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Henty. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + img { border: 0;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + background-color: #FFFFFF; + color: #000000; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background-color: #eeeeee; color: #000000; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; + vertical-align: bottom; + margin: 0; padding: 0 1em 0 0;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Tales of Daring and Danger, by George Alfred Henty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tales of Daring and Danger + +Author: George Alfred Henty + +Illustrator: George Alfred Henty + +Release Date: October 26, 2005 [EBook #7870] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF DARING AND DANGER *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Stacy Brown Thellend and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +Merged with an earlier text produced by Juliet Sutherland, +Thomas Hutchinson and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<p><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a href="images/cover.jpg"><img src="images/cover-th2.jpg" width="324" height="500" alt="Tales of Daring and Danger by G.A. Henty" title="Tales of Daring and Danger by G.A. Henty" /></a> +</div> +<h1>TALES OF DARING AND DANGER.</h1> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a href="images/frontis-fs.jpg"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="324" height="516" alt="Sighting the wreck of the steamer." title="SIGHTING THE WRECK OF THE STEAMER." /></a> +<span class="caption">SIGHTING THE WRECK OF THE STEAMER.</span> +</div> +<p><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a></p><p><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a></p> +<h3><a name="TALES_OF" id="TALES_OF"></a>TALES OF</h3> + +<h1>DARING AND DANGER.</h1> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>G. A. HENTY,</h3> + +<p class="center">Author of "Yarns on the Beach;" "Sturdy and Strong;" "Facing Death;"<br /> +"By Sheer Pluck;" "With Clive in India;" &c.</p> + +<h4><i>ILLUSTRATED.</i></h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> +<img src="images/pub.jpg" width="275" height="118" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">LONDON:<br /> +BLACKIE & SON, 49 & 50 OLD BAILEY, E. C.<br /> +GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN.<br /> +1890.</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80px;"> +<img src="images/e1.jpg" width="80" height="44" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a></p><p><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table summary="contents" style="border: 0px;"> +<tr><td><div class="center" style="line-height: 20pt;"> +<a href="#BEARS_AND_DACOITS">BEARS AND DACOITS</a><br /> +<a href="#Paternosters">THE PATERNOSTERS</a><br /> +<a href="#A_PIPE_OF_MYSTERY">A PIPE OF MYSTERY</a><br /> +<a href="#WHITE-FACED_DICK">WHITE-FACED DICK</a><br /> +<a href="#A_BRUSH_WITH_THE_CHINESE">A BRUSH WITH THE CHINESE</a><br /> +</div> +</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a></p><p><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a name="BEARS_AND_DACOITS" id="BEARS_AND_DACOITS"></a> +<img src="images/bears.jpg" width="324" height="72" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>BEARS AND DACOITS.</h2> + +<h3>A TALE OF THE GHAUTS.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/b1.jpg" width="75" height="78" alt="A" title="" /></div> +<p>merry party were sitting in the verandah of one of the largest and +handsomest bungalows of Poonah. It belonged to Colonel Hastings, colonel +of a native regiment stationed there, and at present, in virtue of +seniority, commanding a brigade. Tiffin was on, and three or four +officers and four ladies had taken their seats in the comfortable cane +lounging chairs which form the invariable furniture of the verandah of a +well-ordered bungalow. Permission had been duly asked, and granted by +Mrs. Hastings, and the cheroots had just begun to draw, when Miss +Hastings, a niece of the colonel, who had only arrived the previous week +from England, said,—<br style="clear: both;" /></p> + +<p>"Uncle, I am quite disappointed. Mrs. Lyons <a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>showed me the bear she has +got tied up in their compound, and it is the most wretched little thing, +not bigger than Rover, papa's retriever, and it's full-grown. I thought +bears were great fierce creatures, and this poor little thing seemed so +restless and unhappy that I thought it quite a shame not to let it go."</p> + +<p>Colonel Hastings smiled rather grimly.</p> + +<p>"And yet, small and insignificant as that bear is, my dear, it is a +question whether he is not as dangerous an animal to meddle with as a +man-eating tiger."</p> + +<p>"What, that wretched little bear, Uncle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that wretched little bear. Any experienced sportsman will tell you +that hunting those little bears is as dangerous a sport as tiger-hunting +on foot, to say nothing of tiger-hunting from an elephant's back, in +which there is scarcely any danger whatever. I can speak feelingly about +it, for my career was pretty nearly brought to an end by a bear, just +after I entered the army, some thirty years ago, at a spot within a few +miles from here. I have got the scars on my shoulder and arm still."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do tell me all about it," Miss Hastings said; and the request being +seconded by the rest of the party, none of whom, with the exception of<a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a> +Mrs. Hastings, had ever heard the story before—for the colonel was +somewhat chary of relating this special experience—he waited till they +had all drawn up their chairs as close as possible, and then giving two +or three vigorous puffs at his cheroot, began as follows:—</p> + +<p>"Thirty years ago, in 1855, things were not so settled in the Deccan as +they are now. There was no idea of insurrection on a large scale, but we +were going through one of those outbreaks of Dacoity, which have several +times proved so troublesome. Bands of marauders kept the country in +confusion, pouring down on a village, now carrying off three or four of +the Bombay money-lenders, who were then, as now, the curse of the +country; sometimes making an onslaught upon a body of traders; and +occasionally venturing to attack small detachments of troops or isolated +parties of police. They were not very formidable, but they were very +troublesome, and most difficult to catch, for the peasantry regarded +them as patriots, and aided and shielded them in every way. The +head-quarters of these gangs of Dacoits were the Ghauts. In the thick +bush and deep valleys and gorges there they could always take refuge, +while sometimes the more daring chiefs converted these detached peaks +and masses of <a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>rock, numbers of which you can see as you come up the +Ghaut by railway, into almost impregnable fortresses. Many of these +masses of rock rise as sheer up from the hillside as walls of masonry, +and look at a short distance like ruined castles. Some are absolutely +inaccessible; others can only be scaled by experienced climbers; and, +although possible for the natives with their bare feet, are +impracticable to European troops. Many of these rock fortresses were at +various times the head-quarters of famous Dacoit leaders, and unless the +summits happened to be commanded from some higher ground within gunshot +range they were all but impregnable except by starvation. When driven to +bay, these fellows would fight well.</p> + +<p>"Well, about the time I joined, the Dacoits were unusually troublesome; +the police had a hard time of it, and almost lived in the saddle, and +the cavalry were constantly called up to help them, while detachments of +infantry from the station were under canvas at several places along the +top of the Ghauts to cut the bands off from their strongholds, and to +aid, if necessary, in turning them out of their rock fortresses. The +natives in the valleys at the foot of the Ghauts, who have always been a +semi-independent race, ready to rob whenever they saw a chance, were +<a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>great friends with the Dacoits, and supplied them with provisions +whenever the hunt on the Deccan was too hot for them to make raids in +that direction.</p> + +<p>"This is a long introduction, you will say, and does not seem to have +much to do with bears; but it is really necessary, as you will see. I +had joined about six months when three companies of the regiment were +ordered to relieve a wing of the 15th, who had been under canvas at a +village some four miles to the north of the point where the line crosses +the top of the Ghauts. There were three white officers, and little +enough to do, except when a party was sent off to assist the police. We +had one or two brushes with the Dacoits, but I was not out on either +occasion. However, there was plenty of shooting, and a good many pigs +about, so we had very good fun. Of course, as a raw hand, I was very hot +for it, and as the others had both passed the enthusiastic age, except +for pig-sticking and big game, I could always get away. I was supposed +not to go far from camp, because, in the first place, I might be wanted; +and, in the second, because of the Dacoits; and Norworthy, who was in +command, used to impress upon me that I ought not to go beyond the sound +of a bugle. Of course we both knew <a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>that if I intended to get any sport +I must go further afoot than this; but I merely used to say 'All right, +sir, I will keep an ear to the camp,' and he on his part never +considered it necessary to ask where the game which appeared on the +table came from. But in point of fact, I never went very far, and my +servant always had instructions which way to send for me if I was +wanted; while as to the Dacoits I did not believe in their having the +impudence to come in broad daylight within a mile or two of our camp. I +did not often go down the face of the Ghauts. The shooting was good, and +there were plenty of bears in those days, but it needed a long day for +such an expedition, and in view of the Dacoits who might be scattered +about, was not the sort of thing to be undertaken except with a strong +party. Norworthy had not given any precise orders about it, but I must +admit that he said one day:—</p> + +<p>"'Of course you won't be fool enough to think of going down the Ghauts, +Hastings?' But I did not look at that as equivalent to a direct +order—whatever I should do now," the colonel put in, on seeing a +furtive smile on the faces of his male listeners.</p> + +<p>"However, I never meant to go down, though I used to stand on the edge +and look longingly <a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>down into the bush and fancy I saw bears moving +about in scores. But I don't think I should have gone into their country +if they had not come into mine. One day the fellow who always carried my +spare gun or flask, and who was a sort of shekarry in a small way, told +me he had heard that a farmer, whose house stood near the edge of the +Ghauts, some two miles away, had been seriously annoyed by his fruit and +corn being stolen by bears.</p> + +<p>"'I'll go and have a look at the place to-morrow,' I said, 'there is no +parade, and I can start early. You may as well tell the mess cook to put +up a basket with some tiffin and a bottle of claret, and get a boy to +carry it over.'</p> + +<p>"'The bears not come in day,' Rahman said.</p> + +<p>"'Of course not,' I replied; 'still I may like to find out which way +they come. Just do as you are told.'</p> + +<p>"The next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at the farmer's spoken of, +and there was no mistake as to the bears. A patch of Indian corn had +been ruined by them, and two dogs had been killed. The native was in a +terrible state of rage and alarm. He said that on moonlight nights he +had seen eight of them, and they came and sniffed around the door of the +cottage.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>"'Why don't you fire through the window at them?' I asked scornfully, +for I had seen a score of tame bears in captivity, and, like you, Mary, +was inclined to despise them, though there was far less excuse for me; +for I had heard stories which should have convinced me that, small as he +is, the Indian bear is not a beast to be attacked with impunity. Upon +walking to the edge of the Ghauts there was no difficulty in discovering +the route by which the bears came up to the farm. For a mile to the +right and left the ground fell away as if cut with a knife, leaving a +precipice of over a hundred feet sheer down; but close by where I was +standing was the head of a watercourse, which in time had gradually worn +a sort of cleft in the wall, up or down which it was not difficult to +make one's way. Further down this little gorge widened out and became a +deep ravine, and further still a wide valley, where it opened upon the +flats far below us. About half a mile down where the ravine was deepest +and darkest was a thick clump of trees and jungle.</p> + +<p>"'That's where the bears are?' I asked Rahman. He nodded. It seemed no +distance. I could get down and back in time for tiffin, and perhaps bag +a couple of bears. For a young sportsman the temptation was great. 'How +long would it <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>take us to go down and have a shot or two at them?'</p> + +<p>"'No good go down. Master come here at night, shoot bears when they come +up.'</p> + +<p>"I had thought of that; but, in the first place, it did not seem much +sport to shoot the beasts from cover when they were quietly eating, and, +in the next place, I knew that Norworthy could not, even if he were +willing, give me leave to go out of camp at night. I waited, hesitating +for a few minutes, and then I said to myself, 'It is of no use waiting. +I could go down and get a bear and be back again while I am thinking of +it;' then to Rahman, 'No, come along; we will have a look through that +wood anyhow.'</p> + +<p>"Rahman evidently did not like it.</p> + +<p>"'Not easy find bear, sahib. He very cunning.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, very likely we sha'n't find them,' I said, 'but we can try +anyhow. Bring that bottle with you; the tiffin basket can wait here till +we come back.' In another five minutes I had begun to climb down the +watercourse—the shekarry following me. I took the double-barrelled +rifle and handed him the shot-gun, having first dropped a bullet down +each barrel over the charge. The ravine was steep, but there were bushes +to hold on by, and although it was hot work and took <a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>a good deal longer +than I expected, we at last got down to the place which I had fixed upon +as likely to be the bears' home.</p> + +<p>"'Sahib, climb up top,' Rahman said; 'come down through wood; no good +fire at bear when he above.'</p> + +<p>"I had heard that before; but I was hot, the sun was pouring down, there +was not a breath of wind, and it looked a long way up to the top of the +wood.</p> + +<p>"'Give me the claret. It would take too long to search the wood +regularly. We will sit down here for a bit, and if we can see anything +moving up in the wood, well and good; if not, we will come back again +another day with some beaters and dogs.' So saying, I sat down with my +back against a rock, at a spot where I could look up among the trees for +a long way through a natural vista. I had a drink of claret, and then I +sat and watched till gradually I dropped off to sleep. I don't know how +long I slept, but it was some time, and I woke up with a sudden start. +Rahman, who had, I fancy, been asleep too, also started up.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a href="images/rahman-fs.jpg"><img src="images/rahman.jpg" width="324" height="528" alt=""My gun, Rahman," I shouted." title=""My gun, Rahman," I shouted." /></a> +<span class="caption">"MY GUN, RAHMAN," I SHOUTED.</span> +</div> + +<p>"The noise which had aroused us was made by a rolling stone striking a +rock; and looking up I saw some fifty yards away, not in the wood, but +on the rocky hillside on our side of the <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>ravine, a bear standing, as +though unconscious of our presence, snuffing the air. As was natural, I +seized my rifle, cocked it, and took aim, unheeding a cry of 'No, no, +sahib,' from Rahman. However, I was not going to miss such a chance as +this, and I let fly. The beast had been standing sideways to me, and as +I saw him fall I felt sure I had hit him in the heart. I gave a shout of +triumph, and was about to climb up, when, from behind the rock on which +the bear had stood, appeared another growling fiercely; on seeing me, it +at once prepared to come down. Stupidly, being taken by surprise, and +being new at it, I fired at once at its head. The bear gave a spring, +and then—it seemed instantaneous—down it came at me. Whether it rolled +down, or slipped down, or ran down, I don't know, but it came almost as +if it had jumped straight at me.</p> + +<p>"'My gun, Rahman,' I shouted, holding out my hand. There was no answer. +I glanced round, and found that the scoundrel had bolted. I had time, +and only just time, to take a step backwards, and to club my rifle, when +the brute was upon me. I got one fair blow at the side of its head, a +blow that would have smashed the skull of any civilized beast into +pieces, and which did <a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>fortunately break the brute's jaw; then in an +instant he was upon me, and I was fighting for life. My hunting-knife +was out, and with my left hand I had the beast by the throat; while with +my right I tried to drive my knife into its ribs. My bullet had gone +through his chest. The impetus of his charge had knocked me over, and we +rolled on the ground, he tearing with his claws at my shoulder and arm, +I stabbing and struggling, my great effort being to keep my knees up so +as to protect my body with them from his hind claws. After the first +blow with his paw, which laid my shoulder open, I do not think I felt +any special pain whatever. There was a strange faint sensation, and my +whole energy seemed centered in the two ideas—to strike and to keep my +knees up. I knew that I was getting faint, but I was dimly conscious +that his efforts, too, were relaxing. His weight on me seemed to +increase enormously, and the last idea that flashed across me was that +it was a drawn fight.</p> + +<p>"The next idea of which I was conscious was that I was being carried. I +seemed to be swinging about, and I thought I was at sea. Then there was +a little jolt and a sense of pain. 'A collision,' I muttered, and opened +my eyes. Beyond the fact that I seemed in a yellow world—<a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>a bright +orange-yellow—my eyes did not help me, and I lay vaguely wondering +about it all, till the rocking ceased. There was another bump, and then +the yellow world seemed to come to an end; and as the daylight streamed +in upon me I fainted again. This time when I awoke to consciousness +things were clearer. I was stretched by a little stream. A native woman +was sprinkling my face and washing the blood from my wounds; while +another, who had with my own knife cut off my coat and shirt, was +tearing the latter into strips to bandage my wounds. The yellow world +was explained. I was lying on the yellow robe of one of the women. They +had tied the ends together, placed a long stick through them, and +carried me in the bag-like hammock. They nodded to me when they saw I +was conscious, and brought water in a large leaf, and poured it into my +mouth. Then one went away for some time, and came back with some leaves +and bark. These they chewed and put on my wounds, bound them up with +strips of my shirt, and then again knotted the ends of the cloth, and +lifting me up, went on as before.</p> + +<p>"I was sure that we were much lower down the Ghaut than we had been when +I was watching for the bears, and we were now going still <a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>lower. +However, I knew very little Hindustani, nothing of the language the +women spoke. I was too weak to stand, too weak even to think much; and I +dozed and woke, and dozed again, until, after what seemed to me many +hours of travel, we stopped again, this time before a tent. Two or three +old women and four or five men came out, and there was great talking +between them and the young women—for they were young—who had carried +me down. Some of the party appeared angry; but at last things quieted +down, and I was carried into the tent. I had fever, and was, I suppose, +delirious for days. I afterwards found that for fully a fortnight I had +lost all consciousness; but a good constitution and the nursing of the +women pulled me round. When once the fever had gone, I began to mend +rapidly. I tried to explain to the women that if they would go up to the +camp and tell them where I was they would be well rewarded; but although +I was sure they understood, they shook their heads, and by the fact that +as I became stronger two or three armed men always hung about the tent, +I came to the conclusion that I was a sort of prisoner. This was +annoying, but did not seem serious. If these people were Dacoits, or, as +was more likely, allies of the Dacoits, I could be kept only <a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>for ransom +or exchange. Moreover, I felt sure of my ability to escape when I got +strong, especially as I believed that in the young women who had saved +my life, both by bringing me down and by their careful nursing, I should +find friends."</p> + +<p>"Were they pretty, uncle?" Mary Hastings broke in.</p> + +<p>"Never mind whether they were pretty, Mary; they were better than +pretty."</p> + +<p>"No; but we like to know, uncle."</p> + +<p>"Well, except for the soft, dark eyes, common to the race, and the good +temper and lightheartedness, also so general among Hindu girls, and the +tenderness which women feel towards a creature whose life they have +saved, whether it is a wounded bird or a drowning puppy, I suppose they +were nothing remarkable in the way of beauty, but at the time I know +that I thought them charming.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>"Just as I was getting strong enough to walk, and was beginning to think +of making my escape, a band of five or six fellows, armed to the teeth, +came in, and made signs that I was to go with them. It was evidently an +arranged thing, <a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>the girls only were surprised, but they were at once +turned out, and as we started I could see two crouching figures in the +shade with their cloths over their heads. I had a native garment thrown +over my shoulders, and in five minutes after the arrival of the fellows +found myself on my way. It took us some six hours before we reached our +destination, which was one of those natural rock citadels. Had I been in +my usual health I could have done the distance in an hour and a half, +but I had to rest constantly, and was finally carried rather than helped +up. I had gone not unwillingly, for the men were clearly, by their +dress, Dacoits of the Deccan, and I had no doubt that it was intended +either to ransom or exchange me.</p> + +<p>"At the foot of this natural castle were some twenty or thirty more +robbers, and I was led to a rough sort of arbour in which was lying, on +a pile of maize straw, a man who was evidently their chief. He rose and +we exchanged salaams.</p> + +<p>"'What is your name, sahib?' he asked in Mahratta.</p> + +<p>"'Hastings—Lieutenant Hastings,' I said. 'And yours?'</p> + +<p>"'Sivajee Punt!' he said.</p> + +<p>"This was bad. I had fallen into the hands of <a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>the most troublesome, +most ruthless, and most famous of the Dacoit leaders. Over and over +again he had been hotly chased, but had always managed to get away; and +when I last heard anything of what was going on four or five troops of +native police were scouring the country after him. He gave an order +which I did not understand, and a wretched Bombay writer, I suppose a +clerk of some money-lender, was dragged forward. Sivajee Punt spoke to +him for some time, and the fellow then told me in English that I was to +write at once to the officer commanding the troops, telling him that I +was in his hands, and should be put to death directly he was attacked.</p> + +<p>"'Ask him,' I said, 'if he will take any sum of money to let me go?'</p> + +<p>"Sivajee shook his head very decidedly.</p> + +<p>"A piece of paper was put before me, and a pen and ink, and I wrote as I +had been ordered, adding, however, in French, that I had brought myself +into my present position by my own folly, and would take my chance, for +I well knew the importance which Government attached to Sivajee's +capture. I read out loud all that I had written in English, and the +interpreter translated it. Then the paper was folded and I addressed it, +'The Officer Commanding,' and I was given <a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>some chupattis and a drink of +water, and allowed to sleep. The Dacoits had apparently no fear of any +immediate attack.</p> + +<p>"It was still dark, although morning was just breaking, when I was +awakened, and was got up to the citadel. I was hoisted rather than +climbed, two men standing above with a rope, tied round my body, so that +I was half-hauled, half-pushed up the difficult places, which would have +taxed all my climbing powers had I been in health.</p> + +<p>"The height of this mass of rock was about a hundred feet; the top was +fairly flat, with some depressions and risings, and about eighty feet +long by fifty wide. It had evidently been used as a fortress in ages +past. Along the side facing the hill were the remains of a rough wall. +In the centre of a depression was a cistern, some four feet square, +lined with stone-work, and in another depression a gallery had been cut, +leading to a subterranean store-room or chamber. This natural fortress +rose from the face of the hill at a distance of a thousand yards or so +from the edge of the plateau, which was fully two hundred feet higher +than the top of the rock. In the old days it would have been +impregnable, and even at that time it was an awkward place to <a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>take, for +the troops were armed only with Brown Bess, and rifled cannon were not +thought of. Looking round, I could see that I was some four miles from +the point where I had descended. The camp was gone; but running my eye +along the edge of the plateau I could see the tops of tents a mile to my +right, and again two miles to my left; turning round, and looking down +into the wide valley, I saw a regimental camp.</p> + +<p>"It was evident that a vigorous effort was being made to surround and +capture the Dacoits, since troops had been brought up from Bombay. In +addition to the troops above and below, there would probably be a strong +police force, acting on the face of the hill. I did not see all these +things at the time, for I was, as soon as I got to the top, ordered to +sit down behind the parapet, a fellow armed to the teeth squatting down +by me, and signifying that if I showed my head above the stones he would +cut my throat without hesitation. There were, however, sufficient gaps +between the stones to allow me to have a view of the crest of the Ghaut, +while below my view extended down to the hills behind Bombay. It was +evident to me now why the Dacoits did not climb up into the fortress. +There were dozens of similar crags on the face of the Ghauts, and the +<a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>troops did not as yet know their whereabouts. It was a sort of blockade +of the whole face of the hills which was being kept up, and there were, +probably enough, several other bands of Dacoits lurking in the jungle.</p> + +<p>"There were only two guards and myself on the rock plateau. I discussed +with myself the chances of my overpowering them and holding the top of +the rock till help came; but I was greatly weakened, and was not a match +for a boy, much less for the two stalwart Mahrattas; besides, I was by +no means sure that the way I had been brought up was the only possible +path to the top. The day passed off quietly. The heat on the bare rock +was frightful, but one of the men, seeing how weak and ill I really was, +fetched a thick rug from the storehouse, and with the aid of a stick +made a sort of lean-to against the wall, under which I lay sheltered +from the sun.</p> + +<p>"Once or twice during the day I heard a few distant musket-shots, and +once a sharp heavy outburst of firing. It must have been three or four +miles away, but it was on the side of the Ghaut, and showed that the +troops or police were at work. My guards looked anxiously in that +direction, and uttered sundry curses. When <a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>it was dusk, Sivajee and +eight of the Dacoits came up. From what they said, I gathered that the +rest of the band had dispersed, trusting either to get through the line +of their pursuers, or, if caught, to escape with slight punishment, the +men who remained being too deeply concerned in murderous outrages to +hope for mercy. Sivajee himself handed me a letter, which the man who +had taken my note had brought back in reply. Major Knapp, the writer, +who was the second in command, said that he could not engage the +Government, but that if Lieutenant Hastings was given up the act would +certainly dispose the Government to take the most merciful view +possible; but that if, on the contrary, any harm was suffered by +Lieutenant Hastings, every man taken would be at once hung. Sivajee did +not appear put out about it. I do not think he expected any other +answer, and imagine that his real object in writing was simply to let +them know that I was a prisoner, and so enable him the better to +paralyse the attack upon a position which he no doubt considered all but +impregnable.</p> + +<p>"I was given food, and was then allowed to walk as I chose upon the +little plateau, two of the Dacoits taking post as sentries at the +steepest <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>part of the path, while the rest gathered, chatting and +smoking, in the depression in front of the storehouse. It was still +light enough for me to see for some distance down the face of the rock, +and I strained my eyes to see if I could discern any other spot at which +an ascent or descent was possible. The prospect was not encouraging. At +some places the face fell sheer away from the edge, and so evident was +the impracticability of escape that the only place which I glanced at +twice was the western side, that is the one away from the hill. Here it +sloped gradually for a few feet. I took off my shoes and went down to +the edge. Below, some ten feet, was a ledge, on to which with care I +could get down, but below that was a sheer fall of some fifty feet. As a +means of escape it was hopeless, but it struck me that if an attack was +made I might slip away and get on to the ledge. Once there I could not +be seen except by a person standing where I now was, just on the edge of +the slope, a spot to which it was very unlikely that anyone would come.</p> + +<p>"The thought gave me a shadow of hope, and, returning to the upper end +of the platform, I lay down, and in spite of the hardness of the rock, +was soon asleep. The pain of my aching bones <a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>woke me up several times, +and once, just as the first tinge of dawn was coming, I thought I could +hear movements in the jungle. I raised myself somewhat, and I saw that +the sounds had been heard by the Dacoits, for they were standing +listening, and some of them were bringing spare fire-arms from the +storehouse, in evident preparation for attack.</p> + +<p>"As I afterwards learned, the police had caught one of the Dacoits +trying to effect his escape, and by means of a little of the ingenious +torture to which the Indian police then frequently resorted, when their +white officers were absent, they obtained from him the exact position of +Sivajee's band, and learned the side from which the ascent must be made. +That the Dacoit and his band were still upon the slopes of the Ghauts +they knew, and were gradually narrowing their circle, but there were so +many rocks and hiding-places that the process of searching was a slow +one, and the intelligence was so important that the news was off at once +to the colonel, who gave orders for the police to surround the rock at +daylight and to storm it if possible. The garrison was so small that the +police were alone ample for the work, supposing that the natural +difficulties were not altogether insuperable.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>"Just at daybreak there was a distant noise of men moving in the +jungle, and the Dacoit half-way down the path fired his gun. He was +answered by a shout and a volley. The Dacoits hurried out from the +chamber, and lay down on the edge, where, sheltered by a parapet, they +commanded the path. They paid no attention to me, and I kept as far away +as possible. The fire began—a quiet, steady fire, a shot at a time, and +in strong contrast to the rattle kept up from the surrounding jungle; +but every shot must have told, as man after man who strove to climb that +steep path, fell. It lasted only ten minutes, and then all was quiet +again.</p> + +<p>"The attack had failed, as I knew it must do, for two men could have +held the place against an army; a quarter of an hour later a gun from +the crest above spoke out, and a round shot whistled above our heads. +Beyond annoyance, an artillery fire could do no harm, for the party +could be absolutely safe in the store cave. The instant the shot flew +overhead, however, Sivajee Punt beckoned to me, and motioned me to take +my seat on the wall facing the guns. Hesitation was useless, and I took +my seat with my back to the Dacoits and my face to the hill. One of the +Dacoits, as I did so, pulled off the native <a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>cloth which covered my +shoulders, in order that I might be clearly seen.</p> + +<p>"Just as I took my place another round shot hummed by; but then there +was a long interval of silence. With a field-glass every feature must +have been distinguishable to the gunners, and I had no doubt that they +were waiting for orders as to what to do next.</p> + +<p>"I glanced round and saw that with the exception of one fellow squatted +behind the parapet some half-dozen yards away, clearly as a sentry to +keep me in place, all the others had disappeared. Some, no doubt, were +on sentry down the path, the others were in the store beneath me. After +half an hour's silence the guns spoke out again. Evidently the gunners +were told to be as careful as they could, for some of the shots went +wide on the left, others on the right. A few struck the rock below me. +The situation was not pleasant, but I thought that at a thousand yards +they ought not to hit me, and I tried to distract my attention by +thinking out what I should do under every possible contingency.</p> + +<p>"Presently I felt a crash and a shock, and fell backwards to the ground. +I was not hurt, and on picking myself up saw that the ball had struck +<a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>the parapet to the left, just where my guard was sitting, and he lay +covered with its fragments. His turban lay some yards behind him. +Whether he was dead or not I neither knew nor cared.</p> + +<p>"I pushed down some of the parapet where I had been sitting, dropped my +cap on the edge outside, so as to make it appear that I had fallen over, +and then picking up the man's turban, ran to the other end of the +platform and scrambled down to the ledge. Then I began to wave my arms +about—I had nothing on above the waist—and in a moment I saw a face +with a uniform cap peer out through the jungle, and a hand was waved. I +made signs to him to make his way to the foot of the perpendicular wall +of rock beneath me. I then unwound the turban, whose length was, I knew, +amply sufficient to reach to the bottom, and then looked round for +something to write on. I had my pencil still in my trousers pocket, but +not a scrap of paper.</p> + +<p>"I picked up a flattish piece of rock and wrote on it, 'Get a +rope-ladder quickly, I can haul it up. Ten men in garrison. They are all +under cover. Keep on firing to distract their attention."</p> + +<p>"I tied the stone to the end of the turban, and looked over. A +non-commissioned officer of the police was already standing below. I +lowered <a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>the stone; he took it, waved his hand to me, and was gone.</p> + +<p>"An hour passed: it seemed an age. The round shots still rang overhead, +and the fire was now much more heavy and sustained than before. +Presently I again saw a movement in the jungle, and Norworthy's face +appeared, and he waved his arm in greeting.</p> + +<p>"Five minutes more and a party were gathered at the foot of the rock, +and a strong rope was tied to the cloth. I pulled it up. A rope-ladder +was attached to it, and the top rung was in a minute or two in my hands. +To it was tied a piece of paper with the words: 'Can you fasten the +ladder?" I wrote on the paper: 'No; but I can hold it for a light +weight.'</p> + +<p>"I put the paper with a stone in the end of the cloth, and lowered it +again. Then I sat down, tied the rope round my waist, got my feet +against two projections, and waited. There was a jerk, and then I felt +some one was coming up the rope-ladder. The strain was far less than I +expected, but the native policeman who came up first did not weigh half +so much as an average Englishman. There were now two of us to hold. The +officer in command of the police came up next, then Norworthy, then a +dozen more police. I <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>explained the situation, and we mounted to the +upper level. Not a soul was to be seen. Quickly we advanced and took up +a position to command the door of the underground chamber; while one of +the police waved a white cloth from his bayonet as a signal to the +gunners to cease firing. Then the police officer hailed the party within +the cave.</p> + +<p>"'Sivajee Punt! you may as well come out and give yourself up! We are in +possession, and resistance is useless!'</p> + +<p>"A yell of rage and surprise was heard, and the Dacoits, all desperate +men, came bounding out, firing as they did so. Half of their number were +shot down at once, and the rest, after a short, sharp struggle, were +bound hand and foot.</p> + +<p>"That is pretty well all of the story, I think. Sivajee Punt was one of +the killed. The prisoners were all either hung or imprisoned for life. I +escaped my blowing-up for having gone down the Ghauts after the bear, +because, after all, Sivajee Punt might have defied their force for +months had I not done so.</p> + +<p>"It seemed that that scoundrel Rahman had taken back word that I was +killed. Norworthy had sent down a strong party, who <a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>found the two dead +bears, and who, having searched everywhere without finding any signs of +my body, came to the conclusion that I had been found and carried away, +especially as they ascertained that natives used that path. They had +offered rewards, but nothing was heard of me till my note saying I was +in Sivajee's hands arrived."</p> + +<p>"And did you ever see the women who carried you off?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mary, I never saw them again. I did, however, after immense +trouble, succeed in finding out where it was that I had been taken to. I +went down at once, but found the village deserted. Then after much +inquiry I found where the people had moved to, and sent messages to the +women to come up to the camp, but they never came; and I was reduced at +last to sending them down two sets of silver bracelets, necklaces, and +bangles, which must have rendered them the envy of all the women on the +Ghauts. They sent back a message of grateful thanks, and I never heard +of them afterwards. No doubt their relatives, who knew that their +connection with the Dacoits was now known, would not let them come. +However, I had done all I could, and I have no doubt the women were +perfectly <a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>satisfied. So you see, my dear, that the Indian bear, small +as he is, is an animal which it is as well to leave alone, at any rate +when he happens to be up on the side of a hill while you are at the +foot."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/e2.jpg" width="150" height="70" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a name="Paternosters" id="Paternosters"></a> +<img src="images/pater.jpg" width="324" height="73" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>THE PATERNOSTERS.</h2> + +<h3>A YACHTING STORY.</h3> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/b1.jpg" width="75" height="78" alt="A" title="" /></div> +<p style="text-indent: -0.75em;">ND do you really mean that we are to cross by the steamer, Mr. Virtue, +while you go over in the <i>Seabird?</i> I do not approve of that at all. +Fanny, why do you not rebel, and say we won't be put ashore? I call it +horrid, after a fortnight on board this dear little yacht, to have to +get on to a crowded steamer, with no accommodation and lots of sea-sick +women, perhaps, and crying children. You surely cannot be in earnest?"<br style="clear: both;" /></p> + +<p>"I do not like it any more than you do, Minnie; but, as Tom says we had +better do it, and my husband agrees with him, I am afraid we must +submit. Do you really think it is quite necessary, Mr. Virtue? Minnie +and I are both good sailors, you know; and we would much rather have a +little extra tossing about on board the <i>Seabird</i> than the discomforts +of a steamer."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>"I certainly think that it will be best, Mrs. Grantham. You know very +well we would rather have you on board, and that we shall suffer from +your loss more than you will by going the other way; but there's no +doubt the wind is getting up, and though we don't feel it much here, it +must be blowing pretty hard outside. The <i>Seabird</i> is as good a sea-boat +as anything of her size that floats; but you don't know what it is to be +out in anything like a heavy sea in a thirty-tonner. It would be +impossible for you to stay on deck, and we should have our hands full, +and should not be able to give you the benefit of our society. +Personally, I should not mind being out in the <i>Seabird</i> in any weather, +but I would certainly rather not have ladies on board."</p> + +<p>"You don't think we should scream, or do anything foolish, Mr. Virtue?" +Minnie Graham said indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Miss Graham. Still, I repeat, the knowledge that there are +women on board, delightful at other times, does not tend to comfort in +bad weather. Of course, if you prefer it, we can put off our start till +this puff of wind has blown itself out. It may have dropped before +morning. It may last some little time.<a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a> I don't think myself that it +will drop, for the glass has fallen, and I am afraid we may have a spell +of broken weather."</p> + +<p>"Oh no; don't put it off," Mrs. Grantham said; "we have only another +fortnight before James must be back again in London, and it would be a +great pity to lose three or four days perhaps; and we have been looking +forward to cruising about among the Channel Islands, and to St. Malo, +and all those places. Oh no; I think the other is much the better +plan—that is, if you won't take us with you."</p> + +<p>"It would be bad manners to say that I won't, Mrs. Grantham; but I must +say I would rather not. It will be a very short separation. Grantham +will take you on shore at once, and as soon as the boat comes back I +shall be off. You will start in the steamer this evening, and get into +Jersey at nine or ten o'clock to-morrow morning; and if I am not there +before you, I shall not be many hours after you."</p> + +<p>"Well, if it must be it must," Mrs. Grantham said, with an air of +resignation. "Come, Minnie, let us put a few things into a hand-bag for +to-night. You see the skipper is not to be moved by our pleadings."</p> + +<p>"That is the worst of you married women,<a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a> Fanny," Miss Graham said, with +a little pout. "You get into the way of doing as you are ordered. I call +it too bad. Here have we been cruising about for the last fortnight, +with scarcely a breath of wind, and longing for a good brisk breeze and +a little change and excitement, and now it comes at last, we are to be +packed off in a steamer. I call it horrid of you, Mr. Virtue. You may +laugh, but I do."</p> + +<p>Tom Virtue laughed, but he showed no signs of giving way, and ten +minutes later Mr. and Mrs. Grantham and Miss Graham took their places in +the gig, and were rowed into Southampton Harbour, off which the +<i>Seabird</i> was lying.</p> + +<p>The last fortnight had been a very pleasant one, and it had cost the +owner of the <i>Seabird</i> as much as his guests to come to the conclusion +that it was better to break up the party for a few hours.</p> + +<p>Tom Virtue had, up to the age of five-and-twenty, been possessed of a +sufficient income for his wants. He had entered at the bar, not that he +felt any particular vocation in that direction, but because he thought +it incumbent upon him to do something. Then, at the death of an uncle, +he had come into a considerable fortune, and was <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>able to indulge his +taste for yachting, which was the sole amusement for which he really +cared, to the fullest.</p> + +<p>He sold the little five-tonner he had formerly possessed, and purchased +the <i>Seabird</i>. He could well have afforded a much larger craft, but he +knew that there was far more real enjoyment in sailing to be obtained +from a small craft than a large one, for in the latter he would be +obliged to have a regular skipper, and would be little more than a +passenger, whereas on board the <i>Seabird</i>, although his first hand was +dignified by the name of skipper, he was himself the absolute master. +The boat carried the aforesaid skipper, three hands, and a steward, and +with them he had twice been up the Mediterranean, across to Norway, and +had several times made the circuit of the British Isles.</p> + +<p>He had unlimited confidence in his boat, and cared not what weather he +was out in her. This was the first time since his ownership of her that +the <i>Seabird</i> had carried lady passengers. His friend Grantham, an old +school and college chum, was a hard-working barrister, and Virtue had +proposed to him to take a month's holiday on board the <i>Seabird</i>.</p> + +<p>"Put aside your books, old man," he said.<a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a> "You look fagged and +overworked; a month's blow will do you all the good in the world."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Tom; I have made up my mind for a month's holiday, but I +can't accept your invitation, though I should enjoy it of all things. +But it would not be fair to my wife; she doesn't get very much of my +society, and she has been looking forward to our having a run together. +So I must decline."</p> + +<p>Virtue hesitated a moment. He was not very fond of ladies' society, and +thought them especially in the way on board a yacht; but he had a great +liking for his friend's wife, and was almost as much at home in his +house as in his own chambers.</p> + +<p>"Why not bring the wife with you?" he said, as soon as his mind was made +up. "It will be a nice change for her too; and I have heard her say that +she is a good sailor. The accommodation is not extensive, but the +after-cabin is a pretty good size, and I would do all I could to make +her comfortable. Perhaps she would like another lady with her; if so by +all means bring one. They could have the after-cabin, you could have the +little state-room, and I could sleep in the saloon."</p> + +<p>"It is very good of you, Tom, especially as I <a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>know that it will put you +out frightfully; but the offer is a very tempting one. I will speak to +Fanny, and let you have an answer in the morning."</p> + +<p>"That will be delightful, James," Mrs. Grantham said, when the +invitation was repeated to her. "I should like it of all things; and I +am sure the rest and quiet and the sea air will be just the thing for +you. It is wonderful, Tom Virtue making the offer; and I take it as a +great personal compliment, for he certainly is not what is generally +called a lady's man. It is very nice, too, of him to think of my having +another lady on board. Whom shall we ask? Oh, I know," she said +suddenly; "that will be the thing of all others. We will ask my cousin +Minnie; she is full of fun and life, and will make a charming wife for +Tom!"</p> + +<p>James Grantham laughed.</p> + +<p>"What schemers you all are, Fanny! Now I should call it downright +treachery to take anyone on board the <i>Seabird</i> with the idea of +capturing its master."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, treachery!" Mrs. Grantham said indignantly; "Minnie is the +nicest girl I know, and it would do Tom a world of good to have a wife +to look after him. Why, he is thirty now, <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>and will be settling down +into a confirmed old bachelor before long. It's the greatest kindness we +could do him, to take Minnie on board; and I am sure he is the sort of +man any girl might fall in love with when she gets to know him. The fact +is, he's shy! He never had any sisters, and spends all his time in +winter at that horrid club; so that really he has never had any women's +society, and even with us he will never come unless he knows we are +alone. I call it a great pity, for I don't know a pleasanter fellow than +he is. I think it will be doing him a real service in asking Minnie; so +that's settled. I will sit down and write him a note."</p> + +<p>"In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose," was Tom Virtue's comment +when he received Mrs. Grantham's letter, thanking him warmly for the +invitation, and saying that she would bring her cousin, Miss Graham, +with her, if that young lady was disengaged.</p> + +<p>As a matter of self-defence he at once invited Jack Harvey, who was a +mutual friend of himself and Grantham, to be of the party.</p> + +<p>"Jack can help Grantham to amuse the women," he said to himself; "that +will be more in his line than mine. I will run down to Cowes to-morrow +and have a chat with Johnson; we shall want a <a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>different sort of stores +altogether to those we generally carry, and I suppose we must do her up +a bit below."</p> + +<p>Having made up his mind to the infliction of female passengers, Tom +Virtue did it handsomely, and when the party came on board at Ryde they +were delighted with the aspect of the yacht below. She had been +repainted, the saloon and ladies' cabin were decorated in delicate +shades of gray, picked out with gold; and the upholsterer, into whose +hands the owner of the <i>Seabird</i> had placed her, had done his work with +taste and judgment, and the ladies' cabin resembled a little boudoir.</p> + +<p>"Why, Tom, I should have hardly known her!" Grantham, who had often +spent a day on board the <i>Seabird</i>, said.</p> + +<p>"I hardly know her myself," Tom said, rather ruefully; "but I hope she's +all right, Mrs. Grantham, and that you and Miss Graham will find +everything you want."</p> + +<p>"It is charming!" Mrs. Grantham said enthusiastically. "It's awfully +good of you, Tom, and we appreciate it; don't we, Minnie? It is such a +surprise, too; for James said that while I should find everything very +comfortable, I must not expect that a small yacht would be got up like a +palace."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>So a fortnight had passed; they had cruised along the coast as far as +Plymouth, anchoring at night at the various ports on the way. Then they +had returned to Southampton, and it had been settled that as none of the +party, with the exception of Virtue himself, had been to the Channel +Islands, the last fortnight of the trip should be spent there. The +weather had been delightful, save that there had been some deficiency in +wind, and throughout the cruise the <i>Seabird</i> had been under all the +sail she could spread. But when the gentlemen came on deck early in the +morning a considerable change had taken place; the sky was gray and the +clouds flying fast overhead.</p> + +<p>"We are going to have dirty weather," Tom Virtue said at once. "I don't +think it's going to be a gale, but there will be more sea on than will +be pleasant for ladies. I tell you what, Grantham; the best thing will +be for you to go on shore with the two ladies, and cross by the boat +to-night. If you don't mind going directly after breakfast I will start +at once, and shall be at St. Helier's as soon as you are."</p> + +<p>And so it had been agreed, but not, as has been seen, without opposition +and protest on the part of the ladies.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>Mrs. Grantham's chief reason for objecting had not been given. The +little scheme on which she had set her mind seemed to be working +satisfactorily. From the first day Tom Virtue had exerted himself to +play the part of host satisfactorily, and had ere long shaken off any +shyness he may have felt towards the one stranger of the party, and he +and Miss Graham had speedily got on friendly terms. So things were going +on as well as Mrs. Grantham could have expected.</p> + +<p>No sooner had his guests left the side of the yacht than her owner began +to make his preparations for a start.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of the weather, Watkins?" he asked his skipper.</p> + +<p>"It's going to blow hard, sir; that's my view of it, and if I was you I +shouldn't up anchor to-day. Still, it's just as you likes; the <i>Seabird</i> +won't mind it if we don't. She has had a rough time of it before now; +still, it will be a case of wet jackets, and no mistake."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I expect we shall have a rough time of it, Watkins, but I want to +get across. We don't often let ourselves be weather-bound, and I am not +going to begin it to-day. We had better house the topmast at once, and +get two reefs in the main-sail. We can get the other down when <a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>we get +clear of the island. Get number three jib up, and the leg-of-mutton +mizzen; put two reefs in the foresail."</p> + +<p>Tom and his friend Harvey, who was a good sailor, assisted the crew in +reefing down the sails, and a few minutes after the gig had returned and +been hoisted in, the yawl was running rapidly down Southampton waters.</p> + +<p>"We need hardly have reefed quite so closely," Jack Harvey said, as he +puffed away at his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Not yet, Jack; but you will see she has as much as she can carry before +long. It's all the better to make all snug before starting; it saves a +lot of trouble afterwards, and the extra canvas would not have made ten +minutes' difference to us at the outside. We shall have pretty nearly a +dead beat down the Solent. Fortunately tide will be running strong with +us, but there will be a nasty kick-up there. You will see we shall feel +the short choppy seas there more than we shall when we get outside. She +is a grand boat in a really heavy sea, but in short waves she puts her +nose into it with a will. Now, if you will take my advice, you will do +as I am going to do; put on a pair of fisherman's boots and oilskin and +sou'-wester. There are several sets for you to choose from below."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>As her owner had predicted, the <i>Seabird</i> put her bowsprit under pretty +frequently in the Solent; the wind was blowing half a gale, and as it +met the tide it knocked up a short, angry sea, crested with white heads, +and Jack Harvey agreed that she had quite as much sail on her as she +wanted. The cabin doors were bolted, and all made snug to prevent the +water getting below before they got to the race off Hurst Castle; and it +was well that they did so, for she was as much under water as she was +above.</p> + +<p>"I think if I had given way to the ladies and brought them with us they +would have changed their minds by this time, Jack," Tom Virtue said, +with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"I should think so," his friend agreed; "this is not a day for a +fair-weather sailor. Look what a sea is breaking on the shingles!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, five minutes there would knock her into matchwood. Another ten +minutes and we shall be fairly out; and I sha'n't be sorry; one feels as +if one was playing football, only just at present the <i>Seabird</i> is the +ball and the waves the kickers."</p> + +<p>Another quarter of an hour and they had passed the Needles.</p> + +<p>"That is more pleasant, Jack," as the short, chopping motion was +exchanged for a regular <a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>rise and fall; "this is what I enjoy—a steady +wind and a regular sea. The <i>Seabird</i> goes over it like one of her +namesakes; she is not taking a teacupful now over her bows.</p> + +<p>"Watkins, you may as well take the helm for a spell, while we go down to +lunch. I am not sorry to give it up for a bit, for it has been jerking +like the kick of a horse.</p> + +<p>"That's right, Jack, hang up your oilskin there. Johnson, give us a +couple of towels; we have been pretty well smothered up there on deck. +Now what have you got for us?"</p> + +<p>"There is some soup ready, sir, and that cold pie you had for dinner +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"That will do; open a couple of bottles of stout."</p> + +<p>Lunch, over, they went on deck again.</p> + +<p>"She likes a good blow as well as we do," Virtue said, enthusiastically, +as the yawl rose lightly over each wave. "What do you think of it, +Watkins? Is the wind going to lull a bit as the sun goes down?"</p> + +<p>"I think not, sir. It seems to me it's blowing harder than it was."</p> + +<p>"Then we will prepare for the worst, Watkins; get the try-sail up on +deck. When you are ready we will bring her up into the wind and set it.<a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a> +That's the comfort of a yawl, Jack; one can always lie to without any +bother, and one hasn't got such a tremendous boom to handle."</p> + +<p>The try-sail was soon on deck, and then the <i>Seabird</i> was brought up +into the wind, the weather fore-sheet hauled aft, the mizzen sheeted +almost fore and aft, and the <i>Seabird</i> lay, head to wind, rising and +falling with a gentle motion, in strong contrast to her impetuous rushes +when under sail.</p> + +<p>"She would ride out anything like that," her owner said. "Last time we +came through the Bay on our way from Gib., we were caught in a gale +strong enough to blow the hair off one's head, and we lay to for nearly +three days, and didn't ship a bucket of water all the time. Now let us +lend a hand to get the main-sail stowed."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes' work and it was securely fastened and its cover on; two +reefs were put in the try-sail. Two hands went to each of the halliards, +while, as the sail rose, Tom Virtue fastened the toggles round the mast.</p> + +<p>"All ready, Watkins?"</p> + +<p>"All ready, sir."</p> + +<p>"Slack off the weather fore-sheet, then, and haul aft the leeward. Slack +out the mizzen-sheet a little, Jack. That's it; now she's off again, +like a duck."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>The <i>Seabird</i> felt the relief from the pressure of the heavy boom to +leeward and rose easily and lightly over the waves.</p> + +<p>"She certainly is a splendid sea-boat, Tom; I don't wonder you are ready +to go anywhere in her. I thought we were rather fools for starting this +morning, although I enjoy a good blow; but now I don't care how hard it +comes on."</p> + +<p>By night it was blowing a downright gale.</p> + +<p>"We will lie to till morning, Watkins. So that we get in by daylight +to-morrow evening, that is all we want. See our side-lights are burning +well, and you had better get up a couple of blue lights, in case +anything comes running up Channel and don't see our lights. We had +better divide into two watches; I will keep one with Matthews and +Dawson, Mr. Harvey will go in your watch with Nicholls. We had better +get the try-sail down altogether, and lie to under the foresail and +mizzen, but don't put many lashings on the try-sail, one will be enough, +and have it ready to cast off in a moment, in case we want to hoist the +sail in a hurry. I will go down and have a glass of hot grog first, and +then I will take my watch to begin with. Let the two hands with me go +down; the steward will serve them out a tot each. Jack, you had better +turn in at once."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>Virtue was soon on deck again, muffled up in his oilskins.</p> + +<p>"Now, Watkins, you can go below and turn in."</p> + +<p>"I sha'n't go below to-night, sir—not to lie down. There's nothing much +to do here, but I couldn't sleep, if I did lie down."</p> + +<p>"Very well; you had better go below and get a glass of grog; tell the +steward to give you a big pipe with a cover like this, out of the +locker; and there's plenty of chewing tobacco, if the men are short."</p> + +<p>"I will take that instead of a pipe," Watkins said; "there's nothing +like a quid in weather like this, it ain't never in your way, and it +lasts. Even with a cover a pipe would soon be out."</p> + +<p>"Please yourself, Watkins; tell the two hands forward to keep a bright +look-out for lights."</p> + +<p>The night passed slowly. Occasionally a sea heavier than usual came on +board, curling over the bow and falling with a heavy thud on the deck, +but for the most part the <i>Seabird</i> breasted the waves easily; the +bowsprit had been reefed in to its fullest, thereby adding to the +lightness and buoyancy of the boat. Tom Virtue did not go below when his +friend came up to relieve him at the change of watch, but sat smoking +and <a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>doing much talking in the short intervals between the gusts.</p> + +<p>The morning broke gray and misty, driving sleet came along on the wind, +and the horizon was closed in as by a dull curtain.</p> + +<p>"How far can we see, do you think, Watkins?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps a couple of miles, sir."</p> + +<p>"That will be enough. I think we both know the position of every reef to +within a hundred yards, so we will shape our course for Guernsey. If we +happen to hit it off, we can hold on to St. Helier; but if when we think +we ought to be within sight of Guernsey we see nothing of it, we must +lie to again, till the storm has blown itself out or the clouds lift. It +would never do to go groping our way along with such currents as run +among the islands. Put the last reef in the try-sail before you hoist +it. I think you had better get the foresail down altogether, and run up +the spit-fire jib."</p> + +<p>The <i>Seabird</i> was soon under way again.</p> + +<p>"Now, Watkins, you take the helm; we will go down and have a cup of hot +coffee, and I will see that the steward has a good supply for you and +the hands; but first, do you take the helm, Jack, whilst Watkins and I +have a look at the <a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>chart, and try and work out where we are, and the +course we had better lie for Guernsey."</p> + +<p>Five minutes were spent over the chart, then Watkins went up and Jack +Harvey came down.</p> + +<p>"You have got the coffee ready, I hope, Johnson?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, coffee and chocolate. I didn't know which you would like."</p> + +<p>"Chocolate, by all means. Jack, I recommend the chocolate. Bring two +full-sized bowls, Johnson, and put that cold pie on the table, and a +couple of knives and forks; never mind about a cloth; but first of all +bring a couple of basins of hot water, we shall enjoy our food more +after a wash."</p> + +<p>The early breakfast was eaten, dry coats and mufflers put on, pipes +lighted, and they then went up upon deck. Tom took the helm.</p> + +<p>"What time do you calculate we ought to make Guernsey, Tom?"</p> + +<p>"About twelve. The wind is freer than it was, and we are walking along +at a good pace. Matthews, cast the log, and let's see what we are doing. +About seven knots, I should say."</p> + +<p>"Seven and a quarter, sir," the man said, when he checked the line.</p> + +<p>"Not a bad guess, Tom; it's always difficult to judge pace in a heavy +sea."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>At eleven o'clock the mist ceased.</p> + +<p>"That's fortunate," Tom Virtue said; "I shouldn't be surprised if we get +a glimpse of the sun between the clouds, presently. Will you get my +sextant and the chronometer up, Jack, and put them handy?"</p> + +<p>Jack Harvey did as he was asked, but there was no occasion to use the +instruments, for ten minutes later, Watkins, who was standing near the +bow gazing fixedly ahead, shouted:</p> + +<p>"There's Guernsey, sir, on her lee bow, about six miles away, I should +say."</p> + +<p>"That's it, sure enough," Tom agreed, as he gazed in the direction in +which Watkins was pointing. "There's a gleam of sunshine on it, or we +shouldn't have seen it yet. Yes, I think you are about right as to the +distance. Now let us take its bearings, we may lose it again directly."</p> + +<p>Having taken the bearings of the island they went below, and marked off +their position on the chart, and they shaped their course for Cape +Grosnez, the north-western point of Jersey. The gleam of sunshine was +transient—the clouds closed in again overhead, darker and grayer than +before. Soon the drops of rain came flying before the wind, the horizon +closed in, and they could not see half a mile away, but, though the sea +was <a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>heavy, the <i>Seabird</i> was making capital weather of it, and the two +friends agreed that, after all, the excitement of a sail like this was +worth a month of pottering about in calms.</p> + +<p>"We must keep a bright look-out presently," the skipper said; "there are +some nasty rocks off the coast of Jersey. We must give them a wide +berth. We had best make round to the south of the island, and lay to +there till we can pick up a pilot to take us into St. Helier. I don't +think it will be worth while trying to get into St. Aubyn's Bay by +ourselves."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too, Watkins, but we will see what it is like before it +gets dark; if we can pick up a pilot all the better; if not, we will lie +to till morning, if the weather keeps thick; but if it clears so that we +can make out all the lights we ought to be able to get into the bay +anyhow."</p> + +<p>An hour later the rain ceased and the sky appeared somewhat clearer. +Suddenly Watkins exclaimed, "There is a wreck, sir! There, three miles +away to leeward. She is on the Paternosters."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! she is a steamer," Tom exclaimed, as he caught sight of +her the next time the <i>Seabird</i> lifted on a wave. "Can she be the +Southampton boat, do you think?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>"Like enough, sir, she may have had it thicker than we had, and may not +have calculated enough for the current."</p> + +<p>"Up helm, Jack, and bear away towards her. Shall we shake out a reef, +Watkins?"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't, sir; she has got as much as she can carry on her now. We +must mind what we are doing, sir; the currents run like a millstream, +and if we get that reef under our lee, and the wind and current both +setting us on to it, it will be all up with us in no time."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know that, Watkins. Jack, take the helm a minute while we run +down and look at the chart.</p> + +<p>"Our only chance, Watkins, is to work up behind the reef, and try and +get so that they can either fasten a line to a buoy and let it float +down to us, or get into a boat, if they have one left, and drift to us."</p> + +<p>"They are an awful group of rocks," Watkins said, as they examined the +chart; "you see some of them show merely at high tide, and a lot of them +are above at low water. It will be an awful business to get among them +rocks, sir, just about as near certain death as a thing can be."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's got to be done, Watkins," Tom said, firmly. "I see the +danger as well as you do, but <a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>whatever the risk, it must be tried. Mr. +Grantham and the two ladies went on board by my persuasion, and I should +never forgive myself if anything happened to them. But I will speak to +the men."</p> + +<p>He went on deck again and called the men to him. "Look here, lads; you +see that steamer ashore on the Paternosters. In such a sea as this she +may go to pieces in half an hour. I am determined to make an effort to +save the lives of those on board. As you can see for yourselves there is +no lying to weather of her, with the current and wind driving us on to +the reef; we must beat up from behind. Now, lads, the sea there is full +of rocks, and the chances are ten to one we strike on to them and go to +pieces; but, anyhow I am going to try; but I won't take you unless you +are willing. The boat is a good one, and the zinc chambers will keep her +afloat if she fills; well managed, you ought to be able to make the +coast of Jersey in her. Mr. Harvey, Watkins, and I can handle the yacht, +so you can take the boat if you like."</p> + +<p>The men replied that they would stick to the yacht wherever Mr. Virtue +chose to take her, and muttered something about the ladies, for the +pleasant faces of Mrs. Grantham and Miss Graham <a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>had, during the +fortnight they had been on board, won the men's hearts.</p> + +<p>"Very well, lads, I am glad to find you will stick by me; if we pull +safely through it I will give each of you three months' wages. Now set +to work with a will and get the gig out. We will tow her after us, and +take to her if we make a smash of it."</p> + +<p>They were now near enough to see the white breakers, in the middle of +which the ship was lying. She was fast breaking up. The jagged outline +showed that the stern had been beaten in. The masts and funnel were +gone, and the waves seemed to make a clean breach over her, almost +hiding her from sight in a white cloud of spray.</p> + +<p>"Wood and iron can't stand that much longer," Jack Harvey said; "another +hour and I should say there won't be two planks left together."</p> + +<p>"It is awful, Jack; I would give all I have in the world if I had not +persuaded them to go on board. Keep her off a little more, Watkins."</p> + +<p>The <i>Seabird</i> passed within a cable's-length of the breakers at the +northern end of the reef.</p> + +<p>"Now, lads, take your places at the sheets, ready to haul or let go as I +give the word." So saying, Tom Virtue took his place in the bow, holding +on by the forestay.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>The wind was full on the <i>Seabird's</i> beam as she entered the broken +water. Here and there the dark heads of the rocks showed above the +water. These were easy enough to avoid, the danger lay in those hidden +beneath its surface, and whose position was indicated only by the +occasional break of a sea as it passed over them. Every time the +<i>Seabird</i> sank on a wave those on board involuntarily held their breath, +but the water here was comparatively smooth, the sea having spent its +first force upon the outer reef. With a wave of his hand Tom directed +the helmsman as to his course, and the little yacht was admirably +handled through the dangers.</p> + +<p>"I begin to think we shall do it," Tom said to Jack Harvey, who was +standing close to him. "Another five minutes and we shall be within +reach of her."</p> + +<p>It could be seen now that there was a group of people clustered in the +bow of the wreck. Two or three light lines were coiled in readiness for +throwing.</p> + +<p>"Now, Watkins," Tom said, going aft, "make straight for the wreck. I see +no broken water between us and them, and possibly there may be deep +water under their bow."</p> + +<p>It was an anxious moment, as, with the sails <a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>flattened in, the yawl +forged up nearly in the eye of the wind towards the wreck. Her progress +was slow, for she was now stemming the current.</p> + +<p>Tom stood with a coil of line in his hand in the bow.</p> + +<p>"You get ready to throw, Jack, if I miss."</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer the yacht approached the wreck, until the bowsprit of +the latter seemed to stand almost over her. Then Tom threw the line. It +fell over the bowsprit, and a cheer broke from those on board the wreck +and from the sailors of the <i>Seabird</i>. A stronger line was at once +fastened to that thrown, and to this a strong hawser was attached.</p> + +<p>"Down with the helm, Watkins. Now, lads, lower away the try-sail as fast +as you can. Now, one of you, clear that hawser as they haul on it. Now +out with the anchors."</p> + +<p>These had been got into readiness; it was not thought that they would +get any hold on the rocky bottom, still they might catch on a projecting +ledge, and at any rate their weight and that of the chain cable would +relieve the strain upon the hawser.</p> + +<p>Two sailors had run out on the bowsprit of the wreck as soon as the line +was thrown, and the end of the hawser was now on board the steamer.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>"Thank God, there's Grantham!" Jack Harvey exclaimed; "do you see him +waving his hand?"</p> + +<p>"I see him," Tom said, "but I don't see the ladies."</p> + +<p>"They are there, no doubt," Jack said, confidently; "crouching down, I +expect. He would not be there if they weren't, you may be sure. Yes, +there they are; those two muffled-up figures. There, one of them has +thrown back her cloak and is waving her arm."</p> + +<p>The two young men waved their caps.</p> + +<p>"Are the anchors holding, Watkins? There's a tremendous strain on that +hawser."</p> + +<p>"I think so, sir; they are both tight."</p> + +<p>"Put them round the windlass, and give a turn or two, we must relieve +the strain on that hawser."</p> + +<p>Since they had first seen the wreck the waves had made great progress in +the work of destruction, and the steamer had broken in two just aft of +the engines.</p> + +<p>"Get over the spare spars, Watkins, and fasten them to float in front of +her bows like a triangle. Matthews, catch hold of that boat-hook and try +to fend off any piece of timber that comes along. You get hold of the +sweeps, lads, and do the same.<a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a> They would stave her in like a nut-shell +if they struck her.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, here comes the first of them!"</p> + +<p>Those on board the steamer had not been idle. As soon as the yawl was +seen approaching slings were prepared, and no sooner was the hawser +securely fixed, than the slings were attached to it and a woman placed +in them. The hawser was tight and the descent sharp, and without a check +the figure ran down to the deck of the <i>Seabird</i>. She was lifted out of +the slings by Tom and Jack Harvey, who found she was an old woman and +had entirely lost consciousness.</p> + +<p>"Two of you carry her down below; tell Johnson to pour a little brandy +down her throat. Give her some hot soup as soon as she comes to."</p> + +<p>Another woman was lowered and helped below. The next to descend was Mrs. +Grantham.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, you are rescued!" Tom said, as he helped her out of the +sling.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, indeed," Mrs. Grantham said, "and thank you all! Oh, Tom, we +have had a terrible time of it, and had lost all hope till we saw your +sail, and even then the captain said that he was afraid nothing could be +done. Minnie was the first to make out it was you, and then <a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>we began to +hope. She has been so brave, dear girl. Ah! here she comes."</p> + +<p>But Minnie's firmness came to an end now that she felt the need for it +was over. She was unable to stand when she was lifted from the slings; +and Tom carried her below.</p> + +<p>"Are there any more women, Mrs. Grantham?"</p> + +<p>"No; there was only one other lady passenger and the stewardess."</p> + +<p>"Then you had better take possession of your own cabin. I ordered +Johnson to spread a couple more mattresses and some bedding on the +floor, so you will all four be able to turn in. There's plenty of hot +coffee and soup. I should advise soup with two or three spoonfuls of +brandy in it. Now, excuse me; I must go upon deck."</p> + +<p>Twelve men descended by the hawser, one of them with both legs broken by +the fall of the mizzen. The last to come was the captain.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" Tom asked.</p> + +<p>"That is all," the captain said. "Six men were swept overboard when she +first struck, and two were killed by the fall of the funnel. Fortunately +we had only three gentlemen passengers and three ladies on board. The +weather looked so wild when we started that no one else cared about +making the passage. God bless you, sir, for what <a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>you have done! Another +half-hour and it would have been all over with us. But it seems like a +miracle your getting safe through the rocks to us."</p> + +<p>"It was fortunate indeed that we came along," Tom said; "three of the +passengers are dear friends of mine; and as it was by my persuasion that +they came across in the steamer instead of in the yacht, I should never +have forgiven myself if they had been lost. Take all your men below, +captain; you will find plenty of hot soup there. Now, Watkins, let us be +off; that steamer won't hold together many minutes longer, so there's no +time to lose. We will go back as we came. Give me a hatchet. Now, lads, +two of you stand at the chain-cables; knock out the shackles the moment +I cut the hawser. Watkins, you take the helm and let her head pay off +till the jib fills. Jack, you lend a hand to the other two, and get up +the try-sail again as soon as we are free."</p> + +<p>In a moment all were at their stations. The helm was put on the yacht, +and she payed off on the opposite tack to that on which she had before +been sailing. As soon as the jib filled, Tom gave two vigorous blows +with his hatchet on the hawser, and, as he lifted his hand for a third, +it parted. Then came the sharp rattle of the chains as they <a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>ran round +the hawser-holes. The try-sail was hoisted and sheeted home, and the +<i>Seabird</i> was under way again. Tom, as before, conned the ship from the +bow. Several times she was in close proximity to the rocks, but each +time she avoided them. A shout of gladness rose from all on deck as she +passed the last patch of white water. Then she tacked and bore away for +Jersey.</p> + +<p>Tom had now time to go down below and look after his passengers. They +consisted of the captain and two sailors—the sole survivors of those +who had been on deck when the vessel struck—three male passengers, and +six engineers and stokers.</p> + +<p>"I have not had time to shake you by the hand before, Tom," Grantham +said, as Tom Virtue entered; "and I thought you would not want me on +deck at present. God bless you, old fellow! we all owe you our lives."</p> + +<p>"How did it happen, captain?" Tom asked, as the captain also came up to +him.</p> + +<p>"It was the currents, I suppose," the captain said; "it was so thick we +could not see a quarter of a mile any way. The weather was so wild I +would not put into Guernsey, and passed the island without seeing it. I +steered my usual course, but the gale must have altered the cur<a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>rents, +for I thought I was three miles away from the reef, when we saw it on +our beam, not a hundred yards away. It was too late to avoid it then, +and in another minute we ran upon it, and the waves were sweeping over +us. Every one behaved well. I got all, except those who had been swept +overboard or crushed by the funnel, up into the bow of the ship, and +there we waited. There was nothing to be done. No boat would live for a +moment in the sea on that reef, and all I could advise was, that when +she went to pieces every one should try to get hold of a floating +fragment; but I doubt whether a man would have been alive a quarter of +an hour after she went to pieces."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, captain, you will come on deck with me and give me the benefit +of your advice. My skipper and I know the islands pretty well, but no +doubt you know them a good deal better, and I don't want another +mishap."</p> + +<p>But the <i>Seabird</i> avoided all further dangers, and as it became dark, +the lights of St. Helier's were in sight, and an hour later the yacht +brought up in the port and landed her involuntary passengers.</p> + +<p>A fortnight afterwards the <i>Seabird</i> returned to England, and two months +later Mrs. Grantham <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>had the satisfaction of being present at the +ceremony which was the successful consummation of her little scheme in +inviting Minnie Graham to be her companion on board the <i>Seabird</i>.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear," her husband said, when she indulged in a little natural +triumph, "I do not say that it has not turned out well, and I am +heartily glad for both Tom and Minnie's sake it has so; but you must +allow that it very nearly had a disastrous ending, and I think if I were +you I should leave matters to take their natural course in future. I +have accepted Tom's invitation for the same party to take a cruise in +the <i>Seabird</i> next summer, but I have bargained that next time a storm +is brewing up we shall stop quietly in port."</p> + +<p>"That's all very well, James," Mrs. Grantham said saucily; "but you must +remember that Tom Virtue will only be first-mate of the <i>Seabird</i> in +future."</p> + +<p>"That I shall be able to tell you better, my dear, after our next +cruise. All husbands are not as docile and easily led as I am."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a></p> +<p><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a name="A_PIPE_OF_MYSTERY" id="A_PIPE_OF_MYSTERY"></a> +<img src="images/pipe.jpg" width="324" height="72" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>A PIPE OF MYSTERY.</h2> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/b1.jpg" width="75" height="78" alt="A" title="" /></div> +<p>jovial party were gathered round a blazing fire in an old grange near +Warwick. The hour was getting late; the very little ones had, after +dancing round the Christmas-tree, enjoying the snapdragon, and playing a +variety of games, gone off to bed; and the elder boys and girls now +gathered round their uncle, Colonel Harley, and asked him for a +story—above all, a ghost story.<br style="clear: both;" /></p> + +<p>"But I have never seen any ghosts," the colonel said, laughing; "and, +moreover, I don't believe in them one bit. I have travelled pretty well +all over the world, I have slept in houses said to be haunted, but +nothing have I seen—no noises that could not be accounted for by rats +or the wind have I ever heard. I have never"—and here he paused—"never +but once met with any circumstances or occurrence that could not be +accounted for by the light of reason, and I know you prefer <a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>hearing +stories of my own adventures to mere invention."</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle. But what was the 'once' when circumstances happened that +you could not explain?"</p> + +<p>"It's rather a long story," the colonel said, "and it's getting late."</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, no, uncle; it does not matter a bit how late we sit up on +Christmas Eve, and the longer the story is, the better; and if you don't +believe in ghosts, how can it be a story of something you could not +account for by the light of nature?"</p> + +<p>"You will see when I have done," the colonel said. "It is rather a story +of what the Scotch call second sight, than one of ghosts. As to +accounting for it, you shall form your own opinion when you have heard +me to the end.</p> + +<p>"I landed in India in '50, and after going through the regular drill +work, marched with a detachment up country to join my regiment, which +was stationed at Jubbalpore, in the very heart of India. It has become +an important place since; the railroad across India passes through it, +and no end of changes have taken place; but at that time it was one of +the most out-of-the-way stations in India, and, I may say, one of the +most <a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>pleasant. It lay high, there was capital boating on the Nerbudda, +and, above all, it was a grand place for sport, for it lay at the foot +of the hill country, an immense district, then but little known, covered +with forests and jungle, and abounding with big game of all kinds.</p> + +<p>"My great friend there was a man named Simmonds. He was just of my own +standing; we had come out in the same ship, had marched up the country +together, and were almost like brothers. He was an old Etonian, I an old +Westminster, and we were both fond of boating, and, indeed, of sport of +all kinds. But I am not going to tell you of that now. The people in +these hills are called Gonds, a true hill tribe—that is to say, +aborigines, somewhat of the negro type. The chiefs are of mixed blood, +but the people are almost black. They are supposed to accept the +religion of the Hindus, but are in reality deplorably ignorant and +superstitious. Their priests are a sort of compound of a Brahmin priest +and a negro fetish man, and among their principal duties is that of +charming away tigers from the villages by means of incantations. There, +as in other parts of India, were a few wandering fakirs, who enjoyed an +immense reputation for holiness and wisdom. The people would go to them +from <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>great distances for charms or predictions, and believed in their +power with implicit faith.</p> + +<p>"At the time when we were at Jubbalpore, there was one of these fellows, +whose reputation altogether eclipsed that of his rivals, and nothing +could be done until his permission had been asked and his blessing +obtained. All sorts of marvellous stories were constantly coming to our +ears of the unerring foresight with which he predicted the termination +of diseases, both in men and animals; and so generally was he believed +in that the colonel ordered that no one connected with the regiment +should consult him, for these predictions very frequently brought about +their own fulfilment; for those who were told that an illness would +terminate fatally, lost all hope, and literally lay down to die.</p> + +<p>"However, many of the stories that we heard could not be explained on +these grounds, and the fakir and his doings were often talked over at +mess, some of the officers scoffing at the whole business, others +maintaining that some of these fakirs had, in some way or another, the +power of foretelling the future, citing many well authenticated +anecdotes upon the subject.</p> + +<p>"The older officers were the believers, we young fellows were the +scoffers. But for the well-known <a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>fact that it is very seldom indeed +that these fakirs will utter any of their predictions to Europeans, some +of us would have gone to him, to test his powers. As it was, none of us +had ever seen him.</p> + +<p>"He lived in an old ruined temple, in the middle of a large patch of +jungle at the foot of the hills, some ten or twelve miles away.</p> + +<p>"I had been at Jubbalpore about a year, when I was woke up one night by +a native, who came in to say that at about eight o'clock a tiger had +killed a man in his village, and had dragged off the body.</p> + +<p>"Simmonds and I were constantly out after tigers, and the people in all +the villages within twenty miles knew that we were always ready to pay +for early information. This tiger had been doing great damage, and had +carried off about thirty men, women, and children. So great was the fear +of him, indeed, that the people in the neighbourhood he frequented +scarcely dared stir out of doors, except in parties of five or six. We +had had several hunts after him, but, like all man-eaters, he was old +and awfully crafty; and although we got several snap shots at him, he +had always managed to save his skin.</p> + +<p>"In a quarter of an hour after the receipt of the message, Charley +Simmonds and I were on <a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>the back of an elephant, which was our joint +property; our shekarry, a capital fellow, was on foot beside us, and +with the native trotting on ahead as guide we went off at the best pace +of old Begaum, for that was the elephant's name. The village was fifteen +miles away, but we got there soon after daybreak, and were received with +delight by the population. In half an hour the hunt was organized; all +the male population turned out as beaters, with sticks, guns, tom-toms, +and other instruments for making a noise.</p> + +<p>"The trail was not difficult to find. A broad path, with occasional +smears of blood, showed where he had dragged his victim through the long +grass to a cluster of trees a couple of hundred yards from the village.</p> + +<p>"We scarcely expected to find him there, but the villagers held back, +while we went forward with cocked rifles. We found, however, nothing but +a few bones and a quantity of blood. The tiger had made off at the +approach of daylight into the jungle, which was about two miles distant. +We traced him easily enough, and found that he had entered a large +ravine, from which several smaller ones branched off.</p> + +<p>"It was an awkward place, as it was next to impossible to surround it +with the number of <a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>people at our command. We posted them at last all +along the upper ground, and told them to make up in noise what they +wanted in numbers. At last all was ready, and we gave the signal. +However, I am not telling you a hunting story, and need only say that we +could neither find nor disturb him. In vain we pushed Begaum through the +thickest of the jungle which clothed the sides and bottom of the ravine, +while the men shouted, beat their tom-toms, and showered imprecations +against the tiger himself and his ancestors up to the remotest +generations.</p> + +<p>"The day was tremendously hot, and, after three hours' march, we gave it +up for a time, and lay down in the shade, while the shekarries made a +long examination of the ground all round the hillside, to be sure that +he had not left the ravine. They came back with the news that no traces +could be discovered, and that, beyond a doubt, he was still there. A +tiger will crouch up in an exceedingly small clump of grass or bush, and +will sometimes almost allow himself to be trodden on before moving. +However, we determined to have one more search, and if that should prove +unsuccessful, to send off to Jubbalpore for some more of the men to come +out with elephants, while we kept up a circle of fires, and of noises +<a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>of all descriptions, so as to keep him a prisoner until the arrival of +the reinforcements. Our next search was no more successful than our +first had been; and having, as we imagined, examined every clump and +crevice in which he could have been concealed, we had just reached the +upper end of the ravine, when we heard a tremendous roar, followed by a +perfect babel of yells and screams from the natives.</p> + +<p>"The outburst came from the mouth of the ravine, and we felt at once +that he had escaped. We hurried back to find, as we had expected, that +the tiger was gone. He had burst out suddenly from his hiding-place, had +seized a native, torn him horribly, and had made across the open plain.</p> + +<p>"This was terribly provoking, but we had nothing to do but follow him. +This was easy enough, and we traced him to a detached patch of wood and +jungle, two miles distant. This wood was four or five hundred yards +across, and the exclamations of the people at once told us that it was +the one in which stood the ruined temple of the fakir of whom I have +been telling you. I forgot to say, that as the tiger broke out one of +the village shekarries had fired at, and, he declared, wounded him.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>"It was already getting late in the afternoon, and it was hopeless to +attempt to beat the jungle that night. We therefore sent off a runner +with a note to the colonel, asking him to send the work-elephants, and +to allow a party of volunteers to march over at night, to help surround +the jungle when we commenced beating it in the morning.</p> + +<p>"We based our request upon the fact that the tiger was a notorious +man-eater, and had been doing immense damage. We then had a talk with +our shekarry, sent a man off to bring provisions for the people out with +us, and then set them to work cutting sticks and grass to make a circle +of fires.</p> + +<p>"We both felt much uneasiness respecting the fakir, who might be seized +at any moment by the enraged tiger. The natives would not allow that +there was any cause for fear, as the tiger would not dare to touch so +holy a man. Our belief in the respect of the tiger for sanctity was by +no means strong, and we determined to go in and warn him of the presence +of the brute in the wood. It was a mission which we could not intrust to +anyone else, for no native would have entered the jungle for untold +gold; so we mounted the Begaum again, and started. The path leading +towards the temple was pretty wide, and as <a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>we went along almost +noiselessly, for the elephant was too well trained to tread upon fallen +sticks, it was just possible we might come upon the tiger suddenly, so +we kept our rifles in readiness in our hands.</p> + +<p>"Presently we came in sight of the ruins. No one was at first visible; +but at that very moment the fakir came out from the temple. He did not +see or hear us, for we were rather behind him and still among the trees, +but at once proceeded in a high voice to break into a sing-song prayer. +He had not said two words before his voice was drowned in a terrific +roar, and in an instant the tiger had sprung upon him, struck him to the +ground, seized him as a cat would a mouse, and started off with him at a +trot. The brute evidently had not detected our presence, for he came +right towards us. We halted the Begaum, and with our fingers on the +triggers, awaited the favourable moment. He was a hundred yards from us +when he struck down his victim; he was not more than fifty when he +caught sight of us. He stopped for an instant in surprise. Charley +muttered, 'Both barrels, Harley,' and as the beast turned to plunge into +the jungle, and so showed us his side, we sent four bullets crashing +into him, and he rolled over lifeless.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>"We went up to the spot, made the Begaum give him a kick, to be sure +that he was dead, and then got down to examine the unfortunate fakir. +The tiger had seized him by the shoulder, which was terribly torn, and +the bone broken. He was still perfectly conscious.</p> + +<p>"We at once fired three shots, our usual signal that the tiger was dead, +and in a few minutes were surrounded by the villagers, who hardly knew +whether to be delighted at the death of their enemy, or to grieve over +the injury to the fakir. We proposed taking the latter to our hospital +at Jubbalpore, but this he positively refused to listen to. However we +finally persuaded him to allow his arm to be set and the wounds dressed +in the first place by our regimental surgeon, after which he could go to +one of the native villages and have his arm dressed in accordance with +his own notions. A litter was soon improvised, and away we went to +Jubbalpore, which we reached about eight in the evening.</p> + +<p>"The fakir refused to enter the hospital, so we brought out a couple of +trestles, laid the litter upon them, and the surgeon set his arm and +dressed his wounds by torch-light, when he was lifted into a dhoolie, +and his bearers again prepared to start for the village.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>"Hitherto he had only spoken a few words; but he now briefly expressed +his deep gratitude to Simmonds and myself. We told him that we would +ride over to see him shortly, and hoped to find him getting on rapidly. +Another minute and he was gone.</p> + +<p>"It happened that we had three or four fellows away on leave or on staff +duty, and several others knocked up with fever just about this time, so +that the duty fell very heavily upon the rest of us, and it was over a +month before we had time to ride over to see the fakir.</p> + +<p>"We had heard he was going on well; but we were surprised, on reaching +the village, to find that he had already returned to his old abode in +the jungle. However, we had made up our minds to see him, especially as +we had agreed that we would endeavour to persuade him to do a prediction +for us; so we turned our horses' heads towards the jungle. We found the +fakir sitting on a rock in front of the temple, just where he had been +seized by the tiger. He rose as we rode up.</p> + +<p>"'I knew that you would come to-day, sahibs, and was joyful in the +thought of seeing those who have preserved my life.'</p> + +<p>"'We are glad to see you looking pretty strong <a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>again, though your arm +is still in a sling,' I said, for Simmonds was not strong in Hindustani.</p> + +<p>"'How did you know that we were coming?' I asked, when we had tied up +our horses.</p> + +<p>"'Siva has given to his servant to know many things,' he said quietly.</p> + +<p>"'Did you know beforehand that the tiger was going to seize you?' I +asked.</p> + +<p>"'I knew that a great danger threatened, and that Siva would not let me +die before my time had come.'</p> + +<p>"'Could you see into our future?' I asked.</p> + +<p>"The fakir hesitated, looked at me for a moment earnestly to see if I +was speaking in mockery, and then said:</p> + +<p>"'The sahibs do not believe in the power of Siva or of his servants. +They call his messengers impostors, and scoff at them when they speak of +the events of the future.'</p> + +<p>"'No, indeed,' I said. 'My friend and I have no idea of scoffing. We +have heard of so many of your predictions coming true, that we are +really anxious that you should tell us something of the future.'</p> + +<p>"The fakir nodded his head, went into the temple, and returned in a +minute or two with two small pipes used by the natives for +opium-<a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>smoking, and a brazier of burning charcoal. The pipes were +already charged. He made signs to us to sit down, and took his place in +front of us. Then he began singing in a low voice, rocking himself to +and fro, and waving a staff which he held in his hand. Gradually his +voice rose, and his gesticulations and actions became more violent. So +far as I could make out, it was a prayer to Siva that he would give some +glimpse of the future which might benefit the sahibs who had saved the +life of his servant. Presently he darted forward, gave us each a pipe, +took two pieces of red-hot charcoal from the brazier in his fingers, +without seeming to know that they were warm, and placed them in the +pipes; then he recommenced his singing and gesticulations.</p> + +<p>"A glance at Charley, to see if, like myself, he was ready to carry the +thing through, and then I put the pipe to my lips. I felt at once that +it was opium, of which I had before made experiment, but mixed with some +other substance, which was, I imagine, haschish, a preparation of hemp. +A few puffs, and I felt a drowsiness creeping over me. I saw, as through +a mist, the fakir swaying himself backwards and forwards, his arms +waving, and his face distorted. Another minute, and the pipe slipped +from my fingers, and I fell back insensible.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>"How long I lay there I do not know. I woke with a strange and not +unpleasant sensation, and presently became conscious that the fakir was +gently pressing, with a sort of shampooing action, my temples and head. +When he saw that I opened my eyes he left me, and performed the same +process upon Charley. In a few minutes he rose from his stooping +position, waved his hand in token of adieu, and walked slowly back into +the temple.</p> + +<p>"As he disappeared I sat up; Charley did the same.</p> + +<p>"We stared at each other for a minute without speaking, and then Charley +said:</p> + +<p>"'This is a rum go, and no mistake, old man.'</p> + +<p>"'You're right, Charley. My opinion is, we've made fools of ourselves. +Let's be off out of this.'</p> + +<p>"We staggered to our feet, for we both felt like drunken men, made our +way to our horses, poured a mussuk of water over our heads, took a drink +of brandy from our flasks, and then feeling more like ourselves, mounted +and rode out of the jungle.</p> + +<p>"'Well, Harley, if the glimpse of futurity which I had is true, all I +can say is that it was extremely unpleasant.'</p> + +<p>"'That was just my case, Charley.'</p> + +<p><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>"'My dream, or whatever you like to call it, was about a mutiny of the +men.'</p> + +<p>"'You don't say so, Charley; so was mine. This is monstrously strange, +to say the least of it. However, you tell your story first, and then I +will tell mine.'</p> + +<p>"'It was very short,' Charley said. 'We were at mess—not in our present +mess-room—we were dining with the fellows of some other regiment. +Suddenly, without any warning, the windows were filled with a crowd of +Sepoys, who opened fire right and left into us. Half the fellows were +shot down at once; the rest of us made a rush to our swords just as the +niggers came swarming into the room. There was a desperate fight for a +moment. I remember that Subadar Pirán—one of the best native officers +in the regiment, by the way—made a rush at me, and I shot him through +the head with a revolver. At the same moment a ball hit me, and down I +went. At the moment a Sepoy fell dead across me, hiding me partly from +sight. The fight lasted a minute or two longer. I fancy a few fellows +escaped, for I heard shots outside. Then the place became quiet. In +another minute I heard a crackling, and saw that the devils had set the +mess-room on fire. One of our men, who was lying close <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>by me, got up +and crawled to the window, but he was shot down the moment he showed +himself. I was hesitating whether to do the same or to lie still and be +smothered, when suddenly I rolled the dead sepoy off, crawled into the +ante-room half-suffocated by smoke, raised the lid of a very heavy +trap-door, and stumbled down some steps into a place, half storehouse +half cellar, under the mess-room. How I knew about it being there I +don't know. The trap closed over my head with a bang. That is all I +remember.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, Charley, curiously enough my dream was also about an +extraordinary escape from danger, lasting, like yours, only a minute or +two. The first thing I remember—there seems to have been something +before, but what, I don't know—I was on horseback, holding a very +pretty but awfully pale girl in front of me. We were pursued by a whole +troop of Sepoy cavalry, who were firing pistol-shots at us. We were not +more than seventy or eighty yards in front, and they were gaining fast, +just as I rode into a large deserted temple. In the centre was a huge +stone figure. I jumped off my horse with the lady, and as I did so she +said, 'Blow out my brains, Edward; don't let me fall alive into their +hands.'</p> + +<p>"'Instead of answering, I hurried her round <a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>behind the idol, pushed +against one of the leaves of a flower in the carving, and the stone +swung back, and showed a hole just large enough to get through, with a +stone staircase inside the body of the idol, made no doubt for the +priest to go up and give responses through the mouth. I hurried the girl +through, crept in after her, and closed the stone, just as our pursuers +came clattering into the courtyard. That is all I remember.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, it is monstrously rum,' Charley said, after a pause. 'Did you +understand what the old fellow was singing about before he gave us the +pipes?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes; I caught the general drift. It was an entreaty to Siva to give us +some glimpse of futurity which might benefit us.'</p> + +<p>"We lit our cheroots and rode for some miles at a brisk canter without +remark. When we were within a short distance of home we reined up.</p> + +<p>"'I feel ever so much better,' Charley said. 'We have got that opium out +of our heads now. How do you account for it all, Harley?'</p> + +<p>"'I account for it in this way, Charley. The opium naturally had the +effect of making us both dream, and as we took similar doses of the same +mixture, under similar circumstances, it is scarcely extraordinary that +it should have effected the <a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>same portion of the brain, and caused a +certain similarity in our dreams. In all nightmares something terrible +happens, or is on the point of happening; and so it was here. Not +unnaturally in both our cases, our thoughts turned to soldiers. If you +remember there was a talk at mess some little time since, as to what +would happen in the extremely unlikely event of the sepoys mutinying in +a body. I have no doubt that was the foundation of both our dreams. It +is all natural enough when we come to think it over calmly. I think, by +the way, we had better agree to say nothing at all about it in the +regiment.'</p> + +<p>"'I should think not,' Charley said. 'We should never hear the end of +it; they would chaff us out of our lives.'</p> + +<p>"We kept our secret, and came at last to laugh over it heartily when we +were together. Then the subject dropped, and by the end of a year had as +much escaped our minds as any other dream would have done. Three months +after the affair the regiment was ordered down to Allahabad, and the +change of place no doubt helped to erase all memory of the dream. Four +years after we had left Jubbalpore we went to Beerapore. The time is +very marked in my memory, because the very week we arrived there, your +aunt, then Miss<a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a> Gardiner, came out from England, to her father, our +colonel. The instant I saw her I was impressed with the idea that I knew +her intimately. I recollected her face, her figure, and the very tone of +her voice, but wherever I had met her I could not conceive. Upon the +occasion of my first introduction to her, I could not help telling her +that I was convinced that we had met, and asking her if she did not +remember it. No, she did not remember, but very likely she might have +done so, and she suggested the names of several people at whose houses +we might have met. I did not know any of them. Presently she asked how +long I had been out in India?</p> + +<p>"'Six years,' I said.</p> + +<p>"'And how old, Mr. Harley,' she said, 'do you take me to be?'</p> + +<p>"I saw in one instant my stupidity, and was stammering out an apology, +when she went on,—</p> + +<p>"'I am very little over eighteen, Mr. Harley, although I evidently look +ever so many years older; but papa can certify to my age; so I was only +twelve when you left England.'</p> + +<p>"I tried in vain to clear matters up. Your aunt would insist that I took +her to be forty, and the fun that my blunder made rather drew us +together, and gave me a start over the other <a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>fellows at the station, +half of whom fell straightway in love with her. Some months went on, and +when the mutiny broke out we were engaged to be married. It is a proof +of how completely the opium-dreams had passed out of the minds of both +Simmonds and myself, that even when rumours of general disaffection +among the Sepoys began to be current, they never once recurred to us; +and even when the news of the actual mutiny reached us, we were just as +confident as were the others of the fidelity of our own regiment. It was +the old story, foolish confidence and black treachery. As at very many +other stations, the mutiny broke out when we were at mess. Our regiment +was dining with the 34th Bengalees. Suddenly, just as dinner was over, +the window was opened, and a tremendous fire poured in. Four or five men +fell dead at once, and the poor colonel, who was next to me, was shot +right through the head. Every one rushed to his sword and drew his +pistol—for we had been ordered to carry pistols as part of our uniform. +I was next to Charley Simmonds as the Sepoys of both regiments, headed +by Subadar Pirán, poured in at the windows.</p> + +<p>"'I have it now,' Charley said; 'it is the scene I dreamed.'</p> + +<p><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>"As he spoke he fired his revolver at the subadar, who fell dead in his +tracks.</p> + +<p>"A Sepoy close by levelled his musket and fired. Charley fell, and the +fellow rushed forward to bayonet him. As he did so I sent a bullet +through his head, and he fell across Charley. It was a wild fight for a +minute or two, and then a few of us made a sudden rush together, cut our +way through the mutineers, and darted through an open window on to the +parade. There were shouts, shots, and screams from the officers' +bungalows, and in several places flames were already rising. What became +of the other men I knew not; I made as hard as I could tear for the +colonel's bungalow. Suddenly I came upon a sowar sitting on his horse +watching the rising flames. Before he saw me I was on him, and ran him +through. I leapt on his horse and galloped down to Gardiner's compound. +I saw lots of Sepoys in and around the bungalow, all engaged in looting. +I dashed into the compound.</p> + +<p>"'May! May!' I shouted. 'Where are you?'</p> + +<p>"I had scarcely spoken before a dark figure rushed out of a clump of +bushes close by with a scream of delight.</p> + +<p>"In an instant she was on the horse before me, and shooting down a +couple of fellows who made <a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>a rush at my reins, I dashed out again. +Stray shots were fired after us. But fortunately the Sepoys were all +busy looting, most of them had laid down their muskets, and no one +really took up the pursuit. I turned off from the parade-ground, dashed +down between the hedges of two compounds, and in another minute we were +in the open country.</p> + +<p>"Fortunately, the cavalry were all down looting their own lines, or we +must have been overtaken at once. May happily had fainted as I lifted +her on to my horse—happily, because the fearful screams that we heard +from the various bungalows almost drove me mad, and would probably have +killed her, for the poor ladies were all her intimate friends.</p> + +<p>"I rode on for some hours, till I felt quite safe from any immediate +pursuit, and then we halted in the shelter of a clump of trees.</p> + +<p>"By this time I had heard May's story. She had felt uneasy at being +alone, but had laughed at herself for being so, until upon her speaking +to one of the servants he had answered in a tone of gross insolence, +which had astonished her. She at once guessed that there was danger, and +the moment that she was alone caught up a large, dark carriage rug, +wrapped it round her so as to <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>conceal her white dress, and stole out +into the verandah. The night was dark, and scarcely had she left the +house than she heard a burst of firing across at the mess-house. She at +once ran in among the bushes and crouched there, as she heard the rush +of men into the room she had just left. She heard them searching for +her, but they were looking for a white dress, and her dark rug saved +her. What she must have suffered in the five minutes between the firing +of the first shots and my arrival, she only knows. May had spoken but +very little since we started. I believe that she was certain that her +father was dead, although I had given an evasive answer when she asked +me; and her terrible sense of loss, added to the horror of that time of +suspense in the garden, had completely stunned her. We waited in the +tope until the afternoon, and then set out again.</p> + +<p>"We had gone but a short distance when we saw a body of the rebel +cavalry in pursuit. They had no doubt been scouring the country +generally, and the discovery was accidental. For a short time we kept +away from them, but this could not be for long, as our horse was +carrying double. I made for a sort of ruin I saw at the foot of a hill +half a mile away. I did so with no idea of <a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>the possibility of +concealment. My intention was simply to get my back to a rock and to +sell my life as dearly as I could, keeping the last two barrels of the +revolver for ourselves. Certainly no remembrance of my dream influenced +me in any way, and in the wild whirl of excitement I had not given a +second thought to Charley Simmonds' exclamation. As we rode up to the +ruins only a hundred yards ahead of us, May said,—</p> + +<p>"'Blow out my brains, Edward; don't let me fall alive into their hands.'</p> + +<p>"A shock of remembrance shot across me. The chase, her pale face, the +words, the temple—all my dream rushed into my mind.</p> + +<p>"'We are saved,' I cried, to her amazement, as we rode into the +courtyard, in whose centre a great figure was sitting.</p> + +<p>"I leapt from the horse, snatched the mussuk of water from the saddle, +and then hurried May round the idol, between which and the rock behind, +there was but just room to get along.</p> + +<p>"Not a doubt entered my mind but that I should find the spring as I had +dreamed. Sure enough there was the carving, fresh upon my memory as if I +had seen it but the day before. I placed my hand on the leaflet without +hesitation, a solid stone moved back, I hurried my <a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>amazed companion in, +and shut to the stone. I found, and shot to, a massive bolt, evidently +placed to prevent the door being opened by accident or design when +anyone was in the idol.</p> + +<p>"At first it seemed quite dark, but a faint light streamed in from +above; we made our way up the stairs, and found that the light came +through a number of small holes pierced in the upper part of the head, +and through still smaller holes lower down, not much larger than a +good-sized knitting-needle could pass through. These holes, we +afterwards found, were in the ornaments round the idol's neck. The holes +enlarged inside, and enabled us to have a view all round.</p> + +<p>"The mutineers were furious at our disappearance, and for hours searched +about. Then, saying that we must be hidden somewhere, and that they +would wait till we came out, they proceeded to bivouac in the courtyard +of the temple.</p> + +<p>"We passed four terrible days, but on the morning of the fifth a scout +came in to tell the rebels that a column of British troops marching on +Delhi would pass close by the temple. They therefore hastily mounted and +galloped off.</p> + +<p>"Three quarters of an hour later we were safe among our own people. A +fortnight afterwards your aunt and I were married. It was no time <a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>for +ceremony then; there were no means of sending her away; no place where +she could have waited until the time for her mourning for her father was +over. So we were married quietly by one of the chaplains of the troops, +and, as your story-books say, have lived very happily ever after."</p> + +<p>"And how about Mr. Simmonds, uncle? Did he get safe off too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, his dream came as vividly to his mind as mine had done. He crawled +to the place where he knew the trap-door would be, and got into the +cellar. Fortunately for him there were plenty of eatables there, and he +lived there in concealment for a fortnight. After that he crawled out, +and found the mutineers had marched for Delhi. He went through a lot, +but at last joined us before that city. We often talked over our dreams +together, and there was no question that we owed our lives to them. Even +then we did not talk much to other people about them, for there would +have been a lot of talk, and inquiry, and questions, and you know +fellows hate that sort of thing. So we held our tongues. Poor Charley's +silence was sealed a year later at Lucknow, for on the advance with Lord +Clyde he was killed.</p> + +<p>"And now, boys and girls, you must run off to <a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>bed. Five minutes more +and it will be Christmas-day. So you see, Frank, that although I don't +believe in ghosts, I have yet met with a circumstance which I cannot +account for."</p> + +<p>"It is very curious anyhow, uncle, and beats ghost stories into fits."</p> + +<p>"I like it better, certainly," one of the girls said, "for we can go to +bed without being afraid of dreaming about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, you must not talk any more now. Off to bed, off to bed," Colonel +Harley said, "or I shall get into terrible disgrace with your fathers +and mothers, who have been looking very gravely at me for the last three +quarters of an hour."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/e3.jpg" width="150" height="65" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a name="WHITE-FACED_DICK" id="WHITE-FACED_DICK"></a> +<img src="images/white.jpg" width="324" height="71" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>WHITE-FACED DICK,</h2> + +<h3>A STORY OF PINE-TREE GULCH.</h3> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/b2.jpg" width="75" height="75" alt="H" title="" /></div> +<p style="text-indent: -0.75em;">OW Pine-tree Gulch got its name no one knew, for in the early days +every ravine and hillside was thickly covered with pines. It may be that +a tree of exceptional size caught the eye of the first explorer, that he +camped under it, and named the place in its honour; or, may be, some +fallen giant lay in the bottom and hindered the work of the first +prospectors. At any rate, Pine-tree Gulch it was, and the name was as +good as any other. The pine-trees were gone now. Cut up for firing, or +for the erection of huts, or the construction of sluices, but the +hillside was ragged with their stumps.<br style="clear: both;" /></p> + +<p>The principal camp was at the mouth of the Gulch, where the little +stream, which scarce <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>afforded water sufficient for the cradles in the +dry season, but which was a rushing torrent in winter, joined the Yuba. +The best ground was at the junction of the streams, and lay, indeed, in +the Yuba valley rather than in the Gulch. At first most gold had been +found higher up, but there was here comparatively little depth down to +the bed-rock, and as the ground became exhausted the miners moved down +towards the mouth of the Gulch. They were doing well as a whole, how +well no one knew, for miners are chary of giving information as to what +they are making; still, it was certain they were doing well, for the +bars were doing a roaring trade, and the store-keepers never refused +credit—a proof in itself that the prospects were good.</p> + +<p>The flat at the mouth of the Gulch was a busy scene, every foot was good +paying stuff, for in the eddy, where the torrents in winter rushed down +into the Yuba, the gold had settled down and lay thick among the gravel. +But most of the parties were sinking, and it was a long way down to the +bed-rock; for the hills on both sides sloped steeply, and the Yuba must +here at one time have rushed through a narrow gorge, until, in some +<a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>wild freak, it brought down millions of tons of gravel, and resumed its +course seventy feet above its former level.</p> + +<p>A quarter of a mile higher up a ledge of rock ran across the valley, and +over it in the old time the Yuba had poured in a cascade seventy feet +deep into the ravine. But the rock now was level with the gravel, only +showing its jagged points here and there above it. This ledge had been +invaluable to the diggers: without it they could only have sunk their +shafts with the greatest difficulty, for the gravel would have been full +of water, and even with the greatest pains in puddling and timber-work +the pumps would scarcely have sufficed to keep it down as it rose in the +bottom of the shafts. But the miners had made common cause together, and +giving each so many ounces of gold or so many day's work had erected a +dam thirty feet high along the ledge of rock, and had cut a channel for +the Yuba along the lower slopes of the valley. Of course, when the rain +set in, as everybody knew, the dam would go, and the river diggings must +be abandoned till the water subsided and a fresh dam was made; but there +were two months before them yet, and <a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>every one hoped to be down to the +bed-rock before the water interrupted their work.</p> + +<p>The hillside, both in the Yuba Valley and for some distance along +Pine-tree Gulch, was dotted by shanties and tents; the former +constructed for the most part of logs roughly squared, the walls being +some three feet in height, on which the sharp sloping roof was placed, +thatched in the first place with boughs, and made all snug, perhaps, +with an old sail stretched over all. The camp was quiet enough during +the day. The few women were away with their washing at the pools, a +quarter of a mile up the Gulch, and the only persons to be seen about +were the men told off for cooking for their respective parties.</p> + +<p>But in the evening the camp was lively. Groups of men in red shirts and +corded trousers tied at the knee, in high boots, sat round blazing +fires, and talked of their prospects or discussed the news of the luck +at other camps. The sound of music came from two or three plank +erections which rose conspicuously above the huts of the diggers, and +were bright externally with the glories of white and coloured paints. To +and from these men were always sauntering, and it <a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>needed not the clink +of glasses and the sound of music to tell that they were the bars of the +camp.</p> + +<p>Here, standing at the counter, or seated at numerous small tables, men +were drinking villainous liquor, smoking and talking, and paying but +scant attention to the strains of the fiddle or the accordion, save when +some well-known air was played, when all would join in a boisterous +chorus. Some were always passing in or out of a door which led into a +room behind. Here there was comparative quiet, for men were gambling, +and gambling high.</p> + +<p>Going backwards and forwards with liquors into the gambling-room of the +Imperial Saloon, which stood just where Pine-tree Gulch opened into Yuba +valley, was a lad, whose appearance had earned for him the name of +White-faced Dick.</p> + +<p>White-faced Dick was not one of those who had done well at Pine-tree +Gulch; he had come across the plains with his father, who had died when +half-way over, and Dick had been thrown on the world to shift for +himself. Nature had not intended him for the work, for he was a +delicate, timid lad; what spirits he originally had <a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>having been years +before beaten out of him by a brutal father. So far, indeed, Dick was +the better rather than the worse for the event which had left him an +orphan.</p> + +<p>They had been travelling with a large party for mutual security against +Indians and Mormons, and so long as the journey lasted Dick had got on +fairly well. He was always ready to do odd jobs, and as the draught +cattle were growing weaker and weaker, and every pound of weight was of +importance, no one grudged him his rations in return for his services; +but when the company began to descend the slopes of the Sierra Nevada +they began to break up, going off by twos and threes to the diggings, of +which they heard such glowing accounts. Some, however, kept straight on +to Sacramento, determining there to obtain news as to the doings at all +the different places, and then to choose that which seemed to offer the +best prospects of success.</p> + +<p>Dick proceeded with them to the town, and there found himself alone. His +companions were absorbed in the busy rush of population, and each had so +much to provide and arrange for, that none gave a thought to the +solitary boy. How<a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>ever, at that time no one who had a pair of hands, +however feeble, to work need starve in Sacramento; and for some weeks +Dick hung around the town doing odd jobs, and then, having saved a few +dollars, determined to try his luck at the diggings, and started on foot +with a shovel on his shoulder and a few day's provisions slung across +it.</p> + +<p>Arrived at his destination, the lad soon discovered that gold-digging +was hard work for brawny and seasoned men, and after a few feeble +attempts in spots abandoned as worthless he gave up the effort, and +again began to drift; and even in Pine-tree Gulch it was not difficult +to get a living. At first he tried rocking cradles, but the work was far +harder than it appeared. He was standing ankle deep in water from +morning till night, and his cheeks grew paler, and his strength, instead +of increasing, seemed to fade away. Still, there were jobs within his +strength. He could keep a fire alight and watch a cooking-pot, he could +carry up buckets of water or wash a flannel shirt, and so he struggled +on, until at last some kind-hearted man suggested to him that he should +try to get a place at the new saloon which was about to be opened.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>"You are not fit for this work, young 'un, and you ought to be at home +with your mother; if you like I will go up with you this evening to +Jeffries. I knew him down on the flats, and I daresay he will take you +on. I don't say as a saloon is a good place for a boy, still you will +always get your bellyful of victuals and a dry place to sleep in, if +it's only under a table. What do you say?"</p> + +<p>Dick thankfully accepted the offer, and on Red George's recommendation +was that evening engaged. His work was not hard now, for till the miners +knocked off there was little doing in the saloon; a few men would come +in for a drink at dinner-time, but it was not until the lamps were lit +that business began in earnest, and then for four or five hours Dick was +busy.</p> + +<p>A rougher or healthier lad would not have minded the work, but to Dick +it was torture; every nerve in his body thrilled whenever rough miners +cursed him for not carrying out their orders more quickly, or for +bringing them the wrong liquors, which, as his brain was in a whirl with +the noise, the shouting, and the multiplicity of orders, happened +frequently. He might have <a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>fared worse had not Red George always stood +his friend, and Red George was an authority in Pine-tree Gulch—powerful +in frame, reckless in bearing and temper, he had been in a score of +fights and had come off them, if not unscathed, at least victorious. He +was notoriously a lucky digger, but his earnings went as fast as they +were made, and he was always ready to open his belt and give a bountiful +pinch of dust to any mate down on his luck.</p> + +<p>One evening Dick was more helpless and confused than usual. The saloon +was full, and he had been shouted at and badgered and cursed until he +scarcely knew what he was doing. High play was going on in the saloon, +and a good many men were clustered round the table. Red George was +having a run of luck, and there was a big pile of gold dust on the table +before him. One of the gamblers who was losing had ordered old rye, and +instead of bringing it to him, Dick brought a tumbler of hot liquor +which someone else had called for. With an oath the man took it up and +threw it in his face.</p> + +<p>"You cowardly hound!" Red George exclaimed. "Are you man enough to do +that to a man?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>"You bet," the gambler, who was a new arrival at Pine-tree Gulch, +replied; and picking up an empty glass, he hurled it at Red George. The +by-standers sprang aside, and in a moment the two men were facing each +other with outstretched pistols. The two reports rung out +simultaneously: Red George sat down unconcernedly with a streak of blood +flowing down his face, where the bullet had cut a furrow in his cheek; +the stranger fell back with the bullet hole in the centre of his +forehead.</p> + +<p>The body was carried outside, and the play continued as if no +interruption had taken place. They were accustomed to such occurrences +in Pine-tree Gulch, and the piece of ground at the top of the hill, that +had been set aside as a burial place, was already dotted thickly with +graves, filled in almost every instance by men who had died, in the +local phraseology, "with their boots on."</p> + +<p>Neither then nor afterwards did Red George allude to the subject to +Dick, whose life after this signal instance of his championship was +easier than it had hitherto been, for there were few in Pine-tree Gulch +who cared to excite Red George's <a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>anger; and strangers going to the +place were sure to receive a friendly warning that it was best for their +health to keep their tempers over any shortcomings on the part of +White-faced Dick.</p> + +<p>Grateful as he was for Red George's interference on his behalf, Dick +felt the circumstance which had ensued more than anyone else in the +camp. With others it was the subject of five minutes' talk, but Dick +could not get out of his head the thought of the dead man's face as he +fell back. He had seen many such frays before, but he was too full of +his own troubles for them to make much impression upon him. But in the +present case he felt as if he himself was responsible for the death of +the gambler; if he had not blundered this would not have happened. He +wondered whether the dead man had a wife and children, and, if so, were +they expecting his return? Would they ever hear where he had died, and +how?</p> + +<p>But this feeling, which, tired out as he was when the time came for +closing the bar, often prevented him from sleeping for hours, in no way +lessened his gratitude and devotion towards Red <a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>George, and he felt +that he could die willingly if his life would benefit his champion. +Sometimes he thought, too, that his life would not be much to give, for +in spite of shelter and food, the cough which he had caught while +working in the water still clung to him, and, as his employer said to +him angrily one day—</p> + +<p>"Your victuals don't do you no good, Dick; you get thinner and thinner, +and folks will think as I starve you. Darned if you ain't a disgrace to +the establishment."</p> + +<p>The wind was whistling down the gorges, and the clouds hung among the +pine-woods which still clothed the upper slopes of the hills, and the +diggers, as they turned out one morning, looked up apprehensively.</p> + +<p>"But it could not be," they assured each other. Every one knew that the +rains were not due for another month yet; it could only be a passing +shower if it rained at all.</p> + +<p>But as the morning went on, men came in from camps higher up the river, +and reports were current that it had been raining for the last two days +among the upper hills; while those who took the trouble to walk across +to the new channel could <a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>see for themselves at noon that it was filled +very nigh to the brim, the water rushing along with thick and turbid +current. But those who repeated the rumours, or who reported that the +channel was full, were summarily put down. Men would not believe that +such a calamity as a flood and the destruction of all their season's +work could be impending. There had been some showers, no doubt, as there +had often been before, but it was ridiculous to talk of anything like +rain a month before its time. Still, in spite of these assertions, there +was uneasiness at Pine-tree Gulch, and men looked at the driving clouds +above and shook their heads before they went down to the shafts to work +after dinner.</p> + +<p>When the last customer had left and the bar was closed, Dick had nothing +to do till evening, and he wandered outside and sat down on a stump, at +first looking at the work going on in the valley, then so absorbed in +his own thoughts that he noticed nothing, not even the driving mist +which presently set in. He was calculating that he had, with his savings +from his wages and what had been given him by the miners, laid by eighty +dollars. When he got another hundred and <a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>twenty he would go; he would +make his way down to San Francisco, and then by ship to Panama and up to +New York, and then west again to the village where he was born. There +would be people there who would know him, and who would give him work, +for his mother's sake. He did not care what it was; anything would be +better than this.</p> + +<p>Then his thoughts came back to Pine-tree Gulch, and he started to his +feet. Could he be mistaken? Were his eyes deceiving him? No; among the +stones and boulders of the old bed of the Yuba there was the gleam of +water, and even as he watched it he could see it widening out. He +started to run down the hill to give the alarm, but before he was +half-way he paused, for there were loud shouts, and a scene of bustle +and confusion instantly arose.</p> + +<p>The cradles were deserted, and the men working on the surface loaded +themselves with their tools and made for the high ground, while those at +the windlasses worked their hardest to draw up their comrades below. A +man coming down from above stopped close to Dick, with a low cry, and +stood gazing with a white scared face. Dick <a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>had worked with him; he was +one of the company to which Red George belonged.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Saunders?"</p> + +<p>"My God! they are lost," the man replied. "I was at the windlass when +they shouted up to me to go up and fetch them a bottle of rum. They had +just struck it rich, and wanted a drink on the strength of it."</p> + +<p>Dick understood at once. Red George and his mates were still in the +bottom of the shaft, ignorant of the danger which was threatening them.</p> + +<p>"Come on," he cried; "we shall be in time yet," and at the top of his +speed dashed down the hill, followed by Saunders.</p> + +<p>"What is it, what is it?" asked parties of men mounting the hill. "Red +George's gang are still below."</p> + +<p>Dick's eyes were fixed on the water. There was a broad band now of +yellow with a white edge down the centre of the stony flat, and it was +widening with terrible rapidity. It was scarce ten yards from the +windlass at the top of Red George's shaft when Dick, followed closely by +Saunders, reached it.</p> + +<p>"Come up, mates; quick, for your lives! The <a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>river is rising; you will +be flooded out directly. Every one else has gone!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke he pulled at the rope by which the bucket was hanging, and +the handles of the windlass flew round rapidly as it descended. When it +had run out, Dick and he grasped the handles.</p> + +<p>"All right below?"</p> + +<p>An answering call came up, and the two began their work, throwing their +whole strength into it. Quickly as the windlass revolved, it seemed an +endless time to Dick before the bucket came up, and the first man +stepped out. It was not Red George. Dick had hardly expected it would +be. Red George would be sure to see his two mates up before him, and the +man uttered a cry of alarm as he saw the water, now within a few feet of +the mouth of the shaft.</p> + +<p>It was a torrent now, for not only was it coming through the dam, but it +was rushing down in cascades from the new channel. Without a word the +miner placed himself facing Dick and the moment the bucket was again +down, the three grasped the handles. But quickly as they worked, the +edge of the water was within a few inches of the shaft when the next man +reached <a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>the surface; but again the bucket descended before the rope +tightened. However, the water had began to run over the lip—at first in +a mere trickle, and then, almost instantaneously, in a cascade, which +grew larger and larger.</p> + +<p>The bucket was half-way up when a sound like thunder was heard, the +ground seemed to tremble under their feet, and then at the turn of the +valley above, a great wave of yellow water, crested with foam, was seen +tearing along at the speed of a race-horse.</p> + +<p>"The dam has burst!" Saunders shouted. "Run for your lives, or we are +all lost!"</p> + +<p>The three men dropped the handles and ran at full speed towards the +shore, while loud shouts to Dick to follow came from the crowd of men +standing on the slope. But the boy still grasped the handles, and with +lips tightly closed, still toiled on. Slowly the bucket ascended, for +Red George was a heavy man; then suddenly the weight slackened, and the +handle went round faster. The shaft was filling, the water had reached +the bucket, and had risen to Red George's neck, so that his weight was +no longer on the rope. So fast did the water pour in, that it was not +half a minute before <a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>the bucket reached the surface, and Red George +sprang out. There was but time for one exclamation, and then the great +wave struck them. Red George was whirled like a straw in the current; +but he was a strong swimmer, and at a point where the valley widened +out, half a mile lower, he struggled to shore.</p> + +<p>Two days later the news reached Pine-tree Gulch that a boy's body had +been washed ashore twenty miles down, and ten men, headed by Red George, +went and brought it solemnly back to Pine-tree Gulch. There, among the +stumps of pine-trees, a grave was dug, and there, in the presence of the +whole camp, White-faced Dick was laid to rest.</p> + +<p>Pine-tree Gulch is a solitude now, the trees are growing again, and none +would dream that it was once a busy scene of industry; but if the +traveller searches among the pine-trees, he will find a stone with the +words:</p> + +<p>"Here lies White-faced Dick, who died to save Red George. 'What can a +man do more than give his life for a friend?'"</p> + +<p>The text was the suggestion of an ex-clergyman working as a miner in +Pine-tree Gulch.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>Red George worked no more at the diggings, but after seeing the stone +laid in its place, went east, and with what little money came to him +when the common fund of the company was divided after the flood on the +Yuba, bought a small farm, and settled down there; but to the end of his +life he was never weary of telling those who would listen to it the +story of Pine-tree Gulch.</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/e4.jpg" width="150" height="77" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a></p><p><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<a name="A_BRUSH_WITH_THE_CHINESE" id="A_BRUSH_WITH_THE_CHINESE"></a> +<img src="images/brush.jpg" width="324" height="71" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>A BRUSH WITH THE CHINESE,</h2> + +<h3>AND WHAT CAME OF IT.</h3> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/b3.jpg" width="75" height="77" alt="I" title="" /></div> +<p style="text-indent: -0.75em;">T was early in December that H.M.S. <i>Perseus</i> was cruising off the +mouth of the Canton River. War had been declared with China in +consequence of her continued evasions of the treaty she had made with +us, and it was expected that a strong naval force would soon gather to +bring her to reason. In the meantime the ships on the station had a busy +time of it, chasing the enemy's junks when they ventured to show +themselves beyond the reach of the guns of their forts, and occasionally +having a brush with the piratical boats which took advantage of the +general confusion to plunder friend as well as foe.<br style="clear: both;" /></p> + +<p>The <i>Perseus</i> had that afternoon chased two Government junks up a creek. +The sun had <a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>already set when they took refuge there, and the captain +did not care to send his boats after them in the dark, as many of the +creeks ran up for miles into the flat country; and as they not +unfrequently had many arms or branches, the boats might, in the dark, +miss the junks altogether. Orders were issued that four boats should be +ready for starting at daybreak the next morning. The <i>Perseus</i> anchored +off the mouth of the creek, and two boats were ordered to row backwards +and forwards off its mouth all night to insure that the enemy did not +slip out in the darkness.</p> + +<p>Jack Fothergill, the senior midshipman, was commanding the gig, and two +of the other midshipmen were going in the pinnace and launch, commanded +respectively by the first lieutenant and the master. The three other +midshipmen of the <i>Perseus</i> were loud in their lamentations that they +were not to take share in the fun.</p> + +<p>"You can't all go, you know," Fothergill said, "and it's no use making a +row about it; the captain has been very good to let three of us go."</p> + +<p>"It's all very well for you, Jack," Percy Adcock, the youngest of the +lads, replied, "be<a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>cause you are one of those chosen; and it is not so +hard for Simmons and Linthorpe, because they went the other day in the +boat that chased those junks under shelter of the guns of their battery, +but I haven't had a chance for ever so long."</p> + +<p>"What fun was there in chasing the junks?" Simmons said. "We never got +near the brutes till they were close to their battery, and then just as +the first shot came singing from their guns, and we thought that we were +going to have some excitement, the first lieutenant sung out 'Easy all,' +and there was nothing for it but to turn round and to row for the ship, +and a nice hot row it was—two hours and a half in a broiling sun. Of +course I am not blaming Oliphant, for the captain's orders were strict +that we were not to try to cut the junks out if they got under the guns +of any of their batteries. Still it was horribly annoying, and I do +think the captain might have remembered what beastly luck we had last +time, and given us a chance to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"It is clear we could not all go," Fothergill said, "and naturally +enough the captain chose <a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>the three seniors. Besides, if you did have +bad luck last time, you had your chance, and I don't suppose we shall +have anything more exciting now; these fellows always set fire to their +junks and row for the shore directly they see us, after firing a shot or +two wildly in our direction."</p> + +<p>"Well, Jack, if you don't expect any fun," Simmons replied, "perhaps you +wouldn't mind telling the first lieutenant you do not care for going, +and that I am very anxious to take your place. Perhaps he will be good +enough to allow me to relieve you."</p> + +<p>"A likely thing that!" Fothergill laughed. "No, Tom, I am sorry you are +not going, but you must make the best of it till another chance comes."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think, Jack," Percy Adcock said to his senior in a coaxing +tone later on, "you could manage to smuggle me into the boat with you?"</p> + +<p>"Not I, Percy. Suppose you got hurt, what would the captain say then? +And firing as wildly as the Chinese do, a shot is just as likely to hit +your little carcase as to lodge in one of the sailors. No, you must just +make the best of it,<a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a> Percy, and I promise you that next time there is a +boat expedition, if you are not put in, I will say a good word to the +first luff for you."</p> + +<p>"That promise is better than nothing," the boy said; "but I would a deal +rather go this time and take my chance next."</p> + +<p>"But you see you can't, Percy, and there's no use talking any more about +it. I really do not expect there will be any fighting. Two junks would +hardly make any opposition to the boats of the ship, and I expect we +shall be back by nine o'clock with the news that they were well on fire +before we came up."</p> + +<p>Percy Adcock, however, was determined, if possible, to go. He was a +favourite among the men, and when he spoke to the bow oar of the gig, +the latter promised to do anything he could to aid him to carry out his +wishes.</p> + +<p>"We are to start at daybreak, Tom, so that it will be quite dark when +the boats are lowered. I will creep into the gig before that and hide +myself as well as I can under your thwart, and all you have got to do is +to take no notice of me. When the boat is lowered I think they will +hardly make me out from the deck, especially as <a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>you will be standing up +in the bow holding on with the boat-hook till the rest get on board."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I will do my best; but if you are caught you must not let +out that I knew anything about it."</p> + +<p>"I won't do that," Percy said. "I don't think there is much chance of my +being noticed until we get on board the junks, and then they won't know +which boat I came off in, and the first lieutenant will be too busy to +blow me up. Of course I shall get it when I am on board again, but I +don't mind that so that I see the fun. Besides, I want to send home some +things to my sister, and she will like them all the better if I can tell +her I captured them on board some junks we seized and burnt."</p> + +<p>The next morning the crews mustered before daybreak. Percy had already +taken his place under the bow thwart of the gig. The davits were swung +overboard, and two men took their places in her as she was lowered down +by the falls. As soon as she touched the water the rest of the crew +clambered down by the ladder and took their places; then Fothergill took +his seat in the stern, and the boat pushed off and lay a <a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>few lengths +away from the ship until the heavier boats put off. As soon as they were +under way Percy crawled out from his hiding-place and placed himself in +the bow, where he was sheltered by the body of the oarsmen from +Fothergill's sight.</p> + +<p>Day was just breaking now, but it was still dark on the water, and the +boat rowed very slowly until it became lighter. Percy could just make +out the shores of the creek on both sides; they were but two or three +feet above the level of the water, and were evidently submerged at high +tide. The creek was about a hundred yards wide, and the lad could not +see far ahead, for it was full of sharp windings and turnings. Here and +there branches joined it, but the boats were evidently following the +main channel. After another half-hour's rowing the first lieutenant +suddenly gave the order, "Easy all," and the men, looking over their +shoulders, saw a village a quarter of a mile ahead, with the two junks +they had chased the night before lying in front of it. Almost at the +same moment a sudden uproar was heard—drums were beaten and gongs +sounded.</p> + +<p>"They are on the look-out for us," the first <a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>lieutenant said. "Mr. +Mason, do you keep with me and attack the junk highest up the river; Mr. +Bellew and Mr. Fothergill, do you take the one lower down. Row on, men."</p> + +<p>The oars all touched the water together, and the four boats leapt +forward. In a minute a scattering fire of gingals and matchlocks was +opened from the junks, and the bullets pattered on the water round the +boats. Percy was kneeling up in the bow now. As they passed a branch +channel three or four hundred yards from the village, he started and +leapt to his feet.</p> + +<p>"There are four or five junks in that passage, Fothergill; they are +poling out."</p> + +<p>The first lieutenant heard the words.</p> + +<p>"Row on, men; let us finish with these craft ahead before the others get +out. This must be that piratical village we have heard about, Mr. Mason, +as lying up one of these creeks; that accounts for those two junks not +going higher up. I was surprised at seeing them here, for they might +guess that we should try to get them this morning. Evidently they +calculated on catching us in a trap."</p> + +<p>Percy was delighted at finding that, in the <a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>excitement caused by his +news, the first lieutenant had forgotten to take any notice of his being +there without orders, and he returned a defiant nod to the threat +conveyed by Fothergill shaking his fist at him. As they neared the junks +the fire of those on board redoubled, and was aided by that of many +villagers gathered on the bank of the creek. Suddenly from a bank of +rushes four cannons were fired. A ball struck the pinnace, smashing in +her side. The other boats gathered hastily round and took her crew on +board, and then dashed at the junks, which were but a hundred yards +distant. The valour of the Chinese evaporated as they saw the boats +approaching, and scores of them leapt overboard and swam for shore.</p> + +<p>In another minute the boats were alongside and the crews scrambling up +the sides of the junks. A few Chinamen only attempted to oppose them. +These were speedily overcome, and the British had now time to look +round, and saw that six junks crowded with men had issued from the side +creek and were making towards them.</p> + +<p>"Let the boats tow astern," the lieutenant <a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>ordered. "We should have to +run the gauntlet of that battery on shore if we were to attack them, and +might lose another boat before we reached their side. We will fight them +here."</p> + +<p>The junks approached, those on board firing their guns, yelling and +shouting, while the drums and gongs were furiously beaten.</p> + +<p>"They will find themselves mistaken, Percy, if they think they are going +to frighten us with all that row," Fothergill said. "You young rascal, +how did you get on board the boat without being seen? The captain will +be sure to suspect I had a hand in concealing you."</p> + +<p>The tars were now at work firing the gingals attached to the bulwarks +and the matchlocks, with which the deck was strewn, at the approaching +junks. As they took steady aim, leaning their pieces on the bulwarks, +they did considerable execution among the Chinamen crowded on board the +junks, while the shot of the Chinese, for the most part, whistled far +overhead; but the guns of the shore battery, which had now been slewed +round to bear upon them, opened with a better aim, and several shots +came crashing into the sides of the two captured junks.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>"Get ready to board, lads!" Lieutenant Oliphant shouted. "Don't wait +for them to board you, but the moment they come alongside lash their +rigging to ours and spring on board them."</p> + +<p>The leading junk was now about twenty yards away, and presently grated +alongside. Half-a-dozen sailors at once sprang into her rigging with +ropes, and after lashing the junks together leaped down upon her deck, +where Fothergill was leading the gig's crew and some of those rescued +from the pinnace, while Mr. Bellew, with another party, had boarded her +at the stern. Several of the Chinese fought stoutly, but the greater +part lost heart at seeing themselves attacked by the "white devils," +instead of, as they expected, overwhelming them by their superior +numbers. Many began at once to jump overboard, and after two or three +minutes' sharp fighting, the rest either followed their example or were +beaten below.</p> + +<p>Fothergill looked round. The other junk had been attacked by two of the +enemy, one on each side, and the little body of sailors were gathered in +her waist, and were defending themselves against an overwhelming number +of the enemy.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>The other three piratical junks had been carried somewhat up the creek +by the tide that was sweeping inward, and could not for the moment take +part in the fight.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Oliphant is hard pressed, sir." He asked the master: "Shall we take +to the boats?"</p> + +<p>"That will be the best plan," Mr. Bellew replied. "Quick, lads, get the +boats alongside and tumble in; there is not a moment to be lost."</p> + +<p>The crew at once sprang to the boats and rowed to the other junk, which +was but some thirty yards away.</p> + +<p>The Chinese, absorbed in their contest with the crew of the pinnace, did +not perceive the new-comers until they gained the deck, and with a shout +fell furiously upon them. In their surprise and consternation the +pirates did not pause to note that they were still five to one superior +in number, but made a precipitate rush for their own vessels. The +English at once took the offensive. The first lieutenant with his party +boarded one, while the new-comers leapt on to the deck of the other. The +panic which had seized the Chinese was so complete that they attempted +no resist<a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>ance whatever, but sprang overboard in great numbers and swam +to the shore, which was but twenty yards away, and in three minutes the +English were in undisputed possession of both vessels.</p> + +<p>"Back again, Mr. Fothergill, or you will lose the craft you captured," +Lieutenant Oliphant said; "they have already cut her free."</p> + +<p>The Chinese, indeed, who had been beaten below by the boarding party, +had soon perceived the sudden departure of their captors, and gaining +the deck again had cut the lashings which fastened them to the other +junk, and were proceeding to hoist their sails. They were too late, +however. Almost before the craft had way on her Fothergill and his crew +were alongside. The Chinese did not wait for the attack, but at once +sprang overboard and made for the shore. The other three junks, seeing +the capture of their comrades, had already hoisted their sails and were +making up the creek. Fothergill dropped an anchor, left four of his men +in charge, and rowed back to Mr. Oliphant.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do next, sir?"</p> + +<p>"We will give those fellows on shore a lesson, <a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>and silence their +battery. Two men have been killed since you left. We must let the other +junks go for the present. Four of my men were killed and eleven wounded +before Mr. Bellew and you came to our assistance. The Chinese were +fighting pluckily up to that time, and it would have gone very hard with +us if you had not been at hand; the beggars will fight when they think +they have got it all their own way. But before we land we will set fire +to the five junks we have taken. Do you return and see that the two +astern are well lighted, Mr. Fothergill; Mr. Mason will see to these +three. When you have done your work take to your boat and lay off till I +join you; keep the junks between you and the shore, to protect you from +the fire of the rascals there."</p> + +<p>"I cannot come with you, I suppose, Fothergill?" Percy Adcock said, as +the midshipman was about to descend into his boat again.</p> + +<p>"Yes, come along, Percy. It doesn't matter what you do now. The captain +will be so pleased when he hears that we have captured and burnt five +junks, that you will get off with a very light wigging, I imagine."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>"That's just what I was thinking, Jack. Has it not been fun?"</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't have thought it fun if you had got one of those matchlock +balls in your body. There are a good many of our poor fellows just at +the present moment who do not see anything funny in the affair at all. +Here we are; clamber up."</p> + +<p>The crew soon set to work under Fothergill's orders. The sails were cut +off the masts and thrown down into the hold; bamboos, of which there +were an abundance down there, were heaped over them, a barrel of oil was +poured over the mass, and the fire then applied.</p> + +<p>"That will do, lads. Now take to your boats and let's make a bonfire of +the other junk."</p> + +<p>In ten minutes both vessels were a sheet of flame, and the boat was +lying a short distance from them waiting for further operations. The +inhabitants of the village, furious at the failure of the plan which had +been laid for the destruction of the "white devils," kept up a constant +fusilade, which, however, did no harm, for the gig was completely +sheltered by the burning junks close to her from their missiles.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>"There go the others!" Percy exclaimed after a minute or two, as three +columns of smoke arose simultaneously from the other junks, and the +sailors were seen dropping into their boats alongside.</p> + +<p>The killed and wounded were placed in the other gig with four sailors in +charge. They were directed to keep under shelter of the junks until +rejoined by the pinnace and Fothergill's gig, after these had done their +work on shore.</p> + +<p>When all was ready the first lieutenant raised his hand as a signal, and +the two boats dashed between the burning junks and rowed for the shore. +Such of the natives as had their weapons charged fired a hasty volley, +and then, as the sailors leapt from their boats, took to their heels.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Fothergill, take your party into the village and set fire to the +houses; shoot down every man you see. This place is a nest of pirates. I +will capture that battery and then join you."</p> + +<p>Fothergill and his sailors at once entered the village. The men had +already fled; the women were turned out of the houses, and these were +immediately set on fire. The tars regarded the <a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>whole affair as a +glorious joke, and raced from house to house, making a hasty search in +each for concealed valuables before setting it on fire. In a short time +the whole village was in a blaze.</p> + +<p>"There is a house there, standing in that little grove a hundred yards +away," Percy said.</p> + +<p>"It looks like a temple," Fothergill replied. "However, we will have a +look at it." And calling two sailors to accompany him, he started at a +run towards it, Percy keeping by his side.</p> + +<p>"It is a temple," Fothergill said when they approached it. "Still, we +will have a look at it, but we won't burn it; it will be as well to +respect the religion, even of a set of piratical scoundrels like these."</p> + +<p>At the head of his men he rushed in at the entrance. There was a blaze +of fire as half a dozen muskets were discharged in their faces. One of +the sailors dropped dead, and before the others had time to realize what +had happened they were beaten to the ground by a storm of blows from +swords and other weapons.</p> + +<p>A heavy blow crashed down on Percy's head, and he fell insensible even +before he realized what had occurred.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>When he recovered, his first sensation was that of a vague wonder as to +what had happened to him. He seemed to be in darkness and unable to move +hand or foot. He was compressed in some way that he could not at first +understand, and was being bumped and jolted in an extraordinary manner. +It was some little time before he could understand the situation. He +first remembered the fight with the junks, then he recalled the landing +and burning the village; then, as his brain cleared, came the +recollection of his start with Fothergill for the temple among the +trees, his arrival there, and a loud report and flash of fire.</p> + +<p>"I must have been knocked down and stunned," he said to himself, "and I +suppose I am a prisoner now to these brutes, and one of them must be +carrying me on his back."</p> + +<p>Yes, he could understand it all now. His hands and his feet were tied, +ropes were passed round his body in every direction, and he was fastened +back to back upon the shoulders of a Chinaman. Percy remembered the +tales he had heard of the imprisonment and torture of those who fell +into the hands of the Chinese, and he bitterly regretted <a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>that he had +not been killed instead of stunned in the surprise of the temple.</p> + +<p>"It would have been just the same feeling," he said to himself, "and +there would have been an end of it. Now, there is no saying what is +going to happen. I wonder whether Jack was killed, and the sailors."</p> + +<p>Presently there was a jabber of voices; the motion ceased. Percy could +feel that the cords were being unwound, and he was dropped on to his +feet; then the cloth was removed from his head, and he could look round.</p> + +<p>A dozen Chinese, armed with matchlocks and bristling with swords and +daggers, stood around, and among them, bound like himself and gagged by +a piece of bamboo forced lengthways across his mouth and kept there with +a string going round the back of the head, stood Fothergill. He was +bleeding from several cuts in the head. Percy's heart gave a bound of +joy at finding that he was not alone; then he tried to feel sorry that +Jack had not escaped, but failed to do so, although he told himself that +his comrade's presence would not in any way alleviate the fate which was +certain to befall him. Still the thought of com<a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>panionship, even in +wretchedness, and perhaps a vague hope that Jack, with his energy and +spirit, might contrive some way for their escape, cheered him up.</p> + +<p>As Percy, too, was gagged, no word could be exchanged by the midshipmen, +but they nodded to each other. They were now put side by side and made +to walk in the centre of their captors. On the way they passed through +several villages, whose inhabitants poured out to gaze at the captives, +but the men in charge of them were evidently not disposed to delay, as +they passed through without a stop. At last they halted before two +cottages standing by themselves, thrust the prisoners into a small room, +removed their gags, and left them to themselves.</p> + +<p>"Well, Percy, my boy, so they caught you too? I am awfully sorry. It was +my fault for going with only two men into that temple, but as the +village had been deserted and scarcely a man was found there, it never +entered my mind that there might be a party in the temple."</p> + +<p>"Of course not, Jack; it was a surprise altogether. I don't know +anything about it, for I was knocked down, I suppose, just as we went +in, <a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>and the first thing I knew about it was that I was being carried on +the back of one of those fellows. I thought it was awful at first, but I +don't seem to mind so much now you are with me."</p> + +<p>"It is a comfort to have someone to speak to," Jack said, "yet I wish +you were not here, Percy; I can't do you any good, and I shall never +cease blaming myself for having brought you into this scrape. I don't +know much more about the affair than you do. The guns were fired so +close to us that my face was scorched with one of them, and almost at +the same instant I got a lick across my cheek with a sword. I had just +time to hit at one of them, and then almost at the same moment I got two +or three other blows, and down I went; they threw themselves on the top +of me and tied and gagged me in no time. Then I was tied to a long +bamboo, and two fellows put the ends on their shoulders and went off +with me through the fields. Of course I was face downwards, and did not +know you were with us till they stopped and loosed me from the bamboo +and set me on my feet."</p> + +<p>"But what are they going to do with us do you think, Jack?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>"I should say they are going to take us to Canton and claim a reward +for our capture, and there I suppose they will cut off our heads or saw +us in two, or put us to some other unpleasant kind of death. I expect +they are discussing it now; do you hear what a jabber they are kicking +up?"</p> + +<p>Voices were indeed heard raised in angry altercation in the next room. +After a time the din subsided and the conversation appeared to take a +more amiable turn.</p> + +<p>"I suppose they have settled it as far as they are concerned," Jack +said; "anyhow, you may be quite sure they mean to make something out of +us. If they hadn't they would have finished us at once, for they must +have been furious at the destruction of their junks and village. As to +the idea that mercy has anything to do with it, we may as well put it +out of our minds. The Chinaman, at the best of times, has no feeling of +pity in his nature, and after their defeat it is certain they would have +killed us at once had they not hoped to do better by us. If they had +been Indians I should have said they had carried us off to enjoy the +satisfaction of torturing us, but I don't suppose it is that with them."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>"Do you think there is any chance of our getting away?" Percy asked, +after a pause.</p> + +<p>"I should say not the least in the world, Percy. My hands are fastened +so tight now that the ropes seem cutting into my wrists, and after they +had set me on my feet and cut the cords of my legs I could scarcely +stand at first, my feet were so numbed by the pressure. However, we must +keep up our pluck. Possibly they may keep us at Canton for a bit, and if +they do the squadron may arrive and fight its way past the forts and +take the city before they have quite made up their minds as to what kind +of death will be most appropriate to the occasion. I wonder what they +are doing now? They seem to be chopping sticks."</p> + +<p>"I wish they would give us some water," Percy said. "I am frightfully +thirsty."</p> + +<p>"And so am I, Percy; there is one comfort, they won't let us die of +thirst, they could get no satisfaction out of our deaths now."</p> + +<p>Two hours later some of the Chinese re-entered the room and led the +captives outside, and the lads then saw what was the meaning of the +noise they had heard. A cage had been manufactured <a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>of strong bamboos. +It was about four and a half feet long, four feet wide, and less than +three feet high; above it was fastened two long bamboos. Two or three of +the bars of the cage had been left open.</p> + +<p>"My goodness! they never intend to put us in there," Percy exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"That they do," Jack said. "They are going to carry us the rest of the +way."</p> + +<p>The cords which bound the prisoners' hands were now cut, and they were +motioned to crawl into the cage. This they did; the bars were then put +in their places and securely lashed. Four men went to the ends of the +poles and lifted the cage upon their shoulders; two others took their +places beside it, and one man, apparently the leader of the party, +walked on ahead; the rest remained behind.</p> + +<p>"I never quite realized what a fowl felt in a coop before," Jack said, +"but if its sensations are at all like mine they must be decidedly +unpleasant. It isn't high enough to sit upright in, it is nothing like +long enough to lie down, and as to getting out one might as well think +of flying. Do you know, Percy, I don't think they mean taking <a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>us to +Canton at all. I did not think of it before, but from the direction of +the sun I feel sure that we cannot have been going that way. What they +are up to I can't imagine."</p> + +<p>In an hour they came to a large village. Here the cage was set down and +the villagers closed round. They were, however, kept a short distance +from the cage by the men in charge of it. Then a wooden platter was +placed on the ground, and persons throwing a few copper coins into this +were allowed to come near the cage.</p> + +<p>"They are making a show of us!" Fothergill exclaimed. "That's what they +are up to, you see if it isn't; they are going to travel up country to +show the 'white devils' whom their valour has captured."</p> + +<p>This was, indeed, the purpose of the pirates. At that time Europeans +seldom ventured beyond the limits assigned to them in the two or three +towns where they were permitted to trade, and few, indeed, of the +country people had ever obtained a sight of the white barbarians of +whose doings they had so frequently heard. Consequently a small crowd +soon gathered round the cage, eyeing the captives with the same interest +<a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>they would have felt as to unknown and dangerous beasts; they laughed +and joked, passed remarks upon them, and even poked them with sticks. +Fothergill, furious at this treatment, caught one of the sticks, and +wrenching it from the hands of the Chinaman, tried to strike at him +through the bars, a proceeding which excited shouts of laughter from the +by-standers.</p> + +<p>"I think, Jack," Percy said, "it will be best to try and keep our +tempers and not to seem to mind what they do to us, then if they find +they can't get any fun out of us they will soon leave us alone."</p> + +<p>"Of course, that's the best plan," Fothergill agreed, "but it's not so +easy to follow. That fellow very nearly poked out my eye with his stick, +and no one's going to stand that if he can help it."</p> + +<p>It was some hours before the curiosity of the village was satisfied. +When all had paid who were likely to do so, the guards broke up their +circle, and leaving two of their number at the cage to see that no +actual harm was caused to their prisoners, the rest went off to a +refreshment house. The place of the <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>elders was now taken by the boys +and children of the village, who crowded round the cage, prodded the +prisoners with sticks, and, putting their hands through the bars, pulled +their ears and hair. This amusement, however, was brought to an abrupt +conclusion by Fothergill suddenly seizing the wrist of a big boy and +pulling his arm through the cage until his face was against the bars; +then he proceeded to punch him until the guard, coming to his rescue, +poked Fothergill with his stick until he released his hold.</p> + +<p>The punishment of their comrade excited neither anger nor resentment +among the other boys, who yelled with delight at his discomfiture, but +it made them more careful in approaching the cage, and though they +continued to poke the prisoners with sticks they did not venture again +to thrust a hand through the bars. At sunset the guards again came +round, lifted the cage and carried it into a shed. A platter of dirty +rice and a jug of water were put into the cage; two of the men lighted +their long pipes and sat down on guard beside it, and, the doors being +closed, the captives were left in peace.</p> + +<p>"If this sort of thing is to go on, as I suppose <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>it is," Fothergill +said, "the sooner they cut off our heads the better."</p> + +<p>"It is very bad, Jack. I am sore all over with those probes from their +sharp sticks."</p> + +<p>"I don't care for the pain, Percy, so much as the humiliation of the +thing. To be stared at and poked at as if we were wild beasts by these +curs, when with half a dozen of our men we could send a hundred of them +scampering, I feel as if I could choke with rage."</p> + +<p>"You had better try and eat some of this rice, Jack. It is beastly, but +I daresay we shall get no more until to-morrow night, and we must keep +up our strength if we can. At any rate, the water is not bad, that's a +comfort."</p> + +<p>"No thanks to them," Jack growled. "If there had been any bad water in +the neighbourhood they would have given it to us."</p> + +<p>For six weeks the sufferings of the prisoners continued. Their captors +avoided towns where the authorities would probably at once have taken +the prisoners out of their hands. No one would have recognized the two +captives as the midshipmen of the <i>Perseus</i>; their clothes were in +rags—torn to pieces by the thrusts of the sharp-pointed <a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>bamboos, to +which they had daily been subjected—the bad food, the cramped position, +and the misery which they suffered had worn both lads to skeletons; +their hair was matted with filth, their faces begrimed with dirt. Percy +was so weak that he felt he could not stand. Fothergill, being three +years older, was less exhausted, but he knew that he, too, could not +support his sufferings for many days longer. Their bodies were covered +with sores, and try as they would they were able to catch only a few +minutes' sleep at a time, so much did the bamboo bars hurt their wasted +limbs.</p> + +<p>They seldom exchanged a word during the daytime, suffering in silence +the persecutions to which they were exposed, but at night they talked +over their homes and friends in England, and their comrades on board +ship, seldom saying a word as to their present position. They were now +in a hilly country, but had not the least idea of the direction in which +it lay from Canton or its distance from the coast.</p> + +<p>One evening Jack said to his companion, "I think it's nearly all over +now, Percy. The last two days we have made longer journeys, and <a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>have +not stopped at any of the smaller villages we passed through. I fancy +our guards must see that we can't last much longer, and are taking us +down to some town to hand us over to the authorities and get their +reward for us."</p> + +<p>"I hope it is so, Jack; the sooner the better. Not that it makes much +difference now to me, for I do not think I can stand many more days of +it."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I am tougher than you, Percy, and shall take longer to +kill, so I hope with all my heart that I may be right, and that they may +be going to give us up to the authorities."</p> + +<p>The next evening they stopped at a large place, and were subjected to +the usual persecution; this, however, was now less prolonged than during +the early days of their captivity, for they had now no longer strength +or spirits to resent their treatment, and as no fun was to be obtained +from passive victims, even the village boys soon ceased to find any +amusement in tormenting them.</p> + +<p>When most of their visitors had left them, an elderly Chinaman +approached the side of the cage. He spoke to their guards and looked at +them attentively for some minutes, then he said in pigeon English, "You +officer men?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, starting at the sound of the English words, the +first they had heard spoken since their captivity. "Yes, we are officers +of the <i>Perseus</i>."</p> + +<p>"Me speeke English velly well," the Chinaman said; "me pilot-man many +years on Canton river. How you get here?"</p> + +<p>"We were attacking some piratical junks, and landed to destroy the +village where the people were firing on us. We entered a place full of +pirates, and were knocked down and taken prisoners, and carried away up +the country; that is six weeks ago, and you see what we are now."</p> + +<p>"Pirate men velly bad," the Chinaman said; "plunder many junk on river +and kill crew. Me muchee hate them."</p> + +<p>"Can you do anything for us?" Jack asked. "You will be well rewarded if +you could manage to get us free."</p> + +<p>The man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Me no see what can do, me stranger here; come to stay with wifey; +people no do what me ask them. English ships attack Canton, much fight +and take town, people all hate English.<a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a> Bad country dis. People in one +village fight against another. Velly bad men here."</p> + +<p>"How far is Canton away?" Jack asked. "Could you not send down to tell +the English we are here?"</p> + +<p>"Fourteen days' journey off," the man said; "no see how can do +anything."</p> + +<p>"Well," Jack said, "when you get back again to Canton let our people +know what has been the end of us; we shall not last much longer."</p> + +<p>"All light," the man said, "will see what me can do. Muchee think +to-night!" And after saying a few words to the guards, who had been +regarding this conversation with an air of surprise, the Chinaman +retired.</p> + +<p>The guards had for some time abandoned the precaution of sitting up at +night by the cage, convinced that their captives had no longer strength +to attempt to break through its fastenings or to drag themselves many +yards away if they could do so. They therefore left it standing in the +open, and, wrapping themselves in their thickly-wadded coats, for the +nights were cold, lay down by the side of the cage.</p> + +<p>The coolness of the nights had, indeed, assisted <a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>to keep the two +prisoners alive. During the day the sun was excessively hot, and the +crowd of visitors round the cage impeded the circulation of the air and +added to their sufferings. It was true that the cold at night frequently +prevented them from sleeping, but it acted as a tonic and braced them +up.</p> + +<p>"What did he mean about the villages attacking each other?" Percy asked.</p> + +<p>"I have heard," Jack replied, "that in some parts of China things are +very much the same as they used to be in the highlands of Scotland. +There is no law or order. The different villages are like clans, and +wage war on each other. Sometimes the Government sends a number of +troops, who put the thing down for a time, chop off a good many heads, +and then march away, and the whole work begins again as soon as their +backs are turned."</p> + +<p>That night the uneasy slumber of the lads was disturbed by a sudden +firing; shouts and yells were heard, and the firing redoubled.</p> + +<p>"The village is attacked," Jack said. "I noticed that, like some other +places we have come into lately, there is a strong earthen wall round +it, <a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>with gates. Well, there is one comfort—it does not make much +difference to us which side wins."</p> + +<p>The guards at the first alarm leapt to their feet, caught up their +matchlocks, and ran to aid in the defence of the wall. Two minutes later +a man ran up to the cage.</p> + +<p>"All lightee," he said; "just what me hopee."</p> + +<p>With his knife he cut the tough withes that held the bamboos in their +places, and pulled out three of the bars.</p> + +<p>"Come along," he said; "no time to lose."</p> + +<p>Jack scrambled out, but in trying to stand upright gave a sharp +exclamation of pain. Percy crawled out more slowly; he tried to stand +up, but could not. The Chinaman caught him up and threw him on his +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Come along quickee," he said to Jack; "if takee village, kill evely +one." He set off at a run. Jack followed as fast as he could, groaning +at every step from the pain the movement caused to his bruised body.</p> + +<p>They went to the side of the village opposite to that at which the +attack was going on. They met no one on the way, the inhabitants having +all rushed to the other side to repel the attack.<a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a> They stopped at a +small gate in the wall, the Chinaman drew back the bolts and opened it, +and they passed out into the country. For an hour they kept on. By the +end of that time Jack could scarcely drag his limbs along. The Chinaman +halted at length in a clump of trees surrounded by a thick undergrowth.</p> + +<p>"Allee safee here," he said, "no searchee so far; here food;" and he +produced from a wallet a cold chicken and some boiled rice, and unslung +from his shoulder a gourd filled with cold tea.</p> + +<p>"Me go back now, see what happen. To-mollow nightee come again—bringee +more food." And without another word went off at a rapid pace.</p> + +<p>Jack moistened his lips with the tea, and then turned to his companion. +Percy had not spoken a word since he had been released from the cage, +and had been insensible during the greater part of his journey. Jack +poured some cold tea between his lips.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, Percy, old boy, we are free now, and with luck and that good +fellow's help we will work our way down to Canton yet."</p> + +<p>"I shall never get down there; you may," Percy said feebly.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>"Oh, nonsense, you will pick up strength like a steam-engine now. Here, +let me prop you against this tree. That's better. Now drink a drop of +this tea; it's like nectar after that filthy water we have been +drinking. Now you will feel better. Now you must try and eat a little of +this chicken and rice. Oh, nonsense, you have got to do it. I am not +going to let you give way when our trouble is just over. Think of your +people at home, Percy, and make an effort, for their sakes. Good +heavens! now I think of it, it must be Christmas morning. We were caught +on the 2nd and we have been just twenty-two days on show. I am sure that +it must be past twelve o'clock, and it is Christmas-day. It is a good +omen, Percy. This food isn't like roast beef and plum-pudding, but it's +not to be despised, I can tell you. Come, fire away, that's a good +fellow."</p> + +<p>Percy made an effort and ate a few mouthfuls of rice and chicken, then +he took another draught of tea, and lay down, and was almost immediately +asleep.</p> + +<p>Jack ate his food slowly and contentedly till he finished half the +supply, then he, too, lay down, and, after a short but hearty +thanksgiving for <a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>his escape from a slow and lingering death, he, too, +fell off to sleep. The sun was rising when he woke, being aroused by a +slight movement on the part of Percy; he opened his eyes and sat up.</p> + +<p>"Well, Percy, how do you feel this morning?" he asked cheerily.</p> + +<p>"I feel too weak to move," Percy replied languidly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you will be all right when you have sat up and eaten breakfast," +Jack said. "Here you are; here is a wing for you, and this rice is as +white as snow, and the tea is first rate. I thought last night after I +lay down that I heard a murmur of water, so after we have had breakfast +I will look about and see if I can find it. We should feel like new men +after a wash. You look awful, and I am sure I am just as bad."</p> + +<p>The thought of a wash inspirited Percy far more than that of eating, and +he sat up and made a great effort to do justice to breakfast. He +succeeded much better than he had done the night before, and Jack, +although he pretended to grumble, was satisfied with his companion's +progress, and finished off the rest of the food. Then he set out to +search for water. He had not very far <a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>to go; a tiny stream, a few +inches wide and two or three inches deep, ran through the wood from the +higher ground. After throwing himself down and taking a drink, he +hurried back to Percy.</p> + +<p>"It is all right, Percy, I have found it. We can wash to our hearts' +content; think of that, lad."</p> + +<p>Percy could hardly stand, but he made an effort, and Jack half carried +him to the streamlet. There the lads spent hours. First they bathed +their heads and hands, and then, stripping, lay down in the stream and +allowed it to flow over them, then they rubbed themselves with handfuls +of leaves dipped in the water, and when they at last put on their rags +again felt like new men. Percy was able to walk back to the spot they +had quitted with the assistance only of Jack's arm. The latter, feeling +that his breakfast had by no means appeased his hunger, now started for +a search through the wood, and presently returned to Percy laden with +nuts and berries.</p> + +<p>"The nuts are sure to be all right; I expect the berries are too. I have +certainly seen some like them in native markets, and I think it will be +quite safe to risk it."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>The rest of the day was spent in picking nuts and eating them. Then +they sat down and waited for the arrival of their friend. He came two +hours after nightfall with a wallet stored with provisions, and told +them that he had regained the village unobserved. The attack had been +repulsed, but with severe loss to the defenders as well as the +assailants; two of their guards had been among the killed. The others +had made a great clamour over the escape of the prisoners, and had made +a close search throughout the village and immediately round it, for they +were convinced that their captives had not had the strength to go any +distance. He thought, however, that although they had professed the +greatest indignation, and had offered many threats as to the vengeance +that Government would take upon the village, one of whose inhabitants, +at least, must have aided in the evasion of the prisoners, they would +not trouble themselves any further in the matter. They had already +reaped a rich harvest from the exhibition, and would divide among +themselves the share of their late comrades; nor was it at all +improbable that if they were to report the matter to the authorities +they would <a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>themselves get into serious trouble for not having handed +over the prisoners immediately after their capture.</p> + +<p>For a fortnight the pilot nursed and fed the two midshipmen. He had +already provided them with native clothes, so that if by chance any +villagers should catch sight of them they would not recognize them as +the escaped white men. At the end of that time both the lads had almost +recovered from the effects of their sufferings. Jack, indeed, had picked +up from the first, but Percy for some days continued so weak and ill +that Jack had feared that he was going to have an attack of fever of +some kind. His companion's cheery and hopeful chat did as much good for +Percy as the nourishing food with which their friend supplied them, and +at the end of the fortnight he declared that he felt sufficiently strong +to attempt to make his way down to the coast.</p> + +<p>The pilot acted as their guide. When they inquired about his wife, he +told them carelessly that she would remain with her kinsfolk, and would +travel on to Canton and join him there when she found an opportunity. +The journey was accomplished at night, by very short stages <a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>at first, +but by increasing distances as Percy gained strength. During the daytime +the lads lay hid in woods or jungles, while their companion went into +the village and purchased food. They struck the river many miles above +Canton, and the pilot, going down first to a village on its banks, +bargained for a boat to take him and two women down to the city.</p> + +<p>The lads went on board at night and took their places in the little +cabin formed of bamboos and covered with mats in the stern of the boat, +and remained thus sheltered not only from the view of people in boats +passing up or down the stream, but from the eyes of their own boatmen.</p> + +<p>After two days' journey down the river without incident, they arrived +off Canton, where the British fleet was still lying while negotiations +for peace were being carried on with the authorities at Pekin. Peeping +out between the mats, the lads caught sight of the English warships, +and, knowing that there was now no danger, they dashed out of the cabin, +to the surprise of the native boatmen, and shouted and waved their arms +to the distant ships.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes they were alongside the <i>Perseus</i>, <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>when they were hailed +as if restored from the dead. The pilot was very handsomely rewarded by +the English authorities for his kindness to the prisoners, and was +highly satisfied with the result of his proceedings, which more than +doubled the little capital with which he had retired from business. Jack +Fothergill and Percy Adcock declare that they have never since eaten +chicken without thinking of their Christmas fare on the morning of their +escape from the hands of the Chinese pirates.</p> + +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + +<hr style='width: 80%;' /> +<p><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"> +<img src="images/blackie.jpg" width="324" height="116" alt="Blackie & Son's Books for Young People" title="Blackie & Son's Books for Young People" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><i>By the Author of "John Herring," "Mehalah," &c.</i></p> + +<p><b>Grettir the Outlaw:</b> A Story of Iceland. By <span class="smcap">S. Baring-Gould</span>. +With 10 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">M. Zeno Diemer</span> and a +Coloured Map. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A work of special interest, not only because of the high rank which +Mr. Baring-Gould has of late years acquired by his brilliant series +of novels, <i>Mehalah</i>, <i>John Herring</i>, <i>Court Royal</i>, &c., but +because of his earlier won reputation as a historian and explorer +of folk-legends and popular beliefs. In the story of Grettir, both +the art of the novelist and the lore of the archæologist have had +full scope, with the result that we have a narrative of adventure +of the most romantic kind, and at the same time an interesting and +minutely accurate account of the old Icelandic families, their +homes, their mode of life, their superstitions, their songs and +stories, their bear-serk fury, and their heroism by land and sea. +The story is told throughout with a simplicity which will make it +attractive even to the very young, and no boy will be able to +withstand the magic of such scenes as the fight of Grettir with the +twelve bear-serks, the wrestle with Karr the Old in the chamber of +the dead, the combat with the spirit of Glam the thrall, and the +defence of the dying Grettir by his younger brother.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>With Lee in Virginia:</b> A Story of the American Civil War. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 10 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The great war between the Northern and Southern States of America +has the special interest for English boys of having been a struggle +between two sections of a people akin to us in race and language—a +struggle fought out by each side with unusual intensity of +conviction in the rightness of its cause, and abounding in heroic +incidents. Of these points Mr. Henty has made admirable use in this +story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely proving his +sympathy with the slaves, serves with no less courage and +enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson through the most exciting events +of the struggle. He has many hairbreadth escapes, is several times +wounded and twice taken prisoner; but his courage and readiness +bring him safely through all difficulties.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"Mr. Henty is one of the best of story tellers for young +people."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>By Pike and Dyke:</b> A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. By +<span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 10 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Maynard +Brown</span> and 4 Maps. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A story covering the period which forms the thrilling subject of +Motley's <i>Rise of the Dutch Republic</i>, when the Netherlands, under +the guidance of William of Orange, revolted against the attempts of +Alva and the Spaniards to force upon them the Catholic religion. To +a story already of the keenest interest, Mr. Henty has added a +special attractiveness for boys in tracing through the historic +conflict the adventures and brave deeds of an English boy in the +household of the ablest man of his age—William the Silent. Edward +Martin; the son of an English sea-captain, after sharing in the +excitement of an escape from the Spaniards and a sea-fight, enters +the service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed by him in +many dangerous and responsible missions, in the discharge of which +he passes through the great sieges and more than one naval +engagement of the time. He is subsequently employed in Holland by +Queen Elizabeth, to whom he is recommended by Orange; and +ultimately settles down as Sir Edward Martin and the husband of the +lady to whom he owes his life, and whom he in turn has saved from +the Council of Blood.</p></div> + +<p><b>The Lion Of St. Mark:</b> A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth Century. By +<span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 10 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Every boy should read <i>The Lion of St. Mark</i>. Mr. Henty has never +produced any story more delightful, more wholesome, or more +vivacious. From first to last it will be read with keen +enjoyment."—<i>The Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Henty has probably not published a more interesting story than +<i>The Lion of St. Mark</i>. He has certainly not published one in which +he has been at such pains to rise to the dignity of his subject. +Mr. Henty's battle-pieces are admirable."—<i>The Academy.</i></p> + +<p>"The young hero has shrewdness, courage, enterprise, principle, all +the qualities that help the young in the race and battle of +life."—<i>Literary Churchman.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Captain Bailey's Heir:</b> A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. By +<span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">H. M. +Paget</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A Westminster boy who, like all this author's heroes, makes his +way in the world by hard work, good temper, and unfailing courage. +The descriptions given of life are just what a healthy intelligent +lad should delight in."—<i>St. James's Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"The portraits of Captain Bayley, and the head-master of +Westminster school, are admirably drawn; and the adventures in +California are told with that vigour which is peculiar to Mr. +Henty."—<i>The Academy.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Henty is careful to mingle solid instruction with +entertainment; and the humorous touches, especially in the sketch +of John Holl, the Westminster dustman, Dickens himself could hardly +have excelled."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"Surely Mr. Henty should understand boys' tastes better than any man +living."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Bonnie Prince Charlie:</b> A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of <i>Quentin Durward</i>. The +lad's journey across France with his faithful attendant Malcolm, +and his hairbreadth escapes from the machinations of his father's +enemies, make up as good a narrative of the kind as we have ever +read. For freshness of treatment and variety of incident, Mr. Henty +has here surpassed himself."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"A historical romance of the best quality. Mr. Henty has written +many more sensational stories, but never a more artistic +one."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>For the Temple:</b> A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 10 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Solomon J. +Solomon</span>: and a coloured Map. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine +edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Henty is ever one of the foremost writers of historical tales, +and his graphic prose pictures of the hopeless Jewish resistance to +Roman sway adds another leaf to his record of the famous wars of +the world. The book is one of Mr. Henty's cleverest +efforts."—<i>Graphic.</i></p> + +<p>"The story is told with all the force of descriptive power which +has made the author's war stories so famous, and many an 'old boy' +as well as the younger ones will delight in this narrative of that +awful page of history."—<i>Church Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Lion Of the North:</b> A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of +Religion. By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by +<span class="smcap">John Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As we might expect from Mr. Henty the tale is a clever and +instructive piece of history, and as boys may be trusted to read it +conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be profited as well as +pleased."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"A praiseworthy attempt to interest British youth in the great +deeds of the Scotch Brigade in the wars of Gustavus Adolphus. +Mackay, Hepburn, and Munro live again in Mr. Henty's pages, as +those deserve to live whose disciplined bands formed really the +germ of the modern British army."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"A stirring story of stirring times. This book should hold a place +among the classics of youthful fiction."—<i>United Service Gazette.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Young Carthaginian:</b> A story of the Times of Hannibal. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">C. J. Staniland, +R. I.</span> Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The effect of an interesting story, well constructed and vividly +told, is enhanced by the picturesque quality of the scenic +background. From first to last nothing stays the interest of the +narrative. It bears us along as on a stream, whose current varies +in direction, but never loses its force."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Ought to be popular with boys who are not too ill instructed or +too dandified to be affected by a graphic picture of the days and +deeds of Hannibal."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"Among writers of stories of adventure for boys Mr. Henty stands in the +very first rank."—<i>Academy.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>With Wolfe in Canada:</b> Or, The Winning of a Continent. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A model of what a boys' story-book should be. Mr. Henty has a +great power of infusing into the dead facts of history new life, +and as no pains are spared by him to ensure accuracy in historic +details, his books supply useful aids to study as well as +amusement."—<i>School Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>"It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is +graphically told, but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling +tale of adventure and peril by flood and field."—<i>Illustrated +London News.</i></p> + +<p>"This is a narrative which will bear retelling, and to which Mr. +Henty, whose careful study of details is worthy of all praise, does +full justice.... His adventures are told with much spirit; the +escape when the birch canoes have been damaged by an enemy is +especially well described."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>With Clive in India:</b> Or, The Beginnings of an Empire. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In this book Mr. Henty has contrived to exceed himself in stirring +adventures and thrilling situations. The pictures add greatly to +the interest of the book."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Among writers of stories of adventure for boys Mr. Henty stands in +the very first rank. Those who know something about India will be +the most ready to thank Mr. Henty for giving them this instructive +volume to place in the hands of their children."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>True to the Old Flag:</b> A Tale of the American War of Independence. By +<span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British +soldiers. The son of an American loyalist, who remains true to our +flag, falls among the hostile redskins in that very Huron country +which has been endeared to us by the exploits of Hawkeye and +Chingachgook."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Henty's extensive personal experience of adventures and moving +incidents by flood and field, combined with a gift of picturesque +narrative, make his books always welcome visitors in the home +circle."—<i>Daily News.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>In Freedom's Cause:</b> A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Henty has broken new ground as an historical novelist. His +tale of the days of Wallace and Bruce is full of stirring action, +and will commend itself to boys."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"Written in the author's best style. Full of the most remarkable +achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy, once he +has begun it, will not willingly put on one side."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p> + +<p>"Scarcely anywhere have we seen in prose a more lucid and +spirit-stirring description of Bannockburn than the one with which +the author fittingly closes his volume."—<i>Dumfries Standard.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"Mr. Henty is one of our most successful writers of historical +tales."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Through the Fray:</b> A Story of the Luddite Riots. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">H. M. Paget</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Henty inspires a love and admiration for straightforwardness, +truth, and courage. This is one of the best of the many good books +Mr. Henty has produced, and deserves to be classed with his <i>Facing +Death</i>."—<i>Standard.</i></p> + +<p>"The interest of the story never flags. Were we to propose a +competition for the best list of novel writers for boys we have +little doubt that Mr. Henty's name would stand first."—<i>Journal of +Education.</i></p> + +<p>"This story is told in Mr. Henty's own easy and often graphic +style. There is no 'padding' in the book, and its teaching is, that +we have enemies within as well as without, and therefore the power +of self-control is a quality that should be striven after by every +'true' boy."—<i>Educational Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Under Drake's Flag:</b> A Tale of the Spanish Main. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. Illustrated by 12 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There is not a dull chapter, nor, indeed, a dull page in the hook; +but the author has so carefully worked up his subject that the +exciting deeds of his heroes are never incongruous or +absurd."—<i>Observer.</i></p> + +<p>"Just such a book, indeed, as the youth of this maritime country +are likely to prize highly."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p>"A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough +one would think to turn his hair gray."—<i>Harper's Monthly +Magazine.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY PROFESSOR A. J. CHURCH.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Two Thousand Years Ago:</b> Or, The Adventures of a Roman Boy. By +Professor <span class="smcap">A. J. Church</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by +<span class="smcap">Adrien Marie</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Adventures well worth the telling. The book is extremely +entertaining as well as useful, and there is a wonderful freshness +in the Roman scenes and characters."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"Entertaining in the highest degree from beginning to end, and full +of adventure which is all the livelier for its close connection +with history."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"We know of no book which will do more to make the Romans of that +day live again for the English reader."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Robinson Crusoe.</b> By <span class="smcap">Daniel Defoe</span>. Illustrated by above 100 +Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine +edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One of the best issues, if not absolutely the best, of Defoe's +work which has ever appeared."—<i>The Standard.</i></p> + +<p>"The best edition I have come across for years. If you know a boy +who has not a 'Robinson Crusoe,' just glance at any one of these +hundred illustrations, and you will go no further afield in search +of a present for him."—<i>Truth.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.</h4> + +<p>"Mr. Fenn is in the front rank of writers of stories for +boys."—<i>Liverpool Mercury.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Quicksilver:</b> Or a Boy with no Skid to his Wheel. By <span class="smcap">George +Manville Fenn</span>. With 10 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Frank +Dadd</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Quicksilver</i> is little short of an inspiration. In it that prince +of story-writers for boys—George Manville Fenn—has surpassed +himself. It is an ideal book for a boy's library."—<i>Practical +Teacher.</i></p> + +<p>"The story is capitally told, it abounds in graphic and +well-described scenes, and it has an excellent and manly tone +throughout."—<i>The Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>"This is one of Mr. Fenn's happiest efforts, and deserves to be +read and re-read by every school-boy in the land. We are not +exaggerating when we say that <i>Quicksilver</i> has nothing to equal it +this season."—<i>Teacher's Aid.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Dick o' the Fens:</b> A Romance of the Great East Swamp. By <span class="smcap">G. +Manville Fenn</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Frank +Dadd</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We conscientiously believe that boys will find it capital reading. +It is full of incident and mystery, and the mystery is kept up to +the last moment. It is rich in effective local colouring; and it +has a historical interest."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p>"We have not of late come across a historical fiction, whether +intended for boys or for men, which deserves to be so heartily and +unreservedly praised as regards plot, incidents, and spirit as +<i>Dick o' the Fens</i>. It is its author's masterpiece as +yet."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Devon Boys:</b> A Tale of the North Shore. By <span class="smcap">G. Manville Fenn</span>. +With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An admirable story, as remarkable for the individuality of its +young heroes as for the excellent descriptions of coast scenery and +life in North Devon. It is one of the best books we have seen this +season."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"We do not know that Mr. Fenn has ever reached a higher level than +he has in <i>Devon Boys</i>. It must be put in the very front rank of +Christmas books."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Brownsmith's Boy:</b> A Romance in a Garden. By G. <span class="smcap">Manville Fenn</span>. +With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Fenn's books are among the best, if not altogether the best, +of the stories for boys. Mr. Fenn is at his best in <i>Brownsmith's +Boy</i>."—<i>Pictorial World.</i></p> + +<p>"<i>Brownsmith's Boy</i> must rank among the few undeniably good boys' +books. He will be a very dull boy indeed who lays it down without +wishing that it had gone on for at least 100 pages more."—<i>North +British Mail.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>In the King's Name:</b> Or the Cruise of the <i>Kestrel</i>. By <span class="smcap">G. Manville +Fenn</span>. Illustrated by 12 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A capital boys' story, full of incident and adventure, and told in +the lively style in which Mr. Fenn is such an adept."—<i>Globe.</i></p> + +<p>"The best of all Mr. Fenn's productions in this field. It has the +great quality of always 'moving on,' adventure following adventure +in constant succession."—<i>Daily News.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.</h4> + +<p>"Our boys know Mr. Fenn well, his stories having won for him a foremost +place in their estimation."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Bunyip Land:</b> The Story of a Wild Journey in New Guinea. By <span class="smcap">G. +Manville Fenn</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Fenn deserves the thanks of everybody for <i>Bunyip Land</i>, and +we may venture to promise that a quiet week may be reckoned on +whilst the youngsters have such fascinating literature provided for +their evenings' amusement."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"One of the best tales of adventure produced by any living writer, +combining the inventiveness of Jules Verne, and the solidity of +character and earnestness of spirit which have made the English +victorious in so many fields."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Golden Magnet:</b> A Tale of the Land of the Incas. By <span class="smcap"> G. +Manville Fenn</span>. Illustrated by 12 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is, we think, the best boys' book Mr. Fenn has produced.... +The Illustrations are perfect in their way."—<i>Globe.</i></p> + +<p>"There could be no more welcome present for a boy. There is not a +dull page in the book, and many will be read with breathless +interest. 'The Golden Magnet' is, of course, the same one that +attracted Raleigh and the heroes of <i>Westward Ho!</i>"—<i>Journal of +Education.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>The Log Of the "Flying Fish:"</b> A Story of Aerial and Submarine Peril +and Adventure. By <span class="smcap">Harry Collingwood</span>. With 12 full-page +Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>, Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, +olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The <i>Flying Fish</i> actually surpasses all Jules Verne's creations; +with incredible speed she flies through the air, skims over the +surface of the water, and darts along the ocean bed. We strongly +recommend our school-boy friends to possess themselves of her +log."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY SARAH DOUDNEY.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Under False Colours.</b> By <span class="smcap">Sarah Doudney</span>. With 12 full-page +Illustrations by <span class="smcap">G. G. Kilburne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, +olivine edges, <i>6s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a charming story, abounding in delicate touches of +sentiment and pathos. Its plot is skilfully contrived. It will be +read with a warm interest by every girl who takes it +up."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>"Sarah Doudney has no superior as a writer of high-toned +stories—pure in style, original in conception, and with skilfully +wrought-out plots; but we have seen nothing from this lady's pen +equal in dramatic energy to her latest work—<i>Under False +Colours</i>."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"The brightest of all the living writers whose office it is to enchant +the boys."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>One Of the 28th:</b> A Tale of Waterloo. By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 8 +full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">W. H. Overend</span>, and 2 Maps. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Herbert Penfold, being desirous of benefiting the daughter of an +intimate friend, and Ralph Conway, the son of a lady to whom he had +once been engaged, draws up a will dividing his property between +them, and places it in a hiding-place only known to members of his +own family. At his death his two sisters determine to keep silence, +and the authorized search for the will, though apparently thorough, +fails to bring it to light. The mother of Ralph, however, succeeds +in entering the house as a servant, and after an arduous and +exciting search secures the will. In the meantime, her son has +himself passed through a series of adventures. The boat in which he +is fishing is run down by a French privateer, and Ralph, scrambling +on board, is forced to serve until the harbour of refuge is entered +by a British frigate. On his return he enters the army, and after +some rough service in Ireland, takes part in the Waterloo campaign, +from which he returns with the loss of an arm, but with a +substantial fortune, which is still further increased by his +marriage with his co-heir.</p></div> + +<p><b>The Cat Of Bubastes:</b> A Story of Ancient Egypt. By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. +With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">J. R. Weguelin</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The story is highly enjoyable. We have pictures of Egyptian +domestic life, of sport, of religious ceremonial, and of other +things which may still be seen vividly portrayed by the brush of +Egyptian artists."—<i>The Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred +cat to the perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very +skilfully constructed and full of exciting adventures. It is +admirably illustrated."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Henty has fairly excelled himself in this admirable story of +romance and adventure. We have never examined a story-book that we +can recommend with more confidence as a boy's reward."—<i>Teachers' +Aid.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Dragon and the Raven:</b> Or, The Days of King Alfred. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">C. J. Staniland, +R. I.</span> Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Perhaps the best story of the early days of England which has yet +been told."—<i>Court Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"We know of no popular book in which the stirring incidents of +Alfred's reign are made accessible to young readers as they are +here."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>St. George for England:</b> A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>, in +black and tint. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Henty has done his work well, producing a strong story at once +instructive and entertaining."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Henty's historical novels for boys bid fair to supplement, on +their behalf, the historical labours of Sir Walter Scott in the +land of fiction."—<i>Standard.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"Mr. Henty is the king of story-tellers for boys."—<i>Sword and Trowel.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>The Bravest Of the Brave:</b> With Peterborough in Spain. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">H. M. Paget</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work—to +enforce the doctrine of courage and truth, mercy and loving +kindness, as indispensable to the making of an English gentleman. +British lads will read <i>The Bravest of the Brave</i> with pleasure and +profit; of that we are quite sure."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>For Name and Fame:</b> Or, Through Afghan Passes. By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. +With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>, in black and +tint. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The best feature of the book, apart from its scenes of adventure, +is its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the Afghan +people."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p>"Not only a rousing story, replete with all the varied forms of +excitement of a campaign, but, what is still more useful, an +account of a territory and its inhabitants which must for a long +time possess a supreme interest for Englishmen, as being the key to +our Indian Empire."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>In the Reign Of Terror:</b> The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. By +<span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">J. +Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat +Mr. Henty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the +audacity and peril they depict. The story is one of Mr. Henty's +best."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Orange and Green:</b> A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An extremely spirited story, based on the struggle in Ireland, +rendered memorable by the defence of 'Derry and the siege of +Limerick."—<i>Sat. Review.</i></p> + +<p>"The narrative is free from the vice of prejudice, and ripples with +life as vivacious as if what is being described were really passing +before the eye.... <i>Orange and Green</i> should be in the hands of +every young student of Irish history without delay."—<i>Belfast +Morning News.</i></p></div> + + +<p><b>By Sheer Pluck:</b> A Tale of the Ashanti War. By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. +With 8 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth +elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>By Sheer Pluck</i> will be eagerly read. The author's personal +knowledge of the west coast has been turned to full +advantage."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"Morally, the book is everything that could be desired, setting +before the boys a bright and bracing ideal of the English +gentleman."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>BY G. A. HENTY.</h4> + +<p>"Mr. G. A. Henty's fame as a writer of boys' stories is deserved and +secure."—<i>Cork Herald.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>A Final Reckoning:</b> A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">W. B. Wollen</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Exhibits Mr. Henty's talent as a story-teller at his best.... The +drawings possess the uncommon merit of really illustrating the +text."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"All boys will read this story with eager and unflagging interest. +The episodes are in Mr. Henty's very best vein—graphic, exciting, +realistic; and, as in all Mr. Henty's books, the tendency is to the +formation of an honourable, manly, and even heroic +character."—<i>Birmingham Post.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Facing Death:</b> Or the Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A Tale of the Coal +Mines. By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by +<span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"If any father, godfather, clergyman, or schoolmaster is on the +look-out for a good book to give as a present to a boy who is worth +his salt, this is the book we would recommend."—<i>Standard.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY F. FRANKFORT MOORE.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Highways and High Seas:</b> Cyril Harley's Adventures on both. By <span class="smcap">F. +Frankfort Moore</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Alfred +Pearse</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The story belongs to a period when highways meant post-chaises, +coaches, and highwaymen, and when high seas meant post-captains, +frigates, privateers, and smugglers; and the hero—a boy who has +some remarkable experiences upon both—tells his story with no less +humour than vividness. He shows incidentally how little real +courage and romance there frequently was about the favourite +law-breakers of fiction, but how they might give rise to the need +of the highest courage in others and lead to romantic adventures of +an exceedingly exciting kind. A certain piquancy is given to the +story by a slight trace of nineteenth century malice in the +picturing of eighteenth century life and manners.</p></div> + +<p><b>Under Hatches:</b> Or Ned Woodthorpe's Adventures. By <span class="smcap">F. Frankfort +Moore</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">A. Forestier</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Moore has never shown himself so thoroughly qualified to write +books for boys as he has done in <i>Under Hatches</i>."—<i>The Academy.</i></p> + +<p>"A first-rate sea story, full of stirring incidents, and, from a +literary point of view, far better written than the majority of +books for boys."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"The story as a story is one that will just suit boys all the world +over. The characters are well drawn and consistent; Patsy, the +Irish steward, will be found especially amusing."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.</h4> + +<p>"No one can find his way to the hearts of lads more readily than Mr. +Fenn."—<i>Nottingham Guardian.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Yussuf the Guide:</b> Being the Strange Story of the Travels in Asia Minor +of Burne the Lawyer, Preston the Professor, and Lawrence the Sick. By +<span class="smcap">G. Manville Fenn</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">John +Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The narrative will take its readers into scenes that will have +great novelty and attraction for them, and the experiences with the +brigands will be especially delightful to boys."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Menhardoc:</b> A Story of Cornish Nets and Mines. By <span class="smcap">G. Manville +Fenn</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">C. J. Staniland</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"They are real living boys, with their virtues and faults. The +Cornish fishermen are drawn from life, they are racy of the soil, +salt with the sea-water, and they stand out from the pages in their +jerseys and sea-boots all sprinkled with silvery pilchard +scales."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"A description of Will Marion's descent into a flooded mine is +excellent. Josh is a delightfully amusing character. We may +cordially praise the illustrations."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + + +<p><b>Mother Carey's Chicken:</b> Her Voyage to the Unknown Isle. By <span class="smcap">G. +Manville Fenn</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by A. +<span class="smcap">Forestier</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Jules Verne himself never constructed a more marvellous tale. It +contains the strongly marked English features that are always +conspicuous in Mr. Fenn's stories—a humour racy of the British +soil, the manly vigour of his sentiment, and wholesome moral +lessons. For anything to match his realistic touch we must go to +Daniel Defoe."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p> + +<p>"When we get to the 'Unknown Isle,' the story becomes exciting. Mr. +Fenn keeps his readers in a suspense that is not intermitted for a +moment, and the <i>dénouement</i> is a surprise which is as probable as +it is startling."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Patience Wins:</b> Or, War in the Works. By <span class="smcap">G. Manville Fenn</span>. +With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An excellent story, the interest being sustained from first to +last. One of the best books of its kind which has come before us +this year."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Fenn is at his best in <i>Patience Wins</i>. It is sure to prove +acceptable to youthful readers, and will give a good idea of that +which was the real state of one of our largest manufacturing towns +not many years ago."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Nat the Naturalist:</b> A Boy's Adventures in the Eastern Seas. By <span class="smcap">G. +Manville Fenn</span>. With 8 full-page Pictures. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, +<i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Among the best of the many good books for boys that have come out +this season."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p>"This sort of book encourages independence of character, develops +resource, and teaches a boy to keep his eyes open."—<i>Saturday +Review.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>The Missing Merchantman.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Collingwood</span>. With 8 +full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">W. H. Overend</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth +elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Collingwood is <i>facile princeps</i> as a teller of sea stories +for boys, and the present is one of the best productions of his +pen."—<i>Standard.</i></p> + +<p>"This is one of the author's best sea stories. The hero is as +heroic as any boy could desire, and the ending is extremely +happy."—<i>British Weekly.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Rover's Secret:</b> A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba. By +<span class="smcap">Harry Collingwood</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">W. C. +Symons</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The Rover's Secret</i> is by far the best sea story we have read for +years, and is certain to give unalloyed pleasure to boys. The +illustrations are fresh and vigorous."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Pirate Island:</b> A Story of the South Pacific. By <span class="smcap">Harry +Collingwood</span>. Illustrated by 8 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">C. J. +Staniland</span> and <span class="smcap">J. R. Wells</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A capital story of the sea; indeed in our opinion the author is +superior in some respects as a marine novelist to the better known +Mr. Clarke Russell."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"Told in the most vivid and graphic language. It would be difficult +to find a more thoroughly delightful gift-book."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Congo Rovers:</b> A Story of the Slave Squadron. By <span class="smcap">Harry +Collingwood</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">J. +Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"No better sea story has lately been written than the <i>Congo +Rovers</i>. It is as original as any boy could desire."—<i>Morning +Post.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY ASCOTT R. HOPE.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>The Seven Wise Scholars.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ascott R. Hope</span>. With nearly One +Hundred Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Square 8vo, cloth +elegant, gilt edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As full of fun as a volume of <i>Punch</i>; with illustrations, more +laughter-provoking than most we have seen since Leech +died."—<i>Sheffield Independent.</i></p> + +<p>"A capital story, full of fun and happy comic fancies. The tale +would put the sourest-tempered <i>boy</i> into a good humour, and to an +imaginative child would be a source of keen delight."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Wigwam and the War-path:</b> stories of the Red Indians. By <span class="smcap">Ascott +R. Hope</span>. With 8 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown +8vo, cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"All the stories are told well, in simple spirited language and +with a fulness of detail that make them instructive as well as +interesting."—<i>Journal of Education.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>BY G. NORWAY.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Loss of John Humble: What Led to It, and what Came of It. By <span class="smcap">G. +Norway</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">John Schönberg</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>John Humble, an orphan, is sent to sea with his Uncle Rolf, the +captain of the <i>Erl King</i>, but in the course of certain adventures +off the English coast, in which Rolf shows both skill and courage, +the boy is left behind at Portsmouth. He escapes from an English +gun-brig to a Norwegian vessel, the <i>Thor</i>, which is driven from +her course in a voyage to Hammerfest, and wrecked on a desolate +shore. The survivors experience the miseries of a long sojourn in +the Arctic circle, with inadequate means of supporting life, but +ultimately, with the aid of some friendly but thievish Lapps, they +succeed in making their way to a reindeer station and so southward +to Tornea and home again. The story throughout is singularly vivid +and truthful in its details, the individual characters are fresh +and well marked, and a pleasant vein of humour relieves the stress +of the more tragic incidents in the story.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY ROSA MULHOLLAND.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Giannetta: A Girl's Story of Herself. By <span class="smcap">Rosa Mulholland</span>. With +8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Lockhart Bogle</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth +elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Giannetta is a true heroine—warm-hearted, self-sacrificing, and, +as all good women nowadays are, largely touched with the enthusiasm +of humanity. The illustrations are unusually good, and combine with +the binding and printing to make this one of the most attractive +gift-books of the season."—<i>The Academy.</i></p> + +<p>"No better book could be selected for a young girl's reading, as +its object is evidently to hold up a mirror, in which are seen some +of the brightest and noblest traits in the female +character."—<i>Schoolmistress.</i></p></div> + +<p>Perseverance Island: Or the Robinson Crusoe of the 19th Century. By +<span class="smcap">Douglas Frazar</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This second Robinson Crusoe is certainly a marvellous man. His +determination to overcome all difficulties, and his subsequent +success, should alone make this a capital book for boys. It is +altogether a worthy successor to the ancient Robinson +Crusoe."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p></div> + +<p>Gulliver's Travels. Illustrated by more than 100 Pictures by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"By help of the admirable illustrations, and a little judicious +skipping, it has enchanted a family party of ages varying from six +to sixty. Which of the other Christmas books could stand this +test?"—Journal of Education.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Gordon Browne is, to my thinking, incomparably the most +artistic, spirited, and brilliant of our illustrators of books for +boys, and one of the most humorous also, as his illustrations of +'Gulliver' amply testify."—Truth.</p></div> + +<p class="center"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>NEW EDITION OF THE UNIVERSE.</p> + +<p><b>The Universe</b>: Or the Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Little. A +Sketch of Contrasts in Creation, and Marvels revealed and explained by +Natural Science. By <span class="smcap">F. A. Pouchet, m.d.</span> With 272 Engravings on +wood, of which 55 are full-page size, and a Coloured Frontispiece. Tenth +Edition, medium 8vo, cloth elegant, gilt edges, <i>7s. 6d.</i>; also morocco +antique, 16s.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We can honestly commend Professor Pouchet's book, which <i>is</i> +admirably, as it is copiously illustrated."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"This book is as interesting as the most exciting romance, and a +great deal more likely to be remembered to good +purpose."—<i>Standard.</i></p> + +<p>"Scarcely any book in French or in English is so likely to +stimulate in the young an interest in the physical +phenomena."—<i>Fortnightly Review.</i></p></div> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY GEORGE MAC DONALD.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>At the Back of the North Wind</b>. By <span class="smcap">George Mac Donald, LL.D.</span> +With 75 Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Arthur Hughes</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth +elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In <i>At the Back of the North Wind</i> we stand with one foot in +fairyland and one on common earth. The story is thoroughly +original, full of fancy and pathos, and underlaid with earnest but +not too obtrusive teaching."—<i>The Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood</b>. By <span class="smcap">George Mac Donald, LL.D.</span> With +36 Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Arthur Hughes</span>. New Edition. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The sympathy with boy-nature in <i>Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood</i> is +perfect. It is a beautiful picture of childhood, teaching by its +impressions and suggestions all noble things."—<i>British Quarterly +Review.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Princess and the Goblin</b>. By <span class="smcap">George Mac Donald, LL.D.</span> With +30 Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Arthur Hughes</span>, and 2 full-page Pictures by +<span class="smcap">H. Petherick</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Little of what is written for children has the lightness of touch +and play of fancy which are characteristic of George Mac Donald's +fairy tales. Mr. Arthur Hughes's illustrations are all that +illustrations should be."—<i>Manchester Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>"A model of what a child's book ought to be—interesting, +instructive, and poetical. We cordially recommend it as one of the +very best gift-books we have yet come across."—<i>Elgin Courant.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Princess and Curdie</b>. By <span class="smcap">George Mac Donald, LL.D.</span> With 8 +full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">James Allen</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, +<i>3s. 6d</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There is the finest and rarest genius in this brilliant story. +Upgrown people would do wisely occasionally to lay aside their +newspapers and magazines to spend an hour with Curdie and the +Princess."—<i>Sheffield Independent.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a><b>Girl Neighbours:</b> Or, The Old Fashion and the New. By <span class="smcap">Sarah +Tytler</span>. With 8 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">C. T. Garland</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>5s</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One of the most effective and quietly humorous of Miss Sarah +Tytler's stories.... Very healthy, very agreeable, and very well +written."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY MARY C. ROWSELL.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Thorndyke Manor:</b> A Tale of Jacobite Times. By <span class="smcap">Mary C. +Rowsell</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">L. Leslie +Brooke</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Thorndyke Manor is an old house, near the mouth of the Thames, +which is convenient, on account of its secret vaults and situation, +as the base of operations in a Jacobite conspiracy. In consequence +its owner, a kindly, quiet, book-loving squire, who lives happily +with his sister, bright Mistress Amoril, finds himself suddenly +involved by a treacherous steward in the closest meshes of the +plot. He is conveyed to the Tower, but all difficulties are +ultimately overcome, and his innocence is triumphantly proved by +his sister.</p></div> + +<p><b>Traitor or Patriot?</b> A Tale of the Rye-House Plot. By <span class="smcap">Mary C. +Rowsell</span>. With 6 full-page Pictures. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A romantic love episode, whose true characters are lifelike +beings, not dry sticks as in many historical tales."—<i>Graphic.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY ALICE CORKRAN.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Meg's Friend.</b> By <span class="smcap">Alice Corkran</span>. With 6 full-page +Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Robert Fowler</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Another of Miss Corkran's charming books for girls, narrated in +that simple and picturesque style which marks the authoress as one +of the first amongst writers for young people."—<i>The Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Margery Merton's Girlhood.</b> By <span class="smcap">Alice Corkran</span>. With 6 full-page +Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Another book for girls we can warmly commend. There is a +delightful piquancy in the experiences and trials of a young +English girl who studies painting in Paris."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Down the Snow Stairs:</b> Or, From Good-night to Good-morning. By +<span class="smcap">Alice Corkran</span>. With 60 character Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon +Browne</span>. New Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A fascinating wonder-book for children."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"A gem of the first water, bearing upon every page the signet mark +of genius. All is told with such simplicity and perfect naturalness +that the dream appears to be a solid reality. It is indeed a Little +Pilgrim's Progress."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>BY JOHN C. HUTCHESON.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Afloat at Last:</b> A Sailor Boy's Log of his Life at Sea. By <span class="smcap">John C. +Hutcheson</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">W. H. Overend</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Mr. Hutcheson's reputation for the realistic treatment of life at +sea will be fully sustained by the present volume—the narrative of +a boy's experiences on board ship during his first voyage. From the +stowing of the vessel in the Thames to her recovery from the Pratas +Reef on which she is stranded, everything is described with the +accuracy of perfect practical knowledge of ships and sailors; and +the incidents of the story range from the broad humours of the +fo'c's'le to the perils of flight from and fight with the pirates +of the China Seas. The captain, the mate, the Irish boatswain, the +Portuguese steward, and the Chinese cook, are fresh and +cleverly-drawn characters, and the reader throughout has the sense +that he is on a real voyage with living men.</p></div> + +<p><b>The White Squall:</b> A Story of the Sargasso Sea. By <span class="smcap">John C. +Hutcheson</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">John +Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Few writers have made such rapid improvement in the course of a +few years as has the author of this capital story.... Boys will +find it difficult to lay down the book till they have got to the +end."—<i>Standard.</i></p> + +<p>"The sketches of tropical life are so good as sometimes to remind +us of <i>Tom Cringle</i> and the <i>Cruise of the Midge</i>."—<i>Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Wreck of the Nancy Bell:</b> Or Cast Away on Kerguelen Land. By +<span class="smcap">John C. Hutcheson</span>. Illustrated by 6 full-page Pictures. Crown +8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A full circumstantial narrative such as boys delight in. The ship +so sadly destined to wreck on Kerguelen Land is manned by a very +lifelike party, passengers and crew. The life in the Antarctic +Iceland is well treated."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Picked Up at Sea:</b> Or the Gold Miners of Minturne Creek. By <span class="smcap">John C. +Hutcheson</span>. With 6 full-page Pictures. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The author's success with this book is so marked that it may well +encourage him to further efforts. The description of mining life in +the Far-west is true and accurate."—<i>Standard.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Sir Walter's Ward:</b> A Tale of the Crusades. By <span class="smcap">William +Everard</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Walter Paget</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This book will prove a very acceptable present either to boys or +girls. Both alike will take an interest in the career of Dodo, in +spite of his unheroic name, and follow him through his numerous and +exciting adventures."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Stories Of Old Renown:</b> Tales of Knights and Heroes. By <span class="smcap">Ascott R. +Hope</span>. With 100 Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>. New +Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A really fascinating book worthy of its telling title. There is, +we venture to say, not a dull page in the book, not a story which +will not bear a second reading."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>BY CAROLINE AUSTIN.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Cousin Geoffrey and I.</b> By <span class="smcap">Caroline Austin</span>. With 6 full-page +Illustrations by <span class="smcap">W. Parkinson</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The only daughter of a country gentleman finds herself unprovided +for at her father's death, and for some time lives as a dependant +upon the kinsman who has inherited the property. Life is kept from +being entirely unbearable to her by her young cousin Geoffrey, who +at length meets with a serious accident for which she is held +responsible. She is then passed on to other relatives, who prove +even more objectionable, and at length, in despair, she runs away +and makes a brave attempt to earn her own livelihood. Being a +splendid rider, she succeeds in doing this, until the startling +event which brings her cousin Geoffrey and herself together again, +and solves the problem of the missing will.</p></div> + +<p><b>Hugh Herbert's Inheritance.</b> By <span class="smcap">Caroline Austin</span>. With 6 +full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">C. T. Garland</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth +elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Will please by its simplicity, its tenderness, and its healthy +interesting motive. It is admirably written."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>"Well and gracefully written, full of interest, and excellent in +tone."—<i>School Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY E. S. BROOKS.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Storied Holidays:</b> A Cycle of Red-letter Days. By <span class="smcap">E. S. Brooks</span>. +With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Howard Pyle</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is a downright good book for a senior boy, and is eminently +readable from first to last."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p> + +<p>"Replete with interest from Chapter I. to <i>finis</i>, and can be +confidently recommended as one of the gems of Messrs. Blackie's +collection."—<i>Teachers' Aid.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Chivalric Days:</b> Stories of Courtesy and Courage in the Olden Times. By +<span class="smcap">E. S. Brooks</span>. With 20 Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span> +and other Artists. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have seldom come across a prettier collection of tales. These +charming stories of boys and girls of olden days are no mere +fictitious or imaginary sketches, but are real and actual records +of their sayings and doings. The illustrations are in Gordon +Browne's happiest style."—<i>Literary World.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Historic Boys:</b> Their Endeavours, their Achievements, and their Times. +By <span class="smcap">E. S. Brooks</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">R. B. +Birch</span> and <span class="smcap">John Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A wholesome book, manly in tone, its character sketches enlivened +by brisk dialogue. We advise schoolmasters to put it on their list +of prizes."—<i>Knowledge.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>BY MRS. E. R. PITMAN.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Garnered Sheaves.</b> A Tale for Boys. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">E. R. Pitman</span>. With +4 full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a story of the best sort ... a noble-looking book, +illustrating faith in God, and commending to young minds all that +is pure and true."—Rev. C. H. Spurgeon's <i>Sword and Trowel</i>.</p></div> + +<p><b>Life's Daily Ministry:</b> A Story of Everyday Service for others. By Mrs. +<span class="smcap">E. R. Pitman</span>. With 4 full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth +extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Shows exquisite touches of a master hand. She has not only made a +close study of human nature in all its phases, but she has acquired +the artist's skill in depicting in graphic outline the +characteristics of the beautiful and the good in life."—<i>Christian +Union.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>My Governess Life:</b> Or Earning my Living. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">E. R. Pitman</span>. +With 4 full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Full of sound teaching and bright examples of +character."—<i>Sunday-school Chronicle.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY MRS. R. H. READ.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Silver Mill:</b> A Tale of the Don Valley. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">R. H. Read</span>. +With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">John Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A good girl's story-book. The plot is interesting, and the +heroine, Ruth, a lady by birth, though brought up in a humble +station, well deserves the more elevated position in which the end +of the book leaves her. The pictures are very spirited."—<i>Saturday +Review.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Dora:</b> Or a Girl without a Home. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">R. H. Read</span>. With 6 +full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is no slight thing, in an age of rubbish, to get a story so +pure and healthy as this."—<i>The Academy.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>BY ELIZABETH J. LYSAGHT.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Brother and Sister:</b> Or the Trials of the Moore Family. By +<span class="smcap">Elizabeth J. Lysaght</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations. Crown +8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A pretty story, and well told. The plot is cleverly constructed, +and the moral is excellent."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a><b>Laugh and Learn:</b> A Home-book of Instruction and Amusement for the +Little Ones. By <span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>. Charmingly Illustrated. +Square crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Laugh and Learn</i>, a most comprehensive book for the nursery, +supplies, what has long been wanted, a means whereby the mother or +the governess may, in a series of pleasing lessons, commence and +carry on systematic home instruction of the little ones. The +various chapters of the <i>Learn</i> section carry the child through the +"three R's" to easy stories for reading, and stories which the +mother may read aloud, or which more advanced children may read to +themselves. The Laugh section comprises simple drawing lessons, +home amusements of every kind, innumerable pleasant games and +occupations, rhymes to be learnt, songs for the very little ones, +action songs, and music drill.</p></div> + +<p><b>The Search for the Talisman:</b> A Story of Labrador. By <span class="smcap">Henry +Frith</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">J. Schönberg</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Frith's volume will be among those most read and highest +valued. The adventures among seals, whales, and icebergs in +Labrador will delight many a young reader, and at the same time +give him an opportunity to widen his knowledge of the Esquimaux, +the heroes of many tales."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Self-Exiled:</b> A Story of the High Seas and East Africa. By <span class="smcap">J. A. +Steuart</span>. With 6 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">J. Schönberg</span>. +Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is cram full of thrilling situations. The number of miraculous +escapes from death in all its shapes which the hero experiences in +the course of a few months must be sufficient to satisfy the most +voracious appetite."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Reefer and Rifleman:</b> A Tale of the Two Services. By <span class="smcap">J. +Percy-Groves</span>, late 27th Inniskillings. With 6 full-page +Illustrations by <span class="smcap">John Schönberg</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, <i>3s. +6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A good, old-fashioned, amphibious story of our fighting with the +Frenchmen in the beginning of our century, with a fair sprinkling +of fun and frolic."—<i>Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Bubbling Teapot.</b> A Wonder Story. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">L. W. Champney</span>. +With 12 full-page Pictures by <span class="smcap">Walter Satterlee</span>. Crown 8vo, +cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Very literally a 'wonder story,' and a wild and fanciful one. +Nevertheless it is made realistic enough, and there is a good deal +of information to be gained from it. The steam from the magic +teapot bubbles up into a girl, and the little girl, when the fancy +takes her, can cry herself back into a teapot. Transformed and +enchanted she makes the tour of the globe."—<i>The Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Dr. Jolliffe's Boys:</b> A Tale of Weston School. By <span class="smcap">Lewis Hough</span>. +With 6 full-page Pictures. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, <i>3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Young people who appreciate <i>Tom Brown's School-days</i> will find +this story a worthy companion to that fascinating book. There is +the same manliness of tone, truthfulness of outline, avoidance of +exaggeration and caricature, and healthy morality as characterized +the masterpiece of Mr. Hughes."—<i>Newcastle Journal.</i></p></div> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h3><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>BLACKIE'S HALF-CROWN SERIES.</h3> + +<p>Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">New Volumes</span>.</p> + +<p><b>The Hermit Hunter of the Wilds.</b> By <span class="smcap">Gordon Stables</span>, C. M., +M. D., R. N.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A dreamy boy, who likes to picture himself as the Hermit Hunter of +the Wilds, receives an original but excellent kind of training from +a sailor-naturalist uncle, and at length goes to sea with the hope +of one day finding the lost son of his uncle's close friend, +Captain Herbert. He succeeds in tracing him through the forests of +Ecuador, where the abducted boy has become an Indian chief. +Afterwards he is discovered on an island which had been used as a +treasure store by the buccaneers. The hero is accompanied through +his many adventures by the very king of cats, who deserves a place +amongst the most famous animals in fiction.</p></div> + +<p><b>Miriam's Ambition:</b> A Story for Children. By <span class="smcap">Evelyn +Everett-Green</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Miriam's ambition is to make some one happy, and her endeavour to +carry it out in the case of an invalid boy, carries with it a +pleasant train of romantic incident, solving a mystery which had +thrown a shadow over several lives. A charming foil to her grave +and earnest elder sister is to be found in Miss Babs, a small +coquette of five, whose humorous child-talk is one of the most +attractive features of an excellent story.</p></div> + +<p><b>White Lilac:</b> Or The Queen of the May. By <span class="smcap">Amy Walton</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>When the vicar's wife proposed to call Mrs. White's daughter by the +heathen name of Lilac, all the villagers shook their heads; and +they continued to shake them sagely when Lilac's father was shot +dead by poachers just before the christening, and when, years +after, her mother died on the very day Lilac was crowned Queen of +the May. And yet White Lilac proved a fortune to the relatives to +whose charge she fell—a veritable good brownie, who brought luck +wherever she went. The story of her life forms a most readable and +admirable rustic idyl, and is told with a fine sense of rustic +character.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Little Lady Clare.</b> By <span class="smcap">Evelyn Everett-Green</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Certainly one of the prettiest, reminding us in its quaintness and +tender pathos of Mrs. Ewing's delightful tales. This is quite one +of the best stories Miss Green's clever pen has yet given +us."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + +<p>"We would particularly bring it under the notice of those in charge +of girls' schools. The story is admirably told."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Eversley Secrets.</b> By <span class="smcap">Evelyn Everett-Green</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Is one of the best children's stories of the year."—<i>Academy.</i></p> + +<p>"A clever and well-told story. Roy Eversley is a very touching +picture of high principle and unshrinking self-devotion in a good +purpose."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Brig "Audacious."</b> By <span class="smcap">Alan Cole</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a real boys' book. We have great pleasure in recommending +it."—<i>English Teacher.</i></p> + +<p>"Bright and vivacious in style, and fresh and wholesome as a breath +of sea air in tone."—<i>Court Journal.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a><b>The Saucy May.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. Frith</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The book is certainly both interesting and +exciting."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Frith gives a new picture of life on the ocean wave which will +be acceptable to all young people."—<i>Sheffield Independent.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Jasper's Conquest.</b> By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth J. Lysaght</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One of the best boys' books of the season. It is full of stirring +adventure and startling episodes, and yet conveys a splendid moral +throughout."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Sturdy and Strong:</b> Or, How George Andrews made his Way. By <span class="smcap">G. A. +Henty</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The history of a hero of everyday life, whose love of truth, +clothing of modesty, and innate pluck carry him, naturally, from +poverty to affluence. He stands as a good instance of chivalry in +domestic life."—<i>The Empire.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Gutta-Percha Willie</b>, The Working Genius. By <span class="smcap">George Mac +Donald</span>, LL.D.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Had we space we would fain quote page after page. All we have room +to say is, get it for your boys and girls to read for themselves, +and if they can't do that read it to them."—<i>Practical Teacher.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The War of the Axe:</b> Or Adventures in South Africa. By <span class="smcap">J. +Percy-Groves</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The story of their final escape from the Caffres is a marvellous +bit of writing.... The story is well and brilliantly told, and the +illustrations are especially good and effective."—<i>Literary +World.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Lads of Little Clayton:</b> Stories of Village Boy Life. By <span class="smcap">R. +Stead</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A capital book for boys. They will learn from its pages what true +boy courage is. They will learn further to avoid all that is petty +and mean if they read the tales aright. They may be read to a class +with great profit."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Ten Boys</b> who lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now. By <span class="smcap">Jane +Andrews</span>. With 20 Illustrations.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The idea of this book is a very happy one, and is admirably +carried out. We have followed the whole course of the work with +exquisite pleasure. Teachers should find it particularly +interesting and suggestive."—<i>Practical Teacher.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Insect Ways on Summer Days</b> in Garden, Forest, Field, and Stream. By +<span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>. With 70 Illustrations.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The book will prove not only instructive but delightful to every +child whose mind is beginning to inquire and reflect upon the +wonders of nature. It is capitally illustrated and very tastefully +bound."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>A Waif of the Sea:</b> Or the Lost Found. By <span class="smcap">Kate Wood</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A very touching and pretty tale of town and country, full of +pathos and interest, told in a style which deserves the highest +praise."—<i>Edinburgh Courant.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a><b>Winnie's Secret:</b> A Story of Faith and Patience. By <span class="smcap">Kate +Wood</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One of the best story-books we have read. Girls will be charmed +with the tale, and delighted that everything turns out so +well."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Miss Willowburn's Offer.</b> By <span class="smcap">Sarah Doudney</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Patience Willowburn is one of Miss Doudney's best creations, and +is the one personality in the story which can be said to give it +the character of a book not for young ladies but for +girls."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>A Garland for Girls.</b> By <span class="smcap">Louisa M. Alcott</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The <i>Garland</i> will delight our girls, and show them how to make +their lives fragrant with good deeds."—<i>British Weekly.</i></p> + +<p>"These little tales are the beau ideal of girls' +stories."—<i>Christian World.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Hetty Gray:</b> Or Nobody's Bairn. By <span class="smcap">Rosa Mulholland</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A charming story for young folks. Hetty is a delightful +creature—piquant, tender, and true—and her varying fortunes are +perfectly realistic."—<i>World.</i>'</p></div> + +<p><b>Brothers in Arms:</b> A Story of the Crusades. By <span class="smcap">F. Bayford +Harrison</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Full of striking incident, is very fairly illustrated, and may +safely be chosen as sure to prove interesting to young people of +both sexes."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Ball Of Fortune:</b> Or Ned Somerset's Inheritance. By <span class="smcap">Charles +Pearce</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A capital story for boys. It is simply and brightly written. There +is plenty of incident, and the interest is sustained +throughout."—<i>Journal of Education.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Miss Fenwick's Failures:</b> Or "Peggy Pepper-Pot." By <span class="smcap">Esmé +Stuart</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Esmé Stuart may be commended for producing a girl true to real +life, who will put no nonsense into young heads."—<i>Graphic.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Gytha's Message:</b> A Tale of Saxon England. By <span class="smcap">Emma Leslie</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a charmingly told story. It is the sort of book that all +girls and some boys like, and can only get good from."—<i>Journal of +Education.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>My Mistress the Queen:</b> A Tale of the 17th Century. By <span class="smcap">M. A. +Paull</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The style is pure and graceful, the presentation of manners and +character has been well studied, and the story is full of +interest."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>"This is a charming book. The old-time sentiment which pervades the +volume renders it all the more alluring."—<i>Western Mercury.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a><b>The Stories of Wasa and Menzikoff:</b> The Deliverer of Sweden, and the +Favourite of Czar Peter.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Both are stories worth telling more than once, and it is a happy +thought to have put them side by side. Plutarch himself has no more +suggestive comparison."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Stories of the Sea in Former Days:</b> Narratives of Wreck and Rescue.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Next to an original sea-tale of sustained interest come +well-sketched collections of maritime peril and suffering which +awaken the sympathies by the realism of fact. 'Stories of the Sea' +are a very good specimen of the kind."—<i>The Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Tales of Captivity and Exile.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It would be difficult to place in the hands of young people a book +which combines interest and instruction in a higher +degree."—<i>Manchester Courier.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Famous Discoveries by Sea and Land.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Such a volume may providentially stir up some youths by the divine +fire kindled by these 'great of old' to lay open other lands, and +show their vast resources."—<i>Perthshire Advertiser.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Stirring Events of History.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The volume will fairly hold its place among those which make the +smaller ways of history pleasant and attractive. It is a gift-book +in which the interest will not be exhausted with one +reading."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Adventures in Field, Flood, and Forest.</b> Stories of Danger and Daring.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One of the series of books for young people which Messrs. Blackie' +excel in producing. The editor has beyond all question succeeded +admirably. The present book cannot fail to be read with interest +and advantage."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Jack o' Lanthorn:</b> A Tale of Adventure. By <span class="smcap">Henry Frith</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The narrative is crushed full of stirring incident, and <i>is</i> sure +to be a prime favourite with our boys, who will be assisted by it +in mastering a sufficiently exciting chapter in the history of +England."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Family Failing.</b> By <span class="smcap">Darley Dale</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At once an amusing and an interesting story, and a capital lesson +on the value of contentedness to young and old alike."—<i>Aberdeen +Journal.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Joyous Story of Toto.</b> By <span class="smcap">Laura E. Richards</span>. With 30 +humorous and fanciful Illustrations by <span class="smcap">E. H. Garrett</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An excellent book for children who are old enough to appreciate a +little delicate humour. It should take its place beside Lewis +Carroll's unique works, and find a special place in the affections +of boys and girls."—<i>Birmingham Gazette.</i></p></div> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h3><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>BLACKIE'S TWO-SHILLING SERIES.</h3> + +<p>With Illustrations in Colour and black and tint. In crown 8vo, cloth +elegant.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">New Volumes.</span></p> + +<p><b>Sam Silvan's Sacrifice:</b> The Story of Two Fatherless Boys. By <span class="smcap">Jesse +Colman</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The story of two brothers—the elder a lad of good and steady +disposition; the younger nervous and finely-strung, but weaker and +more selfish. The death of their grandparents, by whom they are +being brought up, leads to their passing through a number of +adventures in uncomfortable homes and among strange people. In the +end the elder brother's generous care results in his sacrificing +his own life to save that of his brother, who realizes when it is +too late the full measure of his indebtedness.</p></div> + +<p><b>A Warrior King:</b> The Story of a Boy's Adventures in Africa. By <span class="smcap">J. +Evelyn.</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A story full of adventure and romantic interest. Adrian Englefield, +an English boy of sixteen, accompanies his father on a journey of +exploration inland from the West Coast. He falls into the hands of +the Berinaquas, and becomes the friend of their prince, Moryosi, +but is on the point of being sacrificed when he is saved by the +capture of the kraelah by a neighbouring hostile tribe. He is soon +after retaken by the Berinaquas, and saves the life of Moryosi. The +two tribes are ultimately united, and Adrian and his friends are +set at liberty.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Susan.</b> By <span class="smcap">Amy Walton.</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A clever little story, written with some humour. The authoress +shows a great deal of insight into children's feelings and +motives."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>"A Pair of Clogs:"</b> And other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Amy Walton</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"These stories are decidedly interesting, and unusually true to +nature. For children between nine and fourteen this book can be +thoroughly commended."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Hawthorns.</b> By <span class="smcap">Amy Walton</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A remarkably vivid and clever study of child-life. At this species +of work Amy Walton has no superior."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Dorothy's Dilemma:</b> A Tale of the Time of Charles I. By <span class="smcap">Caroline +Austin</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An exceptionally well-told story, and will be warmly welcomed by +children. The little heroine, Dorothy, is a charming +creation."—<i>Court Journal.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Marie's Home:</b> Or, A Glimpse of the Past. By <span class="smcap">Caroline Austin</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An exquisitely told story. The heroine is as fine a type of +girlhood as one could wish to set before our little British damsels +of to-day."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a><b>Warner's Chase:</b> Or the Gentle Heart. By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Swan</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In Milly Warren, the heroine, who softens the hard heart of her +rich uncle and thus unwittingly restores the family fortunes, we +have a fine ideal of real womanly goodness."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p> + +<p>"A good book for boys and girls. There is no sickly goodyism in it, +but a tone of quiet and true religion that keeps its own +place."—<i>Perthshire Advertiser.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Aboard the "Atalanta:"</b> The Story of a Truant. By <span class="smcap">Henry Frith</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The story is very interesting and the descriptions most graphic. +We doubt if any boy after reading it would be tempted to the great +mistake of running away from school under almost any pretext +whatever."—<i>Practical Teacher.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Penang Pirate</b> and <span class="smcap">The Lost Pinnace</span>. By <span class="smcap">John C. +Hutcheson</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A book which boys will thoroughly enjoy: rattling, adventurous, +and romantic, and the stories are thoroughly healthy in +tone."—<i>Aberdeen Journal.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Teddy:</b> The Story of a "Little Pickle." By <span class="smcap">John C. Hutcheson</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"He is an amusing little fellow with a rich fund of animal spirits, +and when at length he goes to sea with Uncle Jack he speedily +sobers down under the discipline of life."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Linda and the Boys.</b> By <span class="smcap">Cecilia Selby Lowndes</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The book is essentially a child's book, and will be heartily +appreciated by the young folk."—<i>The Academy.</i></p> + +<p>"Is not only told in an artless, simple way, but is full of the +kind of humour that children love."—<i>Liverpool Mercury.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Swiss Stories for Children and those who Love Children.</b> From the +German of <span class="smcap">Madam Johanna Spyri</span>. By <span class="smcap">Lucy Wheelock</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Charming stories. They are rich in local colouring, and, what is +better, in genuine pathos."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"These most delightful children's tales are essentially for +children, but would fascinate older and less enthusiastic minds +with their delicate romance and the admirable portraiture of the +hard life of the Swiss peasantry."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Squire's Grandson:</b> A Devonshire Story. By <span class="smcap">J. M. Callwell</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A healthy tone pervades this story, and the lessons of courage, +filial affection, and devotion to duty on the part of the young +hero cannot fail to favourably impress all young +readers."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Magna Charta Stories:</b> Or Struggles for Freedom in the Olden Time. +Edited by <span class="smcap">Arthur Gilman, a.m.</span> With 12 full-page Illustrations.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A book of special excellence, which ought to be in the hands of +all boys."—<i>Educational News.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a><b>The Wings Of Courage:</b> <span class="smcap">And The Cloud-Spinner</span>. Translated from +the French of <span class="smcap">George Sand</span>, by Mrs. <span class="smcap">Corkran</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mrs. Corkran has earned our gratitude by translating into readable +English these two charming little stories."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Chirp and Chatter:</b> Or, <span class="smcap">Lessons from Field and Tree</span>. By +<span class="smcap">Alice Banks</span>. With 54 Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We see the humbling influence of love on the haughty +harvest-mouse, we are touched by the sensibility of the +tender-hearted ant, and may profit by the moral of 'the disobedient +maggot.' The drawings are spirited and funny."—<i>The Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Four Little Mischiefs.</b> By <span class="smcap">Rosa Mulholland</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Graphically written, and abounds in touches of genuine humour and +innocent fun."—<i>Freeman.</i> "A charming bright story about real +children."—<i>Watchman.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>New Light through Old Windows.</b> A Series of Stories illustrating Fables +of Æsop. By <span class="smcap">Gregson Gow</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The most delightfully-written little stories one can easily find +in the literature of the season. Well constructed and brightly +told."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Little Tottie</b>, and Two Other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Thomas Archer</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We can warmly commend all three stories; the book is a most +alluring prize for the younger ones."—<i>Schoolmaster.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Naughty Miss Bunny:</b> Her Tricks and Troubles. By <span class="smcap">Clara +Mulholland</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This naughty child is positively delightful. Papas should not omit +<i>Naughty Miss Bunny</i> from their list of juvenile presents."—<i>Land +and Water.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Adventures of Mrs. Wishing-to-be</b>, and other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Alice +Corkran</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Simply a charming book for little girls."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Just in the style and spirit to win the hearts of +children."—<i>Daily News.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Our Dolly:</b> Her Words and Ways. By <span class="smcap">Mrs. R. H. Read</span>. With many +Woodcuts, and a Frontispiece in colours.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Prettily told and prettily illustrated."—<i>Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>"Sure to be a great favourite with young children."—<i>School +Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Fairy Fancy:</b> What she Heard and Saw. By <span class="smcap">Mrs. R. H. Read</span>. With +many Woodcuts and a Coloured Frontispiece.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"All is pleasant, nice reading, with a little knowledge of natural +history and other matters gently introduced and divested of +dryness."—<i>Practical Teacher.</i></p></div> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h3><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>BLACKIE'S EIGHTEENPENNY SERIES.</h3> + +<p>With Illustrations in Colour, and black and tint. In crown 8vo, cloth +elegant.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">New Volumes</span>.</p> + +<p><b>Tales of Daring and Danger.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A selection of five of Mr. Henty's short stories of adventure by +land and sea. The volume contains the narrative of an officer's +bear-shooting expedition, and his subsequent captivity among the +Dacoits; a strange tale of an Indian fakir and two British +officers; a tale of the gold-diggings at Pine-tree Gulch, in which +a boy saves, at the cost of his own life, a miner who had +befriended him, and two others.</p></div> + +<p><b>The Seven Golden Keys.</b> By <span class="smcap">James E. Arnold</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Hilda gains entrance into fairy-land, and is there shown a golden +casket with seven locks. To obtain the treasure it contains, it is +necessary that she should make seven journeys to find the keys, and +in her travels she passes through a number of adventures and learns +seven important lessons—to speak the truth, to be kind, not to +trust to appearances, to hold fast to all that is good, &c. It is +one of the most interesting of recent fairy-books, as well as one +of the most instructive.</p></div> + +<p><b>The Story of a Queen.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A pleasant version for young people of the romantic story of Marie +of Brabant, the young queen of Philip the Bold of France. Though +the interest centres in a heroine rather than in a hero, the book +has no lack of adventure, and will be read with no less eagerness +by boys than by girls. To the latter it will give a fine example of +patient, strong and noble woman-hood, to the former it will teach +many lessons in truthfulness and chivalry.</p></div> + +<p><b>Joan's Adventures</b>, At the North Pole and Elsewhere. By <span class="smcap">Alice +Corkran</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a most delightful fairy story. The charming style and easy +prose narrative makes its resemblance striking to Hans +Andersen's."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Edwy:</b> Or, Was he a Coward? By <span class="smcap">Annette Lyster</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a charming story, and sufficiently varied to suit children +of all ages."—<i>The Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Filled with Gold.</b> By <span class="smcap">Jennie Perrett</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The tale is interesting, and gracefully told. Miss Perrett's +description of life on the quiet Jersey farm will have a great +charm."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Battlefield Treasure.</b> By <span class="smcap">F. Bayford Harrison</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Jack Warren is a lad of the Tom Brown type, and his search for +treasure and the sequel are sure to prove interesting to +boys."—<i>English Teacher.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>By Order of Queen Maude:</b> A Story of Home Life. By <span class="smcap">Louisa +Crow</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The tale is brightly and cleverly told, and forms one of the best +children's books which the season has produced."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a><b>Our General:</b> A Story for Girls. By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth J. Lysaght</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A young girl of indomitable spirit, to whom all instinctively turn +for guidance—a noble pattern for girls."—<i>Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Aunt Hesba's Charge.</b> By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth J. Lysaght</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This well-written book tells how a maiden aunt is softened by the +influence of two Indian children who are unexpectedly left upon her +hands. Mrs. Lysaght's style is bright and pleasant."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Into the Haven.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Swan</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"No story more attractive, by reason of its breezy freshness, as +well as for the practical lessons it conveys."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Our Frank:</b> And other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Amy Walton</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"These stories are of the sort that children of the clever kind are +sure to like."—<i>Academy.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Late Miss Hollingford.</b> By <span class="smcap">Rosa Mulholland</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"No book for girls published this season approaches this in the +charm of its telling, which will be equally appreciated by persons +of all ages."—<i>Standard.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Pedlar and His Dog.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The opening chapter, with its description of Necton Fair, will +forcibly remind many readers of George Eliot. Taken altogether it +is a delightful story."—<i>Western Morning News.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Yarns on the Beach.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. A. Henty</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This little book should find special favour among boys. The yarns +are full of romance and adventure, and are admirably calculated to +foster a manly spirit."—<i>The Echo.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>A Terrible Coward.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. Manville Fenn</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Just such a tale as boys will delight to read, and as they are +certain to profit by."—<i>Aberdeen Journal.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Tom Finch's Monkey:</b> And other Yarns. By <span class="smcap">J. C. Hutcheson</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Stories of an altogether unexceptionable character, with +adventures sufficient for a dozen books of its size."—<i>U. Service +Gazette.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Miss Grantley's Girls</b>, And the Stories She Told Them. By <span class="smcap">Thomas +Archer</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"For fireside reading more wholesome and highly entertaining +reading for young people could not be found."—<i>Northern +Chronicle.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Down and Up Again:</b> Being some Account of the Felton Family, and the +Odd People they Met. By <span class="smcap">Gregson Gow</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The story is very neatly told, with some fairly dramatic +incidents, and calculated altogether to please young +people."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p></div> + +<p><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a><b>The Troubles and Triumphs of Little Tim.</b> A City Story. By <span class="smcap">Gregson +Gow.</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"An undercurrent of sympathy with the struggles of the poor, and an +ability to describe their feelings, eminently characteristic of +Dickens, are marked features in Mr. Gow's story."—<i>N. B. Mail.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Happy Lad:</b> A Story of Peasant Life in Norway. From the Norwegian +of Björnson.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This pretty story has natural eloquence which seems to carry us +back to some of the love stories of the Bible."—<i>Aberdeen Free +Press.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>The Patriot Martyr:</b> And other Narratives of Female Heroism in Peace +and War.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It should be read with interest by every girl who loves to learn +what her sex can accomplish in times of danger."—<i>Bristol Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Madge's Mistake:</b> A Recollection of Girlhood. By <span class="smcap">Annie E. +Armstrong</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We cannot speak too highly of this delightful little tale. It +abounds in interesting and laughable incidents."—<i>Bristol Times.</i></p></div> + +<p><b>Box of Stories.</b> Packed for Young Folk by <span class="smcap">Horace Happyman</span>.</p> + +<p><b>When I was a Boy in China.</b> By <span class="smcap">Yan Phou Lee</span>, a native of +China, now resident in the United States. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, cloth +extra, <i>1s. 6d.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This little book has the advantage of having been written not only +by a Chinaman, but by a man of culture. His book is as interesting +to adults as it is to children."—<i>The Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>"Not only exceedingly interesting, but of great informative value, +for it gives to English readers a peep into the interior and +private life of China such as has perhaps never before been +afforded."—<i>The Scottish Leader.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h3>THE SHILLING SERIES OF BOOKS</h3> +<h3>FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.</h3> + +<p>Square 16mo, neatly bound in cloth extra. Each book contains 128 pages +and a Coloured Illustration.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">New Volumes</span>.</p> + +<table class="center" summary="table"><tr><td> +<div style="text-align: left;"> +<b>Mr. Lipscombe's Apples.</b> By <span class="smcap">Julia Goddard</span>.<br /> +<b>Gladys: or the Sister's Charge.</b> By <span class="smcap">E. O'Byrne</span>.<br /> +<b>A Gypsy against Her Will.</b> By <span class="smcap">Emma Leslie</span>.<br /> +<b>The Castle on the Shore.</b> By <span class="smcap">Isabel Hornibrook</span>.<br /> +<b>An Emigrant Boy's Story.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ascott R. Hope</span>.<br /> +<b>Jock and his Friend.</b> By <span class="smcap">Cora Langton</span>.<br /> +<b>John a' Dale.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.<br /> +<b>In the Summer Holidays.</b> By <span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>.<br /><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a> +<b>How the Strike Began.</b> By <span class="smcap">Emma Leslie</span>.<br /> +<b>Tales from the Russian of Madame Kubalensky.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. Jenner</span>.<br /> +<b>Cinderella's Cousin, and Other Stories.</b> By <span class="smcap">Penelope</span>.<br /> +<b>Their New Home.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>Janie's Holiday.</b> By <span class="smcap">C. Redford</span>.<br /> +<b>A Boy Musician:</b> Or, the Young Days of Mozart.<br /> +<b>Hatto's Tower.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.<br /> +<b>Fairy Lovebairn's Favourites.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. Dickinson</span>.<br /> +<b>Alf Jetsam:</b> or Found Afloat. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">George Cupples</span>.<br /> +<b>The Redfords:</b> An Emigrant Story. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">George Cupples</span>.<br /> +<b>Missy.</b> By <span class="smcap">F. Bayford Harrison</span>.<br /> +<b>Hidden Seed:</b> or, A Year in a Girl's Life. By <span class="smcap">Emma Leslie</span>.<br /> +<b>Ursula's Aunt.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>Jack's Two Sovereigns.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>A Little Adventurer:</b> or How Tommy Trefit went to look for his Father. By <span class="smcap">Gregson Gow</span>.<br /> +<b>Olive Mount.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>Three Little Ones.</b> Their Haps and Mishaps. By <span class="smcap">C. Langton</span>.<br /> +<b>Tom Watkins' Mistake.</b> By <span class="smcap">Emma Leslie</span>.<br /> +<b>Two Little Brothers.</b> By <span class="smcap">M. Harriet M. Capes.</span><br /> +<b>The New Boy at Merriton.</b> By <span class="smcap">Julia Goddard</span>.<br /> +<b>The Children of Haycombe.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>The Cruise of the "Petrel."</b> By <span class="smcap">F. M. Holmes</span>.<br /> +<b>The Wise Princess.</b> By <span class="smcap">M. Harriet M. Capes</span>.<br /> +<b>The Blind Boy of Dresden and his Sister.</b><br /> +<b>Jon of Iceland:</b> A Story of the Far North.<br /> +<b>Stories from Shakespeare.</b><br /> +<b>Every Man In his Place:</b> Or a City Boy and a Forest Boy.<br /> +<b>Fireside Fairies and Flower Fancies.</b> Stories for Girls.<br /> +<b>To the Sea in Ships:</b> Stories of Suffering and Saving at Sea.<br /> +<b>Jack's Victory:</b> and other Stories about Dogs.<br /> +<b>Story of a King</b>, told by one of his Soldiers.<br /> +<b>Prince Alexis</b>, or "<span class="smcap">Beauty and the Beast</span>."<br /> +<b>Little Daniel:</b> a Story of a Flood on the Rhine.<br /> +<b>Sasha the Serf:</b> and other Stories of Russian Life.<br /> +<b>True Stories of Foreign History.</b><br /> +</div> +</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><i>THE ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT PRINTED IN COLOURS.</i></p> + +<p class="center">4TO, ONE SHILLING EACH.</p> + +<h3>GORDON BROWNE'S SERIES OF OLD FAIRY TALES.</h3> + +<table class="center" summary="table"><tr><td> +<div style="text-align: left;"> +1. HOP O' MY THUMB.<br /> +2. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.<br /> +</div></td></tr></table> + +<p>Each book contains 32 pages 4to, and is illustrated on every page by +Pictures printed in colours.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a><b>THE NINEPENNY SERIES OF BOOKS FOR CHILDREN.</b></h4> + +<p class="center">Neatly bound in cloth extra. Each contains 96 pages and a Coloured +Illustration.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">New Volumes</span>.</p> + +<table class="center" summary="table"><tr><td> +<div style="text-align: left;"> +<b>Things will Take a Turn.</b> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Harraden</span>.<br /> +<b>The Lost Thimble:</b> and other Stories. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Musgrave</span>.<br /> +<b>Max or Baby:</b> the Story of a very Little Boy. By <span class="smcap">Ismay Thorn</span>.<br /> +<b>Jack-a-Dandy:</b> or the Heir of Castle Fergus. By <span class="smcap">E. J. Lysaght</span>.<br /> +<b>A Day of Adventures:</b> A Story for little Girls. By <span class="smcap">Charlotte Wyatt</span>.<br /> +<b>The Golden Plums</b>, and other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Frances Clare</span>.<br /> +<b>The Queen of Squats.</b> By <span class="smcap">Isabel Hornibrook</span>.<br /> +<b>Shucks:</b> A Story for Boys. By <span class="smcap">Emma Leslie</span>.<br /> +<b>Sylvia Brooke.</b> By <span class="smcap">M. Harriet M. Capes.</span><br /> +<b>The Little Cousin.</b> By <span class="smcap">A. S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>In Cloudland.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Musgrave</span>.<br /> +<b>Jack and the Gypsies.</b> By <span class="smcap">Kate Wood</span>.<br /> +<b>Hans the Painter.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.<br /> +<b>Little Troublesome.</b> By <span class="smcap">Isabel Hornibrook</span>.<br /> +<b>My Lady May:</b> And one other Story. By <span class="smcap">Harriet Boultwood</span>.<br /> +<b>A Little Hero.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Musgrave</span>.<br /> +<b>Prince Jon's Pilgrimage.</b> By <span class="smcap">Jessie Fleming</span>.<br /> +<b>Harold's Ambition:</b> Or a Dream of Fame. By <span class="smcap">Jennie Perrett</span>.<br /> +<b>Sepperl the Drummer Boy.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.<br /> +<b>Aboard the Mersey.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">George Cupples</span>.<br /> +<b>A Blind Pupil.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>Lost and Found.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Carl Rother</span>.<br /> +<b>Fisherman Grim.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mary C. Rowsell</span>.<br /> +</div> +</td></tr> +</table> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The same good character pervades all these books. They are +admirably adapted for the young. The lessons deduced are such as to +mould children's minds in a good groove. We cannot too highly +commend them for their excellence."—<i>Schoolmistress.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>SOMETHING FOR THE VERY LITTLE ONES.</h4> + +<p class="center">Fully Illustrated with Woodcuts and Coloured Plates. 64 pp., 32mo, +cloth. Sixpence each.</p> + +<p><b>Tales Easy and Small</b> for the Youngest of All. In no word will you see +more letters than three. By <span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>.</p> + +<p><b>Old Dick Grey</b> and Aunt Kate's Way. Stories in little words of not more +than four letters. By <span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>.</p> + +<p><b>Maud's Doll and Her Walk.</b> In Picture and Talk. In little words of not +more than four letters. By <span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>.</p> + +<p><b>In Holiday Time.</b> And other Stories. In little words of not more than +five letters. By <span class="smcap">Jennett Humphreys</span>.</p> + +<p><b>Whisk and Buzz.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">A. H. Garlick</span>.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>THE SIXPENNY SERIES FOR CHILDREN.</h4> + +<p class="center">Neatly bound in cloth extra. Each contains 64 pages and a Coloured Cut.</p> + +<table class="center" summary="table"><tr><td> +<div style="text-align: left;"> +<b>A Little Man of War.</b> By <span class="smcap">L. E. Tiddeman</span>.<br /> +<b>Lady Daisy.</b> By <span class="smcap">Caroline Stewart</span>.<br /> +<b>Dew.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. Mary Wilson</span>.<br /> +<b>Chris's Old Violin.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. Lockhart</span>.<br /> +<b>Mischievous Jack.</b> By <span class="smcap">A. Corkran</span>.<br /> +<b>The Twins.</b> By <span class="smcap">L. E. Tiddeman</span>.<br /> +<b>Pet's Project.</b> By <span class="smcap">Cora Langton</span>.<br /> +<b>The Chosen Treat.</b> By <span class="smcap">Charlotte Wyatt</span>.<br /> +<b>Little Neighbours.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>Jim:</b> A Story of Child Life. By <span class="smcap">Christian Burke</span>.<br /> +<b>Little Curiosity:</b> Or, A German Christmas. By <span class="smcap">J. M. Callwell</span>.<br /> +<b>Sara the Wool-gatherer.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. L. Rooper</span>.<br /> +<b>Fairy Stories:</b> told by <span class="smcap">Penelope</span>.<br /> +<b>A New Year's Tale:</b> and other Stories. From the German. By <span class="smcap">M. A. Currie</span>.<br /> +<b>Little Mop:</b> and other Stories. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Charles Bray</span>.<br /> +<b>The Tree Cake:</b> and other Stories. By <span class="smcap">W. L. Rooper</span>.<br /> +<b>Nurse Peggy, and Little Dog Trip.</b><br /> +<b>Fanny's King.</b> By <span class="smcap">Darley Dale</span>.<br /> +<b>Wild Marsh Marigolds.</b> By <span class="smcap">D. Dale</span>.<br /> +<b>Kitty's Cousin.</b> By <span class="smcap">Hannah B. Mackenzie</span>.<br /> +<b>Cleared at Last.</b> By <span class="smcap">Julia Goddard</span>.<br /> +<b>Little Dolly Forbes.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>A Year with Nellie.</b> By <span class="smcap">A. S. Fenn</span>.<br /> +<b>The Little Brown Bird.</b><br /> +<b>The Maid of Domremy:</b> and other Tales.<br /> +<b>Little Eric:</b> a Story of Honesty.<br /> +<b>Uncle Ben the Whaler.</b><br /> +<b>The Palace of Luxury.</b><br /> +<b>The Charcoal Burner.</b><br /> +<b>Willy Black:</b> a Story of Doing Right.<br /> +<b>The Horse and His Ways.</b><br /> +<b>The Shoemaker's Present.</b><br /> +<b>Lights to Walk by.</b><br /> +<b>The Little Merchant.</b><br /> +<b>Nicholina:</b> a Story about an Iceberg.<br /> +</div></td></tr></table> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A very praiseworthy series of Prize Books. Most of the stories are +designed to enforce some important moral lesson, such as honesty, +industry, kindness, helpfulness."—<i>School Guardian.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>A SERIES OF FOURPENNY REWARD BOOKS.</h4> + +<p class="center">Each 64 pages, 18mo, Illustrated, in Picture Boards.</p> + +<table class="center" summary="table"><tr><td> +<div style="text-align: left;"> +<b>A Start in Life.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. Lockhart</span>.<br /> +<b>Happy Childhood.</b> By <span class="smcap">Aimée de Venoix Dawson</span>.<br /> +<b>Dorothy's Clock.</b> By Do.<br /> +<b>Toddy.</b> By <span class="smcap">L. E. Tiddeman</span>.<br /> +<b>Stories about my Dolls.</b> By <span class="smcap">Felicia Melancthon</span>.<br /> +<b>Stories about my Cat Timothy.</b><br /> +<b>Delia's Boots.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. L. Rooper</span>.<br /> +<b>Lost on the Rocks.</b> By <span class="smcap">R. Scotter</span>.<br /> +<b>A Kitten's Adventures.</b> By <span class="smcap">Caroline Stewart</span>.<br /> +<b>Holidays at Sunnycroft.</b> By <span class="smcap">Annie S. Swan</span>.<br /> +<b>Climbing the Hill.</b> By Do.<br /> +<b>A Year at Coverley.</b> By Do.<br /> +<b>Phil Foster.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. Lockhart</span>.<br /> +<b>Papa's Birthday.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. L. Rooper</span>.<br /> +<b>The Charm Fairy.</b> By <span class="smcap">Penelope</span>.<br /> +<b>Little Tales for Little Children.</b> By <span class="smcap">M. A. Currie</span>.<br /> +<b>Worthy of Trust.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. B. Mackenzie</span>.<br /> +<b>Brave and True.</b> By <span class="smcap">Gregson Gow</span>.<br /> +<b>Johnnie Tupper's Temptation.</b> Do.<br /> +<b>Maudie and Bertie.</b> Do.<br /> +<b>The Children and the Water-Lily.</b> By <span class="smcap">Julia Goddard</span>.<br /> +<b>Poor Tom Olliver.</b> By Do.<br /> +<b>Fritz's Experiment.</b> By <span class="smcap">Letitia M'Lintock</span>.<br /> +<b>Lucy's Christmas-Box.</b><br /> +</div></td></tr></table> + +<p class="center"> +LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, 49 OLD BAILEY, E. C.<br /> +GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN.<br /> +</p> +<hr style='width: 65%;'/> +<p>Transcribers Note: The following section was at the beginning of the text in the +original copy.</p> + +<h4>MR. HENTY'S HISTORICAL TALES.</h4> +<p><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo, Cloth elegant, Olivine edges. Each Book is beautifully +Illustrated.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Cat of Bubastes</span>: A Story of Ancient Egypt. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Young Carthaginian</span>: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">For the Temple</span>: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Lion of St. Mark</span>: A Story of Venice in the 14th Century. +<i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Lion of the North</span>: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars +of Religion. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">In the Reign of Terror</span>: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy +during the French Revolution. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Dragon and the Raven</span>: Or, The Days of King Alfred. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">In Freedom's Cause</span>: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">St. George for England</span>: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Under Drake's Flag</span>: A Tale of the Spanish Main. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Orange and Green</span>: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bonnie Prince Charlie</span>: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Bravest of the Brave</span>: Or, With Peterborough in Spain. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">With Wolfe in Canada</span>: Or, The Winning of a Continent. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">With Clive in India</span>: Or, The Beginnings of an Empire. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">True to the Old Flag</span>: A Tale of the American War of +Independence. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Through the Fray</span>: A Story of the Luddite Riots. <i>6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">By Sheer Pluck</span>: A Tale of the Ashanti War. <i>5s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">For Name and Fame</span>: Or, Through Afghan Passes. <i>5s.</i></p> +<hr /> +<p>LONDON: BLACKIE & SON: GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Daring and Danger, by George Alfred Henty + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF DARING AND DANGER *** + +***** This file should be named 7870-h.htm or 7870-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/8/7/7870/ + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Stacy Brown Thellend and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +Merged with an earlier text produced by Juliet Sutherland, +Thomas Hutchinson and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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