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diff --git a/old/rudge10.txt b/old/rudge10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55e99de --- /dev/null +++ b/old/rudge10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29162 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barnaby Rudge, by Charles Dickens +#25 in our series by Charles Dickens + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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Also please be aware if spell-checking, +that within dialog many 'mispelled' words exist, i.e. 'wery' for +'very', as intended by the author. + +D.L. + + + + + +BARNABY RUDGE - A TALE OF THE RIOTS OF 'EIGHTY + +by + +Charles Dickens + + + +PREFACE + + +The late Mr Waterton having, some time ago, expressed his opinion +that ravens are gradually becoming extinct in England, I offered +the few following words about my experience of these birds. + +The raven in this story is a compound of two great originals, of +whom I was, at different times, the proud possessor. The first was +in the bloom of his youth, when he was discovered in a modest +retirement in London, by a friend of mine, and given to me. He had +from the first, as Sir Hugh Evans says of Anne Page, 'good gifts', +which he improved by study and attention in a most exemplary +manner. He slept in a stable--generally on horseback--and so +terrified a Newfoundland dog by his preternatural sagacity, that he +has been known, by the mere superiority of his genius, to walk off +unmolested with the dog's dinner, from before his face. He was +rapidly rising in acquirements and virtues, when, in an evil hour, +his stable was newly painted. He observed the workmen closely, +saw that they were careful of the paint, and immediately burned to +possess it. On their going to dinner, he ate up all they had left +behind, consisting of a pound or two of white lead; and this +youthful indiscretion terminated in death. + +While I was yet inconsolable for his loss, another friend of mine +in Yorkshire discovered an older and more gifted raven at a village +public-house, which he prevailed upon the landlord to part with for +a consideration, and sent up to me. The first act of this Sage, +was, to administer to the effects of his predecessor, by +disinterring all the cheese and halfpence he had buried in the +garden--a work of immense labour and research, to which he devoted +all the energies of his mind. When he had achieved this task, he +applied himself to the acquisition of stable language, in which he +soon became such an adept, that he would perch outside my window +and drive imaginary horses with great skill, all day. Perhaps +even I never saw him at his best, for his former master sent his +duty with him, 'and if I wished the bird to come out very strong, +would I be so good as to show him a drunken man'--which I never +did, having (unfortunately) none but sober people at hand. + +But I could hardly have respected him more, whatever the +stimulating influences of this sight might have been. He had not +the least respect, I am sorry to say, for me in return, or for +anybody but the cook; to whom he was attached--but only, I fear, as +a Policeman might have been. Once, I met him unexpectedly, about +half-a-mile from my house, walking down the middle of a public +street, attended by a pretty large crowd, and spontaneously +exhibiting the whole of his accomplishments. His gravity under +those trying circumstances, I can never forget, nor the +extraordinary gallantry with which, refusing to be brought home, he +defended himself behind a pump, until overpowered by numbers. It +may have been that he was too bright a genius to live long, or it +may have been that he took some pernicious substance into his bill, +and thence into his maw--which is not improbable, seeing that he +new-pointed the greater part of the garden-wall by digging out the +mortar, broke countless squares of glass by scraping away the putty +all round the frames, and tore up and swallowed, in splinters, the +greater part of a wooden staircase of six steps and a landing--but +after some three years he too was taken ill, and died before the +kitchen fire. He kept his eye to the last upon the meat as it +roasted, and suddenly. turned over on his back with a sepulchral +cry of 'Cuckoo!' Since then I have been ravenless. + +No account of the Gordon Riots having been to my knowledge +introduced into any Work of Fiction, and the subject presenting +very extraordinary and remarkable features, I was led to project +this Tale. + +It is unnecessary to say, that those shameful tumults, while they +reflect indelible disgrace upon the time in which they occurred, +and all who had act or part in them, teach a good lesson. That +what we falsely call a religious cry is easily raised by men who +have no religion, and who in their daily practice set at nought the +commonest principles of right and wrong; that it is begotten of +intolerance and persecution; that it is senseless, besotted, +inveterate and unmerciful; all History teaches us. But perhaps we +do not know it in our hearts too well, to profit by even so humble +an example as the 'No Popery' riots of Seventeen Hundred and Eighty. + +However imperfectly those disturbances are set forth in the +following pages, they are impartially painted by one who has no +sympathy with the Romish Church, though he acknowledges, as most +men do, some esteemed friends among the followers of its creed. + +In the description of the principal outrages, reference has been +had to the best authorities of that time, such as they are; the +account given in this Tale, of all the main features of the Riots, +is substantially correct. + +Mr Dennis's allusions to the flourishing condition of his trade in +those days, have their foundation in Truth, and not in the +Author's fancy. Any file of old Newspapers, or odd volume of the +Annual Register, will prove this with terrible ease. + +Even the case of Mary Jones, dwelt upon with so much pleasure by +the same character, is no effort of invention. The facts were +stated, exactly as they are stated here, in the House of Commons. +Whether they afforded as much entertainment to the merry gentlemen +assembled there, as some other most affecting circumstances of a +similar nature mentioned by Sir Samuel Romilly, is not recorded. + +That the case of Mary Jones may speak the more emphatically for +itself, I subjoin it, as related by SIR WILLIAM MEREDITH in a +speech in Parliament, 'on Frequent Executions', made in 1777. + +'Under this act,' the Shop-lifting Act, 'one Mary Jones was +executed, whose case I shall just mention; it was at the time when +press warrants were issued, on the alarm about Falkland Islands. +The woman's husband was pressed, their goods seized for some debts +of his, and she, with two small children, turned into the streets +a-begging. It is a circumstance not to be forgotten, that she was +very young (under nineteen), and most remarkably handsome. She +went to a linen-draper's shop, took some coarse linen off the +counter, and slipped it under her cloak; the shopman saw her, and +she laid it down: for this she was hanged. Her defence was (I have +the trial in my pocket), "that she had lived in credit, and wanted +for nothing, till a press-gang came and stole her husband from her; +but since then, she had no bed to lie on; nothing to give her +children to eat; and they were almost naked; and perhaps she might +have done something wrong, for she hardly knew what she did." The +parish officers testified the truth of this story; but it seems, +there had been a good deal of shop-lifting about Ludgate; an +example was thought necessary; and this woman was hanged for the +comfort and satisfaction of shopkeepers in Ludgate Street. When +brought to receive sentence, she behaved in such a frantic manner, +as proved her mind to he in a distracted and desponding state; and +the child was sucking at her breast when she set out for Tyburn.' + + + +Chapter 1 + + +In the year 1775, there stood upon the borders of Epping Forest, +at a distance of about twelve miles from London--measuring from the +Standard in Cornhill,' or rather from the spot on or near to which +the Standard used to be in days of yore--a house of public +entertainment called the Maypole; which fact was demonstrated to +all such travellers as could neither read nor write (and at that +time a vast number both of travellers and stay-at-homes were in +this condition) by the emblem reared on the roadside over against +the house, which, if not of those goodly proportions that Maypoles +were wont to present in olden times, was a fair young ash, thirty +feet in height, and straight as any arrow that ever English yeoman +drew. + +The Maypole--by which term from henceforth is meant the house, and +not its sign--the Maypole was an old building, with more gable ends +than a lazy man would care to count on a sunny day; huge zig-zag +chimneys, out of which it seemed as though even smoke could not +choose but come in more than naturally fantastic shapes, imparted +to it in its tortuous progress; and vast stables, gloomy, ruinous, +and empty. The place was said to have been built in the days of +King Henry the Eighth; and there was a legend, not only that Queen +Elizabeth had slept there one night while upon a hunting excursion, +to wit, in a certain oak-panelled room with a deep bay window, but +that next morning, while standing on a mounting block before the +door with one foot in the stirrup, the virgin monarch had then and +there boxed and cuffed an unlucky page for some neglect of duty. +The matter-of-fact and doubtful folks, of whom there were a few +among the Maypole customers, as unluckily there always are in every +little community, were inclined to look upon this tradition as +rather apocryphal; but, whenever the landlord of that ancient +hostelry appealed to the mounting block itself as evidence, and +triumphantly pointed out that there it stood in the same place to +that very day, the doubters never failed to be put down by a large +majority, and all true believers exulted as in a victory. + +Whether these, and many other stories of the like nature, were true +or untrue, the Maypole was really an old house, a very old house, +perhaps as old as it claimed to be, and perhaps older, which will +sometimes happen with houses of an uncertain, as with ladies of a +certain, age. Its windows were old diamond-pane lattices, its +floors were sunken and uneven, its ceilings blackened by the hand +of time, and heavy with massive beams. Over the doorway was an +ancient porch, quaintly and grotesquely carved; and here on summer +evenings the more favoured customers smoked and drank--ay, and +sang many a good song too, sometimes--reposing on two grim-looking +high-backed settles, which, like the twin dragons of some fairy +tale, guarded the entrance to the mansion. + +In the chimneys of the disused rooms, swallows had built their +nests for many a long year, and from earliest spring to latest +autumn whole colonies of sparrows chirped and twittered in the +eaves. There were more pigeons about the dreary stable-yard and +out-buildings than anybody but the landlord could reckon up. The +wheeling and circling flights of runts, fantails, tumblers, and +pouters, were perhaps not quite consistent with the grave and sober +character of the building, but the monotonous cooing, which never +ceased to be raised by some among them all day long, suited it +exactly, and seemed to lull it to rest. With its overhanging +stories, drowsy little panes of glass, and front bulging out and +projecting over the pathway, the old house looked as if it were +nodding in its sleep. Indeed, it needed no very great stretch of +fancy to detect in it other resemblances to humanity. The bricks +of which it was built had originally been a deep dark red, but had +grown yellow and discoloured like an old man's skin; the sturdy +timbers had decayed like teeth; and here and there the ivy, like a +warm garment to comfort it in its age, wrapt its green leaves +closely round the time-worn walls. + +It was a hale and hearty age though, still: and in the summer or +autumn evenings, when the glow of the setting sun fell upon the oak +and chestnut trees of the adjacent forest, the old house, partaking +of its lustre, seemed their fit companion, and to have many good +years of life in him yet. + +The evening with which we have to do, was neither a summer nor an +autumn one, but the twilight of a day in March, when the wind +howled dismally among the bare branches of the trees, and rumbling +in the wide chimneys and driving the rain against the windows of +the Maypole Inn, gave such of its frequenters as chanced to be +there at the moment an undeniable reason for prolonging their stay, +and caused the landlord to prophesy that the night would certainly +clear at eleven o'clock precisely,--which by a remarkable +coincidence was the hour at which he always closed his house. + +The name of him upon whom the spirit of prophecy thus descended was +John Willet, a burly, large-headed man with a fat face, which +betokened profound obstinacy and slowness of apprehension, +combined with a very strong reliance upon his own merits. It was +John Willet's ordinary boast in his more placid moods that if he +were slow he was sure; which assertion could, in one sense at +least, be by no means gainsaid, seeing that he was in everything +unquestionably the reverse of fast, and withal one of the most +dogged and positive fellows in existence--always sure that what he +thought or said or did was right, and holding it as a thing quite +settled and ordained by the laws of nature and Providence, that +anybody who said or did or thought otherwise must be inevitably and +of necessity wrong. + +Mr Willet walked slowly up to the window, flattened his fat nose +against the cold glass, and shading his eyes that his sight might +not be affected by the ruddy glow of the fire, looked abroad. Then +he walked slowly back to his old seat in the chimney-corner, and, +composing himself in it with a slight shiver, such as a man might +give way to and so acquire an additional relish for the warm blaze, +said, looking round upon his guests: + +'It'll clear at eleven o'clock. No sooner and no later. Not +before and not arterwards.' + +'How do you make out that?' said a little man in the opposite +corner. 'The moon is past the full, and she rises at nine.' + +John looked sedately and solemnly at his questioner until he had +brought his mind to bear upon the whole of his observation, and +then made answer, in a tone which seemed to imply that the moon was +peculiarly his business and nobody else's: + +'Never you mind about the moon. Don't you trouble yourself about +her. You let the moon alone, and I'll let you alone.' + +'No offence I hope?' said the little man. + +Again John waited leisurely until the observation had thoroughly +penetrated to his brain, and then replying, 'No offence as YET,' +applied a light to his pipe and smoked in placid silence; now and +then casting a sidelong look at a man wrapped in a loose riding- +coat with huge cuffs ornamented with tarnished silver lace and +large metal buttons, who sat apart from the regular frequenters of +the house, and wearing a hat flapped over his face, which was still +further shaded by the hand on which his forehead rested, looked +unsociable enough. + +There was another guest, who sat, booted and spurred, at some +distance from the fire also, and whose thoughts--to judge from his +folded arms and knitted brows, and from the untasted liquor before +him--were occupied with other matters than the topics under +discussion or the persons who discussed them. This was a young man +of about eight-and-twenty, rather above the middle height, and +though of somewhat slight figure, gracefully and strongly made. He +wore his own dark hair, and was accoutred in a riding dress, which +together with his large boots (resembling in shape and fashion +those worn by our Life Guardsmen at the present day), showed +indisputable traces of the bad condition of the roads. But travel- +stained though he was, he was well and even richly attired, and +without being overdressed looked a gallant gentleman. + +Lying upon the table beside him, as he had carelessly thrown them +down, were a heavy riding-whip and a slouched hat, the latter worn +no doubt as being best suited to the inclemency of the weather. +There, too, were a pair of pistols in a holster-case, and a short +riding-cloak. Little of his face was visible, except the long dark +lashes which concealed his downcast eyes, but an air of careless +ease and natural gracefulness of demeanour pervaded the figure, and +seemed to comprehend even those slight accessories, which were all +handsome, and in good keeping. + +Towards this young gentleman the eyes of Mr Willet wandered but +once, and then as if in mute inquiry whether he had observed his +silent neighbour. It was plain that John and the young gentleman +had often met before. Finding that his look was not returned, or +indeed observed by the person to whom it was addressed, John +gradually concentrated the whole power of his eyes into one focus, +and brought it to bear upon the man in the flapped hat, at whom he +came to stare in course of time with an intensity so remarkable, +that it affected his fireside cronies, who all, as with one accord, +took their pipes from their lips, and stared with open mouths at +the stranger likewise. + +The sturdy landlord had a large pair of dull fish-like eyes, and +the little man who had hazarded the remark about the moon (and who +was the parish-clerk and bell-ringer of Chigwell, a village hard +by) had little round black shiny eyes like beads; moreover this +little man wore at the knees of his rusty black breeches, and on +his rusty black coat, and all down his long flapped waistcoat, +little queer buttons like nothing except his eyes; but so like +them, that as they twinkled and glistened in the light of the fire, +which shone too in his bright shoe-buckles, he seemed all eyes from +head to foot, and to be gazing with every one of them at the +unknown customer. No wonder that a man should grow restless under +such an inspection as this, to say nothing of the eyes belonging to +short Tom Cobb the general chandler and post-office keeper, and +long Phil Parkes the ranger, both of whom, infected by the example +of their companions, regarded him of the flapped hat no less +attentively. + +The stranger became restless; perhaps from being exposed to this +raking fire of eyes, perhaps from the nature of his previous +meditations--most probably from the latter cause, for as he changed +his position and looked hastily round, he started to find himself +the object of such keen regard, and darted an angry and suspicious +glance at the fireside group. It had the effect of immediately +diverting all eyes to the chimney, except those of John Willet, who +finding himself as it were, caught in the fact, and not being (as +has been already observed) of a very ready nature, remained staring +at his guest in a particularly awkward and disconcerted manner. + +'Well?' said the stranger. + +Well. There was not much in well. It was not a long speech. 'I +thought you gave an order,' said the landlord, after a pause of two +or three minutes for consideration. + +The stranger took off his hat, and disclosed the hard features of a +man of sixty or thereabouts, much weatherbeaten and worn by time, +and the naturally harsh expression of which was not improved by a +dark handkerchief which was bound tightly round his head, and, +while it served the purpose of a wig, shaded his forehead, and +almost hid his eyebrows. If it were intended to conceal or divert +attention from a deep gash, now healed into an ugly seam, which +when it was first inflicted must have laid bare his cheekbone, the +object was but indifferently attained, for it could scarcely fail +to be noted at a glance. His complexion was of a cadaverous hue, +and he had a grizzly jagged beard of some three weeks' date. Such +was the figure (very meanly and poorly clad) that now rose from the +seat, and stalking across the room sat down in a corner of the +chimney, which the politeness or fears of the little clerk very +readily assigned to him. + +'A highwayman!' whispered Tom Cobb to Parkes the ranger. + +'Do you suppose highwaymen don't dress handsomer than that?' +replied Parkes. 'It's a better business than you think for, Tom, +and highwaymen don't need or use to be shabby, take my word for it.' + +Meanwhile the subject of their speculations had done due honour to +the house by calling for some drink, which was promptly supplied by +the landlord's son Joe, a broad-shouldered strapping young fellow +of twenty, whom it pleased his father still to consider a little +boy, and to treat accordingly. Stretching out his hands to warm +them by the blazing fire, the man turned his head towards the +company, and after running his eye sharply over them, said in a +voice well suited to his appearance: + +'What house is that which stands a mile or so from here?' + +'Public-house?' said the landlord, with his usual deliberation. + +'Public-house, father!' exclaimed Joe, 'where's the public-house +within a mile or so of the Maypole? He means the great house--the +Warren--naturally and of course. The old red brick house, sir, +that stands in its own grounds--?' + +'Aye,' said the stranger. + +'And that fifteen or twenty years ago stood in a park five times as +broad, which with other and richer property has bit by bit changed +hands and dwindled away--more's the pity!' pursued the young man. + +'Maybe,' was the reply. 'But my question related to the owner. +What it has been I don't care to know, and what it is I can see for +myself.' + +The heir-apparent to the Maypole pressed his finger on his lips, +and glancing at the young gentleman already noticed, who had +changed his attitude when the house was first mentioned, replied in +a lower tone: + +'The owner's name is Haredale, Mr Geoffrey Haredale, and'--again he +glanced in the same direction as before--'and a worthy gentleman +too--hem!' + +Paying as little regard to this admonitory cough, as to the +significant gesture that had preceded it, the stranger pursued his +questioning. + +'I turned out of my way coming here, and took the footpath that +crosses the grounds. Who was the young lady that I saw entering a +carriage? His daughter?' + +'Why, how should I know, honest man?' replied Joe, contriving in +the course of some arrangements about the hearth, to advance close +to his questioner and pluck him by the sleeve, 'I didn't see the +young lady, you know. Whew! There's the wind again--AND rain-- +well it IS a night!' + +Rough weather indeed!' observed the strange man. + +'You're used to it?' said Joe, catching at anything which seemed to +promise a diversion of the subject. + +'Pretty well,' returned the other. 'About the young lady--has Mr +Haredale a daughter?' + +'No, no,' said the young fellow fretfully, 'he's a single +gentleman--he's--be quiet, can't you, man? Don't you see this +talk is not relished yonder?' + +Regardless of this whispered remonstrance, and affecting not to +hear it, his tormentor provokingly continued: + +'Single men have had daughters before now. Perhaps she may be his +daughter, though he is not married.' + +'What do you mean?' said Joe, adding in an undertone as he +approached him again, 'You'll come in for it presently, I know you +will!' + +'I mean no harm'--returned the traveller boldly, 'and have said +none that I know of. I ask a few questions--as any stranger may, +and not unnaturally--about the inmates of a remarkable house in a +neighbourhood which is new to me, and you are as aghast and +disturbed as if I were talking treason against King George. +Perhaps you can tell me why, sir, for (as I say) I am a stranger, +and this is Greek to me?' + +The latter observation was addressed to the obvious cause of Joe +Willet's discomposure, who had risen and was adjusting his riding- +cloak preparatory to sallying abroad. Briefly replying that he +could give him no information, the young man beckoned to Joe, and +handing him a piece of money in payment of his reckoning, hurried +out attended by young Willet himself, who taking up a candle +followed to light him to the house-door. + +While Joe was absent on this errand, the elder Willet and his three +companions continued to smoke with profound gravity, and in a deep +silence, each having his eyes fixed on a huge copper boiler that +was suspended over the fire. After some time John Willet slowly +shook his head, and thereupon his friends slowly shook theirs; but +no man withdrew his eyes from the boiler, or altered the solemn +expression of his countenance in the slightest degree. + +At length Joe returned--very talkative and conciliatory, as though +with a strong presentiment that he was going to be found fault +with. + +'Such a thing as love is!' he said, drawing a chair near the fire, +and looking round for sympathy. 'He has set off to walk to +London,--all the way to London. His nag gone lame in riding out +here this blessed afternoon, and comfortably littered down in our +stable at this minute; and he giving up a good hot supper and our +best bed, because Miss Haredale has gone to a masquerade up in +town, and he has set his heart upon seeing her! I don't think I +could persuade myself to do that, beautiful as she is,--but then +I'm not in love (at least I don't think I am) and that's the whole +difference.' + +'He is in love then?' said the stranger. + +'Rather,' replied Joe. 'He'll never be more in love, and may very +easily be less.' + +'Silence, sir!' cried his father. + +'What a chap you are, Joe!' said Long Parkes. + +'Such a inconsiderate lad!' murmured Tom Cobb. + +'Putting himself forward and wringing the very nose off his own +father's face!' exclaimed the parish-clerk, metaphorically. + +'What HAVE I done?' reasoned poor Joe. + +'Silence, sir!' returned his father, 'what do you mean by talking, +when you see people that are more than two or three times your age, +sitting still and silent and not dreaming of saying a word?' + +'Why that's the proper time for me to talk, isn't it?' said Joe +rebelliously. + +'The proper time, sir!' retorted his father, 'the proper time's no +time.' + +'Ah to be sure!' muttered Parkes, nodding gravely to the other two +who nodded likewise, observing under their breaths that that was +the point. + +'The proper time's no time, sir,' repeated John Willet; 'when I was +your age I never talked, I never wanted to talk. I listened and +improved myself that's what I did.' + +'And you'd find your father rather a tough customer in argeyment, +Joe, if anybody was to try and tackle him,' said Parkes. + +'For the matter o' that, Phil!' observed Mr Willet, blowing a long, +thin, spiral cloud of smoke out of the corner of his mouth, and +staring at it abstractedly as it floated away; 'For the matter o' +that, Phil, argeyment is a gift of Natur. If Natur has gifted a +man with powers of argeyment, a man has a right to make the best of +'em, and has not a right to stand on false delicacy, and deny that +he is so gifted; for that is a turning of his back on Natur, a +flouting of her, a slighting of her precious caskets, and a proving +of one's self to be a swine that isn't worth her scattering pearls +before.' + +The landlord pausing here for a very long time, Mr Parkes naturally +concluded that he had brought his discourse to an end; and +therefore, turning to the young man with some austerity, +exclaimed: + +'You hear what your father says, Joe? You wouldn't much like to +tackle him in argeyment, I'm thinking, sir.' + +'IF,' said John Willet, turning his eyes from the ceiling to the +face of his interrupter, and uttering the monosyllable in capitals, +to apprise him that he had put in his oar, as the vulgar say, with +unbecoming and irreverent haste; 'IF, sir, Natur has fixed upon me +the gift of argeyment, why should I not own to it, and rather glory +in the same? Yes, sir, I AM a tough customer that way. You are +right, sir. My toughness has been proved, sir, in this room many +and many a time, as I think you know; and if you don't know,' added +John, putting his pipe in his mouth again, 'so much the better, for +I an't proud and am not going to tell you.' + +A general murmur from his three cronies, and a general shaking of +heads at the copper boiler, assured John Willet that they had had +good experience of his powers and needed no further evidence to +assure them of his superiority. John smoked with a little more +dignity and surveyed them in silence. + +'It's all very fine talking,' muttered Joe, who had been fidgeting +in his chair with divers uneasy gestures. 'But if you mean to tell +me that I'm never to open my lips--' + +'Silence, sir!' roared his father. 'No, you never are. When your +opinion's wanted, you give it. When you're spoke to, you speak. +When your opinion's not wanted and you're not spoke to, don't you +give an opinion and don't you speak. The world's undergone a nice +alteration since my time, certainly. My belief is that there an't +any boys left--that there isn't such a thing as a boy--that there's +nothing now between a male baby and a man--and that all the boys +went out with his blessed Majesty King George the Second.' + +'That's a very true observation, always excepting the young +princes,' said the parish-clerk, who, as the representative of +church and state in that company, held himself bound to the nicest +loyalty. 'If it's godly and righteous for boys, being of the ages +of boys, to behave themselves like boys, then the young princes +must be boys and cannot be otherwise.' + +'Did you ever hear tell of mermaids, sir?' said Mr Willet. + +'Certainly I have,' replied the clerk. + +'Very good,' said Mr Willet. 'According to the constitution of +mermaids, so much of a mermaid as is not a woman must be a fish. +According to the constitution of young princes, so much of a young +prince (if anything) as is not actually an angel, must be godly and +righteous. Therefore if it's becoming and godly and righteous in +the young princes (as it is at their ages) that they should be +boys, they are and must be boys, and cannot by possibility be +anything else.' + +This elucidation of a knotty point being received with such marks +of approval as to put John Willet into a good humour, he contented +himself with repeating to his son his command of silence, and +addressing the stranger, said: + +'If you had asked your questions of a grown-up person--of me or any +of these gentlemen--you'd have had some satisfaction, and wouldn't +have wasted breath. Miss Haredale is Mr Geoffrey Haredale's +niece.' + +'Is her father alive?' said the man, carelessly. + +'No,' rejoined the landlord, 'he is not alive, and he is not dead--' + +'Not dead!' cried the other. + +'Not dead in a common sort of way,' said the landlord. + +The cronies nodded to each other, and Mr Parkes remarked in an +undertone, shaking his head meanwhile as who should say, 'let no +man contradict me, for I won't believe him,' that John Willet was +in amazing force to-night, and fit to tackle a Chief Justice. + +The stranger suffered a short pause to elapse, and then asked +abruptly, 'What do you mean?' + +'More than you think for, friend,' returned John Willet. 'Perhaps +there's more meaning in them words than you suspect.' + +'Perhaps there is,' said the strange man, gruffly; 'but what the +devil do you speak in such mysteries for? You tell me, first, that +a man is not alive, nor yet dead--then, that he's not dead in a +common sort of way--then, that you mean a great deal more than I +think for. To tell you the truth, you may do that easily; for so +far as I can make out, you mean nothing. What DO you mean, I ask +again?' + +'That,' returned the landlord, a little brought down from his +dignity by the stranger's surliness, 'is a Maypole story, and has +been any time these four-and-twenty years. That story is Solomon +Daisy's story. It belongs to the house; and nobody but Solomon +Daisy has ever told it under this roof, or ever shall--that's +more.' + +The man glanced at the parish-clerk, whose air of consciousness +and importance plainly betokened him to be the person referred to, +and, observing that he had taken his pipe from his lips, after a +very long whiff to keep it alight, and was evidently about to tell +his story without further solicitation, gathered his large coat +about him, and shrinking further back was almost lost in the gloom +of the spacious chimney-corner, except when the flame, struggling +from under a great faggot, whose weight almost crushed it for the +time, shot upward with a strong and sudden glare, and illumining +his figure for a moment, seemed afterwards to cast it into deeper +obscurity than before. + +By this flickering light, which made the old room, with its heavy +timbers and panelled walls, look as if it were built of polished +ebony--the wind roaring and howling without, now rattling the latch +and creaking the hinges of the stout oaken door, and now driving at +the casement as though it would beat it in--by this light, and +under circumstances so auspicious, Solomon Daisy began his tale: + +'It was Mr Reuben Haredale, Mr Geoffrey's elder brother--' + +Here he came to a dead stop, and made so long a pause that even +John Willet grew impatient and asked why he did not proceed. + +'Cobb,' said Solomon Daisy, dropping his voice and appealing to the +post-office keeper; 'what day of the month is this?' + +'The nineteenth.' + +'Of March,' said the clerk, bending forward, 'the nineteenth of +March; that's very strange.' + +In a low voice they all acquiesced, and Solomon went on: + +'It was Mr Reuben Haredale, Mr Geoffrey's elder brother, that +twenty-two years ago was the owner of the Warren, which, as Joe +has said--not that you remember it, Joe, for a boy like you can't +do that, but because you have often heard me say so--was then a +much larger and better place, and a much more valuable property +than it is now. His lady was lately dead, and he was left with one +child--the Miss Haredale you have been inquiring about--who was +then scarcely a year old.' + +Although the speaker addressed himself to the man who had shown so +much curiosity about this same family, and made a pause here as if +expecting some exclamation of surprise or encouragement, the latter +made no remark, nor gave any indication that he heard or was +interested in what was said. Solomon therefore turned to his old +companions, whose noses were brightly illuminated by the deep red +glow from the bowls of their pipes; assured, by long experience, of +their attention, and resolved to show his sense of such indecent +behaviour. + +'Mr Haredale,' said Solomon, turning his back upon the strange man, +'left this place when his lady died, feeling it lonely like, and +went up to London, where he stopped some months; but finding that +place as lonely as this--as I suppose and have always heard say--he +suddenly came back again with his little girl to the Warren, +bringing with him besides, that day, only two women servants, and +his steward, and a gardener.' + +Mr Daisy stopped to take a whiff at his pipe, which was going out, +and then proceeded--at first in a snuffling tone, occasioned by +keen enjoyment of the tobacco and strong pulling at the pipe, and +afterwards with increasing distinctness: + +'--Bringing with him two women servants, and his steward, and a +gardener. The rest stopped behind up in London, and were to follow +next day. It happened that that night, an old gentleman who lived +at Chigwell Row, and had long been poorly, deceased, and an order +came to me at half after twelve o'clock at night to go and toll the +passing-bell.' + +There was a movement in the little group of listeners, sufficiently +indicative of the strong repugnance any one of them would have felt +to have turned out at such a time upon such an errand. The clerk +felt and understood it, and pursued his theme accordingly. + +'It WAS a dreary thing, especially as the grave-digger was laid up +in his bed, from long working in a damp soil and sitting down to +take his dinner on cold tombstones, and I was consequently under +obligation to go alone, for it was too late to hope to get any +other companion. However, I wasn't unprepared for it; as the old +gentleman had often made it a request that the bell should be +tolled as soon as possible after the breath was out of his body, +and he had been expected to go for some days. I put as good a face +upon it as I could, and muffling myself up (for it was mortal +cold), started out with a lighted lantern in one hand and the key +of the church in the other.' + +At this point of the narrative, the dress of the strange man +rustled as if he had turned himself to hear more distinctly. +Slightly pointing over his shoulder, Solomon elevated his eyebrows +and nodded a silent inquiry to Joe whether this was the case. Joe +shaded his eyes with his hand and peered into the corner, but could +make out nothing, and so shook his head. + +'It was just such a night as this; blowing a hurricane, raining +heavily, and very dark--I often think now, darker than I ever saw +it before or since; that may be my fancy, but the houses were all +close shut and the folks in doors, and perhaps there is only one +other man who knows how dark it really was. I got into the church, +chained the door back so that it should keep ajar--for, to tell the +truth, I didn't like to be shut in there alone--and putting my +lantern on the stone seat in the little corner where the bell-rope +is, sat down beside it to trim the candle. + +'I sat down to trim the candle, and when I had done so I could not +persuade myself to get up again, and go about my work. I don't +know how it was, but I thought of all the ghost stories I had ever +heard, even those that I had heard when I was a boy at school, and +had forgotten long ago; and they didn't come into my mind one after +another, but all crowding at once, like. I recollected one story +there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year +(it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead +people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own +graves till morning. This made me think how many people I had +known, were buried between the church-door and the churchyard gate, +and what a dreadful thing it would be to have to pass among them +and know them again, so earthy and unlike themselves. I had known +all the niches and arches in the church from a child; still, I +couldn't persuade myself that those were their natural shadows +which I saw on the pavement, but felt sure there were some ugly +figures hiding among 'em and peeping out. Thinking on in this +way, I began to think of the old gentleman who was just dead, and I +could have sworn, as I looked up the dark chancel, that I saw him +in his usual place, wrapping his shroud about him and shivering as +if he felt it cold. All this time I sat listening and listening, +and hardly dared to breathe. At length I started up and took the +bell-rope in my hands. At that minute there rang--not that bell, +for I had hardly touched the rope--but another! + +'I heard the ringing of another bell, and a deep bell too, plainly. +It was only for an instant, and even then the wind carried the +sound away, but I heard it. I listened for a long time, but it +rang no more. I had heard of corpse candles, and at last I +persuaded myself that this must be a corpse bell tolling of itself +at midnight for the dead. I tolled my bell--how, or how long, I +don't know--and ran home to bed as fast as I could touch the +ground. + +'I was up early next morning after a restless night, and told the +story to my neighbours. Some were serious and some made light of +it; I don't think anybody believed it real. But, that morning, Mr +Reuben Haredale was found murdered in his bedchamber; and in his +hand was a piece of the cord attached to an alarm-bell outside the +roof, which hung in his room and had been cut asunder, no doubt by +the murderer, when he seized it. + +'That was the bell I heard. + +'A bureau was found opened, and a cash-box, which Mr Haredale had +brought down that day, and was supposed to contain a large sum of +money, was gone. The steward and gardener were both missing and +both suspected for a long time, but they were never found, though +hunted far and wide. And far enough they might have looked for +poor Mr Rudge the steward, whose body--scarcely to be recognised by +his clothes and the watch and ring he wore--was found, months +afterwards, at the bottom of a piece of water in the grounds, with +a deep gash in the breast where he had been stabbed with a knife. +He was only partly dressed; and people all agreed that he had been +sitting up reading in his own room, where there were many traces of +blood, and was suddenly fallen upon and killed before his master. + +Everybody now knew that the gardener must be the murderer, and +though he has never been heard of from that day to this, he will +be, mark my words. The crime was committed this day two-and-twenty +years--on the nineteenth of March, one thousand seven hundred and +fifty-three. On the nineteenth of March in some year--no matter +when--I know it, I am sure of it, for we have always, in some +strange way or other, been brought back to the subject on that day +ever since--on the nineteenth of March in some year, sooner or +later, that man will be discovered.' + + + +Chapter 2 + + +'A strange story!' said the man who had been the cause of the +narration.--'Stranger still if it comes about as you predict. Is +that all?' + +A question so unexpected, nettled Solomon Daisy not a little. By +dint of relating the story very often, and ornamenting it +(according to village report) with a few flourishes suggested by +the various hearers from time to time, he had come by degrees to +tell it with great effect; and 'Is that all?' after the climax, was +not what he was accustomed to. + +'Is that all?' he repeated, 'yes, that's all, sir. And enough +too, I think.' + +'I think so too. My horse, young man! He is but a hack hired from +a roadside posting house, but he must carry me to London to- +night.' + +'To-night!' said Joe. + +'To-night,' returned the other. 'What do you stare at? This +tavern would seem to be a house of call for all the gaping idlers +of the neighbourhood!' + +At this remark, which evidently had reference to the scrutiny he +had undergone, as mentioned in the foregoing chapter, the eyes of +John Willet and his friends were diverted with marvellous rapidity +to the copper boiler again. Not so with Joe, who, being a +mettlesome fellow, returned the stranger's angry glance with a +steady look, and rejoined: + +'It is not a very bold thing to wonder at your going on to-night. +Surely you have been asked such a harmless question in an inn +before, and in better weather than this. I thought you mightn't +know the way, as you seem strange to this part.' + +'The way--' repeated the other, irritably. + +'Yes. DO you know it?' + +'I'll--humph!--I'll find it,' replied the nian, waving his hand and +turning on his heel. 'Landlord, take the reckoning here.' + +John Willet did as he was desired; for on that point he was seldom +slow, except in the particulars of giving change, and testing the +goodness of any piece of coin that was proffered to him, by the +application of his teeth or his tongue, or some other test, or in +doubtful cases, by a long series of tests terminating in its +rejection. The guest then wrapped his garments about him so as to +shelter himself as effectually as he could from the rough weather, +and without any word or sign of farewell betook himself to the +stableyard. Here Joe (who had left the room on the conclusion of +their short dialogue) was protecting himself and the horse from the +rain under the shelter of an old penthouse roof. + +'He's pretty much of my opinion,' said Joe, patting the horse upon +the neck. 'I'll wager that your stopping here to-night would +please him better than it would please me.' + +'He and I are of different opinions, as we have been more than once +on our way here,' was the short reply. + +'So I was thinking before you came out, for he has felt your spurs, +poor beast.' + +The stranger adjusted his coat-collar about his face, and made no +answer. + +'You'll know me again, I see,' he said, marking the young fellow's +earnest gaze, when he had sprung into the saddle. + +'The man's worth knowing, master, who travels a road he don't know, +mounted on a jaded horse, and leaves good quarters to do it on such +a night as this.' + +'You have sharp eyes and a sharp tongue, I find.' + +'Both I hope by nature, but the last grows rusty sometimes for +want of using.' + +'Use the first less too, and keep their sharpness for your +sweethearts, boy,' said the man. + +So saying he shook his hand from the bridle, struck him roughly on +the head with the butt end of his whip, and galloped away; dashing +through the mud and darkness with a headlong speed, which few badly +mounted horsemen would have cared to venture, even had they been +thoroughly acquainted with the country; and which, to one who knew +nothing of the way he rode, was attended at every step with great +hazard and danger. + +The roads, even within twelve miles of London, were at that time +ill paved, seldom repaired, and very badly made. The way this +rider traversed had been ploughed up by the wheels of heavy +waggons, and rendered rotten by the frosts and thaws of the +preceding winter, or possibly of many winters. Great holes and +gaps had been worn into the soil, which, being now filled with +water from the late rains, were not easily distinguishable even by +day; and a plunge into any one of them might have brought down a +surer-footed horse than the poor beast now urged forward to the +utmost extent of his powers. Sharp flints and stones rolled from +under his hoofs continually; the rider could scarcely see beyond +the animal's head, or farther on either side than his own arm +would have extended. At that time, too, all the roads in the +neighbourhood of the metropolis were infested by footpads or +highwaymen, and it was a night, of all others, in which any evil- +disposed person of this class might have pursued his unlawful +calling with little fear of detection. + +Still, the traveller dashed forward at the same reckless pace, +regardless alike of the dirt and wet which flew about his head, the +profound darkness of the night, and the probability of encountering +some desperate characters abroad. At every turn and angle, even +where a deviation from the direct course might have been least +expected, and could not possibly be seen until he was close upon +it, he guided the bridle with an unerring hand, and kept the middle +of the road. Thus he sped onward, raising himself in the stirrups, +leaning his body forward until it almost touched the horse's neck, +and flourishing his heavy whip above his head with the fervour of a +madman. + +There are times when, the elements being in unusual commotion, +those who are bent on daring enterprises, or agitated by great +thoughts, whether of good or evil, feel a mysterious sympathy with +the tumult of nature, and are roused into corresponding violence. +In the midst of thunder, lightning, and storm, many tremendous +deeds have been committed; men, self-possessed before, have given +a sudden loose to passions they could no longer control. The +demons of wrath and despair have striven to emulate those who ride +the whirlwind and direct the storm; and man, lashed into madness +with the roaring winds and boiling waters, has become for the time +as wild and merciless as the elements themselves. + +Whether the traveller was possessed by thoughts which the fury of +the night had heated and stimulated into a quicker current, or was +merely impelled by some strong motive to reach his journey's end, +on he swept more like a hunted phantom than a man, nor checked his +pace until, arriving at some cross roads, one of which led by a +longer route to the place whence he had lately started, he bore +down so suddenly upon a vehicle which was coming towards him, that +in the effort to avoid it he well-nigh pulled his horse upon his +haunches, and narrowly escaped being thrown. + +'Yoho!' cried the voice of a man. 'What's that? Who goes there?' + +'A friend!' replied the traveller. + +'A friend!' repeated the voice. 'Who calls himself a friend and +rides like that, abusing Heaven's gifts in the shape of horseflesh, +and endangering, not only his own neck (which might be no great +matter) but the necks of other people?' + +'You have a lantern there, I see,' said the traveller dismounting, +'lend it me for a moment. You have wounded my horse, I think, with +your shaft or wheel.' + +'Wounded him!' cried the other, 'if I haven't killed him, it's no +fault of yours. What do you mean by galloping along the king's +highway like that, eh?' + +'Give me the light,' returned the traveller, snatching it from his +hand, 'and don't ask idle questions of a man who is in no mood for +talking.' + +'If you had said you were in no mood for talking before, I should +perhaps have been in no mood for lighting,' said the voice. +'Hows'ever as it's the poor horse that's damaged and not you, one +of you is welcome to the light at all events--but it's not the +crusty one.' + +The traveller returned no answer to this speech, but holding the +light near to his panting and reeking beast, examined him in limb +and carcass. Meanwhile, the other man sat very composedly in his +vehicle, which was a kind of chaise with a depository for a large +bag of tools, and watched his proceedings with a careful eye. + +The looker-on was a round, red-faced, sturdy yeoman, with a double +chin, and a voice husky with good living, good sleeping, good +humour, and good health. He was past the prime of life, but Father +Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none +of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have +used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but +leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour. With +such people the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's +hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in +the quiet calendar of a well-spent life. + +The person whom the traveller had so abruptly encountered was of +this kind: bluff, hale, hearty, and in a green old age: at peace +with himself, and evidently disposed to be so with all the world. +Although muffled up in divers coats and handkerchiefs--one of +which, passed over his crown, and tied in a convenient crease of +his double chin, secured his three-cornered hat and bob-wig from +blowing off his head--there was no disguising his plump and +comfortable figure; neither did certain dirty finger-marks upon +his face give it any other than an odd and comical expression, +through which its natural good humour shone with undiminished +lustre. + +'He is not hurt,' said the traveller at length, raising his head +and the lantern together. + +'You have found that out at last, have you?' rejoined the old man. +'My eyes have seen more light than yours, but I wouldn't change +with you.' + +'What do you mean?' + +'Mean! I could have told you he wasn't hurt, five minutes ago. +Give me the light, friend; ride forward at a gentler pace; and good +night.' + +In handing up the lantern, the man necessarily cast its rays full +on the speaker's face. Their eyes met at the instant. He suddenly +dropped it and crushed it with his foot. + +'Did you never see a locksmith before, that you start as if you had +come upon a ghost?' cried the old man in the chaise, 'or is this,' +he added hastily, thrusting his hand into the tool basket and +drawing out a hammer, 'a scheme for robbing me? I know these +roads, friend. When I travel them, I carry nothing but a few +shillings, and not a crown's worth of them. I tell you plainly, to +save us both trouble, that there's nothing to be got from me but a +pretty stout arm considering my years, and this tool, which, mayhap +from long acquaintance with, I can use pretty briskly. You shall +not have it all your own way, I promise you, if you play at that +game. With these words he stood upon the defensive. + +'I am not what you take me for, Gabriel Varden,' replied the other. + +'Then what and who are you?' returned the locksmith. 'You know my +name, it seems. Let me know yours.' + +'I have not gained the information from any confidence of yours, +but from the inscription on your cart which tells it to all the +town,' replied the traveller. + +'You have better eyes for that than you had for your horse, then,' +said Varden, descending nimbly from his chaise; 'who are you? Let +me see your face.' + +While the locksmith alighted, the traveller had regained his +saddle, from which he now confronted the old man, who, moving as +the horse moved in chafing under the tightened rein, kept close +beside him. + +'Let me see your face, I say.' + +'Stand off!' + +'No masquerading tricks,' said the locksmith, 'and tales at the +club to-morrow, how Gabriel Varden was frightened by a surly voice +and a dark night. Stand--let me see your face.' + +Finding that further resistance would only involve him in a +personal struggle with an antagonist by no means to be despised, +the traveller threw back his coat, and stooping down looked +steadily at the locksmith. + +Perhaps two men more powerfully contrasted, never opposed each +other face to face. The ruddy features of the locksmith so set off +and heightened the excessive paleness of the man on horseback, that +he looked like a bloodless ghost, while the moisture, which hard +riding had brought out upon his skin, hung there in dark and heavy +drops, like dews of agony and death. The countenance of the old +locksmith lighted up with the smile of one expecting to detect in +this unpromising stranger some latent roguery of eye or lip, which +should reveal a familiar person in that arch disguise, and spoil +his jest. The face of the other, sullen and fierce, but shrinking +too, was that of a man who stood at bay; while his firmly closed +jaws, his puckered mouth, and more than all a certain stealthy +motion of the hand within his breast, seemed to announce a +desperate purpose very foreign to acting, or child's play. + +Thus they regarded each other for some time, in silence. + +'Humph!' he said when he had scanned his features; 'I don't know +you.' + +'Don't desire to?'--returned the other, muffling himself as before. + +'I don't,' said Gabriel; 'to be plain with you, friend, you don't +carry in your countenance a letter of recommendation.' + +'It's not my wish,' said the traveller. 'My humour is to be +avoided.' + +'Well,' said the locksmith bluntly, 'I think you'll have your +humour.' + +'I will, at any cost,' rejoined the traveller. 'In proof of it, +lay this to heart--that you were never in such peril of your life +as you have been within these few moments; when you are within +five minutes of breathing your last, you will not be nearer death +than you have been to-night!' + +'Aye!' said the sturdy locksmith. + +'Aye! and a violent death.' + +'From whose hand?' + +'From mine,' replied the traveller. + +With that he put spurs to his horse, and rode away; at first +plashing heavily through the mire at a smart trot, but gradually +increasing in speed until the last sound of his horse's hoofs died +away upon the wind; when he was again hurrying on at the same +furious gallop, which had been his pace when the locksmith first +encountered him. + +Gabriel Varden remained standing in the road with the broken +lantern in his hand, listening in stupefied silence until no sound +reached his ear but the moaning of the wind, and the fast-falling +rain; when he struck himself one or two smart blows in the breast +by way of rousing himself, and broke into an exclamation of +surprise. + +'What in the name of wonder can this fellow be! a madman? a +highwayman? a cut-throat? If he had not scoured off so fast, we'd +have seen who was in most danger, he or I. I never nearer death +than I have been to-night! I hope I may be no nearer to it for a +score of years to come--if so, I'll be content to be no farther +from it. My stars!--a pretty brag this to a stout man--pooh, +pooh!' + +Gabriel resumed his seat, and looked wistfully up the road by which +the traveller had come; murmuring in a half whisper: + +'The Maypole--two miles to the Maypole. I came the other road from +the Warren after a long day's work at locks and bells, on purpose +that I should not come by the Maypole and break my promise to +Martha by looking in--there's resolution! It would be dangerous to +go on to London without a light; and it's four miles, and a good +half mile besides, to the Halfway-House; and between this and that +is the very place where one needs a light most. Two miles to the +Maypole! I told Martha I wouldn't; I said I wouldn't, and I +didn't--there's resolution!' + +Repeating these two last words very often, as if to compensate for +the little resolution he was going to show by piquing himself on +the great resolution he had shown, Gabriel Varden quietly turned +back, determining to get a light at the Maypole, and to take +nothing but a light. + +When he got to the Maypole, however, and Joe, responding to his +well-known hail, came running out to the horse's head, leaving the +door open behind him, and disclosing a delicious perspective of +warmth and brightness--when the ruddy gleam of the fire, streaming +through the old red curtains of the common room, seemed to bring +with it, as part of itself, a pleasant hum of voices, and a +fragrant odour of steaming grog and rare tobacco, all steeped as +it were in the cheerful glow--when the shadows, flitting across the +curtain, showed that those inside had risen from their snug seats, +and were making room in the snuggest corner (how well he knew that +corner!) for the honest locksmith, and a broad glare, suddenly +streaming up, bespoke the goodness of the crackling log from which +a brilliant train of sparks was doubtless at that moment whirling +up the chimney in honour of his coming--when, superadded to these +enticements, there stole upon him from the distant kitchen a gentle +sound of frying, with a musical clatter of plates and dishes, and a +savoury smell that made even the boisterous wind a perfume--Gabriel +felt his firmness oozing rapidly away. He tried to look stoically +at the tavern, but his features would relax into a look of +fondness. He turned his head the other way, and the cold black +country seemed to frown him off, and drive him for a refuge into +its hospitable arms. + +'The merciful man, Joe,' said the locksmith, 'is merciful to his +beast. I'll get out for a little while.' + +And how natural it was to get out! And how unnatural it seemed for +a sober man to be plodding wearily along through miry roads, +encountering the rude buffets of the wind and pelting of the rain, +when there was a clean floor covered with crisp white sand, a well +swept hearth, a blazing fire, a table decorated with white cloth, +bright pewter flagons, and other tempting preparations for a well- +cooked meal--when there were these things, and company disposed to +make the most of them, all ready to his hand, and entreating him to +enjoyment! + + + +Chapter 3 + + +Such were the locksmith's thoughts when first seated in the snug +corner, and slowly recovering from a pleasant defect of vision-- +pleasant, because occasioned by the wind blowing in his eyes--which +made it a matter of sound policy and duty to himself, that he +should take refuge from the weather, and tempted him, for the same +reason, to aggravate a slight cough, and declare he felt but +poorly. Such were still his thoughts more than a full hour +afterwards, when, supper over, he still sat with shining jovial +face in the same warm nook, listening to the cricket-like chirrup +of little Solomon Daisy, and bearing no unimportant or slightly +respected part in the social gossip round the Maypole fire. + +'I wish he may be an honest man, that's all,' said Solomon, winding +up a variety of speculations relative to the stranger, concerning +whom Gabriel had compared notes with the company, and so raised a +grave discussion; 'I wish he may be an honest man.' + +'So we all do, I suppose, don't we?' observed the locksmith. + +'I don't,' said Joe. + +'No!' cried Gabriel. + +'No. He struck me with his whip, the coward, when he was mounted +and I afoot, and I should be better pleased that he turned out what +I think him.' + +'And what may that be, Joe?' + +'No good, Mr Varden. You may shake your head, father, but I say no +good, and will say no good, and I would say no good a hundred times +over, if that would bring him back to have the drubbing he +deserves.' + +'Hold your tongue, sir,' said John Willet. + +'I won't, father. It's all along of you that he ventured to do +what he did. Seeing me treated like a child, and put down like a +fool, HE plucks up a heart and has a fling at a fellow that he +thinks--and may well think too--hasn't a grain of spirit. But he's +mistaken, as I'll show him, and as I'll show all of you before +long.' + +'Does the boy know what he's a saying of!' cried the astonished +John Willet. + +'Father,' returned Joe, 'I know what I say and mean, well--better +than you do when you hear me. I can bear with you, but I cannot +bear the contempt that your treating me in the way you do, brings +upon me from others every day. Look at other young men of my age. +Have they no liberty, no will, no right to speak? Are they obliged +to sit mumchance, and to be ordered about till they are the +laughing-stock of young and old? I am a bye-word all over +Chigwell, and I say--and it's fairer my saying so now, than waiting +till you are dead, and I have got your money--I say, that before +long I shall be driven to break such bounds, and that when I do, it +won't be me that you'll have to blame, but your own self, and no +other.' + +John Willet was so amazed by the exasperation and boldness of his +hopeful son, that he sat as one bewildered, staring in a ludicrous +manner at the boiler, and endeavouring, but quite ineffectually, to +collect his tardy thoughts, and invent an answer. The guests, +scarcely less disturbed, were equally at a loss; and at length, +with a variety of muttered, half-expressed condolences, and pieces +of advice, rose to depart; being at the same time slightly muddled +with liquor. + +The honest locksmith alone addressed a few words of coherent and +sensible advice to both parties, urging John Willet to remember +that Joe was nearly arrived at man's estate, and should not be +ruled with too tight a hand, and exhorting Joe himself to bear with +his father's caprices, and rather endeavour to turn them aside by +temperate remonstrance than by ill-timed rebellion. This advice +was received as such advice usually is. On John Willet it made +almost as much impression as on the sign outside the door, while +Joe, who took it in the best part, avowed himself more obliged than +he could well express, but politely intimated his intention +nevertheless of taking his own course uninfluenced by anybody. + +'You have always been a very good friend to me, Mr Varden,' he +said, as they stood without, in the porch, and the locksmith was +equipping himself for his journey home; 'I take it very kind of +you to say all this, but the time's nearly come when the Maypole +and I must part company.' + +'Roving stones gather no moss, Joe,' said Gabriel. + +'Nor milestones much,' replied Joe. 'I'm little better than one +here, and see as much of the world.' + +'Then, what would you do, Joe?' pursued the locksmith, stroking +his chin reflectively. 'What could you be? Where could you go, +you see?' + +'I must trust to chance, Mr Varden.' + +'A bad thing to trust to, Joe. I don't like it. I always tell my +girl when we talk about a husband for her, never to trust to +chance, but to make sure beforehand that she has a good man and +true, and then chance will neither make her nor break her. What +are you fidgeting about there, Joe? Nothing gone in the harness, I +hope?' + +'No no,' said Joe--finding, however, something very engrossing to +do in the way of strapping and buckling--'Miss Dolly quite well?' + +'Hearty, thankye. She looks pretty enough to be well, and good +too.' + +'She's always both, sir'-- + +'So she is, thank God!' + +'I hope,' said Joe after some hesitation, 'that you won't tell this +story against me--this of my having been beat like the boy they'd +make of me--at all events, till I have met this man again and +settled the account. It'll be a better story then.' + +'Why who should I tell it to?' returned Gabriel. 'They know it +here, and I'm not likely to come across anybody else who would care +about it.' + +'That's true enough,' said the young fellow with a sigh. 'I quite +forgot that. Yes, that's true!' + +So saying, he raised his face, which was very red,--no doubt from +the exertion of strapping and buckling as aforesaid,--and giving +the reins to the old man, who had by this time taken his seat, +sighed again and bade him good night. + +'Good night!' cried Gabriel. 'Now think better of what we have +just been speaking of; and don't be rash, there's a good fellow! I +have an interest in you, and wouldn't have you cast yourself away. +Good night!' + +Returning his cheery farewell with cordial goodwill, Joe Willet +lingered until the sound of wheels ceased to vibrate in his ears, +and then, shaking his head mournfully, re-entered the house. + +Gabriel Varden went his way towards London, thinking of a great +many things, and most of all of flaming terms in which to relate +his adventure, and so account satisfactorily to Mrs Varden for +visiting the Maypole, despite certain solemn covenants between +himself and that lady. Thinking begets, not only thought, but +drowsiness occasionally, and the more the locksmith thought, the +more sleepy he became. + +A man may be very sober--or at least firmly set upon his legs on +that neutral ground which lies between the confines of perfect +sobriety and slight tipsiness--and yet feel a strong tendency to +mingle up present circumstances with others which have no manner of +connection with them; to confound all consideration of persons, +things, times, and places; and to jumble his disjointed thoughts +together in a kind of mental kaleidoscope, producing combinations +as unexpected as they are transitory. This was Gabriel Varden's +state, as, nodding in his dog sleep, and leaving his horse to +pursue a road with which he was well acquainted, he got over the +ground unconsciously, and drew nearer and nearer home. He had +roused himself once, when the horse stopped until the turnpike gate +was opened, and had cried a lusty 'good night!' to the toll- +keeper; but then he awoke out of a dream about picking a lock in +the stomach of the Great Mogul, and even when he did wake, mixed up +the turnpike man with his mother-in-law who had been dead twenty +years. It is not surprising, therefore, that he soon relapsed, and +jogged heavily along, quite insensible to his progress. + +And, now, he approached the great city, which lay outstretched +before him like a dark shadow on the ground, reddening the sluggish +air with a deep dull light, that told of labyrinths of public ways +and shops, and swarms of busy people. Approaching nearer and +nearer yet, this halo began to fade, and the causes which produced +it slowly to develop themselves. Long lines of poorly lighted +streets might be faintly traced, with here and there a lighter +spot, where lamps were clustered round a square or market, or round +some great building; after a time these grew more distinct, and the +lamps themselves were visible; slight yellow specks, that seemed to +be rapidly snuffed out, one by one, as intervening obstacles hid +them from the sight. Then, sounds arose--the striking of church +clocks, the distant bark of dogs, the hum of traffic in the +streets; then outlines might be traced--tall steeples looming in +the air, and piles of unequal roofs oppressed by chimneys; then, +the noise swelled into a louder sound, and forms grew more distinct +and numerous still, and London--visible in the darkness by its own +faint light, and not by that of Heaven--was at hand. + +The locksmith, however, all unconscious of its near vicinity, still +jogged on, half sleeping and half waking, when a loud cry at no +great distance ahead, roused him with a start. + +For a moment or two he looked about him like a man who had been +transported to some strange country in his sleep, but soon +recognising familiar objects, rubbed his eyes lazily and might have +relapsed again, but that the cry was repeated--not once or twice or +thrice, but many times, and each time, if possible, with increased +vehemence. Thoroughly aroused, Gabriel, who was a bold man and not +easily daunted, made straight to the spot, urging on his stout +little horse as if for life or death. + +The matter indeed looked sufficiently serious, for, coming to the +place whence the cries had proceeded, he descried the figure of a +man extended in an apparently lifeless state upon the pathway, +and, hovering round him, another person with a torch in his hand, +which he waved in the air with a wild impatience, redoubling +meanwhile those cries for help which had brought the locksmith to +the spot. + +'What's here to do?' said the old man, alighting. 'How's this-- +what--Barnaby?' + +The bearer of the torch shook his long loose hair back from his +eyes, and thrusting his face eagerly into that of the locksmith, +fixed upon him a look which told his history at once. + +'You know me, Barnaby?' said Varden. + +He nodded--not once or twice, but a score of times, and that with a +fantastic exaggeration which would have kept his head in motion for +an hour, but that the locksmith held up his finger, and fixing his +eye sternly upon him caused him to desist; then pointed to the body +with an inquiring look. + +'There's blood upon him,' said Barnaby with a shudder. 'It makes +me sick!' + +'How came it there?' demanded Varden. + +'Steel, steel, steel!' he replied fiercely, imitating with his hand +the thrust of a sword. + +'Is he robbed?' said the locksmith. + +Barnaby caught him by the arm, and nodded 'Yes;' then pointed +towards the city. + +'Oh!' said the old man, bending over the body and looking round as +he spoke into Barnaby's pale face, strangely lighted up by +something that was NOT intellect. 'The robber made off that way, +did he? Well, well, never mind that just now. Hold your torch +this way--a little farther off--so. Now stand quiet, while I try +to see what harm is done.' + +With these words, he applied himself to a closer examination of the +prostrate form, while Barnaby, holding the torch as he had been +directed, looked on in silence, fascinated by interest or +curiosity, but repelled nevertheless by some strong and secret +horror which convulsed him in every nerve. + +As he stood, at that moment, half shrinking back and half bending +forward, both his face and figure were full in the strong glare of +the link, and as distinctly revealed as though it had been broad +day. He was about three-and-twenty years old, and though rather +spare, of a fair height and strong make. His hair, of which he had +a great profusion, was red, and hanging in disorder about his face +and shoulders, gave to his restless looks an expression quite +unearthly--enhanced by the paleness of his complexion, and the +glassy lustre of his large protruding eyes. Startling as his +aspect was, the features were good, and there was something even +plaintive in his wan and haggard aspect. But, the absence of the +soul is far more terrible in a living man than in a dead one; and +in this unfortunate being its noblest powers were wanting. + +His dress was of green, clumsily trimmed here and there--apparently +by his own hands--with gaudy lace; brightest where the cloth was +most worn and soiled, and poorest where it was at the best. A pair +of tawdry ruffles dangled at his wrists, while his throat was +nearly bare. He had ornamented his hat with a cluster of peacock's +feathers, but they were limp and broken, and now trailed +negligently down his back. Girt to his side was the steel hilt of +an old sword without blade or scabbard; and some particoloured ends +of ribands and poor glass toys completed the ornamental portion of +his attire. The fluttered and confused disposition of all the +motley scraps that formed his dress, bespoke, in a scarcely less +degree than his eager and unsettled manner, the disorder of his +mind, and by a grotesque contrast set off and heightened the more +impressive wildness of his face. + +'Barnaby,' said the locksmith, after a hasty but careful +inspection, 'this man is not dead, but he has a wound in his side, +and is in a fainting-fit.' + +'I know him, I know him!' cried Barnaby, clapping his hands. + +'Know him?' repeated the locksmith. + +'Hush!' said Barnaby, laying his fingers upon his lips. 'He went +out to-day a wooing. I wouldn't for a light guinea that he should +never go a wooing again, for, if he did, some eyes would grow dim +that are now as bright as--see, when I talk of eyes, the stars come +out! Whose eyes are they? If they are angels' eyes, why do they +look down here and see good men hurt, and only wink and sparkle all +the night?' + +'Now Heaven help this silly fellow,' murmured the perplexed +locksmith; 'can he know this gentleman? His mother's house is not +far off; I had better see if she can tell me who he is. Barnaby, +my man, help me to put him in the chaise, and we'll ride home +together.' + +'I can't touch him!' cried the idiot falling back, and shuddering +as with a strong spasm; he's bloody!' + +'It's in his nature, I know,' muttered the locksmith, 'it's cruel +to ask him, but I must have help. Barnaby--good Barnaby--dear +Barnaby--if you know this gentleman, for the sake of his life and +everybody's life that loves him, help me to raise him and lay him +down.' + +'Cover him then, wrap him close--don't let me see it--smell it-- +hear the word. Don't speak the word--don't!' + +'No, no, I'll not. There, you see he's covered now. Gently. Well +done, well done!' + +They placed him in the carriage with great ease, for Barnaby was +strong and active, but all the time they were so occupied he +shivered from head to foot, and evidently experienced an ecstasy of +terror. + +This accomplished, and the wounded man being covered with Varden's +own greatcoat which he took off for the purpose, they proceeded +onward at a brisk pace: Barnaby gaily counting the stars upon his +fingers, and Gabriel inwardly congratulating himself upon having an +adventure now, which would silence Mrs Varden on the subject of the +Maypole, for that night, or there was no faith in woman. + + + +Chapter 4 + + +In the venerable suburb--it was a suburb once--of Clerkenwell, +towards that part of its confines which is nearest to the Charter +House, and in one of those cool, shady Streets, of which a few, +widely scattered and dispersed, yet remain in such old parts of the +metropolis,--each tenement quietly vegetating like an ancient +citizen who long ago retired from business, and dozing on in its +infirmity until in course of time it tumbles down, and is replaced +by some extravagant young heir, flaunting in stucco and ornamental +work, and all the vanities of modern days,--in this quarter, and in +a street of this description, the business of the present chapter +lies. + +At the time of which it treats, though only six-and-sixty years +ago, a very large part of what is London now had no existence. +Even in the brains of the wildest speculators, there had sprung up +no long rows of streets connecting Highgate with Whitechapel, no +assemblages of palaces in the swampy levels, nor little cities in +the open fields. Although this part of town was then, as now, +parcelled out in streets, and plentifully peopled, it wore a +different aspect. There were gardens to many of the houses, and +trees by the pavement side; with an air of freshness breathing up +and down, which in these days would be sought in vain. Fields were +nigh at hand, through which the New River took its winding course, +and where there was merry haymaking in the summer time. Nature was +not so far removed, or hard to get at, as in these days; and +although there were busy trades in Clerkenwell, and working +jewellers by scores, it was a purer place, with farm-houses nearer +to it than many modern Londoners would readily believe, and lovers' +walks at no great distance, which turned into squalid courts, long +before the lovers of this age were born, or, as the phrase goes, +thought of. + +In one of these streets, the cleanest of them all, and on the shady +side of the way--for good housewives know that sunlight damages +their cherished furniture, and so choose the shade rather than its +intrusive glare--there stood the house with which we have to deal. +It was a modest building, not very straight, not large, not tall; +not bold-faced, with great staring windows, but a shy, blinking +house, with a conical roof going up into a peak over its garret +window of four small panes of glass, like a cocked hat on the head +of an elderly gentleman with one eye. It was not built of brick or +lofty stone, but of wood and plaster; it was not planned with a +dull and wearisome regard to regularity, for no one window matched +the other, or seemed to have the slightest reference to anything +besides itself. + +The shop--for it had a shop--was, with reference to the first +floor, where shops usually are; and there all resemblance between +it and any other shop stopped short and ceased. People who went in +and out didn't go up a flight of steps to it, or walk easily in +upon a level with the street, but dived down three steep stairs, +as into a cellar. Its floor was paved with stone and brick, as +that of any other cellar might be; and in lieu of window framed and +glazed it had a great black wooden flap or shutter, nearly breast +high from the ground, which turned back in the day-time, admitting +as much cold air as light, and very often more. Behind this shop +was a wainscoted parlour, looking first into a paved yard, and +beyond that again into a little terrace garden, raised some feet +above it. Any stranger would have supposed that this wainscoted +parlour, saving for the door of communication by which he had +entered, was cut off and detached from all the world; and indeed +most strangers on their first entrance were observed to grow +extremely thoughtful, as weighing and pondering in their minds +whether the upper rooms were only approachable by ladders from +without; never suspecting that two of the most unassuming and +unlikely doors in existence, which the most ingenious mechanician +on earth must of necessity have supposed to be the doors of +closets, opened out of this room--each without the smallest +preparation, or so much as a quarter of an inch of passage--upon +two dark winding flights of stairs, the one upward, the other +downward, which were the sole means of communication between that +chamber and the other portions of the house. + +With all these oddities, there was not a neater, more scrupulously +tidy, or more punctiliously ordered house, in Clerkenwell, in +London, in all England. There were not cleaner windows, or whiter +floors, or brighter Stoves, or more highly shining articles of +furniture in old mahogany; there was not more rubbing, scrubbing, +burnishing and polishing, in the whole street put together. Nor +was this excellence attained without some cost and trouble and +great expenditure of voice, as the neighbours were frequently +reminded when the good lady of the house overlooked and assisted in +its being put to rights on cleaning days--which were usually from +Monday morning till Saturday night, both days inclusive. + +Leaning against the door-post of this, his dwelling, the locksmith +stood early on the morning after he had met with the wounded man, +gazing disconsolately at a great wooden emblem of a key, painted in +vivid yellow to resemble gold, which dangled from the house-front, +and swung to and fro with a mournful creaking noise, as if +complaining that it had nothing to unlock. Sometimes, he looked +over his shoulder into the shop, which was so dark and dingy with +numerous tokens of his trade, and so blackened by the smoke of a +little forge, near which his 'prentice was at work, that it would +have been difficult for one unused to such espials to have +distinguished anything but various tools of uncouth make and shape, +great bunches of rusty keys, fragments of iron, half-finished +locks, and such like things, which garnished the walls and hung in +clusters from the ceiling. + +After a long and patient contemplation of the golden key, and many +such backward glances, Gabriel stepped into the road, and stole a +look at the upper windows. One of them chanced to be thrown open +at the moment, and a roguish face met his; a face lighted up by the +loveliest pair of sparkling eyes that ever locksmith looked upon; +the face of a pretty, laughing, girl; dimpled and fresh, and +healthful--the very impersonation of good-humour and blooming +beauty. + +'Hush!' she whispered, bending forward and pointing archly to the +window underneath. 'Mother is still asleep.' + +'Still, my dear,' returned the locksmith in the same tone. 'You +talk as if she had been asleep all night, instead of little more +than half an hour. But I'm very thankful. Sleep's a blessing--no +doubt about it.' The last few words he muttered to himself. + +'How cruel of you to keep us up so late this morning, and never +tell us where you were, or send us word!' said the girl. + +'Ah Dolly, Dolly!' returned the locksmith, shaking his head, and +smiling, 'how cruel of you to run upstairs to bed! Come down to +breakfast, madcap, and come down lightly, or you'll wake your +mother. She must be tired, I am sure--I am.' + +Keeping these latter words to himself, and returning his +daughter's nod, he was passing into the workshop, with the smile +she had awakened still beaming on his face, when he just caught +sight of his 'prentice's brown paper cap ducking down to avoid +observation, and shrinking from the window back to its former +place, which the wearer no sooner reached than he began to hammer +lustily. + +'Listening again, Simon!' said Gabriel to himself. 'That's bad. +What in the name of wonder does he expect the girl to say, that I +always catch him listening when SHE speaks, and never at any other +time! A bad habit, Sim, a sneaking, underhanded way. Ah! you may +hammer, but you won't beat that out of me, if you work at it till +your time's up!' + +So saying, and shaking his head gravely, he re-entered the +workshop, and confronted the subject of these remarks. + +'There's enough of that just now,' said the locksmith. 'You +needn't make any more of that confounded clatter. Breakfast's +ready.' + +'Sir,' said Sim, looking up with amazing politeness, and a peculiar +little bow cut short off at the neck, 'I shall attend you +immediately.' + +'I suppose,' muttered Gabriel, 'that's out of the 'Prentice's +Garland or the 'Prentice's Delight, or the 'Prentice's Warbler, or +the Prentice's Guide to the Gallows, or some such improving +textbook. Now he's going to beautify himself--here's a precious +locksmith!' + +Quite unconscious that his master was looking on from the dark +corner by the parlour door, Sim threw off the paper cap, sprang +from his seat, and in two extraordinary steps, something between +skating and minuet dancing, bounded to a washing place at the other +end of the shop, and there removed from his face and hands all +traces of his previous work--practising the same step all the time +with the utmost gravity. This done, he drew from some concealed +place a little scrap of looking-glass, and with its assistance +arranged his hair, and ascertained the exact state of a little +carbuncle on his nose. Having now completed his toilet, he placed +the fragment of mirror on a low bench, and looked over his shoulder +at so much of his legs as could be reflected in that small compass, +with the greatest possible complacency and satisfaction. + +Sim, as he was called in the locksmith's family, or Mr Simon +Tappertit, as he called himself, and required all men to style him +out of doors, on holidays, and Sundays out,--was an old-fashioned, +thin-faced, sleek-haired, sharp-nosed, small-eyed little fellow, +very little more than five feet high, and thoroughly convinced in +his own mind that he was above the middle size; rather tall, in +fact, than otherwise. Of his figure, which was well enough formed, +though somewhat of the leanest, he entertained the highest +admiration; and with his legs, which, in knee-breeches, were +perfect curiosities of littleness, he was enraptured to a degree +amounting to enthusiasm. He also had some majestic, shadowy ideas, +which had never been quite fathomed by his intimate friends, +concerning the power of his eye. Indeed he had been known to go so +far as to boast that he could utterly quell and subdue the +haughtiest beauty by a simple process, which he termed 'eyeing her +over;' but it must be added, that neither of this faculty, nor of +the power he claimed to have, through the same gift, of vanquishing +and heaving down dumb animals, even in a rabid state, had he ever +furnished evidence which could be deemed quite satisfactory and +conclusive. + +It may be inferred from these premises, that in the small body of +Mr Tappertit there was locked up an ambitious and aspiring soul. +As certain liquors, confined in casks too cramped in their +dimensions, will ferment, and fret, and chafe in their +imprisonment, so the spiritual essence or soul of Mr Tappertit +would sometimes fume within that precious cask, his body, until, +with great foam and froth and splutter, it would force a vent, and +carry all before it. It was his custom to remark, in reference to +any one of these occasions, that his soul had got into his head; +and in this novel kind of intoxication many scrapes and mishaps +befell him, which he had frequently concealed with no small +difficulty from his worthy master. + +Sim Tappertit, among the other fancies upon which his before- +mentioned soul was for ever feasting and regaling itself (and which +fancies, like the liver of Prometheus, grew as they were fed +upon), had a mighty notion of his order; and had been heard by the +servant-maid openly expressing his regret that the 'prentices no +longer carried clubs wherewith to mace the citizens: that was his +strong expression. He was likewise reported to have said that in +former times a stigma had been cast upon the body by the execution +of George Barnwell, to which they should not have basely +submitted, but should have demanded him of the legislature-- +temperately at first; then by an appeal to arms, if necessary--to +be dealt with as they in their wisdom might think fit. These +thoughts always led him to consider what a glorious engine the +'prentices might yet become if they had but a master spirit at +their head; and then he would darkly, and to the terror of his +hearers, hint at certain reckless fellows that he knew of, and at a +certain Lion Heart ready to become their captain, who, once afoot, +would make the Lord Mayor tremble on his throne. + +In respect of dress and personal decoration, Sim Tappertit was no +less of an adventurous and enterprising character. He had been +seen, beyond dispute, to pull off ruffles of the finest quality at +the corner of the street on Sunday nights, and to put them +carefully in his pocket before returning home; and it was quite +notorious that on all great holiday occasions it was his habit to +exchange his plain steel knee-buckles for a pair of glittering +paste, under cover of a friendly post, planted most conveniently +in that same spot. Add to this that he was in years just twenty, +in his looks much older, and in conceit at least two hundred; that +he had no objection to be jested with, touching his admiration of +his master's daughter; and had even, when called upon at a certain +obscure tavern to pledge the lady whom he honoured with his love, +toasted, with many winks and leers, a fair creature whose Christian +name, he said, began with a D--;--and as much is known of Sim +Tappertit, who has by this time followed the locksmith in to +breakfast, as is necessary to be known in making his acquaintance. + +It was a substantial meal; for, over and above the ordinary tea +equipage, the board creaked beneath the weight of a jolly round of +beef, a ham of the first magnitude, and sundry towers of buttered +Yorkshire cake, piled slice upon slice in most alluring order. +There was also a goodly jug of well-browned clay, fashioned into +the form of an old gentleman, not by any means unlike the +locksmith, atop of whose bald head was a fine white froth answering +to his wig, indicative, beyond dispute, of sparkling home-brewed +ale. But, better far than fair home-brewed, or Yorkshire cake, or +ham, or beef, or anything to eat or drink that earth or air or +water can supply, there sat, presiding over all, the locksmith's +rosy daughter, before whose dark eyes even beef grew insignificant, +and malt became as nothing. + +Fathers should never kiss their daughters when young men are by. +It's too much. There are bounds to human endurance. So thought +Sim Tappertit when Gabriel drew those rosy lips to his--those lips +within Sim's reach from day to day, and yet so far off. He had a +respect for his master, but he wished the Yorkshire cake might +choke him. + +'Father,' said the locksmith's daughter, when this salute was over, +and they took their seats at table, 'what is this I hear about last +night?' + +'All true, my dear; true as the Gospel, Doll.' + +'Young Mr Chester robbed, and lying wounded in the road, when you +came up!' + +'Ay--Mr Edward. And beside him, Barnaby, calling for help with all +his might. It was well it happened as it did; for the road's a +lonely one, the hour was late, and, the night being cold, and poor +Barnaby even less sensible than usual from surprise and fright, the +young gentleman might have met his death in a very short time.' + +'I dread to think of it!' cried his daughter with a shudder. 'How +did you know him?' + +'Know him!' returned the locksmith. 'I didn't know him--how could +I? I had never seen him, often as I had heard and spoken of him. +I took him to Mrs Rudge's; and she no sooner saw him than the truth +came out.' + +'Miss Emma, father--If this news should reach her, enlarged upon as +it is sure to be, she will go distracted.' + +'Why, lookye there again, how a man suffers for being good- +natured,' said the locksmith. 'Miss Emma was with her uncle at the +masquerade at Carlisle House, where she had gone, as the people at +the Warren told me, sorely against her will. What does your +blockhead father when he and Mrs Rudge have laid their heads +together, but goes there when he ought to be abed, makes interest +with his friend the doorkeeper, slips him on a mask and domino, +and mixes with the masquers.' + +'And like himself to do so!' cried the girl, putting her fair arm +round his neck, and giving him a most enthusiastic kiss. + +'Like himself!' repeated Gabriel, affecting to grumble, but +evidently delighted with the part he had taken, and with her +praise. 'Very like himself--so your mother said. However, he +mingled with the crowd, and prettily worried and badgered he was, I +warrant you, with people squeaking, "Don't you know me?" and "I've +found you out," and all that kind of nonsense in his ears. He +might have wandered on till now, but in a little room there was a +young lady who had taken off her mask, on account of the place +being very warm, and was sitting there alone.' + +'And that was she?' said his daughter hastily. + +'And that was she,' replied the locksmith; 'and I no sooner +whispered to her what the matter was--as softly, Doll, and with +nearly as much art as you could have used yourself--than she gives +a kind of scream and faints away.' + +'What did you do--what happened next?' asked his daughter. 'Why, +the masks came flocking round, with a general noise and hubbub, and +I thought myself in luck to get clear off, that's all,' rejoined +the locksmith. 'What happened when I reached home you may guess, +if you didn't hear it. Ah! Well, it's a poor heart that never +rejoices.--Put Toby this way, my dear.' + +This Toby was the brown jug of which previous mention has been +made. Applying his lips to the worthy old gentleman's benevolent +forehead, the locksmith, who had all this time been ravaging among +the eatables, kept them there so long, at the same time raising the +vessel slowly in the air, that at length Toby stood on his head +upon his nose, when he smacked his lips, and set him on the table +again with fond reluctance. + +Although Sim Tappertit had taken no share in this conversation, no +part of it being addressed to him, he had not been wanting in such +silent manifestations of astonishment, as he deemed most compatible +with the favourable display of his eyes. Regarding the pause which +now ensued, as a particularly advantageous opportunity for doing +great execution with them upon the locksmith's daughter (who he had +no doubt was looking at him in mute admiration), he began to screw +and twist his face, and especially those features, into such +extraordinary, hideous, and unparalleled contortions, that Gabriel, +who happened to look towards him, was stricken with amazement. + +'Why, what the devil's the matter with the lad?' cried the +locksmith. 'Is he choking?' + +'Who?' demanded Sim, with some disdain. + +'Who? Why, you,' returned his master. 'What do you mean by making +those horrible faces over your breakfast?' + +'Faces are matters of taste, sir,' said Mr Tappertit, rather +discomfited; not the less so because he saw the locksmith's +daughter smiling. + +'Sim,' rejoined Gabriel, laughing heartily. 'Don't be a fool, for +I'd rather see you in your senses. These young fellows,' he added, +turning to his daughter, 'are always committing some folly or +another. There was a quarrel between Joe Willet and old John last +night though I can't say Joe was much in fault either. He'll be +missing one of these mornings, and will have gone away upon some +wild-goose errand, seeking his fortune.--Why, what's the matter, +Doll? YOU are making faces now. The girls are as bad as the boys +every bit!' + +'It's the tea,' said Dolly, turning alternately very red and very +white, which is no doubt the effect of a slight scald--'so very hot.' + +Mr Tappertit looked immensely big at a quartern loaf on the table, +and breathed hard. + +'Is that all?' returned the locksmith. 'Put some more milk in it.-- +Yes, I am sorry for Joe, because he is a likely young fellow, and +gains upon one every time one sees him. But he'll start off, +you'll find. Indeed he told me as much himself!' + +'Indeed!' cried Dolly in a faint voice. 'In-deed!' + +'Is the tea tickling your throat still, my dear?' said the +locksmith. + +But, before his daughter could make him any answer, she was taken +with a troublesome cough, and it was such a very unpleasant cough, +that, when she left off, the tears were starting in her bright +eyes. The good-natured locksmith was still patting her on the back +and applying such gentle restoratives, when a message arrived from +Mrs Varden, making known to all whom it might concern, that she +felt too much indisposed to rise after her great agitation and +anxiety of the previous night; and therefore desired to be +immediately accommodated with the little black teapot of strong +mixed tea, a couple of rounds of buttered toast, a middling-sized +dish of beef and ham cut thin, and the Protestant Manual in two +volumes post octavo. Like some other ladies who in remote ages +flourished upon this globe, Mrs Varden was most devout when most +ill-tempered. Whenever she and her husband were at unusual +variance, then the Protestant Manual was in high feather. + +Knowing from experience what these requests portended, the +triumvirate broke up; Dolly, to see the orders executed with all +despatch; Gabriel, to some out-of-door work in his little chaise; +and Sim, to his daily duty in the workshop, to which retreat he +carried the big look, although the loaf remained behind. + +Indeed the big look increased immensely, and when he had tied his +apron on, became quite gigantic. It was not until he had several +times walked up and down with folded arms, and the longest strides +be could take, and had kicked a great many small articles out of +his way, that his lip began to curl. At length, a gloomy derision +came upon his features, and he smiled; uttering meanwhile with +supreme contempt the monosyllable 'Joe!' + +'I eyed her over, while he talked about the fellow,' he said, 'and +that was of course the reason of her being confused. Joe!' + +He walked up and down again much quicker than before, and if +possible with longer strides; sometimes stopping to take a glance +at his legs, and sometimes to jerk out, and cast from him, another +'Joe!' In the course of a quarter of an hour or so he again +assumed the paper cap and tried to work. No. It could not be +done. + +'I'll do nothing to-day,' said Mr Tappertit, dashing it down again, +'but grind. I'll grind up all the tools. Grinding will suit my +present humour well. Joe!' + +Whirr-r-r-r. The grindstone was soon in motion; the sparks were +flying off in showers. This was the occupation for his heated +spirit. + +Whirr-r-r-r-r-r-r. + +'Something will come of this!' said Mr Tappertit, pausing as if in +triumph, and wiping his heated face upon his sleeve. 'Something +will come of this. I hope it mayn't be human gore!' + +Whirr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. + + + +Chapter 5 + + +As soon as the business of the day was over, the locksmith sallied +forth, alone, to visit the wounded gentleman and ascertain the +progress of his recovery. The house where he had left him was in a +by-street in Southwark, not far from London Bridge; and thither he +hied with all speed, bent upon returning with as little delay as +might be, and getting to bed betimes. + +The evening was boisterous--scarcely better than the previous night +had been. It was not easy for a stout man like Gabriel to keep his +legs at the street corners, or to make head against the high wind, +which often fairly got the better of him, and drove him back some +paces, or, in defiance of all his energy, forced him to take +shelter in an arch or doorway until the fury of the gust was spent. +Occasionally a hat or wig, or both, came spinning and trundling +past him, like a mad thing; while the more serious spectacle of +falling tiles and slates, or of masses of brick and mortar or +fragments of stone-coping rattling upon the pavement near at hand, +and splitting into fragments, did not increase the pleasure of the +journey, or make the way less dreary. + +'A trying night for a man like me to walk in!' said the locksmith, +as he knocked softly at the widow's door. 'I'd rather be in old +John's chimney-corner, faith!' + +'Who's there?' demanded a woman's voice from within. Being +answered, it added a hasty word of welcome, and the door was +quickly opened. + +She was about forty--perhaps two or three years older--with a +cheerful aspect, and a face that had once been pretty. It bore +traces of affliction and care, but they were of an old date, and +Time had smoothed them. Any one who had bestowed but a casual +glance on Barnaby might have known that this was his mother, from +the strong resemblance between them; but where in his face there +was wildness and vacancy, in hers there was the patient composure +of long effort and quiet resignation. + +One thing about this face was very strange and startling. You +could not look upon it in its most cheerful mood without feeling +that it had some extraordinary capacity of expressing terror. It +was not on the surface. It was in no one feature that it lingered. +You could not take the eyes or mouth, or lines upon the cheek, and +say, if this or that were otherwise, it would not be so. Yet there +it always lurked--something for ever dimly seen, but ever there, +and never absent for a moment. It was the faintest, palest shadow +of some look, to which an instant of intense and most unutterable +horror only could have given birth; but indistinct and feeble as it +was, it did suggest what that look must have been, and fixed it in +the mind as if it had had existence in a dream. + +More faintly imaged, and wanting force and purpose, as it were, +because of his darkened intellect, there was this same stamp upon +the son. Seen in a picture, it must have had some legend with it, +and would have haunted those who looked upon the canvas. They who +knew the Maypole story, and could remember what the widow was, +before her husband's and his master's murder, understood it well. +They recollected how the change had come, and could call to mind +that when her son was born, upon the very day the deed was known, +he bore upon his wrist what seemed a smear of blood but half washed +out. + +'God save you, neighbour!' said the locksmith, as he followed her, +with the air of an old friend, into a little parlour where a +cheerful fire was burning. + +'And you,' she answered smiling. 'Your kind heart has brought you +here again. Nothing will keep you at home, I know of old, if there +are friends to serve or comfort, out of doors.' + +'Tut, tut,' returned the locksmith, rubbing his hands and warming +them. 'You women are such talkers. What of the patient, +neighbour?' + +'He is sleeping now. He was very restless towards daylight, and +for some hours tossed and tumbled sadly. But the fever has left +him, and the doctor says he will soon mend. He must not be removed +until to-morrow.' + +'He has had visitors to-day--humph?' said Gabriel, slyly. + +'Yes. Old Mr Chester has been here ever since we sent for him, and +had not been gone many minutes when you knocked.' + +'No ladies?' said Gabriel, elevating his eyebrows and looking +disappointed. + +'A letter,' replied the widow. + +'Come. That's better than nothing!' replied the locksmith. 'Who +was the bearer?' + +'Barnaby, of course.' + +'Barnaby's a jewel!' said Varden; 'and comes and goes with ease +where we who think ourselves much wiser would make but a poor hand +of it. He is not out wandering, again, I hope?' + +'Thank Heaven he is in his bed; having been up all night, as you +know, and on his feet all day. He was quite tired out. Ah, +neighbour, if I could but see him oftener so--if I could but tame +down that terrible restlessness--' + +'In good time,' said the locksmith, kindly, 'in good time--don't be +down-hearted. To my mind he grows wiser every day.' + +The widow shook her head. And yet, though she knew the locksmith +sought to cheer her, and spoke from no conviction of his own, she +was glad to hear even this praise of her poor benighted son. + +'He will be a 'cute man yet,' resumed the locksmith. 'Take care, +when we are growing old and foolish, Barnaby doesn't put us to the +blush, that's all. But our other friend,' he added, looking under +the table and about the floor--'sharpest and cunningest of all the +sharp and cunning ones--where's he?' + +'In Barnaby's room,' rejoined the widow, with a faint smile. + +'Ah! He's a knowing blade!' said Varden, shaking his head. 'I +should be sorry to talk secrets before him. Oh! He's a deep +customer. I've no doubt he can read, and write, and cast accounts +if he chooses. What was that? Him tapping at the door?' + +'No,' returned the widow. 'It was in the street, I think. Hark! +Yes. There again! 'Tis some one knocking softly at the shutter. +Who can it be!' + +They had been speaking in a low tone, for the invalid lay overhead, +and the walls and ceilings being thin and poorly built, the sound +of their voices might otherwise have disturbed his slumber. The +party without, whoever it was, could have stood close to the +shutter without hearing anything spoken; and, seeing the light +through the chinks and finding all so quiet, might have been +persuaded that only one person was there. + +'Some thief or ruffian maybe,' said the locksmith. 'Give me the +light.' + +'No, no,' she returned hastily. 'Such visitors have never come to +this poor dwelling. Do you stay here. You're within call, at the +worst. I would rather go myself--alone.' + +'Why?' said the locksmith, unwillingly relinquishing the candle he +had caught up from the table. + +'Because--I don't know why--because the wish is so strong upon me,' +she rejoined. 'There again--do not detain me, I beg of you!' + +Gabriel looked at her, in great surprise to see one who was usually +so mild and quiet thus agitated, and with so little cause. She +left the room and closed the door behind her. She stood for a +moment as if hesitating, with her hand upon the lock. In this +short interval the knocking came again, and a voice close to the +window--a voice the locksmith seemed to recollect, and to have some +disagreeable association with--whispered 'Make haste.' + +The words were uttered in that low distinct voice which finds its +way so readily to sleepers' ears, and wakes them in a fright. For +a moment it startled even the locksmith; who involuntarily drew +back from the window, and listened. + +The wind rumbling in the chimney made it difficult to hear what +passed, but he could tell that the door was opened, that there was +the tread of a man upon the creaking boards, and then a moment's +silence--broken by a suppressed something which was not a shriek, +or groan, or cry for help, and yet might have been either or all +three; and the words 'My God!' uttered in a voice it chilled him to +hear. + +He rushed out upon the instant. There, at last, was that dreadful +look--the very one he seemed to know so well and yet had never seen +before--upon her face. There she stood, frozen to the ground, +gazing with starting eyes, and livid cheeks, and every feature +fixed and ghastly, upon the man he had encountered in the dark last +night. His eyes met those of the locksmith. It was but a flash, +an instant, a breath upon a polished glass, and he was gone. + +The locksmith was upon him--had the skirts of his streaming garment +almost in his grasp--when his arms were tightly clutched, and the +widow flung herself upon the ground before him. + +'The other way--the other way,' she cried. 'He went the other way. +Turn--turn!' + +'The other way! I see him now,' rejoined the locksmith, pointing-- +'yonder--there--there is his shadow passing by that light. What-- +who is this? Let me go.' + +'Come back, come back!' exclaimed the woman, clasping him; 'Do not +touch him on your life. I charge you, come back. He carries other +lives besides his own. Come back!' + +'What does this mean?' cried the locksmith. + +'No matter what it means, don't ask, don't speak, don't think about +it. He is not to be followed, checked, or stopped. Come back!' + +The old man looked at her in wonder, as she writhed and clung about +him; and, borne down by her passion, suffered her to drag him into +the house. It was not until she had chained and double-locked the +door, fastened every bolt and bar with the heat and fury of a +maniac, and drawn him back into the room, that she turned upon him, +once again, that stony look of horror, and, sinking down into a +chair, covered her face, and shuddered, as though the hand of death +were on her. + + + +Chapter 6 + + +Beyond all measure astonished by the strange occurrences which had +passed with so much violence and rapidity, the locksmith gazed upon +the shuddering figure in the chair like one half stupefied, and +would have gazed much longer, had not his tongue been loosened by +compassion and humanity. + +'You are ill,' said Gabriel. 'Let me call some neighbour in.' + +'Not for the world,' she rejoined, motioning to him with her +trembling hand, and holding her face averted. 'It is enough that +you have been by, to see this.' + +'Nay, more than enough--or less,' said Gabriel. + +'Be it so,' she returned. 'As you like. Ask me no questions, I +entreat you.' + +'Neighbour,' said the locksmith, after a pause. 'Is this fair, or +reasonable, or just to yourself? Is it like you, who have known me +so long and sought my advice in all matters--like you, who from a +girl have had a strong mind and a staunch heart?' + +'I have need of them,' she replied. 'I am growing old, both in +years and care. Perhaps that, and too much trial, have made them +weaker than they used to be. Do not speak to me.' + +'How can I see what I have seen, and hold my peace!' returned the +locksmith. 'Who was that man, and why has his coming made this +change in you?' + +She was silent, but held to the chair as though to save herself +from falling on the ground. + +'I take the licence of an old acquaintance, Mary,' said the +locksmith, 'who has ever had a warm regard for you, and maybe has +tried to prove it when he could. Who is this ill-favoured man, and +what has he to do with you? Who is this ghost, that is only seen +in the black nights and bad weather? How does he know, and why +does he haunt, this house, whispering through chinks and crevices, +as if there was that between him and you, which neither durst so +much as speak aloud of? Who is he?' + +'You do well to say he haunts this house,' returned the widow, +faintly. 'His shadow has been upon it and me, in light and +darkness, at noonday and midnight. And now, at last, he has come +in the body!' + +'But he wouldn't have gone in the body,' returned the locksmith +with some irritation, 'if you had left my arms and legs at liberty. +What riddle is this?' + +'It is one,' she answered, rising as she spoke, 'that must remain +for ever as it is. I dare not say more than that.' + +'Dare not!' repeated the wondering locksmith. + +'Do not press me,' she replied. 'I am sick and faint, and every +faculty of life seems dead within me.--No!--Do not touch me, +either.' + +Gabriel, who had stepped forward to render her assistance, fell +back as she made this hasty exclamation, and regarded her in silent +wonder. + +'Let me go my way alone,' she said in a low voice, 'and let the +hands of no honest man touch mine to-night.' When she had +tottered to the door, she turned, and added with a stronger effort, +'This is a secret, which, of necessity, I trust to you. You are a +true man. As you have ever been good and kind to me,--keep it. If +any noise was heard above, make some excuse--say anything but what +you really saw, and never let a word or look between us, recall +this circumstance. I trust to you. Mind, I trust to you. How +much I trust, you never can conceive.' + +Casting her eyes upon him for an instant, she withdrew, and left +him there alone. + +Gabriel, not knowing what to think, stood staring at the door with +a countenance full of surprise and dismay. The more he pondered on +what had passed, the less able he was to give it any favourable +interpretation. To find this widow woman, whose life for so many +years had been supposed to be one of solitude and retirement, and +who, in her quiet suffering character, had gained the good opinion +and respect of all who knew her--to find her linked mysteriously +with an ill-omened man, alarmed at his appearance, and yet +favouring his escape, was a discovery that pained as much as +startled him. Her reliance on his secrecy, and his tacit +acquiescence, increased his distress of mind. If he had spoken +boldly, persisted in questioning her, detained her when she rose to +leave the room, made any kind of protest, instead of silently +compromising himself, as he felt he had done, he would have been +more at ease. + +'Why did I let her say it was a secret, and she trusted it to me!' +said Gabriel, putting his wig on one side to scratch his head with +greater ease, and looking ruefully at the fire. 'I have no more +readiness than old John himself. Why didn't I say firmly, "You +have no right to such secrets, and I demand of you to tell me what +this means," instead of standing gaping at her, like an old moon- +calf as I am! But there's my weakness. I can be obstinate enough +with men if need be, but women may twist me round their fingers at +their pleasure.' + +He took his wig off outright as he made this reflection, and, +warming his handkerchief at the fire began to rub and polish his +bald head with it, until it glistened again. + +'And yet,' said the locksmith, softening under this soothing +process, and stopping to smile, 'it MAY be nothing. Any drunken +brawler trying to make his way into the house, would have alarmed a +quiet soul like her. But then'--and here was the vexation--'how +came it to be that man; how comes he to have this influence over +her; how came she to favour his getting away from me; and, more +than all, how came she not to say it was a sudden fright, and +nothing more? It's a sad thing to have, in one minute, reason to +mistrust a person I have known so long, and an old sweetheart into +the bargain; but what else can I do, with all this upon my mind!-- +Is that Barnaby outside there?' + +'Ay!' he cried, looking in and nodding. 'Sure enough it's +Barnaby--how did you guess?' + +'By your shadow,' said the locksmith. + +'Oho!' cried Barnaby, glancing over his shoulder, 'He's a merry +fellow, that shadow, and keeps close to me, though I AM silly. We +have such pranks, such walks, such runs, such gambols on the grass! +Sometimes he'll be half as tall as a church steeple, and sometimes +no bigger than a dwarf. Now, he goes on before, and now behind, +and anon he'll be stealing on, on this side, or on that, stopping +whenever I stop, and thinking I can't see him, though I have my eye +on him sharp enough. Oh! he's a merry fellow. Tell me--is he +silly too? I think he is.' + +'Why?' asked Gabriel. + +'Because be never tires of mocking me, but does it all day long.-- +Why don't you come?' + +'Where?' + +'Upstairs. He wants you. Stay--where's HIS shadow? Come. You're +a wise man; tell me that.' + +'Beside him, Barnaby; beside him, I suppose,' returned the locksmith. + +'No!' he replied, shaking his head. 'Guess again.' + +'Gone out a walking, maybe?' + +'He has changed shadows with a woman,' the idiot whispered in his +ear, and then fell back with a look of triumph. 'Her shadow's +always with him, and his with her. That's sport I think, eh?' + +'Barnaby,' said the locksmith, with a grave look; 'come hither, +lad.' + +'I know what you want to say. I know!' he replied, keeping away +from him. 'But I'm cunning, I'm silent. I only say so much to +you--are you ready?' As he spoke, he caught up the light, and +waved it with a wild laugh above his head. + +'Softly--gently,' said the locksmith, exerting all his influence to +keep him calm and quiet. 'I thought you had been asleep.' + +'So I HAVE been asleep,' he rejoined, with widely-opened eyes. +'There have been great faces coming and going--close to my face, +and then a mile away--low places to creep through, whether I would +or no--high churches to fall down from--strange creatures crowded +up together neck and heels, to sit upon the bed--that's sleep, eh?' + +'Dreams, Barnaby, dreams,' said the locksmith. + +'Dreams!' he echoed softly, drawing closer to him. 'Those are not +dreams.' + +'What are,' replied the locksmith, 'if they are not?' + +'I dreamed,' said Barnaby, passing his arm through Varden's, and +peering close into his face as he answered in a whisper, 'I dreamed +just now that something--it was in the shape of a man--followed me-- +came softly after me--wouldn't let me be--but was always hiding +and crouching, like a cat in dark corners, waiting till I should +pass; when it crept out and came softly after me.--Did you ever see +me run?' + +'Many a time, you know.' + +'You never saw me run as I did in this dream. Still it came +creeping on to worry me. Nearer, nearer, nearer--I ran faster-- +leaped--sprung out of bed, and to the window--and there, in the +street below--but he is waiting for us. Are you coming?' + +'What in the street below, Barnaby?' said Varden, imagining that he +traced some connection between this vision and what had actually +occurred. + +Barnaby looked into his face, muttered incoherently, waved the +light above his head again, laughed, and drawing the locksmith's +arm more tightly through his own, led him up the stairs in silence. + +They entered a homely bedchamber, garnished in a scanty way with +chairs, whose spindle-shanks bespoke their age, and other furniture +of very little worth; but clean and neatly kept. Reclining in an +easy-chair before the fire, pale and weak from waste of blood, was +Edward Chester, the young gentleman who had been the first to quit +the Maypole on the previous night, and who, extending his hand to +the locksmith, welcomed him as his preserver and friend. + +'Say no more, sir, say no more,' said Gabriel. 'I hope I would +have done at least as much for any man in such a strait, and most +of all for you, sir. A certain young lady,' he added, with some +hesitation, 'has done us many a kind turn, and we naturally feel--I +hope I give you no offence in saying this, sir?' + +The young man smiled and shook his head; at the same time moving in +his chair as if in pain. + +'It's no great matter,' he said, in answer to the locksmith's +sympathising look, 'a mere uneasiness arising at least as much from +being cooped up here, as from the slight wound I have, or from the +loss of blood. Be seated, Mr Varden.' + +'If I may make so bold, Mr Edward, as to lean upon your chair,' +returned the locksmith, accommodating his action to his speech, and +bending over him, 'I'll stand here for the convenience of speaking +low. Barnaby is not in his quietest humour to-night, and at such +times talking never does him good.' + +They both glanced at the subject of this remark, who had taken a +seat on the other side of the fire, and, smiling vacantly, was +making puzzles on his fingers with a skein of string. + +'Pray, tell me, sir,' said Varden, dropping his voice still lower, +'exactly what happened last night. I have my reason for inquiring. +You left the Maypole, alone?' + +'And walked homeward alone, until I had nearly reached the place +where you found me, when I heard the gallop of a horse.' + +'Behind you?' said the locksmith. + +'Indeed, yes--behind me. It was a single rider, who soon overtook +me, and checking his horse, inquired the way to London.' + +'You were on the alert, sir, knowing how many highwaymen there are, +scouring the roads in all directions?' said Varden. + +'I was, but I had only a stick, having imprudently left my pistols +in their holster-case with the landlord's son. I directed him as +he desired. Before the words had passed my lips, he rode upon me +furiously, as if bent on trampling me down beneath his horse's +hoofs. In starting aside, I slipped and fell. You found me with +this stab and an ugly bruise or two, and without my purse--in which +he found little enough for his pains. And now, Mr Varden,' he +added, shaking the locksmith by the hand, 'saving the extent of my +gratitude to you, you know as much as I.' + +'Except,' said Gabriel, bending down yet more, and looking +cautiously towards their silent neighhour, 'except in respect of +the robber himself. What like was he, sir? Speak low, if you +please. Barnaby means no harm, but I have watched him oftener than +you, and I know, little as you would think it, that he's listening +now.' + +It required a strong confidence in the locksmith's veracity to +lead any one to this belief, for every sense and faculty that +Barnahy possessed, seemed to be fixed upon his game, to the +exclusion of all other things. Something in the young man's face +expressed this opinion, for Gabriel repeated what he had just said, +more earnestly than before, and with another glance towards +Barnaby, again asked what like the man was. + +'The night was so dark,' said Edward, 'the attack so sudden, and +he so wrapped and muffled up, that I can hardly say. It seems +that--' + +'Don't mention his name, sir,' returned the locksmith, following +his look towards Barnaby; 'I know HE saw him. I want to know what +YOU saw.' + +'All I remember is,' said Edward, 'that as he checked his horse his +hat was blown off. He caught it, and replaced it on his head, +which I observed was bound with a dark handkerchief. A stranger +entered the Maypole while I was there, whom I had not seen--for I +had sat apart for reasons of my own--and when I rose to leave the +room and glanced round, he was in the shadow of the chimney and +hidden from my sight. But, if he and the robber were two different +persons, their voices were strangely and most remarkably alike; for +directly the man addressed me in the road, I recognised his speech +again.' + +'It is as I feared. The very man was here to-night,' thought the +locksmith, changing colour. 'What dark history is this!' + +'Halloa!' cried a hoarse voice in his ear. 'Halloa, halloa, +halloa! Bow wow wow. What's the matter here! Hal-loa!' + +The speaker--who made the locksmith start as if he had been some +supernatural agent--was a large raven, who had perched upon the top +of the easy-chair, unseen by him and Edward, and listened with a +polite attention and a most extraordinary appearance of +comprehending every word, to all they had said up to this point; +turning his head from one to the other, as if his office were to +judge between them, and it were of the very last importance that he +should not lose a word. + +'Look at him!' said Varden, divided between admiration of the bird +and a kind of fear of him. 'Was there ever such a knowing imp as +that! Oh he's a dreadful fellow!' + +The raven, with his head very much on one side, and his bright eye +shining like a diamond, preserved a thoughtful silence for a few +seconds, and then replied in a voice so hoarse and distant, that it +seemed to come through his thick feathers rather than out of his +mouth. + +'Halloa, halloa, halloa! What's the matter here! Keep up your +spirits. Never say die. Bow wow wow. I'm a devil, I'm a devil, +I'm a devil. Hurrah!'--And then, as if exulting in his infernal +character, he began to whistle. + +'I more than half believe he speaks the truth. Upon my word I do,' +said Varden. 'Do you see how he looks at me, as if he knew what I +was saying?' + +To which the bird, balancing himself on tiptoe, as it were, and +moving his body up and down in a sort of grave dance, rejoined, +'I'm a devil, I'm a devil, I'm a devil,' and flapped his wings +against his sides as if he were bursting with laughter. Barnaby +clapped his hands, and fairly rolled upon the ground in an ecstasy +of delight. + +'Strange companions, sir,' said the locksmith, shaking his head, +and looking from one to the other. 'The bird has all the wit.' + +'Strange indeed!' said Edward, holding out his forefinger to the +raven, who, in acknowledgment of the attention, made a dive at it +immediately with his iron bill. 'Is he old?' + +'A mere boy, sir,' replied the locksmith. 'A hundred and twenty, +or thereabouts. Call him down, Barnaby, my man.' + +'Call him!' echoed Barnaby, sitting upright upon the floor, and +staring vacantly at Gabriel, as he thrust his hair back from his +face. 'But who can make him come! He calls me, and makes me go +where he will. He goes on before, and I follow. He's the master, +and I'm the man. Is that the truth, Grip?' + +The raven gave a short, comfortable, confidential kind of croak;--a +most expressive croak, which seemed to say, 'You needn't let these +fellows into our secrets. We understand each other. It's all +right.' + +'I make HIM come?' cried Barnaby, pointing to the bird. 'Him, who +never goes to sleep, or so much as winks!--Why, any time of night, +you may see his eyes in my dark room, shining like two sparks. And +every night, and all night too, he's broad awake, talking to +himself, thinking what he shall do to-morrow, where we shall go, +and what he shall steal, and hide, and bury. I make HIM come! +Ha ha ha!' + +On second thoughts, the bird appeared disposed to come of himself. +After a short survey of the ground, and a few sidelong looks at the +ceiling and at everybody present in turn, he fluttered to the +floor, and went to Barnaby--not in a hop, or walk, or run, but in a +pace like that of a very particular gentleman with exceedingly +tight boots on, trying to walk fast over loose pebbles. Then, +stepping into his extended hand, and condescending to be held out +at arm's length, he gave vent to a succession of sounds, not unlike +the drawing of some eight or ten dozen of long corks, and again +asserted his brimstone birth and parentage with great distinctness. + +The locksmith shook his head--perhaps in some doubt of the +creature's being really nothing but a bird--perhaps in pity for +Bamaby, who by this time had him in his arms, and was rolling +about, with him, on the ground. As he raised his eyes from the +poor fellow he encountered those of his mother, who had entered the +room, and was looking on in silence. + +She was quite white in the face, even to her lips, but had wholly +subdued her emotion, and wore her usual quiet look. Varden fancied +as he glanced at her that she shrunk from his eye; and that she +busied herself about the wounded gentleman to avoid him the better. + +It was time he went to bed, she said. He was to be removed to his +own home on the morrow, and he had already exceeded his time for +sitting up, by a full hour. Acting on this hint, the locksmith +prepared to take his leave. + +'By the bye,' said Edward, as he shook him by the hand, and looked +from him to Mrs Rudge and back again, 'what noise was that below? +I heard your voice in the midst of it, and should have inquired +before, but our other conversation drove it from my memory. What +was it?' + +The locksmith looked towards her, and bit his lip. She leant +against the chair, and bent her eyes upon the ground. Barnaby too-- +he was listening. + +--'Some mad or drunken fellow, sir,' Varden at length made answer, +looking steadily at the widow as he spoke. 'He mistook the house, +and tried to force an entrance.' + +She breathed more freely, but stood quite motionless. As the +locksmith said 'Good night,' and Barnaby caught up the candle to +light him down the stairs, she took it from him, and charged him-- +with more haste and earnestness than so slight an occasion appeared +to warrant--not to stir. The raven followed them to satisfy +himself that all was right below, and when they reached the street- +door, stood on the bottom stair drawing corks out of number. + +With a trembling hand she unfastened the chain and bolts, and +turned the key. As she had her hand upon the latch, the locksmith +said in a low voice, + +'I have told a lie to-night, for your sake, Mary, and for the sake +of bygone times and old acquaintance, when I would scorn to do so +for my own. I hope I may have done no harm, or led to none. I +can't help the suspicions you have forced upon me, and I am loth, I +tell you plainly, to leave Mr Edward here. Take care he comes to +no hurt. I doubt the safety of this roof, and am glad he leaves it +so soon. Now, let me go.' + +For a moment she hid her face in her hands and wept; but resisting +the strong impulse which evidently moved her to reply, opened the +door--no wider than was sufficient for the passage of his body-- +and motioned him away. As the locksmith stood upon the step, it +was chained and locked behind him, and the raven, in furtherance of +these precautions, barked like a lusty house-dog. + +'In league with that ill-looking figure that might have fallen from +a gibbet--he listening and hiding here--Barnaby first upon the spot +last night--can she who has always borne so fair a name be guilty +of such crimes in secret!' said the locksmith, musing. 'Heaven +forgive me if I am wrong, and send me just thoughts; but she is +poor, the temptation may be great, and we daily hear of things as +strange.--Ay, bark away, my friend. If there's any wickedness +going on, that raven's in it, I'll be sworn.' + + + +Chapter 7 + + +Mrs Varden was a lady of what is commonly called an uncertain +temper--a phrase which being interpreted signifies a temper +tolerably certain to make everybody more or less uncomfortable. +Thus it generally happened, that when other people were merry, Mrs +Varden was dull; and that when other people were dull, Mrs Varden +was disposed to be amazingly cheerful. Indeed the worthy housewife +was of such a capricious nature, that she not only attained a +higher pitch of genius than Macbeth, in respect of her ability to +be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, loyal and neutral in an +instant, but would sometimes ring the changes backwards and +forwards on all possible moods and flights in one short quarter of +an hour; performing, as it were, a kind of triple bob major on the +peal of instruments in the female belfry, with a skilfulness and +rapidity of execution that astonished all who heard her. + +It had been observed in this good lady (who did not want for +personal attractions, being plump and buxom to look at, though like +her fair daughter, somewhat short in stature) that this +uncertainty of disposition strengthened and increased with her +temporal prosperity; and divers wise men and matrons, on friendly +terms with the locksmith and his family, even went so far as to +assert, that a tumble down some half-dozen rounds in the world's +ladder--such as the breaking of the bank in which her husband kept +his money, or some little fall of that kind--would be the making +of her, and could hardly fail to render her one of the most +agreeable companions in existence. Whether they were right or +wrong in this conjecture, certain it is that minds, like bodies, +will often fall into a pimpled ill-conditioned state from mere +excess of comfort, and like them, are often successfully cured by +remedies in themselves very nauseous and unpalatable. + +Mrs Varden's chief aider and abettor, and at the same time her +principal victim and object of wrath, was her single domestic +servant, one Miss Miggs; or as she was called, in conformity with +those prejudices of society which lop and top from poor hand- +maidens all such genteel excrescences--Miggs. This Miggs was a +tall young lady, very much addicted to pattens in private life; +slender and shrewish, of a rather uncomfortable figure, and though +not absolutely ill-looking, of a sharp and acid visage. As a +general principle and abstract proposition, Miggs held the male sex +to be utterly contemptible and unworthy of notice; to be fickle, +false, base, sottish, inclined to perjury, and wholly undeserving. +When particularly exasperated against them (which, scandal said, +was when Sim Tappertit slighted her most) she was accustomed to +wish with great emphasis that the whole race of women could but die +off, in order that the men might be brought to know the real value +of the blessings by which they set so little store; nay, her +feeling for her order ran so high, that she sometimes declared, if +she could only have good security for a fair, round number--say ten +thousand--of young virgins following her example, she would, to +spite mankind, hang, drown, stab, or poison herself, with a joy +past all expression. + +It was the voice of Miggs that greeted the locksmith, when he +knocked at his own house, with a shrill cry of 'Who's there?' + +'Me, girl, me,' returned Gabriel. + +What, already, sir!' said Miggs, opening the door with a look of +surprise. 'We were just getting on our nightcaps to sit up,--me +and mistress. Oh, she has been SO bad!' + +Miggs said this with an air of uncommon candour and concern; but +the parlour-door was standing open, and as Gabriel very well knew +for whose ears it was designed, he regarded her with anything but +an approving look as he passed in. + +'Master's come home, mim,' cried Miggs, running before him into the +parlour. 'You was wrong, mim, and I was right. I thought he +wouldn't keep us up so late, two nights running, mim. Master's +always considerate so far. I'm so glad, mim, on your account. I'm +a little'--here Miggs simpered--'a little sleepy myself; I'll own +it now, mim, though I said I wasn't when you asked me. It ain't of +no consequence, mim, of course.' + +'You had better,' said the locksmith, who most devoutly wished that +Barnaby's raven was at Miggs's ankles, 'you had better get to bed +at once then.' + +'Thanking you kindly, sir,' returned Miggs, 'I couldn't take my +rest in peace, nor fix my thoughts upon my prayers, otherways than +that I knew mistress was comfortable in her bed this night; by +rights she ought to have been there, hours ago.' + +'You're talkative, mistress,' said Varden, pulling off his +greatcoat, and looking at her askew. + +'Taking the hint, sir,' cried Miggs, with a flushed face, 'and +thanking you for it most kindly, I will make bold to say, that if I +give offence by having consideration for my mistress, I do not ask +your pardon, but am content to get myself into trouble and to be in +suffering.' + +Here Mrs Varden, who, with her countenance shrouded in a large +nightcap, had been all this time intent upon the Protestant Manual, +looked round, and acknowledged Miggs's championship by commanding +her to hold her tongue. + +Every little bone in Miggs's throat and neck developed itself with +a spitefulness quite alarming, as she replied, 'Yes, mim, I will.' + +'How do you find yourself now, my dear?' said the locksmith, +taking a chair near his wife (who had resumed her book), and +rubbing his knees hard as he made the inquiry. + +'You're very anxious to know, an't you?' returned Mrs Varden, with +her eyes upon the print. 'You, that have not been near me all day, +and wouldn't have been if I was dying!' + +'My dear Martha--' said Gabriel. + +Mrs Varden turned over to the next page; then went back again to +the bottom line over leaf to be quite sure of the last words; and +then went on reading with an appearance of the deepest interest and +study. + +'My dear Martha,' said the locksmith, 'how can you say such things, +when you know you don't mean them? If you were dying! Why, if +there was anything serious the matter with you, Martha, shouldn't I +be in constant attendance upon you?' + +'Yes!' cried Mrs Varden, bursting into tears, 'yes, you would. I +don't doubt it, Varden. Certainly you would. That's as much as to +tell me that you would be hovering round me like a vulture, waiting +till the breath was out of my body, that you might go and marry +somebody else.' + +Miggs groaned in sympathy--a little short groan, checked in its +birth, and changed into a cough. It seemed to say, 'I can't help +it. It's wrung from me by the dreadful brutality of that monster +master.' + +'But you'll break my heart one of these days,' added Mrs Varden, +with more resignation, 'and then we shall both be happy. My only +desire is to see Dolly comfortably settled, and when she is, you +may settle ME as soon as you like.' + +'Ah!' cried Miggs--and coughed again. + +Poor Gabriel twisted his wig about in silence for a long time, and +then said mildly, 'Has Dolly gone to bed?' + +'Your master speaks to you,' said Mrs Varden, looking sternly over +her shoulder at Miss Miggs in waiting. + +'No, my dear, I spoke to you,' suggested the locksmith. + +'Did you hear me, Miggs?' cried the obdurate lady, stamping her +foot upon the ground. 'YOU are beginning to despise me now, are +you? But this is example!' + +At this cruel rebuke, Miggs, whose tears were always ready, for +large or small parties, on the shortest notice and the most +reasonable terms, fell a crying violently; holding both her hands +tight upon her heart meanwhile, as if nothing less would prevent +its splitting into small fragments. Mrs Varden, who likewise +possessed that faculty in high perfection, wept too, against Miggs; +and with such effect that Miggs gave in after a time, and, except +for an occasional sob, which seemed to threaten some remote +intention of breaking out again, left her mistress in possession of +the field. Her superiority being thoroughly asserted, that lady +soon desisted likewise, and fell into a quiet melancholy. + +The relief was so great, and the fatiguing occurrences of last +night so completely overpowered the locksmith, that he nodded in +his chair, and would doubtless have slept there all night, but for +the voice of Mrs Varden, which, after a pause of some five minutes, +awoke him with a start. + +'If I am ever,' said Mrs V.--not scolding, but in a sort of +monotonous remonstrance--'in spirits, if I am ever cheerful, if I +am ever more than usually disposed to be talkative and comfortable, +this is the way I am treated.' + +'Such spirits as you was in too, mim, but half an hour ago!' cried +Miggs. 'I never see such company!' + +'Because,' said Mrs Varden, 'because I never interfere or +interrupt; because I never question where anybody comes or goes; +because my whole mind and soul is bent on saving where I can save, +and labouring in this house;--therefore, they try me as they do.' + +'Martha,' urged the locksmith, endeavouring to look as wakeful as +possible, 'what is it you complain of? I really came home with +every wish and desire to be happy. I did, indeed.' + +'What do I complain of!' retorted his wife. 'Is it a chilling +thing to have one's husband sulking and falling asleep directly he +comes home--to have him freezing all one's warm-heartedness, and +throwing cold water over the fireside? Is it natural, when I know +he went out upon a matter in which I am as much interested as +anybody can be, that I should wish to know all that has happened, +or that he should tell me without my begging and praying him to do +it? Is that natural, or is it not?' + +'I am very sorry, Martha,' said the good-natured locksmith. 'I was +really afraid you were not disposed to talk pleasantly; I'll tell +you everything; I shall only be too glad, my dear.' + +'No, Varden,' returned his wife, rising with dignity. 'I dare say-- +thank you! I'm not a child to be corrected one minute and petted +the next--I'm a little too old for that, Varden. Miggs, carry the +light.--YOU can be cheerful, Miggs, at least' + +Miggs, who, to this moment, had been in the very depths of +compassionate despondency, passed instantly into the liveliest +state conceivable, and tossing her head as she glanced towards the +locksmith, bore off her mistress and the light together. + +'Now, who would think,' thought Varden, shrugging his shoulders and +drawing his chair nearer to the fire, 'that that woman could ever +be pleasant and agreeable? And yet she can be. Well, well, all of +us have our faults. I'll not be hard upon hers. We have been man +and wife too long for that.' + +He dozed again--not the less pleasantly, perhaps, for his hearty +temper. While his eyes were closed, the door leading to the upper +stairs was partially opened; and a head appeared, which, at sight +of him, hastily drew back again. + +'I wish,' murmured Gabriel, waking at the noise, and looking round +the room, 'I wish somebody would marry Miggs. But that's +impossible! I wonder whether there's any madman alive, who would +marry Miggs!' + +This was such a vast speculation that he fell into a doze again, +and slept until the fire was quite burnt out. At last he roused +himself; and having double-locked the street-door according to +custom, and put the key in his pocket, went off to bed. + +He had not left the room in darkness many minutes, when the head +again appeared, and Sim Tappertit entered, bearing in his hand a +little lamp. + +'What the devil business has he to stop up so late!' muttered Sim, +passing into the workshop, and setting it down upon the forge. +'Here's half the night gone already. There's only one good that +has ever come to me, out of this cursed old rusty mechanical trade, +and that's this piece of ironmongery, upon my soul!' + +As he spoke, he drew from the right hand, or rather right leg +pocket of his smalls, a clumsy large-sized key, which he inserted +cautiously in the lock his master had secured, and softly opened +the door. That done, he replaced his piece of secret workmanship +in his pocket; and leaving the lamp burning, and closing the door +carefully and without noise, stole out into the street--as little +suspected by the locksmith in his sound deep sleep, as by Barnaby +himself in his phantom-haunted dreams. + + + +Chapter 8 + + +Clear of the locksmith's house, Sim Tappertit laid aside his +cautious manner, and assuming in its stead that of a ruffling, +swaggering, roving blade, who would rather kill a man than +otherwise, and eat him too if needful, made the best of his way +along the darkened streets. + +Half pausing for an instant now and then to smite his pocket and +assure himself of the safety of his master key, he hurried on to +Barbican, and turning into one of the narrowest of the narrow +streets which diverged from that centre, slackened his pace and +wiped his heated brow, as if the termination of his walk were near +at hand. + +It was not a very choice spot for midnight expeditions, being in +truth one of more than questionable character, and of an appearance +by no means inviting. From the main street he had entered, itself +little better than an alley, a low-browed doorway led into a blind +court, or yard, profoundly dark, unpaved, and reeking with stagnant +odours. Into this ill-favoured pit, the locksmith's vagrant +'prentice groped his way; and stopping at a house from whose +defaced and rotten front the rude effigy of a bottle swung to and +fro like some gibbeted malefactor, struck thrice upon an iron +grating with his foot. After listening in vain for some response +to his signal, Mr Tappertit became impatient, and struck the +grating thrice again. + +A further delay ensued, but it was not of long duration. The +ground seemed to open at his feet, and a ragged head appeared. + +'Is that the captain?' said a voice as ragged as the head. + +'Yes,' replied Mr Tappertit haughtily, descending as he spoke, 'who +should it be?' + +'It's so late, we gave you up,' returned the voice, as its owner +stopped to shut and fasten the grating. 'You're late, sir.' + +'Lead on,' said Mr Tappertit, with a gloomy majesty, 'and make +remarks when I require you. Forward!' + +This latter word of command was perhaps somewhat theatrical and +unnecessary, inasmuch as the descent was by a very narrow, steep, +and slippery flight of steps, and any rashness or departure from +the beaten track must have ended in a yawning water-butt. But Mr +Tappertit being, like some other great commanders, favourable to +strong effects, and personal display, cried 'Forward!' again, in +the hoarsest voice he could assume; and led the way, with folded +arms and knitted brows, to the cellar down below, where there was a +small copper fixed in one corner, a chair or two, a form and table, +a glimmering fire, and a truckle-bed, covered with a ragged +patchwork rug. + +'Welcome, noble captain!' cried a lanky figure, rising as from a +nap. + +The captain nodded. Then, throwing off his outer coat, he stood +composed in all his dignity, and eyed his follower over. + +'What news to-night?' he asked, when he had looked into his very +soul. + +'Nothing particular,' replied the other, stretching himself--and he +was so long already that it was quite alarming to see him do it-- +'how come you to be so late?' + +'No matter,' was all the captain deigned to say in answer. 'Is the +room prepared?' + +'It is,' replied the follower. + +'The comrade--is he here?' + +'Yes. And a sprinkling of the others--you hear 'em?' + +'Playing skittles!' said the captain moodily. 'Light-hearted +revellers!' + +There was no doubt respecting the particular amusement in which +these heedless spirits were indulging, for even in the close and +stifling atmosphere of the vault, the noise sounded like distant +thunder. It certainly appeared, at first sight, a singular spot to +choose, for that or any other purpose of relaxation, if the other +cellars answered to the one in which this brief colloquy took +place; for the floors were of sodden earth, the walls and roof of +damp bare brick tapestried with the tracks of snails and slugs; the +air was sickening, tainted, and offensive. It seemed, from one +strong flavour which was uppermost among the various odours of the +place, that it had, at no very distant period, been used as a +storehouse for cheeses; a circumstance which, while it accounted +for the greasy moisture that hung about it, was agreeably +suggestive of rats. It was naturally damp besides, and little +trees of fungus sprung from every mouldering corner. + +The proprietor of this charming retreat, and owner of the ragged +head before mentioned--for he wore an old tie-wig as bare and +frowzy as a stunted hearth-broom--had by this time joined them; and +stood a little apart, rubbing his hands, wagging his hoary bristled +chin, and smiling in silence. His eyes were closed; but had they +been wide open, it would have been easy to tell, from the attentive +expression of the face he turned towards them--pale and unwholesome +as might be expected in one of his underground existence--and from +a certain anxious raising and quivering of the lids, that he was +blind. + +'Even Stagg hath been asleep,' said the long comrade, nodding +towards this person. + +'Sound, captain, sound!' cried the blind man; 'what does my noble +captain drink--is it brandy, rum, usquebaugh? Is it soaked +gunpowder, or blazing oil? Give it a name, heart of oak, and we'd +get it for you, if it was wine from a bishop's cellar, or melted +gold from King George's mint.' + +'See,' said Mr Tappertit haughtily, 'that it's something strong, +and comes quick; and so long as you take care of that, you may +bring it from the devil's cellar, if you like.' + +'Boldly said, noble captain!' rejoined the blind man. 'Spoken like +the 'Prentices' Glory. Ha, ha! From the devil's cellar! A brave +joke! The captain joketh. Ha, ha, ha!' + +'I'll tell you what, my fine feller,' said Mr Tappertit, eyeing the +host over as he walked to a closet, and took out a bottle and glass +as carelessly as if he had been in full possession of his sight, +'if you make that row, you'll find that the captain's very far from +joking, and so I tell you.' + +'He's got his eyes on me!' cried Stagg, stopping short on his way +back, and affecting to screen his face with the bottle. 'I feel +'em though I can't see 'em. Take 'em off, noble captain. Remove +'em, for they pierce like gimlets.' + +Mr Tappertit smiled grimly at his comrade; and twisting out one +more look--a kind of ocular screw--under the influence of which the +blind man feigned to undergo great anguish and torture, bade him, +in a softened tone, approach, and hold his peace. + +'I obey you, captain,' cried Stagg, drawing close to him and +filling out a bumper without spilling a drop, by reason that he +held his little finger at the brim of the glass, and stopped at the +instant the liquor touched it, 'drink, noble governor. Death to +all masters, life to all 'prentices, and love to all fair damsels. +Drink, brave general, and warm your gallant heart!' + +Mr Tappertit condescended to take the glass from his outstretched +hand. Stagg then dropped on one knee, and gently smoothed the +calves of his legs, with an air of humble admiration. + +'That I had but eyes!' he cried, 'to behold my captain's +symmetrical proportions! That I had but eyes, to look upon these +twin invaders of domestic peace!' + +'Get out!' said Mr Tappertit, glancing downward at his favourite +limbs. 'Go along, will you, Stagg!' + +'When I touch my own afterwards,' cried the host, smiting them +reproachfully, 'I hate 'em. Comparatively speaking, they've no +more shape than wooden legs, beside these models of my noble +captain's.' + +'Yours!' exclaimed Mr Tappertit. 'No, I should think not. Don't +talk about those precious old toothpicks in the same breath with +mine; that's rather too much. Here. Take the glass. Benjamin. +Lead on. To business!' + +With these words, he folded his arms again; and frowning with a +sullen majesty, passed with his companion through a little door at +the upper end of the cellar, and disappeared; leaving Stagg to his +private meditations. + +The vault they entered, strewn with sawdust and dimly lighted, was +between the outer one from which they had just come, and that in +which the skittle-players were diverting themselves; as was +manifested by the increased noise and clamour of tongues, which was +suddenly stopped, however, and replaced by a dead silence, at a +signal from the long comrade. Then, this young gentleman, going to +a little cupboard, returned with a thigh-bone, which in former +times must have been part and parcel of some individual at least as +long as himself, and placed the same in the hands of Mr Tappertit; +who, receiving it as a sceptre and staff of authority, cocked his +three-cornered hat fiercely on the top of his head, and mounted a +large table, whereon a chair of state, cheerfully ornamented with a +couple of skulls, was placed ready for his reception. + +He had no sooner assumed this position, than another young +gentleman appeared, bearing in his arms a huge clasped book, who +made him a profound obeisance, and delivering it to the long +comrade, advanced to the table, and turning his back upon it, stood +there Atlas-wise. Then, the long comrade got upon the table too; +and seating himself in a lower chair than Mr Tappertit's, with much +state and ceremony, placed the large book on the shoulders of their +mute companion as deliberately as if he had been a wooden desk, and +prepared to make entries therein with a pen of corresponding size. + +When the long comrade had made these preparations, he looked +towards Mr Tappertit; and Mr Tappertit, flourishing the bone, +knocked nine times therewith upon one of the skulls. At the ninth +stroke, a third young gentleman emerged from the door leading to +the skittle ground, and bowing low, awaited his commands. + +'Prentice!' said the mighty captain, 'who waits without?' + +The 'prentice made answer that a stranger was in attendance, who +claimed admission into that secret society of 'Prentice Knights, +and a free participation in their rights, privileges, and +immunities. Thereupon Mr Tappertit flourished the bone again, and +giving the other skull a prodigious rap on the nose, exclaimed +'Admit him!' At these dread words the 'prentice bowed once more, +and so withdrew as he had come. + +There soon appeared at the same door, two other 'prentices, having +between them a third, whose eyes were bandaged, and who was attired +in a bag-wig, and a broad-skirted coat, trimmed with tarnished +lace; and who was girded with a sword, in compliance with the laws +of the Institution regulating the introduction of candidates, which +required them to assume this courtly dress, and kept it constantly +in lavender, for their convenience. One of the conductors of this +novice held a rusty blunderbuss pointed towards his ear, and the +other a very ancient sabre, with which he carved imaginary +offenders as he came along in a sanguinary and anatomical manner. + +As this silent group advanced, Mr Tappertit fixed his hat upon his +head. The novice then laid his hand upon his breast and bent +before him. When he had humbled himself sufficiently, the captain +ordered the bandage to be removed, and proceeded to eye him over. + +'Ha!' said the captain, thoughtfully, when he had concluded this +ordeal. 'Proceed.' + +The long comrade read aloud as follows:--'Mark Gilbert. Age, +nineteen. Bound to Thomas Curzon, hosier, Golden Fleece, Aldgate. +Loves Curzon's daughter. Cannot say that Curzon's daughter loves +him. Should think it probable. Curzon pulled his ears last +Tuesday week.' + +'How!' cried the captain, starting. + +'For looking at his daughter, please you,' said the novice. + +'Write Curzon down, Denounced,' said the captain. 'Put a black +cross against the name of Curzon.' + +'So please you,' said the novice, 'that's not the worst--he calls +his 'prentice idle dog, and stops his beer unless he works to his +liking. He gives Dutch cheese, too, eating Cheshire, sir, himself; +and Sundays out, are only once a month.' + +'This,' said Mr Tappert;t gravely, 'is a flagrant case. Put two +black crosses to the name of Curzon.' + +'If the society,' said the novice, who was an ill-looking, one- +sided, shambling lad, with sunken eyes set close together in his +head--'if the society would burn his house down--for he's not +insured--or beat him as he comes home from his club at night, or +help me to carry off his daughter, and marry her at the Fleet, +whether she gave consent or no--' + +Mr Tappertit waved his grizzly truncheon as an admonition to him +not to interrupt, and ordered three black crosses to the name of +Curzon. + +'Which means,' he said in gracious explanation, 'vengeance, +complete and terrible. 'Prentice, do you love the Constitution?' + +To which the novice (being to that end instructed by his attendant +sponsors) replied 'I do!' + +'The Church, the State, and everything established--but the +masters?' quoth the captain. + +Again the novice said 'I do.' + +Having said it, he listened meekly to the captain, who in an +address prepared for such occasions, told him how that under that +same Constitution (which was kept in a strong box somewhere, but +where exactly he could not find out, or he would have endeavoured +to procure a copy of it), the 'prentices had, in times gone by, +had frequent holidays of right, broken people's heads by scores, +defied their masters, nay, even achieved some glorious murders in +the streets, which privileges had gradually been wrested from them, +and in all which noble aspirations they were now restrained; how +the degrading checks imposed upon them were unquestionably +attributable to the innovating spirit of the times, and how they +united therefore to resist all change, except such change as would +restore those good old English customs, by which they would stand +or fall. After illustrating the wisdom of going backward, by +reference to that sagacious fish, the crab, and the not unfrequent +practice of the mule and donkey, he described their general +objects; which were briefly vengeance on their Tyrant Masters (of +whose grievous and insupportable oppression no 'prentice could +entertain a moment's doubt) and the restoration, as aforesaid, of +their ancient rights and holidays; for neither of which objects +were they now quite ripe, being barely twenty strong, but which +they pledged themselves to pursue with fire and sword when needful. +Then he described the oath which every member of that small remnant +of a noble body took, and which was of a dreadful and impressive +kind; binding him, at the bidding of his chief, to resist and +obstruct the Lord Mayor, sword-bearer, and chaplain; to despise the +authority of the sheriffs; and to hold the court of aldermen as +nought; but not on any account, in case the fulness of time should +bring a general rising of 'prentices, to damage or in any way +disfigure Temple Bar, which was strictly constitutional and always +to be approached with reverence. Having gone over these several +heads with great eloquence and force, and having further informed +the novice that this society had its origin in his own teeming +brain, stimulated by a swelling sense of wrong and outrage, Mr +Tappertit demanded whether he had strength of heart to take the +mighty pledge required, or whether he would withdraw while retreat +was yet in his power. + +To this the novice made rejoinder, that he would take the vow, +though it should choke him; and it was accordingly administered +with many impressive circumstances, among which the lighting up of +the two skulls with a candle-end inside of each, and a great many +flourishes with the bone, were chiefly conspicuous; not to mention +a variety of grave exercises with the blunderbuss and sabre, and +some dismal groaning by unseen 'prentices without. All these dark +and direful ceremonies being at length completed, the table was put +aside, the chair of state removed, the sceptre locked up in its +usual cupboard, the doors of communication between the three +cellars thrown freely open, and the 'Prentice Knights resigned +themselves to merriment. + +But Mr Tappertit, who had a soul above the vulgar herd, and who, on +account of his greatness, could only afford to be merry now and +then, threw himself on a bench with the air of a man who was faint +with dignity. He looked with an indifferent eye, alike on +skittles, cards, and dice, thinking only of the locksmith's +daughter, and the base degenerate days on which he had fallen. + +'My noble captain neither games, nor sings, nor dances,' said his +host, taking a seat beside him. 'Drink, gallant general!' + +Mr Tappertit drained the proffered goblet to the dregs; then thrust +his hands into his pockets, and with a lowering visage walked among +the skittles, while his followers (such is the influence of +superior genius) restrained the ardent ball, and held his little +shins in dumb respect. + +'If I had been born a corsair or a pirate, a brigand, genteel +highwayman or patriot--and they're the same thing,' thought Mr +Tappertit, musing among the nine-pins, 'I should have been all +right. But to drag out a ignoble existence unbeknown to mankind in +general--patience! I will be famous yet. A voice within me keeps +on whispering Greatness. I shall burst out one of these days, and +when I do, what power can keep me down? I feel my soul getting +into my head at the idea. More drink there!' + +'The novice,' pursued Mr Tappertit, not exactly in a voice of +thunder, for his tones, to say the truth were rather cracked and +shrill--but very impressively, notwithstanding--'where is he?' + +'Here, noble captain!' cried Stagg. 'One stands beside me who I +feel is a stranger.' + +'Have you,' said Mr Tappertit, letting his gaze fall on the party +indicated, who was indeed the new knight, by this time restored to +his own apparel; 'Have you the impression of your street-door key +in wax?' + +The long comrade anticipated the reply, by producing it from the +shelf on which it had been deposited. + +'Good,' said Mr Tappertit, scrutinising it attentively, while a +breathless silence reigned around; for he had constructed secret +door-keys for the whole society, and perhaps owed something of his +influence to that mean and trivial circumstance--on such slight +accidents do even men of mind depend!--'This is easily made. Come +hither, friend.' + +With that, he beckoned the new knight apart, and putting the +pattern in his pocket, motioned to him to walk by his side. + +'And so,' he said, when they had taken a few turns up and down, +you--you love your master's daughter?' + +'I do,' said the 'prentice. 'Honour bright. No chaff, you know.' + +'Have you,' rejoined Mr Tappertit, catching him by the wrist, and +giving him a look which would have been expressive of the most +deadly malevolence, but for an accidental hiccup that rather +interfered with it; 'have you a--a rival?' + +'Not as I know on,' replied the 'prentice. + +'If you had now--' said Mr Tappertit--'what would you--eh?--' + +The 'prentice looked fierce and clenched his fists. + +'It is enough,' cried Mr Tappertit hastily, 'we understand each +other. We are observed. I thank you.' + +So saying, he cast him off again; and calling the long comrade +aside after taking a few hasty turns by himself, bade him +immediately write and post against the wall, a notice, proscribing +one Joseph Willet (commonly known as Joe) of Chigwell; forbidding +all 'Prentice Knights to succour, comfort, or hold communion with +him; and requiring them, on pain of excommunication, to molest, +hurt, wrong, annoy, and pick quarrels with the said Joseph, +whensoever and wheresoever they, or any of them, should happen to +encounter him. + +Having relieved his mind by this energetic proceeding, he +condescended to approach the festive board, and warming by degrees, +at length deigned to preside, and even to enchant the company with +a song. After this, he rose to such a pitch as to consent to +regale the society with a hornpipe, which be actually performed to +the music of a fiddle (played by an ingenious member) with such +surpassing agility and brilliancy of execution, that the spectators +could not be sufficiently enthusiastic in their admiration; and +their host protested, with tears in his eyes, that he had never +truly felt his blindness until that moment. + +But the host withdrawing--probably to weep in secret--soon returned +with the information that it wanted little more than an hour of +day, and that all the cocks in Barbican had already begun to crow, +as if their lives depended on it. At this intelligence, the +'Prentice Knights arose in haste, and marshalling into a line, +filed off one by one and dispersed with all speed to their several +homes, leaving their leader to pass the grating last. + +'Good night, noble captain,' whispered the blind man as he held it +open for his passage out; 'Farewell, brave general. Bye, bye, +illustrious commander. Good luck go with you for a--conceited, +bragging, empty-headed, duck-legged idiot.' + +With which parting words, coolly added as he listened to his +receding footsteps and locked the grate upon himself, he descended +the steps, and lighting the fire below the little copper, +prepared, without any assistance, for his daily occupation; which +was to retail at the area-head above pennyworths of broth and soup, +and savoury puddings, compounded of such scraps as were to be +bought in the heap for the least money at Fleet Market in the +evening time; and for the sale of which he had need to have +depended chiefly on his private connection, for the court had no +thoroughfare, and was not that kind of place in which many people +were likely to take the air, or to frequent as an agreeable +promenade. + + + +Chapter 9 + + +Chronicler's are privileged to enter where they list, to come and +go through keyholes, to ride upon the wind, to overcome, in their +soarings up and down, all obstacles of distance, time, and place. +Thrice blessed be this last consideration, since it enables us to +follow the disdainful Miggs even into the sanctity of her chamber, +and to hold her in sweet companionship through the dreary watches +of the night! + +Miss Miggs, having undone her mistress, as she phrased it (which +means, assisted to undress her), and having seen her comfortably to +bed in the back room on the first floor, withdrew to her own +apartment, in the attic story. Notwithstanding her declaration in +the locksmith's presence, she was in no mood for sleep; so, putting +her light upon the table and withdrawing the little window curtain, +she gazed out pensively at the wild night sky. + +Perhaps she wondered what star was destined for her habitation when +she had run her little course below; perhaps speculated which of +those glimmering spheres might be the natal orb of Mr Tappertit; +perhaps marvelled how they could gaze down on that perfidious +creature, man, and not sicken and turn green as chemists' lamps; +perhaps thought of nothing in particular. Whatever she thought +about, there she sat, until her attention, alive to anything +connected with the insinuating 'prentice, was attracted by a noise +in the next room to her own--his room; the room in which he slept, +and dreamed--it might be, sometimes dreamed of her. + +That he was not dreaming now, unless he was taking a walk in his +sleep, was clear, for every now and then there came a shuffling +noise, as though he were engaged in polishing the whitewashed wall; +then a gentle creaking of his door; then the faintest indication of +his stealthy footsteps on the landing-place outside. Noting this +latter circumstance, Miss Miggs turned pale and shuddered, as +mistrusting his intentions; and more than once exclaimed, below her +breath, 'Oh! what a Providence it is, as I am bolted in!'--which, +owing doubtless to her alarm, was a confusion of ideas on her part +between a bolt and its use; for though there was one on the door, +it was not fastened. + +Miss Miggs's sense of hearing, however, having as sharp an edge as +her temper, and being of the same snappish and suspicious kind, +very soon informed her that the footsteps passed her door, and +appeared to have some object quite separate and disconnected from +herself. At this discovery she became more alarmed than ever, and +was about to give utterance to those cries of 'Thieves!' and +'Murder!' which she had hitherto restrained, when it occurred to +her to look softly out, and see that her fears had some good +palpable foundation. + +Looking out accordingly, and stretching her neck over the handrail, +she descried, to her great amazement, Mr Tappertit completely +dressed, stealing downstairs, one step at a time, with his shoes in +one hand and a lamp in the other. Following him with her eyes, and +going down a little way herself to get the better of an intervening +angle, she beheld him thrust his head in at the parlour-door, draw +it back again with great swiftness, and immediately begin a retreat +upstairs with all possible expedition. + +'Here's mysteries!' said the damsel, when she was safe in her own +room again, quite out of breath. 'Oh, gracious, here's mysteries!' + +The prospect of finding anybody out in anything, would have kept +Miss Miggs awake under the influence of henbane. Presently, she +heard the step again, as she would have done if it had been that of +a feather endowed with motion and walking down on tiptoe. Then +gliding out as before, she again beheld the retreating figure of +the 'prentice; again he looked cautiously in at the parlour-door, +but this time instead of retreating, he passed in and disappeared. + +Miggs was back in her room, and had her head out of the window, +before an elderly gentleman could have winked and recovered from +it. Out he came at the street-door, shut it carefully behind him, +tried it with his knee, and swaggered off, putting something in his +pocket as he went along. At this spectacle Miggs cried 'Gracious!' +again, and then 'Goodness gracious!' and then 'Goodness gracious +me!' and then, candle in hand, went downstairs as he had done. +Coming to the workshop, she saw the lamp burning on the forge, and +everything as Sim had left it. + +'Why I wish I may only have a walking funeral, and never be buried +decent with a mourning-coach and feathers, if the boy hasn't been +and made a key for his own self!' cried Miggs. 'Oh the little +villain!' + +This conclusion was not arrived at without consideration, and much +peeping and peering about; nor was it unassisted by the +recollection that she had on several occasions come upon the +'prentice suddenly, and found him busy at some mysterious +occupation. Lest the fact of Miss Miggs calling him, on whom she +stooped to cast a favourable eye, a boy, should create surprise in +any breast, it may be observed that she invariably affected to +regard all male bipeds under thirty as mere chits and infants; +which phenomenon is not unusual in ladies of Miss Miggs's temper, +and is indeed generally found to be the associate of such +indomitable and savage virtue. + +Miss Miggs deliberated within herself for some little time, looking +hard at the shop-door while she did so, as though her eyes and +thoughts were both upon it; and then, taking a sheet of paper from +a drawer, twisted it into a long thin spiral tube. Having filled +this instrument with a quantity of small coal-dust from the forge, +she approached the door, and dropping on one knee before it, +dexterously blew into the keyhole as much of these fine ashes as +the lock would hold. When she had filled it to the brim in a very +workmanlike and skilful manner, she crept upstairs again, and +chuckled as she went. + +'There!' cried Miggs, rubbing her hands, 'now let's see whether you +won't be glad to take some notice of me, mister. He, he, he! +You'll have eyes for somebody besides Miss Dolly now, I think. A +fat-faced puss she is, as ever I come across!' + +As she uttered this criticism, she glanced approvingly at her small +mirror, as who should say, I thank my stars that can't be said of +me!--as it certainly could not; for Miss Miggs's style of beauty +was of that kind which Mr Tappertit himself had not inaptly termed, +in private, 'scraggy.' + +'I don't go to bed this night!' said Miggs, wrapping herself in a +shawl, and drawing a couple of chairs near the window, flouncing +down upon one, and putting her feet upon the other, 'till you come +home, my lad. I wouldn't,' said Miggs viciously, 'no, not for +five-and-forty pound!' + +With that, and with an expression of face in which a great number +of opposite ingredients, such as mischief, cunning, malice, +triumph, and patient expectation, were all mixed up together in a +kind of physiognomical punch, Miss Miggs composed herself to wait +and listen, like some fair ogress who had set a trap and was +watching for a nibble from a plump young traveller. + +She sat there, with perfect composure, all night. At length, just +upon break of day, there was a footstep in the street, and +presently she could hear Mr Tappertit stop at the door. Then she +could make out that he tried his key--that he was blowing into it-- +that he knocked it on the nearest post to beat the dust out--that +he took it under a lamp to look at it--that he poked bits of stick +into the lock to clear it--that he peeped into the keyhole, first +with one eye, and then with the other--that he tried the key again-- +that he couldn't turn it, and what was worse, couldn't get it out-- +that he bent it--that then it was much less disposed to come out +than before--that he gave it a mighty twist and a great pull, and +then it came out so suddenly that he staggered backwards--that he +kicked the door--that he shook it--finally, that he smote his +forehead, and sat down on the step in despair. + +When this crisis had arrived, Miss Miggs, affecting to be exhausted +with terror, and to cling to the window-sill for support, put out +her nightcap, and demanded in a faint voice who was there. + +Mr Tappertit cried 'Hush!' and, backing to the road, exhorted her +in frenzied pantomime to secrecy and silence. + +'Tell me one thing,' said Miggs. 'Is it thieves?' + +'No--no--no!' cried Mr Tappertit. + +'Then,' said Miggs, more faintly than before, 'it's fire. Where +is it, sir? It's near this room, I know. I've a good conscience, +sir, and would much rather die than go down a ladder. All I wish +is, respecting my love to my married sister, Golden Lion Court, +number twenty-sivin, second bell-handle on the right-hand door- +post.' + +'Miggs!' cried Mr Tappertit, 'don't you know me? Sim, you know-- +Sim--' + +'Oh! what about him!' cried Miggs, clasping her hands. 'Is he in +any danger? Is he in the midst of flames and blazes! Oh gracious, +gracious!' + +'Why I'm here, an't I?' rejoined Mr Tappertit, knocking himself on +the breast. 'Don't you see me? What a fool you are, Miggs!' + +'There!' cried Miggs, unmindful of this compliment. 'Why--so it-- +Goodness, what is the meaning of--If you please, mim, here's--' + +'No, no!' cried Mr Tappertit, standing on tiptoe, as if by that +means he, in the street, were any nearer being able to stop the +mouth of Miggs in the garret. 'Don't!--I've been out without +leave, and something or another's the matter with the lock. Come +down, and undo the shop window, that I may get in that way.' + +'I dursn't do it, Simmun,' cried Miggs--for that was her +pronunciation of his Christian name. 'I dursn't do it, indeed. +You know as well as anybody, how particular I am. And to come +down in the dead of night, when the house is wrapped in slumbers +and weiled in obscurity.' And there she stopped and shivered, for +her modesty caught cold at the very thought. + +'But Miggs,' cried Mr Tappertit, getting under the lamp, that she +might see his eyes. 'My darling Miggs--' + +Miggs screamed slightly. + +'--That I love so much, and never can help thinking of,' and it is +impossible to describe the use he made of his eyes when he said +this--'do--for my sake, do.' + +'Oh Simmun,' cried Miggs, 'this is worse than all. I know if I +come down, you'll go, and--' + +'And what, my precious?' said Mr Tappertit. + +'And try,' said Miggs, hysterically, 'to kiss me, or some such +dreadfulness; I know you will!' + +'I swear I won't,' said Mr Tappertit, with remarkable earnestness. +'Upon my soul I won't. It's getting broad day, and the watchman's +waking up. Angelic Miggs! If you'll only come and let me in, I +promise you faithfully and truly I won't.' + +Miss Miggs, whose gentle heart was touched, did not wait for the +oath (knowing how strong the temptation was, and fearing he might +forswear himself), but tripped lightly down the stairs, and with +her own fair hands drew back the rough fastenings of the workshop +window. Having helped the wayward 'prentice in, she faintly +articulated the words 'Simmun is safe!' and yielding to her woman's +nature, immediately became insensible. + +'I knew I should quench her,' said Sim, rather embarrassed by this +circumstance. 'Of course I was certain it would come to this, but +there was nothing else to be done--if I hadn't eyed her over, she +wouldn't have come down. Here. Keep up a minute, Miggs. What a +slippery figure she is! There's no holding her, comfortably. Do +keep up a minute, Miggs, will you?' + +As Miggs, however, was deaf to all entreaties, Mr Tappertit leant +her against the wall as one might dispose of a walking-stick or +umbrella, until he had secured the window, when he took her in his +arms again, and, in short stages and with great difficulty--arising +from her being tall and his being short, and perhaps in some degree +from that peculiar physical conformation on which he had already +remarked--carried her upstairs, and planting her, in the same +umbrella and walking-stick fashion, just inside her own door, left +her to her repose. + +'He may be as cool as he likes,' said Miss Miggs, recovering as +soon as she was left alone; 'but I'm in his confidence and he can't +help himself, nor couldn't if he was twenty Simmunses!' + + + +Chapter 10 + + +It was on one of those mornings, common in early spring, when the +year, fickle and changeable in its youth like all other created +things, is undecided whether to step backward into winter or +forward into summer, and in its uncertainty inclines now to the one +and now to the other, and now to both at once--wooing summer in the +sunshine, and lingering still with winter in the shade--it was, in +short, on one of those mornings, when it is hot and cold, wet and +dry, bright and lowering, sad and cheerful, withering and genial, +in the compass of one short hour, that old John Willet, who was +dropping asleep over the copper boiler, was roused by the sound of +a horse's feet, and glancing out at window, beheld a traveller of +goodly promise, checking his bridle at the Maypole door. + +He was none of your flippant young fellows, who would call for a +tankard of mulled ale, and make themselves as much at home as if +they had ordered a hogshead of wine; none of your audacious young +swaggerers, who would even penetrate into the bar--that solemn +sanctuary--and, smiting old John upon the back, inquire if there +was never a pretty girl in the house, and where he hid his little +chambermaids, with a hundred other impertinences of that nature; +none of your free-and-easy companions, who would scrape their +boots upon the firedogs in the common room, and be not at all +particular on the subject of spittoons; none of your unconscionable +blades, requiring impossible chops, and taking unheard-of pickles +for granted. He was a staid, grave, placid gentleman, something +past the prime of life, yet upright in his carriage, for all that, +and slim as a greyhound. He was well-mounted upon a sturdy +chestnut cob, and had the graceful seat of an experienced horseman; +while his riding gear, though free from such fopperies as were then +in vogue, was handsome and well chosen. He wore a riding-coat of a +somewhat brighter green than might have been expected to suit the +taste of a gentleman of his years, with a short, black velvet cape, +and laced pocket-holes and cuffs, all of a jaunty fashion; his +linen, too, was of the finest kind, worked in a rich pattern at the +wrists and throat, and scrupulously white. Although he seemed, +judging from the mud he had picked up on the way, to have come from +London, his horse was as smooth and cool as his own iron-grey +periwig and pigtail. Neither man nor beast had turned a single +hair; and saving for his soiled skirts and spatter-dashes, this +gentleman, with his blooming face, white teeth, exactly-ordered +dress, and perfect calmness, might have come from making an +elaborate and leisurely toilet, to sit for an equestrian portrait +at old John Willet's gate. + +It must not be supposed that John observed these several +characteristics by other than very slow degrees, or that he took in +more than half a one at a time, or that he even made up his mind +upon that, without a great deal of very serious consideration. +Indeed, if he had been distracted in the first instance by +questionings and orders, it would have taken him at the least a +fortnight to have noted what is here set down; but it happened that +the gentleman, being struck with the old house, or with the plump +pigeons which were skimming and curtseying about it, or with the +tall maypole, on the top of which a weathercock, which had been out +of order for fifteen years, performed a perpetual walk to the music +of its own creaking, sat for some little time looking round in +silence. Hence John, standing with his hand upon the horse's +bridle, and his great eyes on the rider, and with nothing passing +to divert his thoughts, had really got some of these little +circumstances into his brain by the time he was called upon to +speak. + +'A quaint place this,' said the gentleman--and his voice was as +rich as his dress. 'Are you the landlord?' + +'At your service, sir,' replied John Willet. + +'You can give my horse good stabling, can you, and me an early +dinner (I am not particular what, so that it be cleanly served), +and a decent room of which there seems to be no lack in this great +mansion,' said the stranger, again running his eyes over the +exterior. + +'You can have, sir,' returned John with a readiness quite +surprising, 'anything you please.' + +'It's well I am easily satisfied,' returned the other with a smile, +'or that might prove a hardy pledge, my friend.' And saying so, he +dismounted, with the aid of the block before the door, in a +twinkling. + +'Halloa there! Hugh!' roared John. 'I ask your pardon, sir, for +keeping you standing in the porch; but my son has gone to town on +business, and the boy being, as I may say, of a kind of use to me, +I'm rather put out when he's away. Hugh!--a dreadful idle vagrant +fellow, sir, half a gipsy, as I think--always sleeping in the sun +in summer, and in the straw in winter time, sir--Hugh! Dear Lord, +to keep a gentleman a waiting here through him!--Hugh! I wish that +chap was dead, I do indeed.' + +'Possibly he is,' returned the other. 'I should think if he were +living, he would have heard you by this time.' + +'In his fits of laziness, he sleeps so desperate hard,' said the +distracted host, 'that if you were to fire off cannon-balls into +his ears, it wouldn't wake him, sir.' + +The guest made no remark upon this novel cure for drowsiness, and +recipe for making people lively, but, with his hands clasped behind +him, stood in the porch, very much amused to see old John, with the +bridle in his hand, wavering between a strong impulse to abandon +the animal to his fate, and a half disposition to lead him into the +house, and shut him up in the parlour, while he waited on his +master. + +'Pillory the fellow, here he is at last!' cried John, in the very +height and zenith of his distress. 'Did you hear me a calling, +villain?' + +The figure he addressed made no answer, but putting his hand upon +the saddle, sprung into it at a bound, turned the horse's head +towards the stable, and was gone in an instant. + +'Brisk enough when he is awake,' said the guest. + +'Brisk enough, sir!' replied John, looking at the place where the +horse had been, as if not yet understanding quite, what had become +of him. 'He melts, I think. He goes like a drop of froth. You +look at him, and there he is. You look at him again, and--there he +isn't.' + +Having, in the absence of any more words, put this sudden climax to +what he had faintly intended should be a long explanation of the +whole life and character of his man, the oracular John Willet led +the gentleman up his wide dismantled staircase into the Maypole's +best apartment. + +It was spacious enough in all conscience, occupying the whole depth +of the house, and having at either end a great bay window, as large +as many modern rooms; in which some few panes of stained glass, +emblazoned with fragments of armorial bearings, though cracked, and +patched, and shattered, yet remained; attesting, by their +presence, that the former owner had made the very light subservient +to his state, and pressed the sun itself into his list of +flatterers; bidding it, when it shone into his chamber, reflect the +badges of his ancient family, and take new hues and colours from +their pride. + +But those were old days, and now every little ray came and went as +it would; telling the plain, bare, searching truth. Although the +best room of the inn, it had the melancholy aspect of grandeur in +decay, and was much too vast for comfort. Rich rustling hangings, +waving on the walls; and, better far, the rustling of youth and +beauty's dress; the light of women's eyes, outshining the tapers +and their own rich jewels; the sound of gentle tongues, and music, +and the tread of maiden feet, had once been there, and filled it +with delight. But they were gone, and with them all its gladness. +It was no longer a home; children were never born and bred there; +the fireside had become mercenary--a something to be bought and +sold--a very courtezan: let who would die, or sit beside, or leave +it, it was still the same--it missed nobody, cared for nobody, had +equal warmth and smiles for all. God help the man whose heart ever +changes with the world, as an old mansion when it becomes an inn! + +No effort had been made to furnish this chilly waste, but before +the broad chimney a colony of chairs and tables had been planted on +a square of carpet, flanked by a ghostly screen, enriched with +figures, grinning and grotesque. After lighting with his own hands +the faggots which were heaped upon the hearth, old John withdrew to +hold grave council with his cook, touching the stranger's +entertainment; while the guest himself, seeing small comfort in +the yet unkindled wood, opened a lattice in the distant window, and +basked in a sickly gleam of cold March sun. + +Leaving the window now and then, to rake the crackling logs +together, or pace the echoing room from end to end, he closed it +when the fire was quite burnt up, and having wheeled the easiest +chair into the warmest corner, summoned John Willet. + +'Sir,' said John. + +He wanted pen, ink, and paper. There was an old standish on the +mantelshelf containing a dusty apology for all three. Having set +this before him, the landlord was retiring, when he motioned him to +stay. + +'There's a house not far from here,' said the guest when he had +written a few lines, 'which you call the Warren, I believe?' + +As this was said in the tone of one who knew the fact, and asked +the question as a thing of course, John contented himself with +nodding his head in the affirmative; at the same time taking one +hand out of his pockets to cough behind, and then putting it in +again. + +'I want this note'--said the guest, glancing on what he had +written, and folding it, 'conveyed there without loss of time, and +an answer brought back here. Have you a messenger at hand?' + +John was thoughtful for a minute or thereabouts, and then said Yes. + +'Let me see him,' said the guest. + +This was disconcerting; for Joe being out, and Hugh engaged in +rubbing down the chestnut cob, he designed sending on the errand, +Barnaby, who had just then arrived in one of his rambles, and who, +so that he thought himself employed on a grave and serious +business, would go anywhere. + +'Why the truth is,' said John after a long pause, 'that the person +who'd go quickest, is a sort of natural, as one may say, sir; and +though quick of foot, and as much to be trusted as the post +itself, he's not good at talking, being touched and flighty, sir.' + +'You don't,' said the guest, raising his eyes to John's fat face, +'you don't mean--what's the fellow's name--you don't mean Barnaby?' + +'Yes, I do,' returned the landlord, his features turning quite +expressive with surprise. + +'How comes he to be here?' inquired the guest, leaning back in his +chair; speaking in the bland, even tone, from which he never +varied; and with the same soft, courteous, never-changing smile +upon his face. 'I saw him in London last night.' + +'He's, for ever, here one hour, and there the next,' returned old +John, after the usual pause to get the question in his mind. +'Sometimes he walks, and sometimes runs. He's known along the road +by everybody, and sometimes comes here in a cart or chaise, and +sometimes riding double. He comes and goes, through wind, rain, +snow, and hail, and on the darkest nights. Nothing hurts HIM.' + +'He goes often to the Warren, does he not?' said the guest +carelessly. 'I seem to remember his mother telling me something to +that effect yesterday. But I was not attending to the good woman +much.' + +'You're right, sir,' John made answer, 'he does. His father, sir, +was murdered in that house.' + +'So I have heard,' returned the guest, taking a gold toothpick +from his pocket with the same sweet smile. 'A very disagreeable +circumstance for the family.' + +'Very,' said John with a puzzled look, as if it occurred to him, +dimly and afar off, that this might by possibility be a cool way of +treating the subject. + +'All the circumstances after a murder,' said the guest +soliloquising, 'must be dreadfully unpleasant--so much bustle and +disturbance--no repose--a constant dwelling upon one subject--and +the running in and out, and up and down stairs, intolerable. I +wouldn't have such a thing happen to anybody I was nearly +interested in, on any account. 'Twould be enough to wear one's +life out.--You were going to say, friend--' he added, turning to +John again. + +'Only that Mrs Rudge lives on a little pension from the family, and +that Barnaby's as free of the house as any cat or dog about it,' +answered John. 'Shall he do your errand, sir?' + +'Oh yes,' replied the guest. 'Oh certainly. Let him do it by all +means. Please to bring him here that I may charge him to be quick. +If he objects to come you may tell him it's Mr Chester. He will +remember my name, I dare say.' + +John was so very much astonished to find who his visitor was, that +he could express no astonishment at all, by looks or otherwise, but +left the room as if he were in the most placid and imperturbable of +all possible conditions. It has been reported that when he got +downstairs, he looked steadily at the boiler for ten minutes by +the clock, and all that time never once left off shaking his head; +for which statement there would seem to be some ground of truth and +feasibility, inasmuch as that interval of time did certainly +elapse, before he returned with Barnaby to the guest's apartment. + +'Come hither, lad,' said Mr Chester. 'You know Mr Geoffrey +Haredale?' + +Barnaby laughed, and looked at the landlord as though he would say, +'You hear him?' John, who was greatly shocked at this breach of +decorum, clapped his finger to his nose, and shook his head in mute +remonstrance. + +'He knows him, sir,' said John, frowning aside at Barnaby, 'as well +as you or I do.' + +'I haven't the pleasure of much acquaintance with the gentleman,' +returned his guest. 'YOU may have. Limit the comparison to +yourself, my friend.' + +Although this was said with the same easy affability, and the same +smile, John felt himself put down, and laying the indignity at +Barnaby's door, determined to kick his raven, on the very first +opportunity. + +'Give that,' said the guest, who had by this time sealed the note, +and who beckoned his messenger towards him as he spoke, 'into Mr +Haredale's own hands. Wait for an answer, and bring it back to me +here. If you should find that Mr Haredale is engaged just now, +tell him--can he remember a message, landlord?' + +'When he chooses, sir,' replied John. 'He won't forget this one.' + +'How are you sure of that?' + +John merely pointed to him as he stood with his head bent forward, +and his earnest gaze fixed closely on his questioner's face; and +nodded sagely. + +'Tell him then, Barnaby, should he be engaged,' said Mr Chester, +'that I shall be glad to wait his convenience here, and to see him +(if he will call) at any time this evening.--At the worst I can +have a bed here, Willet, I suppose?' + +Old John, immensely flattered by the personal notoriety implied in +this familiar form of address, answered, with something like a +knowing look, 'I should believe you could, sir,' and was turning +over in his mind various forms of eulogium, with the view of +selecting one appropriate to the qualities of his best bed, when +his ideas were put to flight by Mr Chester giving Barnaby the +letter, and bidding him make all speed away. + +'Speed!' said Barnaby, folding the little packet in his breast, +'Speed! If you want to see hurry and mystery, come here. Here!' + +With that, he put his hand, very much to John Willet's horror, on +the guest's fine broadcloth sleeve, and led him stealthily to the +back window. + +'Look down there,' he said softly; 'do you mark how they whisper in +each other's ears; then dance and leap, to make believe they are in +sport? Do you see how they stop for a moment, when they think +there is no one looking, and mutter among themselves again; and +then how they roll and gambol, delighted with the mischief they've +been plotting? Look at 'em now. See how they whirl and plunge. +And now they stop again, and whisper, cautiously together--little +thinking, mind, how often I have lain upon the grass and watched +them. I say what is it that they plot and hatch? Do you know?' + +'They are only clothes,' returned the guest, 'such as we wear; +hanging on those lines to dry, and fluttering in the wind.' + +'Clothes!' echoed Barnaby, looking close into his face, and falling +quickly back. 'Ha ha! Why, how much better to be silly, than as +wise as you! You don't see shadowy people there, like those that +live in sleep--not you. Nor eyes in the knotted panes of glass, +nor swift ghosts when it blows hard, nor do you hear voices in the +air, nor see men stalking in the sky--not you! I lead a merrier +life than you, with all your cleverness. You're the dull men. +We're the bright ones. Ha! ha! I'll not change with you, clever +as you are,--not I!' + +With that, he waved his hat above his head, and darted off. + +'A strange creature, upon my word!' said the guest, pulling out a +handsome box, and taking a pinch of snuff. + +'He wants imagination,' said Mr Willet, very slowly, and after a +long silence; 'that's what he wants. I've tried to instil it into +him, many and many's the time; but'--John added this in confidence-- +'he an't made for it; that's the fact.' + +To record that Mr Chester smiled at John's remark would be little +to the purpose, for he preserved the same conciliatory and pleasant +look at all times. He drew his chair nearer to the fire though, as +a kind of hint that he would prefer to be alone, and John, having +no reasonable excuse for remaining, left him to himself. + +Very thoughtful old John Willet was, while the dinner was +preparing; and if his brain were ever less clear at one time than +another, it is but reasonable to suppose that he addled it in no +slight degree by shaking his head so much that day. That Mr +Chester, between whom and Mr Haredale, it was notorious to all the +neighbourhood, a deep and bitter animosity existed, should come +down there for the sole purpose, as it seemed, of seeing him, and +should choose the Maypole for their place of meeting, and should +send to him express, were stumbling blocks John could not overcome. +The only resource he had, was to consult the boiler, and wait +impatiently for Barnaby's return. + +But Barnaby delayed beyond all precedent. The visitor's dinner was +served, removed, his wine was set, the fire replenished, the hearth +clean swept; the light waned without, it grew dusk, became quite +dark, and still no Barnaby appeared. Yet, though John Willet was +full of wonder and misgiving, his guest sat cross-legged in the +easy-chair, to all appearance as little ruffled in his thoughts as +in his dress--the same calm, easy, cool gentleman, without a care +or thought beyond his golden toothpick. + +'Barnaby's late,' John ventured to observe, as he placed a pair of +tarnished candlesticks, some three feet high, upon the table, and +snuffed the lights they held. + +'He is rather so,' replied the guest, sipping his wine. 'He will +not be much longer, I dare say.' + +John coughed and raked the fire together. + +'As your roads bear no very good character, if I may judge from my +son's mishap, though,' said Mr Chester, 'and as I have no fancy to +be knocked on the head--which is not only disconcerting at the +moment, but places one, besides, in a ridiculous position with +respect to the people who chance to pick one up--I shall stop here +to-night. I think you said you had a bed to spare.' + +'Such a bed, sir,' returned John Willet; 'ay, such a bed as few, +even of the gentry's houses, own. A fixter here, sir. I've heard +say that bedstead is nigh two hundred years of age. Your noble +son--a fine young gentleman--slept in it last, sir, half a year +ago.' + +'Upon my life, a recommendation!' said the guest, shrugging his +shoulders and wheeling his chair nearer to the fire. 'See that it +be well aired, Mr Willet, and let a blazing fire be lighted there +at once. This house is something damp and chilly.' + +John raked the faggots up again, more from habit than presence of +mind, or any reference to this remark, and was about to withdraw, +when a bounding step was heard upon the stair, and Barnaby came +panting in. + +'He'll have his foot in the stirrup in an hour's time,' he cried, +advancing. 'He has been riding hard all day--has just come home-- +but will be in the saddle again as soon as he has eat and drank, to +meet his loving friend.' + +'Was that his message?' asked the visitor, looking up, but without +the smallest discomposure--or at least without the show of any. + +'All but the last words,' Barnaby rejoined. 'He meant those. I +saw that, in his face.' + +'This for your pains,' said the other, putting money in his hand, +and glancing at him steadfastly.' This for your pains, sharp +Barnaby.' + +'For Grip, and me, and Hugh, to share among us,' he rejoined, +putting it up, and nodding, as he counted it on his fingers. 'Grip +one, me two, Hugh three; the dog, the goat, the cats--well, we +shall spend it pretty soon, I warn you. Stay.--Look. Do you wise +men see nothing there, now?' + +He bent eagerly down on one knee, and gazed intently at the smoke, +which was rolling up the chimney in a thick black cloud. John +Willet, who appeared to consider himself particularly and chiefly +referred to under the term wise men, looked that way likewise, and +with great solidity of feature. + +'Now, where do they go to, when they spring so fast up there,' +asked Barnaby; 'eh? Why do they tread so closely on each other's +heels, and why are they always in a hurry--which is what you blame +me for, when I only take pattern by these busy folk about me? More +of 'em! catching to each other's skirts; and as fast as they go, +others come! What a merry dance it is! I would that Grip and I +could frisk like that!' + +'What has he in that basket at his back?' asked the guest after a +few moments, during which Barnaby was still bending down to look +higher up the chimney, and earnestly watching the smoke. + +'In this?' he answered, jumping up, before John Willet could reply-- +shaking it as he spoke, and stooping his head to listen. 'In +this! What is there here? Tell him!' + +'A devil, a devil, a devil!' cried a hoarse voice. + +'Here's money!' said Barnaby, chinking it in his hand, 'money for a +treat, Grip!' + +'Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!' replied the raven, 'keep up your +spirits. Never say die. Bow, wow, wow!' + +Mr Willet, who appeared to entertain strong doubts whether a +customer in a laced coat and fine linen could be supposed to have +any acquaintance even with the existence of such unpolite gentry as +the bird claimed to belong to, took Barnaby off at this juncture, +with the view of preventing any other improper declarations, and +quitted the room with his very best bow. + + + +Chapter 11 + + +There was great news that night for the regular Maypole customers, +to each of whom, as he straggled in to occupy his allotted seat in +the chimney-corner, John, with a most impressive slowness of +delivery, and in an apoplectic whisper, communicated the fact that +Mr Chester was alone in the large room upstairs, and was waiting +the arrival of Mr Geoffrey Haredale, to whom he had sent a letter +(doubtless of a threatening nature) by the hands of Barnaby, then +and there present. + +For a little knot of smokers and solemn gossips, who had seldom any +new topics of discussion, this was a perfect Godsend. Here was a +good, dark-looking mystery progressing under that very roof-- +brought home to the fireside, as it were, and enjoyable without the +smallest pains or trouble. It is extraordinary what a zest and +relish it gave to the drink, and how it heightened the flavour of +the tobacco. Every man smoked his pipe with a face of grave and +serious delight, and looked at his neighbour with a sort of quiet +congratulation. Nay, it was felt to be such a holiday and special +night, that, on the motion of little Solomon Daisy, every man +(including John himself) put down his sixpence for a can of flip, +which grateful beverage was brewed with all despatch, and set down +in the midst of them on the brick floor; both that it might simmer +and stew before the fire, and that its fragrant steam, rising up +among them, and mixing with the wreaths of vapour from their pipes, +might shroud them in a delicious atmosphere of their own, and shut +out all the world. The very furniture of the room seemed to +mellow and deepen in its tone; the ceiling and walls looked +blacker and more highly polished, the curtains of a ruddier red; +the fire burnt clear and high, and the crickets in the hearthstone +chirped with a more than wonted satisfaction. + +There were present two, however, who showed but little interest in +the general contentment. Of these, one was Barnaby himself, who +slept, or, to avoid being beset with questions, feigned to sleep, +in the chimney-corner; the other, Hugh, who, sleeping too, lay +stretched upon the bench on the opposite side, in the full glare of +the blazing fire. + +The light that fell upon this slumbering form, showed it in all its +muscular and handsome proportions. It was that of a young man, of +a hale athletic figure, and a giant's strength, whose sunburnt face +and swarthy throat, overgrown with jet black hair, might have +served a painter for a model. Loosely attired, in the coarsest and +roughest garb, with scraps of straw and hay--his usual bed-- +clinging here and there, and mingling with his uncombed locks, he +had fallen asleep in a posture as careless as his dress. The +negligence and disorder of the whole man, with something fierce and +sullen in his features, gave him a picturesque appearance, that +attracted the regards even of the Maypole customers who knew him +well, and caused Long Parkes to say that Hugh looked more like a +poaching rascal to-night than ever he had seen him yet. + +'He's waiting here, I suppose,' said Solomon, 'to take Mr +Haredale's horse.' + +'That's it, sir,' replied John Willet. 'He's not often in the +house, you know. He's more at his ease among horses than men. I +look upon him as a animal himself.' + +Following up this opinion with a shrug that seemed meant to say, +'we can't expect everybody to be like us,' John put his pipe into +his mouth again, and smoked like one who felt his superiority over +the general run of mankind. + +'That chap, sir,' said John, taking it out again after a time, and +pointing at him with the stem, 'though he's got all his faculties +about him--bottled up and corked down, if I may say so, somewheres +or another--' + +'Very good!' said Parkes, nodding his head. 'A very good +expression, Johnny. You'll be a tackling somebody presently. +You're in twig to-night, I see.' + +'Take care,' said Mr Willet, not at all grateful for the +compliment, 'that I don't tackle you, sir, which I shall certainly +endeavour to do, if you interrupt me when I'm making observations.-- +That chap, I was a saying, though he has all his faculties about +him, somewheres or another, bottled up and corked down, has no more +imagination than Barnaby has. And why hasn't he?' + +The three friends shook their heads at each other; saying by that +action, without the trouble of opening their lips, 'Do you observe +what a philosophical mind our friend has?' + +'Why hasn't he?' said John, gently striking the table with his open +hand. 'Because they was never drawed out of him when he was a +boy. That's why. What would any of us have been, if our fathers +hadn't drawed our faculties out of us? What would my boy Joe have +been, if I hadn't drawed his faculties out of him?--Do you mind +what I'm a saying of, gentlemen?' + +'Ah! we mind you,' cried Parkes. 'Go on improving of us, Johnny.' + +'Consequently, then,' said Mr Willet, 'that chap, whose mother was +hung when he was a little boy, along with six others, for passing +bad notes--and it's a blessed thing to think how many people are +hung in batches every six weeks for that, and such like offences, +as showing how wide awake our government is--that chap that was +then turned loose, and had to mind cows, and frighten birds away, +and what not, for a few pence to live on, and so got on by degrees +to mind horses, and to sleep in course of time in lofts and litter, +instead of under haystacks and hedges, till at last he come to be +hostler at the Maypole for his board and lodging and a annual +trifle--that chap that can't read nor write, and has never had much +to do with anything but animals, and has never lived in any way but +like the animals he has lived among, IS a animal. And,' said Mr +Willet, arriving at his logical conclusion, 'is to be treated +accordingly.' + +'Willet,' said Solomon Daisy, who had exhibited some impatience at +the intrusion of so unworthy a subject on their more interesting +theme, 'when Mr Chester come this morning, did he order the large +room?' + +'He signified, sir,' said John, 'that he wanted a large apartment. +Yes. Certainly.' + +'Why then, I'll tell you what,' said Solomon, speaking softly and +with an earnest look. 'He and Mr Haredale are going to fight a +duel in it.' + +Everybody looked at Mr Willet, after this alarming suggestion. Mr +Willet looked at the fire, weighing in his own mind the effect +which such an occurrence would be likely to have on the establishment. + +'Well,' said John, 'I don't know--I am sure--I remember that when I +went up last, he HAD put the lights upon the mantel-shelf.' + +'It's as plain,' returned Solomon, 'as the nose on Parkes's face'-- +Mr Parkes, who had a large nose, rubbed it, and looked as if he +considered this a personal allusion--'they'll fight in that room. +You know by the newspapers what a common thing it is for gentlemen +to fight in coffee-houses without seconds. One of 'em will be +wounded or perhaps killed in this house.' + +'That was a challenge that Barnaby took then, eh?' said John. + +'--Inclosing a slip of paper with the measure of his sword upon it, +I'll bet a guinea,' answered the little man. 'We know what sort of +gentleman Mr Haredale is. You have told us what Barnaby said about +his looks, when he came back. Depend upon it, I'm right. Now, +mind.' + +The flip had had no flavour till now. The tobacco had been of mere +English growth, compared with its present taste. A duel in that +great old rambling room upstairs, and the best bed ordered already +for the wounded man! + +'Would it be swords or pistols, now?' said John. + +'Heaven knows. Perhaps both,' returned Solomon. 'The gentlemen +wear swords, and may easily have pistols in their pockets--most +likely have, indeed. If they fire at each other without effect, +then they'll draw, and go to work in earnest.' + +A shade passed over Mr Willet's face as he thought of broken +windows and disabled furniture, but bethinking himself that one of +the parties would probably be left alive to pay the damage, he +brightened up again. + +'And then,' said Solomon, looking from face to face, 'then we shall +have one of those stains upon the floor that never come out. If Mr +Haredale wins, depend upon it, it'll be a deep one; or if he loses, +it will perhaps be deeper still, for he'll never give in unless +he's beaten down. We know him better, eh?' + +'Better indeed!' they whispered all together. + +'As to its ever being got out again,' said Solomon, 'I tell you it +never will, or can be. Why, do you know that it has been tried, at +a certain house we are acquainted with?' + +'The Warren!' cried John. 'No, sure!' + +'Yes, sure--yes. It's only known by very few. It has been +whispered about though, for all that. They planed the board away, +but there it was. They went deep, but it went deeper. They put +new boards down, but there was one great spot that came through +still, and showed itself in the old place. And--harkye--draw +nearer--Mr Geoffrey made that room his study, and sits there, +always, with his foot (as I have heard) upon it; and he believes, +through thinking of it long and very much, that it will never fade +until he finds the man who did the deed.' + +As this recital ended, and they all drew closer round the fire, the +tramp of a horse was heard without. + +'The very man!' cried John, starting up. 'Hugh! Hugh!' + +The sleeper staggered to his feet, and hurried after him. John +quickly returned, ushering in with great attention and deference +(for Mr Haredale was his landlord) the long-expected visitor, who +strode into the room clanking his heavy boots upon the floor; and +looking keenly round upon the bowing group, raised his hat in +acknowledgment of their profound respect. + +'You have a stranger here, Willet, who sent to me,' he said, in a +voice which sounded naturally stern and deep. 'Where is he?' + +'In the great room upstairs, sir,' answered John. + +'Show the way. Your staircase is dark, I know. Gentlemen, good +night.' + +With that, he signed to the landlord to go on before; and went +clanking out, and up the stairs; old John, in his agitation, +ingeniously lighting everything but the way, and making a stumble +at every second step. + +'Stop!' he said, when they reached the landing. 'I can announce +myself. Don't wait.' + +He laid his hand upon the door, entered, and shut it heavily. Mr +Willet was by no means disposed to stand there listening by +himself, especially as the walls were very thick; so descended, +with much greater alacrity than he had come up, and joined his +friends below. + + + +Chapter 12 + + +There was a brief pause in the state-room of the Maypole, as Mr +Haredale tried the lock to satisfy himself that he had shut the +door securely, and, striding up the dark chamber to where the +screen inclosed a little patch of light and warmth, presented +himself, abruptly and in silence, before the smiling guest. + +If the two had no greater sympathy in their inward thoughts than in +their outward bearing and appearance, the meeting did not seem +likely to prove a very calm or pleasant one. With no great +disparity between them in point of years, they were, in every other +respect, as unlike and far removed from each other as two men could +well be. The one was soft-spoken, delicately made, precise, and +elegant; the other, a burly square-built man, negligently dressed, +rough and abrupt in manner, stern, and, in his present mood, +forbidding both in look and speech. The one preserved a calm and +placid smile; the other, a distrustful frown. The new-comer, +indeed, appeared bent on showing by his every tone and gesture his +determined opposition and hostility to the man he had come to meet. +The guest who received him, on the other hand, seemed to feel that +the contrast between them was all in his favour, and to derive a +quiet exultation from it which put him more at his ease than ever. + +'Haredale,' said this gentleman, without the least appearance of +embarrassment or reserve, 'I am very glad to see you.' + +'Let us dispense with compliments. They are misplaced between us,' +returned the other, waving his hand, 'and say plainly what we have +to say. You have asked me to meet you. I am here. Why do we +stand face to face again?' + +'Still the same frank and sturdy character, I see!' + +'Good or bad, sir, I am,' returned the other, leaning his arm upon +the chimney-piece, and turning a haughty look upon the occupant of +the easy-chair, 'the man I used to be. I have lost no old likings +or dislikings; my memory has not failed me by a hair's-breadth. +You ask me to give you a meeting. I say, I am here.' + +'Our meeting, Haredale,' said Mr Chester, tapping his snuff-box, +and following with a smile the impatient gesture he had made-- +perhaps unconsciously--towards his sword, 'is one of conference and +peace, I hope?' + +'I have come here,' returned the other, 'at your desire, holding +myself bound to meet you, when and where you would. I have not +come to bandy pleasant speeches, or hollow professions. You are a +smooth man of the world, sir, and at such play have me at a +disadvantage. The very last man on this earth with whom I would +enter the lists to combat with gentle compliments and masked faces, +is Mr Chester, I do assure you. I am not his match at such +weapons, and have reason to believe that few men are.' + +'You do me a great deal of honour Haredale,' returned the other, +most composedly, 'and I thank you. I will be frank with you--' + +'I beg your pardon--will be what?' + +'Frank--open--perfectly candid.' + +'Hab!' cried Mr Haredale, drawing his breath. 'But don't let me +interrupt you.' + +'So resolved am I to hold this course,' returned the other, tasting +his wine with great deliberation; 'that I have determined not to +quarrel with you, and not to be betrayed into a warm expression or +a hasty word.' + +'There again,' said Mr Haredale, 'you have me at a great advantage. +Your self-command--' + +'Is not to be disturbed, when it will serve my purpose, you would +say'--rejoined the other, interrupting him with the same +complacency. 'Granted. I allow it. And I have a purpose to serve +now. So have you. I am sure our object is the same. Let us +attain it like sensible men, who have ceased to be boys some time.-- +Do you drink?' + +'With my friends,' returned the other. + +'At least,' said Mr Chester, 'you will be seated?' + +'I will stand,' returned Mr Haredale impatiently, 'on this +dismantled, beggared hearth, and not pollute it, fallen as it is, +with mockeries. Go on.' + +'You are wrong, Haredale,' said the other, crossing his legs, and +smiling as he held his glass up in the bright glow of the fire. +'You are really very wrong. The world is a lively place enough, in +which we must accommodate ourselves to circumstances, sail with the +stream as glibly as we can, be content to take froth for substance, +the surface for the depth, the counterfeit for the real coin. I +wonder no philosopher has ever established that our globe itself is +hollow. It should be, if Nature is consistent in her works.' + +'YOU think it is, perhaps?' + +'I should say,' he returned, sipping his wine, 'there could be no +doubt about it. Well; we, in trifling with this jingling toy, have +had the ill-luck to jostle and fall out. We are not what the world +calls friends; but we are as good and true and loving friends for +all that, as nine out of every ten of those on whom it bestows the +title. You have a niece, and I a son--a fine lad, Haredale, but +foolish. They fall in love with each other, and form what this +same world calls an attachment; meaning a something fanciful and +false like the rest, which, if it took its own free time, would +break like any other bubble. But it may not have its own free +time--will not, if they are left alone--and the question is, shall +we two, because society calls us enemies, stand aloof, and let them +rush into each other's arms, when, by approaching each other +sensibly, as we do now, we can prevent it, and part them?' + +'I love my niece,' said Mr Haredale, after a short silence. 'It +may sound strangely in your ears; but I love her.' + +'Strangely, my good fellow!' cried Mr Chester, lazily filling his +glass again, and pulling out his toothpick. 'Not at all. I like +Ned too--or, as you say, love him--that's the word among such near +relations. I'm very fond of Ned. He's an amazingly good fellow, +and a handsome fellow--foolish and weak as yet; that's all. But +the thing is, Haredale--for I'll be very frank, as I told you I +would at first--independently of any dislike that you and I might +have to being related to each other, and independently of the +religious differences between us--and damn it, that's important--I +couldn't afford a match of this description. Ned and I couldn't do +it. It's impossible.' + +'Curb your tongue, in God's name, if this conversation is to last,' +retorted Mr Haredale fiercely. 'I have said I love my niece. Do +you think that, loving her, I would have her fling her heart away +on any man who had your blood in his veins?' + +'You see,' said the other, not at all disturbed, 'the advantage of +being so frank and open. Just what I was about to add, upon my +honour! I am amazingly attached to Ned--quite doat upon him, +indeed--and even if we could afford to throw ourselves away, that +very objection would be quite insuperable.--I wish you'd take some +wine?' + +'Mark me,' said Mr Haredale, striding to the table, and laying his +hand upon it heavily. 'If any man believes--presumes to think-- +that I, in word or deed, or in the wildest dream, ever entertained +remotely the idea of Emma Haredale's favouring the suit of any one +who was akin to you--in any way--I care not what--he lies. He +lies, and does me grievous wrong, in the mere thought.' + +'Haredale,' returned the other, rocking himself to and fro as in +assent, and nodding at the fire, 'it's extremely manly, and really +very generous in you, to meet me in this unreserved and handsome +way. Upon my word, those are exactly my sentiments, only +expressed with much more force and power than I could use--you know +my sluggish nature, and will forgive me, I am sure.' + +'While I would restrain her from all correspondence with your son, +and sever their intercourse here, though it should cause her +death,' said Mr Haredale, who had been pacing to and fro, 'I would +do it kindly and tenderly if I can. I have a trust to discharge, +which my nature is not formed to understand, and, for this reason, +the bare fact of there being any love between them comes upon me +to-night, almost for the first time.' + +'I am more delighted than I can possibly tell you,' rejoined Mr +Chester with the utmost blandness, 'to find my own impression so +confirmed. You see the advantage of our having met. We understand +each other. We quite agree. We have a most complete and thorough +explanation, and we know what course to take.--Why don't you taste +your tenant's wine? It's really very good.' + +'Pray who,' said Mr Haredale, 'have aided Emma, or your son? Who +are their go-betweens, and agents--do you know?' + +'All the good people hereabouts--the neighbourhood in general, I +think,' returned the other, with his most affable smile. 'The +messenger I sent to you to-day, foremost among them all.' + +'The idiot? Barnaby?' + +'You are surprised? I am glad of that, for I was rather so myself. +Yes. I wrung that from his mother--a very decent sort of woman-- +from whom, indeed, I chiefly learnt how serious the matter had +become, and so determined to ride out here to-day, and hold a +parley with you on this neutral ground.--You're stouter than you +used to be, Haredale, but you look extremely well.' + +'Our business, I presume, is nearly at an end,' said Mr Haredale, +with an expression of impatience he was at no pains to conceal. +'Trust me, Mr Chester, my niece shall change from this time. I +will appeal,' he added in a lower tone, 'to her woman's heart, her +dignity, her pride, her duty--' + +'I shall do the same by Ned,' said Mr Chester, restoring some +errant faggots to their places in the grate with the toe of his +boot. 'If there is anything real in this world, it is those +amazingly fine feelings and those natural obligations which must +subsist between father and son. I shall put it to him on every +ground of moral and religious feeling. I shall represent to him +that we cannot possibly afford it--that I have always looked +forward to his marrying well, for a genteel provision for myself in +the autumn of life--that there are a great many clamorous dogs to +pay, whose claims are perfectly just and right, and who must be +paid out of his wife's fortune. In short, that the very highest +and most honourable feelings of our nature, with every +consideration of filial duty and affection, and all that sort of +thing, imperatively demand that he should run away with an +heiress.' + +'And break her heart as speedily as possible?' said Mr Haredale, +drawing on his glove. + +'There Ned will act exactly as he pleases,' returned the other, +sipping his wine; 'that's entirely his affair. I wouldn't for the +world interfere with my son, Haredale, beyond a certain point. The +relationship between father and son, you know, is positively quite +a holy kind of bond.--WON'T you let me persuade you to take one +glass of wine? Well! as you please, as you please,' he added, +helping himself again. + +'Chester,' said Mr Haredale, after a short silence, during which he +had eyed his smiling face from time to time intently, 'you have the +head and heart of an evil spirit in all matters of deception.' + +'Your health!' said the other, with a nod. 'But I have interrupted +you--' + +'If now,' pursued Mr Haredale, 'we should find it difficult to +separate these young people, and break off their intercourse--if, +for instance, you find it difficult on your side, what course do +you intend to take?' + +'Nothing plainer, my good fellow, nothing easier,' returned the +other, shrugging his shoulders and stretching himself more +comfortably before the fire. 'I shall then exert those powers on +which you flatter me so highly--though, upon my word, I don't +deserve your compliments to their full extent--and resort to a few +little trivial subterfuges for rousing jealousy and resentment. +You see?' + +'In short, justifying the means by the end, we are, as a last +resource for tearing them asunder, to resort to treachery and--and +lying,' said Mr Haredale. + +'Oh dear no. Fie, fie!' returned the other, relishing a pinch of +snuff extremely. 'Not lying. Only a little management, a little +diplomacy, a little--intriguing, that's the word.' + +'I wish,' said Mr Haredale, moving to and fro, and stopping, and +moving on again, like one who was ill at ease, 'that this could +have been foreseen or prevented. But as it has gone so far, and it +is necessary for us to act, it is of no use shrinking or +regretting. Well! I shall second your endeavours to the utmost of +my power. There is one topic in the whole wide range of human +thoughts on which we both agree. We shall act in concert, but +apart. There will be no need, I hope, for us to meet again.' + +'Are you going?' said Mr Chester, rising with a graceful indolence. +'Let me light you down the stairs.' + +'Pray keep your seat,' returned the other drily, 'I know the way. +So, waving his hand slightly, and putting on his hat as he turned +upon his heel, he went clanking out as he had come, shut the door +behind him, and tramped down the echoing stairs. + +'Pah! A very coarse animal, indeed!' said Mr Chester, composing +himself in the easy-chair again. 'A rough brute. Quite a human +badger!' + +John Willet and his friends, who had been listening intently for +the clash of swords, or firing of pistols in the great room, and +had indeed settled the order in which they should rush in when +summoned--in which procession old John had carefully arranged that +he should bring up the rear--were very much astonished to see Mr +Haredale come down without a scratch, call for his horse, and ride +away thoughtfully at a footpace. After some consideration, it was +decided that he had left the gentleman above, for dead, and had +adopted this stratagem to divert suspicion or pursuit. + +As this conclusion involved the necessity of their going upstairs +forthwith, they were about to ascend in the order they had agreed +upon, when a smart ringing at the guest's bell, as if he had pulled +it vigorously, overthrew all their speculations, and involved them +in great uncertainty and doubt. At length Mr Willet agreed to go +upstairs himself, escorted by Hugh and Barnaby, as the strongest +and stoutest fellows on the premises, who were to make their +appearance under pretence of clearing away the glasses. + +Under this protection, the brave and broad-faced John boldly +entered the room, half a foot in advance, and received an order for +a boot-jack without trembling. But when it was brought, and he +leant his sturdy shoulder to the guest, Mr Willet was observed to +look very hard into his boots as he pulled them off, and, by +opening his eyes much wider than usual, to appear to express some +surprise and disappointment at not finding them full of blood. He +took occasion, too, to examine the gentleman as closely as he +could, expecting to discover sundry loopholes in his person, +pierced by his adversary's sword. Finding none, however, and +observing in course of time that his guest was as cool and +unruffled, both in his dress and temper, as he had been all day, +old John at last heaved a deep sigh, and began to think no duel had +been fought that night. + +'And now, Willet,' said Mr Chester, 'if the room's well aired, I'll +try the merits of that famous bed.' + +'The room, sir,' returned John, taking up a candle, and nudging +Barnaby and Hugh to accompany them, in case the gentleman should +unexpectedly drop down faint or dead from some internal wound, 'the +room's as warm as any toast in a tankard. Barnaby, take you that +other candle, and go on before. Hugh! Follow up, sir, with the +easy-chair.' + +In this order--and still, in his earnest inspection, holding his +candle very close to the guest; now making him feel extremely warm +about the legs, now threatening to set his wig on fire, and +constantly begging his pardon with great awkwardness and +embarrassment--John led the party to the best bedroom, which was +nearly as large as the chamber from which they had come, and held, +drawn out near the fire for warmth, a great old spectral bedstead, +hung with faded brocade, and ornamented, at the top of each carved +post, with a plume of feathers that had once been white, but with +dust and age had now grown hearse-like and funereal. + +'Good night, my friends,' said Mr Chester with a sweet smile, +seating himself, when he had surveyed the room from end to end, in +the easy-chair which his attendants wheeled before the fire. 'Good +night! Barnaby, my good fellow, you say some prayers before you go +to bed, I hope?' + +Barnaby nodded. 'He has some nonsense that he calls his prayers, +sir,' returned old John, officiously. 'I'm afraid there an't much +good in em.' + +'And Hugh?' said Mr Chester, turning to him. + +'Not I,' he answered. 'I know his'--pointing to Barnaby--'they're +well enough. He sings 'em sometimes in the straw. I listen.' + +'He's quite a animal, sir,' John whispered in his ear with dignity. +'You'll excuse him, I'm sure. If he has any soul at all, sir, it +must be such a very small one, that it don't signify what he does +or doesn't in that way. Good night, sir!' + +The guest rejoined 'God bless you!' with a fervour that was quite +affecting; and John, beckoning his guards to go before, bowed +himself out of the room, and left him to his rest in the Maypole's +ancient bed. + + + +Chapter 13 + + +If Joseph Willet, the denounced and proscribed of 'prentices, had +happened to be at home when his father's courtly guest presented +himself before the Maypole door--that is, if it had not perversely +chanced to be one of the half-dozen days in the whole year on which +he was at liberty to absent himself for as many hours without +question or reproach--he would have contrived, by hook or crook, to +dive to the very bottom of Mr Chester's mystery, and to come at his +purpose with as much certainty as though he had been his +confidential adviser. In that fortunate case, the lovers would +have had quick warning of the ills that threatened them, and the +aid of various timely and wise suggestions to boot; for all Joe's +readiness of thought and action, and all his sympathies and good +wishes, were enlisted in favour of the young people, and were +staunch in devotion to their cause. Whether this disposition arose +out of his old prepossessions in favour of the young lady, whose +history had surrounded her in his mind, almost from his cradle, +with circumstances of unusual interest; or from his attachment +towards the young gentleman, into whose confidence he had, through +his shrewdness and alacrity, and the rendering of sundry important +services as a spy and messenger, almost imperceptibly glided; +whether they had their origin in either of these sources, or in the +habit natural to youth, or in the constant badgering and worrying +of his venerable parent, or in any hidden little love affair of his +own which gave him something of a fellow-feeling in the matter, it +is needless to inquire--especially as Joe was out of the way, and +had no opportunity on that particular occasion of testifying to his +sentiments either on one side or the other. + +It was, in fact, the twenty-fifth of March, which, as most people +know to their cost, is, and has been time out of mind, one of those +unpleasant epochs termed quarter-days. On this twenty-fifth of +March, it was John Willet's pride annually to settle, in hard cash, +his account with a certain vintner and distiller in the city of +London; to give into whose hands a canvas bag containing its exact +amount, and not a penny more or less, was the end and object of a +journey for Joe, so surely as the year and day came round. + +This journey was performed upon an old grey mare, concerning whom +John had an indistinct set of ideas hovering about him, to the +effect that she could win a plate or cup if she tried. She never +had tried, and probably never would now, being some fourteen or +fifteen years of age, short in wind, long in body, and rather the +worse for wear in respect of her mane and tail. Notwithstanding +these slight defects, John perfectly gloried in the animal; and +when she was brought round to the door by Hugh, actually retired +into the bar, and there, in a secret grove of lemons, laughed with +pride. + +'There's a bit of horseflesh, Hugh!' said John, when he had +recovered enough self-command to appear at the door again. +'There's a comely creature! There's high mettle! There's bone!' + +There was bone enough beyond all doubt; and so Hugh seemed to +think, as he sat sideways in the saddle, lazily doubled up with his +chin nearly touching his knees; and heedless of the dangling +stirrups and loose bridle-rein, sauntered up and down on the little +green before the door. + +'Mind you take good care of her, sir,' said John, appealing from +this insensible person to his son and heir, who now appeared, fully +equipped and ready. 'Don't you ride hard.' + +'I should be puzzled to do that, I think, father,' Joe replied, +casting a disconsolate look at the animal. + +'None of your impudence, sir, if you please,' retorted old John. +'What would you ride, sir? A wild ass or zebra would be too tame +for you, wouldn't he, eh sir? You'd like to ride a roaring lion, +wouldn't you, sir, eh sir? Hold your tongue, sir.' When Mr +Willet, in his differences with his son, had exhausted all the +questions that occurred to him, and Joe had said nothing at all in +answer, he generally wound up by bidding him hold his tongue. + +'And what does the boy mean,' added Mr Willet, after he had stared +at him for a little time, in a species of stupefaction, 'by cocking +his hat, to such an extent! Are you going to kill the wintner, sir?' + +'No,' said Joe, tartly; 'I'm not. Now your mind's at ease, +father.' + +'With a milintary air, too!' said Mr Willet, surveying him from top +to toe; 'with a swaggering, fire-eating, biling-water drinking +sort of way with him! And what do you mean by pulling up the +crocuses and snowdrops, eh sir?' + +'It's only a little nosegay,' said Joe, reddening. 'There's no +harm in that, I hope?' + +'You're a boy of business, you are, sir!' said Mr Willet, +disdainfully, 'to go supposing that wintners care for nosegays.' + +'I don't suppose anything of the kind,' returned Joe. 'Let them +keep their red noses for bottles and tankards. These are going to +Mr Varden's house.' + +'And do you suppose HE minds such things as crocuses?' demanded +John. + +'I don't know, and to say the truth, I don't care,' said Joe. +'Come, father, give me the money, and in the name of patience let +me go.' + +'There it is, sir,' replied John; 'and take care of it; and mind +you don't make too much haste back, but give the mare a long rest.-- +Do you mind?' + +'Ay, I mind,' returned Joe. 'She'll need it, Heaven knows.' + +'And don't you score up too much at the Black Lion,' said John. +'Mind that too.' + +'Then why don't you let me have some money of my own?' retorted +Joe, sorrowfully; 'why don't you, father? What do you send me into +London for, giving me only the right to call for my dinner at the +Black Lion, which you're to pay for next time you go, as if I was +not to be trusted with a few shillings? Why do you use me like +this? It's not right of you. You can't expect me to be quiet +under it.' + +'Let him have money!' cried John, in a drowsy reverie. 'What does +he call money--guineas? Hasn't he got money? Over and above the +tolls, hasn't he one and sixpence?' + +'One and sixpence!' repeated his son contemptuously. + +'Yes, sir,' returned John, 'one and sixpence. When I was your age, +I had never seen so much money, in a heap. A shilling of it is in +case of accidents--the mare casting a shoe, or the like of that. +The other sixpence is to spend in the diversions of London; and the +diversion I recommend is going to the top of the Monument, and +sitting there. There's no temptation there, sir--no drink--no +young women--no bad characters of any sort--nothing but imagination. +That's the way I enjoyed myself when I was your age, sir.' + +To this, Joe made no answer, but beckoning Hugh, leaped into the +saddle and rode away; and a very stalwart, manly horseman he +looked, deserving a better charger than it was his fortune to +bestride. John stood staring after him, or rather after the grey +mare (for he had no eyes for her rider), until man and beast had +been out of sight some twenty minutes, when he began to think they +were gone, and slowly re-entering the house, fell into a gentle doze. + +The unfortunate grey mare, who was the agony of Joe's life, +floundered along at her own will and pleasure until the Maypole was +no longer visible, and then, contracting her legs into what in a +puppet would have been looked upon as a clumsy and awkward +imitation of a canter, mended her pace all at once, and did it of +her own accord. The acquaintance with her rider's usual mode of +proceeding, which suggested this improvement in hers, impelled her +likewise to turn up a bye-way, leading--not to London, but through +lanes running parallel with the road they had come, and passing +within a few hundred yards of the Maypole, which led finally to an +inclosure surrounding a large, old, red-brick mansion--the same of +which mention was made as the Warren in the first chapter of this +history. Coming to a dead stop in a little copse thereabout, she +suffered her rider to dismount with right goodwill, and to tie her +to the trunk of a tree. + +'Stay there, old girl,' said Joe, 'and let us see whether there's +any little commission for me to-day.' So saying, he left her to +browze upon such stunted grass and weeds as happened to grow within +the length of her tether, and passing through a wicket gate, +entered the grounds on foot. + +The pathway, after a very few minutes' walking, brought him close +to the house, towards which, and especially towards one particular +window, he directed many covert glances. It was a dreary, silent +building, with echoing courtyards, desolated turret-chambers, and +whole suites of rooms shut up and mouldering to ruin. + +The terrace-garden, dark with the shade of overhanging trees, had +an air of melancholy that was quite oppressive. Great iron gates, +disused for many years, and red with rust, drooping on their hinges +and overgrown with long rank grass, seemed as though they tried to +sink into the ground, and hide their fallen state among the +friendly weeds. The fantastic monsters on the walls, green with +age and damp, and covered here and there with moss, looked grim and +desolate. There was a sombre aspect even on that part of the +mansion which was inhabited and kept in good repair, that struck +the beholder with a sense of sadness; of something forlorn and +failing, whence cheerfulness was banished. It would have been +difficult to imagine a bright fire blazing in the dull and darkened +rooms, or to picture any gaiety of heart or revelry that the +frowning walls shut in. It seemed a place where such things had +been, but could be no more--the very ghost of a house, haunting the +old spot in its old outward form, and that was all. + +Much of this decayed and sombre look was attributable, no doubt, to +the death of its former master, and the temper of its present +occupant; but remembering the tale connected with the mansion, it +seemed the very place for such a deed, and one that might have been +its predestined theatre years upon years ago. Viewed with +reference to this legend, the sheet of water where the steward's +body had been found appeared to wear a black and sullen character, +such as no other pool might own; the bell upon the roof that had +told the tale of murder to the midnight wind, became a very phantom +whose voice would raise the listener's hair on end; and every +leafless bough that nodded to another, had its stealthy whispering +of the crime. + +Joe paced up and down the path, sometimes stopping in affected +contemplation of the building or the prospect, sometimes leaning +against a tree with an assumed air of idleness and indifference, +but always keeping an eye upon the window he had singled out at +first. After some quarter of an hour's delay, a small white hand +was waved to him for an instant from this casement, and the young +man, with a respectful bow, departed; saying under his breath as he +crossed his horse again, 'No errand for me to-day!' + +But the air of smartness, the cock of the hat to which John Willet +had objected, and the spring nosegay, all betokened some little +errand of his own, having a more interesting object than a vintner +or even a locksmith. So, indeed, it turned out; for when he had +settled with the vintner--whose place of business was down in some +deep cellars hard by Thames Street, and who was as purple-faced an +old gentleman as if he had all his life supported their arched roof +on his head--when he had settled the account, and taken the +receipt, and declined tasting more than three glasses of old +sherry, to the unbounded astonishment of the purple-faced vintner, +who, gimlet in hand, had projected an attack upon at least a score +of dusty casks, and who stood transfixed, or morally gimleted as it +were, to his own wall--when he had done all this, and disposed +besides of a frugal dinner at the Black Lion in Whitechapel; +spurning the Monument and John's advice, he turned his steps +towards the locksmith's house, attracted by the eyes of blooming +Dolly Varden. + +Joe was by no means a sheepish fellow, but, for all that, when he +got to the corner of the street in which the locksmith lived, he +could by no means make up his mind to walk straight to the house. +First, he resolved to stroll up another street for five minutes, +then up another street for five minutes more, and so on until he +had lost full half an hour, when he made a bold plunge and found +himself with a red face and a beating heart in the smoky workshop. + +'Joe Willet, or his ghost?' said Varden, rising from the desk at +which he was busy with his books, and looking at him under his +spectacles. 'Which is it? Joe in the flesh, eh? That's hearty. +And how are all the Chigwell company, Joe?' + +'Much as usual, sir--they and I agree as well as ever.' + +'Well, well!' said the locksmith. 'We must be patient, Joe, and +bear with old folks' foibles. How's the mare, Joe? Does she do +the four miles an hour as easily as ever? Ha, ha, ha! Does she, +Joe? Eh!--What have we there, Joe--a nosegay!' + +'A very poor one, sir--I thought Miss Dolly--' + +'No, no,' said Gabriel, dropping his voice, and shaking his head, +'not Dolly. Give 'em to her mother, Joe. A great deal better give +'em to her mother. Would you mind giving 'em to Mrs Varden, Joe?' + +'Oh no, sir,' Joe replied, and endeavouring, but not with the +greatest possible success, to hide his disappointment. 'I shall be +very glad, I'm sure.' + +'That's right,' said the locksmith, patting him on the back. 'It +don't matter who has 'em, Joe?' + +'Not a bit, sir.'--Dear heart, how the words stuck in his throat! + +'Come in,' said Gabriel. 'I have just been called to tea. She's +in the parlour.' + +'She,' thought Joe. 'Which of 'em I wonder--Mrs or Miss?' The +locksmith settled the doubt as neatly as if it had been expressed +aloud, by leading him to the door, and saying, 'Martha, my dear, +here's young Mr Willet.' + +Now, Mrs Varden, regarding the Maypole as a sort of human mantrap, +or decoy for husbands; viewing its proprietor, and all who aided +and abetted him, in the light of so many poachers among Christian +men; and believing, moreover, that the publicans coupled with +sinners in Holy Writ were veritable licensed victuallers; was far +from being favourably disposed towards her visitor. Wherefore she +was taken faint directly; and being duly presented with the +crocuses and snowdrops, divined on further consideration that they +were the occasion of the languor which had seized upon her spirits. +'I'm afraid I couldn't bear the room another minute,' said the good +lady, 'if they remained here. WOULD you excuse my putting them out +of window?' + +Joe begged she wouldn't mention it on any account, and smiled +feebly as he saw them deposited on the sill outside. If anybody +could have known the pains he had taken to make up that despised +and misused bunch of flowers!-- + +'I feel it quite a relief to get rid of them, I assure you,' said +Mrs Varden. 'I'm better already.' And indeed she did appear to +have plucked up her spirits. + +Joe expressed his gratitude to Providence for this favourable +dispensation, and tried to look as if he didn't wonder where +Dolly was. + +'You're sad people at Chigwell, Mr Joseph,' said Mrs V. + +'I hope not, ma'am,' returned Joe. + +'You're the cruellest and most inconsiderate people in the world,' +said Mrs Varden, bridling. 'I wonder old Mr Willet, having been a +married man himself, doesn't know better than to conduct himself as +he does. His doing it for profit is no excuse. I would rather +pay the money twenty times over, and have Varden come home like a +respectable and sober tradesman. If there is one character,' said +Mrs Varden with great emphasis, 'that offends and disgusts me more +than another, it is a sot.' + +'Come, Martha, my dear,' said the locksmith cheerily, 'let us have +tea, and don't let us talk about sots. There are none here, and +Joe don't want to hear about them, I dare say.' + +At this crisis, Miggs appeared with toast. + +'I dare say he does not,' said Mrs Varden; 'and I dare say you do +not, Varden. It's a very unpleasant subiect, I have no doubt, +though I won't say it's personal'--Miggs coughed--'whatever I may +be forced to think'--Miggs sneezed expressively. 'You never will +know, Varden, and nobody at young Mr Willet's age--you'll excuse +me, sir--can be expected to know, what a woman suffers when she is +waiting at home under such circumstances. If you don't believe me, +as I know you don't, here's Miggs, who is only too often a witness +of it--ask her.' + +'Oh! she were very bad the other night, sir, indeed she were, said +Miggs. 'If you hadn't the sweetness of an angel in you, mim, I +don't think you could abear it, I raly don't.' + +'Miggs,' said Mrs Varden, 'you're profane.' + +'Begging your pardon, mim,' returned Miggs, with shrill rapidity, +'such was not my intentions, and such I hope is not my character, +though I am but a servant.' + +'Answering me, Miggs, and providing yourself,' retorted her +mistress, looking round with dignity, 'is one and the same thing. +How dare you speak of angels in connection with your sinful +fellow-beings--mere'--said Mrs Varden, glancing at herself in a +neighbouring mirror, and arranging the ribbon of her cap in a more +becoming fashion--'mere worms and grovellers as we are!' + +'I did not intend, mim, if you please, to give offence,' said +Miggs, confident in the strength of her compliment, and developing +strongly in the throat as usual, 'and I did not expect it would be +took as such. I hope I know my own unworthiness, and that I hate +and despise myself and all my fellow-creatures as every practicable +Christian should.' + +'You'll have the goodness, if you please,' said Mrs Varden, +loftily, 'to step upstairs and see if Dolly has finished dressing, +and to tell her that the chair that was ordered for her will be +here in a minute, and that if she keeps it waiting, I shall send it +away that instant.--I'm sorry to see that you don't take your tea, +Varden, and that you don't take yours, Mr Joseph; though of course +it would be foolish of me to expect that anything that can be had +at home, and in the company of females, would please YOU.' + +This pronoun was understood in the plural sense, and included both +gentlemen, upon both of whom it was rather hard and undeserved, +for Gabriel had applied himself to the meal with a very promising +appetite, until it was spoilt by Mrs Varden herself, and Joe had as +great a liking for the female society of the locksmith's house--or +for a part of it at all events--as man could well entertain. + +But he had no opportunity to say anything in his own defence, for +at that moment Dolly herself appeared, and struck him quite dumb +with her beauty. Never had Dolly looked so handsome as she did +then, in all the glow and grace of youth, with all her charms +increased a hundredfold by a most becoming dress, by a thousand +little coquettish ways which nobody could assume with a better +grace, and all the sparkling expectation of that accursed party. +It is impossible to tell how Joe hated that party wherever it was, +and all the other people who were going to it, whoever they were. + +And she hardly looked at him--no, hardly looked at him. And when +the chair was seen through the open door coming blundering into the +workshop, she actually clapped her hands and seemed glad to go. +But Joe gave her his arm--there was some comfort in that--and +handed her into it. To see her seat herself inside, with her +laughing eyes brighter than diamonds, and her hand--surely she had +the prettiest hand in the world--on the ledge of the open window, +and her little finger provokingly and pertly tilted up, as if it +wondered why Joe didn't squeeze or kiss it! To think how well one +or two of the modest snowdrops would have become that delicate +bodice, and how they were lying neglected outside the parlour +window! To see how Miggs looked on with a face expressive of +knowing how all this loveliness was got up, and of being in the +secret of every string and pin and hook and eye, and of saying it +ain't half as real as you think, and I could look quite as well +myself if I took the pains! To hear that provoking precious little +scream when the chair was hoisted on its poles, and to catch that +transient but not-to-be-forgotten vision of the happy face within-- +what torments and aggravations, and yet what delights were these! +The very chairmen seemed favoured rivals as they bore her down the +street. + +There never was such an alteration in a small room in a small time +as in that parlour when they went back to finish tea. So dark, so +deserted, so perfectly disenchanted. It seemed such sheer nonsense +to be sitting tamely there, when she was at a dance with more +lovers than man could calculate fluttering about her--with the +whole party doting on and adoring her, and wanting to marry her. +Miggs was hovering about too; and the fact of her existence, the +mere circumstance of her ever having been born, appeared, after +Dolly, such an unaccountable practical joke. It was impossible to +talk. It couldn't be done. He had nothing left for it but to stir +his tea round, and round, and round, and ruminate on all the +fascinations of the locksmith's lovely daughter. + +Gabriel was dull too. It was a part of the certain uncertainty of +Mrs Varden's temper, that when they were in this condition, she +should be gay and sprightly. + +'I need have a cheerful disposition, I am sure,' said the smiling +housewife, 'to preserve any spirits at all; and how I do it I can +scarcely tell.' + +'Ah, mim,' sighed Miggs, 'begging your pardon for the interruption, +there an't a many like you.' + +'Take away, Miggs,' said Mrs Varden, rising, 'take away, pray. I +know I'm a restraint here, and as I wish everybody to enjoy +themselves as they best can, I feel I had better go.' + +'No, no, Martha,' cried the locksmith. 'Stop here. I'm sure we +shall be very sorry to lose you, eh Joe!' Joe started, and said +'Certainly.' + +'Thank you, Varden, my dear,' returned his wife; 'but I know your +wishes better. Tobacco and beer, or spirits, have much greater +attractions than any I can boast of, and therefore I shall go and +sit upstairs and look out of window, my love. Good night, Mr +Joseph. I'm very glad to have seen you, and I only wish I could +have provided something more suitable to your taste. Remember me +very kindly if you please to old Mr Willet, and tell him that +whenever he comes here I have a crow to pluck with him. Good +night!' + +Having uttered these words with great sweetness of manner, the good +lady dropped a curtsey remarkable for its condescension, and +serenely withdrew. + +And it was for this Joe had looked forward to the twenty-fifth of +March for weeks and weeks, and had gathered the flowers with so +much care, and had cocked his hat, and made himself so smart! This +was the end of all his bold determination, resolved upon for the +hundredth time, to speak out to Dolly and tell her how he loved +her! To see her for a minute--for but a minute--to find her going +out to a party and glad to go; to be looked upon as a common pipe- +smoker, beer-bibber, spirit-guzzler, and tosspot! He bade +farewell to his friend the locksmith, and hastened to take horse at +the Black Lion, thinking as he turned towards home, as many another +Joe has thought before and since, that here was an end to all his +hopes--that the thing was impossible and never could be--that she +didn't care for him--that he was wretched for life--and that the +only congenial prospect left him, was to go for a soldier or a +sailor, and get some obliging enemy to knock his brains out as +soon as possible. + + + +Chapter 14 + + +Joe Willet rode leisurely along in his desponding mood, picturing +the locksmith's daughter going down long country-dances, and +poussetting dreadfully with bold strangers--which was almost too +much to bear--when he heard the tramp of a horse's feet behind him, +and looking back, saw a well-mounted gentleman advancing at a +smart canter. As this rider passed, he checked his steed, and +called him of the Maypole by his name. Joe set spurs to the grey +mare, and was at his side directly. + +'I thought it was you, sir,' he said, touching his hat. 'A fair +evening, sir. Glad to see you out of doors again.' + +The gentleman smiled and nodded. 'What gay doings have been going +on to-day, Joe? Is she as pretty as ever? Nay, don't blush, man.' + +'If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,' said Joe, 'which I didn't know I +did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have +any hope of her. She's as far out of my reach as--as Heaven is.' + +'Well, Joe, I hope that's not altogether beyond it,' said Edward, +good-humouredly. 'Eh?' + +'Ah!' sighed Joe. 'It's all very fine talking, sir. Proverbs are +easily made in cold blood. But it can't be helped. Are you bound +for our house, sir?' + +'Yes. As I am not quite strong yet, I shall stay there to-night, +and ride home coolly in the morning.' + +'If you're in no particular hurry,' said Joe after a short silence, +'and will bear with the pace of this poor jade, I shall be glad to +ride on with you to the Warren, sir, and hold your horse when you +dismount. It'll save you having to walk from the Maypole, there +and back again. I can spare the time well, sir, for I am too soon.' + +'And so am I,' returned Edward, 'though I was unconsciously riding +fast just now, in compliment I suppose to the pace of my thoughts, +which were travelling post. We will keep together, Joe, willingly, +and be as good company as may be. And cheer up, cheer up, think of +the locksmith's daughter with a stout heart, and you shall win her +yet.' + +Joe shook his head; but there was something so cheery in the +buoyant hopeful manner of this speech, that his spirits rose under +its influence, and communicated as it would seem some new impulse +even to the grey mare, who, breaking from her sober amble into a +gentle trot, emulated the pace of Edward Chester's horse, and +appeared to flatter herself that he was doing his very best. + +It was a fine dry night, and the light of a young moon, which was +then just rising, shed around that peace and tranquillity which +gives to evening time its most delicious charm. The lengthened +shadows of the trees, softened as if reflected in still water, +threw their carpet on the path the travellers pursued, and the +light wind stirred yet more softly than before, as though it were +soothing Nature in her sleep. By little and little they ceased +talking, and rode on side by side in a pleasant silence. + +'The Maypole lights are brilliant to-night,' said Edward, as they +rode along the lane from which, while the intervening trees were +bare of leaves, that hostelry was visible. + +'Brilliant indeed, sir,' returned Joe, rising in his stirrups to +get a better view. 'Lights in the large room, and a fire +glimmering in the best bedchamber? Why, what company can this be +for, I wonder!' + +'Some benighted horseman wending towards London, and deterred from +going on to-night by the marvellous tales of my friend the +highwayman, I suppose,' said Edward. + +'He must be a horseman of good quality to have such accommodations. +Your bed too, sir--!' + +'No matter, Joe. Any other room will do for me. But come--there's +nine striking. We may push on.' + +They cantered forward at as brisk a pace as Joe's charger could +attain, and presently stopped in the little copse where he had left +her in the morning. Edward dismounted, gave his bridle to his +companion, and walked with a light step towards the house. + +A female servant was waiting at a side gate in the garden-wall, and +admitted him without delay. He hurried along the terrace-walk, and +darted up a flight of broad steps leading into an old and gloomy +hall, whose walls were ornamented with rusty suits of armour, +antlers, weapons of the chase, and suchlike garniture. Here he +paused, but not long; for as he looked round, as if expecting the +attendant to have followed, and wondering she had not done so, a +lovely girl appeared, whose dark hair next moment rested on his +breast. Almost at the same instant a heavy hand was laid upon her +arm, Edward felt himself thrust away, and Mr Haredale stood between +them. + +He regarded the young man sternly without removing his hat; with +one hand clasped his niece, and with the other, in which he held +his riding-whip, motioned him towards the door. The young man drew +himself up, and returned his gaze. + +'This is well done of you, sir, to corrupt my servants, and enter +my house unbidden and in secret, like a thief!' said Mr Haredale. +'Leave it, sir, and return no more.' + +'Miss Haredale's presence,' returned the young man, 'and your +relationship to her, give you a licence which, if you are a brave +man, you will not abuse. You have compelled me to this course, +and the fault is yours--not mine.' + +'It is neither generous, nor honourable, nor the act of a true +man, sir,' retorted the other, 'to tamper with the affections of a +weak, trusting girl, while you shrink, in your unworthiness, from +her guardian and protector, and dare not meet the light of day. +More than this I will not say to you, save that I forbid you this +house, and require you to be gone.' + +'It is neither generous, nor honourable, nor the act of a true man +to play the spy,' said Edward. 'Your words imply dishonour, and I +reject them with the scorn they merit.' + +'You will find,' said Mr Haredale, calmly, 'your trusty go-between +in waiting at the gate by which you entered. I have played no +spy's part, sir. I chanced to see you pass the gate, and +followed. You might have heard me knocking for admission, had you +been less swift of foot, or lingered in the garden. Please to +withdraw. Your presence here is offensive to me and distressful to +my niece.' As he said these words, he passed his arm about the +waist of the terrified and weeping girl, and drew her closer to +him; and though the habitual severity of his manner was scarcely +changed, there was yet apparent in the action an air of kindness +and sympathy for her distress. + +'Mr Haredale,' said Edward, 'your arm encircles her on whom I have +set my every hope and thought, and to purchase one minute's +happiness for whom I would gladly lay down my life; this house is +the casket that holds the precious jewel of my existence. Your +niece has plighted her faith to me, and I have plighted mine to +her. What have I done that you should hold me in this light +esteem, and give me these discourteous words?' + +'You have done that, sir,' answered Mr Haredale, 'which must he +undone. You have tied a lover'-knot here which must be cut +asunder. Take good heed of what I say. Must. I cancel the bond +between ye. I reject you, and all of your kith and kin--all the +false, hollow, heartless stock.' + +'High words, sir,' said Edward, scornfully. + +'Words of purpose and meaning, as you will find,' replied the +other. 'Lay them to heart.' + +'Lay you then, these,' said Edward. 'Your cold and sullen temper, +which chills every breast about you, which turns affection into +fear, and changes duty into dread, has forced us on this secret +course, repugnant to our nature and our wish, and far more foreign, +sir, to us than you. I am not a false, a hollow, or a heartless +man; the character is yours, who poorly venture on these injurious +terms, against the truth, and under the shelter whereof I reminded +you just now. You shall not cancel the bond between us. I will +not abandon this pursuit. I rely upon your niece's truth and +honour, and set your influence at nought. I leave her with a +confidence in her pure faith, which you will never weaken, and with +no concern but that I do not leave her in some gentler care.' + +With that, he pressed her cold hand to his lips, and once more +encountering and returning Mr Haredale's steady look, withdrew. + +A few words to Joe as he mounted his horse sufficiently explained +what had passed, and renewed all that young gentleman's despondency +with tenfold aggravation. They rode back to the Maypole without +exchanging a syllable, and arrived at the door with heavy hearts. + +Old John, who had peeped from behind the red curtain as they rode +up shouting for Hugh, was out directly, and said with great +importance as he held the young man's stirrup, + +'He's comfortable in bed--the best bed. A thorough gentleman; the +smilingest, affablest gentleman I ever had to do with.' + +'Who, Willet?' said Edward carelessly, as he dismounted. + +'Your worthy father, sir,' replied John. 'Your honourable, +venerable father.' + +'What does he mean?' said Edward, looking with a mixture of alarm +and doubt, at Joe. + +'What DO you mean?' said Joe. 'Don't you see Mr Edward doesn't +understand, father?' + +'Why, didn't you know of it, sir?' said John, opening his eyes +wide. 'How very singular! Bless you, he's been here ever since +noon to-day, and Mr Haredale has been having a long talk with him, +and hasn't been gone an hour.' + +'My father, Willet!' + +'Yes, sir, he told me so--a handsome, slim, upright gentleman, in +green-and-gold. In your old room up yonder, sir. No doubt you +can go in, sir,' said John, walking backwards into the road and +looking up at the window. 'He hasn't put out his candles yet, I +see.' + +Edward glanced at the window also, and hastily murmuring that he +had changed his mind--forgotten something--and must return to +London, mounted his horse again and rode away; leaving the Willets, +father and son, looking at each other in mute astonishment. + + + +Chapter 15 + + +At noon next day, John Willet's guest sat lingering over his +breakfast in his own home, surrounded by a variety of comforts, +which left the Maypole's highest flight and utmost stretch of +accommodation at an infinite distance behind, and suggested +comparisons very much to the disadvantage and disfavour of that +venerable tavern. + +In the broad old-fashioned window-seat--as capacious as many modern +sofas, and cushioned to serve the purpose of a luxurious settee--in +the broad old-fashioned window-seat of a roomy chamber, Mr Chester +lounged, very much at his ease, over a well-furnished breakfast- +table. He had exchanged his riding-coat for a handsome morning- +gown, his boots for slippers; had been at great pains to atone for +the having been obliged to make his toilet when he rose without the +aid of dressing-case and tiring equipage; and, having gradually +forgotten through these means the discomforts of an indifferent +night and an early ride, was in a state of perfect complacency, +indolence, and satisfaction. + +The situation in which he found himself, indeed, was particularly +favourable to the growth of these feelings; for, not to mention the +lazy influence of a late and lonely breakfast, with the additional +sedative of a newspaper, there was an air of repose about his place +of residence peculiar to itself, and which hangs about it, even in +these times, when it is more bustling and busy than it was in days +of yore. + +There are, still, worse places than the Temple, on a sultry day, +for basking in the sun, or resting idly in the shade. There is yet +a drowsiness in its courts, and a dreamy dulness in its trees and +gardens; those who pace its lanes and squares may yet hear the +echoes of their footsteps on the sounding stones, and read upon its +gates, in passing from the tumult of the Strand or Fleet Street, +'Who enters here leaves noise behind.' There is still the plash of +falling water in fair Fountain Court, and there are yet nooks and +corners where dun-haunted students may look down from their dusty +garrets, on a vagrant ray of sunlight patching the shade of the +tall houses, and seldom troubled to reflect a passing stranger's +form. There is yet, in the Temple, something of a clerkly monkish +atmosphere, which public offices of law have not disturbed, and +even legal firms have failed to scare away. In summer time, its +pumps suggest to thirsty idlers, springs cooler, and more +sparkling, and deeper than other wells; and as they trace the +spillings of full pitchers on the heated ground, they snuff the +freshness, and, sighing, cast sad looks towards the Thames, and +think of baths and boats, and saunter on, despondent. + +It was in a room in Paper Buildings--a row of goodly tenements, +shaded in front by ancient trees, and looking, at the back, upon +the Temple Gardens--that this, our idler, lounged; now taking up +again the paper he had laid down a hundred times; now trifling with +the fragments of his meal; now pulling forth his golden toothpick, +and glancing leisurely about the room, or out at window into the +trim garden walks, where a few early loiterers were already pacing +to and fro. Here a pair of lovers met to quarrel and make up; +there a dark-eyed nursery-maid had better eyes for Templars than +her charge; on this hand an ancient spinster, with her lapdog in a +string, regarded both enormities with scornful sidelong looks; on +that a weazen old gentleman, ogling the nursery-maid, looked with +like scorn upon the spinster, and wondered she didn't know she was +no longer young. Apart from all these, on the river's margin two +or three couple of business-talkers walked slowly up and down in +earnest conversation; and one young man sat thoughtfully on a +bench, alone. + +'Ned is amazingly patient!' said Mr Chester, glancing at this last- +named person as he set down his teacup and plied the golden +toothpick, 'immensely patient! He was sitting yonder when I began +to dress, and has scarcely changed his posture since. A most +eccentric dog!' + +As he spoke, the figure rose, and came towards him with a rapid +pace. + +'Really, as if he had heard me,' said the father, resuming his +newspaper with a yawn. 'Dear Ned!' + +Presently the room-door opened, and the young man entered; to whom +his father gently waved his hand, and smiled. + +'Are you at leisure for a little conversation, sir?' said Edward. + +'Surely, Ned. I am always at leisure. You know my constitution.-- +Have you breakfasted?' + +'Three hours ago.' + +'What a very early dog!' cried his father, contemplating him from +behind the toothpick, with a languid smile. + +'The truth is,' said Edward, bringing a chair forward, and seating +himself near the table, 'that I slept but ill last night, and was +glad to rise. The cause of my uneasiness cannot but be known to +you, sir; and it is upon that I wish to speak.' + +'My dear boy,' returned his father, 'confide in me, I beg. But you +know my constitution--don't be prosy, Ned.' + +'I will be plain, and brief,' said Edward. + +'Don't say you will, my good fellow,' returned his father, crossing +his legs, 'or you certainly will not. You are going to tell me'-- + +'Plainly this, then,' said the son, with an air of great concern, +'that I know where you were last night--from being on the spot, +indeed--and whom you saw, and what your purpose was.' + +'You don't say so!' cried his father. 'I am delighted to hear it. +It saves us the worry, and terrible wear and tear of a long +explanation, and is a great relief for both. At the very house! +Why didn't you come up? I should have been charmed to see you.' + +'I knew that what I had to say would be better said after a night's +reflection, when both of us were cool,' returned the son. + +''Fore Gad, Ned,' rejoined the father, 'I was cool enough last +night. That detestable Maypole! By some infernal contrivance of +the builder, it holds the wind, and keeps it fresh. You remember +the sharp east wind that blew so hard five weeks ago? I give you +my honour it was rampant in that old house last night, though out +of doors there was a dead calm. But you were saying'-- + +'I was about to say, Heaven knows how seriously and earnestly, that +you have made me wretched, sir. Will you hear me gravely for a +moment?' + +'My dear Ned,' said his father, 'I will hear you with the patience +of an anchorite. Oblige me with the milk.' + +'I saw Miss Haredale last night,' Edward resumed, when he had +complied with this request; 'her uncle, in her presence, +immediately after your interview, and, as of course I know, in +consequence of it, forbade me the house, and, with circumstances of +indignity which are of your creation I am sure, commanded me to +leave it on the instant.' + +'For his manner of doing so, I give you my honour, Ned, I am not +accountable,' said his father. 'That you must excuse. He is a +mere boor, a log, a brute, with no address in life.--Positively a +fly in the jug. The first I have seen this year.' + +Edward rose, and paced the room. His imperturbable parent sipped +his tea. + +'Father,' said the young man, stopping at length before him, 'we +must not trifle in this matter. We must not deceive each other, or +ourselves. Let me pursue the manly open part I wish to take, and +do not repel me by this unkind indifference.' + +'Whether I am indifferent or no,' returned the other, 'I leave you, +my dear boy, to judge. A ride of twenty-five or thirty miles, +through miry roads--a Maypole dinner--a tete-a-tete with Haredale, +which, vanity apart, was quite a Valentine and Orson business--a +Maypole bed--a Maypole landlord, and a Maypole retinue of idiots +and centaurs;--whether the voluntary endurance of these things +looks like indifference, dear Ned, or like the excessive anxiety, +and devotion, and all that sort of thing, of a parent, you shall +determine for yourself.' + +'I wish you to consider, sir,' said Edward, 'in what a cruel +situation I am placed. Loving Miss Haredale as I do'-- + +'My dear fellow,' interrupted his father with a compassionate +smile, 'you do nothing of the kind. You don't know anything about +it. There's no such thing, I assure you. Now, do take my word for +it. You have good sense, Ned,--great good sense. I wonder you +should be guilty of such amazing absurdities. You really surprise +me.' + +'I repeat,' said his son firmly, 'that I love her. You have +interposed to part us, and have, to the extent I have just now told +you of, succeeded. May I induce you, sir, in time, to think more +favourably of our attachment, or is it your intention and your +fixed design to hold us asunder if you can?' + +'My dear Ned,' returned his father, taking a pinch of snuff and +pushing his box towards him, 'that is my purpose most undoubtedly.' + +'The time that has elapsed,' rejoined his son, 'since I began to +know her worth, has flown in such a dream that until now I have +hardly once paused to reflect upon my true position. What is it? +From my childhood I have been accustomed to luxury and idleness, +and have been bred as though my fortune were large, and my +expectations almost without a limit. The idea of wealth has been +familiarised to me from my cradle. I have been taught to look upon +those means, by which men raise themselves to riches and +distinction, as being beyond my heeding, and beneath my care. I +have been, as the phrase is, liberally educated, and am fit for +nothing. I find myself at last wholly dependent upon you, with no +resource but in your favour. In this momentous question of my life +we do not, and it would seem we never can, agree. I have shrunk +instinctively alike from those to whom you have urged me to pay +court, and from the motives of interest and gain which have +rendered them in your eyes visible objects for my suit. If there +never has been thus much plain-speaking between us before, sir, the +fault has not been mine, indeed. If I seem to speak too plainly +now, it is, believe me father, in the hope that there may be a +franker spirit, a worthier reliance, and a kinder confidence +between us in time to come.' + +'My good fellow,' said his smiling father, 'you quite affect me. +Go on, my dear Edward, I beg. But remember your promise. There is +great earnestness, vast candour, a manifest sincerity in all you +say, but I fear I observe the faintest indications of a tendency to +prose.' + +'I am very sorry, sir.' + +'I am very sorry, too, Ned, but you know that I cannot fix my mind +for any long period upon one subject. If you'll come to the point +at once, I'll imagine all that ought to go before, and conclude it +said. Oblige me with the milk again. Listening, invariably makes +me feverish.' + +'What I would say then, tends to this,' said Edward. 'I cannot +bear this absolute dependence, sir, even upon you. Time has been +lost and opportunity thrown away, but I am yet a young man, and may +retrieve it. Will you give me the means of devoting such abilities +and energies as I possess, to some worthy pursuit? Will you let me +try to make for myself an honourable path in life? For any term +you please to name--say for five years if you will--I will pledge +myself to move no further in the matter of our difference without +your fall concurrence. During that period, I will endeavour +earnestly and patiently, if ever man did, to open some prospect for +myself, and free you from the burden you fear I should become if I +married one whose worth and beauty are her chief endowments. Will +you do this, sir? At the expiration of the term we agree upon, let +us discuss this subject again. Till then, unless it is revived by +you, let it never be renewed between us.' + +'My dear Ned,' returned his father, laying down the newspaper at +which he had been glancing carelessly, and throwing himself back in +the window-seat, 'I believe you know how very much I dislike what +are called family affairs, which are only fit for plebeian +Christmas days, and have no manner of business with people of our +condition. But as you are proceeding upon a mistake, Ned-- +altogether upon a mistake--I will conquer my repugnance to entering +on such matters, and give you a perfectly plain and candid answer, +if you will do me the favour to shut the door.' + +Edward having obeyed him, he took an elegant little knife from his +pocket, and paring his nails, continued: + +'You have to thank me, Ned, for being of good family; for your +mother, charming person as she was, and almost broken-hearted, and +so forth, as she left me, when she was prematurely compelled to +become immortal--had nothing to boast of in that respect.' + +'Her father was at least an eminent lawyer, sir,' said Edward. + +'Quite right, Ned; perfectly so. He stood high at the bar, had a +great name and great wealth, but having risen from nothing--I have +always closed my eyes to the circumstance and steadily resisted its +contemplation, but I fear his father dealt in pork, and that his +business did once involve cow-heel and sausages--he wished to marry +his daughter into a good family. He had his heart's desire, Ned. +I was a younger son's younger son, and I married her. We each had +our object, and gained it. She stepped at once into the politest +and best circles, and I stepped into a fortune which I assure you +was very necessary to my comfort--quite indispensable. Now, my +good fellow, that fortune is among the things that have been. It +is gone, Ned, and has been gone--how old are you? I always +forget.' + +'Seven-and-twenty, sir.' + +'Are you indeed?' cried his father, raising his eyelids in a +languishing surprise. 'So much! Then I should say, Ned, that as +nearly as I remember, its skirts vanished from human knowledge, +about eighteen or nineteen years ago. It was about that time when +I came to live in these chambers (once your grandfather's, and +bequeathed by that extremely respectable person to me), and +commenced to live upon an inconsiderable annuity and my past +reputation.' + +'You are jesting with me, sir,' said Edward. + +'Not in the slightest degree, I assure you,' returned his father +with great composure. 'These family topics are so extremely dry, +that I am sorry to say they don't admit of any such relief. It is +for that reason, and because they have an appearance of business, +that I dislike them so very much. Well! You know the rest. A +son, Ned, unless he is old enough to be a companion--that is to +say, unless he is some two or three and twenty--is not the kind of +thing to have about one. He is a restraint upon his father, his +father is a restraint upon him, and they make each other mutually +uncomfortable. Therefore, until within the last four years or so-- +I have a poor memory for dates, and if I mistake, you will correct +me in your own mind--you pursued your studies at a distance, and +picked up a great variety of accomplishments. Occasionally we +passed a week or two together here, and disconcerted each other as +only such near relations can. At last you came home. I candidly +tell you, my dear boy, that if you had been awkward and overgrown, +I should have exported you to some distant part of the world.' + +'I wish with all my soul you had, sir,' said Edward. + +'No you don't, Ned,' said his father coolly; 'you are mistaken, I +assure you. I found you a handsome, prepossessing, elegant +fellow, and I threw you into the society I can still command. +Having done that, my dear fellow, I consider that I have provided +for you in life, and rely upon your doing something to provide for +me in return.' + +'I do not understand your meaning, sir.' + +'My meaning, Ned, is obvious--I observe another fly in the cream- +jug, but have the goodness not to take it out as you did the first, +for their walk when their legs are milky, is extremely ungraceful +and disagreeable--my meaning is, that you must do as I did; that +you must marry well and make the most of yourself.' + +'A mere fortune-hunter!' cried the son, indignantly. + +'What in the devil's name, Ned, would you be!' returned the father. +'All men are fortune-hunters, are they not? The law, the church, +the court, the camp--see how they are all crowded with fortune- +hunters, jostling each other in the pursuit. The stock-exchange, +the pulpit, the counting-house, the royal drawing-room, the +senate,--what but fortune-hunters are they filled with? A fortune- +hunter! Yes. You ARE one; and you would be nothing else, my dear +Ned, if you were the greatest courtier, lawyer, legislator, +prelate, or merchant, in existence. If you are squeamish and +moral, Ned, console yourself with the reflection that at the very +worst your fortune-hunting can make but one person miserable or +unhappy. How many people do you suppose these other kinds of +huntsmen crush in following their sport--hundreds at a step? Or +thousands?' + +The young man leant his head upon his hand, and made no answer. + +'I am quite charmed,' said the father rising, and walking slowly to +and fro--stopping now and then to glance at himself in the mirror, +or survey a picture through his glass, with the air of a +connoisseur, 'that we have had this conversation, Ned, unpromising +as it was. It establishes a confidence between us which is quite +delightful, and was certainly necessary, though how you can ever +have mistaken our positions and designs, I confess I cannot +understand. I conceived, until I found your fancy for this girl, +that all these points were tacitly agreed upon between us.' + +'I knew you were embarrassed, sir,' returned the son, raising his +head for a moment, and then falling into his former attitude, 'but +I had no idea we were the beggared wretches you describe. How +could I suppose it, bred as I have been; witnessing the life you +have always led; and the appearance you have always made?' + +'My dear child,' said the father--'for you really talk so like a +child that I must call you one--you were bred upon a careful +principle; the very manner of your education, I assure you, +maintained my credit surprisingly. As to the life I lead, I must +lead it, Ned. I must have these little refinements about me. I +have always been used to them, and I cannot exist without them. +They must surround me, you observe, and therefore they are here. +With regard to our circumstances, Ned, you may set your mind at +rest upon that score. They are desperate. Your own appearance is +by no means despicable, and our joint pocket-money alone devours +our income. That's the truth.' + +'Why have I never known this before? Why have you encouraged me, +sir, to an expenditure and mode of life to which we have no right +or title?' + +'My good fellow,' returned his father more compassionately than +ever, 'if you made no appearance, how could you possibly succeed in +the pursuit for which I destined you? As to our mode of life, +every man has a right to live in the best way he can; and to make +himself as comfortable as he can, or he is an unnatural scoundrel. +Our debts, I grant, are very great, and therefore it the more +behoves you, as a young man of principle and honour, to pay them +off as speedily as possible.' + +'The villain's part,' muttered Edward, 'that I have unconsciously +played! I to win the heart of Emma Haredale! I would, for her +sake, I had died first!' + +'I am glad you see, Ned,' returned his father, 'how perfectly self- +evident it is, that nothing can be done in that quarter. But apart +from this, and the necessity of your speedily bestowing yourself +on another (as you know you could to-morrow, if you chose), I wish +you'd look upon it pleasantly. In a religious point of view alone, +how could you ever think of uniting yourself to a Catholic, unless +she was amazingly rich? You ought to be so very Protestant, +coming of such a Protestant family as you do. Let us be moral, +Ned, or we are nothing. Even if one could set that objection +aside, which is impossible, we come to another which is quite +conclusive. The very idea of marrying a girl whose father was +killed, like meat! Good God, Ned, how disagreeable! Consider the +impossibility of having any respect for your father-in-law under +such unpleasant circumstances--think of his having been "viewed" by +jurors, and "sat upon" by coroners, and of his very doubtful +position in the family ever afterwards. It seems to me such an +indelicate sort of thing that I really think the girl ought to have +been put to death by the state to prevent its happening. But I +tease you perhaps. You would rather be alone? My dear Ned, most +willingly. God bless you. I shall be going out presently, but we +shall meet to-night, or if not to-night, certainly to-morrow. +Take care of yourself in the mean time, for both our sakes. You +are a person of great consequence to me, Ned--of vast consequence +indeed. God bless you!' + +With these words, the father, who had been arranging his cravat in +the glass, while he uttered them in a disconnected careless manner, +withdrew, humming a tune as he went. The son, who had appeared so +lost in thought as not to hear or understand them, remained quite +still and silent. After the lapse of half an hour or so, the elder +Chester, gaily dressed, went out. The younger still sat with his +head resting on his hands, in what appeared to be a kind of stupor. + + + +Chapter 16 + + +A series of pictures representing the streets of London in the +night, even at the comparatively recent date of this tale, would +present to the eye something so very different in character from +the reality which is witnessed in these times, that it would be +difficult for the beholder to recognise his most familiar walks in +the altered aspect of little more than half a century ago. + +They were, one and all, from the broadest and best to the narrowest +and least frequented, very dark. The oil and cotton lamps, though +regularly trimmed twice or thrice in the long winter nights, burnt +feebly at the best; and at a late hour, when they were unassisted +by the lamps and candles in the shops, cast but a narrow track of +doubtful light upon the footway, leaving the projecting doors and +house-fronts in the deepest gloom. Many of the courts and lanes +were left in total darkness; those of the meaner sort, where one +glimmering light twinkled for a score of houses, being favoured in +no slight degree. Even in these places, the inhabitants had often +good reason for extinguishing their lamp as soon as it was lighted; +and the watch being utterly inefficient and powerless to prevent +them, they did so at their pleasure. Thus, in the lightest +thoroughfares, there was at every turn some obscure and dangerous +spot whither a thief might fly or shelter, and few would care to +follow; and the city being belted round by fields, green lanes, +waste grounds, and lonely roads, dividing it at that time from the +suburbs that have joined it since, escape, even where the pursuit +was hot, was rendered easy. + +It is no wonder that with these favouring circumstances in full and +constant operation, street robberies, often accompanied by cruel +wounds, and not unfrequently by loss of life, should have been of +nightly occurrence in the very heart of London, or that quiet folks +should have had great dread of traversing its streets after the +shops were closed. It was not unusual for those who wended home +alone at midnight, to keep the middle of the road, the better to +guard against surprise from lurking footpads; few would venture to +repair at a late hour to Kentish Town or Hampstead, or even to +Kensington or Chelsea, unarmed and unattended; while he who had +been loudest and most valiant at the supper-table or the tavern, +and had but a mile or so to go, was glad to fee a link-boy to +escort him home. + +There were many other characteristics--not quite so disagreeable-- +about the thoroughfares of London then, with which they had been +long familiar. Some of the shops, especially those to the eastward +of Temple Bar, still adhered to the old practice of hanging out a +sign; and the creaking and swinging of these boards in their iron +frames on windy nights, formed a strange and mournfal concert for +the ears of those who lay awake in bed or hurried through the +streets. Long stands of hackney-chairs and groups of chairmen, +compared with whom the coachmen of our day are gentle and polite, +obstructed the way and filled the air with clamour; night-cellars, +indicated by a little stream of light crossing the pavement, and +stretching out half-way into the road, and by the stifled roar of +voices from below, yawned for the reception and entertainment of +the most abandoned of both sexes; under every shed and bulk small +groups of link-boys gamed away the earnings of the day; or one more +weary than the rest, gave way to sleep, and let the fragment of his +torch fall hissing on the puddled ground. + +Then there was the watch with staff and lantern crying the hour, +and the kind of weather; and those who woke up at his voice and +turned them round in bed, were glad to hear it rained, or snowed, +or blew, or froze, for very comfort's sake. The solitary passenger +was startled by the chairmen's cry of 'By your leave there!' as two +came trotting past him with their empty vehicle--carried backwards +to show its being disengaged--and hurried to the nearest stand. +Many a private chair, too, inclosing some fine lady, monstrously +hooped and furbelowed, and preceded by running-footmen bearing +flambeaux--for which extinguishers are yet suspended before the +doors of a few houses of the better sort--made the way gay and +light as it danced along, and darker and more dismal when it had +passed. It was not unusual for these running gentry, who carried +it with a very high hand, to quarrel in the servants' hall while +waiting for their masters and mistresses; and, falling to blows +either there or in the street without, to strew the place of +skirmish with hair-powder, fragments of bag-wigs, and scattered +nosegays. Gaming, the vice which ran so high among all classes +(the fashion being of course set by the upper), was generally the +cause of these disputes; for cards and dice were as openly used, +and worked as much mischief, and yielded as much excitement below +stairs, as above. While incidents like these, arising out of drums +and masquerades and parties at quadrille, were passing at the west +end of the town, heavy stagecoaches and scarce heavier waggons were +lumbering slowly towards the city, the coachmen, guard, and +passengers, armed to the teeth, and the coach--a day or so perhaps +behind its time, but that was nothing--despoiled by highwaymen; who +made no scruple to attack, alone and single-handed, a whole caravan +of goods and men, and sometimes shot a passenger or two, and were +sometimes shot themselves, as the case might be. On the morrow, +rumours of this new act of daring on the road yielded matter for a +few hours' conversation through the town, and a Public Progress of +some fine gentleman (half-drunk) to Tyburn, dressed in the newest +fashion, and damning the ordinary with unspeakable gallantry and +grace, furnished to the populace, at once a pleasant excitement and +a wholesome and profound example. + +Among all the dangerous characters who, in such a state of society, +prowled and skulked in the metropolis at night, there was one man +from whom many as uncouth and fierce as he, shrunk with an +involuntary dread. Who he was, or whence he came, was a question +often asked, but which none could answer. His name was unknown, he +had never been seen until within about eight days or thereabouts, +and was equally a stranger to the old ruffians, upon whose haunts +he ventured fearlessly, as to the young. He could be no spy, for +he never removed his slouched hat to look about him, entered into +conversation with no man, heeded nothing that passed, listened to +no discourse, regarded nobody that came or went. But so surely as +the dead of night set in, so surely this man was in the midst of +the loose concourse in the night-cellar where outcasts of every +grade resorted; and there he sat till morning. + +He was not only a spectre at their licentious feasts; a something +in the midst of their revelry and riot that chilled and haunted +them; but out of doors he was the same. Directly it was dark, he +was abroad--never in company with any one, but always alone; never +lingering or loitering, but always walking swiftly; and looking (so +they said who had seen him) over his shoulder from time to time, +and as he did so quickening his pace. In the fields, the lanes, +the roads, in all quarters of the town--east, west, north, and +south--that man was seen gliding on like a shadow. He was always +hurrying away. Those who encountered him, saw him steal past, +caught sight of the backward glance, and so lost him in the +darkness. + +This constant restlessness, and flitting to and fro, gave rise to +strange stories. He was seen in such distant and remote places, at +times so nearly tallying with each other, that some doubted whether +there were not two of them, or more--some, whether he had not +unearthly means of travelling from spot to spot. The footpad +hiding in a ditch had marked him passing like a ghost along its +brink; the vagrant had met him on the dark high-road; the beggar +had seen him pause upon the bridge to look down at the water, and +then sweep on again; they who dealt in bodies with the surgeons +could swear he slept in churchyards, and that they had beheld him +glide away among the tombs on their approach. And as they told +these stories to each other, one who had looked about him would +pull his neighbour by the sleeve, and there he would be among them. + +At last, one man--he was one of those whose commerce lay among the +graves--resolved to question this strange companion. Next night, +when he had eat his poor meal voraciously (he was accustomed to do +that, they had observed, as though he had no other in the day), +this fellow sat down at his elbow. + +'A black night, master!' + +'It is a black night.' + +'Blacker than last, though that was pitchy too. Didn't I pass you +near the turnpike in the Oxford Road?' + +'It's like you may. I don't know.' + +'Come, come, master,' cried the fellow, urged on by the looks of +his comrades, and slapping him on the shoulder; 'be more +companionable and communicative. Be more the gentleman in this +good company. There are tales among us that you have sold yourself +to the devil, and I know not what.' + +'We all have, have we not?' returned the stranger, looking up. 'If +we were fewer in number, perhaps he would give better wages.' + +'It goes rather hard with you, indeed,' said the fellow, as the +stranger disclosed his haggard unwashed face, and torn clothes. +'What of that? Be merry, master. A stave of a roaring song now'-- + +'Sing you, if you desire to hear one,' replied the other, shaking +him roughly off; 'and don't touch me if you're a prudent man; I +carry arms which go off easily--they have done so, before now--and +make it dangerous for strangers who don't know the trick of them, +to lay hands upon me.' + +'Do you threaten?' said the fellow. + +'Yes,' returned the other, rising and turning upon him, and looking +fiercely round as if in apprehension of a general attack. + +His voice, and look, and bearing--all expressive of the wildest +recklessness and desperation--daunted while they repelled the +bystanders. Although in a very different sphere of action now, +they were not without much of the effect they had wrought at the +Maypole Inn. + +'I am what you all are, and live as you all do,' said the man +sternly, after a short silence. 'I am in hiding here like the +rest, and if we were surprised would perhaps do my part with the +best of ye. If it's my humour to be left to myself, let me have +it. Otherwise,'--and here he swore a tremendous oath--'there'll be +mischief done in this place, though there ARE odds of a score +against me.' + +A low murmur, having its origin perhaps in a dread of the man and +the mystery that surrounded him, or perhaps in a sincere opinion on +the part of some of those present, that it would be an inconvenient +precedent to meddle too curiously with a gentleman's private +affairs if he saw reason to conceal them, warned the fellow who +had occasioned this discussion that he had best pursue it no +further. After a short time the strange man lay down upon a bench +to sleep, and when they thought of him again, they found he was +gone. + +Next night, as soon as it was dark, he was abroad again and +traversing the streets; he was before the locksmith's house more +than once, but the family were out, and it was close shut. This +night he crossed London Bridge and passed into Southwark. As he +glided down a bye street, a woman with a little basket on her arm, +turned into it at the other end. Directly he observed her, he +sought the shelter of an archway, and stood aside until she had +passed. Then he emerged cautiously from his hiding-place, and +followed. + +She went into several shops to purchase various kinds of household +necessaries, and round every place at which she stopped he hovered +like her evil spirit; following her when she reappeared. It was +nigh eleven o'clock, and the passengers in the streets were +thinning fast, when she turned, doubtless to go home. The phantom +still followed her. + +She turned into the same bye street in which he had seen her first, +which, being free from shops, and narrow, was extremely dark. She +quickened her pace here, as though distrustful of being stopped, +and robbed of such trifling property as she carried with her. He +crept along on the other side of the road. Had she been gifted +with the speed of wind, it seemed as if his terrible shadow would +have tracked her down. + +At length the widow--for she it was--reached her own door, and, +panting for breath, paused to take the key from her basket. In a +flush and glow, with the haste she had made, and the pleasure of +being safe at home, she stooped to draw it out, when, raising her +head, she saw him standing silently beside her: the apparition of +a dream. + +His hand was on her mouth, but that was needless, for her tongue +clove to its roof, and her power of utterance was gone. 'I have +been looking for you many nights. Is the house empty? Answer me. +Is any one inside?' + +She could only answer by a rattle in her throat. + +'Make me a sign.' + +She seemed to indicate that there was no one there. He took the +key, unlocked the door, carried her in, and secured it carefully +behind them. + + + +Chapter 17 + + +It was a chilly night, and the fire in the widow's parlour had +burnt low. Her strange companion placed her in a chair, and +stooping down before the half-extinguished ashes, raked them +together and fanned them with his hat. From time to time he +glanced at her over his shoulder, as though to assure himself of +her remaining quiet and making no effort to depart; and that done, +busied himself about the fire again. + +It was not without reason that he took these pains, for his dress +was dank and drenched with wet, his jaws rattled with cold, and he +shivered from head to foot. It had rained hard during the previous +night and for some hours in the morning, but since noon it had been +fine. Wheresoever he had passed the hours of darkness, his +condition sufficiently betokened that many of them had been spent +beneath the open sky. Besmeared with mire; his saturated clothes +clinging with a damp embrace about his limbs; his beard unshaven, +his face unwashed, his meagre cheeks worn into deep hollows,--a +more miserable wretch could hardly be, than this man who now +cowered down upon the widow's hearth, and watched the struggling +flame with bloodshot eyes. + +She had covered her face with her hands, fearing, as it seemed, to +look towards him. So they remained for some short time in silence. +Glancing round again, he asked at length: + +'Is this your house?' + +'It is. Why, in the name of Heaven, do you darken it?' + +'Give me meat and drink,' he answered sullenly, 'or I dare do more +than that. The very marrow in my bones is cold, with wet and +hunger. I must have warmth and food, and I will have them here.' + +'You were the robber on the Chigwell road.' + +'I was.' + +'And nearly a murderer then.' + +'The will was not wanting. There was one came upon me and raised +the hue-and-cry', that it would have gone hard with, but for his +nimbleness. I made a thrust at him.' + +'You thrust your sword at HIM!' cried the widow, looking upwards. +'You hear this man! you hear and saw!' + +He looked at her, as, with her head thrown back, and her hands +tight clenched together, she uttered these words in an agony of +appeal. Then, starting to his feet as she had done, he advanced +towards her. + +'Beware!' she cried in a suppressed voice, whose firmness stopped +him midway. 'Do not so much as touch me with a finger, or you are +lost; body and soul, you are lost.' + +'Hear me,' he replied, menacing her with his hand. 'I, that in the +form of a man live the life of a hunted beast; that in the body am +a spirit, a ghost upon the earth, a thing from which all creatures +shrink, save those curst beings of another world, who will not +leave me;--I am, in my desperation of this night, past all fear but +that of the hell in which I exist from day to day. Give the +alarm, cry out, refuse to shelter me. I will not hurt you. But I +will not be taken alive; and so surely as you threaten me above +your breath, I fall a dead man on this floor. The blood with which +I sprinkle it, be on you and yours, in the name of the Evil Spirit +that tempts men to their ruin!' + +As he spoke, he took a pistol from his breast, and firmly clutched +it in his hand. + +'Remove this man from me, good Heaven!' cried the widow. 'In thy +grace and mercy, give him one minute's penitence, and strike him +dead!' + +'It has no such purpose,' he said, confronting her. 'It is deaf. +Give me to eat and drink, lest I do that it cannot help my doing, +and will not do for you.' + +'Will you leave me, if I do thus much? Will you leave me and +return no more?' + +'I will promise nothing,' he rejoined, seating himself at the +table, 'nothing but this--I will execute my threat if you betray +me.' + +She rose at length, and going to a closet or pantry in the room, +brought out some fragments of cold meat and bread and put them on +the table. He asked for brandy, and for water. These she produced +likewise; and he ate and drank with the voracity of a famished +hound. All the time he was so engaged she kept at the uttermost +distance of the chamber, and sat there shuddering, but with her +face towards him. She never turned her back upon him once; and +although when she passed him (as she was obliged to do in going to +and from the cupboard) she gathered the skirts of her garment about +her, as if even its touching his by chance were horrible to think +of, still, in the midst of all this dread and terror, she kept her +face towards his own, and watched his every movement. + +His repast ended--if that can be called one, which was a mere +ravenous satisfying of the calls of hunger--he moved his chair +towards the fire again, and warming himself before the blaze which +had now sprung brightly up, accosted her once more. + +'I am an outcast, to whom a roof above his head is often an +uncommon luxury, and the food a beggar would reject is delicate +fare. You live here at your ease. Do you live alone?' + +'I do not,' she made answer with an effort. + +'Who dwells here besides?' + +'One--it is no matter who. You had best begone, or he may find you +here. Why do you linger?' + +'For warmth,' he replied, spreading out his hands before the fire. +'For warmth. You are rich, perhaps?' + +'Very,' she said faintly. 'Very rich. No doubt I am very rich.' + +'At least you are not penniless. You have some money. You were +making purchases to-night.' + +'I have a little left. It is but a few shillings.' + +'Give me your purse. You had it in your hand at the door. Give it +to me.' + +She stepped to the table and laid it down. He reached across, took +it up, and told the contents into his hand. As he was counting +them, she listened for a moment, and sprung towards him. + +'Take what there is, take all, take more if more were there, but go +before it is too late. I have heard a wayward step without, I know +full well. It will return directly. Begone.' + +'What do you mean?' + +'Do not stop to ask. I will not answer. Much as I dread to touch +you, I would drag you to the door if I possessed the strength, +rather than you should lose an instant. Miserable wretch! fly from +this place.' + +'If there are spies without, I am safer here,' replied the man, +standing aghast. 'I will remain here, and will not fly till the +danger is past.' + +'It is too late!' cried the widow, who had listened for the step, +and not to him. 'Hark to that foot upon the ground. Do you +tremble to hear it! It is my son, my idiot son!' + +As she said this wildly, there came a heavy knocking at the door. +He looked at her, and she at him. + +'Let him come in,' said the man, hoarsely. 'I fear him less than +the dark, houseless night. He knocks again. Let him come in!' + +'The dread of this hour,' returned the widow, 'has been upon me all +my life, and I will not. Evil will fall upon him, if you stand eye +to eye. My blighted boy! Oh! all good angels who know the truth-- +hear a poor mother's prayer, and spare my boy from knowledge of +this man!' + +'He rattles at the shutters!' cried the man. 'He calls you. That +voice and cry! It was he who grappled with me in the road. Was it +he?' + +She had sunk upon her knees, and so knelt down, moving her lips, +but uttering no sound. As he gazed upon her, uncertain what to do +or where to turn, the shutters flew open. He had barely time to +catch a knife from the table, sheathe it in the loose sleeve of his +coat, hide in the closet, and do all with the lightning's speed, +when Barnaby tapped at the bare glass, and raised the sash +exultingly. + +'Why, who can keep out Grip and me!' he cried, thrusting in his +head, and staring round the room. 'Are you there, mother? How +long you keep us from the fire and light.' + +She stammered some excuse and tendered him her hand. But Barnaby +sprung lightly in without assistance, and putting his arms about +her neck, kissed her a hundred times. + +'We have been afield, mother--leaping ditches, scrambling through +hedges, running down steep banks, up and away, and hurrying on. +The wind has been blowing, and the rushes and young plants bowing +and bending to it, lest it should do them harm, the cowards--and +Grip--ha ha ha!--brave Grip, who cares for nothing, and when the +wind rolls him over in the dust, turns manfully to bite it--Grip, +bold Grip, has quarrelled with every little bowing twig--thinking, +he told me, that it mocked him--and has worried it like a bulldog. +Ha ha ha!' + +The raven, in his little basket at his master's back, hearing this +frequent mention of his name in a tone of exultation, expressed his +sympathy by crowing like a cock, and afterwards running over his +various phrases of speech with such rapidity, and in so many +varieties of hoarseness, that they sounded like the murmurs of a +crowd of people. + +'He takes such care of me besides!' said Barnaby. 'Such care, +mother! He watches all the time I sleep, and when I shut my eyes +and make-believe to slumber, he practises new learning softly; but +he keeps his eye on me the while, and if he sees me laugh, though +never so little, stops directly. He won't surprise me till he's +perfect.' + +The raven crowed again in a rapturous manner which plainly said, +'Those are certainly some of my characteristics, and I glory in +them.' In the meantime, Barnaby closed the window and secured it, +and coming to the fireplace, prepared to sit down with his face +to the closet. But his mother prevented this, by hastily taking +that side herself, and motioning him towards the other. + +'How pale you are to-night!' said Barnaby, leaning on his stick. +'We have been cruel, Grip, and made her anxious!' + +Anxious in good truth, and sick at heart! The listener held the +door of his hiding-place open with his hand, and closely watched +her son. Grip--alive to everything his master was unconscious of-- +had his head out of the basket, and in return was watching him +intently with his glistening eye. + +'He flaps his wings,' said Barnaby, turning almost quickly enough +to catch the retreating form and closing door, 'as if there were +strangers here, but Grip is wiser than to fancy that. Jump then!' + +Accepting this invitation with a dignity peculiar to himself, the +bird hopped up on his master's shoulder, from that to his extended +hand, and so to the ground. Barnaby unstrapping the basket and +putting it down in a corner with the lid open, Grip's first care +was to shut it down with all possible despatch, and then to stand +upon it. Believing, no doubt, that he had now rendered it utterly +impossible, and beyond the power of mortal man, to shut him up in +it any more, he drew a great many corks in triumph, and uttered a +corresponding number of hurrahs. + +'Mother!' said Barnaby, laying aside his hat and stick, and +returning to the chair from which he had risen, 'I'll tell you +where we have been to-day, and what we have been doing,--shall I?' + +She took his hand in hers, and holding it, nodded the word she +could not speak. + +'You mustn't tell,' said Barnaby, holding up his finger, 'for it's +a secret, mind, and only known to me, and Grip, and Hugh. We had +the dog with us, but he's not like Grip, clever as he is, and +doesn't guess it yet, I'll wager.--Why do you look behind me so?' + +'Did I?' she answered faintly. 'I didn't know I did. Come nearer +me.' + +'You are frightened!' said Barnaby, changing colour. 'Mother--you +don't see'-- + +'See what?' + +'There's--there's none of this about, is there?' he answered in a +whisper, drawing closer to her and clasping the mark upon his +wrist. 'I am afraid there is, somewhere. You make my hair stand +on end, and my flesh creep. Why do you look like that? Is it in +the room as I have seen it in my dreams, dashing the ceiling and +the walls with red? Tell me. Is it?' + +He fell into a shivering fit as he put the question, and shutting +out the light with his hands, sat shaking in every limb until it +had passed away. After a time, he raised his head and looked about +him. + +'Is it gone?' + +'There has been nothing here,' rejoined his mother, soothing him. +'Nothing indeed, dear Barnaby. Look! You see there are but you +and me.' + +He gazed at her vacantly, and, becoming reassured by degrees, burst +into a wild laugh. + +'But let us see,' he said, thoughtfully. 'Were we talking? Was it +you and me? Where have we been?' + +'Nowhere but here.' + +'Aye, but Hugh, and I,' said Barnaby,--'that's it. Maypole Hugh, +and I, you know, and Grip--we have been lying in the forest, and +among the trees by the road side, with a dark lantern after night +came on, and the dog in a noose ready to slip him when the man came +by.' + +'What man?' + +'The robber; him that the stars winked at. We have waited for him +after dark these many nights, and we shall have him. I'd know him +in a thousand. Mother, see here! This is the man. Look!' + +He twisted his handkerchief round his head, pulled his hat upon his +brow, wrapped his coat about him, and stood up before her: so like +the original he counterfeited, that the dark figure peering out +behind him might have passed for his own shadow. + +'Ha ha ha! We shall have him,' he cried, ridding himself of the +semblance as hastily as he had assumed it. 'You shall see him, +mother, bound hand and foot, and brought to London at a saddle- +girth; and you shall hear of him at Tyburn Tree if we have luck. +So Hugh says. You're pale again, and trembling. And why DO you +look behind me so?' + +'It is nothing,' she answered. 'I am not quite well. Go you to +bed, dear, and leave me here.' + +'To bed!' he answered. 'I don't like bed. I like to lie before +the fire, watching the prospects in the burning coals--the rivers, +hills, and dells, in the deep, red sunset, and the wild faces. I +am hungry too, and Grip has eaten nothing since broad noon. Let us +to supper. Grip! To supper, lad!' + +The raven flapped his wings, and, croaking his satisfaction, hopped +to the feet of his master, and there held his bill open, ready for +snapping up such lumps of meat as he should throw him. Of these he +received about a score in rapid succession, without the smallest +discomposure. + +'That's all,' said Barnaby. + +'More!' cried Grip. 'More!' + +But it appearing for a certainty that no more was to be had, he +retreated with his store; and disgorging the morsels one by one +from his pouch, hid them in various corners--taking particular +care, however, to avoid the closet, as being doubtful of the hidden +man's propensities and power of resisting temptation. When he had +concluded these arrangements, he took a turn or two across the room +with an elaborate assumption of having nothing on his mind (but +with one eye hard upon his treasure all the time), and then, and +not till then, began to drag it out, piece by piece, and eat it +with the utmost relish. + +Barnaby, for his part, having pressed his mother to eat in vain, +made a hearty supper too. Once during the progress of his meal, he +wanted more bread from the closet and rose to get it. She +hurriedly interposed to prevent him, and summoning her utmost +fortitude, passed into the recess, and brought it out herself. + +'Mother,' said Barnaby, looking at her steadfastly as she sat down +beside him after doing so; 'is to-day my birthday?' + +'To-day!' she answered. 'Don't you recollect it was but a week or +so ago, and that summer, autumn, and winter have to pass before it +comes again?' + +'I remember that it has been so till now,' said Barnaby. 'But I +think to-day must be my birthday too, for all that.' + +She asked him why? 'I'll tell you why,' he said. 'I have always +seen you--I didn't let you know it, but I have--on the evening of +that day grow very sad. I have seen you cry when Grip and I were +most glad; and look frightened with no reason; and I have touched +your hand, and felt that it was cold--as it is now. Once, mother +(on a birthday that was, also), Grip and I thought of this after we +went upstairs to bed, and when it was midnight, striking one +o'clock, we came down to your door to see if you were well. You +were on your knees. I forget what it was you said. Grip, what was +it we heard her say that night?' + +'I'm a devil!' rejoined the raven promptly. + +'No, no,' said Barnaby. 'But you said something in a prayer; and +when you rose and walked about, you looked (as you have done ever +since, mother, towards night on my birthday) just as you do now. I +have found that out, you see, though I am silly. So I say you're +wrong; and this must be my birthday--my birthday, Grip!' + +The bird received this information with a crow of such duration as +a cock, gifted with intelligence beyond all others of his kind, +might usher in the longest day with. Then, as if he had well +considered the sentiment, and regarded it as apposite to birthdays, +he cried, 'Never say die!' a great many times, and flapped his +wings for emphasis. + +The widow tried to make light of Barnaby's remark, and endeavoured +to divert his attention to some new subject; too easy a task at all +times, as she knew. His supper done, Barnaby, regardless of her +entreaties, stretched himself on the mat before the fire; Grip +perched upon his leg, and divided his time between dozing in the +grateful warmth, and endeavouring (as it presently appeared) to +recall a new accomplishment he had been studying all day. + +A long and profound silence ensued, broken only by some change of +position on the part of Barnaby, whose eyes were still wide open +and intently fixed upon the fire; or by an effort of recollection +on the part of Grip, who would cry in a low voice from time to +time, 'Polly put the ket--' and there stop short, forgetting the +remainder, and go off in a doze again. + +After a long interval, Barnaby's breathing grew more deep and +regular, and his eyes were closed. But even then the unquiet +spirit of the raven interposed. 'Polly put the ket--' cried Grip, +and his master was broad awake again. + +At length Barnaby slept soundly, and the bird with his bill sunk +upon his breast, his breast itself puffed out into a comfortable +alderman-like form, and his bright eye growing smaller and smaller, +really seemed to be subsiding into a state of repose. Now and then +he muttered in a sepulchral voice, 'Polly put the ket--' but very +drowsily, and more like a drunken man than a reflecting raven. + +The widow, scarcely venturing to breathe, rose from her seat. The +man glided from the closet, and extinguished the candle. + +'--tle on,' cried Grip, suddenly struck with an idea and very much +excited. '--tle on. Hurrah! Polly put the ket-tle on, we'll all +have tea; Polly put the ket-tle on, we'll all have tea. Hurrah, +hurrah, hurrah! I'm a devil, I'm a devil, I'm a ket-tle on, Keep +up your spirits, Never say die, Bow, wow, wow, I'm a devil, I'm a +ket-tle, I'm a--Polly put the ket-tle on, we'll all have tea.' + +They stood rooted to the ground, as though it had been a voice from +the grave. + +But even this failed to awaken the sleeper. He turned over towards +the fire, his arm fell to the ground, and his head drooped heavily +upon it. The widow and her unwelcome visitor gazed at him and at +each other for a moment, and then she motioned him towards the +door. + +'Stay,' he whispered. 'You teach your son well.' + +'I have taught him nothing that you heard to-night. Depart +instantly, or I will rouse him.' + +'You are free to do so. Shall I rouse him?' + +'You dare not do that.' + +'I dare do anything, I have told you. He knows me well, it seems. +At least I will know him.' + +'Would you kill him in his sleep?' cried the widow, throwing +herself between them. + +'Woman,' he returned between his teeth, as he motioned her aside, +'I would see him nearer, and I will. If you want one of us to kill +the other, wake him.' + +With that he advanced, and bending down over the prostrate form, +softly turned back the head and looked into the face. The light of +the fire was upon it, and its every lineament was revealed +distinctly. He contemplated it for a brief space, and hastily +uprose. + +'Observe,' he whispered in the widow's ear: 'In him, of whose +existence I was ignorant until to-night, I have you in my power. +Be careful how you use me. Be careful how you use me. I am +destitute and starving, and a wanderer upon the earth. I may take +a sure and slow revenge.' + +'There is some dreadful meaning in your words. I do not fathom it.' + +'There is a meaning in them, and I see you fathom it to its very +depth. You have anticipated it for years; you have told me as +much. I leave you to digest it. Do not forget my warning.' + +He pointed, as he left her, to the slumbering form, and stealthily +withdrawing, made his way into the street. She fell on her knees +beside the sleeper, and remained like one stricken into stone, +until the tears which fear had frozen so long, came tenderly to her +relief. + +'Oh Thou,' she cried, 'who hast taught me such deep love for this +one remnant of the promise of a happy life, out of whose +affliction, even, perhaps the comfort springs that he is ever a +relying, loving child to me--never growing old or cold at heart, +but needing my care and duty in his manly strength as in his +cradle-time--help him, in his darkened walk through this sad world, +or he is doomed, and my poor heart is broken!' + + + +Chapter 18 + + +Gliding along the silent streets, and holding his course where they +were darkest and most gloomy, the man who had left the widow's +house crossed London Bridge, and arriving in the City, plunged into +the backways, lanes, and courts, between Cornhill and Smithfield; +with no more fixedness of purpose than to lose himself among their +windings, and baffle pursuit, if any one were dogging his steps. + +It was the dead time of the night, and all was quiet. Now and then +a drowsy watchman's footsteps sounded on the pavement, or the +lamplighter on his rounds went flashing past, leaving behind a +little track of smoke mingled with glowing morsels of his hot red +link. He hid himself even from these partakers of his lonely walk, +and, shrinking in some arch or doorway while they passed, issued +forth again when they were gone and so pursued his solitary way. + +To be shelterless and alone in the open country, hearing the wind +moan and watching for day through the whole long weary night; to +listen to the falling rain, and crouch for warmth beneath the lee +of some old barn or rick, or in the hollow of a tree; are dismal +things--but not so dismal as the wandering up and down where +shelter is, and beds and sleepers are by thousands; a houseless +rejected creature. To pace the echoing stones from hour to hour, +counting the dull chimes of the clocks; to watch the lights +twinkling in chamber windows, to think what happy forgetfulness +each house shuts in; that here are children coiled together in +their beds, here youth, here age, here poverty, here wealth, all +equal in their sleep, and all at rest; to have nothing in common +with the slumbering world around, not even sleep, Heaven's gift to +all its creatures, and be akin to nothing but despair; to feel, by +the wretched contrast with everything on every hand, more utterly +alone and cast away than in a trackless desert; this is a kind of +suffering, on which the rivers of great cities close full many a +time, and which the solitude in crowds alone awakens. + +The miserable man paced up and down the streets--so long, so +wearisome, so like each other--and often cast a wistful look +towards the east, hoping to see the first faint streaks of day. +But obdurate night had yet possession of the sky, and his disturbed +and restless walk found no relief. + +One house in a back street was bright with the cheerful glare of +lights; there was the sound of music in it too, and the tread of +dancers, and there were cheerful voices, and many a burst of +laughter. To this place--to be near something that was awake and +glad--he returned again and again; and more than one of those who +left it when the merriment was at its height, felt it a check upon +their mirthful mood to see him flitting to and fro like an uneasy +ghost. At last the guests departed, one and all; and then the +house was close shut up, and became as dull and silent as the rest. + +His wanderings brought him at one time to the city jail. Instead +of hastening from it as a place of ill omen, and one he had cause +to shun, he sat down on some steps hard by, and resting his chin +upon his hand, gazed upon its rough and frowning walls as though +even they became a refuge in his jaded eyes. He paced it round and +round, came back to the same spot, and sat down again. He did this +often, and once, with a hasty movement, crossed to where some men +were watching in the prison lodge, and had his foot upon the steps +as though determined to accost them. But looking round, he saw +that the day began to break, and failing in his purpose, turned and +fled. + +He was soon in the quarter he had lately traversed, and pacing to +and fro again as he had done before. He was passing down a mean +street, when from an alley close at hand some shouts of revelry +arose, and there came straggling forth a dozen madcaps, whooping +and calling to each other, who, parting noisily, took different +ways and dispersed in smaller groups. + +Hoping that some low place of entertainment which would afford him +a safe refuge might be near at hand, he turned into this court when +they were all gone, and looked about for a half-opened door, or +lighted window, or other indication of the place whence they had +come. It was so profoundly dark, however, and so ill-favoured, +that he concluded they had but turned up there, missing their way, +and were pouring out again when he observed them. With this +impression, and finding there was no outlet but that by which he +had entered, he was about to turn, when from a grating near his +feet a sudden stream of light appeared, and the sound of talking +came. He retreated into a doorway to see who these talkers were, +and to listen to them. + +The light came to the level of the pavement as he did this, and a +man ascended, bearing in his hand a torch. This figure unlocked +and held open the grating as for the passage of another, who +presently appeared, in the form of a young man of small stature and +uncommon self-importance, dressed in an obsolete and very gaudy +fashion. + +'Good night, noble captain,' said he with the torch. 'Farewell, +commander. Good luck, illustrious general!' + +In return to these compliments the other bade him hold his tongue, +and keep his noise to himself, and laid upon him many similar +injunctions, with great fluency of speech and sternness of manner. + +'Commend me, captain, to the stricken Miggs,' returned the torch- +bearer in a lower voice. 'My captain flies at higher game than +Miggses. Ha, ha, ha! My captain is an eagle, both as respects his +eye and soaring wings. My captain breaketh hearts as other +bachelors break eggs at breakfast.' + +'What a fool you are, Stagg!' said Mr Tappertit, stepping on the +pavement of the court, and brushing from his legs the dust he had +contracted in his passage upward. + +'His precious limbs!' cried Stagg, clasping one of his ankles. +'Shall a Miggs aspire to these proportions! No, no, my captain. +We will inveigle ladies fair, and wed them in our secret cavern. +We will unite ourselves with blooming beauties, captain.' + +'I'll tell you what, my buck,' said Mr Tappertit, releasing his +leg; 'I'll trouble you not to take liberties, and not to broach +certain questions unless certain questions are broached to you. +Speak when you're spoke to on particular subjects, and not +otherways. Hold the torch up till I've got to the end of the +court, and then kennel yourself, do you hear?' + +'I hear you, noble captain.' + +'Obey then,' said Mr Tappertit haughtily. 'Gentlemen, lead on!' +With which word of command (addressed to an imaginary staff or +retinue) he folded his arms, and walked with surpassing dignity +down the court. + +His obsequious follower stood holding the torch above his head, and +then the observer saw for the first time, from his place of +concealment, that he was blind. Some involuntary motion on his +part caught the quick ear of the blind man, before he was conscious +of having moved an inch towards him, for he turned suddenly and +cried, 'Who's there?' + +'A man,' said the other, advancing. 'A friend.' + +'A stranger!' rejoined the blind man. 'Strangers are not my +friends. What do you do there?' + +'I saw your company come out, and waited here till they were gone. +I want a lodging.' + +'A lodging at this time!' returned Stagg, pointing towards the dawn +as though he saw it. 'Do you know the day is breaking?' + +'I know it,' rejoined the other, 'to my cost. I have been +traversing this iron-hearted town all night.' + +'You had better traverse it again,' said the blind man, preparing +to descend, 'till you find some lodgings suitable to your taste. I +don't let any.' + +'Stay!' cried the other, holding him by the arm. + +'I'll beat this light about that hangdog face of yours (for hangdog +it is, if it answers to your voice), and rouse the neighbourhood +besides, if you detain me,' said the blind man. 'Let me go. Do +you hear?' + +'Do YOU hear!' returned the other, chinking a few shillings +together, and hurriedly pressing them into his hand. 'I beg +nothing of you. I will pay for the shelter you give me. Death! +Is it much to ask of such as you! I have come from the country, +and desire to rest where there are none to question me. I am +faint, exhausted, worn out, almost dead. Let me lie down, like a +dog, before your fire. I ask no more than that. If you would be +rid of me, I will depart to-morrow.' + +'If a gentleman has been unfortunate on the road,' muttered Stagg, +yielding to the other, who, pressing on him, had already gained a +footing on the steps--'and can pay for his accommodation--' + +'I will pay you with all I have. I am just now past the want of +food, God knows, and wish but to purchase shelter. What companion +have you below?' + +'None.' + +'Then fasten your grate there, and show me the way. Quick!' + +The blind man complied after a moment's hesitation, and they +descended together. The dialogue had passed as hurriedly as the +words could be spoken, and they stood in his wretched room before +he had had time to recover from his first surprise. + +'May I see where that door leads to, and what is beyond?' said the +man, glancing keenly round. 'You will not mind that?' + +'I will show you myself. Follow me, or go before. Take your +choice.' + +He bade him lead the way, and, by the light of the torch which his +conductor held up for the purpose, inspected all three cellars +narrowly. Assured that the blind man had spoken truth, and that he +lived there alone, the visitor returned with him to the first, in +which a fire was burning, and flung himself with a deep groan upon +the ground before it. + +His host pursued his usual occupation without seeming to heed him +any further. But directly he fell asleep--and he noted his falling +into a slumber, as readily as the keenest-sighted man could have +done--he knelt down beside him, and passed his hand lightly but +carefully over his face and person. + +His sleep was checkered with starts and moans, and sometimes with a +muttered word or two. His hands were clenched, his brow bent, and +his mouth firmly set. All this, the blind man accurately marked; +and as if his curiosity were strongly awakened, and he had already +some inkling of his mystery, he sat watching him, if the expression +may be used, and listening, until it was broad day. + + + +Chapter 19 + + +Dolly Varden's pretty little head was yet bewildered by various +recollections of the party, and her bright eyes were yet dazzled by +a crowd of images, dancing before them like motes in the sunbeams, +among which the effigy of one partner in particular did especially +figure, the same being a young coachmaker (a master in his own +right) who had given her to understand, when he handed her into the +chair at parting, that it was his fixed resolve to neglect his +business from that time, and die slowly for the love of her-- +Dolly's head, and eyes, and thoughts, and seven senses, were all in +a state of flutter and confusion for which the party was +accountable, although it was now three days old, when, as she was +sitting listlessly at breakfast, reading all manner of fortunes +(that is to say, of married and flourishing fortunes) in the +grounds of her teacup, a step was heard in the workshop, and Mr +Edward Chester was descried through the glass door, standing among +the rusty locks and keys, like love among the roses--for which apt +comparison the historian may by no means take any credit to +himself, the same being the invention, in a sentimental mood, of +the chaste and modest Miggs, who, beholding him from the doorsteps +she was then cleaning, did, in her maiden meditation, give +utterance to the simile. + +The locksmith, who happened at the moment to have his eyes thrown +upward and his head backward, in an intense communing with Toby, +did not see his visitor, until Mrs Varden, more watchful than the +rest, had desired Sim Tappertit to open the glass door and give him +admission--from which untoward circumstance the good lady argued +(for she could deduce a precious moral from the most trifling +event) that to take a draught of small ale in the morning was to +observe a pernicious, irreligious, and Pagan custom, the relish +whereof should be left to swine, and Satan, or at least to Popish +persons, and should be shunned by the righteous as a work of sin +and evil. She would no doubt have pursued her admonition much +further, and would have founded on it a long list of precious +precepts of inestimable value, but that the young gentleman +standing by in a somewhat uncomfortable and discomfited manner +while she read her spouse this lecture, occasioned her to bring it +to a premature conclusion. + +'I'm sure you'll excuse me, sir,' said Mrs Varden, rising and +curtseying. 'Varden is so very thoughtless, and needs so much +reminding--Sim, bring a chair here.' + +Mr Tappertit obeyed, with a flourish implying that he did so, +under protest. + +'And you can go, Sim,' said the locksmith. + +Mr Tappertit obeyed again, still under protest; and betaking +himself to the workshop, began seriously to fear that he might find +it necessary to poison his master, before his time was out. + +In the meantime, Edward returned suitable replies to Mrs Varden's +courtesies, and that lady brightened up very much; so that when he +accepted a dish of tea from the fair hands of Dolly, she was +perfectly agreeable. + +'I am sure if there's anything we can do,--Varden, or I, or Dolly +either,--to serve you, sir, at any time, you have only to say it, +and it shall be done,' said Mrs V. + +'I am much obliged to you, I am sure,' returned Edward. 'You +encourage me to say that I have come here now, to beg your good +offices.' + +Mrs Varden was delighted beyond measure. + +'It occurred to me that probably your fair daughter might be going +to the Warren, either to-day or to-morrow,' said Edward, glancing +at Dolly; 'and if so, and you will allow her to take charge of this +letter, ma'am, you will oblige me more than I can tell you. The +truth is, that while I am very anxious it should reach its +destination, I have particular reasons for not trusting it to any +other conveyance; so that without your help, I am wholly at a loss.' + +'She was not going that way, sir, either to-day, or to-morrow, nor +indeed all next week,' the lady graciously rejoined, 'but we shall +be very glad to put ourselves out of the way on your account, and +if you wish it, you may depend upon its going to-day. You might +suppose,' said Mrs Varden, frowning at her husband, 'from Varden's +sitting there so glum and silent, that he objected to this +arrangement; but you must not mind that, sir, if you please. It's +his way at home. Out of doors, he can be cheerful and talkative +enough.' + +Now, the fact was, that the unfortunate locksmith, blessing his +stars to find his helpmate in such good humour, had been sitting +with a beaming face, hearing this discourse with a joy past all +expression. Wherefore this sudden attack quite took him by +surprise. + +'My dear Martha--' he said. + +'Oh yes, I dare say,' interrupted Mrs Varden, with a smile of +mingled scorn and pleasantry. 'Very dear! We all know that.' + +'No, but my good soul,' said Gabriel, 'you are quite mistaken. You +are indeed. I was delighted to find you so kind and ready. I +waited, my dear, anxiously, I assure you, to hear what you would +say.' + +'You waited anxiously,' repeated Mrs V. 'Yes! Thank you, Varden. +You waited, as you always do, that I might bear the blame, if any +came of it. But I am used to it,' said the lady with a kind of +solemn titter, 'and that's my comfort!' + +'I give you my word, Martha--' said Gabriel. + +'Let me give you MY word, my dear,' interposed his wife with a +Christian smile, 'that such discussions as these between married +people, are much better left alone. Therefore, if you please, +Varden, we'll drop the subject. I have no wish to pursue it. I +could. I might say a great deal. But I would rather not. Pray +don't say any more.' + +'I don't want to say any more,' rejoined the goaded locksmith. + +'Well then, don't,' said Mrs Varden. + +'Nor did I begin it, Martha,' added the locksmith, good-humouredly, +'I must say that.' + +'You did not begin it, Varden!' exclaimed his wife, opening her +eyes very wide and looking round upon the company, as though she +would say, You hear this man! 'You did not begin it, Varden! But +you shall not say I was out of temper. No, you did not begin it, +oh dear no, not you, my dear!' + +'Well, well,' said the locksmith. 'That's settled then.' + +'Oh yes,' rejoined his wife, 'quite. If you like to say Dolly +began it, my dear, I shall not contradict you. I know my duty. I +need know it, I am sure. I am often obliged to bear it in mind, +when my inclination perhaps would be for the moment to forget it. +Thank you, Varden.' And so, with a mighty show of humility and +forgiveness, she folded her hands, and looked round again, with a +smile which plainly said, 'If you desire to see the first and +foremost among female martyrs, here she is, on view!' + +This little incident, illustrative though it was of Mrs Varden's +extraordinary sweetness and amiability, had so strong a tendency to +check the conversation and to disconcert all parties but that +excellent lady, that only a few monosyllables were uttered until +Edward withdrew; which he presently did, thanking the lady of the +house a great many times for her condescension, and whispering in +Dolly's ear that he would call on the morrow, in case there should +happen to be an answer to the note--which, indeed, she knew without +his telling, as Barnaby and his friend Grip had dropped in on the +previous night to prepare her for the visit which was then +terminating. + +Gabriel, who had attended Edward to the door, came back with his +hands in his pockets; and, after fidgeting about the room in a very +uneasy manner, and casting a great many sidelong looks at Mrs +Varden (who with the calmest countenance in the world was five +fathoms deep in the Protestant Manual), inquired of Dolly how she +meant to go. Dolly supposed by the stage-coach, and looked at her +lady mother, who finding herself silently appealed to, dived down +at least another fathom into the Manual, and became unconscious of +all earthly things. + +'Martha--' said the locksmith. + +'I hear you, Varden,' said his wife, without rising to the surface. + +'I am sorry, my dear, you have such an objection to the Maypole and +old John, for otherways as it's a very fine morning, and Saturday's +not a busy day with us, we might have all three gone to Chigwell in +the chaise, and had quite a happy day of it.' + +Mrs Varden immediately closed the Manual, and bursting into tears, +requested to be led upstairs. + +'What is the matter now, Martha?' inquired the locksmith. + +To which Martha rejoined, 'Oh! don't speak to me,' and protested in +agony that if anybody had told her so, she wouldn't have believed +it. + +'But, Martha,' said Gabriel, putting himself in the way as she was +moving off with the aid of Dolly's shoulder, 'wouldn't have +believed what? Tell me what's wrong now. Do tell me. Upon my +soul I don't know. Do you know, child? Damme!' cried the +locksmith, plucking at his wig in a kind of frenzy, 'nobody does +know, I verily believe, but Miggs!' + +'Miggs,' said Mrs Varden faintly, and with symptoms of approaching +incoherence, 'is attached to me, and that is sufficient to draw +down hatred upon her in this house. She is a comfort to me, +whatever she may be to others.' + +'She's no comfort to me,' cried Gabriel, made bold by despair. +'She's the misery of my life. She's all the plagues of Egypt in +one.' + +'She's considered so, I have no doubt,' said Mrs Varden. 'I was +prepared for that; it's natural; it's of a piece with the rest. +When you taunt me as you do to my face, how can I wonder that you +taunt her behind her back!' And here the incoherence coming on +very strong, Mrs Varden wept, and laughed, and sobbed, and +shivered, and hiccoughed, and choked; and said she knew it was very +foolish but she couldn't help it; and that when she was dead and +gone, perhaps they would be sorry for it--which really under the +circumstances did not appear quite so probable as she seemed to +think--with a great deal more to the same effect. In a word, she +passed with great decency through all the ceremonies incidental to +such occasions; and being supported upstairs, was deposited in a +highly spasmodic state on her own bed, where Miss Miggs shortly +afterwards flung herself upon the body. + +The philosophy of all this was, that Mrs Varden wanted to go to +Chigwell; that she did not want to make any concession or +explanation; that she would only go on being implored and entreated +so to do; and that she would accept no other terms. Accordingly, +after a vast amount of moaning and crying upstairs, and much +damping of foreheads, and vinegaring of temples, and hartshorning +of noses, and so forth; and after most pathetic adjurations from +Miggs, assisted by warm brandy-and-water not over-weak, and divers +other cordials, also of a stimulating quality, administered at +first in teaspoonfuls and afterwards in increasing doses, and of +which Miss Miggs herself partook as a preventive measure (for +fainting is infectious); after all these remedies, and many more +too numerous to mention, but not to take, had been applied; and +many verbal consolations, moral, religious, and miscellaneous, had +been super-added thereto; the locksmith humbled himself, and the +end was gained. + +'If it's only for the sake of peace and quietness, father,' said +Dolly, urging him to go upstairs. + +'Oh, Doll, Doll,' said her good-natured father. 'If you ever have +a husband of your own--' + +Dolly glanced at the glass. + +'--Well, WHEN you have,' said the locksmith, 'never faint, my +darling. More domestic unhappiness has come of easy fainting, +Doll, than from all the greater passions put together. Remember +that, my dear, if you would be really happy, which you never can +be, if your husband isn't. And a word in your ear, my precious. +Never have a Miggs about you!' + +With this advice he kissed his blooming daughter on the cheek, and +slowly repaired to Mrs Varden's room; where that lady, lying all +pale and languid on her couch, was refreshing herself with a sight +of her last new bonnet, which Miggs, as a means of calming her +scattered spirits, displayed to the best advantage at her bedside. + +'Here's master, mim,' said Miggs. 'Oh, what a happiness it is +when man and wife come round again! Oh gracious, to think that him +and her should ever have a word together!' In the energy of these +sentiments, which were uttered as an apostrophe to the Heavens in +general, Miss Miggs perched the bonnet on the top of her own head, +and folding her hands, turned on her tears. + +'I can't help it,' cried Miggs. 'I couldn't, if I was to be +drownded in 'em. She has such a forgiving spirit! She'll forget +all that has passed, and go along with you, sir--Oh, if it was to +the world's end, she'd go along with you.' + +Mrs Varden with a faint smile gently reproved her attendant for +this enthusiasm, and reminded her at the same time that she was far +too unwell to venture out that day. + +'Oh no, you're not, mim, indeed you're not,' said Miggs; 'I repeal +to master; master knows you're not, mim. The hair, and motion of +the shay, will do you good, mim, and you must not give way, you +must not raly. She must keep up, mustn't she, sir, for all out +sakes? I was a telling her that, just now. She must remember us, +even if she forgets herself. Master will persuade you, mim, I'm +sure. There's Miss Dolly's a-going you know, and master, and you, +and all so happy and so comfortable. Oh!' cried Miggs, turning on +the tears again, previous to quitting the room in great emotion, 'I +never see such a blessed one as she is for the forgiveness of her +spirit, I never, never, never did. Not more did master neither; +no, nor no one--never!' + +For five minutes or thereabouts, Mrs Varden remained mildly opposed +to all her husband's prayers that she would oblige him by taking a +day's pleasure, but relenting at length, she suffered herself to be +persuaded, and granting him her free forgiveness (the merit +whereof, she meekly said, rested with the Manual and not with her), +desired that Miggs might come and help her dress. The handmaid +attended promptly, and it is but justice to their joint exertions +to record that, when the good lady came downstairs in course of +time, completely decked out for the journey, she really looked as +if nothing had happened, and appeared in the very best health +imaginable. + +As to Dolly, there she was again, the very pink and pattern of good +looks, in a smart little cherry-coloured mantle, with a hood of +the same drawn over her head, and upon the top of that hood, a +little straw hat trimmed with cherry-coloured ribbons, and worn the +merest trifle on one side--just enough in short to make it the +wickedest and most provoking head-dress that ever malicious +milliner devised. And not to speak of the manner in which these +cherry-coloured decorations brightened her eyes, or vied with her +lips, or shed a new bloom on her face, she wore such a cruel little +muff, and such a heart-rending pair of shoes, and was so +surrounded and hemmed in, as it were, by aggravations of all kinds, +that when Mr Tappettit, holding the horse's head, saw her come out +of the house alone, such impulses came over him to decoy her into +the chaise and drive off like mad, that he would unquestionably +have done it, but for certain uneasy doubts besetting him as to the +shortest way to Gretna Green; whether it was up the street or +down, or up the right-hand turning or the left; and whether, +supposing all the turnpikes to be carried by storm, the blacksmith +in the end would marry them on credit; which by reason of his +clerical office appeared, even to his excited imagination, so +unlikely, that he hesitated. And while he stood hesitating, and +looking post-chaises-and-six at Dolly, out came his master and his +mistress, and the constant Miggs, and the opportunity was gone for +ever. For now the chaise creaked upon its springs, and Mrs Varden +was inside; and now it creaked again, and more than ever, and the +locksmith was inside; and now it bounded once, as if its heart beat +lightly, and Dolly was inside; and now it was gone and its place +was empty, and he and that dreary Miggs were standing in the street +together. + +The hearty locksmith was in as good a humour as if nothing had +occurred for the last twelve months to put him out of his way, +Dolly was all smiles and graces, and Mrs Varden was agreeable +beyond all precedent. As they jogged through the streets talking +of this thing and of that, who should be descried upon the pavement +but that very coachmaker, looking so genteel that nobody would have +believed he had ever had anything to do with a coach but riding in +it, and bowing like any nobleman. To be sure Dolly was confused +when she bowed again, and to be sure the cherry-coloured ribbons +trembled a little when she met his mournful eye, which seemed to +say, 'I have kept my word, I have begun, the business is going to +the devil, and you're the cause of it.' There he stood, rooted to +the ground: as Dolly said, like a statue; and as Mrs Varden said, +like a pump; till they turned the corner: and when her father +thought it was like his impudence, and her mother wondered what he +meant by it, Dolly blushed again till her very hood was pale. + +But on they went, not the less merrily for this, and there was the +locksmith in the incautious fulness of his heart 'pulling-up' at +all manner of places, and evincing a most intimate acquaintance +with all the taverns on the road, and all the landlords and all the +landladies, with whom, indeed, the little horse was on equally +friendly terms, for he kept on stopping of his own accord. Never +were people so glad to see other people as these landlords and +landladies were to behold Mr Varden and Mrs Varden and Miss Varden; +and wouldn't they get out, said one; and they really must walk +upstairs, said another; and she would take it ill and be quite +certain they were proud if they wouldn't have a little taste of +something, said a third; and so on, that it was really quite a +Progress rather than a ride, and one continued scene of hospitality +from beginning to end. It was pleasant enough to be held in such +esteem, not to mention the refreshments; so Mrs Varden said nothing +at the time, and was all affability and delight--but such a body of +evidence as she collected against the unfortunate locksmith that +day, to be used thereafter as occasion might require, never was got +together for matrimonial purposes. + +In course of time--and in course of a pretty long time too, for +these agreeable interruptions delayed them not a little,--they +arrived upon the skirts of the Forest, and riding pleasantly on +among the trees, came at last to the Maypole, where the locksmith's +cheerful 'Yoho!' speedily brought to the porch old John, and after +him young Joe, both of whom were so transfixed at sight of the +ladies, that for a moment they were perfectly unable to give them +any welcome, and could do nothing but stare. + +It was only for a moment, however, that Joe forgot himself, for +speedily reviving he thrust his drowsy father aside--to Mr Willet's +mighty and inexpressible indignation--and darting out, stood ready +to help them to alight. It was necessary for Dolly to get out +first. Joe had her in his arms;--yes, though for a space of time +no longer than you could count one in, Joe had her in his arms. +Here was a glimpse of happiness! + +It would be difficult to describe what a flat and commonplace +affair the helping Mrs Varden out afterwards was, but Joe did it, +and did it too with the best grace in the world. Then old John, +who, entertaining a dull and foggy sort of idea that Mrs Varden +wasn't fond of him, had been in some doubt whether she might not +have come for purposes of assault and battery, took courage, hoped +she was well, and offered to conduct her into the house. This +tender being amicably received, they marched in together; Joe and +Dolly followed, arm-in-arm, (happiness again!) and Varden brought +up the rear. + +Old John would have it that they must sit in the bar, and nobody +objecting, into the bar they went. All bars are snug places, but +the Maypole's was the very snuggest, cosiest, and completest bar, +that ever the wit of man devised. Such amazing bottles in old +oaken pigeon-holes; such gleaming tankards dangling from pegs at +about the same inclination as thirsty men would hold them to their +lips; such sturdy little Dutch kegs ranged in rows on shelves; so +many lemons hanging in separate nets, and forming the fragrant +grove already mentioned in this chronicle, suggestive, with goodly +loaves of snowy sugar stowed away hard by, of punch, idealised +beyond all mortal knowledge; such closets, such presses, such +drawers full of pipes, such places for putting things away in +hollow window-seats, all crammed to the throat with eatables, +drinkables, or savoury condiments; lastly, and to crown all, as +typical of the immense resources of the establishment, and its +defiances to all visitors to cut and come again, such a stupendous +cheese! + +It is a poor heart that never rejoices--it must have been the +poorest, weakest, and most watery heart that ever beat, which would +not have warmed towards the Maypole bar. Mrs Varden's did +directly. She could no more have reproached John Willet among +those household gods, the kegs and bottles, lemons, pipes, and +cheese, than she could have stabbed him with his own bright +carving-knife. The order for dinner too--it might have soothed a +savage. 'A bit of fish,' said John to the cook, 'and some lamb +chops (breaded, with plenty of ketchup), and a good salad, and a +roast spring chicken, with a dish of sausages and mashed potatoes, +or something of that sort.' Something of that sort! The resources +of these inns! To talk carelessly about dishes, which in +themselves were a first-rate holiday kind of dinner, suitable to +one's wedding-day, as something of that sort: meaning, if you can't +get a spring chicken, any other trifle in the way of poultry will +do--such as a peacock, perhaps! The kitchen too, with its great +broad cavernous chimney; the kitchen, where nothing in the way of +cookery seemed impossible; where you could believe in anything to +eat, they chose to tell you of. Mrs Varden returned from the +contemplation of these wonders to the bar again, with a head quite +dizzy and bewildered. Her housekeeping capacity was not large +enough to comprehend them. She was obliged to go to sleep. Waking +was pain, in the midst of such immensity. + +Dolly in the meanwhile, whose gay heart and head ran upon other +matters, passed out at the garden door, and glancing back now and +then (but of course not wondering whether Joe saw her), tripped +away by a path across the fields with which she was well +acquainted, to discharge her mission at the Warren; and this +deponent hath been informed and verily believes, that you might +have seen many less pleasant objects than the cherry-coloured +mantle and ribbons, as they went fluttering along the green meadows +in the bright light of the day, like giddy things as they were. + + + +Chapter 20 + + +The proud consciousness of her trust, and the great importance she +derived from it, might have advertised it to all the house if she +had had to run the gauntlet of its inhabitants; but as Dolly had +played in every dull room and passage many and many a time, when a +child, and had ever since been the humble friend of Miss Haredale, +whose foster-sister she was, she was as free of the building as the +young lady herself. So, using no greater precaution than holding +her breath and walking on tiptoe as she passed the library door, +she went straight to Emma's room as a privileged visitor. + +It was the liveliest room in the building. The chamber was sombre +like the rest for the matter of that, but the presence of youth and +beauty would make a prison cheerful (saving alas! that confinement +withers them), and lend some charms of their own to the gloomiest +scene. Birds, flowers, books, drawing, music, and a hundred such +graceful tokens of feminine loves and cares, filled it with more of +life and human sympathy than the whole house besides seemed made to +hold. There was heart in the room; and who that has a heart, ever +fails to recognise the silent presence of another! + +Dolly had one undoubtedly, and it was not a tough one either, +though there was a little mist of coquettishness about it, such as +sometimes surrounds that sun of life in its morning, and slightly +dims its lustre. Thus, when Emma rose to greet her, and kissing +her affectionately on the cheek, told her, in her quiet way, that +she had been very unhappy, the tears stood in Dolly's eyes, and she +felt more sorry than she could tell; but next moment she happened +to raise them to the glass, and really there was something there so +exceedingly agreeable, that as she sighed, she smiled, and felt +surprisingly consoled. + +'I have heard about it, miss,' said Dolly, 'and it's very sad +indeed, but when things are at the worst they are sure to mend.' + +'But are you sure they are at the worst?' asked Emma with a smile. + +'Why, I don't see how they can very well be more unpromising than +they are; I really don't,' said Dolly. 'And I bring something to +begin with.' + +'Not from Edward?' + +Dolly nodded and smiled, and feeling in her pockets (there were +pockets in those days) with an affectation of not being able to +find what she wanted, which greatly enhanced her importance, at +length produced the letter. As Emma hastily broke the seal and +became absorbed in its contents, Dolly's eyes, by one of those +strange accidents for which there is no accounting, wandered to the +glass again. She could not help wondering whether the coach-maker +suffered very much, and quite pitied the poor man. + +It was a long letter--a very long letter, written close on all four +sides of the sheet of paper, and crossed afterwards; but it was not +a consolatory letter, for as Emma read it she stopped from time to +time to put her handkerchief to her eyes. To be sure Dolly +marvelled greatly to see her in so much distress, for to her +thinking a love affair ought to be one of the best jokes, and the +slyest, merriest kind of thing in life. But she set it down in her +own mind that all this came from Miss Haredale's being so constant, +and that if she would only take on with some other young gentleman-- +just in the most innocent way possible, to keep her first lover up +to the mark--she would find herself inexpressibly comforted. + +'I am sure that's what I should do if it was me,' thought Dolly. +'To make one's sweetheart miserable is well enough and quite right, +but to be made miserable one's self is a little too much!' + +However it wouldn't do to say so, and therefore she sat looking on +in silence. She needed a pretty considerable stretch of patience, +for when the long letter had been read once all through it was read +again, and when it had been read twice all through it was read +again. During this tedious process, Dolly beguiled the time in the +most improving manner that occurred to her, by curling her hair on +her fingers, with the aid of the looking-glass before mentioned, +and giving it some killing twists. + +Everything has an end. Even young ladies in love cannot read their +letters for ever. In course of time the packet was folded up, and +it only remained to write the answer. + +But as this promised to be a work of time likewise, Emma said she +would put it off until after dinner, and that Dolly must dine with +her. As Dolly had made up her mind to do so beforehand, she +required very little pressing; and when they had settled this +point, they went to walk in the garden. + +They strolled up and down the terrace walks, talking incessantly-- +at least, Dolly never left off once--and making that quarter of the +sad and mournful house quite gay. Not that they talked loudly or +laughed much, but they were both so very handsome, and it was such +a breezy day, and their light dresses and dark curls appeared so +free and joyous in their abandonment, and Emma was so fair, and +Dolly so rosy, and Emma so delicately shaped, and Dolly so plump, +and--in short, there are no flowers for any garden like such +flowers, let horticulturists say what they may, and both house and +garden seemed to know it, and to brighten up sensibly. + +After this, came the dinner and the letter writing, and some more +talking, in the course of which Miss Haredale took occasion to +charge upon Dolly certain flirtish and inconstant propensities, +which accusations Dolly seemed to think very complimentary indeed, +and to be mightily amused with. Finding her quite incorrigible in +this respect, Emma suffered her to depart; but not before she had +confided to her that important and never-sufficiently-to-be-taken- +care-of answer, and endowed her moreover with a pretty little +bracelet as a keepsake. Having clasped it on her arm, and again +advised her half in jest and half in earnest to amend her roguish +ways, for she knew she was fond of Joe at heart (which Dolly +stoutly denied, with a great many haughty protestations that she +hoped she could do better than that indeed! and so forth), she bade +her farewell; and after calling her back to give her more +supplementary messages for Edward, than anybody with tenfold the +gravity of Dolly Varden could be reasonably expected to remember, +at length dismissed her. + +Dolly bade her good bye, and tripping lightly down the stairs +arrived at the dreaded library door, and was about to pass it again +on tiptoe, when it opened, and behold! there stood Mr Haredale. +Now, Dolly had from her childhood associated with this gentleman +the idea of something grim and ghostly, and being at the moment +conscience-stricken besides, the sight of him threw her into such a +flurry that she could neither acknowledge his presence nor run +away, so she gave a great start, and then with downcast eyes stood +still and trembled. + +'Come here, girl,' said Mr Haredale, taking her by the hand. 'I +want to speak to you.' + +'If you please, sir, I'm in a hurry,' faltered Dolly, 'and--you +have frightened me by coming so suddenly upon me, sir--I would +rather go, sir, if you'll be so good as to let me.' + +'Immediately,' said Mr Haredale, who had by this time led her into +the room and closed the door. You shall go directly. You have +just left Emma?' + +'Yes, sir, just this minute.--Father's waiting for me, sir, if +you'll please to have the goodness--' + +I know. I know,' said Mr Haredale. 'Answer me a question. What +did you bring here to-day?' + +'Bring here, sir?' faltered Dolly. + +'You will tell me the truth, I am sure. Yes.' + +Dolly hesitated for a little while, and somewhat emboldened by his +manner, said at last, 'Well then, sir. It was a letter.' + +'From Mr Edward Chester, of course. And you are the bearer of the +answer?' + +Dolly hesitated again, and not being able to decide upon any other +course of action, burst into tears. + +'You alarm yourself without cause,' said Mr Haredale. 'Why are you +so foolish? Surely you can answer me. You know that I have but +to put the question to Emma and learn the truth directly. Have you +the answer with you?' + +Dolly had what is popularly called a spirit of her own, and being +now fairly at bay, made the best of it. + +'Yes, sir,' she rejoined, trembling and frightened as she was. +'Yes, sir, I have. You may kill me if you please, sir, but I won't +give it up. I'm very sorry,--but I won't. There, sir.' + +'I commend your firmness and your plain-speaking,' said Mr +Haredale. 'Rest assured that I have as little desire to take your +letter as your life. You are a very discreet messenger and a good +girl.' + +Not feeling quite certain, as she afterwards said, whether he might +not be 'coming over her' with these compliments, Dolly kept as far +from him as she could, cried again, and resolved to defend her +pocket (for the letter was there) to the last extremity. + +'I have some design,' said Mr Haredale after a short silence, +during which a smile, as he regarded her, had struggled through +the gloom and melancholy that was natural to his face, 'of +providing a companion for my niece; for her life is a very lonely +one. Would you like the office? You are the oldest friend she +has, and the best entitled to it.' + +'I don't know, sir,' answered Dolly, not sure but he was bantering +her; 'I can't say. I don't know what they might wish at home. I +couldn't give an opinion, sir.' + +'If your friends had no objection, would you have any?' said Mr +Haredale. 'Come. There's a plain question; and easy to answer.' + +'None at all that I know of sir,' replied Dolly. 'I should be very +glad to be near Miss Emma of course, and always am.' + +'That's well,' said Mr Haredale. 'That is all I had to say. You +are anxious to go. Don't let me detain you.' + +Dolly didn't let him, nor did she wait for him to try, for the +words had no sooner passed his lips than she was out of the room, +out of the house, and in the fields again. + +The first thing to be done, of course, when she came to herself and +considered what a flurry she had been in, was to cry afresh; and +the next thing, when she reflected how well she had got over it, +was to laugh heartily. The tears once banished gave place to the +smiles, and at last Dolly laughed so much that she was fain to lean +against a tree, and give vent to her exultation. When she could +laugh no longer, and was quite tired, she put her head-dress to +rights, dried her eyes, looked back very merrily and triumphantly +at the Warren chimneys, which were just visible, and resumed her +walk. + +The twilight had come on, and it was quickly growing dusk, but the +path was so familiar to her from frequent traversing that she +hardly thought of this, and certainly felt no uneasiness at being +left alone. Moreover, there was the bracelet to admire; and when +she had given it a good rub, and held it out at arm's length, it +sparkled and glittered so beautifully on her wrist, that to look at +it in every point of view and with every possible turn of the arm, +was quite an absorbing business. There was the letter too, and it +looked so mysterious and knowing, when she took it out of her +pocket, and it held, as she knew, so much inside, that to turn it +over and over, and think about it, and wonder how it began, and how +it ended, and what it said all through, was another matter of +constant occupation. Between the bracelet and the letter, there +was quite enough to do without thinking of anything else; and +admiring each by turns, Dolly went on gaily. + +As she passed through a wicket-gate to where the path was narrow, +and lay between two hedges garnished here and there with trees, she +heard a rustling close at hand, which brought her to a sudden stop. +She listened. All was very quiet, and she went on again--not +absolutely frightened, but a little quicker than before perhaps, +and possibly not quite so much at her ease, for a check of that +kind is startling. + +She had no sooner moved on again, than she was conscious of the +same sound, which was like that of a person tramping stealthily +among bushes and brushwood. Looking towards the spot whence it +appeared to come, she almost fancied she could make out a crouching +figure. She stopped again. All was quiet as before. On she went +once more--decidedly faster now--and tried to sing softly to +herself. It must he the wind. + +But how came the wind to blow only when she walked, and cease when +she stood still? She stopped involuntarily as she made the +reflection, and the rustling noise stopped likewise. She was +really frightened now, and was yet hesitating what to do, when the +bushes crackled and snapped, and a man came plunging through them, +close before her. + + + +Chapter 21 + + +It was for the moment an inexpressible relief to Dolly, to +recognise in the person who forced himself into the path so +abruptly, and now stood directly in her way, Hugh of the Maypole, +whose name she uttered in a tone of delighted surprise that came +from her heart. + +'Was it you?' she said, 'how glad I am to see you! and how could +you terrify me so!' + +In answer to which, he said nothing at all, but stood quite still, +looking at her. + +'Did you come to meet me?' asked Dolly. + +Hugh nodded, and muttered something to the effect that he had been +waiting for her, and had expected her sooner. + +'I thought it likely they would send,' said Dolly, greatly +reassured by this. + +'Nobody sent me,' was his sullen answer. 'I came of my own +accord.' + +The rough bearing of this fellow, and his wild, uncouth appearance, +had often filled the girl with a vague apprehension even when other +people were by, and had occasioned her to shrink from him +involuntarily. The having him for an unbidden companion in so +solitary a place, with the darkness fast gathering about them, +renewed and even increased the alarm she had felt at first. + +If his manner had been merely dogged and passively fierce, as +usual, she would have had no greater dislike to his company than +she always felt--perhaps, indeed, would have been rather glad to +have had him at hand. But there was something of coarse bold +admiration in his look, which terrified her very much. She glanced +timidly towards him, uncertain whether to go forward or retreat, +and he stood gazing at her like a handsome satyr; and so they +remained for some short time without stirring or breaking silence. +At length Dolly took courage, shot past him, and hurried on. + +'Why do you spend so much breath in avoiding me?' said Hugh, +accommodating his pace to hers, and keeping close at her side. + +'I wish to get back as quickly as I can, and you walk too near me, +answered Dolly.' + +'Too near!' said Hugh, stooping over her so that she could feel his +breath upon her forehead. 'Why too near? You're always proud to +ME, mistress.' + +'I am proud to no one. You mistake me,' answered Dolly. 'Fall +back, if you please, or go on.' + +'Nay, mistress,' he rejoined, endeavouring to draw her arm through +his, 'I'll walk with you.' + +She released herself and clenching her little hand, struck him with +right good will. At this, Maypole Hugh burst into a roar of +laughter, and passing his arm about her waist, held her in his +strong grasp as easily as if she had been a bird. + +'Ha ha ha! Well done, mistress! Strike again. You shall beat my +face, and tear my hair, and pluck my beard up by the roots, and +welcome, for the sake of your bright eyes. Strike again, mistress. +Do. Ha ha ha! I like it.' + +'Let me go,' she cried, endeavouring with both her hands to push +him off. 'Let me go this moment.' + +'You had as good be kinder to me, Sweetlips,' said Hugh. 'You had, +indeed. Come. Tell me now. Why are you always so proud? I +don't quarrel with you for it. I love you when you're proud. Ha +ha ha! You can't hide your beauty from a poor fellow; that's a +comfort!' + +She gave him no answer, but as he had not yet checked her progress, +continued to press forward as rapidly as she could. At length, +between the hurry she had made, her terror, and the tightness of +his embrace, her strength failed her, and she could go no further. + +'Hugh,' cried the panting girl, 'good Hugh; if you will leave me I +will give you anything--everything I have--and never tell one word +of this to any living creature.' + +'You had best not,' he answered. 'Harkye, little dove, you had +best not. All about here know me, and what I dare do if I have a +mind. If ever you are going to tell, stop when the words are on +your lips, and think of the mischief you'll bring, if you do, upon +some innocent heads that you wouldn't wish to hurt a hair of. +Bring trouble on me, and I'll bring trouble and something more on +them in return. I care no more for them than for so many dogs; not +so much--why should I? I'd sooner kill a man than a dog any day. +I've never been sorry for a man's death in all my life, and I have +for a dog's.' + +There was something so thoroughly savage in the manner of these +expressions, and the looks and gestures by which they were +accompanied, that her great fear of him gave her new strength, and +enabled her by a sudden effort to extricate herself and run fleetly +from him. But Hugh was as nimble, strong, and swift of foot, as +any man in broad England, and it was but a fruitless expenditure of +energy, for he had her in his encircling arms again before she had +gone a hundred yards. + +'Softly, darling--gently--would you fly from rough Hugh, that loves +you as well as any drawing-room gallant?' + +'I would,' she answered, struggling to free herself again. 'I +will. Help!' + +'A fine for crying out,' said Hugh. 'Ha ha ha! A fine, pretty +one, from your lips. I pay myself! Ha ha ha!' + +'Help! help! help!' As she shrieked with the utmost violence she +could exert, a shout was heard in answer, and another, and another. + +'Thank Heaven!' cried the girl in an ecstasy. 'Joe, dear Joe, this +way. Help!' + +Her assailant paused, and stood irresolute for a moment, but the +shouts drawing nearer and coming quick upon them, forced him to a +speedy decision. He released her, whispered with a menacing look, +'Tell HIM: and see what follows!' and leaping the hedge, was gone +in an instant. Dolly darted off, and fairly ran into Joe Willet's +open arms. + +'What is the matter? are you hurt? what was it? who was it? where +is he? what was he like?' with a great many encouraging expressions +and assurances of safety, were the first words Joe poured forth. +But poor little Dolly was so breathless and terrified that for some +time she was quite unable to answer him, and hung upon his +shoulder, sobbing and crying as if her heart would break. + +Joe had not the smallest objection to have her hanging on his +shoulder; no, not the least, though it crushed the cherry-coloured +ribbons sadly, and put the smart little hat out of all shape. But +he couldn't bear to see her cry; it went to his very heart. He +tried to console her, bent over her, whispered to her--some say +kissed her, but that's a fable. At any rate he said all the kind +and tender things he could think of and Dolly let him go on and +didn't interrupt him once, and it was a good ten minutes before she +was able to raise her head and thank him. + +'What was it that frightened you?' said Joe. + +A man whose person was unknown to her had followed her, she +answered; he began by begging, and went on to threats of robbery, +which he was on the point of carrying into execution, and would +have executed, but for Joe's timely aid. The hesitation and +confusion with which she said this, Joe attributed to the fright +she had sustained, and no suspicion of the truth occurred to him +for a moment. + +'Stop when the words are on your lips.' A hundred times that +night, and very often afterwards, when the disclosure was rising +to her tongue, Dolly thought of that, and repressed it. A deeply +rooted dread of the man; the conviction that his ferocious nature, +once roused, would stop at nothing; and the strong assurance that +if she impeached him, the full measure of his wrath and vengeance +would be wreaked on Joe, who had preserved her; these were +considerations she had not the courage to overcome, and inducements +to secrecy too powerful for her to surmount. + +Joe, for his part, was a great deal too happy to inquire very +curiously into the matter; and Dolly being yet too tremulous to +walk without assistance, they went forward very slowly, and in his +mind very pleasantly, until the Maypole lights were near at hand, +twinkling their cheerful welcome, when Dolly stopped suddenly and +with a half scream exclaimed, + +'The letter!' + +'What letter?' cried Joe. + +'That I was carrying--I had it in my hand. My bracelet too,' she +said, clasping her wrist. 'I have lost them both.' + +'Do you mean just now?' said Joe. + +'Either I dropped them then, or they were taken from me,' answered +Dolly, vainly searching her pocket and rustling her dress. 'They +are gone, both gone. What an unhappy girl I am!' With these words +poor Dolly, who to do her justice was quite as sorry for the loss +of the letter as for her bracelet, fell a-crying again, and +bemoaned her fate most movingly. + +Joe tried to comfort her with the assurance that directly he had +housed her in the Maypole, he would return to the spot with a +lantern (for it was now quite dark) and make strict search for the +missing articles, which there was great probability of his finding, +as it was not likely that anybody had passed that way since, and +she was not conscious that they had been forcibly taken from her. +Dolly thanked him very heartily for this offer, though with no +great hope of his quest being successful; and so with many +lamentations on her side, and many hopeful words on his, and much +weakness on the part of Dolly and much tender supporting on the +part of Joe, they reached the Maypole bar at last, where the +locksmith and his wife and old John were yet keeping high festival. + +Mr Willet received the intelligence of Dolly's trouble with that +surprising presence of mind and readiness of speech for which he +was so eminently distinguished above all other men. Mrs Varden +expressed her sympathy for her daughter's distress by scolding her +roundly for being so late; and the honest locksmith divided himself +between condoling with and kissing Dolly, and shaking hands +heartily with Joe, whom he could not sufficiently praise or thank. + +In reference to this latter point, old John was far from agreeing +with his friend; for besides that he by no means approved of an +adventurous spirit in the abstract, it occurred to him that if his +son and heir had been seriously damaged in a scuffle, the +consequences would assuredly have been expensive and inconvenient, +and might perhaps have proved detrimental to the Maypole business. +Wherefore, and because he looked with no favourable eye upon young +girls, but rather considered that they and the whole female sex +were a kind of nonsensical mistake on the part of Nature, he took +occasion to retire and shake his head in private at the boiler; +inspired by which silent oracle, he was moved to give Joe various +stealthy nudges with his elbow, as a parental reproof and gentle +admonition to mind his own business and not make a fool of himself. + +Joe, however, took down the lantern and lighted it; and arming +himself with a stout stick, asked whether Hugh was in the stable. + +'He's lying asleep before the kitchen fire, sir,' said Mr Willet. +'What do you want him for?' + +'I want him to come with me to look after this bracelet and +letter,' answered Joe. 'Halloa there! Hugh!' + +Dolly turned pale as death, and felt as if she must faint +forthwith. After a few moments, Hugh came staggering in, +stretching himself and yawning according to custom, and presenting +every appearance of having been roused from a sound nap. + +'Here, sleepy-head,' said Joe, giving him the lantern. 'Carry +this, and bring the dog, and that small cudgel of yours. And woe +betide the fellow if we come upon him.' + +'What fellow?' growled Hugh, rubbing his eyes and shaking himself. + +'What fellow?' returned Joe, who was in a state of great valour and +bustle; 'a fellow you ought to know of and be more alive about. +It's well for the like of you, lazy giant that you are, to be +snoring your time away in chimney-corners, when honest men's +daughters can't cross even our quiet meadows at nightfall without +being set upon by footpads, and frightened out of their precious +lives.' + +'They never rob me,' cried Hugh with a laugh. 'I have got nothing +to lose. But I'd as lief knock them at head as any other men. How +many are there?' + +'Only one,' said Dolly faintly, for everybody looked at her. + +'And what was he like, mistress?' said Hugh with a glance at young +Willet, so slight and momentary that the scowl it conveyed was lost +on all but her. 'About my height?' + +'Not--not so tall,' Dolly replied, scarce knowing what she said. + +'His dress,' said Hugh, looking at her keenly, 'like--like any of +ours now? I know all the people hereabouts, and maybe could give a +guess at the man, if I had anything to guide me.' + +Dolly faltered and turned paler yet; then answered that he was +wrapped in a loose coat and had his face hidden by a handkerchief +and that she could give no other description of him. + +'You wouldn't know him if you saw him then, belike?' said Hugh with +a malicious grin. + +'I should not,' answered Dolly, bursting into tears again. 'I +don't wish to see him. I can't bear to think of him. I can't talk +about him any more. Don't go to look for these things, Mr Joe, +pray don't. I entreat you not to go with that man.' + +'Not to go with me!' cried Hugh. 'I'm too rough for them all. +They're all afraid of me. Why, bless you mistress, I've the +tenderest heart alive. I love all the ladies, ma'am,' said Hugh, +turning to the locksmith's wife. + +Mrs Varden opined that if he did, he ought to be ashamed of +himself; such sentiments being more consistent (so she argued) with +a benighted Mussulman or wild Islander than with a stanch +Protestant. Arguing from this imperfect state of his morals, Mrs +Varden further opined that he had never studied the Manual. Hugh +admitting that he never had, and moreover that he couldn't read, +Mrs Varden declared with much severity, that he ought to he even +more ashamed of himself than before, and strongly recommended him +to save up his pocket-money for the purchase of one, and further to +teach himself the contents with all convenient diligence. She was +still pursuing this train of discourse, when Hugh, somewhat +unceremoniously and irreverently, followed his young master out, +and left her to edify the rest of the company. This she proceeded +to do, and finding that Mr Willet's eyes were fixed upon her with +an appearance of deep attention, gradually addressed the whole of +her discourse to him, whom she entertained with a moral and +theological lecture of considerable length, in the conviction that +great workings were taking place in his spirit. The simple truth +was, however, that Mr Willet, although his eyes were wide open and +he saw a woman before him whose head by long and steady looking at +seemed to grow bigger and bigger until it filled the whole bar, was +to all other intents and purposes fast asleep; and so sat leaning +back in his chair with his hands in his pockets until his son's +return caused him to wake up with a deep sigh, and a faint +impression that he had been dreaming about pickled pork and greens-- +a vision of his slumbers which was no doubt referable to the +circumstance of Mrs Varden's having frequently pronounced the word +'Grace' with much emphasis; which word, entering the portals of Mr +Willet's brain as they stood ajar, and coupling itself with the +words 'before meat,' which were there ranging about, did in time +suggest a particular kind of meat together with that description of +vegetable which is usually its companion. + +The search was wholly unsuccessful. Joe had groped along the path +a dozen times, and among the grass, and in the dry ditch, and in +the hedge, but all in vain. Dolly, who was quite inconsolable for +her loss, wrote a note to Miss Haredale giving her the same account +of it that she had given at the Maypole, which Joe undertook to +deliver as soon as the family were stirring next day. That done, +they sat down to tea in the bar, where there was an uncommon +display of buttered toast, and--in order that they might not grow +faint for want of sustenance, and might have a decent halting- +place or halfway house between dinner and supper--a few savoury +trifles in the shape of great rashers of broiled ham, which being +well cured, done to a turn, and smoking hot, sent forth a tempting +and delicious fragrance. + +Mrs Varden was seldom very Protestant at meals, unless it happened +that they were underdone, or overdone, or indeed that anything +occurred to put her out of humour. Her spirits rose considerably +on beholding these goodly preparations, and from the nothingness of +good works, she passed to the somethingness of ham and toast with +great cheerfulness. Nay, under the influence of these wholesome +stimulants, she sharply reproved her daughter for being low and +despondent (which she considered an unacceptable frame of mind), +and remarked, as she held her own plate for a fresh supply, that it +would be well for Dolly, who pined over the loss of a toy and a +sheet of paper, if she would reflect upon the voluntary sacrifices +of the missionaries in foreign parts who lived chiefly on salads. + +The proceedings of such a day occasion various fluctuations in the +human thermometer, and especially in instruments so sensitively and +delicately constructed as Mrs Varden. Thus, at dinner Mrs V. stood +at summer heat; genial, smiling, and delightful. After dinner, in +the sunshine of the wine, she went up at least half-a-dozen +degrees, and was perfectly enchanting. As its effect subsided, she +fell rapidly, went to sleep for an hour or so at temperate, and +woke at something below freezing. Now she was at summer heat +again, in the shade; and when tea was over, and old John, producing +a bottle of cordial from one of the oaken cases, insisted on her +sipping two glasses thereof in slow succession, she stood steadily +at ninety for one hour and a quarter. Profiting by experience, the +locksmith took advantage of this genial weather to smoke his pipe +in the porch, and in consequence of this prudent management, he was +fully prepared, when the glass went down again, to start homewards +directly. + +The horse was accordingly put in, and the chaise brought round to +the door. Joe, who would on no account be dissuaded from escorting +them until they had passed the most dreary and solitary part of the +road, led out the grey mare at the same time; and having helped +Dolly into her seat (more happiness!) sprung gaily into the saddle. +Then, after many good nights, and admonitions to wrap up, and +glancing of lights, and handing in of cloaks and shawls, the chaise +rolled away, and Joe trotted beside it--on Dolly's side, no doubt, +and pretty close to the wheel too. + + + +Chapter 22 + + +It was a fine bright night, and for all her lowness of spirits +Dolly kept looking up at the stars in a manner so bewitching (and +SHE knew it!) that Joe was clean out of his senses, and plainly +showed that if ever a man were--not to say over head and ears, but +over the Monument and the top of Saint Paul's in love, that man was +himself. The road was a very good one; not at all a jolting road, +or an uneven one; and yet Dolly held the side of the chaise with +one little hand, all the way. If there had been an executioner +behind him with an uplifted axe ready to chop off his head if he +touched that hand, Joe couldn't have helped doing it. From putting +his own hand upon it as if by chance, and taking it away again +after a minute or so, he got to riding along without taking it off +at all; as if he, the escort, were bound to do that as an important +part of his duty, and had come out for the purpose. The most +curious circumstance about this little incident was, that Dolly +didn't seem to know of it. She looked so innocent and unconscious +when she turned her eyes on Joe, that it was quite provoking. + +She talked though; talked about her fright, and about Joe's coming +up to rescue her, and about her gratitude, and about her fear that +she might not have thanked him enough, and about their always being +friends from that time forth--and about all that sort of thing. +And when Joe said, not friends he hoped, Dolly was quite surprised, +and said not enemies she hoped; and when Joe said, couldn't they be +something much better than either, Dolly all of a sudden found out +a star which was brighter than all the other stars, and begged to +call his attention to the same, and was ten thousand times more +innocent and unconscious than ever. + +In this manner they travelled along, talking very little above a +whisper, and wishing the road could be stretched out to some dozen +times its natural length--at least that was Joe's desire--when, as +they were getting clear of the forest and emerging on the more +frequented road, they heard behind them the sound of a horse's feet +at a round trot, which growing rapidly louder as it drew nearer, +elicited a scream from Mrs Varden, and the cry 'a friend!' from the +rider, who now came panting up, and checked his horse beside them. + +'This man again!' cried Dolly, shuddering. + +'Hugh!' said Joe. 'What errand are you upon?' + +'I come to ride back with you,' he answered, glancing covertly at +the locksmith's daughter. 'HE sent me. + +'My father!' said poor Joe; adding under his breath, with a very +unfilial apostrophe, 'Will he never think me man enough to take +care of myself!' + +'Aye!' returned Hugh to the first part of the inquiry. 'The roads +are not safe just now, he says, and you'd better have a companion.' + +'Ride on then,' said Joe. 'I'm not going to turn yet.' + +Hugh complied, and they went on again. It was his whim or humour +to ride immediately before the chaise, and from this position he +constantly turned his head, and looked back. Dolly felt that he +looked at her, but she averted her eyes and feared to raise them +once, so great was the dread with which he had inspired her. + +This interruption, and the consequent wakefulness of Mrs Varden, +who had been nodding in her sleep up to this point, except for a +minute or two at a time, when she roused herself to scold the +locksmith for audaciously taking hold of her to prevent her nodding +herself out of the chaise, put a restraint upon the whispered +conversation, and made it difficult of resumption. Indeed, before +they had gone another mile, Gabriel stopped at his wife's desire, +and that good lady protested she would not hear of Joe's going a +step further on any account whatever. It was in vain for Joe to +protest on the other hand that he was by no means tired, and would +turn back presently, and would see them safely past such a point, +and so forth. Mrs Varden was obdurate, and being so was not to be +overcome by mortal agency. + +'Good night--if I must say it,' said Joe, sorrowfully. + +'Good night,' said Dolly. She would have added, 'Take care of that +man, and pray don't trust him,' but he had turned his horse's head, +and was standing close to them. She had therefore nothing for it +but to suffer Joe to give her hand a gentle squeeze, and when the +chaise had gone on for some distance, to look back and wave it, as +he still lingered on the spot where they had parted, with the tall +dark figure of Hugh beside him. + +What she thought about, going home; and whether the coach-maker +held as favourable a place in her meditations as he had occupied in +the morning, is unknown. They reached home at last--at last, for +it was a long way, made none the shorter by Mrs Varden's grumbling. +Miggs hearing the sound of wheels was at the door immediately. + +'Here they are, Simmun! Here they are!' cried Miggs, clapping her +hands, and issuing forth to help her mistress to alight. 'Bring a +chair, Simmun. Now, an't you the better for it, mim? Don't you +feel more yourself than you would have done if you'd have stopped +at home? Oh, gracious! how cold you are! Goodness me, sir, she's +a perfect heap of ice.' + +'I can't help it, my good girl. You had better take her in to the +fire,' said the locksmith. + +'Master sounds unfeeling, mim,' said Miggs, in a tone of +commiseration, 'but such is not his intentions, I'm sure. After +what he has seen of you this day, I never will believe but that he +has a deal more affection in his heart than to speak unkind. Come +in and sit yourself down by the fire; there's a good dear--do.' + +Mrs Varden complied. The locksmith followed with his hands in his +pockets, and Mr Tappertit trundled off with the chaise to a +neighbouring stable. + +'Martha, my dear,' said the locksmith, when they reached the +parlour, 'if you'll look to Dolly yourself or let somebody else do +it, perhaps it will be only kind and reasonable. She has been +frightened, you know, and is not at all well to-night.' + +In fact, Dolly had thrown herself upon the sofa, quite regardless +of all the little finery of which she had been so proud in the +morning, and with her face buried in her hands was crying very +much. + +At first sight of this phenomenon (for Dolly was by no means +accustomed to displays of this sort, rather learning from her +mother's example to avoid them as much as possible) Mrs Varden +expressed her belief that never was any woman so beset as she; that +her life was a continued scene of trial; that whenever she was +disposed to be well and cheerful, so sure were the people around +her to throw, by some means or other, a damp upon her spirits; and +that, as she had enjoyed herself that day, and Heaven knew it was +very seldom she did enjoy herself so she was now to pay the +penalty. To all such propositions Miggs assented freely. Poor +Dolly, however, grew none the better for these restoratives, but +rather worse, indeed; and seeing that she was really ill, both Mrs +Varden and Miggs were moved to compassion, and tended her in +earnest. + +But even then, their very kindness shaped itself into their usual +course of policy, and though Dolly was in a swoon, it was rendered +clear to the meanest capacity, that Mrs Varden was the sufferer. +Thus when Dolly began to get a little better, and passed into that +stage in which matrons hold that remonstrance and argument may be +successfully applied, her mother represented to her, with tears in +her eyes, that if she had been flurried and worried that day, she +must remember it was the common lot of humanity, and in especial of +womankind, who through the whole of their existence must expect no +less, and were bound to make up their minds to meek endurance and +patient resignation. Mrs Varden entreated her to remember that one +of these days she would, in all probability, have to do violence to +her feelings so far as to be married; and that marriage, as she +might see every day of her life (and truly she did) was a state +requiring great fortitude and forbearance. She represented to her +in lively colours, that if she (Mrs V.) had not, in steering her +course through this vale of tears, been supported by a strong +principle of duty which alone upheld and prevented her from +drooping, she must have been in her grave many years ago; in which +case she desired to know what would have become of that errant +spirit (meaning the locksmith), of whose eye she was the very +apple, and in whose path she was, as it were, a shining light and +guiding star? + +Miss Miggs also put in her word to the same effect. She said that +indeed and indeed Miss Dolly might take pattern by her blessed +mother, who, she always had said, and always would say, though she +were to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for it next minute, was +the mildest, amiablest, forgivingest-spirited, longest-sufferingest +female as ever she could have believed; the mere narration of whose +excellencies had worked such a wholesome change in the mind of her +own sister-in-law, that, whereas, before, she and her husband lived +like cat and dog, and were in the habit of exchanging brass +candlesticks, pot-lids, flat-irons, and other such strong +resentments, they were now the happiest and affectionatest couple +upon earth; as could be proved any day on application at Golden +Lion Court, number twenty-sivin, second bell-handle on the right- +hand doorpost. After glancing at herself as a comparatively +worthless vessel, but still as one of some desert, she besought her +to bear in mind that her aforesaid dear and only mother was of a +weakly constitution and excitable temperament, who had constantly +to sustain afflictions in domestic life, compared with which +thieves and robbers were as nothing, and yet never sunk down or +gave way to despair or wrath, but, in prize-fighting phraseology, +always came up to time with a cheerful countenance, and went in to +win as if nothing had happened. When Miggs finished her solo, her +mistress struck in again, and the two together performed a duet to +the same purpose; the burden being, that Mrs Varden was persecuted +perfection, and Mr Varden, as the representative of mankind in that +apartment, a creature of vicious and brutal habits, utterly +insensible to the blessings he enjoyed. Of so refined a character, +indeed, was their talent of assault under the mask of sympathy, +that when Dolly, recovering, embraced her father tenderly, as in +vindication of his goodness, Mrs Varden expressed her solemn hope +that this would be a lesson to him for the remainder of his life, +and that he would do some little justice to a woman's nature ever +afterwards--in which aspiration Miss Miggs, by divers sniffs and +coughs, more significant than the longest oration, expressed her +entire concurrence. + +But the great joy of Miggs's heart was, that she not only picked up +a full account of what had happened, but had the exquisite delight +of conveying it to Mr Tappertit for his jealousy and torture. For +that gentleman, on account of Dolly's indisposition, had been +requested to take his supper in the workshop, and it was conveyed +thither by Miss Miggs's own fair hands. + +'Oh Simmun!' said the young lady, 'such goings on to-day! Oh, +gracious me, Simmun!' + +Mr Tappertit, who was not in the best of humours, and who +disliked Miss Miggs more when she laid her hand on her heart and +panted for breath than at any other time, as her deficiency of +outline was most apparent under such circumstances, eyed her over +in his loftiest style, and deigned to express no curiosity +whatever. + +'I never heard the like, nor nobody else,' pursued Miggs. 'The +idea of interfering with HER. What people can see in her to make +it worth their while to do so, that's the joke--he he he!' + +Finding there was a lady in the case, Mr Tappertit haughtily +requested his fair friend to be more explicit, and demanded to know +what she meant by 'her.' + +'Why, that Dolly,' said Miggs, with an extremely sharp emphasis on +the name. 'But, oh upon my word and honour, young Joseph Willet is +a brave one; and he do deserve her, that he do.' + +'Woman!' said Mr Tappertit, jumping off the counter on which he was +seated; 'beware!' + +'My stars, Simmun!' cried Miggs, in affected astonishment. 'You +frighten me to death! What's the matter?' + +'There are strings,' said Mr Tappertit, flourishing his bread-and- +cheese knife in the air, 'in the human heart that had better not be +wibrated. That's what's the matter.' + +'Oh, very well--if you're in a huff,' cried Miggs, turning away. + +'Huff or no huff,' said Mr Tappertit, detaining her by the wrist. +'What do you mean, Jezebel? What were you going to say? Answer +me!' + +Notwithstanding this uncivil exhortation, Miggs gladly did as she +was required; and told him how that their young mistress, being +alone in the meadows after dark, had been attacked by three or four +tall men, who would have certainly borne her away and perhaps +murdered her, but for the timely arrival of Joseph Willet, who with +his own single hand put them all to flight, and rescued her; to the +lasting admiration of his fellow-creatures generally, and to the +eternal love and gratitude of Dolly Varden. + +'Very good,' said Mr Tappertit, fetching a long breath when the +tale was told, and rubbing his hair up till it stood stiff and +straight on end all over his head. 'His days are numbered.' + +'Oh, Simmun!' + +'I tell you,' said the 'prentice, 'his days are numbered. Leave +me. Get along with you.' + +Miggs departed at his bidding, but less because of his bidding than +because she desired to chuckle in secret. When she had given vent +to her satisfaction, she returned to the parlour; where the +locksmith, stimulated by quietness and Toby, had become talkative, +and was disposed to take a cheerful review of the occurrences of +the day. But Mrs Varden, whose practical religion (as is not +uncommon) was usually of the retrospective order, cut him short by +declaiming on the sinfulness of such junketings, and holding that +it was high time to go to bed. To bed therefore she withdrew, with +an aspect as grim and gloomy as that of the Maypole's own state +couch; and to bed the rest of the establishment soon afterwards +repaired. + + + +Chapter 23 + + +Twilight had given place to night some hours, and it was high noon +in those quarters of the town in which 'the world' condescended to +dwell--the world being then, as now, of very limited dimensions and +easily lodged--when Mr Chester reclined upon a sofa in his +dressing-room in the Temple, entertaining himself with a book. + +He was dressing, as it seemed, by easy stages, and having performed +half the journey was taking a long rest. Completely attired as to +his legs and feet in the trimmest fashion of the day, he had yet +the remainder of his toilet to perform. The coat was stretched, +like a refined scarecrow, on its separate horse; the waistcoat was +displayed to the best advantage; the various ornamental articles of +dress were severally set out in most alluring order; and yet he lay +dangling his legs between the sofa and the ground, as intent upon +his book as if there were nothing but bed before him. + +'Upon my honour,' he said, at length raising his eyes to the +ceiling with the air of a man who was reflecting seriously on what +he had read; 'upon my honour, the most masterly composition, the +most delicate thoughts, the finest code of morality, and the most +gentlemanly sentiments in the universe! Ah Ned, Ned, if you would +but form your mind by such precepts, we should have but one common +feeling on every subject that could possibly arise between us!' + +This apostrophe was addressed, like the rest of his remarks, to +empty air: for Edward was not present, and the father was quite +alone. + +'My Lord Chesterfield,' he said, pressing his hand tenderly upon +the book as he laid it down, 'if I could but have profited by your +genius soon enough to have formed my son on the model you have left +to all wise fathers, both he and I would have been rich men. +Shakespeare was undoubtedly very fine in his way; Milton good, +though prosy; Lord Bacon deep, and decidedly knowing; but the +writer who should be his country's pride, is my Lord Chesterfield.' + +He became thoughtful again, and the toothpick was in requisition. + +'I thought I was tolerably accomplished as a man of the world,' he +continued, 'I flattered myself that I was pretty well versed in all +those little arts and graces which distinguish men of the world +from boors and peasants, and separate their character from those +intensely vulgar sentiments which are called the national +character. Apart from any natural prepossession in my own favour, +I believed I was. Still, in every page of this enlightened writer, +I find some captivating hypocrisy which has never occurred to me +before, or some superlative piece of selfishness to which I was +utterly a stranger. I should quite blush for myself before this +stupendous creature, if remembering his precepts, one might blush +at anything. An amazing man! a nobleman indeed! any King or Queen +may make a Lord, but only the Devil himself--and the Graces--can +make a Chesterfield.' + +Men who are thoroughly false and hollow, seldom try to hide those +vices from themselves; and yet in the very act of avowing them, +they lay claim to the virtues they feign most to despise. 'For,' +say they, 'this is honesty, this is truth. All mankind are like +us, but they have not the candour to avow it.' The more they +affect to deny the existence of any sincerity in the world, the +more they would be thought to possess it in its boldest shape; and +this is an unconscious compliment to Truth on the part of these +philosophers, which will turn the laugh against them to the Day of +Judgment. + +Mr Chester, having extolled his favourite author, as above recited, +took up the book again in the excess of his admiration and was +composing himself for a further perusal of its sublime morality, +when he was disturbed by a noise at the outer door; occasioned as +it seemed by the endeavours of his servant to obstruct the entrance +of some unwelcome visitor. + +'A late hour for an importunate creditor,' he said, raising his +eyebrows with as indolent an expression of wonder as if the noise +were in the street, and one with which he had not the smallest +possible concern. 'Much after their accustomed time. The usual +pretence I suppose. No doubt a heavy payment to make up tomorrow. +Poor fellow, he loses time, and time is money as the good proverb +says--I never found it out though. Well. What now? You know I am +not at home.' + +'A man, sir,' replied the servant, who was to the full as cool and +negligent in his way as his master, 'has brought home the riding- +whip you lost the other day. I told him you were out, but he said +he was to wait while I brought it in, and wouldn't go till I did.' + +'He was quite right,' returned his master, 'and you're a blockhead, +possessing no judgment or discretion whatever. Tell him to come +in, and see that he rubs his shoes for exactly five minutes first.' + +The man laid the whip on a chair, and withdrew. The master, who +had only heard his foot upon the ground and had not taken the +trouble to turn round and look at him, shut his book, and pursued +the train of ideas his entrance had disturbed. + +'If time were money,' he said, handling his snuff-box, 'I would +compound with my creditors, and give them--let me see--how much a +day? There's my nap after dinner--an hour--they're extremely +welcome to that, and to make the most of it. In the morning, +between my breakfast and the paper, I could spare them another +hour; in the evening before dinner say another. Three hours a day. +They might pay themselves in calls, with interest, in twelve +months. I think I shall propose it to them. Ah, my centaur, are +you there?' + +'Here I am,' replied Hugh, striding in, followed by a dog, as rough +and sullen as himself; 'and trouble enough I've had to get here. +What do you ask me to come for, and keep me out when I DO come?' + +'My good fellow,' returned the other, raising his head a little +from the cushion and carelessly surveying him from top to toe, 'I +am delighted to see you, and to have, in your being here, the very +best proof that you are not kept out. How are you?' + +'I'm well enough,' said Hugh impatiently. + +'You look a perfect marvel of health. Sit down.' + +'I'd rather stand,' said Hugh. + +'Please yourself my good fellow,' returned Mr Chester rising, +slowly pulling off the loose robe he wore, and sitting down before +the dressing-glass. 'Please yourself by all means.' + +Having said this in the politest and blandest tone possible, he +went on dressing, and took no further notice of his guest, who +stood in the same spot as uncertain what to do next, eyeing him +sulkily from time to time. + +'Are you going to speak to me, master?' he said, after a long +silence. + +'My worthy creature,' returned Mr Chester, 'you are a little +ruffled and out of humour. I'll wait till you're quite yourself +again. I am in no hurry.' + +This behaviour had its intended effect. It humbled and abashed the +man, and made him still more irresolute and uncertain. Hard words +he could have returned, violence he would have repaid with +interest; but this cool, complacent, contemptuous, self-possessed +reception, caused him to feel his inferiority more completely than +the most elaborate arguments. Everything contributed to this +effect. His own rough speech, contrasted with the soft persuasive +accents of the other; his rude bearing, and Mr Chester's polished +manner; the disorder and negligence of his ragged dress, and the +elegant attire he saw before him; with all the unaccustomed +luxuries and comforts of the room, and the silence that gave him +leisure to observe these things, and feel how ill at ease they made +him; all these influences, which have too often some effect on +tutored minds and become of almost resistless power when brought to +bear on such a mind as his, quelled Hugh completely. He moved by +little and little nearer to Mr Chester's chair, and glancing over +his shoulder at the reflection of his face in the glass, as if +seeking for some encouragement in its expression, said at length, +with a rough attempt at conciliation, + +'ARE you going to speak to me, master, or am I to go away?' + +'Speak you,' said Mr Chester, 'speak you, good fellow. I have +spoken, have I not? I am waiting for you.' + +'Why, look'ee, sir,' returned Hugh with increased embarrassment, +'am I the man that you privately left your whip with before you +rode away from the Maypole, and told to bring it back whenever he +might want to see you on a certain subject?' + +'No doubt the same, or you have a twin brother,' said Mr Chester, +glancing at the reflection of his anxious face; 'which is not +probable, I should say.' + +'Then I have come, sir,' said Hugh, 'and I have brought it back, +and something else along with it. A letter, sir, it is, that I +took from the person who had charge of it.' As he spoke, he laid +upon the dressing-table, Dolly's lost epistle. The very letter +that had cost her so much trouble. + +'Did you obtain this by force, my good fellow?' said Mr Chester, +casting his eye upon it without the least perceptible surprise or +pleasure. + +'Not quite,' said Hugh. 'Partly.' + +'Who was the messenger from whom you took it?' + +'A woman. One Varden's daughter.' + +'Oh indeed!' said Mr Chester gaily. 'What else did you take from +her?' + +'What else?' + +'Yes,' said the other, in a drawling manner, for he was fixing a +very small patch of sticking plaster on a very small pimple near +the corner of his mouth. 'What else?' + +'Well a kiss,' replied Hugh, after some hesitation. + +'And what else?' + +'Nothing.' + +'I think,' said Mr Chester, in the same easy tone, and smiling +twice or thrice to try if the patch adhered--'I think there was +something else. I have heard a trifle of jewellery spoken of--a +mere trifle--a thing of such little value, indeed, that you may +have forgotten it. Do you remember anything of the kind--such as a +bracelet now, for instance?' + +Hugh with a muttered oath thrust his hand into his breast, and +drawing the bracelet forth, wrapped in a scrap of hay, was about to +lay it on the table likewise, when his patron stopped his hand and +bade him put it up again. + +'You took that for yourself my excellent friend,' he said, 'and may +keep it. I am neither a thief nor a receiver. Don't show it to +me. You had better hide it again, and lose no time. Don't let me +see where you put it either,' he added, turning away his head. + +'You're not a receiver!' said Hugh bluntly, despite the increasing +awe in which he held him. 'What do you call THAT, master?' +striking the letter with his heavy hand. + +'I call that quite another thing,' said Mr Chester coolly. 'I +shall prove it presently, as you will see. You are thirsty, I +suppose?' + +Hugh drew his sleeve across his lips, and gruffly answered yes. + +'Step to that closet and bring me a bottle you will see there, and +a glass.' + +He obeyed. His patron followed him with his eyes, and when his +back was turned, smiled as he had never done when he stood beside +the mirror. On his return he filled the glass, and bade him drink. +That dram despatched, he poured him out another, and another. + +'How many can you bear?' he said, filling the glass again. + +'As many as you like to give me. Pour on. Fill high. A bumper +with a bead in the middle! Give me enough of this,' he added, as +he tossed it down his hairy throat, 'and I'll do murder if you ask +me!' + +'As I don't mean to ask you, and you might possibly do it without +being invited if you went on much further,' said Mr Chester with +great composure, we will stop, if agreeable to you, my good friend, +at the next glass. You were drinking before you came here.' + +'I always am when I can get it,' cried Hugh boisterously, waving +the empty glass above his head, and throwing himself into a rude +dancing attitude. 'I always am. Why not? Ha ha ha! What's so +good to me as this? What ever has been? What else has kept away +the cold on bitter nights, and driven hunger off in starving times? +What else has given me the strength and courage of a man, when men +would have left me to die, a puny child? I should never have had a +man's heart but for this. I should have died in a ditch. Where's +he who when I was a weak and sickly wretch, with trembling legs and +fading sight, bade me cheer up, as this did? I never knew him; not +I. I drink to the drink, master. Ha ha ha!' + +'You are an exceedingly cheerful young man,' said Mr Chester, +putting on his cravat with great deliberation, and slightly moving +his head from side to side to settle his chin in its proper place. +'Quite a boon companion.' + +'Do you see this hand, master,' said Hugh, 'and this arm?' baring +the brawny limb to the elbow. 'It was once mere skin and bone, and +would have been dust in some poor churchyard by this time, but for +the drink.' + +'You may cover it,' said Mr Chester, 'it's sufficiently real in +your sleeve.' + +'I should never have been spirited up to take a kiss from the proud +little beauty, master, but for the drink,' cried Hugh. 'Ha ha ha! +It was a good one. As sweet as honeysuckle, I warrant you. I +thank the drink for it. I'll drink to the drink again, master. +Fill me one more. Come. One more!' + +'You are such a promising fellow,' said his patron, putting on his +waistcoat with great nicety, and taking no heed of this request, +'that I must caution you against having too many impulses from the +drink, and getting hung before your time. What's your age?' + +'I don't know.' + +'At any rate,' said Mr Chester, 'you are young enough to escape +what I may call a natural death for some years to come. How can +you trust yourself in my hands on so short an acquaintance, with a +halter round your neck? What a confiding nature yours must be!' + +Hugh fell back a pace or two and surveyed him with a look of +mingled terror, indignation, and surprise. Regarding himself in +the glass with the same complacency as before, and speaking as +smoothly as if he were discussing some pleasant chit-chat of the +town, his patron went on: + +'Robbery on the king's highway, my young friend, is a very +dangerous and ticklish occupation. It is pleasant, I have no +doubt, while it lasts; but like many other pleasures in this +transitory world, it seldom lasts long. And really if in the +ingenuousness of youth, you open your heart so readily on the +subject, I am afraid your career will be an extremely short one.' + +'How's this?' said Hugh. 'What do you talk of master? Who was it +set me on?' + +'Who?' said Mr Chester, wheeling sharply round, and looking full +at him for the first time. 'I didn't hear you. Who was it?' + +Hugh faltered, and muttered something which was not audible. + +'Who was it? I am curious to know,' said Mr Chester, with +surpassing affability. 'Some rustic beauty perhaps? But be +cautious, my good friend. They are not always to be trusted. Do +take my advice now, and be careful of yourself.' With these words +he turned to the glass again, and went on with his toilet. + +Hugh would have answered him that he, the questioner himself had +set him on, but the words stuck in his throat. The consummate art +with which his patron had led him to this point, and managed the +whole conversation, perfectly baffled him. He did not doubt that +if he had made the retort which was on his lips when Mr Chester +turned round and questioned him so keenly, he would straightway +have given him into custody and had him dragged before a justice +with the stolen property upon him; in which case it was as certain +he would have been hung as it was that he had been born. The +ascendency which it was the purpose of the man of the world to +establish over this savage instrument, was gained from that time. +Hugh's submission was complete. He dreaded him beyond description; +and felt that accident and artifice had spun a web about him, which +at a touch from such a master-hand as his, would bind him to the +gallows. + +With these thoughts passing through his mind, and yet wondering at +the very same time how he who came there rioting in the confidence +of this man (as he thought), should be so soon and so thoroughly +subdued, Hugh stood cowering before him, regarding him uneasily +from time to time, while he finished dressing. When he had done +so, he took up the letter, broke the seal, and throwing himself +back in his chair, read it leisurely through. + +'Very neatly worded upon my life! Quite a woman's letter, full of +what people call tenderness, and disinterestedness, and heart, and +all that sort of thing!' + +As he spoke, he twisted it up, and glancing lazily round at Hugh as +though he would say 'You see this?' held it in the flame of the +candle. When it was in a full blaze, he tossed it into the grate, +and there it smouldered away. + +'It was directed to my son,' he said, turning to Hugh, 'and you did +quite right to bring it here. I opened it on my own +responsibility, and you see what I have done with it. Take this, +for your trouble.' + +Hugh stepped forward to receive the piece of money he held out to +him. As he put it in his hand, he added: + +'If you should happen to find anything else of this sort, or to +pick up any kind of information you may think I would like to have, +bring it here, will you, my good fellow?' + +This was said with a smile which implied--or Hugh thought it did-- +'fail to do so at your peril!' He answered that he would. + +'And don't,' said his patron, with an air of the very kindest +patronage, 'don't be at all downcast or uneasy respecting that +little rashness we have been speaking of. Your neck is as safe in +my hands, my good fellow, as though a baby's fingers clasped it, I +assure you.--Take another glass. You are quieter now.' + +Hugh accepted it from his hand, and looking stealthily at his +smiling face, drank the contents in silence. + +'Don't you--ha, ha!--don't you drink to the drink any more?' said +Mr Chester, in his most winning manner. + +'To you, sir,' was the sullen answer, with something approaching to +a bow. 'I drink to you.' + +'Thank you. God bless you. By the bye, what is your name, my good +soul? You are called Hugh, I know, of course--your other name?' + +'I have no other name.' + +'A very strange fellow! Do you mean that you never knew one, or +that you don't choose to tell it? Which?' + +'I'd tell it if I could,' said Hugh, quickly. 'I can't. I have +been always called Hugh; nothing more. I never knew, nor saw, nor +thought about a father; and I was a boy of six--that's not very +old--when they hung my mother up at Tyburn for a couple of thousand +men to stare at. They might have let her live. She was poor +enough.' + +'How very sad!' exclaimed his patron, with a condescending smile. +'I have no doubt she was an exceedingly fine woman.' + +'You see that dog of mine?' said Hugh, abruptly. + +'Faithful, I dare say?' rejoined his patron, looking at him through +his glass; 'and immensely clever? Virtuous and gifted animals, +whether man or beast, always are so very hideous.' + +'Such a dog as that, and one of the same breed, was the only living +thing except me that howled that day,' said Hugh. 'Out of the two +thousand odd--there was a larger crowd for its being a woman--the +dog and I alone had any pity. If he'd have been a man, he'd have +been glad to be quit of her, for she had been forced to keep him +lean and half-starved; but being a dog, and not having a man's +sense, he was sorry.' + +'It was dull of the brute, certainly,' said Mr Chester, 'and very +like a brute.' + +Hugh made no rejoinder, but whistling to his dog, who sprung up at +the sound and came jumping and sporting about him, bade his +sympathising friend good night. + +'Good night; he returned. 'Remember; you're safe with me--quite +safe. So long as you deserve it, my good fellow, as I hope you +always will, you have a friend in me, on whose silence you may +rely. Now do be careful of yourself, pray do, and consider what +jeopardy you might have stood in. Good night! bless you!' + +Hugh truckled before the hidden meaning of these words as much as +such a being could, and crept out of the door so submissively and +subserviently--with an air, in short, so different from that with +which he had entered--that his patron on being left alone, smiled +more than ever. + +'And yet,' he said, as he took a pinch of snuff, 'I do not like +their having hanged his mother. The fellow has a fine eye, and I +am sure she was handsome. But very probably she was coarse--red- +nosed perhaps, and had clumsy feet. Aye, it was all for the best, +no doubt.' + +With this comforting reflection, he put on his coat, took a +farewell glance at the glass, and summoned his man, who promptly +attended, followed by a chair and its two bearers. + +'Foh!' said Mr Chester. 'The very atmosphere that centaur has +breathed, seems tainted with the cart and ladder. Here, Peak. +Bring some scent and sprinkle the floor; and take away the chair he +sat upon, and air it; and dash a little of that mixture upon me. I +am stifled!' + +The man obeyed; and the room and its master being both purified, +nothing remained for Mr Chester but to demand his hat, to fold it +jauntily under his arm, to take his seat in the chair and be +carried off; humming a fashionable tune. + + + +Chapter 24 + + +How the accomplished gentleman spent the evening in the midst of a +dazzling and brilliant circle; how he enchanted all those with +whom he mingled by the grace of his deportment, the politeness of +his manner, the vivacity of his conversation, and the sweetness of +his voice; how it was observed in every corner, that Chester was a +man of that happy disposition that nothing ruffled him, that he was +one on whom the world's cares and errors sat lightly as his dress, +and in whose smiling face a calm and tranquil mind was constantly +reflected; how honest men, who by instinct knew him better, +bowed down before him nevertheless, deferred to his every word, and +courted his favourable notice; how people, who really had good in +them, went with the stream, and fawned and flattered, and approved, +and despised themselves while they did so, and yet had not the +courage to resist; how, in short, he was one of those who are +received and cherished in society (as the phrase is) by scores who +individually would shrink from and be repelled by the object of +their lavish regard; are things of course, which will suggest +themselves. Matter so commonplace needs but a passing glance, and +there an end. + +The despisers of mankind--apart from the mere fools and mimics, of +that creed--are of two sorts. They who believe their merit +neglected and unappreciated, make up one class; they who receive +adulation and flattery, knowing their own worthlessness, compose +the other. Be sure that the coldest-hearted misanthropes are ever +of this last order. + +Mr Chester sat up in bed next morning, sipping his coffee, and +remembering with a kind of contemptuous satisfaction how he had +shone last night, and how he had been caressed and courted, when +his servant brought in a very small scrap of dirty paper, tightly +sealed in two places, on the inside whereof was inscribed in pretty +large text these words: 'A friend. Desiring of a conference. +Immediate. Private. Burn it when you've read it.' + +'Where in the name of the Gunpowder Plot did you pick up this?' +said his master. + +It was given him by a person then waiting at the door, the man +replied. + +'With a cloak and dagger?' said Mr Chester. + +With nothing more threatening about him, it appeared, than a +leather apron and a dirty face. 'Let him come in.' In he came--Mr +Tappertit; with his hair still on end, and a great lock in his +hand, which he put down on the floor in the middle of the chamber +as if he were about to go through some performances in which it was +a necessary agent. + +'Sir,' said Mr Tappertit with a low bow, 'I thank you for this +condescension, and am glad to see you. Pardon the menial office in +which I am engaged, sir, and extend your sympathies to one, who, +humble as his appearance is, has inn'ard workings far above his +station.' + +Mr Chester held the bed-curtain farther back, and looked at him +with a vague impression that he was some maniac, who had not only +broken open the door of his place of confinement, but had brought +away the lock. Mr Tappertit bowed again, and displayed his legs to +the best advantage. + +'You have heard, sir,' said Mr Tappertit, laying his hand upon his +breast, 'of G. Varden Locksmith and bell-hanger and repairs neatly +executed in town and country, Clerkenwell, London?' + +'What then?' asked Mr Chester. + +'I'm his 'prentice, sir.' + +'What THEN?' + +'Ahem!' said Mr Tappertit. 'Would you permit me to shut the door, +sir, and will you further, sir, give me your honour bright, that +what passes between us is in the strictest confidence?' + +Mr Chester laid himself calmly down in bed again, and turning a +perfectly undisturbed face towards the strange apparition, which +had by this time closed the door, begged him to speak out, and to +be as rational as he could, without putting himself to any very +great personal inconvenience. + +'In the first place, sir,' said Mr Tappertit, producing a small +pocket-handkerchief and shaking it out of the folds, 'as I have not +a card about me (for the envy of masters debases us below that +level) allow me to offer the best substitute that circumstances +will admit of. If you will take that in your own hand, sir, and +cast your eye on the right-hand corner,' said Mr Tappertit, +offering it with a graceful air, 'you will meet with my +credentials.' + +'Thank you,' answered Mr Chester, politely accepting it, and +turning to some blood-red characters at one end. '"Four. Simon +Tappertit. One." Is that the--' + +'Without the numbers, sir, that is my name,' replied the 'prentice. +'They are merely intended as directions to the washerwoman, and +have no connection with myself or family. YOUR name, sir,' said Mr +Tappertit, looking very hard at his nightcap, 'is Chester, I +suppose? You needn't pull it off, sir, thank you. I observe E. C. +from here. We will take the rest for granted.' + +'Pray, Mr Tappertit,' said Mr Chester, 'has that complicated piece +of ironmongery which you have done me the favour to bring with you, +any immediate connection with the business we are to discuss?' + +'It has not, sir,' rejoined the 'prentice. 'It's going to be +fitted on a ware'us-door in Thames Street.' + +'Perhaps, as that is the case,' said Mr Chester, 'and as it has a +stronger flavour of oil than I usually refresh my bedroom with, you +will oblige me so far as to put it outside the door?' + +'By all means, sir,' said Mr Tappertit, suiting the action to the +word. + +'You'll excuse my mentioning it, I hope?' + +'Don't apologise, sir, I beg. And now, if you please, to +business.' + +During the whole of this dialogue, Mr Chester had suffered nothing +but his smile of unvarying serenity and politeness to appear upon +his face. Sim Tappertit, who had far too good an opinion of +himself to suspect that anybody could be playing upon him, thought +within himself that this was something like the respect to which he +was entitled, and drew a comparison from this courteous demeanour +of a stranger, by no means favourable to the worthy locksmith. + +'From what passes in our house,' said Mr Tappertit, 'I am aware, +sir, that your son keeps company with a young lady against your +inclinations. Sir, your son has not used me well.' + +'Mr Tappertit,' said the other, 'you grieve me beyond description.' + +'Thank you, sir,' replied the 'prentice. 'I'm glad to hear you say +so. He's very proud, sir, is your son; very haughty.' + +'I am afraid he IS haughty,' said Mr Chester. 'Do you know I was +really afraid of that before; and you confirm me?' + +'To recount the menial offices I've had to do for your son, sir,' +said Mr Tappertit; 'the chairs I've had to hand him, the coaches +I've had to call for him, the numerous degrading duties, wholly +unconnected with my indenters, that I've had to do for him, would +fill a family Bible. Besides which, sir, he is but a young man +himself and I do not consider "thank'ee Sim," a proper form of +address on those occasions.' + +'Mr Tappertit, your wisdom is beyond your years. Pray go on.' + +'I thank you for your good opinion, sir,' said Sim, much gratified, +'and will endeavour so to do. Now sir, on this account (and +perhaps for another reason or two which I needn't go into) I am on +your side. And what I tell you is this--that as long as our people +go backwards and forwards, to and fro, up and down, to that there +jolly old Maypole, lettering, and messaging, and fetching and +carrying, you couldn't help your son keeping company with that +young lady by deputy,--not if he was minded night and day by all +the Horse Guards, and every man of 'em in the very fullest +uniform.' + +Mr Tappertit stopped to take breath after this, and then started +fresh again. + +'Now, sir, I am a coming to the point. You will inquire of me, +"how is this to he prevented?" I'll tell you how. If an honest, +civil, smiling gentleman like you--' + +'Mr Tappertit--really--' + +'No, no, I'm serious,' rejoined the 'prentice, 'I am, upon my soul. +If an honest, civil, smiling gentleman like you, was to talk but +ten minutes to our old woman--that's Mrs Varden--and flatter her up +a bit, you'd gain her over for ever. Then there's this point got-- +that her daughter Dolly,'--here a flush came over Mr Tappertit's +face--'wouldn't be allowed to be a go-between from that time +forward; and till that point's got, there's nothing ever will +prevent her. Mind that.' + +'Mr Tappertit, your knowledge of human nature--' + +'Wait a minute,' said Sim, folding his arms with a dreadful +calmness. 'Now I come to THE point. Sir, there is a villain at +that Maypole, a monster in human shape, a vagabond of the deepest +dye, that unless you get rid of and have kidnapped and carried off +at the very least--nothing less will do--will marry your son to +that young woman, as certainly and as surely as if he was the +Archbishop of Canterbury himself. He will, sir, for the hatred and +malice that he bears to you; let alone the pleasure of doing a bad +action, which to him is its own reward. If you knew how this chap, +this Joseph Willet--that's his name--comes backwards and forwards +to our house, libelling, and denouncing, and threatening you, and +how I shudder when I hear him, you'd hate him worse than I do,-- +worse than I do, sir,' said Mr Tappertit wildly, putting his hair +up straighter, and making a crunching noise with his teeth; 'if +sich a thing is possible.' + +'A little private vengeance in this, Mr Tappertit?' + +'Private vengeance, sir, or public sentiment, or both combined-- +destroy him,' said Mr Tappertit. 'Miggs says so too. Miggs and me +both say so. We can't bear the plotting and undermining that takes +place. Our souls recoil from it. Barnaby Rudge and Mrs Rudge are +in it likewise; but the villain, Joseph Willet, is the ringleader. +Their plottings and schemes are known to me and Miggs. If you want +information of 'em, apply to us. Put Joseph Willet down, sir. +Destroy him. Crush him. And be happy.' + +With these words, Mr Tappertit, who seemed to expect no reply, and +to hold it as a necessary consequence of his eloquence that his +hearer should be utterly stunned, dumbfoundered, and overwhelmed, +folded his arms so that the palm of each hand rested on the +opposite shoulder, and disappeared after the manner of those +mysterious warners of whom he had read in cheap story-books. + +'That fellow,' said Mr Chester, relaxing his face when he was +fairly gone, 'is good practice. I HAVE some command of my +features, beyond all doubt. He fully confirms what I suspected, +though; and blunt tools are sometimes found of use, where sharper +instruments would fail. I fear I may be obliged to make great +havoc among these worthy people. A troublesome necessity! I +quite feel for them.' + +With that he fell into a quiet slumber:--subsided into such a +gentle, pleasant sleep, that it was quite infantine. + + + +Chapter 25 + + +Leaving the favoured, and well-received, and flattered of the +world; him of the world most worldly, who never compromised himself +by an ungentlemanly action, and never was guilty of a manly one; to +lie smilingly asleep--for even sleep, working but little change in +his dissembling face, became with him a piece of cold, conventional +hypocrisy--we follow in the steps of two slow travellers on foot, +making towards Chigwell. + +Barnaby and his mother. Grip in their company, of course. + +The widow, to whom each painful mile seemed longer than the last, +toiled wearily along; while Barnaby, yielding to every inconstant +impulse, fluttered here and there, now leaving her far behind, now +lingering far behind himself, now darting into some by-lane or path +and leaving her to pursue her way alone, until he stealthily +emerged again and came upon her with a wild shout of merriment, as +his wayward and capricious nature prompted. Now he would call to +her from the topmost branch of some high tree by the roadside; now +using his tall staff as a leaping-pole, come flying over ditch or +hedge or five-barred gate; now run with surprising swiftness for a +mile or more on the straight road, and halting, sport upon a patch +of grass with Grip till she came up. These were his delights; and +when his patient mother heard his merry voice, or looked into his +flushed and healthy face, she would not have abated them by one sad +word or murmur, though each had been to her a source of suffering +in the same degree as it was to him of pleasure. + +It is something to look upon enjoyment, so that it be free and +wild and in the face of nature, though it is but the enjoyment of +an idiot. It is something to know that Heaven has left the +capacity of gladness in such a creature's breast; it is something +to be assured that, however lightly men may crush that faculty in +their fellows, the Great Creator of mankind imparts it even to his +despised and slighted work. Who would not rather see a poor idiot +happy in the sunlight, than a wise man pining in a darkened jail! + +Ye men of gloom and austerity, who paint the face of Infinite +Benevolence with an eternal frown; read in the Everlasting Book, +wide open to your view, the lesson it would teach. Its pictures +are not in black and sombre hues, but bright and glowing tints; its +music--save when ye drown it--is not in sighs and groans, but songs +and cheerful sounds. Listen to the million voices in the summer +air, and find one dismal as your own. Remember, if ye can, the +sense of hope and pleasure which every glad return of day awakens +in the breast of all your kind who have not changed their nature; +and learn some wisdom even from the witless, when their hearts are +lifted up they know not why, by all the mirth and happiness it +brings. + +The widow's breast was full of care, was laden heavily with secret +dread and sorrow; but her boy's gaiety of heart gladdened her, and +beguiled the long journey. Sometimes he would bid her lean upon +his arm, and would keep beside her steadily for a short distance; +but it was more his nature to be rambling to and fro, and she +better liked to see him free and happy, even than to have him near +her, because she loved him better than herself. + +She had quitted the place to which they were travelling, directly +after the event which had changed her whole existence; and for two- +and-twenty years had never had courage to revisit it. It was her +native village. How many recollections crowded on her mind when it +appeared in sight! + +Two-and-twenty years. Her boy's whole life and history. The last +time she looked back upon those roofs among the trees, she carried +him in her arms, an infant. How often since that time had she sat +beside him night and day, watching for the dawn of mind that never +came; how had she feared, and doubted, and yet hoped, long after +conviction forced itself upon her! The little stratagems she had +devised to try him, the little tokens he had given in his childish +way--not of dulness but of something infinitely worse, so ghastly +and unchildlike in its cunning--came back as vividly as if but +yesterday had intervened. The room in which they used to be; the +spot in which his cradle stood; he, old and elfin-like in face, but +ever dear to her, gazing at her with a wild and vacant eye, and +crooning some uncouth song as she sat by and rocked him; every +circumstance of his infancy came thronging back, and the most +trivial, perhaps, the most distinctly. + +His older childhood, too; the strange imaginings he had; his terror +of certain senseless things--familiar objects he endowed with life; +the slow and gradual breaking out of that one horror, in which, +before his birth, his darkened intellect began; how, in the midst +of all, she had found some hope and comfort in his being unlike +another child, and had gone on almost believing in the slow +development of his mind until he grew a man, and then his childhood +was complete and lasting; one after another, all these old thoughts +sprung up within her, strong after their long slumber and bitterer +than ever. + +She took his arm and they hurried through the village street. It +was the same as it was wont to be in old times, yet different too, +and wore another air. The change was in herself, not it; but she +never thought of that, and wondered at its alteration, and where it +lay, and what it was. + +The people all knew Barnaby, and the children of the place came +flocking round him--as she remembered to have done with their +fathers and mothers round some silly beggarman, when a child +herself. None of them knew her; they passed each well-remembered +house, and yard, and homestead; and striking into the fields, were +soon alone again. + +The Warren was the end of their journey. Mr Haredale was walking +in the garden, and seeing them as they passed the iron gate, +unlocked it, and bade them enter that way. + +'At length you have mustered heart to visit the old place,' he said +to the widow. 'I am glad you have.' + +'For the first time, and the last, sir,' she replied. + +'The first for many years, but not the last?' + +'The very last.' + +'You mean,' said Mr Haredale, regarding her with some surprise, +'that having made this effort, you are resolved not to persevere +and are determined to relapse? This is unworthy of you. I have +often told you, you should return here. You would be happier here +than elsewhere, I know. As to Barnaby, it's quite his home.' + +'And Grip's,' said Barnaby, holding the basket open. The raven +hopped gravely out, and perching on his shoulder and addressing +himself to Mr Haredale, cried--as a hint, perhaps, that some +temperate refreshment would be acceptable--'Polly put the ket-tle +on, we'll all have tea!' + +'Hear me, Mary,' said Mr Haredale kindly, as he motioned her to +walk with him towards the house. 'Your life has been an example of +patience and fortitude, except in this one particular which has +often given me great pain. It is enough to know that you were +cruelly involved in the calamity which deprived me of an only +brother, and Emma of her father, without being obliged to suppose +(as I sometimes am) that you associate us with the author of our +joint misfortunes.' + +'Associate you with him, sir!' she cried. + +'Indeed,' said Mr Haredale, 'I think you do. I almost believe +that because your husband was bound by so many ties to our +relation, and died in his service and defence, you have come in +some sort to connect us with his murder.' + +'Alas!' she answered. 'You little know my heart, sir. You little +know the truth!' + +'It is natural you should do so; it is very probable you may, +without being conscious of it,' said Mr Haredale, speaking more to +himself than her. 'We are a fallen house. Money, dispensed with +the most lavish hand, would be a poor recompense for sufferings +like yours; and thinly scattered by hands so pinched and tied as +ours, it becomes a miserable mockery. I feel it so, God knows,' he +added, hastily. 'Why should I wonder if she does!' + +'You do me wrong, dear sir, indeed,' she rejoined with great +earnestness; 'and yet when you come to hear what I desire your +leave to say--' + +'I shall find my doubts confirmed?' he said, observing that she +faltered and became confused. 'Well!' + +He quickened his pace for a few steps, but fell back again to her +side, and said: + +'And have you come all this way at last, solely to speak to me?' + +She answered, 'Yes.' + +'A curse,' he muttered, 'upon the wretched state of us proud +beggars, from whom the poor and rich are equally at a distance; the +one being forced to treat us with a show of cold respect; the other +condescending to us in their every deed and word, and keeping more +aloof, the nearer they approach us.--Why, if it were pain to you +(as it must have been) to break for this slight purpose the chain +of habit forged through two-and-twenty years, could you not let me +know your wish, and beg me to come to you?' + +'There was not time, sir,' she rejoined. 'I took my resolution +but last night, and taking it, felt that I must not lose a day--a +day! an hour--in having speech with you.' + +They had by this time reached the house. Mr Haredale paused for a +moment, and looked at her as if surprised by the energy of her +manner. Observing, however, that she took no heed of him, but +glanced up, shuddering, at the old walls with which such horrors +were connected in her mind, he led her by a private stair into his +library, where Emma was seated in a window, reading. + +The young lady, seeing who approached, hastily rose and laid aside +her book, and with many kind words, and not without tears, gave her +a warm and earnest welcome. But the widow shrunk from her embrace +as though she feared her, and sunk down trembling on a chair. + +'It is the return to this place after so long an absence,' said +Emma gently. 'Pray ring, dear uncle--or stay--Barnaby will run +himself and ask for wine--' + +'Not for the world,' she cried. 'It would have another taste--I +could not touch it. I want but a minute's rest. Nothing but +that.' + +Miss Haredale stood beside her chair, regarding her with silent +pity. She remained for a little time quite still; then rose and +turned to Mr Haredale, who had sat down in his easy chair, and was +contemplating her with fixed attention. + +The tale connected with the mansion borne in mind, it seemed, as +has been already said, the chosen theatre for such a deed as it had +known. The room in which this group were now assembled--hard by +the very chamber where the act was done--dull, dark, and sombre; +heavy with worm-eaten books; deadened and shut in by faded +hangings, muffling every sound; shadowed mournfully by trees whose +rustling boughs gave ever and anon a spectral knocking at the +glass; wore, beyond all others in the house, a ghostly, gloomy air. +Nor were the group assembled there, unfitting tenants of the spot. +The widow, with her marked and startling face and downcast eyes; Mr +Haredale stern and despondent ever; his niece beside him, like, yet +most unlike, the picture of her father, which gazed reproachfully +down upon them from the blackened wall; Barnaby, with his vacant +look and restless eye; were all in keeping with the place, and +actors in the legend. Nay, the very raven, who had hopped upon the +table and with the air of some old necromancer appeared to be +profoundly studying a great folio volume that lay open on a desk, +was strictly in unison with the rest, and looked like the embodied +spirit of evil biding his time of mischief. + +'I scarcely know,' said the widow, breaking silence, 'how to begin. +You will think my mind disordered.' + +'The whole tenor of your quiet and reproachless life since you were +last here,' returned Mr Haredale, mildly, 'shall bear witness for +you. Why do you fear to awaken such a suspicion? You do not speak +to strangers. You have not to claim our interest or consideration +for the first time. Be more yourself. Take heart. Any advice or +assistance that I can give you, you know is yours of right, and +freely yours.' + +'What if I came, sir,' she rejoined, 'I who have but one other +friend on earth, to reject your aid from this moment, and to say +that henceforth I launch myself upon the world, alone and +unassisted, to sink or swim as Heaven may decree!' + +'You would have, if you came to me for such a purpose,' said Mr +Haredale calmly, 'some reason to assign for conduct so +extraordinary, which--if one may entertain the possibility of +anything so wild and strange--would have its weight, of course.' + +'That, sir,' she answered, 'is the misery of my distress. I can +give no reason whatever. My own bare word is all that I can offer. +It is my duty, my imperative and bounden duty. If I did not +discharge it, I should be a base and guilty wretch. Having said +that, my lips are sealed, and I can say no more.' + +As though she felt relieved at having said so much, and had nerved +herself to the remainder of her task, she spoke from this time with +a firmer voice and heightened courage. + +'Heaven is my witness, as my own heart is--and yours, dear young +lady, will speak for me, I know--that I have lived, since that time +we all have bitter reason to remember, in unchanging devotion, and +gratitude to this family. Heaven is my witness that go where I +may, I shall preserve those feelings unimpaired. And it is my +witness, too, that they alone impel me to the course I must take, +and from which nothing now shall turn me, as I hope for mercy.' + +'These are strange riddles,' said Mr Haredale. + +'In this world, sir,' she replied, 'they may, perhaps, never be +explained. In another, the Truth will be discovered in its own +good time. And may that time,' she added in a low voice, 'be far +distant!' + +'Let me be sure,' said Mr Haredale, 'that I understand you, for I +am doubtful of my own senses. Do you mean that you are resolved +voluntarily to deprive yourself of those means of support you have +received from us so long--that you are determined to resign the +annuity we settled on you twenty years ago--to leave house, and +home, and goods, and begin life anew--and this, for some secret +reason or monstrous fancy which is incapable of explanation, which +only now exists, and has been dormant all this time? In the name +of God, under what delusion are you labouring?' + +'As I am deeply thankful,' she made answer, 'for the kindness of +those, alive and dead, who have owned this house; and as I would +not have its roof fall down and crush me, or its very walls drip +blood, my name being spoken in their hearing; I never will again +subsist upon their bounty, or let it help me to subsistence. You +do not know,' she added, suddenly, 'to what uses it may be applied; +into what hands it may pass. I do, and I renounce it.' + +'Surely,' said Mr Haredale, 'its uses rest with you.' + +'They did. They rest with me no longer. It may be--it IS--devoted +to purposes that mock the dead in their graves. It never can +prosper with me. It will bring some other heavy judgement on the +head of my dear son, whose innocence will suffer for his mother's +guilt.' + +'What words are these!' cried Mr Haredale, regarding her with +wonder. 'Among what associates have you fallen? Into what guilt +have you ever been betrayed?' + +'I am guilty, and yet innocent; wrong, yet right; good in +intention, though constrained to shield and aid the bad. Ask me no +more questions, sir; but believe that I am rather to be pitied than +condemned. I must leave my house to-morrow, for while I stay +there, it is haunted. My future dwelling, if I am to live in +peace, must be a secret. If my poor boy should ever stray this +way, do not tempt him to disclose it or have him watched when he +returns; for if we are hunted, we must fly again. And now this +load is off my mind, I beseech you--and you, dear Miss Haredale, +too--to trust me if you can, and think of me kindly as you have +been used to do. If I die and cannot tell my secret even then (for +that may come to pass), it will sit the lighter on my breast in +that hour for this day's work; and on that day, and every day until +it comes, I will pray for and thank you both, and trouble you no +more. + +With that, she would have left them, but they detained her, and +with many soothing words and kind entreaties, besought her to +consider what she did, and above all to repose more freely upon +them, and say what weighed so sorely on her mind. Finding her deaf +to their persuasions, Mr Haredale suggested, as a last resource, +that she should confide in Emma, of whom, as a young person and one +of her own sex, she might stand in less dread than of himself. +From this proposal, however, she recoiled with the same +indescribable repugnance she had manifested when they met. The +utmost that could be wrung from her was, a promise that she would +receive Mr Haredale at her own house next evening, and in the mean +time reconsider her determination and their dissuasions--though any +change on her part, as she told them, was quite hopeless. This +condition made at last, they reluctantly suffered her to depart, +since she would neither eat nor drink within the house; and she, +and Barnaby, and Grip, accordingly went out as they had come, by +the private stair and garden-gate; seeing and being seen of no one +by the way. + +It was remarkable in the raven that during the whole interview he +had kept his eye on his book with exactly the air of a very sly +human rascal, who, under the mask of pretending to read hard, was +listening to everything. He still appeared to have the +conversation very strongly in his mind, for although, when they +were alone again, he issued orders for the instant preparation of +innumerable kettles for purposes of tea, he was thoughtful, and +rather seemed to do so from an abstract sense of duty, than with +any regard to making himself agreeable, or being what is commonly +called good company. + +They were to return by the coach. As there was an interval of +full two hours before it started, and they needed rest and some +refreshment, Barnaby begged hard for a visit to the Maypole. But +his mother, who had no wish to be recognised by any of those who +had known her long ago, and who feared besides that Mr Haredale +might, on second thoughts, despatch some messenger to that place of +entertainment in quest of her, proposed to wait in the churchyard +instead. As it was easy for Barnaby to buy and carry thither such +humble viands as they required, he cheerfully assented, and in the +churchyard they sat down to take their frugal dinner. + +Here again, the raven was in a highly reflective state; walking up +and down when he had dined, with an air of elderly complacency +which was strongly suggestive of his having his hands under his +coat-tails; and appearing to read the tombstones with a very +critical taste. Sometimes, after a long inspection of an epitaph, +he would strop his beak upon the grave to which it referred, and +cry in his hoarse tones, 'I'm a devil, I'm a devil, I'm a devil!' +but whether he addressed his observations to any supposed person +below, or merely threw them off as a general remark, is matter of +uncertainty. + +It was a quiet pretty spot, but a sad one for Barnaby's mother; for +Mr Reuben Haredale lay there, and near the vault in which his ashes +rested, was a stone to the memory of her own husband, with a brief +inscription recording how and when he had lost his life. She sat +here, thoughtful and apart, until their time was out, and the +distant horn told that the coach was coming. + +Barnaby, who had been sleeping on the grass, sprung up quickly at +the sound; and Grip, who appeared to understand it equally well, +walked into his basket straightway, entreating society in general +(as though he intended a kind of satire upon them in connection +with churchyards) never to say die on any terms. They were soon on +the coach-top and rolling along the road. + +It went round by the Maypole, and stopped at the door. Joe was +from home, and Hugh came sluggishly out to hand up the parcel that +it called for. There was no fear of old John coming out. They +could see him from the coach-roof fast asleep in his cosy bar. It +was a part of John's character. He made a point of going to sleep +at the coach's time. He despised gadding about; he looked upon +coaches as things that ought to be indicted; as disturbers of the +peace of mankind; as restless, bustling, busy, horn-blowing +contrivances, quite beneath the dignity of men, and only suited to +giddy girls that did nothing but chatter and go a-shopping. 'We +know nothing about coaches here, sir,' John would say, if any +unlucky stranger made inquiry touching the offensive vehicles; 'we +don't book for 'em; we'd rather not; they're more trouble than +they're worth, with their noise and rattle. If you like to wait +for 'em you can; but we don't know anything about 'em; they may +call and they may not--there's a carrier--he was looked upon as +quite good enough for us, when I was a boy.' + +She dropped her veil as Hugh climbed up, and while he hung behind, +and talked to Barnaby in whispers. But neither he nor any other +person spoke to her, or noticed her, or had any curiosity about +her; and so, an alien, she visited and left the village where she +had been born, and had lived a merry child, a comely girl, a happy +wife--where she had known all her enjoyment of life, and had +entered on its hardest sorrows. + + + +Chapter 26 + + +'And you're not surprised to hear this, Varden?' said Mr Haredale. +'Well! You and she have always been the best friends, and you +should understand her if anybody does.' + +'I ask your pardon, sir,' rejoined the locksmith. 'I didn't say I +understood her. I wouldn't have the presumption to say that of any +woman. It's not so easily done. But I am not so much surprised, +sir, as you expected me to be, certainly.' + +'May I ask why not, my good friend?' + +'I have seen, sir,' returned the locksmith with evident reluctance, +'I have seen in connection with her, something that has filled me +with distrust and uneasiness. She has made bad friends, how, or +when, I don't know; but that her house is a refuge for one robber +and cut-throat at least, I am certain. There, sir! Now it's out.' + +'Varden!' + +'My own eyes, sir, are my witnesses, and for her sake I would be +willingly half-blind, if I could but have the pleasure of +mistrusting 'em. I have kept the secret till now, and it will go +no further than yourself, I know; but I tell you that with my own +eyes--broad awake--I saw, in the passage of her house one evening +after dark, the highwayman who robbed and wounded Mr Edward +Chester, and on the same night threatened me.' + +'And you made no effort to detain him?' said Mr Haredale quickly. + +'Sir,' returned the locksmith, 'she herself prevented me--held me, +with all her strength, and hung about me until he had got clear +off.' And having gone so far, he related circumstantially all that +had passed upon the night in question. + +This dialogue was held in a low tone in the locksmith's little +parlour, into which honest Gabriel had shown his visitor on his +arrival. Mr Haredale had called upon him to entreat his company to +the widow's, that he might have the assistance of his persuasion +and influence; and out of this circumstance the conversation had +arisen. + +'I forbore,' said Gabriel, 'from repeating one word of this to +anybody, as it could do her no good and might do her great harm. I +thought and hoped, to say the truth, that she would come to me, and +talk to me about it, and tell me how it was; but though I have +purposely put myself in her way more than once or twice, she has +never touched upon the subject--except by a look. And indeed,' +said the good-natured locksmith, 'there was a good deal in the +look, more than could have been put into a great many words. It +said among other matters "Don't ask me anything" so imploringly, +that I didn't ask her anything. You'll think me an old fool, I +know, sir. If it's any relief to call me one, pray do.' + +'I am greatly disturbed by what you tell me,' said Mr Haredale, +after a silence. 'What meaning do you attach to it?' + +The locksmith shook his head, and looked doubtfully out of window +at the failing light. + +'She cannot have married again,' said Mr Haredale. + +'Not without our knowledge surely, sir.' + +'She may have done so, in the fear that it would lead, if known, to +some objection or estrangement. Suppose she married incautiously-- +it is not improbable, for her existence has been a lonely and +monotonous one for many years--and the man turned out a ruffian, +she would be anxious to screen him, and yet would revolt from his +crimes. This might be. It bears strongly on the whole drift of +her discourse yesterday, and would quite explain her conduct. Do +you suppose Barnaby is privy to these circumstances?' + +'Quite impossible to say, sir,' returned the locksmith, shaking his +head again: 'and next to impossible to find out from him. If what +you suppose is really the case, I tremble for the lad--a notable +person, sir, to put to bad uses--' + +'It is not possible, Varden,' said Mr Haredale, in a still lower +tone of voice than he had spoken yet, 'that we have been blinded +and deceived by this woman from the beginning? It is not possible +that this connection was formed in her husband's lifetime, and led +to his and my brother's--' + +'Good God, sir,' cried Gabriel, interrupting him, 'don't entertain +such dark thoughts for a moment. Five-and-twenty years ago, where +was there a girl like her? A gay, handsome, laughing, bright-eyed +damsel! Think what she was, sir. It makes my heart ache now, even +now, though I'm an old man, with a woman for a daughter, to think +what she was and what she is. We all change, but that's with Time; +Time does his work honestly, and I don't mind him. A fig for Time, +sir. Use him well, and he's a hearty fellow, and scorns to have +you at a disadvantage. But care and suffering (and those have +changed her) are devils, sir--secret, stealthy, undermining devils-- +who tread down the brightest flowers in Eden, and do more havoc in +a month than Time does in a year. Picture to yourself for one +minute what Mary was before they went to work with her fresh heart +and face--do her that justice--and say whether such a thing is +possible.' + +'You're a good fellow, Varden,' said Mr Haredale, 'and are quite +right. I have brooded on that subject so long, that every breath +of suspicion carries me back to it. You are quite right.' + +'It isn't, sir,' cried the locksmith with brightened eyes, and +sturdy, honest voice; 'it isn't because I courted her before Rudge, +and failed, that I say she was too good for him. She would have +been as much too good for me. But she WAS too good for him; he +wasn't free and frank enough for her. I don't reproach his memory +with it, poor fellow; I only want to put her before you as she +really was. For myself, I'll keep her old picture in my mind; and +thinking of that, and what has altered her, I'll stand her friend, +and try to win her back to peace. And damme, sir,' cried Gabriel, +'with your pardon for the word, I'd do the same if she had married +fifty highwaymen in a twelvemonth; and think it in the Protestant +Manual too, though Martha said it wasn't, tooth and nail, till +doomsday!' + +If the dark little parlour had been filled with a dense fog, which, +clearing away in an instant, left it all radiance and brightness, +it could not have been more suddenly cheered than by this outbreak +on the part of the hearty locksmith. In a voice nearly as full and +round as his own, Mr Haredale cried 'Well said!' and bade him come +away without more parley. The locksmith complied right willingly; +and both getting into a hackney coach which was waiting at the +door, drove off straightway. + +They alighted at the street corner, and dismissing their +conveyance, walked to the house. To their first knock at the door +there was no response. A second met with the like result. But in +answer to the third, which was of a more vigorous kind, the parlour +window-sash was gently raised, and a musical voice cried: + +'Haredale, my dear fellow, I am extremely glad to see you. How +very much you have improved in your appearance since our last +meeting! I never saw you looking better. HOW do you do?' + +Mr Haredale turned his eyes towards the casement whence the voice +proceeded, though there was no need to do so, to recognise the +speaker, and Mr Chester waved his hand, and smiled a courteous +welcome. + +'The door will be opened immediately,' he said. 'There is nobody +but a very dilapidated female to perform such offices. You will +excuse her infirmities? If she were in a more elevated station of +society, she would be gouty. Being but a hewer of wood and drawer +of water, she is rheumatic. My dear Haredale, these are natural +class distinctions, depend upon it.' + +Mr Haredale, whose face resumed its lowering and distrustful look +the moment he heard the voice, inclined his head stiffly, and +turned his back upon the speaker. + +'Not opened yet,' said Mr Chester. 'Dear me! I hope the aged soul +has not caught her foot in some unlucky cobweb by the way. She is +there at last! Come in, I beg!' + +Mr Haredale entered, followed by the locksmith. Turning with a +look of great astonishment to the old woman who had opened the +door, he inquired for Mrs Rudge--for Barnaby. They were both gone, +she replied, wagging her ancient head, for good. There was a +gentleman in the parlour, who perhaps could tell them more. That +was all SHE knew. + +'Pray, sir,' said Mr Haredale, presenting himself before this new +tenant, 'where is the person whom I came here to see?' + +'My dear friend,' he returned, 'I have not the least idea.' + +'Your trifling is ill-timed,' retorted the other in a suppressed +tone and voice, 'and its subject ill-chosen. Reserve it for those +who are your friends, and do not expend it on me. I lay no claim +to the distinction, and have the self-denial to reject it.' + +'My dear, good sir,' said Mr Chester, 'you are heated with walking. +Sit down, I beg. Our friend is--' + +'Is but a plain honest man,' returned Mr Haredale, 'and quite +unworthy of your notice.' + +'Gabriel Varden by name, sir,' said the locksmith bluntly. + +'A worthy English yeoman!' said Mr Chester. 'A most worthy +yeoman, of whom I have frequently heard my son Ned--darling fellow-- +speak, and have often wished to see. Varden, my good friend, I am +glad to know you. You wonder now,' he said, turning languidly to +Mr Haredale, 'to see me here. Now, I am sure you do.' + +Mr Haredale glanced at him--not fondly or admiringly--smiled, and +held his peace. + +'The mystery is solved in a moment,' said Mr Chester; 'in a moment. +Will you step aside with me one instant. You remember our little +compact in reference to Ned, and your dear niece, Haredale? You +remember the list of assistants in their innocent intrigue? You +remember these two people being among them? My dear fellow, +congratulate yourself, and me. I have bought them off.' + +'You have done what?' said Mr Haredale. + +'Bought them off,' returned his smiling friend. 'I have found it +necessary to take some active steps towards setting this boy and +girl attachment quite at rest, and have begun by removing these two +agents. You are surprised? Who CAN withstand the influence of a +little money! They wanted it, and have been bought off. We have +nothing more to fear from them. They are gone.' + +'Gone!' echoed Mr Haredale. 'Where?' + +'My dear fellow--and you must permit me to say again, that you +never looked so young; so positively boyish as you do to-night--the +Lord knows where; I believe Columbus himself wouldn't find them. +Between you and me they have their hidden reasons, but upon that +point I have pledged myself to secrecy. She appointed to see you +here to-night, I know, but found it inconvenient, and couldn't +wait. Here is the key of the door. I am afraid you'll find it +inconveniently large; but as the tenement is yours, your good- +nature will excuse that, Haredale, I am certain!' + + + +Chapter 27 + + +Mr Haredale stood in the widow's parlour with the door-key in his +hand, gazing by turns at Mr Chester and at Gabriel Varden, and +occasionally glancing downward at the key as in the hope that of +its own accord it would unlock the mystery; until Mr Chester, +putting on his hat and gloves, and sweetly inquiring whether they +were walking in the same direction, recalled him to himself. + +'No,' he said. 'Our roads diverge--widely, as you know. For the +present, I shall remain here.' + +'You will be hipped, Haredale; you will be miserable, melancholy, +utterly wretched,' returned the other. 'It's a place of the very +last description for a man of your temper. I know it will make you +very miserable.' + +'Let it,' said Mr Haredale, sitting down; 'and thrive upon the +thought. Good night!' + +Feigning to be wholly unconscious of the abrupt wave of the hand +which rendered this farewell tantamount to a dismissal, Mr Chester +retorted with a bland and heartfelt benediction, and inquired of +Gabriel in what direction HE was going. + +'Yours, sir, would be too much honour for the like of me,' replied +the locksmith, hesitating. + +'I wish you to remain here a little while, Varden,' said Mr +Haredale, without looking towards them. 'I have a word or two to +say to you.' + +'I will not intrude upon your conference another moment,' said Mr +Chester with inconceivable politeness. 'May it be satisfactory to +you both! God bless you!' So saying, and bestowing upon the +locksmith a most refulgent smile, he left them. + +'A deplorably constituted creature, that rugged person,' he said, +as he walked along the street; 'he is an atrocity that carries its +own punishment along with it--a bear that gnaws himself. And here +is one of the inestimable advantages of having a perfect command +over one's inclinations. I have been tempted in these two short +interviews, to draw upon that fellow, fifty times. Five men in six +would have yielded to the impulse. By suppressing mine, I wound +him deeper and more keenly than if I were the best swordsman in all +Europe, and he the worst. You are the wise man's very last +resource,' he said, tapping the hilt of his weapon; 'we can but +appeal to you when all else is said and done. To come to you +before, and thereby spare our adversaries so much, is a barbarian +mode of warfare, quite unworthy of any man with the remotest +pretensions to delicacy of feeling, or refinement.' + +He smiled so very pleasantly as he communed with himself after this +manner, that a beggar was emboldened to follow for alms, and to dog +his footsteps for some distance. He was gratified by the +circumstance, feeling it complimentary to his power of feature, and +as a reward suffered the man to follow him until he called a chair, +when he graciously dismissed him with a fervent blessing. + +'Which is as easy as cursing,' he wisely added, as he took his +seat, 'and more becoming to the face.--To Clerkenwell, my good +creatures, if you please!' The chairmen were rendered quite +vivacious by having such a courteous burden, and to Clerkenwell +they went at a fair round trot. + +Alighting at a certain point he had indicated to them upon the +road, and paying them something less than they expected from a fare +of such gentle speech, he turned into the street in which the +locksmith dwelt, and presently stood beneath the shadow of the +Golden Key. Mr Tappertit, who was hard at work by lamplight, in a +corner of the workshop, remained unconscious of his presence until +a hand upon his shoulder made him start and turn his head. + +'Industry,' said Mr Chester, 'is the soul of business, and the +keystone of prosperity. Mr Tappertit, I shall expect you to invite +me to dinner when you are Lord Mayor of London.' + +'Sir,' returned the 'prentice, laying down his hammer, and rubbing +his nose on the back of a very sooty hand, 'I scorn the Lord Mayor +and everything that belongs to him. We must have another state of +society, sir, before you catch me being Lord Mayor. How de do, sir?' + +'The better, Mr Tappertit, for looking into your ingenuous face +once more. I hope you are well.' + +'I am as well, sir,' said Sim, standing up to get nearer to his +ear, and whispering hoarsely, 'as any man can be under the +aggrawations to which I am exposed. My life's a burden to me. If +it wasn't for wengeance, I'd play at pitch and toss with it on the +losing hazard.' + +'Is Mrs Varden at home?' said Mr Chester. + +'Sir,' returned Sim, eyeing him over with a look of concentrated +expression,--'she is. Did you wish to see her?' + +Mr Chester nodded. + +'Then come this way, sir,' said Sim, wiping his face upon his +apron. 'Follow me, sir.--Would you permit me to whisper in your +ear, one half a second?' + +'By all means.' + +Mr Tappertit raised himself on tiptoe, applied his lips to Mr +Chester's ear, drew back his head without saying anything, looked +hard at him, applied them to his ear again, again drew back, and +finally whispered--'The name is Joseph Willet. Hush! I say no +more.' + +Having said that much, he beckoned the visitor with a mysterious +aspect to follow him to the parlour-door, where he announced him +in the voice of a gentleman-usher. 'Mr Chester.' + +'And not Mr Ed'dard, mind,' said Sim, looking into the door again, +and adding this by way of postscript in his own person; 'it's his +father.' + +'But do not let his father,' said Mr Chester, advancing hat in +hand, as he observed the effect of this last explanatory +announcement, 'do not let his father be any check or restraint on +your domestic occupations, Miss Varden.' + +'Oh! Now! There! An't I always a-saying it!' exclaimed Miggs, +clapping her hands. 'If he an't been and took Missis for her own +daughter. Well, she DO look like it, that she do. Only think of +that, mim!' + +'Is it possible,' said Mr Chester in his softest tones, 'that this +is Mrs Varden! I am amazed. That is not your daughter, Mrs +Varden? No, no. Your sister.' + +'My daughter, indeed, sir,' returned Mrs V., blushing with great +juvenility. + +'Ah, Mrs Varden!' cried the visitor. 'Ah, ma'am--humanity is +indeed a happy lot, when we can repeat ourselves in others, and +still be young as they. You must allow me to salute you--the +custom of the country, my dear madam--your daughter too.' + +Dolly showed some reluctance to perform this ceremony, but was +sharply reproved by Mrs Varden, who insisted on her undergoing it +that minute. For pride, she said with great severity, was one of +the seven deadly sins, and humility and lowliness of heart were +virtues. Wherefore she desired that Dolly would be kissed +immediately, on pain of her just displeasure; at the same time +giving her to understand that whatever she saw her mother do, she +might safely do herself, without being at the trouble of any +reasoning or reflection on the subject--which, indeed, was +offensive and undutiful, and in direct contravention of the church +catechism. + +Thus admonished, Dolly complied, though by no means willingly; for +there was a broad, bold look of admiration in Mr Chester's face, +refined and polished though it sought to be, which distressed her +very much. As she stood with downcast eyes, not liking to look up +and meet his, he gazed upon her with an approving air, and then +turned to her mother. + +'My friend Gabriel (whose acquaintance I only made this very +evening) should be a happy man, Mrs Varden.' + +'Ah!' sighed Mrs V., shaking her head. + +'Ah!' echoed Miggs. + +'Is that the case?' said Mr Chester, compassionately. 'Dear me!' + +'Master has no intentions, sir,' murmured Miggs as she sidled up +to him, 'but to be as grateful as his natur will let him, for +everythink he owns which it is in his powers to appreciate. But we +never, sir'--said Miggs, looking sideways at Mrs Varden, and +interlarding her discourse with a sigh--'we never know the full +value of SOME wines and fig-trees till we lose 'em. So much the +worse, sir, for them as has the slighting of 'em on their +consciences when they're gone to be in full blow elsewhere.' And +Miss Miggs cast up her eyes to signify where that might be. + +As Mrs Varden distinctly heard, and was intended to hear, all that +Miggs said, and as these words appeared to convey in metaphorical +terms a presage or foreboding that she would at some early period +droop beneath her trials and take an easy flight towards the stars, +she immediately began to languish, and taking a volume of the +Manual from a neighbouring table, leant her arm upon it as though +she were Hope and that her Anchor. Mr Chester perceiving this, +and seeing how the volume was lettered on the back, took it gently +from her hand, and turned the fluttering leaves. + +'My favourite book, dear madam. How often, how very often in his +early life--before he can remember'--(this clause was strictly +true) 'have I deduced little easy moral lessons from its pages, for +my dear son Ned! You know Ned?' + +Mrs Varden had that honour, and a fine affable young gentleman he +was. + +'You're a mother, Mrs Varden,' said Mr Chester, taking a pinch of +snuff, 'and you know what I, as a father, feel, when he is praised. +He gives me some uneasiness--much uneasiness--he's of a roving +nature, ma'am--from flower to flower--from sweet to sweet--but his +is the butterfly time of life, and we must not be hard upon such +trifling.' + +He glanced at Dolly. She was attending evidently to what he said. +Just what he desired! + +'The only thing I object to in this little trait of Ned's, is,' +said Mr Chester, '--and the mention of his name reminds me, by the +way, that I am about to beg the favour of a minute's talk with you +alone--the only thing I object to in it, is, that it DOES partake +of insincerity. Now, however I may attempt to disguise the fact +from myself in my affection for Ned, still I always revert to this-- +that if we are not sincere, we are nothing. Nothing upon earth. +Let us be sincere, my dear madam--' + +'--and Protestant,' murmured Mrs Varden. + +'--and Protestant above all things. Let us be sincere and +Protestant, strictly moral, strictly just (though always with a +leaning towards mercy), strictly honest, and strictly true, and we +gain--it is a slight point, certainly, but still it is something +tangible; we throw up a groundwork and foundation, so to speak, of +goodness, on which we may afterwards erect some worthy +superstructure.' + +Now, to be sure, Mrs Varden thought, here is a perfect character. +Here is a meek, righteous, thoroughgoing Christian, who, having +mastered all these qualities, so difficult of attainment; who, +having dropped a pinch of salt on the tails of all the cardinal +virtues, and caught them every one; makes light of their +possession, and pants for more morality. For the good woman never +doubted (as many good men and women never do), that this slighting +kind of profession, this setting so little store by great matters, +this seeming to say, 'I am not proud, I am what you hear, but I +consider myself no better than other people; let us change the +subject, pray'--was perfectly genuine and true. He so contrived +it, and said it in that way that it appeared to have been forced +from him, and its effect was marvellous. + +Aware of the impression he had made--few men were quicker than he +at such discoveries--Mr Chester followed up the blow by propounding +certain virtuous maxims, somewhat vague and general in their +nature, doubtless, and occasionally partaking of the character of +truisms, worn a little out at elbow, but delivered in so charming a +voice and with such uncommon serenity and peace of mind, that they +answered as well as the best. Nor is this to be wondered at; for +as hollow vessels produce a far more musical sound in falling than +those which are substantial, so it will oftentimes be found that +sentiments which have nothing in them make the loudest ringing in +the world, and are the most relished. + +Mr Chester, with the volume gently extended in one hand, and with +the other planted lightly on his breast, talked to them in the most +delicious manner possible; and quite enchanted all his hearers, +notwithstanding their conflicting interests and thoughts. Even +Dolly, who, between his keen regards and her eyeing over by Mr +Tappertit, was put quite out of countenance, could not help owning +within herself that he was the sweetest-spoken gentleman she had +ever seen. Even Miss Miggs, who was divided between admiration of +Mr Chester and a mortal jealousy of her young mistress, had +sufficient leisure to be propitiated. Even Mr Tappertit, though +occupied as we have seen in gazing at his heart's delight, could +not wholly divert his thoughts from the voice of the other charmer. +Mrs Varden, to her own private thinking, had never been so improved +in all her life; and when Mr Chester, rising and craving permission +to speak with her apart, took her by the hand and led her at arm's +length upstairs to the best sitting-room, she almost deemed him +something more than human. + +'Dear madam,' he said, pressing her hand delicately to his lips; +'be seated.' + +Mrs Varden called up quite a courtly air, and became seated. + +'You guess my object?' said Mr Chester, drawing a chair towards +her. 'You divine my purpose? I am an affectionate parent, my dear +Mrs Varden.' + +'That I am sure you are, sir,' said Mrs V. + +'Thank you,' returned Mr Chester, tapping his snuff-box lid. +'Heavy moral responsibilities rest with parents, Mrs Varden.' + +Mrs Varden slightly raised her hands, shook her head, and looked at +the ground as though she saw straight through the globe, out at the +other end, and into the immensity of space beyond. + +'I may confide in you,' said Mr Chester, 'without reserve. I love +my son, ma'am, dearly; and loving him as I do, I would save him +from working certain misery. You know of his attachment to Miss +Haredale. You have abetted him in it, and very kind of you it was +to do so. I am deeply obliged to you--most deeply obliged to you-- +for your interest in his behalf; but my dear ma'am, it is a +mistaken one, I do assure you.' + +Mrs Varden stammered that she was sorry--' + +'Sorry, my dear ma'am,' he interposed. 'Never be sorry for what is +so very amiable, so very good in intention, so perfectly like +yourself. But there are grave and weighty reasons, pressing family +considerations, and apart even from these, points of religious +difference, which interpose themselves, and render their union +impossible; utterly im-possible. I should have mentioned these +circumstances to your husband; but he has--you will excuse my +saying this so freely--he has NOT your quickness of apprehension or +depth of moral sense. What an extremely airy house this is, and +how beautifully kept! For one like myself--a widower so long-- +these tokens of female care and superintendence have inexpressible +charms.' + +Mrs Varden began to think (she scarcely knew why) that the young Mr +Chester must be in the wrong and the old Mr Chester must he in the +right. + +'My son Ned,' resumed her tempter with his most winning air, 'has +had, I am told, your lovely daughter's aid, and your open-hearted +husband's.' + +'--Much more than mine, sir,' said Mrs Varden; 'a great deal more. +I have often had my doubts. It's a--' + +'A bad example,' suggested Mr Chester. 'It is. No doubt it is. +Your daughter is at that age when to set before her an +encouragement for young persons to rebel against their parents on +this most important point, is particularly injudicious. You are +quite right. I ought to have thought of that myself, but it +escaped me, I confess--so far superior are your sex to ours, dear +madam, in point of penetration and sagacity.' + +Mrs Varden looked as wise as if she had really said something to +deserve this compliment--firmly believed she had, in short--and her +faith in her own shrewdness increased considerably. + +'My dear ma'am,' said Mr Chester, 'you embolden me to be plain +with you. My son and I are at variance on this point. The young +lady and her natural guardian differ upon it, also. And the +closing point is, that my son is bound by his duty to me, by his +honour, by every solemn tie and obligation, to marry some one +else.' + +'Engaged to marry another lady!' quoth Mrs Varden, holding up her +hands. + +'My dear madam, brought up, educated, and trained, expressly for +that purpose. Expressly for that purpose.--Miss Haredale, I am +told, is a very charming creature.' + +'I am her foster-mother, and should know--the best young lady in +the world,' said Mrs Varden. + +'I have not the smallest doubt of it. I am sure she is. And you, +who have stood in that tender relation towards her, are bound to +consult her happiness. Now, can I--as I have said to Haredale, who +quite agrees--can I possibly stand by, and suffer her to throw +herself away (although she IS of a Catholic family), upon a young +fellow who, as yet, has no heart at all? It is no imputation upon +him to say he has not, because young men who have plunged deeply +into the frivolities and conventionalities of society, very seldom +have. Their hearts never grow, my dear ma'am, till after thirty. +I don't believe, no, I do NOT believe, that I had any heart myself +when I was Ned's age.' + +'Oh sir,' said Mrs Varden, 'I think you must have had. It's +impossible that you, who have so much now, can ever have been +without any.' + +'I hope,' he answered, shrugging his shoulders meekly, 'I have a +little; I hope, a very little--Heaven knows! But to return to Ned; +I have no doubt you thought, and therefore interfered benevolently +in his behalf, that I objected to Miss Haredale. How very +natural! My dear madam, I object to him--to him--emphatically to +Ned himself.' + +Mrs Varden was perfectly aghast at the disclosure. + +'He has, if he honourably fulfils this solemn obligation of which I +have told you--and he must be honourable, dear Mrs Varden, or he is +no son of mine--a fortune within his reach. He is of most +expensive, ruinously expensive habits; and if, in a moment of +caprice and wilfulness, he were to marry this young lady, and so +deprive himself of the means of gratifying the tastes to which he +has been so long accustomed, he would--my dear madam, he would +break the gentle creature's heart. Mrs Varden, my good lady, my +dear soul, I put it to you--is such a sacrifice to be endured? Is +the female heart a thing to be trifled with in this way? Ask your +own, my dear madam. Ask your own, I beseech you.' + +'Truly,' thought Mrs Varden, 'this gentleman is a saint. But,' she +added aloud, and not unnaturally, 'if you take Miss Emma's lover +away, sir, what becomes of the poor thing's heart then?' + +'The very point,' said Mr Chester, not at all abashed, 'to which I +wished to lead you. A marriage with my son, whom I should be +compelled to disown, would be followed by years of misery; they +would be separated, my dear madam, in a twelvemonth. To break off +this attachment, which is more fancied than real, as you and I know +very well, will cost the dear girl but a few tears, and she is +happy again. Take the case of your own daughter, the young lady +downstairs, who is your breathing image'--Mrs Varden coughed and +simpered--'there is a young man (I am sorry to say, a dissolute +fellow, of very indifferent character) of whom I have heard Ned +speak--Bullet was it--Pullet--Mullet--' + +'There is a young man of the name of Joseph Willet, sir,' said Mrs +Varden, folding her hands loftily. + +'That's he,' cried Mr Chester. 'Suppose this Joseph Willet now, +were to aspire to the affections of your charming daughter, and +were to engage them.' + +'It would be like his impudence,' interposed Mrs Varden, bridling, +'to dare to think of such a thing!' + +'My dear madam, that's the whole case. I know it would be like his +impudence. It is like Ned's impudence to do as he has done; but +you would not on that account, or because of a few tears from your +beautiful daughter, refrain from checking their inclinations in +their birth. I meant to have reasoned thus with your husband when +I saw him at Mrs Rudge's this evening--' + +'My husband,' said Mrs Varden, interposing with emotion, 'would be +a great deal better at home than going to Mrs Rudge's so often. I +don't know what he does there. I don't see what occasion he has to +busy himself in her affairs at all, sir.' + +'If I don't appear to express my concurrence in those last +sentiments of yours,' returned Mr Chester, 'quite so strongly as +you might desire, it is because his being there, my dear madam, and +not proving conversational, led me hither, and procured me the +happiness of this interview with one, in whom the whole management, +conduct, and prosperity of her family are centred, I perceive.' + +With that he took Mrs Varden's hand again, and having pressed it to +his lips with the highflown gallantry of the day--a little +burlesqued to render it the more striking in the good lady's +unaccustomed eyes--proceeded in the same strain of mingled +sophistry, cajolery, and flattery, to entreat that her utmost +influence might be exerted to restrain her husband and daughter +from any further promotion of Edward's suit to Miss Haredale, and +from aiding or abetting either party in any way. Mrs Varden was +but a woman, and had her share of vanity, obstinacy, and love of +power. She entered into a secret treaty of alliance, offensive and +defensive, with her insinuating visitor; and really did believe, as +many others would have done who saw and heard him, that in so doing +she furthered the ends of truth, justice, and morality, in a very +uncommon degree. + +Overjoyed by the success of his negotiation, and mightily amused +within himself, Mr Chester conducted her downstairs in the same +state as before; and having repeated the previous ceremony of +salutation, which also as before comprehended Dolly, took his +leave; first completing the conquest of Miss Miggs's heart, by +inquiring if 'this young lady' would light him to the door. + +'Oh, mim,' said Miggs, returning with the candle. 'Oh gracious me, +mim, there's a gentleman! Was there ever such an angel to talk as +he is--and such a sweet-looking man! So upright and noble, that he +seems to despise the very ground he walks on; and yet so mild and +condescending, that he seems to say "but I will take notice on it +too." And to think of his taking you for Miss Dolly, and Miss +Dolly for your sister--Oh, my goodness me, if I was master wouldn't +I be jealous of him!' + +Mrs Varden reproved her handmaid for this vain-speaking; but very +gently and mildly--quite smilingly indeed--remarking that she was a +foolish, giddy, light-headed girl, whose spirits carried her +beyond all bounds, and who didn't mean half she said, or she would +be quite angry with her. + +'For my part,' said Dolly, in a thoughtful manner, 'I half believe +Mr Chester is something like Miggs in that respect. For all his +politeness and pleasant speaking, I am pretty sure he was making +game of us, more than once.' + +'If you venture to say such a thing again, and to speak ill of +people behind their backs in my presence, miss,' said Mrs Varden, +'I shall insist upon your taking a candle and going to bed +directly. How dare you, Dolly? I'm astonished at you. The +rudeness of your whole behaviour this evening has been disgraceful. +Did anybody ever hear,' cried the enraged matron, bursting into +tears, 'of a daughter telling her own mother she has been made game +of!' + +What a very uncertain temper Mrs Varden's was! + + + +Chapter 28 + + +Repairing to a noted coffee-house in Covent Garden when he left the +locksmith's, Mr Chester sat long over a late dinner, entertaining +himself exceedingly with the whimsical recollection of his recent +proceedings, and congratulating himself very much on his great +cleverness. Influenced by these thoughts, his face wore an +expression so benign and tranquil, that the waiter in immediate +attendance upon him felt he could almost have died in his defence, +and settled in his own mind (until the receipt of the bill, and a +very small fee for very great trouble disabused it of the idea) +that such an apostolic customer was worth half-a-dozen of the +ordinary run of visitors, at least. + +A visit to the gaming-table--not as a heated, anxious venturer, but +one whom it was quite a treat to see staking his two or three +pieces in deference to the follies of society, and smiling with +equal benevolence on winners and losers--made it late before he +reached home. It was his custom to bid his servant go to bed at +his own time unless he had orders to the contrary, and to leave a +candle on the common stair. There was a lamp on the landing by +which he could always light it when he came home late, and having a +key of the door about him he could enter and go to bed at his +pleasure. + +He opened the glass of the dull lamp, whose wick, burnt up and +swollen like a drunkard's nose, came flying off in little +carbuncles at the candle's touch, and scattering hot sparks about, +rendered it matter of some difficulty to kindle the lazy taper; +when a noise, as of a man snoring deeply some steps higher up, +caused him to pause and listen. It was the heavy breathing of a +sleeper, close at hand. Some fellow had lain down on the open +staircase, and was slumbering soundly. Having lighted the candle +at length and opened his own door, he softly ascended, holding the +taper high above his head, and peering cautiously about; curious to +see what kind of man had chosen so comfortless a shelter for his +lodging. + +With his head upon the landing and his great limbs flung over half- +a-dozen stairs, as carelessly as though he were a dead man whom +drunken bearers had thrown down by chance, there lay Hugh, face +uppermost, his long hair drooping like some wild weed upon his +wooden pillow, and his huge chest heaving with the sounds which so +unwontedly disturbed the place and hour. + +He who came upon him so unexpectedly was about to break his rest by +thrusting him with his foot, when, glancing at his upturned face, +he arrested himself in the very action, and stooping down and +shading the candle with his hand, examined his features closely. +Close as his first inspection was, it did not suffice, for he +passed the light, still carefully shaded as before, across and +across his face, and yet observed him with a searching eye. + +While he was thus engaged, the sleeper, without any starting or +turning round, awoke. There was a kind of fascination in meeting +his steady gaze so suddenly, which took from the other the presence +of mind to withdraw his eyes, and forced him, as it were, to meet +his look. So they remained staring at each other, until Mr Chester +at last broke silence, and asked him in a low voice, why he lay +sleeping there. + +'I thought,' said Hugh, struggling into a sitting posture and +gazing at him intently, still, 'that you were a part of my dream. +It was a curious one. I hope it may never come true, master.' + +'What makes you shiver?' + +'The--the cold, I suppose,' he growled, as he shook himself and +rose. 'I hardly know where I am yet.' + +'Do you know me?' said Mr Chester. + +'Ay, I know you,' he answered. 'I was dreaming of you--we're not +where I thought we were. That's a comfort.' + +He looked round him as he spoke, and in particular looked above his +head, as though he half expected to be standing under some object +which had had existence in his dream. Then he rubbed his eyes and +shook himself again, and followed his conductor into his own rooms. + +Mr Chester lighted the candles which stood upon his dressing-table, +and wheeling an easy-chair towards the fire, which was yet +burning, stirred up a cheerful blaze, sat down before it, and bade +his uncouth visitor 'Come here,' and draw his boots off. + +'You have been drinking again, my fine fellow,' he said, as Hugh +went down on one knee, and did as he was told. + +'As I'm alive, master, I've walked the twelve long miles, and +waited here I don't know how long, and had no drink between my lips +since dinner-time at noon.' + +'And can you do nothing better, my pleasant friend, than fall +asleep, and shake the very building with your snores?' said Mr +Chester. 'Can't you dream in your straw at home, dull dog as you +are, that you need come here to do it?--Reach me those slippers, +and tread softly.' + +Hugh obeyed in silence. + +'And harkee, my dear young gentleman,' said Mr Chester, as he put +them on, 'the next time you dream, don't let it be of me, but of +some dog or horse with whom you are better acquainted. Fill the +glass once--you'll find it and the bottle in the same place--and +empty it to keep yourself awake.' + +Hugh obeyed again even more zealously--and having done so, +presented himself before his patron. + +'Now,' said Mr Chester, 'what do you want with me?' + +'There was news to-day,' returned Hugh. 'Your son was at our +house--came down on horseback. He tried to see the young woman, +but couldn't get sight of her. He left some letter or some message +which our Joe had charge of, but he and the old one quarrelled +about it when your son had gone, and the old one wouldn't let it be +delivered. He says (that's the old one does) that none of his +people shall interfere and get him into trouble. He's a landlord, +he says, and lives on everybody's custom.' + +'He's a jewel,' smiled Mr Chester, 'and the better for being a dull +one.--Well?' + +'Varden's daughter--that's the girl I kissed--' + +'--and stole the bracelet from upon the king's highway,' said Mr +Chester, composedly. 'Yes; what of her?' + +'She wrote a note at our house to the young woman, saying she lost +the letter I brought to you, and you burnt. Our Joe was to carry +it, but the old one kept him at home all next day, on purpose that +he shouldn't. Next morning he gave it to me to take; and here it +is.' + +'You didn't deliver it then, my good friend?' said Mr Chester, +twirling Dolly's note between his finger and thumb, and feigning to +be surprised. + +'I supposed you'd want to have it,' retorted Hugh. 'Burn one, burn +all, I thought.' + +'My devil-may-care acquaintance,' said Mr Chester--'really if you +do not draw some nicer distinctions, your career will be cut short +with most surprising suddenness. Don't you know that the letter +you brought to me, was directed to my son who resides in this very +place? And can you descry no difference between his letters and +those addressed to other people?' + +'If you don't want it,' said Hugh, disconcerted by this reproof, +for he had expected high praise, 'give it me back, and I'll deliver +it. I don't know how to please you, master.' + +'I shall deliver it,' returned his patron, putting it away after a +moment's consideration, 'myself. Does the young lady walk out, on +fine mornings?' + +'Mostly--about noon is her usual time.' + +'Alone?' + +'Yes, alone.' + +'Where?' + +'In the grounds before the house.--Them that the footpath crosses.' + +'If the weather should be fine, I may throw myself in her way to- +morrow, perhaps,' said Mr Chester, as coolly as if she were one of +his ordinary acquaintance. 'Mr Hugh, if I should ride up to the +Maypole door, you will do me the favour only to have seen me once. +You must suppress your gratitude, and endeavour to forget my +forbearance in the matter of the bracelet. It is natural it should +break out, and it does you honour; but when other folks are by, you +must, for your own sake and safety, be as like your usual self as +though you owed me no obligation whatever, and had never stood +within these walls. You comprehend me?' + +Hugh understood him perfectly. After a pause he muttered that he +hoped his patron would involve him in no trouble about this last +letter; for he had kept it back solely with the view of pleasing +him. He was continuing in this strain, when Mr Chester with a +most beneficent and patronising air cut him short by saying: + +'My good fellow, you have my promise, my word, my sealed bond (for +a verbal pledge with me is quite as good), that I will always +protect you so long as you deserve it. Now, do set your mind at +rest. Keep it at ease, I beg of you. When a man puts himself in +my power so thoroughly as you have done, I really feel as though he +had a kind of claim upon me. I am more disposed to mercy and +forbearance under such circumstances than I can tell you, Hugh. Do +look upon me as your protector, and rest assured, I entreat you, +that on the subject of that indiscretion, you may preserve, as long +as you and I are friends, the lightest heart that ever beat within +a human breast. Fill that glass once more to cheer you on your +road homewards--I am really quite ashamed to think how far you have +to go--and then God bless you for the night.' + +'They think,' said Hugh, when he had tossed the liquor down, 'that +I am sleeping soundly in the stable. Ha ha ha! The stable door is +shut, but the steed's gone, master.' + +'You are a most convivial fellow,' returned his friend, 'and I love +your humour of all things. Good night! Take the greatest +possible care of yourself, for my sake!' + +It was remarkable that during the whole interview, each had +endeavoured to catch stolen glances of the other's face, and had +never looked full at it. They interchanged one brief and hasty +glance as Hugh went out, averted their eyes directly, and so +separated. Hugh closed the double doors behind him, carefully and +without noise; and Mr Chester remained in his easy-chair, with his +gaze intently fixed upon the fire. + +'Well!' he said, after meditating for a long time--and said with a +deep sigh and an uneasy shifting of his attitude, as though he +dismissed some other subject from his thoughts, and returned to +that which had held possession of them all the day--the plot +thickens; I have thrown the shell; it will explode, I think, in +eight-and-forty hours, and should scatter these good folks +amazingly. We shall see!' + +He went to bed and fell asleep, but had not slept long when he +started up and thought that Hugh was at the outer door, calling in +a strange voice, very different from his own, to be admitted. The +delusion was so strong upon him, and was so full of that vague +terror of the night in which such visions have their being, that he +rose, and taking his sheathed sword in his hand, opened the door, +and looked out upon the staircase, and towards the spot where Hugh +had lain asleep; and even spoke to him by name. But all was dark +and quiet, and creeping back to bed again, he fell, after an hour's +uneasy watching, into a second sleep, and woke no more till +morning. + + + +Chapter 29 + + +The thoughts of worldly men are for ever regulated by a moral law +of gravitation, which, like the physical one, holds them down to +earth. The bright glory of day, and the silent wonders of a +starlit night, appeal to their minds in vain. There are no signs +in the sun, or in the moon, or in the stars, for their reading. +They are like some wise men, who, learning to know each planet by +its Latin name, have quite forgotten such small heavenly +constellations as Charity, Forbearance, Universal Love, and Mercy, +although they shine by night and day so brightly that the blind may +see them; and who, looking upward at the spangled sky, see nothing +there but the reflection of their own great wisdom and book- +learning. + +It is curious to imagine these people of the world, busy in +thought, turning their eyes towards the countless spheres that +shine above us, and making them reflect the only images their minds +contain. The man who lives but in the breath of princes, has +nothing his sight but stars for courtiers' breasts. The envious +man beholds his neighbours' honours even in the sky; to the money- +hoarder, and the mass of worldly folk, the whole great universe +above glitters with sterling coin--fresh from the mint--stamped +with the sovereign's head--coming always between them and heaven, +turn where they may. So do the shadows of our own desires stand +between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is +eclipsed. + +Everything was fresh and gay, as though the world were but that +morning made, when Mr Chester rode at a tranquil pace along the +Forest road. Though early in the season, it was warm and genial +weather; the trees were budding into leaf, the hedges and the grass +were green, the air was musical with songs of birds, and high above +them all the lark poured out her richest melody. In shady spots, +the morning dew sparkled on each young leaf and blade of grass; +and where the sun was shining, some diamond drops yet glistened +brightly, as in unwillingness to leave so fair a world, and have +such brief existence. Even the light wind, whose rustling was as +gentle to the ear as softly-falling water, had its hope and +promise; and, leaving a pleasant fragrance in its track as it went +fluttering by, whispered of its intercourse with Summer, and of his +happy coming. + +The solitary rider went glancing on among the trees, from sunlight +into shade and back again, at the same even pace--looking about +him, certainly, from time to time, but with no greater thought of +the day or the scene through which he moved, than that he was +fortunate (being choicely dressed) to have such favourable weather. +He smiled very complacently at such times, but rather as if he were +satisfied with himself than with anything else: and so went riding +on, upon his chestnut cob, as pleasant to look upon as his own +horse, and probably far less sensitive to the many cheerful +influences by which he was surrounded. + +In the course of time, the Maypole's massive chimneys rose upon his +view: but he quickened not his pace one jot, and with the same cool +gravity rode up to the tavern porch. John Willet, who was toasting +his red face before a great fire in the bar, and who, with +surpassing foresight and quickness of apprehension, had been +thinking, as he looked at the blue sky, that if that state of +things lasted much longer, it might ultimately become necessary to +leave off fires and throw the windows open, issued forth to hold +his stirrup; calling lustily for Hugh. + +'Oh, you're here, are you, sir?' said John, rather surprised by the +quickness with which he appeared. 'Take this here valuable animal +into the stable, and have more than particular care of him if you +want to keep your place. A mortal lazy fellow, sir; he needs a +deal of looking after.' + +'But you have a son,' returned Mr Chester, giving his bridle to +Hugh as he dismounted, and acknowledging his salute by a careless +motion of his hand towards his hat. 'Why don't you make HIM +useful?' + +'Why, the truth is, sir,' replied John with great importance, 'that +my son--what, you're a-listening are you, villain?' + +'Who's listening?' returned Hugh angrily. 'A treat, indeed, to +hear YOU speak! Would you have me take him in till he's cool?' + +'Walk him up and down further off then, sir,' cried old John, 'and +when you see me and a noble gentleman entertaining ourselves with +talk, keep your distance. If you don't know your distance, sir,' +added Mr Willet, after an enormously long pause, during which he +fixed his great dull eyes on Hugh, and waited with exemplary +patience for any little property in the way of ideas that might +come to him, 'we'll find a way to teach you, pretty soon.' + +Hugh shrugged his shoulders scornfully, and in his reckless +swaggering way, crossed to the other side of the little green, and +there, with the bridle slung loosely over his shoulder, led the +horse to and fro, glancing at his master every now and then from +under his bushy eyebrows, with as sinister an aspect as one would +desire to see. + +Mr Chester, who, without appearing to do so, had eyed him +attentively during this brief dispute, stepped into the porch, and +turning abruptly to Mr Willet, said, + +'You keep strange servants, John.' + +'Strange enough to look at, sir, certainly,' answered the host; +'but out of doors; for horses, dogs, and the likes of that; there +an't a better man in England than is that Maypole Hugh yonder. He +an't fit for indoors,' added Mr Willet, with the confidential air +of a man who felt his own superior nature. 'I do that; but if that +chap had only a little imagination, sir--' + +'He's an active fellow now, I dare swear,' said Mr Chester, in a +musing tone, which seemed to suggest that he would have said the +same had there been nobody to hear him. + +'Active, sir!' retorted John, with quite an expression in his face; +'that chap! Hallo there! You, sir! Bring that horse here, and +go and hang my wig on the weathercock, to show this gentleman +whether you're one of the lively sort or not.' + +Hugh made no answer, but throwing the bridle to his master, and +snatching his wig from his head, in a manner so unceremonious and +hasty that the action discomposed Mr Willet not a little, though +performed at his own special desire, climbed nimbly to the very +summit of the maypole before the house, and hanging the wig upon +the weathercock, sent it twirling round like a roasting jack. +Having achieved this performance, he cast it on the ground, and +sliding down the pole with inconceivable rapidity, alighted on his +feet almost as soon as it had touched the earth. + +'There, sir,' said John, relapsing into his usual stolid state, +'you won't see that at many houses, besides the Maypole, where +there's good accommodation for man and beast--nor that neither, +though that with him is nothing.' + +This last remark bore reference to his vaulting on horseback, as +upon Mr Chester's first visit, and quickly disappearing by the +stable gate. + +'That with him is nothing,' repeated Mr Willet, brushing his wig +with his wrist, and inwardly resolving to distribute a small charge +for dust and damage to that article of dress, through the various +items of his guest's bill; 'he'll get out of a'most any winder in +the house. There never was such a chap for flinging himself about +and never hurting his bones. It's my opinion, sir, that it's +pretty nearly allowing to his not having any imagination; and that +if imagination could be (which it can't) knocked into him, he'd +never be able to do it any more. But we was a-talking, sir, about +my son.' + +'True, Willet, true,' said his visitor, turning again towards the +landlord with his accustomed serenity of face. 'My good friend, +what about him?' + +It has been reported that Mr Willet, previously to making answer, +winked. But as he was never known to be guilty of such lightness +of conduct either before or afterwards, this may be looked upon as +a malicious invention of his enemies--founded, perhaps, upon the +undisputed circumstance of his taking his guest by the third breast +button of his coat, counting downwards from the chin, and pouring +his reply into his ear: + +'Sir,' whispered John, with dignity, 'I know my duty. We want no +love-making here, sir, unbeknown to parents. I respect a certain +young gentleman, taking him in the light of a young gentleman; I +respect a certain young lady, taking her in the light of a young +lady; but of the two as a couple, I have no knowledge, sir, none +whatever. My son, sir, is upon his patrole.' + +'I thought I saw him looking through the corner window but this +moment,' said Mr Chester, who naturally thought that being on +patrole, implied walking about somewhere. + +'No doubt you did, sir,' returned John. 'He is upon his patrole of +honour, sir, not to leave the premises. Me and some friends of +mine that use the Maypole of an evening, sir, considered what was +best to be done with him, to prevent his doing anything unpleasant +in opposing your desires; and we've put him on his patrole. And +what's more, sir, he won't be off his patrole for a pretty long +time to come, I can tell you that.' + +When he had communicated this bright idea, which had its origin in +the perusal by the village cronies of a newspaper, containing, +among other matters, an account of how some officer pending the +sentence of some court-martial had been enlarged on parole, Mr +Willet drew back from his guest's ear, and without any visible +alteration of feature, chuckled thrice audibly. This nearest +approach to a laugh in which he ever indulged (and that but seldom +and only on extreme occasions), never even curled his lip or +effected the smallest change in--no, not so much as a slight +wagging of--his great, fat, double chin, which at these times, as +at all others, remained a perfect desert in the broad map of his +face; one changeless, dull, tremendous blank. + +Lest it should be matter of surprise to any, that Mr Willet adopted +this bold course in opposition to one whom he had often +entertained, and who had always paid his way at the Maypole +gallantly, it may be remarked that it was his very penetration and +sagacity in this respect, which occasioned him to indulge in those +unusual demonstrations of jocularity, just now recorded. For Mr +Willet, after carefully balancing father and son in his mental +scales, had arrived at the distinct conclusion that the old +gentleman was a better sort of a customer than the young one. +Throwing his landlord into the same scale, which was already turned +by this consideration, and heaping upon him, again, his strong +desires to run counter to the unfortunate Joe, and his opposition +as a general principle to all matters of love and matrimony, it +went down to the very ground straightway, and sent the light cause +of the younger gentleman flying upwards to the ceiling. Mr +Chester was not the kind of man to be by any means dim-sighted to +Mr Willet's motives, but he thanked him as graciously as if he had +been one of the most disinterested martyrs that ever shone on +earth; and leaving him, with many complimentary reliances on his +great taste and judgment, to prepare whatever dinner he might deem +most fitting the occasion, bent his steps towards the Warren. + +Dressed with more than his usual elegance; assuming a gracefulness +of manner, which, though it was the result of long study, sat +easily upon him and became him well; composing his features into +their most serene and prepossessing expression; and setting in +short that guard upon himself, at every point, which denoted that +he attached no slight importance to the impression he was about to +make; he entered the bounds of Miss Haredale's usual walk. He had +not gone far, or looked about him long, when he descried coming +towards him, a female figure. A glimpse of the form and dress as +she crossed a little wooden bridge which lay between them, +satisfied him that he had found her whom he desired to see. He +threw himself in her way, and a very few paces brought them close +together. + +He raised his hat from his head, and yielding the path, suffered +her to pass him. Then, as if the idea had but that moment +occurred to him, he turned hastily back and said in an agitated +voice: + +'I beg pardon--do I address Miss Haredale?' + +She stopped in some confusion at being so unexpectedly accosted by +a stranger; and answered 'Yes.' + +'Something told me,' he said, LOOKING a compliment to her beauty, +'that it could be no other. Miss Haredale, I bear a name which is +not unknown to you--which it is a pride, and yet a pain to me to +know, sounds pleasantly in your ears. I am a man advanced in life, +as you see. I am the father of him whom you honour and distinguish +above all other men. May I for weighty reasons which fill me with +distress, beg but a minute's conversation with you here?' + +Who that was inexperienced in deceit, and had a frank and youthful +heart, could doubt the speaker's truth--could doubt it too, when +the voice that spoke, was like the faint echo of one she knew so +well, and so much loved to hear? She inclined her head, and +stopping, cast her eyes upon the ground. + +'A little more apart--among these trees. It is an old man's hand, +Miss Haredale; an honest one, believe me.' + +She put hers in it as he said these words, and suffered him to lead +her to a neighbouring seat. + +'You alarm me, sir,' she said in a low voice. 'You are not the +bearer of any ill news, I hope?' + +'Of none that you anticipate,' he answered, sitting down beside +her. 'Edward is well--quite well. It is of him I wish to speak, +certainly; but I have no misfortune to communicate.' + +She bowed her head again, and made as though she would have begged +him to proceed; but said nothing. + +'I am sensible that I speak to you at a disadvantage, dear Miss +Haredale. Believe me that I am not so forgetful of the feelings of +my younger days as not to know that you are little disposed to view +me with favour. You have heard me described as cold-hearted, +calculating, selfish--' + +'I have never, sir,'--she interposed with an altered manner and a +firmer voice; 'I have never heard you spoken of in harsh or +disrespectful terms. You do a great wrong to Edward's nature if +you believe him capable of any mean or base proceeding.' + +'Pardon me, my sweet young lady, but your uncle--' + +'Nor is it my uncle's nature either,' she replied, with a +heightened colour in her cheek. 'It is not his nature to stab in +the dark, nor is it mine to love such deeds.' + +She rose as she spoke, and would have left him; but he detained her +with a gentle hand, and besought her in such persuasive accents to +hear him but another minute, that she was easily prevailed upon to +comply, and so sat down again. + +'And it is,' said Mr Chester, looking upward, and apostrophising +the air; 'it is this frank, ingenuous, noble nature, Ned, that you +can wound so lightly. Shame--shame upon you, boy!' + +She turned towards him quickly, and with a scornful look and +flashing eyes. There were tears in Mr Chester's eyes, but he +dashed them hurriedly away, as though unwilling that his weakness +should be known, and regarded her with mingled admiration and +compassion. + +'I never until now,' he said, 'believed, that the frivolous actions +of a young man could move me like these of my own son. I never +knew till now, the worth of a woman's heart, which boys so lightly +win, and lightly fling away. Trust me, dear young lady, that I +never until now did know your worth; and though an abhorrence of +deceit and falsehood has impelled me to seek you out, and would +have done so had you been the poorest and least gifted of your sex, +I should have lacked the fortitude to sustain this interview could +I have pictured you to my imagination as you really are.' + +Oh! If Mrs Varden could have seen the virtuous gentleman as he +said these words, with indignation sparkling from his eyes--if she +could have heard his broken, quavering voice--if she could have +beheld him as he stood bareheaded in the sunlight, and with +unwonted energy poured forth his eloquence! + +With a haughty face, but pale and trembling too, Emma regarded him +in silence. She neither spoke nor moved, but gazed upon him as +though she would look into his heart. + +'I throw off,' said Mr Chester, 'the restraint which natural +affection would impose on some men, and reject all bonds but those +of truth and duty. Miss Haredale, you are deceived; you are +deceived by your unworthy lover, and my unworthy son.' + +Still she looked at him steadily, and still said not one word. + +'I have ever opposed his professions of love for you; you will do +me the justice, dear Miss Haredale, to remember that. Your uncle +and myself were enemies in early life, and if I had sought +retaliation, I might have found it here. But as we grow older, we +grow wiser--bitter, I would fain hope--and from the first, I have +opposed him in this attempt. I foresaw the end, and would have +spared you, if I could.' + +'Speak plainly, sir,' she faltered. 'You deceive me, or are +deceived yourself. I do not believe you--I cannot--I should not.' + +'First,' said Mr Chester, soothingly, 'for there may be in your +mind some latent angry feeling to which I would not appeal, pray +take this letter. It reached my hands by chance, and by mistake, +and should have accounted to you (as I am told) for my son's not +answering some other note of yours. God forbid, Miss Haredale,' +said the good gentleman, with great emotion, 'that there should be +in your gentle breast one causeless ground of quarrel with him. +You should know, and you will see, that he was in no fault here.' + +There appeared something so very candid, so scrupulously +honourable, so very truthful and just in this course something +which rendered the upright person who resorted to it, so worthy of +belief--that Emma's heart, for the first time, sunk within her. +She turned away and burst into tears. + +'I would,' said Mr Chester, leaning over her, and speaking in mild +and quite venerable accents; 'I would, dear girl, it were my task +to banish, not increase, those tokens of your grief. My son, my +erring son,--I will not call him deliberately criminal in this, for +men so young, who have been inconstant twice or thrice before, act +without reflection, almost without a knowledge of the wrong they +do,--will break his plighted faith to you; has broken it even now. +Shall I stop here, and having given you this warning, leave it to +be fulfilled; or shall I go on?' + +'You will go on, sir,' she answered, 'and speak more plainly yet, +in justice both to him and me.' + +'My dear girl,' said Mr Chester, bending over her more +affectionately still; 'whom I would call my daughter, but the Fates +forbid, Edward seeks to break with you upon a false and most +unwarrantable pretence. I have it on his own showing; in his own +hand. Forgive me, if I have had a watch upon his conduct; I am his +father; I had a regard for your peace and his honour, and no better +resource was left me. There lies on his desk at this present +moment, ready for transmission to you, a letter, in which he tells +you that our poverty--our poverty; his and mine, Miss Haredale-- +forbids him to pursue his claim upon your hand; in which he offers, +voluntarily proposes, to free you from your pledge; and talks +magnanimously (men do so, very commonly, in such cases) of being in +time more worthy of your regard--and so forth. A letter, to be +plain, in which he not only jilts you--pardon the word; I would +summon to your aid your pride and dignity--not only jilts you, I +fear, in favour of the object whose slighting treatment first +inspired his brief passion for yourself and gave it birth in +wounded vanity, but affects to make a merit and a virtue of the +act.' + +She glanced proudly at him once more, as by an involuntary impulse, +and with a swelling breast rejoined, 'If what you say be true, he +takes much needless trouble, sir, to compass his design. He's very +tender of my peace of mind. I quite thank him.' + +'The truth of what I tell you, dear young lady,' he replied, 'you +will test by the receipt or non-receipt of the letter of which I +speak. Haredale, my dear fellow, I am delighted to see you, +although we meet under singular circumstances, and upon a +melancholy occasion. I hope you are very well.' + +At these words the young lady raised her eyes, which were filled +with tears; and seeing that her uncle indeed stood before them, and +being quite unequal to the trial of hearing or of speaking one word +more, hurriedly withdrew, and left them. They stood looking at +each other, and at her retreating figure, and for a long time +neither of them spoke. + +'What does this mean? Explain it,' said Mr Haredale at length. +'Why are you here, and why with her?' + +'My dear friend,' rejoined the other, resuming his accustomed +manner with infinite readiness, and throwing himself upon the bench +with a weary air, 'you told me not very long ago, at that +delightful old tavern of which you are the esteemed proprietor (and +a most charming establishment it is for persons of rural pursuits +and in robust health, who are not liable to take cold), that I had +the head and heart of an evil spirit in all matters of deception. +I thought at the time; I really did think; you flattered me. But +now I begin to wonder at your discernment, and vanity apart, do +honestly believe you spoke the truth. Did you ever counterfeit +extreme ingenuousness and honest indignation? My dear fellow, you +have no conception, if you never did, how faint the effort makes +one.' + +Mr Haredale surveyed him with a look of cold contempt. 'You may +evade an explanation, I know,' he said, folding his arms. 'But I +must have it. I can wait.' + +'Not at all. Not at all, my good fellow. You shall not wait a +moment,' returned his friend, as he lazily crossed his legs. 'The +simplest thing in the world. It lies in a nutshell. Ned has +written her a letter--a boyish, honest, sentimental composition, +which remains as yet in his desk, because he hasn't had the heart +to send it. I have taken a liberty, for which my parental +affection and anxiety are a sufficient excuse, and possessed +myself of the contents. I have described them to your niece (a +most enchanting person, Haredale; quite an angelic creature), with +a little colouring and description adapted to our purpose. It's +done. You may be quite easy. It's all over. Deprived of their +adherents and mediators; her pride and jealousy roused to the +utmost; with nobody to undeceive her, and you to confirm me; you +will find that their intercourse will close with her answer. If +she receives Ned's letter by to-morrow noon, you may date their +parting from to-morrow night. No thanks, I beg; you owe me none. +I have acted for myself; and if I have forwarded our compact with +all the ardour even you could have desired, I have done so +selfishly, indeed.' + +'I curse the compact, as you call it, with my whole heart and +soul,' returned the other. 'It was made in an evil hour. I have +bound myself to a lie; I have leagued myself with you; and though I +did so with a righteous motive, and though it cost me such an +effort as haply few men know, I hate and despise myself for the +deed.' + +'You are very warm,' said Mr Chester with a languid smile. + +'I AM warm. I am maddened by your coldness. 'Death, Chester, if +your blood ran warmer in your veins, and there were no restraints +upon me, such as those that hold and drag me back--well; it is +done; you tell me so, and on such a point I may believe you. When +I am most remorseful for this treachery, I will think of you and +your marriage, and try to justify myself in such remembrances, for +having torn asunder Emma and your son, at any cost. Our bond is +cancelled now, and we may part.' + +Mr Chester kissed his hand gracefully; and with the same tranquil +face he had preserved throughout--even when he had seen his +companion so tortured and transported by his passion that his whole +frame was shaken--lay in his lounging posture on the seat and +watched him as he walked away. + +'My scapegoat and my drudge at school,' he said, raising his head +to look after him; 'my friend of later days, who could not keep his +mistress when he had won her, and threw me in her way to carry off +the prize; I triumph in the present and the past. Bark on, ill- +favoured, ill-conditioned cur; fortune has ever been with me--I +like to hear you.' + +The spot where they had met, was in an avenue of trees. Mr +Haredale not passing out on either hand, had walked straight on. +He chanced to turn his head when at some considerable distance, and +seeing that his late companion had by that time risen and was +looking after him, stood still as though he half expected him to +follow and waited for his coming up. + +'It MAY come to that one day, but not yet,' said Mr Chester, +waving his hand, as though they were the best of friends, and +turning away. 'Not yet, Haredale. Life is pleasant enough to me; +dull and full of heaviness to you. No. To cross swords with such +a man--to indulge his humour unless upon extremity--would be weak +indeed.' + +For all that, he drew his sword as he walked along, and in an +absent humour ran his eye from hilt to point full twenty times. +But thoughtfulness begets wrinkles; remembering this, he soon put +it up, smoothed his contracted brow, hummed a gay tune with greater +gaiety of manner, and was his unruffled self again. + + + +Chapter 30 + + +A homely proverb recognises the existence of a troublesome class of +persons who, having an inch conceded them, will take an ell. Not +to quote the illustrious examples of those heroic scourges of +mankind, whose amiable path in life has been from birth to death +through blood, and fire, and ruin, and who would seem to have +existed for no better purpose than to teach mankind that as the +absence of pain is pleasure, so the earth, purged of their +presence, may be deemed a blessed place--not to quote such mighty +instances, it will be sufficient to refer to old John Willet. + +Old John having long encroached a good standard inch, full measure, +on the liberty of Joe, and having snipped off a Flemish ell in the +matter of the parole, grew so despotic and so great, that his +thirst for conquest knew no bounds. The more young Joe submitted, +the more absolute old John became. The ell soon faded into +nothing. Yards, furlongs, miles arose; and on went old John in the +pleasantest manner possible, trimming off an exuberance in this +place, shearing away some liberty of speech or action in that, and +conducting himself in his small way with as much high mightiness +and majesty, as the most glorious tyrant that ever had his statue +reared in the public ways, of ancient or of modern times. + +As great men are urged on to the abuse of power (when they need +urging, which is not often), by their flatterers and dependents, so +old John was impelled to these exercises of authority by the +applause and admiration of his Maypole cronies, who, in the +intervals of their nightly pipes and pots, would shake their heads +and say that Mr Willet was a father of the good old English sort; +that there were no new-fangled notions or modern ways in him; that +he put them in mind of what their fathers were when they were boys; +that there was no mistake about him; that it would be well for the +country if there were more like him, and more was the pity that +there were not; with many other original remarks of that nature. +Then they would condescendingly give Joe to understand that it was +all for his good, and he would be thankful for it one day; and in +particular, Mr Cobb would acquaint him, that when he was his age, +his father thought no more of giving him a parental kick, or a box +on the ears, or a cuff on the head, or some little admonition of +that sort, than he did of any other ordinary duty of life; and he +would further remark, with looks of great significance, that but +for this judicious bringing up, he might have never been the man he +was at that present speaking; which was probable enough, as he was, +beyond all question, the dullest dog of the party. In short, +between old John and old John's friends, there never was an +unfortunate young fellow so bullied, badgered, worried, fretted, +and brow-beaten; so constantly beset, or made so tired of his life, +as poor Joe Willet. + +This had come to be the recognised and established state of things; +but as John was very anxious to flourish his supremacy before the +eyes of Mr Chester, he did that day exceed himself, and did so +goad and chafe his son and heir, that but for Joe's having made a +solemn vow to keep his hands in his pockets when they were not +otherwise engaged, it is impossible to say what he might have done +with them. But the longest day has an end, and at length Mr +Chester came downstairs to mount his horse, which was ready at the +door. + +As old John was not in the way at the moment, Joe, who was sitting +in the bar ruminating on his dismal fate and the manifold +perfections of Dolly Varden, ran out to hold the guest's stirrup +and assist him to mount. Mr Chester was scarcely in the saddle, +and Joe was in the very act of making him a graceful bow, when old +John came diving out of the porch, and collared him. + +'None of that, sir,' said John, 'none of that, sir. No breaking of +patroles. How dare you come out of the door, sir, without leave? +You're trying to get away, sir, are you, and to make a traitor of +yourself again? What do you mean, sir?' + +'Let me go, father,' said Joe, imploringly, as he marked the smile +upon their visitor's face, and observed the pleasure his disgrace +afforded him. 'This is too bad. Who wants to get away?' + +'Who wants to get away!' cried John, shaking him. 'Why you do, +sir, you do. You're the boy, sir,' added John, collaring with one +band, and aiding the effect of a farewell bow to the visitor with +the other, 'that wants to sneak into houses, and stir up +differences between noble gentlemen and their sons, are you, eh? +Hold your tongue, sir.' + +Joe made no effort to reply. It was the crowning circumstance of +his degradation. He extricated himself from his father's grasp, +darted an angry look at the departing guest, and returned into the +house. + +'But for her,' thought Joe, as he threw his arms upon a table in +the common room, and laid his head upon them, 'but for Dolly, who I +couldn't bear should think me the rascal they would make me out to +be if I ran away, this house and I should part to-night.' + +It being evening by this time, Solomon Daisy, Tom Cobb, and Long +Parkes, were all in the common room too, and had from the window +been witnesses of what had just occurred. Mr Willet joining them +soon afterwards, received the compliments of the company with great +composure, and lighting his pipe, sat down among them. + +'We'll see, gentlemen,' said John, after a long pause, 'who's the +master of this house, and who isn't. We'll see whether boys are to +govern men, or men are to govern boys.' + +'And quite right too,' assented Solomon Daisy with some approving +nods; 'quite right, Johnny. Very good, Johnny. Well said, Mr +Willet. Brayvo, sir.' + +John slowly brought his eyes to bear upon him, looked at him for a +long time, and finally made answer, to the unspeakable +consternation of his hearers, 'When I want encouragement from you, +sir, I'll ask you for it. You let me alone, sir. I can get on +without you, I hope. Don't you tackle me, sir, if you please.' + +'Don't take it ill, Johnny; I didn't mean any harm,' pleaded the +little man. + +'Very good, sir,' said John, more than usually obstinate after his +late success. 'Never mind, sir. I can stand pretty firm of +myself, sir, I believe, without being shored up by you.' And +having given utterance to this retort, Mr Willet fixed his eyes +upon the boiler, and fell into a kind of tobacco-trance. + +The spirits of the company being somewhat damped by this +embarrassing line of conduct on the part of their host, nothing +more was said for a long time; but at length Mr Cobb took upon +himself to remark, as he rose to knock the ashes out of his pipe, +that he hoped Joe would thenceforth learn to obey his father in all +things; that he had found, that day, he was not one of the sort of +men who were to be trifled with; and that he would recommend him, +poetically speaking, to mind his eye for the future. + +'I'd recommend you, in return,' said Joe, looking up with a flushed +face, 'not to talk to me.' + +'Hold your tongue, sir,' cried Mr Willet, suddenly rousing himself, +and turning round. + +'I won't, father,' cried Joe, smiting the table with his fist, so +that the jugs and glasses rung again; 'these things are hard enough +to bear from you; from anybody else I never will endure them any +more. Therefore I say, Mr Cobb, don't talk to me.' + +'Why, who are you,' said Mr Cobb, sneeringly, 'that you're not to +be talked to, eh, Joe?' + +To which Joe returned no answer, but with a very ominous shake of +the head, resumed his old position, which he would have peacefully +preserved until the house shut up at night, but that Mr Cobb, +stimulated by the wonder of the company at the young man's +presumption, retorted with sundry taunts, which proved too much for +flesh and blood to bear. Crowding into one moment the vexation and +the wrath of years, Joe started up, overturned the table, fell upon +his long enemy, pummelled him with all his might and main, and +finished by driving him with surprising swiftness against a heap of +spittoons in one corner; plunging into which, head foremost, with a +tremendous crash, he lay at full length among the ruins, stunned +and motionless. Then, without waiting to receive the compliments +of the bystanders on the victory be had won, he retreated to his +own bedchamber, and considering himself in a state of siege, piled +all the portable furniture against the door by way of barricade. + +'I have done it now,' said Joe, as he sat down upon his bedstead +and wiped his heated face. 'I knew it would come at last. The +Maypole and I must part company. I'm a roving vagabond--she hates +me for evermore--it's all over!' + + + +Chapter 31 + + +Pondering on his unhappy lot, Joe sat and listened for a long +time, expecting every moment to hear their creaking footsteps on +the stairs, or to be greeted by his worthy father with a summons to +capitulate unconditionally, and deliver himself up straightway. +But neither voice nor footstep came; and though some distant +echoes, as of closing doors and people hurrying in and out of +rooms, resounding from time to time through the great passages, and +penetrating to his remote seclusion, gave note of unusual commotion +downstairs, no nearer sound disturbed his place of retreat, which +seemed the quieter for these far-off noises, and was as dull and +full of gloom as any hermit's cell. + +It came on darker and darker. The old-fashioned furniture of the +chamber, which was a kind of hospital for all the invalided +movables in the house, grew indistinct and shadowy in its many +shapes; chairs and tables, which by day were as honest cripples as +need be, assumed a doubtful and mysterious character; and one old +leprous screen of faded India leather and gold binding, which had +kept out many a cold breath of air in days of yore and shut in many +a jolly face, frowned on him with a spectral aspect, and stood at +full height in its allotted corner, like some gaunt ghost who +waited to be questioned. A portrait opposite the window--a queer, +old grey-eyed general, in an oval frame--seemed to wink and doze as +the light decayed, and at length, when the last faint glimmering +speck of day went out, to shut its eyes in good earnest, and fall +sound asleep. There was such a hush and mystery about everything, +that Joe could not help following its example; and so went off into +a slumber likewise, and dreamed of Dolly, till the clock of +Chigwell church struck two. + +Still nobody came. The distant noises in the house had ceased, and +out of doors all was quiet; save for the occasional barking of some +deep-mouthed dog, and the shaking of the branches by the night +wind. He gazed mournfully out of window at each well-known object +as it lay sleeping in the dim light of the moon; and creeping back +to his former seat, thought about the late uproar, until, with long +thinking of, it seemed to have occurred a month ago. Thus, between +dozing, and thinking, and walking to the window and looking out, +the night wore away; the grim old screen, and the kindred chairs +and tables, began slowly to reveal themselves in their accustomed +forms; the grey-eyed general seemed to wink and yawn and rouse +himself; and at last he was broad awake again, and very +uncomfortable and cold and haggard he looked, in the dull grey +light of morning. + +The sun had begun to peep above the forest trees, and already flung +across the curling mist bright bars of gold, when Joe dropped from +his window on the ground below, a little bundle and his trusty +stick, and prepared to descend himself. + +It was not a very difficult task; for there were so many +projections and gable ends in the way, that they formed a series of +clumsy steps, with no greater obstacle than a jump of some few feet +at last. Joe, with his stick and bundle on his shoulder, quickly +stood on the firm earth, and looked up at the old Maypole, it might +be for the last time. + +He didn't apostrophise it, for he was no great scholar. He didn't +curse it, for he had little ill-will to give to anything on earth. +He felt more affectionate and kind to it than ever he had done in +all his life before, so said with all his heart, 'God bless you!' +as a parting wish, and turned away. + +He walked along at a brisk pace, big with great thoughts of going +for a soldier and dying in some foreign country where it was very +hot and sandy, and leaving God knows what unheard-of wealth in +prize-money to Dolly, who would be very much affected when she came +to know of it; and full of such youthful visions, which were +sometimes sanguine and sometimes melancholy, but always had her for +their main point and centre, pushed on vigorously until the noise +of London sounded in his ears, and the Black Lion hove in sight. + +It was only eight o'clock then, and very much astonished the Black +Lion was, to see him come walking in with dust upon his feet at +that early hour, with no grey mare to bear him company. But as he +ordered breakfast to be got ready with all speed, and on its being +set before him gave indisputable tokens of a hearty appetite, the +Lion received him, as usual, with a hospitable welcome; and treated +him with those marks of distinction, which, as a regular customer, +and one within the freemasonry of the trade, he had a right to +claim. + +This Lion or landlord,--for he was called both man and beast, by +reason of his having instructed the artist who painted his sign, to +convey into the features of the lordly brute whose effigy it bore, +as near a counterpart of his own face as his skill could compass +and devise,--was a gentleman almost as quick of apprehension, and +of almost as subtle a wit, as the mighty John himself. But the +difference between them lay in this: that whereas Mr Willet's +extreme sagacity and acuteness were the efforts of unassisted +nature, the Lion stood indebted, in no small amount, to beer; of +which he swigged such copious draughts, that most of his faculties +were utterly drowned and washed away, except the one great faculty +of sleep, which he retained in surprising perfection. The creaking +Lion over the house-door was, therefore, to say the truth, rather a +drowsy, tame, and feeble lion; and as these social representatives +of a savage class are usually of a conventional character (being +depicted, for the most part, in impossible attitudes and of +unearthly colours), he was frequently supposed by the more ignorant +and uninformed among the neighbours, to be the veritable portrait +of the host as he appeared on the occasion of some great funeral +ceremony or public mourning. + +'What noisy fellow is that in the next room?' said Joe, when he had +disposed of his breakfast, and had washed and brushed himself. + +'A recruiting serjeant,' replied the Lion. + +Joe started involuntarily. Here was the very thing he had been +dreaming of, all the way along. + +'And I wish,' said the Lion, 'he was anywhere else but here. The +party make noise enough, but don't call for much. There's great +cry there, Mr Willet, but very little wool. Your father wouldn't +like 'em, I know.' + +Perhaps not much under any circumstances. Perhaps if he could have +known what was passing at that moment in Joe's mind, he would have +liked them still less. + +'Is he recruiting for a--for a fine regiment?' said Joe, glancing +at a little round mirror that hung in the bar. + +'I believe he is,' replied the host. 'It's much the same thing, +whatever regiment he's recruiting for. I'm told there an't a deal +of difference between a fine man and another one, when they're shot +through and through.' + +'They're not all shot,' said Joe. + +'No,' the Lion answered, 'not all. Those that are--supposing it's +done easy--are the best off in my opinion.' + +'Ah!' retorted Joe, 'but you don't care for glory.' + +'For what?' said the Lion. + +'Glory.' + +'No,' returned the Lion, with supreme indifference. 'I don't. +You're right in that, Mr Willet. When Glory comes here, and calls +for anything to drink and changes a guinea to pay for it, I'll give +it him for nothing. It's my belief, sir, that the Glory's arms +wouldn't do a very strong business.' + +These remarks were not at all comforting. Joe walked out, stopped +at the door of the next room, and listened. The serjeant was +describing a military life. It was all drinking, he said, except +that there were frequent intervals of eating and love-making. A +battle was the finest thing in the world--when your side won it-- +and Englishmen always did that. 'Supposing you should be killed, +sir?' said a timid voice in one corner. 'Well, sir, supposing you +should be,' said the serjeant, 'what then? Your country loves you, +sir; his Majesty King George the Third loves you; your memory is +honoured, revered, respected; everybody's fond of you, and grateful +to you; your name's wrote down at full length in a book in the War +Office. Damme, gentlemen, we must all die some time, or another, +eh?' + +The voice coughed, and said no more. + +Joe walked into the room. A group of half-a-dozen fellows had +gathered together in the taproom, and were listening with greedy +ears. One of them, a carter in a smockfrock, seemed wavering and +disposed to enlist. The rest, who were by no means disposed, +strongly urged him to do so (according to the custom of mankind), +backed the serjeant's arguments, and grinned among themselves. 'I +say nothing, boys,' said the serjeant, who sat a little apart, +drinking his liquor. 'For lads of spirit'--here he cast an eye on +Joe--'this is the time. I don't want to inveigle you. The king's +not come to that, I hope. Brisk young blood is what we want; not +milk and water. We won't take five men out of six. We want top- +sawyers, we do. I'm not a-going to tell tales out of school, but, +damme, if every gentleman's son that carries arms in our corps, +through being under a cloud and having little differences with his +relations, was counted up'--here his eye fell on Joe again, and so +good-naturedly, that Joe beckoned him out. He came directly. + +'You're a gentleman, by G--!' was his first remark, as he slapped +him on the back. 'You're a gentleman in disguise. So am I. Let's +swear a friendship.' + +Joe didn't exactly do that, but he shook hands with him, and +thanked him for his good opinion. + +'You want to serve,' said his new friend. 'You shall. You were +made for it. You're one of us by nature. What'll you take to +drink?' + +'Nothing just now,' replied Joe, smiling faintly. 'I haven't quite +made up my mind.' + +'A mettlesome fellow like you, and not made up his mind!' cried +the serjeant. 'Here--let me give the bell a pull, and you'll make +up your mind in half a minute, I know.' + +'You're right so far'--answered Joe, 'for if you pull the bell +here, where I'm known, there'll be an end of my soldiering +inclinations in no time. Look in my face. You see me, do you?' + +'I do,' replied the serjeant with an oath, 'and a finer young +fellow or one better qualified to serve his king and country, I +never set my--' he used an adjective in this place--'eyes on. + +'Thank you,' said Joe, 'I didn't ask you for want of a compliment, +but thank you all the same. Do I look like a sneaking fellow or a +liar?' + +The serjeant rejoined with many choice asseverations that he +didn't; and that if his (the serjeant's) own father were to say he +did, he would run the old gentleman through the body cheerfully, +and consider it a meritorious action. + +Joe expressed his obligations, and continued, 'You can trust me +then, and credit what I say. I believe I shall enlist in your +regiment to-night. The reason I don't do so now is, because I +don't want until to-night, to do what I can't recall. Where shall +I find you, this evening?' + +His friend replied with some unwillingness, and after much +ineffectual entreaty having for its object the immediate settlement +of the business, that his quarters would be at the Crooked Billet +in Tower Street; where he would be found waking until midnight, and +sleeping until breakfast time to-morrow. + +'And if I do come--which it's a million to one, I shall--when will +you take me out of London?' demanded Joe. + +'To-morrow morning, at half after eight o'clock,' replied the +serjeant. 'You'll go abroad--a country where it's all sunshine and +plunder--the finest climate in the world.' + +'To go abroad,' said Joe, shaking hands with him, 'is the very +thing I want. You may expect me.' + +'You're the kind of lad for us,' cried the serjeant, holding Joe's +hand in his, in the excess of his admiration. 'You're the boy to +push your fortune. I don't say it because I bear you any envy, or +would take away from the credit of the rise you'll make, but if I +had been bred and taught like you, I'd have been a colonel by this +time.' + +'Tush, man!' said Joe, 'I'm not so young as that. Needs must when +the devil drives; and the devil that drives me is an empty pocket +and an unhappy home. For the present, good-bye.' + +'For king and country!' cried the serjeant, flourishing his cap. + +'For bread and meat!' cried Joe, snapping his fingers. And so they +parted. + +He had very little money in his pocket; so little indeed, that +after paying for his breakfast (which he was too honest and perhaps +too proud to score up to his father's charge) he had but a penny +left. He had courage, notwithstanding, to resist all the +affectionate importunities of the serjeant, who waylaid him at +the door with many protestations of eternal friendship, and did in +particular request that he would do him the favour to accept of +only one shilling as a temporary accommodation. Rejecting his +offers both of cash and credit, Joe walked away with stick and +bundle as before, bent upon getting through the day as he best +could, and going down to the locksmith's in the dusk of the +evening; for it should go hard, he had resolved, but he would have +a parting word with charming Dolly Varden. + +He went out by Islington and so on to Highgate, and sat on many +stones and gates, but there were no voices in the bells to bid him +turn. Since the time of noble Whittington, fair flower of +merchants, bells have come to have less sympathy with humankind. +They only ring for money and on state occasions. Wanderers have +increased in number; ships leave the Thames for distant regions, +carrying from stem to stern no other cargo; the bells are silent; +they ring out no entreaties or regrets; they are used to it and +have grown worldly. + +Joe bought a roll, and reduced his purse to the condition (with a +difference) of that celebrated purse of Fortunatus, which, +whatever were its favoured owner's necessities, had one unvarying +amount in it. In these real times, when all the Fairies are dead +and buried, there are still a great many purses which possess that +quality. The sum-total they contain is expressed in arithmetic by +a circle, and whether it be added to or multiplied by its own +amount, the result of the problem is more easily stated than any +known in figures. + +Evening drew on at last. With the desolate and solitary feeling of +one who had no home or shelter, and was alone utterly in the world +for the first time, he bent his steps towards the locksmith's +house. He had delayed till now, knowing that Mrs Varden sometimes +went out alone, or with Miggs for her sole attendant, to lectures +in the evening; and devoutly hoping that this might be one of her +nights of moral culture. + +He had walked up and down before the house, on the opposite side of +the way, two or three times, when as he returned to it again, he +caught a glimpse of a fluttering skirt at the door. It was +Dolly's--to whom else could it belong? no dress but hers had such a +flow as that. He plucked up his spirits, and followed it into the +workshop of the Golden Key. + +His darkening the door caused her to look round. Oh that face! +'If it hadn't been for that,' thought Joe, 'I should never have +walked into poor Tom Cobb. She's twenty times handsomer than ever. +She might marry a Lord!' + +He didn't say this. He only thought it--perhaps looked it also. +Dolly was glad to see him, and was SO sorry her father and mother +were away from home. Joe begged she wouldn't mention it on any +account. + +Dolly hesitated to lead the way into the parlour, for there it was +nearly dark; at the same time she hesitated to stand talking in the +workshop, which was yet light and open to the street. They had got +by some means, too, before the little forge; and Joe having her +hand in his (which he had no right to have, for Dolly only gave it +him to shake), it was so like standing before some homely altar +being married, that it was the most embarrassing state of things in +the world. + +'I have come,' said Joe, 'to say good-bye--to say good-bye for I +don't know how many years; perhaps for ever. I am going abroad.' + +Now this was exactly what he should not have said. Here he was, +talking like a gentleman at large who was free to come and go and +roam about the world at pleasure, when that gallant coachmaker had +vowed but the night before that Miss Varden held him bound in +adamantine chains; and had positively stated in so many words that +she was killing him by inches, and that in a fortnight more or +thereabouts he expected to make a decent end and leave the business +to his mother. + +Dolly released her hand and said 'Indeed!' She remarked in the +same breath that it was a fine night, and in short, betrayed no +more emotion than the forge itself. + +'I couldn't go,' said Joe, 'without coming to see you. I hadn't +the heart to.' + +Dolly was more sorry than she could tell, that he should have taken +so much trouble. It was such a long way, and he must have such a +deal to do. And how WAS Mr Willet--that dear old gentleman-- + +'Is this all you say!' cried Joe. + +All! Good gracious, what did the man expect! She was obliged to +take her apron in her hand and run her eyes along the hem from +corner to corner, to keep herself from laughing in his face;--not +because his gaze confused her--not at all. + +Joe had small experience in love affairs, and had no notion how +different young ladies are at different times; he had expected to +take Dolly up again at the very point where he had left her after +that delicious evening ride, and was no more prepared for such an +alteration than to see the sun and moon change places. He had +buoyed himself up all day with an indistinct idea that she would +certainly say 'Don't go,' or 'Don't leave us,' or 'Why do you go?' +or 'Why do you leave us?' or would give him some little +encouragement of that sort; he had even entertained the possibility +of her bursting into tears, of her throwing herself into his arms, +of her falling down in a fainting fit without previous word or +sign; but any approach to such a line of conduct as this, had been +so far from his thoughts that he could only look at her in silent +wonder. + +Dolly in the meanwhile, turned to the corners of her apron, and +measured the sides, and smoothed out the wrinkles, and was as +silent as he. At last after a long pause, Joe said good-bye. +'Good-bye'--said Dolly--with as pleasant a smile as if he were +going into the next street, and were coming back to supper; 'good- +bye.' + +'Come,' said Joe, putting out both hands, 'Dolly, dear Dolly, don't +let us part like this. I love you dearly, with all my heart and +soul; with as much truth and earnestness as ever man loved woman in +this world, I do believe. I am a poor fellow, as you know--poorer +now than ever, for I have fled from home, not being able to bear it +any longer, and must fight my own way without help. You are +beautiful, admired, are loved by everybody, are well off and happy; +and may you ever be so! Heaven forbid I should ever make you +otherwise; but give me a word of comfort. Say something kind to +me. I have no right to expect it of you, I know, but I ask it +because I love you, and shall treasure the slightest word from you +all through my life. Dolly, dearest, have you nothing to say to +me?' + +No. Nothing. Dolly was a coquette by nature, and a spoilt child. +She had no notion of being carried by storm in this way. The +coachmaker would have been dissolved in tears, and would have knelt +down, and called himself names, and clasped his hands, and beat his +breast, and tugged wildly at his cravat, and done all kinds of +poetry. Joe had no business to be going abroad. He had no right +to be able to do it. If he was in adamantine chains, he couldn't. + +'I have said good-bye,' said Dolly, 'twice. Take your arm away +directly, Mr Joseph, or I'll call Miggs.' + +'I'll not reproach you,' answered Joe, 'it's my fault, no doubt. I +have thought sometimes that you didn't quite despise me, but I was +a fool to think so. Every one must, who has seen the life I have +led--you most of all. God bless you!' + +He was gone, actually gone. Dolly waited a little while, thinking +he would return, peeped out at the door, looked up the street and +down as well as the increasing darkness would allow, came in again, +waited a little longer, went upstairs humming a tune, bolted +herself in, laid her head down on her bed, and cried as if her +heart would break. And yet such natures are made up of so many +contradictions, that if Joe Willet had come back that night, next +day, next week, next month, the odds are a hundred to one she would +have treated him in the very same manner, and have wept for it +afterwards with the very same distress. + +She had no sooner left the workshop than there cautiously peered +out from behind the chimney of the forge, a face which had already +emerged from the same concealment twice or thrice, unseen, and +which, after satisfying itself that it was now alone, was followed +by a leg, a shoulder, and so on by degrees, until the form of Mr +Tappertit stood confessed, with a brown-paper cap stuck negligently +on one side of its head, and its arms very much a-kimbo. + +'Have my ears deceived me,' said the 'prentice, 'or do I dream! am +I to thank thee, Fortun', or to cus thee--which?' + +He gravely descended from his elevation, took down his piece of +looking-glass, planted it against the wall upon the usual bench, +twisted his head round, and looked closely at his legs. + +'If they're a dream,' said Sim, 'let sculptures have such wisions, +and chisel 'em out when they wake. This is reality. Sleep has no +such limbs as them. Tremble, Willet, and despair. She's mine! +She's mine!' + +With these triumphant expressions, he seized a hammer and dealt a +heavy blow at a vice, which in his mind's eye represented the +sconce or head of Joseph Willet. That done, he burst into a peal +of laughter which startled Miss Miggs even in her distant kitchen, +and dipping his head into a bowl of water, had recourse to a jack- +towel inside the closet door, which served the double purpose of +smothering his feelings and drying his face. + +Joe, disconsolate and down-hearted, but full of courage too, on +leaving the locksmith's house made the best of his way to the +Crooked Billet, and there inquired for his friend the serjeant, +who, expecting no man less, received him with open arms. In the +course of five minutes after his arrival at that house of +entertainment, he was enrolled among the gallant defenders of his +native land; and within half an hour, was regaled with a steaming +supper of boiled tripe and onions, prepared, as his friend assured +him more than once, at the express command of his most Sacred +Majesty the King. To this meal, which tasted very savoury after +his long fasting, he did ample justice; and when he had followed it +up, or down, with a variety of loyal and patriotic toasts, he was +conducted to a straw mattress in a loft over the stable, and +locked in there for the night. + +The next morning, he found that the obliging care of his martial +friend had decorated his hat with sundry particoloured streamers, +which made a very lively appearance; and in company with that +officer, and three other military gentlemen newly enrolled, who +were under a cloud so dense that it only left three shoes, a boot, +and a coat and a half visible among them, repaired to the +riverside. Here they were joined by a corporal and four more +heroes, of whom two were drunk and daring, and two sober and +penitent, but each of whom, like Joe, had his dusty stick and +bundle. The party embarked in a passage-boat bound for Gravesend, +whence they were to proceed on foot to Chatham; the wind was in +their favour, and they soon left London behind them, a mere dark +mist--a giant phantom in the air. + + + +Chapter 32 + + +Misfortunes, saith the adage, never come singly. There is little +doubt that troubles are exceedingly gregarious in their nature, and +flying in flocks, are apt to perch capriciously; crowding on the +heads of some poor wights until there is not an inch of room left +on their unlucky crowns, and taking no more notice of others who +offer as good resting-places for the soles of their feet, than if +they had no existence. It may have happened that a flight of +troubles brooding over London, and looking out for Joseph Willet, +whom they couldn't find, darted down haphazard on the first young +man that caught their fancy, and settled on him instead. However +this may be, certain it is that on the very day of Joe's departure +they swarmed about the ears of Edward Chester, and did so buzz and +flap their wings, and persecute him, that he was most profoundly +wretched. + +It was evening, and just eight o'clock, when he and his father, +having wine and dessert set before them, were left to themselves +for the first time that day. They had dined together, but a third +person had been present during the meal, and until they met at +table they had not seen each other since the previous night. + +Edward was reserved and silent. Mr Chester was more than usually +gay; but not caring, as it seemed, to open a conversation with one +whose humour was so different, he vented the lightness of his +spirit in smiles and sparkling looks, and made no effort to awaken +his attention. So they remained for some time: the father lying on +a sofa with his accustomed air of graceful negligence; the son +seated opposite to him with downcast eyes, busied, it was plain, +with painful and uneasy thoughts. + +'My dear Edward,' said Mr Chester at length, with a most engaging +laugh, 'do not extend your drowsy influence to the decanter. +Suffer THAT to circulate, let your spirits be never so stagnant.' + +Edward begged his pardon, passed it, and relapsed into his former +state. + +'You do wrong not to fill your glass,' said Mr Chester, holding up +his own before the light. 'Wine in moderation--not in excess, for +that makes men ugly--has a thousand pleasant influences. It +brightens the eye, improves the voice, imparts a new vivacity to +one's thoughts and conversation: you should try it, Ned.' + +'Ah father!' cried his son, 'if--' + +'My good fellow,' interposed the parent hastily, as he set down his +glass, and raised his eyebrows with a startled and horrified +expression, 'for Heaven's sake don't call me by that obsolete and +ancient name. Have some regard for delicacy. Am I grey, or +wrinkled, do I go on crutches, have I lost my teeth, that you adopt +such a mode of address? Good God, how very coarse!' + +'I was about to speak to you from my heart, sir,' returned Edward, +'in the confidence which should subsist between us; and you check +me in the outset.' + +'Now DO, Ned, DO not,' said Mr Chester, raising his delicate hand +imploringly, 'talk in that monstrous manner. About to speak from +your heart. Don't you know that the heart is an ingenious part of +our formation--the centre of the blood-vessels and all that sort of +thing--which has no more to do with what you say or think, than +your knees have? How can you be so very vulgar and absurd? These +anatomical allusions should be left to gentlemen of the medical +profession. They are really not agreeable in society. You quite +surprise me, Ned.' + +'Well! there are no such things to wound, or heal, or have regard +for. I know your creed, sir, and will say no more,' returned his +son. + +'There again,' said Mr Chester, sipping his wine, 'you are wrong. +I distinctly say there are such things. We know there are. The +hearts of animals--of bullocks, sheep, and so forth--are cooked and +devoured, as I am told, by the lower classes, with a vast deal of +relish. Men are sometimes stabbed to the heart, shot to the heart; +but as to speaking from the heart, or to the heart, or being warm- +hearted, or cold-hearted, or broken-hearted, or being all heart, or +having no heart--pah! these things are nonsense, Ned.' + +'No doubt, sir,' returned his son, seeing that he paused for him to +speak. 'No doubt.' + +'There's Haredale's niece, your late flame,' said Mr Chester, as a +careless illustration of his meaning. 'No doubt in your mind she +was all heart once. Now she has none at all. Yet she is the same +person, Ned, exactly.' + +'She is a changed person, sir,' cried Edward, reddening; 'and +changed by vile means, I believe.' + +'You have had a cool dismissal, have you?' said his father. 'Poor +Ned! I told you last night what would happen.--May I ask you for +the nutcrackers?' + +'She has been tampered with, and most treacherously deceived,' +cried Edward, rising from his seat. 'I never will believe that the +knowledge of my real position, given her by myself, has worked this +change. I know she is beset and tortured. But though our contract +is at an end, and broken past all redemption; though I charge upon +her want of firmness and want of truth, both to herself and me; I +do not now, and never will believe, that any sordid motive, or her +own unbiassed will, has led her to this course--never!' + +'You make me blush,' returned his father gaily, 'for the folly of +your nature, in which--but we never know ourselves--I devoutly hope +there is no reflection of my own. With regard to the young lady +herself, she has done what is very natural and proper, my dear +fellow; what you yourself proposed, as I learn from Haredale; and +what I predicted--with no great exercise of sagacity--she would do. +She supposed you to be rich, or at least quite rich enough; and +found you poor. Marriage is a civil contract; people marry to +better their worldly condition and improve appearances; it is an +affair of house and furniture, of liveries, servants, equipage, and +so forth. The lady being poor and you poor also, there is an end +of the matter. You cannot enter upon these considerations, and +have no manner of business with the ceremony. I drink her health +in this glass, and respect and honour her for her extreme good +sense. It is a lesson to you. Fill yours, Ned.' + +'It is a lesson,' returned his son, 'by which I hope I may never +profit, and if years and experience impress it on--' + +'Don't say on the heart,' interposed his father. + +'On men whom the world and its hypocrisy have spoiled,' said Edward +warmly, 'Heaven keep me from its knowledge.' + +'Come, sir,' returned his father, raising himself a little on the +sofa, and looking straight towards him; 'we have had enough of +this. Remember, if you please, your interest, your duty, your +moral obligations, your filial affections, and all that sort of +thing, which it is so very delightful and charming to reflect upon; +or you will repent it.' + +'I shall never repent the preservation of my self-respect, sir,' +said Edward. 'Forgive me if I say that I will not sacrifice it at +your bidding, and that I will not pursue the track which you would +have me take, and to which the secret share you have had in this +late separation tends.' + +His father rose a little higher still, and looking at him as though +curious to know if he were quite resolved and earnest, dropped +gently down again, and said in the calmest voice--eating his nuts +meanwhile, + +'Edward, my father had a son, who being a fool like you, and, like +you, entertaining low and disobedient sentiments, he disinherited +and cursed one morning after breakfast. The circumstance occurs to +me with a singular clearness of recollection this evening. I +remember eating muffins at the time, with marmalade. He led a +miserable life (the son, I mean) and died early; it was a happy +release on all accounts; he degraded the family very much. It is a +sad circumstance, Edward, when a father finds it necessary to +resort to such strong measures. + +'It is,' replied Edward, 'and it is sad when a son, proffering him +his love and duty in their best and truest sense, finds himself +repelled at every turn, and forced to disobey. Dear father,' he +added, more earnestly though in a gentler tone, 'I have reflected +many times on what occurred between us when we first discussed this +subject. Let there be a confidence between us; not in terms, but +truth. Hear what I have to say.' + +'As I anticipate what it is, and cannot fail to do so, Edward,' +returned his father coldly, 'I decline. I couldn't possibly. I am +sure it would put me out of temper, which is a state of mind I +can't endure. If you intend to mar my plans for your establishment +in life, and the preservation of that gentility and becoming pride, +which our family have so long sustained--if, in short, you are +resolved to take your own course, you must take it, and my curse +with it. I am very sorry, but there's really no alternative.' + +'The curse may pass your lips,' said Edward, 'but it will be but +empty breath. I do not believe that any man on earth has greater +power to call one down upon his fellow--least of all, upon his own +child--than he has to make one drop of rain or flake of snow fall +from the clouds above us at his impious bidding. Beware, sir, what +you do.' + +'You are so very irreligious, so exceedingly undutiful, so horribly +profane,' rejoined his father, turning his face lazily towards +him, and cracking another nut, 'that I positively must interrupt +you here. It is quite impossible we can continue to go on, upon +such terms as these. If you will do me the favour to ring the +bell, the servant will show you to the door. Return to this roof +no more, I beg you. Go, sir, since you have no moral sense +remaining; and go to the Devil, at my express desire. Good day.' + +Edward left the room without another word or look, and turned his +back upon the house for ever. + +The father's face was slightly flushed and heated, but his manner +was quite unchanged, as he rang the bell again, and addressed the +servant on his entrance. + +'Peak--if that gentleman who has just gone out--' + +'I beg your pardon, sir, Mr Edward?' + +'Were there more than one, dolt, that you ask the question?--If +that gentleman should send here for his wardrobe, let him have it, +do you hear? If he should call himself at any time, I'm not at +home. You'll tell him so, and shut the door.' + + +So, it soon got whispered about, that Mr Chester was very +unfortunate in his son, who had occasioned him great grief and +sorrow. And the good people who heard this and told it again, +marvelled the more at his equanimity and even temper, and said what +an amiable nature that man must have, who, having undergone so +much, could be so placid and so calm. And when Edward's name was +spoken, Society shook its head, and laid its finger on its lip, and +sighed, and looked very grave; and those who had sons about his +age, waxed wrathful and indignant, and hoped, for Virtue's sake, +that he was dead. And the world went on turning round, as usual, +for five years, concerning which this Narrative is silent. + + + +Chapter 33 + + +One wintry evening, early in the year of our Lord one thousand +seven hundred and eighty, a keen north wind arose as it grew dark, +and night came on with black and dismal looks. A bitter storm of +sleet, sharp, dense, and icy-cold, swept the wet streets, and +rattled on the trembling windows. Signboards, shaken past +endurance in their creaking frames, fell crashing on the pavement; +old tottering chimneys reeled and staggered in the blast; and many +a steeple rocked again that night, as though the earth were +troubled. + +It was not a time for those who could by any means get light and +warmth, to brave the fury of the weather. In coffee-houses of the +better sort, guests crowded round the fire, forgot to be political, +and told each other with a secret gladness that the blast grew +fiercer every minute. Each humble tavern by the water-side, had +its group of uncouth figures round the hearth, who talked of +vessels foundering at sea, and all hands lost; related many a +dismal tale of shipwreck and drowned men, and hoped that some they +knew were safe, and shook their heads in doubt. In private +dwellings, children clustered near the blaze; listening with timid +pleasure to tales of ghosts and goblins, and tall figures clad in +white standing by bed-sides, and people who had gone to sleep in +old churches and being overlooked had found themselves alone there +at the dead hour of the night: until they shuddered at the thought +of the dark rooms upstairs, yet loved to hear the wind moan too, +and hoped it would continue bravely. From time to time these happy +indoor people stopped to listen, or one held up his finger and +cried 'Hark!' and then, above the rumbling in the chimney, and the +fast pattering on the glass, was heard a wailing, rushing sound, +which shook the walls as though a giant's hand were on them; then a +hoarse roar as if the sea had risen; then such a whirl and tumult +that the air seemed mad; and then, with a lengthened howl, the +waves of wind swept on, and left a moment's interval of rest. + +Cheerily, though there were none abroad to see it, shone the +Maypole light that evening. Blessings on the red--deep, ruby, +glowing red--old curtain of the window; blending into one rich +stream of brightness, fire and candle, meat, drink, and company, +and gleaming like a jovial eye upon the bleak waste out of doors! +Within, what carpet like its crunching sand, what music merry as +its crackling logs, what perfume like its kitchen's dainty breath, +what weather genial as its hearty warmth! Blessings on the old +house, how sturdily it stood! How did the vexed wind chafe and +roar about its stalwart roof; how did it pant and strive with its +wide chimneys, which still poured forth from their hospitable +throats, great clouds of smoke, and puffed defiance in its face; +how, above all, did it drive and rattle at the casement, emulous to +extinguish that cheerful glow, which would not be put down and +seemed the brighter for the conflict! + +The profusion too, the rich and lavish bounty, of that goodly +tavern! It was not enough that one fire roared and sparkled on its +spacious hearth; in the tiles which paved and compassed it, five +hundred flickering fires burnt brightly also. It was not enough +that one red curtain shut the wild night out, and shed its cheerful +influence on the room. In every saucepan lid, and candlestick, and +vessel of copper, brass, or tin that hung upon the walls, were +countless ruddy hangings, flashing and gleaming with every motion +of the blaze, and offering, let the eye wander where it might, +interminable vistas of the same rich colour. The old oak +wainscoting, the beams, the chairs, the seats, reflected it in a +deep, dull glimmer. There were fires and red curtains in the very +eyes of the drinkers, in their buttons, in their liquor, in the +pipes they smoked. + +Mr Willet sat in what had been his accustomed place five years +before, with his eyes on the eternal boiler; and had sat there +since the clock struck eight, giving no other signs of life than +breathing with a loud and constant snore (though he was wide +awake), and from time to time putting his glass to his lips, or +knocking the ashes out of his pipe, and filling it anew. It was +now half-past ten. Mr Cobb and long Phil Parkes were his +companions, as of old, and for two mortal hours and a half, none of +the company had pronounced one word. + +Whether people, by dint of sitting together in the same place and +the same relative positions, and doing exactly the same things for +a great many years, acquire a sixth sense, or some unknown power of +influencing each other which serves them in its stead, is a +question for philosophy to settle. But certain it is that old +John Willet, Mr Parkes, and Mr Cobb, were one and all firmly of +opinion that they were very jolly companions--rather choice spirits +than otherwise; that they looked at each other every now and then +as if there were a perpetual interchange of ideas going on among +them; that no man considered himself or his neighbour by any means +silent; and that each of them nodded occasionally when he caught +the eye of another, as if he would say, 'You have expressed +yourself extremely well, sir, in relation to that sentiment, and I +quite agree with you.' + +The room was so very warm, the tobacco so very good, and the fire +so very soothing, that Mr Willet by degrees began to doze; but as +he had perfectly acquired, by dint of long habit, the art of +smoking in his sleep, and as his breathing was pretty much the +same, awake or asleep, saving that in the latter case he sometimes +experienced a slight difficulty in respiration (such as a carpenter +meets with when he is planing and comes to a knot), neither of his +companions was aware of the circumstance, until he met with one of +these impediments and was obliged to try again. + +'Johnny's dropped off,' said Mr Parkes in a whisper. + +'Fast as a top,' said Mr Cobb. + +Neither of them said any more until Mr Willet came to another knot-- +one of surpassing obduracy--which bade fair to throw him into +convulsions, but which he got over at last without waking, by an +effort quite superhuman. + +'He sleeps uncommon hard,' said Mr Cobb. + +Mr Parkes, who was possibly a hard-sleeper himself, replied with +some disdain, 'Not a bit on it;' and directed his eyes towards a +handbill pasted over the chimney-piece, which was decorated at the +top with a woodcut representing a youth of tender years running +away very fast, with a bundle over his shoulder at the end of a +stick, and--to carry out the idea--a finger-post and a milestone +beside him. Mr Cobb likewise turned his eyes in the same +direction, and surveyed the placard as if that were the first time +he had ever beheld it. Now, this was a document which Mr Willet +had himself indited on the disappearance of his son Joseph, +acquainting the nobility and gentry and the public in general with +the circumstances of his having left his home; describing his dress +and appearance; and offering a reward of five pounds to any person +or persons who would pack him up and return him safely to the +Maypole at Chigwell, or lodge him in any of his Majesty's jails +until such time as his father should come and claim him. In this +advertisement Mr Willet had obstinately persisted, despite the +advice and entreaties of his friends, in describing his son as a +'young boy;' and furthermore as being from eighteen inches to a +couple of feet shorter than he really was; two circumstances which +perhaps accounted, in some degree, for its never having been +productive of any other effect than the transmission to Chigwell +at various times and at a vast expense, of some five-and-forty +runaways varying from six years old to twelve. + +Mr Cobb and Mr Parkes looked mysteriously at this composition, at +each other, and at old John. From the time he had pasted it up +with his own hands, Mr Willet had never by word or sign alluded to +the subject, or encouraged any one else to do so. Nobody had the +least notion what his thoughts or opinions were, connected with it; +whether he remembered it or forgot it; whether he had any idea that +such an event had ever taken place. Therefore, even while he +slept, no one ventured to refer to it in his presence; and for such +sufficient reasons, these his chosen friends were silent now. + +Mr Willet had got by this time into such a complication of knots, +that it was perfectly clear he must wake or die. He chose the +former alternative, and opened his eyes. + +'If he don't come in five minutes,' said John, 'I shall have supper +without him.' + +The antecedent of this pronoun had been mentioned for the last time +at eight o'clock. Messrs Parkes and Cobb being used to this style +of conversation, replied without difficulty that to be sure Solomon +was very late, and they wondered what had happened to detain him. + +'He an't blown away, I suppose,' said Parkes. 'It's enough to +carry a man of his figure off his legs, and easy too. Do you hear +it? It blows great guns, indeed. There'll be many a crash in the +Forest to-night, I reckon, and many a broken branch upon the ground +to-morrow.' + +'It won't break anything in the Maypole, I take it, sir,' returned +old John. 'Let it try. I give it leave--what's that?' + +'The wind,' cried Parkes. 'It's howling like a Christian, and has +been all night long.' + +'Did you ever, sir,' asked John, after a minute's contemplation, +'hear the wind say "Maypole"?' + +'Why, what man ever did?' said Parkes. + +'Nor "ahoy," perhaps?' added John. + +'No. Nor that neither.' + +'Very good, sir,' said Mr Willet, perfectly unmoved; 'then if that +was the wind just now, and you'll wait a little time without +speaking, you'll hear it say both words very plain.' + +Mr Willet was right. After listening for a few moments, they could +clearly hear, above the roar and tumult out of doors, this shout +repeated; and that with a shrillness and energy, which denoted that +it came from some person in great distress or terror. They looked +at each other, turned pale, and held their breath. No man stirred. + +It was in this emergency that Mr Willet displayed something of that +strength of mind and plenitude of mental resource, which rendered +him the admiration of all his friends and neighbours. After +looking at Messrs Parkes and Cobb for some time in silence, he +clapped his two hands to his cheeks, and sent forth a roar which +made the glasses dance and rafters ring--a long-sustained, +discordant bellow, that rolled onward with the wind, and startling +every echo, made the night a hundred times more boisterous--a deep, +loud, dismal bray, that sounded like a human gong. Then, with +every vein in his head and face swollen with the great exertion, +and his countenance suffused with a lively purple, he drew a little +nearer to the fire, and turning his back upon it, said with dignity: + +'If that's any comfort to anybody, they're welcome to it. If it +an't, I'm sorry for 'em. If either of you two gentlemen likes to +go out and see what's the matter, you can. I'm not curious, +myself.' + +While he spoke the cry drew nearer and nearer, footsteps passed the +window, the latch of the door was raised, it opened, was violently +shut again, and Solomon Daisy, with a lighted lantern in his hand, +and the rain streaming from his disordered dress, dashed into the +room. + +A more complete picture of terror than the little man presented, it +would be difficult to imagine. The perspiration stood in beads +upon his face, his knees knocked together, his every limb trembled, +the power of articulation was quite gone; and there he stood, +panting for breath, gazing on them with such livid ashy looks, that +they were infected with his fear, though ignorant of its occasion, +and, reflecting his dismayed and horror-stricken visage, stared +back again without venturing to question him; until old John +Willet, in a fit of temporary insanity, made a dive at his cravat, +and, seizing him by that portion of his dress, shook him to and fro +until his very teeth appeared to rattle in his head. + +'Tell us what's the matter, sir,' said John, 'or I'll kill you. +Tell us what's the matter, sir, or in another second I'll have your +head under the biler. How dare you look like that? Is anybody a- +following of you? What do you mean? Say something, or I'll be the +death of you, I will.' + +Mr Willet, in his frenzy, was so near keeping his word to the very +letter (Solomon Daisy's eyes already beginning to roll in an +alarming manner, and certain guttural sounds, as of a choking man, +to issue from his throat), that the two bystanders, recovering in +some degree, plucked him off his victim by main force, and placed +the little clerk of Chigwell in a chair. Directing a fearful gaze +all round the room, he implored them in a faint voice to give him +some drink; and above all to lock the house-door and close and bar +the shutters of the room, without a moment's loss of time. The +latter request did not tend to reassure his hearers, or to fill +them with the most comfortable sensations; they complied with it, +however, with the greatest expedition; and having handed him a +bumper of brandy-and-water, nearly boiling hot, waited to hear what +he might have to tell them. + +'Oh, Johnny,' said Solomon, shaking him by the hand. 'Oh, Parkes. +Oh, Tommy Cobb. Why did I leave this house to-night! On the +nineteenth of March--of all nights in the year, on the nineteenth +of March!' + +They all drew closer to the fire. Parkes, who was nearest to the +door, started and looked over his shoulder. Mr Willet, with great +indignation, inquired what the devil he meant by that--and then +said, 'God forgive me,' and glanced over his own shoulder, and came +a little nearer. + +'When I left here to-night,' said Solomon Daisy, 'I little thought +what day of the month it was. I have never gone alone into the +church after dark on this day, for seven-and-twenty years. I have +heard it said that as we keep our birthdays when we are alive, so +the ghosts of dead people, who are not easy in their graves, keep +the day they died upon.--How the wind roars!' + +Nobody spoke. All eyes were fastened on Solomon. + +'I might have known,' he said, 'what night it was, by the foul +weather. There's no such night in the whole year round as this is, +always. I never sleep quietly in my bed on the nineteenth of +March.' + +'Go on,' said Tom Cobb, in a low voice. 'Nor I neither.' + +Solomon Daisy raised his glass to his lips; put it down upon the +floor with such a trembling hand that the spoon tinkled in it like +a little bell; and continued thus: + +'Have I ever said that we are always brought back to this subject +in some strange way, when the nineteenth of this month comes round? +Do you suppose it was by accident, I forgot to wind up the church- +clock? I never forgot it at any other time, though it's such a +clumsy thing that it has to be wound up every day. Why should it +escape my memory on this day of all others? + +'I made as much haste down there as I could when I went from here, +but I had to go home first for the keys; and the wind and rain +being dead against me all the way, it was pretty well as much as I +could do at times to keep my legs. I got there at last, opened the +church-door, and went in. I had not met a soul all the way, and +you may judge whether it was dull or not. Neither of you would +bear me company. If you could have known what was to come, you'd +have been in the right. + +'The wind was so strong, that it was as much as I could do to shut +the church-door by putting my whole weight against it; and even as +it was, it burst wide open twice, with such strength that any of +you would have sworn, if you had been leaning against it, as I was, +that somebody was pushing on the other side. However, I got the +key turned, went into the belfry, and wound up the clock--which was +very near run down, and would have stood stock-still in half an +hour. + +'As I took up my lantern again to leave the church, it came upon me +all at once that this was the nineteenth of March. It came upon me +with a kind of shock, as if a hand had struck the thought upon my +forehead; at the very same moment, I heard a voice outside the +tower--rising from among the graves.' + +Here old John precipitately interrupted the speaker, and begged +that if Mr Parkes (who was seated opposite to him and was staring +directly over his head) saw anything, he would have the goodness +to mention it. Mr Parkes apologised, and remarked that he was only +listening; to which Mr Willet angrily retorted, that his listening +with that kind of expression in his face was not agreeable, and +that if he couldn't look like other people, he had better put his +pocket-handkerchief over his head. Mr Parkes with great submission +pledged himself to do so, if again required, and John Willet +turning to Solomon desired him to proceed. After waiting until a +violent gust of wind and rain, which seemed to shake even that +sturdy house to its foundation, had passed away, the little man +complied: + +'Never tell me that it was my fancy, or that it was any other sound +which I mistook for that I tell you of. I heard the wind whistle +through the arches of the church. I heard the steeple strain and +creak. I heard the rain as it came driving against the walls. I +felt the bells shake. I saw the ropes sway to and fro. And I +heard that voice.' + +'What did it say?' asked Tom Cobb. + +'I don't know what; I don't know that it spoke. It gave a kind of +cry, as any one of us might do, if something dreadful followed us +in a dream, and came upon us unawares; and then it died off: +seeming to pass quite round the church.' + +'I don't see much in that,' said John, drawing a long breath, and +looking round him like a man who felt relieved. + +'Perhaps not,' returned his friend, 'but that's not all.' + +'What more do you mean to say, sir, is to come?' asked John, +pausing in the act of wiping his face upon his apron. 'What are +you a-going to tell us of next?' + +'What I saw.' + +'Saw!' echoed all three, bending forward. + +'When I opened the church-door to come out,' said the little man, +with an expression of face which bore ample testimony to the +sincerity of his conviction, 'when I opened the church-door to come +out, which I did suddenly, for I wanted to get it shut again before +another gust of wind came up, there crossed me--so close, that by +stretching out my finger I could have touched it--something in the +likeness of a man. It was bare-headed to the storm. It turned its +face without stopping, and fixed its eyes on mine. It was a ghost-- +a spirit.' + +'Whose?' they all three cried together. + +In the excess of his emotion (for he fell back trembling in his +chair, and waved his hand as if entreating them to question him no +further), his answer was lost on all but old John Willet, who +happened to be seated close beside him. + +'Who!' cried Parkes and Tom Cobb, looking eagerly by turns at +Solomon Daisy and at Mr Willet. 'Who was it?' + +'Gentlemen,' said Mr Willet after a long pause, 'you needn't ask. +The likeness of a murdered man. This is the nineteenth of March.' + +A profound silence ensued. + +'If you'll take my advice,' said John, 'we had better, one and all, +keep this a secret. Such tales would not be liked at the Warren. +Let us keep it to ourselves for the present time at all events, or +we may get into trouble, and Solomon may lose his place. Whether +it was really as he says, or whether it wasn't, is no matter. +Right or wrong, nobody would believe him. As to the probabilities, +I don't myself think,' said Mr Willet, eyeing the corners of the +room in a manner which showed that, like some other philosophers, +he was not quite easy in his theory, 'that a ghost as had been a +man of sense in his lifetime, would be out a-walking in such +weather--I only know that I wouldn't, if I was one.' + +But this heretical doctrine was strongly opposed by the other +three, who quoted a great many precedents to show that bad weather +was the very time for such appearances; and Mr Parkes (who had had +a ghost in his family, by the mother's side) argued the matter with +so much ingenuity and force of illustration, that John was only +saved from having to retract his opinion by the opportune +appearance of supper, to which they applied themselves with a +dreadful relish. Even Solomon Daisy himself, by dint of the +elevating influences of fire, lights, brandy, and good company, so +far recovered as to handle his knife and fork in a highly +creditable manner, and to display a capacity both of eating and +drinking, such as banished all fear of his having sustained any +lasting injury from his fright. + +Supper done, they crowded round the fire again, and, as is common +on such occasions, propounded all manner of leading questions +calculated to surround the story with new horrors and surprises. +But Solomon Daisy, notwithstanding these temptations, adhered so +steadily to his original account, and repeated it so often, with +such slight variations, and with such solemn asseverations of its +truth and reality, that his hearers were (with good reason) more +astonished than at first. As he took John Willet's view of the +matter in regard to the propriety of not bruiting the tale abroad, +unless the spirit should appear to him again, in which case it +would be necessary to take immediate counsel with the clergyman, it +was solemnly resolved that it should be hushed up and kept quiet. +And as most men like to have a secret to tell which may exalt their +own importance, they arrived at this conclusion with perfect +unanimity. + +As it was by this time growing late, and was long past their usual +hour of separating, the cronies parted for the night. Solomon +Daisy, with a fresh candle in his lantern, repaired homewards under +the escort of long Phil Parkes and Mr Cobb, who were rather more +nervous than himself. Mr Willet, after seeing them to the door, +returned to collect his thoughts with the assistance of the boiler, +and to listen to the storm of wind and rain, which had not yet +abated one jot of its fury. + + + +Chapter 34 + + +Before old John had looked at the boiler quite twenty minutes, he +got his ideas into a focus, and brought them to bear upon Solomon +Daisy's story. The more he thought of it, the more impressed he +became with a sense of his own wisdom, and a desire that Mr +Haredale should be impressed with it likewise. At length, to the +end that he might sustain a principal and important character in +the affair; and might have the start of Solomon and his two +friends, through whose means he knew the adventure, with a variety +of exaggerations, would be known to at least a score of people, and +most likely to Mr Haredale himself, by breakfast-time to-morrow; he +determined to repair to the Warren before going to bed. + +'He's my landlord,' thought John, as he took a candle in his hand, +and setting it down in a corner out of the wind's way, opened a +casement in the rear of the house, looking towards the stables. +'We haven't met of late years so often as we used to do--changes +are taking place in the family--it's desirable that I should stand +as well with them, in point of dignity, as possible--the whispering +about of this here tale will anger him--it's good to have +confidences with a gentleman of his natur', and set one's-self +right besides. Halloa there! Hugh--Hugh. Hal-loa!' + +When he had repeated this shout a dozen times, and startled every +pigeon from its slumbers, a door in one of the ruinous old +buildings opened, and a rough voice demanded what was amiss now, +that a man couldn't even have his sleep in quiet. + +'What! Haven't you sleep enough, growler, that you're not to be +knocked up for once?' said John. + +'No,' replied the voice, as the speaker yawned and shook himself. +'Not half enough.' + +'I don't know how you CAN sleep, with the wind a bellowsing and +roaring about you, making the tiles fly like a pack of cards,' said +John; 'but no matter for that. Wrap yourself up in something or +another, and come here, for you must go as far as the Warren with +me. And look sharp about it.' + +Hugh, with much low growling and muttering, went back into his +lair; and presently reappeared, carrying a lantern and a cudgel, +and enveloped from head to foot in an old, frowzy, slouching horse- +cloth. Mr Willet received this figure at the back-door, and +ushered him into the bar, while he wrapped himself in sundry +greatcoats and capes, and so tied and knotted his face in shawls +and handkerchiefs, that how he breathed was a mystery. + +'You don't take a man out of doors at near midnight in such weather, +without putting some heart into him, do you, master?' said Hugh. + +'Yes I do, sir,' returned Mr Willet. 'I put the heart (as you call +it) into him when he has brought me safe home again, and his +standing steady on his legs an't of so much consequence. So hold +that light up, if you please, and go on a step or two before, to +show the way.' + +Hugh obeyed with a very indifferent grace, and a longing glance at +the bottles. Old John, laying strict injunctions on his cook to +keep the doors locked in his absence, and to open to nobody but +himself on pain of dismissal, followed him into the blustering +darkness out of doors. + +The way was wet and dismal, and the night so black, that if Mr +Willet had been his own pilot, he would have walked into a deep +horsepond within a few hundred yards of his own house, and would +certainly have terminated his career in that ignoble sphere of +action. But Hugh, who had a sight as keen as any hawk's, and, +apart from that endowment, could have found his way blindfold to +any place within a dozen miles, dragged old John along, quite deaf +to his remonstrances, and took his own course without the slightest +reference to, or notice of, his master. So they made head against +the wind as they best could; Hugh crushing the wet grass beneath +his heavy tread, and stalking on after his ordinary savage +fashion; John Willet following at arm's length, picking his +steps, and looking about him, now for bogs and ditches, and now +for such stray ghosts as might be wandering abroad, with looks of +as much dismay and uneasiness as his immovable face was capable of +expressing. + +At length they stood upon the broad gravel-walk before the Warren- +house. The building was profoundly dark, and none were moving near +it save themselves. From one solitary turret-chamber, however, +there shone a ray of light; and towards this speck of comfort in +the cold, cheerless, silent scene, Mr Willet bade his pilot lead +him. + +'The old room,' said John, looking timidly upward; 'Mr Reuben's own +apartment, God be with us! I wonder his brother likes to sit +there, so late at night--on this night too.' + +'Why, where else should he sit?' asked Hugh, holding the lantern to +his breast, to keep the candle from the wind, while he trimmed it +with his fingers. 'It's snug enough, an't it?' + +'Snug!' said John indignantly. 'You have a comfortable idea of +snugness, you have, sir. Do you know what was done in that room, +you ruffian?' + +'Why, what is it the worse for that!' cried Hugh, looking into +John's fat face. 'Does it keep out the rain, and snow, and wind, +the less for that? Is it less warm or dry, because a man was +killed there? Ha, ha, ha! Never believe it, master. One man's no +such matter as that comes to.' + +Mr Willet fixed his dull eyes on his follower, and began--by a +species of inspiration--to think it just barely possible that he +was something of a dangerous character, and that it might be +advisable to get rid of him one of these days. He was too prudent +to say anything, with the journey home before him; and therefore +turned to the iron gate before which this brief dialogue had +passed, and pulled the handle of the bell that hung beside it. The +turret in which the light appeared being at one corner of the +building, and only divided from the path by one of the garden- +walks, upon which this gate opened, Mr Haredale threw up the +window directly, and demanded who was there. + +'Begging pardon, sir,' said John, 'I knew you sat up late, and made +bold to come round, having a word to say to you.' + +'Willet--is it not?' + +'Of the Maypole--at your service, sir.' + +Mr Haredale closed the window, and withdrew. He presently appeared +at a door in the bottom of the turret, and coming across the +garden-walk, unlocked the gate and let them in. + +'You are a late visitor, Willet. What is the matter?' + +'Nothing to speak of, sir,' said John; 'an idle tale, I thought you +ought to know of; nothing more.' + +'Let your man go forward with the lantern, and give me your hand. +The stairs are crooked and narrow. Gently with your light, friend. +You swing it like a censer.' + +Hugh, who had already reached the turret, held it more steadily, +and ascended first, turning round from time to time to shed his +light downward on the steps. Mr Haredale following next, eyed his +lowering face with no great favour; and Hugh, looking down on him, +returned his glances with interest, as they climbed the winding +stairs. + +It terminated in a little ante-room adjoining that from which they +had seen the light. Mr Haredale entered first, and led the way +through it into the latter chamber, where he seated himself at a +writing-table from which he had risen when they had rung the bell. + +'Come in,' he said, beckoning to old John, who remained bowing at +the door. 'Not you, friend,' he added hastily to Hugh, who entered +also. 'Willet, why do you bring that fellow here?' + +'Why, sir,' returned John, elevating his eyebrows, and lowering his +voice to the tone in which the question had been asked him, 'he's a +good guard, you see.' + +'Don't be too sure of that,' said Mr Haredale, looking towards him +as he spoke. 'I doubt it. He has an evil eye.' + +'There's no imagination in his eye,' returned Mr Willet, glancing +over his shoulder at the organ in question, 'certainly.' + +'There is no good there, be assured,' said Mr Haredale. 'Wait in +that little room, friend, and close the door between us.' + +Hugh shrugged his shoulders, and with a disdainful look, which +showed, either that he had overheard, or that he guessed the +purport of their whispering, did as he was told. When he was shut +out, Mr Haredale turned to John, and bade him go on with what he +had to say, but not to speak too loud, for there were quick ears +yonder. + +Thus cautioned, Mr Willet, in an oily whisper, recited all that he +had heard and said that night; laying particular stress upon his +own sagacity, upon his great regard for the family, and upon his +solicitude for their peace of mind and happiness. The story moved +his auditor much more than he had expected. Mr Haredale often +changed his attitude, rose and paced the room, returned again, +desired him to repeat, as nearly as he could, the very words that +Solomon had used, and gave so many other signs of being disturbed +and ill at ease, that even Mr Willet was surprised. + +'You did quite right,' he said, at the end of a long conversation, +'to bid them keep this story secret. It is a foolish fancy on the +part of this weak-brained man, bred in his fears and superstition. +But Miss Haredale, though she would know it to be so, would be +disturbed by it if it reached her ears; it is too nearly connected +with a subject very painful to us all, to be heard with +indifference. You were most prudent, and have laid me under a +great obligation. I thank you very much.' + +This was equal to John's most sanguine expectations; but he would +have preferred Mr Haredale's looking at him when he spoke, as if he +really did thank him, to his walking up and down, speaking by fits +and starts, often stopping with his eyes fixed on the ground, +moving hurriedly on again, like one distracted, and seeming almost +unconscious of what he said or did. + +This, however, was his manner; and it was so embarrassing to John +that he sat quite passive for a long time, not knowing what to +do. At length he rose. Mr Haredale stared at him for a moment as +though he had quite forgotten his being present, then shook hands +with him, and opened the door. Hugh, who was, or feigned to be, +fast asleep on the ante-chamber floor, sprang up on their entrance, +and throwing his cloak about him, grasped his stick and lantern, +and prepared to descend the stairs. + +'Stay,' said Mr Haredale. 'Will this man drink?' + +'Drink! He'd drink the Thames up, if it was strong enough, sir, +replied John Willet. 'He'll have something when he gets home. +He's better without it, now, sir.' + +'Nay. Half the distance is done,' said Hugh. 'What a hard master +you are! I shall go home the better for one glassful, halfway. +Come!' + +As John made no reply, Mr Haredale brought out a glass of liquor, +and gave it to Hugh, who, as he took it in his hand, threw part of +it upon the floor. + +'What do you mean by splashing your drink about a gentleman's +house, sir?' said John. + +'I'm drinking a toast,' Hugh rejoined, holding the glass above his +head, and fixing his eyes on Mr Haredale's face; 'a toast to this +house and its master.' With that he muttered something to himself, +and drank the rest, and setting down the glass, preceded them +without another word. + +John was a good deal scandalised by this observance, but seeing +that Mr Haredale took little heed of what Hugh said or did, and +that his thoughts were otherwise employed, he offered no apology, +and went in silence down the stairs, across the walk, and through +the garden-gate. They stopped upon the outer side for Hugh to hold +the light while Mr Haredale locked it on the inner; and then John +saw with wonder (as he often afterwards related), that he was very +pale, and that his face had changed so much and grown so haggard +since their entrance, that he almost seemed another man. + +They were in the open road again, and John Willet was walking on +behind his escort, as he had come, thinking very steadily of what +be had just now seen, when Hugh drew him suddenly aside, and almost +at the same instant three horsemen swept past--the nearest brushed +his shoulder even then--who, checking their steeds as suddenly as +they could, stood still, and waited for their coming up. + + + +Chapter 35 + + +When John Willet saw that the horsemen wheeled smartly round, and +drew up three abreast in the narrow road, waiting for him and his +man to join them, it occurred to him with unusual precipitation +that they must be highwaymen; and had Hugh been armed with a +blunderbuss, in place of his stout cudgel, he would certainly have +ordered him to fire it off at a venture, and would, while the word +of command was obeyed, have consulted his own personal safety in +immediate flight. Under the circumstances of disadvantage, +however, in which he and his guard were placed, he deemed it +prudent to adopt a different style of generalship, and therefore +whispered his attendant to address them in the most peaceable and +courteous terms. By way of acting up to the spirit and letter of +this instruction, Hugh stepped forward, and flourishing his staff +before the very eyes of the rider nearest to him, demanded roughly +what he and his fellows meant by so nearly galloping over them, and +why they scoured the king's highway at that late hour of night. + +The man whom be addressed was beginning an angry reply in the same +strain, when be was checked by the horseman in the centre, who, +interposing with an air of authority, inquired in a somewhat loud +but not harsh or unpleasant voice: + +'Pray, is this the London road?' + +'If you follow it right, it is,' replied Hugh roughly. + +'Nay, brother,' said the same person, 'you're but a churlish +Englishman, if Englishman you be--which I should much doubt but for +your tongue. Your companion, I am sure, will answer me more +civilly. How say you, friend?' + +'I say it IS the London road, sir,' answered John. 'And I wish,' +he added in a subdued voice, as he turned to Hugh, 'that you was in +any other road, you vagabond. Are you tired of your life, sir, +that you go a-trying to provoke three great neck-or-nothing chaps, +that could keep on running over us, back'ards and for'ards, till we +was dead, and then take our bodies up behind 'em, and drown us ten +miles off?' + +'How far is it to London?' inquired the same speaker. + +'Why, from here, sir,' answered John, persuasively, 'it's thirteen +very easy mile.' + +The adjective was thrown in, as an inducement to the travellers to +ride away with all speed; but instead of having the desired effect, +it elicited from the same person, the remark, 'Thirteen miles! +That's a long distance!' which was followed by a short pause of +indecision. + +'Pray,' said the gentleman, 'are there any inns hereabouts?' At +the word 'inns,' John plucked up his spirit in a surprising manner; +his fears rolled off like smoke; all the landlord stirred within +him. + +'There are no inns,' rejoined Mr Willet, with a strong emphasis on +the plural number; 'but there's a Inn--one Inn--the Maypole Inn. +That's a Inn indeed. You won't see the like of that Inn often.' + +'You keep it, perhaps?' said the horseman, smiling. + +'I do, sir,' replied John, greatly wondering how he had found this +out. + +'And how far is the Maypole from here?' + +'About a mile'--John was going to add that it was the easiest mile +in all the world, when the third rider, who had hitherto kept a +little in the rear, suddenly interposed: + +'And have you one excellent bed, landlord? Hem! A bed that you +can recommend--a bed that you are sure is well aired--a bed that +has been slept in by some perfectly respectable and unexceptionable +person?' + +'We don't take in no tagrag and bobtail at our house, sir,' +answered John. 'And as to the bed itself--' + +'Say, as to three beds,' interposed the gentleman who had spoken +before; 'for we shall want three if we stay, though my friend only +speaks of one.' + +'No, no, my lord; you are too good, you are too kind; but your life +is of far too much importance to the nation in these portentous +times, to be placed upon a level with one so useless and so poor as +mine. A great cause, my lord, a mighty cause, depends on you. You +are its leader and its champion, its advanced guard and its van. +It is the cause of our altars and our homes, our country and our +faith. Let ME sleep on a chair--the carpet--anywhere. No one will +repine if I take cold or fever. Let John Grueby pass the night +beneath the open sky--no one will repine for HIM. But forty +thousand men of this our island in the wave (exclusive of women and +children) rivet their eyes and thoughts on Lord George Gordon; and +every day, from the rising up of the sun to the going down of the +same, pray for his health and vigour. My lord,' said the speaker, +rising in his stirrups, 'it is a glorious cause, and must not be +forgotten. My lord, it is a mighty cause, and must not be +endangered. My lord, it is a holy cause, and must not be +deserted.' + +'It IS a holy cause,' exclaimed his lordship, lifting up his hat +with great solemnity. 'Amen.' + +'John Grueby,' said the long-winded gentleman, in a tone of mild +reproof, 'his lordship said Amen.' + +'I heard my lord, sir,' said the man, sitting like a statue on his +horse. + +'And do not YOU say Amen, likewise?' + +To which John Grueby made no reply at all, but sat looking straight +before him. + +'You surprise me, Grueby,' said the gentleman. 'At a crisis like +the present, when Queen Elizabeth, that maiden monarch, weeps +within her tomb, and Bloody Mary, with a brow of gloom and shadow, +stalks triumphant--' + +'Oh, sir,' cied the man, gruffly, 'where's the use of talking of +Bloody Mary, under such circumstances as the present, when my +lord's wet through, and tired with hard riding? Let's either go on +to London, sir, or put up at once; or that unfort'nate Bloody Mary +will have more to answer for--and she's done a deal more harm in +her grave than she ever did in her lifetime, I believe.' + +By this time Mr Willet, who had never beard so many words spoken +together at one time, or delivered with such volubility and +emphasis as by the long-winded gentleman; and whose brain, being +wholly unable to sustain or compass them, had quite given itself up +for lost; recovered so far as to observe that there was ample +accommodation at the Maypole for all the party: good beds; neat +wines; excellent entertainment for man and beast; private rooms for +large and small parties; dinners dressed upon the shortest notice; +choice stabling, and a lock-up coach-house; and, in short, to run +over such recommendatory scraps of language as were painted up on +various portions of the building, and which in the course of some +forty years he had learnt to repeat with tolerable correctness. He +was considering whether it was at all possible to insert any novel +sentences to the same purpose, when the gentleman who had spoken +first, turning to him of the long wind, exclaimed, 'What say you, +Gashford? Shall we tarry at this house he speaks of, or press +forward? You shall decide.' + +'I would submit, my lord, then,' returned the person he appealed +to, in a silky tone, 'that your health and spirits--so important, +under Providence, to our great cause, our pure and truthful cause'-- +here his lordship pulled off his hat again, though it was raining +hard--'require refreshment and repose.' + +'Go on before, landlord, and show the way,' said Lord George +Gordon; 'we will follow at a footpace.' + +'If you'll give me leave, my lord,' said John Grueby, in a low +voice, 'I'll change my proper place, and ride before you. The +looks of the landlord's friend are not over honest, and it may be +as well to be cautious with him.' + +'John Grueby is quite right,' interposed Mr Gashford, falling back +hastily. 'My lord, a life so precious as yours must not be put in +peril. Go forward, John, by all means. If you have any reason to +suspect the fellow, blow his brains out.' + +John made no answer, but looking straight before him, as his custom +seemed to be when the secretary spoke, bade Hugh push on, and +followed close behind him. Then came his lordship, with Mr Willet +at his bridle rein; and, last of all, his lordship's secretary--for +that, it seemed, was Gashford's office. + +Hugh strode briskly on, often looking back at the servant, whose +horse was close upon his heels, and glancing with a leer at his +bolster case of pistols, by which he seemed to set great store. He +was a square-built, strong-made, bull-necked fellow, of the true +English breed; and as Hugh measured him with his eye, he measured +Hugh, regarding him meanwhile with a look of bluff disdain. He was +much older than the Maypole man, being to all appearance five-and- +forty; but was one of those self-possessed, hard-headed, +imperturbable fellows, who, if they are ever beaten at fisticuffs, +or other kind of warfare, never know it, and go on coolly till they +win. + +'If I led you wrong now,' said Hugh, tauntingly, 'you'd--ha ha ha!-- +you'd shoot me through the head, I suppose.' + +John Grueby took no more notice of this remark than if he had been +deaf and Hugh dumb; but kept riding on quite comfortably, with his +eyes fixed on the horizon. + +'Did you ever try a fall with a man when you were young, master?' +said Hugh. 'Can you make any play at single-stick?' + +John Grueby looked at him sideways with the same contented air, but +deigned not a word in answer. + +'--Like this?' said Hugh, giving his cudgel one of those skilful +flourishes, in which the rustic of that time delighted. 'Whoop!' + +'--Or that,' returned John Grueby, beating down his guard with his +whip, and striking him on the head with its butt end. 'Yes, I +played a little once. You wear your hair too long; I should have +cracked your crown if it had been a little shorter.' + +It was a pretty smart, loud-sounding rap, as it was, and evidently +astonished Hugh; who, for the moment, seemed disposed to drag his +new acquaintance from his saddle. But his face betokening neither +malice, triumph, rage, nor any lingering idea that he had given him +offence; his eyes gazing steadily in the old direction, and his +manner being as careless and composed as if he had merely brushed +away a fly; Hugh was so puzzled, and so disposed to look upon him +as a customer of almost supernatural toughness, that he merely +laughed, and cried 'Well done!' then, sheering off a little, led +the way in silence. + +Before the lapse of many minutes the party halted at the Maypole +door. Lord George and his secretary quickly dismounting, gave +their horses to their servant, who, under the guidance of Hugh, +repaired to the stables. Right glad to escape from the inclemency +of the night, they followed Mr Willet into the common room, and +stood warming themselves and drying their clothes before the +cheerful fire, while he busied himself with such orders and +preparations as his guest's high quality required. + +As he bustled in and out of the room, intent on these +arrangements, he had an opportunity of observing the two +travellers, of whom, as yet, he knew nothing but the voice. The +lord, the great personage who did the Maypole so much honour, was +about the middle height, of a slender make, and sallow complexion, +with an aquiline nose, and long hair of a reddish brown, combed +perfectly straight and smooth about his ears, and slightly +powdered, but without the faintest vestige of a curl. He was +attired, under his greatcoat, in a full suit of black, quite free +from any ornament, and of the most precise and sober cut. The +gravity of his dress, together with a certain lankness of cheek +and stiffness of deportment, added nearly ten years to his age, +but his figure was that of one not yet past thirty. As he stood +musing in the red glow of the fire, it was striking to observe his +very bright large eye, which betrayed a restlessness of thought and +purpose, singularly at variance with the studied composure and +sobriety of his mien, and with his quaint and sad apparel. It had +nothing harsh or cruel in its expression; neither had his face, +which was thin and mild, and wore an air of melancholy; but it was +suggestive of an indefinable uneasiness; which infected those who +looked upon him, and filled them with a kind of pity for the man: +though why it did so, they would have had some trouble to explain. + +Gashford, the secretary, was taller, angularly made, high- +shouldered, bony, and ungraceful. His dress, in imitation of his +superior, was demure and staid in the extreme; his manner, formal +and constrained. This gentleman had an overhanging brow, great +hands and feet and ears, and a pair of eyes that seemed to have +made an unnatural retreat into his head, and to have dug themselves +a cave to hide in. His manner was smooth and humble, but very sly +and slinking. He wore the aspect of a man who was always lying in +wait for something that WOULDN'T come to pass; but he looked +patient--very patient--and fawned like a spaniel dog. Even now, +while he warmed and rubbed his hands before the blaze, he had the +air of one who only presumed to enjoy it in his degree as a +commoner; and though he knew his lord was not regarding him, he +looked into his face from time to time, and with a meek and +deferential manner, smiled as if for practice. + +Such were the guests whom old John Willet, with a fixed and leaden +eye, surveyed a hundred times, and to whom he now advanced with a +state candlestick in each hand, beseeching them to follow him into +a worthier chamber. 'For my lord,' said John--it is odd enough, +but certain people seem to have as great a pleasure in pronouncing +titles as their owners have in wearing them--'this room, my lord, +isn't at all the sort of place for your lordship, and I have to +beg your lordship's pardon for keeping you here, my lord, one +minute.' + +With this address, John ushered them upstairs into the state +apartment, which, like many other things of state, was cold and +comfortless. Their own footsteps, reverberating through the +spacious room, struck upon their hearing with a hollow sound; and +its damp and chilly atmosphere was rendered doubly cheerless by +contrast with the homely warmth they had deserted. + +It was of no use, however, to propose a return to the place they +had quitted, for the preparations went on so briskly that there was +no time to stop them. John, with the tall candlesticks in his +hands, bowed them up to the fireplace; Hugh, striding in with a +lighted brand and pile of firewood, cast it down upon the hearth, +and set it in a blaze; John Grueby (who had a great blue cockade in +his hat, which he appeared to despise mightily) brought in the +portmanteau he had carried on his horse, and placed it on the +floor; and presently all three were busily engaged in drawing out +the screen, laying the cloth, inspecting the beds, lighting fires +in the bedrooms, expediting the supper, and making everything as +cosy and as snug as might be, on so short a notice. In less than +an hour's time, supper had been served, and ate, and cleared away; +and Lord George and his secretary, with slippered feet, and legs +stretched out before the fire, sat over some hot mulled wine +together. + +'So ends, my lord,' said Gashford, filling his glass with great +complacency, 'the blessed work of a most blessed day.' + +'And of a blessed yesterday,' said his lordship, raising his head. + +'Ah!'--and here the secretary clasped his hands--'a blessed +yesterday indeed! The Protestants of Suffolk are godly men and +true. Though others of our countrymen have lost their way in +darkness, even as we, my lord, did lose our road to-night, theirs +is the light and glory.' + +'Did I move them, Gashford ?' said Lord George. + +'Move them, my lord! Move them! They cried to be led on against +the Papists, they vowed a dreadful vengeance on their heads, they +roared like men possessed--' + +'But not by devils,' said his lord. + +'By devils! my lord! By angels.' + +'Yes--oh surely--by angels, no doubt,' said Lord George, thrusting +his hands into his pockets, taking them out again to bite his +nails, and looking uncomfortably at the fire. 'Of course by +angels--eh Gashford?' + +'You do not doubt it, my lord?' said the secretary. + +'No--No,' returned his lord. 'No. Why should I? I suppose it +would be decidedly irreligious to doubt it--wouldn't it, Gashford? +Though there certainly were,' he added, without waiting for an +answer, 'some plaguy ill-looking characters among them.' + +'When you warmed,' said the secretary, looking sharply at the +other's downcast eyes, which brightened slowly as he spoke; 'when +you warmed into that noble outbreak; when you told them that you +were never of the lukewarm or the timid tribe, and bade them take +heed that they were prepared to follow one who would lead them on, +though to the very death; when you spoke of a hundred and twenty +thousand men across the Scottish border who would take their own +redress at any time, if it were not conceded; when you cried +"Perish the Pope and all his base adherents; the penal laws against +them shall never be repealed while Englishmen have hearts and +hands"--and waved your own and touched your sword; and when they +cried "No Popery!" and you cried "No; not even if we wade in +blood," and they threw up their hats and cried "Hurrah! not even if +we wade in blood; No Popery! Lord George! Down with the Papists-- +Vengeance on their heads:" when this was said and done, and a word +from you, my lord, could raise or still the tumult--ah! then I felt +what greatness was indeed, and thought, When was there ever power +like this of Lord George Gordon's!' + +'It's a great power. You're right. It is a great power!' he cried +with sparkling eyes. 'But--dear Gashford--did I really say all +that?' + +'And how much more!' cried the secretary, looking upwards. 'Ah! +how much more!' + +'And I told them what you say, about the one hundred and forty +thousand men in Scotland, did I!' he asked with evident delight. +'That was bold.' + +'Our cause is boldness. Truth is always bold.' + +'Certainly. So is religion. She's bold, Gashford?' + +'The true religion is, my lord.' + +'And that's ours,' he rejoined, moving uneasily in his seat, and +biting his nails as though he would pare them to the quick. 'There +can be no doubt of ours being the true one. You feel as certain of +that as I do, Gashford, don't you?' + +'Does my lord ask ME,' whined Gashford, drawing his chair nearer +with an injured air, and laying his broad flat hand upon the table; +'ME,' he repeated, bending the dark hollows of his eyes upon him +with an unwholesome smile, 'who, stricken by the magic of his +eloquence in Scotland but a year ago, abjured the errors of the +Romish church, and clung to him as one whose timely hand had +plucked me from a pit?' + +'True. No--No. I--I didn't mean it,' replied the other, shaking +him by the hand, rising from his seat, and pacing restlessly about +the room. 'It's a proud thing to lead the people, Gashford,' he +added as he made a sudden halt. + +'By force of reason too,' returned the pliant secretary. + +'Ay, to be sure. They may cough and jeer, and groan in Parliament, +and call me fool and madman, but which of them can raise this human +sea and make it swell and roar at pleasure? Not one.' + +'Not one,' repeated Gashford. + +'Which of them can say for his honesty, what I can say for mine; +which of them has refused a minister's bribe of one thousand +pounds a year, to resign his seat in favour of another? Not one.' + +'Not one,' repeated Gashford again--taking the lion's share of the +mulled wine between whiles. + +'And as we are honest, true, and in a sacred cause, Gashford,' said +Lord George with a heightened colour and in a louder voice, as he +laid his fevered hand upon his shoulder, 'and are the only men who +regard the mass of people out of doors, or are regarded by them, we +will uphold them to the last; and will raise a cry against these +un-English Papists which shall re-echo through the country, and +roll with a noise like thunder. I will be worthy of the motto on +my coat of arms, "Called and chosen and faithful." + +'Called,' said the secretary, 'by Heaven.' + +'I am.' + +'Chosen by the people.' + +'Yes.' + +'Faithful to both.' + +'To the block!' + +It would be difficult to convey an adequate idea of the excited +manner in which he gave these answers to the secretary's +promptings; of the rapidity of his utterance, or the violence of +his tone and gesture; in which, struggling through his Puritan's +demeanour, was something wild and ungovernable which broke through +all restraint. For some minutes he walked rapidly up and down the +room, then stopping suddenly, exclaimed, + +'Gashford--YOU moved them yesterday too. Oh yes! You did.' + +'I shone with a reflected light, my lord,' replied the humble +secretary, laying his hand upon his heart. 'I did my best.' + +'You did well,' said his master, 'and are a great and worthy +instrument. If you will ring for John Grueby to carry the +portmanteau into my room, and will wait here while I undress, we +will dispose of business as usual, if you're not too tired.' + +'Too tired, my lord!--But this is his consideration! Christian +from head to foot.' With which soliloquy, the secretary tilted the +jug, and looked very hard into the mulled wine, to see how much +remained. + +John Willet and John Grueby appeared together. The one bearing the +great candlesticks, and the other the portmanteau, showed the +deluded lord into his chamber; and left the secretary alone, to +yawn and shake himself, and finally to fall asleep before the fire. + +'Now, Mr Gashford sir,' said John Grueby in his ear, after what +appeared to him a moment of unconsciousness; 'my lord's abed.' + +'Oh. Very good, John,' was his mild reply. 'Thank you, John. +Nobody need sit up. I know my room.' + +'I hope you're not a-going to trouble your head to-night, or my +lord's head neither, with anything more about Bloody Mary,' said +John. 'I wish the blessed old creetur had never been born.' + +'I said you might go to bed, John,' returned the secretary. 'You +didn't hear me, I think.' + +'Between Bloody Marys, and blue cockades, and glorious Queen +Besses, and no Poperys, and Protestant associations, and making of +speeches,' pursued John Grueby, looking, as usual, a long way off, +and taking no notice of this hint, 'my lord's half off his head. +When we go out o' doors, such a set of ragamuffins comes a- +shouting after us, "Gordon forever!" that I'm ashamed of myself +and don't know where to look. When we're indoors, they come a- +roaring and screaming about the house like so many devils; and my +lord instead of ordering them to be drove away, goes out into the +balcony and demeans himself by making speeches to 'em, and calls +'em "Men of England," and "Fellow-countrymen," as if he was fond of +'em and thanked 'em for coming. I can't make it out, but they're +all mixed up somehow or another with that unfort'nate Bloody Mary, +and call her name out till they're hoarse. They're all Protestants +too--every man and boy among 'em: and Protestants are very fond of +spoons, I find, and silver-plate in general, whenever area-gates is +left open accidentally. I wish that was the worst of it, and that +no more harm might be to come; but if you don't stop these ugly +customers in time, Mr Gashford (and I know you; you're the man that +blows the fire), you'll find 'em grow a little bit too strong for +you. One of these evenings, when the weather gets warmer and +Protestants are thirsty, they'll be pulling London down,--and I +never heard that Bloody Mary went as far as THAT.' + +Gashford had vanished long ago, and these remarks had been bestowed +on empty air. Not at all discomposed by the discovery, John Grueby +fixed his hat on, wrongside foremost that he might be unconscious +of the shadow of the obnoxious cockade, and withdrew to bed; +shaking his head in a very gloomy and prophetic manner until he +reached his chamber. + + + +Chapter 36 + + +Gashford, with a smiling face, but still with looks of profound +deference and humility, betook himself towards his master's room, +smoothing his hair down as he went, and humming a psalm tune. As +he approached Lord George's door, he cleared his throat and hummed +more vigorously. + +There was a remarkable contrast between this man's occupation at +the moment, and the expression of his countenance, which was +singularly repulsive and malicious. His beetling brow almost +obscured his eyes; his lip was curled contemptuously; his very +shoulders seemed to sneer in stealthy whisperings with his great +flapped ears. + +'Hush!' he muttered softly, as he peeped in at the chamber-door. +'He seems to be asleep. Pray Heaven he is! Too much watching, too +much care, too much thought--ah! Lord preserve him for a martyr! +He is a saint, if ever saint drew breath on this bad earth.' + +Placing his light upon a table, he walked on tiptoe to the fire, +and sitting in a chair before it with his back towards the bed, +went on communing with himself like one who thought aloud: + +'The saviour of his country and his country's religion, the friend +of his poor countrymen, the enemy of the proud and harsh; beloved +of the rejected and oppressed, adored by forty thousand bold and +loyal English hearts--what happy slumbers his should be!' And here +he sighed, and warmed his hands, and shook his head as men do when +their hearts are full, and heaved another sigh, and warmed his +hands again. + +'Why, Gashford?' said Lord George, who was lying broad awake, upon +his side, and had been staring at him from his entrance. + +'My--my lord,' said Gashford, starting and looking round as though +in great surprise. 'I have disturbed you!' + +'I have not been sleeping.' + +'Not sleeping!' he repeated, with assumed confusion. 'What can I +say for having in your presence given utterance to thoughts--but +they were sincere--they were sincere!' exclaimed the secretary, +drawing his sleeve in a hasty way across his eyes; 'and why should +I regret your having heard them?' + +'Gashford,' said the poor lord, stretching out his hand with +manifest emotion. 'Do not regret it. You love me well, I know-- +too well. I don't deserve such homage.' + +Gashford made no reply, but grasped the hand and pressed it to his +lips. Then rising, and taking from the trunk a little desk, he +placed it on a table near the fire, unlocked it with a key he +carried in his pocket, sat down before it, took out a pen, and, +before dipping it in the inkstand, sucked it--to compose the +fashion of his mouth perhaps, on which a smile was hovering yet. + +'How do our numbers stand since last enrolling-night?' inquired +Lord George. 'Are we really forty thousand strong, or do we still +speak in round numbers when we take the Association at that amount?' + +'Our total now exceeds that number by a score and three,' Gashford +replied, casting his eyes upon his papers. + +'The funds?' + +'Not VERY improving; but there is some manna in the wilderness, my +lord. Hem! On Friday night the widows' mites dropped in. "Forty +scavengers, three and fourpence. An aged pew-opener of St Martin's +parish, sixpence. A bell-ringer of the established church, +sixpence. A Protestant infant, newly born, one halfpenny. The +United Link Boys, three shillings--one bad. The anti-popish +prisoners in Newgate, five and fourpence. A friend in Bedlam, +half-a-crown. Dennis the hangman, one shilling."' + +'That Dennis,' said his lordship, 'is an earnest man. I marked him +in the crowd in Welbeck Street, last Friday.' + +'A good man,' rejoined the secretary, 'a staunch, sincere, and +truly zealous man.' + +'He should be encouraged,' said Lord George. 'Make a note of +Dennis. I'll talk with him.' + +Gashford obeyed, and went on reading from his list: + +'"The Friends of Reason, half-a-guinea. The Friends of Liberty, +half-a-guinea. The Friends of Peace, half-a-guinea. The Friends +of Charity, half-a-guinea. The Friends of Mercy, half-a-guinea. +The Associated Rememberers of Bloody Mary, half-a-guinea. The +United Bulldogs, half-a-guinea."' + +'The United Bulldogs,' said Lord George, biting his nails most +horribly, 'are a new society, are they not?' + +'Formerly the 'Prentice Knights, my lord. The indentures of the +old members expiring by degrees, they changed their name, it seems, +though they still have 'prentices among them, as well as workmen.' + +'What is their president's name?' inquired Lord George. + +'President,' said Gashford, reading, 'Mr Simon Tappertit.' + +'I remember him. The little man, who sometimes brings an elderly +sister to our meetings, and sometimes another female too, who is +conscientious, I have no doubt, but not well-favoured?' + +'The very same, my lord.' + +'Tappertit is an earnest man,' said Lord George, thoughtfully. +'Eh, Gashford?' + +'One of the foremost among them all, my lord. He snuffs the battle +from afar, like the war-horse. He throws his hat up in the street +as if he were inspired, and makes most stirring speeches from the +shoulders of his friends.' + +'Make a note of Tappertit,' said Lord George Gordon. 'We may +advance him to a place of trust.' + +'That,' rejoined the secretary, doing as he was told, 'is all-- +except Mrs Varden's box (fourteenth time of opening), seven +shillings and sixpence in silver and copper, and half-a-guinea in +gold; and Miggs (being the saving of a quarter's wages), one-and- +threepence.' + +'Miggs,' said Lord George. 'Is that a man?' + +'The name is entered on the list as a woman,' replied the +secretary. 'I think she is the tall spare female of whom you spoke +just now, my lord, as not being well-favoured, who sometimes comes +to hear the speeches--along with Tappertit and Mrs Varden.' + +'Mrs Varden is the elderly lady then, is she?' + +The secretary nodded, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the +feather of his pen. + +'She is a zealous sister,' said Lord George. 'Her collection goes +on prosperously, and is pursued with fervour. Has her husband +joined?' + +'A malignant,' returned the secretary, folding up his papers. +'Unworthy such a wife. He remains in outer darkness and steadily +refuses.' + +'The consequences be upon his own head!--Gashford!' + +'My lord!' + +'You don't think,' he turned restlessly in his bed as he spoke, +'these people will desert me, when the hour arrives? I have spoken +boldly for them, ventured much, suppressed nothing. They'll not +fall off, will they?' + +'No fear of that, my lord,' said Gashford, with a meaning look, +which was rather the involuntary expression of his own thoughts +than intended as any confirmation of his words, for the other's +face was turned away. 'Be sure there is no fear of that.' + +'Nor,' he said with a more restless motion than before, 'of their-- +but they CAN sustain no harm from leaguing for this purpose. Right +is on our side, though Might may be against us. You feel as sure +of that as I--honestly, you do?' + +The secretary was beginning with 'You do not doubt,' when the other +interrupted him, and impatiently rejoined: + +'Doubt. No. Who says I doubt? If I doubted, should I cast away +relatives, friends, everything, for this unhappy country's sake; +this unhappy country,' he cried, springing up in bed, after +repeating the phrase 'unhappy country's sake' to himself, at least +a dozen times, 'forsaken of God and man, delivered over to a +dangerous confederacy of Popish powers; the prey of corruption, +idolatry, and despotism! Who says I doubt? Am I called, and +chosen, and faithful? Tell me. Am I, or am I not?' + +'To God, the country, and yourself,' cried Gashford. + +'I am. I will be. I say again, I will be: to the block. Who says +as much! Do you? Does any man alive?' + +The secretary drooped his head with an expression of perfect +acquiescence in anything that had been said or might be; and Lord +George gradually sinking down upon his pillow, fell asleep. + +Although there was something very ludicrous in his vehement manner, +taken in conjunction with his meagre aspect and ungraceful +presence, it would scarcely have provoked a smile in any man of +kindly feeling; or even if it had, he would have felt sorry and +almost angry with himself next moment, for yielding to the impulse. +This lord was sincere in his violence and in his wavering. A +nature prone to false enthusiasm, and the vanity of being a leader, +were the worst qualities apparent in his composition. All the rest +was weakness--sheer weakness; and it is the unhappy lot of +thoroughly weak men, that their very sympathies, affections, +confidences--all the qualities which in better constituted minds +are virtues--dwindle into foibles, or turn into downright vices. + +Gashford, with many a sly look towards the bed, sat chuckling at +his master's folly, until his deep and heavy breathing warned him +that he might retire. Locking his desk, and replacing it within +the trunk (but not before he had taken from a secret lining two +printed handbills), he cautiously withdrew; looking back, as he +went, at the pale face of the slumbering man, above whose head the +dusty plumes that crowned the Maypole couch, waved drearily and +sadly as though it were a bier. + +Stopping on the staircase to listen that all was quiet, and to take +off his shoes lest his footsteps should alarm any light sleeper who +might be near at hand, he descended to the ground floor, and thrust +one of his bills beneath the great door of the house. That done, +he crept softly back to his own chamber, and from the window let +another fall--carefully wrapt round a stone to save it from the +wind--into the yard below. + +They were addressed on the back 'To every Protestant into whose +hands this shall come,' and bore within what follows: + +'Men and Brethren. Whoever shall find this letter, will take it as +a warning to join, without delay, the friends of Lord George +Gordon. There are great events at hand; and the times are +dangerous and troubled. Read this carefully, keep it clean, and +drop it somewhere else. For King and Country. Union.' + +'More seed, more seed,' said Gashford as he closed the window. +'When will the harvest come!' + + + +Chapter 37 + + +To surround anything, however monstrous or ridiculous, with an air +of mystery, is to invest it with a secret charm, and power of +attraction which to the crowd is irresistible. False priests, +false prophets, false doctors, false patriots, false prodigies of +every kind, veiling their proceedings in mystery, have always +addressed themselves at an immense advantage to the popular +credulity, and have been, perhaps, more indebted to that resource +in gaining and keeping for a time the upper hand of Truth and +Common Sense, than to any half-dozen items in the whole catalogue +of imposture. Curiosity is, and has been from the creation of the +world, a master-passion. To awaken it, to gratify it by slight +degrees, and yet leave something always in suspense, is to +establish the surest hold that can be had, in wrong, on the +unthinking portion of mankind. + +If a man had stood on London Bridge, calling till he was hoarse, +upon the passers-by, to join with Lord George Gordon, although for +an object which no man understood, and which in that very incident +had a charm of its own,--the probability is, that he might have +influenced a score of people in a month. If all zealous +Protestants had been publicly urged to join an association for the +avowed purpose of singing a hymn or two occasionally, and hearing +some indifferent speeches made, and ultimately of petitioning +Parliament not to pass an act for abolishing the penal laws against +Roman Catholic priests, the penalty of perpetual imprisonment +denounced against those who educated children in that persuasion, +and the disqualification of all members of the Romish church to +inherit real property in the United Kingdom by right of purchase or +descent,--matters so far removed from the business and bosoms of +the mass, might perhaps have called together a hundred people. But +when vague rumours got abroad, that in this Protestant association +a secret power was mustering against the government for undefined +and mighty purposes; when the air was filled with whispers of a +confederacy among the Popish powers to degrade and enslave England, +establish an inquisition in London, and turn the pens of Smithfield +market into stakes and cauldrons; when terrors and alarms which no +man understood were perpetually broached, both in and out of +Parliament, by one enthusiast who did not understand himself, and +bygone bugbears which had lain quietly in their graves for +centuries, were raised again to haunt the ignorant and credulous; +when all this was done, as it were, in the dark, and secret +invitations to join the Great Protestant Association in defence of +religion, life, and liberty, were dropped in the public ways, +thrust under the house-doors, tossed in at windows, and pressed +into the hands of those who trod the streets by night; when they +glared from every wall, and shone on every post and pillar, so that +stocks and stones appeared infected with the common fear, urging +all men to join together blindfold in resistance of they knew not +what, they knew not why;--then the mania spread indeed, and the +body, still increasing every day, grew forty thousand strong. + +So said, at least, in this month of March, 1780, Lord George +Gordon, the Association's president. Whether it was the fact or +otherwise, few men knew or cared to ascertain. It had never made +any public demonstration; had scarcely ever been heard of, save +through him; had never been seen; and was supposed by many to be +the mere creature of his disordered brain. He was accustomed to +talk largely about numbers of men--stimulated, as it was inferred, +by certain successful disturbances, arising out of the same +subject, which had occurred in Scotland in the previous year; was +looked upon as a cracked-brained member of the lower house, who +attacked all parties and sided with none, and was very little +regarded. It was known that there was discontent abroad--there +always is; he had been accustomed to address the people by placard, +speech, and pamphlet, upon other questions; nothing had come, in +England, of his past exertions, and nothing was apprehended from +his present. Just as he has come upon the reader, he had come, +from time to time, upon the public, and been forgotten in a day; as +suddenly as he appears in these pages, after a blank of five long +years, did he and his proceedings begin to force themselves, about +this period, upon the notice of thousands of people, who had +mingled in active life during the whole interval, and who, without +being deaf or blind to passing events, had scarcely ever thought of +him before. + +'My lord,' said Gashford in his ear, as he drew the curtains of his +bed betimes; 'my lord!' + +'Yes--who's that? What is it?' + +'The clock has struck nine,' returned the secretary, with meekly +folded hands. 'You have slept well? I hope you have slept well? +If my prayers are heard, you are refreshed indeed.' + +'To say the truth, I have slept so soundly,' said Lord George, +rubbing his eyes and looking round the room, 'that I don't remember +quite--what place is this?' + +'My lord!' cried Gashford, with a smile. + +'Oh!' returned his superior. 'Yes. You're not a Jew then?' + +'A Jew!' exclaimed the pious secretary, recoiling. + +'I dreamed that we were Jews, Gashford. You and I--both of us-- +Jews with long beards.' + +'Heaven forbid, my lord! We might as well be Papists.' + +'I suppose we might,' returned the other, very quickly. 'Eh? You +really think so, Gashford?' + +'Surely I do,' the secretary cried, with looks of great surprise. + +'Humph!' he muttered. 'Yes, that seems reasonable.' + +'I hope my lord--' the secretary began. + +'Hope!' he echoed, interrupting him. 'Why do you say, you hope? +There's no harm in thinking of such things.' + +'Not in dreams,' returned the Secretary. + +'In dreams! No, nor waking either.' + +--'"Called, and chosen, and faithful,"' said Gashford, taking up +Lord George's watch which lay upon a chair, and seeming to read the +inscription on the seal, abstractedly. + +It was the slightest action possible, not obtruded on his notice, +and apparently the result of a moment's absence of mind, not worth +remark. But as the words were uttered, Lord George, who had been +going on impetuously, stopped short, reddened, and was silent. +Apparently quite unconscious of this change in his demeanour, the +wily Secretary stepped a little apart, under pretence of pulling up +the window-blind, and returning when the other had had time to +recover, said: + +'The holy cause goes bravely on, my lord. I was not idle, even +last night. I dropped two of the handbills before I went to bed, +and both are gone this morning. Nobody in the house has mentioned +the circumstance of finding them, though I have been downstairs +full half-an-hour. One or two recruits will be their first fruit, +I predict; and who shall say how many more, with Heaven's blessing +on your inspired exertions!' + +'It was a famous device in the beginning,' replied Lord George; 'an +excellent device, and did good service in Scotland. It was quite +worthy of you. You remind me not to be a sluggard, Gashford, when +the vineyard is menaced with destruction, and may be trodden down +by Papist feet. Let the horses be saddled in half-an-hour. We +must be up and doing!' + +He said this with a heightened colour, and in a tone of such +enthusiasm, that the secretary deemed all further prompting +needless, and withdrew. + +--'Dreamed he was a Jew,' he said thoughtfully, as he closed the +bedroom door. 'He may come to that before he dies. It's like +enough. Well! After a time, and provided I lost nothing by it, I +don't see why that religion shouldn't suit me as well as any +other. There are rich men among the Jews; shaving is very +troublesome;--yes, it would suit me well enough. For the present, +though, we must be Christian to the core. Our prophetic motto will +suit all creeds in their turn, that's a comfort.' Reflecting on +this source of consolation, he reached the sitting-room, and rang +the bell for breakfast. + +Lord George was quickly dressed (for his plain toilet was easily +made), and as he was no less frugal in his repasts than in his +Puritan attire, his share of the meal was soon dispatched. The +secretary, however, more devoted to the good things of this world, +or more intent on sustaining his strength and spirits for the sake +of the Protestant cause, ate and drank to the last minute, and +required indeed some three or four reminders from John Grueby, +before he could resolve to tear himself away from Mr Willet's +plentiful providing. + +At length he came downstairs, wiping his greasy mouth, and having +paid John Willet's bill, climbed into his saddle. Lord George, who +had been walking up and down before the house talking to himself +with earnest gestures, mounted his horse; and returning old John +Willet's stately bow, as well as the parting salutation of a dozen +idlers whom the rumour of a live lord being about to leave the +Maypole had gathered round the porch, they rode away, with stout +John Grueby in the rear. + +If Lord George Gordon had appeared in the eyes of Mr Willet, +overnight, a nobleman of somewhat quaint and odd exterior, the +impression was confirmed this morning, and increased a hundredfold. +Sitting bolt upright upon his bony steed, with his long, straight +hair, dangling about his face and fluttering in the wind; his limbs +all angular and rigid, his elbows stuck out on either side +ungracefully, and his whole frame jogged and shaken at every motion +of his horse's feet; a more grotesque or more ungainly figure can +hardly be conceived. In lieu of whip, he carried in his hand a +great gold-headed cane, as large as any footman carries in these +days, and his various modes of holding this unwieldy weapon--now +upright before his face like the sabre of a horse-soldier, now over +his shoulder like a musket, now between his finger and thumb, but +always in some uncouth and awkward fashion--contributed in no small +degree to the absurdity of his appearance. Stiff, lank, and +solemn, dressed in an unusual manner, and ostentatiously +exhibiting--whether by design or accident--all his peculiarities of +carriage, gesture, and conduct, all the qualities, natural and +artificial, in which he differed from other men; he might have +moved the sternest looker-on to laughter, and fully provoked the +smiles and whispered jests which greeted his departure from the +Maypole inn. + +Quite unconscious, however, of the effect he produced, he trotted +on beside his secretary, talking to himself nearly all the way, +until they came within a mile or two of London, when now and then +some passenger went by who knew him by sight, and pointed him out +to some one else, and perhaps stood looking after him, or cried in +jest or earnest as it might be, 'Hurrah Geordie! No Popery!' At +which he would gravely pull off his hat, and bow. When they +reached the town and rode along the streets, these notices became +more frequent; some laughed, some hissed, some turned their heads +and smiled, some wondered who he was, some ran along the pavement +by his side and cheered. When this happened in a crush of carts +and chairs and coaches, he would make a dead stop, and pulling off +his hat, cry, 'Gentlemen, No Popery!' to which the gentlemen would +respond with lusty voices, and with three times three; and then, on +he would go again with a score or so of the raggedest, following at +his horse's heels, and shouting till their throats were parched. + +The old ladies too--there were a great many old ladies in the +streets, and these all knew him. Some of them--not those of the +highest rank, but such as sold fruit from baskets and carried +burdens--clapped their shrivelled hands, and raised a weazen, +piping, shrill 'Hurrah, my lord.' Others waved their hands or +handkerchiefs, or shook their fans or parasols, or threw up windows +and called in haste to those within, to come and see. All these +marks of popular esteem, he received with profound gravity and +respect; bowing very low, and so frequently that his hat was more +off his head than on; and looking up at the houses as he passed +along, with the air of one who was making a public entry, and yet +was not puffed up or proud. + +So they rode (to the deep and unspeakable disgust of John Grueby) +the whole length of Whitechapel, Leadenhall Street, and Cheapside, +and into St Paul's Churchyard. Arriving close to the cathedral, he +halted; spoke to Gashford; and looking upward at its lofty dome, +shook his head, as though he said, 'The Church in Danger!' Then to +be sure, the bystanders stretched their throats indeed; and he went +on again with mighty acclamations from the mob, and lower bows than +ever. + +So along the Strand, up Swallow Street, into the Oxford Road, and +thence to his house in Welbeck Street, near Cavendish Square, +whither he was attended by a few dozen idlers; of whom he took +leave on the steps with this brief parting, 'Gentlemen, No Popery. +Good day. God bless you.' This being rather a shorter address +than they expected, was received with some displeasure, and cries +of 'A speech! a speech!' which might have been complied with, but +that John Grueby, making a mad charge upon them with all three +horses, on his way to the stables, caused them to disperse into the +adjoining fields, where they presently fell to pitch and toss, +chuck-farthing, odd or even, dog-fighting, and other Protestant +recreations. + +In the afternoon Lord George came forth again, dressed in a black +velvet coat, and trousers and waistcoat of the Gordon plaid, all of +the same Quaker cut; and in this costume, which made him look a +dozen times more strange and singular than before, went down on +foot to Westminster. Gashford, meanwhile, bestirred himself in +business matters; with which he was still engaged when, shortly +after dusk, John Grueby entered and announced a visitor. + +'Let him come in,' said Gashford. + +'Here! come in!' growled John to somebody without; 'You're a +Protestant, an't you?' + +'I should think so,' replied a deep, gruff voice. + +'You've the looks of it,' said John Grueby. 'I'd have known you +for one, anywhere.' With which remark he gave the visitor +admission, retired, and shut the door. + +The man who now confronted Gashford, was a squat, thickset +personage, with a low, retreating forehead, a coarse shock head of +hair, and eyes so small and near together, that his broken nose +alone seemed to prevent their meeting and fusing into one of the +usual size. A dingy handkerchief twisted like a cord about his +neck, left its great veins exposed to view, and they were swollen +and starting, as though with gulping down strong passions, malice, +and ill-will. His dress was of threadbare velveteen--a faded, +rusty, whitened black, like the ashes of a pipe or a coal fire +after a day's extinction; discoloured with the soils of many a +stale debauch, and reeking yet with pot-house odours. In lieu of +buckles at his knees, he wore unequal loops of packthread; and in +his grimy hands he held a knotted stick, the knob of which was +carved into a rough likeness of his own vile face. Such was the +visitor who doffed his three-cornered hat in Gashford's presence, +and waited, leering, for his notice. + +'Ah! Dennis!' cried the secretary. 'Sit down.' + +'I see my lord down yonder--' cried the man, with a jerk of his +thumb towards the quarter that he spoke of, 'and he says to me, +says my lord, "If you've nothing to do, Dennis, go up to my house +and talk with Muster Gashford." Of course I'd nothing to do, you +know. These an't my working hours. Ha ha! I was a-taking the air +when I see my lord, that's what I was doing. I takes the air by +night, as the howls does, Muster Gashford.' + +And sometimes in the day-time, eh?' said the secretary--'when you +go out in state, you know.' + +'Ha ha!' roared the fellow, smiting his leg; 'for a gentleman as +'ull say a pleasant thing in a pleasant way, give me Muster +Gashford agin' all London and Westminster! My lord an't a bad 'un +at that, but he's a fool to you. Ah to be sure,--when I go out in +state.' + +'And have your carriage,' said the secretary; 'and your chaplain, +eh? and all the rest of it?' + +'You'll be the death of me,' cried Dennis, with another roar, 'you +will. But what's in the wind now, Muster Gashford,' he asked +hoarsely, 'Eh? Are we to be under orders to pull down one of them +Popish chapels--or what?' + +'Hush!' said the secretary, suffering the faintest smile to play +upon his face. 'Hush! God bless me, Dennis! We associate, you +know, for strictly peaceable and lawful purposes.' + +'I know, bless you,' returned the man, thrusting his tongue into +his cheek; 'I entered a' purpose, didn't I!' + +'No doubt,' said Gashford, smiling as before. And when he said so, +Dennis roared again, and smote his leg still harder, and falling +into fits of laughter, wiped his eyes with the corner of his +neckerchief, and cried, 'Muster Gashford agin' all England hollow!' + +'Lord George and I were talking of you last night,' said Gashford, +after a pause. 'He says you are a very earnest fellow.' + +'So I am,' returned the hangman. + +'And that you truly hate the Papists.' + +'So I do,' and he confirmed it with a good round oath. 'Lookye +here, Muster Gashford,' said the fellow, laying his hat and stick +upon the floor, and slowly beating the palm of one hand with the +fingers of the other; 'Ob-serve. I'm a constitutional officer that +works for my living, and does my work creditable. Do I, or do I +not?' + +'Unquestionably.' + +'Very good. Stop a minute. My work, is sound, Protestant, +constitutional, English work. Is it, or is it not?' + +'No man alive can doubt it.' + +'Nor dead neither. Parliament says this here--says Parliament, "If +any man, woman, or child, does anything which goes again a certain +number of our acts"--how many hanging laws may there be at this +present time, Muster Gashford? Fifty?' + +'I don't exactly know how many,' replied Gashford, leaning back in +his chair and yawning; 'a great number though.' + +'Well, say fifty. Parliament says, "If any man, woman, or child, +does anything again any one of them fifty acts, that man, woman, or +child, shall be worked off by Dennis." George the Third steps in +when they number very strong at the end of a sessions, and says, +"These are too many for Dennis. I'll have half for myself and +Dennis shall have half for himself;" and sometimes he throws me in +one over that I don't expect, as he did three year ago, when I got +Mary Jones, a young woman of nineteen who come up to Tyburn with a +infant at her breast, and was worked off for taking a piece of +cloth off the counter of a shop in Ludgate Hill, and putting it +down again when the shopman see her; and who had never done any +harm before, and only tried to do that, in consequence of her +husband having been pressed three weeks previous, and she being +left to beg, with two young children--as was proved upon the trial. +Ha ha!--Well! That being the law and the practice of England, is +the glory of England, an't it, Muster Gashford?' + +'Certainly,' said the secretary. + +'And in times to come,' pursued the hangman, 'if our grandsons +should think of their grandfathers' times, and find these things +altered, they'll say, "Those were days indeed, and we've been going +down hill ever since." Won't they, Muster Gashford?' + +'I have no doubt they will,' said the secretary. + +'Well then, look here,' said the hangman. 'If these Papists gets +into power, and begins to boil and roast instead of hang, what +becomes of my work! If they touch my work that's a part of so many +laws, what becomes of the laws in general, what becomes of the +religion, what becomes of the country!--Did you ever go to church, +Muster Gashford?' + +'Ever!' repeated the secretary with some indignation; 'of course.' + +'Well,' said the ruffian, 'I've been once--twice, counting the time +I was christened--and when I heard the Parliament prayed for, and +thought how many new hanging laws they made every sessions, I +considered that I was prayed for. Now mind, Muster Gashford,' said +the fellow, taking up his stick and shaking it with a ferocious +air, 'I mustn't have my Protestant work touched, nor this here +Protestant state of things altered in no degree, if I can help it; +I mustn't have no Papists interfering with me, unless they come to +be worked off in course of law; I mustn't have no biling, no +roasting, no frying--nothing but hanging. My lord may well call +me an earnest fellow. In support of the great Protestant principle +of having plenty of that, I'll,' and here he beat his club upon the +ground, 'burn, fight, kill--do anything you bid me, so that it's +bold and devilish--though the end of it was, that I got hung +myself.--There, Muster Gashford!' + +He appropriately followed up this frequent prostitution of a noble +word to the vilest purposes, by pouring out in a kind of ecstasy at +least a score of most tremendous oaths; then wiped his heated face +upon his neckerchief, and cried, 'No Popery! I'm a religious man, +by G--!' + +Gashford had leant back in his chair, regarding him with eyes so +sunken, and so shadowed by his heavy brows, that for aught the +hangman saw of them, he might have been stone blind. He remained +smiling in silence for a short time longer, and then said, slowly +and distinctly: + +'You are indeed an earnest fellow, Dennis--a most valuable fellow-- +the staunchest man I know of in our ranks. But you must calm +yourself; you must be peaceful, lawful, mild as any lamb. I am +sure you will be though.' + +'Ay, ay, we shall see, Muster Gashford, we shall see. You won't +have to complain of me,' returned the other, shaking his head. + +'I am sure I shall not,' said the secretary in the same mild tone, +and with the same emphasis. 'We shall have, we think, about next +month, or May, when this Papist relief bill comes before the house, +to convene our whole body for the first time. My lord has thoughts +of our walking in procession through the streets--just as an +innocent display of strength--and accompanying our petition down to +the door of the House of Commons.' + +'The sooner the better,' said Dennis, with another oath. + +'We shall have to draw up in divisions, our numbers being so large; +and, I believe I may venture to say,' resumed Gashford, affecting +not to hear the interruption, 'though I have no direct instructions +to that effect--that Lord George has thought of you as an excellent +leader for one of these parties. I have no doubt you would be an +admirable one.' + +'Try me,' said the fellow, with an ugly wink. + +'You would be cool, I know,' pursued the secretary, still smiling, +and still managing his eyes so that he could watch him closely, and +really not be seen in turn, 'obedient to orders, and perfectly +temperate. You would lead your party into no danger, I am certain.' + +'I'd lead them, Muster Gashford,'--the hangman was beginning in a +reckless way, when Gashford started forward, laid his finger on his +lips, and feigned to write, just as the door was opened by John +Grueby. + +'Oh!' said John, looking in; 'here's another Protestant.' + +'Some other room, John,' cried Gashford in his blandest voice. 'I +am engaged just now.' + +But John had brought this new visitor to the door, and he walked in +unbidden, as the words were uttered; giving to view the form and +features, rough attire, and reckless air, of Hugh. + + + +Chapter 38 + + +The secretary put his hand before his eyes to shade them from the +glare of the lamp, and for some moments looked at Hugh with a +frowning brow, as if he remembered to have seen him lately, but +could not call to mind where, or on what occasion. His uncertainty +was very brief, for before Hugh had spoken a word, he said, as his +countenance cleared up: + +'Ay, ay, I recollect. It's quite right, John, you needn't wait. +Don't go, Dennis.' + +'Your servant, master,' said Hugh, as Grueby disappeared. + +'Yours, friend,' returned the secretary in his smoothest manner. +'What brings YOU here? We left nothing behind us, I hope?' + +Hugh gave a short laugh, and thrusting his hand into his breast, +produced one of the handbills, soiled and dirty from lying out of +doors all night, which he laid upon the secretary's desk after +flattening it upon his knee, and smoothing out the wrinkles with +his heavy palm. + +'Nothing but that, master. It fell into good hands, you see.' + +'What is this!' said Gashford, turning it over with an air of +perfectly natural surprise. 'Where did you get it from, my good +fellow; what does it mean? I don't understand this at all.' + +A little disconcerted by this reception, Hugh looked from the +secretary to Dennis, who had risen and was standing at the table +too, observing the stranger by stealth, and seeming to derive the +utmost satisfaction from his manners and appearance. Considering +himself silently appealed to by this action, Mr Dennis shook his +head thrice, as if to say of Gashford, 'No. He don't know anything +at all about it. I know he don't. I'll take my oath he don't;' +and hiding his profile from Hugh with one long end of his frowzy +neckerchief, nodded and chuckled behind this screen in extreme +approval of the secretary's proceedings. + +'It tells the man that finds it, to come here, don't it?' asked +Hugh. 'I'm no scholar, myself, but I showed it to a friend, and he +said it did.' + +'It certainly does,' said Gashford, opening his eyes to their +utmost width; 'really this is the most remarkable circumstance I +have ever known. How did you come by this piece of paper, my good +friend?' + +'Muster Gashford,' wheezed the hangman under his breath, 'agin' all +Newgate!' + +Whether Hugh heard him, or saw by his manner that he was being +played upon, or perceived the secretary's drift of himself, he came +in his blunt way to the point at once. + +'Here!' he said, stretching out his hand and taking it back; 'never +mind the bill, or what it says, or what it don't say. You don't +know anything about it, master,--no more do I,--no more does he,' +glancing at Dennis. 'None of us know what it means, or where it +comes from: there's an end of that. Now I want to make one against +the Catholics, I'm a No-Popery man, and ready to be sworn in. +That's what I've come here for.' + +'Put him down on the roll, Muster Gashford,' said Dennis +approvingly. 'That's the way to go to work--right to the end at +once, and no palaver.' + +'What's the use of shooting wide of the mark, eh, old boy!' cried +Hugh. + +'My sentiments all over!' rejoined the hangman. 'This is the sort +of chap for my division, Muster Gashford. Down with him, sir. Put +him on the roll. I'd stand godfather to him, if he was to be +christened in a bonfire, made of the ruins of the Bank of England.' + +With these and other expressions of confidence of the like +flattering kind, Mr Dennis gave him a hearty slap on the back, +which Hugh was not slow to return. + +'No Popery, brother!' cried the hangman. + +'No Property, brother!' responded Hugh. + +'Popery, Popery,' said the secretary with his usual mildness. + +'It's all the same!' cried Dennis. 'It's all right. Down with +him, Muster Gashford. Down with everybody, down with everything! +Hurrah for the Protestant religion! That's the time of day, +Muster Gashford!' + +The secretary regarded them both with a very favourable expression +of countenance, while they gave loose to these and other +demonstrations of their patriotic purpose; and was about to make +some remark aloud, when Dennis, stepping up to him, and shading his +mouth with his hand, said, in a hoarse whisper, as he nudged him +with his elbow: + +'Don't split upon a constitutional officer's profession, Muster +Gashford. There are popular prejudices, you know, and he mightn't +like it. Wait till he comes to be more intimate with me. He's a +fine-built chap, an't he?' + +'A powerful fellow indeed!' + +'Did you ever, Muster Gashford,' whispered Dennis, with a horrible +kind of admiration, such as that with which a cannibal might regard +his intimate friend, when hungry,--'did you ever--and here he drew +still closer to his ear, and fenced his mouth with both his open +bands--'see such a throat as his? Do but cast your eye upon it. +There's a neck for stretching, Muster Gashford!' + +The secretary assented to this proposition with the best grace he +could assume--it is difficult to feign a true professional relish: +which is eccentric sometimes--and after asking the candidate a few +unimportant questions, proceeded to enrol him a member of the Great +Protestant Association of England. If anything could have exceeded +Mr Dennis's joy on the happy conclusion of this ceremony, it would +have been the rapture with which he received the announcement that +the new member could neither read nor write: those two arts being +(as Mr Dennis swore) the greatest possible curse a civilised +community could know, and militating more against the professional +emoluments and usefulness of the great constitutional office he had +the honour to hold, than any adverse circumstances that could +present themselves to his imagination. + +The enrolment being completed, and Hugh having been informed by +Gashford, in his peculiar manner, of the peaceful and strictly +lawful objects contemplated by the body to which he now belonged-- +during which recital Mr Dennis nudged him very much with his elbow, +and made divers remarkable faces--the secretary gave them both to +understand that he desired to be alone. Therefore they took their +leaves without delay, and came out of the house together. + +'Are you walking, brother?' said Dennis. + +'Ay!' returned Hugh. 'Where you will.' + +'That's social,' said his new friend. 'Which way shall we take? +Shall we go and have a look at doors that we shall make a pretty +good clattering at, before long--eh, brother?' + +Hugh answering in the affirmative, they went slowly down to +Westminster, where both houses of Parliament were then sitting. +Mingling in the crowd of carriages, horses, servants, chairmen, +link-boys, porters, and idlers of all kinds, they lounged about; +while Hugh's new friend pointed out to him significantly the weak +parts of the building, how easy it was to get into the lobby, and +so to the very door of the House of Commons; and how plainly, when +they marched down there in grand array, their roars and shouts +would be heard by the members inside; with a great deal more to the +same purpose, all of which Hugh received with manifest delight. + +He told him, too, who some of the Lords and Commons were, by name, +as they came in and out; whether they were friendly to the Papists +or otherwise; and bade him take notice of their liveries and +equipages, that he might be sure of them, in case of need. +Sometimes he drew him close to the windows of a passing carriage, +that he might see its master's face by the light of the lamps; and, +both in respect of people and localities, he showed so much +acquaintance with everything around, that it was plain he had often +studied there before; as indeed, when they grew a little more +confidential, he confessed he had. + +Perhaps the most striking part of all this was, the number of +people--never in groups of more than two or three together--who +seemed to be skulking about the crowd for the same purpose. To the +greater part of these, a slight nod or a look from Hugh's companion +was sufficient greeting; but, now and then, some man would come and +stand beside him in the throng, and, without turning his head or +appearing to communicate with him, would say a word or two in a low +voice, which he would answer in the same cautious manner. Then +they would part, like strangers. Some of these men often +reappeared again unexpectedly in the crowd close to Hugh, and, as +they passed by, pressed his hand, or looked him sternly in the +face; but they never spoke to him, nor he to them; no, not a word. + +It was remarkable, too, that whenever they happened to stand where +there was any press of people, and Hugh chanced to be looking +downward, he was sure to see an arm stretched out--under his own +perhaps, or perhaps across him--which thrust some paper into the +hand or pocket of a bystander, and was so suddenly withdrawn that +it was impossible to tell from whom it came; nor could he see in +any face, on glancing quickly round, the least confusion or +surprise. They often trod upon a paper like the one he carried in +his breast, but his companion whispered him not to touch it or to +take it up,--not even to look towards it,--so there they let them +lie, and passed on. + +When they had paraded the street and all the avenues of the +building in this manner for near two hours, they turned away, and +his friend asked him what he thought of what he had seen, and +whether he was prepared for a good hot piece of work if it should +come to that. The hotter the better,' said Hugh, 'I'm prepared for +anything.'--'So am I,' said his friend, 'and so are many of us; +and they shook hands upon it with a great oath, and with many +terrible imprecations on the Papists. + +As they were thirsty by this time, Dennis proposed that they should +repair together to The Boot, where there was good company and +strong liquor. Hugh yielding a ready assent, they bent their steps +that way with no loss of time. + +This Boot was a lone house of public entertainment, situated in the +fields at the back of the Foundling Hospital; a very solitary spot +at that period, and quite deserted after dark. The tavern stood at +some distance from any high road, and was approachable only by a +dark and narrow lane; so that Hugh was much surprised to find +several people drinking there, and great merriment going on. He +was still more surprised to find among them almost every face that +had caught his attention in the crowd; but his companion having +whispered him outside the door, that it was not considered good +manners at The Boot to appear at all curious about the company, he +kept his own counsel, and made no show of recognition. + +Before putting his lips to the liquor which was brought for them, +Dennis drank in a loud voice the health of Lord George Gordon, +President of the Great Protestant Association; which toast Hugh +pledged likewise, with corresponding enthusiasm. A fiddler who was +present, and who appeared to act as the appointed minstrel of the +company, forthwith struck up a Scotch reel; and that in tones so +invigorating, that Hugh and his friend (who had both been drinking +before) rose from their seats as by previous concert, and, to the +great admiration of the assembled guests, performed an +extemporaneous No-Popery Dance. + + + +Chapter 39 + + +The applause which the performance of Hugh and his new friend +elicited from the company at The Boot, had not yet subsided, and +the two dancers were still panting from their exertions, which had +been of a rather extreme and violent character, when the party was +reinforced by the arrival of some more guests, who, being a +detachment of United Bulldogs, were received with very flattering +marks of distinction and respect. + +The leader of this small party--for, including himself, they were +but three in number--was our old acquaintance, Mr Tappertit, who +seemed, physically speaking, to have grown smaller with years +(particularly as to his legs, which were stupendously little), but +who, in a moral point of view, in personal dignity and self-esteem, +had swelled into a giant. Nor was it by any means difficult for +the most unobservant person to detect this state of feeling in the +quondam 'prentice, for it not only proclaimed itself impressively +and beyond mistake in his majestic walk and kindling eye, but found +a striking means of revelation in his turned-up nose, which scouted +all things of earth with deep disdain, and sought communion with +its kindred skies. + +Mr Tappertit, as chief or captain of the Bulldogs, was attended by +his two lieutenants; one, the tall comrade of his younger life; the +other, a 'Prentice Knight in days of yore--Mark Gilbert, bound in +the olden time to Thomas Curzon of the Golden Fleece. These +gentlemen, like himself, were now emancipated from their 'prentice +thraldom, and served as journeymen; but they were, in humble +emulation of his great example, bold and daring spirits, and +aspired to a distinguished state in great political events. Hence +their connection with the Protestant Association of England, +sanctioned by the name of Lord George Gordon; and hence their +present visit to The Boot. + +'Gentlemen!' said Mr Tappertit, taking off his hat as a great +general might in addressing his troops. 'Well met. My lord does +me and you the honour to send his compliments per self.' + +'You've seen my lord too, have you?' said Dennis. 'I see him this +afternoon.' + +'My duty called me to the Lobby when our shop shut up; and I saw +him there, sir,' Mr Tappertit replied, as he and his lieutenants +took their seats. 'How do YOU do?' + +'Lively, master, lively,' said the fellow. 'Here's a new brother, +regularly put down in black and white by Muster Gashford; a credit +to the cause; one of the stick-at-nothing sort; one arter my own +heart. D'ye see him? Has he got the looks of a man that'll do, do +you think?' he cried, as he slapped Hugh on the back. + +'Looks or no looks,' said Hugh, with a drunken flourish of his arm, +'I'm the man you want. I hate the Papists, every one of 'em. They +hate me and I hate them. They do me all the harm they can, and +I'll do them all the harm I can. Hurrah!' + +'Was there ever,' said Dennis, looking round the room, when the +echo of his boisterous voice bad died away; 'was there ever such a +game boy! Why, I mean to say, brothers, that if Muster Gashford +had gone a hundred mile and got together fifty men of the common +run, they wouldn't have been worth this one.' + +The greater part of the company implicitly subscribed to this +opinion, and testified their faith in Hugh by nods and looks of +great significance. Mr Tappertit sat and contemplated him for a +long time in silence, as if he suspended his judgment; then drew a +little nearer to him, and eyed him over more carefully; then went +close up to him, and took him apart into a dark corner. + +'I say,' he began, with a thoughtful brow, 'haven't I seen you +before?' + +'It's like you may,' said Hugh, in his careless way. 'I don't +know; shouldn't wonder.' + +'No, but it's very easily settled,' returned Sim. 'Look at me. +Did you ever see ME before? You wouldn't be likely to forget it, +you know, if you ever did. Look at me. Don't be afraid; I won't +do you any harm. Take a good look--steady now.' + +The encouraging way in which Mr Tappertit made this request, and +coupled it with an assurance that he needn't be frightened, amused +Hugh mightily--so much indeed, that be saw nothing at all of the +small man before him, through closing his eyes in a fit of hearty +laughter, which shook his great broad sides until they ached again. + +'Come!' said Mr Tappertit, growing a little impatient under this +disrespectful treatment. 'Do you know me, feller?' + +'Not I,' cried Hugh. 'Ha ha ha! Not I! But I should like to.' + +'And yet I'd have wagered a seven-shilling piece," said Mr +Tappertit, folding his arms, and confronting him with his legs wide +apart and firmly planted on the ground, 'that you once were hostler +at the Maypole.' + +Hugh opened his eyes on hearing this, and looked at him in great +surprise. + +'--And so you were, too,' said Mr Tappertit, pushing him away with +a condescending playfulness. 'When did MY eyes ever deceive-- +unless it was a young woman! Don't you know me now?' + +'Why it an't--' Hugh faltered. + +'An't it?' said Mr Tappertit. 'Are you sure of that? You remember +G. Varden, don't you?' + +Certainly Hugh did, and he remembered D. Varden too; but that he +didn't tell him. + +'You remember coming down there, before I was out of my time, to +ask after a vagabond that had bolted off, and left his disconsolate +father a prey to the bitterest emotions, and all the rest of it-- +don't you?' said Mr Tappertit. + +'Of course I do!' cried Hugh. 'And I saw you there.' + +'Saw me there!' said Mr Tappertit. 'Yes, I should think you did +see me there. The place would be troubled to go on without me. +Don't you remember my thinking you liked the vagabond, and on that +account going to quarrel with you; and then finding you detested +him worse than poison, going to drink with you? Don't you remember +that?' + +'To be sure!' cried Hugh. + +'Well! and are you in the same mind now?' said Mr Tappertit. + +'Yes!' roared Hugh. + +'You speak like a man,' said Mr Tappertit, 'and I'll shake hands +with you.' With these conciliatory expressions he suited the +action to the word; and Hugh meeting his advances readily, they +performed the ceremony with a show of great heartiness. + +'I find,' said Mr Tappertit, looking round on the assembled guests, +'that brother What's-his-name and I are old acquaintance.--You +never heard anything more of that rascal, I suppose, eh?' + +'Not a syllable,' replied Hugh. 'I never want to. I don't believe +I ever shall. He's dead long ago, I hope.' + +'It's to be hoped, for the sake of mankind in general and the +happiness of society, that he is,' said Mr Tappertit, rubbing his +palm upon his legs, and looking at it between whiles. 'Is your +other hand at all cleaner? Much the same. Well, I'll owe you +another shake. We'll suppose it done, if you've no objection.' + +Hugh laughed again, and with such thorough abandonment to his mad +humour, that his limbs seemed dislocated, and his whole frame in +danger of tumbling to pieces; but Mr Tappertit, so far from +receiving this extreme merriment with any irritation, was pleased +to regard it with the utmost favour, and even to join in it, so far +as one of his gravity and station could, with any regard to that +decency and decorum which men in high places are expected to +maintain. + +Mr Tappertit did not stop here, as many public characters might +have done, but calling up his brace of lieutenants, introduced Hugh +to them with high commendation; declaring him to be a man who, at +such times as those in which they lived, could not be too much +cherished. Further, he did him the honour to remark, that he would +be an acquisition of which even the United Bulldogs might be proud; +and finding, upon sounding him, that he was quite ready and willing +to enter the society (for he was not at all particular, and would +have leagued himself that night with anything, or anybody, for any +purpose whatsoever), caused the necessary preliminaries to be gone +into upon the spot. This tribute to his great merit delighted no +man more than Mr Dennis, as he himself proclaimed with several rare +and surprising oaths; and indeed it gave unmingled satisfaction to +the whole assembly. + +'Make anything you like of me!' cried Hugh, flourishing the can he +had emptied more than once. 'Put me on any duty you please. I'm +your man. I'll do it. Here's my captain--here's my leader. Ha ha +ha! Let him give me the word of command, and I'll fight the whole +Parliament House single-handed, or set a lighted torch to the +King's Throne itself!' With that, he smote Mr Tappertit on the +back, with such violence that his little body seemed to shrink into +a mere nothing; and roared again until the very foundlings near at +hand were startled in their beds. + +In fact, a sense of something whimsical in their companionship +seemed to have taken entire possession of his rude brain. The bare +fact of being patronised by a great man whom he could have crushed +with one hand, appeared in his eyes so eccentric and humorous, that +a kind of ferocious merriment gained the mastery over him, and +quite subdued his brutal nature. He roared and roared again; +toasted Mr Tappertit a hundred times; declared himself a Bulldog to +the core; and vowed to be faithful to him to the last drop of blood +in his veins. + +All these compliments Mr Tappertit received as matters of course-- +flattering enough in their way, but entirely attributable to his +vast superiority. His dignified self-possession only delighted +Hugh the more; and in a word, this giant and dwarf struck up a +friendship which bade fair to be of long continuance, as the one +held it to be his right to command, and the other considered it an +exquisite pleasantry to obey. Nor was Hugh by any means a passive +follower, who scrupled to act without precise and definite orders; +for when Mr Tappertit mounted on an empty cask which stood by way +of rostrum in the room, and volunteered a speech upon the alarming +crisis then at hand, he placed himself beside the orator, and +though he grinned from ear to ear at every word he said, threw out +such expressive hints to scoffers in the management of his cudgel, +that those who were at first the most disposed to interrupt, became +remarkably attentive, and were the loudest in their approbation. + +It was not all noise and jest, however, at The Boot, nor were the +whole party listeners to the speech. There were some men at the +other end of the room (which was a long, low-roofed chamber) in +earnest conversation all the time; and when any of this group went +out, fresh people were sure to come in soon afterwards and sit down +in their places, as though the others had relieved them on some +watch or duty; which it was pretty clear they did, for these +changes took place by the clock, at intervals of half an hour. +These persons whispered very much among themselves, and kept aloof, +and often looked round, as jealous of their speech being overheard; +some two or three among them entered in books what seemed to be +reports from the others; when they were not thus employed) one of +them would turn to the newspapers which were strewn upon the table, +and from the St James's Chronicle, the Herald, Chronicle, or +Public Advertiser, would read to the rest in a low voice some +passage having reference to the topic in which they were all so +deeply interested. But the great attraction was a pamphlet called +The Thunderer, which espoused their own opinions, and was supposed +at that time to emanate directly from the Association. This was +always in request; and whether read aloud, to an eager knot of +listeners, or by some solitary man, was certain to be followed by +stormy talking and excited looks. + +In the midst of all his merriment, and admiration of his captain, +Hugh was made sensible by these and other tokens, of the presence +of an air of mystery, akin to that which had so much impressed him +out of doors. It was impossible to discard a sense that something +serious was going on, and that under the noisy revel of the public- +house, there lurked unseen and dangerous matter. Little affected +by this, however, he was perfectly satisfied with his quarters and +would have remained there till morning, but that his conductor rose +soon after midnight, to go home; Mr Tappertit following his +example, left him no excuse to stay. So they all three left the +house together: roaring a No-Popery song until the fields +resounded with the dismal noise. + +Cheer up, captain!' cried Hugh, when they had roared themselves out +of breath. 'Another stave!' + +Mr Tappertit, nothing loath, began again; and so the three went +staggering on, arm-in-arm, shouting like madmen, and defying the +watch with great valour. Indeed this did not require any unusual +bravery or boldness, as the watchmen of that time, being selected +for the office on account of excessive age and extraordinary +infirmity, had a custom of shutting themselves up tight in their +boxes on the first symptoms of disturbance, and remaining there +until they disappeared. In these proceedings, Mr Dennis, who had a +gruff voice and lungs of considerable power, distinguished himself +very much, and acquired great credit with his two companions. + +'What a queer fellow you are!' said Mr Tappertit. 'You're so +precious sly and close. Why don't you ever tell what trade you're +of?' + +'Answer the captain instantly,' cried Hugh, beating his hat down on +his head; 'why don't you ever tell what trade you're of?' + +'I'm of as gen-teel a calling, brother, as any man in England--as +light a business as any gentleman could desire.' + +'Was you 'prenticed to it?' asked Mr Tappertit. + +'No. Natural genius,' said Mr Dennis. 'No 'prenticing. It come +by natur'. Muster Gashford knows my calling. Look at that hand of +mine--many and many a job that hand has done, with a neatness and +dex-terity, never known afore. When I look at that hand,' said Mr +Dennis, shaking it in the air, 'and remember the helegant bits of +work it has turned off, I feel quite molloncholy to think it should +ever grow old and feeble. But sich is life!' + +He heaved a deep sigh as he indulged in these reflections, and +putting his fingers with an absent air on Hugh's throat, and +particularly under his left ear, as if he were studying the +anatomical development of that part of his frame, shook his head in +a despondent manner and actually shed tears. + +'You're a kind of artist, I suppose--eh!' said Mr Tappertit. + +'Yes,' rejoined Dennis; 'yes--I may call myself a artist--a fancy +workman--art improves natur'--that's my motto.' + +'And what do you call this?' said Mr Tappertit taking his stick out +of his hand. + +'That's my portrait atop,' Dennis replied; 'd'ye think it's like?' + +'Why--it's a little too handsome,' said Mr Tappertit. 'Who did it? +You?' + +'I!' repeated Dennis, gazing fondly on his image. 'I wish I had +the talent. That was carved by a friend of mine, as is now no +more. The very day afore he died, he cut that with his pocket- +knife from memory! "I'll die game," says my friend, "and my last +moments shall be dewoted to making Dennis's picter." That's it.' + +'That was a queer fancy, wasn't it?' said Mr Tappertit. + +'It WAS a queer fancy,' rejoined the other, breathing on his +fictitious nose, and polishing it with the cuff of his coat, 'but +he was a queer subject altogether--a kind of gipsy--one of the +finest, stand-up men, you ever see. Ah! He told me some things +that would startle you a bit, did that friend of mine, on the +morning when he died.' + +'You were with him at the time, were you?' said Mr Tappertit. + +'Yes,' he answered with a curious look, 'I was there. Oh! yes +certainly, I was there. He wouldn't have gone off half as +comfortable without me. I had been with three or four of his +family under the same circumstances. They were all fine fellows.' + +'They must have been fond of you,' remarked Mr Tappertit, looking +at him sideways. + +'I don't know that they was exactly fond of me,' said Dennis, with +a little hesitation, 'but they all had me near 'em when they +departed. I come in for their wardrobes too. This very handkecher +that you see round my neck, belonged to him that I've been speaking +of--him as did that likeness.' + +Mr Tappertit glanced at the article referred to, and appeared to +think that the deceased's ideas of dress were of a peculiar and by +no means an expensive kind. He made no remark upon the point, +however, and suffered his mysterious companion to proceed without +interruption. + +'These smalls,' said Dennis, rubbing his legs; 'these very smalls-- +they belonged to a friend of mine that's left off sich incumbrances +for ever: this coat too--I've often walked behind this coat, in the +street, and wondered whether it would ever come to me: this pair of +shoes have danced a hornpipe for another man, afore my eyes, full +half-a-dozen times at least: and as to my hat,' he said, taking it +off, and whirling it round upon his fist--'Lord! I've seen this hat +go up Holborn on the box of a hackney-coach--ah, many and many a +day!' + +'You don't mean to say their old wearers are ALL dead, I hope?' +said Mr Tappertit, falling a little distance from him as he spoke. + +'Every one of 'em,' replied Dennis. 'Every man Jack!' + +There was something so very ghastly in this circumstance, and it +appeared to account, in such a very strange and dismal manner, for +his faded dress--which, in this new aspect, seemed discoloured by +the earth from graves--that Mr Tappertit abruptly found he was +going another way, and, stopping short, bade him good night with +the utmost heartiness. As they happened to be near the Old Bailey, +and Mr Dennis knew there were turnkeys in the lodge with whom he +could pass the night, and discuss professional subjects of common +interest among them before a rousing fire, and over a social glass, +he separated from his companions without any great regret, and +warmly shaking hands with Hugh, and making an early appointment for +their meeting at The Boot, left them to pursue their road. + +'That's a strange sort of man,' said Mr Tappertit, watching the +hackney-coachman's hat as it went bobbing down the street. 'I +don't know what to make of him. Why can't he have his smalls made +to order, or wear live clothes at any rate?' + +'He's a lucky man, captain,' cried Hugh. 'I should like to have +such friends as his.' + +'I hope he don't get 'em to make their wills, and then knock 'em on +the head,' said Mr Tappertit, musing. 'But come. The United B.'s +expect me. On!--What's the matter?' + +'I quite forgot,' said Hugh, who had started at the striking of a +neighbouring clock. 'I have somebody to see to-night--I must turn +back directly. The drinking and singing put it out of my head. +It's well I remembered it!' + +Mr Tappertit looked at him as though he were about to give +utterance to some very majestic sentiments in reference to this act +of desertion, but as it was clear, from Hugh's hasty manner, that +the engagement was one of a pressing nature, he graciously forbore, +and gave him his permission to depart immediately, which Hugh +acknowledged with a roar of laughter. + +'Good night, captain!' he cried. 'I am yours to the death, +remember!' + +'Farewell!' said Mr Tappertit, waving his hand. 'Be bold and +vigilant!' + +'No Popery, captain!' roared Hugh. + +'England in blood first!' cried his desperate leader. Whereat Hugh +cheered and laughed, and ran off like a greyhound. + +'That man will prove a credit to my corps,' said Simon, turning +thoughtfully upon his heel. 'And let me see. In an altered state +of society--which must ensue if we break out and are victorious-- +when the locksmith's child is mine, Miggs must be got rid of +somehow, or she'll poison the tea-kettle one evening when I'm out. +He might marry Miggs, if he was drunk enough. It shall be done. +I'll make a note of it.' + + + +Chapter 40 + + +Little thinking of the plan for his happy settlement in life which +had suggested itself to the teeming brain of his provident +commander, Hugh made no pause until Saint Dunstan's giants struck +the hour above him, when he worked the handle of a pump which stood +hard by, with great vigour, and thrusting his head under the spout, +let the water gush upon him until a little stream ran down from +every uncombed hair, and he was wet to the waist. Considerably +refreshed by this ablution, both in mind and body, and almost +sobered for the time, he dried himself as he best could; then +crossed the road, and plied the knocker of the Middle Temple gate. + +The night-porter looked through a small grating in the portal with +a surly eye, and cried 'Halloa!' which greeting Hugh returned in +kind, and bade him open quickly. + +'We don't sell beer here,' cried the man; 'what else do you want?' + +'To come in,' Hugh replied, with a kick at the door. + +'Where to go?' + +'Paper Buildings.' + +'Whose chambers?' + +'Sir John Chester's.' Each of which answers, he emphasised with +another kick. + +After a little growling on the other side, the gate was opened, and +he passed in: undergoing a close inspection from the porter as he +did so. + +'YOU wanting Sir John, at this time of night!' said the man. + +'Ay!' said Hugh. 'I! What of that?' + +'Why, I must go with you and see that you do, for I don't believe +it.' + +'Come along then.' + +Eyeing him with suspicious looks, the man, with key and lantern, +walked on at his side, and attended him to Sir John Chester's door, +at which Hugh gave one knock, that echoed through the dark +staircase like a ghostly summons, and made the dull light tremble +in the drowsy lamp. + +'Do you think he wants me now?' said Hugh. + +Before the man had time to answer, a footstep was heard within, a +light appeared, and Sir John, in his dressing-gown and slippers, +opened the door. + +'I ask your pardon, Sir John,' said the porter, pulling off his +hat. 'Here's a young man says he wants to speak to you. It's late +for strangers. I thought it best to see that all was right.' + +'Aha!' cried Sir John, raising his eyebrows. 'It's you, +messenger, is it? Go in. Quite right, friend. I commend your +prudence highly. Thank you. God bless you. Good night.' + +To be commended, thanked, God-blessed, and bade good night by one +who carried 'Sir' before his name, and wrote himself M.P. to boot, +was something for a porter. He withdrew with much humility and +reverence. Sir John followed his late visitor into the dressing- +room, and sitting in his easy-chair before the fire, and moving it +so that he could see him as he stood, hat in hand, beside the door, +looked at him from head to foot. + +The old face, calm and pleasant as ever; the complexion, quite +juvenile in its bloom and clearness; the same smile; the wonted +precision and elegance of dress; the white, well-ordered teeth; the +delicate hands; the composed and quiet manner; everything as it +used to be: no mark of age or passion, envy, hate, or discontent: +all unruffled and serene, and quite delightful to behold. + +He wrote himself M.P.--but how? Why, thus. It was a proud family-- +more proud, indeed, than wealthy. He had stood in danger of +arrest; of bailiffs, and a jail--a vulgar jail, to which the common +people with small incomes went. Gentlemen of ancient houses have +no privilege of exemption from such cruel laws--unless they are of +one great house, and then they have. A proud man of his stock and +kindred had the means of sending him there. He offered--not indeed +to pay his debts, but to let him sit for a close borough until his +own son came of age, which, if he lived, would come to pass in +twenty years. It was quite as good as an Insolvent Act, and +infinitely more genteel. So Sir John Chester was a member of +Parliament. + +But how Sir John? Nothing so simple, or so easy. One touch with a +sword of state, and the transformation was effected. John Chester, +Esquire, M.P., attended court--went up with an address--headed a +deputation. Such elegance of manner, so many graces of deportment, +such powers of conversation, could never pass unnoticed. Mr was +too common for such merit. A man so gentlemanly should have been-- +but Fortune is capricious--born a Duke: just as some dukes should +have been born labourers. He caught the fancy of the king, knelt +down a grub, and rose a butterfly. John Chester, Esquire, was +knighted and became Sir John. + +'I thought when you left me this evening, my esteemed +acquaintance,' said Sir John after a pretty long silence, 'that you +intended to return with all despatch?' + +'So I did, master.' + +'And so you have?' he retorted, glancing at his watch. 'Is that +what you would say?' + +Instead of replying, Hugh changed the leg on which he leant, +shuffled his cap from one hand to the other, looked at the ground, +the wall, the ceiling, and finally at Sir John himself; before +whose pleasant face he lowered his eyes again, and fixed them on +the floor. + +'And how have you been employing yourself in the meanwhile?' quoth +Sir John, lazily crossing his legs. 'Where have you been? what +harm have you been doing?' + +'No harm at all, master,' growled Hugh, with humility. 'I have +only done as you ordered.' + +'As I WHAT?' returned Sir John. + +'Well then,' said Hugh uneasily, 'as you advised, or said I ought, +or said I might, or said that you would do, if you was me. Don't +be so hard upon me, master.' + +Something like an expression of triumph in the perfect control he +had established over this rough instrument appeared in the knight's +face for an instant; but it vanished directly, as he said--paring +his nails while speaking: + +'When you say I ordered you, my good fellow, you imply that I +directed you to do something for me--something I wanted done-- +something for my own ends and purposes--you see? Now I am sure I +needn't enlarge upon the extreme absurdity of such an idea, however +unintentional; so please--' and here he turned his eyes upon him-- +'to be more guarded. Will you?' + +'I meant to give you no offence,' said Hugh. 'I don't know what to +say. You catch me up so very short.' + +'You will be caught up much shorter, my good friend--infinitely +shorter--one of these days, depend upon it,' replied his patron +calmly. 'By-the-bye, instead of wondering why you have been so +long, my wonder should be why you came at all. Why did you?' + +'You know, master,' said Hugh, 'that I couldn't read the bill I +found, and that supposing it to be something particular from the +way it was wrapped up, I brought it here.' + +'And could you ask no one else to read it, Bruin?' said Sir John. + +'No one that I could trust with secrets, master. Since Barnaby +Rudge was lost sight of for good and all--and that's five years +ago--I haven't talked with any one but you.' + +'You have done me honour, I am sure.' + +'I have come to and fro, master, all through that time, when there +was anything to tell, because I knew that you'd be angry with me if +I stayed away,' said Hugh, blurting the words out, after an +embarrassed silence; 'and because I wished to please you if I +could, and not to have you go against me. There. That's the true +reason why I came to-night. You know that, master, I am sure.' + +'You are a specious fellow,' returned Sir John, fixing his eyes +upon him, 'and carry two faces under your hood, as well as the +best. Didn't you give me in this room, this evening, any other +reason; no dislike of anybody who has slighted you lately, on all +occasions, abused you, treated you with rudeness; acted towards +you, more as if you were a mongrel dog than a man like himself?' + +'To be sure I did!' cried Hugh, his passion rising, as the other +meant it should; 'and I say it all over now, again. I'd do +anything to have some revenge on him--anything. And when you told +me that he and all the Catholics would suffer from those who joined +together under that handbill, I said I'd make one of 'em, if their +master was the devil himself. I AM one of 'em. See whether I am +as good as my word and turn out to be among the foremost, or no. I +mayn't have much head, master, but I've head enough to remember +those that use me ill. You shall see, and so shall he, and so +shall hundreds more, how my spirit backs me when the time comes. +My bark is nothing to my bite. Some that I know had better have a +wild lion among 'em than me, when I am fairly loose--they had!' + +The knight looked at him with a smile of far deeper meaning than +ordinary; and pointing to the old cupboard, followed him with his +eyes while he filled and drank a glass of liquor; and smiled when +his back was turned, with deeper meaning yet. + +'You are in a blustering mood, my friend,' he said, when Hugh +confronted him again. + +'Not I, master!' cried Hugh. 'I don't say half I mean. I can't. +I haven't got the gift. There are talkers enough among us; I'll be +one of the doers.' + +'Oh! you have joined those fellows then?' said Sir John, with an +air of most profound indifference. + +'Yes. I went up to the house you told me of; and got put down upon +the muster. There was another man there, named Dennis--' + +'Dennis, eh!' cried Sir John, laughing. 'Ay, ay! a pleasant +fellow, I believe?' + +'A roaring dog, master--one after my own heart--hot upon the matter +too--red hot.' + +'So I have heard,' replied Sir John, carelessly. 'You don't happen +to know his trade, do you?' + +'He wouldn't say,' cried Hugh. 'He keeps it secret.' + +'Ha ha!' laughed Sir John. 'A strange fancy--a weakness with some +persons--you'll know it one day, I dare swear.' + +'We're intimate already,' said Hugh. + +'Quite natural! And have been drinking together, eh?' pursued Sir +John. 'Did you say what place you went to in company, when you +left Lord George's?' + +Hugh had not said or thought of saying, but he told him; and this +inquiry being followed by a long train of questions, he related all +that had passed both in and out of doors, the kind of people he had +seen, their numbers, state of feeling, mode of conversation, +apparent expectations and intentions. His questioning was so +artfully contrived, that he seemed even in his own eyes to +volunteer all this information rather than to have it wrested from +him; and he was brought to this state of feeling so naturally, that +when Mr Chester yawned at length and declared himself quite wearied +out, he made a rough kind of excuse for having talked so much. + +'There--get you gone,' said Sir John, holding the door open in his +hand. 'You have made a pretty evening's work. I told you not to +do this. You may get into trouble. You'll have an opportunity of +revenging yourself on your proud friend Haredale, though, and for +that, you'd hazard anything, I suppose?' + +'I would,' retorted Hugh, stopping in his passage out and looking +back; 'but what do I risk! What do I stand a chance of losing, +master? Friends, home? A fig for 'em all; I have none; they are +nothing to me. Give me a good scuffle; let me pay off old scores +in a bold riot where there are men to stand by me; and then use me +as you like--it don't matter much to me what the end is!' + +'What have you done with that paper?' said Sir John. + +'I have it here, master.' + +'Drop it again as you go along; it's as well not to keep such +things about you.' + +Hugh nodded, and touching his cap with an air of as much respect as +he could summon up, departed. + +Sir John, fastening the doors behind him, went back to his +dressing-room, and sat down once again before the fire, at which +he gazed for a long time, in earnest meditation. + +'This happens fortunately,' he said, breaking into a smile, 'and +promises well. Let me see. My relative and I, who are the most +Protestant fellows in the world, give our worst wishes to the Roman +Catholic cause; and to Saville, who introduces their bill, I have +a personal objection besides; but as each of us has himself for +the first article in his creed, we cannot commit ourselves by +joining with a very extravagant madman, such as this Gordon most +undoubtedly is. Now really, to foment his disturbances in secret, +through the medium of such a very apt instrument as my savage +friend here, may further our real ends; and to express at all +becoming seasons, in moderate and polite terms, a disapprobation of +his proceedings, though we agree with him in principle, will +certainly be to gain a character for honesty and uprightness of +purpose, which cannot fail to do us infinite service, and to raise +us into some importance. Good! So much for public grounds. As to +private considerations, I confess that if these vagabonds WOULD +make some riotous demonstration (which does not appear impossible), +and WOULD inflict some little chastisement on Haredale as a not +inactive man among his sect, it would be extremely agreeable to my +feelings, and would amuse me beyond measure. Good again! Perhaps +better!' + +When he came to this point, he took a pinch of snuff; then +beginning slowly to undress, he resumed his meditations, by saying +with a smile: + +'I fear, I DO fear exceedingly, that my friend is following fast in +the footsteps of his mother. His intimacy with Mr Dennis is very +ominous. But I have no doubt he must have come to that end any +way. If I lend him a helping hand, the only difference is, that he +may, upon the whole, possibly drink a few gallons, or puncheons, or +hogsheads, less in this life than he otherwise would. It's no +business of mine. It's a matter of very small importance!' + +So he took another pinch of snuff, and went to bed. + + + +Chapter 41 + + +From the workshop of the Golden Key, there issued forth a tinkling +sound, so merry and good-humoured, that it suggested the idea of +some one working blithely, and made quite pleasant music. No man +who hammered on at a dull monotonous duty, could have brought such +cheerful notes from steel and iron; none but a chirping, healthy, +honest-hearted fellow, who made the best of everything, and felt +kindly towards everybody, could have done it for an instant. He +might have been a coppersmith, and still been musical. If he had +sat in a jolting waggon, full of rods of iron, it seemed as if he +would have brought some harmony out of it. + +Tink, tink, tink--clear as a silver bell, and audible at every +pause of the streets' harsher noises, as though it said, 'I don't +care; nothing puts me out; I am resolved to he happy.' Women +scolded, children squalled, heavy carts went rumbling by, horrible +cries proceeded from the lungs of hawkers; still it struck in +again, no higher, no lower, no louder, no softer; not thrusting +itself on people's notice a bit the more for having been outdone by +louder sounds--tink, tink, tink, tink, tink. + +It was a perfect embodiment of the still small voice, free from all +cold, hoarseness, huskiness, or unhealthiness of any kind; foot- +passengers slackened their pace, and were disposed to linger near +it; neighbours who had got up splenetic that morning, felt good- +humour stealing on them as they heard it, and by degrees became +quite sprightly; mothers danced their babies to its ringing; still +the same magical tink, tink, tink, came gaily from the workshop of +the Golden Key. + +Who but the locksmith could have made such music! A gleam of sun +shining through the unsashed window, and chequering the dark +workshop with a broad patch of light, fell full upon him, as though +attracted by his sunny heart. There he stood working at his anvil, +his face all radiant with exercise and gladness, his sleeves turned +up, his wig pushed off his shining forehead--the easiest, freest, +happiest man in all the world. Beside him sat a sleek cat, purring +and winking in the light, and falling every now and then into an +idle doze, as from excess of comfort. Toby looked on from a tall +bench hard by; one beaming smile, from his broad nut-brown face +down to the slack-baked buckles in his shoes. The very locks that +hung around had something jovial in their rust, and seemed like +gouty gentlemen of hearty natures, disposed to joke on their +infirmities. There was nothing surly or severe in the whole scene. +It seemed impossible that any one of the innumerable keys could fit +a churlish strong-box or a prison-door. Cellars of beer and wine, +rooms where there were fires, books, gossip, and cheering laughter-- +these were their proper sphere of action. Places of distrust and +cruelty, and restraint, they would have left quadruple-locked for +ever. + +Tink, tink, tink. The locksmith paused at last, and wiped his +brow. The silence roused the cat, who, jumping softly down, crept +to the door, and watched with tiger eyes a bird-cage in an opposite +window. Gabriel lifted Toby to his mouth, and took a hearty +draught. + +Then, as he stood upright, with his head flung back, and his portly +chest thrown out, you would have seen that Gabriel's lower man was +clothed in military gear. Glancing at the wall beyond, there might +have been espied, hanging on their several pegs, a cap and feather, +broadsword, sash, and coat of scarlet; which any man learned in +such matters would have known from their make and pattern to be the +uniform of a serjeant in the Royal East London Volunteers. + +As the locksmith put his mug down, empty, on the bench whence it +had smiled on him before, he glanced at these articles with a +laughing eye, and looking at them with his head a little on one +side, as though he would get them all into a focus, said, leaning +on his hammer: + +'Time was, now, I remember, when I was like to run mad with the +desire to wear a coat of that colour. If any one (except my +father) had called me a fool for my pains, how I should have fired +and fumed! But what a fool I must have been, sure-ly!' + +'Ah!' sighed Mrs Varden, who had entered unobserved. 'A fool +indeed. A man at your time of life, Varden, should know better +now.' + +'Why, what a ridiculous woman you are, Martha,' said the locksmith, +turning round with a smile. + +'Certainly,' replied Mrs V. with great demureness. 'Of course I +am. I know that, Varden. Thank you.' + +'I mean--' began the locksmith. + +'Yes,' said his wife, 'I know what you mean. You speak quite plain +enough to be understood, Varden. It's very kind of you to adapt +yourself to my capacity, I am sure.' + +'Tut, tut, Martha,' rejoined the locksmith; 'don't take offence at +nothing. I mean, how strange it is of you to run down +volunteering, when it's done to defend you and all the other women, +and our own fireside and everybody else's, in case of need.' + +'It's unchristian,' cried Mrs Varden, shaking her head. + +'Unchristian!' said the locksmith. 'Why, what the devil--' + +Mrs Varden looked at the ceiling, as in expectation that the +consequence of this profanity would be the immediate descent of the +four-post bedstead on the second floor, together with the best +sitting-room on the first; but no visible judgment occurring, she +heaved a deep sigh, and begged her husband, in a tone of +resignation, to go on, and by all means to blaspheme as much as +possible, because he knew she liked it. + +The locksmith did for a moment seem disposed to gratify her, but he +gave a great gulp, and mildly rejoined: + +'I was going to say, what on earth do you call it unchristian for? +Which would be most unchristian, Martha--to sit quietly down and +let our houses be sacked by a foreign army, or to turn out like men +and drive 'em off? Shouldn't I be a nice sort of a Christian, if I +crept into a corner of my own chimney and looked on while a parcel +of whiskered savages bore off Dolly--or you?' + +When he said 'or you,' Mrs Varden, despite herself, relaxed into a +smile. There was something complimentary in the idea. 'In such a +state of things as that, indeed--' she simpered. + +'As that!' repeated the locksmith. 'Well, that would be the state +of things directly. Even Miggs would go. Some black tambourine- +player, with a great turban on, would be bearing HER off, and, +unless the tambourine-player was proof against kicking and +scratching, it's my belief he'd have the worst of it. Ha ha ha! +I'd forgive the tambourine-player. I wouldn't have him interfered +with on any account, poor fellow.' And here the locksmith laughed +again so heartily, that tears came into his eyes--much to Mrs +Varden's indignation, who thought the capture of so sound a +Protestant and estimable a private character as Miggs by a pagan +negro, a circumstance too shocking and awful for contemplation. + +The picture Gabriel had drawn, indeed, threatened serious +consequences, and would indubitably have led to them, but luckily +at that moment a light footstep crossed the threshold, and Dolly, +running in, threw her arms round her old father's neck and hugged +him tight. + +'Here she is at last!' cried Gabriel. 'And how well you look, +Doll, and how late you are, my darling!' + +How well she looked? Well? Why, if he had exhausted every +laudatory adjective in the dictionary, it wouldn't have been praise +enough. When and where was there ever such a plump, roguish, +comely, bright-eyed, enticing, bewitching, captivating, maddening +little puss in all this world, as Dolly! What was the Dolly of +five years ago, to the Dolly of that day! How many coachmakers, +saddlers, cabinet-makers, and professors of other useful arts, had +deserted their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and, most of +all, their cousins, for the love of her! How many unknown +gentlemen--supposed to be of mighty fortunes, if not titles--had +waited round the corner after dark, and tempted Miggs the +incorruptible, with golden guineas, to deliver offers of marriage +folded up in love-letters! How many disconsolate fathers and +substantial tradesmen had waited on the locksmith for the same +purpose, with dismal tales of how their sons had lost their +appetites, and taken to shut themselves up in dark bedrooms, and +wandering in desolate suburbs with pale faces, and all because of +Dolly Varden's loveliness and cruelty! How many young men, in all +previous times of unprecedented steadiness, had turned suddenly +wild and wicked for the same reason, and, in an ecstasy of +unrequited love, taken to wrench off door-knockers, and invert the +boxes of rheumatic watchmen! How had she recruited the king's +service, both by sea and land, through rendering desperate his +loving subjects between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five! How +many young ladies had publicly professed, with tears in their eyes, +that for their tastes she was much too short, too tall, too bold, +too cold, too stout, too thin, too fair, too dark--too everything +but handsome! How many old ladies, taking counsel together, had +thanked Heaven their daughters were not like her, and had hoped she +might come to no harm, and had thought she would come to no good, +and had wondered what people saw in her, and had arrived at the +conclusion that she was 'going off' in her looks, or had never come +on in them, and that she was a thorough imposition and a popular +mistake! + +And yet here was this same Dolly Varden, so whimsical and hard to +please that she was Dolly Varden still, all smiles and dimples and +pleasant looks, and caring no more for the fifty or sixty young +fellows who at that very moment were breaking their hearts to marry +her, than if so many oysters had been crossed in love and opened +afterwards. + +Dolly hugged her father as has been already stated, and having +hugged her mother also, accompanied both into the little parlour +where the cloth was already laid for dinner, and where Miss Miggs-- +a trifle more rigid and bony than of yore--received her with a sort +of hysterical gasp, intended for a smile. Into the hands of that +young virgin, she delivered her bonnet and walking dress (all of a +dreadful, artful, and designing kind), and then said with a laugh, +which rivalled the locksmith's music, 'How glad I always am to be +at home again!' + +'And how glad we always are, Doll,' said her father, putting back +the dark hair from her sparkling eyes, 'to have you at home. Give +me a kiss.' + +If there had been anybody of the male kind there to see her do it-- +but there was not--it was a mercy. + +'I don't like your being at the Warren,' said the locksmith, 'I +can't bear to have you out of my sight. And what is the news over +yonder, Doll?' + +'What news there is, I think you know already,' replied his +daughter. 'I am sure you do though.' + +'Ay?' cried the locksmith. 'What's that?' + +'Come, come,' said Dolly, 'you know very well. I want you to tell +me why Mr Haredale--oh, how gruff he is again, to be sure!--has +been away from home for some days past, and why he is travelling +about (we know he IS travelling, because of his letters) without +telling his own niece why or wherefore.' + +'Miss Emma doesn't want to know, I'll swear,' returned the +locksmith. + +'I don't know that,' said Dolly; 'but I do, at any rate. Do tell +me. Why is he so secret, and what is this ghost story, which +nobody is to tell Miss Emma, and which seems to be mixed up with +his going away? Now I see you know by your colouring so.' + +'What the story means, or is, or has to do with it, I know no more +than you, my dear,' returned the locksmith, 'except that it's some +foolish fear of little Solomon's--which has, indeed, no meaning in +it, I suppose. As to Mr Haredale's journey, he goes, as I believe--' + +'Yes,' said Dolly. + +'As I believe,' resumed the locksmith, pinching her cheek, 'on +business, Doll. What it may be, is quite another matter. Read +Blue Beard, and don't be too curious, pet; it's no business of +yours or mine, depend upon that; and here's dinner, which is much +more to the purpose.' + +Dolly might have remonstrated against this summary dismissal of the +subject, notwithstanding the appearance of dinner, but at the +mention of Blue Beard Mrs Varden interposed, protesting she could +not find it in her conscience to sit tamely by, and hear her child +recommended to peruse the adventures of a Turk and Mussulman--far +less of a fabulous Turk, which she considered that potentate to be. +She held that, in such stirring and tremendous times as those in +which they lived, it would be much more to the purpose if Dolly +became a regular subscriber to the Thunderer, where she would have +an opportunity of reading Lord George Gordon's speeches word for +word, which would be a greater comfort and solace to her, than a +hundred and fifty Blue Beards ever could impart. She appealed in +support of this proposition to Miss Miggs, then in waiting, who +said that indeed the peace of mind she had derived from the perusal +of that paper generally, but especially of one article of the very +last week as ever was, entitled 'Great Britain drenched in gore,' +exceeded all belief; the same composition, she added, had also +wrought such a comforting effect on the mind of a married sister of +hers, then resident at Golden Lion Court, number twenty-sivin, +second bell-handle on the right-hand door-post, that, being in a +delicate state of health, and in fact expecting an addition to her +family, she had been seized with fits directly after its perusal, +and had raved of the Inquisition ever since; to the great +improvement of her husband and friends. Miss Miggs went on to say +that she would recommend all those whose hearts were hardened to +hear Lord George themselves, whom she commended first, in respect +of his steady Protestantism, then of his oratory, then of his eyes, +then of his nose, then of his legs, and lastly of his figure +generally, which she looked upon as fit for any statue, prince, or +angel, to which sentiment Mrs Varden fully subscribed. + +Mrs Varden having cut in, looked at a box upon the mantelshelf, +painted in imitation of a very red-brick dwelling-house, with a +yellow roof; having at top a real chimney, down which voluntary +subscribers dropped their silver, gold, or pence, into the parlour; +and on the door the counterfeit presentment of a brass plate, +whereon was legibly inscribed 'Protestant Association:'--and +looking at it, said, that it was to her a source of poignant misery +to think that Varden never had, of all his substance, dropped +anything into that temple, save once in secret--as she afterwards +discovered--two fragments of tobacco-pipe, which she hoped would +not be put down to his last account. That Dolly, she was grieved +to say, was no less backward in her contributions, better loving, +as it seemed, to purchase ribbons and such gauds, than to encourage +the great cause, then in such heavy tribulation; and that she did +entreat her (her father she much feared could not be moved) not to +despise, but imitate, the bright example of Miss Miggs, who flung +her wages, as it were, into the very countenance of the Pope, and +bruised his features with her quarter's money. + +'Oh, mim,' said Miggs, 'don't relude to that. I had no intentions, +mim, that nobody should know. Such sacrifices as I can make, are +quite a widder's mite. It's all I have,' cried Miggs with a great +burst of tears--for with her they never came on by degrees--'but +it's made up to me in other ways; it's well made up.' + +This was quite true, though not perhaps in the sense that Miggs +intended. As she never failed to keep her self-denial full in Mrs +Varden's view, it drew forth so many gifts of caps and gowns and +other articles of dress, that upon the whole the red-brick house +was perhaps the best investment for her small capital she could +possibly have hit upon; returning her interest, at the rate of +seven or eight per cent in money, and fifty at least in personal +repute and credit. + +'You needn't cry, Miggs,' said Mrs Varden, herself in tears; 'you +needn't be ashamed of it, though your poor mistress IS on the same +side.' + +Miggs howled at this remark, in a peculiarly dismal way, and said +she knowed that master hated her. That it was a dreadful thing to +live in families and have dislikes, and not give satisfactions. +That to make divisions was a thing she could not abear to think of, +neither could her feelings let her do it. That if it was master's +wishes as she and him should part, it was best they should part, +and she hoped he might be the happier for it, and always wished him +well, and that he might find somebody as would meet his +dispositions. It would be a hard trial, she said, to part from +such a missis, but she could meet any suffering when her conscience +told her she was in the rights, and therefore she was willing even +to go that lengths. She did not think, she added, that she could +long survive the separations, but, as she was hated and looked upon +unpleasant, perhaps her dying as soon as possible would be the best +endings for all parties. With this affecting conclusion, Miss +Miggs shed more tears, and sobbed abundantly. + +'Can you bear this, Varden?' said his wife in a solemn voice, +laying down her knife and fork. + +'Why, not very well, my dear,' rejoined the locksmith, 'but I try +to keep my temper.' + +'Don't let there be words on my account, mim,' sobbed Miggs. 'It's +much the best that we should part. I wouldn't stay--oh, gracious +me!--and make dissensions, not for a annual gold mine, and found in +tea and sugar.' + +Lest the reader should be at any loss to discover the cause of Miss +Miggs's deep emotion, it may be whispered apart that, happening to +be listening, as her custom sometimes was, when Gabriel and his +wife conversed together, she had heard the locksmith's joke +relative to the foreign black who played the tambourine, and +bursting with the spiteful feelings which the taunt awoke in her +fair breast, exploded in the manner we have witnessed. Matters +having now arrived at a crisis, the locksmith, as usual, and for +the sake of peace and quietness, gave in. + +'What are you crying for, girl?' he said. 'What's the matter with +you? What are you talking about hatred for? I don't hate you; I +don't hate anybody. Dry your eyes and make yourself agreeable, in +Heaven's name, and let us all be happy while we can.' + +The allied powers deeming it good generalship to consider this a +sufficient apology on the part of the enemy, and confession of +having been in the wrong, did dry their eyes and take it in good +part. Miss Miggs observed that she bore no malice, no not to her +greatest foe, whom she rather loved the more indeed, the greater +persecution she sustained. Mrs Varden approved of this meek and +forgiving spirit in high terms, and incidentally declared as a +closing article of agreement, that Dolly should accompany her to +the Clerkenwell branch of the association, that very night. This +was an extraordinary instance of her great prudence and policy; +having had this end in view from the first, and entertaining a +secret misgiving that the locksmith (who was bold when Dolly was in +question) would object, she had backed Miss Miggs up to this +point, in order that she might have him at a disadvantage. The +manoeuvre succeeded so well that Gabriel only made a wry face, and +with the warning he had just had, fresh in his mind, did not dare +to say one word. + +The difference ended, therefore, in Miggs being presented with a +gown by Mrs Varden and half-a-crown by Dolly, as if she had +eminently distinguished herself in the paths of morality and +goodness. Mrs V., according to custom, expressed her hope that +Varden would take a lesson from what had passed and learn more +generous conduct for the time to come; and the dinner being now +cold and nobody's appetite very much improved by what had passed, +they went on with it, as Mrs Varden said, 'like Christians.' + +As there was to be a grand parade of the Royal East London +Volunteers that afternoon, the locksmith did no more work; but sat +down comfortably with his pipe in his mouth, and his arm round his +pretty daughter's waist, looking lovingly on Mrs V., from time to +time, and exhibiting from the crown of his head to the sole of his +foot, one smiling surface of good humour. And to be sure, when it +was time to dress him in his regimentals, and Dolly, hanging about +him in all kinds of graceful winning ways, helped to button and +buckle and brush him up and get him into one of the tightest coats +that ever was made by mortal tailor, he was the proudest father in +all England. + +'What a handy jade it is!' said the locksmith to Mrs Varden, who +stood by with folded hands--rather proud of her husband too--while +Miggs held his cap and sword at arm's length, as if mistrusting +that the latter might run some one through the body of its own +accord; 'but never marry a soldier, Doll, my dear.' + +Dolly didn't ask why not, or say a word, indeed, but stooped her +head down very low to tie his sash. + +'I never wear this dress,' said honest Gabriel, 'but I think of +poor Joe Willet. I loved Joe; he was always a favourite of mine. +Poor Joe!--Dear heart, my girl, don't tie me in so tight.' + +Dolly laughed--not like herself at all--the strangest little laugh +that could be--and held her head down lower still. + +'Poor Joe!' resumed the locksmith, muttering to himself; 'I always +wish he had come to me. I might have made it up between them, if +he had. Ah! old John made a great mistake in his way of acting by +that lad--a great mistake.--Have you nearly tied that sash, my +dear?' + +What an ill-made sash it was! There it was, loose again and +trailing on the ground. Dolly was obliged to kneel down, and +recommence at the beginning. + +'Never mind young Willet, Varden,' said his wife frowning; 'you +might find some one more deserving to talk about, I think.' + +Miss Miggs gave a great sniff to the same effect. + +'Nay, Martha,' cried the locksmith, 'don't let us bear too hard +upon him. If the lad is dead indeed, we'll deal kindly by his +memory.' + +'A runaway and a vagabond!' said Mrs Varden. + +Miss Miggs expressed her concurrence as before. + +'A runaway, my dear, but not a vagabond,' returned the locksmith in +a gentle tone. 'He behaved himself well, did Joe--always--and was +a handsome, manly fellow. Don't call him a vagabond, Martha.' + +Mrs Varden coughed--and so did Miggs. + +'He tried hard to gain your good opinion, Martha, I can tell you,' +said the locksmith smiling, and stroking his chin. 'Ah! that he +did. It seems but yesterday that he followed me out to the Maypole +door one night, and begged me not to say how like a boy they used +him--say here, at home, he meant, though at the time, I recollect, +I didn't understand. "And how's Miss Dolly, sir?" says Joe,' +pursued the locksmith, musing sorrowfully, 'Ah! Poor Joe!' + +'Well, I declare,' cried Miggs. 'Oh! Goodness gracious me!' + +'What's the matter now?' said Gabriel, turning sharply to her, +'Why, if here an't Miss Dolly,' said the handmaid, stooping down to +look into her face, 'a-giving way to floods of tears. Oh mim! oh +sir. Raly it's give me such a turn,' cried the susceptible damsel, +pressing her hand upon her side to quell the palpitation of her +heart, 'that you might knock me down with a feather.' + +The locksmith, after glancing at Miss Miggs as if he could have +wished to have a feather brought straightway, looked on with a +broad stare while Dolly hurried away, followed by that sympathising +young woman: then turning to his wife, stammered out, 'Is Dolly +ill? Have I done anything? Is it my fault?' + +'Your fault!' cried Mrs V. reproachfully. 'There--you had better +make haste out.' + +'What have I done?' said poor Gabriel. 'It was agreed that Mr +Edward's name was never to be mentioned, and I have not spoken of +him, have I?' + +Mrs Varden merely replied that she had no patience with him, and +bounced off after the other two. The unfortunate locksmith wound +his sash about him, girded on his sword, put on his cap, and walked +out. + +'I am not much of a dab at my exercise,' he said under his breath, +'but I shall get into fewer scrapes at that work than at this. +Every man came into the world for something; my department seems to +be to make every woman cry without meaning it. It's rather hard!' + +But he forgot it before he reached the end of the street, and went +on with a shining face, nodding to the neighbours, and showering +about his friendly greetings like mild spring rain. + + + +Chapter 42 + + +The Royal East London Volunteers made a brilliant sight that day: +formed into lines, squares, circles, triangles, and what not, to +the beating of drums, and the streaming of flags; and performed a +vast number of complex evolutions, in all of which Serjeant Varden +bore a conspicuous share. Having displayed their military prowess +to the utmost in these warlike shows, they marched in glittering +order to the Chelsea Bun House, and regaled in the adjacent taverns +until dark. Then at sound of drum they fell in again, and +returned amidst the shouting of His Majesty's lieges to the place +from whence they came. + +The homeward march being somewhat tardy,--owing to the un- +soldierlike behaviour of certain corporals, who, being gentlemen of +sedentary pursuits in private life and excitable out of doors, +broke several windows with their bayonets, and rendered it +imperative on the commanding officer to deliver them over to a +strong guard, with whom they fought at intervals as they came +along,--it was nine o'clock when the locksmith reached home. A +hackney-coach was waiting near his door; and as he passed it, Mr +Haredale looked from the window and called him by his name. + +'The sight of you is good for sore eyes, sir,' said the locksmith, +stepping up to him. 'I wish you had walked in though, rather than +waited here.' + +'There is nobody at home, I find,' Mr Haredale answered; 'besides, +I desired to be as private as I could.' + +'Humph!' muttered the locksmith, looking round at his house. +'Gone with Simon Tappertit to that precious Branch, no doubt.' + +Mr Haredale invited him to come into the coach, and, if he were not +tired or anxious to go home, to ride with him a little way that +they might have some talk together. Gabriel cheerfully complied, +and the coachman mounting his box drove off. + +'Varden,' said Mr Haredale, after a minute's pause, 'you will be +amazed to hear what errand I am on; it will seem a very strange +one.' + +'I have no doubt it's a reasonable one, sir, and has a meaning in +it,' replied the locksmith; 'or it would not be yours at all. Have +you just come back to town, sir?' + +'But half an hour ago.' + +'Bringing no news of Barnaby, or his mother?' said the locksmith +dubiously. 'Ah! you needn't shake your head, sir. It was a wild- +goose chase. I feared that, from the first. You exhausted all +reasonable means of discovery when they went away. To begin again +after so long a time has passed is hopeless, sir--quite hopeless.' + +'Why, where are they?' he returned impatiently. 'Where can they +be? Above ground?' + +'God knows,' rejoined the locksmith, 'many that I knew above it +five years ago, have their beds under the grass now. And the world +is a wide place. It's a hopeless attempt, sir, believe me. We +must leave the discovery of this mystery, like all others, to time, +and accident, and Heaven's pleasure.' + +'Varden, my good fellow,' said Mr Haredale, 'I have a deeper +meaning in my present anxiety to find them out, than you can +fathom. It is not a mere whim; it is not the casual revival of my +old wishes and desires; but an earnest, solemn purpose. My +thoughts and dreams all tend to it, and fix it in my mind. I have +no rest by day or night; I have no peace or quiet; I am haunted.' + +His voice was so altered from its usual tones, and his manner +bespoke so much emotion, that Gabriel, in his wonder, could only +sit and look towards him in the darkness, and fancy the expression +of his face. + +'Do not ask me,' continued Mr Haredale, 'to explain myself. If I +were to do so, you would think me the victim of some hideous fancy. +It is enough that this is so, and that I cannot--no, I can not--lie +quietly in my bed, without doing what will seem to you +incomprehensible.' + +'Since when, sir,' said the locksmith after a pause, 'has this +uneasy feeling been upon you?' + +Mr Haredale hesitated for some moments, and then replied: 'Since +the night of the storm. In short, since the last nineteenth of +March.' + +As though he feared that Varden might express surprise, or reason +with him, he hastily went on: + +'You will think, I know, I labour under some delusion. Perhaps I +do. But it is not a morbid one; it is a wholesome action of the +mind, reasoning on actual occurrences. You know the furniture +remains in Mrs Rudge's house, and that it has been shut up, by my +orders, since she went away, save once a-week or so, when an old +neighbour visits it to scare away the rats. I am on my way there +now.' + +'For what purpose?' asked the locksmith. + +'To pass the night there,' he replied; 'and not to-night alone, but +many nights. This is a secret which I trust to you in case of any +unexpected emergency. You will not come, unless in case of strong +necessity, to me; from dusk to broad day I shall be there. Emma, +your daughter, and the rest, suppose me out of London, as I have +been until within this hour. Do not undeceive them. This is the +errand I am bound upon. I know I may confide it to you, and I rely +upon your questioning me no more at this time.' + +With that, as if to change the theme, he led the astounded +locksmith back to the night of the Maypole highwayman, to the +robbery of Edward Chester, to the reappearance of the man at Mrs +Rudge's house, and to all the strange circumstances which +afterwards occurred. He even asked him carelessly about the man's +height, his face, his figure, whether he was like any one he had +ever seen--like Hugh, for instance, or any man he had known at any +time--and put many questions of that sort, which the locksmith, +considering them as mere devices to engage his attention and +prevent his expressing the astonishment he felt, answered pretty +much at random. + +At length, they arrived at the corner of the street in which the +house stood, where Mr Haredale, alighting, dismissed the coach. +'If you desire to see me safely lodged,' he said, turning to the +locksmith with a gloomy smile, 'you can.' + +Gabriel, to whom all former marvels had been nothing in comparison +with this, followed him along the narrow pavement in silence. When +they reached the door, Mr Haredale softly opened it with a key he +had about him, and closing it when Varden entered, they were left +in thorough darkness. + +They groped their way into the ground-floor room. Here Mr +Haredale struck a light, and kindled a pocket taper he had brought +with him for the purpose. It was then, when the flame was full +upon him, that the locksmith saw for the first time how haggard, +pale, and changed he looked; how worn and thin he was; how +perfectly his whole appearance coincided with all that he had said +so strangely as they rode along. It was not an unnatural impulse +in Gabriel, after what he had heard, to note curiously the +expression of his eyes. It was perfectly collected and rational;-- +so much so, indeed, that he felt ashamed of his momentary +suspicion, and drooped his own when Mr Haredale looked towards him, +as if he feared they would betray his thoughts. + +'Will you walk through the house?' said Mr Haredale, with a glance +towards the window, the crazy shutters of which were closed and +fastened. 'Speak low.' + +There was a kind of awe about the place, which would have rendered +it difficult to speak in any other manner. Gabriel whispered +'Yes,' and followed him upstairs. + +Everything was just as they had seen it last. There was a sense of +closeness from the exclusion of fresh air, and a gloom and +heaviness around, as though long imprisonment had made the very +silence sad. The homely hangings of the beds and windows had begun +to droop; the dust lay thick upon their dwindling folds; and damps +had made their way through ceiling, wall, and floor. The boards +creaked beneath their tread, as if resenting the unaccustomed +intrusion; nimble spiders, paralysed by the taper's glare, checked +the motion of their hundred legs upon the wall, or dropped like +lifeless things upon the ground; the death-watch ticked; and the +scampering feet of rats and mice rattled behind the wainscot. + +As they looked about them on the decaying furniture, it was strange +to find how vividly it presented those to whom it had belonged, and +with whom it was once familiar. Grip seemed to perch again upon +his high-backed chair; Barnaby to crouch in his old favourite +corner by the fire; the mother to resume her usual seat, and watch +him as of old. Even when they could separate these objects from +the phantoms of the mind which they invoked, the latter only glided +out of sight, but lingered near them still; for then they seemed to +lurk in closets and behind the doors, ready to start out and +suddenly accost them in well-remembered tones. + +They went downstairs, and again into the room they had just now +left. Mr Haredale unbuckled his sword and laid it on the table, +with a pair of pocket pistols; then told the locksmith he would +light him to the door. + +'But this is a dull place, sir,' said Gabriel lingering; 'may no +one share your watch?' + +He shook his head, and so plainly evinced his wish to be alone, +that Gabriel could say no more. In another moment the locksmith +was standing in the street, whence he could see that the light once +more travelled upstairs, and soon returning to the room below, +shone brightly through the chinks of the shutters. + +If ever man were sorely puzzled and perplexed, the locksmith was, +that night. Even when snugly seated by his own fireside, with Mrs +Varden opposite in a nightcap and night-jacket, and Dolly beside +him (in a most distracting dishabille) curling her hair, and +smiling as if she had never cried in all her life and never could-- +even then, with Toby at his elbow and his pipe in his mouth, and +Miggs (but that perhaps was not much) falling asleep in the +background, he could not quite discard his wonder and uneasiness. +So in his dreams--still there was Mr Haredale, haggard and +careworn, listening in the solitary house to every sound that +stirred, with the taper shining through the chinks until the day +should turn it pale and end his lonely watching. + + + +Chapter 43 + + +Next morning brought no satisfaction to the locksmith's thoughts, +nor next day, nor the next, nor many others. Often after nightfall +he entered the street, and turned his eyes towards the well-known +house; and as surely as he did so, there was the solitary light, +still gleaming through the crevices of the window-shutter, while +all within was motionless, noiseless, cheerless, as a grave. +Unwilling to hazard Mr Haredale's favour by disobeying his strict +injunction, he never ventured to knock at the door or to make his +presence known in any way. But whenever strong interest and +curiosity attracted him to the spot--which was not seldom--the +light was always there. + +If he could have known what passed within, the knowledge would have +yielded him no clue to this mysterious vigil. At twilight, Mr +Haredale shut himself up, and at daybreak he came forth. He never +missed a night, always came and went alone, and never varied his +proceedings in the least degree. + +The manner of his watch was this. At dusk, he entered the house in +the same way as when the locksmith bore him company, kindled a +light, went through the rooms, and narrowly examined them. That +done, he returned to the chamber on the ground-floor, and laying +his sword and pistols on the table, sat by it until morning. + +He usually had a book with him, and often tried to read, but never +fixed his eyes or thoughts upon it for five minutes together. The +slightest noise without doors, caught his ear; a step upon the +pavement seemed to make his heart leap. + +He was not without some refreshment during the long lonely hours; +generally carrying in his pocket a sandwich of bread and meat, and +a small flask of wine. The latter diluted with large quantities of +water, he drank in a heated, feverish way, as though his throat +were dried; but he scarcely ever broke his fast, by so much as a +crumb of bread. + +If this voluntary sacrifice of sleep and comfort had its origin, as +the locksmith on consideration was disposed to think, in any +superstitious expectation of the fulfilment of a dream or vision +connected with the event on which he had brooded for so many years, +and if he waited for some ghostly visitor who walked abroad when +men lay sleeping in their beds, he showed no trace of fear or +wavering. His stern features expressed inflexible resolution; his +brows were puckered, and his lips compressed, with deep and settled +purpose; and when he started at a noise and listened, it was not +with the start of fear but hope, and catching up his sword as +though the hour had come at last, he would clutch it in his tight- +clenched hand, and listen with sparkling eyes and eager looks, +until it died away. + +These disappointments were numerous, for they ensued on almost +every sound, but his constancy was not shaken. Still, every night +he was at his post, the same stern, sleepless, sentinel; and still +night passed, and morning dawned, and he must watch again. + +This went on for weeks; he had taken a lodging at Vauxhall in which +to pass the day and rest himself; and from this place, when the +tide served, he usually came to London Bridge from Westminster by +water, in order that he might avoid the busy streets. + +One evening, shortly before twilight, he came his accustomed road +upon the river's bank, intending to pass through Westminster Hall +into Palace Yard, and there take boat to London Bridge as usual. +There was a pretty large concourse of people assembled round the +Houses of Parliament, looking at the members as they entered and +departed, and giving vent to rather noisy demonstrations of +approval or dislike, according to their known opinions. As he made +his way among the throng, he heard once or twice the No-Popery cry, +which was then becoming pretty familiar to the ears of most men; +but holding it in very slight regard, and observing that the idlers +were of the lowest grade, he neither thought nor cared about it, +but made his way along, with perfect indifference. + +There were many little knots and groups of persons in Westminster +Hall: some few looking upward at its noble ceiling, and at the rays +of evening light, tinted by the setting sun, which streamed in +aslant through its small windows, and growing dimmer by degrees, +were quenched in the gathering gloom below; some, noisy passengers, +mechanics going home from work, and otherwise, who hurried quickly +through, waking the echoes with their voices, and soon darkening +the small door in the distance, as they passed into the street +beyond; some, in busy conference together on political or private +matters, pacing slowly up and down with eyes that sought the +ground, and seeming, by their attitudes, to listen earnestly from +head to foot. Here, a dozen squabbling urchins made a very Babel +in the air; there, a solitary man, half clerk, half mendicant, +paced up and down with hungry dejection in his look and gait; at +his elbow passed an errand-lad, swinging his basket round and +round, and with his shrill whistle riving the very timbers of the +roof; while a more observant schoolboy, half-way through, pocketed +his ball, and eyed the distant beadle as he came looming on. It +was that time of evening when, if you shut your eyes and open them +again, the darkness of an hour appears to have gathered in a +second. The smooth-worn pavement, dusty with footsteps, still +called upon the lofty walls to reiterate the shuffle and the tread +of feet unceasingly, save when the closing of some heavy door +resounded through the building like a clap of thunder, and drowned +all other noises in its rolling sound. + +Mr Haredale, glancing only at such of these groups as he passed +nearest to, and then in a manner betokening that his thoughts were +elsewhere, had nearly traversed the Hall, when two persons before +him caught his attention. One of these, a gentleman in elegant +attire, carried in his hand a cane, which he twirled in a jaunty +manner as he loitered on; the other, an obsequious, crouching, +fawning figure, listened to what he said--at times throwing in a +humble word himself--and, with his shoulders shrugged up to his +ears, rubbed his hands submissively, or answered at intervals by an +inclination of the head, half-way between a nod of acquiescence, +and a bow of most profound respect. + +In the abstract there was nothing very remarkable in this pair, for +servility waiting on a handsome suit of clothes and a cane--not to +speak of gold and silver sticks, or wands of office--is common +enough. But there was that about the well-dressed man, yes, and +about the other likewise, which struck Mr Haredale with no pleasant +feeling. He hesitated, stopped, and would have stepped aside and +turned out of his path, but at the moment, the other two faced +about quickly, and stumbled upon him before he could avoid them. + +The gentleman with the cane lifted his hat and had begun to tender +an apology, which Mr Haredale had begun as hastily to acknowledge +and walk away, when he stopped short and cried, 'Haredale! Gad +bless me, this is strange indeed!' + +'It is,' he returned impatiently; 'yes--a--' + +'My dear friend,' cried the other, detaining him, 'why such great +speed? One minute, Haredale, for the sake of old acquaintance.' + +'I am in haste,' he said. 'Neither of us has sought this meeting. +Let it be a brief one. Good night!' + +'Fie, fie!' replied Sir John (for it was he), 'how very churlish! +We were speaking of you. Your name was on my lips--perhaps you +heard me mention it? No? I am sorry for that. I am really +sorry.--You know our friend here, Haredale? This is really a most +remarkable meeting!' + +The friend, plainly very ill at ease, had made bold to press Sir +John's arm, and to give him other significant hints that he was +desirous of avoiding this introduction. As it did not suit Sir +John's purpose, however, that it should be evaded, he appeared +quite unconscious of these silent remonstrances, and inclined his +hand towards him, as he spoke, to call attention to him more +particularly. + +The friend, therefore, had nothing for it, but to muster up the +pleasantest smile he could, and to make a conciliatory bow, as Mr +Haredale turned his eyes upon him. Seeing that he was recognised, +he put out his hand in an awkward and embarrassed manner, which was +not mended by its contemptuous rejection. + +'Mr Gashford!' said Haredale, coldly. 'It is as I have heard then. +You have left the darkness for the light, sir, and hate those whose +opinions you formerly held, with all the bitterness of a renegade. +You are an honour, sir, to any cause. I wish the one you espouse +at present, much joy of the acquisition it has made.' + +The secretary rubbed his hands and bowed, as though he would disarm +his adversary by humbling himself before him. Sir John Chester +again exclaimed, with an air of great gaiety, 'Now, really, this is +a most remarkable meeting!' and took a pinch of snuff with his +usual self-possession. + +'Mr Haredale,' said Gashford, stealthily raising his eyes, and +letting them drop again when they met the other's steady gaze, is +too conscientious, too honourable, too manly, I am sure, to attach +unworthy motives to an honest change of opinions, even though it +implies a doubt of those he holds himself. Mr Haredale is too +just, too generous, too clear-sighted in his moral vision, to--' + +'Yes, sir?' he rejoined with a sarcastic smile, finding the +secretary stopped. 'You were saying'-- + +Gashford meekly shrugged his shoulders, and looking on the ground +again, was silent. + +'No, but let us really,' interposed Sir John at this juncture, 'let +us really, for a moment, contemplate the very remarkable character +of this meeting. Haredale, my dear friend, pardon me if I think +you are not sufficiently impressed with its singularity. Here we +stand, by no previous appointment or arrangement, three old +schoolfellows, in Westminster Hall; three old boarders in a +remarkably dull and shady seminary at Saint Omer's, where you, +being Catholics and of necessity educated out of England, were +brought up; and where I, being a promising young Protestant at that +time, was sent to learn the French tongue from a native of Paris!' + +'Add to the singularity, Sir John,' said Mr Haredale, 'that some of +you Protestants of promise are at this moment leagued in yonder +building, to prevent our having the surpassing and unheard-of +privilege of teaching our children to read and write--here--in this +land, where thousands of us enter your service every year, and to +preserve the freedom of which, we die in bloody battles abroad, in +heaps: and that others of you, to the number of some thousands as +I learn, are led on to look on all men of my creed as wolves and +beasts of prey, by this man Gashford. Add to it besides the bare +fact that this man lives in society, walks the streets in broad +day--I was about to say, holds up his head, but that he does not-- +and it will be strange, and very strange, I grant you.' + +'Oh! you are hard upon our friend,' replied Sir John, with an +engaging smile. 'You are really very hard upon our friend!' + +'Let him go on, Sir John,' said Gashford, fumbling with his gloves. +'Let him go on. I can make allowances, Sir John. I am honoured +with your good opinion, and I can dispense with Mr Haredale's. Mr +Haredale is a sufferer from the penal laws, and I can't expect his +favour.' + +'You have so much of my favour, sir,' retorted Mr Haredale, with a +bitter glance at the third party in their conversation, 'that I am +glad to see you in such good company. You are the essence of your +great Association, in yourselves.' + +'Now, there you mistake,' said Sir John, in his most benignant way. +'There--which is a most remarkable circumstance for a man of your +punctuality and exactness, Haredale--you fall into error. I don't +belong to the body; I have an immense respect for its members, but +I don't belong to it; although I am, it is certainly true, the +conscientious opponent of your being relieved. I feel it my duty +to be so; it is a most unfortunate necessity; and cost me a bitter +struggle.--Will you try this box? If you don't object to a +trifling infusion of a very chaste scent, you'll find its flavour +exquisite.' + +'I ask your pardon, Sir John,' said Mr Haredale, declining the +proffer with a motion of his hand, 'for having ranked you among the +humble instruments who are obvious and in all men's sight. I +should have done more justice to your genius. Men of your capacity +plot in secrecy and safety, and leave exposed posts to the duller +wits.' + +'Don't apologise, for the world,' replied Sir John sweetly; 'old +friends like you and I, may be allowed some freedoms, or the deuce +is in it.' + +Gashford, who had been very restless all this time, but had not +once looked up, now turned to Sir John, and ventured to mutter +something to the effect that he must go, or my lord would perhaps +be waiting. + +'Don't distress yourself, good sir,' said Mr Haredale, 'I'll take +my leave, and put you at your ease--' which he was about to do +without ceremony, when he was stayed by a buzz and murmur at the +upper end of the hall, and, looking in that direction, saw Lord +George Gordon coming in, with a crowd of people round him. + +There was a lurking look of triumph, though very differently +expressed, in the faces of his two companions, which made it a +natural impulse on Mr Haredale's part not to give way before this +leader, but to stand there while he passed. He drew himself up +and, clasping his hands behind him, looked on with a proud and +scornful aspect, while Lord George slowly advanced (for the press +was great about him) towards the spot where they were standing. + +He had left the House of Commons but that moment, and had come +straight down into the Hall, bringing with him, as his custom was, +intelligence of what had been said that night in reference to the +Papists, and what petitions had been presented in their favour, and +who had supported them, and when the bill was to be brought in, and +when it would be advisable to present their own Great Protestant +petition. All this he told the persons about him in a loud voice, +and with great abundance of ungainly gesture. Those who were +nearest him made comments to each other, and vented threats and +murmurings; those who were outside the crowd cried, 'Silence,' and +Stand back,' or closed in upon the rest, endeavouring to make a +forcible exchange of places: and so they came driving on in a very +disorderly and irregular way, as it is the manner of a crowd to do. + +When they were very near to where the secretary, Sir John, and Mr +Haredale stood, Lord George turned round and, making a few remarks +of a sufliciently violent and incoherent kind, concluded with the +usual sentiment, and called for three cheers to back it. While +these were in the act of being given with great energy, he +extricated himself from the press, and stepped up to Gashford's +side. Both he and Sir John being well known to the populace, they +fell back a little, and left the four standing together. + +'Mr Haredale, Lord George,' said Sir John Chester, seeing that the +nobleman regarded him with an inquisitive look. 'A Catholic +gentleman unfortunately--most unhappily a Catholic--but an esteemed +acquaintance of mine, and once of Mr Gashford's. My dear Haredale, +this is Lord George Gordon.' + +'I should have known that, had I been ignorant of his lordship's +person,' said Mr Haredale. 'I hope there is but one gentleman in +England who, addressing an ignorant and excited throng, would speak +of a large body of his fellow-subjects in such injurious language +as I heard this moment. For shame, my lord, for shame!' + +'I cannot talk to you, sir,' replied Lord George in a loud voice, +and waving his hand in a disturbed and agitated manner; 'we have +nothing in common.' + +'We have much in common--many things--all that the Almighty gave +us,' said Mr Haredale; 'and common charity, not to say common sense +and common decency, should teach you to refrain from these +proceedings. If every one of those men had arms in their hands at +this moment, as they have them in their heads, I would not leave +this place without telling you that you disgrace your station.' + +'I don't hear you, sir,' he replied in the same manner as before; +'I can't hear you. It is indifferent to me what you say. Don't +retort, Gashford,' for the secretary had made a show of wishing to +do so; 'I can hold no communion with the worshippers of idols.' + +As he said this, he glanced at Sir John, who lifted his hands and +eyebrows, as if deploring the intemperate conduct of Mr Haredale, +and smiled in admiration of the crowd and of their leader. + +'HE retort!' cried Haredale. 'Look you here, my lord. Do you know +this man?' + +Lord George replied by laying his hand upon the shoulder of his +cringing secretary, and viewing him with a smile of confidence. + +'This man,' said Mr Haredale, eyeing him from top to toe, 'who in +his boyhood was a thief, and has been from that time to this, a +servile, false, and truckling knave: this man, who has crawled and +crept through life, wounding the hands he licked, and biting those +he fawned upon: this sycophant, who never knew what honour, truth, +or courage meant; who robbed his benefactor's daughter of her +virtue, and married her to break her heart, and did it, with +stripes and cruelty: this creature, who has whined at kitchen +windows for the broken food, and begged for halfpence at our chapel +doors: this apostle of the faith, whose tender conscience cannot +bear the altars where his vicious life was publicly denounced--Do +you know this man?' + +'Oh, really--you are very, very hard upon our friend!' exclaimed +Sir John. + +'Let Mr Haredale go on,' said Gashford, upon whose unwholesome face +the perspiration had broken out during this speech, in blotches of +wet; 'I don't mind him, Sir John; it's quite as indifferent to me +what he says, as it is to my lord. If he reviles my lord, as you +have heard, Sir John, how can I hope to escape?' + +'Is it not enough, my lord,' Mr Haredale continued, 'that I, as +good a gentleman as you, must hold my property, such as it is, by a +trick at which the state connives because of these hard laws; and +that we may not teach our youth in schools the common principles of +right and wrong; but must we be denounced and ridden by such men as +this! Here is a man to head your No-Popery cry! For shame. For +shame!' + +The infatuated nobleman had glanced more than once at Sir John +Chester, as if to inquire whether there was any truth in these +statements concerning Gashford, and Sir John had as often plainly +answered by a shrug or look, 'Oh dear me! no.' He now said, in the +same loud key, and in the same strange manner as before: + +'I have nothing to say, sir, in reply, and no desire to hear +anything more. I beg you won't obtrude your conversation, or these +personal attacks, upon me. I shall not be deterred from doing my +duty to my country and my countrymen, by any such attempts, whether +they proceed from emissaries of the Pope or not, I assure you. +Come, Gashford!' + +They had walked on a few paces while speaking, and were now at the +Hall-door, through which they passed together. Mr Haredale, +without any leave-taking, turned away to the river stairs, which +were close at hand, and hailed the only boatman who remained there. + +But the throng of people--the foremost of whom had heard every word +that Lord George Gordon said, and among all of whom the rumour had +been rapidly dispersed that the stranger was a Papist who was +bearding him for his advocacy of the popular cause--came pouring +out pell-mell, and, forcing the nobleman, his secretary, and Sir +John Chester on before them, so that they appeared to be at their +head, crowded to the top of the stairs where Mr Haredale waited +until the boat was ready, and there stood still, leaving him on a +little clear space by himself. + +They were not silent, however, though inactive. At first some +indistinct mutterings arose among them, which were followed by a +hiss or two, and these swelled by degrees into a perfect storm. +Then one voice said, 'Down with the Papists!' and there was a +pretty general cheer, but nothing more. After a lull of a few +moments, one man cried out, 'Stone him;' another, 'Duck him;' +another, in a stentorian voice, 'No Popery!' This favourite cry +the rest re-echoed, and the mob, which might have been two hundred +strong, joined in a general shout. + +Mr Haredale had stood calmly on the brink of the steps, until they +made this demonstration, when he looked round contemptuously, and +walked at a slow pace down the stairs. He was pretty near the +boat, when Gashford, as if without intention, turned about, and +directly afterwards a great stone was thrown by some hand, in the +crowd, which struck him on the head, and made him stagger like a +drunken man. + +The blood sprung freely from the wound, and trickled down his coat. +He turned directly, and rushing up the steps with a boldness and +passion which made them all fall back, demanded: + +'Who did that? Show me the man who hit me.' + +Not a soul moved; except some in the rear who slunk off, and, +escaping to the other side of the way, looked on like indifferent +spectators. + +'Who did that?' he repeated. 'Show me the man who did it. Dog, +was it you? It was your deed, if not your hand--I know you.' + +He threw himself on Gashford as he said the words, and hurled him +to the ground. There was a sudden motion in the crowd, and some +laid hands upon him, but his sword was out, and they fell off +again. + +'My lord--Sir John,'--he cried, 'draw, one of you--you are +responsible for this outrage, and I look to you. Draw, if you are +gentlemen.' With that he struck Sir John upon the breast with the +flat of his weapon, and with a burning face and flashing eyes stood +upon his guard; alone, before them all. + +For an instant, for the briefest space of time the mind can readily +conceive, there was a change in Sir John's smooth face, such as no +man ever saw there. The next moment, he stepped forward, and laid +one hand on Mr Haredale's arm, while with the other he endeavoured +to appease the crowd. + +'My dear friend, my good Haredale, you are blinded with passion-- +it's very natural, extremely natural--but you don't know friends +from foes.' + +'I know them all, sir, I can distinguish well--' he retorted, +almost mad with rage. 'Sir John, Lord George--do you hear me? Are +you cowards?' + +'Never mind, sir,' said a man, forcing his way between and pushing +him towards the stairs with friendly violence, 'never mind asking +that. For God's sake, get away. What CAN you do against this +number? And there are as many more in the next street, who'll be +round dfrectly,'--indeed they began to pour in as he said the +words--'you'd be giddy from that cut, in the first heat of a +scuffle. Now do retire, sir, or take my word for it you'll be +worse used than you would be if every man in the crowd was a woman, +and that woman Bloody Mary. Come, sir, make haste--as quick as you +can.' + +Mr Haredale, who began to turn faint and sick, felt how sensible +this advice was, and descended the steps with his unknown friend's +assistance. John Grueby (for John it was) helped him into the +boat, and giving her a shove off, which sent her thirty feet into +the tide, bade the waterman pull away like a Briton; and walked up +again as composedly as if he had just landed. + +There was at first a slight disposition on the part of the mob to +resent this interference; but John looking particularly strong and +cool, and wearing besides Lord George's livery, they thought better +of it, and contented themselves with sending a shower of small +missiles after the boat, which plashed harmlessly in the water; +for she had by this time cleared the bridge, and was darting +swiftly down the centre of the stream. + +From this amusement, they proceeded to giving Protestant knocks at +the doors of private houses, breaking a few lamps, and assaulting +some stray constables. But, it being whispered that a detachment +of Life Guards had been sent for, they took to their heels with +great expedition, and left the street quite clear. + + + +Chapter 44 + + +When the concourse separated, and, dividing into chance clusters, +drew off in various directions, there still remained upon the scene +of the late disturbance, one man. This man was Gashford, who, +bruised by his late fall, and hurt in a much greater degree by the +indignity he had undergone, and the exposure of which he had been +the victim, limped up and down, breathing curses and threats of +vengeance. + +It was not the secretary's nature to waste his wrath in words. +While he vented the froth of his malevolence in those effusions, he +kept a steady eye on two men, who, having disappeared with the rest +when the alarm was spread, had since returned, and were now visible +in the moonlight, at no great distance, as they walked to and fro, +and talked together. + +He made no move towards them, but waited patiently on the dark side +of the street, until they were tired of strolling backwards and +forwards and walked away in company. Then he followed, but at some +distance: keeping them in view, without appearing to have that +object, or being seen by them. + +They went up Parliament Street, past Saint Martin's church, and +away by Saint Giles's to Tottenham Court Road, at the back of +which, upon the western side, was then a place called the Green +Lanes. This was a retired spot, not of the choicest kind, leading +into the fields. Great heaps of ashes; stagnant pools, overgrown +with rank grass and duckweed; broken turnstiles; and the upright +posts of palings long since carried off for firewood, which menaced +all heedless walkers with their jagged and rusty nails; were the +leading features of the landscape: while here and there a donkey, +or a ragged horse, tethered to a stake, and cropping off a wretched +meal from the coarse stunted turf, were quite in keeping with the +scene, and would have suggested (if the houses had not done so, +sufficiently, of themselves) how very poor the people were who +lived in the crazy huts adjacent, and how foolhardy it might prove +for one who carried money, or wore decent clothes, to walk that way +alone, unless by daylight. + +Poverty has its whims and shows of taste, as wealth has. Some of +these cabins were turreted, some had false windows painted on their +rotten walls; one had a mimic clock, upon a crazy tower of four +feet high, which screened the chimney; each in its little patch of +ground had a rude seat or arbour. The population dealt in bones, +in rags, in broken glass, in old wheels, in birds, and dogs. +These, in their several ways of stowage, filled the gardens; and +shedding a perfume, not of the most delicious nature, in the air, +filled it besides with yelps, and screams, and howling. + +Into this retreat, the secretary followed the two men whom he had +held in sight; and here he saw them safely lodged, in one of the +meanest houses, which was but a room, and that of small dimensions. +He waited without, until the sound of their voices, joined in a +discordant song, assured him they were making merry; and then +approaching the door, by means of a tottering plank which crossed +the ditch in front, knocked at it with his hand. + +'Muster Gashfordl' said the man who opened it, taking his pipe from +his mouth, in evident surprise. 'Why, who'd have thought of this +here honour! Walk in, Muster Gashford--walk in, sir.' + +Gashford required no second invitation, and entered with a gracious +air. There was a fire in the rusty grate (for though the spring +was pretty far advanced, the nights were cold), and on a stool +beside it Hugh sat smoking. Dennis placed a chair, his only one, +for the secretary, in front of the hearth; and took his seat again +upon the stool he had left when he rose to give the visitor +admission. + +'What's in the wind now, Muster Gashford?' he said, as he resumed +his pipe, and looked at him askew. 'Any orders from head-quarters? +Are we going to begin? What is it, Muster Gashford?' + +'Oh, nothing, nothing,' rejoined the secretary, with a friendly nod +to Hugh. 'We have broken the ice, though. We had a little spurt +to-day--eh, Dennis?' + +'A very little one,' growled the hangman. 'Not half enough for me.' + +'Nor me neither!' cried Hugh. 'Give us something to do with life +in it--with life in it, master. Ha, ha!' + +'Why, you wouldn't,' said the secretary, with his worst expression +of face, and in his mildest tones, 'have anything to do, with--with +death in it?' + +'I don't know that,' replied Hugh. 'I'm open to orders. I don't +care; not I.' + +'Nor I!' vociferated Dennis. + +'Brave fellows!' said the secretary, in as pastor-like a voice as +if he were commending them for some uncommon act of valour and +generosity. 'By the bye'--and here he stopped and warmed his +hands: then suddenly looked up--'who threw that stone to-day?' + +Mr Dennis coughed and shook his head, as who should say, 'A mystery +indeed!' Hugh sat and smoked in silence. + +'It was well done!' said the secretary, warming his hands again. +'I should like to know that man.' + +'Would you?' said Dennis, after looking at his face to assure +himself that he was serious. 'Would you like to know that man, +Muster Gashford?' + +'I should indeed,' replied the secretary. + +'Why then, Lord love you,' said the hangman, in his hoarest +chuckle, as he pointed with his pipe to Hugh, 'there he sits. +That's the man. My stars and halters, Muster Gashford,' he added +in a whisper, as he drew his stool close to him and jogged him with +his elbow, 'what a interesting blade he is! He wants as much +holding in as a thorough-bred bulldog. If it hadn't been for me +to-day, he'd have had that 'ere Roman down, and made a riot of it, +in another minute.' + +'And why not?' cried Hugh in a surly voice, as he overheard this +last remark. 'Where's the good of putting things off? Strike +while the iron's hot; that's what I say.' + +'Ah!' retorted Dennis, shaking his head, with a kind of pity for +his friend's ingenuous youth; 'but suppose the iron an't hot, +brother! You must get people's blood up afore you strike, and have +'em in the humour. There wasn't quite enough to provoke 'em to- +day, I tell you. If you'd had your way, you'd have spoilt the fun +to come, and ruined us.' + +'Dennis is quite right,' said Gashford, smoothly. 'He is +perfectly correct. Dennis has great knowledge of the world.' + +'I ought to have, Muster Gashford, seeing what a many people I've +helped out of it, eh?' grinned the hangman, whispering the words +behind his hand. + +The secretary laughed at this jest as much as Dennis could desire, +and when he had done, said, turning to Hugh: + +'Dennis's policy was mine, as you may have observed. You saw, for +instance, how I fell when I was set upon. I made no resistance. I +did nothing to provoke an outbreak. Oh dear no!' + +'No, by the Lord Harry!' cried Dennis with a noisy laugh, 'you went +down very quiet, Muster Gashford--and very flat besides. I thinks +to myself at the time "it's all up with Muster Gashford!" I never +see a man lay flatter nor more still--with the life in him--than +you did to-day. He's a rough 'un to play with, is that 'ere +Papist, and that's the fact.' + +The secretary's face, as Dennis roared with laughter, and turned +his wrinkled eyes on Hugh who did the like, might have furnished a +study for the devil's picture. He sat quite silent until they +were serious again, and then said, looking round: + +'We are very pleasant here; so very pleasant, Dennis, that but for +my lord's particular desire that I should sup with him, and the +time being very near at hand, I should he inclined to stay, until +it would be hardly safe to go homeward. I come upon a little +business--yes, I do--as you supposed. It's very flattering to you; +being this. If we ever should be obliged--and we can't tell, you +know--this is a very uncertain world'-- + +'I believe you, Muster Gashford,' interposed the hangman with a +grave nod. 'The uncertainties as I've seen in reference to this +here state of existence, the unexpected contingencies as have come +about!--Oh my eye!' Feeling the subject much too vast for +expression, he puffed at his pipe again, and looked the rest. + +'I say,' resumed the secretary, in a slow, impressive way; 'we +can't tell what may come to pass; and if we should be obliged, +against our wills, to have recourse to violence, my lord (who has +suffered terribly to-day, as far as words can go) consigns to you +two--bearing in mind my recommendation of you both, as good staunch +men, beyond all doubt and suspicion--the pleasant task of +punishing this Haredale. You may do as you please with him, or +his, provided that you show no mercy, and no quarter, and leave no +two beams of his house standing where the builder placed them. You +may sack it, burn it, do with it as you like, but it must come +down; it must be razed to the ground; and he, and all belonging to +him, left as shelterless as new-born infants whom their mothers +have exposed. Do you understand me?' said Gashford, pausing, and +pressing his hands together gently. + +'Understand you, master!' cried Hugh. 'You speak plain now. Why, +this is hearty!' + +'I knew you would like it,' said Gashford, shaking him by the hand; +'I thought you would. Good night! Don't rise, Dennis: I would +rather find my way alone. I may have to make other visits here, +and it's pleasant to come and go without disturbing you. I can +find my way perfectly well. Good night!' + +He was gone, and had shut the door behind him. They looked at each +other, and nodded approvingly: Dennis stirred up the fire. + +'This looks a little more like business!' he said. + +'Ay, indeed!' cried Hugh; 'this suits me!' + +'I've heerd it said of Muster Gashford,' said the hangman, 'that +he'd a surprising memory and wonderful firmness--that he never +forgot, and never forgave.--Let's drink his health!' + +Hugh readily complied--pouring no liquor on the floor when he drank +this toast--and they pledged the secretary as a man after their own +hearts, in a bumper. + + + +Chapter 45 + + +While the worst passions of the worst men were thus working in the +dark, and the mantle of religion, assumed to cover the ugliest +deformities, threatened to become the shroud of all that was good +and peaceful in society, a circumstance occurred which once more +altered the position of two persons from whom this history has long +been separated, and to whom it must now return. + +In a small English country town, the inhabitants of which supported +themselves by the labour of their hands in plaiting and preparing +straw for those who made bonnets and other articles of dress and +ornament from that material,--concealed under an assumed name, and +living in a quiet poverty which knew no change, no pleasures, and +few cares but that of struggling on from day to day in one great +toil for bread,--dwelt Barnaby and his mother. Their poor cottage +had known no stranger's foot since they sought the shelter of its +roof five years before; nor had they in all that time held any +commerce or communication with the old world from which they had +fled. To labour in peace, and devote her labour and her life to +her poor son, was all the widow sought. If happiness can be said +at any time to be the lot of one on whom a secret sorrow preys, she +was happy now. Tranquillity, resignation, and her strong love of +him who needed it so much, formed the small circle of her quiet +joys; and while that remained unbroken, she was contented. + +For Barnaby himself, the time which had flown by, had passed him +like the wind. The daily suns of years had shed no brighter gleam +of reason on his mind; no dawn had broken on his long, dark night. +He would sit sometimes--often for days together on a low seat by +the fire or by the cottage door, busy at work (for he had learnt +the art his mother plied), and listening, God help him, to the +tales she would repeat, as a lure to keep him in her sight. He had +no recollection of these little narratives; the tale of yesterday +was new to him upon the morrow; but he liked them at the moment; +and when the humour held him, would remain patiently within doors, +hearing her stories like a little child, and working cheerfully +from sunrise until it was too dark to see. + +At other times,--and then their scanty earnings were barely +sufficient to furnish them with food, though of the coarsest sort,-- +he would wander abroad from dawn of day until the twilight +deepened into night. Few in that place, even of the children, +could be idle, and he had no companions of his own kind. Indeed +there were not many who could have kept up with him in his rambles, +had there been a legion. But there were a score of vagabond dogs +belonging to the neighbours, who served his purpose quite as well. +With two or three of these, or sometimes with a full half-dozen +barking at his heels, he would sally forth on some long expedition +that consumed the day; and though, on their return at nightfall, +the dogs would come home limping and sore-footed, and almost spent +with their fatigue, Barnaby was up and off again at sunrise with +some new attendants of the same class, with whom he would return in +like manner. On all these travels, Grip, in his little basket at +his master's back, was a constant member of the party, and when +they set off in fine weather and in high spirits, no dog barked +louder than the raven. + +Their pleasures on these excursions were simple enough. A crust of +bread and scrap of meat, with water from the brook or spring, +sufficed for their repast. Barnaby's enjoyments were, to walk, and +run, and leap, till he was tired; then to lie down in the long +grass, or by the growing corn, or in the shade of some tall tree, +looking upward at the light clouds as they floated over the blue +surface of the sky, and listening to the lark as she poured out her +brilliant song. There were wild-flowers to pluck--the bright red +poppy, the gentle harebell, the cowslip, and the rose. There were +birds to watch; fish; ants; worms; hares or rabbits, as they darted +across the distant pathway in the wood and so were gone: millions +of living things to have an interest in, and lie in wait for, and +clap hands and shout in memory of, when they had disappeared. In +default of these, or when they wearied, there was the merry +sunlight to hunt out, as it crept in aslant through leaves and +boughs of trees, and hid far down--deep, deep, in hollow places-- +like a silver pool, where nodding branches seemed to bathe and +sport; sweet scents of summer air breathing over fields of beans or +clover; the perfume of wet leaves or moss; the life of waving +trees, and shadows always changing. When these or any of them +tired, or in excess of pleasing tempted him to shut his eyes, there +was slumber in the midst of all these soft delights, with the +gentle wind murmuring like music in his ears, and everything around +melting into one delicious dream. + +Their hut--for it was little more--stood on the outskirts of the +town, at a short distance from the high road, but in a secluded +place, where few chance passengers strayed at any season of the +year. It had a plot of garden-ground attached, which Barnaby, in +fits and starts of working, trimmed, and kept in order. Within +doors and without, his mother laboured for their common good; and +hail, rain, snow, or sunshine, found no difference in her. + +Though so far removed from the scenes of her past life, and with so +little thought or hope of ever visiting them again, she seemed to +have a strange desire to know what happened in the busy world. Any +old newspaper, or scrap of intelligence from London, she caught at +with avidity. The excitement it produced was not of a pleasurable +kind, for her manner at such times expressed the keenest anxiety +and dread; but it never faded in the least degree. Then, and in +stormy winter nights, when the wind blew loud and strong, the old +expression came into her face, and she would be seized with a fit +of trembling, like one who had an ague. But Barnaby noted little +of this; and putting a great constraint upon herself, she usually +recovered her accustomed manner before the change had caught his +observation. + +Grip was by no means an idle or unprofitable member of the humble +household. Partly by dint of Barnaby's tuition, and partly by +pursuing a species of self-instruction common to his tribe, and +exerting his powers of observation to the utmost, he had acquired a +degree of sagacity which rendered him famous for miles round. His +conversational powers and surprising performances were the +universal theme: and as many persons came to see the wonderful +raven, and none left his exertions unrewarded--when he condescended +to exhibit, which was not always, for genius is capricious--his +earnings formed an important item in the common stock. Indeed, the +bird himself appeared to know his value well; for though he was +perfectly free and unrestrained in the presence of Barnaby and his +mother, he maintained in public an amazing gravity, and never +stooped to any other gratuitous performances than biting the ankles +of vagabond boys (an exercise in which he much delighted), killing +a fowl or two occasionally, and swallowing the dinners of various +neighbouring dogs, of whom the boldest held him in great awe and +dread. + +Time had glided on in this way, and nothing had happened to disturb +or change their mode of life, when, one summer's night in June, +they were in their little garden, resting from the labours of the +day. The widow's work was yet upon her knee, and strewn upon the +ground about her; and Barnaby stood leaning on his spade, gazing at +the brightness in the west, and singing softly to himself. + +'A brave evening, mother! If we had, chinking in our pockets, but +a few specks of that gold which is piled up yonder in the sky, we +should be rich for life.' + +'We are better as we are,' returned the widow with a quiet smile. +'Let us be contented, and we do not want and need not care to have +it, though it lay shining at our feet.' + +'Ay!' said Barnaby, resting with crossed arms on his spade, and +looking wistfully at the sunset, that's well enough, mother; but +gold's a good thing to have. I wish that I knew where to find it. +Grip and I could do much with gold, be sure of that.' + +'What would you do?' she asked. + +'What! A world of things. We'd dress finely--you and I, I mean; +not Grip--keep horses, dogs, wear bright colours and feathers, do +no more work, live delicately and at our ease. Oh, we'd find uses +for it, mother, and uses that would do us good. I would I knew +where gold was buried. How hard I'd work to dig it up!' + +'You do not know,' said his mother, rising from her seat and laying +her hand upon his shoulder, 'what men have done to win it, and how +they have found, too late, that it glitters brightest at a +distance, and turns quite dim and dull when handled.' + +'Ay, ay; so you say; so you think,' he answered, still looking +eagerly in the same direction. 'For all that, mother, I should +like to try.' + +'Do you not see,' she said, 'how red it is? Nothing bears so many +stains of blood, as gold. Avoid it. None have such cause to hate +its name as we have. Do not so much as think of it, dear love. It +has brought such misery and suffering on your head and mine as few +have known, and God grant few may have to undergo. I would rather +we were dead and laid down in our graves, than you should ever come +to love it.' + +For a moment Barnaby withdrew his eyes and looked at her with +wonder. Then, glancing from the redness in the sky to the mark +upon his wrist as if he would compare the two, he seemed about to +question her with earnestness, when a new object caught his +wandering attention, and made him quite forgetful of his purpose. + +This was a man with dusty feet and garments, who stood, bare- +headed, behind the hedge that divided their patch of garden from +the pathway, and leant meekly forward as if he sought to mingle +with their conversation, and waited for his time to speak. His +face was turned towards the brightness, too, but the light that +fell upon it showed that he was blind, and saw it not. + +'A blessing on those voices!' said the wayfarer. 'I feel the +beauty of the night more keenly, when I hear them. They are like +eyes to me. Will they speak again, and cheer the heart of a poor +traveller?' + +'Have you no guide?' asked the widow, after a moment's pause. + +'None but that,' he answered, pointing with his staff towards the +sun; 'and sometimes a milder one at night, but she is idle now.' + +'Have you travelled far?' + +'A weary way and long,' rejoined the traveller as he shook his +head. 'A weary, weary, way. I struck my stick just now upon the +bucket of your well--be pleased to let me have a draught of water, +lady.' + +'Why do you call me lady?' she returned. 'I am as poor as you.' + +'Your speech is soft and gentle, and I judge by that,' replied the +man. 'The coarsest stuffs and finest silks, are--apart from the +sense of touch--alike to me. I cannot judge you by your dress.' + +'Come round this way,' said Barnaby, who had passed out at the +garden-gate and now stood close beside him. 'Put your hand in +mine. You're blind and always in the dark, eh? Are you frightened +in the dark? Do you see great crowds of faces, now? Do they grin +and chatter?' + +'Alas!' returned the other, 'I see nothing. Waking or sleeping, +nothing.' + +Barnaby looked curiously at his eyes, and touching them with his +fingers, as an inquisitive child might, led him towards the house. + +'You have come a long distance, 'said the widow, meeting him at the +door. 'How have you found your way so far?' + +'Use and necessity are good teachers, as I have heard--the best of +any,' said the blind man, sitting down upon the chair to which +Barnaby had led him, and putting his hat and stick upon the red- +tiled floor. 'May neither you nor your son ever learn under them. +They are rough masters.' + +'You have wandered from the road, too,' said the widow, in a tone +of pity. + +'Maybe, maybe,' returned the blind man with a sigh, and yet with +something of a smile upon his face, 'that's likely. Handposts and +milestones are dumb, indeed, to me. Thank you the more for this +rest, and this refreshing drink!' + +As he spoke, he raised the mug of water to his mouth. It was +clear, and cold, and sparkling, but not to his taste nevertheless, +or his thirst was not very great, for he only wetted his lips and +put it down again. + +He wore, hanging with a long strap round his neck, a kind of scrip +or wallet, in which to carry food. The widow set some bread and +cheese before him, but he thanked her, and said that through the +kindness of the charitable he had broken his fast once since +morning, and was not hungry. When he had made her this reply, he +opened his wallet, and took out a few pence, which was all it +appeared to contain. + +'Might I make bold to ask,' he said, turning towards where Barnaby +stood looking on, 'that one who has the gift of sight, would lay +this out for me in bread to keep me on my way? Heaven's blessing +on the young feet that will bestir themselves in aid of one so +helpless as a sightless man!' + +Barnaby looked at his mother, who nodded assent; in another moment +he was gone upon his charitable errand. The blind man sat +listening with an attentive face, until long after the sound of his +retreating footsteps was inaudible to the widow, and then said, +suddenly, and in a very altered tone: + +'There are various degrees and kinds of blindness, widow. There +is the connubial blindness, ma'am, which perhaps you may have +observed in the course of your own experience, and which is a kind +of wilful and self-bandaging blindness. There is the blindness of +party, ma'am, and public men, which is the blindness of a mad bull +in the midst of a regiment of soldiers clothed in red. There is +the blind confidence of youth, which is the blindness of young +kittens, whose eyes have not yet opened on the world; and there is +that physical blindness, ma'am, of which I am, contrairy to my own +desire, a most illustrious example. Added to these, ma'am, is that +blindness of the intellect, of which we have a specimen in your +interesting son, and which, having sometimes glimmerings and +dawnings of the light, is scarcely to be trusted as a total +darkness. Therefore, ma'am, I have taken the liberty to get him +out of the way for a short time, while you and I confer together, +and this precaution arising out of the delicacy of my sentiments +towards yourself, you will excuse me, ma'am, I know.' + +Having delivered himself of this speech with many flourishes of +manner, he drew from beneath his coat a flat stone bottle, and +holding the cork between his teeth, qualified his mug of water with +a plentiful infusion of the liquor it contained. He politely +drained the bumper to her health, and the ladies, and setting it +down empty, smacked his lips with infinite relish. + +'I am a citizen of the world, ma'am,' said the blind man, corking +his bottle, 'and if I seem to conduct myself with freedom, it is +therefore. You wonder who I am, ma'am, and what has brought me +here. Such experience of human nature as I have, leads me to that +conclusion, without the aid of eyes by which to read the movements +of your soul as depicted in your feminine features. I will +satisfy your curiosity immediately, ma'am; immediately.' With +that he slapped his bottle on its broad back, and having put it +under his garment as before, crossed his legs and folded his hands, +and settled himself in his chair, previous to proceeding any +further. + +The change in his manner was so unexpected, the craft and +wickedness of his deportment were so much aggravated by his +condition--for we are accustomed to see in those who have lost a +human sense, something in its place almost divine--and this +alteration bred so many fears in her whom he addressed, that she +could not pronounce one word. After waiting, as it seemed, for +some remark or answer, and waiting in vain, the visitor resumed: + +'Madam, my name is Stagg. A friend of mine who has desired the +honour of meeting with you any time these five years past, has +commissioned me to call upon you. I should be glad to whisper that +gentleman's name in your ear.--Zounds, ma'am, are you deaf? Do you +hear me say that I should be glad to whisper my friend's name in +your ear?' + +'You need not repeat it,' said the widow, with a stifled groan; 'I +see too well from whom you come.' + +'But as a man of honour, ma'am,' said the blind man, striking +himself on the breast, 'whose credentials must not be disputed, I +take leave to say that I WILL mention that gentleman's name. Ay, +ay,' he added, seeming to catch with his quick ear the very motion +of her hand, 'but not aloud. With your leave, ma'am, I desire the +favour of a whisper.' + +She moved towards him, and stooped down. He muttered a word in her +ear; and, wringing her hands, she paced up and down the room like +one distracted. The blind man, with perfect composure, produced +his bottle again, mixed another glassful; put it up as before; and, +drinking from time to time, followed her with his face in silence. + +'You are slow in conversation, widow,' he said after a time, +pausing in his draught. 'We shall have to talk before your son.' + +'What would you have me do?' she answered. 'What do you want?' + +'We are poor, widow, we are poor,' he retorted, stretching out his +right hand, and rubbing his thumb upon its palm. + +'Poor!' she cried. 'And what am I?' + +'Comparisons are odious,' said the blind man. 'I don't know, I +don't care. I say that we are poor. My friend's circumstances are +indifferent, and so are mine. We must have our rights, widow, or +we must be bought off. But you know that, as well as I, so where +is the use of talking?' + +She still walked wildly to and fro. At length, stopping abruptly +before him, she said: + +'Is he near here?' + +'He is. Close at hand.' + +'Then I am lost!' + +'Not lost, widow,' said the blind man, calmly; 'only found. Shall +I call him?' + +'Not for the world,' she answered, with a shudder. + +'Very good,' he replied, crossing his legs again, for he had made +as though he would rise and walk to the door. 'As you please, +widow. His presence is not necessary that I know of. But both he +and I must live; to live, we must eat and drink; to eat and drink, +we must have money:--I say no more.' + +'Do you know how pinched and destitute I am?' she retorted. 'I do +not think you do, or can. If you had eyes, and could look around +you on this poor place, you would have pity on me. Oh! let your +heart be softened by your own affliction, friend, and have some +sympathy with mine.' + +The blind man snapped his fingers as he answered: + +'--Beside the question, ma'am, beside the question. I have the +softest heart in the world, but I can't live upon it. Many a +gentleman lives well upon a soft head, who would find a heart of +the same quality a very great drawback. Listen to me. This is a +matter of business, with which sympathies and sentiments have +nothing to do. As a mutual friend, I wish to arrange it in a +satisfactory manner, if possible; and thus the case stands.--If you +are very poor now, it's your own choice. You have friends who, in +case of need, are always ready to help you. My friend is in a more +destitute and desolate situation than most men, and, you and he +being linked together in a common cause, he naturally looks to you +to assist him. He has boarded and lodged with me a long time (for +as I said just now, I am very soft-hearted), and I quite approve of +his entertaining this opinion. You have always had a roof over +your head; he has always been an outcast. You have your son to +comfort and assist you; he has nobody at all. The advantages must +not be all one side. You are in the same boat, and we must divide +the ballast a little more equally.' + +She was about to speak, but he checked her, and went on. + +'The only way of doing this, is by making up a little purse now and +then for my friend; and that's what I advise. He bears you no +malice that I know of, ma'am: so little, that although you have +treated him harshly more than once, and driven him, I may say, out +of doors, he has that regard for you that I believe even if you +disappointed him now, he would consent to take charge of your son, +and to make a man of him.' + +He laid a great stress on these latter words, and paused as if to +find out what effect they had produced. She only answered by her +tears. + +'He is a likely lad,' said the blind man, thoughtfully, 'for many +purposes, and not ill-disposed to try his fortune in a little +change and bustle, if I may judge from what I heard of his talk +with you to-night.--Come. In a word, my friend has pressing +necessity for twenty pounds. You, who can give up an annuity, can +get that sum for him. It's a pity you should be troubled. You +seem very comfortable here, and it's worth that much to remain so. +Twenty pounds, widow, is a moderate demand. You know where to +apply for it; a post will bring it you.--Twenty pounds!' + +She was about to answer him again, but again he stopped her. + +'Don't say anything hastily; you might be sorry for it. Think of +it a little while. Twenty pounds--of other people's money--how +easy! Turn it over in your mind. I'm in no hurry. Night's coming +on, and if I don't sleep here, I shall not go far. Twenty pounds! +Consider of it, ma'am, for twenty minutes; give each pound a +minute; that's a fair allowance. I'll enjoy the air the while, +which is very mild and pleasant in these parts.' + +With these words he groped his way to the door, carrying his chair +with him. Then seating himself, under a spreading honeysuckle, and +stretching his legs across the threshold so that no person could +pass in or out without his knowledge, he took from his pocket a +pipe, flint, steel and tinder-box, and began to smoke. It was a +lovely evening, of that gentle kind, and at that time of year, when +the twilight is most beautiful. Pausing now and then to let his +smoke curl slowly off, and to sniff the grateful fragrance of the +flowers, he sat there at his ease--as though the cottage were his +proper dwelling, and he had held undisputed possession of it all +his life--waiting for the widow's answer and for Barnaby's return. + + + +Chapter 46 + + +When Barnaby returned with the bread, the sight of the pious old +pilgrim smoking his pipe and making himself so thoroughly at home, +appeared to surprise even him; the more so, as that worthy person, +instead of putting up the loaf in his wallet as a scarce and +precious article, tossed it carelessly on the table, and producing +his bottle, bade him sit down and drink. + +'For I carry some comfort, you see,' he said. 'Taste that. Is it +good?' + +The water stood in Barnaby's eyes as he coughed from the strength +of the draught, and answered in the affirmative. + +'Drink some more,' said the blind man; 'don't be afraid of it. +You don't taste anything like that, often, eh?' + +'Often!' cried Barnaby. 'Never!' + +'Too poor?' returned the blind man with a sigh. 'Ay. That's bad. +Your mother, poor soul, would be happier if she was richer, +Barnaby.' + +'Why, so I tell her--the very thing I told her just before you came +to-night, when all that gold was in the sky,' said Barnaby, drawing +his chair nearer to him, and looking eagerly in his face. 'Tell +me. Is there any way of being rich, that I could find out?' + +'Any way! A hundred ways.' + +'Ay, ay?' he returned. 'Do you say so? What are they?--Nay, +mother, it's for your sake I ask; not mine;--for yours, indeed. +What are they?' + +The blind man turned his face, on which there was a smile of +triumph, to where the widow stood in great distress; and answered, + +'Why, they are not to be found out by stay-at-homes, my good +friend.' + +'By stay-at-homes!' cried Barnaby, plucking at his sleeve. 'But I +am not one. Now, there you mistake. I am often out before the +sun, and travel home when he has gone to rest. I am away in the +woods before the day has reached the shady places, and am often +there when the bright moon is peeping through the boughs, and +looking down upon the other moon that lives in the water. As I +walk along, I try to find, among the grass and moss, some of that +small money for which she works so hard and used to shed so many +tears. As I lie asleep in the shade, I dream of it--dream of +digging it up in heaps; and spying it out, hidden under bushes; and +seeing it sparkle, as the dew-drops do, among the leaves. But I +never find it. Tell me where it is. I'd go there, if the journey +were a whole year long, because I know she would be happier when I +came home and brought some with me. Speak again. I'll listen to +you if you talk all night.' + +The blind man passed his hand lightly over the poor fellow's face, +and finding that his elbows were planted on the table, that his +chin rested on his two hands, that he leaned eagerly forward, and +that his whole manner expressed the utmost interest and anxiety, +paused for a minute as though he desired the widow to observe this +fully, and then made answer: + +'It's in the world, bold Barnaby, the merry world; not in solitary +places like those you pass your time in, but in crowds, and where +there's noise and rattle.' + +'Good! good!' cried Barnaby, rubbing his hands. 'Yes! I love +that. Grip loves it too. It suits us both. That's brave!' + +'--The kind of places,' said the blind man, 'that a young fellow +likes, and in which a good son may do more for his mother, and +himself to boot, in a month, than he could here in all his life-- +that is, if he had a friend, you know, and some one to advise +with.' + +'You hear this, mother?' cried Barnaby, turning to her with +delight. 'Never tell me we shouldn't heed it, if it lay shining +at out feet. Why do we heed it so much now? Why do you toil from +morning until night?' + +'Surely,' said the blind man, 'surely. Have you no answer, widow? +Is your mind,' he slowly added, 'not made up yet?' + +'Let me speak with you,' she answered, 'apart.' + +'Lay your hand upon my sleeve,' said Stagg, arising from the table; +'and lead me where you will. Courage, bold Barnaby. We'll talk +more of this: I've a fancy for you. Wait there till I come back. +Now, widow.' + +She led him out at the door, and into the little garden, where they +stopped. + +'You are a fit agent,' she said, in a half breathless manner, 'and +well represent the man who sent you here.' + +'I'll tell him that you said so,' Stagg retorted. 'He has a regard +for you, and will respect me the more (if possible) for your +praise. We must have our rights, widow.' + +'Rights! Do you know,' she said, 'that a word from me--' + +'Why do you stop?' returned the blind man calmly, after a long +pause. 'Do I know that a word from you would place my friend in +the last position of the dance of life? Yes, I do. What of that? +It will never be spoken, widow.' + +'You are sure of that?' + +'Quite--so sure, that I don't come here to discuss the question. I +say we must have our rights, or we must be bought off. Keep to +that point, or let me return to my young friend, for I have an +interest in the lad, and desire to put him in the way of making his +fortune. Bah! you needn't speak,' he added hastily; 'I know what +you would say: you have hinted at it once already. Have I no +feeling for you, because I am blind? No, I have not. Why do you +expect me, being in darkness, to be better than men who have their +sight--why should you? Is the hand of Heaven more manifest in my +having no eyes, than in your having two? It's the cant of you +folks to be horrified if a blind man robs, or lies, or steals; oh +yes, it's far worse in him, who can barely live on the few +halfpence that are thrown to him in streets, than in you, who can +see, and work, and are not dependent on the mercies of the world. +A curse on you! You who have five senses may be wicked at your +pleasure; we who have four, and want the most important, are to +live and be moral on our affliction. The true charity and justice +of rich to poor, all the world over!' + +He paused a moment when he had said these words, and caught the +sound of money, jingling in her hand. + +'Well?' he cried, quickly resuming his former manner. 'That should +lead to something. The point, widow?' + +'First answer me one question,' she replied. 'You say he is close +at hand. Has he left London?' + +'Being close at hand, widow, it would seem he has,' returned the +blind man. + +'I mean, for good? You know that.' + +'Yes, for good. The truth is, widow, that his making a longer stay +there might have had disagreeable consequences. He has come away +for that reason.' + +'Listen,' said the widow, telling some money out, upon a bench +beside them. 'Count.' + +'Six,' said the blind man, listening attentively. 'Any more?' + +'They are the savings,' she answered, 'of five years. Six +guineas.' + +He put out his hand for one of the coins; felt it carefully, put it +between his teeth, rung it on the bench; and nodded to her to +proceed. + +'These have been scraped together and laid by, lest sickness or +death should separate my son and me. They have been purchased at +the price of much hunger, hard labour, and want of rest. If you +CAN take them--do--on condition that you leave this place upon the +instant, and enter no more into that room, where he sits now, +expecting your return.' + +'Six guineas,' said the blind man, shaking his head, 'though of the +fullest weight that were ever coined, fall very far short of twenty +pounds, widow.' + +'For such a sum, as you know, I must write to a distant part of the +country. To do that, and receive an answer, I must have time.' + +'Two days?' said Stagg. + +'More.' + +'Four days?' + +'A week. Return on this day week, at the same hour, but not to the +house. Wait at the corner of the lane.' + +'Of course,' said the blind man, with a crafty look, 'I shall find +you there?' + +'Where else can I take refuge? Is it not enough that you have made +a beggar of me, and that I have sacrificed my whole store, so +hardly earned, to preserve this home?' + +'Humph!' said the blind man, after some consideration. 'Set me +with my face towards the point you speak of, and in the middle of +the road. Is this the spot?' + +'It is.' + +'On this day week at sunset. And think of him within doors.--For +the present, good night.' + +She made him no answer, nor did he stop for any. He went slowly +away, turning his head from time to time, and stopping to listen, +as if he were curious to know whether he was watched by any one. +The shadows of night were closing fast around, and he was soon lost +in the gloom. It was not, however, until she had traversed the +lane from end to end, and made sure that he was gone, that she re- +entered the cottage, and hurriedly barred the door and window. + +'Mother!' said Barnaby. 'What is the matter? Where is the blind +man?' + +'He is gone.' + +'Gone!' he cried, starting up. 'I must have more talk with him. +Which way did he take?' + +'I don't know,' she answered, folding her arms about him. 'You +must not go out to-night. There are ghosts and dreams abroad.' + +'Ay?' said Barnaby, in a frightened whisper. + +'It is not safe to stir. We must leave this place to-morrow.' + +'This place! This cottage--and the little garden, mother!' + +'Yes! To-morrow morning at sunrise. We must travel to London; +lose ourselves in that wide place--there would be some trace of us +in any other town--then travel on again, and find some new abode.' + +Little persuasion was required to reconcile Barnaby to anything +that promised change. In another minute, he was wild with delight; +in another, full of grief at the prospect of parting with his +friends the dogs; in another, wild again; then he was fearful of +what she had said to prevent his wandering abroad that night, and +full of terrors and strange questions. His light-heartedness in +the end surmounted all his other feelings, and lying down in his +clothes to the end that he might be ready on the morrow, he soon +fell fast asleep before the poor turf fire. + +His mother did not close her eyes, but sat beside him, watching. +Every breath of wind sounded in her ears like that dreaded footstep +at the door, or like that hand upon the latch, and made the calm +summer night, a night of horror. At length the welcome day +appeared. When she had made the little preparations which were +needful for their journey, and had prayed upon her knees with many +tears, she roused Barnaby, who jumped up gaily at her summons. + +His clothes were few enough, and to carry Grip was a labour of +love. As the sun shed his earliest beams upon the earth, they +closed the door of their deserted home, and turned away. The sky +was blue and bright. The air was fresh and filled with a thousand +perfumes. Barnaby looked upward, and laughed with all his heart. + +But it was a day he usually devoted to a long ramble, and one of +the dogs--the ugliest of them all--came bounding up, and jumping +round him in the fulness of his joy. He had to bid him go back in +a surly tone, and his heart smote him while he did so. The dog +retreated; turned with a half-incredulous, half-imploring look; +came a little back; and stopped. + +It was the last appeal of an old companion and a faithful friend-- +cast off. Barnaby could bear no more, and as he shook his head and +waved his playmate home, he burst into tears. + +'Oh mother, mother, how mournful he will be when he scratches at +the door, and finds it always shut!' + +There was such a sense of home in the thought, that though her own +eyes overflowed she would not have obliterated the recollection of +it, either from her own mind or from his, for the wealth of the +whole wide world. + + + +Chapter 47 + + +In the exhaustless catalogue of Heaven's mercies to mankind, the +power we have of finding some germs of comfort in the hardest +trials must ever occupy the foremost place; not only because it +supports and upholds us when we most require to be sustained, but +because in this source of consolation there is something, we have +reason to believe, of the divine spirit; something of that goodness +which detects amidst our own evil doings, a redeeming quality; +something which, even in our fallen nature, we possess in common +with the angels; which had its being in the old time when they trod +the earth, and lingers on it yet, in pity. + +How often, on their journey, did the widow remember with a grateful +heart, that out of his deprivation Barnaby's cheerfulness and +affection sprung! How often did she call to mind that but for +that, he might have been sullen, morose, unkind, far removed from +her--vicious, perhaps, and cruel! How often had she cause for +comfort, in his strength, and hope, and in his simple nature! +Those feeble powers of mind which rendered him so soon forgetful of +the past, save in brief gleams and flashes,--even they were a +comfort now. The world to him was full of happiness; in every +tree, and plant, and flower, in every bird, and beast, and tiny +insect whom a breath of summer wind laid low upon the ground, he +had delight. His delight was hers; and where many a wise son would +have made her sorrowful, this poor light-hearted idiot filled her +breast with thankfulness and love. + +Their stock of money was low, but from the hoard she had told into +the blind man's hand, the widow had withheld one guinea. This, +with the few pence she possessed besides, was to two persons of +their frugal habits, a goodly sum in bank. Moreover they had Grip +in company; and when they must otherwise have changed the guinea, +it was but to make him exhibit outside an alehouse door, or in a +village street, or in the grounds or gardens of a mansion of the +better sort, and scores who would have given nothing in charity, +were ready to bargain for more amusement from the talking bird. + +One day--for they moved slowly, and although they had many rides in +carts and waggons, were on the road a week--Barnaby, with Grip upon +his shoulder and his mother following, begged permission at a trim +lodge to go up to the great house, at the other end of the avenue, +and show his raven. The man within was inclined to give them +admittance, and was indeed about to do so, when a stout gentleman +with a long whip in his hand, and a flushed face which seemed to +indicate that he had had his morning's draught, rode up to the +gate, and called in a loud voice and with more oaths than the +occasion seemed to warrant to have it opened directly. + +'Who hast thou got here?' said the gentleman angrily, as the man +threw the gate wide open, and pulled off his hat, 'who are these? +Eh? art a beggar, woman?' + +The widow answered with a curtsey, that they were poor travellers. + +'Vagrants,' said the gentleman, 'vagrants and vagabonds. Thee +wish to be made acquainted with the cage, dost thee--the cage, the +stocks, and the whipping-post? Where dost come from?' + +She told him in a timid manner,--for he was very loud, hoarse, and +red-faced,--and besought him not to be angry, for they meant no +harm, and would go upon their way that moment. + +'Don't he too sure of that,' replied the gentleman, 'we don't allow +vagrants to roam about this place. I know what thou want'st--- +stray linen drying on hedges, and stray poultry, eh? What hast +got in that basket, lazy hound?' + +'Grip, Grip, Grip--Grip the clever, Grip the wicked, Grip the +knowing--Grip, Grip, Grip,' cried the raven, whom Barnaby had shut +up on the approach of this stern personage. 'I'm a devil I'm a +devil I'm a devil, Never say die Hurrah Bow wow wow, Polly put the +kettle on we'll all have tea.' + +'Take the vermin out, scoundrel,' said the gentleman, 'and let me +see him.' + +Barnaby, thus condescendingly addressed, produced his bird, but not +without much fear and trembling, and set him down upon the ground; +which he had no sooner done than Grip drew fifty corks at least, +and then began to dance; at the same time eyeing the gentleman with +surprising insolence of manner, and screwing his head so much on +one side that he appeared desirous of screwing it off upon the spot. + +The cork-drawing seemed to make a greater impression on the +gentleman's mind, than the raven's power of speech, and was indeed +particularly adapted to his habits and capacity. He desired to +have that done again, but despite his being very peremptory, and +notwithstanding that Barnaby coaxed to the utmost, Grip turned a +deaf ear to the request, and preserved a dead silence. + +'Bring him along,' said the gentleman, pointing to the house. But +Grip, who had watched the action, anticipated his master, by +hopping on before them;--constantly flapping his wings, and +screaming 'cook!' meanwhile, as a hint perhaps that there was +company coming, and a small collation would be acceptable. + +Barnaby and his mother walked on, on either side of the gentleman +on horseback, who surveyed each of them from time to time in a +proud and coarse manner, and occasionally thundered out some +question, the tone of which alarmed Barnaby so much that he could +find no answer, and, as a matter of course, could make him no +reply. On one of these occasions, when the gentleman appeared +disposed to exercise his horsewhip, the widow ventured to inform +him in a low voice and with tears in her eyes, that her son was of +weak mind. + +'An idiot, eh?' said the gentleman, looking at Barnaby as he spoke. +'And how long hast thou been an idiot?' + +'She knows,' was Barnaby's timid answer, pointing to his mother-- +'I--always, I believe.' + +'From his birth,' said the widow. + +'I don't believe it,' cried the gentleman, 'not a bit of it. It's +an excuse not to work. There's nothing like flogging to cure that +disorder. I'd make a difference in him in ten minutes, I'll be +bound.' + +'Heaven has made none in more than twice ten years, sir,' said the +widow mildly. + +'Then why don't you shut him up? we pay enough for county +institutions, damn 'em. But thou'd rather drag him about to +excite charity--of course. Ay, I know thee.' + +Now, this gentleman had various endearing appellations among his +intimate friends. By some he was called 'a country gentleman of +the true school,' by some 'a fine old country gentleman,' by some +'a sporting gentleman,' by some 'a thorough-bred Englishman,' by +some 'a genuine John Bull;' but they all agreed in one respect, and +that was, that it was a pity there were not more like him, and that +because there were not, the country was going to rack and ruin +every day. He was in the commission of the peace, and could write +his name almost legibly; but his greatest qualifications were, that +he was more severe with poachers, was a better shot, a harder +rider, had better horses, kept better dogs, could eat more solid +food, drink more strong wine, go to bed every night more drunk and +get up every morning more sober, than any man in the county. In +knowledge of horseflesh he was almost equal to a farrier, in stable +learning he surpassed his own head groom, and in gluttony not a pig +on his estate was a match for him. He had no seat in Parliament +himself, but he was extremely patriotic, and usually drove his +voters up to the poll with his own hands. He was warmly attached +to church and state, and never appointed to the living in his gift +any but a three-bottle man and a first-rate fox-hunter. He +mistrusted the honesty of all poor people who could read and write, +and had a secret jealousy of his own wife (a young lady whom he had +married for what his friends called 'the good old English reason,' +that her father's property adjoined his own) for possessing those +accomplishments in a greater degree than himself. In short, +Barnaby being an idiot, and Grip a creature of mere brute instinct, +it would be very hard to say what this gentleman was. + +He rode up to the door of a handsome house approached by a great +flight of steps, where a man was waiting to take his horse, and led +the way into a large hall, which, spacious as it was, was tainted +with the fumes of last night's stale debauch. Greatcoats, riding- +whips, bridles, top-boots, spurs, and such gear, were strewn about +on all sides, and formed, with some huge stags' antlers, and a few +portraits of dogs and horses, its principal embellishments. + +Throwing himself into a great chair (in which, by the bye, he often +snored away the night, when he had been, according to his admirers, +a finer country gentleman than usual) he bade the man to tell his +mistress to come down: and presently there appeared, a little +flurried, as it seemed, by the unwonted summons, a lady much +younger than himself, who had the appearance of being in delicate +health, and not too happy. + +'Here! Thou'st no delight in following the hounds as an +Englishwoman should have,' said the gentleman. 'See to this +here. That'll please thee perhaps.' + +The lady smiled, sat down at a little distance from him, and +glanced at Barnaby with a look of pity. + +'He's an idiot, the woman says,' observed the gentleman, shaking +his head; 'I don't believe it.' + +'Are you his mother?' asked the lady. + +She answered yes. + +'What's the use of asking HER?' said the gentleman, thrusting his +hands into his breeches pockets. 'She'll tell thee so, of course. +Most likely he's hired, at so much a day. There. Get on. Make +him do something.' + +Grip having by this time recovered his urbanity, condescended, at +Barnaby's solicitation, to repeat his various phrases of speech, +and to go through the whole of his performances with the utmost +success. The corks, and the never say die, afforded the gentleman +so much delight that he demanded the repetition of this part of the +entertainment, until Grip got into his basket, and positively +refused to say another word, good or bad. The lady too, was much +amused with him; and the closing point of his obstinacy so +delighted her husband that he burst into a roar of laughter, and +demanded his price. + +Barnaby looked as though he didn't understand his meaning. +Probably he did not. + +'His price,' said the gentleman, rattling the money in his pockets, +'what dost want for him? How much?' + +'He's not to be sold,' replied Barnaby, shutting up the basket in a +great hurry, and throwing the strap over his shoulder. 'Mother, +come away.' + +'Thou seest how much of an idiot he is, book-learner,' said the +gentleman, looking scornfully at his wife. 'He can make a bargain. +What dost want for him, old woman?' + +'He is my son's constant companion,' said the widow. 'He is not to +be sold, sir, indeed.' + +'Not to be sold!' cried the gentleman, growing ten times redder, +hoarser, and louder than before. 'Not to be sold!' + +'Indeed no,' she answered. 'We have never thought of parting with +him, sir, I do assure you.' + +He was evidently about to make a very passionate retort, when a few +murmured words from his wife happening to catch his ear, he turned +sharply round, and said, 'Eh? What?' + +'We can hardly expect them to sell the bird, against their own +desire,' she faltered. 'If they prefer to keep him--' + +'Prefer to keep him!' he echoed. 'These people, who go tramping +about the country a-pilfering and vagabondising on all hands, +prefer to keep a bird, when a landed proprietor and a justice asks +his price! That old woman's been to school. I know she has. +Don't tell me no,' he roared to the widow, 'I say, yes.' + +Barnaby's mother pleaded guilty to the accusation, and hoped there +was no harm in it. + +'No harm!' said the gentleman. 'No. No harm. No harm, ye old +rebel, not a bit of harm. If my clerk was here, I'd set ye in the +stocks, I would, or lay ye in jail for prowling up and down, on the +look-out for petty larcenies, ye limb of a gipsy. Here, Simon, put +these pilferers out, shove 'em into the road, out with 'em! Ye +don't want to sell the bird, ye that come here to beg, don't ye? +If they an't out in double-quick, set the dogs upon 'em!' + +They waited for no further dismissal, but fled precipitately, +leaving the gentleman to storm away by himself (for the poor lady +had already retreated), and making a great many vain attempts to +silence Grip, who, excited by the noise, drew corks enough for a +city feast as they hurried down the avenue, and appeared to +congratulate himself beyond measure on having been the cause of the +disturbance. When they had nearly reached the lodge, another +servant, emerging from the shrubbery, feigned to be very active +in ordering them off, but this man put a crown into the widow's +hand, and whispering that his lady sent it, thrust them gently from +the gate. + +This incident only suggested to the widow's mind, when they halted +at an alehouse some miles further on, and heard the justice's +character as given by his friends, that perhaps something more than +capacity of stomach and tastes for the kennel and the stable, were +required to form either a perfect country gentleman, a thoroughbred +Englishman, or a genuine John Bull; and that possibly the terms +were sometimes misappropriated, not to say disgraced. She little +thought then, that a circumstance so slight would ever influence +their future fortunes; but time and experience enlightened her in +this respect. + +'Mother,' said Barnaby, as they were sitting next day in a waggon +which was to take them within ten miles of the capital, 'we're +going to London first, you said. Shall we see that blind man +there?' + +She was about to answer 'Heaven forbid!' but checked herself, and +told him No, she thought not; why did he ask? + +'He's a wise man,' said Barnaby, with a thoughtful countenance. 'I +wish that we may meet with him again. What was it that he said of +crowds? That gold was to be found where people crowded, and not +among the trees and in such quiet places? He spoke as if he loved +it; London is a crowded place; I think we shall meet him there.' + +'But why do you desire to see him, love?' she asked. + +'Because,' said Barnaby, looking wistfully at her, 'he talked to me +about gold, which is a rare thing, and say what you will, a thing +you would like to have, I know. And because he came and went away +so strangely--just as white-headed old men come sometimes to my +bed's foot in the night, and say what I can't remember when the +bright day returns. He told me he'd come back. I wonder why he +broke his word!' + +'But you never thought of being rich or gay, before, dear Barnaby. +You have always been contented.' + +He laughed and bade her say that again, then cried, 'Ay ay--oh +yes,' and laughed once more. Then something passed that caught his +fancy, and the topic wandered from his mind, and was succeeded by +another just as fleeting. + +But it was plain from what he had said, and from his returning to +the point more than once that day, and on the next, that the blind +man's visit, and indeed his words, had taken strong possession of +his mind. Whether the idea of wealth had occurred to him for the +first time on looking at the golden clouds that evening--and images +were often presented to his thoughts by outward objects quite as +remote and distant; or whether their poor and humble way of life +had suggested it, by contrast, long ago; or whether the accident +(as he would deem it) of the blind man's pursuing the current of +his own remarks, had done so at the moment; or he had been +impressed by the mere circumstance of the man being blind, and, +therefore, unlike any one with whom he had talked before; it was +impossible to tell. She tried every means to discover, but in +vain; and the probability is that Barnaby himself was equally in +the dark. + +It filled her with uneasiness to find him harping on this string, +but all that she could do, was to lead him quickly to some other +subject, and to dismiss it from his brain. To caution him against +their visitor, to show any fear or suspicion in reference to him, +would only be, she feared, to increase that interest with which +Barnaby regarded him, and to strengthen his desire to meet him once +again. She hoped, by plunging into the crowd, to rid herself of +her terrible pursuer, and then, by journeying to a distance and +observing increased caution, if that were possible, to live again +unknown, in secrecy and peace. + +They reached, in course of time, their halting-place within ten +miles of London, and lay there for the night, after bargaining to +be carried on for a trifle next day, in a light van which was +returning empty, and was to start at five o'clock in the morning. +The driver was punctual, the road good--save for the dust, the +weather being very hot and dry--and at seven in the forenoon of +Friday the second of June, one thousand seven hundred and eighty, +they alighted at the foot of Westminster Bridge, bade their +conductor farewell, and stood alone, together, on the scorching +pavement. For the freshness which night sheds upon such busy +thoroughfares had already departed, and the sun was shining with +uncommon lustre. + + + +Chapter 48 + + +Uncertain where to go next, and bewildered by the crowd of people +who were already astir, they sat down in one of the recesses on the +bridge, to rest. They soon became aware that the stream of life +was all pouring one way, and that a vast throng of persons were +crossing the river from the Middlesex to the Surrey shore, in +unusual haste and evident excitement. They were, for the most +part, in knots of two or three, or sometimes half-a-dozen; they +spoke little together--many of them were quite silent; and hurried +on as if they had one absorbing object in view, which was common to +them all. + +They were surprised to see that nearly every man in this great +concourse, which still came pouring past, without slackening in the +least, wore in his hat a blue cockade; and that the chance +passengers who were not so decorated, appeared timidly anxious to +escape observation or attack, and gave them the wall as if they +would conciliate them. This, however, was natural enough, +considering their inferiority in point of numbers; for the +proportion of those who wore blue cockades, to those who were +dressed as usual, was at least forty or fifty to one. There was no +quarrelling, however: the blue cockades went swarming on, passing +each other when they could, and making all the speed that was +possible in such a multitude; and exchanged nothing more than +looks, and very often not even those, with such of the passers-by +as were not of their number. + +At first, the current of people had been confined to the two +pathways, and but a few more eager stragglers kept the road. But +after half an hour or so, the passage was completely blocked up by +the great press, which, being now closely wedged together, and +impeded by the carts and coaches it encountered, moved but slowly, +and was sometimes at a stand for five or ten minutes together. + +After the lapse of nearly two hours, the numbers began to diminish +visibly, and gradually dwindling away, by little and little, left +the bridge quite clear, save that, now and then, some hot and dusty +man, with the cockade in his hat, and his coat thrown over his +shoulder, went panting by, fearful of being too late, or stopped to +ask which way his friends had taken, and being directed, hastened +on again like one refreshed. In this comparative solitude, which +seemed quite strange and novel after the late crowd, the widow had +for the first time an opportunity of inquiring of an old man who +came and sat beside them, what was the meaning of that great +assemblage. + +'Why, where have you come from,' he returned, 'that you haven't +heard of Lord George Gordon's great association? This is the day +that he presents the petition against the Catholics, God bless +him!' + +'What have all these men to do with that?' she said. + +'What have they to do with it!' the old man replied. 'Why, how you +talk! Don't you know his lordship has declared he won't present it +to the house at all, unless it is attended to the door by forty +thousand good and true men at least? There's a crowd for you!' + +'A crowd indeed!' said Barnaby. 'Do you hear that, mother!' + +'And they're mustering yonder, as I am told,' resumed the old man, +'nigh upon a hundred thousand strong. Ah! Let Lord George alone. +He knows his power. There'll be a good many faces inside them +three windows over there,' and he pointed to where the House of +Commons overlooked the river, 'that'll turn pale when good Lord +George gets up this afternoon, and with reason too! Ay, ay. Let +his lordship alone. Let him alone. HE knows!' And so, with much +mumbling and chuckling and shaking of his forefinger, he rose, with +the assistance of his stick, and tottered off. + +'Mother!' said Barnaby, 'that's a brave crowd he talks of. Come!' + +'Not to join it!' cried his mother. + +'Yes, yes,' he answered, plucking at her sleeve. 'Why not? Come!' + +'You don't know,' she urged, 'what mischief they may do, where they +may lead you, what their meaning is. Dear Barnaby, for my sake--' + +'For your sake!' he cried, patting her hand. 'Well! It IS for your +sake, mother. You remember what the blind man said, about the +gold. Here's a brave crowd! Come! Or wait till I come back--yes, +yes, wait here.' + +She tried with all the earnestness her fears engendered, to turn +him from his purpose, but in vain. He was stooping down to buckle +on his shoe, when a hackney-coach passed them rather quickly, and a +voice inside called to the driver to stop. + +'Young man,' said a voice within. + +'Who's that?' cried Barnaby, looking up. + +'Do you wear this ornament?' returned the stranger, holding out a +blue cockade. + +'In Heaven's name, no. Pray do not give it him!' exclaimed the +widow. + +'Speak for yourself, woman,' said the man within the coach, coldly. +'Leave the young man to his choice; he's old enough to make it, and +to snap your apron-strings. He knows, without your telling, +whether he wears the sign of a loyal Englishman or not.' + +Barnaby, trembling with impatience, cried, 'Yes! yes, yes, I do,' +as he had cried a dozen times already. The man threw him a +cockade, and crying, 'Make haste to St George's Fields,' ordered +the coachman to drive on fast; and left them. + +With hands that trembled with his eagerness to fix the bauble in +his hat, Barnaby was adjusting it as he best could, and hurriedly +replying to the tears and entreaties of his mother, when two +gentlemen passed on the opposite side of the way. Observing them, +and seeing how Barnaby was occupied, they stopped, whispered +together for an instant, turned back, and came over to them. + +'Why are you sitting here?' said one of them, who was dressed in a +plain suit of black, wore long lank hair, and carried a great cane. +'Why have you not gone with the rest?' + +'I am going, sir,' replied Barnaby, finishing his task, and putting +his hat on with an air of pride. 'I shall be there directly.' + +'Say "my lord," young man, when his lordship does you the honour of +speaking to you,' said the second gentleman mildly. 'If you don't +know Lord George Gordon when you see him, it's high time you +should.' + +'Nay, Gashford,' said Lord George, as Barnaby pulled off his hat +again and made him a low bow, 'it's no great matter on a day like +this, which every Englishman will remember with delight and pride. +Put on your hat, friend, and follow us, for you lag behind and are +late. It's past ten now. Didn't you know that the hour for +assembling was ten o'clock?' + +Barnaby shook his head and looked vacantly from one to the other. + +'You might have known it, friend,' said Gashford, 'it was perfectly +understood. How came you to be so ill informed?' + +'He cannot tell you, sir,' the widow interposed. 'It's of no use +to ask him. We are but this morning come from a long distance in +the country, and know nothing of these matters.' + +'The cause has taken a deep root, and has spread its branches far +and wide,' said Lord George to his secretary. 'This is a pleasant +hearing. I thank Heaven for it!' + +'Amen!' cried Gashford with a solemn face. + +'You do not understand me, my lord,' said the widow. 'Pardon me, +but you cruelly mistake my meaning. We know nothing of these +matters. We have no desire or right to join in what you are about +to do. This is my son, my poor afflicted son, dearer to me than my +own life. In mercy's name, my lord, go your way alone, and do not +tempt him into danger!' + +'My good woman,' said Gashford, 'how can you!--Dear me!--What do +you mean by tempting, and by danger? Do you think his lordship is +a roaring lion, going about and seeking whom he may devour? God +bless me!' + +'No, no, my lord, forgive me,' implored the widow, laying both her +hands upon his breast, and scarcely knowing what she did, or said, +in the earnestness of her supplication, 'but there are reasons why +you should hear my earnest, mother's prayer, and leave my son with +me. Oh do! He is not in his right senses, he is not, indeed!' + +'It is a bad sign of the wickedness of these times,' said Lord +George, evading her touch, and colouring deeply, 'that those who +cling to the truth and support the right cause, are set down as +mad. Have you the heart to say this of your own son, unnatural +mother!' + +'I am astonished at you!' said Gashford, with a kind of meek +severity. 'This is a very sad picture of female depravity.' + +'He has surely no appearance,' said Lord George, glancing at +Barnaby, and whispering in his secretary's ear, 'of being deranged? +And even if he had, we must not construe any trifling peculiarity +into madness. Which of us'--and here he turned red again--'would +be safe, if that were made the law!' + +'Not one,' replied the secretary; 'in that case, the greater the +zeal, the truth, and talent; the more direct the call from above; +the clearer would be the madness. With regard to this young man, +my lord,' he added, with a lip that slightly curled as he looked at +Barnaby, who stood twirling his hat, and stealthily beckoning them +to come away, 'he is as sensible and self-possessed as any one I +ever saw.' + +'And you desire to make one of this great body?' said Lord George, +addressing him; 'and intended to make one, did you?' + +'Yes--yes,' said Barnaby, with sparkling eyes. 'To be sure I did! +I told her so myself.' + +'I see,' replied Lord George, with a reproachful glance at the +unhappy mother. 'I thought so. Follow me and this gentleman, and +you shall have your wish.' + +Barnaby kissed his mother tenderly on the cheek, and bidding her be +of good cheer, for their fortunes were both made now, did as he was +desired. She, poor woman, followed too--with how much fear and +grief it would be hard to tell. + +They passed quickly through the Bridge Road, where the shops were +all shut up (for the passage of the great crowd and the expectation +of their return had alarmed the tradesmen for their goods and +windows), and where, in the upper stories, all the inhabitants were +congregated, looking down into the street below, with faces +variously expressive of alarm, of interest, expectancy, and +indignation. Some of these applauded, and some hissed; but +regardless of these interruptions--for the noise of a vast +congregation of people at a little distance, sounded in his ears +like the roaring of the sea--Lord George Gordon quickened his pace, +and presently arrived before St George's Fields. + +They were really fields at that time, and of considerable extent. +Here an immense multitude was collected, bearing flags of various +kinds and sizes, but all of the same colour--blue, like the +cockades--some sections marching to and fro in military array, and +others drawn up in circles, squares, and lines. A large portion, +both of the bodies which paraded the ground, and of those which +remained stationary, were occupied in singing hymns or psalms. +With whomsoever this originated, it was well done; for the sound of +so many thousand voices in the air must have stirred the heart of +any man within him, and could not fail to have a wonderful effect +upon enthusiasts, however mistaken. + +Scouts had been posted in advance of the great body, to give notice +of their leader's coming. These falling back, the word was quickly +passed through the whole host, and for a short interval there +ensued a profound and deathlike silence, during which the mass was +so still and quiet, that the fluttering of a banner caught the eye, +and became a circumstance of note. Then they burst into a +tremendous shout, into another, and another; and the air seemed +rent and shaken, as if by the discharge of cannon. + +'Gashford!' cried Lord George, pressing his secretary's arm tight +within his own, and speaking with as much emotion in his voice, as +in his altered face, 'I arn called indeed, now. I feel and know +it. I am the leader of a host. If they summoned me at this moment +with one voice to lead them on to death, I'd do it--Yes, and fall +first myself!' + +'It is a proud sight,' said the secretary. 'It is a noble day for +England, and for the great cause throughout the world. Such +homage, my lord, as I, an humble but devoted man, can render--' + +'What are you doing?' cried his master, catching him by both hands; +for he had made a show of kneeling at his feet. 'Do not unfit me, +dear Gashford, for the solemn duty of this glorious day--' the +tears stood in the eyes of the poor gentleman as he said the +words.--'Let us go among them; we have to find a place in some +division for this new recruit--give me your hand.' + +Gashford slid his cold insidious palm into his master's grasp, and +so, hand in hand, and followed still by Barnaby and by his mother +too, they mingled with the concourse. + +They had by this time taken to their singing again, and as their +leader passed between their ranks, they raised their voices to +their utmost. Many of those who were banded together to support +the religion of their country, even unto death, had never heard a +hymn or psalm in all their lives. But these fellows having for the +most part strong lungs, and being naturally fond of singing, +chanted any ribaldry or nonsense that occurred to them, feeling +pretty certain that it would not be detected in the general chorus, +and not caring much if it were. Many of these voluntaries were +sung under the very nose of Lord George Gordon, who, quite +unconscious of their burden, passed on with his usual stiff and +solemn deportment, very much edified and delighted by the pious +conduct of his followers. + +So they went on and on, up this line, down that, round the exterior +of this circle, and on every side of that hollow square; and still +there were lines, and squares, and circles out of number to review. +The day being now intensely hot, and the sun striking down his +fiercest rays upon the field, those who carried heavy banners began +to grow faint and weary; most of the number assembled were fain to +pull off their neckcloths, and throw their coats and waistcoats +open; and some, towards the centre, quite overpowered by the +excessive heat, which was of course rendered more unendurable by +the multitude around them, lay down upon the grass, and offered all +they had about them for a drink of water. Still, no man left the +ground, not even of those who were so distressed; still Lord +George, streaming from every pore, went on with Gashford; and still +Barnaby and his mother followed close behind them. + +They had arrived at the top of a long line of some eight hundred +men in single file, and Lord George had turned his head to look +back, when a loud cry of recognition--in that peculiar and half- +stifled tone which a voice has, when it is raised in the open air +and in the midst of a great concourse of persons--was heard, and a +man stepped with a shout of laughter from the rank, and smote +Barnaby on the shoulders with his heavy hand. + +'How now!' he cried. 'Barnaby Rudge! Why, where have you been +hiding for these hundred years?' + +Barnaby had been thinking within himself that the smell of the +trodden grass brought back his old days at cricket, when he was a +young boy and played on Chigwell Green. Confused by this sudden +and boisterous address, he stared in a bewildered manner at the +man, and could scarcely say 'What! Hugh!' + +'Hugh!' echoed the other; 'ay, Hugh--Maypole Hugh! You remember my +dog? He's alive now, and will know you, I warrant. What, you wear +the colour, do you? Well done! Ha ha ha!' + +'You know this young man, I see,' said Lord George. + +'Know him, my lord! as well as I know my own right hand. My +captain knows him. We all know him.' + +'Will you take him into your division?' + +'It hasn't in it a better, nor a nimbler, nor a more active man, +than Barnaby Rudge,' said Hugh. 'Show me the man who says it has! +Fall in, Barnaby. He shall march, my lord, between me and Dennis; +and he shall carry,' he added, taking a flag from the hand of a +tired man who tendered it, 'the gayest silken streamer in this +valiant army.' + +'In the name of God, no!' shrieked the widow, darting forward. +'Barnaby--my lord--see--he'll come back--Barnaby--Barnaby!' + +'Women in the field!' cried Hugh, stepping between them, and +holding her off. 'Holloa! My captain there!' + +'What's the matter here?' cried Simon Tappertit, bustling up in a +great heat. 'Do you call this order?' + +'Nothing like it, captain,' answered Hugh, still holding her back +with his outstretched hand. 'It's against all orders. Ladies are +carrying off our gallant soldiers from their duty. The word of +command, captain! They're filing off the ground. Quick!' + +'Close!' cried Simon, with the whole power of his lungs. 'Form! +March!' + +She was thrown to the ground; the whole field was in motion; +Barnaby was whirled away into the heart of a dense mass of men, and +she saw him no more. + + + +Chapter 49 + + +The mob had been divided from its first assemblage into four +divisions; the London, the Westminster, the Southwark, and the +Scotch. Each of these divisions being subdivided into various +bodies, and these bodies being drawn up in various forms and +figures, the general arrangement was, except to the few chiefs and +leaders, as unintelligible as the plan of a great battle to the +meanest soldier in the field. It was not without its method, +however; for, in a very short space of time after being put in +motion, the crowd had resolved itself into three great parties, and +were prepared, as had been arranged, to cross the river by +different bridges, and make for the House of Commons in separate +detachments. + +At the head of that division which had Westminster Bridge for its +approach to the scene of action, Lord George Gordon took his post; +with Gashford at his right hand, and sundry ruffians, of most +unpromising appearance, forming a kind of staff about him. The +conduct of a second party, whose route lay by Blackfriars, was +entrusted to a committee of management, including perhaps a dozen +men: while the third, which was to go by London Bridge, and through +the main streets, in order that their numbers and their serious +intentions might be the better known and appreciated by the +citizens, were led by Simon Tappertit (assisted by a few +subalterns, selected from the Brotherhood of United Bulldogs), +Dennis the hangman, Hugh, and some others. + +The word of command being given, each of these great bodies took +the road assigned to it, and departed on its way, in perfect order +and profound silence. That which went through the City greatly +exceeded the others in number, and was of such prodigious extent +that when the rear began to move, the front was nearly four miles +in advance, notwithstanding that the men marched three abreast and +followed very close upon each other. + +At the head of this party, in the place where Hugh, in the madness +of his humour, had stationed him, and walking between that +dangerous companion and the hangman, went Barnaby; as many a man +among the thousands who looked on that day afterwards remembered +well. Forgetful of all other things in the ecstasy of the moment, +his face flushed and his eyes sparkling with delight, heedless of +the weight of the great banner he carried, and mindful only of its +flashing in the sun and rustling in the summer breeze, on he went, +proud, happy, elated past all telling:--the only light-hearted, +undesigning creature, in the whole assembly. + +'What do you think of this?' asked Hugh, as they passed through the +crowded streets, and looked up at the windows which were thronged +with spectators. 'They have all turned out to see our flags and +streamers? Eh, Barnaby? Why, Barnaby's the greatest man of all +the pack! His flag's the largest of the lot, the brightest too. +There's nothing in the show, like Barnaby. All eyes are turned on +him. Ha ha ha!' + +'Don't make that din, brother,' growled the hangman, glancing with +no very approving eyes at Barnaby as he spoke: 'I hope he don't +think there's nothing to be done, but carrying that there piece of +blue rag, like a boy at a breaking up. You're ready for action I +hope, eh? You, I mean,' he added, nudging Barnaby roughly with +his elbow. 'What are you staring at? Why don't you speak?' + +Barnaby had been gazing at his flag, and looked vacantly from his +questioner to Hugh. + +'He don't understand your way,' said the latter. 'Here, I'll +explain it to him. Barnaby old boy, attend to me.' + +'I'll attend,' said Barnaby, looking anxiously round; 'but I wish +I could see her somewhere.' + +'See who?' demanded Dennis in a gruff tone. 'You an't in love I +hope, brother? That an't the sort of thing for us, you know. We +mustn't have no love here.' + +'She would be proud indeed to see me now, eh Hugh?' said Barnaby. +'Wouldn't it make her glad to see me at the head of this large +show? She'd cry for joy, I know she would. Where CAN she be? She +never sees me at my best, and what do I care to be gay and fine if +SHE'S not by?' + +'Why, what palaver's this?' asked Mr Dennis with supreme disdain. +'We an't got no sentimental members among us, I hope.' + +'Don't be uneasy, brother,' cried Hugh, 'he's only talking of his +mother.' + +'Of his what?' said Mr Dennis with a strong oath. + +'His mother.' + +'And have I combined myself with this here section, and turned out +on this here memorable day, to hear men talk about their mothers!' +growled Mr Dennis with extreme disgust. 'The notion of a man's +sweetheart's bad enough, but a man's mother!'--and here his disgust +was so extreme that he spat upon the ground, and could say no more. + +'Barnaby's right,' cried Hugh with a grin, 'and I say it. Lookee, +bold lad. If she's not here to see, it's because I've provided for +her, and sent half-a-dozen gentlemen, every one of 'em with a +blue flag (but not half as fine as yours), to take her, in state, +to a grand house all hung round with gold and silver banners, and +everything else you please, where she'll wait till you come, and +want for nothing.' + +'Ay!' said Barnaby, his face beaming with delight: 'have you +indeed? That's a good hearing. That's fine! Kind Hugh!' + +'But nothing to what will come, bless you,' retorted Hugh, with a +wink at Dennis, who regarded his new companion in arms with great +astonishment. + +'No, indeed?' cried Barnaby. + +'Nothing at all,' said Hugh. 'Money, cocked hats and feathers, red +coats and gold lace; all the fine things there are, ever were, or +will be; will belong to us if we are true to that noble gentleman-- +the best man in the world--carry our flags for a few days, and keep +'em safe. That's all we've got to do.' + +'Is that all?' cried Barnaby with glistening eyes, as he clutched +his pole the tighter; 'I warrant you I keep this one safe, then. +You have put it in good hands. You know me, Hugh. Nobody shall +wrest this flag away.' + +'Well said!' cried Hugh. 'Ha ha! Nobly said! That's the old +stout Barnaby, that I have climbed and leaped with, many and many a +day--I knew I was not mistaken in Barnaby.--Don't you see, man,' he +added in a whisper, as he slipped to the other side of Dennis, +'that the lad's a natural, and can be got to do anything, if you +take him the right way? Letting alone the fun he is, he's worth a +dozen men, in earnest, as you'd find if you tried a fall with him. +Leave him to me. You shall soon see whether he's of use or not.' + +Mr Dennis received these explanatory remarks with many nods and +winks, and softened his behaviour towards Barnaby from that moment. +Hugh, laying his finger on his nose, stepped back into his former +place, and they proceeded in silence. + +It was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon when the +three great parties met at Westminster, and, uniting into one huge +mass, raised a tremendous shout. This was not only done in token +of their presence, but as a signal to those on whom the task +devolved, that it was time to take possession of the lobbies of +both Houses, and of the various avenues of approach, and of the +gallery stairs. To the last-named place, Hugh and Dennis, still +with their pupil between them, rushed straightway; Barnaby having +given his flag into the hands of one of their own party, who kept +them at the outer door. Their followers pressing on behind, they +were borne as on a great wave to the very doors of the gallery, +whence it was impossible to retreat, even if they had been so +inclined, by reason of the throng which choked up the passages. It +is a familiar expression in describing a great crowd, that a person +might have walked upon the people's heads. In this case it was +actually done; for a boy who had by some means got among the +concourse, and was in imminent danger of suffocation, climbed to +the shoulders of a man beside him and walked upon the people's hats +and heads into the open street; traversing in his passage the whole +length of two staircases and a long gallery. Nor was the swarm +without less dense; for a basket which had been tossed into the +crowd, was jerked from head to head, and shoulder to shoulder, and +went spinning and whirling on above them, until it was lost to +view, without ever once falling in among them or coming near the +ground. + +Through this vast throng, sprinkled doubtless here and there with +honest zealots, but composed for the most part of the very scum and +refuse of London, whose growth was fostered by bad criminal laws, +bad prison regulations, and the worst conceivable police, such of +the members of both Houses of Parliament as had not taken the +precaution to be already at their posts, were compelled to fight +and force their way. Their carriages were stopped and broken; the +wheels wrenched off; the glasses shivered to atoms; the panels +beaten in; drivers, footmen, and masters, pulled from their seats +and rolled in the mud. Lords, commoners, and reverend bishops, +with little distinction of person or party, were kicked and pinched +and hustled; passed from hand to hand through various stages of +ill-usage; and sent to their fellow-senators at last with their +clothes hanging in ribands about them, their bagwigs torn off, +themselves speechless and breathless, and their persons covered +with the powder which had been cuffed and beaten out of their hair. +One lord was so long in the hands of the populace, that the Peers +as a body resolved to sally forth and rescue him, and were in the +act of doing so, when he happily appeared among them covered with +dirt and bruises, and hardly to be recognised by those who knew him +best. The noise and uproar were on the increase every moment. The +air was filled with execrations, hoots, and howlings. The mob +raged and roared, like a mad monster as it was, unceasingly, and +each new outrage served to swell its fury. + +Within doors, matters were even yet more threatening. Lord George-- +preceded by a man who carried the immense petition on a porter's +knot through the lobby to the door of the House of Commons, where +it was received by two officers of the house who rolled it up to +the table ready for presentation--had taken his seat at an early +hour, before the Speaker went to prayers. His followers pouring in +at the same time, the lobby and all the avenues were immediately +filled, as we have seen. Thus the members were not only attacked +in their passage through the streets, but were set upon within the +very walls of Parliament; while the tumult, both within and +without, was so great, that those who attempted to speak could +scarcely hear their own voices: far less, consult upon the course +it would be wise to take in such extremity, or animate each other +to dignified and firm resistance. So sure as any member, just +arrived, with dress disordered and dishevelled hair, came +struggling through the crowd in the lobby, it yelled and screamed +in triumph; and when the door of the House, partially and +cautiously opened by those within for his admission, gave them a +momentary glimpse of the interior, they grew more wild and savage, +like beasts at the sight of prey, and made a rush against the +portal which strained its locks and bolts in their staples, and +shook the very beams. + +The strangers' gallery, which was immediately above the door of the +House, had been ordered to be closed on the first rumour of +disturbance, and was empty; save that now and then Lord George took +his seat there, for the convenience of coming to the head of the +stairs which led to it, and repeating to the people what had passed +within. It was on these stairs that Barnaby, Hugh, and Dennis were +posted. There were two flights, short, steep, and narrow, running +parallel to each other, and leading to two little doors +communicating with a low passage which opened on the gallery. +Between them was a kind of well, or unglazed skylight, for the +admission of light and air into the lobby, which might be some +eighteen or twenty feet below. + +Upon one of these little staircases--not that at the head of which +Lord George appeared from time to time, but the other--Gashford +stood with his elbow on the bannister, and his cheek resting on his +hand, with his usual crafty aspect. Whenever he varied this +attitude in the slightest degree--so much as by the gentlest motion +of his arm--the uproar was certain to increase, not merely there, +but in the lobby below; from which place no doubt, some man who +acted as fugleman to the rest, was constantly looking up and +watching him. + +'Order!' cried Hugh, in a voice which made itself heard even above +the roar and tumult, as Lord George appeared at the top of the +staircase. 'News! News from my lord!' + +The noise continued, notwithstanding his appearance, until Gashford +looked round. There was silence immediately--even among the people +in the passages without, and on the other staircases, who could +neither see nor hear, but to whom, notwithstanding, the signal was +conveyed with marvellous rapidity. + +'Gentlemen,' said Lord George, who was very pale and agitated, we +must be firm. They talk of delays, but we must have no delays. +They talk of taking your petition into consideration next Tuesday, +but we must have it considered now. Present appearances look bad +for our success, but we must succeed and will!' + +'We must succeed and will!' echoed the crowd. And so among their +shouts and cheers and other cries, he bowed to them and retired, +and presently came back again. There was another gesture from +Gashford, and a dead silence directly. + +'I am afraid,' he said, this time, 'that we have little reason, +gentlemen, to hope for any redress from the proceedings of +Parliament. But we must redress our own grievances, we must meet +again, we must put our trust in Providence, and it will bless our +endeavours.' + +This speech being a little more temperate than the last, was not so +favourably received. When the noise and exasperation were at their +height, he came back once more, and told them that the alarm had +gone forth for many miles round; that when the King heard of their +assembling together in that great body, he had no doubt, His +Majesty would send down private orders to have their wishes +complied with; and--with the manner of his speech as childish, +irresolute, and uncertain as his matter--was proceeding in this +strain, when two gentlemen suddenly appeared at the door where he +stood, and pressing past him and coming a step or two lower down +upon the stairs, confronted the people. + +The boldness of this action quite took them by surprise. They were +not the less disconcerted, when one of the gentlemen, turning to +Lord George, spoke thus--in a loud voice that they might hear him +well, but quite coolly and collectedly: + +'You may tell these people, if you please, my lord, that I am +General Conway of whom they have heard; and that I oppose this +petition, and all their proceedings, and yours. I am a soldier, +you may tell them, and I will protect the freedom of this place +with my sword. You see, my lord, that the members of this House +are all in arms to-day; you know that the entrance to it is a +narrow one; you cannot be ignorant that there are men within these +walls who are determined to defend that pass to the last, and +before whom many lives must fall if your adherents persevere. Have +a care what you do.' + +'And my Lord George,' said the other gentleman, addressing him in +like manner, 'I desire them to hear this, from me--Colonel Gordon-- +your near relation. If a man among this crowd, whose uproar +strikes us deaf, crosses the threshold of the House of Commons, I +swear to run my sword that moment--not into his, but into your +body!' + +With that, they stepped back again, keeping their faces towards the +crowd; took each an arm of the misguided nobleman; drew him into +the passage, and shut the door; which they directly locked and +fastened on the inside. + +This was so quickly done, and the demeanour of both gentlemen--who +were not young men either--was so gallant and resolute, that the +crowd faltered and stared at each other with irresolute and timid +looks. Many tried to turn towards the door; some of the faintest- +hearted cried they had best go back, and called to those behind to +give way; and the panic and confusion were increasing rapidly, when +Gashford whispered Hugh. + +'What now!' Hugh roared aloud, turning towards them. 'Why go back? +Where can you do better than here, boys! One good rush against +these doors and one below at the same time, will do the business. +Rush on, then! As to the door below, let those stand back who are +afraid. Let those who are not afraid, try who shall be the first +to pass it. Here goes! Look out down there!' + +Without the delay of an instant, he threw himself headlong over the +bannisters into the lobby below. He had hardly touched the ground +when Barnaby was at his side. The chaplain's assistant, and some +members who were imploring the people to retire, immediately +withdrew; and then, with a great shout, both crowds threw +themselves against the doors pell-mell, and besieged the House in +earnest. + +At that moment, when a second onset must have brought them into +collision with those who stood on the defensive within, in which +case great loss of life and bloodshed would inevitably have +ensued,--the hindmost portion of the crowd gave way, and the rumour +spread from mouth to mouth that a messenger had been despatched by +water for the military, who were forming in the street. Fearful of +sustaining a charge in the narrow passages in which they were so +closely wedged together, the throng poured out as impetuously as +they had flocked in. As the whole stream turned at once, Barnaby +and Hugh went with it: and so, fighting and struggling and +trampling on fallen men and being trampled on in turn themselves, +they and the whole mass floated by degrees into the open street, +where a large detachment of the Guards, both horse and foot, came +hurrying up; clearing the ground before them so rapidly that the +people seemed to melt away as they advanced. + +The word of command to halt being given, the soldiers formed across +the street; the rioters, breathless and exhausted with their late +exertions, formed likewise, though in a very irregular and +disorderly manner. The commanding officer rode hastily into the +open space between the two bodies, accompanied by a magistrate and +an officer of the House of Commons, for whose accommodation a +couple of troopers had hastily dismounted. The Riot Act was read, +but not a man stirred. + +In the first rank of the insurgents, Barnaby and Hugh stood side by +side. Somebody had thrust into Barnaby's hands when he came out +into the street, his precious flag; which, being now rolled up and +tied round the pole, looked like a giant quarter-staff as he +grasped it firmly and stood upon his guard. If ever man believed +with his whole heart and soul that he was engaged in a just cause, +and that he was bound to stand by his leader to the last, poor +Barnaby believed it of himself and Lord George Gordon. + +After an ineffectual attempt to make himself heard, the magistrate +gave the word and the Horse Guards came riding in among the crowd. +But, even then, he galloped here and there, exhorting the people to +disperse; and, although heavy stones were thrown at the men, and +some were desperately cut and bruised, they had no orders but to +make prisoners of such of the rioters as were the most active, and +to drive the people back with the flat of their sabres. As the +horses came in among them, the throng gave way at many points, and +the Guards, following up their advantage, were rapidly clearing the +ground, when two or three of the foremost, who were in a manner cut +off from the rest by the people closing round them, made straight +towards Barnaby and Hugh, who had no doubt been pointed out as the +two men who dropped into the lobby: laying about them now with some +effect, and inflicting on the more turbulent of their opponents, a +few slight flesh wounds, under the influence of which a man +dropped, here and there, into the arms of his fellows, amid much +groaning and confusion. + +At the sight of gashed and bloody faces, seen for a moment in the +crowd, then hidden by the press around them, Barnaby turned pale +and sick. But he stood his ground, and grasping his pole more +firmly yet, kept his eye fixed upon the nearest soldier--nodding +his head meanwhile, as Hugh, with a scowling visage, whispered in +his ear. + +The soldier came spurring on, making his horse rear as the people +pressed about him, cutting at the hands of those who would have +grasped his rein and forced his charger back, and waving to his +comrades to follow--and still Barnaby, without retreating an inch, +waited for his coming. Some called to him to fly, and some were in +the very act of closing round him, to prevent his being taken, when +the pole swept into the air above the people's heads, and the man's +saddle was empty in an instant. + +Then, he and Hugh turned and fled, the crowd opening to let them +pass, and closing up again so quickly that there was no clue to the +course they had taken. Panting for breath, hot, dusty, and +exhausted with fatigue, they reached the riverside in safety, and +getting into a boat with all despatch were soon out of any +immediate danger. + +As they glided down the river, they plainly heard the people +cheering; and supposing they might have forced the soldiers to +retreat, lay upon their oars for a few minutes, uncertain whether +to return or not. But the crowd passing along Westminster Bridge, +soon assured them that the populace were dispersing; and Hugh +rightly guessed from this, that they had cheered the magistrate for +offering to dismiss the military on condition of their immediate +departure to their several homes, and that he and Barnaby were +better where they were. He advised, therefore, that they should +proceed to Blackfriars, and, going ashore at the bridge, make the +best of their way to The Boot; where there was not only good +entertainment and safe lodging, but where they would certainly be +joined by many of their late companions. Barnaby assenting, they +decided on this course of action, and pulled for Blackfriars +accordingly. + +They landed at a critical time, and fortunately for themselves at +the right moment. For, coming into Fleet Street, they found it in +an unusual stir; and inquiring the cause, were told that a body of +Horse Guards had just galloped past, and that they were escorting +some rioters whom they had made prisoners, to Newgate for safety. +Not at all ill-pleased to have so narrowly escaped the cavalcade, +they lost no more time in asking questions, but hurried to The Boot +with as much speed as Hugh considered it prudent to make, without +appearing singular or attracting an inconvenient share of public +notice. + + +Chapter 50 + + +They were among the first to reach the tavern, but they had not +been there many minutes, when several groups of men who had formed +part of the crowd, came straggling in. Among them were Simon +Tappertit and Mr Dennis; both of whom, but especially the latter, +greeted Barnaby with the utmost warmth, and paid him many +compliments on the prowess he had shown. + +'Which,' said Dennis, with an oath, as he rested his bludgeon in a +corner with his hat upon it, and took his seat at the same table +with them, 'it does me good to think of. There was a opportunity! +But it led to nothing. For my part, I don't know what would. +There's no spirit among the people in these here times. Bring +something to eat and drink here. I'm disgusted with humanity.' + +'On what account?' asked Mr Tappertit, who had been quenching his +fiery face in a half-gallon can. 'Don't you consider this a good +beginning, mister?' + +'Give me security that it an't a ending,' rejoined the hangman. +'When that soldier went down, we might have made London ours; but +no;--we stand, and gape, and look on--the justice (I wish he had +had a bullet in each eye, as he would have had, if we'd gone to +work my way) says, "My lads, if you'll give me your word to +disperse, I'll order off the military," our people sets up a +hurrah, throws up the game with the winning cards in their hands, +and skulks away like a pack of tame curs as they are. Ah,' said +the hangman, in a tone of deep disgust, 'it makes me blush for my +feller creeturs. I wish I had been born a ox, I do!' + +'You'd have been quite as agreeable a character if you had been, I +think,' returned Simon Tappertit, going out in a lofty manner. + +'Don't be too sure of that,' rejoined the hangman, calling after +him; 'if I was a horned animal at the present moment, with the +smallest grain of sense, I'd toss every man in this company, +excepting them two,' meaning Hugh and Barnaby, 'for his manner of +conducting himself this day.' + +With which mournful review of their proceedings, Mr Dennis sought +consolation in cold boiled beef and beer; but without at all +relaxing the grim and dissatisfied expression of his face, the +gloom of which was rather deepened than dissipated by their +grateful influence. + +The company who were thus libelled might have retaliated by strong +words, if not by blows, but they were dispirited and worn out. The +greater part of them had fasted since morning; all had suffered +extremely from the excessive heat; and between the day's shouting, +exertion, and excitement, many had quite lost their voices, and so +much of their strength that they could hardly stand. Then they +were uncertain what to do next, fearful of the consequences of what +they had done already, and sensible that after all they had carried +no point, but had indeed left matters worse than they had found +them. Of those who had come to The Boot, many dropped off within +an hour; such of them as were really honest and sincere, never, +after the morning's experience, to return, or to hold any +communication with their late companions. Others remained but to +refresh themselves, and then went home desponding; others who had +theretofore been regular in their attendance, avoided the place +altogether. The half-dozen prisoners whom the Guards had taken, +were magnified by report into half-a-hundred at least; and their +friends, being faint and sober, so slackened in their energy, and +so drooped beneath these dispiriting influences, that by eight +o'clock in the evening, Dennis, Hugh, and Barnaby, were left alone. +Even they were fast asleep upon the benches, when Gashford's +entrance roused them. + +'Oh! you ARE here then?' said the Secretary. 'Dear me!' + +'Why, where should we be, Muster Gashford!' Dennis rejoined as he +rose into a sitting posture. + +'Oh nowhere, nowhere,' he returned with excessive mildness. 'The +streets are filled with blue cockades. I rather thought you might +have been among them. I am glad you are not.' + +'You have orders for us, master, then?' said Hugh. + +'Oh dear, no. Not I. No orders, my good fellow. What orders +should I have? You are not in my service.' + +'Muster Gashford,' remonstrated Dennis, 'we belong to the cause, +don't we?' + +'The cause!' repeated the secretary, looking at him in a sort of +abstraction. 'There is no cause. The cause is lost.' + +'Lost!' + +'Oh yes. You have heard, I suppose? The petition is rejected by a +hundred and ninety-two, to six. It's quite final. We might have +spared ourselves some trouble. That, and my lord's vexation, are +the only circumstances I regret. I am quite satisfied in all other +respects.' + +As he said this, he took a penknife from his pocket, and putting +his hat upon his knee, began to busy himself in ripping off the +blue cockade which he had worn all day; at the same time humming a +psalm tune which had been very popular in the morning, and dwelling +on it with a gentle regret. + +His two adherents looked at each other, and at him, as if they +were at a loss how to pursue the subject. At length Hugh, after +some elbowing and winking between himself and Mr Dennis, ventured +to stay his hand, and to ask him why he meddled with that riband in +his hat. + +'Because,' said the secretary, looking up with something between a +snarl and a smile; 'because to sit still and wear it, or to fall +asleep and wear it, is a mockery. That's all, friend.' + +'What would you have us do, master!' cried Hugh. + +'Nothing,' returned Gashford, shrugging his shoulders, 'nothing. +When my lord was reproached and threatened for standing by you, I, +as a prudent man, would have had you do nothing. When the soldiers +were trampling you under their horses' feet, I would have had you +do nothing. When one of them was struck down by a daring hand, and +I saw confusion and dismay in all their faces, I would have had you +do nothing--just what you did, in short. This is the young man who +had so little prudence and so much boldness. Ah! I am sorry for him.' + +'Sorry, master!' cried Hugh. + +'Sorry, Muster Gashford!' echoed Dennis. + +'In case there should be a proclamation out to-morrow, offering +five hundred pounds, or some such trifle, for his apprehension; and +in case it should include another man who dropped into the lobby +from the stairs above,' said Gashford, coldly; 'still, do nothing.' + +'Fire and fury, master!' cried Hugh, starting up. 'What have we +done, that you should talk to us like this!' + +'Nothing,' returned Gashford with a sneer. 'If you are cast into +prison; if the young man--' here he looked hard at Barnaby's +attentive face--'is dragged from us and from his friends; perhaps +from people whom he loves, and whom his death would kill; is thrown +into jail, brought out and hanged before their eyes; still, do +nothing. You'll find it your best policy, I have no doubt.' + +'Come on!' cried Hugh, striding towards the door. 'Dennis-- +Barnaby--come on!' + +'Where? To do what?' said Gashford, slipping past him, and +standing with his back against it. + +'Anywhere! Anything!' cried Hugh. 'Stand aside, master, or the +window will serve our turn as well. Let us out!' + +'Ha ha ha! You are of such--of such an impetuous nature,' said +Gashford, changing his manner for one of the utmost good fellowship +and the pleasantest raillery; 'you are such an excitable creature-- +but you'll drink with me before you go?' + +'Oh, yes--certainly,' growled Dennis, drawing his sleeve across his +thirsty lips. 'No malice, brother. Drink with Muster Gashford!' + +Hugh wiped his heated brow, and relaxed into a smile. The artful +secretary laughed outright. + +'Some liquor here! Be quick, or he'll not stop, even for that. He +is a man of such desperate ardour!' said the smooth secretary, whom +Mr Dennis corroborated with sundry nods and muttered oaths--'Once +roused, he is a fellow of such fierce determination!' + +Hugh poised his sturdy arm aloft, and clapping Barnaby on the back, +bade him fear nothing. They shook hands together--poor Barnaby +evidently possessed with the idea that he was among the most +virtuous and disinterested heroes in the world--and Gashford +laughed again. + +'I hear,' he said smoothly, as he stood among them with a great +measure of liquor in his hand, and filled their glasses as quickly +and as often as they chose, 'I hear--but I cannot say whether it be +true or false--that the men who are loitering in the streets to- +night are half disposed to pull down a Romish chapel or two, and +that they only want leaders. I even heard mention of those in Duke +Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and in Warwick Street, Golden +Square; but common report, you know--You are not going?' + +--'To do nothing, rnaster, eh?' cried Hugh. 'No jails and halter +for Barnaby and me. They must be frightened out of that. Leaders +are wanted, are they? Now boys!' + +'A most impetuous fellow!' cried the secretary. 'Ha ha! A +courageous, boisterous, most vehement fellow! A man who--' + +There was no need to finish the sentence, for they had rushed out +of the house, and were far beyond hearing. He stopped in the +middle of a laugh, listened, drew on his gloves, and, clasping his +hands behind him, paced the deserted room for a long time, then +bent his steps towards the busy town, and walked into the streets. + +They were filled with people, for the rumour of that day's +proceedings had made a great noise. Those persons who did not care +to leave home, were at their doors or windows, and one topic of +discourse prevailed on every side. Some reported that the riots +were effectually put down; others that they had broken out again: +some said that Lord George Gordon had been sent under a strong +guard to the Tower; others that an attempt had been made upon the +King's life, that the soldiers had been again called out, and that +the noise of musketry in a distant part of the town had been +plainly heard within an hour. As it grew darker, these stories +became more direful and mysterious; and often, when some +frightened passenger ran past with tidings that the rioters were +not far off, and were coming up, the doors were shut and barred, +lower windows made secure, and as much consternation engendered, as +if the city were invaded by a foreign army. + +Gashford walked stealthily about, listening to all he heard, and +diffusing or confirming, whenever he had an opportunity, such false +intelligence as suited his own purpose; and, busily occupied in +this way, turned into Holborn for the twentieth time, when a great +many women and children came flying along the street--often panting +and looking back--and the confused murmur of numerous voices struck +upon his ear. Assured by these tokens, and by the red light which +began to flash upon the houses on either side, that some of his +friends were indeed approaching, he begged a moment's shelter at a +door which opened as he passed, and running with some other +persons to an upper window, looked out upon the crowd. + +They had torches among them, and the chief faces were distinctly +visible. That they had been engaged in the destruction of some +building was sufficiently apparent, and that it was a Catholic +place of worship was evident from the spoils they bore as trophies, +which were easily recognisable for the vestments of priests, and +rich fragments of altar furniture. Covered with soot, and dirt, +and dust, and lime; their garments torn to rags; their hair hanging +wildly about them; their hands and faces jagged and bleeding with +the wounds of rusty nails; Barnaby, Hugh, and Dennis hurried on +before them all, like hideous madmen. After them, the dense throng +came fighting on: some singing; some shouting in triumph; some +quarrelling among themselves; some menacing the spectators as they +passed; some with great wooden fragments, on which they spent their +rage as if they had been alive, rending them limb from limb, and +hurling the scattered morsels high into the air; some in a drunken +state, unconscious of the hurts they had received from falling +bricks, and stones, and beams; one borne upon a shutter, in the +very midst, covered with a dingy cloth, a senseless, ghastly heap. +Thus--a vision of coarse faces, with here and there a blot of +flaring, smoky light; a dream of demon heads and savage eyes, and +sticks and iron bars uplifted in the air, and whirled about; a +bewildering horror, in which so much was seen, and yet so little, +which seemed so long, and yet so short, in which there were so many +phantoms, not to be forgotten all through life, and yet so many +things that could not be observed in one distracting glimpse--it +flitted onward, and was gone. + +As it passed away upon its work of wrath and ruin, a piercing +scream was heard. A knot of persons ran towards the spot; +Gashford, who just then emerged into the street, among them. He +was on the outskirts of the little concourse, and could not see or +hear what passed within; but one who had a better place, informed +him that a widow woman had descried her son among the rioters. + +'Is that all?' said the secretary, turning his face homewards. +'Well! I think this looks a little more like business!' + + + +Chapter 51 + + +Promising as these outrages were to Gashford's view, and much like +business as they looked, they extended that night no farther. The +soldiers were again called out, again they took half-a-dozen +prisoners, and again the crowd dispersed after a short and +bloodless scuffle. Hot and drunken though they were, they had not +yet broken all bounds and set all law and government at defiance. +Something of their habitual deference to the authority erected by +society for its own preservation yet remained among them, and had +its majesty been vindicated in time, the secretary would have had +to digest a bitter disappointment. + +By midnight, the streets were clear and quiet, and, save that there +stood in two parts of the town a heap of nodding walls and pile of +rubbish, where there had been at sunset a rich and handsome +building, everything wore its usual aspect. Even the Catholic +gentry and tradesmen, of whom there were many resident in different +parts of the City and its suburbs, had no fear for their lives or +property, and but little indignation for the wrong they had already +sustained in the plunder and destruction of their temples of +worship. An honest confidence in the government under whose +protection they had lived for many years, and a well-founded +reliance on the good feeling and right thinking of the great mass +of the community, with whom, notwithstanding their religious +differences, they were every day in habits of confidential, +affectionate, and friendly intercourse, reassured them, even under +the excesses that had been committed; and convinced them that they +who were Protestants in anything but the name, were no more to be +considered as abettors of these disgraceful occurrences, than they +themselves were chargeable with the uses of the block, the rack, +the gibbet, and the stake in cruel Mary's reign. + +The clock was on the stroke of one, when Gabriel Varden, with his +lady and Miss Miggs, sat waiting in the little parlour. This fact; +the toppling wicks of the dull, wasted candles; the silence that +prevailed; and, above all, the nightcaps of both maid and matron, +were sufficient evidence that they had been prepared for bed some +time ago, and had some reason for sitting up so far beyond their +usual hour. + +If any other corroborative testimony had been required, it would +have been abundantly furnished in the actions of Miss Miggs, who, +having arrived at that restless state and sensitive condition of +the nervous system which are the result of long watching, did, by a +constant rubbing and tweaking of her nose, a perpetual change of +position (arising from the sudden growth of imaginary knots and +knobs in her chair), a frequent friction of her eyebrows, the +incessant recurrence of a small cough, a small groan, a gasp, a +sigh, a sniff, a spasmodic start, and by other demonstrations of +that nature, so file down and rasp, as it were, the patience of the +locksmith, that after looking at her in silence for some time, he +at last broke out into this apostrophe:-- + +'Miggs, my good girl, go to bed--do go to bed. You're really worse +than the dripping of a hundred water-butts outside the window, or +the scratching of as many mice behind the wainscot. I can't bear +it. Do go to bed, Miggs. To oblige me--do.' + +'You haven't got nothing to untie, sir,' returned Miss Miggs, 'and +therefore your requests does not surprise me. But missis has--and +while you sit up, mim'--she added, turning to the locksmith's wife, +'I couldn't, no, not if twenty times the quantity of cold water was +aperiently running down my back at this moment, go to bed with a +quiet spirit.' + +Having spoken these words, Miss Miggs made divers efforts to rub +her shoulders in an impossible place, and shivered from head to +foot; thereby giving the beholders to understand that the imaginary +cascade was still in full flow, but that a sense of duty upheld her +under that and all other sufferings, and nerved her to endurance. + +Mrs Varden being too sleepy to speak, and Miss Miggs having, as the +phrase is, said her say, the locksmith had nothing for it but to +sigh and be as quiet as he could. + +But to be quiet with such a basilisk before him was impossible. +If he looked another way, it was worse to feel that she was rubbing +her cheek, or twitching her ear, or winking her eye, or making all +kinds of extraordinary shapes with her nose, than to see her do it. +If she was for a moment free from any of these complaints, it was +only because of her foot being asleep, or of her arm having got the +fidgets, or of her leg being doubled up with the cramp, or of some +other horrible disorder which racked her whole frame. If she did +enjoy a moment's ease, then with her eyes shut and her mouth wide +open, she would be seen to sit very stiff and upright in her chair; +then to nod a little way forward, and stop with a jerk; then to nod +a little farther forward, and stop with another jerk; then to +recover herself; then to come forward again--lower--lower--lower-- +by very slow degrees, until, just as it seemed impossible that she +could preserve her balance for another instant, and the locksmith +was about to call out in an agony, to save her from dashing down +upon her forehead and fracturing her skull, then all of a sudden +and without the smallest notice, she would come upright and rigid +again with her eyes open, and in her countenance an expression of +defiance, sleepy but yet most obstinate, which plainly said, 'I've +never once closed 'em since I looked at you last, and I'll take my +oath of it!' + +At length, after the clock had struck two, there was a sound at the +street door, as if somebody had fallen against the knocker by +accident. Miss Miggs immediately jumping up and clapping her +hands, cried with a drowsy mingling of the sacred and profane, +'Ally Looyer, mim! there's Simmuns's knock!' + +'Who's there?' said Gabriel. + +'Me!' cried the well-known voice of Mr Tappertit. Gabriel opened +the door, and gave him admission. + +He did not cut a very insinuating figure, for a man of his stature +suffers in a crowd; and having been active in yesterday morning's +work, his dress was literally crushed from head to foot: his hat +being beaten out of all shape, and his shoes trodden down at heel +like slippers. His coat fluttered in strips about him, the buckles +were torn away both from his knees and feet, half his neckerchief +was gone, and the bosom of his shirt was rent to tatters. Yet +notwithstanding all these personal disadvantages; despite his being +very weak from heat and fatigue; and so begrimed with mud and dust +that he might have been in a case, for anything of the real texture +(either of his skin or apparel) that the eye could discern; he +stalked haughtily into the parlour, and throwing himself into a +chair, and endeavouring to thrust his hands into the pockets of his +small-clothes, which were turned inside out and displayed upon his +legs, like tassels, surveyed the household with a gloomy dignity. + +'Simon,' said the locksmith gravely, 'how comes it that you return +home at this time of night, and in this condition? Give me an +assurance that you have not been among the rioters, and I am +satisfied.' + +'Sir,' replied Mr Tappertit, with a contemptuous look, 'I wonder at +YOUR assurance in making such demands.' + +'You have been drinking,' said the locksmith. + +'As a general principle, and in the most offensive sense of the +words, sir,' returned his journeyman with great self-possession, +'I consider you a liar. In that last observation you have +unintentionally--unintentionally, sir,--struck upon the truth.' + +'Martha,' said the locksmith, turning to his wife, and shaking his +head sorrowfully, while a smile at the absurd figure beside him +still played upon his open face, 'I trust it may turn out that this +poor lad is not the victim of the knaves and fools we have so often +had words about, and who have done so much harm to-day. If he has +been at Warwick Street or Duke Street to-night--' + +'He has been at neither, sir,' cried Mr Tappertit in a loud voice, +which he suddenly dropped into a whisper as he repeated, with eyes +fixed upon the locksmith, 'he has been at neither.' + +'I am glad of it, with all my heart,' said the locksmith in a +serious tone; 'for if he had been, and it could be proved against +him, Martha, your Great Association would have been to him the cart +that draws men to the gallows and leaves them hanging in the air. +It would, as sure as we're alive!' + +Mrs Varden was too much scared by Simon's altered manner and +appearance, and by the accounts of the rioters which had reached +her ears that night, to offer any retort, or to have recourse to +her usual matrimonial policy. Miss Miggs wrung her hands, and +wept. + +'He was not at Duke Street, or at Warwick Street, G. Varden,' said +Simon, sternly; 'but he WAS at Westminster. Perhaps, sir, he +kicked a county member, perhaps, sir, he tapped a lord--you may +stare, sir, I repeat it--blood flowed from noses, and perhaps he +tapped a lord. Who knows? This,' he added, putting his hand into +his waistcoat-pocket, and taking out a large tooth, at the sight of +which both Miggs and Mrs Varden screamed, 'this was a bishop's. +Beware, G. Varden!' + +'Now, I would rather,' said the locksmith hastily, 'have paid five +hundred pounds, than had this come to pass. You idiot, do you know +what peril you stand in?' + +'I know it, sir,' replied his journeyman, 'and it is my glory. I +was there, everybody saw me there. I was conspicuous, and +prominent. I will abide the consequences.' + +The locksmith, really disturbed and agitated, paced to and fro in +silence--glancing at his former 'prentice every now and then--and +at length stopping before him, said: + +'Get to bed, and sleep for a couple of hours that you may wake +penitent, and with some of your senses about you. Be sorry for +what you have done, and we will try to save you. If I call him by +five o'clock,' said Varden, turning hurriedly to his wife, and he +washes himself clean and changes his dress, he may get to the Tower +Stairs, and away by the Gravesend tide-boat, before any search is +made for him. From there he can easily get on to Canterbury, +where your cousin will give him work till this storm has blown +over. I am not sure that I do right in screening him from the +punishment he deserves, but he has lived in this house, man and +boy, for a dozen years, and I should be sorry if for this one day's +work he made a miserable end. Lock the front-door, Miggs, and show +no light towards the street when you go upstairs. Quick, Simon! +Get to bed!' + +'And do you suppose, sir,' retorted Mr Tappertit, with a thickness +and slowness of speech which contrasted forcibly with the rapidity +and earnestness of his kind-hearted master--'and do you suppose, +sir, that I am base and mean enough to accept your servile +proposition?--Miscreant!' + +'Whatever you please, Sim, but get to bed. Every minute is of +consequence. The light here, Miggs!' + +'Yes yes, oh do! Go to bed directly,' cried the two women +together. + +Mr Tappertit stood upon his feet, and pushing his chair away to +show that he needed no assistance, answered, swaying himself to and +fro, and managing his head as if it had no connection whatever with +his body: + +'You spoke of Miggs, sir--Miggs may be smothered!' + +'Oh Simmun!' ejaculated that young lady in a faint voice. 'Oh mim! +Oh sir! Oh goodness gracious, what a turn he has give me!' + +'This family may ALL be smothered, sir,' returned Mr Tappertit, +after glancing at her with a smile of ineffable disdain, 'excepting +Mrs V. I have come here, sir, for her sake, this night. Mrs +Varden, take this piece of paper. It's a protection, ma'am. You +may need it.' + +With these words he held out at arm's length, a dirty, crumpled +scrap of writing. The locksmith took it from him, opened it, and +read as follows: + + +'All good friends to our cause, I hope will be particular, and do +no injury to the property of any true Protestant. I am well +assured that the proprietor of this house is a staunch and worthy +friend to the cause. + +GEORGE GORDON.' + + +'What's this!' said the locksmith, with an altered face. + +'Something that'll do you good service, young feller,' replied his +journeyman, 'as you'll find. Keep that safe, and where you can +lay your hand upon it in an instant. And chalk "No Popery" on your +door to-morrow night, and for a week to come--that's all.' + +'This is a genuine document,' said the locksmith, 'I know, for I +have seen the hand before. What threat does it imply? What devil +is abroad?' + +'A fiery devil,' retorted Sim; 'a flaming, furious devil. Don't +you put yourself in its way, or you're done for, my buck. Be +warned in time, G. Varden. Farewell!' + +But here the two women threw themselves in his way--especially Miss +Miggs, who fell upon him with such fervour that she pinned him +against the wall--and conjured him in moving words not to go forth +till he was sober; to listen to reason; to think of it; to take +some rest, and then determine. + +'I tell you,' said Mr Tappertit, 'that my mind is made up. My +bleeding country calls me and I go! Miggs, if you don't get out of +the way, I'll pinch you.' + +Miss Miggs, still clinging to the rebel, screamed once +vociferously--but whether in the distraction of her mind, or +because of his having executed his threat, is uncertain. + +'Release me,' said Simon, struggling to free himself from her +chaste, but spider-like embrace. 'Let me go! I have made +arrangements for you in an altered state of society, and mean to +provide for you comfortably in life--there! Will that satisfy +you?' + +'Oh Simmun!' cried Miss Miggs. 'Oh my blessed Simmun! Oh mim! +what are my feelings at this conflicting moment!' + +Of a rather turbulent description, it would seem; for her nightcap +had been knocked off in the scuffle, and she was on her knees upon +the floor, making a strange revelation of blue and yellow curl- +papers, straggling locks of hair, tags of staylaces, and strings of +it's impossible to say what; panting for breath, clasping her +hands, turning her eyes upwards, shedding abundance of tears, and +exhibiting various other symptoms of the acutest mental suffering. + +'I leave,' said Simon, turning to his master, with an utter +disregard of Miggs's maidenly affliction, 'a box of things +upstairs. Do what you like with 'em. I don't want 'em. I'm never +coming back here, any more. Provide yourself, sir, with a +journeyman; I'm my country's journeyman; henceforward that's MY +line of business.' + +'Be what you like in two hours' time, but now go up to bed,' +returned the locksmith, planting himself in the doorway. 'Do you +hear me? Go to bed!' + +'I hear you, and defy you, Varden,' rejoined Simon Tappertit. +'This night, sir, I have been in the country, planning an +expedition which shall fill your bell-hanging soul with wonder and +dismay. The plot demands my utmost energy. Let me pass!' + +'I'll knock you down if you come near the door,' replied the +locksmith. 'You had better go to bed!' + +Simon made no answer, but gathering himself up as straight as he +could, plunged head foremost at his old master, and the two went +driving out into the workshop together, plying their hands and feet +so briskly that they looked like half-a-dozen, while Miggs and Mrs +Varden screamed for twelve. + +It would have been easy for Varden to knock his old 'prentice down, +and bind him hand and foot; but as he was loth to hurt him in his +then defenceless state, he contented himself with parrying his +blows when he could, taking them in perfect good part when he could +not, and keeping between him and the door, until a favourable +opportunity should present itself for forcing him to retreat up- +stairs, and shutting him up in his own room. But, in the goodness +of his heart, he calculated too much upon his adversary's weakness, +and forgot that drunken men who have lost the power of walking +steadily, can often run. Watching his time, Simon Tappertit made a +cunning show of falling back, staggered unexpectedly forward, +brushed past him, opened the door (he knew the trick of that lock +well), and darted down the street like a mad dog. The locksmith +paused for a moment in the excess of his astonishment, and then +gave chase. + +It was an excellent season for a run, for at that silent hour the +streets were deserted, the air was cool, and the flying figure +before him distinctly visible at a great distance, as it sped away, +with a long gaunt shadow following at its heels. But the short- +winded locksmith had no chance against a man of Sim's youth and +spare figure, though the day had been when he could have run him +down in no time. The space between them rapidly increased, and as +the rays of the rising sun streamed upon Simon in the act of +turning a distant corner, Gabriel Varden was fain to give up, and +sit down on a doorstep to fetch his breath. Simon meanwhile, +without once stopping, fled at the same degree of swiftness to The +Boot, where, as he well knew, some of his company were lying, and +at which respectable hostelry--for he had already acquired the +distinction of being in great peril of the law--a friendly watch +had been expecting him all night, and was even now on the look-out +for his coming. + +'Go thy ways, Sim, go thy ways,' said the locksmith, as soon as he +could speak. 'I have done my best for thee, poor lad, and would +have saved thee, but the rope is round thy neck, I fear.' + +So saying, and shaking his head in a very sorrowful and +disconsolate manner, he turned back, and soon re-entered his own +house, where Mrs Varden and the faithful Miggs had been anxiously +expecting his return. + +Now Mrs Varden (and by consequence Miss Miggs likewise) was +impressed with a secret misgiving that she had done wrong; that she +had, to the utmost of her small means, aided and abetted the growth +of disturbances, the end of which it was impossible to foresee; +that she had led remotely to the scene which had just passed; and +that the locksmith's time for triumph and reproach had now arrived +indeed. And so strongly did Mrs Varden feel this, and so +crestfallen was she in consequence, that while her husband was +pursuing their lost journeyman, she secreted under her chair the +little red-brick dwelling-house with the yellow roof, lest it +should furnish new occasion for reference to the painful theme; and +now hid the same still more, with the skirts of her dress. + +But it happened that the locksmith had been thinking of this very +article on his way home, and that, coming into the room and not +seeing it, he at once demanded where it was. + +Mrs Varden had no resource but to produce it, which she did with +many tears, and broken protestations that if she could have known-- + +'Yes, yes,' said Varden, 'of course--I know that. I don't mean to +reproach you, my dear. But recollect from this time that all good +things perverted to evil purposes, are worse than those which are +naturally bad. A thoroughly wicked woman, is wicked indeed. When +religion goes wrong, she is very wrong, for the same reason. Let +us say no more about it, my dear.' + +So he dropped the red-brick dwelling-house on the floor, and +setting his heel upon it, crushed it into pieces. The halfpence, +and sixpences, and other voluntary contributions, rolled about in +all directions, but nobody offered to touch them, or to take them +up. + +'That,' said the locksmith, 'is easily disposed of, and I would to +Heaven that everything growing out of the same society could be +settled as easily.' + +'It happens very fortunately, Varden,' said his wife, with her +handkerchief to her eyes, 'that in case any more disturbances +should happen--which I hope not; I sincerely hope not--' + +'I hope so too, my dear.' + +'--That in case any should occur, we have the piece of paper which +that poor misguided young man brought.' + +'Ay, to be sure,' said the locksmith, turning quickly round. +'Where is that piece of paper?' + +Mrs Varden stood aghast as he took it from her outstretched band, +tore it into fragments, and threw them under the grate. + +'Not use it?' she said. + +'Use it!' cried the locksmith. No! Let them come and pull the +roof about our ears; let them burn us out of house and home; I'd +neither have the protection of their leader, nor chalk their howl +upon my door, though, for not doing it, they shot me on my own +threshold. Use it! Let them come and do their worst. The first +man who crosses my doorstep on such an errand as theirs, had better +be a hundred miles away. Let him look to it. The others may have +their will. I wouldn't beg or buy them off, if, instead of every +pound of iron in the place, there was a hundred weight of gold. +Get you to bed, Martha. I shall take down the shutters and go to +work.' + +'So early!' said his wife. + +'Ay,' replied the locksmith cheerily, 'so early. Come when they +may, they shall not find us skulking and hiding, as if we feared to +take our portion of the light of day, and left it all to them. So +pleasant dreams to you, my dear, and cheerful sleep!' + +With that he gave his wife a hearty kiss, and bade her delay no +longer, or it would be time to rise before she lay down to rest. +Mrs Varden quite amiably and meekly walked upstairs, followed by +Miggs, who, although a good deal subdued, could not refrain from +sundry stimulative coughs and sniffs by the way, or from holding up +her hands in astonishment at the daring conduct of master. + + + +Chapter 52 + + +A mob is usually a creature of very mysterious existence, +particularly in a large city. Where it comes from or whither it +goes, few men can tell. Assembling and dispersing with equal +suddenness, it is as difficult to follow to its various sources as +the sea itself; nor does the parallel stop here, for the ocean is +not more fickle and uncertain, more terrible when roused, more +unreasonable, or more cruel. + +The people who were boisterous at Westminster upon the Friday +morning, and were eagerly bent upon the work of devastation in Duke +Street and Warwick Street at night, were, in the mass, the same. +Allowing for the chance accessions of which any crowd is morally +sure in a town where there must always be a large number of idle +and profligate persons, one and the same mob was at both places. +Yet they spread themselves in various directions when they +dispersed in the afternoon, made no appointment for reassembling, +had no definite purpose or design, and indeed, for anything they +knew, were scattered beyond the hope of future union. + +At The Boot, which, as has been shown, was in a manner the head- +quarters of the rioters, there were not, upon this Friday night, a +dozen people. Some slept in the stable and outhouses, some in the +common room, some two or three in beds. The rest were in their +usual homes or haunts. Perhaps not a score in all lay in the +adjacent fields and lanes, and under haystacks, or near the warmth +of brick-kilns, who had not their accustomed place of rest beneath +the open sky. As to the public ways within the town, they had +their ordinary nightly occupants, and no others; the usual amount +of vice and wretchedness, but no more. + +The experience of one evening, however, had taught the reckless +leaders of disturbance, that they had but to show themselves in the +streets, to be immediately surrounded by materials which they could +only have kept together when their aid was not required, at great +risk, expense, and trouble. Once possessed of this secret, they +were as confident as if twenty thousand men, devoted to their will, +had been encamped about them, and assumed a confidence which could +not have been surpassed, though that had really been the case. All +day, Saturday, they remained quiet. On Sunday, they rather studied +how to keep their men within call, and in full hope, than to follow +out, by any fierce measure, their first day's proceedings. + +'I hope,' said Dennis, as, with a loud yawn, he raised his body +from a heap of straw on which he had been sleeping, and supporting +his head upon his hand, appealed to Hugh on Sunday morning, 'that +Muster Gashford allows some rest? Perhaps he'd have us at work +again already, eh?' + +'It's not his way to let matters drop, you may be sure of that,' +growled Hugh in answer. 'I'm in no humour to stir yet, though. +I'm as stiff as a dead body, and as full of ugly scratches as if I +had been fighting all day yesterday with wild cats.' + +'You've so much enthusiasm, that's it,' said Dennis, looking with +great admiration at the uncombed head, matted beard, and torn hands +and face of the wild figure before him; 'you're such a devil of a +fellow. You hurt yourself a hundred times more than you need, +because you will be foremost in everything, and will do more than +the rest.' + +'For the matter of that,' returned Hugh, shaking back his ragged +hair and glancing towards the door of the stable in which they lay; +'there's one yonder as good as me. What did I tell you about him? +Did I say he was worth a dozen, when you doubted him?' + +Mr Dennis rolled lazily over upon his breast, and resting his chin +upon his hand in imitation of the attitude in which Hugh lay, said, +as he too looked towards the door: + +'Ay, ay, you knew him, brother, you knew him. But who'd suppose to +look at that chap now, that he could be the man he is! Isn't it a +thousand cruel pities, brother, that instead of taking his nat'ral +rest and qualifying himself for further exertions in this here +honourable cause, he should be playing at soldiers like a boy? And +his cleanliness too!' said Mr Dennis, who certainly had no reason +to entertain a fellow feeling with anybody who was particular on +that score; 'what weaknesses he's guilty of; with respect to his +cleanliness! At five o'clock this morning, there he was at the +pump, though any one would think he had gone through enough, the +day before yesterday, to be pretty fast asleep at that time. But +no--when I woke for a minute or two, there he was at the pump, and +if you'd seen him sticking them peacock's feathers into his hat +when he'd done washing--ah! I'm sorry he's such a imperfect +character, but the best on us is incomplete in some pint of view or +another.' + +The subject of this dialogue and of these concluding remarks, which +were uttered in a tone of philosophical meditation, was, as the +reader will have divined, no other than Barnaby, who, with his flag +in hand, stood sentry in the little patch of sunlight at the +distant door, or walked to and fro outside, singing softly to +himself; and keeping time to the music of some clear church bells. +Whether he stood still, leaning with both hands on the flagstaff, +or, bearing it upon his shoulder, paced slowly up and down, the +careful arrangement of his poor dress, and his erect and lofty +bearing, showed how high a sense he had of the great importance of +his trust, and how happy and how proud it made him. To Hugh and +his companion, who lay in a dark corner of the gloomy shed, he, and +the sunlight, and the peaceful Sabbath sound to which he made +response, seemed like a bright picture framed by the door, and set +off by the stable's blackness. The whole formed such a contrast to +themselves, as they lay wallowing, like some obscene animals, in +their squalor and wickedness on the two heaps of straw, that for a +few moments they looked on without speaking, and felt almost +ashamed. + +'Ah!'said Hugh at length, carrying it off with a laugh: 'He's a +rare fellow is Barnaby, and can do more, with less rest, or meat, +or drink, than any of us. As to his soldiering, I put him on duty +there.' + +'Then there was a object in it, and a proper good one too, I'll be +sworn,' retorted Dennis with a broad grin, and an oath of the same +quality. 'What was it, brother?' + +'Why, you see,' said Hugh, crawling a little nearer to him, 'that +our noble captain yonder, came in yesterday morning rather the +worse for liquor, and was--like you and me--ditto last night.' + +Dennis looked to where Simon Tappertit lay coiled upon a truss of +hay, snoring profoundly, and nodded. + +'And our noble captain,' continued Hugh with another laugh, 'our +noble captain and I, have planned for to-morrow a roaring +expedition, with good profit in it.' + +'Again the Papists?' asked Dennis, rubbing his hands. + +'Ay, against the Papists--against one of 'em at least, that some of +us, and I for one, owe a good heavy grudge to.' + +'Not Muster Gashford's friend that he spoke to us about in my +house, eh?' said Dennis, brimfull of pleasant expectation. + +'The same man,' said Hugh. + +'That's your sort,' cried Mr Dennis, gaily shaking hands with him, +'that's the kind of game. Let's have revenges and injuries, and +all that, and we shall get on twice as fast. Now you talk, +indeed!' + +'Ha ha ha! The captain,' added Hugh, 'has thoughts of carrying off +a woman in the bustle, and--ha ha ha!--and so have I!' + +Mr Dennis received this part of the scheme with a wry face, +observing that as a general principle he objected to women +altogether, as being unsafe and slippery persons on whom there was +no calculating with any certainty, and who were never in the same +mind for four-and-twenty hours at a stretch. He might have +expatiated on this suggestive theme at much greater length, but +that it occurred to him to ask what connection existed between the +proposed expedition and Barnaby's being posted at the stable-door +as sentry; to which Hugh cautiously replied in these words: + +'Why, the people we mean to visit, were friends of his, once upon a +time, and I know that much of him to feel pretty sure that if he +thought we were going to do them any harm, he'd be no friend to our +side, but would lend a ready hand to the other. So I've persuaded +him (for I know him of old) that Lord George has picked him out to +guard this place to-morrow while we're away, and that it's a great +honour--and so he's on duty now, and as proud of it as if he was a +general. Ha ha! What do you say to me for a careful man as well +as a devil of a one?' + +Mr Dennis exhausted himself in compliments, and then added, + +'But about the expedition itself--' + +'About that,' said Hugh, 'you shall hear all particulars from me +and the great captain conjointly and both together--for see, he's +waking up. Rouse yourself, lion-heart. Ha ha! Put a good face +upon it, and drink again. Another hair of the dog that bit you, +captain! Call for drink! There's enough of gold and silver cups +and candlesticks buried underneath my bed,' he added, rolling back +the straw, and pointing to where the ground was newly turned, 'to +pay for it, if it was a score of casks full. Drink, captain!' + +Mr Tappertit received these jovial promptings with a very bad +grace, being much the worse, both in mind and body, for his two +nights of debauch, and but indifferently able to stand upon his +legs. With Hugh's assistance, however, he contrived to stagger to +the pump; and having refreshed himself with an abundant draught of +cold water, and a copious shower of the same refreshing liquid on +his head and face, he ordered some rum and milk to be served; and +upon that innocent beverage and some biscuits and cheese made a +pretty hearty meal. That done, he disposed himself in an easy +attitude on the ground beside his two companions (who were +carousing after their own tastes), and proceeded to enlighten Mr +Dennis in reference to to-morrow's project. + +That their conversation was an interesting one, was rendered +manifest by its length, and by the close attention of all three. +That it was not of an oppressively grave character, but was +enlivened by various pleasantries arising out of the subject, was +clear from their loud and frequent roars of laughter, which +startled Barnaby on his post, and made him wonder at their levity. +But he was not summoned to join them, until they had eaten, and +drunk, and slept, and talked together for some hours; not, indeed, +until the twilight; when they informed him that they were about to +make a slight demonstration in the streets--just to keep the +people's hands in, as it was Sunday night, and the public might +otherwise be disappointed--and that he was free to accompany them +if he would. + +Without the slightest preparation, saving that they carried clubs +and wore the blue cockade, they sallied out into the streets; and, +with no more settled design than that of doing as much mischief as +they could, paraded them at random. Their numbers rapidly +increasing, they soon divided into parties; and agreeing to meet +by-and-by, in the fields near Welbeck Street, scoured the town in +various directions. The largest body, and that which augmented +with the greatest rapidity, was the one to which Hugh and Barnaby +belonged. This took its way towards Moorfields, where there was a +rich chapel, and in which neighbourhood several Catholic families +were known to reside. + +Beginning with the private houses so occupied, they broke open the +doors and windows; and while they destroyed the furniture and left +but the bare walls, made a sharp search for tools and engines of +destruction, such as hammers, pokers, axes, saws, and such like +instruments. Many of the rioters made belts of cord, of +handkerchiefs, or any material they found at hand, and wore these +weapons as openly as pioneers upon a field-day. There was not the +least disguise or concealment--indeed, on this night, very little +excitement or hurry. From the chapels, they tore down and took +away the very altars, benches, pulpits, pews, and flooring; from +the dwelling-houses, the very wainscoting and stairs. This Sunday +evening's recreation they pursued like mere workmen who had a +certain task to do, and did it. Fifty resolute men might have +turned them at any moment; a single company of soldiers could have +scattered them like dust; but no man interposed, no authority +restrained them, and, except by the terrified persons who fled from +their approach, they were as little heeded as if they were pursuing +their lawful occupations with the utmost sobriety and good +conduct. + +In the same manner, they marched to the place of rendezvous agreed +upon, made great fires in the fields, and reserving the most +valuable of their spoils, burnt the rest. Priestly garments, +images of saints, rich stuffs and ornaments, altar-furniture and +household goods, were cast into the flames, and shed a glare on the +whole country round; but they danced and howled, and roared about +these fires till they were tired, and were never for an instant +checked. + +As the main body filed off from this scene of action, and passed +down Welbeck Street, they came upon Gashford, who had been a +witness of their proceedings, and was walking stealthily along the +pavement. Keeping up with him, and yet not seeming to speak, Hugh +muttered in his ear: + +'Is this better, master?' + +'No,' said Gashford. 'It is not.' + +'What would you have?' said Hugh. 'Fevers are never at their +height at once. They must get on by degrees.' + +'I would have you,' said Gashford, pinching his arm with such +malevolence that his nails seemed to meet in the skin; 'I would +have you put some meaning into your work. Fools! Can you make no +better bonfires than of rags and scraps? Can you burn nothing +whole?' + +'A little patience, master,' said Hugh. 'Wait but a few hours, and +you shall see. Look for a redness in the sky, to-morrow night.' + +With that, he fell back into his place beside Barnaby; and when the +secretary looked after him, both were lost in the crowd. + + + +Chapter 53 + + +The next day was ushered in by merry peals of bells, and by the +firing of the Tower guns; flags were hoisted on many of the church- +steeples; the usual demonstrations were made in honour of the +anniversary of the King's birthday; and every man went about his +pleasure or business as if the city were in perfect order, and +there were no half-smouldering embers in its secret places, which, +on the approach of night, would kindle up again and scatter ruin +and dismay abroad. The leaders of the riot, rendered still more +daring by the success of last night and by the booty they had +acquired, kept steadily together, and only thought of implicating +the mass of their followers so deeply that no hope of pardon or +reward might tempt them to betray their more notorious confederates +into the hands of justice. + +Indeed, the sense of having gone too far to be forgiven, held the +timid together no less than the bold. Many who would readily have +pointed out the foremost rioters and given evidence against them, +felt that escape by that means was hopeless, when their every act +had been observed by scores of people who had taken no part in the +disturbances; who had suffered in their persons, peace, or +property, by the outrages of the mob; who would be most willing +witnesses; and whom the government would, no doubt, prefer to any +King's evidence that might be offered. Many of this class had +deserted their usual occupations on the Saturday morning; some had +been seen by their employers active in the tumult; others knew they +must be suspected, and that they would be discharged if they +returned; others had been desperate from the beginning, and +comforted themselves with the homely proverb, that, being hanged at +all, they might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. They all +hoped and believed, in a greater or less degree, that the +government they seemed to have paralysed, would, in its terror, +come to terms with them in the end, and suffer them to make their +own conditions. The least sanguine among them reasoned with +himself that, at the worst, they were too many to be all punished, +and that he had as good a chance of escape as any other man. The +great mass never reasoned or thought at all, but were stimulated by +their own headlong passions, by poverty, by ignorance, by the love +of mischief, and the hope of plunder. + +One other circumstance is worthy of remark; and that is, that from +the moment of their first outbreak at Westminster, every symptom of +order or preconcerted arrangement among them vanished. When they +divided into parties and ran to different quarters of the town, it +was on the spontaneous suggestion of the moment. Each party +swelled as it went along, like rivers as they roll towards the sea; +new leaders sprang up as they were wanted, disappeared when the +necessity was over, and reappeared at the next crisis. Each tumult +took shape and form from the circumstances of the moment; sober +workmen, going home from their day's labour, were seen to cast down +their baskets of tools and become rioters in an instant; mere boys +on errands did the like. In a word, a moral plague ran through the +city. The noise, and hurry, and excitement, had for hundreds and +hundreds an attraction they had no firmness to resist. The +contagion spread like a dread fever: an infectious madness, as yet +not near its height, seized on new victims every hour, and society +began to tremble at their ravings. + +It was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon when +Gashford looked into the lair described in the last chapter, and +seeing only Barnaby and Dennis there, inquired for Hugh. + +He was out, Barnaby told him; had gone out more than an hour ago; +and had not yet returned. + +'Dennis!' said the smiling secretary, in his smoothest voice, as he +sat down cross-legged on a barrel, 'Dennis!' + +The hangman struggled into a sitting posture directly, and with his +eyes wide open, looked towards him. + +'How do you do, Dennis?' said Gashford, nodding. 'I hope you have +suffered no inconvenience from your late exertions, Dennis?' + +'I always will say of you, Muster Gashford,' returned the hangman, +staring at him, 'that that 'ere quiet way of yours might almost +wake a dead man. It is,' he added, with a muttered oath--still +staring at him in a thoughtful manner--'so awful sly!' + +'So distinct, eh Dennis?' + +'Distinct!' he answered, scratching his head, and keeping his eyes +upon the secretary's face; 'I seem to hear it, Muster Gashford, in +my wery bones.' + +'I am very glad your sense of hearing is so sharp, and that I +succeed in making myself so intelligible,' said Gashford, in his +unvarying, even tone. 'Where is your friend?' + +Mr Dennis looked round as in expectation of beholding him asleep +upon his bed of straw; then remembering he had seen him go out, +replied: + +'I can't say where he is, Muster Gashford, I expected him back +afore now. I hope it isn't time that we was busy, Muster +Gashford?' + +'Nay,' said the secretary, 'who should know that as well as you? +How can I tell you, Dennis? You are perfect master of your own +actions, you know, and accountable to nobody--except sometimes to +the law, eh?' + +Dennis, who was very much baffled by the cool matter-of-course +manner of this reply, recovered his self-possession on his +professional pursuits being referred to, and pointing towards +Barnaby, shook his head and frowned. + +'Hush!' cried Barnaby. + +'Ah! Do hush about that, Muster Gashford,' said the hangman in a +low voice, 'pop'lar prejudices--you always forget--well, Barnaby, +my lad, what's the matter?' + +'I hear him coming,' he answered: 'Hark! Do you mark that? That's +his foot! Bless you, I know his step, and his dog's too. Tramp, +tramp, pit-pat, on they come together, and, ha ha ha!--and here +they are!' he cried, joyfully welcoming Hugh with both hands, and +then patting him fondly on the back, as if instead of being the +rough companion he was, he had been one of the most prepossessing +of men. 'Here he is, and safe too! I am glad to see him back +again, old Hugh!' + +'I'm a Turk if he don't give me a warmer welcome always than any +man of sense,' said Hugh, shaking hands with him with a kind of +ferocious friendship, strange enough to see. 'How are you, boy?' + +'Hearty!' cried Barnaby, waving his hat. 'Ha ha ha! And merrry +too, Hugh! And ready to do anything for the good cause, and the +right, and to help the kind, mild, pale-faced gentleman--the lord +they used so ill--eh, Hugh?' + +'Ay!' returned his friend, dropping his hand, and looking at +Gashford for an instant with a changed expression before he spoke +to him. 'Good day, master!' + +'And good day to you,' replied the secretary, nursing his leg. + +'And many good days--whole years of them, I hope. You are heated.' + +'So would you have been, master,' said Hugh, wiping his face, 'if +you'd been running here as fast as I have.' + +'You know the news, then? Yes, I supposed you would have heard it.' + +'News! what news?' + +'You don't?' cried Gashford, raising his eyebrows with an +exclamation of surprise. 'Dear me! Come; then I AM the first to +make you acquainted with your distinguished position, after all. +Do you see the King's Arms a-top?' he smilingly asked, as he took a +large paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and held it out for +Hugh's inspection. + +'Well!' said Hugh. 'What's that to me?' + +'Much. A great deal,' replied the secretary. 'Read it.' + +'I told you, the first time I saw you, that I couldn't read,' said +Hugh, impatiently. 'What in the Devil's name's inside of it?' + +'It is a proclamation from the King in Council,' said Gashford, +'dated to-day, and offering a reward of five hundred pounds--five +hundred pounds is a great deal of money, and a large temptation to +some people--to any one who will discover the person or persons +most active in demolishing those chapels on Saturday night.' + +'Is that all?' cried Hugh, with an indifferent air. 'I knew of +that.' + +'Truly I might have known you did,' said Gashford, smiling, and +folding up the document again. 'Your friend, I might have guessed-- +indeed I did guess--was sure to tell you.' + +'My friend!' stammered Hugh, with an unsuccessful effort to appear +surprised. 'What friend?' + +'Tut tut--do you suppose I don't know where you have been?' +retorted Gashford, rubbing his hands, and beating the back of one +on the palm of the other, and looking at him with a cunning eye. +'How dull you think me! Shall I say his name?' + +'No,' said Hugh, with a hasty glance towards Dennis. + +'You have also heard from him, no doubt,' resumed the secretary, +after a moment's pause, 'that the rioters who have been taken (poor +fellows) are committed for trial, and that some very active +witnesses have had the temerity to appear against them. Among +others--' and here he clenched his teeth, as if he would suppress +by force some violent words that rose upon his tongue; and spoke +very slowly. 'Among others, a gentleman who saw the work going on +in Warwick Street; a Catholic gentleman; one Haredale.' + +Hugh would have prevented his uttering the word, but it was out +already. Hearing the name, Barnaby turned swiftly round. + +'Duty, duty, bold Barnaby!' cried Hugh, assuming his wildest and +most rapid manner, and thrusting into his hand his staff and flag +which leant against the wall. 'Mount guard without loss of time, +for we are off upon our expedition. Up, Dennis, and get ready! +Take care that no one turns the straw upon my bed, brave Barnaby; +we know what's underneath it--eh? Now, master, quick! What you +have to say, say speedily, for the little captain and a cluster of +'em are in the fields, and only waiting for us. Sharp's the word, +and strike's the action. Quick!' + +Barnaby was not proof against this bustle and despatch. The look +of mingled astonishtnent and anger which had appeared in his face +when he turned towards them, faded from it as the words passed from +his memory, like breath from a polished mirror; and grasping the +weapon which Hugh forced upon him, he proudly took his station at +the door, beyond their hearing. + +'You might have spoiled our plans, master,' said Hugh. 'YOU, too, +of all men!' + +'Who would have supposed that HE would be so quick?' urged +Gashford. + +'He's as quick sometimes--I don't mean with his hands, for that you +know, but with his head--as you or any man,' said Hugh. 'Dennis, +it's time we were going; they're waiting for us; I came to tell +you. Reach me my stick and belt. Here! Lend a hand, master. +Fling this over my shoulder, and buckle it behind, will you?' + +'Brisk as ever!' said the secretary, adjusting it for him as he +desired. + +'A man need be brisk to-day; there's brisk work a-foot.' + +'There is, is there?' said Gashford. He said it with such a +provoking assumption of ignorance, that Hugh, looking over his +shoulder and angrily down upon him, replied: + +'Is there! You know there is! Who knows better than you, master, +that the first great step to be taken is to make examples of these +witnesses, and frighten all men from appearing against us or any of +our body, any more?' + +'There's one we know of,' returned Gashford, with an expressive +smile, 'who is at least as well informed upon that subject as you +or I.' + +'If we mean the same gentleman, as I suppose we do,' Hugh rejoined +softly, 'I tell you this--he's as good and quick information about +everything as--' here he paused and looked round, as if to make +sure that the person in question was not within hearing, 'as Old +Nick himself. Have you done that, master? How slow you are!' + +'It's quite fast now,' said Gashford, rising. 'I say--you didn't +find that your friend disapproved of to-day's little expedition? +Ha ha ha! It is fortunate it jumps so well with the witness +policy; for, once planned, it must have been carried out. And now +you are going, eh?' + +'Now we are going, master!' Hugh replied. 'Any parting words?' + +'Oh dear, no,' said Gashford sweetly. 'None!' + +'You're sure?' cried Hugh, nudging the grinning Dennis. + +'Quite sure, eh, Muster Gashford?' chuckled the hangman. + +Gashford paused a moment, struggling with his caution and his +malice; then putting himself between the two men, and laying a hand +upon the arm of each, said, in a cramped whisper: + +'Do not, my good friends--I am sure you will not--forget our talk +one night--in your house, Dennis--about this person. No mercy, no +quarter, no two beams of his house to be left standing where the +builder placed them! Fire, the saying goes, is a good servant, but +a bad master. Makes it HIS master; he deserves no better. But I +am sure you will be firm, I am sure you will be very resolute, I am +sure you will remember that he thirsts for your lives, and those of +all your brave companions. If you ever acted like staunch +fellows, you will do so to-day. Won't you, Dennis--won't you, +Hugh?' + +The two looked at him, and at each other; then bursting into a roar +of laughter, brandished their staves above their heads, shook +hands, and hurried out. + +When they had been gone a little time, Gashford followed. They +were yet in sight, and hastening to that part of the adjacent +fields in which their fellows had already mustered; Hugh was +looking back, and flourishing his hat to Barnaby, who, delighted +with his trust, replied in the same way, and then resumed his +pacing up and down before the stable-door, where his feet had worn +a path already. And when Gashford himself was far distant, and +looked back for the last time, he was still walking to and fro, +with the same measured tread; the most devoted and the blithest +champion that ever maintained a post, and felt his heart lifted up +with a brave sense of duty, and determination to defend it to the +last. + +Smiling at the simplicity of the poor idiot, Gashford betook +himself to Welbeck Street by a different path from that which he +knew the rioters would take, and sitting down behind a curtain in +one of the upper windows of Lord George Gordon's house, waited +impatiently for their coming. They were so long, that although he +knew it had been settled they should come that way, he had a +misgiving they must have changed their plans and taken some other +route. But at length the roar of voices was heard in the +neighbouring fields, and soon afterwards they came thronging past, +in a great body. + +However, they were not all, nor nearly all, in one body, but were, +as he soon found, divided into four parties, each of which stopped +before the house to give three cheers, and then went on; the +leaders crying out in what direction they were going, and calling +on the spectators to join them. The first detachment, carrying, by +way of banners, some relics of the havoc they had made in +Moorfields, proclaimed that they were on their way to Chelsea, +whence they would return in the same order, to make of the spoil +they bore, a great bonfire, near at hand. The second gave out that +they were bound for Wapping, to destroy a chapel; the third, that +their place of destination was East Smithfield, and their object +the same. All this was done in broad, bright, summer day. Gay +carriages and chairs stopped to let them pass, or turned back to +avoid them; people on foot stood aside in doorways, or perhaps +knocked and begged permission to stand at a window, or in the hall, +until the rioters had passed: but nobody interfered with them; and +when they had gone by, everything went on as usual. + +There still remained the fourth body, and for that the secretary +looked with a most intense eagerness. At last it came up. It was +numerous, and composed of picked men; for as he gazed down among +them, he recognised many upturned faces which he knew well--those +of Simon Tappertit, Hugh, and Dennis in the front, of course. They +halted and cheered, as the others had done; but when they moved +again, they did not, like them, proclaim what design they had. +Hugh merely raised his hat upon the bludgeon he carried, and +glancing at a spectator on the opposite side of the way, was gone. + +Gashford followed the direction of his glance instinctively, and +saw, standing on the pavement, and wearing the blue cockade, Sir +John Chester. He held his hat an inch or two above his head, to +propitiate the mob; and, resting gracefully on his cane, smiling +pleasantly, and displaying his dress and person to the very best +advantage, looked on in the most tranquil state imaginable. For +all that, and quick and dexterous as he was, Gashford had seen him +recognise Hugh with the air of a patron. He had no longer any eyes +for the crowd, but fixed his keen regards upon Sir John. + +He stood in the same place and posture until the last man in the +concourse had turned the corner of the street; then very +deliberately took the blue cockade out of his hat; put it carefully +in his pocket, ready for the next emergency; refreshed himself with +a pinch of snuff; put up his box; and was walking slowly off, when +a passing carriage stopped, and a lady's hand let down the glass. +Sir John's hat was off again immediately. After a minute's +conversation at the carriage-window, in which it was apparent that +he was vastly entertaining on the subject of the mob, he stepped +lightly in, and was driven away. + +The secretary smiled, but he had other thoughts to dwell upon, and +soon dismissed the topic. Dinner was brought him, but he sent it +down untasted; and, in restless pacings up and down the room, and +constant glances at the clock, and many futile efforts to sit down +and read, or go to sleep, or look out of the window, consumed four +weary hours. When the dial told him thus much time had crept away, +he stole upstairs to the top of the house, and coming out upon the +roof sat down, with his face towards the east. + +Heedless of the fresh air that blew upon his heated brow, of the +pleasant meadows from which he turned, of the piles of roofs and +chimneys upon which he looked, of the smoke and rising mist he +vainly sought to pierce, of the shrill cries of children at their +evening sports, the distant hum and turmoil of the town, the +cheerful country breath that rustled past to meet it, and to droop, +and die; he watched, and watched, till it was dark save for the +specks of light that twinkled in the streets below and far away-- +and, as the darkness deepened, strained his gaze and grew more +eager yet. + +'Nothing but gloom in that direction, still!' he muttered +restlessly. 'Dog! where is the redness in the sky, you promised +me!' + + + +Chapter 54 + + +Rumours of the prevailing disturbances had, by this time, begun to +be pretty generally circulated through the towns and villages round +London, and the tidings were everywhere received with that appetite +for the marvellous and love of the terrible which have probably +been among the natural characteristics of mankind since the +creation of the world. These accounts, however, appeared, to many +persons at that day--as they would to us at the present, but that +we know them to be matter of history--so monstrous and improbable, +that a great number of those who were resident at a distance, and +who were credulous enough on other points, were really unable to +bring their minds to believe that such things could be; and +rejected the intelligence they received on all hands, as wholly +fabulous and absurd. + +Mr Willet--not so much, perhaps, on account of his having argued +and settled the matter with himself, as by reason of his +constitutional obstinacy--was one of those who positively refused +to entertain the current topic for a moment. On this very evening, +and perhaps at the very time when Gashford kept his solitary watch, +old John was so red in the face with perpetually shaking his head +in contradiction of his three ancient cronies and pot companions, +that he was quite a phenomenon to behold, and lighted up the +Maypole Porch wherein they sat together, like a monstrous carbuncle +in a fairy tale. + +'Do you think, sir,' said Mr Willet, looking hard at Solomon +Daisy--for it was his custom in cases of personal altercation to +fasten upon the smallest man in the party--'do you think, sir, that +I'm a born fool?' + +'No, no, Johnny,' returned Solomon, looking round upon the little +circle of which he formed a part: 'We all know better than that. +You're no fool, Johnny. No, no!' + +Mr Cobb and Mr Parkes shook their heads in unison, muttering, 'No, +no, Johnny, not you!' But as such compliments had usually the +effect of making Mr Willet rather more dogged than before, he +surveyed them with a look of deep disdain, and returned for answer: + +'Then what do you mean by coming here, and telling me that this +evening you're a-going to walk up to London together--you three-- +you--and have the evidence of your own senses? An't,' said Mr +Willet, putting his pipe in his mouth with an air of solemn +disgust, 'an't the evidence of MY senses enough for you?' + +'But we haven't got it, Johnny,' pleaded Parkes, humbly. + +'You haven't got it, sir?' repeated Mr Willet, eyeing him from top +to toe. 'You haven't got it, sir? You HAVE got it, sir. Don't I +tell you that His blessed Majesty King George the Third would no +more stand a rioting and rollicking in his streets, than he'd stand +being crowed over by his own Parliament?' + +'Yes, Johnny, but that's your sense--not your senses,' said the +adventurous Mr Parkes. + +'How do you know? 'retorted John with great dignity. 'You're a +contradicting pretty free, you are, sir. How do YOU know which it +is? I'm not aware I ever told you, sir.' + +Mr Parkes, finding himself in the position of having got into +metaphysics without exactly seeing his way out of them, stammered +forth an apology and retreated from the argument. There then +ensued a silence of some ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, at +the expiration of which period Mr Willet was observed to rumble and +shake with laughter, and presently remarked, in reference to his +late adversary, 'that he hoped he had tackled him enough.' +Thereupon Messrs Cobb and Daisy laughed, and nodded, and Parkes was +looked upon as thoroughly and effectually put down. + +'Do you suppose if all this was true, that Mr Haredale would be +constantly away from home, as he is?' said John, after another +silence. 'Do you think he wouldn't be afraid to leave his house +with them two young women in it, and only a couple of men, or so?' + +'Ay, but then you know,' returned Solomon Daisy, 'his house is a +goodish way out of London, and they do say that the rioters won't +go more than two miles, or three at the farthest, off the stones. +Besides, you know, some of the Catholic gentlefolks have actually +sent trinkets and suchlike down here for safety--at least, so the +story goes.' + +'The story goes!' said Mr Willet testily. 'Yes, sir. The story +goes that you saw a ghost last March. But nobody believes it.' + +'Well!' said Solomon, rising, to divert the attention of his two +friends, who tittered at this retort: 'believed or disbelieved, +it's true; and true or not, if we mean to go to London, we must be +going at once. So shake hands, Johnny, and good night.' + +'I shall shake hands,' returned the landlord, putting his into his +pockets, 'with no man as goes to London on such nonsensical +errands.' + +The three cronies were therefore reduced to the necessity of +shaking his elbows; having performed that ceremony, and brought +from the house their hats, and sticks, and greatcoats, they bade +him good night and departed; promising to bring him on the morrow +full and true accounts of the real state of the city, and if it +were quiet, to give him the full merit of his victory. + +John Willet looked after them, as they plodded along the road in +the rich glow of a summer evening; and knocking the ashes out of +his pipe, laughed inwardly at their folly, until his sides were +sore. When he had quite exhausted himself--which took some time, +for he laughed as slowly as he thought and spoke--he sat himself +comfortably with his back to the house, put his legs upon the +bench, then his apron over his face, and fell sound asleep. + +How long he slept, matters not; but it was for no brief space, for +when he awoke, the rich light had faded, the sombre hues of night +were falling fast upon the landscape, and a few bright stars were +already twinkling overhead. The birds were all at roost, the +daisies on the green had closed their fairy hoods, the honeysuckle +twining round the porch exhaled its perfume in a twofold degree, as +though it lost its coyness at that silent time and loved to shed +its fragrance on the night; the ivy scarcely stirred its deep green +leaves. How tranquil, and how beautiful it was! + +Was there no sound in the air, besides the gentle rustling of the +trees and the grasshopper's merry chirp? Hark! Something very +faint and distant, not unlike the murmuring in a sea-shell. Now it +grew louder, fainter now, and now it altogether died away. +Presently, it came again, subsided, came once more, grew louder, +fainter--swelled into a roar. It was on the road, and varied with +its windings. All at once it burst into a distinct sound--the +voices, and the tramping feet of many men. + +It is questionable whether old John Willet, even then, would have +thought of the rioters but for the cries of his cook and housemaid, +who ran screaming upstairs and locked themselves into one of the +old garrets,--shrieking dismally when they had done so, by way of +rendering their place of refuge perfectly secret and secure. These +two females did afterwards depone that Mr Willet in his +consternation uttered but one word, and called that up the stairs +in a stentorian voice, six distinct times. But as this word was a +monosyllable, which, however inoffensive when applied to the +quadruped it denotes, is highly reprehensible when used in +connection with females of unimpeachable character, many persons +were inclined to believe that the young women laboured under some +hallucination caused by excessive fear; and that their ears +deceived them. + +Be this as it may, John Willet, in whom the very uttermost extent +of dull-headed perplexity supplied the place of courage, stationed +himself in the porch, and waited for their coming up. Once, it +dimly occurred to him that there was a kind of door to the house, +which had a lock and bolts; and at the same time some shadowy ideas +of shutters to the lower windows, flitted through his brain. But +he stood stock still, looking down the road in the direction in +which the noise was rapidly advancing, and did not so much as take +his hands out of his pockets. + +He had not to wait long. A dark mass, looming through a cloud of +dust, soon became visible; the mob quickened their pace; shouting +and whooping like savages, they came rushing on pell mell; and in a +few seconds he was bandied from hand to hand, in the heart of a +crowd of men. + +'Halloa!' cried a voice he knew, as the man who spoke came cleaving +through the throng. 'Where is he? Give him to me. Don't hurt +him. How now, old Jack! Ha ha ha!' + +Mr Willet looked at him, and saw it was Hugh; but he said nothing, +and thought nothing. + +'These lads are thirsty and must drink!' cried Hugh, thrusting him +back towards the house. 'Bustle, Jack, bustle. Show us the best-- +the very best--the over-proof that you keep for your own drinking, +Jack!' + +John faintly articulated the words, 'Who's to pay?' + +'He says "Who's to pay?"' cried Hugh, with a roar of laughter which +was loudly echoed by the crowd. Then turning to John, he added, +'Pay! Why, nobody.' + +John stared round at the mass of faces--some grinning, some fierce, +some lighted up by torches, some indistinct, some dusky and +shadowy: some looking at him, some at his house, some at each +other--and while he was, as he thought, in the very act of doing +so, found himself, without any consciousness of having moved, in +the bar; sitting down in an arm-chair, and watching the destruction +of his property, as if it were some queer play or entertainment, of +an astonishing and stupefying nature, but having no reference to +himself--that he could make out--at all. + +Yes. Here was the bar--the bar that the boldest never entered +without special invitation--the sanctuary, the mystery, the +hallowed ground: here it was, crammed with men, clubs, sticks, +torches, pistols; filled with a deafening noise, oaths, shouts, +screams, hootings; changed all at once into a bear-garden, a +madhouse, an infernal temple: men darting in and out, by door and +window, smashing the glass, turning the taps, drinking liquor out +of China punchbowls, sitting astride of casks, smoking private and +personal pipes, cutting down the sacred grove of lemons, hacking +and hewing at the celebrated cheese, breaking open inviolable +drawers, putting things in their pockets which didn't belong to +them, dividing his own money before his own eyes, wantonly wasting, +breaking, pulling down and tearing up: nothing quiet, nothing +private: men everywhere--above, below, overhead, in the bedrooms, +in the kitchen, in the yard, in the stables--clambering in at +windows when there were doors wide open; dropping out of windows +when the stairs were handy; leaping over the bannisters into chasms +of passages: new faces and figures presenting themselves every +instant--some yelling, some singing, some fighting, some breaking +glass and crockery, some laying the dust with the liquor they +couldn't drink, some ringing the bells till they pulled them down, +others beating them with pokers till they beat them into fragments: +more men still--more, more, more--swarming on like insects: noise, +smoke, light, darkness, frolic, anger, laughter, groans, plunder, +fear, and ruin! + +Nearly all the time while John looked on at this bewildering scene, +Hugh kept near him; and though he was the loudest, wildest, most +destructive villain there, he saved his old master's bones a score +of times. Nay, even when Mr Tappertit, excited by liquor, came up, +and in assertion of his prerogative politely kicked John Willet on +the shins, Hugh bade him return the compliment; and if old John had +had sufficient presence of mind to understand this whispered +direction, and to profit by it, he might no doubt, under Hugh's +protection, have done so with impunity. + +At length the band began to reassemble outside the house, and to +call to those within, to join them, for they were losing time. +These murmurs increasing, and attaining a high pitch, Hugh, and +some of those who yet lingered in the bar, and who plainly were the +leaders of the troop, took counsel together, apart, as to what was +to be done with John, to keep him quiet until their Chigwell work +was over. Some proposed to set the house on fire and leave him in +it; others, that he should be reduced to a state of temporary +insensibility, by knocking on the head; others, that he should be +sworn to sit where he was until to-morrow at the same hour; others +again, that he should be gagged and taken off with them, under a +sufficient guard. All these propositions being overruled, it was +concluded, at last, to bind him in his chair, and the word was +passed for Dennis. + +'Look'ee here, Jack!' said Hugh, striding up to him: 'We are going +to tie you, hand and foot, but otherwise you won't be hurt. D'ye +hear?' + +John Willet looked at another man, as if he didn't know which was +the speaker, and muttered something about an ordinary every Sunday +at two o'clock. + +'You won't be hurt I tell you, Jack--do you hear me?' roared Hugh, +impressing the assurance upon him by means of a heavy blow on the +back. 'He's so dead scared, he's woolgathering, I think. Give him +a drop of something to drink here. Hand over, one of you.' + +A glass of liquor being passed forward, Hugh poured the contents +down old John's throat. Mr Willet feebly smacked his lips, thrust +his hand into his pocket, and inquired what was to pay; adding, as +he looked vacantly round, that he believed there was a trifle of +broken glass-- + +'He's out of his senses for the time, it's my belief,' said Hugh, +after shaking him, without any visible effect upon his system, +until his keys rattled in his pocket. 'Where's that Dennis?' + +The word was again passed, and presently Mr Dennis, with a long +cord bound about his middle, something after the manner of a friar, +came hurrying in, attended by a body-guard of half-a-dozen of his +men. + +'Come! Be alive here!' cried Hugh, stamping his foot upon the +ground. 'Make haste!' + +Dennis, with a wink and a nod, unwound the cord from about his +person, and raising his eyes to the ceiling, looked all over it, +and round the walls and cornice, with a curious eye; then shook his +head. + +'Move, man, can't you!' cried Hugh, with another impatient stamp of +his foot. 'Are we to wait here, till the cry has gone for ten +miles round, and our work's interrupted?' + +'It's all very fine talking, brother,' answered Dennis, stepping +towards him; 'but unless--' and here he whispered in his ear-- +'unless we do it over the door, it can't be done at all in this +here room.' + +'What can't?' Hugh demanded. + +'What can't!' retorted Dennis. 'Why, the old man can't.' + +'Why, you weren't going to hang him!' cried Hugh. + +'No, brother?' returned the hangman with a stare. 'What else?' + +Hugh made no answer, but snatching the rope from his companion's +hand, proceeded to bind old John himself; but his very first move +was so bungling and unskilful, that Mr Dennis entreated, almost +with tears in his eyes, that he might be permitted to perform the +duty. Hugh consenting, be achieved it in a twinkling. + +'There,' he said, looking mournfully at John Willet, who displayed +no more emotion in his bonds than he had shown out of them. +'That's what I call pretty and workmanlike. He's quite a picter +now. But, brother, just a word with you--now that he's ready +trussed, as one may say, wouldn't it be better for all parties if +we was to work him off? It would read uncommon well in the +newspapers, it would indeed. The public would think a great deal +more on us!' + +Hugh, inferring what his companion meant, rather from his gestures +than his technical mode of expressing himself (to which, as he was +ignorant of his calling, he wanted the clue), rejected this +proposition for the second time, and gave the word 'Forward!' which +was echoed by a hundred voices from without. + +'To the Warren!' shouted Dennis as he ran out, followed by the +rest. 'A witness's house, my lads!' + +A loud yell followed, and the whole throng hurried off, mad for +pillage and destruction. Hugh lingered behind for a few moments to +stimulate himself with more drink, and to set all the taps running, +a few of which had accidentally been spared; then, glancing round +the despoiled and plundered room, through whose shattered window +the rioters had thrust the Maypole itself,--for even that had been +sawn down,--lighted a torch, clapped the mute and motionless John +Willet on the back, and waving his light above his head, and +uttering a fierce shout, hastened after his companions. + + + +Chapter 55 + + +John Willet, left alone in his dismantled bar, continued to sit +staring about him; awake as to his eyes, certainly, but with all +his powers of reason and reflection in a sound and dreamless +sleep. He looked round upon the room which had been for years, +and was within an hour ago, the pride of his heart; and not a +muscle of his face was moved. The night, without, looked black and +cold through the dreary gaps in the casement; the precious liquids, +now nearly leaked away, dripped with a hollow sound upon the floor; +the Maypole peered ruefully in through the broken window, like the +bowsprit of a wrecked ship; the ground might have been the bottom +of the sea, it was so strewn with precious fragments. Currents of +air rushed in, as the old doors jarred and creaked upon their +hinges; the candles flickered and guttered down, and made long +winding-sheets; the cheery deep-red curtains flapped and fluttered +idly in the wind; even the stout Dutch kegs, overthrown and lying +empty in dark corners, seemed the mere husks of good fellows whose +jollity had departed, and who could kindle with a friendly glow no +more. John saw this desolation, and yet saw it not. He was +perfectly contented to sit there, staring at it, and felt no more +indignation or discomfort in his bonds than if they had been robes +of honour. So far as he was personally concerned, old Time lay +snoring, and the world stood still. + +Save for the dripping from the barrels, the rustling of such light +fragments of destruction as the wind affected, and the dull +creaking of the open doors, all was profoundly quiet: indeed, +these sounds, like the ticking of the death-watch in the night, +only made the silence they invaded deeper and more apparent. But +quiet or noisy, it was all one to John. If a train of heavy +artillery could have come up and commenced ball practice outside +the window, it would have been all the same to him. He was a long +way beyond surprise. A ghost couldn't have overtaken him. + +By and by he heard a footstep--a hurried, and yet cautious +footstep--coming on towards the house. It stopped, advanced again, +then seemed to go quite round it. Having done that, it came +beneath the window, and a head looked in. + +It was strongly relieved against the darkness outside by the glare +of the guttering candles. A pale, worn, withered face; the eyes-- +but that was owing to its gaunt condition--unnaturally large and +bright; the hair, a grizzled black. It gave a searching glance all +round the room, and a deep voice said: + +'Are you alone in this house?' + +John made no sign, though the question was repeated twice, and he +heard it distinctly. After a moment's pause, the man got in at the +window. John was not at all surprised at this, either. There had +been so much getting in and out of window in the course of the last +hour or so, that he had quite forgotten the door, and seemed to +have lived among such exercises from infancy. + +The man wore a large, dark, faded cloak, and a slouched hat; he +walked up close to John, and looked at him. John returned the +compliment with interest. + +'How long have you been sitting thus?' said the man. + +John considered, but nothing came of it. + +'Which way have the party gone?' + +Some wandering speculations relative to the fashion of the +stranger's boots, got into Mr Willet's mind by some accident or +other, but they got out again in a hurry, and left him in his +former state. + +'You would do well to speak,' said the man; 'you may keep a whole +skin, though you have nothing else left that can be hurt. Which +way have the party gone?' + +'That!' said John, finding his voice all at once, and nodding with +perfect good faith--he couldn't point; he was so tightly bound--in +exactly the opposite direction to the right one. + +'You lie!' said the man angrily, and with a threatening gesture. +'I came that way. You would betray me.' + +It was so evident that John's imperturbability was not assumed, but +was the result of the late proceedings under his roof, that the man +stayed his hand in the very act of striking him, and turned away. + +John looked after him without so much as a twitch in a single nerve +of his face. He seized a glass, and holding it under one of the +little casks until a few drops were collected, drank them greedily +off; then throwing it down upon the floor impatiently, he took the +vessel in his hands and drained it into his throat. Some scraps of +bread and meat were scattered about, and on these he fell next; +eating them with voracity, and pausing every now and then to +listen for some fancied noise outside. When he had refreshed +himself in this manner with violent haste, and raised another +barrel to his lips, he pulled his hat upon his brow as though he +were about to leave the house, and turned to John. + +'Where are your servants?' + +Mr Willet indistinctly remembered to have heard the rioters calling +to them to throw the key of the room in which they were, out of +window, for their keeping. He therefore replied, 'Locked up.' + +'Well for them if they remain quiet, and well for you if you do the +like,' said the man. 'Now show me the way the party went.' + +This time Mr Willet indicated it correctly. The man was hurrying +to the door, when suddenly there came towards them on the wind, the +loud and rapid tolling of an alarm-bell, and then a bright and +vivid glare streamed up, which illumined, not only the whole +chamber, but all the country. + +It was not the sudden change from darkness to this dreadful light, +it was not the sound of distant shrieks and shouts of triumph, it +was not this dread invasion of the serenity and peace of night, +that drove the man back as though a thunderbolt had struck him. It +was the Bell. If the ghastliest shape the human mind has ever +pictured in its wildest dreams had risen up before him, he could +not have staggered backward from its touch, as he did from the +first sound of that loud iron voice. With eyes that started from +his head, his limbs convulsed, his face most horrible to see, he +raised one arm high up into the air, and holding something +visionary back and down, with his other hand, drove at it as though +he held a knife and stabbed it to the heart. He clutched his hair, +and stopped his ears, and travelled madly round and round; then +gave a frightful cry, and with it rushed away: still, still, the +Bell tolled on and seemed to follow him--louder and louder, hotter +and hotter yet. The glare grew brighter, the roar of voices +deeper; the crash of heavy bodies falling, shook the air; bright +streams of sparks rose up into the sky; but louder than them all-- +rising faster far, to Heaven--a million times more fierce and +furious--pouring forth dreadful secrets after its long silence-- +speaking the language of the dead--the Bell--the Bell! + +What hunt of spectres could surpass that dread pursuit and flight! +Had there been a legion of them on his track, he could have better +borne it. They would have had a beginning and an end, but here all +space was full. The one pursuing voice was everywhere: it sounded +in the earth, the air; shook the long grass, and howled among the +trembling trees. The echoes caught it up, the owls hooted as it +flew upon the breeze, the nightingale was silent and hid herself +among the thickest boughs: it seemed to goad and urge the angry +fire, and lash it into madness; everything was steeped in one +prevailing red; the glow was everywhere; nature was drenched in +blood: still the remorseless crying of that awful voice--the Bell, +the Bell! + +It ceased; but not in his ears. The knell was at his heart. No +work of man had ever voice like that which sounded there, and +warned him that it cried unceasingly to Heaven. Who could hear +that hell, and not know what it said! There was murder in its +every note--cruel, relentless, savage murder--the murder of a +confiding man, by one who held his every trust. Its ringing +summoned phantoms from their graves. What face was that, in which +a friendly smile changed to a look of half incredulous horror, +which stiffened for a moment into one of pain, then changed again +into an imploring glance at Heaven, and so fell idly down with +upturned eyes, like the dead stags' he had often peeped at when a +little child: shrinking and shuddering--there was a dreadful thing +to think of now!--and clinging to an apron as he looked! He sank +upon the ground, and grovelling down as if he would dig himself a +place to hide in, covered his face and ears: but no, no, no,--a +hundred walls and roofs of brass would not shut out that bell, for +in it spoke the wrathful voice of God, and from that voice, the +whole wide universe could not afford a refuge! + +While he rushed up and down, not knowing where to turn, and while +he lay crouching there, the work went briskly on indeed. When +they left the Maypole, the rioters formed into a solid body, and +advanced at a quick pace towards the Warren. Rumour of their +approach having gone before, they found the garden-doors fast +closed, the windows made secure, and the house profoundly dark: not +a light being visible in any portion of the building. After some +fruitless ringing at the bells, and beating at the iron gates, they +drew off a few paces to reconnoitre, and confer upon the course it +would be best to take. + +Very little conference was needed, when all were bent upon one +desperate purpose, infuriated with liquor, and flushed with +successful riot. The word being given to surround the house, some +climbed the gates, or dropped into the shallow trench and scaled +the garden wall, while others pulled down the solid iron fence, and +while they made a breach to enter by, made deadly weapons of the +bars. The house being completely encircled, a small number of men +were despatched to break open a tool-shed in the garden; and during +their absence on this errand, the remainder contented themselves +with knocking violently at the doors, and calling to those within, +to come down and open them on peril of their lives. + +No answer being returned to this repeated summons, and the +detachment who had been sent away, coming back with an accession of +pickaxes, spades, and hoes, they,--together with those who had such +arms already, or carried (as many did) axes, poles, and crowbars,-- +struggled into the foremost rank, ready to beset the doors and +windows. They had not at this time more than a dozen lighted +torches among them; but when these preparations were completed, +flaming links were distributed and passed from hand to hand with +such rapidity, that, in a minute's time, at least two-thirds of the +whole roaring mass bore, each man in his hand, a blazing brand. +Whirling these about their heads they raised a loud shout, and fell +to work upon the doors and windows. + +Amidst the clattering of heavy blows, the rattling of broken glass, +the cries and execrations of the mob, and all the din and turmoil +of the scene, Hugh and his friends kept together at the turret-door +where Mr Haredale had last admitted him and old John Willet; and +spent their united force on that. It was a strong old oaken door, +guarded by good bolts and a heavy bar, but it soon went crashing in +upon the narrow stairs behind, and made, as it were, a platform to +facilitate their tearing up into the rooms above. Almost at the +same moment, a dozen other points were forced, and at every one the +crowd poured in like water. + +A few armed servant-men were posted in the hall, and when the +rioters forced an entrance there, they fired some half-a-dozen +shots. But these taking no effect, and the concourse coming on +like an army of devils, they only thought of consulting their own +safety, and retreated, echoing their assailants' cries, and hoping +in the confusion to be taken for rioters themselves; in which +stratagem they succeeded, with the exception of one old man who was +never heard of again, and was said to have had his brains beaten +out with an iron bar (one of his fellows reported that he had seen +the old man fall), and to have been afterwards burnt in the flames. + +The besiegers being now in complete possession of the house, spread +themselves over it from garret to cellar, and plied their demon +labours fiercely. While some small parties kindled bonfires +underneath the windows, others broke up the furniture and cast the +fragments down to feed the flames below; where the apertures in +the wall (windows no longer) were large enough, they threw out +tables, chests of drawers, beds, mirrors, pictures, and flung them +whole into the fire; while every fresh addition to the blazing +masses was received with shouts, and howls, and yells, which added +new and dismal terrors to the conflagration. Those who had axes +and had spent their fury on the movables, chopped and tore down the +doors and window frames, broke up the flooring, hewed away the +rafters, and buried men who lingered in the upper rooms, in heaps +of ruins. Some searched the drawers, the chests, the boxes, +writing-desks, and closets, for jewels, plate, and money; while +others, less mindful of gain and more mad for destruction, cast +their whole contents into the courtyard without examination, and +called to those below, to heap them on the blaze. Men who had +been into the cellars, and had staved the casks, rushed to and fro +stark mad, setting fire to all they saw--often to the dresses of +their own friends--and kindling the building in so many parts that +some had no time for escape, and were seen, with drooping hands and +blackened faces, hanging senseless on the window-sills to which +they had crawled, until they were sucked and drawn into the +burning gulf. The more the fire crackled and raged, the wilder and +more cruel the men grew; as though moving in that element they +became fiends, and changed their earthly nature for the qualities +that give delight in hell. + +The burning pile, revealing rooms and passages red hot, through +gaps made in the crumbling walls; the tributary fires that licked +the outer bricks and stones, with their long forked tongues, and +ran up to meet the glowing mass within; the shining of the flames +upon the villains who looked on and fed them; the roaring of the +angry blaze, so bright and high that it seemed in its rapacity to +have swallowed up the very smoke; the living flakes the wind bore +rapidly away and hurried on with, like a storm of fiery snow; the +noiseless breaking of great beams of wood, which fell like feathers +on the heap of ashes, and crumbled in the very act to sparks and +powder; the lurid tinge that overspread the sky, and the darkness, +very deep by contrast, which prevailed around; the exposure to the +coarse, common gaze, of every little nook which usages of home had +made a sacred place, and the destruction by rude hands of every +little household favourite which old associations made a dear and +precious thing: all this taking place--not among pitying looks and +friendly murmurs of compassion, but brutal shouts and exultations, +which seemed to make the very rats who stood by the old house too +long, creatures with some claim upon the pity and regard of those +its roof had sheltered:--combined to form a scene never to be +forgotten by those who saw it and were not actors in the work, so +long as life endured. + +And who were they? The alarm-bell rang--and it was pulled by no +faint or hesitating hands--for a long time; but not a soul was +seen. Some of the insurgents said that when it ceased, they heard +the shrieks of women, and saw some garments fluttering in the air, +as a party of men bore away no unresisting burdens. No one could +say that this was true or false, in such an uproar; but where was +Hugh? Who among them had seen him, since the forcing of the doors? +The cry spread through the body. Where was Hugh! + +'Here!' he hoarsely cried, appearing from the darkness; out of +breath, and blackened with the smoke. 'We have done all we can; +the fire is burning itself out; and even the corners where it +hasn't spread, are nothing but heaps of ruins. Disperse, my lads, +while the coast's clear; get back by different ways; and meet as +usual!' With that, he disappeared again,--contrary to his wont, +for he was always first to advance, and last to go away,--leaving +them to follow homewards as they would. + +It was not an easy task to draw off such a throng. If Bedlam gates +had been flung wide open, there would not have issued forth such +maniacs as the frenzy of that night had made. There were men +there, who danced and trampled on the beds of flowers as though +they trod down human enemies, and wrenched them from the stalks, +like savages who twisted human necks. There were men who cast +their lighted torches in the air, and suffered them to fall upon +their heads and faces, blistering the skin with deep unseemly +burns. There were men who rushed up to the fire, and paddled in it +with their hands as if in water; and others who were restrained by +force from plunging in, to gratify their deadly longing. On the +skull of one drunken lad--not twenty, by his looks--who lay upon +the ground with a bottle to his mouth, the lead from the roof came +streaming down in a shower of liquid fire, white hot; melting his +head like wax. When the scattered parties were collected, men-- +living yet, but singed as with hot irons--were plucked out of the +cellars, and carried off upon the shoulders of others, who strove +to wake them as they went along, with ribald jokes, and left them, +dead, in the passages of hospitals. But of all the howling throng +not one learnt mercy from, or sickened at, these sights; nor was +the fierce, besotted, senseless rage of one man glutted. + +Slowly, and in small clusters, with hoarse hurrahs and repetitions +of their usual cry, the assembly dropped away. The last few red- +eyed stragglers reeled after those who had gone before; the distant +noise of men calling to each other, and whistling for others whom +they missed, grew fainter and fainter; at length even these sounds +died away, and silence reigned alone. + +Silence indeed! The glare of the flames had sunk into a fitful, +flashing light; and the gentle stars, invisible till now, looked +down upon the blackening heap. A dull smoke hung upon the ruin, as +though to hide it from those eyes of Heaven; and the wind forbore +to move it. Bare walls, roof open to the sky--chambers, where the +beloved dead had, many and many a fair day, risen to new life and +energy; where so many dear ones had been sad and merry; which were +connected with so many thoughts and hopes, regrets and changes--all +gone. Nothing left but a dull and dreary blank--a smouldering heap +of dust and ashes--the silence and solitude of utter desolation. + + + +Chapter 56 + + +The Maypole cronies, little drearning of the change so soon to come +upon their favourite haunt, struck through the Forest path upon +their way to London; and avoiding the main road, which was hot and +dusty, kept to the by-paths and the fields. As they drew nearer to +their destination, they began to make inquiries of the people whom +they passed, concerning the riots, and the truth or falsehood of +the stories they had heard. The answers went far beyond any +intelligence that had spread to quiet Chigwell. One man told them +that that afternoon the Guards, conveying to Newgate some rioters +who had been re-examined, had been set upon by the mob and +compelled to retreat; another, that the houses of two witnesses +near Clare Market were about to be pulled down when he came away; +another, that Sir George Saville's house in Leicester Fields was to +be burned that night, and that it would go hard with Sir George if +he fell into the people's hands, as it was he who had brought in +the Catholic bill. All accounts agreed that the mob were out, in +stronger numbers and more numerous parties than had yet appeared; +that the streets were unsafe; that no man's house or life was worth +an hour's purchase; that the public consternation was increasing +every moment; and that many families had already fled the city. +One fellow who wore the popular colour, damned them for not having +cockades in their hats, and bade them set a good watch to-morrow +night upon their prison doors, for the locks would have a +straining; another asked if they were fire-proof, that they +walked abroad without the distinguishing mark of all good and true +men;--and a third who rode on horseback, and was quite alone, +ordered them to throw each man a shilling, in his hat, towards the +support of the rioters. Although they were afraid to refuse +compliance with this demand, and were much alarmed by these +reports, they agreed, having come so far, to go forward, and see +the real state of things with their own eyes. So they pushed on +quicker, as men do who are excited by portentous news; and +ruminating on what they had heard, spoke little to each other. + +It was now night, and as they came nearer to the city they had +dismal confirmation of this intelligence in three great fires, all +close together, which burnt fiercely and were gloomily reflected in +the sky. Arriving in the immediate suburbs, they found that almost +every house had chalked upon its door in large characters 'No +Popery,' that the shops were shut, and that alarm and anxiety were +depicted in every face they passed. + +Noting these things with a degree of apprehension which neither of +the three cared to impart, in its full extent, to his companions, +they came to a turnpike-gate, which was shut. They were passing +through the turnstile on the path, when a horseman rode up from +London at a hard gallop, and called to the toll-keeper in a voice +of great agitation, to open quickly in the name of God. + +The adjuration was so earnest and vehement, that the man, with a +lantern in his hand, came running out--toll-keeper though he was-- +and was about to throw the gate open, when happening to look behind +him, he exclaimed, 'Good Heaven, what's that! Another fire!' + +At this, the three turned their heads, and saw in the distance-- +straight in the direction whence they had come--a broad sheet of +flame, casting a threatening light upon the clouds, which glimmered +as though the conflagration were behind them, and showed like a +wrathful sunset. + +'My mind misgives me,' said the horseman, 'or I know from what far +building those flames come. Don't stand aghast, my good fellow. +Open the gate!' + +'Sir,' cried the man, laying his hand upon his horse's bridle as he +let him through: 'I know you now, sir; be advised by me; do not go +on. I saw them pass, and know what kind of men they are. You will +be murdered.' + +'So be it!' said the horseman, looking intently towards the fire, +and not at him who spoke. + +'But sir--sir,' cried the man, grasping at his rein more tightly +yet, 'if you do go on, wear the blue riband. Here, sir,' he added, +taking one from his own hat, 'it's necessity, not choice, that +makes me wear it; it's love of life and home, sir. Wear it for +this one night, sir; only for this one night.' + +'Do!' cried the three friends, pressing round his horse. 'Mr +Haredale--worthy sir--good gentleman--pray be persuaded.' + +'Who's that?' cried Mr Haredale, stooping down to look. 'Did I +hear Daisy's voice?' + +'You did, sir,' cried the little man. 'Do be persuaded, sir. This +gentleman says very true. Your life may hang upon it.' + +'Are you,' said Mr Haredale abruptly, 'afraid to come with me?' + +'I, sir?--N-n-no.' + +'Put that riband in your hat. If we meet the rioters, swear that I +took you prisoner for wearing it. I will tell them so with my own +lips; for as I hope for mercy when I die, I will take no quarter +from them, nor shall they have quarter from me, if we come hand to +hand to-night. Up here--behind me--quick! Clasp me tight round +the body, and fear nothing.' + +In an instant they were riding away, at full gallop, in a dense +cloud of dust, and speeding on, like hunters in a dream. + +It was well the good horse knew the road he traversed, for never +once--no, never once in all the journey--did Mr Haredale cast his +eyes upon the ground, or turn them, for an instant, from the light +towards which they sped so madly. Once he said in a low voice, 'It +is my house,' but that was the only time he spoke. When they came +to dark and doubtful places, he never forgot to put his hand upon +the little man to hold him more securely in his seat, but he kept +his head erect and his eyes fixed on the fire, then, and always. + +The road was dangerous enough, for they went the nearest way-- +headlong--far from the highway--by lonely lanes and paths, where +waggon-wheels had worn deep ruts; where hedge and ditch hemmed in +the narrow strip of ground; and tall trees, arching overhead, made +it profoundly dark. But on, on, on, with neither stop nor stumble, +till they reached the Maypole door, and could plainly see that the +fire began to fade, as if for want of fuel. + +'Down--for one moment--for but one moment,' said Mr Haredale, +helping Daisy to the ground, and following himself. 'Willet-- +Willet--where are my niece and servants--Willet!' + +Crying to him distractedly, he rushed into the bar.--The landlord +bound and fastened to his chair; the place dismantled, stripped, +and pulled about his ears;--nobody could have taken shelter here. + +He was a strong man, accustomed to restrain himself, and suppress +his strong emotions; but this preparation for what was to follow-- +though he had seen that fire burning, and knew that his house must +be razed to the ground--was more than he could bear. He covered +his face with his hands for a moment, and turned away his head. + +'Johnny, Johnny,' said Solomon--and the simple-hearted fellow +cried outright, and wrung his hands--'Oh dear old Johnny, here's a +change! That the Maypole bar should come to this, and we should +live to see it! The old Warren too, Johnny--Mr Haredale--oh, +Johnny, what a piteous sight this is!' + +Pointing to Mr Haredale as he said these words, little Solomon +Daisy put his elbows on the back of Mr Willet's chair, and fairly +blubbered on his shoulder. + +While Solomon was speaking, old John sat, mute as a stock-fish, +staring at him with an unearthly glare, and displaying, by every +possible symptom, entire and complete unconsciousness. But when +Solomon was silent again, John followed,with his great round eyes, +the direction of his looks, and did appear to have some dawning +distant notion that somebody had come to see him. + +'You know us, don't you, Johnny?' said the little clerk, rapping +himself on the breast. 'Daisy, you know--Chigwell Church--bell- +ringer--little desk on Sundays--eh, Johnny?' + +Mr Willet reflected for a few moments, and then muttered, as it +were mechanically: 'Let us sing to the praise and glory of--' + +'Yes, to be sure,' cried the little man, hastily; 'that's it-- +that's me, Johnny. You're all right now, an't you? Say you're all +right, Johnny.' + +'All right?' pondered Mr Willet, as if that were a matter entirely +between himself and his conscience. 'All right? Ah!' + +'They haven't been misusing you with sticks, or pokers, or any +other blunt instruments--have they, Johnny?' asked Solomon, with a +very anxious glance at Mr Willet's head. 'They didn't beat you, +did they?' + +John knitted his brow; looked downwards, as if he were mentally +engaged in some arithmetical calculation; then upwards, as if the +total would not come at his call; then at Solomon Daisy, from his +eyebrow to his shoe-buckle; then very slowly round the bar. And +then a great, round, leaden-looking, and not at all transparent +tear, came rolling out of each eye, and he said, as he shook his +head: + +'If they'd only had the goodness to murder me, I'd have thanked 'em +kindly.' + +'No, no, no, don't say that, Johnny,' whimpered his little friend. +'It's very, very bad, but not quite so bad as that. No, no!' + +'Look'ee here, sir!' cried John, turning his rueful eyes on Mr +Haredale, who had dropped on one knee, and was hastily beginning to +untie his bonds. 'Look'ee here, sir! The very Maypole--the old +dumb Maypole--stares in at the winder, as if it said, "John Willet, +John Willet, let's go and pitch ourselves in the nighest pool of +water as is deep enough to hold us; for our day is over!"' + +'Don't, Johnny, don't,' cried his friend: no less affected with +this mournful effort of Mr Willet's imagination, than by the +sepulchral tone in which he had spoken of the Maypole. 'Please +don't, Johnny!' + +'Your loss is great, and your misfortune a heavy one,' said Mr +Haredale, looking restlessly towards the door: 'and this is not a +time to comfort you. If it were, I am in no condition to do so. +Before I leave you, tell me one thing, and try to tell me plainly, +I implore you. Have you seen, or heard of Emma?' + +'No!' said Mr Willet. + +'Nor any one but these bloodhounds?' + +'No!' + +'They rode away, I trust in Heaven, before these dreadful scenes +began,' said Mr Haredale, who, between his agitation, his eagerness +to mount his horse again, and the dexterity with which the cords +were tied, had scarcely yet undone one knot. 'A knife, Daisy!' + +'You didn't,' said John, looking about, as though he had lost his +pocket-handkerchief, or some such slight article--'either of you +gentlemen--see a--a coffin anywheres, did you?' + +'Willet!' cried Mr Haredale. Solomon dropped the knife, and +instantly becoming limp from head to foot, exclaimed 'Good +gracious!' + +'--Because,' said John, not at all regarding them, 'a dead man +called a little time ago, on his way yonder. I could have told you +what name was on the plate, if he had brought his coffin with him, +and left it behind. If he didn't, it don't signify.' + +His landlord, who had listened to these words with breathless +attention, started that moment to his feet; and, without a word, +drew Solomon Daisy to the door, mounted his horse, took him up +behind again, and flew rather than galloped towards the pile of +ruins, which that day's sun had shone upon, a stately house. Mr +Willet stared after them, listened, looked down upon himself to +make quite sure that he was still unbound, and, without any +manifestation of impatience, disappointment, or surprise, gently +relapsed into the condition from which he had so imperfectly +recovered. + +Mr Haredale tied his horse to the trunk of a tree, and grasping his +companion's arm, stole softly along the footpath, and into what had +been the garden of his house. He stopped for an instant to look +upon its smoking walls, and at the stars that shone through roof +and floor upon the heap of crumbling ashes. Solomon glanced +timidly in his face, but his lips were tightly pressed together, a +resolute and stern expression sat upon his brow, and not a tear, a +look, or gesture indicating grief, escaped him. + +He drew his sword; felt for a moment in his breast, as though he +carried other arms about him; then grasping Solomon by the wrist +again, went with a cautious step all round the house. He looked +into every doorway and gap in the wall; retraced his steps at every +rustling of the air among the leaves; and searched in every +shadowed nook with outstretched hands. Thus they made the circuit +of the building: but they returned to the spot from which they had +set out, without encountering any human being, or finding the least +trace of any concealed straggler. + +After a short pause, Mr Haredale shouted twice or thrice. Then +cried aloud, 'Is there any one in hiding here, who knows my voice! +There is nothing to fear now. If any of my people are near, I +entreat them to answer!' He called them all by name; his voice was +echoed in many mournful tones; then all was silent as before. + +They were standing near the foot of the turret, where the alarm- +bell hung. The fire had raged there, and the floors had been sawn, +and hewn, and beaten down, besides. It was open to the night; but +a part of the staircase still remained, winding upward from a great +mound of dust and cinders. Fragments of the jagged and broken +steps offered an insecure and giddy footing here and there, and +then were lost again, behind protruding angles of the wall, or in +the deep shadows cast upon it by other portions of the ruin; for by +this time the moon had risen, and shone brightly. + +As they stood here, listening to the echoes as they died away, and +hoping in vain to hear a voice they knew, some of the ashes in this +turret slipped and rolled down. Startled by the least noise in +that melancholy place, Solomon looked up in his companion's face, +and saw that he had turned towards the spot, and that he watched +and listened keenly. + +He covered the little man's mouth with his hand, and looked again. +Instantly, with kindling eyes, he bade him on his life keep still, +and neither speak nor move. Then holding his breath, and stooping +down, he stole into the turret, with his drawn sword in his hand, +and disappeared. + +Terrified to be left there by himself, under such desolate +circumstances, and after all he had seen and heard that night, +Solomon would have followed, but there had been something in Mr +Haredale's manner and his look, the recollection of which held him +spellbound. He stood rooted to the spot; and scarcely venturing to +breathe, looked up with mingled fear and wonder. + +Again the ashes slipped and rolled--very, very softly--again--and +then again, as though they crumbled underneath the tread of a +stealthy foot. And now a figure was dimly visible; climbing very +softly; and often stopping to look down; now it pursued its +difficult way; and now it was hidden from the view again. + +It emerged once more, into the shadowy and uncertain light--higher +now, but not much, for the way was steep and toilsome, and its +progress very slow. What phantom of the brain did he pursue; and +why did he look down so constantly? He knew he was alone. Surely +his mind was not affected by that night's loss and agony. He was +not about to throw himself headlong from the summit of the +tottering wall. Solomon turned sick, and clasped his hands. His +limbs trembled beneath him, and a cold sweat broke out upon his +pallid face. + +If he complied with Mr Haredale's last injunction now, it was +because he had not the power to speak or move. He strained his +gaze, and fixed it on a patch of moonlight, into which, if he +continued to ascend, he must soon emerge. When he appeared there, +he would try to call to him. + +Again the ashes slipped and crumbled; some stones rolled down, and +fell with a dull, heavy sound upon the ground below. He kept his +eyes upon the piece of moonlight. The figure was coming on, for +its shadow was already thrown upon the wall. Now it appeared--and +now looked round at him--and now-- + +The horror-stricken clerk uttered a scream that pierced the air, +and cried, 'The ghost! The ghost!' + +Long before the echo of his cry had died away, another form rushed +out into the light, flung itself upon the foremost one, knelt down +upon its breast, and clutched its throat with both hands. + +'Villain!' cried Mr Haredale, in a terrible voice--for it was he. +'Dead and buried, as all men supposed through your infernal arts, +but reserved by Heaven for this--at last--at last I have you. You, +whose hands are red with my brother's blood, and that of his +faithful servant, shed to conceal your own atrocious guilt--You, +Rudge, double murderer and monster, I arrest you in the name of +God, who has delivered you into my hands. No. Though you had the +strength of twenty men,' he added, as the murderer writhed and +struggled, you could not escape me or loosen my grasp to-night!' + + + +Chapter 57 + + +Barnaby, armed as we have seen, continued to pace up and down +before the stable-door; glad to be alone again, and heartily +rejoicing in the unaccustomed silence and tranquillity. After the +whirl of noise and riot in which the last two days had been passed, +the pleasures of solitude and peace were enhanced a thousandfold. +He felt quite happy; and as he leaned upon his staff and mused, a +bright smile overspread his face, and none but cheerful visions +floated into his brain. + +Had he no thoughts of her, whose sole delight he was, and whom he +had unconsciously plunged in such bitter sorrow and such deep +affliction? Oh, yes. She was at the heart of all his cheerful +hopes and proud reflections. It was she whom all this honour and +distinction were to gladden; the joy and profit were for her. What +delight it gave her to hear of the bravery of her poor boy! Ah! +He would have known that, without Hugh's telling him. And what a +precious thing it was to know she lived so happily, and heard with +so much pride (he pictured to himself her look when they told her) +that he was in such high esteem: bold among the boldest, and +trusted before them all! And when these frays were over, and the +good lord had conquered his enemies, and they were all at peace +again, and he and she were rich, what happiness they would have in +talking of these troubled times when he was a great soldier: and +when they sat alone together in the tranquil twilight, and she had +no longer reason to be anxious for the morrow, what pleasure would +he have in the reflection that this was his doing--his--poor +foolish Barnaby's; and in patting her on the cheek, and saying with +a merry laugh, 'Am I silly now, mother--am I silly now?' + +With a lighter heart and step, and eyes the brighter for the happy +tear that dimmed them for a moment, Barnaby resumed his walk; and +singing gaily to himself, kept guard upon his quiet post. + +His comrade Grip, the partner of his watch, though fond of basking +in the sunshine, preferred to-day to walk about the stable; having +a great deal to do in the way of scattering the straw, hiding under +it such small articles as had been casually left about, and +haunting Hugh's bed, to which he seemed to have taken a particular +attachment. Sometimes Barnaby looked in and called him, and then +he came hopping out; but he merely did this as a concession to his +master's weakness, and soon returned again to his own grave +pursuits: peering into the straw with his bill, and rapidly +covering up the place, as if, Midas-like, he were whispering +secrets to the earth and burying them; constantly busying himself +upon the sly; and affecting, whenever Barnaby came past, to look up +in the clouds and have nothing whatever on his mind: in short, +conducting himself, in many respects, in a more than usually +thoughtful, deep, and mysterious manner. + +As the day crept on, Barnaby, who had no directions forbidding him +to eat and drink upon his post, but had been, on the contrary, +supplied with a bottle of beer and a basket of provisions, +determined to break his fast, which he had not done since morning. +To this end, he sat down on the ground before the door, and putting +his staff across his knees in case of alarm or surprise, summoned +Grip to dinner. + +This call, the bird obeyed with great alacrity; crying, as he +sidled up to his master, 'I'm a devil, I'm a Polly, I'm a kettle, +I'm a Protestant, No Popery!' Having learnt this latter sentiment +from the gentry among whom he had lived of late, he delivered it +with uncommon emphasis. + +'Well said, Grip!' cried his master, as he fed him with the +daintiest bits. 'Well said, old boy!' + +'Never say die, bow wow wow, keep up your spirits, Grip Grip Grip, +Holloa! We'll all have tea, I'm a Protestant kettle, No Popery!' +cried the raven. + +'Gordon for ever, Grip!' cried Barnaby. + +The raven, placing his head upon the ground, looked at his master +sideways, as though he would have said, 'Say that again!' +Perfectly understanding his desire, Barnaby repeated the phrase a +great many times. The bird listened with profound attention; +sometimes repeating the popular cry in a low voice, as if to +compare the two, and try if it would at all help him to this new +accomplishment; sometimes flapping his wings, or barking; and +sometimes in a kind of desperation drawing a multitude of corks, +with extraordinary viciousness. + +Barnaby was so intent upon his favourite, that he was not at first +aware of the approach of two persons on horseback, who were riding +at a foot-pace, and coming straight towards his post. When he +perceived them, however, which he did when they were within some +fifty yards of him, he jumped hastily up, and ordering Grip within +doors, stood with both hands on his staff, waiting until he should +know whether they were friends or foes. + +He had hardly done so, when he observed that those who advanced +were a gentleman and his servant; almost at the same moment he +recognised Lord George Gordon, before whom he stood uncovered, with +his eyes turned towards the ground. + +'Good day!' said Lord George, not reining in his horse until he was +close beside him. 'Well!' + +'All quiet, sir, all safe!' cried Barnaby. 'The rest are away-- +they went by that path--that one. A grand party!' + +'Ay?' said Lord George, looking thoughtfully at him. 'And you?' + +'Oh! They left me here to watch--to mount guard--to keep +everything secure till they come back. I'll do it, sir, for your +sake. You're a good gentleman; a kind gentleman--ay, you are. +There are many against you, but we'll be a match for them, never +fear!' + +'What's that?' said Lord George--pointing to the raven who was +peeping out of the stable-door--but still looking thoughtfully, and +in some perplexity, it seemed, at Barnaby. + +'Why, don't you know!' retorted Barnaby, with a wondering laugh. +'Not know what HE is! A bird, to be sure. My bird--my friend-- +Grip.' + +'A devil, a kettle, a Grip, a Polly, a Protestant, no Popery!' +cried the raven. + +'Though, indeed,' added Barnaby, laying his hand upon the neck of +Lord George's horse, and speaking softly: 'you had good reason to +ask me what he is, for sometimes it puzzles me--and I am used to +him--to think he's only a bird. He's my brother, Grip is--always +with me--always talking--always merry--eh, Grip?' + +The raven answered by an affectionate croak, and hopping on his +master's arm, which he held downward for that purpose, submitted +with an air of perfect indifference to be fondled, and turned his +restless, curious eye, now upon Lord George, and now upon his man. + +Lord George, biting his nails in a discomfited manner, regarded +Barnaby for some time in silence; then beckoning to his servant, +said: + +'Come hither, John.' + +John Grueby touched his hat, and came. + +'Have you ever seen this young man before?' his master asked in a +low voice. + +'Twice, my lord,' said John. 'I saw him in the crowd last night +and Saturday.' + +'Did--did it seem to you that his manner was at all wild or +strange?' Lord George demanded, faltering. + +'Mad,' said John, with emphatic brevity. + +'And why do you think him mad, sir?' said his master, speaking in a +peevish tone. 'Don't use that word too freely. Why do you think +him mad?' + +'My lord,' John Grueby answered, 'look at his dress, look at his +eyes, look at his restless way, hear him cry "No Popery!" Mad, my +lord.' + +'So because one man dresses unlike another,' returned his angry +master, glancing at himself; 'and happens to differ from other men +in his carriage and manner, and to advocate a great cause which the +corrupt and irreligious desert, he is to be accounted mad, is he?' + +'Stark, staring, raving, roaring mad, my lord,' returned the +unmoved John. + +'Do you say this to my face?' cried his master, turning sharply +upon him. + +'To any man, my lord, who asks me,' answered John. + +'Mr Gashford, I find, was right,' said Lord George; 'I thought him +prejudiced, though I ought to have known a man like him better than +to have supposed it possible!' + +'I shall never have Mr Gashford's good word, my lord,' replied +John, touching his hat respectfully, 'and I don't covet it.' + +'You are an ill-conditioned, most ungrateful fellow,' said Lord +George: 'a spy, for anything I know. Mr Gashford is perfectly +correct, as I might have felt convinced he was. I have done wrong +to retain you in my service. It is a tacit insult to him as my +choice and confidential friend to do so, remembering the cause you +sided with, on the day he was maligned at Westminster. You will +leave me to-night--nay, as soon as we reach home. The sooner the +better.' + +'If it comes to that, I say so too, my lord. Let Mr Gashford have +his will. As to my being a spy, my lord, you know me better than +to believe it, I am sure. I don't know much about causes. My +cause is the cause of one man against two hundred; and I hope it +always will be.' + +'You have said quite enough,' returned Lord George, motioning him +to go back. 'I desire to hear no more.' + +'If you'll let me have another word, my lord,' returned John +Grueby, 'I'd give this silly fellow a caution not to stay here by +himself. The proclamation is in a good many hands already, and +it's well known that he was concerned in the business it relates +to. He had better get to a place of safety if he can, poor +creature.' + +'You hear what this man says?' cried Lord George, addressing +Barnaby, who had looked on and wondered while this dialogue passed. +'He thinks you may be afraid to remain upon your post, and are kept +here perhaps against your will. What do you say?' + +'I think, young man,' said John, in explanation, 'that the soldiers +may turn out and take you; and that if they do, you will certainly +be hung by the neck till you're dead--dead--dead. And I think you +had better go from here, as fast as you can. That's what I think.' + +'He's a coward, Grip, a coward!' cried Barnaby, putting the raven +on the ground, and shouldering his staff. 'Let them come! Gordon +for ever! Let them come!' + +'Ay!' said Lord George, 'let them! Let us see who will venture to +attack a power like ours; the solemn league of a whole people. +THIS a madman! You have said well, very well. I am proud to be +the leader of such men as you.' + +Bamaby's heart swelled within his bosom as he heard these words. +He took Lord George's hand and carried it to his lips; patted his +horse's crest, as if the affection and admiration he had conceived +for the man extended to the animal he rode; then unfurling his +flag, and proudly waving it, resumed his pacing up and down. + +Lord George, with a kindling eye and glowing cheek, took off his +hat, and flourishing it above his head, bade him exultingly +Farewell!--then cantered off at a brisk pace; after glancing +angrily round to see that his servant followed. Honest John set +spurs to his horse and rode after his master, but not before he had +again warned Barnaby to retreat, with many significant gestures, +which indeed he continued to make, and Barnaby to resist, until the +windings of the road concealed them from each other's view. + +Left to himself again with a still higher sense of the importance +of his post, and stimulated to enthusiasm by the special notice and +encouragement of his leader, Barnaby walked to and fro in a +delicious trance rather than as a waking man. The sunshine which +prevailed around was in his mind. He had but one desire +ungratified. If she could only see him now! + +The day wore on; its heat was gently giving place to the cool of +evening; a light wind sprung up, fanning his long hair, and making +the banner rustle pleasantly above his head. There was a freedom +and freshness in the sound and in the time, which chimed exactly +with his mood. He was happier than ever. + +He was leaning on his staff looking towards the declining sun, and +reflecting with a smile that he stood sentinel at that moment over +buried gold, when two or three figures appeared in the distance, +making towards the house at a rapid pace, and motioning with their +hands as though they urged its inmates to retreat from some +approaching danger. As they drew nearer, they became more earnest +in their gestures; and they were no sooner within hearing, than the +foremost among them cried that the soldiers were coming up. + +At these words, Barnaby furled his flag, and tied it round the +pole. His heart beat high while he did so, but he had no more fear +or thought of retreating than the pole itself. The friendly +stragglers hurried past him, after giving him notice of his danger, +and quickly passed into the house, where the utmost confusion +immediately prevailed. As those within hastily closed the windows +and the doors, they urged him by looks and signs to fly without +loss of time, and called to him many times to do so; but he only +shook his head indignantly in answer, and stood the firmer on his +post. Finding that he was not to be persuaded, they took care of +themselves; and leaving the place with only one old woman in it, +speedily withdrew. + +As yet there had been no symptom of the news having any better +foundation than in the fears of those who brought it, but The Boot +had not been deserted five minutes, when there appeared, coming +across the fields, a body of men who, it was easy to see, by the +glitter of their arms and ornaments in the sun, and by their +orderly and regular mode of advancing--for they came on as one +man--were soldiers. In a very little time, Barnaby knew that they +were a strong detachment of the Foot Guards, having along with them +two gentlemen in private clothes, and a small party of Horse; the +latter brought up the rear, and were not in number more than six or +eight. + +They advanced steadily; neither quickening their pace as they came +nearer, nor raising any cry, nor showing the least emotion or +anxiety. Though this was a matter of course in the case of regular +troops, even to Barnaby, there was something particularly +impressive and disconcerting in it to one accustomed to the noise +and tumult of an undisciplined mob. For all that, he stood his +ground not a whit the less resolutely, and looked on undismayed. + +Presently, they marched into the yard, and halted. The +commanding-officer despatched a messenger to the horsemen, one of +whom came riding back. Some words passed between them, and they +glanced at Barnaby; who well remembered the man he had unhorsed at +Westminster, and saw him now before his eyes. The man being +speedily dismissed, saluted, and rode back to his comrades, who +were drawn up apart at a short distance. + +The officer then gave the word to prime and load. The heavy +ringing of the musket-stocks upon the ground, and the sharp and +rapid rattling of the ramrods in their barrels, were a kind of +relief to Batnahy, deadly though he knew the purport of such sounds +to be. When this was done, other commands were given, and the +soldiers instantaneously formed in single file all round the house +and stables; completely encircling them in every part, at a +distance, perhaps, of some half-dozen yards; at least that seemed +in Barnaby's eyes to be about the space left between himself and +those who confronted him. The horsemen remained drawn up by +themselves as before. + +The two gentlemen in private clothes who had kept aloof, now rode +forward, one on either side the officer. The proclamation having +been produced and read by one of them, the officer called on +Barnaby to surrender. + +He made no answer, but stepping within the door, before which he +had kept guard, held his pole crosswise to protect it. In the +midst of a profound silence, he was again called upon to yield. + +Still he offered no reply. Indeed he had enough to do, to run his +eye backward and forward along the half-dozen men who immediately +fronted him, and settle hurriedly within himself at which of them +he would strike first, when they pressed on him. He caught the eye +of one in the centre, and resolved to hew that fellow down, though +he died for it. + +Again there was a dead silence, and again the same voice called +upon him to deliver himself up. + +Next moment he was back in the stable, dealing blows about him like +a madman. Two of the men lay stretched at his feet: the one he +had marked, dropped first--he had a thought for that, even in the +hot blood and hurry of the struggle. Another blow--another! Down, +mastered, wounded in the breast by a heavy blow from the butt-end +of a gun (he saw the weapon in the act of falling)--breathless--and +a prisoner. + +An exclamation of surprise from the officer recalled him, in some +degree, to himself. He looked round. Grip, after working in +secret all the afternoon, and with redoubled vigour while +everybody's attention was distracted, had plucked away the straw +from Hugh's bed, and turned up the loose ground with his iron bill. +The hole had been recklessly filled to the brim, and was merely +sprinkled with earth. Golden cups, spoons, candlesticks, coined +guineas--all the riches were revealed. + +They brought spades and a sack; dug up everything that was hidden +there; and carried away more than two men could lift. They +handcuffed him and bound his arms, searched him, and took away all +he had. Nobody questioned or reproached him, or seemed to have +much curiosity about him. The two men he had stunned, were carried +off by their companions in the same business-like way in which +everything else was done. Finally, he was left under a guard of +four soldiers with fixed bayonets, while the officer directed in +person the search of the house and the other buildings connected +with it. + +This was soon completed. The soldiers formed again in the yard; he +was marched out, with his guard about him; and ordered to fall in, +where a space was left. The others closed up all round, and so +they moved away, with the prisoner in the centre. + +When they came into the streets, he felt he was a sight; and +looking up as they passed quickly along, could see people running +to the windows a little too late, and throwing up the sashes to +look after him. Sometimes he met a staring face beyond the heads +about him, or under the arms of his conductors, or peering down +upon him from a waggon-top or coach-box; but this was all he saw, +being surrounded by so many men. The very noises of the streets +seemed muffled and subdued; and the air came stale and hot upon +him, like the sickly breath of an oven. + +Tramp, tramp. Tramp, tramp. Heads erect, shoulders square, every +man stepping in exact time--all so orderly and regular--nobody +looking at him--nobody seeming conscious of his presence,--he could +hardly believe he was a Prisoner. But at the word, though only +thought, not spoken, he felt the handcuffs galling his wrists, the +cord pressing his arms to his sides: the loaded guns levelled at +his head; and those cold, bright, sharp, shining points turned +towards him: the mere looking down at which, now that he was bound +and helpless, made the warm current of his life run cold. + + + +Chapter 58 + + +They were not long in reaching the barracks, for the officer who +commanded the party was desirous to avoid rousing the people by the +display of military force in the streets, and was humanely anxious +to give as little opportunity as possible for any attempt at +rescue; knowing that it must lead to bloodshed and loss of life, +and that if the civil authorities by whom he was accompanied, +empowered him to order his men to fire, many innocent persons would +probably fall, whom curiosity or idleness had attracted to the +spot. He therefore led the party briskly on, avoiding with a +merciful prudence the more public and crowded thoroughfares, and +pursuing those which he deemed least likely to be infested by +disorderly persons. This wise proceeding not only enabled them to +gain their quarters without any interruption, but completely +baffled a body of rioters who had assembled in one of the main +streets, through which it was considered certain they would pass, +and who remained gathered together for the purpose of releasing the +prisoner from their hands, long after they had deposited him in a +place of security, closed the barrack-gates, and set a double guard +at every entrance for its better protection. + +Arrived at this place, poor Barnaby was marched into a stone- +floored room, where there was a very powerful smell of tobacco, a +strong thorough draught of air, and a great wooden bedstead, large +enough for a score of men. Several soldiers in undress were +lounging about, or eating from tin cans; military accoutrements +dangled on rows of pegs along the whitewashed wall; and some half- +dozen men lay fast asleep upon their backs, snoring in concert. +After remaining here just long enough to note these things, he was +marched out again, and conveyed across the parade-ground to another +portion of the building. + +Perhaps a man never sees so much at a glance as when he is in a +situation of extremity. The chances are a hundred to one, that if +Barnaby had lounged in at the gate to look about him, he would have +lounged out again with a very imperfect idea of the place, and +would have remembered very little about it. But as he was taken +handcuffed across the gravelled area, nothing escaped his notice. +The dry, arid look of the dusty square, and of the bare brick +building; the clothes hanging at some of the windows; and the men +in their shirt-sleeves and braces, lolling with half their bodies +out of the others; the green sun-blinds at the officers' quarters, +and the little scanty trees in front; the drummer-boys practising +in a distant courtyard; the men at drill on the parade; the two +soldiers carrying a basket between them, who winked to each other +as he went by, and slily pointed to their throats; the spruce +serjeant who hurried past with a cane in his hand, and under his +arm a clasped book with a vellum cover; the fellows in the ground- +floor rooms, furbishing and brushing up their different articles of +dress, who stopped to look at him, and whose voices as they spoke +together echoed loudly through the empty galleries and passages;-- +everything, down to the stand of muskets before the guard-house, +and the drum with a pipe-clayed belt attached, in one corner, +impressed itself upon his observation, as though he had noticed +them in the same place a hundred times, or had been a whole day +among them, in place of one brief hurried minute. + +He was taken into a small paved back yard, and there they opened a +great door, plated with iron, and pierced some five feet above the +ground with a few holes to let in air and light. Into this dungeon +he was walked straightway; and having locked him up there, and +placed a sentry over him, they left him to his meditations. + +The cell, or black hole, for it had those words painted on the +door, was very dark, and having recently accommodated a drunken +deserter, by no means clean. Barnaby felt his way to some straw at +the farther end, and looking towards the door, tried to accustom +himself to the gloom, which, coming from the bright sunshine out of +doors, was not an easy task. + +There was a kind of portico or colonnade outside, and this +obstructed even the little light that at the best could have found +its way through the small apertures in the door. The footsteps of +the sentinel echoed monotonously as he paced its stone pavement to +and fro (reminding Barnaby of the watch he had so lately kept +himself); and as he passed and repassed the door, he made the cell +for an instant so black by the interposition of his body, that his +going away again seemed like the appearance of a new ray of light, +and was quite a circumstance to look for. + +When the prisoner had sat sometime upon the ground, gazing at the +chinks, and listening to the advancing and receding footsteps of +his guard, the man stood still upon his post. Barnaby, quite +unable to think, or to speculate on what would be done with him, +had been lulled into a kind of doze by his regular pace; but his +stopping roused him; and then he became aware that two men were in +conversation under the colonnade, and very near the door of his +cell. + +How long they had been talking there, he could not tell, for he had +fallen into an unconsciousness of his real position, and when the +footsteps ceased, was answering aloud some question which seemed to +have been put to him by Hugh in the stable, though of the fancied +purport, either of question or reply, notwithstanding that he awoke +with the latter on his lips, he had no recollection whatever. The +first words that reached his ears, were these: + +'Why is he brought here then, if he has to be taken away again so +soon?' + +'Why where would you have him go! Damme, he's not as safe anywhere +as among the king's troops, is he? What WOULD you do with him? +Would you hand him over to a pack of cowardly civilians, that shake +in their shoes till they wear the soles out, with trembling at the +threats of the ragamuffins he belongs to?' + +'That's true enough.' + +'True enough!--I'll tell you what. I wish, Tom Green, that I was a +commissioned instead of a non-commissioned officer, and that I had +the command of two companies--only two companies--of my own +regiment. Call me out to stop these riots--give me the needful +authority, and half-a-dozen rounds of ball cartridge--' + +'Ay!' said the other voice. 'That's all very well, but they won't +give the needful authority. If the magistrate won't give the +word, what's the officer to do?' + +Not very well knowing, as it seemed, how to overcome this +difficulty, the other man contented himself with damning the +magistrates. + +'With all my heart,' said his friend. + +'Where's the use of a magistrate?' returned the other voice. +'What's a magistrate in this case, but an impertinent, unnecessary, +unconstitutional sort of interference? Here's a proclamation. +Here's a man referred to in that proclamation. Here's proof +against him, and a witness on the spot. Damme! Take him out and +shoot him, sir. Who wants a magistrate?' + +'When does he go before Sir John Fielding?' asked the man who had +spoken first. + +'To-night at eight o'clock,' returned the other. 'Mark what +follows. The magistrate commits him to Newgate. Our people take +him to Newgate. The rioters pelt our people. Our people retire +before the rioters. Stones are thrown, insults are offered, not a +shot's fired. Why? Because of the magistrates. Damn the +magistrates!' + +When he had in some degree relieved his mind by cursing the +magistrates in various other forms of speech, the man was silent, +save for a low growling, still having reference to those +authorities, which from time to time escaped him. + +Barnaby, who had wit enough to know that this conversation +concerned, and very nearly concerned, himself, remained perfectly +quiet until they ceased to speak, when he groped his way to the +door, and peeping through the air-holes, tried to make out what +kind of men they were, to whom he had been listening. + +The one who condemned the civil power in such strong terms, was a +serjeant--engaged just then, as the streaming ribands in his cap +announced, on the recruiting service. He stood leaning sideways +against a pillar nearly opposite the door, and as he growled to +himself, drew figures on the pavement with his cane. The other +man had his back towards the dungeon, and Barnaby could only see +his form. To judge from that, he was a gallant, manly, handsome +fellow, but he had lost his left arm. It had been taken off +between the elbow and the shoulder, and his empty coat-sleeve hung +across his breast. + +It was probably this circumstance which gave him an interest beyond +any that his companion could boast of, and attracted Barnaby's +attention. There was something soldierly in his bearing, and he +wore a jaunty cap and jacket. Perhaps he had been in the service +at one time or other. If he had, it could not have been very long +ago, for he was but a young fellow now. + +'Well, well,' he said thoughtfully; 'let the fault be where it may, +it makes a man sorrowful to come back to old England, and see her +in this condition.' + +'I suppose the pigs will join 'em next,' said the serjeant, with an +imprecation on the rioters, 'now that the birds have set 'em the +example.' + +'The birds!' repeated Tom Green. + +'Ah--birds,' said the serjeant testily; 'that's English, an't it?' + +'I don't know what you mean.' + +'Go to the guard-house, and see. You'll find a bird there, that's +got their cry as pat as any of 'em, and bawls "No Popery," like a +man--or like a devil, as he says he is. I shouldn't wonder. The +devil's loose in London somewhere. Damme if I wouldn't twist his +neck round, on the chance, if I had MY way.' + +The young man had taken two or three steps away, as if to go and +see this creature, when he was arrested by the voice of Barnaby. + +'It's mine,' he called out, half laughing and half weeping--'my +pet, my friend Grip. Ha ha ha! Don't hurt him, he has done no +harm. I taught him; it's my fault. Let me have him, if you +please. He's the only friend I have left now. He'll not dance, or +talk, or whistle for you, I know; but he will for me, because he +knows me and loves me--though you wouldn't think it--very well. +You wouldn't hurt a bird, I'm sure. You're a brave soldier, sir, +and wouldn't harm a woman or a child--no, no, nor a poor bird, I'm +certain.' + +This latter adjuration was addressed to the serjeant, whom Barnaby +judged from his red coat to be high in office, and able to seal +Grip's destiny by a word. But that gentleman, in reply, surlily +damned him for a thief and rebel as he was, and with many +disinterested imprecations on his own eyes, liver, blood, and body, +assured him that if it rested with him to decide, he would put a +final stopper on the bird, and his master too. + +'You talk boldly to a caged man,' said Barnaby, in anger. 'If I +was on the other side of the door and there were none to part us, +you'd change your note--ay, you may toss your head--you would! +Kill the bird--do. Kill anything you can, and so revenge yourself +on those who with their bare hands untied could do as much to you!' + +Having vented his defiance, he flung himself into the furthest +corner of his prison, and muttering, 'Good bye, Grip--good bye, +dear old Grip!' shed tears for the first time since he had been +taken captive; and hid his face in the straw. + +He had had some fancy at first, that the one-armed man would help +him, or would give him a kind word in answer. He hardly knew why, +but he hoped and thought so. The young fellow had stopped when he +called out, and checking himself in the very act of turning round, +stood listening to every word he said. Perhaps he built his feeble +trust on this; perhaps on his being young, and having a frank and +honest manner. However that might be, he built on sand. The other +went away directly he had finished speaking, and neither answered +him, nor returned. No matter. They were all against him here: he +might have known as much. Good bye, old Grip, good bye! + +After some time, they came and unlocked the door, and called to him +to come out. He rose directly, and complied, for he would not have +THEM think he was subdued or frightened. He walked out like a man, +and looked from face to face. + +None of them returned his gaze or seemed to notice it. They +marched him back to the parade by the way they had brought him, and +there they halted, among a body of soldiers, at least twice as +numerous as that which had taken him prisoner in the afternoon. +The officer he had seen before, bade him in a few brief words take +notice that if he attempted to escape, no matter how favourable a +chance he might suppose he had, certain of the men had orders to +fire upon him, that moment. They then closed round him as before, +and marched him off again. + +In the same unbroken order they arrived at Bow Street, followed and +beset on all sides by a crowd which was continually increasing. +Here he was placed before a blind gentleman, and asked if he wished +to say anything. Not he. What had he got to tell them? After a +very little talking, which he was careless of and quite indifferent +to, they told him he was to go to Newgate, and took him away. + +He went out into the street, so surrounded and hemmed in on every +side by soldiers, that he could see nothing; but he knew there was +a great crowd of people, by the murmur; and that they were not +friendly to the soldiers, was soon rendered evident by their yells +and hisses. How often and how eagerly he listened for the voice of +Hugh! There was not a voice he knew among them all. Was Hugh a +prisoner too? Was there no hope! + +As they came nearer and nearer to the prison, the hootings of the +people grew more violent; stones were thrown; and every now and +then, a rush was made against the soldiers, which they staggered +under. One of them, close before him, smarting under a blow upon +the temple, levelled his musket, but the officer struck it upwards +with his sword, and ordered him on peril of his life to desist. +This was the last thing he saw with any distinctness, for directly +afterwards he was tossed about, and beaten to and fro, as though in +a tempestuous sea. But go where he would, there were the same +guards about him. Twice or thrice he was thrown down, and so were +they; but even then, he could not elude their vigilance for a +moment. They were up again, and had closed about him, before he, +with his wrists so tightly bound, could scramble to his feet. +Fenced in, thus, he felt himself hoisted to the top of a low flight +of steps, and then for a moment he caught a glimpse of the fighting +in the crowd, and of a few red coats sprinkled together, here and +there, struggling to rejoin their fellows. Next moment, everything +was dark and gloomy, and he was standing in the prison lobby; the +centre of a group of men. + +A smith was speedily in attendance, who riveted upon him a set of +heavy irons. Stumbling on as well as he could, beneath the unusual +burden of these fetters, he was conducted to a strong stone cell, +where, fastening the door with locks, and bolts, and chains, they +left him, well secured; having first, unseen by him, thrust in +Grip, who, with his head drooping and his deep black plumes rough +and rumpled, appeared to comprehend and to partake, his master's +fallen fortunes. + + + +Chapter 59 + + +It is necessary at this juncture to return to Hugh, who, having, as +we have seen, called to the rioters to disperse from about the +Warren, and meet again as usual, glided back into the darkness from +which he had emerged, and reappeared no more that night. + +He paused in the copse which sheltered him from the observation of +his mad companions, and waited to ascertain whether they drew off +at his bidding, or still lingered and called to him to join them. +Some few, he saw, were indisposed to go away without him, and made +towards the spot where he stood concealed as though they were about +to follow in his footsteps, and urge him to come back; but these +men, being in their turn called to by their friends, and in truth +not greatly caring to venture into the dark parts of the grounds, +where they might be easily surprised and taken, if any of the +neighbours or retainers of the family were watching them from among +the trees, soon abandoned the idea, and hastily assembling such men +as they found of their mind at the moment, straggled off. + +When he was satisfied that the great mass of the insurgents were +imitating this example, and that the ground was rapidly clearing, +he plunged into the thickest portion of the little wood; and, +crashing the branches as he went, made straight towards a distant +light: guided by that, and by the sullen glow of the fire behind +him. + +As he drew nearer and nearer to the twinkling beacon towards which +he bent his course, the red glare of a few torches began to reveal +itself, and the voices of men speaking together in a subdued tone +broke the silence which, save for a distant shouting now and then, +already prevailed. At length he cleared the wood, and, springing +across a ditch, stood in a dark lane, where a small body of ill- +looking vagabonds, whom he had left there some twenty minutes +before, waited his coming with impatience. + +They were gathered round an old post-chaise or chariot, driven by +one of themselves, who sat postilion-wise upon the near horse. The +blinds were drawn up, and Mr Tappertit and Dennis kept guard at the +two windows. The former assumed the command of the party, for he +challenged Hugh as he advanced towards them; and when he did so, +those who were resting on the ground about the carriage rose to +their feet and clustered round him. + +'Well!' said Simon, in a low voice; 'is all right?' + +'Right enough,' replied Hugh, in the same tone. 'They're +dispersing now--had begun before I came away.' + +'And is the coast clear?' + +'Clear enough before our men, I take it,' said Hugh. 'There are +not many who, knowing of their work over yonder, will want to +meddle with 'em to-night.--Who's got some drink here?' + +Everybody had some plunder from the cellar; half-a-dozen flasks and +bottles were offered directly. He selected the largest, and +putting it to his mouth, sent the wine gurgling down his throat. +Having emptied it, he threw it down, and stretched out his hand for +another, which he emptied likewise, at a draught. Another was +given him, and this he half emptied too. Reserving what remained +to finish with, he asked: + +'Have you got anything to eat, any of you? I'm as ravenous as a +hungry wolf. Which of you was in the larder--come?' + +'I was, brother,' said Dennis, pulling off his hat, and fumbling in +the crown. 'There's a matter of cold venison pasty somewhere or +another here, if that'll do.' + +'Do!' cried Hugh, seating himself on the pathway. 'Bring it out! +Quick! Show a light here, and gather round! Let me sup in state, +my lads! Ha ha ha!' + +Entering into his boisterous humour, for they all had drunk deeply, +and were as wild as he, they crowded about him, while two of their +number who had torches, held them up, one on either side of him, +that his banquet might not be despatched in the dark. Mr Dennis, +having by this time succeeded in extricating from his hat a great +mass of pasty, which had been wedged in so tightly that it was not +easily got out, put it before him; and Hugh, having borrowed a +notched and jagged knife from one of the company, fell to work upon +it vigorously. + +'I should recommend you to swallow a little fire every day, about +an hour afore dinner, brother,' said Dennis, after a pause. 'It +seems to agree with you, and to stimulate your appetite.' + +Hugh looked at him, and at the blackened faces by which he was +surrounded, and, stopping for a moment to flourish his knife above +his head, answered with a roar of laughter. + +'Keep order, there, will you?' said Simon Tappertit. + +'Why, isn't a man allowed to regale himself, noble captain,' +retorted his lieutenant, parting the men who stood between them, +with his knife, that he might see him,--'to regale himself a little +bit after such work as mine? What a hard captain! What a strict +captain! What a tyrannical captain! Ha ha ha!' + +'I wish one of you fellers would hold a bottle to his mouth to keep +him quiet,' said Simon, 'unless you want the military to be down +upon us.' + +'And what if they are down upon us!' retorted Hugh. 'Who cares? +Who's afraid? Let 'em come, I say, let 'em come. The more, the +merrier. Give me bold Barnaby at my side, and we two will settle +the military, without troubling any of you. Barnaby's the man for +the military. Barnaby's health!' + +But as the majority of those present were by no means anxious for +a second engagement that night, being already weary and exhausted, +they sided with Mr Tappertit, and pressed him to make haste with +his supper, for they had already delayed too long. Knowing, even +in the height of his frenzy, that they incurred great danger by +lingering so near the scene of the late outrages, Hugh made an end +of his meal without more remonstrance, and rising, stepped up to Mr +Tappertit, and smote him on the back. + +'Now then,' he cried, 'I'm ready. There are brave birds inside +this cage, eh? Delicate birds,--tender, loving, little doves. I +caged 'em--I caged 'em--one more peep!' + +He thrust the little man aside as he spoke, and mounting on the +steps, which were half let down, pulled down the blind by force, +and stared into the chaise like an ogre into his larder. + +'Ha ha ha! and did you scratch, and pinch, and struggle, pretty +mistress?' he cried, as he grasped a little hand that sought in +vain to free itself from his grip: 'you, so bright-eyed, and +cherry-lipped, and daintily made? But I love you better for it, +mistress. Ay, I do. You should stab me and welcome, so that it +pleased you, and you had to cure me afterwards. I love to see you +proud and scornful. It makes you handsomer than ever; and who so +handsome as you at any time, my pretty one!' + +'Come!' said Mr Tappertit, who had waited during this speech with +considerable impatience. 'There's enough of that. Come down.' + +The little hand seconded this admonition by thrusting Hugh's great +head away with all its force, and drawing up the blind, amidst his +noisy laughter, and vows that he must have another look, for the +last glimpse of that sweet face had provoked him past all bearing. +However, as the suppressed impatience of the party now broke out +into open murmurs, he abandoned this design, and taking his seat +upon the bar, contented himself with tapping at the front windows +of the carriage, and trying to steal a glance inside; Mr Tappertit, +mounting the steps and hanging on by the door, issued his +directions to the driver with a commanding voice and attitude; the +rest got up behind, or ran by the side of the carriage, as they +could; some, in imitation of Hugh, endeavoured to see the face he +had praised so highly, and were reminded of their impertinence by +hints from the cudgel of Mr Tappertit. Thus they pursued their +journey by circuitous and winding roads; preserving, except when +they halted to take breath, or to quarrel about the best way of +reaching London, pretty good order and tolerable silence. + +In the mean time, Dolly--beautiful, bewitching, captivating little +Dolly--her hair dishevelled, her dress torn, her dark eyelashes wet +with tears, her bosom heaving--her face, now pale with fear, now +crimsoned with indignation--her whole self a hundred times more +beautiful in this heightened aspect than ever she had been before-- +vainly strove to comfort Emma Haredale, and to impart to her the +consolation of which she stood in so much need herself. The +soldiers were sure to come; they must be rescued; it would be +impossible to convey them through the streets of London when they +set the threats of their guards at defiance, and shrieked to the +passengers for help. If they did this when they came into the more +frequented ways, she was certain--she was quite certain--they must +be released. So poor Dolly said, and so poor Dolly tried to think; +but the invariable conclusion of all such arguments was, that Dolly +burst into tears; cried, as she wrung her hands, what would they do +or think, or who would comfort them, at home, at the Golden Key; +and sobbed most piteously. + +Miss Haredale, whose feelings were usually of a quieter kind than +Dolly's, and not so much upon the surface, was dreadfully +alarmed, and indeed had only just recovered from a swoon. She was +very pale, and the hand which Dolly held was quite cold; but she +bade her, nevertheless, remember that, under Providence, much must +depend upon their own discretion; that if they remained quiet and +lulled the vigilance of the ruffians into whose hands they had +fallen, the chances of their being able to procure assistance when +they reached the town, were very much increased; that unless +society were quite unhinged, a hot pursuit must be immediately +commenced; and that her uncle, she might be sure, would never rest +until he had found them out and rescued them. But as she said +these latter words, the idea that he had fallen in a general +massacre of the Catholics that night--no very wild or improbable +supposition after what they had seen and undergone--struck her +dumb; and, lost in the horrors they had witnessed, and those they +might be yet reserved for, she sat incapable of thought, or speech, +or outward show of grief: as rigid, and almost as white and cold, +as marble. + +Oh, how many, many times, in that long ride, did Dolly think of her +old lover,--poor, fond, slighted Joe! How many, many times, did +she recall that night when she ran into his arms from the very man +now projecting his hateful gaze into the darkness where she sat, +and leering through the glass in monstrous admiration! And when +she thought of Joe, and what a brave fellow he was, and how he +would have rode boldly up, and dashed in among these villains now, +yes, though they were double the number--and here she clenched her +little hand, and pressed her foot upon the ground--the pride she +felt for a moment in having won his heart, faded in a burst of +tears, and she sobbed more bitterly than ever. + +As the night wore on, and they proceeded by ways which were quite +unknown to them--for they could recognise none of the objects of +which they sometimes caught a hurried glimpse--their fears +increased; nor were they without good foundation; it was not +difficult for two beautiful young women to find, in their being +borne they knew not whither by a band of daring villains who eyed +them as some among these fellows did, reasons for the worst alarm. +When they at last entered London, by a suburb with which they were +wholly unacquainted, it was past midnight, and the streets were +dark and empty. Nor was this the worst, for the carriage stopping +in a lonely spot, Hugh suddenly opened the door, jumped in, and +took his seat between them. + +It was in vain they cried for help. He put his arm about the neck +of each, and swore to stifle them with kisses if they were not as +silent as the grave. + +'I come here to keep you quiet,' he said, 'and that's the means I +shall take. So don't be quiet, pretty mistresses--make a noise-- +do--and I shall like it all the better.' + +They were proceeding at a rapid pace, and apparently with fewer +attendants than before, though it was so dark (the torches being +extinguished) that this was mere conjecture. They shrunk from his +touch, each into the farthest corner of the carriage; but shrink as +Dolly would, his arm encircled her waist, and held her fast. She +neither cried nor spoke, for terror and disgust deprived her of the +power; but she plucked at his hand as though she would die in the +effort to disengage herself; and crouching on the ground, with her +head averted and held down, repelled him with a strength she +wondered at as much as he. The carriage stopped again. + +'Lift this one out,' said Hugh to the man who opened the door, as +he took Miss Haredale's hand, and felt how heavily it fell. 'She's +fainted.' + +'So much the better,' growled Dennis--it was that amiable +gentleman. 'She's quiet. I always like 'em to faint, unless +they're very tender and composed.' + +'Can you take her by yourself?' asked Hugh. + +'I don't know till I try. I ought to be able to; I've lifted up a +good many in my time,' said the hangman. 'Up then! She's no small +weight, brother; none of these here fine gals are. Up again! Now +we have her.' + +Having by this time hoisted the young lady into his arms, he +staggered off with his burden. + +'Look ye, pretty bird,' said Hugh, drawing Dolly towards him. +'Remember what I told you--a kiss for every cry. Scream, if you +love me, darling. Scream once, mistress. Pretty mistress, only +once, if you love me.' + +Thrusting his face away with all her force, and holding down her +head, Dolly submitted to be carried out of the chaise, and borne +after Miss Haredale into a miserable cottage, where Hugh, after +hugging her to his breast, set her gently down upon the floor. + +Poor Dolly! Do what she would, she only looked the better for it, +and tempted them the more. When her eyes flashed angrily, and her +ripe lips slightly parted, to give her rapid breathing vent, who +could resist it? When she wept and sobbed as though her heart +would break, and bemoaned her miseries in the sweetest voice that +ever fell upon a listener's ear, who could be insensible to the +little winning pettishness which now and then displayed itself, +even in the sincerity and earnestness of her grief? When, +forgetful for a moment of herself, as she was now, she fell on her +knees beside her friend, and bent over her, and laid her cheek to +hers, and put her arms about her, what mortal eyes could have +avoided wandering to the delicate bodice, the streaming hair, the +neglected dress, the perfect abandonment and unconsciousness of the +blooming little beauty? Who could look on and see her lavish +caresses and endearments, and not desire to be in Emma Haredale's +place; to be either her or Dolly; either the hugging or the hugged? +Not Hugh. Not Dennis. + +'I tell you what it is, young women,' said Mr Dennis, 'I an't much +of a lady's man myself, nor am I a party in the present business +further than lending a willing hand to my friends: but if I see +much more of this here sort of thing, I shall become a principal +instead of a accessory. I tell you candid.' + +'Why have you brought us here?' said Emma. 'Are we to be +murdered?' + +'Murdered!' cried Dennis, sitting down upon a stool, and regarding +her with great favour. 'Why, my dear, who'd murder sich +chickabiddies as you? If you was to ask me, now, whether you was +brought here to be married, there might be something in it.' + +And here he exchanged a grin with Hugh, who removed his eyes from +Dolly for the purpose. + +'No, no,' said Dennis, 'there'll be no murdering, my pets. Nothing +of that sort. Quite the contrairy.' + +'You are an older man than your companion, sir,' said Emma, +trembling. 'Have you no pity for us? Do you not consider that we +are women?' + +'I do indeed, my dear,' retorted Dennis. 'It would be very hard +not to, with two such specimens afore my eyes. Ha ha! Oh yes , I +consider that. We all consider that, miss.' + +He shook his head waggishly, leered at Hugh again, and laughed very +much, as if he had said a noble thing, and rather thought he was +coming out. + +'There'll be no murdering, my dear. Not a bit on it. I tell you +what though, brother,' said Dennis, cocking his hat for the +convenience of scratching his head, and looking gravely at Hugh, +'it's worthy of notice, as a proof of the amazing equalness and +dignity of our law, that it don't make no distinction between men +and women. I've heerd the judge say, sometimes, to a highwayman or +housebreaker as had tied the ladies neck and heels--you'll excuse +me making mention of it, my darlings--and put 'em in a cellar, that +he showed no consideration to women. Now, I say that there judge +didn't know his business, brother; and that if I had been that +there highwayman or housebreaker, I should have made answer: "What +are you a talking of, my lord? I showed the women as much +consideration as the law does, and what more would you have me do?" +If you was to count up in the newspapers the number of females as +have been worked off in this here city alone, in the last ten +year,' said Mr Dennis thoughtfully, 'you'd be surprised at the +total--quite amazed, you would. There's a dignified and equal +thing; a beautiful thing! But we've no security for its lasting. +Now that they've begun to favour these here Papists, I shouldn't +wonder if they went and altered even THAT, one of these days. Upon +my soul, I shouldn't.' + +The subject, perhaps from being of too exclusive and professional a +nature, failed to interest Hugh as much as his friend had +anticipated. But he had no time to pursue it, for at this crisis +Mr Tappertit entered precipitately; at sight of whom Dolly uttered +a scream of joy, and fairly threw herself into his arms. + +'I knew it, I was sure of it!' cried Dolly. 'My dear father's at +the door. Thank God, thank God! Bless you, Sim. Heaven bless you +for this!' + +Simon Tappertit, who had at first implicitly believed that the +locksmith's daughter, unable any longer to suppress her secret +passion for himself, was about to give it full vent in its +intensity, and to declare that she was his for ever, looked +extremely foolish when she said these words;--the more so, as they +were received by Hugh and Dennis with a loud laugh, which made her +draw back, and regard him with a fixed and earnest look. + +'Miss Haredale,' said Sim, after a very awkward silence, 'I hope +you're as comfortable as circumstances will permit of. Dolly +Varden, my darling--my own, my lovely one--I hope YOU'RE pretty +comfortable likewise.' + +Poor little Dolly! She saw how it was; hid her face in her hands; +and sobbed more bitterly than ever. + +'You meet in me, Miss V.,' said Simon, laying his hand upon his +breast, 'not a 'prentice, not a workman, not a slave, not the +wictim of your father's tyrannical behaviour, but the leader of a +great people, the captain of a noble band, in which these gentlemen +are, as I may say, corporals and serjeants. You behold in me, not +a private individual, but a public character; not a mender of +locks, but a healer of the wounds of his unhappy country. Dolly +V., sweet Dolly V., for how many years have I looked forward to +this present meeting! For how many years has it been my intention +to exalt and ennoble you! I redeem it. Behold in me, your +husband. Yes, beautiful Dolly--charmer--enslaver--S. Tappertit is +all your own!' + +As he said these words he advanced towards her. Dolly retreated +till she could go no farther, and then sank down upon the floor. +Thinking it very possible that this might be maiden modesty, Simon +essayed to raise her; on which Dolly, goaded to desperation, wound +her hands in his hair, and crying out amidst her tears that he was +a dreadful little wretch, and always had been, shook, and pulled, +and beat him, until he was fain to call for help, most lustily. +Hugh had never admired her half so much as at that moment. + +'She's in an excited state to-night,' said Simon, as he smoothed +his rumpled feathers, 'and don't know when she's well off. Let her +be by herself till to-morrow, and that'll bring her down a little. +Carry her into the next house!' + +Hugh had her in his arms directly. It might be that Mr Tappertit's +heart was really softened by her distress, or it might be that he +felt it in some degree indecorous that his intended bride should be +struggling in the grasp of another man. He commanded him, on +second thoughts, to put her down again, and looked moodily on as +she flew to Miss Haredale's side, and clinging to her dress, hid +her flushed face in its folds. + +'They shall remain here together till to-morrow,' said Simon, who +had now quite recovered his dignity--'till to-morrow. Come away!' + +'Ay!' cried Hugh. 'Come away, captain. Ha ha ha!' + +'What are you laughing at?' demanded Simon sternly. + +'Nothing, captain, nothing,' Hugh rejoined; and as he spoke, and +clapped his hand upon the shoulder of the little man, he laughed +again, for some unknown reason, with tenfold violence. + +Mr Tappertit surveyed him from head to foot with lofty scorn (this +only made him laugh the more), and turning to the prisoners, said: + +'You'll take notice, ladies, that this place is well watched on +every side, and that the least noise is certain to be attended with +unpleasant consequences. You'll hear--both of you--more of our +intentions to-morrow. In the mean time, don't show yourselves at +the window, or appeal to any of the people you may see pass it; for +if you do, it'll be known directly that you come from a Catholic +house, and all the exertions our men can make, may not be able to +save your lives.' + +With this last caution, which was true enough, he turned to the +door, followed by Hugh and Dennis. They paused for a moment, going +out, to look at them clasped in each other's arms, and then left +the cottage; fastening the door, and setting a good watch upon it, +and indeed all round the house. + +'I say,' growled Dennis, as they walked away in company, 'that's a +dainty pair. Muster Gashford's one is as handsome as the other, +eh?' + +'Hush!' said Hugh, hastily. 'Don't you mention names. It's a bad +habit.' + +'I wouldn't like to be HIM, then (as you don't like names), when he +breaks it out to her; that's all,' said Dennis. 'She's one of them +fine, black-eyed, proud gals, as I wouldn't trust at such times +with a knife too near 'em. I've seen some of that sort, afore now. +I recollect one that was worked off, many year ago--and there was a +gentleman in that case too--that says to me, with her lip a +trembling, but her hand as steady as ever I see one: "Dennis, I'm +near my end, but if I had a dagger in these fingers, and he was +within my reach, I'd strike him dead afore me;"--ah, she did--and +she'd have done it too!' + +Strike who dead?' demanded Hugh. + +'How should I know, brother?' answered Dennis. 'SHE never said; +not she.' + +Hugh looked, for a moment, as though he would have made some +further inquiry into this incoherent recollection; but Simon +Tappertit, who had been meditating deeply, gave his thoughts a new +direction. + +'Hugh!' said Sim. 'You have done well to-day. You shall be +rewarded. So have you, Dennis.--There's no young woman YOU want to +carry off, is there?' + +'N--no,' returned that gentleman, stroking his grizzly beard, which +was some two inches long. 'None in partickler, I think.' + +'Very good,' said Sim; 'then we'll find some other way of making it +up to you. As to you, old boy'--he turned to Hugh--'you shall have +Miggs (her that I promised you, you know) within three days. Mind. +I pass my word for it.' + +Hugh thanked him heartily; and as he did so, his laughing fit +returned with such violence that he was obliged to hold his side +with one hand, and to lean with the other on the shoulder of his +small captain, without whose support he would certainly have rolled +upon the ground. + + + +Chapter 60 + + +The three worthies turned their faces towards The Boot, with the +intention of passing the night in that place of rendezvous, and of +seeking the repose they so much needed in the shelter of their old +den; for now that the mischief and destruction they had purposed +were achieved, and their prisoners were safely bestowed for the +night, they began to be conscious of exhaustion, and to feel the +wasting effects of the madness which had led to such deplorable +results. + +Notwithstanding the lassitude and fatigue which oppressed him now, +in common with his two companions, and indeed with all who had +taken an active share in that night's work, Hugh's boisterous +merriment broke out afresh whenever he looked at Simon Tappertit, +and vented itself--much to that gentleman's indignation--in such +shouts of laughter as bade fair to bring the watch upon them, and +involve them in a skirmish, to which in their present worn-out +condition they might prove by no means equal. Even Mr Dennis, who +was not at all particular on the score of gravity or dignity, and +who had a great relish for his young friend's eccentric humours, +took occasion to remonstrate with him on this imprudent behaviour, +which he held to be a species of suicide, tantamount to a man's +working himself off without being overtaken by the law, than which +he could imagine nothing more ridiculous or impertinent. + +Not abating one jot of his noisy mirth for these remonstrances, +Hugh reeled along between them, having an arm of each, until they +hove in sight of The Boot, and were within a field or two of that +convenient tavern. He happened by great good luck to have roared +and shouted himself into silence by this time. They were +proceeding onward without noise, when a scout who had been creeping +about the ditches all night, to warn any stragglers from +encroaching further on what was now such dangerous ground, peeped +cautiously from his hiding-place, and called to them to stop. + +'Stop! and why?' said Hugh. + +Because (the scout replied) the house was filled with constables +and soldiers; having been surprised that afternoon. The inmates +had fled or been taken into custody, he could not say which. He +had prevented a great many people from approaching nearer, and he +believed they had gone to the markets and such places to pass the +night. He had seen the distant fires, but they were all out now. +He had heard the people who passed and repassed, speaking of them +too, and could report that the prevailing opinion was one of +apprehension and dismay. He had not heard a word of Barnaby-- +didn't even know his name--but it had been said in his hearing that +some man had been taken and carried off to Newgate. Whether this +was true or false, he could not affirm. + +The three took counsel together, on hearing this, and debated what +it might be best to do. Hugh, deeming it possible that Barnaby was +in the hands of the soldiers, and at that moment under detention at +The Boot, was for advancing stealthily, and firing the house; but +his companions, who objected to such rash measures unless they had +a crowd at their backs, represented that if Barnaby were taken he +had assuredly been removed to a stronger prison; they would never +have dreamed of keeping him all night in a place so weak and open +to attack. Yielding to this reasoning, and to their persuasions, +Hugh consented to turn back and to repair to Fleet Market; for +which place, it seemed, a few of their boldest associates had +shaped their course, on receiving the same intelligence. + +Feeling their strength recruited and their spirits roused, now that +there was a new necessity for action, they hurried away, quite +forgetful of the fatigue under which they had been sinking but a +few minutes before; and soon arrived at their new place of +destination. + +Fleet Market, at that time, was a long irregular row of wooden +sheds and penthouses, occupying the centre of what is now called +Farringdon Street. They were jumbled together in a most unsightly +fashion, in the middle of the road; to the great obstruction of the +thoroughfare and the annoyance of passengers, who were fain to make +their way, as they best could, among carts, baskets, barrows, +trucks, casks, bulks, and benches, and to jostle with porters, +hucksters, waggoners, and a motley crowd of buyers, sellers, pick- +pockets, vagrants, and idlers. The air was perfumed with the +stench of rotten leaves and faded fruit; the refuse of the +butchers' stalls, and offal and garbage of a hundred kinds. It was +indispensable to most public conveniences in those days, that they +should be public nuisances likewise; and Fleet Market maintained +the principle to admiration. + +To this place, perhaps because its sheds and baskets were a +tolerable substitute for beds, or perhaps because it afforded the +means of a hasty barricade in case of need, many of the rioters had +straggled, not only that night, but for two or three nights before. +It was now broad day, but the morning being cold, a group of them +were gathered round a fire in a public-house, drinking hot purl, +and smoking pipes, and planning new schemes for to-morrow. + +Hugh and his two friends being known to most of these men, were +received with signal marks of approbation, and inducted into the +most honourable seats. The room-door was closed and fastened to +keep intruders at a distance, and then they proceeded to exchange +news. + +'The soldiers have taken possession of The Boot, I hear,' said +Hugh. 'Who knows anything about it?' + +Several cried that they did; but the majority of the company +having been engaged in the assault upon the Warren, and all +present having been concerned in one or other of the night's +expeditions, it proved that they knew no more than Hugh himself; +having been merely warned by each other, or by the scout, and +knowing nothing of their own knowledge. + +'We left a man on guard there to-day,' said Hugh, looking round +him, 'who is not here. You know who it is--Barnaby, who brought +the soldier down, at Westminster. Has any man seen or heard of +him?' + +They shook their heads, and murmured an answer in the negative, as +each man looked round and appealed to his fellow; when a noise was +heard without, and a man was heard to say that he wanted Hugh--that +he must see Hugh. + +'He is but one man,' cried Hugh to those who kept the door; 'let +him come in.' + +'Ay, ay!' muttered the others. 'Let him come in. Let him come +in.' + +The door was accordingly unlocked and opened. A one-armed man, +with his head and face tied up with a bloody cloth, as though he +had been severely beaten, his clothes torn, and his remaining hand +grasping a thick stick, rushed in among them, and panting for +breath, demanded which was Hugh. + +'Here he is,' replied the person he inquired for. 'I am Hugh. +What do you want with me?' + +'I have a message for you,' said the man. 'You know one Barnaby.' + +'What of him? Did he send the message?' + +'Yes. He's taken. He's in one of the strong cells in Newgate. He +defended himself as well as he could, but was overpowered by +numbers. That's his message.' + +'When did you see him?' asked Hugh, hastily. + +'On his way to prison, where he was taken by a party of soldiers. +They took a by-road, and not the one we expected. I was one of +the few who tried to rescue him, and he called to me, and told me +to tell Hugh where he was. We made a good struggle, though it +failed. Look here!' + +He pointed to his dress and to his bandaged head, and still panting +for breath, glanced round the room; then faced towards Hugh again. + +'I know you by sight,' he said, 'for I was in the crowd on Friday, +and on Saturday, and yesterday, but I didn't know your name. +You're a bold fellow, I know. So is he. He fought like a lion +tonight, but it was of no use. I did my best, considering that I +want this limb.' + +Again he glanced inquisitively round the room or seemed to do so, +for his face was nearly hidden by the bandage--and again facing +sharply towards Hugh, grasped his stick as if he half expected to +be set upon, and stood on the defensive. + +If he had any such apprehension, however, he was speedily reassured +by the demeanour of all present. None thought of the bearer of the +tidings. He was lost in the news he brought. Oaths, threats, and +execrations, were vented on all sides. Some cried that if they +bore this tamely, another day would see them all in jail; some, +that they should have rescued the other prisoners, and this would +not have happened. One man cried in a loud voice, 'Who'll follow +me to Newgate!' and there was a loud shout and general rush towards +the door. + +But Hugh and Dennis stood with their backs against it, and kept +them back, until the clamour had so far subsided that their voices +could be heard, when they called to them together that to go now, +in broad day, would be madness; and that if they waited until night +and arranged a plan of attack, they might release, not only their +own companions, but all the prisoners, and burn down the jail. + +'Not that jail alone,' cried Hugh, 'but every jail in London. They +shall have no place to put their prisoners in. We'll burn them all +down; make bonfires of them every one! Here!' he cried, catching +at the hangman's hand. 'Let all who're men here, join with us. +Shake hands upon it. Barnaby out of jail, and not a jail left +standing! Who joins?' + +Every man there. And they swore a great oath to release their +friends from Newgate next night; to force the doors and burn the +jail; or perish in the fire themselves. + + + +Chapter 61 + + +On that same night--events so crowd upon each other in convulsed +and distracted times, that more than the stirring incidents of a +whole life often become compressed into the compass of four-and- +twenty hours--on that same night, Mr Haredale, having strongly +bound his prisoner, with the assistance of the sexton, and forced +him to mount his horse, conducted him to Chigwell; bent upon +procuring a conveyance to London from that place, and carrying him +at once before a justice. The disturbed state of the town would +be, he knew, a sufficient reason for demanding the murderer's +committal to prison before daybreak, as no man could answer for the +security of any of the watch-houses or ordinary places of +detention; and to convey a prisoner through the streets when the +mob were again abroad, would not only be a task of great danger and +hazard, but would be to challenge an attempt at rescue. Directing +the sexton to lead the horse, he walked close by the murderer's +side, and in this order they reached the village about the middle +of the night. + +The people were all awake and up, for they were fearful of being +burnt in their beds, and sought to comfort and assure each other by +watching in company. A few of the stoutest-hearted were armed and +gathered in a body on the green. To these, who knew him well, Mr +Haredale addressed himself, briefly narrating what had happened, +and beseeching them to aid in conveying the criminal to London +before the dawn of day. + +But not a man among them dared to help him by so much as the motion +of a finger. The rioters, in their passage through the village, +had menaced with their fiercest vengeance, any person who should +aid in extinguishing the fire, or render the least assistance to +him, or any Catholic whomsoever. Their threats extended to their +lives and all they possessed. They were assembled for their own +protection, and could not endanger themselves by lending any aid to +him. This they told him, not without hesitation and regret, as +they kept aloof in the moonlight and glanced fearfully at the +ghostly rider, who, with his head drooping on his breast and his +hat slouched down upon his brow, neither moved nor spoke. + +Finding it impossible to persuade them, and indeed hardly knowing +how to do so after what they had seen of the fury of the crowd, Mr +Haredale besought them that at least they would leave him free to +act for himself, and would suffer him to take the only chaise and +pair of horses that the place afforded. This was not acceded to +without some difficulty, but in the end they told him to do what he +would, and go away from them in heaven's name. + +Leaving the sexton at the horse's bridle, he drew out the chaise +with his own hands, and would have harnessed the horses, but that +the post-boy of the village--a soft-hearted, good-for-nothing, +vagabond kind of fellow--was moved by his earnestness and passion, +and, throwing down a pitchfork with which he was armed, swore that +the rioters might cut him into mincemeat if they liked, but he +would not stand by and see an honest gentleman who had done no +wrong, reduced to such extremity, without doing what he could to +help him. Mr Haredale shook him warmly by the hand, and thanked +him from his heart. In five minutes' time the chaise was ready, +and this good scapegrace in his saddle. The murderer was put +inside, the blinds were drawn up, the sexton took his seat upon the +bar, Mr Haredale mounted his horse and rode close beside the door; +and so they started in the dead of night, and in profound silence, +for London. + +The consternation was so extreme that even the horses which had +escaped the flames at the Warren, could find no friends to shelter +them. They passed them on the road, browsing on the stunted grass; +and the driver told them, that the poor beasts had wandered to the +village first, but had been driven away, lest they should bring +the vengeance of the crowd on any of the inhabitants. + +Nor was this feeling confined to such small places, where the +people were timid, ignorant, and unprotected. When they came near +London they met, in the grey light of morning, more than one poor +Catholic family who, terrified by the threats and warnings of +their neighbours, were quitting the city on foot, and who told them +they could hire no cart or horse for the removal of their goods, +and had been compelled to leave them behind, at the mercy of the +crowd. Near Mile End they passed a house, the master of which, a +Catholic gentleman of small means, having hired a waggon to remove +his furniture by midnight, had had it all brought down into the +street, to wait the vehicle's arrival, and save time in the +packing. But the man with whom he made the bargain, alarmed by the +fires that night, and by the sight of the rioters passing his +door, had refused to keep it: and the poor gentleman, with his wife +and servant and their little children, were sitting trembling among +their goods in the open street, dreading the arrival of day and not +knowing where to turn or what to do. + +It was the same, they heard, with the public conveyances. The +panic was so great that the mails and stage-coaches were afraid to +carry passengers who professed the obnoxious religion. If the +drivers knew them, or they admitted that they held that creed, they +would not take them, no, though they offered large sums; and +yesterday, people had been afraid to recognise Catholic +acquaintance in the streets, lest they should be marked by spies, +and burnt out, as it was called, in consequence. One mild old man-- +a priest, whose chapel was destroyed; a very feeble, patient, +inoffensive creature--who was trudging away, alone, designing to +walk some distance from town, and then try his fortune with the +coaches, told Mr Haredale that he feared he might not find a +magistrate who would have the hardihood to commit a prisoner to +jail, on his complaint. But notwithstanding these discouraging +accounts they went on, and reached the Mansion House soon after +sunrise. + +Mr Haredale threw himself from his horse, but he had no need to +knock at the door, for it was already open, and there stood upon +the step a portly old man, with a very red, or rather purple face, +who with an anxious expression of countenance, was remonstrating +with some unseen personage upstairs, while the porter essayed to +close the door by degrees and get rid of him. With the intense +impatience and excitement natural to one in his condition, Mr +Haredale thrust himself forward and was about to speak, when the +fat old gentleman interposed: + +'My good sir,' said he, 'pray let me get an answer. This is the +sixth time I have been here. I was here five times yesterday. My +house is threatened with destruction. It is to be burned down to- +night, and was to have been last night, but they had other business +on their hands. Pray let me get an answer.' + +'My good sir,' returned Mr Haredale, shaking his head, 'my house +is burned to the ground. But heaven forbid that yours should be. +Get your answer. Be brief, in mercy to me.' + +'Now, you hear this, my lord?'--said the old gentleman, calling up +the stairs, to where the skirt of a dressing-gown fluttered on the +landing-place. 'Here is a gentleman here, whose house was actually +burnt down last night.' + +'Dear me, dear me,' replied a testy voice, 'I am very sorry for +it, but what am I to do? I can't build it up again. The chief +magistrate of the city can't go and be a rebuilding of people's +houses, my good sir. Stuff and nonsense!' + +'But the chief magistrate of the city can prevent people's houses +from having any need to be rebuilt, if the chief magistrate's a +man, and not a dummy--can't he, my lord?' cried the old gentleman +in a choleric manner. + +'You are disrespectable, sir,' said the Lord Mayor--'leastways, +disrespectful I mean.' + +'Disrespectful, my lord!' returned the old gentleman. 'I was +respectful five times yesterday. I can't be respectful for ever. +Men can't stand on being respectful when their houses are going to +be burnt over their heads, with them in 'em. What am I to do, my +lord? AM I to have any protection!' + +'I told you yesterday, sir,' said the Lord Mayor, 'that you might +have an alderman in your house, if you could get one to come.' + +'What the devil's the good of an alderman?' returned the choleric +old gentleman. + +'--To awe the crowd, sir,' said the Lord Mayor. + +'Oh Lord ha' mercy!' whimpered the old gentleman, as he wiped his +forehead in a state of ludicrous distress, 'to think of sending an +alderman to awe a crowd! Why, my lord, if they were even so many +babies, fed on mother's milk, what do you think they'd care for an +alderman! Will YOU come?' + +'I!' said the Lord Mayor, most emphatically: 'Certainly not.' + +'Then what,' returned the old gentleman, 'what am I to do? Am I a +citizen of England? Am I to have the benefit of the laws? Am I to +have any return for the King's taxes?' + +'I don't know, I am sure,' said the Lord Mayor; 'what a pity it is +you're a Catholic! Why couldn't you be a Protestant, and then you +wouldn't have got yourself into such a mess? I'm sure I don't know +what's to be done.--There are great people at the bottom of these +riots.--Oh dear me, what a thing it is to be a public character!-- +You must look in again in the course of the day.--Would a javelin- +man do?--Or there's Philips the constable,--HE'S disengaged,--he's +not very old for a man at his time of life, except in his legs, and +if you put him up at a window he'd look quite young by candle- +light, and might frighten 'em very much.--Oh dear!--well!--we'll +see about it.' + +'Stop!' cried Mr Haredale, pressing the door open as the porter +strove to shut it, and speaking rapidly, 'My Lord Mayor, I beg you +not to go away. I have a man here, who committed a murder eight- +and-twenty years ago. Half-a-dozen words from me, on oath, will +justify you in committing him to prison for re-examination. I only +seek, just now, to have him consigned to a place of safety. The +least delay may involve his being rescued by the rioters.' + +'Oh dear me!' cried the Lord Mayor. 'God bless my soul--and body-- +oh Lor!--well I!--there are great people at the bottom of these +riots, you know.--You really mustn't.' + +'My lord,' said Mr Haredale, 'the murdered gentleman was my +brother; I succeeded to his inheritance; there were not wanting +slanderous tongues at that time, to whisper that the guilt of this +most foul and cruel deed was mine--mine, who loved him, as he +knows, in Heaven, dearly. The time has come, after all these years +of gloom and misery, for avenging him, and bringing to light a +crime so artful and so devilish that it has no parallel. Every +second's delay on your part loosens this man's bloody hands again, +and leads to his escape. My lord, I charge you hear me, and +despatch this matter on the instant.' + +'Oh dear me!' cried the chief magistrate; 'these an't business +hours, you know--I wonder at you--how ungentlemanly it is of you-- +you mustn't--you really mustn't.--And I suppose you are a Catholic +too?' + +'I am,' said Mr Haredale. + +'God bless my soul, I believe people turn Catholics a'purpose to +vex and worrit me,' cried the Lord Mayor. 'I wish you wouldn't +come here; they'll be setting the Mansion House afire next, and we +shall have you to thank for it. You must lock your prisoner up, +sir--give him to a watchman--and--call again at a proper time. +Then we'll see about it!' + +Before Mr Haredale could answer, the sharp closing of a door and +drawing of its bolts, gave notice that the Lord Mayor had retreated +to his bedroom, and that further remonstrance would be unavailing. +The two clients retreated likewise, and the porter shut them out +into the street. + +'That's the way he puts me off,' said the old gentleman, 'I can +get no redress and no help. What are you going to do, sir?' + +'To try elsewhere,' answered Mr Haredale, who was by this time on +horseback. + +'I feel for you, I assure you--and well I may, for we are in a +common cause,' said the old gentleman. 'I may not have a house to +offer you to-night; let me tender it while I can. On second +thoughts though,' he added, putting up a pocket-book he had +produced while speaking, 'I'll not give you a card, for if it was +found upon you, it might get you into trouble. Langdale--that's my +name--vintner and distiller--Holborn Hill--you're heartily welcome, +if you'll come.' + +Mr Haredale bowed, and rode off, close beside the chaise as before; +determining to repair to the house of Sir John Fielding, who had +the reputation of being a bold and active magistrate, and fully +resolved, in case the rioters should come upon them, to do +execution on the murderer with his own hands, rather than suffer +him to be released. + +They arrived at the magistrate's dwelling, however, without +molestation (for the mob, as we have seen, were then intent on +deeper schemes), and knocked at the door. As it had been pretty +generally rumoured that Sir John was proscribed by the rioters, a +body of thief-takers had been keeping watch in the house all night. +To one of them Mr Haredale stated his business, which appearing to +the man of sufficient moment to warrant his arousing the justice, +procured him an immediate audience. + +No time was lost in committing the murderer to Newgate; then a new +building, recently completed at a vast expense, and considered to +be of enormous strength. The warrant being made out, three of the +thief-takers bound him afresh (he had been struggling, it seemed, +in the chaise, and had loosened his manacles); gagged him lest they +should meet with any of the mob, and he should call to them for +help; and seated themselves, along with him, in the carriage. +These men being all well armed, made a formidable escort; but they +drew up the blinds again, as though the carriage were empty, and +directed Mr Haredale to ride forward, that he might not attract +attention by seeming to belong to it. + +The wisdom of this proceeding was sufficiently obvious, for as they +hurried through the city they passed among several groups of men, +who, if they had not supposed the chaise to be quite empty, would +certainly have stopped it. But those within keeping quite close, +and the driver tarrying to be asked no questions, they reached the +prison without interruption, and, once there, had him out, and safe +within its gloomy walls, in a twinkling. + +With eager eyes and strained attention, Mr Haredale saw him +chained, and locked and barred up in his cell. Nay, when he had +left the jail, and stood in the free street, without, he felt the +iron plates upon the doors, with his hands, and drew them over the +stone wall, to assure himself that it was real; and to exult in its +being so strong, and rough, and cold. It was not until he turned +his back upon the jail, and glanced along the empty streets, so +lifeless and quiet in the bright morning, that he felt the weight +upon his heart; that he knew he was tortured by anxiety for those +he had left at home; and that home itself was but another bead in +the long rosary of his regrets. + + + +Chapter 62 + + +The prisoner, left to himself, sat down upon his bedstead: and +resting his elbows on his knees, and his chin upon his hands, +remained in that attitude for hours. It would be hard to say, of +what nature his reflections were. They had no distinctness, and, +saving for some flashes now and then, no reference to his condition +or the train of circumstances by which it had been brought about. +The cracks in the pavement of his cell, the chinks in the wall +where stone was joined to stone, the bars in the window, the iron +ring upon the floor,--such things as these, subsiding strangely +into one another, and awakening an indescribable kind of interest +and amusement, engrossed his whole mind; and although at the bottom +of his every thought there was an uneasy sense of guilt, and dread +of death, he felt no more than that vague consciousness of it, +which a sleeper has of pain. It pursues him through his dreams, +gnaws at the heart of all his fancied pleasures, robs the banquet +of its taste, music of its sweetness, makes happiness itself +unhappy, and yet is no bodily sensation, but a phantom without +shape, or form, or visible presence; pervading everything, but +having no existence; recognisable everywhere, but nowhere seen, or +touched, or met with face to face, until the sleep is past, and +waking agony returns. + +After a long time the door of his cell opened. He looked up; saw +the blind man enter; and relapsed into his former position. + +Guided by his breathing, the visitor advanced to where he sat; and +stopping beside him, and stretching out his hand to assure himself +that he was right, remained, for a good space, silent. + +'This is bad, Rudge. This is bad,' he said at length. + +The prisoner shuffled with his feet upon the ground in turning his +body from him, but made no other answer. + +'How were you taken?' he asked. 'And where? You never told me +more than half your secret. No matter; I know it now. How was it, +and where, eh?' he asked again, coming still nearer to him. + +'At Chigwell,' said the other. + +'At Chigwell! How came you there?' + +'Because I went there to avoid the man I stumbled on,' he answered. +'Because I was chased and driven there, by him and Fate. Because I +was urged to go there, by something stronger than my own will. +When I found him watching in the house she used to live in, night +after night, I knew I never could escape him--never! and when I +heard the Bell--' + +He shivered; muttered that it was very cold; paced quickly up and +down the narrow cell; and sitting down again, fell into his old +posture. + +'You were saying,' said the blind man, after another pause, 'that +when you heard the Bell--' + +'Let it be, will you?' he retorted in a hurried voice. 'It hangs +there yet.' + +The blind man turned a wistful and inquisitive face towards him, +but he continued to speak, without noticing him. + +'I went to Chigwell, in search of the mob. I have been so hunted +and beset by this man, that I knew my only hope of safety lay in +joining them. They had gone on before; I followed them when it +left off.' + +'When what left off?' + +'The Bell. They had quitted the place. I hoped that some of them +might be still lingering among the ruins, and was searching for +them when I heard--' he drew a long breath, and wiped his forehead +with his sleeve--'his voice.' + +'Saying what?' + +'No matter what. I don't know. I was then at the foot of the +turret, where I did the--' + +'Ay,' said the blind man, nodding his head with perfect composure, +'I understand.' + +'I climbed the stair, or so much of it as was left; meaning to hide +till he had gone. But he heard me; and followed almost as soon as +I set foot upon the ashes.' + +'You might have hidden in the wall, and thrown him down, or stabbed +him,' said the blind man. + +'Might I? Between that man and me, was one who led him on--I saw +it, though he did not--and raised above his head a bloody hand. It +was in the room above that HE and I stood glaring at each other on +the night of the murder, and before he fell he raised his hand like +that, and fixed his eyes on me. I knew the chase would end there.' + +'You have a strong fancy,' said the blind man, with a smile. + +'Strengthen yours with blood, and see what it will come to.' + +He groaned, and rocked himself, and looking up for the first time, +said, in a low, hollow voice: + +'Eight-and-twenty years! Eight-and-twenty years! He has never +changed in all that time, never grown older, nor altered in the +least degree. He has been before me in the dark night, and the +broad sunny day; in the twilight, the moonlight, the sunlight, the +light of fire, and lamp, and candle; and in the deepest gloom. +Always the same! In company, in solitude, on land, on shipboard; +sometimes leaving me alone for months, and sometimes always with +me. I have seen him, at sea, come gliding in the dead of night +along the bright reflection of the moon in the calm water; and I +have seen him, on quays and market-places, with his hand uplifted, +towering, the centre of a busy crowd, unconscious of the terrible +form that had its silent stand among them. Fancy! Are you real? +Am I? Are these iron fetters, riveted on me by the smith's hammer, +or are they fancies I can shatter at a blow?' + +The blind man listened in silence. + +'Fancy! Do I fancy that I killed him? Do I fancy that as I left +the chamber where he lay, I saw the face of a man peeping from a +dark door, who plainly showed me by his fearful looks that he +suspected what I had done? Do I remember that I spoke fairly to +him--that I drew nearer--nearer yet--with the hot knife in my +sleeve? Do I fancy how HE died? Did he stagger back into the +angle of the wall into which I had hemmed him, and, bleeding +inwardly, stand, not fail, a corpse before me? Did I see him, for +an instant, as I see you now, erect and on his feet--but dead!' + +The blind man, who knew that he had risen, motioned him to sit down +again upon his bedstead; but he took no notice of the gesture. + +'It was then I thought, for the first time, of fastening the murder +upon him. It was then I dressed him in my clothes, and dragged him +down the back-stairs to the piece of water. Do I remember +listening to the bubbles that came rising up when I had rolled him +in? Do I remember wiping the water from my face, and because the +body splashed it there, in its descent, feeling as if it MUST be +blood? + +'Did I go home when I had done? And oh, my God! how long it took +to do! Did I stand before my wife, and tell her? Did I see her +fall upon the ground; and, when I stooped to raise her, did she +thrust me back with a force that cast me off as if I had been a +child, staining the hand with which she clasped my wrist? Is THAT +fancy? + +'Did she go down upon her knees, and call on Heaven to witness that +she and her unborn child renounced me from that hour; and did she, +in words so solemn that they turned me cold--me, fresh from the +horrors my own hands had made--warn me to fly while there was time; +for though she would be silent, being my wretched wife, she would +not shelter me? Did I go forth that night, abjured of God and man, +and anchored deep in hell, to wander at my cable's length about the +earth, and surely be drawn down at last?' + +'Why did you return? said the blind man. + +'Why is blood red? I could no more help it, than I could live +without breath. I struggled against the impulse, but I was drawn +back, through every difficult and adverse circumstance, as by a +mighty engine. Nothing could stop me. The day and hour were none +of my choice. Sleeping and waking, I had been among the old haunts +for years--had visited my own grave. Why did I come back? Because +this jail was gaping for me, and he stood beckoning at the door.' + +'You were not known?' said the blind man. + +'I was a man who had been twenty-two years dead. No. I was not +known.' + +'You should have kept your secret better.' + +'MY secret? MINE? It was a secret, any breath of air could +whisper at its will. The stars had it in their twinkling, the +water in its flowing, the leaves in their rustling, the seasons in +their return. It lurked in strangers' faces, and their voices. +Everything had lips on which it always trembled.--MY secret!' + +'It was revealed by your own act at any rate,' said the blind man. + +'The act was not mine. I did it, but it was not mine. I was +forced at times to wander round, and round, and round that spot. +If you had chained me up when the fit was on me, I should have +broken away, and gone there. As truly as the loadstone draws iron +towards it, so he, lying at the bottom of his grave, could draw me +near him when he would. Was that fancy? Did I like to go there, +or did I strive and wrestle with the power that forced me?' + +The blind man shrugged his shoulders, and smiled incredulously. +The prisoner again resumed his old attitude, and for a long time +both were mute. + +'I suppose then,' said his visitor, at length breaking silence, +'that you are penitent and resigned; that you desire to make peace +with everybody (in particular, with your wife who has brought you +to this); and that you ask no greater favour than to be carried to +Tyburn as soon as possible? That being the case, I had better take +my leave. I am not good enough to be company for you.' + +'Have I not told you,' said the other fiercely, 'that I have +striven and wrestled with the power that brought me here? Has my +whole life, for eight-and-twenty years, been one perpetual +struggle and resistance, and do you think I want to lie down and +die? Do all men shrink from death--I most of all!' + +'That's better said. That's better spoken, Rudge--but I'll not +call you that again--than anything you have said yet,' returned the +blind man, speaking more familiarly, and laying his hands upon his +arm. 'Lookye,--I never killed a man myself, for I have never been +placed in a position that made it worth my while. Farther, I am +not an advocate for killing men, and I don't think I should +recommend it or like it--for it's very hazardous--under any +circumstances. But as you had the misfortune to get into this +trouble before I made your acquaintance, and as you have been my +companion, and have been of use to me for a long time now, I +overlook that part of the matter, and am only anxious that you +shouldn't die unnecessarily. Now, I do not consider that, at +present, it is at all necessary.' + +'What else is left me?' returned the prisoner. 'To eat my way +through these walls with my teeth?' + +'Something easier than that,' returned his friend. 'Promise me +that you will talk no more of these fancies of yours--idle, foolish +things, quite beneath a man--and I'll tell you what I mean.' + +'Tell me,' said the other. + +'Your worthy lady with the tender conscience; your scrupulous, +virtuous, punctilious, but not blindly affectionate wife--' + +'What of her?' + +'Is now in London.' + +'A curse upon her, be she where she may!' + +'That's natural enough. If she had taken her annuity as usual, you +would not have been here, and we should have been better off. But +that's apart from the business. She's in London. Scared, as I +suppose, and have no doubt, by my representation when I waited upon +her, that you were close at hand (which I, of course, urged only as +an inducement to compliance, knowing that she was not pining to see +you), she left that place, and travelled up to London.' + +'How do you know?' + +'From my friend the noble captain--the illustrious general--the +bladder, Mr Tappertit. I learnt from him the last time I saw him, +which was yesterday, that your son who is called Barnaby--not after +his father, I suppose--' + +'Death! does that matter now!' + +'--You are impatient,' said the blind man, calmly; 'it's a good +sign, and looks like life--that your son Barnaby had been lured +away from her by one of his companions who knew him of old, at +Chigwell; and that he is now among the rioters.' + +'And what is that to me? If father and son be hanged together, +what comfort shall I find in that?' + +'Stay--stay, my friend,' returned the blind man, with a cunning +look, 'you travel fast to journeys' ends. Suppose I track my lady +out, and say thus much: "You want your son, ma'am--good. I, +knowing those who tempt him to remain among them, can restore him +to you, ma'am--good. You must pay a price, ma'am, for his +restoration--good again. The price is small, and easy to be paid-- +dear ma'am, that's best of all."' + +'What mockery is this?' + +'Very likely, she may reply in those words. "No mockery at all," I +answer: "Madam, a person said to be your husband (identity is +difficult of proof after the lapse of many years) is in prison, his +life in peril--the charge against him, murder. Now, ma'am, your +husband has been dead a long, long time. The gentleman never can +be confounded with him, if you will have the goodness to say a few +words, on oath, as to when he died, and how; and that this person +(who I am told resembles him in some degree) is no more he than I +am. Such testimony will set the question quite at rest. Pledge +yourself to me to give it, ma' am, and I will undertake to keep +your son (a fine lad) out of harm's way until you have done this +trifling service, when he shall he delivered up to you, safe and +sound. On the other hand, if you decline to do so, I fear he will +be betrayed, and handed over to the law, which will assuredly +sentence him to suffer death. It is, in fact, a choice between his +life and death. If you refuse, he swings. If you comply, the +timber is not grown, nor the hemp sown, that shall do him any +harm."' + +'There is a gleam of hope in this!' cried the prisoner. + +'A gleam!' returned his friend, 'a noon-blaze; a full and glorious +daylight. Hush! I hear the tread of distant feet. Rely on me.' + +'When shall I hear more?' + +'As soon as I do. I should hope, to-morrow. They are coming to +say that our time for talk is over. I hear the jingling of the +keys. Not another word of this just now, or they may overhear us.' + +As he said these words, the lock was turned, and one of the prison +turnkeys appearing at the door, announced that it was time for +visitors to leave the jail. + +'So soon!' said Stagg, meekly. 'But it can't be helped. Cheer up, +friend. This mistake will soon be set at rest, and then you are a +man again! If this charitable gentleman will lead a blind man (who +has nothing in return but prayers) to the prison-porch, and set him +with his face towards the west, he will do a worthy deed. Thank +you, good sir. I thank you very kindly.' + +So saying, and pausing for an instant at the door to turn his +grinning face towards his friend, he departed. + +When the officer had seen him to the porch, he returned, and again +unlocking and unbarring the door of the cell, set it wide open, +informing its inmate that he was at liberty to walk in the adjacent +yard, if he thought proper, for an hour. + +The prisoner answered with a sullen nod; and being left alone +again, sat brooding over what he had heard, and pondering upon the +hopes the recent conversation had awakened; gazing abstractedly, +the while he did so, on the light without, and watching the shadows +thrown by one wall on another, and on the stone-paved ground. + +It was a dull, square yard, made cold and gloomy by high walls, and +seeming to chill the very sunlight. The stone, so bare, and +rough, and obdurate, filled even him with longing thoughts of +meadow-land and trees; and with a burning wish to be at liberty. +As he looked, he rose, and leaning against the door-post, gazed up +at the bright blue sky, smiling even on that dreary home of crime. +He seemed, for a moment, to remember lying on his back in some +sweet-scented place, and gazing at it through moving branches, long +ago. + +His attention was suddenly attracted by a clanking sound--he knew +what it was, for he had startled himself by making the same noise +in walking to the door. Presently a voice began to sing, and he +saw the shadow of a figure on the pavement. It stopped--was +silent all at once, as though the person for a moment had forgotten +where he was, but soon remembered--and so, with the same clanking +noise, the shadow disappeared. + +He walked out into the court and paced it to and fro; startling the +echoes, as he went, with the harsh jangling of his fetters. There +was a door near his, which, like his, stood ajar. + +He had not taken half-a-dozen turns up and down the yard, when, +standing still to observe this door, he heard the clanking sound +again. A face looked out of the grated window--he saw it very +dimly, for the cell was dark and the bars were heavy--and directly +afterwards, a man appeared, and came towards him. + +For the sense of loneliness he had, he might have been in jail a +year. Made eager by the hope of companionship, he quickened his +pace, and hastened to meet the man half way-- + +What was this! His son! + +They stood face to face, staring at each other. He shrinking and +cowed, despite himself; Barnahy struggling with his imperfect +memory, and wondering where he had seen that face before. He was +not uncertain long, for suddenly he laid hands upon him, and +striving to bear him to the ground, cried: + +'Ah! I know! You are the robber!' + +He said nothing in reply at first, but held down his head, and +struggled with him silently. Finding the younger man too strong +for him, he raised his face, looked close into his eyes, and said, + +'I am your father.' + +God knows what magic the name had for his ears; but Barnaby +released his hold, fell back, and looked at him aghast. Suddenly +he sprung towards him, put his arms about his neck, and pressed his +head against his cheek. + +Yes, yes, he was; he was sure he was. But where had he been so +long, and why had he left his mother by herself, or worse than by +herself, with her poor foolish boy? And had she really been as +happy as they said? And where was she? Was she near there? She +was not happy now, and he in jail? Ah, no. + +Not a word was said in answer; but Grip croaked loudly, and hopped +about them, round and round, as if enclosing them in a magic +circle, and invoking all the powers of mischief. + + + +Chapter 63 + + +During the whole of this day, every regiment in or near the +metropolis was on duty in one or other part of the town; and the +regulars and militia, in obedience to the orders which were sent to +every barrack and station within twenty-four hours' journey, began +to pour in by all the roads. But the disturbance had attained to +such a formidable height, and the rioters had grown, with impunity, +to be so audacious, that the sight of this great force, continually +augmented by new arrivals, instead of operating as a check, +stimulated them to outrages of greater hardihood than any they had +yet committed; and helped to kindle a flame in London, the like of +which had never been beheld, even in its ancient and rebellious +times. + +All yesterday, and on this day likewise, the commander-in-chief +endeavoured to arouse the magistrates to a sense of their duty, and +in particular the Lord Mayor, who was the faintest-hearted and most +timid of them all. With this object, large bodies of the soldiery +were several times despatched to the Mansion House to await his +orders: but as he could, by no threats or persuasions, be induced +to give any, and as the men remained in the open street, +fruitlessly for any good purpose, and thrivingly for a very bad +one; these laudable attempts did harm rather than good. For the +crowd, becoming speedily acquainted with the Lord Mayor's temper, +did not fail to take advantage of it by boasting that even the +civil authorities were opposed to the Papists, and could not find +it in their hearts to molest those who were guilty of no other +offence. These vaunts they took care to make within the hearing of +the soldiers; and they, being naturally loth to quarrel with the +people, received their advances kindly enough: answering, when +they were asked if they desired to fire upon their countrymen, 'No, +they would be damned if they did;' and showing much honest +simplicity and good nature. The feeling that the military were No- +Popery men, and were ripe for disobeying orders and joining the +mob, soon became very prevalent in consequence. Rumours of their +disaffection, and of their leaning towards the popular cause, +spread from mouth to mouth with astonishing rapidity; and whenever +they were drawn up idly in the streets or squares, there was sure +to be a crowd about them, cheering and shaking hands, and treating +them with a great show of confidence and affection. + +By this time, the crowd was everywhere; all concealment and +disguise were laid aside, and they pervaded the whole town. If +any man among them wanted money, he had but to knock at the door of +a dwelling-house, or walk into a shop, and demand it in the rioters +name; and his demand was instantly complied with. The peaceable +citizens being afraid to lay hands upon them, singly and alone, it +may be easily supposed that when gathered together in bodies, they +were perfectly secure from interruption. They assembled in the +streets, traversed them at their will and pleasure, and publicly +concerted their plans. Business was quite suspended; the greater +part of the shops were closed; most of the houses displayed a blue +flag in token of their adherence to the popular side; and even the +Jews in Houndsditch, Whitechapel, and those quarters, wrote upon +their doors or window-shutters, 'This House is a True Protestant.' +The crowd was the law, and never was the law held in greater dread, +or more implicitly obeyed. + +It was about six o'clock in the evening, when a vast mob poured +into Lincoln's Inn Fields by every avenue, and divided--evidently +in pursuance of a previous design--into several parties. It must +not be understood that this arrangement was known to the whole +crowd, but that it was the work of a few leaders; who, mingling +with the men as they came upon the ground, and calling to them to +fall into this or that parry, effected it as rapidly as if it had +been determined on by a council of the whole number, and every man +had known his place. + +It was perfectly notorious to the assemblage that the largest +body, which comprehended about two-thirds of the whole, was +designed for the attack on Newgate. It comprehended all the +rioters who had been conspicuous in any of their former +proceedings; all those whom they recommended as daring hands and +fit for the work; all those whose companions had been taken in the +riots; and a great number of people who were relatives or friends +of felons in the jail. This last class included, not only the most +desperate and utterly abandoned villains in London, but some who +were comparatively innocent. There was more than one woman there, +disguised in man's attire, and bent upon the rescue of a child or +brother. There were the two sons of a man who lay under sentence +of death, and who was to be executed along with three others, on +the next day but one. There was a great parry of boys whose +fellow-pickpockets were in the prison; and at the skirts of all, +a score of miserable women, outcasts from the world, seeking to +release some other fallen creature as miserable as themselves, or +moved by a general sympathy perhaps--God knows--with all who were +without hope, and wretched. + +Old swords, and pistols without ball or powder; sledge-hammers, +knives, axes, saws, and weapons pillaged from the butchers' shops; +a forest of iron bars and wooden clubs; long ladders for scaling +the walls, each carried on the shoulders of a dozen men; lighted +torches; tow smeared with pitch, and tar, and brimstone; staves +roughly plucked from fence and paling; and even crutches taken from +crippled beggars in the streets; composed their arms. When all was +ready, Hugh and Dennis, with Simon Tappertit between them, led the +way. Roaring and chafing like an angry sea, the crowd pressed +after them. + +Instead of going straight down Holborn to the jail, as all +expected, their leaders took the way to Clerkenwell, and pouring +down a quiet street, halted before a locksmith's house--the Golden +Key. + +'Beat at the door,' cried Hugh to the men about him. 'We want one +of his craft to-night. Beat it in, if no one answers.' + +The shop was shut. Both door and shutters were of a strong and +sturdy kind, and they knocked without effect. But the impatient +crowd raising a cry of 'Set fire to the house!' and torches being +passed to the front, an upper window was thrown open, and the stout +old locksmith stood before them. + +'What now, you villains!' he demanded. 'Where is my daughter?' + +'Ask no questions of us, old man,' retorted Hugh, waving his +comrades to be silent, 'but come down, and bring the tools of your +trade. We want you.' + +'Want me!' cried the locksmith, glancing at the regimental dress he +wore: 'Ay, and if some that I could name possessed the hearts of +mice, ye should have had me long ago. Mark me, my lad--and you +about him do the same. There are a score among ye whom I see now +and know, who are dead men from this hour. Begone! and rob an +undertaker's while you can! You'll want some coffins before long.' + +'Will you come down?' cried Hugh. + +'Will you give me my daughter, ruffian?' cried the locksmith. + +'I know nothing of her,' Hugh rejoined. 'Burn the door!' + +'Stop!' cried the locksmith, in a voice that made them falter-- +presenting, as he spoke, a gun. 'Let an old man do that. You can +spare him better.' + +The young fellow who held the light, and who was stooping down +before the door, rose hastily at these words, and fell back. The +locksmith ran his eye along the upturned faces, and kept the weapon +levelled at the threshold of his house. It had no other rest than +his shoulder, but was as steady as the house itself. + +'Let the man who does it, take heed to his prayers,' he said +firmly; 'I warn him.' + +Snatching a torch from one who stood near him, Hugh was stepping +forward with an oath, when he was arrested by a shrill and piercing +shriek, and, looking upward, saw a fluttering garment on the house- +top. + +There was another shriek, and another, and then a shrill voice +cried, 'Is Simmun below!' At the same moment a lean neck was +stretched over the parapet, and Miss Miggs, indistinctly seen in +the gathering gloom of evening, screeched in a frenzied manner, +'Oh! dear gentlemen, let me hear Simmuns's answer from his own +lips. Speak to me, Simmun. Speak to me!' + +Mr Tappertit, who was not at all flattered by this compliment, +looked up, and bidding her hold her peace, ordered her to come down +and open the door, for they wanted her master, and would take no +denial. + +'Oh good gentlemen!' cried Miss Miggs. 'Oh my own precious, +precious Simmun--' + +'Hold your nonsense, will you!' retorted Mr Tappertit; 'and come +down and open the door.--G. Varden, drop that gun, or it will be +worse for you.' + +'Don't mind his gun,' screamed Miggs. 'Simmun and gentlemen, I +poured a mug of table-beer right down the barrel.' + +The crowd gave a loud shout, which was followed by a roar of +laughter. + +'It wouldn't go off, not if you was to load it up to the muzzle,' +screamed Miggs. 'Simmun and gentlemen, I'm locked up in the front +attic, through the little door on the right hand when you think +you've got to the very top of the stairs--and up the flight of +corner steps, being careful not to knock your heads against the +rafters, and not to tread on one side in case you should fall into +the two-pair bedroom through the lath and plasture, which do not +bear, but the contrairy. Simmun and gentlemen, I've been locked up +here for safety, but my endeavours has always been, and always will +be, to be on the right side--the blessed side and to prenounce the +Pope of Babylon, and all her inward and her outward workings, which +is Pagin. My sentiments is of little consequences, I know,' cried +Miggs, with additional shrillness, 'for my positions is but a +servant, and as sich, of humilities, still I gives expressions to +my feelings, and places my reliances on them which entertains my +own opinions!' + +Without taking much notice of these outpourings of Miss Miggs after +she had made her first announcement in relation to the gun, the +crowd raised a ladder against the window where the locksmith stood, +and notwithstanding that he closed, and fastened, and defended it +manfully, soon forced an entrance by shivering the glass and +breaking in the frames. After dealing a few stout blows about him, +he found himself defenceless, in the midst of a furious crowd, +which overflowed the room and softened off in a confused heap of +faces at the door and window. + +They were very wrathful with him (for he had wounded two men), and +even called out to those in front, to bring him forth and hang him +on a lamp-post. But Gabriel was quite undaunted, and looked from +Hugh and Dennis, who held him by either arm, to Simon Tappertit, +who confronted him. + +'You have robbed me of my daughter,' said the locksmith, 'who is +far dearer to me than my life; and you may take my life, if you +will. I bless God that I have been enabled to keep my wife free of +this scene; and that He has made me a man who will not ask mercy at +such hands as yours.' + +'And a wery game old gentleman you are,' said Mr Dennis, +approvingly; 'and you express yourself like a man. What's the +odds, brother, whether it's a lamp-post to-night, or a feather- +bed ten year to come, eh?' + +The locksmith glanced at him disdainfully, but returned no other +answer. + +'For my part,' said the hangman, who particularly favoured the +lamp-post suggestion, 'I honour your principles. They're mine +exactly. In such sentiments as them,' and here he emphasised his +discourse with an oath, 'I'm ready to meet you or any man halfway.-- +Have you got a bit of cord anywheres handy? Don't put yourself +out of the way, if you haven't. A handkecher will do.' + +'Don't be a fool, master,' whispered Hugh, seizing Varden roughly +by the shoulder; 'but do as you're bid. You'll soon hear what +you're wanted for. Do it!' + +'I'll do nothing at your request, or that of any scoundrel here,' +returned the locksmith. 'If you want any service from me, you may +spare yourselves the pains of telling me what it is. I tell you, +beforehand, I'll do nothing for you.' + +Mr Dennis was so affected by this constancy on the part of the +staunch old man, that he protested--almost with tears in his eyes-- +that to baulk his inclinations would be an act of cruelty and hard +dealing to which he, for one, never could reconcile his conscience. +The gentleman, he said, had avowed in so many words that he was +ready for working off; such being the case, he considered it their +duty, as a civilised and enlightened crowd, to work him off. It +was not often, he observed, that they had it in their power to +accommodate themselves to the wishes of those from whom they had +the misfortune to differ. Having now found an individual who +expressed a desire which they could reasonably indulge (and for +himself he was free to confess that in his opinion that desire did +honour to his feelings), he hoped they would decide to accede to +his proposition before going any further. It was an experiment +which, skilfully and dexterously performed, would be over in five +minutes, with great comfort and satisfaction to all parties; and +though it did not become him (Mr Dennis) to speak well of himself +he trusted he might be allowed to say that he had practical +knowledge of the subject, and, being naturally of an obliging and +friendly disposition, would work the gentleman off with a deal of +pleasure. + +These remarks, which were addressed in the midst of a frightful din +and turmoil to those immediately about him, were received with +great favour; not so much, perhaps, because of the hangman's +eloquence, as on account of the locksmith's obstinacy. Gabriel was +in imminent peril, and he knew it; but he preserved a steady +silence; and would have done so, if they had been debating whether +they should roast him at a slow fire. + +As the hangman spoke, there was some stir and confusion on the +ladder; and directly he was silent--so immediately upon his holding +his peace, that the crowd below had no time to learn what he had +been saying, or to shout in response--some one at the window cried: + +'He has a grey head. He is an old man: Don't hurt him!' + +The locksmith turned, with a start, towards the place from which +the words had come, and looked hurriedly at the people who were +hanging on the ladder and clinging to each other. + +'Pay no respect to my grey hair, young man,' he said, answering the +voice and not any one he saw. 'I don't ask it. My heart is green +enough to scorn and despise every man among you, band of robbers +that you are!' + +This incautious speech by no means tended to appease the ferocity +of the crowd. They cried again to have him brought out; and it +would have gone hard with the honest locksmith, but that Hugh +reminded them, in answer, that they wanted his services, and must +have them. + +'So, tell him what we want,' he said to Simon Tappertit, 'and +quickly. And open your ears, master, if you would ever use them +after to-night.' + +Gabriel folded his arms, which were now at liberty, and eyed his +old 'prentice in silence. + +'Lookye, Varden,' said Sim, 'we're bound for Newgate.' + +'I know you are,' returned the locksmith. 'You never said a truer +word than that.' + +'To burn it down, I mean,' said Simon, 'and force the gates, and +set the prisoners at liberty. You helped to make the lock of the +great door.' + +'I did,' said the locksmith. 'You owe me no thanks for that--as +you'll find before long.' + +'Maybe,' returned his journeyman, 'but you must show us how to +force it.' + +'Must I!' + +'Yes; for you know, and I don't. You must come along with us, and +pick it with your own hands.' + +'When I do,' said the locksmith quietly, 'my hands shall drop off +at the wrists, and you shall wear them, Simon Tappertit, on your +shoulders for epaulettes.' + +'We'll see that,' cried Hugh, interposing, as the indignation of +the crowd again burst forth. 'You fill a basket with the tools +he'll want, while I bring him downstairs. Open the doors below, +some of you. And light the great captain, others! Is there no +business afoot, my lads, that you can do nothing but stand and +grumble?' + +They looked at one another, and quickly dispersing, swarmed over +the house, plundering and breaking, according to their custom, and +carrying off such articles of value as happened to please their +fancy. They had no great length of time for these proceedings, for +the basket of tools was soon prepared and slung over a man's +shoulders. The preparations being now completed, and everything +ready for the attack, those who were pillaging and destroying in +the other rooms were called down to the workshop. They were about +to issue forth, when the man who had been last upstairs, stepped +forward, and asked if the young woman in the garret (who was making +a terrible noise, he said, and kept on screaming without the least +cessation) was to be released? + +For his own part, Simon Tappertit would certainly have replied in +the negative, but the mass of his companions, mindful of the good +service she had done in the matter of the gun, being of a different +opinion, he had nothing for it but to answer, Yes. The man, +accordingly, went back again to the rescue, and presently returned +with Miss Miggs, limp and doubled up, and very damp from much +weeping. + +As the young lady had given no tokens of consciousness on their way +downstairs, the bearer reported her either dead or dying; and being +at some loss what to do with her, was looking round for a +convenient bench or heap of ashes on which to place her senseless +form, when she suddenly came upon her feet by some mysterious +means, thrust back her hair, stared wildly at Mr Tappertit, cried, +'My Simmuns's life is not a wictim!' and dropped into his arms with +such promptitude that he staggered and reeled some paces back, +beneath his lovely burden. + +'Oh bother!' said Mr Tappertit. 'Here. Catch hold of her, +somebody. Lock her up again; she never ought to have been let out.' + +'My Simmun!' cried Miss Miggs, in tears, and faintly. 'My for +ever, ever blessed Simmun!' + +'Hold up, will you,' said Mr Tappertit, in a very unresponsive +tone, 'I'll let you fall if you don't. What are you sliding your +feet off the ground for?' + +'My angel Simmuns!' murmured Miggs--'he promised--' + +'Promised! Well, and I'll keep my promise,' answered Simon, +testily. 'I mean to provide for you, don't I? Stand up!' + +'Where am I to go? What is to become of me after my actions of +this night!' cried Miggs. 'What resting-places now remains but in +the silent tombses!' + +'I wish you was in the silent tombses, I do,' cried Mr Tappertit, +'and boxed up tight, in a good strong one. Here,' he cried to one +of the bystanders, in whose ear he whispered for a moment: 'Take +her off, will you. You understand where?' + +The fellow nodded; and taking her in his arms, notwithstanding her +broken protestations, and her struggles (which latter species of +opposition, involving scratches, was much more difficult of +resistance), carried her away. They who were in the house poured +out into the street; the locksmith was taken to the head of the +crowd, and required to walk between his two conductors; the whole +body was put in rapid motion; and without any shouts or noise they +bore down straight on Newgate, and halted in a dense mass before +the prison-gate. + + + +Chapter 64 + + +Breaking the silence they had hitherto preserved, they raised a +great cry as soon as they were ranged before the jail, and demanded +to speak to the governor. This visit was not wholly unexpected, +for his house, which fronted the street, was strongly barricaded, +the wicket-gate of the prison was closed up, and at no loophole or +grating was any person to be seen. Before they had repeated their +summons many times, a man appeared upon the roof of the governor's +house, and asked what it was they wanted. + +Some said one thing, some another, and some only groaned and +hissed. It being now nearly dark, and the house high, many persons +in the throng were not aware that any one had come to answer them, +and continued their clamour until the intelligence was gradually +diffused through the whole concourse. Ten minutes or more elapsed +before any one voice could be heard with tolerable distinctness; +during which interval the figure remained perched alone, against +the summer-evening sky, looking down into the troubled street. + +'Are you,' said Hugh at length, 'Mr Akerman, the head jailer here?' + +'Of course he is, brother,' whispered Dennis. But Hugh, without +minding him, took his answer from the man himself. + +'Yes,' he said. 'I am.' + +'You have got some friends of ours in your custody, master.' + +'I have a good many people in my custody.' He glanced downward, as +he spoke, into the jail: and the feeling that he could see into +the different yards, and that he overlooked everything which was +hidden from their view by the rugged walls, so lashed and goaded +the mob, that they howled like wolves. + +'Deliver up our friends,' said Hugh, 'and you may keep the rest.' + +'It's my duty to keep them all. I shall do my duty.' + +'If you don't throw the doors open, we shall break 'em down,' said +Hugh; 'for we will have the rioters out.' + +'All I can do, good people,' Akerman replied, 'is to exhort you to +disperse; and to remind you that the consequences of any +disturbance in this place, will be very severe, and bitterly +repented by most of you, when it is too late.' + +He made as though he would retire when he said these words, but he +was checked by the voice of the locksmith. + +'Mr Akerman,' cried Gabriel, 'Mr Akerman.' + +'I will hear no more from any of you,' replied the governor, +turning towards the speaker, and waving his hand. + +'But I am not one of them,' said Gabriel. 'I am an honest man, +Mr Akerman; a respectable tradesman--Gabriel Varden, the locksmith. +You know me?' + +'You among the crowd!' cried the governor in an altered voice. + +'Brought here by force--brought here to pick the lock of the great +door for them,' rejoined the locksmith. 'Bear witness for me, Mr +Akerman, that I refuse to do it; and that I will not do it, come +what may of my refusal. If any violence is done to me, please to +remember this.' + +'Is there no way (if helping you?' said the governor. + +'None, Mr Akerman. You'll do your duty, and I'll do mine. Once +again, you robbers and cut-throats,' said the locksmith, turning +round upon them, 'I refuse. Ah! Howl till you're hoarse. I +refuse.' + +'Stay--stay!' said the jailer, hastily. 'Mr Varden, I know you for +a worthy man, and one who would do no unlawful act except upon +compulsion--' + +'Upon compulsion, sir,' interposed the locksmith, who felt that the +tone in which this was said, conveyed the speaker's impression that +he had ample excuse for yielding to the furious multitude who beset +and hemmed him in, on every side, and among whom he stood, an old +man, quite alone; 'upon compulsion, sir, I'll do nothing.' + +'Where is that man,' said the keeper, anxiously, 'who spoke to me +just now?' + +'Here!' Hugh replied. + +'Do you know what the guilt of murder is, and that by keeping that +honest tradesman at your side you endanger his life!' + +'We know it very well,' he answered, 'for what else did we bring +him here? Let's have our friends, master, and you shall have your +friend. Is that fair, lads?' + +The mob replied to him with a loud Hurrah! + +'You see how it is, sir?' cried Varden. 'Keep 'em out, in King +George's name. Remember what I have said. Good night!' + +There was no more parley. A shower of stones and other missiles +compelled the keeper of the jail to retire; and the mob, pressing +on, and swarming round the walls, forced Gabriel Varden close up to +the door. + +In vain the basket of tools was laid upon the ground before him, +and he was urged in turn by promises, by blows, by offers of +reward, and threats of instant death, to do the office for which +they had brought him there. 'No,' cried the sturdy locksmith, 'I +will not!' + +He had never loved his life so well as then, but nothing could move +him. The savage faces that glared upon him, look where he would; +the cries of those who thirsted, like wild animals, for his blood; +the sight of men pressing forward, and trampling down their +fellows, as they strove to reach him, and struck at him above the +heads of other men, with axes and with iron bars; all failed to +daunt him. He looked from man to man, and face to face, and still, +with quickened breath and lessening colour, cried firmly, 'I will +not!' + +Dennis dealt him a blow upon the face which felled him to the +ground. He sprung up again like a man in the prime of life, and +with blood upon his forehead, caught him by the throat. + +'You cowardly dog!' he said: 'Give me my daughter. Give me my +daughter.' + +They struggled together. Some cried 'Kill him,' and some (but they +were not near enough) strove to trample him to death. Tug as he +would at the old man's wrists, the hangman could not force him to +unclench his hands. + +'Is this all the return you make me, you ungrateful monster?' he +articulated with great difficulty, and with many oaths. + +'Give me my daughter!' cried the locksmith, who was now as fierce +as those who gathered round him: 'Give me my daughter!' + +He was down again, and up, and down once more, and buffeting with a +score of them, who bandied him from hand to hand, when one tall +fellow, fresh from a slaughter-house, whose dress and great thigh- +boots smoked hot with grease and blood, raised a pole-axe, and +swearing a horrible oath, aimed it at the old man's uncovered head. +At that instant, and in the very act, he fell himself, as if struck +by lightning, and over his body a one-armed man came darting to the +locksmith's side. Another man was with him, and both caught the +locksmith roughly in their grasp. + +'Leave him to us!' they cried to Hugh--struggling, as they spoke, +to force a passage backward through the crowd. 'Leave him to us. +Why do you waste your whole strength on such as he, when a couple +of men can finish him in as many minutes! You lose time. Remember +the prisoners! remember Barnaby!' + +The cry ran through the mob. Hammers began to rattle on the walls; +and every man strove to reach the prison, and be among the foremost +rank. Fighting their way through the press and struggle, as +desperately as if they were in the midst of enemies rather than +their own friends, the two men retreated with the locksmith between +them, and dragged him through the very heart of the concourse. + +And now the strokes began to fall like hail upon the gate, and on +the strong building; for those who could not reach the door, spent +their fierce rage on anything--even on the great blocks of stone, +which shivered their weapons into fragments, and made their hands +and arms to tingle as if the walls were active in their stout +resistance, and dealt them back their blows. The clash of iron +ringing upon iron, mingled with the deafening tumult and sounded +high above it, as the great sledge-hammers rattled on the nailed +and plated door: the sparks flew off in showers; men worked in +gangs, and at short intervals relieved each other, that all their +strength might be devoted to the work; but there stood the portal +still, as grim and dark and strong as ever, and, saving for the +dints upon its battered surface, quite unchanged. + +While some brought all their energies to bear upon this toilsome +task; and some, rearing ladders against the prison, tried to +clamber to the summit of the walls they were too short to scale; +and some again engaged a body of police a hundred strong, and beat +them back and trod them under foot by force of numbers; others +besieged the house on which the jailer had appeared, and driving in +the door, brought out his furniture, and piled it up against the +prison-gate, to make a bonfire which should burn it down. As soon +as this device was understood, all those who had laboured hitherto, +cast down their tools and helped to swell the heap; which reached +half-way across the street, and was so high, that those who threw +more fuel on the top, got up by ladders. When all the keeper's +goods were flung upon this costly pile, to the last fragment, they +smeared it with the pitch, and tar, and rosin they had brought, and +sprinkled it with turpentine. To all the woodwork round the +prison-doors they did the like, leaving not a joist or beam +untouched. This infernal christening performed, they fired the +pile with lighted matches and with blazing tow, and then stood by, +awaiting the result. + +The furniture being very dry, and rendered more combustible by wax +and oil, besides the arts they had used, took fire at once. The +flames roared high and fiercely, blackening the prison-wall, and +twining up its loftly front like burning serpents. At first they +crowded round the blaze, and vented their exultation only in their +looks: but when it grew hotter and fiercer--when it crackled, +leaped, and roared, like a great furnace--when it shone upon the +opposite houses, and lighted up not only the pale and wondering +faces at the windows, but the inmost corners of each habitation-- +when through the deep red heat and glow, the fire was seen sporting +and toying with the door, now clinging to its obdurate surface, now +gliding off with fierce inconstancy and soaring high into the sky, +anon returning to fold it in its burning grasp and lure it to its +ruin--when it shone and gleamed so brightly that the church clock +of St Sepulchre's so often pointing to the hour of death, was +legible as in broad day, and the vane upon its steeple-top +glittered in the unwonted light like something richly jewelled-- +when blackened stone and sombre brick grew ruddy in the deep +reflection, and windows shone like burnished gold, dotting the +longest distance in the fiery vista with their specks of +brightness--when wall and tower, and roof and chimney-stack, seemed +drunk, and in the flickering glare appeared to reel and stagger-- +when scores of objects, never seen before, burst out upon the view, +and things the most familiar put on some new aspect--then the mob +began to join the whirl, and with loud yells, and shouts, and +clamour, such as happily is seldom heard, bestirred themselves to +feed the fire, and keep it at its height. + +Although the heat was so intense that the paint on the houses over +against the prison, parched and crackled up, and swelling into +boils, as it were from excess of torture, broke and crumbled away; +although the glass fell from the window-sashes, and the lead and +iron on the roofs blistered the incautious hand that touched them, +and the sparrows in the eaves took wing, and rendered giddy by the +smoke, fell fluttering down upon the blazing pile; still the fire +was tended unceasingly by busy hands, and round it, men were going +always. They never slackened in their zeal, or kept aloof, but +pressed upon the flames so hard, that those in front had much ado +to save themselves from being thrust in; if one man swooned or +dropped, a dozen struggled for his place, and that although they +knew the pain, and thirst, and pressure to be unendurable. Those +who fell down in fainting-fits, and were not crushed or burnt, +were carried to an inn-yard close at hand, and dashed with water +from a pump; of which buckets full were passed from man to man +among the crowd; but such was the strong desire of all to drink, +and such the fighting to be first, that, for the most part, the +whole contents were spilled upon the ground, without the lips of +one man being moistened. + +Meanwhile, and in the midst of all the roar and outcry, those who +were nearest to the pile, heaped up again the burning fragments +that came toppling down, and raked the fire about the door, which, +although a sheet of flame, was still a door fast locked and barred, +and kept them out. Great pieces of blazing wood were passed, +besides, above the people's heads to such as stood about the +ladders, and some of these, climbing up to the topmost stave, and +holding on with one hand by the prison wall, exerted all their +skill and force to cast these fire-brands on the roof, or down into +the yards within. In many instances their efforts were successful; +which occasioned a new and appalling addition to the horrors of the +scene: for the prisoners within, seeing from between their bars +that the fire caught in many places and thrived fiercely, and being +all locked up in strong cells for the night, began to know that +they were in danger of being burnt alive. This terrible fear, +spreading from cell to cell and from yard to yard, vented itself in +such dismal cries and wailings, and in such dreadful shrieks for +help, that the whole jail resounded with the noise; which was +loudly heard even above the shouting of the mob and roaring of the +flames, and was so full of agony and despair, that it made the +boldest tremble. + +It was remarkable that these cries began in that quarter of the +jail which fronted Newgate Street, where, it was well known, the +men who were to suffer death on Thursday were confined. And not +only were these four who had so short a time to live, the first to +whom the dread of being burnt occurred, but they were, throughout, +the most importunate of all: for they could be plainly heard, +notwithstanding the great thickness of the walls, crying that the +wind set that way, and that the flames would shortly reach them; +and calling to the officers of the jail to come and quench the +fire from a cistern which was in their yard, and full of water. +Judging from what the crowd outside the walls could hear from time +to time, these four doomed wretches never ceased to call for help; +and that with as much distraction, and in as great a frenzy of +attachment to existence, as though each had an honoured, happy +life before him, instead of eight-and-forty hours of miserable +imprisonment, and then a violent and shameful death. + +But the anguish and suffering of the two sons of one of these men, +when they heard, or fancied that they heard, their father's voice, +is past description. After wringing their hands and rushing to and +fro as if they were stark mad, one mounted on the shoulders of his +brother, and tried to clamber up the face of the high wall, guarded +at the top with spikes and points of iron. And when he fell among +the crowd, he was not deterred by his bruises, but mounted up +again, and fell again, and, when he found the feat impossible, +began to beat the stones and tear them with his hands, as if he +could that way make a breach in the strong building, and force a +passage in. At last, they cleft their way among the mob about the +door, though many men, a dozen times their match, had tried in vain +to do so, and were seen, in--yes, in--the fire, striving to prize +it down, with crowbars. + +Nor were they alone affected by the outcry from within the prison. +The women who were looking on, shrieked loudly, beat their hands +together, stopped their ears; and many fainted: the men who were +not near the walls and active in the siege, rather than do nothing, +tore up the pavement of the street, and did so with a haste and +fury they could not have surpassed if that had been the jail, and +they were near their object. Not one living creature in the throng +was for an instant still. The whole great mass were mad. + +A shout! Another! Another yet, though few knew why, or what it +meant. But those around the gate had seen it slowly yield, and +drop from its topmost hinge. It hung on that side by but one, but +it was upright still, because of the bar, and its having sunk, of +its own weight, into the heap of ashes at its foot. There was now +a gap at the top of the doorway, through which could be descried a +gloomy passage, cavernous and dark. Pile up the fire! + +It burnt fiercely. The door was red-hot, and the gap wider. They +vainly tried to shield their faces with their hands, and standing +as if in readiness for a spring, watched the place. Dark figures, +some crawling on their hands and knees, some carried in the arms of +others, were seen to pass along the roof. It was plain the jail +could hold out no longer. The keeper, and his officers, and their +wives and children, were escaping. Pile up the fire! + +The door sank down again: it settled deeper in the cinders-- +tottered--yielded--was down! + +As they shouted again, they fell back, for a moment, and left a +clear space about the fire that lay between them and the jail +entry. Hugh leapt upon the blazing heap, and scattering a train of +sparks into the air, and making the dark lobby glitter with those +that hung upon his dress, dashed into the jail. + +The hangman followed. And then so many rushed upon their track, +that the fire got trodden down and thinly strewn about the street; +but there was no need of it now, for, inside and out, the prison +was in flames. + + + +Chapter 65 + + +During the whole course of the terrible scene which was now at its +height, one man in the jail suffered a degree of fear and mental +torment which had no parallel in the endurance, even of those who +lay under sentence of death. + +When the rioters first assembled before the building, the murderer +was roused from sleep--if such slumbers as his may have that +blessed name--by the roar of voices, and the struggling of a great +crowd. He started up as these sounds met his ear, and, sitting on +his bedstead, listened. + +After a short interval of silence the noise burst out again. Still +listening attentively, he made out, in course of time, that the +jail was besieged by a furious multitude. His guilty conscience +instantly arrayed these men against himself, and brought the fear +upon him that he would be singled out, and torn to pieces. + +Once impressed with the terror of this conceit, everything tended +to confirm and strengthen it. His double crime, the circumstances +under which it had been committed, the length of time that had +elapsed, and its discovery in spite of all, made him, as it were, +the visible object of the Almighty's wrath. In all the crime and +vice and moral gloom of the great pest-house of the capital, he +stood alone, marked and singled out by his great guilt, a Lucifer +among the devils. The other prisoners were a host, hiding and +sheltering each other--a crowd like that without the walls. He was +one man against the whole united concourse; a single, solitary, +lonely man, from whom the very captives in the jail fell off and +shrunk appalled. + +It might be that the intelligence of his capture having been +bruited abroad, they had come there purposely to drag him out and +kill him in the street; or it might be that they were the rioters, +and, in pursuance of an old design, had come to sack the prison. +But in either case he had no belief or hope that they would spare +him. Every shout they raised, and every sound they made, was a +blow upon his heart. As the attack went on, he grew more wild and +frantic in his terror: tried to pull away the bars that guarded the +chimney and prevented him from climbing up: called loudly on the +turnkeys to cluster round the cell and save him from the fury of +the rabble; or put him in some dungeon underground, no matter of +what depth, how dark it was, or loathsome, or beset with rats and +creeping things, so that it hid him and was hard to find. + +But no one came, or answered him. Fearful, even while he cried to +them, of attracting attention, he was silent. By and bye, he saw, +as he looked from his grated window, a strange glimmering on the +stone walls and pavement of the yard. It was feeble at first, and +came and went, as though some officers with torches were passing to +and fro upon the roof of the prison. Soon it reddened, and lighted +brands came whirling down, spattering the ground with fire, and +burning sullenly in corners. One rolled beneath a wooden bench, +and set it in a blaze; another caught a water-spout, and so went +climbing up the wall, leaving a long straight track of fire behind +it. After a time, a slow thick shower of burning fragments, from +some upper portion of the prison which was blazing nigh, began to +fall before his door. Remembering that it opened outwards, he knew +that every spark which fell upon the heap, and in the act lost its +bright life, and died an ugly speck of dust and rubbish, helped to +entomb him in a living grave. Still, though the jail resounded +with shrieks and cries for help,--though the fire bounded up as if +each separate flame had had a tiger's life, and roared as though, +in every one, there were a hungry voice--though the heat began to +grow intense, and the air suffocating, and the clamour without +increased, and the danger of his situation even from one merciless +element was every moment more extreme,--still he was afraid to +raise his voice again, lest the crowd should break in, and should, +of their own ears or from the information given them by the other +prisoners, get the clue to his place of confinement. Thus fearful +alike, of those within the prison and of those without; of noise +and silence; light and darkness; of being released, and being left +there to die; he was so tortured and tormented, that nothing man +has ever done to man in the horrible caprice of power and cruelty, +exceeds his self-inflicted punishment. + +Now, now, the door was down. Now they came rushing through the +jail, calling to each other in the vaulted passages; clashing the +iron gates dividing yard from yard; beating at the doors of cells +and wards; wrenching off bolts and locks and bars; tearing down the +door-posts to get men out; endeavouring to drag them by main force +through gaps and windows where a child could scarcely pass; +whooping and yelling without a moment's rest; and running through +the heat and flames as if they were cased in metal. By their legs, +their arms, the hair upon their heads, they dragged the prisoners +out. Some threw themselves upon the captives as they got towards +the door, and tried to file away their irons; some danced about +them with a frenzied joy, and rent their clothes, and were ready, +as it seemed, to tear them limb from limb. Now a party of a dozen +men came darting through the yard into which the murderer cast +fearful glances from his darkened window; dragging a prisoner along +the ground whose dress they had nearly torn from his body in their +mad eagerness to set him free, and who was bleeding and senseless +in their hands. Now a score of prisoners ran to and fro, who had +lost themselves in the intricacies of the prison, and were so +bewildered with the noise and glare that they knew not where to +turn or what to do, and still cried out for help, as loudly as +before. Anon some famished wretch whose theft had been a loaf of +bread, or scrap of butcher's meat, came skulking past, barefooted-- +going slowly away because that jail, his house, was burning; not +because he had any other, or had friends to meet, or old haunts to +revisit, or any liberty to gain, but liberty to starve and die. +And then a knot of highwaymen went trooping by, conducted by the +friends they had among the crowd, who muffled their fetters as they +went along, with handkerchiefs and bands of hay, and wrapped them +in coats and cloaks, and gave them drink from bottles, and held it +to their lips, because of their handcuffs which there was no time +to remove. All this, and Heaven knows how much more, was done +amidst a noise, a hurry, and distraction, like nothing that we know +of, even in our dreams; which seemed for ever on the rise, and +never to decrease for the space of a single instant. + +He was still looking down from his window upon these things, when a +band of men with torches, ladders, axes, and many kinds of weapons, +poured into the yard, and hammering at his door, inquired if there +were any prisoner within. He left the window when he saw them +coming, and drew back into the remotest corner of the cell; but +although he returned them no answer, they had a fancy that some one +was inside, for they presently set ladders against it, and began to +tear away the bars at the casement; not only that, indeed, but with +pickaxes to hew down the very stones in the wall. + +As soon as they had made a breach at the window, large enough for +the admission of a man's head, one of them thrust in a torch and +looked all round the room. He followed this man's gaze until it +rested on himself, and heard him demand why he had not answered, +but made him no reply. + +In the general surprise and wonder, they were used to this; without +saying anything more, they enlarged the breach until it was large +enough to admit the body of a man, and then came dropping down upon +the floor, one after another, until the cell was full. They caught +him up among them, handed him to the window, and those who stood +upon the ladders passed him down upon the pavement of the yard. +Then the rest came out, one after another, and, bidding him fly, +and lose no time, or the way would be choked up, hurried away to +rescue others. + +It seemed not a minute's work from first to last. He staggered to +his feet, incredulous of what had happened, when the yard was +filled again, and a crowd rushed on, hurrying Barnaby among them. +In another minute--not so much: another minute! the same instant, +with no lapse or interval between!--he and his son were being +passed from hand to hand, through the dense crowd in the street, +and were glancing backward at a burning pile which some one said +was Newgate. + +From the moment of their first entrance into the prison, the crowd +dispersed themselves about it, and swarmed into every chink and +crevice, as if they had a perfect acquaintance with its innermost +parts, and bore in their minds an exact plan of the whole. For +this immediate knowledge of the place, they were, no doubt, in a +great degree, indebted to the hangman, who stood in the lobby, +directing some to go this way, some that, and some the other; and +who materially assisted in bringing about the wonderful rapidity +with which the release of the prisoners was effected. + +But this functionary of the law reserved one important piece of +intelligence, and kept it snugly to himself. When he had issued +his instructions relative to every other part of the building, and +the mob were dispersed from end to end, and busy at their work, he +took a bundle of keys from a kind of cupboard in the wall, and +going by a kind of passage near the chapel (it joined the governors +house, and was then on fire), betook himself to the condemned +cells, which were a series of small, strong, dismal rooms, opening +on a low gallery, guarded, at the end at which he entered, by a +strong iron wicket, and at its opposite extremity by two doors and +a thick grate. Having double locked the wicket, and assured +himself that the other entrances were well secured, he sat down on +a bench in the gallery, and sucked the head of his stick with the +utmost complacency, tranquillity, and contentment. + +It would have been strange enough, a man's enjoying himself in this +quiet manner, while the prison was burning, and such a tumult was +cleaving the air, though he had been outside the walls. But here, +in the very heart of the building, and moreover with the prayers +and cries of the four men under sentence sounding in his ears, and +their hands, stretched our through the gratings in their cell- +doors, clasped in frantic entreaty before his very eyes, it was +particularly remarkable. Indeed, Mr Dennis appeared to think it an +uncommon circumstance, and to banter himself upon it; for he thrust +his hat on one side as some men do when they are in a waggish +humour, sucked the head of his stick with a higher relish, and +smiled as though he would say, 'Dennis, you're a rum dog; you're a +queer fellow; you're capital company, Dennis, and quite a +character!' + +He sat in this way for some minutes, while the four men in the +cells, who were certain that somebody had entered the gallery, but +could not see who, gave vent to such piteous entreaties as wretches +in their miserable condition may be supposed to have been inspired +with: urging, whoever it was, to set them at liberty, for the love +of Heaven; and protesting, with great fervour, and truly enough, +perhaps, for the time, that if they escaped, they would amend their +ways, and would never, never, never again do wrong before God or +man, but would lead penitent and sober lives, and sorrowfully +repent the crimes they had committed. The terrible energy with +which they spoke, would have moved any person, no matter how good +or just (if any good or just person could have strayed into that +sad place that night), to have set them at liberty: and, while he +would have left any other punishment to its free course, to have +saved them from this last dreadful and repulsive penalty; which +never turned a man inclined to evil, and has hardened thousands who +were half inclined to good. + +Mr Dennis, who had been bred and nurtured in the good old school, +and had administered the good old laws on the good old plan, always +once and sometimes twice every six weeks, for a long time, bore +these appeals with a deal of philosophy. Being at last, however, +rather disturbed in his pleasant reflection by their repetition, he +rapped at one of the doors with his stick, and cried: + +'Hold your noise there, will you?' + +At this they all cried together that they were to be hanged on the +next day but one; and again implored his aid. + +'Aid! For what!' said Mr Dennis, playfully rapping the knuckles of +the hand nearest him. + +'To save us!' they cried. + +'Oh, certainly,' said Mr Dennis, winking at the wall in the absence +of any friend with whom he could humour the joke. 'And so you're +to be worked off, are you, brothers?' + +'Unless we are released to-night,' one of them cried, 'we are dead +men!' + +'I tell you what it is,' said the hangman, gravely; 'I'm afraid, my +friend, that you're not in that 'ere state of mind that's suitable +to your condition, then; you're not a-going to be released: don't +think it--Will you leave off that 'ere indecent row? I wonder you +an't ashamed of yourselves, I do.' + +He followed up this reproof by rapping every set of knuckles one +after the other, and having done so, resumed his seat again with a +cheerful countenance. + +'You've had law,' he said, crossing his legs and elevating his +eyebrows: 'laws have been made a' purpose for you; a wery handsome +prison's been made a' purpose for you; a parson's kept a purpose +for you; a constitootional officer's appointed a' purpose for you; +carts is maintained a' purpose for you--and yet you're not +contented!--WILL you hold that noise, you sir in the furthest?' + +A groan was the only answer. + +'So well as I can make out,' said Mr Dennis, in a tone of mingled +badinage and remonstrance, 'there's not a man among you. I begin +to think I'm on the opposite side, and among the ladies; though for +the matter of that, I've seen a many ladies face it out, in a +manner that did honour to the sex.--You in number two, don't grind +them teeth of yours. Worse manners,' said the hangman, rapping at +the door with his stick, 'I never see in this place afore. I'm +ashamed of you. You're a disgrace to the Bailey.' + +After pausing for a moment to hear if anything could be pleaded in +justification, Mr Dennis resumed in a sort of coaxing tone: + +'Now look'ee here, you four. I'm come here to take care of you, +and see that you an't burnt, instead of the other thing. It's no +use your making any noise, for you won't be found out by them as +has broken in, and you'll only be hoarse when you come to the +speeches,--which is a pity. What I say in respect to the speeches +always is, "Give it mouth." That's my maxim. Give it mouth. I've +heerd,' said the hangman, pulling off his hat to take his +handkerchief from the crown and wipe his face, and then putting it +on again a little more on one side than before, 'I've heerd a +eloquence on them boards--you know what boards I mean--and have +heerd a degree of mouth given to them speeches, that they was as +clear as a bell, and as good as a play. There's a pattern! And +always, when a thing of this natur's to come off, what I stand up +for, is, a proper frame of mind. Let's have a proper frame of +mind, and we can go through with it, creditable--pleasant-- +sociable. Whatever you do (and I address myself in particular, to +you in the furthest), never snivel. I'd sooner by half, though I +lose by it, see a man tear his clothes a' purpose to spile 'em +before they come to me, than find him snivelling. It's ten to one +a better frame of mind, every way!' + +While the hangman addressed them to this effect, in the tone and +with the air of a pastor in familiar conversation with his flock, +the noise had been in some degree subdued; for the rioters were +busy in conveying the prisoners to the Sessions House, which was +beyond the main walls of the prison, though connected with it, and +the crowd were busy too, in passing them from thence along the +street. But when he had got thus far in his discourse, the sound +of voices in the yard showed plainly that the mob had returned and +were coming that way; and directly afterwards a violent crashing at +the grate below, gave note of their attack upon the cells (as they +were called) at last. + +It was in vain the hangman ran from door to door, and covered the +grates, one after another, with his hat, in futile efforts to +stifle the cries of the four men within; it was in vain he dogged +their outstretched hands, and beat them with his stick, or menaced +them with new and lingering pains in the execution of his office; +the place resounded with their cries. These, together with the +feeling that they were now the last men in the jail, so worked upon +and stimulated the besiegers, that in an incredibly short space of +time they forced the strong grate down below, which was formed of +iron rods two inches square, drove in the two other doors, as if +they had been but deal partitions, and stood at the end of the +gallery with only a bar or two between them and the cells. + +'Halloa!' cried Hugh, who was the first to look into the dusky +passage: 'Dennis before us! Well done, old boy. Be quick, and +open here, for we shall be suffocated in the smoke, going out.' + +'Go out at once, then,' said Dennis. 'What do you want here?' + +'Want!' echoed Hugh. 'The four men.' + +'Four devils!' cried the hangman. 'Don't you know they're left for +death on Thursday? Don't you respect the law--the constitootion-- +nothing? Let the four men be.' + +'Is this a time for joking?' cried Hugh. 'Do you hear 'em? Pull +away these bars that have got fixed between the door and the +ground; and let us in.' + +'Brother,' said the hangman, in a low voice, as he stooped under +pretence of doing what Hugh desired, but only looked up in his +face, 'can't you leave these here four men to me, if I've the whim! +You do what you like, and have what you like of everything for your +share,--give me my share. I want these four men left alone, I tell +you!' + +'Pull the bars down, or stand out of the way,' was Hugh's reply. + +'You can turn the crowd if you like, you know that well enough, +brother,' said the hangman, slowly. 'What! You WILL come in, will +you?' + +'Yes.' + +'You won't let these men alone, and leave 'em to me? You've no +respect for nothing--haven't you?' said the hangman, retreating to +the door by which he had entered, and regarding his companion with +a scowl. 'You WILL come in, will you, brother!' + +'I tell you, yes. What the devil ails you? Where are you going?' + +'No matter where I'm going,' rejoined the hangman, looking in again +at the iron wicket, which he had nearly shut upon himself, and +held ajar. 'Remember where you're coming. That's all!' + +With that, he shook his likeness at Hugh, and giving him a grin, +compared with which his usual smile was amiable, disappeared, and +shut the door. + +Hugh paused no longer, but goaded alike by the cries of the +convicts, and by the impatience of the crowd, warned the man +immediately behind him--the way was only wide enough for one +abreast--to stand back, and wielded a sledge-hammer with such +strength, that after a few blows the iron bent and broke, and gave +them free admittance. + +It the two sons of one of these men, of whom mention has been made, +were furious in their zeal before, they had now the wrath and +vigour of lions. Calling to the man within each cell, to keep as +far back as he could, lest the axes crashing through the door +should wound him, a party went to work upon each one, to beat it in +by sheer strength, and force the bolts and staples from their hold. +But although these two lads had the weakest party, and the worst +armed, and did not begin until after the others, having stopped to +whisper to him through the grate, that door was the first open, and +that man was the first out. As they dragged him into the gallery +to knock off his irons, he fell down among them, a mere heap of +chains, and was carried out in that state on men's shoulders, with +no sign of life. + +The release of these four wretched creatures, and conveying them, +astounded and bewildered, into the streets so full of life--a +spectacle they had never thought to see again, until they emerged +from solitude and silence upon that last journey, when the air +should be heavy with the pent-up breath of thousands, and the +streets and houses should be built and roofed with human faces, not +with bricks and tiles and stones--was the crowning horror of the +scene. Their pale and haggard looks and hollow eyes; their +staggering feet, and hands stretched out as if to save themselves +from falling; their wandering and uncertain air; the way they +heaved and gasped for breath, as though in water, when they were +first plunged into the crowd; all marked them for the men. No need +to say 'this one was doomed to die;' for there were the words +broadly stamped and branded on his face. The crowd fell off, as if +they had been laid out for burial, and had risen in their shrouds; +and many were seen to shudder, as though they had been actually +dead men, when they chanced to touch or brush against their +garments. + +At the bidding of the mob, the houses were all illuminated that +night--lighted up from top to bottom as at a time of public gaiety +and joy. Many years afterwards, old people who lived in their +youth near this part of the city, remembered being in a great glare +of light, within doors and without, and as they looked, timid and +frightened children, from the windows, seeing a FACE go by. Though +the whole great crowd and all its other terrors had faded from +their recollection, this one object remained; alone, distinct, and +well remembered. Even in the unpractised minds of infants, one of +these doomed men darting past, and but an instant seen, was an +image of force enough to dim the whole concourse; to find itself an +all-absorbing place, and hold it ever after. + +When this last task had been achieved, the shouts and cries grew +fainter; the clank of fetters, which had resounded on all sides as +the prisoners escaped, was heard no more; all the noises of the +crowd subsided into a hoarse and sullen murmur as it passed into +the distance; and when the human tide had rolled away, a melancholy +heap of smoking ruins marked the spot where it had lately chafed +and roared. + + + +Chapter 66 + + +Although he had had no rest upon the previous night, and had +watched with little intermission for some weeks past, sleeping only +in the day by starts and snatches, Mr Haredale, from the dawn of +morning until sunset, sought his niece in every place where he +deemed it possible she could have taken refuge. All day long, +nothing, save a draught of water, passed his lips; though he +prosecuted his inquiries far and wide, and never so much as sat +down, once. + +In every quarter he could think of; at Chigwell and in London; at +the houses of the tradespeople with whom he dealt, and of the +friends he knew; he pursued his search. A prey to the most +harrowing anxieties and apprehensions, he went from magistrate to +magistrate, and finally to the Secretary of State. The only +comfort he received was from this minister, who assured him that +the Government, being now driven to the exercise of the extreme +prerogatives of the Crown, were determined to exert them; that a +proclamation would probably be out upon the morrow, giving to the +military, discretionary and unlimited power in the suppression of +the riots; that the sympathies of the King, the Administration, and +both Houses of Parliament, and indeed of all good men of every +religious persuasion, were strongly with the injured Catholics; and +that justice should be done them at any cost or hazard. He told +him, moreover, that other persons whose houses had been burnt, had +for a time lost sight of their children or their relatives, but +had, in every case, within his knowledge, succeeded in discovering +them; that his complaint should be remembered, and fully stated in +the instructions given to the officers in command, and to all the +inferior myrmidons of justice; and that everything that could be +done to help him, should be done, with a goodwill and in good +faith. + +Grateful for this consolation, feeble as it was in its reference to +the past, and little hope as it afforded him in connection with the +subject of distress which lay nearest to his heart; and really +thankful for the interest the minister expressed, and seemed to +feel, in his condition; Mr Haredale withdrew. He found himself, +with the night coming on, alone in the streets; and destitute of +any place in which to lay his head. + +He entered an hotel near Charing Cross, and ordered some +refreshment and a bed. He saw that his faint and worn appearance +attracted the attention of the landlord and his waiters; and +thinking that they might suppose him to be penniless, took out his +purse, and laid it on the table. It was not that, the landlord +said, in a faltering voice. If he were one of those who had +suffered by the rioters, he durst not give him entertainment. He +had a family of children, and had been twice warned to be careful +in receiving guests. He heartily prayed his forgiveness, but what +could he do? + +Nothing. No man felt that more sincerely than Mr Haredale. He +told the man as much, and left the house. + +Feeling that he might have anticipated this occurrence, after what +he had seen at Chigwell in the morning, where no man dared to touch +a spade, though he offered a large reward to all who would come and +dig among the ruins of his house, he walked along the Strand; too +proud to expose himself to another refusal, and of too generous a +spirit to involve in distress or ruin any honest tradesman who +might be weak enough to give him shelter. He wandered into one of +the streets by the side of the river, and was pacing in a +thoughtful manner up and down, thinking of things that had happened +long ago, when he heard a servant-man at an upper window call to +another on the opposite side of the street, that the mob were +setting fire to Newgate. + +To Newgate! where that man was! His failing strength returned, +his energies came back with tenfold vigour, on the instant. If it +were possible--if they should set the murderer free--was he, after +all he had undergone, to die with the suspicion of having slain his +own brother, dimly gathering about him-- + +He had no consciousness of going to the jail; but there he stood, +before it. There was the crowd wedged and pressed together in a +dense, dark, moving mass; and there were the flames soaring up into +the air. His head turned round and round, lights flashed before +his eyes, and he struggled hard with two men. + +'Nay, nay,' said one. 'Be more yourself, my good sir. We attract +attention here. Come away. What can you do among so many men?' + +'The gentleman's always for doing something,' said the other, +forcing him along as he spoke. 'I like him for that. I do like +him for that.' + +They had by this time got him into a court, hard by the prison. He +looked from one to the other, and as he tried to release himself, +felt that he tottered on his feet. He who had spoken first, was +the old gentleman whom he had seen at the Lord Mayor's. The other +was John Grueby, who had stood by him so manfully at Westminster. + +'What does this mean?' he asked them faintly. 'How came we +together?' + +'On the skirts of the crowd,' returned the distiller; 'but come +with us. Pray come with us. You seem to know my friend here?' + +'Surely,' said Mr Haredale, looking in a kind of stupor at John. + +'He'll tell you then,' returned the old gentleman, 'that I am a man +to be trusted. He's my servant. He was lately (as you know, I +have no doubt) in Lord George Gordon's service; but he left it, and +brought, in pure goodwill to me and others, who are marked by the +rioters, such intelligence as he had picked up, of their designs.' + +--'On one condition, please, sir,' said John, touching his hat. No +evidence against my lord--a misled man--a kind-hearted man, sir. +My lord never intended this.' + +'The condition will be observed, of course,' rejoined the old +distiller. 'It's a point of honour. But come with us, sir; pray +come with us.' + +John Grueby added no entreaties, but he adopted a different kind of +persuasion, by putting his arm through one of Mr Haredale's, while +his master took the other, and leading him away with all speed. + +Sensible, from a strange lightness in his head, and a difficulty in +fixing his thoughts on anything, even to the extent of bearing his +companions in his mind for a minute together without looking at +them, that his brain was affected by the agitation and suffering +through which he had passed, and to which he was still a prey, Mr +Haredale let them lead him where they would. As they went along, +he was conscious of having no command over what he said or thought, +and that he had a fear of going mad. + +The distiller lived, as he had told him when they first met, on +Holborn Hill, where he had great storehouses and drove a large +trade. They approached his house by a back entrance, lest they +should attract the notice of the crowd, and went into an upper +room which faced towards the street; the windows, however, in +common with those of every other room in the house, were boarded up +inside, in order that, out of doors, all might appear quite dark. + +They laid him on a sofa in this chamber, perfectly insensible; but +John immediately fetching a surgeon, who took from him a large +quantity of blood, he gradually came to himself. As he was, for +the time, too weak to walk, they had no difficulty in persuading +him to remain there all night, and got him to bed without loss of a +minute. That done, they gave him cordial and some toast, and +presently a pretty strong composing-draught, under the influence +of which he soon fell into a lethargy, and, for a time, forgot his +troubles. + +The vintner, who was a very hearty old fellow and a worthy man, had +no thoughts of going to bed himself, for he had received several +threatening warnings from the rioters, and had indeed gone out that +evening to try and gather from the conversation of the mob whether +his house was to be the next attacked. He sat all night in an +easy-chair in the same room--dozing a little now and then--and +received from time to time the reports of John Grueby and two or +three other trustworthy persons in his employ, who went out into +the streets as scouts; and for whose entertainment an ample +allowance of good cheer (which the old vintner, despite his +anxiety, now and then attacked himself) was set forth in an +adjoining chamber. + +These accounts were of a sufficiently alarming nature from the +first; but as the night wore on, they grew so much worse, and +involved such a fearful amount of riot and destruction, that in +comparison with these new tidings all the previous disturbances +sunk to nothing. + +The first intelligence that came, was of the taking of Newgate, and +the escape of all the prisoners, whose track, as they made up +Holborn and into the adjacent streets, was proclaimed to those +citizens who were shut up in their houses, by the rattling of +their chains, which formed a dismal concert, and was heard in every +direction, as though so many forges were at work. The flames too, +shone so brightly through the vintner's skylights, that the rooms +and staircases below were nearly as light as in broad day; while +the distant shouting of the mob seemed to shake the very walls and +ceilings. + +At length they were heard approaching the house, and some minutes +of terrible anxiety ensued. They came close up, and stopped before +it; but after giving three loud yells, went on. And although they +returned several times that night, creating new alarms each time, +they did nothing there; having their hands full. Shortly after +they had gone away for the first time, one of the scouts came +running in with the news that they had stopped before Lord +Mansfield's house in Bloomsbury Square. + +Soon afterwards there came another, and another, and then the first +returned again, and so, by little and little, their tale was this:-- +That the mob gathering round Lord Mansfield's house, had called on +those within to open the door, and receiving no reply (for Lord and +Lady Mansfield were at that moment escaping by the backway), forced +an entrance according to their usual custom. That they then began +to demolish the house with great fury, and setting fire to it in +several parts, involved in a common ruin the whole of the costly +furniture, the plate and jewels, a beautiful gallery of pictures, +the rarest collection of manuscripts ever possessed by any one +private person in the world, and worse than all, because nothing +could replace this loss, the great Law Library, on almost every +page of which were notes in the Judge's own hand, of inestimable +value,--being the results of the study and experience of his whole +life. That while they were howling and exulting round the fire, a +troop of soldiers, with a magistrate among them, came up, and being +too late (for the mischief was by that time done), began to +disperse the crowd. That the Riot Act being read, and the crowd +still resisting, the soldiers received orders to fire, and +levelling their muskets shot dead at the first discharge six men +and a woman, and wounded many persons; and loading again directly, +fired another volley, but over the people's heads it was supposed, +as none were seen to fall. That thereupon, and daunted by the +shrieks and tumult, the crowd began to disperse, and the soldiers +went away, leaving the killed and wounded on the ground: which they +had no sooner done than the rioters came back again, and taking up +the dead bodies, and the wounded people, formed into a rude +procession, having the bodies in the front. That in this order +they paraded off with a horrible merriment; fixing weapons in the +dead men's hands to make them look as if alive; and preceded by a +fellow ringing Lord Mansfield's dinner-bell with all his might. + +The scouts reported further, that this party meeting with some +others who had been at similar work elsewhere, they all united into +one, and drafting off a few men with the killed and wounded, +marched away to Lord Mansfield's country seat at Caen Wood, between +Hampstead and Highgate; bent upon destroying that house likewise, +and lighting up a great fire there, which from that height should +be seen all over London. But in this, they were disappointed, for +a party of horse having arrived before them, they retreated faster +than they went, and came straight back to town. + +There being now a great many parties in the streets, each went to +work according to its humour, and a dozen houses were quickly +blazing, including those of Sir John Fielding and two other +justices, and four in Holborn--one of the greatest thoroughfares in +London--which were all burning at the same time, and burned until +they went out of themselves, for the people cut the engine hose, +and would not suffer the firemen to play upon the flames. At one +house near Moorfields, they found in one of the rooms some canary +birds in cages, and these they cast into the fire alive. The poor +little creatures screamed, it was said, like infants, when they +were flung upon the blaze; and one man was so touched that he tried +in vain to save them, which roused the indignation of the crowd, +and nearly cost him his life. + +At this same house, one of the fellows who went through the rooms, +breaking the furniture and helping to destroy the building, found a +child's doll--a poor toy--which he exhibited at the window to the +mob below, as the image of some unholy saint which the late +occupants had worshipped. While he was doing this, another man +with an equally tender conscience (they had both been foremost in +throwing down the canary birds for roasting alive), took his seat +on the parapet of the house, and harangued the crowd from a +pamphlet circulated by the Association, relative to the true +principles of Christianity! Meanwhile the Lord Mayor, with his +hands in his pockets, looked on as an idle man might look at any +other show, and seemed mightily satisfied to have got a good place. + +Such were the accounts brought to the old vintner by his servants +as he sat at the side of Mr Haredale's bed, having been unable even +to doze, after the first part of the night; too much disturbed by +his own fears; by the cries of the mob, the light of the fires, and +the firing of the soldiers. Such, with the addition of the release +of all the prisoners in the New Jail at Clerkenwell, and as many +robberies of passengers in the streets, as the crowd had leisure to +indulge in, were the scenes of which Mr Haredale was happily +unconscious, and which were all enacted before midnight. + + + +Chapter 67 + + +When darkness broke away and morning began to dawn, the town wore a +strange aspect indeed. + +Sleep had hardly been thought of all night. The general alarm was +so apparent in the faces of the inhabitants, and its expression was +so aggravated by want of rest (few persons, with any property to +lose, having dared go to bed since Monday), that a stranger coming +into the streets would have supposed some mortal pest or plague to +have been raging. In place of the usual cheerfulness and animation +of morning, everything was dead and silent. The shops remained +closed, offices and warehouses were shut, the coach and chair +stands were deserted, no carts or waggons rumbled through the +slowly waking streets, the early cries were all hushed; a universal +gloom prevailed. Great numbers of people were out, even at +daybreak, but they flitted to and fro as though they shrank from +the sound of their own footsteps; the public ways were haunted +rather than frequented; and round the smoking ruins people stood +apart from one another and in silence, not venturing to condemn +the rioters, or to be supposed to do so, even in whispers. + +At the Lord President's in Piccadilly, at Lambeth Palace, at the +Lord Chancellor's in Great Ormond Street, in the Royal Exchange, +the Bank, the Guildhall, the Inns of Court, the Courts of Law, and +every chamber fronting the streets near Westminster Hall and the +Houses of Parliament, parties of soldiers were posted before +daylight. A body of Horse Guards paraded Palace Yard; an +encampment was formed in the Park, where fifteen hundred men and +five battalions of Militia were under arms; the Tower was +fortified, the drawbridges were raised, the cannon loaded and +pointed, and two regiments of artillery busied in strengthening the +fortress and preparing it for defence. A numerous detachment of +soldiers were stationed to keep guard at the New River Head, which +the people had threatened to attack, and where, it was said, they +meant to cut off the main-pipes, so that there might be no water +for the extinction of the flames. In the Poultry, and on Cornhill, +and at several other leading points, iron chains were drawn across +the street; parties of soldiers were distributed in some of the old +city churches while it was yet dark; and in several private houses +(among them, Lord Rockingham's in Grosvenor Square); which were +blockaded as though to sustain a siege, and had guns pointed from +the windows. When the sun rose, it shone into handsome apartments +filled with armed men; the furniture hastily heaped away in +corners, and made of little or no account, in the terror of the +time--on arms glittering in city chambers, among desks and stools, +and dusty books--into little smoky churchyards in odd lanes and by- +ways, with soldiers lying down among the tombs, or lounging under +the shade of the one old tree, and their pile of muskets sparkling +in the light--on solitary sentries pacing up and down in +courtyards, silent now, but yesterday resounding with the din and +hum of business--everywhere on guard-rooms, garrisons, and +threatening preparations. + +As the day crept on, still more unusual sights were witnessed in +the streets. The gates of the King's Bench and Fleet Prisons +being opened at the usual hour, were found to have notices affixed +to them, announcing that the rioters would come that night to burn +them down. The wardens, too well knowing the likelihood there was +of this promise being fulfilled, were fain to set their prisoners +at liberty, and give them leave to move their goods; so, all day, +such of them as had any furniture were occupied in conveying it, +some to this place, some to that, and not a few to the brokers' +shops, where they gladly sold it, for any wretched price those +gentry chose to give. There were some broken men among these +debtors who had been in jail so long, and were so miserable and +destitute of friends, so dead to the world, and utterly forgotten +and uncared for, that they implored their jailers not to set them +free, and to send them, if need were, to some other place of +custody. But they, refusing to comply, lest they should incur the +anger of the mob, turned them into the streets, where they wandered +up and down hardly remembering the ways untrodden by their feet so +long, and crying--such abject things those rotten-hearted jails had +made them--as they slunk off in their rags, and dragged their +slipshod feet along the pavement. + +Even of the three hundred prisoners who had escaped from Newgate, +there were some--a few, but there were some--who sought their +jailers out and delivered themselves up: preferring imprisonment +and punishment to the horrors of such another night as the last. +Many of the convicts, drawn back to their old place of captivity by +some indescribable attraction, or by a desire to exult over it in +its downfall and glut their revenge by seeing it in ashes, actually +went back in broad noon, and loitered about the cells. Fifty were +retaken at one time on this next day, within the prison walls; but +their fate did not deter others, for there they went in spite of +everything, and there they were taken in twos and threes, twice or +thrice a day, all through the week. Of the fifty just mentioned, +some were occupied in endeavouring to rekindle the fire; but in +general they seemed to have no object in view but to prowl and +lounge about the old place: being often found asleep in the ruins, +or sitting talking there, or even eating and drinking, as in a +choice retreat. + +Besides the notices on the gates of the Fleet and the King's Bench, +many similar announcements were left, before one o'clock at noon, +at the houses of private individuals; and further, the mob +proclaimed their intention of seizing on the Bank, the Mint, the +Arsenal at Woolwich, and the Royal Palaces. The notices were +seldom delivered by more than one man, who, if it were at a shop, +went in, and laid it, with a bloody threat perhaps, upon the +counter; or if it were at a private house, knocked at the door, and +thrust it in the servant's hand. Notwithstanding the presence of +the military in every quarter of the town, and the great force in +the Park, these messengers did their errands with impunity all +through the day. So did two boys who went down Holborn alone, +armed with bars taken from the railings of Lord Mansfield's house, +and demanded money for the rioters. So did a tall man on horseback +who made a collection for the same purpose in Fleet Street, and +refused to take anything but gold. + +A rumour had now got into circulation, too, which diffused a +greater dread all through London, even than these publicly +announced intentions of the rioters, though all men knew that if +they were successfully effected, there must ensue a national +bankruptcy and general ruin. It was said that they meant to throw +the gates of Bedlam open, and let all the madmen loose. This +suggested such dreadful images to the people's minds, and was +indeed an act so fraught with new and unimaginable horrors in the +contemplation, that it beset them more than any loss or cruelty of +which they could foresee the worst, and drove many sane men nearly +mad themselves. + +So the day passed on: the prisoners moving their goods; people +running to and fro in the streets, carrying away their property; +groups standing in silence round the ruins; all business suspended; +and the soldiers disposed as has been already mentioned, remaining +quite inactive. So the day passed on, and dreaded night drew near +again. + +At last, at seven o'clock in the evening, the Privy Council issued +a solemn proclamation that it was now necessary to employ the +military, and that the officers had most direct and effectual +orders, by an immediate exertion of their utmost force, to repress +the disturbances; and warning all good subjects of the King to keep +themselves, their servants, and apprentices, within doors that +night. There was then delivered out to every soldier on duty, +thirty-six rounds of powder and ball; the drums beat; and the whole +force was under arms at sunset. + +The City authorities, stimulated by these vigorous measures, held a +Common Council; passed a vote thanking the military associations +who had tendered their aid to the civil authorities; accepted it; +and placed them under the direction of the two sheriffs. At the +Queen's palace, a double guard, the yeomen on duty, the groom- +porters, and all other attendants, were stationed in the passages +and on the staircases at seven o'clock, with strict instructions to +be watchful on their posts all night; and all the doors were +locked. The gentlemen of the Temple, and the other Inns, mounted +guard within their gates, and strengthened them with the great +stones of the pavement, which they took up for the purpose. In +Lincoln's Inn, they gave up the hall and commons to the +Northumberland Militia, under the command of Lord Algernon Percy; +in some few of the city wards, the burgesses turned out, and +without making a very fierce show, looked brave enough. Some +hundreds of stout gentlemen threw themselves, armed to the teeth, +into the halls of the different companies, double-locked and bolted +all the gates, and dared the rioters (among themselves) to come on +at their peril. These arrangements being all made simultaneously, +or nearly so, were completed by the time it got dark; and then the +streets were comparatively clear, and were guarded at all the great +corners and chief avenues by the troops: while parties of the +officers rode up and down in all directions, ordering chance +stragglers home, and admonishing the residents to keep within their +houses, and, if any firing ensued, not to approach the windows. +More chains were drawn across such of the thoroughfares as were of +a nature to favour the approach of a great crowd, and at each of +these points a considerable force was stationed. All these +precautions having been taken, and it being now quite dark, those +in command awaited the result in some anxiety: and not without a +hope that such vigilant demonstrations might of themselves +dishearten the populace, and prevent any new outrages. + +But in this reckoning they were cruelly mistaken, for in half an +hour, or less, as though the setting in of night had been their +preconcerted signal, the rioters having previously, in small +parties, prevented the lighting of the street lamps, rose like a +great sea; and that in so many places at once, and with such +inconceivable fury, that those who had the direction of the troops +knew not, at first, where to turn or what to do. One after +another, new fires blazed up in every quarter of the town, as +though it were the intention of the insurgents to wrap the city in +a circle of flames, which, contracting by degrees, should burn the +whole to ashes; the crowd swarmed and roared in every street; and +none but rioters and soldiers being out of doors, it seemed to the +latter as if all London were arrayed against them, and they stood +alone against the town. + +In two hours, six-and-thirty fires were raging--six-and-thirty +great conflagrations: among them the Borough Clink in Tooley +Street, the King's Bench, the Fleet, and the New Bridewell. In +almost every street, there was a battle; and in every quarter the +muskets of the troops were heard above the shouts and tumult of the +mob. The firing began in the Poultry, where the chain was drawn +across the road, where nearly a score of people were killed on the +first discharge. Their bodies having been hastily carried into St +Mildred's Church by the soldiers, the latter fired again, and +following fast upon the crowd, who began to give way when they saw +the execution that was done, formed across Cheapside, and charged +them at the point of the bayonet. + +The streets were now a dreadful spectacle. The shouts of the +rabble, the shrieks of women, the cries of the wounded, and the +constant firing, formed a deafening and an awful accompaniment to +the sights which every corner presented. Wherever the road was +obstructed by the chains, there the fighting and the loss of life +were greatest; but there was hot work and bloodshed in almost every +leading thoroughfare. + +At Holborn Bridge, and on Holborn Hill, the confusion was greater +than in any other part; for the crowd that poured out of the city +in two great streams, one by Ludgate Hill, and one by Newgate +Street, united at that spot, and formed a mass so dense, that at +every volley the people seemed to fall in heaps. At this place a +large detachment of soldiery were posted, who fired, now up Fleet +Market, now up Holborn, now up Snow Hill--constantly raking the +streets in each direction. At this place too, several large fires +were burning, so that all the terrors of that terrible night seemed +to be concentrated in one spot. + +Full twenty times, the rioters, headed by one man who wielded an +axe in his right hand, and bestrode a brewer's horse of great size +and strength, caparisoned with fetters taken out of Newgate, which +clanked and jingled as he went, made an attempt to force a passage +at this point, and fire the vintner's house. Full twenty times +they were repulsed with loss of life, and still came back again; +and though the fellow at their head was marked and singled out by +all, and was a conspicuous object as the only rioter on horseback, +not a man could hit him. So surely as the smoke cleared away, so +surely there was he; calling hoarsely to his companions, +brandishing his axe above his head, and dashing on as though he +bore a charmed life, and was proof against ball and powder. + +This man was Hugh; and in every part of the riot, he was seen. He +headed two attacks upon the Bank, helped to break open the Toll- +houses on Blackfriars Bridge, and cast the money into the street: +fired two of the prisons with his own hand: was here, and there, +and everywhere--always foremost--always active--striking at the +soldiers, cheering on the crowd, making his horse's iron music +heard through all the yell and uproar: but never hurt or stopped. +Turn him at one place, and he made a new struggle in anotlter; +force him to retreat at this point, and he advanced on that, +directly. Driven from Holborn for the twentieth time, he rode at +the head of a great crowd straight upon Saint Paul's, attacked a +guard of soldiers who kept watch over a body of prisoners within +the iron railings, forced them to retreat, rescued the men they had +in custody, and with this accession to his party, came back again, +mad with liquor and excitement, and hallooing them on like a +demon. + +It would have been no easy task for the most careful rider to sit a +horse in the midst of such a throng and tumult; but though this +madman rolled upon his back (he had no saddle) like a boat upon the +sea, he never for an instant lost his seat, or failed to guide him +where he would. Through the very thickest of the press, over dead +bodies and burning fragments, now on the pavement, now in the road, +now riding up a flight of steps to make himself the more +conspicuous to his party, and now forcing a passage through a mass +of human beings, so closely squeezed together that it seemed as if +the edge of a knife would scarcely part them,--on he went, as +though he could surmount all obstacles by the mere exercise of his +will. And perhaps his not being shot was in some degree +attributable to this very circumstance; for his extreme audacity, +and the conviction that he must be one of those to whom the +proclamation referred, inspired the soldiers with a desire to take +him alive, and diverted many an aim which otherwise might have been +more near the mark. + +The vintner and Mr Haredale, unable to sit quietly listening to the +noise without seeing what went on, had climbed to the roof of the +house, and hiding behind a stack of chimneys, were looking +cautiously down into the street, almost hoping that after so many +repulses the rioters would be foiled, when a great shout proclaimed +that a parry were coming round the other way; and the dismal +jingling of those accursed fetters warned them next moment that +they too were led by Hugh. The soldiers had advanced into Fleet +Market and were dispersing the people there; so that they came on +with hardly any check, and were soon before the house. + +'All's over now,' said the vintner. 'Fifty thousand pounds will be +scattered in a minute. We must save ourselves. We can do no +more, and shall have reason to be thankful if we do as much.' + +Their first impulse was, to clamber along the roofs of the houses, +and, knocking at some garret window for admission, pass down that +way into the street, and so escape. But another fierce cry from +below, and a general upturning of the faces of the crowd, apprised +them that they were discovered, and even that Mr Haredale was +recognised; for Hugh, seeing him plainly in the bright glare of +the fire, which in that part made it as light as day, called to him +by his name, and swore to have his life. + +'Leave me here,' said Mr Haredale, 'and in Heaven's name, my good +friend, save yourself! Come on!' he muttered, as he turned towards +Hugh and faced him without any further effort at concealment: 'This +roof is high, and if we close, we will die together!' + +'Madness,' said the honest vintner, pulling him back, 'sheer +madness. Hear reason, sir. My good sir, hear reason. I could +never make myself heard by knocking at a window now; and even if I +could, no one would be bold enough to connive at my escape. +Through the cellars, there's a kind of passage into the back street +by which we roll casks in and out. We shall have time to get down +there before they can force an entry. Do not delay an instant, but +come with me--for both our sakes--for mine--my dear good sir!' + +As he spoke, and drew Mr Haredale back, they had both a glimpse of +the street. It was but a glimpse, but it showed them the crowd, +gathering and clustering round the house: some of the armed men +pressing to the front to break down the doors and windows, some +bringing brands from the nearest fire, some with lifted faces +following their course upon the roof and pointing them out to their +companions: all raging and roaring like the flames they lighted up. +They saw some men thirsting for the treasures of strong liquor +which they knew were stored within; they saw others, who had been +wounded, sinking down into the opposite doorways and dying, +solitary wretches, in the midst of all the vast assemblage; here a +frightened woman trying to escape; and there a lost child; and +there a drunken ruffian, unconscious of the death-wound on his +head, raving and fighting to the last. All these things, and even +such trivial incidents as a man with his hat off, or turning round, +or stooping down, or shaking hands with another, they marked +distinctly; yet in a glance so brief, that, in the act of stepping +back, they lost the whole, and saw but the pale faces of each +other, and the red sky above them. + +Mr Haredale yielded to the entreaties of his companion--more +because he was resolved to defend him, than for any thought he had +of his own life, or any care he entertained for his own safety--and +quickly re-entering the house, they descended the stairs together. +Loud blows were thundering on the shutters, crowbars were already +thrust beneath the door, the glass fell from the sashes, a deep +light shone through every crevice, and they heard the voices of the +foremost in the crowd so close to every chink and keyhole, that +they seemed to be hoarsely whispering their threats into their very +ears. They had but a moment reached the bottom of the cellar-steps +and shut the door behind them, when the mob broke in. + +The vaults were profoundly dark, and having no torch or candle--for +they had been afraid to carry one, lest it should betray their +place of refuge--they were obliged to grope with their hands. But +they were not long without light, for they had not gone far when +they heard the crowd forcing the door; and, looking back among the +low-arched passages, could see them in the distance, hurrying to +and fro with flashing links, broaching the casks, staving the great +vats, turning off upon the right hand and the left, into the +different cellars, and lying down to drink at the channels of +strong spirits which were already flowing on the ground. + +They hurried on, not the less quickly for this; and had reached the +only vault which lay between them and the passage out, when +suddenly, from the direction in which they were going, a strong +light gleamed upon their faces; and before they could slip aside, +or turn back, or hide themselves, two men (one bearing a torch) +came upon them, and cried in an astonished whisper, 'Here they +are!' + +At the same instant they pulled off what they wore upon their +heads. Mr Haredale saw before him Edward Chester, and then saw, +when the vintner gasped his name, Joe Willet. + +Ay, the same Joe, though with an arm the less, who used to make the +quarterly journey on the grey mare to pay the bill to the purple- +faced vintner; and that very same purple-faced vintner, formerly +of Thames Street, now looked him in the face, and challenged him by +name. + +'Give me your hand,' said Joe softly, taking it whether the +astonished vintner would or no. 'Don't fear to shake it; it's a +friendly one and a hearty one, though it has no fellow. Why, how +well you look and how bluff you are! And you--God bless you, sir. +Take heart, take heart. We'll find them. Be of good cheer; we +have not been idle.' + +There was something so honest and frank in Joe's speech, that Mr +Haredale put his hand in his involuntarily, though their meeting +was suspicious enough. But his glance at Edward Chester, and that +gentleman's keeping aloof, were not lost upon Joe, who said +bluntly, glancing at Edward while he spoke: + +'Times are changed, Mr Haredale, and times have come when we ought +to know friends from enemies, and make no confusion of names. Let +me tell you that but for this gentleman, you would most likely +have been dead by this time, or badly wounded at the best.' + +'What do you say?' cried Mr Haredale. + +'I say,' said Joe, 'first, that it was a bold thing to be in the +crowd at all disguised as one of them; though I won't say much +about that, on second thoughts, for that's my case too. Secondly, +that it was a brave and glorious action--that's what I call it--to +strike that fellow off his horse before their eyes!' + +'What fellow! Whose eyes!' + +'What fellow, sir!' cried Joe: 'a fellow who has no goodwill to +you, and who has the daring and devilry in him of twenty fellows. +I know him of old. Once in the house, HE would have found you, +here or anywhere. The rest owe you no particular grudge, and, +unless they see you, will only think of drinking themselves dead. +But we lose time. Are you ready?' + +'Quite,' said Edward. 'Put out the torch, Joe, and go on. And be +silent, there's a good fellow.' + +'Silent or not silent,' murmured Joe, as he dropped the flaring +link upon the ground, crushed it with his foot, and gave his hand +to Mr Haredale, 'it was a brave and glorious action;--no man can +alter that.' + +Both Mr Haredale and the worthy vintner were too amazed and too +much hurried to ask any further questions, so followed their +conductors in silence. It seemed, from a short whispering which +presently ensued between them and the vintner relative to the best +way of escape, that they had entered by the back-door, with the +connivance of John Grueby, who watched outside with the key in his +pocket, and whom they had taken into their confidence. A party of +the crowd coming up that way, just as they entered, John had +double-locked the door again, and made off for the soldiers, so +that means of retreat was cut off from under them. + +However, as the front-door had been forced, and this minor crowd, +being anxious to get at the liquor, had no fancy for losing time in +breaking down another, but had gone round and got in from Holborn +with the rest, the narrow lane in the rear was quite free of +people. So, when they had crawled through the passage indicated by +the vintner (which was a mere shelving-trap for the admission of +casks), and had managed with some difficulty to unchain and raise +the door at the upper end, they emerged into the street without +being observed or interrupted. Joe still holding Mr Haredale +tight, and Edward taking the same care of the vintner, they hurried +through the streets at a rapid pace; occasionally standing aside to +let some fugitives go by, or to keep out of the way of the soldiers +who followed them, and whose questions, when they halted to put +any, were speedily stopped by one whispered word from Joe. + + + +Chapter 68 + + +While Newgate was burning on the previous night, Barnaby and his +father, having been passed among the crowd from hand to hand, stood +in Smithfield, on the outskirts of the mob, gazing at the flames +like men who had been suddenly roused from sleep. Some moments +elapsed before they could distinctly remember where they were, or +how they got there; or recollected that while they were standing +idle and listless spectators of the fire, they had tools in their +hands which had been hurriedly given them that they might free +themselves from their fetters. + +Barnaby, heavily ironed as he was, if he had obeyed his first +impulse, or if he had been alone, would have made his way back to +the side of Hugh, who to his clouded intellect now shone forth with +the new lustre of being his preserver and truest friend. But his +father's terror of remaining in the streets, communicated itself to +him when he comprehended the full extent of his fears, and +impressed him with the same eagerness to fly to a place of safety. + +In a corner of the market among the pens for cattle, Barnaby knelt +down, and pausing every now and then to pass his hand over his +father's face, or look up to him with a smile, knocked off his +irons. When he had seen him spring, a free man, to his feet, and +had given vent to the transport of delight which the sight +awakened, he went to work upon his own, which soon fell rattling +down upon the ground, and left his limbs unfettered. + +Gliding away together when this task was accomplished, and passing +several groups of men, each gathered round a stooping figure to +hide him from those who passed, but unable to repress the clanking +sound of hammers, which told that they too were busy at the same +work,--the two fugitives made towards Clerkenwell, and passing +thence to Islington, as the nearest point of egress, were quickly +in the fields. After wandering about for a long time, they found +in a pasture near Finchley a poor shed, with walls of mud, and roof +of grass and brambles, built for some cowherd, but now deserted. +Here, they lay down for the rest of the night. + +They wandered to and fro when it was day, and once Barnaby went off +alone to a cluster of little cottages two or three miles away, to +purchase some bread and milk. But finding no better shelter, they +returned to the same place, and lay down again to wait for night. + +Heaven alone can tell, with what vague hopes of duty, and +affection; with what strange promptings of nature, intelligible to +him as to a man of radiant mind and most enlarged capacity; with +what dim memories of children he had played with when a child +himself, who had prattled of their fathers, and of loving them, and +being loved; with how many half-remembered, dreamy associations of +his mother's grief and tears and widowhood; he watched and tended +this man. But that a vague and shadowy crowd of such ideas came +slowly on him; that they taught him to be sorry when he looked upon +his haggard face, that they overflowed his eyes when he stooped to +kiss him, that they kept him waking in a tearful gladness, shading +him from the sun, fanning him with leaves, soothing him when he +started in his sleep--ah! what a troubled sleep it was--and +wondering when SHE would come to join them and be happy, is the +truth. He sat beside him all that day; listening for her footsteps +in every breath of air, looking for her shadow on the gently-waving +grass, twining the hedge flowers for her pleasure when she came, +and his when he awoke; and stooping down from time to time to +listen to his mutterings, and wonder why he was so restless in that +quiet place. The sun went down, and night came on, and he was +still quite tranquil; busied with these thoughts, as if there were +no other people in the world, and the dull cloud of smoke hanging +on the immense city in the distance, hid no vices, no crimes, no +life or death, or cause of disquiet--nothing but clear air. + +But the hour had now come when he must go alone to find out the +blind man (a task that filled him with delight) and bring him to +that place; taking especial care that he was not watched or +followed on his way back. He listened to the directions he must +observe, repeated them again and again, and after twice or thrice +returning to surprise his father with a light-hearted laugh, went +forth, at last, upon his errand: leaving Grip, whom he had carried +from the jail in his arms, to his care. + +Fleet of foot, and anxious to return, he sped swiftly on towards +the city, but could not reach it before the fires began, and made +the night angry with their dismal lustre. When he entered the +town--it might be that he was changed by going there without his +late companions, and on no violent errand; or by the beautiful +solitude in which he had passed the day, or by the thoughts that +had come upon him,--but it seemed peopled by a legion of devils. +This flight and pursuit, this cruel burning and destroying, these +dreadful cries and stunning noises, were THEY the good lord's noble +cause! + +Though almost stupefied by the bewildering scene, still be found +the blind man's house. It was shut up and tenantless. + +He waited for a long while, but no one came. At last he withdrew; +and as he knew by this time that the soldiers were firing, and many +people must have been killed, he went down into Holborn, where he +heard the great crowd was, to try if he could find Hugh, and +persuade him to avoid the danger, and return with him. + +If he had been stunned and shocked before, his horror was +increased a thousandfold when he got into this vortex of the riot, +and not being an actor in the terrible spectacle, had it all before +his eyes. But there, in the midst, towering above them all, close +before the house they were attacking now, was Hugh on horseback, +calling to the rest! + +Sickened by the sights surrounding him on every side, and by the +heat and roar, and crash, he forced his way among the crowd (where +many recognised him, and with shouts pressed back to let him pass), +and in time was nearly up with Hugh, who was savagely threatening +some one, but whom or what he said, he could not, in the great +confusion, understand. At that moment the crowd forced their way +into the house, and Hugh--it was impossible to see by what means, +in such a concourse--fell headlong down. + +Barnaby was beside him when he staggered to his feet. It was well +he made him hear his voice, or Hugh, with his uplifted axe, would +have cleft his skull in twain. + +'Barnaby--you! Whose hand was that, that struck me down?' + +'Not mine.' + +'Whose!--I say, whose!' he cried, reeling back, and looking wildly +round. 'What are you doing? Where is he? Show me!' + +'You are hurt,' said Barnaby--as indeed he was, in the head, both +by the blow he had received, and by his horse's hoof. 'Come away +with me.' + +As he spoke, he took the horse's bridle in his hand, turned him, +and dragged Hugh several paces. This brought them out of the +crowd, which was pouring from the street into the vintner's +cellars. + +'Where's--where's Dennis?' said Hugh, coming to a stop, and +checking Barnaby with his strong arm. 'Where has he been all day? +What did he mean by leaving me as he did, in the jail, last night? +Tell me, you--d'ye hear!' + +With a flourish of his dangerous weapon, he fell down upon the +ground like a log. After a minute, though already frantic with +drinking and with the wound in his head, he crawled to a stream of +burning spirit which was pouring down the kennel, and began to +drink at it as if it were a brook of water. + +Barnaby drew him away, and forced him to rise. Though he could +neither stand nor walk, he involuntarily staggered to his horse, +climbed upon his back, and clung there. After vainly attempting to +divest the animal of his clanking trappings, Barnaby sprung up +behind him, snatched the bridle, turned into Leather Lane, which +was close at hand, and urged the frightened horse into a heavy +trot. + +He looked back, once, before he left the street; and looked upon a +sight not easily to be erased, even from his remembrance, so long +as he had life. + +The vintner's house with a half-a-dozen others near at hand, was +one great, glowing blaze. All night, no one had essayed to quench +the flames, or stop their progress; but now a body of soldiers +were actively engaged in pulling down two old wooden houses, which +were every moment in danger of taking fire, and which could +scarcely fail, if they were left to burn, to extend the +conflagration immensely. The tumbling down of nodding walls and +heavy blocks of wood, the hooting and the execrations of the crowd, +the distant firing of other military detachments, the distracted +looks and cries of those whose habitations were in danger, the +hurrying to and fro of frightened people with their goods; the +reflections in every quarter of the sky, of deep, red, soaring +flames, as though the last day had come and the whole universe were +burning; the dust, and smoke, and drift of fiery particles, +scorching and kindling all it fell upon; the hot unwholesome +vapour, the blight on everything; the stars, and moon, and very +sky, obliterated;--made up such a sum of dreariness and ruin, that +it seemed as if the face of Heaven were blotted out, and night, in +its rest and quiet, and softened light, never could look upon the +earth again. + +But there was a worse spectacle than this--worse by far than fire +and smoke, or even the rabble's unappeasable and maniac rage. The +gutters of the street, and every crack and fissure in the stones, +ran with scorching spirit, which being dammed up by busy hands, +overflowed the road and pavement, and formed a great pool, into +which the people dropped down dead by dozens. They lay in heaps +all round this fearful pond, husbands and wives, fathers and sons, +mothers and daughters, women with children in their arms and babies +at their breasts, and drank until they died. While some stooped +with their lips to the brink and never raised their heads again, +others sprang up from their fiery draught, and danced, half in a +mad triumph, and half in the agony of suffocation, until they fell, +and steeped their corpses in the liquor that had killed them. Nor +was even this the worst or most appalling kind of death that +happened on this fatal night. From the burning cellars, where they +drank out of hats, pails, buckets, tubs, and shoes, some men were +drawn, alive, but all alight from head to foot; who, in their +unendurable anguish and suffering, making for anything that had the +look of water, rolled, hissing, in this hideous lake, and splashed +up liquid fire which lapped in all it met with as it ran along the +surface, and neither spared the living nor the dead. On this last +night of the great riots--for the last night it was--the wretched +victims of a senseless outcry, became themselves the dust and ashes +of the flames they had kindled, and strewed the public streets of +London. + +With all he saw in this last glance fixed indelibly upon his mind, +Barnaby hurried from the city which enclosed such horrors; and +holding down his head that he might not even see the glare of the +fires upon the quiet landscape, was soon in the still country +roads. + +He stopped at about half-a-mile from the shed where his father +lay, and with some difficulty making Hugh sensible that he must +dismount, sunk the horse's furniture in a pool of stagnant water, +and turned the animal loose. That done, he supported his companion +as well as he could, and led him slowly forward. + + + +Chapter 69 + + +It was the dead of night, and very dark, when Barnaby, with his +stumbling comrade, approached the place where he had left his +father; but he could see him stealing away into the gloom, +distrustful even of him, and rapidly retreating. After calling to +him twice or thrice that there was nothing to fear, but without +effect, he suffered Hugh to sink upon the ground, and followed to +bring him back. + +He continued to creep away, until Barnaby was close upon him; then +turned, and said in a terrible, though suppressed voice: + +'Let me go. Do not lay hands upon me. You have told her; and you +and she together have betrayed me!' + +Barnaby looked at him, in silence. + +'You have seen your mother!' + +'No,' cried Barnaby, eagerly. 'Not for a long time--longer than I +can tell. A whole year, I think. Is she here?' + +His father looked upon him steadfastly for a few moments, and then +said--drawing nearer to him as he spoke, for, seeing his face, and +hearing his words, it was impossible to doubt his truth: + +'What man is that?' + +'Hugh--Hugh. Only Hugh. You know him. HE will not harm you. +Why, you're afraid of Hugh! Ha ha ha! Afraid of gruff, old, noisy +Hugh!' + +'What man is he, I ask you,' he rejoined so fiercely, that Barnaby +stopped in his laugh, and shrinking back, surveyed him with a look +of terrified amazement. + +'Why, how stern you are! You make me fear you, though you are my +father. Why do you speak to me so?' + +--'I want,' he answered, putting away the hand which his son, with +a timid desire to propitiate him, laid upon his sleeve,--'I want an +answer, and you give me only jeers and questions. Who have you +brought with you to this hiding-place, poor fool; and where is the +blind man?' + +'I don't know where. His house was close shut. I waited, but no +person came; that was no fault of mine. This is Hugh--brave Hugh, +who broke into that ugly jail, and set us free. Aha! You like him +now, do you? You like him now!' + +'Why does he lie upon the ground?' + +'He has had a fall, and has been drinking. The fields and trees go +round, and round, and round with him, and the ground heaves under +his feet. You know him? You remember? See!' + +They had by this time returned to where he lay, and both stooped +over him to look into his face. + +'I recollect the man,' his father murmured. 'Why did you bring him +here?' + +'Because he would have been killed if I had left him over yonder. +They were firing guns and shedding blood. Does the sight of blood +turn you sick, father? I see it does, by your face. That's like +me--What are you looking at?' + +'At nothing!' said the murderer softly, as he started back a pace +or two, and gazed with sunken jaw and staring eyes above his son's +head. 'At nothing!' + +He remained in the same attitude and with the same expression on +his face for a minute or more; then glanced slowly round as if he +had lost something; and went shivering back, towards the shed. + +'Shall I bring him in, father?' asked Barnaby, who had looked on, +wondering. + +He only answered with a suppressed groan, and lying down upon the +ground, wrapped his cloak about his head, and shrunk into the +darkest corner. + +Finding that nothing would rouse Hugh now, or make him sensible for +a moment, Barnaby dragged him along the grass, and laid him on a +little heap of refuse hay and straw which had been his own bed; +first having brought some water from a running stream hard by, and +washed his wound, and laved his hands and face. Then he lay down +himself, between the two, to pass the night; and looking at the +stars, fell fast asleep. + +Awakened early in the morning, by the sunshine and the songs of +birds, and hum of insects, he left them sleeping in the hut, and +walked into the sweet and pleasant air. But he felt that on his +jaded senses, oppressed and burdened with the dreadful scenes of +last night, and many nights before, all the beauties of opening +day, which he had so often tasted, and in which he had had such +deep delight, fell heavily. He thought of the blithe mornings when +he and the dogs went bounding on together through the woods and +fields; and the recollection filled his eyes with tears. He had no +consciousness, God help him, of having done wrong, nor had he any +new perception of the merits of the cause in which he had been +engaged, or those of the men who advocated it; but he was full of +cares now, and regrets, and dismal recollections, and wishes (quite +unknown to him before) that this or that event had never happened, +and that the sorrow and suffering of so many people had been +spared. And now he began to think how happy they would be--his +father, mother, he, and Hugh--if they rambled away together, and +lived in some lonely place, where there were none of these +troubles; and that perhaps the blind man, who had talked so wisely +about gold, and told him of the great secrets he knew, could teach +them how to live without being pinched by want. As this occurred +to him, he was the more sorry that he had not seen him last night; +and he was still brooding over this regret, when his father came, +and touched him on the shoulder. + +'Ah!' cried Barnaby, starting from his fit of thoughtfulness. 'Is +it only you?' + +'Who should it be?' + +'I almost thought,' he answered, 'it was the blind man. I must +have some talk with him, father.' + +'And so must I, for without seeing him, I don't know where to fly +or what to do, and lingering here, is death. You must go to him +again, and bring him here.' + +'Must I!' cried Barnaby, delighted; 'that's brave, father. That's +what I want to do.' + +'But you must bring only him, and none other. And though you wait +at his door a whole day and night, still you must wait, and not +come back without him.' + +'Don't you fear that,' he cried gaily. 'He shall come, he shall +come.' + +'Trim off these gewgaws,' said his father, plucking the scraps of +ribbon and the feathers from his hat, 'and over your own dress wear +my cloak. Take heed how you go, and they will be too busy in the +streets to notice you. Of your coming back you need take no +account, for he'll manage that, safely.' + +'To be sure!' said Barnaby. 'To be sure he will! A wise man, +father, and one who can teach us to be rich. Oh! I know him, I +know him.' + +He was speedily dressed, and as well disguised as he could be. +With a lighter heart he then set off upon his second journey, +leaving Hugh, who was still in a drunken stupor, stretched upon the +ground within the shed, and his father walking to and fro before it. + +The murderer, full of anxious thoughts, looked after him, and paced +up and down, disquieted by every breath of air that whispered among +the boughs, and by every light shadow thrown by the passing clouds +upon the daisied ground. He was anxious for his safe return, and +yet, though his own life and safety hung upon it, felt a relief +while he was gone. In the intense selfishness which the constant +presence before him of his great crimes, and their consequences +here and hereafter, engendered, every thought of Barnaby, as his +son, was swallowed up and lost. Still, his presence was a torture +and reproach; in his wild eyes, there were terrible images of that +guilty night; with his unearthly aspect, and his half-formed mind, +he seemed to the murderer a creature who had sprung into existence +from his victim's blood. He could not bear his look, his voice, +his touch; and yet he was forced, by his own desperate condition +and his only hope of cheating the gibbet, to have him by his side, +and to know that he was inseparable from his single chance of escape. + +He walked to and fro, with little rest, all day, revolving these +things in his mind; and still Hugh lay, unconscious, in the shed. +At length, when the sun was setting, Barnaby returned, leading the +blind man, and talking earnestly to him as they came along together. + +The murderer advanced to meet them, and bidding his son go on and +speak to Hugh, who had just then staggered to his feet, took his +place at the blind man's elbow, and slowly followed, towards the +shed. + +'Why did you send HIM?' said Stagg. 'Don't you know it was the way +to have him lost, as soon as found?' + +'Would you have had me come myself?' returned the other. + +'Humph! Perhaps not. I was before the jail on Tuesday night, but +missed you in the crowd. I was out last night, too. There was +good work last night--gay work--profitable work'--he added, +rattling the money in his pockets. + +'Have you--' + +--'Seen your good lady? Yes.' + +'Do you mean to tell me more, or not?' + +'I'll tell you all,' returned the blind man, with a laugh. 'Excuse +me--but I love to see you so impatient. There's energy in it.' + +'Does she consent to say the word that may save me?' + +'No,' returned the blind man emphatically, as he turned his face +towards him. 'No. Thus it is. She has been at death's door since +she lost her darling--has been insensible, and I know not what. I +tracked her to a hospital, and presented myself (with your leave) +at her bedside. Our talk was not a long one, for she was weak, and +there being people near I was not quite easy. But I told her all +that you and I agreed upon, and pointed out the young gentleman's +position, in strong terms. She tried to soften me, but that, of +course (as I told her), was lost time. She cried and moaned, you +may be sure; all women do. Then, of a sudden, she found her voice +and strength, and said that Heaven would help her and her innocent +son; and that to Heaven she appealed against us--which she did; in +really very pretty language, I assure you. I advised her, as a +friend, not to count too much on assistance from any such distant +quarter--recommended her to think of it--told her where I lived-- +said I knew she would send to me before noon, next day--and left +her, either in a faint or shamming.' + +When he had concluded this narration, during which he had made +several pauses, for the convenience of cracking and eating nuts, of +which he seemed to have a pocketful, the blind man pulled a flask +from his pocket, took a draught himself, and offered it to his +companion. + +'You won't, won't you?' he said, feeling that he pushed it from +him. 'Well! Then the gallant gentleman who's lodging with you, +will. Hallo, bully!' + +'Death!' said the other, holding him back. 'Will you tell me what +I am to do!' + +'Do! Nothing easier. Make a moonlight flitting in two hours' time +with the young gentleman (he's quite ready to go; I have been +giving him good advice as we came along), and get as far from +London as you can. Let me know where you are, and leave the rest +to me. She MUST come round; she can't hold out long; and as to the +chances of your being retaken in the meanwhile, why it wasn't one +man who got out of Newgate, but three hundred. Think of that, for +your comfort.' + +'We must support life. How?' + +'How!' repeated the blind man. 'By eating and drinking. And how +get meat and drink, but by paying for it! Money!' he cried, +slapping his pocket. 'Is money the word? Why, the streets have +been running money. Devil send that the sport's not over yet, for +these are jolly times; golden, rare, roaring, scrambling times. +Hallo, bully! Hallo! Hallo! Drink, bully, drink. Where are ye +there! Hallo!' + +With such vociferations, and with a boisterous manner which bespoke +his perfect abandonment to the general licence and disorder, he +groped his way towards the shed, where Hugh and Barnaby were +sitting on the ground. + +'Put it about!' he cried, handing his flask to Hugh. 'The kennels +run with wine and gold. Guineas and strong water flow from the +very pumps. About with it, don't spare it!' + +Exhausted, unwashed, unshorn, begrimed with smoke and dust, his +hair clotted with blood, his voice quite gone, so that he spoke in +whispers; his skin parched up by fever, his whole body bruised and +cut, and beaten about, Hugh still took the flask, and raised it to +his lips. He was in the act of drinking, when the front of the +shed was suddenly darkened, and Dennis stood before them. + +'No offence, no offence,' said that personage in a conciliatory +tone, as Hugh stopped in his draught, and eyed him, with no +pleasant look, from head to foot. 'No offence, brother. Barnaby +here too, eh? How are you, Barnaby? And two other gentlemen! +Your humble servant, gentlemen. No offence to YOU either, I hope. +Eh, brothers?' + +Notwithstanding that he spoke in this very friendly and confident +manner, he seemed to have considerable hesitation about entering, +and remained outside the roof. He was rather better dressed than +usual: wearing the same suit of threadbare black, it is true, but +having round his neck an unwholesome-looking cravat of a yellowish +white; and, on his hands, great leather gloves, such as a gardener +might wear in following his trade. His shoes were newly greased, +and ornamented with a pair of rusty iron buckles; the packthread at +his knees had been renewed; and where he wanted buttons, he wore +pins. Altogether, he had something the look of a tipstaff, or a +bailiff's follower, desperately faded, but who had a notion of +keeping up the appearance of a professional character, and making +the best of the worst means. + +'You're very snug here,' said Mr Dennis, pulling out a mouldy +pocket-handkerchief, which looked like a decomposed halter, and +wiping his forehead in a nervous manner. + +'Not snug enough to prevent your finding us, it seems,' Hugh +answered, sulkily. + +'Why I'll tell you what, brother,' said Dennis, with a friendly +smile, 'when you don't want me to know which way you're riding, you +must wear another sort of bells on your horse. Ah! I know the +sound of them you wore last night, and have got quick ears for 'em; +that's the truth. Well, but how are you, brother?' + +He had by this time approached, and now ventured to sit down by him. + +'How am I?' answered Hugh. 'Where were you yesterday? Where did +you go when you left me in the jail? Why did you leave me? And +what did you mean by rolling your eyes and shaking your fist at me, +eh?' + +'I shake my fist!--at you, brother!' said Dennis, gently checking +Hugh's uplifted hand, which looked threatening. + +'Your stick, then; it's all one.' + +'Lord love you, brother, I meant nothing. You don't understand me +by half. I shouldn't wonder now,' he added, in the tone of a +desponding and an injured man, 'but you thought, because I wanted +them chaps left in the prison, that I was a going to desert the +banners?' + +Hugh told him, with an oath, that he had thought so. + +'Well!' said Mr Dennis, mournfully, 'if you an't enough to make a +man mistrust his feller-creeturs, I don't know what is. Desert the +banners! Me! Ned Dennis, as was so christened by his own +father!--Is this axe your'n, brother?' + +Yes, it's mine,' said Hugh, in the same sullen manner as before; +'it might have hurt you, if you had come in its way once or twice +last night. Put it down.' + +'Might have hurt me!' said Mr Dennis, still keeping it in his hand, +and feeling the edge with an air of abstraction. 'Might have hurt +me! and me exerting myself all the time to the wery best advantage. +Here's a world! And you're not a-going to ask me to take a sup out +of that 'ere bottle, eh?' + +Hugh passed it towards him. As he raised it to his lips, Barnaby +jumped up, and motioning them to be silent, looked eagerly out. + +'What's the matter, Barnaby?' said Dennis, glancing at Hugh and +dropping the flask, but still holding the axe in his hand. + +'Hush!' he answered softly. 'What do I see glittering behind the +hedge?' + +'What!' cried the hangman, raising his voice to its highest pitch, +and laying hold of him and Hugh. 'Not SOLDIERS, surely!' + +That moment, the shed was filled with armed men; and a body of +horse, galloping into the field, drew up before it. + +'There!' said Dennis, who remained untouched among them when they +had seized their prisoners; 'it's them two young ones, gentlemen, +that the proclamation puts a price on. This other's an escaped +felon.--I'm sorry for it, brother,' he added, in a tone of +resignation, addressing himself to Hugh; 'but you've brought it on +yourself; you forced me to do it; you wouldn't respect the +soundest constitootional principles, you know; you went and +wiolated the wery framework of society. I had sooner have given +away a trifle in charity than done this, I would upon my soul.--If +you'll keep fast hold on 'em, gentlemen, I think I can make a shift +to tie 'em better than you can.' + +But this operation was postponed for a few moments by a new +occurrence. The blind man, whose ears were quicker than most +people's sight, had been alarmed, before Barnaby, by a rustling in +the bushes, under cover of which the soldiers had advanced. He +retreated instantly--had hidden somewhere for a minute--and +probably in his confusion mistaking the point at which he had +emerged, was now seen running across the open meadow. + +An officer cried directly that he had helped to plunder a house +last night. He was loudly called on, to surrender. He ran the +harder, and in a few seconds would have been out of gunshot. The +word was given, and the men fired. + +There was a breathless pause and a profound silence, during which +all eyes were fixed upon him. He had been seen to start at the +discharge, as if the report had frightened him. But he neither +stopped nor slackened his pace in the least, and ran on full forty +yards further. Then, without one reel or stagger, or sign of +faintness, or quivering of any limb, he dropped. + +Some of them hurried up to where he lay;--the hangman with them. +Everything had passed so quickly, that the smoke had not yet +scattered, but curled slowly off in a little cloud, which seemed +like the dead man's spirit moving solemnly away. There were a few +drops of blood upon the grass--more, when they turned him over-- +that was all. + +'Look here! Look here!' said the hangman, stooping one knee beside +the body, and gazing up with a disconsolate face at the officer and +men. 'Here's a pretty sight!' + +'Stand out of the way,' replied the officer. 'Serjeant! see what +he had about him.' + +The man turned his pockets out upon the grass, and counted, besides +some foreign coins and two rings, five-and-forty guineas in gold. +These were bundled up in a handkerchief and carried away; the body +remained there for the present, but six men and the serjeant were +left to take it to the nearest public-house. + +'Now then, if you're going,' said the serjeant, clapping Dennis on +the back, and pointing after the officer who was walking towards +the shed. + +To which Mr Dennis only replied, 'Don't talk to me!' and then +repeated what he had said before, namely, 'Here's a pretty sight!' + +'It's not one that you care for much, I should think,' observed the +serjeant coolly. + +'Why, who,' said Mr Dennis rising, 'should care for it, if I +don't?' + +'Oh! I didn't know you was so tender-hearted,' said the serjeant. +'That's all!' + +'Tender-hearted!' echoed Dennis. 'Tender-hearted! Look at this +man. Do you call THIS constitootional? Do you see him shot +through and through instead of being worked off like a Briton? +Damme, if I know which party to side with. You're as bad as the +other. What's to become of the country if the military power's to +go a superseding the ciwilians in this way? Where's this poor +feller-creetur's rights as a citizen, that he didn't have ME in +his last moments! I was here. I was willing. I was ready. These +are nice times, brother, to have the dead crying out against us in +this way, and sleep comfortably in our beds arterwards; wery +nice!' + +Whether he derived any material consolation from binding the +prisoners, is uncertain; most probably he did. At all events his +being summoned to that work, diverted him, for the time, from these +painful reflections, and gave his thoughts a more congenial +occupation. + +They were not all three carried off together, but in two parties; +Barnaby and his father, going by one road in the centre of a body +of foot; and Hugh, fast bound upon a horse, and strongly guarded by +a troop of cavalry, being taken by another. + +They had no opportunity for the least communication, in the short +interval which preceded their departure; being kept strictly apart. +Hugh only observed that Barnaby walked with a drooping head among +his guard, and, without raising his eyes, that he tried to wave +his fettered hand when he passed. For himself, he buoyed up his +courage as he rode along, with the assurance that the mob would +force his jail wherever it might be, and set him at liberty. But +when they got into London, and more especially into Fleet Market, +lately the stronghold of the rioters, where the military were +rooting out the last remnant of the crowd, he saw that this hope +was gone, and felt that he was riding to his death. + + + +Chapter 70 + + +Mr Dennis having despatched this piece of business without any +personal hurt or inconvenience, and having now retired into the +tranquil respectability of private life, resolved to solace himself +with half an hour or so of female society. With this amiable +purpose in his mind, he bent his steps towards the house where +Dolly and Miss Haredale were still confined, and whither Miss Miggs +had also been removed by order of Mr Simon Tappertit. + +As he walked along the streets with his leather gloves clasped +behind him, and his face indicative of cheerful thought and +pleasant calculation, Mr Dennis might have been likened unto a +farmer ruminating among his crops, and enjoying by anticipation the +bountiful gifts of Providence. Look where he would, some heap of +ruins afforded him rich promise of a working off; the whole town +appeared to have been ploughed and sown, and nurtured by most +genial weather; and a goodly harvest was at hand. + +Having taken up arms and resorted to deeds of violence, with the +great main object of preserving the Old Bailey in all its purity, +and the gallows in all its pristine usefulness and moral grandeur, +it would perhaps be going too far to assert that Mr Dennis had ever +distinctly contemplated and foreseen this happy state of things. +He rather looked upon it as one of those beautiful dispensations +which are inscrutably brought about for the behoof and advantage of +good men. He felt, as it were, personally referred to, in this +prosperous ripening for the gibbet; and had never considered +himself so much the pet and favourite child of Destiny, or loved +that lady so well or with such a calm and virtuous reliance, in +all his life. + +As to being taken up, himself, for a rioter, and punished with the +rest, Mr Dennis dismissed that possibility from his thoughts as an +idle chimera; arguing that the line of conduct he had adopted at +Newgate, and the service he had rendered that day, would be more +than a set-off against any evidence which might identify him as a +member of the crowd. That any charge of companionship which might +be made against him by those who were themselves in danger, would +certainly go for nought. And that if any trivial indiscretion on +his part should unluckily come out, the uncommon usefulness of his +office, at present, and the great demand for the exercise of its +functions, would certainly cause it to be winked at, and passed +over. In a word, he had played his cards throughout, with great +care; had changed sides at the very nick of time; had delivered up +two of the most notorious rioters, and a distinguished felon to +boot; and was quite at his ease. + +Saving--for there is a reservation; and even Mr Dennis was not +perfectly happy--saving for one circumstance; to wit, the forcible +detention of Dolly and Miss Haredale, in a house almost adjoining +his own. This was a stumbling-block; for if they were discovered +and released, they could, by the testimony they had it in their +power to give, place him in a situation of great jeopardy; and to +set them at liberty, first extorting from them an oath of secrecy +and silence, was a thing not to be thought of. It was more, +perhaps, with an eye to the danger which lurked in this quarter, +than from his abstract love of conversation with the sex, that the +hangman, quickening his steps, now hastened into their society, +cursing the amorous natures of Hugh and Mr Tappertit with great +heartiness, at every step he took. + +When be entered the miserable room in which they were confined, +Dolly and Miss Haredale withdrew in silence to the remotest corner. +But Miss Miggs, who was particularly tender of her reputation, +immediately fell upon her knees and began to scream very loud, +crying, 'What will become of me!'--'Where is my Simmuns!'--'Have +mercy, good gentlemen, on my sex's weaknesses!'--with other doleful +lamentations of that nature, which she delivered with great +propriety and decorum. + +'Miss, miss,' whispered Dennis, beckoning to her with his +forefinger, 'come here--I won't hurt you. Come here, my lamb, will +you?' + +On hearing this tender epithet, Miss Miggs, who had left off +screaming when he opened his lips, and had listened to him +attentively, began again, crying: 'Oh I'm his lamb! He says I'm +his lamb! Oh gracious, why wasn't I born old and ugly! Why was I +ever made to be the youngest of six, and all of 'em dead and in +their blessed graves, excepting one married sister, which is +settled in Golden Lion Court, number twenty-sivin, second bell- +handle on the--!' + +'Don't I say I an't a-going to hurt you?' said Dennis, pointing to +a chair. 'Why miss, what's the matter?' + +'I don't know what mayn't be the matter!' cried Miss Miggs, +clasping her hands distractedly. 'Anything may be the matter!' + +'But nothing is, I tell you,' said the hangman. 'First stop that +noise and come and sit down here, will you, chuckey?' + +The coaxing tone in which he said these latter words might have +failed in its object, if he had not accompanied them with sundry +sharp jerks of his thumb over one shoulder, and with divers winks +and thrustings of his tongue into his cheek, from which signals the +damsel gathered that he sought to speak to her apart, concerning +Miss Haredale and Dolly. Her curiosity being very powerful, and +her jealousy by no means inactive, she arose, and with a great deal +of shivering and starting back, and much muscular action among all +the small bones in her throat, gradually approached him. + +'Sit down,' said the hangman. + +Suiting the action to the word, he thrust her rather suddenly and +prematurely into a chair, and designing to reassure her by a little +harmless jocularity, such as is adapted to please and fascinate +the sex, converted his right forefinger into an ideal bradawl or +gimlet, and made as though he would screw the same into her side-- +whereat Miss Miggs shrieked again, and evinced symptoms of +faintness. + +'Lovey, my dear,' whispered Dennis, drawing his chair close to +hers. 'When was your young man here last, eh?' + +'MY young man, good gentleman!' answered Miggs in a tone of +exquisite distress. + +'Ah! Simmuns, you know--him?' said Dennis. + +'Mine indeed!' cried Miggs, with a burst of bitterness--and as she +said it, she glanced towards Dolly. 'MINE, good gentleman!' + +This was just what Mr Dennis wanted, and expected. + +'Ah!' he said, looking so soothingly, not to say amorously on +Miggs, that she sat, as she afterwards remarked, on pins and +needles of the sharpest Whitechapel kind, not knowing what +intentions might be suggesting that expression to his features: +'I was afraid of that. I saw as much myself. It's her fault. She +WILL entice 'em.' + +'I wouldn't,' cried Miggs, folding her hands and looking upwards +with a kind of devout blankness, 'I wouldn't lay myself out as she +does; I wouldn't be as bold as her; I wouldn't seem to say to all +male creeturs "Come and kiss me"'--and here a shudder quite +convulsed her frame--'for any earthly crowns as might be offered. +Worlds,' Miggs added solemnly, 'should not reduce me. No. Not if +I was Wenis.' + +'Well, but you ARE Wenus, you know,' said Mr Dennis, +confidentially. + +'No, I am not, good gentleman,' answered Miggs, shaking her head +with an air of self-denial which seemed to imply that she might be +if she chose, but she hoped she knew better. 'No, I am not, good +gentleman. Don't charge me with it.' + +Up to this time she had turned round, every now and then, to where +Dolly and Miss Haredale had retired and uttered a scream, or groan, +or laid her hand upon her heart and trembled excessively, with a +view of keeping up appearances, and giving them to understand that +she conversed with the visitor, under protest and on compulsion, +and at a great personal sacrifice, for their common good. But at +this point, Mr Dennis looked so very full of meaning, and gave such +a singularly expressive twitch to his face as a request to her to +come still nearer to him, that she abandoned these little arts, and +gave him her whole and undivided attention. + +'When was Simmuns here, I say?' quoth Dennis, in her ear. + +'Not since yesterday morning; and then only for a few minutes. Not +all day, the day before.' + +'You know he meant all along to carry off that one!' said Dennis, +indicating Dolly by the slightest possible jerk of his head:--'And +to hand you over to somebody else.' + +Miss Miggs, who had fallen into a terrible state of grief when the +first part of this sentence was spoken, recovered a little at the +second, and seemed by the sudden check she put upon her tears, to +intimate that possibly this arrangement might meet her views; and +that it might, perhaps, remain an open question. + +'--But unfort'nately,' pursued Dennis, who observed this: 'somebody +else was fond of her too, you see; and even if he wasn't, somebody +else is took for a rioter, and it's all over with him.' + +Miss Miggs relapsed. + +'Now I want,' said Dennis, 'to clear this house, and to see you +righted. What if I was to get her off, out of the way, eh?' + +Miss Miggs, brightening again, rejoined, with many breaks and +pauses from excess of feeling, that temptations had been Simmuns's +bane. That it was not his faults, but hers (meaning Dolly's). +That men did not see through these dreadful arts as women did, and +therefore was caged and trapped, as Simmun had been. That she had +no personal motives to serve--far from it--on the contrary, her +intentions was good towards all parties. But forasmuch as she +knowed that Simmun, if united to any designing and artful minxes +(she would name no names, for that was not her dispositions)--to +ANY designing and artful minxes--must be made miserable and unhappy +for life, she DID incline towards prewentions. Such, she added, +was her free confessions. But as this was private feelings, and +might perhaps be looked upon as wengeance, she begged the gentleman +would say no more. Whatever he said, wishing to do her duty by all +mankind, even by them as had ever been her bitterest enemies, she +would not listen to him. With that she stopped her ears, and shook +her head from side to side, to intimate to Mr Dennis that though he +talked until he had no breath left, she was as deaf as any adder. + +'Lookee here, my sugar-stick,' said Mr Dennis, 'if your view's the +same as mine, and you'll only be quiet and slip away at the right +time, I can have the house clear to-morrow, and be out of this +trouble.--Stop though! there's the other.' + +'Which other, sir?' asked Miggs--still with her fingers in her ears +and her head shaking obstinately. + +'Why, the tallest one, yonder,' said Dennis, as he stroked his +chin, and added, in an undertone to himself, something about not +crossing Muster Gashford. + +Miss Miggs replied (still being profoundly deaf) that if Miss +Haredale stood in the way at all, he might make himself quite easy +on that score; as she had gathered, from what passed between Hugh +and Mr Tappertit when they were last there, that she was to be +removed alone (not by them, but by somebody else), to-morrow night. + +Mr Dennis opened his eyes very wide at this piece of information, +whistled once, considered once, and finally slapped his head once +and nodded once, as if he had got the clue to this mysterious +removal, and so dismissed it. Then he imparted his design +concerning Dolly to Miss Miggs, who was taken more deaf than +before, when he began; and so remained, all through. + +The notable scheme was this. Mr Dennis was immediately to seek out +from among the rioters, some daring young fellow (and he had one in +his eye, he said), who, terrified by the threats he could hold out +to him, and alarmed by the capture of so many who were no better +and no worse than he, would gladly avail himself of any help to get +abroad, and out of harm's way, with his plunder, even though his +journey were incumbered by an unwilling companion; indeed, the +unwilling companion being a beautiful girl, would probably be an +additional inducement and temptation. Such a person found, he +proposed to bring him there on the ensuing night, when the tall one +was taken off, and Miss Miggs had purposely retired; and then that +Dolly should be gagged, muffled in a cloak, and carried in any +handy conveyance down to the river's side; where there were +abundant means of getting her smuggled snugly off in any small +craft of doubtful character, and no questions asked. With regard +to the expense of this removal, he would say, at a rough +calculation, that two or three silver tea or coffee-pots, with +something additional for drink (such as a muffineer, or toast- +rack), would more than cover it. Articles of plate of every kind +having been buried by the rioters in several lonely parts of +London, and particularly, as he knew, in St James's Square, which, +though easy of access, was little frequented after dark, and had a +convenient piece of water in the midst, the needful funds were +close at hand, and could be had upon the shortest notice. With +regard to Dolly, the gentleman would exercise his own discretion. +He would be bound to do nothing but to take her away, and keep her +away. All other arrangements and dispositions would rest entirely +with himself. + +If Miss Miggs had had her hearing, no doubt she would have been +greatly shocked by the indelicacy of a young female's going away +with a stranger by night (for her moral feelings, as we have said, +were of the tenderest kind); but directly Mr Dennis ceased to +speak, she reminded him that he had only wasted breath. She then +went on to say (still with her fingers in her ears) that nothing +less than a severe practical lesson would save the locksmith's +daughter from utter ruin; and that she felt it, as it were, a moral +obligation and a sacred duty to the family, to wish that some one +would devise one for her reformation. Miss Miggs remarked, and +very justly, as an abstract sentiment which happened to occur to +her at the moment, that she dared to say the locksmith and his wife +would murmur, and repine, if they were ever, by forcible abduction, +or otherwise, to lose their child; but that we seldom knew, in this +world, what was best for us: such being our sinful and imperfect +natures, that very few arrived at that clear understanding. + +Having brought their conversation to this satisfactory end, they +parted: Dennis, to pursue his design, and take another walk about +his farm; Miss Miggs, to launch, when he left her, into such a +burst of mental anguish (which she gave them to understand was +occasioned by certain tender things he had had the presumption and +audacity to say), that little Dolly's heart was quite melted. +Indeed, she said and did so much to soothe the outraged feelings of +Miss Miggs, and looked so beautiful while doing so, that if that +young maid had not had ample vent for her surpassing spite, in a +knowledge of the mischief that was brewing, she must have scratched +her features, on the spot. + + + +Chapter 71 + + +All next day, Emma Haredale, Dolly, and Miggs, remained cooped up +together in what had now been their prison for so many days, +without seeing any person, or hearing any sound but the murmured +conversation, in an outer room, of the men who kept watch over +them. There appeared to be more of these fellows than there had +been hitherto; and they could no longer hear the voices of women, +which they had before plainly distinguished. Some new excitement, +too, seemed to prevail among them; for there was much stealthy +going in and out, and a constant questioning of those who were +newly arrived. They had previously been quite reckless in their +behaviour; often making a great uproar; quarrelling among +themselves, fighting, dancing, and singing. They were now very +subdued and silent, conversing almost in whispers, and stealing in +and out with a soft and stealthy tread, very different from the +boisterous trampling in which their arrivals and departures had +hitherto been announced to the trembling captives. + +Whether this change was occasioned by the presence among them of +some person of authority in their ranks, or by any other cause, +they were unable to decide. Sometimes they thought it was in part +attributable to there being a sick man in the chamber, for last +night there had been a shuffling of feet, as though a burden were +brought in, and afterwards a moaning noise. But they had no means +of ascertaining the truth: for any question or entreaty on their +parts only provoked a storm of execrations, or something worse; and +they were too happy to be left alone, unassailed by threats or +admiration, to risk even that comfort, by any voluntary +communication with those who held them in durance. + +It was sufficiently evident, both to Emma and to the locksmith's +poor little daughter herself, that she, Dolly, was the great +object of attraction; and that so soon as they should have leisure +to indulge in the softer passion, Hugh and Mr Tappertit would +certainly fall to blows for her sake; in which latter case, it was +not very difficult to see whose prize she would become. With all +her old horror of that man revived, and deepened into a degree of +aversion and abhorrence which no language can describe; with a +thousand old recollections and regrets, and causes of distress, +anxiety, and fear, besetting her on all sides; poor Dolly Varden-- +sweet, blooming, buxom Dolly--began to hang her head, and fade, and +droop, like a beautiful flower. The colour fled from her cheeks, +her courage forsook her, her gentle heart failed. Unmindful of all +her provoking caprices, forgetful of all her conquests and +inconstancy, with all her winning little vanities quite gone, she +nestled all the livelong day in Emma Haredale's bosom; and, +sometimes calling on her dear old grey-haired father, sometimes on +her mother, and sometimes even on her old home, pined slowly away, +like a poor bird in its cage. + +Light hearts, light hearts, that float so gaily on a smooth stream, +that are so sparkling and buoyant in the sunshine--down upon fruit, +bloom upon flowers, blush in summer air, life of the winged insect, +whose whole existence is a day--how soon ye sink in troubled water! +Poor Dolly's heart--a little, gentle, idle, fickle thing; giddy, +restless, fluttering; constant to nothing but bright looks, and +smiles and laughter--Dolly's heart was breaking. + +Emma had known grief, and could bear it better. She had little +comfort to impart, but she could soothe and tend her, and she did +so; and Dolly clung to her like a child to its nurse. In +endeavouring to inspire her with some fortitude, she increased her +own; and though the nights were long, and the days dismal, and she +felt the wasting influence of watching and fatigue, and had +perhaps a more defined and clear perception of their destitute +condition and its worst dangers, she uttered no complaint. Before +the ruffians, in whose power they were, she bore herself so +calmly, and with such an appearance, in the midst of all her +terror, of a secret conviction that they dared not harm her, that +there was not a man among them but held her in some degree of +dread; and more than one believed she had a weapon hidden in her +dress, and was prepared to use it. + +Such was their condition when they were joined by Miss Miggs, who +gave them to understand that she too had been taken prisoner +because of her charms, and detailed such feats of resistance she +had performed (her virtue having given her supernatural strength), +that they felt it quite a happiness to have her for a champion. +Nor was this the only comfort they derived at first from Miggs's +presence and society: for that young lady displayed such +resignation and long-suffering, and so much meek endurance, under +her trials, and breathed in all her chaste discourse a spirit of +such holy confidence and resignation, and devout belief that all +would happen for the best, that Emma felt her courage strengthened +by the bright example; never doubting but that everything she said +was true, and that she, like them, was torn from all she loved, and +agonised by doubt and apprehension. As to poor Dolly, she was +roused, at first, by seeing one who came from home; but when she +heard under what circumstances she had left it, and into whose +hands her father had fallen, she wept more bitterly than ever, and +refused all comfort. + +Miss Miggs was at some trouble to reprove her for this state of +mind, and to entreat her to take example by herself, who, she +said, was now receiving back, with interest, tenfold the amount of +her subscriptions to the red-brick dwelling-house, in the articles +of peace of mind and a quiet conscience. And, while on serious +topics, Miss Miggs considered it her duty to try her hand at the +conversion of Miss Haredale; for whose improvement she launched +into a polemical address of some length, in the course whereof, +she likened herself unto a chosen missionary, and that young lady +to a cannibal in darkness. Indeed, she returned so often to these +sublects, and so frequently called upon them to take a lesson from +her,--at the same time vaunting and, as it were, rioting in, her +huge unworthiness, and abundant excess of sin,--that, in the course +of a short time, she became, in that small chamber, rather a +nuisance than a comfort, and rendered them, if possible, even more +unhappy than they had been before. + +The night had now come; and for the first time (for their jailers +had been regular in bringing food and candles), they were left in +darkness. Any change in their condition in such a place inspired +new fears; and when some hours had passed, and the gloom was still +unbroken, Emma could no longer repress her alarm. + +They listened attentively. There was the same murmuring in the +outer room, and now and then a moan which seemed to be wrung from a +person in great pain, who made an effort to subdue it, but could +not. Even these men seemed to be in darkness too; for no light +shone through the chinks in the door, nor were they moving, as +their custom was, but quite still: the silence being unbroken by +so much as the creaking of a board. + +At first, Miss Miggs wondered greatly in her own mind who this sick +person might be; but arriving, on second thoughts, at the +conclusion that he was a part of the schemes on foot, and an artful +device soon to be employed with great success, she opined, for Miss +Haredale's comfort, that it must be some misguided Papist who had +been wounded: and this happy supposition encouraged her to say, +under her breath, 'Ally Looyer!' several times. + +'Is it possible,' said Emma, with some indignation, 'that you who +have seen these men committing the outrages you have told us of, +and who have fallen into their hands, like us, can exult in their +cruelties!' + +'Personal considerations, miss,' rejoined Miggs, 'sinks into +nothing, afore a noble cause. Ally Looyer! Ally Looyer! Ally +Looyer, good gentlemen!' + +It seemed from the shrill pertinacity with which Miss Miggs +repeated this form of acclamation, that she was calling the same +through the keyhole of the door; but in the profound darkness she +could not be seen. + +'If the time has come--Heaven knows it may come at any moment--when +they are bent on prosecuting the designs, whatever they may be, +with which they have brought us here, can you still encourage, and +take part with them?' demanded Emma. + +'I thank my goodness-gracious-blessed-stars I can, miss,' returned +Miggs, with increased energy.--'Ally Looyer, good gentlemen!' + +Even Dolly, cast down and disappointed as she was, revived at this, +and bade Miggs hold her tongue directly. + +'WHICH, was you pleased to observe, Miss Varden?' said Miggs, with +a strong emphasis on the irrelative pronoun. + +Dolly repeated her request. + +'Ho, gracious me!' cried Miggs, with hysterical derision. 'Ho, +gracious me! Yes, to be sure I will. Ho yes! I am a abject +slave, and a toiling, moiling, constant-working, always-being- +found-fault-with, never-giving-satisfactions, nor-having-no- +time-to-clean-oneself, potter's wessel--an't I, miss! Ho yes! My +situations is lowly, and my capacities is limited, and my duties is +to humble myself afore the base degenerating daughters of their +blessed mothers as is--fit to keep companies with holy saints but +is born to persecutions from wicked relations--and to demean myself +before them as is no better than Infidels--an't it, miss! Ho yes! +My only becoming occupations is to help young flaunting pagins to +brush and comb and titiwate theirselves into whitening and +suppulchres, and leave the young men to think that there an't a bit +of padding in it nor no pinching ins nor fillings out nor pomatums +nor deceits nor earthly wanities--an't it, miss! Yes, to be sure +it is--ho yes!' + +Having delivered these ironical passages with a most wonderful +volubility, and with a shrillness perfectly deafening (especially +when she jerked out the interjections), Miss Miggs, from mere +habit, and not because weeping was at all appropriate to the +occasion, which was one of triumph, concluded by bursting into a +flood of tears, and calling in an impassioned manner on the name of +Simmuns. + +What Emma Haredale and Dolly would have done, or how long Miss +Miggs, now that she had hoisted her true colours, would have gone +on waving them before their astonished senses, it is impossible to +tell. Nor is it necessary to speculate on these matters, for a +startling interruption occurred at that moment, which took their +whole attention by storm. + +This was a violent knocking at the door of the house, and then its +sudden bursting open; which was immediately succeeded by a scuffle +in the room without, and the clash of weapons. Transported with +the hope that rescue had at length arrived, Emma and Dolly shrieked +aloud for help; nor were their shrieks unanswered; for after a +hurried interval, a man, bearing in one hand a drawn sword, and in +the other a taper, rushed into the chamber where they were confined. + +It was some check upon their transport to find in this person an +entire stranger, but they appealed to him, nevertheless, and +besought him, in impassioned language, to restore them to their +friends. + +'For what other purpose am I here?' he answered, closing the door, +and standing with his back against it. 'With what object have I +made my way to this place, through difficulty and danger, but to +preserve you?' + +With a joy for which it was impossible to find adequate expression, +they embraced each other, and thanked Heaven for this most timely +aid. Their deliverer stepped forward for a moment to put the light +upon the table, and immediately returning to his former position +against the door, bared his head, and looked on smilingly. + +'You have news of my uncle, sir?' said Emma, turning hastily +towards him. + +'And of my father and mother?' added Dolly. + +'Yes,' he said. 'Good news.' + +'They are alive and unhurt?' they both cried at once. + +'Yes, and unhurt,' he rejoined. + +'And close at hand?' + +'I did not say close at hand,' he answered smoothly; 'they are at +no great distance. YOUR friends, sweet one,' he added, addressing +Dolly, 'are within a few hours' journey. You will be restored to +them, I hope, to-night.' + +'My uncle, sir--' faltered Emma. + +'Your uncle, dear Miss Haredale, happily--I say happily, because he +has succeeded where many of our creed have failed, and is safe--has +crossed the sea, and is out of Britain.' + +'I thank God for it,' said Emma, faintly. + +'You say well. You have reason to be thankful: greater reason +than it is possible for you, who have seen but one night of these +cruel outrages, to imagine.' + +'Does he desire,' said Emma, 'that I should follow him?' + +'Do you ask if he desires it?' cried the stranger in surprise. 'IF +he desires it! But you do not know the danger of remaining in +England, the difficulty of escape, or the price hundreds would pay +to secure the means, when you make that inquiry. Pardon me. I had +forgotten that you could not, being prisoner here.' + +'I gather, sir,' said Emma, after a moment's pause, 'from what you +hint at, but fear to tell me, that I have witnessed but the +beginning, and the least, of the violence to which we are exposed, +and that it has not yet slackened in its fury?' + +He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, lifted up his hands; and +with the same smooth smile, which was not a pleasant one to see, +cast his eyes upon the ground, and remained silent. + +'You may venture, sir, to speak plain,' said Emma, 'and to tell me +the worst. We have undergone some preparation for it.' + +But here Dolly interposed, and entreated her not to hear the worst, +but the best; and besought the gentleman to tell them the best, and +to keep the remainder of his news until they were safe among their +friends again. + +'It is told in three words,' he said, glancing at the locksmith's +daughter with a look of some displeasure. 'The people have risen, +to a man, against us; the streets are filled with soldiers, who +support them and do their bidding. We have no protection but from +above, and no safety but in flight; and that is a poor resource; +for we are watched on every hand, and detained here, both by force +and fraud. Miss Haredale, I cannot bear--believe me, that I cannot +bear--by speaking of myself, or what I have done, or am prepared +to do, to seem to vaunt my services before you. But, having +powerful Protestant connections, and having my whole wealth +embarked with theirs in shipping and commerce, I happily possessed +the means of saving your uncle. I have the means of saving you; +and in redemption of my sacred promise, made to him, I am here; +pledged not to leave you until I have placed you in his arms. The +treachery or penitence of one of the men about you, led to the +discovery of your place of confinement; and that I have forced my +way here, sword in hand, you see.' + +'You bring,' said Emma, faltering, 'some note or token from my +uncle?' + +'No, he doesn't,' cried Dolly, pointing at him earnestly; 'now I am +sure he doesn't. Don't go with him for the world!' + +'Hush, pretty fool--be silent,' he replied, frowning angrily upon +her. 'No, Miss Haredale, I have no letter, nor any token of any +kind; for while I sympathise with you, and such as you, on whom +misfortune so heavy and so undeserved has fallen, I value my life. +I carry, therefore, no writing which, found upon me, would lead to +its certain loss. I never thought of bringing any other token, nor +did Mr Haredale think of entrusting me with one--possibly because +he had good experience of my faith and honesty, and owed his life +to me.' + +There was a reproof conveyed in these words, which to a nature like +Emma Haredale's, was well addressed. But Dolly, who was +differently constituted, was by no means touched by it, and still +conjured her, in all the terms of affection and attachment she +could think of, not to be lured away. + +'Time presses,' said their visitor, who, although he sought to +express the deepest interest, had something cold and even in his +speech, that grated on the ear; 'and danger surrounds us. If I +have exposed myself to it, in vain, let it be so; but if you and he +should ever meet again, do me justice. If you decide to remain (as +I think you do), remember, Miss Haredale, that I left you with a +solemn caution, and acquitting myself of all the consequences to +which you expose yourself.' + +'Stay, sir!' cried Emma--one moment, I beg you. Cannot we--and she +drew Dolly closer to her--'cannot we go together?' + +'The task of conveying one female in safety through such scenes as +we must encounter, to say nothing of attracting the attention of +those who crowd the streets,' he answered, 'is enough. I have said +that she will be restored to her friends to-night. If you accept +the service I tender, Miss Haredale, she shall be instantly placed +in safe conduct, and that promise redeemed. Do you decide to +remain? People of all ranks and creeds are flying from the town, +which is sacked from end to end. Let me be of use in some +quarter. Do you stay, or go?' + +'Dolly,' said Emma, in a hurried manner, 'my dear girl, this is our +last hope. If we part now, it is only that we may meet again in +happiness and honour. I will trust to this gentleman.' + +'No no-no!' cried Dolly, clinging to her. 'Pray, pray, do not!' + +'You hear,' said Emma, 'that to-night--only to-night--within a few +hours--think of that!--you will be among those who would die of +grief to lose you, and who are now plunged in the deepest misery +for your sake. Pray for me, dear girl, as I will for you; and +never forget the many quiet hours we have passed together. Say +one "God bless you!" Say that at parting!' + +But Dolly could say nothing; no, not when Emma kissed her cheek a +hundred times, and covered it with tears, could she do more than +hang upon her neck, and sob, and clasp, and hold her tight. + +'We have time for no more of this,' cried the man, unclenching her +hands, and pushing her roughly off, as he drew Emma Haredale +towards the door: 'Now! Quick, outside there! are you ready?' + +'Ay!' cried a loud voice, which made him start. 'Quite ready! +Stand back here, for your lives!' + +And in an instant he was felled like an ox in the butcher's +shambles--struck down as though a block of marble had fallen from +the roof and crushed him--and cheerful light, and beaming faces +came pouring in--and Emma was clasped in her uncle's embrace, and +Dolly, with a shriek that pierced the air, fell into the arms of +her father and mother. + +What fainting there was, what laughing, what crying, what sobbing, +what smiling, how much questioning, no answering, all talking +together, all beside themselves with joy; what kissing, +congratulating, embracing, shaking of hands, and falling into all +these raptures, over and over and over again; no language can +describe. + +At length, and after a long time, the old locksmith went up and +fairly hugged two strangers, who had stood apart and left them to +themselves; and then they saw--whom? Yes, Edward Chester and +Joseph Willet. + +'See here!' cried the locksmith. 'See here! where would any of us +have been without these two? Oh, Mr Edward, Mr Edward--oh, Joe, +Joe, how light, and yet how full, you have made my old heart to- +night!' + +'It was Mr Edward that knocked him down, sir,' said Joe: 'I longed +to do it, but I gave it up to him. Come, you brave and honest +gentleman! Get your senses together, for you haven't long to lie +here.' + +He had his foot upon the breast of their sham deliverer, in the +absence of a spare arm; and gave him a gentle roll as he spoke. +Gashford, for it was no other, crouching yet malignant, raised his +scowling face, like sin subdued, and pleaded to be gently used. + +'I have access to all my lord's papers, Mr Haredale,' he said, in a +submissive voice: Mr Haredale keeping his back towards him, and not +once looking round: 'there are very important documents among them. +There are a great many in secret drawers, and distributed in +various places, known only to my lord and me. I can give some very +valuable information, and render important assistance to any +inquiry. You will have to answer it, if I receive ill usage. + +'Pah!' cried Joe, in deep disgust. 'Get up, man; you're waited +for, outside. Get up, do you hear?' + +Gashford slowly rose; and picking up his hat, and looking with a +baffled malevolence, yet with an air of despicable humility, all +round the room, crawled out. + +'And now, gentlemen,' said Joe, who seemed to be the spokesman of +the party, for all the rest were silent; 'the sooner we get back +to the Black Lion, the better, perhaps.' + +Mr Haredale nodded assent, and drawing his niece's arm through his, +and taking one of her hands between his own, passed out +straightway; followed by the locksmith, Mrs Varden, and Dolly--who +would scarcely have presented a sufficient surface for all the hugs +and caresses they bestowed upon her though she had been a dozen +Dollys. Edward Chester and Joe followed. + +And did Dolly never once look behind--not once? Was there not one +little fleeting glimpse of the dark eyelash, almost resting on her +flushed cheek, and of the downcast sparkling eye it shaded? Joe +thought there was--and he is not likely to have been mistaken; for +there were not many eyes like Dolly's, that's the truth. + +The outer room through which they had to pass, was full of men; +among them, Mr Dennis in safe keeping; and there, had been since +yesterday, lying in hiding behind a wooden screen which was now +thrown down, Simon Tappertit, the recreant 'prentice, burnt and +bruised, and with a gun-shot wound in his body; and his legs--his +perfect legs, the pride and glory of his life, the comfort of his +existence--crushed into shapeless ugliness. Wondering no longer at +the moans they had heard, Dolly kept closer to her father, and +shuddered at the sight; but neither bruises, burns, nor gun-shot +wound, nor all the torture of his shattered limbs, sent half so +keen a pang to Simon's breast, as Dolly passing out, with Joe for +her preserver. + +A coach was ready at the door, and Dolly found herself safe and +whole inside, between her father and mother, with Emma Haredale and +her uncle, quite real, sitting opposite. But there was no Joe, no +Edward; and they had said nothing. They had only bowed once, and +kept at a distance. Dear heart! what a long way it was to the +Black Lion! + + + +Chapter 72 + + +The Black Lion was so far off, and occupied such a length of time +in the getting at, that notwithstanding the strong presumptive +evidence she had about her of the late events being real and of +actual occurrence, Dolly could not divest herself of the belief +that she must be in a dream which was lasting all night. Nor was +she quite certain that she saw and heard with her own proper +senses, even when the coach, in the fulness of time, stopped at the +Black Lion, and the host of that tavern approached in a gush of +cheerful light to help them to dismount, and give them hearty +welcome. + +There too, at the coach door, one on one side, one upon the other, +were already Edward Chester and Joe Willet, who must have followed +in another coach: and this was such a strange and unaccountable +proceeding, that Dolly was the more inclined to favour the idea of +her being fast asleep. But when Mr Willet appeared--old John +himself--so heavy-headed and obstinate, and with such a double +chin as the liveliest imagination could never in its boldest +flights have conjured up in all its vast proportions--then she +stood corrected, and unwillingly admitted to herself that she was +broad awake. + +And Joe had lost an arm--he--that well-made, handsome, gallant +fellow! As Dolly glanced towards him, and thought of the pain he +must have suffered, and the far-off places in which he had been +wandering, and wondered who had been his nurse, and hoped that +whoever it was, she had been as kind and gentle and considerate as +she would have been, the tears came rising to her bright eyes, one +by one, little by little, until she could keep them back no longer, +and so before them all, wept bitterly. + +'We are all safe now, Dolly,' said her father, kindly. 'We shall +not be separated any more. Cheer up, my love, cheer up!' + +The locksmith's wife knew better perhaps, than he, what ailed her +daughter. But Mrs Varden being quite an altered woman--for the +riots had done that good--added her word to his, and comforted her +with similar representations. + +'Mayhap,' said Mr Willet, senior, looking round upon the company, +'she's hungry. That's what it is, depend upon it--I am, myself.' + +The Black Lion, who, like old John, had been waiting supper past +all reasonable and conscionable hours, hailed this as a +philosophical discovery of the profoundest and most penetrating +kind; and the table being already spread, they sat down to supper +straightway. + +The conversation was not of the liveliest nature, nor were the +appetites of some among them very keen. But, in both these +respects, old John more than atoned for any deficiency on the part +of the rest, and very much distinguished himself. + +It was not in point of actual conversation that Mr Willet shone so +brilliantly, for he had none of his old cronies to 'tackle,' and +was rather timorous of venturing on Joe; having certain vague +misgivings within him, that he was ready on the shortest notice, +and on receipt of the slightest offence, to fell the Black Lion to +the floor of his own parlour, and immediately to withdraw to China +or some other remote and unknown region, there to dwell for +evermore, or at least until he had got rid of his remaining arm and +both legs, and perhaps an eye or so, into the bargain. It was with +a peculiar kind of pantomime that Mr Willet filled up every pause; +and in this he was considered by the Black Lion, who had been his +familiar for some years, quite to surpass and go beyond himself, +and outrun the expectations of his most admiring friends. + +The subject that worked in Mr Willet's mind, and occasioned these +demonstrations, was no other than his son's bodily disfigurement, +which he had never yet got himself thoroughly to believe, or +comprehend. Shortly after their first meeting, he had been +observed to wander, in a state of great perplexity, to the kitchen, +and to direct his gaze towards the fire, as if in search of his +usual adviser in all matters of doubt and difficulty. But there +being no boiler at the Black Lion, and the rioters having so beaten +and battered his own that it was quite unfit for further service, +he wandered out again, in a perfect bog of uncertainty and mental +confusion, and in that state took the strangest means of resolving +his doubts: such as feeling the sleeve of his son's greatcoat as +deeming it possible that his arm might be there; looking at his own +arms and those of everybody else, as if to assure himself that two +and not one was the usual allowance; sitting by the hour together +in a brown study, as if he were endeavouring to recall Joe's image +in his younger days, and to remember whether he really had in those +times one arm or a pair; and employing himself in many other +speculations of the same kind. + +Finding himself at this supper, surrounded by faces with which he +had been so well acquainted in old times, Mr Willet recurred to the +subject with uncommon vigour; apparently resolved to understand it +now or never. Sometimes, after every two or three mouthfuls, he +laid down his knife and fork, and stared at his son with all his +might--particularly at his maimed side; then, he looked slowly +round the table until he caught some person's eye, when he shook +his head with great solemnity, patted his shoulder, winked, or as +one may say--for winking was a very slow process with him--went to +sleep with one eye for a minute or two; and so, with another solemn +shaking of his head, took up his knife and fork again, and went on +eating. Sometimes, he put his food into his mouth abstractedly, +and, with all his faculties concentrated on Joe, gazed at him in a +fit of stupefaction as he cut his meat with one hand, until he was +recalled to himself by symptoms of choking on his own part, and was +by that means restored to consciousness. At other times he +resorted to such small devices as asking him for the salt, the +pepper, the vinegar, the mustard--anything that was on his maimed +side--and watching him as he handed it. By dint of these +experiments, he did at last so satisfy and convince himself, that, +after a longer silence than he had yet maintained, he laid down his +knife and fork on either side his plate, drank a long draught from +a tankard beside him (still keeping his eyes on Joe), and leaning +backward in his chair and fetching a long breath, said, as he +looked all round the board: + +'It's been took off!' + +'By George!' said the Black Lion, striking the table with his hand, +'he's got it!' + +'Yes, sir,' said Mr Willet, with the look of a man who felt that he +had earned a compliment, and deserved it. 'That's where it is. +It's been took off.' + +'Tell him where it was done,' said the Black Lion to Joe. + +'At the defence of the Savannah, father.' + +'At the defence of the Salwanners,' repeated Mr Willet, softly; +again looking round the table. + +'In America, where the war is,' said Joe. + +'In America, where the war is,' repeated Mr Willet. 'It was took +off in the defence of the Salwanners in America where the war is.' +Continuing to repeat these words to himself in a low tone of voice +(the same information had been conveyed to him in the same terms, +at least fifty times before), Mr Willet arose from table, walked +round to Joe, felt his empty sleeve all the way up, from the cuff, +to where the stump of his arm remained; shook his hand; lighted his +pipe at the fire, took a long whiff, walked to the door, turned +round once when he had reached it, wiped his left eye with the back +of his forefinger, and said, in a faltering voice: 'My son's arm-- +was took off--at the defence of the--Salwanners--in America--where +the war is'--with which words he withdrew, and returned no more +that night. + +Indeed, on various pretences, they all withdrew one after another, +save Dolly, who was left sitting there alone. It was a great +relief to be alone, and she was crying to her heart's content, when +she heard Joe's voice at the end of the passage, bidding somebody +good night. + +Good night! Then he was going elsewhere--to some distance, +perhaps. To what kind of home COULD he be going, now that it was +so late! + +She heard him walk along the passage, and pass the door. But there +was a hesitation in his footsteps. He turned back--Dolly's heart +beat high--he looked in. + +'Good night!'--he didn't say Dolly, but there was comfort in his +not saying Miss Varden. + +'Good night!' sobbed Dolly. + +'I am sorry you take on so much, for what is past and gone,' said +Joe kindly. 'Don't. I can't bear to see you do it. Think of it +no longer. You are safe and happy now.' + +Dolly cried the more. + +'You must have suffered very much within these few days--and yet +you're not changed, unless it's for the better. They said you +were, but I don't see it. You were--you were always very +beautiful,' said Joe, 'but you are more beautiful than ever, now. +You are indeed. There can be no harm in my saying so, for you must +know it. You are told so very often, I am sure.' + +As a general principle, Dolly DID know it, and WAS told so, very +often. But the coachmaker had turned out, years ago, to be a +special donkey; and whether she had been afraid of making similar +discoveries in others, or had grown by dint of long custom to be +careless of compliments generally, certain it is that although she +cried so much, she was better pleased to be told so now, than ever +she had been in all her life. + +'I shall bless your name,' sobbed the locksmith's little daughter, +'as long as I live. I shall never hear it spoken without feeling +as if my heart would burst. I shall remember it in my prayers, +every night and morning till I die!' + +'Will you?' said Joe, eagerly. 'Will you indeed? It makes me-- +well, it makes me very glad and proud to hear you say so.' + +Dolly still sobbed, and held her handkerchief to her eyes. Joe +still stood, looking at her. + +'Your voice,' said Joe, 'brings up old times so pleasantly, that, +for the moment, I feel as if that night--there can be no harm in +talking of that night now--had come back, and nothing had happened +in the mean time. I feel as if I hadn't suffered any hardships, +but had knocked down poor Tom Cobb only yesterday, and had come to +see you with my bundle on my shoulder before running away.--You +remember?' + +Remember! But she said nothing. She raised her eyes for an +instant. It was but a glance; a little, tearful, timid glance. It +kept Joe silent though, for a long time. + +'Well!' he said stoutly, 'it was to be otherwise, and was. I have +been abroad, fighting all the summer and frozen up all the winter, +ever since. I have come back as poor in purse as I went, and +crippled for life besides. But, Dolly, I would rather have lost +this other arm--ay, I would rather have lost my head--than have +come back to find you dead, or anything but what I always pictured +you to myself, and what I always hoped and wished to find you. +Thank God for all!' + +Oh how much, and how keenly, the little coquette of five years ago, +felt now! She had found her heart at last. Never having known its +worth till now, she had never known the worth of his. How +priceless it appeared! + +'I did hope once,' said Joe, in his homely way, 'that I might come +back a rich man, and marry you. But I was a boy then, and have +long known better than that. I am a poor, maimed, discharged +soldier, and must be content to rub through life as I can. I can't +say, even now, that I shall be glad to see you married, Dolly; but +I AM glad--yes, I am, and glad to think I can say so--to know that +you are admired and courted, and can pick and choose for a happy +life. It's a comfort to me to know that you'll talk to your +husband about me; and I hope the time will come when I may be able +to like him, and to shake hands with him, and to come and see you +as a poor friend who knew you when you were a girl. God bless +you!' + +His hand DID tremble; but for all that, he took it away again, and +left her. + + + +Chapter 73 + + +By this Friday night--for it was on Friday in the riot week, that +Emma and Dolly were rescued, by the timely aid of Joe and Edward +Chester--the disturbances were entirely quelled, and peace and +order were restored to the affrighted city. True, after what had +happened, it was impossible for any man to say how long this better +state of things might last, or how suddenly new outrages, exceeding +even those so lately witnessed, might burst forth and fill its +streets with ruin and bloodshed; for this reason, those who had +fled from the recent tumults still kept at a distance, and many +families, hitherto unable to procure the means of flight, now +availed themselves of the calm, and withdrew into the country. The +shops, too, from Tyburn to Whitechapel, were still shut; and very +little business was transacted in any of the places of great +commercial resort. But, notwithstanding, and in spite of the +melancholy forebodings of that numerous class of society who see +with the greatest clearness into the darkest perspectives, the town +remained profoundly quiet. The strong military force disposed in +every advantageous quarter, and stationed at every commanding +point, held the scattered fragments of the mob in check; the search +after rioters was prosecuted with unrelenting vigour; and if there +were any among them so desperate and reckless as to be inclined, +after the terrible scenes they had beheld, to venture forth again, +they were so daunted by these resolute measures, that they quickly +shrunk into their hiding-places, and had no thought but for their +safety. + +In a word, the crowd was utterly routed. Upwards of two hundred +had been shot dead in the streets. Two hundred and fifty more were +lying, badly wounded, in the hospitals; of whom seventy or eighty +died within a short time afterwards. A hundred were already in +custody, and more were taken every hour. How many perished in the +conflagrations, or by their own excesses, is unknown; but that +numbers found a terrible grave in the hot ashes of the flames they +had kindled, or crept into vaults and cellars to drink in secret or +to nurse their sores, and never saw the light again, is certain. +When the embers of the fires had been black and cold for many +weeks, the labourers' spades proved this, beyond a doubt. + +Seventy-two private houses and four strong jails were destroyed in +the four great days of these riots. The total loss of property, as +estimated by the sufferers, was one hundred and fifty-five thousand +pounds; at the lowest and least partial estimate of disinterested +persons, it exceeded one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds. +For this immense loss, compensation was soon afterwards made out of +the public purse, in pursuance of a vote of the House of Commons; +the sum being levied on the various wards in the city, on the +county, and the borough of Southwark. Both Lord Mansfield and Lord +Saville, however, who had been great sufferers, refused to accept +of any compensation whatever. + +The House of Commons, sitting on Tuesday with locked and guarded +doors, had passed a resolution to the effect that, as soon as the +tumults subsided, it would immediately proceed to consider the +petitions presented from many of his Majesty's Protestant subjects, +and would take the same into its serious consideration. While this +question was under debate, Mr Herbert, one of the members present, +indignantly rose and called upon the House to observe that Lord +George Gordon was then sitting under the gallery with the blue +cockade, the signal of rebellion, in his hat. He was not only +obliged, by those who sat near, to take it out; but offering to go +into the street to pacify the mob with the somewhat indefinite +assurance that the House was prepared to give them 'the +satisfaction they sought,' was actually held down in his seat by +the combined force of several members. In short, the disorder and +violence which reigned triumphant out of doors, penetrated into the +senate, and there, as elsewhere, terror and alarm prevailed, and +ordinary forms were for the time forgotten. + +On the Thursday, both Houses had adjourned until the following +Monday se'nnight, declaring it impossible to pursue their +deliberations with the necessary gravity and freedom, while they +were surrounded by armed troops. And now that the rioters were +dispersed, the citizens were beset with a new fear; for, finding +the public thoroughfares and all their usual places of resort +filled with soldiers entrusted with the free use of fire and sword, +they began to lend a greedy ear to the rumours which were afloat of +martial law being declared, and to dismal stories of prisoners +having been seen hanging on lamp-posts in Cheapside and Fleet +Street. These terrors being promptly dispelled by a Proclamation +declaring that all the rioters in custody would be tried by a +special commission in due course of law, a fresh alarm was +engendered by its being whispered abroad that French money had been +found on some of the rioters, and that the disturbances had been +fomented by foreign powers who sought to compass the overthrow and +ruin of England. This report, which was strengthened by the +diffusion of anonymous handbills, but which, if it had any +foundation at all, probably owed its origin to the circumstance of +some few coins which were not English money having been swept into +the pockets of the insurgents with other miscellaneous booty, and +afterwards discovered on the prisoners or the dead bodies,--caused +a great sensation; and men's minds being in that excited state +when they are most apt to catch at any shadow of apprehension, was +bruited about with much industry. + +All remaining quiet, however, during the whole of this Friday, and +on this Friday night, and no new discoveries being made, confidence +began to be restored, and the most timid and desponding breathed +again. In Southwark, no fewer than three thousand of the +inhabitants formed themselves into a watch, and patrolled the +streets every hour. Nor were the citizens slow to follow so good +an example: and it being the manner of peaceful men to be very bold +when the danger is over, they were abundantly fierce and daring; +not scrupling to question the stoutest passenger with great +severity, and carrying it with a very high hand over all errand- +boys, servant-girls, and 'prentices. + +As day deepened into evening, and darkness crept into the nooks and +corners of the town as if it were mustering in secret and gathering +strength to venture into the open ways, Barnaby sat in his dungeon, +wondering at the silence, and listening in vain for the noise and +outcry which had ushered in the night of late. Beside him, with +his hand in hers, sat one in whose companionship he felt at peace. +She was worn, and altered, full of grief, and heavy-hearted; but +the same to him. + +'Mother,' he said, after a long silence: 'how long,--how many days +and nights,--shall I be kept here?' + +'Not many, dear. I hope not many.' + +'You hope! Ay, but your hoping will not undo these chains. I +hope, but they don't mind that. Grip hopes, but who cares for +Grip?' + +The raven gave a short, dull, melancholy croak. It said 'Nobody,' +as plainly as a croak could speak. + +'Who cares for Grip, except you and me?' said Barnaby, smoothing +the bird's rumpled feathers with his hand. 'He never speaks in +this place; he never says a word in jail; he sits and mopes all day +in his dark corner, dozing sometimes, and sometimes looking at the +light that creeps in through the bars, and shines in his bright eye +as if a spark from those great fires had fallen into the room and +was burning yet. But who cares for Grip?' + +The raven croaked again--Nobody. + +'And by the way,' said Barnaby, withdrawing his hand from the bird, +and laying it upon his mother's arm, as he looked eagerly in her +face; 'if they kill me--they may: I heard it said they would--what +will become of Grip when I am dead?' + +The sound of the word, or the current of his own thoughts, +suggested to Grip his old phrase 'Never say die!' But he stopped +short in the middle of it, drew a dismal cork, and subsided into a +faint croak, as if he lacked the heart to get through the shortest +sentence. + +'Will they take HIS life as well as mine?' said Barnaby. 'I wish +they would. If you and I and he could die together, there would be +none to feel sorry, or to grieve for us. But do what they will, I +don't fear them, mother!' + +'They will not harm you,' she said, her tears choking her +utterance. 'They never will harm you, when they know all. I am +sure they never will.' + +'Oh! Don't be too sure of that,' cried Barnaby, with a strange +pleasure in the belief that she was self-deceived, and in his own +sagacity. 'They have marked me from the first. I heard them say +so to each other when they brought me to this place last night; and +I believe them. Don't you cry for me. They said that I was bold, +and so I am, and so I will be. You may think that I am silly, but +I can die as well as another.--I have done no harm, have I?' he +added quickly. + +'None before Heaven,' she answered. + +'Why then,' said Barnaby, 'let them do their worst. You told me +once--you--when I asked you what death meant, that it was nothing +to be feared, if we did no harm--Aha! mother, you thought I had +forgotten that!' + +His merry laugh and playful manner smote her to the heart. She +drew him closer to her, and besought him to talk to her in whispers +and to be very quiet, for it was getting dark, and their time was +short, and she would soon have to leave him for the night. + +'You will come to-morrow?' said Barnaby. + +Yes. And every day. And they would never part again. + +He joyfully replied that this was well, and what he wished, and +what he had felt quite certain she would tell him; and then he +asked her where she had been so long, and why she had not come to +see him when he had been a great soldier, and ran through the wild +schemes he had had for their being rich and living prosperously, +and with some faint notion in his mind that she was sad and he had +made her so, tried to console and comfort her, and talked of their +former life and his old sports and freedom: little dreaming that +every word he uttered only increased her sorrow, and that her tears +fell faster at the freshened recollection of their lost +tranquillity. + +'Mother,' said Barnaby, as they heard the man approaching to close +the cells for the night,' when I spoke to you just now about my +father you cried "Hush!" and turned away your head. Why did you do +so? Tell me why, in a word. You thought HE was dead. You are not +sorry that he is alive and has come back to us. Where is he? +Here?' + +'Do not ask any one where he is, or speak about him,' she made +answer. + +'Why not?' said Barnaby. 'Because he is a stern man, and talks +roughly? Well! I don't like him, or want to be with him by +myself; but why not speak about him?' + +'Because I am sorry that he is alive; sorry that he has come back; +and sorry that he and you have ever met. Because, dear Barnaby, +the endeavour of my life has been to keep you two asunder.' + +'Father and son asunder! Why?' + +'He has,' she whispered in his ear, 'he has shed blood. The time +has come when you must know it. He has shed the blood of one who +loved him well, and trusted him, and never did him wrong in word or +deed.' + +Barnaby recoiled in horror, and glancing at his stained wrist for +an instant, wrapped it, shuddering, in his dress. + +'But,' she added hastily as the key turned in the lock, 'although +we shun him, he is your father, dearest, and I am his wretched +wife. They seek his life, and he will lose it. It must not be by +our means; nay, if we could win him back to penitence, we should be +bound to love him yet. Do not seem to know him, except as one who +fled with you from the jail, and if they question you about him, do +not answer them. God be with you through the night, dear boy! God +be with you!' + +She tore herself away, and in a few seconds Barnaby was alone. He +stood for a long time rooted to the spot, with his face hidden in +his hands; then flung himself, sobbing, on his miserable bed. + +But the moon came slowly up in all her gentle glory, and the stars +looked out, and through the small compass of the grated window, as +through the narrow crevice of one good deed in a murky life of +guilt, the face of Heaven shone bright and merciful. He raised his +head; gazed upward at the quiet sky, which seemed to smile upon the +earth in sadness, as if the night, more thoughtful than the day, +looked down in sorrow on the sufferings and evil deeds of men; and +felt its peace sink deep into his heart. He, a poor idiot, caged +in his narrow cell, was as much lifted up to God, while gazing on +the mild light, as the freest and most favoured man in all the +spacious city; and in his ill-remembered prayer, and in the +fragment of the childish hymn, with which he sung and crooned +himself asleep, there breathed as true a spirit as ever studied +homily expressed, or old cathedral arches echoed. + +As his mother crossed a yard on her way out, she saw, through a +grated door which separated it from another court, her husband, +walking round and round, with his hands folded on his breast, and +his head hung down. She asked the man who conducted her, if she +might speak a word with this prisoner. Yes, but she must be quick +for he was locking up for the night, and there was but a minute or +so to spare. Saying this, he unlocked the door, and bade her go +in. + +It grated harshly as it turned upon its hinges, but he was deaf to +the noise, and still walked round and round the little court, +without raising his head or changing his attitude in the least. +She spoke to him, but her voice was weak, and failed her. At +length she put herself in his track, and when he came near, +stretched out her hand and touched him. + +He started backward, trembling from head to foot; but seeing who it +was, demanded why she came there. Before she could reply, he spoke +again. + +'Am I to live or die? Do you murder too, or spare?' + +'My son--our son,' she answered, 'is in this prison.' + +'What is that to me?' he cried, stamping impatiently on the stone +pavement. 'I know it. He can no more aid me than I can aid him. +If you are come to talk of him, begone!' + +As he spoke he resumed his walk, and hurried round the court as +before. When he came again to where she stood, he stopped, and +said, + +'Am I to live or die? Do you repent?' + +'Oh!--do YOU?' she answered. 'Will you, while time remains? Do +not believe that I could save you, if I dared.' + +'Say if you would,' he answered with an oath, as he tried to +disengage himself and pass on. 'Say if you would.' + +'Listen to me for one moment,' she returned; 'for but a moment. I +am but newly risen from a sick-bed, from which I never hoped to +rise again. The best among us think, at such a time, of good +intentions half-performed and duties left undone. If I have ever, +since that fatal night, omitted to pray for your repentance before +death--if I omitted, even then, anything which might tend to urge +it on you when the horror of your crime was fresh--if, in our later +meeting, I yielded to the dread that was upon me, and forgot to +fall upon my knees and solemnly adjure you, in the name of him you +sent to his account with Heaven, to prepare for the retribution +which must come, and which is stealing on you now--I humbly before +you, and in the agony of supplication in which you see me, beseech +that you will let me make atonement.' + +'What is the meaning of your canting words?' he answered roughly. +'Speak so that I may understand you.' + +'I will,' she answered, 'I desire to. Bear with me for a moment +more. The hand of Him who set His curse on murder, is heavy on us +now. You cannot doubt it. Our son, our innocent boy, on whom His +anger fell before his birth, is in this place in peril of his life-- +brought here by your guilt; yes, by that alone, as Heaven sees and +knows, for he has been led astray in the darkness of his intellect, +and that is the terrible consequence of your crime.' + +'If you come, woman-like, to load me with reproaches--' he +muttered, again endeavouring to break away. + +'I do not. I have a different purpose. You must hear it. If not +to-night, to-morrow; if not to-morrow, at another time. You MUST +hear it. Husband, escape is hopeless--impossible.' + +'You tell me so, do you?' he said, raising his manacled hand, and +shaking it. 'You!' + +'Yes,' she said, with indescribable earnestness. 'But why?' + +'To make me easy in this jail. To make the time 'twixt this and +death, pass pleasantly. For my good--yes, for my good, of +course,' he said, grinding his teeth, and smiling at her with a +livid face. + +'Not to load you with reproaches,' she replied; 'not to aggravate +the tortures and miseries of your condition, not to give you one +hard word, but to restore you to peace and hope. Husband, dear +husband, if you will but confess this dreadful crime; if you will +but implore forgiveness of Heaven and of those whom you have +wronged on earth; if you will dismiss these vain uneasy thoughts, +which never can be realised, and will rely on Penitence and on the +Truth, I promise you, in the great name of the Creator, whose image +you have defaced, that He will comfort and console you. And for +myself,' she cried, clasping her hands, and looking upward, 'I +swear before Him, as He knows my heart and reads it now, that from +that hour I will love and cherish you as I did of old, and watch +you night and day in the short interval that will remain to us, and +soothe you with my truest love and duty, and pray with you, that +one threatening judgment may be arrested, and that our boy may be +spared to bless God, in his poor way, in the free air and light!' + +He fell back and gazed at her while she poured out these words, as +though he were for a moment awed by her manner, and knew not what +to do. But anger and fear soon got the mastery of him, and he +spurned her from him. + +'Begone!' he cried. 'Leave me! You plot, do you! You plot to +get speech with me, and let them know I am the man they say I am. +A curse on you and on your boy.' + +'On him the curse has already fallen,' she replied, wringing her +hands. + +'Let it fall heavier. Let it fall on one and all. I hate you +both. The worst has come to me. The only comfort that I seek or I +can have, will be the knowledge that it comes to you. Now go!' + +She would have urged him gently, even then, but he menaced her with +his chain. + +'I say go--I say it for the last time. The gallows has me in its +grasp, and it is a black phantom that may urge me on to something +more. Begone! I curse the hour that I was born, the man I slew, +and all the living world!' + +In a paroxysm of wrath, and terror, and the fear of death, he broke +from her, and rushed into the darkness of his cell, where he cast +himself jangling down upon the stone floor, and smote it with his +ironed hands. The man returned to lock the dungeon door, and +having done so, carried her away. + +On that warm, balmy night in June, there were glad faces and light +hearts in all quarters of the town, and sleep, banished by the late +horrors, was doubly welcomed. On that night, families made merry +in their houses, and greeted each other on the common danger they +had escaped; and those who had been denounced, ventured into the +streets; and they who had been plundered, got good shelter. Even +the timorous Lord Mayor, who was summoned that night before the +Privy Council to answer for his conduct, came back contented; +observing to all his friends that he had got off very well with a +reprimand, and repeating with huge satisfaction his memorable +defence before the Council, 'that such was his temerity, he thought +death would have been his portion.' + +On that night, too, more of the scattered remnants of the mob were +traced to their lurking-places, and taken; and in the hospitals, +and deep among the ruins they had made, and in the ditches, and +fields, many unshrouded wretches lay dead: envied by those who had +been active in the disturbances, and who pillowed their doomed +heads in the temporary jails. + +And in the Tower, in a dreary room whose thick stone walls shut out +the hum of life, and made a stillness which the records left by +former prisoners with those silent witnesses seemed to deepen and +intensify; remorseful for every act that had been done by every man +among the cruel crowd; feeling for the time their guilt his own, +and their lives put in peril by himself; and finding, amidst such +reflections, little comfort in fanaticism, or in his fancied call; +sat the unhappy author of all--Lord George Gordon. + +He had been made prisoner that evening. 'If you are sure it's me +you want,' he said to the officers, who waited outside with the +warrant for his arrest on a charge of High Treason, 'I am ready to +accompany you--' which he did without resistance. He was conducted +first before the Privy Council, and afterwards to the Horse +Guards, and then was taken by way of Westminster Bridge, and back +over London Bridge (for the purpose of avoiding the main streets), +to the Tower, under the strongest guard ever known to enter its +gates with a single prisoner. + +Of all his forty thousand men, not one remained to bear him +company. Friends, dependents, followers,--none were there. His +fawning secretary had played the traitor; and he whose weakness had +been goaded and urged on by so many for their own purposes, was +desolate and alone. + + + +Chapter 74 + + +Me Dennis, having been made prisoner late in the evening, was +removed to a neighbouring round-house for that night, and carried +before a justice for examination on the next day, Saturday. The +charges against him being numerous and weighty, and it being in +particular proved, by the testimony of Gabriel Varden, that he had +shown a special desire to take his life, he was committed for +trial. Moreover he was honoured with the distinction of being +considered a chief among the insurgents, and received from the +magistrate's lips the complimentary assurance that he was in a +position of imminent danger, and would do well to prepare himself +for the worst. + +To say that Mr Dennis's modesty was not somewhat startled by these +honours, or that he was altogether prepared for so flattering a +reception, would be to claim for him a greater amount of stoical +philosophy than even he possessed. Indeed this gentleman's +stoicism was of that not uncommon kind, which enables a man to bear +with exemplary fortitude the afflictions of his friends, but +renders him, by way of counterpoise, rather selfish and sensitive +in respect of any that happen to befall himself. It is therefore +no disparagement to the great officer in question to state, without +disguise or concealment, that he was at first very much alarmed, +and that he betrayed divers emotions of fear, until his reasoning +powers came to his relief, and set before him a more hopeful +prospect. + +In proportion as Mr Dennis exercised these intellectual qualities +with which he was gifted, in reviewing his best chances of coming +off handsomely and with small personal inconvenience, his spirits +rose, and his confidence increased. When he remembered the great +estimation in which his office was held, and the constant demand +for his services; when he bethought himself, how the Statute Book +regarded him as a kind of Universal Medicine applicable to men, +women, and children, of every age and variety of criminal +constitution; and how high he stood, in his official capacity, in +the favour of the Crown, and both Houses of Parliament, the Mint, +the Bank of England, and the Judges of the land; when he +recollected that whatever Ministry was in or out, he remained their +peculiar pet and panacea, and that for his sake England stood +single and conspicuous among the civilised nations of the earth: +when he called these things to mind and dwelt upon them, he felt +certain that the national gratitude MUST relieve him from the +consequences of his late proceedings, and would certainly restore +him to his old place in the happy social system. + +With these crumbs, or as one may say, with these whole loaves of +comfort to regale upon, Mr Dennis took his place among the escort +that awaited him, and repaired to jail with a manly indifference. +Arriving at Newgate, where some of the ruined cells had been +hastily fitted up for the safe keeping of rioters, he was warmly +received by the turnkeys, as an unusual and interesting case, which +agreeably relieved their monotonous duties. In this spirit, he was +fettered with great care, and conveyed into the interior of the +prison. + +'Brother,' cried the hangman, as, following an officer, he +traversed under these novel circumstances the remains of passages +with which he was well acquainted, 'am I going to be along with +anybody?' + +'If you'd have left more walls standing, you'd have been alone,' +was the reply. 'As it is, we're cramped for room, and you'll have +company.' + +'Well,' returned Dennis, 'I don't object to company, brother. I +rather like company. I was formed for society, I was.' + +'That's rather a pity, an't it?' said the man. + +'No,' answered Dennis, 'I'm not aware that it is. Why should it be +a pity, brother?' + +'Oh! I don't know,' said the man carelessly. 'I thought that was +what you meant. Being formed for society, and being cut off in +your flower, you know--' + +'I say,' interposed the other quickly, 'what are you talking of? +Don't. Who's a-going to be cut off in their flowers?' + +'Oh, nobody particular. I thought you was, perhaps,' said the man. + +Mr Dennis wiped his face, which had suddenly grown very hot, and +remarking in a tremulous voice to his conductor that he had always +been fond of his joke, followed him in silence until he stopped at +a door. + +'This is my quarters, is it?' he asked facetiously. + +'This is the shop, sir,' replied his friend. + +He was walking in, but not with the best possible grace, when he +suddenly stopped, and started back. + +'Halloa!' said the officer. 'You're nervous.' + +'Nervous!' whispered Dennis in great alarm. 'Well I may be. Shut +the door.' + +'I will, when you're in,' returned the man. + +'But I can't go in there,' whispered Dennis. 'I can't be shut up +with that man. Do you want me to be throttled, brother?' + +The officer seemed to entertain no particular desire on the subject +one way or other, but briefly remarking that he had his orders, and +intended to obey them, pushed him in, turned the key, and retired. + +Dennis stood trembling with his back against the door, and +involuntarily raising his arm to defend himself, stared at a man, +the only other tenant of the cell, who lay, stretched at his fall +length, upon a stone bench, and who paused in his deep breathing as +if he were about to wake. But he rolled over on one side, let his +arm fall negligently down, drew a long sigh, and murmuring +indistinctly, fell fast asleep again. + +Relieved in some degree by this, the hangman took his eyes for an +instant from the slumbering figure, and glanced round the cell in +search of some 'vantage-ground or weapon of defence. There was +nothing moveable within it, but a clumsy table which could not be +displaced without noise, and a heavy chair. Stealing on tiptoe +towards this latter piece of furniture, he retired with it into the +remotest corner, and intrenching himself behind it, watched the +enemy with the utmost vigilance and caution. + +The sleeping man was Hugh; and perhaps it was not unnatural for +Dennis to feel in a state of very uncomfortable suspense, and to +wish with his whole soul that he might never wake again. Tired of +standing, he crouched down in his corner after some time, and +rested on the cold pavement; but although Hugh's breathing still +proclaimed that he was sleeping soundly, he could not trust him out +of his sight for an instant. He was so afraid of him, and of some +sudden onslaught, that he was not content to see his closed eyes +through the chair-back, but every now and then, rose stealthily to +his feet, and peered at him with outstretched neck, to assure +himself that he really was still asleep, and was not about to +spring upon him when he was off his guard. + +He slept so long and so soundly, that Mr Dennis began to think he +might sleep on until the turnkey visited them. He was +congratulating himself upon these promising appearances, and +blessing his stars with much fervour, when one or two unpleasant +symptoms manifested themselves: such as another motion of the arm, +another sigh, a restless tossing of the head. Then, just as it +seemed that he was about to fall heavily to the ground from his +narrow bed, Hugh's eyes opened. + +It happened that his face was turned directly towards his +unexpected visitor. He looked lazily at him for some half-dozen +seconds without any aspect of surprise or recognition; then +suddenly jumped up, and with a great oath pronounced his name. + +'Keep off, brother, keep off!' cried Dennis, dodging behind the +chair. 'Don't do me a mischief. I'm a prisoner like you. I +haven't the free use of my limbs. I'm quite an old man. Don't +hurt me!' + +He whined out the last three words in such piteous accents, that +Hugh, who had dragged away the chair, and aimed a blow at him with +it, checked himself, and bade him get up. + +'I'll get up certainly, brother,' cried Dennis, anxious to +propitiate him by any means in his power. 'I'll comply with any +request of yours, I'm sure. There--I'm up now. What can I do for +you? Only say the word, and I'll do it.' + +'What can you do for me!' cried Hugh, clutching him by the collar +with both hands, and shaking him as though he were bent on stopping +his breath by that means. 'What have you done for me?' + +'The best. The best that could be done,' returned the hangman. + +Hugh made him no answer, but shaking him in his strong grip until +his teeth chattered in his head, cast him down upon the floor, and +flung himself on the bench again. + +'If it wasn't for the comfort it is to me, to see you here,' he +muttered, 'I'd have crushed your head against it; I would.' + +It was some time before Dennis had breath enough to speak, but as +soon as he could resume his propitiatory strain, he did so. + +'I did the best that could be done, brother,' he whined; 'I did +indeed. I was forced with two bayonets and I don't know how many +bullets on each side of me, to point you out. If you hadn't been +taken, you'd have been shot; and what a sight that would have been-- +a fine young man like you!' + +'Will it be a better sight now?' asked Hugh, raising his head, with +such a fierce expression, that the other durst not answer him just +then. + +'A deal better,' said Dennis meekly, after a pause. 'First, +there's all the chances of the law, and they're five hundred +strong. We may get off scot-free. Unlikelier things than that +have come to pass. Even if we shouldn't, and the chances fail, we +can but be worked off once: and when it's well done, it's so neat, +so skilful, so captiwating, if that don't seem too strong a word, +that you'd hardly believe it could be brought to sich perfection. +Kill one's fellow-creeturs off, with muskets!--Pah!' and his +nature so revolted at the bare idea, that he spat upon the dungeon +pavement. + +His warming on this topic, which to one unacquainted with his +pursuits and tastes appeared like courage; together with his artful +suppression of his own secret hopes, and mention of himself as +being in the same condition with Hugh; did more to soothe that +ruffian than the most elaborate arguments could have done, or the +most abject submission. He rested his arms upon his knees, and +stooping forward, looked from beneath his shaggy hair at Dennis, +with something of a smile upon his face. + +'The fact is, brother,' said the hangman, in a tone of greater +confidence, 'that you got into bad company. The man that was with +you was looked after more than you, and it was him I wanted. As to +me, what have I got by it? Here we are, in one and the same plight.' + +'Lookee, rascal,' said Hugh, contracting his brows, 'I'm not +altogether such a shallow blade but I know you expected to get +something by it, or you wouldn't have done it. But it's done, and +you're here, and it will soon be all over with you and me; and I'd +as soon die as live, or live as die. Why should I trouble myself +to have revenge on you? To eat, and drink, and go to sleep, as +long as I stay here, is all I care for. If there was but a little +more sun to bask in, than can find its way into this cursed place, +I'd lie in it all day, and not trouble myself to sit or stand up +once. That's all the care I have for myself. Why should I care +for YOU?' + +Finishing this speech with a growl like the yawn of a wild beast, +he stretched himself upon the bench again, and closed his eyes once +more. + +After looking at him in silence for some moments, Dennis, who was +greatly relieved to find him in this mood, drew the chair towards +his rough couch and sat down near him--taking the precaution, +however, to keep out of the range of his brawny arm. + +'Well said, brother; nothing could be better said,' he ventured to +observe. 'We'll eat and drink of the best, and sleep our best, and +make the best of it every way. Anything can be got for money. +Let's spend it merrily.' + +'Ay,' said Hugh, coiling himself into a new position.--'Where is it?' + +'Why, they took mine from me at the lodge,' said Mr Dennis; 'but +mine's a peculiar case.' + +'Is it? They took mine too.' + +'Why then, I tell you what, brother,' Dennis began. 'You must look +up your friends--' + +'My friends!' cried Hugh, starting up and resting on his hands. +'Where are my friends?' + +'Your relations then,' said Dennis. + +'Ha ha ha!' laughed Hugh, waving one arm above his head. 'He talks +of friends to me--talks of relations to a man whose mother died the +death in store for her son, and left him, a hungry brat, without a +face he knew in all the world! He talks of this to me!' + +'Brother,' cried the hangman, whose features underwent a sudden +change, 'you don't mean to say--' + +'I mean to say,' Hugh interposed, 'that they hung her up at Tyburn. +What was good enough for her, is good enough for me. Let them do +the like by me as soon as they please--the sooner the better. Say +no more to me. I'm going to sleep.' + +'But I want to speak to you; I want to hear more about that,' said +Dennis, changing colour. + +'If you're a wise man,' growled Hugh, raising his head to look at +him with a frown, 'you'll hold your tongue. I tell you I'm going +to sleep.' + +Dennis venturing to say something more in spite of this caution, +the desperate fellow struck at him with all his force, and missing +him, lay down again with many muttered oaths and imprecations, and +turned his face towards the wall. After two or three ineffectual +twitches at his dress, which he was hardy enough to venture upon, +notwithstanding his dangerous humour, Mr Dennis, who burnt, for +reasons of his own, to pursue the conversation, had no alternative +but to sit as patiently as he could: waiting his further pleasure. + + + +Chapter 75 + + +A month has elapsed,--and we stand in the bedchamber of Sir John +Chester. Through the half-opened window, the Temple Garden looks +green and pleasant; the placid river, gay with boat and barge, and +dimpled with the plash of many an oar, sparkles in the distance; +the sky is blue and clear; and the summer air steals gently in, +filling the room with perfume. The very town, the smoky town, is +radiant. High roofs and steeple-tops, wont to look black and +sullen, smile a cheerful grey; every old gilded vane, and ball, and +cross, glitters anew in the bright morning sun; and, high among +them all, St Paul's towers up, showing its lofty crest in burnished +gold. + +Sir John was breakfasting in bed. His chocolate and toast stood +upon a little table at his elbow; books and newspapers lay ready to +his hand, upon the coverlet; and, sometimes pausing to glance with +an air of tranquil satisfaction round the well-ordered room, and +sometimes to gaze indolently at the summer sky, he ate, and drank, +and read the news luxuriously. + +The cheerful influence of the morning seemed to have some effect, +even upon his equable temper. His manner was unusually gay; his +smile more placid and agreeable than usual; his voice more clear +and pleasant. He laid down the newspaper he had been reading; +leaned back upon his pillow with the air of one who resigned +himself to a train of charming recollections; and after a pause, +soliloquised as follows: + +'And my friend the centaur, goes the way of his mamma! I am not +surprised. And his mysterious friend Mr Dennis, likewise! I am +not surprised. And my old postman, the exceedingly free-and-easy +young madman of Chigwell! I am quite rejoiced. It's the very best +thing that could possibly happen to him.' + +After delivering himself of these remarks, he fell again into his +smiling train of reflection; from which he roused himself at length +to finish his chocolate, which was getting cold, and ring the bell +for more. + +The new supply arriving, he took the cup from his servant's hand; +and saying, with a charming affability, 'I am obliged to you, +Peak,' dismissed him. + +'It is a remarkable circumstance,' he mused, dallying lazily with +the teaspoon, 'that my friend the madman should have been within an +ace of escaping, on his trial; and it was a good stroke of chance +(or, as the world would say, a providential occurrence) that the +brother of my Lord Mayor should have been in court, with other +country justices, into whose very dense heads curiosity had +penetrated. For though the brother of my Lord Mayor was decidedly +wrong; and established his near relationship to that amusing person +beyond all doubt, in stating that my friend was sane, and had, to +his knowledge, wandered about the country with a vagabond parent, +avowing revolutionary and rebellious sentiments; I am not the less +obliged to him for volunteering that evidence. These insane +creatures make such very odd and embarrassing remarks, that they +really ought to be hanged for the comfort of society.' + +The country justice had indeed turned the wavering scale against +poor Barnaby, and solved the doubt that trembled in his favour. +Grip little thought how much he had to answer for. + +'They will be a singular party,' said Sir John, leaning his head +upon his hand, and sipping his chocolate; 'a very curious party. +The hangman himself; the centaur; and the madman. The centaur +would make a very handsome preparation in Surgeons' Hall, and +would benefit science extremely. I hope they have taken care to +bespeak him.--Peak, I am not at home, of course, to anybody but the +hairdresser.' + +This reminder to his servant was called forth by a knock at the +door, which the man hastened to open. After a prolonged murmur of +question and answer, he returned; and as he cautiously closed the +room-door behind him, a man was heard to cough in the passage. + +'Now, it is of no use, Peak,' said Sir John, raising his hand in +deprecation of his delivering any message; 'I am not at home. I +cannot possibly hear you. I told you I was not at home, and my +word is sacred. Will you never do as you are desired?' + +Having nothing to oppose to this reproof, the man was about to +withdraw, when the visitor who had given occasion to it, probably +rendered impatient by delay, knocked with his knuckles at the +chamber-door, and called out that he had urgent business with Sir +John Chester, which admitted of no delay. + +'Let him in,' said Sir John. 'My good fellow,' he added, when the +door was opened, 'how come you to intrude yourself in this +extraordinary manner upon the privacy of a gentleman? How can you +be so wholly destitute of self-respect as to be guilty of such +remarkable ill-breeding?' + +'My business, Sir John, is not of a common kind, I do assure you,' +returned the person he addressed. 'If I have taken any uncommon +course to get admission to you, I hope I shall be pardoned on that +account.' + +'Well! we shall see; we shall see,' returned Sir John, whose face +cleared up when he saw who it was, and whose prepossessing smile +was now restored. 'I am sure we have met before,' he added in his +winning tone, 'but really I forget your name?' + +'My name is Gabriel Varden, sir.' + +'Varden, of course, Varden,' returned Sir John, tapping his +forehead. 'Dear me, how very defective my memory becomes! Varden +to be sure--Mr Varden the locksmith. You have a charming wife, Mr +Varden, and a most beautiful daughter. They are well?' + +Gabriel thanked him, and said they were. + +'I rejoice to hear it,' said Sir John. 'Commend me to them when +you return, and say that I wished I were fortunate enough to +convey, myself, the salute which I entrust you to deliver. And +what,' he asked very sweetly, after a moment's pause, 'can I do for +you? You may command me freely.' + +'I thank you, Sir John,' said Gabriel, with some pride in his +manner, 'but I have come to ask no favour of you, though I come on +business.--Private,' he added, with a glance at the man who stood +looking on, 'and very pressing business.' + +'I cannot say you are the more welcome for being independent, and +having nothing to ask of me,' returned Sir John, graciously, 'for I +should have been happy to render you a service; still, you are +welcome on any terms. Oblige me with some more chocolate, Peak, +and don't wait.' + +The man retired, and left them alone. + +'Sir John,' said Gabriel, 'I am a working-man, and have been so, +all my life. If I don't prepare you enough for what I have to +tell; if I come to the point too abruptly; and give you a shock, +which a gentleman could have spared you, or at all events lessened +very much; I hope you will give me credit for meaning well. I wish +to be careful and considerate, and I trust that in a straightforward +person like me, you'll take the will for the deed.' + +'Mr Varden,' returned the other, perfectly composed under this +exordium; 'I beg you'll take a chair. Chocolate, perhaps, you +don't relish? Well! it IS an acquired taste, no doubt.' + +'Sir John,' said Gabriel, who had acknowledged with a bow the +invitation to be seated, but had not availed himself of it. 'Sir +John'--he dropped his voice and drew nearer to the bed--'I am just +now come from Newgate--' + +'Good Gad!' cried Sir John, hastily sitting up in bed; 'from +Newgate, Mr Varden! How could you be so very imprudent as to come +from Newgate! Newgate, where there are jail-fevers, and ragged +people, and bare-footed men and women, and a thousand horrors! +Peak, bring the camphor, quick! Heaven and earth, Mr Varden, my +dear, good soul, how COULD you come from Newgate?' + +Gabriel returned no answer, but looked on in silence while Peak +(who had entered with the hot chocolate) ran to a drawer, and +returning with a bottle, sprinkled his master's dressing-gown and +the bedding; and besides moistening the locksmith himself, +plentifully, described a circle round about him on the carpet. +When he had done this, he again retired; and Sir John, reclining in +an easy attitude upon his pillow, once more turned a smiling face +towards his visitor. + +'You will forgive me, Mr Varden, I am sure, for being at first a +little sensitive both on your account and my own. I confess I was +startled, notwithstanding your delicate exordium. Might I ask you +to do me the favour not to approach any nearer?--You have really +come from Newgate!' + +The locksmith inclined his head. + +'In-deed! And now, Mr Varden, all exaggeration and embellishment +apart,' said Sir John Chester, confidentially, as he sipped his +chocolate, 'what kind of place IS Newgate?' + +'A strange place, Sir John,' returned the locksmith, 'of a sad and +doleful kind. A strange place, where many strange things are heard +and seen; but few more strange than that I come to tell you of. +The case is urgent. I am sent here.' + +'Not--no, no--not from the jail?' + +'Yes, Sir John; from the jail.' + +'And my good, credulous, open-hearted friend,' said Sir John, +setting down his cup, and laughing,--'by whom?' + +'By a man called Dennis--for many years the hangman, and to-morrow +morning the hanged,' returned the locksmith. + +Sir John had expected--had been quite certain from the first--that +he would say he had come from Hugh, and was prepared to meet him on +that point. But this answer occasioned him a degree of +astonishment, which, for the moment, he could not, with all his +command of feature, prevent his face from expressing. He quickly +subdued it, however, and said in the same light tone: + +'And what does the gentleman require of me? My memory may be at +fault again, but I don't recollect that I ever had the pleasure of +an introduction to him, or that I ever numbered him among my +personal friends, I do assure you, Mr Varden.' + +'Sir John,' returned the locksmith, gravely, 'I will tell you, as +nearly as I can, in the words he used to me, what he desires that +you should know, and what you ought to know without a moment's loss +of time.' + +Sir John Chester settled himself in a position of greater repose, +and looked at his visitor with an expression of face which seemed +to say, 'This is an amusing fellow! I'll hear him out.' + +'You may have seen in the newspapers, sir,' said Gabriel, pointing +to the one which lay by his side, 'that I was a witness against +this man upon his trial some days since; and that it was not his +fault I was alive, and able to speak to what I knew.' + +'MAY have seen!' cried Sir John. 'My dear Mr Varden, you are quite +a public character, and live in all men's thoughts most deservedly. +Nothing can exceed the interest with which I read your testimony, +and remembered that I had the pleasure of a slight acquaintance +with you.---I hope we shall have your portrait published?' + +'This morning, sir,' said the locksmith, taking no notice of these +compliments, 'early this morning, a message was brought to me from +Newgate, at this man's request, desiring that I would go and see +him, for he had something particular to communicate. I needn't +tell you that he is no friend of mine, and that I had never seen +him, until the rioters beset my house.' + +Sir John fanned himself gently with the newspaper, and nodded. + +'I knew, however, from the general report,' resumed Gabriel, 'that +the order for his execution to-morrow, went down to the prison +last night; and looking upon him as a dying man, I complied with +his request.' + +'You are quite a Christian, Mr Varden,' said Sir John; 'and in that +amiable capacity, you increase my desire that you should take a +chair.' + +'He said,' continued Gabriel, looking steadily at the knight, 'that +he had sent to me, because he had no friend or companion in the +whole world (being the common hangman), and because he believed, +from the way in which I had given my evidence, that I was an honest +man, and would act truly by him. He said that, being shunned by +every one who knew his calling, even by people of the lowest and +most wretched grade, and finding, when he joined the rioters, that +the men he acted with had no suspicion of it (which I believe is +true enough, for a poor fool of an old 'prentice of mine was one of +them), he had kept his own counsel, up to the time of his being +taken and put in jail.' + +'Very discreet of Mr Dennis,' observed Sir John with a slight yawn, +though still with the utmost affability, 'but--except for your +admirable and lucid manner of telling it, which is perfect--not +very interesting to me.' + +'When,' pursued the locksmith, quite unabashed and wholly +regardless of these interruptions, 'when he was taken to the jail, +he found that his fellow-prisoner, in the same room, was a young +man, Hugh by name, a leader in the riots, who had been betrayed and +given up by himself. From something which fell from this unhappy +creature in the course of the angry words they had at meeting, he +discovered that his mother had suffered the death to which they +both are now condemned.--The time is very short, Sir John.' + +The knight laid down his paper fan, replaced his cup upon the table +at his side, and, saving for the smile that lurked about his mouth, +looked at the locksmith with as much steadiness as the locksmith +looked at him. + +'They have been in prison now, a month. One conversation led to +many more; and the hangman soon found, from a comparison of time, +and place, and dates, that he had executed the sentence of the law +upon this woman, himself. She had been tempted by want--as so many +people are--into the easy crime of passing forged notes. She was +young and handsome; and the traders who employ men, women, and +children in this traffic, looked upon her as one who was well +adapted for their business, and who would probably go on without +suspicion for a long time. But they were mistaken; for she was +stopped in the commission of her very first offence, and died for +it. She was of gipsy blood, Sir John--' + +It might have been the effect of a passing cloud which obscured the +sun, and cast a shadow on his face; but the knight turned deadly +pale. Still he met the locksmith's eye, as before. + +'She was of gipsy blood, Sir John,' repeated Gabriel, 'and had a +high, free spirit. This, and her good looks, and her lofty manner, +interested some gentlemen who were easily moved by dark eyes; and +efforts were made to save her. They might have been successful, if +she would have given them any clue to her history. But she never +would, or did. There was reason to suspect that she would make an +attempt upon her life. A watch was set upon her night and day; and +from that time she never spoke again--' + +Sir John stretched out his hand towards his cup. The locksmith +going on, arrested it half-way. + +--'Until she had but a minute to live. Then she broke silence, and +said, in a low firm voice which no one heard but this executioner, +for all other living creatures had retired and left her to her +fate, "If I had a dagger within these fingers and he was within my +reach, I would strike him dead before me, even now!" The man asked +"Who?" She said, "The father of her boy."' + +Sir John drew back his outstretched hand, and seeing that the +locksmith paused, signed to him with easy politeness and without +any new appearance of emotion, to proceed. + +'It was the first word she had ever spoken, from which it could be +understood that she had any relative on earth. "Was the child +alive?" he asked. "Yes." He asked her where it was, its name, and +whether she had any wish respecting it. She had but one, she said. +It was that the boy might live and grow, in utter ignorance of his +father, so that no arts might teach him to be gentle and +forgiving. When he became a man, she trusted to the God of their +tribe to bring the father and the son together, and revenge her +through her child. He asked her other questions, but she spoke no +more. Indeed, he says, she scarcely said this much, to him, but +stood with her face turned upwards to the sky, and never looked +towards him once.' + +Sir John took a pinch of snuff; glanced approvingly at an elegant +little sketch, entitled 'Nature,' on the wall; and raising his eyes +to the locksmith's face again, said, with an air of courtesy and +patronage, 'You were observing, Mr Varden--' + +'That she never,' returned the locksmith, who was not to be +diverted by any artifice from his firm manner, and his steady gaze, +'that she never looked towards him once, Sir John; and so she died, +and he forgot her. But, some years afterwards, a man was +sentenced to die the same death, who was a gipsy too; a sunburnt, +swarthy fellow, almost a wild man; and while he lay in prison, +under sentence, he, who had seen the hangman more than once while +he was free, cut an image of him on his stick, by way of braving +death, and showing those who attended on him, how little he cared +or thought about it. He gave this stick into his hands at Tyburn, +and told him then, that the woman I have spoken of had left her own +people to join a fine gentleman, and that, being deserted by him, +and cast off by her old friends, she had sworn within her own proud +breast, that whatever her misery might be, she would ask no help of +any human being. He told him that she had kept her word to the +last; and that, meeting even him in the streets--he had been fond +of her once, it seems--she had slipped from him by a trick, and he +never saw her again, until, being in one of the frequent crowds at +Tyburn, with some of his rough companions, he had been driven +almost mad by seeing, in the criminal under another name, whose +death he had come to witness, herself. Standing in the same place +in which she had stood, he told the hangman this, and told him, +too, her real name, which only her own people and the gentleman for +whose sake she had left them, knew. That name he will tell again, +Sir John, to none but you.' + +'To none but me!' exclaimed the knight, pausing in the act of +raising his cup to his lips with a perfectly steady hand, and +curling up his little finger for the better display of a brilliant +ring with which it was ornamented: 'but me!--My dear Mr Varden, +how very preposterous, to select me for his confidence! With you +at his elbow, too, who are so perfectly trustworthy!' + +'Sir John, Sir John,' returned the locksmith, 'at twelve tomorrow, +these men die. Hear the few words I have to add, and do not hope +to deceive me; for though I am a plain man of humble station, and +you are a gentleman of rank and learning, the truth raises me to +your level, and I KNOW that you anticipate the disclosure with +which I am about to end, and that you believe this doomed man, +Hugh, to be your son.' + +'Nay,' said Sir John, bantering him with a gay air; 'the wild +gentleman, who died so suddenly, scarcely went as far as that, I +think?' + +'He did not,' returned the locksmith, 'for she had bound him by +some pledge, known only to these people, and which the worst among +them respect, not to tell your name: but, in a fantastic pattern on +the stick, he had carved some letters, and when the hangman asked +it, he bade him, especially if he should ever meet with her son in +after life, remember that place well.' + +'What place?' + +'Chester.' + +The knight finished his cup of chocolate with an appearance of +infinite relish, and carefully wiped his lips upon his +handkerchief. + +'Sir John,' said the locksmith, 'this is all that has been told to +me; but since these two men have been left for death, they have +conferred together closely. See them, and hear what they can add. +See this Dennis, and learn from him what he has not trusted to me. +If you, who hold the clue to all, want corroboration (which you do +not), the means are easy.' + +'And to what,' said Sir John Chester, rising on his elbow, after +smoothing the pillow for its reception; 'my dear, good-natured, +estimable Mr Varden--with whom I cannot be angry if I would--to +what does all this tend?' + +'I take you for a man, Sir John, and I suppose it tends to some +pleading of natural affection in your breast,' returned the +locksmith. 'I suppose to the straining of every nerve, and the +exertion of all the influence you have, or can make, in behalf of +your miserable son, and the man who has disclosed his existence to +you. At the worst, I suppose to your seeing your son, and +awakening him to a sense of his crime and danger. He has no such +sense now. Think what his life must have been, when he said in my +hearing, that if I moved you to anything, it would be to hastening +his death, and ensuring his silence, if you had it in your power!' + +'And have you, my good Mr Varden,' said Sir John in a tone of mild +reproof, 'have you really lived to your present age, and remained +so very simple and credulous, as to approach a gentleman of +established character with such credentials as these, from +desperate men in their last extremity, catching at any straw? Oh +dear! Oh fie, fie!' + +The locksmith was going to interpose, but he stopped him: + +'On any other subject, Mr Varden, I shall be delighted--I shall be +charmed--to converse with you, but I owe it to my own character not +to pursue this topic for another moment.' + +'Think better of it, sir, when I am gone,' returned the locksmith; +'think better of it, sir. Although you have, thrice within as many +weeks, turned your lawful son, Mr Edward, from your door, you may +have time, you may have years to make your peace with HIM, Sir +John: but that twelve o'clock will soon be here, and soon be past +for ever.' + +'I thank you very much,' returned the knight, kissing his delicate +hand to the locksmith, 'for your guileless advice; and I only wish, +my good soul, although your simplicity is quite captivating, that +you had a little more worldly wisdom. I never so much regretted +the arrival of my hairdresser as I do at this moment. God bless +you! Good morning! You'll not forget my message to the ladies, Mr +Varden? Peak, show Mr Varden to the door.' + +Gabriel said no more, but gave the knight a parting look, and left +him. As he quitted the room, Sir John's face changed; and the +smile gave place to a haggard and anxious expression, like that of +a weary actor jaded by the performance of a difficult part. He +rose from his bed with a heavy sigh, and wrapped himself in his +morning-gown. + +'So she kept her word,' he said, 'and was constant to her threat! +I would I had never seen that dark face of hers,--I might have read +these consequences in it, from the first. This affair would make a +noise abroad, if it rested on better evidence; but, as it is, and +by not joining the scattered links of the chain, I can afford to +slight it.--Extremely distressing to be the parent of such an +uncouth creature! Still, I gave him very good advice. I told him +he would certainly be hanged. I could have done no more if I had +known of our relationship; and there are a great many fathers who +have never done as much for THEIR natural children.--The +hairdresser may come in, Peak!' + +The hairdresser came in; and saw in Sir John Chester (whose +accommodating conscience was soon quieted by the numerous +precedents that occurred to him in support of his last +observation), the same imperturbable, fascinating, elegant +gentleman he had seen yesterday, and many yesterdays before. + + + +Chapter 76 + + +As the locksmith walked slowly away from Sir John Chester's +chambers, he lingered under the trees which shaded the path, almost +hoping that he might be summoned to return. He had turned back +thrice, and still loitered at the corner, when the clock struck +twelve. + +It was a solemn sound, and not merely for its reference to to- +morrow; for he knew that in that chime the murderer's knell was +rung. He had seen him pass along the crowded street, amidst the +execration of the throng; and marked his quivering lip, and +trembling limbs; the ashy hue upon his face, his clammy brow, the +wild distraction of his eye--the fear of death that swallowed up +all other thoughts, and gnawed without cessation at his heart and +brain. He had marked the wandering look, seeking for hope, and +finding, turn where it would, despair. He had seen the remorseful, +pitiful, desolate creature, riding, with his coffin by his side, to +the gibbet. He knew that, to the last, he had been an unyielding, +obdurate man; that in the savage terror of his condition he had +hardened, rather than relented, to his wife and child; and that the +last words which had passed his white lips were curses on them as +his enemies. + +Mr Haredale had determined to be there, and see it done. Nothing +but the evidence of his own senses could satisfy that gloomy thirst +for retribution which had been gathering upon him for so many +years. The locksmith knew this, and when the chimes had ceased to +vibrate, hurried away to meet him. + +'For these two men,' he said, as he went, 'I can do no more. +Heaven have mercy on them!--Alas! I say I can do no more for them, +but whom can I help? Mary Rudge will have a home, and a firm +friend when she most wants one; but Barnaby--poor Barnaby--willing +Barnaby--what aid can I render him? There are many, many men of +sense, God forgive me,' cried the honest locksmith, stopping in a +narrow count to pass his hand across his eyes, 'I could better +afford to lose than Barnaby. We have always been good friends, but +I never knew, till now, how much I loved the lad.' + +There were not many in the great city who thought of Barnaby that +day, otherwise than as an actor in a show which was to take place +to-morrow. But if the whole population had had him in their minds, +and had wished his life to be spared, not one among them could have +done so with a purer zeal or greater singleness of heart than the +good locksmith. + +Barnaby was to die. There was no hope. It is not the least evil +attendant upon the frequent exhibition of this last dread +punishment, of Death, that it hardens the minds of those who deal +it out, and makes them, though they be amiable men in other +respects, indifferent to, or unconscious of, their great +responsibility. The word had gone forth that Barnaby was to die. +It went forth, every month, for lighter crimes. It was a thing so +common, that very few were startled by the awful sentence, or +cared to question its propriety. Just then, too, when the law had +been so flagrantly outraged, its dignity must be asserted. The +symbol of its dignity,--stamped upon every page of the criminal +statute-book,--was the gallows; and Barnaby was to die. + +They had tried to save him. The locksmith had carried petitions +and memorials to the fountain-head, with his own hands. But the +well was not one of mercy, and Barnaby was to die. + +From the first his mother had never left him, save at night; and +with her beside him, he was as usual contented. On this last day, +he was more elated and more proud than he had been yet; and when +she dropped the book she had been reading to him aloud, and fell +upon his neck, he stopped in his busy task of folding a piece of +crape about his hat, and wondered at her anguish. Grip uttered a +feeble croak, half in encouragement, it seemed, and half in +remonstrance, but he wanted heart to sustain it, and lapsed +abruptly into silence. + +With them who stood upon the brink of the great gulf which none can +see beyond, Time, so soon to lose itself in vast Eternity, rolled +on like a mighty river, swollen and rapid as it nears the sea. It +was morning but now; they had sat and talked together in a dream; +and here was evening. The dreadful hour of separation, which even +yesterday had seemed so distant, was at hand. + +They walked out into the courtyard, clinging to each other, but not +speaking. Barnaby knew that the jail was a dull, sad, miserable +place, and looked forward to to-morrow, as to a passage from it to +something bright and beautiful. He had a vague impression too, +that he was expected to be brave--that he was a man of great +consequence, and that the prison people would be glad to make him +weep. He trod the ground more firmly as he thought of this, and +bade her take heart and cry no more, and feel how steady his hand +was. 'They call me silly, mother. They shall see to-morrow!' + +Dennis and Hugh were in the courtyard. Hugh came forth from his +cell as they did, stretching himself as though he had been +sleeping. Dennis sat upon a bench in a corner, with his knees and +chin huddled together, and rocked himself to and fro like a person +in severe pain. + +The mother and son remained on one side of the court, and these two +men upon the other. Hugh strode up and down, glancing fiercely +every now and then at the bright summer sky, and looking round, +when he had done so, at the walls. + +'No reprieve, no reprieve! Nobody comes near us. There's only the +night left now!' moaned Dennis faintly, as he wrung his hands. 'Do +you think they'll reprieve me in the night, brother? I've known +reprieves come in the night, afore now. I've known 'em come as +late as five, six, and seven o'clock in the morning. Don't you +think there's a good chance yet,--don't you? Say you do. Say you +do, young man,' whined the miserable creature, with an imploring +gesture towards Barnaby, 'or I shall go mad!' + +'Better be mad than sane, here,' said Hugh. 'GO mad.' + +'But tell me what you think. Somebody tell me what he thinks!' +cried the wretched object,--so mean, and wretched, and despicable, +that even Pity's self might have turned away, at sight of such a +being in the likeness of a man--'isn't there a chance for me,-- +isn't there a good chance for me? Isn't it likely they may be +doing this to frighten me? Don't you think it is? Oh!' he almost +shrieked, as he wrung his hands, 'won't anybody give me comfort!' + +'You ought to be the best, instead of the worst,' said Hugh, +stopping before him. 'Ha, ha, ha! See the hangman, when it comes +home to him!' + +'You don't know what it is,' cried Dennis, actually writhing as he +spoke: 'I do. That I should come to be worked off! I! I! That I +should come!' + +'And why not?' said Hugh, as he thrust back his matted hair to get +a better view of his late associate. 'How often, before I knew +your trade, did I hear you talking of this as if it was a treat?' + +'I an't unconsistent,' screamed the miserable creature; 'I'd talk +so again, if I was hangman. Some other man has got my old +opinions at this minute. That makes it worse. Somebody's longing +to work me off. I know by myself that somebody must be!' + +'He'll soon have his longing,' said Hugh, resuming his walk. +'Think of that, and be quiet.' + +Although one of these men displayed, in his speech and bearing, the +most reckless hardihood; and the other, in his every word and +action, testified such an extreme of abject cowardice that it was +humiliating to see him; it would be difficult to say which of them +would most have repelled and shocked an observer. Hugh's was the +dogged desperation of a savage at the stake; the hangman was +reduced to a condition little better, if any, than that of a hound +with the halter round his neck. Yet, as Mr Dennis knew and could +have told them, these were the two commonest states of mind in +persons brought to their pass. Such was the wholesome growth of +the seed sown by the law, that this kind of harvest was usually +looked for, as a matter of course. + +In one respect they all agreed. The wandering and uncontrollable +train of thought, suggesting sudden recollections of things distant +and long forgotten and remote from each other--the vague restless +craving for something undefined, which nothing could satisfy--the +swift flight of the minutes, fusing themselves into hours, as if by +enchantment--the rapid coming of the solemn night--the shadow of +death always upon them, and yet so dim and faint, that objects the +meanest and most trivial started from the gloom beyond, and forced +themselves upon the view--the impossibility of holding the mind, +even if they had been so disposed, to penitence and preparation, or +of keeping it to any point while one hideous fascination tempted it +away--these things were common to them all, and varied only in +their outward tokens. + +'Fetch me the book I left within--upon your bed,' she said to +Barnaby, as the clock struck. 'Kiss me first.' + +He looked in her face, and saw there, that the time was come. +After a long embrace, he tore himself away, and ran to bring it to +her; bidding her not stir till he came back. He soon returned, for +a shriek recalled him,--but she was gone. + +He ran to the yard-gate, and looked through. They were carrying +her away. She had said her heart would break. It was better so. + +'Don't you think,' whimpered Dennis, creeping up to him, as he +stood with his feet rooted to the ground, gazing at the blank +walls--'don't you think there's still a chance? It's a dreadful +end; it's a terrible end for a man like me. Don't you think +there's a chance? I don't mean for you, I mean for me. Don't let +HIM hear us (meaning Hugh); 'he's so desperate.' + +Now then,' said the officer, who had been lounging in and out with +his hands in his pockets, and yawning as if he were in the last +extremity for some subject of interest: 'it's time to turn in, +boys.' + +'Not yet,' cried Dennis, 'not yet. Not for an hour yet.' + +'I say,--your watch goes different from what it used to,' returned +the man. 'Once upon a time it was always too fast. It's got the +other fault now.' + +'My friend,' cried the wretched creature, falling on his knees, 'my +dear friend--you always were my dear friend--there's some mistake. +Some letter has been mislaid, or some messenger has been stopped +upon the way. He may have fallen dead. I saw a man once, fall +down dead in the street, myself, and he had papers in his pocket. +Send to inquire. Let somebody go to inquire. They never will hang +me. They never can.--Yes, they will,' he cried, starting to his +feet with a terrible scream. 'They'll hang me by a trick, and keep +the pardon back. It's a plot against me. I shall lose my life!' +And uttering another yell, he fell in a fit upon the ground. + +'See the hangman when it comes home to him!' cried Hugh again, as +they bore him away--'Ha ha ha! Courage, bold Barnaby, what care +we? Your hand! They do well to put us out of the world, for if we +got loose a second time, we wouldn't let them off so easy, eh? +Another shake! A man can die but once. If you wake in the night, +sing that out lustily, and fall asleep again. Ha ha ha!' + +Barnaby glanced once more through the grate into the empty yard; +and then watched Hugh as he strode to the steps leading to his +sleeping-cell. He heard him shout, and burst into a roar of +laughter, and saw him flourish his hat. Then he turned away +himself, like one who walked in his sleep; and, without any sense +of fear or sorrow, lay down on his pallet, listening for the clock +to strike again. + + + +Chapter 77 + + +The time wore on. The noises in the streets became less frequent +by degrees, until silence was scarcely broken save by the bells in +church towers, marking the progress--softer and more stealthy +while the city slumbered--of that Great Watcher with the hoary +head, who never sleeps or rests. In the brief interval of darkness +and repose which feverish towns enjoy, all busy sounds were hushed; +and those who awoke from dreams lay listening in their beds, and +longed for dawn, and wished the dead of the night were past. + +Into the street outside the jail's main wall, workmen came +straggling at this solemn hour, in groups of two or three, and +meeting in the centre, cast their tools upon the ground and spoke +in whispers. Others soon issued from the jail itself, bearing on +their shoulders planks and beams: these materials being all brought +forth, the rest bestirred themselves, and the dull sound of hammers +began to echo through the stillness. + +Here and there among this knot of labourers, one, with a lantern or +a smoky link, stood by to light his fellows at their work; and by +its doubtful aid, some might be dimly seen taking up the pavement +of the road, while others held great upright posts, or fixed them +in the holes thus made for their reception. Some dragged slowly +on, towards the rest, an empty cart, which they brought rumbling +from the prison-yard; while others erected strong barriers across +the street. All were busily engaged. Their dusky figures moving +to and fro, at that unusual hour, so active and so silent, might +have been taken for those of shadowy creatures toiling at midnight +on some ghostly unsubstantial work, which, like themselves, would +vanish with the first gleam of day, and leave but morning mist and +vapour. + +While it was yet dark, a few lookers-on collected, who had plainly +come there for the purpose and intended to remain: even those who +had to pass the spot on their way to some other place, lingered, +and lingered yet, as though the attraction of that were +irresistible. Meanwhile the noise of saw and mallet went on +briskly, mingled with the clattering of boards on the stone +pavement of the road, and sometimes with the workmen's voices as +they called to one another. Whenever the chimes of the +neighbouring church were heard--and that was every quarter of an +hour--a strange sensation, instantaneous and indescribable, but +perfectly obvious, seemed to pervade them all. + +Gradually, a faint brightness appeared in the east, and the air, +which had been very warm all through the night, felt cool and +chilly. Though there was no daylight yet, the darkness was +diminished, and the stars looked pale. The prison, which had been +a mere black mass with little shape or form, put on its usual +aspect; and ever and anon a solitary watchman could be seen upon +its roof, stopping to look down upon the preparations in the +street. This man, from forming, as it were, a part of the jail, +and knowing or being supposed to know all that was passing within, +became an object of as much interest, and was as eagerly looked +for, and as awfully pointed out, as if he had been a spirit. + +By and by, the feeble light grew stronger, and the houses with +their signboards and inscriptions, stood plainly out, in the dull +grey morning. Heavy stage waggons crawled from the inn-yard +opposite; and travellers peeped out; and as they rolled sluggishly +away, cast many a backward look towards the jail. And now, the +sun's first beams came glancing into the street; and the night's +work, which, in its various stages and in the varied fancies of the +lookers-on had taken a hundred shapes, wore its own proper form--a +scaffold, and a gibbet. + +As the warmth of the cheerful day began to shed itself upon the +scanty crowd, the murmur of tongues was heard, shutters were thrown +open, and blinds drawn up, and those who had slept in rooms over +against the prison, where places to see the execution were let at +high prices, rose hastily from their beds. In some of the houses, +people were busy taking out the window-sashes for the better +accommodation of spectators; in others, the spectators were already +seated, and beguiling the time with cards, or drink, or jokes among +themselves. Some had purchased seats upon the house-tops, and +were already crawling to their stations from parapet and garret- +window. Some were yet bargaining for good places, and stood in +them in a state of indecision: gazing at the slowly-swelling crowd, +and at the workmen as they rested listlessly against the scaffold-- +affecting to listen with indifference to the proprietor's eulogy of +the commanding view his house afforded, and the surpassing +cheapness of his terms. + +A fairer morning never shone. From the roofs and upper stories of +these buildings, the spires of city churches and the great +cathedral dome were visible, rising up beyond the prison, into the +blue sky, and clad in the colour of light summer clouds, and +showing in the clear atmosphere their every scrap of tracery and +fretwork, and every niche and loophole. All was brightness and +promise, excepting in the street below, into which (for it yet lay +in shadow) the eye looked down as into a dark trench, where, in the +midst of so much life, and hope, and renewal of existence, stood +the terrible instrument of death. It seemed as if the very sun +forbore to look upon it. + +But it was better, grim and sombre in the shade, than when, the day +being more advanced, it stood confessed in the full glare and glory +of the sun, with its black paint blistering, and its nooses +dangling in the light like loathsome garlands. It was better in +the solitude and gloom of midnight with a few forms clustering +about it, than in the freshness and the stir of morning: the centre +of an eager crowd. It was better haunting the street like a +spectre, when men were in their beds, and influencing perchance the +city's dreams, than braving the broad day, and thrusting its +obscene presence upon their waking senses. + +Five o'clock had struck--six--seven--and eight. Along the two main +streets at either end of the cross-way, a living stream had now +set in, rolling towards the marts of gain and business. Carts, +coaches, waggons, trucks, and barrows, forced a passage through the +outskirts of the throng, and clattered onward in the same +direction. Some of these which were public conveyances and had +come from a short distance in the country, stopped; and the driver +pointed to the gibbet with his whip, though he might have spared +himself the pains, for the heads of all the passengers were turned +that way without his help, and the coach-windows were stuck full of +staring eyes. In some of the carts and waggons, women might be +seen, glancing fearfully at the same unsightly thing; and even +little children were held up above the people's heads to see what +kind of a toy a gallows was, and learn how men were hanged. + +Two rioters were to die before the prison, who had been concerned +in the attack upon it; and one directly afterwards in Bloomsbury +Square. At nine o'clock, a strong body of military marched into +the street, and formed and lined a narrow passage into Holborn, +which had been indifferently kept all night by constables. Through +this, another cart was brought (the one already mentioned had been +employed in the construction of the scaffold), and wheeled up to +the prison-gate. These preparations made, the soldiers stood at +ease; the officers lounged to and fro, in the alley they had made, +or talked together at the scaffold's foot; and the concourse, +which had been rapidly augmenting for some hours, and still +received additions every minute, waited with an impatience which +increased with every chime of St Sepulchre's clock, for twelve at +noon. + +Up to this time they had been very quiet, comparatively silent, +save when the arrival of some new party at a window, hitherto +unoccupied, gave them something new to look at or to talk of. But, +as the hour approached, a buzz and hum arose, which, deepening +every moment, soon swelled into a roar, and seemed to fill the air. +No words or even voices could be distinguished in this clamour, nor +did they speak much to each other; though such as were better +informed upon the topic than the rest, would tell their neighbours, +perhaps, that they might know the hangman when he came out, by his +being the shorter one: and that the man who was to suffer with him +was named Hugh: and that it was Barnaby Rudge who would be hanged +in Bloomsbury Square. + +The hum grew, as the time drew near, so loud, that those who were +at the windows could not hear the church-clock strike, though it +was close at hand. Nor had they any need to hear it, either, for +they could see it in the people's faces. So surely as another +quarter chimed, there was a movement in the crowd--as if something +had passed over it--as if the light upon them had been changed--in +which the fact was readable as on a brazen dial, figured by a +giant's hand. + +Three quarters past eleven! The murmur now was deafening, yet +every man seemed mute. Look where you would among the crowd, you +saw strained eyes and lips compressed; it would have been difficult +for the most vigilant observer to point this way or that, and say +that yonder man had cried out. It were as easy to detect the +motion of lips in a sea-shell. + +Three quarters past eleven! Many spectators who had retired from +the windows, came back refreshed, as though their watch had just +begun. Those who had fallen asleep, roused themselves; and every +person in the crowd made one last effort to better his position-- +which caused a press against the sturdy barriers that made them +bend and yield like twigs. The officers, who until now had kept +together, fell into their several positions, and gave the words of +command. Swords were drawn, muskets shouldered, and the bright +steel winding its way among the crowd, gleamed and glittered in the +sun like a river. Along this shining path, two men came hurrying +on, leading a horse, which was speedily harnessed to the cart at +the prison-door. Then, a profound silence replaced the tumult that +had so long been gathering, and a breathless pause ensued. Every +window was now choked up with heads; the house-tops teemed with +people--clinging to chimneys, peering over gable-ends, and holding +on where the sudden loosening of any brick or stone would dash them +down into the street. The church tower, the church roof, the +church yard, the prison leads, the very water-spouts and +lampposts--every inch of room--swarmed with human life. + +At the first stroke of twelve the prison-bell began to toll. Then +the roar--mingled now with cries of 'Hats off!' and 'Poor fellows!' +and, from some specks in the great concourse, with a shriek or +groan--burst forth again. It was terrible to see--if any one in +that distraction of excitement could have seen--the world of eager +eyes, all strained upon the scaffold and the beam. + +The hollow murmuring was heard within the jail as plainly as +without. The three were brought forth into the yard, together, as +it resounded through the air. They knew its import well. + +'D'ye hear?' cried Hugh, undaunted by the sound. 'They expect us! +I heard them gathering when I woke in the night, and turned over on +t'other side and fell asleep again. We shall see how they welcome +the hangman, now that it comes home to him. Ha, ha, ha!' + +The Ordinary coming up at this moment, reproved him for his +indecent mirth, and advised him to alter his demeanour. + +'And why, master?' said Hugh. 'Can I do better than bear it +easily? YOU bear it easily enough. Oh! never tell me,' he cried, +as the other would have spoken, 'for all your sad look and your +solemn air, you think little enough of it! They say you're the +best maker of lobster salads in London. Ha, ha! I've heard that, +you see, before now. Is it a good one, this morning--is your hand +in? How does the breakfast look? I hope there's enough, and to +spare, for all this hungry company that'll sit down to it, when the +sight's over.' + +'I fear,' observed the clergyman, shaking his head, 'that you are +incorrigible.' + +'You're right. I am,' rejoined Hugh sternly. 'Be no hypocrite, +master! You make a merry-making of this, every month; let me be +merry, too. If you want a frightened fellow there's one that'll +suit you. Try your hand upon him.' + +He pointed, as he spoke, to Dennis, who, with his legs trailing on +the ground, was held between two men; and who trembled so, that all +his joints and limbs seemed racked by spasms. Turning from this +wretched spectacle, he called to Barnaby, who stood apart. + +'What cheer, Barnaby? Don't be downcast, lad. Leave that to HIM.' + +'Bless you,' cried Barnaby, stepping lightly towards him, 'I'm not +frightened, Hugh. I'm quite happy. I wouldn't desire to live now, +if they'd let me. Look at me! Am I afraid to die? Will they see +ME tremble?' + +Hugh gazed for a moment at his face, on which there was a strange, +unearthly smile; and at his eye, which sparkled brightly; and +interposing between him and the Ordinary, gruffly whispered to the +latter: + +'I wouldn't say much to him, master, if I was you. He may spoil +your appetite for breakfast, though you ARE used to it.' + +He was the only one of the three who had washed or trimmed himself +that morning. Neither of the others had done so, since their doom +was pronounced. He still wore the broken peacock's feathers in his +hat; and all his usual scraps of finery were carefully disposed +about his person. His kindling eye, his firm step, his proud and +resolute bearing, might have graced some lofty act of heroism; some +voluntary sacrifice, born of a noble cause and pure enthusiasm; +rather than that felon's death. + +But all these things increased his guilt. They were mere +assumptions. The law had declared it so, and so it must be. The +good minister had been greatly shocked, not a quarter of an hour +before, at his parting with Grip. For one in his condition, to +fondle a bird!--The yard was filled with people; bluff civic +functionaries, officers of justice, soldiers, the curious in such +matters, and guests who had been bidden as to a wedding. Hugh +looked about him, nodded gloomily to some person in authority, who +indicated with his hand in what direction he was to proceed; and +clapping Barnaby on the shoulder, passed out with the gait of a +lion. + +They entered a large room, so near to the scaffold that the voices +of those who stood about it, could be plainly heard: some +beseeching the javelin-men to take them out of the crowd: others +crying to those behind, to stand back, for they were pressed to +death, and suffocating for want of air. + +In the middle of this chamber, two smiths, with hammers, stood +beside an anvil. Hugh walked straight up to them, and set his foot +upon it with a sound as though it had been struck by a heavy +weapon. Then, with folded arms, he stood to have his irons knocked +off: scowling haughtily round, as those who were present eyed him +narrowly and whispered to each other. + +It took so much time to drag Dennis in, that this ceremony was over +with Hugh, and nearly over with Barnaby, before he appeared. He no +sooner came into the place he knew so well, however, and among +faces with which he was so familiar, than he recovered strength and +sense enough to clasp his hands and make a last appeal. + +'Gentlemen, good gentlemen,' cried the abject creature, grovelling +down upon his knees, and actually prostrating himself upon the +stone floor: 'Governor, dear governor--honourable sheriffs--worthy +gentlemen--have mercy upon a wretched man that has served His +Majesty, and the Law, and Parliament, for so many years, and don't-- +don't let me die--because of a mistake.' + +'Dennis,' said the governor of the jail, 'you know what the course +is, and that the order came with the rest. You know that we could +do nothing, even if we would.' + +'All I ask, sir,--all I want and beg, is time, to make it sure,' +cried the trembling wretch, looking wildly round for sympathy. +'The King and Government can't know it's me; I'm sure they can't +know it's me; or they never would bring me to this dreadful +slaughterhouse. They know my name, but they don't know it's the +same man. Stop my execution--for charity's sake stop my execution, +gentlemen--till they can be told that I've been hangman here, nigh +thirty year. Will no one go and tell them?' he implored, clenching +his hands and glaring round, and round, and round again--'will no +charitable person go and tell them!' + +'Mr Akerman,' said a gentleman who stood by, after a moment's +pause, 'since it may possibly produce in this unhappy man a better +frame of mind, even at this last minute, let me assure him that he +was well known to have been the hangman, when his sentence was +considered.' + +'--But perhaps they think on that account that the punishment's not +so great,' cried the criminal, shuffling towards this speaker on +his knees, and holding up his folded hands; 'whereas it's worse, +it's worse a hundred times, to me than any man. Let them know +that, sir. Let them know that. They've made it worse to me by +giving me so much to do. Stop my execution till they know that!' + +The governor beckoned with his hand, and the two men, who had +supported him before, approached. He uttered a piercing cry: + +'Wait! Wait. Only a moment--only one moment more! Give me a last +chance of reprieve. One of us three is to go to Bloomsbury Square. +Let me be the one. It may come in that time; it's sure to come. +In the Lord's name let me be sent to Bloomsbury Square. Don't hang +me here. It's murder.' + +They took him to the anvil: but even then he could he heard above +the clinking of the smiths' hammers, and the hoarse raging of the +crowd, crying that he knew of Hugh's birth--that his father was +living, and was a gentleman of influence and rank--that he had +family secrets in his possession--that he could tell nothing unless +they gave him time, but must die with them on his mind; and he +continued to rave in this sort until his voice failed him, and he +sank down a mere heap of clothes between the two attendants. + +It was at this moment that the clock struck the first stroke of +twelve, and the bell began to toll. The various officers, with the +two sheriffs at their head, moved towards the door. All was ready +when the last chime came upon the ear. + +They told Hugh this, and asked if he had anything to say. + +'To say!' he cried. 'Not I. I'm ready.--Yes,' he added, as his +eye fell upon Barnaby, 'I have a word to say, too. Come hither, +lad.' + +There was, for the moment, something kind, and even tender, +struggling in his fierce aspect, as he wrung his poor companion by +the hand. + +'I'll say this,' he cried, looking firmly round, 'that if I had ten +lives to lose, and the loss of each would give me ten times the +agony of the hardest death, I'd lay them all down--ay, I would, +though you gentlemen may not believe it--to save this one. This +one,' he added, wringing his hand again, 'that will be lost through +me.' + +'Not through you,' said the idiot, mildly. 'Don't say that. You +were not to blame. You have always been very good to me.--Hugh, we +shall know what makes the stars shine, NOW!' + +'I took him from her in a reckless mood, and didn't think what harm +would come of it,' said Hugh, laying his hand upon his head, and +speaking in a lower voice. 'I ask her pardon; and his.--Look +here,' he added roughly, in his former tone. 'You see this lad?' + +They murmured 'Yes,' and seemed to wonder why he asked. + +'That gentleman yonder--' pointing to the clergyman--'has often in +the last few days spoken to me of faith, and strong belief. You +see what I am--more brute than man, as I have been often told--but +I had faith enough to believe, and did believe as strongly as any +of you gentlemen can believe anything, that this one life would be +spared. See what he is!--Look at him!' + +Barnaby had moved towards the door, and stood beckoning him to +follow. + +'If this was not faith, and strong belief!' cried Hugh, raising +his right arm aloft, and looking upward like a savage prophet whom +the near approach of Death had filled with inspiration, 'where are +they! What else should teach me--me, born as I was born, and +reared as I have been reared--to hope for any mercy in this +hardened, cruel, unrelenting place! Upon these human shambles, I, +who never raised this hand in prayer till now, call down the wrath +of God! On that black tree, of which I am the ripened fruit, I do +invoke the curse of all its victims, past, and present, and to +come. On the head of that man, who, in his conscience, owns me for +his son, I leave the wish that he may never sicken on his bed of +down, but die a violent death as I do now, and have the night-wind +for his only mourner. To this I say, Amen, amen!' + +His arm fell downward by his side; he turned; and moved towards +them with a steady step, the man he had been before. + +'There is nothing more?' said the governor. + +Hugh motioned Barnaby not to come near him (though without looking +in the direction where he stood) and answered, 'There is nothing +more.' + +'Move forward!' + +'--Unless,' said Hugh, glancing hurriedly back,--'unless any +person here has a fancy for a dog; and not then, unless he means to +use him well. There's one, belongs to me, at the house I came +from, and it wouldn't be easy to find a better. He'll whine at +first, but he'll soon get over that.--You wonder that I think about +a dog just now, he added, with a kind of laugh. 'If any man +deserved it of me half as well, I'd think of HIM.' + +He spoke no more, but moved onward in his place, with a careless +air, though listening at the same time to the Service for the Dead, +with something between sullen attention, and quickened curiosity. +As soon as he had passed the door, his miserable associate was +carried out; and the crowd beheld the rest. + +Barnaby would have mounted the steps at the same time--indeed he +would have gone before them, but in both attempts he was +restrained, as he was to undergo the sentence elsewhere. In a few +minutes the sheriffs reappeared, the same procession was again +formed, and they passed through various rooms and passages to +another door--that at which the cart was waiting. He held down his +head to avoid seeing what he knew his eyes must otherwise +encounter, and took his seat sorrowfully,--and yet with something +of a childish pride and pleasure,--in the vehicle. The officers +fell into their places at the sides, in front and in the rear; the +sheriffs' carriages rolled on; a guard of soldiers surrounded the +whole; and they moved slowly forward through the throng and +pressure toward Lord Mansfield's ruined house. + +It was a sad sight--all the show, and strength, and glitter, +assembled round one helpless creature--and sadder yet to note, as +he rode along, how his wandering thoughts found strange +encouragement in the crowded windows and the concourse in the +streets; and how, even then, he felt the influence of the bright +sky, and looked up, smiling, into its deep unfathomable blue. But +there had been many such sights since the riots were over--some so +moving in their nature, and so repulsive too, that they were far +more calculated to awaken pity for the sufferers, than respect for +that law whose strong arm seemed in more than one case to be as +wantonly stretched forth now that all was safe, as it had been +basely paralysed in time of danger. + +Two cripples--both mere boys--one with a leg of wood, one who +dragged his twisted limbs along by the help of a crutch, were +hanged in this same Bloomsbury Square. As the cart was about to +glide from under them, it was observed that they stood with their +faces from, not to, the house they had assisted to despoil; and +their misery was protracted that this omission might be remedied. +Another boy was hanged in Bow Street; other young lads in various +quarters of the town. Four wretched women, too, were put to +death. In a word, those who suffered as rioters were, for the most +part, the weakest, meanest, and most miserable among them. It was +a most exquisite satire upon the false religious cry which had led +to so much misery, that some of these people owned themselves to be +Catholics, and begged to be attended by their own priests. + +One young man was hanged in Bishopsgate Street, whose aged grey- +headed father waited for him at the gallows, kissed him at its foot +when he arrived, and sat there, on the ground, till they took him +down. They would have given him the body of his child; but he had +no hearse, no coffin, nothing to remove it in, being too poor--and +walked meekly away beside the cart that took it back to prison, +trying, as he went, to touch its lifeless hand. + +But the crowd had forgotten these matters, or cared little about +them if they lived in their memory: and while one great multitude +fought and hustled to get near the gibbet before Newgate, for a +parting look, another followed in the train of poor lost Barnaby, +to swell the throng that waited for him on the spot. + + + +Chapter 78 + + +On this same day, and about this very hour, Mr Willet the elder sat +smoking his pipe in a chamber at the Black Lion. Although it was +hot summer weather, Mr Willet sat close to the fire. He was in a +state of profound cogitation, with his own thoughts, and it was his +custom at such times to stew himself slowly, under the impression +that that process of cookery was favourable to the melting out of +his ideas, which, when he began to simmer, sometimes oozed forth so +copiously as to astonish even himself. + +Mr Willet had been several thousand times comforted by his friends +and acquaintance, with the assurance that for the loss he had +sustained in the damage done to the Maypole, he could 'come upon +the county.' But as this phrase happened to bear an unfortunate +resemblance to the popular expression of 'coming on the parish,' it +suggested to Mr Willet's mind no more consolatory visions than +pauperism on an extensive scale, and ruin in a capacious aspect. +Consequently, he had never failed to receive the intelligence with +a rueful shake of the head, or a dreary stare, and had been always +observed to appear much more melancholy after a visit of condolence +than at any other time in the whole four-and-twenty hours. + +It chanced, however, that sitting over the fire on this particular +occasion--perhaps because he was, as it were, done to a turn; +perhaps because he was in an unusually bright state of mind; +perhaps because he had considered the subject so long; perhaps +because of all these favouring circumstances, taken together--it +chanced that, sitting over the fire on this particular occasion, Mr +Willet did, afar off and in the remotest depths of his intellect, +perceive a kind of lurking hint or faint suggestion, that out of +the public purse there might issue funds for the restoration of the +Maypole to its former high place among the taverns of the earth. +And this dim ray of light did so diffuse itself within him, and did +so kindle up and shine, that at last he had it as plainly and +visibly before him as the blaze by which he sat; and, fully +persuaded that he was the first to make the discovery, and that he +had started, hunted down, fallen upon, and knocked on the head, a +perfectly original idea which had never presented itself to any +other man, alive or dead, he laid down his pipe, rubbed his hands, +and chuckled audibly. + +'Why, father!' cried Joe, entering at the moment, 'you're in +spirits to-day!' + +'It's nothing partickler,' said Mr Willet, chuckling again. 'It's +nothing at all partickler, Joseph. Tell me something about the +Salwanners.' Having preferred this request, Mr Willet chuckled a +third time, and after these unusual demonstrations of levity, he +put his pipe in his mouth again. + +'What shall I tell you, father?' asked Joe, laying his hand upon +his sire's shoulder, and looking down into his face. 'That I have +come back, poorer than a church mouse? You know that. That I have +come back, maimed and crippled? You know that.' + +'It was took off,' muttered Mr Willet,with his eyes upon the fire, +'at the defence of the Salwanners, in America, where the war is.' + +'Quite right,' returned Joe, smiling, and leaning with his +remaining elbow on the back of his father's chair; 'the very +subject I came to speak to you about. A man with one arm, father, +is not of much use in the busy world.' + +This was one of those vast propositions which Mr Willet had never +considered for an instant, and required time to 'tackle.' +Wherefore he made no answer. + +'At all events,' said Joe, 'he can't pick and choose his means of +earning a livelihood, as another man may. He can't say "I will +turn my hand to this," or "I won't turn my hand to that," but must +take what he can do, and be thankful it's no worse.--What did you +say?' + +Mr Willet had been softly repeating to himself, in a musing tone, +the words 'defence of the Salwanners:' but he seemed embarrassed at +having been overheard, and answered 'Nothing.' + +'Now look here, father.--Mr Edward has come to England from the +West Indies. When he was lost sight of (I ran away on the same +day, father), he made a voyage to one of the islands, where a +school-friend of his had settled; and, finding him, wasn't too +proud to be employed on his estate, and--and in short, got on well, +and is prospering, and has come over here on business of his own, +and is going back again speedily. Our returning nearly at the +same time, and meeting in the course of the late troubles, has been +a good thing every way; for it has not only enabled us to do old +friends some service, but has opened a path in life for me which I +may tread without being a burden upon you. To be plain, father, he +can employ me; I have satisfied myself that I can be of real use to +him; and I am going to carry my one arm away with him, and to make +the most of it. + +In the mind's eye of Mr Willet, the West Indies, and indeed all +foreign countries, were inhabited by savage nations, who were +perpetually burying pipes of peace, flourishing tomahawks, and +puncturing strange patterns in their bodies. He no sooner heard +this announcement, therefore, than he leaned back in his chair, +took his pipe from his lips, and stared at his son with as much +dismay as if he already beheld him tied to a stake, and tortured +for the entertainment of a lively population. In what form of +expression his feelings would have found a vent, it is impossible +to say. Nor is it necessary: for, before a syllable occurred to +him, Dolly Varden came running into the room, in tears, threw +herself on Joe's breast without a word of explanation, and clasped +her white arms round his neck. + +'Dolly!' cried Joe. 'Dolly!' + +'Ay, call me that; call me that always,' exclaimed the locksmith's +little daughter; 'never speak coldly to me, never be distant, never +again reprove me for the follies I have long repented, or I shall +die, Joe.' + +'I reprove you!' said Joe. + +'Yes--for every kind and honest word you uttered, went to my heart. +For you, who have borne so much from me--for you, who owe your +sufferings and pain to my caprice--for you to be so kind--so noble +to me, Joe--' + +He could say nothing to her. Not a syllable. There was an odd +sort of eloquence in his one arm, which had crept round her waist: +but his lips were mute. + +'If you had reminded me by a word--only by one short word,' sobbed +Dolly, clinging yet closer to him, 'how little I deserved that you +should treat me with so much forbearance; if you had exulted only +for one moment in your triumph, I could have borne it better.' + +'Triumph!' repeated Joe, with a smile which seemed to say, 'I am a +pretty figure for that.' + +'Yes, triumph,' she cried, with her whole heart and soul in her +earnest voice, and gushing tears; 'for it is one. I am glad to +think and know it is. I wouldn't be less humbled, dear--I wouldn't +be without the recollection of that last time we spoke together in +this place--no, not if I could recall the past, and make our +parting, yesterday.' + +Did ever lover look as Joe looked now! + +'Dear Joe,' said Dolly, 'I always loved you--in my own heart I +always did, although I was so vain and giddy. I hoped you would +come back that night. I made quite sure you would. I prayed for +it on my knees. Through all these long, long years, I have never +once forgotten you, or left off hoping that this happy time might +come.' + +The eloquence of Joe's arm surpassed the most impassioned language; +and so did that of his lips--yet he said nothing, either. + +'And now, at last,' cried Dolly, trembling with the fervour of her +speech, 'if you were sick, and shattered in your every limb; if you +were ailing, weak, and sorrowful; if, instead of being what you +are, you were in everybody's eyes but mine the wreck and ruin of a +man; I would be your wife, dear love, with greater pride and joy, +than if you were the stateliest lord in England!' + +'What have I done,' cried Joe, 'what have I done to meet with this +reward?' + +'You have taught me,' said Dolly, raising her pretty face to his, +'to know myself, and your worth; to be something better than I +was; to be more deserving of your true and manly nature. In years +to come, dear Joe, you shall find that you have done so; for I will +be, not only now, when we are young and full of hope, but when we +have grown old and weary, your patient, gentle, never-tiring +wife. I will never know a wish or care beyond our home and you, +and I will always study how to please you with my best affection +and my most devoted love. I will: indeed I will!' + +Joe could only repeat his former eloquence--but it was very much to +the purpose. + +'They know of this, at home,' said Dolly. 'For your sake, I would +leave even them; but they know it, and are glad of it, and are as +proud of you as I am, and as full of gratitude.--You'll not come +and see me as a poor friend who knew me when I was a girl, will +you, dear Joe?' + +Well, well! It don't matter what Joe said in answer, but he said a +great deal; and Dolly said a great deal too: and he folded Dolly in +his one arm pretty tight, considering that it was but one; and +Dolly made no resistance: and if ever two people were happy in this +world--which is not an utterly miserable one, with all its faults-- +we may, with some appearance of certainty, conclude that they +were. + +To say that during these proceedings Mr Willet the elder underwent +the greatest emotions of astonishment of which our common nature is +susceptible--to say that he was in a perfect paralysis of surprise, +and that he wandered into the most stupendous and theretofore +unattainable heights of complicated amazement--would be to shadow +forth his state of mind in the feeblest and lamest terms. If a +roc, an eagle, a griffin, a flying elephant, a winged sea-horse, +had suddenly appeared, and, taking him on its back, carried him +bodily into the heart of the 'Salwanners,' it would have been to +him as an everyday occurrence, in comparison with what he now +beheld. To be sitting quietly by, seeing and hearing these things; +to be completely overlooked, unnoticed, and disregarded, while his +son and a young lady were talking to each other in the most +impassioned manner, kissing each other, and making themselves in +all respects perfectly at home; was a position so tremendous, so +inexplicable, so utterly beyond the widest range of his capacity of +comprehension, that he fell into a lethargy of wonder, and could no +more rouse himself than an enchanted sleeper in the first year of +his fairy lease, a century long. + +'Father,' said Joe, presenting Dolly. 'You know who this is?' + +Mr Willet looked first at her, then at his son, then back again at +Dolly, and then made an ineffectual effort to extract a whiff from +his pipe, which had gone out long ago. + +'Say a word, father, if it's only "how d'ye do,"' urged Joe. + +'Certainly, Joseph,' answered Mr Willet. 'Oh yes! Why not?' + +'To be sure,' said Joe. 'Why not?' + +'Ah!' replied his father. 'Why not?' and with this remark, which +he uttered in a low voice as though he were discussing some grave +question with himself, he used the little finger--if any of his +fingers can be said to have come under that denomination--of his +right hand as a tobacco-stopper, and was silent again. + +And so he sat for half an hour at least, although Dolly, in the +most endearing of manners, hoped, a dozen times, that he was not +angry with her. So he sat for half an hour, quite motionless, and +looking all the while like nothing so much as a great Dutch Pin or +Skittle. At the expiration of that period, he suddenly, and +without the least notice, burst (to the great consternation of the +young people) into a very loud and very short laugh; and +repeating, 'Certainly, Joseph. Oh yes! Why not?' went out for a +walk. + + + +Chapter 79 + + +Old John did not walk near the Golden Key, for between the Golden +Key and the Black Lion there lay a wilderness of streets--as +everybody knows who is acquainted with the relative bearings of +Clerkenwell and Whitechapel--and he was by no means famous for +pedestrian exercises. But the Golden Key lies in our way, though +it was out of his; so to the Golden Key this chapter goes. + +The Golden Key itself, fair emblem of the locksmith's trade, had +been pulled down by the rioters, and roughly trampled under foot. +But, now, it was hoisted up again in all the glory of a new coat of +paint, and shewed more bravely even than in days of yore. Indeed +the whole house-front was spruce and trim, and so freshened up +throughout, that if there yet remained at large any of the rioters +who had been concerned in the attack upon it, the sight of the old, +goodly, prosperous dwelling, so revived, must have been to them as +gall and wormwood. + +The shutters of the shop were closed, however, and the window- +blinds above were all pulled down, and in place of its usual +cheerful appearance, the house had a look of sadness and an air of +mourning; which the neighbours, who in old days had often seen poor +Barnaby go in and out, were at no loss to understand. The door +stood partly open; but the locksmith's hammer was unheard; the cat +sat moping on the ashy forge; all was deserted, dark, and silent. + +On the threshold of this door, Mr Haredale and Edward Chester met. +The younger man gave place; and both passing in with a familiar +air, which seemed to denote that they were tarrying there, or were +well-accustomed to go to and fro unquestioned, shut it behind them. + +Entering the old back-parlour, and ascending the flight of stairs, +abrupt and steep, and quaintly fashioned as of old, they turned +into the best room; the pride of Mrs Varden's heart, and erst the +scene of Miggs's household labours. + +'Varden brought the mother here last evening, he told me?' said Mr +Haredale. + +'She is above-stairs now--in the room over here,' Edward rejoined. +'Her grief, they say, is past all telling. I needn't add--for that +you know beforehand, sir--that the care, humanity, and sympathy of +these good people have no bounds.' + +'I am sure of that. Heaven repay them for it, and for much more! +Varden is out?' + +'He returned with your messenger, who arrived almost at the moment +of his coming home himself. He was out the whole night--but that +of course you know. He was with you the greater part of it?' + +'He was. Without him, I should have lacked my right hand. He is +an older man than I; but nothing can conquer him.' + +'The cheeriest, stoutest-hearted fellow in the world.' + +'He has a right to be. He has a right to he. A better creature +never lived. He reaps what he has sown--no more.' + +'It is not all men,' said Edward, after a moment's hesitation, 'who +have the happiness to do that.' + +'More than you imagine,' returned Mr Haredale. 'We note the +harvest more than the seed-time. You do so in me.' + +In truth his pale and haggard face, and gloomy bearing, had so far +influenced the remark, that Edward was, for the moment, at a loss +to answer him. + +'Tut, tut,' said Mr Haredale, ''twas not very difficult to read a +thought so natural. But you are mistaken nevertheless. I have +had my share of sorrows--more than the common lot, perhaps, but I +have borne them ill. I have broken where I should have bent; and +have mused and brooded, when my spirit should have mixed with all +God's great creation. The men who learn endurance, are they who +call the whole world, brother. I have turned FROM the world, and I +pay the penalty.' + +Edward would have interposed, but he went on without giving him +time. + +'It is too late to evade it now. I sometimes think, that if I had +to live my life once more, I might amend this fault--not so much, I +discover when I search my mind, for the love of what is right, as +for my own sake. But even when I make these better resolutions, I +instinctively recoil from the idea of suffering again what I have +undergone; and in this circumstance I find the unwelcome assurance +that I should still be the same man, though I could cancel the +past, and begin anew, with its experience to guide me.' + +'Nay, you make too sure of that,' said Edward. + +'You think so,' Mr Haredale answered, 'and I am glad you do. I +know myself better, and therefore distrust myself more. Let us +leave this subject for another--not so far removed from it as it +might, at first sight, seem to be. Sir, you still love my niece, +and she is still attached to you.' + +'I have that assurance from her own lips,' said Edward, 'and you +know--I am sure you know--that I would not exchange it for any +blessing life could yield me.' + +'You are frank, honourable, and disinterested,' said Mr Haredale; +'you have forced the conviction that you are so, even on my once- +jaundiced mind, and I believe you. Wait here till I come back.' + +He left the room as he spoke; but soon returned with his niece. +'On that first and only time,' he said, looking from the one to the +other, 'when we three stood together under her father's roof, I +told you to quit it, and charged you never to return.' + +'It is the only circumstance arising out of our love,' observed +Edward, 'that I have forgotten.' + +'You own a name,' said Mr Haredale, 'I had deep reason to remember. +I was moved and goaded by recollections of personal wrong and +injury, I know, but, even now I cannot charge myself with having, +then, or ever, lost sight of a heartfelt desire for her true +happiness; or with having acted--however much I was mistaken--with +any other impulse than the one pure, single, earnest wish to be to +her, as far as in my inferior nature lay, the father she had lost.' + +'Dear uncle,' cried Emma, 'I have known no parent but you. I have +loved the memory of others, but I have loved you all my life. +Never was father kinder to his child than you have been to me, +without the interval of one harsh hour, since I can first +remember.' + +'You speak too fondly,' he answered, 'and yet I cannot wish you +were less partial; for I have a pleasure in hearing those words, +and shall have in calling them to mind when we are far asunder, +which nothing else could give me. Bear with me for a moment +longer, Edward, for she and I have been together many years; and +although I believe that in resigning her to you I put the seal upon +her future happiness, I find it needs an effort.' + +He pressed her tenderly to his bosom, and after a minute's pause, +resumed: + +'I have done you wrong, sir, and I ask your forgiveness--in no +common phrase, or show of sorrow; but with earnestness and +sincerity. In the same spirit, I acknowledge to you both that the +time has been when I connived at treachery and falsehood--which if +I did not perpetrate myself, I still permitted--to rend you two +asunder.' + +'You judge yourself too harshly,' said Edward. 'Let these things +rest.' + +'They rise in judgment against me when I look back, and not now for +the first time,' he answered. 'I cannot part from you without your +full forgiveness; for busy life and I have little left in common +now, and I have regrets enough to carry into solitude, without +addition to the stock.' + +'You bear a blessing from us both,' said Emma. 'Never mingle +thoughts of me--of me who owe you so much love and duty--with +anything but undying affection and gratitude for the past, and +bright hopes for the future.' + +'The future,' returned her uncle, with a melancholy smile, 'is a +bright word for you, and its image should be wreathed with +cheerful hopes. Mine is of another kind, but it will be one of +peace, and free, I trust, from care or passion. When you quit +England I shall leave it too. There are cloisters abroad; and now +that the two great objects of my life are set at rest, I know no +better home. You droop at that, forgetting that I am growing old, +and that my course is nearly run. Well, we will speak of it again-- +not once or twice, but many times; and you shall give me cheerful +counsel, Emma.' + +'And you will take it?' asked his niece. + +'I'll listen to it,' he answered, with a kiss, 'and it will have +its weight, be certain. What have I left to say? You have, of +late, been much together. It is better and more fitting that the +circumstances attendant on the past, which wrought your separation, +and sowed between you suspicion and distrust, should not be entered +on by me.' + +'Much, much better,' whispered Emma. + +'I avow my share in them,' said Mr Haredale, 'though I held it, at +the time, in detestation. Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, +from the broad path of honour, on the plausible pretence that he is +justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can he worked +out by good means. Those that cannot, are bad; and may be counted +so at once, and left alone.' + +He looked from her to Edward, and said in a gentler tone: + +'In goods and fortune you are now nearly equal. I have been her +faithful steward, and to that remnant of a richer property which my +brother left her, I desire to add, in token of my love, a poor +pittance, scarcely worth the mention, for which I have no longer +any need. I am glad you go abroad. Let our ill-fated house +remain the ruin it is. When you return, after a few thriving +years, you will command a better, and a more fortunate one. We are +friends?' + +Edward took his extended hand, and grasped it heartily. + +'You are neither slow nor cold in your response,' said Mr Haredale, +doing the like by him, 'and when I look upon you now, and know you, +I feel that I would choose you for her husband. Her father had a +generous nature, and you would have pleased him well. I give her +to you in his name, and with his blessing. If the world and I part +in this act, we part on happier terms than we have lived for many a +day.' + +He placed her in his arms, and would have left the room, but that +he was stopped in his passage to the door by a great noise at a +distance, which made them start and pause. + +It was a loud shouting, mingled with boisterous acclamations, that +rent the very air. It drew nearer and nearer every moment, and +approached so rapidly, that, even while they listened, it burst +into a deafening confusion of sounds at the street corner. + +'This must be stopped--quieted,' said Mr Haredale, hastily. 'We +should have foreseen this, and provided against it. I will go out +to them at once.' + +But, before he could reach the door, and before Edward could catch +up his hat and follow him, they were again arrested by a loud +shriek from above-stairs: and the locksmith's wife, bursting in, +and fairly running into Mr Haredale's arms, cried out: + +'She knows it all, dear sir!--she knows it all! We broke it out to +her by degrees, and she is quite prepared.' Having made this +communication, and furthermore thanked Heaven with great fervour +and heartiness, the good lady, according to the custom of matrons, +on all occasions of excitement, fainted away directly. + +They ran to the window, drew up the sash, and looked into the +crowded street. Among a dense mob of persons, of whom not one was +for an instant still, the locksmith's ruddy face and burly form +could be descried, beating about as though he was struggling with a +rough sea. Now, he was carried back a score of yards, now onward +nearly to the door, now back again, now forced against the opposite +houses, now against those adjoining his own: now carried up a +flight of steps, and greeted by the outstretched hands of half a +hundred men, while the whole tumultuous concourse stretched their +throats, and cheered with all their might. Though he was really in +a fair way to be torn to pieces in the general enthusiasm, the +locksmith, nothing discomposed, echoed their shouts till he was as +hoarse as they, and in a glow of joy and right good-humour, waved +his hat until the daylight shone between its brim and crown. + +But in all the bandyings from hand to hand, and strivings to and +fro, and sweepings here and there, which--saving that he looked +more jolly and more radiant after every struggle--troubled his +peace of mind no more than if he had been a straw upon the water's +surface, he never once released his firm grasp of an arm, drawn +tight through his. He sometimes turned to clap this friend upon +the back, or whisper in his ear a word of staunch encouragement, or +cheer him with a smile; but his great care was to shield him from +the pressure, and force a passage for him to the Golden Key. +Passive and timid, scared, pale, and wondering, and gazing at the +throng as if he were newly risen from the dead, and felt himself a +ghost among the living, Barnaby--not Barnaby in the spirit, but in +flesh and blood, with pulses, sinews, nerves, and beating heart, +and strong affections--clung to his stout old friend, and followed +where he led. + +And thus, in course of time, they reached the door, held ready for +their entrance by no unwilling hands. Then slipping in, and +shutting out the crowd by main force, Gabriel stood between Mr +Haredale and Edward Chester, and Barnaby, rushing up the stairs, +fell upon his knees beside his mother's bed. + +'Such is the blessed end, sir,' cried the panting locksmith, to Mr +Haredale, 'of the best day's work we ever did. The rogues! it's +been hard fighting to get away from 'em. I almost thought, once or +twice, they'd have been too much for us with their kindness!' + +They had striven, all the previous day, to rescue Barnaby from his +impending fate. Failing in their attempts, in the first quarter +to which they addressed themselves, they renewed them in another. +Failing there, likewise, they began afresh at midnight; and made +their way, not only to the judge and jury who had tried him, but to +men of influence at court, to the young Prince of Wales, and even +to the ante-chamber of the King himself. Successful, at last, in +awakening an interest in his favour, and an inclination to inquire +more dispassionately into his case, they had had an interview with +the minister, in his bed, so late as eight o'clock that morning. +The result of a searching inquiry (in which they, who had known the +poor fellow from his childhood, did other good service, besides +bringing it about) was, that between eleven and twelve o'clock, a +free pardon to Barnaby Rudge was made out and signed, and entrusted +to a horse-soldier for instant conveyance to the place of +execution. This courier reached the spot just as the cart appeared +in sight; and Barnaby being carried back to jail, Mr Haredale, +assured that all was safe, had gone straight from Bloomsbury Square +to the Golden Key, leaving to Gabriel the grateful task of bringing +him home in triumph. + +'I needn't say,' observed the locksmith, when he had shaken hands +with all the males in the house, and hugged all the females, five- +and-forty times, at least, 'that, except among ourselves, I didn't +want to make a triumph of it. But, directly we got into the street +we were known, and this hubbub began. Of the two,' he added, as he +wiped his crimson face, 'and after experience of both, I think I'd +rather be taken out of my house by a crowd of enemies, than +escorted home by a mob of friends!' + +It was plain enough, however, that this was mere talk on Gabriel's +part, and that the whole proceeding afforded him the keenest +delight; for the people continuing to make a great noise without, +and to cheer as if their voices were in the freshest order, and +good for a fortnight, he sent upstairs for Grip (who had come home +at his master's back, and had acknowledged the favours of the +multitude by drawing blood from every finger that came within his +reach), and with the bird upon his arm presented himself at the +first-floor window, and waved his hat again until it dangled by a +shred, between his finger and thumb. This demonstration having +been received with appropriate shouts, and silence being in some +degree restored, he thanked them for their sympathy; and taking the +liberty to inform them that there was a sick person in the house, +proposed that they should give three cheers for King George, three +more for Old England, and three more for nothing particular, as a +closing ceremony. The crowd assenting, substituted Gabriel Varden +for the nothing particular; and giving him one over, for good +measure, dispersed in high good-humour. + +What congratulations were exchanged among the inmates at the Golden +Key, when they were left alone; what an overflowing of joy and +happiness there was among them; how incapable it was of expression +in Barnaby's own person; and how he went wildly from one to +another, until he became so far tranquillised, as to stretch +himself on the ground beside his mother's couch and fall into a +deep sleep; are matters that need not be told. And it is well they +happened to be of this class, for they would be very hard to tell, +were their narration ever so indispensable. + +Before leaving this bright picture, it may be well to glance at a +dark and very different one which was presented to only a few eyes, +that same night. + +The scene was a churchyard; the time, midnight; the persons, Edward +Chester, a clergyman, a grave-digger, and the four bearers of a +homely coffin. They stood about a grave which had been newly dug, +and one of the bearers held up a dim lantern,--the only light +there--which shed its feeble ray upon the book of prayer. He +placed it for a moment on the coffin, when he and his companions +were about to lower it down. There was no inscription on the lid. + +The mould fell solemnly upon the last house of this nameless man; +and the rattling dust left a dismal echo even in the accustomed +ears of those who had borne it to its resting-place. The grave was +filled in to the top, and trodden down. They all left the spot +together. + +'You never saw him, living?' asked the clergyman, of Edward. + +'Often, years ago; not knowing him for my brother.' + +'Never since?' + +'Never. Yesterday, he steadily refused to see me. It was urged +upon him, many times, at my desire.' + +'Still he refused? That was hardened and unnatural.' + +'Do you think so?' + +'I infer that you do not?' + +'You are right. We hear the world wonder, every day, at monsters +of ingratitude. Did it never occur to you that it often looks for +monsters of affection, as though they were things of course?' + +They had reached the gate by this time, and bidding each other good +night, departed on their separate ways. + + + +Chapter 80 + + +That afternoon, when he had slept off his fatigue; had shaved, and +washed, and dressed, and freshened himself from top to toe; when he +had dined, comforted himself with a pipe, an extra Toby, a nap in +the great arm-chair, and a quiet chat with Mrs Varden on everything +that had happened, was happening, or about to happen, within the +sphere of their domestic concern; the locksmith sat himself down at +the tea-table in the little back-parlour: the rosiest, cosiest, +merriest, heartiest, best-contented old buck, in Great Britain or +out of it. + +There he sat, with his beaming eye on Mrs V., and his shining face +suffused with gladness, and his capacious waistcoat smiling in +every wrinkle, and his jovial humour peeping from under the table +in the very plumpness of his legs; a sight to turn the vinegar of +misanthropy into purest milk of human kindness. There he sat, +watching his wife as she decorated the room with flowers for the +greater honour of Dolly and Joseph Willet, who had gone out +walking, and for whom the tea-kettle had been singing gaily on the +hob full twenty minutes, chirping as never kettle chirped before; +for whom the best service of real undoubted china, patterned with +divers round-faced mandarins holding up broad umbrellas, was now +displayed in all its glory; to tempt whose appetites a clear, +transparent, juicy ham, garnished with cool green lettuce-leaves +and fragrant cucumber, reposed upon a shady table, covered with a +snow-white cloth; for whose delight, preserves and jams, crisp +cakes and other pastry, short to eat, with cunning twists, and +cottage loaves, and rolls of bread both white and brown, were all +set forth in rich profusion; in whose youth Mrs V. herself had +grown quite young, and stood there in a gown of red and white: +symmetrical in figure, buxom in bodice, ruddy in cheek and lip, +faultless in ankle, laughing in face and mood, in all respects +delicious to behold--there sat the locksmith among all and every +these delights, the sun that shone upon them all: the centre of the +system: the source of light, heat, life, and frank enjoyment in the +bright household world. + +And when had Dolly ever been the Dolly of that afternoon? To see +how she came in, arm-in-arm with Joe; and how she made an effort +not to blush or seem at all confused; and how she made believe she +didn't care to sit on his side of the table; and how she coaxed the +locksmith in a whisper not to joke; and how her colour came and +went in a little restless flutter of happiness, which made her do +everything wrong, and yet so charmingly wrong that it was better +than right!--why, the locksmith could have looked on at this (as he +mentioned to Mrs Varden when they retired for the night) for four- +and-twenty hours at a stretch, and never wished it done. + +The recollections, too, with which they made merry over that long +protracted tea! The glee with which the locksmith asked Joe if he +remembered that stormy night at the Maypole when he first asked +after Dolly--the laugh they all had, about that night when she was +going out to the party in the sedan-chair--the unmerciful manner in +which they rallied Mrs Varden about putting those flowers outside +that very window--the difficulty Mrs Varden found in joining the +laugh against herself, at first, and the extraordinary perception +she had of the joke when she overcame it--the confidential +statements of Joe concerning the precise day and hour when he was +first conscious of being fond of Dolly, and Dolly's blushing +admissions, half volunteered and half extorted, as to the time from +which she dated the discovery that she 'didn't mind' Joe--here was +an exhaustless fund of mirth and conversation. + +Then, there was a great deal to be said regarding Mrs Varden's +doubts, and motherly alarms, and shrewd suspicions; and it appeared +that from Mrs Varden's penetration and extreme sagacity nothing had +ever been hidden. She had known it all along. She had seen it +from the first. She had always predicted it. She had been aware +of it before the principals. She had said within herself (for she +remembered the exact words) 'that young Willet is certainly +looking after our Dolly, and I must look after HIM.' Accordingly, +she had looked after him, and had observed many little +circumstances (all of which she named) so exceedingly minute that +nobody else could make anything out of them even now; and had, it +seemed from first to last, displayed the most unbounded tact and +most consummate generalship. + +Of course the night when Joe WOULD ride homeward by the side of the +chaise, and when Mrs Varden WOULD insist upon his going back again, +was not forgotten--nor the night when Dolly fainted on his name +being mentioned--nor the times upon times when Mrs Varden, ever +watchful and prudent, had found her pining in her own chamber. In +short, nothing was forgotten; and everything by some means or other +brought them back to the conclusion, that that was the happiest +hour in all their lives; consequently, that everything must have +occurred for the best, and nothing could be suggested which would +have made it better. + +While they were in the full glow of such discourse as this, there +came a startling knock at the door, opening from the street into +the workshop, which had been kept closed all day that the house +might be more quiet. Joe, as in duty bound, would hear of nobody +but himself going to open it; and accordingly left the room for +that purpose. + +It would have been odd enough, certainly, if Joe had forgotten the +way to this door; and even if he had, as it was a pretty large one +and stood straight before him, he could not easily have missed it. +But Dolly, perhaps because she was in the flutter of spirits before +mentioned, or perhaps because she thought he would not be able to +open it with his one arm--she could have had no other reason-- +hurried out after him; and they stopped so long in the passage--no +doubt owing to Joe's entreaties that she would not expose herself +to the draught of July air which must infallibly come rushing in on +this same door being opened--that the knock was repeated, in a yet +more startling manner than before. + +'Is anybody going to open that door?' cried the locksmith. 'Or +shall I come?' + +Upon that, Dolly went running back into the parlour, all dimples +and blushes; and Joe opened it with a mighty noise, and other +superfluous demonstrations of being in a violent hurry. + +'Well,' said the locksmith, when he reappeared: 'what is it? eh +Joe? what are you laughing at?' + +'Nothing, sir. It's coming in.' + +'Who's coming in? what's coming in?' Mrs Varden, as much at a loss +as her husband, could only shake her head in answer to his +inquiring look: so, the locksmith wheeled his chair round to +command a better view of the room-door, and stared at it with his +eyes wide open, and a mingled expression of curiosity and wonder +shining in his jolly face. + +Instead of some person or persons straightway appearing, divers +remarkable sounds were heard, first in the workshop and afterwards +in the little dark passage between it and the parlour, as though +some unwieldy chest or heavy piece of furniture were being brought +in, by an amount of human strength inadequate to the task. At +length after much struggling and humping, and bruising of the wall +on both sides, the door was forced open as by a battering-ram; and +the locksmith, steadily regarding what appeared beyond, smote his +thigh, elevated his eyebrows, opened his mouth, and cried in a loud +voice expressive of the utmost consternation: + +'Damme, if it an't Miggs come back!' + +The young damsel whom he named no sooner heard these words, than +deserting a small boy and a very large box by which she was +accompanied, and advancing with such precipitation that her bonnet +flew off her head, burst into the room, clasped her hands (in which +she held a pair of pattens, one in each), raised her eyes devotedly +to the ceiling, and shed a flood of tears. + +'The old story!' cried the locksmith, looking at her in +inexpressible desperation. 'She was born to be a damper, this +young woman! nothing can prevent it!' + +'Ho master, ho mim!' cried Miggs, 'can I constrain my feelings in +these here once agin united moments! Ho Mr Warsen, here's +blessedness among relations, sir! Here's forgivenesses of +injuries, here's amicablenesses!' + +The locksmith looked from his wife to Dolly, and from Dolly to Joe, +and from Joe to Miggs, with his eyebrows still elevated and his +mouth still open. When his eyes got back to Miggs, they rested on +her; fascinated. + +'To think,' cried Miggs with hysterical joy, 'that Mr Joe, and dear +Miss Dolly, has raly come together after all as has been said and +done contrairy! To see them two a-settin' along with him and her, +so pleasant and in all respects so affable and mild; and me not +knowing of it, and not being in the ways to make no preparations +for their teas. Ho what a cutting thing it is, and yet what sweet +sensations is awoke within me!' + +Either in clasping her hands again, or in an ecstasy of pious joy, +Miss Miggs clinked her pattens after the manner of a pair of +cymbals, at this juncture; and then resumed, in the softest +accents: + +'And did my missis think--ho goodness, did she think--as her own +Miggs, which supported her under so many trials, and understood her +natur' when them as intended well but acted rough, went so deep +into her feelings--did she think as her own Miggs would ever leave +her? Did she think as Miggs, though she was but a servant, and +knowed that servitudes was no inheritances, would forgit that she +was the humble instruments as always made it comfortable between +them two when they fell out, and always told master of the meekness +and forgiveness of her blessed dispositions! Did she think as +Miggs had no attachments! Did she think that wages was her only +object!' + +To none of these interrogatories, whereof every one was more +pathetically delivered than the last, did Mrs Varden answer one +word: but Miggs, not at all abashed by this circumstance, turned to +the small boy in attendance--her eldest nephew--son of her own +married sister--born in Golden Lion Court, number twenty-sivin, +and bred in the very shadow of the second bell-handle on the right- +hand door-post--and with a plentiful use of her pocket- +handkerchief, addressed herself to him: requesting that on his +return home he would console his parents for the loss of her, his +aunt, by delivering to them a faithful statement of his having left +her in the bosom of that family, with which, as his aforesaid +parents well knew, her best affections were incorporated; that he +would remind them that nothing less than her imperious sense of +duty, and devoted attachment to her old master and missis, likewise +Miss Dolly and young Mr Joe, should ever have induced her to +decline that pressing invitation which they, his parents, had, as +he could testify, given her, to lodge and board with them, free of +all cost and charge, for evermore; lastly, that he would help her +with her box upstairs, and then repair straight home, bearing her +blessing and her strong injunctions to mingle in his prayers a +supplication that he might in course of time grow up a locksmith, +or a Mr Joe, and have Mrs Vardens and Miss Dollys for his relations +and friends. + +Having brought this admonition to an end--upon which, to say the +truth, the young gentleman for whose benefit it was designed, +bestowed little or no heed, having to all appearance his faculties +absorbed in the contemplation of the sweetmeats,--Miss Miggs +signified to the company in general that they were not to be +uneasy, for she would soon return; and, with her nephew's aid, +prepared to bear her wardrobe up the staircase. + +'My dear,' said the locksmith to his wife. 'Do you desire this?' + +'I desire it!' she answered. 'I am astonished--I am amazed--at her +audacity. Let her leave the house this moment.' + +Miggs, hearing this, let her end of the box fall heavily to the +floor, gave a very loud sniff, crossed her arms, screwed down the +corners of her mouth, and cried, in an ascending scale, 'Ho, good +gracious!' three distinct times. + +'You hear what your mistress says, my love,' remarked the +locksmith. 'You had better go, I think. Stay; take this with you, +for the sake of old service.' + +Miss Miggs clutched the bank-note he took from his pocket-book and +held out to her; deposited it in a small, red leather purse; put +the purse in her pocket (displaying, as she did so, a considerable +portion of some under-garment, made of flannel, and more black +cotton stocking than is commonly seen in public); and, tossing her +head, as she looked at Mrs Varden, repeated-- + +'Ho, good gracious!' + +'I think you said that once before, my dear,' observed the +locksmith. + +'Times is changed, is they, mim!' cried Miggs, bridling; 'you can +spare me now, can you? You can keep 'em down without me? You're +not in wants of any one to scold, or throw the blame upon, no +longer, an't you, mim? I'm glad to find you've grown so +independent. I wish you joy, I'm sure!' + +With that she dropped a curtsey, and keeping her head erect, her +ear towards Mrs Varden, and her eye on the rest of the company, as +she alluded to them in her remarks, proceeded: + +'I'm quite delighted, I'm sure, to find sich independency, feeling +sorry though, at the same time, mim, that you should have been +forced into submissions when you couldn't help yourself--he he he! +It must be great vexations, 'specially considering how ill you +always spoke of Mr Joe--to have him for a son-in-law at last; and +I wonder Miss Dolly can put up with him, either, after being off +and on for so many years with a coachmaker. But I HAVE heerd say, +that the coachmaker thought twice about it--he he he!--and that he +told a young man as was a frind of his, that he hoped he knowed +better than to be drawed into that; though she and all the family +DID pull uncommon strong!' + +Here she paused for a reply, and receiving none, went on as before. + +'I HAVE heerd say, mim, that the illnesses of some ladies was all +pretensions, and that they could faint away, stone dead, whenever +they had the inclinations so to do. Of course I never see sich +cases with my own eyes--ho no! He he he! Nor master neither--ho +no! He he he! I HAVE heerd the neighbours make remark as some one +as they was acquainted with, was a poor good-natur'd mean-spirited +creetur, as went out fishing for a wife one day, and caught a +Tartar. Of course I never to my knowledge see the poor person +himself. Nor did you neither, mim--ho no. I wonder who it can +be--don't you, mim? No doubt you do, mim. Ho yes. He he he!' + +Again Miggs paused for a reply; and none being offered, was so +oppressed with teeming spite and spleen, that she seemed like to +burst. + +'I'm glad Miss Dolly can laugh,' cried Miggs with a feeble titter. +'I like to see folks a-laughing--so do you, mim, don't you? You +was always glad to see people in spirits, wasn't you, mim? And you +always did your best to keep 'em cheerful, didn't you, mim? +Though there an't such a great deal to laugh at now either; is +there, mim? It an't so much of a catch, after looking out so sharp +ever since she was a little chit, and costing such a deal in dress +and show, to get a poor, common soldier, with one arm, is it, mim? +He he! I wouldn't have a husband with one arm, anyways. I would +have two arms. I would have two arms, if it was me, though instead +of hands they'd only got hooks at the end, like our dustman!' + +Miss Miggs was about to add, and had, indeed, begun to add, that, +taking them in the abstract, dustmen were far more eligible matches +than soldiers, though, to be sure, when people were past choosing +they must take the best they could get, and think themselves well +off too; but her vexation and chagrin being of that internally +bitter sort which finds no relief in words, and is aggravated to +madness by want of contradiction, she could hold out no longer, and +burst into a storm of sobs and tears. + +In this extremity she fell on the unlucky nephew, tooth and nail, +and plucking a handful of hair from his head, demanded to know how +long she was to stand there to be insulted, and whether or no he +meant to help her to carry out the box again, and if he took a +pleasure in hearing his family reviled: with other inquiries of +that nature; at which disgrace and provocation, the small boy, who +had been all this time gradually lashed into rebellion by the sight +of unattainable pastry, walked off indignant, leaving his aunt and +the box to follow at their leisure. Somehow or other, by dint of +pushing and pulling, they did attain the street at last; where Miss +Miggs, all blowzed with the exertion of getting there, and with her +sobs and tears, sat down upon her property to rest and grieve, +until she could ensnare some other youth to help her home. + +'It's a thing to laugh at, Martha, not to care for,' whispered the +locksmith, as he followed his wife to the window, and good- +humouredly dried her eyes. 'What does it matter? You had seen +your fault before. Come! Bring up Toby again, my dear; Dolly +shall sing us a song; and we'll be all the merrier for this +interruption!' + + + +Chapter 81 + + +Another month had passed, and the end of August had nearly come, +when Mr Haredale stood alone in the mail-coach office at Bristol. +Although but a few weeks had intervened since his conversation with +Edward Chester and his niece, in the locksmith's house, and he had +made no change, in the mean time, in his accustomed style of dress, +his appearance was greatly altered. He looked much older, and more +care-worn. Agitation and anxiety of mind scatter wrinkles and grey +hairs with no unsparing hand; but deeper traces follow on the +silent uprooting of old habits, and severing of dear, familiar +ties. The affections may not be so easily wounded as the passions, +but their hurts are deeper, and more lasting. He was now a +solitary man, and the heart within him was dreary and lonesome. + +He was not the less alone for having spent so many years in +seclusion and retirement. This was no better preparation than a +round of social cheerfulness: perhaps it even increased the +keenness of his sensibility. He had been so dependent upon her for +companionship and love; she had come to be so much a part and +parcel of his existence; they had had so many cares and thoughts in +common, which no one else had shared; that losing her was beginning +life anew, and being required to summon up the hope and elasticity +of youth, amid the doubts, distrusts, and weakened energies of +age. + +The effort he had made to part from her with seeming cheerfulness +and hope--and they had parted only yesterday--left him the more +depressed. With these feelings, he was about to revisit London for +the last time, and look once more upon the walls of their old home, +before turning his back upon it, for ever. + +The journey was a very different one, in those days, from what the +present generation find it; but it came to an end, as the longest +journey will, and he stood again in the streets of the metropolis. +He lay at the inn where the coach stopped, and resolved, before he +went to bed, that he would make his arrival known to no one; would +spend but another night in London; and would spare himself the pang +of parting, even with the honest locksmith. + +Such conditions of the mind as that to which he was a prey when he +lay down to rest, are favourable to the growth of disordered +fancies, and uneasy visions. He knew this, even in the horror with +which he started from his first sleep, and threw up the window to +dispel it by the presence of some object, beyond the room, which +had not been, as it were, the witness of his dream. But it was not +a new terror of the night; it had been present to him before, in +many shapes; it had haunted him in bygone times, and visited his +pillow again and again. If it had been but an ugly object, a +childish spectre, haunting his sleep, its return, in its old form, +might have awakened a momentary sensation of fear, which, almost in +the act of waking, would have passed away. This disquiet, +however, lingered about him, and would yield to nothing. When he +closed his eyes again, he felt it hovering near; as he slowly sunk +into a slumber, he was conscious of its gathering strength and +purpose, and gradually assuming its recent shape; when he sprang up +from his bed, the same phantom vanished from his heated brain, and +left him filled with a dread against which reason and waking +thought were powerless. + +The sun was up, before he could shake it off. He rose late, but +not refreshed, and remained within doors all that day. He had a +fancy for paying his last visit to the old spot in the evening, for +he had been accustomed to walk there at that season, and desired to +see it under the aspect that was most familiar to him. At such an +hour as would afford him time to reach it a little before sunset, +he left the inn, and turned into the busy street. + +He had not gone far, and was thoughtfully making his way among the +noisy crowd, when he felt a hand upon his shoulder, and, turning, +recognised one of the waiters from the inn, who begged his pardon, +but he had left his sword behind him. + +'Why have you brought it to me?' he asked, stretching out his hand, +and yet not taking it from the man, but looking at him in a +disturbed and agitated manner. + +The man was sorry to have disobliged him, and would carry it back +again. The gentleman had said that he was going a little way into +the country, and that he might not return until late. The roads +were not very safe for single travellers after dark; and, since the +riots, gentlemen had been more careful than ever, not to trust +themselves unarmed in lonely places. 'We thought you were a +stranger, sir,' he added, 'and that you might believe our roads to +be better than they are; but perhaps you know them well, and carry +fire-arms--' + +He took the sword, and putting it up at his side, thanked the man, +and resumed his walk. + +It was long remembered that he did this in a manner so strange, and +with such a trembling hand, that the messenger stood looking after +his retreating figure, doubtful whether he ought not to follow, and +watch him. It was long remembered that he had been heard pacing +his bedroom in the dead of the night; that the attendants had +mentioned to each other in the morning, how fevered and how pale he +looked; and that when this man went back to the inn, he told a +fellow-servant that what he had observed in this short interview +lay very heavy on his mind, and that he feared the gentleman +intended to destroy himself, and would never come back alive. + +With a half-consciousness that his manner had attracted the man's +attention (remembering the expression of his face when they +parted), Mr Haredale quickened his steps; and arriving at a stand +of coaches, bargained with the driver of the best to carry him so +far on his road as the point where the footway struck across the +fields, and to await his return at a house of entertainment which +was within a stone's-throw of that place. Arriving there in due +course, he alighted and pursued his way on foot. + +He passed so near the Maypole, that he could see its smoke rising +from among the trees, while a flock of pigeons--some of its old +inhabitants, doubtless--sailed gaily home to roost, between him and +the unclouded sky. 'The old house will brighten up now,' he said, +as he looked towards it, 'and there will be a merry fireside +beneath its ivied roof. It is some comfort to know that everything +will not be blighted hereabouts. I shall be glad to have one +picture of life and cheerfulness to turn to, in my mind!' + +He resumed his walk, and bent his steps towards the Warren. It was +a clear, calm, silent evening, with hardly a breath of wind to stir +the leaves, or any sound to break the stillness of the time, but +drowsy sheep-bells tinkling in the distance, and, at intervals, +the far-off lowing of cattle, or bark of village dogs. The sky +was radiant with the softened glory of sunset; and on the earth, +and in the air, a deep repose prevailed. At such an hour, he +arrived at the deserted mansion which had been his home so long, +and looked for the last time upon its blackened walls. + +The ashes of the commonest fire are melancholy things, for in them +there is an image of death and ruin,--of something that has been +bright, and is but dull, cold, dreary dust,--with which our nature +forces us to sympathise. How much more sad the crumbled embers of +a home: the casting down of that great altar, where the worst among +us sometimes perform the worship of the heart; and where the best +have offered up such sacrifices, and done such deeds of heroism, +as, chronicled, would put the proudest temples of old Time, with +all their vaunting annals, to the blush! + +He roused himself from a long train of meditation, and walked +slowly round the house. It was by this time almost dark. + +He had nearly made the circuit of the building, when he uttered a +half-suppressed exclamation, started, and stood still. Reclining, +in an easy attitude, with his back against a tree, and +contemplating the ruin with an expression of pleasure,--a pleasure +so keen that it overcame his habitual indolence and command of +feature, and displayed itself utterly free from all restraint or +reserve,--before him, on his own ground, and triumphing then, as he +had triumphed in every misfortune and disappointment of his life, +stood the man whose presence, of all mankind, in any place, and +least of all in that, he could the least endure. + +Although his blood so rose against this man, and his wrath so +stirred within him, that he could have struck him dead, he put such +fierce constraint upon himself that he passed him without a word or +look. Yes, and he would have gone on, and not turned, though to +resist the Devil who poured such hot temptation in his brain, +required an effort scarcely to be achieved, if this man had not +himself summoned him to stop: and that, with an assumed compassion +in his voice which drove him well-nigh mad, and in an instant +routed all the self-command it had been anguish--acute, poignant +anguish--to sustain. + +All consideration, reflection, mercy, forbearance; everything by +which a goaded man can curb his rage and passion; fled from him as +he turned back. And yet he said, slowly and quite calmly--far more +calmly than he had ever spoken to him before: + +'Why have you called to me?' + +'To remark,' said Sir John Chester with his wonted composure, 'what +an odd chance it is, that we should meet here!' + +'It IS a strange chance.' + +'Strange? The most remarkable and singular thing in the world. I +never ride in the evening; I have not done so for years. The whim +seized me, quite unaccountably, in the middle of last night.--How +very picturesque this is!'--He pointed, as he spoke, to the +dismantled house, and raised his glass to his eye. + +'You praise your own work very freely.' + +Sir John let fall his glass; inclined his face towards him with an +air of the most courteous inquiry; and slightly shook his head as +though he were remarking to himself, 'I fear this animal is going +mad!' + +'I say you praise your own work very freely,' repeated Mr +Haredale. + +'Work!' echoed Sir John, looking smilingly round. 'Mine!--I beg +your pardon, I really beg your pardon--' + +'Why, you see,' said Mr Haredale, 'those walls. You see those +tottering gables. You see on every side where fire and smoke have +raged. You see the destruction that has been wanton here. Do you +not?' + +'My good friend,' returned the knight, gently checking his +impatience with his hand, 'of course I do. I see everything you +speak of, when you stand aside, and do not interpose yourself +between the view and me. I am very sorry for you. If I had not +had the pleasure to meet you here, I think I should have written to +tell you so. But you don't bear it as well as I had expected-- +excuse me--no, you don't indeed.' + +He pulled out his snuff-box, and addressing him with the superior +air of a man who, by reason of his higher nature, has a right to +read a moral lesson to another, continued: + +'For you are a philosopher, you know--one of that stern and rigid +school who are far above the weaknesses of mankind in general. You +are removed, a long way, from the frailties of the crowd. You +contemplate them from a height, and rail at them with a most +impressive bitterness. I have heard you.' + +--'And shall again,' said Mr Haredale. + +'Thank you,' returned the other. 'Shall we walk as we talk? The +damp falls rather heavily. Well,--as you please. But I grieve to +say that I can spare you only a very few moments.' + +'I would,' said Mr Haredale, 'you had spared me none. I would, +with all my soul, you had been in Paradise (if such a monstrous +lie could be enacted), rather than here to-night.' + +'Nay,' returned the other--'really--you do yourself injustice. You +are a rough companion, but I would not go so far to avoid you.' + +'Listen to me,' said Mr Haredale. 'Listen to me.' + +'While you rail?' inquired Sir John. + +'While I deliver your infamy. You urged and stimulated to do your +work a fit agent, but one who in his nature--in the very essence of +his being--is a traitor, and who has been false to you (despite the +sympathy you two should have together) as he has been to all +others. With hints, and looks, and crafty words, which told again +are nothing, you set on Gashford to this work--this work before us +now. With these same hints, and looks, and crafty words, which +told again are nothing, you urged him on to gratify the deadly +hate he owes me--I have earned it, I thank Heaven--by the abduction +and dishonour of my niece. You did. I see denial in your looks,' +he cried, abruptly pointing in his face, and stepping back, 'and +denial is a lie!' + +He had his hand upon his sword; but the knight, with a contemptuous +smile, replied to him as coldly as before. + +'You will take notice, sir--if you can discriminate sufficiently-- +that I have taken the trouble to deny nothing. Your discernment is +hardly fine enough for the perusal of faces, not of a kind as +coarse as your speech; nor has it ever been, that I remember; or, +in one face that I could name, you would have read indifference, +not to say disgust, somewhat sooner than you did. I speak of a +long time ago,--but you understand me.' + +'Disguise it as you will, you mean denial. Denial explicit or +reserved, expressed or left to be inferred, is still a lie. You +say you don't deny. Do you admit?' + +'You yourself,' returned Sir John, suffering the current of his +speech to flow as smoothly as if it had been stemmed by no one word +of interruption, 'publicly proclaimed the character of the +gentleman in question (I think it was in Westminster Hall) in terms +which relieve me from the necessity of making any further allusion +to him. You may have been warranted; you may not have been; I +can't say. Assuming the gentleman to be what you described, and +to have made to you or any other person any statements that may +have happened to suggest themselves to him, for the sake of his +own security, or for the sake of money, or for his own amusement, +or for any other consideration,--I have nothing to say of him, +except that his extremely degrading situation appears to me to be +shared with his employers. You are so very plain yourself, that +you will excuse a little freedom in me, I am sure.' + +'Attend to me again, Sir John but once,' cried Mr Haredale; 'in +your every look, and word, and gesture, you tell me this was not +your act. I tell you that it was, and that you tampered with the +man I speak of, and with your wretched son (whom God forgive!) to +do this deed. You talk of degradation and character. You told me +once that you had purchased the absence of the poor idiot and his +mother, when (as I have discovered since, and then suspected) you +had gone to tempt them, and had found them flown. To you I traced +the insinuation that I alone reaped any harvest from my brother's +death; and all the foul attacks and whispered calumnies that +followed in its train. In every action of my life, from that first +hope which you converted into grief and desolation, you have stood, +like an adverse fate, between me and peace. In all, you have ever +been the same cold-blooded, hollow, false, unworthy villain. For +the second time, and for the last, I cast these charges in your +teeth, and spurn you from me as I would a faithless dog!' + +With that he raised his arm, and struck him on the breast so that +he staggered. Sir John, the instant he recovered, drew his sword, +threw away the scabbard and his hat, and running on his adversary +made a desperate lunge at his heart, which, but that his guard was +quick and true, would have stretched him dead upon the grass. + +In the act of striking him, the torrent of his opponent's rage had +reached a stop. He parried his rapid thrusts, without returning +them, and called to him, with a frantic kind of terror in his face, +to keep back. + +'Not to-night! not to-night!' he cried. 'In God's name, not +tonight!' + +Seeing that he lowered his weapon, and that he would not thrust in +turn, Sir John lowered his. + +'Not to-night!' his adversary cried. 'Be warned in time!' + +'You told me--it must have been in a sort of inspiration--' said +Sir John, quite deliberately, though now he dropped his mask, and +showed his hatred in his face, 'that this was the last time. Be +assured it is! Did you believe our last meeting was forgotten? +Did you believe that your every word and look was not to be +accounted for, and was not well remembered? Do you believe that I +have waited your time, or you mine? What kind of man is he who +entered, with all his sickening cant of honesty and truth, into a +bond with me to prevent a marriage he affected to dislike, and when +I had redeemed my part to the spirit and the letter, skulked from +his, and brought the match about in his own time, to rid himself of +a burden he had grown tired of, and cast a spurious lustre on his +house?' + +'I have acted,' cried Mr Haredale, 'with honour and in good faith. +I do so now. Do not force me to renew this duel to-night!' + +'You said my "wretched" son, I think?' said Sir John, with a smile. +'Poor fool! The dupe of such a shallow knave--trapped into +marriage by such an uncle and by such a niece--he well deserves +your pity. But he is no longer a son of mine: you are welcome to +the prize your craft has made, sir.' + +'Once more,' cried his opponent, wildly stamping on the ground, +'although you tear me from my better angel, I implore you not to +come within the reach of my sword to-night. Oh! why were you here +at all! Why have we met! To-morrow would have cast us far apart +for ever!' + +'That being the case,' returned Sir John, without the least +emotion, 'it is very fortunate we have met to-night. Haredale, I +have always despised you, as you know, but I have given you credit +for a species of brute courage. For the honour of my judgment, +which I had thought a good one, I am sorry to find you a coward.' + +Not another word was spoken on either side. They crossed swords, +though it was now quite dusk, and attacked each other fiercely. +They were well matched, and each was thoroughly skilled in the +management of his weapon. + +After a few seconds they grew hotter and more furious, and pressing +on each other inflicted and received several slight wounds. It was +directly after receiving one of these in his arm, that Mr Haredale, +making a keener thrust as he felt the warm blood spirting out, +plunged his sword through his opponent's body to the hilt. + +Their eyes met, and were on each other as he drew it out. He put +his arm about the dying man, who repulsed him, feebly, and dropped +upon the turf. Raising himself upon his hands, he gazed at him for +an instant, with scorn and hatred in his look; but, seeming to +remember, even then, that this expression would distort his +features after death, he tried to smile, and, faintly moving his +right hand, as if to hide his bloody linen in his vest, fell back +dead--the phantom of last night. + + + +Chapter the Last + + +A parting glance at such of the actors in this little history as +it has not, in the course of its events, dismissed, will bring it +to an end. + +Mr Haredale fled that night. Before pursuit could be begun, indeed +before Sir John was traced or missed, he had left the kingdom. +Repairing straight to a religious establishment, known throughout +Europe for the rigour and severity of its discipline, and for the +merciless penitence it exacted from those who sought its shelter as +a refuge from the world, he took the vows which thenceforth shut +him out from nature and his kind, and after a few remorseful years +was buried in its gloomy cloisters. + +Two days elapsed before the body of Sir John was found. As soon as +it was recognised and carried home, the faithful valet, true to his +master's creed, eloped with all the cash and movables he could lay +his hands on, and started as a finished gentleman upon his own +account. In this career he met with great success, and would +certainly have married an heiress in the end, but for an unlucky +check which led to his premature decease. He sank under a +contagious disorder, very prevalent at that time, and vulgarly +termed the jail fever. + +Lord George Gordon, remaining in his prison in the Tower until +Monday the fifth of February in the following year, was on that +day solemnly tried at Westminster for High Treason. Of this crime +he was, after a patient investigation, declared Not Guilty; upon +the ground that there was no proof of his having called the +multitude together with any traitorous or unlawful intentions. Yet +so many people were there, still, to whom those riots taught no +lesson of reproof or moderation, that a public subscription was set +on foot in Scotland to defray the cost of his defence. + +For seven years afterwards he remained, at the strong intercession +of his friends, comparatively quiet; saving that he, every now and +then, took occasion to display his zeal for the Protestant faith in +some extravagant proceeding which was the delight of its enemies; +and saving, besides, that he was formally excommunicated by the +Archbishop of Canterbury, for refusing to appear as a witness in +the Ecclesiastical Court when cited for that purpose. In the year +1788 he was stimulated by some new insanity to write and publish +an injurious pamphlet, reflecting on the Queen of France, in very +violent terms. Being indicted for the libel, and (after various +strange demonstrations in court) found guilty, he fled into Holland +in place of appearing to receive sentence: from whence, as the +quiet burgomasters of Amsterdam had no relish for his company, +he was sent home again with all speed. Arriving in the month of +July at Harwich, and going thence to Birmingham, he made in the +latter place, in August, a public profession of the Jewish +religion; and figured there as a Jew until he was arrested, and +brought back to London to receive the sentence he had evaded. By +virtue of this sentence he was, in the month of December, cast +into Newgate for five years and ten months, and required besides to +pay a large fine, and to furnish heavy securities for his future +good behaviour. + +After addressing, in the midsummer of the following year, an appeal +to the commiseration of the National Assembly of France, which the +English minister refused to sanction, he composed himself to +undergo his full term of punishment; and suffering his beard to +grow nearly to his waist, and conforming in all respects to the +ceremonies of his new religion, he applied himself to the study of +history, and occasionally to the art of painting, in which, in his +younger days, he had shown some skill. Deserted by his former +friends, and treated in all respects like the worst criminal in the +jail, he lingered on, quite cheerful and resigned, until the 1st +of November 1793, when he died in his cell, being then only three- +and-forty years of age. + +Many men with fewer sympathies for the distressed and needy, with +less abilities and harder hearts, have made a shining figure and +left a brilliant fame. He had his mourners. The prisoners +bemoaned his loss, and missed him; for though his means were not +large, his charity was great, and in bestowing alms among them he +considered the necessities of all alike, and knew no distinction of +sect or creed. There are wise men in the highways of the world who +may learn something, even from this poor crazy lord who died in +Newgate. + +To the last, he was truly served by bluff John Grueby. John was at +his side before he had been four-and-twenty hours in the Tower, and +never left him until he died. He had one other constant attendant, +in the person of a beautiful Jewish girl; who attached herself to +him from feelings half religious, half romantic, but whose virtuous +and disinterested character appears to have been beyond the censure +even of the most censorious. + +Gashford deserted him, of course. He subsisted for a time upon his +traffic in his master's secrets; and, this trade failing when the +stock was quite exhausted, procured an appointment in the +honourable corps of spies and eavesdroppers employed by the +government. As one of these wretched underlings, he did his +drudgery, sometimes abroad, sometimes at home, and long endured the +various miseries of such a station. Ten or a dozen years ago--not +more--a meagre, wan old man, diseased and miserably poor, was found +dead in his bed at an obscure inn in the Borough, where he was +quite unknown. He had taken poison. There was no clue to his +name; but it was discovered from certain entries in a pocket-book +he carried, that he had been secretary to Lord George Gordon in the +time of the famous riots. + +Many months after the re-establishment of peace and order, and even +when it had ceased to be the town-talk, that every military +officer, kept at free quarters by the City during the late alarms, +had cost for his board and lodging four pounds four per day, and +every private soldier two and twopence halfpenny; many months after +even this engrossing topic was forgotten, and the United Bulldogs +were to a man all killed, imprisoned, or transported, Mr Simon +Tappertit, being removed from a hospital to prison, and thence to +his place of trial, was discharged by proclamation, on two wooden +legs. Shorn of his graceful limbs, and brought down from his high +estate to circumstances of utter destitution, and the deepest +misery, he made shift to stump back to his old master, and beg for +some relief. By the locksmith's advice and aid, he was established +in business as a shoeblack, and opened shop under an archway near +the Horse Guards. This being a central quarter, he quickly made a +very large connection; and on levee days, was sometimes known to +have as many as twenty half-pay officers waiting their turn for +polishing. Indeed his trade increased to that extent, that in +course of time he entertained no less than two apprentices, besides +taking for his wife the widow of an eminent bone and rag collector, +formerly of MilIbank. With this lady (who assisted in the +business) he lived in great domestic happiness, only chequered by +those little storms which serve to clear the atmosphere of wedlock, +and brighten its horizon. In some of these gusts of bad weather, +Mr Tappertit would, in the assertion of his prerogative, so far +forget himself, as to correct his lady with a brush, or boot, or +shoe; while she (but only in extreme cases) would retaliate by +taking off his legs, and leaving him exposed to the derision of +those urchins who delight in mischief. + +Miss Miggs, baffled in all her schemes, matrimonial and otherwise, +and cast upon a thankless, undeserving world, turned very sharp and +sour; and did at length become so acid, and did so pinch and slap +and tweak the hair and noses of the youth of Golden Lion Court, +that she was by one consent expelled that sanctuary, and desired to +bless some other spot of earth, in preference. It chanced at that +moment, that the justices of the peace for Middlesex proclaimed by +public placard that they stood in need of a female turnkey for the +County Bridewell, and appointed a day and hour for the inspection +of candidates. Miss Miggs attending at the time appointed, was +instantly chosen and selected from one hundred and twenty-four +competitors, and at once promoted to the office; which she held +until her decease, more than thirty years afterwards, remaining +single all that time. It was observed of this lady that while she +was inflexible and grim to all her female flock, she was +particularly so to those who could establish any claim to beauty: +and it was often remarked as a proof of her indomitable virtue and +severe chastity, that to such as had been frail she showed no +mercy; always falling upon them on the slightest occasion, or on no +occasion at all, with the fullest measure of her wrath. Among +other useful inventions which she practised upon this class of +offenders and bequeathed to posterity, was the art of inflicting an +exquisitely vicious poke or dig with the wards of a key in the +small of the back, near the spine. She likewise originated a mode +of treading by accident (in pattens) on such as had small feet; +also very remarkable for its ingenuity, and previously quite +unknown. + +It was not very long, you may be sure, before Joe Willet and Dolly +Varden were made husband and wife, and with a handsome sum in bank +(for the locksmith could afford to give his daughter a good dowry), +reopened the Maypole. It was not very long, you may be sure, +before a red-faced little boy was seen staggering about the Maypole +passage, and kicking up his heels on the green before the door. It +was not very long, counting by years, before there was a red-faced +little girl, another red-faced little boy, and a whole troop of +girls and boys: so that, go to Chigwell when you would, there would +surely be seen, either in the village street, or on the green, or +frolicking in the farm-yard--for it was a farm now, as well as a +tavern--more small Joes and small Dollys than could be easily +counted. It was not a very long time before these appearances +ensued; but it WAS a VERY long time before Joe looked five years +older, or Dolly either, or the locksmith either, or his wife +either: for cheerfulness and content are great beautifiers, and +are famous preservers of youthful looks, depend upon it. + +It was a long time, too, before there was such a country inn as the +Maypole, in all England: indeed it is a great question whether +there has ever been such another to this hour, or ever will be. It +was a long time too--for Never, as the proverb says, is a long day-- +before they forgot to have an interest in wounded soldiers at the +Maypole, or before Joe omitted to refresh them, for the sake of his +old campaign; or before the serjeant left off looking in there, now +and then; or before they fatigued themselves, or each other, by +talking on these occasions of battles and sieges, and hard weather +and hard service, and a thousand things belonging to a soldier's +life. As to the great silver snuff-box which the King sent Joe +with his own hand, because of his conduct in the Riots, what guest +ever went to the Maypole without putting finger and thumb into that +box, and taking a great pinch, though he had never taken a pinch of +snuff before, and almost sneezed himself into convulsions even +then? As to the purple-faced vintner, where is the man who lived +in those times and never saw HIM at the Maypole: to all appearance +as much at home in the best room, as if he lived there? And as to +the feastings and christenings, and revellings at Christmas, and +celebrations of birthdays, wedding-days, and all manner of days, +both at the Maypole and the Golden Key,--if they are not notorious, +what facts are? + +Mr Willet the elder, having been by some extraordinary means +possessed with the idea that Joe wanted to be married, and that it +would be well for him, his father, to retire into private life, and +enable him to live in comfort, took up his abode in a small cottage +at Chigwell; where they widened and enlarged the fireplace for him, +hung up the boiler, and furthermore planted in the little garden +outside the front-door, a fictitious Maypole; so that he was quite +at home directly. To this, his new habitation, Tom Cobb, Phil +Parkes, and Solomon Daisy went regularly every night: and in the +chimney-corner, they all four quaffed, and smoked, and prosed, and +dozed, as they had done of old. It being accidentally discovered +after a short time that Mr Willet still appeared to consider +himself a landlord by profession, Joe provided him with a slate, +upon which the old man regularly scored up vast accounts for meat, +drink, and tobacco. As he grew older this passion increased upon +him; and it became his delight to chalk against the name of each of +his cronies a sum of enormous magnitude, and impossible to be paid: +and such was his secret joy in these entries, that he would be +perpetually seen going behind the door to look at them, and coming +forth again, suffused with the liveliest satisfaction. + +He never recovered the surprise the Rioters had given him, and +remained in the same mental condition down to the last moment of +his life. It was like to have been brought to a speedy +termination by the first sight of his first grandchild, which +appeared to fill him with the belief that some alarming miracle had +happened to Joe. Being promptly blooded, however, by a skilful +surgeon, he rallied; and although the doctors all agreed, on his +being attacked with symptoms of apoplexy six months afterwards, +that he ought to die, and took it very ill that he did not, he +remained alive--possibly on account of his constitutional slowness-- +for nearly seven years more, when he was one morning found +speechless in his bed. He lay in this state, free from all tokens +of uneasiness, for a whole week, when he was suddenly restored to +consciousness by hearing the nurse whisper in his son's ear that he +was going. 'I'm a-going, Joseph,' said Mr Willet, turning round +upon the instant, 'to the Salwanners'--and immediately gave up +the ghost. + +He left a large sum of money behind him; even more than he was +supposed to have been worth, although the neighbours, according to +the custom of mankind in calculating the wealth that other people +ought to have saved, had estimated his property in good round +numbers. Joe inherited the whole; so that he became a man of great +consequence in those parts, and was perfectly independent. + +Some time elapsed before Barnaby got the better of the shock he had +sustained, or regained his old health and gaiety. But he recovered +by degrees: and although he could never separate his condemnation +and escape from the idea of a terrific dream, he became, in other +respects, more rational. Dating from the time of his recovery, he +had a better memory and greater steadiness of purpose; but a dark +cloud overhung his whole previous existence, and never cleared +away. + +He was not the less happy for this, for his love of freedom and +interest in all that moved or grew, or had its being in the +elements, remained to him unimpaired. He lived with his mother on +the Maypole farm, tending the poultry and the cattle, working in a +garden of his own, and helping everywhere. He was known to every +bird and beast about the place, and had a name for every one. +Never was there a lighter-hearted husbandman, a creature more +popular with young and old, a blither or more happy soul than +Barnaby; and though he was free to ramble where he would, he never +quitted Her, but was for evermore her stay and comfort. + +It was remarkable that although he had that dim sense of the past, +he sought out Hugh's dog, and took him under his care; and that he +never could be tempted into London. When the Riots were many years +old, and Edward and his wife came back to England with a family +almost as numerous as Dolly's, and one day appeared at the Maypole +porch, he knew them instantly, and wept and leaped for joy. But +neither to visit them, nor on any other pretence, no matter how +full of promise and enjoyment, could he be persuaded to set foot in +the streets: nor did he ever conquer this repugnance or look upon +the town again. + +Grip soon recovered his looks, and became as glossy and sleek as +ever. But he was profoundly silent. Whether he had forgotten the +art of Polite Conversation in Newgate, or had made a vow in those +troubled times to forego, for a period, the display of his +accomplishments, is matter of uncertainty; but certain it is that +for a whole year he never indulged in any other sound than a grave, +decorous croak. At the expiration of that term, the morning being +very bright and sunny, he was heard to address himself to the +horses in the stable, upon the subject of the Kettle, so often +mentioned in these pages; and before the witness who overheard him +could run into the house with the intelligence, and add to it upon +his solemn affirmation the statement that he had heard him laugh, +the bird himself advanced with fantastic steps to the very door of +the bar, and there cried, 'I'm a devil, I'm a devil, I'm a devil!' +with extraordinary rapture. + +From that period (although he was supposed to be much affected by +the death of Mr Willet senior), he constantly practised and +improved himself in the vulgar tongue; and, as he was a mere infant +for a raven when Barnaby was grey, he has very probably gone on +talking to the present time. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barnaby Rudge, by Charles Dickens + |