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iiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiii BY C. G. I^OGERS, l|IIIHIII|tlllilllll>lllllll'' L>^ X \y m ':i m nenj, and l.jeps the treasure. It's gen'r'ly a cave, or a hidden place up some creek, or in a marsh. Now, the Slugge*" here and me hii' e been talkin' it over, and we think the cave on Pepper's Isiand 'ud be " " Ji-im Brown ! " gasped yoir.ig Murphy, losing his normal ruddy color. " Don't go away down there ! its too blamed lone- some — and far ! " " There you go again," sneered Jim Brown. " A daisy pirate you'll make, talkin' about bein' Ivnesorne. How in thunder can it be lonesome with about twenty pirates round the camp, and three or four pris'n'rs telling yarns and warbling songs, ' Oh, sw-e-e-e-et dove,' an' such, under pain of torture ? Besides, we don't want a place where everybody goes ; we want a secret resort." " Well, p'raps you're right," said Billy Murphy somewhat dubiously. " When are we goin' to meet ?" " I was thinking of calling a meetin' here to-night at about ten." There was a perceptible shudder on the eve of passing over Billy Murphy's entire frame, but he subdued it and nodded assent. " I'll let the boys know, and we can meet out on the road to a man. We'll have a picket, and S-c-u-1 '11 be the pass-word. 'We'll have to make an invent'ry of the weapons, too." " What's that ? '^ " It's a list of all the guns, pistols, cimitars and bowie-knives [the band has. And then we must have an arm'ry and a magazine " "What, a libr'y?" 8 THE SCRAG riLLE BANDITS. " Naw. It's a place where the arms and the powder are kept. It would be a good idea to have a libr'y, the', — for wet days. I have a lot of dinky books. There's * The Duke's Pants ' ; * From the Pulpit to the Penitentiary ' ; ' The Adventures of a Stuffed Club ' ; ' Mangoes,the Antediluvian Thief ' ; ' Spotted-face, the Indian Renegade,' and a lot more." " Had'nt we better use clubs ? " said Murphy, who had evidently been thinking the master of arms over, during Jim Brown's recital of his literary treasures. " See here, Bill Murphy, if you want to jest demoralize this thing and run it on home-made principles, run it. But in the name of the Only Great Original Double-Stummicked Pie-eater, whoever heard of pirates using clubs ? If you're going to be a club, use clubs. But this is a band — a bandit band ; devoted to the overthrow of the autocrats and the rich, and the righting of the down-trodden and the poor. Pro bono publico is our motto ; which means take all you can from the rich, and give half of it to the poor." " Like ducks ! " exclaimed Billy Murphy, completely upset by this astounding principle. " Supposin' I was to capture Scrimp the miser and make him give me his pocket-book with a hundred dollars in it, have I got to gp and give fifty to the widow Mumper? Why, dang it, Jim, the band would be bankrupt in two weeks ! " " That's the way we've got to do. Bill," said the Slugger, " or Fortune won't smile on us enough to brighten the brass plate on a door. And it's no use kicking against her" " And what does * keepin' the secrets in violet,' mean ? " said the recusant Murphy, after a pause. " Oh, I suppose that means signing our names in blood," said Jim, who had looked for the word in vain in the dictionary, it having been spelled incorrectly in ' Mangoes, the Antediluvian Thief.' " Of course blue blood would be better, an* would match the ink. But only dooks an earls has that." " And what about the offices ? " said Murphy again, who to judge from his expression, did not like the idea of signing his name in blood at all. At least not in his own. " We're going to make you second in command, Murph, and run Bulger in for commissary," replied Jim. " Better make Slugger Tim lieutenant, he's better eddicated than what I am." " No titles for me," said the Slugger decisively. " If you've THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. d ; devoted ean ? " said 50t to heap any on this chicken, you can call me general-grand - idviser-in-case-cf-need ; or man-who-runs-for-the-doctor. I lo'nt care to be burdened with any of your long, windy titles." " And what about the grub ? " continued Murphy. " We'll appoint a man to attend to that— Bulger, I guesr.. I lentioned that office in the rules." " No you did nt." " Yes I did. Here it is — rule five : A commissary to be ippointed by the captain." " Does that mean cook ? " " Well, not exactly. But he looks after the food, and runs the provision racket. You see " Ai this moment a sound was heard, that ot the mingling of idvancing steps and murmur of voices. The boys stopped their ;onversation and peered silently through the leaves. In a few moments the cause of the sound came in view upon the road, and passed within twenty yards of where the three >andits in embryo were hidden. It was a band of gipsies, consisting of two stalwart men, three ?omen, one quite old and wrinkled, the others brown-cheeked and teen-eyed ; and two or three small and ragged children. They rere all trude;ing beside the covered waggon drawn by two fine )ays, excepting the old woman and a girl. A most unusual Kcurrence, for it is seldom that a gipsy man — or even the average lan — walks when he can get a ride. The little girl in the caravan was dressed in rags like the )thers ; but her face showed, at the first shrewd glance from the )oys, that she was not of the gipsies' ilk. Her hair was short and black ; and her face showed in ^trong contrast, being very pale, and sad ; while the eyes drooped )eneath the baleful scowl of the old hag who sat opposite glower- jng at the child. " Kidnapped ! " whispered the Slugger, tersely, to his com- janions ; and Jim Brown craned his neck to get a further view of le little girl. But the caravan was now out of sight. However in that brief moment Jim Brown, the self-prospect- ^e captain of the Malays, swore a deep oath in the innermost jcesses of his piratical heart. And it was that the first act of his ^and should be the rescue of the little girl-prisoner from the vile iraldom of the gipsies' keeping. 10 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. CHAPTER II. A BARGAIN WITH THE GIPSIES. HE village of Scragville is situated on the banks of a big river, with a long wooden bridge connecting the two shores. It is a busy little town, the metropolis of an industrious farming locality, and its shipping point. There is one long main street where all the hotels, churches, and stores are ; interspersed here and there with pretty dwellings with vine-clad verandahs, set back in little gardens, most of the latter neat, but some where the grass is seldom cut, and sunflowers and hollyhocks grow to a wonderful height. There is a sidewalk down the main street of Scragville, and looking along it on windy days you get the perspective of front gates wide open and swinging across the foot-way, — so common in country towns. At one end of the village is a brick cottage, surrounded by a worm eaten fence with a decrepit gate, inside of which grow a row of gigantic poplars. There are no flower-beds, and no vines growing up the tottering verandah. The grass is long, very long, n the front of the house, and there are three or four narrow criss- cross paths leading across the plot from the verandah to the gate. Altogether, the place is very much neglected, and very old. Now, this is where Mr. Scrimp, the notorious usurer of Scrag- ville, lived. He was a little, thin man, with a short grey beard and a keen pair of eyes of the same color ; and he was remarkable for a tery quick brisk motion, particularly when walking. Of course he had other attributes besides these. He had a pair of thin legs somewhat bowed, and was very careful of his dress, wearing a well-brushed suit of black, and an equally well-brushed stiff" hat of the same hue. Mr. Scrimp was reputed to have more money than all the other well-to-do men in Scragville put together ; and he owned several houses in the little town and had a great many mortgages on farms and buildings in the neighborhood. He had a bosom friend in Scragville — or rather a business friend — by the name of Slocum, a lawyer ; and Mr. Slocum did a good deal of Mr. Scrimp's business, and loaned that gentleman's money out at 20 per cent. In short, Mr. Scrimp was the most hated and the most M rms a lilufif ai ise, h le ro£ •( THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 11 3 of a big ; the two oils of an oint. churches, dwellings ost of the sunflowers a sidewalk on windy d swinging nded by a grow a row no vines very long, irrow criss- the gate, old. -r of Scrag- grey beard remarkable liking. Of i a pair of his dress, ell-brushed lan all the he owned 1 mortgages d a bosom le name of eal of Mr. out at 20 nd the most ared man in all Scragville, and he knew it and triumphed in he fact. It was the evening of the day following that on which the eeting of Jim Brown, the Slugger, and Billy Murphy took place the wood, that Mr. Scrimp, returning to Scragville from a walk the country, came upon a gipsy encampment near the road. The gipsies were cooking their evening meal, and were sit- ng about the fire, with the exception of an old woman who was jtirring something in a large pot. Mr. Scrimp, who always noticed yerything with his sharp eyes, ran his glance over tie whole ncampment and the dark faces of the men and won^en, until his ;lance rested on the pale face of a little girl who was sitting so at the light fell full on her features. Mr. Scrimp started and [ave a short gasp. The gipsies looked up, and as Mr. Scrimp still stood there, [lowering at the little girl, one of the men rose lazily to his feet d came forward. " Wh — where did you get that child ? " hissed Mr. Scrimp. The gipsy — a great hulking, sun-burned fellow with very iroad shoulders, and a very shrewd twinkling pair of eyes — jlanced down good humoredly at Mr. Scrimp, and said : — " Maybe it's your business to ask, mister?" Mr. Scrimp took a survey of the big man's bare muscular ms and undisturbed countenance, and shrewdly concluding that jluff and bluster would not give him a point in this particular se, he took the gipsy gently by the arm, and leading him down e road some distance, remarked in a quiet, insinuating way : — " Maybe I can make it a paying business for you. I know at child don't belong to you legally, and I want her. What do u say to a hundred dollars, now. Eh ?" The gipsy man regarded Mr. Scrim p's features with a keen of scrutiny, and then said sharply : — " You go a little fast, mister. How do you know she don't long to me ? And what do r want her for ? " " Weil-er," mumbled the oi r, for once at a loss for a ready swer, and nonplussed at the abruptness of the question which had not anticipated after his offer, " it can't interest you, my od fellow. It is personal, purely personal, and I have not any tive for compromising you. Stay : her father is a tall man with "air beard ; a handsome man, rather, eh ? with broad shoulders." " Yes, is he, now? " said the gipsy, laughing. " And do he from them, right hard ? " ^VMMl'»V*.«l.*t>'W*«/V(|t»1rt'ri«*V»(« mmmm 12 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. " He struck you ? " put in Mr. Scrimp quickly, with hi: little grey eyes blinking rapidly. " He struck ine once — d— r him ! " The gipsy opened his eyes widely and laughed quietly " No ! " said he," did he tho ' ? Well now, I wouldn't 'a though; that. And I suppose, sir, you're a particular friend of his, anc wants to return good for evil, so to speak, by sending him bad his child, with yer compliments and name on a card tied to th: kid's hair." " Exactly, exactly," said Mr. Scrimp. " That's the idea And it's a bargain ? '' " I never said so," drawled the gipsy slowly. " You offeree me a paltry hundred dollars. Do you know, mister, there's ; reward of a thousand dollars offered for her ! " Mr. Scrimp blew an angry and surprised whistle. Was the gipsy merely bluffmg him, or had Henry Lee, his old enemv really offered so much ? How was it he had not seen it in th- papers, or advertised in the streets ? "What is to prevent my informing on you, and putting th; detectives on your heels ? " he said, in a blustering tone. " Lord ! lord 1 " said the gipsy with another of his quie chuckles. " And what good would that do, now ? Didn't we fini the child one night, and ain't we going to get the reward ? Anc men what has been kicked, old boy " — continued the big gips in a low voice — " don't genr'ly forgit such matters. Do yoi suppose I think you're goin' to send that child right back to he father ? Do you, now ? " Mr. Scrimp bit his lip and was silent. How had the fello' guessed that he had been kicked ? " Well, I'll tell you what I'll do," said the gipsy softly. " Ci it five hundred and the kid's yours." This astounding demand almost took away Mr. Scrimp breath. He repeated the gipsy's words with a gasp. " That's what I said," replied the gipsy quietly. " You ca:< afford it. Some men would'nt think it a high price for such ) chance of revenge." " I'll take her at that price " said Mr. Scrimp, finally. " Bi remember — your lips are sealed." " It would hardly pay me to blab," thought the gipsyman. "I will meet you here to-night at ii,"said Mr. Scrim: | " And — and by the way," he added, looking slyly about hinv THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 13 ly, with hi^ once — d- ;hed quietly 't 'a though; , of his, anc I [ig him back d tied to tht | at's the idea. " You offeree iter, there's aj ie. Was the s old enem^ seen it in tht | I putting th; I one. of his quie Didn't we fini ward ? Anc the big gips; irs. Do yo: it back to he had the fellc f softly. " Ca Mr. Scrimp ). I r. " You ca: ' ice for such , finally. " B:i e gipsyman. d Mr. Scrim; y about hinv " tell her I'm her guardian — a friend of her father's, you under- stand." The gipsy did not deign an answer, and without further parley the two separated, the big man remarking tc himself as he walked slowly back to his supper : " A good bargain. Hank, a good bargain. Them detectives must be along here shortly now, too. Man, but I should like to have seen her dad kick the little mean bandy-legs ! I knerv that big father of hers would'nt bother //////«' such a rat ! Eh, now, but what a grudge the little fellow must have ! Did you watch his wee eyes gleam, Hank, when he said he'd been struck ? " '* She's like her father," hissed Mr. Scrimp, as he opened his rusty-hinged gate and passed up the little path to his house. " The same d d dignified expression — that's what I recog- nized her by. But her hair's as black as jet. Ah, I see, the rogues dyed it ! Five hundred dollars ! It's a pot of money, Ananias Scrimp, for a chit like that. But to know what he must be suffering — it's worth double the sum." " Martha," said Mr. Scrimp aloud, in a smooth purring tone, and rubbing his hands thoughtfully together, " I hope you've got something nice for tea, because I've had a long walk, and am very hungry. And Martha," he continued, " there will be another member added to our select circle soon. She is very young, and I want you to keep a watchful eye upon her, and see that she don't mingle with the neighbors, you understand. A stray waif I have adopted, Martha, from a band of wandering gipsies." Martha, Mr. Scrimp's housekeeper, a slight, dull but some what spiteful-faced woman of an undecided age, had been listening to her master's words with a respectful silence, but some- what apathetic expression ; but now at the mention of the word 'gipsies,' a light brightened her face, her dull eyes kindled, and [she leaned forward quickly, and said : — " I know — she's Henry Lee's child." Mr. Scrimp appeared just a little surprised at this information, [and then looking shrewdly at his housekeeper, he said slowly : — " If that is so, Martha, there will hardly be any necessity of [advertising for her parents , will there ? " The woman looked for a moment in Mr. Scrimp's little half- shut scrutinizing eyes, and then her own dropped. " And where did you get your astonishing information, may ask ? " said Mr. Scrimp, seating himself in an arm-chair, and )icking up a newspaper. nr i 14 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. " It s in that very paper you've got there," replied Martha, somewhat sullenly. " They're offering a reward of a thousand dollars for a clue to her whereabouts." Mr. Scrimp slowly read the advertisement, and then mur- mured : — " Which you would give your head to earn, Martha. But listen to me : you shall have two thousand dollars if you help me in this. You know the story. In fact, Martha, I think it was you whom I tumbled against when Henry Lee kicked me down the steps of the house where the woman lived who is now his wife. He had been implicated with you — we won't mention the circum- stances — and you now saw yourself laid abruptly on one side for this beautiful young lady. I think he ordered us both away from the house in the same breath. He called you — no, I won't wound your sensitive nature by repeating what he i/id call you. That was fifteen years ago, but I don't think either of us has forgotten it." The woman's face was white with silent fury now ; she clenched her thin hands as she stood before the slightly smiling Mr. Scrimp, and hissed : — " Say what you want done, and I'll do it ; never mind the money." Mr. Scrimp smiled a little broader, and said placidly : — " I think it would be safest to keep her secluded for a while. Her father will of course search for her. But we want to break her spirit. Perhaps it would be better policy to treat her affection- ately, tho', and make her forget him. But we'll see, we'll see. It is the/ai/ier we wish to hurt, not the child." And this little, simple, plausible compliment implied in the word " we," completed Mr. Scrimp's conquest of his housekeeper. '9 THE HCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 15 Martha, lousand CHAPTER III. en mur- la. But tielp me it was [le down his wife, circum- side for vay from I won't all you. us has )w ; she r smiling nind the r-— r a while. to break affection- we'll see. ;d in the sekeeper. IN WHICH THE PIRATES ORGANIZE AND HAVE A SLIGHT ADVENTURE. )BOUT six miles below Scragville and situated in the centre of the river, is a heavily-wooded island about three miles in length, and half a mile broad ; and which is known as Pepper's Island. Exactly why .it was christened Pepper's Island, is, and pro- bably always will be, a mystery, even to the oldest and most astute Scragvillians. It could not have been to be in harmony with the character of the water ; for the latter is perfectly fresh. However, in the centre of the island is a small clearing, and in the centre of this stand the ruins of an old log shanty. The 'clearing' only derives its name because it is free from the heavier timber ; for it is thickly overgrown with stubby brush and berry- bushes, with here and there an old decaying log or stump. These ' ruins ' are known as ' Pepper's shanty ' ; so that it is probable some early Robinson Crusoe of a settler, now long forgotten, built his little cabin, made his little clearing, and lived here, and doubt- less gave his name to the island. Some distance from the shanty and clearing, and in a very thick portion of the wood, is a heavy ridge, and in this ridge there is a sort of natural cave or hollow. The entrance to this is hidden by brush and wild-grape vines ; and as the island is seldom penetrated, for it is wooded almost its entire surface, and the travelling is very rough, the cave in question is known to very few. There is, of course, as in almost all such cases, a path leading from the shore to this cave ; but it is a good deal over-grown, having been almost untravelled for years. Well, this was the howling wilderness of a place which Jim Brown proposed to make the secret rallying point of his band. It iwas certainly safe from the intrusion of the most prying and kurious individual, and the nearest house was not within a mile of [the nearest point of mainland. The night on which the band met for consolidation, was dark I and rainy, and most auspicious for such mysterious and lawless proceedmgs as were to be enacted. ^ i 1 I 16 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. At about ten o'clock Jim Brown, the Slugger, Bill Murphy, and about eight or nine other youths of the same age and desperate character, gathered, muddy and wet, beneath the shelter of a large pine tree near the wood. This was considered a point safe from interruption ; but to ensure positive safety scouts were placed up and down the road to give warning in case of the approach of any travellers. Elevated upon a large flat stone and beneath a very torn and shady umbrella, Jim Brown held forth in burning eloquence to the wet but enthusiastic gathering. " I nominate," said Billy Murphy, who stood on Jim's right, and directly under the largest hole in the umbrella ; and a boy named ' Claw ' McMillan, with humpy shoulders and long thin legs began to cheer, but was quickly silenced by Slugger Tim. " I nominate," repeated Murphy slowly," James Brown as captain of the secret band of Malays of Scragville. Is there any traitor here who — is hosstail to this nomination ? If so, let the snide renegade speak.! " This stirring tho' somewhat coercive speech had of course, been prepared by Jim Brown, and carefully committed to memory by his industrious aide, Murphy. At the conclusion of it the nominee glared about with a look so defiant that had anyone of the band held secret hopes of attaining the elevated position, he must have sunk his aspirations on the moment for ever. " Hear ! hear ! " exclaimed Claw McMillan, the humpy boy, again ; " three cheers for Captain Brown of the " " Do shet your music-box, Claw McMillan," said the captain in desperation. *' Do you think we want all Scragville up here ? Well men, as I'm to be captain of this band, I propose that we don't lose no time gettin' down to fine work. We want a quiet secret place to hold our meetin's in, and so I've been thinking the cave on Pepper's is the rendezvous for us." " My idea is to get down there just as soon as we can with as much provender and goods as we can scare up. We'll have to take a boat or two, but we can leave the village about eleven, and be back before daylight, so as not to rouse any suspicions. We'll meet at Scully's wharf to-morrow night, and let every man be on hand. Remember the man who disgorges the secrets or reveals the existence of this band — dies ! Now let every man- jack of the Malays sign ! " The scouji^ were called in, and with some difficulty the (( Indian olid hai )ice THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 17 Murphy, age and he shelter d a point DUts were se of the r torn and nee to the m's right, and a boy g thin legs Tim. " I captain of aitor here e renegade of course, to memory , of it the anyone of losition, he le humpy he captain up here? sethat we nt a quiet 1 thinking ;an with as I'll have to 3Ut eleven, suspicions, every man secrets or every man- iculty the chirographic signatures of the boys were i)enned in the dog-eared manual containing the * rules.' These latter were circulated for the edification of the band by the captain, who had them off by heart. Then the commissary was chosen ; a stout-built boy with a large pair of eyes that stuck away out of his head named ' Bulger ' ; ind Billy Murphy was elected lieutenant by acclamation. After |his, the band heartily glad to a man that the proceedings were ver, scudded to their various houses ; some to climb over roofs nd in at back windows, and others to meet the wrath of angered arents. Jim Brown acted the part of a general the next day in prigg- g more articles of various kinds from his mother's kitchen and rder than the good lady had any suspicion of. He first secured a large flour bag, and then in the dark re- |esses of the loft and by an irregular but persistent process of ilterage, he in time filled the capacious sack with a collection I tins, articles of food, and old clothes ; all bundled and ueezed together into the sack, until that article had the appear- ce of a boa constrictor who had dined off an alpine tourist with 1 his regalia on. " Lessee," said Jim to himself, as he contemplated the gouty suit of his labors ; " Lessee, ; one ham, two tin plates, a blanket they won't miss that blanket in a month, because it was the one xt the mattress, and Mary don't make her bed twice a year. A rk, a knife and a spoon. A cup, a loaf, and two pots of jam. aint exactly pirates diet, but I guess we can survive for a while, jar of pickles, a bag of flour, the old man's shootin' boots, that '11 never miss, considerin' they were stowed in the attic, and he ver could wear them on account of them corns of his." " There's some rattlin' good terbac, in that bag — plut cut, e-forty a pound. Two packets of matches, and the old suit, slouch hat and Lucy's red sash. That sash '11 look striking, d no mistake ! " " I'll have to sneak that old sabre, too, that was through the idian mutiny, if it costs me my character. Then there's the hammer, and the greatest assortment of nails ancf screws and ice dirt I ever see." " I guess that's — about all. Oh ! there's Maria's moroccer le fer reading funeral orations out of over the de-id. There y be one or two other articles that have got in by mistake with- rubbm' up against my memory — " here Jim thou^ght hard for 18 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. y he : 10 tl ira several moments — " such as the bottle of pain-killer for sudden attacks, the small fryin' pan, the governor's old razor and the blackin' brush ; but mother's good to say they've been mislaid by Mary or the old man, directly they're missed." About 1 1 o'clock that night, when all Scragville was supposed to be wrapped in virtuous slumber, the wily captain of the Malays stole silently forth from the opaque recesses of the back shed, staggering beneath the weight of the corpulent and misshaper. sack. In ten minutes more he was at the river, and a momen; later was rowing towards " Scully's " wharf, half-a-mile belov Scragville, "Who goes there?" came a husky voice from beneath the damp rafters of the old log wharf; and Jim Brown's heart bea; exultantly as he recognized the stern tones of his doughty lieuten ant, and heard the simultaneous click of a revolver. Jim fei almost as great a character as his favorite hero, — Tom Sawyer- now. " M-a-1-a-y ! " responded the rower in hissing tones ; an: Billy Murphy drew a breath of deep relief, for he was free of th prime responsibility at last. The pirates were mustered beneath the wharf, seated for th most part on ungainly barrels and sacks similar to the captain's jfratii and the latter listened with the pardonable pride ot a great chi: ^ « to the various accounts of how this one and that had purloine ^g j more or less of the family chattels. One ingenious youth, kt^I of name Jimmy Wink, sometimes known as the ' White Swan ' c j account of his partiality for clean collars — had secretly manufawjlarf, tured about a dozen black masks, and the captain shook this fafii|m t seeing benefactor's hand with a warmth only equalled by the pric * that swelled his buccaneering bosom at the triumphant momeiroftd, The donor had the additional title of * the Man of the Twel Masks ' conferred upon him on the spot. " Jum Another had brought the best portion of the family stock tea ; Tony Johnson had at a great risk of being found out, ^Mlier safely away yrith a lantern and a stock of candles; Bulger, iW " band's commissary had thoughtfully and characteristically cc/o^e, veyed away the family meat-axe, meat-saw and egg-beater ; ai nearly each one of the remainder had donated a ham ! ^ a When the roll-call was run over by Lieut. Murphy it ^^MRr. found that only two of the band had not filed an appearanc WT} These were Patroclus Duffy, the grocer's boy, and Limps Pottt J|hJ <( (( THE SCRAG riLLE BANDITS. 19 for suddenj or and the^ mislaid by- as supposed^ f the Malays back shed. 1 misshapen d a momen: 1-mile below beneath the I's heart bea: aghty lieuter. rex. Jim fei ^om Sawyer- ig tones ; ras free of an; th seated for th the captain's ,t a great chu ad purloine ous youth, b hite Swan'c youth with an impediment in his gait. However, as each jhese was expected to turn up, and as it was considered impolitic start without Patroc.liis Duffy in particular, as he was expected bring a varied assortment of choice comestibles from his ither's shelves, the band concluded to give the pair a short time ^f grace. Meanwhile the various properties of the pirates were stowed lugly in the three boats, and the different places allotted to the Urates themselves. Suddenly while thus occupied there came a hurried scamper feet upon the wharf overhead, and a moment later Patroclus )uffy and Limps — the pirate with the game leg — api^eared with a ish and very much out of breath in the centre of the group ; who give them full credit for their natural trepidation, seemed a ^tle disconcerted. Billy Murphy, however, quickly recovered Imself and with admirable coolness demanded the password^ ^companied by the monotonous click of his revolver. " Boys ! " gasped Patroclus," jump for the boats — quick : and out ! We've seen — them gipsy — fellows sell a — little girl — ta Scrimp — and we've got — the whole gang — at our heels !" There was apparent consternation in the greater part of the ratical ranks,but the voice of the < aptain hissed out : — *' The first Malay that aces without orders '11 be shot like a ^g ! Take yer places, now, in the boats, and row like the mill- of the Summer Subsequently ! " In a few moments the boats were a hundred feet from the :retly manufatwiiarf, secure in the darkness ; and then, at a whispered order shook this f^tfr ' . .. ed by the pnc phant momerj of the Twel I family stock found out, g? les ; Bulger, t:l eristically co ;gg-beater ; an am ! Murphy it an appearance 1 Limps Pottei the captain, the rowing ceased Hurried and heavy footsteps were heard coming down the |d, and then they rattled on to the wharf. " Guess they're underneath here, Jerry," said a gruflf voice, imp down and see." " Jump down yerself," said Jerry. " It's all bloomin' mud |er there, Hank. They aint there." I tell yer they must be here," said the man with the big called Hank, doggedly. " And I'm goin' to roast 'em, And with the words he leaped down from the logs, coming a heavy " smack " to his knees in the debris and mud and [The pirates listened with kindling interest. iHank, despite the entreaties of Jerry to ** come hup," con- 20 THE SCRAOVILLE.BANDITS. tinued to flounder about in the darkness. Inspired with a bright' idea, he lit a match, and this enabled the boys to see the silhou ette of a big man kneeling on the ground with his face very close to the mud. Suddenly the match went out, and then the gruff voice o: Hank gave a grunt of mingled surprise and alarm. The boy- heard him scrambling clumsily and hurriedly to the side of hi companion, and then they heard him whisper hoarsely : — " Dig, Jerry, dig ! They're on to us ! The whole ground covered with a million footprints, and here's a — black mask I found ! " " Now, boys ! " whispered the captain hurriedly, " A together — the password. One, two, three " "M-A-I^A-Y! HO! HO! HO!" The united voices of a dozen lusty lads all as one, filled th bill. There was a half-suppressed, terrified oath from Hank ar Jerry, and then their heavy footsteps rattled over the planking .. they tore away in the darkness. " Now, me lads," said Captain Brown assuming a nautic air, as he spat on his as yet goreless hands ; " bully for the Sera. ville Malays, says I, and away we go for Pepper Island ! " CHAPTER IV. THE MALAYS TO THE RESCUE. j^FTER rowing a shott distance down the river, it dawr '^ upon Captain William Brown that he was not doin. very gallant thing in leaving the little girl a prisoner the hands of such a man as Mr. Scrimp ; and he quicii concluded that there must be some very deep meaning in \ Scrimp paying such a large sum as $500.00 for a mere lit: girl — and which he had done, Jim hastily calculated, with perh not the most honest motives in the world. So Captain Brown ordered a cessation in the rowing, a demanded Patroclus Duffy to tell his story as briefly and as mi: to the point as possible. '• Y'see," said Patroclus, as the three boats drew together^ C0mel THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 31 vith a bright e the silhou :e very close uff voice o: The boY> e side of hi [lole ground- tDlack maskl^ rriedly, "A, one, filled th m Hank ar le planking .- ing a nautic: for the Sera: md ! " river, it davvr vas not doinL ;irl a prisoner ; and he quio [Tieaning in ) >r a mere lit' ed, with perhi the rowing, ;fly and as mt rew together ivery pirate * lent his ears ' ; " I.imps and me was comin' along ith our provender and stuff, an' jest as we got near Scrimp's, we leen the old man hisself come out through the gate and walk quite ►risk down the road ahead of us. We wondered what was in the 'ind an' kep' a leetle behind him. Pretty soon Scrimp stopped, in' then we seen a big man loom up out of the ditch with a child ►y the hand, an' the two men stopped to jaw. We slid behind le fence and sneaked up quite close, an' just then we heard the lig man say : — " Where's the money ? " "Old Scrimp give a sort of snarl and takes something out of lis pocket and then he makes a grab for the girl. The big fellow 'ho we seen was one of the gipsy crowd, shoves him back, and lys quiet like : — " Not too fast, old covey;" and then he takes the bundle [nd gives a low whistle, an' goldarn me if another big chap did'nt jet up out of the ditch ten foot from Limps Potter an' me, an' >es out on the road.'' " You oughter seen Scrimp start I and then the second feller |t a match, and the other chap seemed to be countin' over some- lin' that looked like bills, and then he stuffs the hull thing in his (cket, and says : — " All right, Moses, the five hundred's here," and he hands le little girl over to Scrimp, who says : — I " What d'ye call her?" I " Oh, we calls her Georgina, but I think her wafer name's ^atrina, or Kitty," says the gipsy. *' " It's a pretty name — Kitty Lee," chuckles Scrimp. " Well, come on home, Kitty " ; and off he starts. " •' Jest then Limps here gives a snort ; a fly had got up his nose id it would'nt con^ down under no consideration. Limps •ewed up his face till you'd think he would'nt get the tangle out. It the fly would'nt back down worth a dime. So Limps could'nt md it. You sh'd 'a seen them gipsies jump when Limps -.vent rhoo— sh ! " " An' then you bet we up an' run. I never knew Limps Potter lid run so quick. Why, he kep' the lead on me the hull way [Scully's. We made straight fer the wharf 'cos we knew y'd re the boats ready, an' they could'nt folly us on the water. An' Its' the hull yarn." " Men," said the captain, "as I guess you all suspect, there's 22 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS, something that ain't above board in this here transac of old Scrimp's. I vowed t'other afternoon when I first seen that little girl in the gipsies cart, that she did'nt b'long to them thieves rightfully ; an' I says to myself ' Jim Brown, the Malays has got to redeem that maiden, if it costs, each bloomin' bandit his left leg and a large slice of his char-acter.' " " Now, old Scrimp has robbed us of the glory of capturin' Kitty Lee from the gips ; but we can relieve /itm of her, the onfernal old shinplaster, and restore her to her parents, maybe. What do you say ? " There was a fervent affirmative from ten youthful throats, and then the captain said : — " We don't a// need go back, so here's the plan of campaign. Murf. will go on down to the rendezvous with five. The rest of us will go back to the wharf, leave the boats there, and go on to Scrimp's." Accordingly, the boats pulled ashore, the exchanges were made, and Lieut. Murphy with five of the bandits continued down stream with the entire stock of provisions and goods ; while Captain Jim Brown and the remainder of his gang — Limps Potter, Patroclus Dufify, Slugger Tim, and Tommy Dodd, — a bright and promising bandit of 15 with a face like a seraph — rowed swiftly back to Scully's wharf, the scene of the gipsies' late discomfiture. " That odd mask won us the trick, " said Jim, as he fastened on his own. " I left it on the plank here by mistake. Now boys, are we ready ? " " Strike a light here,Pat," said Tommy Dodd, " I've dropped my knife." Patroclus Duffy drew a match, and bending down began searching for the lost article. " Why, what's this ? " he exclaimed suddenly, and the other four crowded about him. "Give us some more light, quick!" exclaimed Patroclus excitedly, as the match burned out. " I believe — yes — it is — it's the dood/e P' " The what ? " exclaimed the quartette in a breath. " The boodle, I say ! The money Scrimp paid the gipsies Five hundred dollars ! Land of Cakes, boys, we've struck it rich : Its' a mine above ground 1 Five — hundred — dollars ! Hoop — .' " Lets' get out of this, quick ! " exclaimed the captain, losing that calmness which should have marked his responsible position \ lieu r ;pii >m t md ick THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 23 ic of old that little \ thieves s has got lis left leg capturin' f her, the ts, maybe. iroats, and campaign. e rest of us I go on to nges were nued down ids ; while [nps Potter, bright and wed swiftly scomfiture. he fastened [ Now boys, ve dropped own began id the other d Patroclus 5— it is— it's :h. the gipsies! ruck it rich ■ ! Hoop—.' ptain, losing ble position "Them fellows'll soon find their money gone, an' they'll be back here quickern chain lightnin'. Lets' shove out a bit, any- way." They were none too soon ; for as the boat left the shore hasty I footsteps were heard coming near the wharf. In a few moments the two gipsies came up panting, and leaped down from the edge of the wharf, cursing vigorously. They each lit matches, and [began searching the ground. " Look here ! " said the harsh voice of Jerry, " these is boys^ [footmarks, as I'm a sinner ! It's a trick. Hank, a gaffer's trick ! in' we've been let in nice, we have !" " Stow your preachin' — you !" snarled Hank, and by his loarse tones, the boys could guess the terrible rage he was in. " Look for the monny. I mus^ a dropped it here ! " " Yes, an' this is w'ere they picked it hup," sneered Jerry. " They ! they ! " gasped Hank, flinging his match down furiously. " Who is //ley ? What are f/iey ? Curse 'em, curse 'em, I'll knife the whole gang ! " And the infuriated gipsy tore up ind down in the mud, swearing furiously, Jerry accompanying lim liberally in ,the latter occupation. Meanwhile, the boat had drifted silently down the river, the )andits sitting still as mice. When beyond hearing of the gipsies' laledictions, they took to the oars and pulled vigorously for half- i-mile. Then Jim said : — " We'll go ashore now. Its' a risk to try the rescue act, 'cos [he gipsies are a'most dead certain to go back to Scrimp's and try m' get the girl — by main force may be. But never venture, never rin. We'll risk it, boys. It's worth the adventure, anyway. /imps Potter, you stay and guard the boat. Keep your life |5issolver ready, and your peepers, an' lisn'ers wide open. If you ^ear anyone comin', you'll know it's us if the password's given. If ain't, shove out, and keep mild. If we're chased hard, we'll |re two shots quick, an' you can have the boat ready. " With these shrewd and voluminous instructions, the captain the Malays and his three trusty followers, all masked, bade lieu to their appointed guard, and glided silently away. They took a roundabout course to reach Mr. Scrimp's, jping totally away from the village, and coming upon their goal >m the rear. A sharp swinging trot, however, in single file, ind them inside of fifteen minutes just outside of Mr. Scrimp's ick fence m 24 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. This was cautiously scaled by three of the band, Tommy Dodd remaining near the road, armed with Jim Brown's 32-bore revolver, ready to give the alarm in the event of discovery. A light was burning in the back chamber. The window of this was partly open for ventilation, the night being very warm. A shed was attached to the rear or "kitchen" part of the house, and its roof sloped upward to within a foot and a half of the window-sill. Just as the trio, in a dark corner of the woodshed, were debating in whispers as to what course to pursue, a figure came to the open window and looked out into the darkness. It was the little girl, Kitty Lee, the late prisoner of the gipsies, and the frail object of the boys' intended romantic rescue from her new keeper. The boys watched her eagerly, and with beating hearts. Even the Slugger's normally calm pulse throbbed a trifle faster than was its wont. She stood at the window motionless, for several moments, and then Patroclus whispered : — " I have it. Let's write a little note, and tell her we're friends. We can throw it up to her in a ball." " Perhaps she can't read," said Slugger Tim, venturing one of his rare but potent ideas. " Oh, I guess so," replied the sanguine Patroclus. " Mosi girls can." " Ten to one she'd scream," said the Slugger again. "Anc who knows? Perhaps old Scrimp's in there." "I guess not," said Patroclus, eagerly. "We could shoe him^ anyway." " We'll throw in the note, Slugger," said Jim Brown, a length. " We haint got any time to think out a better plan. Only we'll wait till she goes away from the window. It won't do to g skulking 'round with these blamed masks on ; they'd scare he: Here's the pencil and paper. How are we goin' to write the not in the dark ?" "I'll hold my coat," answered Patroclus; "an' Tim ca: light matches behind it. You can write." So the ingenious P. Duffy divested himself of his coat an held it to act as a screen, while Jim Brown knelt in the chips, an; with great diificulty and much hard breathing, scrawled the missiv; on which depended the outcome of their venture ; and Sl'.'gge 'Tim drew matches on his pants and heroically burned the tops c his thumbs nearly off without a murmur in the cause of Kitty Te; 1 the wind! if yo[ iim'lj nd rher THE SCR A G VILLE BA NDITS. 2& 3, Tommy I's 3 2 -bore ery. window of \ ry warm, ^art of the! i a half of I shed, were! ure came to | mer of the^ intic rescue ting hearts. trifle faster Dtionless, for ve're friends. snturing one lus. " Most •gain. (C And could sJiovi n Brown, a: plan. Only Dn't do to g d scare he: write the not: ' an' Tim ca: his coat an the chips, ar. ed the missiv and Sl'.'gg^ ed the tops c s of Kitty l.e JIM BFOWN WRITES THE NOTE. The note ran as follows : — '* Dear Prisner, — We hev come to reskew u. We r hear in ihe shedd. Don't be afraid ther's 4 of us, malays. let down the rindy esy, esy esy mmd an' I'll be on the shed to help u down. If youv got any extra apparrell put it on extra an what u cant crowd m, mak up in a bundell and sling it out the windy soft^ Slugger lim'll catch it he's catcher on our 9. Mind the. windy now^ easy, md dont hit the glas gettin out Jim Brown, Captain of the Malays." " p s — we wont look when u r gettin out. Yu can say sh ! ^hen your out " J 39 26 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. : i " How would it do to climb up on the roof an' have a peep ?" suggested the Slugger. " It's a big risk throwing that in, and we don't want to botch the job. He may be there. Here's a short ladder that'll do." "All right. I'll shin up, and chuck it in 'f the coast's clear," said the captain. So the ladder was placed gently against the edge of the shed, and up Jim went, insinuating himself with a noiseless and catlike action across the shingles until he was immediately under the window. There was no one in the room but the little girl. She was still dressed, and was kneeling beside the bed, with he ce in her hands. A candle was burning upon the common washstand, which served the double purpose of bureau and what it really was. Beyond this piece ot crude furniture, there was nothing but the narrow bedstead and a chair in the room, the floor of which was as bare as the ghastly white walls. There waii a small common jug and basin beside the candle on the stand, and what looked to Jim's discerning eye like a packet of sweets ; an insinuating present of old Scrimp's, doubtless — a compromise for the girl's good behaviour. The sight of the slim, kneeling motionless figure, draped in the uncouth yet picturesque gipsy rags, nerved the bandit chieftain to a readiness for any deed, however daring or bloody. He raised his arm, and the little ball of paper fell with a soft " pat " upon the bare floor. It seemed a century to the three boys ere the figure came tc the window again. Even the phlegmatic level-headed Slugger's |top heart beat fast for the result. iiad< The little girl looked out of the window. The Slugger stood 4rere in the centre of the yard, and drew his handkerchief from hi ||eari pocket, and waved it slowly up and down. The girl put one arm out of the window, and made a sligh; Ijiom forward motion. I He stood, the pallant catcher of the Scragville nine, in j yard catching attitude, ready to stop the course of the expected trous c^hei seau. Alas ! there was no trousseau ! -^tld Something fell at the Slugger's feet almost inaudibly. He t? picked it up, and lit one of his interminable stock of matches. <|iget It was a peppermint lozenge, heart-shaped, and had the wge words inscribed upon it : — " I have only my heart to give you." t\ de THE SCRAOVILLE BANDITS. 27 ^e a peep ?" in, and we re's a short ast's clear," of the shed, and catlike y under the , rl. She was ceinher washstand, it really was. ling but the f which was What could have been more touching, more expressive ? Slowly, and with great caution, the window was slid down its full length, and the little girl stepped out upon the roof. Ten seconds later she was in the yard, and in thirty more the rescuers md rescued were over the fence. At this moment there burst on the still air a shrill whistle, repeated, and then the familiar voice of the scout on the road rang :lear and brief, but full of meaning, uttering the compound word : — "SHINNIT!" And then followed the loud report of a revolver. CHAPTER V. A RACE IN THE DARK. ; the candle like a packet doubtless — a |-e, draped in lit chieftain He raised lat " upon the jure came tc led Slugger's Slugger stood :hief from hi: made a sligh; lie nine, in 2 :pected trous laudibly. He f matches, and had the 3 give you." EHIND Scrimp's house were the sheds ; and beyond these, stretching back for a distance of nearly half a mile, were several acres of fenced and cultivated fields, which rose gradually into a hill that lay behind Scragville. This hill ran parallel with the river, tho' at some distance rom it, for a long way ; and between the two — the river and the lill — and at an equal distance from each, lay the road. Now, the watchful Tommy Dodd, keeping his vigil from a lark position in the ditch, after a long silence, heard heavy foot- teps coming up the road ; and shortly after, the cause of them topped within twenty yards of where Tommy lay. The latter [lade out the forms of two tall men ; and discerning that these irere probably the two gipsies, and that if they discovered the |earness of himself and his brother brigands, the pair would make decidedly uncomfortable for the Malays, the scout for the loment was troubled what course to pursue. At this juncture, the last of the pirates to leave the back rd premises — Slugger Tim — was getting over the fence, the ther two and Kitty Lee being already about to start across the Bids. At the same moment, too, the gipsies, who had been talking jether, stepped from the road and across the ditch ; and the Jgest fellow. Hank, who seemed to be the senior and leader of two, mounted upon the fence which skirted the ditch. 28 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. From this elevated position his keen eye must have perceived the vaulting form of Slugger Tim, as that sturdy youth dropped with a gentle but audible " pat " to the ground ; for he uttered a half-smotheied oath, and pulling himself up to a standing position upon the fence, he leaped down to the other side, where he fortu- nately fell into a trench half full of water. The other gipsy, Jerry, following his companion, scrambled nimbly over, but making a considerable clatter with his heavy boots. Hearing the gipsy's exclamation as he stood upon the fence, and surmising that the daring Malays now stood in great peril of discovery, and perhaps annihilation. Tommy Dodd leaped to the road and gave his signal, following it with a terse but voluminous injunction to speed with all possible haste, vulgarly, and as he termed it, " shinning it." And he completed this advice by reck- lessly drawing Jim Brown's revolver and discharging it at the dim but capacious target upon the fence — the gipsy man Jerry. The bandits and their self-assumed charge needed no further warning. They heard the shout of alarm from the faithful Tommy , Dodd, the subsequent heavy fall of the gipsy in the mud and water, and its accompanying string of oaths, followed by the echoing ■ report of the revolver. They sped swiftly across the fields, keeping at a right angle to the main road ; the girl, much to Jim Brown's relief and satisfaction, running almost as swiftly as either he or his com- panions could have done. But swift and ominously heavy behind them came the steps of the two gipsies. " Drop down — here — Kitty ! " gasped Jim, as they raced or. over the uneven ground," Slugger'n Pat 'Ulead 'em off the scent.' And with the words Jim and the girl threw themselves flat upor, their- faces on the ground, and then lay perfectly still. The trick was executed just in time. The pair of pantin: men were not far off, and soon rushed by, the heels of Ha^'^ flinging the earth in the faces of Jim and his companion. Away the gipsies tore m the wake of the fleet and sounding foo: steps of Patroclus Duffy and Slugger Tim, who had taken a: angular course from the spot where Jim and Kitty Lee hat dropped, and making as much clatter as possible. Divining that Jim, as soon as the risk of capture was over would make with all due haste to the boat, the two now turned t Ihe t)per u ^rir THE SCRAGVILLE li A ADITS. 29 /e perceived 1 ith dropped le uttered a ing position ere he fortu- 1, scrambled 1 his heavy n the fence, ;reat peril of saped to the : voluminous 7, and as he vice by reek- it at the dim Jerry. ed no further ;hful Tommy ; jdand water, the echoing a right angle I's relief and or his com- me the steps they raced or. 3ff the scent.' ves flat upon 11. ir of panting ;els of Hani I nion. sounding foot had taken ar Litty Lee hac (ture was over now turned tf ; the left again toward the hill, thus drawing further away at every stride from the river. The gipsies, not having any suspicion of the game, struggled md panted viciously on. But with such mettled and practiced )edestrians as Patroclus Duffy and Slugger Tim — who was the )est long distance runner in Scragville-r-they stood a poor show )f successful competition. So on went pursuers and pursued, the bandits leading the )ig men a merry chase. The voice of Tommy Dodd warning his companions, and the report of the pistol, that resounded away down the village street, listurbed, as may be supposed, the slumber of some of the nllagers, and roused the vigorous and prolonged barkmg and howl- mg of the dogs. Shutters flew open, heads and shoulders were thrust out, and few moments later out rushed Mr. Scrimp into the deserted street. Now, Mr. Scrimp had bethought himself to take a peep at lis self-appointed little ward, whom he supposed would be i^rapped in slumber. His housekeeper had left Kitty Lee in the back bed-room looking very tired and dazed, with a dispirited and inert bearing pat did not seem consistent with any latent idea of escape. Besides, the child could not escape from her room ; the door ^as locked, and the window opened upon a roof ten feet or more from the ground. She would be glad at having been freed from pe gipsies' baleful and coarse society — any life must be prefer- ible to theirs, Mr, Scrimp thought. And so Mr. Scrimp in his little parlor ensconced himself in m easy chair, lit his pipe, and let his thoughts of past years make lim forget the hour until his clock on the mantle-piece struck Iwelve. Then Mr. Scrimp, candle in hand, went bed-ward, and softly )pening the door of the back-room where Kitty lay asleep, peeped No, not asleep. The candle had burned low, and was sput- jring in the holder ; throwing weird and shifting shadows of the ^ed and the chair, over the bare walls and ceiling. Mr. Scrimp gave a gasp. Kitty was'nt there. * The window was wide open, and Mr. Scrimp, his face paling 30 THE aCRAGVILLE BANDITS. rapidly under an undefinable yet conscious sense of outrage and defeat, rushed there. Before he reached the window, however, his ears were greet- ed with a shrill whistle, followed by a shout, and then the crash of a pistol shot. As he leaned far out, Mr. Scrimp saw dimly some figures scudding away, and lost next instant in the darkness. With an imprecation he dropped the candle and rushed to the front of the house, and out on to the road, bareheaded, to hear the scudding and regular sound of Tommy Dodd's nimble feet, as their owner sped unseen down the highway. Then all was perfectly still again. Mr. Scrimp looked dazed- ly about him, and down the street saw the light of newly kindled lamps gleaming upon the road, and the heads of two or three of his nearer neighbors stuck enquiringly out, and heard the alarmed babel of "What's the matter?" "Police, police!" "Stop him ! " " Murder ! " and the like. In an instant Mr. Scrimp's active mind was made up. He had been done up, and was the victim of some conspiracy. He had been ignominiously sold by the gipsies. He had bought Kitty, and been sold by Hank. The whole affair was a preconcerted scheme of thievish rapacity. If he could not go to law about the matter, he would have vengeance. So swearing vigorously under his breath, as was his wont when very angry, Mr. Scrimp rushed into his house, nearly knocked down his perturbed housekeeper, who appeared at the doorway in her -night-dress, seized a rifle which hung in his parlor, and dashed raadly out again, and down the road in the wake of Tommy Dodd. That boy, meanwhile, had run swiftly on to the boat, about a mile below Mr. Scrimp's ; where he was very nearly shot for omittmg to give the password. Here he gave such a glowing and panting description of the adventure to Limps Potter, as filled that youth with a mingled sensation of envy and tumultuous pride ; and then together the two sat and waited impatiently and anxiously for the arrival of their fellow-rangers and the redeemed maiden. As soon as the gipsies were past, Jim Brown and Kitty Lee made with all haste for the highway at a point a quarter of a mile below the scene of the late raid. Just as Jim had Squeezed himself through a well-knowi: aperture in the high board fence, and was turning to help his little THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. .31 utrage and were greet- 1 the crash )me figures 1 rushed to' eheaded, to dd's nimble oked dazed- wly kindled » or three of the alarmed I ! » " Stop de up. He spiracy. He bought Kitty, preconcerted aw about the lis wont when arly knocked e doorway in •, and dashed 'ommy Dodd. boat, about a arly shot for ription of the th a mingled together the the arrival ot nd Kitty Lee irter of a mile a well-knowr. ) help his littk ompanion through, Mr. Scrimp, bare-headed and panting, came t a canter down the road. Jim stood perfectly motionless ; but the previous riving sound f a certain portion of Jim's apparel, which caught and tore upon lurking nail, struck upon the alert auricular of Mr. Scrimp, and :aused that gentleman to halt suddenly. Jim heard the " click " as Mr. Scrimp cocked his rifle. " Who's there ?" demanded the bare-headed " clicker " in a harp tone. " Speak up, or I'll shoot !" " Lie down flat, Jim Brown," came a just audible whisper rough a crack in the fence. '* I know what to do." Mechanically, tho' wondering how they would get out of the rape unhurt, and deeply regretting not having his revolver — r it will be remembered Tommy Dodd was in possession of that eapon while acting as picket — Jim Brown flattened himself upon e grass, and crawling away a few feet, lay still. Mr. Scrimp came forward somewhat hesitatingly step, by step, d again demanded tho' his voice appeared to lack a trifle of its devious pomposity and bravado : — " Who are you there? answer, or I'll fire this instant ! " " Your'e too durned scared, you old dried up herring," mut- ed Jim to himself. " Oh, is that you sir," piped a little tremulous voice from be- nd the fence and Jim Brown's heart beat fast. What trick was is? " Dont shoot, please. Its' only me — Kitty. The gipsies le me away again, and I got free from them." Mr. Scrimp ambled across the ditch, considerably relieved, ling very brave, and stuck his head through the fence. There was a dull thud, as when the head of a bald man and a? seasoned plank meet with all the heartiness of greeting on the ^e (joke) of the plank, Mr. Scrimp's legs flew out, his rifle rattl- M from his hand, and the gentleman himself slid gracefully and ili a state of unconsciousness to the ground, his chin coming in a diarp and disagreeable concussion with the lower beam of the ftbice, and his ears getting considerably peeled in their down- rd course between the two boards, to say nothing of the atical behaviour of that auful nail. Jim by this time was on his feet open-mouthed, but speech- at the daring and pluck of little Kitty. Little Kitty herself stepped gracefully through the aperture,a 32. THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. kind providence holding the rapacious nail before mentioned fronj doing her already very torn garments any further hurt. " Well, you ! " gasped Jim. " I would'nt have done it," said Kitty," only he's a wicked : wicked man ! Qh, Jim, I'll tell you all about him." "Not now,'' said Jim hastily, recollecting himself," we muj;; get down to the boat. I'll take his rifle, tho." " I suppose he'll recover," said Kitty Lee, with some con cern ; " I didn't hit him 7>6ry hard." " Oh, didn't you !" said Jim very much inclined to laugh, a- he imagined Mr. Scrimp's inquiring expression on the other side of the fence, and the surprising reception its owner had received " He'll recover all fight. Here, we'll pull him out of the trai and lay him on his back." This they did, and then in possession of Mr. Scrimp's fire arm, a Colt's repeating 44 rifle, the pair hurried on their way ; I Jtr still a little conscienre-stricken at her somewhat unmaidenly bi; timely act, and Jim Brown mentally exulting that his band shoui: have such a courageous as well as pretty princess to bless then when the bandits went on their raids. For wild and romantic fancies were dancing in Jim's daring; imaginative brain. A little later they reached the boat, much to the relief of i: occupants. A brief account was given to Limps and Tomiii Dodd — whom the captain christened the ' Bully-scout ' on th moment; — and then deciding not to chance the return of th Slugger and Patroclus Duffy, and as the boat would have to t, beached at the village before daylight in order to avoid suspicic or curiosity, Jim and Limps Potter, bent to their oars, whi Tommy Dodd with the rudder strings, poured the secrets of ri formation of the band, and the intelligence that she would soct be restored to her home, into the fair ear of Kitty Lee. wtTe otpthi ill ^, ie#ct [l^rr THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 33 tioned fron 's a wicked If," we mu^: 1 some cor. I to laugh, a- le other side lad received It of the trap Scrimp's fiie i\x way ; 1 -i^^: maidenly br s band shoui: to bless thei. Jim's darin[ le relief of i: and Tomnv scout' on tb. 2 return of tl uld have to b ivoid suspicic eir oars, whi. ; secrets of tl -le would soi Lee. CIIAPTEK VI. .UGGER TIM DOES A STROKE OF BUSINESS WITH THE DETECTIVES. HE gipsies had run on, stumbling over the rocks and mounds and fences, and splashing through muddy pools, until completely beaten and exhausted they stopped by a log fence, cursing their luck vehemently, and bewildered yond expression as to who the mysterious midnight prowlers uld be who had so signally despoiled them of their gain, and them such a fruitless chase. So with considerable trouble Hank and Jerry found their way ,ck across the fields to the main highway ; singularly coming to opening in the fence where Mr. Scrimp still lay in a state of consciousness. Hank almost stepped with his big feet upon the prostrate n, and started back with a sort of nervous horror as he looked wn and saw the motionless figure. The two gipsies bent over Mr. Scrimp and recognized the tures of the notorious usurer of Scragville. " 'Ere's a go ! " muttered the sturdy Hank, as he and Jerry down on the edge of the bank. ^' Who d'ye s'pose done it, y?" " He aint dead, is he ? " said Jerry, betraying a slight super- iousness in his voice. Hank leaned over and placed his big hand inside Mr. imp's coat. " No," said he, " the old trader's all right, more's the pity. '11 be to in a while." " Jerry," he continued after a pause, " I 't like this business. I b'lieve it's himps." V "I do, too," assented the other. " We've lost the kid, and weftre bloomin' well rid of her. We'd 'a been nabbed sometime or jDther, sure." " The scent was getting pretty warm for us," acquiesced Eilnk, musingly. " You recklect back there at Towville, fifty- ]l|p, may be, we had to lie in the bush all day to avoid them l^ctive fellers. But them officers 'ill be along this way soon, yi^rant." " An' they'll be down on us if we're here," said Jerry. 3 HMHi 34 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. " 'Course we haint got anything to lose, but we're better out o: any rumpus." " We'd better make hay while the sun shinen ; or rather whik the moon's t'other side of the clouds. Jemmy'll have Rock anc Rose in, an' the women'll be wonderin' wots hup, and oneasy.'' " Well Jerry," said Hank, " we'll start right off. But if ! didn't think it was himps " " One of them came mighty near shootin' my 'ead off — 'ini, growled Jerry. " The bullet along of the report come right b my year." " Wot'U we do with old Kicked-In-His-Youth ?" said Jerry " Oh, leave 'im as he is," returned Hank. " The sprite; have done by him same as by us. I thought it was a cooked jo: on his side, but he would'nt be lyin' here with his shutters up, ; it was. We'll let the bugs crawl over him for awhile." " But we wont let him see what's o'clock wen he wakes, exclaimed Jerry politically ; and he gently removed the watch an; chain from Mr. Scrimp's person. " Strange, now, but I did'nt think 'ed have anythink c: him," said Hank. " Any more valyables ? " " Nixy," replied the other, " 'Ceptin' a old pocketbook wi: two bits of paper in it, which can hardly be counted valyables " They ain't no use to us ; throw 'em in the ditch," growle Hank, who had a profound contempt and want of faith f ' anything on paper. i So Mr. Scrimp's time-worn pocketbook, with its two " bits What paper," was cast in the ditch by the rude hand of Jerry, and the i * the gipsies with their spoil — Mr. Scrimp's valuable chronometer- « to returned quickly to where their caravan awaited them. dp th Meanwliile, Slugger Tim and Patroclus Duffy, highly enjoyi: | ' the race wllh the discomfited gipsies, and rejoicing at the succcC«|np of the ruse, sped on over the fields and across the fences and cro J roads, perfectly at home in the dark ; for they were familiar vi<^h every foot of ground in and about their native town. Sometimes allowing the gipsies to approach within a hundr yards of them, and then drawing speedily away, the two boys fina stopped about a mile from where the chase had begun, and down to breathe and rest, and congratulate each other on th:l success. They concluded that Jim Brown would not wait for them w| the boat, and so they cautiously returned to where the gipsies b be a ( I an for the icivi ea ou 'ati on Ot 1 ein nd hir ; a ape ads lile y, ies, TUE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 35 DCtter out oi] rather whilei e Rock andj 1 oneasy." 1 But if 1| ad off— 'im, Dme right b, " said Jerry •'The sprite a cooked jo shutters up, i e. n he wakes, the watch ant O'.' ; anythink cketbook wit j ted valyables iitch," growle It of faith i( ts two " bits erry, and the chronometer- im. highly enjoyir T at the succei ences and cro: •e familiar wi^ ithin a hundrJ two boys fin; begun, and other on thi ait for them w ; the gipsies bJ been camped, just in time to see the entire caravan starting out by a circuitous route, which would take them in an easterly direction, and allow them to skirt the village. This occult retreat of the gi|)sies was food for some reflection |for Patroclus Duffy and the Slugger ; but they finally agreed that ;he gipsu s wnist have imagined that the officers of the law or some ;ivic justice was at their heels, and had consequently decided to leat a safe retreat from Scragville while the darkness covered their :ourse. '* What have you got on the boards tomorrer, Slugger ?" said 'atroclus. " Nothing," replied the Slugger, whose parents were away ■om Scragville, visiting some relatives, and who was consequently lot under orders to anyone for the time being, his elder sister not leing considered a person of sufficient importance to report his induct to by the stoical and self-enfranchised Slugger. " Well, let's go back and get them groceries and et cets I left :hind the fence when the tramps went for Limps and me. Then [e can walk down to the island, and help Murph get things in lape at the cave in the morning. It's only five miles by the >ads, an' they're good. We can borry a boat or swim over." " It's a long swim," said Slugger Tim, slowly. " It's half a lie across. Of course the water's low, and we can wade half the ly, counting the bar on each side. With a plank for the neces- "ies, I guess we -can make it. Meantime, I'm for a meaU lat've ye got in yer sack ?" "Oh, there's some sardines and bread, an' some capital cheese top," responded Patroclus, as they walked back in the direction the village ; " I'm hungry, too." " Sh !" said the Slugger, suddenly, stopping and grasping his ipanion by the arm — " down." The two dropped silently to the ground and slid into the :h. Slugger Tim indicated a point ahead with a forward jerky 'ement of his chin ; and looking in that direction Patroclus irned the figure of a man staggering from the ditch to the edge le road, with his hands to his head, about fifty yards ahead of • The man stood for a few moments upon the road. He then lenly put his hand to his side, and then rapidly into his inside [pocket, concluding these operations by uttering an exclama- 36 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. tion, which he kept repeating, but which came indistinctly to the. boys' ears. He then recrossed the ditch rapidly to the fence, where the dark shadow prevented the boys from observing his actions. However, in a few moments he returned to the middle of the road, swearing and stamping in a way that betokened only t0C| clearly his perturbed and angered state of mind. Finally, after looking rapidly in succession up and down thei road, at the sky, and across the fields on either side, and standint| in a listening attitude, the figure strode rapidly away towarcl Scragville. " It's Scrimp ! " said Slugger Tim, as that gentleman hurried steps died away. " He's been way-laid and robbed, or ht would'nt act the way he did. Let's look over the spot where h^J was prowling." Accordingly the boys crept cautiously along in the opaqu; shadow of the fence, stopping at the opening. *' It was about here," said Slugger Tim. " Illuminate th ; surroundings, P. Duffy, and I'll hold the coat. Cos we dor- want him to see the light and be sneaking back here on us." " The grass is all mashed here," said Patroclus as he exar| ined the ground carefully by the aid of a match, " as if somebody: been lyin' on it quite a while. Hello ! '' he continued, as tL search was extended, to the depths of the ditch, " What's thir A pocket-book, as I'm a moral pirate ! That's what he missed. "Well, let's get away," said the Slugger reflectively. "He'll; back here with a lantern, I guess, in short order." And even he spoke they saw the gleam of a lantern on the road, growi: brighter every moment. " The provender's just above here," said Patroclus ; we'll;! that an' then mosey it to a safe distance." While Patroclus ran back for his provisions, Slugger Tj wrote * Rats !' in large letters of chalk upon the fence for .| Scrimp's edification, and then the two retraced their steps swit| After going about a mile, the two Malays stopped to ligh their burden and appease their appetites ; which bad beccl very vigorous in consequence of the large amount of exercise t| had taken within the past two hours. Then they proceeded on their course to Pepper's Island; brisk walk, and after going about two miles they were met by men driving in a light buggy. THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 37 nctly to the: 2, where thej ctions. aiddle of the ' led only toe nd down the and standing away towarcl gentlemanV robbed, or k spot where he in the opaqu. Illuminate th v Cos we dor re on us." Lus as he exai:. s if somebodyj )ntinued, as tl " What's thii at he missed, ively. "He'll: And even le road, grovr| [roclus ; we'll 3 ns. Slugger IJ ;he fence for | leir steps swifl topped to ligl-'i lich had beccj it of exercise ipper's Island! r were met by^ The men drew up their horse on seeing the boys, and one of Ithem said : — " Hello, my lads, are you from Scr^^'ville ? " After thinking carefully for a moment as to whether a truth- ful reply would be diplomatic, and concluding that it could do no [harm, Slugger Tim responded in the afifirmative. " Then perhaps you can tell me if a band of gipsies are :amped there," said the interlocutor quickly. " We can," replied the stoical Slugger. " Then be quick about it," answered the men sharply. " It's Important that we don't lose any time in seeing them." " Oh ! " said Slugger Tim. " Perhaps I know what you are, low, and what you are after. What's the information worth, low?" The men chatted together for a moment, and then the {spokesman said : — " It depends on what the information amounts to." " Naturally," responded the Slugger composedly. " But we jiint going to dump it into the hind-quarters of your buggy, and len have you drive off with a ' So long, chuffy, call on us for a kheck.' Are we, Patroclus ?" " Well, hardly," assented Patroclus, inwardly wondering at [nd hugely admiring the cool and concise argument of the Slug- ter. " I'll give you a dollar," said the man impatiently, " to tell IS .ifhere the gipsies are." " Oh, you will," replied Slugger Tim, who was a little of a loughtful, quiet humorist. " Why, that aint as much as we are sed to feed in' to the collection plate on Sundays. Make it ten, )w, and J' . 'el: you something that you wont be paying too high in the rirst place you want to find the gipsies. That's .; o,.ry, aint it ?" "Y.:;s— well?" " And then when you find you'll look for somebody ' Ha — go on, my boy ! " " You see, we know all about it. Let's see the color of your mey, and I'll tell >ou where s/te is." The men gave an Lxchiriat-cn of delighted surprise ; and one them drew some rroney from his pocket, and handing two Is to Slugger T^;ii, f.aid . — (: 38 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. " There you are ; and now don't try to play any of your \ mohawk games on us, or I'll shoot you where you stand." Not in the least perturbed by this disagreeable information, the Slugger lit a match and examined the bills. Evidently satisfied with the result of his investigation, he: allowed the match to die out, and after placing the bills in his hipl pocket, he said, with characteristic slowness and composure : — " You are after a little girl who has been stolen by gipsies, We've seen her. She is small, and pale, a. .d her name's Kitty, | The gips have her, and they've left Scragville about an hbur ago, | Keep on the main road straight through the village and you'll come up with them before daylight." The men did not wait for any further information, but whip- ping up their steed, dashed away, and in a few moments were out of sight. "Now, t/iafs what I call talking u ji? poinf," said Slugger Tim, as he and Patroclus continued on thei'- way ; the latter ex pressing his surprise and admiration at the potent loquacity of hi:, friend. " It aint often I do wag my jaw, either, but I saw my chance ; t/iere of doing a little to the purpose. My eye, Patroclus, wont the chumps just dot/, tho' ! " In a short time, and after turning from the main road down i rough and little-travelled concession line, the pair reached the river. It was now about an hour from daylight ; so the two bandit; concluded to take — what was very essential — a few \v.'d sleep. Accordingly, they laid themselves down upow idv sand beach, and were soon wrapped in slumber — :>.: having an blankets. They did not wake until the sun was high in the heav jns. fresh breeze having sprung up in the early mornin(5 from south-west, sweeping away the clouds that had darkened the so propitiously the nighi before. The stretch of water between them and the island was dani ing and radiating under the combined inflynce of wind and sur and having bocured a stout plank on which to plact their provi ions and clothes, and which they pushed before them, the tw bandits entered the river and swam across to Pfi/i-cf s .'jiaud. skk THE SCEAGVILLE BANDITS. 39 ny of youii id." nformation, tigation, he [Is in his hi} )0sure '.— by gipsies lame's Kitty an hbur ago re and youT Dn, but whip- snts were oui ' said Sluggei - the latter ex quacity of hi; aw my chance clus, wont the road down i r reached tb he two bandit; CHAPTER VII. THE BANDITS AT HOME. )S may be supposed by the * gentle ' reader, there was no small sensation created in the various domestic circles at the bandits' homes. Mrs. Brown, Jim's mother, was greatly disturbed the number of culinary articles and eatables which had dis- )peared so unaccountably in one night from her house. She ^serted her belief — unfortunately in the hearing of her promising Fspring, James — that burglars had been carrying their operations Ito the heart of Scragville; and this belief was assiduously rengthened by Jim, who secretly opened a back window the Uowing night, in which position it was found the next morning; jether with the discovery that several further articles were miss- Mrs. Brown's theory, however, could not, properly speaking, ^Id good in the case of Mary — the hired girl's — blanket. For Mary weighed i6o, and stoutly declared that * no burgular' [d entered /ler sanctum in the stilly night. He would have had a healthy old time lifting the slumbering iry from her bed in order to get at the blanket, anyway. Further revelations went to strengthen Mrs. Brown's belief, 'ar.u sleep, hfwever. ti)v sand M^'s. Murphy, the mother of the dought> lieutenant of the m;v bandits, declared that for the life of her she could'nt find three of ^r• V aving hfS^ best spoons, and an equal number of her best forks. Mr. tVi ^ Hr-av 'ns. N|irphy's cuspidor was »on est; from which it must be concluded , . ^,' fj-om ti ^%' Lieut. Murphy of the secret band of Scragville Malays had V fd the sk '^^y and somewhat peculiar ideas of the style and luxury in con- ^ " tl^jction with a pirate's mode of living. After this locally universal discovery of wholesale pillage, the th and terror of the Scragvillites knew no bounds. And they ckly agreed that the robbers could be none other than the d of gipsies who had been seen near the village. Hurried investigation proved, however, and strengthened the gers' theory, that the gipsies had beaten a well-timed retreat their booty. land was dant • wind and sur ICC their prov them, the tv 40 THE SCRAG riLLE BANDITS. Jim Brown, meantime, had been busy with brain and hand; forming a plan which would effectually bar any suspicion of hii dark doings — or in fact the idea of his doing anything dark at a! — coming to the minds of his parents. Having received a previous pressing invitation from an aun of his living at Nashua, fifty miles away — with whom he was : favorite nephew — he told his parents that he would like to acce] it ; and having their consent he packed his best clothing(?) in ; little valise, said good-bye, and left the village ; not, alas ! to pa Aunt Peggy a visit, but to hie him with all speed to his islan: cave to invest himself in the government of his trusty band c Malays. in case his parents should write this aunt of his, and the ca ome out, Jim arranged with Patroclus Duffy — whose father kef the village post office in connection with his store — to detain ar letters to or from his aunt ; and these he, Jim, could read and de; tlji it( 6p mi m vei coi with as policy directed him. The cave on Pepper Island had by this time undergone startling and wonderful change. The entrance to it had been completely screened and hidde under the skilled supervision of Slugger Tim. The cave itself ha been nmch enlarged, as was necessary, so that it now consisted three fair-sized apartments, the earth being conveyed away in sad; and scattered at intervals among the brush. Beside this, the no small consideration of the pecunia: bonanza which had fallen to the lot of the fortunate band — t: five hundred dollars which had purchased Kitty Lee from t'' gipsies — must not be forgotten. After general debate, it was agreed that a portion of t!^ p»i should be used for the various articles needful for fitting up t tlic cave, and providing the Malays themselves with machine^ indispensable to piratical machinations, such as fire-arms, amniu: if tion, provisions etc. ; and Jim Brown, Slugger Tim, and Bulg; the band's commissary, were vested with the right to make : sfoundly ignorant and silciu. Hank, the gipsy, had mentally longed to betray Mr. Scrimp ; [t knowing that he must seriously implicate himself, and that child was now a second time missing, and far more myster- isly so than before, he wisely concluded to hold his peace. His superstitious curiosity was piqued, though, beyond des- >tion ; and he thought of nothing else as he drove or trudged [ng or camped, but the unaccountable midnight adventure at ragville. Mr. Scrimp, besides, had other matters to ponder on. For |had missed two very valuable papers along with his clu pocket- )k and watch, regarding which the reader can perhaps lember. The ' bits of paper ' were two promissory notes upon two wi; ;h characterist plfminent citizens of Scragville ; one of whom was a sporty young by the name of Trotter, and with whom the Malays decided lo a stroke of business, if possible, to their profit. The other note was upon Billy Murphy's father, and this |ument was promptly destroyed in the presence of the bandits, to the calm delight of Billy Murphy ; who, altho' a pirate and inexorable one, still retained proper feelings of filial tender- and sympathy. The lact, too, of the officers returning to the village with the Jrt that the object of their pursuit was not with the gipsies, )lussed and alarmed Mr. Scrimp ; who had attributed the [man and abrupt treatment he had received when he had put )ead so guilelessly through the fence, to the remorseless and hand of one of the two big gipsies. And Mr. Scrimp now to seriously believe — adverse as it was to his normally Jophical and practical way of thinking — that some infernal )t come up f the detectiv: ig child was nj jved at the tuiJ 3n at their bail Dtal ignorance I who had nothit. ice from seveii description b| nilar informati^ the strong 5i e child in rever.« n her father, 44 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. and dark agency was at work to ruin him, financially, physical! and morally. He became depressed in spirits and tyrannical beyond h wont with his tenants ; and when a day or two later youn. Trotter's note became due, and that individual made no referenc; to settlement, his anger was great, and he knew not whom i, suspect. But we are advancing matters. « ^ CHAPTER VIII. lV( DARK DOINGS. lea >ue ^OYS," said the captain of the Scragville Malays, af: Slugger Tim had produced Mr. Scrimp's pocket-bo( and the contents had been examined and comment on, " we've got a show here for the trick with honor;' we play our cards right." " That there promissory on Trotter for two hundred cor: M doo day after to-morrow. I think that note orter be worth ^^^ least half the amount to us, eh ? " , ' Ai The band altho' they hadn't much of an idea how W^ hundred was to be made, supposed it 'orter' without disse g| , and Jim continued : — " In course we don't want to have ourselves implicated, j^, that would p'raps rip the foundation planks of the gang up, s | speak. We want to do the thing neatly and quietly, and teeto; jj^,g in the dark. " " Now, I think that if we write a letter, a 'nonymos lette: young Trotter, tellin' him that if he is at a certain place r certain night he may learn somethin' to his personal profit, have four or five of the gang on hand to break it gently to i we would work it all right." This plan also met with entire approval, and the folio note was indited, enclosed, and addressed to Mr. Trotter. bave Bi|t TEE SaUAGVILLE BANDITS. 46 lly, physicall; il beyond hi ) later youn.j J noreferenc; not whomt e Malays, af p's pocket-bo( ind comment; :k with honors^ hundred con| •ter be worth 1 idea how : without disse^ } implicated, le gang up, n ;tly, and teetot! nonymos letter^ ertain place of rsonal profit, it gently to ! and the folloi Ax. Trotter. "Monday, Aug. 21st. Mr. Trotter. If you'll be at Scully's whart on Wednesday night at 1 2 you lay learn something to your advantage. No friend of Scrimps s^^ This note was inscribed by Slugger Tim in a bold fist, and ras received by Mr, Trotter on Wednesday morning, and perused \y that gentleman with much surprise and perplexity. However, being a reckless youth, and somewhat fond of an Iventure, he determined to be at Scully's as the missive directed, id run the risk of possible abduction or assasination. " But ", said Slugger Tim, who had been turning the matter rer in his thoughtful way ; " Trotter knows everyone of us. I^ow are we going to keep our identity from him ? He'll spot us right away. " '* I was thinking about that, too," said Jim Brown ; " and my lea is this : " " Trotter, tho' he's a loose egg, is no sneak. And if we tell im that we are a clique devoted to doing good and overthrowing rindlers, and make him swear not to tell about the meetin' to lyone, I don't think he'll peach. Besides, we can do the sotto >> \tce act " Well, it's a risk, " said the Slugger ; " but I'm willing. I [ppose we'll mask." " Of course ; six of us'll be enough — armed. You an' me and ilger. Jimmy Wmk and Claw an' Tony Johnson have got to home Thursday morning ; so they can meet us a little below |ully's a little before 1 2, an' then go to see their mars afterwards." " But it ain't likely Trotter'll bring a hundred dollars in his :ket," put in Patroclus Duffy. " More likely it'll be a bull-dog." " Yes, but he knows he's got to meet the note next day, so fs pretty sure to have some money at home. Aly plan is to ire a scout a little way from the wharf to give us the alarm in ^e Trotter is scared to come alone, and brings a crowd." Agreeable to this arrangement,the captain. Slugger Tim, and [Iger rowed up toward Scragville on Wednesday night, and were |t below the wharf by the three other bandits. One of these — Claw McMillan — was posted on the edge of roadway a short distance from the wharf, and the others went le latter place ; two, — Jim Brown and Bulger, — remaining on 46 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. shore beneath the wharf, and the other three remaining in the skifj laying on their oars, a few yards from shore. About twelve o'clock steps were heard upon the road, an^ presently halted on the wharf The skiff shoved out so that its occupants might get a vi of the visitor. Mr. Trotter started when he saw the boat with th^ three masked figures in it ; but Slugger Tim held up his hanj and said : — " Are you Mr. Trotter ? " " Yes," replied that individual — " and who the devil ars you? " Mr. Trotter had by this time drawn a revolver, with whicij he toyed nervously. " You can put away that thing ! " said Slugger Tim, who feij somewhat riled at Mr. Trotter's exhibition of mistrust. " We airJ going to hurt you. Come close to the edge of the wharf ; we wanj to talk quietly." Mr. Trotter was about to advance, whdn footsteps behind hin caused the young man to start nervously and face about, to coij front another masked figure. This was Claw McMillan, the irrepressible Claw and humpj sentinel, who had with great indiscretion left his position on td edge of the road to come forward and hear the parley. " Mr. Trotter uttered an oath and pointed his revolver, drawl ing back a step. The disconcerted Claw instead of drawing hj own weapon in true bandit fashion, threw up his hands and gaspej — " it's all right ! " much to the extreme disgust of Jim Bron who heard it from his position under the wharf, and muttered," yoj blamed camel-backed, pryin' idiot, I'll try you by court martia b'gum ! " At the same instant, too. Trotter, who had forgotten close proximity to the edge of the wharf, fell backward, and withj loud splash, into the water. The boat covered the spot in an instant, and Jim Brown anj Bulger drew the unfortunate young man ashore. " It's your own fault," growled the Slugger, as he produced! brandy flask, and handed it to the wet Mr. Trotter, who now s| up quite dazed, and looked at the quintette of masked figurij that circled him. Claw, the indiscreet picket, had meanwhile retreated to ^ station, dreading the ire of the chieftain. " We told you we were your friends," continued Slugg) THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 47 ing in the skifl the road, anj ight get a vie? e boat withthJ i up his han] the devil arj ver, with whicj • Tim, who feJ ast. " We airj vharf ; we wan eps behind bin e about, to cod law and humpj )osition on thj .rley. revolver, draw] of drawing b inds and gaspej of Jim Brovi^ . muttered," yoj y court martiaj I forgotten lij svard, and with Jim Brown anj .s he produced ;r, who now s; masked figure retreated to I'J .ntinued Slugg 'im," and you did'nt seem to believe us. Now, Captain, spit it out ind prove it." Upon this Jim produced the promissory note, saying as he did |o : — " This here's a prom'sry note for t7ao hundred dollars made )y you to the credit ot Mr. Scrimp." " It comes due to morrow, and we conclude you'll have to ly it." " Now, as to how we come by it is our particular business — :rhaps an angel with aJiooked nose and an accident policy from le c'lestial Inshurance agent for when the world collapses, give it ;, and perhaps we just lit on it by mistake, in a casu'l sort of fay.' " What we want to know is, do you ivant to buy it from us fer ilf its worthy and on conditiott that you keep this meetin* a dead :ret:' Mr. Trotter was silent for some moments, and finally said : — " I don't know who you are, but you seem to be pretty [uare timber, tho' you're doing the tapping yourself. As to the )te, the transaction between Scrimp an' myself was private. But course I'd have to perjure myself in court to save paying the »te ; for if you know Scrimp, I guess you understand he would'nt likely to throw away one hundred and eighty or ninety dollars le could help it. Here was a poser. The unsophisticated Malays had not mght of this very potent possibility. But Slugger Tim thought saw a way out of the difficulty. So he said : — " I think we can corner old Scrimp in another way, Jim. An inymous letter regarding the queen '11 scare him, I think." Jim nodded assent, and Slugger Tim continued : — " We don't want you to perjure yourself ; and we ain't )bers. But I think we have the buleje in this matter. You lerstand we have a secret hold on * c/imp which will prevent taking legal action about it. It tho', he should, we give word we'll return the money to you." " So you have your choice. If you like to buy your chance iving a hundred, you can do so." Mr. Trotter appeared impressed by these straightforward larks, and replied : — " I'll risk it. Anyway, I don't know but what I could go a or too at a shove ; but you seem so white-headed about lat I leel like trusting you as if I were a little child." I 1 48 THE SCRAG riLLE BANDITS. " I havn't a cent about me, of course ; but 111 get th hundred and be back here in half an hour with the money if yoi like to wait." " We'll take you at your word, and linger," said Slugger Tim. " 'Taint the most honorable thing, all round, but Mr. Scrimp haint proved himself much of a man fo some one we know We'll wait for you here." So off set Mr. Trotter, very much wondering at the result of this strange meeting ; and very wet also. True to his word, however, he was back at the wharf inside of the appointed time, — not stopping even to change his drippin. apparel, — with the hundred dollars. The note was produced once more, and after Mr. Trotte: had scanned it carefully and become convinced that it was gen uine, it was burned by mutual consent. And Mr. Trotter expre^ sing his thanks and belief in their declarations, said good night, c rather, good morning, to the bandits, and walked home. " But who are they ? " mused Trotter. " Who are they Evidently no friends of Scrimp, and ^/i * speaks well for their And how did they get hold of the not \nd what's the ' bulge they've got on Ananias ? Perhaps I . a fool, and it's a coc hundred gone, but somehow I don't think so. There was a rin. of honesty in the way they put the matter that there's no gaic saying." And so we have the reason why Mr. Trotter did not refer . Mr. Scrimp on the day the note came due, but patiently awaite the initiative from the usurer himself Two hours after the nocturnal and successful meeting, tl^ three bandits were in their rendezvous, discussing together sor cider and a prospective raid. And what was most outrageous unpiratical, and in strict contravention of all buccaneering rules a charitable raid ! " Boys," said Patroclus Dufify, " I've been thinkin' as t Treasury's pretty flush, we might be a little generous and sta:l treat to the poor for once." ;$ "' " We're livin' pretty high here and havin' an A i time, :il>i|lld| luck's been fairly chasing us right along." * llf *11 " Now, there's a family back here about four mile I come to two days ago when Tony 'n me was navigatin', that's pretty 1 'Sja down." *Wgoi '* Their name's Smith, and as is customary, there's quite a f^^"** ' THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS, 49 III get the noney if y^^ Slugger Tim. Mr, Scrimi \e we know the result c; : wharf inside , e his drippin; . Mr. Trotte;' lat it was gen [rotter exprev good night, c ome. ho are they veil for thetr t's the ' bulge and it's a coc lere was a rin. lere's no gait [id not refer t :iently awaite' il meeting, th< together son. St outrageousj meering rules- thinkin' as ii rous and stao 1 A I time, mile I come that's pretty 1 here's quite a ^f them. The funds has all run out, there ain't much more In le cellar ; Smith senior hisself is prostrate with a combination of )inal complaint, empty stummick,depression o' sperrits,depression funds, hay fever, consumption, cancer on the mind, and a whole )t more, enough to make an ord'nary man say tata to his friends id steal enough to buy a second class ticket and a plain lunch :ross to the no-more-pain-sing-hallelujah-shore." " The woman and the kids, too, look about as malarious as )bu3t. An' yet, boys, that uioman — that Mrs. Smith — took Tony me in when we asked for somethin' to chaw on, give us the only FO chairs — leastways, what might be called chairs without «^^/«^ yourself — an' went o^ \.o jora^e for us." " We did'nt guess how low the stock of provender was till told us afterwards, an' then it was too late to retract, so ter jak, as Jim would say." "And boys, she said she was afraid they'd be turned out m if her husband did'nt bunt up agin a miracle and get well itty soon, so as to do son e work." " We asked her who their landlord was, an' can any one jss ? " " Oh, Scrimp, of course," said Jim savagely. " Cy course. It was'nt much of a riddle, anyway. And that [der-hearted, money grubbing old petrified chunk of villainy threatened to turn 'em all out and sell their furniture — them chairs included — if they don't show up the back rent next tk. The rent's twenty dollars." "An' why did'nt you mention this before, Patroclus Duffy ? limed the chief sharply. " Well I thought of tellin' you about it, an' then I heard you i\ as how the funds was pretty low — only three hundred. But ^in' down to night, the faces of them poor half-starved children lean an' pinched an' pitiful, with their patched clothes, come ^re me, an' I tho't that I'd risk your disproval and spring the on you. Can the band afford to help them any ? " "Help them ! " cried Jim Brown, his eyes flashing, "well, I |ld smile ! An' I'll tell you what it is, boys," continued Jim, ^11 just sur-prize that family an' no mistake. We'll swoop on them like demons an' leave 'em under the impression select company of masked angels is takin' a tour of phil- I'opy on this bilious continent ! " ["The woman told us," continued Patroclus quietly," that she Jen old Dr. Mugwump and begged of him to come an' see ■#4 »> 50 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. her husband an' physic him up some, and she would pay him after- wards. She says he jest laffed * haw haw ! ' in her face an' asked if she thought doctors had nothin' to do but travel around on the missionary racket an' scatter medsin like tiacks at every pauper's door." " The clergyman, too, she saw, an' he sort of promised to come and see Smith, an' ^ry an' get the family some help ; but the family has'nt smelt of him ye/. Perhaps it's just as well. It'Ii scarcely be a moral or strictly speakin' religious odor he'll leave behind him when he does call." "His odor won't hurt this cave any," said Jim Brow- ominously, and somewhat equivocally. But Slugger Tim gathere; the captain's meaning all in, and rejoiced quietly to himsel: Some fun was promising now. " What's the clergyman's name ? " queried the captain wit his interminable dog-eared book upon his knee, as he wetted h stub of lead pencil between his lips. " His name's Fisher," answered Patroclus. " 'Twas I preached at Scragville Sunday before last." " I remember him," said Jim with a nod, " I was the: myself. And it I recklect right, his sermon was entitle 'Charity.'" " And who would have guessed," murmured Slugger Tim u he stretched himself upon his rug, and partly closed his eye; " who would have guessed in that congregation, that among the: was sitting a red-handed cut-throat bandit — the chieftain ot robber band — ; sitting there so meek and lowly alongside of !; mar that creamery butter would'nt have melted in his pre; nnocent mouth. Who would have guessed it, I repeat ? Least all, the minister." And with this part query, part apostrophe. Slugger T closed his eyes totally and went to sleep. " He'll have reason to regret that he did'nt put his be— tiful text into practice," murmured the chief as he blew out '-^t^ j light. " Good night, fellow righters of the common cause, ; |^|^ dream of hashed pale-faced preacher, served up on the poi'^f''*1|'oi your bloody scalp-scrapers, with Dr. Mugv.'ump for desert <' ^ gourmand.^'' The next morning minute particulars of their awful desj were fully discussed by the band. But it is not necessary to tire the reader with a detail of tj as a future chapter will show what came of it. fO] ref 4rc epi.s Orth QQati aferio THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 51 ,ay him after] ce an' asked^ :ound on tbe| ery pauper'sl promised to lelp; butthe IS well. Itli lor he'll leave CHAPTER IX. BLACKMAIL AND ABDUCTION. Jim Bro^r Tim gatherec \y to himselt I captain wit: V^e wetted h. «'Twas b (( I was ther was entitle; HE following was a letter received by Mr. Scrimp the day after the bandits' transaction with Trotter. "Mr. Scrimp. — You hev lost a prom's'ry note drawn on Mr. Trotter of Scragvill. Mr. Trotter's note is [or $200. You are advised and wartned not to take leggle acktion if he 'efuses to pay, your dealings with the gipsies regarding Kittie Lee \re none. If you go cont'ry to this warming your flame's Demiis. Heard in the Dark." Great was Mr. Scrimp's rage and confusion on reading this istle. It was written evidently in an assumed hand, and the thography appeared to be likewise disguised ; which made the atter the more perplexing. Who could it be ? Was it a boy's trick ? No, it seemed too i^rious for that. Not the gipsies' work, certainly. However, despite his natural uneasiness on reading this Occult missive, Mr. Scrimp was not to be forced into submission, Of obey the dictate of some strange character who penned an lat amorig the anonymous letter, perhaps, in the hope of gaining a few dollars, chieftain ot ||g \vould be no victim of blackmail. On the contrary, he swore alongside of r ^wSeep oath, and went forth in search of Trotter. i in his pri^* ^ Perhaps Trotter himself was deeply implicated. He would epeat ? Least ij^ch him closely. S But Mr. Trotter as well as being implicated, was prepared e. Slugger ^ l^Hplay the part Oi total ignorance when Mr. Scrimp announced hifself. put his be— v-- «' Trotter," said Scrimp with an affable smile, as he was ush- he blew out ^gjp into that young man's sanctum sanctorum, and saw his debtor mon cause, ^'inB his heels upon a table, through a cloud of tobacco smoke ; on the points f^Jotter, yQ^ j^j-e aware that that note fur two hundred came due rday." " Yes," said Mr. Trotter with equal affability, " I was sort of ting you round, and wondered at your not putting in an ranee. An unusual thing for you, old man, in a case of a Slugger Tim .. ilosed his ey< n for desert (J ;heir awful dc^ tha detail of toUl eh ? 52 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. MR. TROTTER AT HOME. " Well-er, the fact is," said Mr. Scrimp," I have mislaid t^ note, Trotter, somewhere among my papers, you know. But course it will turn up in a day or two." " You don't say so ! " exclaimed Trotter with some show surprise, and taking his heels off the table. "Why then, course. Scrimp, I won't pay it till it turns up. Is that what y mean ? " " Why not. Trotter ? " replied the usurer in a low insinuat tone, and looking slyly at the other. " Why not ? The tra action was perfectly legal, you remember." " Why, cert. But it would'nt be business, would it ? \ must produce the note, naturally, for payment. What trick may be up to I don't know. But one thing's certain, I aint g to pay two ' hundred twice over. Besides, you don't want money to-day Why aint you satisfied to wait till you find it a day or two' among your papers, as you say ? " ill ■ «■■■'. 9M THE SCRAGVILLE BATSDITS. 53 ive mislaid t: know. But h some show "Why then, Is that what y a low insinuat lot ? The tra would it? ^ What trick ; ■rtain, I aint gc 3U don't want ill you find It " Have you any reason to believe, Trotter, that the note may be elsewhere than with my papers, as I said ? " queried Mr. Scrimp in slow tones, and some what equivocally. " What the devil do you mean?" said Mr. Trotter angrily. " How should I know anything about the note ? " " Then you mean to say, Trotter, that " " I mean to say, Scrimp, that I would'nt trust you as far as I could expectorate, and that I won't pay you a dollar until you produce the note." " Very well, sir ! " returned Mr. Scrimp, angry and baffled, as he picked up his hat ; " you will hear from me." " Or from Slocum, the other fox, do you mean, old man ? " answered the unruffled youth. "Shall I sue him for it?" thought Mr. Scrimp. "Surely he won't perjure himself. If he does, the money's gone. Con- found that letter, who is it ? By heaven, I'll dare them ! I wont be bluffed!" With all haste Mr. Scrimp sought his subservient partner, the lawyer, Slocum, and a short time after, the defiant Trotter received a writ summoning him to appear before Judge Whooperup, at the iCounty Court of Scragville, within a period not exceeding ten Idays from date, to answer a charge of which we know the purport. " And by the way, Slocum," concluded Scrimp, " I want you to go this afternoon and tell that rascal Maloney that if he don't bay up his rent to-morrow afterywon^ I will fire him out, and sell |iis trash. I'm off now on a similar pleasant errand to that sick, ;|Rrorthless pauper, Smith. If these people can't pay their rent, :|hey must get out, that's all. I'm losing money every day in this fay." " Now," soliloquized Trotter as he put the writ in a vase half- of water on his mantlepiece ; " now, let's see if the masked teries will stand by this orphan." It must be here mentioned that no less a person than Claw cMillan's elder brother was apprentice to Mr. Slocum, and the pointed person to serve the writ upon Trotter. This, in the tural course of events, came to Claw's ear, who lost no time in porting the matter to two of the bandits who were preparing to iw down to the cave that afternoon. The bandits were, of lUrse, on receipt of the news, greatly incensed at Mr. Scrimp's vado and disregard of their mandate, and resolved that he uld soon pay the penalty of his indiscretion. And an opportunity very soon offered. w iH S4 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS, r The same evening, Mr. Scrimp, who was an untiring pedes- trian, and always made his business excursions at foot, walked out to see his unpecunious tenant, the sick Smith, of whose financial and physical distress Patroclus Duify had told such a harrowing tale to his fellow bandits. This was the night on which the Malays had decided to pay their commendable visit to the Smiths. Masked and armed, five of them — the chief, the Slugger, the Bulger, Tony Johnston and Patroclus Duffy, — set out about seven o'clock with a large and well filled sack, and about an hour later they reached their destination. Surrounding the cottage, and picketing Bulger where he could scent danger, the bandits looked cautiously through the window, and great was their surprise and delight at seeing no less a person than the Scragville usurer in the room, seated on one of the two chairs * as could be called chairs,' his hat upon the other, his arms folded, and evidently only moved by a peculiar sense of humor at the pathetic demonstrations of the woman, who with two or three children clinging to her dress, and with her hands clasped, appeared to be entreating Mr. Scrimp to reconsider and retract some stern decision. The husband was, as the Malays knew, in the adjoining room, hearing the whole bitter controversy, and only able to lie passively listening to the little autocrat's bullying threats, and his wife's entreaties on his own and his childrens' behalf. The Malays imagined the sick man's bitter thoughts, and ground their teelli in silent sympathy and fury. They withdrew a little distance, and the captain said : — " How're we goin' to take him ? That's the question ? We can do it easy 'nufif by going right in and knocking him on the head. But we want to do it quietly, and not have it all over the country to-morrow." " Why not wait till he bids a courteous and sarcastic adoo and comes out ? " proposed the Slugger. " We can lie low and sort of semi-garrotte him just below here. Then we can visit the house at leisure, and leave Bulger to sit on the prisoner's heavins chest till we come out." This plan was considered a good one ; and accordingly the Malays posted themselves behind a group of trees below the house near which Mr. Scrimp had to pass on his return home. Presently the landlord was heard coming down the road at 2 - THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. JO ring pedes- walked out se financial , harrowing ided to pay ^ Slugger, the about seven 1 hour later :r where he through the leing no less d on one of )n the other, liar sense of jvho with two [ her hands ;onsider and le adjoining f able to lie eats, and his )ehalf. The ground their said : — estion ? We him on the t all over the arcastic adoc lie low and can visit the >ner's heaving cordingly the low the houst )me. the road at : [brisk walk, and a few moments later he reached the group of [trees. He passed them. Slugger Tim stole silently out and glided [up behind the unsuspecting victim. But Mr. Scrimp with that undefinable instictiveness of [human presence, turned suddenly round, just as the Slugger was |in the act of grasping him by the neck. Mr. Scrimp, a very active man drew his breath quickly, and stepped rapidly back. At the same instant the Slugger with his )rofessional rapidity of pugilistic action,and doubling his formidable ight, took a step forward, and dealt Mr. Scrimp a smashing blow )etween the eyes, sending him clean off his wiry legs and into the liddle of the road. In an mstant the five bandits were upon him, and before the ittle miser could open his eyes, he was firmly bound hand and t, gagged and blind-folded. His ears were also stuffed with :otton. He was then carried a short distance from the road and laid jently beside the fence, his head and shoulders propped upon a While Bulger, watching his prisioner curiously, sat smokmg lis pipe near by. And now the peculiar and somewhat uncomfortable visions md calculations that floated in Mr. Scrimp's mind can be better Imagined than described. And mainly, usurer as he was, Mr. jcrimp heartily wished he had let the matter of Trotter's note ^tand in abeyance for a time. The captain and his three aides, carrying the sack, now iturned to the cottage, looking once more through the window. How shallow seemed Mr. Scrimp's tyrannical and boastful declarations of half an hour previous ! He was now in a less pvious position than his unlucky tenants. Mrs. Smiith was seated by the table crying silently, her chin her hand. The little children stood by looking at their toother, and snivelling in a not altogether ignorant sympr.thy. The sight, taken together with the bare clean room, and the Apparent entire absence of food, touched the susceptible hearts of the Malays. " 6^^^-whillikens ! " said Jim Brown under his breath to the Ifthers ; " won't we just roast the old scoundrel ! " ^ "Yes, and a s/ouf roast, too," muttered the Slugger with a ficked chuckle. I f 56 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. (( An* now, how're we going in on them ? We don't wan: to scare them on empty stummicks." " We can't unmask," said Patroclus Duffy, " because she' recognize Tony 'n me." S'pose three of us go in and plead for a meal," suggestei the Slugger. " We can't scare her any in her present frame oi mind. She'll know there's nothing for us to take, and so sh can't feel uneasy. Then we can come to the door and Tony'i lug in the sack." "Great head ! " exclaimed Jim. " So in we go ! " The Malays rapped loudly at the door. It was opened, anc the trio stepped quietly into the room, the Slugger shuttmg the door behind him. The woman gave a low scream at sight of the maskei figures, and sprang toward the children, who screamed and clun; to their mother's skirts. " Who are you ? " demanded Mrs. Smith in tones which hac| more of despair than alarm in them. " What do you want ? " " What's the matter, Mary ? " came a weak, querulous voic- from the next room. " Nothing John, nothing," replied the woman hurriedly " For God's sake," she said in a whisper, " what do you want' There is nothing here to take but life. My husband is lying sia in that room. I — " her voice failed ; the threats of the remorse less landlord, care, misfortune, the knowledge of her utter helplesj^ ness to protect her husband and children, and not least c all perhaps, that " empty stummick " of which Patroclus Duffy ha spoken, all formed a strong combination against the woman endurance and will. The poor thing leaned against the tab! weary and spiritless, and put her arm about her children ; wh looked with wondering white faces at the sinister masked intruder Jim Brown's face burned beneath his mask Whatacruc horrid mockery it seemed, playing this highwayman trick upon weak, defenceless woman ! He felt his cheeks tingling with hone: \^Si shame at the unfortunate woman's and the childrens' fright ; an with deep indignation at the hard-heartedness of Mr. Scrimp- tht fortunately now their property. "We — er, want somethin' to eat" mumbled the captain; tones that lacked the hearty gruffness and straight-forwardness a real remorseless highwayman. " Hav'nt you got some cold turkc fr'instance, an' some currant jelly, maybe ; or p'raps a little cq. ham and a few rolls, or a dozen oysters would do." lear THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 67 ^e don't wan] because she;, ;al," suggestecl esent frame ci ce, and so shc| )r and Tony 'i| [O i'» as opened, anci ;r shutting thtj of the masked med and clun| ;ones which ha: you want ? querulous voic: •man hurriedly do you want nd is lying sic of the remorse sr utter helple> not least oclus Duffy ha St the woman rainst the tab. children ; wl^^ asked intrude: What a cru: an trick upon ling with honei •ens' fright ; an Mr. Scrimp- the captain t-forwardness i lome cold turke raps a little co " Excuse me," said the Slugger in assumed deep tones, while [rs. Smith sunk down open-mouthed with surprise at the uncouth fsitors imagining such luxuries as Jim Brown had mentioned, jing in the house. " Excuse me, Cap, but oysters, y'know, don't kem in till the ['s crop up in the calendar, don't yer know." " Oysters ! Eat ! " exclaimed Mrs. Smith at length finding a )ice. " Merciful heaven, my children nor me hav'nt tasted food day. My husband in the next room has'nt had much more, id I hav'nt a cent to get him nourishment or medicine. The )ctor has refused to come and see him without I — " " Oh, has he ? " said Jim. " Well, we'll attend to him, I irrant ! " The woman sprang to the door leading to where her husband and the children ran after her. " You shant touch him ! " she cried. " You may be wicked. It you surely would not — " " Oh, we don't mean ^/w," said the Slugger, with a slow Htated roll of his head. " We mean the doc. Say Jim, had'nt better tote m the indigestibles ? The kids look peckish." The chief stepped to the door and opened it. A fourth lividual walked in, bearing a large sack, evidently well filled. The woman started in mute astonishment, and less now of rror, unheeding the querulous enquiries of Smith. ^ " Before we go any further, ma'am," said the Slugger, " we jght to calm your fears, and assure you we aint as black as we are ftnted. We're a secret body formed to benefit the poor and ^tressed, and reform the moral behaviour of some of the more hunate creatures who constitute what's called respectable and ^ristian society." " You must promise, tho', not to breathe a word of our visit re to-night. Do you give your solemn word ? " " I promise," said Mrs. Smith fervently enough. "Heaven ss you, whoever you are ! " " An' now, boys," said the chief, " Open up the bag, and let cat come out. It aint really cats ma'am, y'know. That is, n answer for everything 'cept the canned meat.'' Then the good things were laid rapidly on the table, greeted, ch fresh addition to the fast growing pyramid, with delighted from the children, and the tearful, glad surprise of the her. 6S THE SCRAOVILLE BANDITS. There seemed no end to the carrying capacity of that sack. Indeed, it had tried the muscles and endurance of the bandits in| bearing it from their cave. \ A ham, loaves of bread, parcels of tea and coffee and sugar) and butter, a box of biscuits, oatmeal, tins of sardines and meaU etc., all formed a glorious and goodly array as made the littlel Smiths hungrier than ever, and caused them to clap their handJ and dance about the loaded table in delightful expectancy. f When the sack was empty, Jim took a purse from his pocket and laying it on the table, said : — " There's a little of the spons, ma'am, just to help you alon: till your husband gets on his pins again and recovers his appetite ; You'll find a parcel of medsin among them things, too. We can': promise you that the doctor '11 be along before a day or twoi 'cause just now he's missing somehow from his ijclect fireside, ancl the small Mugwumps are pining to gambol on their par's knee, iri vain." " However, I guess he'll call on you first of the week. S good night, ma'am, and don't forget your promise. And don: think too bad of the Malays" With these peculiar but welcome words, the chief of the bandit gang stepped from the house, followed by his three com | panions, and the deep gratitude of the surprised Mrs. Smith. | " It's going to be a tough job, making old Scrimp walk dow:| there," said the Slugger. " I think we'd better borrow a horse anc | waggon. Hello ! What's that ?" j The Malays listened, and heard the approaching sound c | galloping horses and a heavy vehicle, mingled with snatches c j drunken song and shouts. j " That's Mooney, drunk again," said Jim, after listening ic | tently a moment. "Why not stop him and use his waggoi down?" I " And take Mooney along with us, and give him a lesson, j added Slugger Tim. "If we give him a good scare, perhaps if i cure him of drinking. We'll do the family a benefit, too. H j| plays shinney with his wife an' kids when he goes home full." I " The very thing !" exclaimed the delighted captain. " ^V fi can hide the waggon down there and swim the horses over !" "tl At this moment the heavy waggon came rattling along tt > road, the horses having subsided into a trot, but still travelling :( a smart pace. And the driver shouting to the full extent of t lungs, and waving his whip over his head. THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 69 of that sack.' le bandits inj ee and sugar | es and meat,| lade the little^ I their hand: ;tancy. m his pocket, elp you alon- 5 his appetite )0. We can': L day or two t fireside, anc par's knee, i: he week. S I. And don ; chief of tb his three com :s. Smith, up walk dowi }w a horse anc :hing sound c th snatches c er listening ir se his waggo: him a lesson, re, perhaps it nefit, too. H lome full." :aptain. " ^^ ses over !" ttling along tl till travelling: ill extent of t The bandits formed across the road, and gave a simultaneous lout. The horses drew up suddenly, and two of the band sprang their heads. The drunken Mooney uttered an oath, and raised [s whip to lash his frightened steeds. But at the same moment his arm was arrested by Slugger ini, who had vaulted agilely into the waggon at the rear; and then ie inebriated Mooney was upset upon his back; and in less time |an it takes to tell it, was gagged, bound, and blind-folded. Then Mr. Scrimp was laid in the bottom of the waggon be- ie the new prisoner, and the bandits getting in also, they drove lartly away in the direction of the rendezvous, with Slugger |m handling the reins. ' CHAPTER X. Events at Scragville. LL Scragville was in a ferment of excitement over an event which had happened on the afternoon Mr. Scrimp had left the village to visit his delinquent tenants, the Smiths. . Slocum, the subservient creature of Mr. Scrimp, had also gSne forth on the orders he had received from his superior, with t^jt message to the Maloney family. This was the sort of an «l|rand Mr. Slocum delighted in. He loved to view the poverty 9ikd homeliness of some of his less-blessed-by-fortune brethren, aj|d mentally compare their discomfort with his own genial and sipig home and his carpeted library, with its cosy grate and desk. * He liked, too, to watch the expression of gloom and hate t would cloud the face of his victim, and note the despair that Id sweep over the features of the entire family in such a case is present commission commanded. So that it was with a chuckling delight he entered the humble f of the Maloneys, and told them in loud pompous tones that must either settle their back-rent up to date by the morrow, bide the consequence of having all their possessions sold to mpense their liberal landlord for their debt. Now the Maloneys were very poor, and at this particular fta-dU^MMMM fiO THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS, time had not a single copper to bless themselves with. MalonJ himself was a big, good-natured sturdy fellow, inclined, it must t| confessed, to be lazy when he could not get work at the first I second petition ; but not by any means a chronic idler. Of late, he had been unable to obtain work, and his fie-j produce had been more than meagre on account of the extrer^ summer drought. When Mr. Slocum, therefore, added the stigma of begg; ^ and slu^'^ard to the message, the heart of Maloney swelled wi: J wrath at the language, as he contrasted the sleek countenance a: | well-clothed frame of the lawyer, with his own patched and tin::| worn shirt and unmentionables and the plaintive pinched faces | the two young Maloneys, who stood by gazing at Mr. Slocum \vi | a misplaced awe. ii Beside, Maloney knew Mr. Scrimp would keep his worii and as he considered there would be no money on the morrow | the next to settle the rent, he naturally pictured his little houi | hold goods with Eileen the cow and Harry Lorrequer the pig J sold under the remorseless hammer of the bailiff to satisfy 1 1 grasping nature of his miserly landlord. | Maloney too, unfortunately, had been down in the village: J hour previous, and had been tempted in his dejected state | mind to drink some very bad whiskey at Soakey's at the invital; i of a friend. These all combined to make him feel indignant a j warlike at the inauspicious visit of Slocum ; and the lawyc J unnecessary, and unmanly oprobrious epithets of ' beggar ' iM ' sluggard ' put the last nail in that gentleman's coffin. ' Shig^ti'm indade,' says Maloney holly to himself as he glared at his insulte I ' I'll show ye that there's one letther too many on that wurrui j and with a fierce grunt he sprang at Mr. Slocum. He knocked that gentleman's shiny hat into the street ; ; then placing one very large hand upon the lawyer's throat, v the other he battered the imprudent emissary's face with s. force and energy as caused it to looked exceedingly gory jelHfied in a short space of time. When Mike Maloney let go of Mr. Slocum, the latter fell a log across the threshold. Quite a little crowd had gatherec this time, and for the most part cheered the actions of the i: Mike with right good will. But just as the tenant was stooping to raise 'Mr. Slocum village constable, for reasons best known to himself a warm |sy THE SCR4GVILLE BANDITS. 61 )rter of Mr. Scrimp, and in the fulfilment of his constabular [uties, rushed up and attempted to seize Maloney. The latter, his fighting temper now at its highest pitch, [ruck the officer a rousing blow, knocking him into the middle of je crowd. The policeman, stung by the laughter of the onlookers as fell as by the force of the right-hander, picked himself up, and lickly drawing his revolver, fired two shots at Maloney, one of lem taking effect in the able-bodied slugger's arm. The a. b. slugger, however, proved fully ecjual to the xasion ; lor jumping back into the room, he quickly reappeared ith an old shot gun. Raising this to his shoulder just as the mstuble was about to fire a third round, and calling upon the [owd to scatter, Mike fired, emptying a goodly load of bird shot [to the shoulder and neck of the rash officer, a few grains-despite le warning — taking effect on one or too of the less active of the lewd. The wounded policeman uttered a yell and tumbled to the [ound in a heap ; and then that fickle thing, public opinion, mged in a moment, and with a mad roar, the entire gang of in and boys rushed for Maloney. Maloney threw his old muzzle loader in their faces and Irang across his little garden, leaped the fence, crossed the road. Id then dashed away to the hill beyond the village, with the lole yelling, screaming pack of angry loafers clattering at his ;ls. They chased him, but they didn't catch him. The fugitive iched the woods well ahead of his pursuers, and chose his irse. When evening came on the baffled crowd came straggling :k ; and immediately a warrant was taken out for the arrest of jichitel Maloney. The constable was not dead, but was in possession of some :omfortable small shot punctures in his official chest. Which )ws how unfortunate it is for a constable to be just where he jht to be at the proper time. Mr. Slocum had recovered consciousness, and with it the tfa/ consciousness that his face was not as pretty or his features symmetrical, as of yore. His nose was broken in two places, his eyes were temporarily less, his teeth were fewer than formerly, and his delicate face was :k and blue, and swelled in an artistic and irregular way, look- 62 THE SCRAQVILLE BANDITS. m ing a good deal like a warty squash that has been in a explosion. In fart, he couldn't have looked blacker or felt blue-! over the unfortunate occurrence if he had wanted to. Oh, loud and deep were the execrations, and vengeance pr claimed against the brute and murderer, Maloney ; and ill woui it have fared with that hungry and panting individual had he fallc into the clutch of the iScragville arbiters that night. Now, one of the bandits. Claw McMillan again, had been i the village that day and had viewed the whole occurrence. Being instilled with a just and proper contempt and hatre: for Mr. Scrimp — according to the code of moral law governir.. the bandits' sentiments — the cries of his companions as they das'r ed after the fleeing Maloney failed to touch a sympathetic chor of indignation ; and, in fact, only disgusted him. In short, he inwardly rejoiced at and admired hugely th valor and success of the Irishman, and silently prayed that h would elude punishment at the hands of that most inconsisten hasty and fickle of all justice, a village mob. Scragville, however — fortunately for the self-made outlaw- soon became interested in another occurrence of a more serioc nature than that of the constable's or Mr. Slocum's wound- which we will reserve to be related by Claw McMillan in a futur: chapter. ' Claw, ' being aware of the probable interesting events penc ing at the pirates' camp, was very desirous of reaching th: rendezvous that night. ^ When he heard, therefore, that a tow of barges would leav: Scragville at about ten o'clock, he quickly made up his mind t take passage, willy nilly, on one of the boats. He applied to the captain of the tug for passage ; but the captai as, alas ! is the case with a great many captains whose titles are c an equally rauk nature, was a surly f-lluv I'viffed out with a hug: idea of his title ; and he told Tin * i^it home, an' not be tryin' t run 'way from hum, now, a, an' he )in' t' sea ; cos if/' cot him on /it's boat he'd tie 'i up to the fui.ael and cut his live out an' feed it to the sharks — ini ! ' This sounded so naturally nautical that Claw did not linge longer about the premises of the tug, only wishing in' nsely tha; the Malays could have this gruff commander in their clutc for a short time to teach him a lesson in politeness and generosin But later on, under cover of the shadows, and while the me: THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 68 ). engeance prvj| and ill wou,. I had he fallc: 1, had been! rrence. ipt and hatrc law governir. s as they das'r | pathetic chur ■ 2d hugely \k irayed that h: J it inconsisteni^ lade outlaw-: I more serioi; :| urn's wounclv Ian in a futur; events pane reaching thcl es would leav: ip his mind t but the captai: )se tides arec ut with a hug: not be tryin' t sea ; cos if /: d cut his live. did not lingc in' nsely thv n their clutf ind generosii; while the nie: rare in the village at the tavern, Claw got on board the last barge r the tow, and making himself as comfortable as he could be- 7cen some lumber, calmly waited for the tow to start. In the iterim the unwary Claw went fast asleep. And now to vary the monotonous detail of this narrative, let Is revert to the bandits as they lie on their rugs in the cave inoking their pipes and appearing very jolly and comfortable hogether. CHAPTER XI. IN THE CAVE OF THE MALAYS. ASS round the wine cup !" roared Captain Brown dramatically, as he stretched his slender but elegantly attired legs upon a springy bad of pine boughs, liber- ally overspread with blankets and a well wadded Jim was adorned in piratical full-dress regalia, having on a ket of green velvet with silver facings, his sister's Sunday sash scarlet — the loss of which had been long mourned by Miss cy — and a pair of loose trousers fringed down the seams from to heel with finely slashed leather a/ a Mexican. He looked indeed fit to be chieftain of a young but promis- band of outlaws, his cheeks glowing with ruddy health, and his Ight dark eyes sparkling with an irrepressible enjoyment of the ne and occasion. " Pass round the wine cup !" he repeated, and Patroclus ffy handed him the apple cider made under Patroclus' own ernal roof The captain took a draught and handed the ' wine ' (tin can) to the Slugger, who repeated the operation with to. Their evening's work and their exhilirating drive with ir prisoners had given the bandits a keen relish for the refresh- beverage. " Also pass the universal ham bone and cud of gum, the 's toothpick, and — a match," said the jocose Slugger ; " and ll^s have a song !" j " Sing us your song, Tim, and we'll chime in in the chorus!" uted the bandits together, and without the customary excuse BMHHlMlli €4 THE SCRAG VI LLE BANDITS. of swelled tonsils, the Slugger sang the following in a good, strong | baritone : — Oh ! for pure honest freedom the life of the bandit 'S unequalled by any profession or trade ; He has noue;ht to obey but his Captain's own mandate. And nothing to do but in glory to wade. The philanthropic robber 's no sneak or no jobber. For the poor and down-trodden he helps on their way ; But woe to the miser or harsh-dealing landlord If he falls to the care of the stern faced Malay. (Chorus.) Then here's to the health of the Malays of Scragville, The band to whom Fortune will ne'er play the snide; For we've right on our side tho' we hav'nt a license ; But who wants a license when good luck's his bride ? We roam at our will o'er the land or the river ; And our pride's of the right sort, all wool and yard wide ; We beg of no favor from foe or from neighbor, For to strength and secureness we're ably allied. We have three mei^ls a day with a grace 'fore and after, Straight comfort and provender fit for a king; Our cave's walls but echo with song and with laughter, For of freedom, of gore and of justice we sing. Then once more raise your cup, to the health of fair Kitty Our brave, our beautiful, coy pirate queen ; For she's clever as nice and as good as she's pretty. Oh ! never a fairer young maiden was seen. And a health again, Malays, to our bonny young leader, Tho' he's Brown yet I warrant his conscience is white ; And drink, too, to our Murphy, and the band's jolly feeder; And a last toast, my boys, to the cause of the right !" This stirring local ditty had been composed by the Slug^c himself, and sung to a popular air, was in great favour with tb band. At the conclusion of it the joint composer and vocalist ha: to sing it over a second time, the bandits fairly shrieking out tb chorus, and accompanying it with a great clattering of tin cu; THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 6S ood, strong] ate, ay; lie, le; e? d wide ; after, ;hter, fair Kitty leader, white ; .Uy feeder; ;ht !" J the Slug^^ vour with ti d vocalist h: rieking out t ing of tin cu: and various noises, such as is related by Washington Irving of the * Roaring Lads of Little Britain Club,' in the ' Sketch Book.' " I have lost the bill of fare," said Miss Kitty, the * pirate [queen,' apologetically, who was dressed in a suit of scarlet and gold, and seated on a sort of throne made of boxes covered with [rugs and one or two very symbolical and diaho\\cd\ flags bearing the semblance of skulls and cross-bones upon them. The queen was mistress of ceremonies for the evening, )earing a positon equal to what would be termed in a polite and civilized entertainment, ' holding the chair.' An entertainment, don't you know, where an amateur but ising tenor rigged out in a borrowed and very uncomfortable and ^hilly dress-suit,stands with his heels together on the platform, holds ream of paper in his hands before him to keep the breath of the ludience from chilling his vocalistic bosom, and sings — Oh ! but 7es he sing ? Why are we at such a loss when the soTig is ended [nd the tenor's young brother and best girl are trying; with unmiti- gated cheek to raise an encore ; why are we at such a loss to nswer satisfactorily the query of the sardonic and cynical creature lehind us : — ' What's the name of the blamed thing, anyway ? ' But all this is superfluous and not at all in harmony with a mple tale of unshed gore and harmless vengeance. Let us ntinner. The scene in the cave was very " gay and festive," despite e anatomical horrors conspicuous upon the flags before mention- le postures about their much loved and respected queen, with j|ie light from a number of candles and lamps and lanterns with tttited shades glinting upon their merry faces, their brass buttons «nd finery, and the blades and gun barrels on the walls, formed ip exquisite and novel tableau. A tableau, by the way, that if it were producible, would be a t relief from that never obsolete and monotonous one, the **^^Gipsy scene," that greets us so persistently on the school plat- fcim every Christmas. _ But there we go digressing again. Let us swear off" this ia|Banthropic and sneering, off"ensive tone, and be genial and h|pnble, tho' we don't like to listen to songs we can't interpret lly or morally, or weary at sight of that stale old vision of a m THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. m er h . P' tri-pod and a pack of cards, and a gipsy with a dark moustachel and red hair, who is our dear, freckled Sunday-school librarian But avast there ! The queen said with much diffidence and regret in he: pretty eyes and deprecating expression, that she had lost tb:| " bill of fare." She was inclined to be awfully slangy, this prettvl plump, captivating and wilful miss, as we shall presently see. " Then let's have a ' mill,' for variety's sake ! " cried Tomra Dodd, who delighted in pugilistic entertainments. " The Slugge: vs. the Captain ! " " Hear ! hear ! " shrieked the bandits in ecstasy ; and the demonstrated so conclusively and so noisily that nothing but , " mill " would satisfy them, that the Slugger — who, by the wa; had been instructing the band assiduously in the manly art— g up and took down a set of boxing gloves. The captain took off his swell coat of green velvet and silve p|jte a ring was formed, Tommy Dodd being made time-keeper, ar the ' queen ' — odd and awful as it may seem —referee. The queen, however, had become quite callous to the- delightful little affairs of sturdy pugilism, having lost that instir, tive feminine horror of such matters — if she ever had it — and w; now, in fact, a most shrewd and impartial judge. The Slugger was a good sparrer, as well as a heavy hitte: and Jim Brown, who weighed thirty pounds less, was the only o: of the band who could really stand up before the sturdy banc with any show of not being summarily knocked out. In the first round of the contest — which was, of coun^f: perfectly amicable, and given purely for the enjoyment and instn tion of the band — the Slugger landed a blow upon the chie nose that sent the owner of that perfect feature clean off his hec at the foot of the throne of decision. Jim recovered himself in a second, however, and soon reti ated with a smart left-hander upon the Slugger's impervious t head, following it up with a swinger from the right in the bruiscJi ribs; all of which received around of deafening applause from: bandits, and a deep grunt of approval from the Slugger him After a rest of a minute, during which the two con; tants were solemnly rubbed about the face with a damp spongeli second interesting and lively round was fought. il This entertainment was, by the way, under Queensburyald^jJIo the Slugger disdaming any other. In giving lessons, Slugger I' THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 67 egret in heij tiad lost ty ;y, this pretty] ntly see. cried Tomm -' The Slugge isy ; and the nothing butv o, by the way nanly art— gc Ivet and silve: ne-keeper, ar, lee. allous to the; )st that instir tiad it— and w 'ho had received his own at the age of twelve from a ring fighter Blueboro) always made the bandits stand up to him; which, itho' they didn't hanker after it, doubtless was good principle, id hardened and accustomed them to receiving good punishment, id made them somewhat of ' hitters ' like the Slugger himself. In the second round the two sparred for a second or so, and len the captam tapped his burly opponent on the forehead, re- living a body blow in return that sent him almost off his legs a :ond time. The 'ring,' it must be understood, was naturally small, in [nsequence of the limited space of the apartment. Jim danced up to the Slugger lively as a man with a receipt his gasbill, and then there were half-a-dozen smart knocks ren on either side, the Slugger terminating the round by one of inevitable left-handers upon the captain's chest, scoring a com- tte and very artistic knock-down. After a third entertaining round, the gloves were put away, tli pugilists shook hands and resumed their coats, and then a iry' was solicited from the queen. a heavy hitte was the only o: sturdy ban; ut. was, of coui/ nent and instr ipon the chic lean off his h CHAPTER XII. The Story of Man-who-strikes and Man-who-lends. NCE upon a time," said Kitty, as she threw a withering glance at Bulger, who was just going off into a sweet, semi-slumber upon the rug, and who did'nt seem to 7uither much, but rather to expand. "Once upon a inif there was an old indian chief who had a very beautiful and soon ret impervious t It in the bruiscJi ipplause from.: Slugger him.^ the two con: a damp spong«»J Queensbury rt' sons, Slugger "' ter." " She could'nt have been a north-west squaw," muttered the r in dreamy, meditative tones; but the orally demonstrated ation he aroused by this truthful remark lulled him into in- silence. * Now, of course," continued the queen, " all the young warriors and mashers were suitors for the maiden's hand — hope, of course, that if they got it, the other dusky fingers th feet would be thrown in. And the one the young lady ed was a tall, handsome indian with a fair beard." :3SSL. jimm 68 TEE SCRAQVILLE BANDITS. Here the Bulger, who really only had his eyes shut in order to be able to listen better, opened them and said : — I " Fair beard ! poppy-cock ! a nigger with red hair !" I " Shet up !" hissed the bandits simultaneously in one voicel and the Bulger closed his eyes quickly and began to snore withj vigor. The queen sighed, and continued : — I "The suitor who was the deadliest rival of the maiden's besj fellow was a little She-in-the-fire-of-life shrivelled-up fellow, whcl was'nt much of a warrior, but was heaps on making the spons. I He wasn't much liked by the other Indians, but he had Jj good deal of power with them because they nearly all owed hirJ money, or ammunition, or wads of gum, or something. i The chiefs daughter didn't cotton on to him worth a feed m ice-cream at a Sunday School festival, and just laid herself out m show him that she wouWnt marry him of her own free-will if \m was the last man in all Scalp- Me- Quick County. || But the little Indian, whose name was Man-who-lends-an.S profits, knew his power; so one day he applied to the old chief l 1 his daughter's hand. The girl prayed — it didn't sound much lb J a prayer, because it was in the Indian language and had tears in | but it was a guaranteed-not-to-fade prayer all the same — the g 1 prayed the old man not to make her marry Man-who-lends, but I give her to Man-who-strikes, the big Indian with the fair heai 1 or else she would boo-hoo ! d-i-i-e ! j The old man didn't seem to relish the idea of havin: i funeral on his hands much ; but he was fond, anyway, of his li: m girl, who was called Prairie Chicken; and so he thought a sj "| and then he said : — I *• I'll tell you what I'll do, Chick. The wolves have br J troubling us a good deal lately. Let Man-who-lends and M. Jj who-strikes each go on a three days' hunt ; and he who bri: ^ me in the greatest number of wolves heads at the end of the tli: J| days shall be my son-in-law." =^ And then, under his breath, the old chief added : — " And I hope he'll like the connection. I'll boiry alii terbaccer, his stiff hat on Sundays, and get the old woman to hij around his wigwam most of the time." Prairie Chicken was delighted at the decision of her paw[<^ Chewer-of-Raw-Dog, as he was called — for he was celebrated! his great liking for sausages. And so she kissed the old man) gave him some of her gum, and called him a dear, knotvinp thing ! THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 69 lit m order I" i one voice] , snore withj liden's bes. fellow, wh([ le spons. DUt be bad | \ owed hinj • )rtb a feed herself out free-will if k| ^ho-lends-an. e old cbief t jnd mucb lb bad tears in same— tbe g ,0-lends, but e fair heat i2l of bavin? ray, of bis lit tbougbt a sp; olves bave br lends and ^l- he wbo brr end of tbe tb ded :— '11 bouy au i woman to H of ber paw-; as celebrated . tbe old man lear, kno^vmi So the old chief called a meeting of the two indians, and told them how they were to decide which should have his daughter. The big Indian, Man-who-strikes, was delighted, and winked with much assurance at Prairie Chicken, who was watching the proceedings anxiously from behind the arras ; which was an old jmilitary overcoat with a wormy cape. The little Indian saw the wink, saw the cape shake itself, and as instantly fired with greater jealousy than ever ; and tho' he new he never would be able to kill near so many wolves as his ig rival, he determined to get the better of him sotue way. So he went out not seeming particularly glum over the rrangement, and pretended to get his arms ready for the hunt. He didn't hunt much, tho' ; for while Man-who-strikes was letting his ammunition and arms in order, and while Prairie hicken was looking very disconsolate in the back kitchen read- g the revised edition of ' Mary had a little lamb," Man- ho-lends visited all the indians who owed him money and jhings, and said to each one : — " If you bring me as many wolves heads at the end of three lays as you can, hofiestly ca?i, I will consider you free from any lebt to me, and give you a receipt on a piece of wrapping paper, St as if you had paid them in the regular way." The indians guessed there must be something rotten in the — " re the queen blushed — "I mean something very underhand in is. But they were glad enough to have their debts cancelled in ch an easy way, and so they agreed, and each went off loaded wolves. At the end of the appointed time back comes the big lover Prairie Chicken with a number of wolves heads. He had had eat luck, having got away with the lives of 224 wolves ! Old Chewer-of-raw-dog, the chief, had just counted the ads over for the 21st time, and was laying aside a few choice les for pickling, when up comes Man-who-lends with a big van i of heads. He had hired a van to bring in his trophies, feeling sure of ;cess ; and the van was covered all over the sides with flags I second-hand scalps, and big wads of Insurance Company king-plaster that kept falling off all the time. And then there was a circus man on the back step with a big drum, playing "See the conquering hero comes " for all he worth. Oh ! I tell you little Man-who-lends-and-profits 70 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS U' n e jipu Won tellii Ittnd was jubilant, and had put on his best suit, and wore a roscj bush in his button-hole. Prairie Chicken's big lover looked sort of surprised when r saw all the heads his little rival had brought in ; and so d Prairie Chicken, and felt scared more than a little bit. Well, anyway, the heads were counted — and would y believe it ? There were just two hundred and twenty-four ! On! one was a double head, whirh was only equal to one wolf. 1: was a point of bitter discussion, but at length old Chewer-of ra dog said any chap who tried to come such mean double-head games on him, could'nt smoke anything but Myrtle Navy smo ing tobacco, and would'nt do for his son-in-law. And that, anyw: it was more valorous to kill two wolves who had only one he; each, than one wolf with two heads. " Becoz," said the old chief sagaciously," a wolluf what 1 two heads when yer went for to shoot the blamed thing, w. think with both heads. An' ten to one, one head wud want to one way, and t'other head wud want to go t'other way, and so t animile wud stand still, and it wud be a mighty easy thi to shoot." Was'nt he cute ? And was'nt Prairie Chicken glad, a: was'nt Man-who-lends 7nad} You just bet your extra help of: ^^^^ he was. ™*ist He raved and panted, but it was no use. The old chief s: the big indian had got Prairie Chicken fair enough by one poi: ^^^ and should have her. ^^ And so they were married and had a big time. The old ch , had his favorite dish, sausage and pickled wolfs head, at evi *^^ meal. Man-who-lends sulked and would'nt come to the weddi: ^^ but the rest did'nt care. "^ And after a while Man-who-lends left the village and ne came back. ^^ And so the pair lived on happy fc: fifteen years ; whenc pwb day their little daughter. Gum-gum, was missing. ^oxpr Mr. and Mrs. Man-who-strikes were fairly wild with gr They did'nt know where little Gum-gum had gone. The fact was, she had been kidnapped by a bad inc named Jerry-Hank (here Jim Brown and the Slugger flashec look of intelligence at each other, and the other bandits star:; who had been thrashed by Gum-gum's father. This bad indian t her far away and sold her to Man-who-lends, the old disappoir the THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS, 71 ver of Mrs. Man-who-strikes. Man-who-lends lived a long way iff where he pretended to practice law, but in. reality loaned money a frightful rate of interest, which paid him much better." "Well ?" said one or two of the bandits expectantly, as the een paused abruptly in her narrative. " Her parents have never found her," said the queen solemnly, nd then she addded : — '* Dear bandits, I am Gum-gum ! " " You !" cried Jimmy Wink, the White Swan and several of e others in a breath, as they gazed at Kitty as an entirely new [eature. " Why, your pa aint an indian, is he ? " " You lunkheads ! " exclaimed the captain fiercely. " Didn't u see the queen was telling her own yarn ? I saw it from the ird go. Of course her pa aint an indian, but the queen has been lin' her history in a sort of — of allegorigle way, so to speak." i " As it were. 0/ course," assented the Slugger. " And die forgot to add, begging her pardon for calling attention to the ^p, that Man-who-lends or whatever you call him is at present llbguishing in a cell about twenty feet from here, a prisoner in the lalnds of the Malays of Scragville, be gum ! " ? " What — Mooney the farmer ? " exclaimed Ta%, a bandit ^"^r" t^irT'of >ft; called on account of his being very flaxen-headed ; and who, it ^^ ntltist be confessed, was somewhat thick-headed also. " No, Tunky, no," said the Slugger with a smile that was l^eeable only apart from the implied satire in the Slugger's Ujfies. " Not Mooney, but »Sm;///. " "Yah!" exclaimed Lieut. Murphy fiercely; and all the bmadits echoed " Yah ! Gu — r — r — r ! " iu loud ominous tones, ould have made the unfortunate prisoners tremble with terror they heard it. ... J ^^ ■'^ At this moment there was a noise without, and Billy Murphy, vUiag ^ gij^ vigilant, sprang to the doorway, and into the darkness ; and bandits heard him demand the password in a low but decidedly Tessive way. It was given ; and then Claw McMillan, soaking wet, entered dbd cave. wore a rosc ,rised wheny ; and so di| bit. nd would y ty-four! Onl le wolf. 1! Chewer-ofra double-headc le Navy smo'-. idthat,any\va only one be:^ wolluf what 1^ ned thing, v wud want to way, and so ' ^hty easy thi: Lcken glad, he old chief ?: gh by one poi: he. The old c^ head, at e\. to the weddi- years ; when i wild with 'S ne. by a bad inc lugger flashei • bandits star' is bad indian t ; old disappoir 72 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. CHAPTER XIII. CLAW MCMILLAN'S STORY. )FTER Claw had divested himself of his wet clothe donned dry garments, had a good pull at the 'wir cup,' and armed himself with a pipe after the fashion the rest of the pirates, he said : — ||i! " Boys (puff) I've got some big (puff) news to (puff) tell ye |p (puff). It's about the Queen's par (puff)." ak>\ " What ! " exclaimed Kitty eagerly, and the bandits looke ^^i very interested. " About my papa ? Where is he ? " i " Put down your pipe and go ahead with your yarn. Yc wt can't smoke and tell a story drief at the same time. Y'remind r. I|i\ of a amateur pianeeste tryin' to play an' talk sense all at one I Besides, you're apt to dra7i> on your imagination." ]|M1< This philosophical criticism was from the captain. i(|hi " IVe//" said Claw, as he reluctantly laid aside the corner Cfr " you knowtl got aboard the Fairy Queen up at the village. T .■ Queen was the last of four barges that started about ten frc It's Scragville. mid I got on an' sneaked it between some lumber about two hoi sj^h afore the tow started, an' went fast asleep. When I woke up we was comin' down the river just pass Scully's. I had to kind of think to recklect where I was, a: jist then I heerd two men talkin' about ten foot from me. ' Hello, Bill ! ' says one, ' wher'd you come from ? ' * I got on at Scragville jest as you was startin', says B ' I'm goin' down on to Blueboro ter see the folks. The Ca: told me you was on here, Tom, so I kinder thot I'd drop on aee yer.' ' An' right glad I am to see you, William,' says the oth An' then they begun jawin' about a lot ot family matters an' ab Mary Jane gettin' hooked to Tom Bowton, an' how bilious : tired Henery Jinkins felt about it, an* a hull lot more trash : that. Presently, tho'. Bill says : — ' I've jest kem down from that railway smash-up at Droow: *j^ sidin', ten mile back of Scragville.' *"•' thei Yor of ^e up her. asto mor t and Dro THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. n is wet clothe II at the 'wir IX the fashion to (puff) tell y. : bandits looke >?our yarn. \: e. Y'remind r: ense all at one ptain. iide the corncc :he village. T I about ten frc • about two hoi river just pas? yhere I was, a: rom me. from ? ' tartin', says B 3lks. The Ca; ot I'd drop on I,' says the otl^': matters an' alx how bilious; more trash 1; h-up at Droona: ' Oh ! I hern about it in the village,' said Tom, seemin' kinder Interested. * Tell us about it.' ' Well,' says Bill, 'as to the cause, the way I hern it was M/V. ihe down passenger train that I was on for Blueboro was detained ^ Jimville five or six mile back of Droonan's with her engine kind needin' repairs. There was an ' up freight waitin' at Scragville |> cross the passenger train there. 1 Well, the operator at Scragville seems to be to blame. He ||ys he understood that the operator at Jimville told him the * IHssenger would be there for half an hour. So he give the freight t^ order to run on to Droonan's an' take the sidin' there. It pears one of the brakemen on the freight had a dyin' mother in' near Droonan's, an' he was mighty uneasy to get there. i Now the engine was'nt long gettin' fixed up, and we started here, whose name's Mugwump, has disappeared since yesterdaj an' so has Fisher, the preacher. An' young Trotter who was r THE SCIiAGVILLE BANDITS. 77 the tavern just a shade or two off, and pretty springy on the lip, was tcllin' the boys about his bein' interviewed t'other night down at Scully's wharf by about fifteen masked men; who dumped him in the water an' robbed him of everything but his name. Some one had seen Trotter go home wringin' wet, and as^ked him how he cum that way; and he sj)in this yarn. And sides this, hi\\ there's been some mighty myster'ous rob'ries, not of money, but goods, lately, in Scragville, that the cutest can't account for nohow.' "Just here," continued Claw to the listening Malays, vho were grinning in delighted ecstasy and winking knowingly at each other, the Slugger and stern captain included; "just here, the tug came opposite the bar, bein' pretty close in; so I lep up to jumj) off an' allow for the current, an' I made a spring out from where I was, right past Tom an' Bill, an' as I came on to the gunwale with my mask on I turned round an' yelled M-A-L-A-Y ! an' then put my hands t'gether and went ker-slop into the water. M-A L-A-V ! m^'mm^mm"^- ■.■■•' -•T.'i,;m', — 78 TBE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. You oughter have seen them chaps jump and yell. Tom, he says ' good God ! ' and Bill lets a big seven-sided oath out o' him that would'nt go into a Webster's Dictionary nohow. You see, I jumped ^or the other shore so as to make them think I was headin' fer the main land an' convert suspicion, as it were. I took quite a long dive, an' waited on the bajr till the barges was a decent way down ; an' then I waded in, an' here I am." CHAPTER XIV. MORE FROM CLAW, AND A HAVEN FOR MICK MALONEY. )OU'LL pass," said Lieutenant Murphy, after a medi- tative pause, " with your M-a-1-a-y an' your convertin' suspicion. Don't know as it was just the wisest thing in the Western Hemisphere to give the password to | them fellows ; but I think I'd'f done it myself." " Oh, I forgot to tell you about Maloney," said Claw suddenly. " Slocum went round to Maloney's hut t'day with a message from Scrimp that if he did'nt pay up his rent he'd bounce him an' the kids, an' sell the furniture. Then Slo. called Mick a lot of hard names, elevated his high- born nostrils as he looked at Mick's patched pants, an' kinder riz Mick's dander. Mick riz, too, somewhere about the same time, an' give Slocum such an onfernal, everlastin' whalin' as you never see. He spiled his collar, he knocked his stovepipe oft", and he piled in more sockdolagers on the dood lawyer's face in half a minute than old Scrimp does dollars in a "^eek. Then Mick gently lifted Slocum up an' let him drop on the ' flure.' There was quite a crowd outside the gate by this time, for the door was open ; an' up rushes old Strutt, the peeler, with his banty club in one hand, an' 1 7 resolutions of the law an' the riot act in the other. He wanted to arrest Maloney ; but Mick had an engagement on that night, or something. Anyway, he jest lammed Strutt in the bread-basket and knocked him a' top of Slocum's big hat. Then Strutt pulled his revolver and shot Maloney, an' Mick thi THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. n Tom, he out o' him make them )icion, as it baj till the in, an' here LONEY. er a medi- r convertin' wisest thing password to Lw suddenly, essage from ' him an' the ed his high- ' kinder riz same time, s you never oft; and he in half a Then Mick lis time, for er, with his an' the riot engagement id Strutt in hat. an Mick run into his armory an' lugs out that old muzzle-loader of his'n, and filled the bobby so full of snipe or duck, that I guess it'll keep the family busy for about a week pickin' the shot out of the old ^carcase of the representative of the law. Some of the shot kinder tickled some of the crowd. Id Bunger, the etarnal old loafer that's always borryin' chawin' crbaccer and jawin' politics, he got severial in his stalely bilious frame that kinder made him writhe like the heroine of a tragedy n the stage, when she hears her par has gone an' done somethin.' l*hen the crowd gives a yell like as if they was all stung by a ar-hornet ; only -this time they goes for the hornet ; and away hins Mick over the mcion-patch, over the fence, over the road, an^ lean across the meadow to the hill ; past old widow Mumper's ouse, with the hull ding-busted crowd of sneakin', screechin' affers an' loafers at his heels. You oughter seen the widder ! Great Pitcher of the C'lestial ,#Jine ! She was standin' at her door with her specs on, an' when %he heard the shots and then seen Mick comin' plowing across the brown pasture straight fer her, she ups with her hands an' ^ives a scream as if she kinder liked fun, but was mad 'cos she ^ould'nt see where the pint come in in this case. An' then down ^he flops herself all in a heap, jest as Mick went flyin' past with His long legs clearin' her little potato patch in about two strides." I " And did they catch him ? " asked the queen excitedly. " Catch him ? " repeated Claw contemptuously. " Well, I guess not. In about an hour back comes the hull crowd all out of breath, swearin', an' talkin' of crime and Judge Lynch an' lazi- liesb , o\A Bunger jawin' about ' forrin pauperism ' and ' blasted ish emigration,' an' scratchin' hisself where the shot holes was." '- But boys," continued Claw, " I jest want to tell you one- img. When I was comin' up th% beach to-night an' was leggin' by the dead-elm, there where the twin rocks is, / seen I 7vas matched. There's a man on the isla?iJ, fgosh ! " Jim Brown gave a low whistle, and looked at the Slugger, he Slugger half-closed his eyes, and appeared to be thinking eply. One or two of the bandits showed some concern, and t their pipes go out. Presently the Slugger said : — " Boys, we've got to save that man." The Malays stared at their counsellor and philosopher — for such he was regarded by the band, and respected accordingly — 80 THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. c lin m sc as if he had said something too deep for their understanding, anc somewhat ambiguous. " Don't you see what I mean ? " went on the Shjgger, as k sat up. *' Havn't you got an idea who that man is ? " " By Christmas !" exclaimed the captain, a Hght breaking i: upon his mind. " Vou mean Maioney!" " And musn't we get him in here ? Aint the island just ih sort of place he'd come to to hide ? " " Right you are, Tim ! " cried the chief again. " Let's s: fer him at once ! " " That's what I think ! " said Claw, impetuously. " Tb poor feller was crouched down behind the elm when I come by an' I purtended not to see him, tho' I , felt sort o' skeery insid: Of course I couldn't make out his face, but it must be poor Mick " Well, lei's get ready to go right away," said the captai: " Four or five of us '11 do. Claw, Slugger Tim, I-imps Pott: 'n me. We needn't wear masks, 'cause we don't want to sea: the poor fellow. ' An' now, about the queen's par. What is H; Serene Highness's wishes in regard to the matter ? " "Oh, I'm so glad he was only hurt a iitir tho' a arm must be a7£>/u/ / " said the queen patheucuily. "I like to go to him. I oughtn't to have stayed here, tho' all been so kind, and warded me to stay so bad, I didn't leave you ! " " No more queen of pirates," muttered the captain, lookir'cachc very glum. " What 'II the camp seem like, anyway, when shc^'W a gone?" " No more queen-of-pudding," growled Bulger. " I couldr?^' fri make that thing if I tried with my hands and both feet thrown ;. ^ No more elegant beef balls fer breakfast. No " ^^alay " Hadn't we better telegrafh Kitty's paw that Kitty and h digestion are all right, and then bring him here afterwards ? " inttjj? '• " Agreed," rephed Slugger Tun. And then a few minutes ter the four bandits, Jim Brown, the Slugger, Claw McMillan d Limps Potter, set out on their nocturnal search for the out- wed Maloney ; while the queen retired to slumber, Lieut, urphy and Jimmy Wink smoked and chatted, and the remainder the gang went to the beach, and taking the skiff, pulled for :ragville. When the quartette reached the beach within a short distance the dead elm, they halted ; and then Jim Brown went on alone. The night was not very dark, and Jim could discern objects inly for fifty yards. As he neared the elm a figure started out ft§m near it, and ran swiftly along the beach. Jim stopped, and called out, "is that you, Mick? Don't be scared. I'm your friend ! " " Who are ye ? " came back a hoarse voice from the gloom. " It's me — Jim Brown. I've got news for you ! " " For God's sake don't be foolin' me ! " came the voice again, u^^],^. which Jim recognized as that of Mick Maloney, tho' so changed cUq;, ihtX there was a distinct air of mingled terror and despair in it. ."Did I kill him?" " Naw !" ansvered Jim, as he advanced to where Maloney )usly. "Th 1 I come b\ skeery insid; )e poor Mick d the captai: lAmps PoU; want to sea: What is H; tho' ly. "I pre, tho' you' captain way T z^'/^n't" like *■ stood, cowering. " You're all right, Mick," he continued, as he iQQJ^i^ reached the man and held out his hand, which the other took '^'^"iien sb;^*^ ^" '^^^ °^ extreme suspicion. ' - J " You may think it queer, but you've come to where you've -' T could:?*^^^^"^^ ^^^ ^^'^' ^*^^ '^^^ y*^'^ goX Justice^''' said Jim. ^^' ^u^own; " i^lfaioncy started back, and glowered at the captain of the ,, Ma^ys. These seemed dark and equivocal words, indeed ! ~~~^' i- and h '^J'" ^'^ down here, Mick Maloney," commanded Jim, as he led t Kitty .^^^h(|ixji,T^ple himself; "and I'll tell you what I mean. If you ;erwar i^-pahj||i there's any trick on, here's my pistol ; " and he handed that ndV^il^'^ to the dazed Maloney. * • u" Vi hind - Now, just listen for one moment. But before I tell you hich tn ' njrtiblintj;, put your hand on your heart and swear you won't breathe Tim said ^^^ ^'^ ^^'^^^ ^''"^^ 8^^^"S to tell you." put J'. ^Very much in the dark, mentally as well as literally, Mick httle ris y* [alotoey sivorc ; and then briefly Jim Ikown Lold him of the ss, so w rmttion of the Malays, of their resort, their j)rinciples, and way trom , lally of their bein;; in possession of no less a person than Mr. Kit's par an 6 82 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. h Scrimp. All of which, as may be imagined, astonished poo; Mick exceedingly. Then the story of Kitty Lee was recounted, and Mick's jus: wrath was roused and expressed in his artless way. " The d — d scoundhrels ! " he exclaimed. " An' are ye goir to tarture him, James ? " " 0\ in a kind of way," said Jim carelessly. "And lor here, Mick, you'll be kind of anxious about the wife an' kids. ( course nothin' can be done to harm them till old Scrimp gets bac Meantime, Slugger Tim's going up to the village to-morrer, a we'll see that the Maloneys don't starve; an' you can send iv Mick a note tellin' her you're o.k." " God bless ye ! " said Maloney fervently; and then the t'> returned to where the other bandits were. Mick, of course, knew them all; and great was his wonc when a short time after they reached the cave, and he saw t: snugness of the retreat, and then gazed open-mouthed at v bound and blind-folded forms of the prisoners in a little si apartment of the cave. Then the bandits and their guest after havmg partaken some supper, of which the fugitive from stern justice parte lustily, retired to rest; Mick slumbering much more securely a hpnci peacefully than he would have done upon the beach of Pep; sifent Island. for t} 1 CHAPTER XV. ont:' aciossi THE BIG GIANT AND THE LITTLE GIANT. ni^ A )he next morning two messages v/ere indited, which ran and cc "Dear papa. oof sel I hope your arm is not very bad. I am quite Cflibllf with the Malays. They are real friends, and althc lfe|igj.J they are pirates, they are not the snide brand. '> professional admiration. In fact, the Slugger was musing jus; ™* the gipsy Hank had felt when hit by that muscular hand. .8^j^ " Well, sir ? " said Mr. Lee in a kind voice, as he eyed ^^&^ visitor, and looked with a sort of mutual approval at the Slu;.. trim and sturdy figure, deep chesl and athletic attitude. ^Wul " How do you do, sir ? " said Slugger Tim quietly ; and ^^^ he drew a chair close up to Mr. Lee and sat down. " I have:^*** for you of your daughter," he continued. " Good news," heac^*^ The injured man almost started from his chair, his face li,- with a glad surprise. " Of Kitty ? Where is she, ? Quick y^^- "All in good time, sir," responded the Slugger. ' „ *l i your permission, I will lock the door." ,^ "^' «ii]' aie THE SCRAG VILLE nA^DITS. 85 down by ft , letter her fad f relief. T^K e family ber. and having t justice-lovr . out the Slug::^^ ve consigned 5 store, and p. rs. Maloney, a: o wait for the g curious in ;ay disaster. 2;oing to see: gger Tim vie^ ise where Ki: ; see Mr. Lee fl presence of:: g scowl from entions, and |air, with his : e, somewhat ugger's grave, as musing just ular hand. as he eyed )val at the Slug: attitude. 1 quietly ;^anc^ own od news Mr. Lee gave an impatient glance of assent, mingled wiih me curiosity ; and then his visitor handed him Kitty's note, tlic issary watching with a quiet enjoyment the various expressions the reader's face as the big man perused the note a second and en a third time. Then in answer to Mr. Lee's look of mystification and quiry, Slugger Tim slowly and at length told the whole story ; nipleting it with the remark that the Malays trusted to his honor be perfectly mum regarding the disclosure. Which Mr. Lee omised should be strictly observed, and then added : — " Only, I think you might have given me some warning ot tty's safety. Her mother and I have been distraught with anx- y : for you understand, young sir,she is our only child, and very ar to us. Well, I must thank you for your opportune kindness. Kitty, hould judge, is enjoying herself pretty well. I expect the velty of the situation and her regal position have somewhat sed her to forget the distress her parents would feel. However, we must make up for lost time when I get out, and ish this vile little scoundrel. Scrimp. When are you going to ' him, do you say ? " " To-night," said the Slugger, letting one of his rare, quiet les play over his calm countenance. " I should like to see it," murmured Mr. Lee. "And when azi you going to let him loose ? " ,f " When do you want him released ?" replied Tim. " Oh ! the doctor says I can get out day after to-morrow. don't want him, to escape us. This ' document' may frighten blBI, but of couse he won't be so scared as not to come back to I house, and make arrangements to leave the place, if you ten him into such an action. Better hold your trial to-morrow night ' " We can do that," assented Slugger Tim, after thinking a few minutes. " Besides, I want to make another capture, if we can. Ycm see, we want to let 'em all go at the same time, tho' at differ- CV"'^'^.€nt, points. Although I don't think they'll >'«r« much. We count „ , ^^.OB^aring them pretty well." " I am impatient to see this moral-revolutionary band of lair, his face u, y^^^^^ and your cave," said the big gentleman, smiling. "You she, are the Slugger, eh ? Are all the bandits like you ?" he continued, I Slugger. j^g jyj j.^j^ j^jj^ gy^g critically over the young ambassador's muscular frame. .gj#^- 86 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. " Well, they're getting that way," replied the Slugger, soniej what ambiguously. " We'll all be hitters in good time." " How are your funds — the band's funds, I mean ?" said Mr] Lee after a moment's apparent thought. " Oh, pretty flush. We have three hundred in hand in casFj And then we mean to work Scrimp for a good-sized cheque." " Don't do that — it's risky, and I don't like it. Let me giv;| you the cheque." " We-el, you see, that would'nt be, strictly speaking, co: forming to our rules. That ain't plunder. Besides, you havr done anything. However, sir, just as you say. Tho' we air, pinched at present." "Well — later on." But by his tone, the Slugger surmised would be no trifling amount the band would receive from Kitty papa. After this, Mr. Lee diciated a telegram to his wife regardir Kitty, which the Slugger promised to send with due haste on r return to Scragville. And then the Slugger shook Mr. Lee's har and came away, murmuring to himself as he left the house : — " /wmortal Washington, what a grip ! Wonder when that f hit him, if the gipsy thought he'd been struck by an English jol;: or if he'd only bumped up suddenly agin the day of judgment' With this soliloquy, the Slugger lit his pipe and took a seat : the fence to wait the down train which was to carry him back: camp. CHAPTER XVL THE TRIBUNAL OE JUSTICE. .RING FORTH THE PRISONER!" Such were thee inous words uttered in a clear, commanding voice in : hall of retribution at the secret rendezvous the Malay band ; and the curt but ominous senter that had a ring of the ordeal to come in it, caused a nerv: tremor to trickle down the prisoner's back and lay up repairs on his spine. The speaker was dressed in a tight-fitting suit of black clc His face was masked with black crape, and through the opt. rod ii m THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. Dcaking, co: ;s, you hav: Tho' we air. ix surmised J from Kitty vife regardir e haste on h. ^r. Lee's har 2 house :— when that f- 1 English jok: judgment? took a seat y him back; ch were the c ing voice in ' rendezvous inous senten used a nerv; md lay up of black clc ough the opt: ipertures gleamed a pair of bright, fierce eyes. Upon his head ?as a low-crowned felt hat of black, with the rim pulled well down ibout the forehead. In one hand was a slender rod of black which rested across [he knees. This occult figure was seated about four feet from the floor, |upon a dais, which was also draped in black cloth. ?^ On each side of the speaker was a figure similarly attired and |nasked ; and about the apartment, standing in a semi-circle, were ^ther figures, dressed and accoutred in the same monotonous and [inister way. Each of these held a long, slender rod in his right land. The apartment was not more than twelve feet square and jven or eight high, and was, floor, walls and ceiling, of the pre- vailing hue — black ; being lighted by about a dozen small candles rhich stood in black candle-sticks, which were in turn supported ipon short posts painted black and which were inserted in the bound about the edge of the room and the throne. I Nothing served to alleviate the eye from the dull, dark, )mbre hue of all pervading black, save some grinning skulls and ross-bones painted upon some black drapery, and which hung )on the walls and over the front of the throne ; and two Ipabolical creatures in one corner. These were a pair of animated l^iman skeletons, with the distorted gestures and movements of Itiman beings. Thf'v were seated at a small table in the corner beyond the dais, throwing dice from a long, cylindrical black box. This occupation they kept up industriously, without uttering a sound or Scarce raising their gleaming skulls ; rattling the dice and throwing Hem in a regular automatic way that seemed interminable. " " Bring forth the prisoner, Ananias Scrimp ! " > The prisoner was led forward between two masked individuals from a side apartment, the entrance to which was immediately dosed by means of a black curtain, Mr. Scrimp's eyes were covered with a piece of black cloth. ifis feet were free, but his hands were bound with some like naaterial behind his back. He was placed facing directly the piarson upon the throne, while on either side of him stood the two who had conveyed him thither, each with his slender black rod in his hand. At a motion from the judge-for such we must term him-the 88 77//; SCRAG villi: liANDITiS. bandage was removed I'rom Mr. Scrinip's face, and tlie two hw characters in the corner paused in their singular ainusenienl, ;i! turned to see what effect the gloomy scene would have upon ;; j)risoner as soon as his eyes recovered their power. The result was somewhat shocking and enervating. For il: first few moments after the crape was removed, the prisoner blin- ed his eyelids, closed, opened and re-closcd them, as if the suddc flood of even dull flickering light from the candles was too suddi and great a strain upon them after their long bondage. But gradually as his eyes recovered their strength, their ownc comprehended the weirdness of the apartment in which he stooc and finally his faltering terror-stricken gaze fell from the motior less figure of the judge seated before him, to the iniquitous pa; in the corner, who had recommenced their occupation ofthrowir. the dice. The sight of these cadaverous forms and their weird pursu;: coupled with the fearful silence of the place — broken only by tk- muffled rattle of the dice — was too much for the nervous,overtaxe; constitution of the prisoner ; who uttered a hoarse gas: closed his eyes and fell backward. His fall was checked, however, by the figures at his side ; ar: he was maintained upon his feet in a firm grasp until he had soir.: what recovered, when he slowly opened his eyes to gaze timid; and curiously about him, trembling and cowering, his brear coming in sharp, nervous gasps. " Ananias Scrimp," said the figure on the throne in a Ic voice, " you are brought here to be tried for crimes of which yc have been guilty ; large crimes and small offences ; offenc; counted as nothing by society, and deeds not counted olifences ; all by the same inhuman and partial law, but which are in tr eyes of a stern justice, inhuman acts. Let the first offence ; declared." Up to this moment Mr. Scrimp had not recovered the use his tongue ; he had tried to speak as the stern-voiced jud; addressed him, but the words died away in his throat. But now as the seriousness of the mysterious tribune utterances fell with all its dark force upon him, Mr. Scrimp iow his speech, and gasped, halffiercely, half-fearfully ; — " My G; who are you ? What right " — but he stopped, and his assuni: courage left him at a warning glance shot from the glittering ev - of the judge, who raised his black rod authoritatively in a mot: to be silent. % Till-: scuAnviLj.i: j}.ixi>rr^. S9 ;he two bom asemciU, ar,.j ave upon {k ing. For thti •risoner blink' if the suddc: IS too suddt: h, their ownt lich he stood n the motior. iniquitous pa. on of throwir.. weird pursui: n only by tlv vous,overtax; hoarse gas : his side ; ar. il he had soir.; ;o gaze timid ng, his brea: hrone in a Ic s of which y( nces ; offenc. ited offences hich are in t: first offence ; vered the use rn-voiced jud; :oat. erious tribune r. Scrimp fou' ly .__» My G. ind his assuni le glittering t\ vely in a mot. In < U X ^"iu »"> .<^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. V 4, ni L

ery hour. That is what you get a license for. It is for th\ privilege that you drove about the country with a demijohn of you liquid iniquity in the back of your buggy, and got votes for M: Sweetliar to get him into the Council, because you knew he coul. get you your license. Now, Soakey, this business has got to stop right here. A gla; of beer now and then won't hurt the average man; or if you wan • to take money in exchange for filling a man up so full he can't te! whether he's treading on his own feet or somebody else's, let th; rich and those who can afford it be your victims. Make you money out of them. But you've got to quit this trade of robbir,; poor families of their bread, making their homes a hell, the; fathers a curse, and turning sober, respectable men into drunker foolish, profane beasts. You have a head, Mr. Soakey, and you will be expected t use it in future. We don't expect you to stop selling whiskey, bu we've told you what you are to do, and you'd better make a bii readable note of it behind your bar when you go home. Becau;; you won't find it just too nice for anything if you happen to com: back here a second time. You have a license, and you are expected not to abuse i Two nights ago you sent John Mooney out of your house wi; about a quart of forty-rod and seven or eight glasses of bee trickling through his frame; while you had four dollars in your t: that John had spent on himself and treating a dozen idle scani[ who sit about in your trap and talk scandal and spit tobacco juia waiting for some poor deluded fool to waste his hard earned mone on them. The consequence of your sending Mooney from your doc with all his senses fuddled, was that he drove off like a madniar. belaboring his innocent horses and nearly running over sever/ children and an old woman in the street. And what is mor^ THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. 93 ■s of the filth! led poison to. )rin had earnecj ing a floor; yoJ I for little Pete and gave Pettj In other wordd ry-day — almos:? It is for thd :n.ii-john of you:j jt votes for Mil knew he couk! t here. A glasi! ; or if you wa!i;| full he can't te:| iy else's, let tht| [IS. Make yoi:| •ade of robbin;; es a hell, the:! n into drunker be expected i ng whiskey, bi tter make a bi^ lome. Becaui: happen to com: lot to abuser your house wi'. glasses of bee )llars in your ti sen idle scam[ it tobacco juic^ d earned mone from your dot like a madma: ling over sever: id what is mor; )hn Mooney has'nt turned up yet. No one knows where he is, ind in all probability he is dead on some by-road or in some litch — all through you. That's all, Mr. Soakey, and I hope you can carry it. And lon't forget the good you will be doing his poor wif i and family rhen you refuse Peter Morin whiskey. Peter is bad enough with- )ut your whiskey. You can take him away." " Bring on Prisoner No. 3," said the philosopher on the ihrone. *' I'm getting sort of dry — hand us some cider." The third victim was Dr. Mugwump, the medico who had ra- ised to attend the sick man Smith, without his regular fee. He was a short, stout man with grey whiskers and a very red ice. But his cheeks had lost nearly all their normal brilliancy rithin his time of imprisonment, and what had remained now fled entirely as he discerned his surroundings. In fact, the erstwhile ipous doctor turned positively ashy-hued, and he quivered and roaned in a way that would have touched the hearts of the skeletons, even; only that they were aware of his selfish treat- »ent not only of the Smiths, but in many other similar cases. The accusation was declared, and when the judge completed tis lecture with the customary warning and advice, the doctor found speech. With his face still pale, his whole frame quivering, and his loice faltering but intensely solemn and real, the culprit swore )lemnly that tor the remainder of his sane days his actions toward le poor, afflicted and needy siiould be morally irreproach- Ible, and he would devote a portion of his time and care to leir welfare. Which oaths, if violated, the judge said, would Intail the direst consequences. It was hoped, meanwhile, lat this warning would prove sufficient to redeem Dr. Mugwump fom his selfish, inhuman and pompous \Yays. " Fisher out," said the judge tersely as the doctor disappeared irough the gloomy arras ; and comprehending this meaning, the lev. Prolix Fisher was placed before the tribunal. It must be confessed that the ecclesiastic lost in a short time lat air of secureness and moral elevation, born no doubt of his jligious and highly respectable position and calling. For he turned tceedingly white, and trembled as much as either of the respect- >le previous sinners, as he viewed the piercing eyes of the judge id the awful array of solemn figures about him. He was a Daniel the lion's den, but unfortunately his behaviour did not warrant HiillF;: 94 THE SCRAGVILLE BANDITS. the belief that he would execute the noble precept of the prophet j and remain calm and collected, and play with the lions' tails ir.l a patronizing way. I '* Mr. Fisher," began the judge," you are here to answer the I charge of having grossly neglected to visit one of your pauper parishioners, a man named Smith, whom you knew to be seriously ill and in destitute circumstances. You had promised with some show of sympathy to call and see this family, and in the neglect of this vigorous promise your crime lies. Now, sir, on the same day that jou swore to see this Smith, one of your flock^ and one of the poor and needy ^ as yocl fervently call them in your nice, eloquent sermons, you dined withj Mr. George Loftus Stuffer, a well-fed, well-circumstanced gentle j man, another of your parishioners ; but — as accounts perhaps for| your getting your engagements muddled — somewhat more prosper I ous and educated than Mr. John Smith. I This vivid personality of yours, Fisher me boy, for slightind your really needy sheep who require your constant care and moral j comfort, and your agency for their material welfare ; and yourj adverse weakness for mingling with those of higher rank and in morel opulent circumstances — people who are able to give you goocl dinners, and who have nice houses and comfortable dining-rooms-| these traits of yours. Reverend sir, have been noted and weighed I in the scale of stern morality and equity ; and it is found that yoi;| have trained yourself down to a very fine condition of unrighteous I ness, neglect of your duties, and high-caste all-round selfishness | You want just about seventy pounds of a mixture of benevolence. | charity, humility, and pastoral love spread all over your mora!| frame, before you can lay any claim to being — what your calling | and title denominates you — a disciple of Christ. % In briefi Mr. Fisher, you are nothing more or less than s| smiling, mumbling, sycophantic hypocrite, religious in title anc| profession only, and a mockery to your calling. | Two Sundays ago you ascended the Scragville pulpit witl:| your customary long, sanctimonious face and, preached a gooc:| sermon entitled * charity.* | The sermon was, as a composition and oratorically, ^^ ; bui| taking your every-day deeds into consideration, that sermon, like | all your flowery utterances, was nothing but mere idle rhetoric ^ lacking the slightest shade of even common sincerity. Which, ; | repeat, is not at all consistent with your calling, the title c:| THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 95 answer the your paupe: be seriously id with some and in the to see thi; teedy^ as yo: )u dined with meed gentle I 5 perhaps for inore prc»sper . , for slightind are and moral! re ; and yomj k and in more] ,ve you gooc| ning-rooms-i and weighed! 3und that youf f unrighteous i [id selfishness. I benevolence, ;r your mor^ t your callin^i or less than i s in title ancj He pulpit with ached a gooc, iWy, good; bui sermon, likt , idle rhetoric •ity. Which,'.; g, the title o Ireverendf or the coat you carry with such an easy grace upon your [hypocritical back. It is generally believed that all will be judged according to [their doings, on a certain day. In fact, I heard you announce [such as a positive fact about a month ago. And, if my memory ierves me right, you bitterly, bitterly lamented the fact that 'many [men and women ignored the celestial warning, and continued on lunheedful in their sinful, worldly ways; committing the same lets of sin day after day, saying to themselves, to-tnorroiv I will turn over a nice new leaf with a picture of paradise on it. But [the tomorrow never comes, my brethren,' etc., etc. Those, Mr. Fisher, are your own words as nearly as I can re- lember. But as it is thought that your day of personal reforma- tion is about as far off as the day of universal judgment itself, it Is proposed to check your backsliding and insincerity; and to warn >ou that if you don't very soon change the tone of your actions in rour parish, attend more regularly and freely to the wants md calls of your sick and needy, be a little less arrogant and more sincere and humble, and conform with the vows you took when ^ou entered the service of the church; your moral and physical Systems will receive such a combined shock that I'm really afraid rour constitution won't be strong enough to get over it. Polite society is all very well, sir, altho' you may be inclined think we don't put such a belief into practice when we bring lou here. But sir, impartiality when your humble parishioners are le main consideration, is adjudged essential on your part. So you cai\ just indent it upon the big, pious tablet of your lind that you will be scanned keenly from this out; and that if le change I have recommended isn't very soon put mto execution, m'll find yourself about the sickest looking parson that talks Ivation and tries to get the best of a bargain for a pair of second id suspenders. Take him out." Mr. Fisher was ' taken out,* looking very rueful and repentant. [is head hung upon his breast, his eyes were cast down, and his lole face betokened mingled sorrow, despair, and a trifle of lolesome awe. As he disappeared behind the curtain, the judge leaned back id took a drink of cider from a jug which was behind his seat, Iden by a fold of the cloth ; and as he wiped his lips, he lispered to the humorous skeleton : — " If that don't effect a change in Prolix pretty durn quick. 96 THE SCRAGVIhLE BANDITS. yoi and then I think I'll resign moral reformation in favor of the Salvatior Army, and go into politic*. How did the lecture go, SkcUy ? " " Just so smooth that I don't see how you remembered it ali, said the skeleton addressed. " And them long words, too ! An each one fit right in its own place ! " *' The grammar, too ! " chimed in the other anatomia creavure. " Every bit as good as them lecture fellers ! My ! must a' read an awful lot. Slugger ! " " Trot in the last," said the judge straightening up ; John Mooney was brought in. " John Mooney, I regret to see you here taking on so," saic the judge in a deprecating tone. Then changing his voice to one of thunder, he commanded : — " John Mooney, stand still ! " Poor Mooney, as he glarec about at the black walls, black figures, black everything, anc flickering candles, and wound up his frantic-eyed survey by glarinc like an insane man at the two skeletons, no doubt thought he was in Hades. He nearly went into a fit, — and indeed it was a fit place- and the two on either side of him had their work cut out in keep ing the farmer upon his legs. He rolled and raved and gurgled in a way that betrayed a most terrible fright. " John Mooney, you are known," said the judge in a mock fierce voice ; and John's eyes bulged out, and his frame tried to go to every part of the cave at once. One of the skeletons acted in a most unbecoming way, not at all as such weird and super- natural creatures are supposed to conduct themselves. " Yes, sir, you are known; and I want you to know that I know that everybody knows that you are known. You are notori ous as a drunkard, and celebrated as a fool. It is the talk of your neighbors and those who know you that you go home drunk every second night, beat your wife, half murder your children, tread on the cat's tail, tear up the flooring, mash all the hereditary hard ware, walk over the clean tablecloth, try to slay your hired man with the handle part of your jack-knife, spit on the floor that your wife has just been down on her knees scrubbing, kick the dog. curse worse than Captain Kidd, and make a combined idiot, beast, and fool of yourself in a hundred other atrocious ways. Now, John, I think if you leave off" liquor, a change n\igh[ very soon be apparent in your demeanor both at home and abnad If you will promise never to drink again, to be kind to your mit ^■m THE SCRAG riLLE BANDITS. 9T enmg up ; an: ng on so," saicj lis voice to one kids, be respectable and sober, and stay at home nights, we'll you off with this little lecture. But if you ^(?«V, you will find yourself back here quickern* |u can think, and the punishment won't be ladled out to you in )onfull before meals; but will be so externally, internally and ^crnally awful, that I will spare you any account, for fear you jht turn suddenly bald-headed or grey-headed or addle-headed. fc you look a trifle nervous, which I take indicates repentance, you may go. Take a good look at the place, John, so that you think on it next time you are asked to take a drink." Did John swear ? Well I should say so. He swore so [emnly, so earnestly, so aw ully, that that curious being, the [led skeleton, was taken with a fit of convulsions, and had to le his complexion in his big bony-hands to cover up his emo- in. Then John Mooney was led out, a sad, sober, and a changed awestruck man. And the stern judge came down from the throne of Justice, itched his arms, took off his mask, and said in the familiar tones with the easy, natural every-day accentuation of the Slugger : " Boys, let's fly to where the moral wine cup gambols; for dead tired, and as dry as the whole darned proceedings !" And so ended the first sitting of the * Court of Justice ' of Scragville bandits. CHAPTER XVni. MR. SCRIMP'S SAMARITAN. OW long Mr. Scrimp had lain there with his eyes and hands bound he could not guess. He had shouted and called until his throat was positively hoarse, and he had raised — what did not under the circumstances, require menting — a decidedly sharp appetite. Evidently, he was on the outskirts of a bush, for birds were ing all about him, and now and then the startling, regular r of a red squirrel would break upon the air. It must be a fine day, too, and the sun high up, for Mr. imp felt its rays unpleasantly warm upon his face and neck. 7 > r « i ««.ii «i llW» W « > ilif ; i « . T -'" ^jmoLi 98 THE SCRAOVILLE BANDITS. Heavens, how long was he to be there ? His feet were nq bound, so he was able to change his position now and then i some extent ] Once he had essayed to get up and walk, but at the fi. timid step he had tripped upon a root and fallen heavily upon h face, hurting his physiognomy and incurring a heavy and paini. jar upon his frame. I So Mr. Scrimp concluded it would be best and safest to iJ still where he was and wait a turn in his luck; which had certain] been down of late, he thought. I But only wait till he was free ! He would spend his iJ dollar — well, no, but all the money and labor necessary to huj down the rash perpetrators of the fearful indignity he had sufferej who had outraged him and frightened him into an imbecile stJ mission at their infernal tribunal. | As to that document, it was not worth ///^/. Mr. ScrirJ made a vigorous effort to snap his fore-finger and thumb together j illustrate the worthlessness of the ' confession ' he had signel It would not be legal, and if produced must betray the outlaii who had waylaid and detained him. | But who were they ? Despite his firm resolve to reap a \m rible revenge when at liberty, Mr. Scrimp trembled and quailedi he pondered on the mysterious events of the past twelve hours, a:| thought of that stern-faced judge with his quiet, menacing tonel and of the black-masked, mute clique. What were they ? Al| where was this den of theirs' where he had lain captive for t^^ whole days, perhaps a week, and been almost starved ? :| The birds still continued to sing, the indefatigable rj squirrel persisted in his infernal and monotonous inimitable no:| while the sun burned Mr. Scrimp's delicate features with grea:| intensity than ever. I Was he after, all, not near the highway, as he thought ? L^ perhaps, cruelly in some dark wood where no human being em came, and where he would lie to starve to death, or die of damp,^ the sting of some horrible reptile. I No, the wood could not be so very gloomy, if he -were in oM for the sun struck too broadly upon him. l&ut the possibility m such a horrible culmination to his career almost drove the noi^ ally calculating and collected Mr. Scrimp into a state about tj cousin to insanity. He opened his lungs to their mim extent, and mad with rage and frenzied terror, literally screaraedfl "Help! help!" . ■ THE SCRAOriLLE BANDITS. 99 Ah, succor at last ! That surely was some one coming near iim. Yes, ! yes ! it was the sound, the unmistakable welcome )11 of carriage wheels coming rapidly along a hard road. He ws near the highway, then. " Thank God ! " muttered Mr. icrimp ; and then he was puzzled why he used the words. Be- luse perhaps, of/iers used them without comprehending what they leant, or much caring, so long as the expression gave full credit their feelings. Full of excitement for his rescue, Mr. Scrimp shouted and yell- with a vigor hitherto unknown to his nurtured lungs. He lised himself upon his feet and endeavored to walk in the direc- lon of the sound of wheels and hoofs which grew closer and )uder every moment. But — confound that infernal root ! There you go again, ir. Scrimp, full plump into a pool of water this time, filling your louth with mud and dead leaves, and almost dislocating your old »ck, that ought to have been wrung long ago by the hangman, :cording to the philosophy of that nocturnal and mysterious ibunal. You hav'nt much wind left in your body after that fall, Mr rimp, but you gather sufificient as you eject the mud and debris )m your mouth, and wrench yourself fiercely round into a sitting )sture, to cry once more, " help ! help ! " for the wheels and )fs seem almost on you now. " Hello ! who are you ? " exclaimed a deep voice that seemed express surprise and agitation, as the driver reined in his steed a walk. " The victim of a foul plot. I'm a prisoner, bound. Mr. rmip, of Scragville; I — " "Sorry I can't help you," said the deep voice, somewhat riedly; and then Mr. Scrimp heard the crack of a whip and the k turning of the wheels as the horse broke into a brisk trot; Mr. Scrimp, filled with an undefinable horror and despair, rd the buggy drive off. " Havn't time, Mr. Scrimp !" called back the driver. " I'm Mugwump, and I've got to see a poor man down here who is ig — John Smith, one of your tenants ! " The last words were faint, as the vehicle was some distance ^y by this time; but they were sufficiently loud to be audible to Scrimp's strained hearing. " Good God ! " he gasped. " What terrible cynicism is this? .M mH"/^ IQO TBE SCRAOVILLE BANDITS. Even the man I put in the way of making his money, passes me by!" And then, by a consequent train of thought, Mr. Scrimp re membered the parable of the good Samaritan, and fervently longed for his own Sarmaritan's coming. I Presently he heard quick footsteps approaching, and he re I peated his pathetic cry for rescue. I The footsteps came nearer, sounding regularly upon the! smooth highway. Evidently the pedestrian, whoever he might be, I was in no small hurry. I " Hello, help ! help ! " I " Hello ! I can't stop now. My services are urgently requirl ed at Scragville — Widow Mumper — can't live long — will send soniJ one to you — so long ! " And the miserable man heard the stepsl die away. I It was the Rev. Prolix Fisher. I " Passed by again ! Is this earth I am on ? Not civilizecj earth, I'm certain. Those canU be human beings ; they are heart i less, cynical fiends ! When will this help come ? Oh, I arJ starving, dying with thirst ! Help ! help ! " I Now come more steps. They are tiny, soft footsteps. AK^ Mr. Scrimp, by the way you start and listen, hope isn't dead yet.,. The children came near. They left the road, tho' their feeJ sounded softly, and oh, how cheerfully, upon the turf. I " Why, it's Mr. Scrimp ! " exclaimed a juvenile voice withal decided Irish accent. i " Dear 1 dear ! " cried another — a girl's. " Why, Tim, he'il all tied up in knots I " 1 " Undo my hands, children, quick, and take this thing off mjl face ! " cried the prisoner. " I will reward you well ! " ■ " Ye did'nt treat us very well the other evenin*,'' said theS boy, solemnly. '* Why sh'd I meddle wi' ye now ? " ■ '* Who are you, boy ? " fl " I'm Tim Maloney ; ye k'-ow me father well enough." Thiil tones were somewhat bitter, Mr. Scrimp thought. ^ " There's a warrant out now agin him becos* he defindec ^ hisself agin the p'leeceman, who shot at him becos' he bate a ma: ^ who called him a pauper, and other hard names. But — I'll loos; ye. Me mother would do it." a Why, dear me. Scrimp, what are you gnawing away yoii' J undeiiip for, and why does your face burn even warmer than i\^% sun can make it ? Anger — or — Shame ? M TEE SCR AOV ILLS BANDITS, 101 " Tim," says Mr. Scrimp. The bandage is off by this time, I but Mr. Scrimp has to keep his eyes closed, for the sun hurts them cruelly ; while little Tim works vigorously away at the knots [of tough cord that bind the man's wrists together. " Tim, you have done me a good turn. You have my word [that your father will be proclaimed free to return home to you." "Ah, will ye now, sir?" cried Bridget earnestly; and Mr. icrimp, his hands free, stretched his stiffened arms above his lead, causing sharp pains to run all over his frame. " I will keep my word," rejoined Mr. Scrimp, in a less tender mice than before, and r.omewhat querulous and harsh. You see, he was free again, indignant at his wrongs, boiling for ven- geance, and all anxiety and terror gone. Why — yes — of course ! ^here he had been on the edge of ihe highroad to Scragville all ^he time, filled with foolish,childish fears. He almost felt ashamed )f himself, now, for his absurd terror. AtiJ in broad daylight, too ! Ls to that document and that imbecil'^ tribunal, he -almost believed le whole affair a dream — a ridicules farce, a^ most. .*s Mr. Scrimp turned a bend in the oad, walking as briskly his stiffened limbs would permit, and followed by the children, rho were trembling and joyful and expectant over the generous promise of the gentleman, the trio came upon two boys seated on le edge of the road. One was a dark haired boy, with a pair of flashing eyes, and high color. The other was a somewhat lighter complexioned youth, with a !ckled skin and sandy hair. The first lad's name was Jim Brown. The other was itroclus Duffy. Jim Brown was engaged in cutting a thong which appeared bind his companion's wrists together. The two glanced up as [t. Scrimp came along. Mr. Scrimp stared. Jim Brown severed the final strand, and itroclus Duffy swung his arms and clapped his hands, giving a [out of very evident relief. " Who — who tied you like that ? " queried Mr. Scrimp irply. " Well, sir," said Jim Brown, " just wait till we find out, and Sre'll be a funeral not long n^ter. At present the affair is wrapped [black mystery. All I know is that Patroclus here an' me have !n prisoners with our eyes covered up, ever since yesterday 102 THE SCBAQVILLE BANDITS. evening when we was nabbed by someone and driven in a jolty waggon goodness knows where. And '.lighty hungry we are, lyin' here like too logs, only able to hear ; until Dr. Mugwump comes along in a great sweat and would only stop to cut me free." " And is that all ? ,' said Mr. Scrimp, a good deal disap- pointed at the narrowness of the tale. " And ain't it enough ? " growled Patroclus Duffy. " How would you like to be tied hand and foot and blindfolded, and starved for twelve hours, an' have bugs crawlin' down your neck an' up your leg an' not be able to give one solitary scratch ? By crimus, sir, we're for revenge, an' we re goin' to get it, too ! " " How ? " said Mr. Scrimp. " How ? Why, lay for them brigands, with a double-barrelled | shot gun. There's a gang of out-laws about here, and the people \ won't be safe till they're cot and swung." Mr. Scrimp mentally coincided with this idea. But he said I nothing, and frowned meaningly at the too Maloneys, who main- tained a solemn silence regarding the gentleman's coincidal pre dicament. Mr. Scrimp, making a surly renewal to the anxious little I Maloneys of his promise regarding their father, hurried down thej main street of Scragville, the numerous loafers and villagers he encountered gazing at him open-eyed and mouthed, too surprised] to question him. He glanced neither to the right nor left, but entered hii] garden swiftly with his head down, a thousand thoughts crowding] in his brain. He turned the handle of his front door, and passed from the| hall into the little parlor. Mr. Scrimp was about to call out the name of his house I keeper, when the words stopped in his throat. Somebody wasj sitting at the table, looking straight at him. ..t THE SCRAQVILLE BANDITS, 103 CHAPTER XIX. MR. SCRIMP SURRENDERS. )R. SCRIMP Started back with an oath on his lips, for he saw that the Httle parlor was almost filled with the forms of four tall men. One of them, a brown-faced rough-dressed fellow, rho looked like a gipsy, Mr. Scrimp thought, rose almost from .'hind him and closed the door ; and placing a chair against it, sat down. Mr. Scrimp was a prisoner in his own house, and saw also ^hia he was m a trap. " What the devil does this mean ? " he cried with a goodly )how of indignant bluster, as he faced angrily about on the big lellow, who sat immovable with his sturdy shoulders almost hiding Ihe door. " Better be cool, Scrimp," said a big man with a fair beard jho had one arm in a sling, and who sat in Mr. Scrimp's easy- khair before a table, which had several papers, together with pens pd ink, upon it. And Mr. Scrimp had no difficulty in recogniz- ing his rival of fifteen years ago, Henry Lee. " A second tribunal," thought Mr. Scrimp to himself. " Mr. Scrimp," said the gentleman with the bandaged arm, 1 have several important things to say to you. Better sit down id listen attentively." Mr. Scrimp was handed a chair by the fourth man of the Jnwelcome party, a tall, dark, quick-actioned individual dressed blue ; and he sat down, glaring at his unbidden guests. " I have been given," said Mr. Lee, " a singular and shock- ig document bearing your signature together with the signatures \i twelve other individuals." ' This paper is nothing less than a confession from you of )ur having bought from two gipsy men, my child, Kitty, who IS stolen by the gipsies some time ago. You paid them five hundred dollars, and you acknowledge lat you did not tak^ the child with any gallant idea of returning ;r to her parents, but to keep her in your own possession, your irpose being to revenge yourself upon me for certain fancied rongs of years ago." \f: 104 THE SCRAOVILLE BANDITS Mr. Scrimp wondered where his house-keeper could be Perhaps, confound her, she had turned traitor, too ! " Now, sir," continued his big judge, "aside from this doci; ment, these two men here, Henry and Jeremiah Meikle, are read) to make a statement on oath that the contents of this documen are true, and that they are the gipsies in question. I don: suppose you doubt that. I am given to understand by a second mysterious papc:j^ placed in my hands, that you underwent a rather severe examina' tion and scourging at the hands of some unknown beings anc that they hinted at the emancipation of certain tenants of yor whom you havn't been treating very well lately, according to th masked tribunal's view. They have stated the whole affair . length to me ; and I must say that I entirely concur in their idea which are nothing more than just. And your liberty and freedc: depend on certain things it is proposed you shall do. In short, the mandate is this. That you deed to Michael Maloney and John Smith, the p: perties now occupied by them and their families respectively, . ownership which is to be handed down from them to their childre And you must also use your influence in procuring the sul mary pardon of Michael Maloney. If you havn't heard the pi ticulars ot his trouble, you can obtain them without travelling ve far. Now, of course, Mr. Scrimp, you will naturally imagine t I am implicated to a large extent in this masked tribunal aE It isn't so. And if it wasn't that this league has delivered my child to r. and obtained my promise in return that I will take my vengear ' On you in the mild but more philanthropic way I have stated wouldn't think a moment of wringing your miserable little fra: with such a vigor, that I doubt whether you would live long to : joy the tenantship in a dungeon I would procure for you af;; wards. * Now, the persons who signed this document are ready toco: forward at a moment's notice, and proclaim its validity, prepr to stand the consequences of their summary and perhaps ille: but not unjustifiable act. And just one word more. The punishment for wilfully t- eringin human beings is something enormous. How would prisonment for life, for instance, suit your vigorous constituti THE SCRAOVILLE BANDITS. 105 jm this doai ikle, are ready lis documen;| ;ion. I don: iterious papef ;vere examinaj n beings ancf inants of youns^ wording to tfc| vhole afiair i| ir in their ideai| rty and freedcLi io. L Smith, the pi| respectively, j:| to their childre^ icuring the sur I't heard the pi| at travelling ve| ally imagine h ed tribunal aff^ d my child tor. .ke my vengea: I have stated arable little fra: Id live long to : cure for you ai: are ready to cc validity, prep^' nd perhaps iHe. nt for wilfully - How would orous constitut' You'd get it, if I had to spend fifty thousand dollars in procuring I it for you. Now, you can doubtless see it all, and save me further words. [I've made a long speech. This gentleman here is a detective, and [has a warrant to arrest you at any moment he chooses. You can iecide right here what course you will take, and will be given ont lay to make your philanthropic arrangements and settlements should you decide to abide the decision of the arbiters. Oh, and by the way, I understand there is a movement on foot to build a home not far from Scragville for the old and irirm. ^ou've got a pretty good bank account, and goodness kno'vs how mch under the loose plank, as men of your stamp gener:»ily have ; so you are supposed to donate a couple of thousand to this bene- )lent purpose. Remember, >'^« will be old and infirm soon." Did Mr. Scrimp storm and rave and bluster and threaten ? Lather. But he had been turning the matter over bit by bit, and Concluded that the case was really a strong one against him. besides if he combated, he would be combating money. Lee iras six times as rich as he. And, after all, from a broad point \l view, the punishment was not very severe. He would not be itirely robbed. Far from it. Only, Mr. Scrimp did not look at lings fiom a broad point of view. And so Mr. Scrimp caved in. And who can picture, much less pen, the mingled stupefac- )n, delight and surprise of John Smith and Michael Maloney a few lys later, when thew were each presented with a deed of the little )ttage and plot of ground they had hitherto found such dififi- ilty to pay rent for. And what was more, there was a present of $500 for each of two men ; which came, it may be added, from Mr, Lee's ;)ulent pocket-book. The constable soon recovered from his wounds ; for really )re shot had entered the padding o*" his official coat of rusty le, than his skin ; and Michael Malo y through a secret and iccountable agency, was summoned bo.jk to Scragville, and is a merry friend of Mr. Strutt. Mike, however, is perfectly mum irding that eventful night in the bandits' cave, when he saw five ll-known men tried by a court of masked — , well Mike says ^y've got the makin' of mighty fine men anyway. Kitty went back to her Lake Memphramagog home, of course. ^||t Jim Brown and Slugger Tim went along with her, and had ijlorious time. mKRniiii 106 THE SCBAQVILLE BANDITS. People, both patients and parishioners,could not help remark- ing the change which had come over Dr. Mugwump and the Rev'd Fisher of late. Their habits and carriage were entirely revolution- ized ; no longer selfish, pompous or arrogant. But kind, charitable to a wonderful degree, ready at a mom- ent's notice to fly to the sick or dying, and minister physic and mustard plaster or spiritual advice and comfort, with a haste and zeal that seemed almost beyond the power of errmg man. Poor Dr. Mugwump however, was noticed to be growing a trifle thin. The Reverend gentleman, too, preached sermons that were at strange variance with his former discourses : adverse in tone and delivery, and charmingly earnest and simple. And both he and the doctor became very popular with the humbler class ; while that observant young fellow. Slugger Tim,was heard to remark that the pair seemed to hang a great deal on this public opinion, and seemed to be rather proud of it, too. As to John Mooney, he nearly killed a tipsy fellow one day who asked him to come and take something. He is terribly respectable, and a leader of a temperance lodge. The tribunal had not required all this diligence,but they concluded it could cer- tainly not do John any harm to be so rigorous, and so did not interfere. And as to Soakey — well, the masked judge,the skeletons,and the awfulness of the occasion rendered him ill for some weeks,after he was found upon the road by several of his astonished ac(|uaint- ances. He would give no word, to all the eager enquiries made, regarding what had transpired during his absence ; but he seems to be running his saloon as near to the standard prescribed by the bandits, as possible. CONCLUSION. " Boys," said Slugger Tim one day in the latter part of September, as the band was assembled in the cave ; " we'll soon have to close up business on account of winter coming on. Patroclus, too, has a visit to pay to some relatives down in Middleby, and is going away next week. Jim and me are off, too, for a tour of adventure down the river on a barge, and wont be back, may be, for over a month. Now the band has got $800.00 in the treasury. My idea is THE SCRAG VILLE BANDITS. 107 this. We'll close up the cave till next summer, an' buy that hall that's for sale in the village. It'll suit us first rate,and we can get it dirt cheap for cash. We'll organize a club, and this winter we'll have a good time there. We'll have a gymnasium and a library, and — just whispei it — there's a mighty nice stock of books and a complete athlotic outfit ready to come from New York directly we give the word. We'll take our cave properties and lock them up in our hall in a couple of big chests. We can build a boat-house near Scully's [to keep our boats in. .\nd I think that even leaving the excite- ment of trying criminals, and the delightful society of a female capture, out, we can have a mighty good time between this and when the robins nest again. And between you and me and the deed that can't talk plain, I think there's a little Vermont bird that may fly down this way from Lake Memphramagog to spend la few weeks holidays next summer. I should have liked to try one or two of the general sinners [that don't count, such as the man who maltreats and starves his horse and spends the money that ought to buy fodder, in beer ; the telephone girl who talks away up in G. ; the choir-soloist ; the ultra- labstinence crank who always talks hygiene, and looks consumptive [enough to warrant his wearing an undertaker's catalogue of prices [next ^b his chest ; that greatest of all bores — the instalment-plan [book agent, and a lot more. But I guess,^|^*ll all survive till [next session, when we'll try and put a four^^ veto on some of their idiosyncrasies for the relief of a long-suffering public. And now, boys, circulate the cider, for I'm dry again." And so, imagining that we hold that merry and convivial cup in our hands, we drink a health and say farewell to the Bandits " SCRAGVILLE. ^'•^'^ III Bll ^ Id JACK AND JIM. iT was the morning of the day before Christmas in the village of Jollyburgh. The fresh-fallen snow lay pure on the roads, the paths, the roofs, the fields, and the hills, in and about the quiet hamlet. A few big, low, comfortable sleighs with (heir accompanying teams were stationary in front of the post ^ffice, while their owners — some jolly-looking farmers who were ;nt cityward in company with their spouses — were chatting by le stove in the post office, or listening with an apparent enjoyable jnse of temporary independence and well-earned idleness to the lumorous yarns spun by Larry Trentum, the shoemaker of )llyburgh. The hard-working and a trifle mercenary blacksmith, whose )rkshop stood opposite to the post office, was busy plying his ide and making the sparks fly ; while out on the bridge, seem- jly impervious to the most severe cold, stood John Tuffun, toll-gate keeper, in his shirt sleeves, looking robust and jolly, ^d talking to the gossiping inclined farmers who paused to con- se upon the latest items of news and interest. Down the village street came two boys, their hands in their pockets, a careless, happy smile upon their faces. They were both young, Kther of them over twelve, rosy and healthy looking. Their [thes were perhaps not of the finest material nor betraying in their llines the symmetrical "cut " of a first-class tailor ; their caps re equally rococo in style, and their boots were old and betrayed ims and miniature crevasses on their surfaces ; yet for all this pair (of boys, not the boots) did not exhibit any great amount sorrow at the forlorn condition of their habiliments ; on the jtrary,they seemed happy and merry, and as if resolved to te the most of matters as they stood ; and the morrow being [istmas, as if determined on making that merry day as pleasant enjoyable and eventful as possible. Unromantic lads of simple Is ! Having no power to peep into futurity, they little ^med of how they would spend their Christmas day I " Jim," said the tallest boy, " did you bring the sleigh ? " —^■^^''a^'s'iiiexaaswmmm 110 JACK AND JIM, " Yes," said Jim Jones, the son of the postmaster; "yesl Jack, it's in the shed over there." I "Well, we won't start till after dinner," said Jack. "tJ afternoon will be plenty time to get the fir ; so you meet me heJ at two an' we'll start." | At two o'clock while the sun shone bright and cheerily, Jacl Robinson and Jim Jones met in the village and started with thel sled for Brown's bush, some way up the creek, intent upcl getting a good load of evergreens for Christmas decoration. | A slight path led through the bush, which was very large an* rough, tho' somewhat thin on the outskirts ; but ps they got w: in, the sun's long bars of light were checked from falling unbroken upon the soft quilting of snow. | Jack Robinson's taste being somewhat dainty in the matter " evergreens, it was long ere the boys had their sleigh loaded, ar: any thought of returning home entered their minds. iVhen tb did look up it was with a considerable amount of surprise a: alarm, for they noted that the sun had gone down and that t: woods had gathered a very unpleasant darkness. In a short time-in a very few minutes-the shadows would ! indistinguishable from the trunks of the pines. The wind \(: blowing softly and mysteriously through the tree tops, and t: air had grown sharp and cold. The sky had clouded, and \\L could be seen of it through the crowded boughs was scarce ligh:; in hue than the boughs themselves. Jack and Jim looked at ea. other with somewhat scared faces for a few moments in silenc,^ and then Jim Jones said : ■ " We've come pr — pretty far in, Jack." ■ " Guess we have, Jim. We'll have to start, 1 guess." " All ri — right. Jack. Gosh, it's dark ! Wonder if we c strike the road all right ? We came a long bit oif it. HuL What's that ? " They listened. The sound came low and almost inaudi^ at first, but swelled louder and louder like a great army ga,therD strength, until it ended in a muffled roar. 1 It was the west wmd. It shook the trees and branches mci furiously, and the limbs rattled disconsolately. Two or thn flakes of snow fell upon the boys' upturned faces, and startled the Jack Robinson sat down upon the load of dark branches i put his chin in his hands. Jim looked at him enquiringly but! nothing. Jack's face was very pale, and his eyes were wide op JACK AND JIM, 111 <(< tmaster; "y^l I Jack. "Ty I meet me herj i cheerily, JacJ ;arted with the.| ic, intent up 3Cor ation. s very large aa^ nsthey gotvc.| Uing unbrokeL| in the matter | igh loaded, ar-i ids. ^hen thr' of surprise arl wn and that th ladows would i The wind wj lee tops, andj^ ouded, and ^^t. was scarce ligb'. im looked at ea ments in silen. ») 1 guess, onder if we c off it. Hu. almost inaud:: It armygajthei: id branches in<>| Two or thrf ind startled the [ark branches aJ Iquiringlybutsas: were wide oj| md staring. There was no daylight now. It had all fled, and larkness had laid its sombre mantle upon everything but the snow, rhose purity was even indistinct and hazy. The wind which had lounded uncertain at first, was strong and decided now in its iccent, roaring and shrieking and tearing, and the snow was com- ing down fast and gathering heaviness in its fall. " Jimmy," said Jack Robinson presently, as he looked at the nher's disconsolate figure, with its coat collar upturned and hands ^hoved deep in the pockets ; " Jimmy " — and there was a tremor his voice — " how far are we from — from the main road ?" "Guess we must have come in — half a mile," responded Jim Nervously. "They'll be scared about us, Jim," said Jack, as he stood up [nd manfully braced himself. Ten feet away from each other jey could scarcely have made the forms of one another out. "They'll be scared about us, Jim. We'll have to dig out of us, anyway. Guess we hadn't better — get apart, eh Jim ?" "No, Jack." *' Let's set out this way, Jim. We'll leave the fir. Now I )ose we left the track about — over here, eh Jim ?" "Ye-es, Jack." They tramped around side by side for about a quarter of an )ur in silence. '* We've struck the wrong way, Jim," said Jack presently. [It's over — there — the track." Another quarter of an hour's hopeless, aimless wandering, le air was getting very cold. " Yes, but Jack," said Jim in a whisper, " how are we to low it ? The snow's pretty deep now, isn't it ?" It was mdeed. Heavy as the wood was, the snow found a jsage through the branches and now lay three or four inches ip. The boys were covered with coats of white. " Jack," said Jim as he drew himself together with a shudder, fm gettin' cold. Feel sort of chilly all over ;" and he sank down W the snow. "Get up Jim, don't lie there," whispered Jack, as he grasped chum by the shoulders and attempted to raise him to his feet, it up ! It's death to lie down — in the snow — Jim." " I feel so cold," said Jim, opening his eyes slowly. "It's tmer like this, Jack. Let a fellow alone." " Get up ! There's somethin' over there," said Jack as he led Jim to his feet. 112 JAiJK AND JIM, A large, dark, indistinct mass was directly before them. Together the boys, numbed with cold, staggered to it. A| large concave object, its upper surface covered with snow, bu sombre and black within. The upturned trunk of a large tree Here was shelter ! The snow could not get very far in, and the, might keep warm together. They crept inside. " Don't think we oughter do this," said Jack reflectively, a; he peered out at the solemn whiteness. "J*m !" There was no response. Jim was asleep. " It don't seem fair to wake him," said Jack to himself, as h: wrapped his meagre muffler about Jim's throat. "They're boun: to look for us soon. I'll keep watch." He himself was sleepy, too. If it were not for Jim— Ii: gritted his teeth and opened his eyes wide, only to see the sair.:, dreary black and white misty picture through the opening of th: trunk. No welcome shout of his father's, of John Tuffun's or c Mr. Jones' voice came to his ears. He heard the wind wild ar; vengeful, tearing the boughs over[head away above, and then dyin. away — where ? His eyes closed with an irresistible drowsine^i How warm he felt ! And — how sleepy ! He heard a faint titiv ling of bells, coming, it seemed from the village, from far awa distinct in its indistinctness. What was that weird, strange noise It sounded like a laugh — a little, odd, elfin, tiny cachinnatio: Jack listened. It sounded as if some one was coming near him. And yt; the steps seemed as if from underground. He heard the soft r- gular breathing of Jim, as the younger boy's head lay upon h. shoulder. Then he felt something forcing itself upon his mind that if he opened his eyes, there would be a strange, bright ligb to greet his sight. Then came a burst of tiny voices, like a minisli ture cry of astonishment from miniature throats. Jack felt his le. pinched sharply, and opened his eyes. Right at the end of the tree-trunk was a door ajar, an;,; through the space streamed a bright glare of light that made hi- eyes blink. Beside him stood two tiny men, one dressed whoi in red, with a queer little precocious face that peered up at hi with a sharp, enquiring look. " Who are you, sir ? ', sharply enquired the little man in req " My name is Jack Robinson," said Jack, feeling very dazi " What ! are you Jack Robinson ! The great Jack Robinson; cried the two little men in chorus. " Oh, you must not stay hen It is very cold. You will freeze. Who is this here ? " JACK AND JIM. 113 '• This here is Jim. Poor Jim ! he was very cold, and he's me to sleep," said Jack sadly. •' Well, you must not stay here," said the tiny man, as he luddered and drew his red cloak about him. " Come along, you ig hulk of a fellow, lift your friend up and bring him in out of jecold." Jack raised Jim not without difficulty; and following the little ^an who led the way, he stepped through the door at the end of \t trunk, and it was immediately closed by the little man's com- lion. A glare of light blinded Jack's sight for a second. Then he md himself in a long hall, at the farthest end of which was a )r of green baize. "You must wake your friend up. Jack Robinson," said the (tie man in red in a very business-like manner ; and he pulled unconscious Jim's ears sharply. Jim muttered something in- Ifherent in his sleep ; and then, as Jack shook him, he yawned, jretched his arms, rubbed his eyes with his fists, and staggered his feet. He seemed very surprised and confused at the light Id surroundings, and gazed foolishly at Jack, and then with bnishment at the two little men who scarce reached his knee. " Wake up ! wake up, boy ! " exclaimed the gnome in red, irply. " We will be late for the presentation." " Where are we, Jack ? " grunted Jim. " I don't know, Jim, but I guess it's all right. The little I's kind enough, and it's pretty nice and warm in here. We'll what's up." The tiny fellow in scarlet now led the way down the hall, lose paved floor was partly covered with rich, heavy carpet, on Bch the boys' footsteps fell noiselessly. Beautifully cirved polished pillars of stone supported the ceiling, and a ijch, glow of comfortable warmth pervaded the atmosphere. At the green-baize door they halted, and a smart little red ^irrel dressed in blue and gold talked for a moment with the |e man in red, and then they passed through into another hall, ig which were posted two rows of chipmunks, twenty-four in iber, between whom they walked. These chipmunks had on iirt buff coats and white waistcoats. A couple of kittens, one |rtoise-shell, the other a grey,and who were in full evening-dress, standing in the embrasure of a window, smoking cigarettes. the small man in red accompanied by the staring Jack and Jim 8 14 JACK AND JIM. came up, the two kittens looked the boys up and down with :!.J most supercilious air imaginable, that made poor Jim feel quJ ashamed of himself. I After securing two tickets from the grey kitten in the eveniJ suit, the tiny man led the way through the §econd door, and thJ they found themselves in a large grand room with a domed ceilin.-l This room was brilliantly lighted, and hundreds of people, ver| few of them bigger than the boys' guide, were walking about t pairs chatting and laughing, the whole room being filled w || the hum of gay voices. Some of the elfin ladies were fannrit: themselves, and flirtations were being carried on irrespective 1 the publicity of the place. Five chipmunks m evening dress \\r ■ idling near by the door, passing comments and making appal;;^ criticisms on the dresses and beauty of the ladies. ^ " Who are these fellows ?" said one of the chipmunks as • nodded to the little man in red, and then looked Jack and ]M over. m " Follow me this way, please," said the small man brisk p^ without heeding the question, and the two boys taikd him as •' | elbowed his way through the crowd. . "I say. Jack," said Jim as he nudged his companion, ": vj mighty queer, isn't it ? Wonder where we are going ? I fee! % ashamed, tho', in these old clothes ! " i "Never mind, Jim," replied Jack. "The little mnn see:.,|l a decent fellow enough, and it's far better in here than outs;; J Hello ! Here we are." d They were now standing before a sort of elevation, on wh: ^ was a throne of scarlet and gold. On the throne was seatrc ^ ground-hog. dressed in a gorgeous cloak of scarlet,lined with w JjH fur ; and on his head was a crown made of oats and flowers iri:fl| woven. The little man was bowing profoundly to this personar^ and Jack divining that this must be some very great charac:,^||| — perhaps the king — nudged Jim to follow the example set ^ their guide. ;» " Your Highness," said the little man in red, " these are ;' "§m unfortunate village boys whom I discovered just now out in : » cold, asleep on the doorstep. I thought it best to bring them ^B and learn your Highness's pleasure in regard to them." wjw "Oh, I say, Jack !" whispered Jim trembling, "H ^ the old beggar won't be cross. I believe it's the same cha:bi|M chased with Rover, that afternoon I stayed from school." to,^ JACK AKD JIM. \\'y " Well, well, Mr. Rollemup," said the monarch kindly, " we uist not treat them harshly, poor boys ! Take them to the supper )m ; no doubt they are hungry." The little man made a bow, and the boys, following suit, were len led by him to another door. "It's the Christmas I'^ve ball, you know," said the little man, he noticed Jim's bewildered face. And as he spoke the band ick ui) a waltz. " I'm sure that's our kitten went by there now," whispered excitedly, as a pair went gliding past. '* Look, Jack ! The ;y one ! Tiny ! Tiny ! " liut the kitten did not take theslighest notice ; only, two or tee looked surprised, and the little man in red frowned, and said (rriedly : " You must not shout like that. It is against the orders, [mc with me to the supper room." Then the boys, following their guide, found themselves in a jicic ■ i room beautifully garlanded with wreaths of cedar, while m its centre ran a loncj table, on which were all the delicacies sweatmeats one could imagine calculated to make a boy's ith water. "Now, just amuse yourselves," exclaimed the small man liily. " I suppose you are hungry. I have business to attend |6o you must excuse me. When you are ready to return to the room I will get you partners." So saying he bowed and was The boys were alone in the supper room, for the ball had begun a short time before ; and at animal balls,you know,the \i& do not go merely for the eating part of the entertainment like some of our society folks. " Oh, I say, Jack, what a grand old spread ! Look here ! ^lotte russe, angels' food, patties, jellies, ices, bon-bons, kisses, 'cen, lobster-salads, oh ! everything ! I'm hungry. Jack." [So the boys fell to, and visited each part of the table; trying ^thing. I" What a jolly little beggar the chap who towed us along exclaimed Jack, during a pause in his attack upon some [jelly. I' You bet ! I say Jack, we don't want to go back into that )om," said Jim. " I don't want to dance, and I might have know, with that grey kitten of ours. How queer it would 116 JACK AND JIM. feel ! Look here, I wonder where this goes to ? " he continue:] as he pushed open a door at the end of the room. " Oh, I say:| The door opened into a small room, beautifully carpeted arj papered. A cosy fire was burning in a grate, and a book-case acl desk stood by; and the floor and desk were covered with sheets (| foolscap paper very much written on. A shaded lamp stood on the desk and threw a soft, war: pinkish light over the room. It was evident to the boys that th? were in a library and office. " What a cosy'little room !" exclaimed Jim. " I wonder whe this door leads to ?" continued the adventurous youth,pointing a baize door beyond the grate. '* I wonder what this means, tho' ?" said Jack, gazing at son mysterious words in white upon the door. etavirp yltcirtS, sualC atnaS. That is what they saw upon the door. " Bother!" said Jim. " Never mind it. Let's go in." " I see what it is !" exclaimed Jack. "It's written back»va-. 'Strictly private, Santa Claus'. "That's what it is." " Well, let's go in," said Jim impatiently ; and Jack, very c. ous himself, followed the other through the door. They found themselves in a good sized room, with a li ceiling, brilliantly lighted. The walls, corners, and floor v literally covered and filled with all sorts of toys and books - Christmas presents. Rocking horses, toy cannons, swords, gi dolls, doll-houses, jumping-jacks, cornucopias, candy walk- sticks, jack-in-the-boxes, Noah's arks — everything ! And right the centre of the room sitting in a large cushioned arm-chair, ' an old man asleep. He wore a suit of yellow and red, trimiil with white fur, and a long white beard grew to his waist. Jack and Jim gazed at him silently and in awe. "It must be Santa Claus !" whispered Jim presently, never thought there was one. But isn't he a dandy ?" Then they stole quietly about looking at the things, kee[| very mum for fear of waking the old man. Presently they c2| to a low desk on which was a large book. Jack began turE| the leaves over, and presently he whispered excitedly to Jim ; " Oh I say Jim, here are our names !" The boys looked at the book together in silence, and t| at each other. JACK AND JIM. 117 " he continual "Oh, I say, Uy carpeted arj a book-case acj ;d with sheets ti ' I wonder wht ' outh,pointing k, gazing at sor jt's go in." vritten back»va: IS.' id Jack, very c. b. g )in, with a ;, and floor v. 1 and books : ms, swords, gi candy walk; ^ ! And right ed arm-chair, and red, trimr is waist, we. presently. nd> ?" things, keer sently they cr :k began tiirr. itedly to Jim. silence, and ;- "Don't look as if he was going to give us much, does it ?" lid Jim, dubiously, as he glanced at the page. " ' One book, )rae candy and raisins.' " " Guess that's because our fathers ain't very rich," said Jack ^flectively. "These things are for the children of rich people, I less." '• Well, I don't see why we shouldn't help ourselves," said m a little defiantly. "Hullo ! here's the old man's horn !" He put out his hand and grasped a long horn which stood ainst the chair in which the old man with the long beard lay leep> '' Jack ! Jack !" exclaimed Jim in a frightened tone, "help e I can't let go ! It's going to my mouth !" It was indeed moving, despite Jim's effort to prevent it, to- Iterd his lips. Jack put out his hand, but it was too late. The rn reached Jim's mouth and the next moment a loud, shrill St startled the boys. The old man in the chair jumped to his t. Immediately all was dark and confusion. The dolls squeaked, animals in the arks roared and bellowed and howled ; the nons and guns went off, the swords clashed and the drums t. Then, suddenly, all was darker than before, and still ; and the two boys it seemed as if they were being carried through air, and that thousands and thousands of stars with intermittent s of uncertain light of soft hues were passing before their eyes. Suddenly all was light, and they found themselves crossing the 1-room. It was quite empty, and their steps upon the stone r struck with a hollow sound, and echoed dismally from the Is and ceiling. A strange fear smote their hearts and they hur- brward, impelled by an irresistible terror which seemed to ke their feet heavy, so that they could hardly move. They gered through the green baize door, and with a -found fleetness of foot, rushed down the pillared ido;. As they opened the second door they met the little n in red. He was hurrying forward, seemingly very agitated, his tace was very pale. " Something has happened," he said. " Someone is d." Just then the air grew dark, and almost instantaneously the boys saw a pair of bright ethereal beings with silvery wings t upward, shining brightly in the darkness. They had each a le m their arms, and the boys looked wonderingly. .-.»4iiM«iJSf- light to glar bust John Tuff sprang forward he upturned tn: rheir bodies we ;d ! They lool; melt down in : it of Death. LITTLE CARL AND THE BLUE CAP. UST so long age that I can't remember the exact date, there stood on the bank of a big river a tiny cottage, that had only two rooms. It was so small there wasn't really room for another. This cottage had a nice garden all round it, and up before tiny windows grew delightful vines, that hid the white curtains summer-time, when all the plants and hedges were in bloom. Well, before this cottage was pulled down — as it eventually s — there lived in it a small boy--quite a kid — with rosy, 8|fn-burnt cheeks, fair hair, and blue eyes as large as quarter pilars, and a good deal brighter. And he had a nice little name ; GUrl, he was called. Now, little blue-eyed Carl, although he always managed to get in his fine work on three square meals a day, and did not htve to go to school or keep his nails very clean, was an extremely dwcontented chap. For whenever he lay out in the garden under tib shade of a beautiful cabbage, and watched the birds as they ft|W up toward the sky ; or whenever he gazed at the cows graz- il||l in the long lane, blinking their large soft eyes, he longed to bl a bird or a Jersey cow, that he might fly or graze, or do just wfcat he wasn't intended to do. One-day — it was a warm, sunny afternoon in June, and there wasn't a single speck of cloud on the whole blue sky — Carl lay in t grass near the roadside. He felt very dissatisfied this parti- r afternoon, and there were three or four big tears on his cbeeks. He was thinking so deeply what a shame it was that he could not be a field-mouse and bore away under the ground, that hedid not notice a queer, little old man who came do^vn the rodd, and who stood looking sharply at the small boy in the s with the tears on his face. This old man was very small, and very thin and bent. He an odd, wrinkled face, and there was a peculiarly knowing 120 LITTLE CARL AND THE BLUE CAP. smile on it that would have made you feel uncomfortible had you seen it,and caused you to think of elfins and goblinr> and gnomes, and all sorts of terrible creatures from spirit-world. The tiny old man wore a tiny tuque-shaped cap of red on the back of his head, and his hair was silvery and long, falling down over his shoulders. He had on a coat of black, reaching to his knees — so shiny and smooth in places that you might have thought it had belonged to the old man's grandfather ; and to complete his costume he wore a pair of knee-breeches of yellow cloth, red stockings, and a pair of heavy shoes very much in need of a good brushing, ornamented with big buckles far from bright On his back he carried a pack, just like a pedlar's, with the edges rusty and frayed ; and lastly this odd character carried : thick stick, with a gigantic knob carved in the form of a dog's heaCj on one end, for a handle. " Well, " said the old gentleman in a wee, sharp voice, "ai,., what is the matter with you, pray ?'' Carl was so startled when he looked up, that he gave a yd! and rolled over, burying his face in the grass, and kicking his feet.l But the old man merely laughed, seeming to enjoy Carl's frigh;| very much. So when Carl found that the newcomer wasn't going tcj hurt him, and being a very inquisitive boy, he turned his curlyl head around slowly and looked at the man with one big eye ; ami then he looked at him with both eyes ; and finally he sat up ar.cl stared at him with two very big eyes indeed ; quite as big as /'?;' dollars. "Well, young Spring-m-f/ie-eye, what ails you ?^' said the ol man, tho' in a softer tone this time. And he took off his pack-j which must have been rather heavy — and laid it in the grass, ar.^ sat down beside Carl. Carl told him that he was crying just because he couldn't fef a bird or a flower or a butterfly whenever he wished. And at thi fresh occurrence of this hardship, Carl's tears commenced to flo' again. " Dear me /" chirped the old gentleman, " you are a ii\ chap. But stop all that blubbering, for you are flooding yoa nice white collar, and I'll see if I can't do something for yoi So saying, the old man knelt down in the grass and unfe tened the pack, while Carl crept close up and gazed with ey: bigger than ever. )o Irtl pv IS it He LITTLE CARL AND THE BLUE CAP. 121 There were so many odd things in that pack ! A funny black stick ; two or three big gold watches that didn't tick ; a stuffed cat with immense staring glass eyes, that frightened Carl almost out of his senses ; a pair of blue stockings with tassels to them ; a big sharp knife ; a piece of plaited rope done up in a coil ; a black mask, a lantern, an old and battered silver mug, some biscuits, some corned-beef, a silver flask with ' fisherman's delight ' engraved on it, and a yellow purse tied with green ribbons, And down in one corner was a tiny cap of blue with a tassel, which the old man took out. "Now, little Kiver-on-feet," exclaimed the old man, "I will I give you this blue cap. Till I take it from you again, you can change from whatever you are into anything you wish, from a Ihole in the ground to a cramp in the stomach of royalty. And I [wish you fun. Good afternoon, young Tandem-canal." Then the old fellow shouldered his pack and trotted off lown the road, pounding the ground with his dog-headed stick as ic went. As for Carl, he stood with his present in his hand, staring lifter the old man till the latter was out of sight Then he looked |it the blue cap. It was a nice cap, woven of blue wool of ever so many shades ; ind as Carl did not wear a cap or hat of any sort, he very soon the old gentleman's present on his head And very pretty it )oked there ; for Carl's curls were of the loveliest golden hue, id the blue harmonized wtth the gleaming hair perfectly. It [tted very snugly, too ; and Carl sat down and kept pulling it ^rther on his head, till it almost covered his ears and eyes. Just as he had got the cap thus far, and was struggling to pull [over his ears altogether^ a black beetle walked very solemnly on to right foot, fell down off it, and commenced climbing up the ler one. Carl stared at the beetle, and forgot all about the cap. " My ! " exclaimed Carl at last. " How I should like to be a itle and beat all the boys at climbing !" The words were scarcely uttered when Carl, blue eyes and cap, all vanished ; and in their place was a little insignificant imon black beetle falling over the ground ih a clumsy manner, other beetle who had been climbing over Carl's foot, was )wn to the ground when Carl was changed, and fell right ^r the newcomer. 122 LITTLE CARL AND THE BLUE CAP. u " Well," snapped the upset beetle, for he was terribly angry, you're a nice looking thing, ain't you ? where did you conic from ? I've a good mind to black your eyes for you !" And so saying the enraged beetle sparred up to the new beetle. " Oh dear !" cried Carl, for although he was a beetle he knew he was Carl. " What tvill I do ? I am very sorry I wished to h a beetle !" And just then the other beetle — who was quite boiliru over with rage by this time — hit Carl a ,hard blow and knocked him over. "Oh, don't, please !" howled Carl. " Oh, how I wish I was a — a worm, that I might crawl away into the ground !" As he said this Carl felt himself change into a worm, and he disappeared into the ground as fast as he could; to the intense surprise and disgust of the fighting beetle, who couldn't imagine for the life of him where the new chap had gone to. But very soon Carl got tired of staying under ground ; so ou he came into the sunlight and crawled along through the grass ari on to the road — a very green worm, indeed. He was soon spied by a smart little red-breast, who was ho[ ping on the road near by ; and who pounced upon the poor wore and carried him into a tree where her nest was. "Oh," said Carl, " how I wish I was not a worm. I willkl eaten up by these hungry young robins, and then there'll be end of me ! I want to be a beetle again !" At this moment Mrs. Robin Redbreast, wishing to speak the youngsters, let the unfortunate worm drop from her beak ; an Carl found himself transformed into a beetle once more. *■ Graq ous ! How the young robins, who had no feathers on, screame; when a great, hulking, clumsy beetle fell among them. But tt| great, hulking, clumsy beetle quickly struggled to the edge of ttj nest, and toppled over on to the ground. " Oh ! oh ! oh ! " groaned Carl, as soon as he recovery from the fall, which had shaken him considerably. " It ai: very pleasant being a beetle or a worm ! and — oh dear! here that terrible robin coming at me again ! What shall I — I want: be a — a field rat ! " Now, when Mrs. Redbreast came flying down to the tni:| of the tree at the audacious insect who had been so obtrusive^ to enter her nest, she was very much startled at seeing there great ugly field rat, that sat and blinked at her, and seemed v; frightened itself. p. LITTLE CAUL AND THE BLUE CAP. 123 terribly angry. iid you come ou !"' And so etle. beetle be knt wished to L as quite boilir. ar\d knockec w I wish I wa nd 1" L worm, andl to the intense! ;ouldn't imagine ;o. • ground ; so c: iigh the grass arcj St, who was ho; m the poor wore worm. I willbcf n there'll be hing to speak ;] Dm her beak ; arJ :e more. ' ^^'^\ ers on, screame^ I them. But tj^: to the edge oft' I as he recoverel erably. " It ai: -oh dear! here shall I— I want: down to the trc^^ 2en so obtrusive; I at seeing there ;r, and seemed v; So she flew screaming back to her young ones, very indignant, you may believe ; and Carl was just congratulating himself on having scared away the enemy, when he nearly tumbled head over heels with fright at the fierce bark of a big dog, who came tearing down over the grass at him. Tremendously fierce and blood thirsty the dog looked, and very shaky and panic-stricken Carl felt. And then Carl saw that the big dog was Jack, his father's hound ; and so he squeaked 'Jack! Jack! it's me — Carl.' But of course the big hound didn't understand rat language. However, Carl had enough rat- sense to go bounding over the field, with Jack tearing after him, barking and yelping in a way that would have scared the bravest rat. " Oh ! " squeaked Carl, as he tore along under a fence and into a field full of thistles ; '' how foolish I was, wanting to be a rat. Rats have an cwful time. I am nearly out of breath ; and ; that Jack, if he catches me, will crunch me up at one bite. What jean I change myself to ? I want to be a — thistle — anything ! " You may be sure that that great angry dog was struck [dumb to see the rat he was just on the point of seizing between [his gleaming teeth, disappear right before his eyes. He snuffed md snarled, and snarled and snuffed ; but no, he could not find that rat ; while Carl changed into a thistle, smiled and felt quite safe. So the big dog feeling very disgusted and dazed, went iway. "This is very comfortable," murmured Carl to himself [* One is clothed in a good suit of armor ; and I, being a tall thistle, m see quite far. It is nice to be a thistle." Presently he heard two thistles behind him talking, and so je listened. One of them was a tallish, elegnnt thistle, while the ^ther was short and dumpy. " I suppose you know that we are to be cut down this after- noon," said the short thistle in a gloomy voice. " Yes," answered the big thistle with a melancholy inclina- [on of his stately head, "we all have to go. Farmer Brown has ?orn to clean us out. He and his so; John will be here soon, ^e have not long to live, brother !" When Carl heard this, he felt more frightened than ever he id before ; and looking up and over the field at the moment he lied two men coming toward him, each of them carrying a 124 LITTLE CARL AND THE BLUE CAP. " Here comes the farmer, ar?d his son !" cried the tall thistle. " Now sa wed-off, we have to go !" Upon this, Carl became very desperate, for the men were close upon him now, and he could see the sunlight gleaming upon the newly sharpened blades of their hoes. He was so very- flustered and frightened, that he forgot all about his wishing power at first, but he suddenly remembered it. " Oh !" exclaimed he, "I want to be a flower in Captain Big- wig's garden !" When the two thistles saw their tall brother disappear like a flash from before them, they were thunder-struck ; but they hadn't much time to wonder, for soon Farmer Brown cut them down with his sharp hoe. Meanwhile, Carl found himself transformed into a bright red flower in Captain Bigwig's garden, near the roadside. Now, the Captain's house was about two miles away from where Carl lived ; and Carl had often been to the fine place, and had admired the grand house and the splendid garden. So <. arl, now that he was changed into a gorgeous flower, felt fairly well satisfied with himself, and tossed his head and gave himself airs ; much to the disgust of the other flowers near him. Presently an old man came along the road and stood at the hedge and looked over it into the garden ; and Carl looked at ///;;/ and saw that it was the funny little old man who had given him the blue cap. " My ! my !" cried Carl, " there is the funny little old man with the pack !" And he called out to the old man. But of course the old man did not hear him, for Carl was only a silly, vain flower. Soon the old man — after looking shrewdly 'round as if to make sure that there was no one about — opened the gate and came into the garden. He stopped directly in front of the bed where Carl was, and he removed his pack and took out the big knife Carl had seen before. And then he stooped and cut — one— two — three of the beautiful flowers that grew right alongside of Carl. " Dear ! dear ! " thought Carl feeling extremely ill at ease : " he surely doesn't intend to cut me ! " But that was just what the old man intended doing ; for he stooped down once more and extended his hand. " Oh ! " cried Carl, " I wish I was not a flower at all ! I want to be only little Carl again ! " LITTLE CARL AhD THE BLUE CAP. 125 Wasn't it queer ! There was Carl standing in the garden path with the little blue cap on his head, rubbing his eyes and feeling very odd, indeed. And there was the old man standing in front of him, grinning from ear to ear. g € "Well, Waterworks," said the old gentleman, briskly, " here you are, eh ? And what sort of a time have you had ? " So Carl told the old man his adventures, and gave him back the blue cap. And then he ran all the way home, never looking back at the old man ; who stood at Captain Bigwig's gate, laugh- ing and grinning as he put the little blue cap into his rusty old pack. Carl got home just in time for supper, but he said nothing about the old man or the cap ; and he was very quiet that evening, and went to bed early. And he was never afterwards heard to express a wish to be anything but Carl. tie old man Dr Carl was "nS----, -.C'/, ^-<<^3B»» ill at ease: THE EARL'S REVENGE. CHAPTER I. NE drear and yellow-headed afternoon in November, the Earl of Plumdufif stood in his gorgeous drawing-room wit!;! his patrician nose flattened in a degage manner againsj the glass, looking out upon the noble expanse of elnij girt lawn, that rolled for several acres down to the homely log fence bordering Pat Murphy's modest plot. Plumduff was a real Canadian earl, having inherited his titkj from his grandfather ; who was an earl-y settler, and sold chew! ing tobacco and suspenders in a one-horse store, and amasse:| a fortune. (For further particulars about the lawn, shrubben and statues, etcetera, etcetera ; and the noble earl's nose ar. pants-of-arms, see " Divided Hearts, or the Porous Bridegroon\ by the author of" Dora's Corn.") The talented and versatile author of " Dora's Corn " h: omitted, however, to say anything about the wart on the port su — that is, either side — of the Earl's nose ; or the color of the latter | whi:h was sufficient, by the way, to flag a train. Warts, though, do not amalgamate with lions couchant c;] mortgages rampant — at least, not in ?ioble romances. There waif a heavy mortgage (approximate heft, two thousand ;£) on the lawn before alluded to, which the author of Dora's affliction ha:| also left out. Well, the Earl kept on squeezing his old nose against theba) window, breathing hard, Presently there was a cr-a-a--sh ! The glass had broken ! You see, even an Earl can have a strongwaji of breathing. Altho', of course, such vulgar things are delicate!v| excluded from the select pages of such natural stories as " Lore Lovell's Leg-acy ; " " Fifteen Billion a Year ; " and the like. TUK EARL'S RKVESGE, 127 herited his title and sold chew L and amassecj iwn, shrubbery,! carl's nose anq 3 Bridegroom, ra's Corn " ha^j )n the port su orof the latter I Ins couchantcp. Is. There wa^? ind £) on thc^ 's affliction ha-^ I against the ba^ |-a-a--sh! Th /e a strong-\\s are delicat« jries as (( Lor. Id the like. After the Earl had puttied up the broken pane, he sat down [to the luxurious meal his obsequious butler placed before him. But he could not eat. How could he, when there was noth- ing but plate and glass ? Besides, he had just had enough of plate- ^lass. Even coroneted persons have human appetites, you mow. Tho' why it should be unnatural for them to /uur natural ippetites seems somewhat unnatural (For a brilliant, scintillating description of the ancestral hand- le-down-father-to-son plate and cutlery of the Earl's establish- icnt, see " Sixty Guineas a Yard,'' by the author of " The Queen's )iamonds — in pawn.") Suddenly the P^arl was interrujited in his surreptitious gnaw- igs m the pantry by the noise of a carriage dashing up the ravelled walk ; and an instant later a tall footman — about five feet |ve tall — dressed in the splendid livery of the house of IMumduff, (an [id shooting coat of the Earl's, with a coronet sewed on the left ippel, and a pair of corduroy pants bought cheap from the butcher |y the shrewd Earl ; ) this tall footman, we say, after didiberately \crdin^ a quid of tobacco in his hip pockety announced : — " My Lady"; my Lord Fishball !" (For a description of the house, furniture, picture gallery — le latter containing portraits of leading Canadian statesmen, and ^e Earl's haughty ancestor, in a red flannel shirt and with a pick his hand; my lady's boudoir, my Lord Fishball's hyperion curls id disti7i^uc features, see " Pumps and Swallow-tail,'' page 47. »xt the picture.) CHAPTER, n. ''^Remember thee ! remember thee ! Till Lethe quench life's burning s ream ; Your neivjalse teeth you raved about ^ That formed the subject of your dreamt -Byron. F course there is nothing about false teeth in the narrative. How could there be ? Disgusting I But I am only stick- ing pertinaciously to the style of " Sword and Pimple ;" " Twelve Hundred Titles," etcetera. Lord Fishball spent two very pleasant weeks at Castle Plum- (mansard roof castle — new style ) shooting upon the moor ; e generally put John Thomas's hat up on a stump whenever 128 THE EARL'S REVENGE. he wanted anything /ive to shoot at ; or flirting recklessly with I fair cousin, the Earl's wife. When he couldn't get enough to eat at the castle, or four, that mutton cooked for the fourth time didn't go hand-in-hac: with his alimentary system, he would stroll down to the village i and have a meal there ; telling the landlord to * chawge it u:| y'know ' to the Earl of Plumduff. But generally the landlor couldn't see it in that way. So that really Lord Fishball's vi; cost him more than living high at the free lunch counters in tori would have done. | " PlumdufFs brow is dark as Erbilis this mornin'," said t-^*^ 'm sha: butler to the cook ; " an' wots the cors, I don't know It's quite ineligible to me." " The cors is M/V, Mr. Larder," hissed the cook " Lo Fishball is makin' desprit love to our master's wife, an' I've 'im." " Great Scott ! " said Mr. Larder, " is that all ?" " And 'es goin' to 'ave 'is revenge ! " said the cook again. Yes, the Earl of Plumdufif was determined on revenge. Heh been insulted ; perfidy and dishonor had been thrust in his te (He had twenty-one bills for those same teeth in his private dressi: case, of which Larder had the key. You see, I had to men: false teeth after all, so Byron's poetry is all right.) So he was lay; low for a ter — r — ible revenge, and was laying his plans about ; same time. One beautiful evening in September (see almanacs) countess received a large box of boots. They had been sent a friend, ' the boy who brought them, said ; and she was to : them on and keep whichever pair she liked best. The countess sat down in the hall near the base-burner a. tried a pair on ; while the polite boy turned his back, and be: chipping the family arms off the hat-rack with his pen-knife. No one saw tl- .it dark ' sinister face ' with its gleaming, b: ful eyes at the top of the stairs! (See "The Maid of the I: bustle," page 76), The countess had a number six foot, but she thought it- a three. So, of course, she at first tried on a pair of ones ; ti;| twos, and then getting gradually vicious, she jammed her toes a number 4 in a way that made the pale face on the lobby sm When she came to number six, the countess was furi. with defeated feminine pride ; and she just laid herself back rammed that old foot of hers THE EARVS REVENOE. 129 :klessly with \\ \ 1 castle, or four) TO hand-in-haj !o the village id ' chawge it d lly the landlorj 3 Fishball's vkl counters in to» lornin'," said : know 'm sha'j le cook "Lo:| vife, an' I've all?" [le cook again. 1 revenge. Hed thrust in his teed his private dress:! [ had to men; So he was lay: lis plans about :; ee almanacs) :; had been sent nd she was to : base-burner back, and be:. is pen-knife. its gleaming, bi Maid of the I: she thought it; pair of ones ; U fimed her toes i In the lobby sir^ [ntess was furil , herself back | Crash ! Bang ! There will be a bill for those other boots fm Crescentplate and Toesqueezer'a ; but no coffin will be re- |ired for, the boy. The Earl had accomplished his direful revenge. He had put dynamite in the toe of boot number six^ right foot f N. B. — Some readers will doubtless think there is a slight dis- ^pancy in commencing this story m November and about two iks later making his characters enjoy the balmy air of Septem- But how on earth could an author ring in his fine descrip- )s if he did'nt take a few liberties with the almanac ? That's It the almanac does with the weather, anyway. HMUHiia TOMMY DODD'S CHRISTMAS DEBT. E had sat and i)ondered over it a long time, and now hi- ^1 ili^ mind was made up ; little liaur.i should have that covete ^^flT sled at afiy cost. ^^^^^ But how was he to manage it ? The sled w; i marked upon the back in big, skeleton letters of chalk $1.50 and to his imagination they seemed to grin at him mockinglvj 'J'he price was unchangeable ; Mr. Sharpc, the storekeeper, had a.-} sured him ot that ; and Tommy had only fifty cents. A doila.) more was needed. Tommy had worked the sum out upcJ his slate a hundred times, and the result was invariably the sanil — one dollar. One dollar ! It seemed a vast, unattainable fortunif to Tommy Dodd just now. It was Christmas Eve, and Tommy's mother was puttirJ little Laura to bed. The sun had set two hours ago in an oraini ous, gloomy sky of angry gray, that boded a storm ; and even ncj a few flakes flickered silently down, but speaking quite a tale Tommy Dodd, who watched them very closely. **Do you think Santa Claus will bring the sled. Tommy ?" sq Laura from her cot. " Yoii said he would, you know, but manj ma says he won't come this year." And the little girl sighed anxf ously. " He'll come all right, sissy, never fear," returned Tommy qi confidently, though he wondered at his own temerity. But \\\ Laura, satisfied, went to sleep, his mother said : " I wish you wouldn't put foolish ideas and hopes into yci sister's head, Tom. You know your father has only money enoJ to buy the food he has gone to the town for. And then Laci will be unhappy all day." Tommy said nothing ; but a little later, under a pretext meeting his father in the lane, he left the cottage, and five mino:i afterwards he was tramping on the high-road to the town, N miles off, with his treasured half-dollar deep and safe in his trousejj pocket. TOMMY nODD'S CHRISTMAS DEBT. 131 " I don't see why I can't strike a job or two, like Billy Ranee did last Christmas," mused Tommy as he neaied t'le town. " At any rate I'm goin' to try." He passed Skinnum's,the grocer's, with its windows brilliantly lighted, displaying wreaths of evergreens, with red berries peeping brightly here and there ; and he stopped for a moment to gaze at the wealth of raisins and peel and oranges, and a hundred other I delicious things. Looking into the shop he saw his father, a bent, tired looking man, at the counter making his scant purchases. *' It won't do fer ///>// t' see me," said Tommy to himself, [as he slid into the shadow ; "cos, if he does, it'll mean carryin' [home them parcels, an' then 't '11 be all u. p. with the sled." Presently he came opposite to Soakey's, the saloonist's. There iras a jovial crowd inside the gorgeously lighted place, with the lundred and more glasses and bottles scintillating and sparkling a perfectly bewildering manner. Bursts ot merry laughter came 6very moment to the ill-clad lit'.le boy, as he stood irresolute and )ondering outside. " I don't see why it wouldn't work," soliloquized young Dodd he withdrew his face from the big window. " Soakey hain't got boy just now, and he's sure to have lots of parcels to deliver on 'hristmas eve. 1*11 make a break for it, anyway." And he walked lowly but determinedly toward the door. Just then the latter opened, and a young, rosy-faced man pepped out to the road to quiet a pair of fretful, spirited horses, Jat stood by harnessed to a light cutter. It was young Robins, le son ot the richest man in the township. Robins caught sight of Tommy. "Hello, kid !" he ! d merrily, "what are you standing out ire for? Cor.je 'risio.i und get warm, and set 'em up !" '"Set 'eui '^v\"' echoed Tommy mentally, as he followed ^ung Robins up 'o '.he bar. " That means sfand treat ! " " Here's a yrning man, with his pockc^ ". ■' of money, who Its to treat the crowd," said Robins ; and the crowd all laughed cheered lust'ly. Selfishness was a thing not kin to Tonr.my's nature, but he led a trifle pale. Surely they wouldn't 'nake him spend his ley ! " Come on, fork out, 1'horaas," cried Robins. " How much got? Half-a-dollar,' eh ? '■ 5,s the big coin was solemnly laid p the counter with Tomruy's sr-.all hand still upon it ; while 132 TOMMY DODD'S CHRISTMAS DEBT. its owner's face was turned appealingly to the crowd of rougii grinning men, who seemed to enjoy the affair immensely. " Just 'nuff, Tom," said Bob Brass, the grocer's boy. " There! ten of us. Set *em up, Soakev, an' give the kid a hot leminil nade." The " kid " let the steaming " lemingnade " stand befoJ him ; and as the men raised their glasses to their lips and exclairaej with a laugh, " Here's to yer, Tommy," he said, quietly : I " No, not to me. To little Laura." I The men set down their glasses. I " To — to w^o ? " demanded Mr. Soakey, with a knowij wink at the crowd. | " To little Laura," said Tommy, looking solemnly at trJ bartender. " She's my sister, y'know. She thinks Santa Clausl comin' to our place sure^ to-night, with a big sled down there g Sharpe's door, that's a dollar 'n a half That money was to hel buy it : cos, you see, I told Laura she'd be cert'r : ^ get it. BuM continued Tommy slowly — and the room w 'j:d live beenp™ fectly silent but for his voice, for all the men 'vere inlensej interested, — " I —don't — see — how — I'm — to — get it, unless-^ unless you can give me a job, Mr. Soakey. That's what I cacl\^ here fer ; nof to drink ! " There was ten seconds of continued silence on the ])ar; the crowd, and then came a cheer that echoed clear across :; street. When it had subsided, young Robins said : " Well done, kid. You didn't think we meant to take y: money, though, did you ? Let's have a glass, Soakey, and : ,,; something in it to start the collection." ^ The schooner went round, and when it was handed to To:j^ it was freighted with over $4 in shining quarters and halv?- ttf jingled merrily against the glass. Tommy emptied th'; ''''^ vT"^ out upon the counter. U S " It — ain't — all — fer — me — is it ? " he gasped. ||li ** Of course it is," said Robins. " And give the boy anoti" " hot lemonade, Soakey, and let him go." Tommy tried to thank his benefactor, but his voice fai; and his eyes were filled with happy tears. So he made tiic of his way to the street. Half an hour lal ^r he was outside the town, with a big eel under his arm, and pulling the long, handsome sled ben::^ him. ^BT. TOMMY DODD'S CHRISTMAS DEBT. 133 crowd of roug mensely. sboy. "There! i a hot lerain;! e" stand befoj ps and exclair;.::^ quietly : "' vith a knowit; solemnly at irj iks Santa Clause id down there: loney was to he ^. : ^ get it. Bui| V'uve beenpe 'vere inlensel it, unless^ at's what I caD ■j. ?et on the par; clear across .. id: ant to takey: Soakey, and ' landed to T and halv^ )tied th'; ;d. |e the boy anotf; his voice fai! made tiiC t with a big \ )me sled bel. It was snowing heavily, and the night was pitch dark, very little while he slid ofif into the ditch, but his happy, buoyant irits brought him quickly to the road again. The snow was half a foot deep now, and the sled pulled leavily through it. Suddenly there was a rush and confused roar behind him, ingled with the loud jingling of sleigh bells. Tommy partly tumb- d to one side, and not a moment too soon. A pair of runaway orses dashed by him, the driver giving a feeble yell as he sped y. In another moment horses and driver had vanished in the lackness. " That's Robins," said Tommy with a nervous shiver as he ew his breath and started after the runaway. He didn't walk lOw, but found himself trotting as well as he could through the eavy snow ; and finally he broke into a wild, plowing run. Suddenly he stumbled against something that lay on the ge of the road, just at a point where the bush ended, and here the fierce north-west wind had swept the circling snow into drift three feet high. The cutter had tilted and spilled its driver re. But cutter and horses had vanished. Tommy knelt down and shook the motionless form ; but he t only an inarticulate grunt in reply. " Drunk," said Tommy. Then he stood up and listened tentively, hoping to hear the sleigh-bells of some home-returning eler. But only the" swis/i of the wind as it dashed the snoV in s face answered his unspoken and anxious inquiry. " One, two, three, heave !" said Tommy, as he dragged the avy form of the man upon little Laura's Christmas present. One re big effort, and he had him on. If it was hard pulling before, what was it now ? Poor Tommy de very slow progress, stopping every short while to gather ath and strength ; while the snow came down heavier, and the blew wilder than ever. His father's cottage wan the nearest ce, and that was a mile away. Still he trudged on, often com- to his knees ; but as often he rose, borne up, like Horatius, y the brave heart within." Suddenly Tommy made an appalling discovery that chilled a hundred times more than the bitter wind. He was off the d! He dared not leave his burden to try and find the track ; but turned, as he thought, directly back with his load, hoping to e upon the road again. TOMMY DODiyS CHRISTMAS DEBT. Poor boy ! He did not know that the road, as he turnei was just behind him, and that he was leaving it at every hear tired step he took. He was nearly done out now. His ill-clad feet and barj hands were bitingly cold, and the snow had worked under trousers up to his knees. Almost every second moment he stucl bled, and once his burden slid off the sled and he had terribl work getting the unconscious man on again. He became very sleepy, too. He tried hard to keep up, bs flesh and blood were beaten, and he sank down completely eij hausted. He lay beside Robins, his parcel of little purchas clasped under one arm, and his head resting upon his sleeve. Was that a shout ! But he was too tired and sleepy to rais^ his head. How snug he felt ! And how sleepy ! * if Surely that was a shout, very faint, but repeated, soundi: louder and nearer. One voice, two, three — a dozen of thee He need have no care now ! Wouldn't little Laura laugh ai clap her tiny hands when she saw him. And the sled — But what had come over the sled ! It seemed to [JiarS wings and to be travelling through the air like the fame wooden horse in the fairy tale, above the snow, and he upon Yet all the time the voices continued beside him, that sounded his dreamy brain like the hum of bees. Suddenly the air grew wonderfully bright and warm, a: Tommy opened his eyes to find himself — at home ! When Tommy's father and a party of men, with lanterns I looked like so many winter fire-flies glimmering here and tlifj over the vast field of white, came to where Tommy lay, ttj placed the lad upon the sled ; and covering him with a warm ca coat, shouldered Tommy, sled and coon coat, and carried the I home that way. Robins was saved, too, though his life was despaired of fe short time ; and in respect for the brave little lad who enduredj u ch to save a drunkard's life, he swore never to touch liqi( again ; an oath he has not since broken. TOMMY DODiyS CHRISTMAS DEBT. 135 That was ten years ago ; little Laura was 6 years old then, id if you know your addition and add six and ten together, you In get what is considered a very delightful age when a pretty girl [concerned. Anyway, that's what Robins thinks, who is going to marry lura — no longer" little," but a tall, beautiful, modest young lady khis Christmas eve. with lanterns *4 ig here and t!it| Tommy lay, tf with a warm cc| Ind carried thebi w^msmm MISS CHIPPY'S LITTLE GAME. jOST certainly, it was ^oo bad. Everybody was unan: ous upon that point. There had been seven incuj bents since the inauguration of Bibbleby Parish, a: Miss Chippy hadn't even succeeded in making a |>| ceptible impression. True, the other marriageable young ladies Bibbleby hadn't done any better themselves, but they all aved that their aspirations were not in that vein. And Miss Chippy > candid ; she had been heard to say that she would marry anykl It was true that Mrs. Mugwump, the doctor's wife, said tb Dulcinea Chippy had made an impression on the Revd. Cal: "^/les, the fourth incumbent; but it was one — as Mrs. M. only:| well indicated by her particular emphasis upon and expression] the word — not of the order of tender sentiment it was Sunday morning, and the new divine came out of i church and stood upon the door-step in the bright April sunshi: The Reverend James Pullman blinked his eyes in a satisfied 5| of way as he paused, key in hand, to congratulate himself u[| the evidently favorable impression his sermon had made upon: majority of his congregation. But his self-gratulations in this 1 spect were transitory; for his eye at the moment caught the viii of a pretty female figure down the lane, a quarter of a mile acl Dear Miss Dasher ! The Revd. James had been at Bibbll only two months ; but the least interested had ere now obsen| the evident emotion the charming Miss Dasher had created] their clergyman. The gentleman was so absorbed in his fancies that he did i notice a second female figure which came hurrying up the patl^^f his right ; and which paused abruptly by the step, as if surprii at the lingering presence of the ecclesiastic It was Miss Chitj She was a tallish young woman with an abundance of ' slJ colored ' hair, as Mrs. Mugwump charitably expressed it. figure was trim, tho' angular ; and her expression was generaii sort of ever-acquiescent smile, for Miss Chippy seldom disagrf| orally with anyone — that is anyone of consequence ; bein; nature a good deal of a parasite. MISS CHIPPY'S LITTLE GAME. 137 GAME. ybody was unanb been seven incEJ 3bleby Parish, d in making a \ tble young ladies| It they all aver- .d Miss Chippy^ uld marry anybc; tor's wife, said t: the Revd. Ca. IS Mrs. M. only;.^ 1 and expression ■4 ne came out of : ight April sunsb:^ ; in a satisfied il'^ ilate himself u; f had mad€ upon: :ulations in this it caught thevii" Iter of a mile m id been at Bibbk ere now obsen had created Icies that he did: ;ing up the patr. [step, as if surpr: was Miss Chit: Lundance of ' sK Ixpressed it. )n was general seldom disagit; [sequence ; bein;j Mr. Pullman, I was , And that allusion to " Vou here, Mr. Pullman !" exclaimed Miss Chippy with ^tremendous astonishment, as she advanced a very neat and white and. Miss Chippy prided herself on her hands. And once at he * Patched Pants Bazaar ' when Mrs. Mugwump was having her fortune' told through the lines upon herhand, by Mr.Doodledoo, he Sunday School librarian (disguised under the swarthy complex- n of an Arabian seer) Miss Chippy had artlessly laid her delicate ngers upon Mrs. M.'s palm, and said in a deprecating way that he was ^so sorry she couldn't indulge in such an extensive horos- ope as dear Mrs. Mugwump.' And Mrs. Mugwump — whose and was about as shapely and as large as a young ham, and bout the same color — had never forgiven Miss Chippy. " You here ?" repeated Miss Chippy. "How fortunate I am! left my hymn-book inside the church. I am so careless and ab- itracted sometimes. But then you know, hinking of that delightful sermon of yours me people coming to church merely to display their bodily idornments: I am sure, at /east poor Mrs. Mugwump will be bene- ted." Mrs. Mugwump, by the way, had only that morning intro- uced her new spring bonnet — a gorgeous affair of dazzling colors to the gaze of the Bibbleites ; who had viewed it with mingle 142 MISS CHIPPY'S LITTLE GAME. "Thunder ! What do they mean by sending me a liver pad ?' And why had Miss Chippy displayed such ent>otion at the sight of a liver pad ? It is not such an awful looking affair, You can pat it, and it will not bite. In fact, I do not think it will even growl. And why did the Reverend Pullman give utterance to such a fearful expression at the display of a similar articl' Well, here's the whole story. And if I havn't k ^ . the entire thing just about as mysterious as the construction, to say nothing of the contents, of a liver pad, then may I never wear one. When Miss Dasher visited the Epsom & White establish ment, she ordered a liver pad, but did not mention to the astute Mr. Lamb the fact that the article was for the express personal benefit of her papa's constitution ; and Mr. Lamb con sidered he was at perfect liberty to suppose that Miss Dasher wanted it herself. Well, Mr. Lamb had told his Mary of Miss Belle Dasher's ordering a I — r p — d, thinking it an excellent joke ; and immediately the equally garrulous Mary, as the reader knows, had trotted to her mistress with the story. The sentimental and yet practically conte Uive Miss Chippy was struck with the idea that if dear Mr. Puiiman could only know that his idol, the blooming Miss Dasher, wore a 1— r; p — d, all affection would at once be stifled in his breast for that young lady. So after securing Mr. Lamb's promise of strict secrecy. Miss Chippy acquainted that young man with her * practical joke ' ; the i plan of which was simply that he should send a box of perfume addressed to Mr. Pullman to Miss Dasher, and a 1 — r p— d| addressed to Miss Dasher, to the clergyman ; and then repair with^ due speed the next morning to the respective houses, taking care I to state to the clergyman that a certain article — giving the nam~\ intended for a Miss Dasher had been left by mistake with him: and that his own etc. Miss C. with her busy brain now worked up to high thinkinjl pitch,strove to imagine the disappointment and horror of the digniti ed gentleman as he conjured up his beautiful, charming Belle consorting with a low, vile 1 r p d. And already visions of those large pocket-handkerchiefs which bear pictures of hea i MISS cnirpv's little game. ua liver pad?" ♦ :ion at the affair, You it will even [ice to such ^ , the entire say nothing one. e establish tion to the r the express . Lamb con Miss Dasher elle Dasher's t joke ; and :r knows, had \tive Miss iiiman could wore a 1— r reast for that secrecy, Miss al joke ' ; the of perfume a I— r p-;(i| en repair wit'n | taking care I ng the Jiamc-]^ ake with hinv, high thinking I .-ofthedigniii- harming Belle ilready visions Lctures of heal then life upon their borders, representing happy-faced canniKals and the like arrayed in all the limited area and glory of a shirt- button and a celluloid collar, floated in Miss Chippy's imagination. But in his zeal, alas ! for tiie successful culmination of these unchristian machinations, Mr. Lamb over-reached himself. Being net particularly original by nature, and on striving to rehearse in detail the plan of Miss Chippy, with all those little unnecessary embellishments of a woman m her construction of any scheme, ho became terribly entangled. Mr. Lamb was not sure whether he was to send Miss Dasher or Miss Chippy the parcel ; and so wiih a display of quite original but/fz/^/ originality, he determined to send each of the three ))ersons concerned a parcel ; and the adoption of this brilliant course together with a somewhat erratic distribution of parcels generally by the delivery boy — who was also in the plot — led to this : The clergyman got a 1 — r p — d ; Miss Chippy got a I — r p — d ; and Miss Dasher got a box of excellent perfumery at the expense of her self-made and unsuccessful rival. Miss Dulcinea Chippy. That lady, in a blind and silent fury, went headlong to the establishment of Epsom & White, and asked upon what authority they had sent her — and she dumped over the parcel. Now Mr. Lamb, who was within ear-shot, had perception sufficient to see that a total disclosure would be as fatal to Miss Chippy's moral reputation as it would be to Miss Dasher's physical reputation ; and so he managed to draw the lady aside, and philosophically enough showed what the result of an investigation would be. And Miss C, bottling up her wrath and discomfiture, departed with the assurance of the firm that it was a most latrocious blunder. She was scarce gone when the Reverend Mr. Pullman [entered with a parcel under his arm, and desired of Mr. Epsom jto know if the firm was advertising liver pads ; assuring the istonished and now utterly confounded senior partner that his :onstitution did not stand in urgent need of any such tonic. Mr. Pullman was soon pacified, taking the assurance that ^here had been a complete blunder committed, as reason sufficient, md went away smiling. But he was considerably surprised when, )n a visit to the Dasher mansion on his way home, he was greeted nth an outburst of thanks for his ' lovely present of perfume ! ' Towever, he of course made no mention of the affair he had iceived, merely stating that he had not sent the perfume. 144 MISS CHIPPY'S LITTLE GAME. Mr. Pullman's visit to the store was not long afterward follow- ed by one from Miss Dasher, who marched up with parcel number 3 ; and a cold shiver ran through the frame of Mr. Epsom as she asked if a mistake had not been made in sending her a package of perfumery, and also askmg why that 1 — r p — d for Mr. Dasher had not been delivered, as promised, on the previous evening. The firm now getting a slight idea of the mixed state of af- fairs, traced the matter ; and discovering that the perfume had been purchased by Miss Chippy to be sent to the Rev'd. James Pullman of Bibbleby, packed it off without delay to that gentleman. Miss Dasher's papa received his concentrated essence of tonic with all possible expedience also ; and Mr. Pullman thought he could not do less than acknowledge, a//er the sennce^ Miss Chippy's present. But the consequent delight of that lady was short-lived; for a few days following the Bibbleby folk were permitted to en- large upon the report that their pastor was engaged to Miss Dasher, whose mamma had told it in strict secrecy toMrs.Bargo,who had re- peated it under the injunction of the greatest secrecy to Mrs. Mugwump, who had — but doesn't everybody know how far a secret will travel in a small place ? The greater the secret the greater the circulation. But to old Epsom there has always been a certain degree of mystery surrounding that second 1 r p — d. THE PHANTOM PARTNER. /^J^^OHN GRILL threw the paper nervously upon the table,and \Ja leaned slowly back in his padded arm chair with an empty laugh. Why should that name come up before him to taunt him with the past just when he had forgotten its ex- istence ? There it lay in the broad, ineradicable glare of print before him, and he could not blot it out. He might shut his eyes and purse up the lids, but the name floated there in big blood-red filmy letters against a background of undecided black — John Brown ! A plain name, but plain, unfortunately, in more than sound. But why should it cause him any uneasiness of conscience ? It was doubtless the name of some other 7nan who had been in the accident. There were dozens of John Browns in the world. His John Brown must be dead long years ere this. Well suppose it was the same man ; what of it ? What had he done to the man that was other than fair, except John Grill, Esq., bit his lip and tried to stir himself, but he could not move, and sank back, glaring at the opposite wall. There, in his beautiful office with its thousand and one expensive luxuries, its rich carpet, its handsome desk and chairs, its rugs and pictures and carved grate, surrounded by all the comforts that money could buy, he could not drive away the memory of twenty years. A hundred figures were beckoning and shaking their fingers at him, and mocking him. The clock ticked on and on. It was long past the hour when he was accustomed to lock his office door and march home to dinner at his handsome house on the avenue, but John Grill never stirred. He sat there with his eyes fixed (.n vacancy, his hands clutching the arms of his chair. The ::,jirits of the flames of the fire leaped upon the wall in rare [gleami, of light and shadow and weird shapes ; and fell and rose 10 146 THE PHANTOM PARTNER. again, dancing high upor, the flowered pattern, and glistening in the broad panes of the glass doors of the book-case. There was a warm softness tinting the air that seemed made only for reveries and fancies fitting to a poet or a dreamer, but not to a bustl ing, active man of business. Grill was no poet, no dreamer, but yet he sat there and glowered at the leaping shadows before him and never moved so much as a finger. He seemed to have ceased to breathe, even. John Brown ! John Brown ! Yes, he remembered John Brown. He remembered that they started into business together confident, so they had said, of each other. He remembered how they two had been Damon and Pythias to e; ' other at school and then inseparable after college, resolving to &. ^rt as partners in the fight for position and wealth and power. He remembered that Brown had trusted everything to him as being the senior, even to the last cent of the few thousands left to him by his father. How he had trusted him ! Should he recall the rest ? He could not help himself. The dancing demon of seeming red on the flame-lit wall compelled him. Yes, he re membered that at the end of two years the partnership had been dissolved, and John Brown, who had trusted everything to him was penniless, and he John Grill, was — well, to-day he was — rich, they called it. He remembered John Brown going down into poverty step by step, with his beautiful young wife — unable to bear the reverse — losing her roses and spirit. That was twenty years ago. Brown had vanished long since. To where ? What was that ? A knock ? It sounded like one. The person evidently did not stand on ceremomy, for he came into the room without more ado, and the light of the flames revealed a wreck. He stood before the stout, well-fed man in the chair, a thin, pale, haggard being, tall and spectral, and with a certain awful fierceness in his gray eyes that made the pompous man in the chair quail. " I hope you remember me, John Grill," said the stranger in a voice that was a mere whisper, but with a degree of bitterness in it that made up for the deficiency in strength ; and John GrilFs blood ran chill through him. " 1 think you ought to if you try a little. How many years is it since you robbed me of my money,my wife of her rightful com forts, and my child of its bread ? How many since you professed THE PHANTOM PARTNER, 147 to be my brother, through any and every adversity? It is a good many, but it seems Hke yesterday to me . I have struggled here 10 say that I wish you to come with me for a short time. My child was killed in an accident to-day; an account of it is there in the paper. Perhaps you read the name. "Rut I have something that I would like you to see. You surely must be curious to view it for a man like you never does things by halves. Come." The figure strode to the door and John Grill arose this time, and followed like one in a dream. They went down the long steps and out of the building into the lighted street, down the main thoroughfare and away from it, into finally a part of the city that John Grill had never seen; through innumerable streets and a maze of houses,until they stop- ped before a miserable row of one-storied buildings, that seemed as if they wished to hide themselves from the public gaze and were shrinking away from it and the roadway. John Grill found himself in total darkness when he was ushered into the building by his shabby companion. The latter drew a match and lit the stub of a candle, that was set in a bottle which stood on a chair. The visitor found himself in a room possessed of more of the living than inanimate. A table with nothing on it, a few chairs and a lounge com- posed the furniture of the apartment. On the lounge lay a woman — what had once been a beautiful woman ; now a mere shadow, a second spectre, with large hollow eyes, and pale, thin cheeks and wasted hands. Her hair was very long, and black, and fell down about her face, making a startling contrast to her white skin. John Grill remembered her, altho' she was changed so. Remembered, too, how he had been a visitor at her house twenty years ago, and had spent many an evening listening to her won- derful voice as she sang to her husband and himself He wonder- ed vacantly how much she could sing now ; not a great deal, he mentally calculated. He recalled too, how he had been best man at her wedding. Good God ! he hoped she had forgotten him ! Three little children, poor, thin-limbed, thin-faced, big-eyed children, stood near the couch. Where were the others ? These were very young. And they looked so very hungry. Why didn't they cry? Ah ! they hadn't strength to do that. They had got beyond that stage. The sick woman put her hand before her face to shield her [eyes from the candle's light, meagre as that flame was, for it hurt 148 THE PHANTOM PARTNER, her eyes. Perhaps she looked at the visitor through her thin fingers. At any rate she turned her face away from him, and closed her eyes. The husband — the spectre — stooped and kissed her, and John Grill heard a sob. He felt choking himself. " Tears in your eyes, John Grill ! " murmured the spectre. " She is dying. The death of little Tommy, who was run over to-day, seems to have broken her heart finally. There were seven, you know. Just the three you see here, now. They'll miss her, little as she has been able to do for them these three years past." A mist seemed to come before the husband's eyes as he spoke. It floated into the air, and the room seemed filled with strange and varied murmuring sounds, like the rustling of strange wings and the whisper of strange yoices. The mist fell on John Grill's eyes, and he put out his hands. They were grasped by fingers that felt like those of Death, and fearful noises and cries were in his ears. Then an awful crashing and rending and roaring as if Heaven were falling to the earth. He tried to cry, and shake off the clammy clasp that held him powerless. He struggled to his feet, the chair falling back with a crash, and stood trembling. * * ♦ The office was quite dark, for the fire had burned low, and only a stray flame darted up out of the coals ; and then sank as if tired and fretful, back again. What was it that forced him to turn his head toward the door? He tried, he struggled hard to keep his gaze the other way, but he was powerless in this new magnetism. Slowly his head went round j and his dilated, staring eyes saw a vision at the door that froze his | blood. There stood the man >vhom he had robbed, and in his arn^' was the woman whose child that day had been run over by hisj own coachman. But she was dead. Her head fell back over the arm tha:j carried her, and her long, black hair trailed upon the rich rug inj the doorway. How white that face was ! But — God ! what an| expression was in the face of the man ! Murder ! Av ! Murder ! The spectral- faced shadow glided forward | with set teeth, the woman still over his arm. John Grill felt h self grasped by the throat. He tried to cry ; he sank back \vitl;| that terrible grip still upon him, and writhed and tossed his ariiiij about. He felt himself growing weaker every moment j the lont THE PHANTOM PARTNER. 149 1 her thin I him, and and kissed iiself. he spectre. ,s run over were seven, II miss her, years past." eyes as he filled with g of strange t his hands. Death, and 7ful crashing 3 the earth. It held him back with a led low, and hen sank as ird the door' : ;r way, but he ► .d went round that froze hb ' 1 in his ari^' over by his I the arm tha: s rich rug ir.. rod ! what anj rlided forward Grill felt hin;-^ ank backwit'r. »ssed his arml nent; the loni hair of the dead woman swept his face, and he sank forward with his arms thrown out before him. * * ■)«■ ' When the morning came and they burst open the office door, they found John Grill lying on the floor with his head resting upon the eds;e of the table and his fingers as if clutching some imagin- ary hand at his throat. His face was black, and the expression distorted and frightful ; and the little doctor who came in a while later said that John Grill had had a fit in his sleep, and that he had died in it. MILLY McCRAW'S ADVENTURE. j , ^^ ILLY McCRAW had wandered about for some time searching for the path leading to the farm-house ; and very frightened and tired and thirsty, in a little gully she at length sank down to wonder what would become of her. " Lost " she said to herself. " Lost, and just because I wouldn't take that little old man's advice. And I was so rude to him, too ! But he had no right to call me Sissy. Sissy indeed '. If all these common people with their coarse hands and rough j clothes, and dirty children — in their bare feet some of them — are to be calling me * Milly ' and 'Sissy', I'd better have left niy clothes at home, and dress in rough things that don't fit, and not wear boots and stockings. Ugh !" Milly' s clothes were unquestionably fine. They were very fashionable in cut, Jand fitted her exquisitely. She wore a charm- ing pink dress flounced with delicate and expensive cream lace;| which had lost a good deal of its charm,however,within the past two | hours, for it had become torn and soiled in Milly's clambering | over fences and pushing through bushes trying to find the path. She and her mother had only the day before reached Farmer! Cowley's cottage, where they proposed spending one of the niost^ delightful months in the year — June. Milly viewed with a good deal of concern and vexation \\c soft white hands, now torn and blistered ; her face an: neck, too, had become cruelly burnt and scratched; her feet were sore; while her pretty golden hair had been very roughly and ir considerately treated by the branches, for it now hung in a shocl; i ing state of disorder about her shoulders. Her tiny pink parasol had been torn in two or three places; and to crown all, she bacj lost her hat. In short the exquisitely attired Milly McCraw of an he:: previous, who had sauntered forth to ' create an impression upf^' MILLY McCRAWS ADVENTURE. 161 the rustics,' as she said, had suffered a harsh change. Rumpled and scorched and torn, and so weary and dispirited thai she hadn't heart or exertion enough to look any further for the foot- way, she sank down by the side of a little brook, in the gully, and closed her eyes. It was a fine day, tho' very hot; and the little hollow was cool and shady, covered all up its sides with daisies and butter- cups, and well scattered with big elms. The grass and leaves j were at their freshest and greenest; and with a sweet breeze that swept the gully gently now and then and put the tiniest of ripples upon the bosom of the brook, it is no wonder that Milly sitting lin the shadow of a huge moss-covered rock, and with her back (comfortably against it, very soon went fast asleep. And so, being asleep, Milly did not see the queerest figure Kniaginable that came down the gully along the edge of the creek, pith a tiny fishing rod in his hand, stopping to throw his line Into every pool, and so getting gradually nearer to the little Jirl. This figure was a tiny man with a short grey beard. He wore suit of entire green ; coat, knickerbockers, stockings and cap of reen ; and his jacket which was a sort of blouse, was trimmed rith Vxxge silver buttons. Presently the fisherman in green spied Milly, and he drojjp- his rod and skipped up beside her. Then he put his head on Ine side, and then on the other side — in fact he put on a good |eal of side — looking at Milly very curiously, and with a good ;al of pity. After taking a lo?ig look at her with his head very juch on the right side, he uttered a sharp exclamation, slapped leg, and ran down to where his rod was. There he took the line off the rod, and pulling a lall steel hook out of a leather bag he carried over his shoulder, screwed the hook on to the handle end of the rod, and then jjrust it into the hole nearest him. After feeling cautiously about Uh it for sometime he suddenly threw himself back, and pulling le rod up hand over hand, soon brought ashore a tin box. The green man took the tin box and ran around to the other le of the big rock against which Milly lay all this time asleep. And there, somehoiv^ he disappeared like a flash. Presently Milly felt herself in her sleep slipping gently back it seemed as if the big rock was opening up at the part \yas leaning against, and as if she was being drawn magnetically its very centre. Yes, right into the rock ! And then I.V2 MILLY McCBAW'S ADVENTURE. What a (/ueer laugh, thought Milly, half wonderingly. And then she opened her eyes and found she was leaning against a beautiful smooth stone pillar in a large room with a domed ceiling and a paved floor, like the rotunda of a big hotel ; while round her, laughing and grinning and chattering and whispering, and pointing their fingers at her, were the most nondescript, droll and little people Milly had certainly ever seen. One of them — and how Milly quailed as she recognized him '. — was the old man who had met her in the wood and called her ' Sissy,' and whom she had been so rude to. While another was the green chap who had fished up the box, which he now- carried in his hand. " Well, Nimmy," said a chap in blue and gold to the green man with the box," and didn't you catch anything} " " Not a fish,^^ said Nimmy solemnly. " Didn't catch any, didn't get a bite, didn't even lose one." What a funny fisherman ! thought Milly, as she opened her eyes to their widest extent ; and as she did so, the old man who had called her Sissy came up to her, and said : " Well, you're the funniest looking piece of baggage I've seen for a long time ! And your name is not Sissy, eh ? Ha ! ha ! ha!" Milly felt inclined to be very angry. The idea of her being termed ' funny-looking ' indeed ! And by such an odd, tiny chap, too ! But all the same she had a certain amount of awe for the old man ; and so she said : " My name is Millicent Editha Olivia McWhirter McCraw. I should thank you to show me back to the path that " " Haw ! haw ! haw !" laughed the little fellow in green. " Millicent Edithaw Oliviaw McWhirtaw McCraw-aw-W/^/ a name ! " and all the people laughed merrily, much to Milly's ex- treme resentment and disgust. " But you could never walk to Farmer Cowley's in that out- fit ! " cried the old man. " Why, it's two miles ! Not in those boots, I'm sure ! Look, Peter, look at her boots, do ! " Milly glared haughtily and with increased indignation at the old man, and then at Peter ; and finally in a half- wondering way, at her boots. She could see nothing out of the way about her boots. They were of the most fashionable shape, of exquisite kid, and the heels were as high as any that were made. Peter — a slim fellow in a yellow suit and with long hair to MILLY McCRAW'S ADVENTURE. 153 match, a comical twinkling pair of eyes, and a large mouth that seemed ready to grin at any moment — came up, and after very discourteously and with the grossest impudence kneeling down and critically eyeing Milly's boots, said ; " Boots ! D'ye call those boots ? who invented them, Sissy ? He couldn't have had much soul." "No ; and he must have been rather narroiv jninded /^' cried another. " There's a good deal of point to that," said the old man with a sage shake of his head. " To the boot, you mean ! Ah, you always keep in step with our humor ! " cried Peter, and they all laughed again. " Do look at the heels, good people ! " the irrepressible chsp went on. " An inch and a half high, or my name's not Pete" Picter-Patter 1 Now, you see, this young lady, when she wants to reach anything, gets up on her heels, instead of her toes 1 " " No wonder she walks as if she had a crick in her back," sneered a young woman in blue whom Milly endeavored to abash with a terribly sarcastic and haughty stare, but who returned Milly's supercilious glance two-fold, and laughed at her full in the face to boot. " Oh, perhaps after all it isn't the heels make her bend that way," observed Peter, as he walked solemnly about Milly with a critical look that was comical. " If she carries high heels, she certainly carries a head to match. But — I — think, now, its partly that big thing she carries behind her, makes her stoop." " Oh, yes ! " cried all the little women in a voice. " What is that ? " And the entire lot crowded about Milly McCraw to gaze at this new and puzzling discovery. As for Milly, she was in a terrible pucker, and her face burned crimson. " To be criticised so ; it's humiliating. And by such a parcel of imps, too ! " she muttered. " You stupids ! " she cried, losing at length all patience. " The idea of you not knowing what that is ! I thought you were civilized. Not know a bustle, indeed ! " " A What? " screamed the little people together again. " A bustle, wooden-heads ! " " A bustle ! a bustle ! Bustle ! bustle ! bustle ! " they all Icried ; and then went off into the maddest capers and fits of jlaughter, repeating the word over and over again as if it were the greatest joke in the world — instead of the greatest absurdity. 154 MLLY McCRA WS ADVENTURE. But presently Peter drew a very solemn face, and came up to Milly and said seriously ; " Tell me ; what do you wear it for ? Are you ill ? " It was now Milly's turn to )augh ; and this evidently dis- pleased Peter, for he had asked the question very civilly, feeling extremely curious on the matter. " Why, everybody wears a bustle ! " cried Milly. *' Even Mary Cowley up at the farm has a sort of one." " But look at the poor thing's arms ! " cried the maiden in blue again. " Scratched and bleeding I and just because she's grown out of her drc . and the sleeves are a mile too short for her ! Why, she's beentrymg to lengthen them with lace,as I live ! ' " It's nothing of the sort ! " retorted Milly angrily," and you are very impertinent and unkind to say so. K?«, with your lonii, loose sleeves, and ugly broad-toed shoes, that were out of fashion lon^ ago. I never saw such a pack of dunces, never ! ' " Out of — what, did she say ? " said Peter with a mysterious air to the blue girl. " She said ' out of fashion^ whatever that may be," replied the blue girl. " What is it, please, Miss Squeezed-in ? " " How dare you call me such names ! " cried Milly stamp- ing her foot, with the blood mounting to her forehead ; for she was excessively annoyed. She, Millicent McCraw, to be treated with such disrespect and ridicule by a parcel of mites or sprites, or whatever they were ! It was shameful 1 " Squeezed-in, indeed ! " continued Milly in high dudgeon " Let me go from this nasty place at once ! " and she looked about for the door. But to her surprise and alarm she could ni t see the slighest indication of an exit ; except the windows over her head, where a peculiar pinkish light fell in. "Well, now, Milly," said the old man, with a chuckle," do you know, I think * Squeezed-in ' is a very appropriate name for i you. Though how you do it, I'm sure I dont know." " She must find it a hard matter to breathe, I should thinV,' said Peter. " Mercy ! what a waist ! why, she isn't shaped like i any of us, I'm sure. Her ribs and her lungs must have an awfully j uncomfortable time of it. What have you got on, dear ? Do tell us. We want to know every t hi fig about you." " Is it possible ? " cried Milly. " Don't any of you know wliatj corsets are ? " " Corsets 1 corsets ! Is that what does it ? " screamed ti\ MILLY McCRA W'S ADVENTURE, 155 came up to »> dently dis- illy, feeling 1. (( Even maiden in jcause she's 3 short for i,as I live '. ' ^,"and you h your lonsi, vere out of ices, never '. ' a mysterious ■ be," replied I?" Milly stamp- ; for she was ; treated with )r sprites, or igh dudgeon id she looked she could nc t idows over her chuckle," do •iate name for V." should thinl, •t shaped lik^j lave an awfully \ dear? Do\^ you know will! ' screamed the little people together. And they started jumping about again, clapping their hands, stamping their tiny feet and screaming : — " Corsets ! corsets ! We've found out ! we've found out ! " Poor Milly was completely dumb-founded now. To dis- cover people who wore nothing on their feet but horrid broad- toed boots, not even on Sunday, was shocking enough, but not to know about — not even to have heard of corsets or bustles seemed so preposterous, that Milly could do nothing but stare at them. Why, they were worse than savages ! But the little people hadn't done questioning or criticising Miss Milly yet. ^^ Another discovery,as I live to make it !" cried the indefatig- able Peter Pitter-Patter. " Look at her ears, all of you !" " Oh, poor thing !" exclaimed the little blue maiden, but in quite a sympathetic voice this time. "Why some one has actu- ally bored holes in her pretty ears ! Oh the cruel brute ! " Now that Milly looked minutely at them, she saw that not one of the [little women wore ear-rings. They were nice-looking people, cer- tainly, although they did dress so strangely. The women were [beautiful, with fine features and lovely complexions. But no ; not lofie of them wore ear-rings. What a pity, too, Milly thought ; [such dear, delicate, shapely little ears. "Did it hurt very much, dear ?" enquired the blue girl, in the same kind, sympathetic way, looking up with such a comical ex- jression of pity and curiosity at Milly's ears. " Did they do it ^cause you were very naughty, and have you got to wear them )l€ry long ? " "Oh, look ! look !" screamed Peter, as Milly opened her fps to reply. And the little yellow-headed critic danced about the ecstasy of still another detection. "Look at her teeth ! A little brass one in between each big le ! Well, that beats everything !" '^ My filling\ " exclaimed Milly, completely stupefied with lazement. "And the collar !" screamed Peter again, waltzing about in [comical way that would have made Milly McCraw laugh if she ' not been so utterly astounded and indignant. " It's two inches |h, or I can't see." You certainly can't see — over it,"said the green fisherman ; then the old man said : " Come Peter, you've worried Milly enough. Here, Mr. In- ■fflra 106 MILLV McCRAWS ADVENTURE. M novator,let's have your box ; " whereupon the fellow in green canic forward with his tin box. The old man then took it and handing it to the little woman j in blue, said : " Here Josie, take Milly into' your room to rest herself. Anc after that we'll see about sending her home." Then Milly follow ing Josie, entered a second apartment by way of a secret door way in the wall. Josis Untied the box ; and Milly as she reclined in a cosv cushioned armchair, watched her take out : First, six little boxes; and these were labelled : politeness common-sense; modesty; reverence; kindness; refinement. An: | then followed : a pair of low-heeled, broad-toed shoes; a broac brimmed straw hat, 7[ my works retain their present reputation, I can command the re-j spect and adulation of all my critics and friends." However, Peter Poorboy thought very often it was nio'.l than passing strange that he, who could be so brilliant on pape'J should be so very mediocral in his ordinary discourse, could not fathom it ; and so remained only partially satisfied:! plume himself upon his magnificence and potency as an autk'l Meanwhile, little Lizzie performed diligently the task set by Mr. Dingley Double. She loved the little gentleman ; andj grieved her childish and susceptible heart to see her father ado;:| ing daily a more arrogant and — what she mentally termed— c^| respectful air toward their beneficent friend. That individual observing keenly Peter Poorboy's chans'rl tone, visited the little family less often now, since Peter had^ insolently usurped the reins of management. He, however, taifc' seriously but kindly to the rising genius, as Peter styled hini>cl THE MAGIC DU AUGHT. 171) admonishing him to discontinue certain associations and deleteri- ous habits he had already formed. The poet, however, took this advice in very bad part, and hinted at its b.ing not only superflu- ous but somewhat impertinent, and not fioii' essential to his welfare. Mrs. Poorboy 'heard Peter's high and mighty utterances with a good deal of concern and dread. Experience with the world had shown the little woman that pride and ingratitude were invariably punished in some form or other ; and she importuned Her husband to be less lofty and dictatorial toward the good man who had un- doubtedly been the means of his reaching his present position of comfort and prominence. This, however, Peter emphatically and hotly denied, taking the credit of his eminence and change of fortune to his own indefatigable industry and marvellous gen'us. Now came Peter's crowning temptation ; a temptation which proved an unfortunate crisis for him, and set the great wheel of Fortune revolving in the opposite direction. The poet became more popular every day — that is, his works did. Each succeeding ode or sonnet, or whatever it happened to be was a gem ; a paragon of fire, correctness, beauty. He was continually away from home. He changed his moderate tho* genial lodgings for a sumptuous house in a swell street. His work brought him in handsome remittances, that, however, barely Served to keep pace with his increased style of expensive living. His little wife shed secret and perhaps foolish tears over her [husband's dissipation and recklessness, but she said nothing to [him. In fact, he had become such a great man now with titled [persons calling on him to write elegant odes and eiptaphs and what iot that she stood a good deal in awe of him. Being, however, one lay discovered in a state of tearful despondency by Mr. Dingley )ouble, whom she respected deeply, and being earnestly en- reated by that gentleiiian to confess her trouble to him, she cried : " Oh, dear Mr. Double, you are the only friend I have in lis wide, wide world 1" (Mr.l). had heard that before, but he always Ippeared pleased in one sense to hear it.) "The people my lushand brings here can never be friends of mine. But it is not hat which grieves nje. My husband, who used to be so kind and iolicitQus for my comfort, so jealous if any other hand ministered Ifeo liiy slightest want, is neglecting me. This fame and blaze of ©iumph and sudden flow of wealth and prosjjerity has turned his ^ad. He is not the same." 180 THE MA QIC BRA TJGHT. " I have noticed that myself," observed Mr. Dingley Double, " and I must own I am a good deal disappointed in our 'genius, It is what I partly feared, however. But tell me, is there no: something else that causes you to look dispirited — ill, I may say You may trust in me, even if your husband doesn't. I am sti! your friend." The little woman was silent for a few moments, with a distan; look in her eyes, as if debating whether to make any further cor. fidences. iAt length she took the little gentleman's hand betrtee,'. her own, and exclaimed anxiously : i " Perhaps you can tell me — perhaps you have heard. I hav: been told it is not conventionality or a general thirst for pleasure and society, that is making my husband lose his affection for m and my little girls. I don't believe it — I will not believe it ; bu: I it was whispered to me that — another woman has alienated— hiir. I — from — his — wife — and chil — children ! " I The poor little soul wound up this passionate revelation c:l her sorrow by bursting into tears. Little Mr. Double, evident!) I affected also, strove to soothe her with kind words. But there I came in his fine eyes a look that seemed to say : i Ah, my fine poet, my merry gallant, you shall pay for this f You have trodden my pearls under your feet. You have returnc; me the basest ingratitude for all my labor and indulgence. Vi. have broken the heart of as good and true a little woman as evc breathed ; who loves you, worships the very stair-carpet you waii on, and thinks her husband the cleverest and greatest man in tkj whole of England. Clever ! You fool ! You shall soon find, anc| so shall the critics, and the public, and your ' friends,' too, tlii| your wonderful talents are only mediocral. You immortalize;! with Byron and Shelley, forsooth ! I like that ! You shall fall, m gay, talented sprig ! And it will break your heart, if you haveari left, to find how your warm friends and admirers will turn on y; 1 and scoff you, and laugh in your very face ! M Those in fact, were the very words which shaped themselvtsa through the medium of thought in Mr. Double's brain. ^M when little Mrs. Poorboy's sorrow had somewhat subsided, hesi;M gently : ■ " I have heard nothing of this ; let us hope it has no fourijH ation. Unstable as Peter has proved himself, I still credit i^^w with more affection and respect for his little wife than to be giiij| of such treason. I must see your husband and have it out oi:|9 THE MAGIC DRAUGHT. 181 gley Double, our 'genius. is there not U, 1 may say. ;. 1 am still with a distan: y further cor. hand betweer. leard. I ^avc ,t for pleasure fection for nit )elieve it ; bu: ilienated— bin; ; revelation c:l 'uble, evidently ds. But theul lU pay for tbi5 1 u have returnee ulgence. Veil woman as evq carpet you \va4 itest man in t-j I soon find, anil iends,' too,tli2:j m immortalize:! ouBhall fall, 1^1 J if you havear'i will turn on yof laped themselvJ e's brain. A'-» subsided, be s it has no fou^ still credit u-l than to be g&|l have it out " ' for all with him. Relieve me, there is yet a way of bringing our poet to a j)roper opinion of himself." Then with some further words of consolation and advice, the little gentleman took his way from the house, saying to liimself as he reached the street : "There can be little of the elixir left now, and the turning point must soon come. He is so puffed up with an idea of his own abilities that he will scarce recognize even such an abrupt and general fall- off in his composition. And if he does, his ?iame, he will say to- hinisclf, will cover all blemishes; the reviewer will hesitate to pass cril'u isms for fear of chastisement from that ever prompt and vigor- ou.s pen. Vii^orous pen ! Ha ! ha !" Hear Mr. Double's cogitations, as he sauntered down the street, were interrupted by a voice at his elbow; and turning he ?aw his litde aide, Lizzie Poorboy. "Dear Mr. Double," said Lizzie, with an expression of much concern, "there is none of thai left in the phial. I put in the last drop last night. And great trouble I had, too, for papa doesn't drink water now, mind you. It's always wine. I had the greatest j trouble dropping it in without being seen. And one night I couldn't get mar his tumbler, papa was so cross, and would stick to the [table. And next morning he was angrier than ever, and the whole [room was just covered with paper he had torn up and scattered all ibout. So I guess that physic must do him good." Mr. Dpuble smiled. "No, Lizzie," he said, "I'm not going to give you any more of that 'physic' ; your papa is quite well now, )r he soon will be. So you have no more work to do. But you lust keep our secret still, and not breathe one icordoi what you've )een uj) to. Not even hint at it . " " I guess you will meet papa," said Lizzie as she was about |o part from her friend. " He was driving in a fine carriage with lady; but when 1 saw him, and called 'papa, papa,' and asked ^im to take me in, he frowned and looked the other way ; and the idy laughed. I wonder," continued the little girl thoughtfully, if that is why mamma cries so much now ? Papa doesn't come [ome very often ; only when he wants to write." ''Lizzie," said the little gentleman in impressive tones, "you lust not say one word about seeing your papa in a carriage with ;lady, do you hear? N'ot one word.''' " \'ery well," said Lizzie. Ikit she turned away with a very irious and puzzled face, and walked very slowly back to her home. » 182 THE MAGIC DRAUGHT. As Mr. Double neared a corner, a short distance from Poor- boy's house, he saw a carriage draw up at the pavement ; and Mr Poorboy, handsomely attired, alighted, bowing graciously to a very pretty woman ; who smiled and kissed the tips of her fingers to the poet as she drove off, "Oho !" muttered Mr. Dingley Double. " That's your ganiv is it ?" The poet came along the street with a jaunty step until witr. in a short distance of Mr. Double, when he suddenly discovert: that gentleman's proximity, and appeared somewhat confused. Mr. Double noticed also that the poet put his right hand ir. side his coat as if searching for some article. The pair met, anc the poet would have passed by with a mere nod, had not a look, flashed from the little man's gray eyes, caused him to halt; lookin. very sheepish as he continued to poke his hand deeper into hi; pocket. " You need not keep that farce up any longer," said Mr Double in contemptuous tones. "I know what's the matter. You I have parted with my ring. It's on the finger of the very hand tha:] was kissed to you a minute ago. You fool ! I warned you tha; when you parted with my ring you would forfeit my friendship anci support." " Support ! " sneered the poet. " What are you talking about J One would think I was some parasite, hanging on your muniricer.:] bounty, dependent for a day's happiness on one of y,our smite This game's about played out, let me tell you ! " "You forget yourself, Poorboy," said Mr. Double. "Ari you forget, too, what you were when I came and succored you. I pauper^ do you remember ? A penniless, starving man. It strife] me you were somewhat of a parasite that day. But it's not only me you have abused, Poorboy. I'll for!][iv| that. You leave a trusting, affectionate wife at home alone days at a time, for a woman who in less than a week, I iell yc^j will point her finger at you in derision." The poet sneered again, and replied testily : " I wish you'd mind your own affairs, old fellow. I c" manage mine, I warrant you. And look here, if I catch you: ing my wife's eais with a pacj^ of lies " " Silence, you babbling fool ! " said the little man in shr tones, that made the Poet start back and pause abruptly. "You, who make such a boast of your genius and reputat:: ti TUE MAGIC DRAUGHT. 183 you, who think yourself one of the idols of London, in less than a week, I tell you, will be the laughing stock of all those who know you. Your friends will scorn you, cut you, cry ' idiot ! fool ! ' in your very face. That is all, Master Poet, but it will be a heavy burden for you to bear." So saying, Mr. Double turned on his heel and walked cjuickly away, the poet standing with his mouth wide open looking at'ter him. " Um ! '' said Poorboy, as Mr. Double disappeared, and he walked toward his house. " What does the old fellow mean ? Laughing-stock ? Me ? Well, I like that ! But hang me, what docs he mean ? " CHAPTER in. /OU are going to be at home this evening, aren't you Peter dear ? " said the poet's little wife. " Surely your fine friends can spare you for one short evening, now and then — to your wife ? " Peter flushed. He was well conscious of his desertion of his little spouse of late, and he felt a decided pang of remorse as he looked curiously at her sweet face — a good deal too worn and pale |o indicate full health, he thought. But like all Peter's better ielings, this one was transient. That ofificious little Double had irritated him, and his nerves l^ere not yet calm from their interview. And besides, he had a sk in hand which he was not hypocrite enough to make consist ^ith any present bestowal of affection upon, or apology for his iglect to, his wife. " Yes," he said, *' Fm going to be at home ; but I shall be isy. Fve got something to write." " Oh, I'm so glad ! " exclaimed the little woman. " And I've |>t something, Peter — something to ask you." " Why not say it now ? " replied the poet testily, a good il apprehensive of the result, but with a fast rising feeling of )ellion swelling his heart. His wife was silent for a few moments, as if timid to broach subject Then she drew herself up proudly, and said : IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I '"IIIM IIIM IIIIIO o 12.0 n^ IIIM il 1.8 1.25 1.4 i6_ .4 6" — ► V] (^ /} '^1 ■c*l '<^^ s en a mis- jossibly be f one bright He hoped a less than it would be ecord. But it the com- Iready been [lot fully ex- Peter's dread L time ; until rous disquisi- the very ex- Mr. Poorboy outrage of a cs might have •y poor health, d, and so on. 1 no defence 5 other critics [1 and unhappy the audacious eflected ironic- )ility. . , He had Uule hold goods and '. His creditors, ts had attained le settlements. cet. fast friends in- ion, and comes id yet a fruittui ife and children were, either, and the separation filled him with remorse; and gave him ample time to reflect upon his misconduct, and neglectful treatment of his family. He could not, however, help wondering in a dazed sort of way at the incomprehensible and sudden decline of his poetical powers. He wrote, and wrote his best, and stimulated by despair and a sort of stubborn courage, his creations were fair enough ; but when compared with his former handiwork when at the height of his power and fame, they were absolute rubbish. And at length in great stress and difificulties the poet one day found himself occupying, forsooth, the very same meagre little room he had been found in not so very many months before by little Mr. Dingley Double. He never saw Mr. Dingley Double, by the way, now. And indeed, Peter's humiliation, and dread ot meeting any of his former grand acquaintances — not that he thought they would notice him — was so great now that he seldom ventured any great distance from his humble retreat, even had he wished to meet Mr. Double. And, besides, Peter had no very clear notion of what he would say to the little gentleman should he happen to run across him. And so Peter lived on in a very extreme hand-to-mouth way for some weeks, solitary and miserable, and very often meditating an abrupt termination to his unhappy existence. There was p pawn-broker's shop below Peter's habitation, and the wreck of a once ' rising genius' used to stand and gaze with a melancholy and bitter interest, at several articles displayed in the window which had once been his own property. He had reserved a few of his treasures when he came to this last abode, but they had all fallen one by one into the hands of his old neighbor, the Jew, and with no very great prospect of being redeemed. One day Peter happened to be slouching up and down the street in front of his door, almost as ragged and quite as forlorn as when he was first introduced to the reader ; and as was his custom, he paused to gaze idly into the pawn-broker's window. At his first glance he started back with an exclamation, for there, sparkling in the centre of a dirty little piece of velvet, was the diamond ring given him by Mr. Dingley Double ! His ring 1 His ring ? Well, no, not /taring, but what v ild doubtless now have been his, had he kept faith with his friend, Peter felt his blood tingling at the recollection of his baseness ; but at length he stifled his emotion, and sauntering carelessly into 188 THE MA GIC DRA UGHT. the shop, he asked the old man in an indifferent way as to who the person might be who had pawned the fine ring. The old Jew, who knew Peter's sad history, and was perhaps now his closest acquaintance, told the poet ; and the latter learn- ed with something very kin' to disgust that it had been left there by the man for whom the gay Miss Bric-a-brac-had thrown him over. So there had been falsity all round. He had been false to his benefactor and his wife ; his love had been false to him ; and his rival had been false to her by pawning the ring she had given him. While thus meditating, Peter heard a footstep that sounded familiar to him ; and looking quickly up, to his confusion he found himself face to face with Mr. Dingley Double ! The unfortunate young man would have slunk abashed out of the shop, but the little man stopped him. " 1 want to see you, Poorboy," he said. " Come up to your room. I suppose you still live in the same place, and write tine poetry as much as ever." " Your wife wants to come back to you," said Mr. Double, when the pair were seated together in the little comfortless apart- ment. " It is more than you deserve, but she has forgiven you, and loves you, I am afraid, as much as ever. However, I think you have been taught a pretty severe lesson." Peter was silent. His wife ? Of late he had begun seriously to think he would never see her again. And she loved him — as much as ever ! It was incomprehensible. For such things are sometimes very hard to be understood by selfish people who know their own failings. But he was repentant — and humble, too. What transpired between those two, the contrite ingrate and the good little man in black, it is not necessary, and would be tedious, to detail. Peter got a lecture, and a pretty stiff one, too ; and when he learned the reason of his wonderful successes as an author, the pride he still retained in the memoi 7 of his glorious achievements received its death blow. And whai contributed still further to his humiliation, was the disclosure that the critics and public fully believed that his wife had written all the fine things that had come out under his name, and not Peter Poorboy at all. Peter, through the kind influence of Mr. Dingley Double, got a good position as book-keeper in a big wholesale house ; and his little wife and children came back, and they all lived very lovingly )ashed out of THE MAGIC DRAUGHT. 189 and happily together; learning to love and respect their benefactor Mr. Double, more and more every day. Peter however, altho' he sometimes felt his old ambition rismg withm him, always quelled it, and was never known to write any more poetry. His fine achievements, too, through the medium of Mr. Double, were printed collectively, and widelv circulated. But the name of the imputed author upon the title page was not Peter Poorboy, but that of Peter Poorboy's little GODFREYE DE COARSEYE OR; THE TRIUMPH OF A WALKING-STICK. )ODFREYE DE COARSEYE was a young swell of good English pedigree. We say was^ because Godfreye is no more. He lives to die a second time, however, in this plain, unvarnished history. The reader is respectfnllj requested not to skip any of the story, because were he to over- look any of the parts dealing more particularly with Godfreye's talents and characteristics, he would lose the infinite joy, other- wise attained, on learning of Godfreye's ultimate decease. In short, Godfreye de Coarseye is our hero, and of course'e has to die. Godfreye had a good pedigree. I repeat this, because I want to work in the chestnut that his mamma, — a tall, florid woman with a will of her own, — peddX^d muffins in the great metropolis (see geographies ; ) and his papa was intimately acquainted with the interior architecture of ' gloomy Pentonville.' So you see Godfreye was pretty well-bred ; and that's the kind of hero to have anyway ; a nice, well-bred one who will die politely. Godfreye was under the guardianship of an uncle ; and one day this uncle — who was an earl-y riser — got up early enough to discover that Godfreye didn't know enough to pound sand in the right place. The old man happened to go out into the wood- shed,and discovered that his athletic nephew was trying to saw wood with the axe. So the uncle shipped this original youth to Canada, where he received a clerkship in the Civil Service at a paltry salary of $600 per year, on the understanding that he was to do nothing what- ever. This agreement Godfreye promised faithfully to observe; and let me tell you, he kept it manfully. Godfreye's appointment, by the way, ought to have been, from a consistent point of view, in the outside service ; for that is where he was most of the time. G ODER EYE DE CO ARSE YE. 191 One afternoon in February, Godfreye was in his ofllce — it's a fact — smoking a cigarette. Having nothing to do (Rats I) and in a thoughtless moment, he began to think ; and immediately upon so doing he became yQxy fatigue^ doncher know, and yawned. Wiiereupon the cigarette slipped down his throat, and Godfreye was nearly strangled. However, Godfreye started to think a second time ; and the cigarette becoming curious as to what the thought might amount to, came up, and Godfreye was saved. Much to the disgust of the other clerks, who said they really thought Godfreye was an idle fellow. The simples ! As if they didn't know ! "I think I will hav^ a skwate." said Godfreye ; and having so made up his mind, he arrayed himself and set out for the Rideau Canal, which was one beautiful sheet of clay-colored ice ; such ice as you see in your lemonade at the circus. Godfreye wore a little cap ; and a coat with a cape that reached clear down to his heels; (the coat, not the cape.) This coat, to be minute, was composed oi three large checks ; while his small, well-proportioned head was prevented from slipping into his vest pocket and stopping his watch, by a tall collar ; the whole thing having the effect of a section of white-washed sugar-cane with a dwarfed turnip rampant on top of it. Our hero carried a small cane, and this cane was the pride of G. de C., who said it had belonged to his grandfather who fought under vVellington at Cressy. Though in reality, Godfreye had pur- chased it for ten cents from a pea-nut Italian who was hard up, and who used to kill flies upon the wall through the medium of its celluloid head. So Godfreye put on his skates at the canal bank and glided serenely up the Cut; away from the city, away from his tailor, his washer-woman and his office ; from care of every kind — and was happy. People wondered as they drove along the bank toward the city, what that queer figure was, capering so madly in the centre of the broad canal ; now waving its arms, now in a kneeling attitude upon the ice with its head bent down as if striving to see the bottom of the canal, or get a glimpse of the antipodes. The small boys who skated watched the weird figure ; and filled with curiosity drew near, to discover that it was a man twirl- ing almost unceasingly round and round and round a small, circular hole in the ice. 192 GODFREYE DE COARSEYE. The figure was hatless, and wore a long cloak with a cape. Gentle reader, 1 see your tear-bedewed eye, I hear your breath coming faster and faster — ah ! you have guessed the truth. It was Godfreye ! If I had said brainless^ you would have known at once. Now and then this figure would pause in its circumvolutions, and dropping beside the cavity, would gaze intently into it — with one eye. He had only one eye, his deformity being screened by a piece of glass. Then the circumvolooter, so to speak, would rise and again whirl round and round, with its head inclined cavity- wards, and its eye fixed earnestly upon it. Evening came, and the boys skated away. They were mad because they couldn't understand the language the mysterious creature spoke. The night passed, and the morning came and passed also. Godfreye de Coarseye was missing from his office — which was nothing unusual — all that day. But Godfreye had not attended the Government House ball the night before, and his friends — and creditors — became alarmed. Out on the ice that silent figure was still eddying about, every short while pausing to drop upon its knees, and peer with a pitiable earnestness into the hole. That night was one of the coldest experienced in the fair capital within the last two hundred years. The thermometer at the main entrance to the Eastern block of the Government Departmental Buildings registered 75° in the shade, while that ol Mr. , Sparks Street, marked the temperature as being sixty degrees below zero. In the gray morning light a party of men and boys armed with lanterns, clubs, gaff-hooks, guns, bottles of whiskey, blankets and almanacs, came gliding up the Rideau Canal under the ' silent ' stars. To be in good form, I ought to start a new chapter here ; but as I havn't time to hunt up a poetical epitaph on a dude to head the chapter with, I will go straight ahead. There, quite still, in a half-kneeling attitude, with his head partly submerged in the .water-hole, and in a position betokening that he had been 'watching for something,' as reported by the boys. was Godfreye de Coarseye. He was frozen stiff, all but his brain, which had crystallized into a tiny lump and now rattled in his skull as they moved him. To the cape of his long coat with the three checks, was BsS GODFREY E DE CO A US EVE. VXi h a cape. our breath ith. It was J known at mvolutions, ito it— with jcreened by )eak, would lined cavity- ^ were mad i mysterious y came and m his office rodfreye had before, and d in the fair lermometer at Government while that ot being sixty inter here; but dude to head with his head on betokening ed by the boys. lad crystallized »y moved him. ee checks, ^va5 pinned a piece of paper. Being unable to decipher the hierogly- phics upon it which had been written with a lead pencil, the men carried the paper to the Minister of Godfreye's department. That gentleman had only one document in Godfreye's handwriting in the department, namely the poor fellow's application for appoint- ment; which by the way, was the only one Godfreye had ever been known to write ; except, of course, his acceptances to the balls at Government House. But the Minister was a shrewd, clever man, who had dealt with many and varied handwritings, and he made Godfreye's intelligible. The note translated ran as follows : " I am going to die. I feel it ; I feel it in my bones. (We should think he must have.) I have lost my walking-stick. It fell through this beastly hole, and I have been watching heah evah since and it hasn't come up yet. These Canadian canals must be atrociously deep ; we don't have any such affairs in England, y'know. I am vewy tired ; but I'll keep on watching, because it might come up, you know, and then go down again, just like dwowning people, you know. I could nevah go back without my walking-stick. Just fancy [walking home down Spawks street — I could nevah go any other jway, doncher know — without my walking-stick ! Widiculous. It is now evening, and the sun is setting. It looks glowious. |I am going to take another look now. Godfreye de Coarseye. P. S. It is vewy cold. G. de C." Poor Godfreye I He died at his post, or rather, waiting for to ' come up.' You see, his post deserted him, not he his post. As he had no relations worth talking about and did not leave ly money behind wherewith to provide himself a funeral, and he didn't belong to the Militia, they merely tumbled him into ie hole, and the little heap of cigarette ashes round it were rikingly appropriate. Confidentially, we are afraid the fishes will be disgusted. )dfreye had never taken into consideration the fact that the Jad of the walking- stick being of celluloid, the whole durned con- ^rn would infallibly sink. The department is still mourning that it has lost such a luable— celluloid— head. SURMISKS. What shall we do when the Circus-man Has honestly made his farewell call ? When visions greet our eyes no more Of an Ajax defying a cannon-ball ; Of a street procession that has no end On the bills —and of animals, fierce and wild ; A lion biting a tiger in two, And a two-headed Cyclops devouring a child ? For the world's changing taste in the matter of show Gives ground for belief that the circus must go. What shall we do when the dude has gone ? When we see no more in the crowded street. In the theatre, churches — everywhere. That sappy possessor of rank conceit. When the collars are only an inch or two high ; When the tongue's unaffected, the meaning more clear ; When hopefuls, scarce freed from the apron-strings, Don't emulate lords, on four hundred a-year. Tho' improvement in fashion at present don't show That sooner or later the dude must go. What shall we do when the bustle has sunk Overwhelmed by satire, ridicule, scorn ? And how on earth can we hope to exist When a boot of a common-sense pattern is born ? When the prevalent system has rolled away Of choirs retaining sole right to trill ; And congregations, so long enthralled. Can praise the Lord with a vocal will ? For current estrangements in choirs below Give warrant to think that the choirs will go. ODE TO AN ATHLETE. Romm'^'" "^""^^^-^''^ apologies to the backers of that ' noble Thou of puissant mould ! w.^' i^ 'l"'^'.''^ ^'i'''" ' ""'^^ "^'^^^ ^'th Antaeus mate ; With look and carriage bold ; ' T/iee shall degrading toil ne'er enervate ! Thou art an athlete, thon ! All summer dost thou tc/i till winter come ; 1 hen mak'st thy modest bow, To recompense thy \ bors with a '>um. With awe I view thy might, As hurtling from thy sii^k the sphere doth fly • 1 hen proudly stalk'st in sight ' To drink the praise the gods could scarce deny. With stolid, tranquil gaze Thou view'st the women si>litling all the wood, Ur m the sun's hot rays Moiling and toiling over labor rude. But thou, whose muscles grand Were never formed but for an athlete's sport Inert dost ever stand To sneer at /ador women's hands must court. Thine, athlete, is the praise ; ,irT,'^^,^^"^^^'°"^ °^ a blinded throng. Well, thou hast earned thy bays, And in all g/ory may'st thou 'wear them long. DRIFTING. When the sun Sends at morn from out its quiver Darts of light that gild the river, I do hie with many a shiver To my bun. More to help my constitution, I indulge in an ablution, Than in fun. Just at four While the family is sleeping, Forth I go, now crawling, creeping. To the door. While the hired independent, Filled with dreams of dress resplendent, Starts to snore. With the tide Of the mimic heaving billow, And a foot-board for my pillow, Then I glide ; Listen to the awak'ning city -. Listen to the robin's piping ditty, Glorified. So I doze t Till a famishing sensation Makes me change my situation. Comatose. Then my attitude athletic, And the head-wind's force magnetic, Make ine vow that I will never Drift again down that old river When it blows. THE SLAB-DRIVER'S DREAM. He sat high-perched upon his load The reins clutched in his dirty fist, The thong with which the horse he'd goad Twined round about his stalwart wrist ; And every little while with glee He'd lash the beast right viciously. The sun was hot ; its sultry rays Oppressive, like the horse's strain. Fell with unpitying, scorching blaze Upon the driver's sleepy brain. The jehu slumbered on his course And dreamed — and dreamed he was the horse ! Once more he was a frisking colt And scampered through the meadow grass ; Oh, happy hours of coltyhood ! How quickly did they seem to pass ! But while they lasted, oh, what glee ! To feel he was a colt, and free. Free of the cruel yoke and rein, .From slavish driver's oath he flees. Ah, curse and kick and scream m vain. You stunted Mephistopheles ! No more to starve ! No more to bleed ! No more your tyrant whip to heed ! He stood again in meadows cool, To round about his mother play ; Or panting, lapped the dimpled pool. Then paused to lisp his baby neigh. Or, trotting by his mother's side. He felt himself the farmer's pride. 198 THE SLAB-DRIVEWS DREAM. Ah ! that was twenty years ago ! And now ^is starveling sides must wear The foot-print of the coward's blow His feeble strength can scarcely bear. He reels and slips ; his burden sore Has 'scaped its chain and fallen o'er — The driver woke, to find his load All scattered on the dusty road ; His horse lay in a pool of gore; The driver kicked the beast, and swore. No need, that beast has gone to graze The pastures of his happier days.