LIBRARY 
 
 University < Celfornid 
 
 IRVINE
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS 
 
 Kobel 
 
 ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "MR. BARNES OF NEW YORK" 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE HOME PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 7 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET 
 
 1888
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1888, 
 BY A. C. GUNTER. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 Press of J. J. Little & Co., 
 Astor Place, New York.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Deserted Hotel, - 5 
 
 " II. Through the Streets of Alexandria, 19 
 
 " III. The First Gun, - 31 
 
 " IV. The Oath of the Arab Boy, - 43 
 " V. The Nargileh Pipe of Niccovie, the 
 
 Levantine, - 54 
 
 " VI. A Moslem Mob, - - 70 
 
 " VII. The American Marines, - 81 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 ENGLISH JUSTICE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. " The Girls Have Come ! " - - 91 
 
 " IX. Home Again, - - 102 
 " X. The Honorable Sampson Potter, of 
 
 Comanche County, Texas, -120 
 
 XL Honor Thy Father ! - 132 
 
 " XII. Mr. Potter Enters Society, - - 143 
 
 " XIII. The Returned Australian, - 154
 
 CONTENTS. 
 BOOK III. 
 
 A WOMAN S BATTLE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. "All for my Darter!" - - 166 
 
 XV. An English Judge, - - 176 
 
 " XVI. A Western Cyclone strikes Mr. 
 
 Van Cott, - 190 
 
 " XVII. Which Loves Him Best ? - 203 
 
 " XVIII. Poor Old Potter, - - 220 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 MR. POTTER TAKES THE WAR-PATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. The Awaking of the Lion, - - 233 
 
 XX. A Night in Paris, - - 241 
 
 XXI. The Packet from Egypt, - - 250 
 
 XXII. The Flight of the Detective, - 256 
 XXIII. The Apotheosis of Sammy Potts, 265
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS, 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 THE BOMBARDMENT OF 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE DESERTED HOTEL. 
 
 " SIR, I have something to tell you ! " 
 
 " My heaven ! Is there a woman an English woman 
 in this accursed place to-night ? " ejaculates the young 
 man to whom she has spoken, turning with a start and 
 looking at her in amazed horror, but still holding in his 
 hand a revolver, the cartridges of which he has been 
 carefully examining. 
 
 " I have come all the way from Europe to say to you 
 something of great importance." 
 
 " There is nothing of importance now but to save your 
 life ! " 
 
 " My life ? Is our personal danger so imminent ? " 
 
 " There is death to every European man or woman in 
 this city to-night. And they deserted you ? " This last is 
 said in surprised astonishment, for he has noticed the 
 unusual refinement and beauty of the woman speaking 
 to him, the richness of her dress and jewels, though she 
 fs in the black of deep mourning, and the latent appear 
 ance of haughty command in her pose, notwithstanding 
 there is in her manner and gaze, as she addresses him, a 
 curious apologetic humility, as if she were ashamed of an 
 indefinite something.
 
 & MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " They did not desert me ! " 
 
 " Then how in Heaven s name are you here ? " 
 
 " I saw them going away. The British Consul insisted 
 on my leaving also ; but I refused. I said I must see 
 you, I had come so far to do so. They telegraphed from 
 Cairo that you would surely be here this morning, and I 
 waited, expecting you, till too late ; then I hurried to the 
 shore and found all communication with the ships cut off. 
 What was I, a woman, to do in this strange city, not speak 
 ing an Eastern language ? My dragoman brought me back 
 again to the hotel, and then even he became frightened and 
 left me. The sun went down, the gas burners would not 
 light, and so I cowered alone in this vast, deserted, ten- 
 antless hotel, till I heard a step, and, following it, afraid 
 to make a noise, but more afraid of missing help or aid, 
 saw you light that candle, and, thank God ! looked upon 
 an English face. I have seen your photograph. You 
 are Charles Errol, son of Ralph Errol, of Melbourne, 
 Australia." 
 
 " Yes, and you are ? " 
 
 " Lady Sarah Annerley ! " 
 
 " Lady Annerley ? here to-night in Egypt ? " mutters 
 the young man, astounded; for the name she mentions is 
 one that has often appeared as a leader of rank and 
 fashion in all newspapers that chronicle the doings of the 
 aristocracy. 
 
 " Yes," she replies, " Sarah, widow of Viscount Anner 
 ley, and daughter of the late Sir Jonas Stevens. I must 
 speak with you for half an hour ; I have come from 
 Europe for that purpose ! " 
 
 " Half an hour ! If we stay here half an hour I shall 
 be dead and you He gives a horrified gasp at the 
 
 thought that comes into his mind, for the more he ap 
 preciates the fresh exquisite patrician loveliness of the 
 woman the more he is amazed and dismayed at the 
 frightful nature of the danger that he sees surrounding her. 
 " Don t you know," he continues rapidly, as if time were 
 very precious, " that at this moment we are probably the 
 only English man and woman alive in Alexandria to- 
 night ? That the instant the English admiral opens his 
 guns upon the Egyptian batteries it will be the signal for 
 these Eastern fanatics, who think themselves blessed by 
 Allah in the deaths of unbelievers, to kill with fantastic
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 7 
 
 atrocities every European that is not in safety on board 
 the ships that fled from the harbor to-day ?" 
 
 For the time that this man is speaking to this woman 
 is at eleven o clock upon the night of the loth of 
 July, 1882, when every European inhabitant of Alex 
 andria who could escape from that Egyptian city had 
 fled for his life as best he might from Moslem re 
 venge and hatred; deserting his home, occupation and 
 worldly goods. All these had taken refuge upon the 
 ships which had sailed away, their decks black with 
 fugitives, leaving the harbor deserted save by the British 
 squadron and a few foreign men-of-war; for the English 
 Admiral had that day given notice to Arabi Pasha, who, 
 half as rebel, half as patriot, controlled the Egyptian ar 
 mies, that he would the next morning bombard the forts 
 and batteries of Alexandria. 
 
 The place where this man and this woman are mutter 
 ing to each other with pale lips is a deserted parlor 
 upon the first floor of the abandoned Hotel de I Europe ; 
 the light by which they see each other that of a flicker 
 ing candle, for the gas works of the town have been 
 deserted and the city is in darkness. Around them, as 
 if to emphasize their loneliness and desolation, are 
 articles of dress and open trunks, and furniture littered 
 with robes, bric-a-brac, and even jewelry ; showing the 
 haste with which their European owners have fled for 
 life and liberty from this Eastern political sirocco of 
 destruction and death. 
 
 " Why did you not go with the rest in the steamers ? " 
 Errol continues hurriedly. 
 
 " I have been here but three days. They said every 
 Englishman must come down from Cairo to escape. I 
 expected you each hour." 
 
 " And I that cursed dragoman ! why could he have 
 kept me ? what object ? " cries the young man striking 
 his forehead. " A week ago I sent him into Cairo from 
 Memphis and he said, Everything quiet, so I took my 
 time." 
 
 " I thought you would surely be here this morning." 
 
 " And so I would, but our train was stopped by the 
 black troops that scoundrel Arabi has in reserve at Kaf r- 
 el-Dawar. I had to tramp it in, seventeen hot and dusty 
 miles. I should never have found my way here but for lit-
 
 8 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 tie Osman, who knows every by-path in Egypt. How that 
 puny Armenian beggar stuck to my long steps to-day is 
 a mystery. However, I ve hung on to these and they may 
 help us." With this the young man resumes the inspec 
 tion of his arms that Lady Annerley has interrupted, care 
 fully testing the lock of a Remington sporting rifle that 
 is covered with the dust of his long tramp. 
 
 " But I must tell you," says the woman, laying her hand 
 upon his arm with a curious pathetic intensity, " I must 
 tell you ! " and would go on but he interrupts her by : 
 
 " My Remington seems to be dirty, give me a piece of 
 rag ! your handkerchief, anything tear a piece from 
 that silk skirt; the owner 11 never miss it ! " 
 
 And Lady Annerley obeying him, he continues: " Hold 
 the candle up, please, so I can get a better look at the 
 lock ; this thing may save you as well as me." 
 
 As she does so she begins again: " This informa 
 tion I came from Europe to tell you concerns your 
 father 
 
 But the click of the breech-loader interrupts her as the 
 young man tests it and he remarks : My father can 
 wait, his life s not in danger ; yours is " and then very 
 suddenly : " Blow out that candle ! " 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 She gets no answer to this and gives a little suppressed 
 shriek, for Errol has blown it out himself. 
 
 " Why did you do that ? " she asks faintly. 
 
 For answer the young man points out of one of the 
 windows. Lady Annerley has been so engrossed with 
 what she has to tell that she has not heard the pecul 
 iar cries of a Moslem populace, the clank of arms, and 
 the tramp of marching men that comes in at the win 
 dow, growing louder and louder each second. She goes 
 cautiously to the opening and looking out sees the 
 street Mohammed Ali, that grand artery of Alexandria, 
 full of commotion, noise and action. A regiment of 
 Soudanese Arabs, followed by one of the black troops of 
 Arabi Pasha, are tramping down the avenue to reinforce 
 the batteries and forts of Ras-el-Tin. The blackness of 
 Egyptian night that crushes the town with darkness com 
 pels the leading files of each company to carry torches, 
 the flames from which illuminate and light up in vivid but 
 ghastly brightness the swarthy faces, Eastern features and
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 9 
 
 flashing eyes of these barbarians, making them look more 
 like devils than men ; and as they pass with slashing gait 
 and hideous cries and Ethiopian jabber, the light of 
 battle in their eyes and lust of blood in their hearts, this 
 delicate English lady, who has never in her gentle life 
 seen even a blow in anger, shudders as she looks on them 
 and mutters, " Heaven help me ! " and, for the first time, 
 her peril comes home to her. 
 
 Errol, who has stolen to her side, whispers : A light 
 would attract their attention now they think the Frank- 
 ish hotel deserted. Better darkness than those devils ! 
 and draws her from the window. He can feel her shiver, 
 and asks with some concern ; " You have not caught 
 the fever ? " 
 
 " No, I think not." 
 
 "But you shivered you are not so frightened^as all 
 
 that?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " You can t be cold this burning night ? 
 
 But she, sinking into a chair, does not answer him for 
 it is the first time Lady Annerley has felt the touch of 
 Charley Errol s hand, and it has given her a sensation 
 that is neither fear, nor cold, nor even that of an Egyptian 
 fever but something she cannot describe, nor define, nor 
 liken to- anything else she has ever experienced before ; 
 for Lady Annerley though a widow has never as yet loved 
 
 any man. 
 
 While she is silent, the young man is thinking how t 
 save her. Before she came to him he had intended, aided 
 by the darkness, to make his way by stealth if possible, 
 or fighting if necessary, to the shore. Then, if unable 
 to find a boat, to swim off to one of the English gun 
 boats in the harbor ; for when a boy living in semi-tropical 
 Australia he had become swimmer enough to make such 
 an attempt not only a feasible but an easy performance. 
 Now he is conscious that any such plan is only practica 
 ble by abandoning this woman, who can at this moment 
 look for her protection to no other aid than his. To 
 desert her never even enters his honest, brave Anglo- 
 Saxon head, therefore he is racking his brain for some 
 other scheme that promises safety to her as well as to him. 
 
 " Of what are you thinking ? " says Lady Annerley, 
 breaking the silence that has become all the more notice-
 
 10 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 able, the noise of the passing troops and accompanying 
 rabble having died away in the distance. 
 
 He is too generous to tell her how she has affected his 
 chance of safety, and replies simply: " Of a way to 
 give us both a chance of life ! " The next instant 
 he whispers " Hush ! " Then she hears the click of his 
 revolver as he cocks it and a coming feline footstep in the 
 gloom. 
 
 " Halt or I fire ! " says the Englishman. 
 
 " It is only I, Sahib. Is the Prankish gentleman fright 
 ened ? " murmurs a soft musical Eastern voice with a 
 slight Armenian accent. 
 
 " Oh ! it s you, Osman ! What made you so long ? 
 Have you found anything downstairs to eat ? " 
 
 " None, Sahib, the Frankish proprietor has locked up his 
 cellars and kitchens, and run off to the ships ; but there 
 is a cafJ a few hundred yards away, kept by a Levantine 
 who loves his property too well to desert it by anything 
 but death we might find something there ! " 
 
 " All right, we must get there somehow. I haven t had 
 a bite since I left Cairo last night." 
 
 " I have a bottle of wine and some crackers in my 
 room; the proprietor sent them to me before he left," 
 suddenly says Lady Annerley. 
 
 "By George, that s awfully jolly!" exclaims Errol. 
 With a little wine, I don t care of what brand or vintage, 
 and a bite of anything I m a new man." Then he suddenly 
 pauses and says : " Forgive the selfishness of hunger, but 
 you must need the things yourself, Lady Annerley ! " 
 
 " Not at all," she replies. " Martin and I ate all we 
 wanted two hours ago ! " 
 
 " Martin ? " 
 
 " Yes, my maid. She remained with me ; but is now 
 cowering in my room. The lonely darkness has frightened 
 her. I don t need anything so much as your strength and 
 protection, Mr. Errol. I ll get the wine and eatables 
 in a second, my room is only two doors away," and before 
 he can stop her Lady Annerley hurries off, leaving Errol 
 and his Armenian dragoman together. 
 
 " The Sahib has a lady in his care ? " 
 
 " Two, apparently ! " 
 
 " That is bad ; to-night is a very bad time to be troubled 
 with women."
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. II 
 
 " Nevertheless I shall not desert them. Osman, in 
 the two months I have had you for my dragoman knock 
 ing about Egypt, your ingenuity has got me out of a 
 good many difficulties ; help me to get these women on a 
 ship to-night, and I ll make it the best paid job you ever 
 had." 
 
 " Impossible, Sahib ! The boats in the harbor are all 
 guarded by order of Arabi Pasha. All the Franks have 
 gone away on the ships dreading the vengeance of our 
 populace. A good many Egyptians have fled from their 
 homes fearing the cannons of the English. To-morrow 
 will be a great day in Alexandria ! " This last is said 
 with a cat-like glitter and sparkle in his restless Eastern 
 eyes ; but the room is dark and Errol does not notice it, 
 as these remarks of Osman have given him an idea that 
 may lead to safety. 
 
 " A grand day in Alexandria ! " repeats the dragoman, 
 as if in meditation, for there is no greater scoundrel in 
 this world nor the next than this same Osman Ali, half 
 Arab, half Armenian, and whole rogue, called by his tribe 
 Baeksheesh Osman, Anglic} "Begging Osman," and he 
 has some rather curious ideas as to what his occupation 
 will be upon the morrow in Alexandria. 
 
 The next instant Errol interrupts his meditation saying : 
 " You tell me a number of Mohammedans have left their 
 homes for fear of the English guns ? " 
 
 Yes, Sahib ! " returns Osman, who in his various wan 
 derings has been in India and addresses his employer in 
 Indian fashion. " They will not return to their houses 
 till after the fight is over; they are in the country 
 hiding." 
 
 " Can you not get one of these deserted Moslem 
 houses for me and these women ? In the home of a be 
 liever the rabble would never seek for European refu 
 gees." 
 
 " Ah, yes, they would not search for you there unless 
 some one told them ! What a mind the Sahib has ! But 
 to find a deserted Moorish house this dark night it 
 will be very difficult and expensive." 
 
 "You know every nook and everything else about 
 Alexandria, Osman. Get me the home of a follower of 
 Allah. We ll risk the English guns, but not Arab massa 
 cre. Set about it at once ! "
 
 12 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 "The night is dark. It is dangerous to tread the 
 streets." 
 Do it ! " 
 
 Yes, Sahib, to-morrow morning." 
 Now ! At once ! " 
 It will be so expensive ! " 
 
 Curse the expense ! Don t you see these ladies 
 safety depends upon it ? Do as I tell you ! " and Errol s 
 voice has a ring in it that stops any reply from Osman 
 Ali, whose white teeth as he smiles glitter in the darkness. 
 
 " Can t you light the candle, Mr. Errol ? Those awful 
 soldiers must be far away, and I cannot see to come to 
 you with the refreshments," floats to them from the door 
 in Lady Annerley s musical voice. 
 
 Osman goes quickly to the windows, pulls their drap 
 eries over them, and says : " The light will not betray us 
 now ; " then, as Errol strikes a match and the candle illu 
 minates the room, gives a little start and suppressed cry 
 as Lady Annerley comes out of the darkness ; for this 
 delicate, fragile Moslem imp is very susceptible to female 
 loveliness, and for half a moment imagines that he sees a 
 genuine houri stolen from Paradise. 
 
 For though English, Sarah Annerley to-night is an 
 Eastern picture. The heat of Egypt in mid-summer 
 compels a tropical lightness of costume, and her dress, 
 though black, is fragile in texture, and sweeps and clings 
 to her perfect figure, outlining and developing each 
 charm of movement or pose. In it she looks like a 
 statue of jet, save where the transparent tissue of her 
 gown makes it ivory by revealing the whiteness of her 
 gleaming arms and graceful neck, which supports a face 
 of delicate, refined, aristocratic, womanly beauty ; its 
 haughtiness relieved by a trace of passion, its passion re 
 deemed by a brow of intellect. All this is made charming, 
 radiant, and vivid by a pair of grand dark eyes through 
 which the soul says two things : " I shall love but once, 
 for I shall love forever." 
 
 Her gaze is fixed on Errol and her beauty seems to 
 come more strongly home to him than in the few excited 
 minutes in which he has seen her before. Both the 
 Englishman and the Armenian gaze in silence at Lady 
 Annerley as she comes toward them, followed by her 
 maid, a Scotch girl, who crouches along in a distracted
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 13 
 
 sort of way bearing a bottle of Rhine wine and a can of 
 English biscuits. " Martin," says her mistress suddenly, 
 as the girl with a slight shriek stumbles over some of the 
 robes that litter the room, " there is no danger. These 
 gentlemen are here to take care of us. Pass them the 
 wine ! " but the next instant, apparently changing her 
 mind, she assists Errol herself, leaving her maid to 
 do a like office for Mr. Osman, who smacks his thin 
 lips over the drink forbidden by Allah, and munches 
 Frankish crackers with a very good appetite, for he as 
 well as his master has had nothing to eat since the even 
 ing before when they left Cairo. 
 
 This is perfectly apparent in Errol s case, as that stal 
 wart young Englishman finishes up the biscuits and 
 pours the last drop of wine down his throat in less than 
 five minutes after he gets his hands on them. 
 
 Lady Annerley stands silently looking at him as he 
 sits lolling back over a sofa, his rifle lying across his 
 knees. His legs and feet in their stout walking-boots and 
 knickerbockers are thrown lazily over a silken gown that 
 an Italian lady had tossed aside as she fled for safety 
 the evening before. His long, athletic arms in shirt 
 sleeves, rolled up above the elbows, display his big 
 white muscles, as he eats and drinks in a manner that 
 shows that it is only starvation makes him forget the 
 great fatigue and exertions of the day. 
 
 He has thrown aside his coat, the night being hot ; 
 and apparently eats and thinks at the same time. The 
 instant he has finished the first, he says quickly: 
 " Osman, go out and get two donkeys for Lady Annerley 
 and her maid to ride. We must leave this hotel at 
 once ! " 
 
 " Donkeys will cost a great deal of money to-night," 
 returns the dragoman. 
 
 " All right ! Buy the cursed donkeys ! Here s five 
 hundred francs," and the young man crosses to his coat 
 that lies over one of the chairs in the room, looks in one 
 of its pockets, starts as if astonished ; then hurriedly 
 rummages in every one of them, apparently startled, and 
 after a quick search of his trousers and vest, and a hur 
 ried look about the floor, says in a broken, horrified 
 voice: "My pocket-book s stolen! My God, to be alone 
 in this city to-night without money ! " .
 
 14 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " I have plenty of that," cries Lady Annerley. " I ve a 
 thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, and a few 
 thousand francs in French gold and Egyptian silver in 
 my room, besides my diamonds," and she points to her 
 ears where a couple of brilliants of large size and first 
 water sparkle, and give out fire even in the dim light of 
 the flickering candle. At the mention of this consider 
 able sum of money a grim smile crosses Osman s feat 
 ures, but he says nothing, only gazes upon the diamonds 
 intently. 
 
 The English lady has turned to go to her room, but 
 the Australian gentleman stops her, saying hurriedly and 
 somewhat doggedly : " I would rather not borrow your 
 money." 
 
 " But you must ! You can t get it from any one else. 
 The consuls have gone. The banks are closed and their 
 treasure taken away on board ship. Mine was the last 
 check paid by the Anglo-Egyptian bank before it closed 
 its doors ; besides this money is partly for my use, the 
 donkeys were intended for my service." 
 
 "Still I d rather not." 
 
 " But you shall! "says Lady Annerley. "I demand 
 it. Take it to save us both! " 
 
 This discussion is interrupted by Osman, who comes to 
 the side of Errol and suggests : " Why not use your first 
 plan ? Make your way to the harbor and swim to the 
 English war ships " 
 
 " And leave these ladies ? " 
 
 " These ladies shall be my care. I can hide them 
 better without you than with you. They shall be safe, 
 I, Osman Ali, swear it by the beard of Mahomet ! " 
 
 " Impossible ! I were not a man if I deserted women 
 to-night ! " 
 
 " You had a way to save yourself and gave it up for 
 me, a stranger to you ? Mr. Errol, make use of it at 
 once ! I am not afraid. I can take care of myself, this 
 man has sworn to save 
 
 She doesn t finish the sentence, for as she turns to 
 look on the man in whose honor she is about to trust, he 
 cannot for an instant control his features, and a grin of 
 such fantastic joy flits across his Oriental face that the 
 words die out on Lady Annerley s lips, a sickly terror 
 giving place to any faith in the promises of Osman Ali.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 15 
 
 This is emphasized by her maid who gasps : " Oh, 
 my lady, don t let him leave us alone with the hea 
 then! " 
 
 " We are wasting very precious time. Under no cir 
 cumstances could I leave English women alone to-night ; 
 not if I knew my life depended on it ; " and Errol as he 
 says this tosses back from his forehead the yellow 
 Saxon locks that make his blue eyes seem so hand 
 some to Sarah Annerley. Then he goes on sternly : 
 " This discussion must stop at once ! To end it I will 
 borrow your money and if anything happens to me, my 
 father, who is one of the richest men in Australia, will re 
 pay you ! " 
 
 " Your father is rich and happy ? " gasps Lady Anner 
 ley. 
 
 " Certainly! Both ! He s one of the jolliest chaps in the 
 world ! Why not ? " 
 
 " I I did not know I never saw him I will get you 
 the money and am but too glad that it may be of use to 
 to us ! " With this Lady Sarah leaves the room in a 
 dazed sort of manner, as if she almost doubted Charley 
 Errol s words. 
 
 The maid runs out after her, and as she searches for 
 her puse Lady Annerley hears her abigail whisper in her 
 ear : " Oh, my lady, don t don t trust that Egyptian. 
 HL smile makes me sick." 
 
 " Don t be afraid, Martin ! " says her mistress sharply as 
 she puts the money in her pocket, " I have perfect confi 
 dence in Mr. Errol ! " 
 
 " So have I, marm ! " returns the abigail. " He s that 
 handsome that I could trust him with my life, couldn t 
 you, my lady ? " 
 
 " Perhaps ! " mutters Lady Annerley and gives a curi 
 ous little sigh. 
 
 This is interrupted by Errol who knocks on her 
 door, saying : " Excuse me, can I come in ? Osman tells 
 me it is better that you both arrange your toilets so as to 
 look like Egyptian women in the street." 
 
 " Come in at once ! Martin, open the door ! " says 
 Lady Annerley, but here gives an exclamation of surprise 
 and her maid a shriek of fear ; for as the abigail does her 
 bidding a tall figure draped in a long dark Egyptian 
 cloak, his feet shod in yellow Turkish slippers and his
 
 l6 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 head covered and concealed by a bright Arab turban, 
 strides into the apartment carrying the lighted candle in 
 his hand. 
 
 " Don t be afraid, Lady Annerley," laughs Errol, with 
 an attempt at mirth, " I ve gone into the Eastern costume 
 also; Osman said it was safest and I picked up this rig 
 about the hotel. George ! isn t it horribly lonely ? Not 
 a soul but us in this great empty caravansary." And the 
 laugh dies away as the young man thinks of the task he 
 has set himself to do this night. 
 
 " Here is the money ! " remarks his charge, giving him 
 her purse. 
 
 " A couple of thousand francs 11 be sufficient ; keep 
 the rest, Lady Sarah," says Mr. Errol, helping himself 
 and returning the balance. " My arms and cartridges 
 are weight enough for me after the tramp of to-day. 
 Now !" and his voice becomes that of authority, for 
 Charles Errol has generally been a leader in most of the 
 affairs of his life, from stroke of the Oxford crew to boss 
 ing the sheep-herders upon his father s great ranges in 
 Australia. " If I am to command I must have obedience ; 
 upon it depends our lives ! This is no masquerade for 
 fun! " For the maid having regained her confidence by 
 faith in an Englishman s presence and promise has giggled 
 a little at the sight she makes muffled up to the eyes in a 
 long wrap, which gives that hideous appearance peculiar 
 to Eastern women on the streets. 
 
 " I am perfectly aware of that," says Lady Annerley, 
 arranging the draperies she has thrown around her and 
 veiling her face closely. " Martin, be quiet ! " This last 
 is said very sharply, for the young Scotch girl is appar 
 ently still amused at the appearance she makes. 
 
 " All right," says Errol. " I want you both to pin a little 
 piece of bright ribbon on your arms, for if we get mixed 
 up in a crowd in the streets I must be able to recognize 
 you at a glance, for neither of you must say a single 
 word an English exclamation might destroy us. Now 
 I ll go off and see if Osman has got the donkeys. He 
 told me he had money enough in his pocket for that. " 
 With this he gets to the door but suddenly returns, and 
 laying his revolver beside Lady Annerley, says : " While 
 I m away you may feel safer with that to your hand ; it 
 is in perfect order and loaded. I shall hardly be gone
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 17 
 
 more than a minute, however, and you d better utilize 
 the time by putting on a good stout pair of boots." 
 
 " Boots ! " echoes his fair charge, blushing slightly 
 and stealing a glance at a small foot that she suddenly 
 withdraws from view. " Why, my feet are " 
 
 "Are in slippers, and we may have some hard walk 
 ing to do." With this Errol gets to the door and then 
 suddenly commands, " Both of you put on boots ! " and 
 is gone. 
 
 " Isn t that a man ? " mutters Martin in admiration. 
 
 " Stop talking and put on my boots," says her mis 
 tress. " Let this man who risks his life for us see that we 
 obey him." 
 
 " Yes, my lady," and the maid kneels down to do her 
 duty that is interrupted by a shudder and a shiver every 
 time her eye catches sight of the loaded revolver. For 
 Martin s is a mind to which the physical only appeals, 
 and a revolver is a great physical fact to Martin s intel 
 lect this night. She is kept at her labor with such vigor 
 by her mistress that when Errol returns a minute or two 
 after, Lady Annerley and her maid are both bundled up 
 to the eyes, and as like Eastern women as English women 
 can be. As they are about to leave, the young man sud 
 denly says to his charge: " I can give you a minute or so 
 more ; most of the crowd have followed the troops away 
 from the door. Put a change of linen for yourself and 
 maid and any articles of personal value to yourself in a 
 small valise." 
 
 "And have you carry it, burdened with arms as you 
 are ? No, I can get along without them ! " 
 
 " This affair may last for days, perhaps weeks ; you 
 must take them. Besides, if you do not, everything you 
 value will be lost to you, for I expect this hotel will soon 
 be nothing but ruins." 
 
 " Then Martin must carry it." 
 
 " All right, as I must have my arms free in case 
 of accident ; please do as I tell you ! " whispers 
 Errol. 
 
 " How thoughtful you are of me," returns Lady An 
 nerley, musingly, and then she calls her maid, and the 
 two together select, by the light of the dying candle that 
 is now flickering its life out down in its socket, some 
 articles for their immediate wants, and a few jewels and
 
 l8 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 souvenirs that Lady Annerley values either for their asso 
 ciation or intrinsic worth. 
 
 While the women do this, Charley Errol and Mr. Os- 
 man Ali outside in the deserted hall converse in hurried 
 whispers as to the best plan for safety after leaving the 
 hotel. 
 
 " I am ready to go now," says Lady Annerley, coming 
 to the door and looking with a shudder into the gloom 
 of the great corridors. 
 
 "In a second," returns Errol, feeling that his revolver 
 is ready to his hand. 
 
 "Oh! Don t stay any longer. Don t! Dont!" This 
 last is a cry of agonized terror from Martin, for the can 
 dle has suddenly with a great nicker gone out, making 
 the place more dark and the lonely stillness more impres 
 sive than before. 
 
 " Come ! " says Errol, taking Lady Annerley by the 
 hand. " Osman, stop that girl s mouth and follow me ! " 
 and would go toward the grand staircase and entrance to 
 the hotel, but the dragoman stops him by " That way is 
 death. There is a crowd of Arabs at the door, I have 
 seen them. Follow me, Sahib ! " 
 
 With this he leads Martin, trembling and shuddering, 
 along the great empty corridor, and pursued by Errol, 
 who gropes his way after the slight noise Osman makes, 
 feeling for obstacles in the darkness with one hand and 
 half-leading, half-supporting this woman he is striving to 
 guide to safety with the other. After a moment they 
 turn from the great hallway of the hotel and take to the 
 by-ways and small passages, occasionally stumbling over 
 trunks, furniture and deserted baggage ; accidents that 
 produce faint shudders and shrieks from the maid-serv 
 ant and low blasphemies from Osman, who claps his hand 
 over her mouth and curses her and her parents and her 
 tomb that will be and her offspring who may be, in all the 
 tongues and dialects of the East ; for this faithful drag 
 oman is now very anxious to save his charge from the 
 fury of the Moslem rabble he has heard ascending the 
 grand stairway of the hotel in search of Christian loot 
 and plunder. All this time Errol says no word, but 
 Lady Annerley can feel that he saves her from every 
 accidental collision or bruise even to his own hurt, and 
 whispers : " You are more needed to-night than I am ;
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 19 
 
 please think of yourself a little, not of me all the 
 
 1H And so they stagger along blind passages and cross 
 nassao-es, opening wrong doors and groping into wrong 
 Lrners and running against, as Errol thinks to himself 
 everything in the hotel," until at last they come to a little 
 stairway leading to a small unused side door known to 
 Osmani .whose calling makes him familiar with the hotel, 
 and cowering silently down the steps they open the door, 
 and peering" cautiously about, steal out with bruised limbs 
 and torn garments into the open air and streets of Ale. 
 andria. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THROUGH THE STREETS OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 THERE are not many people upon the Place Moham 
 med AH The great square seems deserted, though the 
 trees still rustle as dreamily and the fountains play as 
 cheerily as when, a few days ago, its grounds were made 
 merry by the cries of children and the hum of the busy 
 life of a great city. From this heart of the Frankjsh 
 quarters all Europeans have fled, and the Mohammedan 
 population are chiefly gathered upon the shore of the 
 harbor and about the fortifications, which are busy with 
 the marching of troops, the transportation of ammuni 
 tion and the preparations for the morrows battle with 
 the enemies of the faith of Allah. This crowd has been 
 augmented by a number of tribes of Bedouins who, 
 scenting combat, blood and pillage, have hurried from 
 the desert into this city to add to the carnage, massacre 
 and spoliation with which it is to be scourged. 
 
 Save the hum of preparation from the batteries, the 
 town is generally silent and fearfully dark even the 
 harbor lights and beacons for the safety of manners 
 havino- been extinguished by order of Arabi Pasha. All 
 this impresses itself upon Errol, as he stands for a mo 
 ment regaining his breath and trying to see in what way 
 
 to move.
 
 2O MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Suddenly Lady Annerley crouches against him, thej 
 maid-servant gives a terrified shudder, and almost faints I 
 into Osman s arms, whose teeth now chatter too much for J 
 execration ; while Errol mutters to himself, " My Heaven | 
 what horror is this ? " 
 
 For from the harbor rings out in their ears a shriek of 
 such barbaric terror and abject Oriental dismay that it 
 seems to bear carnage and death in every individual 
 cry. Looking out onto the harbor Errol sees the great 
 white electric search light from an English man-of-war 
 thrown upon a thousand or so of these sons of the desert, 
 who, having never encountered modern science before, 
 think it some new and fearful engine of war, and flee 
 from it with that augmented terror and dismay that ig 
 norance always carries with it. 
 
 Unnatural as a laugh is at such a moment the Australian 
 bursts into a hearty guffaw, and pointing out the mat 
 ter to Osman, says, with Anglo-Saxon bluntness : " If 
 your fellows run away from the light to-night, by George! 
 how they will skip from the guns to-morrow ! " 
 
 This is unwise at this moment, for it makes Osman 
 hate him personally, not generally. He had only hated 
 him as an Englishman before, now he hates him as an 
 individual. The only thing about an Englishman an 
 Oriental does not hate is his money ; though their Eng 
 lish masters somehow never seem to believe this until 
 they have carelessly let themselves and their women and 
 children be massacred by their Eastern slaves and broth 
 ers ; as many graves in Africa, China and India, and 
 plentiful mourning and tears in English country homes 
 and London town houses have so often shown. 
 
 The Oriental gives a little snarl and shakes the Scotch 
 woman rather roughly to her feet. Then remembering 
 himself, he says : " Sahib, the donkeys are round the 
 corner in the little street. Come quickly." 
 
 They hurriedly follow him and find he has told the 
 truth. Two little Egyptian vicious brutes with women s 
 saddles are waiting for them. Upon one Osman almost 
 tosses Martin, while Errol carefully and perhaps tenderly 
 places Lady Annerley upon the back of the other animal. 
 Then, Osman leading the way alongside of the maid and 
 Errol walking at her mistress bridle, they plunge into the 
 dark labyrinth of back streets that lead to the northward
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 21 
 
 between the two great thoroughfares of the Arab quarter 
 of the town, the streets Ras-et-Tin and Mosque Ibra 
 him, making for the Cafe Sphinx, kept by a Levantine 
 Greek named Constantine Niccovie, a chum, companion, 
 and bird of the same feather as Osman. 
 
 These streets are so deserted that Lady Annerley, who 
 has not spoken since she left the hotel, thinks she may 
 venture to say a word, and looking at the young Austra 
 lian very kindly whispers : " A curious introduction this 
 one of ours has been." 
 
 " Very ! " returns Errol, " and now you will perhaps 
 have time to tell me that for which you risked your life 
 to remain in Alexandria My heavens ! you are fainting, 
 this strain has been too great ! " and his arm quickly sup 
 ports her, for she is reeling and trembling and would fall 
 from her saddle but for his assistance ; for the woman is 
 thinking to herself, " How this man will hate me when I 
 tell him, as I must some day. But not now not to-ntght ! 
 No man on earth would be noble enough to save me 
 after I told him THAT ! " 
 
 As Osman plods along beside the Scotch girl he is med 
 itating in great glee. He has saved from general pil 
 lage the English lady s money and diamonds for his own 
 individual loot. They shall be all his and more ; for this 
 same Armenian has done a little sly dealing in human 
 flesh before in his time ; and he thinks that after the battle 
 Egypt will once more be the Egypt of old. He knows 
 of a great pasha, who has a harem far away on the Nu 
 bian hills high up the great river, who has given many 
 purses before for Frankish women, and he slyly looks at 
 the Scotch girl beside him and sizes up her good points 
 and values her as an Arabian horse-dealer does his beasts. 
 Then he gives a great start and his eyes open wide 
 with greed of gain as he thinks of the beautiful English 
 lady, who rides behind him, in a way that would make her 
 shudder and writhe even more bitterly than her thoughts 
 are making her do now as Backsheesh Osman dances 
 along the street with a cat-like step and chirps to his don 
 key : " Yal-lah ! yal-lah / " in his merry Egyptian way, 
 then mutters to himself, as if intoxicated with some un 
 canny joy : " IT WILL BE A GRAND DAY IN ALEXANDRIA 
 TO-MORROW ! " 
 
 Thus they grope their way along the close, narrow
 
 22 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Eastern alleys, whose Arab houses sometimes nearly 
 meet overhead and which would be dark at mid-day, but 
 are now so black that the party stumble over half-starved 
 Pariah dogs, who snap and snarl at them for driving them 
 from the scanty subsistence for which they are wallowing 
 and nosing in the garbage and filth such as only the back 
 streets of an Egyptian town can have, the uncleanliness 
 of which fills the nostrils with fetid odors and the air with 
 pestilence. Till at length, turning into a wider street, 
 after passing a few fellaheen beggars to whom Osman 
 gives kicks instead of paras, and an Arab boy who is 
 lamenting some loss with the loud, exaggerated execra 
 tions peculiar to the fantastic rabble of the Orient, but 
 who stifles his curses and cries and pricks up his ears at 
 the sight of the two donkeys who give each a little 
 whinny, they find themselves at the Cafe Sphinx. 
 
 Though they think themselves unobserved and un 
 noticed, the Arab urchin ever since he saw the donkeys 
 has followed them stealthily in the shadow ; and to him is 
 due a woful surprise for the whole party, even including 
 the Arab boy himself. 
 
 The Cafe Sphinx fronts upon the street of the Mosque 
 Ibrahim. It has an appearance of being half-European, 
 half-Turkish, and is in a house of Eastern construction 
 which contains at the back a little court-yard. Into this 
 yard Osman leads the party, bidding Lady Annerley and 
 her maid to remain seated upon the donkeys, as their stay 
 will be very short. Thinking them perfectly safe in their 
 seclusion, Enrol follows Osman into the cafe, for it is 
 absolutely necessary for him to obtain a supply of pro 
 visions sufficient to victual the Moorish house that Osman 
 has assured him can be obtained for their temporary 
 seclusion during the bombardment, and any riot or blood 
 shed to which it may give rise. 
 
 So, after going through a little dark doorway, in the 
 wall, the Australian finds himself in a small room 
 made dingy by dirt and age, and in the presence of his 
 dragoman and the Greek Levantine who is the proprietor 
 of the place. Further on beyond them he can see a larger 
 apartment, the cafe proper, which is arranged on one side 
 for Eastern customers with divans, mats and rugs, upon 
 which the guests may loll in Turkish fashion. On the 
 other side there are a lot of tables with common deal
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 23 
 
 chairs about them similar to those seen in third-rate beer 
 halls in European cities. This portion of the room is 
 apparently intended for Christian customers. The whole 
 place is illuminated by a couple of oil lamps that are 
 now turned low ; they are probably temporary substitutes 
 for the gas brackets which line the sides of the room, 
 but are useless upon this night. Over this dingy scene 
 hangs the odor of stale beer, bad wine, and worse to 
 bacco. It is now, however, Errol is happy to see, empty ; 
 its European patrons having fled the town, and its 
 Egyptian customers having gathered upon the docks and 
 quays of the harbor to see what the infidel war ships are 
 doing. 
 
 The owner of the establishment has a semi-European, 
 semi-Oriental appearance like his cafJ. His trousers are 
 greasy and Egyptian, his coat French and buttonless, he 
 wears ragged English side whiskers, and a shabby Turk 
 ish turban about his round head that contains two flash 
 ing dark, treacherous eyes ; a large hooked nose and a 
 pair of very red lips, that are in strong contrast to his 
 pale cheeks and white teeth. His salam is dignified, his 
 gestures effusive and vivacious ; when in repose he is 
 Turkish, when in action, Frenchy. 
 
 As the Australian enters, Mr. Osman and Mr. Constan- 
 tine Niccovie are holding deep converse together in some 
 unknown dialect, with great elevating of the eyebrows and 
 much gesticulation of the hands and arms. On seeing 
 him Constantine stops suddenly, and says effusively in 
 very imperfect but intelligible English : 
 
 " The Sheik Errol, I think you am ? " 
 
 " That is my name," replies the young man. 
 
 My house and all my family are yours all yours! " 
 returns the Levantine with a solemn salam to which Errol 
 replies with English brusqueness by asking Osman if he 
 has told the man what they want. 
 
 " Certainly all, Sahib," is the dragoman s answer. 
 
 " Osman Ali, whose breath is sweet with truth, is my 
 instigator, and says you are the defender of women. I 
 would give my life for women also, were it so decreed. 
 You wish provisions ? You shall have them ! But food is 
 high. This is a time of scarceness. We are going to 
 have a famine, still I shall charge you nothing ! nothing ! 
 NOTHING ! ! " This last is almost a shriek as Constantine
 
 24 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 has become French and effusive and he seizes Errol s hand 
 crying : " Behold my prices! " and then runs through the 
 list of articles needed, asking for them something over ten 
 times their value. 
 
 Errol, who has no time to haggle or barter, pulls his 
 hand out of the Levantine s greasy clutch and says sim 
 ply : " Bring them at once ! " 
 
 At this quick bargain Constantine goes for the articles 
 mentioned, cursing himself for not having demanded 
 more, while the Australian turns to his dragoman and 
 says : " Have you succeeded in getting a Moslem house 
 for my purpose ? " 
 
 " Yes, Sahib. Allah has been good to us. Abdallah 
 Yusef, the Moor, fearing the Prankish cannon, has fled 
 with his harem, family and slaves to his villa at Rosetta. 
 Constantine Niccovie who has a kind heart has the key 
 in his possession. Abdallah s bowab, his house-porter, 
 is now drunk with wine and fear and hiding in the cellar 
 below us. Constantine will lease unto us the home of 
 Abdallah, who is respected by all true believers and whose 
 house is safe from their molestation, for five thousand 
 francs." 
 
 " Five thousand francs for a few days ? It is an awfully 
 steep price," mutters Errol. 
 
 " So Constantine himself says, but his conscience 
 hurts him at leasing the home of another man. The 
 money will be paid to Abdallah, every para of it, and Ab 
 dallah might curse him if the price was not sufficient. 
 But I ll see the Levantine and ask him to reduce his 
 terms." With this Osman disappears in pursuit of Nic 
 covie, chuckling to himself : " What matters it how much 
 these English pay now? To-morrow we will have their 
 all and more too ! " for the dragoman has got slave- 
 dealing running in his head again. 
 
 Errol turns and opening the door looks at his charges. 
 The court-yard is silent, and Lady Annerley and her maid 
 are resting quietly in their saddles. He steps out to the 
 English lady, and knowing how anxious she must be, 
 whispers to her : " Everything is going finely. We 
 have the provisions we need and I shall soon get a place 
 of undoubted safety for us all, but these Eastern beasts 
 are extortionate. I fear I must borrow from you 
 again."
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 25 
 
 " Borrow from me ? Mr. Errol, are you not lending to 
 me perhaps your life ? Please keep all for me ; spend it 
 all if you please, and then I still am the debtor," and she 
 slips her purse into his hand. 
 
 " Thank you for your confidence, Lady Annerley," says 
 the young man and turns back to the house again, 
 speaking a word of encouragement on his way to Mar 
 tin who sits her donkey in a stony kind of paralyzed 
 fear. 
 
 He is met at the door by Osman, who says with a dep 
 recating shrug of his shoulders : " It is no use ; Niccovie 
 is a man of honor and he declares his conscience would 
 smite him if he did Abdallah the wrong to abate a franc 
 of the five thousand. Take his offer. Think of the 
 women ! " 
 
 " All right. I ve no time to haggle. Give him his 
 money," and Errol hands over the sum to the drago 
 man, but concludes rather suspiciously: "How the deuce 
 does Niccovie, who you say is a Levantine, dare to stay 
 openly in Alexandria at such a time ? " 
 
 " Oh ah Constantino Niccovie is a man of business 
 and would risk his life to do a good turn in trade, he is 
 so brave! " answers Osman, going with the cash in pursuit 
 of Niccovie, who is still busied below getting out the sup 
 plies for which they have bargained. He does not how 
 ever tell the Australian that the Greek Levantine is a 
 Renegado who has but lately taken himself to the faith 
 of Mohammed, and is as safe as any full-born Moslem who 
 is crying to Allah and cursing the Franks this night in 
 Alexandria. 
 
 A few moments after both the Armenian and the Le 
 vantine come out of the cellar with the supplies, which 
 Errol examines and finds fairly good, and enough to pro 
 vision the party for a week. 
 
 " How the deuce are we to carry all this ? " he asks, 
 and is rather grateful to Osman for the suggestion that 
 the donkeys are strong and sturdy. 
 
 " I paid a grand price for those beasts, Sahib," says the 
 dragoman proudly, and mentions a sum that makes Errol 
 open his eyes. 
 
 However, he merely remarks, "I ll settle for them 
 when we get to Abdallah s house," and goes about ar 
 ranging several little details with Constantine, the Greek,
 
 26 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 an occupation which is interrupted very suddenly and 
 unexpectedly by a piercing shriek from Martin, outside 
 in the court-yard, and Lady Annerley s hurrying into 
 the room in a dazed kind of way and whispering to him : 
 "There is something the matter about those donkeys. 
 Two men and a boy have just dragged my maid off 
 hers, and 
 
 But she says no more, for here the door is opened 
 suddenly and two Nubian policeman appear, one of them 
 dragging in Martin by the arm, who says : " Don t ! 
 dorit!" in a pathetic, pleading tone, and holds her 
 hand up to her head as if she expected the man to 
 cuff her ears. They are followed by the Arab boy, who, 
 though his eyes are still red with the tears of his late 
 lamentations, gives a grin of joy, points to Osman and 
 cries : " Behold ! There is the jackal who in the dark 
 ness stole from me the" bread of life, the two prettiest, 
 strongest, and fleetest donkeys in Alexandria. May the 
 curse of Allah blight his eyes, and the dogs of the desert 
 defile the tomb of his father ! " 
 
 For a moment, under this invective, the dragoman 
 starts and drops his eyes, but after exchanging a glance 
 with Niccovie his coolness comes back to him, and looking 
 up and seeing that his accuser is but a boy, he turns upon 
 him, and not to be outdone in invective fires at him, 
 embellished with a quantity of threatening gestures : 
 " Thy tongue be cut out ! Thy mother was a liar, and 
 thy father likewise ! These beasts I bought in the mar 
 ket to-day, paying for them in the gold of this Frankish 
 sheik of whom I am his dragoman! " 
 
 At this the two policemen look at each other and 
 then at the two women and Errol, and one says fiercely : 
 "These people are here for no good ! They are our 
 enemies! " 
 
 And the other replies : " Let us drag them all to prison ! 
 To-morrow these unbelieving dogs shall have Eastern 
 justice! " 
 
 However, their cause is in Mr. Osman Ali s hands, and 
 he being truly anxious to save his prey for himself, it is 
 not likely to be lost for want of any of the delicate di 
 plomacy of the East. On hearing these words, the drago 
 man instantly steps forward and producing a number of 
 gold twenty-franc pieces, says : " This scamp s words are
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 27 
 
 as deceitful as the sands of the desert ! The donkeys are 
 mine by the will of Allah ! " 
 
 " They are not yours, you spawn of liars ! " cries 
 the boy. " They belong to me, by Allah ! They know 
 their names and answer to my voice. One is called 
 Boozeh, because he is frisky like strong liquor, and the 
 other is named Doorrah, because he cries like a parrot." 
 With this the boy calls out loudly : " Boozeh ! " " Door 
 rah ! " and the beasts put their heads in the door, and 
 whinny and bray in apparent recognition. 
 
 This, however, is all thrown away upon the Nubian 
 policemen, whose eyes have never lost sight of the money 
 ever since Osman has produced the gold. 
 
 These coins he chinks about in his hand and goes on 
 quietly, as he feels pretty sure of his ground now : 
 " That the boy lies is proved by this \ Is it likely that I, 
 Osman Ali, a man of distinction and wealth" here the 
 Armenian drops the money slowly from one hand to the 
 other, every chink of the coins being responded to by a 
 greedy, grasping, dog-and-the-bone glance in the eyes of 
 the two guardians of the law. 
 
 "Don t look at his gold ! " shrieks the Arab gamin in 
 despair. 
 
 "Wealth so great," continues Osman unmoved, "that 
 I can give two faithful officers of the law a thousand 
 piastres apiece as a mere matter of charity and good 
 will would I steal a couple of donkeys, the price of 
 which is to me as the dust of the earth ? " And saying 
 this he drops the golden shower into the policemen s 
 outstretched hands. 
 
 This is backed up and enforced by Constantine ef 
 fusively uttering, " And you know me also ! I am Nic- 
 covie, whose house *of entertainment has given you 
 many refreshing drinks and will give you many 
 more, please Allah ! This man is Osman Ali, a man 
 whose breath smells sweet with truth like the roses of 
 Sophia ! " 
 
 "Is it likely that I should be a thief?" almost sternly 
 demands the dragoman of the two officers. 
 
 "No; Enfendi" is their reply. 
 
 At this moment Constantine suddenly cries out : "Ah ! 
 another proof of innocence! The false accuser flies!" 
 For the Arab boy, seeing the scales of justice weighed
 
 28 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 down by gold turn against him, has made a sudden bolt for 
 the street. 
 
 This unfortunate is now seized by the policemen, and 
 one of them whispers in an undertone to Osman as they 
 return to the court-yard dragging the urchin with them. 
 
 Now this affair has hardly been understood by Errol or 
 Lady Annerley, nearly every word of the excited con 
 versation being in Arab dialect ; and the dragoman 
 hurriedly explains it by saying that the avaricious little 
 spawn of the streets had demanded increased payment 
 for his donkeys, and he had given a couple of hundred 
 francs to settle the matter, an elucidation that is per 
 fectly consistent with the gestures used and the money 
 paid on the occasion. 
 
 Had either of them understood it, the Arab boy would 
 doubtless have fared better, as the argument of Mr. 
 Osman would have scarcely convinced any unprejudiced 
 mind of his innocence. They have little time to think 
 over the matter, however, as the noise from the populace 
 about the harbor becomes greater, and a battery of artil 
 lery rattles hurriedly down the street ; one of the English 
 gun-boats having produced an excitement by throwing up 
 some rockets as a signal. They hurriedly place the pro 
 visions upon the donkeys, and are just setting out when 
 Osman mutters a few words to Errol and darts back into 
 the house where Constantine Niccovie still remains, 
 he neither having come out into the court-yard nor as 
 sisted in loading the beasts of burden. 
 
 " Oh, why does he keep us here waiting ? " whispers 
 Lady Annerley, who has become nervously anxious ever 
 since the policemen have made their appearance. " Why 
 has that man gone back into the house ? " 
 
 " He said he had forgotten the key to Abdullah s, " is 
 Errol s reply. 
 
 "The key? Why, I saw it in his hand !" she goes 
 on impulsively, and then suddenly stops, shivers and ex 
 claims : " Oh, heavens ! What is that ? " For from 
 that corner of the little court-yard which is shrouded 
 in the deepest gloom there comes a sound of stifled 
 suffering, and then a shriek of intense agony such as this 
 delicate English lady has never heard before. 
 
 This shriek is echoed by Martin, whose nervous system, 
 never very strong, has now got into a fearful state.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 29 
 
 "By George! They are beating somebody!" says 
 Errol. 
 
 " Oh ! it s that poor little Arab boy ! " cries Lady 
 Annerley, slipping out of her saddle. " Oh, Mr. Errol, 
 hurry ! Save him ! Save him! If you don t I must ! " 
 For here another cry of intense anguish, in a young, 
 fresh, childish voice, cuts into the still night air. 
 
 Thus adjured, the Australian runs to the far corner of 
 the court-yard, and finds the two policemen, after the 
 manner of Eastern justice, are inflicting a summary 
 bastinado upon the feet of the boy who has accused the 
 dragoman ; having received a hint from Osinan to that 
 effect. 
 
 He pulls them away and cries, " Stop ! " which they 
 don t understand, and gives them money which they 
 think they do comprehend, for the next instant as Errol 
 turns away their canes are beating with greater vigor 
 upon the upturned soles of the helpless Arab boy and 
 his cries are more piteous than ever ; for cruelty to an 
 other is often purchased in the East ; mercy, never ! 
 mercy, never ! 
 
 Errol hastily dashes one of the torturers aside, and is 
 about to seize the other when Lady Annerley is between 
 him and the man, and fighting the wretch away with her 
 delicate hands, bends down over the victim of their 
 cruelty, sobbing herself when she sees the little sufferer s 
 anguish. 
 
 " Lift him up ! " she cries to Errol, and turning to the 
 men : " Don t you touch him again, or I will kill you ! " 
 There is something in her spirit that makes the Nubians 
 eyes droop under her glance, and she turns again to the 
 Australian and begs him to carry the boy into the house ; 
 for the child s eyes are closed though he gives out faint 
 gasps and sobs. 
 
 " I could not go away from him without seeing how 
 badly he is hurt ! " she murmurs. " Please bear him 
 gently." 
 
 And Errol doing her bidding, in the dingy room of 
 the dirty cafe, this great English lady, unmindful of the 
 dangers of the night and place, bends over and revives 
 with strengthening wine and kind words and soothing 
 gestures, which do him even greater good, this little vic 
 tim of man s injustice.
 
 30 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 The young man looks on silently a moment, and mut 
 tering, " She is braver than I am," steps out to Mr. 
 Osman, who has been brought into sight by the noise, 
 and bids him see that the policemen go away at once 
 and molest the boy no farther. This the dragoman with 
 a rather shamed face does at once ; for Osman Ali has 
 some doubts of how much his master guesses of the truth 
 of this affair. 
 
 Meantime Lady Annerley, calling her maid, bandages 
 with her own handkerchief the bruised feet of the little 
 boy, who looks at her in an unbelieving kind of way with 
 eyes that have become perhaps too knowing in his 
 early immature struggle for existence. And the tears 
 fall upon him from the beautiful woman who is bend 
 ing over and comforting him and saying kinder words 
 to him than he has ever heard before ; for this Arab 
 gamin in the streets of Alexandria has picked up a smat 
 tering of most languages, English among the rest. 
 
 At seeing this unusual sight Mr. Constantine Niccovie 
 turns away with a shrug of his huge, stalwart shoulders, 
 for the Levantine is big and bony in stature ; while Osman 
 looks at Lady Annerley from a distance, a supercilious 
 sneer floating now and again over his delicate, cunning 
 features, as he thinks: " This haughty beauty will to-mor 
 row need her tears for herself ; perhaps even she may 
 some day suffer the same chastisement as this boy she 
 comforts." For Mr. Osman Ali in his Eastern experi 
 ences has discovered that the bastinado is by no means 
 banished from the harems of the great, and he thinks 
 that if things go to-morrow as they should do, before 
 long this beautiful English lady may be one of the veiled 
 ones in the zarina of a great pasha who lives far from 
 civilization and who is very rich and pays immense prices 
 for Frankish odalisks. For with all his acuteness this 
 Armenian scoundrel is not analyst enough to know that 
 this woman he speculates upon could be and would be a 
 slave to but one thing upon this earth ; that is her own 
 passion. 
 
 Thus criticised and commented upon, Lady Annerley 
 continues her labor of mercy until the little sufferer s 
 sobs die away, and he looking at her whispers in her 
 ear : " Backsheesh Osman stole my donkeys ; they beat 
 me for telling Allah s truth ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 31 
 
 " If they are yours they shall be returned to you," an 
 swers the lady. " Do you know the house of Abdallah 
 the Moor ? v 
 
 The little fellow nods to her in reply, stifling a sigh. 
 
 And she, knowing she can trust him, says : " Come for 
 them to his house to-morrow. To-night we have need of 
 them ! " With this she slips into his hand a lot of gold 
 and silver change, just as Errol comes to her and says 
 quietly but decidedly: " My lady, we must wait no 
 longer." 
 
 As she rises from the little boy s side, a single tear that 
 still lingers in her eye falls upon his upturned face, 
 which never ceases to watch her until the party, headed 
 as before by Osman, pass out into the darkness of the 
 city. Then the donkey boy, feeling not altogether safe 
 with money in his pocket in the presence of Mr. Con- 
 stantine Niccovie, hobbles groaning and staggering with 
 pain into the darkness also ; and finding a sequestered 
 corner of a dirty but quiet alley, sobs himself to sleep ; a 
 subdued pathetic smile coming over his pale suffering 
 face as he mutters after the poetic manner of his people: 
 " The tears of the beautiful Frankish lady are pearls on 
 my face." 
 
 And Sarah Annerley has, in her five minutes womanly 
 kindness for this poor little kick-about ragamuffin of the 
 streets of Alexandria, done a better stroke of work for 
 herself than even she dreams of or imagines. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FIRST GUN. 
 
 TURNING from the Cafe Sphinx, the English party 
 make their way through the narrowest streets of the 
 Arab portion of the town, for Osman thinks it best to 
 avoid the thoroughfares which become more crowded 
 with people as they near the harbor. The dragoman 
 leads them in a generally northwestern direction, and, 
 after dodging across the larger streets of La Douane and 
 Marina, in a little time they come to the house of Abdallah 
 the Moor, which is situated on a somewhat broader alley
 
 32 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 than those in the neighborhood, and just where the Turk 
 ish quarter and the Arab portion of the town meet each 
 other. In the darkness Errol can only see that the ex 
 terior of the house, which is of moderate proportions, is 
 Eastern in appearance and design. 
 
 Osman unlocks and opens the outer door, which the 
 Australian notes is by no means strong enough to resist 
 a violent attack, as its woodwork and lock are old and 
 its hinges rusty. Then the Armenian lights a candle, 
 of which they have procured a stock from Niccovie ; by 
 its uncertain flicker they grope their way into the small 
 arched passage, where Errol pauses and says : 
 
 " From this time on I am commander of the garrison, 
 and I ll have the obedience of martial law. Lock that 
 door, Osman ! " 
 
 This the Armenian does, though if the candle were 
 brighter they could see that his face has turned pale. 
 Now give me that key." 
 Had I not better leave it in the lock ? " 
 No, my pocket is the place for it ! " 
 But we might have to fly from here in a hurry ! " 
 Give me that key ! Quick ! " and there is a menace 
 in Errol s voice that makes the Armenian dragoman 
 hasten to obey ; for his master has not been altogether 
 pleased with certain performances of Mr. Backshcesh 
 Osman since they have left the Hotel de 1 Europe. 
 
 " Now go ahead with the light ! " And Osman obeying, 
 they all turn to the right and in a step or two emerge 
 from the passage into a small court-yard, which, after the 
 style of most Turkish dwellings, has a fountain near its 
 center, and a small pagoda or summer house in one 
 corner. 
 
 Here Errol tells Lady Annerley and her maid to re 
 main upon their donkeys until he and Osman see if the 
 house is really deserted. Together the two make a hasty 
 examination of the lower floor ; and, finding no one in 
 the rooms below, he bids Osman show him up the old- 
 fashioned stair-way to the door of the upper floor, which 
 is only fastened by an ancient Egyptian wooden lock 
 which the dragoman soon picks. Then the two men dis 
 appear, and the two women wait for them anxiously, 
 listening for any sound from above that may indicate 
 they have intruded upon a Moslem household.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 33 
 
 After a few minutes Errol returns and says : " I ve 
 looked over the whole establishment. There s nothing 
 living in it but a cat, and she was happy to see us." 
 
 And he assists the women off the donkeys, which he 
 leaves to contentedly graze about the court-yard that has 
 a few blades of grass growing up between the flags with 
 which it is paved. 
 
 Martin is about to enter the lower floor of the build 
 ing, but Errol says : " Upstairs, please ! I can defend 
 the stair-way in case of attack ; besides, the rooms are 
 more snug above, and Osman, who is a useful fellow, is 
 making them as comfortable as possible for you." 
 
 Then he assists Lady Annerley up the old-fashioned 
 stairs, for now the first excitement being over she be 
 comes weak and faint, and ushers her into the Eastern 
 apartments. Here she turns and giving him a little laugh 
 that is rather forced, says : " The first time I was ever 
 immured in an Egyptian harem ! " 
 
 To which Mr. Osman, who has been making the place 
 look brighter, having kindled a charcoal fire in a brasier 
 and lit enough candles to give a pleasant light, comes 
 forward bowing humbly, and remarks : " The harems of 
 believers are the places for beauty." 
 
 Perhaps there is a certain sinister expression in his 
 glance that for the life of him this little fiend cannot 
 conceal, or perhaps some latent impertinence in his smile ; 
 but La3y Annerley, who is usually kind to her inferiors, 
 draws herself up haughtily and replies, " I am not accus 
 tomed to the compliments of servants ; " while Errol 
 cries out at him : " Hold your tongue, Osman, and 
 get coffee and something to eat ! " Which the Oriental 
 does with a rapidity that is simply wonderful, bring 
 ing up the provisions that they have brought with 
 them, and levying upon certain stores of dainties he 
 finds left in the house, with an unscrupulous vigor that 
 very greatly disgusts Abdallah the Moor upon his return 
 to his home some weeks afterward. Consequently in a 
 few minutes, during which Errol has arranged the rooms 
 so as to give Lady Annerley and her attendant as much 
 privacy as is consistent with his plans for their safety, 
 Mr. Osman AH gives a salam and announces, " Sahib, 
 Allah has given us plenty." Then the whole four without 
 ceremony, Lady Annerley seated on a divan, and waited
 
 34 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 on by her maid and Mr. Errol, and the Armenian taking 
 good care of himself in a corner, do justice to the good 
 things the dragoman has provided. 
 
 Toward the conclusion of this Lady Annerley sud 
 denly says with a smile : " Mr. Errol, I don t object to 
 cigar smoke." 
 
 " A-ah ! Why did you think I wished a weed ? " 
 
 This is answered by a little laugh from the lady, who 
 gives a kind of roguish glance at something the young 
 man has taken abstractedly from his pocket ; and look 
 ing down, Charley Errol finds it is a cigar-case. 
 
 " By George ! " he exclaims, " pardon the force of 
 habit," and is about to replace the article. 
 
 " I will pardon the force of habit when you carry the 
 force of habit to its legitimate end." 
 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " Enjoy your Havana at once ! " 
 
 As Errol lights up and puffs the cigar smoke about 
 him he thinks to himself, in a dreamy way for he is be 
 coming very sleepy she looks like a beautiful Eastern 
 picture, surrounded as she is by the Moorish interior, its 
 divans, rugs and tessellated walls, with their latticed win 
 dows, and Osman squatted in Turkish fashion as a back 
 ground. 
 
 The next instant his eye catches something that makes 
 him wake up with a start ; he seizes his cigar-case, ex 
 amines it hurriedly, and says in a very gloomy manner : 
 " There are only three left." 
 
 " Three what ? " suddenly asks Lady Annerley, who is 
 alarmed at the seriousness of his tone. 
 
 " Three cigars ! And this siege may last a week. 
 I m in a deuce of a fix," mutters Errol, rather savagely. 
 
 " But you can get plenty to-morrow I mean to-day," 
 suggested his questioner, consulting her watch. 
 
 " Impossible ! If a shop could be found open, I dare 
 not take the risk of being followed on returning to this 
 house with you here." 
 
 " I I am afraid you mean that for a reproach ; that 
 you feel burdened by the care of me," mutters Lady An 
 nerley, turning away with a little sigh. 
 
 " Do I look like one of that kind ? " answers Errol, im 
 pulsively turning her toward him. " No ! but I feel my 
 responsibility too strongly to risk bringing danger upon
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 35 
 
 you for any selfish want of mine even a cigar. Don t 
 you believe me and trust me ? " 
 
 " With my whole heart. God bless you ! " As she says 
 these words some unknown impulse or emotion seizes 
 this woman whom all call haughty, and she tries to take 
 the young man s hand and kiss it in a contrite, humble, 
 ashamed sort of way that astounds him. 
 
 " Pough ! " he cries, trying to make light of his service 
 though blushing with embarrassment, and perhaps with 
 pleasure, for Lady Annerley looks even more beautiful 
 when tender than when cold. "/ should be the grateful 
 one. Look what your money has brought us comfort, 
 and, I hope, safety." He glances about the apartment. 
 " Now, let s get settled for the night. Twenty-eight 
 hours, and hardly a wink since Cairo." 
 
 Errol emphasizes this remark with a fearful yawn, sleep 
 having got the better of etiquette, and makes the neces 
 sary arrangements for the disposition of the party until 
 daylight. 
 
 There are four principal rooms upon this floor of the 
 house. Lady Annerley and her maid are to occupy the 
 two to the left of the apartment they are now in ; he will 
 sleep at the head of the stairs leading from the court 
 yard which enters this one ; and Osman Ali shall have 
 the other and smaller one on the right, an arrangement 
 which pjeases the Armenian though he does not say so ; 
 for connected with his apartment is a small stairway and 
 little door, opening into the street, which is common to 
 most Turkish dwellings for the private use of the master 
 of the house. This opening is concealed by several very 
 heavy tapestries, but the dragoman, knowing the usual 
 construction of Eastern mansions, has already discovered 
 its location and thinks it may be useful to him. 
 
 Mr. Osman immediately prevents any rearrangement 
 of the party by retiring to his room with an Oriental sa- 
 lam. Lady Annerley and her maid betake themselves to 
 the divans and rugs of their apartments, Errol charging her 
 as she leaves him to be sure and let him know if anything 
 disturbs her in the night ; the lamps are extinguished 
 save one that dimly illuminates the large room which 
 Errol occupies ; darkness and silence are again upon the 
 Moorish house. 
 
 All are asleep except the great English lady, who has
 
 36 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 something on her mind that makes her sigh and moan 
 and writhe as she tosses about upon her luxurious divan, 
 and envy the regular breathing of Martin, who is sleep 
 ing the sleep of the just and the lazy. The tension of 
 her brain increases the acuteness of her nerves hear 
 ing, seeing, and all her senses become more powerful and 
 more delicate. So it comes to pass that after an hour or 
 two of excited meditation Lady Annerley feels sure she 
 hears a noise coming from one of the two rooms to the 
 right of hers. She says nothing to Martin, not wishing to 
 alarm her, and passes quietly into the large apartment 
 occupied by Errol. This is silent, but after listening a 
 moment she thinks she hears the noise of a closing door 
 coming from the chamber of the Armenian. To the en 
 trance of this room she passes ; but after waiting there 
 some little time hears no noise, thinks it all must be her 
 imagination, and is about to return to her own room, when 
 remembering Errol s injunction, she turns to him to tell 
 him what she has heard, and sees him by the pale light of 
 the Turkish lamp lying across the doorway, his arms 
 ready for service, the rifle under his head, and his re 
 volver grasped in his right hand as he sleeps. 
 
 His breathing has the deep regularity of extreme ex 
 haustion, and she hesitates to awake him, thinking the 
 noise she heard is but a creation of her imagination. She 
 will wait and warn him if she hears anything more, and 
 she seats herself at his head and looks at him, thinking 
 what a fine picture the young fellow makes with his six 
 feet of manly beauty ; but here she starts, for he is mut 
 tering in his sleep of his home and friends in far-away 
 Australia, and is saying kind things to his dear old 
 father. 
 
 At this the tears come into Sarah Annerley s eyes ; she 
 moans to herself : " His father for my father perhaps 
 now his life to save mine. How shall I tell him now when 
 I like him so much as a friend ! " And sitting in this 
 meditation, she hardly notes that time passes by ; that 
 the morning light comes in the little Moorish windows, 
 the birds chirp and sing in the court-yard, and the tired 
 Egyptian donkeys bray and whinny outside as if hint 
 ing at breakfast, and all becomes bright and cheerful 
 and sunny, until something breaks the stillness of the 
 scene with one tremendous startling crash, and a con-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 37 
 
 cussion that makes the house shake and tremble like 
 an earthquake, and destroys the sounds of waking life in 
 happy nature. With a wild cry Martin runs into the 
 room. There is a howl of agony from the roof to which 
 the Armenian had gone to say his prayers, looking to 
 Mecca, Allah and the rising sun ; and Errol, springing 
 up, cries : "By George! the first gun in the bombardment 
 of Alexandria ! " 
 
 Osman s cry from the roof attracts Errol. He hastily 
 ascends and looks out ; then, after a moment, returns 
 and says : " Lady Annerley, come up quick ! " 
 
 " There is no great danger, I suppose ? " 
 
 " No more than down here," and he assists her up the 
 narrow step-ladder leading to the roof, and as she looks 
 out over the scene that from their elevation is disclosed 
 to them, he cries in her ear, for the thunder of the guns 
 is now deafening : " Is that not a sight worth the risk of 
 life to see ? " 
 
 "Yes," returns this English lady, who has never seen 
 war before, " beautiful and grand ! " 
 
 And so at this moment it is to Sarah Annerley beauti 
 ful and grand ; the horror of it came to her afterward. 
 
 To her right, slightly receding from a straight line, 
 but all the time running out toward the sea, is the Cape 
 of Ras-el-Tin ; in its foreground the Arsenal, but further 
 on, it is^lined with batteries that end in the great Pharos 
 Fort, and the lighthouse upon Point Eunostos. Behind 
 these are the walls, minarets and sloping roofs of the 
 Khedive s palace and this monarch s prison for female 
 loveliness gathered from the four corners of the earth 
 to satiate his passions, called the Harem. Their sur 
 rounding gardens of tropical trees, flowers and fruits, 
 their Oriental architecture give them a graceful Eastern 
 beauty in keeping with the romantic names of their 
 location, the gardens being called in the metaphor of 
 the East " The Abode of Pomegranates," and the prom 
 ontory " The Cape of Figs." From almost her feet the 
 quays and landing places of the town, called " The 
 Marina," run in a graceful curve far to the left, which 
 suddenly changes to an almost straight line, then darts 
 out toward the sea, becoming a series of forts and bat 
 teries after it passes the long pier or mole which divides 
 the inner from the outer harbor. The nearest of these
 
 38 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 forts to her is Gabari, then Silese, beyond these Massa- 
 el-Kanat, and the Meks Fort and batteries ; and still 
 farther out to sea Adjemi and the Marabout fortifica 
 tions commanding the channel of that name, which is the 
 largest, deepest and safest entrance to the roadstead of 
 Alexandria, and scattered all over the picture windmills 
 1 windmills everywhere ! 
 
 Between these two great lines of fortifications lies 
 straight before her the inner and outer harbor of the 
 town. The inner, bereft of shipping save a few Egyp 
 tian coasters, Mahmudiyeh Canal and Nile boats, whose 
 white lateen sails give picturesque romance to the scene, 
 is quiet, calm and peaceful as an Italian lake ; the outer, 
 torn up and churned into foam with flying shot and shell, 
 and covered with the iron-clads of England, their decks 
 cleared for action, their heavy masts and yards made to 
 look more powerful and massive by being relieved of all 
 their light rigging and loftier spars, their tops filled with 
 men and machine and rapid firing guns, and their great 
 turrets or black broadsides wreathed in the smoke and 
 flame of their enormous cannon, is a picture of grand, 
 awful, annihilating modern war. The town, shore, bat 
 teries, Khedive s palace and Harem are picturesque, 
 Eastern and ancient, and fly the flag of the Crescent of 
 Allah ; the ships of war are ugly, Western and mod 
 ern, and fight under the Union Jack of England which 
 contains the Cross of Christ ; and both are going to do 
 some very savage, cruel and devilish work beneath these 
 banners. 
 
 There are four of these floating instruments of destruc 
 tion bombarding the Meks batteries, and though they 
 are not all in full sight, from their position Errol judges 
 about the same number are at work upon the batteries of 
 Ras-el-Tin and the Pharos Fort. Fort Ada, whose guns 
 can be heard nearly north of them, is entirely out of their 
 view. 
 
 Far down the bay, opposite the Marabout batteries, 
 can be seen several small gun-boats preparing to make an 
 attack upon them, and about mid-way from the Meks and 
 Pharos Forts lies a broad black British iron-clad, very 
 large, but floating low in the water, having upon her deck 
 en Echelon two great black turrets. Not being at anchor 
 she is about to fight under headway, and what is techni-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 39 
 
 cally called " bow on." All this is perfectly apparent to 
 both Lady Annerley and Charley Errol, that young man 
 having carried with him all through the preceding night 
 with British bulldog tenacity a large field glass such as de 
 notes the traveling Englishman the world over, and which 
 he now brings to bear upon the scene before them, which as 
 yet is unobscured with smoke and is lighted up, illumined 
 and made brilliant by the rising sun of Egypt, hot and 
 blazing to-day as it is far to the south, where it is burn 
 ing out the lives of travelers upon the deserts. 
 
 A little farther out to sea beyond the big iron-clad is a 
 much smaller man-of-war, which appears to be nearly as 
 much in danger as the larger one, though evidently not 
 in action. This produces an exclamation of surprise 
 from Errol, who, after examining her attentively with 
 the glass cries : " Wheugh ! Here s Yankee curiosity ! 
 Brother Jonathan s risking death to see what s going 
 on ! " For the vessel he is looking at flies the American 
 flag, and is there to save life, not to destroy it, though 
 the excitement of her officers has run the ship into the 
 range of the Egyptian batteries, which are now returning 
 rapidly and regularly in one continuous echoing roar the 
 fire of the English guns. 
 
 A second after this Lady Annerley, chancing to look at 
 the large English iron-clad with the great black turrets, 
 exclaims : " What is that big fat ship doing ? She s 
 
 Bi;t her words are annihilated as almost her senses, for 
 there comes into the air a crashing roar that dominates 
 and makes seem silent the thunder of all the other guns ; 
 a hustling, howling shriek such as is sometimes heard 
 in tropic hurricanes yells through the place ; the houses 
 of the town rock as in the cradle of an earthquake as 
 all their windows fall crashing inward, while from an 
 Egyptian battery a cloud of dust, sand and masonry flies 
 up as if a gigantic volcano had opened its crater beneath 
 the Moslem works. 
 
 After a moment Lady Annerley whispers with white 
 lips > for all the other guns have become for the second 
 still, as if in silent terror of this new thing they feel their 
 master : " What awful noise was that?" 
 
 And Errol, who has now recovered his speech, answers : 
 "That was the first eighty-ton gun fired in war. By 
 George ! that vessel over there must be the Inflexible"
 
 40 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 This eighty-ton horror is too much for Mr. Osman 
 AH, who has been trying to force himself to regard the 
 bombardment with a supercilious Egyptian smile, though 
 at times his teeth have chattered. The Armenian now 
 bolts down the stairway and hides himself in the cellar. 
 Martin, who has so far occupied the second floor in a 
 kind of comatose state, from which every now and again 
 she has seemed to wake to give sometimes a shriek, some 
 times a prayer, now sets up a cry of such plaintive de 
 spair that Lady Annerley thinks she is dying and goes 
 down to comfort her. 
 
 Errol alone occupies the roof, and the smoke not being 
 as yet too dense, directs his glass toward the Mara 
 bout batteries far down the bay, and sees something 
 there that interests him so much he does not notice 
 that Lady Annerley has returned to his side, until she 
 shouts at him, for the firing is now at its height and the 
 roar and racket tremendous : "What excites you so 
 much ? " 
 
 " I m just looking at one of the pluckiest things done 
 at any time in any war ! " 
 
 " What s that ? Show me ! " 
 
 " Look ! " cries Errol, giving her the glass. " The 
 chap who commands that vessel will get the V. C. if he 
 lives through this." 
 
 And the English lady can see a little gun-boat unas 
 sisted and alone into close range of the powerful batteries 
 and big forts of the Marabout Channel. 
 
 " She ll be blown to pieces ! " screams Lady Annerle)^ 
 who has seen enough to know that the Egyptian guns 
 are being well served this day. 
 
 " Yes, if they hit at their first fire ; if not she may have 
 the best of it. Her commander has brains as well as 
 courage," says Errol, and explains to his listener that a 
 light-draught gun-boat may get so close to the forts that 
 they cannot depress their guns sufficiently to hit her ; then 
 she will be comparatively safe. After a moment there is 
 a tremendous salvo of artillery from the Egyptian bat 
 teries, and peering through the smoke, Lady Annerley 
 cries in a voice hoarse with horror : " They ve sunk 
 her ! Heaven forgive them ! " 
 
 But Errol, seizing the glass from her, the next second 
 shrieks : " By Heaven, she s safe ! I see her masts right
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 41 
 
 alongside the Moslem guns. Give it to them ! Blow em 
 to the devil," dancing about and shrieking in excitement 
 at the English tars as if they could hear him miles away, 
 through all the clang and roar of a hundred guns. For 
 this young man has got the lunacy of battle upon him now, 
 and uses words and expressions in his frenzy that the 
 lady by his side would reprove if she were not as excited 
 herself. 
 
 Whether the tars on the distant gun-boat hear Errol or 
 not, they act as if they do ; and from each of her tops 
 such a storm of bullets flies into the Moslem batteries, 
 whose big guns cannot be trained effectively upon the 
 vessel below them, that they drive the Arab artillery-men 
 from their works. 
 
 At which the Australian hurrahs himself hoarse and 
 cries : " By George ! I d much sooner stand against the 
 household troops armed with the muskets with which 
 they downed Bonaparte at Waterloo than against those 
 few sailors and the inventions of Messrs. Gatling and 
 Hotchkiss mounted on that vessel." 
 
 Then the two Anglo-Saxons rejoice together in the tri 
 umph of their countrymen and Errol cries out enthusias 
 tically : " I ll shake hands with the gallant fellow who 
 commands that ship after this is all over ! " Next pauses 
 and musters to himself, " Perhaps ! " for he feels that the 
 English captain s chance of life under the fire of the 
 Egyptian guns is better than his, penned in this town sur 
 rounded by Moslem fanatics. 
 
 " I know what makes you solemn ! " cries Lady Anner- 
 ley coming to his side. " Is it not awful ! You have 
 seen some of the wounded ; so have I. There they are ! " 
 And she points to a stream of men, some limping, some 
 staggering along, others borne on litters, their uniforms 
 bloody, their limbs bandaged, that begins to appear on 
 the street " Ras-el-Tin," leading from the forts and bat 
 teries at Pharos and Ada. Now that it has commenced 
 this stream never ceases, but all the day gradually be 
 comes larger and larger, until, though it has begun with 
 groups of twos and threes, it ends in the steady march of a 
 horrible column from whose ranks come the groans, cries, 
 and shrieks of suffering humanity. 
 
 So they go to the rear of the house again, where they 
 are protected from view by a low parapet, and look at the
 
 42 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 bombardment, which becomes more and more awful each 
 minute. 
 
 Midway between the two squadrons lies the low, big 
 iron-clad, swinging her bow first to the one side and then 
 to the other, as she with awful impartiality fires her im 
 mense annihilating missiles from her starboard turret into 
 Meks and her port turret into the Pharos and Lighthouse 
 Forts. 
 
 The position of the Moorish house enables Lady An- 
 nerley to look behind the batteries on this part of the 
 Cape Ras-el-Tin, and gazing there as one of these awful 
 shells comes into the doomed Lighthouse Fort she drops 
 the glass, gives a cry of horror, and would perhaps fall 
 did not Errol support her as she gasps : " All ! All ! It is 
 too horrible !" 
 
 "What do you mean ?" inquires the young man. 
 
 "I mean," she says, steadying herself, "that that 
 shell after going through the masonry of that fort struck 
 one of the great guns upon its muzzle and threw it over 
 upon the men working it ; they are now writhing, crushed 
 beneath it. There were twenty-five. I had counted them 
 before, and not one went away after that shot, net one ! 
 Oh, that awful ship is going to fire again ! Take me 
 from the sight. I hate I loathe the cruel flag she car 
 ries ! " And this gentle English woman, forgetting her 
 love of nation in her love of man, shudders and raves at 
 this ship whose guns kill so many. 
 
 Looking at the destruction of these gigantic shells, 
 Errol mutters : " This thing can t last long." But here he 
 is mistaken. 
 
 Arabi with Oriental cunning has placed at these guns 
 artillery regiments from Upper Egypt composed of fierce 
 Nubian blacks and dauntless Arabs of the Soudan, bar 
 barians who value their lives so little, perchance because 
 they have so little to make their lives of value. 
 
 And these men, equally careless whether death comes 
 to them by the naked steel of single combat, or the dis 
 tant lightnings of modern artillery, stand to their guns 
 and fight and die, and still fight on .because they are 
 Moslem and their enemies infidels ; and their faith 
 teaches them they step with death from the Egyptian 
 battlements into the Paradise of Allah and the arms of 
 the houris of Mohammed.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 43 
 
 And so the scene goes on to its grand and awful cli 
 max ; great rents now appear in the Lighthouse Fort and 
 the batteries about it. The Khedive s palace begins to 
 burn ; while over all, drifting in upon the wind, comes 
 a dense cloud of cannon smoke that settles down upon 
 the batteries and town, till it is as if the place were in a 
 great thick fog, through which none can see but only 
 hear ; for the ceaseless roar of cannon still crashes cruel 
 as before, and all the time the stream of wounded from 
 the Pharos Fort becomes denser and denser, and wilder 
 screams and deeper groans rend the air. 
 
 And as the smoke drifts in and in, burying the place 
 from view, the English guns lose their accuracy of aim, 
 and every now and then shells come shrieking and moan 
 ing over the two watchers heads and burst in the 
 crowded streets of the town, making its populace wild 
 with rage or frenzied with fear. But nothing seems to 
 drive the Arab gunners from their posts ; and with dis 
 mounted cannon, crumbling bastions, and death and 
 carnage all about them, these barbarians still fight and 
 die for Allah and the Faith. 
 
 This hearing without seeing makes the day more awful. 
 As Errol gropes his way through the smoke to the little 
 stair-way, and half carries Lady Annerley to the rooms 
 below, she gasps to him : " Please light the lamps. In 
 this darkness I shall see it over again. Oh, the cruelty 
 of that ship ! " 
 
 For the immense destruction done by the pride of the 
 British navy, which the world who did not see it has ap 
 plauded and called great, causes to the woman who has 
 seen its fearful carnage nothing but shuddering, sickening 
 horror. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE OATH OF THE ARAB BOY. 
 
 ERROL leaves Lady Annerley sitting pale and dazed, 
 listening to the crash of guns she cannot see, and find 
 ing his way to the cellar, drags out the Armenian and 
 says to him, " Coffee ! "
 
 44 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Not while the cannons fire ; the danger is too 
 supreme ! " 
 
 " Coffee, you miserable coward ! " and the Englishman 
 kicks his dragoman upstairs. 
 
 These kind of kicks have cost many Englishmen their 
 lives : they have kicked Indians in the old days in Amer 
 ica and repented of it ; they have kicked Zulus in Africa 
 and been sorry for what they have done ; they have 
 kicked Hindoos and Chinamen in the far East and have 
 died for their trouble ; but still in their blundering 
 Anglo-Saxon way they will keep on kicking "niggers" 
 until the end of the world. 
 
 However, Osman only answers with a snarl, and flying 
 from the present danger of the Australian s foot into the 
 distant danger of the Englishmen s cannon, proceeds to 
 do as he is told. 
 
 The coffee revives and makes them feel better ; they 
 all contrive to eat a little, and Errol enjoys the last of 
 his three cigars ; for the young man has contrived to 
 dispose of the other two during his morning view of the 
 bombardment ; great excitement generally giving in 
 creased smoking capacity to the devotees at the shrine 
 of nicotine. Then the thunder from the guns having 
 died out in the direction of the Meks Fort, the noise be 
 ing not so deafening, Errol hears the donkeys bray in the 
 court-yard, and thinks they too may be hungry and per 
 haps thirsty, for the fountain is not playing outside to 
 day. Having an Englishman s love for the horse, and 
 including asses in the same category, he hurries down to 
 look after the beasts, and finding some fodder in the de 
 serted donkey stable attached to the house for Abdal- 
 lah, like most Moors, enjoyed this means of locomotion 
 he gives them their food ; but when he turns to the 
 fountain to let on the water he gets a start, for he dis 
 covers that the pipe has be fen cut. Whether this has 
 happened by accident or design he, of course, cannot 
 tell, but it is a serious matter in this hot tropical climate, 
 and he goes upstairs at once to see how great the supply 
 is in the upper rooms. This, he is relieved to find, is 
 ample for several days, as the mushrebiyehs, or little 
 latticed balconies of the house, contain several porous 
 earthen jars of water placed there after the Turkish cus 
 tom to cool.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 45 
 
 Charging them all to be very careful not to waste this 
 water, he carries some of it down to the donkeys, who 
 whinny their pleasure as they drink it. 
 
 While doing this his attention is called to the smoke 
 that still obscures everything about him, even in the 
 court-yard ; this smoke upon the side nearest the town 
 has become yellow and golden. He goes to the door lead 
 ing to the street, opens it a little to look out and dis 
 cover the cause of this ; and as he does so gets a sensa 
 tion, for a soft Eastern voice says in very bad English : 
 " Me come along for the donkeys of mine ! " 
 
 "All right," returns Errol, to whom Lady Annerley 
 has told what passed between her and the Arab boy. 
 " Come in, quick ! " 
 
 Then the urchin of the streets accepts the invitation, 
 and astonishes Errol as he whispers : 
 
 " No care for donkeys donkeys all right lady, 
 beautiful lady, all wrong ! You have bad man up 
 stairs ! " 
 
 " Bad man ? Whom do you mean ? Osman ? " 
 
 " Backsheesh Osman." 
 
 " A ah ! " 
 
 " Him go out last night ! " 
 
 " Last night ? Impossible ! I had the key in my 
 pocket J " 
 
 " Him go out last night ! Me see him. My feet not 
 let me sleep much," returns the Arab urchin, sitting 
 down on the porter s bench near the door and caressing 
 the parts afflicted. 
 
 " You are sure you saw him ? " 
 
 " Sure ! Him come to talk to other bad man." 
 
 " What other bad man ? " 
 
 " Constantine, the Greek liar ! " 
 
 " Constantine Niccovie ? " 
 
 " Yes, Giaour ! Too many people in the house. Back 
 sheesh and the Greek come out and talk in the street. I 
 lie in the darkness and hear them talk of the English 
 houri whose tears fall like pearls." 
 
 " Well, what did they say ? " 
 
 " Backsheesh say, The English dog, him whose voice 
 is loud, but his brain fat and stupid, who walks about with 
 his eyes open, but sees nothing. That is you, my mas 
 ter."
 
 46 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Curse his impudence ! What did he say of me ? " in 
 terrupts Errol, not at all pleased at this description. 
 
 " Him say, The Giaour dog smokes six cigars a day ! " 
 
 " Look here," returns Errol. " Don t you make fun 
 of me, young one. This is too vital ! If you do " 
 
 " May Allah judge me, it is the truth ! " 
 
 " What has six cigars a day to do with this affair, any 
 way ? though I rather believe that s about my day s con 
 sumption. By George ! I wish I had one now," con 
 tinues Errol, feeling his pockets carefully in hopes he 
 has overlooked a stray Havana. "What did they say 
 next?" 
 
 " They walked away. I could not follow them, my 
 feet too sore look ! " Here the poor little fellow exhibits 
 to the Australian the bruises left by the Nubian police 
 men s canes. 
 
 " Yes, I see, you can hardly walk now. And you 
 heard no more ? " 
 
 " Lots ! They come along again, and Constantine, him 
 say the beautiful lady sell for a thousand purses and the 
 other one for a hundred." 
 
 " Sell for a thousand purses ? " echoes Errol, not under 
 standing the boy. 
 
 " Sell her to pasha way up there," and the child points 
 toward Nubia, " the great pasha, the gates of whose 
 harem are always open to Frankish beauties." 
 
 " Sell Lady Annerley ! " gasps Errol, more in astonish 
 ment than in horror, for the idea is so new to him. 
 
 " Yes, sell the lady of the tears and kill you ! Now 
 that Egypt is Egypt, and the infidels are fled, kill yoii ! 
 That s what him said, kill The Arab boy suddenly 
 disappears into the donkey stable as Mr. Osman Ali, who 
 has come down to see what detains his master, turns 
 the corner of the court-yard and stands in the pas 
 sage. 
 
 " What the dev " begins Errol, but gets no farther, 
 for a loud knocking is now heard on the street door and 
 the voice of Mr. Niccovie loudly cries : " Open ! It s me, 
 Niccovie ! Quick, my life is dangerous ! " 
 
 For a moment the Australian hesitates, partly from 
 astonishment, perhaps partly from fear. The next instant 
 he does as Niccovie requests, pulls the Greek in and 
 locks the door again. For Errol has the Anglo-Saxon
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 47 
 
 instinct to face danger rather than to fly from it, and he 
 reasons to himself, " Just as well now as any time," being 
 by no means afraid of a personal combat with both the 
 Levantine and the Armenian united against him. 
 
 Mr. Niccovie has no belligerent intentions, however, 
 and pants and gasps for breath as if he had had a hard 
 run ; then after a moment seizes Errol s hand and begins 
 effusively : " Grand English master, to you am my life, 
 this house has saved Niccovie ! They has made a bon 
 fire in the Prankish quarter ! Behold, the smoke am red ! " 
 pointing toward the town from which the hum of com 
 motion becomes greater as the noise of the bombardment 
 which is dying out becomes less. 
 
 Errol now understands the reason for the tinted smoke 
 that drew him to the door, and being anxious to get both 
 his visitor and his dragoman away from the Arab boy s 
 hiding-place he leads the two upstairs. 
 
 Arrived there, Osman, who has been jabbering to Nic 
 covie in some unknown tongue, says to his master, " Con- 
 stantine tells me that the English are driven back and 
 their war ships sunk." 
 
 " Oh, the poor English, it am awful ! The soldiers 
 of Allah, how em fight ! " chimes in the Greek with 
 unctuous enthusiasm. 
 
 " Impossible ! I don t believe you," says Errol, though 
 his face oecomes gloomy, for he knows there are no im 
 possibilities in war. 
 
 " Now I am come to save you. The populace are 
 not yet excited ; if you fly you may escape. I will lead 
 you to the shore ! " 
 
 " And leave the women ? " 
 
 " Yes ! We will be responsible for the ladies. Under 
 our care - 
 
 " You need say no more," interrupts Errol. " I did not 
 leave them last night. I shall still less desert them now." 
 
 But here Lady Annerley enters the room ; coming up to 
 him she leads him apart and whispers : " Mr. Errol, I 
 have heard what these men say. If the English have 
 been defeated, your only chance of safety is to fly. Alone, 
 you may succeed ; with me you are doomed." 
 
 " You you insult me," mutters the young man. " Do 
 you think me coward enough to desert women ? " 
 
 " No. I think you are very brave and truly noble.
 
 48 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 But you and yours have suffered too much already for 
 me and mine." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " While you were downstairs, foreseeing that you 
 might live through this and I might die, I wrote this," 
 mutters Lady Annerley, producing a carefully folded and 
 tied-up packet which she gives to him. " Treasure it as 
 you would your life, and when you have escaped, read it. 
 It will answer your question." 
 
 " Certainly, if you ask it ; though I don t understand 
 you," returns Errol, placing the packet upon his breast 
 with such care that Osman and Niccovie, who have been 
 looking at this interview from the other end of the room, 
 say a few words to each other in Arabic under their 
 breaths, and after this do not press Errol s departure, for 
 they imagine this packet contains the English lady s 
 jewels and money. 
 
 * Now you will go ? " 
 
 " Never, till you are safe ! " 
 
 " Even if I told you what would make you hate me ? " 
 
 " Hate you 1 " There is a curious unbelief in this 
 man s voice as he looks at her, for Lady Annerley s 
 beauty is very great. " Hate you ? " Then his tone sud 
 denly changes and he says to her sternly : " Don t you 
 dare to tell me anything that would make me desert my 
 duty ! " and so goes off to the Armenian and the Greek 
 and cries at them : " You two drop this talk of my run 
 ning away ! " while the lady stands gazing at him with 
 a blush on her face, for there is something in Errol s 
 tone which has set this woman s heart to beating very 
 wildly. 
 
 At this command Osman says nothing ; but the Lev 
 antine stalks over to Lady Annerley, and giving her a 
 solemn and ceremonious salam, shouts out : " That man 
 is a bravo ! him a protector of women me too ! Me 
 Niccovie stay with him and save you all all ALL ! Me 
 too am a protectionist ! for you." Here he makes some 
 fantastic gesticulations, and seizes his greasy coat in the 
 region of the heart, emphasizing his concluding remark 
 with a glance of such comical gallantry that the English 
 lady at first smiles, but a moment after blushes and then 
 turns pale, giving a little shudder, half of indignation, 
 half of loathing ; for though Sarah Annerley could not
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 49 
 
 define it Mr. Niccovie s gaze has become that of a slave- 
 dealer valuing his goods. 
 
 Errol has not paid much attention to this last ; he is 
 sitting down trying to pull his mind together as to what 
 course he shall take ; for though he doesn t entirely be 
 lieve the Arab boy, whose revelations he regards as 
 monstrous, still he by no means trusts Mr. Niccovie and 
 Mr. Osman. 
 
 After a moment the former of these worthies gravely 
 squats down and produces a nargileh pipe and prepares 
 to smoke with the deliberate manner of the East, filling 
 it carefully from a package of Turkish tobacco he takes 
 from his pocket, and arranging its water bowl which, 
 curiously enough, contains no liquid, perhaps from the 
 difficulty of carrying it in his pocket with great care ; 
 all the time eyeing it with a kind of satisfied glance, as if 
 remarking to himself, " How cunning I am." Just as 
 Niccovie is about to light it, he suddenly seems to re 
 member something and exclaims : 
 
 " My friends no smoke ! I forgot me I have cigars 
 in my pockets ! " Here he pulls out some Havanas, takes 
 one himself and lights it, offers another to Osman, who 
 also smokes, and with a salam, says : " This is true Cu 
 ban. May it find favor in the Englishman s eyes!" as 
 he offers Errol the choice from several weeds he holds 
 in his hand. 
 
 " And in his mouth too ! " says that young gentleman, 
 lighting up also, for he has been looking at the two 
 men with envy from the minute they have begun to 
 smoke. 
 
 Had the Levantine only offered a single cigar to him 
 or had he not smoked himself, perhaps Errol might 
 have been suspicious ; as it is, after a few gingerly taken 
 whiffs, he finds the cigar is so good a one for the East, 
 where true Havanas are scarce, that he half thinks the 
 Arab boy must have told all fiction and no truth. 
 
 So the three sit smoking together ; the nargileh pipe 
 all ready for lighting standing unused upon a divan at 
 the side of the room, where the Greek has put it away. 
 Toward this, as they smoke, Osman s eye sometimes 
 turns with a twinkle as he notes how Errol enjoys his 
 cigar, while Mr. Niccovie s restless red orbs seem to 
 divide their attention between the beautiful English
 
 50 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 woman and the Australian s repeating rifle, which Errol 
 has all day kept close at his hand. The first Mr. Nic- 
 covie s eyes regard with a smile of pleasure ; the last 
 with an apprehensive glance, which changes into a sneer 
 as he looks upon the owner of the weapon enjoying his 
 cigar that is now nearly finished. 
 
 " You smoke not much," he says, as Errol throws 
 away the remnant. " Another ? take all ! " and he emp 
 ties his pockets of what cigars are in them upon a neigh 
 boring shelf. " Osman and me are contentment with a 
 pipe." Here he points to the nargileh. 
 
 " Thanks, very much," replies the Australian, and is 
 about to take another when Lady Annerley remarks : 
 " The guns from the harbor have died away long ago. 
 I think all fighting is over ; come and see ! " Errol 
 goes up to the roof and finds that the night is dark but 
 clear, and listens for such sounds from the water as will 
 denote the English are preparing to occupy the town. 
 Toward the sea there is no noise ; but from the town 
 comes the hum of many voices and the tramp of moving 
 troops, as if the place was being strongly patrolled. The 
 fire is still burning in the Frankish quarter, but has 
 grown no larger since the afternoon. He goes down 
 into the main apartment and looks at his watch. Dis 
 covering it is nine o clock at night, he finds himself hun 
 gry and tells Osman to get them something to eat. 
 
 While the dragoman is doing this, Martin, with one or 
 two mysterious gestures, gets Errol to her, and gives 
 him a piece of information which is one of several that 
 produce a resolution in the Australian s mind which 
 shortly afterward astonishes both the Greek and the 
 Armenian. The girl has been in a terrified stupor all 
 day, but she is now in an equally terrified state of alert 
 ness as she whispers : " Don t you trust them two hea 
 thens. If you do, we re all dead ! " 
 
 " What makes you think that ? " 
 
 "This morning I saw Osman out in the street." 
 
 " In the street ? " 
 
 "Yes, cutting the fountain pipe. It won t run now. 
 To-day there was five full water jars, now there are but 
 three. He empties them every chance he gets. And 
 the way them two looks at misses and I ! See, that one s 
 at it now ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 5! 
 
 And Errol, following the girl s gaze, sees one of the 
 slavedealer s expressions on Mr. Niccovie s face, who is 
 enjoying the pretty picture made by Lady Annerley as 
 she, worn out by the excitement of the day, lolls upon a 
 divan, and looks about in a dreamy manner as if she 
 hardly thought the present was reality. Draped in the 
 clinging, airy, black dress of the night before, the only 
 one of the hundred toilets she had yesterday, she makes 
 a picture Gerome would love to put on canvas. 
 
 " Why didn t you tell me this before ? " asks Errol, 
 his face growing a little paler, for he has now corrobora 
 tive evidence of his dragoman being out the night before, 
 and the truth of the Arab boy s story. 
 
 " The guns made me too frightened to think too 
 daft to talk. Oh, don t trust them dorit /" 
 
 " I ll keep an eye on them, don t you fear," mutters 
 Errol, a very nasty look coming into his face as Mr. 
 Osman announces, " Allah has blessed us with food ! " 
 Then they all proceed to make another picnic meal, Mr. 
 Niccovie being in great spirits, and giving them a dis 
 sertation on how the English have been destroyed this 
 day, Allah s soldiers being so brave. For them to die 
 on the battle-field is to go to Paradise ! 
 
 " Yes," says Errol grimly, " under the English guns 
 they emigrated to-day in large numbers to heaven." 
 
 " But," continues the Greek, " though the English 
 have fled Niccovie is here. Him will save you ! Nic 
 covie to-morrow is dead ! Niccovie dies for woman ! 
 Niccovie the protectionist ! Niccovie the bravo ! Poor 
 Niccovie ! " and he weeps over his own cruel fate in a 
 comical, pathetic way that would make Sarah Annerley 
 laugh were she at home by her fireside, but here it is so 
 different, and the English lady sighs. 
 
 But Mr. Niccovie is now interrupted by Errol. The 
 young man s rifle has been placed behind him ; during 
 the meal he has moved a little way from it to assist Lady 
 Annerley. While the Greek has been making his loud 
 est harangue and greatest jabber, the Australian s ear 
 has caught the click of the repeating mechanism. He 
 turns slightly round. Osman is walking from the rifle, 
 which has been moved slightly ; Errol saunters to the 
 weapon as if to change its location, and as he does so 
 tests the lock and breech apparatus ; his touch tells him
 
 52 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 they will not work. In perfect order when he had laid it 
 down, the weapon must have been tampered with. 
 
 As he faces them both, for Osman has passed to 
 where Niccovie sits, there is something in the Austra 
 lian s face that makes the Greek rise suddenly from his 
 divan with a cry of alarm ; for it is the look of a man who 
 has given up playing a game he fears he will lose, and 
 has taken to playing a game at which he knows he is sure. 
 
 " You infernal cads and sneaks ! " he begins, then sud 
 denly cries : " Put up your hands or I fire ! " and his 
 revolver is cocked and at the Levantine s breast, for that 
 gentleman is feeling as if for a weapon. 
 
 Mr. Niccovie s hands go up, as also Mr. Osman s from 
 sympathy. " Now ! " Errol says to Martin, " take the 
 weapons from those men, if they have any." 
 
 " Oh, sir ! I daresn t, sir ! " 
 
 " I will guard you. Do it at once . " 
 
 "Oh, sir ! I m too frightened, sir." 
 
 " I will do it, Mr. Errol," says Lady Annerley, quietly, 
 and without another word, though her hands tremble 
 slightly, this belle of Belgravian mansions and Paris salons 
 relieves the Greek and the Armenian each of a knife and 
 a pistol. 
 
 " What shall I do now ? " she asks, moving away with 
 the weapons. 
 
 " Lock them up in that cupboard." 
 
 She does this, but Errol can see she conceals one of 
 the pistols in her bosom. 
 
 " Now ! " he says to the two men, who, after their 
 excited Eastern way, are beginning to gesticulate and 
 cry out innocent. " Not a word from you ! Into that 
 room and sit down ! " And he marches them to the apart 
 ment the Armenian has occupied the night before. 
 And they squatting in a corner he points out to them, 
 he says to Martin : " Come to this doorway and keep 
 your eyes on these scoundrels, and if they move, shriek ! 
 shriek! That s about all you re fit for SHRIEK !! " 
 
 The maid having obeyed him, he leads Lady Annerley 
 to one side and whispers : " Please go down to the stable 
 below there is no danger, the street door has been kept 
 locked. You will find your little Arab boy, bring him 
 up here. I would do it myself, but it is necessary I keep 
 near these men."
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 53 
 
 Lady Annerley, without a word, goes down to do his 
 bidding, and in a minute or two returns with the Arab 
 urchin, who is crying, and says he is hungry. 
 
 " You shall have something to eat after you answer my 
 questions," says Errol. "What is your name, my little 
 fellow ? " 
 
 " Ammed." 
 
 " Ammed, do you believe in the Koran ? " 
 
 "Aye ! and in Allah ! " 
 
 " Do you believe that false swearers against the life of 
 man will be punished ? " 
 
 " If I swear away a man s life Allah will curse me ! " 
 
 As the Arab boy speaks there is an uneasy rustle from 
 the other room. 
 
 " Then swear to me by the oath you value most whether 
 you told the truth to me to-day ! " Errol s voice is very 
 low and solemn here and trembles slightly, and Sarah 
 Annerley looking at him begins to tremble also. 
 
 " May Allah, Mohammed and Paradise never be seen 
 by me," replies the boy very solemnly, turning and mak 
 ing obeisance to the East after the manner of the Mos 
 lem faith, " may my grave be denied and my kindred 
 be cursed if the words I spoke to you, Giaour, to-day be 
 not the living truth ! On my head be it ! " And Errol 
 knows he can believe, for the boy is trembling at his own 
 oath. He turns to Lady Annerley and says hoarsely : 
 " Do you take the girl and Ammed with you into your 
 apartment, the one farthest from here, and wait till till I 
 call you." 
 
 " Think what you are about to do ! " whispers the 
 woman with white lips, for the man s face tells her he is 
 going to kill. 
 
 " Take the girl and Ammed away from here ! " 
 
 " Errol, remember you must answer to God for these 
 men s lives ! " 
 
 " Yes, and for your life also ! I command here ! These 
 men have condemned themselves ! " and he cocks the re 
 volver and motions her out of his path. 
 
 " No ! No ! " she cries clinging to him. " Not even 
 for my safety. Spare them ! don t kill them ! // would 
 be murder." 
 
 But at these words there comes a shriek of terror from 
 the next room, a noise of rapid movement and a cry from
 
 54 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Martin. Errol forces his way past Lady Annerley and 
 dashes into the apartment of the Armenian, only to find 
 it empty and the arras torn from its wall, showing an 
 open door and flight of steps leading to the street ; for 
 Osman AH and Constantine Niccovie have fled from 
 their executioner by the same path the dragoman had 
 used the night before. 
 
 As the two sped along the street, one whispers to the 
 other : " To-night would have been too soon. See ! 
 the law is still enforced ! " pointing to a strong patrol of 
 Egyptian soldiers that march past them. 
 
 This is true, for Arabi Pasha well knows the demorali 
 zation that would come upon any army retreating through 
 a town that is burning and being pillaged ; and the only 
 road by which his troops can evacuate the batteries and 
 barracks of Ras-el-Tin being through the city, that com 
 mander is strongly policing the streets and keeping down 
 the conflagration as much as possible this night in Alex 
 andria. 
 
 Charley Errol, seeing that his condemned criminals 
 have escaped him, barricades the door by which they 
 have left, returns to the main apartment, and says to 
 Lady Annerley, from whose face the horror of the last 
 few moments has not passed away : " Better open ene 
 mies than base friends. I must think what is next to be 
 done." And glancing about him, exclaims : "By George ! 
 here s a lucky windfall. That Greek scoundrel has left 
 me six cigars and his nargileh pipe." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE NARGILEH PIPE OF NICCOVIE, THE LEVANTINE. 
 
 SMOKING one of these cigars, which is very comforting 
 to him, the Australian sits down at once to repair, if pos 
 sible, the damage Osman has done his Remington. He 
 carefully overhauls his rifle, which is very simple though 
 effective in its mechanism, and rinding the injury done 
 to it by his dragoman is slight, that scoundrel having 
 had but a moment to do his work upon the weapon, soon 
 has it in repair.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 55 
 
 After testing the lock and repeating apparatus several 
 times, he gives the rifle an affectionate glance, and mut 
 ters: "Thank God, you ll do your duty if I but do mine." 
 For he has grown to regard this gun as a friend, having 
 tested it against small game that run from you, and 
 against big game that come to you to kill you, and it 
 has saved his life on other occasions than this ; and the 
 English woman looking at him, says " Thank God " also. 
 Do artisans in the great gun factories of the world often 
 think how many times on their skill and faithful labor 
 hang the lives of men and the honor of women ? 
 
 The weapon being laid down with a sigh of relieved 
 anxiety, Errol says suddenly : 
 
 " I had hoped in this Moorish house to remain con 
 cealed through any riot or tumult. Now, with those two 
 scoundrels to point out my place of hiding, I must fight 
 my way through." Here he muses with a perturbed 
 countenance, and after a moment asks Lady Annerley if 
 she can suggest any plan by which one man can de 
 fend two entrances at the same time. 
 
 " Why not barricade one ?" she suggests. 
 
 " Barricade one with what ? Divans, rugs and mats ? " 
 mutters Errol, looking about with scorn, for these, after 
 the Turkish fashion, are the only furniture of the rooms. 
 
 " Then nail the door up, " says Lady Annerley, as if 
 suddenly struck with the thought. 
 
 " A^fine idea ! Nail the door up ! " echoes Errol with 
 a glum laugh. 
 
 " I am glad you think it a fine idea. Let s do so at 
 once," returns the English woman proudly ; conscious 
 that she has solved the problem. 
 
 " That s right ! bring the nails and tools at once, " 
 he laughs with a sneer at woman s thoughtlessness. 
 
 At this Martin interjects : " So I would, sir, if I warn t 
 scared." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asks Errol in astonishment. 
 
 " There is a whole work-house below," answers the 
 maid. " I seed it there when I was trying to get out of 
 the way of the cannon shot this morning." 
 
 The Arab boy, who, having been fed, has been too 
 busy with the provisions to talk during the preceding in 
 terview, here corroborates Martin by saying sententiously: 
 " Abdallah the Moor makes copper things."
 
 56 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Ah ! A coppersmith ! We may find something use 
 ful." And Errol, taking a lamp, is downstairs in a min 
 ute, followed by the whole party except Lady Annerley, 
 who remains above to warn him if any one approaches 
 the little entrance which as yet is only secured by a lock. 
 
 Abdallah the Moor apparently has not been educated 
 to the use of modern tools. Errol finds little that will aid 
 him, except a small saw, a few copper nails, a strong pair 
 of shears capable of cutting heavy copper plates, a large 
 hammer, and a few pieces of wood of various sizes but 
 not large enough to be of service as a barricade. There 
 are also a number of tools peculiar to the working of 
 copper, the use of which the Australian cannot under 
 stand. After rummaging about, he pulls out a couple of 
 old-fashioned augers that have apparently been used in 
 odd jobs of carpenters work about the house, and carry 
 ing them with him, he returns upstairs, the idea having 
 come to him that he will secure the small door to its 
 frame with large wooden pins, as he can find no nails 
 strong enough to withstand any forcible attack. 
 
 Then making an examination of the door at the street 
 end of the Ihtle stair-way, he finds it altogether too dilapi 
 dated and decayed for his purpose ; though the one at 
 the head of the stairs is entirely suited to his purpose, 
 being between one and one-half and two inches thick of 
 strong seasoned oak. He is preparing to secure this 
 door when Lady Annerley, who has been watching him, 
 says suddenly, looking down the narrow stone passage, 
 through which the steps come up straight from the street : 
 " What a place for a mitrailleuse." 
 
 " Magnificent ! " returns Errol grimly. " Plow I wish 
 I had a Gatling and half a dozen men to work it. What 
 made you think of a mitrailleuse, Lady Annerley ? " 
 
 " Why, I read in the newspapers that mitrailleuse were 
 useful for defending narrow places where men could not 
 avoid their fire. Oh, Mr. Errol, what is the matter with 
 you ? " 
 
 For the Australian has jumped as if shocked by elec 
 tricity and uttered a cry of joyous exaltation. " Lady 
 Annerley, I adopt your idea. This door shall be my 
 Gatling gun ! " 
 
 With this he pulls out one of his Remington cartridges, 
 and comparing it carefully with the thickness of the door,
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 57 
 
 mutters to himself : " George, won t it surprise the 
 scoundrels ! That s a rum idea ! " and other expressions 
 of delight at the plan. 
 
 In fact he intersperses all through his work upon his 
 killing machine remarks of a similar jovial nature, such 
 as, " This will be an eye opener ! " " How Niccovie will 
 stare!" "This will make Osmanjumfl/" "Here s a 
 rib cracker for the Turks ! " etc., etc., all the time, how 
 ever, working as if it were for his life. 
 
 First he measures the door, which is of hard unyield 
 ing oak, strong enough to hold a Remington cartridge 
 firmly and prevent its copper shell expanding when fired. 
 Next he makes them all search Abdallah s tool-shop till 
 they find an auger that has but a little greater diameter 
 than the cartridges. 
 
 This being done, he examines his belt and pouch, find 
 ing he has nearly two hundred rounds of fixed ammuni 
 tion beside six in the magazine of his Remington ; for 
 Charley Errol, rather expecting a row in Alexandria, had 
 thrown away all his provisions to carry more cartridges. 
 
 He can spare fifty for his infernal machine, and bores 
 that number of holes through the door, which is about 
 eight feet high, thirty inches wide, and two inches 
 thick throughout, having after the Eastern fashion no 
 panels. 
 
 These Jioles he makes in five lines across the door, each 
 line ten inches from the other, and the lowest one a foot 
 above the sill. There are consequently ten holes in each 
 row, the highest of all being about four feet and a half 
 from the floor. 
 
 The lowest row he directs so as to rake the stair-way 
 about a foot high for its whole distance, judging this will 
 catch any one trying to reach the door by crawling. To 
 the other lines of auger holes he gives a generally increas 
 ing depression till the top row will shoot so as to about 
 strike the knees of men standing at the bottom of the 
 steps. These orifices also converge at such an angle as 
 to make a complete cross-fire upon this little narrow 
 walled-in stair- way, those on. the right shooting to the 
 left, and vice versa. All this Errol does with a good 
 deal of labor, for the wood is tough and the auger 
 old-fashioned and rusty ; and with a great amount of 
 care, for he squints through each hole to see the direc-
 
 58 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 tion is right, sighting at a candle -the Arab boy holds 
 down the stair-way. This being accomplished, he plugs 
 each of the holes with a Remington cartridge, driving 
 them home from the inside with a piece of wood till the 
 copper rims of their shells prevent their going in any 
 further and hold them firmly in their places, while the 
 bullets project slightly upon the side of the door facing 
 the stair-way. 
 
 Looking on this instrument, studded as it is with fifty 
 murderous knobs of cold lead, Errol gives a grim chuckle 
 and mutters : " They ll be cursed clever and devilish 
 lucky if they dodge that," and proceeds to put his firing 
 apparatus in order. He finds two good-sized plates of cop 
 per, each about an eighth of an inch thick, in Abdallah s 
 work-shop ; in these he punches fifty holes about a 
 quarter of an inch in diameter, at such distances apart 
 that when placed behind the door each of these orifices 
 will expose the central fulminating cap of one of the 
 cartridges a laborious job which he at length accom 
 plishes by heating the plates with the aid of a brazier and 
 bellows the Moor had evidently used for the same pur 
 pose, and then cutting them as he wishes by a die and 
 sledge-hammer. 
 
 This being done, he takes them upstairs and fastens 
 the plates to the back of the door as firmly as he can 
 with the materials he can find. After this he closes the 
 door, locks and secures it in place as well as possible, and 
 puts a brace against the lower plate, not having any tim 
 ber long enough to reach the upper one. 
 
 He then darts downstairs again and finds a small sharp- 
 pointed hammer, such as braziers sometimes use, and to be 
 sure this will work, tries it upon a cartridge, sacrificing 
 one to be sure. This he does in the cellar for fear the 
 noise will attract attention from the outside, and finding 
 it explodes under his blow, brings the hammer up to the 
 room above and placing it beside the door, announces that 
 the mitrailleuse is ready for action ; and the pride of the 
 inventor coming to him, almost wishes the Moslem beggars 
 would hurry up so as to test his mechanical skill. Next, 
 the back door being defended by the machine gun, he 
 tries to think of some means to make the fire of his rifle 
 that must protect the main entrance of the house more 
 deadly ; some means of knowing the exact location of his
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 59 
 
 enemies by hearing instead of seeing. Upon going down 
 to take a look at this front door, the jingling of the strings 
 of bells that adorn Ammed s donkeys comes to him from 
 the stable and with it an idea. 
 
 He hastily removes these from the beasts : they are 
 little sleigh bells strung on strips of strong leather, each 
 about five feet long, and three in number. The first of 
 these he stretches across the entrance of the passage 
 where it opens upon the court-yard ; for he has deter 
 mined to make no fight at the outer portal, but to take 
 his shooting stand upon the little balcony overlooking 
 both the entrance to the court-yard and the steps leading 
 up from it to the second floor they occupy. 
 
 " The beggars can enter the rooms upon the ground if 
 they like. I have little fear of fire," he thinks; "the 
 house is all stone and brick, besides " he pauses and 
 whistles a little, meditating upon the Arab boy s evi 
 dence "Mr. Niccovie and Osman would hardly wish 
 to burn up one thousand and one hundred purses of 
 gold, no matter what they might like to do to me." Then 
 mutters to himself : " George ! a new factor in military 
 engineering Lady Annerley s beauty." 
 
 The first string of bells he hangs about a foot high, per 
 mitting it enough sag to give out sound briskly to any 
 touch. The second row he places in a similar manner 
 across the stair-way leading up from the court-yard. 
 Testing them and finding them to work satisfactorily, he 
 takes the bearing of these strings by other objects nearer 
 to his shooting stand, so that he has their range pretty 
 accurately in the dark. Then he gives a grim chuckle 
 muttering: "The scoundrels 11 hardly crawl over those, 
 dark as it is, without my hearing ; " and coming to Lady 
 Annerley says : " Now I think I m ready for them, but 
 it was hot work, " then sinking down on a divan, wipes 
 the great beads of exhausted toil from his forehead. 
 
 All this has taken hours, though the young man has 
 worked like one possessed, the fire of invention in his 
 eye. In fact he has made them all work this night ; run 
 ning his errands and doing his bidding like slaves about 
 the forge of Vulcan, even telling Lady Annerley to "jump 
 quick ! " Which that lady has done very rapidly, for, 
 though Sarah has been accustomed to command, like most 
 women, she is delighted to obey the right man, if he only
 
 60 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 orders her about in the right way. Indeed, all this 
 night while the young Australian has been forging the 
 weapons that shall give her freedom, he has been forging 
 fetters about the heart of this great English lady that 
 make her a slave forever. 
 
 As Errol sits down with a sigh he mutters : " George ! 
 I d get a cigar if I were up to it," and the next moment 
 is astonished to find one of his windfalls from Niccovie 
 placed in his hand, and Lady Annerley standing before 
 him with a little burning coal, ready to light it at his 
 behest. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he says. " I meant the hint for 
 Martin, not you. Pardon my laziness ! " 
 
 " I prefer to wait on you myself," she returns, blush 
 ing slightly. 
 
 " And why is that ? " 
 
 " Don t ask questions ! You re you re too tired. Oh, 
 how you have toiled for my safety this hot night ! " 
 
 Which is true, for the beads of perspiration are still 
 upon Errol s forehead, his arms ache, and his breath 
 comes in the short gasps of exhaustion. 
 
 Having said this she goes a little way from him, and, 
 sitting down herself, gazes at the young man in a pa 
 thetic and wistful manner, which is a very bad symptom 
 in women of Lady Annerley s temperament. 
 
 Errol finishes his cigar and, turning everything over in 
 his mind, remarks : " Now I m good for the front en 
 trance I hope, and I have strong faith in the mitrailleuse 
 doing deadly work at the back door." 
 
 " Then it is time for you to go to sleep," says Lady 
 Annerley. 
 
 " Sleep ? Why there s no telling at what moment we 
 may be attacked." 
 
 " For that time you must keep your strength. I can 
 not fight, but I can watch. Let me at least do some of 
 that." 
 
 To this Errol, after some grumbling, assents, lying 
 ready for action at her call. For both of them, not 
 knowing what the Egyptian commander is doing in the 
 city, imagine their danger is now not to come. 
 
 So Lady Annerley sees the early sun rise and get 
 high in the heavens on the second day of the English 
 attack upon the city.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 6l 
 
 When Errol opens his eyes she is still watching. He 
 looks at his watch and cries : " Twelve o clock ! Why 
 didn t you wake me before ? Now it is your turn, Lady 
 Annerley, you must lie down. I ll look out for you. 
 I m a new man now. Please go to your room ! " 
 
 But she answers : " Not till you tell me what the move 
 ment in the harbor means ! " 
 
 " Ah ! the English ships are still there ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Hurrah ! Then I expect we re all right," and he 
 dashes to the little stair-way, but, seeing she is following, 
 turns and assists her up to the roof, and the two look out 
 on the harbor together. 
 
 The Egyptian forts are silent and dismantled, their 
 parapets in ruins, their guns overthrown, destroyed 
 and deserted. The English fleet, on the contrary, are 
 apparently in nearly as good condition as when they 
 opened fire the day before ; though they all show scars 
 from striking shots, and one has a large gaping hole in 
 her smoke-stack. They are under steam, but all far 
 away ifi the outer harbor, which surprises Errol, as there is 
 a flag of truce flying from the Lighthouse Fort, and a small 
 steam yacht with the Egyptian flag is alongside the Brit 
 ish ship that bears the admiral s pennon. 
 
 " We re safe," he cries. 
 
 " How do you know that ? Are you sure ? " asks Lady 
 Annerley, her lips trembling. 
 
 " Of course ! They re arranging the terms of sur 
 render. Our troops 11 occupy this town before night. 
 Home again ! " and he begins to sing the old British 
 ballad. 
 
 " Home again ! " echoes the English lady, and there 
 are tears in her eyes. Apparently some also get into 
 Errol s, for the song seems to choke him, and he mur 
 murs, " Thank God ! " the two days strain upon the 
 young man. having given way with a snap now he thinks 
 they are safe. 
 
 After a moment he mutters : " You had better go down 
 and rest. All is over ! " 
 
 " Not till I see the boats land. I couldn t sleep now." 
 
 " All right. I ll go down and get a cigar," and he 
 does so, bringing up two. 
 
 Then the Arab boy comes and puts his head out of
 
 62 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 the skylight, and looking at him smoking, says, plaint 
 ively : " Me no cigarettes ! " 
 
 To which Errol, in his happiness, responds by throwing 
 him the other cigar, and telling him to put that in his 
 mouth. 
 
 An invitation young Ammed accepts at once, puffing 
 away with the vigor of a veteran ; Errol informing Lady 
 Annerley he will buy the boy who has done so much for 
 them a whole herd of the best donkeys in Alexandria. 
 
 But Ammed declines his offer with barbarian brusque- 
 ness, answering : " It was not for you, Giaour, but for 
 the lady whose tears are pearls ! " and striding up to 
 Lady Annerley, makes her blush by patting her fair 
 cheeks and muttering, " Beautiful ! Beautiful ! " 
 
 She, however, smothers the blush in a merry laugh, 
 for they have got to laughing real laughs now, they are 
 all so happy. 
 
 Then Martin, assisted by the Arab boy, gets breakfast, 
 which they take still watching for the landing of the 
 English, no signs of which come. 
 
 The Egyptian yacht has left the ship of the British 
 admiral and returned to the shore ; the white flag still 
 flies from the Lighthouse Fort ; but no boats are launched 
 from the great iron-clads that hardly move under the 
 strong breeze that is producing quite a sea. Behind them 
 two American men-of-war roll and toss; they are not half 
 so big. 
 
 The town, however, is moderately quiet, though the 
 fire in the foreign quarter is still burning, and the ones in 
 the Harem and Khedive s palace are not yet extinguished. 
 
 Lady Annerley suddenly says : " It is now two hours, 
 and no move yet," then gives a sigh. 
 
 Errol does not answer her. He is sweeping with his field- 
 glass the outer harbor and trying to see the Mediter 
 ranean behind the Ras-el-Tin Cape, as if searching des 
 perately for something. After doing this again and again 
 he finally moves away from his companion as if he did 
 not wish to alarm her by his manner. Noticing this, 
 Lady Annerley strides after him and asks : " What is it 
 you wish to conceal from me ? " 
 
 "Nothing I I " 
 
 " Don t prevaricate ! I demand to know what is the 
 matter ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 63 
 
 " Well, then if you insist I I don t see any troop 
 ships here. There are no soldiers to occupy this 
 place ! " 
 
 " Oh, they ll come after in a day or two." 
 
 " In a day or two we shall be " 
 
 Though Errol does not complete the sentence Lady 
 Annerley does. " You mean we shall be dead? " 
 
 " It looks that way ! " 
 
 " But those iron-clads can send some men on shore ?" 
 
 " Too few ! They don t seem to dare- risk it, even now 
 that Arabi is evacuating the forts." Here he points to the 
 long columns of infantry and artillery that are coming 
 along the Street Ras-el-Tin, and from the barracks be 
 hind the Meks Forts, and are moving through the town 
 to the gate called the Column of Pompey and the road 
 leading to Cairo. " Those modern ships are full of 
 steam-engines, not men," he continues. " You can t 
 garrison a town with machines. One of Nelson s old 
 liners could spare more sailors for shore duty than that 
 whole fleet." 
 
 " Then you think our case desperate ? " 
 
 " Very ! It would be wrong to hide it from you now. 
 Please go downstairs and get a little rest. I ll call you 
 if needed ; good-bye till to-night!" Errol lingers upon 
 the last word as if to-night will be the crisis, and she 
 understanding him gives a smothered sigh, but says 
 nothing, and leaves him to watch and see the hopes that, 
 made bright this morning, fade one by one this evening. 
 
 Still no sign of movement in the English fleet ; but 
 the columns of soldiers leaving the town become heavier, 
 more dense, and worse disciplined as they pass along. 
 The advance guard were in exact military array, the 
 center has been somewhat ragged and broken, with occa 
 sional stragglers that become more and more numerous ; 
 until the rear guard that passes now is nothing but an 
 armed mob that, killing any officer who tries to control 
 them, spread out in squads over the hapless town in 
 search of loot and liquor. 
 
 The fires in the Frankish quarter become brighter and 
 more numerous, and some appear in other parts of the 
 city ; the yells of the barbarian populace, augmented 
 now by drunken soldiers and criminals from the prisons 
 that have been burst open, fill the air, mingled with the
 
 64 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 cries of women and children ; while now and again 
 musketry firing tells of violence and death. 
 
 And as night and darkness settle down upon this 
 town that military rule has left to anarchy, they bring 
 with them all the horrors of lust and drunkenness, riot 
 and arson, pillage and murder, each exaggerated and 
 made more cruel, because it is an Eastern mob of fanat 
 ics that do this bloody work ; for at this business they 
 are supreme. The Apache Indian has done some good 
 work in the torturing line ; Protestant ministers have 
 made witches die very hard ; the Inquisition has in 
 vented some rare tormenting in its time ; but for cold 
 blooded, fantastic, atrocious cruelty on unbelievers, there 
 never has been and there never will be such a conglome 
 ration of fiends upon this earth as an " Allah be praised," 
 impromptu Mohammedan mob. 
 
 Looking at this, Errol mutters, " God help us ! " gives 
 a last appealing gaze at the British fleet that still never 
 raise an anchor nor lower a boat, and anathematizes the 
 head of the government, who has sent a navy to drive 
 out Egyptian law, but no soldiers to prevent Christian 
 massacre. 
 
 " Hang him ! " he cries, " this man of half measures, 
 who values loutish votes more than innocent lives. 
 His troops 11 come too late ! There ll be more men 
 than me in this war who ll look for succor that 11 come 
 too late ! Curse him ! some day his country 11 say he 
 died TOO LATE ! " 
 
 With this parting shot at him whose half-way policy has 
 killed so many of those who have trusted in England s 
 faith, the Australian goes downstairs to make his final 
 preparations for the combat he knows this night will 
 bring to him. 
 
 He inspects his arms and defenses, and finding they 
 are all right feels wearied and tired ; for the day has 
 been blazing hot. He lies down on an ottoman, thinking 
 he will get a little rest if the noise outside will let him. 
 The next minute he imagines he would like a cigar and 
 remembers there is one precious one left. Looking for 
 this treasure he finds it gone ; discovering the smoking 
 stump of it in the Arab boy s mouth. That young 
 urchin having enjoyed the first one so much, has appro 
 priated number two, in the absence of his loved cigarettes
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 65 
 
 Not having one, a cigar becomes almost a necessity ; 
 and Errol returns very much disappointed to his divan. 
 " It would have been my last cigar, I imagine," he 
 thinks, " and to be robbed of that But a moment 
 later his eyes brighten as they fall upon the nargileh 
 pipe that Mr. Niccovie had prepared for himself. He 
 cries : " Here s luck. Pipes and baccy ! " 
 
 So it comes to pass, the Arab boy having finished two 
 of the six cigars the Levantine left behind him, Charley 
 Errol lights up and smokes Mr. Niccovie s pipe about 
 five hours before that gentleman calculated he would. 
 
 After a whiff or two the young man pauses suspiciously; 
 then mutters, " Pshaw ! Niccovie was going to smoke this 
 himself ; " takes a few whiffs more, and with these whiffs 
 loses the wish to abstain. For he mutters : " This pipe s 
 the most soothing upon earth," and going on smoking in 
 a dreamy, happy sort of way, the terrors and anxieties of 
 life pass from him, the room that was somber with 
 foreboding and the lowering shadows of night becomes 
 bright with hope and brilliant as with the noon-day sun ; 
 the tumult that comes from the town with a louder and 
 more horrid din of shouts and cries and roar of flames 
 is to him as the music of the spheres of Heaven ; and 
 Charley Errol, who should be awake and watching, sleeps 
 the sleep that has been prepared for him by Niccovie the 
 Levantine. 
 
 A few^ moments after this Lady Annerley comes into the 
 main apartment. Unable to sleep for the noise, woman s 
 curiosity has suggested that she can find forgetfulness in 
 discovering the precise thing that made Errol the night 
 before think that for her safety Osman and the Greek 
 must die. Approaching to ask him this, she finds him 
 asleep, and with careful, noiseless steps crosses to the 
 next room, thinking it best to let him rest for the exer 
 tions that the night may bring to him ; but as she goes 
 favors him with a look such as this woman, widow as 
 she is, has never given to any other man before. 
 
 In the apartment she enters, which is the one from 
 which Osman and the Greek have fled, she finds the 
 young Arab curled up on a mat. 
 
 Under her questioning Ammed tells her of the future 
 fate these gentlemen had prepared for her and her maid. 
 
 At first she does not understand him, but finally the
 
 66 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 shock to her pride and womanhood comes home to her, 
 and she shudders and blushes and hides her head in 
 shame ; but when Sarah Annerley lifts it up again a 
 dauntless resolution is in her face ; and the boy s reve 
 lation has given her a spirit to achieve many things this 
 night that under other circumstances she could scarce 
 have brought her hands to do. 
 
 This is hardly over when Martin s scared face is put in 
 the door and Martin s voice says : " Please, my lady, 
 what s the matter with Mr. Errol ? " 
 
 What do you mean ? " 
 
 Oh, mum, he s snoring awful ! " 
 
 Then you d better wake him up ! " 
 
 I can t, mum ! I ve been trying for a minute ! " 
 
 Can t wake him up ? Nonsense ! " and Lady Anner 
 ley coming to the young man s side tries again and 
 again to bring him from his slumber, without effect. 
 
 Here the Arab boy, who has strolled in after the two 
 women, astounds her, for he walks to the pipe, sniffs it 
 once or twice, and remarks sententiously, " Opium ! " 
 
 " Opium ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Him smoke opium ! " 
 
 " Good heavens ! " for now the treachery of the Levan 
 tine comes home to her as she looks at the nargileh pipe 
 and cries : " He has robbed us of our defender ! Wake 
 him up ! Wake him up ! God help us, how shall I wake 
 him up in time?" and wrings her hands as one dis 
 tracted. 
 
 Here Ammed, who, like all who live in the East, is 
 familiar with the opium habit, suggests, " Coffee ! Black 
 coffee ! Strong coffee ! " 
 
 " Coffee ! Martin, you hear him ! Make the strongest 
 coffee possible ! For your life ! " 
 
 " I can t, marm, I m too agitated ! " 
 
 " Then, idiot, run and get water ! Quick ! " screams 
 Lady Annerley, seizing in her own hand the package of 
 that precious berry. 
 
 But Ammed takes it from her, saying " Me know ! " 
 and the coals in the brazier being in a glow brews coffee, 
 hot, strong, black and full of grounds, with the skill of 
 an Arabian ; all the time giving directions in his lingo as 
 to further treatment. 
 
 Under his orders Lady Annerley and her maid force
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 67 
 
 Errol to a sitting position, propping him up with pillows, 
 and then work his limbs to increase the circulation. Next, 
 the coffee being ready, they pry open his mouth, and 
 Ammed pours down his throat such a burning hot con 
 coction of black grounds and blacker liquor that it 
 might almost wake the dead. 
 
 Then the Arab boy yells, " Make the Giaour walk ! " 
 And with a strength born of despair, for the noise of riot 
 outside is getting nearer, this gentle English lady, almost 
 unhelped by the maid, who becomes more useless the 
 more her aid is needed, forces the six feet of inanimate 
 bone and sinew to its feet and tries with desperate jerks 
 and pushes to force it to move ; but it only gives a half 
 stride, half stumble and falls upon the floor. 
 
 " More coffee ! " screams the boy, who has got to take 
 pride in his work, and he is upon Errol again and gives 
 him another dose larger and hotter than before, yelling to 
 the women : " Beat his feet ! Whip the unbelieving dog 
 to life ! " and suiting his actions to his words, falls to 
 with all his infant might punching and pummeling the 
 human log before him. 
 
 In this he is assisted in a more moderate manner by 
 Lady Annerley and her maid. Still seeing no signs of 
 returning animation, the Arab bolts from the room, re 
 turning the moment after with a lot of canes, perhaps 
 used by Abdallah the Moor to keep order in his harem, 
 and throwing one to each of the women shrieks, " Beat 
 him ! Beat him ! BEAT HIM ! " belaboring with every 
 yell the limbs of the Australian. 
 
 This desecration of her hero s person horrifies Lady 
 Annerley ; she screams, " Let him alone, you little fiend ! 
 Let us die in peace ! " trying to push him from his vic 
 tim. 
 
 But he jabbers, " The only thing ! No time to wait ! 
 See em do this before ! " and beats away until exhausted. 
 Treatment that finally has its effect, for Errol rolls over 
 and groans. 
 
 " Ah, he is coming to life ! Heaven bless you, Am 
 med ! " sobs the English lady who, womanlike, now 
 praises what she had condemned and falls to supplement 
 the work of the Arab boy by pattings that are caresses. 
 
 But Ammed cuts short sentiment by another long, 
 strong dose of coffee, which causes the Australian s eyes
 
 68 MR.- POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 to open ; though after a moment he closes them again. 
 But he does not do so long, for the boy is at him once 
 more with switchings of the cane which make him open 
 his mouth and beg, " Go away and let me sleep ! " 
 
 " No sleep now ! Get up ! " 
 
 " I I m too tired." This is with a lazy sigh ; and the 
 opium smoker rolls over on the divan, for another dream of 
 heaven, despite the hell of noises upon earth that come 
 from the ravaged and looted town, and the tears and en 
 treaties of the woman who begs him to rise up for her 
 sake. 
 
 But the next second Errol springs up with a yell of rage, 
 not pain ; the drug is too strong in him for feeling, only 
 he will not have his rest disturbed. For the Arab boy, 
 getting a chance when Lady Annerley s back has been 
 turned, has taken off Errol s Eastern slippers and fallen to 
 again with vicious vigor upon the soles of the sleeper. 
 
 " Now him on his feet, no let him lie down. Keep 
 him up. Him all right. More coffee ! " 
 
 Thus adjured the two women try and support the man 
 about ; but he staggers from them to a divan, muttering : 
 " Let me sleep but a minute ; and dream of " 
 
 But Lady Annerley will no more let him succumb now 
 than the Arab boy, for the sounds without make her des 
 perate, and she flies at him. Despite his struggles they 
 all together succeed in getting more coffee down him, 
 and shake him, and prod him, and fight him till he snarls 
 at them with rage ; for it is not the man who speaks to 
 them, it is the drug ; but they are all at him again till he 
 sits up and has apparently more vigor. 
 
 Here Lady Annerley calls the Arab boy to her, for she 
 has already written a hurried message : 
 
 " Come to my aid. 
 
 "Sarah Annerley, 
 
 " House of Abdallah, the Moor." 
 
 And hearing from him the name of the street, adds it to the 
 note as she speaks to the child and says : " Ammed, you 
 are the only one of us who can pass through the town 
 this night with life. Will you take this note to the Ma 
 rina and wait there till boats from the English come, and 
 give it to the first Frankish sailor that you see ? " 
 
 To this the little fellow answers ; " Yes, lady, me 
 know."
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 69 
 
 " I can depend on you ? " 
 
 " As I live and believe in Allah ! " 
 
 Then charging Martin to keep Errol, who still gazes 
 about as if dazed, awake and moving as she loves her 
 life, Lady Annerley goes with the Arab boy down the 
 stair-way into the court-yard, and so through the passage 
 that leads to the front door, taking care not to disturb 
 the two strings of donkey-bells she crosses. Here press 
 ing some money in Ammed s hand, and bidding him " God 
 speed," she opens the portal, and he darts into the street 
 and disappears in the noise and tumult that seems now 
 all about them. 
 
 Then she quickly runs back to the great apartment and 
 gives a groan of despair, for Errol is asleep again. 
 
 " He said as how it would do him good," murmurs 
 Martin complacently. 
 
 " Worthless wretch ! " shrieks her mistress. " Were it 
 your life to save I d let him sleep and you die. But it s 
 his. They ll come and kill him while he lies there ! " 
 
 Then she flies at him and caresses him, and throwing 
 pride away, begs him to rise up and live, if not for his 
 sake for her own. She loves him. She will make him 
 happy, her hero who has protected her so far. And then 
 growing very desperate, for she has lost Ammed s help 
 now and knows the time is shorter and the danger is more 
 near, she beats and buffets this thing she loves, and cries 
 over him, but strikes him all the same, until at last he 
 opens his eyes again, and this time there is more sense in 
 them ; the pupils are not so dilated. Then she gives him 
 more coffee and begs him to move about ; crying that 
 their lives depend upon his sense and power. This he 
 does, for he has now thrown off enough of the drug to wish 
 to be himself, and manhood comes in to help him fight his 
 battle So after more struggles, and more coffee, and 
 then having deathly nausea and spasms of pain and 
 vomiting, Charley Errol, pale, trembling, weak as an 
 infant, the ghost of his former self, awakes from the 
 opium sleep just at the hour Constantine Niccovie thought 
 he would be most under its poiver, and hears a clang of 
 arms and the noise of men creeping up the little stair 
 way by which the Greek had fled, and stealthily trying to 
 force the back door that he has made a mitrailleuse.
 
 70 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A MOSLEM MOB. 
 
 AND the woman, hearing the noise also, whispers with 
 white lips to the man : " Tell me what to do to save us ! " 
 
 For Errol has staggered to his feet, but sank again ex 
 hausted and put his hand t his head and cried out : 
 " My Heaven ! Too dizzy to see to fight ! " 
 
 " What shall I do to save us ? " 
 
 And he gasps back at her : " They must be standing 
 now. Take the hammer. Strike the caps of the upper 
 row. Quick ! " For finding no resistance the hand of 
 Osman and Niccovie are driving the little door off its 
 hinges. 
 
 Running into the room Lady Annerley pauses to beg 
 God to forgive her for these men s lives, but as she 
 prays she hears amid the varied blasphemies of the East 
 her name and price for the pasha s harem, and she prays 
 no more but strikes. And mingling with the awful 
 rattle and tattoo of the crashing reports come groans and 
 oaths and shrieks of agony. 
 
 For there was no time for retreat, and the heavy cart 
 ridges did deadly work on the Moslem crowd jammed in 
 the sixteen feet of narrow staircase. Those that live re 
 treat from this new engine of war ; the wounded drag 
 themselves away ; only the dead remain. 
 
 Listening for another attack, this gentle English woman 
 hears moans that tell her what she has done, and shud 
 ders. As she does so two or three pistol shots tear 
 through the door, but are turned aside by the copper 
 plates, and Errol staggering in gasps : " My strength s 
 come back. The dizziness has gone. I fight now!" mo 
 tioning her to the cover of the wall. Then a moment 
 after he mutters : " The brutes are creeping up the steps 
 now. Hear em ! " and falling down on his hands and 
 knees, being too weak to walk, drags himself to the door 
 and rakes with a volley from his lower battery the surface 
 of the stairs. Shrieks and yells follow this discharge, but 
 the next instant there is an awful impact on the door. 
 Taking a beam of wood and dashing up, the attacking
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 71 * 
 
 party have nearly knocked it off its hinges. Seeing their 
 success, they draw back for another charge, and Errol list 
 ening waits, and as they come again, raps the ten center 
 cartridges right into their column with fearful effect. Few 
 outcries follow this discharge; the men, bending down to 
 give greater force to the blow, have mostly been shot 
 through the head. But Lady Annerley can hear the beam 
 drop from their lifeless hands, and the few that fly slip in 
 the blood and stagger over the bodies that clog up the 
 stairs. 
 
 She shudders as Errol mutters proudly : " That was a 
 settler, they ll not try to rush this door again ! " Then he 
 makes her sit down in the shelter of the wall and goes 
 off, walking wearily, but in a way that causes her a sigh of 
 relief, for she can see that excitement is gradually dispell 
 ing the effects of the opium. A moment after he returns 
 with a cup of water and says : " Drink ! The night is 
 hot. You re deathly pale. You re not used to this ! " 
 
 " No," she mutters dismally, " I m not used to killing 
 people ! Oh my God, those wretched cries still rend my 
 ears ! " Then clutches the cup and drinks greedily. 
 
 While she does this, he, trying to console her, is say 
 ing : "The danger s over for a while now. Don t get 
 nervous; " then suddenly pauses and whispers : " Hush ! " 
 and listens with all his might. 
 
 Lady Annerley listens also and can hear the faint jingle 
 of the donkey bells in the court-yard, and now knows why 
 they were placed there. For Errol cries : " Good heav 
 ens ! They are attacking the front entrance ! Watch 
 this door while I defend the front ! " and seizing his 
 Remington, half runs, half staggers from her sight out 
 through the main room to his shooting stand on the 
 little balcony that overlooks the court-yard of the house. 
 
 Shortly after she can hear the sound of his rifle and 
 the answering shots of their foes, and listens to them, half 
 thinking that this is all a dream, and she will wake up 
 in her lovely English home or her grand hotel in Paris ; 
 for the past few days of her life have hardly seemed real 
 to Sarah Annerley. This brings her to pondering on the 
 curious fate that has brought her to Egypt, and to this 
 man who is fighting her battle so truly, her father s sud 
 den death in Italy, her hurried journey to catch Enrol 
 before he left Alexandria for Australia. She thinks ; " I
 
 72 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 came here to tell him. Now I dare not let him know. I ll 
 get the packet back from him. I could not live to bear his 
 hate or contempt, now that I love him ! " 
 
 Thus working herself into an agony she mutters : " My 
 father when alive made my life unhappy ; now in his 
 death he has destroyed me ! " Next suddenly cries out : 
 " Curse him and his death-bed confession ! " and sobs 
 and beats her hands about, forgetting in the agony of 
 despair the din of battle that is around her. 
 
 But she is brought out of this spasm by an heroic rem 
 edy, for some sneaking creature, a cowardly Egyptian 
 fellaheen, here fires a revolver at her through the door, 
 and directing his pistol at her noise, puts a bullet through 
 her dress, which is pretty close practice, as she wears a 
 modern costume. Perhaps he would fire again, but a 
 comrade s voice is heard beside him saying : " Unseeing 
 dog, would you kill a thousand purses of gold ? " 
 
 All this makes her spiteful. She springs to the door, 
 and rapping at the cartridges with hysterical vigor, gives 
 them a whole diagonal volley from right to left, wounding 
 or frightening both the men, for the two run howling into 
 the street. 
 
 Listening and hearing no noise upon the stairs, the 
 English lady tries to discover and count the shells that 
 have been discharged. There are only nineteen loaded 
 ones left. At this she becomes down-hearted. They 
 will not be enough if there is another strong attack, but 
 for the present no more come to face the fatal door. 
 
 The firing has also died away at the front of the 
 house ; she fears Errol may be wounded, and darts to his 
 succor, and as she does so a resolution comes to her that 
 has greater effect upon the lives of both than she imag 
 ines as she makes it. 
 
 As Errol lies down at his shooting stand, protected by 
 a light stone balustrade perhaps two feet high, the 
 open air of the court-yard drives away the effects of 
 the drug that is in his system ; his head gets clearer, his 
 nerves steadier, and his muscles stronger. He begins to 
 feel confidence in his shooting powers once more, for he 
 knows his weapon, and has used it before against living 
 things, which is much better preparation for such a fight 
 than any practice in the shooting gallery or even before 
 the butts in the open field.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 73 
 
 He peers out into the court-yard which, shadowed by 
 high houses, is so dark he can see nothing, though the 
 sky above him is bright with the reflection of the fire 
 that is now eating out the heart of the town. Bringing 
 his Remington to bear upon the passage opening into 
 the court where he has hung his first string of bells, he 
 listens anxiously, for he must shoot by ear, not by eye. 
 
 Not a sound comes up to him, and he almost thinks 
 the attacking party have gone back when he gets a sud 
 den and awful surprise the bells on the second string, 
 the one on the stair-case not ten feet from him, sound an 
 alarm. His foes, having crossed the bells in the passage 
 way while he has been defending the back entrance with 
 the mitrailleuse, have all this time been silently creep 
 ing nearer and nearer to him, and are at the very thresh 
 old of the great room. 
 
 As this flashes upon the Australian his Remington 
 flashes also, and in thirty seconds he pumps four shots 
 into the crowd on the stair-way, who have suddenly 
 stopped at the unlooked-for noise. 
 
 One man falls and two others stagger moaning away, 
 while the rest skulk silently through the gloom, retreat 
 ing across the court-yard to gain the passage to the 
 street. 
 
 Here they come to grief again, for Errol has his rifle 
 bearing upon the spot, and the moment he hears the bells 
 hung at that place jingle, pumps three more bullets into 
 the darkness that give him back a death-cry and some 
 moru Moslem groans. No danger coming to them when 
 they had rung the bells upon their advance, the motley 
 crew of Osman and Niccovie had thought these things, 
 that now bring them destruction, an accident, and so 
 failed to remove them. 
 
 One or two from a sheltered angle of the passage-way 
 return his fire ; of the balance, those who are able do not 
 stop till they reach the street. 
 
 Everything is silent for about a minute, then a voice 
 is heard speaking to him out of darkness : " Giaour, you 
 know me. I am Niccovie the Levantine; whose breath 
 smells sweet with truth." Bang!" A-a-a-aup ! " 
 
 This last is a howl of agony, with a twist at the end of 
 it, such as dogs give on moonlight nights, for the Greek, 
 becoming excited, had popped his head out of shelter,
 
 74 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 and Errol, firing at the voice, had hit it and knocked three 
 teeth through the Levantine s cheek. 
 
 The Australian bursts into a roar of laughter, for the 
 shrieks and exclamations of Mr. Niccovie, though piteous, 
 are very funny ; but just here the young man gets a sur 
 prise himself, for the body of a gigantic Nubian lying on 
 the stair-way in front of him, that he has thought one of 
 the dead, rises suddenly up and fires a pistol straight at 
 him. The distance is about ten feet, and Errol is lucky 
 to escape with a flesh wound in his left arm. The Nu 
 bian darts into the darkness of the court-yard, and the 
 Australian brings his rifle to bear upon the passage 
 through which he knows the man must pass to escape, 
 and listens for the tinkling of the bells. The moment he 
 hears them he shoots and the Nubian drops dead, a bullet 
 between his eyes. Before he can fire again he hears the 
 sound of the string of bells being torn down and thrown 
 away as the attacking party have seen the fearful in 
 crease of danger this noise brings to them. 
 
 Then comes a lull, which Errol employs in binding a 
 handkerchief around his wounded arm, and finds the loss 
 of a little blood has driven the last of the opium from his 
 brain. He recharges the magazine of his gun, and wipes 
 the perspiration from his forehead, for this fighting has 
 been hot, sharp work. 
 
 As he lies there Lady Annerley opens the door from the 
 main room and whispers, " Are you safe ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " 
 
 " Thank God ! " 
 
 "Go out of this danger ! Quick ! " commands Errol, 
 but she lies down also behind the parapet and watches 
 with him. 
 
 After a few minutes silence Lady Annerley says under 
 her breath : " They have all gone away from the back 
 of the house, perhaps they have fled from here also." 
 
 " If I had a fire-ball I d find that out ! " 
 
 " A fire-ball ; what is that ? " 
 
 And he describing it to her, she crawls into the house 
 and shortly after brings him her pocket-handkerchief 
 soaked in oil from the lamp. 
 
 Lighting this, Errol throws it into the court-yard, 
 where it burns itself out upon the flagstones, showing 
 that all but the dead have deserted the place.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 75 
 
 " They are gone ! " she cries joyously. 
 
 "Yes, for reinforcements. When they come back 
 it ll be worse ! " he returns grimly. Which is true, for 
 Osman and Niccovie had not brought any great num 
 ber of men with them, not wishing to pay too many, and 
 thinking their booty sure and easy of capture. Disap 
 pointed in their first onslaught, they have gone to get 
 enough of the rabble cf the city to make their next attack 
 certain of success. 
 
 After a moment s consideration Errol goes on : " I ve 
 too much to do to stay nere and watch for them. I ll 
 take the chance ! " Then he crawls carefully down the 
 stairs into the darkness, and after a minute Lady An- 
 nerley can hear the jingling of the bells as he replaces 
 them in the position from which they have been torn, and 
 gives a sigh of relief when he is at her side again for she 
 knows his danger has been very great. 
 
 " Not a beggar down there," he says. He does not 
 care to tell her of the three bodies he has stumbled over 
 in the passage-way that made the bells jingle in his hand 
 despite his caution. " Now, into the house ! Quick ! 
 I ve lots of work to do before the beasts return ! " 
 
 " Work ? You ve had no food since breakfast. You 
 must eat first ! " 
 
 But he shakes his head. 
 
 " For my sake ! " begs Lady Annerley. 
 
 "Well, if you ll help me, I ll work and eat together ! " 
 
 And he goes about the business he has set himself to 
 do, while she ministers to him, bringing him what dain 
 ties she can lay her hands on ; then, blowing up the fire 
 in the brazier, makes him coffee. 
 
 First, Errol rouses Martin out from her place of hid 
 ing, and putting the auger in her hand drags her to the 
 door of the large room that opens upon the stairway 
 leading up from the court-yard and main entrance. 
 This door is equal in strength to the one that as a mi 
 trailleuse has been so fatal at the secret portal in the rear. 
 
 " Bore this full of holes, too," he cries. " Point em 
 downward ! " 
 
 "The heathens might shoot me ! " murmurs the maid 
 hysterically. 
 
 " If you don t work I ll throw you out into the street, 
 by Heaven ! "
 
 76 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Thus adjured, Martin, sobbing, makes a strong attack 
 with the auger upon the door, and soon has it full of holes. 
 
 While she is doing this, Errol, with his mouth full, and 
 a cup of coffee beside him, is in the room from which 
 Osman fled, replacing the discharged shells of his mi 
 trailleuse with loaded cartridges. 
 
 This done, he returns to the large apartment, and find 
 ing Martin has made about forty holes in the main door, 
 he plugs each of these with a Remington loaded shell, 
 and secures them in place by some wire-netting he tears 
 out of one of the windows and nails to the back of the 
 door. Then he says to Lady Annerley : " If they come 
 in a crowd and are too strong for rne, or I am disabled, 
 lock this door, and shoot the volley right in the wretches 
 faces. It ll be no good ten feet off ! " For Martin has 
 bored the holes in an hysterical way, and they point up 
 and down and to all the points of the compass. 
 
 Next he looks at his watch, and mutters : " By George ! 
 three o clock in the morning. They ll be upon us soon ! " 
 and a second afterward suddenly turns to Lady Anner 
 ley, and cries : " Give me the pistols and knives that you 
 took from the Greek and the Armenian ! " 
 
 Lady Annerley silently brings him two daggers and 
 one revolver. 
 
 " There was another pistol ! " 
 
 " That one is for me, at the last, if the worst comes !" 
 
 " You you intend to " 
 
 " To kill myself ? Certainly ! " mutters the woman, 
 with pale lips but blazing eyes. " The Arab boy told 
 me. They say I will sell for a thousand purses." Then 
 she strides up to Martin and in a kind of hysteria laughs : 
 " You will bring but a hundred you are cheap ! " then 
 cries : " Take a pistol and at the last, kill yourself if you 
 are a woman ! " 
 
 To this her maid only answers by hiding herself in 
 the darkness of the next room and sobbing more loudly. 
 
 Errol says nothing, seeing Sarah Annerley is deter 
 mined and has a spirit to do desperate things when she is 
 driven to despair by hopelessness and misery. A moment 
 after, however, he takes her by the hand and whispers : 
 " You re a brave woman, but keep cool ; remember, 
 five shots for them and the other only at the last the 
 very last!"
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 77 
 
 Holding his hand, her hand trembles and her heart beats 
 faster and she remembers ; she says to him : " Charley 
 I beg your pardon, Mr. Errol " turning away her face, 
 for it is the first time she has called him by his Christian 
 name. 
 
 " That s right. We ve been good comrades, haven t 
 we ? Call me Charley ! " 
 
 "Well, then, Charley," here she gives a great blush ; 
 " I gave you a packet ! " 
 
 "Yos, containing some revelation or other." 
 
 If I die and you live, send it to your father un 
 opened ! " 
 
 " Yes ! " 
 
 " If we both live, give it back to me ! " 
 
 " But you told me 
 
 " As you are a man, give it back to me ! for my hap 
 piness ! Pity me ! Give it back to me unopened and 
 unread ! " This she begs him with tears, and sighs, and 
 pleadings that astonish him, but are unnecessary, for he 
 returns : 
 
 " Certainly, if you ask it. The packet is yours, but you 
 said " 
 
 " I m a woman and have changed my mind," the last 
 with half a smile. Then she becomes very serious again, 
 and says : " Remember, if we both live, you have prom 
 ised on your honor to give that packet back to me ! " 
 
 " Of ^course I will ! It is in my pocket in the other 
 room," he replies, for the night has been so oppressive 
 he has been working and fighting in his shirt. Passing 
 his hand over his eyes, after a moment he goes on : 
 " Now a promise from you. In case I die and you are 
 saved, just drop a line to my dear old father telling him 
 how I thought of him at the last." 
 
 " Don t fear !" she returns. " I ll remember you who 
 fell fighting for me for me whom you should " but here 
 for the first time she notices Errol s wounded arm, and 
 Sarah Annerley gives way and dropping her head upon 
 his knee, bursts into tears, and cries " For me ! " and 
 kisses the man s hand, calling him her preserver and her 
 savior, though he ought to hate her, in a hysterical way, 
 which makes him fear the strain has been too great for 
 her mind. 
 
 Sitting thus in the gloom of the half-lighted room, the
 
 78 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 roar of arson and riot rising to their ears from the burn 
 ing city, to these two comes the horror of waiting wait 
 ing to be attacked. They dare not sleep, though they are 
 cruelly tired ; they dare hardly breathe, they must listen 
 so intently for warning noises, for the court-yard is too 
 black for seeing ; they can only wait. 
 
 The ticking of Errol s watch at first relieves the 
 silence, and this has become monotonous and dreary, 
 when Lady Annerley suddenly whispers, " Hist ! " and 
 he mutters, " It has come !" for at the outer entrance of 
 the court the little bells give forth their tinkling warning. 
 
 Errol crawls upon the balcony but can see nothing, and 
 desperately fires at the sound. To the report of his gun 
 comes the rush, not of a few men but of a hundred, and 
 he cries out for a fire-ball so he can see where best to 
 direct his shots. 
 
 But there is no time to make one now, and Lady An 
 nerley desperately throws out the burning lamp into the 
 center of the court-yard. 
 
 Descending in a whirl of flame, this falls upon and 
 breaks over the head of an Arab, deluging his cotton gar 
 ments with kerosene and setting him on fire ; while the 
 wretch runs about giving out horrid cries and screams 
 and lighting up the yard, showing it full of Bedouins, 
 Copts, Moslems, Turks, and Soudanese grotesquely armed, 
 the desperate scourings of the Moslem streets. 
 
 By the light of this human fire-ball Errol sees this fan 
 tastic crowd, with jabbering cries, forming in solid column 
 to charge the stairs, careless of the awful fate of their 
 comrade ; who, with shrill shrieks that pierce the air and 
 great bounds of agony, is burning up alive as he dances 
 the court-yard round. 
 
 This whole thing passes in a second ; the next the Aus 
 tralian turns loose his breech-loader on the head of the 
 column, and though each shot probably carries with it a 
 life, instead of stopping them it only makes them come 
 on quicker ; and, the magazine of his rifle being empty, he 
 runs to the head of the stairs. Firing his revolver at the 
 leaders of the rush, he, pursued by a volley, flies in the 
 door, and bars it, the English lady helping him. The next 
 instant the human battering ram strikes it with a bang, 
 and he cries : " Shoot em before their weight forces it ! " 
 
 With this she is at the door, the hammer in her hand,
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 79 
 
 exploding the cartridges that have made contact with the 
 door death, and he with Osman s dagger goes to work 
 upon them also. 
 
 As the bullets pierce the leaders of the rush and they 
 fall dying, others are forced, by the pressure of those 
 charging in the rear, against this door that spouts forth 
 destruction. And as they are stricken down, those behind 
 them are pressed against the exploding shells, until the 
 struggle to escape death becomes greater than the force 
 of those behind ; and panic seizes the mob, who run away. 
 
 Hearing this Errol tries to open the door to give them 
 a parting shot ; but cannot, there are too many dead and 
 wounded lying against it. However, some of these last 
 succeed in crawling away, and he gets the door open 
 wide enough to squeeze himself out, tumbling over the 
 body of a Turk, who jabs a knife in his leg and gasps, 
 " For Allah ! " as he dies. 
 
 On the balcony the young man, by the early morning 
 light, which is just streaking the east, shoots two or three 
 wounded who are escaping, for this stab has made him 
 merciless. Then he staggers in, for he hears a fusilade 
 coming from the back entrance to the house. Osman and 
 Niccovie have led their followers round, and are trying 
 to force it. 
 
 As he gets into the main room, Errol sees he must 
 bind up his wound or he will lose his strength. Know 
 ing the door with its fifty shots cannot be forced imme 
 diately, he sits down and finds he has two ; one, the stab 
 in th^i calf of the leg, and the other from a bullet that 
 has come through the door, and being partially spent, 
 has glanced round his ribs. In the excitement of the 
 combat he has not noticed it before. 
 
 As he dresses them the fusilade ceases, and Lady An- 
 nerley conies to him, her beautiful face black with pow 
 der, but blazing with excitement, and cries proudly : " I 
 beat them off alone ! " and then more sadly : "but fired 
 every cartridge in the door to do it." 
 
 " If they come again, I can spare no more ! " says 
 Errol, gloomily, inspecting his ammunition, " I need all 
 the rest for my rifle." 
 
 The next instant there is a yell from Martin, who has 
 taken refuge on the roof to get as far from this last fight 
 as possible. As Errol springs up to her cry the servant-
 
 8o MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 girl comes down the steps screaming : " There are men 
 up there men!" Cautiously putting his head through 
 the scuttle the young man sees that she has exaggerated 
 the matter but only a very little. 
 
 No one is already upon the roof of this house, but a 
 number of men are on the top of the next one. It is 
 a little higher than that of Abdallah s dwelling, and 
 there is only fifteen feet of space between them. All this 
 he can easily discern, for the morning is advancing rap 
 idly. 
 
 As Errol brings his Remington to bear, a lithe-limbed 
 Soudanese has taken a short run in order to spring across 
 the chasm. The Australian has been accustomed to 
 kangaroo-shooting, and as the man jumps he dies in 
 mid-air. This unexpected attack makes his foes retreat 
 for a moment, and gives the young man time to look 
 around him. Instinctively his eyes turn to the water, 
 from which their only relief can come, and he gives a cry 
 of joy, for by the early morning light he can see armed 
 boats crews from the men-of-war landing on the Marina. 
 
 " What is it ? " asks Lady Annerley, who is standing 
 below him on the stair handing him up some cartridges 
 for his rifle. 
 
 " English sailors ! " he cries. " We are saved ! " but the 
 next minute sighs : " I m afraid they come too late ! " 
 
 For he sees the crowd, increased by numbers the firing 
 has drawn to the spot, preparing to jump onto the roof 
 en masse, while, to keep his fire down, a fusilade is 
 opened on him from several house-tops ; and as the bullets 
 come singing by he recognizes the crack of the Martini- 
 Henry rifle, and knows he has now against him Egyptian 
 soldiers who have deserted from Arabi s army. 
 
 At this moment Lady Annerley cries from below : " They 
 are -forcing the back door ! " and he, hearing the sound 
 of the blows upon it, feels his hour has come but only 
 for a moment. 
 
 In the next that dogged, never-say-die, fight-to-the- 
 death spirit that has won the Anglo-Saxon race so many 
 battles and such glorious victories, when Hope has turned 
 her back upon them and Death has set his hand upon 
 them, comes to him, and he cries : " FOLLOW ME ! I M 
 
 GOING TO FIGHT OUR WAY TO THE ENGLISH BOATS ! " 
 
 As his voice rings out these brave words, the woman
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 8l 
 
 who has only loved him before now adores him. Hastily 
 giving their assailants on the roof one or two shots to 
 check their advance, Errol runs down the stairs and finds 
 Lady Annerley waiting with Martin, whom she has just 
 dragged from an inner room. The blows upon the door 
 at the back of the house warn them that the front way is 
 their only chance of exit. They climb over the corpses 
 before the entrance to the main room and glide down the 
 steps into the court-yard. Errol whispers to Lady An 
 nerley, who is following him closely : " Get your revolv 
 er ready and come quickly ! " And they pass through 
 the archway and into the street unobserved, and to their 
 astonishment, unopposed. For no thought of their 
 prey s flight having ever entered Osman or Niccovie s 
 heads, they have left no men to guard the main en 
 trance ; and the audacity of the attempt has so far 
 made it safe. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE AMERICAN MARINES. 
 
 IN the street, however, there are one or two rioters who 
 on seeing them set up a shout, but run away, for this night s 
 fight has made Errol a terror to his assailants. 
 
 " Now*s our chance ! Run ! " he whispers, and begins 
 to move quickly ; but she hangs back and says, " Where s 
 Martin ?" 
 
 " If Martin is not here she is lost. By heavens ! they 
 are in the house now ! " he exclaims as a yell of disap 
 pointed rage comes from the rabble in the rooms from 
 which they have fled. " Come, it s our only chance ! " 
 
 Thus adjured, Lady Annerley darts after him, but the 
 delay has been fatal. As they move along, a band of 
 Arabs, Nubians and Fellaheen dart round the corner of 
 the street and head off the retreat. At this Errol clinches 
 his teeth and cries to her : " Follow me closely, I ll cut 
 our way through ! " and runs toward them. 
 
 They fire at him, but their old matchlocks and super 
 annuated pistols miss him. As he advances, he turns 
 loose his Remington and wounds two. But now Lady 
 6
 
 82 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Annerley hears a noise behind her and looking back sees 
 they are surrounded ; for another crowd of Moslems 
 headed by Niccovie in person are issuing from the house. 
 
 This only makes Errol hasten to meet the first party, 
 wishing to break through them before the others come 
 up. 
 
 None of the Arabs fire now, perhaps afraid of shooting 
 each other, perhaps because Niccovie cries out from his 
 bandaged mouth in Eastern jargon : " Don t kill the 
 woman, she is too valuable ! " 
 
 If they don t fire, Errol does and drops another before 
 they get to him. Then he suddenly pulls Lady Anner 
 ley behind him into a retreating corner made by the join 
 ing of two houses, and thus having his enemies in front 
 of him, opens with his revolver. Two get to him a little 
 quicker than the rest ; one a wiry Arab, the other a 
 savage-looking black. The Arab he shoots. As he does 
 so, Lady Annerley sees the black raise his scimiter to strike 
 the life she has learned to love, and a mist comes before 
 her eyes ; but in that mist she sees her own revolver raised 
 and smoke coming from its mouth ; and, as this clears 
 away, the black is dead. 
 
 To do this, she has to step a little out from the wall, 
 and some one coming behind her, seizes her round the 
 waist and drags her backward away from the man who 
 is fighting for her. 
 
 She tries to get her hand behind her to shoot the 
 wretch who now actually carries her along with brutal 
 jeers and mocking laughter ; but in vain. And now 
 others join him, foolishly coming in front of her, and get 
 ting winged for their carelessness, for her arm is free 
 enough to shoot before her. 
 
 All this she does silently and hopelessly ; the first, be 
 cause she knows that to call Errol s eyes from his own 
 personal assailants will be his death ; the second, be 
 cause she sees that every moment more foes bar her 
 way to his protection. Till at last her five shots are all 
 gone and she despairs ; for Niccovie s face is leering 
 into hers and the next instant her pistol will be torn 
 from her. Even now he speaks to her as if he owned 
 her. This makes her desperate, and the revolver s muzzle, 
 cold and chilly as the death it gives, is pressed against 
 her forehead, for the last moment is come, the last bullet
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 83 
 
 is hers. But as her finger presses the trigger his words 
 buzz in her head : " Wait till the very last ! " She gives 
 herself five seconds more, and in them thinks she sees 
 the little Arab boy hanging to Niccovie s coat-tails and 
 that a cheer is sounding round the corner ; and it is 
 Anglo-Saxon, and she turns her hand, and the shot that 
 was to kill her she fires into the Greek s smiling face. 
 While as she does so a crashing volley sounds in her ears, 
 and there are blue uniforms and English voices and rough 
 but tender hands about her, and a dandy lieutenant 
 shoots with one hand the man who holds her, and catches 
 her as she falls with the other. 
 
 Panting and dazed, and only kept upon her feet by this 
 young officer s arm, Sarah Annerley sees in the hurly- 
 burly around her the blue uniforms make short work of 
 the Moslem crowd ; the lieutenant shooting two as he 
 holds her. 
 
 Now, all this makes quite a cloud of smoke and dust, 
 and as it clears away she notes Niccovie holding a broken 
 jaw in one hand, and a large sword in the other, pursu 
 ing little Ainmed, who is dodging for his life. She cries 
 to the lieutenant, " Save the boy ! " 
 
 He runs after the Levantine, calling to him to surren 
 der ; but Niccovie only answers with another slash at 
 the Arab urchin. Then the officer s great navy revolver 
 gives a puff and, though thirty yards away, the Greek 
 renegado gives a yell and turns round to find out what 
 hurts him, but dies too soon to be quite sure. 
 
 During this Errol has staggered up to Lady Annerley, 
 and they both sit down on a couple of stones, too ex 
 hausted to do anything but gasp for breath and wipe 
 away the dust and sweat of battle. She looks at him, 
 and, seeing no new wounds except a slight scratch upon 
 his forehead, becomes very happy. 
 
 Heading his men, the officer soon clears Abdallah s 
 home of rioters, chasing them from the rooms up to 
 the roof, and then over the neighboring house-tops. 
 Returning from this to the street, this young gentle 
 man (for he is hardly twenty-five), who has fought his 
 fight in a rough-and-ready, free-and-easy sort of a way, 
 produces a silk handkerchief, brushes the dust off his 
 patent-leather boots, and becomes a dandy once more. 
 
 Approaching them he gives the English woman a mil-
 
 84 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 itary bow, takes off his cap and says : " Lady Annerley, 
 I believe. Permit me to introduce myself," and pro 
 ducing a card-case, he presents : 
 
 . Kouston 
 
 / 
 
 %. $. Ship ^uinnebaug. 
 
 As she has been looking at the young man, the lady 
 he addresses has discovered something in his fine face 
 that makes it familiar. She reads his card and all this be 
 comes clear to her. She cries : " Why, you re Miss Pot 
 ter s brother the naval officer ! " 
 
 " Yes, I m Miss Potter s brother" returns the gentle 
 man, with a little laugh. " At home I m Mr. Potter of 
 Texas son ; in Europe, Miss Potter of Texas brother. 
 The only place I have an identity is on the ship s books." 
 
 " The fate of being related to such distinguished peo 
 ple," smiles Lady Annerley, for Miss Potter is the reign 
 ing American belle in Europe, and the whole of fashion 
 able France and England are bowing to her great wealth 
 and greater beauty. " You should be proud " but 
 here she appears to be astonished, and cries : " You re 
 American ! " 
 
 " Certainly. These are American marines ! " and as he 
 points to his men she, for the first time, notes that their 
 uniforms are not English. 
 
 " You see," he goes on, " I m not a marine, I m a line 
 officer. I volunteered to come on shore on your account. 
 Ida, my sister, wired me from Paris by the telegraph 
 ship, the Cheltnam, which has picked up the European 
 cable, that you were here, and to look after you ; and I 
 might have looked after you a long time, had it not been 
 for little Ammed waiting for us at the Marina, giving me 
 your note and begging me Quick ! Save the beaut-ful 
 lady ! With this he pats the Arab boy s head, who 
 gazes proudly at Lady Annerley, then grins in the lieuten 
 ant s face, and cuts a caper. For he has just strolled up 
 to them, grand in the possession of the sword of the late 
 Niccovie which he carries over his shoulder.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 85 
 
 Here the lady says suddenly : " Excuse me, Mr. Pot 
 ter, this is Mr. Errol, the gentleman who fought for me 
 all night." 
 
 " Then," remarks the American, " I congratulate you 
 on your champion. I ve been admiring his handiwork 
 up there," and he points to the house of Abdallah the 
 Moor. 
 
 " You never learned that pistol shooting on the quarter 
 deck ! " returns Errol as the two men shake hands. 
 
 " No," replies the American, " my father taught me 
 that as a boy, in Texas. Can we smoke, Lady Annerley ? " 
 Then he produces his cigar case and offers one to Errol. 
 
 Permission being given, the two young men light up and 
 the lieutenant says : " I must call my men back. They are 
 fighting too much and killing too many. We only came 
 ashore to save life, but the sights we saw as we forced 
 our way here have made the men very savage. They ve 
 seen dead Christian women and wounded little children 
 till they are ready to butcher every Moslem looter in 
 Alexandria. Might I offer you my escort back to the 
 house ? You may wish to change your dress ; " this last 
 a little significantly. 
 
 " I ve lots of clothes at the Hotel de 1 Europe. Let s go 
 there. Oh, for the luxury of something clean ! " cries 
 Lady Annerley. Then catching the lieutenant s eye she 
 follows it, and looking at herself for the first time this 
 morning* hangs her head and mutters : " Oh, how aw 
 ful ! " This is with a big blush that they don t see, her 
 face being too dirty. For she is one grime of powder 
 smoke ; a lock of her beautiful hair has been singed off 
 by the flame of the lamp that she threw into the court 
 yard ; her dress is torn to rags, and there is a great red 
 burn upon one of her shapely but now black and dirty 
 arms. 
 
 " No," says Errol grimly, judging her thought. "You re 
 not the woman of fashion of three days ago." 
 
 Here she takes a look at Errol and cries laughingly : 
 " But you re worse ! " for he is simply a background of 
 dirt daubed with blood. 
 
 But the sight of his blood makes the laugh leave her 
 voice, which becomes so tender that it attracts young 
 Potter s attention as she goes on : " Wounded, and all 
 for me ! "
 
 86 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Oh, I m quite right," says Errol, getting on his feet, 
 but so stiffly that the American puts his arm round him, 
 for which Lady Annerley s eyes thank him. 
 
 Lady Annerley s thoughts having gone back to dress, 
 next come to her maid, and she cries : " Oh, poor Martin ! 
 she was left in the house ! " 
 
 " Your servant is all right." 
 
 " Thank Heaven ! " for in this moment of safety she 
 thinks kindly even of Martin s fears. 
 
 " But your dresses are all gone." 
 
 "Gone?" 
 
 " Yes. The Hotel de 1 Europe and the whole Frankish 
 quarter are nothing but blazing ruins ! " Here the lieu 
 tenant points to the smoke, and after a moment sug 
 gests : " If they are saved, your dresses will all be 
 very black." Then thinks he has made a faux fas, 
 and stammers a little as he says : " I I beg your par 
 don, Lady Annerley. I I had forgotten you re in 
 mourning. Your father, Sir Jonas Stevens, died in 
 Italy." 
 
 " Yes, only three weeks ago. I came here direct from 
 his death-bed." As she mutters this the woman s eyes 
 turn to Errol with a beseeching, appealing, apologetic 
 glance. She says : " Remember your promise ! " 
 
 " Oh, about that packet ! " 
 
 " Yes, we both live now ! " and she looks at him as if 
 that meant a great deal in their future. 
 
 " Of course, I ll get it for you. It s in my vest-pocket 
 in the house." 
 
 Then they all stroll up the street and into the little 
 court-yard ; the lieutenant, careless of his uniform, help 
 ing Errol, who walks quite stiffly, but says he ll be aH 
 right in a week. And the conversation becomes very 
 animated and full of laughter, for the sun seems to shine 
 very brightly in Alexandria this morning on Lady Anner 
 ley and Errol ; and they feel as if they have come a long 
 and dangerous journey from a far country, where death 
 has been close about them ; and the world they have 
 come to again is a very joyous and happy one, as they 
 listen to the whinny and braying of Ammed s donkeys 
 in the stable, and the chirping of the birds in the court 
 yard. Then Lady Annerley tells Errol that he must come 
 to Europe and she will give him the entree to the world
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 87 
 
 of fashion her world. This he says he ll do, after he 
 has returned to Australia to see his father, who never 
 leaves that country. For he is very much flattered and 
 rather delighted, as what young man wouldn t be with 
 one of the queens of the beau monde half begging him, 
 half caressing him to visit her. 
 
 But this mention of his father causes her to start and 
 say : " Your promise, quick ! " 
 
 " Of course ! " and he turns toward the stairs. 
 
 She is about to go with him, but the lieutenant stops 
 her, saying : " The sights down here are bad, those above 
 are worse ; by daylight they would shock you ! " 
 
 " I ll bring it down to you ! " 
 
 " Perhaps I d better go for you, you re not quite up to 
 much exertion," suggests young Potter. 
 
 " No, I can do it ; I ve got some other things to 
 find," says Errol half way up the stairs, and seeing the 
 maid on the balcony laughs : " Hello, Martin, all right 
 after all ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, I m comfortable," grunts the servant-girl, 
 " except as my boots is bloody ! " 
 
 Passing on, Errol enters the house, while Martin re 
 mains on the balcony giggling at young Ammed, who is 
 getting his donkeys out of the stable and decorating 
 them with the strings of bells of which they have been 
 denuded, while Lady Annerley and young Potter chat 
 together in the court-yard below. 
 
 They are talking of his sister, and the lady is saying : 
 " Now you are* to visit me also," when the noise of strug 
 gle and a smothered cry come from the open window, 
 and Martin on the balcony is yelling like one possessed. 
 In two bounds the lieutenant is up the stairs and in the 
 house ; two seconds after his pistol speaks. 
 
 Lady Annerley hurries after him, but he meets her at 
 the door and she notices his face is pale. " You d better 
 not come in ! " he says in a low voice. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " These things happen so suddenly sometimes in 
 war." 
 
 " It was Osman killed Mr. Errol ! " cries Martin. " I 
 saw it through the window ! " 
 
 "You idiot !" exclaims the lieutenant, "you have 
 killed her !" For Sarah Annerley, who had fought through
 
 88 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 all the carnage and bloodshed of that awful night in grim 
 silence, has now uttered a terrible cry and fallen senseless 
 upon the pile of corpses in front of the door. 
 
 Calling Ammed to summon the sergeant in charge of 
 his men, he picks up the English lady, carries her into 
 the main apartment, and says to Martin savagely : " Get 
 some water and bring her to. The man needs my at 
 tention first," then goes to look at Errol, who lies moan 
 ing in the next room, a terrible knife wound in his side. 
 As he is making his examination, the sergeant comes in 
 to him and touches his cap. 
 
 " I told you to clear the house of rioters, and you left 
 a man in it ! " says the lieutenant sharply. 
 
 "Yes, sir, Mr. Errol s dragoman ! " 
 
 " How do you know that ? " 
 
 " He showed me the document by which he was hired. 
 When I tackled him here he was quietly fixin his boss 
 clothes ! " With this the sergeant of marines points to 
 the Australian s coat and vest that lie near the wounded 
 man. 
 
 " I shall hold you responsible for the absolute obedi 
 ence of my orders. Get me the paper by which the 
 scoundrel proved his story to you ! " 
 
 " How can I ? It s in his pocket and he s skipped ! " 
 mutters the sergeant, bewildered. 
 
 "You ll find his body at the bottom of that flight of 
 steps!" replies Potter, pointing to the stairway leading 
 to the private door. 
 
 As the soldier is about to go to Osman s body, the 
 lieutenant calls him back and says : " On second thought 
 bring me all the papers on the corpse all ! " 
 
 Then the men carry Errol down to the Marina, followed 
 by Ammed and Martin. Mr. Potter, by the aid of the 
 Arab boy s donkeys, gets Lady Annerley to the boats 
 also, though she is half fainting, half crazy, and wildly 
 whispers things in the lieutenant s ear which make that 
 young man open his eyes. On shipboard the surgeon 
 looks at the wounded Australian and says he may live, 
 but not in this hot climate. 
 
 So it comes to pass two days after this that, the P. & 
 O. steamer Calcutta being ready to sail, Lady Annerley, 
 pale, careworn, loveworn, the ghost of her former beau 
 tiful self, stands on the landing-stage to bid good-by to
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 89 
 
 the Arab boy and Mr. Potter. She has not the strength 
 to say much, but she pats the little gamins head and 
 tells him he is to be educated (she has arranged this 
 with the English consul), and taking the officer by the 
 hand, she murmurs a blessing on him and the American 
 marines who saved her as they did many other Christian 
 women in those days of riot and carnage, in that hot, 
 looted Egyptian city. 
 
 Mr. Potter and the boy watch the receding steamer, 
 as her big propeller drives her through the anchored fleets, 
 en route for Brindisi and Venice, in her main saloon 
 Charley Errol of Australia, wounded nigh unto death, 
 and raving with the Nile fever, and a woman nurs 
 ing him like an angel of mercy, and weeping over him 
 and begging him to live for her sake ; then wildly 
 swearing he shall not die this, the only man she ever 
 loved. 
 
 The Calcutta fades from view, and Ammed, chinking 
 in his pockets the plethora of coin Lady Annerley has 
 put in them, says quietly : " The beau-ful lady s tears 
 are pearls, but she has no more." 
 
 " No," mutters the lieutenant, gloomily, "she s hit too 
 hard." Then he takes to meditating in a cynical way 
 upon the affair, thinking : " George ! she s been a widow 
 eighteen months a widow with a title and twenty thou 
 sand pounds a year, and stood it out against every buck 
 and blood in London and Paris ; yet that Australian, in 
 one night s fighting, fought himself into her love that s 
 luck ! " A minute after he gives a half sigh and mutters: 
 " Quackenboss, our sawbones, says they ll toss him over 
 board between here and Brindisi. That isn t luck ! I ve 
 half a mind to try and take his place. Wonder if this 
 cable would get me leave on the ground of family busi 
 ness." With this he produces a message and reads : 
 
 " POTTERSVILLE, TEXAS, July 14, 1882. 
 
 " To POTTER, 
 
 U. S. ship Quinnebaug, 
 
 " Alexandria : 
 
 " Worried about Ida. Texas Sif tings says she can marry a duke. 
 Send the girl home right off I m afraid she s getting into bad com 
 pany. DAD." 
 
 " The dear old boy ! " cries the lieutenant, and gives
 
 90 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 a shriek of laughter, but it is cut short by the sergeant of 
 marines who, saluting, says : " I ve been on duty in the 
 town, impossible to deliver these before. The papers 
 found on the body of Osman, the dragoman ! " 
 
 Among these documents is the packet given by Lady An- 
 nerley to Errol, the Australian.
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 ENGLISH JUSTICE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE GIRLS HAVE COME ! 
 
 THE Calcutta churns her way through the Mediterra 
 nean, stops at Brindisi, and then goes on to Venice, and 
 somehow they get Errol to this place not yet dead. Here 
 a celebrated doctor, telegraphed for to London, meets 
 them and says : " No farther or he dies ! " 
 
 And so, in a great palazzo on the Grand Canal that 
 Lady Annerley engages, they stop to fight the last round 
 in the Australian s battle for life ; which goes on in all 
 the terrible ups and downs, despairs and hopes, of such 
 awful oombats. 
 
 But at last, with the nursing of love and the aids of 
 wealth, youth, a strong constitution, and modern science, 
 death is driven from the ring, and hope takes the place of 
 despair in the heart of the woman who watches. The at 
 tacks of delirium become fainter and less frequent, and, as 
 she sees this, Sarah Annerley herself becomes better ; for 
 she has fallen down to a shadow of herself. As Charley 
 Errol gains strength, she regains beauty, until one morn 
 ing in .September she is her own radiant self, as Dr. Lamp- 
 son feels the pulse of the young man in a cheery, never- 
 say-die manner peculiar to him, and says : " Killed any 
 more kangaroos in your deli I mean your dreams last 
 night, Errol ? " 
 
 " No, not even a rat-kangaroo," replies the patient, 
 very languidly and lazily, as he stretches his long, ema 
 ciated limbs.
 
 92 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Ah, glad to hear it. Since you ve given up killing, I 
 think I may say that you ll live." 
 
 " Was it so near as all that ? " asks the young man, 
 with a kind of wonder in his blue eyes that are made al 
 most pathetic by the deep circles disease has drawn round 
 them. " I didn t know that ! " 
 
 " No, you knew nothing. All you did day and night 
 was to hunt kangaroos." 
 
 " George ! didn t I hunt them ! " re-echoes the patient. 
 " I believe I ve killed, in imagination, about all in Aus 
 tralia. There was always one big fellow who used to run 
 about blazing, giving light like a torch for me to shoot 
 them, and one night a ferocious old man-kangaroo had me 
 down and would have murdered me, when she shot him 
 over my shoulder." 
 
 " She ? " says the doctor, with an accent of surprise, 
 feeling Errol s pulse again surreptitiously to be quite sure 
 the fever has not again returned to him. 
 
 "Yes, she, the lady who comes every day the one 
 that makes this room look well look as it does ; " and 
 the young man gazes at a bunch of Roman roses and 
 Parma violets that lie on a table near him. " You didn t 
 bring those, did you ?" 
 
 " I I you see I brought " 
 
 " No, you bring only medicine. I know you, doctor ; 
 you ll say I excite myself, though I ve been sensible these 
 three days, but sleepy, oh, how sleepy ! I ve liked to be 
 sleepy ; because when I was sleepy she came in and 
 looked at me. If my eyes appeared to see, or I grew 
 restless, she sneaked out again. Then I laid traps for 
 her. I pretended somnolence, and she came in and cried 
 over me and begged me to forgive her. What the deuce 
 should I forgive the angel for ? Why, I hear her now ; 
 she s there ! " cries the young man, struggling to a half- 
 sitting position in bed and pointing eagerly, for at this 
 there has come a deep feminine sigh from behind a light 
 screen that shields a little corner of the room from his 
 gaze. 
 
 " Confound you ! " grunts the doctor ; " if you don t 
 keep quiet, young man, I ll give you a devil of a dose of 
 quinine !" pushing his patient down on to the pillows 
 again. 
 
 " I won t keep quiet till I ve seen her ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 93 
 
 " Go to sleep ! " 
 
 " Yes, with one eye open ! Doctor, can t you see I m 
 better and strong ? " With this he attempts to struggle 
 up in bed again, then says, plaintively : " How how sore 
 my side is ! My heavens, I must have been wounded ! " 
 sinks down and looks astounded. 
 
 Here from behind the screen comes Lady Annerley, 
 who cries savagely to the doctor : " Don t be so rough 
 with him ! " and pushing herself between the physician 
 and the patient, arranges the pillows and settles the 
 young man s head upon them, giving his tossing blonde 
 locks that have grown very long in his months of illness 
 a surreptitious caress. 
 
 "There," she says smilingly, "now you ve got your 
 senses back again I shall not run away from you any 
 more, as the naughty doctor has made me do Charley ! " 
 As she murmurs the last she smothers it in a blush. 
 
 " You re awfully kind to a stranger ! Doctor, please 
 introduce me. I what have I done ? " stammers Errol, 
 astonished. 
 
 For Sarah Annerley has risen from his bedside and is 
 standing like a statue of despair, murmuring in a broken 
 voice: "He don t know me. My heavens, forgotten /" 
 and then, before either of them can say a word, she is 
 on her knees holding his hand, crying : " Don t you re 
 member the woman you fought for, the woman you were 
 wounded for, the woman you nearly died for ; don t you 
 remember Egypt and that awful night and ME ! ! " 
 Then mumbling over his hand she begs of him to " think ! 
 THINK! ! THINK! ! !" 
 
 The last "think!" is uttered outside the door, for the 
 doctor is upon her like a whirlwind and has her out of the 
 room, crying : " Lady Annerley, remember the patient ! " 
 Though as a man the doctor enjoys the sensuous beauty 
 that this brune Niobe makes in her floating, gauzy dress 
 that outlines her graceful pose as she pleads with her for 
 getful hero ; and as a psychologist he is struck with curi 
 osity that any one should forget, like Errol, the greatest 
 crisis of his life ; still as a physician he is horrified at the 
 effect of such excitement on his patient. He says very 
 impressively to her : " How dare you ? " 
 
 " Oh, doctor, he did not remember me ! " 
 
 " That ll all come back in time," returns the doctor
 
 94 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 grimly. " Another outburst like that and I ll order you 
 not to come into the siclc-room at all." 
 
 " Not let me in his nurse ? You you couldn t get 
 along without me ! " which is no exaggeration, for Lady 
 Annerley has for two months been, as the doctor ex 
 presses it, "good as the whole staff of Guys." 
 
 " I shall try to, at all events. And now, Sarah, I want 
 to have a plain talk with you," and he leads her from the 
 door of the sick-room to a little antechamber, where the 
 September sun comes in mellowed and tinted by the col 
 ored awnings, and the splash of the gentle ripples of the 
 Grand Canal rising softly to their ears seems to punctu 
 ate their conversation. 
 
 " Ah, you re going to scold me ! I know you are ! " re 
 plies Lady Annerley. " You always call me Sarah when 
 you are about to say something that is cross. Oh ! you 
 are not going to prevent my seeing him ; don t dare to 
 think of that. I ll I ll restrain myself. I ll I ll do any 
 thing ! " This last is said with a tone of abject humility 
 that almost startles him. And then, as if picking up 
 courage, she gives the grim doctor a kind of a half smile, 
 and continues suddenly : " But we re outside the sick 
 room, and you can t bully me now ! " 
 
 " If bullying is asking questions, I m going to do a 
 good deal of it," says Lampson, taking a pinch of snuff, 
 the abstinence from which in the chamber of illness has 
 made him rather surly. " Why did you telegraph me to 
 leave my big practice in London and come all the way to 
 Venice to pull this young fellow through the fever ?" 
 
 " Because I had no faith in Italian doctors ! " 
 
 " Quite right ; neither have I ! " assents Lampson. 
 "But it ll be a pretty expensive little affair for you." 
 
 " I don t care how much you charge ! " 
 
 "Ah ! the arrogance of wealth; but I ll remember it in 
 my bill." 
 
 Here Lady Annerley suddenly questions him : " Why 
 didn t you ask me this two months ago, when you first 
 came here ? " 
 
 " Why ? because," says the doctor leisurely, " I had too 
 much to think of to save his life. Besides, I made sure you 
 were engaged to be married to young Errol are you ? " 
 
 " Engaged to be married to him ? " There is a kind of 
 fear in Sarah Annerley s voice as she mutters this.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 95 
 
 " Yes, it wouldn t be so awfully horrible as your tone 
 indicates," says old Lampson with a chuckle. " He s 
 not too old for you, and when he s fatter 11 be very hand 
 some ; besides, all your money is in your own name ; your 
 father, the late Sir Jonas Stevens " 
 
 " Don t talk of my father here ! " interrupts his listener 
 in a gasp of grief that astonishes the doctor, for her dead 
 father s treatment of Lady Annerley has never been sup 
 posed by the world in general, or the family physician 
 in particular, to have been that which would stimulate a 
 daughter s affection. " Besides," she goes on, " wasn t 
 his risking his life to save mine in Egypt enough to make 
 me give any amount of time and any amount of money 
 and anything else to save his oh my God ! how he 
 fought for me ! " 
 
 " Humph ! " says Dr. Lampson thoughtfully, " what 
 took you to Egypt anyway ? Every one expected trouble 
 there, and yet two days after your father s death away you 
 sailed to plunge into war and bloodshed in Alexandria." 
 
 " I went there on business. Mr. Errol was going to 
 Australia. I wished to see him before he left Egypt ; I had 
 a message to send his father. Please don t cross-ques 
 tion me or I shall think you a lawyer, and my confidences 
 to a physician will cease." 
 
 Lady Sarah says this last with a decided snap of both 
 eyes and voice. 
 
 Lampson doesn t heed this, however, and goes on : 
 " Who is his father ? " 
 
 " Mr. Ralph Errol of Melbourne ! " 
 
 " Ralph Errol! I believe I ve heard of him ; one of their 
 great capitalists out there. Humph ! sure of my fee on 
 both sides of the house," grunts the doctor. " What the 
 deuce has interested you in Ralph Errol of the antip 
 odes ? " 
 
 " He he took my father s place out in Australia," re 
 plies Lady Annerley, with a peculiar accent and hesita 
 tion in her voice, as she turns away and tries to look out 
 of the window. 
 
 " Ah ! " remarks the physician, " that young man s 
 father was your father, Sir Jonas Steven s, agent across 
 the water." 
 
 " Yes, he represented my father s banking interest," 
 mutters my lady, whose eyes are gazing in a spasm of
 
 96 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 gloomy meditation over the bright waters of the Grand 
 Canal that are gilded by the Italian sun. 
 
 She hardly knows what she is looking at, though the 
 agitated splash of the water on the stones beneath seems 
 to her no more rapid than the beating of her heart ; for 
 this mention of her father has set some awful thoughts 
 buzzing in her brain ; and if the doctor could only see 
 her hands he would know that she was grasping the win 
 dow-frame to support her body, which is trembling with 
 some peculiar emotion. 
 
 Not noticing this, old Lampson grimly cogitates : 
 " Rage destroys diplomacy. I ll get the truth of my lady 
 by making her angry." and continues the conversation in 
 rather a flippant strain : " Isn t it rather curious you 
 knew all this ? My Lady Annerley was supposed to be 
 devoted to the ball-room not the counting-house." 
 
 He stops here, for she turns to him and he sees her 
 face. 
 
 " My father told me a great deal about his past life 
 when on his death-bed," mutters Lady Annerley, in a 
 broken and humble tone ; then all the humility leaves 
 her voice and her manner, she strides to the would-be 
 cynic and hisses in his ear : " Don t steal the secrets 
 from the dead you hear me ! Let the dead alone ! " 
 
 " Curse it, madam ! You are pinching my arm ! " yells 
 the doctor, for she has emphasized her last words by a 
 very savage grip on the old man s biceps ; but Lady An 
 nerley, thinking she hears a noise in the sick-room, has 
 flown there, and Lampson follows her nursing his pinch 
 and wrath together. 
 
 As he comes in she is gazing at the invalid, who is 
 asleep, with a look that puts a new idea in the physician s 
 head. And taking her on one side, he says : " You re 
 very desperately in love with him ! " 
 
 Then she astounds him more by returning quite stead 
 ily : " The idea ! " but after a moment hides her head and 
 begins to cry. 
 
 " Now none of this ! No sentiment in the sick-room ! 
 No flirtation ! No marrying nor giving in marriage till 
 Adonis is well." 
 
 "Marriage! I? You forget yourself, doctor; I am 
 only a widow eighteen months ! " The beautiful woman 
 is attempting to be haughty.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 97 
 
 " That s the usual time ! " grins Lampson. " At twenty- 
 five, about eighteen months is the fatal period." 
 
 But she suddenly frightens him, for she towers over 
 him with flashing eyes, and cries : " Enough ! No 
 more jokes about my heart ! " Then goes away with a 
 blaze upon her face downstairs, where she says in a 
 broken voice : " Martin, I m sick. Get me to bed ! " 
 Which the maid does tremblingly, for she has an idea 
 that all fevers are infectious, and thinks: " If she 
 catches it, I m a goner." 
 
 As for Lampson, he looks after the beautiful widow, 
 and this cynic mutters : " Poor devil ! " 
 
 Family doctors as well as family lawyers know the 
 skeleton in the closet, and old Lampson is running Lady 
 Annerley s case over in his mind. At seventeen her 
 father had practically forced her to marry old Lord An- 
 nerley. For Sir Jonas Stevens had made his money as a 
 banker, and though knighted, worshiped the aristocracy 
 like a city alderman, i. e., with his whole soul. Viscount 
 Annerley was a relic of the Regency ; had been a young 
 roue in the days of Beau Brummel, and even after his 
 marriage aspired to be an old roue". He hated his bride 
 because she despised him, which she did from the very 
 depths of her heart. Sir Jonas Stevens, her father, was 
 a man soured by something, no one knew what, and de 
 voted only to accumulating great wealth. And from 
 seventeen to twenty-three the Viscountess Annerley lived 
 unloved by any man whose love she could return without 
 dishonor. Since then she has buried her husband and 
 her father, and with the old title of one and the grand 
 fortune of the other at twenty-five is one of the greatest 
 matches in all England. 
 
 With a husband who outraged her pride and a father 
 who cared not enough for her to shield her from the 
 attentions of the thoughtless or the vicious, no tinge or 
 speck of the slightest scandal has ever rested upon 
 Sarah Annerley s fame as a woman. Fitted to inspire as 
 well as entertain the tender passion, she has to this time 
 gone through life unloving. 
 
 It is probably some thought like the last which is in 
 the doctor s mind, as after looking searchingly at his 
 patient, and noting the great beauty of the young man s 
 features, fair curly hair, and the noble proportions of his
 
 98 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 six feet of bone, muscle, and sinew, old Lampson says : 
 " George ! in a month this chap 11 be an Adonis ; then 
 she ll have her innings ! Rather think young Errol 
 has wounded something else besides kangaroos and 
 Egyptians." 
 
 So as time runs on the Australian s convalesence be 
 comes more pronounced, he gradually regaining his recol 
 lection. For he recognizes Lady Annerley perfectly, 
 though he never clearly remembers the night before he 
 was stricken down, and has, to her great joy, forgotten 
 entirely the packet she gave him. 
 
 Lady Annerley has searched Errol s clothes and all his 
 belongings everything that came with them from Egypt 
 and it is not among them. Undoubtedly destroyed by 
 some accident, it can never come from Alexandria to dis 
 close a secret that, since she loves him, must now be 
 dead. 
 
 Learning that his father has heard of his wound, the 
 young man often wonders why his governor has not 
 been able to run over to see him. At these times such 
 a peculiar expression comes over his nurse s face that 
 Lampson cogitates as he looks at her : " What s the 
 matter with my lady ? Hang me if she ain t ashamed of 
 herself ! " for he has known Sarah Annerley since she was 
 a baby. 
 
 To make up for his father s absence they give the pa 
 tient a pile of telegrams and letters from the antipodes 
 over which Errol gloats, saying : " As soon as I am 
 strong enough I ll run over and see the old boy. He s 
 the finest gentleman, the truest father, and best friend in 
 the world. God bless him ! " 
 
 These eulogies upon his father have a fearful effect 
 upon Lady Annerley. After one of them she spends half 
 the night pacing her room, fighting with her conscience, 
 crying : " If I told Charley he d hate me! " Then takes to 
 cursing her father in a manner that would shock good 
 Christians if they heard her. 
 
 The strain on her mind tells upon her body ; and one 
 morning after they have arranged a couch where the 
 ripple of the water is heard, and the patient can see the 
 Grand Canal, and Errol has strolled over to it and is 
 dividing his time by nibbling at grapes, nibbling at a book, 
 and interjecting an occasional glance at the beautiful
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 99 
 
 panorama before him, Dr. Lampson takes Lady Annerley 
 downstairs, and says : " I ve noticed you needed excite 
 ment, and provided it." 
 
 " Indeed, doctor, what have you prescribed ? " 
 
 " Society ! Girls ! Your two great friends, Miss 
 Ethel Lincoln and Miss Ida Potter." 
 
 " One the pet of the last London season and the other 
 its goddess, the reigning American beauty. You ve done 
 very well, doctor," says Lady Annerley. 
 
 " Humph ! " returns Lampson, proudly, " I always pre 
 scribe the finest medicines. The two were in Florence 
 with some chaperon or other and Miss Lincoln s brother. 
 I telegraphed them. They have accepted, deserted their 
 chaperon for your care, and 11 be here " looking at his 
 watch " perhaps in five minutes ! " 
 
 "Then I must send my gondola for them." 
 
 " It has gone already, I looked out for that ! By 
 George ! what s that ? " for a ripple of laughter comes in 
 the hall doors opening on the Grand Canal, and Lady 
 Annerley, crying, " The girls have come ! " runs down 
 the steps to the water s edge to see the prettiest picture 
 in the world. 
 
 If one exclamation more than another excites the 
 masculine mind, it is, " The girls have come ! " The invalid 
 upstairs hears it, pops his head out of the window, and 
 sees the same picture. A street of living water, bounded 
 by old palazzos, roofed by blue sky, gilded and made 
 bright by a September Venetian sun, modernized by puf 
 fing steamboats, and made romantic by dashing gondolas. 
 One of these lies alongside the steps immediately below 
 him. Standing upon these steps is an Englishman of 
 about thirty and a young lady, who has just gathered her 
 skirts away from a splash or two of water churned upon 
 the stones by the rocking boat. This position gives to 
 her lithe and beautiful figure the pose of a Venus. The 
 Australian has hardly time to appreciate her before a 
 tiny scream or two comes to his ear. Looking into the 
 gondola he sees a fairy in an agony of indecision, one 
 tiny foot upon the gunwale of the boat, the other stretched 
 out falteringly toward the steps, while an imploring voice 
 is crying : " Arthur, please, help me ! I shall fall in, and 
 I can t swim ! " 
 
 The gentleman addressed, who has been devoting all
 
 IOO MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 his attention to the other young lady, turns upon her and 
 replies sarcastically : " Ethel, stop showing off ! There s 
 no man looking." 
 
 " Oh, what an insinuation ! A man to see my awk 
 wardness ! A man I should hope not O-oh ! " This 
 last exclamation, which is accompanied by a tremendous 
 blush, is caused partly by the fairy s chancing to gaze up 
 ward and see Errol s admiring glance, and partly by 
 her brother giving her a muscular yank, and jumping her 
 upon the steps. She runs up these and disappears in the 
 door to which the gentleman assists the other lady with 
 punctilious deference and courtesy. Both the girls are 
 dressed in most exquisite summer toilets and look like 
 dreams but the fairy ah ! Errol gives a gasp of rap 
 ture. 
 
 "Any one could tell that brute was her brother, the 
 way he pulled her out of the boat. Ethel nice name ! 
 When I am well, I feel as if I were just the man to assist 
 Ethel out of gondolas ! " and the Australian stretches 
 his limbs that have begun to throb with health again, and 
 says : " Jove, I feel better already! " 
 
 In the house, after the usual greetings, Miss Potter 
 says, looking about and shaking her graceful plumage, 
 for this young lady is rich enough and fortunate enough 
 to be plumed by Worth, who feathers such birds very 
 gorgeously, "Where is the hero ?" 
 
 " Oh, I ve seen him ! " cries Ethel. " He s blonde and 
 tawny and blue-eyed like a lion ! He looked at me as 
 you pulled me from the boat, Arthur ! " 
 
 "Oh, you ve got on that subject again, have you, 
 Ethel ? " says the brother, snubbing the sister a little. 
 For the two girls have heard about Errol in a long letter 
 Lieutenant Potter has written his sister from Alexandria, 
 and have been discussing the Australian s deeds of valor 
 with an emphasis and enthusiasm that has made Arthur 
 Lincoln by no means happy. He has been very much 
 in love with Ida Potter for a long time, and conse 
 quently is jealous of everybody masculine, especially 
 heroes. 
 
 "Well, he s very handsome, anyway. Snubbing me 
 won t make him ugly," murmurs Miss Ethel. 
 
 " I ll show him to you soon, my dear," says Lady An- 
 nerley, proud of her champion ; for she is very fond of
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. IOI 
 
 this bright-eyed, bright-mannered English girl, and has 
 no idea how she will hate her afterward. 
 
 " When will he be put on exhibition ? " asks Miss Pot 
 ter with a little laugh. 
 
 " Between 2 and 4 P. M. Special tickets, and mind 
 me, girls, no flirting with my patient," says Lampson 
 grimly. 
 
 " I never flirt ! " comes from both the young ladies at 
 once ; but Ethel laughs over it and Miss Potter says it 
 very seriously, and then goes on quietly : " I don t be 
 lieve in affecting love when I do not feel it and feel it 
 strongly." 
 
 " Do you mean that ? " asks Arthur under his voice. 
 
 " I m in the habit of saying what I mean ! " returns 
 Ida rising and going to Lady Annerley. But from this 
 place of safety she gives the young man a veiled glance 
 that sets him trembling, for during the last few weeks 
 something in this catch-of-the-season s manner has set 
 this young English barrister hoping for what rich dukes 
 had hoped for in vain ; for Miss Potter had been asked 
 in marriage for her beauty rather than for her wealth, 
 though her father s flocks and herds are said to be large 
 as those of the patriarchs of old. 
 
 In a little time Lady Annerley takes them all upstairs 
 to see Mr. Errol, and they find that young gentleman has 
 somehow arrayed himself as if expecting lady visitors. 
 
 After a gasp or two at Miss Potter s loveliness, for no 
 man could look at it unmoved, Errol turns to the fairy, 
 who gives him an elfin gesture and murmurs : " Excuse 
 my curiosity, my first hero ! " 
 
 To this the young man answers : "I m hardly strong 
 enough to get up and make a bow to you, but in Aus 
 tralia we sometimes shake hands." 
 
 " With pleasure," says Miss Ethel, and she gives hers 
 to him, together with a very kindly glance from her blue 
 eyes, for who can help pitying this great, handsome fel 
 low as he lies upon the sofa so pale, interesting, and ro 
 mantically wounded ? 
 
 Holding this little right hand, Errol looks at the young 
 lady s left, sees no engagement ring upon it, and gives a 
 sigh of relief. Then with a slight pressure would im 
 prison the other longer ; but old Lampson, who takes 
 wicked pleasure in making girls blush, cries out : " Ethel,
 
 102 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 let go that young man s hand ! Feeling pulses is my 
 business, not yours ! " 
 
 At which the young lady gives a pathetic little scream, 
 draws away her hand, suddenly crosses to the other side 
 of the room ; but shortly after seems to wander back to 
 the invalid s couch, and the two become very much en 
 grossed in one another. 
 
 As for Arthur he gives a sigh of relief, for Miss Potter 
 appears only slightly impressed with Mr. Errol, and goes 
 out onto the balcony, where the setting sun comes in and 
 tints this princess from the West whom nature has 
 crowned with a beauty that is entirely indescribable but 
 entirely American. For Miss Potter still keeps her Bor 
 der-State accent and her Border-State manners. These 
 have descended to her from her mother, who was of the 
 blue-grass region of Kentucky, so famed for its lovely 
 women. 
 
 Her Southern lisp has been called soft as the song of 
 Italian opera ; her Border-State manners are said to be 
 perfect as those of the ancient regime. She has such a 
 pride in herself she makes everybody that bows to her 
 do homage to the country which she represents and 
 honors. In fact, she is, as Colonel Cottontree, the cele 
 brated Texas diplomatist and statesman, who knows 
 everybody of prominence on both sides of the ocean and 
 who has given the daughter of his old friend her first 
 launch into European society, says : " So cursed high, 
 mighty, and aristocratic that the world bows down to 
 her as the most fetching woman upon earth ; " this 
 American beauty, who in the salons of London and Paris 
 is proud that she is American. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOME AGAIN ! 
 
 A FEW days after this, Doctor Lampson having pro 
 nounced the patient safe, and bolted to his English pa 
 tients, leaving as the only souvenir of his visit a large hole 
 in Lady Annerley s bank account, they bring Errol down 
 stairs, or rather he comes unassisted, for this great hulk 
 ing fellow is beginning to be himself once more. The
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 103 
 
 roses are coming into his cheeks and the power into his 
 limbs, and his blue eyes sparkle with new-born health and 
 happiness when they look on pretty Miss Ethel, who wel 
 comes him with redder roses and brighter eyes than 
 even she has ever displayed for his benefit before. 
 
 In fact, every one looks bright and happy this day, 
 for Lady Annerley has made a little fete for the occasion, 
 and Miss Potter and herself are in very fine feathers; 
 though to the Australian the little English girl in her 
 simple muslin frock, as he describes it to himself (which 
 cost a thousand francs in Paris), is the most charming of 
 the lot. So these two young people go to breaking my 
 lady s heart by falling in love with each other. 
 
 Like most tragedies the thing comes about quite grad 
 ually, for it is difficult for Lady Annerley to believe that 
 she is defeated by this ingenue of one season, who has 
 only the fascination of her own dear little heart and fresh, 
 youthful beauty with which to fight her battle. For, 
 though her father, Percy Lincoln, is one of the great 
 jurists of England and some day will probably be made 
 for his services upon the bench a lord, the family, while 
 closely connected with the best blood in Britain, are not 
 very rich for the social station they occupy, and Miss 
 Ethel s dower must be quite a modest one compared with 
 Lady Annerley s grand estates and princely income. 
 
 So Sarah Annerley takes to watching these young 
 people.who are sometimes, she hopes, only playing pas 
 sion, and at others so savage with each other that they 
 make her joyous ; for my lady forgets that this is a first- 
 love business, and therefore is at times a matter of jeal 
 ousies, sighs, pouts, frowns, and even tears, as well as 
 smiles, confidences, and subtle caresses. Errol, though 
 nearly thirty years of age, is in the one grand passion of 
 his life, and Ethel gives this man all the first pure love of 
 a young girl whose cheeks have never been mauled by the 
 advances of kissing school-boys, and whose heart has 
 never been sullied, wounded, nor made languid by de 
 ceased flirtations nor amateur theatrical passions. Her 
 father, Judge Lincoln, is devoted to his only daughter, 
 and has kept her up to this time, as he does his juries, 
 separate and apart from all outside contaminations and 
 temptations. 
 
 This wretched business of Lady Annerley s is brought
 
 104 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 to a crisis by an old adorer of hers, whose hand she has 
 refused so many times she forgets the exact number. He 
 is a young American who, in ample contrast to Miss 
 Potter, is ashamed of his country a creature of fero 
 cious expression and feeble mind, who has red, languid, 
 watery eyes. 
 
 These, together with a little bristly mustache, give to 
 his countenance the savage look of a monkey in a rage, 
 and when he parts his hair in the middle he is considered 
 quite a killing fellow by young girls at germans and other 
 adolescent amusements. No one would think him con 
 ceited, for the only virtue he publicly claims for himself 
 is, " My sister married a lord ! " However, he says this 
 so often the monotony of it becomes terrible. 
 
 An ancestor of his fought at Bunker Hill, and another 
 was on the staff of General Washington ; but their de 
 scendant has put on the chains they shed their blood to 
 throw off, and bows down to and worships everything that 
 is English, wishing with all his brave little spirit that he 
 could use a single eye-glass with the languid air of a 
 Guard s-Club swell, and his walk had the real Piccadilly 
 stride about it. 
 
 This little wretch, who is a social sleuth-hound in his 
 way, has somehow scented the party out, and drops in 
 upon them full of London news, Paris gossip, and rumors 
 from the Orient. 
 
 " By George ! " he lisps, " Lady Annerley, we ve all 
 been talking about you. The Due de Genlis Peragord 
 spoke to me just outside the Jockey Club " (he has never 
 been on the inside in his life). " Peragord said : Dubardu, 
 how I envy that ah ah antipodes fellah, you know! 
 and I agree with him. How I wish I had been in ah 
 Egypt, you know, to have saved you from the awh 
 awn crocodiles ! " 
 
 Stifling a smile, Miss Ethel suggests that it was not 
 crocodiles that attacked Lady Annerley. 
 
 " Noa ! " 
 
 " It was an Eastern mob ! " 
 
 " Oh, ah, yes, something wild and terrible ! Just the 
 same I should have defended her ; something wild and 
 terrific, like our cowboys. Oh, by Jove ! now I beg your 
 pardon, Miss Potter, your father is a cowboy or something 
 of that sort, I believe." For Ida has risen and is going
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 105 
 
 out on the balcony, where she is shortly followed by 
 Arthur. 
 
 A moment later there comes to them from the room: 
 " By Jove ! I never eat a beefsteak, but I think of Miss 
 Potter s papa ! " 
 
 This is followed by a ripple of laughter from the 
 house, for the creature has the humorous methods of a 
 monkey, and Errol and Ethel would laugh at nearly any 
 thing they are so happy, and Lady Annerley would laugh 
 at anything because she is hysterically miserable, the man 
 ner of the Australian having been more marked than ever 
 toward the English girl this morning. 
 
 " Shall I go in and stop him ? " mutters Arthur to Ida 
 savagely. 
 
 " Not at all, Mr. Lincoln. I find Mr. Van Cott amus 
 ing myself ! " and to her adorer s astonishment Miss 
 Potter laughs also, though in a peculiar and sarcastic way 
 as if making fun of herself. 
 
 But here another remark of the facetious Van Cott, 
 who has no idea his bans mots andjeux cTesprits are flying 
 out of the window, comes to them and produces a terrible 
 effect on both, as they hear him lisp : " Miss Ethel, 
 Arthur very far gone ? " 
 
 " Gone ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Why, on La Cattle Queen, of course. Ah, that gal 
 knows what she is doing. She wants to catch the Honor 
 able Arthur. She s playing her cards to become an Eng 
 lish peeress ! " 
 
 " Honorable Arthur ? Who is he ? " 
 
 " Why, don t you know ? Good gracious ! don t you 
 know?" he shrieks excitedly. "You re the Honorable 
 Ethel and he s the Honorable Arthur. Your governor s 
 been retired and made a peer of the realm. I ve got 
 the London Times in my pocket. So glad to have given 
 you the good news ! Awfully jolly ! congratulations ! 
 Take the paper ! " 
 
 Which Ethel does, and running out on to the balcony 
 cries : " Arthur, see, papa s been made Baron Lincoln ! " 
 Then pauses astonished, for Miss Potter is at the far end 
 of the veranda, and her little foot beating an impatient 
 tattoo as she appears to be intensely interested in the 
 dome of the San Marco. Her face is red and turned as 
 much as possible from Arthur Lincoln s.
 
 106 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 That young man has a horrible scowl upon his counte 
 nance, for he knows how these remarks have wounded 
 Miss Potter s pride and so far injured his chances. He 
 says seriously: " Ethel, I m afraid this promotion will be 
 an expensive one for all of us. Father s salary as a 
 judge was greater than his pension will be as a peer." 
 
 This social elevation of the Lincolns brings about in 
 the course of the day several climaxes of passion that, 
 in the ordinary run of events, might have not occurred 
 for some time. Miss Ethel turns and goes to Errol and 
 finds that gentleman has become quite distant in his de 
 meanor. For the poor fellow has always known that 
 Miss Lincoln has been greatly above him in the social 
 scale, and now is thinking as the daughter of a peer of 
 the English realm she is separated and set apart from 
 him by a class distinction that one unacquainted with 
 British society can hardly understand. Errol s father 
 is simply a colonial merchant and sheep-owner, al 
 beit a very rich one, and his son has seen enough of 
 English life to know that his suit will probably be con 
 sidered presumptuous by the young lady s father ; conse 
 quently a proper pride comes to him and makes him 
 haughty to Miss Ethel herself. 
 
 Seeing her hero upon his dignity, his sweetheart, who 
 has a very high spirit of her own, becomes punctilious 
 also, and then sarcastic, asking him whether a longing for 
 native "damper" and kangaroo mutton is making him so 
 glum, and if Australian sheep-herders are not as wild, 
 savage, and uncouth as American cowboys ? 
 
 These remarks make Errol very down-hearted, though 
 they amuse Mr. Van Cott greatly, and that young gen 
 tleman confides in Lady Annerley as follows : 
 
 "Jove, this is lovely! Now she s the daughter of a 
 peer, blowed if Miss Ethel ain t going to throw the Aus 
 tralian over." 
 
 To which my lady replies only with a sad smile, for 
 she is afraid they are both too much interested for any 
 such good fortune as this to happen. 
 
 " Any way," Mr. Van Cott goes on, " Miss Lincoln 
 needn t think so beastly much of her father s new crea 
 tion. By Jove ! my brother-in-law, the Earl of Sands- 
 down, says that since the late additions to the peerage 
 it s becoming deuced vulgar to be a lord. We, of the
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 107 
 
 old families, your ladyship and a-hem ! myself, will 
 appreciate the delicious wit of my brother-in-law, the 
 Earl of Sands,down." 
 
 " Quite ! " says Lady Annerley very savagely. " My 
 father was a city banker and bill-broker ; and yours, I 
 believe, was an American, Mr. Van Cott, who made army 
 contracts ! " and leaves him speechless, but writhing with 
 rage. 
 
 Miss Potter is in a rage also, for she has caught Ethel s 
 remark about cowboyg, and being wounded and feminine, 
 turns about and stings her lover, by asking Van Cott 
 rather pointedly : " How is the market for American 
 heiresses ? What is the last quotation ? You should 
 surely know : your sister married a lord." 
 
 These remarks of the young ladies are by no means 
 polite, and perhaps ill-natured and ill-bred : but Fifth 
 Avenue, when it gets going, can do the rough-and-tum 
 ble act as well as the Bowery, though it does so in a dif 
 ferent way. So they go on and make such a good, cut 
 ting, savage, sarcastic, witty day of it, that after dinner 
 Errol and Arthur feel very glum, Ethel spiteful, Miss 
 Potter sarcastic, and Lady Annerley up to anything the 
 devil will put into her head, which he is quite sure to do 
 as soon as he can think of something delicate enough, 
 subtle enough, and cruel enough to be worthy of a high 
 born aristocratic sinner like my lady. 
 
 Under these circumstances it is not at all astonishing 
 that AJiss Potter thinks Lady Annerley s dinner bad, 
 though the menu is excellent and the cooking in the best 
 style of French art. She strolls out on to the balcony 
 after dessert and has a luxurious cry. She has made the 
 man she loves unhappy, and is therefore unhappy her 
 self. 
 
 She is not allowed to enjoy this solo of misery long 
 before a blazing cigar is poked through the open Venetian 
 window ; this is followed a second afterward by Arthur 
 Lincoln, who stands beside the girl and enjoys her 
 beauty in silence, as Ida is busy smuggling away a last 
 sneaking tear and says nothing. 
 
 After a whiff or two of his Havana, for the young man 
 knows Miss Potter well enough to be aware that she 
 has no objection to cigar smoke, he says rather sadly : 
 " What a happy family we all were before that cad Van
 
 108 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Cott intruded himself among us, bringing with him the 
 cares, jealousies, and ambitions of the outside world! " 
 
 " Yes, we we were very happy here! " replies Ida, with 
 a little sigh, looking at her shadow the moonlight makes 
 on the water of the Grand Canal ; and then more 
 brightly : " So Venice is your Garden of Eden little 
 Van Cott your serpent," and with a little laugh, for she 
 sees he has forgiven her all of her unkind words, and is 
 regaining her spirits, " you and I are the Adam and Eve 
 oh, no ! I I don t mean that ! " 
 
 She turns away with a blush on her face, and gazes at 
 the water and passing gondolas and silent palaces ; but 
 though she says no more, and dares not look over her 
 shoulder, the blush deepens and deepens and becomes 
 more red and bright and vivid, for Arthur is unable to 
 withstand the beauty of Ida Potter, gilded by Venetian 
 moonlight, and his arm is stealing round her waist that 
 waist that no lover s arm has clasped before. However, 
 it doesn t do his chances any harm, for though her eyes 
 flash and she is about to repulse him, before she can do 
 so love conquers pride, she trembles under his em 
 brace, and her beautiful head droops upon his shoulder. 
 
 He murmurs : " You love me ! " and is about to kiss her, 
 but she breaks from him, and cries : " Not yet ! The 
 man who kisses me marries me ! " 
 
 " Can t you see I want to do both ? " whispers Arthur, 
 and would take her in his arms again, but she mutters 
 hoarsely : " You shall do neither yet / See my father ! " 
 
 " Why not now ? " 
 
 " Never ! Until you see my father ! He will be in 
 England within the month. See my father ! " 
 
 This peculiar iteration, " See my father ! " makes the 
 young man pause. He says, slowly : " I think I under 
 stand you, Ida. You fear your father will not think me 
 worthy of you. I agree with him. I know you ve re 
 fused much greater men than me dukes and counts and 
 all that, but you didn t love them, dearest ? " 
 
 " No o ! " 
 
 "And none of them loved you more than I ! " 
 
 " I believe you, Arthur ! " mutters the girl, and his 
 blood throbs to the sound, for it is the first time that she 
 has used his Christian name. 
 
 " I have no doubt that a man of such aristocratic
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 109 
 
 tastes, habits, and associations, as your father must be, 
 even though he has no title, may expect a much grander 
 name than ours for his daughter ! " he goes on gloomily. 
 
 She doesn t answer this, but in the moonlight he can 
 see her trembling, shaking, and quivering with some un 
 controllable emotion. 
 
 But now, looking at the lovely head that so lately 
 nestled upon his shoulder, that shell-like ear in which a 
 second ago he whispered, those coral lips so nearly 
 kissed, this grand beauty that is almost in his hand, his 
 ardor becomes too great to restrain ; he whispers : " Do 
 you love me ? " 
 
 There is a sigh in the breeze ; it seems to say: " Y-e-s ! " 
 
 " You love me ! I have no fear ! You love me ! " he 
 cries, and would seize her in his arms, but she breaks 
 from him and fights him away, and cries, in a wild, 
 frightened, desperate tone : " See my father ! Don t dare 
 speak of this till you see my father /" and flies from him. 
 
 " Hang it ! I ve no doubt old Potter is a dyed-in-the- 
 bone aristocrat ! " mutters Arthur, " but I rather think the 
 Lincolns have a fairly good family tree." Then he says, 
 suddenly : " Confound it ! " for his cigar has been for 
 gotten in his passionate excitement and has gone out. 
 
 Relighting this, he sits down, puffs rings of cigar- 
 smoke round the moon, and thinks of the paternal Pot 
 ter, but soon forgets all about him in contemplating the 
 daughter. 
 
 " I I nearly kissed her," he mutters, in a dazed, 
 happy, dreamy way, and then, with sudden enthusiasm : 
 " By Jove ! she loves me ! The dearest, sweetest, most 
 aristocratic girl in the whole world loves me ! " 
 
 As for the lady, she goes away and mutters to herself 
 savagely: "An aristocrat? if he hadn t called me that I 
 I might have let him kiss me. An aristocrat ? I m tired 
 of the word ! " 
 
 And this is to a certain extent true. The girl s bearing 
 and beauty are so noble, her whole attitude in life so con 
 fident and independent, and withal so modest and un 
 assuming, that European society, as it has looked upon 
 her thoroughbred figure and blooded feet and hands, has 
 said : " An aristocrat of perfect lineage and descent," and 
 has desired to see the parents of such a child, and so ex 
 pressed itself.
 
 110 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " I sigh for thy father, ma chere" murmured the old 
 Dowager Comtesse de Saint Germain. " Monsieur de 
 Pottah will remind me in his courtly manners of the days 
 of my youth, when we danced la minuette." 
 
 " These old Virginia families, the Fairfaxes, Lees, 
 Washingtons, and Potters, took some of our best blood 
 out of the old world. Egad ! I m delighted they ve sent a 
 little of it back in you, my child," shouts out in his great, 
 fox-hunting voice the ancient Duke of Sussexshire, gazing 
 at the beauty. " It s perhaps curious to regain a lost art 
 from America, but I expect the Chevalier Potter will 
 bring back to us the stately bow of the Prince Regent and 
 the punctilio of the Maccaroni. Ask your father to visit 
 me as soon as he arrives in England. " 
 
 These remarks always seemed to make Miss Potter 
 blush and look more beautiful and aristocratic than ever. 
 
 Turning this over in her mind, the young lady comes 
 into the grand parlor of the palazzo, where she meets Van 
 Cott and Lady Annerley. who says with lips that tremble 
 in spite of herself : " Have you seen Mr. Errol outside ? 
 I I am afraid that the night air will be too damp for a 
 convalescent ! " 
 
 * The night air will also be bad for Miss Ethel. They ll 
 both have colds," chirps Mr. Van Cott, and takes his leave. 
 They go down to the front steps to see him into his gon 
 dola, for the young man lives at the Hotel Barbesi ; and 
 as they open this door they find the Australian and Miss 
 Ethel seated close together in a barca moored to the stairs 
 that Errol has hired for the purpose from some passing 
 boatmen. 
 
 " We ve been trying to make our silhouettes upon the 
 water by the aid of the moon, only the mosquitoes 
 wouldn t let us keep quiet. It s rather amusing ! " cries 
 the young lady looking slightly guilty. 
 
 " Yes, awfully jolly, and quite romantic ! " echoes Errol, 
 blushing a little, for his conscience sometimes accuses him 
 of neglecting this woman who has nursed him, now that 
 her aid is no longer a necessity to him. 
 
 " So I see," mutters Lady Annerley. " Quite roman 
 tic ! " 
 
 " Y-as, romantic as anything ! " laughs the facetious 
 Van Cott. " To-morrow night, if the moon is fine, I ll come 
 round and we ll experiment in silhouettes, you and I, Lady
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. Ill 
 
 Sarah." And after making some remarks he considers 
 witty about " spoons," and " love s young dream," etc., etc., 
 which put Lady Annerley on the rack, and make Ethel 
 blush, and Errol want to punch his head, the creature is 
 rowed off, his gondolier singing a barcarol as he drives the 
 boat down the Grand Canal toward the beautiful church 
 of Santa Maria della Salute, which glistens under the 
 moon like white coral. 
 
 A moment after they all come in and there is a new 
 and happier look on the faces of Ethel Lincoln and Char 
 ley Errol. Chancing to gaze at Lady Annerley, Miss 
 Potter starts, for there is an unknown expression that 
 she has never seen before on my lady s face ; but this is 
 not at all curious, as Satan has just bethought himself 
 and is putting into Sarah Annerley s head his newest, 
 latest, and meanest invention in wickedness ; and, what is 
 more, this woman, who has been good, noble, and gener 
 ous up to now, has made up her mind to use it if this 
 little English girl drives her to it. 
 
 So the days run along, very fast and joyous for Ethel 
 and Charley, but oh ! how slow and miserable for Lady 
 Annerley, as she fights her game against fate, and does 
 it badly. 
 
 At cards many play well for fun, few play well for 
 stakes. So it is in the great struggles of life. The crack 
 shot s hand often trembles when his existence depends 
 upon its steadiness, and the veteran of the duello falls be 
 fore trfe pistol of a tyro ; and in this case my lady, who 
 has ,von many battles in the field of love, is so anxious 
 and unnerved the cunning seems to have left her hand, 
 and the novice wins the contest. 
 
 Miss Ethel s unstudied fascinations make her an easy 
 conqueror, in this battle of the heart, over the enchant 
 ments of wit, mind, and experience, and greater, though 
 more mature, beauty of Lady Annerley. Then one even 
 ing the climax comes the blow falls. 
 
 It is October. The day has been perfect, as autumn 
 days in Northern Italy generally are. The quartette, as 
 they have got to call themselves, have, under the pre 
 tense of shopping, taken a gondola and sailed off into 
 these streets of water, bounded by these gray old palaces 
 from which modern life may sweep down the cobwebs, 
 but cannot destroy entirely the romance. Lady Anner-
 
 112 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 ley, not having spirits enough to accompany them, is 
 sitting alone, when young Van Cott drops in with the 
 news. 
 
 " By George ! " he cries, " I ve spotted em at last ! 
 Australia s caught the little gal ! It was so awfully 
 dark in the shadow of the houses that, as my gondola 
 passed another gondola, I heard two people, who shall 
 be nameless, kiss each other." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " gasps Lady Annerley. 
 
 " Oh, no scandal, I assure you all proper decorous 
 sedate ! They re engaged, I know it ! " 
 
 " Who s engaged ? " This is a snarl, for Lady Anner- 
 ley s temper has snapped its chain. 
 
 " Errol and Ethel Lincoln, to be sure." 
 
 " A-ah ! " 
 
 But Mr. Van Cott runs on, too much engrossed with 
 his story to notice that the lady he s talking to is nearly 
 fainting. 
 
 " You see, to-day I ah saw the convalescent strid 
 ing along the Merceria as if he had an object in life once 
 more; and sauntered after him. He sneaked into a jewel 
 er s shop seemed to be ashamed of what he was doing. 
 I knew the symptoms. Young men are always ashamed 
 of buying the first engagement ring the other comes 
 easier. First engagement ring, thought I, and so I 
 wandered in after him. When he saw me the chap posi 
 tively blushed and tried to hide it quick, but I had my 
 eye on it. A big diamond and two smaller ones cost 
 ^300. Look at Miss Ethel s finger to-night you ll see 
 it third finger, left hand engagement I love you 
 fettered for life, and all that, you know." 
 
 " Would you please ring for a glass of water ? " mutters 
 Lady Annerley. " You are sure ? " 
 
 " Water ? Oh, certainly I m sure ! Charley and Ethel 
 in one end of the gondola, Arthur and Ida in the other. 
 Gondoliers in the middle feed to look up in the air for 
 the pigeons of Saint Mark. I know the trick ! " and he 
 runs on in a sickening kind of way, and Lady Annerley, 
 who listens dreamily to him, rather thinks this all a night 
 mare. 
 
 But she is suddenly awoke out of it with a start, for 
 Van Cott thinks he has a good opening, and enthusi 
 astically cries : " Spoons four spoons let s be six
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 113 
 
 spoons spoons all around ! " and getting his arm about 
 her waist, his red eyes become full of watery amative- 
 ness as he gazes upon her loveliness, that even sorrow 
 cannot dim, and murmurs : " Dearest Lady Sarah, you 
 and I also three engagements three happy pair three 
 marriages three 
 
 Here he stops and looks frightened, for she has risen 
 and confronts him like a beautiful tigress. She has found 
 something upon which to vent her pent-up rage and 
 agony. She hisses : "You ! You dare ! You ! " 
 
 I I pon my life, I didn t mean it ! You warn t 
 half so angry the last time I asked you. Don t, don t 
 carry on like that ! You re a regular bang-up Lady 
 Macbeth. You you frighten a fellow so. HELP ! " 
 For Sarah Annerley is nearly foaming at the mouth with 
 rage. 
 
 His ludicrous terror checks her. After a moment she 
 pulls herself together and says very coldly : " Pish ! 
 You are not worth my indignation ! Let me give you a 
 piece of information, Mr. Van Cott. After I refused you 
 the third time I crossed you off my visiting list ! " 
 
 " Oh, you did, did you ! " he says down-heartedly, for 
 the entree to Lady Annerley s is very useful to all young 
 men who wish to be fashionable ; and then he adds quite 
 vivaciously, as if an idea has suddenly struck him : 
 " But, by Jove ! I didn t cross you off mine ! See you to 
 morrow. Regards to the fiancee ! " and goes to his gon 
 dola. 
 
 Wnile being rowed away, a sudden light comes into 
 his face, and he mutters : " My gracious ! If the widdah 
 is not smashed pn the Australian ! That s what made her 
 so rummy to me. This is too rich for anything. Ha ! 
 ha ! ha ! " and this little exponent of the caddish civili 
 zation of the nineteenth century bursts into a shriek of 
 laughter at the crushing and mangling of the heart of a 
 woman who has been always kinder to him than he de 
 served. 
 
 And oh, how crushed and mangled it is ! Sarah An 
 nerley sits and thinks in the antique room, very silent, 
 very quiet, save that occasional nervous wringing of the 
 hands peculiar to despair. At last she cries : " I ll not 
 believe it ! Gratitude should make him love me as it 
 made me love him. His wounds for my sake, my fight-
 
 114 MR< POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 ing death for him and winning him, gave him to me ! It 
 was a ceremony. WE ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE ! Let her 
 dare to take him ! " Then she mutters : " It is not pos 
 sible ; when he was weak he was mine, now he is strong 
 he will not desert me," and for a moment is happy and 
 does not believe. 
 
 But merry voices are heard in the hall and they all 
 come in to her, chatting and laughing and very happy. 
 She looks at Ethel s hand and it is there, flashing, and 
 glittering, and carrying despair and wickedness into her 
 heart the engagement ring ! 
 
 Following her gaze, Errol says : " Dear Lady Sarah, 
 Ethel and I have a little story to whisper to you ; one 
 with which we hope you will be pleased." Then he tells 
 her, and at last Sarah Annerley knows that Charley Errol 
 and Ethel Lincoln love and will marry if Providence 
 and she will let them. 
 
 For Satan has been watching his opportunity, and here 
 whispers something in her ear that puts a smile of tri 
 umph in her face and strength of purpose in her heart, 
 that gives her power to return the compliments and good 
 wishes usual on such occasions. 
 
 This being over, she turns to Miss Potter, who has 
 been occupied at the piano with Arthur during this con 
 versation, and says, perhaps a little maliciously, for she 
 is not inclined to be very kind to any one this evening : 
 " Shall I congratulate you also, my dear ? " 
 
 Whereupon Ida gives a blush, steps up to my lady, 
 and affects to laugh, but replies demurely : " Not at 
 present. Nobody has given me a ring yet ! " and holds 
 up a hand and arm as faultlessly white and deliciously 
 soft, rounded, lovely, and statuesque as anything ex 
 hibited in the Louvre or dug up from Athenian ruins, to 
 remind us women were always beautiful. The hand has 
 no ornament whatsoever, and needs none ; the arm around 
 its glistening wrist, that would be colorless as marble were 
 it not for a blush that seems to have come upon it as the 
 girl speaks, for her face is rosy also, has a circlet of plain 
 massive gold to which hangs a single English sovereign 
 as a bangle. 
 
 Looking at this, Lady Annerley says : " Bracelets are 
 binding as well as rings ! " 
 
 " Then I was captured in my early youth," laughs Miss
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 115 
 
 Potter. "I ve worn this almost as long as I can remem 
 ber. Papa says it s my lucky sovereign. It s quite a 
 family souvenir I believe. Its date is rather old 1849 
 long before I was born. " 
 
 Under the excuse of showing the coin she gets near 
 Arthur again, who whispers with a sigh of relief : " I ve 
 often wondered who put that bracelet upon your arm ? " 
 
 " So you were jeal " She checks herself suddenly, 
 though her eyes seem to show the thought she has not 
 expressed has made her happy. 
 
 "Jealous? Certainly! awfully jealous !" returns the 
 young man. " When can I destroy my jealousy by a 
 ring?" 
 
 She looks at him a moment and then says, apparently 
 forcing herself to speak calmly : " I have just received a 
 letter from America. Within the week my father will be 
 in England. See my father ! " 
 
 " I leave for England to-night ! " 
 
 " Oh, not so fast ! " says the girl. " Steamers never 
 arrive in less than seven days, no matter how anxious we 
 are, and a little more of your company, Arthur, for 
 perhaps after you see my father I shall see you no 
 more ! " the last a little sadly. 
 
 " Do you think Mr. Potter will refuse me ? " replies the 
 young man in so scared a voice that Miss Potter laughs, 
 though not very merrily. " I m only a barrister now, of 
 course*but, barring a republic, I ll sit in the House of 
 Lords some day. I ve not a great deal of money, but 
 sufficient to support you 
 
 " Oh, I ve enough of that for both," she interrupts 
 hurriedly. " I d marry you if you were a beggar ! " 
 
 "Would you ? God bless you ! " he cries and seizes her 
 hand, but she pulls it away and mutters : " See my father, 
 perhaps he ll Here she suddenly checks herself and 
 running to Ethel cries, affecting vivacity : " Some music, 
 miss ; show us the value of your two-guinea-a-minute 
 lessons from Le Bellecord, the tenor !" and is apparently 
 in high spirits for the rest of the evening on account 
 of the approach of the paternal Potter. 
 
 During this episode of Arthur and Ida, the devil has 
 been doing some fine work for Lady Annerley. A serv 
 ant has brought in to Errol a telegram that has just 
 arrived. Glancing over this the young man cries : "Glori-
 
 Il6 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 ous ! My governor will be in London in a week. This 
 is dated from Gibraltar." 
 
 " Coming home ? " and they are all around him with 
 questions except Lady Annerley, who has given a start 
 and muttered to herself : " I have her ! " for her rage is 
 not directed against the man whom she loves, but the 
 woman whom she hates. 
 
 " Yes, isn t it grand ! " continues Errol in explanation. 
 " The pater hasn t been home since he emigrated from 
 England over thirty years ago ! " 
 
 " Why, Charley, he ll be at the wedding ! " suddenly 
 cries Ethel ; but this speech getting a burst of laughter 
 from some of the rest she goes off and blushes by her 
 self in a corner. 
 
 " Never mind, Ethel ! " says her lover, blushing also, 
 "we re ahead of some people we know," and he gives 
 a look at Ida and Arthur, which makes them stop 
 laughing and try to appear as if they did not understand 
 him. 
 
 " What do you suppose has induced your father to take 
 this step ? " says Lady Annerley. 
 
 "You see, nearly a month ago I cabled him," returns 
 Errol, " that I hoped to get married ! " 
 
 " Oh! "cries Ethel, suddenly jumping up from her 
 corner, " how dared you do it ? What encouragement 
 had I given you ? Oh, Charley, how bold your father 
 will think me ! " 
 
 " Not at all. I only suggested that I had seen the girl 
 and she was not engaged ! " returns her lover with a 
 grin. " Upon receipt of the news, the old gentleman 
 seems to have been anxious to bless you, and steamed for 
 Europe." 
 
 " Would you mind my seeing the message ? " asks Lady 
 Annerley, who now suffers the agony of knowing that 
 Errol has fallen in love with her rival at first sight. 
 
 "The rest of it is only only private business ! " mut 
 ters the Australian, a shadow coming over his face. As 
 he says this he pockets the telegram. 
 
 " The rest is bad news," says Ethel, who has grown to 
 read Errol s frank face very well in the last few weeks. 
 " Oh, Charley ! " 
 
 " It s not important enough to call bad news," 
 returns the young man.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 117 
 
 "Anyway, nothing can separate us now," murmurs the 
 girl. 
 
 " Nothing ! " he repeats. 
 
 <k We shall see ! " laughs Lady Annerley to herself, and 
 the fiend inside her gives a hideous giggle. 
 
 "You will excuse me if I say good night, I I am 
 rather fatigued," she says after a moment, and then : " I 
 presume I shall have to chaperon you girls back to Eng 
 land in a day or two," and bids them adieu. 
 
 As she gets to the door, Ethel runs up to her and takes 
 her hand saying : " Isn t it lovely, dear Lady Sarah ? 
 Just fancy, I m going to marry the man who saved your 
 life my Charley ! " 
 
 But even her happy looks and trusting love do not 
 turn Lady Annerley, who goes up to her room, and there 
 her temper breaking its chain she acts like a mad woman, 
 and laughs and chuckles ; " If I had told him in Egypt 
 he d be sure of her. Now Heaven has given me this to 
 tear her from him ! God bless my father for his tale ! " 
 Then the noise of music coming to her makes her wilder 
 and more mad ; for it is Ethel s happy voice singing 
 " Bonny Prince Charlie," which she rings out, putting as 
 much love, devotion, and adoration in the beautiful old 
 ballad as those did who, nearly two centuries ago, first 
 sung the strain that meant death, woe, and despair to them 
 who gave up their lives and blood in the battle and on 
 the scaffold for the cause of " Bonny Scotch Charlie." 
 As Ethel sings her love-song below Lady Annerley writes 
 its requiem above. 
 
 This she does on plain letter paper and uncrested en 
 velope, making an awkward attempt at a disguised hand, 
 and addressing it very carefully to the Home Secretary 
 of the English Government, London, and putting double 
 postage on the letter, being desperately afraid it will in 
 some way miscarry. 
 
 After it is finished she looks at it and says : " Charley, 
 forgive me for the meanest crime on earth ! " Then hur 
 ries to finish the business before she can repent. 
 
 Wrapped in some dark covering, she glides clown stairs, 
 and passing the closed doors of the parlor, from which 
 the song, laughter, and happy voices still come to her 
 and make her cruel, Lady Annerley goes down the steps 
 to the waters of the Grand Canal, and cautiously signals a
 
 Il8 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 gondola cruising about for a passing fare. It is rowed 
 by two sturdy men, and as the night is dark one of the 
 gondoliers holds a lantern up to light her steps as the 
 other assists her into the boat. She passes over the gun 
 wale and mutters: "Piazza di San Marco! Quick! 
 and the lantern gives them a glimpse of her face. 
 
 The two men whisper together a moment : then one 
 of them relinquishes his oar and stands just behind her, 
 and though she cries to him to go back to his work, the 
 fellow will not leave her side. 
 
 She cannot imagine the reason of this, but it is because 
 the passions on her face have been so awful that the men 
 think she means to commit suicide and fear she may 
 drown herself. 
 
 Gliding over the calm waters the boat lands her at the 
 Piazza di San Marco, and saying " Wait ! " she sneaks 
 away into the darkness, trembling for fear some one may 
 recognize her. Finding no one near her, for it is now 
 eleven o clock at night and the Piazza quite deserted, she 
 steps up to one of the Government letter-boxes, and after 
 a second s struggle drops the message into it. Then shud 
 dering and ashamed of her own cruelty, she repents and 
 would have it back again at any cost, as many have done 
 before in that same Piazza di San Marco, centuries ago, 
 after they had thrown the fatal accusation into the lion s 
 mouth, and condemned some one once loved, now hated, 
 to the Council of Ten, the dungeon, and the rack. 
 
 This whole business is so like that of ancient Venice, 
 that this idea comes into her mind, and she gives a 
 nasty laugh and thinks : " How history repeats itself," 
 as she returns to the gondola. 
 
 She is quickly rowed home where, the lights being out, 
 she steals up to her own apartments and goes to bed, 
 but not to sleep ; and the next morning mutters, gazing 
 in the mirror, but hanging her head : " Shall I ever be 
 able to look myself in the face again ? " 
 
 But, notwithstanding, she contrives to look quite fresh 
 this morning, though it is the first time in her life she 
 has been compelled to the use of rouge. 
 
 A day or two after the whole party take the railway 
 through Northern Italy and journey by easy stages via 
 Turin and Mont Cenis to Paris, where ladies always find 
 some shopping to detain them.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 119 
 
 Here Arthur leaves them and goes on to tell his father 
 what Miss Ethel intends to do and what he would like 
 to do. His place, however, is taken by Mr. Van Cott, 
 who runs against them in Paris 
 
 Finding Arthur absent, this young gentleman says to 
 himself : " Miss Potter has thrown him. I ll have an 
 other try for an heiress ! By George ! I ll it comes 
 hard, but I ll sacrifice myself. For her dear sake I ll be 
 come a cowboy ! " 
 
 So, learning that the party are bound for England, B. 
 Sidney Van Cott appears at the Che min de Per du Nord 
 terminus, drops into their compartment, rubs his eyeglass, 
 and exclaims : " By Jove ! Miss Potter, you reading a 
 telegram ?" 
 
 " Yes," says Ida, an expectant happiness in her face, 
 " it is from my father. He is in Liverpool, and will 
 meet me at Folkestone. I haven t seen him for four 
 years." 
 
 " That s awfully jolly. I m going to London myself. 
 I ll take charge of you to the dear papa ! " murmurs 
 the little wretch, and he sits down and makes fun for 
 the whole party till they come to the great quay at Bou 
 logne. 
 
 Here Errol receives a telegram which makes him cry, 
 " Hurrah ! " 
 
 This he answers, then takes it to the ladies and says : 
 " My governor s in London. I wonder if he ll know the 
 place,* he hasn t seen it for so long ! " 
 
 Then the Channel steamer sails for England, on its 
 deck Lady Annerley, her conscience crying out to her 
 with every rap of her heart, which beats more wildly as 
 she looks at Errol s happy face and thinks this is the last 
 day he ll hold his head up among men. But conscience 
 dies as she sees Ethel nestling her hand in his, a little 
 serious expression on her face as she thinks how her 
 father, the great judge, will receive her lover. Though, 
 looking at the young man, pride and happiness come to 
 the girl s eyes and she mutters : "Papa 11 love. him too, 
 no one can resist my Charley ! " 
 
 As for the Australian, hope and joy fill him also. He 
 will meet his dear old father whom three months ago he 
 had thought to see no more. And youth, health, and ex 
 citement getting the better of conventionality he hums :
 
 120 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Home Again ! " which makes Lady Annerley pant and 
 sigh as she thinks how different it was when he last sang 
 the tune in the house of Abdallahthe Moor ; when with 
 danger and death about them she was happier than she is 
 now. 
 
 But Errol still sings on, for though he has been born 
 in Australia and lived a good part of his time there, the 
 mother-country feeling comes to him as it does to all of 
 true Anglo-Saxon descent when they look upon this 
 cradle of their race, THE GREAT WHITE CLIFFS OF ALBION. 
 So the ship foams her way to England this bright Oc 
 tober day and dashes up to Folkestone Harbor ; then 
 the great engines stop and the boat drifts in and some of 
 those who stand upon her deck drift into the crisis of 
 their lives. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE HONORABLE SAMPSON POTTER, OF COMANCHE 
 COUNTY, TEXAS. 
 
 ABOUT three o clock on the afternoon of this same day, 
 Police Sergeant Thomas Brackett, from Scotland Yard, 
 glances carelessly over the file of telegrams for early de 
 livery at the office of the West Cliff Hotel, Folkestone, 
 England. Apparently impressed with an address on one 
 of the envelopes he goes into the tap-room, takes a gulp 
 of his favorite " alf and alf " to steady his nerves, and 
 mutters to himself : u In the detective business over 
 thirty years, and this is the rummiest job of the lot ! " 
 
 After a moment s pause of consideration, Brackett, 
 whistling to his dog Snapper, an exquisite little black- 
 and-tan terrier composed of flashing eyes, flying limbs, 
 pricked-up ears, and barking tongue, leaves the house, 
 and walks along the cliffs to where he can sight the smoke 
 of the steamer from Boulogne crossing the English Chan 
 nel to connect with the tidal train for London. 
 
 It will not arrive for some little time, and the detective 
 leisurely fills and smokes his pipe, sauntering along the 
 road that runs across the cliffs toward Sandgate and 
 Hythe. During the promenade, his dog makes excur 
 sions into the surrounding country, producing so much
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 121 
 
 noise in himself and excitement among neighboring cats 
 and canines, that, seeing a large bull-dog approaching, his 
 master calls Snapper to him and puts him in his over 
 coat pocket for safety. This is easily done as the little 
 creature weighs only twenty-two ounces, half of which is 
 vivacious electricity. Upon this, Snapper sets up a tre 
 mendous yell ; and after a moment s reflection the ser 
 geant remarks : " I know what it is, Snapper ! Them 
 darbies is cold," and appeases his little pet by removing 
 him to his other pocket. For Snapper has been on too 
 many excursions with Sergeant Brackett not to know 
 that handcuffs are hard and cold pocket companions. 
 
 Occupied between his pipe and his dog the picturesque 
 scene has no effect on the detective. The wide-spread 
 ing view of the English Channel with the distant French 
 coast, the fresh green verdure of the surrounding Kent 
 ish heights, and far below him the soft splash of the 
 waves upon the chalk-cliffs ; with, on his left in the val 
 ley, the busy commerce of the railway and shipping in 
 the port, all lighted up by a sunny brightness that seems 
 to be wafted by the breeze across the water and belong 
 rather to France than to England, would impress any one 
 but Sergeant Brackett. He, however, with Anglo-Saxon 
 stolidity, proceeds to find a comfortable stile upon which 
 to sit, and produces a copy of the day s edition of the 
 London Times, through the columns of which he plods in 
 a dogged manner, reading over the advertisements as if 
 he had so much time to kill and meant to kill it. 
 
 S jddenly, however, Brackett becomes an animated hu 
 man being once more, and exclaims to Snapper, who is 
 now sitting beside him and licking his hand : " Rummier 
 and rummier ! Darned if the lawyers ain t advertising 
 again for that Sammy Potts. Every detective in Eng 
 land has tried at odd times for the last thirty years to find 
 that individual and never a trace. Wonder if they think 
 the newspapers is smarter than the police ? Some of 
 these legal chaps is natural born fools." 
 
 With this tribute to the detective force of England, 
 Sergeant Brackett relapses into the columns of the Times 
 once more. After a few minutes, every-day news and 
 commonplace information seem to pall upon his mind, 
 which appears to prefer the excitement of penny fiction 
 to the humdrum of penny news, and the detective sub-
 
 122 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 stitutes for the paper a cheap novel bearing the blood 
 curdling title of The Scalpers of the Far West. This 
 treasure of literature the sergeant had picked up at a 
 news stand upon his way down from London, and had 
 been longing to get a peep at its fascinating horrors ; for 
 Brackett enjoyed American border life in fiction and had 
 read everything pertaining to it in literature from Mayne 
 Reid s stories to Texas Jack and what s more, believed 
 what he read. As a matter of fact, the sergeant had at 
 one time in his life thought of emigrating to America, 
 and would have done so but for the curious ideas he 
 had of American barbarism and the extraordinary belief 
 he had of transatlantic blood-thirstiness, scalping, and 
 general cussedness, engendered by these books. 
 
 Noting his master s preoccupation, young Snapper 
 thinks this is his chance for fun, and makes off with great 
 barking after a handsome brougham drawn by a pair of 
 fine hacks and ornamented by a couple of elaborate 
 flunkies that drives rapidly past from the direction of 
 Sandgate. This awakens Sergeant Brackett ; he calls 
 his dog back and proceeds to the pier to await the ar 
 rival of the Boulogne boat ; while the carriage Snapper 
 had pursued stops in front of the West Cliff Hotel. Ar 
 thur Lincoln gets out of it, and is received by Lubbins, 
 the head waiter of the establishment, with that abject hu 
 mility and deference that only an English servant can 
 assume when in the presence of his own to-be-fawned- 
 upon aristocracy. 
 
 One can see DcBretfs Peerage and Burke s Landed 
 Gentry in Lubbins meek eye and obsequious bow as 
 he says : " Yes, Mr. Harthur, Lord Lincoln is now in the 
 reception-room hawaiting your coming." 
 
 " No, he s not, Lubbins," is heard in a kindly voice 
 from the hall-way, and the next instant Percy Lincoln is 
 shaking hands with his son. The moment s silent in 
 spection of each other, natural to a meeting after several 
 months separation, being over, the elder man suddenly 
 says to the younger, " Where s Ethel ? " 
 
 " Coming on the Boulogne boat with Lady Annerley 
 and Miss Potter. I ran over last night ahead of them to 
 be sure the villa would be ready." 
 
 " The tidal boat 11 be ere in twenty minutes, my 
 lord," remarks Lubbins with another and even more
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 123 
 
 obsequious bow, rolling the word " lord " round his mouth 
 as if it were too sweet a morsel to let go easily, and em 
 phasizing the title by an elaborate and elegant wave of 
 his napkin. 
 
 " Then come in and tell me all about your trip, Ar 
 thur," says the peer, and throwing his arm affectionately 
 around his son, leads that young gentleman into a little 
 parlor separated from the coffee-room of the hotel by a 
 hall. 
 
 As they enter, a voice with that curious twang peculiar 
 to the Southwestern States of America, loud but not harsh, 
 sonorous but extraordinarily soft at times, comes to their 
 ears from the coffee-room. 
 
 It says : " Lubbins, old os, is that ere lunch ready ? 
 I m like ha Hindian on a U. Hess reservation starving." 
 
 This thoroughly American voice and accent, mixed 
 with this abuse of the letter " J7," peculiar only to cock 
 neys of the most pronounced description, give such an 
 extraordinary effect to this speech that the elder Lincoln 
 smiles and the younger one laughs outright, whispering 
 to his father : " A rather curious character I should 
 think." 
 
 Lubbins ejaculates : " Yes, your worship ! " and after a 
 deprecating bow and an " Excuse me, back in a minute, 
 my lord," darts into the coffee-room. 
 
 Arthur Lincoln smiles after the departing waiter, and 
 remarks : " He knows." 
 
 " Knows what ? oh, ah, yes ; I forgot. I suppose you 
 mean that Her Majesty s Government have for long and 
 distinguished services (I m quoting from the patent of 
 nobility, Arthur) retired me from my judgeship to be 
 come Baron Lincoln of the realm and receive a pension. 
 I m afraid there s too much honor and too little work in 
 the promotion." 
 
 His son replies : " But it is whispered at Westminster 
 that when our party comes into power you will be the 
 next Lord Chancellor." 
 
 u Ah ! our party hasn t come in yet," laughs Lord Lin 
 coln, " so I ll take this arm-chair instead of the woolsack 
 for the present." 
 
 With this, the new-made peer selects the most com 
 fortable seat in the cozy little parlor, and sinks into it 
 with the air of a man who may despise honors and pen-
 
 124 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 sions theoretically, but who knows that practically they 
 are very useful things in this selfish, struggling world. 
 
 As he sits there a bright ray of sunlight comes in the 
 window, tinging his hair that is a soft, beautiful gray, and 
 illuminating the finely molded head and strong, manly 
 countenance beneath it. As he looks at him, the son 
 cannot help thinking how proud he is of his governor. 
 
 The face before him is not only that of a great lawyer, 
 but more and better than that, one of a good man, for 
 the broad forehead, that betokens logic and justice and 
 truth, is softened by a kindly expression of the mouth 
 and eyes that indicates the more divine attribute of 
 mercy. Percy Lincoln s record of thirty odd years upon 
 the English bench has left him, all over Britain, the 
 highest of reputations, that of a just and honest, but 
 also kind-hearted, judge. 
 
 One of the most hardened criminals in England once 
 said that he hated to be tried by Judge Lincoln, because 
 his honor always looked at him in such a blarsted kind, 
 downey, and merciful-like way that he had a sort of in 
 sane desire to peach upon himself and give away his pals 
 and partners in the job. It is, perhaps, something of this 
 kind of feeling that comes into the son s mind as he 
 stands cogitating how he shall best make two confessions 
 to his father, one for his sister and the other for himself. 
 After a moment he concludes it is just as well to confess 
 on his sister first and see how the governor stands it be 
 fore he lets the cat out of the bag regarding himself. 
 
 Here Lord Lincoln breaks in upon his meditation, re 
 marking : " You left Ethel in Paris. She has not written 
 to nxe lately. This is unusual. What has she been 
 doing?" 
 
 "Shopping." 
 
 " Shopping ?" 
 
 " Oh, that s what all girls do in Paris, governor. Ida 
 that is, Miss Potter " the young man checks himself 
 rather suddenly, apparently a little embarrassed over his 
 slip of the tongue on the name Ida. 
 
 " Well, Ida that is, Miss Potter " laughs the peer, 
 imitating his son, who blushes slightly at this, " is a most 
 fascinating girl. What was she doing ? " 
 
 " Oh, she she was shopping also." 
 
 " And their chaperon, Lady Annerley, was she shop-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 125 
 
 ping, too? Was the young widow coming out of half 
 mourning ? " 
 
 " Not at all ! " 
 
 " Affectation ! " ejaculates Lord Lincoln. " No one 
 ever supposed she loved her old husband." 
 
 " I suppose she ll make a love-match now." 
 
 " That rich young Australian, I understand," says 
 Lord Lincoln, rising and trying to get a glimpse of the 
 Boulogne boat out of the window. 
 
 " I don t think so," replies the son, rather hotly. 
 
 "Indeed ; why not?" says the old lawyer, cross-ques 
 tioning the young lawyer. " Doesn t Lady Sarah love 
 him ? " 
 
 " Don t ask me to judge both a woman and a widow. 
 Sometimes I think she almost hates him ; sometimes I 
 fear she loves him ! " 
 
 " You fear she loves him ? " says Lord Lincoln, taking 
 a quick glance at his son. " You don t love her yourself, 
 do you, Arthur ? " 
 
 " No, but I don t want her to love him ! " 
 
 "Indeed ! Why not?" 
 
 This is the young man s chance to do the confessing 
 for his sister and he takes it. " Because the gentleman 
 you have been speaking of is engaged to marry your 
 daughter ! " 
 
 The judge swings around from the window, gasps, 
 " My daughter ! Ethel ? " and sinks into a seat. Being 
 agitated he does not now select as comfortable a one as 
 before. After gazing speechless at his son, who plays a 
 staccato movement with his fingers upon the table, he 
 gasps again : " And she consented, without consulting 
 me ? " 
 
 " Their engagement is subject to your approval. Mr. 
 Errol will call upon you to-morrow ! " 
 
 " Errol ! That s the young man s name, is it ? " asks 
 the judge. 
 
 " Yes, Charley Errol. You must have heard of him 
 before." 
 
 " It seems to me I have, somewhere, but never in con 
 nection with Lady Annerley. Everybody that hinted at 
 the beautiful widow being in love with him seemed to 
 envy the young fellow his powers of fascination for one 
 of the catches of the matrimonial market, and rather
 
 126 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 sneered at him, calling him, Mr. Sheepfarmer, Young 
 Antipodes, Kangaroo, Esq., and other jovial expres 
 sions of malice ! " 
 
 " They couldn t say anything against him, morally or 
 personally. Charley Errol is one of the best of fellows 
 in the world. If any one decries him send him to me ! " 
 returns the son rather hotly, for Arthur Lincoln was of 
 an impulsive nature, and, with the rashness of youth, was 
 rather too ready at times to resent any slight upon either 
 his friends or himself. 
 
 " So you re his champion and his ambassador you 
 know him well enough for that ? queries his father. 
 
 "We were together at Oxford and passable friends, 
 but during the last two months in Italy he has captured 
 me as completely as as he has my sister." 
 
 " Then you think Ethel loves him very much ? " says 
 the peer rather seriously and with a slight sigh. 
 
 For xvhat father is not saddened by the news that the 
 girl who has left him but a few weeks before almost a 
 child with only him for her idol, will return to him with 
 a woman s passion in her heart and another and stronger 
 deity on the altar of her love? Percy Lincoln was too 
 wise not to know that some day this must happen to his 
 only daughter, but he had hoped that the day was of 
 the future, not of the present. 
 
 As he is turning this rather bitter mental pill over in 
 his mind, the American voice and Cockney accent come 
 in through the partly open door of the parlor crying : 
 " Lubbins, which 11 be here first, my lunch or that ere 
 tidal-wave steamboat ? It must have got snagged on 
 the way from Eo-lo-ne this arternoon ; I m getting as 
 impatient for my darter as a cowboy is for whisky ! " 
 
 Lubbins obsequious voice soothes his impatience with, 
 " Lunch is served, sir." 
 
 " Hurrah ! Let me know when my daughter arrives. 
 Now I m on to the lunch like a praharee afire ! " and 
 a clattering of dishes, knives and forks indicates that 
 the " praharee afire " will make very short work of the 
 lunch. 
 
 Arthur Lincoln, with a rather disgusted shrug of his 
 aristocratic shoulders, strides to the door and closes it 
 with a bang, cutting short any more noise from the coffee- 
 room, as his father says to him rather sternly: " How did
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 127 
 
 all this happen, Arthur, and you never write me one 
 word in regard to it? Neither did Ethel." 
 
 The last phrase has an implied reproach in it for the 
 absent young lady at which her brother takes up her cause 
 and does battle for it in these words : " Now, governor, 
 don t fly up about the little girl ! It all happened so 
 suddenly." 
 
 " Suddenly?" 
 
 " Yes. You see when we arrived in Venice, Miss Pot 
 ter, Ethel and I, a month or more ago, we met Errol at 
 Lady Annerley s." 
 
 Here his father suddenly interrupts him with, " Errol ! 
 I surely have known some one of that name," and ap 
 pears to think deeply for a moment ; then quickly says : 
 " Continue, please ! I beg your pardon." 
 
 " Well, he was an inmate of the house. He had been 
 wounded nearly to death in defending Lady Annerley in 
 Egypt, and she, in Venice, had nursed him to convales 
 cence in a kind of motherly way." 
 
 " Motherly ! A widow of twenty-five and a young 
 man of of any age ! " sneers Lord Lincoln, who does 
 not seem altogether pleased with his son s story. 
 
 " Errol is about twenty-eight or nine, I believe," con 
 tinues Arthur ; " but whether Lady Annerley s affection 
 was motherly or not, Charley s was certainly not more 
 than fraternal ; for the moment he saw Ethel it became 
 a wonderful case of * spoons upon his part, as well as 
 on that of my sister." 
 
 " Then you think Ethel really loves him ? " says Lord 
 Lincoln, who, though he detests slang, is in this case too 
 interested to pretend that he does not understand it. 
 
 " Loves him ? You know how proud she is ; if she did 
 not love Charley Errol, do you suppose Ethel would let 
 
 him " here Arthur pauses in a shame-faced way, 
 
 conscious from the expression on his father s face that 
 he has told, perhaps, a little too much of his sister s 
 story. 
 
 " You don t mean to tell me that he had the audacity 
 to kiss my daughter ! " gasps his lordship. 
 
 "I m afraid so," replies his son, after a moment s pause 
 of consideration, conscious that he might as well make a 
 clean breast of the matter. 
 
 The old man ejaculates " Good heavens ! " in such a
 
 128 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 horror-struck tone that Arthur hardly chokes down a 
 hysterical titter. For Lord Lincoln, though perfectly 
 conscious that any other man s daughter would be kissed 
 by her fianct, scarcely deems it possible that any lover 
 would have the audacity to offer a betrothal salute to his 
 own pet lamb, that he has set apart from, and imagined 
 more immaculate than the rest of the human flock. 
 
 " You see," continues Arthur in a slightly deprecating 
 tone, " it was one night in Venice ; they had just taken 
 me into their confidence ; it was moonlight, Italian moon 
 light. They were in one end of the gondola, I in the 
 other." 
 
 Here the old lawyer entirely confounds the young 
 lawyer, for he suddenly interrupts him by questioning. 
 " Then who was in your end of the gondola ? By 
 George ! with your poetry one would think you in love 
 yourself." 
 
 " Ida that is Miss Potter," murmurs the son, suddenly 
 blushing. 
 
 " Miss Potter ! " returns his lordship, who apparently is 
 anxious to get the conversation away from his daughter s 
 kiss, " a lady from the ends of her thoroughbred fingers 
 to the tips of her aristocratic feet ; every point about her 
 shows blood. Her father is immensely rich, they say, 
 pastures in Texas covered with cattle on a thousand hills. 
 I have admired the young lady ever since she visited us 
 with Ethel from Madame Beaumanoir s school. After 
 me you will one day probably be a peer of the realm, 
 and it never does a nobleman much harm to have a good 
 bank account. Miss Potter would make one of the best 
 wives, best mothers, and most distinguished ladies in all 
 England. I would not object to your marrying her, 
 Arthur. Why don t you take my advice ? " 
 
 " I have ! " 
 
 " Eh ! what ! you don t mean it ! " says the peer, grasp 
 ing his son by both shoulders, partly to keep himself 
 from falling, for Lord Lincoln has got a most unexpected 
 counter. 
 
 " Every word of it," returns the young man, with the 
 enthusiasm of passion. " I don t care for her father s 
 beeves, but I do care for his daughter. I love Ida Potter, 
 and I ve asked her to marry me ! " 
 
 " And she said " suggests Lord Lincoln, for at the
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 129 
 
 end of his speech his son has turned suddenly away from 
 his gaze. 
 
 " She said : My father will be in England in a week. 
 Don t dare to speak of this again till you see him ! 
 
 " What could she want to wait for ? " cries the peer 
 rather indignantly. " Most American girls would snap at 
 an Honorable, as you are now, Arthur ! " 
 
 "Perhaps she does not love me," suggests the son in 
 a melancholy way, pulling out the fringe of the curtain 
 of the window through which he is looking with an ab 
 sent-minded destructiveness that would have driven the 
 proprietor of the hotel to despair had he seen it. 
 
 " Pooh ! " jeers Lord Lincoln. " You are too infernally 
 modest. I ve seen her look at you before you left Eng 
 land, two months ago, and the girl had already brought 
 in a verdict in your favor. Hang it! it can t be that 
 she fears her father will not be pleased with the al 
 liance. Old Potter, I ve no doubt, from his daughter s 
 appearance, is an aristocrat, but he s got a very high 
 social appetite if he can t stomach us ! " 
 
 Any further eulogy of the Lincoln pedigree is cut 
 short by the entry of Lubbins, who brings in some cigars 
 and wine that the gentlemen have ordered. After the 
 usual custom of waiters he leaves the door open, and 
 there comes floating in after him : " Lubbins ! a whisky 
 and water, ot as the bilers of a Mississippi steamboat ! " 
 
 " Disgusting personage that," remarks his lordship, 
 rather angry at being interrupted. 
 
 " Very," rejoins the Honorable Arthur, who is rather 
 aristocratic in his tastes. 
 
 " I ll close the door," suggests Lubbins, going out in 
 response to the demand from the coffee-room. After a 
 moment s pause Percy Lincoln, who has lit the end 
 of his cigar with the calm, contemplative manner of 
 a man upon the whole pleased with the news Provi 
 dence, in the shape of his son, has just brought him, 
 picks up the broken end of the conversation, saying : 
 
 " What is your future father-in-law s full name, Ar 
 thur ? " 
 
 " The Honorable Sampson Potter," replies the son, 
 rather proudly. 
 
 " Ah ! one of their judges over there," suggests the 
 peer, tossing his head in the direction of America. 
 
 9
 
 130 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " No, a member of one of their legislative bodies, I be 
 lieve." 
 
 " Ah ! of course. As soon as you meet Mr. Potter 
 ask him to visit us. I should like to discuss with him 
 several of our international relations." 
 
 " I ll give him your invitation with a great deal of 
 pleasure," assents Arthur, rising ; " but it must be nearly 
 time for us to go down to the boat. Ethel will expect 
 you, governor." 
 
 " I suppose her her intended is dancing attendance 
 upon the girl," says the peer, gulping a little at "the in 
 tended." "You ll have to introduce the young man to 
 me, though the name Errol seems familiar. How long 
 has his father lived in Australia ?" 
 
 "A number of years." 
 
 " Charles Errol was born there ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And he is twenty-eight, you say ; then his father must 
 have been out there nearly thirty years ? " 
 
 " Certainly. He s made an immense fortune in sheep 
 farms. I ve heard Lord Lansdowne speak of how mag 
 nificently he entertained him when he was in Melbourne, 
 a few years ago. Charley Errol is his only child, so Ethel 
 will have pots of money," continues Arthur, anxious to im 
 press his father with the strength of his friend as a mat 
 rimonial catch. 
 
 The young man would go on effusively, but here 
 Percy Lincoln interrupts him with this astonishing ques 
 tion : 
 
 " Is the elder Errol so devoted to the antipodes that 
 he has never returned to England ? " This is said as if 
 a sudden idea has struck the questioner. 
 
 " I have never heard Charley speak of his father visit 
 ing England." 
 
 This apparently innocent remark has a great effect 
 upon the peer. He almost staggers, and gasps, " Good 
 heavens ! " in a broken, pathetic kind of way. 
 
 The son does not notice this, for he is just looking out 
 of the window at the steamboat bearing Miss Potter to 
 his side. After a second he rather corrects himself by 
 saying : " Mr. Errol s father is in England now ! " 
 
 "A ah ! " this is a sigh of relief from the judge, " in 
 England now ? "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 13! 
 
 " He will probably meet his son at this hotel to-night ! " 
 
 "Then it s all right." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " says his son, turning from the 
 window and glancing at his father, the peculiarity in the 
 tones of whose voice has caught his attention. 
 
 " Nothing, now ! " says the peer. " Let s go down and 
 meet the party." 
 
 With this the two men go to the front door of the hotel, 
 the peer cracking one or two paternal little jokes such as 
 old gentlemen indulge in when young gentlemen are rash 
 enough to think of marriage ; apparently working him 
 self up to the bless-you-my-children act of contempo 
 raneous comedy upon his daughter s return. 
 
 About to get in his carriage, he says : " Errol, Ralph 
 Errol, I think you said the father s name was ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 Here the ex-judge seems to meditate a moment, and 
 then says : " I I don t think I ll go down to the boat, 
 I m hardly up to the exertion ! " 
 
 " But Ethel 11 think it strange. She ll fear you do not 
 care to meet her lover ! " 
 
 " I do not care to meet her lover until he has consulted 
 with his father. I ll take our brougham and go on to the 
 villa. Hire a carriage and bring the young ladies after 
 me ! " 
 
 Then Lord Lincoln steps into the carriage in an absent- 
 minded way, while Arthur says " Home ! " to the coach 
 man, and goes up the steps thinking, " What s come over 
 the governor ? It can t be overwork, he looked hearty 
 enough when I met him. I suppose it s Ethel. I always 
 feared it would break the old boy s heart to lose her. 
 Egad, I have it ! " at length he mutters. " Pater is 
 afraid young Errol 11 want his wife to live in Australia. 
 Glad the old gentleman seemed so well pleased with my 
 matrimonial plans, however ! " Turning over these 
 things in his mind the young man has walked to the 
 office of the hotel to arrange for a vehicle to take his 
 sister and Miss Potter to Lord Lincoln s pretty marine 
 villa, which stands about a mile from Folkestone, just 
 where the white chalk cliffs descend to Sandgate. 
 
 While giving his order he is annoyed by the American 
 voice and English accent that is now demanding in the 
 next room : " Lubbins, a toothpick and some coffee-beans!
 
 132 
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Scoot as if you were a Mississippi boat-race ! My darter 
 and the swells 11 be here in a minute ! " 
 
 In "scooting" for the coffee-beans Lubbins chances to 
 pass very close to Arthur, who, being of a rather sensitive 
 and refined nature, elevates his aristocratic nose and in 
 quires sotto voce : " Who is that frightful creature with his 
 disgusting manners and fearful English ? " 
 
 " Don t know, your honor," whispers the head waiter, 
 " but he s very liberal with his tips, and as put is name 
 down on the register, sir, last entree." As he says this, 
 Lubbins, with an obsequious bow, places the book in 
 question under Arthur s nose. 
 
 After gazing at it through his eye-glass for a second, 
 such a fearful expression of anguish contorts the young 
 man s face that Lubbins drops the volume and says 
 faintly, " Police ! " 
 
 And the Honorable Arthur Lincoln in a kind of dazed 
 nightmare reels out of the house and gasps with a kind 
 of hysterical spasm, an indescribable conglomeration of 
 groan and giggle : " The joke of the century ! Ha ! 
 ha ! ha ! My Heaven ! Despair and damnation ! MY 
 
 FUTURE FATHER-IN-LAW ! " 
 
 For he has seen scrawled all over half a page of the 
 hotel register : 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HONOR THY FATHER. 
 
 FOR a few seconds after this Arthur Lincoln stands in 
 a sort of amazed coma ; then he suddenly mutters : " No ! 
 No! Impossible ! " darts into the hotel again, and gazes
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 133 
 
 once more at the register that Lubbins has replaced on 
 the office counter. Mr. Potter s chirography is as hor 
 ribly distinct as when it first met his vision. 
 
 He sinks into a seat and faintly, in a broken kind of 
 voice, asks for water ; then, as the obsequious Lubbins 
 hands him the glass, gazing at him in deferential and 
 sympathetic astonishment, fiercely demands : " What the 
 devil are you looking at ? " in such a ferocious tone, 
 that the servitor addressed instantly remembers he has 
 business in the coffee-room, and disappears. 
 
 After sitting down a moment or two, Arthur springs 
 up and gets out of the hotel, but in a minute returns, a 
 horrible fascination having come over him, to inspect the 
 object that has produced such a peculiar effect upon him. 
 
 Muttering to himself : "I ll obey her injunction. / // 
 see her father" he comes into the hotel in a kind of 
 sheepish manner, and carefully opening the coffee-room 
 door, glances round the screen that is placed before it 
 drawing his head back now and again whenever Mr. 
 Potter, who is dividing his attention between the Morn 
 ing Times and his lunch, raises his eyes so as to make it 
 possible for him to see his observer. 
 
 The attitude and movements of the Honorable Arthur 
 Lincoln are by no means dignified, his dodging motion 
 behind the screen being very much like that of a cat 
 when on the lookout for dogs round the corner. 
 
 If the simile of the cat applies to Mr. Arthur Lincoln, 
 the analogy of the dog round the corner may equally suit 
 the Honorable Sampson Potter of Texas. He is what 
 might be called a mastiff and skye-terrier man ; that is, 
 one with the courage and faithfulness to trust of the 
 first-named animal, but also the unremitting wariness and 
 alert watchfulness of the latter. At present the mastiff 
 is eating ; the skye-terrior asleep. 
 
 If Arthur Lincoln has had a vague hope that Mr. Pot 
 ter s elegance of appearance will contradict the peculiar 
 uncouthness of his diction, one glance is sufficient to de 
 stroy that idea. In 1882, the man before him conveyed 
 only vulgar barbarism to the mind of his English be 
 holder ; though, had Mr. Potter arrived in London with 
 Buffalo Bill in 1887, he would have been regarded and 
 worshiped as the acme of wild Western elegance and re 
 finement by the British public, for he is an almost perfect
 
 134 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 picture of a Texan frontier ranger and cattle-man. His 
 face, which is clean shaven, save a long mustache, is 
 seamed with the wrinkles of hardship and the scars of 
 encounters with both wild beasts and savage men, and 
 has the peculiar red roughness produced by habitual 
 exposure to the burning sun and chilling northers of 
 Texas. His forehead would be that of a trusting, good- 
 natured boy, were it not balanced by a nose of great size, 
 power, and decision, and contradicted by lips of almost 
 stern firmness, and a pair of eyes which have that clear 
 steel-gray tint common to Brazilian diamonds of the first 
 water and kindly men of very deadly dispositions eyes 
 that are sometimes mistaken for a little off color until 
 the time of danger and death, when they beam and shine 
 like the brilliants of Golconda. Over these features Mr. 
 Potter wears a jet-black wig that is not ornamental, it 
 being apparently of frontier make, as it has hair of sev 
 eral degrees of coarseness in its locks, and is so badly 
 fashioned or carelessly put on, that it allows some of Pot 
 ter s own straggling brown hair to show beneath it. The 
 reason of its use is not easily apparent, as the hair it is 
 intended to hide is only as yet slightly grizzled. 
 
 His suit of black broadcloth, fashioned in Southwest 
 ern fashion, seems too large for his thin, wiry form, for 
 Potter is not a large man ; though Brick Garvey, one of 
 his old companions in the pioneer days of " The Lone 
 Star State," had once said that " English Potter " (his 
 sobriquet in those times) "never war a big man until 
 he war fightin , then he war a giant !" Two large dia 
 monds ornament his shirt, and another one his finger ; he 
 also wears a large California quartz abomination of a 
 watch-chain, with one little gold coin dangling from it 
 and making it by contrast appear even more clumsy and 
 massive than it really is. A new necktie, white, old- 
 fashioned, turn-down collar, and high cowhide boots, 
 most elaborately blackened and polished from toes to 
 tops, and into which his trousers are tucked, proclaim 
 that Mr. Potter has made an elaborate toilet upon this 
 gala day, when after four years separation he will meet 
 the daughter for whose education he has been willing to 
 sacrifice even the joy of that daughter s companionship 
 and the pleasure of her presence. 
 
 Having been compelled to silence for the last eight
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 135 
 
 hours, during which time he has left the Cunarder upon 
 which he had this day arrived at Liverpool, and run across 
 England to London, and from thence down to Folke 
 stone, Mr. Potter has accumulated a great amount of 
 compressed conversation. The cattle-king s kindly ad 
 vances to conversation have not been well received by 
 the traveling British public, and the frontier appearance 
 and jovial prairie manners of the gentleman from Texas 
 have caused one rural rector to refuse indignantly the 
 offer of his pocket-flask, and a prim spinster of severe 
 mien to request the guard " on no account to permit that 
 red-faced ruffian to travel alone in the same compart 
 ment with her." Consequently the Honorable Sampson 
 has had no one to talk with. He is now, however, making 
 up for lost time on Lubbins, who is gazing open-mouthed 
 at him with a mixture of admiration and terror, for since 
 Arthur s extraordinary actions upon seeing his name, the 
 head waiter is certain that there is some mystery connected 
 with the gentleman eating lunch in the coffee-room. 
 
 All Mr. Potter s thoughts being on his daughter, his 
 conversation is naturally upon the same subject. 
 
 " Look ere," he says, tapping the morning edition of 
 the Times, which lies on the table before him. " Fash 
 ionable Intelligence. Do you see ? Marquis de Saint 
 Germon, Lady Longueville, and by jingo ! Miss Hida 
 Potter, U. Hess. That s my darter sandwiched in be 
 tween a duchess and a potentate ! How s that for the 
 Potter family ? " 
 
 " Very igh, your honor," remarks Lubbins. who wor 
 ships the aristocracy also, and is now beginning to re 
 gard the man upon whom he is waiting as a kind of 
 swell in disguise. 
 
 " And ere agin ! " remarks the Honorable Sampson, 
 with a flush of joy. " Look at this : Movements of 
 Noted Persons : Lady Saharah Hannerley, accompanied 
 by the Honorable Miss Hethel Lincoln, Miss Hida Pot 
 ter, the beautiful Hamerican heiress, the Honorable 
 Harthur Lincoln, B. Sidney Van Cott, and Mr. Charles 
 Herrol, arrived in Paris from Venice yesterday. Wonder 
 which of these chaps his following my darter ? Put the 
 gals ahead, the boys won t be far behind not in Texas ! " 
 
 " I think the Honorable Mr. Harthur his the one ! " 
 says Lubbins, with a chuckle. " E was halways a-run-
 
 136 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 nlng hafter her when your young lady was here a-visiting 
 his family." 
 
 " You ve a level head, Lubbins. I ve caught a suspi 
 cion of that fact in my darter s letters. What kind of a 
 chap is the young man, anyway ?" says Mr. Potter, with 
 a wink, producing a packet of delicately tinted envelopes 
 directed in a beautiful and aristocratic female hand. 
 
 But Arthur sees and hears no more of this. He has 
 fled from the horrible desecration. Had he stayed to 
 look a little longer he would have seen another phase in 
 the gentleman he has been studying. After a few more 
 searching questions in regard to the character of the 
 Honorable Arthur, to which Lubbins replies, giving him a 
 rather fair reputation for liberality, and all the other car 
 dinal virtues, for the son of the peer has been quite gen 
 erous in his tips, which is the only standard by which 
 head waiters judge the morals and dispositions of men, 
 Mr. Potter rises, looks out of the window, and says, 
 suddenly : " What s the damage ? " 
 
 " Damage ? " re-echoes Lubbins, not understanding 
 this Americanism. 
 
 " Yes ; how much do I owe ? That ere boat s coming 
 in. Hurry, like a stampeded mustang ! My darter 
 mustn t be kept waiting for her daddy s four-year-old 
 kiss ! " 
 
 Thus adjured, the waiter bolts for the bill, while Potter, 
 sitting down to wait for him, gazes abstractedly at the 
 Times that still lies on the table before him. Something 
 in one of the advertising columns happens to catch his 
 eye, and the next instant the skye-terrier in him has 
 woke up and is reading the paper. It is the same adver 
 tisement that Sergeant Brackett had sneered at half an 
 hour before, but Mr. Potter reads it over and over again 
 so keenly and eagerly that when Lubbins returns with his 
 account, he abstractedly produces a sovereign, and says, 
 " Pay yourself ! " and goes on reading, speculating, and 
 making notes in his pocket-book, interlarding his labors 
 now and again with sundry exclamations such as " Snakes 
 and tarantulas ! " " Almighty curious ! " " Chaw me up ! " 
 " This is an eye-opener ! " and other kindred Western ex 
 pressions of excited astonishment. Finally he cuts out 
 the advertisement from the Times, and takes the address 
 of the advertiser, which is H, Clarkson Portman, Solici-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 137 
 
 tor, No. 33 Chancery Lane, W. C, London. He is so 
 engrossed in this that Lubbins, after bringing back a pile 
 of silver for the change and placing it in front of him, 
 returns fifteen minutes after, and, finding the money still 
 untouched, deftly pockets it, thinking Potter the most 
 liberal man on earth. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Lincoln, having fled from the hotel, re 
 marks : " She said : See my father ! Great heavens, / 
 have seen him ! " and for a moment has a wild idea of bolt 
 ing to China, India, or any other place as far as possible 
 from the paternal Potter. He hurries down the street to 
 ward the express train that is now drawn upon the pier 
 awaiting the arrival of the Boulogne boat ; his eye fol 
 lows the pier to the sea. The Channel steamer is just en 
 tering the harbor ; his imagination pictures the lovely be 
 ing who has won his heart ; he murmurs : " She d reconcile 
 me to any father in the world ! " and then gives a kind of 
 unhappy chuckle as he thinks: " The Honorable Samp 
 son Potter of Texas will be a very bitter pill for my gov 
 ernor to swallow! " But for all that no more joyously ex 
 pectant face and wildly beating heart has ever welcomed 
 that Channel steamer than Arthur Lincoln s ;and Heaven 
 only knows what joys, and loves, and agonies have burnt 
 recollections into the souls of men and women of that 
 point for partings and for meetings, that platform for good 
 news and for bad news, that place for the tearing apart 
 of hearts, and the welding together of new ties and affec 
 tions, that station on the highway of nations, that pier at 
 Folkestone, England. 
 
 The deck of the steamboat is crowded, for the day is 
 sunny as summer, and the sea unusually calm for the 
 English Channel ; and, while waiting for the first rush of 
 hurrying arrivals to pass him, Arthur Lincoln has time to 
 put two ideas firmly in his head. It was not her fear of 
 her father s refusing an alliance with him, but a fear that 
 he would disdain a connection with her father, that had 
 made Ida tell him to first see Mr. Potter before she would 
 promise to be his wife. Conscious that he will lose her 
 if he wounds the American girl s pride in the least, as he 
 squeezes himself across the gang-way to the deck of the 
 boat the young lawyer arranges his method of conduct 
 ing his case ; which, like most legal expedients, is hardly 
 fair for the party in opposition.
 
 138 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 As he forces his way on, Sergeant Brackett, of Scotland 
 Yard, is alongside of him. 
 
 The crowd have mostly landed, and Arthv nas no 
 trouble in finding the party who are not hurrying to the 
 London train, as they intend to remain in Folkestone 
 for the afternoon. Hastily greeting his sister, he says : 
 " It s all right, little girl ! " which makes tears of hap 
 piness come into Ethel s eyes, and causes the Austra 
 lian to give his hand such a clasp that he knows the 
 convalescent has entirely regained his strength. Then 
 saying to Lady Annerley how kind she has been to take 
 such good care of his sister, and with a " Helloa, Van 
 Cott, my boy ! Bound for London, eh ! You d better 
 hurry and catch the train ! " he starts for Miss Potter, 
 who is in the rear of the rest. 
 
 Before he has time to address the American girl, Ethel 
 has run back to him, and mutters anxiously : " Papa ! 
 He s not here he is angry ? " 
 
 " Not at all. Only too tired to wait for the boat. He 
 expects you all at the villa ! " Then Arthur speaks to 
 the party and says : " I ve ordered refreshments at the 
 West Cliff, and carriages to take you all out to Channel 
 View. You mustn t refuse me ! " 
 
 " Of course not. I ll stay with you a week, old chap 
 pie. How is his lordship ? " returns Mr. Van Cott, seiz 
 ing his opportunity, and inviting himself with a jump. 
 
 " Quite right," mutters Arthur, who hasn t intended to 
 ask him, but is in too much of a hurry to discuss the 
 question. Then he calls out : " Errol, you know the 
 way, take em up to the West Cliff ! " 
 
 As the detective, standing near the party, hears the 
 name Errol, he steps forward, about to address the young 
 man, but, after seeing his face, stops somewhat astonished 
 and, consulting his note-book, turns away and says noth 
 ing. But his eyes never leave the Australian, and, dur 
 ing the next few hours, though Errol does not know it, 
 Sergeant Brackett, of Scotland Yard, is never very far 
 away from him. 
 
 Ethel s turning back to her brother has left Errol alone. 
 Lady Annerley has taken her place beside the Australian. 
 Arthur, eager to get a word apart with Ida, suddenly 
 utters : " Van Cott, you take care of Ethel," hands his sister 
 over to the red-eyed youth, and is beside his divinity.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 139 
 
 During these arrangements Miss Potter has stood, as 
 her lover thinks for he has gazed at her several times a 
 beautiful statue in gray, dashed with sea-green and white 
 foam, for that is the appearance of her costume, which is 
 some poetic creation of a great artist in Paris. Though 
 the blushes have chased one another over her face in 
 waves of varied emotions, and her eyes, which are full of 
 anxious expectancy, have given him several veiled glances, 
 and her lips have trembled and once or twice opened as 
 if about to speak, to this time she has uttered not a 
 word. 
 
 Her parasol trembles nervously in her hand as he 
 approaches her, and she says : " My father ! He isn t 
 here to meet me also, after four years ? Something has 
 happened to him ! " 
 
 I imagine," returns Arthur, " Mr. Potter has mistaken 
 the time of the boat s arrival." 
 
 " Ah, you have seen him ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Tell me, how is he ? How did he look ? Well ? 
 Happy ? Joyous as I shall be at seeing him ? " and the 
 girl is about to run for the gangway. 
 
 " One moment," says Arthur, detaining her. Then he 
 speaks aloud to Van Cott, who is moving off with Ethel, 
 and remarks : " Miss Potter has left her satchel down 
 in the cabin. Don t wait for us ; we ll stay and find 
 it!" 
 
 Here Miss Potter blushes, and Ethel laughs as Van 
 Cott mutters under his voice to her : " By Jove, that s a 
 stunner ! Ida hasn t been off the deck the whole trip ! " 
 
 He hasn t time to amplify this subject, however, for 
 Ethel, who sees Lady Annerley and her guiding star get 
 ting too far away from her, now cries : " Come on ! 
 Hurry, or we ll miss them ! " and figuratively drags Mr. 
 Van Cott off with her, leaving Arthur and Ida alone to 
 gether. 
 
 " I think we ll be able to find your satchel in about five 
 minutes," says Mr. Lincoln, moving toward the cabin 
 entrance. 
 
 " Probably in much less time," returns Miss Potter, 
 dryly, " as I see my maid carrying it off the boat now," 
 and then she bursts out: " How could you place me in 
 such an embarrassing position ? Even while you were
 
 14O MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 talking my servant was flourishing it under your very 
 nose. Oh, Arthur !" This last is a reproach, but the young 
 man looks so contrite she smiles and says: "You would 
 like to see me alone ?" 
 
 " Very much ! " 
 
 " Then I ll steal two minutes from papa for you. 
 There were only two people in the saloon the whole trip, 
 and they were seasick probably it s empty now," and 
 she leads the way into the cabin, but as he follows her 
 down the companion-way she gives him a look over her 
 shoulder that makes the Honorable Arthur shiver, and 
 turning around .upon him, says with haughty dignity : 
 " You say you saw my father ; did he accept your pro 
 posal for his daughter ? " 
 
 If the young man had hesitated he would have lost 
 her, for even in his slight pause of a second the girl s 
 eyes are beginning to blaze and her breast to throb with 
 indignant pride, and she mutters: "Why don t you an 
 swer? You despise 
 
 But here Arthur, being a lawyer, and as such accus 
 tomed to suppress the truth or disguise it, with sudden 
 inspiration cries : " No ! your father did not refuse me ! " 
 And unable to control himself before this vision of pant 
 ing beauty, mutters : " You said the man who kissed you 
 married you," seizes her in his arms. 
 
 There is a crush of lace and silk and satin and gew 
 gaws as Ida Potter in one kiss, two tears, and several 
 blushes becomes his betrothed. 
 
 After a moment she draws herself from him, for there is 
 a noise as of some one s entering the cabin, and looking 
 up into his face with a trust that makes him ashamed 
 of his ruse says : " Arthur, what did papa say to you ? 
 Tell me ! " 
 
 " Well ! " returns the young man, dropping his eyes 
 under her glance, " to tell the ah exact truth, he said 
 nothing ! " 
 
 " Nothing ? " 
 
 " No ; the fact is, I didn t get a chance to speak to 
 him." 
 
 " You did not speak to him ? " 
 
 11 1 couldn t, I wasn t introduced ! " 
 
 " Then you only know his appearance, you don t know 
 his M\ peculiarities, I had expected in this interview the
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 14! 
 
 truth from you as a man, and you have given me the 
 equivocation of a lawyer ! " 
 
 Then with reproach in her eyes, but great dignity and 
 nobility in her mien she continues: " You have made it 
 necessary for the woman you profess to love to endure the 
 humiliation of telling you with her own lips that her father 
 is a man of but little education and what you and your class 
 would call no breeding ! " Here her voice softens and 
 she goes on : " My father is a good man ! Don t mis 
 take me in this ; if his education were equal to his heart 
 he might be Archbishop of Canterbury and do honor to 
 the See. As it is you must now appreciate that he is not 
 exactly the man to be the father of an English peeress, 
 which your wife must one day be. You you are re 
 leased from your promise of marriage to me ! " and turn 
 ing her head away she utters in a broken voice : " Oh, it 
 was a great mistake, my my coming to England and 
 loving you." 
 
 The young man, though much affected, has resolved 
 with legal tact to let her make her speech, reserving the 
 closing argument for himself, and here simply suggests : 
 " And you forgive me ? " 
 
 " Forgive ? I have nothing to forgive ; only much to 
 regret ! " murmurs the girl. 
 
 " You regret my loving you ? " 
 
 " I I regret I did not have the strength to tell you 
 of the barrier that society, that the world has set be 
 tween us. At times I I have tried to treat you coldly, 
 but it was too too hard to destroy my one great hope, 
 and I hesitated till I I had not the power. But now 
 that you know the truth, the sooner we say farewell 
 the better ! Good-by, Arthur ! " The girl turns to the 
 young man whom she had one minute before called 
 betrothed and had hoped to call husband, and tries to 
 bid him farewell, holding out a trembling hand, gasping 
 because she sees he is trembling also : " Don t think too 
 unkindly of me, because I couldn t bear to tell you be 
 fore ! " 
 
 She is staggering from him, but he cries after her : 
 " Do you think me so mean, that after I had gone on 
 loving you for yourself, worshiping you for yourself, 
 holding you as the one most noble woman on this earth 
 for your own sake "
 
 142 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 She has turned back murmuring : "Arthur ! " 
 
 He pays no attention but talks straight at her, only 
 with more enthusiasm, for he has the beauty of her face 
 to inspire him. " That because of any accident of birth 
 or education or refinement in your father, I could ever 
 forget that you are the one woman in all this world that 
 I will make my wife, and failing to gain you I will wed 
 no other ! " 
 
 " Don t speak so," she gasps. " You only make the 
 parting harder ! " 
 
 " We shall not part ! " 
 
 " Think of your family they will never consent." 
 
 " My father already loves you you are my sister s 
 dearest friend." 
 
 " But my father ! " cries Ida. " You have your pride of 
 birth. I have my pride also. I love, I honor my father ! 
 I will become a member of no family that does not 
 honor him also ! He is the truest man upon this earth ! " 
 And, fired with enthusiastic love, this daughter of unedu 
 cated old Potter looks like a princess of light, as her 
 beautiful eyes flash and gleam like stars of truth in the 
 gloom of the cabin. 
 
 Her enthusiasm is catching, for her lover cries also : 
 " Then I know my father is man enough to honor him 
 too ! Miss Potter," here he bows to her with the cere 
 mony he would use to a duchess, " my father to-morrow 
 shall ask from your father the honor of an alliance with 
 his family. Then, Ida, what will your answer be ? " 
 
 The girl droops and trembles, and perhaps for a moment 
 fights with herself ; but love conquers, and seeing this, he 
 would take her in his arms again, but she stops him archly, 
 saying : " Wait for my answer till then ! " 
 
 "Must I wait when I know all about your father s 
 peculiarities, when I heard him talk for an hour before I 
 came to you to get my answer ? " 
 
 " With my father s accent in your ears, you ask me 
 to be your wife ? You may kiss me at once ! " cries Miss 
 Potter, and gives him so loving, true, trusting and un 
 affected an embrace that Arthur would have lingered over 
 it forever, had not a loud, weather-beaten, tarry voice on 
 deck yelled : " All ashore ! " 
 
 So the two run up the companion ladder into the sun 
 light, and on to the gangway, across which no fairer,
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 143 
 
 happier, more lovely creature ever tripped between boat 
 and shore than Ida Potter. Notwithstanding Arthur s 
 ardent looks, she keeps her countenance very well, till 
 one tar standing by the gangway remarks to another : 
 " Look at her, Bill ! Ain t she sweet on him ! Blowed 
 if she ain t a bride !" and then oh, the blushes ! 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MR. POTTER ENTERS SOCIETY. 
 
 RECOVERING from the embarrassment caused by this 
 remark Miss Potter soon nestles quite closely to the ra 
 diant Arthur. They leave the railway station, and turn 
 ing to their left walk up one of the streets leading to the 
 cliffs. During this time she gives him a number of confi 
 dences that make the young man very happy as they 
 show him that the girl at his side regards him even now as 
 a member of her family. She tells him that her mother, 
 whom she never saw to remember, was descended from 
 one of the old Virginia families who had taken part in 
 the first settlement of Kentucky in the days of Daniel 
 Boone ; and from there had, lured by the gold excitement 
 of the time, attempted to emigrate in 1850 to California. 
 Taking the Southern route by way of Texas, which at 
 that day was the home and favorite hunting ground of 
 the Comanche, the train with which they traveled had 
 been attacked by Indians and every member of the party 
 killed save her mother, who was but a girl, and an Eng 
 lish boy of fifteen or sixteen. This boy had saved her 
 mother s life in so gallant a way that it had made him 
 famed for courage even in that State, where desperate en 
 counters and deadly combats at that time were matters of 
 every-day occurrence. 
 
 Despite any difference of station or education, her 
 mother had loved and married him, and her means had 
 given Mr. Sampson Potter his first step in the race for 
 wealth. She had died when Ida was born, in the dark 
 days of the Confederacy, when Potter had been brought 
 back from the front badly wounded, having been one of 
 the leaders in probably the most desperate charge ever
 
 144 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 made in the war by Southern troops, i. e., that of the 
 Texans at the battle of luka. 
 
 Then the young lady says enthusiastically : " I have 
 but two near relatives in the world, one of whom you 
 have heard Lady Annerley speak, my elder brother, 
 Houston, who is a lieutenant in the American navy and 
 who headed the American marines that saved her and 
 Mr. Errol at Alexandria ; a young gentleman who is wild, 
 reckless, and sometimes rather extravagant at least 
 papa says so when he condescends to draw upon him, 
 which is quite often ; but whom I love and honor be 
 cause every one says he is an ornament to his service 
 and his flag. The other is my father, whom I honor and 
 love even more because he is just to every one and gen 
 erous to every one save himself ; because in a State where 
 it takes a truly brave man to always dare to do right, my 
 father has a name which has become a terror to the law 
 less and wicked. As a ranger he defended Texan homes 
 from Indians and bandits ; as a Congressman a whole rail 
 road couldn t buy him ; and as a sheriff he never allowed 
 any one to be lynched and that s saying a good deal in 
 Texas ! " adds Miss Potter so naively that this view of 
 Texan justice makes the English lawyer open his aston 
 ished eyes. 
 
 After a moment the young lady continues : " Every 
 one says that I get my face and my well " (giving a 
 pleasing little blush), "my figure, from my mother ; but 
 I think my heart is nearly all from my father, who nursed 
 me in his arms and was father and mother both to his 
 little orphan, as he used to call me." 
 
 Any further eulogy upon the absent Potter is cut short 
 by her hearing her father s voice coming from the open 
 windows of the coffee -room. There is a rustle of silk, a 
 flash of lace, and Ida has flown from Arthur s side up the 
 steps into the hotel, and with glad cries, happy tears, and 
 tender kisses, this goddess of fashion, refinement, and 
 beauty is in the arms of the weather-beaten, wound- 
 scarred veteran of the plains and taken to his heart that 
 beats only for her. Description would desecrate such a 
 meeting. 
 
 Arthur thinks his presence would desecrate it also, and 
 remains in the street ruminating upon his prospective 
 father-in-law. His meditations are short, however, for
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 145 
 
 Lady Annerley and Errol approach him coming from the 
 west, having apparently got past the hotel by some 
 means. He looks at them in a lazy kind of way, and 
 suddenly becoming struck with an idea, mutters : " By 
 George ! my lady looks at Errol as if she loved him. I m 
 glad Ethel isn t here to see her. Strange ! I never noticed 
 it before." And appears surprised, for at Venice and 
 during their journey through France, Ida and Arthur and 
 Ethel and Charley had lived their own selfish lives and 
 loved their own selfish loves, and in their own great hap 
 piness utterly failed to note any signs of distress or suffer 
 ing in their hostess, who, to tell the truth, has concealed 
 her misery by her pride ; though at times in the night, 
 alone in her chamber, she has had some awful interviews 
 with herself. 
 
 When she has left the railway she has led Errol 
 purposely to the hotel by a roundabout way. She has 
 something to say to him, and this is the only time to do 
 it. She knows that this is the last moment in which she 
 can do her duty ; if she does not speak now and tell him 
 what she went to Egypt to confess to him, she can never 
 more do so in honor, she dare nevermore do so at all. 
 While she is thinking this he gives her an opportunity 
 to make her peace with her conscience and let him be 
 happy. 
 
 " Dear Lady Sarah," he says, " I have been often 
 wondering how I could best show my gratitude to you for 
 the kind nursing you gave me which saved my life ! " 
 
 " Don t speak of gratitude," and she almost sneers at 
 herself ; then mutters : " I had not been worthy the name 
 of woman had I not done all I did after you fought so 
 bravely, so nobly to save me in Egypt ! " 
 
 Thus the two get talking of the days in Alexandria and 
 recalling the Arab boy, and Osman the dragoman, and 
 Constantine Niccovie the Levantine, and she forgets, and 
 for a short time is happy ; but he brings her back to 
 reality with a start, for he suddenly says : " How did you 
 first meet me ? I I think I remember now you had 
 something to say to me something of importance ! " 
 
 And then she has a spasm of conscience and is about 
 to tell him, but hears Ethel s voice behind them, and sees 
 the face she is looking at turn and gaze backward and 
 light up with a light her words and smile could never
 
 146 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 bring to it, and she closes her lips and clinches her teeth 
 for fear that they may give this man a talisman against 
 the evil that will this day come upon him. 
 
 She is, perhaps, a little frightened, for what he says to 
 her shows that Errol has begun to remember Alexandria; 
 but all the same she will fight it out now. 
 
 So they come up to the hotel, she trying with all her 
 might to entertain him, and telling him that she is re 
 turning that evening to Boulogne, where she will stay 
 at the Hotel des Bains, and where he must promise to 
 run over and visit her. She will be there a day or two 
 before returning to Paris. 
 
 To this Errol replies that he ll come over if his 
 fiancd 11 let him off, and so puts a dagger into Lady An- 
 nerley s heart. 
 
 Her lip trembles, but she contrives to mutter : " It 11 
 be only for a day ! " and turns away her head, to look at 
 the sea he thinks ; but it is to keep him from seeing 
 her tears. A moment after she says : " You ll promise to 
 come ? To-morrow, if possible ; remember, we have been 
 such good friends ! " 
 
 " But Ethel " 
 
 " Ah, you are always thinking of her now ! " Lady 
 Annerley can t keep the bitterness out of her voice. 
 Then she goes on : " I sha n t have time to bid you good 
 bye here ; and it will only take you a few hours." 
 
 "All right, I ll come to-morrow," returns Errol, who 
 fears he has wounded her in some way, and has a great 
 friendship for this woman who has done so much for him. 
 
 " You will ? Promise ! " 
 
 " Certainly ! To-morrow," says Errol, " or any other 
 day you please. Why not ? Ethel, thanks to you, has 
 the whole balance of my life." 
 
 " Has she ? " thinks Lady Annerley. " I wouldn t 
 change my chances for hers," and she makes herself so 
 affectionately pleasing and brilliantly cheerful, bringing 
 all the powers of her fine mind and cultured manner to 
 bear upon the Australian, that he is happy, though his 
 sweetheart is walking behind him with young Van Cott ; 
 and Miss Ethel seeing the young widow s attentions to 
 her idol becomes for the first time jealous. 
 
 This is by no means lessened by the remarks of the face 
 tious Van Cott, who, being very savage at Arthur s tak-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 147 
 
 ing Miss Potter away from him " just when she was be 
 ginning to love me, by Jove ! " is determined to torment 
 his sister by all the powers of his little mind. 
 
 " Oh, ain t she gone on him ! " he whispers. " Look ! 
 there s a glance for you ! I never knew my lady s eyes 
 were so beautiful before. She treated me awful ; hope 
 she ll be kinder to him. By George ! This last affair of 
 the widow s beats the rest ; don t you think so, Miss 
 Ethel ? " 
 
 " You believe she loves him ? " gasps the tormented 
 one with such a piteous expression that if Van Cott had 
 any heart he would relent. 
 
 " I know it. Ton honor, I know it." 
 
 " Know it ? " Here Ethel s eyes blaze. 
 
 " Y-as ! I ve proof of it. By George, do you suppose 
 unless Lady Annerley loved him, she would have refused 
 me ! " he says with such an air of conviction, that, looking 
 at his imposing five feet two of figure and his weeping 
 eyes, Miss Ethel bursts out into a laugh, though it is not 
 a very happy one. Thus Mr. Van Cott, having sowed the 
 seed, circumstances coming after ripen it into a harvest. 
 
 So they all come to the hotel, and Arthur conducting 
 them, by the aid of Lubbins, into a reception-room, tells 
 them the carriages will shortly be round to take them to 
 his father s villa. 
 
 But the waiting is not altogether pleasant, for Van 
 Cott suddenly exclaims : " Where s Ida ? " and this fa 
 miliarity t of appellation so enrages the Honorable Arthur 
 that he stops that young gentleman s searching for her 
 by saying sternly : 
 
 " Miss Potter is with her father, sir ! " 
 
 " Oh ah y-as. With the awh beefsteak man. I 
 awh beg pardon ; mean cattle-king ! " mutters Van Cott 
 meekly, and after a moment gets out of the room, for 
 Mr. Lincoln s eyes have grown quite savage. 
 
 Errol goes out also, but almost immediately returns 
 from the office with a message in his hand and says : 
 " Here s luck ! I sha n t have to go on to London. My 
 governor telegraphs me he ll be here on the afternoon 
 train to meet me," and going up to Ethel makes her very 
 happy by whispering : " I shall bring him over perhaps 
 this evening, and certainly to-morrow morning, to ask 
 your father for you in style."
 
 148 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Her blush is the only answer to this, but Lady Anner- 
 ley a moment after says: " Don t fail to bring your father 
 to see me you know where, Charley," and is rewarded 
 by a little sigh of misery from her young rival, who has 
 not yet learnt self-control in suffering. Seeing this, my 
 lady calls Errol " Charley " very often this afternoon, and 
 finds it a very effective weapon of punishment for Miss 
 Ethel Lincoln. 
 
 She is, however, quite anxious to know the exact train 
 upon which the elder Errol will arrive, and after con 
 sulting time-tables they all conclude that he will come on 
 the 6 P. M. This will give her an hour longer in Folke 
 stone without any chance of meeting the Australian s 
 father, for though very anxious to know the effect of her 
 cruelty, she cannot bear to see it. How to obtain this 
 information without compromising herself is now a prob 
 lem in her mind. This is soon solved, however, for she 
 notices the waiter. Every time Lubbins has brought in 
 refreshments his bow has been more obsequious to her 
 than to any of the rest, and his meek eyes have sought 
 hers in an appealingly humble manner. 
 
 " What does the man want of me ? " thinks her lady 
 ship, and then suddenly remembers him and imagines 
 that he wishes her to recognize him. Lubbins is hand 
 ing her a plate of cake and giving a more cringing 
 obeisance than usual, and catching him in the act she 
 says : " I have seen you before ! " 
 
 Yes, my lady ! " 
 
 I remember you ! " 
 
 Oh, your ladyship ! " 
 
 What is your name ? " 
 
 Ah, Lady Annerley Lubbins ; your ex-butler, Tobias 
 Lubbins, your ladyship." This information is all ac 
 cented by bows, smirks, and flourishes of his napkin. 
 
 "Ah, of course, Lubbins, you were at my town, 
 house ! " 
 
 " No, your ladyship, at Brinksham, your Shropshire 
 estate." 
 
 " Precisely, so I thought. I require an English butler 
 at my hotel in Paris. I engage you ; make your ar 
 rangements, and report to me at Hotel des Bains, Bou 
 logne, to-morrow." 
 
 " But the proprietor of the West Cliff ? "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 149 
 
 " Arrange the matter financially with him. I will pay 
 for it ; I want you ! " 
 
 " Perhaps I d better come to-night, your ladyship ? " 
 says Lubbins, who knows a situation in Lady Annerley s 
 house is much better than the one he has in the hotel. 
 
 "To-morrow! by the afternoon boat and not before! 
 You may go ! " returns Sarah Annerley in a tone Lubbins 
 has heard before and knows what it means. 
 
 " Yes, my lady ! " and as the waiter goes out of the 
 room she knows that the problem is solved ; that Lub 
 bins, who has eyes in his head and uses them, and ears 
 in his head and uses them, and keyholes in his doors and 
 uses them, will be able, properly pumped, to give her all 
 the information she desires. 
 
 But she has no time for further thought, for Van Cott 
 comes staggering into the room, and after two or three 
 gulps, and being patted on the back, as the creature is 
 black in the face with laughter, he gasps out : " Oh 
 Lud, I ve seen him ! When I first put eyes on him, oh 
 gracious, how he frightened me ! I thought I had a re 
 turn of of those awful " Here he stammers and 
 
 blushes, for the young wretch has nearly made a horrible 
 confession on himself, but finally gets out : " You should 
 see him, he s a sensation ! " 
 
 " What have you seen ? " cries everybody in the room 
 except Arthur. 
 
 " Ida s governor ! Old Potter, the cattle-king ! He s 
 something you see on the stage and read about in novels ; 
 he s like THIS ! " and he goes off into an imitation of the 
 absent Potter that sends all but Arthur, who scowls at 
 him savagely, into a shriek of laughter ; for Van Cott, 
 like most persons of feeble mind, is a most excellent 
 mimic. 
 
 Lady Annerley finally says, in a tone of unbelief : 
 " You must exaggerate ! " and Miss Ethel cries : " Non 
 sense, the idea ! The father of Miss Potter must be a 
 gentleman ! " 
 
 " Well, just wait till you see him ! " mutters little Van 
 Cott. 
 
 But here an awful silence comes upon them all, for 
 Potter s voice is heard in the hall saying : " Lubbins, 
 you say the swells are in this har room ? " and the next 
 second Lubbins, who has been surreptitiously studying
 
 150 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 up the hotel register, pompously announces : " The 
 Honorable Sampson Potter of Comanche County, Texas, 
 U. Hess, and daughter." 
 
 Then Ida walks quietly in and introduces her father. 
 
 Probably Arthur s love for the girl grows double as he 
 realizes the cruel position in which she is placed, and 
 notes the noble manner in which she makes almost a 
 triumph for herself of what to any other girl in the world 
 he imagines would be a total defeat. 
 
 She looks lovingly and encouragingly at her father, 
 though he needs no encouragement, for old Potter is no 
 more abashed in the presence of title than he would be 
 in the society of Lubbins ; every one in the world to him 
 is on a common plane save his daughter, and she is ahead 
 of everybody. 
 
 He greets them all with a kindly smile, for they are his 
 daughter s friends, and as Miss Potter, with a blush of 
 love and affection, and perhaps pride, for she is certainly 
 proud of her father, says : " Lady Annerley, Miss Ethel 
 Lincoln, Mr. Arthur Lincoln, Mr. Errol, Mr. Van Cott, 
 permit me to present my dear father," the old man takes 
 up the Strain and cries, jovially and unaffectedly : 
 " Ladies and gents, I knows you hall by my darter s 
 letters as well as I knows my own brand of cattle your 
 ands ! " Then goes about shaking and bobbing with un 
 affected Western grace. 
 
 After speaking to the ladies he comes straight to 
 Arthur, and the young man can tell from Potter s man 
 ner that he knows the relation he wishes to assume to his 
 daughter, for the pressure of his hand is kindly, the tone 
 of his voice cordial, and the glance of his blue eyes 
 friendly, though searching, as he says : " The Honorable 
 Arthur Lincoln, I reckon ! My Ida has been talking you 
 up ! " 
 
 Then he passes on to Errol, and Lincoln gradually 
 grows to love him, for he is so good and so unaffected 
 in his rude way to every one about him. 
 
 But though Potter speaks to them all he has but one 
 being really in his thoughts. Every now and again 
 Arthur can see the cold gray steel in his eyes glint and 
 glisten as he looks after the beautiful figure of Miss Pot 
 ter, who is now radiant ; as if he feared that this was a 
 dream and he should wake up on the cattle range and
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 151 
 
 find himself in Texas and the daughter of his heart in 
 far-off Europe. Noting how his eyes sparkle with affec 
 tion as they meet those of his daughter, and the unaf 
 fected heartiness of his manner, the young man reflects: 
 " The Honorable Sampson Potter of Texas may make a 
 much better father-in-law than many a penurious duke." 
 
 The Texan, after greeting Arthur, has turned to Errol. 
 He looks at his face as if striving to call back something, 
 then says : " Herrol, your face seems familiar like. Ever 
 been in Texas ? " 
 
 " No, I am an Australian ! " 
 
 " Ah ! yes, I remember. My son wrote me about you 
 from Alexandria. You re the young chap as saved the life 
 of Lady Hannerley s thar. I ve fit greasers and Injuns and 
 grizzle bars, but never tackled the Arabesques and Moso- 
 leums. You beat me thar ! " 
 
 At this little Van Cott cannot contain himself, and 
 coming up to Mr. Potter, cries, imitating his accent quite 
 correctly : " Them is my sentiments ! Yes, siree, I d 
 ave liked to have tackled the Mosoleums myself ! Your 
 and ! " and seizes Mr. Potter, who returns his grasp in a 
 manner so warmly vigorous that the young gentleman 
 gasps for breath, and his eyes nearly start from his head, 
 as he says faintly : " Don t ! " For, presuming upon the 
 cattle-king s amiability, Mr. Van Cott is beginning to play 
 upon, and make jokes with him, as the little cur dog in 
 the happy family sometimes does with the sleeping lion s 
 tail, never dreaming that some day the king of beasts 
 may get angry and roar, which will frighten the cur dog 
 nearly to death. 
 
 " Young man, Hi likes your haccent. Hit s got the 
 British ring to it. I emigrated from Hengland when a 
 little*shaver myself ! " 
 
 Which explains to several of them his peculiar use of 
 the letter H. They all but Van Cott treat him very 
 nicely, Lady Annerley insisting on his visiting her during 
 the next few days, when she will be at the Hotel des Bains, 
 Boulogne-sur-Mer. 
 
 To this Mr. Potter says, "Whar ! " 
 
 " Boulogne-sur-Mer, the watering-place." 
 
 " Oh ! ah ! yes ! I reckon I understand you, Lady 
 Saharah ! Boulogne summers and England winters. Quite 
 right."
 
 152 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " I shall be delighted to see you ! " says her ladyship, 
 stifling a giggle as do most of the rest, and Miss Ethel 
 coming to him, takes his arm, and smiling into the old 
 man s face, asks him to tell them some of his adventures 
 on the plains. Which Mr. Potter does with a gusto, vim, 
 and appropriate action, taking for his theme the early days 
 of Texas when he was known by his compatriots as "Eng 
 lish Potter," and by the Indians and Mexicans as "the 
 boy with no ha r on his head." And so they pass a pleas 
 ant half hour till Lady Annerley rises to go and says she 
 must catch the Calais boat ; for having fired the petard, 
 this great English lady is now desperately bent on run 
 ning away from the explosion. 
 
 " You are going ? " says Mr. Potter. " I ll see your lady 
 ship safe to Dover. I ve got a leetle matter of private 
 business and one my darter particularly wants me to do 
 in London to-night, so I ve got to jump the train myself." 
 
 " My maid is with me. I need not trouble you ! " 
 
 "We never call it trouble to take the gals about not 
 in Texas ! " says Mr. Potter gallantly. " Besides, Ida 
 thinks it important I get a new wig though I ought to 
 be a judge of the article, having worn one from boyhood 
 up ! " 
 
 " From boyhood ? " yells Van Cott. 
 
 " I was scalped by Comanches when fifteen and have 
 been bald-headed ever since ! " remarks Mr. Potter 
 proudly. " Like to see my head ? It s a curiosity ! I ll 
 show it to you hall when I come back ! " 
 
 With this he leads Arthur to the coffee-room and re 
 marks, confidentially : " Hi m coming down to see the 
 peer to-morrow ! " 
 
 " The peer ? " 
 
 "Yes, your daddy. I ve heard good reports of* you, 
 sir. You may ave opes ! " 
 
 " Thank you, sir ! " says Arthur warmly, and gets in 
 reply a grasp of such unaffected vigor that he almost imi 
 tates Van Cott and says : " Don t ! " 
 
 The two come out together on to the hotel steps, where 
 the carriage is waiting, her ladyship seated in it. 
 
 Here Mr. Potter takes his daughter in his arms and 
 kisses her with his whole heart, and which she blushingly 
 returns, unmindful of the little crowd gathered about the 
 West Cliff. For somehow Lubbins has. spread the report
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 153 
 
 of a distinguished Indian fighter who has been scalped 
 being in the hotel, and quite a concourse of waiters, 
 stable boys, and such like are gazing on Potter open- 
 mouthed, among them Sergeant Brackett of Scotland 
 Yard, his faithful Snapper by his side. Apparently 
 Snapper admires the Texan also, for he runs up to him 
 and licks his hand, bounding vivaciously into the air to 
 do it. Then Potter makes the detective very proud, for 
 he says : " Hello ! Darned if that ain t the cutest little 
 brass-mounted dog I ever scratched ! " and he plays with 
 the terrier while Lady Annerley motions Errol to her 
 from Ethel s side, and says with marked emphasis : "You 
 will remember your promise, Charley ? " 
 
 " Certainly, Lady Sarah ! 
 
 And her ladyship looking at Miss Lincoln observes 
 with pleasure that she has put another thorn in her side, 
 for the English girl is thinking : " A promise then there 
 is something between the man I love and this fascinating 
 woman, something in which I have no part." 
 
 Satisfied with her work, my lady next calls to Lubbins : 
 " Remember, you will report to me to-morrow by the 
 afternoon boat ! " 
 
 " Yes, your ladyship ! " bows Lubbins. 
 
 And Mr. Potter, getting in beside her, gives the whole 
 party a kindly adieu, even calling Van Cott " sonny" an 
 appellation which makes the little cad writhe, for one of 
 the stable boys says to another : " Blest if he ain t his 
 fathe.r ! " Then the carriage drives off, leaving Ethel, 
 Ida, Errol, and Mr. Van Cott together on the hotel steps, 
 and Sergeant Brackett gazing after the receding Potter 
 with eyes enlarged by admiration and interest, for he has 
 a new border novel in his hand and it is called The 
 Adventures of Sampson, the Scalper, and having heard 
 an account of the Texan from Lubbins, he thinks it Mr. 
 Potter s life. 
 
 Shortly before they get to the railway, Martin, who is 
 riding in front of them, suddenly gives a yell, and Lady 
 Annerley looking up sees Mr. Potter carefully examining 
 a tremendous Colt s cavalry revolver. 
 
 " What do you carry such a fearful weapon for here ? " 
 asks her ladyship with a shudder, for she hasn t seen a 
 firearm since she left Egypt, and this thing reminds her 
 of the carnage and death of that awful time.
 
 154 MR - POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Tain t exactly the thing for a ballroom, but it s kind 
 of handy traveling. Thar might be road-agents about ! 
 I once had to kill three of them in a sleeping-car out 
 West one night, and at critical moments it s vital to be 
 sure of your pistol ! " remarks Potter philosophically, re 
 placing the weapon with extreme care. From this he 
 goes on and tells Lady Annerley episodes of combats 
 and wild life till they get to Dover, which is good for 
 Sarah Annerley, as it keeps her from thinking, a thing 
 that she takes to doing wildly when on the boat bound for 
 Calais, and would repent and telegraph but for her mem 
 ory of Ethel s happiness. But, tortured by conscience, 
 she acts so strangely that Martin thinks her mistress 
 case the worst attack of seasickness she ever saw. 
 
 As for Mr. Potter, the railway to London that evening 
 being free from road-agents, he gets to Charing-Cross 
 Station, dines at the Langham Hotel, and then goes, late 
 as it is, to see the lawyer whose advertisement he has read 
 in that day s Times. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE RETURNED AUSTRALIAN. 
 
 POTTER and Lady Annerley having gone, Arthur 
 naturally orders up the carriage which is to take Ida, 
 Ethel, Van Cott, and himself to his father s home ; for 
 Errol has decided to remain at the West Cliff, at least 
 until the arrival of his father. 
 
 While the carriage is coming round the Australian 
 looks at his sweetheart and sees something in her face he 
 has never noticed there before. He walks up to her, and 
 getting her away from the rest of the party in one of the 
 reception rooms, says : " Ethel, what s the matter ? You 
 look troubled." 
 
 Now, jealousy is a secretive passion that doesn t like 
 the light of day, and Miss Lincoln promptly prevaricates 
 by returning : " Nothing much ! I I was only thinking 
 that I had better take off my engagement ring and keep 
 it where papa will not see it. He has always had so 
 much confidence in me that it would wound him deeply 
 if he thought I had pledged my hand without his pre-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 155 
 
 vious sanction ! " and as she says this she gives Mr. 
 Errol a twinge by transferring his sparkling diamonds 
 from her finger to her pocket. 
 
 " Bat your brother said he had spoken to your father, 
 and it was all right." 
 
 Her lover s tone is so sad that Miss Ethel, sorry for 
 him, returns : " No doubt it will be, if if you don t fall 
 in love with Lady Annerley in the mean time." 
 
 But upon this last her voice, trying to laugh, falters, 
 and becomes almost a cry. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Why, you are going to visit her at Boulogne." 
 
 " Certainly ; after all that she has done for me I at 
 least owe her politeness. Besides, I ve promised ! " 
 
 " Ah ! that was the promise I heard her mention. 
 Charley, don t go ; it was wrong of her to ask you, know 
 ing that to-morrow should be devoted to your formal en 
 gagement to me ! " cries Ethel. 
 
 "But I owe her so much." 
 
 " And she owes you so much more. How close such 
 scenes as you passed through must have brought you in 
 Alexandria. Oh pshaw ! don t listen to me ; what am I 
 talking about ? " mutters the girl, checking herself and 
 moving away from him. 
 
 But he walks after her, and turning her to him tries to 
 look in her face, and says rather sternly : " Ethel, you 
 surely do not fear I will fall in love with Lady Anner 
 ley ? " 
 
 " She is a young widow, and that s the most awful 
 thing on earth," says the young lady quite sullenly, look 
 ing down and punching with her parasol the end of a 
 little foot that is pushed from under her dress, and beat 
 ing a savage tattoo upon the floor. 
 
 " Why, she s old enough " 
 
 " To be mistress of the art of fascination ! She s 
 twenty-five ; Cleopatra s age ! How you stand up for 
 her ! " cries Miss Ethel pettishly, forgetting that poor 
 Errol has been rather decrying Lady Sarah s charms and 
 she likening them to Cleopatra s. 
 
 Here the young gentleman rather astonishes the young 
 lady, for he says : " My own, I am at last sure that you 
 love me ; for the first time I see you jealous." 
 
 The surprises are not all on one side of the affair,, how-
 
 156 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 ever. For now she astounds him, anger begets truth, and 
 Miss Ethel s temper for the first time shows itself to 
 Charley Errol. She tosses company manners to the 
 winds and cries : " You are right ; I am jealous, and you 
 are wrong to make me so. Think how she strives to mo 
 nopolize you ! Think how she calls you Charley ! That 
 is my right only ; you are my Charley. What would 
 you think of Miss Potter if she called you Charley ? " 
 
 " You see, Lady Annerley got into the habit when we 
 were fighting for our lives in Egypt," Errol suggests 
 rather meekly. 
 
 " That s what makes it so terrible," breaks in the girl ; 
 " that s what frightens me. How she must have got to 
 love you when you fought like a Paladin of old to save 
 her life ! When I think how she must adore you I trem 
 ble ! " 
 
 " Tremble ! What do you mean, Ethel ? If you fear 
 my constancy you must despise me ! " and with this Errol 
 turns away from her. 
 
 But he does not get far when his sweetheart is round 
 his neck sobbing : " Despise you ? Oh, my love, don t 
 quarrel with me ! Go and see Lady Sarah. Of course 
 I can trust you. I must trust you, or else what is life 
 worth to me ? " 
 
 Charley Errol looks into her blue eyes, in which before 
 he has only seen laughter the tears conquer him and he 
 mutters : " If I were to visit Lady Sarah now, I d deserve 
 to be despised 
 
 " You you m m mean it ? " 
 
 " Of course, you have my word," and he kisses her for 
 his reward. Here she breaks from him and runs to the 
 door, for her brother s voice is heard calling her from the 
 hall. At the door she pauses, laughs, and whispers : 
 " Your father will console you. Good-by, my Charley, 
 till to-morrow ! " and blowing a kiss to him, runs out 
 and gets into the carriage alongside of Mr. Van Cott, 
 who is moodily glum, for he sees Miss Potter occu 
 pying the front seat with Arthur, who is going to drive, 
 and hates him as his happy rival in the cattle-queen s 
 affections. 
 
 As they roll away Errol comes running out, and cries 
 to them that he ll be almost sure to bring his father 
 with him to see them this evening. A proposition that
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 157 
 
 gains him another smile from the lady in the back seat, 
 who looks back and enjoys the sunshine of passion after 
 its thunder-shower. 
 
 The road toward Sandgate, along which they drive, gives 
 them a series of magnificent views of the English Channel, 
 now extraordinarily quiet under the autumn breeze, and 
 bright with moving sailing vessels and dashing steamers, 
 while the whole scene is gilded by the setting sun. 
 
 The drive is only slightly over the mile, and Miss Pot 
 ter and Arthur are in happy conversation as they turn to 
 go into the lodge gates, that mark the entrance to the 
 pretty gardens that surround Lord Lincoln s marine 
 villa, most appropriately named " Channel View." 
 
 Upon these gates is seated a boy of about twelve, 
 clothed in characteristic knickerbockers, though he wears 
 an Eton cap. He has great, frank eyes, light flaxen 
 hair, and is a washed-out masculine edition of Miss Ethel. 
 
 " Why, there s Teddy ! Stop, Arthur ! here s Teddy ! " 
 cries his sister, as her younger brother, the Honorable 
 Teddy Lincoln, comes running to the carriage. 
 
 " I ve been waiting for you an hour," says the boy. 
 
 " Why, Teddy, you never did that before," says Miss 
 Ethel, kissing the boy, who does not even look at her. 
 " What a nice child ! " 
 
 As the Honorable Teddy scans the party in the car 
 riage, he gives them all a sensation, for the tears of un 
 utterable disappointment are in his eyes as he says, 
 brokenly but savagely : " Where s Potter the Texan ? 
 I ve been waiting to see him an hour. Crabbe, our but 
 ler, has been in town and says he s a curiosity ! " 
 
 A silence falls upon the party, broken by Arthur trying 
 to turn the thing off as a joke, and saying : " Well, Teddy, 
 here s Mr. Potter s daughter, you know her. Won t she 
 do as well ? " 
 
 " Do ? How ll she do ? She ain t been scalped, has 
 she ? " cries out the boy, savagely firing a stone at a pass 
 ing cur. 
 
 During the ride up the avenue Miss Potter says noth 
 ing, but there is a low giggling from Mr. Van Cott in the 
 back seat that makes Arthur whip up the horses to drown 
 his noise, though he would much sooner have turned the 
 lash the other way. 
 
 Two minutes after this they are all at home, and Ethel,
 
 158 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 in the library, sobbing on her father s knee, is whis 
 pering her confidences to the great lawyer about " her 
 Charley," while Arthur is waiting outside the door to 
 prepare the governor for the coming of the paternal Pot 
 ter. 
 
 Left alone, Errol s eyes follow his betrothed till she is 
 out of sight, then his glance naturally turns the other 
 way to look for his father s coming. 
 
 He thinks he will go down and meet him, and actually 
 moves a few steps in that direction until, reflecting that 
 there are a good many trains from London to Folkestone 
 and he may have to wait for some time before the elder 
 Errol arrives, and even then miss him in the crowd, he 
 concludes it will be best to make things comfortable for 
 his father s reception and wait for him quietly at the 
 West Cliff. 
 
 Consequently he returns to the hotel, and stepping 
 past Sergeant Brackett, who had become restless on see 
 ing Errol move, but is now apparently deeply interested 
 again in the adventures of Sampson the Scalper, he goes to 
 the office, engages two of the best bedrooms in the house, 
 and registering his father s name and his own, orders 
 dinner. Then the young man makes himself comfort 
 able with a cigar and something drinkable before the 
 fire, and goes into a state of somnolent happiness ; every 
 now and then waking up and going to the door of the 
 hotel whenever he hears the sound of wheels. 
 
 His father has been always very dear and close to him 
 as a boy, and since he has grown into a young man this 
 feeling has still existed and they have shared confidences 
 like brothers, as it would be good if more sons dared 
 do with their fathers and more daughters with their 
 mothers. Pondering on this, Mr. Charley does not go 
 to the door at the right time, and as he sits before 
 the fire, a pair of hands are clasped over his eyes and a 
 hearty, honest, manly voice says : " Guess who it is, my 
 lad ! " The next instant Charley Errol has sprung up 
 with a cry, knocking his chair over, and has his father in 
 his arms. 
 
 " You re all right ? " asks the elder Errol after the first 
 gush of greeting is over, looking at his son rather 
 anxiously. " No trouble from your wounds, Charley ? " 
 
 " No ; sound as a new sovereign," and Charley does a
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 159 
 
 little playful athletics. Then he remarks, looking at his 
 father rather critically : "And you re not aged by a min 
 ute the same dear old pater. Do you know at one 
 time I hardly expected to see your face again ! " 
 
 " Yes, I know I I would have come to you after 
 that, but I received the news of your wounds by letter, 
 and before the letter came a cablegram arrived stating 
 you were out of all danger," replies Ralph Errol very 
 seriously, and then says, patting his son on the shoulder 
 quite proudly : " I m glad to know my son did his duty 
 in that awful time so nobly. The Australian papers 
 made quite a hero of you. Lady Annerley whom you 
 saved is, I believe, the daughter of a gentleman who was 
 at one period of my life very kind to me. People say 
 she is very beautiful. Is she the lady whom " 
 
 Here Charley jumps at the opening he has been long 
 ing for, and fishing out a photograph of Miss Ethel s face, 
 with which that young lady had favored him in Venice, 
 pokes it under his father s nose. 
 
 " Humph ! What is that ? " says the old gentleman, 
 wiping his glasses. 
 
 " That is the picture of the girl I love ! " 
 
 " Well, if I m to look at the picture of the girl you love, 
 you d better ring for lights. This sunset gives her eyes 
 rather an unpleasant cast." 
 
 " Governor, you always did delight to chaff me," cries 
 the son laughing, but at the same time instructing Lub- 
 bins to illuminate. 
 
 This being done, he takes the opportunity of scrutiniz 
 ing his father as that gentleman criticises Miss Ethel s 
 picture, and is quite happy to see the old gentleman 
 looking so well. For Ralph Errol has the bearing and 
 culture of an educated gentleman, and is very much a 
 man of the world, considering his long and continuous 
 residence at the antipodes. He is probably ten years 
 older than Mr. Potter, and is slightly bent by years, being 
 nearly sixty, and has the same jovial manner that his son 
 remembers when last he saw him ; though he notices with 
 concern that his father s eyes have a restless, uneasy look, 
 as if apprehensive of something or some one indefinite. 
 
 He has no time to note anything more before the old 
 gentleman remarks : " So this is the one you telegraphed 
 about. She is rather pretty ! "
 
 l6o MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Rather pretty ? " retorts the son, in great scorn. 
 " Rather pretty ? Governor, your eyes haven t been fail 
 ing you lately ? " 
 
 " No, they re as good as they were twenty years ago ! " 
 laughs the father, and then he adds dryly, inspecting the 
 picture again : " She has a nice nose ! " 
 
 " A nice nose ? " 
 
 " Well, hasn t she ? " says Ralph with a chuckle. 
 
 " She has a nice nose. Nicer than any nose in Aus 
 tralia. By the by, how is Australia ? " 
 
 " Oh, about the same as usual. Melbourne is a little 
 bigger and a little richer but I haven t had anything to 
 eat since I left London ! " 
 
 " I ve thought of that," says the young man, and he 
 rings the bell and orders : " Dinner at once ! " 
 
 As this is being done, the elder is gazing from the 
 window at his native land, and turns to his son, mutter 
 ing : " So this is home. Does a man ever forget the 
 place of his birth ? To-morrow I ll run over to see the 
 house in which I was born. Fourteen hours ago I landed 
 and had England. Now, Charley, I have you and Eng 
 land together ! " And there are tears in his eyes as 
 Ralph Errol sits down opposite his boy and looks at him 
 lovingly and proudly. After a moment he says, as if 
 anxious to come to the subject : <( Charley, who is the 
 young lady ? " 
 
 " The future Mrs. Errol ? " says the young man, as if 
 the title made him happy. 
 
 " I I hope you haven t spoken to her," returns his 
 father, hesitatingly. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I have ! " 
 
 " But you received my cable ? " 
 
 " Certainly, but had already asked her ! " 
 
 " I m sorry for that ! " 
 
 " And why ? " asks the son, anxiously. 
 
 " Because because I believe in taking such important 
 steps with deliberation." There is a hesitation that is 
 almost embarrassment in the father s manner. " What is 
 her name ? " 
 
 " Why, I wrote you four pages about her ! " 
 
 " The letter must have passed me at sea. Your tele 
 gram only called her the woman you loved. Who is 
 she ? "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. l6l 
 
 This question is put so nervously that Charley replies : 
 " You need not doubt the girl of my choice. Her father 
 is now Lord Lincoln, and has lately been retired from 
 his position on the bench." 
 
 Judge Lincoln ? " This with a gasp of astonishment. 
 Then the father asks in apparent incredulity: "And 
 he permitted his daughter to accept your suit ? " 
 
 " Certainly. Why not ? I speak to him to-morrow ! " 
 
 " Oh, you haven t yet seen him ? " the old man utters. 
 
 " No ; but I have not the slightest doubt he will ac 
 cept me, especially when he sees you ! " 
 
 " You must not speak to him to-morrow ! " 
 
 " And why not ? " 
 
 " Because I I came over here to get some business 
 settled, and until that is done you must not see Judge 
 Lincoln," returns the father, getting up and leaning his 
 head over the mantel. 
 
 His tone is such that it alarms his son, and he cries : 
 " Is anything wrong in money matters ? Tell me, dear 
 old governor, and I m by your side ! " And springing 
 up he puts his arm caressingly over his father s shoulder. 
 
 " No, we are richer than ever ! " 
 
 " Then I cannot understand you. Explain ! " says 
 Charley, turning away with a little anger in his tone. 
 
 But the old man mutters doggedly : " Let s have din 
 ner. We ll talk the matter over to-morrow," and ap 
 parently would now put off the discussion. 
 
 " No ! I m too anxious to have an appetite. Please 
 explain now ! " says Charley, attempting a laugh. 
 
 " I cannot explain for a few days for some little 
 time ! " 
 
 " Father, listen to me ! " cries the son, coming again 
 to his side and speaking eagerly and excitedly. " I have 
 given my word to ask for her to-morrow. Dear old 
 governor, she ll think me a scoundrel ! " 
 
 " Still you must not speak ! " 
 
 " But father, why ? If you are in trouble, I am your 
 son. Tell me ; surely I have the right to demand your rea 
 son when you ask me to do what must make the woman 
 I love doubt my truth to her. Tell me, dear old governor, 
 your reason ! " and he would go on pleadingly. 
 
 But here his father turns his face to him and says 
 hoarsely : " / will . " and his face is such a one that the
 
 162 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 son trembles as he looks at it. " I have come all the way 
 from Australia to tell you I I Here the poor old 
 man gasps and his face flushes with shame and is con 
 torted with woe. 
 
 But at this moment they are interrupted by the door 
 opening, and looking toward the noise Charley sees 
 Sergeant Brackett walk into the coffee-room, that has 
 been empty to this moment, and place his dog in a 
 corner, as if to put the little creature out of the way of 
 danger. 
 
 As he does this Ralph Errol is muttering to himself : 
 " No ! No ! My heavens ! Tell my own son I can t 
 do it ! " and sinking into a chair, is beating his hands 
 together as if in despair. 
 
 Advancing toward the two, the detective with a dep 
 recatory bow says : " Beg pardon, gents. You ll excuse 
 me, sir, but I was directed to do this business polite. 
 One of you is Mr. Ralph Errol, just from Australia. 
 My name is Brackett, sergeant at Scotland Yard ! " 
 
 " Scotland Yard ! " This is a cry, and Ralph, pale as a 
 ghost, springs .up and gasps : " You you come to " 
 
 " Father, you have been robbed on shipboard I sup 
 pose," says the son. "I ll attend to the matter." And 
 then, seeing his father staggering, runs to him and says : 
 " You are faint. By George ! I should not have let you 
 fast so long." 
 
 But Mr. Brackett continues in a dogged sort of way as 
 if he didn t half like the job : " I have a warrant and in 
 structions from the Home Office to arrest Ralph Errol i " 
 
 " Arrest my my father ! " cries Charley ; then he bursts 
 out and laughs : " You are crazy ! He s the foremost 
 man in Melbourne ! " 
 
 To this Mr. Brackett says nothing, but is producing 
 a document, when Ralph is between the officer and his 
 son begging, pleading, crying : " Don t tell him! lie is 
 my son ! In mercy, don t tell HIM ! " 
 
 But Brackett, having a heart, doesn t trust himself to 
 look at him, and says sharply : "Asa returned convict ! " 
 
 "A returned convict! " shrieks the son. " My father? 
 Speak ! Tell him he lies ! " but not waiting for an an 
 swer he hisses : " You insulting scoundrel ! You dare to 
 say this of my dear old governor ! I ll 
 
 And would do even more than he threatens, for his
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 163 
 
 arm is upraised in his father s cause, when that father 
 staggers to him, and takes the power out of him body and 
 soul by muttering in a broken voice : " Stay ! The man 
 only does his duty and tells you what I have never 
 dared to tell you, that your father is a ticket-of-leave- 
 man sentenced to transportation for life, forbidden to 
 return to his native land for the crime of burglary and 
 theft ! " and stands trembling and wringing his hands 
 and bowing his head before his son. 
 
 With these words the world seems to change to 
 Charley Errol, and no more be the bright place he used 
 to think it ; but looking on his father s face, from which 
 a pair of bloodshot eyes are imploring one word from 
 him to help him bear the shame and agony of the mo 
 ment, something flies into the son s mind and he gives 
 his father hope and consolation, for he cries hoarsely : 
 " BUT INNOCENT ! " 
 
 " You believe it ! Thank God ! " and Ralph Errol is 
 sobbing in Charley s arms. 
 
 " I know it, dear old governor ! Your son, who knows 
 and loves you, couldn t believe you a thief ! "answers the 
 young man. 
 
 " I am a martyr to circumstantial evidence," mutters 
 the father. " Other men have said this, and lied, but I 
 say it, and it s the living truth, as I hope to see your 
 mother in heaven ! " Then looking into his boy s eyes, 
 Ralph Errol once more stands erect, and Sergeant 
 Brackett, who has drawn back a little from the interview, 
 sees rather dimly for the old man s awful shame has 
 brought the tears to the detective s eyes that there is 
 from now on no shrinking in the father s look, and that 
 his only fear had been his son would think him guilty. 
 
 After a moment the elder Errol continues, with grave 
 dignity, speaking straight at his boy as if he knew he had 
 little time to lose, for Sergeant Brackett is looking un 
 easily at his watch : " Several times in my life I have 
 tried to tell you, but it it was too humiliating to confess 
 to my son that the laws of my country had made me an 
 outcast and a felon, and branded me the convict and 
 the thief." 
 
 Here the son, who has become steadied by his father s 
 manner, returns : " But something, some one must be able 
 to prove you innocent ! "
 
 164 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Only one man can, and I came over to find him, but 
 now shall not be permitted," replies Ralph sadly. "But 
 he has never been seen since that night ; he may have 
 been the guilty party himself." 
 
 " His name ? " 
 
 " Look at the advertisements in the London Times 
 since 1850 to to-day, also in those of the New York Herald 
 since 1860, and you will often find the name of the office 
 boy of Jaffey & Stevens Sammy Potts ! " 
 
 " Sammy Potts ! that s the man you want to find. 
 Sammy Potts, I ll remember that ! " mutters the son. 
 
 But here Mr. Brackett stops further conversation by 
 saying : " Beg pardon, gents, but the night boat is about 
 to leave for France. You can see my warrant," and shows 
 them a document bearing her majesty s seal, which seems 
 to Charley a great blur save the words : Ralph Errol 
 ticket-of-leave man No. 29,341. 
 
 These make him desperate, for they bring the truth to 
 him, and burn it into his brain, that HE is A CONVICT S 
 SON. 
 
 "Your instructions ! " gasps Ralph. 
 
 " Was to be very polite," returns Brackett, who knows 
 that the person of his warrant is, though a felon, a man of 
 consideration in the colonies, "but to see you left Eng 
 land to-night." 
 
 " I am at your service," says the ex-convict ; and sup 
 ported by Charley he staggers out of the hotel, looking 
 ten years older than when he entered it an hour ago. 
 And so they come down to the pier, where the Channel 
 steamboat is ready, waiting for the London train. 
 
 " You are coming with me ? " says the old man to his 
 son. 
 
 " No; I stay here to prove your innocence. You were 
 poor when convicted we are rich now, and I ll buy the 
 truth from somebody ! " returns Charley Errol, who be 
 comes firmest in despair ; for his bearing and manner 
 now are the same as they were during that last night in 
 Egypt. Then he goes on to the detective : "You have 
 five minutes yet ! Answer my questions ! Wasn t it curi 
 ous the Home Office should know so immediately of my 
 father s arrival ? " 
 
 Mr. Brackett suggests that information has probably 
 been furnished.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 165 
 
 " Ah ! " cries the young man, " by some one who is 
 afraid, father, of your being here ; who dare not let you 
 live in England. Perhaps the thief him self ! " and get 
 ting excited with this idea he cries to Brackett : " You 
 are a detective to prove men guilty ; help me to prove 
 one innocent. Here are your expenses ! Do your duty ; 
 then find and report to me who lodged the information 
 at the Home Office that drives my dear injured fattier 
 again out of England ! " 
 
 " Where shall I report to you ? " asks Brackett eagerly, 
 for he has filled the detective s hands with gold. 
 " Here at the West Cliff Hotel to-morrow." 
 " All right ; but we must get on board ! " 
 And Charley supporting Ralph to the steamer, which 
 is now receiving its crowd from the train, the old man 
 whispers : " Oh, my boy, if I could have seen my birth 
 place ; but when I pass that gangway I leave my country 
 forever and you my disgrace falls on you ! " 
 
 Then his son feels a tear-drop on his face that makes 
 him desperate. He returns : " Father, you shall come 
 back to England, no more a ticket-of-leave man, but 
 honored and respected by the world who drove you from 
 it ! I swear it !" Next he says hurriedly, for Brackett is 
 pressing them over the gangway : " Who can give me the 
 details of your trial ? " 
 
 " It was over thirty years ago. My lawyer is dead." 
 " Then to what living man who is just and knows can 
 I apply ? " 
 
 " To the judge who tried and sentenced me ! " 
 " His name ? " cries out the son, for the crowd has 
 forced him from his father and back upon the pier, but 
 Ralph Erroi hesitates and does not answer. 
 
 " His name? " shrieks out the son, desperately ; for the 
 gang-plank is taken up, the signal bell is ringing, and 
 the boat is steaming away into the night for France ; then 
 out of the darkness, floating upon the sad splash of the 
 sea, comes his father s voice and strikes him with despair, 
 for it answers : " PERCY LINCOLN ! ! " 
 
 And the young man cries : " My God, HER FATHER ! 
 How shall I tell HER ? "
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 A WOMAN S BATTLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ALL FOR MY DARTER ! 
 
 MR. POTTER arrives at the solicitor s office, in London, 
 at nearly nine o clock that night, and naturally finds Mr. 
 Portman hasn t been there for several hours. He then 
 obtains the address of his residence from the directory, 
 and is driven to his house, some miles away in Pimlico. 
 This takes considerably more than an hour, and arriving 
 there at almost IIP. M,, he has some trouble in arousing 
 the housekeeper, who comes to the door in dishabille 
 and a bad temper. 
 
 " I want to see H. Clarkson Portman," says Potter. 
 
 " It must be important business, waking a body up 
 at this time of night ! " remarks the woman, regarding 
 the American with rather suspicious eyes. 
 
 "It is there s a thousand pounds in it." And he 
 shows her the advertisement, which he has cut out of the 
 Times. 
 
 "Well, you ll not see Mr. Portman till to-morrow night; 
 he was just called by telegram to Boulogne, and left 
 twenty minutes ago." 
 
 "All right ! I ll leave a letter for Portman ! " says Pot 
 ter, and coming into the house he tells her to give him the 
 " fixins " for a note. This being done after some little 
 grumbling by the woman, he writes a laconic letter of 
 three words to the solicitor, and giving it to the house 
 keeper goes out upon the door-step and says : 
 
 " Tell Portman I ll call on him when I return to Lon-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 167 
 
 don in a few days ! " With that he shouts to the driver, 
 " Langham Hotel like Jerusalem ! " and so drives away, 
 the woman calling after him that her master may not be 
 back till the day after the morrow. 
 
 Returned to the Langham, Potter meets his old Texas 
 friend, Colonel Cottontree, and the two have a confiden 
 tial chat in the American corner of the smoking-room, 
 chiefly discussing the new acquaintances Potter has made 
 during the day at Folkestone ; Cottontree, who knows 
 nearly everybody in the swim of European society, or 
 American also, for that matter, informing him incidentally 
 that Lady Annerley is the daughter of the great London 
 banker, Sir Jonas Stevens. 
 
 Whereupon Potter breaks out into exclamations of 
 surprise and jo) r , declaring that this same Jonas Stevens 
 once did him the best turn in his life, and that he s going 
 over the next day to Boulogne to thank her ladyship for 
 her father s kindness to a poor English boy. 
 
 After that the conversation drifts over to the Lincolns, 
 the colonel telling the Honorable Sampson that though he 
 knows Miss Potter is too good for any one but an angel, 
 still, for all that, she mustn t wait till she goes to heaven to 
 vred one. That Arthur Lincoln is now a rising barrister, 
 and at his father s death will doubtless be a lord. 
 
 " That s better than a duke," answers Potter. " Thar 
 was two dukes running arter her, and I was scared she get 
 sweet on one of them. I can stand a lord, but hang me 
 if I don t draw the line at dukes and dudes ; I ve read so 
 much about em in the Texas newspapers that I m cursed 
 if I don t hate em both. This whisky here, Cottontree, 
 don t seem to be up to the strength of our old Kentucky 
 bourbon ! " 
 
 To this the colonel laughingly assents, and the two 
 go to bed, but early the next morning take the train for 
 Folkestone and Dover, Cottontree being bound for Paris, 
 which is for the present his home. At Folkestone, Potter 
 says adieu to the colonel and engaging a chaise, drives 
 over to " Channel View," stopping en route at the West 
 Cliff, and going in to get a light for his cigar. 
 
 The morning is a beautiful one, and at the lodge 
 gates Potter thinks he ll enjoy a walk up the avenue 
 leading to the villa. He gets out of the conveyance, 
 and telling the driver to come back for him in a couple
 
 l68 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 of hours, valise in hand tramps up to Lord Lincoln s 
 doors. 
 
 His progress up the avenue, however, is by no means 
 unnoticed or unattended. The Honorable Teddy has 
 heard that Potter, the scalped, is to arrive that morning, 
 and, together with most of the children of the neighbor 
 hood, has been awaiting the coming of the curiosity. 
 
 Preceded by a white-headed urchin, a semi-idiot; who 
 is nicknamed the "Cow Face," from his resemblance to 
 that animal, they all follow Mr. Potter in a solemn, open- 
 eyed, staring procession. 
 
 At first they keep at a respectful distance irom this 
 bloodthirsty warrior of the plains, of whom Teddy has 
 told them stories of his terrible ferocity that has made 
 their young blood run cold in their veins. But curiosity 
 getting the better of fear, the nearer they come to the 
 house the closer they approach Mr. Potter. 
 
 At first the Honorable Sampson does not notice them, 
 for their steps are cautious, and they would not for the 
 world do anything to anger or enrage him, considering 
 under these circumstances he would not permit them to 
 live a minute. But at last the " Cow Face/ noticing the 
 monster is absent-minded, rashly actually imitates, be 
 hind Mr. Potter s back, the operation of scalping as he 
 imagines it would be performed, which so excites his 
 companions risibles that they can t help tittering and 
 giggling, though they know this places them in mortal 
 danger. 
 
 Mr. Potter, however, thinking of his daughter, goes 
 along very peacefully until, hearing one of these giggles 
 more pronounced than the rest, he suddenly turns round 
 and catches the " Cow Face " in the act. 
 
 " Run for your lives ! " shrieks the Honorable Teddy, 
 and so they all do except the " Cow Face " who is nearest 
 to Potter, and too frightened to move his limbs. 
 
 " What do you want, little boy ? " says Mr. Potter, 
 pleasantly. 
 
 " I I I didn t mean anything I please " 
 
 " Well, don t don t get skeared. What can I do for 
 you ? " repeats the Honorable Sampson, seeing the child 
 is very pale and trembling. 
 
 11 1 I wanted to see your hat off," gasps the boy des 
 perately, but picking up a little courage, for the ogre has
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 169 
 
 not yet killed him. " Teddy Lincoln said you d been 
 scalped and was a curiosity." 
 
 " Wall, now, I declar," says Mr. Potter, " if this scalp 
 ing business don t make me celebrated most every 
 where ! " Then he takes off his hat and his wig too, and 
 shows the astonished rustic a sight that makes the boy 
 have awful dreams for a week, after which he gives him 
 half a crown and tells him to buy some candy. This 
 being watched from places of distant safety by Teddy 
 and the rest, the "Cow Face " is the hero of the juveniles 
 of the neighborhood, and shines with Mr. Potter s re 
 flected light for many a day. 
 
 Without further adventure the American reaches the 
 steps leading to the villa, where his beautiful daughter 
 comes down to him with a rush, and gives him several 
 tender kisses despite the presence of two magnificent 
 flunkies who are hurrying after her, and the Honor 
 able Arthur who makes a background. The next in 
 stant the flunkies have despoiled Mr. Potter of his valise 
 and overcoat, and Arthur is asking him if he has break 
 fasted, and being answered affirmatively, suggests that 
 he shall take him into the library and introduce him to 
 Lord Lincoln, Miss Ethel being with some friends in the 
 conservatories. 
 
 After a few moments conversation with his daughter, 
 Mr. Potter says to Arthur: "All right; I ll tackle the 
 peer now ! " Then whispers to Ida : " What are you 
 looking nervous about ? I ain t skeered of a lord no more 
 than I am of an Injun," and so is shown into the library. 
 
 The nervousness is all on the part of Lord Lincoln, who 
 awaits Mr. Potter s coming with awe. His son has told 
 him of the eccentricities of the American ; in fact, Arthur, 
 with the instinct of a lawyer, has drawn his future father- 
 , in-law s picture with the tact of a diplomatist. In his 
 description, Mr. Potter s extraordinary idiom, rude man 
 ners, and barbarous gaucheries are all eccentricities pe 
 culiar to the Wild West ; eccentricities, nothing more. 
 
 Suspecting some such thing, Miss Potter has had an 
 interview with Lord Lincoln herself that morning, and 
 told him in an unaffected but by no means self-assertive 
 manner the fair, square, plain, unvarnished truth about 
 her father ; neither disguising his failings nor extolling 
 his virtues, and ending by saying : " Like many more
 
 170 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 in our country of great social surprises, my father has 
 given up his chance in life for the good of his children. 
 That I may wear the dresses of a duchess and ride in 
 my liveried carriage, he has driven cattle on the plains, 
 and has exposed his life to all the dangers of a semi- 
 barbarous existence. My happiness has been his happi 
 ness and his pride shall be my pride, and though I love 
 your son very deeply, I ll enter no family who does not re 
 spect him as if he were the first gentleman in England ! " 
 
 " And so they shall, my dear ! " returns Lord Lincoln, 
 wiping a tear out of his eye. " For no one could be the 
 father of such a girl and not be a good man." 
 
 " You you are very kind ! " murmurs Miss Potter, 
 and his lordship s tears taking all the pride out of her, 
 she goes up to the old gentleman and gives him a very 
 sweet kiss that she had intended for her father, and so 
 leaves the ex-judge with a much better appreciation of 
 what the Honorable Sampson really is than his son had 
 given him. 
 
 But though prepared in a manner for the Texan s ap 
 pearance, Lord Lincoln cannot restrain a shiver as he 
 hears Mr. Potter s voice in the hall and mutters to him 
 self : " Good heavens ! The awful man at the hotel ! " 
 
 However he hasn t much time for reflection, for Mr. 
 Potter enters the room, and in the enthusiasm of the 
 moment, not waiting for Arthur to introduce him, seizes 
 his lordship s hand exclaiming : " Peer, how are you ? " 
 
 "Peer 2 " gasps the nobleman astonished, for he has 
 never been so addressed before. 
 
 "Yes, that s what you re called, ain t it? Peer of the 
 realm ? I used peer because we ll probably be connected 
 and I thought it would be more social." Then the 
 Texan addresses the son and says : " Harthur, I would 
 ave knowed Peer was your daddy anywhar." 
 
 For Mr. Potter s use of the letter H when excited is 
 awful ; in quieter moments he is more conservative. 
 
 " Won t you be seated ? " says Lord Lincoln rather 
 awkwardly, for his senses have nearly left him under Mr. 
 Potter s attentions. 
 
 " Certainly ! Anything to accommodate ! " and the 
 American helps himself to an arm-chair and says, offer 
 ing a Havana : " Ave a cigar, Peer ? I always like to 
 smoke over my business. I can recommend these ; my
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 171 
 
 son sent em to me from Cuba. Put some in your pocket, 
 Harthur, my lad. My darter won t object. I trained 
 her when a baby on my knee to the hodor of the weed." 
 
 Thus urged, his lordship accepts and Arthur takes 
 Potter s advice and two or three of his cigars, for he has 
 smoke 1 one of the Texan s the day before, and has been 
 longing for another like it ever since. After lighting up, 
 however, the young man watching his opportunity whis 
 pers to his father : " Remember , I love his daughter," and 
 leaves the room. 
 
 Looking after him Potter remarks : " A pretty likely 
 boy ! Won t he and my darter make a team ? Eh, 
 Peer ! " 
 
 At this Lord Lincoln smiles for he is very proud of 
 his son, but with a lawyer s caution replies : " Before 
 we proceed, you will excuse me asking you a question, 
 Mr. Potter, as to your family. Any one about here can 
 tell you all about the Lincolns, but you come from a 
 distant country and I should like to know a little of your 
 family history." 
 
 <l That s natural !" says Potter, " and I ll tell you my 
 life. I was born in England, of no family to speak of ; 
 my parents died before I knew em. I was educated at 
 a Blue Coat school, hemigrated to Texas at fifteen, started 
 across the plains on the gold fever to California. Our 
 train was massacreed by Injuns and I and Ida s mother 
 was all that was left alive. I saved the gal, but was 
 scalped* doing it. Like to see my head ? It s a curios 
 ity ! " 
 
 " Not at present ! " gasps Lord Lincoln. 
 
 " All right, then I ll go on. The future Mrs. Potter was 
 of very high breeding ; the blue grass blood of Kentucky 
 flowed in her veins, her relations had all been killed, and 
 I was the only one left to protect her. And I did, and 
 loved her and married her and settled down and built a 
 log-cabin, and then after a while Houston, that s my boy, 
 was born, and then came the war, and I was a colonel in 
 the Confederate service " 
 
 " A colonel ! you never use the title ! " interjects the 
 Englishman. 
 
 " No, I m one of the few man as fought in the late 
 unpleasantness as don t have a military orniment to my 
 name. After I was elected to hoffice, I found Con-
 
 172 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 gressmen were scarcer than colonels, and I dropped the 
 colonel and took the honorable. D y e see > jidge beg 
 pardon, I mean Peer ! " returns Mr. Potter. " Wall, I 
 came back from the front one time desperately wounded, 
 and found my wife was dead, but ad left me a little 
 baby as her momentum upon earth ! " Here the old man 
 stops speaking and turns his head away as if seeing 
 something in the far-off .past, and his eyes are red as 
 he looks again upon the Englishman whose face is also 
 sad, for this has made Lincoln think of his wife who has 
 passed away from him. 
 
 After a moment, however, he says : " I beg your par 
 don. What did you say your wife left you ? I hardly 
 caught your last." 
 
 " I said she left me her momentum, her image, Ida 
 Potter, and I allowed as I would Jive my life for the 
 daughter as I would ave lived it for the mother. Then I 
 looked around me and I seed ten thousand acres of land 
 and two thousand head of cattle, hall for the little baby, 
 Ida Potter, of Potter s Cross Roads, Comanche County, 
 Texas ; and ten years arter I gazed about me and dis- 
 kivered two hundred thousand acres of land and twenty 
 thousand head of cattle, all for my darter, Miss Ida Pot 
 ter, of Potterstown, Comanche County, State of Texas ; 
 and twenty years afterward, jist a month ago to-day, I 
 squinted around me and surveyed five hundred thousand 
 acres of land, and fifty thousand head of cattle and half 
 a bank and half ha hopera-house and half a railroad, all 
 for my darter, the Honorable Miss Hida Potter, of the 
 metropolis of Pottersville, Comanche County, State of 
 Texas ! " As he says this, Mr. Potter, who in imagina 
 tion has gradually grown with his town, stands beaming 
 with excitement and gazing at his hearer. Then he 
 remarks : " How does that strike you ? " 
 
 "You seem to have done remarkably well," returns 
 Lord Lincoln ; " but who has the other half of the rail 
 road, bank, and opera-house ? " 
 
 " Them s for my son ! Them s for my son," repeats 
 Mr. Potter, 1 proudly ; " but bless my heart ! I know I ll 
 cheat the boy in the division. I love him, but Houston s 
 a man and can take care of himself, and boys get away 
 from us but it s the darters, Peer, they get into our 
 old hearts. You ve a sweet little gal yourself ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 173 
 
 " Yes, and she ll marry too, and go away from me. 
 Don t say any more, Potter you break my heart ! " in 
 terrupts Lincoln, his eyes getting weak at the thought 
 of his Ethel s blue eyes and sunny hair going to far-away 
 Australia. And then these two old fogies look at each 
 other and fall into each other s arms, and burst into tears, 
 but respect and love each other, and are great friends 
 ever afterward. 
 
 " Now, Peer," says Mr. Potter, getting control of him 
 self first, " I want you to meet me on the matter between 
 us, not as a lord to honorable, but as man to man, each 
 a working for the happiness of his child." 
 
 " And I will do so. No one could listen to your story 
 and see your great love for your daughter, and not re 
 spect you, sir." And rising from his seat Lord Lincoln 
 says : " I am proud to ask from you the honor of your 
 daughter s hand for my son ! " 
 
 " Granted, Peer, granted ! " replies Potter, and then 
 says : " Let s go out and see the young folks ! " 
 
 This they do, and Ida, who is walking with Arthur, 
 perceiving the two patriarchs of their families coming 
 toward them arm in arm, whispers to her sweetheart : 
 " I knew they d love each other. See, am I not super 
 stitious? I m wearing my lucky bracelet," and shows him 
 the band of gold and sovereign bangle that the young 
 man has noticed in Venice. " This generally brings me 
 good fortune." 
 
 " Indeed ! Is it a charm ? " asks Arthur, taking hold 
 of it fo; an excuse to press the white arm it ornaments. 
 
 u I think it one don t kiss it, Arthur. They re near 
 they ll see you ! " 
 
 But Arthur s lips are too close to the lovely wrist, and 
 as he kisses he notices a little cross upon the sovereign 
 and calls her attention to it. 
 
 " Why, it s just under the 8 and 4 of the date. I never 
 noticed it before. I ll ask papa about it some day 
 but now I have to fascinate your father, and you have 
 to captivate mine." 
 
 With this she turns to Lord Lincoln and takes his arm, 
 leaving her father and Mr. Arthur to become better ac 
 quainted. 
 
 A little time after this they go in to lunch, where Miss 
 Ethel joins them, looking distressed and disappointed,
 
 174 MR - POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 for she has been all the morning in a summer house that 
 commands a view of the Folkestone road, looking and 
 longing for the sight of Charley Errol, who comes not ; 
 and Mr. Van Cott and the Honorable Teddy joining 
 them from the billiard-room, the party find themselves 
 complete. In fact, altogether too complete ; for Master 
 Teddy, who has been permitted the pleasures of the 
 adult table in honor of Mr. Potter s visit, contrives to 
 make two remarkable faux pas that produce unexpected 
 effects in the far-off future. 
 
 First of all, in the jovial unconcern of youth, he inci 
 dentally calls little Van Cott a dude. 
 
 " Oh, he s a dude, is he ? " says Mr. Potter in an 
 awful tone of voice, glaring so strangely at the unfortu 
 nate Van Cott that he squirms in his chair, though every 
 one else bursts into a laugh. "A dude ! I ve never seen 
 one afore, but I ve read of them. Thar was one down 
 our way once, but he got lost somewhar before he got to 
 my place. He was never found. " 
 
 This last Mr. Potter utters very solemnly, and though he 
 does not mention the subject again, from this moment he 
 begins to despise, loathe, and hate Mr. Van Cott. For the 
 name having been just coined, every would-be humorist 
 of the day in America had been shooting his bolt at the 
 tribe ; and had made the name of dude a title of con 
 tempt and derision, especially in the extreme West, where 
 they never saw the article, and judged of it only from 
 what the newspapers said about it. As for Mr. Potter, he 
 regards dudes in the same category as he does Indians, 
 greasers, and rattlesnakes ; that is, things to be killed on 
 sight. 
 
 " Now, I appeal to you all, especially the ladies, is it 
 not perfectly fearful of young Master Teddy to call me a 
 dude ? cries Van Cott. 
 
 " Can t you stand a little truth ? " says Potter, looking 
 at him with scorn. " You re as tender and as touchy 
 as a newspaper after it s slandered every man in the com 
 munity except the editor ! " 
 
 "You don t seem to like newspapers," suggests Lord 
 Lincoln, wishing to change the subject. 
 
 " No, sir ! I ran for Congress once and one of em 
 called me an ajias," returns Potter snappishly. " Of 
 course I had the editor out."
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 175 
 
 " Papa ! don t don t, please, tell us any of your awful 
 duels ! " cries his daughter, remembering with a shudder 
 the stories of her father s deadly pistol. 
 
 " This wasn t so bad," says Potter with a grin. " Lord 
 bless you, he looked so young that I pitied him and only 
 shot him through the arm, though I was most certain it 
 would lose me my election." 
 
 " A deed of mercy lose you your election ? " echoes 
 Arthur, astonished. 
 
 " Yes. You see the boys didn t look at it in that way ; 
 they kinder thought I had lost my nerve, and couldn t shoot 
 any more, and so went back on me." And Mr. Potter goes 
 to eating in a savage manner, thinking of the wrongs he 
 has received from the press, as what American politician 
 has not ? 
 
 A few moments after this, Mr. Potter is giving a gen 
 eral dissertation on some scientific subject, when the 
 Honorable Teddy, who during the meal has been gazing 
 at him with open-eyed, open-mouthed curiosity, and 
 has for the first time in his life been unable to eat, sud 
 denly petrifies everybody by asking : " Say, when the In 
 dians scalped you did they take out the brains ? " 
 
 This remark seems so horribly appropriate, for Potter 
 has been in very deep water upon the scientific question, 
 that every one stops eating and there comes a cruel si 
 lence, broken only by a snicker from Van Cott. Then 
 Arthur without saying a word ejects the youthful seeker 
 after knowledge. 
 
 Meantime catching Van Cott s giggle, and not liking to 
 be laughed at by a dude (as which Mr. Potter now regards 
 him) the frontier warrior turns an awful eye upon this 
 snickering civilized creature and says : Young man, 
 don t play with me ! " 
 
 " N n -no I won t ! " gasps Van Cott, his laugh dy 
 ing away in a peculiar choking gurgle, and the whole 
 party are relieved when the meal is over. 
 
 Mr. Potter soon recovers his good humor, and tells 
 them he is going to Boulogne to thank Lady Annerley 
 for past favors. 
 
 To which his daughter makes no objection, imagining 
 it is for that lady s chaperonage of her upon the Conti 
 nent ; though both Arthur and Ethel look serious at the 
 mention of her name, Arthur, because he sees that his
 
 176 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 sister fears her influence on Errol, and Ethel because her 
 Charley has not yet come to see her father. 
 
 As they are all assembled to bid Mr. Potter good-by 
 she ventures to ask him rather tremblingly if he has seen 
 Mr. Errol that day. 
 
 " Why yes," he replies ; " saw him at the hotel at 
 Folkestone as I drove over." 
 
 Then noticing the anxious glance of the young lady, 
 and remembering his daughter has told him that Ethel is 
 in love with the Australian, Mr. Potter proceeds to fig 
 uratively drive a nail in that gentleman s coffin. He 
 takes Lord Lincoln aside and says to him : " Peer, I ve 
 heard as how young Errol is a sparking your daughter ; 
 now, being as it were one of the family, I wants to warn 
 you of him." 
 
 " Why, what has he done? " asks Lincoln, looking very 
 serious. 
 
 " Last night at the otel I saw him fresh and hearty; this 
 morning when I came from London he looked gone up, 
 couldn t gaze me in the heye seemed ashamed like. 
 Now thar s only one thing does that kind of business 
 over night and that s too much whisky ! " 
 
 " Potter, you must be mistaken ! " gasps his lordship. 
 
 " Not at all ! We have whisky in Texas, and I know 
 the effects of it." And with a farewell kiss to his 
 daughter, Mr. Potter gets in the carriage that has come 
 for him, and drives off for Folkestone on his way to 
 Boulogne. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AN ENGLISH JUDGE. 
 
 THE library of Channel View is upon the ground floor, 
 and French windows make it easy of access from the ter 
 race, which leads down to the gardens at the back of the 
 house. Soon after Mr. Potter s departure, his daughter 
 wanders into this room, and not finding interest in any of 
 the law-books with which its shelves are crowded, passes 
 from it into another and smaller apartment where novels 
 and lighter literature abound. This apartment is only 
 separated from the other by a curtained arch, and sitting
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 177 
 
 down to read, for Arthur is at present occupied with his 
 father, after a few minutes Miss Potter gets a surprise 
 and then a shock. 
 
 Lord Lincoln comes into the library. Actuated by 
 Mr. Potter s remarks, he has just had a little conversa 
 tion with Arthur, and asked that gentleman some rather 
 pointed questions about young Errol which have set 
 his son to grinding his teeth, as he sees his sister s pale 
 cheeks and suffering eyes ; for he attributes the tardiness 
 of Ethel s lover entirely to Lady Annerley. 
 
 This interview is broken up, however, by Miss Ethel 
 herself, who comes running to her father, a pretty blush 
 upon her face, and whispers : " Papa, go into the li 
 brary, he s coming up the lawn. I saw him with an opera- 
 glass. " 
 
 " He who ? " says the peer, not catching her meaning 
 for a moment. 
 
 " Why, my the gentleman I I spoke to you about ! 
 Papa, what makes you ask such horrid, searching ques 
 tions ? I m not on the witness-stand ! " laughs the girl, 
 who is now as happy as a bird in summer. 
 
 " Oh ! ha Mr. Errol ! " 
 
 "And I wish to say just one word more about my 
 Charley, I love him ! " and with this she playfully shoves 
 Lord Lincoln into the library, and as she does so, her 
 father knows she tells the truth, and prays that Potter 
 may have been mistaken. 
 
 " Yoii told me that twenty times last night ! " 
 
 " Did I ? " This is in a tone of astonished reflection. 
 " Then," she says, with great decision, " I tell it to you 
 again ! So I hope you ll help him on a bit. You know 
 it must be very embarrassing for a young man to ask the 
 father." 
 
 " More so than it is to ask the daughter ? " returns the 
 father, patting her cheek. 
 
 " Oh ! very much more so ! " This is said contempla 
 tively. " You see he hasn t the inspiration that s me ! " 
 and she looks at her father archly and laughs. 
 
 " Then the inspiration had better be present ! " 
 
 " Ough ! I couldn t think of that ! But wait till you 
 see my Charley ; no one could resist my Charley. When 
 he says : Darling, I love you, you ll kiss him I mean 
 I ll kiss him oh! what do I mean ?" cries Miss Ethel, 
 
 12
 
 178 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 getting red in the face at some of the thoughts in her 
 head. 
 
 " Do you think he ll dare address me in that way ? " 
 
 " No, not if you look as solemn as that ! But, papa 
 dear, don t keep him long from me. Just give him your 
 blessing and send him out into the garden, and I ll I ll 
 do the rest. See, isn t his engagement ring pretty ? " 
 And, rather trembling at her audacity, Miss Ethel flashes 
 Errol s diamonds into her father s face. 
 
 "And you wear it before my consent is received?" 
 says her father with a little tremble in his voice, for this 
 is the first tangible evidence that his daughter has set 
 up a newer and a stronger idol in her heart. 
 
 " Because I know you ll give it ! " And the girl, see 
 ing she has wounded him, tries to apologize by kisses. 
 Then, after a moment she cries : " He ll be coming. Re 
 member I m in the garden," and gets to one of the win 
 dows, then turns and throws her father another kiss and 
 laughs : " No one could resist my Charley ! " and flies to 
 hide her blushes and her love from the man coming up 
 the avenue. 
 
 Here Miss Potter, who has heard but little of this inter 
 view, for it has been carried on mostly in an undertone 
 between father and daughter, would come out. 
 
 She is about to do so when somebody staggers into the 
 library from one of the French windows, and she hears 
 a voice which she knows, but hoarse and changed, and 
 then Percy Lincoln answering him, and as he does so, his 
 voice becomes grating and harsh, for he suffers too. 
 The words they say drive her back. And as they go on 
 she, standing there behind the curtains, her eyes filled 
 with sympathy and horror, hears things that make her 
 start and writhe, and at the close she could cry out and 
 groan and moan like the other two ; for from one man s 
 agony comes another s woe, and then from that a wom 
 an s fears and tremblings, and almost despair. For this 
 is what they say. 
 
 It is Errol s voice speaks first : 
 
 " You are Percy Lincoln, once judge of the Queen s 
 Bench ? " 
 
 " And who are you ?" cries the peer, for the creature 
 before him is unshaved, and his clothes, though good, are 
 those of a man who has not been to bed, his linen dirty
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 179 
 
 and unchanged, and he has matted hair and blood-shot 
 eyes that have a hangdog look about them and seek 
 the floor. 
 
 " I am Charles Errol, son of Ralph Errol, the con 
 vict, whom you sentenced thirty years ago as a thief and 
 burglar, but I didn t know it till last night ! " 
 
 " My heavens, how ill you re looking, my poor boy ! " 
 and Lincoln would ring for assistance and refreshment, 
 but the other stops him saying : " No she d come in, and 
 I couldn t look at her ! " 
 
 At this there s a gasp, " My daughter ! " though Errol 
 appears to hardly hear it, and goes on : " That s why I 
 sneaked in here. I haven t slept ! All last night I was 
 thinking thinking thinking that I was a convict s son, 
 that when to-morrow s sun arose I couldn t look you or 
 any .other man in the face, for I m not accustomed to this 
 shame ! My father hid it from me. Oh ! if he had not ! " 
 Here the poor fellow pleads : " I wouldn t have brought 
 sorrow into your family. But now I appeal to. you, 
 not as a father, but as a lawyer. You have left the 
 bench ! My father says he is innocent. I believe him ! 
 Aid me to prove it for my sake, for your daughter s 
 sake." 
 
 " Good heavens ! Ethel ! " mutters the judge, begin 
 ning to tremble. Then he says, forcing himself to calm 
 ness for her sake : " Do you know the circumstances of 
 your father s conviction ? " 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 " vVhat date was it ? " 
 
 " Somewhere about thirty-two or three years ago ! " 
 
 And Percy Lincoln, staggering to one of his book-cases, 
 looks over his bound journal of cases tried before him, 
 and finally, in the record of the year 1850, " THE QUEEN 
 vs. RALPH ERROL ! " stares him in the face. Then get 
 ting to his desk again, he reads this memorandum, and be 
 gins to remember something of that curious case. "Bur 
 glary and theft," he mutters ; then gives a flash of hope 
 to the creature who is hanging on his words, for he says : 
 " I charged in favor of the prisoner ! " 
 
 " God bless you for that ! " 
 
 " But the jury thought him guilty ! Try and calm your 
 self so as to listen to me !" And Lord Lincoln, restrain 
 ing his own agitation, reads Errol these notes upon his
 
 l8o MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 father s case : " Ralph Errol, age twenty-five, married, 
 clerk of Jaffey & Stevens, bankers, Fleet Street, London. 
 Charged with stealing on January 6, 1850, A. ix, one 
 hundred sovereigns, purposely marked to detect thief. 
 My notes are very complete. I have even on this page an 
 accurate description of the marked coins look ! " 
 
 Placing the book before Charley Errol, the judge 
 reads on : " Each sovereign was of the coinage of 1849, 
 and was identified by a cross placed between the figures 
 8 and 4 in the date." 
 
 At this, if they were not so interested, they would hear 
 from the room where Ida Potter stands a little cry of sur 
 prise ; for she is gazing astounded at the coin upon her 
 bracelet. 
 
 " The prisoner was arrested on board the Australian 
 packet, and on his person, or disposed of by him and re 
 covered, were seventy of the one hundred marked c/>ins. 
 The remaining thirty were supposed to have been taken 
 by his confederate, the office boy, who disappeared the 
 same day Sammy Potts ! " 
 
 Here the listening woman reels and mutters a cry of 
 dismay, though it is under her breath. 
 
 "Sammy Potts !" says Errol hoarsely ; " that s the boy 
 my father mentioned." 
 
 But the judge reads on : "Jonas Stevens, the manag 
 ing clerk of Jaffey & Stevens, testified sovereigns were 
 marked to detect thief, as firm had lost ^?5,ooo before 
 by similar thefts, undoubtedly made by some one in their 
 bank. He appeared friendly to prisoner and said what 
 he could for him." 
 
 " You see, he thought him innocent," interrupts Errol. 
 
 " This journal does not say so ! " remarks the lawyer, 
 who goes on reading : " The inner door of the office had 
 been forced. The jury found a breaking and entering, 
 and convicted on second count burglary. Prisoner 
 when about to be sentenced made the following remark 
 able statement : He had intended to emigrate to Aus 
 tralia, but knowing his wife s parents would object to their 
 daughter leaving England, had secretly taken passage for 
 Melbourne, collected his savings, one hundred sover 
 eigns, resigned his position at Jaffey & Stevens, placed 
 his money in a bag in his private desk at bank. Went 
 home, returned the next morning, found office door open,
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. l8l 
 
 took his bag of sovereigns, and went on board the vessel, 
 where his wife met him ; before sailing, was arrested and 
 dragged back, to be convicted of stealing his own prop 
 erty or what had been substituted for it. Concluding 
 said : Find Sammy Potts, the office boy, who slept in 
 the building and has so mysteriously disappeared, and 
 against whom a true bill has been brought as my accom 
 plicefind the other thirty marked sovereigns, and you ll 
 have the clew to what makes me a criminal and drives me 
 a convict from the land of my birth ! " then Percy Lin 
 coln closes the book. 
 
 " This Jonas Stevens who spoke for my father yes, 
 and did more than that ; for here is his name attached to 
 a number of the advertisements for Sammy Potts," bursts 
 in Errol, showing the lawyer a lot of the papers he has 
 obtained from London, " where is he ?" 
 
 " Dead ! " 
 
 " Ah ! death cuts me off everywhere ! " 
 
 " He became the great banker, the late Sir Jonas Ste 
 vens." 
 
 " The father of Lady Annerley ! That is why she was 
 so interested in me ; she might aid 
 
 " She can know nothing of importance," returns the 
 judge calmly but sorrowfully. " At this late date your 
 case is almost hopeless." 
 
 " It shall not be hopeless ! " cries out the Australian 
 with the ardor of youth. " Name any fee you like, but 
 help me to prove my father is a wronged man ! " 
 
 " Any fee ? " mutters Lord Lincoln, and begins to think. 
 
 " I am imploring you not only for my sake, but for 
 your daughter s her happiness 
 
 " Her happiness ! " gasps the peer, and then, after a 
 moment, he says slowly : " Young man, I ll take your 
 case ! " 
 
 " Heaven bless you ! " 
 
 " But you must pay my fee ! " 
 
 " How much ? " 
 
 " It is not money ! " 
 
 " Not money ? " 
 
 " I want my daughter s happiness ! " cries the peer 
 hoarsely. " I shall prepare a paper and you must sign 
 it ! " and with that he sits down and writes very rapidly. 
 
 " My God ! I know what you re going to do. You re
 
 l82 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 going to ask me to give her up," cries back the young 
 man, wringing his hands and sinking into a chair and 
 gazing at the father of his loved one who is going to take 
 her from him forever. 
 
 And as he sits there, his back to the window, Miss 
 Ethel puts her head in and cries : " Papa, you are keep 
 ing Charley very long ! " 
 
 At her voice the two men shudder and gaze at each 
 other, but neither dares look at her. Then, though she 
 does not come in, she breaks her lover s heart, for she 
 tosses some roses playfully over him and laughs : " I ll 
 be found in the garden," and goes off singing in merry 
 contrast to the poor wretch, who snatches up the flowers 
 and gasps : " Perhaps after to-day this is all I ll have left 
 of her ! " then covers them with kisses and crushes 
 them into his bosom. 
 
 By this time his lordship has finished writing and 
 says, " Listen ! " and then very solemnly reads to Errol 
 something that sounds to him like a death-warrant, for it 
 is : " I, Charles Errol, do hereby release Miss Ethel Lin 
 coln from any promise she has made me, and consent 
 never to speak to her again." 
 
 " Sign that and keep it ! " cries the peer, " and I ll labor 
 for your father till the day of my death ! " 
 
 " You you wish to separate me from your daughter s 
 life ? " 
 
 " Entirely ! " 
 
 Finding no mercy in the old man s tone, the younger 
 one breaks out in despair : " Thirty years ago you sen 
 tenced my father to banishment ; to-day, for being his son, 
 you sentence me to worse ! Your daughter loves me ! " 
 
 " That s the reason ! " says Lincoln with a groan. " I 
 will not have her life wrecked by marrying the son of a 
 criminal ! There s not one chance in a thousand of prov 
 ing your father s innocence ! " 
 
 " Then give the son that chance also ! " shrieks out 
 Errol. " I have everything on earth to make your child 
 happy, save family honor ; if I regain that, and lose her, 
 I have nothing but honor. Pity me, pity her, give me 
 the one chance in a thousand ! " 
 
 This last is said in a way that affects the father very 
 deeply. He begins to reflect that his daughter loves the 
 young fellow who is before him, more agitated and more
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 183 
 
 broken than if he were sentencing him to death. Look 
 ing at him, and seeing how he suffers, he imagines his 
 Ethel gazing at him with the same despair, and after a 
 moment s consideration he says : " I will give you the 
 one chance ! " then tears up the paper. 
 
 " I ! I ! " Errol s eyes beam with hope. 
 
 " For I believe you love my child ! and now your word 
 of honor as a man, that, till I give you my permission, you 
 will not speak to her ! " 
 
 " God bless you ! it is yours ! " and Charley seizes his 
 hand. 
 
 " On your honor as a man ! " says the father solemnly. 
 
 "On my honor as a man !" returns the Australian, 
 looking Lord Lincoln straight in the eyes. " But you 
 will work for my father s good name?" 
 
 " Yes, and for my daughter s happiness ! " and the 
 lawyer rings the bell and orders his carriage. 
 
 " Where are you going ? " asks Errol, who now for the 
 first time since the night before seems to have regained 
 thorough command of his senses. 
 
 " To London to read up the complete record of your 
 case ! Where can I communicate with your father ? " 
 
 " In Boulogne ; they ordered him out of England last 
 night ! " 
 
 "Last night ! Humph ! curious the Home Office got 
 the information so suddenly. I must investigate that ! " 
 says .Lincoln, who is now becoming interested in his 
 cas ( " as a lawyer. 
 
 Here a servant enters and says : " A man named 
 Brackett wishes to see Mr. Errol ! " 
 
 " This is Mr. Errol," replies the peer, and then takes 
 Charley aside and asks : " Who is Brackett ? " 
 
 " The detective who took my father out of England. I 
 hired him to discover if any one informed the Home Office 
 of my father s arrival." 
 
 " Quite right," returns the lawyer. " If he has discov 
 ered anything, let me know at once. My London address 
 is- the Carleton ! 
 
 " Won t you see him ? " asks Errol. 
 
 " No at least not at present. I don t care about being 
 known as your counsel in this matter. Even if you 
 prove your father s innocence, the only way he can 
 now be set right before the world is her majesty s free
 
 184 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 pardon, and as the judge who presided at the trial, my 
 recommendation will have greater weight if I do not act 
 publicly as his lawyer. See this man here, and telegraph 
 me what he says. Then, for God s sake, get away without 
 letting my daughter see you ! " 
 
 With this he turns to the servant and says : " Show 
 Mr. Brackett in ! " 
 
 " What shall I do then ? " asks Errol hopelessly. 
 
 " Devote your time to finding those thirty marked sov 
 ereigns, and if alive Sammy Potts!" says his lordship 
 hurriedly. " I m afraid it s your father s only chance ! " 
 
 Then Lord Lincoln, with a very grave face, goes out to 
 his carriage, passing Sergeant Brackett, who is coming in 
 preceded by his little dog, and who pulls off his hat to 
 the peer and says : " Morning, my lord ! " 
 
 Arrived at his carriage Lincoln mutters to the footman : 
 " To the London train ! tell em I ll be down to-night ! " 
 and drives away, turning over in his mind how he shall 
 break the news to his daughter, whom he is for the first 
 time in his life not anxious to see. 
 
 " Well ?" says Charley, hurriedly, as the detective comes 
 in. 
 
 " Well ! " returns Brackett, lifting little Snapper into 
 a chair. 
 
 " How did you leave my father ? " 
 
 " In Boulogne, at the Hotel cf Angleterre. He was as 
 happy as could be expected. He told me to say so to 
 you." 
 
 "Yes, the dear old governor always remembers me," 
 mutters Errol, and thinking of his father s disgrace and 
 humiliation, his son s lip trembles, but after a moment he 
 says : " Go on ! " 
 
 " Well, I returned to London last night, and this morn 
 ing I have rather a pull on one of the clerks in the Home 
 Office I got a look at the letters." 
 
 " The letters ? " 
 
 " Yes, there was two of em, and I then found out who 
 serxt the information that your father was expected from 
 Australia." 
 
 " His name ?" 
 
 " Not his, but hers Lady Annerley ! " 
 
 " Lady Annerley ? She s the dearest friend I have on 
 earth ! You are mistaken, sir ! " returns Errol, sternly.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 185 
 
 " You can t calculate on widows or women, sir," 
 mutters Brackett, respectfully but firmly, " and I ll prove 
 it." 
 
 " That she would deliberately injure me in this cruel 
 way I ll not believe you ! " says the Australian very 
 warmly. 
 
 " But you shall, sir ! " exclaims Brackett, who has dog 
 ged blood in his veins. " Knowing its importance I tele 
 graphed in your name to her, and received for you in 
 answer this telegram, and as it was important followed 
 you with it from the hotel at Folkestone." 
 
 Then the detective, handing him a telegram addressed 
 to Charles Errol, the young man reads : 
 
 "Your message received. Don t fail to come to-day, as I leave 
 Boulogne to-morrow. SARAH ANNERLEY." 
 
 After looking this over once or twice Charley care 
 lessly drops it on Judge Lincoln s desk, and says : " This 
 explains nothing, and by no means proves your story." 
 
 " Go to Boulogne, sir see her, and pump her in per 
 son," suggests Brackett, eagerly, and seeing Errol hesitate, 
 he clinches the matter by adding : u I ll swear it. Why, 
 she even sent a letter from Paris the day before yester 
 day. I got a copy of it before I came down to nab 
 your old man. It s in my pocket-book ! " With this 
 the detective shows Errol the following : 
 
 " To THE HOME SECRETARY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT, LON- 
 
 D ON : 
 
 " The ticket-of-leave man, Ralph Errol, will be in Folkestone to 
 morrow afternoon ." 
 
 Then he says: "The post-mark of that letter was 
 Paris, October i4th. Was Lady Annerley in Paris 
 then ?" 
 
 " Certainly. We had just arrived from Venice ! " 
 
 " And the post-mark of the first letter sent the Home 
 Secretary was Venice, October gth. Where was her lady 
 ship on that date ? " 
 
 " In Venice." 
 
 " Do you see ? Two places fixes her pretty well. Be 
 sides who could have learned your movements ? Please 
 go over and pump her, and I ll follow you in a few hours 
 with a fac-simile of the letter she wrote from Italy." 
 
 Thus adjured Errol answers : " Very well ; but until
 
 l86 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 you do prove it, don t accuse Sarah Annerley of such a 
 crime against me. Brackett, let us go ! " 
 
 " All right ! " says the detective, then calling to the dog, 
 " Stop biting that tidy, Snapper," he departs for Folke 
 stone, followed by his pet. 
 
 Errol sets his teeth and follows the detective, groan 
 ing to himself: "What will Ethel say to my deserting 
 her without a word ? " 
 
 He goes out of the library, forgetting in his excitement 
 Lady Annerley s telegram, and not noticing the rustle of 
 a dress behind him. For Miss Potter, who has been pant 
 ing like an imprisoned dove and waiting for him to go 
 away, staggers out of the little room, and with a very pale 
 though determined face seizes upon the record of THE 
 QUEEN vs. ERROL, and reads it over, comparing the coin 
 upon her bracelet with the description in the judge s 
 journal, muttering : " Identical ! the same ! " Then she 
 cries : " The name in my father s Bible Sammy Potts ! 
 There s an indictment for him as a felon ! " and claps her 
 hand to her heart as if she were wounded. But after a 
 time she mutters : " My father, a thief ? Absurd ! I ll 
 follow him and ask him how I come to wear a portion 
 of the plunder that made Ralph Errol a convict." 
 
 With this she gets out of the room, calls her maid, and 
 leaving a note for Arthur saying business has compelled 
 her to follow her father, walks down the avenue and 
 meets Lord Lincoln s carriage returning. This she stops 
 and orders the coachman to take her to Folkestone, 
 which the man readily does as he knows her very well. 
 So, attended by her maid, Miss Potter gets to the railway 
 station, and finding the boat from Dover to Calais sails 
 the earlier, seats herself in the train to the former place 
 and proceeds to Boulogne. 
 
 Errol, after walking gloomily alongside the detective 
 for a quarter of a mile in silence, suddenly pauses -and 
 says : " Brackett, go on to Folkestone and get me a 
 ticket. I ll be after you in a few minutes." 
 
 You ll be late for the boat ! " 
 
 " I can t help that," returns the young man. " I ve 
 left Lady Annerley s telegram behind me. I must get 
 it at any cost ! " And he, unheeding the detective s 
 remonstrances, resolutely turns back toward Lord Lin 
 coln s villa, passing the carriage tnat is bearing Miss Pot-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 187 
 
 ter on her way to Boulogne. Neither of them sees each 
 other, both being too occupied with their meditations, for 
 Errol has just now thought : " My Heaven ! what will 
 Kthel imagine if she sees Lady Annerley s telegram ? " 
 This idea sends him into a run. 
 
 As for Mr. Brackett, he trudges on toward Folkestone, 
 muttering : " I m afraid Lady Sarah ain t going to help 
 him much to his father s innocence. I rather think it s 
 jealousy or some other cat-like female notion for the son 
 made her ladyship peach on his old man ! " 
 
 Now all this is very wise for Brackett, but he is shining 
 in reflected light. The elder Errol had given him more 
 money in Boulogne, and Sergeant Brackett had with it 
 hired the brightest mind upon the London detective force, 
 and so far has been acting under his advice. Later on, 
 when unexpected and trying circumstances arise, Mr. 
 Brackett is by no means so shrewd, and gets into very 
 hot water. The sergeant has been sent down by the 
 Home Office to do a nasty, cruel piece of business for 
 them in as kind a way as possible, for Brackett is a man 
 with a tender heart despite his official duties, though he 
 is generally and justly regarded at Scotland Yard as 
 ihe fool of the force. However, he whistles to his dog, 
 and getting to Folkestone buys Mr. Errol a ticket to 
 Boulogne, being quite capable of such duties. 
 
 Returned to Lord Lincoln s house, Errol enters the 
 library cautiously to obtain the telegram. 
 
 While searching for this, which is not a rapid job, as 
 Miss Potter has in her hurry and excitement made a 
 litter of the papers on Lord Lincoln s table, he is hor 
 rified to hear the Honorable Teddy crying outside : 
 c Come, Ethel ! Quick ! Your young man has been look 
 ing for you all over the garden and can t find you ! He s 
 in the library now ! " 
 
 Knowing the terrible embarrassment of meeting her, he 
 leaves the telegram unfound and starts for the window, 
 but as he does so Arthur comes in through the door lead 
 ing from the house and says to him : " Ah, Charley, my 
 boy ! How did the governor meet you ? All right, eh ? " 
 To which Errol returns : " Yes but I must go now 
 but before I go " and would explain to the young man, 
 but Ethel enters and running to him cries : " Why didn t 
 you come to me in the garden ? "
 
 l88 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " You were going without seeing my sister ? " remarks 
 Arthur rather curiously. For he is in by no means a good 
 humor, having just got his fiancee s note, and having heard 
 his future father-in-law made fun of by Van Cott by in 
 sinuations that he cannot resent, for they were something 
 in this form : " By Jove ! isn t Miss Potter a noble girl ? 
 She really loves and is proud of her father. Isn t it beau 
 tiful to see ? " etc., etc. 
 
 Miss Ethel does not pay any attention to this ; she is 
 questioning with both eyes and mouth : <b What did papa 
 say ? " 
 
 " He s gone to London," stammers Errol. 
 
 " Charley, what is the matter ? " cries the girl. " Why 
 don t you answer ? Oh, papa can t have refused ! " 
 
 Here Errol astounds both brother and sister by saying 
 doggedly : " I I haven t asked him." 
 
 " Not asked him ? " At this Ethel s lips begin to quiver 
 and tears to gather in her eyes, that become reproachful. 
 
 " Then what the devil did you come here for ? " asks 
 Arthur very savagely, for he has now got something to 
 vent his anger upon ; and hasn t been very much pleased 
 with Errol s conduct in regard to Lady Annerley the day 
 before. 
 
 "I lean tell you nothing ! " mutters the Australian, 
 whose soul cries " No ! " to the thought of telling the 
 woman he loves that he is the son of a convict. 
 
 " I insist on knowing ! " returns Arthur. " Your pres 
 ence here, if you die not speak, is an insult to my sister." 
 
 But Ethel cries : " No, no, Arthur ! Charley loves and 
 could not insult me ! " 
 
 And her lover groans : "/ insult you?" for the girl 
 has kept on begging him, as he loves her, to tell her why 
 he has not spoken. 
 
 On this Errol steadies himself and says to her, holding 
 her eyes with his : " I entreat you to believe me without 
 speaking. Ethel, will you trust me if I am silent till I 
 return ? " 
 
 Looking in his face the girl believes, and murmurs : 
 " I love you and I ll trust you ! " 
 
 But here Arthur comes between them and says : " As 
 this young lady s brother I ask an explanation now ! You 
 are going where ? " 
 
 "To Boulogne ! " replies Errol hoarsely.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 189 
 
 These words horrify his sweetheart and she cries out : 
 " To Boulogne ? After your promise ? Why, you gave 
 me your word you would not go and see Lady Sarah ! " 
 
 Now this makes her brother white with rage, and he 
 says sneeringly : " And you demeaned yourself, Ethel, 
 to ask a promise that would not have been necessary if 
 he loved you ? " 
 
 To this insinuation Errol does not reply ; but taking 
 Arthur aside whispers to him : " If you insist on knowing, 
 that book on your father s desk will tell you why I can 
 not speak to your sister ; but for God s sake don t tell 
 her ! " then turns to go. 
 
 After a second s search, finding no book, for Miss Pot 
 ter has dropped it on the floor, Arthur picks up the tele 
 graphic message, and glancing over it, cries : " There s 
 no book ! but this telegram from Lady Annerley, which 
 says that you are a scoundrel ! " 
 
 "A scoundrel ? " echoes Errol, coming toward him ; but 
 Ethel shrieks : " No ! no ! " and gets between them, while 
 her brother addresses her in these words : " My sister, 
 this man gained your love ! Was to-day to ask your father 
 for your hand. Yet to-day crosses the Channel in pursuit 
 of Lady Annerley and her money ! This telegram proves 
 it ! " 
 
 Here Ethel gasps out, " Charley ! " looking unutterable 
 reproach. 
 
 This look maddens both the brother and the lover, 
 and passion takes the place of judgment. 
 
 " Etliel, don t believe him," mutters Errol, and then 
 shouts out : " Arthur, you ll repent this ! " 
 
 " Then speak ! " cries the brother. 
 
 " Tell her I am / cannot ! " 
 
 " Then neither will I repent THIS ! " and with his glove 
 he slaps the Australian s face. Then sneers : " Are you 
 a coward ? " 
 
 For the mental shock of this terrible insult before the 
 woman he loves has staggered Errol, though he is now 
 growing larger and his eyes are beginning to have the 
 look they had when he was condemning the Armenian 
 and the Greek to death in Egypt. 
 
 " No ! " he cries hoarsely, and springing toward Arthur 
 there might have been murder done in Judge Lincoln s 
 house that day. But almost blinded by rage, Errol can
 
 190 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 still see the face of his lost love as she sinks be 
 tween him and his foe crying piteously : " Arthur, my 
 brother ! Charley, my lover ! " and holds her little hands 
 between these two men that have now become wild 
 beasts. Chastened by the suffering of the last day Errol 
 looks at Arthur and niukes him ashamed. 
 
 For he gasps: "You ARE HER BROTHER!" Then 
 staggers out of the room and leaves the house. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A WESTERN CYCLONE STRIKES MR. VAN COTT. 
 
 VAN COTT has suddenly disappeared. An hour or so 
 after this Arthur leaves also, for it is not pleasant to be 
 alone in the house with a sister who, instead of looking 
 admiringly and lovingly upon her protector and avenger, 
 shudders and says : " You struck him in my presence, 
 and he did not return the blow because I am your sister 
 and he loved me. Ah ! that was true nobility and noble 
 manhood ! " 
 
 At these times her eyes are so reproachful that Arthur 
 is glad to get away from them, and thinking of his ab 
 sent sweetheart, without saying a word to Ethel bolts for 
 Boulogne, in pursuit of Miss Potter, in a very savage and 
 uncomfortable humor. 
 
 To do this he goes via Dover and Calais, and Miss 
 Ethel discovering it some time afterward, becomes im 
 pressed and terrified by the secresy of her brother s 
 movements. She thinks he has gone after her derelict 
 Charley to bring him to another account at Lady An- 
 nerley s in Boulogne. Desperately fearing that these 
 two men she loves will do each other mortal injury when 
 unrestrained by her presence, poor Ethel, pale with terror 
 and chaperoned by the old family housekeeper that she 
 presses into her service, flies to Folkestone and then 
 takes a tidal steamer for Boulogne, where Lady Annerley 
 awaits all comers, to do battle for Charley Errol s hand. 
 
 So it comes to pass that, an hour and three-quarters 
 after this, landing on the quay at that town, Miss Ethel, 
 with a trembling voice, accosts the Honorable Sampson 
 Potter. He has strolled down to watch the steamer come
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 19! 
 
 in, having failed to find her ladyship at home, as, expect 
 ing Mr. Errol s arrival, she has denied herself to every 
 body else. 
 
 " What s the matter, little one ? " asks Potter, who sees 
 in the girl s pale face signs of the trouble and misery in 
 her heart. 
 
 Have you seen anything of my Cha , I mean Mr. 
 Errol ? I am afraid they ll meet, and oh ! I must stop 
 it." Here Miss Lincoln can say no more, for tears choke 
 her. 
 
 But being petted and soothed and comforted by the 
 old Texan, who. like most good men, has an immense 
 capacity for protecting beauty in distress, Miss Ethel 
 swallows her tears and gasps : " Dear Mr. Potter, can I 
 rely on your aid ? " 
 
 To which the old gentleman replies very solemnly : 
 " As if you was my own darter ! " 
 
 Thus assured, dear little Ethel tells her pathetic story, 
 emphasizing its passion by vivid blushes and its sadness 
 by tender tears. At the close, as she tells him that the 
 two young men had a fearful quarrel, and her brother 
 struck the man she loves, Mr. Potter horrifies her, for he 
 says anxiously : " Great gosh ! a blow passed how long 
 ago ? " 
 
 " Three hours ! " 
 
 " Then it can t be possible that both can be alive ! " 
 
 " Ah ! you know / " This is a scream of agony 
 from Ethel, who fears her Arthur and her Charley have 
 already met in this French city, where the duello is not 
 yet a thing of the past, and that Mr. Potter has seen it. 
 
 " No, I know nothin definite ! " says Potter, who has 
 a very serious face. " But a blow couldn t pass three 
 hours without somebody dying not in Texas ! " 
 
 " But not here ! " replies Ethel. " Men do not kill 
 each other for mere blows here ! " 
 
 " Then what the deuce do they kill each other for ? " 
 asks the Texan, amazed. 
 
 She does not answer this, but goes on very earnestly : 
 " You must save them from themselves your daughter 
 loves one ! " 
 
 Here Mr. Potter starts and mutters : " Good heavens ! 
 my Ida ! I must find Arthur before an accident if he s 
 alive.
 
 IQ2 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 "You don t think him dead? "cries Ethel, for the ter 
 rible manner of the old man frightens her. 
 
 He turns away his face and doesn t answer her, for his 
 thirty odd years in Texas make him think it very proba 
 ble that Arthur is dead. As he says : " When one young 
 man strikes another it s a tarnation serious business. If 
 possible we must find "em." 
 
 " They they came to Boulogne ! " 
 
 " Then they ve come here to We must find em and 
 stop em afore " 
 
 " Before what ? " cries Ethel. 
 
 " Afore they slaughter each other ! " And before Ethel 
 knows what she is doing he has her in a carriage and is 
 driving at racing gait up the quay for the town, not 
 noticing the piteous calls of her chaperon, whom Potter 
 has left astounded and terrified upon the pier. This in 
 dividual now follows them in full cry ; for she is an Eng 
 lish woman who has never been out of England, and such 
 women usually regard the French as barbaiians and cut 
 throats. The ride is a short one. They dash up the 
 Quai Bonaparte, and crossing the bridge called Du Bar 
 rage, make for the Hotel des Bains, where Mr. Potter 
 shrewdly imagines at least one of the young men will be 
 found. 
 
 Miss Ethel finds time, short as it is during the ride, to 
 whisper to the old man who sits at her side that if they 
 fight, her Charley will surely kill her brother, for the girl 
 has heard such stories from Lady Annerley of Errol s 
 prowess in Egypt that she thinks her hero invincible. 
 
 To this Mr. Potter replies, trying to soothe her the 
 girl being in a fearful state of nervous agitation that he s 
 sized up Arthur, and that he looks pretty quick on the 
 trigger. 
 
 " Oh, yes," she sobs, " but no one would resist my 
 Charley. But he knows I love my brother. I ll sacrifice 
 my pride and beg him to spare Arthur, for if they fought 
 I should be lost to him forever ! " 
 
 " That s a prime idea if he loves you ! " returns Potter. 
 
 " If he loves me ? " and there is so much trust and be 
 lief in the girl s eye that the Texan makes no more sug 
 gestions of that kind, though, as he turns the affair over 
 in his mind, he becomes gradually convinced that Errol is 
 a scoundrel and has been captivated by Lady Annerley s
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 193 
 
 magnificent beauty ; that lady s charms having made a 
 great impression upon Mr. Potter the day before. Car 
 ried away with his subject he unconsciously remarks to 
 himself: "Oh, these widders, these young and plump 
 widders, they re powerful players in the game of match- 
 in ! " 
 
 Which gives Miss Ethel another spasm of blushes and 
 agony and shame, for unfortunately she hears him, and 
 guesses what he means. 
 
 Arrived at the Hotel des Bains, to their astonishment 
 they find neither Arthur nor Charley ; but after looking 
 about the office, halls, public parlor, and every place 
 where young men would probably be, Mr. Potter encoun 
 ters, to his joy, Lubbins, the ex-head-waiter of the hotel 
 at Folkestone. 
 
 That worthy has just reported for duty to Lady An- 
 nerley upstairs, and been deftly pumped by her of all he 
 knew of what occurred to Charley Errol and his father 
 after she had left England the evening before. From 
 him she has learnt enough to know that the catastrophe 
 she has prepared has taken place and caused the man she 
 loved misery and despair. 
 
 Meager as Lubbins information is, it has left Lady 
 Annerley in a fearful state, and she is now in her parlor, 
 at one moment crying to herself in triumph : " The 
 man I love is separated from the woman who came be 
 tween us ! " and the next cursing herself for the misery 
 she has brought upon her idol, or, as the mood takes her, 
 muttering : " I will make amends ! Charley, when you 
 know how dearly I love you, you will forgive me even 
 this ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding this, Lady Annerley has no thought of 
 repentance and compassion, though she has some terror. 
 She has been reading the advertisement in the Times for 
 Sammy Potts, the office boy of Jaffey & Stevens, but 
 upon consideration she concludes there is no fear of his 
 being found after thirty years disappearance and silence. 
 
 After a moment s examination, to be quite sure of his 
 man, Potter cries out heartily : " Hello, Lubbins ! what s 
 made you a Frenchman ? " 
 
 To which Lubbins replies, with an obeisance, that he 
 now has the honor to be in Lady Annerley s service ; but 
 that her ladyship is not at home at present, for Lubbins
 
 194 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 remembers that she only wishes to see Mr. Errol, and is 
 very prompt in his lies, telling some of them before he 
 is asked. 
 
 "All right," says Potter; "now I want you to make 
 yourself real smart and useful," and giving him a do 
 nation he takes him to Miss Lincoln and tells him to 
 see that she has a nice little dinner. To which poor 
 Ethel, whom misery has deprived of appetite, says ap- 
 pealingly : " Please, nothing for me, I couldn t eat 
 now ! " 
 
 But Potter remarks to her, affecting sternness : " No 
 man nor woman can do honest work in this world unless 
 their stomach and vittals is comfortable. Lubbins, see 
 that she dines get waiters ! I don t speak this French 
 lingo, and find myself sometimes out a leetle in address 
 ing the natives." 
 
 Then he takes Miss Ethel aside and says : " You stay 
 here to head off either of em that may come to see 
 Lady Saharah, and I ll go out and track em, and, if in 
 this neighborhood, I ll find em. Don t get anxious or 
 be skeered of her ladyship, and you ll come out right side 
 up ! " So Mr. Potter starts on his travels, first however 
 telling Lubbins to get any mortal thing the young lady 
 wants and chalk up the damage to him. 
 
 Taking a bearing by the sun, after the method common 
 to cattle-men, Mr. Potter lays his course up the quay 
 and toward the bridge leading to the railway station, as 
 he imagines, by some chance, neither of the young men 
 has as yet arrived. 
 
 This is true as regards Arthur, who has taken a longer 
 route, and the train from Calais has just deposited him in 
 Boulogne. Coming out of the station he meets, to his 
 astonishment, their old housekeeper from Channel View, 
 that Miss Ethel has taken as her chaperon. She has 
 followed Mr. Potter s carriage to this point, and is now 
 making up her mind in what direction to continue her 
 movements. The woman is decidedly uneasy in the 
 jabbering foreign crowd, and hails Mr. Arthur s unex 
 pected appearance with exuberant joy. She hurriedly 
 tells her young master of Miss Ethel s sudden journey 
 to this place, at which Arthur s face assumes almost a 
 sneer, though it is a very angry one ; for he imagines his 
 sister has thrown away her pride and come in pursuit of
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 195 
 
 her recreant swain, to plead with him to give her back 
 the affection which Lady Annerley has stolen. 
 
 " Come with me, I know where to find her ! " he cries 
 hoarsely, and followed by the woman, is soon over the 
 Pont du Barrage, and before he is aware almost into 
 Mr. Potter s arms. This gentleman cries out : " Hello, 
 sonny ! " and pounces upon Arthur with such effusion 
 that the young man gasps under his treatment : <l One 
 would think I had risen from the dead." 
 
 " And so you have. I d given you up for gone. Many s 
 the fine young face I ve seen go under the prahairie 
 sod to the pop of a six-shooter out in Texas. Ah, this 
 duhello ! the duhello is a nasty business ! " 
 
 " What makes you think I m going to fight a duel ?" 
 asks Arthur. 
 
 " Now it s no good putting on hinnocence," returns 
 Potter. "Your sister told me hall," and he gives the 
 young man a synopsis of what Miss Ethel has said to 
 him, and telling the housekeeper, who has been staring 
 at him, where she will find her mistress, drags Arthur 
 into a neighboring caft and wine shop. 
 
 Here he says sternly : " Now, my boy, if you want my 
 darter I ain t agoing to have you risk making her a 
 widder in feelings before she gets a husband in reality. 
 Arthur, you mustn t fight him ! " 
 
 " I ve been thinking of that matter, Mr. Potter, and 
 have determined to see Mr. Errol again and ask an ex 
 planation, and if wrong " here the young man hesitates, 
 but Potter puts the distasteful word into his mouth. He 
 says : " Hapologize ! Hapologize ! That s right, my son. 
 But, Arthur, it seems a needless question to ask, but here 
 people are so curious. Are you harmed ? " 
 
 " Armed?" 
 
 " Yes, harmed, well harmed ! Ave you a self-cocker ? 
 A man is only half a man without a self-cocker, nowa 
 days. If you re quick on the trigger, it gives you the 
 drop ! " 
 
 " I never carried a pistol in my life ! " 
 
 " And you struck him and wasn t harmed ? Great 
 gosh, how rash ! " Mr. Potter rolls his eyes in awful as 
 tonishment. 
 
 " Would you have had me stand by and see the an 
 guish in my sister s eyes, and let the scoundrel who had
 
 Ig6 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 won her heart pass away to pursue this widow, unpun 
 ished ? " cries Arthur, working himself up into a rage 
 again at the remembrance of Ethel s wrongs. 
 
 " And he did that ? Why he wouldn t be let live 
 not in Texas ! " Here Mr. Potter becomes excited also 
 and cries enthusiastically : " Arthur, if you hadn t hit 
 him, you shouldn t have my darter ! " Then he thinks 
 of what Ethel has said, and mutters : "Still, you may 
 have been hasty. Your sister believes he loves her ! " 
 
 " Then why did he refuse to speak ? No, I know I am 
 right ! " 
 
 " Then don t apologize ! Harm yourself. For my 
 darter s sake, harm yourself at once ! " and Potter s voice 
 becomes pathetic as he whispers : " Don t let him see 
 you before you re harmed ; go and get a gun at once ! 
 Promise me, as you love my darter, to go and get a gun 
 at once ! " 
 
 Thinking to pacify the old man, who is now so anxious 
 for his safety, Arthur gives the promise and turns to go; 
 but Potter runs after him, and mutters : " He may be 
 laying for you. I once knew a chap as was perforated 
 while he was buying his pistol. Take mine ! " And forces 
 into Arthur s hand the terrible weapon that he habitually 
 carries. 
 
 " I don t expect such immediate danger. This is Eu 
 rope," mutters the Englishman, who thinks from the size 
 of the revolver it will be nearly as inconvenient to carry 
 as a cannon. 
 
 "You shall take it!" commands Potter. "Take a 
 fine sight and it s certain death. And if you see him 
 coming for you with a double-barreled shotgun, don t 
 let him get nearer than seventy-five yards ; take a rest, 
 and this is good for a hundred. Take that pistol. Do 
 you suppose I could look my Ida in the face if I d let 
 you go out to be potted without a gun ? " 
 
 " Your daughter have you not seen her? She s here ! " 
 
 " In Boulogne ? Did she come over to stop the fight, 
 too ? " 
 
 " No. She came before the quarrel. She wrote me 
 it was for your sake ! " 
 
 " Ah ! she can t keep away from her daddy now she s 
 got him again ! " cries Potter, delighted. " She s proba 
 bly at my hotel. I told her I d stop at the Pavilion. It s a
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 197 
 
 good way out of town, and city noises bother me at nights. 
 Take that pistol, or I sha n t be easy about you, and go up 
 and see that Errol, and if he don t come to terms, let 
 daylight through him ! " 
 
 Thus adjured Arthur goes out toward the Hotel des 
 Bains, leaving Potter, for the first time in thirty years, 
 without a "gun " in his pocket. 
 
 A moment after this the Texan remembers himself and 
 mutters : " Here I have been exciting Arthur to homicide 
 when I should have been doing a parson s work and 
 pouring ile on the troubled waters. Potter, you ain t 
 to be trusted. This ere cowboy spirit will rise up in 
 you and must be put down. You make those boys shake 
 hands ! " 
 
 Actuated by this motive he runs out into the street, 
 but to his disgust is pounced upon by little Van Cott, 
 who prances up to him in quite an unusual state of ex 
 citement, calling : " I ve been looking for you, my dear 
 Mr. Pottah ! " Then having got alongside of him, lan 
 guidly holds out a feeble hand, and lisps : " Ta-ta ! " 
 
 After a moment s pause of astonishment, Mr. Potter 
 mutters to himself, savagely : " Oh, it s the dude ! " and 
 then says aloud gruffly : " Oh ! it s you, is it ? " 
 
 " Yas. I ve been looking for you everywhere. Your 
 daughter told me to see you. Ta-ta, my boy, ta-ta ! " 
 goes on little Van Cott, quite excited and very happy. 
 
 " My daughter sent you to see me?" 
 
 " Yas. She desired me to awh interview you to awh 
 demand her hand in marriage." 
 
 " In marriage ? " glares Potter, his eyes rolling in sav 
 age astonishment. " Ye ain t lying to me, ye little 
 imp ! " 
 
 " No it s true. Ton honor, it s true ! " 
 
 And so curiously enough it is. For poor little Van Cott, 
 having learned that Miss Potter had left Channel View 
 hurriedly, has imagined that it must be on account of some 
 break with Arthur. Thinking that probably he may now 
 stand a chance of success with the American heiress, he 
 has followed her rapidly to Dover. Being fortunate in 
 catching an express train, he has overtaken Ida at that 
 place and journeyed to Boulogne via Calais in her com 
 pany ; though she has protested at his coming, but in 
 rather a half-hearted way, because her mind has been so
 
 198 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 occupied and troubled by the curious discovery she has 
 made in Lord Lincoln s library in regard to her father. 
 
 The little chap is bent on pleasing her, and finally, for 
 his antics are quite as amusing as a monkey s, the girl 
 gives him a melancholy smile or two, which so encour 
 ages him that on the train between Calais and Boulogne 
 Van Cott actually asks her to marry him, calling her his 
 "deah gal ! " "his floweret of the West," and other en 
 dearing terms that put Miss Potter in a fearful rage. 
 
 She becomes so malicious that a diabolically cruel 
 idea strikes her. She gives Van Cott a grin that is 
 almost a scowl, and says to him : " Sir, the man who 
 wishes my hand must first apply to my father ! " 
 
 " Oh, rapture, my own love ! " cries Van Cott in de 
 light, and would, filled with ardor and joy, embel 
 lish his suit with some little practical caresses, but there 
 is something in Miss Potter s eye that stops him. 
 So postponing his Romeo attitude for the present, 
 Mr. Van Cott, on arriving at Boulogne, cries : "I ll see 
 papa, deah won t keep you waiting long, pet ! " and 
 starts in pursuit of the paternal Potter, while the young 
 lady looks after his retreating figure, and grimly wonders 
 how much there will be left of the creature after Sampson 
 has finished with him. 
 
 On Mr. Van Cott s declaration Potter stares at him a 
 second in unbelief, and then says hoarsely : " Ello, here s 
 more bad luck." The next instant the little chap thinks 
 a locomotive has seized him, for Potter grabs him by the 
 collar, and runs him through the wine-shop and into a 
 little private room at the rear of it where there is a small 
 table and chair or two, and sinking into one of these 
 gasps out at him : " Tain t possible ! " 
 
 " Yas, perfectly possible. She has at last brought me 
 to book ! But I wish you d be more careful of my cuffs, 
 they re quite crumpled," returns Van Cott, who imagines 
 that Potter s " Tain t possible ! " means that he cannot 
 believe in such good news. 
 
 " Never mind your gewgaws," says the Texan. " It s 
 quiet and retired here. Tell me all about it and if it 
 ain t the truth " 
 
 Here Mr. Potter s jaws snap ominously, for he can t 
 believe that his daughter would have sent any one to 
 him on such an errand, she being engaged to Arthur
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 199 
 
 Lincoln ; least of all this little creature, whom he now 
 regards as an abomination. 
 
 " Oh, yas ! it s all settled. She brought me over as her 
 escort to Boulogne." 
 
 " You don t say ! " interjects Potter grimly, and then 
 mutters, looking at the mass of good clothes and fine 
 linen standing before him : " She must have been hard 
 up for a young man ! " 
 
 " Now," goes on Van Cott, who doesn t seem to see that 
 the paternal Potter is in a very savage and un-Christian 
 condition of mind, " I presume you ll make the settle 
 ments all right. You know I m brother-in-law to Lord 
 Sandsdown, and we old families always expect new ones 
 to do the liberal ! " 
 
 " And my darter consented to marry you ? " grunts the 
 old man, who still will not believe. 
 
 "Well, not exactly yet ; but she told me to come to 
 you and you d fix the matter with me." 
 
 " And so I will ! " And a grim smile illuminates the 
 scarred and battle-seared features of the frontier warrior. 
 
 " But from her manner, Ida " 
 
 " The Honorable Miss Potter, sir ! " This correction is 
 emphasized by such a tremendous thump on the little 
 table that an empty bottle and some glasses upon it 
 dance a jig, and several waiters come to the door expect 
 ing an order, but the appearance of Mr. Potter is such 
 that they all go away again without saying a word. 
 
 " Of. course, the Honorable Miss Potter," says Sidney, 
 rather nervously now, " would be pleased to marry into a 
 family like mine ! " 
 
 " She would, would she ? Are you American or are 
 you English, Mr. B. Sidney Van Cott ? " 
 
 " By birth, unfortunately, I am partially American ; 
 but by association and marriage English, decidedly Eng 
 lish ; my sister married a lord. But my exact national 
 ity would require consideration I will meditate upon 
 it!" 
 
 " Then I ll tell you without meditation," cries Potter. 
 " You is a nobody from nowhar. That s what you is ! " 
 
 " Sir, please be calm ! " murmurs Van Cott, edging to 
 ward the door. 
 
 " You is ashamed to be Hamerican and you hain t 
 Henglish ! " yells Potter, beside himself with rage. "And
 
 200 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 you ad the impertinence to think the Honorable Miss 
 Ida Potter of Comanche County, Texas, would marry a 
 mixture of nothings like you ! " 
 
 " Sir, this insult " 
 
 " That s right, now you re talking up to me. Now 
 we ll get to business soon ! " says Potter, the light of 
 battle coming into his eye. " Yes, it is an insult for you 
 to put your no-nation eyes on a praharie flower like the 
 Honorable Miss Ida Potter." 
 
 " Is it ? " cries Van Cott, who has got very angry and 
 like most men has some kind of courage in his blocd 
 when roused. " You re a nice man to talk to me!" and 
 he flashes out and gives Mr. Potter his opinion of him, 
 telling him how vulgar he is and that he can t speak the 
 English language, and has come over here to humiliate 
 his daughter. 
 
 At this, Potter cries out, very hoarsely and tremb 
 lingly : " My God ! you you don t think she s ashamed 
 of me her daddy." And wipes his eyes that have got red 
 at the thought, but goes on very humbly that he knows 
 the difference between himself and his darling Ida, and 
 that if he thought his presence had hurt her feelings or 
 humiliated her among the grand folks she was running 
 with, he d go back to Texas, where people honored him. 
 Then bursts out : " Don t I know she s >as far above me 
 as the sun s above the earth ? Don t I groan at not being 
 up to her level all the time ? " and tears coming into 
 the old man s eyes, he blubbers like a baby, for Mr. Van 
 Cott has found the only flaw in Potter s armor. 
 
 "Yes, and you refused me, when I would pick her up 
 out of the gutter and make your daughter a lady ! " says 
 Van Cott very pompously, who now thinks he has found 
 the whip-hand of Potter, and begins to be very high and 
 mighty with him. 
 
 "Pick my daughter out of the gutter? MAKE Miss 
 POTTER A LADY ! " This is a scream like that of a cata 
 mount from her father, and with it comes a new and 
 awful light into the Texan s eyes at the slur upon his god 
 dess. He doesn t speak loud any more, but says very 
 quietly : " Young man, don t speak of my darter, if you 
 love your life ! You d better go away ! " 
 
 This look makes Van Cott nervous. 
 
 " I ll I ll send a friend to to you to explain ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 2OT 
 
 mutters Sidney, who thinks he had better be going and 
 gets nearer the door. 
 
 " A friend ! that s right ! that s spunky ! " echoes Pot 
 ter. " That s well said ! " 
 
 Thus encouraged, Van Cott thinks, perhaps, the old 
 man is simply testing his courage, and says, returning 
 a step and trying to look threatening : " I would chastise 
 you, sir, but " 
 
 " CHASTISE ME ! " 
 
 " I d fight you, but the duello is nowadays obsolete " 
 
 " NOT IN TEXAS ! " says Potter, and looking at Mr. Van 
 Cott to be sure he doesn t get the drop on him, he 
 reaches back and for the first time in thirty years finds 
 that he hasn t got a " gun." Then, being a man of light 
 ning thought, cries : " Ah, would you ! " and the next 
 instant poor little Van Cott thinks himself in the grasp of 
 a hurricane, and gives a shriek of horror, for he finds 
 himself flying through the air out of the window, which is 
 open, the day being mild, into the back-yard of the place, 
 where he lands upon a manure heap, to the salvation of 
 his bones and ruin of his garments. Potter grimly looks 
 at him as he struggles among the hens and fowls, who 
 make quite a row at his intrusion, and mutters : " The 
 little varmint ! He was going to wing me with a derrin 
 ger through his pants ! " For Van Cott had unfortunately 
 at the critical moment put his hand into his pocket, 
 reaching for a handkerchief with which to wipe his eyes, 
 which were watery with impotent rage and passion. 
 
 After a second s consideration Potter mutters : * That 
 nothing has made me so fightin mad. I feel just as if I 
 was back in Texas. Pick my daughter out of the gut 
 ter ! Make Miss Potter a lady ! I ll fix myself at once ! " 
 Then making for the first gun store he sees, he selects 
 with great care a murderous-looking, old-style Colt s re 
 volver, fired by old-fashioned percussion caps. 
 
 The Frenchman who waits on him speaks a little Eng 
 lish, as do most tradesmen in Boulogne, the town having 
 so many Anglo-Saxon inhabitants and so much British 
 trade. To this man Mr. Potter explains that he never 
 uses cartridges, as he don t trust his life to the careless 
 ness of New England factory gals, and he likes to know 
 what s in his gun when he pulls the trigger. Then, load 
 ing the weapon carefully, he goes into a little shooting
 
 202 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 gallery attached to the shop and proceeds to test it ; and 
 finally getting the pistol sighted to his liking makes such 
 wonderful practice upon the projecting pipes, hanging 
 balls and jingling bells with which the place is adorned, 
 that the proprietor rushes excitedly into the street, and 
 telling his neighbors of the wonderful shot that is in his 
 gallery, the place is soon filled with a little crowd of ad 
 miring spectators. 
 
 Among them chances Sergeant Brackett, who has just 
 come over to Boulogne, followed by his faithful Snapper. 
 This pistol practice of Mr. Potter impresses the detective 
 greatly, for he has been amusing himself with a copy of 
 Solomon Sure-eye, the Dead Shot of the West, and the 
 Texan s feats with the pistol remind him of the redoubt 
 able Sure-eye s tremendous efforts with firearms at op 
 posing gamblers, cowboys, and red-skins. Little Snapper 
 also enjoys it, for he barks so furiously and wags his tail 
 so joyously at every report, that Potter s attention is at 
 tracted to the tiny but vivacious creature. He asks the 
 dog s name, and on being told pats him on the head and 
 yells : " Hi, Snapper ! Rats ! " and laughing at the ani 
 mal s desperate search for the same, gets into a con 
 versation with Brackett about his little pet. 
 
 Brackett, proud of his noticing the animal, tells 
 him several anecdotes of Snapper s acuteness and faith 
 fulness, how he has scented him out in all kinds of 
 places. That once on a job, when he was shadowing 
 a man suspected of cracking a till in Birmingham, the 
 cunning cove inveigled him into a vacant house and 
 locked him in, and would have got away ; but Snapper was 
 on the outside, and set up such a yelling and scratching 
 that the neighborhood was aroused and let him out just 
 in time to nab his man boarding a train for Liverpool. 
 " But I must be going, sir business sarvant, Mr. Pot 
 ter," and Brackett, who fears he has lingered too long, 
 starts off in search of Mr. Errol. 
 
 Looking after him, the Texan mutters : " From his 
 talk that fellow s a detective. Yes, and a cursed poor 
 one, too ! Knew my name but that s natural ; I m gin- 
 erally pretty wall celebrated wharever I am." 
 
 So Mr. Potter goes to shooting again and takes an 
 other pistol, and getting to his work with a revolver in 
 either hand, makes such a breakage about the gallery
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 203 
 
 that the proprietor wishes to engage him to give a public 
 exhibition. 
 
 This last is witnessed for a moment by poor Van Cott, 
 who has telegraphed for more clothes. Hearing the noise 
 he looks in for a moment, and seeing Mr. Potter split a 
 card flies away for his life, and skulks about in the re 
 mote parts of the town till it is time for him to catch 
 the Paris train. He thinks Potter will not be apt to find 
 him in that big city. During this time little Van Cott 
 trembles and has cold sweats, and dodges hastily around 
 corners, for he imagines this target practice is for him, 
 and he murmurs wofully to himself : " My Gad, he ll 
 shoot me with a pistol ! " 
 
 The revolvers suiting him, Mr. Potter thinks he will 
 take them both, and buckling them on to him remarks : 
 " In deference to the decrees of society, since I came over 
 here I ve only worn one gun and felt but half a man ; 
 now I m two-handed again. I feel as if I war in Texas 
 and going on the war-path ! " Which coming out of the 
 shop he does, and at the Hotel des Bains encounters for 
 his first opponent a woman who, on the very first round, 
 discomforts and figuratively rescalps Mr. Potter, nearly 
 wounding him to death. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 WHICH LOVES HIM BEST. 
 
 LEAVING Mr. Van Cott at the railway station in Bou 
 logne to discover and disclose his matrimonial intentions 
 to Mr. Potter, Ida has taken a carriage to drive to the 
 Hotel du P avillion. As it is on the sea, and distant from 
 the main part of the town this occupies some little time. 
 Her father, on leaving Lord Lincoln s house, had told her 
 that he would probably stop at this hotel, especially if he 
 remained over night in France ; consequently she expects 
 to find him here. The clerk informs her very politely that 
 her father has honored them with his patronage and en 
 gaged a room, for Miss Potter s name is well known in 
 this fashionable caravansary. Having shown her to a 
 parlor, the young lady spends a quiet hour awaiting the 
 Honorable Sampson s return : for the season is at its
 
 204 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 close and the house nearly deserted by the devotees of 
 fashionable salt water. 
 
 During this time of waiting an agony of curiosity as 
 well as dread is in the girl. Every time she looks at the 
 marked sovereign that dangles upon her white wrist 
 she wonders why these coins, which had driven the father 
 of poor Charley Errol a convict from the land of his birth, 
 should be considered by her father a signal of his success 
 in the world. For Mr. Potter wears a duplicate piece upon 
 his watch-chain, and she knows her brother, the lieu 
 tenant in the navy, has another, which the Honorable 
 Sampson had given him and told him, " to clinch to 
 for luck ! " Then, thinking of the indictment for felony 
 hanging over the office boy who disappeared the day 
 Errol was arrested, and who she now is convinced is her 
 father, by an involuntary movement she is about to con 
 ceal the coin, and has even taken off the bracelet to hide 
 it from view. But here an invincible pride comes to her, 
 and she feels it would be a slur upon her parent, and 
 mutters to herself : " Thank Heaven, J love my father too 
 much to doubt him ! My father a thief ? Impossible ! " 
 With this she puts on the bracelet again so that it is 
 very prominent and everybody can see it, and flashes the 
 sovereign in the air to attract notice, and thinks to herself : 
 " That s confidence in my father s honor ! " 
 
 But tired at length of delay Miss Potter at last makes 
 up her mind to search for Mr. Potter in the town itself. 
 She orders a carriage and says to the driver : "Hotel des 
 Bains" for she imagines the Honorable Sampson has 
 found his call upon Lady Annerley so pleasant he has 
 prolonged it. She knows what a tender spot the pa 
 ternal Potter has for pretty women, and that he had been 
 greatly impressed with the widow s magnificent beauty 
 the day before. 
 
 Consequently, a few minutes after Mr. Potter had left 
 that hostelry in pursuit of Arthur, his daughter goes into 
 the Hotel des Bains, and finding Lubbins in the hall, tells 
 him to take her card up to Lady Annerley in a tone which 
 makes that servitor forget to lie and say her ladyship is 
 not at home. Walking into the public parlor to await 
 the answer, Miss Potter finds poor little Ethel, who hasn t 
 been able to eat any dinner, and who, in answer to the 
 American girl s cry of astonished surprise, runs to her and
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 205 
 
 murmurs with trembling lips : " You are in Boulogne on 
 the same errand as I ! " 
 
 " What errand ? " says Miss Potter, more astonished. 
 
 Here Ethel adds to her surprise, for she returns : " To 
 prevent the man that I love and the man that you love 
 meeting each other with deathly hate in their hearts." 
 
 This speech, coupled with the girl s manner and ap 
 pearance, frightens Ida. She cries out : " What do you 
 mean ? I cannot understand you ! Quick ! tell me ! 
 What new complication " and gets a shock. For 
 Ethel gives her a short account of the quarrel be 
 tween the two young men, and at the end dismays 
 her, for she says : " Then my brother struck the man 
 I love. " 
 
 " And Mr. Errol what did he do to the man that / 
 love ? " comes from Miss Potter s pale lips. 
 
 And she trembles, for she knows the awful ending that 
 Such affairs have in Texas, and the memories of her youth 
 come home to her. 
 
 " He held his hand and did not return the blow." 
 
 " God bless him for that ! " cries Ida. 
 
 " Because he said the man you love was my brother ! " 
 
 " How truly noble ! " murmurs the girl then and she 
 exclaims : " But I will repay him for it all, this very day ! " 
 and after a moment inquires if Arthur is surely in Bou 
 logne. 
 
 Which being answered affirmatively, she tells Ethel 
 that she must stay at this hotel and keep Mr. Errol, who 
 will certainly call upon Lady Annerley. 
 
 " You think he will visit her now 1 " 
 
 This last is so pathetic that Miss Potter says very im 
 pressively to the girl : "It is because he loves you. Ethel 
 Lincoln ; never doubt that Charley Errol loves you. I 
 will find and bring your brother here, and he shall apolo 
 gize to a noble gentleman for a cruel wrong." 
 
 " You think my Charley noble ? " asks Miss Ethel, 
 brightening up at the comfort of these words. 
 
 " I know it. Noble because he loves you well, but 
 loves his word to your father and his honor as a gentle 
 man better." 
 
 This is the kind of consolation Miss Lincoln likes, 
 praise for her hero. She says purringly : " Thank you ! 
 You like my Charley ? "
 
 206 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " I love him ! " 
 
 "O-o-oh !" 
 
 "As a brother!" returns Miss Potter, with a faint 
 smile on her face, hurriedly going out in pursuit of Arthur. 
 For she is exceedingly anxious for her fiance to make 
 amends for his injustice to Mr. Errol and put a stop to 
 an affair that belongs to a class of which her Texan mem 
 ories give her even now a trembling horror. 
 
 In her hurry Ida entirely forgets the card she has 
 dispatched to Lady Annerley, and that lady being rather 
 surprised at her visit, and thinking the American girl 
 may have some information about Charley Errol s move 
 ments, makes up her mind to see her. Reserving her 
 own private parlor in which to receive Mr. Errol when 
 he arrives, she comes downstairs into the public one, 
 expecting to see Miss Potter. For a moment she looks 
 about the room, and finding no one apparently in it, goes 
 toward a bay window at the end of the apartment. 
 There to her astonishment she comes upon Miss Ethel, 
 who, seeing her enemy, and being reassured by Miss Pot 
 ter s words, prepares for the combat ; though it is very 
 much like a female dove pluming herself and sharpen 
 ing her mild beak to do battle with the magnificent but 
 naughty hawk. For Lady Annerley is in a toilet de 
 signed for the insnaring of Mr. Errol, and is an alluring 
 mixture of black satin, sparkling diamonds, dazzling 
 neck, white arms and flashing eyes ; and Miss Ethel s 
 now pathetic beauty and pretty but modest traveling 
 dress are by no means so commanding. 
 
 On first seeing each other both ladies have a blush ; 
 though Miss Lincoln soon loses hers and becomes pale. 
 Lady Annerley s remains, rouge being stronger than 
 blood. 
 
 They greet each other with the usual compliments of 
 the season and without any great embarrassment, though 
 Miss Ethel trembles and shrinks a little under her lady 
 ship s kiss ; for these two have been great friends before 
 they knew Charley Errol. And now Ethel, comparatively 
 sure of the young man s affection, is inclined to be gen 
 erous to her unsuccessful rival ; while Lady Annerley, 
 not guessing what has occurred since she left England, 
 knows that her only consistent conduct is that of friend, 
 not rival.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 2OJ 
 
 She says : " I see you loved France, my child, well 
 enough to revisit it. Why did you not tell me you were 
 coming ? " Then she forces herself to smile and utters 
 playfully : " I presume Mr. Errol is one of the party ? " 
 
 " Oh, no," returns Miss Ethel. " I am in Mr. Potter s 
 party ! " and doing a little stronger acting causes her 
 self to laugh and say airily : " You see, I gave Charley 
 a a half holiday, to see his father." 
 
 " A-ah ! " echoes her ladyship consideringly. Then 
 looking at the girl, she knows Charley Errol has not yet 
 had enough strength of mind to tell his sweetheart his 
 father is a convict. 
 
 At this moment Lubbins brings to her a card. Glanc 
 ing at it Sarah Annerley imagines Satan has put a trump 
 into her hand, and proceeds to play it. 
 
 She says to Lubbins : " Wait a moment, and then show 
 the gentleman here." 
 
 " I thought, my lady, it was to your private parlor ! " 
 
 " HERE ! ! " 
 
 " Yes, my lady." And Lubbins disappears. 
 
 Then she turns to Ethel and says : " Would you mind 
 occupying that bay window for a moment ? I expect a 
 visitor." 
 
 " Of course not, " replies the girl, and sits in it, think 
 ing to herself : " If it were Charley she d surely have 
 him asked to her private parlor." Then she says aloud : 
 " This view of the quay will interest me for half an hour 
 if you take that long." 
 
 " It will be only for a moment, and I ll draw the cur 
 tain so we won t disturb you," mutters her ladyship. 
 " The gentleman s card says he calls on business ! " 
 
 With this Sarah Annerley moves the heavy draperies, 
 shutting out Miss Lincoln from the sight of any one in 
 the room. Then she laughs to herself : " I ll kill her 
 love --it will be a mercy to her. She ll hear every word, 
 and know from Charley Errol s own lips that he s the 
 son of a criminal. He shall see whether her baby pas 
 sion is worth to a man who suffers more than that of a 
 woman who by suffering has learnt to love." And scowl 
 ing at the curtain, she hisses between her clenched 
 teeth : " I ll break your heart ! " 
 
 But here a smile seizes upon and illumines her face, 
 and she flies toward the door, for she hears a coming
 
 208 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 step she knows and waits for it, murmuring tenderly : 
 " He s coming Charley s coming ! " For she hates Ethel 
 Lincoln, and would torture her forever, and loves Charley 
 Errol, and has tortured him, but only to gain him ; and 
 this torture being over, is anxious to take him to her, and 
 soothe his woes. Such are the curiosities of passion. 
 
 A moment after this she cries : " Welcome to Boulogne, 
 my dear Mr. Errol ! " and is shaking hands with the 
 young man. 
 
 Mr. Errol looks better than he did in the morning, for 
 he has got to hoping again, now he has Lord Lincoln s 
 assistance. He has just been to his father and told him 
 this, considerately keeping from the old man, however, 
 the fee he has paid for that lawyer s services. 
 
 Still there are enough traces of suffering in his face to 
 make Lady Sarah suffer also, as he looks at her rather 
 searchingly, for he remembers Brackett s injunction, and 
 says : " Lady Annerley, the business on which I called 
 to speak to you is of the greatest private moment." 
 
 "Business? I had hoped you called for pleasure." 
 
 "Until this business is settled," returns Errol gloomily, 
 "there can be no pleasure for me." 
 
 " Then sit down," mutters her ladyship nervously, for 
 though she has no fear he suspects her in any way, still 
 she is very anxious to know how she can aid him. Then 
 sinking into a chair, and motioning him to another, she 
 says : " I ll listen." 
 
 He does not accept her invitation, but repeats : " This 
 business is of a most personal nature," and looks about 
 the room suspiciously. 
 
 "Ah ! " replies Lady Sarah, taking the hint. " My pri 
 vate parlor is at present engaged, but my servant will see 
 that we are not interrupted here." Going to the door 
 she finds Lubbins quite near it, and tells him to see that 
 no one comes in without informing her, then repeats her 
 invitation to be seated, which Mr. Errol now accepts. 
 
 Being very anxious for Miss Ethel s benefit to bring the 
 scene to a climax, Sarah Annerley now makes herself as 
 agreeable and fascinating as she can, all the time plying 
 him with such questions as : " How did your father enjoy 
 his voyage from Australia ? You had not seen him for 
 two years, I believe? What a cordial and delightful 
 meeting it must have been ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 209 
 
 During these questions Charley Errol is thinking : 
 "It is not possible she can be such a hypocrite." 
 
 Finally she tells him he is not looking well, and says : 
 " I presume you must have sat up talking with your 
 governor all last night ?" 
 
 This brings speech to his lips ; his eyes become full of 
 agony, and he mutters : "Yes all last night I suffered 7 " 
 
 " Suffered ? Mr. Errol Charley, what trouble can you 
 have, with everything to make you happy engaged to a 
 beautiful girl ? " 
 
 Here he gives a cry that makes her feel for him, and 
 she has sympathy in her eyes as she says : " But in any 
 in all misfortunes you know you have my lo , my 
 friendship. You know that, don t you, Charley ? " 
 
 " I want more than your friendship," the young man 
 says hoarsely. 
 
 " More ? " there -is joy in Lady Sarah s voice. 
 
 " I want your aid ! " 
 
 " Aid ! I do not understand ! " 
 
 " Last night my father was again exiled from Eng 
 land ? " 
 
 " Your father ! Exiled ! " She is very much aston 
 ished and cries out : " Impossible ! For what ? " think 
 ing he will tell the girl in the bay window. 
 
 Here he frightens her, for he says, looking at her 
 searchingly : " Lady Annerley, do you not know ? " 
 
 But she forces herself to meet his gaze and returns : 
 " I know nothing except your father is an old Australian, 
 who returned to England last night." Then she asks 
 again for the benefit of the girl in the bay window : " For 
 what was he exiled the first time ? " 
 
 But he disappoints her once more, for he mutters : 
 " My father s tale is too sad a one to repeat if you do 
 not know it ? " 
 
 " If I do not know it ? Why did you think I knew it ? " 
 
 " For two reasons. First, in Egypt " 
 
 " In Egypt ! " This is a cry. 
 
 " Yes, my memory is coming back to me. Last night 
 I was thinking about it. You said something of my 
 father." 
 
 " Yes ! " she returns. " I did say something of your 
 father. You asked me if you died to send him the 
 news but I didn t let you die did I? Answer me that 
 14
 
 2IO MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 first, and make insinuations that you know to be cruel 
 afterward ! " 
 
 The thought of her kindness to him makes him tender 
 to her, and he says rather shamefacedly : " Lady Sarah, 
 I would say nothing to you on this subject, but the de 
 tective who is investigating the affair " 
 
 " Ah ! " this is partly a gasp of dismay and partly a 
 cry of rage. 
 
 " Declared to me that you were the person that sent the 
 information to the Home Office that caused my father to 
 be again expelled from England." 
 
 The tone in which Charley Errol says this is so apolo 
 getic that it gives the woman, hanging on his words, 
 courage. She cries haughtily : " He dared accuse me of 
 that ? " Then her eyes become soft, her tone appealing, 
 as she says, her heart in her mouth : " And you, Charley, 
 what did you say ? " 
 
 "What did I say?" cries Errol, the memory of her 
 kindness coming to him and the enthusiasm of his great 
 friendship for her carrying him away : " I said I would 
 never believe such treachery of the noble woman who 
 had been my devoted nurse, and whose father had been 
 my father s fast friend in his great trouble." 
 
 " When did you learn that? " she questions anxiously. 
 
 " My father told me not an hour ago ! " 
 
 "Ah ! all that binds us closer now." 
 
 " It does," cries Charley. " We re firmer friends than 
 ever ; and, oh, my heavens, how I want them now ! " 
 Then she, holding out a sympathetic and beautiful hand 
 to him, this poor, tortured, shamefaced creature seizes it, 
 calling her "his good angel," which makes conscience 
 give her another thrust. 
 
 After a moment, however, they both become calmer, 
 and she says : " Thank you for doing me justice," and 
 then suggests rather nervously : " but the detective 
 
 " Oh, i left him in England some hours ago ! " 
 
 And she mutters to this : " Thank Heaven ! " But it is 
 only a speech of the mind and he doesn t hear it, for 
 Lubbins has come hurriedly in and announced that " a 
 man named Brackett insists on seeing Mr. Herrol." 
 
 Before Lady Annerley can interpose an objection Errol 
 tells Lubbins to let him in. 
 
 " Who is it ? " she asks.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 211 
 
 " The detective we were just speaking about. He 
 must have some new information." 
 
 And asking her to excuse him a moment the young 
 man turns to Mr. Brackett, who comes in whistling to 
 Snapper, while Sarah Annerley trembles and gasps to 
 herself : " If he should discover ? My heavens ! If Char 
 ley should discover ! " This thought overcomes her and 
 she sinks into a chair, for upon the entrance of the detect 
 ive she had sprung to her feet almost as if to run from 
 the apartment. 
 
 " The proof you demanded, sir ! " says Brackett short 
 ly, holding out to Mr. Errol a letter. 
 
 This the young man does not take, but turns and says: 
 " Lady Annerley, this man again repeats his assertion. " 
 
 " And, Charley, you let him do it ? " 
 
 This appeal Mr. Errol cannot resist, and replies to 
 Brackett determinedly : " I cannot believe you ! " 
 
 But here her ladyship interrupts further discussion by 
 crying : " Lubbins, put that dog out ! " for little Snapper 
 has crept quietly up to her and surreptitiously licked her 
 hand. She is venting her spleen against the detective 
 on his pet. 
 
 Lubbins, cautiously approaching the little creature, 
 as if he dreaded hydrophobia, Mr. Brackett says : " Bah ! 
 Snapper won t hurt either of you," and picking the 
 dog up gives it to the servant and tells him to hold 
 it in the hall till he comes out. This Lubbins does, 
 Snapper transferring his caresses from Lady Annerley s 
 hands to the ex-waiter s face, and her ladyship suggest 
 ing that Mr. Brackett had perhaps better take out his dog 
 himself. 
 
 This makes the detective angry, and he determines to 
 put in practice a trick that wiser heads than his have 
 suggested in London. 
 
 He says : "In a minute, if youf ladyship will do me 
 the honor to answer a few questions." This is uttered 
 very respectfully, for Sergeant Brackett would have been 
 deferential to a peeress even while clapping the bracelets 
 upon her wrists. 
 
 " A dozen, if you dare ask them ! " sneers Lady Anner 
 ley, rising, and like a good many clever women, letting 
 her temper get the better of her at precisely the wrong 
 moment.
 
 212 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Then," says Mr. Brackett, tapping the letter he still 
 carries in his hand, and catching her ladyship s eye, 
 " you deny, Lady Annerley, that this letter, which is a 
 fac-simile of the one received at the Home Office from 
 Venice, is in your handwriting?" 
 
 " Of course I do ! " cries Lady Sarah, getting very 
 frightened at the word Venice. 
 
 "What?" says Brackett, confidently, "when it has 
 your signature attached to it ? " 
 
 This is a barefaced falsehood and it makes her wild 
 with rage. She shrieks out : " It is a lie ; there was no 
 signature to that letter ! " Then pauses and turns pale, for 
 passion leaves her and reason comes back to her with a 
 shock. 
 
 Mr. Brackett says quietly : " You are perfectly right, 
 my lady, there is no signature to this letter." And 
 handing it to Mr. Errol he remarks : " You see, sir, she 
 knows all about it. I shall await your orders at my 
 lodgings," then goes out on tiptoe. For when the de 
 tective stops speaking the silence is like that of the 
 tomb, and this man and woman are looking at each other 
 in a way that impresses Sergeant Brackett. 
 
 This silence continues after the detective has left the 
 room ; it is first broken by the woman, for Lady Anner 
 ley, angry with despair, visits her wrath upon the first ob 
 ject at her hand, which is the Australian. She cries out 
 to him in reproach : " And and you, Charley Errol, who 
 called yourself my friend, allowed that man to trick me 
 out of my secret thus " 
 
 On this the man, who has given a hasty glance at the 
 letter, for he can hardly still believe the truth, wounds 
 her with these words : " And you, Lady Annerley, whom 
 I once thought my friend, why have you hated me ? " 
 And she calls out : "I hatejjw//" and sinks down upon 
 a sofa and gasps " you ! " but still looks him in the face. 
 
 " Oh, what a hypocrite you are ! " he goes on with a 
 fearful reproach in his voice. " After professing the 
 greatest friendship for me you sent this cruel letter that 
 has driven my father an exile from his birthplace and 
 separated me perhaps forever from the girl I was about 
 to marry ! Your true reason Sarah Annerley, your true 
 reason for this ? " 
 
 " My true reason ?" she cries, and then groans, looking
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 213 
 
 straight at him : " Heaven help me ! What shall I tell 
 you now ? " 
 
 " I ask you w/iy ? " 
 
 " Why ? " she cries and looks at him, a new light com 
 ing into her face which makes him stare amazed. Then 
 she pants : " Can t you guess ? I " and here hesitates, 
 and real blushes cover her, making her more beautiful 
 than ever ; but she forces herself to go on : "I did not 
 wish you to wed the girl you were about to marry ! 
 Charley, don t look me in the face and I I will tell you. 
 What else could separate you from the girl you were 
 about to marry ? " 
 
 This brings a cry from him, for he now begins to know. 
 
 But she keeps on, not noticing : " A desperate woman 
 cares not for her means. I knew but one thing could do 
 it and I did it. Her father s family pride will never 
 permit his daughter s union with what you are. I am 
 my own mistress, wealthy and independent of the world. 
 
 I could forget your shame, for I oh, Charley, I lo " 
 
 And would complete the word but, covered with shame 
 and humiliation, this great English lady cannot speak it, 
 and, turning away, falls down upon a sofa, not looking at 
 him. 
 
 To this Errol, very pale, whispers : " My Heaven, you 
 love me ! " for at last he sees. 
 
 At these words she turns upon him and cries : " How 
 dare you say it ? You have not yet said you love me! " 
 and then clings about him, for pride has been destroyed 
 by passion, and gasps : " How could I help it, I, who saw 
 you fight for me in Egypt ! " and then begs him: " Don t 
 investigate ! Don t try to prove your father s innocence, 
 and by it proclaim his shame ! Think, know that here is 
 a woman who will cast her lot with you ; who will leave 
 England, where society would not tolerate you, for your 
 sake ; who offers you your one chance of happiness ! " 
 
 But he cries back to her : " My one chance of happi 
 ness ? I have but one, and that is to right my father ; 
 to make his name so high in honor that the woman I love 
 will share it with me ! For if I do not gain Ethel Lin 
 coln I am unhappy forever ! " 
 
 Then, in his imagination seeing the pale face of the 
 girl he loves as she sank down in sad appeal between 
 her brother and his righteous anger, he struggles and
 
 214 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 breaks away from Lady Annerley s pleading arms. Then 
 he thinks it all a dream, for he hears : " Charley, you 
 shall gain me ! That woman s arts shall not part us ! " 
 and looking up, startled and astounded, sees the same 
 sweet face of his love and imagination. For Ethel Lin 
 coln is standing between him and Lady Annerley, who 
 starts back, screaming in a half-scared voice : " I had 
 forgotten her ! " In the delirium of the confession of 
 her passion, brought abo ut by Mr. Brackett, her rival s 
 presence has passed entirely from her mind. 
 
 Ethel s face is no longer sad nor her eyes pathetic ; 
 the first is radiant with trusting love, the second sparkle 
 with indignant fire at Lady Annerley. The dove is about 
 to battle with the hawk. 
 
 "You overheard " mutters Errol. 
 
 <; Enough to make me love you more than that woman 
 ever could ! " 
 
 This confidence and trust of the girl in her sweetheart s 
 affection makes Lady Sarah very bitter toward her and 
 she answers : " We shall see how much you love him. 
 Do you know what this man is ? " 
 
 "Yes. He s the man I love ! " 
 
 Then Lady Annerley goes on in quiet intensity to 
 the girl, who stands like a statue listening to her. " Do 
 you love him well enough to to take the taint of his 
 family upon you ; to turn your back upon your friend ; 
 to be disowned by your brother and your father ? Then 
 if you do take him ! for the man you wish to marry 
 is " 
 
 She has to pause here, for now Errol is screaming at her 
 in a voice that would be loud were it not hoarse with de 
 spair : " Mercy ! Don t ! Don t tell her of my shame ! " 
 
 But she mutters : " Forgive me, Charley ! " and then 
 cries out louder than he : " Is the offspring of a ticket-of- 
 leave man ; the SON OF A CONVICT ! " 
 
 At this the statue falls down at the feet of the suffering 
 man, gasping : "Charley, tell her it is not true ! " 
 
 And the man, turning his face away and bowing his 
 head, whispers : " I cannot." 
 
 The awful shock of the revelation crushes the girl. 
 She hides her head also. 
 
 " You see which loves you best, " says Lady Annerley 
 in a sneer and triumph that become Dead Sea fruits upon
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 215 
 
 her lips ; for here the girl staggers to the man and clasps 
 her arms around him and soothes him, crying " / do ! 
 For if he is all this, he is still the man / love ! Don t 
 heed her cruel words when my arms are round you !" 
 
 And bringing to this poor, tortured fellow the love of 
 the wife instead of the love of the maiden, his agony be 
 comes less and tears soothe him and give him rest. 
 
 A moment after he says very quietly but very sadly to 
 the girl, forcing himself to be calmer as he sees she is giv 
 ing way, and putting her gently from him: " But, darling, I 
 must heed them ; they are the words of the world, and we 
 can t escape them ! " then suddenly cries to her : " Oh, 
 don t make my task too hard ! Don t make me forget in 
 the magic of your embrace that every word I speak to 
 you now breaks my word to your father ! " For she has 
 got to him again and her arms are holding him once more. 
 
 These he unclasps gently, and getting before her lady 
 ship, who has watched all this with varying hope and 
 fear, he says quite gently, though there is a little trem 
 ble in his voice : " Lady Annerley, you have conquered. 
 You have parted me from the being I love most upon 
 this earth ! " 
 
 And my lady mutters to herself : " At last ! " 
 
 Then Errol articulates, though the speech is hardly 
 audible : " Ethel, there is but one chance you will ever 
 hear my voice again in this world, and that is the chance 
 of proving my father s innocence ! " 
 
 And Lady Annerley cries : " Then your parting is 
 eternat!" 
 
 This word breaks the spell. The scene, which was 
 quiet with despair, now becomes a wild protest against it. 
 
 Ethel echoes : " Eternal ! " and runs to Errol, crying : 
 " Charley ! Don t leave me forever ! Think how much 
 I love you ! Know that if the world drives you from it, 
 I will go with you ! " 
 
 " Don t torture me," gasps Errol, hoarsely. 
 
 " That where your home is, mine shall be also ! " 
 
 While she says this Charley is trembling in the girl s 
 embrace, whose proffered sacrifice for him makes her 
 dearer than ever. 
 
 He mutters : " Oh ! how you tempt me ! Pity me ! 
 Don t make my duty too hard ! " 
 
 Then struggling away from her, he cries : " Pm not
 
 2l6 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 selfish enough to accept your social siiicide ! " and turns to 
 stagger off. 
 
 But catching him before he reaches the door, the girl 
 begs and pleads with him : " Charley, do not desert me ! " 
 then screams hysterically : " DON T LET THAT WOMAN 
 TRIUMPH ! " 
 
 It is October, and the hotel having but few guests, so 
 far no one has noticed what has been going on in the par 
 lor, but Arthur, who has just come to the house, hears his 
 sister s cry and strides into the apartment. He drags 
 her to her feet, saying in a sarcastic voice : " What ! 
 Humiliating yourself again before your rival ! Ethel, I 
 despise you ! " 
 
 " No, no ! he loves me ! " gasps Ethel. " You owe 
 him reparation." 
 
 But the victory in Lady Annerley s eyes makes the 
 young man hardly heed his sister s words, and he mutters : 
 " Reparation to him ? When I hear you cry, Do not 
 desert me ! and see that woman s eyes blazing with 
 triumph ! " Then dropping the girl upon a sofa he ad 
 vances to Errol, who has drawn himself up and uttered : 
 " For God s sake, don t touch me again. If you do, by 
 Heaven, I ll forget she is your sister, and remember only 
 that I am a man ! " 
 
 The first is said almost pleadingly, the second in that 
 awful low tone that comes to men when they are going 
 to kill each other, and the next instant Mr. Potter s 
 prophecy would have probably been fulfilled, were it not 
 that now there comes the flurry of a light dress, and in 
 a flash Ida Potter s beautiful face, radiant with anxiety, 
 is between the awful passions of these men. 
 
 She has seen Arthur enter the hotel and hurried after 
 him. She cries Stop!" in a way that makes both of 
 them pause ; and then, turning to Arthur, says : " Here is 
 a gentleman to whom you owe apology." 
 
 " Without an explanation ? Never ! " replies her be 
 trothed, doggedly. 
 
 " Then I will make it for you ! " cries Ida, and she turns 
 and gives the Australian a look of confidence and respect 
 that sends the blood coursing through this poor, humili 
 ated fellow s veins again as she says : " Charles Errol, 
 Ethel s brother does not understand your cruel position 
 but I do ! For my sake pardon and forgive him ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 2i; 
 
 Here Arthur mutters to her : " Ida, this is humiliation ! 
 You shall apologize no more ! " and would stop her. 
 
 But she waves him away, and with a face beaming with 
 generous enthusiasm cries : " I will do more than apolo 
 gize ; I will repay for, Charles Errol, I give you back 
 hope ! " 
 
 " Hope ! " echoes the young man, and strides up to her 
 uttering hoarsely : " What do you know of all this ? " 
 
 Then she makes them all astounded, for she says : 
 " In the Times of yesterday there is an advertisement for 
 an office boy missing for thirty years." 
 
 On this Lady Annerley suddenly, in an awful voice, 
 cries out : " Good heavens ! " and begins to tremble. 
 
 " What would you give to find him ? " 
 
 " Everything on earth ! " 
 
 " He has disappeared ! He is dead ! Impossible ! " in 
 terrupts Lady Sarah. 
 
 " Then I will bring him to you ! " 
 
 And now Sarah Annerley cries : " He dare not return ! 
 He fled from an indictment for felony thirty years ago ! " 
 But Ida only sees the Australian gazing at her and hang 
 ing on her words as if the breath of life were issuing 
 from her lips, and turning on Lady Annerley cries back 
 at her : " But is innocent ! I know it ! " 
 
 " And how will you prove that ? " 
 
 " By asking him ! " 
 
 " Asking him ? " This is a cry of surprise for all of 
 them, even Arthur. 
 
 But Miss Potter returns : " Yes ! Do you suppose I 
 fear the ordeal ? When my father left England, thirty 
 years ago, to win fortune in America, he was the office 
 boy you seek ! " 
 
 Then Errol mutters : " In Heaven s name who s 
 guilty ?" 
 
 And Ida cries : " SHE KNOWS ! " and stands like the 
 statue of truth over Lady Annerley, who has collapsed 
 upon a sofa with a faint gasping that seems like : " Don t 
 tell him ! Don t tell him ! " 
 
 Thus they all leave her and coming out encounter 
 Lubbins, who says nothing, though his eyes are very big. 
 
 Before they are away from the hotel, however, Miss 
 Potter tells Arthur, who wonders if they are all mad, 
 enough of the truth to cause him to beg Errol s pardon
 
 2l8 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 and shake hands with the young Australian, who bolts 
 off to his father with the joyous news of Sammy Potts 
 being found. 
 
 Arthur escorts the two girls back to the Hotel du Pa 
 vilion, where they will stay for the night and expect to 
 see Mr. Potter, but he has not arrived. Here Ida, tell 
 ing her lover all she knows of the case of the elder Errol 
 and her father s connection with it, he looks very solemn, 
 for an indictment for felony always seems serious to an 
 English lawyer. 
 
 He says to the girl : " You should have told Mr. Pot 
 ter of this first." 
 
 " What ! Do you suppose I doubt my father s inno 
 cence ? Do you imagine I could see the agony in poor 
 Charley Errol s eyes and hold my tongue, when that 
 woman dared me ? " replies Ida airily. 
 
 " Innocence is sometimes difficult to prove ! " mutters 
 her lover, and then asks anxiously at the office for Mr. 
 Potter. They have not seen him, and he waits and waits 
 until tired. 
 
 It is now seven o clock and Arthur, hearing a rumor 
 that makes him shudder, comes in with a disturbed face 
 to the young ladies, and says he will go into town and 
 hunt up Ida s father. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " returns Miss Potter to him, 
 here noting his expression. " Why are you running away 
 without any dinner? "for that meal has just been an 
 nounced. 
 
 " I you see your governor may have gone back to 
 England to-night ! " 
 
 " Nonsense ! I saw his old valise in the office. I d 
 know it anywhere by the two bullet holes in it ! " asserts 
 the girl. 
 
 " Still I I think I d better make sure ! " 
 
 " Make sure of what ? You ve heard something ! 
 You sha n t go till I hear it. If it s about my father, I 
 demand to know it ! " and Miss American has got in 
 front of the door. 
 
 " Well, I m afraid your information to Lady Annerley 
 has got your father into trouble. There is a rumor in 
 the hotel that Mr. Potter has left town." 
 
 "Very well. Go and see. I ll keep dinner for you," 
 returns Ida, with an absolute faith in her father s probity
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 219 
 
 and safety that astounds the young man. For she going- 
 back to the table, he notes even as he leaves the room, 
 has lost none of her appetite, and eats as if she enjoys the 
 meal much more than poor Ethel, who even now is by no 
 means in a buoyant mood. 
 
 The dinner passes, eight o clock comes, then nine ; 
 and now Miss Potter gets a little anxious, not for her 
 father s innocence, but for Arthur s safety, in whose 
 ability to knock about the streets of this French town 
 she has by no means the supreme confidence she has in 
 her father s. 
 
 At ten o clock Arthur comes in, and now his news 
 startles even her ; as he with a scared face announces 
 that there is a warrant - out for the arrest of Sammy 
 Potts, and a requisition on the French Government has 
 come over to the detective for his body. That hearing 
 of this, Sampson Potter had fled by train toward Paris 
 pursued by Sergeant Brackett, and that he, Arthur, has 
 telegraphed to Lord Lincoln, who will be over in the 
 morning. 
 
 Now no girl could hear such a report of her father 
 without some uneasiness, and it is not decreased by 
 Arthur s moody manner. For that young gentleman has 
 got very solemn, and is now making remarks about boys 
 of tender age not being responsible for their actions ; 
 that no child is legally liable ; that some of the worst lads 
 he has known have become the noblest men ; that he 
 himself as a child had been a fearful thief at cake and 
 jam ; that a man should not be held to account for the 
 transgressions of babyhood, etc., etc. 
 
 One of these reflections intended to soothe his sweet 
 heart coming to her ears, this very proud young lady 
 flashes up to her lover and frightens him by saying : 
 " No more of that, Arthur, if you want to marry me. 
 No insinuations that by any possibility my father, boy or 
 man, could ever take anything that wasn t his, or any 
 undue advantage of any man ! " 
 
 In which she does the absent Potter more than justice, 
 for the Honorable Sampson was considered the very 
 keenest man in the West on a cattle trade, and in a horse 
 transaction was regarded as a living terror by his friends 
 in Texas. 
 
 Having thus vindicated her father, Miss Potter goes
 
 220 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 to bed, where femininity gets the better of pride and 
 she cries and sobs: "Oh, my Heaven ! I, who should have 
 warned my father so that he could prove his innocence, 
 have betrayed him to his enemies ! " But though she 
 tosses and writhes, no doubt ever enters the girl s mind 
 of old Potter s entire guiltlessness. 
 
 And now pride comes back to her again, for Ethel 
 knocks on the door of her room and being admitted, 
 snuggles herself up to Ida in bed and thinking to soothe 
 her says : " Ida, dear one, I ve been praying for your 
 poor father, whom, the detective is following to arrest." 
 
 "Have you?" says Miss Potter. " I VE BEEN PRAY 
 ING FOR THE DETECTIVE ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 POOR OLD POTTER. 
 
 ON leaving Errol and Lady Annerley Sergeant Brack - 
 ett goes to his lodgings in a humble hotel upon the quay, 
 and gets an awful surprise. Awaiting him is a packet 
 from the English Government marked " immediate." On 
 opening this the detective gives an amazed gasp of hor 
 ror, and drops the packet on the floor as if it had been 
 an infernal machine. 
 
 Then mutters : " It ain t possible ! " but looking it 
 over again there is no doubt of the genuineness of the 
 documents contained in it. These consist of a warrant 
 for the arrest of one Samuel Potts alias Sampson Potter, 
 indicted for felony ; also a requisition in proper form 
 upon the French Government for the extradition of the 
 aforesaid criminal ; as well as a letter from Scotland 
 Yard telling Brackett not to leave the matter to the 
 French gendarmerie, but to see to the execution of the 
 warrant in person, and if possible bring Potts alias Potter 
 to England without appealing to French law ; warning 
 Brackett, however, to be exceedingly careful of his own 
 personal safety in the affair, as from various inquiries 
 hastily made said Potts or Potter had the reputation in 
 America of being a most determined and bloody criminal 
 as well as a fearfully dangerous man to encounter.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 221 
 
 " Dangerous ! " ejaculates the detective, with a shiver. 
 "Dangerous!" It s most like murder to send me on 
 such business. A man with a family ! " and then turn 
 ing to his dumb friend for consolation, as many of us 
 often do, he mumbles : " They re tired of paying your old 
 master s salary up at the Yard, Snapper, and want him 
 wiped off- the roll." A remark that is more true than 
 the sergeant imagines. To this Snapper responds by 
 licking Brackett s face with his tongue and vigorously 
 wagging his tail as if he were glad of it. Which the 
 poor brute isn t, as he loves his master with all his warm 
 little heart, and would follow him through the world for 
 ever ; a devotion that Snapper has an opportunity some 
 what later that day of proving, to Brackett s misery and 
 despair. 
 
 After a little time the detective pulls himself together 
 and looks over the documents again. They are official 
 and correct in every particular, a blank space, however, 
 being left for a further description of Potts alias Potter, 
 which Brackett fills up with the words " Dangerous, 
 bloodthirsty, and to be approached with caution." Think 
 ing, in case he should be fortunate enough not to find 
 Potter and so let him escape, they will tend to excul 
 pate him (Brackett) in the eyes of the English police offi 
 cials. 
 
 For now what he saw in the shooting gallery comes to 
 him with awful significance, and he mutters : " My Lord ! 
 he was preparing himself for me. God help my family ! " 
 and contemplates telegraphing his resignation to Eng 
 land. But after a moment a brilliant idea shoots through 
 his mind, and that is, he will spread the report he has a 
 warrant to arrest Potter as a criminal, and so warned the 
 Texan may leave the place and permit him, Brackett, to 
 live. For the sergeant has become so imbued with his 
 favorite border literature that he wouldn t give a penny 
 for his chance for life in an encounter with Sammy Potts 
 alias Potter. A brutal English burglar or French escaped 
 galley slave, the detective would have met with courage 
 and equanimity ; but this scalping Western ruffian, this 
 bandit of the plains the thought of meeting him in com 
 bat makes Brackett shudder as if he had the ague. Even 
 this afternoon he has read a work of fiction called Potts, 
 the Pirate of the Prairies, and conceives the horrible
 
 222 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 atrocities of its gory hero to be nothing more than the 
 life and adventures of Sammy Potts. 
 
 " How in the name of bad luck did the authorities drop 
 on him ? " mutters the detective, as he goes out to spread 
 the report. 
 
 But this is easily accounted for by the fact that Mr. 
 Potter had left a letter for Mr. Portman, Errol s advertis 
 ing solicitor, stating the fact that he was Sammy Potts, 
 and on his return to England the next morning that gen 
 tleman had communicated with the British police author 
 ities, with the before-stated result. 
 
 It does not take long to circulate a rumor that any man 
 is a criminal, and Mr. Brackett s statement is soon flying 
 about Boulogne. It reaches the Hotel des Bains, and is 
 instantly carried by the excited Lubbins to Lady Anner- 
 ley, who has been in a state of semi-coma since her inter 
 view with Errol. She hurriedly sends word to the detec 
 tive that she must see him. 
 
 If Potts can prove his innocence, it will disclose to 
 Charley Errol a treachery on her part, unutterably more 
 cruel, cowardly, and dishonorable than the mere betrayal 
 of his father s presence in England to the police, of which 
 at this time he only thinks her guilty. The contempla 
 tion of the contempt and loathing this will arouse in the 
 heart of the man she loves makes her shudder and thrill 
 with horror. And she lies upon a sofa, when unobserved, 
 moaning and wringing her hands, and when Lubbins or her 
 maid is present forcing herself to an unnatural calmness. 
 
 A few moments after this the ex-waiter comes up more 
 excited than ever and ejaculates : " The Honorable 
 Sammy Potts I I mean Sampson Potter, to see your 
 ladyship ! " 
 
 " Did he seem agitated ?" asks his mistress with a start, 
 struggling to a sitting position upon the sofa. 
 
 " Hon the contrary werry cool and dilettante /" 
 
 " Quick ! show him up ! " and Lubbins with a bow 
 leaving the room Lady Annerley pulls herself together 
 for a last and mighty struggle to seem less than a fiend 
 in the mind of the man she loves. If Potts can t prove 
 his innocence and she can induce him to fly, all may be 
 well ; if not 
 
 But Mr. Potter now comes in and genially remarks : 
 " Warm evening, Lady Hannerley, warm evening ! " re-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 223 
 
 moving his hat, producing a red silk bandana, and wiping 
 his wig. 
 
 " Mr. Potts Potter, won t you be seated ? " murmurs 
 her ladyship, who has risen to receive him, stumbling a 
 little over his name. 
 
 But he doesn t notice this, and beams upon her : " Won t 
 you ? Ladies first ! No man sits when a lady stands not 
 in Texas." 
 
 Then very gallantly placing her in a chair, the old 
 frontier gentleman s eyes grow big at the beauty before 
 him, for Mr. Potter is not accustomed to ladies in even 
 ing dress and the fair arms and neck of Lady Annerley, 
 together with her flashing diamonds and exquisite toilet, 
 have set his ancient heart to beating as he gallantly mut 
 ters : " Great Scott, your ladyship is like a sireen of the 
 night ! " 
 
 Not heeding his compliment, Lady Annerley, desper 
 ately anxious to get to business, asks him if he has seen 
 his daughter this afternoon. 
 
 To this he replies " No ;" but that he hears she is in 
 Boulogne, and that he will get on her trail as soon as he 
 has finished up a leetle business that he has called upon 
 her ladyship to transact. 
 
 " Business with me ! " she cries, and going quickly to 
 the door she locks it. 
 
 " Hello ! What s that for ? " ejaculates Mr. Potter. 
 
 " I have a servant that has ears ! " 
 
 Here she gets a surprise, for the Texan suggests : 
 " Than you d better open it agin, for the more as heerd 
 me say what I m going to, the prouder you d be, Lady 
 Saharah." 
 
 " The prouder I d be ? " 
 
 " Prouder than if you was a Hinjin with a red 
 blanket." 
 
 " I don t understand ! " gasps her ladyship, for a mo 
 ment wildly thinking that Mr. Potter s intentions are matri 
 monial, as his eyes follow her in a peculiar grateful way, 
 and she remembers his remarks about her being a sireen. 
 
 He undeceives her, however, in a moment. " Until 
 last night, Lady Sahara," he says, " I never knowed you 
 were the darter of Hold Ginerosity himself ! " 
 
 " Old Generosity ! " echoes Lady Annerley, very much 
 astonished.
 
 224 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Yes. The late Sir Jonas Stevens the noblest man 
 that s buried, and that means a great deal more than the 
 noblest man who lives ! " cries Potter, his eyes blazing 
 with grateful enthusiasm. 
 
 " Noble ? " gasps Lady Sarah, who now half thinks Pot 
 ter crazy, but after a moment says, suggestively : " You 
 have not had many dealings with him ? " 
 
 " But one and that branded him Ho. J. Hold Giner- 
 osity. Your father was very kind to me, and you have 
 been very sociable to my darter, and I thanks you for it. 
 Generous blood will tell. Your father was my worship. 
 I prayed for your father ! " 
 
 " Prayed for my father ? " the tone of this is faint with 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Prayed for him ! " repeats Potter, every fiber in his 
 body showing he means what he says. " Prayed for him 
 every night in my life till I grew out of the habit of 
 praying at all ! " Then he pauses, and dashes two tears 
 out of his eyes, and now goes on more slowly. " After 
 thirty years death has cut me off from thanking your 
 daddy the great banker and so now I ve come over to 
 Boulogne to thank you as the darter of the best friend I 
 ever had." 
 
 "Friend?" returns Lady Annerley, who finds it very 
 hard to believe any good of her father. Then a sudden 
 light flashing into her eyes she asks excitedly : " What 
 did he do for you ? " and gets this ambiguous an 
 swer. 
 
 " What did he do for me ? He made the pigmy Sammy 
 Potts into the giant Sampson Potter ! " 
 
 She doesn t say anything to this, she is so crushed at 
 finding that Potter has no fear of his identity being 
 known, and therefore that he must be able to prove his in 
 nocence. 
 
 He, however, doesn t give her much chance for comment, 
 for he goes on rapidly, warming to his subject: " I ll tell 
 you how it was: One winter morning in 1850 I, the 
 little office boy of Jaffey & Stevens, as slept in the 
 office, was awoke one morning by seeing your father he 
 was cashier of the bank in them days putting sovereigns 
 into a clerk s desk." 
 
 She says nothing to this, knowing what is coming, 
 though her lips form the words : " Ralph Errol s ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 225 
 
 " He was paying him back wages, he said, as the clerk 
 was going to Australia early that day." 
 
 " And then ? " 
 
 Here Potter fairly gleams at his listener, who sits gazing 
 at him as if he were a basilisk. " How generous he was ! 
 Your father asked me if I d like to hemigrate also and 
 become a man ? The Californy gold fever of 1849 was 
 in my blood, and afore night I found myself bound for 
 . New Orleans with thirty sovereigns in my pocket A 
 
 LOAN FROM YOUR NOBLE FATHER." 
 
 Here she interrupts him with : " A loan ! Do you think 
 I ll believe this likely story ? " 
 
 " You won t take my thanks, Lady Sahara ; that s true 
 generosity !" returns Potter. "But I ll make you take 
 em ! " 
 
 And how? " 
 
 " By proving that your father lent me them ar thirty 
 sovereigns ! " gleams the Texan on her with grateful 
 eyes, and she cries at him : " Proving it ! you sha n t 
 do it ! " 
 
 " You re too good-hearted and modest," he says after 
 a moment, for her manner surprises him. "But I ll make 
 it clear to you. Do you see this sovereign, Lady Anner- 
 ley ? " With this he holds up the coin upon his watch- 
 chain. " Every time I look at it I utters a blessing upon 
 your daddy. My son sports one similar for luck, and my 
 darter dangles one from her wrist because I ve told her 
 to." 
 
 Looking on this coin Lady Sarah notes with a start it 
 has the peculiar mark her father spoke of in his death 
 bed confession. 
 
 " You ve no doubt seen Miss Potter s," says that young 
 lady s father, complacently. 
 
 " Yes ! " mutters his listener in a kind of a daze ; then 
 she suddenly continues : " But that does not prove you 
 received them from my father ! " and after a moment 
 suggests : " I want better evidence." 
 
 She says this quite persuasively, but if Mr. Potter 
 could have known what was in Lady Annerley s mind at 
 the time he would have taken her glistening white throat 
 into his hands, strangled her, and thus made aa end to 
 the interview. 
 
 As it is he paralyzes her, for he returns : " Then I ll 
 
 15
 
 226 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 give it to you," and producing an old weather-beaten 
 leather wallet from his coat pocket, fumbles in it for a 
 document of some kind, while she gasps to herself : 
 Written evidence ! " and nearly faints. 
 
 Mr. Potter, however, is too busy to notice her. He is 
 rummaging over the contents of his pocket-book, which 
 contains some greenbacks, English bank-notes, a New 
 York hotel bill receipted, a few doubtful pennies and 
 coins he has been unable to negotiate, and one or two 
 laundry lists, all these scented with a lot of fine-cut cheu-- 
 ing tobacco that has insinuated itself from his pockc t. 
 At last he finds what he is searching for, and holds up a 
 half page of paper yellow with age, the ink of which is 
 faded from the same cause. 
 
 " Thar," he cries, " is the receipt of your daddy for the 
 return of them thirty sovereigns he loaned me ! " 
 
 And she gasps : " No ! no ! " and were she not seated 
 in a chair would fall down. 
 
 " Your daddy was as difficult as you to get to acknowl 
 edge his generosity ! " remarks Mr. Potter. " I had to 
 write to him twenty times to get this document for my 
 first object in the New World was to return his noble loan 
 in the Old. But at last, in 1857, I was shipping hides to 
 London and had an agent, and as I made a point of it, 
 and sent the agent to him, your father inclosed me, un 
 der his own seal, this," and she looking contrives to read 
 the following : 
 
 "LONDON, July 15, 1857. 
 
 " Received from Samuel Potts thirty pounds (^30), with interest 
 to date from January 6, 1850. 
 
 " JONAS STEVENS." 
 
 " You, see ! " cries Mr. Potter triumphantly. " That 
 ar date, January 6, 1850, was the last day Sammy Potts 
 was in England." 
 
 " Yes," murmurs Lady Sarah, half sarcastically, " I 
 presume that was a hard document to get from my 
 father ? " Then a rapid look at the persistent and de 
 termined Potter makes her admire her father s acuteness 
 in seeing it was safer for him in 1857 to send this receipt 
 to far-off Texas than to have London agents running 
 after him and tendering him thirty pounds from Sammy 
 Potts, a boy only seven years before advertised for all
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 227 
 
 over England as connected with a great crime ; and he, 
 the close-fisted Jonas Stevens, astonishing the agents by 
 refusing the money. 
 
 Her father s acuteness makes her have confidence in 
 her own. She carelessly hints : " I presume that s all the 
 proof you have ! " 
 
 "Why yes, ain t that enough ?" returns Potter. "I 
 fished that out of my trunk last night to bring it over to 
 you." 
 
 Here Lady Annerley cries to herself : " Thank God ! " 
 And then asks aloud : "What did you intend to do with 
 it ? " 
 
 " I intended to frame it and give it to you, that you 
 might place it on a pedestal in your father s honor." 
 
 " For my father s honor let me make a better use of it. 
 Can I ?" asks Lady Sarah, fascinating him by her beauti 
 ful eyes. 
 
 The honest old gentleman bows to her with back 
 woods grace, and this great English lady takes from his 
 hand the document and mutters : " True generosity con 
 sists in forgetting the kindness. My father would 
 wish his also forgotten ! " THEN SHE BURNS UP IN A 
 
 LIGHTED TAPER UPON THE TABLE NEAR HER THE ONLY 
 EVIDENCE THAT STANDS BETWEEN THIS POOR OLD MAN 
 AND A BRITISH PRISON. 
 
 While he smiles at her and says, as the last ashes fall 
 upon the floor: "My dear, you re just like your dead 
 drddy both noble ! " 
 
 " Noble f" she cries to him, and there is a wildness in 
 her eye that makes Mr. Potter astonished, for she is in 
 her mind cursing herself as the most infamous thing on 
 earth ; but there is triumph in her look also. She knows 
 that there is but one salvation for the man standing before 
 her, he must fly, and thinks joyously : " Charley will never 
 know my father committed the crime that made his father 
 a convict, and that I knew it, and yet made him, innocent 
 as he was, again suffer the shame and agony of exile ; " and 
 last of all, that the elder Errol can never prove an unjust 
 conviction, and the man she loves is separated from 
 Ethel Lincoln forever. 
 
 She contrives to turn the conversation upon some light 
 subject, however ; thinking all the time how she dare tell 
 this old man who looks at her admiringly the awful thing
 
 228 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 she has done to him so that he may escape in time ; but 
 has no opportunity, for he has got upon the subject of his 
 daughter, and is thanking Lady Annerley for her kindness 
 to that young lady. 
 
 At this moment Lubbins knocks at the door, and she 
 going to it, her face changes to an ashy pallor, for he 
 announces that Sergeant Brackett is downstairs to speak 
 .to her as she requested. She mutters to her servant to 
 keep the detective below, and now she is forced to tell 
 Potter that he must fly. 
 
 She comes to him and hurriedly says : " There is an 
 English police officer below. Take my advice ! Go 
 quickly without the man seeing you ! " 
 
 " Why ?" returns Potter, staring at her, for her manner 
 is significant. 
 
 " Because he will arrest you ! " 
 
 "Arrest me? That s startling !" mutters the Texan, 
 feeling to be sure his pistols are all right. " Arrest the 
 Honorable Sampson Potter ! " He repeats this last as if 
 it were incredible, and the flame of battle begins to light 
 up his eyes. 
 
 Here Lady Annerley figuratively knocks him down, 
 pistols and all, for she says : " Not Sampson Potter, but 
 Sammy Potts, against whom thirty years ago an indictment 
 was found by an English jury for stealing thirty sover 
 eigns marked to detect theft ! " 
 
 " TARANTULAS ! " This is a whoop that resounds 
 through the room, re-echoes through the halls, and 
 reaches Sergeant Brackett. He has never heard a war- 
 cry before, but read of them. He knows the Texan is 
 upstairs, and hastily and tremblingly descends to the 
 reading room, and Potter, though he does not know it, is 
 safe from immediate arrest. 
 
 " Counterparts of the one on your chain ! " mutters 
 Lady Annerley, playing with the coin and showing him 
 the distinguishing mark, for after giving the whoop Mr. 
 Potter has begun to rub his head as if dazed. 
 
 "But you, Lady Sarah, know and can prove that I 
 am innocent," he says to her after a long pause of 
 thought. 
 
 " I know that thirty years ago," she returns pointedly, 
 "a jury convicted Ralph Errol of stealing seventy of those 
 marked coins, and made him a convict ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 22p 
 
 Here Potter mutters : " Ralph Errol ! " and seems to 
 be recalling something, for he now suddenly cries out : " I 
 I remember the man now ! Good Heaven ! The clerk 
 your father was paying back tvages to that morning! 
 Then, by Jupiter ! Ralph Errol is innocent also ! Your 
 father was putting them in his desk ! Thar d been big 
 money stolen before and they marked to detect theft ! 
 Then your father, Lady Annerley, was the thief of em 
 all ! Your noble father, Hold Generosity, put his crimes 
 on both of us ! " With this he gives her a look that makes 
 the woman before him cringe ; then mutters as in a dream : 
 " And Errol suffered the prisonship and the penal settle 
 ment, and poor honest little Sammy Potts was made an 
 infamous habsconder." 
 
 " How will you prove all this ? " sneers her ladyship. 
 
 " How ! by producing " 
 
 " Your only written proof is burnt ! " 
 
 Here Potter frightens her by crying : " By you ! oh in 
 famy ! by you!" and half draws a pistol, but puts it 
 back and looks at her, muttering between his clenched 
 teeth : " If you war a man ! " 
 
 " Yes ! " returns Sarah desperately, " you d murder 
 me as you did your other victims ! " 
 
 " Madam ! " says Mr. Potter solemnly, with a profound 
 bow, " in my time I have killed many men, but never 
 murdered one. But if you war one, I d execute you with 
 no disturbing conscience ! As it is, I ll tell the jury on 
 you.! " This is said with his old-time frontier jauntiness, 
 but it is the last speech he makes in this interview as a 
 Texan. 
 
 After this, as she holds up the awful certainty of Eng 
 lish justice to his eyes, he thinks of his daughter, and 
 the more humble spirit of the office boy, Sammy Potts, 
 conies to the fire-eater Sampson Potter. 
 
 From that time on she crushes him with awful facts 
 and things he had forgotten. 
 
 He mutters to her : "I ll swear to the jury your father 
 loaned the coins to me ! " 
 
 " You won t get a chance ! Prisoners are not permitted 
 to testify in English courts ! " 
 
 " Great Scott ! I forgot that ! " 
 
 "Besides," here her voice is very slow, cutting and 
 sarcastic, " Sir Jonas Stevens was for twenty-five years
 
 230 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 a great banker. During that time the business world 
 knows that he never lent one penny without undoubted 
 and ample security. Do you suppose the jury would 
 believe on your mere word, against the record of a life 
 time, that he loaned thirty pounds to a starving office 
 boy ! Oh no ! Old Generosity did not do business IN 
 THAT WAY ! " She emphasizes this last by a nasty little 
 laugh. 
 
 " No ! " groans Potter. " Because Hi caught "im 
 putting his crime on Ralph H errol he lent me hinfamy 
 and despair. You can halways borrow them without 
 collaterals." For as he becomes more English in feeling 
 he throws his tis about with more Cockney eccentricity. 
 Then he turns to her and mutters : "Lady Hannerley, you 
 destroyed the evidence of it but it is not too late to do 
 justice now." 
 
 " It is too late for me to do anything but save you 
 from an English prison." 
 
 " An Henglish prison ! " shudders Potter, as he remem 
 bers how he feared them when a boy ; but here suddenly 
 an awful thought shoots through him and he screams out 
 at her : " MY DARTER ! This will break her heart ! My 
 darter, Lady Hannerley, MY DARTER ! They ll despise 
 her for her daddy s sake. Lady Sarah, repent, con 
 fess ! " and goes about in such a despair that she shud 
 ders and trembles and half repents. 
 
 But he goes on : " Think of my darter ! How would 
 you feel if you loved a man to have your daddy s shame 
 exposed to him?" 
 
 And she cries out as wildly as he, taking the words out 
 of his mouth : " To HIM ! To THE MAN I LOVE ! No, 
 no ; I won t have that ! I WON T HAVE THAT ! " 
 
 Then the thought of Charley Errol coming to her, 
 from this time on she is adamant. She says very coolly 
 now : " Mr. Potts, you had better fly ! Escape from 
 English justice; it never forgets ! Last night Ralph Errol 
 returned to England as an Australian magnate ; last 
 night Ralph Errol as a ticket-of-leave man was again 
 driven an exile from his country to Boulogne ; " and then 
 cries out English justice to him, till the natural respect 
 all Englishmen have for law, and the certainty of speedy 
 conviction and punishment to all criminals, rich or poor, 
 high or low, which, unfortunately, does not exist in
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 23! 
 
 America, comes back to Mr. Potter, and he gets nearer 
 every minute to the days of his youth. 
 
 Seeing the effect of this upon him, she says to him : 
 " You must fly at once to Paris, then on to Marseilles, 
 where you can get a steamer for Havana, New Orleans, 
 or Galveston by to-morrow morning." 
 
 "And then " mumbles Potter, who hardly thinks 
 
 for himself now. 
 
 " I care not where, so long as you are not seen again," 
 and Lady Sarah, taking Mr. Potter to a smaller door in 
 the room, opens it, and showing him a back stairway 
 says, looking at her watch : " The express train will 
 leave for Paris in fifteen minutes. In the hall outside my 
 room is a detective armed with a requisition from the 
 English Government ; but by this you can avoid him. 
 Have you money enough for your flight ? It would not 
 be safe to visit a bank in Paris. Permit me," offering 
 him money. 
 
 He looks at her for a moment, though in a dazed con 
 dition, and says : " No, thank you, my lady ; no more 
 loans from the Stevens family ! " then staggers out. 
 
 But suddenly returns, and touching her on the shoul 
 der as she looks at him with triumph, whispers to her in 
 a voice she hardly knows, it is so husky and broken 
 with misery : " One half second, Lady Annerley, before 
 I, an innocent man, fly as a criminal ! Think that to 
 protect your dead father s name you are destroying two 
 living ones." For at this time Potter believes filial de- 
 votiun to be the motive of this lady s atrocious conduct. 
 " Think ! " he repeats impressively, " that when you 
 burnt my proof of innocence in that flame, you not only 
 destroyed the happiness of my darter and the man she 
 loves, but the union of Ethel Lincoln and the man who 
 loves her ! " 
 
 "Oh! that was why " she gasps. And he gasps 
 back at her : " Confess ! In justice to the living, in 
 mercy to us all ! " and here something springs into his 
 brain and makes him as near lunacy as a sane man can 
 be, and he shrieks : " My God ! don t let my darter when 
 she lays down to-night think the daddy she has loved and 
 honored since she was born a thief and a scoundrel ! " 
 And if it had been Sampson Potter who said the words, 
 he would have killed Lady Annerley as he uttered them;-
 
 232 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 but being now only poor frightened Sammy Potts, he 
 merely pleads to her. 
 
 But his torture makes her suffer, and she cries back at 
 him to go before she has the officer to put the manacles 
 upon his wrists. 
 
 And getting a little spirit he mutters: But when I 
 return ! " 
 
 At this she in haughty triumph for she has now 
 thrown all conscience to the winds laughs at him and 
 cries : " Ah, you dare not ! " 
 
 "But if I do, I ll bring you what you want least in all 
 this world, and that injustice!" 
 
 "Beware of that yourself. Justice ! ENGLISH JUSTICE ! 
 Quick, if you want to catch the train ! The detective 11 
 telegraph ! Disguise yourself ! " she cries. 
 
 And so, crushed by sudden calamity, the savage hero 
 of the prairies, who entered this room as Sampson Pot 
 ter the Texan ranger, staggers out of it flying from 
 English justice, the bogey of youth, in spirit as well as 
 name the meek little office-boy, Sammy Potts.
 
 BOOK IV. 
 MR. POTTER TAKES THE WAR-PATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE AWAKING OF THE LION. 
 
 POOR old Potter having disappeared, Lady Annerley, 
 radiant with triumph, sends for Sergeant Brackett. That 
 worthy enters very cautiously, being shown in by Lub- 
 bins, and is quite relieved to find no one in the apart 
 ment but Lady Annerley. In fact he had hesitated 
 about coming up until assured by the ex-waiter that her 
 ladyship was alone. 
 
 Not knowing where Sergeant Brackett had obtained 
 the inspiration by which he had exposed her, Lady An 
 nerley has a much higher opinion of the detective s 
 acuteness and determination than he deserves, and has 
 sent for him to try and bribe him to permit Mr. Potter 
 to oscape unarrested. 
 
 She proffers the officer a seat, and telling him she has 
 a favor to ask of him, finds that, persuaded by her, he 
 may consent to permit Sampson Potter to escape his eye 
 that evening, because the disgrace and shame of the 
 father will break that lovely American girl s heart, and 
 he (Brackett) has a heart also. 
 
 After discovering the detective s views on the subject 
 of arresting Mr. Potter, Lady Annerley, however, makes 
 a great mistake. 
 
 " I presume when your ladyship told him his boyish 
 crime was discovered, Potter, the Texan, took very high 
 ground," remarks Brackett. " I heard an exclamation of 
 his downstairs. He s a little inclined to be blood-thirsty, 
 I am informed ! "
 
 234 MR - POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Bloodthirsty ! " cries Lady Sarah, laughing-. " Samp 
 son, the Texan, might be ; but Sammy, the little office 
 boy, was very meek." Then to show her own brill 
 iancy she gives Brackett an account of how suddenly, 
 crushed by the discovery of his boyhood felony, Potter, 
 the Texan, had become frightened of that fearful English 
 justice he remembered in his youth as Sammy Potts, the 
 office boy, and had fled timidly from the awe-inspiring 
 detective. " At this very moment I expect he s trem 
 bling, and looking round corners for the awful English 
 policeman." 
 
 Here Mr. Brackett becomes awful, indeed ; for spring 
 ing, up he says determinedly : " Which way did the in 
 fernal scoundrel go ? I ll have the darbies on that Sammy 
 Potts inside of five minutes ! " and would start off very 
 savagely on his mission, but Lady Annerley throws her 
 self before the door, crying : " Let one victim escape ! " 
 
 " Losing a criminal looked for thirty years ! It can t 
 be done, your ladyship," mutters Brackett, and would 
 push past her. 
 
 " It shall be done ! " she returns, twining her arms 
 about the detective and holding him with hysterical force. 
 " How much money will bribe you to let him fly ? " 
 
 " Don t tempt a poor man ! " 
 
 " One hundred pounds ! " 
 
 " I darsn t listen to you ! " and Brackett gets from her. 
 
 But while they have been struggling Lady Annerley 
 has been thinking. She says : " Go, you idiot ! " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " returns the officer, taking a 
 last look at her before pursuing Sammy Potts. 
 
 " I mean that if you overtake that man that awful, 
 bloodthirsty Texan you ll be dead the minute he sees 
 you ; that s all. I saw his pistols ! " 
 
 " So did I ! " says Brackett, returning with a shudder. 
 
 " And wanted to prevent his having another murder on 
 his soul, and for his daughter s sake would have spent 
 a hundred pounds to save your life ! " 
 
 " You have saved Sampson Potter, for his daughter s 
 sake," returns the detective. "I had forgotten Miss Pot 
 ter. I ll I ll take your hundred pounds; I ve a heart, 
 Lady Annerley and couldn t you send Lubbins for a 
 drop of brandy ? " 
 
 Here Mr. Brackett sinks into a chair, a cold per-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 235 
 
 spiration upon him at the thought of what he has es 
 caped. 
 
 " I m glad I induced you," whispers her ladyship, and 
 ringing the bell, sends Mr. Lubbins for what the detect 
 ive wants ; then, producing a purse filled with Bank of 
 England notes, gives the sergeant his hundred pounds. 
 A little sneering smile is on her face while doing this, 
 for she knows that this bribe to permit the escape of a 
 fugitive from justice must bind the detective to her in 
 terests, soul and body. 
 
 Her smile would hardly be as light, however, and 
 Brackett s tremors would be more intense and his perspi 
 ration would be colder, did these two think that there is 
 but one thing standing between them and death, and that 
 is the restraining influence in his mind of his daughter ; 
 for through the door Sammy Potts had fled in terror five 
 minutes before Sampson Potter is glaring at them, a drawn 
 pistol in his hand. 
 
 This has all been brought about by a simple revulsion 
 in his nature. Sammy Potts fled from English justice ; 
 but getting to the bottom of the stairs, his mind, that had 
 been confused by this sudden and crushing blow, begins 
 to become clear. He commences to think, and as he 
 thinks becomes the Texan once more. He remembers 
 his daughter, and that if he flies it will be considered a 
 proof of his guilt, and determines to come back and, as 
 he puts it to himself, " face the music ! " Then he mut 
 ters :. " Arrest the Honorable Sampson Potter? Will 
 he? and getting very angry at the idea, concludes he 
 will make it a personal matter with the detective. 
 
 Returning up the stairs he reaches the door, and see 
 ing Lady Annerley s smile of triumph and the money 
 transaction between her and Brackett, he imagines it is 
 some payment in behalf of a conspiracy against his proving 
 his innocence, and were it not for the thought of how it 
 would affect his daughter, the payment would have been 
 completed between two corpses. 
 
 As it is, he watches them with a very evil eye, as 
 Lubbins brings in Mr. Brackett s brandy and a telegram 
 to Lady Annerley. 
 
 The first of these produces an apparently pleasing effect 
 upon the police officer ; the second nearly sends Lady 
 Annerley into a swoon.
 
 236 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 She takes it nonchalantly in her hand as if it were 
 hardly worth reading at the present moment, even is 
 about to lay it down ; but reconsidering the matter, 
 tears open the envelope, and glances over it carelessly. 
 As she gazes, there comes such an awful horror into her 
 face that Potter as he looks at her starts ; then uttering 
 a faint cry, half gasp, half moan, Sarah Annerley falls 
 down in a chair. Brackett and Lubbins both run for 
 water and revive her. She looks at the detective, and 
 suddenly forcing herself to strength, after a moment s 
 thought hurriedly writes a few lines and directs them. 
 Then she says : " Sergeant Brackett, this is a matter of 
 life and death with me. Can I depend upon you ? " 
 
 " I am at your ladyship s service." 
 
 " Very well ; here is all the money you can possibly 
 need. Go to Paris at once, and immediately deliver this 
 note to the gentleman to whom it is addressed. In return 
 he will give you a packet ; deliver it to me in person, 
 and for it I will give you five hundred pounds cash ! " 
 
 And giving the detective the money for his expenses 
 and the note, she says : " Lubbins, go and get a cab for 
 Sergeant Brackett ! " 
 
 This the servitor does. Then she whispers in such a low 
 voice to Brackett that Potter, at the distance he is from 
 them, cannot hear it ; but it is to this effect, that the officer 
 is first to obtain the packet called for in her letter at any 
 risk ; but in case he is waylaid, pursued, or followed so 
 that it is impossible for him to deliver the packet to her, 
 he is to destroy it in any way he can. 
 
 She would say more, but during this time an idea has 
 flown through Potter s mind, and to their ears comes his 
 awful voice crying : " That letter and telegram, or your 
 lives ! " 
 
 At this, with a shriek Brackett bolts through the other 
 door that is open ; but would have fallen dead upon the 
 threshold, had not Lady Annerley sprung between the 
 Texan and the detective crying hoarsely : " Kill me 
 first ! I don t want to live ! " Which is quite the truth, 
 this telegram has made her so miserable. 
 
 Potter is compelled to lower his pistol or shoot her, 
 and Brackett escapes down the stairway, flies into the 
 cab, and drives for the railway station. 
 
 The next instant, with a snarl of rage Sampson Potter
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 237 
 
 lays his hands in violence for the first time in his life 
 upon a woman. He cries : " Rattlesnakes and centi 
 pedes ! " and seizes Lady Annerley by the wrists, for she 
 has flown back to the table and is burning by means of 
 the lighted taper the telegram. 
 
 Without any ceremony he crushes the fire out with his 
 naked hands, then, holding her two little wrists together 
 in one strong fist, with the other opens her delicate 
 fingers, and though she struggles desperately and vicious 
 ly, takes from them the remnants of the dispatch and 
 tries to read them. While she, reduced to woman s last 
 weapons, bursts into tears and calls him a coward. 
 
 There are only two words that he can distinguish, for 
 Lady Annerley had fought to destroy the message with 
 her whole heart, but these are enough to astound him. 
 The first is its address, Paris ; the second, part of its sig 
 nature, which he gazes at amazed, for it is that of his son, 
 the lieutenant in the American navy. 
 
 " What deviltry have you been working on him ? " he 
 cries to her. But she answers only by sneers and mocking 
 laughter, and mutters : " Why don t you kill me ? Cow 
 ard, look at your marks upon my wrists ! " 
 
 Then he suddenly cries to her : " By the Etarnal ! You 
 want me to miss that Paris train ! " and bolts from the 
 room, leaving her astonished at his acuteness, but also 
 wringing her hands and muttering despairingly : " When 
 I had made it certain that nothing could now show my 
 awful -baseness to my love, to have this, the thing I had 
 thought destroyed in burning Alexandria, the packet 
 I gave to Errol, arise to strike me down forever in his 
 heart ! " 
 
 Mr. Brackett being incited by Lubbins remark of 
 " Quick ! He s coming, downstairs ! " drives to the 
 railway station shrieking to the hackman : " Vite ! Allez ! " 
 and various other French terms, till that individual says 
 sternly : " Begorrah, one would think yer was ashamed of 
 your own language ! " Though he remarks soothingly on 
 being paid his fare at the depot : " Mayhaps your parlez- 
 vousihv did shove us on a little faster ; the horse is 
 Frinch ! " 
 
 Not stopping to discuss the philosophy of this propo 
 sition, Brackett is about to hurry into the crowd, thinking 
 that if pursued he has less chance of detection in the
 
 238 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 throng ; when the hack-driver stops him by : " Is this 
 your baste ? " And looking down the detective sees poor 
 little Snapper come panting along, running with all his 
 small might and main after his master. 
 
 " Lord ! I must have been frightened to have forgot 
 him ! " mutters the sergeant, picking up the little crea 
 ture and putting it in his overcoat pocket. Then diving 
 into the station he buys his ticket for Paris, and hurries to 
 the train. Selecting a compartment with only one vacant 
 seat he takes it, knowing that Potter, if following him, 
 will at least be compelled to occupy another. As dogs 
 are not allowed in passenger carriages, Mr. Brackett keeps 
 his little pet in his pocket, soothing him to quiet and 
 sleep by giving him one of his hands to lick, which 
 Snapper does with much vigor, gusto, and affection. 
 This continues till the train, giving a whistle, gets under 
 way, and seeing nothing of his awful pursuer, Sergeant 
 Brackett feels relieved and begins to go over in his 
 mind his instructions from Lady Annerley. 
 
 In this, however, he is mistaken, for at the very last 
 moment a cab, its horses in a foam, dashes up to the ter 
 minus, and Mr. Potter, yelling to the driver : " Pay you 
 when I get back ! " bolts for the train. 
 
 Unheeding the execrations of his cabman, who, not 
 understanding English shrieks after this frontier robber 
 in French, Mr. Potter forces his way to the train and 
 boards it just as it moves out of the depot, not noticing 
 though nearly running over, little Van Cott, who has 
 come there with the intention of going to Paris to 
 escape him. 
 
 On seeing his dreaded enemy, the poor fugitive gives a 
 frightened shudder and concludes it is best not to go, at 
 least upon that train ; then, noticing the downcast though 
 excited appearance of the Texan, a new idea comes to 
 him. Muttering to himself : * By George, I ve run old 
 Potter out of Boulogne ! " he makes up his mind to re 
 main in town over night, and going up to the Hotel dcs 
 Itams, takes a dinner and drink or two with great enjoy 
 ment. These so excite him that he begins to persuade 
 himself that it is owing entirely to fear of his mighty self 
 that the Texan has fled in such a hurry, and he makes a 
 night of it ; his last distinguishable words to the waiters as 
 they put him to bed being : " I awh hie would have
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 239 
 
 spared the old man for his daughter she s hie a 
 duced fine gal ! " 
 
 Mr. Potter, jammed in between an Alsacian who speaks 
 German-French, and a Magyar whose dialogue is Hun 
 garian-German, finds that he can gain little information 
 from either as to the route to Paris or how he shall pro 
 ceed after he gets there. 
 
 Fortunately, finding in his pocket a guide-book that 
 Colonel Cottontree had advised him to buy in London 
 the night before, he looks this over, and coming upon a 
 bill of fare in conjoined French and English thinks rather 
 contentedly that they can t starve him as long as the 
 waiters can read. Then his commissariat arranged for, 
 like other great generals Potter proceeds to lay out the 
 plan of his campaign. 
 
 He doesn t know where his son is to be found in Paris, 
 otherwise he would drive to his address at once. The 
 young man s last communication was a letter sent to the 
 address of his London bankers and received by him on 
 his arrival from America. The place from which it had 
 been mailed Mr. Potter forgets, but imagines it was 
 Genoa, and thinks that too far off to trouble his head 
 about, as he knows it is in Italy or Africa, or somewhere 
 down south. 
 
 Then the guide-book reminds him of Colonel Cotton- 
 tree, and he thinks that if any one can find his son on 
 sudden notice in Paris Cottontree s the man, and so 
 arranges in his mind this plan of action : First, to make 
 sure that Brackett is on the train ; if so, to follow him cau 
 tiously, being certain that he will lead him to his son ; 
 second, should he by any chance lose track of the detective, 
 to go to Colonel Cottontree and get him to find the lieu 
 tenant for him. For Mr. Potter is now morally sure that 
 this telegram from his son is vitally connected in some 
 unknown way with the motives and action of Lady 
 Annerley ; though, rack his brain as much as he likes, he 
 cannot guess how. So he dismisses the matter from his 
 mind muttering : " Tarnation ! This beats the fifteen 
 puzzle this does ! " Referring to an invention that 
 made a number of sane men lunatics about that time, 
 and for which Mr. Potter has a profound admiration. 
 
 During these reflections the train, which is a tidal ex 
 press connecting with the Folkestone boat, and which
 
 240 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 reaches Paris in a little over four hours and a half, 
 dashes up the valley of the Liane. 
 
 Mr. Potter consults his watch and discovers it is just 
 after 5 p. M. ; then examines his guide-book, and with 
 some careful study concludes that it should arrive in 
 Paris about half past nine, and will probably stop at 
 Abbeville, Amiens, and Creil before reaching the French 
 capital. He is not very sure of this, but has a kind of 
 hazy idea this will be about his schedule, as he terms it. 
 
 He makes up his mind to become certain at Abbeville 
 that Brackett is on board, and the train stopping at Mon- 
 treuil Verton a moment, he nearly has an accident, as 
 alighting for that purpose he is almost left behind ; the 
 halt being only for a few seconds. At Abbeville he makes 
 the attempt again, but as Brackett keeps close in his 
 compartment, and it is now considerably after six o clock 
 and growing dark, does not succeed. But Brackett from 
 his seat sees and recognizes Mr. Potter with a shudder, 
 as the Texan strides up the platform glaring into the 
 carriages. 
 
 All this trouble and non-success makes his pursuer very 
 angry ; the continual Babel of French and foreign lan 
 guages, none of which he can understand, aggravates and 
 annoys him ; enforced silence makes him feel very help 
 less and irritates him ; and by the time the train runs 
 into the brightly lighted station at Amiens the American 
 is in the worst humor he has been in that day, which is 
 saying a great deal. He glares impatiently out of the 
 window of his compartment, for the guide-book suggests 
 refreshments at this place, and refreshments always mean 
 delay. And now he is determined to find the skulking 
 varmint if he s alive and about. 
 
 In this rather difficult matter, in a large, pressing, 
 surging crowd, he is aided by accident. Mr. Brack 
 ett has thought the matter over, and concluded it may 
 be safer to visit Paris by another train rather than the 
 one that carries Mr. Potter. As soon as his compartment 
 is opened he has sprung from it and is making for the 
 exit to the station. The Texan, locked up in his compart 
 ment, sees him, and feeling very much like a chained rat- 
 terrier smelling a fleeing rat, raises such an awful hub 
 bub for the guard to open his door that the gatekeeper 
 in charge of the exit hears the row, and thinking it an
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 24! 
 
 escaping pickpocket closes the doors, and Brackett can 
 not leave the station. 
 
 This movement has been noticed by Potter, and the 
 moment he gets out of his carriage he charges to the exit, 
 and remains there cutting off retreat, while the detective 
 buries himself deeply in the crowd, and slinking back to 
 another compartment, thinks in a downcast mood how 
 he will escape Mr. Potter in Paris. He makes no at 
 tempt to leave the train at Creil, and so pursued and 
 pursuer come into the great illuminated Gare Chemin 
 de Fer du Nord at an hour when Paris is full of light, 
 life, and that vivacity of movement and action for which 
 the capital of France is noted. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A NIGHT IN PARIS. 
 
 MR. POTTER alights with a very serious task before him ; 
 that is, in a vast and unknown city, ignorant of its lan 
 guage, geography, and customs, to follow a man who is 
 trying to avoid him, and losing track of the man to obtain 
 an interview with his son, with whose habits, usual re 
 sorts and address, in this new and unexplored metropo 
 lis, he is entirely unacquainted. No person is by edu 
 cation and accomplishment less fitted for such a labor 
 than Mr. Potter ; and yet no man, by natural shrewd 
 ness, wiry physique, and undaunted determination, bet 
 ter equipped for its successful performance than the 
 Texan. He mutters to himself : " I ve tracked Injuns 
 on the prairies, and can trail a policeman in Pane ! " For 
 he has been trying to increase his French vocabulary in 
 the past few hours, and has added " PanV " to the list. 
 
 However, the crowd is so vast that there is great dan 
 ger of his never even beginning the trail ; for after leav 
 ing the train he has found it impossible to get his eye 
 .upon Brackett ; but at last, as he is swept out of the ter 
 minus, he catches sight of little Snapper frisking about, 
 delighted to escape from the detective s pocket, and is 
 horrified to perceive the sergeant about to get into a cab. 
 If Potter spoke the language of the country, to call an- 
 
 17
 
 242 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 other cab and bid the man follow Brackett would be the 
 work of an instant ; but the Texan, with a groan, real 
 izes he doesn t speak French well enough for such intri 
 cate instructions. 
 
 Brackett has stepped into the cab with Snapper ; the 
 driver is about to whip up ; in another moment he will 
 be gone. With a quickness born of despair Potter lifts 
 up his voice and hails the departing cabman. Though 
 a half a hundred jehus try to seize upon him for their 
 own, he bolts through them, pursuing the cab on foot, 
 the driver of which, with Parisian shrewdness, preferring 
 two fares to one, pulls up his horse, and with a smile on 
 his face waits for the Texan to overtake him. 
 
 This he does ; but as he comes along Brackett puts out 
 his head, and seeing him, bolts from the cab and goes hur 
 riedly along the street on foot, and Potter, noting this, goes 
 on after him, caring nothing for the excited and astonished 
 exclamations of the unfortunate driver who, bereft of both 
 fares instead of gaining another, follows along also, with 
 varying polite entreaties and passionate blasphemies. 
 
 So they make a curious procession, Sergeant Brackett, 
 with a pale face, marching on the sidewalk at the front , 
 little Snapper dancing along all about his master ; and be 
 hind them Potter the Texan, with a grim and determined 
 scowl upon his countenance, though there is a twinkle in 
 his eye that sometimes rolls itself back toward the hack- 
 man. This gentleman drives close to the curbstone and 
 just at the American s rear, at one moment piteously 
 begging : " Eh, bien, messieurs ! Vous mavez pris ! 
 Gardez moi ! je suis engager. Faites votre course avec 
 moi ! " waving his hand, and smiling a Gallic smile ; at 
 the next bursting forth into " Sacre 1 cochons ! and other 
 more awful Parisian execrations which he makes vivid 
 with a gesticulation wild as that of a jumping-jack and 
 peculiar to the boulcvarts. 
 
 So they come along the Rue Saint Quentin to the Rue 
 de La Fayette, at the corner of which the driver can fol 
 low no further, for he goes into a kind of French frenzy, 
 and explodes into a million of wicked vocal fireworks. 
 
 Turning along this street Sergeant Brackett follows it, 
 as well as Potter can make out from a hasty glance at 
 the moon, which is now up, in a generally southwesterly 
 course ; and he is nearly right, for the detective has been
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 243 
 
 in Paris before, and is going toward the Place dc I Opera 
 and fashionable boulevarts. 
 
 The night is a beautiful, balmy, autumn one, and Paris 
 is in its glory. The shops are well lighted, and as they 
 come near the public centers the crowd grows larger and 
 Brackett more difficult to keep in sight. In fact, were 
 it not for Snapper, who dances about in the gaslight, Pot 
 ter would have lost the detecti-we long ago. 
 
 This the Texan perceives, and mutters : " A. few more 
 parley vous and I m a goner ! " but now finding in his 
 pocket a piece of forgotten cord that had been econom 
 ically put by from some dry goods package, a flash of 
 hope comes to him. He runs quickly forward, and seiz 
 ing little Snapper, who is by no means afraid of him, re 
 membering him as the man who made nice noises in the 
 shooting gallery, ties this string to the terrier s collar, 
 for he is determined to track Brackett about Paris by scent, 
 and here Is the hound ready made to his hand. 
 
 Missing his dog the detective looks back, and partly 
 seeing, partly guessing Potter s design, and knowing 
 Snapper s acute powers, now hurries forward with a speed 
 born of despair. In this way they go over a mile, and 
 now approach the Place de I Opera, the crowd every 
 moment becoming larger and giving Potter more and 
 more trouble. And here a cruel accident happens to the 
 Texan ; Snapper, his hound, who has been running up to 
 this time stanch and true, encounters and must stop to 
 smell another terrier, which delays him so much that, tak 
 ing advantage of a string of carriages, Brackett crosses the 
 street, gets them between him and Potter, and now en 
 tirely disappears. 
 
 Almost forcing his way through the crowd the Texan 
 crosses also, but after looking about a little time without 
 success, mutters to himself : " If it hadn t been for my 
 darter I d have let daylight through that policeman long 
 ago ! " 
 
 Then he resigns himself to the guidance of little Snap 
 per who goes smelling about, and to Potter s delight 
 takes up a trail which leads through the Place de V Opera, 
 At the end of this Snapper comes out on the Boulevart 
 des Capucines, and Potter of Texas gives almost a gasp at 
 Paris at night in its glory. 
 
 The lighted cafes, the numerous carriages, cabs and
 
 244 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 omnibuses, the gayly dressed men and women the 
 whole holiday appearance of everybody who is out of 
 doors this night and this is one of Paris out-of-door 
 evenings amaze the Texan, who has never seen the like 
 before and thinks it a kind of dream of fairy land. He 
 mutters something about a town on a picnic, and then 
 more gloomily makes a remark about a needle in a hay 
 stack. 
 
 Noting that even Snapper, disconcerted by the un 
 usual scene, can apparently follow his master no further, 
 he picks up the dog and puts it in his overcoat pocket, for 
 the string attached to the little creature s collar ties, en 
 tangles, and trips people up, and they do not like it. Thus 
 jostled by the surging throng, and far from his bearings 
 and moorings, Mr. Potter lifts up his eyes despairingly 
 and stands gazing around for an American face, knowing 
 fun and his countrymen are never very far apart. 
 
 But after waiting a few minutes none seem to come 
 along, and being extremely hungry, Mr. Potter looks about 
 him for an eating-house, and finding the Cafe de la Paix 
 right beside him, enters that gorgeous restaurant. 
 
 He returns the waiter s polite smiles. Then one sug 
 gesting : " Cabinet particulier ! " nods his head and mut 
 ters : " Out ! Bring it quick ! " and is immediately shown 
 upstairs into a private room in the entresol. 
 
 " They re remarkably polite," thinks Potter ; " must 
 have heard of me somewhere ; perhaps they know my 
 darter. She s been humming about these regions." 
 
 He is, however, brought from these reflections quite 
 suddenly. The waiter, after a preliminary flourish, pro 
 duces a bill of fare and pushes it under Potter s nose. 
 
 " I thought I ordered something downstairs," mutters 
 the old gentleman ; but the servant apparently insisting, 
 he produces his guide-book and selects from its bill of 
 fare in joint English and French what he wants, pointing 
 out the dishes to the waiter. Next getting hold of a 
 wine list he puts his finger on Veuve Cliquot and says : 
 " That s the ticket ! That ll knock the blues out of 
 me ! " Then to indicate speed, he, by gesticulation^ 
 shows himself to be very hungry, by compressing and 
 rubbing his abdomen. 
 
 This, combined with the Texan s morose but excited 
 expression, makes the waiter frightened ; he thinks Potter
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 245 
 
 very sick and is about to rush for a doctor ; but at last 
 understanding, and word being brought to the office that 
 there is an American in the establishment, Amadie, a 
 garden who thinks he speaks English, is sent to Mr. 
 Potter, who now gets what he wants and makes a very 
 fair meal of it, only being seriously interrupted once, and 
 that is by Snapper. 
 
 Being hungry, also, when the meat is brought on, the 
 dog becomes so fearfully restless and whiningly uneasy 
 that Potter, thinking the beast smells his master, jumps 
 hurriedly up, searches the room, and wanders savagely 
 about jthe passage-ways. Noting at last that Snapper 
 only becomes excited as he approaches the provisions, 
 Potter, with a sudden guffaw, guesses the trouble with 
 the dog, and transfers him from his pocket to the din- 
 ing-table. He and the intelligent little creature take 
 their meal together, Snapper performing such tricks of 
 gastronomy, and using his teeth so vigorously, his eyes 
 so thankfully, and his ears so vivaciously that he literally 
 eats his way into the Texan s big heart. But now Potter 
 looks at his watch ; it is after ten o clock, and he feels he 
 must be moving. 
 
 In fact the whole performance so far has been a rapid 
 one. Brackett had come most of the way down the Rue 
 de La Fayette at as near a run as a walk could be, and 
 Potter has been waited upon quite promptly and eaten 
 with American rapidity, but he feels that it is absolutely 
 necessary to find Colonel Cottontree at once. So, after 
 paying his bill, he stimulates Amadie s English by a 
 couple of francs, and showing the waiter his friend s 
 card, says : " Cab." That worthy reads the address, 
 No. 34 Boulevart Malesharbcs ; then delights Mr. Potter 
 by running out onto the sidewalk with him, calling a 
 voiture, and giving the necessary explanations to the 
 driver. 
 
 The Texan is now whirled along the Boulevarts des 
 Capucines and Madeleine, and turning a corner, in about 
 three minutes is at his friend s address. But here another 
 obstacle confronts and confounds the wanderer. Colonel 
 Cottontree is out, and so is his servant. Potter, after 
 great trouble, jabber, and gesticulation, discovering this 
 from the concierge, concludes not to wait for his friend, 
 as he knows Cottontree is an all-night man, never re-
 
 246 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 turning to his domicile till the small hours of the morn 
 ing. 
 
 Entering the cab again he calls out savagely, " Back ! 
 Home ! " for he has an idea born of desperation to once 
 more consult Amadie, the waiter. Not understanding his 
 order, the driver thinks he can do no better than show 
 Mr. Potter the sights of Paris, and proceeds, in spite of 
 growls, imprecations, and threatenings, to give that gentle 
 man a drive in the Champs Elysfas. 
 
 Here the Texan, though foaming at the mouth with 
 rage, gazes around in a kind of astonished ecstasy. The 
 flaring gas jets, electric lights, sparkling fountains, and 
 beautiful and elegantly costumed women make this pleas 
 ure garden of Paris seem Jike a fairy fete this perfect Oc 
 tober evening to his frontier eyes. He mutters to himself 
 faintly : " Great Scottie ! I ll come back here if I live." 
 
 Then thinks : " This is too gay and festive a spree for 
 all our boys to be out of it," and disregarding the dis 
 senting gestures of the driver, he jumps out of his cab, 
 and would proceed on foot, hoping to meet some face 
 that looks as if it came from across the Atlantic, or to 
 hear some words that have a meaning to his mind, did 
 not Snapper at this moment astonish him. 
 
 He had placed the little dog beside him in the cab, and 
 Snapper had enjoyed the picturesque sight also. Potter 
 upon alighting is about to replace the animal in his pocket, 
 when with a low cry the terrier flies suddenly into the 
 alluring entrance of a cafe chantant, and bolting after his 
 whilom pet, the Texan finds himself in the DCS Ambas- 
 sadeurs. 
 
 No one demands an admission fee, and Potter amazed 
 beams upon the gorgeous scene murmuring : " I ve 
 heard the Francais were great at doing the polite ; but 
 curse me if I ever guessed afore this they was so all-fired 
 generous!" 
 
 Then pursuing Snapper, who is about to run down the 
 aisle, he picks him up and secures him in his pocket, and 
 next utters a grunt of surprised delight, for there, a 
 dozen rows ahead of him, is Sergeant Brackett, of the 
 British detective force, about to leisurely sit down and 
 gaze at the fascinating pirouettes of a ballet-girl perform 
 ing on the stage of this open-air theater. 
 
 This unexpected good fortune comes about from the
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 247 
 
 simple reason that Mr. Brackett, having called upon Lieu 
 tenant Potter, has found that young gentleman out, and 
 is now killing a little time before calling again. It makes 
 the Texan, however, feel so comfortable, that, after re 
 solving to quietly wait and follow the sergeant out, and 
 then if he again attempts to run away, let daylight 
 through him, he sinks into a chair, and a waiter being 
 already at his elbow, orders a drink. 
 
 Brackett, interested in the ballet-girl, has not observed 
 how the affection of his dog has once more betrayed him 
 to his enemy, and would probably be entirely defeated, 
 but now the peculiar customs of the place come to the 
 detective s assistance, and again save him on this night in 
 Paris. 
 
 The entrance to this Temple of Thespis, Terpsichore 
 and Thalia is free, but it is the habit of every one entering 
 its open portal to order a drink, cigar, or something of the 
 sort, the price whereof varies with the location of the 
 seat the individual selects. To those near the stage the 
 charge per drink is three francs, about the center of the 
 house the tariff falls to two francs, while to people seated 
 modestly in the rear the price is only one franc for the 
 same liquor or cigar. 
 
 The visitors apparently pay for refreshments, but really 
 pay for seats. 
 
 Now Mr. Potter has taken a chair in the modest rear 
 of the place, and his first drink only costs him one franc. 
 But, partly to get a better view of the performing ladies, 
 whose charms begin to appeal to his gallant Western 
 heart, and partly to keep a closer look-out upon Brackett, 
 who has also moved his seat apparently to more closely 
 inspect the allurements of the stage beauties, the Texan 
 begins to move about in a free and easy way from one 
 unoccupied chair to another. And now his drinks begin to 
 rise in price in a manner that astonishes, irritates, and 
 makes combative Mr. Potter, who is very generous, but 
 doesn t like to be imposed upon as a fool and won t be 
 swindled nor robbed. 
 
 As his second waiter charges him two francs for the 
 same bad whisky that a moment before had cost him but 
 one, he begins to get angry ; and when the third insists 
 in an impudent and threatening way that whisky has 
 gone up once more, and the tariff is now three francs per
 
 248 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 glass, and would almost use force to collect it, Mr. Potter 
 astonishes the Cafe des Ambassadeurs. 
 
 The lady singing upon the stage stops her song with a 
 fearful shriek, the orchestra gives one discordant bray 
 and is silent, the spectators arise in dismay, for the 
 Honorable Sampson has carried the waiter, a brawny Al- 
 sacian, into the center aisle of the establishment, where 
 he can have more room for the business, and is literally 
 wiping the floor with the unfortunate Frenchman, whose 
 voice rises up over the tumult in piteous appeals of agi 
 tated terror. 
 
 But Potter here suddenly leaves his victim and would 
 bolt for the door himself, for Brackett has seen and rec 
 ognized him, and with a wild look upon his face is flying 
 out. 
 
 Impressed by Potter s efforts to escape, several of the 
 fighting brigade of the establishment, that in American 
 slang would be termed "bouncers," bar his way to the 
 door, and would now proceed to take vengeance upon 
 this disturber of the festivities. 
 
 Seeing this the Texan raises up his voice and cries, 
 with a very dangerous look upon his face : " If thar s 
 any American round, for God s sake let him come quick, 
 
 BEFORE I KILL ALL THESE WAITERS ! " 
 
 Here a voice answers him in English : " I m an Amer 
 ican and I LL SAVE THE WAITERS ! " And Mr. Potter per 
 ceives a young gentleman in elaborate evening dress forc 
 ing and elbowing his way through the crowd. 
 
 His appearance causes a buzz ; the ladies gleam on 
 him in admiration and the men gaze upon him, with per 
 haps a little envy. He is one of the Paris celebrities of 
 the day. He calls out something in French and -the 
 waiters all murmur : " Le Prince de Baccarat! " and bow 
 down to him and are saved. 
 
 "I m right glad you come ! " says Potter. " I should 
 have turned loose on em in a second, and then they d 
 have thought the siege of PanV had begun again." 
 
 " Yes. I knew I had to speak quick," says this young 
 gentleman, who has traveled over Europe and America, 
 and understands the man to whom he is talking. " I ll 
 arrange this affair for you," and he explains to Mr. 
 Potter the peculiar custom of the place that had enraged 
 him.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 249 
 
 Then he turns to the proprietor and soon settles the 
 matter with him and the attendant gendarmes, and Mr. 
 Potter finds the way open for him to pursue Sergeant 
 Brackett once more. 
 
 " Can I do anything else for you ? You don t seem to 
 understand the language, and I always like to assist my 
 traveling compatriots. Permit me ! " and with this the 
 young man gives the Texan his card. 
 
 "You re almighty kind, Mr. Deucey ! " returns Potter, 
 "and if you could take me to my son I d bless you to 
 my dying day. It s a matter of life and death, and al 
 mighty quick life and death too ! " 
 
 " Who is your son ? " inquires his listener, getting seri 
 ous, for Potter s tones indicate he means what he says. 
 
 " Lieutenant Potter of the U. S. Navy." 
 
 " I know him," returns young Deucey, and, being a 
 man of action, hurries the old Texan through the crowd, 
 and at the entrance pops him into his own private car 
 riage, and getting in beside him, tells his coachman : 
 " Press Club, like lightning ! " Then he takes a long 
 look at Potter, and with a surreptitious whistle says : " So 
 you re Miss Potter s father ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and I m mighty glad to meet you ! I was most 
 despairing," murmurs the Honorable Sampson, gazing at 
 his guide with affection. 
 
 And glad he should be, for Providence has been kind to 
 Mr. Potter at last. He has fallen in the hands of the man 
 probably best fitted to smooth his road in Paris for him, 
 Le Prince de Baccarat, a young American gentleman, on 
 whom at this time the Goddess of Fortune is smiling so 
 kindly that she has made him almost a millionaire by his 
 winnings at this most desperate of games. A man who 
 hazards a million francs on the turn of a card is a hero on 
 the Parisian Boulevarts j everybody knows him and he 
 knows a good many of the everybody. He has had 
 dinner at the Press Club the evening before with Lieu 
 tenant Potter, and is aware that gentleman has his rooms 
 in that building. He speaks French like a native, and 
 under his guidance the carriage flies up the boulevarts, 
 and passing the Opera House, they alight and enter the 
 magnificent Press Club, now blazing with light and just 
 beginning to assume its usual all-night gayety and brill 
 iancy.
 
 250 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Chaperoned by Mr. Deucey, the doors fly open to Mr. 
 Potter, who might have knocked on them forever on 
 his own account. And without any of the delays and 
 formalities that would, under ordinary circumstances, 
 have taken place, they go up the grand stair-case and 
 the Texan enters the baccarat room. Thus vouched for, 
 the waiters bow to the ground before him, and though 
 m s wild Western costume seems in curious contrast to 
 the brilliant evening dress that every one else wears, Mr. 
 Potter strides through the room, commented upon but not 
 hindered, and yells : " Houston, my boy ! at last ! "! 
 
 And Lieutenant Potter, who is just about to sit down at 
 one of the tables, returning : " Great heavens ! Is that 
 you, dad ? " they immediately seize each other s hands 
 and nearly wring off each other s arms. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 THE PACKET FROM EGYPT. 
 
 " I VE got life and death business with you, lad," whis 
 pers Potter. 
 
 " Then come this way ! " says his son. And Mr. 
 Deucey suggesting a private room, the two Potters go 
 into it. Here the old man says : " Lady Annerley 
 what did you telegraph her about ? " 
 
 "Why," returns the young man, "I arrived at Paris 
 yesterday, and having a packet to deliver to her " 
 
 " What packet was that ? " 
 
 " One that she had given young Errol before he was 
 wounded. One he had promised to return to her." 
 
 " Ah ! " This is a snort of perception from Potter. 
 
 " I called at her hotel here, and she not being in town 
 obtained her address at Boulogne and telegraphed her I 
 would go there in person to-morrow to deliver it. She 
 had seemed to value it very much, and had sought all 
 over Abdallah the Moor s house for it in Egypt," he con 
 tinues. 
 
 " That packet contains your father s salvation from the 
 state s prison ! I ve got that she-devil at last ! " cries 
 Potter in triumph. " Give it to me ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 251 
 
 11 1 can t ! " returns the son with a white face ; for either 
 his father is mad or means what he says. 
 
 " Can t ? " shrieks the Texan. " Why not ? " 
 
 " Because five minutes ago I received a written order 
 from Lady Annerley, and delivered it to her agent." 
 
 The last words of this speech are not heard by the 
 elder Potter. He has sprung out of the room to follow 
 the detective ; but a moment after he returns, seeing the 
 hopelessness of immediate pursuit. Then he takes his 
 son aside and mutters : " He ll be going back on the 
 railway to Boulogne. If that packet gets into her hands 
 I m a convict ! Your daddy, your innocent daddy, boy, 
 is a convict, and you and your sister disgraced ! " 
 
 Here young Potter, who, when he met his father a 
 minute or two before this, was smiling, utters a low cry 
 and his features twitch with sudden anguish, for he 
 knows his father, and, persuaded he is not mad, believes 
 him. 
 
 His naval promptitude of action comes to him. He 
 springs into the hall, sends a waiter for a cab, and asks 
 young Deucey, who has waited outside to see if he can 
 be of any assistance, for the manner of the two men shows 
 the affair is serious : " What railways go to Boulogne ? " 
 
 " The Chemin de Fer du Nord but after passing Creil 
 there are several roundabout roads and branches, one by 
 way of Calais, besides the direct route." 
 
 " Are there any others ? " 
 
 " None but those so circuitous that they need hardly 
 be considered." 
 
 " Can you tell me the time when the next train leaves 
 the terminus ? " 
 
 " No, but I ll find out." And after consultation with the 
 railway guide he says : " 11.05, and you can catch it if 
 you drive fast." 
 
 "Much obliged. You ll excuse our going?" returns 
 young Potter, and he gets his father, who has remained 
 in the private room, but now comes out of it with a look 
 upon his face that makes Mr. Deucey shudder, though at 
 baccarat he is considered to have very strong nerves. 
 
 * God bless you, sir ! " mutters Potter, wringing that 
 young gentleman s hand. " You ve been kind to me when 
 I needed a friend, and I ll come back to Paris and see 
 you if I live ! "
 
 252 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 " Will you ? " returns Le Prince de Baccarat. " Then 
 I ll show it to you." 
 
 And Potter whispering to his son he ll explain matters 
 as they go along, they spring into the cab and are driven 
 to the railway station as fast as a French horse can carry 
 them. 
 
 In the cab the lieutenant tells his father what he knows 
 about the packet taken from the body of the dragoman, 
 Osman Ali, by the sergeant of marines, and delivered to 
 him. 
 
 The old man gives his son his early history and relates 
 the wondrous tale of that afternoon, the young man staring 
 at him astounded. Then he concludes with these words : 
 " I ve thought the whole tangle out. You say she went to 
 Egypt immediately after her scoundrel father, Sir Jonas 
 Stevens , death ? Looking into God s eye the dying thief 
 confessed to save the living convict. Lady Annerley 
 went to Alexandria to tell Charley Errol the truth. THAT 
 PACKET is THE CONFESSION ! But after he fought for 
 her, she grew to love him and feared he would despise 
 her for her daddy s awful crime against his father, and 
 wanted it back again. That packet is my only chance 
 before an English jury, and whether the detective lives 
 or dies boy ! do you mind me ? lives or dies that 
 packet must never reach Saharah Hannerley s hands ; 
 otherwise she ll burn it, as she did that receipt, and 
 your daddy s a goner." 
 
 " I understand," mutters the lieutenant, with quite a 
 sad face ; for though he would not admit it now, Lady An- 
 nerley s magnificent beauty had made such an impression 
 on the young man that, hearing Charley Errol was going 
 to marry an English girl, he had got leave from his ship 
 that was stationed at Nice and ran up to Paris, with a sneak 
 ing thought in his mind of capturing the beautiful widow 
 himself ; hence his immediate call and prompt telegram. 
 
 Then Potter suddenly suggests with a shiver : " Do 
 you think he can have mailed that packet to her ? " 
 
 " No," returns his son ; " for she knows that we could 
 make such a showing by to-morrow morning that no post- 
 office in France would deliver it to her without examina 
 tion. She wanted to make absolutely sure of it and destroy 
 it herself." 
 
 Here both Potter and his son fail to give Lady Anner-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 253 
 
 ley s acuteness due credit. They do not guess that her 
 foresight had suggested that, in some way unknown to 
 her at the time, Potter or his son might guess the impor 
 tance of the packet ; and she had instructed Sergeant 
 Erackett, in case of close pursuit and in danger of losing 
 it, he is to destroy the document. 
 
 By this time the Potters are at the railway station. 
 They leave the cab, and, the lieutenant speaking French, 
 have no trouble in buying tickets for Boulogne. The 
 depot is well lighted, and after getting inside, the two 
 have time to make a complete search of the train ; look 
 ing carefully into every carriage, in spite of the annoy 
 ance and protests of the guard, who, however, is too tired 
 and sleepy to give them any great amount of hindrance. 
 There are but few passengers, and these mostly local, 
 upon this late train, as it stops at all the stations on the 
 road and is a very slow affair, laying over at Amiens for 
 several hours. 
 
 They have two minutes left for consultation before the 
 train leaves. " You are sure he is not on the cars ? " 
 says the lieutenant. " I only saw the man for a minute 
 and might miss him." 
 
 " Perfectly sure. I didn t see him and his dog didn t 
 smell him," returns Potter, fondling little Snapper, who is 
 ensconced comfortably in his pocket. " Is there any 
 other train for the cuss to get to Boulogne on ?" 
 
 After consulting the time-table hurriedly, the lieuten 
 ant -replies : u No ! this train, though it will lie over in 
 Amiens, will be the first by at least an hour to put a man 
 in Boulogne. None of the expresses leave till to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 " Then he s on board of this somewhar. He s not 
 going to let me head him off at Lady Hannerley s door," 
 cries Potter. 
 
 " Well, if he is not on the train now he has had no op 
 portunity of getting on it since we ve been talking," re 
 turns the young officer ; for the two have held this con 
 versation near the entrance and kept a sharp lookout 
 upon all new-comers, which are not very many at this 
 time of night. 
 
 " He must be on the train somewhar," returns Potter, 
 doggedly, " and I m going on it." 
 
 " Very well," says his son ; " I ll go with you."
 
 254 MR - POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 "Then," whispers the father, " sonny, he is not to get 
 to that woman with that packet alive. Them s my 
 orders ! " 
 
 " All right. Let me have one of your pistols you 
 always carry two." 
 
 " You ain t harmed ? " gasps Potter, astonished. 
 " Haven t I always told you to carry a gun ? You never 
 know when it may come handy." 
 
 " You have two," repeats the lieutenant. 
 
 " Yes, but I may need em both. You see, I may have 
 to stand off the local police." 
 
 " For God s ^ake," mutters his son impressively, " re 
 member that though you may kill a few gendarmes you 
 can t whip the whole of France," for the young man 
 knows that his father is now in a deadly humor, and fears 
 lie may do something very rash. 
 
 " Yes, I know that," says Potter. " But I believe I 
 could give a very good account of myself." With this 
 modest speech he hands his son one of his pistols. And 
 the guard crying " All aboard ! " they jump into a first- 
 class compartment and the train rolls out of the Paris sta 
 tion. 
 
 Being a local, it stops for a few minutes at Saint 
 Denis, on the outskirts of the city, and among the peo 
 ple boarding the train is a sailor, who goes quietly into a 
 third-class carriage. 
 
 The two Americans discuss the affair under their 
 breath as the train slips along the rails, and getting all 
 the details the lieutenant looks even more serious than 
 before, and becomes as angry and excited as his father. 
 He mutters to the old man : " Don t you fear if I put my 
 eyes on Mr. Brackett. He ll no more escape me than he 
 would you." Then giving his father s hand a silent 
 squeeze, the tears come into the young man s eyes as he 
 looks at old Potter s now almost despairing face. 
 
 " If I don t get square on this matter, don t you think 
 she deserves killing ? " asks the father, as if for advice. 
 
 "Yes," replies the young man ; " but don t you do it. 
 Remember Ida." 
 
 " My God, don t talk of her / " mutters the Texan, the 
 water getting near his eyes. 
 
 " Have you telegraphed her ? " 
 
 "No."
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 255 
 
 " Then she may be anxious. Hearing of your sudden 
 departure from Boulogne, she may fear you to be " 
 
 " A thief ? Not she ! Houston, don t slander your 
 sister ; that gal s the truest grit of any of us ! " says 
 Potter with a stern voice, interrupting him. 
 
 But the train here stopping at Chantilly, Potter con 
 tinues : " If I don t get something soothing, I shall break 
 right out to cursing. There are ladies in the carriage, 
 Houston ; I ll get into another one and smoke a cigar. 
 Come along." 
 
 " No, thank you, dad. I haven t got over the shock of 
 what you told me yet. I ll stay here and think it over." 
 
 " Very well," returns Potter, and he leaves the car 
 riage and goes to a third-class compartment, where he 
 lights up, and the smoke rather seems to soothe matters 
 for him. 
 
 The lieutenant turns the affair over and over in his 
 mind, and the more he thinks of it the more serious and 
 horrible its consequences seem to him. He becomes so 
 engrossed in this matter that the train stops at Creil and 
 then goes on again as far as Clermont before he thinks 
 of rejoining his father. He now imagines he would like 
 a cigar also, and leaving his luxurious first-class com 
 partment goes to the third-class one he saw old Potter 
 enter ; but he does not find him. Then he looks through 
 all the third-class carriages and finally all the others twice 
 and carefully, but without success. Sampson Potter of 
 Texas is not on the train. 
 
 Hastily questioning the guard, that official is not 
 sure, but thinks he saw a sailor at Creil leave the com 
 partment the lieutenant indicates ; and that after him 
 rather hurriedly came a man answering to the descrip 
 tion given to him of the elder Potter. 
 
 The lieutenant hastily questions the guard as to the 
 possibility of returning to Creil ; but finds there is no 
 passenger train for nearly two hours ; then, thinking 
 the matter over, concludes to go on to Boulogne at once, 
 so as to prevent Sergeant Brackett delivering the packet 
 to Lady Annerley if by any accident he escapes his 
 father. 
 
 He has no fear for the old man s personal safety ; in 
 fact, he unconsciously repeats his sister s ideas on the 
 subject, for he once or twice says to himself with a sickly
 
 256 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 kind of a laugh : " God help the poor detective ! " 
 But he is very much astonished and surprised at what 
 has occurred, and indulges in a continuous brown study 
 until he reaches Amiens. 
 
 Here he gets a much greater astonishment. He is 
 compelled to lie over at this place for nearly three hours, 
 and being too excited to sleep remains about the buffet 
 and station. Some two hours after his arrival a tele 
 graph official, noticing his foreign appearance, approaches 
 him, asking if his name is Lieutenant Potter ; and on 
 being answered affirmatively, takes him to the telegraph 
 office, where he receives a message. 
 
 This he opens hurriedly, glances it over, stares at it, 
 and then demands that they repeat the dispatch back to 
 Creil and see if it is correct. 
 
 This is done, and being answered " O. K ! " Lieuten 
 ant Potter reads it all over again, and, his eyes big with 
 surprised astonishment, mutters : " What the deuce can 
 this mean ? " For the telegram received by him reads : 
 
 "CREIL, October 17, 1882, 2 A. M. 
 " To LIEUTENANT POTTER, U. S. NAVY, ON THE ROAD BETWEEN 
 
 HERE AND BOULOGNE : 
 
 " There s the devil to pay. Meet me Boulogne Depot, at 9.25, 
 morning train. Have arrested Samuel Potts, and am bringing him 
 along, gagged, and guarded by two gendarmes. 
 
 SERGEANT BRACKETT, 
 
 "British Detective" 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF THE DETECTIVE. 
 
 WHEN Sampson Potter leaves his son at Chantilly and 
 transfers himself from a first-class compartment to a third 
 class in order to enjoy his cigar, he is nearer to despair 
 than he has ever been in his eventful life. The whole 
 awful affair has come upon him so suddenly and unex 
 pectedly that he is partially in a dazed condition. As 
 long as he had his enemy, the detective, in sight, he was 
 hopeful and alert ; now, his opponent having disappeared, 
 he smokes his cigar in a dreary, despairing sort of manner, 
 and thinks it a cursed bad one, though it isn t. From 
 this, however, he is awakened by Snapper. The train has
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 257 
 
 hardly left Chantilly before the dog makes him angry by 
 suddenly, without any apparent cause, trying to tear the 
 lining out of his overcoat. He says savagely : " Hi, 
 Snapper ! Quiet ! " 
 
 But Snapper won t quiet. 
 
 He now makes a frantic attempt to walk off bodily 
 with both Potter and his overcoat along the seat of the 
 carriage in the direction of the other side of the com 
 partment. To move at all he has to do this, for, there 
 being a large overhanging lapel to the Texan s great 
 warm pocket, Snapper has been buttoned in, partly for 
 his security and partly for his comfort, as the night has 
 been growing chilly and is now cold. These silent but 
 desperate efforts are repeated so often that Potter looks 
 round to discover the cause, and thinks : " We must have 
 rats aboard ! " 
 
 But discovering no rodents, he gives a sudden stare ; 
 for Snapper is trying to bite his way out of the pocket in 
 a frantic and determined manner, and all the time strain 
 ing his little strength to crawl toward the other side of 
 the compartment ; and an idea suddenly has flashed 
 through Potter s brain : " If it ain t rats, its his master ! " 
 
 The Texan is now awake and peering with his ferret 
 eyes into the gloom of the compartment, which is par 
 tially illuminated by an oil lamp. 
 
 The seat Mr. Potter is on is the one next to the loco 
 motive ; and, as is common in all third-class carriages, 
 runs ^entirely across the compartment. There is only an 
 other bench to examine and that is the one opposite him. 
 Upon it sit a French peasant woman of about fifty and 
 three men; two of them small shopkeepers and apparently 
 friends, as they are talking together ; the other, a sailor 
 by his dress, who is trying to decipher a French news 
 paper that he holds quite close to his face. After look 
 ing them all over, Potter gives a disappointed sigh and 
 relapses into gloomy meditation. Sergeant Brackett is 
 not in the carriage. 
 
 But he has hardly time to settle himself back in his 
 seat, when Snapper makes a more vigorous attempt, if 
 possible, than ever to escape from the overcoat and get 
 toward the other side of the car. " Curse it ! I wonder if 
 he ll be quiet if I take the little cuss where he wants to 
 go," thinks Potter, and transfers himself to the other 
 
 17
 
 258 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 end of his bench, where he says : " Now I reckon you ll 
 give us a rest, Snapper. If you don t I ll cuff you ! " for 
 the dog s uneasiness annoys the Texan in his present irri 
 table state. 
 
 But the demon of unrest seems to have entered the 
 little beast s body ; he now makes a charge to cross the 
 car. This would put him right in the lap of the sailor. 
 Potter instinctively looks over, and his gaze becomes pet 
 rified. He can t see the whole of the tar s face for the 
 newspaper, but upon the weather-beaten forehead, though 
 the night is cold and chilly, he observes a great drop of 
 perspiration slowly gather. Then Snapper gives a fran 
 tic whine and the perspiration falls with a little splash 
 upon the newspaper the sailor reads. 
 
 And as the perspiration drops, so does Potter, as he 
 sinks back in his chair in amazed astonishment and mut 
 ters : " Wall, I m darned ! " 
 
 Potter s sensations overcome him ; Brackett s are even 
 more horrible. For the sailor is the redoubtable ser 
 geant, who has decided to use the consummate arts he has 
 read of in great French detective stories to baffle his 
 pursuer. 
 
 This idea came into his head while flying from the 
 cafd chantant, and as soon as he obtained the packet from 
 Lieutenant Potter he drove to a theatrical costumer and 
 there donned the disguise of a sailor, the woman in 
 charge kindly making his face up for the character, sup 
 posing him going to some fancy ball. Retaining only 
 his overcoat, and leaving orders for his other every-day 
 garments to be forwarded to his address at Boulogne, 
 the sergeant had found that he had sufficient time, and 
 had driven out to Saint Denis to board the train there, 
 considering that course safer than going to the main sta 
 tion of the railway in Paris. 
 
 Seated in his third-class compartment, with his packet 
 secure in his inner pocket, he had felt safe in person 
 and in purse, for he had considered Lady Annerley s five 
 hundred pounds as good as earned until he saw the re 
 morseless Potter enter the carriage to enjoy his cigar. 
 
 After that, for a few blessed moments he has been 
 comparatively sure he would not be recognized ; but 
 from the instant Snapper has begun his extraordinary 
 performances, he has regarded himself as lost, knowing
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 259 
 
 and even cursing the devoted love of his pet that is 
 betraying him. His nervous agony has become so acute 
 that when Snapper actually brings Potter opposite to 
 him, the tell-tale perspiration will show, to his un 
 doing. 
 
 " Good Lord ! " thinks Brackett, as the Texan utters 
 his suppressed exclamation ; " I m gone now ! " 
 
 And so he would be if Potter were really sure. Then 
 the detective would never pass out of that car alive with 
 that packet in his possession. 
 
 But the arts of civilization are not those of barbarism, 
 and the old frontiersman does not know that many cos- 
 turners in Paris keep open to a late hour for the conven 
 ience of masked balls. He might even suspect the dress, 
 but the sailor s face seems genuine, Mr. Potter not 
 knowing the wonderful art of facial make-up, and the ex 
 traordinary power of grease-paint properly applied. And 
 he mutters to himself : " If I was real certain " reason 
 ing that he cannot shoot a man just because a dog Vants 
 to smell him, and determines to test the identity of the 
 sailor by every means in his power. 
 
 First he tries conversation, addressing him in Eng 
 lish ; but the man only smiles at him a blank smile. 
 Then he releases Snapper from his pocket, and when 
 that little beast, with a cry of joy, jumps into the sailor s 
 lap, with tail and ears and body all wriggling ecstasy, the 
 sailor pets the pretty creature, fondles it, lets it remain 
 in h ; s lap, chirps to it, and smiles blandly upon it, which 
 amazes Potter, who had expected him, if Brackett, to 
 repulse it. For the detective has just now done, as men 
 with small brains sometimes do, a very smart thing. 
 
 Inspired by success, for he sees that now Potter begins 
 to be in doubt as to his identity, the sergeant proceeds to 
 a master-stroke. With a forced smile, which his painted 
 wrinkles make hideous, he suddenly places Snapper in 
 the pocket of his overcoat that he knows the dog doesn t 
 like, the one with the cold handcuffs in it. From their 
 chill and hard encounter Mr. Snapper recoils, whines, 
 jumps out of the pocket, and, looking reproachfully at 
 his master, goes back to Potter, whose pockets he knows 
 are warm and comfortable, and have no chilling iron or 
 Steel inside them. 
 
 This seems to settle the matter, and the Texan, mutter-
 
 260 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 ing to himself : " Great snakes ! fooled hagain ! " relapse? 
 into his seat as the train runs into Creil, the time from 
 Chantilly to this place being only about fifteen min 
 utes. 
 
 Creil is a great railway junction, no less than five 
 lines coming into the station, and here Brackett deter 
 mines to leave the train and try to take some round 
 about route to Boulogne, anything being preferable to 
 Potter s close proximity. 
 
 This he does with considerable coolness ; for he waits 
 till the train has but a minute or two longer to remain 
 before he gets up and steps out of the compartment. 
 
 Now the very act of the sailor s going arouses Potter s 
 suspicions again ; besides Snapper, missing his master s 
 presence, is apparently anxious to be after him. All 
 this, coupled with the fact that the Texan has noticed 
 that the man s ticket is for Boulogne, sets the frontiers 
 man to thinking. He gets out of the carriage also and 
 stands waiting ; if the sailor returns to the train he has 
 probably mistaken his man ; if not, he will follow him. 
 
 Thirty seconds after this the train steams off into the 
 darkness, and Potter now hurries into the railway refresh 
 ment salon where he saw the sailor disappear. 
 
 But half a minute is a long start, and the Texan can 
 not discover the sailor in the buffet. He rushes out of the 
 exit from the station to the town ; no sailor. But here 
 he begins suddenly to run, for Snapper, who has somehow 
 got out of his pocket, sees a carriage, and is flying up 
 one of the deserted streets of this little French town in 
 pursuit of it. 
 
 He runs silently after the dog, taking care not to over 
 take him, and finding no difficulty in keeping up to him ; 
 for this old man of the prairies is as wiry as many a col 
 lege athlete. He is soon rewarded. 
 
 Snapper, bounding along two or three minutes, over 
 takes a cab that is driving ahead of them, and jumps 
 up and barks. Then a head is put cautiously out of 
 the window and apparently does not see the Texan, for 
 a voice that makes Potter s heart bound with joy says : 
 " Hi, old doggy ! we ve both runaway from the beggar ! " 
 The cab door is opened, and Snapper springs into the 
 arms of his beloved master. 
 
 On this the Texan, increasing his speed, also overtakes
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 261 
 
 the hack and swings himself up alongside of the driver, 
 to that individual s anger and fright ; for he begins to 
 cry out French oaths and to attempt to knock the Texan 
 from the box. 
 
 " Shut up ! " mutters Potter with sententious sternness, 
 " or you re cold clay ! " 
 
 But the man only screams the louder. 
 
 " You don t sabe me, Frenchy ! " returns the Texan in 
 terrible earnest. "Perhaps you sabe this!" And he 
 claps his pistol to the forehead of the fighting Jehu. 
 
 The effect of the revolver is instantaneous and tremen 
 dous. The hackman gives a shriek that would raise the 
 Seven Sleepers, and springs over backward, falling off the 
 carriage box, while, approaching noises warning Mr. 
 Potter of pursuit, he whips up the horses, and goes at a 
 terrible gait for a minute or so. Then he suddenly pulls in 
 the animals panting on their haunches, springs off the 
 box, opens the cab door, and jabbing his revolver against 
 Sergeant Brackett s heart says : " That packet you got 
 from my son or you re dead ! " 
 
 All this has curdled the blood of the detective. He has 
 heard the struggle on the box and what he supposes is 
 the hackman s death-cry, and would have sprung out of 
 the carriage himself, but the fearful speed has deterred 
 him ; therefore he has used the time in another way. 
 
 He now mutters faintly : " You can kill me, but I haven t 
 got it." 
 
 lf Not got it ? " screams the Texan. " Great Scott ! my 
 darter ! " and for a moment feels sick ; for at every mis 
 hap in this whole affair Mr. Potter thinks of his daughter, 
 and it causes a weakness that no disaster to himself could 
 bring him. 
 
 Just here Sergeant Brackett astounds Mr. Potter ; for 
 he mistakes tenderness for nervousness, and says in a 
 stronger voice : " Samuel Potts, I arrest you in the 
 Queen s name ! I ve a warrant for you and requisition 
 on the French Government. You d better not resist, I 
 hear gendarmes coming ! " 
 
 " Ave you ? " mutters the Texan, grimly. " Show me 
 the documents ! " 
 
 " Here they are ! " And Brackett hands Potter two 
 official papers, which the Honorable Sampson hastily ex 
 amines by the light of the carriage lamp, while the ser-
 
 262 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 geant proudly produces a pair of bright handcuffs, and 
 arranges them for Potter s wrists. 
 
 " Yes, these are O. K. ! " returns the Texan, pocketing 
 the documents. 
 
 " Then, Samuel Potts, you re wanted ! Hold up your 
 hands ! " 
 
 " Hold up yours /" 
 
 " My Lord! " 
 
 " Hold up your hands ! Now handcuff yourself, or 
 I ll riddle ye ! Quick ! " 
 
 "My God!" 
 
 " No back talk ! You ll be dead before you hear the 
 click of the lock ! This gun s a self-cocker ! That s 
 comfortable ! " concludes Mr. Potter, as Sergeant Brack- 
 ett, with a smothered moan, sinks back in the hack hand 
 cuffed by himself with his own handcuffs, the most 
 thoroughly astonished and dismayed detective that ever 
 shadowed a criminal. 
 
 " Now the key to these bracelets ! " demands Potter. 
 
 " I I ve dropped it. I haven t got it." 
 
 " The key, or you won t have time to say your 
 prayers ! " 
 
 " It s it s in my trousers pocket." 
 
 " All right, I ve got it ! " mutters Potter, giving the 
 handcuffs an extra snap to make sure they are well on 
 Brackett s wrists. " And now that packet you got from 
 my son ! " 
 
 But before either of them can say more the hack is sur 
 rounded by gendarmes, headed by the driver of the cab 
 that Potter had so summarily dismissed from his box. 
 
 Mr. Potter, remembering his son s advice, doesn t try to 
 whip France ; but having made up his mind how to 
 act, stands unmoved till the sergeant of the gendarmes 
 comes up to him. Then he silently hands that officer 
 the two warrants ; and while the French policeman ex 
 amines them by the light of the coach lamp, points to 
 the name of Sergeant Brackett in the French extradition 
 document, and pats his own breast. 
 
 " A ah ! Monsieur le Sergeant Gendarme Brackett ! " 
 says the Frenchman, giving him a polite bow ; for he 
 reads and understands the requisition on his government, 
 which is in his language, and guesses what the warrant 
 for Samuel Potts, which is in English, must mean.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 263 
 
 "Out/" returns Potter, effusively, and then points 
 with his finger to the name of the criminal in the French 
 document, indicating the handcuffed Brackett as the 
 man. 
 
 " A-ah ! Le voleur ! Samuel Pot-tes ! " says the French 
 police officer, and his men drag from the carriage the 
 detective, who is trying, in very bad French, to explain 
 to them his identity. 
 
 " He is handcuffed ! DISGUISED ! " says the sergeant 
 of. gendarmes, in French, after a moment s examination 
 of the paint on Brackett s face, that now is being made 
 into streaks by the perspiration of surprise, agitation, and 
 misery. 
 
 And now, somewhat to Potter s relief, the hackman, 
 who has been looking at him searchingly, suddenly 
 turns round and recognizes Brackett as the man who 
 threatened to shoot him in the dark with his pistol, and 
 goes into a frenzy at the unfortunate detective, calling 
 him " Assassin ! Meurtrier ! Lc vieux larron / " and 
 other French expletives indicative of Brackett s supposed 
 crimes. 
 
 So they all come along to the police station carrying 
 with them their prisoner, whom they have shoved into 
 the hack again, and who occupies his time by shaking 
 his handcuffs at Potter and screaming an unintelligible 
 mixture of French and English out of the window. The 
 cab-driver s story has made them all think the detective 
 dangerous, and they pay no attention to his ravings. 
 
 At the police station, despite his struggles and im 
 precations, they run Sergeant Brackett into a dark cell, 
 lock him in, and leave him. 
 
 Then Potter proceeds to grease the wheels of justice, 
 giving the hackman a twenty-franc piece, and indicating 
 by signs that he is to remain with his carriage outside. 
 Next he sends out for lots of wine to a neighboring cafe, 
 and immediately becomes popular with the French police. 
 A man who speaks a little English is found to act as in 
 terpreter, and Potter, rewarding him for his trouble in ad 
 vance, his story, as the man relates it to the sergeant of 
 gendarmes, is perfectly satisfactory. Then he leads that 
 officer away, and silently holds out a hundred-franc 
 note. 
 
 " Ah, monsieur, riimporte ! " says the sergeant of
 
 264 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 gendarmes, with a shrug of his shoulders, but takes the 
 money. 
 
 And now Potter says through the interpreter that he s 
 going in to search his prisoner ; for all this time, though 
 compelled to postpone action, he has had but one thought 
 on his mind the packet. 
 
 The cell door is unlocked, and without much ceremony 
 or gentleness he examines Brackett from head to heel, 
 and to his horror finds nothing. Then he falls to beg 
 ging the detective to tell him for his daughter s sake 
 what he has done with the packet. And getting no an 
 swer, for his manner is almost that of a crazy man, and 
 now Brackett dare not tell him, he wastes no more time 
 in threats, and goes hurriedly out to examine the hack, 
 having an idea that perhaps the detective may have con 
 cealed the packet there. Making this examination by the 
 aid of a carriage lamp, he finds some scraps of paper that 
 frighten him. He hurriedly takes them into the police 
 office and inspects them. They are in a feminine hand, 
 and he turns pale and white, and drops of agony come 
 out upon this strong man s brow, as he mutters faintly : 
 " My God ! My darter ! " For he knows the fast proof 
 of his innocence in the world is destroyed ; but still thinks 
 only of what it will bring to her. 
 
 Then he suddenly springs up and through the interpre 
 ter offers great rewards for pieces of this document the 
 criminal has destroyed ; and they all take lanterns and 
 go out upon the road over which the hack has passed, 
 Potter showing them where search should be made. 
 
 After a little time the French gendarmes, the interpre 
 ter, and also the hackman, who all take a hand in this 
 business, begin to bring him scraps of paper similar 
 to those he has found in the carriage ; he paying for 
 them according to size, five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty 
 francs. 
 
 These stimulating rewards make the men very eager, 
 and they find a good many pieces, some of them quite 
 large, for Brackett has done his work in a hurry and 
 there has been but little wind this night. 
 
 So they work on for hours, going over the same ground 
 many times, till at last a gendarme brings him a large 
 piece of paper, and Potter looking at it gives a yell of joy, 
 and hands the man a five-pound note. For it is the en-
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 265 
 
 tire wrapper of the packet, addressed in Lady Annerley s 
 own handwriting, and has been only unfastened, having the 
 ribbon with which it was secured attached to the paper ; 
 and a cunning idea has sprung into the old Texan s 
 mind. 
 
 After a little more searching, they make up their minds 
 they can find no more, and return to the police station, 
 all the rest very happy, but Potter in an awful mood. 
 He instantly arranges by the interpreter to transfer his 
 prisoner to Boulogne by the express train that passes 
 through Creil early in the morning, arriving at its des 
 tination between nine and ten o clock. 
 
 Then he goes in with a white face to Brackett and 
 whispers to him : " You don t know what you ve done, 
 but / do ! You pray God all night that this matter turns 
 out right, for if it don t I ll kill you ; and I never told a 
 man that yet without he was dead when I said the last 
 word. I ll do it any way if you open your lips to a living 
 human till I ve settled her /" 
 
 With this he gags Brackett to make sure of his silence, 
 and goes out and puts on his revolver again ; for on 
 visiting the detective Potter had left his pistol outside, 
 for fear that he would kill his enemy, which would have 
 destroyed the plan he had in his mind. Then he tele 
 graphs the lieutenant. 
 
 So, aided by the sergeant of gendarmes, Mr. Potter fol 
 lows out the dispatch he had sent to his son, and arriving 
 at Boulogne, meets the young man at the depot. Where, 
 having got Mr. Brackett into a cab, they drive him to a 
 room the lieutenant has engaged in a little out-of-the-way 
 hotel on the quay, and Potter and his son have a long 
 conversation. 
 
 Which the father ends by saying : " It s a desperate 
 dodge, but I think it ll break the slate!" 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE APOTHEOSIS OF SAMMY POTTS. 
 
 WHILE Mr. Potter is arranging to "break the slate," 
 his friends are having an exciting time in Boulogne, 
 where Lady Annerley, though suffering the tortures of
 
 266 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Hades, is also distributing misery and despair to such of 
 the Texan s adherents as come in her way. 
 
 She has had an awful night of it, however, and though 
 in no fear of bodily harm, has probably suffered more 
 than her emissary, Sergeant Brackett, at the hands of the 
 French gendarmes and the ferocious Texan. 
 
 Her conscience has been crying out at her with every 
 beat of the pendulum : " You have kept one innocent 
 man in exile, and perhaps condemned another to prison 
 to the dishonor of their families and the ruin of all who 
 belong to them ! and for what ? To retain the respect 
 and perhaps" (for she still has wild dreams) " gain the love 
 of a man whom you are now torturing and degrading by 
 means of his father s shame, ignominy, and despair ! " 
 
 She has but to open her mouth and they will all be 
 happy save herself. But at this the vision of Errol and 
 Ethel at the altar comes to her and she cries out wildly : 
 " No, no ! Fate joined us in Egypt ! I ll not lose his 
 respect the chance of his love ! Though it is torture to 
 remain silent, it would be more to confess. I have burned 
 my bridges ; I am silent now forever ! " 
 
 So the morning opens for her, and at about ten o clock, 
 she having just made an affectation of eating breakfast, 
 the obsequious Lubbins brings to her Mr. Charles Errol s 
 card, and she says : " At home to him ! Here, in my 
 private parlor." 
 
 The young man has heard the rumors of the night be 
 fore from Arthur of the flight of Potter the Texan, upon 
 the discovery that he was the missing Sammy Potts, and 
 of his pursuit by the London detective, Sergeant Brack 
 ett, He has not seen Lord Lincoln, who has arrived 
 upon the morning boat, and is now holding consulta 
 tion with his son and daughter at the Hotel du Pavilion. 
 This information has been conveyed to him in a little 
 note from Ethel in which she writes : " You have prom 
 ised not to speak to me ; but I have promised to love you 
 to the end of my life, and I ll keep it. Ida is the only 
 calm one in our party. She seems to fear nothing for 
 her father, but a great deal for the detective who is try 
 ing to arrest him. Her confidence in her father s honor 
 has produced the greatest admiration in my father. Give 
 your poor father my love, and say I wish to call him father 
 also soon ! "
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 267 
 
 A note filled with such passages as this would give 
 hope to any lover ; and Charley Errol would be more 
 calm this morning were it not for his father. 
 
 The elder Errol has endured banishment for thirty 
 years with equanimity and dignity at a distance from 
 the land of his birth. Having placed once more his foot 
 upon his mother country, he longs for it as for his life, 
 and spends hours on the beach gazing at the dim white 
 cliffs, and muttering in a broken voice to his son : 
 " Charley, take my bones to my old home ; they ll let 
 them rest there soon ! The disgrace and shame of 
 thirty years ago have come all back to me. I can t look 
 men in the face. I feel like I did when they first put 
 the convict s garb upon my body and the felon s chains 
 upon my limbs ! " 
 
 This kind of thing has made young Errol desperate, 
 and he has come to Lady Annerley to try and force the 
 truth from her ; for he has been thinking through the 
 night ; and suffering stimulating his faculties, begins to 
 remember something of what she had said to him when 
 she first met him in Egypt. 
 
 As he comes in, unheeding the pleading glance of the 
 woman whose beauty is now made pathetic by despairing 
 love, the look upon his face is stern. He coldly says : 
 "You hardly expected me again, I presume, Lady An 
 nerley ? " 
 
 To this she begs : " Please don t use that tone to me. 
 I don t deserve it from you ! Charley, you came " 
 
 " To wring the acknowledgment of my father s inno 
 cence from you ! " 
 
 " From me ? I I have never said I thought your 
 father guilty ! " 
 
 " No ? Then prove him innocent ! I ve been looking 
 at his face, that can t bear my glance because the world 
 calls him a felon. You can remove that shame and, 
 Lady Annerley, you shall do it ! " 
 
 But she confounds him by saying : " And what do I 
 know ? Only that your father is a convict ; and if I used 
 that knowledge to separate you from Ethel Lincoln you 
 know the reason " then cries to him : " Charley, why 
 are you so cruel to me ? You you would be different 
 to me if you knew how you fought for me if you re 
 membered Egypt ! "
 
 268 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Then he cries back at her : " I do remember Egypt ! " 
 Her voice and bearing have set his memory going and 
 the past has come to him again, for he says hoarsely : 
 " What did that packet contain you told me to treasure 
 as my life the one you gave me to send my father ? 
 The truth was in that packet ! Tell it to me ! That 
 truth I will have! " 
 
 This astounds and terrifies her he is beginning to re 
 member but it also makes her cooler. She draws her 
 self up and says to htm cuttingly : " Ah, yes, Lord Lin 
 coln has been telegraphed for ; he is here to part his 
 daughter from the convict s son. That is why I must 
 make your father innocent ! " 
 
 At this he looks at her astonished, for it is the only 
 cruel speech she has ever made him in all the suffering 
 her passion for him has brought to her. He mutters : 
 " Lady Sarah, you re a different woman to the one who 
 nursed me to life in Italy three months ago ! " 
 
 " That was before her baby face came between us ! " 
 cries her ladyship, hoarsely. 
 
 The agony in her tone makes him contrite, for he re 
 members Lady Annerley s kind nursing, and fears he 
 may have given her cause to think she at one time had 
 his heart. He says half apologetically : " You you 
 never thought I loved you ? " 
 
 This remark adds to the agony of love the agony of 
 shame. She sneers : "Ah, what a generous question ! " 
 Then droops her head and answers it sadly : " No ! She 
 could awaken a passion I could not touch," next says 
 hoarsely : " That s why I hate her ! " 
 
 " I had supposed your pride " murmurs Errol ; but 
 gets no farther, for she cuts him short by wringing her 
 hands and crying out : " Pride is for those who think, not 
 those who feel ! Pride was for yesterday ; to-day I ve 
 only passion and despair ! Charley, forgive me for the 
 sorrow I ve brought again upon your father ! " and Lady 
 Annerley is at his feet sobbing. " Oh, if you knew how I 
 suffer, too seeing you turn from me who had given you 
 back your life ! " For the anguish in her face has made 
 him look away from her. " You said that before she 
 came in Venice ! " She rises and gets near him again 
 with these words, and seeing no response in his eyes 
 goes into a spasm of horrible despair, crying out : " My
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 269 
 
 God ! How cruel you are to me ! Some day you ll know 
 the difference between a young girl s rose-leaf passion 
 and the love of a woman who has all her life hungered 
 for affection and never found it in father in husband 
 in any one ! Some day you ll know ! some day ! some 
 day ! " 
 
 The last of this is uttered as if it were the sigh of a 
 breaking heart. Her suffering makes him forget his own. 
 He does not look at her, for fear she will see sympathy 
 and mistake it for love. Giving one quick glance at him, 
 and noting this, Lady Annerley sinks into a chair and 
 hides her head in her hands, which tremble and shake as 
 if she had the ague. 
 
 Upon their silence breaks Miss Potter s voice, coming 
 in through the parlor door. It says, in cutting tones : 
 " Lubbins, it is unnecessary to say Lady Annerley is not 
 at home. I heard her voice distinctly." 
 
 This diversion is just what her ladyship wants. She 
 is afraid of herself afraid that the suffering of the man 
 she loves will overcome her resolution. She springs to 
 the door, opens it, and says : " Please come in, Miss 
 Potter ! " 
 
 Whereupon Ida enters, light, brilliant, carefully and 
 beautifully dressed as ever, though perhaps she would 
 be slightly paler did not excitement give her a little addi 
 tional color. She is followed by Mr. Arthur Lincoln, who 
 looks much the worse for the trouble of the last few hours 
 and who begs her to be calm. 
 
 Miss Potter, however, is calm ; she bows coldly to her 
 ladyship, gives Errol her hand, and then says : " Lady 
 Annerley, it is reported in Boulogne that you are the 
 authority for a statement that my father is a fugitive 
 from justice ! " This is in a freezing tone, though Miss 
 Potter s eyes have a dazzling sparkle. 
 
 " Well ! " remarks her ladyship, with equal coolness, 
 for she is afraid of nothing this day except the suffering 
 face of the man she loves. 
 
 But before she can say more Charley Errol turns to 
 her with a last pleading glance and mutters : " You 
 you won t tell me, Lady Sarah ?" 
 
 She does not look at him but gasps : " Why do yo i 
 torture me with questions?" Then venting her misery 
 upon Miss Potter, she cries : " Ask her ! She said she
 
 270 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 could give you hope ! Ask the daughter of the convict 
 who has fled." 
 
 " You mean my father ? " says Ida, her eyes beginning 
 to blaze. 
 
 " Yes ! " desperately. 
 
 " I am not the daughter of a convict ! " 
 
 "Not the daughter of a convict yet!" sneers her 
 ladyship. 
 
 " You have no retraction to make ? " 
 
 " No retraction but plenty of proof ! Your father 
 proved it himself by flying ! " 
 
 " Flying ? My father never in his life fled from any 
 thing ! " and Miss Potter affects a laugh. 
 
 Here Lady Annerley astonishes her, for she lies to her, 
 being in that kind of a mood she will stop at nothing. She 
 says : " I saw your father fly for Paris." 
 
 " You saw him ? " 
 
 " Yes ! The moment he heard his alias had been dis 
 closed by you that you had betrayed and ruined him ! " 
 
 " But it was you who feared that revelation ! " cries 
 Ida, her eyes beginning to look like old Potter s when he 
 arrested the detective. " Lady Sarah, my father shall 
 return to make you fear again. I swear to you ! " And 
 wishing to avoid profitless discussion the young lady 
 turns toward the door, but Sarah Annerley whispers to 
 her : " If he does, I swear to you I ll have your father in 
 an English jail." 
 
 Both Errol and Arthur start at this, and Mr. Lincoln 
 says : " Lady Annerley, such words are not warranted 
 unless you have certain proof ! " 
 
 " Proof ! I have conviction!" returns her ladyship, 
 whose eyes are now riveted upon Miss Potter s wrist. 
 " His daughter s wearing some of the very plunder on 
 her arm ! " 
 
 At this Ida astonishes the two men even more than 
 Lady Annerley, for she comes back, light, airy, almost 
 laughing, and says nonchalantly : " Oh, you re referring 
 to my lucky coin, the marked sovereign ! " and holds her 
 dazzling wrist high in air, jingling the bauble in Lady 
 Annerley s face. 
 
 This astounds Lady Annerley, but it horrifies the two 
 men, for they recognize the bangle she displays as one 
 of the marked coins.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS, 27! 
 
 Arthur gasps : " Ida, what does this mean ? " 
 
 Lady Sarah cries : " Dare she say who gave her the 
 stolen goods ? " 
 
 " Yes," answers Ida proudly. "My father! my father! 
 do you hear me? My father ! My father does not deco 
 rate his daughter with baubles that will make her blush ! 
 My father " 
 
 But Arthur stops her by saying with legal caution : 
 " Then for your father s sake don t tell her any more ! " 
 
 And Charley Errol mutters with,a sigh : " Miss Potter, 
 I m sorry for you ! " 
 
 These remarks and the way they look at her astound 
 and horrify the girl ; she stands gazing at them aston 
 ished ; then indignation comes into her eyes ; she pants 
 out : " Why, you all seem to think my father guilty ! " 
 
 And the subject warming her blood and enthusiasm 
 making her eyes blaze with trusting faith, she pours out 
 to them : "I ve known his love for twenty years, and 
 though every jury in the world and every judge on the 
 bench cried : Guilty ! Guilty ! ! GUILTY ! ! ! I would 
 cry: INNOCENT!" 
 
 As the other three stare at the girl a soft feminine- 
 masculine voice comes to them and makes them all turn 
 suddenly about and see Mr. Van Cott. That young 
 gentleman is faultlessly arrayed and looks very pale after 
 his " night of it." He has come quietly in past Lub- 
 bins, who has been too intent upon the scene in my lady s 
 parlor to do his duty outside of it. 
 
 Mr. Van Cott says : " Pardon my entering unan 
 nounced, Lady Annerley, but I feared Miss Potter might 
 be anxious, and came to tell her that story of her father s 
 flying to escape arrest is all beastly rot. " 
 
 " Not fled ! " cries her ladyship. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; he s gone safe enough, but he didn t fly 
 from the law. He fled from " 
 
 "What?" says Ida. 
 
 " From me ! " 
 
 " From you ? " gasps the girl, amazed, as indeed so are 
 all the rest. 
 
 " Yas ; I and your father had an interview about you, 
 Miss Ida ; you know the reason ! " Here he gives her a 
 significant ogle that makes the young lady struggle be 
 tween rage and a smile. " Your father was insolent to
 
 272 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 me and I was compelled to threaten to chastise him ; 
 and fearing me for my manner was very determined 
 he has doubtless fled. But you can tell him he may re 
 turn ; I won t hurt him, for your sake ! " 
 
 He puts another ogle to the end of this, but Miss Pot 
 ter does not see him ; she is looking behind him with a 
 flood of joy in her eyes, and crying : " My father ! " 
 For a voice outside is saying : " This way, Peer ! " 
 
 Then she runs to the door sobbing " At last ! " 
 
 For the strain being, over something has given way in 
 this tortured heart that has flaunted her father s banner of 
 innocence so jauntily in all the uncertainty and anguish 
 of the last twelve hours, and Miss Potter, who carried 
 herself so airily with her father fled, is now panting and 
 crying on her father s breast, who is here to fight his 
 own battles. 
 
 Old Potter, however, does not kiss her ; he simply pats 
 her shoulder in a soothing kind of way, and looking at 
 Lady Annerley, says sternly : " Ida, who s been making 
 you cry ? " 
 
 " Father, that woman says that you are a thief ! " whis 
 pers his daughter. 
 
 " Hida Potter ! " returns her father solemnly, putting 
 her from him, and looking her in the face, "did you be 
 lieve her ?" 
 
 "No !" 
 
 " Then kiss your daddy ! " Which this goddess of 
 fashion does to the old frontiersman as if it were a boon 
 most precious. 
 
 Then he hands his daughter to Lord Lincoln, who has 
 come in with him. This gentleman, assisted by his son, 
 comforts and soothes her, for the girl is almost hysterical 
 now. While Mr. Potter walks up to Lady Annerley who 
 since his entrance has become like a marble statue 
 with blazing eyes, that now and then involuntarily turn 
 toward Charley Errol, as he looks on silent and aston 
 ished. 
 
 " Lady Hannerley," says Potter, " did you dare to tell 
 that gal her daddy was a habsconder and a thief? " 
 
 "Certainly ! " replies her ladyship, coolly, though there 
 is a little tremor in her voice. 
 
 " Then either you or Hi kicks the beam this trip, and 
 I reckon it s you ! " answers Mr. Potter, and turns toward
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 273 
 
 Lord Lincoln, muttering apologetically : " Peer, it s the 
 second time in my life I ever threatened a woman ! " 
 
 " And it shall be the last ! " replies Lady Annerley, 
 who will now destroy this man who can tell her secret, 
 whether they believe him or not. " For when you 
 leave this room you shall be a prisoner ! " Then she 
 adds sneeringly : " You boy felon ! " and walking across 
 the room, touches a bell. 
 
 On which Ida screams out : " You sha n t call my 
 father that ! " and comes toward her, but the Texan says 
 sharply : " Your dad can do his own fighting ! Lady 
 Sahara, you re making me feel just like a Comanche In 
 jun ! " 
 
 Here Lubbins comes in, and Lady Annerley sneers : 
 " When Sergeant Brackett returns tell him that the felon 
 for whom he has a warrant is here." 
 
 At the mention of the detective s name, Potter goes 
 into such an awful scream of laughter that he gives them 
 all a start, and a second after a sensation. 
 
 He cries : " Is that your proclamation ? I would have 
 let you come down easy off your roost, but you won t 
 have it ! Charles Errol, I ve something for you ! " and 
 placing his hand in his breast pocket, draws out a docu 
 ment. The minute the Australian s eyes fall upon it 
 he cries hoarsely : " My God ! The packet she gave me in 
 Egypt, and stole from me when I was wounded! " and 
 would seize it. 
 
 Pit Lady Annerley is between them, begging, beseech 
 ing, imploring : " Remember your promise ! Charley, 
 in mercy in pity to the woman who loves you remem 
 ber your promise : If we both lived you would give it 
 back to me ! 
 
 " A promise ? Then I ll keep the thing myself ! " mut 
 ters Potter, putting the paper back in his bosom. 
 
 But Errol cries to him : " It is mine ! It holds my 
 father s honor ! " 
 
 " And it holds mine also ! " returns Potter. " I ve ad an 
 awful time to git it, and I ll protect it with my life, and 
 open it, and read it aloud to you, and the judge beg 
 pardon, Peer and the man who stays me is a very dead 
 man ! " 
 
 And taking the packet from his pocket again, quite 
 slowly, is about to tear it open, when Lady Annerley s 
 
 18
 
 274 MR - POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 arms are clutched round his, and she sobs, though her 
 eyes have no tears : " In mercy ! The man I .love would 
 think me worse than I am. Give me that packet back, 
 and I ll tell him all ! and the truth but in my own 
 way as as my heart is breaking now ! " 
 
 " That s fair ! " says Potter, with almost a sigh of re 
 lief. 
 
 Then she droops her head, and murmurs : " Send them 
 all away." 
 
 The Texan returns : " The judge ll stay for his family 
 interests. I ll stay to protect my own, and you can have 
 it out with the young man ! " And in a second he has 
 Arthur and Ida from the room, little Van Cott having 
 grown very pale, and quietly and silently stolen away as 
 soon as Mr. Potter came in. 
 
 Then he whispers hurriedly to Lord Lincoln : " You 
 told me as we came here you could take a deposition 
 good in England. Write what she says down, for the 
 Lord s sake ! " 
 
 Sitting at a table at the back of the room, Percy Lin 
 coln writes hurriedly the words that now pass from the 
 woman to the man who has been gazing in silence at her. 
 
 After a gasp or two for her lips though they open 
 give forth no sound Sarah Annerley forces them to do 
 their office, though her voice seems to have changed and 
 become harsh and discordant since she last spoke. And 
 these are the words she utters : 
 
 " I I stood by my father, Sir Jonas Stevens , deathbed, 
 and listened to the confession of a dying thief !" 
 
 On this there is a start from two of the men. 
 
 Errol cries in an amazed voice : " Your father ! my 
 father s friend ? " 
 
 Lincoln springs from his seat murmuring : " Are 
 you sane ? Your father Sir Jonas Stevens the great 
 financier, the respected banker ! " 
 
 But she cries at him : " Don t interrupt me ! you 
 distract his attention ! If he doesn t listen to me, how will 
 he ever forgive ? " and gazes once more at Errol as if to 
 drive her words home to his heart. 
 
 While Potter whispers to the judge : " For all our sakes, 
 don t do anything but write her words on paper." 
 
 She begins to speak again, punctuating her revealings 
 with tearless sobs.
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 275 
 
 " My father swore to me that while a young man he 
 had stolen from the bank he was yet a clerk in a num 
 ber of sums of money. The bank was determined to 
 find the culprit. For his own safety he suggested that 
 certain sovereigns be marked so that if stolen they could 
 be identified, knowing that Ralph Errol was secretly going 
 to Australia. On the. ~~ning of his departure he was 
 about to place them an ... -rol s desk in lieu of the sav 
 ings your father, Charley, was to carry with him. He had 
 not completed this when he was seen by the office boy, 
 to whom he gave thirty of the coins so as to aid him to 
 emigrate to America. That boy, Samuel Potts, took them 
 innocently as a loan from my father, whom years after 
 ward he repaid. That was my father s crime ! " 
 
 To this Errol says nothing. His eyes have a far away 
 look and are full of tears, his lips are trembling ; he is 
 thinking of his father s years of miserable shame and 
 cruel punishment. He doesn t seem to hear her. 
 
 Then she mutters hoarsely : " You know the truth 
 now ! Give me the packet ! " and turns to take it from 
 Potter s hands. 
 
 But he whispers to Lincoln : " Swear her to it, judge ! 
 Swear her to it on the Bible, for the Lord s sake ! " 
 
 The Texan s manner impresses the judge, who hands 
 her the statement he has written out and says : " Lady 
 Annerley, sign your name to this." 
 
 And she doing as he asks, he takes her oath that it is 
 true 
 
 Then she mutters again : " Give me that packet ! " 
 which Potter does with a triumphant chuckle which she 
 does not heed, for she cries to Errol : " Now LISTEN TO 
 
 MY EXPIATION ! 
 
 " On my father s death I immediately telegraphed, and 
 found that you were in Egypt en route to Australia. 
 Disregarding the warnings of my friends and my own 
 safety I hurried to Alexandria. There I waited after all 
 had fled endangering my own life to do you justice ! 
 You remember I tried to tell you, but you wouldn t 
 listen, you were thinking how to save my life. Ah, how 
 you did save ! How you fought for me ! Can t you re 
 member ? Charley, my Charley, can t you remember ? 
 My God ! How nobly you fought for me and made me 
 loi e you ! "
 
 276 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 Seeing he makes her no answer, she goes to him in a pit 
 eous, begging, pleading way, and touching his arm, trem 
 bles in fear of a repulse, and says humbly, in one long, 
 sighing whisper : " Charley can t you remember ? " 
 
 Her manner and despair make tears come into the eyes 
 of the judge who has sentenced fellow-men to death, 
 and the frontier warrior who has butchered his foes with 
 out sorrow or remorse. 
 
 But Errol simply says, not looking at her : " I did my 
 duty ! How have you done yours ? " Then gazes at her 
 sternly, for she does not answer the terrible accusation, 
 and cries : " How have you done yours ? " 
 
 And now the scene becomes cruel, for she shrieks out 
 at him : " My God ! Don t look at me in that way ! 
 Have some pity ! How could I tell the man I had grown 
 to love belter than my life that my father had made his 
 father an outcast and a felon for over thirty years ? You 
 would have despised me for my father s crime, and hated 
 me as you do now ! Don t think me all bad. I did the 
 other sins when jealousy drove me mad. My Heaven ! 
 He dorit even believe ! " 
 
 This last she screams in a kind of despairing appeal to 
 the world. Then seizing Errol and forcing him to look at 
 her agony she whispers : " I intended to tell you the 
 awful story at the first, but I ll prove that to you. That 
 you shall know. That you shall believe by this ! This, 
 that I had meant for you to read if they killed me in 
 Alexandria. This, that none but you shall ever see, for- 
 it tells of of how much I adored you then the first, 
 the only love-letter I shall ever write THIS ! " 
 
 And she tears open the packet Potter had given her, 
 and is about to hand it to Errol ; but gazing at it her 
 face changes from awful despair to amazed astonish 
 ment. She gasps : " He would never have known if I 
 had not confessed ; now he ll never believe all /" Here 
 the passion of a tigress comes upon her ; she screams, 
 " Tricked at the last ! Betrayed by you ! " then, stagger 
 ing toward the Texan, utters an awful choking shriek 
 and falls like a dead woman at his feet, the pages of 
 the open packet scattering about her senseless form. 
 
 Picking one of these up, Lincoln says astounded : 
 " Why, they re blank ! " 
 
 " Yes ! " remarks Potter. " Ye see, judge I beg your
 
 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 277 
 
 pardon, Peer I couldn t get enough of the fragments to 
 make sense. Her emissary had destroyed the document, 
 though he d left the wrapper whole, and so I tricked her 
 and busted the slate ! " and stooping down would pick 
 Lady Annerley up. 
 
 But Errol is before him and lifts her very tenderly, 
 for the memories of Africa are back in his heart as he 
 looks upon this woman who has sinned so against him, 
 and mutters, " Poor devil ! " So, placing her inanimate 
 form upon the sofa, he gives this woman who has broken 
 her heart over him his first and his last embrace. 
 
 Lady Annerley s shrieks have drawn Arthur and the 
 rest to the door, and Mr. Potter, calling his daughter to 
 him, says : " She was once kind to you, Ida ; give my 
 lady what care you can. Thar s been a funeral of a 
 heart in this room." 
 
 Going to her, Miss Potter cries out : " How she 
 must have suffered ! She s grown old since I saw her 
 last. Father, what have you all done to her ? " 
 
 " No more than justice demanded," returns the old 
 man. " Quit moralizing, and bring her to ! " 
 
 So with the American girl s kind arms about her Lady 
 Annerley is borne out of the room, punished by the 
 fact that she never knows the man she has wronged and 
 loved forgave her. 
 
 While this is being done the men hold a hurried con 
 sultation, Lord Lincoln telling them that his resignation 
 fro"i the bench not being as yet accepted, and no suc 
 cessor to the office having been appointed, Lady Anner 
 ley s affidavit taken by him will be sufficiently binding for 
 the purpose he shall use it, that is, to quash the indictment 
 against Samuel Potts, and to make such representations 
 to the Home Secretary as shall obtain the Queen s free 
 pardon for Ralph Errol, and so much reparation as it is 
 possible to make for the stigma placed for over thirty years 
 on an innocent man. 
 
 In conclusion Lord Lincoln says : " The judge who 
 sentenced your father shall be the first to call upon him 
 and offer him his sympathy and apologies. And as for 
 any injustice or wrong done to you by any of my family, 
 I can make an atonement that you, at least, Mr. Errol, 
 should think sufficient ; for my daughter, who has been 
 the joy of my life, will now, I presume, become the bless-
 
 278 MR. POTTER OF TEXAS. 
 
 ing of yours. You ve been a good son, and that is the 
 best guarantee you ll be a good husband. Come, let us 
 go to your father ! " 
 
 Then Lord Lincoln puts his arm over Charley Errol s 
 shoulder. 
 
 But Potter stops him by saying : " Peer, I shar n t go 
 back to England till you get that ar indictment squashed ! 
 I don t want to be arrested, and I ll take my darter and 
 have a quiet time in Pan>." 
 
 At this Miss Potter comes running to her father, and 
 says : " Of course I ll go with you ! Dear papa, I ll never 
 leave you till " 
 
 Here the Honorable Sampson makes Arthur and the 
 girl blush, for he cries : " Till the weddin ! We ll get 
 the trousseau in Pane. PanV is the place for trousseaus ! 
 Peer, you d better send that little darter of yours along 
 with us ! " 
 
 But Errol here mutters to Lord Lincoln : " Think of 
 my father of his uncertainty his agony ! Come ! we 
 must tell him at once." 
 
 And the two are about to leave together ; but on get 
 ting to the door the judge suddenly pauses, and turning 
 to the Texan, who stands with his daughter s arm around 
 him, says : " You ll excuse my asking you a lawyer s ques 
 tion, but how and why did you change your name ? " 
 
 " How ? " returns Potter proudly. " By act of the 
 Texas Legislature ! Why ? Because the Democratic 
 Party thought Sampson Potter a more high-toned name 
 to run for Congress than Sammy Potts. That s what 
 makes me Mr. Potter of Texas." 
 
 FINIS.
 
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