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diff --git a/75548-0.txt b/75548-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..adcabb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/75548-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7450 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75548 *** + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: + +In the plain text version text in italics is enclosed by underscores +(_italics_), small capitals are represented in upper case as in SMALL +CAPS and the sign ^ before any letter or text, like ^e, represents "e" +as a superscript. + +A number of words in this book have both hyphenated and non-hyphenated +variants. For the words with both variants present the one more used +has been kept. + +Obvious punctuation and other printing errors have been corrected. + +The original cover art has been modified by the transcriber and is +granted to the public domain. + + + * * * * * + + A + TIME OF TERROR + + The Story of a Great Revenge + + (A.D., 1910) + + This England never did, nor never shall + Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, + But when it first did help to wound itself. + + _King John_ + + _SECOND EDITION_ + + + LONDON + GREENING & CO., LTD. + 1906 + + + [_All Rights Reserved_] + + + _Copyright + in + The United Kingdom + of + Great Britain and Ireland + in the + Dominion of Canada + and in the + United States of America_ + + _Dec. 1905._ + + + Dedicated + TO + MY FELLOW CITIZENS + IN + “THIS GREAT BABYLON,” + AND, + IN PARTICULAR, + TO MEMBERS OF THE THREE + LEARNED PROFESSIONS + + _London: New Year’s Day, 1906._ + + + _CHARACTERS_ + + MARCUS WHITE + SIR JOHN WESTWOOD + BOBBY HERRICK + FATHER FRANCIS + DETECTIVE-INSPECTOR HENSHAW + BILLY OF MAYFAIR + THE MARQUIS OF DOWNLAND + THE LORD MAYOR + RAGGETT THE RAVER + JOE THE STABLEMAN + P.C. DORMER + + ALDWYTH WESTWOOD + MOLLY BARTER + BILLY’S GRANDMOTHER + MRS JOE + + + CROWNED HEADS + + _Episcopate_-- + THE ARCHBISHOP OF LONDON (NEW PROVINCE) + + _Royal Navy_-- + VICE-ADMIRAL SIR LAMBERT MEADE, K.C.B. + + _Judges and Magistrates_-- + LORD MALVERN, L.C.J.; MR JUSTICE BARLING; + MR HARROWDEN + + _Counsel_-- + MR DUFFUS JACOBS, K.C.; MR BRILL, K.C.; + MR DAWSON DALTON + + _Medical Faculty_-- + DR WILSON WAKE + + THE LEAGUERS OF LONDON, POLICE, THE UNEMPLOYED, ETC. + + [_Dramatic Rights secured_] + + + + + CONTENTS + + PAGE + + PROLOGUE: + + PART I.--A HERITAGE OF HATE 9 + + PART II.--RIVALS IN LOVE 17 + + + CHAPTERS + + I. LONDON IN 1910 21 + + II. AT THE NEW BAILEY 29 + + III. THE LEAGUERS’ FIRST MOVE 36 + + IV. THE CASE THAT FAILED 46 + + V. THE LEAGUERS’ SECOND MOVE 54 + + VI. THE MURDER OF DR GRADY 61 + + VII. LOVE ON THE LEAS 69 + + VIII. SIR JOHN BREAKS DOWN 77 + + IX. FATHER FRANCIS AT FOLKESTONE 85 + + X. MARCUS WHITE RETURNS 97 + + XI. THE SIGN OF THE SPIDER 105 + + XII. THE “EPOCH” RUNS AMOK 115 + + XIII. THE STRANGE OUTBREAK AT QUEEN’S HALL 125 + + XIV. BILLY OF MAYFAIR 132 + + XV. THE SHRINE OF LUXURY AND PRIDE 142 + + XVI. THE MANIA THAT LAID HOLD OF LONDON 152 + + XVII. THE GREAT FIRE IN HYDE PARK 160 + + XVIII. ALDWYTH ASKS A QUESTION 171 + + XIX. THE LORD MAYOR READS THE RIOT ACT 178 + + XX. THE LEAGUERS AT THE HOME OFFICE 189 + + XXI. THE DEVIL’S OWN ON THE DEFENSIVE 198 + + XXII. THE BOMB BRIGADE 208 + + XXIII. THE CRANKS’ CORNER 216 + + XXIV. THE LOWER CRITIC 222 + + XXV. MARCUS WHITE GIVES ORDERS 231 + + XXVI. THE CAPTURE OF THE JUDGES 239 + + XXVII. THE BLACK CHRISTMAS 251 + + XXVIII. IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE 260 + + XXIX. BILLY’S MESSAGE 266 + + XXX. THE FATE OF PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD 276 + + XXXI. THE NAVAL BATTLE OFF PLYMOUTH 285 + + XXXII. MARCUS WHITE AND THE MOB 296 + + XXXIII. THE FOREIGN SECRETARY 306 + + XXXIV. THE EAGLE IN THE LION’S JAWS 314 + + XXXV. THE KING AND THE KAISER 318 + + XXXVI. THE BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH 324 + + XXXVII. THE GREAT THANKSGIVING 328 + + + + + A Time of Terror + + + + + PROLOGUE + (A.D. 1885) + + PART I + A HERITAGE OF HATE + +The Court was densely crowded, and an atmosphere already vitiated +became doubly poisonous now that the ushers had lighted the gas. The +flaring jets revealed on every side the flushed and strained faces +of those who were eagerly waiting for the verdict. A great number of +women had been present at the Old Bailey throughout the trial--women +of fashion, eager to be thrilled by the most potent sensation of the +hour, and women of the lower orders, mostly Irish. A babble of excited +conversation arose directly the judges and the jury left the Court. +There were three judges, for this was an alleged case of treason +felony. In technical language the four prisoners were indicted for +having feloniously compassed, devised, and intended to depose our Lady +the Queen from the style, honour, and royal name of the Imperial Crown +of the United Kingdom, and further that they, with divers other persons +unknown, did manifest such intent by certain overt acts; all of which +was set out with the customary amount of verbiage in the indictment. + +Reduced to plain English, the actual charge was that the accused had +purchased arms and ammunition for distribution amongst a revolutionary +brotherhood; that they had been concerned in storing gunpowder and +other explosive materials for the purpose of wrecking public buildings +and overthrowing the Government of the Queen. Chester Castle, with its +great store of arms, was to be seized. Arms were to be transmitted in +piano packing-cases by the mail train from Euston, and the express was +to be held up on the route to Holyhead. Thereafter the rails were to be +torn up, the telegraph wires cut, and an armed band of two thousand men +was to take forcible possession of the mail boat and land in due course +on the Irish coast. + +None of these things, beyond the purchase of a limited quantity of +arms and ammunition, had really come to pass; but, as usual, the +inevitable informer had revealed the alleged plot to the Government. +Four arrests had been made, but the principal efforts of the +prosecution were vigorously employed to obtain the conviction of one +prisoner in particular--Michael White. + +This prisoner was a journalist, hitherto living in one of the suburbs +of London, and acting as correspondent for certain journals in Ireland +and in America. Under a search warrant the police had ransacked every +corner of his house. They found what purported to be an incriminatory +letter written in invisible ink, also a glass tube containing a liquid +which, when tested by the Government analyst, was proved to contain +crystals. These crystals, if dissolved in water, could be used for the +purpose of making impressions on paper, and such impressions would be +invisible until copperas or certain other chemicals had been applied. +Beyond these discoveries and the evidence of the informers, there was +but little to connect Michael White with the alleged conspiracy. + +The prisoner was a handsome, middle-aged man, whose intellectual face +was in striking contrast with those of the two shifty-eyed and cringing +informers, on whom from time to time he bent looks of infinite +disgust and scorn. The sympathy of not a few was with the accused; but +so strenuous was the conduct of the prosecution, and so adverse the +judicial summing up, that only one result could be expected from the +trial. + +One member of White’s family was present through the long and agonising +trial--the prisoner’s only son, and there was a double bitterness in +the young man’s heart as hour by hour he saw the net being weaved about +his father, for he, himself, had his own personal reason for hating +Westwood, the zealous junior counsel for the Crown. When the fierce +eyes of young Marcus White met the barrister’s, the latter shifted +his gaze, fumbled with his papers, or made a show of entering into +conversation with other counsel. The prisoner’s son watched these poor +devices with a contemptuous smile. A complex, burning sense of wrong +filled his breast. The private wrong which he believed had been done +to himself by Westwood, blended, as it were, with the wrong that he +conceived was being done to his father; and this in turn was interwoven +with the sense of wholesale wrong inflicted during centuries upon +prisoners and captives who had come within the iron grip of English +criminal law. + +Marcus White, like his father, was a man of no small intellectual +power. A journalist who is to write anything worth reading must read +much before he writes, and the prisoner’s son had read much. At one +time it had been intended that he should join the army of advocates, +but he turned away with repugnance after a preliminary survey of the +law. Later, his father, to whom he was devotedly attached, gave him +some training in his own profession, the profession of the pen. The +elder White had long had in hand a book on the subject of barbarous +punishments, and his son diligently assisted him in looking up and +collating ancient records of the shocking violence in times past +done to humanity under the sanction of the law. He knew that the +English Criminal Code included at one time nearly two hundred offences +punishable with death; he knew that this dreadful catalogue comprised +innumerable offences of the most trifling character, while it omitted +enormities of the utmost atrocity. + +A study of these penal statutes and their ruthless application had +shattered his instinctive reverence for the law and its administration. +He had learnt to see in the sanguinary monuments of so-called justice +the oppression of the strong, the cruelty of the cowardly, a terrible +revelation of “man’s inhumanity to man.” His mind revolted at the +idea of a divine right in kings to hang, draw, and quarter any one +who criticised their conduct or advocated another form of government. +It was, he held, only the _Lex talionis_, supported by force, and all +the traps and complexities of criminal pleading were but the miserable +devices of lawyers ever ready to prostitute a calling that in itself +was noble. History proved it--history of which nearly every page was +stained with judgments of expediency or the dark crime of judicial +murder. “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” was +supposed to have come from the poisonous lips of such creatures as +Titus Oates. The judge--he might be a Jeffreys or a Scroggs--was but +the Government in wig and ermine. The Crown counsel were paid pleaders +for the party in power. The docile jury, ruled by the judge, were in +effect the most obedient servants of the Government. This, then, was +human justice--which in its true essence was supernal and divine. This +was the Western Baal that men were called on to revere! + +Rightly or wrongly, thus he reasoned. From such thoughts there had +sprung up and still was growing and destined to grow in the mind of +Marcus White a loathing for the law and a desire for vengeance on +all who followed it as servitors. Such were the feelings with which +he had seen his own father caught in these dreadful toils; practised +advocates, perjured witnesses, and crafty detectives, all combining to +bring about the climax that was imminent. + + * * * * * + +There was a cry of “Silence!” The jury were stumbling back into the +box; the judges returned to the bench. Amid a breathless stillness +the Clerk of Arraigns put the accustomed questions: “Do you find the +prisoner, Patrick Desmond, guilty or not guilty?”--“Not guilty.” + +“Do you find the prisoner, John O’Leary, guilty or not guilty?”--“Not +guilty.” + +“Do you find the prisoner, Robert Dale, guilty or not guilty?”--“Not +guilty.” + +Then, last of all, “Do you find the prisoner, Michael White, guilty +or not guilty?” The pale face of the foreman twitched; there was a +momentary hesitation in his manner. Every ear was strained to catch the +verdict. Then, in a low voice, it came,--“Guilty.” + +There was a swift scratching of pens. The Clerk of Arraigns was +recording the verdict on the parchment of the long indictment, the +judge was noting it, the counsel were indorsing the result upon their +briefs, but the eyes of all others were on the face of the prisoner at +the bar. + +“Michael White,” said the Clerk of Arraigns, “you stand convicted upon +this indictment. Have you any cause to show why the Court should not +pass judgment upon you?” + +“I have to say,” answered the prisoner, in a clear, strong voice, “that +I had no hand in this so-called plot. My conviction has been brought +about by perjured evidence and trickery; but, my lord, do not suppose +that I shall whine for mercy. I am not the first man to suffer for a +cause. I love my native land, and I hate those who oppress it. If my +life could be the price of justice to Ireland and the Irish I would +gladly lay it down; if the hand that I now raise to heaven could bring +vengeance on those who have wronged us I should rejoice; and though +death or prison-house make me powerless, with my last breath I would +whisper to my son to carry on the work.” + +For a moment the prisoner’s face was turned towards his son’s, and +there were those in Court who saw and afterwards recalled the answering +look. + +Then Michael White received, unmoved, his sentence. + +Penal servitude for life. + + + PART II + RIVALS IN LOVE + +“Stand aside,” said Westwood, in a voice which he vainly strove to +steady. + +“Not yet,” was the savage answer; “you’ve got to listen!” + +The two men faced each other in the calm starlight of the April +evening. The Embankment was almost deserted save for the huddled, +heedless outcasts on the benches. A few hansoms rattled westward; a +few small vessels, with sails spread, moved ghostly and silent on +the swirling river. Nature’s placidity was in strange contrast with +the fiery passion that flamed in the eyes of Marcus White and found +expression in his threatening gestures. Both men were pale; their +facial muscles tense. But the pallor of the one was begotten of anger +and hatred. With Westwood it was the outcome of nervous apprehension, +if not of actual fear. + +“This is folly,” he said, with a better effort at self-command. “So far +as I am concerned you have nothing to complain of----” + +“Nothing to complain of,” exclaimed White. “What! You steal the girl +who was mine. Yes, mine,--until you sneaked in between us----” + +“That is not true, White.” + +“I say you stole her--she was beguiled away from me. I was poor, and +likely to be poorer. You had your profession, your respectability, +and your prospects. Curse you! You’re not fit to touch her hand. Nor +am I. I know that well enough; but I love her, and always shall. She +was everything to me--my strength, my hope--till you stepped in; and +to-night I’d think no more of taking you by the throat and ending your +mean life than I would of crushing a beetle or any other filthy thing +beneath my heel. + +“I’m sorry if you think----” began Westwood. Then he paused, half +ashamed of his own propitiatory tone, but debating how he could appease +the fury of his enemy and escape from a situation which had become so +threatening. + +“And not content with taking her from me,” the other went on, drawing +a step nearer and speaking with increased intensity, “you stood up +in Court to prosecute my father. You and the others have helped to +send him into slavery for life. The prosecution was a lie, I say, and +you lied as much as any of the witnesses. Not on oath; that wasn’t +wanted. You saw your chances, and you laid hold of them. You got +the advertisement you wanted. There was deviltry in your pretended +moderation. But you know the tricks of your trade--your looks and +gestures to the jury said what you dared not put in words. He was in +the dock and you were at the bar, with all its privileges and all its +honourable traditions! Faugh! You sickened me. Yours was the face I +watched; not the judge’s; not the foreman’s when he stood up and gave +the verdict----” + +“Let me pass, man; you’re acting like a madman,” said the barrister. + +“Ah! You’re afraid of me. Coward! coward! You daren’t deny it.” + +Westwood glanced round. He had been kept late at his chambers in Paper +Buildings, and near the corner of Temple Avenue had come suddenly upon +this enemy whom, of all men, he least desired to meet. The stream of +wheeled traffic came steadily across Blackfriars Bridge and branched +off right and left, but on the footway of the Embankment still scarcely +a creature was to be seen. Westwood spoke again. + +“I only did my duty. The brief came to me because of the illness of +another man, and I was bound to take it. You ought to understand that +legal etiquette----” + +“Legal etiquette!” exclaimed White scornfully, “etiquette that allows +you lawyers to libel other men and twist and turn the truth to suit +your case. Etiquette that justifies your taking fees you don’t earn, +and neglecting cases when it suits you. For you and your brood there +is no sort of penalty. You pose as good citizens. You talk yourselves +into Parliament, and fawn on the Government when there are places to be +given away. You sit on the Bench and draw a year’s salary for little +more than half a year’s work, and send to penal servitude men in whose +presence you ought to stand bare-headed.” + +“I can’t stay here and listen to your raving,” said Westwood angrily. + +“You’ve got the best of it at present. You’ve had us every way,” +persisted White. “There’s nothing left for me in England. That suits +your purpose, too. But, mark my words, Westwood, I haven’t done with +you. Sooner or later the tables shall be turned. I swear by heaven they +shall! Some day you’ll hear of me again!” + +Ending, he spat on him. Then, with a contemptuous gesture, turned away. +Westwood, with a movement of disgust and anger, took two steps as if to +follow him; then hesitated, stopped. + +Marcus White did not even condescend to turn his head, but, striding +eastward, passed into the shadows of the London night. + + + END OF PROLOGUE + + + + + CHAPTER I + LONDON IN 1910 + + +An Englishman returning to his native land after an absence of +twenty-five years, might not at first discover much difference in the +look of London. There stood the old familiar landmarks--Buckingham +Palace, St James’s, the Marble Arch, Apsley House, Westminster Abbey, +the Houses of Parliament, the National Gallery, the British Museum, +St Paul’s, the Tower, the Monument, and many another well-remembered +building. There were new hotels, new theatres, new buildings of all +sorts, and at least one notable new thoroughfare. In the great arteries +of business the old familiar thunder of the traffic rose louder than +ever, with the modern addition of a new smell and a new noise--the +smell and the whir of the motor-car. The mean streets were as mean +as ever; the contrast between this and that locality more than ever +noticeable. + +And the people, save for the scarcely perceptible change in fashion of +dress, at first looked pretty much the same. There were more loafers, +more wastrels, more sprawling scarecrows of humanity in the parks, and +along the Embankment. The richest city in the world still had thousands +and more thousands of homeless, miserable creatures in its midst, +thousands whom the State knew not how to save for their own sake, or +for the service of England. + +It would be obvious to the returned native that the old country must +long since have ceased to be a “merry England.” The look on the faces +of the people was enough to settle that. The intent gaze, the joyless +expression, told a convincing tale. Here and there might be seen a +flower of beauty in the gigantic garden of weeds--a stalwart, handsome +man, a “perfect woman, nobly plann’d.” Eyes of youth, looking eagerly +upon the page of life, still shone with the glow of hope and happiness; +young girls and young children, in their freshness and charm, still +reminded the wayfarer that in the great design human beings were meant +to be even more beautiful than the flowers of the field. But the vast +crowd--what had come to it, and what was coming? Was the English race, +as a race, growing not only plain, but positively ugly? + +When the home-comer found time to move about a little, he would +discover that in many respects the changes wrought in twenty-five +years were greater than he had supposed. There were, in outlying +districts, certain new or enlarged buildings of formidable aspect. +These were the lunatic asylums of the capital. The inquirer had to +learn that insanity had been advancing by leaps and bounds. Five years +ago the number of London lunatics was nearly 27,000, and now there +were nearly 100,000 certified lunatics in London. The workhouses also +were larger and fuller than ever; and in the City, the scene of the +trial of Michael White in 1885, the old court-house, haunted with the +horrors of centuries, had given place to a new and imposing building, +with greater accommodation for criminals. Solid, handsome, stony, the +New Bailey frowned down on the new generation of Londoners. The City +Fathers were justly proud of their modern palace of justice, though the +question of what motto should be inscribed over its portal gave rise +to some difference of opinion. A very reverend dean suggested, “Defend +the children of the poor, and punish the wrong-doer,” or words to that +effect. In what way the New Bailey was going to fulfil the first part +of the text did not seem to be quite obvious but certainly the massive +sessions-house looked quite equal to punishing the evil-doer. It did +not occur to any one to recommend a text from the Koran, which declares +that to endure and forgive is the highest achievement for humanity. +Probably the City Fathers did not read the Koran. Besides, though +in the interval we had allied ourselves with worshippers of Buddha, +England as yet had no treaty with the unspeakable Turk. A quotation +from the sacred book of Islam might have been considered out of place +in a nominally Christian country. + +Such were some of the changes brought about in a quarter of a +century. A person of cynical mind might well doubt whether they were +changes for the better. For the rest, the people crowded hither and +thither--underground, by tubes in all directions; above ground, on +foot, and by vehicles of every description--mostly “motors.” By means +of the latter insignificant persons tore through the streets, bound on +errands of no importance. The private “motors,” of course, were owned +by the pleasure-seekers of the age, who, for all their hurry, probably +had nothing more urgent to do than to order luncheon at a fashionable +restaurant, or purchase a box of cigarettes. + +Postal deliveries had been multiplied; telephone facilities increased. +Everything was essentially modern; the great thing was to be up to +date. But all the new facilities for saving time and trouble seemed +to have resulted in leaving very little time for anything. Certainly +there was no time for studying the past of England and of the British +race; and as to the future, a great many persons believed that, for +individuals, it was as mythical as Mrs Harris. + +The so-called educated classes, when not following the compulsory +routine of their daily lives, were primarily engaged, as to the young +men, in the frenzied pursuit of sport; and as to the young women, in +the vital study of dress, varied by a steady perusal of their favourite +authoresses in the domain of fiction. + +Newspapers, of course, were scanned--by the male population, at any +rate; but people were not equal to the intellectual exertion of reading +an unbroken column. News and notes had to be administered on the +homœopathic principle, in scraps and snippets. And as the Bible had not +yet been abridged, it necessarily followed that that was the very last +book that up-to-date people could find time or interest to study. + +Lives of great men were still available to remind the moderns to make +their lives sublime. But, then, the moderns could not find time or +inclination to read the ancients. The sublime, in their view, was not +only close to, but identical with, the ridiculous. Certainly they could +not concern themselves with any nonsense about leaving footprints on +the sands of time. Everybody, however, found time to read lengthy law +reports arising from scandals in high life. + +A considerate aristocracy had of late done more and more to gratify +public taste in that respect. The “upper classes” quarrelled about +their children, about their heirlooms, about the “other man,” or the +“secret woman,” about anything and everything. But, in spite of all, +the average Briton, with inborn snobbishness, dearly loved a lord. +Kind hearts were at a discount; but coronets fetched heavy premiums, +especially in the American market. Broadly speaking, “simple faith” was +non-existent; but Norman blood, however vitiated, covered in a double +sense the multitude of sins. The Divorce Court had virtually become a +public laundry, in which judge, counsel, and witnesses were constantly +engaged in washing the soiled linen of the British peerage, a task +varied, however, by similar operations on behalf of the ladies and +gentlemen of the stage. + +The business classes, still solid, stolid, and worried, were mostly +occupied in efforts to put money in the purse to an extent sufficient +to meet the ever-growing expenses of modern life in England. By reason +of this problem, there were fewer marriages than of yore; and, yet +more significant, the birth-rate fell and fell. There was still great +wealth in England, but it was in fewer hands. The Jew syndicates, the +drink-sellers, the drapers, and the betting agents largely absorbed the +nation’s gold. But the poor in pocket were by no means poor in spirit. +Pampered and petted by political parties, the British working-man +had realised the uses of the weapons placed at his disposal. He had +a vote, and he used it, whereas the middle-class man did not. He +had the weight of numbers behind him, and he meant to use that too. +Yet, notwithstanding all these indications of decay, there was still +in every rank a goodly leaven; the problem was, whether there was +enough of it to leaven the whole lump, and resuscitate the nation. +If, instead of the return of the native after only twenty-five years, +the boy-poet, Keats, could have come back (from that bourn whence no +traveller returns), after nearer a hundred years, it is to be feared he +still would have found an “inhuman dearth of noble natures,” and still +gloomier signs-- + + “Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways + Made for our searching.” + +It was a covetous age, but it did not covet earnestly the best of gifts: + + “Gentleness, Virtue, Wisdom, and Endurance, + These are the seals of that most firm assurance, + Which bars the pit over Destruction’s strength.” + +But Shelley, like Keats, was forgotten, or unknown. The age of +mediocrity had no concern with intellectual giants; the period of small +men, with parochial ideas, nothing in common with great conceptions of-- + + “Love from its awful throne of patient power,” + +looking down upon humanity; or of humanity ready-- + + “To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite; + To forgive wrongs darker than death or night; + To defy Power, which seems omnipotent; + To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates.” + +It was “Everyone for himself,” but not “devil take the hindmost”; +because belief in the Prince of Darkness, like belief in many other +things, had largely been discarded. + +The signs and the sounds of the times were many and various; but, +not in England only--perhaps less in England than abroad--the most +arresting was the diapason note of a steady march. The rolling rhythm +of a mighty organ; the tramp, tramp, tramp of the many millions, +drawing nearer and nearer. + + + + + CHAPTER II + AT THE NEW BAILEY + + +For three days public attention had been riveted on another sensational +trial that had packed the New Bailey with an excited audience, and +filled the report columns of the London papers. It was alleged that a +daring and gigantic fraud had been practised on charitable persons, +and, what was worse, not merely on persons, but on personages, highly +placed in Church and State. Many distinguished victims had gone into +the witness-box, and told their tale; and therein, for the time being, +lay the main interest of the trial. Again, ladies of social celebrity, +eager for a new sensation, had importuned city officials and the Judge +himself for the equivalent of stalls to see the show. The Society +journals gushingly described their excellent taste--in the matter of +dress. + +Lord Malvern, the Chief Justice, had come down to try the case, and his +counterfeit presentment in various attitudes of wisdom or weariness +had figured in the _Daily Graphic_, with those of the prisoners, +witnesses, and counsel. In this instance the prisoners themselves were +persons of little interest or importance; for it was well understood +that they were practically dummies, put forward, and, it was said, +well paid for running the risk of capture. There was what the papers +call a brilliant array of counsel. For the Crown, Sir John Westwood, +Solicitor-General, led three other learned gentlemen, of whom “Bobby” +Herrick was the least of juniors; and on the other side were ranged +five advocates, the best the Bar could produce or money retain--the +leaders being the well-known K.C.’s--Mr Duffus Jacobs, Mr Brill, and Mr +Dawson Dalton. + +The elaborate nature of the conspiracy had only gradually been +unfolded. It was amazing in its audacity; and yet in the minds of +those who were specially qualified to read between the lines, there +was a strong conviction that something much more serious lay behind. +It was proved, indeed, that many thousands of pounds had passed into +the coffers of the London Emigration League, but it was whispered that +not one-tenth of the plunder had been brought to light or traced. +The actual figures were believed to run into scores of thousands, +systematically collected under false pretences during a period of +ten months and more. Dukes and lesser peers, with bishops, deans, +prominent canons of the Church, and City magnates, had been made the +puppets of the wire-pullers. As patrons they gave their names as well +as their money to this well-sounding scheme, which professed to have +for its object the sending of the loafers, wastrels, hooligans, and +gaol-birds of the homeland to Canada, Australia, and South Africa. The +project found favour, to some extent because it appealed indirectly +to self-interest. The growing turbulence of the unemployed and +unemployable seriously menaced social order, and the annual expenditure +on prisons and workhouses had brought about an enormous increase in the +rates. + +The scheme of the League, appealing thus to a spurious philanthropy, +when once launched, was urged forward day by day under the auspices of +illustrious names, and boldly pushed by means of page advertisements +in the leading London newspapers. At the Mansion House the Lord Mayor +presided over an enthusiastic meeting in support of the League. A +resolution, moved by a member of the Royal Family, was received +with plaudits and carried with acclamation. Thereafter, from leading +assurance offices, and banking houses, and from City men of wealth and +influence, munificent donations flowed in thick and fast. These gifts +were freely advertised. The first list drew another list, and so forth. +The snowball rolled and rolled. + +Doubt and suspicion, whispered here and there, were silenced or +pooh-poohed. The League stood out boldly in the light of day. Its huge +offices on Holborn Viaduct were filled with an army of clerks and +typists by day; and by night its name was flashed ceaselessly, like +that of a catchpenny soap or tobacco, before the eyes of wondering +passers-by. Reports were issued to subscribers throughout the kingdom, +who were given to understand that the colonial branches of the League +were being steadily developed into working order, and that soon +the farms and industries designed to provide honest labour for the +outcasts of the crowded mother country would be available for the eager +emigrants. + +The various colonies indicated were not quite keen in their +appreciation of the project. Colonial journals protested against +an influx of ex-convicts. Canada wanted population, but it must be +population of the right sort; and Australia saw in the scheme a +dangerous likeness to the old transportation system, with all the +attendant evils of a penal settlement. + +An officer of the League complained strongly in the _Times_ of the +misunderstanding and obstruction that thus hindered the fulfilment +of their meritorious aims. Influential deputations of patrons and +vice-presidents went to the Colonial Office, and waited also on the +Prime Minister. The Crown agents of the Colonies were interviewed; and, +the League, remaining prominently in evidence day by day, drew in, +though more slowly as the months went by, additional subscriptions from +all classes of society. + +Then, suddenly, a bolt fell from the blue. Mr Vandelaire, the +owner-editor of the _Detector_, published an article in which he +declared in round terms that the whole scheme was an imposture, +a colossal fraud in root and branch. He boldly named the leading +officials of the League as participators in a nefarious project, +and politely informed them that if they considered the article was +libellous, his solicitors (the much-paragraphed Messrs Ely & Ely) would +be ready to accept service of legal process. Other articles followed, +and were eagerly read and quoted. They suggested that there was a rich +and reckless man behind the League, the prime mover in a mammoth +project of deception; that the officials in question were, for the most +part, figureheads; and finally, that robbery was not the real object of +this daring and dangerous organisation. + +Questions were asked in Parliament, and evaded in the usual +Governmental manner. The _Daily Telephone_ devoted columns to the +letters of correspondents, some of whom--guileless “constant readers” +and others--angrily protested against “malicious attacks upon a great +and meritorious scheme,” while, on the other hand, a few vehemently +invoked the criminal law and declared that the Treasury Solicitor was +a useless functionary unless, in such circumstances, he set the law in +motion. Even the law officers of the Crown, sadly injured men who only +wanted to draw their enormous salaries in peace and quietness, came in +for criticism. Presumptuous persons actually wanted to know what they +did for the money. It became quite manifest that the public demanded a +prosecution of the League, and meant to have it. Ultimately, and, as it +were with infinite reluctance, warrants were applied for and granted. + +A prolonged magisterial enquiry resulted, after endless remands, in the +committal of the secretary and chief cashier of the League to take +their trial at the Bailey. Such was the stage that had now been reached +in this amazing drama of the day. + +On a certain Saturday in April--five-and-twenty years after Michael +White went down into the silence of imprisonment, soon to pass into the +greater silence of a yet narrower cell; five-and-twenty years after his +son had uttered his savage warning to John Westwood, the sequel was +beginning to take shape. + +As yet it was a little cloud, no bigger than a man’s hand; but the +cloud was destined to grow to vast proportions, blacker and more +threatening as time went on, shadowing London with a great terror of +darkness, and begetting fear throughout the length and breadth of +England. + + + + + CHAPTER III + THE LEAGUERS’ FIRST MOVE + + +In the Solicitor-General’s chambers, in Paper Buildings, Bobby +Herrick was fuming, and looking at his watch. At intervals Wilson, +the head-clerk, fussed in and out with briefs and papers. All the +bundles were tied together with the inevitable tape; well may it blush +red for the unholy and mendacious things it has enfolded! Westwood’s +clerk, however, never blushed. For one thing, he had bargained so +remorselessly for heavier fees at moments critical for his employer’s +clients that he had lost the power of feeling shame. For another, he +had a thick and doughy skin which preserved the same unhealthy hue at +all times and in all places. He was a prosperous man, belonging, it +was said, to the ranks of “gigmanity,” for he kept his pony chaise at +Brixton. There were some who said that Josiah Wilson would sell his +little soul for gold if only Mephistopheles would care to make a bid. +He certainly had investments, and his average income from “clerk’s +fees” (which immemorial usage extracts from the client, instead of from +the advocate) was quite substantial. Many a struggling junior at the +Bar would have been thankful to earn a third of that average income. +Wilson really earned nothing except in the manner indicated; but he +wore a silk-fronted frock-coat and a massive watch-chain. Nature, in +its abhorrence of a straight line, had taken care that there should be +no straight line in the waistcoat which that gleaming chain adorned. + +“Sir John’s late this morning,” said Wilson. + +“Yes, I know he is,” agreed Herrick impatiently. + +“Something wrong, I expect,” suggested Wilson, with a shifty look. + +“Good heavens! I hope not.” Herrick started up. “Why, everything +depends on his being in Court. He’s going to claim his privilege and +reply on the whole case for the Crown.” + +“He can’t if he isn’t there,” said Wilson. “He was a bit queer +yesterday. Liver--that’s what it is,” he added hesitatingly. + +“Confound his liver!” Herrick muttered, under the slight cover of his +fair moustache. “Look here,” he said aloud, “why don’t you ring him +up?” + +“I might do that,” assented Wilson, but not with enthusiasm. + +“He seemed all right in Court yesterday; a bit fagged, nothing more. +It’s the House that knocks him up.” + +“He wasn’t all right last night when I took down that last report from +Scotland Yard.” + +“Well, go and ring them up, man. There’s hardly time to get there +before the Court sits, and the Lord Chief won’t wait for anyone.” + +In a few moments he heard Wilson’s “Are you there?”--the feeble +stereotyped inquiry of the telephonist--and presently the tinkle +of the bell in the outer room in answer. Herrick felt nervous and +excited--moved by an unaccountable apprehension of sinister happenings. +So far as he knew at the moment, he had nothing to do but prompt his +leader in regard to dates and details, if Westwood’s memory or private +notes should fail him. The case had been a professional and financial +godsend to the young barrister. Of course he knew perfectly well that +the brief had not come to him as the just due of his talents. He was +young, untried, and inexperienced--except in his capacity as one of +the lesser “devils” in the Solicitor-General’s forensic Hades. The +Treasury Solicitor gave him brief No. 4 because it was officially known +that it would suit Sir John Westwood to have him in the case. He also +happened to be a young fellow of good family, with a not very remote +chance of succeeding to an earldom; finally, he was engaged to be +married to Sir John Westwood’s only daughter. + +While Wilson seemed to be trying to extract intelligible information +over the wires, Herrick took a turn up and down the slip of a back room +in which he worked; then he stood awhile with his bulky brief tucked +under his arm, and hands clasped behind him, gazing across the sunlit +grass in the gardens. It was a perfect spring morning in point of +weather, and Bobby, as the Bar called him, reflected how pleasant it +would be if he and Aldwyth Westwood were up the river, or sauntering +side by side along the woodland ways. + +Suddenly the door behind him was opened, and the staccato voice of a +boy-clerk announced, “Miss Westwood.” + +“Father can’t come! Isn’t it dreadfully unlucky?” she exclaimed, +entering in a whirlwind of “frock and frill.” + +“Unlucky!” echoed Herrick, turning, aghast; “why, it’s the very---- +Well, it’s simply disastrous! I firmly believe that unless he has the +last word to the jury, they’ll acquit those scoundrels. The prosecution +will fall through like a house of cards! Is anything serious the +matter?” + +“I don’t know--I can’t make out,” was the girl’s anxious answer. “He +seems quite----well, almost stupefied this morning. Of course you know +he’s not been well for some time past, and last night----” She paused, +her lips trembling, tears in her tender eyes. + +“My dear girl, I’m so awfully sorry,” said Herrick, taking her hand. +“It can’t be helped. Don’t worry; the doctor will pull him round in no +time. You sent for one, of course?” + +“Yes, I telephoned to Queen Anne Street before I left.” + +“What message did your father send me?” + +“None at all--isn’t it dreadful? He seemed quite indifferent, and, as I +told you, almost stupefied. When I questioned him, he seemed to have no +power to answer clearly. When he spoke, his voice was thick and I could +hardly understand a word he said.” + +“Good heavens! It sounds as if some drug had been at work. I suppose he +never----?” + +“I am quite sure he never takes a drug of any sort,” was the girl’s +emphatic answer to the unfinished question. + +“No, of course not, of course not,” said her lover soothingly; then, +looking once more at his watch: “Well, I ought to see our other leader +at once, that’s clear.” + +“That’s Mr Boulton, isn’t it?” + +“Yes, Boulton. Look here, will you come down to the Bailey in my +hansom, and we’ll talk about this on the way?” + +“Yes, I can do that, and then drive home again,” she agreed readily. + +“And you must tell Sir John he needn’t worry. I daresay the case will +work out all right, after all.” + +“You don’t think so really,” said Aldwyth, looking with her clear eyes +into his. + +And in his heart of hearts he did not. + +Within a few minutes they were driving eastward as fast as the +congested traffic of the street, alleged to have been specially beloved +by Dr Johnson, would permit. On Blackfriars Bridge, cabs, omnibuses, +vans, and vehicles of all sorts, held back by the raised hand of the +constable on duty, were let loose just as the hansom in which the +lovers sat had reached the end of Fleet Street. There was nothing +unusual or remarkable in being blocked. But what struck Herrick as +distinctly odd was the vast number of low-class pedestrians who were to +be noticed streaming over the bridge from the Surrey side, and turning +to the right up Ludgate Hill. The crowd impeded the vehicular traffic +under the railway bridge, and blocked the narrow turning which gave +access to that ancient bit of London, still popularly known as the Old +Bailey. As Herrick stood up to pay the cabman presently, he noticed +with surprise that other streams of people of the same low order seemed +to be converging from Holborn, Giltspur Street, and Newgate Street. + +What did it mean? When he had sent Aldwyth off in the hansom with a +lover’s look for herself and a last message of sympathy for her father, +he turned to Henshaw, the detective inspector, who was standing near +counsel’s entrance to the Courts. + +“Where’s all this riff-raff coming from,” asked the barrister. + +“Slums,” said Henshaw briefly. + +“But why?” + +“Ah! that’s the question! Honourable members of this precious League, +perhaps. There’s more in this affair than meets the eye, Mr Herrick.” + +“The jury won’t know what to make of it.” + +“Begging your pardon, I think they’ll be made to know.” + +“What!--intimidation? Surely not!” + +“P’raps we’ll know more about it after a bit,” said the detective; and, +with eyes scanning the growing crowd, he moved quietly away. + +“Pass along; pass along there, please,” said the uniformed men, with +monotonous iteration; and Herrick, ere he hurried into the building, +noticed that half a dozen of the constables were busily employed in +keeping the fast-gathering multitude in motion. + +“Bad news about Boulton,” were almost the first words he heard in one +of the corridors. The speaker was a circuit chum of his, and one of the +junior counsel on the other side. + +“Why! What do you mean?” he demanded anxiously. + +“What! haven’t you heard? Set upon by hooligans near St Pancras station +last night. Picked up insensible, and taken to the hospital in Gray’s +Inn Road. We shall be on directly,” and, tilting up his wig, the +speaker hurried down the corridor. + +A sense of planned events, a fatalistic feeling, gripped Herrick at +the heart. Then, with a deep-drawn breath, he turned into the robing +room--the armoury of forensic fray. While he robed, he looked round +eagerly for Arthur Dutton, who held brief No. 3 for the prosecution. +Dutton was a stuff gownsman of many years’ experience, a master of +criminal pleading--on paper and parchment--and one of the permanent +advisers of the Crown. If Dutton were in good form, all might yet be +well; though, unfortunately, as advocate he did not usually excel. But +Dutton was nowhere to be seen, and that morning nobody had come across +him. Of course it might be that he was already in his place in Court, +and thither Herrick hurried, entering just as cries of “Silence!” from +the ushers heralded the approach of Lord Malvern, the presiding judge. + +“Where’s Sir John?” asked the Assistant Treasury Solicitor in an +anxious whisper. In a few hurried sentences Herrick informed him of the +great man’s sudden illness. + +“Both our leaders absent! Good heavens! What’s going to happen?” + +What actually happened next was the passing of a telegram from hand to +hand until it reached the Treasury official. + +“Read that,” he said, and sat back in his seat, dismayed. + +Herrick read the message. It was as follows:-- + +“_To Treasury Solicitor, + +“Central Criminal Court._ + +“_Have received telegram reporting dangerous illness of my father. Am +leaving town for Windermere._ + +“_From Dutton, Euston Station._” + + + + + CHAPTER IV + THE CASE THAT FAILED + + +Bobby Herrick was sound in wind and limb; healthy in heart and +brain; but for a moment or two he sat dazed and helpless in face of +the position that confronted him. The whole thing seemed unreal, +impossible, and the monotonous calling of the names of the jurymen fell +upon his ears like a buzzing sound of no intelligible significance. The +faces in Court blended into a sort of misty phantasmagoria, until out +of the mist one face immediately opposite him riveted his attention. +Presently it stood out, distinct and well defined, with a watchful +look in the dark and piercing eyes, and a sardonic smile on its upward +curving lips. It was a face to be remembered; a face he was destined to +see again in the course of those tragic episodes which the history of +events in London was shortly to unfold. + +The Treasury Solicitor, he found, was plucking at his gown. “You +must ask for an adjournment,” he whispered urgently; “it is the only +thing to do.” Almost at the same moment the judge’s voice was heard. +His lordship spoke with eye directed towards the vacant seats of the +prosecuting counsel. + +“Where are your leaders, Mr Herrick?” + +Herrick rose amid the silence that succeeded the inquiry, conscious +that every eye in Court was fixed upon him. + +“My lord,” he said, in a voice slightly tremulous at first, “by a most +unfortunate and remarkable combination of events, my learned friends +are prevented from being present.” + +“Surely not all of them!” exclaimed the judge. “I heard some rumour of +an accident to Mr Boulton--is it true?” + +“He was attacked and maltreated in the street last night, my lord, and +is now in hospital.” + +“Another example of the growing spirit of lawlessness which prevails +in this city,” said the Chief Justice sternly. “I deplore the absence +of Mr Boulton, especially for such a reason; but where is the +Solicitor-General?” + +“I regret to inform your lordship that he has been seized with sudden +and, I fear, serious illness.” + +“This is most extraordinary,” said the Chief Justice, leaning back and +taking off his glasses. + +“Silence!” cried the usher, as a hum of subdued comment arose in the +body of the Court. + +“What makes the position still more serious, my lord,” continued +Herrick, “is the absence of Mr Dutton also, for reasons of a family +nature.” + +“Is there no likelihood of his being here presently?” + +“He has been summoned to the north of England, and left Euston this +morning, my lord, as stated in this telegram.” + +“A chapter of accidents, indeed! Well, Mr Herrick, _you_ are here.” + +“Yes, but being taken by surprise, I am quite unable to do justice +to the prosecution, and my instructions are to ask your lordship to +adjourn the trial.” + +“To that the defence cannot possibly assent,” interposed Mr Jacobs, +on his feet instantly. “I speak at any rate for the prisoner whom I +represent.” + +“I say the same on behalf of my client, my lord,” added Mr Brill. + +“Well, Mr Herrick----?” from the judge. + +“My learned friend is too modest,” said Jacobs. + +“_Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes_,” retorted Herrick, with happy +inspiration. + +Lord Malvern laughed a silent little laugh, and an audible little +laugh went round the Court from those who understood the tag, and from +those also who laugh because others laugh; for always man, as Lord +Beaconsfield truly observed, is mimetic. + +Then the brief flash of merriment died out, and the Court came back to +business. + +“It is perfectly clear that the trial must proceed,” said the learned +judge. “Much public time has already been devoted to the case, and, I +may add, much public money. The convenience of the jury and of many +witnesses must be considered. This is the fourth day we have been here, +and it is desirable on every ground that it should be the last.” + +“But, my lord, the Crown will lose the benefit of Sir John Westwood’s +reply on the whole case.” + +“Sir John Westwood is not here, Mr Herrick.” + +“And the privilege of a law officer of the Crown in the connection +mentioned is thought by some to be the more honoured in the breach than +in the observance,” remarked Mr Jacobs. + +“On this occasion you are for the defence, Mr Jacobs,” said his +lordship. “On another occasion----” His lordship paused, with a +humorous twinkle in his eye, and the gap was filled with a burst of +laughter this time; for it was well known that the successful Hebrew +advocate had his unsatisfied ambitions. + +“Are there any witnesses for the defence?” asked the Chief Justice, +when silence was restored. + +“I call none,” said Mr Jacobs; and Mr Brill merely shook his head by +way of answer for his client. + +“Very well, then, it only remains for Mr Herrick to address the jury. +Counsel for the prisoners will follow, and my summing-up will not +occupy more than an hour. The jury will understand,” said his lordship, +turning towards them, “that however unfortunate the absence of the +leading counsel, and however valuable the speeches of those who are +present, it is upon the facts, and the facts alone, that their verdict +must be based, according to the evidence. Now, Mr Herrick.” + + * * * * * + +Thus it came about that greatness of a sort was thrust upon Aldwyth +Westwood’s lover. Thus did fortune place in his way a golden +opportunity. But this is no story of a young barrister’s triumphant +achievement, according to the interesting precedents recorded by +the lady novelists. Young Herrick, at this stage of the strange and +terrible game then opening, was little better than a pawn on the +chessboard of a master-player. Throughout the moves that followed +on that Saturday in April, he felt half conscious of the fact, and +the face which had looked out of the mist at the beginning seemed to +dominate him until the end. + +Herrick, thought most of his friends, rose to the occasion, dealing +effectively with the complex facts and figures of the case. There were +others who shrugged their shoulders, and merely conceded that he “did +his best,” considering how heavily he was overweighted. In reality, +the performance was nothing to be ashamed of; nothing to boast of. The +older and more experienced advocates on the other side paid him some +handsome compliments when their innings came. But that did not prevent +them from making mince-meat of his arguments, and hammering home their +own. It may be doubted, however, whether the most powerful advocate +who ever breathed the air of the Criminal Courts of England would have +drawn a verdict of Guilty from the jury. + +The judge, in his lucid summing-up, virtually told them to convict; +but there were other and more powerful influences at work. As the +trial proceeded, the voice of a great crowd outside the walls of +the Court rose in tumultuous sounds at intervals. In spite of the +efforts of the police, it became only too plain that there was a +demonstration--organised, determined; and that, for reasons then but +imperfectly understood, the acquittal of the prisoners was demanded. +It was, in effect, the first skirmish in that campaign against the +forces of law and order, of which, presently, London was to be the +battleground. The voice of the people prevailed. After an hour’s +absence, and sundry messages of inquiry from the Chief Justice, the +jury returned into Court with a verdict of “Not guilty.” + +“And that is the verdict of you all,” echoed the Clerk of Arraigns in +the usual formula. + +Here and there in the packed Court there was an involuntary exclamation. + +“Silence! silence!” came from the ushers and police. + +“The prisoners will be discharged,” said the judge, whose manner had +assumed the utmost gravity, “and,” he added significantly, “the jury +will be discharged also from further duties in the box during the +present sessions.” + +Lord Malvern left the Bench as the two prisoners disappeared down the +steps leading from the dock. + +A babel of voices arose outside the building, and grew, unchecked, +until it became a mighty roar of triumph from the mob. + +The verdict was known; cheer after cheer broke out, and the accused, +prisoners no longer, were received as heroes, and borne shoulder high +from the gates of the prison, through the streets of London. + + + + + CHAPTER V + THE LEAGUERS’ SECOND MOVE + + +Rumour has many wings, and, though the following day was Sunday, +rumour fluttered through clubland in the morning, giving rise to many +languid speculations concerning the true inwardness of the New Bailey +episode of the previous day. It was regarded, for the most part, as an +isolated incident, and not as the first link in a chain of significant +events. It only began to be recognised in the latter character when it +became known that the telegram which had drawn the well-known Treasury +counsel, Arthur Dutton, to the north, was an absolute forgery, and +devoid of any sort of truth or justification. In the light of this +discovery, the attack which had incapacitated his leader, Mr Boulton, +assumed a sinister suggestiveness. But even then, there was no one +in the West End clubs who attributed the inopportune, or opportune, +illness of Sir John Westwood to any other than purely natural causes. + +Some light might have been thrown on that point by his trusted clerk, +or, indirectly, by Wilson’s wife, who on Sunday afternoon found her +husband contemplating a bank-note with interest so thoughtful and +absorbed that he did not hear his better-half approach. + +“Bless and save us! what are you staring at there?” demanded Mrs +Wilson, who always was tart of tone and imperative in manner. + +“It’s a Bank of England note,” was Wilson’s reply. + +“How much?” demanded Mrs Wilson. + +“Five hundred pounds,” said Wilson, slowly; and he straightway lied +according to his lights, when the wife of his bosom, who had the +instincts of a cross-examiner, pursued her vehement inquiries. + +Meanwhile, the weather being charming, London society had been taking +its Sunday airing in Hyde Park under surprising and inconvenient +conditions. Between three and four o’clock great numbers of people of +the type that had visited the Old Bailey on the previous day assembled +on the south side of the Serpentine. Here, lining the rails, they +shouted, yelled, and hooted at the passing carriages, to the surprise +and alarm of their elegantly-attired occupants. Whistling, groans, and +discordant noises filled the air. The turbulent throng grew and grew, +and under the shield of popular excitement, thieves, pickpockets, and +other disorderly persons employed themselves with their accustomed +diligence. A hulking youth ran before a carriage and repeatedly struck +the horse’s nose with his cap. Mud was thrown at some of the brilliant +sunshades that flashed past, and a gentleman on horseback was almost +unseated by part of a hurdle thrown at him by a ruffian lurking in the +crowd. Horses plunged; some fell; while the mob expressed its feelings +in triumphant jeers and mocking laughter. Presently volleys of stones +began to fly, and as yet the police were present in such small numbers +as to be practically helpless in the face of this unlooked-for display +of ruffianism. + +But while the unexpected was happening in the Park, the more or less +expected had come to pass not far away. Sir John Westwood lived in Hill +Street, and it had been his fate, as representing the Government, to +incur the resentment of the masses by bringing into the House a Sunday +Trading Bill of somewhat drastic character. The people--particularly +the East-enders--were savage at the attempt to close the public-houses +on the first day of the week, and jeered at the suggestion that they +should go to church as an alternative resort. + +On the Saturday evening, a handbill was widely circulated in the lower +quarters of the capital. This was how it ran: + + + LET US GO TO CHURCH + WITH SIR JOHN WESTWOOD TO-MORROW. + AFTERWARDS THERE WILL BE A + GRAND OPEN-AIR FÊTE AND MONSTER + CONCERT IN HYDE PARK. + COME AND SEE HOW RELIGIOUSLY + LONDON SOCIETY OBSERVES THE SABBATH. + + +Thus it came about that a crowd of many hundreds gathered in front +of the Solicitor-General’s house, and held their ground obstinately, +notwithstanding the persuasive efforts of a small body of police to +move them on. No actual violence was used by the crowd, but their +groans, yells, and persistent clamour were sufficiently alarming. + +To Aldwyth Westwood, a girl of spirit, the demonstration caused more +indignation than fear. Her chief concern was for her father. Sir John +had now recovered to some extent from his strange condition of physical +inertness on the previous day. Silent, but manifestly disturbed, he +sat in his study at the back of the house, compelled to listen to the +tumult of execration directed against him in the street. He was for +drastic measures with the mob, but the divisional superintendent was +either timid or discreet. He met the angry inquiry whether London was +to be at the mercy of a hooting mob, by saying that he had no orders to +resort to force to clear the street, and that patience and time were +the best remedies, so long as no actual violence was attempted. The +Solicitor-General acquiesced with a contemptuous shrug; as also in the +advice that the front shutters should be closed, and the frightened +servants directed not to show themselves. + +Stolid and calm, the police stood on the doorsteps, and in the area, +while the roughs shouted themselves hoarse. At the end of a couple of +hours came news that things were growing lively near the Serpentine; +and thereupon, nearly half the Hill Street crowd hastened to the Park +in search of something fresh and more exciting. Hastily, but still not +sufficiently, reinforced, the police now attempted to check the conduct +of the crowd, which had already driven all but a few of the pluckier +carriage people homeward. Many of the most disorderly characters had +now mustered near the Royal Humane Society’s Receiving House. A body +of police, with truncheons drawn, marched along the drive to clear it +of pedestrians. Those who would not give way were pushed or roughly +handled. The same tactics were pursued on the footpath on the south +side of the Serpentine, and here much confusion and excitement arose, +many persons being forced ankle-deep into the water. Women, who had +got mixed with the crowd, screamed with terror. The wail of frightened +children filled the air, and angry cries were raised against the +constables, some of whom were struck by stones and clods of earth. + +At the same time, some fifty constables, under Superintendent +Helden, reached Grosvenor Gate. There, the men were formed in a +column of sections of ten, having a front of five men, and marched +towards a threatening section of the mob. Instead of retiring, the +people received the police defiantly and with an angry yell. The +superintendent shouted to them to give way, but the warning was +disregarded. Suddenly some one tripped him up. He fell and hurt his +knee; and, thus provoked, the men with drawn truncheons rushed forward, +and, without orders, attacked the crowd. A savage _melée_ was the +result. From that moment there were conflicts of a similar character +throughout the Park. Reinforcements of police were hurried up, and +further conflicts followed. So grave did the situation become as the +evening hours drew on that large reserves of constables were mustered +at Stanhope Gate, the Triumphal Arch, the Marble Arch, and Walton +Street, and in Lowndes Square. + +Ere darkness fell the Humane Society’s Receiving House became a +temporary prison; a riotous mob demanded the release of their friends, +and there were many ugly rushes, repelled with difficulty by the +police. Cabs now were sent for, and seventy persons, charged with +assaults, disorderly conduct, and resisting the police, were removed, +amid a storm of angry cries, to the Police stations. By nine o’clock +the Park was cleared. + +Thus ended the first skirmish in the campaign of the Leaguers of London +against the forces of law and order. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + THE MURDER OF DR GRADY + + +The weather prophets declared that it was to be one of the driest and +hottest summers on record; and, for once, the prophets seemed in a fair +way to be justified. The strain of the long, bright, rainless days +began to tell upon Londoners. Two or three terrific thunderstorms shook +the nerves of the feeble. Sundry earthquake shocks, though remote from +these islands, imparted a sense of apprehension, and concurrently with +these stern manifestations of Mother Nature, there were other hints +of dread events--suggestive of a moral cataclysm, a war of classes, a +volcanic outburst that would rend the bounds of social life. + +In this state of disquietude, sensational revivalism moved many +neurotic persons to grotesque manifestations in the name of religion. +And, on the other hand, it was well known that vice was rampant in +every class of society, the eagerness of the pleasure-seekers for some +new excitement, however vulgar or debasing, assuming the proportions of +a mania. + +“Scenes” in Parliament were of almost weekly occurrence, and signs +of hysteria became manifest, even in the speech and conduct of +men who held office as cabinet-ministers or as judges. Though the +Government was tottering to its fall, the Opposition, torn with +internal jealousies, was not in a position to take advantage of its +opportunities. Difficult problems of international law had arisen, +but the Attorney-General, who had for some time been suffering from +a mortal disease, was practically unavailable as an adviser, while +the second law officer, Sir John Westwood, was said to still be +incapacitated by what eminent doctors described as complete “nervous +breakdown.” + +In the midst of this debilitated condition of political and social +life, there was one movement which day by day seemed to gather strength +and audacity. The London Emigration League still stood forward to claim +attention and collect funds. White-washed, in a sense, by the verdict +at the Central Criminal Court, the Leaguers of London, as they were now +generally called, published appeals to the charitable, and organised +marches and demonstrations, which, without committing actual breaches +of the law, made known the ever-increasing numbers of the League, and +its strangely cosmopolitan membership. + +It was the foreign element in the League that gave rise to special +uneasiness at the Home Office and Scotland Yard. Ere long the sense +of insecurity already germinating in the public mind was greatly +accentuated by a startling discovery, rumoured, though not yet proved, +to be connected with the Leaguers’ campaign. This was nothing less than +the unmasking by Detective-Inspector Henshaw of a dynamite factory, +only seventeen miles from London. In all probability the discovery +would never have been made but for a murder of revenge, almost +unexampled in its cold and calculated deliberation, and in all respects +notable in the annals of criminology. It was a story of the ruthless +edict of a secret society within a society, and that society was +believed to be none other than the League; it revealed, when the story +became fully known, the remorseless execution of a mysterious mandate, +which yet again illustrated the truth that, however subtle and well +considered the plan of crime, murder, in the end, will out. + +The victim of the crime was one Grady, a doctor, who, after spending +some years in New York, had come to England and acquired a fifth-rate +medical practice in the purlieus of Holborn. His house and surgery +were in Red Lion Street, not far from Red Lion Square. Grady was a +man of ill-balanced mind, and given to intemperance. For some reason, +never fully explained, he quarrelled with his friends. And, justly or +unjustly, was suspected of betraying their plans to the police. + +The doctor became an object of hatred and fear in the eyes of his +former associates, and the inner circle--or “actives,” as they were +euphoniously styled--deliberately sentenced him to death. Early in June +a man passing under the name of Featherstone took a room in the house +facing that in which the ill-fated doctor carried on his miserable +practice. Some articles of furniture and other things, including +a large packing case, were bought by Featherstone and sent to his +lodgings. At about the same time Featherstone, under the name Rolf, +became the tenant of a house at Rickmansworth, which was let with a +builder’s yard containing sundry sheds and outbuildings. Ostensibly +these premises were to be used for the purpose of manufacturing +Portland cement. At the end of the garden and yard ran the Grand +Junction Canal. Close at hand was the River Colne; and in this way +facilities were available to convey chalk and clay from a neighbouring +estate to the “factory,” and to send the cement, when manufactured, on +barges to London. + +Rolf, the “innocent manufacturer,” who was bent on developing this +useful industry, advertised for a medical man to attend his workmen in +case of illness or accident, and a marked copy of the paper containing +the advertisement was sent to Grady. The doctor, compelled, doubtless, +by his needy circumstances, swallowed the bait, and without much delay +a contract was made with him on “club terms.” + +The significance of this was that cement-making is not really a +dangerous trade, and that there were many doctors practising nearer to +Rickmansworth. + +One night, a few weeks later, a man drove up in a cab, presented Rolf’s +card to Dr Grady, and said his services were required at the cement +works for one of the workmen, who had met with an accident. Grady at +once put his instruments together and drove with Rolf’s representative +to Baker Street. The unnamed agent then accompanied him by rail to +Rickmansworth. In the darkness of the sultry night, he was conducted +to his doom. The house of which Rolf was the tenant was approached by +a lonely lane on the outskirts of the little town. The two men were +seen to enter by the front door, and a labourer who was approaching +at no great distance declared that he heard a smothered cry, followed +by heavy blows, and then a fall. His statement was not made known +until some time had elapsed, as almost immediately after hearing these +ominous sounds, he was knocked down and stunned by a motor-car. + +Meanwhile the packing-case had been brought from Red Lion Street to +Rickmansworth. The day after the crime, it was removed in a wagon. The +wagon was seen again later, but in the interval the packing-case had +vanished. It was found, empty, on the following day near Northwood. +Grady’s clothes were found in a portmanteau in a neighbouring +sewer, and the portmanteau was afterwards identified as one that +Featherstone--_alias_ Rolf--had bought and taken to his rooms in +London. Finally, the naked body of poor Grady was discovered in a +backwater of the River Colne. The head of the unfortunate man showed +cuts and wounds in quite a dozen different places. He had been brutally +and determinedly done to death. + +The police now overhauled the house at Rickmansworth, and there found +other signs of an awful struggle and a cruel crime. Futile efforts had +been made to paint out the blood-stains on the floor. + +From the house, the examinations were extended to the sheds and +workshops, and though there were signs of removal and attempted +concealment, enough remained to show that the place was in truth +designed for the manufacture of bombs and other murderous explosives. +There were invoices, letters, and receipts imperfectly destroyed +by fire, that showed the harmless “cement-maker” to be a buyer of +sulphuric acid, mercury, picric acid, saltpetre, and other ingredients +of explosive compositions. These and other facts the inquest brought +to light, partly owing to the self-importance of a fussy coroner, who +disallowed the efforts of the police to keep back certain features of +the ghastly story. Meanwhile the murderers, who obviously had command +of ample funds, had fled the country. + +Sensational journals were not slow to unfold the tale of terror under +startling headlines. Something akin to panic seized the country and +coerced the Government into action. The Solicitor-General, though out +of town, received earnest communications from ministers, and it was +afterwards known that he had framed some of the most drastic clauses +in the Bill which was forthwith introduced in the House of Commons. +This measure obtained a Parliamentary record by passing through both +Houses in a single day. It provided legal machinery for the suppression +of conspiracies. It was part French and part Irish in its origin, and +designed in effect to prevent the illegal manufacture and possession of +explosives. + +The country, it was pointed out in Parliament, had been lulled into +a false sense of security by the absence of dynamite outrages for a +considerable time. But not so very far back, in a period of eleven +years, there had been no less than sixty-nine crimes and attempted +crimes by means of infernal machines, bombs, and other engines intended +for the wholesale destruction of life and property. No wonder there +were dark and agonised forebodings; for none could feel assured that +history was not about to repeat that grim and blood-stained page in +England’s capital. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + LOVE ON THE LEAS + + +“Thank heaven!” sighed Herrick. He tossed a bulky brief on a +side-table, and rose to his feet. The heat was stifling in his narrow +room in Paper Buildings. Outside in the gardens the brown grass, dry +and baked, bore witness to the long-continued drought. London was +becoming an inferno. + +But for a week-end, at any rate, he was going to escape from it. The +Westwoods were at Folkestone, and within twenty minutes the train would +be carrying him sea-wards, to clean, pure air, to a smokeless sky--and +to Aldwyth Westwood. + +The boy-clerk entered with two letters. “For you, sir,” said the youth, +known to his Temple intimates as “Awthur.” + +“Right,” answered Herrick, thrusting them into a pocket. “Here, take my +bag--look sharp! a hansom for Charing Cross.” + +“Awthur” showed himself alert, and within four minutes the jaded +barrister was being driven westward through the thronged and sweltering +Strand. + +“Poor devils, _they’ve_ got to stay in town,” he muttered. It struck +him that the great artery of London life looked strange and sad in the +afternoon glare of the summer sun; on every face was a set look of +weariness and strain. + +High up on Exeter Hall, a huge placard attracted his attention: + + ON WEDNESDAY NEXT!!! + MEETING FOR MEN ONLY. + ADDRESS BY + FATHER FRANCIS. + +Father Francis was well known to him by reputation. They had been +contemporaries at Oxford, but the “Father” was then known as Lord +Francis Purbrook, fifth son of the Duke of Portsdown--a wild and +dissipated youth. His follies and debaucheries had been continued in +the wider world, outside the University; until a strange and sudden +change had come to him. He simply said that he had been converted. His +old companions sneered, and asserted that he had turned “goody-goody.” +But this transformation of his, call it what you will, was obvious to +all. Then he had taken Holy Orders, and now was the priest-in-charge of +St Stephen’s mission church--a chapel in a side street of Mayfair. His +courtesy title had been wholly abandoned, and he was always spoken of +as Father Francis. + +With so much of the past, Herrick, like most Londoners, was well +acquainted; but it was not given him to foresee the tragic scene in +which the young priest was soon to play a foremost and a fatal part. +Herrick, at the moment prosaically absorbed, was mainly bent on +catching his train in time for a corner seat in a “smoker”; and here in +a few minutes was the station, busy and bustling as ever. Here, too, +was Henshaw of Scotland Yard, keenly eyeing continental arrivals from +Boulogne _via_ Folkestone. + +“A lot of foreigners,” said the barrister, as he passed him with a nod. + +“And a bad lot, too,” was the detective’s comment. There was no time +for more; late arrivals were scurrying down the platform. Herrick +rushed with the rest; he found a seat; the guard’s whistle and extended +hand signalled the departure of the train. They were off and away, +wriggling over the railroad network of London, until presently the grim +and hideous streets and outskirts of the Surrey side were left behind. +The pleasant fields and woods of Kent succeeded to scenes of sordid +toil, and still more sordid recreation. The murk and stew of the great +town, the hoot of its motors, the hoof-hammer of its jaded horses, the +dominant note of its thousands of weary feet--all were left behind. + +Within three hours the westering sun had set. Eastward, lighthouses +sent their first flashing rays across the heaving sea. Westward, the +rose and amber of the clouds deepened into purple. The stars came out +brighter and brighter in the darkening sky, thousands upon thousands, +and tens of thousands--the steps of Allah’s wonderful throne! + +Herrick and Aldwyth Westwood paced slowly on the Leas. The influence +of the magical hour had stolen upon their spirits. They spoke but +little, but their hearts were full--full of the tenderness of kindred +spirits in harmony with each other and in touch with the infinite. For +this wonderful night seemed to reveal the infinite in all the ordered +beauty of earth and sky and sea, breathing a message to poor humanity, +whispering of ultimate emancipation and high destiny. + +Later on, they came down, as needs must, from the stars. + +Herrick, who had brought down important papers from the Temple, asked +when he could discuss them with Sir John. + +To his surprise, Aldwyth showed some doubt. + +“Father is not quite himself,” she said hesitatingly. “But perhaps---- +Well come in and I’ll ask him.” + +They walked across the grass and re-entered the hotel. The band--of +violins and harps--was playing its final waltz, and the guests, who +were lounging here and there, gazed with interest at the tall and +comely couple. The well-knit figure and bearing of the young barrister +won some approval; but the critical faculty of the lady onlookers +expended itself chiefly in observing the evening dress and general +style of his companion. Let no man expect that he will make any +particular impression when there is a woman at his side whose costume +calls for criticism, or the sincere flattery of imitation. + +Aldwyth went upstairs to the suite of rooms reserved for Sir John +Westwood and herself, and Herrick, waiting her message, turned into +the smoking-room, where only two men were sitting, and those engaged +in earnest conversation. In the light of after events Herrick often +recalled much of what they said. It was an open conversation in a +public room. The speakers were unknown to him. Later on, he learnt +that one was Dr Wilson Wake, a nerve specialist, to whose consulting +rooms in Harley Street patients crowded. The other was a writer, whose +essays in the weightier reviews had attracted much attention. + +“It happened before, and it will happen again,” the doctor was saying. +“It was simply a sequel to the ravages of bubonic plague.” + +“You mean the Black Death of the fourteenth century?” + +“That, of course, was the popular name of the disease. The Italians, +in their more musical language, called it ’_la mortalega grande_’--the +Great Mortality.” + +“But you surely don’t anticipate----?” + +“A similar visitation?--certainly not. We were only speaking of the +after effects; and similar effects might, and, in my judgment will, +be produced in modern times by some less appalling form of physical +disease. The _Chorea_, or Dancing Mania of the Middle Ages was the +outcome of the Black Death, and the Dancing Mania itself was simply the +expression of disordered nerves.” + +“But, my dear sir, this is the twentieth century.” + +“History always repeats itself, though with interesting variations. My +dear fellow, the nervous system of the nation is out of order.” + +“You ought to know.” + +“I do,” said the specialist, drawing at his cigar. + +“But the extent of the mortality from plague was greatly exaggerated,” +protested the other. + +“Of course, of course; nevertheless, in London upwards of fifty +thousand corpses were buried in layers in a single district, and we +know the burial pits even to this day.” + +“And, after all, the Dancing Mania was mainly a Continental +development.” + +“No doubt; but scientifically it was only a form of epilepsy, and St +Vitus has had his votaries in all countries, at all times. It was not +until the sixteenth century that the faculty ventured to question the +demon theories of the priests. Look up Paracelsus, my friend. His +diagnosis was correct, but his remedies were ridiculous.” + +“I suppose the tarantism of Italy was only a form of the same nervous +disorder?” queried the other. + +“Precisely; the spider’s bite was a delusion--though, no doubt, the +Apulian Tarantula was a _bona fide_ insect. Hysteria can always invent +a spider, or a mouse. As recently as 1787, two or three hundred girls +in a Lancashire cotton mill were seized with violent convulsions, +because one girl put a mouse into the bosom of another girl. They +all declared that they had been treated in the same way. The insane +delusions of the Convulsionaires in France lasted till near the end +of the eighteenth century, and of course we have had our own Jumpers, +Shakers, and Pentecostal Dancers here in England.” + +“And you think we haven’t seen the last of them?” + +“Nor yet the worst,” said the specialist, rising. “Shall we finish our +cigars outside?” + +As the two men ended their odd dialogue and left the room, a waiter +brought Herrick a pencilled note. + +“_Father will see you.--Aldwyth._” + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + SIR JOHN BREAKS DOWN + + +John Westwood was the son of a solicitor, and paternal influence gave +him his first start at the Bar. A patient, strenuous, and able man, +he missed no chance. The crest of a political wave carried him into +Parliament, and, unlike most lawyers, he became a House of Commons +success. Successful in love, as in forensic war and party politics, he +won a wife who was wooed at the same time by a lover mad in his worship +and passion, wholly different in all respects from the cold and more +calculating rival, whose methods and success the rejected lover never +forgot nor forgave. + +Marcus White, after the episode already chronicled, took his headlong +way beyond the ken of all his English associates. He was heard of as +having made a huge fortune in Mexico, a country offering far more scope +for a man of such drastic methods and daring enterprise. Westwood +stayed at home and plodded on. After his marriage, and when, as +yet, briefs were far from plentiful, he and his wife lived in quite +a quiet middle-class way at Norwood. He came to London every day, +and took his meagre luncheon daily like any other grubbing barrister +at a stuffy restaurant in Fleet Street. To find on his table a brief +marked ten and one was quite a rare and gladdening event. In the +general way prices ruled considerably lower in his chambers. But it was +otherwise after he had entered Parliament. Ten years later there was +a shuffling of parties, and John Westwood, who had taken silk, shot +into the very bull’s-eye of political life. The prophets said that +he would reach the Woolsack; but, meanwhile, sundry faithful if dull +members of the bar and of the party blocked the way. The Chancellor +clung to life and office with a tenacity which upset all calculations. +The Attorney-General, too, refused to recognise the grave complaint +from which he suffered as an equivalent to notice to quit. Other +Government appointments were, in omnibus language, “full up,” and John +Westwood, K.C., M.P., had to be content with a knighthood and the +office of Solicitor-General. But his income and fees amounted to some +ten thousand a year, and he was a man of thrifty habits, and saved +considerably. + +Yet a price has to be paid by the man who burns the candle at both +ends--in Parliament and in the Law Courts. It is the kind of double +life that kills all but the toughest, and Sir John was far from tough. +Affairs of state were critical, and at this crisis his “sword hung +rusting on the wall,” while he was urgently wanted at Westminster. +He was still lingering at Folkestone when delicate problems of +international law demanded all the acumen that his brain could bring +to bear. The Prime Minister almost implored his assistance, but, the +specialist who had come down to the Métropole to see him asserted +bluntly that it would be more than his sanity, or perhaps his life, +could stand if yet awhile he plunged back into the quagmire of +jurisprudence or the sea of party strife. + +Such was the man who paced with restless steps the room of the hotel +that summer night. On the table were despatch boxes, blue books, blue +draft papers, and bulky volumes that had been sent down from London. +These were his tools, and he could not handle them! Aldwyth, his only +child, and the one being in the world for whom his heart beat with +affection, sat by the window anxiously watching him. Her love and +tenderness, as she was beginning to realise, were powerless to assuage +his mental suffering. + +Alone, we come into the world; alone, we tread the winepress of life; +alone, we leave it by the darkened door. + +Herrick, as he entered, was painfully struck with the changed +appearance of his chief. His restless movements, lined cheeks, and +twitching facial muscles, told a saddening tale. + +“It’s no good,” said Sir John, after the first few words, “I can’t +work, I can’t think; worse than all, I can’t sleep. I ought to resign.” + +“Father!” exclaimed Aldwyth, appealingly. Herrick was silent. What +could he say? It relieved him when, after a few moments of silence, the +Solicitor-General drew a long breath and showed a greater self-command. + +“By the way,” he said suddenly, “I’ve had a threatening letter. I don’t +suppose,” he added, “that any one need feel alarmed.” It was obvious +that he regretted having said so much before his daughter. + +“The cowards!” she cried indignantly; “the cowards!” + +“What did you do with it?” asked the younger man. + +“Burnt it,” was the terse reply. + +“Wasn’t it a pity to destroy the evidence of handwriting?” + +“There was no handwriting; it was typed.” + +“And no signature?” + +“Only a sign; the embossed outline of a metal disc.” + +“Curious,” said Herrick. + +“But hardly a curiosity,” was Sir John’s comment. “I understand that +various members of the Government have been favoured in the same +way, besides all the judges of the King’s Bench Division, and every +magistrate in London.” + +“Then there’s no special threat so far as you’re concerned, father?” +said Aldwyth, watching him uneasily. + +“Perhaps not,” said Sir John, speaking slowly, doubtfully. + +“I see you have some further information,” said Herrick. + +“Plenty of information, and nothing that would stand a moment’s test +according to the laws of evidence.” + +“And yet there seems to be an attempt at wholesale intimidation. Surely +the Government--the Home Secretary----” + +“The Home Secretary,” retorted Westwood angrily, “is not the man for +times like these. England is face to face with an organised conspiracy. +This so-called League, which grows in numbers and power every day, +is really an army of anarchy recruited from the criminal classes at +home and abroad. It seeks to paralyse the penal law of England. If the +State does not crush it, it will overthrow the State. This gang of +miscreants, with its weapons of terrorism and bribery----” + +“Bribery!” exclaimed Herrick, astonished. + +“Yes; bribery on a colossal scale, and expended mainly in corrupting +the police, by whom alone the public can be safeguarded; and, mark you +this, bribery doesn’t stop so low as that. The wire-pullers know their +men--threats for some, and money for others; a ten-pound note for a +police sergeant, and so upwards on a sliding scale, until the maximum +may reach to thousands.” + +Herrick and Aldwyth listened with increased amazement. + +“I know it; I have proofs,” Sir John continued. + +“At any rate,” interposed Herrick, “the Home Secretary has issued a +circular to every local authority offering a hundred pounds’ reward to +any person who makes known the illegal manufacture of explosives.” + +“Useless!” said Westwood, throwing up his hands. “Police officers +are excluded from the offer; they are the only people who could give +such information. After the case at Rickmansworth, even if there are +traitors in the League, who is likely to seal his own doom as Grady +did? Besides, where the Home Office would pay a hundred pounds for +betrayal, the men behind the metal disc would pay five hundred pounds +for complicity and concealment.” + +“The public ought to demand the enforcement of the new Act,” argued +Herrick hotly. + +“The public don’t understand how to enforce anything; they leave +the weapons of agitation in the hands of the lawless, and trust to +the executive for the protection of life and property; while the +executive----” He shrugged his shoulders, and for a moment stood +moodily staring at the wall. “The Government hope the crisis will be +averted,” he resumed. “It needed the Phœnix Park murders to bring the +Prevention of Crimes Act into force in Ireland. What price in horror +and bloodshed will have to be paid in London before this campaign of +outrage and dynamite is brought to an end, God only knows. I tell +you, Herrick, that to pause or parley while these men perfect their +plans is madness, and a betrayal of the nation!” He spoke with force +and vehemence. For a moment his growing weakness had been shaken off. +Carried away by his subject and his convictions, his voice and gestures +gave some indication of the intellectual force that such a man could +bring to bear in forensic argument and in debate. + +Then, suddenly, there was a swift and shocking change in Westwood’s +manner and appearance. His rushing thoughts and excited utterance had +produced a terrible reaction. Aldwyth and Herrick were at his side +in a moment. They led him to a chair. He sat there, staring, with +ghastly cheeks and twitching muscles, manifestly unable to control the +convulsive motions of his lower limbs, or the movement of the hands, +which kept rising and falling with involuntary gesticulations. Herrick, +horror-struck, recalled the conversation he had overheard in the +smoking-room below. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + FATHER FRANCIS AT FOLKESTONE + + +When Herrick awoke on the following morning, after a night of +restlessness and troubled dreams, the summer sunshine seemed to be +almost mocking in its brilliancy. For, in spite of the gladness of +Nature, the times were out of joint. There was something wrong with +life. With a sigh of depression, as he recalled the occurrences of the +previous night, he set about facing the problems of the day--his own +problems and Aldwyth Westwood’s in particular. + +His coat lay over the back of a chair, and two unopened letters had +slipped from a pocket to the floor. They were those he had received +from the alert “Awthur” in the Temple, left unopened in the hurry of +his departure from town, and until now entirely forgotten. He picked +them up with no great interest. He knew from the envelope what one +would be about. It was a regimental notice from the headquarters of +the “Devil’s Own” in Lincoln’s Inn. Until lately he had been a keen +volunteer officer, but the systematic snubs administered by the War +Office to the citizen soldiery had greatly discouraged him and a great +many others. He opened the other letter mechanically and with a morning +yawn. But what he read--typewritten on half a sheet of thin quarto +paper--instantly fixed his attention. He stood up, stared at the words, +and read them again: + +“_Give up the law (if you value your skin). It will soon be a dangerous +trade._” + + [Illustration] + +There was no date. The impression, which took the place of a signature, +corresponded with that produced by the familiar seals of public +companies. It was in the form of a disc, and had the outline of a +spider in the centre. + +Was this some silly practical joke, or could it be a genuine and +malignant threat? But for what Sir John Westwood had told him on the +previous evening, he would have concluded unhesitatingly in favour of +the first theory. But now he pondered. + +After a solitary breakfast in the coffee-room, and pondering still, +he waited about the hotel, hoping to see Aldwyth, but she was unable +to leave her father’s side. When he came out on to the Leas, the +Folkestone Church Parade had already begun. Here, among the crowd +in the sunshine, a serious reading of the threatening letter seemed +impossible. + +The seaside world was decked with light as with a garment, and the +butterflies of fashion fluttered their laces and laughed at the little +jokes of the wearers of Panama hats as if life could hold nothing +more serious than the choice of a graceful “confection,” and the art +of wearing it with good effect. At the west end of the Leas there was +nothing suggestive of the seamy side of life, nothing to hint at the +possibility of social earthquake. He wondered vaguely, as he walked +eastward with hands clasped behind him, whether in olden time the good +people who then looked out upon that sparkling sea had truly realised +the danger, horror, and humiliation of the threatened invasion of a +powerful enemy of England. It struck him that the British race, which +has “worried through” so many awkward crises, obstinately cherished the +conviction that, as a nation, it bore a charmed life; that the slings +and arrows of outrageous fortune could never bring it to the proud +foot of a conqueror. A dangerous faith! For here on this very coast, +much less than two hundred years ago, invasion had been imminent. The +French were mustered at Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne. The Pretender’s +youngest son was with them, and there was an Irish Brigade to aid the +enterprise. The English, too, had furnished a contingent of traitors +to assist the enemy, for the Folkestone smugglers had sold themselves +to act as pilots for the invading force. But for the vigilance of +that tough old sailor, Admiral Vernon, invasion would have become an +accomplished fact. By his order, the miserable fleet, placed at his +disposal by a blundering government, patrolled the Channel unceasingly. +Warning beacons blazed along the coast from Beachy Head to the South +Foreland. There was one even on Hurricane House, as the sailors styled +the parish church of Folkestone--the church which Herrick was passing +at the very moment of recalling those far-off troubled times. + +But to-day, in the old town as in the new, people knew or cared for +none of these things, nor even dreamed of the possibility of any +untoward events that might make Folkestone an ineligible resort for +week-end trippers. On every side ’Arry and ’Arriet rejoiced, and +were glad in the glorious weather. The ’Arry collars and shoes were +entirely and manifestly satisfactory to their wearers; and the blouses +of ’Arriet and her sisters, cousins, and aunts, blazed violently in the +dazzling sunshine. The yachting caps the maidens wore were all that +unbecomingness could possibly demand, and the hats of the mothers and +aunts fully exemplified that marked unsuitability for which the British +female of mature years is so renowned. + +Herrick, as he made his way through the cheerful and perspiring throng, +decided that, as an advocate, he could make out a strong case for the +survival of our ancient sumptuary laws. + +Though Folkestone, west and east, already was pretty full, here were +other visitors, within a stone’s-throw of the shores that welcome such +hosts of undesirables from foreign lands. One of the much advertised +steamers of the South-Eastern line was rapidly nearing the harbour +with a crowded human cargo. Of late years the Boulogne and Folkestone +route had increased in favour. It was not surprising, for it made the +journey between Paris and London shorter by twenty-eight miles than the +Calais-Dover line. + +Herrick, who knew something of the signals adopted on these boats, +was aware that each ball on the foremast represented a hundred +passengers; a ball on the mainmast vouched for another twenty; a flag +on the foremast stood for fifty passengers; a ball at the peak over +the ensign represented ten. It was plain to him that the _Queen of +the South_, whose figurehead gleamed in its brand-new gilt above the +dancing wavelets, was as full as the Board of Trade would allow--and +perhaps a little fuller. While the steamer was being berthed, he stood +upon the long platform and watched the passengers as they came ashore. +The number of foreigners was quite astonishing. Swarthy, dark-haired, +ill-favoured fellows, most of them, they hurried to the London train +already in waiting, while there were a few whom the after-stress of +what Thackeray called the “marine malady” drove in eager search of +refreshment. + +What, however, struck Herrick even more forcibly, and, indeed, +with something akin to shock, was the fact that each one of those +ill-favoured visitors wore upon his breast a metal disc. Yet more +amazing, the disc--unless his eyes deceived him--resembled the +impression on the threatening letter he had carefully placed inside his +pocket-book only an hour or two ago. + +While this staggering circumstance held him wondering, the through +passengers entrained; the warning whistle sounded, and they were off. +A man, who had landed in leisurely fashion from the boat, stood near +him, also watching the departing train. Presently he turned. Their eyes +met, and in them came a look of recognition. Somewhere, Herrick felt +assured, he had seen that face before--but where? The man passed him, a +slight smile on his lips, and entered a well-appointed motor-car. Then, +in an instant, conviction flashed on Herrick’s mind. It was the face +that had affected him so strangely at the Central Criminal Court, when +he stood up as Counsel for the Crown in the memorable case that failed! + + * * * * * + +That evening, in the ancient parish church, so beautifully restored, +Aldwyth and her lover stood side by side. Sonorous and impressive, +organ, choir, and congregation together voiced a hymn of faith: + + “Beneath the shadow of Thy Throne + Thy Saints have dwelt secure; + Sufficient is Thine Arm alone + And our defence is sure.” + +The sadness of fleeting life found deep expression towards the end: + + “Time like an ever-rolling stream, + Bears all its sons away; + They fly forgotten, as a dream + Dies at the opening day.” + +Then, with gathering strength, came again the cry for help and hope: + + “O God, our Help in ages past, + Our Hope for years to come, + Be Thou our guard while troubles last, + And our eternal home.” + +And all the people said “Amen.” + +A rustle of expectancy, a settling movement, and, over the heads of the +sitting congregation, Herrick and his companion could see the preacher. +They exchanged quick glances of pleased surprise. The tall priest +looking down with wistful eyes upon the many faces was Father Francis. + +There were others in the church besides themselves who, in the shadowed +after-time, recalled the preacher’s look and words that night. + +In this narrative, though Father Francis has an honoured place, only +the gist of what he said need be recorded. + +“_Watchman, what of the night?_” There were those, he said--having +given out the text--who saw a dark night gathering over England. +The growth of luxury and self-indulgence, the follies of the rich, +the miseries of the poor, the insatiable thirst for pleasure and +excitement, the struggle between capital and labour, and the faltering +of national faith in the eternal verities--these converging causes were +shaping the materials for a great catastrophe. If righteousness exalted +a nation, assuredly unrighteousness would lay it in the dust. In the +book of this same prophet Isaiah it was written: “For the nation and +kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall +be utterly wasted.” + +Again and again such prophecies had been fulfilled. The once mighty +empires of the East, honeycombed with sensuality and corruption, had +long since fallen into decay. The Roman eagle, beneath which the whole +world had cowered in awe, no longer soared aloft; Carthage had fallen; +Athens and Alexandria, and many another ancient capital of arms or +learning, had lost their power and proud pre-eminence. The ruins of +Nineveh lay buried beneath the sands and dust of centuries; Babylon the +mighty, with its idols of silver and gold, had been laid low. “Come +down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the +ground; there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt +no more be called young and delicate. Take the millstones and grind +meal. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness ... for thou shalt +no more be called the lady of kingdoms.” + +The women of old had not differed greatly from the women of to-day, +said the preacher, looking down upon the many women who listened to his +words. The prophet had marked their ways; they walked with stretched +forth necks and wanton eyes. They were haughty in the bravery of their +tinkling ornaments, their chains and their bracelets, the changeable +suits of apparel, the mantles, the wimples, and the crisping pins, the +fine linen, the hoods, and the veils. Wherein, he asked, did those +women of old differ in their vanity and arrogance from the women of +that great modern Babylon which they all knew so well--the centre and +capital of the stupendous empire on which the sun never set? + +There would yet, he believed, be a further fulfilment of that stern +prophecy of the eastern seer, and in that dark and terrible time what +part would be played by the women of England--the women of London? +They were destined to faint and fail! The luxurious, jewel-decked +women of ease and fashion would be swept like rotten leaves before +the storm! Only a woman such as Solomon described in the last chapter +of the Book of Proverbs could ever fulfil the high destiny of her +sex, whether in times of peace or in times of trouble. “Who can find +a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies ... strength and +honour are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come, ... +she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of +kindness.... Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband +also, and he praiseth her.... Many daughters have done virtuously, +but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; +but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” You and I, +said Father Francis, may never meet in this church again, but in this +solemn evening hour, in this still and wonderful summer night, forget +not the storms which sometimes beat upon this ancient building, and +remember, too, the storms of life, the terror and distress of nations. +Whither shall we flee in that dread hour? There is and can ever be but +one refuge--the Rock of Ages, with its calm, cool shadow in a weary +land; its strength and steadfastness amid the tempestuous passions of +the human race. At the last, he said, in solemn tones, pointing to +the “Tree of Jesse” in the north transept of the church, all nations +and peoples of the earth would be brought to see that in Him of whom +the prophets and the angels testified, and in Him alone, was hope, +salvation, and tranquillity. “I am the root and offspring of Jesse, and +the bright and morning Star.” + +For a moment the preacher paused. Suddenly, with a thrilling +intonation, he repeated the question of his text--” _Watchman, what of +the night?_” Then, with hand pointing eastward--an action dramatic but +not theatrical--he gave the prophet’s answer in triumphant tones--” +_The watchman saith, The morning cometh._” + + + + + CHAPTER X + MARCUS WHITE RETURNS + + +The usual Monday morning movements had kept the hotel in a bustle for +some little time, and Herrick’s cab was waiting at the door. There +was a motor-car waiting also, and one that the barrister promptly +recognised. An impulse led him to return from the hotel steps to the +office in the vestibule. Here a lady-clerk with frizzy hair was bending +her eyes and her glasses over the visitors’ register. She looked up as +he asked his question: Oh yes, she knew; the car belonged to Mr Marcus +White, the rich gentleman from Mexico. + +Suddenly the girl turned scarlet, as she saw that some one was standing +by Herrick’s side. “Oh, I beg pardon,” she said confusedly. + +“Perhaps you are interested in motors?” The enquiry was addressed +to Herrick, and the speaker was the man of the New Bailey, the man +who had landed at the harbour on the previous morning. The sarcastic +intonation, the half contemptuous look, and the quiet way in which the +stranger had drawn near, all served to cause embarrassment. + +Herrick, angry with himself, blurted out a “Yes.” + +“If you would like to test the speed of mine,” said White, nodding +towards the hotel entrance, “I could perhaps give you an opportunity. I +return to town to-night.” + +“Thanks, but I return this morning,” answered Herrick, recovering his +self-possession. + +“Ah! you return to the pursuit of your interesting profession!” + +“I hope yet to render some service to the cause of law and order,” said +Herrick, thinking of a certain letter. + +“You mean to make hay while the sun shines. Perhaps you are wise.” + +“Plenty of sunshine at present.” + +“Yes; but it won’t last,” was the reflective retort. + +“Prophecy is dangerous.” + +“Yes, but not so dangerous as the law.” + +“You mean to the clients?” + +“On the contrary, I was thinking of the lawyers.” + +“I’m afraid I can’t stop to argue that.” The younger man lifted his +hat--very slightly. Marcus White raised his--with a bow and gesture of +such exaggerated respect as almost to constitute an insult. He stood +for a moment watching the departure of the other, then turned his gaze +upon the puzzled clerk. + +“Sir John Westwood is staying here?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Will you send some one up with my card?” + +“I am afraid----,” began the girl. + +“You will be good enough to send up this card.” + +She took the card nervously, but mustered courage for another effort to +withstand this masterful man. “Sir John Westwood is ill, sir.” + +“We are old--acquaintances.” + +“I’m afraid he can’t see you.” + +“I shall be waiting here for an answer.” + +He strolled slowly through the vestibule, with a calm but patient air, +which seemed to imply that to him it was the most natural assumption in +the world that his behests should be complied with. + +Five minutes later Marcus White was ushered into a handsome room on the +first floor, and at the same time Aldwyth entered by another doorway. +The manifest and immediate effect produced in him by her appearance +bewildered her. The dark-skinned face of the visitor paled, his eyes +narrowed, and gazing at her face intently, he grasped the back of +a chair as if for support. They stood and gazed in silence. Then, +mastering his emotion, White spoke, as if by way of explanation: + +“It was some resemblance,” he said; “I was hardly prepared, and it +startled me.” + +“You mean a resemblance to my father?” + +“No, to your mother.” + +“You knew my mother?” She looked at him, wonderingly. + +There was something in his face and bearing which made her look and +look again. Lately she had been reading the life-history of Balzac, +and fragmentary accounts of his appearance, and also of that of Armand +de Montriveau--in whom the great romancist reproduced some of his own +characteristics--came swiftly to her mind, as she watched the face of +Marcus White. “He seemed to have reached some crisis in his life, but +all took place within his own breast, and he confided nothing to the +world without.... He was of medium height, broad in the chest, and +muscular as a lion. When he walked, his carriage, his step, his least +gesture, bespoke a consciousness of power which was imposing; there was +something even despotic about it.” Then, again, another passage: “The +black hair, shining and radiant, receding from the temple in bright +waves ... the eyes steeped in a golden penumbra with tawny eyeballs ... +send out a glance of astonishing acuteness.” + +“You knew my mother?” she repeated quietly. + +The question was not answered. White had turned his eyes towards the +window and seemed to be gazing at a distant sail. + +“Of course you expected to see my father,” Aldwyth began, after an +awkward pause. “I am sorry it is impossible. But if there is anything +that I can tell him----” + +He turned his eyes upon her swiftly. “Miss Westwood, there are some +things that must be discussed between men alone.” + +“My father is ill. So, unfortunately----” + +“Is he really ill?” + +“I don’t understand you,” she said stiffly. + +“I beg your pardon, but, as I daresay you know, there are such things +as legal fictions, political fictions, illnesses of expediency.” + +“Is it on political business that you are here?” + +“In a sense, yes.” + +“The doctor has given the most positive orders that my father is to +have complete rest from every sort of worry and anxiety.” + +“Desirable, but impossible. Then he does not know that I am here?” + +“No,” coldly. + +“I should say that there is only one way in which your father can +make sure of carrying out the doctor’s orders.” She looked at him +with gathering resentment, but he continued calmly: “He would do well +to throw up the appointment he holds under the Crown”--she listened, +amazed; but she was obliged to listen--” and resign his seat in +Parliament.” + +Her face flushed angrily. + +“He must also abandon his profession.” + +“Must!” she repeated, indignantly and wonderingly. + +“I can assure you I am giving you excellent advice.” + +“We are not asking for advice.” + +“There are reasons which lead me to volunteer it.” + +“My father has been threatened by some cowardly writer of anonymous +letters,” she said impulsively, “but the police will soon stop that.” + +His smile checked her. “Ah, the police,” he said quietly. “But of +course Sir John Westwood is not afraid?” + +There was an implication in his words, a subtle intonation, that stung +her to the quick. She moved across the room with outstretched hand, to +touch the bell. + +“One moment,” he interposed. + +“My time is not my own to-day,” said Aldwyth. + +“You think me brutal and presumptuous?” + +“Extremely presumptuous.” + +“It is necessary for Sir John Westwood to be warned. He shall have a +fair chance.” + +“What you say is quite unaccountable to me,” she answered, and looked +at him again. It flashed upon her that only madness could be the +explanation of this extraordinary conversation. And yet the man was +manifestly calm and resolute. + +“As to the time of warning him----” he continued. + +“Of what?” + +“Of the necessity for doing what I have suggested. As to the time of +telling Sir John Westwood what I have said this morning, something may +be left to your discretion.” + +“You are very kind!” with scornful emphasis. + +“I don’t claim to be kind, but I am candid, and I think that when, at +your discretion, you tell your father of this interview, he will see +the futility of hurling himself against the rocks.” + +“What rocks?” she demanded. + +“He will discover in due time, if he does not know already.” + +She rang the bell, and walked towards the window. + +“I am sorry,” she heard him add. There was a short pause. “I am sorry +for _you_.” + +She turned her head, with an angry retort upon her lips; but the door +was closing, and she found herself alone. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + THE SIGN OF THE SPIDER + + +The London season languished. Even the cult of the great god Pleasure +found few genuinely zealous votaries. Trade, said the managers of the +big West-end drapery establishments, had never been so bad. Manifestly +there was something radically wrong when crowds of women-folk no longer +blocked the pavement in front of Simon Robertson’s great plate-glass +windows. The king lay ill at Windsor Castle, and such social functions +as might ordinarily have counted on the presence of royalty roused but +little interest. Arid, parching days, and sultry, suffocating nights, +made ball-rooms and places of entertainment almost unendurable. The +booking-offices of the theatres told a convincing tale of bad business, +and the art of advertisement in manifold forms, so well understood +by stars of the stage and actor-managers (and so zealously promoted +by the writers of dramatic gossip in the papers) took forms which +suggested the desperation of despair. In the world of music it was +just the same. People yawned or sighed wearily when their eyes met the +puff preliminary concerning the latest freak in musical precocity. +Even the emotional women who usually worshipped as near as might be +the bushy-haired violinists exploited by concert agencies, fanned +themselves languidly and stayed at home. In the city there was but +little difference in the look of things. Men appeared to be busy, +but their seeming energy was largely due to the mere habit of hurry, +acquired through the influence of surroundings. Every morning, as +usual, the swarm of stockbrokers, dealers, and hangers-on of the House, +came bustling out of the stations at Liverpool Street, Broad Street, +and Cannon Street. Between nine-thirty and ten-thirty the accustomed +crowds might be seen hurrying over London Bridge. But when the brokers +reached the Stock Exchange there was next to nothing to do. American +rails refused to lend themselves to any sort of manipulated excitement, +and in the mining market, shares were thrown about at rubbish prices, +or could not be made to change hands at all. The financial journals +still came out, but their advertisement pages lacked those big +announcements of new issues from which their profits were mainly +derived. They eked out a precarious existence by publishing carefully +edited reports of company meetings at so much per column, supplying +copies at special rates for transmission to confiding shareholders. The +daily columns of market prices became shorter and shorter, for, in such +times, the smaller companies could not pay to have their dead or dying +stock quoted as if it still possessed the elements of vital movement. + +Of course, the galvanic efforts of the “great dailies” still continued; +but the latest attempt of the _Times_ to introduce a new and important +series of instructive works on almost give-away terms into the homes +of the public (including a beautiful bookcase in fumed oak) met with +practically no response at all. + +But the papers, with editorial finger on the pulse of London, now +took up a theme to which increasing space was devoted day by day. +The leading journal showed that it still knew how to thunder. Its +latest warnings, its most booming utterances, were directed against +the growing power and audacity of the Leaguers of London. It told the +nation plainly what had been hinted at before in the _Detector_--in +effect, that there was a great conspiracy on foot, and that unless the +Governmental powers bestirred themselves, the safety of the capital, if +not of the whole nation, would be imperilled. + +This conspiracy, it was stated, had ramifications and objects far more +dangerous than those that had been exposed in the famous series of +articles on “Parnellism and Crime.” + +Tudor Street and Carmelite Buildings were not to be outdone by +Printing House Square or Fleet Street. The League figured constantly +in the bold headlines and contents bills of the halfpenny journals, +and one of them--the _Epoch_--whose prosperity was not so great as +was commonly supposed, bent on a bid for fame, now boldly alleged +that the head centre of the mysterious League was none other than the +Anglo-Mexican millionaire, Marcus White. The result was looked for +with anxiety and interest. When it was known, the devout believers in +the disinterestedness of the _Epoch_ received something of a shock; +for one morning it was announced that the paper had changed hands, and +the journal which so recently had denounced the Leaguers of London and +all their works, was now the accredited organ of the League, and the +champion of its objects. There was something sinister and cynical in +the transaction. + +The price paid for the _Epoch_, its goodwill, its plant, its +printing houses and stock, was said to be enormous, but in its sale +as a commercial property the commercial instinct was by no means +eliminated. It became at once a powerful collecting agency for the +League. A coupon-form, with the imprint of the spider-disc, appeared +in every copy, and it was intimated that those readers who subscribed +a stated sum to the funds of the League, would have their names and +addresses carefully registered, thereby securing immunity from further +applications for financial support. In effect, such subscribers +would obtain the protection of the League itself, in case of public +disturbance, or that risk to life and property which, according to +the contemporaries of the _Epoch_, the police of London were not in +sufficient strength to avert. + +Coupons, with names and addresses, and remittances often largely +exceeding the minimum amount invited, now poured into the offices of +the _Epoch_ by every post. The receipt sent in every case was a metal +disc, which now met the eye of astonished Londoners in every street, +railway carriage, omnibus, tram-car, and place of public resort. It was +worn prominently on the left breast by an ever-increasing multitude, +men and women, and even by children, belonging to all ranks of life. + +Lists of the disc-holders were published in batches in the _Epoch_ +from day to day, and were read with extraordinary and ever-growing +eagerness. In vain the _Times_ and other sober journals denounced the +folly and danger which these ever-lengthening lists exemplified. + +It was of no use to declare that people of high character and good +position, were blindly, even madly, allying themselves with the scum +of London and the off-scourings of the Continent; that their action +would infallibly paralyse their only reliable protectors, and promote +the cause of social disruption by giving the League the semblance of +respectability. There was nothing to show, said the leader-writer, +that this so-called Emigration League took any practical steps to give +effect to its ostensible programme. On the contrary, there was ample +evidence that it organised immigration of anarchists and miscreants +of all sorts into England. Never before had the foreign element been +so much in evidence in London. The tardy and much vaunted legislation +against the influx of aliens had proved little better than a fiasco. +Foreigners still swarmed to Grimsby, Hull, Newhaven, Southampton, and +Harwich, though ineffectual steps were taken to check the influx at +those ports; while no similar machinery had been fairly tried at Dover +and at Folkestone. Aliens were everywhere, not only on English ground, +but also on British ships. In vessels belonging to the port of Cardiff +alone, the crews were foreigners in the proportion of fifty per cent. +Thus the mercantile marine, which should be the great feeder of the +Royal Navy--our first line of defence against Continental enemies--was +become an actual source of danger, instead of strength, to the nation. + +But warnings fell on deaf or indifferent ears. Personal safety had +become the dominant idea. Panic was in the air, and the purchase, for +such in truth it was, of the little metal disc, was now widely regarded +as the only means of securing a magnet by which the alarmed population +could hope to steer clear of the vortex towards which the tides of life +were tending. + +The _Daily Telephone_, in desperation, started a correspondence under +the title: ARE WE AFRAID? Letters from all sorts and conditions of +people descended like a postal avalanche upon the editorial offices; +and while the selected correspondence was published from day to day, +a series of special articles dealt with Crazes of the Past--Law and +his Mississippi Scheme; Blunt and the South Sea Bubble; the Jabez +Balfour fiasco; the Whitaker Wright boom, with many other examples of +chicanery, folly, and consequent disaster, receiving elaborate notice. +The moral was illustrated, the application was solemnly rubbed in; but +all to little purpose. The sale of the metal disc still increased by +leaps and bounds. Inborn inclination to abbreviate asserted itself, +in accordance with abundant precedent, and one person would ask +another: “Are you a Spider?” and the answer would be, “Yes,” “No,” +or “I mean to be.” Thus the League, though having, it was believed, +many inner circles or subdivisions, became sectionised into two great +classes--the Leaguers proper (or improper) unemployed, unemployable, +and hosts of discharged prisoners; and those others--the respectable +“spiders,” holders of the metal disc as a species of insurance against +the terrorism and depredation which were expected from the original +Leaguers. + +What, precisely, the “Spider” meant was the subject of much +controversy. But what purported to be an explanation was given in one +of the leading articles in the _Standard_; a totally different theory +being put forward with equal prominence in the _Daily Chronicle_, +in an article headed, “The Mystery of the Metal Disc.” At about the +same time, in the _Morning Post_, the pen of a well-known author +and journalist, whose versatile talents were constantly employed in +surveying the world from St Andrews to the Antipodes, airily instructed +the public concerning the Real Significance of the “Spider.” The +writer, being of that nation which an English writer has declared +“unspeakable,” naturally enough commenced with an allusion to the +famous spider of a famous king of Scotland. He pointed out, however, +that that particular spider was not of Scottish origin, because the +insect really appeared to Robert Bruce in the little island of Rathlin, +which is off the coast of Ireland. The writer then went on to treat of +the spider at Sans Souci, which fell into the cup of chocolate prepared +for Frederick the Great, whose life it was instrumental in saving. From +Sans Souci he passed lightly to Mecca, and told of the spider that spun +the web that hid Mahomet from his enemies. From that to the murder of +Sir Thomas Overbury was only a step, and the theory of poison made +from spiders’ bodies was aptly illustrated by a quotation from the +_Winter’s Tale_. More pertinent, perhaps, was the reference to the old +wives’ fable, which held that certain physical ills might be averted by +wearing a spider in a nutshell round the neck. Finally, the versatile +contributor raked in the legend connected with the “Shambles” shoal +off Portland, at the bottom of which, according to tradition, are the +wrecks of many ships seized and dragged down in far-off times by the +giant spider, Kraken. + + “Below the thunders of the upper deep; + Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, + His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep + The Kraken sleepeth.” + +There to remain-- + + “Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; + Then once by man and angels to be seen, + In roaring he shall rise, and on the surface die.” + +Such articles, perhaps, were calculated to spread, rather than restrict +the general feeling of uneasiness. They served to fix the public mind +upon what was already sufficiently in evidence, and by suggesting +elements of the uncanny and occult, promoted the hysteric tendencies +which were becoming so distressingly conspicuous among the people. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + THE “EPOCH” RUNS AMOK + + +In those never-forgettable summer weeks in the mammoth city the +converted _Epoch_ published a series of denunciatory articles without +parallel in the history of the modern press. The _Epoch_ was now an +organ of opinion, indeed, but not of opinion made to order, or governed +by the exigencies of political party. Its independence was a fact, +and not a polite fiction. It dealt with men as men and as members of +specialised professions. It ranked politics as one of the professions, +and not the most honourable, and it tarred the “ins” and the “outs” +with one and the same prickly brush. The new departure made it clear +that the freedom of the press, as hitherto understood, was itself a +mere fiction. + +In law the newspaper had no greater freedom than the individual critic. +Political opponents might, indeed, be attacked and misrepresented +with an impunity begotten of necessity, and the pot-and-kettle system, +inherited from the journalistic organs of Eatanswill; but beyond that, +the only freedom consisted in the right to publish what a jury of +twelve tradesmen might not consider libellous. Journalism, in fact, was +analogous to advocacy. The pot called the kettle black, and the kettle +declared that the pot was blacker. Both pot and kettle, meanwhile, +had an eye to business. That was perfectly legitimate and natural, +but the radical mistake of the public lay in its view of the press +as a philanthropic institution bent only on maintaining the cause of +peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety throughout +the realm. It was obvious to the reflective worldling that no journal +could be run on truly ethical lines with ultimate advantage to the bank +balance of its proprietors; just as it was plain to the world-fearing +Christian that practical Christianity would never “pay.” No journalist +or Christian admitted these facts. They knew them quite well, but they +ignored them, and placidly drew around themselves the comfortable robes +of organised hypocrisy. + +The very last thing that any well-conducted journal would have dreamed +of would be the printing of a slashing and remorseless attack upon the +great Middle Class--the backbone of the country and the mainstay of +modern journalism. Censures of the “smart set,” foolishly so called, +and of their social descendants, of course had been administered _ad +nauseam_, thereby giving to a limited body of showy persons (with +more money--or credit--than brains) an exaggerated sense of their +own interest and importance. The lower orders, too, had met with +stern rebuke (for their thriftlessness, their laziness, and their +self-indulgence) but only in journals which the lower orders never +read. The _Epoch_, however, assailed with tooth and nail the denizens +of the great middle country, the buffer state in which dwelt all the +respectables--the clergy, the doctors, the lawyers, brokers, dentists, +accountants, surveyors, merchants, shopkeepers, active and retired, who +“made England what it was,” and what the _Epoch_ roundly declared it +ought not to be. + +As a journalistic programme this was considered part and parcel of +the midsummer madness that had fallen on the distracted capital. +Fleet Street, Printing House Square, Bouverie Street, Shoe Lane, and +Whitefriars, as embodied in the persons of representative journalists, +shook their heads. “It was playing the fool”; it was “not cricket”; +it was “quarrelling with your bread-and-butter,” or killing the +goose that laid the golden--or at least the gilded--eggs; it was “the +reckless destruction of a splendid commercial property”--in short, such +bad “biz,” that no editor would pursue it unless under orders to ride +deliberately for a fall. In particular, to assail the Church! the Law!! +the Medical Faculty!!! in one fell charge! Midsummer madness, indeed! +To fall foul, not merely of one learned profession--especially when the +_Epoch_ might have gone for one of them (the clergy for choice), and +with impunity; but to attack all three was--well it was pure, absolute, +and undiluted lunacy. Thus quoth Fleet Street. But the onslaught +continued. From the archbishops down to the deacons, none was spared. + +It was admitted that there were good and true soldiers in the clerical +ranks--some such pitiful minority of righteous men as those for +whose sake Abraham, in his prayerful and pathetic apology, entreated +that the Cities of the Plain might be spared. But for the rest?--the +time-serving right reverends on the path of promotion, with one foot +in the sanctuary and the other in the temple of Mammon; the deans +and archdeacons who clung to high benefice, and forgot the solemn +ordination vows of their early manhood; the canons whose intellectual +vanity found vent in sermons and pamphlets that argued faith in the +cardinal doctrines of Christianity to be only a delusion and a snare; +the holders of rich livings who had waxed fat and kicked against all +the labours of parochial duty; the popular preachers who did not +practise what they preached; the faithless stewards of the mysteries +who declared there were no mysteries at all; and the flaccid curates +who feebly bleated in the pulpit to a congregation of martyrs in +the pews--for these, and all of these, the _Epoch_ let loose the +chastisement of journalistic whips and scorpions. + +Somewhat less sweeping was the treatment dealt out to the profession +of the healing art; but here, too, condemnation was not spared. The +claptrap of the calling was its blight; the “abracadabra” of its Latin +prescriptions; the bestowal of long names on short ailments; the fetich +of the medicine bottle; the hoodwinking of the patient’s friends; the +solemn-faced acquiescence in the patient’s mendacious explanations of +his or her symptoms; the decorous delusions indirectly fostered in the +best “bedside manner”; the pandering to the egoism and self-importance +of opulent “sufferers”; the frequent farce of “second opinions”; the +puff paragraphs countenanced by eminent practitioners in relation to +their visits to eminent patients; the etiquette that supported the +“lumping” of fees, and the continuation of “professional services” long +after such services had ceased to be necessary: these, perhaps, were +but the stereotyped faults which unthinking men regard as justified +by custom or their own necessities. The rank and file of the medical +brotherhood, the _Epoch_ admitted, had much work and scanty wage. But +the sins of their leading men were more heinous. The selfishness which +made them contend for the retention of great hospitals in unsuitable +localities; the enormous fees exacted from private patients on the +strength of hospital reputation; the too ready use of the operating +knife on the human subject, and the tortures of vivisection inflicted +in the abused name of science upon the dumb creation: these, indeed, +were sins that cried aloud for reproof and repression. + +But the _Epoch_ was more scathing still in its bombardment of the +system of judicature, and the legal ministers thereof. It began with +the House of Lords as a legal tribunal--” the gilded asylum in which +judicial patients suffering from the incurable disease of old age +delivered very occasional judgments in exchange for princely salaries +and exalted rank.” The Royal Courts of Justice were characterised as a +gigantic honeycomb in which clerkly drones got as much as they could +for doing as little as possible; a mighty mill in which the machinery +stood still during vacations which lasted about a third of the working +year; a vast temple in which the servers were ever engaged in piling +fuel on the altars of precedent and practice. + +Then the writer, or writers, went on to deal with the legal +practitioners, whom he or they described as “Locusts of the Law”; +but here, again, there was no condemnation for the honest rank and +file--the barristers in their chambers and the solicitors in their +offices, who were fair and square in their dealings, and manfully +struggled to keep their footing under almost impossible conditions. +But for the brilliant leaders of the Bar--the advocates who walked +in silk attire and siller had to spare--there was no gentleness. +“Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” For them, said the _Epoch_, the +whole pretentious fabric of our legal system was maintained; for their +advantage the monstrous delusion of honorary services; for their +immunity the supposed dissociation of forensic labour from forensic +fees; and the helpless position of suitors whose causes they mismanaged +or neglected. + +Contempt was poured on the “representative bodies” which misrepresented +the forensic profession--the General Council of the Bar, with its +policy of tithe, mint, and cumin, and its neglect of the weightier +matters of the law; the Benchers, with their limpet-like clinging to +ancient funds and obsolete traditions; the circuit messes, with their +petty jealousies and selfish trade-unionism. + +But here, in the middle-class multitude, if anywhere, lay the true +strength and stay of the nation. With all their faults, these men were +mainly of the right sort. But they were selfish, supine, indifferent, +save to their own immediate comfort and advantage. In politics they +were swayed by purely party cries, or else not moved at all. In +municipal affairs they allowed themselves to be swamped by noisy +social democrats; in religion, if not actually hostile to the Church, +they maintained a cautious “non-committal” attitude. They placidly +acquiesced in government by permanent secretaries--men of clerkly mind, +the clustering, clinging barnacles on the great ship of State. But when +conscription was talked of--when the idea of devoting a few years to +military training, and, in some dire emergency, their lives, if need +be, to the service of king and mother-country--they held up their hands +in pious horror at the bare thought of anything so “un-English,”--and +so very inconvenient! + +Thus may be very briefly summarised the outspoken and unflinching +attacks on bodies of men and institutions which it had always been +considered right to pat on the back, and on the leading members +thereof, (to whom, as they already had much, it was servilely +considered that more should be given). It certainly was manifest +that the _Epoch_ writers had been given a free hand, and had used +it, with _magna est veritas_ for their war-cry. Naturally, protests, +remonstrances, denials, poured in from the attacked; for to few is it +given to see ourselves as others see us. + +Yet, after all, it was but a twentieth century echo; a rough and +trenchant postscript to a certain sermon preached long, long ago on a +Syrian mountain-side to listening multitudes who were astonished at the +Preacher’s doctrines. + +Whether this stirring of the dry bones would ultimately make for +greater righteousness time alone could show. Dark are the workings of +destiny; and in the path of reform immediate results can rarely be +recorded. Undoubtedly the proximate outcome of the _Epoch_ campaign was +a strengthening of the cause of the malcontents. The numbers of the +Leaguers still grew and grew. They had, in fact, become an army on half +pay; for every Leaguer, unemployed and unemployable, drew something +from the coffers of the organisation, and thus the body of Adullamites +drew in every one that was in distress, and every one that was in +debt, and every one that was discontented. In effect, the rate-payers +of London, who were for buying peace at any price, had provided their +enemy with the sinews of war, and thereby hastened the approaching +climax. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + THE STRANGE OUTBREAK AT QUEEN’S HALL + + +The recrudescence of the Dancing Mania first took notable form on a +certain Sunday evening. At Queen’s Hall the Sunday League--which is +in no way to be associated with the Leaguers of London--had organised +one of those frequent and excellent concerts which, presumably, are +intended to provide a suitable substitute for religious worship in our +churches. A famous conductor, whose brilliant services to the cause of +the higher music had brought him a world-wide reputation, was there +to sway with his bâton the finest orchestral band ever known to the +music-lovers of London. + +The great hall and the vast galleries were densely packed, and as the +programme proceeded, the heat, generated by hundreds upon hundreds of +listening humans, became intense and overpowering. There was a marked +sense of overstrain during the wonderful rendering of Tchaikovsky’s +lengthy Symphony (No. 6 in B minor). The music itself was full of +subtle emotion. Deep melancholy alternated with swelling excitement. +The passionate pessimism of the Russian character communicated itself +through the medium of the score to those among the great audience who +were predisposed to share it. The tragic gloom and fatalism of the +movement hung like a thunder-cloud in the stifling atmosphere, and +the wailing sadness of the subdued finale was succeeded by a tense +silence. Then, as the audience was about to burst into the accustomed +applause, a woman rose in the body of the hall, and gave a piercing +shriek. The effect was electrical. Hundreds of people started to +their feet. Another shriek, still more weird and piercing, drew a +like response from scores of throats. In an instant confusion reigned +throughout the hall and corridors, and in the balconies. Attempts to +restore silence and order were drowned in the general tumult. Here and +there, men and women, unable to reach the aisles, tried to climb over +the closely ranged lines of movable stalls. Many of these seats fell +with a crash, and horrified spectators in the balconies saw masses of +people heaped and struggling on the ground. The bandsmen had risen +excitedly, instruments in hand, unheeding for once the gestures of the +conductor, who turned with pallid face, the perspiration in great drops +on his forehead, and made imploring gestures to the audience. Bruised +and bleeding, distraught with terror, some of those who had fallen in +the effort to escape struggled to their feet and fought viciously and +desperately to reach the exit doors. + +The officials of the Sunday League, with many persons in the audience, +now made great and partially successful efforts to prevent a general +rush. Shouts of “Sit down! sit down!” came from all parts of the +building. The bandsmen were the first to resume their seats, and while +the outgoing crowd was checked and marshalled into some sort of order, +others set a good example, and, realising that there was absolutely no +reason for panic, settled down as if intending to remain throughout +the programme. But by a wise discretion on the part of the conductor, +the concert was abandoned. At a signal, the familiar first bar of the +National Anthem brought all to their feet again; then, turning to the +audience, the wielder of the bâton invited them to join; and, with +extraordinary volume and fervour, “God Save the King” brought the +concert to a close. A terrible catastrophe had been averted; for, by +marvellous good fortune, no life was lost in the frantic effort of a +section of the audience to escape. Those who were injured were being +hurried, half-fainting, into cabs, and those who were merely suffering +from shattered nerves sat on chairs in the corridors, while anxious +friends tried to restore them to some degree of self-control. + +The swift reaction, born of unexpected safety, may perhaps account +in some measure for what followed. The woman whose scream had given +the first impulse to disturbance--afterwards recognised as a Spanish +dancer at the Empire music-hall--was suddenly seen to be moving down +the corridor in a wild, fantastic dance. Bursts of laughter greeted the +extraordinary and unlooked-for display. An avenue was made for her, +and on she danced. Her hat was gone; her long black hair had fallen to +her waist, and her eyes were blazing with the look of a demoniac. The +crowd closed after her, with fresh laughter, which presently gave place +to excited and wondering exclamations. Now she was in the entrance +hall, and one of the officials laid his hand upon her shoulder. She +shook herself free with a scream of foreign words. Another moment, and +those peering eagerly from the entrance steps and pavement, saw the +Bacchantic figure whirling in the street. The cries and tumultuous +shouts which arose among the crowd around the dancer, and the warning +shouts of the drivers of approaching vehicles, brought hosts of +visitors to the open windows of the Langham and the neighbouring +houses. Presently, those who could look down from these vantage points, +and others who now packed the steps of All Souls’ Church, saw with +bewilderment that the magnetism of example had drawn some six or seven +young girls and women into a kind of dance which imitated the movements +of the Spaniard. + +Thus the glare of the electric lights revealed one of the strangest and +most lamentable scenes ever witnessed in the streets of London. It was +brief, but pregnant with painful possibilities. Two or three policemen, +as soon as they realised in some measure what was happening, assisted +by some resolute men who had now emerged from the hall, brought the +dancers to a forcible standstill. Their resistance was cat-like, +savage; but exhaustion aided the efforts of the constables, and within +twenty minutes the roadway was cleared, the crowd dispersed, and +Langham Place had almost resumed its normal aspect. + +For ten days after these occurrences there was nothing to indicate that +they were likely to be repeated. Then, in another quarter of London, +there was a somewhat similar outbreak, and, unhappily, on a more +extensive scale. It took place among the girl-pupils attending a large +school of shorthand in Southampton Row. Rumour had it, and probably +it was true, that some of them had been present at Queen’s Hall on +the occasion already chronicled. After the long, hot afternoon hours +in the class-rooms, the shorthand pupils--girls and youths--poured +out in the usual throng into the streets. There was a good deal of +gossiping, as usual, and here and there a little innocent flirtation. +The flower-sellers, who drive their trade near Cosmo Place on the +pavement of Southampton Row, as usual eagerly drew attention to their +baskets. Then one, whose basket was first emptied, executed a wild +pirouette of triumph. Some of the young men applauded vigorously. Here +and there a girl was pushed forward, and some of the more reckless +danced a few steps, in imitation of the flower-seller. The spark was in +the bonfire! and before any one realised what was happening, a score of +dancers, male and female, filled the pavement, and by force of numbers +moved into the roadway. To escape the horse traffic and motors, they +whirled across at an angle into Russell Square. The cabmen on the stand +applauded them derisively, bursting into coarse guffaws. Incoherent +cries came from the parched throats of the dancers. Some of them now +joined hands and swept over the broad southern roadway of the square; +others, with grotesque gestures, danced alone, leaping into the air at +intervals. A cornet-player, who was standing near the north corner of +Bedford Place, raised his instrument to his lips, and the clear, sudden +notes that followed seemed to act upon his hearers as a trumpet-call. +It served to quicken to an almost appalling degree the epidemic +character of the amazing outbreak; for passers-by, moved as by an +irresistible impulse, joined in the maddened movement of the dancers. +They overflowed into the quiet thoroughfare of Bedford Place. From the +residential hotels and boarding-houses on either side people rushed to +the doorways and windows. Servants, with shrill cries, hurried up area +steps to witness, with loud comment, the stupefying display, until many +of the watchers themselves were drawn into the widening circles of the +excited dancers. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + BILLY OF MAYFAIR + + +There was one, and only one, section of society in London that found +unalloyed pleasure in the abnormal features of the period. The youth of +the lower orders revelled in the absence of the restraint that hitherto +had qualified the natural joy of life. The Boy in the Street in all his +varied experiences had never had so good a time before. He made the +most of it. He came, not as a single spy, but in battalions. His shrill +voice rent the air day and night; his cockney smartness found new and +glorious opportunities for exercise; the badinage of the pavement was +heard on every side. The march of the Leaguers, or the whirling rush +of a band of Dancers, never failed to stir him to loud delight or +tumultuous excitement. + +There was one small youth, here entering the pages of this chronicle, +who participated with the keenest relish in the unfolding drama of +the day. This boy was Billy of Mayfair. Not always had he found his +headquarters in that highly rented and exclusive district. Like the +Wise Men, and like many clever boys, he came from the East. But his +travels westward began at an extremely early age, and in regard to +the migrations of that period Billy’s mind was quite a blank. His +grandmother, a woman of no importance, and given, when means permitted, +to inebriety, sometimes mentioned Poplar as the place of his nativity, +and on other occasions asserted that in the Isle of Dogs Billy’s pink +eyes first opened on the murky world down East. There was not much +difference, and nothing to choose between those grimy regions, and +Billy himself never troubled his white-thatched head about the past. +He was in the West Central district when first he realised that he was +anywhere, and he accepted his surroundings just as he accepted his +physical peculiarities. Billy was quite accustomed to the special, if +unflattering, notice which his appearance attracted, and showed no +surprise or resentment when addressed contemptuously as a “blooming +Halbino.” + +If a skin specialist had explained to him that his abnormal skin and +hair resulted from an absence of the minute particles of colouring +matter usually found in the lowest layer of the epidermis, he would +have listened respectfully and then departed with the skimming step +and whooping yell familiar to his young companions of the gutter. +But nobody explained him to himself, and it was an accepted, and not +perhaps unwelcome, fact that he was not like other boys. + +When Billy reached the age of ten he was still residing in a “third +floor back” in an unsavoury court of which the narrow entrance is in +Chapel Street, a short thoroughfare running from Lamb’s Conduit Street +to Milman Street. But Billy was not much at home; nor was Billy’s +grandmother aforesaid,--a prematurely aged and doddering person who +earned precarious pence by perfunctorily sweeping crossings in an +adjacent square. At night the two shared the shelter of the third floor +back, and breathed till morning light, or darkness, the poisonous air +of the miserable apartment. In warm fine weather Billy kept late hours. +Sometimes, like the people who were “seeing life”--Heaven save the +mark!--the boy did not go home till morning. Billy, like many another +gutter child in London, knew much of its night side--the side known to +the policemen, to hansom-cabmen, and to hospital nurses on night duty, +who look out of window when cabs rattle up to certain neighbouring +houses. Editors and journalists know also of that night side, but all +things are not for publication. Half the world is ignorant of the +deadly canker eating into the vitals of the nation; and the other half +keeps silence. + +It was through being out late at night that Billy lost his leg. It +fell out thus: Billy, dead tired, was sleeping in a doorway at the top +of Bedford Row, when the vigilant eye of P.C. Dormer espied his small +and huddled form. The law, through the eyes of the constabulary, looks +with sternness on such lapses from well-ordered life and habits. The +open-air treatment must not be adopted on your own responsibility. If +you have no home--well, you ought to have. You may walk the king’s +highway, but if that grows fatiguing and you slumber on a doorstep, it +is the plain duty of P.C. Dormer to rouse and move you on. In effect, +to be homeless is to be criminal, and to wander abroad without any +visible means of subsistence, brings man or boy within the purview of +the law. Lucky for you if P.C. Dormer does not see reason to conclude +that incidentally you are loitering with intent to commit a felony. + +So Billy was shaken, and slumbered again; he did not rise, but the +policeman’s temper did. So the grip of a mighty hand came upon Billy’s +bony little shoulder, making him call out sharply and then whimper. + +“Get out o’ this,” growled the constable. So Billy got out, into +Theobald’s Road. There, at what he believed to be a safe distance, he +found another lurking-place, and having had a fatiguing day in the +streets, he fell asleep again. But the law was on his trail. P.C. +Dormer’s bull’s-eye, searching nooks and doorways, discovered once +again the insignificant rebel against social order. Dormer was greatly +ruffled. At the corner of Gray’s Inn Road, half an hour earlier, he had +encountered a band of hooligans, who, strong in numbers, had jeered +at his authority. In such circumstances it was but police nature that +he should take it out of somebody. And here was Billy, defying or +ignoring the majesty of the law! With a howl of pain and terror the +boy came out of his dreams to find himself once more in the grip of +a superior force. He wriggled to the pavement and lay there sobbing. +Then P.C. Dormer gave him a vicious kick and Billy screamed with agony. +It was no good now to tell him to be off. To “move on” was a physical +impossibility. He lay and writhed. + +The next day he was in hospital in Great Ormond Street. He was supposed +to have been knocked down by a fire engine in a hurry. Billy knew +better, but he held his peace. His bibulous grandmother told the +matron that “there’d always been summat wrong with his ’ip.” There was +something very wrong now; and presently they transferred the injured +child to the Alexandra Hospital in Queen Square, where hip disease +was a speciality. Surgeons came and went, and now and then there were +operation days at intervals. There came a day when the operating knife +was brought to bear on Billy, and when it had done its necessary work, +Billy’s right leg was his no more, and for a time he had that weird +experience of feeling pain in a member that was non-existent. + +Sister, staff-nurse, day nurses and night nurses--they were all kind +and tender to the little one-legged patient. They assured him he would +be all right now, and that he was going to have a beautiful little +crutch to get along with presently. His grandmother came to see him on +visitors’ days, blear-eyed and pendulous of lip. On those days, indeed, +many impossible parents and guardians went up the stone stairs of the +Alexandra, bringing cheap and noisy toys, and refreshments of a wholly +inappropriate character. With the general throng came on one occasion +a stalwart man who walked like a policeman. He was a policeman. It was +P.C. Dormer. He was a good fellow in the main, and he had children +of his own. At first Billy did not recognise him out of uniform. Then +remembrance dawned, and to his amazement his quick pink eyes noted +tears in the eyes of P.C. Dormer. Clumsily, ashamedly, the constable +put a painted toy upon the bed, and Billy smiled. Then the big man, +with hasty glance around, bent his great red face over him. + +“You ’aven’t spilt, ’ave you?” he asked in a hoarse whisper. + +“Not me,” said Billy, speaking very low, but very scornfully. + +“My Gawd! but you’re a good plucked ’un!” said P.C. Dormer. “I’m damned +sorry, that I am.” His great fist closed upon the small boy’s tiny +hand. It was the proudest, happiest moment Billy had ever known. + +Sometimes, though the Alexandra was devoted to the hip-diseases of +children, other diseases found an entry; and one day, Billy, who +had shown disquieting symptoms, found himself, as the nurses said +“in isolation.” In other words, he was placed in a detached ward, +approached by a short bridge, under the care of a nurse specially told +off to watch and tend him, and perchance to catch the same disease +herself. The word went round that it was “dip.” And “dip” it was. When +the doctor was sure of that, Billy was treated with anti-toxin for +diphtheria, and the telephone was quickly set to work. An ambulance +came round--a beautiful carriage, the nurse in charge explained; and +Billy--nurses nodding and smiling at a distance, with eyes that had a +tearful, frightened look--was borne down the staircase and so away to +Hampstead. There, in the “dip” ward of the Fever Hospital, he fought +the fight with death--the students in their quaint garb looking on; +and, to the surprise of all, came out victorious. + +Seven weeks later he was discharged, and back again in the three-pair +back. There was the old grandmother, doddering still, the same, yet +not the same. One grey morning, when Billy awoke, something in her +appearance startled him. The poor old thing was dead; and so unsightly +and alarming in his eyes that straightway he arose and fled, hopping +and tapping with his crutch along the grey, deserted streets--anywhere, +anywhere away from that awesome sight. + +How the boy lived, or starved, throughout the next few days he +never realised. When at length he mustered courage to return, all +that remained of “this our sister” was there no longer. The parish +authorities were accustomed to these cases. The room was swept and +garnished after a fashion. Already other tenants were in possession, +and Billy was admonished to go about his business. Having no business, +he hopped vaguely into the streets again. He had a horror now of walls +and rooms. Over there in the Alexandra he had had his experiences, and +outside the National, on the opposite side of the square, in the night, +he had sometimes heard blood-curdling screams from epileptic patients. +He shuddered--shook, as it were, the dust from his remaining foot, and +hopped off towards the unexplored regions of the west. + +Along Great Russell Street he made his way, gazing at the grim mass +of the great museum, and wondering if it were another hospital or +a prison. There were pigeons and policemen inside the formidable +railings. The former attracted; but the latter repelled. So he turned +his back on the mighty store-house of antiquities, caring and knowing +nothing about the forty-three miles of the bookshelves, and all the +cheerless wonders of its different sections. Onward he hopped, across +Tottenham Court Road into Oxford Street. The district pleased him. +Presently the waving of big boughs attracted notice, and exploration +led him into Grosvenor Square. Further investigation resulted in the +discovery of Berkeley Square, and finally, very weary and hungry, he +sat down to rest on the doorstep of Sir John Westwood’s house in Hill +Street. + +From that day forth the boy became and remained Billy of Mayfair; +destined to play his little part in national events. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + THE SHRINE OF LUXURY AND PRIDE + + +Thus the wind of the world, which bloweth whither it listeth--or +whither the Great Spirit that rules the world directs--had wafted +Billy, a fortuitous atom of humanity, into touch with Aldwyth Westwood +and Father Francis of St Stephen’s. Billy, however, fought shy of +Father Francis, who had speedily run across him. The boy was not very +keen on the clergy; being rather disposed to class them with the +police--and that, indeed, in a moral sense is what they are, or ought +to be. But with Aldwyth, who discovered him one early morning on the +doorstep, he speedily developed friendly relations. He soon learnt to +look up to her with reverently admiring eyes, as a beautiful being +belonging to another sphere; one who smiled with an enchanting smile, +and bestowed sixpences as other people bestowed halfpence. + +Not that the boy lived wholly on charity. Sometimes he invested his +little capital in a stock of newspapers, and persistently thrust that +luminous organ, the _Planet_, under the notice of the wayfarer. But +there was not much sale for the _Planet_ in Mayfair. The truth is, +that Billy never realised the greatness of his surroundings, and the +Birth and Wealth of other residents in that favoured district of the +peerage and the plutocracy; nor would any one know the importance of +Mayfair merely from personal observation. The _cliché_ of locality is +not a matter of instinct, but of manufacture. In Mount Street, close +at hand, a good deal of the manufacturing was done by the eminent +firms of auctioneers and estate agents, the bank-like qualities of +whose establishments appealed to the rich and the refined. Plate-glass +windows, burnished mahogany, polished brass--plenty of brass--soft +carpets, and delightful chairs, allured the seekers after mansions +in town or country. Not here did vulgar posters in thick and sticky +ink offend the eye. Bills of all sorts, including the little bills +for commission and miscellaneous services, were kept out of sight. +Beautifully executed photographs of desirable properties for gentlemen +of position were to be seen in these handsome offices, and expensively +got-up Particulars and Conditions of Sale were freely issued through +the medium of the post. They could let you a cramped little dwelling in +Mayfair for as low a rent as £450 a year, but, of course, for a really +commodious residence, a much higher figure was demanded. + +It was a much higher rent that Sir John Westwood paid for his house in +Hill Street. Long past and gone were the days of suburban residence. +The rising man, like the man who is born on the heights, must have +the right address. It was good enough for the once obscure barrister +to journey daily from Norwood Junction, reminded _ad nauseam_ by the +railway porters of the interesting regions of Anerley, Penge, Brockley, +and New Cross. But a law adviser of the Crown, a parliamentarian +battling for a foremost footing, must live in the right quarter. +Mayfair is the place for the mighty, just as Harley Street--the +valley of the shadow--is the place for the eminent doctor. The +specialist knows that the people who come to him will measure his value +less by his treatment than by the locality in which he writes his +prescriptions. Such is the wisdom of the world. + +So Aldwyth Westwood had the satisfaction of feeling that round and +about her resided, when in town, the fine flower of British rank and +fashion. But rank and fashion as yet showed no eagerness to embrace +her with effusion. Her friends were few; perhaps the best of them was +plain Molly Barter, the nursery governess of her early days, who had +stayed on indefinitely as quasi-companion, needlewoman, and general +factotum of the house. Miss Barter was a person of the happiest +disposition; calm and unimaginative, untroubled by the problems of +life; sound, not to say solid, in her views of things in general; +unvarying in appetite and modes of expression, and devoted to Aldwyth +with a sort of dog-like fidelity. + +Miss Barter did not understand Aldwyth. There were many things she did +not even try to understand. She had never read Voltaire; but to her +it seemed, even in those troubled months, that nearly everything was +for the best, in the best of all possible worlds. That was by no means +the opinion of Aldwyth Westwood. None the less, she found comfort in +the mental altitude of the faithful Molly, who feared neither ghosts +nor mice, and remained quite unmoved in the presence of a blackbeetle. +Miss Barter, through Aldwyth, also made the acquaintance of Billy. To +her it seemed not unreasonable that he should be homeless and ragged. +Sometimes she asked him, with slight signs of severity, what he had +done with his cap, and Billy had to explain that “the chaps”--meaning +other boys, two legged and aggressive--had deprived him of that +article. The same thing happened whenever a new cap or an old was given +to Billy; the “chaps” seemed to think that a “blooming little Halbino” +ought to show the colour of his hair. So Billy’s cap was “chucked” over +a wall, or down an area, and there was an end of it. + +Another friend of his--one Joe, a stableman at the mews in Hill +Street--told him that it wasn’t respectable to go capless in those +parts. But what could a boy do, much as he would have liked to give +satisfaction to the stableman, for Joe was good to him. + +On chilly nights he sometimes allowed the small vagrant to hop into a +coach-house or harness-room, and sleep like a little lord in warmth +and comfort. In return, Billy allowed Joe to scan the racing tips and +learn the latest odds without investing in the purchase of a _Planet_. +The coachmen and footmen of the locality were much more haughty. Men +of their position knew what was due to it, and had no sympathy with +intrusive ragamuffins from the far East. The Mayfair flunkey still +lived up to the lofty traditions of “Jeames de la Pluche of Buckley +Square”: + + “He vel became his hagwillets, + He cocked his ’at with _such_ an hair; + His calves and viskers _was_ such pets, + That hall loved Jeames of Buckley Square.” + +While as to the butlers, they, indeed, were dignitaries to be viewed +and revered from a distance. Once, in his inexperience, Billy +volunteered to assist a Hill Street butler, who brought forth his +bicycle to place on a four-wheeler. The man swore at him. But as Joe, +who saw the episode, observed to Billy, “It warn’t no good to expect +anything from that sort. A chap like that never did a day’s work in +his (sanguinary) life. He was too d----d artful.” With which, Joe, +bare-armed and hot, resumed his “hissing,” and vigorously cleaned down +his “hoss.” + +There were a great many little tips to be picked up in Mayfair during +the early summer months following Billy’s coming to the district. He +arrived after the first demonstration of the Leaguers in Hyde Park, and +therefore missed the Sunday visit of the mob to the Westwoods’ house +in Hill Street. But after that there was such a stampede from the big +houses, that the ubiquitous cab-tout, especially the tout who wore a +“spider,” reaped quite a harvest thereabouts. He took care, however, +that so weak a competitor as the crippled boy should keep his distance. +So Billy, to some extent unintentionally, developed a means of raising +money in which no tout could rival him. The pace at which he learnt +to hop along was quite amazing; but, not content with that, he took to +making high leaps in the air, coming down upon his foot and crutch for +the most part without disaster. Then he essayed to dance a little on +one leg, after the manner of Donato, a one-legged man who, once upon a +time, drew all London to Drury Lane to see him in a pantomime. + +The passers-by, seeing these perilous displays of agility, paused +with horror, and then produced a coin. One day, outside a mansion on +the east side of Berkeley Square, a thin pale-faced gentleman, with a +worried look, stared aghast for a moment while the unconscious Billy +was rehearsing. And when the worried man passed into the house, the +young acrobat found a shilling, actually a silver shilling, in his +hand. He asked who the gentleman was, and Joe informed him that he was +none other than the most noble the Marquis of Downland. No wonder he +was worried; for, apart from the domestic agitation of the capital, +the pulse of other capitals had to be felt through the medium of the +wires in Downland House. All the inner workings of the Chancelleries +of Europe were known within those walls; all the devious devices of +diplomacy; all the international collisions avoided by a hair’s +breadth; all the movements of foreign fleets; all the ambitions of +foreign potentates and the disposal of continental armies. For the +Marquis was Minister for Foreign Affairs, and they gave him sleepless +nights. To Downland House came ambassadors and envoys at critical +junctures in the lives of States. They came after the great naval +battle of the Dogger Bank, in which a powerful fleet of trawlers, armed +with fishing nets, was utterly routed by a Russian Squadron; they came +again, but less conspicuously, when a German Squadron paid a surprise +visit to Tangier. And there were many conferences there when certain +Powers proposed to close the Baltic Sea to British men-of-war. + +When the Foreign Secretary suffered from nightmare, it generally took +the form of a thing with wings. It was a creature which sought to +imitate the Apostle Peter by walking on the sea--a web-footed, oceanic +bird, with a rudimentary hinder toe, and the upper mandible very +strongly hooked. This restless bird liked to visit every sea, skimming +the surface and gobbling the small fishes, crustaceans, molluscs, and +the rest of them. It always came in view in stormy weather. When the +Foreign Secretary awoke from these bad dreams, he never felt quite +sure whether the bird were a gigantic stormy petrel or the German +Emperor. + +But of course his lordship did know that, in the Kaiser’s view, “the +twentieth century belonged to Germany,” and that his Majesty also +considered Britannia had ruled the waves too long. Wherefore, Hoch! +and again, Hoch! for the rights of the Vaterland. How glorious an +achievement--as foretold by the German romance-writer--to drive the +British Squadrons from the North Sea; to disembark without difficulty +sixty thousand German warriors at Leith; to march southward, while +accommodating French allies landed another army at Hastings and closed +in on London; to dictate terms of peace at Hampton Court; and then +to enter London with all the pomp and circumstance of war--imperial +victor--not merely William the Second, but William the Second Conqueror +of England. Hoch! and again, Hoch! and Hoch! once more. + +A dream? the baseless fabric of a vision? Probably; but the German +navy was a stern reality; they were very busy over there at Kiel, +Heligoland, and elsewhere, and realities must be reckoned with. The +shipwrights’ hammers resounded persistently in the German dockyards, +and the clangour crossed the sea. + +So Lord Downland had a good deal to think of in Berkeley Square, as +well as at the Foreign Office; though, even so, he little dreamed of +what the Royal Petrel would be about before the year was out. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + THE MANIA THAT LAID HOLD OF LONDON + + +When London became fully alive to the weird occurrences in its midst, +the first feeling was one of contempt, but it was quickly followed by +the dawn of consternation. An article in the _Lancet_, widely quoted by +the lay newspapers, dealt gravely with the problems that the revival +of the Dancing Mania presented. It foreshadowed possible developments +in terms which led husbands to look at their wives, and fathers at +their daughters, with an uneasy feeling that they, too, might become +victims of what the _Lancet_ described in technical terms as chorea, +and in popular language, as a form of St Vitus’s dance. Like lawyers +searching for precedents, the press-men of the day delved diligently +for the history of the Dancing Plague. The best contribution on the +subject was contained in an anonymous article which appeared in the +_Fortnightly Review_. The writer pointed out that these convulsionary +manifestations were more or less prevalent during a period of quite +two hundred years, dating from the end of the fourteenth century, +and that, human nature being the same in all ages, there was nothing +inconceivable, or even improbable, in a revival of such distressing +symptoms in modern times. The difference would be in treatment rather +than in the disorder itself. In former times chorea was regarded as +curable only by those--the priests--who had the cure of souls. People +who were hurried body and soul into the magic circle of hellish +superstition needed to be rescued by supernatural agencies. The +screaming, foaming men and women who in the Middle Ages swept with wild +gyrations through the towns of Germany and the Netherlands, therefore, +were made the subject of priestly exorcisms. They were forcibly dragged +to the shrines of St John or St Vitus, where, by means of masses and +religious ceremonies, the evil spirits were believed to be cast out. In +regard to St Vitus in particular, the priests invented a legend that +the holy youth had prayed to be protected from the Dancing Mania, and +lo! an answer from heaven--” Vitus, thy prayer is accepted.” Thus, for +all time, had the martyred St Vitus become patron saint of all who were +afflicted with chorea, just as St Martin of Tours was the patron of +all who suffered from small-pox. + +It was not until the sixteenth century, the writer said, that the +physicians had made any attempt to take the dire disease scientifically +in hand. One thing was absolutely certain--the deep-seated inclination +of morbidly imaginative persons to imitate the afflictions of others. +In the language of the _British Medical Journal_, “Such attacks +themselves were, as in all nervous complaints, the almost necessary +crises of an inward morbid condition which was transferred from the +sensorium to the nerves of motion.” + +On the medical aspect of the modern outbreak it is unnecessary to +dwell. Two significant circumstances, however, may be noticed. Ample +authority was given for the statement that in the Middle Ages the +Dancing Plague had always been most prevalent in the month of June; +and, secondly, had wrought its greatest ravages among shoemakers, +tailors, and others who led a confined or sedentary life. Thus it came +about that those Londoners who were under no compulsion to remain in +town, reading these articles, developed the greatest urgency in leaving +it. Ere midsummer day had passed, scenes at the great railway stations +became quite amazing. Piles of luggage blocked the platforms, bribes +to secure seats were offered freely to the railway men, and though +enormous exertions were made to cope with the outgoing traffic, the +congestion became almost unmanageable. The scenes enacted at Victoria, +Waterloo, and London Bridge in particular were such as had not been +known in the whole history of English railways. + +The haste and extent of these departures involved incomplete +arrangements for the protection of vast numbers of London houses and +of the property that they contained. Burglaries, and even daylight +robberies became frequent and daring. It was observed that the victims +of these impudent thieves were mostly those whose names were not in +the lists of subscribing members of the League; and, whether justly +or unjustly, most of the burglaries and robberies with violence +chronicled in the daily press were connected with the operations of +that much-feared and ever-increasing association. + +In such circumstances it was inevitable that much abuse should be +showered on the police. But, as a body, the Metropolitan force remained +loyal and zealous. The same must in justice be said of the City police, +on whom depended the safety of the enormous wealth garnered in the +vaults and strong-rooms of the City banks and warehouses. + +But the police at each end of the town now had to reckon with +unprecedented problems. The Leaguers were far too numerous to +be suppressed, even if a hesitating Government had given the +mandate--which, it seemed, they dared not do. Moreover, it was found +practically impossible to secure convictions or even to complete +prosecutions. The magistrates and judges were prepared to do their +duty, but witnesses were afraid to come forward, and jurymen who +could not manage to get medical certificates to excuse their absence, +nevertheless stayed away from the criminal courts, and submitted, +as a choice of evils, to the payment of heavy fines. Throughout the +long and blazing summer days, bands of Leaguers marched through the +streets, ringing at doors or hoisting collecting boxes on long poles +to the first-floor windows. Shops were invaded in like manner. At the +hotels and clubs defence corps were organised, but so menacing was the +aspect of the wearers of the metal disc that in most instances peace +had to be bought rather than insisted on. Then suddenly the cry would +be raised, “The Dancers are coming; the Dancers: the Dancers!” The +sound of bagpipes, drums, or of accordions, blended with the hum of +many voices and the rush of feet, and bands of girls and men swept into +view, dishevelled, heated, but whirling with fantastic steps through +street and square, dancing and dancing still, while some in the climax +of delirium sank in exhaustion to the ground. + +The places of those who fell out of the Dancers’ ranks were constantly +filled with new recruits. Many bystanders, who began by watching and +wondering, felt themselves drawn into the repulsive vortex. Women, more +especially, were thus allured. Girls came rushing from behind shop +counters. The doors of private houses were suddenly thrown open, and +in spite of the efforts to prevent them, unhappy women fought their +way into the street to be absorbed in a moment in the ever-moving +circles of the maddened Dancers. It was noticed that there were certain +instruments and certain types of music which developed the tendency to +join in and exaggerate these deplorable public exhibitions. Night was +rendered hideous by the noise that filled the streets. Indeed, during +the short hours of darkness, the quiet stars looked down on many a +sight that well might make the angels weep. London was become in a more +painful sense than ever a City of Dreadful Night. The Dancing Mania had +got a strengthening grip upon its people. At one time it seemed only +too likely that it would become an epidemic of appalling extent and +characteristics throughout the kingdom. + +Regarded thoughtfully, there were many causes that tended to bring +about such an outbreak of hysteria in that exceptionally hot and +rainless summer, (bringing as it did a dearth of water for domestic +use and street cleansing). The state of things was summed up thus +by an able German writer: “Imitation--compassion--sympathy--these +are imperfect designations for a common bond of union among human +beings--for an instinct which connects individuals with the general +body, which embraces with equal force reason and folly, good and evil, +and diminishes the praise of virtue as well as the criminality of +vice.... Far be it from us to attempt to awaken all the various tones +of this chord, whose vibrations reveal the profound secrets which lie +hid in the inmost recesses of the soul.” + +But, assuredly, it was to this mysterious instinct of imitation that +one must look for explanation of that loss of will power, of which, +in that distressing time, so many Londoners were either examples or +witnesses. The first morbid condition produced was that of a bird +fascinated by a serpent, and the outcome was surrender to the violent +excitement of the Dancing Plague. There was another feature of the +times, more or less connected with the administration of justice, that +began to cause dismay. The police found it practically impossible to +enforce the provisions of the Licensing Acts. Riotous scenes occurred +when attempts were made to close the public-houses at statutory hours. +Customers, amongst whom the disc-holders figured prominently, refused +to go. They demanded more drink, and they got it. Isolated examples of +this lawlessness could have been put down, but it was so general that +enforced obedience became as impossible as the vindication of criminal +justice in the law courts. + +Only when the stage of exhaustion or helpless intoxication had been +reached, did the foul-mouthed and turbulent customers of the publicans +come forth into the streets. + +Often they fought and screamed in the grey sadness of the dawning day; +some staggered off in search of home or resting-place; others rolled +in the gutters, and where they rolled they lay, while frightened faces +peered from the upper windows of the neighbouring houses, and startled +children in their cots broke into cries of misery and terror. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + THE GREAT FIRE IN HYDE PARK + + +Greatly moved by the evil things that had befallen London, and stung +in some measure by the trenchant attacks appearing in the _Epoch_, a +small band of London clergy who had recognised in this grave crisis +a challenge to the Church, set themselves earnestly to alleviate +the growing sufferings of their people. Among the most active and +unconventional of this little band was Father Francis. His church--St +Stephen’s--was the first that was made available for the definite +purpose of checking the spread of the Dancing Mania by special prayer +and meditation. The unhappy subjects of this repellent affliction were +invited to seek the calm of the sacred buildings, and find in the +contemplation of the sanctuary rest for their perturbed spirits, peace +from the contagious excitement of the stifling streets. Strange scenes +were sometimes witnessed in these churches--frequented as they came to +be not merely by those who, already, had been drawn into the whirlpool +of the mania, and vehemently desired to be preserved from a relapse, +but thronged also by girls and women who, though hitherto unaffected, +felt and feared they, too, could not long escape. + +Outside, in the glare of day or in the shadow of night, tumultuous +sounds would reach the ears of priests and suppliants. Nearer and +nearer came the clangour of crude instruments of music; broken cries +and bursts of hysterical laughter filled the outer air; the scuffling +of the Dancers’ feet became more and more audible. Perhaps the direful +medley came and passed without any of the Dancers entering the church. +At other times they crowded in with loud discordant noises. But almost +always these were soon subdued by the solemn stillness of the building, +and the unmoved calm of kneeling men and women, already earnestly +engaged in intercessory prayer. No set services were attempted after +the first few experiments. It was found that sermons or addresses often +stimulated feelings already over-excited, and that hymns produced +uncontrollable emotion. But the church organs were put to constant use +when it was discovered that music, especially music of a certain type, +was marvellously potent in stilling the overwrought nerves of the +Dancers and allaying the tendency to hysterical outbreaks. + +This remarkable result of musical sounds recalled to many the recorded +effects of the Italian tarantellas in counteracting the effect of +poisonous spider-bites. Not only so, but it was whispered by the more +credulous that spider-bites actually were the cause of the mania in +its modern form, and that in this connection, the spider symbol of +the Leaguers possessed a special and malignant meaning. That there +were numerous instances of self-deception and of fraud was beyond +all question. That, indeed, is a common experience among hysterical +persons, and in this instance, as already intimated, the Dancers +were largely recruited from classes predisposed to excitement and +delusion--factory girls from the East End, workers in close, unhealthy +surroundings, and great numbers who belonged to the painted sisterhood +of the streets. Practically it was a form of insanity, and now for the +first time the curative effect of music in the treatment of mental +disease received something like systematic application. Music, of +certain kinds, it was certain, excited to exhibition of the mania; +music at the same time provided for many the virtue of an antidote. +Unfortunately, though these combined influences of religion and +melody were so well employed for the benefit of large numbers, there +were still greater numbers untouched by any sort of remedy, whose wild +paroxysms were constantly drawing new adherents into the ranks of the +Dancers. Any attempt at forcible suppression only resulted in displays +of increased violence. Practically the evil had grown in a few weeks +to such a head that the authorities had to stand by in the hope that +it would wear itself away. Already the police were vastly overweighted +by the task of maintaining any semblance of public order. There were +hosts of designing men and women who aided and abetted the grotesque +excesses of the Dancers for no other purpose than to take advantage of +opportunities for conduct violating every principle of public decorum. + +Thus the fateful summer wore away. The railway termini presented +conditions more chaotic than ever. All outgoing trains were densely +packed by Londoners fleeing with their families from the multiplying +terrors of the capital. But though scores of thousands escaped, +millions necessarily remained--the helpless puppets of time and +circumstance. + +When at length the August Bank holiday came round, the disorganised +condition of the railway service led to the abandonment of any +adequate provision for the usual excursion traffic; as a consequence, +vast crowds, that in the ordinary course would have got away from +London, were practically kept prisoners within its bounds. The reek +of the wood and asphalt of the streets, the glare of the pavements, +and the pitiless rays of the relentless sun, drove them in herds into +the public parks. There, under the parched foliage of the trees, some +measure of shelter could be had, and on the brown and dusty grass +holiday keepers--Heaven save the mark!--threw themselves down in +weariness and sullen discontent, while hosts of women and children, +indifferent to the feeble remonstrances of the frightened park-keepers, +paddled in the dwindling waters of the Serpentine, the Round Pond, and +the ornamental lakes. As the long and joyless day drew to its close, +news came to Scotland Yard that mobs had forced their way into the +private gardens of the large squares. It proved to be true as regards +Berkeley Square, Grosvenor Square, Belgrave Square, Tavistock Square, +and many others. Temple Gardens and Gray’s Inn Gardens also had been +invaded, but urgent messages for police protection were only met with +the answer that it was impossible to spare the number of men required +for such a purpose. In Grosvenor Square, indeed, a body of police did +manage to clear the gardens of a gang of turbulent intruders, after a +violent resistance. To repeat the expulsion in a score of other squares +was quite impracticable. It was an hour of alarm that brought home +to peaceable citizens the conviction, long dawning, that a combined +force of Metropolitan and City police, which did not exceed 17,000 +men--and could provide only about 5000 for duty every eight hours--was +absolutely inadequate to safeguard London day and night in times of +exceptional disorder. + +The mob in various quarters had scored a triumph. By the simple +expedient of forcing a lock or clambering over some low railings it had +gained possession of many acres of fresh country. Well-mown grass and +carefully cultivated flower-beds were at their service. Noisy revellers +shouted indecencies in the growing shades of evening. Unwashen and +verminous creatures in rags and tatters sprawled on the garden seats +and prowled amongst the shrubs. + +In the parks fresh contingents arrived, and jeered at the orders to +clear out at closing time. Under the trees they drank and shouted in +the gathering darkness. Here and there bits of candles and matches +were lighted, and ribald laughter and drunken yells burst forth at the +sights the flickering flames revealed. + +Rumour of what was going on brought many persons to the Park, and among +them Herrick. Quite suddenly he ran up against Henshaw the detective. + +“Nice game, isn’t it?” said the latter. “This sort of thing’s going on +all over the place. I’ve just come down from Kensington Gardens, and, +if anything, it’s worse there than it is here.” + +“Well, here comes a breath of air,” sighed Herrick, baring his head to +the faint puff that rustled the leaves. + +“Yes, and from the south-west, too. It’ll do us good if it brings the +rain at last.” + +They sauntered on--they were on the south side of the +Serpentine--listening and looking. Presently they reached a widened +space. + +“Hullo! do you see that?” exclaimed the detective, halting. + +“See it? Yes! What does it mean?” + +“Fire!” + +“A house?” + +“No, a tree. It must be in Kensington Gardens. That’s what comes of +this match and candle business. If I’d had my way the troops should +have hunted the whole pack of them out of this an hour ago.” + +“Look! look!” cried Herrick excitedly. Westward a tongue of flame had +shot into the air, and then another, and another. + +“My God!” said Herrick, horrified. Then he set off at a run, the other +keeping at his heels. On every side recumbent forms were scrambling +to their feet. Oaths, obscene jests and blasphemous shouts broke upon +their ears, and far and near sounded the shrill persistent whistles +of the constables. A lurid light now illumined the western sky, and +here and there ahead of them great cones of flame shot up, while huge +columns of smoke bent and spread before the rising gusts of wind. + +The two men paused, exhausted for the moment, letting the rush of dim +and stumbling figures eddy round them. + +“Kensington Palace must be on fire,” panted Herrick. + +“If so the League’s at the bottom of this business,” said the +detective. “Hullo! you there----” + +Away to the left in a bed of flowering shrubs his quick eye had caught +a stealthy movement. Almost as the words escaped him there was a little +flame low down near the ground. It revealed a glimpse of a white, hot +face, glistening with perspiration. The cheeks were inflated, the mouth +was blowing at a little heap of straw, dried chips, and leaves. + +“You devil!” shouted Henshaw; “that’s your game?” He dashed into the +bushes, but the incendiary was too quick for him. He wriggled clear on +the other side and was lost to view in the wild on-rushing crowd. + +When they reached the road dividing the Park from Kensington Gardens, +it was seen that the refreshment châlet just within the rails of the +gardens was burning fiercely. In the midst of the crackling of the +furnace could be heard crash after crash of crockery, as the piled cups +and saucers, plates and jugs, came tumbling from their charred and +splintering shelves. + +In the glare that lit up the broad roadway, a maddened, +half-intoxicated mob of Dancers, breaking out into screams and maniacal +laughter, circled in full view of the burning châlet, until the +galloping horses of the fire engines, approaching from the north, drove +them, still leaping and gyrating, southward towards Kensington. Fire +engines now approached from every quarter, but it was obvious that +little could be done to save the trees. Every thirsty bush served as +a conductor for the greedy element. The furnace spread from bough to +bough; below, the fire fastened on fragments and twigs lying on the +parched surface of the grass, curling its way snake-like to the nearest +trunk; then, with a sharp hiss, climbed to the lower branches, licking +them eagerly until, with one united and terrific hiss, the brown and +shrivelled foliage combined to make a pyramid of fire. Tree after tree +became thus outlined in a mighty burst of flame, then lapsed into smoke +and blackness, still revealed here and there with glowing branches. +Sometimes the fire commenced its work high in the loftier foliage; for +now the upper air was filled with charred and glowing embers borne +north and eastward by the rising wind. In the rush of sparks and smoke +above the swaying tree-tops, it seemed as if the weird Valkyrie sisters +rode triumphant. Bushes and branches were hastily torn down where +possible, and bands of people made frantic efforts to beat out the fire +ere it obtained an unconquerable hold. + +But deviltry was loose that night, and, however the first fire may have +been occasioned, the distances at which new outbreaks were discovered +pointed conclusively to deliberate acts. In all, seven men were +seized--taken red-handed in the act of causing separate fires. Four of +the prisoners wore the symbol of the League. + +Towards morning, a heavy downpour of rain extinguished the last sparks +of the conflagration. It had come too late to save the trees, and all +that the fire brigade had been able to achieve was the preservation of +Kensington Palace from more than partial destruction. + +Dawn crept, frowning, over the dreary scene, the black ghost of its +former beauty--a wilderness of ashes; above which the charred branches +of denuded trees waved mournful arms to greet the mournful day. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + ALDWYTH ASKS A QUESTION + + +Less than thirty miles from the monster city, now festering and +malodorous under the September sun, high in a breeze-swept garden, +Aldwyth Westwood, with a book upon her knees, sat gazing at the fleecy +clouds. Slowly they sailed across the sky, casting deep shadows on the +fields and woods. Anon the darkened tracts of country again were bathed +in brilliant sunshine, and, far as the eye could reach, the face of +Nature smiled. + +“Sunshine and shadow--in Nature and in life,” she thought. A sigh +succeeded--a sigh that sprang like tears “from the depth of some divine +despair,” a girl’s tribute to the burden and the mystery + + “Of all this unintelligible world.” + +Here, if anywhere, near the summit of Leith Hill, was a refuge from the +outward stress of life, a place of peace and quiet breathing. Sir John +had benefited greatly from the pure air and calm of the retreat. The +high gardens were a glory, and the house--bought ready furnished from a +wealthy man’s executors--contained a well-stocked library, in which the +jaded refugee from Parliament and Law Courts renewed with some zest the +varied reading of his earlier years. + +Westwood was fifty-four--an age when, if a man allows himself to think +at all, the length of life’s journey and its destination are thoughts +that recur to him with deepening gravity. Behind him--the years that +the locust had eaten; before him--what? Great numbers of men still feel +young and vigorous at fifty-four, and much later, but the fact remains +that it is the wrong side of the fifty. To some, but to few, celebrity, +success, promotion, may come later; but if so, it lacks the heart-flush +of early triumph; in some indefinable way the prize, so long fought for +and looked forward to, proves something less than solid gold. Rewards +tardily won savour of a short lease--an annuity bought late in life, an +eleemosynary provision. + +At fifty-four the artist’s finest picture has been hung; the author’s +best book has been published; the great surgeon has performed his +greatest operation; the great advocate has scored the most brilliant +of his forensic victories; the engineer has built his biggest bridge; +the parliamentarian, sick and savage with hope deferred, then sees +the biggest prize of all eluding him, or, if it comes at last, it is +bestowed hesitatingly, not because of what he is and can accomplish, +but of what he was, and tried to do, when at the zenith of his powers. + +Westwood had been wonderfully successful, as success is reckoned by +the man in the street; but success is only relative. You have got +something, but it sharpens the appetite for the “little more,” and so +the chase continues. + +The prospect of a judgeship offered him few attractions; _that_ meant +finality on five thousand a year. His aims were higher, but politically +and professionally his position was complex. The parliamentary +situation, and the state of parties and sub-parties, made further +progress, even if his health permitted it, quite impossible for the +time being. He was alive to that, and conscious oftentimes that +probably he had already secured the best that life was likely to offer +him. + +What were his spoils? Abundance of this world’s goods, the envy of +hosts of less successful men, and the affection----? He paused at that; +affection of whom? It was not a pleasant thought that there were only +two beings in the whole world genuinely attached to him; an old and +faithful servant, a woman whose fidelity withstood the outbursts of +his petulance, and his daughter. Aldwyth was fond of him--yes, he was +sure of that. But there was a lurking feeling that she would have been +fonder still if he had only given her a chance. His cold reserve had +kept her at a needless distance. He had denied her nothing that she +asked for, but he had volunteered little for which she had not asked. +He had shown no real concern in her interests or pursuits. Yet he had +reason to know hers was a warm, impulsive nature like her mother’s, +quick to believe and love, swift to be rebuffed and chilled. The +possibilities of closer intimacy were now remote. Young Herrick, as +was natural, would have the first place in her thoughts. Presently she +would marry, and he, the envied and successful man, would be--alone. + +Of that strange interview with Marcus White, Aldwyth had told her +father nothing. The condition of his health forbade it at the time; but +now that the mysterious nervous attack which had caused her so much +alarm seemed to have been wholly shaken off; now that his step was firm +and his colour healthier, her mind was exercised as to her duty. + +Westwood, at his table, looked up as his daughter, with reflective +face, walked past the open window of the library. + +“Deep in thought?” he said, inquiringly. + +She stopped, and returned a pace or two. + +“I was wondering where we should go when we leave here,” she answered. + +“Back to town,” her father replied, with raised eyebrows; “but of +course it won’t be until the third week of October.” + +“The House won’t be sitting then, will it?” + +“No, but the judges will.” + +“Father,” she said impulsively, “need you go back to the Bar?” + +“I need not, but I shall,” he answered rather coldly. “Why do you ask?” + +“Is it--is it wise?” she stammered. + +“Wise!” he exclaimed, amazed. + +“Why need you do it?” + +“In the first place, I shall have to prosecute those scoundrelly +incendiaries, who have already gone for trial.” + +“But, surely, that will be dangerous?” + +“For whom?” + +“For you, father; you know that you were threatened.” + +“Threatened men live long,” he answered, with a lightness that perhaps +was a little strained. “You surely would not have me neglect an obvious +duty because some unknown blackguard sends me an empty threat?” + +“The threat may not be empty. At Folkestone you told us others had been +threatened, that there was a real conspiracy, and if so----” + +“If so, one must do one’s duty all the same. My health was broken down +at Folkestone. I was not myself. Why, my dear girl, if I kept out of +this case they would end by calling me a coward. I should be virtually +driven into private life.” There was a pause. + +“Perhaps there is something I ought to tell you,” she said slowly. + +“Well, what is it?” + +“When we were at Folkestone, and you were ill, some one came to see +you.” + +“Go on, go on”--impatiently. + +“His name was Marcus White.” + +Westwood made no comment, but his face grew paler. + +“What he said was a sort of warning. I was to tell you when I +pleased--that you had better give up everything--Parliament, the +Bar,--father, what does it mean?” She advanced swiftly to the broad +table on the other side of which he sat, his eyes bent upon the +blotting pad and balancing a paper knife between his fingers. “Won’t +you tell me what it means?” she repeated, entreatingly. + +“It only means that this man is an old enemy of mine, and, it seems, +one who does not forgive or forget.” + +“But is there any reason--any ground? If you never wronged him in any +way--father, say you never did!” + +“No, I never did”--the words were somewhat laboured. “But I married +your mother, Aldwyth. That was the cause of quarrel.” + +“Ah!” she exclaimed; “he spoke of her. Were they to have been married, +if you----” + +“Something of the kind,” he answered, rising, then turning to the +window. “It was many years ago; we need not talk of it.” + +“But he has not forgotten.” + +“No, it seems he has not forgotten.” + +“What shall you do?” + +“I think there is nothing to be done.” He sat again, and drummed on the +table with his fingers. + +“Do you believe this man would really harm you if he could?” + +“You saw him. You can judge as well as I,” he said, evasively. + +“He must be mad.” + +“Mad with the long-nourished passion of hate, mad with the +long-cherished desire for revenge--mad in that sense, yes.” + +“Then God help you, father,” said Aldwyth solemnly. + +“Yes, God help me,” and he buried his face in his hands. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + THE LORD MAYOR READS THE RIOT ACT + + +The Long Vacation having dragged its monotonous length to a finish, +the Courts re-opened in the third week in October. The day was dull, +and dull foreboding seemed to oppress the Temple, Lincoln’s Inn, and +all the other haunts of law. Fewer people, and less cheerful than of +yore, mustered in the Great Hall to witness the customary procession of +the judges. The Lord Chief Justice bore himself with dignity, but wore +the marks of feeble health. The other judges were ordinary, estimable +men. They had served their clients and themselves with more or less +satisfactory results, and now discharged their monotonous functions +in a duly monotonous manner. The nominal leader of the Bar--his +Majesty’s Attorney-General--was absent again through illness, and the +Solicitor-General, Sir John Westwood--whose looks were criticised +curiously--led the army of the long robe. One and all, with silks and +stuffs by way of tail to the procession, the King’s justices passed +through the long hall of the florid Gothic structure, that cost the +nation a million and a half of money, and still is in process of +absorbing millions more in salaries, fees, and costs. + +The function was soon over, and then, in the thousand chambers of the +building, the formal business of the day was dealt with. Once again +the pieces of machinery were got into their appointed places. Once +again the creaking, cumbrous, monstrous thing began to work. Amongst +the unemployed members of the Bar--which is to say, the majority of +barristers--there was much conjecture as to the business outlook. +The cause-list was thin to the point of attenuation, but still there +was a list. But those who were interested in criminal practice in +the magisterial Courts, and at Sessions and the Bailey, were deeply +concerned at the state of affairs which the history of the past few +months foreshadowed. How far were the Leaguers going to carry their +supposed programme? What was to happen if the British juryman failed +his country? Was it possible that our boasted _palladium_ was breaking +down? Britannia might need no bulwarks, but criminal law could not get +on without a fearless jury, to say nothing of fearless witnesses, +undaunted by open or veiled intimidation. + +It was confidently believed that in his approaching speech at the +Mansion House, the Prime Minister would make an announcement of the +first importance in reference to the subjects that were agitating the +public mind. Since the great fire in Hyde Park, and the committal of +the seven accused men for trial, the Leaguers had been comparatively +quiet, but their numbers and their funds had further increased, and +there were those who saw in the present quiescence only the lull that +precedes a storm; merely an autumn pause before the oncoming of a dark, +tempestuous winter. + +The ninth of November brought with it the accustomed features of +that date, including the presentation of the new Lord Mayor by the +Recorder at the Law Courts in the inevitable speech, replete with +pompous stereotype. The Chief Justice took occasion to comment on the +increasing signs of popular unrest, and various other indications +of the times, which made it of paramount importance that the chief +magistrate of the City of London should possess very special +qualifications for his ancient and important office. His lordship added +that so far as his Majesty’s judges were concerned, the country might +be well assured that the fabric of social safety would be resolutely +maintained, depending as it did on the vindication of justice and the +punishment of evil-doers. + +With that significant allusion to what every one was thinking of, +the civic party was dismissed. The puerile pageant, traditionally +associated with the occasion, once more appealed to the contempt of +gods and men, and the Lord Mayor’s show, having wound its way home +through the miry and melancholy streets, was lost to sight in the foggy +City. + +At the mayoral banquet in the evening, the First Lord of the Treasury +made his eagerly expected speech, which, however, contained nothing +that had been expected on the burning subject of the hour. The right +honourable gentleman was an oratorical acrobat of no mean talent. He +winged his flight from trapeze to trapeze with marvellous agility, +turned oratorical somersaults at unexpected moments, and came down on +his feet whenever it was expected he would arrive on his hands. The +whole performance was extremely dexterous and carefully non-committal. +When the Prime Minister sat down, of course there were thunders of +applause. Criticism of such speeches comes on the following day. Less +cautious, but also well applauded, were the utterances of my Lord +Mayor. Inspired with the ambitions of the new broom, and encouraged +by the counsel of the Chief Justice delivered earlier in the day, the +unfortunate gentleman made a doughty onslaught on the Leaguers, and +hinted at drastic action if any of them came before him in the justice +room. + +With a sense of having risen to the occasion, the chief magistrate +retired late to his couch, fully confident that he had struck the right +note. But next day, when rising from his bed with a slight headache and +other symptoms of discomfort, his lordship speedily discovered that +there was something wrong without, as well as within. From an early +hour small groups of men were observed in the neighbourhood of the +Mansion House, whose gestures and looks indicated no friendly feeling +towards its official resident. + +The Lady Mayoress, whose training had been provincial, and whose nerves +were flustered by the responsibilities of her new position, felt much +alarm at the appearance and manner of these men. One of them, moved on +peremptorily by the City police, was seen to hurl a large stone, which +crashed through a window over the portico on the Walbrook side of the +Mansion House. The fellow was promptly arrested and held prisoner, +though an attempt to rescue him on the part of his associates almost +proved successful. + +Throughout the day there was much difficulty in keeping the streets +converging at the Mansion House available for the normal traffic. +The streams of vehicles from Cheapside and Queen Victoria Street +here had to be regulated so as to allow free passage for the other +tides of traffic ever pouring in from Cornhill, King William Street, +Threadneedle Street, and Princes Street. Yet at this very pivot-point +of the congested City traffic, there were persistent attempts to block +the way. Again and again the roadways had to be forcibly cleared by +the police, and several accidents occurred. Removed from one position, +groups formed again at another, scowling defiance at the constables who +strove to keep them moving. + +For some hours after the first stone was thrown there was no other +overt act of violence. But suddenly, as the sombre afternoon was +merging into darkness, a pistol shot was heard. The report seemed +to come from the corner of Bucklersbury. The crash of falling glass +immediately followed, and over the head of a group of people a revolver +was tossed high into the air and fell upon the shoulder of a constable. +Some eight or ten policemen immediately made a rush in the direction +from which the weapon appeared to have been thrown. A violent struggle +ensued, in the course of which several persons were severely injured, +but the actual offender escaped capture. + +A desperate attempt now was made to clear the space on the west side +of the Mansion House, but the difficulty was enormous. A great block +of vehicles and foot-passengers spread right across the end of Queen +Victoria Street and the Poultry. The mob could only be driven southward +or westward through the two narrow necks of Walbrook and Bucklersbury, +and those thoroughfares were so packed already that the attempt to +clear them was ineffectual. The position was rendered doubly grave by +the sudden arrival of another body of police from Cloak Lane, with the +result that the people herded in Walbrook found themselves attacked +in rear as well as in front. Those who sought to escape via the short +curve of Bucklersbury were driven against another force of police at +the Queen Victoria Street end, behind whom was a phalanx of omnibuses +and cabs, wedged together, and rendering escape impossible. Caught +thus, like rats in a trap, the crowd fought desperately. The glass door +of a stick and umbrella shop, which had been insufficiently secured, +was forced by a band of Leaguers, and with such weapons as the stock +afforded the police were furiously belaboured and forced to act on the +defensive. + +At this crisis the electric lights flared out, and those who were near +the Mansion House were able to discern the figure of a deformed man +standing on the parapet of the book-seller’s shop behind which rises +the tower of St Stephen’s church. He was bare-headed, and the blue +light shone upon his grizzled hair and strong, pale features. By a +movement of the arm he appeared to convey a signal to the outskirts of +the crowd where Queen Victoria Street and the Poultry form an angle. At +any rate, as if by concerted action, sudden volleys of stones rattled +against the north and west fronts of the Lord Mayor’s residence, and a +terrific crash of broken glass immediately followed. + +Within the Mansion House itself, the Chief Clerk, as adviser of the +Lord Mayor in criminal matters, had been in attendance for some hours, +and with great difficulty the City Solicitor and the Town Clerk had +also been brought together to attend a conference. The narrow passage +at the rear of the building was strongly guarded by police, and any +approach to it from the west had long been impracticable. The legal +officials and superior police officers had obtained ingress _via_ +George Street on the east, the entrance used being that at which the +“Black Maria” usually set down its prisoners for the justice-room. + +The Lord Mayor, pale and nervous, had appealed for advice, and was told +that the police would soon be able to restore order; but the organised +volley which sent stones and glass into the interior of the official +residence showed how futile was that expectation. It was now hastily +decided to read the Riot Act, or, strictly speaking, the warning +proclamation which the Act contains. This Act--passed some two hundred +years before--is intended to meet the case of tumults and riotous +assemblies. If twelve or more persons remain assembled for one hour +after the reading of the proclamation, all are guilty of felony. The +offence formerly was punishable with death. + +Not within the memory of living man had the Riot Act been put into +force in the City of London, and for a moment a sense of curiosity +and expectation silenced the swaying and excited crowd, when the Lord +Mayor, in robe of office, came forward, flanked and supported by +officials and police, to signal for attention. The little group stood +on the stone terrace of the building facing north, and his lordship’s +voice sounded singularly thin and weak as he began the proclamation, +having first held up his hand to secure attention: + +“Our sovereign lord and king chargeth and commandeth all persons +assembled immediately to disperse themselves and peaceably depart +to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains +contained in the Act----” + +The rest was lost in a swift yell of derision and defiance, and the +concluding words, “God save the King,” were quite inaudible save to +those who were around or immediately below the speaker. + +The civic group now retired with such haste that a great burst of +laughter came from thousands who observed the retreat. It gave just +that touch of humour to the proceedings that saved the situation. The +police, marking the sign of better temper, stayed their hands, and when +it became known that “God save the King” were the final words of the +proclamation that had been read, here and there in the throng a voice +started the National Anthem, and vast numbers began to chime in. It was +discordant, but hearty, and bore indisputable witness to the personal +popularity of his Majesty. The mob, perhaps, had done all that it had +intended to do; but, at any rate, the crisis was passed, and in less +than the hour’s grace allowed by the Act, the great crowd had marched +away in sections, leaving only the broken windows of the Mansion House +as evidence of the recent onslaught. + +It was not generally known until later that a military force had been +hastily got in readiness to aid, if need were, the repressive action +of the police. The outcome, however, was, in one sense, disastrous, +for it led the authorities to conclude that the worst was over; a +miscalculation that facilitated the moves that followed in the daring +campaign of the Leaguers. + + + + + CHAPTER XX + THE LEAGUERS AT THE HOME OFFICE + + +A shadow had fallen upon the engagement of Herrick and Aldwyth +Westwood. The Westwoods were back in Hill Street, and Herrick also had +returned after a long yachting cruise with his cousin, Lord Eastmere. +But although he went frequently to see Aldwyth at Hill Street, and +was disposed to be more than ever a devoted lover, something had come +between them. It puzzled and troubled him. He kept hoping from week +to week that the chill would pass away. He hoped, so far, in vain. +Aldwyth, of course, was conscious that the chill existed. She blamed +herself, and tried to persuade her heart that it ached for nothing more +than the rather ordinary tribute that a rather ordinary young man had +to offer; was not it her plain duty to be happy in her engagement and +in the prospect of marriage that lay not far ahead? + +But the fact remained that she was not happy. Hers was a far more +subtle temperament than her lover’s. What satisfied him left her with +a sense of something wanting. She found herself--somewhat to her own +surprise--comparing young Herrick with two other men with whom she had +been brought in contact. One of these was Marcus White, whose powerful +personality had been vividly remembered after that strange interview +at the Folkestone hotel. She had seen no more of him, but his name +was constantly whispered in connection with the demonstrations of the +Leaguers; moreover, she could not forget that there was, as her father +had confessed, an old-standing and ominous antagonism between himself +and this strange man, who had told her that he knew her mother. It +was not that she had any definable feeling for her father’s enemy, +except that his was a strong, exceptional, and interesting personality. +Thus he was often present in her thoughts, and she had an intuitive +conviction that he and she would meet again. + +Meanwhile there was Father Francis--his, also, was a personality that +was powerfully influencing her life and feelings. This priest, ascetic +in life as in appearance, in truth was exercising an extraordinary, an +almost hypnotic influence over great numbers of women who belonged to +West End society. At every service at which he officiated, St Stephen’s +Church was packed. His sermons, often appealing, but more frequently +denunciatory, were listened to with rapt attention by crowded +congregations. He, pre-eminently among the clergy of London, had shown +an inspired capacity to deal with the sins and sorrows of the times. +He fiercely attributed the latter to the former, and declared that the +greatest sinners in all the sinful city were those--a multitude of men +and a still greater multitude of women--who lived selfish, idle, and +luxurious lives, untouched with divine compassion for the masses, and +deaf to the prophetic warnings of evil to come. + +From the nucleus of the congregation of St Stephen’s, a new society +of women, nearly all of whom were delicately nurtured, was called +into being, and drew vast numbers of adherents. It was called the +Sisterhood of the Kindly Life. There was no conventual establishment +and no monastic rule. The sisters still lived in their own homes; they +were at liberty to marry, and they dressed, if it pleased them, in the +fashion of the hour; but the vast majority discarded the finery and +ornaments which cost so much and had once seemed so essential to their +happiness. A bonnet and cloak as simple as those worn by hospital +nurses became widely adopted as the uniform of the Sisterhood. There +were no actual vows, but two injunctions were solemnly impressed upon +the Sisters by Father Francis, as their warden--self-denial in everyday +life, and the service of others in every way that each Sister’s +circumstances permitted. Every day each Sister was to perform at least +one act of kindness. Of this Sisterhood Aldwyth Westwood became a +member, and, with others of the order, she found much practical scope +for helpfulness in ministering to the great number of unemployed men +who in the early winter weeks marched into London from great distances +in the vain hope of enlisting help from the ruling powers in Church and +State. + +These marches from provincial centres had assumed most remarkable, and, +indeed, dangerous proportions. The great bulk of those who joined in +such demonstrations from the provinces were sober, well-conducted, but +unlucky beings. Footsore and weary, they tramped through the suburbs +into London, and were charitably provided for in halls and schools, +where the Sisters attended to their wants; only to leave the capital +after a few days with no improvement in their prospects. Long ago +the foreigner had been allowed to get a grip on our industries. So +complex had the position become that England could no longer support +her own sons on English soil. Even the old soldiers, always numerous +in these provincial contingents--men who had fought and bled for their +country on far-off battlefields, where pluck and endurance had been +lauded in the hour of triumph--were now forgotten and unprovided for +in their maturity or old age. The bitter feeling engendered by the +failure of successive Governments to grapple with the problem of the +unemployed, on statesman-like lines of national policy, now bore fruit. +For, while patient endurance was the characteristic of most of the +provincial demonstrators, there was a considerable minority ripe for +resentful action against the ruling classes. Great numbers of these men +having come to London, stayed there, and the magnetism of a powerful +organisation attached them practically, if not admittedly, to the +forces of the League. The old soldiers, in particular, were welcomed +and well paid on account of their experience in discipline, and the +qualifications which many of them possessed for marshalling bodies of +recruits. + +After the riotous proceedings at the Mansion House there was a short +respite; but when the Leaguers next loomed prominently into public +notice, it was obvious that, instead of being more or less of a +disordered rabble, their ranks partook of the character of an organised +force. + +Fearful of public disturbance on a more extensive scale, the Government +now arranged for a postponement of the trial of the Hyde Park +incendiaries. A public application was made at the Central Criminal +Court and granted as a matter of course. As soon as this was known, +the Leaguers showed their hand. Five thousand strong, they marched +to Whitehall and peremptorily demanded an interview with the Home +Secretary. That timid functionary was, or was said to be, absent from +the building, and a more courageous official--an under-secretary--was +put forward to receive a deputation from the serried ranks that filled +the thoroughfare. Never since an unhappy king stepped forth from +Whitehall Palace, to meet, in the face of an awed and awful multitude, +the death to which he was condemned by regicides, had the great street +of England’s Government witnessed so convincing a manifestation of +popular power. + +The demand of the deputation was plain and unmistakable. The prisoners +awaiting trial must be released. A like claim was made on behalf of +those who were still in custody on various charges arising out of +the riot at the Mansion House. The under-secretary, with carefully +prepared notes in his hand, did his best to temporize. He was wordy +but indefinite. It was not in his power to interfere with the course +of justice. If a case for special intervention could be made out in +writing it should be duly considered. The clemency of his Majesty the +King could only be exercised in a constitutional manner on the advice +of the Home Secretary. The Home Secretary, in a matter of such grave +import, would have to consult the whole body of Cabinet ministers, but +Ministers were out of town. Meanwhile, if he could tender advice, he +would strongly urge the deputation to use all possible influence in the +interests of peace and quietness---- + +“Are you going to set ’em free?” roughly interposed a shoemaker named +Raggett, one of the spokesmen--the same who had been seen on the roof +near the Mansion House. + +“I?--impossible!” stammered the under-secretary. + +Raggett turned his back contemptuously upon the Government official, +and held a whispered colloquy with the other members of the deputation. +He was extraordinary, alike in his physical deformity and in intellect. +He nourished, it was said, the bitterest hate against the State, for +having confined him, improperly as he alleged, in a lunatic asylum. + +“Gentlemen----” began the under-secretary, but his appeal for +attention was unheeded. Raggett and his colleagues finished their +whispered conversation, and without another word or sign marched +out of the Government building. There was a call for silence in the +street, instantly obeyed, and then the half-crazed shoemaker, mounted +on the topmost of a flight of steps, reported in a few terse and +savage sentences the failure of the deputation. Revolutionary action +invariably brings to the front men who are prepared to out-Herod Herod, +followers who become leaders, cranks who establish an ascendency which +no one could have foreseen at the outset of the movement. Such a man +was Raggett, whose power with a large section of the Leaguers was +immediately manifested by the response to the keynote of his brief +harangue. A sullen growl arose from those nearest to the demagogue; +it spread and swelled in volume, until, from the great concourse +stretching southward along Parliament Street, and northward towards +Trafalgar Square, a terrifying roar of wrath went up from some five +thousand throats. It rose and fell, and rose again, reaching its +culminating savagery when suddenly each Leaguer raised both arms above +his head. Then, as at a signal, ten thousand fists, many grasping +cudgels and other rough-and-ready weapons, were shaken in the air. +This united menace, that seemed to include the Home Office, the +Treasury, Downing Street, and the very Houses of Parliament, was +terrible in its volume and intensity. + +So appalling was the tumult, and so electrifying the excitement, that +the horses of the troopers in the Horse Guard Shelters reared and +plunged forward into the close ranks of the Leaguers who were standing +on the pavement. Shouts of anger and fear now rent the air. One horse +slipped upon the flagstones and threw its rider heavily among the +crowd. The other, entirely beyond the trooper’s control, tore wildly +through the fleeing mob towards Westminster. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + THE DEVIL’S OWN ON THE DEFENSIVE + + +The acute alarm now felt in Government circles led to a hasty decision +to embody a large auxiliary force of special constables. A source of +much anxiety was found in the rumoured designs of the Leaguers on +certain important buildings connected with the Law. The Temple church, +and the halls and libraries of the Inns of Court, both north and south +of the Strand, were believed to be in jeopardy, and arrangements were +made with the Inns of Court Volunteers to protect the prized and +ancient buildings from attack or incendiarism. Both within and without +the Law Courts a strong force of police was kept on duty day and +night, and London solicitors furnished from among their number a large +contingent of special constables to safeguard the Law Society’s hall +and library in Chancery Lane. + +Even these precautions were not such as to satisfy the urgent demands +of the timid “better classes” in London, and a cry was raised for +more troops. At this juncture, however, the Secret Service agents of +the Government were sending in reports that negatived the possibility +of reducing the military strength of outlying districts, and pointed +to the paramount necessity of maintaining efficiency and vigilance +at the naval ports and arsenals. It was beyond question that at this +critical moment of domestic history there was a subtle shifting of +international cards that was fraught with danger to the country. A +revived Russia, it was well known, only waited an opportunity to wound +or humiliate Great Britain. The German Emperor, while adroitly masking +his real attitude, was believed to be anxious to test the metal of his +strengthened navy. Against what country other than Great Britain could +the ceaseless activity in the German dockyards be directed? Armoured +cruisers, of about 15,000 tons; battleships of from 17,000 to 18,000 +tons, with armour ever thicker and guns ever more powerful! All this +increased tonnage, sanctioned under the German Navy Act of 1900, meant +an expenditure of something like £800,000 upon a single battleship. +In 1906, £12,000,000 had been expended on Kaiser William’s navy; in +1912, at this rate, German naval expenditure would have climbed to +£16,000,000. And, in the interval, or after, what appalling test of +strength and watchfulness might not be put upon the navy of Great +Britain? + +France, though disposed to be friendly, was fettered by treaties with +other Powers; and Japan, whose fleets were no longer confined to +Eastern seas, was by some suspected of having a secret understanding +with Russia, her former enemy, that involved ultimate designs upon +Britain, her present ally. That alliance had not proved so advantageous +to the youngest of the Great Powers as the Mikado’s government +had expected it to be. The shilly-shallying of successive British +ministers had at last disgusted the Japanese. Those hardy, patient, and +self-controlled Eastern islanders, steadily increasing their marvellous +powers, while the islanders of the West were showing marked signs of +physical and moral deterioration, had no intention of submitting to a +one-sided international bargain. Japan knew her own strength on the +high seas, and now prepared to use it ultimately, anywhere and against +all comers for her own advantage. Russia had not forgiven and never +would forgive the disasters and defeats inflicted on her navy and her +troops, but Russian revenge can bide its time. Meanwhile there were +grudges of far older standing against Great Britain, and if, while the +treaty of peace with Japan held good, the Japanese would help the new +Czar to inflict an indirect injury on England, it was fairly certain +that any opportunity would be eagerly seized. + +A sinister circumstance, in this connection, was the undoubted fact +that the new navy built or bought by Russia was largely officered by +men who had been trained and instructed by Japanese experts. A few +years before, it would have been deemed inconceivable that a Russian +should have submitted to tutelage from the once despised “little yellow +men.” But the bitter lessons of experience had made their impression +even in Russia. The deep-seated desire for restored prestige and power +outweighed the national pride; and the Japanese, on their part, were +not unwilling to make certain Russian ships and crews efficient for +naval warfare, provided such ships remained thousands of miles from +Japan and her possessions in the East. Thus it had come about, in the +whirligig of time’s revenges, that Japan, which had learnt her naval +lessons from Great Britain, and had splendidly carried them into +practice against Russia, was now supposed to be Russia’s secret guide, +philosopher, and friend in inculcating the art and science of naval +warfare. + +These, however, were matters of which the British public in general +had but little knowledge. For them the shoe pinched nearer home. So +dangerous and uncertain were the conditions of life in London, that +hosts of prosperous people, who had returned in the autumn, hoping that +the tyranny would be over, left town again with their families when it +was discovered that the winter months might hold something yet worse in +store. But these departures, numerous as they were, made but a small +gap in the enormous aggregate life of the capital. Scores of thousands, +or hundreds of thousands might go, but millions remained, and must +remain; for here was their lot cast; here in the misery and murk of the +season of fog and slush and drizzle the railroad of life was laid down +for them, and to leave the rails was hopeless and impossible. + +With the idea of calming the apprehensions of residents and tradesmen, +and at the same time in the hope of overawing the Leaguers, the civil +and military authorities now organised a patrol of the streets by +bodies of police and special constables. At the same time it was +noticed that musters and marches of the regular troops and volunteers +were of frequent occurrence. It was in connection with the renewed +activity of the “Devil’s Own” that Herrick now had an exciting personal +experience of the perils of the times. + +The unexampled slump in legal business had left him, and great numbers +of his brother-barristers, with next to nothing to do. Many of them, in +common with himself, had received threats under the sign of the spider, +but so far there had been no actual fulfilment of the warning. It was +noticeable, however, that fewer men in wig and gown were seen in the +streets in the vicinity of the Law Courts, and those who did wear their +forensic armour were sure to encounter gibes and insults from some +contemptuous tongue. Events were to prove, however, that in the first +place the Leaguers were maturing their plans to fly at higher game than +the ordinary stuff gownsman. + +So altered were the relations between himself and Aldwyth Westwood +that Herrick, wisely, perhaps, had deemed it best not to worry her +with continued remonstrances, or requests for explanations. The times +were out of joint, but the shadow could not last for ever, and his +temperament led him to believe that all would yet be well. Meanwhile, +his zeal as a volunteer officer was reawakened by concurrent events, +and the occupation that drills and marches afforded him was very +welcome. + +On a memorable afternoon, about a week after the Leaguers’ +demonstration at Whitehall, the “Devil’s Own” were mustered for a +march. Groups of officers and men stood talking in Stone Buildings, +Old Court, and New Square, waiting for the complement of rank and file. +The men came in from various directions--some by the archway from +Carey Street, some through the passage at the south-west corner of +New Square, others from the various Chancery Lane approaches. Herrick +himself turned in at the large west gateway. Thus it was that he +noticed that a muster of another character was at the same time taking +place in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, probably as preliminary to another and +formidable street demonstration on the part of the Leaguers. + +Herrick immediately made a report to his commanding officer, and from +observations then taken it was seen that the Leaguers were assembling +rapidly and in great force. They, on their part, noted the muster of +the volunteers, and presently sundry jeers and insults were shouted +at the citizen soldiers. Groups of men, who were seen to be wearing +the metal disc, gathered close to the open gates and watched the +formation of the battalion. The possibility of a collision at once +became apparent, for it was intended to march the volunteers through +Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and, _via_ Long Acre, to the West End. There +was no other exit from the Inn suitable for marching order in the +intended direction; and, on the other hand, it was pretty obvious +that to cross Lincoln’s Inn Fields would certainly involve a collision +with the Leaguers, whose numbers already largely exceeded those of +the battalion. The disc-men, growing more aggressive, now showed +a disposition to enter New Square itself, and a hasty council of +officers was held, and the order given to close the gates. Instantly +angry groans were raised by the Leaguers, and a shrill voice yelled: +“Down with the lawyers!” At the same time a rush was made for the +wall separating the gardens from the east side of the Fields, and, +with no great difficulty, large numbers of the Leaguers clambered to +the top and descended on the other side. In this way the flank of the +battalion was menaced by a gathering mob. In effect, it looked as if +the volunteers were now on the defensive, and derisive laughter greeted +the hurried orders of the officers. + +Mortified and puzzled at this development, the colonel decided to march +immediately. As soon as this was realised, a crash of timber was heard, +and it became known that the Leaguers were tearing down the hoarding +that enclosed the foundations of an extension of the Land Registry +buildings close at hand. The levelled hoarding at once exposed to view +great balks of timber, ladders, and stacks of pickaxes and shovels. It +was an unexpected armoury, ready to hand, and the Leaguers immediately +availed themselves of its resources. Several heavy pieces of timber +and ladders were now dragged towards the Lincoln’s Inn archway, +triumphant and excited cries bursting from the mob. The next moment +these improvised battering-rams were brought to bear with terrific +violence upon the gates and brickwork. The unarmed contingent that had +scrambled into the gardens urged on their comrades with wild applause, +and hurled defiance at the humiliated battalion. “Rats! Rats in a trap! +Down with the lawyers!” burst hoarsely from a thousand throats. The +colonel turned pale as death, and his horse, terrified by the uproar, +plunged dangerously in proximity to his men. Above the din, the order, +“Open the gates!” was shouted. But, before it could be obeyed one of +them came crashing to the ground. The other was torn aside, and the +Leaguers and the “Devil’s Own” stood face to face. There was a pause. +Then, hurtling through the air, came a pavior’s rammer, followed by a +stonecutter’s mallet, and two privates with anguished faces limped out +of the ranks of the volunteers. At the same instant the growing force +of Leaguers on the flank made a determined effort to tear up the iron +railings bordering the grass. + +“Fix bayonets!” roared the colonel angrily. A howl of rage went up +from the Leaguers; then, suddenly, as if at the crack of doom, every +voice was silenced, every face was blanched. The thunder of a great +explosion filled the air, followed by crash on crash, and multitudinous +reverberations. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + THE BOMB BRIGADE + + +The appalling explosion which checked the impending conflict between +the volunteers and the Leaguers, causing the latter to melt away +from Lincoln’s Inn and rush in surging hordes in the direction of +Clerkenwell, was the most terrible outrage that had yet befallen the +alarmed capital. It was not without precedent; indeed precedent was, in +some respects, carefully followed by the organisers of this desperate +attempt to release the imprisoned incendiaries. Nearly fifty years +earlier the prison wall had been blown down for a somewhat similar +purpose by a desperate gang of Fenians. The effect of that diabolical +outrage on the policy of Mr Gladstone is matter of history. On that +occasion many houses in Corporation Lane were partially wrecked, four +persons were instantly killed, and some forty others were maimed or +injured in various degrees. The immediate object of the prisoners, +however, was not attained, for, though a considerable breach was made +in the prison wall, none escaped. + +On the present occasion the damage to life and limb was somewhat less; +only two were killed, and thirty-one injured, but the destruction to +property was far more extensive than before. The latter fact was, to +some extent, explained when it was ascertained that there had been in +reality two explosions, different in character, but rapid in succession. + +Early in the afternoon all the prisoners had been taken into the +prison-yard for exercise, as usual. Raggett, one of the alleged +incendiaries (son of the half crazy shoemaker), was observed to fall +out shortly after a small indiarubber ball was thrown over the wall. +The ball was supposed to have been thrown by a street boy, and a warder +threw it back, not dreaming that it was in reality a pre-concerted +signal. Raggett was ordered to join the ranks, but made some excuse +about a nail in his boot hurting him, and obstinately kept aloof. + +Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, two men, having the +appearance of chimney-sweeps, and whose faces were covered with soot, +were observed in the act of wheeling a hand-truck on which was a +large barrel. Fitted in the barrel was a funnel, or tun-dish, which +undoubtedly held a fuse. The supposed chimney-sweeps, having wheeled +the truck rapidly but carefully to a selected position in close +proximity to the prison wall, suddenly deserted it, and disappeared +immediately and without question in the adjacent slums. A few people, +moved by a fatal curiosity, stopped and gazed at the truck; and a +policeman, noticing first the loiterers and then the barrel, approached +slowly, and perhaps with some suspicion. Before he could reach the +spot, a terrific flame burst from the ignited gunpowder, and with a +rending crash a large section of the prison wall fell outward into the +street. The unfortunate constable, struck on the temple by a broken +paving-stone, fell dead, and by his side a woman, whose face was +covered with blood, stumbled with outstretched arms into the gutter +and lay there prostrate. Bricks, stones, and fragments of masonry fell +in all directions, beating down the shrieking, panic-stricken people +as they fled through the adjacent streets. Crash after crash followed, +as the walls of other buildings tottered and collapsed; then, as a +crowning climax of the outrage, another distinctive detonation came +from the Sessions-house, designed, no doubt, to distract attention +from the prison. It served, unquestionably, to facilitate the escape +of Raggett and three of his fellow-prisoners, who scrambled over the +fallen masonry and got free before the dazed and stupefied warders +could realise what was happening. Two warders and three prisoners lay +wounded and bleeding in the prison-yard. + +In the neighbouring Sessions-house at the time there were only three +cleaners and a man who was employed as usher when the Court was +sitting. This man subsequently described what he saw. Awed by the +gunpowder explosion and the nerve-destroying sounds that followed it, +and ere he had time to rush into the street, he suddenly heard a crash +of broken glass, as some hard object was hurled through one of the +windows of the Court. As it fell on the floor a blue flame shot into +the air; there was an ear-splitting report. The building seemed to +rock, huge beams gave way and fell, and every window with its framework +was blown outwards. A cloud of dust and powdered mortar filled the air. +The women lay huddled and screaming in a heap, and the usher, with a +gash in his cheek caused by splintered wood, staggered back against the +wall, gazing helplessly upon the shattered seat of justice. + + * * * * * + +In the midst of the welter that followed the foregoing catastrophe, the +Cabinet, at a hastily-summoned meeting, at last decided on something +in the nature of drastic action. Since the suppression of the Leaguers, +for the time being at any rate, was quite impossible, it was resolved +to raid the offices of the _Epoch_, which had become more and more +revolutionary in its articles, and was held by the police to have +indirectly incited the recent outrage. It certainly was significant +that this very moment was chosen for publication of a sketch of the +career of Jack the Painter, who was extolled by the _Epoch_ as a hero +and martyr for his attempts to destroy certain of the royal dockyards +in the time of the American war with the mother country. The _Epoch_ +dwelt on the brutality of the punishment dealt out to this man, who +was convicted at Winchester in 1777, and sentenced to be executed at +the gate of Portsmouth dockyard. There the wretched man was drawn up +by pulleys to a gibbet sixty-four feet high, made of the mizzenmast of +the frigate _Arethusa_, higher than Haman hanged on the gallows he had +meant for Mordecai. His body afterwards hung in chains at the entrance +to the harbour for several years. This, and many another barbarous +punishment, said the _Epoch_, was ruthlessly carried out in the sacred +name of Justice. “Let Justice be purified by the shedding of blood--an +eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, exacted by a counter-claim which +no statute of limitations should avail to bar.” + +Further articles containing like passages were found ready in type +when the police in great force made a sudden descent on the offices of +the journal; but, apparently, the contingency had been anticipated. No +resistance was offered by the staff, but after only a day’s interval +the _Epoch_ reappeared, published at another printing-office, and +printed this time in blood-red ink. + +The Christmas holidays were drawing near; and, impressed by the +lamentable condition of his province, the newly-created Archbishop of +London issued a pastoral, which was read from hundreds of pulpits to +the assembled congregations. His lordship called upon all faithful +children of the Church to keep the approaching Bank holiday, not as a +day of feasting and pleasure, but as one of solemn prayer and national +humiliation, to the end that the divine mercy might be vouchsafed +and the tyranny of the time be ended speedily. He reminded Churchmen +that, though too much ignored, the 26th December was the great +commemoration-day of the first Christian martyr--Stephen, a man full +of faith; Stephen who fearlessly denounced a stiff-necked generation, +uncircumcised in heart and ears, rebels against the Just One, of whom +they had been the betrayers and murderers. Christians, so-called, +said the Archbishop in this modern time were not less betrayers and +murderers of the Just One. They had received the law by the disposition +of angels and had not kept it. “Because there is wrath, beware lest +he take thee away with his stroke; then a great ransom cannot deliver +thee.” + +This episcopal admonition made a deep impression. At St Stephen’s +Church in particular special services were arranged, and a great +street procession was organised for the approaching Bank holiday. But +while the pastoral counsel was adopted in many of the metropolitan +churches, a spirit of rebellion sprang up in other quarters, and there +was much resentment at what was described as an act of ecclesiastical +dictation. The publicans, in particular, were furious at the idea of +their custom being diminished on one of the great drinking days of +the Christian year. In all these past months of stress and trouble +the trade had reaped huge gains from the disorder that prevailed. The +swing-doors of their Temples of Bacchus at nearly every street corner +were never still. Men and women thronged the showy bars; they drank, +and drank again, the flaring lights shining on their dulled eyes and +sodden faces. They talked, maundered, shouted choruses, quarrelled, +fought; the beer engines poured forth unending streams into innumerable +“pewters” and the money poured into the tills. Humanity sank deeper and +deeper into the slough of despond and the slime of self-indulgence; +and the brewers and publicans reaped their rich reward as licensed +purveyors of poison for the people. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + THE CRANKS’ CORNER + + +In the sombre days of December a double gloom settled down upon the +sacred precincts of Mayfair. But little incense was being heaped on the +shrine of luxury and pride. The fire of fashion burnt low, smouldering +and smoky beneath the lowering clouds. Even Billy of Mayfair, who was +usually as light of heart as he was agile of leg, felt the oppressive +influence of things. His friend Joe had become an absolute pessimist +for the time being, and even had high words with the wife of his bosom +concerning the proposed baptism of his third-born child. Then Mrs Joe +craftily enlisted the aid of Father Francis. Joe had a reasonable +respect for the clergy, and a still profounder reverence for the +peerage. Father Francis, he knew, was the Duke of Portsdown’s son; +he had been to Dorking for an excursion, and had some acquaintance +with the ducal grooms. So, though he showed fight, he touched his +bare forehead, quite prepared for a theological crusher, though not +necessarily to be convinced. + +“Look ’ere, sir,” said Joe, “what’s the good of it, that’s wot I want +to know. Wot’s the blessed good of pouring a little water on a baby’s +’ead?” + +It was an inspiration that enabled Father Francis to give the very +answer that appealed to Joe. + +“Well, my friend,” said he, “we’ve all got to obey somebody’s orders, +haven’t we?” + +“That’s right enough,” agreed Joe, tightening his belt. + +“Well, our Lord commanded it.” + +Joe brightened instantly; it simplified the position wonderfully. + +“Blest if that ain’t the best answer I’ve ’eard,” said the stableman +cheerfully. And the child was called Francis Joseph--not after the +Emperor of Austria, of whom the parents knew nothing, but after the +curate in charge of St Stephen’s Church, and Joseph, the infant’s +father. + +It was about this time that Billy also began to feel that Father +Francis was a friend, though he still avoided church and schools, +just as he had learnt to dodge the school attendance officer and +Policeman X. In summer weather he had spent most of his Sundays in +the Green Park which was close at hand, or watching the wild-fowl on +the ornamental water of St James’s, but about noonday on these winter +Sundays, he might generally be found at the Cranks’ Corner in Hyde +Park, listening with more or less wondering looks to the wild and +whirling words of the competing speakers. Here, on the battleground won +for free speech in many a contest with authority, the cranks let off +the steam according to the measure of their crankiness. The pitches +were so close together that the groups of listeners almost blended, +and an auditor quick of hearing had presented to him a sort of mosaic +of oratory that was, to say the least, bewildering. One speaker would +be raving against the worthlessness and wickedness of vaccination, +while another volleyed and thundered against the Education Act. But, +mostly, the changes were rung on Religion, Atheism, and Socialism. Each +cult had its champion every Sunday. There was a crank who had his own +peculiar interpretation of the Book of Revelation, undertaking to tell +his hearers what was signified by the beasts with many eyes, the vials +of wrath, and the sealing of the servants of the Lord. He knew who were +the horned kings of the Apocalypse, or, at least, some of them,--the +Kaiser, the Czar, and the Mikado. He knew, or thought he did, all +about the battle of Armageddon, that terrible conflict, transcending +in its terrors every bloody war that men had waged on earth. The war +of Michael and his angels against the dragon and his angels, “who +prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And +the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and +Satan which deceiveth the whole world.” + +“And where was the great dragon sent?” cried the speaker, “and where +had he been at work ever since? ’Woe to the inhabitants of the earth +and of the sea: for the devil is come down unto you, having great +wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.’ Perhaps +they didn’t think it was a short time,” said the speaker, who could +be shrewd and logical at times, “but time must not be measured by the +little span of a man’s earthly life. What was a thousand years in +the boundless depths of eternity? And why need there be so much talk +about eternity when time itself was so immeasurable--the time of the +geological periods, the time of the solar system,--unthinkable, like +the distances from star to star. + +“And yet some people,” the speaker went on, “said that it was all a +fable; that there was no such being as the Prince of Darkness. If men +looked around they would see plenty of his handiwork. If there were +good spirits, why shouldn’t there be evil spirits; spirits not all +alike in power or characteristics, but rank and file, with leaders and +commanders--Satan, Beelzebub, Moloch?” Then he quoted from _Paradise +Lost_:-- + + “First Moloch, horrid king, besmear’d with blood + Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears, + Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud + Their children’s cries unheard, that past through fire, + To his grim idol.” + +And Billy, amongst others, heard and trembled. It was a comfort after +that to hear another preacher yonder telling his hearers of One in +whose presence the devils, believing, could not but tremble; of One who +cast out devils from the souls of men and boys; who loved to have the +children round Him, and rebuked those who would have kept them from Him. + +When Billy found that this same lover of men’s souls was put to death +by those whom He had sought to serve, that the Jews had shouted +“Crucify Him!” and the Roman soldiers had nailed Him to a cross, the +boy’s heart was hot within him, and his eyes were wet with tears. He +had met with many Jews--the dirty, unkempt Jews of Petticoat Lane and +Whitechapel, and the rich Jews of the West End, heavy of nose and +watch-chain, silk-hatted, frock-coated, owners of splendid horses, +which Joe cleaned down in the mews. And in his childish imagination +there sprang up a strange, fantastic picture of a mixed and savage mob +of these Jews of modern times assailing with cries and blows their +lonely and forsaken King. + +“I don’t like them Jews,” he said one day to his friend Joe. + +The stableman rubbed his bullet-head reflectively. + +“There’s good Jews and there’s bad ’uns,” he remarked, as one speaking +with authority, “just the same as there is in t’other lot. When a Jew’s +good, he’s uncommon good. When he’s a bad ’un, he’s a cove as can get +the blood out of a stone; he’s a chap as’ll squeeze ye dry, like that +there sponge”--throwing one into his zinc bucket. “And, mark my word, +Billy, there’s plenty of Christians as’ll do the same. Six of one and +half a dozen of t’other, that’s what it is, my lad.” + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + THE LOWER CRITIC + + +All the week there had dwelt in Billy’s mind that, to him, new and +terrible story of the murdered King of the Jews. On Sunday--a bleak, +dull day, when the charred trees in the Park stood out grim and black +against the heavy sky, he hopped across to the Cranks’ Corner, hoping +to hear more; but this time there were other voices and other subjects +for the crowd. He saw two faces above the clustering people. One +speaker was a man whom he had heard before, but failed to understand; +the other was Father Francis. The man unknown to the boy by name +was Raggett, the rabid social democrat. Even without the torrent of +his venomous invective, attention would have been arrested by his +appearance. + +Stiff black hair stood up on his oddly-shaped head; and the face, +behind a bristly grey moustache, reminded Billy of a savage +half-Persian cat that haunted Hill Street mews. The man was fluent, +and his high-pitched voice almost rose into a scream as he declaimed +his speech to a band of Leaguers mixed with a miscellaneous mob. + +“Yes, that’s what the parsons tell you!” he yelled, derisively. “You’ve +to bless the squire and his relations, and always keep your proper +stations. That’s Christianity in the country, and it’s pretty much the +same up here in London. They’ll tell you a lot about the many mansions +up in heaven. Well, we don’t know about that. We haven’t seen ’em; but +we know right enough about the mansions here below. The only mansions +they provide for you and me are the workhouse, the prison, or the +asylum. The rich men keep the others for themselves. There are some +pretty good mansions over yonder beyond the Marble Arch, and there +are plenty more, and fine ones too, along Park Lane. We don’t get +invitations to dinner, do we? But there is plenty of food there, and +good wine, and spirits and beer for their cursed stuck-up servants; and +rich furniture, and soft beds to sleep on, too; and jewels and precious +things of all sorts. Oh! they do themselves pretty well, depend on it. +But why don’t they share out a bit? Not they! Hold fast!--that’s their +motto. And it is the same with the land. Don’t believe ’em when they +say there isn’t room in England. There is room, but they won’t let you +have it. They want the land for their parks and gardens; they want the +woods for their pheasants and their sport. The working-man may slave +in their fields all day, and sleep in a hovel at night; and if he gets +tired of it and comes to London, it’s the slum or the doss-house that’s +his portion. That’s good enough for him. Oh yes, Holdfast is a good +dog; but I’ll tell you something--Grab’s a good dog too!” + +He paused, almost breathless, and there was a dull mutter of assent +throughout the crowd. Above the angry sound the clear voice of Father +Francis was heard, a voice of delicate timbre, in striking contrast +with the raucous tones of the demagogue. It was the first time he had +come amongst the cranks as a competitor for notice, and he had only +done it after great misgiving concerning his own powers and the utility +of trying them under such conditions. Yet, he asked himself, what right +had the clergy of England to shrink from the ordeal? Why should the men +under whose lips was the poison of asps, why should the blasphemer, be +allowed to hold the field? If the people would not come to the church, +ought not the church to go to the people? Was not the Master Preacher +of all time an open-air preacher. Was not the greatest of all sermons +preached from the hill-side to the common people, who heard Him gladly? +The fields of corn, the trees, the flowers, the common objects of the +country-side, had ever furnished simple but convincing themes for One +who spake as never spake mortal man before or since. No, he _would +not_ be a coward! So the young priest put his Bible under his arm and +walked across Park Lane to the Cranks’ Corner. Was discretion always +the better part of valour, or was it really a synonym for cowardice? +He went with no idea of entering into argument or controversy with +others. He knew that amid much mendacity there was blended not a +little truth, though perhaps partial and perverted, in some of those +inflammatory speeches. No one knew better the sins of his own order. +He himself, in his younger days, like Augustine of old, had drunk +deep of the knowledge of evil. Like Tannhäuser, he, too, had lingered +in the Venusberg, and gone back to it again and yet again; but ever +in his ears--sometimes near and sometimes from afar--had sounded the +wonderful chant of the pilgrims; the rhythm of their steadfast march +always reproached him; until, suddenly, shame and remorse had wrought +a miracle, and, stumbling and mistrustful of himself, he joined the +pilgrims’ ranks, and understood the music of that mighty march as he +had never done before. + +Here, on this unique spot in London, men were always pouring out their +own ideas, intoxicated with the exuberance of their own verbosity; but +he himself had resolved to try another plan. What could he, or any man, +offer better worth hearing than the words of the book under his arm, +which contained the lively oracles of God Himself! + +He knew he should not meet any of the Higher Critics in the Park. The +German professors and the English divines, who sit comfortably in their +book-lined studies and pen presumptuous onslaughts on the faith once +for all delivered to the saints, work their mines of infidelity from a +safe distance. These theological dynamitards do not come into the open +with their bombs. Their machines--not less infernal--take the form of +neatly bound volumes on the bookstalls, sold at popular prices, handy +to explode the faith and hope of thousands of their fellow-creatures, +leaving them torn and mangled in soul upon the rocks of desperation and +despair. But the Lower Critics, he knew, found in the Park their happy +hunting-ground. Why should they have it all their own way in Christian +England? + +“_And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, +Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him +take of the water of life freely.... And if any man shall take away +from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his +part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and out of the +things that are written in this book._” That solemn record gave him +courage. So, standing up beneath the murky sky, with the din of the +traffic on one side and the screaming voice of Raggett the Raver on the +other, Father Francis, pale but calm, read aloud some passages from one +of the oldest and most wonderful books in the Bible. How marvellous was +the contrast between the words of the iconoclast and the words echoing +down from the far-off centuries to the fool who had said in his heart, +“There is no God!” + + “_No doubt ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you!... + But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the + fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the + earth, and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall + declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand + of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of + every living thing, and the breath of all mankind._” + +Raggett was speaking again. “If we don’t look after ourselves,” he +shouted, “who do you think is going to help us? Tell me that!” + + “_With him is strength and wisdom_,” read the priest, “_the + deceived and the deceiver are his. He leadeth counsellors + away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He looseth the + bonds of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He + leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. + He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out + to life the shadow of death. He increaseth the nations and + destroyeth them. He enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them + again._” ... + +“Yes,” roared Raggett, harping on his theme, “when they talk to you +about heaven, tell them heaven helps those that help themselves. You’ve +got to make your own heaven, and now’s your time to do it!” ... + + _” But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no + value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it + should be your wisdom.... Will ye speak wickedly for God? and + talk deceitfully for Him? Will ye accept His person? Will ye + contend for God? Is it good that He should search you out? Or + as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock Him?”_ ... + +“... Seeing’s believing, to my mind, and possession’s nine points of +the law....” + + “_Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without + knowledge? Gird up thy loins now and I will demand of thee, and + answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of + the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding ... whereupon are + the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner-stone + thereof, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons + of God shouted for joy?... Or who shut up the sea with doors + when it brake forth.... And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but + no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? Hast thou + commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring + to know his place?... Have the gates of death been opened unto + thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?_” ... + +Raggett had paused and was glaring at the priest over the heads of the +people. “There’s a lot of texts going about,” he said, pointing. “I’ll +give you one: ’Down with them, down with them, even to the ground!’” + +A surging murmur of approval ran through the crowd, and menacing faces +were turned towards Father Francis. His calm, clear voice went on, and +only two red spots glowing on his pale cheeks showed that he was even +aware of the pointing finger and the savage faces. + + “_Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose + the bands of Orion?... Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? + Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?_” He paused a + moment. + + “_Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him? he + that reproveth God, let him answer it._” + +Raggett’s arm was raised, but he faltered. Nearly all the faces were +turned towards the man at whom he had pointed, and the crowd was +strangely still. + +Father Francis shut his Bible, and stepped down. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + MARCUS WHITE GIVES ORDERS + + +On the twenty-first of December the Law Courts “rose” for the Christmas +vacation. It was the end of the gloomiest and slackest term within the +memory of living lawyers. The abnormally disturbed condition of social +and business life had reacted on the whole profession, in both its +branches. Suitors shunned the Courts; jurymen persistently absented +themselves in spite of threats and fines; witnesses would not come +for love, money, or subpœnas; and here at the Royal Courts, as at the +Bailey, case after case broke down for want of evidence. The whole +machinery of the law was out of gear. The outrage at Clerkenwell gave +rise to anxious fears lest it should be repeated in the chief Palace +of Justice, and day and night strong relays of police, concealed as +far as possible from sight, kept vigilant observation and guarded +all approaches to the building. Nearly half the detective force of +Scotland Yard was employed on this special duty, for it was known that +the leader, or leaders, of the League felt special enmity against all +officials and professional followers of the law; while some believed +that here, at the centre of the legal system, in some dark way a deadly +attack might be expected. + +Such was the critical condition of affairs, and so grave, in +particular, the problem of repressing crime and protecting life and +property, that all the judges of the King’s Bench Division were +officially requested to remain in town, or near to it, during the +vacation. Communications of an urgent character reached the Chief +Justice from the Lord Chancellor and also from the Home Office. Eager +questions and wild surmises were whispered on every side by members +of the Bar, but no one seemed to know what was going to happen, and, +apparently, least of all his Majesty’s Government. + +Herrick, as he sauntered down the great hall towards the Strand, was +overtaken by his old informant, Henshaw, whom he had only occasionally +seen since the Hyde Park conflagration. + +Henshaw touched his hat. “A merry Christmas, Mr Herrick.” + +“Looks like it, doesn’t it?” said the young man, gloomily. + +“I expect we’ll be worse before we’re better,” opined the detective. + +“What are they going to do?” + +“Lord knows, sir. Everything’s at sixes and sevens. But one thing’s +pretty certain--we shall soon be in the dark.” + +“What do you mean?” + +“The gas-workers are coming out on strike, and the electric-lighting +men are pretty sure to follow suit.” + +“I suppose these cursed Leaguers are at the bottom of it?” + +“Ah! ask their General--that’s what they call him among +themselves--though they do say some of his men have got so out of hand +he can’t stop ’em now, even if he wants to. That man Raggett, for one; +why, he’s as mad as a March hare, and he means to let hell loose on +London before he’s done with it.” + +“Is Marcus White really their so-called General?” + +Henshaw nodded, and glanced round to see that no one overheard them. + +“Is he in London?” + +“Certainly he is, living as bold as brass not five minutes’ walk +from here. He’s got a great flat down at the end of Surrey Street, +overlooking the Embankment.” + +“Then, man, why, in heaven’s name, don’t you lay him by the heels?” +said Herrick, vehemently. + +“Ah! why don’t we? I’ll tell you. Because the Home Secretary is afraid +of the music; and there are other reasons, too. We can’t prove anything +against him, and he is stronger than we are, just at present; and +if we did get him, no jury would dare find him guilty. What’s more, +Mr Herrick, no counsel would dare stand up in Court to prosecute +him--unless you would,” he added. + +“Indeed, I would,” said Herrick, grimly. + +The detective stood back and looked at the young advocate’s face. “I +believe you,” he said, admiringly. “Well, you won’t get the chance, I’m +afraid.” + +“Perhaps that depends on the police.” + +“We’re nearly done; I know that. Mortal men can’t stand the worry +and the work of it day and night, and everybody swearing at us all +the time. They’ll have the Force on strike if this game lasts much +longer--then God help London!” He nodded and passed on; but returned +again. “I’ll tell you one thing,” he said, in a lowered voice: “There’s +going to be a meeting here”--he jerked his head towards the Courts and +offices behind them--” all the K.B. judges.” + +“Ah! I knew _that_,” said Herrick. + +“To be sure; your friend Sir John Westwood would know. He’ll have to +come too, of course. And there’ll be a good many more.” + +“Who else?” + +“All the police magistrates, the Clerkenwell and Middlesex judges, the +Recorder and the Common Serjeant, and our boss, the Chief Commissioner.” + +“A multitude of counsellors!” + +“And not much wisdom, I expect,” was the detective’s comment. + +“When do they meet?” + +“Christmas Eve--the 24th. Good-night.” + +They parted at the southern entrance, and Herrick walked over to the +Temple, pondering. He still had in his pocket the threatening missive +he received at Folkestone; but though ever since then he had had a +sense of being shadowed, no actual evil had yet befallen him. It was +not so, he knew very well, with many others who had been similarly +warned. Disasters of various sorts had overtaken them--street assaults, +mysterious accidents by day, and onslaughts by masked robbers in the +night. He had a feeling that he himself had not been spared through +oversight, but by design. + +Not far away from Paper Buildings, to which he took his way rather +from habit than because he had anything to do there,--in a big room +overlooking the river, there sat a man who could have told him all +about it. + +In the appearance of Marcus White a marked change had been wrought +since Herrick had left him at the Folkestone hotel. The swarthy +look had given place to a peculiar pallor; the veins stood out upon +the temples, and beneath his eyes were purple shadows. But the eyes +themselves still burnt with the fire that had so impressed Aldwyth +Westwood five months ago. + +The firelight played upon his face, as he sat with head thrown back, +his eyes seeming to study the scroll-work on the handsome ceiling. + +A foreign-looking man who stood a few feet away waited patiently for +his attention--a man whose sun-tanned, wind-roughened skin told plainly +of the sea. His style of dress confirmed the impression, and there were +sailor’s earrings in his great red ears. + +“You understand?” said Marcus White, his gaze coming down to the man’s +face. + +“Yes, General, but----” + +“There is no ‘but.’ You understand?” + +“Yes, General.” + +“Everything is on board?” + +“Yes, General.” + +“You can trust your men?” + +Pedro showed his white teeth in what was intended for a smile. The +answer was sufficiently convincing. + +“Steam is to be kept up day and night, in case you are wanted.” + +“That will be so, General; but--pardon--if one might know when we are +likely to clear out of the river?” + +“On the twenty-fourth, after dark--probably about this time”; he +glanced back through the great blindless window at the darkened sky. +“It will be dark enough?” he asked. + +“Quite dark enough, General.” + +“What is the weather likely to be?” + +“One must expect squalls at this time of the year, General; but your +quarters will be well protected, and you do not fear the sea, though in +a boat like that----.” He paused significantly. + +Marcus White stared into the fire. The other waited awkwardly, then +said: + +“All shall be ready when it suits you to come aboard, General.” + +“I stay here.” + +The man’s surprise was manifest. + +“But, my General, I understood----” + +Marcus White waved his hand. “There will be other passengers.” + +“Where are they to be landed, General?” + +“You will come here for sealed orders on the twenty-fourth, at noon.” + +“Sealed orders? Yes, General, but when am I to open them?” + +“When you sight the Channel Islands.” + +A questioning look came to the man’s face, but there was a glint in the +eyes of Marcus White that checked him. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI + THE CAPTURE OF THE JUDGES + + +The weather had suddenly turned to bitter cold, and, in spite of +prevailing alarms, every one had something more or less obvious to say +on the unfailing subject. Disaster may impend, kingdoms may totter to +their fall, but through all the steadfast Briton harps on the text of +the barometer. “Dry and much colder; freshening north-easterly wind,” +was the record of the morning, and the afternoon abundantly confirmed +its truth. His Majesty’s judges, for the most part elderly gentlemen, +and necessarily leading sedentary lives, felt, and liked not, the +eager, nipping air. They reached the Law Courts in the dusk of the +afternoon for their projected conference, feeling not a little ill-used +that, on Christmas Eve of all days in the year, such a conference +should be needed. + +Most of them drove by roundabout routes to the judges’ entrance in +Carey Street; others deemed it safer to approach on foot, and entered +the great building either east or west, from Bell Yard, or Clement’s +Inn. None but the police were using the great main entrance in the +Strand, which had been closed and strongly guarded ever since the +rising of the Courts for the vacation. The street scenes of the past +few days, and the threatening conduct of the people towards those who +drove in private carriages or motors, had produced a notable effect +upon the traffic. Many of the omnibuses had been taken off the streets. +Numbers of the cabmen, long discontented with their lot, had joined +the Leaguers, and people who did hire a hansom or four-wheeler had +to submit to what the driver considered the fare should be in the +special circumstances of the moment. But the Strand, like other main +thoroughfares, was thronged with foot passengers, roadway as well as +pavement, and any sort of wheeled traffic could only be carried on +under slow and apologetic conditions. All of which tended to prevent +punctuality on the part of the functionaries of the law, and to +increase their sense of hardship and uneasiness. The Law had so long +ridden rough-shod over the people, that it seemed especially surprising +that things were taking such a different turn. + +By a quarter past four, however, all but three of the judges and +magistrates and Sir Robert Hill, Chief Commissioner of Police, had +arrived, and in the big room selected for the discussion, scattered +groups stood in earnest conversation on the urgent questions of the +hour. + +It was a memorable gathering. The Master of the Rolls was supported +by all the Lords Justices of the Court of Appeal. The Lord Chief +Justice had as his judicial satellites a dozen judges of the King’s +Bench Division--all, in fact, save those who were incapacitated by +serious illness. Both the Judges of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty +Division were present, and also those important but lesser lights of +the law, the three City judges, and the Chairmen and deputy-Chairmen +of Sessions for the Counties of London and Middlesex. The Lord Mayor +had been invited to attend, but a serious nervous disorder from which +he had suffered ever since the riotous scenes at the Mansion House on +the tenth of November, made his presence impossible. Twenty of the +stipendiary magistrates from the Metropolitan Police Courts had come +in obedience to the summons, two having recently died, and the others +being confined to their beds through illness. + +Sir John Westwood, who was known to have been suffering from insomnia, +stood, haggard and silent, by one of the windows, while Lord Malvern +expounded to him and a few others his personal views as to the drastic +measures required to meet the crisis. His lordship was of opinion that +the King, who unfortunately still lay ill at Windsor Castle, should be +advised to summon a special session of Parliament for the purpose of +passing an Act for the suppression of the League, after the precedent +adopted many years earlier in dealing with the Land League in Ireland. + +“I doubt whether we want more legislation, my lord,” said Westwood. +“But we do need a stronger executive.” + +“I agree with Sir John,” said one of the group--Mr Justice Wigham, a +man of downright type and resolute manner. “The plain fact is that +the civil power has broken down. When that happens order can only be +restored by the military arm.” + +“Hear, hear!” chimed in several; for the group was now growing larger. + +“Kitchener would be the man, if he were back from India,” said the +Master of the Rolls. + +“He is back, my lord; he arrived yesterday; but he’s ill,” said the +Solicitor-General. + +“Everybody’s ill,” observed Mr Justice Barling. “Illness has its +advantages at the present time. I think I shall be ill myself.” The +pleasantry was received with coldness. + +The learned judge was known to be a judicial joker of an inveterate +type, but his brethren of the bench considered there was a “time for +all things.” Similarly, Mr Harrowden, the well-known merrymaker of the +magisterial bench, talking to some colleagues at the other end of the +room, received no encouragement when he essayed to launch a little +witticism and support it with a laugh. + +“Order, order!” exclaimed the Chief Justice, raising his voice. “This +is quite unseemly.” + +“My brother Barling shouldn’t set such a bad example,” whispered Mr +Justice Hartmill to his neighbour. + +“Things are pretty bad, but I suppose you know there is a possibility +of something worse behind?” The speaker was Sir Gwilliam Ranthorn, +a well-known judge, amongst whose excellent qualities a discreet +reticence could not be numbered. “I had it on excellent authority,” +said his lordship. + +“Had what?” asked some one. + +“Why, Germany is working at the wires, as usual. All this domestic +disorder in England is being utilised abroad. Don’t be surprised at +anything you hear within the next few days.” He nodded wisely. + +“Of course we’ve all heard rumours,” said Sir George Wigham, rather +bluntly. “But even if they mean war, England can’t be attacked without +some reasonable pretext.” + +“A pretext, if you like, but not necessarily a reasonable one,” +returned Sir Gwilliam, warmly. “When will their army be stronger; +and hasn’t the Kaiser got all the ships he wanted while we’ve been +twiddling our thumbs?” + +“That is not the worst of it,” chimed in Sir Borrall Carnes, who, as +President of the Admiralty Division, knew more about shipping and +seamen than all the rest. “German seamen swarm in our mercantile +marine, and German pilots can do as they please with hundreds upon +hundreds of British vessels.” + +“It’s monstrous! It’s madness!” declared Sir Gwilliam. + +“Yes, yes,” assented the Chief Justice. “I am disposed to endorse +all you say. But that’s the business of the Admiralty and the Board +of Trade. We, as guardians of civil order, and bound to preserve the +King’s peace, must confine ourselves to our proper functions.” + +As his lordship ended, the electric light went out, and loud +exclamations were followed by a curious silence, broken in a moment by +the voice of Mr Justice Barling. “Why are his Majesty’s judges like the +heathen?” he was asking. From a shadowed corner came the prompt reply +of Mr Harrowden: “Because they sit in darkness.” + +“Lights, please; lights of some sort,” demanded Lord Malvern, testily. + +Alert attendants soon procured them--lamps and candles, always in +readiness for an emergency, were brought in and placed on the great +baize-covered table. At a sign from the Chief Justice there was a +general move to the surrounding chairs. + +“The business of the meeting must not be delayed any longer,” said +his lordship, looking round before he took the presidential chair. +“Probably all who were summoned are now present?” + +“All but Sir Robert Hill,” said an attendant, who had checked the +arrivals at the door. + +“It is very desirable that the Chief Commissioner should be here,” +remarked the Master of the Rolls. + +A knock came on the door, and the attendant, opening it, had a +whispered conversation with some one who could not be seen from the +table. The attendant looked round: “My lord, Major Rollin, one of the +Assistant Commissioners, is here.” + +“Let him come in,” said the Chief Justice, dropping wearily into his +chair. + +The Assistant Commissioner advanced into the room, and it was noticed +by all that, though self-possessed, he was extremely pale. + +“I regret to say, my lord, that Sir Robert cannot possibly be here.” +The judges exchanged glances. Major Rollin hesitated a moment, and +then continued: “The fact is, we have had a very urgent message over +the wires from Windsor. A large demonstration of the Leaguers is being +organised near the Castle, and every man that we can spare must be +despatched there. The Chief Commissioner is now making the necessary +arrangements. Your lordship will perhaps excuse me?” + +The Assistant Commissioner bowed and was gone almost before his hearers +realised to the full the ominous information he had given them. + +At that moment the telephone bell began to ring. The face of the +attendant, as he listened to the message, was watched by all with some +anxiety. + +“Well?” demanded Sir Gwilliam. “What is the message?” + +“Apparently from the Home Office, my lord--One moment. +Yes?”--listening--” Very well.” Then turning towards the table: “They +wish to communicate with the Lord Chief Justice.” + +Lord Malvern rose at once and went across to the instrument. “Well, +what is it? Yes--I am Lord Malvern. What? Now--immediately?” The hum +and buzz of the machine continued, ringing the changes of question and +answer in the usual fashion. Then his lordship came back to the table, +looking very grave. + +“Matters of great urgency have arisen, and our presence is desired +immediately to confer with the Lord Chancellor and the Home Secretary, +who are busily engaged on affairs of State. I am to request all who are +here to accompany me at once.” + +“Where?--to Downing Street or Whitehall?” asked several voices. + +“To the House of Lords--the Home Secretary is there with the Chancellor +at this moment.” + +“Westminster!--easier said than done,” murmured one of the judges. + +The telephone bell rang out again, and once more the Chief Justice +hurried to the instrument and listened. “Yes, I hear. Do you say at the +Temple Pier? What vessel?--the _John Milton_? Yes.” + +He turned to his anxious colleagues. “It is considered unsafe and +impracticable to drive to Westminster, but a paddle-steamer--the _John +Milton_--has been sent to the Temple Pier to convey us to Westminster. +Come, gentlemen, we are the servants of the State and there is no time +to lose.” + +And no time was lost. All rose from their seats, pushing the chairs +back in noisy haste. Very few of those present had taken off their +overcoats, owing to the coldness of the room. Hasty messages were +given to the attendants for the coachmen who were waiting in Carey +Street, and in a few minutes, split up into small parties, the whole +judicial company emerged by various doors on the Clement’s Inn side of +the building. They hurried across the crowded, turbulent Strand, with +a few constables acting as an escort, and made their way, some _via_ +Essex Street, and others through Arundel Street, to the Temple Pier. A +cutting wind greeted them on the Embankment, and scattered snowflakes +heralded a coming storm. + +The hiss of the escaping steam was heard, and the masthead light, with +here and there a lantern on the decks, showed them the outline of the +_John Milton_, lying alongside the pier, her bow towards Westminster. + +“I thought the County Council had sold the _Milton_.” + +“Well, here she is, and the sooner we’re on board and out of this the +better,” said one of the magistrates as they hurried down the steps. + +The captain was already on the bridge, and one of his great earrings +gleamed in the faint light of a lantern. “All below, please,” he called +out sharply. + +One of the seamen led the way to the saloon, and in a few moments the +complement of passengers was completed. The rattle of the movable +gangway was heard, as the men upon the pier withdrew it; then, as the +paddle wheels slowly began to revolve, the taut ropes strained and +throbbed ere they were thrown loose. The doors of the saloon were +closed. + +“Prisoners for the first time in our lives. They’ve turned the tables!” +ventured Mr Justice Barling, but no one took any notice of the joke. +The sway of the steamer and churning of the water told them that she +was clear of the landing stage. But presently looks of inquiry and +surprise were exchanged amongst the passengers. “By Jove! Westwood,” +said one of them, “they’ve put the boat about!” + +Sir John Westwood rushed to the doors of the saloon and tried to open +them. The doors were locked and barred. + +“Great Scott! we’re heading for London Bridge!” exclaimed some one +else. “What does it mean?” + +They made a dash to the portholes and tried to open them; but they were +fixed and firm. + +The clang of a well-known signal from bridge to engine-room reached +their ears. “_That_ means ’full speed ahead!’” said the last speaker; +and they stood aghast and helpless as the _John Milton_ raced down the +river towards the open sea. + + * * * * * + +At his window, overlooking the Embankment, Marcus White was watching. +A grim smile played across his features as the lights of the steamer +rushed eastward, and soon were lost to view in the black and bitter +night. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII + THE BLACK CHRISTMAS + + +The elements ignore, and thus subdue, the rage of men. Wind alone +would not have cleared the streets, but wind and snow together drove +loiterers and roisterers alike to shelter. And in the midst of +the snowstorm Henshaw’s prediction was fulfilled. The lighters of +London--the men at the gasworks and electric lighting stations--threw +down their tools; the lamplighters “struck,” and presently a great +horror of darkness fell on the distracted citizens. The hours went on, +and the snow still fell, deadening the sounds of night, muffling the +city in a mighty shroud. This gradual hush of London seemed to many far +more appalling than its familiar roar. + +But towards midnight, here and there, custom asserted itself, in spite +of adverse influences, and the church bells reminded residents, at any +rate those in the central districts, that this, in very truth, was +Christmas Eve. + +Over the broad squares south of St Pancras the deep-toned bells chimed +out the ancient hymn: + + “Glad tidings of great joy I bring + To you and all mankind.” + +Yet darkness and distress weighed on the silent dwellings, and the +“shining throng” of angels that once appeared to Eastern shepherds +brought no message to the British Babylon, nor showed a glimmer of +their glorious wings. The last chime died away; and soon the snowfall +ceased. Then London slept, or tried to sleep, till, once again, after a +long night of moaning wind, wan daylight stole across the white-draped +roofs. Once more the bells were heard, but this time not in chimes; +and through the streets, upon the frozen snow, dim muffled figures +hastened to the churches. Mostly these worshippers were girls and +women--courageous keepers of the Christian feast! Thus was it aforetime +in that mysterious Easter dawn, when a woman, first of all,--a woman of +the town--came hurrying to the Holy Sepulchre. + +It was not till the grey dusk of the afternoon that the first warning +of most portentous happenings reached the ears of London citizens. +Suddenly shrill-voiced newsboys came yelling through the gloom; and +then the croaking note of hoarse-toned men was heard--at first far off; +then nearer, nearer, coming and going through the streets and squares. + + _Epoch! Epoch!! Epoch_, SPECIAL!!! + +Puzzled faces peered from behind blinds, and eager people rushed out to +their doorsteps. + + _Epoch! Epoch!_ SPECIAL EDITION! + + GERMAN FLEET OFF PLYMOUTH! + PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD ON FIRE! + HOSTILE SQUADRON IN NORTH SEA!!! + +Thus, on the anniversary of the day that centuries ago had brought the +glorious greeting, “Peace on Earth,” came the dire news that England’s +foe, the Prussian Eagle, at last was going to make the long-intended +swoop. The bugles sounded over land and sea, “War, son of hell” was +loose-- + + “Contumelious, beastly, mad-brained war.” + + * * * * * + +It seemed incredible! Talk of invasion there had been from time to +time, but long immunity had made men disbelieve in such a possibility. +In like manner it had seemed inconceivable that such upheavals as had +recently convulsed many a continental town could be repeated here in +England. Yet London was bearing reluctant witness to the fact. + +And now-- + + “There is a sound of thunder afar, + Storm in the South that darkens the day, + Storm of battle and thunder of war.” + +Would English hearts respond this time to the old war-song? Would +English grit once more avail to hurl back the advancing enemy? + +Even now, in many minds, after the first shock of such intelligence, +there was a disposition to discredit it as based on exaggerated or +sensational reports. Yet here in black and white the _Epoch_ gave the +circumstantial story. In brief, it was as follows: + +German spies had discovered, or pretended to discover, an intrigue +between the Duke of Saxe-Cobourg Gotha and the British Government. +The Duke’s sympathies, as well as the ties of relationship, it was +said, allied him to the royal house of England. English by birth, and +Prussian only by adoption, on succeeding to the Duchy this grandson of +Queen Victoria had found his position one of exceptional difficulty. +Political controversy in the Duchy had been revived or manufactured. +The Premier had found occasion to resign, and rumours of a stormy +interview between the Kaiser and the Duke had got abroad. + +At the same time the Emperor, whose navy had now attained most +formidable proportions, found himself checkmated by Lord Downland in +respect of a long-cherished German scheme for acquiring Madeira from +the Portuguese. It was supposed to be a purely commercial project, but +the British Foreign Secretary knew better. The island of Madeira, lying +only four hundred miles from Morocco, and not remote from England, +possessed much to recommend it in German eyes. It was, in truth, a +Naboth’s Vineyard. The owners of Madeira could not only cultivate the +vine, but they could find plenty of accommodation for a coaling station +for the German navy. All of which was well understood, though politely +disguised, in diplomatic circles. Lord Downland’s management of the +situation had been supplemented by the invaluable influence of his +royal master, with whom the King of Portugal and the King of Portugal’s +ambassador at St James’s had a complete and cordial understanding. +From all of which it came to pass that, like Ahab of old, the +monarch of united Germany was vexed in spirit. A powerful German +fleet appeared one day off Lisbon, but nothing untoward occurred. +The surprise visit was not a lengthy one, and the great engines of +destruction--battleships, armoured cruisers, and destroyers--vanished +as suddenly as they had arrived, in the enfolding mists of the Atlantic. + +Then over the cables came intelligence of the indisposition of the +Kaiser, and of a projected sea voyage as the remedy recommended by the +royal physicians. The excellent advice of the faculty was promptly +followed. The magnificent Hamburg liner, _Schiller_, was made available +for his Majesty’s accommodation, and the cruise was said to afford +opportunity for testing certain remarkable improvements in turbine +engines, which keenly interested the Emperor. + +Nor was this all. The Kaiser’s influence with the new Emperor of all +the Russias had become quite paramount, and concurrent rumours of a +combined movement of Imperial squadrons in the North Sea had added to +the already serious uneasiness of the British Lion. The Eagle and the +Bear were on the pounce! + +Time and the hour had been well chosen. The British capital was in the +throes of internal discord, fomented by the industrious agencies of +foreign powers; and Christmas, with its holiday closure of all public +departments, admirably served to emphasise the opportunity. + +Long ago the risks of invasion had been publicly discussed by a prime +minister of England, who had dismissed the idea as quite impracticable. +But there were naval and military experts and others who thought +otherwise. The unmasked landing of from 60,000 to 100,000 foreign +troops on these shores certainly would be a hazardous achievement +which many things might combine to defeat. But, assuredly, it was not +impossible; especially if the way should be cleared for such a landing +by the disablement of the naval ports, and the defeat of one or more of +the squadrons charged with watch and ward over our extended coast-line. + +It was known to the naval authorities that Portsmouth and Portland +were peculiarly exposed to the form of attack which Admiral Togo had +so persistently tried at Port Arthur, and which, a few years earlier, +the Americans had adopted at Santiago. To bottle a harbour by sinking a +merchant ship in its mouth was a device that might be tried in England, +as it had been tried abroad. If such an attempt succeeded, invasion +in military force might become a comparatively easy task. Granted the +feasibility of an invasion, and then what France had suffered in the +annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, England might have to endure by ceding +Kent or Yorkshire to the strong man armed. What happened to the +Kingdom of Hanover might happen--preposterous though it seemed--to the +Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. + +The Germans, almost insolently, had shown their hand for years. They +had said to Britain: “You cannot keep the sea for ever. We mean to take +it from you; the trade first, and then--the flag.” There were thousands +of Germans in our forecastles, scores of German masters and mates on +the bridges of our merchantmen, and German pilots had been allowed to +know all that charts and practical experience could tell them of our +coasts and harbours. One and all, they had an unconcealed aim--to make +the Teuton sea-lord of the world. Yet, knowing all this, England, like +a giant drugged with deadly wine, had slumbered in apathy. + +Had the fateful hour really struck at last? Here, indeed, was a +Naboth’s Vineyard worth coveting, for England and the English-speaking +States on the other side of the Atlantic controlled between them +four-fifths of the gold production of the world; England and the +United States held a third of the dry land, owned four-sevenths of the +shipping, two-thirds of the coal, and more than half of the world’s +iron and steel. A splendid prize! A glorious heritage! Could Germany +wrest it in part from the Anglo-Saxons, or would Britain, aided or +unaided, rouse herself at last and hold her own? + + “Of old sat Freedom on the heights, + The thunders breaking at her feet, + Above her shook the starry lights, + She heard the torrents meet.” + +But now? Could Freedom sit unmoved? + + “Grave mother of majestic works, + From her isle-altar gazing down, + Who, God-like, grasps the triple-forks, + And King-like wears the crown.” + +But now? Could Britain’s navy hold the triple-forks against her foe? + +It was a solemn question, which, in that dark Christmastide, many asked +themselves, in doubt and fear. + +The old national spirit, proud and patriotic, that, spite of blood and +toil, had carried Freedom to the splendid heights, had lapsed from its +virility. What could England hope from the hordes of stunted, ill-fed, +debilitated men and youths who for months past had been thronging +the streets of her capital, and taking ransom from its nerveless and +submissive middle-class citizens? + +The hour had come. The drugged giant must awake and fight for life, or +lie at the proud foot of a conqueror! + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII + IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE + + +The daring _coup de main_ of Marcus White had met with the most amazing +and complete success. With the exception of the Chancery judges, who, +for purposes of criminal law, were a negligible quantity, every judge +and magistrate entrusted with the maintenance of law and justice in +the capital of England had been swept into one net. There could be +no summons, warrant, or indictment, in the absence of these judicial +officers, anywhere outside the City boundary. Arrests would be idle, +for no magisterial hearing or trial could follow. The strong arm of the +law, already greatly weakened, now was wholly paralysed! One and all, +the judges and magistrates had disappeared, carried by a cockleshell +steamer into the mystery of the darkness and the sea. + +People were full of their own affairs, “fear was in the way,” and +apprehension for themselves and their families left men but little +power or wish to think about the functionaries of State. Moreover, on +Christmas Eve the colossal outrage became known to only a very few, and +knowledge came too late for any attempt to arrest the steamer in her +reckless rush into the night. + +Heads of departments had gone out of town--eager to escape the +depression of the looming Christmas holiday in London. The War Office, +the Admiralty, and the Home Office were in charge of messengers +and caretakers. These circumstances, carefully counted on by the +wire-pullers of Germany, had also played into the hands of Marcus White +in his long-cherished, revengeful war against the representatives of +the law of England. + +The police were the first to learn what had happened. The startling +story of the capture at first was scoffed at; but when the truth was +made quite sure, the effect upon the Force was staggering. The police +had long felt that there was a power arrayed against them which could +not be subdued by ordinary means. They knew the extent to which the +normal machinery of the criminal law had broken down. And now it was +completely shattered! The men were powerless, and realising the fact, +they felt like straws borne on the waves of a tumultuous river towards +an unknown sea. + +The general public were entirely ignorant of what had happened, and the +news that came from the naval ports late on the afternoon of Christmas +Day was too absorbing to permit of much inquiry about what was taking +place nearer home. + +Whatever families of other judges and magistrates might be asking or +wondering, Aldwyth Westwood, as yet, knew of no reason for special +anxiety about her father. For the past few weeks he had scarcely +been at home. Weary of the police escort which had been told off to +accompany him daily from Hill Street to the Law Courts, he had taken +up his quarters at the Inns of Court Hotel, going not at all to his +chambers in the Temple, but traversing, as he thought unnoticed, the +short distance between Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Carey Street. There, +in the room allotted to him as one of the law officers of the Crown, +and burdened with his colleague’s official work as well as his own, the +Solicitor-General had passed the days, forcing his brain to work, and +haunted ever with the dread of a physical relapse. + +The eager people who rushed to the news-agents’ shops on the morning +of Bank Holiday were not seeking news concerning his Majesty’s judges, +but were hoping to learn more of the movements of the hostile fleets +and the reported conflagration at Portsmouth dockyard. News there +was none. Not a single journal had been published. The great body +of compositors had followed the example of the gas-workers; and the +_Epoch_, which alone among London journals could have commanded the +services of the men, had published nothing since its special edition of +the previous day. + +Baulked at the shuttered newspaper shops, hosts of people made for +the railway stations in the hope that the bookstalls might have been +supplied with special news. But here, too, everything was blank. +Nothing authentic was ascertainable; but rumours were going round of +interrupted communication with the provinces, of wires cut in all +directions, and, worse still, of mysterious explosions in several +tunnels, which blocked certain of the railways, and severed the links +between London and the coast. An air of awe and anxious expectancy +appeared on the faces of the bewildered people, and, too excited to +remain in their houses, as the day wore on they came in ever-increasing +numbers into the streets, until the snow on road and footway was +churned into black and penetrating slush. + +Multitudes flew to drink, at once their heaven and hell. There was +no organised march or demonstration of the Leaguers, but everywhere +they were seen in knots and groups. The sign of the Spider was more in +evidence than ever, just at the moment when Kraken, monster-spider of +the deep, seemed to have risen to the surface of the sea to crush the +naval strength of England. + +In the early afternoon, thousands of people assembled in Trafalgar +Square, and rabid speakers, raucous in voice, breathed fire and fury +into the frosty air. + +Raggett, on the steps near the National Gallery, raved to a multitude +of hearers, and no one dared to say him nay. + +Presently, above his screaming tones, there came the sound of many +voices chanting in the open air. Those who were standing on the steps +on the west side of the square then saw a strange procession advancing +slowly along Pall Mall East. A cornet-player, wearing a surplice, +walked at the head of the procession, and the clear, strong notes of +his instrument led the voices of a multitude of singers. A surpliced +choir of quite a hundred men and boys was followed by the Sisters of +the Kindly Life, and behind and around them came a mixed company of all +classes, all ages, and both sexes--young men and maidens, old men and +children. One and all rolled to the wintry skies a hymn of hope and +triumph that filled the people in the square with wonder and amaze. + +At first there were some jeers and vulgar cries, and here and there a +burst of scornful laughter in the crowd. But the quaint hymn of the +ancient Church had such a lilt and cadence in its setting, that tender +chords were touched in the hearts of thousands, and scorn and blasphemy +were silenced. The people were irresistibly drawn into the flood of +the melody. They caught eagerly at the cards which every one in the +procession held out to those who wanted them. + +“’Ere, let’s ’ave a card, lady,” said a husky voice at Aldwyth +Westwood’s elbow. + +“Ain’t yer got a card for me, guv’nor?” came from every side. + +Thus the volume of the song of triumph--discordant here and there, +but earnest and full-throated--grew and strengthened as the band of +singers advanced towards St Martin’s Church. Two banners floated in the +air; the banner of the day--St Stephen’s, emblematic of his martyrdom; +and the banner of the Holy Grail, emblazoned with the mystic Cup of +Sacrifice. A jewelled cross gleamed high over all heads, and behind it, +with clasped hands, walked Father Francis. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX + BILLY’S MESSAGE + + +There were few London households in which Christmas had been “merry,” +and the lack of festive doings had necessarily extended to those who +are of the roofless household of the streets. Billy of Mayfair, in +his brief career, had had some “well-fed” Christmases--the roast beef +of old England, solid slabs of plum pudding, with oranges and nuts to +follow. Thanks to the spasmodic attention of kindly people, the boy’s +digestive machinery, which usually had very little to work upon, on +those special occasions had been taxed to its utmost capacity. He had +had one specially happy Christmas in hospital, and there lingered in +his memory a song of goodly fare which all the little patients had been +taught to sing in unison: + + “Apple pies in Autumn, + Currant pies in June; + Mince pies at Christmas, + Coming very soon!” + +The poetry of pie! + +The staff-nurse said Billy had the sweetest voice in the ward. It +had won him--coupled with his one-legged agility--great popularity +with the young family of Joe the stableman, and he was the sole guest +at their Christmas gathering in their rooms at the end of the mews. +There was a goose for dinner--provided by Aldwyth Westwood--and other +fare both rich and succulent. The savour thereof filled the small and +inconvenient apartment, and with it was blended the odour proper to the +mews itself. The preparation of such a meal taxed Mrs Joe’s time and +temper to the uttermost. She cooked the repast with an infinite amount +of clatter, and then sat down to share it, nursing the while their +youngest born, one Francis Joseph, of whom mention has been already +made. Francis Joseph was fretful, and dominated the whole company--a +truly imperial and imperious infant. + +Joe, in his shirt-sleeves--he was never happy in a coat--expounded to +Billy his strong objections to the motor-car. “Give me ’osses,” he +growled; “when you’ve got an ’oss to deal with you know how to go to +work; but them machines, snortin’, and smellin’, and tearin’ all over +the place--why, it’s disgustin’!” Billy cordially agreed. “What’ll +happen when there ain’t no ’osses left in London, that’s what I want to +know,” said Joe. Billy was unable to say. He didn’t know, and he said +so. + +But they were in full sympathy these two, always the best of friends. +They were out together on Bank Holiday, and in the procession to +Trafalgar Square were to be seen marching side by side. + +None in that miscellaneous multitude sang more lustily than Joe and +Billy. The stalwart stableman, card in hand, roared forth the glories +of the Better Land, and Billy also, hopping through the snow and slush, +trilled out in his clear boyish voice the wonders of the Golden City. +Here, in the grim and sombre wilderness of bricks and mortar, they sang +of heaven-built walls and pearly gates, of halls of Zion jubilant with +praise, of mansions bright with saints and angels and all the martyred +throng. Here, in the fading afternoon of London streets, they sang of +a land where daylight is serene. Here, with no glimpse of the fadeless +flowers of Paradise, they sang of the pastures of the blessed. Here, +in the miserable garments of the poor, they sang of robes of white and +crowns of glory. + +Raggett, momentarily silenced by the swelling notes of the triumphant +hymn, turned round and glared upon the priest as the procession passed +between him and the National Gallery. Half his meeting melted away, +but, with gleaming eyes and fantastic gestures, he renewed his harangue +and poured abuse and scorn upon the Church and all her works. + +His violent language and gesticulations met with some success in +stirring up the latent hostility of the baser sort among his hearers. +Faces full of hate and brutality looked towards those who were gathered +round the shining cross upon the steps of St Martin’s. The fire was +smouldering, and Raggett fanned it into flame. + +“There’s one of them,” he shouted, with left hand extended; “one of +’the unco’ guid!’ Plenty to eat and drink; purple and fine linen to +wear--all the good things of life to call his own. What does he care +about Lazarus and his sores! They come into the streets singing about +the heavenly kingdom. But, as I’ve told you in the Park, it’s the rich +who are to have it both ways--a good time here and the best places up +above. Where do you come in? They give you stones, my friends, instead +of bread--the stones of London. They’ve got their cellars full of wine, +but they want to rob a poor man of his beer; yes, even on Bank Holiday. +That’s one of them that wants to do it. Why don’t you go and tell him +what you think of him?” + +A storm of groans and hisses burst from his hearers. A sodden-faced +woman, passing a black bottle to her companion--a towering navvy, whose +eyes were glazed with drink--yelled to Raggett between her raised +hands: “Right you are, mate! right you are!” The navvy took a great +pull at the bottle, and then swore freely and at large. + +The hymn was ended with a sonorous “Amen,” and only one voice was +heard from the church steps--the voice of Father Francis, vibrant and +clear. He was not preaching; he was simply speaking to the people. The +peculiar timbre and modulation of his voice made him audible to great +numbers of the crowd, which now was growing denser and denser over the +square and the converging streets. In simple language he carried on +the theme of the finished hymn, telling the multitude of the Celestial +City, the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. There, +he said, the tired traveller would find a sweet and blessed country, +the home of the elect; the pastures of that country lay in glorious +sheen, amid still waters and eternal bowers. There men would rest from +their labours. Ended would be the dull, deep pain of earthly life and +its constant anguish of patience. But the happy people of that land +would have high service to perform, tasks suited to an ennobled human +nature. The land of the saints had its capital, a great, a glorious +city, and the existence of a city implied community of life, activity, +achievement. They, if they so willed, might become citizens of that +wonderful capital. The gates were open and all might enter in whose +names were written in the book of life. The nations of them that were +saved would walk in the light of it. On the banks of the crystal river +that flowed through the city there was the tree of life, and the leaves +of that tree were for the healing of the nations. Healed by the leaves +of that most blessed tree, the mortal would have put on immortality, +henceforth to be a perfect being with a perfect life triumphant over +sin and hell and death. That would be life indeed!--life for evermore; +gladness without sorrow, health without a pang, light without darkness. +The vigour of age would know no decay; beauty would not wither, nor +would love grow cold. Such was the inheritance that humankind might +enter into or reject--incorruptible, undefiled, never to fade away. + +He paused, and with enraptured face gazed into the western sky, +where now the sun was sinking amid vast ragged clouds. The towering +masses, fringed at first with silver, slowly broke and parted, taking +the shapes of ramparts, towers, and pinnacles. A rose-red glow was +spreading over all, and shafts of amber light seemed to stretch onward +in the infinite, towards heavenly gates of pearl. + +Aldwyth Westwood, gazing upward from the lower steps, saw in the face +thus lighted from the west a look that awed her--a look she never could +forget. Well might the witnesses of St Stephen’s death have seen the +face as of an angel when the Eastern mob ran with one accord upon the +proto-martyr and took the life he valued but as dross. And, in some +sort, the same passions that animated the people of two thousand years +ago found expression in the London mob to-day. Raggett had not spoken +in vain. Scowling men and unsexed women had been steadily forcing their +way towards the church while Father Francis was speaking. Some of them +threw stones and bits of mortar at the priest, and opprobrious cries +came from every side. The crowd surged and swayed in fierce excitement. +But Father Francis, his eyes still fixed upon the western light, seemed +quite unconscious of attack or danger. + +Joe steadied Billy as the pressure increased around them, and both +looked round indignantly when the man and woman with the bottle came +pushing and lurching through the crowd behind them. Once more Father +Francis was speaking. + +“The promise,” he cried, “is to you and to your children, and to all +that are afar off.” + +“’Ere, Bob, you have a shy,” said the reeling woman to her companion. +She handed him the now empty bottle, and the man, grasping it by the +neck, in a half drunken frenzy whirled it round his head. Women began +to shriek and men to swear. + +“It is written here--in this Book,” cried the priest in thrilling +tones, as he held a Bible high above his head; “_and this is the Word +of God_!” + +Then the huge navvy, urged by the woman, “had a shy”; the bottle flew +from his hand with deadly force; the Bible fell, and the face of Father +Francis, ghastly and bleeding, sank back amongst those who stood +around him on the steps. Billy saw it all, and, in an access of fury, +balancing himself unaided for an instant, raised his crutch and struck +the shoulder of the ruffian with all his force. With a savage oath the +man half turned, and grasping the boy’s neck, hurled him forward with +terrific violence upon the steps. In haste to escape, the people close +at hand made a sudden rush. Some fell, their dead weight crushing the +unhappy child against the granite edge. Joe, with a tiger’s swiftness +and a loud cry of wrath, had sprung upon the boy’s assailant. They +wrestled, swayed, and fell, the woman clawing at the stableman, the +crowd parting right and left in terror at the fury of the struggle. + +But Billy of Mayfair lay very still at Aldwyth Westwood’s feet. + +Some one raised the boy a little, and they laid him gently on the +stones. His face was pale with a pallor that Aldwyth had never seen +before; his eyelids fluttered very faintly. + +“My Gawd!” said a woman, peering forward, “the boy’s done for. Where’s +a doctor? Ain’t there no doctor here?” + +“Stand back, can’t you,” cried another. “Give ’im some air.” + +Some one elbowed his way through the people, and bending over Billy, +made a swift examination of his injuries. “Lungs,” he said, tersely. +“He’s bleeding internally. Nothing to be done.” + +“Take ’im to the ’orspital,” shouted a voice. + +“He’ll die before you get him there,” muttered the doctor. + +Aldwyth was kneeling now. Her left arm supported Billy as he lay; her +right hand held his twitching fingers. + +Azrael, Angel of Death, was drawing near. + +“Billy,” she said softly, “Billy.” The boy’s eyes opened, and he +smiled a startled smile. + +Then, stooping, her face almost as white as his, she whispered in his +ear the Sacred Name. The child gazed at her fixedly, questioningly. + +“He died for you, Billy, and you are going to live with Him.” + +“Say it again,” he panted, eagerly. Once more she said it. + +The child sighed faintly. Had he heard? Azrael, Angel of Death, was +very near. + +“Dear Billy,” she whispered once more, “He died for you, and you are +going to live with Him.” + +Again his face was eager. “Please thank Him for me, mum. Please----” + +The voice had died away. + +Billy of Mayfair would speak no more. But, perchance, the Angel heard, +and bore the message to Him who loves the children of our race. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX + THE FATE OF PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD + + +On the night of Bank Holiday, Londoners did not lack illumination. Gas +and electric light had failed, but north and south, and east and west, +the lurid glare of burning buildings filled the sky. Cries of “Fire! +Fire!” in every quarter of the town brought pale, affrighted people +from their houses to the roadways or the roofs. This added terror of +wholesale arson stupefied the luckless householders. The fires--some +said there were forty, fifty, sixty--had free play, for the extreme +section of the Leaguers--now known as Raggett’s Men--by concerted +action, after dark, had rushed nearly all the stations of the Fire +Brigade and forcibly removed the horses. The most destructive of these +fires occurred in Bartholomew Close, where closely packed warehouses +in yards and tortuous streets gave free scope to the spreading flames. +At one time it was feared that the great hospital itself would be +involved, and the troops were ordered out to aid the civil power and +keep some order among the excited crowds. + +Brave deeds were done that night; rescues effected in the face of +almost certain death; buildings pulled down and cut away to check +the spreading of the conflagration. But without means of utilising +the water supply, what had once been seized by fire burnt out to its +cindered end. Strong military guards were ordered by the general +commanding the Home District to the railway stations. Euston, St +Pancras, and King’s Cross remained intact. Paddington escaped with some +damage to the goods department. Both the hotels and stations at Charing +Cross and Cannon Street burst into flames almost simultaneously. The +royal palaces suffered no injury. Incendiaries were caught red-handed, +just in time, at the British Museum, and the better sort of people, now +roused to retaliatory fury by these malignant acts, almost tore the +offenders limb from limb. + +London in its desperation found some courage. The quiet, orderly +inhabitants had borne almost as much as could be borne. They realised, +moreover, that yet worse things might happen unless the hydra-headed +monster of disorder could be crushed. London might starve. Meat, +milk, vegetables would fail; all the necessaries of daily life might +be cut off, if the railways should be blocked. Six millions, young and +old, would be the almost helpless victims of the Leaguers. Those who +had gone about the streets wearing the Spider as a talisman suddenly +found that it was a dangerous sign. Right and left were heard loud +curses on the League. Men began to see the full significance of the +long-tolerated movement--a growing canker at the heart of the nation, +which gave the nation’s enemies without the very opportunity they had +planned and watched and waited for. There was still some tough material +in Englishmen; and if the authorities could not help them, they would +help themselves. The tide began to turn. The giant was stirring. It had +needed a galvanic shock to rouse his brain; and verily, the shock had +come at last. It was, indeed, time to wake from sleep, and throw aside +“the drowsy syrups of the world.” + +In that fiery, sleepless night, in many districts great numbers of the +younger men of the better class banded themselves together, beating +up recruits from house to house, and posting watchers to give warning +of incendiary attempts. Armed with whatever weapons they could find, +they systematically patrolled the streets. Shouts of “Down with the +Leaguers!” burst out from time to time, and women and children, peeping +and cowering behind the window-blinds, gathered hope and courage. At +last the men of London had been roused! + +But the flames were still licking and curling round many a house +and public building. All night the wind was rising to a gale; the +cloud wrack flew across the reddened sky. As the tardy hour of dawn +drew near, strange pallid people with fantastic gestures--hatless, +oddly-clad--came wandering through the streets. Raggett had freed his +friends. The Leaguers had let loose hundreds of the lunatics of London! + +Seventy miles away a yet more deadly wound was being inflicted on the +British nation. About five o’clock on the morning of Christmas Day +two terrific explosions in quick succession roused the inhabitants +of the little Hampshire town of Havant and the surrounding villages. +Great numbers of Portsmouth people also heard it, but, of course, more +faintly. When, later on, it became known that a fire had broken out in +the Royal dockyard it was assumed by many that the sounds of explosion +must have come from the same quarter. Every thought was concentrated on +this appalling catastrophe, the full extent of which was only to be +gradually realised. But, all the time, the great naval yard, Britain’s +pride and strong tower against the enemy, was fast becoming one +gigantic furnace. The grip of all-devouring fire grew deadlier every +hour. This many-acred hive of naval industry, the factory of the wooden +walls of England, dating from King John, and now the birthplace and the +nursery of the armoured giants of the deep, was crumbling into dust and +ashes. The docked ships, ships’ stores, and armament, that stood for +millions of the nation’s money, needed for national defence, roared +into flame and blackened into cinders. + +The seven thousand dockyard men of course were keeping holiday. Many +of the high officials were away on leave, and those few guardians of +the yard who were supposed to be keeping watch and ward regarded their +duty as perfunctory. What was likely to happen there, or anywhere, +on Christmas Day? Perhaps some of those intelligent foreigners who +had been permitted to inspect the yard from time to time--intelligent +emulators of Jack the Painter--could have answered the question. +By-and-by, of course there would be a most strict and searching +Government inquiry--expert evidence, red tape, blue-books, and all the +rest of it. Meanwhile, the great fire burned on--freely and furiously. +Soon after the alarm was given the seamen from the Whale Island +Barracks, and many from the ships in harbour, with a strong force of +marines from Forton, came pouring into the dockyard, but only to make a +terrible discovery. Of what avail a thousand willing hands--of what use +all the activity and resource of British seamen, when the one element +with which the fire could be fought and conquered was not available? +The water supply had failed! At first, and, indeed, for some time, +the real reason was not understood, for the pumping station of the +Havant water-works was eight miles away. Then the appalling truth was +realised--the explosions explained; the great engines, those in use and +those in reserve, had been shattered by dynamite in the darkness of the +previous night. The Royal dockyard was left to the mercy of the flames. +All day, and all the night that followed, they raged and roared. Red +ruin and destruction--almost without restraint--spread on every side. + +The Portsmouth Hard was packed with horrified spectators. The +townspeople in excited throngs ran to all the dockyard gates, and in +the poorer districts surrounding the great wall enclosing the extension +works, every roof was loaded with awe-stricken watchers of the +conflagration. + +The church steeples of the town stood out to view in blended clouds +and smoke, illumined with a fiery glow; the gilded ship on the tower +of Portsmouth parish church seemed to be sailing in a sea of fire. +Disaster followed on the heels of horror. In the midst of the great +calamity a rending explosion took place in the vast powder magazine at +Priddy’s Hard,--on the Gosport side. + +The harbour was now so unsafe for shipping that orders were given to +remove all ships as far as possible. Among the large vessels alongside +the dockyard jetty was the _Carisbrooke Castle_, a South-African +liner which had lately been chartered by the Admiralty to serve as an +auxiliary scout with a Flying Squadron then lying at Spithead. The +_Carisbrooke_ had been brought round from Southampton and was taking in +a quantity of stores; but the danger of her position made it advisable +to get her clear of the harbour without delay. Just when she was +abreast of Blockhouse Fort an explosion--accidental or designed, none +knew--occurred on board. The great ship, viewed by the flashlight from +the fort, was seen to heel over. In half an hour she had settled down, +blocking the fairway, and effectually bottling the harbour against all +craft of heavy tonnage. + +On the Gosport side the shore was lined with lookers on. From this +side, indeed, looking across the water, the sight was exceptionally +striking, for the far-spread glow lit up the towering masts and rigging +of the _Victory_ and all the ships in port. + +From the tower of the old Norman castle at Portchester, away beyond +the mudbanks of the harbour, and on the crumbling walls that flanked +its water-gate, the villagers gazed spellbound at the awesome sight. +Farther away, on the long ridge of Portsdown Hill, the rural population +of the district had a yet more impressive view of what was happening. +To them it seemed as if the whole town of Portsmouth must be wrapped in +flames. + +Here, on the chalk down, stood a solitary pillar, erected long years +ago to the memory of Nelson. Grey, moss-grown, and mournful, it looked +down on scenes with which the great sea-captain once had been so +familiar.--Southsea Common, where a “blackguard horse” ran away with +him; the Sally Port, where his sailors always were coming or going; the +old nooks and alleys of “Point,” where the press-gang did its work; +the old George Inn, in which he breakfasted on the morning of his +last embarkation; the spot on the beach, marked by the anchor of the +_Victory_, where the people grasped his hand and, weeping, bade him a +final Godspeed; and there, in the light of the burning dockyard, rode +the brave old ship in which he died for England. + +More than a hundred years had passed away, and now the Royal dockyard, +that had equipped so many fleets for the greatest of Britannia’s +admirals, lay engulfed and wrecked in a tremendous, rolling sea of +flame and smoke. + +Portsmouth, for all purposes of naval warfare, was out of action. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI + THE NAVAL BATTLE OFF PLYMOUTH + + +Thus the chronicler: “The Spanish Invasion being brought to a crisis, +after the most assiduous application of three whole years to fit out +that fleet vainly named by the Pope the great, noble and invincible +Armada and Terror of Europe.... King Philip gave orders for its sailing +on the 19th of May 1588. It consisted of 134 sail of tall towering +ships, besides gallies, galliasses and galleons.” The fleet carried +8766 mariners, 21,855 soldiers, and 2088 galley slaves; together, +32,709 men, irrespective of Spanish Dons and their attendants, priests, +surgeons, and servitors of all sorts. + +First, and before all things, it was to be understood that the motives +of his Spanish Majesty were truly religious--” to serve God, and to +return unto his Church a great many contrite souls ... oppressed by +heretics, enemies to our Holy Catholic Faith.” + +Britain, as usual, was unready; but a fleet was got together in only +50 days. The City of London being desired to furnish 5000 men and 15 +ships, provided 10,000 men and 30 ships, and at this great crisis in +our national life there was “such a zealous love and duty throughout +the nation towards the Queen as is inexpressible.” Britons were Britons +in the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth; “an uncommon joy and alacrity +appeared in the face of every one. They were pleased with the thought +of contributing, every man in his way, towards the defence of their +country, their liberties, and their Queen.” + +The English fleet consisted of 80 ships manned by 9000 sailors, and not +all those were available when the Armada was sighted off the Lizard, +disposed in a crescent seven miles long from horn to horn; but when the +Spanish admiral got back to Spain in late September he had but 60 sail +out of his 134. Thus, with the loss of only one small ship and about a +hundred men, England remained the mistress of the seas. Shame, loss, +and dishonour had befallen her treacherous enemy. _Venit, Vidit, Fugit!_ + +And now, three hundred and twenty-two years after the winds and the +waves had come to the aid of England, another fleet of vastly different +character had been sighted from the Lizard--insignificant, relatively, +in point of numbers, but immeasurably more powerful in type and +armament. And once again a British fleet came out from Plymouth, to +watch and, if need were, to fight the foreigner. + +After the first and unexpected appearance of the German battleships +and cruisers off Plymouth--made known to London by the special _Epoch_ +on Christmas Day--certain mysterious manœuvres followed. But when +eager observations were taken early on the morning of Bank Holiday, +not one German ship remained in view. Phantom-like the fleet had come, +phantom-like it had vanished in the dark and stormy night. + +Meanwhile, to the intense relief of Plymouth, another British Squadron +hove in sight. Signals and messages were rapidly exchanged, and certain +cruisers and destroyers were at once detached for scouting work--their +duty being “to track the Germans, shadow them cautiously, and send back +news by wireless telegraphy of their latest movements.” The scouts, in +turn, were lost to view. Their orders were to cruise along an east and +west line some fifty miles from land, to meet twice a day, exchange +reports, and then return in opposite directions to the limits of their +beat. + +At sunset the battleships and cruisers remaining at Plymouth went to +general quarters, and the crews were kept at their guns during the +night. Every officer and bluejacket felt the tension of the hour. None +knew what test of courage, skill, endurance the night or the morning +might exact from them. The honour of the Flag, the responsibility of +upholding great traditions, the safety of their country might suddenly +be entrusted to their keeping. The scene might well inspire English +hearts. For all remembered that hither came in those far-off days the +mighty fleets of Spain in the period of her power; and, again, it was +out yonder in the misty sea that once upon a time the Dutch admiral, +Van Tromp, flaunted his flag--jacks and pennants flying--in the face +of the fiery Blake, who accepted the defiance and at once attacked and +beat the Dutchman’s ships. The older navies of the kings and queens +of England had known how to exact the salutation of the Flag. And +Cromwell, too, had known. For in a treaty of his time it was provided +“that the ships of the United Provinces, as well those fitted out for +war as others, which should meet in the British seas any of the ships +of war of England, should strike their flag and lower their topsail +in such manner as had been any time practised before under any former +Governments.” Sir Cloudesley Shovel and Sir George Rooke--they, too, +had exacted homage to the Flag when Queen Anne was on the throne; and +no foreign navy had ventured to withhold the first salutation in the +long reign of Queen Victoria. + +To the navy of King Edward VII., in this supreme moment, was committed +the maintenance of our marine supremacy. + +Yet experienced officers were well aware that, with all the foresight +and sagacity that could be brought to bear, the fortune of war at sea +depended very much on what men still called chance. “Right or left,” +said Nelson, “it is all a matter of guess, and the world attributes +wisdom to him who guesses right.” Nelson himself had to hunt for the +French fleet many a time and oft; the American fleet had no news of +the Spanish ships for something like a fortnight in the fight for +Cuba; and in the war between Russia and Japan, the fleet of the former +was “a dark horse” to Admiral Togo for considerable periods. The game +of wits at sea, for which the other term is naval strategy, depends +on distances, the elements, the unforeseen. Specific programmes are +impossible, and the best-laid plans of admirals “gang oft agley.” Thus +it came about that in this critical juncture the British scouts failed +to get in touch with the potential enemy,--a failure almost attended +with dire results for England. + +The Germans having given our scouts the slip (whether by luck or skill +was never known) crept back in the dark hours towards Plymouth. Then, +suddenly, their whole flotilla of destroyers, with lights out, and +steaming at full speed, made a desperate attempt to force an entrance +to the harbour. The rush was admirably planned. Anticipating partial +detection, and by means of clever feints, the torpedo craft sought +to attract the search-lights of the defence works to one particular +destroyer, hoping that the main division might thus be enabled to +make a successful dash, under the shadow of the shore, to the eastern +and western channels of the breakwater. But the manœuvre failed. In +the very nick of time the flashlights exposed the real and formidable +nature of the onslaught. The roar of the battery guns burst forth upon +the night, continuing with unabated fury until all but one of the +flotilla--which ran headlong upon the breakwater--were sunk or driven +off, damaged and defeated. The projected supplementary action of the +German battleships, now looming into view, thus became hopeless, if not +impossible. + +A mighty cheer went up from all the British ships when this was +realised. It was their turn now to take the warpath, and the +Admiral,--Sir Lambert Meade,--saw that they took it instantly. In the +hearts of all, if not upon their lips, was the spirit of the stirring +English war-song: + + “Who fears to die? Who fears to die? + Is there any here who fears to die + + * * * * * + + Shout for England! + Ho! for England! + George for England! + Merry England! + England for aye!” + +Daylight was near at hand, and when it came, grey and mournful, over +the sullen sea, the tactics of the British admiral left the enemy in +doubt. An elaborate feint made with certain British battleships and +armoured cruisers led the Germans to suppose the intention was to drive +them back into the Atlantic; and ere they realised their error, the +greater number of the British ships steamed diagonally outside the +enemy, enclosing them within an imaginary line drawn from the Eddystone +to Lizard Point. The light cruisers were told off to harass the German +auxiliaries, and seeing the probable effect of this manœuvre, the enemy +opened fire, wasting powder and shell long before they were within +effective range. The British guns, however, remained silent until +the distance between the fleets was only four miles or less. Then the +British admiral gave the signal, and straightway four battleships and +eight armoured cruisers hurled shell after shell against the nearest of +the German ships. The detached section of the fleet that had steamed +westward along the coast, attacked with equal fury the other wing +of the invaders’ line. The Germans at first replied with spirit. In +every battle the winning cock must lose some feathers, and sorrow and +mourning were on their way to many an English home. + +Presently there were signs of disaster and disablement among the +enemy’s ships. Caught between two fires, and deprived of the aid of +their destroyers, the position produced a demoralising effect upon +their men. The German plan of campaign had miscarried, and the crews +and gunners were at first disconcerted and then thrown into panic by +the concentrated and mathematical precision with which the British +guns riddled the leading ships of their column. Here and there, in +both fleets, the bursting shells produced wholesale slaughter and +mutilation. The worst disasters to the enemy’s ships, however, were +caused by the repeated shocks of the terrific projectiles, which +displaced the steel plates of their armour. Thus the rivets sprang, +and water crept in at a hundred holes. Two of the finest German +battleships, through the gaining weight of water, had their centre +of gravity gradually shifted. They foundered, and all hands were +lost--officers and men going bravely, calmly, to their doom. + +The battleship _Wilhelm II._ became unmanageable and left the line, +and, at the same time it was seen that desperate attempts were being +made to give protection to one in particular of the auxiliaries--a +liner of great speed, that presently broke away and headed for the open +sea, hotly pursued by two light cruisers and one destroyer from the +British line. + +Both remaining sections of the defending force now closed in upon +the Germans, their great guns doing more and deadlier work as the +range was lessened. One of the German battleships was now on fire, +and the great clouds of smoke that rose for a time so hid the ships +that firing was suspended. When the smoke cleared the British admiral +gave another signal, and then the deadly wasps of naval warfare--the +torpedo flotilla--swarmed in upon the enemy to complete the havoc and +destruction commenced by the great guns of our battleships. + +England, sovereign of the seas, had won another victory. Her flag was +still supreme! + + * * * * * + +The scattered units of the German fleet had not only to seek safety +from their pursuers, but also, as the short day closed in, to battle +with a formidable gale. For the _Schiller_ and other ships that had +steamed westward, the position was one of appalling jeopardy. They had +to reckon with the terrors of a wild and rocky shore. + +Less than three hundred miles from London, the westerly extremity of +England, grey and granitic, frowns on the roaring seas that beat in +vain upon its rocky bastions. Here the channels mingle with the mighty +ocean, and stupendous billows, tumbling shoreward, break on the cliffs +with a terrific roar that sometimes daunts the hardened miner at work +in the galleries that stretch beneath the ocean-bed. A little more +than a mile from the cliffs the Longship’s Lighthouse throws its rays +upon the spume of the tremendous waves, and away to the west lies the +granite group of the Scilly Isles. + +The wind and the rain are twin rulers of these islands; and the yeasty +currents have swept many a gallant ship upon their jagged reefs. The +“Bishop” and his “Clerks” are always on the watch to shrive the souls +of shipwrecked mariners. It was here on the Gilstone Rock (near the +small islet of Roseviar) that Sir Cloudesley Shovel, returning from +the siege of Toulon, met with his tragic end. Driven off his course by +storms, his ship, the _Association_, was forced upon the rock, and in +a few minutes fell to pieces. In that night of dreadful memory, the +_Phœnix_, the _Romney_, and the _Firebrand_ met a like fate. The _St +George_ only narrowly escaped. Upwards of 2000 lives were lost in that +dread night, and since that far-off time many another ship has gone to +pieces in those hungry jaws. + +It was around these ragged westerly islands that the storm raged with +especial fury on the night that followed the scattering of the German +fleet. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII + MARCUS WHITE AND THE MOB + + +With that mocking perversity which confutes the weatherwise, the frost +and bitter wind had given place to heavy rainstorms. The wind, veering +round to south-west late on Boxing Day, blew with an ever-growing force +and fury, and made the night of December 26th one of terrible memory +for many years to come. In London and Westminster alone a million +pounds’ worth of damage resulted from the tempest, and the tale of +ships wrecked and lives lost all round the coast was only to be told +later on and by instalments. + +The traffic on nearly every railway was now disorganised, and a strike +of the railway men had become imminent. The cutting of telegraph wires +by the Leaguers had already gone far to keep Londoners in ignorance of +momentous events happening outside the metropolitan area, and the great +storm almost completed the work the Leaguers had left unfinished. +But the partial isolation of the great town in other respects, and +particularly the threatened dearth of food supplies, constituted a yet +further cause of apprehension. Early on the morning of the 27th, the +provision shops were besieged by people of all ranks, eager to lay in +stores of every description--meat, vegetables, groceries, bread, and +every kind of household necessaries. In many cases it became a raid, +in which some paid monstrous prices, while in the scramble others +secured provisions without paying for them at all. Great numbers of +shops and stores were wholly cleared of stock, tradesmen and their +assistants being overpowered, while customers hurrying homewards +were frequently waylaid, maltreated, and robbed of their purchases. +The tumult and excitement in the streets became appalling. Military +patrols were now seen in some of the principal thoroughfares, but not +in sufficient numbers to maintain good order. Here and there a band of +hooligans, who smashed all the street lamps as they passed, were chased +by troopers, but they generally escaped into side streets and alleys, +and resumed their work of destruction in another quarter. Shutters +were closed, and boarded windows met the eye in all directions. Wild +rumours went round. There were, it was said, barricades at the West +End. Martial law would be declared before the day was out. Stories were +told of disaffection among the troops at Aldershot; of a night muster +on Ascot Heath and a march through Windsor Great Park to the Castle. +Another organised mob was reported to have assembled at Grange Wood, +near Croydon, marching thence, with increasing swarms of adherents, +through Camberwell, Walworth, and Lambeth, making, as some said, for +the Archbishop’s Palace, or, as others declared, for the Houses of +Parliament. + +The truth, and the whole truth could not be ascertained, but in all the +passion and excitement of the hour, scarcely a word of disloyalty was +breathed of the King individually. On the contrary, the vast majority +believed that, but for the illness which lately had prevented his +Majesty from taking an active part in the affairs of State, his tact +and courage would have remedied existing evils before they had come to +such a dangerous head. + +The dangers of civil conflict were greatly augmented by the strong and +avowed resentment that had at last broken forth against the tyranny of +the Leaguers; and this peril in turn was accentuated by splits in the +ranks of the Leaguers themselves. The proximate cause of the schism +was found in the _Epoch_, which, appearing in the streets about midday, +contained a remarkable article, printed prominently in leaded type. In +effect, the writer declared in forcible language that though he had +no cause to love England, he would fight side by side with Englishmen +rather than see her trodden under the iron heel of Germany or any other +continental nation. Eschewing the cautious language of the average +leader-writer, he roundly stated that there was a deadly conspiracy +developing in certain of the chancelleries of Europe. He warned Great +Britain to beware lest her enemies, by a swift and sudden stroke, +should lay her, fettered, in the dust. There would soon be news, he +said, of the doings of the powerful German squadron in the south and +west, and of a dual fleet, Russian and German, in the North Sea. These +were but the vanguard of an enormous fleet of transports, prepared in +sections in various German ports, and designed to land 100,000 foreign +soldiers on our shores. + +Then came a great surprise. This, said the writer, was the last time +the _Epoch_ would appear. + +The article was signed, “Marcus White,” and his last warning words to +the nation were those written by a laureate of England half a century +before: + + “Form! form! Riflemen form! + Ready, be ready to meet the storm!” + +The article produced at first a staggering effect upon the Leaguers, +and the extreme section, led by Raggett, but consisting mainly of +foreign anarchists, vowed vengeance on the leader who they swore had +betrayed and hindered them in the moment of impending triumph. A vast +and threatening mob gathered on the Embankment, and crash after crash +of broken glass startled the neighbourhood. A beast-like roar went up +when Marcus White came forward to a window and looked down upon the +crowd. + +It was as he stood thus, with folded arms, that Aldwyth Westwood +and Herrick entered the room, unannounced in the confusion of the +moment. But Marcus White turned instantly, and the same swift look of +recognition that Aldwyth remembered noticing in the Folkestone hotel +came into his eyes as he gazed at her. Her own eyes were strained and +sad; but, though her face was very pale, there was courage and firmness +in its expression. + +She spoke at once: “I have come to ask you about my father’s safety.” + +For a moment Marcus White gazed from her face to her companion’s, +answering nothing. + +“Why should it be supposed that I am Sir John Westwood’s keeper?” he +asked quietly. + +Herrick broke in: “It is known that you had a strong personal hostility +to Miss Westwood’s father, and that a monstrous outrage has been +committed, in which you----” + +Marcus White raised his hand. “You are not addressing a Court of Law,” +he said scornfully. + +“I wish to Heaven I were!” answered the barrister hotly. “And, more +than that, I wish you were standing in the dock, where you ought to be.” + +Aldwyth laid her hand entreatingly on her lover’s arm. + +“What has this to do with Sir John Westwood?” asked Marcus White, +almost indifferently. + +Aldwyth stepped forward. “I ask you this question: Is my father alive?” + +“Miss Westwood,” was the slow answer, “I cannot tell you.” + +“You will be called to account for this,” said Herrick sternly. + +A roar arose from the mob below the window. + +“I am being called to account for many things,” said Marcus White, +listening, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. + +“Are you mad?” cried Herrick. + +The other laughed bitterly. “Perhaps I am. I have played for a great +stake and I won the trick, but”--glancing towards the broken windows--” +I may not win the rubber.” + +“Do you refuse to give us any information?” It was Aldwyth who spoke +now. + +“No, I don’t refuse. Your father and those who were with him were left +to the mercy of that God in whose name they administer law and justice +in this country. Can you complain of that?” He looked at Herrick as he +spoke. + +“What do you mean?” asked Aldwyth breathlessly. + +“Miss Westwood, can those who are entrusted with the quality of mercy +towards their fellow-creatures--can they complain if they are left to +the mercy of the elements?” + +“It is madness and worse than madness--murder!” said Herrick, stepping +forward. + +“You have courage,” answered Marcus White, regarding him. “Perhaps,” he +added significantly, “that is why you have been spared.” + +“But my father!” interrupted Aldwyth. “What is to be done?” + +Heedless of the tumult without, Marcus White advanced to the table +and sat down. He wrote a few lines rapidly. “If you take this to the +Admiralty,” he said, “they may be able to get you a report; or, better +still, go to the Foreign Secretary. He is more likely to be able to +give you information.” He folded the paper and gave it into Aldwyth’s +hands. + +“Let us go at once,” she said, turning to Herrick. + +As she spoke a great stone came hurtling through the window and smashed +the mirror over the mantelpiece. Heavy blows were heard upon a door +below. A white-faced, breathless clerk burst into the room. “The mob +are threatening to break down the outer door,” he said. + +“I am afraid,” said White quietly, looking at Herrick, “you have +brought Miss Westwood at an awkward moment.” + +But she answered for herself. “It was I who insisted on coming.” + +“I will see that you are not molested,” was White’s reply. He paused a +moment. More stones came flying through the windows. There was a sharp +crack of firearms, and a bullet shattered the great chandelier in the +middle of the ceiling. Marcus White crossed quickly to the door; the +frightened clerk drew aside and watched him anxiously. + +“Great heavens! where are you going?” asked Herrick. + +“Outside, to face these curs.” + +“It is not safe, sir; there’ll be murder done,” cried the affrighted +clerk. + +But White ignored him. “Keep Miss Westwood here for a few moments,” he +said to Herrick, speaking in clear, emphatic tones. “Then you will be +able to get away in safety. When you hear me fire,” he drew a shining +revolver from his pocket, “go--at once!” + +Without another word, and bare-headed as he was, he passed out of +the room. They stood in breathless suspense until a hoarse yell of +execration came from the street, attaining increased violence and +menace as it was taken up by the greater crowd on the Embankment. + +An irresistible impulse hurried them to the window. Surrounded by a +small bodyguard of adherents, Marcus White was seen, forcing his way +across the road. Fists and sticks were shaken at him on every side, and +vile epithets in half a dozen languages fouled the air as the human +wedge drove through the clamouring, struggling mass and reached the +pavement on the river side of the Embankment. The next moment he was +standing on the parapet, looking down with dauntless eyes upon the sea +of furious faces that was now turned towards him. His voice rang out +above the uproar. + +“Fools! fools, that you are, listen!” + +The mob responded with a howl of wrath. + +“Traitor!” cried Raggett, shrill above the din; “Traitor!” and the +vast excited multitude took up the cry, yelling it with indescribable +ferocity. + +The gleam of a revolver caught the eye. There were those who thought he +fired above their heads. Others believed the shot was meant for Raggett. + +At any rate it was the promised signal; but Aldwyth and Herrick stood +for a moment, held by the overmastering excitement of the scene. Then, +with savage curses and screams of fury the mob rushed at the parapet, +reckless in their rage. Some clambered up; others fell and were +trampled under foot. Swaying and reeling, gripped and torn on either +side, Marcus White for a moment held his ground. + +Covering her eyes, and with a low cry of horror, Aldwyth turned from +the window now, and in a moment, supported by Herrick, she had reached +the street. + +Close at hand, in Howard Street, the Westwoods’ carriage, a closed +landau, was waiting. + +“Quick, to Berkeley Square,” cried Herrick. + +Aldwyth sank back against the cushions, almost fainting, as the horses +plunged forward under the sharp lash of the driver’s whip. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII + THE FOREIGN SECRETARY + + +Lord Downland’s private secretary shook his head. + +“My dear fellow, it is impossible,” he said. “I’d manage it for _you_ +if it could be done for any one; you know that well enough.” + +Herrick did know it, for the speaker and he were first cousins, and +good friends. + +“It’s of vital importance,” he said earnestly. + +“A matter of life and death,” urged Aldwyth. + +“Look here, Langdale”--Herrick laid his hand on the other’s arm--” we +come from Marcus White.” + +“Marcus White!” The secretary drew back, amazed, and looked from +Herrick’s face to Aldwyth’s. “You mean the head-centre of the Leaguers?” + +“Yes; but they’ve rounded on him.” + +“Only a few moments ago, when we left him, he was fighting for his +life,” said Aldwyth. + +“It’s horrible, but it’s a fact,” added Herrick; “they were on him like +a pack of wolves.” + +“That’s news, indeed!” Langdale looked very grave. + +“We have here something that he wrote for us to give into Lord +Downland’s hands. It bears on the safety of Miss Westwood’s father, and +perhaps on special foreign news which his lordship ought to know.” + +“I’ll see what can be done,” said Langdale briskly. “The French +ambassador is with the marquis just at this moment; and, as you see, +the brougham is at the door. There’s no harm in saying”--he lowered +his voice slightly--” that the chief’s on the point of starting for +Windsor, by the King’s command. But I’ll try to manage it for you.” And +he quickly left the room. + +Over the window blind they could see the electric brougham, ready and +waiting to start. Two or three uniformed policemen stood near at hand. +Farther off, Herrick caught sight of his old acquaintance, Henshaw; +and, at the same time, the rattle of accoutrements attracted his notice +to a cavalry escort waiting at the north end of the square. + +Suddenly Henshaw moved quickly out of view. There was whispering among +the uniformed men, who wore a watchful, anxious look. + +Something untoward was happening, and the barrister looked round +intending to attract Aldwyth’s attention; but she was sitting at the +table, her elbows resting there, and her face covered with her hands. +He did not speak to her. Tact taught him that she was better left +alone. He believed that in the complex trouble she was suffering she +was no longer indifferent to his deep and constant affection; and it +was true. Thus does the shaking of our lives sometimes restore the +balance. A strong man’s love; a life-companion, tender, true, and kind! +Happy the woman who can win the prize. Aldwyth, at least, was learning +to be grateful; and gratitude, like pity, is akin to love. + +When Herrick glanced through the window again, Henshaw, usually most +deliberate in his movements, was hurrying past; but his quick eyes had +caught sight of the barrister, and the next moment he rang the bell. +There was a hurried conversation with the hall porter; then a footman +brought in a hasty note written on a leaf torn from a pocket-book: + + “_Can I see you for a moment? Urgent._” + +Herrick, with a word to Aldwyth, who still seemed to be stunned by +recent events, went out, and was shown into a small anteroom, to which +the detective quickly followed him. + +“What is it?” he asked, wonderingly. + +“Well, it may be much and it may be nothing; I can’t explain now--but, +look here, sir, that carriage out there is waiting for you and the +lady, isn’t it?” + +“Yes; they’re Sir John Westwood’s horses.” + +“Do you mind if the Marquis goes off in that carriage instead of in the +brougham that’s waiting for him?” + +“You must have some special reason for suggesting that!” + +“I have,”--emphatically. + +“I’ll ask Miss Westwood,--it’s not my carriage.” + +“One moment--need you ask? Ladies want explanations, and there isn’t +time to give them.” + +“My good sir, you can hardly expect----” + +“Take it upon yourself, sir,” interrupted the police officer, +impressively. “It may save life--a valuable life, too. I know what I’m +talking about, and if any harm comes to Sir John’s horses, you may be +pretty sure it is a case in which the Government will make the damage +good.” + +“Very well; do what you think right. I see there is something serious +in the wind.” + +“Right you are, sir”; and the detective was out of the room and the +house before another word could be said. + +As Herrick crossed the hall to return to Aldwyth Westwood, the private +secretary met him. + +“Ah, here you are! The ambassador’s gone. Now if you want three words +with the marquis before he leaves, come this way. But where is Miss +Westwood?” + +“Here,” said Herrick, opening the door. + +Aldwyth rose instantly, and the two followed the secretary to Lord +Downland’s library. The Foreign Secretary stood upon the hearth-rug. +A valet was helping him to put on his travelling coat. At a sign the +man retired, and Langdale, after a low-toned word or two to his chief, +placed a chair for Aldwyth and also left the room. + +It was obvious that his lordship was in great haste to get away. + +Herrick, without a word, put Marcus White’s written message in the +minister’s hand. Lord Downland glanced at it rapidly, then read it +carefully again. A shade of colour came into his pale, thin cheeks. + +He looked up. “This news was partly known to me,” he said, “but not +quite all. The rest may be very valuable.” He glanced for a second at +the fire, then added: “This leader of the Leaguers seems to have some +love for England, or, at any rate, some scruples, after all. But he +will have to pay a heavy penalty for his misdeeds.” + +“Lord Downland,” said Aldwyth quietly, “I think he has paid the last of +all penalties already.” + +The Foreign Minister looked at her quickly, with grave inquiring eyes. + +“My lord,” said Herrick, “the Leaguers have turned on him. We left +Marcus White at the mercy of the mob.” + +“Ah! is that so? A terrible experience for Miss Westwood. But I have +intelligence that will relieve her of a great anxiety--Sir John +Westwood is safe.” + +“Safe! thank God for that!” cried Aldwyth, with clasped hands. + +“All on board were safe. It was almost a miracle. The steamer could +not have floated for another hour, and,” he added, significantly, “she +was discovered drifting towards the Race of Alderney, deserted by her +captain and the crew. A monstrous outrage!--monstrous!” + +“Then Sir John--all of them--must be on their way to London now,” +exclaimed Herrick. + +“No,” said the marquis quietly. “They are safe, but at present they are +not on their way to England. They were picked up by a German cruiser; +and our relations with Germany at the present moment are not friendly.” +A faint half-smile flickered over his face. “It is what a former +colleague of mine would call ‘a sort of a war!’” Lord Downland took up +his hat and moved towards the door. + +“Your lordship means that they are prisoners?” + +“Yes, Mr Herrick. But there is no need for alarm,” with a reassuring +glance towards Aldwyth. “England also has a prisoner--one of very great +distinction. At this moment he is on his way by special train from +Penzance to Windsor Castle.” + + * * * * * + +On each side of the entrance to Mount Street, as the carriage +approached with the Foreign Minister on his way to Paddington, small +groups were loitering. The men, for the most part, had the look of +foreigners. Three things were vividly recalled later on--one of them, +that the officer in command of the cavalry escort sent two troopers +ahead; secondly, that, on seeing this, Henshaw ran forward with a +loud cry of warning; thirdly, that a shrill whistle was heard as the +troopers, followed rapidly by the carriage, approached the turning into +Mount Street. + +Then, swiftly following on the whistle, there was a blue flash in +the air, and a sharp, cracking detonation. The leading troopers were +scattered, one of the horses plunged and fell with a crash upon the +pavement, throwing its rider heavily against a doorstep. The troopers’ +horses in rear of the carriage reared and plunged; a scream came from +some women who were near, and a young girl, shockingly mutilated, fell +bleeding to the ground. + +The bomb had struck the roadway between the leading troopers and the +carriage horses, but, as if by a miracle, the latter, though terrified, +were uninjured, and tore through Mount Street at a gallop. + +Behind them, on the right-hand pavement a struggling group was seen. +Henshaw, whose device had been defeated by the misconceived movement +of the troopers, had darted on a sallow-faced man with a short black +beard. The man fought like a wild beast in the detective’s grip, but +the uniformed police had hurried to the scene, and one of the most +powerful--it was P. C. Dormer--enveloped the dynamitard in his arms, +while others went in hot pursuit of his fleeing confederates. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV + THE EAGLE IN THE LION’S JAWS + + +The strike of compositors which had maddened the conductors of daily +journals proved to be a blessing in disguise. Such stirring news had +come to hand that a few hours’ delay in publishing the morning papers +were worth all the terms that trades unions could exact--and more also. +The morning papers of December 27th became afternoon papers, and they +went off like wildfire. + +Indeed there was news that staggered humanity: + +Item One:--The death of Marcus White by drowning in the Thames--with +the murderous clutch of Raggett and another Leaguer still on his +throat. And this, it was recognised, meant not only the death of three +men--it was the death-blow of the League itself. + +Item Two:--The direful catastrophe at Portsmouth dockyard, with all +that it meant, and might have meant, for England. + +Item Three:--The treacherous night attack of the Germans at Plymouth, +so happily detected, and the subsequent victory of the British fleet. + +Item Four:--Failure of a projected joint movement by the German and the +Russian fleets in the North Sea. + +The stars in their courses had “fought against Sisera.” The concerted +action of the combined squadrons had come to naught, partly because of +the delay and blundering of the Russian admiral; mainly by reason of +the terrible storm which swept the sea and thundered on our shores on +that eventful night. + +Battered and beaten by the tempest, the invading ships had made all +haste to return to port. Once again, as in the days of Queen Elizabeth, +“God blew, and they were scattered!” + +But the heaviest stroke of misfortune suffered by the enemy was not +inflicted in the North Sea. The remnant of the German Squadron of +the south, seeking to escape from its pursuers, had found the flying +squadron despatched from Spithead completely barring their passage in +the Straits of Dover. The British crews were fresh and fit, burning +for battle. But once again in the history of nations discretion was +acknowledged to be the better part of warfare. The Germans were not +now in force or condition to show fight. Every ship fell into the hands +of the British admiral, and was promptly interned in Dover harbour. + +There yet remained a startling postscript to this tremendous news. The +_Schiller_, pursued by the British cruiser _Cadmus_ and the destroyer +_Hornet_, on the 26th had made desperate efforts to escape capture. +Driven to the west in the darkness and the storm, the liner made a rash +attempt to double back between her pursuers and the Scilly Islands. The +result was fatal. Too late, the commander of the _Schiller_ discovered +his dangerous proximity to the “Bishop and his Clerks.” A terrific wave +swept the great liner like a plaything on the deadly rocks. There came +another mighty, shattering rush of water that drowned the captain and +swept a passenger, who stood beside him in that awful moment, clear of +the ship and far up on the tangled seaweed of the rocks. + +So hot and close was the pursuit of the _Cadmus_ and the _Hornet_ that +they, too, narrowly escaped similar disaster. The _Cadmus_ was not +half a mile to windward when the _Schiller_ went ashore. The _Hornet_, +nearer in, only escaped by being refloated on the first great wave that +drowned the _Schiller_’s lights. + +Of all on board the German liner only the one passenger was saved. This +passenger, bruised, exhausted, with a broken arm, received the prompt +and kindly attention of the coastguard. Little did these rough but +sympathetic folk suspect the exalted rank and dignity of the sufferer. +He seemed to be a foreigner, but knew much more of the King’s English +than was known to the humble islanders themselves. When the stranger +gave them a massive gold ring, set with a brilliant stone, by way of +parting gift, these good folk began to think they had entertained an +angel unawares. + +In truth they had ministered, not to an angel--but to an emperor. + +The skipper of the Trinity steamer that conveyed the stranger to St +Mary’s Island for temporary surgical treatment was a man who had seen +many illustrated newspapers. Though at first incredulous, he thought he +recognised the illustrious foreigner. He was quite sure of it before +the steamer left St Mary’s for Penzance with the passenger on board. + +Lord Downland, as the reader is aware, knew who the stranger was before +his lordship left Berkeley Square--to run the gauntlet of the bomb +brigade--on his way to Windsor Castle. + +The prisoner of England was none other than Kaiser William, King of +Prussia, German Emperor. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV + THE KING AND THE KAISER + + +London went mad when all the news was known--mad with amazement, +relief, anger, joy: amazement at the deadly reality of the national +danger that had been averted; relief at the safety of England; anger +with the + + “New majesties of mighty States”-- + +that, with “great contrivances of power,” had sought to encompass our +inviolable island. + +And there was joy--delirious, exuberant--that the hydra-headed mob no +longer held the field in London. + +The main thoroughfares were densely packed with shouting multitudes. In +the sharp reaction of the moment, in the complex excitement occasioned +by the news, people laughed and wept and sang. Social distinctions were +broken down; the gloved hands of cultured women were given gladly into +the grip of the grimiest workmen. Men and women of every rank exchanged +greetings and congratulations. Everywhere it was “Rule Britannia!” “God +save the King!” “England for ever!” + +Those who recalled the street scenes on Mafeking night declared they +were as nothing compared with the wild and jubilant excitement of the +present hour. Banners were slung across the streets; nearly every +upper window displayed a flag of some sort; and, when darkness came, +Chinese lanterns, lamps and candles, supplied the want of public +lighting--which, however, was speedily restored. + +Any sailor who was met with casually was hoisted shoulder-high and +carried through the thoroughfares amid cheering crowds. Thousands stood +bare-headed before the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, while a young +girl, with rapt face and glowing eyes, standing on the masonry, recited +Tennyson’s National Song: + + “There is no land like England + Where’er the light of day be; + There are no hearts like English hearts-- + Such hearts of oak as they be.” + +A vast concourse also assembled before the broad façade of Buckingham +Palace; and, undeterred by its silent emptiness and the myriads of +white blinds, all drawn down, shouted lustily and again and again for +King and Queen. “Three cheers for the Navy!” roared a stentorian voice, +and with a swift and mighty response the crowd gave not three cheers, +but nearer thirty. + +The next day, and the day after, and the day after that, the noise and +the excitement were continued almost without abatement. + +Meanwhile there had taken place at Windsor Castle, amid surroundings of +quietude and regal dignity, an interview fraught with great import to +England, to Germany, and to the whole of Europe. + +Two mighty monarchs, constitutional rulers of great empires, came face +to face, in circumstances of unexampled interest and embarrassment. It +was a supreme moment, stupendous in the main problem that it presented, +subtle and painful in the side-issues which that problem involved. +For these were men, as well as monarchs. Not only were they men with +like passions as we ourselves have, but the blood of a common ancestor +flowed through the veins of each. The two were kith and kin. + +Nothing mean or petty could be said or done by King or Kaiser in that +trying hour. The salutation of royal personages must be exchanged +after the custom of the Courts. The ritual of State observance must +be followed in all its detail. Yet, notwithstanding these formalities, +each exalted personage was acutely conscious of the rough, the tragic, +underlying elements of the unexampled situation. + +Neither could forget in that ironic moment the bombastic utterances of +the royal captive, the vapouring allusion to the “mailed fist,” the +“dry powder,” the “taut muscles,” and all the rest of it. Graver still +were the recollections of the inspired press campaign against Great +Britain, the manufactured grievances, the falsely imputed intrigues, +all sequent to the unfriendly spirit shown in the memorable telegram +to the President of the South African Republic. Worse than all was the +evidence of enmity and jealousy afforded by the persistent increase +of the German navy, the injurious uses to which Heligoland had been +put, the enlargement of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, and the partial +construction of a new naval base for the German fleet in the North Sea. + +Vaulting ambition had inspired these things, the overmastering +obsession of a supposed divine right of empire. The proud possessor of +a giant’s power had sought, and found, some pretext for gigantic deeds. + +And now the cup of humiliation had been presented to those proud lips. +Like the great emperors of the past, whose dynasties had long lain in +the dust, the modern monarch had to learn that kings propose, but One +alone disposes; that He alone, above the water floods, “remains a King +for ever.” This, indeed, was no triumphal entry into England’s capital. +Not as William the Conqueror, but as William the Conquered, Kaiser +William stood on English soil. + +But if there was humiliation on the one side, there was on the other +not only righteous wrath, but kingly magnanimity. + +Of what precisely passed between the two august sovereigns no written +record was preserved. They spoke as man to man. Nor was there any +occasion for a formal treaty between the high contracting parties. King +Edward, with the advice of his ministers, had already decided on the +minimum of his requirements as representing the just demands of a great +nation. Those requirements--absolutely inflexible, and not to be varied +in any one particular--were as follows: + +Heligoland was to be restored to the British Crown. The captured +warships were to be incorporated in the British Navy. If the new naval +base on the North Sea were not forthwith dismantled and abandoned, the +British fleet would bombard every German port in Europe. + +It was said that the Kaiser listened with knitted brow, and, after a +brief pause, asked quietly: + +“What assurances does your Majesty require?” + +“Your Majesty’s word of honour,” was the answer. + +“It is not intended to treat me as a hostage?” + +“Your Majesty is free.” + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI + THE BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH + + +Far from the madding crowd of London, beyond sound of all the shouting +and the tumult, they laid to rest, “each in his narrow cell,” Father +Francis and Billy of Mayfair. The priest, after lingering for two days, +had died in Charing Cross Hospital from heart failure, resulting from +the injuries he had sustained in the memorable meeting in Trafalgar +Square. For the moment, and to all seeming, the Bottle had triumphed +over the Bible; but the preacher of the higher truth, being dead, yet +spoke to the hearts of thousands, and many journeyed down from London +to attend his funeral. + +It was the Duke, his father, who, hearing of Billy’s boyish impulse +to avenge the murderous attack on his favourite son, decided that the +London waif, who had paid for his temerity with his life, should not +sleep his last sleep in a pauper’s grave. In life these two had been +separated by an enormous social gulf. Rank and culture belonged to the +son of the ducal house. In his veins flowed the blood of royalty--the +blood of a lecherous monarch of the House of Stuart. But Billy?--Well, +what mattered now? Death, the great leveller, had made such questions +quite superfluous. Duke’s son and ragged outcast of the streets, they +had entered into the same rest, and in death they were not divided. + +On Ranmore, one of the loveliest of the Surrey hills, they ended +together the little journey of their mortal lives. The sun shone +brightly on the churchyard; far overhead great billowy clouds, slow and +majestic, sailed across the illimitable blue. The snow had vanished +from the rolling hills. It might have been a day in early spring. + +“I am the resurrection and the life, said the Lord: he that believeth +in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and +believeth in me shall never die.... We brought nothing into this world, +and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave and the Lord +hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.” + +When they came to the graveside, aristocrat and pauper came with the +same promise of life and immortality. As each had borne the image of +the earthy, so each should bear the image of the heavenly. The boast of +heraldry availed nothing. The pomp of power was as an idle tale. This +was “the inevitable hour” for one and all! + +The old duke, white-haired and tremulous, lifted his tired eyes to the +far-off sky when they committed to the earth the body of his much-loved +son. The old man was trying to grasp the “sure and certain hope!” He +could not weep, as others wept, for “these our brothers.” + +But two stalwart men, standing close at hand, could not keep back their +tears. There was a great lump in the bull throat of P. C. Dormer that +nearly choked him when he looked on the last home of the child in the +tragedy of whose life he had played a cruel and much-repented part. The +strong, rough man had found a place for sorrow and remorse, and it was +sanctified with tears. + +And Joe the stableman, he, too, passed his huge red hand across his +smarting eyes, sorrowing much that he would see his little friend no +more. + +“Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live and is full +of misery. He cometh up and is cut down like a flower; he fleeth as it +were a shadow and never continueth in one stay.” + +Yet, there remaineth a rest.... + +“I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth +blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: even so, saith the Spirit; +for they rest from their labours.” + +In little groups, or one by one, the mourners went away; Aldwyth and +Herrick together, passing down the church path--and onward down the +path of life. The tottering duke, leaning on his eldest son, went home +to his great, dull mansion; P. C. Dormer returned to night duty in the +London streets; Joe the stableman went back to his horses in the mews. +All, all the living left the lonely dead. Thus, one day, will you and I +be left, alone in our long last sleep. + +The glow of the sun would wane; darkness would shroud the graves; the +pale beams of the moon would rest there, and, in turn, the steely light +of winter stars; the strong spring breeze would bend the grass, and the +daisies would cluster there; the song of happy birds would come and +go; the tender bud of hope, and the red ripeness of the autumn leaf; +daybreak and sunset over the hills; summer and winter, seed-time and +harvest,--till that great day of ripened grain, when the angels will be +the reapers, and the harvest the end of the world. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII + THE GREAT THANKSGIVING + + +On the last day of the year there was a national service of +thanksgiving in St Paul’s Cathedral. The rushing river of national +feeling, at first tumultuous like the sound of many waters, had found a +channel, deep and broad. The waters, being deep, were therefore still. +It was a joyful and a pleasant, but also a solemn thing to be thankful. + +Vast numbers came from every quarter to attend the service; the highest +and the lowest; the King and the Queen; the civic rulers; the restored +judges of the land; the rich and the poor. + +Here in the vast cathedral church in by-gone years the voice of praise +and thanksgiving had been raised on memorable occasions; a thanksgiving +for the King when, as heir to the throne of England, he had come back +from the very jaws of death; a thanksgiving for the long and prosperous +reign of a Queen dear to the hearts of her people; but never before a +thanksgiving such as this--so complex and so sudden in its causes, and +following so swiftly on the perils from which the nation had been saved. + +The newly appointed Primate of London--a former Bishop of Stepney--was +the preacher; but it was no set sermon that he preached. His Grace gave +out no text, but every heart was thrilled by what fell from his lips: + + “Love thou thy land, with love far-brought + From out the storied Past, and used + Within the Present, but transfused + Thro’ future time by power of thought.” + +He spoke of the patriotism that is sublime, and of the pride that goes +before a fall: of + + “True love turn’d round on fixed poles, + Love that endures not sordid ends, + For English natures, freemen, friends, + Thy brothers, and immortal souls.” + +True patriotism was instanced by the banished Jew, made cup-bearer to +a heathen king, the man who sat down and wept when he learned that the +walls of his beloved capital were broken down and the gates thereof +burned with fire: the man who worked as well as wept; who inspired his +compatriots and rebuilt the walls and gates of the city--trowel in one +hand and sword in the other. “So built we the wall ... for the people +had a mind to work.” + +Then the Primate turned to the wonderful story of the first Babylon. He +spoke of the king who dreamed dreams wherewith his spirit was troubled, +dreams that could only be interpreted--not by court magicians and +astrologers--by the servant of One who changeth the times and seasons, +removeth kings, giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that +know understanding. He alone “revealeth the deep and secret things and +knoweth what is in the darkness.” + +Who should dare to say, demanded the Archbishop, that even now, in the +twentieth century, the vision of the eastern king was not receiving +fresh fulfilment--that mystical vision of the kingdom of gold, the +kingdom of brass, and the kingdom of iron--iron that was mixed with +miry clay? + +The king whose dreams troubled him had many warnings. When he set +up his golden idol on the plain of Dura, he was warned. In his rage +and fury with the Jews who dared to disobey him, he cast the three +righteous men into the seven-fold heated furnace, and lo! he saw four +men walking loose in the midst of the fire, unhurt; and the form of the +fourth was like the Son of God. Thus was he warned again. + +So when the heart of Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up, and his mind +hardened, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his +glory from him. + +And Belshazzar his son, he, too, was warned by that mysterious writing +on the wall. In that same night was he slain and Darius took the +kingdom. + +And the prophet himself had visions of the future, visions of nation +fighting against nation; of the four winds of heaven striving upon the +great sea; of the four great beasts that came up from the sea, diverse +from each other--the first like a lion, the second like the bear, the +third like a leopard, and the fourth dreadful and terrible and strong +exceedingly, with teeth of iron. Who, again asked the preacher, should +dare to say that the vision of the great sea and the great powers might +not have further fulfilment among the nations and navies of to-day? + +You Englishmen and Englishwomen, the Primate went on, leaning forward +and looking into the myriads of upturned faces, should lay these +thoughts to heart. The prophetic vision is not concerned with the kings +of the earth alone. No king can stand without national support, and the +nation is made up of individuals. Stands England where she did? Was +Great Britain worthy of continued greatness, and able to maintain it? +Think of her history! “England, bound in with the triumphant sea, whose +rocky shore beats back the envious siege of watery Neptune.” Would this +dear England ever be “bound in with shame, with inky blots and rotten +parchment bonds?” This England, that was wont to conquer others! If +we loved England, then in a just quarrel we must fight for England, +holding the “water-walled bulwarks still secure, and confident from +foreign purposes,”--pulsing the “little body with a mighty heart.” Each +man must bear his part, a part worthy of his nationality, inspired with +the belief of the English statesman whose statue stood in the heart of +London--that life is a great and honourable calling, not a mean and +grovelling thing to be shuffled through. + +In some sense they had regarded themselves as a chosen people. Let +them remember that older nation once chosen, but now scattered and +oppressed. High above the towering dome of that cathedral where they +worshipped, the cross stood out year after year--a warning, a symbol, +an inspiration. It meant self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice was the +watchword, and the example, of the great Captain of their salvation. +Nothing would avail an England, or an Englishman, ashamed to confess +the faith of Christ crucified, a deserter of the banner under which +Christians were pledged to continue faithful soldiers and servants +until their lives’ end. A Christ-less England would be an England lost! + +And how would England stand without the witness of the ancient Church +in England? The Babylonian king set up a god of gold on the plain of +Dura; but had not a god of gold been set up in many an English heart? +“Born a man, and died a grocer!” Could epitaph be more withering in its +contempt and irony? Yet an honest grocer was better than a dishonest +Christian. If we were a nation of shopkeepers and our only shrine +was the till, let us at least be honest shopkeepers--not a nation of +hypocrites as well; let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die! Yes, +better an honest pagan than a bogus Christian. + +A thrill went through the vast congregation, eagerly listening to the +preacher’s words; and, as he paused, a pallid man, dressed in the +fashion of the day, started to his feet, his hands outstretched, and +cried with a loud voice, “What shall we do to be saved?” + +The effect was magnetic. At least five hundred persons instantly rose +in like manner. It was manifest that they, too, in the awakened +anguish of their souls, sought an answer to that momentous question. +The Archbishop, looking down on them, was greatly moved. For they +were as sheep having no shepherd. Then he gave the answer, strong and +vehement: + +“If you would be saved, away with shams and false pretences! There +is only one hope for humankind; only one star to follow--the Star of +Bethlehem. Guided by that blessed star, you can reach the port of +peace.” + +With hands covering their faces, the people, sobbing here and there, +sank back into their seats. + +The preacher continued in a ringing voice: + +“I demand, therefore, dost thou renounce the devil and all his works? +Dost thou renounce the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all +covetous desires of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh? Dost +thou, in very truth, renounce these things, or in thine heart of hearts +dost thou mean to follow and be led by them?” + +This time at least a thousand voices gave the answer: “I renounce them +all.” + +“Dost thou believe in the remission of sins; the resurrection of the +flesh; and everlasting life after death? What is your answer?” + +The answer came from all the worshippers: “All this I steadfastly +believe!” + +“Remember,” said the preacher, “Christianity was a revelation; not a +rule of thumb. We must begin at the beginning, and remember our Creator +in the days of our youth. Beware of sectarian quarrels, which keep the +one Book worth all the others in the world from the children of the +nation. How shall they learn without a teacher? + +“And you who are no longer children, beware of intellectual pride. If +in this life only you have hope you are of all men most miserable. +Do you refuse to believe in everything you cannot understand? What +stupendous folly! What mad presumption! Readers, scholars, writers, +some of you, wise in your own conceits, you say you cannot credit +anything outside the laws of Nature. But you and I and all of us as +yet are only children crying in the night, and with no language but a +cry. Only one man ever born into this world could understand Nature’s +laws in all their fulness, and that Man was divine. Thus far shalt thou +come, and no farther! What men call supernatural may only be natural +law on a plane beyond our ken. Nature works slowly and in evolutionary +cycles. Yes; but Nature also works--so far as human eyes can see--in +a moment, in the twinkling of an eye--in tidal waves, the lightning +flash, the earthquake; in volcanic outbursts, in the overwhelming +avalanche. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and let no +creature dare to limit the immeasurable powers of his Creator. + +“Do you who disbelieve want your wives and children to be unbelievers? +You don’t; but you leave it to them to worship in our churches. +And you yourselves, if not unbelieving, at least half hearted, are +holding feebly to the Faith with one hand, and with the other greedily +grasping the pleasures of the world. Men of England, whither are you +drifting? You cannot serve God and Mammon. Choose!--make your calling +and election sure. Believe, as that man of towering intellect to whom +this great church is dedicated, believed; as your own great countryman, +William Ewart Gladstone, believed; as the great Lord Salisbury +believed, and many another brilliant thinker who loved our England and +her Church. Believe, as he believed who said, there are more things in +heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy. + +“Those who walk in pride, He is able to abase. Never suppose that in +this little world, this ante-chamber of life, where our own armchairs +outlive us, we shall see otherwise than darkly through a glass. Not +yet would be revealed the deep and secret things, and what is in the +darkness. Patiently must we work out our national and our individual +salvation, and with fear and trembling, lest what happened to the +idolatrous nations of old should happen to ourselves. Wherein is London +greatly better than Nineveh? Our idols are silver and gold, the work +of men’s hands. Fire from heaven fell upon the Cities of the Plain. Is +London free from what is earthly, sensual, devilish? Repent! Repent! +lest this great Babylon, like that other Babylon, pass into nothingness. + +“Never forget! The faith and the works of Christianity are indissolubly +bound up with the strength and greatness of England. What God hath +joined together let no man put asunder.” + + * * * * * + +Before the high altar, archbishop, bishops, dean, canons, and +choristers, with glittering cross raised high, the organ pealing, +raised the great song of praise. The long-drawn aisles and fretted +vaults echoed the music of a nation’s worship. The people knelt in +humble adoration as they sang: “We acknowledge Thee to be the Lord: All +the earth doth worship Thee: The Father Everlasting.” + +It was a landmark in English history, a national acknowledgment +that the Most High ruled in the Kingdom of Men, appointing over it +whomsoever He would. + + * * * * * + +Twelve hours later the Old Year lay a-dying. Within the cathedral all +was dark and silent. The voice of praise was hushed; the worshippers +were gone. But the incense of adoration might be rising still, far +above the mighty, shadowed dome, far above the night-encircled cross. + + “Have you read in the Talmud of old, + In the Legends the Rabbins have told + Of the limitless realms of the air-- + Have you read it--the marvellous story + Of Sandalphon, the Angel of Glory, + Of Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer?” + +Erect--the Rabbins pictured the glorious angel, at the outermost gate +of the City Celestial: + + “And he gathers the prayers as he stands, + And they change into flowers in his hands, + Into garlands of purple and red; + And beneath the great arch of the portal, + Through the streets of the City Immortal + Is wafted the fragrance they shed.” + +And now outside the cathedral another multitude had gathered; saints +and sinners, revellers and vulgarians. All sorts and conditions of +men; the drunk and the half-drunk; the senseless bawlers of silly +jokes; the maudlin bellowers of “Auld Lang Syne.” But, after all, +these noisy people were but the tide-tossed scum and flotsam upon the +surface of a broad, strong stream. The crowd, like the nation, had had +a lesson--stern, convincing--and it was sound at core. + +As the solemn hour drew near, a scarcely-broken silence fell upon the +multitude. From the hearts of many rose unspoken prayers. + +High in the winter night the London bells were chiming, ringing the Old +Year out, ringing the New Year in. + + * * * * * + +Hark to the bells!... + + “The year is dying in the night, + Ring out, wild bells!... + + The year is going, let him go; + Ring out the false, ring in the true.” + +Hark, they are chiming still!... + + “Ring out the feud of rich and poor + Ring in redress to all mankind.” + +Chime on, chime on!... + + “Ring out old shapes of foul disease; + Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; + Ring out the thousand wars of old, + Ring in the thousand years of peace.” + +Ring out! Ring in!... + + “Ring out the darkness of the land, + Ring in the Christ that is to be.” + +The “faithless coldness of the times,”--was that, too, dying with the +Old? Were “sweeter manners, purer laws” to dawn with the first daybreak +of the New? + +No answer came from earth or heaven. The deep and secret things were +not revealed; none knew what was in the darkness of the future. + +The ringers paused. Hush! the hour is striking. + +The last vibration quivers on the air. Deep silence falls. + +Then once again the bells ring out--clear-toned, hopeful, strong: + + “_There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend, + And a new face at the door, my friend, + A new face at the door!_” + + + THE END + + + * * * * * + + + PRINTED BY M^{c}LAREN AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75548 *** |