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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24d71f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67028 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67028) diff --git a/old/67028-0.txt b/old/67028-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a7aed0f..0000000 --- a/old/67028-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2114 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular -Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 112, Vol. III, February -20, 1886, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth - Series, No. 112, Vol. III, February 20, 1886 - -Author: Various
- -Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67028] - -Language: English
- -Produced by: Susan Skinner, Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 112, VOL. III, FEBRUARY -20, 1886 *** - - - - - -[Illustration: - -CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL - -OF - -POPULAR - -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART - -Fifth Series - -ESTABLISHED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, 1832 - -CONDUCTED BY R. CHAMBERS (SECUNDUS) - -NO. 112.—VOL. III. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1886. PRICE 1½_d._] - - - - -THE INFLUENCE OF HABIT IN PLANT-LIFE. - - -The old maxim regarding the power of habit is usually and rightly -regarded as exhibiting a thorough application to the regulation of -animal life. Not merely in human affairs is habit allowed to be ‘a -second nature;’ but in lower life as well, the influence of use and -wont is plainly perceptible. A dog or cat equally with a human being is -under the sway of the accustomed. That which may be at first unusual, -soon becomes the normal way of life. Even, as the physiologist can -prove, in a very large part of ordinary human existence, we are the -creatures of habit quite as much as we are the children of impulse. It -is easily provable, for example, that such common acts as are involved -in reading, writing, and speaking, are merely perpetuated habits. At -first, these acquirements present difficulties to the youthful mind. -A slow educative process is demanded, and then, by repetition and -training, the lower centres of the brain acquire the power of doing -the work of higher parts and centres. We fall into the habit, in other -words, of writing and speaking, just as our muscles fall into the way -of guiding our movements. No doubt, a large part of the difficulty is -smoothed away for us by the fact that we inherit the aptitude for the -performance of these common actions. But they fall, nevertheless, into -the category of repeated and inherited habits; and equally with the -newer or fresh ideas and tasks we set ourselves, the actions of common -life may be regarded as merely illustrating the curious and useful -effect of repeated and fixed habit on our organisation. - -Recent researches in the field of plant-life, however, it is -interesting to note, show that habit does not reign paramount in the -animal world alone. The plant-world, it has been well remarked, too -often presents to the ordinary observer the aspect of a sphere of dull -pulseless life, wherein activity is unrepresented, and wherein the -familiar actions of animal existence are unknown. Nothing is farther -from the truth than such an idea. The merest tyro in botany is nowadays -led to study actions in plants which are often indistinguishable -from those of animal life. Instead of the plant-world being a huge -living domain which never evinces a sign of sensation or activity, the -botanist can point to numerous cases in which not only are the signs of -sensibility as fully developed in the plant as in the animal, but in -which also many other phases of animal life are exactly imitated. We -thus know of plants which droop their leaves on the slightest touch, -and exhibit as delicate a sensitiveness as many high animals, and a -much finer degree of sensibility than most low animals. Then, again, -when, with the microscope, we inspect that inner plant-life which is -altogether hidden from the outer world, we see that the tissues of -plants exist in a state of high activity. Currents of protoplasm are -seen to run hither and thither through the plant-cells, and active -movements to pervade the whole organisation of the living organism. -Vital activity is the rule, and inertness the exception, in plant-life; -and the discovery of this fact simply serves to impress anew upon us -the danger and error of that form of argument which would assume the -non-existence of higher traits of life in plants, simply because they -are invisible to the unassisted sight. - -The effects of habit on plant-life are nowhere better seen than in the -curious differences which exist between the food and feeding of certain -plants and the practices of their more familiar plant-neighbours. -The food of an ordinary green plant, as is well known, consists of -inorganic matters. Water, minerals in solution, ammonia, and carbonic -acid gas, constitute the materials from which an ordinary plant derives -its sustenance. It is curious to reflect that all the beauty of flower -and foliage merely represents so much carbonic acid gas, water, and -minerals, fashioned by the wondrous vital powers of the plant into -living tissues. Yet such is undoubtedly the case. Between the food of -animals and green plants, we perceive this great difference—namely, -that whilst the animal demands water, oxygen gas, and minerals—all -three being inorganic materials—it also requires ready-made living -matter to supply the wants of its frame. This ready-made living matter -the animal can only obtain from other animals or from plants; and as -a matter of fact, animals demand and require such materials to feed -upon. In one sense, the plant, then, exhibits higher powers than the -animal, for it is more constructive. It can build up its frame from -non-living matter entirely; whilst the animal, less constructive, -requires a proportion of already living matter in its food. What has -just been said of the food of plants applies to those which possess -green colouring-matter associated with the plant-tissues. This green -colour, so universally diffused throughout the plant kingdom, is called -_chlorophyll_ by the botanist. It exists in the cells of plants in the -form of granules, and is intimately associated with the living matter -or ‘protoplasm’ of the cells. The presence or absence of green colour -in a plant makes all the difference in the world to its habits. The -want of this chlorophyll, in fact, converts the habits of the plant -into that of the animal. - -If we select a plant which possesses no green colour, we may be -prepared for some startling revelations respecting the mode of life -of such a plant. Examples of a total want of chlorophyll are seen in -the _fungi_, that large group of plants which harbours our mushrooms, -toad-stools, and like organisms as its familiar representatives. If we -inquire how the non-green fungus lives, we shall discover, firstly, -that it is like an animal in respect, firstly, of the gas on which it -feeds. The green plant, we saw to feed on carbonic acid gas; but the -fungus, like the animal, inhales oxygen. Furthermore, a still more -remarkable fact must be detailed respecting the difference between -the habit of the green plants and their non-green neighbours. When -an ordinary green plant takes in the carbonic acid gas which it has -obtained from the atmosphere—whither it has come from the lungs of -animals and elsewhere—it performs a remarkable chemical operation. -The green colour enables it, in the presence of light, to decompose -the carbonic acid gas (which consists of carbon and oxygen) into -its elements. The carbon is retained by the plant, and goes to form -the starch and other compounds manufactured by the organism. But -the oxygen, which is not required, at least in any quantity, in the -living operations of the green plant, is allowed to escape back to the -atmosphere, where it becomes useful for animal respiration. Thus, what -the animal exhales (carbonic acid), the green plant inhales; and what -the green plant exhales (oxygen), the animal inhales. We have here a -remarkable cycle of natural operations, which suggests how beautifully -the equilibrium of nature is maintained. It may be added that the want -of light converts even the green plant to somewhat animal habits. In -the dark, the decomposition of carbonic acid is suspended, chlorophyll -alone being insufficient for the analysis. Then, the green plant seems -to inhale oxygen and to emit carbonic acid, like the animal and its -non-green relative; to return, however, to its normal habit with the -returning light. At the same time, the plain difference of habit in -respect of the want of green colour in the fungi and other plants, is -in itself a remarkable fact of plant-life. - -Other differences in habit may also be noted between the plants which -possess green colour and those that want it. We have already alluded -to the fact that green plants feed on inorganic or lifeless matters, -and that they build up these matters into their living tissues. On the -other hand, the habits of the fungi and non-green plants lead them to -resemble animals in that they feed upon organic materials; that is, on -matter which is derived from other plants or animals. As a matter of -fact, most fungi are found growing in places where decaying organic -matters exist. The gardener, in growing edible fungi, supplies them -with such materials in the form of manure. Again, those fungi which -cause skin-diseases in man (for example, ringworm) feed on the tissues -in which they are parasitic, and in so doing absorb organic matter. -The plants which are not green, in this way appear to prefer organic -matters, like animals. In habits, therefore, they present a striking -contrast to their green neighbours. - -The habit of _parasitism_, however, which has just been alluded to -is a powerful means of inaugurating and maintaining change of life -and living in plants. A parasitic being is one which lives in or upon -some other living organism. There are degrees of parasitism, however: -some parasites are mere ‘lodgers,’ so to speak; others both board and -lodge at the expense of their host, and these latter are of course -the more typical parasites of the two. But there are even degrees and -differences to be seen in the behaviour of plant-lodgers and boarders. -For example, mistletoe is a plant of peculiar habits, in respect that -whilst its roots enter the substance of the tree-host to which it is -attached, and drink up so much of the sap that host is elaborating for -its own use, it also can make food-products for itself. For the green -leaves of mistletoe, like the leaves of other plants, take in carbonic -acid gas, and decompose it, as already described, retaining the carbon, -and setting the oxygen free. On the other hand, a parasitic fungus -will not elaborate any food-products for itself; and hence it is, if -anything, a more complete and typical ‘boarder’ even than mistletoe. -The effects of habit in plant-life are here seen in a double sense and -aspect. Not only is it through the exercise of ‘habit’ that a plant -becomes a parasite; but it is a variation in the parasitic and acquired -habit for a parasitic plant to develop its own special ways of feeding. -Habit within habit is thus seen to operate powerfully in bringing about -the existent phases of the life of plants. - -Plants without green colour are, however, not the only members of -the vegetable world in which the habit of feeding like animals has -been inaugurated. Some of the most remarkable chapters in botany -have been recently written on the habits of so-called carnivorous -or insectivorous plants—that is, plants which subsist on insects in -other forms of animal life, and which lay traps designed to capture -their unwary prey. The Common Sundew (_Drosera_) of our bogs and -marshes catches flies and other insects by means of an ingenious -arrangement of sensitive tentacles which beset its leaf, aided by the -gummy secretion of the leaf itself. The Venus’ Flytrap (_Dionæa_) -captures insects by converting its leaf into a closing trap; the alarm -to close being conveyed to the sensitive parts of the plant by the -insect touching one or more of the six sensitive hairs which are seen -on the surface of the leaf. The Side-saddle plants (_Sarracenia_) of -the New World and the Pitcher plants (_Nepenthes_) of the Old World -likewise capture insects. Their leaves form receptacles, in which, as -is well known, flies and other insects are literally drowned. Within -the Sarracenia’s hollow leaf, a honey-secretion is found, together with -a limpid fluid found at the bottom of the pitcher. There seems little -doubt that flies and other insects, attracted by the honey-secretion, -pass into the pitcher, and are then suffocated by the fluid found -below. This much has been proved—namely, that the fluid has an -intoxicating effect on insects, and that, once entrapped, the insects -ultimately perish in the pitchers. It is equally notable that their -retreat is cut off by the presence of pointed hairs, which, on the -_facilis descensus_ principle, and by pointing downwards, allow the -insect easy admittance, but present an array of bayonet-points on its -attempt to escape. In the Nepenthes or Pitcher plants of the Old World, -insects are similarly captured, and are prevented from escaping by -various contrivances, such as a series of incurved hairs or hooks, or -allied apparatus. - -At first sight, there seems a plain reason for classifying together -all these insect-capturing plants, especially when it is discovered -that they utilise the insects they capture for food. Botanists did -not realise till recently that the capture of insects by plants was a -strictly utilitarian and purposive act—namely, that its intent was to -feed and nourish the plant. Once awaking to this truth, much that was -formerly mysterious in the life and ways of these plants became clear. -They captured the insects and fed upon them; in these words were found -the clue to and explanation of a seeming anomaly in plant-life. These -plants might thus be supposed simply to differ from other green plants, -and to resemble the fungi in their preference for an animal dietary, -in part at least. For, with their roots in the soil, and possessing -green leaves, they appear to subsist partly upon the matters on which -ordinary green plants live, and partly upon organic matters, like -mistletoe. But a further study of these curious plants shows that the -whole facts of the case are hardly to be comprised within this somewhat -narrow compass. Habit within habit again appears as the principle which -has wrought out important differences between the various kinds of -insect-eating plants. Taking the case of the Sundew first, we discover -that this plant actually digests its insect-food. From glands with -which the leaf is provided, fluids are poured out which resemble the -gastric juice of our own stomachs in their digestive properties. The -matter of the insect-body is thus absorbed into the substance and -tissues of the plant, just as the substance of our own food passes, -through digestion, to become part and parcel of our own tissues. Of -the Venus’ Flytrap, the same remarks hold good. This plant will digest -fragments of raw beef as readily as its own insect-prey. The closed -leaf is converted into a kind of temporary stomach, within which the -imprisoned insect is killed, digested, and its tissues absorbed, to -nourish the plant. In the Pitcher plants, a similar result happens to -the insect-prey. Digestion and absorption of the nutrient parts of the -prey are the duties performed by the modified leaves. - -The foregoing facts would therefore seem to present a remarkable -uniformity in the life of the plants just mentioned. Similarity of -habits would seem to reign supreme, under variations in the method of -capturing the insect-prey. Turning now to the case of the Side-saddle -plants and their allies, we discover how remarkably the habits of these -plants have come to differ. Investigation has shown that the flies, -which are apparently drowned in the pitchers of Sarracenia in a manner -exactly similar to that in which they fall victims to the artifice of -the Pitcher plants, in reality are subjected to a widely different -action. The Pitcher plant digests its flies, as we have seen; but in -the Side-saddle plants no digestion takes place. What happens in the -latter appears to consist of a simple process of decay. The insects are -allowed to putrefy and decompose amid the watery fluid which drowns -them; and in due time, the pitcher becomes filled with a fluid which -has been compared to ‘liquid manure.’ It is this decomposing solution, -then, which is duly absorbed by the Sarracenia. Rejecting this idea, -there can be no other explanation given of the use of the elaborate -fly-catching ‘pitchers.’ And, moreover, analogy would force us to -conclude that the explanation just given is correct. If fungi feed on -decomposing organic matters, why should not a Sarracenia exhibit like -habits? No reasonable reply can be given save that which sees in the -Sarracenia a curious difference of habit from the apparently similar -Pitcher plants. The latter, in other words, eat their meal fresh; the -Sarracenias, like humanity with its game, eat their meat in a ‘high’ -state. - -The ordinary feeding of plants may, lastly, be cited, by way of showing -how marvellously intricate must be the conditions which operate to -produce differences in habits, sometimes amounting almost to special -likings on the part of vegetable units for one kind of food, and -equally special dislikes to other foods. The farmer knowing the -preference for certain food-elements by certain plants, requires to -‘rotate’ his crops, to avoid injurious exhaustion of his soils. For -instance, buckwheat will not flourish unless potassium is supplied to -it. The chloride of potassium, and next to it the nitrate, are the -minerals preferred by this plant. Still more extraordinary is the -preference exhibited by one of the violet tribe (_Viola calaminaria_), -which will only grow in soils that contain zinc. Here, the effects of -habit are seen in a singularly clear fashion; for there seems every -reason to assume that the partiality for a by no means common element -in soils, has been an acquired, and not an original taste of the plants -which exhibit it. The botanist thus becomes aware of the existence of -a ‘taste,’ or ‘selective power’ as it is termed, in the plant-world, -influencing their food, and, as a matter of logic, affecting also their -structure, functions, and entire existence. It has been found that -the pea and bean tribe (_Leguminosæ_) specially desire lime, amongst -their requirements. Potatoes exhibit a special partiality for potash; -and turnips share this taste. Plants in which the seed assumes a high -importance, as in most of our cereals, on the other hand, demand -phosphoric acid; and certain plants, such as wheat, will withdraw -large quantities of silica or flint from the soil. Iodine is found -characteristically in seaweeds, and the element in question is obtained -from the _kelp_ produced by burning marine plants. - -No better commentary on the life and habits of plants in respect -of their food-tastes can be given than in the words of an eminent -physiologist, who, speaking of the food of the corn-plant, says: -‘Without siliceous (or flinty) earth, that plant cannot acquire -sufficient strength to sustain itself erect, but forms a creeping stem, -feeble and pale; without calcareous earth (or lime), it dies even -before the appearance of the second leaf; without soda and without -potash, it never attains a greater height than between four and five -inches; without phosphorus, though growing straight and regularly -formed, it remains feeble and does not bear fruit; when iron is present -in the soil, it gives that deep green tint so familiar to us and grows -rapidly robust; without manganese, it develops in a stunted manner and -produces few flowers.’ After the revelations of chemistry concerning -the habits and tastes of plants and the bearing of proper food on -their growth, it is not to be wondered at that scientific agriculture -should be regarded as the only solution of many of the present-day -difficulties of the farmer. - - - - -IN ALL SHADES. - - -CHAPTER X. - -For a second, nobody answered a word; this quiet declaration of an -honest self-sacrifice took them all, even Nora, so utterly by surprise. -Then Edward murmured musingly: ‘And it was for this that you gave -up the prospect of living at Cambridge, and composing symphonies in -Trinity gardens!’ - -The mulatto smiled a deprecating smile. ‘Oh,’ he cried timidly, ‘you -mustn’t say that. I didn’t want to make out I was going to do anything -so very grand or so very heroic. Of course, a man _must_ satisfy -himself he’s doing something to justify his existence in the world; -and much as I love music, I hardly feel as though playing the violin -were in itself a sufficient end for a man to live for. Though I must -confess I should very much like to stop in England and be a composer. -I’ve composed one or two little pieces already for the violin, that -have been played with some success at public concerts. Sarasate played -a small thing of mine last winter at a festival in Vienna. But then, -besides, my father and friends live in Trinidad, and I feel that that’s -the place where my work in life is really cut out for me.’ - -‘And your second great passion?’ Marian inquired. ‘You said you had a -second great passion. What is it, I wonder?—Oh, of course, I see—your -profession.’ - -(‘How could she be so stupid!’ Nora thought to herself. ‘What a silly -girl! I’m afraid of my life now, the wretched man’ll try to say -something pretty.’) - -‘O no; not my profession,’ Dr Whitaker answered, smiling. ‘It’s a noble -profession, of course—the noblest and grandest, almost, of all the -professions—assuaging and alleviating human suffering; but one looks -upon it, for all that, rather as a duty than as a passion. Besides, -there’s one thing greater even than the alleviation of human suffering, -greater than art with all its allurements, greater than anything else -that a man can interest himself in—though I know most people don’t -think so—and that’s science—the knowledge of our relations with the -universe, and still more of the universe’s relations with its various -parts.—No, Mrs Hawthorn; my second absorbing passion, next to music, -and higher than music, is one that I’m sure ladies won’t sympathise -with—it’s only botany.’ - -‘Goodness gracious!’ Nora cried, surprised into speech. ‘I thought -botany was nothing but the most dreadfully hard words, all about -nothing on earth that anybody cared for!’ - -The mulatto looked at her open-eyed with a sort of mild astonishment. -‘What?’ he said. ‘All the glorious lilies and cactuses and palms and -orchids of our beautiful Trinidad nothing but hard words that nobody -cares for! All the slender lianas that trail and droop from the huge -buttresses of the wild cotton-trees; all the gorgeous trumpet-creepers -that drape the gnarled branches of the mountain star-apples with -their scarlet blossoms; all the huge cecropias, that rise aloft with -their silvery stems and fan-shaped leaves, towering into the air -like gigantic candelabra; all the graceful tree-ferns and feathery -bamboos and glossy-leaved magnolias and majestic bananas and luxuriant -ginger-worts and clustering arums: all the breadth and depth of -tropical foliage, with the rugged and knotted creepers, festooned in -veritable cables of vivid green, from branch to branch among the dim -mysterious forest shades—stretched in tight cordage like the rigging -yonder from mast to mast, for miles together—oh, Miss Dupuy, is that -nothing? Do you call that nothing, for a man to fix his loving regard -upon? Our own Trinidad is wonderfully rich still in such natural -glories; and it’s the hope of doing a little in my spare hours to -explore and disentomb them, like hidden treasures, that partly urges me -to go back again where manifest destiny calls me to the land I was born -in.’ - -The mulatto is always fluent, even when uneducated; but Dr Whitaker, -learned in all the learning of the schools, and pouring forth his -full heart enthusiastically on the subjects nearest and dearest to -him, spoke with such a ready, easy eloquence, common enough, indeed, -among south Europeans, and among Celtic Scots and Irish as well, but -rare and almost unknown in our colder and more phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon -constitutions—that Nora listened to him, quite taken aback by the flood -of his native rhetoric, and whispered to herself in her own soul: -‘Really, he talks very well after all—for a coloured person!’ - -‘Yes, of course, all those things are very lovely, Dr Whitaker,’ -Marian put in, more for the sake of drawing him out—for he was so -interesting—than because she really wanted to disagree with him upon -the subject. ‘But then, that isn’t botany. I always thought botany was -a mere matter of stamens and petals, and all sorts of other dreadful -technicalities.’ - -‘Stamens and petals!’ the mulatto echoed half contemptuously—‘stamens -and petals! You might as well say art was all a matter of pigments -and perspective, or music all a matter of crotchets and quavers, as -botany all a matter of stamens and petals. Those are only the beggarly -elements: the beautiful pictures, the glorious oratorios, the lovely -flowers, are the real things to which in the end they all minister. -It’s the trees and the plants themselves that interest me, not the mere -lifeless jargon of technical phrases.’ - -They sat there late into the night, discussing things musical and West -Indian and otherwise, without any desire to move away or cut short -the conversation; and Dr Whitaker, his reserve now broken, talked on -to them hour after hour, doing the lion’s share of the conversation, -and delighting them with his transparent easy talk and open-hearted -simplicity. He was frankly egotistical, of course—all persons of -African blood always are; but his egotism, such as it was, took the -pleasing form of an enthusiasm about his own pet ideas and pursuits—a -love of music, a love of flowers, a love of his profession, and a -love of Trinidad. To these favourite notes he recurred fondly again -and again, vigorously defending the violin as an exponent of human -emotion against Edward’s half-insincere expression of preference for -wind instruments; going into raptures to Nora over the wonderful beauty -of their common home; and describing to Marian in vivid language the -grandeur of those marvellous tropical forests whose strange loveliness -she had never yet with her own eyes beheld. - -‘Picture to yourself,’ he said, looking out vaguely beyond the ship -on to the star-lit Atlantic, ‘a great Gothic cathedral or Egyptian -temple—Ely or Karnak, wrought, not in freestone or marble, but in -living trees—with huge cylindrical columns strengthened below by -projecting buttresses, and supporting overhead, a hundred feet on high, -an unbroken canopy of interlacing foliage. Dense—so dense that only -an indistinct glimmer of the sky can be seen here and there through -the great canopy, just as you see Orion’s belt over yonder through the -fringe of clouds upon the gray horizon; and even the intense tropical -sunlight only reaches the ground at long intervals in little broken -patches of subdued paleness. Then there’s the solemn silence, weird and -gloomy, that produces in one an almost painful sense of the vast, the -primeval, the mystical, the infinite. Only the low hum of the insects -in the forest shade, the endless multitudinous whisper of the wind -among the foliage, the faint sound begotten by the tropical growth -itself, breaks the immemorial stillness in our West Indian woodland. -It’s a world in which man seems to be a noisy intruder, and where -he stands awestruck before the intense loveliness of nature, in the -immediate presence of her unceasing forces.’ - -He stopped a moment, not for breath, for it seemed as if he could -pour out language without an effort, in the profound enthusiasm of -youth, but to take his violin once more tenderly from its case and -hold it out, hesitating, before him. ‘Will you let me play you just -one more little piece?’ he asked apologetically. ‘It’s a piece of my -own, into which I’ve tried to put some of the feelings about these -tropical forests that I never could possibly express in words. I call -it “Souvenirs des Lianes.” Will you let me play it to you?—I shan’t be -boring you?—Thank you—thank you.’ - -He stood up before them in the pale light of that summer evening, -tall and erect, violin on breast and bow in hand, and began pouring -forth from his responsive instrument a slow flood of low, plaintive, -mysterious music. It was not difficult to see what had inspired his -brain and hand in that strangely weird and expressive piece. The -profound shade and gloom of the forest, the great roof of overarching -foliage, the flutter of the endless leaves before the breeze, the -confused murmur of the myriad wings and voices of the insects, nay, -even the very stillness and silence itself of which he had spoken, all -seemed to breathe forth deeply and solemnly on his quivering strings. -It was a triumph of art over its own resources. On the organ or the -flute, one would have said beforehand, such effects as these might -indeed be obtained, but surely never, never on the violin. Yet in Dr -Whitaker’s hand that scraping bow seemed capable of expressing even -what he himself had called the sense of the vast, the primeval, and -the infinite. They listened all in hushed silence, and scarcely so -much as dared to breathe while the soft pensive cadences still floated -out solemnly across the calm ocean. And when he had finished, they -sat for a few minutes in perfect silence, rendering the performer -that instinctive homage of mute applause which is so far more really -eloquent than any mere formal and conventional expression of thanks -‘for your charming playing.’ - -As they sat so, each musing quietly over the various emotions aroused -within them by the mulatto’s forest echoes, one of the white gentlemen -in the stern, a young English officer on his way out to join a West -Indian regiment, came up suddenly behind them, clapped his hand -familiarly on Edward’s back, and said in a loud and cheerful tone: -‘Come along, Hawthorn; we’ve had enough of this music now—thank you -very much, Dr Thingummy—let’s all go down to the saloon, I say, and -have a game of nap or a quiet rubber.’ - -Even Nora felt in her heart as though she had suddenly been recalled by -that untimely voice from some higher world to this vulgar, commonplace -little planet of ours, the young officer had broken in so rudely on -her silent reverie. She drew her dainty white lamb’s-wool wrapper -closer around her shoulders with a faint sigh, slipped her hand gently -through Marian’s arm, and moved away, slowly and thoughtfully, toward -the companion-ladder. As she reached the doorway, she turned round, as -if half ashamed of her own graciousness, and said in a low and genuine -voice: ‘Thank you, Dr Whitaker—thank you very much indeed. We’ve so -greatly enjoyed the treat you’ve given us.’ - -The mulatto bowed and said nothing; but instead of retiring to the -saloon with the others, he put his violin case quietly under his arm, -and walking alone to the stern of the vessel, leant upon the gunwale -long and mutely, looking over with all his eyes deep and far into the -silent, heaving, moonlit water. The sound of Nora’s voice thanking him -reverberated long through all the echoing chambers of his memory. - - - - -COLONIAL FARM-PUPILS. - - -It would be a matter of considerable interest if statistics could be -obtained showing the number of parents who at the present time find -themselves under the necessity of answering that much-debated question, -‘What shall I do with my sons?’ The comparatively narrow paths which -lead to fame and prosperity are now so densely crowded by youths of -good breeding and education, that but few parents are able to decide, -without much anxious consideration, which is the best one for their -sons to start life’s journey upon. Some parents choose the learned -professions; others select a commercial career; while not a few decide -upon a colonial life for their sons. The wisdom, or otherwise, of this -last decision we do not here propose to discuss. We accept the plain -fact that many well-bred and carefully nurtured young men annually -leave these shores as emigrants, bound for the British colonies or the -United States. The object of our remarks is to present to the fathers -of these young emigrants what the writer—who has seen much, both of -emigrants and emigration, on both sides of the Atlantic—regards as a -piece of sorely needed advice upon one point of the great question -of emigration, as it affects the sons of English gentlemen and -‘blue-blooded boys’ in general. - -The average British parent is, as a rule, very ignorant of everything -connected with life and labour in the colonies. He is perhaps a fairly -successful man of business, or has risen in his profession; but in -attaining this success, he has probably been so engrossed with his own -occupations, that he has found but little opportunity of turning his -attention to matters concerning him less closely. It is not indeed -to be expected that any one man should be intimately acquainted with -many different subjects. In these days of competition, the division of -knowledge is as necessary as the division of labour; and it is the duty -of those who are practically acquainted with emigration or any other -subject to advise those who are not so well informed. This is what -we now propose to do. We desire that our remarks upon the farm-pupil -system in the British colonies be understood to apply equally to the -Western States of America, which, so far as this article is concerned, -are to all intents and purposes British colonies. - -To the youth who has been brought up in a comfortable English home, -under the care of watchful parents, emigration to any of the colonies -brings a very rude and abrupt change of life. Thenceforth, parental -oversight will be no longer obtainable, and the young emigrant will -have to seek his own living among strangers in a strange land, where -evil influences are generally numerous, where the ordinary mode of -life is often very rough, and where no one need hope for success unless -he is willing and able actually to perform hard manual labour. Under -these circumstances, it naturally appears desirable to most parents -to do all that lies within their power to obtain for their sons some -training to fit them for their future life. This desire has called -into existence the system under which many moderately well-to-do young -emigrants, on first leaving England, agree to pay a premium to some -colonist who is already established on a farm of his own, in order that -they may be taught colonial farming. - -The system is not in any way essentially a bad one; but it is open to -great abuses, and in too many cases leads to fraud. No detailed rules -for the guidance of the parents of young emigrants in this matter can -be laid down. The necessities vary according to the circumstances of -each particular case. But, in a general way, it may be stated that, -when the parents of a youth can afford to pay a premium for his -instruction, and have ascertained that the settler with whom they are -placing their son is in a position faithfully to exercise that amount -of oversight which they desire for him, there cannot be any very great -abuse of the system. At the same time, it must be admitted that there -is seldom any necessity why a premium should be paid. If the young -emigrant be steady and of average push and intelligence, there is -certainly little or nothing to prevent him obtaining all the experience -he requires without paying any premium. Nevertheless, a youth of weak -character, easily led away, and of indolent habits, may of course be -benefited by a certain amount of care and oversight. - -Farming, as practised in the colonies and in the Western States of -America, is of the most elementary kind. A person of limited abilities -may very easily acquire a knowledge of all its details. Moreover, in -these thinly peopled countries, labourers are in great demand. It may -be safely asserted that, in those colonies and in those portions of -the west of America to which emigration is now chiefly directed, any -young man, willing and able to perform ordinary farm-work, will find -little difficulty in obtaining employment, at least during the summer -months, in spite of the large number of men who are almost always in -want of work in large cities. A perfect novice may find it necessary -to work for a time for his board and lodging merely; but after a -while, he will probably find himself in a position to demand at least -sufficient wages, in addition to his board and keep, to maintain -himself respectably. If the young emigrant follows the course thus -suggested, he may not find his path quite so smooth as that of the -young man who has paid his premium; but he will have a better chance of -obtaining practical experience of farming. He will live in his master’s -house, board at his table, and be treated very much as a member of the -family—indeed, the premiumed pupil could hardly be better off; but he -will be compelled to learn in a way which he who pays a premium can -hardly be, and he will actually be paid for gaining the experience he -requires, instead of paying for it! - -The eagerness on the part of colonial farmers to obtain farm-pupils is -capable of a very simple explanation. In most cases, these men know -well enough that there is no real need for the system to be followed; -but if they can succeed in obtaining a pupil, they are hardly to be -blamed for so doing, as it is no slight advantage to themselves. In -the colonies, the harvest usually is plentiful, while the labourers -are few, and labour, consequently, is expensive. Obviously, therefore, -a pupil who will pay to work and who will not be constantly wanting -to leave, is a very great boon to any settler. It should be clearly -recognised that, in most cases, if the pupil works in such a way as -he must do if he is to obtain a useful practical knowledge of his -occupation, his labour alone will amply remunerate the farmer, even -if the latter has to find both board and lodging. Clearly, therefore, -if a substantial premium be added, the advantage to the settler is -considerable. The pupil-system often affords a good deal of amusement -to keen-sighted Americans who are in a position to see its weak points. -Not unfrequently the writer has had said to him on the other side of -the Atlantic: ‘How uncommonly stupid you English people must be to be -willing to pay to work!’ This expression not inaptly sums up the whole -case. - -The abuses to which the system is open are many. In the first place, -an exorbitant sum—sometimes as much as one hundred pounds—is asked. -Considering that the pupil could in most cases obtain the necessary -experience without paying any premium, and that he actually remunerates -the settler by working for him, we consider that, under all ordinary -circumstances, ten pounds paid to the settler is ample. In the next -place, an agent of some kind is necessary to mediate between the -parents of a youth and the colonial settler; and either this agent -or the settler, or both, may be dishonest, and fail to fulfil their -contracts; indeed, the difficulty which a parent would meet with in -attempting to compel a defaulting settler to carry out his agreement, -is a great incentive to fraud. Only a short time ago it was reported -in the daily papers that a number of youths who had paid premiums to -an agent in England to be placed with farmers in California, found, on -their arrival there, that no arrangements whatever had been made for -their reception—in short, that they had been swindled. Similar cases -have been heard of before. At the same time, we do not wish to say that -there are not honest agencies. - -Those who have seen most of the hap-hazard way in which emigration, -not only of the poorer, but also of the better classes, is carried on -from this country, often express amazement at the injudicious acts -which are constantly being committed by ill-advised young emigrants -and their blind though well-meaning parents. The needless paying of -premiums by parents who can ill afford to spare the money is but one -of these indiscretions. Passing over without comment the practice of -shipping ‘ne’er-do-wells’ off to the colonies in the vain hope that -they will do better there than at home, we cannot help remarking that -numbers of promising young men, who are utterly unfitted for the life -of an emigrant, are constantly being sent out, and either they, or the -country to which they are sent, subsequently get blamed for an almost -inevitable failure. Nothing, too, could be more injudicious than the -placing of capital in the hands of inexperienced young emigrants at the -outset of their career. In a large number of cases it is wholly lost; -indeed, it is a common saying in America that but few young Englishmen -commence to make headway in their new home until they have either lost -or spent all they originally brought out with them and have had to -buckle-to in sober earnest. As recommended in a late number (No. 95) of -this _Journal_, those who are intended for a colonial career should go -through a course of school-training especially intended to fit them for -it. - - - - -A GOLDEN ARGOSY. - -_A NOVELETTE._ - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -With the exception of her eyes and her teeth, Miss Wakefield was an -ordinary, nay, almost a benevolent, woman. About sixty years of age, -with a figure perfectly straight and supple, and wearing her own hair, -which was purple black, she might have passed for forty, save for the -innumerable lines and wrinkles on her face. Her eyes were full of a -furtive evil light, and never failed to cast a baleful influence over -the spectator; her teeth were large and white, but gapped here and -there in the front like a saw. Mr Slimm mentally compared her with some -choice assortments of womankind he had encountered in the mines and -kindred places, and they did not suffer in the comparison. - -‘Your business?’ she said coldly. - -‘Madam, you will do me the favour to sit down,’ he replied. ‘What I -have to say will take a considerable time.’ - -‘Thank you,’ she said, with the same frigid air; ‘I prefer to stand.’ -Some subtle instinct told her this visit boded no good, and she knew in -dealing with an adversary what an advantage a standing position gives -one. - -By way of answer, Mr Slimm continued standing also. - -‘Madam,’ he commenced, ‘what I have to say to you concerns the affairs -of the late Mr Morton of Eastwood. He was an old friend of mine. Very -recently, I heard of his death. I am determined to have justice done.’ - -Was it fancy, or did these thin feline lips grow white? He could have -sworn he saw them quiver. Anyway, fancy or not, if the worst came to -the worst, he had a great card to play. - -Mr Slimm continued: ‘He died, as you are aware, after a curious -illness, and rather suddenly at the last. If I am correct, there was no -inquest.’ - -It was not fancy, then! Mr Slimm’s keen eyes detected a sudden shiver -agitate her frame, and his ear caught a quick painful respiration. Why -did no one think of this? he said to himself. - -‘However, for the present we will pass that over. Mr Morton was known -to have been a rich man. All he had was left, I understand, to you?’ - -‘In that, sir, you are perfectly right. Pray, continue.’ - -‘Now, at one time, I understand, poor Morton intended to leave -everything to his niece. Was that so?’ - -Miss Wakefield inclined her head coldly. - -‘And since his death, not the slightest trace of the bulk of the money -has been discovered. Is that not so?’ - -Miss Wakefield inclined her head once more. - -‘Well, we have now discovered where the money is.’ - -‘Discovered where the money is! where _my_ money is!’ the woman cried -with a grating laugh. ‘And I presume you came to bring it to me. After -all this long while, fancy getting my own at last!’ - -‘I suppose you will do something for Mrs Seaton?’ inquired Slimm. - -‘Do something for them—of course I will,’ she laughed hardly. ‘I’ll go -and call on them. I will let them see me ride in my carriage, while -they are begging in the gutter. I will give them a sixpence when they -come to ask alms at my house.—Oh, tell me, are they starving?—are they -starving, I say?’ she gasped in her passionate utterance, clutching the -American by the arm. ‘Are they living on charity? Oh, I hope so—I hope -so, for I hate them—hate them!’ The last words hissed lingeringly and -spitefully through her teeth. - -‘Well, not quite,’ Slimm replied cheerfully. ‘It must be consoling to -your womanly feelings to know they are getting on first-rate—in fact, -they are as happy and comfortable as two people can be.’ - -‘I am sorry for that,’ she said, with a little pant between each word. -‘I hoped they were starving. What right have they to be happy, when I -am so miserable?’ - -‘Really, madam, it is no pleasure to bring you news, you take it so -uncomfortably,’ Slimm replied. ‘These histrionics, I know, are intended -merely to disguise your delicate and tender feelings. Now, we admit -this money belongs to you. What will you stand for the information? -‘Forty thousand pounds is a lot of money.’ - -‘Not one farthing,’ replied the woman—‘not one single farthing. The -money is mine, and mine it shall remain.’ - -‘In that case,’ said Slimm cheerfully, ‘my mission is at an end.—I wish -you a very good-morning.’ - -‘Stop! Do you mean to say you intend to hold the secret unless I agree -to some terms?’ - -‘Your powers of penetration do you credit, madam. That is precisely -what I do mean.’ - -‘And what, pray, is the price placed upon your secret?’ - -‘Half!’ - -‘Half!’ she echoed, with a bitter laugh. ‘You are joking. Twenty -thousand pounds! Oh, you have made a mistake. You should go to a -millionaire, not come to me.’ - -‘Do I understand you to decline?’ - -‘Decline!’ she exclaimed in a fury. ‘Rather than pay that money to -them, I would starve and rot! Rather than pay that, the money shall -remain in its secret hiding-place till it is forgotten!—Do you take me -for an idiot, a drivelling old woman with one foot in the grave? No, -no, no! You do not know Selina Wakefield yet. Twenty thousand pounds. -Ah, ah, ah! The fools, the fools, the miserable fools, to come and ask -me this!’ - -‘Perhaps you will be good enough to name a sum you consider to be -equivalent to the service rendered,’ said the American, totally unmoved -by this torrent of invective. - -‘Now you talk like a man of sense,’ she replied. ‘You are quite -determined, I see, not to part with your secret until you have a -return. Well, let me see. What do you say to a thousand pounds, or, to -stretch a point, fifteen hundred?’ - -‘Appalling generosity!’ replied Slimm, regarding the ceiling in -rapture—‘wasteful extravagance! I cannot accept it. My principals are -so grasping, you know. Now, as a personal favour, and to settle this -little difficulty, could not you add, say, another five pounds?’ - -‘Not another farthing.’ - -‘Then I am afraid our interview is at an end,’ he said regretfully.—‘Now, -look here. My friends are in no need of money, and are a long way from -the state you charitably hoped to find them in. You are getting on -in life, and we can afford to wait. When you are no more—not to put -too fine a point upon it—we shall lay hands on the treasure, and live -happily ever after—yes, madam.’ - -‘What do you want me to do?’ she said sulkily. - -‘Let me put it another way. Suppose we come to an agreement. It is -highly probable that where the money is, a will is concealed. Now, it -is very certain that this will is made in Mrs Seaton’s favour. If we -make an arrangement to divide the spoil, and that turns out to be so, -what a good thing it will be for you! On the other hand, if there is no -will, you still have a handsome sum of money, which without our aid you -can never enjoy; and do not mistake me when I say that aid will never -be accorded without some benefit to the parties I have the honour to -represent.’ - -‘And suppose I refuse?’ - -‘So much the worse for you. Then we have another course open, and one I -decidedly advocate. We will at our own risk recover the money, trusting -to our good fortune to find the will. If not, we will throw the money -in Chancery, and fight you for it on the ground of undue influence and -fraud.’ - -‘Fraud, sir! What do you mean?’ exclaimed the lady, trembling with -indignation and hatred. - -Mr Slimm approached her more closely, and looking sternly into her -eyes, said: ‘Mark me, madam!—the Seatons are not unfriended. I am by -no means a poor man myself, and I will not leave a stone unturned to -unravel this mystery. Do you think I am fool enough to believe that -my old friend hid his money away in this strange manner unless he had -some fear? and if I mistake not, you are the cause of that fear. Had -he intended his wealth for you, he would have left it openly. Nothing -shall be left undone to fathom the matter; and if necessary’—here he -lowered his voice to an impressive whisper—‘the body shall be exhumed. -Do you understand, madam?—exhumed?’ - -The pallor on the woman’s face deepened to a ghastly ashen gray. ‘What -would you have me do?’ she exclaimed faintly. - -‘Come to our terms, and all will be well,’ Slimm said, pursuing the -advantage he had gained; ‘otherwise’—here he paused—‘however, we will -say nothing about that. What I propose is this: that an agreement be -drawn up and entered into upon the terms, that in case no will is found -with the money, the property is divided; and if a will is found leaving -the property to Mrs Seaton, you take five thousand pounds. That is my -final offer.’ - -‘I—I consent,’ she faltered humbly, at the same time longing, in her -passionate madness, to do her antagonist some deadly mischief, as he -stood before her so calmly triumphant. - -‘Very good,’ he said quietly—‘very good. Then I presume our intercourse -is at an end. You will be good enough to be at Mr Carver’s office in -Bedford Row at three o’clock to-morrow afternoon.’ - -‘One moment. Are you in the secret?’ - -‘Madam, I have that felicity. But why?’ - -‘Perhaps now we have come to terms, you may be good enough to tell me -where it is.’ - -‘Curiosity, thy name is woman,’ said Slimm sententiously. ‘I am sorry I -cannot gratify that little wish; but as you will doubtless be present -at the opening ceremony, you will not object to restrain your curiosity -for the present—Good-morning.’ - -Miss Wakefield watched our ambassador’s cab leave the door, and then -threw herself, in the abandonment of her passion, upon the floor. In -the impotence of her rage and despair, she lay there, rolling like a -mad dog, tearing at her long nails with the strong uneven teeth. ‘What -does he know?’ she hissed. ‘What can he know? Beaten, beaten at last!’ - -‘What a woman!’ soliloquised Slimm as he rolled back Londonwards. ‘I -must have a cigar, to get the flavour out of my mouth.’ - -When he arrived at Mr Carver’s, he found Eleanor and her husband -awaiting him with great impatience. - -‘What cheer, my comrade?’ Edgar asked with assumed cheerfulness. - -‘Considering the circumstances of the case and the imminent risk I ran, -you might at least have expressed a desire to weep upon this rugged -bosom,’ Slimm answered reproachfully. ‘I found the evil, like most -evils, not half so bad when it is properly faced.’ - -‘And Miss Wakefield?’ asked Mr Carver anxiously. - -‘Gentle as a sucking-dove—only too anxious to meet our views. In fact, -I so far tamed her that she has made an appointment to come here -to-morrow to settle preliminaries.’ - -‘But what sort of terms did you come to?’ Eleanor asked. - -Slimm briefly related the result of his mission, and its unexpected and -desirable consummation, to the mutual astonishment of his listeners; -indeed, when he came to review the circumstances of the case, he was -somewhat astonished at his own success. - -‘Wonderful!’ exclaimed Mr Carver, gazing with intense admiration at his -enemy. ‘I could not have believed it possible for one man single-handed -to have accomplished so much.—My good friend, do I really understand -that in any case we get half the money; and in one case, all but five -thousand pounds?’ - -‘Precisely; and you get the agreement drawn up, and we will get away -to Eastwood the day after to-morrow. I declare I feel as pleased as a -schoolboy who has found the apple at hide-and-seek. I feel as if I was -getting young again.’ - -‘Then you think it is really settled?’ Edgar asked, with a sigh of -pleasure and relief. - -‘Not the slightest doubt of it,’ said the American promptly. ‘And I -think I may be allowed to observe, that of all the strange things I -ever came across throughout my long and checkered career, this is about -the strangest.’ - -‘It certainly beats anything I ever remember,’ said Mr Carver with a -buoyant air.—‘What do you say, Bates?’ - -‘Well, sir,’ Mr Bates admitted, ‘there certainly are some points about -it one does not generally encounter in the ordinary run of business.’ - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -When the poet, in the pursuit of his fancy, eulogised the stately -homes of England, he must have forgotten or totally ignored a class -of dwelling dearer to my mind than all the marble halls the taste or -vanity of man ever designed. The Duke of Stilton doubtless prefers -his ancestral home, with its towers and turrets, its capacious -stables—which, by-the-bye, seem the first consideration in the -Brobdingnagian erections of the hour; he may wander with an air of -pride through the Raphael hall and the Teniers gallery or the Cuyp -drawing-room. For me, he can have his art treasures, his Carrara -marbles, his priceless Wedgwood, his Dresden. He may enjoy his -drawing-rooms—blue, red, and every colour in the universe. He may dine -in the bosom of his family on every delicacy a _cordon bleu_ can devise -to tickle the palate and stimulate the appetite, with its accompaniment -of rose-patterned silver and dainty china. Let him luxuriate in it all, -if he will. - -I have in my mind’s eye a house far different from His Grace’s, -but which, nevertheless, if not rich in costly bric-à-brac, has an -appearance of harmony and refinement refreshing beyond belief. It is -the house, or, if you will, the villa of Eastwood. Against the main -road is a rugged stone wall, moss-incrusted and lichen-strewn, and -surmounted by dense laurel. Opening the old-fashioned wooden gate, a -broad path leads to the door, which is some forty yards away, at the -side of the house. It is a low, gray stone house, clustered with ivy -and clematis, and climbing roses twisting round the long double row of -windows. In front is the lawn, quite half an acre in extent, and shut -off from a garden by a brick wall, covered with apricot and nectarine. -On the right, leading towards the house, is a sloping bank, all white -and fragrant in spring with violets; and above this bank, approached -by an ancient horse-block, is the old-world garden. It is a large -garden, with broad green paths, sheltered by bowers of apple-trees, -and the borders gay with wall-flowers, mignonette, stocks, pansies, -London-pride, Tom-Thumb, and here and there great bushes of lavender -and old-man. Far down is a walk of filbert trees, where the wily -squirrel makes merry in the harvest-time, and the cherry-trees all -melodious with the song of the blackbird. There is a balmy smell here -of thyme and sage and endive, and the variety of sweet herbs which our -grandmothers were wont to cull in autumn, and suspend in muslin bags -from the kitchen rafters. - -Opening the heavy hall door with the licensed freedom of the novelist, -we find ourselves in the hall, whence we reach the drawing-room. Here -we find our friends, awaiting the arrival of Miss Wakefield. They -have been talking and chatting gaily; but as the time for that lady’s -arrival draws near, conversation becomes flat, and there is an air of -expectation and suppressed excitement about them, which would at once -convince the observer that something important was on hand. - -Mr Carver rose from his seat, and, for about the fiftieth time, walked -to the window and looked out. It was amusing to note his easy air -and debonair appearance, which was palpably assumed to impress the -spectators with the idea that he was by no means anxious. The only -member of the party who really could be said to be at ease was Mr -Bates. He wore his best clothes, and had an air of resigned settled -melancholy, evidently expecting the worst, and prepared to have his cup -of joy—representing in his case his partnership—dashed from his lips at -the last moment. - -Felix was discussing the affair with Edgar in a low voice, and Eleanor -sat white and still, only showing her impatience ever and anon by a -gentle tap upon the floor with her heel. Mr Slimm was whistling softly -in a low key, and industriously engaged in whittling a stick in his -hand. Mr Carver returned from his post of observation and threw himself -back in his chair with an involuntary sigh. Slimm put up his knife. - -‘I vote we begin,’ said Edgar at length. - -‘No, no; it would not do—it really would not do,’ interposed Mr Carver, -seeing the company generally inclined to this view. ‘The lady whom we -await is capable of anything. If we found a will in her absence, she -would not be above saying we put it there.’ - -‘Judging from my limited experience of the lady, I calculate you are -about right, sir,’ said Mr Slimm. ‘No; after so many years’ patience, -it would certainly be unwise to do anything rash now.’ - -‘It is the last few moments which seem so hard,’ Eleanor said. -‘Suppose, after all, we should find nothing!’ - -‘For goodness’ sake, don’t think of such a thing!’ Edgar exclaimed. -‘Fancy, after all this bother and anxiety!’ - -The party lapsed into silence again, and once more Mr Carver strolled -towards the window. It is strange, when one is anxiously waiting for -anything, how slowly time goes. Edgar took his watch out of his pocket -every other minute, like a schoolboy who wears one for the first time. - -‘I think I will walk down the road and see if she is coming,’ Slimm -observed. ‘It would look a little polite, I think.’ - -Edgar murmured something touching love’s young dream, and asked the -American if the fascination was so strong. - -‘Well, no,’ he replied. ‘I don’t deny she is fascinating; but it is not -the sort of glamour that generally thrills the young bosom. One thing -we all agree upon, I think, and that is, that we shall be all extremely -pleased to see the lady.’ - -‘That is a strange thing in itself,’ Edgar replied drily. ‘The damsel -is evidently coy. She is at present, doubtless, struggling with her -emotion. I fancy she does not intend to come.’ - -At this moment there was a sound of wheels, and a coach pulled up at -the gate. After a moment, a tall black figure was seen approaching the -house. A few seconds later, Miss Wakefield entered the room. - - - - -INVESTORS AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE. - -SECOND ARTICLE. - - -In a former article we endeavoured to explain the _modus operandi_ -of Stock Exchange transactions; and our object now is to make a few -remarks upon the rights and duties of investors and members of the -Stock Exchange respectively. As formerly explained, when any business -is transacted on the Stock Exchange, the broker always renders to his -client a contract containing the particulars of the transaction, which -is understood to be carried through in accordance with the rules and -regulations of the Stock Exchange. These rules have been compiled with -the strictest regard to the rights and duties of both parties, and are -altered from time to time as circumstances may require. They are in -complete accordance with the law of the land; and when any question -has arisen in regard to Stock Exchange affairs, the courts of law -have invariably allowed that those rules have been framed on the most -equitable principles. - -When a contract has been rendered, broker and client are equally bound -to fulfil their part of it: the broker, in the case of a purchase, to -deliver to, his client an authentic certificate of the stock, and in -the case of a sale, to pay for the stock on delivery of a properly -executed transfer; the client to pay the consideration-money, &c., -when the stock is purchased for him, and to deliver the transfer duly -executed, with the certificate, when the stock is sold. Many investors, -while looking very sharply after their rights, entirely lose sight of -their duties, and altogether forget that there must be two parties to -every contract. When a man sells stock, he is entitled to a cheque for -the proceeds the moment he hands the executed transfer to his broker, -and no sooner; and when stock is purchased, the broker is entitled to -receive the purchase-money when he delivers the transfer to his client -for signature, and no sooner. Many persons, however, imagine that if -they send their broker a cheque for stock bought a day or two after -the account-day, it will be time enough, being ignorant of the fact -that the latter is obliged by the rules to pay for the stock when it -is delivered to him, either on the account-day or any subsequent day. -Those living at a distance from London should therefore be careful to -let the money be in the hands of their broker on the morning of the -account-day at the very latest; or if they object to pay for stock -before receiving it, should instruct a banker in the City to pay for -the stock, or proportionately for any part, on delivery, so that the -broker may not be out of the money. Of course, brokers are not supposed -to have unlimited balances at their bankers, and it is frequently a -real hardship for them to be obliged to find the money as best they -can. The Stock Exchange rules admit of no delay whatever, and must be -acted up to by the members, without any regard to the negligence or -inattention of the investor. - -When stock payable to bearer is not delivered to the buying-broker on -the account-day, he has the power, on the following day, of ordering -it to be purchased, or ‘bought in’ as it is called, in the market for -immediate delivery, and any loss consequent upon the buying-in must -be paid by the seller. In the case of registered stocks, however, ten -days after the account-day are allowed for delivery. This is only -reasonable, as a deed of transfer frequently requires the signature of -several sellers, or the seller may reside at a distance, and thus delay -cannot be avoided. On the expiry of the time named, the broker can ‘buy -in,’ as in the case of stock to bearer. If the buyer of stock to bearer -does not receive the stock from his broker within a day or two after -the account-day, or registered stock within about ten days after the -account-day, he has a perfect right to know the reason of the delay, -and failing any proper excuse, should give instructions to ‘buy in,’ as -explained above. - -The Committee of the Stock Exchange have always done everything in -their power to insure the strict fulfilment of all bargains entered -into by the members; and if any investor feels aggrieved or thinks he -has been unfairly dealt with, a letter addressed to the Committee will -at once bring the culprit to book. Accounts are settled fortnightly, -about the middle and end of each month; and every member of the House -prepares, or ought to prepare, a balance-sheet, showing exactly how he -stands on these occasions. If a member finds that he is unable to meet -his engagements, he should at once notify the fact to the Committee, -when he will instantly be declared a defaulter. This disagreeable duty -is performed by an official of the Stock Exchange, who, after three -knocks with a hammer, which resound through the House, intimates that -‘Mr —— begs to inform the House that he is unable to comply with his -bargains.’ If, as frequently happens, the defaulter has issued cheques -on the account-day which have been returned by his banker, the formula -is: ‘Mr —— has not complied with his bargains.’ After such declaration, -the defaulting member is precluded from any further dealings with his -fellow-members, and his affairs are placed in the hands of the official -assignee, who proceeds to wind up the estate and distribute whatever -dividend it will realise. The sound of the dreaded ‘hammer’ produces -universal stillness and apprehension, and where a few seconds before -was heard the hum of many voices and the sound of hurrying feet, now -every ear is on the alert to hear the name of the proscribed member. As -soon as the name is announced, it is posted up in a conspicuous part -of the House, exposed to the gaze and subject to the derogatory remarks -of the members for the rest of the day. As may well be imagined, the -fact of having been ‘hammered,’ whatever a man’s future life may be, -casts a dark shadow which cannot be got rid of; and investors may be -quite certain that the members of the Stock Exchange will strain every -nerve to avoid the disgrace. The rules of the House are, however, -inexorable, and the fatal hammer must sound if engagements are not -strictly and promptly met. In no trade, business, or profession does -the punishment follow so quickly upon the offence, and it would be well -if all commercial and financial default were as promptly declared to -the world. - -As will be seen from what we have said, the rights and duties of -investors and members are clearly defined, and both parties have a -right to expect them to be carried out with punctuality. Promptitude is -praiseworthy under all circumstances, but on the Stock Exchange it is -essential for the sake both of members and investors. No slovenliness -or easy slipshod habits of doing business should be permitted on either -side; and investors, while insisting on their rights, should bear in -mind that their contracts with their brokers ought to be carried out -with exactitude on their part, to enable the latter to fulfil their -duties towards their fellow-members. - -One other point we would urge investors to bear in mind, and that is, -that stockbrokers are not prophets. Many investors, especially ladies, -think the reverse. We have frequently heard very hard words indeed used -towards brokers who have been unfortunate enough to advise a purchase -which has turned out badly; but a moment’s thought must demonstrate -the folly of such expressions of feeling. If a broker knows positively -what course the market is to take in any particular stock, he has only -to buy or sell it to the amount required for producing the profit he -desires. Many investors, however, when smarting under losses, are apt -to rush to conclusions which reflection proves to be utterly unjust. -It is true that stockbrokers ought to be better acquainted with stocks -and everything pertaining thereto than the large majority of investors; -but it is absurd to suppose that their views should never be wrong. Let -investors be satisfied with a reasonable rate of interest, never buy -stock without the advice of a stockbroker, never buy what they cannot -pay for, or sell what they are not prepared to deliver, and we are -certain there would be fewer sleepless pillows and more money in the -coffers. - -Speculation, we fear, is inherent in the human constitution, and all -that we can say on the subject is not likely to put a stop to it. It -is natural to the human animal to desire to make money without working -for it, and no doubt such a state of affairs will exist to the end. -But experience teaches. We once heard an old man, who had been a large -speculator in his early days, say that if he had put his money into -consols when he first began to save, and continued doing so, instead of -running after high rates of interest, he would have been a very much -richer man in his old age. In the furious race for riches, we feel -certain that the steady investor has the best of it; and the man who is -not even able to do more than make both ends meet is infinitely happier -than he who spends restless days and sleepless nights in the pursuit -of that sudden wealth, which he, in all probability, goes down to his -grave without acquiring. - - - - -THE ‘LADY GODIVA.’ - -AN AUSTRALIAN STORY. - - -It happened that one summer, a few years ago, I found myself travelling -up the Barwon River, just where it commences to form the boundary -between Queensland and New South Wales. The weather was terribly hot, -and feed for horses scarce, so that I was only too glad to accept the -invitation of a hospitable settler, an old acquaintance in digging days -gone by, to stay and ‘spell’ for a week or two, whilst my horses put -on a little condition in his well-grassed paddocks. The country round -about at that time, even on the river frontages, was very sparsely -settled, and comparatively young people could remember when the -blacks were ‘bad.’ Dingoes, kangaroos, wild-cattle, and ‘brombees’ or -wild-horses, roamed the great scrubs in thousands; and with respect to -broken-in and branded individuals of the two latter species, the laws -of _meum_ and _tuum_ seemed to be very lightly regarded amongst the -pioneers of the border; and for a settler to put in an appearance at -his neighbour’s killing-yard whilst the operation of converting bullock -into beef was going on, was deemed the very height of bad manners, -inexcusable, indeed, unless perhaps in the newest of new-chums, at -least till the hide was off and the brand cut out. - -My friend had only recently taken up ground on the river; but his next -and nearest neighbour, old Tom Dwyer, who resided about five-and-twenty -miles away, was a settler of many years’ standing; and it was from him -that, towards the end of my stay with the Brays, came an invitation to -the wedding festivities of his only daughter, who was to be married to -a young cousin, also a Dwyer, who followed the occupation of a drover. - -As Bray and myself rode along in the cool of the early morning—the -womenkind and children having set out by moonlight the night before in -a spring-cart—he gave me a slight sketch of the people whose hearty -invitation we were accepting. - -‘A rum lot,’ said my old friend—a fine specimen of the bushman-digger -type of Australian-born colonist, hardy, brave, and intelligent, who -had, after many years of a roving, eventful life, at last settled down -to make himself a home in the wilderness—‘a rum lot, these Dwyers. -Not bad neighbours by no means, at least not to me. I speak as I -find; but people do say that they come it rather too strong sometimes -with the squatters’ stock, and that young Jim—him as is goin’ to get -switched—and old Tom his uncle do work the oracle atween ’em. I mind, -not so long ago, young Jim he starts up north somewhere with about a -score head o’ milkers and their calves; and when he comes back again -in about six months, he fetched along with him over three hundred head -o’ cattle! “Increase,” he called ’em—ha, ha! A very smart lad is Jim -Dwyer; but the squatters are getting carefuller now; and I’m afraid, if -he don’t mind, that he’ll find himself in the logs some o’ these fine -days. He’s got a nice bit o’ a place over the river, on the New South -Wales side, has Jim, just in front o’ Fort Dwyer, as they call the old -man’s camp. You could a’most chuck a stone from one house to the other.’ - -So conversing, after about three hours’ steady-riding through open box -forest country, flat and monotonous, we arrived at ‘Fort Dwyer’—or -Dee-wyer, as invariably pronounced thereabouts—a long, low building, -constructed of huge, roughly squared logs of nearly fireproof red -coolabah, or swamp-gum, and situated right on the verge of the steep -clay bank, twenty feet below which glided sullenly along the sluggish -Barwon, then nearly half a ‘banker.’ - -A hearty welcome greeted us; and the inevitable ‘square-face’ of -spirits was at once produced, to which my companion did justice whilst -pledging the health of the company with a brief, ‘Well, here’s luck, -lads!’ For my own part, not daring to tackle the half-pannikinful of -fiery Mackay rum so pressingly offered, with the assurance that it was -‘the finest thing out after a warm ride,’ I paid my respects to an -immense cask of honey-beer which stood under a canopy of green boughs, -thus running some risk of losing caste as a bushman by appropriating -‘the women’s swankey,’ as old Dwyer contemptuously termed it, whilst -insisting on ‘tempering’ my drink with ‘just the least taste in life, -sir,’ of Port Mackay, of about 45 o. p. strength. - -There must have been fully one hundred people assembled; and the -open space just in front of the house was crowded with buggies, -spring-carts, wagonettes, and even drays; but the great centre of -attraction was the stockyard, where Jim Dwyer was breaking-in to the -side-saddle a mare, bought in one of his recent trips ‘up north,’ and -intended as a present for his bride, of whom I caught a glimpse as -she sat on an empty kerosene tin, with her sleeves rolled up, busily -engaged in plucking poultry; a fair type of the bush-maiden, tall and -slender, with good, though sharply cut features, deeply browned by -the sun, laughing dark eyes, perfect teeth—a rare gift amongst young -Australians—and as much at home—so old Bray assured me—on horseback -cutting out ‘scrubbers’ or ‘brombees,’ as was her husband-elect himself. - -The rails of the great stockyard were crowded with tall, -cabbage-tree-hatted, booted and spurred ‘Cornstalks’ and ‘Banana-men’ -(natives of New South Wales and Queensland respectively); and loud -were their cries of admiration, as young Dwyer, on the beautiful and, -to my eyes, nearly thoroughbred black mare, cantered round and round, -whilst flourishing an old riding-skirt about her flanks. - -‘She’ll do, Jim—quiet as a sheep’—‘My word! she’ll carry Annie -flying’—‘What did yer give for her, Jim?’—‘A reg’lar star, an’ no -mistake!’ greeted the young man, as, lightly jumping off, he unbuckled -the girths and put the saddle on the slip-rails. - -Jim Dwyer differed little from the ordinary style of young bush -‘native’—tall, thin, brown, quick-eyed, narrow in the flanks; but with -good breadth of chest, and feet which, from their size and shape, might -have satisfied even that captious critic the Lady Hester Stanhope, -under whose instep ‘a kitten could walk,’ that the Australians of a -future nation would not be as the British, ‘a flat-soled generation, of -whom no great or noble achievement could ever be expected.’ - -I fancied that, as the young fellow came forward to shake hands with -Bray, he looked uneasily and rather suspiciously at me out of the -corner of one of his black eyes. My companion evidently observed it -also, for he said laughingly: ‘What’s the matter, Jim? Only a friend of -mine. Is the mare “on the cross?” And did you think he was a “trap?”’ - -‘None o’ your business, Jack Bray,’ was the surly reply. ‘“Cross” or -“square,” she’s mine till some one comes along who can show a better -right to her, an’ that won’t happen in a hurry.’ - -‘Well, well,’ replied Bray, ‘you needn’t get crusty so confounded -quick. But she’s a pretty thing, sure enough. Let’s go and have a look -at her.’ - -Everybody now crowded round the mare, praising and admiring her. ‘Two -year old, just,’ exclaimed one, looking in her mouth.—‘Rising three, -I say,’ replied another.—‘And a cleanskin, and unbranded!’ ejaculated -Bray, at the same time passing his hand along the mare’s wither. - -‘That’s a disease can soon be cured,’ said Dwyer with a laugh. ‘I’m -agoin’ to clap the J. D. on her now.—Shove her in the botte, boys, -while I go an’ fetch the irons up.’ - -‘That mare’s a thoroughbred, and a race-mare to boot, and she’s “on the -cross” right enough,’ whispered Bray, as we walked back towards the -house. ‘She’s been shook; and though she ain’t fire-branded, there’s a -half-sovereign let in under the skin just below the wither; I felt it -quite plain; and I wouldn’t wonder but there’s a lot more private marks -on her as we can’t see.’ - -‘Do you think, then,’ I asked, ‘that young Dwyer stole her?’ - -‘Likely enough, likely enough,’ was the reply. ‘But if he did, strikes -me as we’ll hear more about the matter yet.’ - -Just at this moment, shouts of, ‘Here’s the parson!’—‘Here’s old Ben!’ -drew our attention to a horseman who was coming along the narrow track -at a slow canter. - -A well-known character throughout the whole of that immense district -was the Rev. Benjamin Back, ‘bush missionary;’ and not less well -known was his old bald-faced horse Jerry. The pair bore a grotesque -resemblance to each other, both being long and ungainly, both thin -and gray, both always ready to eat and drink, and yet always looking -desolate and forlorn. As the Rev. Ben disengaged his long legs from the -stirrups, the irrepressible old Dwyer appeared with the greeting-cup—a -tin pint-pot half full of rum—which swallowing with scarcely a wink, to -the great admiration of the lookers-on, the parson, commending Jerry -to the care of his host, stalked inside, and was soon busy at the -long table, working away at a couple of roast-ducks, a ham, and other -trifles, washed down with copious draughts of hot tea, simply remarking -to ‘Annie,’ that she ‘had better make haste and clean herself, so that -he could put her and Jim through, as he had to go on to Bullarora that -evening to bury a child for the Lacies.’ - -Having at length finished his repast, all hands crowded into the long -room, where before ‘old Ben’ stood bride and bridegroom, the former -neatly dressed in dark merino—her own especial choice, as I was told, -in preference to anything gayer—with here and there a bright-coloured -ribbon, whilst in her luxuriant black hair and in the breast of her -dress were bunches of freshly plucked orange blossoms, that many a -belle of proud Mayfair might have envied. The bridegroom in spotless -white shirt, with handkerchief of crimson silk, confined loosely around -his neck by a massive gold ring, riding-trousers of Bedford cord, kept -up by a broad belt, worked in wools of many colours by his bride, and -shining top-boots and spurs, looked the very beau-idéal of a dashing -stockman, as he bore himself elate and proudly, without a trace of -that bucolic sheepishness so often witnessed in the principal party to -similar contracts. - -The old parson, with the perspiration induced by recent gastronomic -efforts rolling in beads off his bald head, and dropping from the tip -of his nose on to the church-service in his hand, had taken off his -long coat of threadbare rusty black, and stood confessed in shirt of -hue almost akin to that of the long leggings that reached above his -knees. It was meltingly hot; and the thermometer—had there been such -an article—would have registered one hundred and ten or one hundred -and fifteen degrees in the shade at the least. But it was all over at -last. Solemnly ‘old Ben’ had kissed the darkly flushing bride, and -told her to be a good girl to Jim—solemnly the old man had disposed -of another ‘parting cup;’ and then, whilst the womenkind filled his -saddle-bags with cake, chicken, and ham, together with the generous -half of a ‘square-face’—or large square-sided bottle—containing his -favourite summer beverage, old Dwyer, emerging from one of the inner -rooms, produced a piece of well-worn bluish-tinted paper, known and -appreciated in those regions as a ‘bluey,’ at sight of which the -parson’s eye glistened, for seldom was it that he had the fortune to -come across such a liberal douceur as a five-pound note; but as old -Dwyer said: ‘We don’t often have a job like this one for you Ben, old -man. We’re pretty well in just now, an’ I mean you shall remember it. -An’ look here; Jerry’s getting pretty poor now, an’ I know myself he’s -no chicken; so you’d best leave him on the grass with us for the rest -o’ his days, an’ I’ll give you as game a bit o’ horse-flesh as ever -stepped; quiet, too, an’ a good pacer. See! the boys is a-saddlin’ him -up now.’ - -The old preacher’s life was hard, for the most part barren, and little -moistened by kind offers like the present; and his grim and wrinkled -face puckered up and worked curiously as he gratefully accepted the -gift for Jerry’s sake, his constant companion through twelve long years -of travel incessant through the wildest parts of Queensland; and with -a parting injunction to ‘the boys’ to look after the old horse, he, -mounting his new steed, started off on his thirty-mile ride to bury -Lacy’s little child. - -The long tables, at which all hands had intermittently appeased their -hunger throughout the day, on fowls, geese, turkeys, sucking-pig, fish, -&c., were now cleared and removed; a couple of concertinas struck up, -and fifteen or twenty couples were soon dancing with might and main on -the pine-boarded floor. Old men and young, old women and maidens, boys -and girls, all went at it with a will, whirling, stamping, changing and -‘chaining’ till the substantial old house shook again, and fears were -audibly expressed that the whole building would topple over into the -river. - -‘Not to-night, of all nights in the year,’ said old Dwyer; ‘although I -do believe I’ll have to shift afore long. Ye’ll hardly think it—would -ye?—that when I first put up the old shanty, it stood four chain, good, -away from the bank; it was, though, all that; an’ many a sneaking, -greasy black-fellow I’ve seen go slap into the water with a rifle -bullet through his ugly carcass out of that back-winder, though it is -plumb a’most with the river now.’ - -So, louder and louder screamed the concertinas, faster and faster -whirled the panting couples, till nearly midnight, when ‘supper’ was -announced by the sound of a great bullock bell, and out into the calm -night-air trooped the crowd. The tables this time had been set out -on the sward in front of the house, just without the long dark line -of forest which bordered the river, through the tops of whose giant -‘belars’ the full moon shone down on the merry feasters with a subdued -glory; whilst, in a quiet pause, you could hear the rush of the strong -Barwon current, broken, every now and again, by a deep-sounding ‘plop,’ -as some fragment of the ever-receding clayey bank would fall into the -water. Four or five native bears, disturbed by the noise, crawled out -on the limbs of a great coolabar, and with unwinking, beady-black -eyes, gazed on the scene below, expressing their astonishment every -now and again in hoarse mutterings, now low and almost inarticulate, -then ‘thrum, thrumming’ through the bush till it rang again. From a -neighbouring swamp came the shrill scream of the curlew; whilst far -away in the low ranges of Cooyella, could be heard the dismal howl of a -solitary dingo coo-ee-ing to his mates. - -Scarcely had the guests taken their seats and commenced, amidst jokes -and laughter, to attack a fresh and substantial meal, when a furious -barking, from a pack of about fifty dogs, announced the advent of -strangers; and in a minute more, three horsemen, in the uniform of -the Queensland mounted police, rode up to the tables. One, a sergeant -apparently, dismounted, and with his bridle over his arm, strode -forward, commanding every one to keep their seats; for several at -first sight of the ‘traps’ had risen, and apparently thought of -quietly slipping away. This order, however, enforced as it was by the -production of a revolver, together with an evident intention of using -it on any absconder, brought them to their seats again. - -‘What’s all this about?’ exclaimed old Dwyer. ‘We’re all honest people -here, mister, so you can put up your pistol. Tell us civilly what it -is you’re wantin’, an’ we’ll try an’ help you; but don’t come it too -rough. You ought to be ’shamed o’ yourself. Don’t ye see the faymales?’ - -‘Can’t help the females,’ retorted the sergeant sharply. ‘I haven’t -ridden four hundred miles to play polite to a lot of women. I want -a man named James Dwyer; and by the description, yonder’s the man -himself’—pointing at the same time across the table to where sat the -newly-made husband, who had been one of the first to make a move at -sight of the police. - -‘What’s the charge, sargent?’ asked old Dwyer coolly. - -‘Horse-stealing,’ was the reply; ‘and here’s the warrant, signed by the -magistrate in Tambo, for his apprehension.’ - -I was sitting quite close to the object of these inquiries, and at -this moment I heard young Mrs Dwyer, whilst leaning across towards her -husband, whisper something about ‘the river’ and ‘New South Wales;’ -and in another moment, head over heels down the steep bank rolled the -recently created benedict, into the curious and cool nuptial couch of -swiftly flowing, reddish water, which he breasted with ease, making -nearly a straight line for the other bank, distant perhaps a couple of -hundred yards. - -The troopers, drawing their revolvers, dismounted, and running forward, -were about to follow the example set by their superior, who was -taking steady aim at the swimmer, perfectly discernible in the clear -moonlight, when suddenly half-a-dozen pair of soft but muscular arms -encircled the three representatives of law and order, as the women, -screaming like a lot of curlews after a thunderstorm, clasped them in a -tight embrace. - -Young Mrs Dwyer herself tackled the sergeant, crying: ‘What! would you -shoot a man just for a bit of horse-sweating! Leave him go, can’t you. -He’s over the border now in New South Wales, mare and all; and you -can’t touch him, even if you was there.’ - -Just then a yell of triumph from the scrub on the other shore seemed -to vouch for the fact, and was answered by a dozen sympathetic whoops -and shouts from the afore-mentioned ‘Cornstalks’ and ‘Banana-men,’ who -crowded along our side of the river. - -The sergeant struggled to free himself; and his fair antagonist unwound -her arms, saying: ‘Come now, sargent, sit down peaceably and eat your -supper, can’t you! What’s the good of making such a bother over an old -scrubber of a mare!’ - -‘An old scrubber of a mare!’ repeated the sergeant aghast ‘D’ye think -we’d ride this far over a scrubber of a mare? Why, it’s the Lady Godiva -he took; old Stanford’s race-mare, worth five hundred guineas, if -she’s worth a penny. Bother me! if he didn’t take her clean out of the -stable in Tambo, settling-night, after she’d won the big money! But -there, you all know as much about it as I can tell you, that’s plain -to be seen, for I never mentioned a mare; it was your own self, I do -believe; and I’ll have him, if I have to follow him to Melbourne.—Just -got married, has he? Well, I can’t help that; he shouldn’t go stealing -race-mares.—Well, perhaps you didn’t know _all_ about it,’ went on the -sergeant, in reply to the asseverations of the Dwyer family as regarded -their knowledge of the way the young man had become possessed of the -mare. ‘But,’ shaking his head sententiously, ‘I’m much mistaken if most -of this crowd hadn’t a pretty good idea that there was something cross -about her. However,’ he concluded philosophically, ‘it’s no use crying -over spilt milk. I’ll have to ride over to G—— at daylight—that’s -another forty miles—and get an extradition warrant out for him. He -might just as well have come quietly at first, for we’re bound to have -the two of them some time or other.’ - -It was now nearly daylight; and our party set out on their return home, -leaving the troopers comfortably seated at the supper, or rather by -this time, breakfast table; while just below the house, in a bend of -the river, we could see, as we passed along, a group of men busily -engaged in swimming a mob of horses—amongst which was doubtless the -Lady Godiva herself—over to the New South Wales shore, where, on the -bank, plainly to be discerned in the early dawn, stood the tall form of -her lawless owner. - -‘How do you think it will all end?’ I asked Bray. - -‘Oh,’ was the reply, ‘they’ll square it, most likely. I know something -of that Stanford; he’s a bookmaker; and if he gets back the mare and -a cheque for fifty or a hundred pounds, to cover expenses, he’ll not -trouble much after Jim.’ - -‘Yes. But the police?’ I asked. - -‘Easier squared than Stanford,’ answered Bray dogmatically. - -That this ‘squaring’ process was successfully put in force seemed -tolerably certain; for very shortly afterwards I read that at the -autumn meeting of the N. Q. J. C., the Lady Godiva had carried off the -lion’s share of the money; and I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr -and Mrs Dwyer in one of Cobb & Co.’s coaches, bound for the nearest -railway terminus, about three hundred miles distant, thence to spend -a month or so in Sydney; Jim, as his wife informed me, having done -uncommonly well out of a mob of cattle and horses which he had been -travelling for sale through the colonies; so had determined to treat -himself and the ‘missis,’ for the first time in their lives, to a look -at the ‘big smoke.’ - -‘That was a great shine at our wedding, wasn’t it?’ she asked, as the -coachman gathered up the reins preparatory to a fresh start. ‘But’—and -here she tapped her husband on the head with her parasol—‘I look out -now that he don’t go sticking-up to any more Lady Godivas.’ - -‘That’s so,’ laughed Jim. ‘I find, that I have my hands pretty full -with the one I collared the night you were there. I doubt sometimes -I’d done better to have stuck to the other one; and as for temp’—— -Here Jim’s head disappeared suddenly into the interior of the coach; -crack went the long whip; the horses plunged, reared, and went through -the usual performance of attempting to tie themselves up into overhand -knots, then darted off at top-speed on their sixteen-mile stage, soon -disappearing in a cloud of dust along the ‘cleared line.’ - - - - -OCCASIONAL NOTES. - - -ARTILLERY EXPERIMENTS. - -The trials lately carried on at the Bill of Portland, supplement (says -the _Times_) those of Inchkeith in certain respects. At Inchkeith it -was sought to obtain a just idea of the effect of machine-gun and -shrapnel fire on the detachment serving a gun mounted _en barbette_ -in an emplacement of tolerably recent design. Dummies were placed -round the gun in exposed positions, and Her Majesty’s ship _Sultan_, -under very favourable conditions of sea and weather, carried out some -careful practice at various ranges. The results, accurately recorded, -furnish data calculated to serve as a correction to mere conjecture. -At Portland, the objects sought to be attained were two. The merits -of the Moncrieff or ‘disappearing’ principle of mounting guns for -coast-defence have been much discussed, and great advantages have been -claimed for it with every show of reason; but no opportunity had ever -been given to the system to practically demonstrate its defensive -value. It was, therefore, sufficiently desirable that a practical -experiment should be arranged in which ‘service-conditions’ should -be observed as far as possible, so that there might be a something -definite to set against prejudice either in favour of or against the -system. It was proposed, at the same time, to seek to obtain data as to -the accuracy of howitzer-fire from a floating platform.... To sum up -the case with judicial fairness, the Portland experiments fully bear -out all that the champions of the disappearing system have asserted; -while its opponents—if there are any such—must perforce admit that at -least nothing whatever is proved against it. More than this, however, -appears to be indicated by these trials. There seems to be every reason -to believe that all direct fire, whether of heavy or machine guns, -against a disappearing gun when down, is thrown away; that in the short -time during which this gun need be visible, it will require a very -smart gun-captain on board ship merely to lay on it; that the more the -smoke obscures it, the better, provided a position-finder is used; -and finally, that to engage two or three dispersed disappearing guns -would be a heart-breaking task for a ship. Probably the best chance -of disabling guns mounted on this system is snap-shooting from the -six-pounder quick-firing gun, which can be bandied almost as readily as -a rifle. But, on the one hand, it does not necessarily follow that a -hit from the six-pounder would have any effect on the disappearing gun; -and, on the other hand, the latter would be able to get through a good -deal of shooting before the six-pounder was able to come into effective -action. Again, the six-pounder on board ship would presumably be met -by the six-pounder on shore, which would shoot rather more accurately; -while, even as opposed to these wonderfully handy little weapons, the -disappearing system must stand superior to all others. In a turret or -a cupola, more than half the length of the modern long guns must be -always exposed to fire. All considerations, therefore, seem to point -to the disappearing system as the most scientific method ever devised -for protecting shore-guns, and the advantages to be obtained being so -great, it becomes worth while to use every possible effort to bring -the disappearing gun to practical perfection. The main difficulty is -to render the larger guns independently automatic, and at present no -gun larger than the eight-inch—the gun exhibited in the Inventions -Exhibition—has been thus mounted in England. - - -SEA-GOING FISHING LIFEBOAT VESSELS. - -Mr F. Johnson, the honorary managing secretary of the National Refuge -Harbours Society, 17 Parliament Street, London, has made it the one aim -of his life to devise such means as will conduce to diminish the large -total of lives annually reported as having been lost at sea. He is now -interesting himself in bringing to a practical application an invention -of Mr John White, of Cowes, described as a Sea-going Fishing Lifeboat -vessel, a model of which is now on public view at 72 New Bond Street, -London. Broad in the beam, she has a large air-chamber divided into -two compartments at the bow; another—of a smaller size—at the stern; -and one running along on either side. Thus, however much sea she may -‘ship,’ with these air-chambers in use, it is not possible for her to -sink. Except for the roofs of the fore and aft air-chambers, the vessel -has no deck, an arrangement which of course gives her considerable -buoyancy. The roofs of the side air-chambers are curved off, so that -any water which might wash over one bulwark would pass across the -vessel and wash out over the other. As a matter of fact, however, it -is confidently believed that, even in a high sea, the vessel will -be too buoyant to ship much water. It has naturally occurred to the -inventor that in fine weather the fore air-chamber might be utilised -as a cabin; he has therefore arranged that it may be unsealed and -access obtained to it by means of a hatchway. It will be fitted up with -cooking apparatus and beds, the latter articles also filling the rôle -of life-buoys. - -Those who interest themselves in this invention propose that -vessels of the kind shall be launched around our coasts, equipped -with fishing-gear, and manned with smacksmen, so that they may be -‘self-supporting;’ while their primary object will be to afford -succour during stormy weather to any craft in distress. Thus, it is -felt that the Fishing Lifeboat vessels might ride in the different -fishing fleets, the smacks of which, being frequently far away from -any harbour of refuge, are often disabled or utterly wrecked during -a storm. Then, too, the vessels might fish in the neighbourhood of -dangerous reefs and shoals, where their presence would be especially -valuable. We believe that two or three years ago a fishing-smack was -constructed very much on the lines indicated, and that, after effecting -some rescues in the neighbourhood of the Goodwin Sands, she herself -was wrecked, owing to her having been improperly laden with stone. Mr -White has agreed to build Sea-going Fishing Lifeboat vessels of forty -tons—a size which is considered most suitable—at a cost each of five -hundred pounds. It is felt that a fair start might be made with twenty -vessels, to be placed at different points around our coasts. Thus ten -thousand pounds is required; and a public fund has been opened, and -part of the money already subscribed. Those who desire to contribute -should communicate with Mr Johnson, all cheques being crossed National -Provincial Bank. - - -SOME FACTS ABOUT MONTE CARLO. - -The Report, says a contemporary, of the International Committee in -Nice upon the disgraceful gambling hell of Monte Carlo, which has -just been issued, is to be made the ground of a collective diplomatic -action against the protector of that institution, Prince Charles III. -of Monaco. This important pamphlet gives a documentary catalogue of -all the suicides which have taken place in Monte Carlo from 1877 to -1885. The total number of persons who have destroyed themselves in -consequence of their losses at his Princely Highness’s gambling-tables -is eighteen hundred and twenty—that is to say, there have been nearly -as many suicides as the Prince has subjects. The catalogue is very -complete, giving the name, the home, the age, and the date of death of -each suicide, and a collection of the letters in which the wretched -victims have commented upon their self-destruction. Nearly all of them -curse the hour in which their eyes first set sight upon Monte Carlo. It -is agreeable to learn from the table of nationality that the English -and Americans have supplied the smallest number of victims. A tenth -of the number are Germans and Austrians; but the largest contingent -by far has been provided by France, Italy, and Russia. The appalling -census was instituted by the Italian Consul-general in Nice, who found -ready support from patriotic citizens of other lands. The callous -brutality of the Monaco ‘government,’ if so honourable a name may be -given to this organised gambling Company, is shown in the treatment -of the suicides after their death. Scarcely one of them, except where -friends have appeared in time to claim the body, has received a decent -burial. After the poor wretch has lost all that he had, his corpse has -been hurriedly hidden in the poor quarter of the burial-ground without -funeral rites or mourners. - - * * * * * - -Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON, -and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH. - - * * * * * - -_All Rights Reserved._ - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 112, VOL. III, FEBRUARY -20, 1886 *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 112, Vol. III, February 20, 1886</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Various </p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67028]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Susan Skinner, Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 112, VOL. III, FEBRUARY 20, 1886 ***</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">{113}</span></p> - -<h1>CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL<br /> -OF<br /> -POPULAR<br /> -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.</h1> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<p class='center'> - - -<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> - -<a href="#THE_INFLUENCE_OF_HABIT_IN">THE INFLUENCE OF HABIT IN PLANT-LIFE.</a><br /> -<a href="#IN_ALL_SHADES">IN ALL SHADES.</a><br /> -<a href="#COLONIAL_FARM-PUPILS">COLONIAL FARM-PUPILS.</a><br /> -<a href="#A_GOLDEN_ARGOSY">A GOLDEN ARGOSY.</a><br /> -<a href="#INVESTORS_AND_THE_STOCK_EXCHANGE">INVESTORS AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE.</a><br /> -<a href="#THE_LADY_GODIVA">THE ‘LADY GODIVA.’</a><br /> -<a href="#OCCASIONAL_NOTES">OCCASIONAL NOTES.</a><br /> - -<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> - -</p> - - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" id="header" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/header.jpg" alt="Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science, -and Art. Fifth Series. Established by William and Robert Chambers, 1832. Conducted by R. Chambers (Secundus)." /> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> -<div class="center"> -<div class="header"> -<p class="floatl"><span class="smcap">No. 112.—Vol. III.</span></p> -<p class="floatr"><span class="smcap">Price</span> 1½<em>d.</em></p> -<p class="floatc">SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1886.</p> -</div></div></div> - -<hr class="full" /> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_INFLUENCE_OF_HABIT_IN">THE INFLUENCE OF HABIT IN -PLANT-LIFE.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> old maxim regarding the power of habit -is usually and rightly regarded as exhibiting a -thorough application to the regulation of animal -life. Not merely in human affairs is habit -allowed to be ‘a second nature;’ but in lower -life as well, the influence of use and wont is -plainly perceptible. A dog or cat equally with -a human being is under the sway of the -accustomed. That which may be at first unusual, -soon becomes the normal way of life. Even, as -the physiologist can prove, in a very large part -of ordinary human existence, we are the creatures -of habit quite as much as we are the children -of impulse. It is easily provable, for example, -that such common acts as are involved in reading, -writing, and speaking, are merely perpetuated -habits. At first, these acquirements present difficulties -to the youthful mind. A slow educative -process is demanded, and then, by repetition -and training, the lower centres of the brain -acquire the power of doing the work of higher -parts and centres. We fall into the habit, in -other words, of writing and speaking, just as -our muscles fall into the way of guiding our -movements. No doubt, a large part of the -difficulty is smoothed away for us by the fact -that we inherit the aptitude for the performance -of these common actions. But they fall, nevertheless, -into the category of repeated and inherited -habits; and equally with the newer or fresh ideas -and tasks we set ourselves, the actions of common -life may be regarded as merely illustrating the -curious and useful effect of repeated and fixed -habit on our organisation.</p> - -<p>Recent researches in the field of plant-life, -however, it is interesting to note, show that habit -does not reign paramount in the animal world -alone. The plant-world, it has been well -remarked, too often presents to the ordinary -observer the aspect of a sphere of dull pulseless -life, wherein activity is unrepresented, and -wherein the familiar actions of animal existence -are unknown. Nothing is farther from the -truth than such an idea. The merest tyro in -botany is nowadays led to study actions in plants -which are often indistinguishable from those of -animal life. Instead of the plant-world being -a huge living domain which never evinces a -sign of sensation or activity, the botanist can -point to numerous cases in which not only are -the signs of sensibility as fully developed in the -plant as in the animal, but in which also many -other phases of animal life are exactly imitated. -We thus know of plants which droop their -leaves on the slightest touch, and exhibit as -delicate a sensitiveness as many high animals, -and a much finer degree of sensibility than -most low animals. Then, again, when, with -the microscope, we inspect that inner plant-life -which is altogether hidden from the outer world, -we see that the tissues of plants exist in a state -of high activity. Currents of protoplasm are -seen to run hither and thither through the -plant-cells, and active movements to pervade -the whole organisation of the living organism. -Vital activity is the rule, and inertness the -exception, in plant-life; and the discovery of -this fact simply serves to impress anew upon us -the danger and error of that form of argument -which would assume the non-existence of higher -traits of life in plants, simply because they are -invisible to the unassisted sight.</p> - -<p>The effects of habit on plant-life are nowhere -better seen than in the curious differences which -exist between the food and feeding of certain -plants and the practices of their more familiar -plant-neighbours. The food of an ordinary green -plant, as is well known, consists of inorganic -matters. Water, minerals in solution, ammonia, -and carbonic acid gas, constitute the materials -from which an ordinary plant derives its sustenance. -It is curious to reflect that all the beauty -of flower and foliage merely represents so much -carbonic acid gas, water, and minerals, fashioned -by the wondrous vital powers of the plant into -living tissues. Yet such is undoubtedly the case.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">{114}</span> -Between the food of animals and green plants, we -perceive this great difference—namely, that whilst -the animal demands water, oxygen gas, and minerals—all -three being inorganic materials—it also -requires ready-made living matter to supply the -wants of its frame. This ready-made living -matter the animal can only obtain from other -animals or from plants; and as a matter of fact, -animals demand and require such materials to -feed upon. In one sense, the plant, then, exhibits -higher powers than the animal, for it is more -constructive. It can build up its frame from -non-living matter entirely; whilst the animal, -less constructive, requires a proportion of already -living matter in its food. What has just been -said of the food of plants applies to those which -possess green colouring-matter associated with -the plant-tissues. This green colour, so universally -diffused throughout the plant kingdom, is -called <i>chlorophyll</i> by the botanist. It exists in -the cells of plants in the form of granules, and -is intimately associated with the living matter -or ‘protoplasm’ of the cells. The presence or -absence of green colour in a plant makes all the -difference in the world to its habits. The want -of this chlorophyll, in fact, converts the habits -of the plant into that of the animal.</p> - -<p>If we select a plant which possesses no green -colour, we may be prepared for some startling -revelations respecting the mode of life of such -a plant. Examples of a total want of chlorophyll -are seen in the <i>fungi</i>, that large group of plants -which harbours our mushrooms, toad-stools, and -like organisms as its familiar representatives. If -we inquire how the non-green fungus lives, we -shall discover, firstly, that it is like an animal -in respect, firstly, of the gas on which it feeds. -The green plant, we saw to feed on carbonic acid -gas; but the fungus, like the animal, inhales -oxygen. Furthermore, a still more remarkable -fact must be detailed respecting the difference -between the habit of the green plants and their -non-green neighbours. When an ordinary green -plant takes in the carbonic acid gas which it -has obtained from the atmosphere—whither it has -come from the lungs of animals and elsewhere—it -performs a remarkable chemical operation. -The green colour enables it, in the presence of -light, to decompose the carbonic acid gas (which -consists of carbon and oxygen) into its elements. -The carbon is retained by the plant, and goes to -form the starch and other compounds manufactured -by the organism. But the oxygen, which -is not required, at least in any quantity, in the -living operations of the green plant, is allowed -to escape back to the atmosphere, where it becomes -useful for animal respiration. Thus, what -the animal exhales (carbonic acid), the green -plant inhales; and what the green plant exhales -(oxygen), the animal inhales. We have here a -remarkable cycle of natural operations, which -suggests how beautifully the equilibrium of -nature is maintained. It may be added that -the want of light converts even the green plant -to somewhat animal habits. In the dark, the decomposition -of carbonic acid is suspended, chlorophyll -alone being insufficient for the analysis. -Then, the green plant seems to inhale oxygen -and to emit carbonic acid, like the animal and -its non-green relative; to return, however, to its -normal habit with the returning light. At -the same time, the plain difference of habit in -respect of the want of green colour in the fungi -and other plants, is in itself a remarkable fact -of plant-life.</p> - -<p>Other differences in habit may also be noted -between the plants which possess green colour -and those that want it. We have already alluded -to the fact that green plants feed on inorganic -or lifeless matters, and that they build up these -matters into their living tissues. On the other -hand, the habits of the fungi and non-green -plants lead them to resemble animals in that -they feed upon organic materials; that is, on -matter which is derived from other plants or -animals. As a matter of fact, most fungi are -found growing in places where decaying organic -matters exist. The gardener, in growing edible -fungi, supplies them with such materials in the -form of manure. Again, those fungi which cause -skin-diseases in man (for example, ringworm) -feed on the tissues in which they are parasitic, -and in so doing absorb organic matter. The -plants which are not green, in this way appear -to prefer organic matters, like animals. In habits, -therefore, they present a striking contrast to their -green neighbours.</p> - -<p>The habit of <i>parasitism</i>, however, which has -just been alluded to is a powerful means of -inaugurating and maintaining change of life and -living in plants. A parasitic being is one which -lives in or upon some other living organism. -There are degrees of parasitism, however: some -parasites are mere ‘lodgers,’ so to speak; others -both board and lodge at the expense of their -host, and these latter are of course the more -typical parasites of the two. But there are -even degrees and differences to be seen in the -behaviour of plant-lodgers and boarders. For -example, mistletoe is a plant of peculiar habits, -in respect that whilst its roots enter the substance -of the tree-host to which it is attached, -and drink up so much of the sap that host is -elaborating for its own use, it also can make -food-products for itself. For the green leaves -of mistletoe, like the leaves of other plants, -take in carbonic acid gas, and decompose it, -as already described, retaining the carbon, and -setting the oxygen free. On the other hand, -a parasitic fungus will not elaborate any food-products -for itself; and hence it is, if anything, -a more complete and typical ‘boarder’ even than -mistletoe. The effects of habit in plant-life are -here seen in a double sense and aspect. Not -only is it through the exercise of ‘habit’ that -a plant becomes a parasite; but it is a variation -in the parasitic and acquired habit for a parasitic -plant to develop its own special ways of -feeding. Habit within habit is thus seen to -operate powerfully in bringing about the existent -phases of the life of plants.</p> - -<p>Plants without green colour are, however, not -the only members of the vegetable world in -which the habit of feeding like animals has -been inaugurated. Some of the most remarkable -chapters in botany have been recently written -on the habits of so-called carnivorous or insectivorous -plants—that is, plants which subsist on -insects in other forms of animal life, and which -lay traps designed to capture their unwary prey. -The Common Sundew (<i>Drosera</i>) of our bogs and -marshes catches flies and other insects by means<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">{115}</span> -of an ingenious arrangement of sensitive tentacles -which beset its leaf, aided by the gummy -secretion of the leaf itself. The Venus’ Flytrap -(<i>Dionæa</i>) captures insects by converting its leaf -into a closing trap; the alarm to close being -conveyed to the sensitive parts of the plant by -the insect touching one or more of the six -sensitive hairs which are seen on the surface of -the leaf. The Side-saddle plants (<i>Sarracenia</i>) of -the New World and the Pitcher plants (<i>Nepenthes</i>) -of the Old World likewise capture insects. -Their leaves form receptacles, in which, as is -well known, flies and other insects are literally -drowned. Within the Sarracenia’s hollow leaf, -a honey-secretion is found, together with a limpid -fluid found at the bottom of the pitcher. There -seems little doubt that flies and other insects, -attracted by the honey-secretion, pass into the -pitcher, and are then suffocated by the fluid found -below. This much has been proved—namely, -that the fluid has an intoxicating effect on -insects, and that, once entrapped, the insects -ultimately perish in the pitchers. It is equally -notable that their retreat is cut off by the presence -of pointed hairs, which, on the <i>facilis -descensus</i> principle, and by pointing downwards, -allow the insect easy admittance, but present an -array of bayonet-points on its attempt to escape. -In the Nepenthes or Pitcher plants of the Old -World, insects are similarly captured, and are -prevented from escaping by various contrivances, -such as a series of incurved hairs or hooks, or -allied apparatus.</p> - -<p>At first sight, there seems a plain reason for -classifying together all these insect-capturing -plants, especially when it is discovered that they -utilise the insects they capture for food. Botanists -did not realise till recently that the capture of -insects by plants was a strictly utilitarian and -purposive act—namely, that its intent was to -feed and nourish the plant. Once awaking to -this truth, much that was formerly mysterious -in the life and ways of these plants became clear. -They captured the insects and fed upon them; -in these words were found the clue to and explanation -of a seeming anomaly in plant-life. These -plants might thus be supposed simply to differ -from other green plants, and to resemble the -fungi in their preference for an animal dietary, -in part at least. For, with their roots in the -soil, and possessing green leaves, they appear to -subsist partly upon the matters on which ordinary -green plants live, and partly upon organic matters, -like mistletoe. But a further study of these curious -plants shows that the whole facts of the case -are hardly to be comprised within this somewhat -narrow compass. Habit within habit again -appears as the principle which has wrought out -important differences between the various kinds -of insect-eating plants. Taking the case of the -Sundew first, we discover that this plant actually -digests its insect-food. From glands with which -the leaf is provided, fluids are poured out which -resemble the gastric juice of our own stomachs -in their digestive properties. The matter of the -insect-body is thus absorbed into the substance -and tissues of the plant, just as the substance of -our own food passes, through digestion, to become -part and parcel of our own tissues. Of the Venus’ -Flytrap, the same remarks hold good. This plant -will digest fragments of raw beef as readily as -its own insect-prey. The closed leaf is converted -into a kind of temporary stomach, within which -the imprisoned insect is killed, digested, and its -tissues absorbed, to nourish the plant. In the -Pitcher plants, a similar result happens to the -insect-prey. Digestion and absorption of the -nutrient parts of the prey are the duties performed -by the modified leaves.</p> - -<p>The foregoing facts would therefore seem to -present a remarkable uniformity in the life of -the plants just mentioned. Similarity of habits -would seem to reign supreme, under variations -in the method of capturing the insect-prey. -Turning now to the case of the Side-saddle -plants and their allies, we discover how remarkably -the habits of these plants have come to -differ. Investigation has shown that the flies, -which are apparently drowned in the pitchers -of Sarracenia in a manner exactly similar to that -in which they fall victims to the artifice of the -Pitcher plants, in reality are subjected to a widely -different action. The Pitcher plant digests its -flies, as we have seen; but in the Side-saddle -plants no digestion takes place. What happens -in the latter appears to consist of a simple process -of decay. The insects are allowed to putrefy -and decompose amid the watery fluid which -drowns them; and in due time, the pitcher -becomes filled with a fluid which has been compared -to ‘liquid manure.’ It is this decomposing -solution, then, which is duly absorbed by the -Sarracenia. Rejecting this idea, there can be -no other explanation given of the use of the -elaborate fly-catching ‘pitchers.’ And, moreover, -analogy would force us to conclude that the -explanation just given is correct. If fungi feed -on decomposing organic matters, why should not -a Sarracenia exhibit like habits? No reasonable -reply can be given save that which sees in the -Sarracenia a curious difference of habit from the -apparently similar Pitcher plants. The latter, -in other words, eat their meal fresh; the Sarracenias, -like humanity with its game, eat their -meat in a ‘high’ state.</p> - -<p>The ordinary feeding of plants may, lastly, be -cited, by way of showing how marvellously intricate -must be the conditions which operate to -produce differences in habits, sometimes amounting -almost to special likings on the part of vegetable -units for one kind of food, and equally -special dislikes to other foods. The farmer knowing -the preference for certain food-elements by -certain plants, requires to ‘rotate’ his crops, to -avoid injurious exhaustion of his soils. For -instance, buckwheat will not flourish unless potassium -is supplied to it. The chloride of potassium, -and next to it the nitrate, are the minerals preferred -by this plant. Still more extraordinary is -the preference exhibited by one of the violet tribe -(<i>Viola calaminaria</i>), which will only grow in soils -that contain zinc. Here, the effects of habit are -seen in a singularly clear fashion; for there seems -every reason to assume that the partiality for a -by no means common element in soils, has been -an acquired, and not an original taste of the -plants which exhibit it. The botanist thus -becomes aware of the existence of a ‘taste,’ or -‘selective power’ as it is termed, in the plant-world, -influencing their food, and, as a matter -of logic, affecting also their structure, functions, -and entire existence. It has been found that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">{116}</span> -the pea and bean tribe (<i>Leguminosæ</i>) specially -desire lime, amongst their requirements. Potatoes -exhibit a special partiality for potash; and turnips -share this taste. Plants in which the seed -assumes a high importance, as in most of our -cereals, on the other hand, demand phosphoric -acid; and certain plants, such as wheat, will -withdraw large quantities of silica or flint from -the soil. Iodine is found characteristically in -seaweeds, and the element in question is obtained -from the <i>kelp</i> produced by burning marine -plants.</p> - -<p>No better commentary on the life and habits -of plants in respect of their food-tastes can be -given than in the words of an eminent physiologist, -who, speaking of the food of the corn-plant, -says: ‘Without siliceous (or flinty) earth, -that plant cannot acquire sufficient strength to -sustain itself erect, but forms a creeping stem, -feeble and pale; without calcareous earth (or -lime), it dies even before the appearance of the -second leaf; without soda and without potash, -it never attains a greater height than between -four and five inches; without phosphorus, though -growing straight and regularly formed, it remains -feeble and does not bear fruit; when iron is -present in the soil, it gives that deep green tint -so familiar to us and grows rapidly robust; -without manganese, it develops in a stunted -manner and produces few flowers.’ After the -revelations of chemistry concerning the habits -and tastes of plants and the bearing of proper -food on their growth, it is not to be wondered -at that scientific agriculture should be regarded -as the only solution of many of the present-day -difficulties of the farmer.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_ALL_SHADES">IN ALL SHADES.</h2> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> a second, nobody answered a word; this -quiet declaration of an honest self-sacrifice took -them all, even Nora, so utterly by surprise. -Then Edward murmured musingly: ‘And it -was for this that you gave up the prospect of -living at Cambridge, and composing symphonies -in Trinity gardens!’</p> - -<p>The mulatto smiled a deprecating smile. ‘Oh,’ -he cried timidly, ‘you mustn’t say that. I didn’t -want to make out I was going to do anything -so very grand or so very heroic. Of course, a -man <i>must</i> satisfy himself he’s doing something -to justify his existence in the world; and much -as I love music, I hardly feel as though playing -the violin were in itself a sufficient end for a -man to live for. Though I must confess I should -very much like to stop in England and be a -composer. I’ve composed one or two little -pieces already for the violin, that have been -played with some success at public concerts. -Sarasate played a small thing of mine last winter -at a festival in Vienna. But then, besides, my -father and friends live in Trinidad, and I feel -that that’s the place where my work in life is -really cut out for me.’</p> - -<p>‘And your second great passion?’ Marian inquired. -‘You said you had a second great passion. -What is it, I wonder?—Oh, of course, I see—your -profession.’</p> - -<p>(‘How could she be so stupid!’ Nora thought -to herself. ‘What a silly girl! I’m afraid of -my life now, the wretched man’ll try to say -something pretty.’)</p> - -<p>‘O no; not my profession,’ Dr Whitaker -answered, smiling. ‘It’s a noble profession, of -course—the noblest and grandest, almost, of all -the professions—assuaging and alleviating human -suffering; but one looks upon it, for all that, -rather as a duty than as a passion. Besides, -there’s one thing greater even than the alleviation -of human suffering, greater than art with -all its allurements, greater than anything else -that a man can interest himself in—though I -know most people don’t think so—and that’s -science—the knowledge of our relations with the -universe, and still more of the universe’s relations -with its various parts.—No, Mrs Hawthorn; my -second absorbing passion, next to music, and -higher than music, is one that I’m sure ladies -won’t sympathise with—it’s only botany.’</p> - -<p>‘Goodness gracious!’ Nora cried, surprised into -speech. ‘I thought botany was nothing but the -most dreadfully hard words, all about nothing -on earth that anybody cared for!’</p> - -<p>The mulatto looked at her open-eyed with a -sort of mild astonishment. ‘What?’ he said. -‘All the glorious lilies and cactuses and palms -and orchids of our beautiful Trinidad nothing -but hard words that nobody cares for! All the -slender lianas that trail and droop from the -huge buttresses of the wild cotton-trees; all the -gorgeous trumpet-creepers that drape the gnarled -branches of the mountain star-apples with their -scarlet blossoms; all the huge cecropias, that -rise aloft with their silvery stems and fan-shaped -leaves, towering into the air like gigantic candelabra; -all the graceful tree-ferns and feathery -bamboos and glossy-leaved magnolias and majestic -bananas and luxuriant ginger-worts and -clustering arums: all the breadth and depth of -tropical foliage, with the rugged and knotted -creepers, festooned in veritable cables of vivid -green, from branch to branch among the dim -mysterious forest shades—stretched in tight -cordage like the rigging yonder from mast to -mast, for miles together—oh, Miss Dupuy, is -that nothing? Do you call that nothing, for a -man to fix his loving regard upon? Our own -Trinidad is wonderfully rich still in such natural -glories; and it’s the hope of doing a little in my -spare hours to explore and disentomb them, like -hidden treasures, that partly urges me to go back -again where manifest destiny calls me to the land -I was born in.’</p> - -<p>The mulatto is always fluent, even when uneducated; -but Dr Whitaker, learned in all the -learning of the schools, and pouring forth his -full heart enthusiastically on the subjects nearest -and dearest to him, spoke with such a ready, -easy eloquence, common enough, indeed, among -south Europeans, and among Celtic Scots and -Irish as well, but rare and almost unknown -in our colder and more phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon -constitutions—that Nora listened to him, quite -taken aback by the flood of his native rhetoric, -and whispered to herself in her own soul: -‘Really, he talks very well after all—for a coloured -person!’</p> - -<p>‘Yes, of course, all those things are very lovely, -Dr Whitaker,’ Marian put in, more for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">{117}</span> -sake of drawing him out—for he was so interesting—than -because she really wanted to disagree -with him upon the subject. ‘But then, that -isn’t botany. I always thought botany was a -mere matter of stamens and petals, and all sorts -of other dreadful technicalities.’</p> - -<p>‘Stamens and petals!’ the mulatto echoed -half contemptuously—‘stamens and petals! You -might as well say art was all a matter of -pigments and perspective, or music all a matter -of crotchets and quavers, as botany all a matter -of stamens and petals. Those are only the -beggarly elements: the beautiful pictures, the -glorious oratorios, the lovely flowers, are the -real things to which in the end they all minister. -It’s the trees and the plants themselves that -interest me, not the mere lifeless jargon of technical -phrases.’</p> - -<p>They sat there late into the night, discussing -things musical and West Indian and otherwise, -without any desire to move away or cut -short the conversation; and Dr Whitaker, his -reserve now broken, talked on to them hour -after hour, doing the lion’s share of the conversation, -and delighting them with his transparent -easy talk and open-hearted simplicity. He -was frankly egotistical, of course—all persons of -African blood always are; but his egotism, such as -it was, took the pleasing form of an enthusiasm -about his own pet ideas and pursuits—a love of -music, a love of flowers, a love of his profession, -and a love of Trinidad. To these favourite -notes he recurred fondly again and again, vigorously -defending the violin as an exponent of -human emotion against Edward’s half-insincere -expression of preference for wind instruments; -going into raptures to Nora over the wonderful -beauty of their common home; and describing -to Marian in vivid language the grandeur of -those marvellous tropical forests whose strange -loveliness she had never yet with her own eyes -beheld.</p> - -<p>‘Picture to yourself,’ he said, looking out -vaguely beyond the ship on to the star-lit -Atlantic, ‘a great Gothic cathedral or Egyptian -temple—Ely or Karnak, wrought, not in freestone -or marble, but in living trees—with huge -cylindrical columns strengthened below by projecting -buttresses, and supporting overhead, a -hundred feet on high, an unbroken canopy of -interlacing foliage. Dense—so dense that only -an indistinct glimmer of the sky can be seen -here and there through the great canopy, just -as you see Orion’s belt over yonder through the -fringe of clouds upon the gray horizon; and -even the intense tropical sunlight only reaches -the ground at long intervals in little broken -patches of subdued paleness. Then there’s the -solemn silence, weird and gloomy, that produces -in one an almost painful sense of the vast, the -primeval, the mystical, the infinite. Only the -low hum of the insects in the forest shade, the -endless multitudinous whisper of the wind among -the foliage, the faint sound begotten by the -tropical growth itself, breaks the immemorial -stillness in our West Indian woodland. It’s a -world in which man seems to be a noisy intruder, -and where he stands awestruck before -the intense loveliness of nature, in the immediate -presence of her unceasing forces.’</p> - -<p>He stopped a moment, not for breath, for it -seemed as if he could pour out language without -an effort, in the profound enthusiasm of youth, -but to take his violin once more tenderly from -its case and hold it out, hesitating, before him. -‘Will you let me play you just one more little -piece?’ he asked apologetically. ‘It’s a piece -of my own, into which I’ve tried to put some -of the feelings about these tropical forests that -I never could possibly express in words. I call -it “Souvenirs des Lianes.” Will you let me -play it to you?—I shan’t be boring you?—Thank -you—thank you.’</p> - -<p>He stood up before them in the pale light -of that summer evening, tall and erect, violin -on breast and bow in hand, and began pouring -forth from his responsive instrument a slow -flood of low, plaintive, mysterious music. It was -not difficult to see what had inspired his brain -and hand in that strangely weird and expressive -piece. The profound shade and gloom of -the forest, the great roof of overarching foliage, -the flutter of the endless leaves before the breeze, -the confused murmur of the myriad wings and -voices of the insects, nay, even the very stillness -and silence itself of which he had spoken, -all seemed to breathe forth deeply and solemnly -on his quivering strings. It was a triumph of -art over its own resources. On the organ or -the flute, one would have said beforehand, such -effects as these might indeed be obtained, but -surely never, never on the violin. Yet in Dr -Whitaker’s hand that scraping bow seemed capable -of expressing even what he himself had -called the sense of the vast, the primeval, and -the infinite. They listened all in hushed silence, -and scarcely so much as dared to breathe while -the soft pensive cadences still floated out solemnly -across the calm ocean. And when he had finished, -they sat for a few minutes in perfect silence, -rendering the performer that instinctive homage -of mute applause which is so far more really -eloquent than any mere formal and conventional -expression of thanks ‘for your charming -playing.’</p> - -<p>As they sat so, each musing quietly over the -various emotions aroused within them by the -mulatto’s forest echoes, one of the white gentlemen -in the stern, a young English officer on -his way out to join a West Indian regiment, -came up suddenly behind them, clapped his hand -familiarly on Edward’s back, and said in a loud -and cheerful tone: ‘Come along, Hawthorn; -we’ve had enough of this music now—thank -you very much, Dr Thingummy—let’s all go -down to the saloon, I say, and have a game -of nap or a quiet rubber.’</p> - -<p>Even Nora felt in her heart as though she -had suddenly been recalled by that untimely -voice from some higher world to this vulgar, -commonplace little planet of ours, the young -officer had broken in so rudely on her silent -reverie. She drew her dainty white lamb’s-wool -wrapper closer around her shoulders with a faint -sigh, slipped her hand gently through Marian’s -arm, and moved away, slowly and thoughtfully, -toward the companion-ladder. As she reached -the doorway, she turned round, as if half ashamed -of her own graciousness, and said in a low -and genuine voice: ‘Thank you, Dr Whitaker—thank -you very much indeed. We’ve so greatly -enjoyed the treat you’ve given us.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">{118}</span></p> - -<p>The mulatto bowed and said nothing; but -instead of retiring to the saloon with the others, -he put his violin case quietly under his arm, -and walking alone to the stern of the vessel, -leant upon the gunwale long and mutely, looking -over with all his eyes deep and far into the silent, -heaving, moonlit water. The sound of Nora’s -voice thanking him reverberated long through -all the echoing chambers of his memory.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="COLONIAL_FARM-PUPILS">COLONIAL FARM-PUPILS.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> would be a matter of considerable interest if -statistics could be obtained showing the number -of parents who at the present time find themselves -under the necessity of answering that -much-debated question, ‘What shall I do with -my sons?’ The comparatively narrow paths which -lead to fame and prosperity are now so densely -crowded by youths of good breeding and education, -that but few parents are able to decide, -without much anxious consideration, which is the -best one for their sons to start life’s journey upon. -Some parents choose the learned professions; -others select a commercial career; while not a -few decide upon a colonial life for their sons. -The wisdom, or otherwise, of this last decision -we do not here propose to discuss. We accept -the plain fact that many well-bred and carefully -nurtured young men annually leave these shores -as emigrants, bound for the British colonies or -the United States. The object of our remarks -is to present to the fathers of these young emigrants -what the writer—who has seen much, -both of emigrants and emigration, on both sides -of the Atlantic—regards as a piece of sorely -needed advice upon one point of the great -question of emigration, as it affects the sons of -English gentlemen and ‘blue-blooded boys’ in -general.</p> - -<p>The average British parent is, as a rule, very -ignorant of everything connected with life and -labour in the colonies. He is perhaps a fairly -successful man of business, or has risen in his -profession; but in attaining this success, he -has probably been so engrossed with his own -occupations, that he has found but little opportunity -of turning his attention to matters concerning -him less closely. It is not indeed to -be expected that any one man should be intimately -acquainted with many different subjects. -In these days of competition, the division of -knowledge is as necessary as the division of -labour; and it is the duty of those who are -practically acquainted with emigration or any -other subject to advise those who are not so -well informed. This is what we now propose -to do. We desire that our remarks upon the -farm-pupil system in the British colonies be -understood to apply equally to the Western -States of America, which, so far as this article -is concerned, are to all intents and purposes -British colonies.</p> - -<p>To the youth who has been brought up in a -comfortable English home, under the care of -watchful parents, emigration to any of the -colonies brings a very rude and abrupt change -of life. Thenceforth, parental oversight will be -no longer obtainable, and the young emigrant -will have to seek his own living among strangers -in a strange land, where evil influences -are generally numerous, where the ordinary mode -of life is often very rough, and where no one -need hope for success unless he is willing and -able actually to perform hard manual labour. -Under these circumstances, it naturally appears -desirable to most parents to do all that lies within -their power to obtain for their sons some training -to fit them for their future life. This -desire has called into existence the system under -which many moderately well-to-do young emigrants, -on first leaving England, agree to pay -a premium to some colonist who is already -established on a farm of his own, in order that -they may be taught colonial farming.</p> - -<p>The system is not in any way essentially a bad -one; but it is open to great abuses, and in too -many cases leads to fraud. No detailed rules -for the guidance of the parents of young emigrants -in this matter can be laid down. The -necessities vary according to the circumstances -of each particular case. But, in a general way, -it may be stated that, when the parents of a -youth can afford to pay a premium for his -instruction, and have ascertained that the settler -with whom they are placing their son is in a -position faithfully to exercise that amount of -oversight which they desire for him, there cannot -be any very great abuse of the system. -At the same time, it must be admitted that -there is seldom any necessity why a premium -should be paid. If the young emigrant be steady -and of average push and intelligence, there is -certainly little or nothing to prevent him obtaining -all the experience he requires without paying -any premium. Nevertheless, a youth of weak -character, easily led away, and of indolent habits, -may of course be benefited by a certain amount -of care and oversight.</p> - -<p>Farming, as practised in the colonies and -in the Western States of America, is of the -most elementary kind. A person of limited -abilities may very easily acquire a knowledge -of all its details. Moreover, in these thinly -peopled countries, labourers are in great demand. -It may be safely asserted that, in those colonies -and in those portions of the west of America -to which emigration is now chiefly directed, any -young man, willing and able to perform ordinary -farm-work, will find little difficulty in obtaining -employment, at least during the summer months, -in spite of the large number of men who are -almost always in want of work in large cities. -A perfect novice may find it necessary to work -for a time for his board and lodging merely; -but after a while, he will probably find himself -in a position to demand at least sufficient wages, -in addition to his board and keep, to maintain -himself respectably. If the young emigrant follows -the course thus suggested, he may not find -his path quite so smooth as that of the young -man who has paid his premium; but he will -have a better chance of obtaining practical -experience of farming. He will live in his -master’s house, board at his table, and be treated -very much as a member of the family—indeed, -the premiumed pupil could hardly be better -off; but he will be compelled to learn in a -way which he who pays a premium can hardly -be, and he will actually be paid for gaining -the experience he requires, instead of paying -for it!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">{119}</span></p> - -<p>The eagerness on the part of colonial farmers -to obtain farm-pupils is capable of a very simple -explanation. In most cases, these men know -well enough that there is no real need for the -system to be followed; but if they can succeed -in obtaining a pupil, they are hardly to be -blamed for so doing, as it is no slight advantage -to themselves. In the colonies, the harvest -usually is plentiful, while the labourers are few, -and labour, consequently, is expensive. Obviously, -therefore, a pupil who will pay to work -and who will not be constantly wanting to leave, -is a very great boon to any settler. It should -be clearly recognised that, in most cases, if the -pupil works in such a way as he must do if he -is to obtain a useful practical knowledge of his -occupation, his labour alone will amply remunerate -the farmer, even if the latter has to find -both board and lodging. Clearly, therefore, if -a substantial premium be added, the advantage -to the settler is considerable. The pupil-system -often affords a good deal of amusement to keen-sighted -Americans who are in a position to see -its weak points. Not unfrequently the writer -has had said to him on the other side of the -Atlantic: ‘How uncommonly stupid you English -people must be to be willing to pay to work!’ -This expression not inaptly sums up the whole -case.</p> - -<p>The abuses to which the system is open are -many. In the first place, an exorbitant sum—sometimes -as much as one hundred pounds—is -asked. Considering that the pupil could in -most cases obtain the necessary experience without -paying any premium, and that he actually -remunerates the settler by working for him, we -consider that, under all ordinary circumstances, ten -pounds paid to the settler is ample. In the next -place, an agent of some kind is necessary to mediate -between the parents of a youth and the colonial -settler; and either this agent or the settler, or -both, may be dishonest, and fail to fulfil their -contracts; indeed, the difficulty which a parent -would meet with in attempting to compel -a defaulting settler to carry out his agreement, -is a great incentive to fraud. Only a short time -ago it was reported in the daily papers that -a number of youths who had paid premiums to -an agent in England to be placed with farmers -in California, found, on their arrival there, that -no arrangements whatever had been made for -their reception—in short, that they had been -swindled. Similar cases have been heard of -before. At the same time, we do not wish to -say that there are not honest agencies.</p> - -<p>Those who have seen most of the hap-hazard -way in which emigration, not only of the poorer, -but also of the better classes, is carried on from -this country, often express amazement at the -injudicious acts which are constantly being committed -by ill-advised young emigrants and their -blind though well-meaning parents. The needless -paying of premiums by parents who can ill -afford to spare the money is but one of these -indiscretions. Passing over without comment -the practice of shipping ‘ne’er-do-wells’ off to -the colonies in the vain hope that they will do -better there than at home, we cannot help -remarking that numbers of promising young men, -who are utterly unfitted for the life of an -emigrant, are constantly being sent out, and -either they, or the country to which they are -sent, subsequently get blamed for an almost inevitable -failure. Nothing, too, could be more -injudicious than the placing of capital in the -hands of inexperienced young emigrants at the -outset of their career. In a large number of -cases it is wholly lost; indeed, it is a common -saying in America that but few young Englishmen -commence to make headway in their new -home until they have either lost or spent all -they originally brought out with them and have -had to buckle-to in sober earnest. As recommended -in a late number (No. 95) of this <i>Journal</i>, -those who are intended for a colonial career -should go through a course of school-training -especially intended to fit them for it.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_GOLDEN_ARGOSY">A GOLDEN ARGOSY.</h2> -</div> -<p class="ph3"><i>A NOVELETTE.</i></p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">With</span> the exception of her eyes and her teeth, Miss -Wakefield was an ordinary, nay, almost a benevolent, -woman. About sixty years of age, with -a figure perfectly straight and supple, and wearing -her own hair, which was purple black, she might -have passed for forty, save for the innumerable -lines and wrinkles on her face. Her eyes were -full of a furtive evil light, and never failed to -cast a baleful influence over the spectator; her -teeth were large and white, but gapped here -and there in the front like a saw. Mr Slimm -mentally compared her with some choice assortments -of womankind he had encountered in the -mines and kindred places, and they did not suffer -in the comparison.</p> - -<p>‘Your business?’ she said coldly.</p> - -<p>‘Madam, you will do me the favour to sit -down,’ he replied. ‘What I have to say will -take a considerable time.’</p> - -<p>‘Thank you,’ she said, with the same frigid -air; ‘I prefer to stand.’ Some subtle instinct -told her this visit boded no good, and she knew -in dealing with an adversary what an advantage -a standing position gives one.</p> - -<p>By way of answer, Mr Slimm continued standing -also.</p> - -<p>‘Madam,’ he commenced, ‘what I have to say -to you concerns the affairs of the late Mr Morton -of Eastwood. He was an old friend of mine. -Very recently, I heard of his death. I am determined -to have justice done.’</p> - -<p>Was it fancy, or did these thin feline lips grow -white? He could have sworn he saw them -quiver. Anyway, fancy or not, if the worst -came to the worst, he had a great card to -play.</p> - -<p>Mr Slimm continued: ‘He died, as you are -aware, after a curious illness, and rather suddenly -at the last. If I am correct, there was no -inquest.’</p> - -<p>It was not fancy, then! Mr Slimm’s keen -eyes detected a sudden shiver agitate her frame, -and his ear caught a quick painful respiration. -Why did no one think of this? he said to -himself.</p> - -<p>‘However, for the present we will pass that -over. Mr Morton was known to have been a -rich man. All he had was left, I understand, to -you?’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">{120}</span></p> - -<p>‘In that, sir, you are perfectly right. Pray, -continue.’</p> - -<p>‘Now, at one time, I understand, poor Morton -intended to leave everything to his niece. Was -that so?’</p> - -<p>Miss Wakefield inclined her head coldly.</p> - -<p>‘And since his death, not the slightest trace -of the bulk of the money has been discovered. -Is that not so?’</p> - -<p>Miss Wakefield inclined her head once more.</p> - -<p>‘Well, we have now discovered where the -money is.’</p> - -<p>‘Discovered where the money is! where <i>my</i> -money is!’ the woman cried with a grating -laugh. ‘And I presume you came to bring it to -me. After all this long while, fancy getting my -own at last!’</p> - -<p>‘I suppose you will do something for Mrs -Seaton?’ inquired Slimm.</p> - -<p>‘Do something for them—of course I will,’ -she laughed hardly. ‘I’ll go and call on them. -I will let them see me ride in my carriage, -while they are begging in the gutter. I will -give them a sixpence when they come to ask -alms at my house.—Oh, tell me, are they starving?—are -they starving, I say?’ she gasped in -her passionate utterance, clutching the American -by the arm. ‘Are they living on charity? Oh, -I hope so—I hope so, for I hate them—hate -them!’ The last words hissed lingeringly and -spitefully through her teeth.</p> - -<p>‘Well, not quite,’ Slimm replied cheerfully. -‘It must be consoling to your womanly feelings -to know they are getting on first-rate—in fact, -they are as happy and comfortable as two people -can be.’</p> - -<p>‘I am sorry for that,’ she said, with a little -pant between each word. ‘I hoped they were -starving. What right have they to be happy, -when I am so miserable?’</p> - -<p>‘Really, madam, it is no pleasure to bring -you news, you take it so uncomfortably,’ Slimm -replied. ‘These histrionics, I know, are intended -merely to disguise your delicate and tender feelings. -Now, we admit this money belongs to -you. What will you stand for the information? -‘Forty thousand pounds is a lot of money.’</p> - -<p>‘Not one farthing,’ replied the woman—‘not -one single farthing. The money is mine, and -mine it shall remain.’</p> - -<p>‘In that case,’ said Slimm cheerfully, ‘my -mission is at an end.—I wish you a very good-morning.’</p> - -<p>‘Stop! Do you mean to say you intend to -hold the secret unless I agree to some terms?’</p> - -<p>‘Your powers of penetration do you credit, -madam. That is precisely what I do mean.’</p> - -<p>‘And what, pray, is the price placed upon your -secret?’</p> - -<p>‘Half!’</p> - -<p>‘Half!’ she echoed, with a bitter laugh. ‘You -are joking. Twenty thousand pounds! Oh, you -have made a mistake. You should go to a millionaire, -not come to me.’</p> - -<p>‘Do I understand you to decline?’</p> - -<p>‘Decline!’ she exclaimed in a fury. ‘Rather -than pay that money to them, I would starve -and rot! Rather than pay that, the money -shall remain in its secret hiding-place till it is -forgotten!—Do you take me for an idiot, a drivelling -old woman with one foot in the grave? No, -no, no! You do not know Selina Wakefield -yet. Twenty thousand pounds. Ah, ah, ah! -The fools, the fools, the miserable fools, to come -and ask me this!’</p> - -<p>‘Perhaps you will be good enough to name a -sum you consider to be equivalent to the service -rendered,’ said the American, totally unmoved -by this torrent of invective.</p> - -<p>‘Now you talk like a man of sense,’ she -replied. ‘You are quite determined, I see, not -to part with your secret until you have a -return. Well, let me see. What do you say to -a thousand pounds, or, to stretch a point, fifteen -hundred?’</p> - -<p>‘Appalling generosity!’ replied Slimm, regarding -the ceiling in rapture—‘wasteful extravagance! -I cannot accept it. My principals are -so grasping, you know. Now, as a personal -favour, and to settle this little difficulty, could -not you add, say, another five pounds?’</p> - -<p>‘Not another farthing.’</p> - -<p>‘Then I am afraid our interview is at an -end,’ he said regretfully.—‘Now, look here. My -friends are in no need of money, and are a long -way from the state you charitably hoped to find -them in. You are getting on in life, and we -can afford to wait. When you are no more—not -to put too fine a point upon it—we shall -lay hands on the treasure, and live happily ever -after—yes, madam.’</p> - -<p>‘What do you want me to do?’ she said -sulkily.</p> - -<p>‘Let me put it another way. Suppose we -come to an agreement. It is highly probable -that where the money is, a will is concealed. -Now, it is very certain that this will is made in -Mrs Seaton’s favour. If we make an arrangement -to divide the spoil, and that turns out -to be so, what a good thing it will be for you! -On the other hand, if there is no will, you -still have a handsome sum of money, which -without our aid you can never enjoy; and do -not mistake me when I say that aid will never -be accorded without some benefit to the parties -I have the honour to represent.’</p> - -<p>‘And suppose I refuse?’</p> - -<p>‘So much the worse for you. Then we have -another course open, and one I decidedly advocate. -We will at our own risk recover the -money, trusting to our good fortune to find the -will. If not, we will throw the money in -Chancery, and fight you for it on the ground -of undue influence and fraud.’</p> - -<p>‘Fraud, sir! What do you mean?’ exclaimed -the lady, trembling with indignation and hatred.</p> - -<p>Mr Slimm approached her more closely, and -looking sternly into her eyes, said: ‘Mark me, -madam!—the Seatons are not unfriended. I am -by no means a poor man myself, and I will not -leave a stone unturned to unravel this mystery. -Do you think I am fool enough to believe that -my old friend hid his money away in this -strange manner unless he had some fear? and -if I mistake not, you are the cause of that fear. -Had he intended his wealth for you, he would -have left it openly. Nothing shall be left undone -to fathom the matter; and if necessary’—here -he lowered his voice to an impressive -whisper—‘the body shall be exhumed. Do you -understand, madam?—exhumed?’</p> - -<p>The pallor on the woman’s face deepened to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">{121}</span> -ghastly ashen gray. ‘What would you have me -do?’ she exclaimed faintly.</p> - -<p>‘Come to our terms, and all will be well,’ -Slimm said, pursuing the advantage he had -gained; ‘otherwise’—here he paused—‘however, -we will say nothing about that. What I propose -is this: that an agreement be drawn up and -entered into upon the terms, that in case no -will is found with the money, the property is -divided; and if a will is found leaving the -property to Mrs Seaton, you take five thousand -pounds. That is my final offer.’</p> - -<p>‘I—I consent,’ she faltered humbly, at the -same time longing, in her passionate madness, -to do her antagonist some deadly mischief, as -he stood before her so calmly triumphant.</p> - -<p>‘Very good,’ he said quietly—‘very good. -Then I presume our intercourse is at an end. -You will be good enough to be at Mr Carver’s -office in Bedford Row at three o’clock to-morrow -afternoon.’</p> - -<p>‘One moment. Are you in the secret?’</p> - -<p>‘Madam, I have that felicity. But why?’</p> - -<p>‘Perhaps now we have come to terms, you may -be good enough to tell me where it is.’</p> - -<p>‘Curiosity, thy name is woman,’ said Slimm -sententiously. ‘I am sorry I cannot gratify that -little wish; but as you will doubtless be present -at the opening ceremony, you will not object -to restrain your curiosity for the present—Good-morning.’</p> - -<p>Miss Wakefield watched our ambassador’s cab -leave the door, and then threw herself, in the -abandonment of her passion, upon the floor. -In the impotence of her rage and despair, -she lay there, rolling like a mad dog, tearing -at her long nails with the strong uneven teeth. -‘What does he know?’ she hissed. ‘What can -he know? Beaten, beaten at last!’</p> - -<p>‘What a woman!’ soliloquised Slimm as he -rolled back Londonwards. ‘I must have a cigar, -to get the flavour out of my mouth.’</p> - -<p>When he arrived at Mr Carver’s, he found -Eleanor and her husband awaiting him with -great impatience.</p> - -<p>‘What cheer, my comrade?’ Edgar asked with -assumed cheerfulness.</p> - -<p>‘Considering the circumstances of the case and -the imminent risk I ran, you might at least have -expressed a desire to weep upon this rugged -bosom,’ Slimm answered reproachfully. ‘I found -the evil, like most evils, not half so bad when -it is properly faced.’</p> - -<p>‘And Miss Wakefield?’ asked Mr Carver -anxiously.</p> - -<p>‘Gentle as a sucking-dove—only too anxious to -meet our views. In fact, I so far tamed her -that she has made an appointment to come here -to-morrow to settle preliminaries.’</p> - -<p>‘But what sort of terms did you come to?’ -Eleanor asked.</p> - -<p>Slimm briefly related the result of his mission, -and its unexpected and desirable consummation, -to the mutual astonishment of his listeners; -indeed, when he came to review the circumstances -of the case, he was somewhat astonished -at his own success.</p> - -<p>‘Wonderful!’ exclaimed Mr Carver, gazing with -intense admiration at his enemy. ‘I could not -have believed it possible for one man single-handed -to have accomplished so much.—My good -friend, do I really understand that in any case -we get half the money; and in one case, all but -five thousand pounds?’</p> - -<p>‘Precisely; and you get the agreement drawn -up, and we will get away to Eastwood the day -after to-morrow. I declare I feel as pleased as -a schoolboy who has found the apple at hide-and-seek. -I feel as if I was getting young again.’</p> - -<p>‘Then you think it is really settled?’ Edgar -asked, with a sigh of pleasure and relief.</p> - -<p>‘Not the slightest doubt of it,’ said the -American promptly. ‘And I think I may be -allowed to observe, that of all the strange things -I ever came across throughout my long and -checkered career, this is about the strangest.’</p> - -<p>‘It certainly beats anything I ever remember,’ -said Mr Carver with a buoyant air.—‘What do -you say, Bates?’</p> - -<p>‘Well, sir,’ Mr Bates admitted, ‘there certainly -are some points about it one does not generally -encounter in the ordinary run of business.’</p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> - -<p>When the poet, in the pursuit of his fancy, -eulogised the stately homes of England, he must -have forgotten or totally ignored a class of -dwelling dearer to my mind than all the marble -halls the taste or vanity of man ever designed. -The Duke of Stilton doubtless prefers his -ancestral home, with its towers and turrets, its -capacious stables—which, by-the-bye, seem the -first consideration in the Brobdingnagian erections -of the hour; he may wander with an air of -pride through the Raphael hall and the Teniers -gallery or the Cuyp drawing-room. For me, he -can have his art treasures, his Carrara marbles, -his priceless Wedgwood, his Dresden. He may -enjoy his drawing-rooms—blue, red, and every -colour in the universe. He may dine in the -bosom of his family on every delicacy a <i>cordon -bleu</i> can devise to tickle the palate and stimulate -the appetite, with its accompaniment of -rose-patterned silver and dainty china. Let him -luxuriate in it all, if he will.</p> - -<p>I have in my mind’s eye a house far different -from His Grace’s, but which, nevertheless, if -not rich in costly bric-à-brac, has an appearance -of harmony and refinement refreshing beyond -belief. It is the house, or, if you will, the -villa of Eastwood. Against the main road is a -rugged stone wall, moss-incrusted and lichen-strewn, -and surmounted by dense laurel. Opening -the old-fashioned wooden gate, a broad path -leads to the door, which is some forty yards -away, at the side of the house. It is a low, -gray stone house, clustered with ivy and clematis, -and climbing roses twisting round the long -double row of windows. In front is the lawn, -quite half an acre in extent, and shut off from -a garden by a brick wall, covered with apricot -and nectarine. On the right, leading towards -the house, is a sloping bank, all white and fragrant -in spring with violets; and above this -bank, approached by an ancient horse-block, is -the old-world garden. It is a large garden, with -broad green paths, sheltered by bowers of apple-trees, -and the borders gay with wall-flowers, -mignonette, stocks, pansies, London-pride, Tom-Thumb, -and here and there great bushes of -lavender and old-man. Far down is a walk of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">{122}</span> -filbert trees, where the wily squirrel makes -merry in the harvest-time, and the cherry-trees -all melodious with the song of the blackbird. -There is a balmy smell here of thyme and sage -and endive, and the variety of sweet herbs which -our grandmothers were wont to cull in autumn, -and suspend in muslin bags from the kitchen -rafters.</p> - -<p>Opening the heavy hall door with the licensed -freedom of the novelist, we find ourselves in the -hall, whence we reach the drawing-room. Here -we find our friends, awaiting the arrival of Miss -Wakefield. They have been talking and chatting -gaily; but as the time for that lady’s arrival draws -near, conversation becomes flat, and there is an -air of expectation and suppressed excitement -about them, which would at once convince the -observer that something important was on hand.</p> - -<p>Mr Carver rose from his seat, and, for about -the fiftieth time, walked to the window and -looked out. It was amusing to note his easy -air and debonair appearance, which was palpably -assumed to impress the spectators with the idea -that he was by no means anxious. The only -member of the party who really could be said -to be at ease was Mr Bates. He wore his best -clothes, and had an air of resigned settled melancholy, -evidently expecting the worst, and prepared -to have his cup of joy—representing in -his case his partnership—dashed from his lips -at the last moment.</p> - -<p>Felix was discussing the affair with Edgar in -a low voice, and Eleanor sat white and still, -only showing her impatience ever and anon -by a gentle tap upon the floor with her heel. -Mr Slimm was whistling softly in a low key, -and industriously engaged in whittling a stick -in his hand. Mr Carver returned from his post -of observation and threw himself back in his -chair with an involuntary sigh. Slimm put up -his knife.</p> - -<p>‘I vote we begin,’ said Edgar at length.</p> - -<p>‘No, no; it would not do—it really would -not do,’ interposed Mr Carver, seeing the company -generally inclined to this view. ‘The lady -whom we await is capable of anything. If we -found a will in her absence, she would not be -above saying we put it there.’</p> - -<p>‘Judging from my limited experience of the -lady, I calculate you are about right, sir,’ said -Mr Slimm. ‘No; after so many years’ patience, -it would certainly be unwise to do anything -rash now.’</p> - -<p>‘It is the last few moments which seem so -hard,’ Eleanor said. ‘Suppose, after all, we -should find nothing!’</p> - -<p>‘For goodness’ sake, don’t think of such a thing!’ -Edgar exclaimed. ‘Fancy, after all this bother -and anxiety!’</p> - -<p>The party lapsed into silence again, and once -more Mr Carver strolled towards the window. -It is strange, when one is anxiously waiting for -anything, how slowly time goes. Edgar took his -watch out of his pocket every other minute, like -a schoolboy who wears one for the first time.</p> - -<p>‘I think I will walk down the road and see -if she is coming,’ Slimm observed. ‘It would -look a little polite, I think.’</p> - -<p>Edgar murmured something touching love’s -young dream, and asked the American if the -fascination was so strong.</p> - -<p>‘Well, no,’ he replied. ‘I don’t deny she is -fascinating; but it is not the sort of glamour -that generally thrills the young bosom. One -thing we all agree upon, I think, and that is, -that we shall be all extremely pleased to see -the lady.’</p> - -<p>‘That is a strange thing in itself,’ Edgar -replied drily. ‘The damsel is evidently coy. -She is at present, doubtless, struggling with her -emotion. I fancy she does not intend to come.’</p> - -<p>At this moment there was a sound of wheels, -and a coach pulled up at the gate. After a -moment, a tall black figure was seen approaching -the house. A few seconds later, Miss Wakefield -entered the room.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INVESTORS_AND_THE_STOCK_EXCHANGE">INVESTORS AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE.</h2> -</div> -<p class="ph3">SECOND ARTICLE.</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> a former article we endeavoured to explain -the <i>modus operandi</i> of Stock Exchange transactions; -and our object now is to make a few -remarks upon the rights and duties of investors -and members of the Stock Exchange respectively. -As formerly explained, when any business is -transacted on the Stock Exchange, the broker -always renders to his client a contract containing -the particulars of the transaction, which is -understood to be carried through in accordance -with the rules and regulations of the Stock -Exchange. These rules have been compiled -with the strictest regard to the rights and -duties of both parties, and are altered from -time to time as circumstances may require. -They are in complete accordance with the law -of the land; and when any question has arisen -in regard to Stock Exchange affairs, the courts -of law have invariably allowed that those rules -have been framed on the most equitable principles.</p> - -<p>When a contract has been rendered, broker -and client are equally bound to fulfil their -part of it: the broker, in the case of a purchase, -to deliver to, his client an authentic certificate -of the stock, and in the case of a sale, to pay -for the stock on delivery of a properly executed -transfer; the client to pay the consideration-money, -&c., when the stock is purchased for -him, and to deliver the transfer duly executed, -with the certificate, when the stock is sold. -Many investors, while looking very sharply after -their rights, entirely lose sight of their duties, -and altogether forget that there must be two -parties to every contract. When a man sells -stock, he is entitled to a cheque for the proceeds -the moment he hands the executed transfer -to his broker, and no sooner; and when stock -is purchased, the broker is entitled to receive -the purchase-money when he delivers the transfer -to his client for signature, and no sooner. Many -persons, however, imagine that if they send -their broker a cheque for stock bought a day -or two after the account-day, it will be time -enough, being ignorant of the fact that the -latter is obliged by the rules to pay for the -stock when it is delivered to him, either on -the account-day or any subsequent day. Those -living at a distance from London should therefore -be careful to let the money be in the -hands of their broker on the morning of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">{123}</span> -account-day at the very latest; or if they -object to pay for stock before receiving it, should -instruct a banker in the City to pay for the stock, -or proportionately for any part, on delivery, so -that the broker may not be out of the money. -Of course, brokers are not supposed to have -unlimited balances at their bankers, and it is -frequently a real hardship for them to be -obliged to find the money as best they can. -The Stock Exchange rules admit of no delay -whatever, and must be acted up to by the -members, without any regard to the negligence -or inattention of the investor.</p> - -<p>When stock payable to bearer is not delivered -to the buying-broker on the account-day, he -has the power, on the following day, of ordering -it to be purchased, or ‘bought in’ as it is -called, in the market for immediate delivery, -and any loss consequent upon the buying-in must -be paid by the seller. In the case of registered -stocks, however, ten days after the account-day -are allowed for delivery. This is only reasonable, -as a deed of transfer frequently requires -the signature of several sellers, or the seller -may reside at a distance, and thus delay cannot -be avoided. On the expiry of the time named, -the broker can ‘buy in,’ as in the case of stock -to bearer. If the buyer of stock to bearer does -not receive the stock from his broker within -a day or two after the account-day, or registered -stock within about ten days after the account-day, -he has a perfect right to know the reason -of the delay, and failing any proper excuse, -should give instructions to ‘buy in,’ as explained -above.</p> - -<p>The Committee of the Stock Exchange have -always done everything in their power to insure -the strict fulfilment of all bargains entered into -by the members; and if any investor feels -aggrieved or thinks he has been unfairly dealt -with, a letter addressed to the Committee will -at once bring the culprit to book. Accounts are -settled fortnightly, about the middle and end -of each month; and every member of the House -prepares, or ought to prepare, a balance-sheet, -showing exactly how he stands on these occasions. -If a member finds that he is unable to meet his -engagements, he should at once notify the fact -to the Committee, when he will instantly be -declared a defaulter. This disagreeable duty is -performed by an official of the Stock Exchange, -who, after three knocks with a hammer, which -resound through the House, intimates that -‘Mr —— begs to inform the House that he is -unable to comply with his bargains.’ If, as -frequently happens, the defaulter has issued -cheques on the account-day which have been -returned by his banker, the formula is: ‘Mr —— -has not complied with his bargains.’ After such -declaration, the defaulting member is precluded -from any further dealings with his fellow-members, -and his affairs are placed in the -hands of the official assignee, who proceeds to -wind up the estate and distribute whatever -dividend it will realise. The sound of the -dreaded ‘hammer’ produces universal stillness and -apprehension, and where a few seconds before -was heard the hum of many voices and the -sound of hurrying feet, now every ear is on -the alert to hear the name of the proscribed -member. As soon as the name is announced, -it is posted up in a conspicuous part of the -House, exposed to the gaze and subject to the -derogatory remarks of the members for the rest -of the day. As may well be imagined, the fact -of having been ‘hammered,’ whatever a man’s -future life may be, casts a dark shadow which -cannot be got rid of; and investors may be -quite certain that the members of the Stock -Exchange will strain every nerve to avoid the -disgrace. The rules of the House are, however, -inexorable, and the fatal hammer must sound -if engagements are not strictly and promptly -met. In no trade, business, or profession does -the punishment follow so quickly upon the -offence, and it would be well if all commercial -and financial default were as promptly declared -to the world.</p> - -<p>As will be seen from what we have said, the -rights and duties of investors and members are -clearly defined, and both parties have a right to -expect them to be carried out with punctuality. -Promptitude is praiseworthy under all circumstances, -but on the Stock Exchange it is essential -for the sake both of members and investors. No -slovenliness or easy slipshod habits of doing -business should be permitted on either side; -and investors, while insisting on their rights, -should bear in mind that their contracts with -their brokers ought to be carried out with -exactitude on their part, to enable the latter -to fulfil their duties towards their fellow-members.</p> - -<p>One other point we would urge investors to -bear in mind, and that is, that stockbrokers -are not prophets. Many investors, especially -ladies, think the reverse. We have frequently -heard very hard words indeed used towards -brokers who have been unfortunate enough to -advise a purchase which has turned out badly; -but a moment’s thought must demonstrate the -folly of such expressions of feeling. If a broker -knows positively what course the market is to -take in any particular stock, he has only to -buy or sell it to the amount required for producing -the profit he desires. Many investors, -however, when smarting under losses, are apt -to rush to conclusions which reflection proves -to be utterly unjust. It is true that stockbrokers -ought to be better acquainted with stocks and -everything pertaining thereto than the large -majority of investors; but it is absurd to suppose -that their views should never be wrong. Let -investors be satisfied with a reasonable rate of -interest, never buy stock without the advice of -a stockbroker, never buy what they cannot pay -for, or sell what they are not prepared to deliver, -and we are certain there would be fewer sleepless -pillows and more money in the coffers.</p> - -<p>Speculation, we fear, is inherent in the human -constitution, and all that we can say on the -subject is not likely to put a stop to it. It is -natural to the human animal to desire to make -money without working for it, and no doubt -such a state of affairs will exist to the end. But -experience teaches. We once heard an old man, -who had been a large speculator in his early -days, say that if he had put his money into -consols when he first began to save, and continued -doing so, instead of running after high -rates of interest, he would have been a very -much richer man in his old age. In the furious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">{124}</span> -race for riches, we feel certain that the steady -investor has the best of it; and the man who -is not even able to do more than make both -ends meet is infinitely happier than he who -spends restless days and sleepless nights in -the pursuit of that sudden wealth, which he, in -all probability, goes down to his grave without -acquiring.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_LADY_GODIVA">THE ‘LADY GODIVA.’</h2> -</div> -<p class="ph3">AN AUSTRALIAN STORY.</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> happened that one summer, a few years ago, -I found myself travelling up the Barwon River, -just where it commences to form the boundary -between Queensland and New South Wales. The -weather was terribly hot, and feed for horses -scarce, so that I was only too glad to accept the -invitation of a hospitable settler, an old acquaintance -in digging days gone by, to stay and ‘spell’ -for a week or two, whilst my horses put on -a little condition in his well-grassed paddocks. -The country round about at that time, even -on the river frontages, was very sparsely settled, -and comparatively young people could remember -when the blacks were ‘bad.’ Dingoes, kangaroos, -wild-cattle, and ‘brombees’ or wild-horses, -roamed the great scrubs in thousands; and with -respect to broken-in and branded individuals of -the two latter species, the laws of <i>meum</i> and <i>tuum</i> -seemed to be very lightly regarded amongst the -pioneers of the border; and for a settler to put -in an appearance at his neighbour’s killing-yard -whilst the operation of converting bullock into -beef was going on, was deemed the very height -of bad manners, inexcusable, indeed, unless perhaps -in the newest of new-chums, at least till -the hide was off and the brand cut out.</p> - -<p>My friend had only recently taken up ground -on the river; but his next and nearest neighbour, -old Tom Dwyer, who resided about five-and-twenty -miles away, was a settler of many years’ -standing; and it was from him that, towards the -end of my stay with the Brays, came an invitation -to the wedding festivities of his only -daughter, who was to be married to a young -cousin, also a Dwyer, who followed the occupation -of a drover.</p> - -<p>As Bray and myself rode along in the cool -of the early morning—the womenkind and -children having set out by moonlight the night -before in a spring-cart—he gave me a slight -sketch of the people whose hearty invitation we -were accepting.</p> - -<p>‘A rum lot,’ said my old friend—a fine specimen -of the bushman-digger type of Australian-born -colonist, hardy, brave, and intelligent, who -had, after many years of a roving, eventful life, -at last settled down to make himself a home -in the wilderness—‘a rum lot, these Dwyers. Not -bad neighbours by no means, at least not to me. -I speak as I find; but people do say that they -come it rather too strong sometimes with the -squatters’ stock, and that young Jim—him as -is goin’ to get switched—and old Tom his uncle -do work the oracle atween ’em. I mind, not -so long ago, young Jim he starts up north somewhere -with about a score head o’ milkers and -their calves; and when he comes back again in -about six months, he fetched along with him -over three hundred head o’ cattle! “Increase,” -he called ’em—ha, ha! A very smart lad is Jim -Dwyer; but the squatters are getting carefuller -now; and I’m afraid, if he don’t mind, that -he’ll find himself in the logs some o’ these fine -days. He’s got a nice bit o’ a place over the -river, on the New South Wales side, has Jim, -just in front o’ Fort Dwyer, as they call the old -man’s camp. You could a’most chuck a stone -from one house to the other.’</p> - -<p>So conversing, after about three hours’ steady-riding -through open box forest country, flat and -monotonous, we arrived at ‘Fort Dwyer’—or -Dee-wyer, as invariably pronounced thereabouts—a -long, low building, constructed of huge, roughly -squared logs of nearly fireproof red coolabah, or -swamp-gum, and situated right on the verge of -the steep clay bank, twenty feet below which -glided sullenly along the sluggish Barwon, then -nearly half a ‘banker.’</p> - -<p>A hearty welcome greeted us; and the inevitable -‘square-face’ of spirits was at once produced, -to which my companion did justice whilst pledging -the health of the company with a brief, -‘Well, here’s luck, lads!’ For my own part, -not daring to tackle the half-pannikinful of fiery -Mackay rum so pressingly offered, with the assurance -that it was ‘the finest thing out after a -warm ride,’ I paid my respects to an immense -cask of honey-beer which stood under a canopy -of green boughs, thus running some risk of losing -caste as a bushman by appropriating ‘the women’s -swankey,’ as old Dwyer contemptuously termed -it, whilst insisting on ‘tempering’ my drink with -‘just the least taste in life, sir,’ of Port Mackay, -of about 45 o. p. strength.</p> - -<p>There must have been fully one hundred people -assembled; and the open space just in front of -the house was crowded with buggies, spring-carts, -wagonettes, and even drays; but the great -centre of attraction was the stockyard, where -Jim Dwyer was breaking-in to the side-saddle -a mare, bought in one of his recent trips ‘up -north,’ and intended as a present for his bride, -of whom I caught a glimpse as she sat on an -empty kerosene tin, with her sleeves rolled up, -busily engaged in plucking poultry; a fair type -of the bush-maiden, tall and slender, with good, -though sharply cut features, deeply browned by -the sun, laughing dark eyes, perfect teeth—a -rare gift amongst young Australians—and as -much at home—so old Bray assured me—on horseback -cutting out ‘scrubbers’ or ‘brombees,’ as -was her husband-elect himself.</p> - -<p>The rails of the great stockyard were crowded -with tall, cabbage-tree-hatted, booted and spurred -‘Cornstalks’ and ‘Banana-men’ (natives of New<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">{125}</span> -South Wales and Queensland respectively); and -loud were their cries of admiration, as young -Dwyer, on the beautiful and, to my eyes, nearly -thoroughbred black mare, cantered round and -round, whilst flourishing an old riding-skirt about -her flanks.</p> - -<p>‘She’ll do, Jim—quiet as a sheep’—‘My word! -she’ll carry Annie flying’—‘What did yer give -for her, Jim?’—‘A reg’lar star, an’ no mistake!’ -greeted the young man, as, lightly jumping off, -he unbuckled the girths and put the saddle on -the slip-rails.</p> - -<p>Jim Dwyer differed little from the ordinary -style of young bush ‘native’—tall, thin, brown, -quick-eyed, narrow in the flanks; but with good -breadth of chest, and feet which, from their -size and shape, might have satisfied even that -captious critic the Lady Hester Stanhope, -under whose instep ‘a kitten could walk,’ that -the Australians of a future nation would not be -as the British, ‘a flat-soled generation, of whom -no great or noble achievement could ever be -expected.’</p> - -<p>I fancied that, as the young fellow came forward -to shake hands with Bray, he looked uneasily -and rather suspiciously at me out of the corner -of one of his black eyes. My companion evidently -observed it also, for he said laughingly: -‘What’s the matter, Jim? Only a friend of -mine. Is the mare “on the cross?” And did -you think he was a “trap?”’</p> - -<p>‘None o’ your business, Jack Bray,’ was the -surly reply. ‘“Cross” or “square,” she’s mine -till some one comes along who can show a -better right to her, an’ that won’t happen in a -hurry.’</p> - -<p>‘Well, well,’ replied Bray, ‘you needn’t get -crusty so confounded quick. But she’s a pretty -thing, sure enough. Let’s go and have a look -at her.’</p> - -<p>Everybody now crowded round the mare, praising -and admiring her. ‘Two year old, just,’ exclaimed -one, looking in her mouth.—‘Rising -three, I say,’ replied another.—‘And a cleanskin, -and unbranded!’ ejaculated Bray, at the -same time passing his hand along the mare’s -wither.</p> - -<p>‘That’s a disease can soon be cured,’ said -Dwyer with a laugh. ‘I’m agoin’ to clap the -J. D. on her now.—Shove her in the botte, boys, -while I go an’ fetch the irons up.’</p> - -<p>‘That mare’s a thoroughbred, and a race-mare -to boot, and she’s “on the cross” right enough,’ -whispered Bray, as we walked back towards the -house. ‘She’s been shook; and though she -ain’t fire-branded, there’s a half-sovereign let in -under the skin just below the wither; I felt it -quite plain; and I wouldn’t wonder but there’s -a lot more private marks on her as we can’t -see.’</p> - -<p>‘Do you think, then,’ I asked, ‘that young -Dwyer stole her?’</p> - -<p>‘Likely enough, likely enough,’ was the reply. -‘But if he did, strikes me as we’ll hear more -about the matter yet.’</p> - -<p>Just at this moment, shouts of, ‘Here’s the -parson!’—‘Here’s old Ben!’ drew our attention -to a horseman who was coming along the narrow -track at a slow canter.</p> - -<p>A well-known character throughout the whole -of that immense district was the Rev. Benjamin -Back, ‘bush missionary;’ and not less well known -was his old bald-faced horse Jerry. The pair bore -a grotesque resemblance to each other, both being -long and ungainly, both thin and gray, both always -ready to eat and drink, and yet always looking -desolate and forlorn. As the Rev. Ben disengaged -his long legs from the stirrups, the irrepressible -old Dwyer appeared with the greeting-cup—a -tin pint-pot half full of rum—which swallowing -with scarcely a wink, to the great admiration -of the lookers-on, the parson, commending Jerry -to the care of his host, stalked inside, and was -soon busy at the long table, working away at a -couple of roast-ducks, a ham, and other trifles, -washed down with copious draughts of hot tea, -simply remarking to ‘Annie,’ that she ‘had better -make haste and clean herself, so that he could put -her and Jim through, as he had to go on to Bullarora -that evening to bury a child for the -Lacies.’</p> - -<p>Having at length finished his repast, all hands -crowded into the long room, where before ‘old -Ben’ stood bride and bridegroom, the former -neatly dressed in dark merino—her own especial -choice, as I was told, in preference to anything -gayer—with here and there a bright-coloured -ribbon, whilst in her luxuriant black hair and -in the breast of her dress were bunches of freshly -plucked orange blossoms, that many a belle of -proud Mayfair might have envied. The bridegroom -in spotless white shirt, with handkerchief -of crimson silk, confined loosely around his neck -by a massive gold ring, riding-trousers of Bedford -cord, kept up by a broad belt, worked in wools -of many colours by his bride, and shining top-boots -and spurs, looked the very beau-idéal of -a dashing stockman, as he bore himself elate and -proudly, without a trace of that bucolic sheepishness -so often witnessed in the principal party to -similar contracts.</p> - -<p>The old parson, with the perspiration induced -by recent gastronomic efforts rolling in beads off -his bald head, and dropping from the tip of -his nose on to the church-service in his hand, -had taken off his long coat of threadbare rusty -black, and stood confessed in shirt of hue almost -akin to that of the long leggings that reached -above his knees. It was meltingly hot; and the -thermometer—had there been such an article—would -have registered one hundred and ten or -one hundred and fifteen degrees in the shade at -the least. But it was all over at last. Solemnly -‘old Ben’ had kissed the darkly flushing bride, -and told her to be a good girl to Jim—solemnly -the old man had disposed of another ‘parting -cup;’ and then, whilst the womenkind filled -his saddle-bags with cake, chicken, and ham, -together with the generous half of a ‘square-face’—or -large square-sided bottle—containing -his favourite summer beverage, old Dwyer, -emerging from one of the inner rooms, produced -a piece of well-worn bluish-tinted paper,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">{126}</span> -known and appreciated in those regions as -a ‘bluey,’ at sight of which the parson’s eye -glistened, for seldom was it that he had the -fortune to come across such a liberal douceur as -a five-pound note; but as old Dwyer said: ‘We -don’t often have a job like this one for you -Ben, old man. We’re pretty well in just now, -an’ I mean you shall remember it. An’ look -here; Jerry’s getting pretty poor now, an’ I know -myself he’s no chicken; so you’d best leave -him on the grass with us for the rest o’ his days, -an’ I’ll give you as game a bit o’ horse-flesh as -ever stepped; quiet, too, an’ a good pacer. See! -the boys is a-saddlin’ him up now.’</p> - -<p>The old preacher’s life was hard, for the most -part barren, and little moistened by kind offers -like the present; and his grim and wrinkled face -puckered up and worked curiously as he gratefully -accepted the gift for Jerry’s sake, his constant -companion through twelve long years of -travel incessant through the wildest parts of -Queensland; and with a parting injunction to -‘the boys’ to look after the old horse, he, -mounting his new steed, started off on his thirty-mile -ride to bury Lacy’s little child.</p> - -<p>The long tables, at which all hands had intermittently -appeased their hunger throughout the -day, on fowls, geese, turkeys, sucking-pig, fish, -&c., were now cleared and removed; a couple -of concertinas struck up, and fifteen or twenty -couples were soon dancing with might and main -on the pine-boarded floor. Old men and young, -old women and maidens, boys and girls, all went -at it with a will, whirling, stamping, changing -and ‘chaining’ till the substantial old house -shook again, and fears were audibly expressed -that the whole building would topple over into -the river.</p> - -<p>‘Not to-night, of all nights in the year,’ said -old Dwyer; ‘although I do believe I’ll have -to shift afore long. Ye’ll hardly think it—would -ye?—that when I first put up the old shanty, it -stood four chain, good, away from the bank; -it was, though, all that; an’ many a sneaking, -greasy black-fellow I’ve seen go slap into the -water with a rifle bullet through his ugly carcass -out of that back-winder, though it is plumb -a’most with the river now.’</p> - -<p>So, louder and louder screamed the concertinas, -faster and faster whirled the panting couples, till -nearly midnight, when ‘supper’ was announced -by the sound of a great bullock bell, and out -into the calm night-air trooped the crowd. The -tables this time had been set out on the sward -in front of the house, just without the long -dark line of forest which bordered the river, -through the tops of whose giant ‘belars’ the -full moon shone down on the merry feasters -with a subdued glory; whilst, in a quiet -pause, you could hear the rush of the strong -Barwon current, broken, every now and again, -by a deep-sounding ‘plop,’ as some fragment of -the ever-receding clayey bank would fall into -the water. Four or five native bears, disturbed -by the noise, crawled out on the limbs of a -great coolabar, and with unwinking, beady-black -eyes, gazed on the scene below, expressing their -astonishment every now and again in hoarse -mutterings, now low and almost inarticulate, -then ‘thrum, thrumming’ through the bush till -it rang again. From a neighbouring swamp came -the shrill scream of the curlew; whilst far away -in the low ranges of Cooyella, could be heard -the dismal howl of a solitary dingo coo-ee-ing -to his mates.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had the guests taken their seats and -commenced, amidst jokes and laughter, to attack -a fresh and substantial meal, when a furious -barking, from a pack of about fifty dogs, -announced the advent of strangers; and in a -minute more, three horsemen, in the uniform -of the Queensland mounted police, rode up to -the tables. One, a sergeant apparently, dismounted, -and with his bridle over his arm, -strode forward, commanding every one to keep -their seats; for several at first sight of the ‘traps’ -had risen, and apparently thought of quietly -slipping away. This order, however, enforced -as it was by the production of a revolver, together -with an evident intention of using it -on any absconder, brought them to their seats -again.</p> - -<p>‘What’s all this about?’ exclaimed old Dwyer. -‘We’re all honest people here, mister, so you can -put up your pistol. Tell us civilly what it is -you’re wantin’, an’ we’ll try an’ help you; but -don’t come it too rough. You ought to be ’shamed -o’ yourself. Don’t ye see the faymales?’</p> - -<p>‘Can’t help the females,’ retorted the sergeant -sharply. ‘I haven’t ridden four hundred miles to -play polite to a lot of women. I want a man -named James Dwyer; and by the description, -yonder’s the man himself’—pointing at the same -time across the table to where sat the newly-made -husband, who had been one of the first to make -a move at sight of the police.</p> - -<p>‘What’s the charge, sargent?’ asked old Dwyer -coolly.</p> - -<p>‘Horse-stealing,’ was the reply; ‘and here’s -the warrant, signed by the magistrate in Tambo, -for his apprehension.’</p> - -<p>I was sitting quite close to the object of these -inquiries, and at this moment I heard young Mrs -Dwyer, whilst leaning across towards her husband, -whisper something about ‘the river’ and ‘New -South Wales;’ and in another moment, head over -heels down the steep bank rolled the recently -created benedict, into the curious and cool nuptial -couch of swiftly flowing, reddish water, which he -breasted with ease, making nearly a straight line -for the other bank, distant perhaps a couple of -hundred yards.</p> - -<p>The troopers, drawing their revolvers, dismounted, -and running forward, were about to -follow the example set by their superior, who -was taking steady aim at the swimmer, perfectly -discernible in the clear moonlight, when suddenly -half-a-dozen pair of soft but muscular arms -encircled the three representatives of law and -order, as the women, screaming like a lot of -curlews after a thunderstorm, clasped them in a -tight embrace.</p> - -<p>Young Mrs Dwyer herself tackled the sergeant, -crying: ‘What! would you shoot a man just for -a bit of horse-sweating! Leave him go, can’t you. -He’s over the border now in New South Wales, -mare and all; and you can’t touch him, even if -you was there.’</p> - -<p>Just then a yell of triumph from the scrub on -the other shore seemed to vouch for the fact, and -was answered by a dozen sympathetic whoops and -shouts from the afore-mentioned ‘Cornstalks’ and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">{127}</span> -‘Banana-men,’ who crowded along our side of the -river.</p> - -<p>The sergeant struggled to free himself; and his -fair antagonist unwound her arms, saying: ‘Come -now, sargent, sit down peaceably and eat your -supper, can’t you! What’s the good of making -such a bother over an old scrubber of a mare!’</p> - -<p>‘An old scrubber of a mare!’ repeated the -sergeant aghast ‘D’ye think we’d ride this -far over a scrubber of a mare? Why, it’s the -Lady Godiva he took; old Stanford’s race-mare, -worth five hundred guineas, if she’s worth -a penny. Bother me! if he didn’t take her clean -out of the stable in Tambo, settling-night, after -she’d won the big money! But there, you all -know as much about it as I can tell you, that’s -plain to be seen, for I never mentioned a mare; -it was your own self, I do believe; and I’ll have -him, if I have to follow him to Melbourne.—Just -got married, has he? Well, I can’t help -that; he shouldn’t go stealing race-mares.—Well, -perhaps you didn’t know <i>all</i> about it,’ went on -the sergeant, in reply to the asseverations of the -Dwyer family as regarded their knowledge of -the way the young man had become possessed -of the mare. ‘But,’ shaking his head sententiously, -‘I’m much mistaken if most of this -crowd hadn’t a pretty good idea that there was -something cross about her. However,’ he concluded -philosophically, ‘it’s no use crying over -spilt milk. I’ll have to ride over to G—— -at daylight—that’s another forty miles—and get -an extradition warrant out for him. He might -just as well have come quietly at first, for we’re -bound to have the two of them some time or -other.’</p> - -<p>It was now nearly daylight; and our party set -out on their return home, leaving the troopers -comfortably seated at the supper, or rather by -this time, breakfast table; while just below the -house, in a bend of the river, we could see, as -we passed along, a group of men busily engaged -in swimming a mob of horses—amongst which -was doubtless the Lady Godiva herself—over to -the New South Wales shore, where, on the bank, -plainly to be discerned in the early dawn, stood -the tall form of her lawless owner.</p> - -<p>‘How do you think it will all end?’ I asked -Bray.</p> - -<p>‘Oh,’ was the reply, ‘they’ll square it, most -likely. I know something of that Stanford; -he’s a bookmaker; and if he gets back the mare -and a cheque for fifty or a hundred pounds, to -cover expenses, he’ll not trouble much after -Jim.’</p> - -<p>‘Yes. But the police?’ I asked.</p> - -<p>‘Easier squared than Stanford,’ answered Bray -dogmatically.</p> - -<p>That this ‘squaring’ process was successfully -put in force seemed tolerably certain; for very -shortly afterwards I read that at the autumn -meeting of the N. Q. J. C., the Lady Godiva -had carried off the lion’s share of the money; -and I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr and -Mrs Dwyer in one of Cobb & Co.’s coaches, bound -for the nearest railway terminus, about three -hundred miles distant, thence to spend a month -or so in Sydney; Jim, as his wife informed me, -having done uncommonly well out of a mob of -cattle and horses which he had been travelling -for sale through the colonies; so had determined -to treat himself and the ‘missis,’ for the first -time in their lives, to a look at the ‘big smoke.’</p> - -<p>‘That was a great shine at our wedding, wasn’t -it?’ she asked, as the coachman gathered up the -reins preparatory to a fresh start. ‘But’—and -here she tapped her husband on the head with -her parasol—‘I look out now that he don’t go -sticking-up to any more Lady Godivas.’</p> - -<p>‘That’s so,’ laughed Jim. ‘I find, that I -have my hands pretty full with the one I -collared the night you were there. I doubt sometimes -I’d done better to have stuck to the other -one; and as for temp’—— Here Jim’s head -disappeared suddenly into the interior of the -coach; crack went the long whip; the horses -plunged, reared, and went through the usual -performance of attempting to tie themselves up -into overhand knots, then darted off at top-speed -on their sixteen-mile stage, soon disappearing in -a cloud of dust along the ‘cleared line.’</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="OCCASIONAL_NOTES">OCCASIONAL NOTES.</h2> -</div> - - -<h3>ARTILLERY EXPERIMENTS.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> trials lately carried on at the Bill of Portland, -supplement (says the <i>Times</i>) those of Inchkeith -in certain respects. At Inchkeith it was -sought to obtain a just idea of the effect of -machine-gun and shrapnel fire on the detachment -serving a gun mounted <i>en barbette</i> in an -emplacement of tolerably recent design. Dummies -were placed round the gun in exposed -positions, and Her Majesty’s ship <i>Sultan</i>, under -very favourable conditions of sea and weather, -carried out some careful practice at various -ranges. The results, accurately recorded, furnish -data calculated to serve as a correction to mere -conjecture. At Portland, the objects sought to -be attained were two. The merits of the Moncrieff -or ‘disappearing’ principle of mounting -guns for coast-defence have been much discussed, -and great advantages have been claimed for it -with every show of reason; but no opportunity -had ever been given to the system to practically -demonstrate its defensive value. It was, therefore, -sufficiently desirable that a practical experiment -should be arranged in which ‘service-conditions’ -should be observed as far as possible, -so that there might be a something definite to -set against prejudice either in favour of or -against the system. It was proposed, at the -same time, to seek to obtain data as to the -accuracy of howitzer-fire from a floating platform.... -To sum up the case with judicial -fairness, the Portland experiments fully bear -out all that the champions of the disappearing -system have asserted; while its opponents—if -there are any such—must perforce admit that -at least nothing whatever is proved against it. -More than this, however, appears to be indicated -by these trials. There seems to be every reason -to believe that all direct fire, whether of heavy -or machine guns, against a disappearing gun -when down, is thrown away; that in the short -time during which this gun need be visible, it -will require a very smart gun-captain on board -ship merely to lay on it; that the more the -smoke obscures it, the better, provided a position-finder -is used; and finally, that to engage two -or three dispersed disappearing guns would be a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">{128}</span> -heart-breaking task for a ship. Probably the best -chance of disabling guns mounted on this system -is snap-shooting from the six-pounder quick-firing -gun, which can be bandied almost as readily -as a rifle. But, on the one hand, it does not -necessarily follow that a hit from the six-pounder -would have any effect on the disappearing gun; -and, on the other hand, the latter would be able -to get through a good deal of shooting before -the six-pounder was able to come into effective -action. Again, the six-pounder on board ship -would presumably be met by the six-pounder -on shore, which would shoot rather more accurately; -while, even as opposed to these wonderfully -handy little weapons, the disappearing -system must stand superior to all others. In -a turret or a cupola, more than half the length -of the modern long guns must be always exposed -to fire. All considerations, therefore, seem to -point to the disappearing system as the most -scientific method ever devised for protecting -shore-guns, and the advantages to be obtained -being so great, it becomes worth while to use -every possible effort to bring the disappearing -gun to practical perfection. The main difficulty -is to render the larger guns independently -automatic, and at present no gun larger than -the eight-inch—the gun exhibited in the Inventions -Exhibition—has been thus mounted in -England.</p> - - -<h3>SEA-GOING FISHING LIFEBOAT VESSELS.</h3> - -<p>Mr F. Johnson, the honorary managing secretary -of the National Refuge Harbours Society, -17 Parliament Street, London, has made it the -one aim of his life to devise such means as will -conduce to diminish the large total of lives annually -reported as having been lost at sea. He -is now interesting himself in bringing to a practical -application an invention of Mr John White, -of Cowes, described as a Sea-going Fishing Lifeboat -vessel, a model of which is now on public -view at 72 New Bond Street, London. Broad -in the beam, she has a large air-chamber divided -into two compartments at the bow; another—of -a smaller size—at the stern; and one running -along on either side. Thus, however much sea -she may ‘ship,’ with these air-chambers in use, -it is not possible for her to sink. Except for -the roofs of the fore and aft air-chambers, the -vessel has no deck, an arrangement which of -course gives her considerable buoyancy. The -roofs of the side air-chambers are curved off, -so that any water which might wash over one -bulwark would pass across the vessel and wash -out over the other. As a matter of fact, however, -it is confidently believed that, even in a high -sea, the vessel will be too buoyant to ship -much water. It has naturally occurred to the -inventor that in fine weather the fore air-chamber -might be utilised as a cabin; he has therefore -arranged that it may be unsealed and access -obtained to it by means of a hatchway. It -will be fitted up with cooking apparatus and -beds, the latter articles also filling the rôle of -life-buoys.</p> - -<p>Those who interest themselves in this invention -propose that vessels of the kind shall be -launched around our coasts, equipped with fishing-gear, -and manned with smacksmen, so that they -may be ‘self-supporting;’ while their primary -object will be to afford succour during stormy -weather to any craft in distress. Thus, it is -felt that the Fishing Lifeboat vessels might -ride in the different fishing fleets, the smacks -of which, being frequently far away from any -harbour of refuge, are often disabled or utterly -wrecked during a storm. Then, too, the vessels -might fish in the neighbourhood of dangerous -reefs and shoals, where their presence would be -especially valuable. We believe that two or -three years ago a fishing-smack was constructed -very much on the lines indicated, and that, after -effecting some rescues in the neighbourhood of -the Goodwin Sands, she herself was wrecked, -owing to her having been improperly laden with -stone. Mr White has agreed to build Sea-going -Fishing Lifeboat vessels of forty tons—a -size which is considered most suitable—at a cost -each of five hundred pounds. It is felt that a -fair start might be made with twenty vessels, -to be placed at different points around our coasts. -Thus ten thousand pounds is required; and a -public fund has been opened, and part of the -money already subscribed. Those who desire to -contribute should communicate with Mr Johnson, -all cheques being crossed National Provincial -Bank.</p> - - -<h3>SOME FACTS ABOUT MONTE CARLO.</h3> - -<p>The Report, says a contemporary, of the International -Committee in Nice upon the disgraceful -gambling hell of Monte Carlo, which has just -been issued, is to be made the ground of a collective -diplomatic action against the protector -of that institution, Prince Charles III. of Monaco. -This important pamphlet gives a documentary -catalogue of all the suicides which have taken -place in Monte Carlo from 1877 to 1885. The -total number of persons who have destroyed -themselves in consequence of their losses at his -Princely Highness’s gambling-tables is eighteen -hundred and twenty—that is to say, there have -been nearly as many suicides as the Prince has -subjects. The catalogue is very complete, giving -the name, the home, the age, and the date of -death of each suicide, and a collection of the -letters in which the wretched victims have commented -upon their self-destruction. Nearly all -of them curse the hour in which their eyes first -set sight upon Monte Carlo. It is agreeable to -learn from the table of nationality that the -English and Americans have supplied the smallest -number of victims. A tenth of the number are -Germans and Austrians; but the largest contingent -by far has been provided by France, Italy, -and Russia. The appalling census was instituted -by the Italian Consul-general in Nice, who found -ready support from patriotic citizens of other -lands. The callous brutality of the Monaco -‘government,’ if so honourable a name may be -given to this organised gambling Company, is -shown in the treatment of the suicides after their -death. Scarcely one of them, except where -friends have appeared in time to claim the body, -has received a decent burial. After the poor -wretch has lost all that he had, his corpse has -been hurriedly hidden in the poor quarter of the -burial-ground without funeral rites or mourners.</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="center">Printed and Published by <span class="smcap">W. & R. Chambers</span>, 47 Paternoster -Row, <span class="smcap">London</span>, and 339 High Street, <span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>.</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 112, VOL. 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