ready for lowering: we're water-logged, sure enough! +See that everything is right, Mr. Mogford, and I'll have another +look.' + +And, lantern in hand, he visited the mysterious spot once more, and +the same harsh notes and hissing chorus chimed in with creaking +timbers and splashing waves. + +By this time the water had gained the aforesaid orlop-deck, and was +slushing amongst the stowage; so that, after the captain had again +ascended, the apprentice began to look out for a favourable time to +accomplish his escape. + +'Is all ready?' said Stauncy. + +'All ready, sir,' replied the mate. + +'Then get what you can out of the ship, all of you, for she's +settling down fast.' + +The jolly-boat was lowered first, and manned by six of the crew; but +the painter snapped before they had settled themselves, and away she +went astern, dancing over the billows, soon lost to view in the hazy +morning twilight. + +'Look sharp there!' said the captain; 'lower away quick!' and the +other boat took the water like a gull. The 'prentice, who had turned +up in the nick of time, Sam Pickard, the mate, and Stauncy jumped +into her; and scarcely had they cleared the vessel when her +death-struggle came on. It was soon over, however. A heavy sea +raised her by the stern, and, unable to recover herself, she swayed +and writhed for a moment, and then sunk headlong into the leaping +waters, which closed over her hurriedly, clashing and seething amid +the moaning of the wind and the booming of the broken surges against +the beetling cliffs of Lundy Isle. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Calamity and danger are among the many circumstances which help to +break down the distinctions of life into reasonable and helpful +differences, and serve to bring out the cementing power of sympathy, +which is the surest bond of social union. A common trouble does much +to awaken a common interest; and so it proved with the saved remnant +who pulled for their lives from the Sarah Ann. The captain, the +cook, the mate, and the cabin-boy forgot for the time those ruling +ideas of superior and inferior, which so frequently make great men +tyrants and poor men obsequious, and as companions in tribulation +endeavoured without distinction to manage the boat and effect a +landing. But the task was no easy one, and had they been strangers +to the island, in all probability they would have perished on the +rocky shore; for Lundy tolerates but one small beach, defying +intrusion elsewhere by its rough, inaccessible cliffs, towering +hundreds of feet above the sea. For that beach the seamen longed and +strove, and their efforts were so far successful that they ran in +amongst the breakers, where, despite their utmost efforts, the boat +was capsized, and they had to struggle as best they could for a +footing on the gritty strand. + +'Just!' exclaimed the 'prentice in a moody tone, as they stood on the +shore wringing out their drenched clothes,--'just!' + +'Just what?' said Stauncy, in a kinder tone than Jim was accustomed +to. + +'Just saved,' he replied; 'but I s'pose you reckoned on that when the +brig was once off here.' + +'Why, to be sure,' rejoined the mate; 'if there was any chance for +us, it was the lee of Lundy, where nobody is more at home than +ourselves.' + +'Certainly,' responded the captain; 'I made sure of a chance if we +only rounded Lametry; and here we are.' + +'We've only got what we stand up in,' the 'prentice answered in a +querulous and somewhat independent tone; 'I wonder who'll pay me for +all I've lost.' + +'You'll get as good a share as the rest,' said Pickard; 'and I +wonder, Mister Jim, what makes you so forward.' + +'I've got as much right to speak as you,' he replied. 'I don't think +we ought to be turned adrift this way, and lose everything; we ain't +ought.' + +'Never mind him,' said the captain, apparently anxious to put an end +to the dialogue; 'he's a saucy chap. A few hours' more pickling +would have preserved him better. We'll get up to the top and rouse +'em up in the old Keep;' and he turned towards the narrow path which +wound up the mountain side. + +The cotters resident on the bleak island received them kindly, and, +having dried their clothes and satisfied their hunger, proposed a +turn in for a few hours' rest. + +'I don't want any rest,' said Jim; 'I had a good sleep in one of the +empty crates.' + +'You had, eh?' replied Pickard; 'that's where you were hiding so +long, was it? How did you get a berth there, I wonder?' + +'Well, I was knocked up, and when the mate went down the fore-hatch I +slipped after him.' + +'I wish I'd pitched you overboard,' said Stauncy hastily; 'and very +much inclined I feel to slip you down the Devil's Lime Kiln,[1] to +spout your impudence to the gannets, or to the porpoises when they +come in with the tide.' + + +[1] A singular hole so called, at the south-west point, about eighty +yards square at the top, and 250 feet in depth, communicating by an +outlet with the sea. + + +In fact, the 'prentice's disclosure of his sleeping quarters during +the storm considerably discomposed the captain's serenity, calling up +feelings whose first expression was anger; but, having lain down with +the mate and cook, and spent an hour in reflection, he determined to +proceed cautiously. + +The morning broke with hopeful promise. A fresh, cold breeze, into +which the gale had moderated, blew directly for the opposite quarter, +as though the blustering tornado, having vented its passion, had +turned repentant, and was now retracing its track with sober pace. +There was still a tumbling sea on; but soon the bright blue sky and +the sharp bracing air dispelled all omens suggested by the past, and +a fleet of trawlers from Clovelly was to be seen dotting the heaving +bosom of the ocean in all directions. + +A signal was hoisted which drew one of the smacks towards the island, +and Stauncy and his companions were consigned to the safe keeping of +the master of a boat. The mate and Pickard settled down in the +stern-sheets, and engaged in a close and earnest conversation with +the steersman, whilst the captain went over the story of the storm to +the skipper, and then slipped forward to the bow, where Jim Ortop was +seated on a coil of rope, gazing intently into the sky. + +'You needn't mind about the things you've lost, Jim,' said the +captain; 'I'll rig you out again, and, if you behave yourself to my +satisfaction, you shall have a guinea to boot, to sport with while +ashore.' + +The golden idea roused Jim from his contemplations, and was far too +large to be taken in at once; it upset him completely. Whatever his +thoughts and emotions may have been as he sat staring into vacuity, +they were routed and sent to the gulls by this new gilded intruder. +A guinea! He had scarcely ever seen one. Extravagant and romantic +ideas had always been conjured up when people talked in his hearing +of that precious coin. He pictured it to his mind. He fancied that +he felt it in his hand. It seemed as though the universe itself +would be purchasable; and, looking up into the captain's face with an +animated eye, he said, 'Shall I fetch it, sir?' + +'Yes, Jim; come to my house when we get to Northam, and you shall +have a guinea sure enough--that is, if you mind and behave yourself.' + +The 'prentice did not reply. The prospect of possessing a guinea had +gathered all his thoughts into one sentiment, all his sensations into +one passion; and his deep-set eyes again settled into an earnest gaze +on the swelling sea, as though he had been spellbound. + +The captain saw that he had hit the nail on the head, as he expressed +it to himself, and, leaving Jim to his dreams, went aft with lighter +heart than he expected. + +'I wonder, Mogford,' he said, 'where the other poor fellows are;' and +then, addressing himself to the fishermen, asked whether anything had +been seen of a boat with six men in it. But no one had heard or seen +thereof; and, indeed, whilst Stauncy was speaking, a wanderer on +Brunton Sands picked up a portion of a boat's stern with Sarah Ann on +it: so that the story is soon told. The jolly-boat had been swamped, +or stove on the rocks, and the men who were borne away in her from +the foundering brig soon followed the fated vessel to a watery grave. +No human eye beheld that ocean funeral; no human voice bewailed them +as they went to rest. The booming billows rang out their passing +bell. The foam-draped waves joined hands to consign them to the +deep. The moaning wind sang mournfully their requiem, and said +farewell, as though the angry sea knew no remorse, and would never +surrender its prey again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The village of Clovelly, which looks out from the steep cliff's side +on Bideford Bay, has surely a character peculiar to itself. Rising +abruptly from an antique pier, its lichen-covered cottages are piled +up on an incline so sharp that the traveller has to climb its +oblique, pebble-paved street, and is constrained to wonder how human +habitations were perched on so precipitous an acclivity, and how the +villagers contrive to descend day after day without bodily detriment, +or to ascend with fish-filled maunds without perilling their +existence. Besides the dwellings which line the slanting +thoroughfare, a number of cottages are scattered on the right and +left, embosomed in foliage which salutes the waving ocean; and so +completely is the cliff graced with fine old trees and with tangled +underwood, through which a grey rock here and there protrudes, that +the village looks right cosy, despite its perpendicular build, and +adds no little to the picturesque appearance of the charming coast. + +The only inn of those days, which swung its sign in the main street +of that unique fishing hamlet, was the Crown and Anchor, in which +Pickard and the 'prentice were quartered for the night. The captain +and Mr. Mogford repaired to the outskirts of the village, where a +relative of the former resided, a worthy bachelor, who made them +welcome to his home and to such Devonshire fare as his larder +afforded. Everything was done that evening which Cousin William +could do to make the seamen 'snug and comfortable.' + +It's like a dream, cap'n,' said Mogford; 'ain't it?' + +'A dream with a plaguey nightmare into the bargain,' responded +Stauncy; 'but the ship isn't launched, and the skipper isn't born, +who can stand anything that comes.' + +'Misfortunes will happen,' said the relative, with a sedate smile, +'and we must all be thankful it's no worse. We shall hear of many a +wreck after such a night, and the list of widows and orphans will be +greatly increased, I'm thinking.' + +'Well, William,' said the captain, 'the mate knows, and I know, that +every effort was made to weather the storm and keep her afloat. But +it was to be.' + +'There!' hastily interrupted the cousin. 'You're at your old +doctrine again, James, which is really no creed at all, but only an +easy, excusing way of getting over a difficulty, and sometimes of +justifying a crime.' + +'I don't know anything about that, William,' replied the captain; +'all I know is, that what is to be, will be.' + +'What is to be: you mean by that, what has been determined by the +Divine will. This is true as regards Divine permission, but not as +regards responsibility and the rights and wrongs of what happens; +because a great deal comes to pass through the wickedness of men, who +act from the impulses of their own bad hearts.' + +The captain winced, and, feeling exceedingly uncomfortable at the +turn his relative's logic had taken, he replied, 'I cannot argue with +you, cousin, particularly as you are a pious man. All I want to say +is, that everything was done that mortal could do to survive the +gale. But it was to be.' + +'Everything,' said the mate; 'nothing but good handling would have +kept her from foundering, or from running ashore between Bude and +'Arty. No better seamanship could be.' + +'Thank you, Mogford,' replied Stauncy; 'we shall have to give an +account of ourselves, I suppose, and you'll bear witness for me, I'm +sure.' + +'I should think so,' answered the mate; 'and perhaps your good cousin +here will appear to prove that it wasn't to be.' + +'It would require data,' responded the relative, 'with which I am +unacquainted, and which have no existence, I am sure, to prove it in +this case. But such a thing _might_ be proved.' + +And thus the evening was spent pleasantly, as it seemed: their worthy +host declared it was spent profitably. They were known to become +more eloquent! as it advanced; and the mate was afterwards heard to +say that the debating theologian delivered them a final lecture +before they separated for the night, in which, as far as he could +understand it, he endeavoured to make good the point that to excuse +all things by a Divine decree was to adopt a miserably one-sided and +fallacious view, and at the termination of which he besought his +cousin to throw overboard the foolish dogma, 'What is to be, will be.' + +By sunrise the next morning the little party was on its way to +Northam and Appledore. The captain first reported himself to his +wife, who was no less surprised than rejoiced to see him, and then +walked on to bear tidings to the merchant. + +That gentleman was sitting in the parlour already described, and, +when the captain was announced, rose up to meet him, with a cunning +smile that would have startled most men. + +'Well, Stauncy,' he said, 'what news?' + +'All right, sir; she's in as snug a berth as you could wish, with +plenty of water at low tide to cover her respectably. A prettier +burying couldn't be; but we had a terrible time of it, and I scarcely +thought we should have made Lundy again. One of our hands was washed +overboard, and six, I fear, have been cast away in the jolly-boat.' + +'Dear me!' exclaimed the merchant; 'and so she went down comfortably. +Well--_pax vobiscum_--I believe that's the Latin; and now let us +drink each other's health. There's a good round sum on the ship and +cargo together.' + +'I don't feel very comfortable, though,' said Stauncy; 'that sneaking +'prentice, who is crafty and malicious, was down in the hold from the +time we reached Bude Bay, and I think he wants gagging.' + +'Take no notice of him whatever,' replied Mr. Phillipson. 'The bark +of such a young cur as that is not worth thinking about.' + +'I thought,' said the captain, 'that I would just keep him, in tow, +like, and promised to give him a guinea if he deserved it.' + +'You're a simpleton--a downright simpleton!' answered the merchant +angrily. 'He's wide-awake enough to read the meaning of that; and if +he isn't his father is. Guessing that you fear something, he'll be +ready to suspect much. You've the mate and the cook on your side, +and if you don't put down that young fellow he'll be too much for +you. Begin to give, and you'll always be in his power, depend upon +it. In a case like this, either you must let the truth right out, or +you must deny the truth right out. To go in the middle is to make +yourself suspected, and halter yourself with your own hands. You +must make short work with him, Stauncy. The promise of a good rope's +end for going below without leave would serve him right, and serve +you most.' + +The captain saw the force of these remarks; but, had he consulted his +wife before acting on them, he might have doubted their applicability +in Jim's case. She would have suggested, in her wisdom, that the +prentice's notion of wealth extended no further than the promised +guinea, and that it would be more than unwise to provoke bad feeling +by violating an engagement which had filled the boy's mind with such +bright hopes. Acting, however, in accordance with the merchant's +wishes, the captain treated the 'prentice in a way that his honest +nature revolted against, and, like many another who has begun to do +evil, condemned himself whilst carrying it out. + +With a smiling face, which might have caused the merchant himself to +relent, and a shyness of manner which betokened a sense of +unworthiness, Jim Ortop presented himself the next day at the +captain's door, and quietly said that he came about the guinea. + +'I told you,' the captain remarked, assuming a ruffled manner, 'that +you should have it if you behaved yourself; but now I come to think +it over, it would be paying you for neglecting your duty. You know +what you deserve, Jim, and be thankful to carry a whole skin. You +shall have a guinea when you've earned it.' + +So stunned was the boy by this reception that he stood speechless, +and when Stauncy bid him begone, the shock was too much for him, and +he burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +'Severity,' said Dr. Johnson, 'may be the way to govern men, but it +is not the way to mend them,'--a sentiment which the wife of Stauncy +mentally endorsed, as she listened to her husband's hectoring; and +when he had closed the door on the 'prentice, she said, 'That was not +like you, James. I never saw you act so unkindly before, nor so +unwisely; for people are very much as they are treated. To disregard +the finer feelings is to weaken them, and to be unjustly severe is to +create an itching for that course which deserves it. You have +smitten on the head some feeling that might have contributed to right +character, and helped to make the boy reckless as well as hostile. +Did you really promise him a guinea, James? Why, think, then, how he +has been nursing the idea; what a hold it must have got on him; how +he has been revelling in the prospect; and, all at once, you not only +extinguish hope, and injure his feelings deeply, but you falsify your +word, and make yourself unworthy of his confidence.' + +'I would I were as wise as you, Mary,' replied Stauncy who had acted +unnaturally, and whose conscience upbraided him; 'I should keep free +from trouble; but I thought it best to act as I did.' + +'Unkindness can never be best, James; wrong can never be right. You +must think better of it and do the boy justice.' But the captain was +unwilling to retrace his steps, for reasons of which his sensible and +prudent wife knew nothing. So he left the matter where it was, +saying to himself, 'What must be, must.' + +The darkening shadows had fallen for hours that night, when a party +more numerous than usual took possession of the taproom of the Jolly +Tar, in one of the narrow streets of Appledore. The ruddy glow of +the log fire on the hearth was warmly reflected on the faces of the +motley group as they sat around the settle, and gave to their +features a bloated appearance, which too well read out the sottish +habits of most of them. Night after night they congregated in that +beery repository of gossip and scandal, of drunkenness and brawling; +and many were the hapless wives and children who paid in hunger, +nakedness, tears, and crime, for their bacchanalian selfishness and +revelry. The company was varied occasionally by casual visitors, who +were constrained to 'stand a treat,' and tempted to aspire after that +maudlin condition denominated 'three sheets in the wind.' Such a +visitor on the evening in question was Sam Pickard, who became the +hero of the night, and escaped the ordinary requirement of 'glasses +round,' from the sympathy awakened by his escape from a watery grave. +Jim Ortop's father a wild, cadaverous-looking shoemaker, and a noted +tippler, appeared to be the leading spirit; and from the twinkling of +his eyes, and the rapidity with which he swallowed his potations, it +was evident that he was unusually excited. + +By general request, Sam Pickard proceeded to give them the history of +the loss of the Sarah Ann, which he did with much feeling, and amidst +a silence which was only broken occasionally by unsympathetic +grumblings from the restless, angry-looking shoemaker. + +'What's become of the six poor fellows who drifted away in the +jolly-boat?' asked a grim-looking blacksmith. + +'Who knows?' said Pickard; 'I heard this afternoon that part of a +boat had been picked up over to Braunton, and that'-- + +'Just before I came here,' broke in one of the party, 'Bill Berry +told me that four of the bodies had been found at the back of the +Burrows.' + +'They've been murdered, then,' said Ortop fiercely. 'I tell you they +never came to their end by fair means. Their blood lies at the door +of Cap'n Stauncy, who scuttled the brig, as sure as I'm a living man; +and if there's any justice in England, it ought to follow him like a +bloodhound.' + +'It's false!' said Pickard, rising, with a flow of blood in his face +which threatened mischief. 'What should the cap'n want to scuttle +the vessel for? He did his best to keep her up during the gale, and +I'll sew your mouth up for you if you spread such a lying report any +further.' + +'I say,' vociferated the shoemaker, smashing his pipe on the table, +'that they're murdered men; and before you try to sew my mouth up, +you'd better slacken the noose that's tightening round your own neck!' + +The ex-cook rushed forward to take summary vengeance on the +representative of the gentle craft, who rose to defend himself, and a +fearful fight would have ensued had the evening been farther +advanced. As it was, they were most of them tolerably sober, and +managed to separate the combatants. + +[Illustration: THEY MANAGED TO SEPARATE THE COMBATANTS.] + +'I say again what I have said,' exclaimed Ortop, as he was pushed to +his seat. 'My boy told me all about it; and I'll have a reckoning +with you another day, Mr. Pickard.' + +It was some time before they were quieted; but a forecastle man, with +a powerful voice, contrived to bring things round by singing a song +in heave anchor fashion, the chorus of which was taken up noisily by +most present. He was followed by an old salt, who had swallowed the +handspike, as the sailors say when any one has retired from the +service, and who perpetrated with a nasal twang a doggerel ballad, +immensely popular amongst his class, which was followed by a furious +rattling of tankards and glasses, in token of approbation; and, +having 'filled again,' they opened a running fire of convivial talk, +which gradually brought round the engrossing topic of the evening. + +'I should think,' said a little man in the company, 'that the gale +was heavy enough to send any vessel down, without laying violent +hands on her.' + +'So it was,' replied Pickard, 'and scuttling would have been like +cutting the throat of a dead man.' + +'Suppose he did scuttle her,' exclaims a wiry-haired mason, 'that's +old Phillipson's look-out. The vessel belonged to him, and if +Stauncy satisfies the merchant that's enough.' + +'And who's to satisfy the widows and orphans, or who's to satisfy the +insurance office?' said Ortop, in a sarcastic, bitter tone. 'I'll +get that question answered before long. I owe Stauncy a grudge, and +I'll not forget it.' + +'If there's sin anywhere in this matter,' the blacksmith remarked, +'it lies with the old scoundrel on the quay, who'd sell the life of +any one for a groat. He's made a market out of many a vessel and +many a man before now, and little cares who suffers as long as he +fingers the gold.' + +'What's the use of talking in this way?' rejoined Pickard. 'The brig +went down natural enough, and no blame to nobody.' And so the house +became divided in opinion, and the division occasioned fierce words +and much quarrelling, until towards midnight inebriate voices, loud +and wrangling, broke incessantly on the stillness reigning without. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A storm of angry feeling, of vengeful passion, raged fiercely the +next day throughout Appledore, as soon as Jim Ortop's story was +noised abroad. Doorways were crowded with men and women discussing +the report, and venting their feelings in no honeyed phraseology. +Knots of gossips augmented into small crowds, whose excitement grew +uproarious. The principal street became in an hour or so a scene of +the utmost exasperation, in which murmurs, intensified by the wailing +relatives of the drowned seamen, were concentrated, till in that +narrow gangway burst forth a fire of resentment, which nothing but +blood, the blacksmith was heard to say, could possibly quench. +'Murder! vengeance! vengeance! murder!' were the cries which sounded +high above the swelling din of that tumultuous multitude. + +Whilst Appledore was thus in a state of frenzy, Northam was in a +state of gloom. A funeral is always a solemn occasion; but the +interment of four drowned men, whose bodies had been picked up +amongst the rocks at the west end of the Burrows, occasioned an +amount of sadness in the village not often manifested. The church +was crowded, the churchyard was thronged; and as the words of +consignment to earth were heard--'ashes to ashes, dust to dust'--a +stifled groan arose from that heart-struck assembly. There were many +who retired to their homes silent and thoughtful; but there were some +who hung about the church gates, conversing on the melancholy fate of +the deceased, until they too, like the men and women of Appledore, +were ruffled into an angry mood, and began to breathe out +threatening. Creeping slowly on toward the dwelling of Stauncy, they +grew louder in their protestations, exciting each other, as moved +spirits crowded together invariably do, and experiencing a glowing +thirst for action of some kind. They wanted to do as well as to +complain, but what to do they could not determine. + +The captain's wife, with her usual foresight, had anticipated the +possibility of a storm. The news of her husband's rumoured +delinquency had filled her with distress, but it served to bring out +some of her fine qualities of head and heart. She felt assured the +report was untrue; though, from the time that Stauncy went over the +bar, her dream had troubled her, and she was unable to refrain from +depressing forebodings, so that she contrived a plan by which the +captain was absent from Northam at the time of the funeral. + +The crowd became more and more uneasy and vehement, and a series of +altercations as to what ought to be done by no means improved their +temper. Whilst some pressed forward and gazed rudely into Stauncy's +windows, others vociferated, 'Who scuttled the brig? who murdered the +crew?' The voices of flushed females prevailed even more than the +clamour of wordy contention and indignation amongst the men, and +something serious seemed impending, when Mary Stauncy appeared at the +door, and, drawing herself up to the extent of her dignity, proceeded +at once, like a clever tactician, to charge right home. + +'You're a disgrace to Northam,' she said; 'you're a disgrace to human +nature. Instead of uniting to shelter a townsman from suspicion, and +guard a character you have always held blameless, you first listen to +the scandal of a tap-room, believing a worthless toper who wants +money as a price for silence, and then you take the law into your own +hands without judge or jury. Be ashamed of yourselves, and go home, +as you ought to do after such a burying, serious and charitable.' + +The crowd listened; the crowd relented; the crowd was on the point of +taking a new view of things, when a way was rapidly made in it by the +pushing form of the captain, who had returned sooner than his wife +expected, and imagined that some disaster had befallen his family. +But when his presence evoked again the cry, 'Who scuttled the brig? +who murdered the crew?' the truth flashed on him in a moment, and, +rushing towards the most noisy of the calumniators, he threatened to +fell him with a blow, and, confronting the astonished mob, exclaimed, +'If any of you have anything to say, say it, or else be off every one +of you!' + +The people dispersed, grumbling but cowed, their leader, the +cadaverous shoemaker, muttering that Stauncy would repent of his work +yet. + +'I'll dog him,' said Ortop, 'till he dangle from the yard-arm of a +jury-mast rigged up in Execution Dock.' + +His presence was missed that night by the roystering tipplers in Ship +Street; for, on returning to Appledore, he revealed his mind to +another votary of Crispin, who was able to wield the quill, an +accomplishment not very common in those days; and, having dictated an +epistle giving information against Stauncy, he started off to +Bideford, and sent it on its way to London. 'There,' said he, as he +dropped the document into the letter-box, 'if that don't stretch him, +I'm no fortune-teller.' + +It was deemed expedient by the captain that he should immediately +confer with the merchant; and when the shades of evening gathered in, +he paid him a visit. + +'The cat's out of the bag, Mr. Phillipson,' he said; 'Jim Ortop has +told all he knows, and more, I daresay. A crowd of folks besieged my +house just now as if they were mazed. Old Ortop, who was there, let +out a bit of his mind, confirming what I feared from young Jim Ortop; +but I warned him to mind what he is about.' + +'Stauncy,' said Mr. Phillipson in a serious tone, 'you might have +been born yesterday. You're very courageous, but you haven't got +half the sagacity of my dog. Instead of applying a plaster to the +sore place in Ortop's mind, you apply a blister. You should have +taken the bull by the tail, and not by the horns, cap'n; it's a bad +job of it! Why, here in Appledore there have been worse doings than +in Northam, I'll warrant you. The people came round my door like a +pack of wolves, and, just to show that they meant something, sent a +volley of stones through the windows. The groom went out to ask +"What's up?" and a hundred voices replied, in menacing words and +tones, "Tell the old wizard," I heard them say, "that we'll burn 'un. +Tell the old junk we'll scuttle 'un. Tell the old rogue we'll send +'un to sea in a hencoop." The women, who looked like harpies, +screeched defiance. The men and boys threw stones and cob, +upbraiding me all the while, and threatening I don't know what. I +knew they could prove nothing, and that it was all a surface thing--a +tide that could be made to ebb as easily as it was made to flow; so I +went to the door with my handkerchief to my eyes, and looking as if I +had lost a baby, or something worse. Didn't they yell! but when they +saw my pale face, and how I kept mopping up, they soon got as quiet +as lambs. "My good people," said I, as well as I could for choking +grief, you know, "what is it? Is this the way you treat an old +employer, who is paying half the town, and will soon pay the other +half? Can _I_ still the winds and waves? Can _I_ control the stormy +winds, or keep men back from death when their time has come? I never +thought"--and then I fairly blubbered--"to come to this, or that my +grey hairs, and family name, which is a household word, would be +treated with such a want of consideration." You should have seen, +Stauncy, how they all veered round in a minute. Some of the women +began a-crying too, and called out shame on the ringleaders, who +slunk away; and there I stood, sniffing, and speaking to their +feelings, until they all went home, declaring they wouldn't see a +hair of my head hurt. That's the way, Stauncy: nothing like _oil_ +for troubled waters. Only make yourself _felt_ +somehow--_anyhow_--and you'll be pronounced right. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A strange-looking craft crossed Bideford Bar and anchored in the Pool +about three weeks after this popular outbreak. She looked like a +squat Dutchman: her bows were unusually round and bluff, even for +those times; her mast was stepped much farther aft than the rules and +proprieties of ship rigging tolerated, and on her roomy forecastle +appeared a considerable mass of something, covered lightly over with +a tarpaulin. Such a nondescript vessel had never been seen in those +waters before, and many were the conjectures ventured on as to her +class and calling. Some thought she must be a smuggler brought in +for repairs. Others pronounced her to be a light-ship, which, for +unknown reasons, had resigned her friendly office, and was taking a +holiday; and a few of that class whose judgments are more romantic +than reasonable affirmed, with a knowing jerk of the head, that she +was a king's sloop--a revenue cutter got up in that odd fashion to +beguile the unwary, to catch, as they said with a chuckle, 'a weasel +asleep;' but what she really was remained, after all, a mystery. + +'Rattler, ahoy!' shouted a genteel-looking man, who had been seen +about Appledore for more than a week, and now made his appearance on +the quay,--'Rattler, ahoy!' + +A voice responded from the vessel, and, a boat being lowered, two men +rowed ashore and took the stranger off. + +'I scarcely expected to see you here, Captain Robinson,' he said, +when he reached the deck; 'but it will expedite matters. You've had +a fine time for pearl-fishing, eh?' + +'A very fine time, Mr. Cocks, ever since we left Plymouth. The sea +has been like a millpond, so that we finished operations sooner than +I expected; and, as I wanted to see the face of a ship's chandler, I +ran in here.' + +'And what's the result of your operations?' + +'Oh, very satisfactory. There's no doubt about the matter at all. +The evidence has been drawn up and signed, and you can have it now if +you please.' + +That very evening the genteel-looking man betook himself to a justice +of the peace, accompanied by Jim Ortop, and made such depositions +that the worthy magistrate was necessitated, much against his will, +to issue a warrant against James Stauncy, as charged with having +scuttled on the high seas the brig Sarah Ann. The next morning that +warrant was duly served by the village constable, who had received +instructions to bring the captain at an early hour before the +minister of justice; and, faithful to his duty, he appeared at the +appointed time, accompanied by Stauncy, at the house of Squire Hart, +who was universally esteemed and respected as a humane and impartial +administrator of the law. + +Poor Mary! her heart died within her when the fussy official hurried +away the light of her eyes. Sinking into a chair, she sat gazing at +the fire, spellbound, pale, and trembling, heaving deep sighs, and +exclaiming, ever and anon, 'The quicksand! the quicksand!' and so she +continued for hours, until a neighbour, like a true friend, looked in +on the stricken woman, and endeavoured to soothe and comfort her +afflicted spirit. + +There is an amount of sympathy with fellow-suffering amongst the +middle and lower classes especially, which serves to mitigate no +little the miseries of life; and few there are who do not meet with +some kind spirits prepared to act the part of the Good Samaritan, and +to help in bearing the burden of woe. The wife of the captain found +it so; and much, indeed, did her shocked and sensitive nature require +a wise and aiding sympathizer, for such was the nature of the +evidence brought against Stauncy that the magistrate, whilst he +roundly asserted his repugnance, and spoke cheerily to the arraigned +seaman, was under the necessity of committing him for trial; and he +was hurried away in a hired vehicle to Exeter, without being +permitted to see his wife and kiss his children. + +How much he smarted and writhed under the deprivation may be +conceived; but perhaps it was wisely ordered for Mary's sake, for a +parting, and _such_ a parting, would have overwhelmed her, stricken +and crushed as she was; whereas the cruelty of the thing, and the +thought of hastening to him as soon as might be, gave a turn to the +tide of her feelings, and helped to bring into action again her +strong and resolute mind. + +'Don't be cast down, Mary,' said her visitor, the widow of a +respectable farmer, who had seen no little tribulation, and was much +looked up to for her sagacious mind and sterling character. 'The law +is a terrible thing, no doubt, and is sometimes severe without being +righteous; but there is a power above the law which can say, "Thus +far shalt thou go, and no farther." 'Tis a heavy blow, sure enough, +but worse things might happen than for honesty to be suspected and +for innocence to suffer. He'll come clear out of it, Mary; and the +result will be outweighing compensations for all you are now +suffering. Cheer up, and look on the bright side of things.' + +'You mean well, Grace,' she replied. 'You have a wise head and a +kind heart; but my fears are stronger than my hopes. I've had a +presentiment of this from the time Stauncy went to sea, and I wish I +could think him clear of all things. I can confide my mind to you, +and it'll be a relief to do it. I greatly fear that Stauncy has been +led into temptation, and has committed himself some way. I say led +into temptation, for his heart revolts at crime as much as mine, and +it could only have been under the influence of drink, and of wily, +wicked reasoning, that he was persuaded to be the cat's paw of that +heartless, unprincipled man in Appledore.' + +'Phillipson you mean, Mary; and as like as not he has been the cause +of the wrong, if wrong there be. Do you really think the charge is +true?' + +'I scarcely know what to think, Grace. Sometimes I cast the thought +from me as I would hurl away a viper, and then again it twines round +my heart with such irresistible power that I start at my suspicions, +as though I were guilty myself. One thing I know--the merchant gave +Stauncy a sum of money the very day he sailed, and I would rather +have had a pest in the house than that fifty-pound note.' + +Her visitor was silent for a while. This revelation perplexed her; +but, knowing how to be candid without being unkind, she replied, 'I +can't a-bear that roguish, wicked Phillipson, Mary: I've suffered too +much from his grasping, cruel heart to think that any good can come +with his gifts. You may depend upon it, he is at the bottom of all +this; and at any rate it helps to make a bright lining to the dark +clouds. Whatever Stauncy may have done, it will be traced to the +merchant, and, as he has money and friends enough to rescue him even +from the fangs of the law, he must carry the cap'n with him. He'll +be high and dry after all, Mary.' + +'God grant it!' she answered; 'but-- There's a knock at the door, +Grace;' and, deeming that signal of approach sufficient, the door was +opened by the very gentleman whose merits they were discussing. + +'Good afternoon, Mrs. Stauncy,' he said, standing in the middle of +the room, 'I came to tell you not to trouble yourself about the +cap'n. That good-for-nothing fellow, Jim Ortop, has been lying, as +usual, and his father is vowing vengeance because Stauncy threatened +him; but I'll see all made right, and punish the scamps, as sure as +my name's Phillipson.' + +'Sir,' said Mary, 'you know more than I do about it, and can tell +whether you are trifling with me or not; but do you think Squire Hart +would have suffered my poor James to be taken to jail like a criminal +on the word of Jim Ortop? Who was the gentleman that said so much, +and insisted in such a way, that the magistrate couldn't help +himself?' + +'Gentleman?' said the merchant quickly; 'what do you mean?' + +'I mean,' she answered, 'that a strange gentleman, who has been about +here for more than a week, obliged the squire to commit him for +trial, and insisted on his being sent off to Exeter directly.' + +'I never heard of it,' the merchant replied, with a frown on his +brow; 'but I'll make that gentleman, whoever he is, eat up his words +faster than he uttered them, and you shall see whether the service of +the Phillipson family isn't proof against all the magistrates and +lawyers of the country. This is Friday: on Monday I'll go to Exeter, +and drive you down too, if you like.' + +The prospect thus held out so filled her mind on the instant that she +could say no more; but her worthy friend relieved her of the +necessity by telling him as much of her own thoughts as she +considered fitting. + +'You know me well, Mr. Phillipson,' she said; 'and I should think my +presence is enough to bring any wrong to remembrance. I am what I +am--a poor widow--through you, robbed of the inheritance of my +fathers; and I am not the only one you have sacrificed to your +insatiable avarice. The cry of Miss Herbert, the poor crazed lady, +must surely be ringing yet in your ears. It's seldom enough you +darken the church doors; but don't you mind the last time you were +there, how she rose when you entered, though the service had begun, +and, exclaiming, "The widow's curse! my curse!" rushed out, to escape +a presence more tormenting than the presence of an evil spirit could +have been. And now, I'll warrant, you are trying to add to the +number of your victims, whose cries rise up to heaven like the cry of +Abel's blood. Mr. Phillipson, the judgment of God has leaden feet, +and therefore, in mercy, it has not reached you yet; but its advance +is as sure as the sun's rising. If its feet are leaden, its hands +are iron, and whom it grasps it holds. You had better take care how +you fasten another millstone round your neck.' + +'You're an impudent woman!' he replied angrily. 'You, and the like +of you, throw all your misfortunes into the teeth of those most +troubled by them, because property happens to change hands through +extravagance or folly. You won't improve your condition by such +remarks, believe me. I can hinder as easily as I can help. Mrs. +Stauncy, I'll call for you on Monday morning at nine o'clock, if you +like to go.' + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +In these times of macadamized roads and railways, we can scarcely +appreciate the difficulties our ancestors had to encounter a century +ago in accomplishing a journey. To travel a distance of fifty miles +was so serious a thing that it was only undertaken on urgent +occasions; and we need not wonder that, when the figures increased to +hundreds, it was customary for our forefathers to settle their +affairs with more care and completeness than men do now-a-days when +leaving home for the antipodes. The roads were wretched in the +extreme; in some parts, at certain seasons of the year, they were all +but impassable, and this, combined with the strength and weight of +vehicles built to contend with rough usage, rendered locomotion a +slow and tedious process. No one will be surprised to learn, +therefore, that Mr. Phillipson and the captain's wife were two days +on the road, and did not reach Exeter until the shades of evening had +drawn in, and the dusky oil lamps were twinkling in the streets of +the city, on the second evening. + +Their journey, however, was a delightful one, as far as externals +were concerned. A frosty morning, sharp and crisp, gave omen, as the +merchant thought, of propitious experiences, and was regarded as a +special boon. It braced up nature marvellously, turning dangerous +sloughs into solid roadways; and even if the jolting was thereby +augmented, the anxieties of sunken wheels and floundering cattle were +escaped. Instead of a host of forebodings in anticipation of untold +depths of soaked clay and sludgy mire, there was the prospect of +keeping to the earth's surface, and of doing better than the +Devonshire traveller of a certain century, who is reported to have +'rode fourteen miles in fifteen days.' + +The sun shone out most brightly and cheerily on the scene as the +travellers wended their way from Northam to Bideford, and enabled +them, after they had climbed the old Torrington road, to gaze on a +landscape which, though familiar, would have been anew enchanting, +had the nature of their errand permitted them to enjoy it. It seemed +as if the contagion of ocean's society had greatly affected those +highlands, for not more wavy was the Atlantic itself, and up and down +they went, until at length they dived into a true Devonian lane, with +its towering hedges of furze, hazel, and tangled weed, its sharp +descent, its labyrinthine windings, its rough and rocky pavement, and +emerged in a shady dell in which a rustic village nestled, surrounded +by woody hills and rock-capped heights, on which the grey mists of +morning continued to hover. + +These sylvan and picturesque districts were succeeded by bleak moors, +or 'commons,' as they are called, where Mary was glad of additional +wrappings, and the merchant made frequent appeals to a bottle with +which he had considerately furnished himself. These wild, exposed +regions stretch away for miles, affording a scanty pasturage for +cattle, and supplying the villagers in the neighbourhood with peat +and furze. They are for the most part covered with rough grass, +ferns, and rushes, and here and there a morass may be met with, as +well as a sprinkling of granite boulders, whilst loftier specimens of +this primitive rock occasionally spring up in fantastic forms, the +hiding-place of highwaymen in days of yore, who drove a good business +on these desolate wastes. + +And so the face of the country alternated between the romantic and +the sterile until they reached the neighbourhood of Exeter, where the +former has it all its own way. But the evening was too far advanced, +and our travellers were too wearied to do homage to beauties of +scenery, and gladly did they exchange the biting air for the inviting +comforts of the London Inn. + +As soon as Mr. Phillipson had breakfasted the next morning, he made +his way to the jail. Unfeeling and selfish as he was, strong qualms +of conscience troubled him as he strode along, despite his infidel +theories; nor was he able, with all his efforts, to command in full +the powers of his scheming, reckless mind. For two days he had been +travelling with a woman of a sorrowful spirit, whose meek sadness and +high-toned Christian principle had embarrassed and cowed him. Her +sensitiveness had put to shame his stolidity; her simple-hearted +confidence in her husband had roused into spasmodic action the dying +pity of his heart. If ever regret had place within him it was now; +but, ashamed of these softer emotions, he took a little time to shake +them off before visiting the prisoner, and walked for an hour in the +streets, recalling more congenial feelings, which might enable him to +act his part becomingly. Having obtained permission to see the +captain, he was admitted through a heavy-looking gateway, strongly +secured, into a yard which disclosed on all sides grim-visaged doors +frowning implacably, and small rusty gratings which looked like +devouring eyes--the outward and visible signs of dark and saddening +scenes within. There may now, perhaps, be the extreme of pitying +benevolence in prison accommodation and usage; but at that time there +was the extreme of unpitying neglect. + +Through one of these surly-faced doors the merchant passed with his +conductor into a low dark passage, where his ears were assailed by +the chilling music of clinking manacles resounding from cells on +either side; and the application of a massive key introduced him to +his victim. The captain was stretched on his hard bed, as the most +satisfactory position he could discover; but he rose when the +merchant entered, and, recognising his visitor, made room for him on +his pallet of straw. + +'I have brought,' said Mr. Phillipson, scarcely knowing in what shape +to open the conversation,--'I have brought your wife to see you, +Stauncy. I thought it would be a satisfaction to her, poor woman, +and to you also. Why, cap'n, I can't believe my own senses. I +wouldn't have had this happen for all the world.' + +'Our wisdom comes too late sometimes,' replied Stauncy, 'and that's +my case. If I could only undo one thing, I could be happy even in a +prison. The darkness within is the worst darkness now to me. The +iron in my soul is a thousand times more humiliating and painful than +these bars and doors, believe me. I could have wished, for her own +sake, that my wife had not had an opportunity of witnessing my +degradation; but her wisdom and love will comfort me.' + +'As for myself,' the merchant remarked, 'I came to Exeter mainly for +the purpose of securing the best counsel the city will afford; and +it's impossible that those Ortops can make head against the +searching, withering cleverness of Mr. Whitehead.' + +'No cleverness will be of any avail, Mr. Phillipson,' said the +captain mournfully. 'I thought the Sarah Ann was mute for ever, but +she has been made to speak. Did you notice that lumbering vessel in +the Pool? There are those on board of her who could hang both of us.' + +The merchant's cheeks blanched at this intelligence. With the +rapidity of lightning the true state of the case flashed upon his +perception, and in an instant exposure and punishment confronted him. +The light which struggled for existence in the cell was too dim, +however, to reveal his ashy features, and, contriving to maintain an +air of composure, he said,-- + +'Were the remarks made before Squire Hart confined to the scuttling +of the brig?' + +'I believe so; at least, when I was present.' + +'No one, then, was implicated but yourself?' + +'No one, as far as I know. Not a word escaped my lips that would +implicate any one. I simply denied that I was _guilty_; for acts are +to be judged of by circumstances--at least, you have taught me so. +If you had done it, it would have been a different thing. I did as I +was _ordered_, and therefore draw a line between duty and crime.' + +'A distinction,' responded the merchant, momentarily startled at his +own doctrine when presented in such a practical form, and wishing to +rid himself of all responsibility arising from the lessons he had +inculcated, 'which the law would scarcely acknowledge as a +difference. That kind of casuistry, Stauncy, often satisfies a +fellow's conscience, and is something to keep the spirits up; but +there its utility ends.' + +'Then you have doubly deceived me,' replied the captain scornfully; +'and there's a strong temptation to turn king's evidence.' + +'It wouldn't help you, cap'n. Everybody knows that the biggest +rogues always do that, and judges them accordingly; and as I am at +the top of the ladder, and you are at the bottom, it would be all the +worse for you. A little palm-grease and a little hard swearing would +upset you, depend upon it.' + +'I don't know,' said the captain. 'It would go hard with you, Mr. +Phillipson, if all I know were to come out; and far better would it +be for you to devise a plan for my protection, if money and station +can do it, than to let an implied threat tread on the heels of a +snakish bribe.' + +The merchant was silent, because he was mortified. His mind +oscillated between his two theories of bluster and blarney. Should +he defy or conciliate, threaten or cajole? His prudence, however, +got the better of his vexation, and he answered, after a short pause, +'I admit all you say, Stauncy; but suppose the worst comes to the +worst, it's no use for both of us to put our heads into one noose; +and though life is as precious to you as to me, yet consider for a +moment the merits of the case. _You_ did the deed; so that, if I +were put up as a breastwork before you, you would be sent to Botany +Bay for life,--as good as dead to your wife and family,--whilst I +should be placed beyond the possibility of acting as a husband and a +father to them. And then there's your oath, Stauncy. How can you +get over that? whilst, by letting me down helm, that I may pay off, +you would leave some one behind who could provide for the widow and +the orphan; and I give you my oath here, against yours.' + +'You would, Mr. Phillipson? Do you say that sincerely? The widow +and the orphan have not had much of your sympathy and care hitherto; +and the book which I have so little heeded says, "Can the Ethiopian +change his skin, or the leopard his spots?"' + +'If I give you my oath, Stauncy, what can I do more? That's not a +thing to wriggle out of. You might put my life in the scale against +it.' + +The bolt grated harshly in the lock as the merchant uttered these +words, and the turnkey apprised them that the interview must +terminate. Bidding the prisoner farewell, Mr. Phillipson hastily +retreated from a place where all the while he seemed to hear accusing +voices--endeavouring to feel self-satisfied, but in reality +self-condemned; and as the door closed once more on the captain, the +prisoner stretched himself again on the hard mattress, to weigh the +chances that favoured him and the worth of the merchant's promise. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +It required some effort on the part of Mr. Phillipson to secure the +admission of a second visitor on the same day; but, having golden +methods at hand when others failed, he was seldom baulked in his +purpose. With a show of sympathy and concern, he accompanied the +captain's wife in a hackney coach to the jail gate, and consigned her +to the guidance of the porter. With beating heart and trembling +steps she followed her conductor; but the dread that stole over her +spirit as she crossed the yard, with its repulsive signals of branded +character and penal suffering, and the thought of meeting her loved +and trusted one in a prison cell, so overcame her that she sought the +support of the mechanical official, who displayed an amount of +considerate sympathy unusual in men of his calling. + +The obscure and dripping passage was traversed; the ponderous door +was thrown open; and the broken-hearted wife fell into the arms of +her wretched, repentant husband. + +It is a blessed thing that the sorrows of our nature have outlets by +which to relieve themselves. Pent up within the bosom, recoiling and +reacting, they would surely demolish the frail framework of flesh and +spirit--scatter the fire of intelligence--still the wondrous +machinery of life. It sometimes is so, indeed, when grief can find +no vent, that it paralyzes the brain and chills the life-blood; but, +generally, relief is found for pent-up sorrow, and Mary Stauncy found +it so in this her first great trouble. + +The captain regained his composure and self-control in a few moments, +and was able in some degree to calm his weeping wife. Seating her +gently on his hard couch, and taking a place beside her, he broke the +silence of that dreary cell, whose walls had so often listened to +confessions and blasphemies, to cries of penitence and ravings of +despair, by saying affectionately, 'Try to bear it, Mary. Little do +I care myself; but I shall soon be unmanned and go mazed if you +grieve so. Our destiny must be met, whatever it is; and though it +come in such a shape as to cut us to the heart, it's better to yield +than to struggle. Endeavour to be resigned, dearest, and strengthen +spirit by your own calm endurance.' + +'I will, James,' she replied. 'I feel better now.' For not only had +the outburst of grief which such a meeting occasioned relieved her, +but his plea for a fortifying example immediately roused the energies +of her Christian spirit. 'It's sorrow indeed; but God can help me to +act as I ought, and He will. I want strength to nerve my heart and +wisdom to shape my counsel; and Mrs. Lloyd's last words to me were, +"Remember, Mary, as thy day is, so shall thy strength be." The +innocent may sometimes suffer with the guilty, and even for them, but +justice shall surely prevail.' + +'I am not innocent,' replied the captain in a firm but husky voice; +'I will not deceive you any longer, Mary. I scuttled the brig off +Lundy, and Jim Ortop was in the hold watching me. It's a true bill; +and as it has been found out, I must give in. What must be, must.' + +'And why did you scuttle the brig, James?' his wife inquired, drawn +off from her sad reflections by the unexpected disclosure, and having +a new class of feelings excited. + +'Because the merchant tempted me to do it, gave me money to do it, +ordered me to do it, bound me by an oath to do it, and so made it my +duty.' + +'_Duty_, James! That's a strange word. It's no one's duty to do +wrong, and that bad man must have spellbound you with his irreligious +sophistry, to fasten such a thought on your mind. I see it all now. +He beguiled you with that fifty-pound note. He made you believe that +crime could be smothered by obedience. Well! that note will be a +swift witness against him. It will tell its own tale of bribery, and +the tempter will get his desert. I feel lighter of heart, James. +There's some hope yet.' + +'There's no hope, Mary. I have no witness, and he is a wealthy and +influential man; besides, I couldn't turn king's evidence and peach, +were it to save my life.' + +'Peach, James! Is telling the plain truth peaching? Is clearing +yourself from a foul blot peaching? Is your character and the good +name of your children nothing? Is it of no consequence whether you +are separated from us for ever or spared to bless us all your days? +Do be yourself, James, and listen to your heart a little.' + +'You're getting too warm, Mary. Your strong mind has gone in for the +mastery over your sensitive spirit. There'll be a volcano of +excitement, instead of a fountain of tears, and the one is as bad as +the other in overcoming reason.' + +'How you talk, James! Have I any wish or object that is not bound up +in your happiness? What I say has reason as well as feeling in it. +Your duty is to clear yourself, and to change places with the real +criminal.' + +'My duty is pre-engaged,' he replied, mournfully shaking his head. +'A vow is upon me. My tongue is bound by an oath which cannot be +broken without letting loose a curse. To violate that vow would be +an unpardonable sin, and make me the hopeless prey of the evil one. +No, no, Mary, I'll take what comes rather than sell myself to +perdition.' + +'A delusion, James, a strong delusion to believe a lie. Your +superstitious fears have been wrought upon, and he who is beguiling +you the most is the father of lies. A wicked vow can never be +binding. There's more sin, far more sin, in keeping than in breaking +it. Whatever you may have said or done, the only way is to throw all +off as a vile thing, instead of clenching the sin in the way you +speak of. No one is bound by evil, to do evil, because he has sworn +to it.' + +'You and I see things differently, Mary. I have sins on my +conscience which all the truth-speaking in the world wouldn't rid me +of. To betray the merchant after what has passed between us when I +took the oath, would utterly prevent me from hoping for God's mercy. +I would rather the law should take its course, than add to the weight +which oppresses me by doing violence to my conscience.' + +'But there is no real evidence against you,' his wife replied, +diverting his thoughts until a more auspicious moment occurred for +pursuing her main argument; 'who would listen to Jim Ortop, when the +mate and Pickard are so strong on your side?' + +'You must not comfort yourself with that, Mary. There's more +evidence than you think for. The Sarah Ann will speak herself. The +poor dumb thing will be made to say, in spite of everything, "Guilty, +guilty."' + +[Illustration: 'I ASK YOU TO SPARE YOURSELF FOR MY SAKE,' SAID MARY.] + +'And are you really going to give yourself up to justice, James, +without one effort on your own behalf, or my behalf, or the +children's behalf? Will you give your life for the life of such a +deep-dyed villain as the merchant is? Will you hold your peace to +spare him, and throw away a righteous chance of turning this fearful +darkness into light? Oh, James, James! woe is me that I have seen +this day! My poor heart will break with all this trouble. Is +Phillipson dearer to you than your own Mary? Can you bear that your +loved home should become a desolation, a place of weeping and +reproach, of poverty and heart-stricken wretchedness? What shall I +say to persuade you that wicked vows are only written in the sand, +and that you are committing the worst of sins by concealment, when +your life, and my life, and everything is at stake? And is this to +be our parting, James? I cannot weep now. I am stunned, paralyzed. +I feel as if my senses were fast going from, me, as though I must +sink down and die. Have pity on me, James! On my knees I ask you to +spare yourself for my sake, and to look up believingly to Him who +will forgive you all. Don't let me leave you with a hopeless heart, +or I shall go beside myself; and who will thank you for the +sacrifice? Tell me, James, that you will not throw yourself away, +and kiss me as the pledge of it.' + +'Mary, my heart will break too,' replied the captain, sobbing, 'if +you talk so. I _dare not_ promise. A chain is about me which I +cannot rend. What must be, must.' And then, to soothe her, he +added, 'Nothing you have said shall be forgotten; and if we part to +meet no more on earth, remember the merchant will provide for +you--you may trust him in that, I know; and through the mercy of the +Almighty we shall meet again soon, where the shadows of sin never +darken and the tears of sorrow never fall.' + +'Yours is a strange state of heart, James,' she answered. 'You think +you are bound before God by a vow; and _I_ think He cannot be pleased +with you if you keep it. It's a false state of conscience, which +your tempter has helped to bring about; but my prayer for you shall +be that there may be light.' + +'The time's up,' said the turnkey, considerately giving the notice +without unfastening the door, and waiting still, that the last +farewell might be spoken. A convulsive embrace--a nervous pressure +of those marble lips--a burning tear on that pallid cheek--and again +the tottering wife was treading that gloomy passage, emerging from +the sepulchre of living men. Again the awe of solitude, made doubly +impressive by the presence and absence of such a wife, settled down +on the soul of the wretched prisoner. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +By order of the authorities, James Stauncy was removed from Exeter to +London, and lodged in Newgate. According to the law of those times, +it was necessary for him to be tried before the Lords of the +Admiralty; and on the 25th of February, 1755, the case came on in +Justice Hall, at the Old Bailey. + +The court was crowded, as is usual on such occasions, by worthless +idlers, by men and women whose curiosity and morbid interest in +criminal cases bespoke a low mental and moral standard, and by a +large number of respectable persons interested in mercantile law, +some of whom knew about Mr. Phillipson, and had heard the rumour that +he was in fact the guilty man. + +No pains or money had been spared by Mr. Phillipson to secure an +efficient counsel; and when the prisoner was placed at the bar and +the trial commenced, there was not a countenance in that motley +company of barristers, jurymen, witnesses, and on that did not give +evidence of intense excitement. The captain looked pale and +careworn, but he answered when appealed to, with a firm voice, 'Not +guilty;' for though he had determined to give his life rather than +break his vow by betraying his tempter, he would not publicly confess +to a crime, when in his conviction, mistaken as it was, he had only +discharged a duty. + +Jim Ortop, on being sworn, related the facts of the case in a +straightforward way; but, becoming sadly bewildered by a severe +cross-questioning, the general opinion went in favour of the +prisoner. The next witness, however, most effectually turned the +scale. He was a short, thick-set man, who described himself as a +diver in the employment of the Government. He stated that, having +sailed in a diving-bell ship from Plymouth to Lundy, he was ordered, +in company with another man now in court, to look for and examine the +Sarah Ann, and found her on a sandy bottom in seven fathoms water. +He went on to say that they discovered a hole in the side of the +ship, which had been purposely bored, no doubt; and that he was +prepared to swear the brig had been scuttled. This worthy searcher +of the seas and revealer of marine mysteries could neither be twisted +nor shaken by the clever counsel for the defence; and when the augur +was held up to view, there was a confused hum of many voices in +Stauncy's disfavour. + +Mr. Mogford and the cook were next examined, but they could not +directly oppose the evidence of the diver. They lauded the captain +as he deserved to be lauded, extolled his seamanship during the +storm, and declared it was utterly impossible for him to be guilty of +the charge. The latter was particularly eloquent in his defence, +and, when drawn out purposely by counsel, unfolded all the secrets of +his heart as to the criminality of the merchant. So clear and +truth-like were his assertions, so fervid and telling was his +declamation, that the tide set in strong again on Stauncy's side, and +the sympathies of the people were his from that time forward. So +general was the conviction that he had been a deeply injured man, and +was but a scapegoat for the merchant, that he was requested, at the +special desire of the jury, to throw some light on Pickard's +evidence; but he declined. The judge summed up therefore, and the +twelve arbiters of his fate retired to consider their verdict. A +buzz of earnest voices increased to an unmistakable clamour; and the +cook, freed from the restraint of the witness-box, defamed the +merchant in the strongest language he could command, vowing vengeance +in terms which gained the sympathy of a multitude by no means +unwilling to make a demonstration on the captain's behalf. + +The jurymen returned; the usual form was observed, and the fatal word +'GUILTY' was uttered by the foreman. + +There were those then present who felt more than Stauncy did when the +verdict was announced. A flush of emotion for a moment suffused his +cheek, but it passed quickly away; and, whilst others were weeping in +sorrowful compassion, he stood calmly waiting the sentence of death. + +'And _that's_ the end of it!' said Mogford to the cook, as they left +the court together. 'Why, Sam, he's as bad as a suicide. He ought +to have turned king's evidence against that old rogue in Appledore. +Why didn't he let it all out?' + +'Can't tell, Mr. Mogford,' replied Pickard; 'it's unfathomable; but +the end of it hasn't come yet. If those Lords of the Admiralty don't +take notice of what I said, I'll swear information against the +merchant, and feel certain that diver will bring him to judgment. +Bales of broadcloth, Mr. Mogford! nothing but list, I'll lay my life; +and if the cap'n held his tongue to screen that varnished hypocrite, +_I_ won't.' + +'What _do_ you mean, Sam?' + +'I mean that Phillipson intended to kill two birds with one stone--to +get a heavy insurance on the brig, which he consigned to the deep, +and a heavy insurance on the sham cargo. It isn't the first time, +neither, that them bales have done service in that way.' + +'The dodger!' exclaimed the mate. + +'The villainous scamp!' responded Sam warmly. 'His money and his +station have guarded him so far, and no one has dared to whisper the +truth without suffering for it; but let the wind set in another way, +and you'll see that many of his prime supporters will turn out to be +his prime foes. Opinions chop right round often.' + +In consequence of his depositions, a second request was made to the +Government by the insurance company concerned that the Sarah Ann +might be again examined; and a couple of detectives were sent to +Appledore to keep an eye on the merchant, who was in first-rate +spirits when he heard the issue of the trial, and had no doubt any +more of Stauncy's fidelity. + +His rejoicing, however, was short. That bright gleam of sunshine was +followed by portentous signs of a coming tempest in the persons of +the two strangers, and the barometer of hope sank rapidly every hour. +Those vigilant gentlemen appeared to take note of everything, and +turned up everywhere. Without interfering with any one, they seemed +to be minding everybody's business, and were specially attentive to +the merchant's residence. No vessel left the port without being +carefully scrutinized; nor could a 'butt' pass through the place +without being favoured with an examination. They seemed gifted with +ubiquity, and were set down at last by the merchant's conscience as +spies on himself. This conviction grew into absolute assurance when +a rumour reached him that the Sarah Ann was to be raised by order of +the Government, and he began to tremble for his safety. Neither +money nor friends could help him, as he foresaw, so that he was left +to the exercise of his wits, on the acuteness of which he prided +himself, and which had never failed him yet. + +As a means of securing timely information, he despatched his son to +Lundy in a yacht, and engaged the services of smugglers up and down +the coast, to give him a sign in case of threatening appearances. A +week had not passed after these precautions had been taken before the +tub-shaped ship, which had aforetime excited the curiosity of the +Appledore mariners when lying in the Pool, appeared off Lundy; but +ere the waters were touched by the hive-shaped home of the divers, +young Phillipson weighed anchor and stood in for Bideford Bar. The +wind was unfavourable, and before he could pass the fair-way buoy a +six-oared gig sped swiftly by, and landed a gentleman whose +acquaintance we have already made at West Appledore. Mr. Cocks +immediately put himself in communication with the detectives, who +proceeded at once to mount guard at Mr. Phillipson's house; so that +he felt himself a prisoner. He was too knowing, however, to take any +notice of the new movement; and though his ingenuity was greatly +taxed, he did not betray his uneasiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Although the 5th of March had been appointed as the day for the +execution of James Stauncy, for some reason not explained by the law +annals of those times it was deferred to the 7th of May. The +interval passed slowly and drearily, relieved, however, by the kindly +visits of the Ordinary, specially by a visit from his cousin, and by +a regular correspondence with his beloved wife--his last letter to +her being still extant. At first he endeavoured to show that the +course he had taken was the only one which could satisfy him or +benefit her. He brought forward the argument of the merchant as his +own--that an open confession would at least have been so far +unavailable, for want of evidence, as to be no security against +transportation for life, and added that by making the merchant an +enemy he would have cut off all hope of support for herself and +children. He besought her to forgive him, and to remember him +always, promising to give heed to her counsel, and to seek the mercy +of God through the Saviour. That he did this, his letters, as the +fatal day approached, hear testimony; and touchingly and lovingly did +she answer him, just hinting at her sad disappointment, without any +upbraiding, and assuring him, though broken-hearted, of her hope in +the care and sufficiency of a merciful Creator and Redeemer. + +Before the month of March was quite run out, the captain's worthy +relative, who had entertained him at his home in Clovelly after the +loss of the brig, partly on foot, partly by waggon, partly by coach, +accomplished that difficult thing in those days, a journey to London; +designing, as far as possible, to be a minister of instruction and +comfort to the condemned man. He found the captain so altered in +appearance as to be scarcely recognizable, especially in his prison +dress. Instead of the robust and ruddy man of former days, he saw +before him a sallow, shrunken being, with hollow eyes and cheeks, and +wretchedness traceable in every feature. In his inner man, however, +but little change had at that time taken place, though he admitted +with much humility and self-reproach that the more he considered it, +the more inexplicable and insane his conduct appeared. + +'You did very wrong, Stauncy,' said the cousin, 'in refusing to +listen to your wife's advice. One duty cannot be performed by +breaking another to perform it. If you thought it a duty to screen +the merchant, you should have thought it a duty to screen yourself; +and the love we owe to our neighbour must be regulated by the love we +owe to ourselves. As Mary told you, it's a greater sin to keep a bad +promise than to break it.' + +'It may be, William,' replied the captain; 'but don't trouble me with +that now. Things right in themselves become wrong whenever they are +done in opposition to our convictions, and my conscience bid me do as +I have done. I haven't any compunction to feel on that score; and +what must be, must.' + +'Don't say that, James; "what must be must" is as deplorably false in +one sense as it is righteously true in another, and, with regard to +conscience, your remark cuts two ways. A thing that is evil cannot +be made good by any erroneous conceptions of ours respecting it. Our +consciences frequently stimulate us to what is wrong, under the false +notion that we are right. They are not safe guides without the light +of life.' + +'No doubt you're right, cousin, but a man must take his conscience as +it is, and be faithful to it. If I saw as you did, I should reason +in the same way.' + +'I wish you had seen differently, James; but now the sentence cannot +be reversed. If we form a wrong judgment of the quality of our +actions, we form a wrong judgment of all associated with and +resulting from them. But I will not say any more on that matter. I +came up here not to argue with you on such points, but to show you +God's argument when He says, "As I live, I have no pleasure in the +death of the wicked. Come now, and let us reason together: though +your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they +be red like crimson they shall be as wool."' And so he went on to +preach in a prison, as an apostle had done before him, the glorious +gospel of the blessed God. Day after day he visited the cell, and +read and conversed on that word which enlightens the eyes and +converts the soul. Nor were his efforts unavailing. The truth as it +is in Jesus came to the condemned seaman in demonstration of the +Spirit. It dissipated darkness. It showed the way of life. It +rectified false conceptions of right and wrong. It caused 'old +things to pass away, and all things to become new.' + +'What a mystery,' he said to his cousin, at their last interview, 'is +the human heart! deceitful truly above all things. Worse than the +man who makes a deity out of a log of wood, I created within me a +false sense of duty and worshipped it. I truly deserve to suffer; +and now I turn away from the mystery of my own ignorance and +depravity, to the mystery of godliness--God in Christ reconciling the +world unto Himself. What a comforting contrast to my case is the +story of the cross! It was from no motive of affection that I, as +guilty as Phillipson, stood in his place; but "God commendeth His +love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for +us, the _Just_ for the unjust, to bring us to God." My only concern +now is about Mary and the children; but with your word of promise I +know I have your heart of affection, and you will look after them in +my stead.' + +The last night set in, and passed but tardily in the apprehension of +the prisoner, who counted the hours with strangely mingled emotions, +as they were told out by iron tongues in all directions, until the +morning dawned, penetrating the cell with its golden light. A +clearer sky or a brighter sun the face of nature never saw. A lovely +May morning poured forth a flood of brightness on the scaffold, as +though it would surround it with some token of heaven's mercy, whilst +it bore so melancholy a testimony to earth's justice. + +A noisy crowd, composed principally of the lowest and worst of +characters, assembled to witness the sad spectacle. It might have +been a holiday, so light and mirthful was the throng, so hearty was +their laugh, so ribald their conversation. Instead of the impressive +awe and the deterring fear which such an occasion ought to have +brought with it, the looks, the words, the acts of that jostling mass +were expressive only of reckless hardihood and of wanton inhumanity. + +As the captain ascended the scaffold he was greeted with a yell by +the crowd, but it did not discompose him; and there, in the bright +light of early day, suffusing the scene with genial glow, he +forfeited the life he might have preserved. His last words were +words of intercession for Mary, for the little ones, for himself; and +ere the final syllable left those trembling lips his spirit had fled +from its earthly tabernacle. He was a mistaken man, who sacrificed +himself on what he considered the altar of duty; but he was a renewed +man, plucked by the hand of mercy as a brand from the burning. + +On the outskirts of the crowd the kind-hearted cousin continued to +linger, enduring much mental anguish as he gazed on the lifeless +remains of his relative. He could scarcely realize the fact that he +was attending an execution, and that James Stauncy was no more, and +continued to pace up and down, lost in thought, until the body was +removed. + +'I've seen the last of him in this life, poor fellow,' he said aloud; +'and now farewell, till we meet in a better!' + +With a heavy heart he turned his face westward, and, knowing that +coach or waggon would overtake him some time, walked on until +nightfall, and then took up his quarters in an inn by the roadside. +Heated and wearied with his journey, the damp bed assigned him as his +place of rest proved all the more fatal in its chilling effects; and +ere he reached his home the checked tide of life had already begun to +ebb. Feebler and feebler, shadowy and more shadowy, the poor man +grew. The colour departed from his cheek, the lustre faded from his +eye; and sooner than he had thought, when speaking of a reunion in +another world, did a reunion take place; for when the autumn sun +smiled blandly and benign on blooming gardens and golden fields, its +mellow rays fell brightly on the sod which covered the reposing dust +of William Hockeridge. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Within the last few years there was still to be seen in Appledore, as +a broken overhanging background to the new quay, the remains of large +brick buildings which in the middle of the last century constituted +an extensive porter brewery. A brisk trade was carried on in this +beverage, which in 1750 was as celebrated as Barclay's stout or +Guinness's XX is now; and never a week passed that did not witness +the shipping off of several cargoes. The whole concern belonged to +Mr. Phillipson, who found it exceedingly profitable in augmenting his +hoards, and was able, at this critical period of his history, to turn +it to useful account in helping himself out of a difficulty. + +'So they're ransacking the Sarah Ann again, are they?' Mr. Phillipson +said, as his son made his appearance in the office. 'It's a done +job, Ben, a done job; but I'll double on them, you'll see. Begin at +once to take away the puncheons that stand in the outhouse. There's +a vessel now lading that will run out next tide, and you can start in +the yacht at the same time.' + +'What are you going to do with the puncheons?' asked the son in +astonishment. + +'Do as I bid you, and ask no questions,' said the merchant. 'The +bottle will uncork itself soon enough.' + +Accordingly the son proceeded to fulfil his instructions. A truck +arrived at the house, and a couple of empty puncheons were borne off +towards the quay, after they had been carefully examined by the +detectives on duty. In a short time two others followed them, and +then two more, and two more, until suspicion was lulled, and the +great man of the place felt confident and easy in ensconcing his +person in one of the eighth pair, a few air-holes having been bored +by his own hand in the top before it was fastened. His position was +uncomfortable and humiliating; but he knew well enough how much was +at stake, when he was borne away in that inglorious hiding-place, and +lodged amongst a multitude of barrels in the hold of a vessel whose +'blue peter' streamed out in the wind. + +As soon as possible she was swung out into the rising tide, and when +the flood was sufficiently on was started for the bar, with a fair +and brisk breeze. An hour after, the same track was pursued by Mr. +Benjamin in his pleasure-boat, and, having overtaken the schooner off +Hartland Point, he transferred himself to her deck, and proceeded to +release his parent from his narrow prison-house below. They +conversed for several hours on family and business matters, making +such arrangements for the future as circumstances required; and +amongst the last things which the moneyed runaway laid on the +conscience of his son, was the duty of providing for Mary Stauncy. + +'I charge you, Ben,' he said, 'as though it were my last charge, to +take care of the widow and her children. Stauncy was faithful to me, +and I'll be faithful to him. Nothing would make me more wretched +than the thought of neglect in this matter. I should never be easy, +living or dying, if I had any suspicion that you would not +scrupulously fulfil my wish--I may say my command, Ben.' + +'Of course,' the son replied, 'I'll attend to anything you say; I'm +only steward at present, and your orders shall be obeyed.' + +'Steward or proprietor, Ben, it doesn't matter. I charge you, as +long as you live, to look after them, and to make provision, in case +of anything happening to yourself.' + +'Very well, sir, I'll not forget,' the son responded, as he jumped +into a boat alongside; and, having returned to his yacht, he bore up +for Clovelly. + +To what part of the Continent that laden vessel steered, or where the +merchant passed the remainder of his days, has never transpired. The +manner of his life, the manner of his death, are unknown. That he +never returned to England is certain; and it is to be hoped that +solitude and reflection gave opportunity for some improvement in a +character which the love of money had so thoroughly perverted. + +The ship in which he escaped could not have been out of sight many +hours, when the Dutchman, as the sailors called her, which had graced +the Pool aforetime, cast anchor in her old quarters. The divers had +brought to the light the so-called bales of broadcloth, on which a +large insurance had been effected, but which in reality contained +narrow lengths of a coarse material, measuring the quantity +specified; and it transpired, in course of time, that similar +packages had more than once been employed for fraudulent purposes by +the Appledore merchant. + +A warrant was immediately obtained for his apprehension; but, to the +dismay of the outwitted detectives, the culprit was nowhere to be +found. A large reward was offered for his apprehension, but his +hiding-place was never revealed, and probably was unknown to any save +the members of his own family. + +That family continued for some years to take a leading position in +the little seaport and neighbourhood; but it gradually dwindled and +became comparatively obscure. Its wealth was squandered; its houses +and lands were mortgaged; its character sank lower and lower, and no +one now remains to perpetuate the name, even, of that ancient and +notable house. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A heart that has tasted life's bitter waters is able to administer +suitable solace to an afflicted soul; and hence it was that Grace +Lloyd approved herself such an angel of mercy to Mary Stauncy when +the news of the captain's execution reached the village. 'I'll step +in,' she said to herself, 'before Mary hears of it from rougher +tongues, and it may be that a little tender womanly comfort will +prove a balm to her wounded spirit.' + +On entering the house, she found her seated in the captain's +arm-chair, with her children on 'crickets' beside her, reposing their +heads on her lap, and looking up occasionally for a smile, which +played mechanically for a moment around her lips, and then +disappeared before a settled sadness, which had already given a new +impression to her features. Cautiously and kindly did the good woman +reveal to her the melancholy fact that she was a widow, and +endeavoured to break the force of the shock by referring to her own +trying experiences when left with six little ones to struggle for +life. To her great surprise no very extraordinary emotion was +manifested. The heart of the bereaved one seemed stunned; and when +Grace bade her good-night, it was with the reflection, 'Would that +she had wept! the strands of that fine mind will begin to unravel, +unless she is wonderfully supported from above.' + +And truly her vigorous nature, strengthened by a Divine hand, bore up +marvellously. It is true she became, as people were pleased to call +her, 'the melancholy widow,' so fixed and habitual was her dejection, +so silent and reserved her demeanour; but every one respected as well +as pitied her, and no one thought of treating her less considerately +because of the stigma of the captain's end. In all probability she +would have recovered something of her former cheerfulness in time, if +the clouds had not returned again after the rain, and the sorrows of +bereavement, like chasing billows, swept over her head once more. +Her children sickened and died. Scarce three months had elapsed from +the time of her great trouble, when the youngest fair one was taken +away, and ten days after her sister followed her. + +The afflicted woman was stricken to the earth, and the trembling +balance which had given promise of adjustment was unable to right +itself. Her reason reeled, and from that time forth she was all +weakness or all wildness. At first, and for more than a +twelve-month, she seemed constantly elevated, courting conversation, +and carrying herself with an appearance of gaiety more pitiable than +her previous despondency. There appeared to be no intermission to +the pleasing fancies of her unsettled mind, and day after day was +passed amid the imaginary life pictures which her disordered brain +created. Every evening she arranged the tea-table, in expectation of +Stauncy's return, and would converse with him, just as though he were +present, until the church clock struck eleven, the hour at which he +left her for his last voyage; when, bidding him farewell, she would +retire to rest satisfied and happy. + +In course of time, however, a change, a great change, took place. +The smile departed from her countenance, and she became irritable and +restless. Her conversation, instead of being marked by strange and +even amusing fancies, became sarcastic and bitter. She looked on all +around her as enemies, and treated them as such, scarcely tolerating +the presence even of her old and faithful friend Grace Lloyd. Though +comparatively young, she began to wear the appearance of an old +woman; and as she talked to herself when walking abroad, and had a +wild and threatening eye, the children shunned her as something to be +dreaded. In one sense the strength and acuteness of her mind +returned, but it was power displaced, and wielded by a nature that +had become completely inverted. So smart, so truthful and revealing, +so charged with knowingness and pungency, in many cases so personal +were her utterances, that, amongst a people superstitiously disposed, +she came at length to be regarded as a witch. They both courted and +feared her; and when ten long years had passed away from the time of +her husband's death, no one would have recognised in that sallow, +shrunken, scowling woman, who kept every one at bay, the blithe, +generous, high-minded wife of Captain Stauncy. + +During the whole of those years Mr. Benjamin Phillipson most +faithfully kept his father's charge. A weekly sum was allowed to the +widow, sufficient to provide both necessaries and comforts; but +suddenly the supply ceased, without any explanation being given. It +was currently reported that, as the gentleman had married, the change +was effected by his wife, who, ignorant of the facts of the case, +considered that parish pay would be amply sufficient. Be that as it +may, the lonely and avoided widow was left destitute at a time she +especially needed assistance, and a change of residence was the first +thing rendered necessary. A small cottage at the top of the village +was taken for her by Grace Lloyd, who made herself responsible for +the rent, and managed, by appealing to a few well-disposed friends, +to add something to the workhouse allowance. + +The wrong which had been done her was keenly felt by the forlorn +widow, and bitterly did she execrate the name of Phillipson. +Unfortunately everything went wrong with Mary in her new abode. She +disliked it thoroughly, and, having the strongest repugnance to +parish pay, would pass whole days without tasting food of any kind. +From no hands but those of her old friend would she receive anything; +and, what with insufficient support and the wearing influence of her +excited mind, her health began visibly to decline. Grace Lloyd +watched over her with a mother's tenderness, though often abused and +repulsed. Whilst others forsook her, declaring that she had an evil +eye, this constant friend stood by and shielded her, the memory of +the past being an ever-living presence in her affectionate heart. + +One fine bright morning, in the month of June 1766, having treated +herself at breakfast to that Devonshire luxury, a potato cake, she +took part of it to Mary, whom she found rocking herself in a +high-backed chair, and looking unusually wild and haggard. 'I've +brought you something warm for breakfast, Mary,' she said in a +soothing voice, 'and I'll make you a cup of tea in a minute.' + +'Keep your gifts for those who want them!' the widow replied hastily +and with an angry look. 'The hawk flutters over the sparrow, but the +eagle pounces on the hawk. If one world cannot bind a Phillipson, +another can. I shall have a breakfast fit for a queen directly.' + +'I am glad to hear it, Mary,' said Grace, willing to humour her +fancy; 'but won't you take what your old friend has brought you +first?' + +'No,' she answered snappishly. 'You think I'm raving; but I tell you +that old Phillipson came to me last night, and said, "Mary, you've +been a neglected woman, but you shall be provided for again before +the sun is high." I saw him with my own eyes. I heard him with my +own ears. As sure as the lamp of day is lighted again this morning, +so sure will his words come true.' + +She had scarcely concluded these strange remarks when a tap was heard +at the door, and Mrs. Benjamin Phillipson entered, followed by a +footman carrying a large basket. + +'Mary,' she said, 'I've brought you some nice nourishing things, and +Mr. Phillipson will renew his weekly payments as before. I'm sorry +you've not been comfortable lately, but we'll try to make you so.' + +'False! false as ever!' replied the widow in a contemptuous tone; +'this is not your choice. You have come at a dead man's bidding, +haven't you? A pleasant dream you must have had, and a visitor that +won't be trifled with, or you wouldn't have been such an early bird. +And now let me tell you what I see. The snow is on the ground, and +Ben Phillipson is in his coffin. There is a midnight funeral. His +two hounds sit at the posts of the churchyard gate, as the bier is +borne slowly along, and whine for their master. A widow sits +husbandless, then childless, then-- Fine lady, depart the way you +came, to him who sent you, and say the ban of heaven forbids his +gifts.' + +Remarkable as these coincidences must appear, they really occurred. +The writer attempts no explanation. Possibly it was the very night +when the old merchant, hiding in some foreign land, was summoned to +his account. Of such coincidences many examples are on record, not +in popular experience only, but in the books of medical science and +philosophical observation. Certain also it is, that the young +merchant endeavoured to ingratiate himself into Mary's good favour +from that day, and would have supplied her with money enough to +provide for every want, but she refused his assistance, and would +never tolerate his presence. + +The summer passed away. The snows of winter began to fall; but, +bitterly cold and biting as the season was, a dense crowd assembled +in Northam Churchyard one frosty night, to witness a funeral +appointed for the hour of twelve. The moon shone faintly on the +nodding plumes which adorned the hearse, and aided with its sombre +light the solemnity of the scene, as the remains of Benjamin +Phillipson were borne to their last resting-place. His two hounds +sat at the gateway, and howled dismally as the sad procession walked +toward the church, and near at hand was a diminutive woman, wrapped +in a cloak, who laughed, and thanked them for their funeral ode. She +tarried until the coffin had been lowered into the family vault, and +then, talking wildly to herself, hasted to her home, and rocked +herself into a frenzy. + +The day passed, and Mary's door remained unopened. The night +followed, but no light gleamed from her cottage window, and when +morning dawned again the signs of life were still wanting. The door +had been more than once tried by Grace Lloyd, but, becoming alarmed, +and having secured the assistance of a neighbour, an entrance was +effected through the window. + +The high-backed rocking-chair was turned over, so that its top rested +against the hatch, and across it, with her head downwards, lay Mary +Stauncy, dead. How she came into that position there was no one to +tell. The common belief was--and it lingers as a superstition to +this day--that she had been roughly handled by the evil spirit with +whom she had communion, and that in the struggle she had fallen over +and perished. But wiser minds and tenderer hearts knew another +interpretation. In a fit of delirium she had torn her garments, and +paced the cottage floor a raving maniac. And as her hour came on, +and the death-throe troubled her, she had leant for support on that +rolling chair, overturning it as she fell. Thus died a woman whose +character would have shone brighter and brighter but for the +merchant's temptation and the captain's sin, and who perished +untimely, as the pitiable victim of AN UNHOLY AND FATAL VOW. + + + + +THE FORGED WILL. + + +CHAPTER I. + +In the yard of a third-rate inn, in a large market town of one of the +Midland counties, stood a carrier's cart, ready to start for home. +In large letters on its side was painted 'John Sparks, Carrier to +Parker's Due and Stoney Gates.' Some of the passengers were seated; +others were busy arranging their goods ready for transit; some were +resting on their empty baskets, till the carrier appeared, talking +over the events of the market, and comparing prices. The landlord +was in and out perpetually, with a glass for one and a joke for +another, looking with anxious (and, of course, benevolent) solicitude +around, lest a customer should escape through want of care. + +'Will John Sparks go to-night?' asked an old woman peevishly. Her +question was not addressed to any one in particular; but the ostler, +who was passing, answered, 'He's not in the best company for making +haste at this present,' and nodded to a group of men standing at the +entrance of the yard, to which group the busy landlord had made +frequent visits, never going empty-handed. + +A general murmur arose as this speech circulated among the +passengers. 'Go and tell him to come, granny,' said one; 'he'll mind +you; if he stays drinking there, we shall be upset, depend upon it.' + +'And what's the use of my telling him?' replied the old woman. 'It's +hard work I have to make him mind when he's sober; he'll only sauce +me now he's the worse for liquor.' + +'You should get him to take the pledge,' said the ostler; 'carriers' +work is full of temptations, 'specially if a man's got a taste that +way.' + +While Granny Sparks was considering how to get John away from his +companions, the thing was done by the arrival of a fish-basket, +followed by a smart-looking maid-servant. + +'Oh, not gone! that's well. Where's Mr. Sparks? I was kept so long, +I was quite afraid of being too late. Put the fish in under that +seat. Things there? oh, they must come out then; the fish must go in +safe. Where's Mr. Sparks, I say? I should think the fish for the +Hall is to have the proper place.' + +It was soon made known to the speaker that Mr. Sparks was not far +off, and, almost as soon, he was seen hurrying from his companions, +with a somewhat blustering manner, which people are apt to put on +when they expect a deserved rebuke, and want to get out of it. + +'We'd a' ought to a' been on the road this half-hour, John,' muttered +his granny. + +'We're all right, Mr. Sparks,' cried those from inside. 'You may do +what you like with my basket,' said several, who would not attempt to +arrange themselves till the maid from the Hall had chosen her seat. +'I hope you will start at once,' said that damsel, who looked with +superiority on those around; 'the fish is for dinner, and we are +never later than eight.' + +'Off at once, miss, when you're seated,' said John in as sober a tone +as he could assume, and looking a thundering look at his granny, who +imprudently kept up a low grumbling remonstrance on his behaviour. +The luggage was soon settled, in defiance of all opposition, so that +the fish had honourable stowage; and the Hall maiden, declaring, as +she stepped jauntily up, that she could not abide the van, but it was +a great convenience, took the seat at the front, and all was ready. + +Sparks, a little steadied, was mounting, and the horse, which through +the whole hurried scene had stood motionless, his head hanging down, +as if dreaming of his own particular interests and affairs, awoke up +and prepared to step forward. But patience was to be tried that day. +In the entrance of the yard appeared a tall thin individual, dressed +in sober and somewhat shabby clothes. He had his arms full of +packages of all sorts and sizes, and an urchin followed, bearing a +large basket. + +'Deary me!' said Sparks, dropping the reins; 'if there isn't Shady +Eggs. Well, to think of his being so late! Folks ought to be more +considerate.' + +'How excessive troublesome!' said the Hall servant, who had herself +wasted so much time in the town that she had lost the early carrier, +and run the risk of being too late with the fish for the second. + +Meantime, 'Shady Eggs' advanced. 'I rejoice, Mr. Sparks, that you +are yet here; be so good as to accommodate these articles. Young +man,' he continued, to the boy with the basket, 'you can return; +there is a small remuneration for your trouble.' The lad grinned, +pocketed the remuneration, and the basket, etc., were with some +difficulty placed in the van. Miss from the Hall kept up a continual +series of shruggings: her dress was invaded in some way by every +package that was put in, and there was as much vinegar in her +expression as beer in that of Sparks. + +'If you'd a' knowed of coming, Mr. Eggs, it's a pity you wasn't more +for'ard,' she said tartly. + +'It is a pity--I sit corrected,' he replied meekly, trying to put his +long legs into the least inconvenient place. + +'Nobody never quarrels with Mr. Eggs,' said the carrier +good-humouredly. The maid looked scornful; but Shady acknowledged +the courtesy by a bland smile. They had cleared the town, and were +advancing at a reasonable pace up the road, pleasant hedges on either +side, and green fields around and before them, when again they were +brought to a halt. A traveller, who, sitting on a milestone, was +apparently awaiting their arrival, stood up as they advanced, and +cried out, 'Room?' + +Sparks looked dubious; the maid said 'No;' but Shady Eggs, with a +complacent look, suggested that with management room might be found. +All the company, except the one objector, seemed willing to +accommodate; they took their packages on their knees, and sat closer. + +'How excessive awk'ard!' said the angry servant; 'I really cannot +carry more than this; I must have room for this parcel on the seat.' + +'Allow me to convey it for you, ma'am,' said the imperturbable Shady; +and, taking it from her as gently as if it had been a baby, he placed +it on his knees and encompassed it with his arms. It was indeed a +fragile thing--enveloped in paper, like a light-brown cloud, and +bearing a printed declaration that it came from Mrs. Davy's +fashionable millinery establishment. + +'It's our cook's bonnet,' condescended the maid, not vouchsafing to +thank Shady any further. Shady looked affectionately at his delicate +burden, as if the whole van should perish before it should come to +grief, and the stranger was installed a passenger. + +It was not very hard to read the characters of his fellow-passengers. +On faces worn by labour and bronzed by exposure might be chiefly read +family cares--questionings of mind, perchance, as to whether the +'second-handed shoes' would fit Tommy, or whether Eliza would like +her new place. Some were enjoying the opportunity of canvassing +village matters, and others slept through all the joggings of the +van. Such as they were, he scrutinized all, and then fixed his keen +grey eyes on Shady. An amused expression passed over his face as he +noticed the grave care he bestowed on his charge. Turning to the +driver, he began to question him as to the surrounding objects. Not +a building escaped; he would know everything, and John was as +communicative as any questioner could wish. + +'That building in the distance, among trees,' said the stranger; 'it +looks well--what is it?' + +'What! you?' said Sparks. 'Why, that's the _Jew_, sir; we shall pass +it--it's one of my places I stop at.' + +'The Jew?' said the stranger. + +'The Dew, sir,' interposed Shady, with a look of benevolent pity for +Sparks' ignorance,--'Parker's Dew, as it is commonly, but erroneously +called.' This was added with solemn importance. + +'And what is the proper name?' asked the stranger. + +Shady, with a conscious look round the van, that betrayed his +self-satisfaction, replied, rather pompously, 'Par grâce de Dieu, +sir, which, if, as I suppose, you are a French scholar' (another +glance at the passengers), 'you are aware means, "By the grace of +God."' The stranger nodded. 'Originally, sir,' continued Shady, +drawing up his back to its full length, 'it was given by the Norman +William to the founder of the family of De la Mark, in whose +possession it has ever since continued. There were strange ideas of +right in those days, as you, sir, if a student of history, must know, +and that which men got by the violence of the sword they considered +to be theirs by the grace of God. But whether the name was invented +by the Conqueror, or given to the place by Mark de la Mark, the first +lord of the manor, and founder of the distinguished line, I have not +been able to discover.' + +'What! have you ever tried?' said the stranger, laughing. The laugh +was infectious; Sparks laughed, the Hall maid laughed, with something +like scorn, and all the van grinned, though those at the back had not +heard the conversation. Shady's equanimity was not broken; he +surveyed all with a surprised--perhaps a little injured--but +forgiving air, and was silent. + +But the stranger had no wish to silence him. He plied him with +numerous questions as to the place, its owner, etc., to all of which +Shady replied with perfect good temper, but more reserve. + +'You seem to know much about it; you live there, do you?' + +'I have the honour to be a retainer of the family,' said Shady, with +much dignity. + +'In what capacity?' said the stranger, looking at the milliner's +address on the package he carried. For the first time an answer was +difficult, for many were the posts combined in one that Shady +occupied. + +'Librarian,' he would have said, or 'secretary,' for these he was; +but he feared the van,--for he was well known to be also serving-man +in chief, and figured at different times as tutor, valet, +butler,--and at length he replied with calmness, 'I execute any +commission I may be honoured with: I superintend the library, arrange +the steward's books, etc.; sometimes I have the honour of assisting +in the studies of my young lady.' + +'And you does a bit of dressing for Sir Valary sometimes, doesn't +you, Shady?' asked Sparks, who thought he might get up a good laugh +at him with impunity, and so obtain the lead in the conversation, +which he was impatient at Shady's engrossing. + +The colour rose to the pale face, and an emotion of pain and reproach +agitated it for a moment; but, soon recovering himself, he replied +gently, 'Yes, I am sometimes so far favoured by Sir Valary, I am +proud to say.' + +'A sort of man of all work,' said the maid, with a sneer. + +'Ah, I see,' cried the stranger at the same time; 'you are Sir +Valary's right hand--not many either willing or able to fill so +onerous a post. I congratulate you on being both.' + +Gratitude danced in Shady's eyes; he said nothing, and the stranger +now turned to Sparks. He inquired if he could obtain a lodging at +Stoney Gates. Sparks told him it was only a village, with no house +fit for any but a poor man to live in except the Hall. + +'A lodging fit for a poor man will suit me,' said the stranger, 'if I +can get it.' + +'Well, sir,' said Sparks, 'then maybe granny might let you have the +parlour; it's got a very handsome chest o' drawers as makes into a +bed. Eh, granny?' + +Mrs. Sparks demurred--she was afraid it wouldn't suit. + +'Take me in to-night,' said the stranger; 'to-morrow I will tell you +about it.' And so it was agreed. After which the maid from the Hall +looked with ineffable contempt on him. + +The branch road leading to Parker's Dew now came in sight, and Shady +prepared to alight. He placed the bonnet tenderly on his vacant +seat, and gathered his many goods from their various hiding-places. +'You can't carry them all,' said Sparks. + +'I expected Robinson to be here,' replied the librarian. + +'I'm here, please,' said a little lad, springing up from under the +hedge. + +'That is well, Robinson,' said he, with dignity; and, having nearly +covered him with parcels, he took the basket, and, bowing courteously +to the stranger, with a somewhat patronizing nod to Sparks, he took +his way to 'the Jew.' + +'Isn't he a speciment?' said Sparks to the stranger. + +'A most benevolent spirit,' replied the stranger. And at the same +time Biddy Sparks, who now sat next her grandson, administered a +cautioning nudge. + +'What are ye poking me for, granny?' he cried out. 'I suppose +there's no purtickler harm in that; he is a speciment, and I +maintains it.' + +As if in defiance of her, he immediately began a long description of +Shady's life and occupations, to which the stranger listened with +interest. + +'Is Sir Valary poor, then, that his man is so variously employed?' he +asked. + +'There it is,' replied Sparks; 'there's a deal of talk about it; he +'adn't a' ought to be poor; but what becomes of his money there's +nobody knows. There's some as thinks--I tell 'ee what, granny, if +you goes on for to poke me at that rate, you may just drive the van +yourself. Why, how can I help folks talking? I'm sure I never said +no harm of Sir Val'ry. You know, sir,' turning to the stranger, +'when people has queer ways they're bound to be called over; and +there's a many as says'-- + +'John Sparks,' cried his grandmother, 'are you out of your senses to +go and talk of Sir Val'ry in this way, and him the squire's own +brother!' This was accompanied with a glance at the Hall maiden, +intended to strengthen the warning. + +'I meant no offence to the squire,' grumbled he; 'he's a gentleman, +and no mistake; there's nobody about him but looks the better for it, +is there, miss?' The Hall servant did not deign to reply, except +with a faint smile. 'There's nobody at Brimble Hall as looks as if +they'd breakfasted on tin-tacks, is there, miss? I knows as the +squire has his vally, and his butler, and everything else in proper +style, hasn't he, miss? And he haven't got Steward Bloodworth to +rack the tenants, and pocket the rents neither,' said Sparks, who had +now in this back-handed way delivered himself of the substance of +what his granny had tried to make him keep in. + +'Bloodworth!' said the stranger; 'what a very unpleasant name!' + +'Him as 'as got it's a deal unpleasanter--I'm sure you'll hold wi' +that, granny. Why, we had as pretty a bit of land, belonging to the +Jew, as you'd wish to see, sir; and if that man didn't turn us out +without why or wherefore, just because'-- + +'Never mind that,' said Biddy; 'forget and forgive.' + +'How can I forget it, when I pass the land every time I goes to the +Jew? and as to forgiving him, he haven't asked me. Why, sir,' +turning to the stranger, 'if it hadn't 'a been that the squire--long +life to him--took pity on us, and set me up in this van, and gave +granny the cottage and garden we live in, she must 'a gone to the +Union; we couldn't get a yard of land, and the stock went at ruin's +price; so we had only enough to pay up rent and our little debts.' + +'Then this steward has full power over the estates? I mean Sir +Valary doesn't interfere?' + +'You'll excuse me making so bold, sir,' said Biddy, 'but it ain't +becoming of John to make free with anything about Sir Valary. Poor +folks like us had best leave the quality alone; and in the van too,' +she once more whispered to Sparks. The carrier whistled, laid his +whip over his horse's back, and little more was said in the front of +the van till a pair of handsome bronzed gates opening on a broad +avenue appeared. + +'Brimble Hall, sir,' said Sparks. 'Now, miss, will you please to +_un_light here, or go round?' + +'Miss' would go round, for there was not even 'a Robinson' to help +her, and she preferred going in at the kitchen entrance to carrying +the fish. + +Sparks now spent all his eloquence on the beauty of the Hall, and the +benevolence of Squire Brimble, who was, as he said, the very pattern +of a squire--such a landlord, such a master! there wasn't a man or +woman in the neighbourhood but would run at his call. The remaining +passengers, who chiefly lived at Stoney Gates and around, left the +van; and the stranger and miss, with Spark and his granny, were alone. + +Sparks pointed out the stables with great pride to the stranger, +telling him the squire was the man for a horse. 'It's well worth +getting up early to see him start for the hunt. He's as good a sight +as sunrise,' was his concluding speech as he turned in the direction +of the back premises, and brought the van to the servants' door. +Here he was encountered by the cook. + +'A pretty time of night, John Sparks!' she cried. 'Where's the fish? +I thought you'd broke down on the road.' + +'Why ever didn't you come by the other van?' she cried to the maid, +who had now dismounted; 'I'm sure you hadn't so much to do but what +you might; and madam has been wondering at you ever so, for the young +ladies wanted their things; and I'm sure I don't know what the +squire'll say at waiting all this time for dinner.' + +'It's a _rale_ love of a beauty,' said the maid, handing the bonnet +to the angry cook; 'I had to wait while they finished it.' + +'Ah,' said she in a mollified tone, 'those shopkeepers are so +troublesome. I told Phipps to put it to madam that you were sure to +be kept for something;' and, calling the scullery maid to fetch the +fish, she carried off the bonnet that had wrought so happy a change +in her disposition. + +No one noticed the stranger, who, however, quietly saw and heard +everything, and who only left the van to take possession of his +humble lodging at Biddy Sparks. A shabby portmanteau and a large +portfolio made up his luggage, and, having seen what appliances Biddy +could afford, he speedily dismissed her to procure any supper at +hand, and arranged them himself in somewhat military order, and, +throwing open the window, told her not to be alarmed if she heard him +early in the morning, for it was his custom to rise with the dawn. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +When the stranger was fairly settled down in the humble dwelling of +Mrs. Sparks, he seemed well pleased with his quarters. + +'He've been brought up hard, granny,' said John; 'that's how he's so +contented.' + +'I don't believe it, John; he's the rale gentleman, only he've got +the sense to come down to his means.' + +At this juncture their lodger appeared, and cut short the conference. +He has been partially described. To finish the portrait, the reader +must add to his penetrating grey eyes a mouth indicating great +decision of character, a head finely formed, with hair changing to +grey. In the vigour of his expression, carriage, and manner, you +would read his age to be thirty; but the worn look of his cheek, his +furrowed brow, and his changing hair put many years on him: he might +be forty or forty-five. Leaning over the garden gate with a paper in +his hand, he nodded pleasantly to John, who was gardening, while his +grandmother kept watch lest he should slip from his work. + +'This Parker's Due that you told me of,' he said, 'how shall I find +it by walking?' + +John and his granny, having almost quarrelled about the nearest way, +gave him a direction at last, as plain as a Chinese puzzle. + +'Bring me a jug of milk, Mrs. Sparks, and some of your good brown +bread; I see I have a long walk before me, and must be fortified.' +Wouldn't he have some bacon, or wait for her to make a pan pudding +with two or three eggs? No, he would not; he drank the milk, and +putting the bread in his knapsack, took his iron-ended staff, or +spud, and was opening the gate when two young ladies rode up, and, +dismounting, the younger, who was exceedingly handsome, threw the +bridle with an air of condescension into his hands. The elder, less +beautiful, but pleasant-looking, hesitated to follow her example, and +regarded him inquiringly. + +Biddy Sparks came out, calling, 'John, John;' but John, reckoning on +her having a longer talk with her lodger, and being tired of digging, +had escaped to the Brimble Arms. + +'Oh, ladies, I'm never so sorry--please, sir--I beg a hundred +pardons, miss--couldn't I hold the horses, sir?--where can John be +gone? You seen him here this minute, sir?' + +Biddy knew well where he was gone, but did not hint at it, for fear +of injuring his character before the ladies. The stranger, meantime, +quietly tethered the horses securely to the strong fence, and, +raising his cap to the young ladies, said to Biddy, 'I will find your +grandson, and send him; they will stand quite safely,' looking at the +horses, and then turned towards the inn, where he expected to see him. + +Miss Brimble watched him out of sight; but her sister Flora scarcely +allowed him to be beyond hearing before she asked who he was, adding, +'I thought it was one of the farm people.' + +'He's my lodger, miss, and quite a gentleman, for all he's put up +here,' said Biddy. 'Please walk in, ladies. The chickens are all +alive, Miss Flora--I'm proud to say I haven't lost one; you'll please +to come and look at them; and belike Miss Brimble will look at the +beautiful pictures as Mr. Jobson have put up in the parlour.' + +'Beautiful indeed!' said Miss Brimble, standing before a rough +water-colour drawing of an extensive country scene. 'Oh, Flora, +look! how exceedingly clever!' she exclaimed, and pointed out the +merits of distance, colour, etc. Flora had no doubt it was all true, +but did not examine it with much interest. While Miss Brimble stood +before it in silent admiration, she went with Biddy to visit her +chickens, plying her with innumerable questions about her lodger. + +'Jobson--what a name! poor old man! I daresay he's some map-maker, +or surveyor, or that kind of thing. And so he plays the flute? Why, +how entertaining he must be! And you don't know where he came from, +nor where he is going, nor what he wants here, nor how long he is +going to stay? Well, if he had but a better name, he would be +delightfully mysterious; but Jobson--and Matthew Jobson, too--there's +no harmonizing that with mystery.' + +Miss Brimble had well surveyed, not only the drawing described but +several others,--some unintelligible to a common eye, from their +roughness,--and seemed disinclined to leave them, when Flora returned +from her visit to her pet chickens. As they rode through the long +narrow lane that formed with its overhanging boughs an avenue almost +private to the Hall, Flora upbraided her sister with not having +visited her pets--' the sweetest little creatures in the world,' she +said. + +'Who can this person be?' said Miss Brimble, musingly, and not +noticing her sister's reproaches. + +'Oh, some poor old broken-down artist--or--or--but what does it +signify? I do believe, Charity, you are more interested in him than +in my little darlings.' + +'I wish,' said Miss Brimble, 'I had asked more questions of Biddy +about him.' + +'Don't be unhappy,' said Flora; 'I asked every conceivable question +while you were looking at those things on the wall. His name is +Matthew Jobson; he gets up at some unearthly hour--four or +five--after sleeping on a mat on the floor, miserable man, with his +window open; when the milk comes in, he drinks one long draught, and +eats brown bread, and that's his breakfast; then he shuts himself up +in the parlour, and makes those smudges and scratches--I should call +them--but of course you know best; then he starts off with +hard-boiled eggs and brown bread, and walks no one knows where, and +doesn't return till evening, and finishes the day with a solo on the +flute, and some more bread and milk. Well, stop--I haven't done; he +is undoubtedly very poor, but very honest, for he pays his reckoning +every evening, which makes Biddy afraid he won't stay very long. He +gives John the best advice--he knows everything, and has been +everywhere--there!' + +'I wonder if he would give drawing-lessons,' said Charity. + +'Not to me,' said Flora; 'not even to be able to do those wonderful +things that you admire so would I take lessons of such a +sharp-looking old man.' + +'Old!' said Miss Brimble; 'he's not old; I was quite struck with his +appearance and manner; I believe he's a gentleman in reduced +circumstances.' + +'Gentleman Jobson,' said Flora. + +'As for that, I think Jobson quite as good a name as Brimble.' + +'I admit it--how could it be worse? but please to remember we are not +_bona fide_ Brimbles, as papa says; woe worth the day that turned us +out of honourable "De la Marks" into people so ignoble!' + +The ride ended, and the story of the stranger was soon told to the +family. Squire Brimble, who was the essence of indulgent fathers, +promised to see him, and ascertain if Charity's wish could be +accomplished. + +Accordingly, the next morning he set off to Stoney Gates to fulfil +his promise. He found Mrs. Sparks at her wheel before the door, and +the stranger leaning against the large walnut tree, sketching her. +Mr. Brimble advanced with an air of easy kindness. 'Mr. Jobson, I +believe.' The stranger, with a half-suppressed smile, returned his +bow. 'My name is Brimble. I live at yon old red house. My +daughters were here yesterday, and had the pleasure of seeing a +drawing of yours which they admired exceedingly.' Again the stranger +bowed. 'May _I_ have the pleasure of seeing it?' + +'By all means, if you will find it a pleasure;' and they entered the +house together. Mr. Brimble walked to the largest drawing. He had +no doubt Charity was right, and admired it in nearly the same terms +in which she had praised it to him; but he wondered whether Flora +might not be right--smudge and scratch. + +'There's something very extraordinary in genius,' he said. 'It seems +to make people forget the ordinary things of life. You, for +instance, are so interested in your art, that I daresay you are +insensible to half that you are exposed to in this queer place.' + +'Queer place!' said the stranger; 'I wish genius may never fare +worse. What can a man enjoy more than ease and sumptuous abundance?' +and he seated himself carelessly on his portmanteau, while he pushed +the only chair towards Mr. Brimble. + +The squire answered with a chuckle. Biddy Sparks' lodger revelling +in ease and sumptuous abundance! The stranger smiled at his +merriment, and said, 'If you had passed through what some travellers +have,--I speak not of myself,--you would call this accommodation fit +for a prince.' + +The tone and manner which accompanied these words convinced Mr. +Brimble that the person before him was no starved-out son of genius, +that fed ill from an empty pocket; and as the conversation continued +he became more and more impressed with the feeling that he was a +gentleman who wanted no help, and, moreover, a man of highly gifted +and cultivated mind. A thorough lover of ease in mind and body, Mr. +Brimble enjoyed nothing more than amusement without the cost of +exertion; he was quite elated at the idea of having found a pleasant +companion in so near a neighbour, whose company could be enjoyed +without the bondage of ceremony. On the other hand, the stranger, +keen in the perception of character, had at a glance read that of his +visitor; kindness and candour were its leading features: the effect +was mutual satisfaction. + +At last, being satisfied that the stranger was travelling merely from +amusement, and lived as he did from preference, the squire said, with +a frank smile, as he proffered his snuff-box, 'Well, now for the +truth. I came here fancying that you were a poor genius, at your +wits' end for money, and I intended asking you to give lessons to my +daughter; but, as I happen to be wrong in everything but the genius, +instead of that come and dine with us to-day. We shall be alone, I +believe; but even then we may hope to be as entertaining as Sparks +and his granny.' + +The stranger smiled, but shook his head. He glanced at his dress. +'I have no means of making a toilet here,' he said, 'and couldn't +appear thus before ladies.' + +'Nonsense!' said Mr. Brimble; 'you are fit for court. Mrs. Brimble +and my children are quite indifferent to such matters; you are an +idle man, and you've no excuse. Walk down with me now, and make a +long day of it.' The stranger, still declaring that he could not +then accept his hospitality, added that he would gladly walk with +him, and they left the house together. + +'This avenue, you see,' said the squire, 'amounts to a private road. +None but our own people intrude on it; so that my daughters can ride +or walk to their favourite haunts in the village and around it, +without any fear of molestation, without the tediousness of an +attendant. We are all for liberty; it is as much our delight as if +we had been born birds of the air. Anything like etiquette--when it +is constraint--is our torment. Now you see that little pathway that +opens into a very pretty little wood, where there are all sorts of +rustic gimcracks put together to please the ladies, who by the way +seldom go there,--dove-house, hermitages, labyrinths, and so on. +Over yonder hill lies the Dew, a fine old place going to ruin; the +estate at one point joins mine, or would, but for a trout stream. +Are you an angler? Capital! then we shall have some sport together. +I preserve, or pretend to do, but I'm poached on most unmercifully, +and can't help myself. There's the house--"Hall," we call it--a good +place enough. But before we go in, I must take you round my stables; +I have just bought a hunter, high price--you shall judge him,' etc. + +Thus Mr. Brimble talked; while the stranger, when his turn came, +amused and interested the squire with his anecdotes of persons, +places, and things. 'Why, you've been everywhere,' he cried, 'and +know all the world! Here's my purchase,' as they entered the stable; +and he was soon listening with the deepest admiration to his +companion's strictures on the hunter, and the peculiarities of the +Arab and other horses; but when a suggestion was made as to an +improvement in ventilating the stables, the squire was rather +nettled. He was sure nothing could be better than his own plan; he'd +no doubt Mr. Jobson might be right as to stables of other climates; +but, etc. And in much vehemence did he continue the argument, till +he found himself walking under the windows of the room in which the +ladies were accustomed to sit during the morning. + +Suddenly stopping, and forgetting stables and all connected with +them, he pointed to Charity, who was sitting at one of them, and +said, 'There's your pupil that was to have been. Let us go in. Mr. +Jobson--Mrs. Brimble and my daughters. Ah, Miss Cruden! I didn't +see your carriage. How's the doctor? My dear, Mr. Jobson is a +friend of our old friend General Topham.' + +'Scarcely a friend,' said the stranger, returning the salutation of +the ladies with grave but frank courtesy. + +'Well, well, you served with him somewhere, didn't you? or saw him, +or something; I don't remember exactly what it was. We've been over +so much ground that I've forgotten half the things you told me.' + +The stranger gave a brief but interesting account of his last +interview with the general, whom he incidentally described so +graphically as to leave no doubt of his acquaintance with him. When +this had come to an end, the squire seemed rather nervous lest the +conversation should flag, and trotted out his new friend with the +most scientific jockeyism, plying him with questions as to the +Levant, America, and every place on which they had touched during +their morning conversation. + +The stranger seemed to suffer this tax upon his conversational powers +rather than to enjoy it; he saw Mr. Brimble's motive, which was to +gain for him the favour of his family, and, appreciating his +kindness, fell in with his wish. Charity and Flora exchanged +glances; the former looked triumphant--she had been right in her +conjecture. Flora listened to him for a little time, but very soon +joined her mother and Miss Cruden in the discussion of some new +crochet patterns, giving only an occasional exclamation when any +circumstance of particular interest was narrated. Mr. Jobson seemed +equally ignorant of the indifference of the trio, and of the deep +interest with which Charity listened to him. The squire was the +centre of his notice, and he was evidently pleased with the +gratification he was affording him. Dame Sparks' criticism, that he +knew everything, seemed nearer the truth than such criticisms +generally are. + +At the luncheon, of which he could not with courtesy refuse to +partake, he delighted the squire by giving him the history of almost +every known wine, and charmed the ladies, one and all, with +descriptions of foreign fruits and flowers. Every object suggested +some fresh ground on which to display his boundless information, and +the ease with which the remarks passed from topic to topic, and the +perfect simplicity of his manner, so free from conceit, gave a +tenfold charm to all. When he had left,--for he declined positively +to remain the day, sorely to Mr. Brimble's disappointment,--a +discussion concerning him naturally arose among the ladies, while the +squire accompanied him, as he said, off the grounds. + +'Oh, mamma, what a man!' said Flora; 'isn't he worse than a +dictionary? I should get a brain fever if I heard him talk every +day.' + +'Where does he come from?' asked Miss Cruden--a rather elderly lady, +with grey hair and gold spectacles and thin, sharp features. + +'That remains to be proved,' said Mrs. Brimble. + +'Come from!' cried Flora; 'why, he's like the man in the fairy tale, +that came in at a hundred doors at once.' + +'Mr. Brimble,' said his wife impressively, and turning with a +confidential air to Miss Cruden, 'is so exceedingly imprudent, so +easily deceived, that any one might take him in--any one that can +talk.' + +'There's no question about this person being able to talk,' said Miss +Cruden; 'but why do you suppose he has been taken in now?' + +'Tell me what a gentleman fit to be introduced here, and a friend of +General Topham's, should do at Biddy Sparks'.' + +'Biddy Sparks'!' said Miss Cruden, raising her eyebrows under her +spectacles; 'that is indeed a singular lodging for a gentleman.' + +'Oh, but he's a genius, mamma,' said Flora, 'and lives on bread and +milk, and never goes to bed. I only hope, if papa brings him here +again, he'll make him bring his flute; I should think we had come to +an end of his geography.' + +'I hope,' said Mrs. Brimble, 'if your papa does bring him here again, +it will be with a letter of introduction, without which no one ought +to be received here.' + +'But, mamma, the man has had an introduction without a letter,' said +Flora; 'and if it pleases papa, what does it signify? He won't run +away with any of us--certainly not with me. I don't know about +Charity,' she said, suddenly turning round and looking at her sister, +who had not yet spoken. 'She was rather moonstruck about him this +morning; but whether he's a gentleman or not, Char, I'm positive he's +old, and he's got the most frizzly little whiskers I ever saw; in +fact, to me he is very much like his pictures.' + +'And to me too,' said Charity. + +'His pictures!' said Miss Cruden; 'pray, what are they like?' + +'Oh, stop, Char!' said Flora; 'do let me tell first. You know, Miss +Cruden, there's a long blue uneven smudge--that's a "distance;" then +there are'-- + +'Flora,' cried her sister, 'how can you be so foolish? Miss Cruden +is fond of drawing; the best way would be to ask for her to see them, +and judge for herself; they are full of spirit and feeling.' + +'What is his name?' said Miss Cruden; 'I did not hear.' + +'Ah! that's the melancholy part of it,' said Flora. 'Char can't make +that better--Jobson, undeniable Jobson. Here's papa; now, mamma, +find out about the letter of introduction. I should rather enjoy his +turning out an impostor, because Char looks so triumphant.' + +Mr. Brimble had indeed appeared, but he remained in a hesitating +manner on the walk, as if undecided about rejoining the ladies. The +truth was that, upon reflection, he felt he had committed what his +wife would call a most imprudent action. He hardly shaped her +censure into a definite form; but any form would be unpleasant +enough. He knew her first question would be, 'credentials,' and none +had he to give; in fact, he had nothing but the stranger's word as a +guarantee for his respectability. Poor Mr. Brimble! he abhorred a +lecture; yet he was always carelessly exposing himself to one. With +the consoling remembrance that Miss Cruden's presence would break the +force of the attack, he ventured on the enemy. + +'Couldn't prevail on him to turn back,' he said (looking anywhere but +at Mrs. Brimble). 'A positive fellow when he's once made up his +mind, I can see; but he has promised to come when he returns from a +few days' ramble; and, in the meantime, you, Char, are welcome to any +of his sketches that you think worth copying; he has a large +portfolio, which you may ransack at pleasure during his absence.' + +'Did he bring letters of introduction?' asked Mrs. Brimble, with +significant dryness. + +'I didn't require any,' said her husband carelessly, less uneasy at +the conflict now he was fairly in for it. + +'Your imprudence, Mr. Brimble, does surprise me, though it ought not +to do so, considering my long experience of it.' + +'Imprudence, imprudence! what imprudence?' inquired the squire +quickly; 'am I to welcome no one to my house who does not bring a +certificate? Isn't it my habit to call on all new-comers?' + +'Very few _gentlemen_ would expect to be called on in this person's +circumstances; and I must say'-- + +'Now, there's your mistake, Mary. You think you must say; but you +_mustn't_ say; for once, my imprudence will come to no harm, at any +rate. He's a gentleman,--a most agreeable, clever fellow, and a +great acquisition to us in our dull quarters.' + +'Don't you remember that account in the paper,' said Mrs. Brimble, +turning to Miss Cruden, 'of a very clever man, who introduced himself +under false pretences into a family, and an extensive robbery was the +consequence?' + +'No, she does not; though she is trying to get up a reminiscence to +accommodate you, I can see. But if she does, it proves nothing; +there's no analogy. To begin, this man didn't introduce himself; I +sought him, and, to cut it short, Mary, I have indubitable proof that +he is a gentleman.' + +Mrs. Brimble looked up for the proof that thus cut her short; but the +squire, feeling he had the advantage in asserting which he would have +lost in proving,--for his conviction lay only in his innate +perception of gentle birth and high breeding,--kept on high ground, +and, declaring it was not endurable that they should waste the day in +the house during such glorious weather, invited them to follow him to +the shrubberies to look at his improvements there. + +Miss Cruden immediately proceeded to fold into its proper creases a +large square of cambric she was hemming for the doctor; Mrs. Brimble +looked offended, and disinclined to accede to the proposal. Flora +threw down her work, wondering she could have stayed in so long; and +Charity, as she followed her, questioned why the stranger should have +remembered her and her love for art. Her sister, as if answering her +thoughts, said carelessly, while adjusting her hat, 'How kind it was +of papa to ask that you might see those things! for of course he +asked, though he is willing that the credit should lie with "the +admirable Jobson." It's just like him, dear kind heart!' and she +hastened after him into the shrubbery. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +It is time to introduce the reader to Parker's Dew and its inmates. +We cannot do this better than by following Shady Higgs and his +companion on their way from the van. + +'Anything occurred in my absence?' asked the librarian in a tone of +condescension. + +'No,' said Robinson, rather sullenly; 'only the pigs has got into the +garden and turned up the flowers.' + +'Untoward creatures! Have they made much havoc?' + +'They's made a plenty of mess; they's been a-devouring of the +cabbages, and Mrs. Gillies were in a fine way because you never +looked after them afore you went.' + +Now Robinson was not often guilty of such direct violations of duty +towards dignity; but his patience had been tried by long waiting +under the hedge, and Mrs. Gillies had unjustly punished him for the +offence of the marauding pigs. He was, moreover, so laden with +parcels that he was obliged to walk with a precision ill according +with his taste or age, lest some of them should be dislodged +altogether; therefore in respect of temper he was in a poor way. + +[Illustration: SHADY EGGS HAS A PRINCIPLE TO MAINTAIN.] + +Shady, whose weak point was sensitiveness in this particular, was +divided in his mind between vexation at the misbehaviour of the pigs +and discomfort at the republican tone of the lad whom he had long +been trying to improve into a character worthy of the honour of +serving in the family of De la Mark. He determined to pass by the +pigs, and, turning to his companion, said, 'How often, child, am I to +exhort you to remember the respect due to your superiors, whether in +age, station, or any good conditions?' Perhaps Robinson was not +decided as to the required number of times; at any rate, he did not +answer, nor was his expression promising. 'Listen,' said the +librarian, 'while I repeat a form of words which would have been a +becoming answer to my question; and in the first place you should +have begun with "No, sir," or "No, Mr. Higgs;" say that, and remember +it is for your own good that I enforce this principle on you.' +Robinson may not have believed in the philanthropy of his preceptor, +or he was heroically indifferent to his own interests; he walked on +in dogged silence. '"No, sir," or "No, Mr. Higgs,"' said the +librarian, standing still, and looking firmly at the young +incorrigible; for, gentle as a lamb at all other times, when Shady +had, as he considered, a principle to maintain, or a duty to perform, +he was a very lion. Robinson saw that he must give in, and muttered +in a low tone, 'No, Mr. Higgs.' 'It is well,' said the librarian; +and, considering the better part of valour to be discretion, he +conceded the rest of the speech, content with the conquest gained, +adding in a more gentle tone, 'I hope in time to cure you of the +slaughter of the aspirate, so offensive to a cultivated ear and so +general in this place. It is indeed wonderful how letters are +subverted and substituted for one another by the careless and +ignorant. Take Higgs, for instance: what name more simple? yet do +they indiscriminately render it, "Eggs and Iggs, Heggs and Higgs."' +Robinson interrupted this meditation by letting fall one of his +parcels. 'I fear,' said the librarian, picking it up and laying it +carefully in its place, 'the corners of a book which I have purchased +for you may have been injured, Robinson.' Robinson looked as if he +could bear the calamity. 'There's a knife in that parcel also,' +continued Shady, 'with many blades, which I intended for you when +your improvement deserved it.' + +'Thank'ee, Mr. Higgs, sir,' said Robinson, the knife going straight +to his heart; and, as his hands were not at liberty to touch his cap +or pull his hair, he made the most deferential nod his circumstances +would permit. + +'As to the book,' resumed Shady, 'it is not of a character to please +you as yet; I had a prospective view in purchasing it, when your +mind-- But I see you wish to speak.' + +'I was just a-going to ask, Mr. Higgs, sir, how many blades there was +in the knife?' + +Rather disconcerted that the knife should engross the whole of his +mind, he gave him first a little lecture on the superior value of +that which he seemed to disregard, adding at the end, 'There are four +blades, a buttonhook, and a corkscrew.' Oh, how light from that +moment was Robinson's load! not that he had the least use for a +buttonhook or a corkscrew; but to be the owner of a knife of such +multifarious powers was to him a new idea of happiness. In the +fulness of his gratitude he volunteered much fresh information, +carefully putting 'Mr. Higgs, sir,' whenever an opportunity occurred. + +Mr. Bloodworth had been at the Dew, and had high words with Miss De +la Mark, and Sir Valary had been very ill, and Mrs. Gillies had +wished Mr. Higgs back again twenty times. Altogether it had been a +day of commotion at the Dew, from Sir Valary down to his pigs. + +'Sacrilegious man!' said Shady, turning whiter with indignation, as +the lad repeated some expressions dropped by Bloodworth in the +courtyard. 'Had you spoken of this sooner,' he continued, 'we might +have hastened.' + +'You see, Mr. Higgs, sir, it's impossible to do unpossibilities, and +I can't hasten with all these things,' said the lad, whose head came +out of his parcels like that of a tortoise from its shell; ''sides, +he's gone now, and Sir Valary's better, and miss was in the garden +quite comfortable when I came away.' + +Shady nevertheless pressed on, in agitated expectation, until they +reached the place. It was a large, dark, irregular pile, on a +thickly-wooded eminence--a landmark conspicuous for many miles round. +All that remained of the original castle was one tower, which was +called Sir Mark's Tower, in honour of the founder of the family; the +remainder had been raised by several of his descendants, to repair +the decay of accident and time; and each seemed to have built +according to his own age, without reference to what had been before +him. Sir Mark's Tower, with a part of one side of the quadrangle, +formed the dwelling of the present possessor; part of the remainder +was an ivy-covered ruin; while a long and dreary-looking portion, +containing the state rooms, portrait gallery, armoury, and library, +was given up to darkness and silence, being carefully boarded, +barred, and bolted. The great entrance had not been approached for +many years; the stately avenue of limes had interwoven their branches +and formed an extended archway. To Sir Valary and his daughter was +reserved a private doorway in the tower, while the retainers (as +Shady was pleased to style himself, Mrs. Gillies, the steward, and +Robinson), together with all comers, had ingress and egress by the +outer courtyards and kitchen entrance. It was not, however, to the +kitchen of former days that Shady now hastened; a small servitors' +hall attached to it better answered the purposes of their economy. + +Mrs. Gillies scarcely waited for his entrance to pour out a medley of +abuse and lamentation concerning her master, her young lady, and the +steward, finishing up with an angry avowal that Shady was never in +the way when he was wanted. Shady, exhausted with his day of fasting +and fatigue, pained by the occurrences in his absence, and somewhat +discomfited by the undeserved castigation he was receiving, seated +himself in the corner to wait until the high wind should have passed. + +Nothing tires a passionate temper like letting it have its way; Shady +had often tried the force of non-resistance, and depended on it now, +for staying the torrent before Robinson's appearance. As at other +times, he was right. Mrs. Gillies, subsiding, passed from a scolding +to a declarative tone, and from that to one of ordinary talk, which +finally warmed into kindness, as she saw the inoffensive librarian +sit silently fanning himself, with an air of patient dejection. + +'Why, you look as if Bloodworth had blew at you, and had the best of +it too,' she said. + +'I have not broken fast since I left, and am weary and hungry,' +replied Shady. + +'Then it is high time to eat,' said the housekeeper; and, quickly +unloading Robinson, who had just appeared, and despatching him with +his evening meal to the ancient kitchen, she hastened to spread the +table, recounting in cooler temper the events of the day. + +There was nothing new in substance, for Robinson had told as much; +but of course each fact was given with particularity. + +'It's a strange thing to me, Shady,' she said, 'that Sir Valary, so +high as he is, can bear with Bloodworth. It's easy to say he's used +to him; but if he forgives the things that man said to-day there's +more than use that he depends on. He was daring to-day beyond what I +ever saw him; if Sir Valary had not fainted when he did, I believe he +would not have left; but he saw staying was of no use, and he was +afraid, too, of Miss Marjory. She said but a word or two, but he +couldn't stand her looks.' + +'Sacrilegious man!' cried Shady, shuddering more than once. His +anxiety was appeased by learning that Sir Valary had not awoke since +he took the sleeping-draught. Miss De la Mark had been sitting at +his door for the last hour, watching. + +'I haven't been able to get her to eat nor drink; she's as pale as a +ghost, and trembles like a leaf; but I don't think it's fear she +shakes with.' + +Poor Shady! it was too much for him. Bloodworth was the only human +being he regarded with dislike; notwithstanding his arrogant +assumption, he was well known to be a man of low origin, who owed all +his fortune to the family he served. If his insolence had been +confined to those of his own rank, it would have been worthy only of +contempt; but the indignation of the librarian knew no bounds when +the dignity of De la Mark was tarnished by his insolent bearing and +free speech; it was one of the very few subjects that deprived him of +his habitual serenity. + +Whatever were his own views as to the secret of Bloodworth's +impunity, he listened without replying to many of Mrs. Gillies' +half-hinted suspicions. 'Time will reveal all things,' he said. +'And now I must enter in my books the moneys expended. I must see, +too, that those rebellious animals are properly secured; and if I can +in a measure repair the damage they have done'-- + +'Mr. Higgs, sir,' said Robinson, appearing at the door with his empty +cup and platter, 'please, sir, don't you want me to go and help to +look arter them pigs?' + +'Ah!' said Shady, smiling benignantly on him; 'I must leave your +lesson to-night, Robinson.' + +'It don't signify,' said Robinson cheerfully. + +'No?' said Shady. + +'Not for once, you know, Mr. Higgs, sir,' said the lad, who felt he +had been too accommodating. Suddenly recollecting, the librarian +guessed his drift, and, placing the knife in his hands, told him that +nothing but learning was really worth desiring. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A few words are needful concerning Sir Valary and his daughter. Sir +Valary, known to be as proud as any who had ever borne his name, +lived a life of extraordinary seclusion and self-denial. For many +years he had banished from his home every sound of mirth, every +vestige of social comfort. His servants, who had, at the death of +Lady De la Mark, been greatly reduced in number, had gradually become +fewer, until every female office was represented by Mrs. Gillies, a +old and greatly-attached domestic, while Shadrach Higgs, with his boy +Robinson, whom he had pressed into the service, held the same +comprehensive post in the other sex. + +What had caused so great a change--for at one time Parker's Dew, or +Castle De la Mark, as it was called, was noted for its courtly +splendour and unbounded hospitality--no one knew. Some attributed it +to the early death of Lady De la Mark; others to the influence of +Bloodworth. Squire Brimble, who seldom allowed himself to speak of +his brother, when he did give an opinion said, 'It's the love of +money--that's enough to account for anything.' + +The growing infirmities of Sir Valary had kept him long a prisoner in +his chamber, at the door of which now, as described by Mrs. Gillies, +sat his daughter Marjory. There was nothing heroine-like in her +appearance. Low in stature and plain in feature, she owed all her +attraction to the force of her character and the peculiarity of her +early training. Indomitable courage shone in her dark eyes, and +patience, the result of a deeply-exercised spirit, gave a sweet calm +to her face. Her dress was, from necessity, somewhat singular. For +a long period she had been limited to her mother's wardrobe, and, +careless of the fashion in which the garments were made, she wore +them without change, as her mother had left them. + +'He sleeps so long!' said Marjory, her pale face resting against the +chamber door. + +'I've known him sleep longer, miss,' said Mrs. Gillies, peering up +the spiral staircase. 'If you'd just please to taste these fresh +cakes that Shady has brought in, and the chocolate, that's drying up +from standing these hours, I should be thankful;' and she displayed +the cakes, the choice of which had exercised greatly Shady's +discriminating powers. Marjory, prevailed on, left her to watch. +'You know, miss,' said the faithful creature, 'if you take ill, we +have no power to keep off that man when he comes; and one way we're +all alike, for the highest can't do without eating and drinking, no +more than the lowest.' Marjory did not at all, at that moment, feel +exalted above the conditions of humanity. Bloodworth's behaviour had +convinced her that he possessed some secret militating against her +father's honour, and that this was the source of the power he +exercised over him. + +The loneliness in which she had been reared had made her very +self-reliant. She had borne much personal inconvenience in silence; +and if it had been only for herself that she had now to suffer or to +do, she would not have been slow in her plan of acting; but it seemed +necessary that some one, more equal than she was to cope with the +steward, should step in between him and her father, for whose very +life she trembled, if such excitement as he had that day suffered +should be renewed. Yet, if her suspicions were correct, how could +she, without treading on dangerous ground, take any one into her +counsels? and, indeed, who was there to whom she could refer? To her +uncle, her natural protector after her father, she had been a +stranger for many years; and she had grown from childhood to +womanhood with no other companion than her father. One there was, +indeed, and to him she inclined to open her heart, and that one was +Dr. Cruden, the high-minded and skilful physician, who was the sole +visitor of gentle blood at Parker's Dew. + +Filled with painful conflict, she resumed her seat at the +chamber-door. A slight noise was gratefully heard by her, and, +entering, she found the long sleep had produced its usual effect of +refreshing calm. Sir Valary smiled gently on her, and, as if +forgetful of the distressing occurrences of the morning, received +with pleased readiness all her tender endeavours to restore and amuse +him; and thus passed the evening peacefully away. + +Several days followed in the same calm. Sir Valary and his daughter +seemed with equal care to avoid the name of Bloodworth, and both were +secretly thankful when the evening closed, without his presence +having embittered the day. + +One morning, Marjory, receiving Shady's promise not to go beyond +earshot of her father, prepared for one of those long rambles in the +surrounding woods which never failed to procure for her rest and +relaxation of mind. Her book-learning was small. In the great book +of nature, that lay before her, she was an ardent student. Shady, +who fondly considered himself, in some sort, her preceptor, had +endeavoured to inspire her with a love of heraldry, and was never +tired of expatiating on the endless genealogies connected with the +tree of De la Mark. But though she loved to wander among the +portraits of her ancient house, dimly lighted up by the few sunbeams +that could struggle through a loosened shutter here and there, her +thoughts were wholly given to those people of the past that looked +grimly from the wall, while he was trying to explore and expound +their heraldic bearings. She knew most of the faces by heart; but +her head was little encumbered with the technicalities of which he +was so proud. Shady had plodded through the elements of botany, that +he might usher her also into it. She soon learned with avidity all +he could teach her, and, unaided by other help than her own affection +for the pursuit, became well accomplished in it. But we must follow +her in her walk. + +Her mind had been too much exercised of late to allow her to give +thought to anything but one reigning subject. Her case for wild +flowers remained unused, as she passed musingly through the tangled +wood. When at a little distance from the house, she was arrested +once or twice by sounds of rustling amongst the branches. The once +carefully-arranged paths were now so ill kept that they were in some +parts difficult to penetrate. No stranger ever intruded there. She +supposed it to be some woodman gathering brushwood, and passed +carelessly on; but, coming suddenly on a cleared space, from which, +through an opening in the trees, appeared a fine and extensive view +of the country around, she saw whence the sounds had proceeded. + +The reader does not need a second description--it was the strange +lodger from Stoney Gates. He was apparently surveying the scene with +artistic purpose, his implements lying on the turf, and he was +arranging a piece of broken timber to form a seat of convenient +height and situation. + +The meeting was one of mutual and equal surprise. Each surveyed the +other steadily, and in silence; but the stranger, soon recovering +himself, lifted his cap with courtly propriety, for he needed nothing +to tell him he was in company with gentle blood. Marjory returned +the salutation, and was passing onward; but a sense of inhospitality +detained her; she lingered, and said hesitatingly, 'You are a +draughtsman?' He bowed. 'You are going to put down some of our +scenery?' Again he assented. 'Would you not like to have the Castle +De la Mark in your foreground, with this fine country behind?' + +'I have been trying to get that,' he replied; 'but the house is so +surrounded I can find no favourable standing-ground.' + +'I will lead you to one,' she said; and, making her way with easy +rapidity through the thicket, she emerged on a spot favourable in +every way to the accomplishment of the design. The graceful +dexterity with which she overcame all the obstacles of the labyrinth +struck him with admiration. 'She is worthy of an American forest,' +he thought. + +When they stood face to face upon the spot sought for, a slight +exclamation of surprise burst from the stranger, which was answered +with a smile of satisfaction from Marjory. There was pride in her +heart and triumph in her eye, as she turned exultingly to the scene +before them, upon which they both gazed silently. Suddenly she +asked, 'Who could put this down?' and looked at him for an answer; +but his eyes were fixed, not on the landscape--they were busily and +intently studying her face. He withdrew them in some little +confusion, and the blood of De la Mark crimsoning her cheek warned +him that to win patronage he must woo it discreetly. He thanked her, +in most deferential terms, for having given him the opportunity of +trying, but agreed that the subject was one to mock art. His voice +and bearing were so remote from intrusion or unbecoming forwardness, +that Marjory was willing to believe the look that had offended her +was one of natural and excusable curiosity. She allowed him, +therefore, to make one or two remarks on various points around before +she left him. + +As she was turning away, the stranger, still uncovered, said, 'I have +had the honour of speaking to Miss De la Mark?' She looked assent, +and they parted, he to pursue his task, and she to wonder who, among +the few persons whose faces were familiar to her, continually floated +in her memory while she was in company with the stranger. + +In this short interview, in which so little had been said, a great +advance had been made by each in the favour of the other. The fire +of her eye and the freedom of her step, her genuine dignity and +self-respect, untinged by affectation, all betokened a character +which had great charms for the stranger, while his sympathy with her, +so evident in those slight indications of look and bearing which are +to be felt but not described, had won upon her strangely; so that in +truth they were both far more intimate from this few minutes in the +wilderness than months of drawing-room proprieties would ever have +made them. What a sudden check he had given to the current of her +thoughts! All that had so deeply interested her fell aside, and, by +some inexplicable attraction, he took its place. + +Again the crashing of the distant boughs as she wandered homeward +struck her ear, and it was with somewhat of disappointment that, +after a minute or two of watching and waiting, she saw the faithful +Shady struggling through the thicket to reach her. + +If his young lady would only condescend to walk in the paths where +the trees did not meet right over, trusting she would pardon him for +saying so, it would be far less perilous for limbs and their +coverings to pursue her. Indeed he made a rueful figure; for +although he had guarded his dress, by turning it up or turning it +down, as circumstances recommended the precaution, he had met with +sundry tears and scratches, as though he had been at war with all the +under-wood he had encountered. Marjory smiled at his expostulations +and his appearance, but, suddenly remembering his promise, inquired +why he had left her father. + +Shady assured her that Dr. Cruden was with Sir Valary, and would +remain till his return, for he wished to see Miss De la Mark, and had +sent him in pursuit of her. + +'Then,' said Marjory, 'Mr. Higgs, there is a stranger in the wood; he +is drawing on my favourite seat--drawing the place, you see; and I +wish--I should like you--to--just to say--if he would wish to draw +any of the interior you can lead him through it.' + +Shady stared. 'I invite a stranger to the Dew, madam!' he said +slowly. + +'No, no,' said Marjory emphatically; 'of course ha will not be +intruded on my father nor on me; he greatly admires the place, and it +seems unkind not to allow him to enjoy the pleasure fully. It is +little we do in hospitality, Mr. Higgs; we may at least show this +poor favour to strangers; and this is no ordinary person, but a man +of birth and high taste, as you will see, I am sure.' An appeal on +the score of hospitality could not be made to a more ready ear than +that of Shadrach Higgs. How had he mourned in time past over the +silent halls and untrodden doorways of Parker's Dew, when his large +heart would have welcomed the whole world! But time and use had +reconciled him to all; and now to introduce a visitor seemed as +strange a work to him as it had once been to exclude one. + +While he was gathering up his thoughts to make a suitable, respectful +protest against the imprudence of doing what, if Sir Valary heard of +it, might give him umbrage, Marjory had vanished. Shady looked after +her disconsolately. Not having been able to resign his commission, +he felt it imperative on him to fulfil it, and with troublous +cogitations on the matter, and earnest hopes that the stranger would +not fall in with the invitation, he scrambled on towards the place. +While he was engaged in his contest with the bushes, he thought only +of how best to escape them; but when he stood in the presence of the +stranger, whom he immediately recognised, a feeling of vexation that +he should appear in a style so inconsistent with the dignity of De la +Mark mingled with it. + +On seeing him, the stranger, who seemed to have been of Marjory's +mind, and had thrown aside his sketch as unsuccessful, accosted him +as an old friend. 'What! the librarian! I am fortunate indeed! Are +you seeking your lady? She was here, but left a little ago.' + +Shady, in as collected and proper a form as he could get up for the +occasion, told him that he had met his young lady, and delivered her +invitation. + +The stranger started up at once. 'We will lose no time, Mr. Higgs; +nothing would give me greater delight;' and immediately he began, in +a manner which Shady well remembered, a series of questions as to +every part of the dwelling, the order in which it was kept, and so +on. While he endeavoured to answer these becomingly, an +under-current of thought occupied Shady. Various schemes he devised +and rejected for keeping the stranger out of sight and hearing of any +of the household, without allowing him to discover that he was there +by stealth. Under other circumstances he could have discoursed with +delight on the wonders and glories of Parker's Dew--to him an +untiring subject. Then again, the incongruities of ancient grandeur +and present meanness forced themselves upon him, and an uneasy +consciousness arose, of the effect they would have in diminishing the +stranger's reverence for the noble house in whose honour his heart +was bound up. + +'Why, it is in ruins!' exclaimed the stranger, coming abruptly on one +side of the quadrangle. + +'That portion is,' said Shady; 'the exact reason I cannot tell, but +there is a tradition'-- + +'It has been in decay for many years,' said the stranger, not waiting +for the tradition; 'this, I presume, is the chapel?' + +'It is;' and now did Shady, with all the formality of a grave court +official, introduce him respectively to the armoury, the picture +gallery, and the library; that is to say, he pointed to their +positions. + +The stranger surveyed all with the deepest interest. 'Did I +understand,' said he, 'that I was to be allowed to see the interior +of these places?' + +'The library,' said Shady, 'being my particular department, I carry +the key of the side entrance; the other keys are in Sir Valary's +room, but I can readily obtain them. There is no worthier part of +the building, in my humble estimation, than this,' he said, placing +the small key in the lock of a low door, to enter which they were +obliged to stoop. + +'Where are we?--in a tomb?' said the stranger. + +'No,' said Shady, 'though indeed we are among the dead; wait, if you +please, till I kindle the lantern.' + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Familiar as he was with every crevice of his dearly-loved resort, +having closed the door on the inside, Shady without difficulty +lowered a large lantern, that hung from the centre of the roof, and +lit two of the candles ranged within it. By degrees the stranger's +eyes, at first dazzled by daylight, were able to discern something of +what was around. The walls, the roof, and the floor, were all of +dark polished oak--the roof richly carved; books and vellum rolls in +antique cases, all of the same dark wood, left little of the walls +uncovered. Amid objects so sombre, the feeble rays of the lantern, +which Shady had now drawn up, were of little use. + +'I never saw a better effect of darkness,' said the stranger; 'but is +there no possibility of letting daylight in here? I would rather +read some of these books by the sun than by yonder lantern.' + +Shady pointed out to him that the windows, high and small, were +boarded up. + +'This,' said his companion, pointing to a library ladder, 'this would +reach one; if I loosened a board I could easily replace it; may I do +so?' + +Shady demurred. It would take time; he had already been too long +from his duties--Sir Valary might require him; not adding his +conviction, that Mrs. Gillies would rate him soundly for not being in +time to carry in the dinner--a service he always performed. + +'Leave me,' said the stranger; 'trust me with this key, or lock me +in; there is much here that I should like to examine; come to me when +you will, when you can; an hour, or hours hence, will do for me.' + +Again there was a conflict in Shady's mind; the inhospitality of +locking him up among paper and vellum, at a time when his own +appetite was reminding him that nature required support of another +kind, was repugnant to his feelings; yet, to have him so secured was +a convenience of which he saw the value. After a short pause, he +said he would return as quickly as he could, and, locking the door on +the outside, went somewhat nervously to present himself to the +housekeeper. Happily for him, the lengthened stay of Dr. Cruden had +saved him from wrath on account of his protracted absence. + +'I am glad you are come,' said Mrs. Gillies; 'it is a long talk the +doctor is having to-day, and there's Robinson been all the time +holding his horse, and nobody to clean a knife, for the little there +is to cut.' + +Shady quietly began gathering up the knives, intending to release +Robinson from his post, when Dr. Cruden and Miss de la Mark, in deep +conversation, crossed the courtyard and met him at its entrance. In +a moment of weakness he slipped the knives into his pocket, as he +could, and with a low bow stood deferentially until they had passed. +They had scarcely done so when the doctor turned suddenly round, +saying, 'Why, here is Higgs; you could not have a better person than +Higgs.' + +'How could I forget him?' said Marjory. + +[Illustration: 'HIGGS, I WANT SOME PRIVATE TALK WITH YOU,' SAID THE +DOCTOR.] + +'Higgs,' said the doctor, 'I want some private talk with you; we can +neither be overlooked nor overheard here,' he continued, looking +round. + +'Entirely secluded, sir, from all observation,' said Higgs, with +another low bow. + +'Here, then,' said the doctor, pointing to an ancient cross, +surmounting some broad stone steps, 'let us sit here;' and placing +Miss De la Mark on the higher step, and seating himself by her side, +he pointed to the lower one, telling Shady to sit down. Shady +preferred standing, for two reasons; one was, that it seemed little +less than treason in him to sit in such a presence; the other, he had +apprehensions as to the kind of cushion his pocket would afford, with +its present contents. + +'You must come close,' said the doctor; 'we don't want what we say to +be caught by the birds of the air.' + +'The library, Dr. Cruden,' said Marjory; 'shall we go to the library?' + +How unfortunate! During the many years that Shady Higgs had been +librarian, he had never received an order connected with his post +that he did not hail with delight. Now he fell back, and looked +almost reproachfully at Marjory, she having been the means of +bringing them into the dilemma in which he now stood. But the doctor +did not observe his looks. 'By all means, the library,' he said; 'we +are sure to be safe there;' and assisting Marjory down, he led her +with a quick step towards it, Shady following irresolutely. Opening +the door, he expected to hear the stranger's voice immediately, in +salutation; but all was silent, and the glimmer of the lantern +nowhere revealed a human form. No boards appeared to have been +removed; and as Shady nervously cast his eyes into the remoter parts, +where the shadows were the thickest, he was equally perplexed and +relieved to find nothing but vacancy. 'He must be in the room,' he +thought, 'but where?' + +'Now, Higgs,' said the doctor, 'you keep your favourite haunt +lighted: I wish I could hope it was dusted; we are at any rate safe +now. I want you to answer me some questions. You have a +grandmother?' + +'Softly,' said Shady, looking round. + +'Well, I'm not going to say any harm of her,' said the doctor; 'so +you need not be afraid of her coming. Where is she?' + +Shady looked with an expression of innocent surprise. 'My +grandmother Elizabeth?' he asked. + +'Yes; commonly called Bet Eggs,' said the doctor. + +'Is she not dead?' his large eyes dilating with a questioning look, +which Dr. Cruden could not quite understand. + +'Ay; is she, or is she not? that is the point.' + +'I have been given to believe she died,' said Shady, quite forgetting +the stranger, in the interest this question had excited in him. + +'_Do_ you believe it?' asked the doctor. + +'Why should I not?' + +'No evasions,' said the doctor, rather sharply; 'answer me plainly. +Is she living?' + +'Sir,' said Shady, glancing at Marjory, 'at another time I might +speak of this--' + +'_This_ time--_now_,' said the doctor; 'the truth is, Higgs, she is +not dead, and you know it, and you know why her existence is +concealed, and you know--' + +'Sir,' said Shady drawing himself to his full height, 'pardon me if I +am wanting in duty, that I contradict you. I know nothing of what +you have said.' + +'Has Bloodworth never spoken to you concerning her?' + +'It is seldom we converse, and never with my will, excepting on the +household business.' + +'How many years is it since you saw her?' + +'Twenty--when she crossed the sea, to wait on some noble lady +following her husband.' + +'How long since you received the report of her death?' + +'I think it may be about a twelvemonth.' + +'Well, you have at least reason to doubt the truth of that report?' +He was silent. + +'Higgs,' said the doctor, 'you have now an opportunity of proving the +truth of your fidelity and affection to Sir Valary. It is of the +utmost importance to ascertain, whether your grandmother is alive or +dead. What light can you throw upon the matter?' + +'Well, if I offend my young lady's ears in what I say, the blame be +far from me,' he answered, with a sigh. 'When my grandmother +Elizabeth had finished the work of nursing my young lady, an ill +feeling was raised against her by some means in the breast of my +gracious lady, her honourable mother. I well remember, though I was +then but a youth, her tears and complaints--yes, and bitter vows of +vengeance too, against the one that had done her this wrong. I +grieved for her, for, though she was harsh and choleric in temper, +she had well supplied the place of parents to me, and I was grateful. +A place was provided for her, and the disgrace in which she left was +unknown to any, save the few concerned in it. I well remember her +words the last time I saw her.' + +'What were they?' said the doctor quickly. + +'She told me (my young lady will pardon me), she had more power to +injure than her enemies had power to injure her; and nothing but her +love for my young lady would have kept her quiet. "If they desert +you," she said, "I will come back before they expect, and do right to +the wronged."' + +'Anything else?' + +'Much of the same sort.' + +'And how did you get the account of her death?' + +'It was reported in the neighbourhood, some time before a letter came +from Dusseldorf, written by the person in whose house she died, and +containing certificates of her death from the doctor and a Lutheran +minister.' + +'Did you credit these reports?' + +'I did.' + +'But have you had anything since to shake your confidence in them?' + +'Last summer,' said Shady, 'my young lady will remember the visit of +a German pedlar?' + +Marjory assented. 'Looking among his wares for a suitable offering +for my young lady for the next New Year's Day, I found a small purse +of beads, bearing on one side the initials E. H., and on the other +side the crest of De la Mark; the snap and the trimmings were new; +but by the beadwork I recognised it was no other than a purse given +in days of favour by my Lady De la Mark to my grandmother. I +questioned the pedlar as to how he became possessed of it. He told +me he had bought it, with some other trifles, of an aged woman who +was in difficulty and wanted to raise money. I then asked him to +describe the person, and how long it was since he had seen her. His +description differed from what she was at our parting--'bent and +feeble' for strong and upright, 'snow-white hair' for raven black; +but years and sorrow may have done this. He had seen her some ten +months back. Since then, I confess a vague suspicion has crossed my +mind as to the truth of her death.' + +'And how was it you did not name this?' + +'It never arose to more than suspicion; her things, no doubt, passed +into other hands after her death, if she died. I love quietness, and +would not make marvels.' + +'Do you think Bloodworth had any hand in the offence taken by Lady De +la Mark?' + +'Bloodworth is a sacrilegious man,' said Shady; 'his evil deeds known +are enough. I would not lay suspicions at his door.' + +'Well, Higgs, I tell you it is of the greatest consequence that your +grandmother, if living, should be produced; and I believe you are the +most likely person to find her. Will you go over to the place where +she is said to have died, and ascertain for us the facts, finding +out, if possible, the persons who signed the certificate, and, +indeed, all facts necessary for substantiating either her death or +her life? and in the meantime keep your mission a perfect secret from +every one. I will prepare everything. You will be sent with a +message to me when I am ready for you, and the cause of your +detention must be known to no one.' + +Shady was aghast, and far too much surprised to answer. + +'This is settled, then. So far, so good,' said the doctor, rising. +'Now, Mr. Shady, let us out of this black hole.' + +Marjory looked doubtingly, as Shady stooped down to unfasten the +door; she felt that Dr. Cruden was mistaken, and that many things +conspired to make him unfit for the important mission imposed on him. +A book falling at her feet startled her into a slight cry. + +'What! are your books alive, Higgs?' said the doctor, picking it up, +'flying about the place like bats.' + +Shady instantly recollected the stranger. While he was debating as +to the course he should pursue, a voice from the top of the room, +which Marjory recognised, said, 'Pardon the intrusion of a friend;' +and the stranger descended the ladder. A more curious group can +hardly be imagined than that on which the light of the lantern now +fell; the slight, small form of Marjory, her face pale with fatigue, +anxiety, and now with something like terror; the parchment-like +visage of Dr. Cruden, his periwig and hat both rather displaced by +stooping for the book; Shady, the very picture of astonishment and +mortification; and the stranger, the only one of the whole who +appeared noways discomfited by his presence among them. + +'Mr. Higgs, don't distress yourself; you have done good service to +the house of De la Mark this day, though inadvertently,' said the +stranger. 'I don't fear receiving a full pardon from you, madam, and +from you, sir,' bowing to them respectively, 'when I have disclosed a +few facts. Shall we return to the council table?' + +The doctor, putting one hand through the breast of his waistcoat, and +the other under his coat tails, his favourite attitude in delivering +a lecture, surveyed him from head to foot. Regardless of the +scrutiny, he placed himself at the table, and began thus; 'Elizabeth +Higgs is dead--I saw her burial.' + +They looked incredulous, but none spoke. + +'I was in Dusseldorf at the time, and knew the Lutheran minister who +attended her. She died in peace with all men, and fervently desiring +a blessing on the infant she had left,' bowing to Marjory, 'and +praying heartily for her grandson. I happened to be confined to the +house from an accident at the time, and saw much of her, for we +lodged under the same roof. A little kind sympathy with her +sufferings from a fellow countryman opened her heart, and she +unburdened it to me of every secret that had distressed her--a +revelation I have never confided to human ear, and will not, until it +shall be for the benefit of those whom it concerns. But rest +satisfied; she is dead, and your mission useless.' + +The doctor's surprise at all that he had just heard had prevented him +from interrupting the stranger with any questions; but now that he +saw he had told all that he meant to tell, he said, 'You will excuse +me, sir; it is possible that all you have advanced may be perfectly +correct; and I am far from wishing to offend you or any gentleman in +so near a point as doubting veracity; but you will please to remember +that the subject having been so amply discussed in your hearing, and +you being a perfect stranger to us, it is natural that we should look +for something--some confirming evidence--before trusting implicitly +to you; and also, it would be pleasant to know who our informant is, +and, I may add, how he came to drop upon us so opportunely.' + +The stranger, looking calmly and steadily at him, replied, 'For my +presence here, I refer you to Miss De la Mark. I am a world-wide +wanderer, without a settled home as yet. I can give you no proof +that I have advanced the truth now. I do not blame you for being +sceptical; but, according to human maxims, you may believe me, since +I have no interest in deceiving you.' + +If he would only trust the doctor with some of Bet Eggs' revelations. +The stranger shook his head. 'In due time, when I am wanted, you may +depend upon me: it is not whim, but necessity, that keeps me silent.' + +'Answer me one thing,' said the doctor. 'Did the widow Higgs confine +herself to her own history, or--or--' + +'Come, Mr. Higgs,' said the stranger, 'advance--I shall beg for a +night's lodging in yonder gallery.' + +'He is impenetrable,' thought the doctor. + +'I think the portrait of the nurse is hanging there, isn't it, +carrying an infant?' + +His three hearers exchanged glances quickly. + +He smiled. 'There,' he said, 'is evidence for you.' + +'Strange,' said Dr. Cruden; and Shady advanced to the door. All +attempts on the part of the doctor to induce the stranger to return +to his house and become his guest were unavailing. + +'No,' he replied; 'I will be Sir Valary's guest, though he shall not +know it. My plaid is an excellent soldier's bed, and I shall sleep +soundly among the shadows of the house of De la Mark.' + +'I really believe he is a true man,' said the doctor to Marjory, as +they walked towards the tower, Shady following to obtain the keys. + +'There is a frankness in his manner,' replied Marjory, 'that quite +fascinated me when I first met him.' + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Shady's perplexities were great. How to account to Mrs. Gillies for +his long absence, without raising her woman's curiosity, he knew not; +and the knives! he thought, 'Yes, I have the knives,' putting his +hand to his pocket. While the domestic difficulties were being +overcome, we will follow the stranger. He had told Shady not to +hurry himself with the key, for the fresh air, and a stroll among the +ruins, would better accord with his taste than to be again +immediately immured in dust and semi-darkness. While examining a +curious archway, he heard horse hoofs, and looking down saw a man +dismount, fasten his horse to a tree, and climb the bank through a +place where the wall was very low, and would permit scaling easily. +He soon cleared the wall, and stood upon the loose stones within the +quadrangle. + +The stranger had time to observe him, being hidden in the shadow of +the archway; there was nothing remarkable in his appearance; his +dress was plain, his age a little more or less than sixty. The +stranger, quitting the archway, advanced to meet him, looking fixedly +upon his face while he spoke. + +'Mr. Anthony Bloodworth, I think?' The horseman started, but replied +in the affirmative. + +'I am glad,' said the stranger. 'I have long had this to deliver, +and am glad to be rid of it;' and he placed in his hands a small +paper parcel; 'but,' he said, before he relinquished his hold of it, +'there is some receipt or acknowledgment that I must have.' + +'What is it? what is it?' asked Bloodworth; 'I must see it before I +can give a receipt.' + +'The receipt is written out for you--you have but to sign it.' +Bloodworth opened the packet, which contained two papers, with a +letter. + +He glanced continually from the paper to the stranger, and at last, +in a husky voice, asked him how long it had been in his possession. + +'I see,' he continued; 'you were acquainted with my correspondent.' + +'Yes,' said the stranger, carelessly, 'I knew him well.' + +'Have you been long about here?' asked Bloodworth, who was beginning +to put the papers into his pocket. + +The stranger produced a small ink-horn, saying, 'The receipt, if you +please.' + +'I don't know,' said Bloodworth; 'I would rather convey an important +document in another way. Why, if charged with this for me, did you +wait to meet me here, instead of seeking me at my own dwelling?' + +The stranger held the ink-horn. 'Sign the receipt, man,' he said, +not deigning to answer the question. + +With much reluctance he drew out the papers, and doing as the +stranger bade him, delivered the document into his hands. + +'What brings you here?' he said, looking nervously at him. + +'What brings you here?' said the stranger. + +'My business,' answered Bloodworth doggedly. + +'And I was brought here by your business and my pleasure.' + +'Had you any message?' asked the steward, cowed by the stranger's +manner. + +'No other than I have delivered; but tell me how long do you mean to +pursue this work? Take my advice; repent, and make a clean breast of +it, or you will be caught in your own toils.' + +'Then he has betrayed me,' said Bloodworth, 'and you know all.' + +'I know enough to advise you this.' + +At this moment Shady approached with the key; he made a sort of +gesture to the steward, as destitute of respect or cordiality as it +could well be, and, turning to the stranger, proffered the key and +his guidance. + +'This gentleman,' said the steward, in a lamb-like tone, which Shady +was greatly surprised to hear, 'is a friend of mine, Mr. Higgs, and +as soon as I have waited on Sir Valary I shall be glad to show him +the few curiosities we have.' He was continuing his civil address, +when the stranger, laying his hand on Shady's shoulder, pointed to +the gallery, and left him without reply. + +Whatever the papers were that Bloodworth had received, it was evident +they had greatly altered the state of feeling in which he had crossed +the wall. His leaden eyes were then as quiet as stagnant water--now +his whole visage was agitated; he passed his hand nervously over his +face, went towards the tower, and returned, as if in uncertainty. He +had ridden round in order to avoid Dr. Cruden, whom he had been told +in the village was at the Dew, little expecting what he had met with. + +Guilt makes a coward; he feared every one he met. Robinson, who was +sitting on the stone steps of the [** Transcriber's note: missing +line of text?] cross carving devices on a stick with his new knife, +looked with amazement at him, as he saluted him with kindness, and +told him gently where to find his horse. + +Entering the kitchen, he spoke in the same tone to Mrs. Gillies, +inquiring with respect and concern after Sir Valary and his daughter. +Mrs. Gillies, to whom the sight of him was wormwood, could not help +being struck with his altered tone, and put it down to repentance for +his late misbehaviour. He asked for water, complained of weariness, +and altogether stirred up something less akin to hatred than she was +accustomed to feel for him. 'You have had company to-day, Mrs. +Gillies?' Supposing he meant Dr. Cruden, Mrs. Gillies nodded. + +'I'm afraid you were not prepared for him.' + +'As for that,' she said quickly, 'we are not allowed enough to keep +the house going at any time; however, he is a plain man, and never +eats nor drinks.' + +'Dr. Cruden, you mean?' + +'Who else comes here?' said the housekeeper. + +By various indirect questions, he ascertained that, so far as Mrs. +Gillies knew, the only person of the household to whom the stranger +had introduced himself was Shady Higgs. + +'The house ill kept!' said Bloodworth, after a pause. 'Mrs. Gillies, +I fear that my good intentions towards Sir Valary and the well-being +of his estate have gotten me a poor name, that I ill deserve.' + +'Well, I hope you don't deserve all that is said of you,' she +answered blandly; 'there's many as say the money that ought to go for +the proper keeping of the house, as Sir Valary's house ought to be +kept, is worse than sunk in the sea. I know for my part, I'd rather +be the poorest on earth than rich with such gains; and if it was not +for the love to Sir Valary and my young lady, I'd sooner be in a +close cottage, with bread enough and no care, and nothing expected +from me, than be in a corner of a great place like this, with such +stint allowance. Why, you may believe me, if I wasn't to contrive +and to contrive, and keep us three down here at a very near rate, I +could never make what I have enough to serve Sir Valary and my young +lady, even as well as I do serve them. The world is changed a good +deal, for the housekeeper of Parker's Dew to be put to the shifts I +am; and since you give me the liberty to speak, Mr. Bloodworth,' she +continued, growing eloquent on the strength of the steward's silence, +'I may tell you, that if things go on much longer, there is them that +will look into it, and know the reason why; and I've heard as much as +that, and a little more too.' + +[Illustration: 'IF THINGS GO ON MUCH LONGER, THERE IS THEM THAT WILL +LOOK INTO IT.'] + +Bloodworth sat perfectly silent; he may have heard all the +housekeeper's oration, or he may not; probably the latter, for he +looked abstracted, and, taking his hat, said, 'I have a little work +outside--some one to speak to--you need not let Sir Valary know that +I am here, until my return; and for the matter of stint, Mrs. +Gillies, you will be pleased to remember that I am but a servant like +yourself; I have not the ordering of Sir Valary's mind about his +money.' + +'What has come to the man?' said the housekeeper, as she watched him +through the heavy stone window: 'I never thought to hear him own +himself a servant; something has taken him down since he was last +here.' + +With his head bent down, and his hands folded behind his back, he +walked slowly towards the spot where he had left Shady and the +stranger. He met the former advancing towards the tower. + +'What have you done with Mr. Vandercroft?' he said, looking sharply +up. + +'Mr. ----?' Shady asked, not catching the name. + +'My friend, whom I left with you; I wish to see him.' + +'The gentleman is in the portrait gallery,' said Shadrach, 'and has +no desire for company.' + +'Not for yours, perhaps.' + +'You are correct, Mr. Bloodworth, for he requested me to go; but I +did not take it to be personal, as he desired to be locked in, that +none might intrude.' + +'Where's the key?' + +'The key?' said Shady, looking at him calmly. + +'Yes, the key,' repeated Bloodworth, his natural fierceness +returning; 'I tell you I wish to see him.' + +'You can see him,' said Shady, looking up as if calculating, 'at +eleven o'clock to-morrow, if you will ride so far.' + +Bloodworth could scarcely speak for emotion, but controlling himself +said, 'Shady, my friend, you are disposed to be pleasant, but do not +trifle with me just now. Let me have the key; I must see this man; +what reason did he give you for saying he would not see me?' + +'I do not know that you were in his thoughts at all,' said Shady +calmly, 'when he said he wanted no intruders; but I believe I know +his reason for seeking seclusion.' + +'You do?' said Bloodworth, his lips growing white, and his eyes fixed +earnestly upon him. + +'Yes, he preferred to be alone.' + +'Is that all? Then give me the key.' + +'I am under promise.' + +'Give me the key!' said Bloodworth, choking with ill-concealed +passion. + +'Nay, then, if you are bent on it, I must return with you and +explain, and leave the gentleman, whose name I could not catch, to +arrange with you according as he is affected.' + +The cool determination with which Higgs said this exhausted the +remains of the steward's temper, and he demanded the key in violent +language, Shady remaining perfectly unmoved, though his face became +serious, and expressed as much aversion as he could feel. + +'It is better that your venom should fall upon the unworthy,' he +said, with a placidity that only exasperated the railer. How far the +altercation would have proceeded is doubtful, but, happily for Higgs, +it was suddenly closed by Dr. Cruden. + +'Mr. Bloodworth, I was told, when at a short distance from the house, +that you must have entered it about the time that I left; now I +particularly wish to have some conversation with you, so I turned my +horse. Higgs, it is private business,' he said, nodding to Shady, +who, with an air of much satisfaction, left the steward with one far +better able, as he felt, to cope with him than himself. + +The doctor looked at his watch. 'I have already spent some hours +here, Mr. Bloodworth, and am far beyond my usual time for dinner; but +I am so deeply interested in the affairs of your master, that I am +determined if possible to come to an understanding with you as +to--that--in fact, pray, Mr. Bloodworth, what is the meaning of all +this? I find Sir Valary suffering from severe nervous shocks, owing +entirely to your interviews with him. Though known to be one of the +richest men in the county, and possessing as liberal a heart as a +gentleman of his station ought to have, his household, I find, is +limited to bare necessities, and even the young lady his daughter has +no command of money. What does it all mean, Mr. Bloodworth? I must +tell you in plain English that the whole is laid at your door.' + +All this was said in the heat and rapidity of indignation, and it was +about the last kind of attack that the doctor had meditated making. +He had ridden back hastily, and had settled as he rode what would be +the wisest way of handling the steward, so as to get at the secret. +'I must take him quietly,' he said to himself, 'make no charges, +suspect nothing;' and he had even prepared the opening of his +harangue; but the sight of Bloodworth, his face inflamed with +passion, looking much as Marjory had described him on his last visit +to Sir Valary, had completely thrown him off his balance, and all his +wise resolutions went to the winds. The steward felt the advantage +of his position, and said somewhat sullenly, if Sir Valary had any +complaint to make of him, he would hear it from himself; he was +answerable to no one else; and with regard to the expenditure of the +household, he was not responsible for that; but Sir Valary was not +the only rich man in the world that chose rather to live like a poor +one; however, it was not his duty to interfere in such matters; he +supposed Sir Valary had a right to spend or save without accounting +to any one. + +'Well, well, well, well,' said the doctor, vexed with himself for his +rashness, 'I spoke hastily; but you must know, Bloodworth, that you +are the talk of the country, and that people consider you have +obtained such an influence over Sir Valary, that you can get him to +consent to anything, and, therefore, all the hard measures with +tenants, and the penurious way in which he lives, are ascribed to +you.' + +Bloodworth shrugged his shoulders. 'I never cared much for what +people said of me,' he answered. + +'Very good,' said the doctor; 'it's a fine thing to have a clear +conscience; but what I want to know is, why latterly your visits have +excited him so strangely?' + +After a short pause, Bloodworth, who kept his eyes fixed on the +ground all the time, scarcely raising them, said, 'Sir Valary is very +much altered lately; things that did not fret him fret him now; the +business that I am obliged to tell him makes him furious--that is no +fault of mine.' + +'But your own behaviour the last time?' said the doctor, in a voice +which showed that Bloodworth's words had not been without some effect. + +'Well, I was wrong, and I own it; I am a bad temper; I get ill-will +every way; there is not a tenant that wouldn't shoot me if he could; +the people at the house hate me worse than a dog; the squire has no +name bad enough for me--and all because I follow out Sir Valary's +directions; and then when I go to him to tell him what I've done, and +find him take everything the wrong way, it puts me off, and I forget +myself; I did last time, I know it, and I am sorry for it.' + +He said this with an air of so much candour, with something so like +injured innocence, that he quite won the doctor, who was a far better +adept in detecting the evil workings of the body than the secret +mischiefs of the mind. + +'But,' he said, considerably mollified, 'you have been in Sir +Valary's secrets for many years; can't you now help us to deliver his +mind from some very oppressive burden--we know not what--that lies on +it? Don't you know of anything which leads him to this strange way +of living, which it would be better for his friends also to know?' + +'Supposing I did, sir,' said Bloodworth, 'have I any right to betray +my master's confidence? But can you suppose, sir, that he would tell +me anything except about money matters, that he would keep from Miss +De la Mark, or from you?' + +What could the doctor say to so much reason? 'It is really very +mysterious,' he said, after a pause. 'Well, as I've undertaken Sir +Valary's medical condition, you cannot wonder that I am in every way +interested for his health; and I assure you I tremble to think of his +having such another attack as the last one you left him in.' + +'You see, sir,' said Bloodworth, very well satisfied with the victory +he had gained, 'I get sore at heart sometimes; but I promise you to +do my best to tell him as little to vex him as I can; and I hope I'll +learn to keep my own temper as I ought to do; and if you would be so +good as to make my peace with my young lady, sir, I should be glad;' +and so they parted, the doctor going towards the house with a mixed +feeling. + +'The man speaks fair enough; but then, here is this about Bet Eggs. +If I could have asked him about that--I almost wish I had; it was on +the tip of my tongue; however, it was as well to keep it in. I'll +have a little talk with Marjory, and calm her feelings towards him.' + +Bloodworth meantime stood watching him as he went. 'If I could +dispose of all my troubles as easily as this,' he thought, 'I +shouldn't have much to fear;' and a bitter and derisive smile for a +moment rested on his features. To obtain the key of the portrait +gallery was now his business. When he returned to the tower in +search of Shady, he found the librarian quietly resting in one of the +deep windows, arranging some plants for his young lady, while +awaiting the call of Sir Valary. + +'Higgs, I hope you've come to your senses.' + +Shady smiled. + +'Come, I've been hindered long enough; let me have that key.' + +Shady immediately produced it. 'You will return it to me, Mr. +Bloodworth, when you have done with it, as it is my office to lay all +the keys on Sir Valary's table at night.' + +'Higgs,' said the steward, as he clutched the key. 'I have been a +good friend to you and yours; are you joining with the rest against +me?' + +Shady, raising his eyebrows, looked at him without answering. + +'I say, are you going to turn against me?' he repeated. + +'Not that I am aware of,' said Shady. + +'You'll all know better some day.' + +'That I believe, in most things. For myself, I hope it sincerely; +but in this particular I do not quite see your meaning.' + +'Yes, you do; you don't take me in with your mock simplicity. You +know how I've helped you, and your grandmother before you.' + +'I am no mocker, Mr. Bloodworth,' said Shady with dignity; 'and I +deny that you have ever helped me; how you helped my grandmother +Elizabeth you best know.' + +'Ah! there it is, there's the gratitude I get,' said Bloodworth, who +felt that Shady was in no spirit to be tampered with. 'I wish I'd +never seen one of your name!' he growled, as he was leaving the +apartment. + +'Mr. Bloodworth,' said Shady, with a slight cough, 'you'll excuse my +calling you back, but I should be sorry to forget my duty, through +any natural rising of the heart against your very unmerited and +unexpected attack, and therefore, in order to save you unnecessary +trouble, may I ask whether you require that key for the same purposes +which induced you to demand it before?' + +'Of course I do,' said Bloodworth quickly. + +'Ah!' said Shady, 'I guessed it might be so; then permit me to say +that the gentleman whose name I could not catch is no longer there.' + +'Not there!' + +'No,' said Shady, again turning to his plants; 'having pledged myself +to preserve him in privacy, and concluding that you would again +demand the key, I informed him of my dilemma--which was that I must +fail in respect either to him or to you; upon which he departed.' + +'Which way?' muttered the steward, as soon as he could control his +voice to utter the words. + +'I didn't think he would wish to be followed,' said Shady coolly, +'and therefore did not observe him.' + +'Let him go!' said the steward, with an oath, throwing the key to +Shady; 'I'll remember you for this!' + +'And I'll do my best to forget you for this,' said Shady, rubbing his +leg, against which the key had struck with some force. 'In some way +or other, I fear he is a bad man. How pleasant to turn to these +innocent things!' tenderly looking at the flowers, 'after contention +with the rude passions of men--yes, and even of women,' he mentally +added, as Mrs. Gillies crossed his mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +'The fact is, Jobson,' said Mr. Brimble, 'there's a skeleton cupboard +in every man's house, and mine hasn't escaped that ugly piece of +furniture.' + +The squire was at his dinner-table, which the ladies had not long +left, and at which the stranger had that day been a guest. + +'I married to please myself, and not my father, and he took an +effectual way of showing me that he had that view of it, by +disinheriting me. It did not happen to be of any consequence, as far +as the money went, for Mrs. Brimble had more than we wanted. I was +obliged to part with my name, and take hers, before I could lay hold +of her property; but as I have no sons, that is a trifle. When a man +gets to grey hairs, he knows what a name is worth; though I believe +the girls would rather be poor De la Marks than rich Brimbles--at +least they fancy so now; but money is a vastly comfortable thing, +Jobson, and glory without it is very hungry work.' + +'You had another brother?' said the stranger, moving aside the wine +which the squire pushed towards him. + +'I had,' said the squire sorrowfully; 'did you ever hear of him?' + +'Yes; I knew one who was intimate with him abroad; he was strongly +attached to you.' + +'Attached!' said the squire, with an agitated voice; 'we had but one +heart. He ought now to be at Parker's Dew; instead of that--there,' +said the squire, emptying his glass; 'I won't say any more, and I +give myself great credit. Come,' he continued cheerfully, 'who was +it that knew Eustace?' + +'A stranger to you,' was the reply; 'but, Mr. Brimble, I knew your +brother myself.' + +'Hah!' said the squire starting; 'knew him, and you never told me.' + +'No,' said the stranger; 'the truth is, I loved him, and you reminded +me of him so much, when first I saw you, that I should have found it +difficult to speak of him.' + +'They always thought us alike,' said the squire gently, leaning his +head down to hide the tears that filled his eyes. 'Well'--stretching +out his hand--'we have now indeed a bond of union. Tell me all you +remember about him.' + +'All I remember of him?' said the stranger, with a smile, grasping +the proffered hand; 'I cannot do that to-night; it is now'-- + +A violent ringing and the sudden entrance of a servant put a stop to +the conversation, 'Dr. Cruden, sir, has just come from Parker's Dew, +and wishes to see you alone. I have shown him into your room.' + +'I am alone,' said the squire; 'tell him I've only a particular +friend with me, and the wine's on the table. He's one of the best +little fellows in the world, the doctor is,' he said, as the door +closed; 'but he's continually croaking at me about a reconciliation +with that fellow that turned poor Eustace out of his place to get +into it. Every time he starves himself into a low fever, he comes +here telling me he is going to die. I won't see him alone.' + +The servant re-entered, 'Dr. Cruden, sir, cannot see you in the +presence of anybody; his compliments, and he will not detain you.' +And, having received no answer, the man respectfully closed the door. + +'Don't you go to the ladies yet, Jobson,' said the squire, as he +reluctantly followed the servant. 'I shall soon dispose of the +doctor's confab, and send him into the drawing-room for some music, +and then you and I can finish our wine and our talk together.' + +'My dear sir,' said Dr. Cruden, as soon as he saw him, 'I've +something most important to communicate.' + +'I'm very sorry for it; people should never talk of important things +at this time of night--it's the way to get nightmare, and you ought +to know that. Come now, put it off till to-morrow; they are all in +fine order for music in the drawing-room; and there's your sister, +that you haven't seen for this fortnight, and your bed is ready +always. Come now,' laying his hand upon his shoulder, with a +heartiness that shook the doctor's frame, but not his purpose. + +'My good friend,' he said solemnly, 'I do assure you what I have to +say cannot be put off; your brother is ill, seriously ill.' + +'So he has been once a fortnight, regularly, for the last three +years, according to your account.' + +'I beg you to be serious,' said the doctor, shaking his head; 'I +question if he will recover this attack.' + +'Oh, you are a capital hand at questioning; but what do you want me +to do?' + +'I want you'--said the doctor slowly; 'but you will promise me to be +calm?' he said, laying his hand on the squire's arm, for he could not +reach his shoulder. + +'Now, don't be _impressive_,' said the squire, 'but out with it. +I'll forgive him, send him anything, do anything for him but go +there.' + +'_The_ very thing I wish you to do,' said the doctor. + +'Pshaw, nonsense! What! turn out at this time of night, to see a man +that you kill regularly with every full moon--not I. Now, doctor, +you know I've no illwill towards him, old screw as he is--and that is +not saying the worst of him. And as to poor little Marjory, I would +do for her as for my own child; but I haven't forgotten how you +served me before. I said then that while he lived I'd never darken +the doors of Parker's Dew.' + +'My dear squire,' said the doctor, 'I can assure you he was entirely +innocent of that; I believe Bloodworth was at the bottom of it.' + +'I wish he were at the bottom of the sea.' + +'We can't spare him just yet, to go so far,' said the doctor drily; +'but now let me tell you, we have made a little progress into an +important discovery. All Sir Valary's strange conduct, I think, may +be accounted for. There is a mystery which we are beginning to +unravel, and I hope with your help'-- + +'Come and have some wine,' said the squire. '_I_ unravel a mystery! +cut it up, that's my advice.' + +'Dear, dear,' said the doctor, much vexed, 'you will spoil everything +by your impetuosity. I tell you the truth; I think Sir Valary will +die unless his mind is relieved. Bloodworth must be discharged from +the stewardship, and we have no means of getting rid of him.' + +'Shoot him!' said the squire angrily. + +'Shoot him, and send him to the bottom of the sea! That would be a +severe dismissal.' + +'No more than he deserves,' muttered the squire. + +'Let us keep to common sense,' said the doctor. 'I feel sure that if +you would come to see him, Sir Valary would hold out to you the right +hand of brotherly fellowship. I do assure you he is a poor, +shattered creature; and if you would but befriend that poor girl now, +by helping him to get rid of Bloodworth, you would be thankful for +having done it all the days of your life. Come now,' he continued, +seeing that the squire was relenting, 'I have scarcely been at home +for these three days; I have come in my own chaise now, thinking to +save time, to take you back at once. Every hour is of consequence,' +he said quickly, in answer to the squire's unpromising look and shrug. + +'Come and have a glass of wine, and we'll talk about it, and I'll +introduce you to Jobson; he was an intimate friend of poor Eustace. +We were just talking about him when you came.' + +The doctor made a faint protestation that he wanted neither wine nor +Mr. Jobson; but when once Mr. Brimble had entered upon action it was +not a little that could stop him; so, with a sigh of regret, he +followed the squire to the dining-room. What occurred there shall +appear in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +'Mr. Cruden--Mr. Jobson, an intimate friend of poor Eu. Now, doctor, +draw to the fire--the nights are getting quite chilly;' and the +squire rang the bell. + +'Have the horses taken from the doctor's chaise, and let them be well +attended to.' + +'My dear sir, no, no!' urged the doctor, attempting to stop the order. + +'Why, man, you would never disgrace yourself by taking those poor +brutes back again to-night: the merciful man is kind to his beast.' + +'But I must go back,' cried the doctor. + +'Well, then, put the greys in when the doctor is ready. One of our +fellows can take yours back to-morrow--they shan't go away to-night; +I'll answer for it they have done enough for to-day. So, now, sit +down, and tell me your story; but first taste this claret--it's the +king of my cellar at present. Jobson says it's excellent; but I +can't make him drink any.' + +The doctor gave himself up in despair for the time being, feeling +that there was no possibility of stemming the tide; so he sat down in +silence, filled with chagrin, taking little notice of Mr. Jobson, +whose back was towards the light, obscuring his face. This +circumstance, the difference in his dress, and the absence of all +idea of seeing him there, together with the perturbation of his +spirits, prevented immediate recognition of the stranger on the part +of the doctor. + +'So Bloodworth has been at his tricks, has he? Well, I'm glad there +is an idea of ousting him; but you will never get it done. The best +thing that could be done for Valary would be to bankrupt him, and +send him to the Union; he would live better there, and so would all +his family, than they do in that grim old place: it has never been +the same since he had it.' + +'Come, come,' said the doctor, giving a glance at the stranger; 'it +is neither the time nor the place to take up old grievances.' + +'Not the time? Why, hasn't his gruel disagreed with him, and made +his conscience troublesome, and sent you to fetch me out to quiet it! +I say it's just the time. As to the place, it's a very comfortable +one, and the only thing to make such an uncomfortable subject +tolerable; so begin at once. Don't wink towards Jobson,' he added, +with a mischievous laugh; 'he may as well know what all the world +knows.' + +As to being angry with the squire, it was impossible under the +greatest provocation; he managed to keep all personal ill-feeling at +bay; he overcame every one with a certain frank benevolence that was +irresistible. + +The doctor and the stranger joined in the laugh, and for the first +time the former looked fairly at the latter; he was struck with doubt +and surprise. + +'You'll excuse me,' he said; 'has Mr. Jobson been long with you?' + +The stranger placed himself in the light and bowed, enjoying the +effect of his silent answer. + +'Well, this is marvellous,' said the doctor. 'I shall begin to +believe I have been in fairyland.' + +'Ha, ha, ha! a bright set of fairies you have been among,' said the +squire. 'Somebody said they had worn out all their clothes, and Val +had made them take to the old armour. Fancy fairies flying about in +old armour!' and again he laughed. But the doctor's face grew more +and more solemn--a fact which only increased the squire's merriment. + +'Sir,' said the doctor with earnest gravity, 'may I ask who you are?' + +'Now, that's your way of putting a question. I should have said, +"When I have asked, will you tell me?"' said the squire, not +recovered from his laugh. + +'Oh, really, squire, this is very ill-timed,' said the doctor; +'and--and I may say unfeeling. I beg your pardon, but really it is'-- + +'As to unfeeling,' said Mr. Brimble, now serious, 'I've told you I +don't believe a word about Valary's dying; he'll outlive us all--the +worst always stay till the last; he will starve his own party out of +the world, and then remain to plague us. You may shake your head; +you are not the only man that shakes his head when there is nothing +in it.' + +'I believe I must turn you out of the conference, and take to Mr. +Jobson,' said the doctor good-humouredly, for gravity, he saw, was of +no avail. 'I wish I could starve you into a sober mind.' + +'Sober nonsense!--drink some claret: I'm sure you must want some, for +there's nothing but sawdust in Valary's cellar, I'll answer for it.' + +'Well, now, listen to me,' said the doctor. 'I know I have given +some false alarms; but this is no false alarm; and I promise you, if +I am proved an ignoramus this time, to let things go as they will +hereafter without interfering. As to seeing poor Marjory wither away +without stirring a hand to help, or raising a voice for her, that man +is not a man who could do it.' + +'I honour you. Chivalry for ever! And poor little Madge, that I +haven't spoken to since she was a few inches long, shall have help, +and we'll all go to their rescue--say to-morrow morning.' + +'Ah! that's of no use. Sir Valary had a bad fit yesterday. If +another should come, his mind may not be clear, and he wishes for +reconciliation: he does, I am convinced.' + +'Ah! but you have a happy knack of being convinced of whatever you +happen to wish. Now, I daresay you were quite convinced that I +should return with you to-night.' + +'Till I saw you, I confess,' said the doctor somewhat ruefully; 'but +I might have known better.' + +'Of course you might; hasn't he had the same fits for years, and is +his intellect any the worse?' + +The stranger interposed. 'You'll excuse my speaking' (to Mr. +Brimble); 'but what if Dr. Cruden were to give a narrative of the +facts that brought him to-night? If you'd give a patient hearing, +you might judge whether the doctor's anxiety has magnified the +necessity for prompt measures.' + +'Capital plan,' said the squire. 'Go on, doctor; I'll listen. +Jobson, pass the wine: it'll be a new story to you, but an old one to +me; but mind, facts--no mysteries: they're altogether out of my way.' + +'Well, there is a mystery now at Parker's Dew,' said the doctor. + +'No doubt, and that is how Valary ever got there,' said the squire +quickly. + +'I believe you are right; and, as this gentleman is a friend of +yours, and was the friend of your brother, perhaps I may speak about +that very thing before him?' + +The stranger rose to leave the room. + +'Sit down,' said the squire, holding his arm. 'Go on, doctor.' + +'The facts, then, are these. A short time since, Bloodworth went to +the Dew and saw Sir Valary, and whatever passed between them had such +an effect on him that he was placed in a most critical situation. +During his rambling state of mind, when the violence of the attack +was passing, Marjory noticed that he repeatedly asked for Elizabeth +Higgs. You remember her, squire?' + +'Old Bet? of course,' said the squire, with a nod. + +'"She is dead, long ago dead, father," said Marjory, over and over +again; but he moaned out, "No, she is not; she will rob you of +everything," or something to that effect.' + +'He ought to be ashamed of himself,' said the squire; 'old Bet was as +honest as the day; but he fancies every one is like himself and +Bloodworth.' + +'Pray, don't!' expostulated the doctor. 'Well, when he was quite +well and calm, Marjory told him of this; he looked vexed, at first, +that he had disclosed so much, but afterwards confessed to her that +there were reasons why the life or death of that woman was a matter +of great importance to him, and that he had lately heard she was +living; and Marjory gathered that Bloodworth had told him so. The +first time I was alone with Sir Valary after Marjory had told me +this,--which was on the very day that she met with you, sir,--I +gently led the way to the subject, having first discovered, through +the medium of Mr. Jobson, who knew the old woman, that she was really +dead.' + +'What! knew Bet Eggs?' said the squire, 'Why, Jobson, I shall get +quite afraid of you, and begin to talk about fairies myself.' + +'It was not very remarkable, when you know how the acquaintance was +brought about,' said the stranger, smiling. + +'Go on, doctor,' said the squire, who was beginning to get interested. + +'Well, as I said, I led to the subject indirectly--gently.' + +'Leave you alone for finessing,' said the squire; 'now, I should have +gone straight at him at once.' + +'And missed your aim, squire--I knew better. Very gently I got him +to talk of old times, and then I brought the woman Higgs upon the +carpet, and mentioned, just incidentally, that I had met with a +person who had actually seen her buried--not assuming, you understand +me, that Sir Valary had any interest in her death, nor even hinting +at such a thing.' + +'Well,' said the squire, 'go on.' + +'Well, he didn't speak at first; he became much agitated, which I +pretended not to notice; and after I had changed the subject, and he +had recovered, he said, "Are you _sure_ of that woman's death? I +heard lately that she was living." I told him I believed there was +no doubt of it, but if he had any interest in her, as an old servant, +I would get indubitable proof for him. He said quickly, "I wish you +could." Now this gentleman, my informant, has been the object of my +search ever since, but I could get no clue to him. I was afraid of +making direct inquiry, lest I should excite suspicion in Bloodworth, +who has been very uneasy and changed in his manner lately. Yesterday +morning he went to the Dew, and had a long interview with Sir Valary, +the result of which was the severest attack I ever saw him in. I +really can't see what Bloodworth has to do with it; the man is +reasonable enough to speak to; but Sir Valary's state last night, and +the whole of to-day, plainly indicates that there _must_ be +interference--that Sir Valary must be treated as incapable of +conducting his own affairs, and Bloodworth made accountable to +others, or else altogether ejected.' + +'Now, do you see,' said the squire, when the doctor had finished, 'I +have had this story, almost word for word, except Bet Eggs, over and +over again; Valary quarrels with Bloodworth, gets into a rage, has a +fit, and frightens them all. Well, that is as far as the play has +gone yet. Now comes the second part. Bloodworth comes, begs pardon, +is forgiven, and they are thicker than ever. I tell you, doctor, I +would as soon interfere between a man and his wife as between those +two.' + +'You are hard to convince,' said the doctor. 'Mr. Jobson, you seem +an authority with Mr. Brimble. I wish you would say a word; at any +rate, I wish you would give me some evidence that Sir Valary will +believe, of the death of that woman.' + +The stranger fixed his eyes for a moment on the fire, then turning to +the squire said, 'The death of that woman is of importance--at least, +so Sir Valary thinks. Bloodworth is a desperate villain, as I have +good reason to know.' + +'You!' said the squire, almost breathless. + +'Yes, I have _known_ him for many years, though I never saw him till +lately.' + +'Well,' said the squire, throwing back his head and putting his hands +in his pockets, 'I give you up.' + +'Don't do that; you have shown such generosity in taking me almost +entirely on my own testimony, that you must not stumble at trifles.' + +'You are an odd fellow,' said the squire, looking at him; 'but I +believe in you.' + +'Do you know this?' asked the stranger, taking a miniature from his +pocket. + +'Know it!' said the squire; 'why, it's Eu; I remember the case. It +was done before he was married.' + +A knock at the door, and the entrance of a servant with a note, +almost made the squire angry. 'What does this mean?' he said, +looking at the address. + +'What! ---- Vandercroft, Esquire! What did you bring it here for?' + +The servant said it was for the gentleman who lodged at Biddy Sparks'. + +[Illustration: 'THIS IS FROM SHADY EGGS. I SHALL READ IT ALOUD.'] + +Mr. Brimble looked inquiringly at the stranger, who immediately took +the note. 'Leave it with me,' he said to the servant. 'This,' he +continued, 'is from Shady Eggs. I shall read it aloud.' + +'"RESPECTED SIR,--I trust you will excuse the incorrectness of +putting a dash before your name, also any mistake I may have made in +spelling it, should it be erroneously written. I have to inform you +that Mr. Bloodworth, the steward to Sir Valary de la Mark, has +pertinaciously endeavoured to discover your address, which I have, to +the best of my poor ability, kept from him. If you desire to avoid +an interview with him, as I divined was the case from your manner in +the portrait gallery, I warn you that he now knows of your abode; +that is, if it continues to be in the apartments at Mrs. Sparks', +which you bespoke when I had the honour of being with you in the +public vehicle. I do not love to interfere in other men's matters; +and truly, with no malice to Mr. Bloodworth, but with respectful +consideration for you, I write these few lines, + + "And am, your servant to command, + "SHADRACH HIGGS. + +'"I send this by a trusty messenger, who will return it to me if you +are not to be found."' + + +'Higgs all over,' said Dr. Cruden. + +'Stop,' said the squire; 'let us begin at the beginning. What makes +him call you Vandercroft?' + +'It is not the first name,' said the stranger, 'that has been +gratuitously assigned to me, over and above that with which my +parents honoured me.' + +'Then your name is not Vandercroft?' said Dr. Cruden. + +'No.' + +'Why, then, assume it?' + +'I did not; Bloodworth bestowed it on me through a natural +misconstruction of his, and I did not think it worth while to +undeceive him.' + +'Capital!' said the squire. 'I'll wager anything that you are not +Jobson.' + +The stranger smiled. + +'Are you?' asked the squire eagerly. + +'According to you and Biddy Sparks I am.' + +'According to me! why, you told me it was so.' + +'On the contrary, it was you told me.' + +'Why,' said the squire, starting from his seat, 'don't you remember +that morning?'-- + +'Perfectly,' interrupted the stranger,--'when you addressed me as Mr. +Jobson.' + +'Well, you never contradicted me.' + +'A man hasn't lived to grey hairs,' said the stranger, with a smile, +pointing to the changing colour of his own, 'without knowing the +worth of a name, as you observed just now; and as you were satisfied +with Jobson, it quite contented me.' + +'But how did Biddy get hold of it?' + +'Like many others, Biddy is satisfied with slight evidence; she saw +"Matthew Jobson" on the brass plate of a portmanteau which by an +accident I had exchanged for my own in travelling, and she settled +the matter at once without question.' + +Mr. Brimble, holding the miniature in his hand, looked alternately at +it and the stranger, while Dr. Cruden asked, 'Will you favour us with +your true name?' + +The stranger looked at the squire and replied, 'I think my uncle +knows it--Eustace De la Mark.' + +'I _did_ know it,' said the squire, almost breathless; 'I _did_ know +it--I was sure of it; even while I called him Jobson I felt drawn to +him. My dear boy, what right have you with grey hairs?' he said, +affectionately grasping both his hands; 'and why have you served us +in this way?' + +'I have a very long story to tell,' said Eustace--no longer 'the +stranger'--after the first agitation had passed; 'but it is of the +utmost importance, remember, that I should not be known to any but +yourselves for the present. My intention was to remain altogether +concealed for some time yet; but I could not withstand it,' he said, +again grasping his uncle's hand. + +'You'll let me tell my wife? Up to this moment she believes you an +impostor, and me a dupe. + +'Let her think so still; the longer she is deceived the more complete +the triumph will be.' + +'Well, I may tell Char, at all events. How delighted she will be! +she has never doubted you a minute. + +A smile of satisfaction brightened the face of Eustace. + +'No;' he said; 'let me have the pleasure of telling her myself, at +some future time.' + +'Pooh!' said the squire, who hated secrets; 'I almost wish I didn't +know it; I must tell somebody.' + +'When you have heard what I have to tell you, you will see the +importance of secrecy; and, to prevent you from indiscretion, I +think, with Dr. Cruden, if Sir Valary is indeed so very ill, we had +better all three go to Parker's Dew; and on our journey you shall +have a full account of all my history. You know Sir Valary believes +me to be dead?' + +'Not a bit of it,' said the squire; 'and I never believed it.' + +'I give you my honour he does,' said Dr. Cruden. + +'Have it your own way; but, Eu, is it necessary to go to-night? why +not start the first thing in the morning? You know they have no +beds, no supper; I doubt if they have even a rushlight.' + +'It is growing late,' said Dr. Cruden; 'if we had gone when I first +came'-- + +'I should not have found my nephew,' said the squire, looking with +beaming affection on Eustace. + +'You anticipate me, squire, but not correctly; I meant we should have +had time to go without alarming them at so unseasonable an hour as we +should now arrive at.' + +'All right; then you think it is better to go to-morrow morning?' + +'I am sorry for the delay.' + +'Its importance,' said Eustace, 'depends on Sir Valary's state. Is +he expecting my uncle?' + +'Oh no; and he has nothing to fear from Bloodworth to-night. I +trust, indeed, he will be kept calm till morning; and on the whole, +perhaps'-- + +'Beaten, fairly beaten,' said the squire. 'Now that is settled; so +draw close, and, Eustace, begin.' + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +'Need I remind you,' began Eustace, 'of my father's high, indomitable +spirit? + +'No, no,' said the squire hastily; 'he was the finest'-- + +'Now, squire,' said Dr. Cruden, laying his hand gently on his knee, +'let us agree, before Mr. De la Mark begins, that there shall be no +interruptions, or we shall not finish to-night.' + +'Go on,' said the squire. + +'He could never brook the stern temper of my grandfather, and +constant contention created serious disaffection between them.' + +'That was all through Bloodworth,' said the squire; 'he was at the +bottom of it all; he is a very'-- + +'Now, do hush,' said the doctor in a deprecating tone. + +'Go on, Eu,' said the squire impatiently. + +'He married--that you know--and I was born before he was twenty-one.' + +'Yep, you must be pretty near thirty by this time.' + +'I am thirty-five.' + +'Why, that makes me fifty-three. How time flies! Well, lad!' + +'You are aware that the discovery of his marriage was the cause of +the final rupture.' + +'Ah! Eu was wrong there; I was but a boy then, and did not +understand things, and took his part through thick and thin; but it +was a very foolish thing to fly in the old man's face that way.' + +'Squire, squire,' said the doctor, 'what right have you to talk?' + +'Well, that's true; but I thought he would get over mine, and Mary's +property made it of little consequence, as far as money went.' + +Eustace took the miniature from his uncle, and, opening the case on +the other side, showed the portrait of a lady. 'That was my mother,' +he said quietly. + +'Ay, to the life; yes, she was a lovely creature, and as good as she +was beautiful. Eu was perfectly right to marry her; but then he +should have waited a little.' + +'Bloodworth hurried him into it,' said Eustace, 'by telling him, in +confidence, of another match which Sir Eustace had determined to +effect between him and some lady distantly connected with his family.' + +'Now, Eu,' said the squire, rising in his chair, 'if you expect me to +keep my temper, don't mention that--pshaw! nonsense!' pushing away +the doctor's hand--'that fellow's name more than you can help.' + +'No. My father left his birthplace with a parent's curse ringing in +his ears.' + +'Shocking, shocking!' said the squire. + +'You know nay mother,' continued Eustace, 'scarcely outlived my +birth.' + +'Poor Eu! Poor girl!' sighed the squire. + +'At that time my father, as he afterwards told me, broken down with +grief, wrote to Sir Eustace, entreating a reconciliation and a +revocation of his curse.' + +'I'll answer for it, my father never had that letter. I know he was +hard, but he could not have stood that.' + +'An answer came to it, written by Bloodworth, who complained bitterly +of being made the medium of so painful a message. It was to the +effect that Sir Eustace would pardon and receive him upon condition +of his marrying again immediately, according to his choice; and it +was couched in such arbitrary terms, so devoid of all natural +feeling, so insulting to my mother's memory, and casting such +unworthy reflections on my father's motive for making the advance, +that he spurned the thought of replying to it. In that letter, too, +Bloodworth confirmed what he had often insinuated in his former +letters--that his brothers had helped to embitter the mind of Sir +Eustace against him.' + +'Oh, my dear sir,' said the doctor, laying his hand on Mr. Brimble, +'what is the use of chafing so? Pray, pray be pacified!' + +The squire leant back in his chair in silence. + +'I must tell you, my dear uncle, that my father did not believe it of +you,--you were then about seventeen or eighteen,--and he could not +credit that selfish interest could so have altered your heart, full +of affection as he had left it, in the very bloom of youth. But, you +excepted, he determined to forget all England and devote himself to +me. My mother's slender fortune, and an estate to which he became +entitled when of age'-- + +'Yes, Itterdale,' interrupted the squire. + +'Left him by old Jasper Honeyman, some fiftieth cousin of my +mother's--this enabled him to live at ease, though not in affluence. +He converted the estate into money, and, without any settled home, +wandered from country to country as inclination led him.' + +'Eu, I could never understand why he did not write to me,' cried the +squire, 'especially as we were in the same box; he married for love a +woman of high family; I, for something of the sort, a woman of no +particular "family,"'--involuntarily glancing round at the +door,--'and glorious fortune, so we both came under the ban; he knew +it, and I am puzzled to this day to know why he remained silent.' + +'I am afraid of telling you the cause,' said Eustace. + +'Go on,' said the squire, clenching his fist, and flushing with +indignation. + +'Yes; he was wholly deceived by that man, who wrote, adjuring him to +be patient, entreating him to communicate all his proceedings to him, +mourning over the conduct of his unnatural relatives, and promising'-- + +'Now don't, pray don't!' said the squire; 'if you love me, don't!' + +'At last came the announcement of the death of Sir Eustace, and of +his will, by which you and my father were disinherited, and Parker's +Dew, with all other property, was left to Sir Valary.' + +'Eu,' said the squire, starting up, 'I never believed in that will. +I saw my father not long before his death; he entirely forgave me, +and told me it lay sore on his heart that he could not see Eu before +he closed his eyes. I gathered from what he said--but he was too ill +to talk much--that he had tried to get at him for years, but without +success. That will was a forgery!' continued the squire, striking +the table with a vehemence that made the glasses dance. + +'My father did not think so. We were in Rome when we received the +news, and he determined on returning to England, that he might see +you and find the truth of what he had heard. I was then eighteen, +and rejoiced in the prospect of seeing my own country--the only one +in Europe that I had not visited; but after a three days' illness my +father fell a victim to malaria, and I was so ill as to be reported +dead.' + +'Of course,' said the squire; 'everybody said you were.' + +'I think I should have justified the report, if it had not been for +an excellent Protestant clergyman, who felt deeply for me, having +just buried his wife in the same disease; he became a father to me, +though I had no other claim upon his sympathy than needing it.' + +'Where is he now?' asked the squire eagerly. + +Eustace was silent. + +'Ha!' said the squire; 'go on.' + +'Like me, he was, as far as human ties go, alone in the world, and +determined to spend the remainder of his life as a missionary in the +East. I resolved to accompany him; for when we paid our last visit +to the little Protestant burial-place, which contained the two who +had been all to us on earth, it seemed as if nature and heaven had +marked us out for companions. Eight years we wandered together +through the East, he by his life and preaching teaching Christianity, +I learning it. I cannot pretend to enter now into the labours and +pleasures of those eight years. His health broke down. He died at +Beirut, on our return westward, and again I was alone. Now my heart +yearned for England. Was I to wander a stranger through life with +mere chance companions? I embarked on board a vessel bound for +Alexandria, intending to shape my course finally to my own country; +but a doctor from Frankfort, our fellow-traveller through part of +Syria, who had shown great kindness to my friend in his illness, and +had skilfully soothed his sufferings, being my fellow-passenger now, +won so upon my regard, which was before his, from gratitude, that I +was induced to change my purpose, and try the Western world, where he +designed to settle. Seven long years I spent in the two Americas, +till, weary of the wide, wide world, I once more determined on +seeking a home in the hearts of some who, strange to me, yet seemed +to beckon me from the distance. It was you, uncle.' + +'Ay, my lad; if I had known your whereabouts, I should have done more +than beckon, I can tell you.' + +'It happened, singularly enough, that the Frankfort doctor and I +became again passengers in the same vessel. He had married an +American lady, and was taking her home to Fatherland, preferring the +small gains he expected to get in Dusseldorf, where he had a +connection, to any amount of money away from it.' + +'In the right of it!' said the squire. 'I would rather live on bread +and cheese in England than have all the treasures of the Great Mogul +in any other country.' + +'You never did live on bread and cheese, squire,' said the doctor, +with a smirk. + +'Again his importunity overcame me,' continued Eustace, 'and for a +time I deferred coming to England, and went instead with him to a +country, many scenes in which were familiar to me, all my early +education having been in Germany. Fascinated with old associations, +I wandered about from place to place, as memory led me, feeling a +happier nearness to my father there than I did when standing beside +his grave. One day the fall of an old house in Dusseldorf, to which +I had for a short time returned, induced me, with many passers-by, to +assist in examining the ruins, lest any unfortunates should have been +buried under them. Here I met with an accident, and was too much +injured to speak. As a stranger, I was carried to the nearest hotel, +I may call it. As soon as I could give an account of myself, my +friend the doctor was sent for, and by his advice I was not moved to +his house, but remained there under his care. Hearing that a pious +Lutheran minister was visiting a sick woman in the same house, I +requested to see him. In the course of conversation he told me he +wished he could understand and speak English well, for the poor woman +he was visiting, he said, was much restrained by feeling him to be +foreign, and his words had less weight with her than they thought +they otherwise would. "She is much troubled in mind," he said, "and +I would thankfully give her relief." + +'I immediately offered, as soon as I should be sufficiently +recovered, to visit her for him; and I did so. I saw she had not +very long to live, and had a burdened conscience; but I little +suspected what she was about to confide to me. She had been nurse in +the family of Sir Valary, having previously lived for many years with +Sir Eustace. She revealed to me the whole of Bloodworth's villainy, +in which she was deeply implicated, and gave me all the history of +his contrivance to keep her away--of what she had suffered in +banishment and in leaving Lady De la Mark and her infant--in fact, +she left nothing untold, her great anxiety being to know if there +were any pardon for sin like hers. She seemed reckless of exposure, +and declared that if she lived she would willingly receive any +punishment, provided she might have a hope of mercy hereafter. Her +gratitude, when I disclosed to her who I was, was beyond bounds. She +said she thought that having been permitted to restore me to my +rights in so strange a manner was almost like a merciful assurance +that there was pardon for her.' + +[Illustration: OLD BET REVEALS THE WHOLE OF BLOODWORTH'S VILLAINY.] + +'Poor old Bet!' said the squire; 'I don't know what she did, but I'll +answer for it, Bloodworth put her up to it.' + +'And what was it?' said the doctor, breathless with interest. + +'That I cannot divulge just now, and it is equally necessary that +Bloodworth knows nothing of me until I convict him.' + +'Let us go to-night,' said the squire. + +'Too late, too late now!' said the doctor, shaking his head. 'Will +you let me ask Mr. De la Mark'-- + +'He is Sir Eustace,' exclaimed the squire, 'and Valary has no right +at Parker's Dew, and I always said so!' + +'It is quite true, uncle; but at present I prefer to waive the +honour; his infirmity, perhaps nearness to death, and poor Marjory's +forlorn condition, have kept me back from taking any steps for the +recovery of my rights. Of course I have taken legal means; but they +are yet in abeyance. My intention in coming to England was to see +those who would now be forced to acknowledge me as kin, without +apprising them of the obligation.' + +'Then the will is an absolute forgery?' said the doctor. + +'An absolute forgery,' was the reply. + +'And Sir Valary knows it?' + +'He has known it for many years; but he did not at the time of taking +possession.' + +'Well, I'm glad of that, for the honour of the family,' said the +squire huskily. + +'And for his conscience' sake,' said the doctor. + +'Well, it makes it a shade lighter. Pray, does Bloodworth know you +are living?' + +'He is uncertain about it; he has had glimpses of me now and then, +but has not been able to follow me up.' + +'And Valary--does he know it?' + +'He also is uncertain. Bloodworth holds me over him, as nurses +frighten children with spectres; and no doubt the attacks from which +he has lately suffered have been in some way connected with the +failure of their plans to ascertain the fact.' + +'How came Bloodworth to call you Mr.--what was it?' asked the doctor. + +'I purposely obtained a draft for him from a person in Dusseldorf +with whom he has invested some of his ill-gotten gains. I was able +to do this through the information given me by the woman Higgs. +Vandercroft was the name of the person to whom the draft had been +committed, and, not knowing that I was his substitute, he naturally +gave the name to me. He had never received communications of the +kind in so careless and open a manner, and became alarmed, I saw at +once.' + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +'My dear,' said Mr. Brimble, 'our being so late is entirely Mr. +Jobson's fault. He has been telling us such astonishing things that +all we have heard before from him has vanished into what Char calls, +"blue distance." Eh, Char?' he continued, putting his arm fondly +round her; 'wouldn't you have enjoyed being in my waistcoat pocket? +Miss Cruden,' he added, addressing that lady, 'your brother has been +almost as bad as Jobson, and I shall turn him over to you for +correction.' + +Mrs. Brimble looked stately, so far as her peevishness would allow +her; Mora was half asleep over some embroidery--Miss Cruden, rather +more than half, and hardly awoke to reply. + +'Valary is very ill,' said the squire, advancing to his wife, 'and we +are going in a body to see him to-morrow morning, first thing.' + +'What do you mean by going in a body?' + +'Why, I mean Eu and I and the doctor.' + +'I?' exclaimed Mrs. Brimble. + +'You--no,' said the squire, recollecting himself, 'Jobson I meant.' + +'A strange mistake!' said the lady superciliously. 'You said, "you +and I and the doctor."' + +'Now, Mary,' said the squire in a whisper, 'just look at _him_, as he +is standing between the two girls; isn't he a fine, handsome fellow? +did you ever see any one like him?' + +'Dear me, Mr. Brimble! I never saw any one like him but Saunders, +our last footman, and he had just the same kind of nose. I see +nothing particular in him; and I think it very forward of him to talk +to the girls when there is Miss Cruden by.' + +The squire laughed; he was afraid of going further; but Mrs. Brimble +had not finished. 'Indeed, Mr. Brimble, your indiscretion is beyond +everything. Here is a perfect stranger, who, because he happens to +be agreeable to you, and is able to talk, is made quite at home among +us, and we are expected to treat him like a friend. If you have no +regard for your daughters, I have; it surprises me, after all the +cautions I have given you, and the number of things I have saved you +from, that you will not learn prudence.' + +'My dear, you have enough for us all. It's seldom that more than a +fair share of wisdom falls to the lot of any family, and you have +monopolized all that was intended for the Brimbles. But tell me,' he +said, trying to be grave, though the many mischievous twinkles of his +eye ought to have betrayed him to so keen a judge of appearances as +Mrs. Brimble considered herself to be,--'tell me, Mary, do you really +look on Jobson as an impostor?' + +'Mr. Brimble,' returned the lady, with an impressive shake of the +head, 'I say nothing, but as to _proof_ of the contrary, why, with +_me_ there is _none_, and there is a something about him that is very +much Like an adventurer. I may be wrong--I would not be +uncharitable; but'-- + +'Then you wouldn't advise me to let him visit here? in short, you +would have me cut him?' + +'All I desire is caution, Mr. Brimble. He has a manner I do not +admire, and I think I may be allowed to be a judge of such things.' + +'Well, I will be careful. He has rather a designing look, now I come +to examine him,' said the squire, putting up his eyeglass; 'and he +seems to me to be just now taking the bearings of Bessie Cruden's +cap. I think I must go and put her on scent of danger.' + +'Ah! you will be surprised one day, Mr. Brimble, and then you will +remember my words, as you have often done before.' + +'Well, Mary, if I'm wrong this time, you shall be right without +question for ever, and administer lynch law to your heart's delight; +but if _I_ should be right, what then? It's just possible, though, +he may turn out an adventurous "footman"--some spirited Saunders, as +you fancy.' + +'Charity!' said the lady impatiently, as she saw the object of her +suspicion approaching her daughter. 'Mr. Brimble, pray go and +entertain your guest, and send Charity to me--I wish to speak to her.' + +The squire obeyed, and so did Charity, very reluctantly. Florence, +having heard from Dr. Cruden of the intended expedition to Parker's +Dew, assailed him with innumerable questions as to what was the +matter--what would happen if Sir Valary died, where Marjory would go, +etc.; and there was much wonderment among all the ladies as to the +merits of the case, when they separated for the night. + +* * * * * + +In a room, dimly lighted by the early sun, streaming through narrow +windows in a heavy wall, sat the sick man, with Marjory at his side. + +'It is growing into day, Marjory,' he said in a feeble voice, raising +himself from his half-recumbent posture. + +Marjory, tenderly kissing his forehead, prepared the draught which +Dr. Cruden had left for her father to take on his awaking. + +Poor Marjory! all night she had been watching; every sound had made +her heart beat. It might be Dr. Cruden; he promised to +return--promised to bring her uncle; but the night had worn away; her +father, sleeping and waking, had on the whole been more restful, more +at ease, than she could have hoped. 'Something has kept him away,' +she thought; but fatigue and anxiety, added to disappointment, had +for the time quelled much of her dauntless spirit. + +'Yours has been a dreary life, my child,' said the old man--old, not +by years, but through the ravages of an embittered spirit; 'your +youth buried in this gloomy place--no companionship'-- + +'No companionship!' exclaimed Marjory, nearly letting the medicine +fall in her surprise. + +More groaning out his feelings than addressing her, the old man +continued, 'I have many sins on my head--my greatest--my love for +you--drove me to-- Alas! what a delusion! I see it now; he was +right. I have been cruelly unjust--I have crushed your youth.' + +'Who is right? who dares to say so? Cruel! are you not the very life +of my heart, my father--my own, own father?' cried Marjory, closely +embracing him. + +'It has been delusion--strange delusion--fears for your future have +driven me hither and thither. Oh, conscience! oh, the wrongs that I +have done! Marjory, I implore you, beware of sin; poverty cannot +make a hell, sin can. If I had resisted the tempter, I should not +have been thus--blighted, cursed!' + +Never had Marjory heard words like these from her father's lips. The +suspicions she had allowed herself in were faint, compared with these +vague confessions. Lost in pain and wonder, she mingled her tears +with his, entreating him to be comforted, and to remember how +precious to her was his love, how burdensome life would be without +it. After a short pause, she said in a gentle tone, 'Father, dear +father, have you any secret trouble on your mind? will you hide it +from me--from Marjory?' + +Sir Valary was long silent; while Marjory fondly smoothed the long +white locks that strayed upon his shoulder. 'Perhaps, father, while +the world counts you rich, you are poor, or you fear to be so, for my +sake.' + +Sir Valary laid his hand upon her head as she knelt by his side, but +made no reply. + +'I hear footsteps,' said Marjory, opening the door. + +'Mistress Gillies, madam, entreats you so far to consider your health +as to retire for a short time for refreshment, allowing me to take +your place. I should not have left it till now to proffer my +unworthy services, but I feared disturbing either your or my honoured +master's sleep. I have been some time assuring myself that I heard +your voices.' + +Poor Shady had the whole of that night made the passage his chamber, +sitting bolt upright with his back near his master's door, fearing +that Marjory might require help before it could be rendered, unless +he were a wakeful watcher. + +Marjory saw plainly enough that something more than the request he +had made had brought him, and immediately guessed that the doctor and +her uncle had arrived. + +'Where?' she said quietly, as she passed from the room, Sir Valary +having entreated her to obey the summons of Mrs. Gillies. + +'In the hall below,' replied Shady in the same tone. + +Much exhausted, she gathered up her spirits, and, descending the +stairs, had her hand upon the door, when Mrs. Gillies, who was +awaiting her, lifted it off hastily. 'Are they not there?' said +Marjory in surprise. + +Instead of answering, the housekeeper laid her finger on her lips, +and, taking Marjory's hand, led her through the passage that led to +the kitchen. She followed unresistingly, too weary almost for +curiosity. When safe within her own precincts, the housekeeper said, +'My dear young lady, Bloodworth is in the hall; he has got Shady's +books and many papers, and wants to see Sir Valary as soon as he can; +for he says he has a long journey before him, and has nothing but +pleasant news, and that everything is going well, and Sir Valary will +not be fretted, and many more fine speeches; so I thought it was +better to leave him quiet, for I knew Dr. Cruden would be as good as +his word, and be here soon, and then his chance of doing mischief +would be over. I have turned the key outside the door, without his +knowing it.' + +Mrs. Gillies was so pleased with her own adroitness that she scarcely +noticed the colourless lips and sunken eyes of Marjory at first. +'Ah!' cried she; 'here am I chattering, and you too ill to listen.' + +Warmth, restoratives, and an hour's rest brought back some colour, +some sign of life, some spirit in the eye of Marjory, and the first +return of power took her again to the side of her father. His head, +a little on one side, rested on the back of his chair, and his eyes +were closed as though in sleep. Shady had arranged his pillow, +adjusted the room, and, with all the ingenuity of affection, tried to +give an air of cheerfulness and comfort to the apartment. With his +usual deferential bow he left the room as she entered it, determined, +whatever might come, that if the doctor did not appear till midnight, +Bloodworth should not have access without him to Sir Valary. Marjory +sat down silently in her old place at her father's feet, leaning her +head upon his knee, having told Shady not to allow them to be +disturbed until Dr. Cruden's arrival. 'It cannot be long,' she said, +'before he comes.' + +A gentle sigh escaped the sleeper. 'He is awaking,' said Marjory, +kissing the hand that lay close beside her cheek; but sleep seemed to +return again, no other sound followed; and, resting her face against +him, while she clasped the hand in her own, overcome with weariness +she slept. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +'Take the chaise down to the inn,' said the squire. + +'That is advisable,' said Dr. Cruden. 'I never bring a servant here.' + +'I haven't seen poor Shady for a long time,' said the squire. 'He's +a good fellow, but has lived so long alone that strange faces would +scare him; and as to horses, I would not trust one in such a +miserable wilderness of starvation for the world. How are we to get +in? In my time we went in and out at the front door like other +folks; the last time I came, you took me through the little door in +the tower.' + +'I think it would be more prudent if we entered the kitchen way--Sir +Valary is less likely to hear us;' for the doctor knew perfectly well +that when the squire meant to be exceedingly quiet he carried a +considerable amount of bustle, which seemed as necessary to him as +his breath. + +'All right; we might have a worse place than the kitchen at +breakfast-time, and I should think we must all of us be pretty nearly +ready for a second. What a miserable place it is!' he continued, as +they entered the courtyard; 'doesn't it look as if it had had the +nightmare for the last fifty years? Well, stone walls are not worth +crying about; but I can't say this is a very promising introduction +to the home of your ancestors, Eu.' + +Mrs. Gillies, who had seen their advance, met them, making her lowest +curtsey to the squire, for whom, in common with all, she entertained +a hearty regard. + +'What! you haven't forgotten me then!' he said good-humouredly. + +'Forgotten you, sir!' was the reply. A few questions put them in +possession of all they wanted to know concerning Sir Valary, and of +more than they expected in respect of Bloodworth's opportune visit. + +'Capital! we can settle the whole affair at once; I like finishing +up. Now, how shall we proceed?' + +'My advice is that I go in to Sir Valary directly he awakes, and +prepare him for an interview with you. By degrees we must unfold the +cause of our visit as he is able to bear it, and'-- + +'And then Eu is to come in. I see.' Shady, who had been listening +at Sir Valary's door for sounds within and sounds without, heard the +squire's voice, and, gently descending, made his appearance among +them. Bloodshot eyes from a sleepless night had not increased the +vivacity of his countenance. + +'Shady,' said the squire, shaking him kindly by the hand, 'why, what +have they been doing to you? I hope your master does not look as bad +as you do.' + +'He is tranquilly sleeping,' said Shady, moved to tears by the +squire's kindness. 'I have but now left his door, and there is not +the sound of a breath within; but Miss De la Mark requested that when +Dr. Cruden arrived he might be taken to the chamber.' + +'Good,' said the squire; 'I am glad we are going to proceed to +action. Go, doctor; tell him to cheer up, and he'll soon come right +again.' + +The doctor was halfway up-stairs before the squire's parting charge +was over. Mr. Brimble and his nephew were engaged in such +conversation as their circumstances naturally suggested, questioning +Shady on points on which he could perchance throw light. The doctor +returned, looking exceedingly pale. + +'What! back already!' said the squire. + +'My dear friend,' he replied, unable to restrain his tears, 'it is +all over; such a scene may I never witness again!' + +Exclamations of shocked surprise burst from Sir Eustace and his +uncle, while Shady stood transfixed and seemed ready to faint. + +'Come,' said the doctor; and he returned, leading the way to the +chamber of death. + +Leaning in his chair, his attitude unchanged, his eyes still closed, +rested all that remained of Sir Valary De la Mark, while Marjory, +with the hand still clasped in hers, slept that heavy sleep which +nature sometimes claims to repair extreme exhaustion. + +'This is too much!' said the squire; 'how shall we get her away?' + +'Leave me, leave me,' replied the doctor. 'I will do it.' + +Willingly Mr. Brimble relinquished to him the task, and the doctor, +gently releasing the cold hand from Marjory's grasp, raised her from +her father's side. + +'My dear child,' he said tenderly, 'you must not remain here now. +Your uncle is come, and we need to be alone with--in this room; and +you shall lie down, my dear--Mrs. Gillies--rest on me--this way;' and +he attempted to lead her from the room, but Marjory was now awake, +and resisted the movement at first. 'Need I leave him?' she +whispered. 'I have slept, I am quite strong now, and he must be +better, for he has slept so long.' + +Importunity at last prevailed. She consented to go for a while. +'But let me see him first,' she said; just one look. He was so calm, +so peaceful, when he first sank into sleep. How could I sleep when I +ought to have been watching him?' + +Finding it vain to resist, the doctor yielded, and she advanced. + +Not a cry--not a word--but one long settled look of horror and +despair. She stood motionless before the body. + +* * * * * + +'Leave me to deal with him,' said Eustace. 'But you,' turning to the +doctor, 'had better be with me. We will spare you, my dear uncle; +there is no necessity to arouse your feelings by bringing you in +contact with him.' + +'Good!' said the squire, who had been leaning silently on the +window-frame, looking out on the neglected garden, and living over +again the scenes of his youth. There had never existed any brotherly +affection between him and Sir Valary; entire contrariety of +character, and the treatment of Eustace, which the squire had always +attributed to him, had early separated them, and the influence of +Bloodworth had succeeded in keeping them apart, even to the end. It +was not grief for the dead, therefore, that gave the saddened +expression to his fine manly countenance. There were, no doubt, +regrets, but they were for Eustace, whom he had dearly loved. But +there were uneasy thoughts--unwelcome reminders--that he alone +remained of that generation, and that he too must die. + +From subjects pointing this way Mr. Brimble ever studiously turned. +He had faced death often in the pursuit of pleasure, for he was still +so fearless a rider that his escapes while hunting were often the +marvel of the neighbourhood. + +Yet to see the destroyer close, in calmness and quiet, was more than +he could bear! indeed, if truth were told, that ever joyous face was +sometimes but a mask hiding gloomy, heart-sickening misgivings. He +had a deep-seated respect for religion. He fully, honestly, intended +one day to be ready to die, and hoped, or thought he did, to go to +heaven, when he could no longer live on earth. But that day he put +off as an evil day, and avoided everything that reminded him of its +necessity. It was, therefore, very acceptable to him to be released +from a scene that was every way adverse to his comfort. + +'If I could be of any use,' he said; 'but I am no man of business, +and as to poor Madge, I couldn't see her yet; I should only make her +worse.' + +Ah! it is at such times that the truth of human nature comes out. +The squire was benevolent to a proverb--open-handed as the day, kind +as a father--up to a certain point, in earthly relationships and +dealings, blameless. Yet, after all, his was a most refined +selfishness. He enjoyed the happiness of others, for it +unconsciously helped to make his own, and this gave the glowing +colours to his universally admired character. But to deny himself, +to suffer with others, to descend into darkness with them, and bear +their sorrows--oh no! Yet this shrinking from the griefs of others +was looked on as a finishing mark of his great amiability. Thus, +even in regard to his fellow-men, his love was one-sided; and in +regard to the higher love, without which all earthly excellencies are +vain, his heart had it not. Every mile that took him from Parker's +Dew lightened his spirit, for his constant habit of suppressing all +painful or serious thoughts had made the effort a very easy one. + +The heavy walls and high windows of the apartment in which Bloodworth +had remained forgotten had prevented him from hearing the hurry and +confusion of the last two or three hours, and he was chafing with +rage against the housekeeper and Shady for their insolence in thus +detaining him, if done purposely, when the door opened and the doctor +and Sir Eustace entered. Various emotions in turn took the place of +anger, but fear was predominant. He looked with a cowering, +questioning expression, but was silent. + +'Mr. Bloodworth,' said Dr. Cruden, 'your accounts will be +required--your late master's affairs'-- + +The doctor always failed in a set speech: he could get no further. +The shock, compassion for Marjory, sympathy with the heart-stricken +Shady and the faithful housekeeper, had left him no time to feel; but +now that he came to announce the death of his friend, whose sickness +he had so long anxiously watched, and for whom he had from boyhood +had a very sincere attachment, he was overcome. + +Bloodworth's eyes moved quickly from one to the other. He was by no +means taken by surprise. He had long expected it. He had intended +to make his final visit to his master that morning, hoping so to +profit by it as to remove all fear and establish his future fortunes. + +'Am I to understand,' he said, 'that Sir Valary'-- + +'You understand aright,' said Sir Eustace, interrupting him. 'And +now, sir, where is the original will of Sir Eustace De la Mark? +Understand me. By the original will, I mean that which was set aside +to make way for the instrument that put your late master in +possession of his father's property, to the exclusion of his brother. +Are you prepared to produce it?' he continued, waving his hand, as he +saw that Bloodworth was about to assert a denial. + +'Really,' said the steward, pale with terror, but trying to recover +his effrontery, 'this is very strange conduct. Sir Valary, whom I +have served so faithfully for so many years, and for whom I have +sacrificed my comfort and earned a bad name, is no longer alive to +protect me, and therefore I am to be attacked with base +charges,--unjust charges,--and that by strangers. Where is Mr. +Brimble? I know that he is executor to Sir Valary; I always begged +that he would make him so. _He_ is the proper person to inquire into +all the affairs, and I hold myself answerable to him, and to no one +else.' + +'You talk beside the mark,' said Sir Eustace coolly; 'you will +certainly be called upon to account for your stewardship. But you +know perfectly well that the estates which Sir Valary was supposed to +possess did not belong to him. We need not waste words; the will to +which you were last a witness was a forgery. You are now required to +produce that for which it was substituted, and which I know is not +destroyed.' + +'I will take my oath,' said Bloodworth after a pause, 'that I saw +that will signed by Sir Eustace's own hand, and that I was a true +witness to the signature. There was indeed a previous will,' he +continued, rather reassured by the silence that followed this +declaration, 'to which I and my fellow-witness in the last both +subscribed also. Sir Eustace suddenly had another one drawn up, in +consequence of certain reports that reached him concerning his two +sons.' + +'Who drew up the will?' + +'Nicholas Harris, a clerk of mine bred to the law.' + +'Where is he to be found?' + +'That would be unimportant,' said Bloodworth carelessly; 'he died, +however, shortly afterwards.' + +'Bloodworth,' said Sir Eustace, 'the deed was soon done, and will +take little time to confess. Make a clean breast, and say _who_ +signed that second will that you attested?' + +'Sir Eustace De la Mark.' + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The three had up to this point been standing; but Sir Eustace, +motioning to Bloodworth to be seated, beckoned Dr. Cruden to stand +before them; then, placing a pen in the steward's hand, he guided it +with his own, and wrote in large letters on a piece of blank paper +that lay on the table, 'Eustace De la Mark,' the steward passively +submitting to the movement. + +'Whose signature?' he asked, fixing his eyes on Bloodworth. The +steward trembled violently, and was about to rise, but Sir Eustace +held his arm. 'Shall we make another will and let Sir Valary sign +it? A pen in a dead man's hand has been found a pliant writer before +now.' + +There was no answer, for the culprit could not trust his voice; but +an exclamation of horror and surprise burst from the doctor. + +'It was so,' said Sir Eustace; 'I have the confession in full of the +woman Higgs, dictated on her deathbed, and taken down and witnessed +by the clergyman and surgeon who attended her--a strange device for +quieting conscience and cloaking perjury. Your partner in crime, +every way less guilty than yourself, saw through the flimsy cheat, +and heartily repented.' + +'I never heard of such shocking wickedness!' said the doctor, holding +up his hands; 'oh dear, dear--no wonder my poor friend--oh, +horrible!' he said, turning his back on Bloodworth. The scornful +sneer with which the steward noticed this movement quickly gave way +to an assumption of boldness. + +'I don't know you,' he said fiercely. 'I am not to be brow-beaten +for a crazy woman's ravings--got out of her, perhaps, by some +impostor to get money out of Sir Valary while he was alive, or out of +the son of him that was disinherited; but the will was proved and +never questioned. Let me pass, I say,' he said, trying to get +towards the door; 'I have much to do. Mr. Brimble is executor to Sir +Valary, and I will account to him.' + +'The business is in the hands of the law,' said Sir Eustace, 'as you +will shortly be. You will have more help in preparing your papers +than you desire.' + +'You can't search my house, you have no warrant. Oh, let me go--I +promise--yes, only let me go--I will indeed'-- + +'Confess?' asked Sir Eustace. 'It is needless.' + +'No, no, explain it, and--and'-- + +'Give up the will. That may as well be taken from its hiding-place; +the law employs expert seekers.' + +'Fool that I have been!' cried the steward, who now saw his true +position--that he was without hope of escape. + +'It is well that you know that,' said Sir Eustace; 'there is hope +that you may seek for wisdom.' + +But the steward rocked to and fro in his chair, his violent passions +venting themselves in choking imprecations on his own folly. + +Hoping little from him in this state, Sir Eustace beckoned the doctor +to the door, intending to leave him awhile; but the paroxysm had +passed, and, starting up, he looked fixedly on Sir Eustace. + +'Tell me one thing,' he said; 'are you employed by the son of the +last Sir Eustace?' Sir Eustace nodded assent. 'Then if I were to +disclose the truth of everything'-- + +'Needless--it _is_ disclosed; have I not told it but now?' + +'Ay! but how it came about, and--and'-- + +'My dear Sir Eustace,' said the doctor, who thought his companion +looked inflexible, and who was extremely and anxiously curious to +know the particulars of the wonderful story, 'let him speak; let him +tell it all. I long to have my poor dear friend's memory cleared. +I'm sure he never could have known of such unnatural wickedness.' + +Nothing of this speech came to the ears of Bloodworth but the title +of him who was addressed. He looked fixedly at him, and then, +falling on his knees, entreated pardon, repeatedly promising to +reveal all. + +Tenderness for Sir Valary's memory, and the feelings of his cousin +Marjory, who had not shown any sign of recovery from the shock of his +death, with a natural desire to spare the honour of his name, made +Sir Eustace willing to pass with as little notoriety as possible +through the strange revelations that must be made in order to put him +in possession of his rights. He saw the importance of having +Bloodworth's free and unconstrained testimony in order to obtain +this, and conditionally promised his pardon. + +The long story that followed must be told in few words. The second +will was executed and signed after death, as described, by +Bloodworth's contrivance, in order that Sir Valary might succeed to +the whole property. His motive was to open to himself a source of +wealth otherwise unattainable. For some time after Sir Valary's +succession he kept the dead signature an entire secret; when all +things were well established and going smoothly, and a daughter was +born, in whom, after the death of his wife, all his affections were +centred, pretending to be pricked by conscience, he revealed it. Sir +Valary's first impulse was to seek out his brother's heir and make +restoration, but the steward artfully represented that the reported +death of the young man must be true, or he would have sought refuge +in England when left alone; again, the portionless state of his +infant daughter was adroitly brought before him, and in a moment of +weakness he relented, and promised to conceal the strange forgery. + +This placed him wholly in Bloodworth's power. At one time he would +work on his gratitude, declaring it was love for him that led him to +the deed; at another, talk of conscience, and hint at the need of a +public confession, wringing from him some costly gift, either to +repay his service or to calm his conscience. The death of the widow +Higgs, who, while she lived, was a terror to him, lest she should +turn betrayer, was a great relief to Sir Valary, and to rob him of +this Bloodworth had thrown doubt on its truth. The malady from which +he suffered was greatly aggravated by the conflicts of his mind, +which became clouded and weakened by the ravages of the disease. The +steward had already obtained large sums of money, which he had +invested in foreign property, to avoid suspicion, and it was his hope +that morning to obtain the assignment of a valuable deposit, in +return for which he intended to give up the original will to his +master, over whom he had long held it as a scorpion whip, and quit +with his then sufficient gains a place that would soon be stripped of +its attraction; for with Sir Valary he knew would die his hope of +further fortune. The true will established, and Sir Eustace De la +Mark acknowledged as the rightful possessor of Parker's Dew, his rule +must be considered as of the past. + +Sir Valary's funeral was, according to an urgent request in his will, +private; and to this will, which was attested by Shady Higgs and Mrs. +Gillies, was appended a desire in his own hand that his tenants, if +any had suffered wrong, should be righted; that they should be made +to understand, in common with all, that his rigid economy had been +occasioned by a desire to realize an honourable portion for his +daughter, after such sums as had been expended by him out of the +property had been repaid to his brother's son, whenever he should +appear. + +'This,' it concluded with saying, 'being the only way left me to +repair a great wrong done, and to blot out the disgrace that I have +unwittingly brought on the name of De la Mark.' + +All the injustice the tenants had suffered, all extortions, were with +one consent laid to Bloodworth's door, and Sir Valary was heartily +forgiven by all, from his nephew downwards. Great was the rejoicing +that welcomed Sir Eustace. Once more the 'Dew' would be what the old +inhabitants of the place remembered it. Nay, it promised to surpass +its former grandeur; for, simple and unostentatious as Sir Eustace +was in his personal habits and tastes, he spared nothing in restoring +the home of his ancestors. It was the delight of the squire to look +over his plans, suggest improvements, and extol those already made. +It seemed as if he had indeed found a son in Sir Eustace, who was +able to interest him in all things; such subjects, even, as Charity +seldom dared to enter on, came with acceptance from him. + +'What shall we do when the Dew is finished?' said the squire to the +ladies, as he looked at the drawing-room timepiece; 'already, you +see, we lose him day after day; he promised faithfully to be here by +seven.' + +'Then he will be here,' said Mrs. Brimble, confidently; and scarcely +had she said so when he entered. Most heartily was he greeted. + +'Where's Char?' said the squire, looking round; 'she was here just +now. I want her to see the plan of the new windows in Sir Mark's +Tower. Eu has brought them to-night.' + +'She will, I think,' said Mrs. Brimble, 'spend the evening with poor +Marjory, whom we cannot prevail on to leave her room.' + +'She seems to me to be always chosen,' said the squire, in a tone of +displeasure, as he glanced at Flora. + +'Yes, papa dear, she is,' said Flora; 'that's just it. Marjory likes +me very well for five minutes, but at the end of that time I'm quite +sure she neither sees nor hears me, though she is looking straight at +me, and I am talking as fast as I can. I'm sure I can't think how +Charity manages it--she can amuse her a whole evening.' + +'It is not fair,' said the squire, 'that we should always lose Char +in this way. Couldn't you brush up a few subjects, Flo?' + +'Why, papa, there are so many interdicted, and they happen to be the +very ones that come most naturally--the improvements at the Dew, and +the way you tease mamma about cousin "Jobson." Of course one must +not say anything about these, for fear of hurting her feelings, and +reminding her; and music makes her melancholy. I'll go now with +pleasure,' she said, rising, 'and send Char down; but--but--she'll go +to sleep, and so shall I.' + +Mrs. Brimble interposed. 'Charity had earnestly begged to spend the +evening with her; and indeed,' she said, 'strange as it may seem, +though Charity is so serious, she has a wonderful way of making +everybody lively.' + +'That is the reason we want her here,' said the squire. + +While Flora Brimble was apparently never so happy as in the society +of her cousin, whom, like her father, she found a great addition to +their family party, Charity was restrained in her manner towards him, +and seemed tacitly to avoid even speaking of him, availing herself of +the plea of Marjory's preference for her company to quit the family +circle when he was there. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +'Well, Dr. Cruden,' said Mrs. Brimble, 'what is your opinion of the +improvements going on at the Dew? Mr. Brimble will not take us till +all is complete.' + +'The place will be charming, and so transformed that poor Marjory +will not know it. Sir Eustace has an excellent taste, has he not, +squire?' + +'He's excellent every way, except that he has a sort of Saunders look +sometimes, Mary thinks.' + +'We are none of us infallible, Mr. Brimble; and, so exposed to +mistakes as we have been by your imprudence, it was necessary I +should be cautious.' + +'Quite,' said the squire, who was watching with his eyeglass through +a side window something that attracted him, and he immediately left +the room. + +'I think Eustace will be a valuable person in that position, doctor,' +continued the lady, looking up from her work-frame, on which she was +embroidering the arms of De la Mark for a chair for her nephew. + +'I feel sure of it,' said the doctor. + +'We shall miss him very much when he settles at the Dew. I hope he +will marry well.' + +'I don't know any one better able to choose a good wife, madam, and +he is worthy of the best; therefore his marriage will doubtless give +satisfaction.' + +'I daresay, like all young men in his position, he has been married +to more young ladies than one by the country gossips.' + +'Not unlikely,' said the doctor. + +'I have not heard any reports,' said Mrs. Brimble; 'but of course +people would be delicate in speaking to me.' + +'Oh yes, very properly so,' said the doctor, not in the least +divining the lady's tactics. + +'I suppose,' said Mrs. Brimble carelessly, looking very intently on +some shades of wool, as if her whole heart were fixed upon making a +right choice, 'you have never heard anything hinted, doctor?' + +'I cannot say I have not. My sister, in her numerous visits, falls +in with such reports, and she has told me of several; but I think +none likely, though, indeed, one lady that I am not at liberty to +name would shine in married life.' + +Mrs. Brimble got quite out of sorts with her wools, and had to tumble +her basket over for some time before she was calm enough to ask the +doctor for the lady's name, which of course she did not wish to know +from idle curiosity, but out of pure disinterested affection for her +dear nephew. + +'I hope I am not doing wrong,' said the doctor, 'in mentioning the +Honourable Amelia Groves.' + +'Oh, you need not fear my mentioning it,' said Mrs. Brimble quickly; +'but that will never come to anything. I know the kind of girl he +ought to marry--some one with spirit, lively and amusing, and if I +know anything of Eustace, his choice is nearly made, if not quite.' + +'Oh,' said the doctor, 'I am sure you ought to tell me.' + +'If you have not had a guess that way yourself, doctor, I would +rather not.' + +The doctor looked up at the ceiling, crossed and uncrossed his legs, +leant his head upon his hand, rubbed his forehead, and went through +all the various manoeuvres which imply deep thought, finishing the +process by guessing one of the Miss Punters. + +'I am a bad hand at guessing,' he said, finding that Miss Punter was +not well received. 'At one time I thought it not unlikely that poor +little Marjory would be his choice, but I think now he never felt +anything for her but deep pity; and as to her, poor girl, her heart +is buried with her father, whom I fear she will shortly follow.' + +'I thought people never died of grief, doctor.' + +'Grief is a strong consumer, madam; but Marjory inherits from her +mother that terrible disease that laid her in an untimely grave.' + +The squire, re-entering, turned the conversation. 'Eu tells me that +he must return to-night, and that you go with him, and he wants me to +go too; he says he has capital quarters there, so I think of sending +one of the fellows on with some dogs--eh, Mary? only for a day or so, +you know.' + +Flora came into the room just in time to hear the announcement, and +protested loudly against it, denouncing her cousin Eu in no very +measured terms for his unreasonable proposal. + +'You little vixen!' said the squire; 'isn't it enough for your mother +to sit there harrowing my heart with her looks, but I must stand your +tongue too? How would it be if we all went?' + +'Oh, lovely!' said Flora; 'how I should like it!' + +'Highly incorrect,' said Mrs. Brimble. + +'My dear Mary, if you would be so very correct, you must abide by +being uncomfortable. Let us share the honours; you shall be correct, +and Flo and I will be comfortable. Flo, we'll go--we'll have rooms +at the De la Mark Arms, and we can rough it there for a night.' + +The horror of Mrs. Brimble at such a proposal was too much for the +squire, and, taking the doctor's arm, with a mischievous laugh he +left the room. + +'I'm sure papa has got something in his head,' said Flora; 'see how +he's talking, too, in the garden with Dr. Cruden; he is so delighted! +What can it be?' + +While Flora and her mother were watching and wondering, Charity was +learning the secret that so perplexed them. She had been reading to +Marjory, and a gentle tap at the door introduced, to her great +surprise, her cousin Eustace. He so strongly recalled Marjory's most +painful feelings that it was sometimes beyond her strength to be long +in his society. To-day she felt weaker than usual, and left the room +soon after he entered it. + +An awkward silence ensued, then a few remarks as to her state. At +length Eustace, breaking through the restraint, said, 'Cousin +Charity, I fear I have driven Marjory away, and yet I cannot regret +it; indeed, my purpose was to see you; yes, and to see you alone--a +privilege I have sometimes thought you studiously avoided giving me. +I wanted to ask you one question. Is the kind feeling with which you +regarded me when I was poor Jobson quite gone?' + +Charity was silent; but a glance at her satisfied Eustace that he had +nothing to fear. + +About half an hour afterwards Eustace joined his uncle, telling him +that he had received Charity's consent, for which he had asked +permission to plead, and that there was now no necessity to punish +him with a secret. + +The squire shook him warmly by the hand, and lost no time in taking +advantage of his liberty. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +'Who's ready for Parker's Dew?' said the squire, entering the +drawing-room. 'Now is your time to see it, for I have just heard a +grand secret--there is going to be a wedding.' + +'Oh, I am so glad!' said Flora. 'Who is it?' + +'Well, that is very good-natured,' said the squire, 'considering you +have nothing to do with it; and yet we are all deeply interested in +it. Now guess who it is. I am sure it's worth a guess.' + +'Oh, it's cousin Eu, of course,' said Flora. + +'Ay, but the lady, Flo, the lady'-- + +Mrs. Brimble looked up nervously. + +'Miss Punter,' and 'the Honourable Amelia Groves,' died upon her lips. + +'What! give it up without a guess?' said the squire, looking at them +both. + +'I know whom he ought to have married,' said Flora, with a little +toss of her head. + +'You?' said the squire. + +'Me!' said Flora; 'he would have despised me before a month was up, +as Marjory does in five minutes. Oh, no, he is beyond me, besides +being too old.' + +After a little more teasing, in which the squire did not spare Mrs. +Brimble's penetration, the secret was out; and a day of much +rejoicing it was at Brimble Hall. + +It was arranged that, on the marriage taking place, Marjory should +occupy rooms fitted up for her at Parker's Dew, as her own +independent home; but she did not live to see their completion. + +'By the grace of God, you know, Shady,' said Sir Eustace, when fairly +settled, 'as you once interpreted to me, we have all things;' and +constantly had Shady proof that his master knew this. As home +steward and librarian, he reigned supremely happy in his paradise, +but never so happy as when labouring under Sir Eustace's direction +for the improvement of the poor around. + +Mrs. Gillies was now truly the housekeeper of Parker's Dew, with a +goodly retinue of underlings. + +Squire Brimble, as years advanced and the influence of his son-in-law +increased, lost the dark clouds that had at times obscured his +sunshine, and enjoyed a far more solid happiness than he had known in +the most joyous days of his youth. + + + +THE END. + + + +PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Troopers and other stories, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 61456 *** |