THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT
 
 HER LADYSHIP'S ELEPHANT 
 
 By DAVID DWIGHT WELLS. With cover by 
 WM. NICHOLSON. loth Impression. i2mo. 
 $1.25. 
 
 A very humorous story, dealing with English society, 
 growing out of certain experiences of the author while a 
 member of our Embassy in London. The elephant's ex 
 periences, also, are based on facts. 
 
 New York Tribune: "Mr. Wells allows his sense of 
 humor to play about the personalities of half a dozen men 
 and women whose lives, for a few brief, extraordinary 
 days, are inextricably intertwined with the life of the 
 aforesaid monarch of the jungle. . . . Smacks of fun 
 which can be created by clever actors placed in excru 
 ciatingly droll situations." 
 
 Philadelphia Times: "As breezy a bit of fiction as the 
 reading public has lately been offered. Amusing from 
 the first page to the last, unique in conception, and 
 absolutely uproarious in plot." 
 
 ng. 
 Outlook : " Full of amusing situations." 
 
 Buffalo Express : " So amusing is the book that the reader 
 is almost too tired to laugh when the elephant puts in his 
 appearance." 
 
 HENRY HOLT & CO. NEW YORK.
 
 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD 
 
 A TRUTHFUL NARRATION OF 
 SOME IMPOSSIBLE FACTS 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID DWIGHT WELLS 
 
 Author of "Her Ladyship's Elephant" 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
 1900
 
 Copyright, 1900, 
 
 BY 
 HENRY HOLT & CO. 
 
 ROBERT DRUMMOND, PRINTER, NEW YORK.
 
 ps 
 
 WARNING! 
 
 THE ensuing work is a serious attempt to 
 while away an idle hour. The best criticism 
 that the author received of " Her Ladyship's 
 Elephant " was from an old lady who wrote 
 him that it had made her forget a toothache; 
 the most discouraging, from a critic who ap 
 proached the book as serious literature and 
 treated it according to the standards of the 
 higher criticism. 
 
 The author takes this occasion to state that 
 he has never been guilty of writing literature, 
 serious or otherwise, and that if any one con 
 siders this book a fit subject for the applica 
 tion of the higher criticism, he will treat it as 
 a just ground for an action for libel. 
 
 If the minimum opus possesses an intrinsic 
 
 value, it lies in the explanation of the where- 
 ill 
 
 939723
 
 iv W/tRNlNG! 
 
 abouts of a Spanish gunboat, which, during 
 our late unpleasantness with Spain, the yel 
 low journalists insisted was patrolling the 
 English Channel, in spite of the fact that the 
 U. S. Board of Strategy knew that every avail 
 able ship belonging to that nation was better 
 employed somewhere else. 
 
 Should this expose ruffle another English 
 see, so much the worse for the Bishop.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 AMERICA. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IN WHICH CECIL BANBOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME, 
 AND THE "DAILY LEADER" A " SCOOP " 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN WHICH CECIL BANBOROUGH ATTEMPTS TO DRIVE 
 PUBLIC OPINION 18 
 
 CHAFER III. 
 
 IN WHICH CECIL BANBOROUGH DRIVES A BLACK 
 MARIA 36 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BLACK MARIA RECEIVES A NEW 
 
 INMATE 54 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN WHICH THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS . . 72 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BISHOP OF BLANFORD RECEIVES A 
 
 BLACK EYE 92 
 
 v
 
 vi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PACK 
 
 IN WHICH A LINE is DRAWN AND CROSSED 107 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IN WHICH A LOCKET is ACCEPTED AND A RING RE 
 FUSED 131 
 
 PART II. 
 ENGLAND. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN WHICH MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH 151 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN WHICH THE ENEMY ARRIVES 173 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN WHICH PEACE is PROPOSED AND WAR DE 
 CLARED 198 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BISHOP is ABDUCTED 222 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BISHOP EATS JAM TART, AND Miss 
 MATILDA HUMBLE-PIE 250 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN WHICH Miss ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY 
 AGAIN 269 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN WHICH Miss ARMINSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 288
 
 PART I. 
 
 AMERICA.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN WHICH CECIL BANBOROUGH ACHIEVES 
 FAME AND THE " DAILY LEADER " A 
 " SCOOP." 
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH stood at one of the 
 front windows of a club which faced on Fifth 
 Avenue, his hands in his pockets, and a cigar 
 ette in his mouth, idly watching the varied 
 life of the great thoroughfare. He had re 
 turned to the city that morning after a two 
 weeks' absence in the South, and, having fin 
 ished his lunch, was wondering how he could 
 manage to put in the time till the 4:30 express 
 left for Meadowbrook. 2 P.M., he reflected 
 ruefully, was an hour when New York had no 
 use and no resources for men of leisure like 
 himself. 
 
 Yet even for a mere onlooker the pano 
 rama of the street was of unusual interest. 
 
 3
 
 4 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 The avenue was ablaze with bunting, which 
 hurrying thousands pointed out to their com 
 panions, while every street-corner had its lit 
 tle group of citizens, discussing with feverish 
 energy and gestures of ill-concealed disquiet 
 ude the situation of which the gay flags were 
 the outward and visible sign. For in these 
 latter days of April, 1898, a first-class Repub 
 lic had, from purely philanthropic motives, an 
 nounced its intention of licking a third-rate 
 Monarchy into the way it should go. Where 
 at the good citizens had flung broadcast their 
 national emblem to express a patriotic en 
 thusiasm they did not feel, while the wiser 
 heads among them were already whispering 
 that the war was not merely unjustifiable, but 
 might be expensive. 
 
 All these matters, important as they doubt 
 less were, did not interest Cecil Banborough, 
 and indeed were quite dwarfed by the fact that 
 this uncalled-for war had diverted the press 
 from its natural functions, and for the time 
 being had thrown utterly into the shade his 
 new sensational novel, " The Purple Kanga-
 
 CECIL B/tNBOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME, 5 
 
 roo." His meditations were, however, inter 
 rupted by the sound of voices using perfectly 
 good English, but with an accent which be 
 spoke a European parentage. 
 
 " ' The Purple Kangaroo,' " said one. " It 
 is sufficiently striking Si, Senor? " 
 
 " It serves the purpose well, mi amigo," re 
 plied the other. " It is, as you say, striking; 
 indeed nothing better could be devised; while 
 its reputation " And the voices died away. 
 
 Cecil swung rapidly round. Two gentle 
 men, slight, swarthy, and evidently of a Latin 
 race, were moving slowly down the long draw 
 ing-room. They were foreigners certainly, 
 Spaniards possibly, but they had spoken of his 
 book in no modified terms of praise. He drew 
 a little sigh of satisfied contentment and 
 turned again to the street. Ah, if his father, 
 the Bishop of Blanford, could have heard! 
 
 The two foreigners had meanwhile con 
 tinued their conversation, though out of ear 
 shot. The elder was speaking. 
 
 "As you say, its reputation is so slight," he 
 said, " one of those ephemeral productions
 
 6 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 that are forgotten in a day, that it will serve 
 our purpose well. We must have a password 
 the less noticeable the better. When do you 
 return to Washington? " 
 
 " The Legation may be closed at any mo 
 ment now," replied the younger, seating him 
 self carelessly on the arm of a Morris chair, 
 " and I may be wanted. I go this afternoon, 
 " a dios y a ventura" 
 
 " Softly; not so loud." 
 
 '" There's no one to hear. Keep us in 
 formed, I say. I'll see to the rest. We've our 
 secret lines of communication nearly com 
 plete. They may turn us out of their capital, 
 but; we shall know what passes. Carramba! 
 What is that? " For, in leaning back, the 
 speaker had come against an unresisting 
 body. 
 
 Springing up and turning quickly round, 
 he saw that the chair on the arm of which he 
 had been sitting was already occupied by the 
 slumbering form of a youngish man with clear- 
 cut features and a voluminous golden mous 
 tache.
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME. 7 
 
 " Madre de Dios! Could he have heard?" 
 exclaimed the younger man, moving away. 
 
 "Malhaya! No! " replied the other. "These 
 pigs of Americanos who sleep at noonday hear 
 nothing! Come! " And, casting a glance of 
 concentrated contempt at the huddled-up 
 figure, he put his arm through that of his com 
 panion, and together they left the room. 
 
 A moment later the sleeper sat up, flicked a 
 speck of dust off his coat-sleeve, and, diving 
 into a pocket, produced a note-book and blue 
 pencil and began to write rapidly. Evidently 
 his occupation was a pleasant one, for a broad 
 smile illumined his face. 
 
 " Ah, Marchmont," said Banborough, com 
 ing towards him, " didn't know you'd waked 
 up." 
 
 "Was I asleep?" 
 
 " Rather. Don't suppose you saw those 
 Spanish Dons who went out just now? " 
 
 " Spaniards? " queried Marchmont, with a 
 preoccupied air. " What about 'em? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing in particular, only I supposed 
 that a Spaniard to a yellow journalist was like
 
 8 HIS LORDSHIP -S LEOPARD. 
 
 a red rag to a bull. You should make them 
 into copy ' Conspiracy in a Fifth Avenue 
 Club/ etc." 
 
 " Thanks," said the other, " so I might. 
 Valuable suggestion." And he returned his 
 note-book to his pocket. 
 
 " They did me a good turn, anyway," re 
 sumed Banborough. " They were talking 
 about my book thought it would serve its 
 purpose, was very striking, said nothing better 
 could be devised; and they were foreigners, 
 too. I tell you what it is, Marchmont, the 
 public will wake up to the merits of ' The 
 Purple Kangaroo ' some day. Why doesn't 
 the Daily Leader notice it? " 
 
 " My dear Cecil, give me the space and I'll 
 write a critique the fulsome flattery of which 
 will come up to even your exacting demands. 
 But just at present we're so busy arousing 
 popular enthusiasm that we really haven't 
 time." 
 
 ' You never do have time," replied Ban- 
 borough, a trifle petulantly, " except for sleep 
 ing after lunch."
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME. 9 
 
 " Ah, that's all in the day's work. But tell 
 me. You're an Englishman; why didn't you 
 publish your book in your own country? " 
 
 " I may be green, but I don't impart confi 
 dences to an American journalist." 
 
 "Nonsense! I never betray my friends' 
 confidences when it's not worth I should say, 
 out of business hours." 
 
 The Englishman laughed. 
 
 " Oh, if you don't think it worth while," he 
 said, " I suppose there's no danger, so I'll con 
 fess that my literary exile is purely to oblige 
 my father." 
 
 "The Bishop of Blanford? " 
 
 " The Bishop of Blanford, who has the bad 
 taste to disapprove of ' The Purple Kanga 
 roo.' " 
 
 " Has he ever read it? " 
 
 " Of course not; the ecclesiastical mind is 
 nothing if not dogmatic." 
 
 " My dear fellow, I was only trying to as 
 sign a reason." 
 
 " Chaff away, but it's principally my Aunt 
 Matilda."
 
 io HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " The Bishop, I remember, is a widower." 
 
 " Rather. My aunt keeps house for him." 
 
 " Ah, these aunts! " exclaimed the journal 
 ist. " They make no end of trouble and 
 copy." 
 
 " It's not so bad as that," said Cecil; " but 
 she rules the governor with a rod of iron, and 
 she kicked up such a row about my book that 
 I dropped the whole show." 
 
 " Don't correspond with 'em? " 
 
 " Not on my side. I receive occasional ser 
 mons from Blanford." 
 
 " Which remain unanswered? " 
 
 Cecil nodded, and changed the subject. 
 
 " You know my father's cathedral? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Oh, yes. The verger prevented my chip 
 ping off a bit of the high altar as a memento 
 the last time I was over. You English are so 
 beastly conservative. Not that the Bishop 
 had anything to do with it." 
 
 Banborough laughed, and returned to the 
 charge. 
 
 " So I came abroad," he continued, " and
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME. n 
 
 approached the most respectable and conserv 
 ative firm of publishers I could find in New 
 York." 
 
 " Was that out of consideration for the 
 Bishop? " 
 
 " I thought it might sweeten the pill. But 
 somehow the book doesn't sell." 
 
 " Advertising, my boy that's the word." 
 
 " The traditions of the firm forbid it," ob 
 jected Banborough. 
 
 " Traditions! What's any country less than 
 a thousand years old got to do with tradi 
 tions? " spluttered Marchmont. " I knew a 
 Chicago author who got a divorce every time 
 he produced a new novel. They sold like hot 
 cakes." 
 
 " And the wives? " 
 
 " Received ten per cent, of the profits as ali 
 mony." 
 
 " Talk sense, and say something scandalous 
 about me in the Leader. What possessed 
 you, anyway, to join such a disgraceful 
 sheet? "
 
 12 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " If I'd an entailed estate and an hereditary 
 bishopric, I wouldn't. As it is, it pays." 
 
 " The bishopric isn't hereditary," said Ce 
 cil. " I wish it were. Then I might have a 
 chance of spending my life in the odour of 
 sanctity and idleness, and the entail is a 
 dream." 
 
 " So you write novels," retorted March- 
 mont, " that are neither indecent nor political, 
 and expect 'em to succeed. Callow youth! 
 Well, I must be off to the office. I've some 
 copy up my sleeve, and if it's a go it'll give 
 your book the biggest boom a novel ever 
 had." 
 
 "Are you speaking the truth?" said the 
 Englishman. " I beg your pardon. I forgot 
 it was out of professional hours." 
 
 " Wait and see," replied the journalist, as 
 he strolled out of the club. 
 
 5(< * * * * 
 
 " Hi, Marchmont, I've got a detail for you! " 
 called the editor, making the last correction 
 on a belated form and attempting to revivify 
 a cigar that had long gone out.
 
 CECIL BAN BOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME, 13 
 
 " Yes? " queried Marchmont, slipping off 
 his coat and slipping on a pair of straw cuffs, 
 which was the chief reason why he always 
 sported immaculate linen. 
 
 " We're on the track of a big thing. Per 
 haps you don't know that the President has 
 delivered an ultimatum, and that our Minister 
 at Madrid has received his passports? " 
 
 " Saw it on the bulletin-board as I came in," 
 said his subordinate laconically. 
 
 " Well, it's a foregone conclusion that the 
 Spanish Legation will establish a secret service 
 in this country, and the paper that shows it up 
 will achieve the biggest scoop on record." 
 
 " Naturally. But what then? " 
 
 " Why, I give the detail to you. You don't 
 seem to appreciate the situation, man. It's 
 the chance of a lifetime." 
 
 " Quite so," replied Marchmont, lighting a 
 cigarette. 
 
 " But you can't lose a minute." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I can two or three. Time for a 
 smoke, and then I'll write you a first-column
 
 14 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 article that'll call for the biggest caps you have 
 in stock." 
 
 " But I What the Say, you know 
 something! " 
 
 " I know that the secret service has been 
 organised, I know the organisers, and I know 
 the password." 
 
 Here Marchmont's chief became unquot 
 able, lapsing into unlimited profanity from 
 sheer joy and exultation. 
 
 " I'll give you a rise if you pull this off! " he 
 exclaimed, after hearing the recital of the 
 events at the club. " May I be " several 
 things " if I don't! Now what are you going 
 to do about it? " 
 
 " Suppose we inform the nearest police sta 
 tion, have the crowd arrested, and take all the 
 glory ourselves." 
 
 " Suppose we shut up shop and take a holi 
 day," suggested the chief, with a wealth of 
 scorn. 
 
 " Well, what have you to propose? " 
 
 " We must work the whole thing through 
 our detective agency."
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME. 15 
 
 " But we haven't a detective agency," ob 
 jected Marchmont. 
 
 " But we will have before sunset," said the 
 chief. " There's O'Brien" 
 
 " Yes. Chucked from Pinkerton's force for 
 habitual drunkenness," interjected his sub 
 ordinate. 
 
 " Just so," said the editor, " and anxious to 
 get a job in consequence. He'll be only too 
 glad to run the whole show for us. The city 
 shall be watched, and the first time ' The Pur 
 ple Kangaroo ' is used in a suspicious sense 
 we'll arrest the offenders, discover the plot, 
 and the Daily Leader, as the defender of the 
 nation and the people's bulwark, will increase 
 its circulation a hundred thousand copies! 
 It makes me dizzy to think of it! I tell you 
 what it is, Marchmont, that subeditorship is 
 still vacant, and if you put this through, the 
 place is yours." 
 
 The reporter grasped his chiefs hand. 
 
 " That's white of you, boss," he said, " and 
 I'll do it no matter what it costs or who gets 
 hurt in the process."
 
 1 6 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Right you are!" cried his employer. "The 
 man who edits this paper has got to hustle. 
 Now don't let the grass grow under your feet, 
 and we'll have a drink to celebrate." 
 
 When the chief offers to set up a sub it 
 means business, and Marchmont was elated 
 
 accordingly. 
 
 ^ * * * * 
 
 At the Club the Bishop's son still con 
 templated the Avenue from the vantage-point 
 of the most comfortable armchair the room 
 possessed. Praise, he reflected, which was not 
 intended for the author's ear was praise in 
 deed. No man could tell to what it might 
 lead. No one indeed, Cecil Banborough least 
 of all, though he was destined to find out 
 before he was many hours older; for down in 
 the editorial sanctum of the Daily Leader 
 O'Brien was being instructed: 
 
 " And if you touch a drop during the next 
 week," reiterated the chief, " I'll put a head 
 on you! " 
 
 " But supposin' this dago conspiracy should 
 turn out to be a fake? " objected the Irishman.
 
 CECIL BAN BOROUGH ACHIEVES FAME. 17 
 
 " Then," said the reporter with determina 
 tion, " you'll have to hatch one yourself, and 
 I'll discover it. But two things are certain. 
 Something's got to be exposed, and I've got 
 to get that editorship."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN WHICH CECIL BANBOROUGH ATTEMPTS TO 
 DRIVE PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 IT is a trifle chilly in the early morning, even 
 by the first of May, and Cecil shivered slightly 
 as he paced the rustic platform at Meadow- 
 brook with his publisher and host of the night 
 before. 
 
 " You see," the great man was saying, 
 " there's an etiquette about all these things. 
 We can't advertise our publications in the ele 
 vated trains like tomato catsup or the latest 
 thing in corsets. It's not dignified. The 
 book must succeed, if at all, through the 
 recognised channels of criticism and on its 
 own merits. Of course it's a bad season. But 
 once the war's well under way, people will give 
 up newspapers and return to literature." 
 
 " Meantime it wants a boom," contended 
 
 18
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 19 
 
 the young Englishman, with an insistence that 
 apparently jarred on his hearer, who an 
 swered shortly: 
 
 " And that, Mr. Banborough, it is not in my 
 power to give your book, or any other man's." 
 
 There was an element of finality about this 
 remark which seemed to preclude further con 
 versation, and Cecil took refuge in the morn 
 ing paper till the train pulled into the Grand 
 Central Station, when the two men shook 
 hands and parted hurriedly, the host on his 
 daily rush to the office, the guest to saunter 
 slowly up the long platform, turning over in 
 his mind the problems suggested by his re 
 cent conversation. 
 
 The busy life of the great terminus grated 
 upon him, and that is perhaps the reason why 
 his eye rested with a sense of relief on a little 
 group of people who, like himself, seemed to 
 have nothing particular to do. They were six 
 in number, two ladies and four gentlemen, and 
 stood quietly discussing some interesting 
 problem, apparently unconscious of the hur 
 rying crowds which were surging about them.
 
 20 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOP4RD. 
 
 Cecil approached them slowly, and was 
 about to pass on when his attention and foot 
 steps were suddenly arrested by hearing the 
 younger of the two ladies remark in a plain 
 tive voice: 
 
 " But that doesn't help us to get any break 
 fast, Alvy." 
 
 " No, or dinner either," added the elder 
 lady. 
 
 " Well," rejoined the gentleman addressed 
 as " Alvy," who, in contrast to the frock coats 
 and smart tailor-made gowns of his three com 
 panions, wore an outing suit, a short overcoat 
 of box-cloth, a light, soft hat, and a rather 
 pronounced four-in-hand tie. " Well, I'm 
 hungry myself, as far as that goes." 
 
 Banborough was astonished. These fash 
 ionably dressed people in need of a meal? Im 
 possible! And yet he turned to look at them 
 again. No, they were not quite gentlefolk. 
 There was something He stumbled and 
 nearly fell over a dress-suit case, evidently be 
 longing to one of the party, and marked in
 
 CECIL BAN BOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 21 
 
 large letters, " H. Tybalt Smith. A. B. C. 
 Company." 
 
 Actors, of course. That explained the situ 
 ation and the clothes. Another company 
 gone to pieces, and its members landed penni 
 less and in their costumes. It was too bad, 
 and the young woman was so very good- 
 looking. If only he had some legitimate ex 
 cuse for going to their assistance. 
 
 Suddenly he stood motionless, petrified. An 
 idea had occurred to him, the boldness and 
 originality of which fairly took his breath away. 
 " The Purple Kangaroo " wanted adver 
 tising, and his publishers refused to help him. 
 Well, why should he not advertise it himself ? 
 To think was to act. Already the company 
 were starting in a listless, dispirited way 
 towards the door. The Englishman sum 
 moned all his resolution to his aid, and, over 
 coming his insular reticence, approached the 
 leader of the party, asking if he were Mr. 
 Smith. 
 
 " H. Tybalt Smith, at your service, sir," re 
 plied that portly and imposing individual.
 
 22 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Cecil Banborough bowed low. 
 
 " I hope you'll not think me intrusive," he 
 said, " but I judge that you're not now en 
 gaged, and as I'm at present in want of the 
 services of a first-class theatrical company, I 
 ventured to address you." 
 
 " The manager skipped last evening," re 
 marked the man in mufti. 
 
 " Alvy," corrected Mr. Smith, " I will con 
 duct these negotiations. As Mr. Spotts says, 
 sir," he continued, indicating the last speaker, 
 " with a colloquialism that is his distinguish 
 ing characteristic, our manager is not forth 
 coming, and a er temporary embarrass 
 ment has resulted, so that we should gladly 
 accept the engagement you offer, provided it 
 is not inconsistent with the demands of art." 
 
 " Oh, cut it short, Tyb," again interrupted 
 the ingenuous Spotts. 
 
 Mr. Smith cast a crushing glance at the 
 youth, and, laying one hand across his ample 
 chest, prepared to launch a withering denun 
 ciation at him, when Cecil came to the rescue. 
 
 " I was about to suggest," he said, " that if
 
 CECIL BAN BOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 23 
 
 you've not yet breakfasted you would all do 
 so with me, and we can then discuss this mat 
 ter at length." 
 
 Mr. Smith's denunciation died upon his 
 lips, and a smile of ineffable contentment 
 lighted up his face. 
 
 " Sir," he said, " we are obliged vastly 
 obliged. I speak collectively." And he 
 waved one flabby hand towards his compan 
 ions. " I have not, however, the honour of 
 knowing your name." 
 
 Cecil handed him his card. 
 
 " Ah, thanks. Mr. Banborough. Exactly. 
 Permit me to introduce myself: H. Tybalt 
 Smith, Esq., tragedian of the A. B. C. Com 
 pany. My companions are Mr. Kerrington, 
 the heavy villain; Mr. Mill, the leading serious. 
 Our juvenile, Mr. G. Alvarado Spotts, has 
 already sufficiently introduced himself. The 
 ladies are Mrs. Mackintosh, our senior legiti 
 mate," indicating the elder of the two, who 
 smilingly acknowledged the introduction in 
 such a good-natured, hearty manner that for 
 the moment her plain, almost rugged New
 
 24 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 England countenance was lighted up and she 
 became nearly handsome. " And," continued 
 Mr. Smith, " our leading lady, the Leopard 
 I mean Miss Violet Arminster," pointing to 
 the bewitching young person in the tailor- 
 made gown. 
 
 Each of the members bowed as his or her 
 name was spoken, and the tragedian con 
 tinued: 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen of the A. B. C. 
 Company, I have much pleasure in introduc 
 ing to you my friend Mr. Cecil Banbor- 
 ough, who has kindly invited you to break 
 fast at the Murray Hill? Shall we say the 
 Murray Hill? Yes." 
 
 The ensuing hour having been given up to 
 the serious pursuit of satisfying healthy ap 
 petites, the members of the A. B. C. Com 
 pany heaved sighs of pleasurable repletion, 
 and prepared to listen to their host's proposi 
 tion in a highly optimistic mood. Banbor- 
 ough, who had already sufficiently break 
 fasted, employed the interval of the meal in 
 talking to Miss Arminster and in studying his
 
 CECIL B/tN BOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 25 
 
 guests. Mrs. Mackintosh, who seemed to 
 take a motherly interest in the charming Vio 
 let, and whose honest frankness had appealed 
 to him from the first, appeared to be the good 
 genius of the little company. As he came to 
 know her better during the next few days, 
 under the sharp spur of adversity, he realised 
 more and more how much goodness and 
 strength of character lay hidden under the 
 rough exterior and the sharp tongue, and his 
 liking changed into an honest admiration. 
 Mr. Smith was ponderous and egotistical to 
 the last degree, while Spotts seemed hail- 
 fellow-well-met, the jolliest, brightest, most 
 good-looking and resourceful youth that Cecil 
 had met for many a long day. The other two 
 men were the most reserved of the company, 
 saying little, and devoting themselves to their 
 meal. But it was to Miss Arminster that he 
 found himself especially attracted. From the 
 first moment that he saw her she had exer 
 cised a fascination over him, and even his 
 desire for the success of his book gave way to 
 his anxiety for her comfort and happiness.
 
 26 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 She was by no means difficult to approach; 
 they soon were chatting gaily together, and 
 by the time the repast was finished were quite 
 on the footing of old friends so much so, in 
 deed, that Cecil ventured to ask her a question 
 which had been uppermost in his mind for 
 some time. 
 
 " Why did Mr. Smith call you the Leopard 
 when he introduced you to me at the station?" 
 he said. 
 
 " Oh," she answered, laughing, " that's gen 
 erally the last bit of information my friends get 
 about me. It has terminated my acquaintance 
 with a lot of gentlemen. Do you think you'd 
 better ask it, just when we are beginning to 
 know one another? " 
 
 " Are you another Lohengrin," he said, 
 " and will a white swan come and carry you 
 off as soon as you've told me? " 
 
 " More probably a cable-car," she replied, 
 "seeing we're in New York." 
 
 " Then I shall defer the evil day as long as 
 possible," he answered. 
 
 " You seem to forget," she returned, " that
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 27 
 
 I don't know as yet what our business rela 
 tions are to be." 
 
 " And you seem to forget," he replied, 
 " that there are still some strawberries left on 
 that dish." 
 
 She sighed regretfully, saying: 
 
 " I'm afraid they must go till next time 
 if there's to be a next time." 
 
 Banborough vowed to himself that instead 
 of confining the advertisement of his book to 
 the city alone, he would extend it to Harlem 
 and Brooklyn yes, and to all New York 
 State, if need be, rather than forego the de 
 light of her society. 
 
 " Isn't your father an English bishop? " 
 continued Miss Arminster, interrupting his 
 reverie. 
 
 " Now how on earth did you know that? " 
 exclaimed Cecil. 
 
 The little actress laughed. 
 
 " Oh, I know a lot of things," she said. 
 "But I was merely going to suggest that we 
 call you ' Bishop ' for short. Banborough's 
 much too long a name for ordinary use. What
 
 28 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 do you say, boys? " turning to the men of the 
 company. 
 
 A chorus of acclamation greeted this sally, 
 and to the members of the A. B. C. Company 
 Cecil Banborough was ' the Bishop ' from that 
 hour. 
 
 " And now," said the Englishman, " that 
 you've christened me, suppose we come to the 
 business in hand? " 
 
 Every one was at once intently silent. 
 
 " I am," he continued, " the author of ' The 
 Purple Kangaroo.' ' 
 
 The silence became deeper. The audience 
 were politely impressed, and the heavy villain 
 did a bit of dumb show with the leading seri 
 ous, which only needed to have been a trifle 
 better to have proved convincing. 
 
 " Yet," continued the author, " owing to 
 the popular interest in an imminent war and 
 a lack of energy on the part of my publishers, 
 the book doesn't sell." 
 
 " Impossible!" exclaimed Mr. Smith. "Im 
 possible! Why, I was saying only the other
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 29 
 
 day to Henry Irving, ' Hen,' I said I call 
 him ' Hen ' for short, ' that book ' " 
 
 " What you say doesn't cut any ice," broke 
 in Spotts. " What were you saying, sir? " 
 
 " I was about to remark," continued Ban- 
 borough, " that what the novel needs is ad 
 vertising. For an author to make the round 
 of the shops is so old an artifice that any 
 tradesman would see through it." 
 
 " It is," interjected the tragedian. " I have 
 more than once demanded the lower right- 
 hand box when I was playing the leading 
 role." 
 
 "And always got it," added Spotts. The 
 silence was appalling, and Cecil rushed into 
 the breach, saying: 
 
 " It's occurred to me, however, that if a 
 number of people, apparently in different 
 walks of life, were to call at the various book 
 shops and department stores of the city, de 
 manding copies of ' The Purple Kangaroo/ 
 and refusing to be satisfied with excuses, it 
 might create a market for the book." 
 
 "A first-rate idea!" cried Spotts heartily.
 
 30 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " But supposing it was in stock? " suggest 
 ed the more cautious duenna. 
 
 " I shall of course see you're provided with 
 funds for such an emergency," the author 
 hastened to add; "and if you ladies and 
 gentlemen feel that you could canvass the city 
 thoroughly in my interests at ten dollars a 
 day and car-fares? " he ventured, fearing he 
 had offered too little. 
 
 " I should rather think we do," said Spotts 
 emphatically. " Ten dollars a day and car 
 fares is downright luxury compared with one- 
 night stands and a salary that doesn't get 
 paid. You're a might good fellow, Mr. Ban- 
 borough," continued the young actor, "and 
 Violet and I and the rest of the company will 
 do our best to make your book a howling suc 
 cess." And as he spoke he laid his hand famil 
 iarly on the little actress's shoulder, an action 
 which did not altogether please Cecil, and 
 made him realise that in the attractive young 
 comedian he had found a strong rival for Miss 
 Arminster's favour. 
 
 "Well, then, we'll consider it settled," he
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 3 1 
 
 said; whereat the company arose and clasped 
 his hands silently. Their satisfaction was too 
 deep for words. Spotts was the first to rouse 
 himself to action. 
 
 " Come," he said, " we mustn't lose any 
 time. Your interests are ours now, Mr. Ban- 
 borough, and the sooner we get to work the 
 more thoroughly we'll earn our salary," and 
 touching a bell, he said to the answering mes 
 senger: 
 
 " Bring me a New York directory," thereby 
 showing an honest activity which was much 
 appreciated by his employer. 
 
 An hour later, the company, fully primed, 
 departed joyfully on their mission. 
 
 Banborough, rich in the comforting sense 
 of a good morning's work well accomplished, 
 retired to his club to dream of the success of 
 his book. In spirit he visited the book-stalls, 
 noting the growing concern of the clerks as 
 they were obliged to turn away customer after 
 customer who clamoured for " The Purple 
 Kangaroo." He saw the hurried consultations 
 with the heads of firms, who at length realised
 
 32 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 their blind stupidity in neglecting to stock 
 their shelves with the success of the season. 
 He saw the dozens of orders which poured 
 into the publishing house, and heard in fancy 
 that sweetest of all announcements that can 
 fall upon an author's ears: " My dear sir, we 
 have just achieved another edition." 
 
 So dreaming, he was rudely awakened by a 
 slap on the shoulder, and the cheerful voice of 
 Marchmont, saying: 
 
 " Who's asleep this time? " 
 
 " Not I," replied his friend, " only dream 
 ing." 
 
 " Of the success of ' The Purple Kanga 
 roo ' ? " asked the journalist. " Well, you'll 
 have it, old man see if you don't and live 
 to bless the name of Marchmont and the 
 Daily Leader. Why, thousands will be reading 
 your book before the week's out." 
 
 " What do you mean? " gasped the English 
 man. " Surely you don't know ? " For he 
 feared the discovery of his little plot. 
 
 " Know! " replied the journalist. " I know 
 that your book has leaped at one bound from
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 33 
 
 fiction to the exalted sphere of politics. Now 
 don't you breathe a word of this, for it's pro 
 fessional, but the Spanish secret-service agents 
 have taken the title of your novel as their pass 
 word. The city is watched by our own special 
 corps of detectives, and the instant ' The Pur 
 ple Kangaroo ' is used in a suspicious sense 
 we arrest the spies and unravel the plot." 
 
 " But, good heavens, man! You don't un 
 derstand " began Banborough. 
 
 " I understand it all. I tell you the Daily 
 Leader will not shrink from its duty. It'll 
 leave no stone unturned to hound the offend 
 ers down. I dare say they may be making ar 
 rests even now, and once started, we'll never 
 pause till every Spanish sympathiser who has 
 knowledge of the plot is under lock and 
 key." 
 
 " Stop! Stop! " cried Cecil. " You don't 
 know what you're doing! " 
 
 " Oh, trust me for that, and think of the 
 boom your book'll get. I'll make it my special 
 care. I tell you ' The Purple Kangaroo ' will 
 be all the rage."
 
 34 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " But you're making a ghastly mistake," in 
 sisted the author. " You must listen to me " 
 
 "Can't!" cried Marchmont, springing up 
 as the sound of shouts and clanging bells fell 
 upon his ear. "There's a fire! See you 
 later! " and he dashed out of the club and was 
 gone. 
 
 Cecil sank back in his chair fairly paralysed. 
 
 " Good heavens! Suppose any of the com 
 pany should be suspected or arrested! Sup 
 posing " 
 
 " A gentleman to see you, sir," said a page 
 at his elbow. 
 
 " Show him in! " cried Banborough, fearing 
 the worst, as he read Tybalt Smith's name on 
 the card. 
 
 There was no need to have given the mes 
 sage. The actor was at the page's heels, di 
 shevelled, distraught. 
 
 " Do you know we're taken for Spanish 
 spies? " he gasped. 
 
 "Yes, yes; I've just heard " 
 
 " But they've arrested "
 
 CECIL BAN BOROUGH AND PUBLIC OPINION. 35 
 
 " Not one of your companions Spotts, 
 Kerrington, or Mill? " 
 
 " No," said the tragedian, shaking his head, 
 " they've arrested Miss Arminster."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN WHICH CECIL BANBOROUGH DRIVES A 
 BLACK MARIA. 
 
 CECIL BANBOROUGH'S feelings can be better 
 imagined than described at the announcement 
 of the calamity which had befallen Miss Ar- 
 minster. The winsome ways of the charming 
 Violet had impressed the young man more 
 deeply than he knew until he was brought face 
 to face with a realisation of the miseries to 
 which his own folly had exposed her. 
 
 " Where have they taken her? " he demand 
 ed of Smith as soon as his consternation could 
 find expression. 
 
 " She's at the police station round the cor 
 ner from here." 
 
 " Where did this occur? " asked Banbor- 
 ough. 
 
 "On Fourteenth Street," replied Smith. 
 
 36
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA. 37 
 
 " Spotts and I met Miss Arminster, and she 
 called out as she passed me, ' Don't forget 
 "The Purple Kangaroo! " ' A minute later the 
 police arrested her, and when the crowd heard 
 that she was a Spanish spy, I swear I think 
 they'd have torn her in pieces if the officers 
 hadn't put her in a prison van and got her 
 away." 
 
 The tragedian paused, shivering from his 
 recent agitation, and Cecil, seeing his condi 
 tion, rang for some brandy. 
 
 "But what does it all mean?" asked the 
 actor, tossing off his drink. 
 
 " I know what it means," cried Banbor- 
 ough, " but there's no time to talk now. 
 We've not a moment to lose! " and he rushed 
 downstairs. 
 
 Spotts met them at the doorway, and, as 
 they walked rapidly along, the young English 
 man poured into his companions' ears an ac 
 count of what he had learned from March- 
 mont of the Spanish plot and the unforeseen 
 use which had been made of the title of his 
 book, while the tragedian rehearsed again the
 
 38 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 story of Miss Arminster's arrest, of his own 
 hair-breadth escape from the clutches of the 
 law, of his prodigies of valour in connection 
 with Spotts, whom he had met in his headlong 
 flight, and who, it seemed, had prevailed on 
 his more timid companion to follow the 
 prisoner in a hansom. 
 
 " It's a bad business," admitted Cecil; " but 
 what's to be done? " 
 
 " Done! " exclaimed Smith in tragic tones. 
 " Why, rescue the lady instantly and leave the 
 city without delay. In the present excited 
 state of the public no amount of explanation 
 will avail. We may all be arrested as confed 
 erates. We must act! " 
 
 " You're talking sense for once," said 
 Spotts. " Heroic measures are the only ones 
 worth considering, and if you " turning to 
 Banborough " will stand by us, we may 
 come out on top after all." 
 
 ' You can depend on me to any extent," 
 declared the young author. " I've got you 
 into this scrape, and I'll do my best to get you 
 out of it."
 
 CECIL DRIYES A BLACK MARIA. 39 
 
 " That's just what I expected of you, 
 Bishop! " exclaimed Spotts, grasping his hand. 
 " We can't waste time in talking. You must 
 go and find the other members of the com 
 pany, Tyb, and warn them of their danger. 
 Now where can we rendezvous outside the 
 city? Speak quickly, some one! " 
 
 " The leading hotel in Yonkers," said 
 Smith. 
 
 " Right you are," replied Spotts. " Get 
 there as soon as possible and wait for us to 
 turn up. How about funds? " 
 
 " I've plenty of ready money with me," vol 
 unteered Cecil, " and very fortunately a draft 
 to my credit arrived to-day, which I've not yet 
 cashed." 
 
 "Good!" said Spotts. "We're in luck. 
 Give Tyb fifty." 
 
 Banborough whipped out a roll of bills and 
 handed the desired amount to the tragedian 
 without demur. 
 
 " Now, off you go," cried his brother actor, 
 " and keep your wits about you." 
 
 Smith nodded and hailed a passing cab.
 
 4<> HIS LORDSHIP S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Come," said Spotts to the author, " we've 
 no time to lose." 
 
 "What's your plan?" asked Cecil as they 
 swung round the corner and sighted the police 
 station. 
 
 " Haven't got any as yet. We'll see how 
 the land lies first. The Black Maria's still 
 before the door. That's lucky! " 
 
 Sure enough, there it was, looking gloomily 
 like an undertaker's wagon, minus the plate 
 glass. 
 
 "Must be hot inside," commented the actor, 
 directing a glance at the two little grated slits 
 high up in the folding doors at the back, which 
 apparently formed the only means of ventila 
 tion. 
 
 Cecil shuddered as he thought of the dis 
 comforts which the girl must be enduring, and 
 longed to throw himself upon the vehicle and 
 batter it to pieces. But calmer judgment pre 
 vailed, and controlling himself he approached 
 the police station, saying: 
 
 " Let me go first. You might be recog-
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA. 41 
 
 nised. I'll try and find out where she's to be 
 taken." 
 
 He accordingly went up to the driver of the 
 Black Maria, who, cap in hand, was wiping 
 his perspiring forehead. 
 
 " A fine pair of horses that," he said, indi 
 cating the mettlesome bays attached to the 
 vehicle, which, in spite of their brisk run, were 
 tossing their heads and fretting to be off. 
 
 " Oh, they're good enough," was the curt 
 reply. " A trifle fresh, but we need that in our 
 business." 
 
 " Something interesting on to-day? " 
 queried Cecil. 
 
 " Who the devil are you, anyway? " asked 
 the driver abruptly. And the Englishman, 
 lying boldly, replied: 
 
 " I'm the new reporter on the Daily Leader. 
 I was here last week with Mr. Marchmont on 
 a burglary case." 
 
 " Oh, the New Rochelle robbery," suggest 
 ed the driver. 
 
 Cecil acquiesced, drawing a quiet sigh of 
 relief that his random shot had hit the mark.
 
 42 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " that's it. I was introduced 
 round, but I don't remember meeting you." 
 " Might have been the other driver, Jim? " 
 " Now I come to think of it, it was Jim." 
 " Jus' so. Well, there's copy for you in this 
 case." 
 
 " So I imagined.- It's your first political ar 
 rest, isn't it?" 
 
 " That's where the hitch comes in," said the 
 man. " I don't know where to deliver the 
 prisoner. When the court's made up its 
 mind they'll let me know, and I'll drive on. 
 Now in the Civil W T ar we sent them politicals 
 to Fort Wadsworth." 
 
 " So you have to wait till they decide? " 
 " You bet I have. And there ain't no 
 superfluity of shade on the sunny side of this 
 street neither," replied the driver, as he slipped 
 off his coat and hung it with his cap on a peg 
 beside the box seat of the Black Maria. 
 
 " Suppose you were to run into the court 
 and see how they're getting on," suggested 
 Banborough, slipping a coin into his hand. 
 " I want a word with the police when they've
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA. 43 
 
 finished. Mention the Daily Leader. I'll 
 watch your horses." 
 
 " Oh, they'll stand quiet enough," said the 
 man. Then, suspiciously, jerking his thumb 
 over his shoulder towards Spotts, he asked: 
 " Who's yer pal ? " 
 
 " Just a green hand whom I'm initiating 
 into the business." 
 
 " You're pretty green yourself or you 
 wouldn't have, set me up," said the driver. 
 " But if you'll mind them horses I'll just run 
 across to McCafferty's saloon and have a 
 schooner of beer, and then drop into court for 
 you." 
 
 " All right," responded Cecil. " Only don't 
 be all day; I've got another detail." 
 
 " Say," rejoined the man, " I can put beer 
 down quicker than you can wink." And he 
 ran across the street. 
 
 " Well, what's to be done? '' demanded 
 Banborough, as the man left them. 
 
 " That's easily answered," replied Spotts. 
 " When he's in court we'll jump on the box, 
 drive for all we're worth till we've eluded pur-
 
 44 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 suit, then rescue Miss Arminster and be off 
 to Yonkers." 
 
 " But that's laying ourselves open to ar 
 rest," expostulated the Englishman. 
 
 " We've done that already," said his friend. 
 
 " But they'll know we're not officials: we've 
 no uniform." 
 
 " What, not when the driver has obligingly 
 left his hat and coat? " said Spotts. " Slip 
 them on. You've dark trousers, and no one 
 will suspect." 
 
 " But driving fast ? " protested the au 
 thor. 
 
 " Well, we're going to a ' hurry call,' of 
 course. You've no invention, man! And be 
 sides, I can't drive." 
 
 " Oh, that doesn't matter," said Banbor- 
 ough. " I understand all about horses." 
 
 " So I supposed, as you're an English 
 man." 
 
 " I don't care much for this business, you 
 know," remonstrated the unfortunate author. 
 
 " Neither do I," replied the actor. " But we 
 might as well be killed for a sheep as a lamb,
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA, 45 
 
 and we've a good chance of winning. Here 
 comes the driver; give him a bluff." 
 
 " I ain't lost much time," panted that in 
 dividual as he passed them, wiping the foam 
 from his moustache with the back of his hand, 
 and adding: " I'll run right into court and be 
 out again in a jiffy! " 
 
 " Stay long enough to see how things are 
 going," called Cecil. 
 
 "All right! Guess the horses'll stand," he 
 replied, and disappeared within the building. 
 
 " Now, Bishop! " cried Spotts. And before 
 the Englishman could think, his coat and hat 
 had been whipped off and thrown on the box 
 seat along with a small handbag which the 
 actor carried, and he was being helped into 
 the very hot and unsavoury clothes of the 
 driver. 
 
 " Lucky they fit you," said his friend. 
 " Lead the horses carefully to the corner, and 
 see they don't make more noise than neces 
 sary. If the driver should come out, you let 
 'em go; otherwise wait for me. Know where 
 to drive? "
 
 46 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Along the park? " 
 
 " No," said Spotts. " Double several times, 
 then try one of the avenues to the Harlem 
 River. There are plenty of bridges. Now, 
 careful!" And as Cecil moved slowly off, 
 leading the horses towards the upper corner, 
 the actor lounged up to the entrance of the 
 court, blocking the doorway with his athletic 
 figure. 
 
 After what seemed an eternity, Banborough 
 achieved the corner of the block, and, mount 
 ing the box, turned the horses' heads down 
 the side street, keeping an eagle eye upon the 
 entrance of the court-room, within which his 
 companion had now disappeared. Perhaps 
 three minutes had elapsed when the actor 
 came out, running quietly towards him so as 
 not to attract attention. The street was well- 
 nigh deserted, and no one seemed to have 
 noticed the movements of the Black Maria. 
 
 " Walk slowly till we're round the corner, 
 and then drive for all you're worth! " gasped 
 Spotts, springing on to the seat beside him. 
 
 Cecil followed his directions implicitly, and
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA. 47 
 
 a moment later they went tearing down the 
 side street, and swung round the corner into 
 an avenue, nearly colliding with a cable-car 
 in the process, and causing a wild scatteration 
 of passengers and pedestrians. 
 
 "Here, that won't do!" cried the actor 
 above the rattle occasioned by their rapid 
 progress over the cobblestones. " Ring the 
 bell, or we'll be arrested! " 
 
 " Where? " called Banborough. 
 
 " That knob under your feet. Press it! " 
 
 The Englishman did as directed, and in 
 stantly the most hideous clamour arose be 
 neath the carriage. The horses, which had 
 been flying before, excited by the noise, put 
 down their heads and tore blindly forward. 
 The vehicle rocked and swayed, and the ave 
 nue and its occupants swept by in an indis 
 tinguishable blur. 
 
 "They'll surely track us by the noise!" 
 screamed Cecil, trying to make himself heard 
 above the horrible din. 
 
 " We're too far off by this time," returned 
 Spotts. " Can you manage the horses? "
 
 48 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Oh, they're all right so long as we've a 
 clear road! " yelled Banborough in reply. 
 
 They were now well under way, the traffic 
 ahead of them swerving wildly to right and 
 left at the insistent clamour of the bell. They 
 rushed forward by leaps and bounds, an oc 
 casional stretch of asphalt giving them an 
 instant's respite from the dreadful shaking of 
 the cobblestones. They spoke but little, ex 
 citement keeping them quiet, but the English 
 man suffered keenly in spirit at the thought of 
 what the delicate girl, shut up in that dark 
 stifling prison behind them, must be under 
 going. 
 
 Suddenly in front of them loomed up the 
 helmeted figure of a policeman, swinging his 
 club and gesticulating wildly. 
 
 "Run him down!" howled Spotts; and 
 Cecil, who had caught some of the madness of 
 their wild flight, lashed the horses afresh and 
 hurled the Black Maria straight at the officer 
 of the law. 
 
 The constable, still gesticulating, made a 
 hasty leap to one side, and they swept by a
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA. 49 
 
 huge express-wagon which was coming up the 
 cross-street, nearly grazing the noses of the 
 rearing horses, and catching a glimpse of the 
 driver's startled face. 
 
 So they ran on and on, faster and faster as 
 the traffic became less, and the pair of bays 
 settled down in earnest to the race. Suddenly 
 the street narrowed, and a confused mass of 
 carts and horses seemed to block up the 
 farther end. Banborough put on the brake, 
 and with considerable difficulty succeeded in 
 bringing his team to a standstill on the outer 
 edge of the throng. 
 
 " It's the Harlem River," cried Spotts, " and 
 the drawbridge is up, curse the luck! " 
 
 There was nothing for it but wait, and Cecil, 
 jumping down, patted the horses and exam 
 ined the harness to make sure that everything 
 was all right. 
 
 " You seem in a rush," said a neighbouring 
 driver. 
 
 " Hurry call to Harlem," replied Banbor 
 ough brusquely. 
 
 " Whereabouts? "
 
 5 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Oh, police station." 
 
 " What station?" 
 
 The Englishman grunted an inaudible re 
 ply as a forward movement of the crowd be 
 tokened that the bridge was again in posi 
 tion. A moment later they were trotting 
 towards freedom and the open country, Cecil 
 making the horses go slower now, wishing to 
 reserve their strength for any unforeseen 
 emergency. 
 
 As the buildings grew more scattered, and 
 patches of woodland appeared here and there, 
 the actor began to discuss with his compan 
 ion their plan of campaign. 
 
 " The sooner we get Violet out of her 
 prison," he said, " and leave this confounded 
 vehicle behind, the better." 
 
 " It's rather too well populated about here 
 to suit me," replied Banborough. " But the 
 police haven't been idle since we started, and 
 our flight has probably been telegraphed all 
 over the countryside. Perhaps we'd better 
 run the risk, for if we're caught red-handed
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA. 5 1 
 
 with the Black Maria we'll find some diffi 
 culty in proving our innocence." 
 
 " Besides which, I'm anxious to get Miss 
 Arminster out of durance vile as soon as pos 
 sible, for I think the Leopard's been caged 
 long enough," said Spotts, laughing. 
 
 " Why do you people insist on calling Miss 
 Arminster the Leopard? " asked Banborough. 
 
 "Oh," said his companion, "I think -I'd 
 better let you find that out for yourself. It 
 would hardly be fair to Violet, and besides " 
 Then, breaking off suddenly as they entered a 
 strip of woodland, he changed the conversa 
 tion abruptly, saying: " Here's as good a 
 place as we're likely to find no houses in 
 sight, and a clear view of the road in either 
 direction." And as Cecil drew up the horses 
 he jumped off the box. 
 
 " How are you going to open the confound 
 ed thing ? " asked the author. 
 
 " Well," replied his companion, " I should 
 think a key would be as good a method as any 
 other." 
 
 " The best, provided you've got the key."
 
 52 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I imagine you'll find it in the right-hand 
 outside pocket of the driver's coat," said 
 Spotts. " I thought I heard something jingle 
 as I was helping you on with it." 
 
 " Right you are," said the Englishman. 
 "Here it is!" producing two nickel-plated 
 keys on a ring. " Now we'll have her out in 
 no time." And running round to the back of 
 the vehicle, he unlocked the folding doors and 
 threw them wide open, crying: 
 
 " My dear Miss Arminster, accept your free 
 dom and a thousand pardons for such rough 
 treatment. What the ! " And he stopped 
 short, too surprised to finish; for, instead of 
 the petite form of the fascinating Violet, there 
 shambled out on to the road the slouching 
 figure of a disreputable tramp, clothed in non 
 descript garments of uncertain age and colour, 
 terminating in a pair of broken boots, out of 
 which protruded sockless feet. He had a 
 rough shock of hair, surmounted by a soft hat 
 full of holes, and a fat German face, whose 
 ugliness was further enhanced by the red stub 
 bly growth of a week's beard.
 
 CECIL DRIVES A BLACK MARIA, 53 
 
 " I guess youse gents has rescued me un 
 beknownst, and I'm much obleeged, though 
 I don't know but what I'd rather break stones 
 up to Sing Sing than be chucked round the 
 way I has been for the last hour." 
 
 " Who are you? " demanded Banborough. 
 " Me? " said the figure. " Oh, I'm a anar 
 chist."
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BLACK MARIA RECEIVES A 
 NEW INMATE. 
 
 AT the sight of this astonishing and utterly 
 unlooked-for personage, the actor and the 
 Englishman stood for a moment gaping at 
 each other in surprised silence. Then, as the 
 full force of what they had done occurred to 
 them, and they realised that, at great risk of 
 life, limb, and freedom, they had rescued from 
 the clutches of the law an utterly worthless 
 tramp, they burst into peals of uncontrollable 
 laughter. 
 
 " But where's Violet? " gasped Spotts, who 
 was the first to recover himself. 
 
 " Oh, there's a lady in there, if you mean 
 her" said the tramp, indicating the cavernous 
 depths of the Black Maria. 
 
 54
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. 55 
 
 " Yes, I'm here all right," came the welcome 
 tones of the little actress's voice. " I'll be out 
 in just a moment, as soon as I've put myself 
 straight. You're the most reckless drivers I 
 ever saw." 
 
 " I'm awfully sorry," said Banborough, ap 
 proaching the door to help her out. " But 
 circumstances didn't leave us much choice." 
 
 " Apparently not," she replied, and a mo 
 ment later stood in their midst, looking even 
 more bewitching than usual in her dishevelled 
 condition. Then as she drew a long breath, 
 inhaling the fresh woodland air, and realising 
 all the joy of her restored freedom, the eternal 
 feminine reasserted itself, and, seizing both of 
 Spotts's hands, she cried impetuously: " Look 
 at me, Alvy, and tell me if my hat is straight." 
 
 They all laughed, which broke the tension 
 of the situation. 
 
 " I don't know what you must think of us," 
 said Banborough. 
 
 " I thought I was being run away with at 
 first," she said; "but when I heard Alvy's 
 voice on the box I knew it must be all right."
 
 56 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Of course," continued Cecil, " we hadn't 
 the least idea there was anybody else in the 
 van." 
 
 " Oh, I didn't mind so much," she said. 
 " He was quite nice and respectful, and very 
 soft to fall on. I guess he must be all black 
 and blue from the number of times I hit him." 
 
 " Well, you're safe, and that's the main 
 thing," said Spotts. 
 
 " But what does it all mean? " she de 
 manded. 
 
 " Oh, there's time enough for explanations 
 later on," returned the actor. " We're not 
 out of the woods yet." 
 
 " Of course we aren't, stupid! Any one can 
 see that." 
 
 " Metaphorically, he means," said Cecil. 
 " But, joking apart, this Black Maria is, so to 
 speak particeps criminis, and the sooner we 
 lose it the better." 
 
 " Which way shall we go? " she asked. 
 
 " Oh, that's been all arranged beforehand 
 with the other members of the party," said 
 Spotts, purposely omitting to mention their
 
 THE BLACK M ARIA'S HEW INMATE. 57 
 
 destination in the presence of their undesirable 
 companion. It can't be more than a mile or 
 two across country to the Hudson River Rail 
 road, and we'd better make for the nearest 
 station. Do you feel up to walking? " 
 
 " Do I feel up to walking! " she exclaimed. 
 " Well, if you'd been chucked round for an 
 hour without being consulted, I guess you'd 
 feel like doing a little locomotion on your own 
 account." And without another word the 
 three turned to get their belongings. 
 
 " Say," interjected the tramp, " where do I 
 come in? " 
 
 " Oh, but you don't," said Spotts. " We're 
 going to leave you this beautiful carriage and 
 pair with our blessing. Better take a drive in 
 the country and enjoy the fresh air." 
 
 "Yah!" snarled the disreputable one in 
 reply. " That don't go! It's too thin! Why, 
 look here, boss," he continued, addressing 
 Banborough, " you went and 'scaped with me 
 without so much as sayin' by your leave, and 
 now, when you've gone and laid me open to 
 extra time for evadin' of my penalty, you've
 
 $8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD 
 
 got the cheek to propose to leave me alone in 
 a cold world with that! " And he pointed ex 
 pressively at the Black Maria. 
 
 " It is rather hard lines," admitted Cecil. 
 " But, you see, it would never do to have you 
 with us, my man. Why, your clothes would 
 give us away directly." 
 
 " And I'll give yer away directly to the cops 
 if you don't take me along." 
 
 Banborough and Spotts looked at each 
 other in redoubled perplexity. 
 
 " You see," continued the anarchist, '' I 
 don't go for to blow on no blokes as has stood 
 by me as youse has, but it's sink or swim to 
 gether. Besides, you'd get lost in this country 
 in no time, while I knows it well. Why, I 
 burgled here as a boy." 
 
 "What's to be done?" asked Cecil. 
 
 " Oh, I suppose we've got to take him 
 along," replied the actor. " We're all in the 
 same boat, if it comes to that." 
 
 " Now if youse gents," suggested the tramp, 
 " could find an extra pair of pants between 
 you, this coat and hat would suit me down to
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. 59 
 
 the ground." And he laid a dirty paw on 
 Banborough's discarded garments. 
 
 " No you don't ! " cried that gentleman, 
 hastily recovering his possessions. " Haven't 
 you got any clothes in that bag of yours, 
 Spotts? " 
 
 " Well, I have got a costume, Bishop, and 
 that's a fact," replied the actor; " but it's 
 hardly in his line, I should think." 
 
 " What is it? " asked the Englishman. 
 " You seem about of a size." 
 
 " It's a Quaker outfit. I used it in a curtain- 
 raiser we were playing." 
 
 " That would do very well," said Cecil, " if 
 it isn't too pronounced." 
 
 " Oh, it's tame enough," replied the actor, 
 who exercised a restraint in his art for which 
 those who met him casually did not give him 
 credit. Indeed, among the many admirable 
 qualities which led people to predict a brilliant 
 future for Spotts was the fact that he never 
 overdid anything. 
 
 " Huh! " grunted the tramp, " I dunno but 
 what I'd as lieve sport a shovel hat as the suit
 
 60 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 of bedticking they give yer up the river. I 
 used to work round Philidelphy some, and I 
 guess I could do the lingo." 
 
 " Give them to him," said Banborough. 
 " I'll make it good to you." 
 
 " Well, take them, then," replied Spotts re 
 gretfully, handing their unwelcome companion 
 the outfit which he produced from his bag, add 
 ing as he pointed to the woods: " Get in there 
 and change quickly. We ought to be mov- 
 ing." 
 
 The tramp made one step towards the 
 underbrush, and then, pausing doubtfully, 
 said: 
 
 " You don't happen to have a razor and a 
 bit of looking-glass about yer, do yer? I see 
 there's a brook here, and there ain't nothin' 
 Quakery about my beard." 
 
 The actor's face was a study. 
 
 " I'm afraid there's no escape from it, old 
 man," remarked Cecil. " If you've your shav 
 ing materials with you, let him have them." 
 
 " There they are. You needn't trouble to 
 return them."
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S HEW INMATE. 61 
 
 Their recipient grinned appreciatively, and 
 as the last rustle of his retirement into privacy 
 died away, Miss Arminster turned to Banbor- 
 ough and demanded: 
 
 " Now tell me what I was arrested for, why 
 you two ran away with me, and where I'm 
 being taken." 
 
 " I can answer the first of those questions," 
 broke in Spotts. " You're a Spanish sympa 
 thiser and a political spy." 
 
 " I'm nothing of the sort, as you know very 
 well! " she replied, colouring violently. " I'm 
 the leading lady of the A. B. C. Com 
 pany." 
 
 " Of course zve know it," returned the actor; 
 " but the police have chosen to take a different 
 view of the matter." 
 
 " Why is he chaffing me like this? " she said, 
 appealing to Cecil. 
 
 " I'm afraid it's a grim reality," he replied. 
 " You see, when the Spanish officials were 
 turned out of Washington, they'd the impert 
 inence to take the title of my book as their 
 password."
 
 62 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 "Well, then," she said, "they did what 
 they'd no right to do." 
 
 " I suppose that would be a question of in 
 ternational copyright," he replied. " But 
 ' The Purple Kangaroo ' has proved itself a 
 most troublesome animal, and as I thought 
 you wouldn't care for quarters down the bay 
 till the war was over, I took the liberty of run 
 ning off with you." 
 
 " I'm very much obliged to you, I'm sure; 
 but what next? " 
 
 " We're all to rendezvous at Yonkers." 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 " Well, unless the situation improves, I'm 
 afraid it'll become a question of seeking a 
 refuge in another country." 
 
 " If you think," she cried, " that I'm going 
 to spend the rest of my existence in the forests 
 of Yucatan or on the plains of Patagonia, 
 you're mightily mistaken! " 
 
 " Oh," he said, laughing, " it isn't as bad as 
 all that. Ours is only a political crime, and 
 Canada will afford a safe harbour from the ex 
 tradition laws."
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. 63 
 
 " But the war won't be finished in a day," 
 she contended, her eyes beginning to fill with 
 tears. 
 
 " Won't you trust me? " asked Cecil, taking 
 both her hands. " Won't you let me prove 
 my repentance by guarding your welfare? 
 Won't you " 
 
 Indeed there is no knowing to what he 
 might have committed himself in the face of 
 such beauty and sorrow had not Spotts broken 
 in with a cry of: 
 
 " It's all up now! We're done for, and no 
 mistake! " And he pointed to the figure of a 
 short, fat, red-faced man, very much out of 
 breath, who was bustling down the road, wav 
 ing his hands at them and shouting " Hi! " 
 
 " You'd better go and warn the tramp," said 
 Banborough; and the actor plunged into the 
 woods. 
 
 A moment later the stranger came up to 
 them, and panted out: 
 
 " I arrest you both, in the name of the 
 law!" 
 
 Neither said anything, but Banborough
 
 64 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 took one of Miss Arminster's tiny gloved 
 hands in his own and gave it a little squeeze 
 just by way of reassuring her. 
 
 " Well," said the new arrival, as soon as he 
 had recovered his breath, " what have you got 
 to say for yourselves? " 
 
 " I don't know that we've anything to say," 
 replied Cecil sheepishly. 
 
 " I should think not! " said the other. 
 " Here, take off that coat! " And he stripped 
 the official garment from the Englishman's 
 shoulders. " The cap, too! " 
 
 Banborough handed it to him, saying as he 
 did so: 
 
 " You're a police official, I suppose? " 
 
 " I'm the Justice of the Peace from the next 
 town. They just missed catching you at the 
 last place you drove through, and telegraphed 
 on to me. Knowing there was a cross-road 
 here, I wasn't going to take any chance of 
 losing you. I left the police to follow. They'll 
 be along in a minute. Now what do you mean 
 by it? " 
 
 " I don't suppose any explanations of mine
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. 65 
 
 would persuade you that you're making a mis 
 take," said Banborough. 
 
 " No, I don't suppose they would. Now 
 you put on that coat accidentally, didn't you? 
 Just absent-mindedly " 
 
 " I don't know you," broke in the English 
 man, " and I don't " 
 
 " That'll do," said the Justice of the Peace. 
 " I don't know you either, and yes, I do 
 know the woman." Then turning to Miss Ar- 
 minster, he continued: " Didn't I perform the 
 marriage ceremony over you the year before 
 last? " 
 
 " Yes," she said softly. And Cecil re 
 linquished her hand. This, he considered, was 
 worse than being arrested. 
 
 " I thought I did," went on the magistrate. 
 " I don't often forget a face, and I'm sorry to 
 see you in such bad company." 
 
 The young girl began to show signs of 
 breaking down, and the situation was fast be 
 coming acute, when the unexpected tones of 
 an unctuous voice suddenly diverted every- 
 bodv's attention.
 
 66 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Why is thee so violent, friend ? " said 
 some one behind them. And turning quickly, 
 they perceived the sleek, clean-shaven, well- 
 groomed figure of a Quaker, dressed in a 
 shad-bellied brown coat, a low black silk hat 
 with a curved brim, and square shoes. 
 
 " Who the devil ! " began the officer. 
 
 "Fie! fie!" said the stranger. "Abstain 
 from cursings and revilings in thy speech. 
 But I am glad thee hast come, for verily I 
 feared the workers of iniquity were abroad." 
 
 " Oh, you know something about it, do 
 you? " asked the Justice of the Peace. 
 
 " I was returning from a meeting of the 
 Friends," continued the Quaker blandly, 
 when I came upon these two misguided 
 souls. As my counsellings were not heeded, 
 and I am a man of peace, I had retired into 
 the woods to pursue my way uninterrupted, 
 when I heard thee approach." 
 
 " Well, I'll be glad of your assistance, 
 though I daresay I could have managed them 
 until the police came. They're a dangerous 
 pair."
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. 67 
 
 " And what will thee do with the other 
 prisoner, friend ? " 
 
 " Eh? What other prisoner? " 
 
 " The one that lies in a debauched sleep at 
 the farther end of the van. I have striven to 
 arouse him, but in vain." 
 
 " Where is he? " said the magistrate, peer 
 ing into the black depths of the waggon. 
 
 " In the far corner. Thee canst not see 
 him from here." 
 
 " I'll have him out in no time! " exclaimed 
 the officer, springing into the van, with the 
 driver's hat and coat still in his hand. 
 
 " Not if I knows it, you old bloke! " cried 
 the sometime Quaker, slamming the door and 
 turning the key with vicious enjoyment, while 
 his three companions, for Spotts had emerged 
 from the wood, executed a war-dance round 
 the vehicle out of sheer joy and exultation. 
 From within proceeded a variety of curses and 
 imprecations, while the Black Maria bounced 
 upon its springs as if a young elephant had 
 gone mad inside.
 
 68 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Suddenly the Quaker laid a detaining hand 
 upon Banborough's shoulder, saying: 
 
 "Take care, boss; here come the cops! 
 I'll play the leading role, and you follow the 
 cues." 
 
 They all paused and stood listening, while 
 the rapid beat of a horse's hoofs came to their 
 ears, and a second later a Concord waggon, 
 loaded down with policemen, swung into view 
 round the corner of the road, and presently 
 drew up beside them. 
 
 " Thee hast come in good time, friend," 
 said the Quaker to the chief officer. " We 
 have watched thy prisoners overlong already." 
 
 " Where's the boss? " demanded the official. 
 
 " Dost thee mean the w-orldly man with the 
 red face, much given to profane speak- 
 ing?" 
 
 " I guess that's him," laughed one of the 
 subordinates. 
 
 " As I was returning from a meeting of the 
 Friends with these good people," pursued the 
 Quaker, indicating his companions, '' we came 
 upon this vehicle standing in the road, the
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. 69 
 
 horses being held by two men, who, when they 
 saw us, ran into the woods towards the river." 
 
 " How were they dressed ? " asked the 
 chief officer. 
 
 " One of them had garments like thine, 
 friend." 
 
 " That's our man, sure! " 
 
 " Very presently," resumed the Quaker, 
 " came thy master, using much unseemly 
 language, who, having heard our story, fol 
 lowed the men in the direction we indicated, 
 begging that we guard this carriage till you 
 came, and bidding us tell you to return with 
 it to the town." 
 
 " Well, I guess the boss knows his own 
 business best," said the leader of the party; 
 " so we'd better be getting back to the station. 
 I suppose you'll come and give your evi 
 dence." 
 
 " I am a man of peace," said the Quaker; 
 " but if my testimony is required I and my 
 friends will walk behind thee to the next town 
 and give it." 
 
 " It's only half a mile from here, a straight
 
 70 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 road you can't miss it. You'll be there as 
 soon as we want you." 
 
 The Quaker nodded. 
 
 " Then we'd better be moving," said the 
 chief officer. " I'll drive Maria, and you fel 
 lows go ahead in the cart." 
 
 The remarks which were now proceeding 
 from the interior of that vehicle were much 
 too dreadful to record. But as it was about to 
 start, the man of peace, lifting his hands, 
 checked the driver and said: 
 
 " I will, with thy permission, approach the 
 grating and speak a word of counsel." And 
 going to the door, he said in a loud voice: 
 
 " Peace, friend. Remember what the good 
 Benjamin Franklin has said: ' He that speaks 
 much is much mistaken.' ' 
 
 The reply elicited by these remarks was of 
 such a nature that Miss Arminster was obliged 
 to put her hands over her ears, and the police 
 drove off with loud guffaws, enjoying im 
 mensely the good Quaker's confusion. 
 
 " That bloke," remarked the tramp, as the 
 Black Maria disappeared in a cloud of dust,
 
 THE BLACK MARIA'S NEW INMATE. n 
 
 " give me three months once, an' I feels bet 
 ter." 
 
 And without another word he led the party 
 across the road and into the woods in the 
 direction of the river.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN WHICH THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW 
 IMPETUS. 
 
 AN hour later, when the little party of four, 
 weary and dusty, walked up to the hotel at 
 Yonkers, they perceived Tybalt Smith in his 
 shirt-sleeves, with his hat tipped over his eyes 
 as a protection from the rays of the declining 
 sun, lying fast asleep in a large garden chair 
 which was tilted back on its hind legs against 
 the side of the house. Spotts lost no time in 
 poking him in the ribs with his cane, where 
 upon the tragedian, rousing himself from 
 slumber, hastily assumed a more upright posi 
 tion, bringing the chair down on its front legs 
 with a bang. Having thus been fully awak 
 ened, he became at once the master of the 
 
 situation. 
 
 72
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 73 
 
 " We are here," he said. 
 
 " So I see," replied Spotts, " and a pretty 
 show you've made of yourself. There's 
 nothing private or retiring about your meth 
 ods. Now where are the rest of the party? " 
 
 Mr. Smith at once assumed an air of mys 
 terious solemnity. 
 
 " Mrs. Mackintosh," he said in a stage 
 whisper, " is above. I reserved an apartment 
 for her and the Leop Miss Arminster, I 
 mean, and a private sitting-room for us all. 
 Mrs. Mackintosh is disturbed. Mrs. Mackin 
 tosh requires an explanation. Mrs. Mackin 
 tosh," turning to Banborough, " is a woman 
 of great character, of great force, and she re 
 quires an explanation of you! " 
 
 " Ha! " said Spotts, casting a look of mock 
 commiseration at the Englishman. 
 
 " Perhaps it might be better," suggested 
 the tragedian, " if Miss Arminster saw her 
 first." 
 
 " Perhaps it might," acquiesced Spotts. 
 
 "All right, I'll go," said Violet; adding to 
 Cecil, as she passed him: " Don't be fright-
 
 74 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 ened; her bark's worse than her bite." And 
 she entered the house laughing. 
 
 " But where are the others? " asked the 
 author. 
 
 "Sh!" whispered the tragedian, casting a 
 suspicious glance at the Quaker. " We're not 
 alone." 
 
 " Yes," said Spotts, " the Bishop's got a 
 new convert." 
 
 " Oh," returned Banborough, " I forgot 
 you hadn't met this gentleman. We inad 
 vertently rescued him, and since then he's 
 done us a similar service twice over. I really 
 don't know what he's called. The clothes 
 belong to Spotts." 
 
 " I thought I recognised the costume," said 
 Smith. Then, turning to the stranger, he de 
 manded, abruptly: ''What's your name?" 
 
 " I have been known by many," came the 
 suave tones of the Quaker, " but for the pur- 
 . poses of our brief acquaintance thee mayst 
 call me Friend Othniel." 
 
 The tragedian gave a grunt of disapproval. 
 
 " I think he can be trusted," remarked
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 75 
 
 Spotts. " He's certainly stood by us well, so 
 far. Now tell us about Kerrington and Mill." 
 
 " Yes, I'm most anxious to know what's be 
 come of them," said the Englishman. And 
 the three drew nearer together, while the 
 Quaker, turning to the road, stood basking in 
 the sunshine, his broad flabby hands clasped 
 complacently before him. 
 
 Tybalt Smith, after casting another furtive 
 glance in Friend Othniel's direction, mur 
 mured the words: 
 
 " Shoe-strings and a sandwich! " 
 
 " Eh? What? " queried Banborough. 
 
 " Our two friends," continued the tragedian, 
 " through the powerful aid of a member of our 
 fraternity, whose merits the public have 
 hitherto failed to recognise, have sought ref 
 uge in the more humble walks of life to escape 
 the undesirable publicity forced upon them by 
 you! Mr. Kerrington, disguised as a Jew ped 
 lar, is now dispensing shoe-strings and collar- 
 buttons on lower Broadway, while Mr. Mill is 
 at present taking a constitutional down Fifth 
 Avenue encased in a sandwich frame calling
 
 7 6 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 attention to the merits of Backer's Tar Soap. 
 He is, if I may so express it, between the 
 boards instead of on the boards a little 
 pleasantry of my own, you will observe." 
 
 The tragedian paused, but failing to elicit 
 the desired laugh, continued his narration: 
 
 " Mrs. Mackintosh, though having been of 
 fered a most desirable position to hawk apples 
 and chewing-gum on Madison Square, has 
 preferred to share the rigours of an unknown 
 exile, that she might protect the youthful in 
 nocence of our leading lady." 
 
 " All of which means," said Spotts shortly, 
 "that Mill and Kerrington chose to fake it 
 out in town, while you and the old girl bolted." 
 
 "Our friend," remarked Smith, casting an 
 aggrieved look at the last speaker, " is lament 
 ably terse. But let us join Mrs. Mackintosh. 
 She will support my remarks, not perhaps in 
 such chaste diction, but " 
 
 " Oh, shut it off ! " interrupted Mr. Spotts. 
 "Come along, Othniel. I guess you're in this, 
 too." And he led the way into the house. 
 
 When they entered the private parlour they
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 77 
 
 found Mrs. Mackintosh and Miss Arminster 
 waiting to receive them, the old lady with 
 mingled feelings of righteous indignation and 
 amusement at the ludicrous position in which 
 they were placed, which latter she strove hard 
 to conceal. 
 
 " Well, Bishop," she began, as soon as Ban- 
 borough was fairly in the room, " you've car 
 ried off an innocent and unsuspecting young 
 lady in a Black Maria, imprisoned an officer 
 of the law, deceived his agents, reduced two 
 of the members of our company to walking 
 the streets, forced us to consort with thieves 
 and criminals," pointing to the bland form of 
 the Quaker, who had just appeared in the 
 doorway, " laid us all under the imputation of 
 plotting against our country, exiled us from' 
 our native land, brought me away from New 
 York in my declining years, with only the 
 clothes I stand up in, and deposited me in a 
 small room on the third floor of a second-class 
 hotel, which is probably full of fleas! And 
 now I ask you, sir, in the name of Christian 
 decency, which you're supposed to represent,
 
 78 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 and common sense, of which you've very little, 
 what you're going to do with us? " 
 
 Banborough sat down suddenly on the near 
 est available chair, made a weak attempt at a 
 smile, gave it up, and blurted out: 
 
 "Well, I'm blessed if I know! But permit 
 me to decline the declining years," he mur 
 mured gallantly. 
 
 "I have," continued the lady, with a twinkle 
 in her eye, " for the past thirty years played 
 blameless parts on the metropolitan stage, and 
 I'm too old to assume with any degree of suc 
 cess the role of a political criminal." 
 
 " Madam," said the author, making a des 
 perate effort to compose himself, " I'm the 
 first to admit the lack of foresight on my part 
 which has placed us in this deplorable predica 
 ment; but the fact remains that we're sus 
 pected of a serious crime against this Govern 
 ment, and until we can prove ourselves inno 
 cent it's necessary to protect our liberties as 
 best we may. I fortunately have ample funds, 
 and I can only say that it will be a duty as well 
 as a privilege to take you all to a place of
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 79 
 
 safety, and keep you there, as my guests, till 
 happier times." 
 
 " Hear, hear! " said the tragedian from the 
 back of the room, while the Quaker settled 
 himself into the most comfortable armchair 
 with a sigh of contentment. 
 
 " Very nicely spoken, young man," replied 
 the older lady, whose suspicions were only 
 partially allayed, " but words aren't deeds, 
 and Canada, where I'm informed we're to be 
 dumped, is a long way off; and if you imagine 
 you can go cavorting round the country with 
 a Black Maria for a whole afternoon without 
 bringing the police down on you, you're 
 vastly mistaken! " 
 
 " Thee speaketh words of wisdom, but a full 
 stomach fortifieth a stout heart," said Friend 
 Othniel. 
 
 " Yes," replied Smith, who took this remark 
 to himself. " I ordered dinner at six, thinking 
 you'd be in then, and if I'm not mistaken it's 
 here now." And as he spoke the door opened 
 and a waiter entered to lay the table. 
 
 Conversation of a private nature was natur-
 
 80 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 ally suspended forthwith, and the members of 
 the A. B. C. Company sat in silence, hungrily 
 eyeing the board. 
 
 " Thee mayst lay a place for me, friend," 
 said the Quaker to the waiter, as he watched 
 the preparations with bland enjoyment. 
 
 " Did you order any drinks? " asked Ban- 
 borough of the tragedian. 
 
 " No, Bishop, I didn't," replied the latter. 
 " As you're paying for the show, I thought I'd 
 leave you that privilege." 
 
 " Order six soda lemonades," said Ban- 
 borough to the waiter, adding behind his hand 
 to Spotts, as he noted the gloom spread over 
 the company: " No liquor to-night. We need 
 to keep our wits about us." 
 
 '" Stop, friend," came the unctuous tones of 
 the Quaker, arresting the waiter as he was 
 about to leave the room. "' For myself I 
 never take strong waters, but thee forgettest, 
 Bishop," giving Banborough the title he had 
 heard the others use, " thee forgettest that our 
 revered friend/' with a wave of his hand in 
 Mrs. Mackintosh's direction, '' hath an affec-
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 81 
 
 tion of her lungs which requires her to take 
 a brandy and soda for her body's good before 
 meals. Let it be brought at once! " 
 
 " Why, you impudent upstart! " gasped the 
 old lady, as the door closed behind the waiter. 
 " How dare you say I drink! " 
 
 " Shoo! " returned Friend Othniel, lapsing 
 from the Quaker into the tramp; " I ain't or- 
 derin' it for youse. I've a throat like a 
 Sahara." 
 
 Then turning to the other members of the 
 company, he continued: 
 
 " Now seein' as we've a moment alone, and 
 bein' all criminals, I votes we has a session o' 
 the committee o' ways and means." 
 
 A chorus of indignant protest arose from 
 every side. 
 
 " Youse ain't criminals, eh? What's liber- 
 atin' prisoners, an' stealin' two hosses an' a 
 kerridge, an' the driver's hat an' coat, with a 
 five-dollar bill in the pocket? " 
 
 Banborough rose to deny vehemently the 
 last assertion. 
 
 " Oh, yes, ther' was," continued the tramp.
 
 82 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I got that." And he produced a crisp note 
 at the sight of which the Englishman groaned, 
 as he realised the damning chain of evidence 
 which circumstance was building up around 
 them. 
 
 " An' lockin' up officers of the law," Friend 
 Othniel went on, " an' runnin' off with prison 
 ers, specially a tough like me, one o' your pals, 
 what's wanted particular." And he winked 
 villainously. 
 
 " I do not see," began Banborough, who 
 was fast losing his temper, " that there's any 
 need of discussing the moral aspect of this 
 affair. You," turning to the tramp, " will have 
 your dinner and your drink, and a certain sum 
 of money, and you'll then kindly leave us. 
 Though your nature may be incapable of ap 
 preciating the difference between a crime 
 knowingly committed and one innocently en 
 tered into, a difference exists, and renders 
 further association between us undesirable, to 
 say the least." 
 
 " Oh, it does, does it? " said Friend Othniel. 
 " Well, that's where youse blokes is mistook.
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 83 
 
 This mornin' my dearest ambition was to blow 
 up Madison Square Garden, but what's that 
 to wreckin' a whole nation? No, Bishop, I'm 
 a political conspirator from this time on, and 
 I'll stand by yer through thick and thin! Why, 
 you people ain't no more fitted to run a show 
 o' this sort than a parcel of three-weeks-old 
 babies. I wouldn't give yer ten hours to land 
 the whole crowd in jail; but you just trust to 
 me, and I'll see yer safe, if it can be done. I 
 tell yer, it ain't the fust time I ben in a hurry 
 to view Niagary Falls from the Canadian side." 
 
 Just then the door opened, and the waiter 
 entered with the brandy and soda in a long 
 glass. 
 
 " Thee mayst put it here, friend, till the lady 
 is ready to take it," said Othniel, indicating 
 the table at his side. 
 
 " Nothing of the kind," snapped Mrs. 
 Mackintosh. " I guess I'm as ready to take it 
 now's I ever shall be." And she grasped the 
 glass and, setting her face, proceeded to drain 
 the tumbler to the amusement of the com 
 pany.
 
 84 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " There," she said, wiping her lips with her 
 handkerchief, as the waiter left the room, 
 " that tasted about as bad as anything I've 
 had for a long time; but if it had been castor 
 oil, I'd have drunk every drop rather than that 
 you'd had it." 
 
 A general laugh greeted this sally, and the 
 tramp remarked sheepishly that he guessed 
 he'd know it the next time he ran up against 
 her. 
 
 Then, waxing serious, he resumed his 
 former topic. 
 
 " We ain't got no time to waste in frivolity," 
 he said, " and if we're to get out of this hole, 
 the sooner we makes our plans the better, and 
 perhaps, as I know more about this business 
 than youse, I'll do the talking." 
 
 Receiving the silent assent of the company, 
 he continued: " I remembers in the days o' 
 my innocent youth, before I burgled my first 
 watch, a-playin' of a Sunday-school game, 
 where we went out of the room, and the bloke 
 what teached us put a quarter somewhere in 
 plain sight, and when we come in again not
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A HEW IMPETUS. 85 
 
 o'ne on us could find it, 'cause it was just under 
 our noses; which the same is the game I'm 
 proposing to play." 
 
 " I think I see what you mean," said Ban- 
 borough. " I've heard it said that the destruc 
 tion of most criminals is their cleverness." 
 
 " That's just what I'm a-tryin' to point out," 
 replied the tramp. " The cops gives you the 
 credit of allus tryin' to do the out-o'-the-way 
 thing, so as to put 'em off the track, while if 
 yer only acted as yer naturally would if yer 
 hadn't done nothin' to be cotched for, yer 
 could walk before their eyes and they'd never 
 see yer." 
 
 "That sounds all right," said Spotts. 
 " Now what's your advice? " 
 
 "To go back to New York," replied the 
 tramp shortly. 
 
 " But," objected Miss Arminster, " we can't 
 stay in the United States." 
 
 " Who said we could? " retorted the tramp. 
 " Don't yer see, the cops'll reckon on our 
 takin' some train along hereabouts for the 
 North, and they'll watch all the little stations
 
 86 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 on the up line, but they won't trouble 'bout 
 the down line, 'cause they know we've left the 
 city. So all we has to do, after we've had our 
 dinner comfortable-like, is to take a local back 
 to town, and catch the White Mountain Ex 
 press for Montreal." 
 
 " Why the White Mountain Express? " 
 asked Mrs. Mackintosh. 
 
 " 'Cause it's the longest route," replied the 
 tramp, " an' they'll reckon on our takin' the 
 shortest. Besides which, we'll cross the border 
 in the early morning, havin' the baggage, 
 which we ain't got, examined on arrival." 
 
 The company expressed hearty approval of 
 the plan, and it was easy to see, in the case of 
 the ladies at least, that Friend Othniel's sagac 
 ity had won him a much-improved position 
 in their estimation. 
 
 The waiter now came bustling in and out of 
 the room, and Mrs. Mackintosh drew Cecil 
 apart into the embrasure of a window. 
 
 " You mustn't think I'm too hard on you, 
 young man," she said. " though I can talk 
 like a house afire when I once get r'iled. I
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEIV IMPETUS. 87 
 
 know you didn't mean to get us into this 
 scrape. You're a good-hearted chap, or you 
 wouldn't have given us all a breakfast when 
 you didn't need to, and I want you to under 
 stand that I'll stand by you whatever happens. 
 I've taken a real liking to you, because you 
 can look me straight in the eye, and I know 
 you're worth a dozen of those chaps one sees 
 hanging round a theatre; and if you behave 
 yourself nicely, you won't find you've got a 
 better friend than Betsy Mackintosh." And 
 she squeezed his hand with an honest fervour 
 that many a man might have envied. 
 
 Cecil thanked her for her confidence in him, 
 and turned to have a few words with Miss 
 Arminster, who had been constantly in his 
 mind. When she had admitted to the Justice 
 of the Peace that she was a married woman, 
 he felt as if somebody had poured a pitcher of 
 ice-water down his back. Of course he hardly 
 considered his sentiment for her as serious, 
 but he was at the age when a young man feels 
 it a personal grievance if he discovers that a 
 pretty girl is married. Indeed, the fact that
 
 88 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 the little actress had been so blind to her own 
 interests as not to keep her heart and hand 
 free till he came along first caused him to real 
 ise how hard he was hit. 
 
 " I do hope you've not been too much 
 fatigued? " he said, sitting down beside her. 
 
 " Oh, you mustn't bother about that," she 
 replied, raising her eyes to his in a decidedly 
 disconcerting manner. " I'm afraid you must 
 have thought me very selfish and ungrateful 
 for seeming to care so much about my own 
 appearance and so little about all you've done 
 for me." 
 
 " Oh, don't speak of that," he protested. 
 
 " But I must speak of it," she insisted. " I 
 can't begin to tell you how I appreciated it. 
 It was plucky and just splendid, and some day 
 or other I want you to take me out driving 
 again, in another sort of trap. You're the best 
 whip I ever knew." 
 
 He flushed under her praise, and began to 
 say pretty things which he had better have 
 omitted; but she presently became absent- 
 minded in the face of his attentions, and in-
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 89 
 
 terpreting this as an unfavourable sign, he 
 ventured to -ask her why she was so pensive. 
 
 " I'm afraid you must think me awfully 
 rude," she said, " and really I've listened to 
 all the nice things you've been saying, half 
 of which I don't deserve, but the fact is, this 
 place, and even this very room, are full of 
 sweet associations for me. It was in that little 
 church, just across the road, that I was mar 
 ried four years ago." 
 
 "But I thought," he began, "that the 
 Justice of the Peace said that he married you." 
 
 " So he did," she returned softly, " but that 
 was different it was later." 
 
 "Eh? What! "he said, "later?" 
 
 " Yes," she replied dreamily, not noticing 
 the interruption. " But it was here that the 
 few sweet days of my first honeymoon were 
 passed. 'Twas here I became the bride of the 
 only man I've ever loved, the bride of " 
 
 "Hist!" cried the tramp, who had been 
 looking out of the window. " The house is 
 watched! " And with this announcement Ban- 
 borough's tete-a-tete came to an abrupt close.
 
 9 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Are you sure? " cried Spotts. 
 
 " Positive. There are three cops fooling 
 round in front now." 
 
 " What shall we do? " cried Smith. 
 
 " Git," rejoined the tramp. 
 
 " But how? " queried Banborough. 
 
 " Oh, I'll fix that all right," said the Quaker. 
 " I bagged a plated tea-service here five years 
 ago, and if they ain't changed the arrange 
 ments of the house, this side door leads into 
 an unused passage, which, barrin' the climbin' 
 of a picket fence, is very handy for escape." 
 
 " But how about the waiter? " suggested 
 Mrs. Mackintosh, who was always practical. 
 
 " Right you are," said Friend Othniel. 
 " We'll lock the door before we get out. 
 They'll waste time enough over trying to open 
 it, to give us a chance." 
 
 To speak was to act, and the tramp softly 
 turned the key and slipped it into his pocket. 
 
 " As a memento," he said. " It's all I'm 
 likely to git. They don't even use plate now." 
 And he fingered the spoons and forks on the 
 table regretfully.
 
 THE PARTY RECEIVES A NEW IMPETUS. 91 
 
 " Come," said Spotts shortly. " We've no 
 time to lose." 
 
 " Look here," said Banborough to the com 
 pany, " I may be a criminal, but I'm not a 
 sneak, and I don't order meals and apartments 
 without paying for them. How much ought 
 I to leave behind? " 
 
 Spotts laughed. 
 
 " If you put it that way, I guess ten dollars'll 
 cover it," he said. 
 
 The Englishman threw a bill on the table. 
 
 " Now," crt'ed Smith, " let's be off ! " 
 
 " Out this way," said the tramp, opening a 
 side door. " You others go first, and I'll wait 
 here till I sees you're all safe." 
 
 " Not if I know it," said Cecil. " You go 
 first, or you'll get kicked." 
 
 The tramp looked longingly at the crisp 
 note, and led the way, remarking: 
 
 " Thee castest thy pearls before swine, 
 friend." 
 
 " Ah, that's just what I'm trying to avoid," 
 said Banborough cheerfully, bringing up the 
 rear.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BISHOP OF BLANFORD RE 
 CEIVES A BLACK EYE. 
 
 " THE Bishop of Blanford ! " announced the 
 page, as he threw open the door of Sir Joseph 
 Westmoreland's private consulting-room. 
 
 Sir Joseph came forward to meet his dis 
 tinguished patient, and said a few tactful 
 words about having long known his Lordship 
 by reputation. The Bishop smiled amiably, 
 and surveyed the great London physician 
 through his glasses. The two men were of 
 thoroughly opposite types: Sir Joseph tall, 
 thin, wiry, his high forehead and piercing blue 
 eye proclaiming a powerful mind well trained 
 for the purposes of science; the Bishop short 
 and broad of stature, with an amiable, round 
 ed, ruddy face, and the low forehead which is 
 
 typical of a complacent dogmatism. 
 
 92
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 93 
 
 An ecclesiastic had come to humbug a man 
 of science. Could he do it? Not really, he 
 told himself; but then Sir Joseph was so 
 courteous. 
 
 " I ventured to consult you," said his Lord 
 ship, in reply to the physician's questions, 
 " because I feel the need of rest, absolute rest. 
 The duties of my diocese are so onerous and 
 er in short you understand." 
 
 " Quite so, quite so," said Sir Joseph, who 
 understood that there was nothing whatever 
 the matter with his patient. 
 
 " To be entirely alone," continued the 
 Bishop, " for a space of time, without any 
 distractions not even letters." 
 
 " Most certainly not letters, your Lord 
 ship." 
 
 " How wonderful you men of science are! " 
 murmured the ecclesiastic. " You under 
 stand me exactly. Now if I could have six 
 weeks or even a month." 
 
 " A month, I should say," replied Sir 
 Joseph. " After that you might begin to re 
 ceive your correspondence."
 
 94 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Yes, a month would do that is er 
 where would you advise me to go? " 
 
 " What climate generally suits you best? " 
 
 " I er was thinking of Scotland." 
 
 " In May? " queried the physician. 
 
 " A friend would lend me his country place 
 and I er should be so entirely alone." 
 
 " Quite so. Nothing could be better," re 
 plied his adviser, who, like all men who have 
 risen in their profession, had attained an in 
 finite knowledge of human nature. 
 
 " And you will be so kind as to write me a 
 note, stating your opinion about the rest 
 and er immunity from letters and all 
 that," said the Bishop, depositing with studied 
 thoughtlessness a double fee on the table, " for 
 the benefit of my my family. She is they 
 are I mean that is, she might not realise the 
 importance of absolute rest, and " as a brill 
 iant thought occurred to him " and you'll 
 give me a prescription." 
 
 " Certainly," said Sir Joseph. " I'll do both 
 now." 
 
 " Thanks," murmured the Bishop, and, re-
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 95 
 
 ceiving the precious documents, he took his 
 leave. 
 
 The great physician's letter he put carefully 
 in an inside pocket; the prescription he never 
 remembered to get filled. 
 
 " A month," he said to himself; " that 
 ought to be time enough." And he hailed a 
 cab, and driving promptly to the nearest 
 American steamship office, he engaged a pas 
 sage forthwith. 
 
 " I wonder what Sir Joseph thought about 
 it," he meditated, as he paid for his ticket. In 
 this respect, however, he did his adviser an 
 injustice. Sir Joseph never thought about it 
 
 at all. It was not part of his profession. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Most people would have united in saying 
 that the Bishop of Blanford was an exceed 
 ingly fortunate man. No one was possessed 
 of an estate boasting fairer lawns or more 
 noble beeches, and the palace was a singularly 
 successful combination of ecclesiastical an 
 tiquity and nineteenth-century comfort. The 
 cathedral was a gem, and its boy choir the
 
 96 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 despair of three neighbouring sees, while, ow 
 ing to a certain amount of worldly wisdom on 
 the part of former investors of the revenues, 
 the bishopric was among the most handsomely 
 endowed in England. Yet his Lordship was 
 not happy. All his life long there had been a 
 blot upon his enjoyment, and that blot was his 
 sister, Miss Matilda Banborough. 
 
 Miss Matilda was blatantly good, an in 
 tolerant virtue that accounted for multitudes 
 of sins in other people. Her one ambition 
 was to bring up the Bishop in the way she 
 thought he should go, and hitherto she had 
 been wonderfully successful. All through his 
 married life she had resided at the palace and 
 been the ruling power, and when his wife had 
 died twenty years before, snuffed out by the 
 cold austerity of the Bishop's sister and the 
 ecclesiastical monotony of Blanford, Miss Ma 
 tilda had assumed the reins of power, and 
 had never laid them down. 
 
 The Bishop's wife had been a weak, ami 
 able woman, and her last conscious request was 
 to be buried in the sunlight, but her sister-in-
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 91 
 
 law remarked that " her mind must have been 
 wandering, for though Sarah was vacillating, 
 she was never sacrilegious." So they buried 
 her in the shadiest corner of the cloisters, and 
 put up a memorial brass setting forth all the 
 virtues for which she was not particularly 
 noted, and entirely omitting to mention her 
 saving grace of patience under great provoca 
 tion. 
 
 Since that time the Bishop's son, Cecil, had 
 been a bone of contention at Blanford. His 
 aunt had attempted to apply the same rigor 
 ous treatment to him that had been meted out 
 to his father; but the lad, whose spirit had not 
 been broken, refused to submit. At first, in 
 his boyhood days, his feeling was chiefly one 
 of awe of Miss Matilda, who always seemed 
 to be interfering with his pleasure, and who 
 made the Sabbath anything but a day of peace 
 for the restless child. Then came long terms 
 at school, with vacations to which he never 
 looked forward, and then four years at the 
 university, when the periods spent at Blanford 
 became more dreaded.
 
 98 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Cecil tried bringing home friends, but there 
 were too many restrictions. So, after gradua 
 tion, he drifted off to IJondon, where his aunt 
 prophesied speedy damnation for him, and 
 never quite forgave him because he did not 
 achieve it. During these years his visits to the 
 palace became fewer and fewer. Then he 
 wrote his novel, which proved the breaking- 
 point, for Miss Matilda forced his good- 
 natured, easy-going father to protest against 
 its publication in England, and the young 
 man, in impatient scorn, had shaken the dust 
 of his native country from his feet and depart 
 ed to the United States, bearing his manu 
 script with him. 
 
 That was a year ago, and Cecil had never 
 written once. His publishers would not give 
 his address, and if he received the letters sent 
 through their agency, he never answered them. 
 His father pined for him. His aunt waxed 
 spiteful, and so firm was her domination over 
 the Bishop that he never dared tell her of his 
 secretly formed plan of going to America to
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 99 
 
 find his son. Hence his visit to the great 
 London physician. 
 
 The little plot worked out better than he 
 could have hoped. Sir Joseph's letter proved 
 convincing, for Miss Matilda had a holy awe 
 of constituted authority, and would no more 
 have thought of disobeying its injunctions 
 than she would of saying her prayers back 
 wards. His Lordship accordingly went to 
 London, and disappeared for a month os 
 tensibly to Scotland, in reality to America; 
 and no one on the Allan liner suspected for a 
 moment that the little man in civilian's 
 clothes, whose name appeared on the passen 
 ger-list as Mr. Banborough, was the Bishop 
 of Blanford. 
 
 His thirty days of grace allowed him but 
 two weeks in the States, and here fortune 
 seemed to have deserted him, for, on his ar 
 rival, he learned that his son had gone South. 
 A wild-goose chase to Washington consumed 
 much valuable time, and, with only forty-eight 
 hours to spare, he arrived at Cecil's quarters 
 in New York on the day when that young
 
 ioo HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 gentleman was madly driving a Black Maria 
 out of the city. 
 
 Discouraged and disheartened at his lack of 
 success, the Bishop took a train for Montreal, 
 and found himself, about ten o'clock on that 
 evening, owing to faulty orders and a mis 
 placed switch, stranded at a little station just 
 on the dividing line between Canada and the 
 United States. 
 
 " And when can I proceed on my journey to 
 Montreal? " he queried of the station-master. 
 
 " Sure I don't know," responded that in 
 dividual briefly. " We're bound to get things 
 cleared for the White Mountain Express if 
 possible." 
 
 "And when is it due?" asked his Lord 
 ship. 
 
 " Eleven forty-five A.M., if she's on time." 
 
 "I think," said the Bishop, "that I'll re 
 main for the night, and go on at a more sea 
 sonable hour to-morrow. Is there any one 
 here who can put me up? " 
 
 The station-master scratched his head in 
 perplexity, glancing off to the horizon where
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 101 
 
 glimmered a few lights from scattered farm 
 houses. 
 
 " I dunno what to say," he replied. " I 
 reckon Deacon Perkins would have put you 
 up," pointing to the nearest light, some mile 
 and a half distant, which at that moment dis 
 appeared, " but," added the official, " it looks 
 as if he'd gone to bed. Folks don't stay up 
 late round here. There ain't much to do." 
 
 " But," protested his Lordship, " there's a 
 story over this office. Surely you can arrange 
 something for me." 
 
 " Well, you see it's this way," said the man. 
 " There's two police officers and a journalist 
 has reserved it for to-night, 'cause they's on 
 the lookout for a batch of prisoners 'scaping 
 to Canada. But if so be's you wouldn't mind 
 sleeping in the refreshment-room, I could let 
 you have a mattress, and make you up a tidy 
 bed under the bar." 
 
 The Bishop reflected that, though such 
 quarters were hardly in keeping with the dig 
 nity of an episcopal prince, they were better 
 than nothing, and as he was travelling in-
 
 102 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 cognito it did not much matter. So he cheer 
 fully accepted, and going out on the platform 
 took a seat on the narrow wooden bench that 
 ran along the front of the station, and lighted 
 a cigar to while away the time till the prepara 
 tions for his retirement were completed. 
 
 It was pitch-dark outside, and the presence 
 of three glimmering points of light were the 
 only indication of any other occupants of the 
 bench. But he rightly conjectured that the 
 smokers were the policemen and the journalist 
 of whom he had heard, and, having nothing 
 better to do, he entered into conversation with 
 them. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Marchmont, for it was none 
 other, " we've got a big job on hand to-night, 
 sir, if we pull it off." 
 
 " Is it uncertain, then? " asked the Bishop. 
 
 " Well, of course we don't know which way 
 they're coming. There was a sensational 
 escape of a lot of Spanish spies from New 
 York this noon. When I left we only knew 
 they'd gone North. Since then they've been 
 heard of near the Hudson River. Of course
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 103 
 
 it's practically certain they'll make for Mon 
 treal, as it's the nearest point at which they 
 have a consul, and my knowledge of human 
 nature leads me to think they'll take the most 
 indirect route; so I came on here by the first 
 train, and if we can catch them when the Ex 
 press comes through to-night, it'll be a great 
 scoop, and certain promotion for me." 
 
 "Who compose the party?" asked his 
 Lordship. 
 
 " The whole thing seems to be rather mys 
 terious," said the journalist. " There's a 
 woman conspirator in it, and one or two men, 
 but the identity of the leader, the man who 
 planned the rescue and had the unparalleled 
 audacity to represent himself as one of our re 
 porters, is quite unknown to the police." 
 
 " But you? " said the Bishop. 
 
 " Oh, I," replied Marchmont, " of course I 
 could hazard a guess as to his identity." And 
 putting his hand before his mouth, so that his 
 two companions should not hear his words, he 
 added, with a tone of triumph in his voice: 
 " There's not the remotest doubt in my mind
 
 104 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 that the young man who ran off with the Black 
 Maria was none other than the Secretary of 
 the Spanish Legation." 
 
 " Ah," said his Lordship, who was getting 
 bored, " very interesting, I'm sure. I think 
 I'll turn in now. Good-night." And a few 
 minutes later he was safely ensconced under 
 the bar and in the land of dreams, where Miss 
 Matilda and a prison-van figured conspicu 
 ously. 
 
 After an interval of time, the Bishop was 
 sleepily conscious of the arrival of a train, ac 
 companied by a certain amount of excitement, 
 but it was not till several hours later, when 
 dawn was just beginning to break, that he was 
 rudely awakened by some one attempting to 
 appropriate his resting-place. At the same 
 moment he became conscious that a consider 
 able uproar was going on in the station, and 
 a voice from above, which he recognised as 
 the journalist's, called out: 
 
 "Say! One of that gang's in the bar! I 
 saw him come up to the door as I was lying 
 in bed!"
 
 THE BISHOP RECEIVES A BLACK EYE. 105 
 
 Before the Bishop, however, became suf 
 ficiently wide awake to assimilate thoroughly 
 these astonishing facts, the intruder, who was 
 grotesquely armed with a can of hot coffee and 
 a loaf of bread, deposited his burdens, and 
 falling upon the recumbent ecclesiastic, pro 
 ceeded to sit upon his head, forcing his face 
 into the pillow, and rendering it impossible 
 for him to utter a single sound. The half light 
 and the suddenness of the attack had not per 
 mitted his Lordship to see the features of his 
 aggressor. He had, however, no intention of 
 submitting tamely to such an unpardonable 
 outrage; and when the station-master and the 
 two policemen, unaware of the proximity of 
 the object of their pursuit, had rushed through 
 the room and out at the back door, and the 
 stranger, releasing the Bishop, was preparing 
 to fly also, his Lordship, forgetful of the pro 
 fessions of peace which his calling assumed, 
 smote the intruder lustily in the ribs. He re 
 ceived in return a smashing blow in the eye 
 which made him. see a multitude of stars, and 
 before he could recover himself the stranger
 
 106 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 had seized the coffee and the loaf and dashed 
 through to the front of the station. 
 
 The Bishop staggered to his feet, groping 
 blindly about, while he heard the voice of the 
 journalist, who was leaning over the banisters 
 in night attire, calling vociferously to his com 
 panions that the man was escaping by the 
 front. 
 
 " Did he hurt you? " he asked of the Bishop. 
 
 " Yes," replied his Lordship, still blinded 
 by the force of the blow. " But he got as good 
 as he gave. I didn't have four years of ath 
 letics at the Varsity for nothing." 
 
 " Oh, they're sure to catch him," said the 
 journalist 
 
 " I hope so," cried the Bishop, " for he 
 richly deserves it." 
 
 It is probable, however, that his Lordship 
 would have modified his desire for vengeance 
 had he known that his aggressor was his own 
 son.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN WHICH A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 
 
 " SAY, are you asleep? " came the low voice 
 of the tramp at the side of Banborough's 
 berth in the early hours of the morning. 
 
 The speaker stood in the aisle of the sleeper 
 and was bending over him, half dressed, the 
 contrast between the sleek outer garments of 
 the Quaker and the rough underwear of the 
 tramp giving him a most grotesque appear 
 ance. 
 
 " Eh? what? " said Cecil, rousing himself, 
 and noting, as he did so, that it was still dark. 
 A moment later he was fully awake, saying, 
 as he sat up in his bunk: " Is anything the 
 matter? " 
 
 " I'm afraid so. We've stopped here more'n 
 ten minutes already, and we're scheduled to 
 
 run through." 
 
 107
 
 io8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Well, what of it? " said the Englishman, 
 somewhat testily, for he was very weary, and 
 resented having his rest broken. " I suppose 
 it's only a hot box." 
 
 " Hot box be blowed! It's us they're after. 
 If you looks round the corner of your curtain, 
 you can see the cops on the platform." 
 
 Cecil did as he was bidden, and, drawing 
 back hastily, said: 
 
 " You're right. I'm afraid the game is up. 
 Where are we, anyway? " 
 
 " If this is the station I take it to be, we're 
 just on the line between the two countries. 
 But whether our car's in Canady or the States 
 is more'n I can tell." 
 
 " Is there anything to be done? " asked 
 Banborough, turning to Smith and Spotts, 
 who at this moment quietly joined the Quaker 
 at the Englishman's bedside. 
 
 " Plenty," replied Spotts. " It's only a ques 
 tion of going North. Ten feet may mean the 
 difference between a prison and the ' Wind 
 sor.' " 
 
 "Well, what shall we do?"
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 109 
 
 " Are you dressed? " 
 
 " All but my boots and coat," answered 
 Cecil. " I'm not enough of a gymnast to dis 
 robe in a space six feet by two, and besides 
 I thought something of this sort might oc 
 cur." 
 
 " Well, get into your boots, then, and don't 
 make any more noise than necessary," said 
 Spotts. " The ladies must be ready by this 
 time. You were called last." 
 
 " Are you going to make a bolt for it? " 
 queried Banborough, as he put one foot out 
 of bed. 
 
 "Sh!" returned Spotts. "Not so loud! 
 The officials out there on the platform are not 
 sure that we're on board. My suggestion that 
 Mrs. Mackintosh should buy the tickets was 
 a lucky move, as she was not known. I'm 
 going to pull the bell-cord as a sign to start, 
 in the hopes that the engineer will get going 
 before the conductor has time to reverse the 
 signal, which means we'll run to the next sta 
 tion. If we don't succeed in pulling out, we'll 
 just have to jump off and sprint for it."
 
 no HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 11 Go ahead," said Banborough. " I'll have 
 my boots on by the time I want them." 
 
 The actor took a cautious look round the 
 sleeper. Quiet reigned, except for their own 
 little party, who were by this time all gathered 
 together, the ladies having joined them. 
 
 " Now! " said Friend Othniel. And Spotts, 
 reaching up, gave two sharp jerks to the cord 
 which swung from the centre of the car. 
 
 Instantly the air-brakes were relaxed, the 
 engine gave forth a series of mighty exhausts, 
 the great driving-wheels spun round for a 
 second on the rails, then caught their grip, 
 and the train began to move out of the sta 
 tion. 
 
 A perfect pandemonium at once arose with 
 out. Shouts, gesticulations, and the waving 
 of a multitude of lights, but the train still kept 
 on moving, and the last car, in which the fugi 
 tives were, was sweeping past the station build 
 ing, when the conductor, capless, but lantern in 
 hand, emerged from the ticket-office and 
 sprang for the rear platform of the train. A 
 second later the quick jerk of the bell-cord
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. ill 
 
 and an answering whistle from the engine told 
 them that he had succeeded in boarding the 
 train and signalling it to stop. 
 
 The Quaker, forgetful of his cloth, swore 
 lustily. 
 
 "Come on!" cried Spotts, "we'll have to 
 run for it. They'll back into the station in a 
 minute, and then we're done for." And suit 
 ing the action to the word, he rushed down the 
 car towards the front of the train. The rest 
 followed him with the best speed they could 
 muster, falling over boxes and bundles, get 
 ting entangled in stray shoes, and running foul 
 of swinging portieres. Fortunately the cars 
 were vestibuled, so the platforms offered no 
 impediment. The train seemed absolutely in 
 terminable, for as they dashed through sleeper 
 after sleeper, one more always appeared ahead, 
 and Banborough could not help feeling as he 
 ran, hatless and in his shirt-sleeves, with his 
 coat under his arm and one shoe-string untied, 
 that the whole thing must after all be some 
 wildly improbable dream from which he would 
 awake in due course.
 
 H2 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Now they felt the train stand still and then 
 begin slowly to move backwards, which only 
 hastened their flight. But there is an end to 
 everything, and presently the last sleeper had 
 been passed through, and they emerged, hot 
 and breathless, into the baggage-car, immedi 
 ately behind the engine. Here for the first 
 time they found an open door, the vestibules 
 having all been tightly closed. 
 
 Spotts, who led the way, wasted no time 
 in explanation, but making one dash at the 
 burly baggage-master who confronted him, 
 gave him a blow that sent him flying back 
 wards. At the same instant he managed to 
 trip up his assistant, causing the two men to 
 come down on the floor together, bringing 
 with them in their fall two bicycles and half a 
 dozen crates of eggs. 
 
 Grasping any light luggage he could seize, 
 Friend Othniel added this to the heap, while 
 Spotts, throwing open the great door in the 
 side of the car, cried: 
 
 " Jump for all you're worth! " 
 
 Smith stood cowering on the edge of the
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 113 
 
 door-sill, little relishing the prospect of a wild 
 leap into the night. But the Quaker, who 
 had no time to waste on arguments, smashed 
 down the top bicycle with one hand, thus plac 
 ing his two opponents on their backs on the 
 floor, and swinging round at the same mo 
 ment, delivered a kick to the tragedian which 
 sent him flying into outer darkness after the 
 manner of a spread eagle. 
 
 The train was only just moving, and Spotts 
 sprang quickly to the ground, and, running 
 alongside the car, called to Miss Arminster 
 to jump into his arms, which she promptly did. 
 Putting her to one side out of the reach of 
 the train, he ran forward to receive Mrs. 
 Mackintosh; but that good lady, being unac 
 customed to such acrobatic feats, and arriving 
 with more force than precision, completely 
 bowled him over, and they went flying into 
 space together. Banborough and Friend 
 Othniel followed almost immediately, and, 
 both trying to get out of the door at the same 
 time, collided with considerable force, and 
 performed a series of somersaults, landing
 
 H4 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOP4RD. 
 
 with safety, but emphasis, in a potato- 
 patch. 
 
 As the engine swept by them, Cecil sat up 
 and surveyed the scene. It certainly was an 
 unusual situation, and the half-light of the 
 early morning only served to make their atti 
 tudes the more grotesque. The party was 
 scattered at large over the field in question. 
 Smith, on one knee, was rubbing the bruised 
 portions of his body. Miss Arminster, who 
 had landed safely on her feet, was standing 
 with both hands clasped to her head, an atti 
 tude suggesting concussion of the brain, but 
 which in reality betokened nothing more 
 dreadful than an utter disarrangement of her 
 hair. Spotts had assumed an unconventional 
 attitude at her feet, while the Quaker, face 
 down, with hands and legs outspread, seemed 
 to be trying to swim due north. 
 
 Directly opposite the Englishman, seated 
 erect and prim on what had once been a hill of 
 potatoes, her bonnet perched rakishly on one 
 ear, and her grey toupee partially disarranged, 
 hanging with its sustaining hairpins over her
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 115 
 
 eyes, was Mrs. Mackintosh, firmly grasping 
 in one hand her green silk parasol which she 
 had never relinquished. 
 
 As Banborough met her gaze, she de 
 manded sternly: 
 
 " What next, young man, I should like to 
 know? " 
 
 " Really, Mrs. Mackintosh," he replied, " if 
 for no other reason, you ought to be deeply 
 indebted to me as a purveyor of new sensa 
 tions." 
 
 " This is not a time for levity, sir," remarked 
 that lady sternly, dropping her parasol and 
 hastily restoring her toupee to its original 
 position, " and I consider it perfectly disgrace 
 ful that you should cause a lady of my char 
 acter to be arrested in a potato-patch at four 
 o'clock in the morning! " 
 
 " That's just what I've been endeavouring 
 to prevent," he said. " I believe this to be 
 Canada." 
 
 " Then Canada's a very poor sort of a 
 country," she replied snappishly. 
 
 The others now approached them, and all
 
 n6 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 eyes were turned to the railroad station a few 
 hundred yards distant, which was alive with 
 bobbing lanterns. Presently a cluster of lights 
 detached itself from the rest and came towards 
 them. 
 
 " Do you think they're going to arrest us? " 
 asked Miss Arminster timidly. 
 
 " Don't you be afraid, miss," returned 
 Friend Othniel. " You just let me run this 
 circus, and I'll get you out all right and no 
 mistake." 
 
 The party now came up to them. It con 
 sisted of the station-master, the conductor, 
 several trainmen, and the two policemen. 
 
 "Here!" said the conductor. "What did 
 you mean by pulling the cord and starting the 
 train?" 
 
 " Because we was anxious to see the 
 beauties of Canady," replied the tramp. 
 
 " Ah, I thought as much," said one of the 
 policemen. 
 
 " I am afraid," added the other, " we shall 
 be obliged to persuade you and your party to
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 117 
 
 stay in the United States for a while. You 
 may consider yourselves under arrest." 
 
 " Thank yer," said the tramp sweetly. 
 
 " So, to save trouble," continued the officer, 
 " you might as well come back quietly with us 
 to the station." 
 
 "Yah!" retorted the tramp. "'Will yer 
 walk into my parlour? ' said the spider to the 
 fly. I knows that game, and I guess the 
 climate o' Canady suits my constitution." 
 
 "Nonsense!" replied the policeman. " You 
 aren't over the border by about two miles." 
 
 "Oh, ain't we?" said the tramp. "Just 
 oblige me, then, by putting them bracelets 
 which I sees hangin' out o' your pocket on my 
 wrists." And he held out his hands. 
 
 The policeman looked sheepish, whispered 
 something to his companion, and presently 
 they turned their backs on the party and 
 walked away in the direction of the station. 
 
 " We's so stuck on this piece o' land," called 
 Friend Othniel after them, " that we thinks o' 
 farmin' it permanently. Come back and spend 
 Christmas with us, won't yer? "
 
 n8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 The officers did not deign to notice these 
 remarks, and a few moments later the train 
 swept by them on its way to Montreal, the 
 baggage-master and his assistant giving their 
 views on the party in general as they passed. 
 
 The day now really began to break in 
 earnest, bringing with it a cold, damp chill, 
 which seemed to penetrate to their very mar 
 row. Spotts took off his coat and wrapped it 
 around the shivering Violet an act of chiv 
 alry which made Banborotigh curse his own 
 thoughtlessness. But Spotts's endeavours to 
 promote the comfort of the company did not 
 end here. He roused Friend Othniel into ac 
 tion, and succeeded in collecting a little stub 
 ble and underbrush, and with the aid of a few 
 matches they made an apology for a fire, round 
 which the forlorn party huddled. But, damp 
 with the early dews, the brush gave out more 
 smoke than flame, only serving to emphasize 
 their discomfort. 
 
 The increasing light showed them some 
 thing of their surroundings. At distances 
 varying from a mile to a mile and a half a few
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 119 
 
 dilapidated dwellings peeped out of a fringe 
 of woods. Everything else was pine-swamp, 
 with the exception of the one small field of 
 potatoes in which they were encamped, and 
 which stood out as an oasis in the wilderness. 
 Through the midst of the landscape straggled 
 a muddy road, hopelessly impassable for foot- 
 travellers. Certainly the outlook was not 
 cheering. 
 
 It was therefore with a feeling of positive 
 relief that they perceived shambling towards 
 them the uncouth figure of the station-master. 
 He paused on the edge of the patch, with one 
 hand embedded in his shock of hair, and the 
 other grasping a large piece of chalk, and sur 
 veyed the party critically. 
 
 " Say," he began after a few moments' 
 silence, " them's my potatoes you're a-settin' 
 on." 
 
 The tramp growled something unintellig 
 ible, and the others vouchsafed no reply 
 whatsoever. 
 
 " I guess it must be purty damp out in that 
 field," continued the station-master, " 'spe-
 
 120 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 daily for the ladies, and I thought as how I'd 
 let yer know as I was a-makin' some coffee 
 over to the station, and yer could come and 
 get it if yer liked." 
 
 " Yes, and get arrested into the bargain," 
 said Spotts. 
 
 " I thought of that," replied the man, " and 
 so I've drawed a line onto the platform with 
 this piece of chalk, jest where the boundary 
 be, and so long as yer stays to the northard of 
 it yer can't be ketched." 
 
 " How are we to know that that is just the 
 boundary? " asked Banborough. 
 
 " 'Pears to me you're mighty 'spicious. 
 Anyhow, thar's the line and thar's the coffee. 
 Yer can take it or leave it, jest as yer 
 likes." 
 
 " I'd make it worth your while to bring it to 
 us down here," said Cecil. 
 
 "Humph!" returned the maker of bev 
 erages. " I don't go totin' coffee all round 
 the country, and I'd like to remind yer as 
 potatoes ain't eggs and don't need no hatchin', 
 so the sooner you gets through settin' on 'em
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 121 
 
 the better I'll be pleased." And turning his 
 back he slouched away to the station. 
 
 " What do you think about it? " said Ban- 
 borough to Spotts. 
 
 " I think it's a plan," replied the actor. 
 " A New England farmer never misses a 
 chance of making a penny when he can do so, 
 and that fellow would have been glad enough 
 to sell his coffee to us at a fancy price any 
 where we chose to drink it if he hadn't been 
 offered more to entice us up to the station." 
 
 " Well, I'm not going to pass the rest of my 
 days on top of a potato-hill," said Mrs. Mack 
 intosh spitefully. " I'm so stiff now I can 
 hardly move." 
 
 " Yes, I don't think there's much to wait 
 for," agreed Cecil. " But where shall we go? " 
 
 " To the next station, I guess," said the 
 tramp. " But in Canady that's as likely to be 
 thirteen miles as it is two, and this track ain't 
 ballasted for a walking-tour." 
 
 The fair Violet heaved a deep sigh. 
 
 " What is it? " asked Banborough anxious 
 ly. " Don't you feel well? "
 
 122 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I do feel a little faint," she replied, " but I 
 dare say I'll be better in a minute. I shouldn't 
 have sighed, only I was thinking what an old 
 wretch that station-master is, and how good 
 that coffee would have tasted." 
 
 " You shall have some," he said, determined 
 not to be outdone again by Spotts, " and I'll 
 get it for you myself." 
 
 " No, no! " she protested. " I didn't mean 
 that. I shouldn't have said it. I wouldn't 
 have you go for worlds. You'd surely be ar 
 rested." 
 
 "Nonsense!" he replied. "I think I can 
 manage it and get back safely, and you and 
 Mrs. Mackintosh must have something sus 
 taining, for you've a long walk before you." 
 And, in spite of all remonstrances, he prepared 
 to set out on his delicate and dangerous mis 
 sion. 
 
 " What's your plan? " asked Friend Oth- 
 niel, immensely interested now there was a 
 chance of an adventure. 
 
 " I'm going to crawl along in the dry ditch 
 beside the railroad track till I get up to the
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 123 
 
 station, and then trust to luck. I used to be 
 able to do a hundred yards in pretty decent 
 time in my Oxford days, and if I can get into 
 the refreshment-room without being seen, I 
 don't think they'll catch me." 
 
 " Well, good luck to yer," said the tramp, 
 " and if yer should come across a hunk of 
 pumpkin pie, don't forget your friend Oth- 
 niel." 
 
 Banborough slipped off his overcoat, and 
 donning a pair of heavy dogskin gloves, the 
 property of the driver of the Black Maria, 
 which the tramp produced, he watched his op 
 portunity when no one was in sight at the sta 
 tion, and, cautioning the rest of the party not 
 to betray by their actions that anything un 
 usual was going on, stole across the open 
 field and, dropping into the shallow ditch, be 
 gan his perilous journey. 
 
 Within three feet of the edge of the platform 
 all means of concealment ceased; but feeling 
 that a bold course was the only one which 
 gave any hope of success, Cecil rose quickly, 
 and, slipping across the exposed place in an
 
 124 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 instant, glided into the great woodshed which 
 in that part of the world, where coal is ex 
 pensive, forms an important adjunct to every 
 station. He felt himself practically secure here, 
 as no one was likely to come for logs so early 
 in the morning; and after waiting for a few 
 moments to make certain that his presence 
 had not been discovered, he threw himself 
 down on his face, and, crawling noiselessly on 
 all-fours across the twenty feet of open plat 
 form which intervened between the woodshed 
 and the main building, achieved the precarious 
 shelter afforded by the side wall of the house. 
 He then wormed himself forward till he was 
 close to the front corner; and here his patient 
 efforts were at last rewarded, for he heard a 
 few scraps of a conversation which, had he 
 been in a less dangerous position, would have 
 afforded him infinite amusement. 
 
 " I tell you what it is," came the strident 
 voice of the station-master. " It ain't no 
 mortal manner of use. Why, they spotted me 
 to onct; said how was they to know I drawed 
 the line correct."
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 125 
 
 " Ha!" said one of the policemen. "Couldn't 
 you go out and dicker with them some 
 more? " 
 
 " Nope," rejoined the other shortly. " And 
 there's that whole tin o' coffee in the back 
 room goin' to waste, and I guess they'd have 
 paid more'n a dollar for it." 
 
 " Where's Mr. Marchmont? " asked the 
 second speaker, a remark which caused Ban- 
 borough considerable surprise. 
 
 " He's been keepin' out o' the way o' them 
 Spaniards," said the station-master, " lest they 
 should get a sight of him, 'cause he may have 
 to shadow 'em in Canady, and he don't want 
 'em to get on to who he is. He's gone up 
 stairs now to get a snooze, an' that's where I'm 
 goin', too. There ain't no train for three 
 hours, and I've had enough o' this durned 
 foolishness." 
 
 " What's that? " cried the policeman, as a 
 sharp sound smote their ears. 
 
 " Tain't nothin' but the back door slam- 
 min'," replied the other. " I must ha' forgot 
 to latch it. The wind's riz a bit."
 
 126 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Yes," said the officer, " and it's going to 
 rain presently." 
 
 " I guess I'd better go and shet that door." 
 
 " No, you stay here; I want to talk to you. 
 We'll let them get thoroughly drenched, and 
 you can offer them the hospitality of the 
 woodshed. Maybe we could alter the bound 
 ary-line a few feet in the interests of justice." 
 
 Banborough waited to hear no more, but, 
 drawing softly back, sprang to his feet and ran 
 noiselessly along the side of the house and 
 round to the unlatched door behind. Now, if 
 ever, was his chance. He dashed into a room 
 which seemed to be a combination of kitchen 
 and bar, but on the stove stood a steaming tin 
 can of savoury coffee, while among the bottles 
 on the shelf, just showing out of its paper 
 wrappings, was a goodly loaf of white bread. 
 Had he left well alone, and been satisfied with 
 the coffee, he would have been all right; but 
 the bread tempted him, and to obtain posses 
 sion of it he must go behind the bar. This 
 he hastened to do, unlatching the little swing 
 ing gate at the end, when a scuffling sound
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 127 
 
 from the room above gave place to heavy foot 
 falls on the boards, and a moment later March- 
 mont called down the stairs which evidently 
 led into the front room: 
 
 " Say! One of that gang's in the bar! I 
 saw him come up to the door as I was lying in 
 bed ! " A bit of information which was in 
 stantly followed by a clatter of chairs on the 
 front platform. 
 
 Wedged in behind the bar, Banborough felt 
 himself trapped. But a happy inspiration seiz 
 ing him, he possessed himself of the can of 
 coffee and, with the loaf of bread in his other 
 hand, crawled under the protecting shelf, 
 while just at that moment a particularly strong 
 gust of wind blew the unlatched door wide 
 open, banging it back against the wall. 
 
 To his intense astonishment, Cecil found his 
 hiding-place already occupied by the recum 
 bent and sleeping form of a man, and, jumping 
 to the conclusion that he must be either a 
 policeman or a detective, he promptly sat upon 
 his head with a view to suppressing any in 
 opportune remarks. A second later three men
 
 128 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 rushed into the room, and Banborough held 
 his breath. But luck was with him, for one 
 glance at the empty stove and the open door 
 satisfied the station-master, who cried: 
 
 " Those fellows has bolted with the cof 
 fee! " and dashed out at the back, followed by 
 the policemen. 
 
 In a second Cecil was up and out of the bar, 
 but not before he had received a smashing 
 blow in the ribs from the stranger he had so 
 rudely awakened. He promptly struck out 
 in return, and from the sputtering and thrash 
 ing sounds which emanated from under the 
 shelf he judged that his blow had gone home. 
 
 Snatching up the coffee and the bread, he 
 dashed through to the front of the house, and, 
 emerging on the platform, saw a sight which 
 filled his heart with joy. On the track stood 
 one of those little flat cars, employed by sec 
 tion-men, which is propelled by means of a 
 wheel and crank in the centre turned by hand, 
 on the same principle as a velocipede. 
 
 He sprang upon it, deposited his precious 
 burden, and began turning the crank with
 
 A LINE IS DRAWN AND CROSSED. 129 
 
 feverish energy. To his joy, the car at once 
 started forward, and under his well-directed 
 pressure went rattling out of the station, 
 shooting by his three astonished pursuers as 
 they rounded the corner of the woodshed. 
 Two minutes later he arrived in triumph at 
 the potato-patch, being warmly welcomed by 
 his admiring companions, who forthwith fell 
 to and made a satisfying, if frugal, meal. 
 
 Just as they were finishing, the station- 
 master came up, and, being rendered thor 
 oughly amiable by a liberal recompense for 
 the stolen viands, so far forgot himself, in his 
 appreciation of Banborough's pluck, as to ad 
 mit that there was no objection to their taking 
 the flat car on to the next station, provided 
 they could square it with the superintendent 
 on arrival, as there were no trains due either 
 way. 
 
 " How far is the next station? " asked Cecil, 
 as the party clambered on to the car. 
 
 " About twelve miles," said Miss Armin- 
 ster. 
 
 " Do you know it? " asked Banborough,
 
 130 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 still glowing under her praises of his prow 
 ess. 
 
 " Oh, yes," she replied softly. " I was mar 
 ried there last June." 
 
 The Englishman, muttering something un 
 der his breath, seized the handles and, giving 
 them a vicious turn, sent the car spinning 
 northwards.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IN WHICH A LOCKET IS ACCEPTED AND A 
 RING REFUSED. 
 
 SOMETHING over a week after the events 
 narrated in the last chapter, Banborough was 
 lounging in the office of the Windsor Hotel 
 at Montreal. The course of events had run 
 more smoothly for the party since the day they 
 arrived in the city, weary and travel-stained 
 with their adventurous trip. Montreal in gen 
 eral, and the manager of the Windsor in par 
 ticular, were accustomed to see travellers from 
 the States appear in all sorts of garbs and all 
 kinds of conditions incident to a hasty depart 
 ure, so their coming occasioned little com 
 ment; and as Cecil never did things by halves, 
 they were soon rehabilitated and installed in 
 
 the best apartments the hotel could offer. 
 
 131
 
 I3 2 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 The various members of the party, after the 
 first excitement was over, had relapsed into 
 a listless existence, which, however, was des 
 tined to be rudely disturbed, for while the 
 Englishman's thoughts were wandering in 
 anything but a practical direction, he was 
 aroused from his reverie by a well-known 
 voice, and, turning, found himself face to face 
 with Marchmont. 
 
 " Well, who on earth would have thought 
 of seeing you here? " exclaimed the journal 
 ist. " Have you fled to Canada to escape 
 being lionised ? " 
 
 " No," said Banborough cautiously, " not 
 exactly for that reason." 
 
 " We couldn't imagine what had become of 
 you," continued his friend. " You're the hero 
 of the hour in New York, I can tell you, and 
 ' The Purple Kangaroo ' is achieving the 
 greatest success of the decade." 
 
 " Oh, confound ' The Purple Kanga 
 roo' ! " 
 
 " That's right; run it down. Your modesty 
 becomes you. But seriously, old man, let me
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 133 
 
 congratulate you. You must be making heaps 
 out of it." 
 
 "Let's talk about something else," said Ban- 
 borough wearily, for he was heartily sick of 
 his unfortunate novel. " You ask me why I'm 
 here. I'll return the compliment. Why are 
 you?" 
 
 " Why," returned Marchmont, " you're par 
 tially to blame for it, you know. I'm after 
 those Spanish conspirators. Of course you've 
 heard the story? " 
 
 " No," said Banborough. " I haven't been 
 in town for a fortnight. What is it? " 
 
 " Well, we arrested a lovely senorita on 
 Fourteenth Street who was using the title of 
 your novel as a password. I can tell you con 
 fidentially that there's no doubt that she's one 
 of the cleverest and most unscrupulous female 
 spies in the Spanish secret service; and while 
 they were deciding where to take her, a 
 stranger, who we're certain was one of the 
 Secretaries of their Legation, eloped with her, 
 Black Maria and all, with the recklessness of 
 a true hidalgo. They were joined by a band
 
 134 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 outside the city, where they overcame a Justice 
 of the Peace who arrested them, after a des 
 perate resistance on his part. The story of 
 this unequal battle was one of the finest bits 
 of bravery we've had for years. 
 
 " After dining at a hotel at Yonkers they 
 held up the waiter with revolvers and escaped. 
 Similar audacities were perpetrated at the 
 boundary-line between the United States and 
 Canada, and in spite of the most intelligent 
 and valiant efforts on the part of the police, 
 aided by our own special corps of detectives, 
 they've so far eluded us. Their leader's said 
 to be a perfect devil, who, as I tell you, is cer 
 tainly a Secretary of the Spanish Lega 
 tion." 
 
 " How do you know that? " asked Banbor- 
 ough. 
 
 " Ah," said Marchmont, looking wise and 
 shaking his head, " the Daily Leader has pri 
 vate sources of information. I wonder you've 
 not heard anything of this." 
 
 " Yes," acquiesced the Englishman, " it is 
 curious, isn't it? "
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 135 
 
 " But," continued his friend, " you haven't 
 told me yet why you came to Montreal." 
 
 " Well," said Cecil, laughing, " I can at least 
 assure you that my trip here has been much 
 less eventful than the one you described." 
 
 " By the way," said the journalist, " have 
 you seen the last editorial about your book in 
 the Daily Leader? " 
 
 The Englishman shook his head. 
 
 " No? Well, here goes." And Marchmont 
 began to read forthwith: 
 
 " ' English conservatism has recently re 
 ceived a shock from the scion of Blanford, and 
 the Bishop's son, in connection with ' The 
 Purple Kangaroo,' has caused the British lion 
 to hump himself into the hotbed of American 
 politics ' " 
 
 " Oh, shut up! " said Cecil, with more force 
 than politeness. 
 
 " Don't you like it? " exclaimed the journal 
 ist. " There's a column and a half more. I 
 blue-pencilled a copy and sent it over to your 
 old man." 
 
 Banborough groaned.
 
 I3 6 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " But," continued Marchmont, " this isn't 
 anything to what we'll do when we've hound 
 ed the Dons out of Canada." 
 
 " What? " cried the author. 
 
 " Yes," went on his friend. " We've com 
 plained to your Foreign Office, and within a 
 week every Spanish conspirator will receive 
 notice to quit Her Majesty's North American 
 colonies on pain of instant arrest and deporta 
 tion." 
 
 Cecil waited to hear no more, but, pleading 
 an imperative engagement, rushed away to 
 summon the members of his party to a hurried 
 council of war in their private sitting-room. 
 All were present with the exception of Miss 
 Arminster, who had gone to spend the day at 
 a convent in the suburbs, where she had been 
 brought up as a child. 
 
 After an hour of useless debating the coun 
 cil ended, as Banborough might have foreseen 
 from the first, in the party giving up any solu 
 tion of the problem as hopeless, and putting 
 themselves unreservedly in his hands to lead 
 them out of their difficulties. Cecil, who felt
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 13 7 
 
 himself ill equipped for the role of a Moses, 
 jammed his hat on his head, lit his pipe, and, 
 thrusting his hands in his pockets, said he was 
 going out where he could be quiet and think 
 about it. 
 
 " Going to the Blue Nunnery, he means," 
 said Smith, laughing, and nudging Spotts. 
 
 The actor grunted. Apparently the au 
 thor's attentions to the fascinating Violet did 
 not meet with his unqualified approval. 
 
 An hour later Banborough stood in the 
 grey old garden of the nunnery, the sister 
 who was his guide silently pointing out to him 
 the figure of the little actress, whose bright 
 garments were in striking contrast to the 
 severe simplicity of her surroundings. When 
 the Englishman turned to thank the nun, she 
 had disappeared, and he and Miss Arminster 
 had the garden to themselves. 
 
 She stood with her back to him, bending 
 over some roses, unconscious of his presence, 
 and for a few moments he remained silent, 
 watching her unobserved. The ten days 
 which had passed had done much to alter his
 
 I3 8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 position towards her, and he had come to fully 
 realise that he was honestly in love with this 
 woman. Even the fact of her having been 
 married at Ste. Anne de Beau Pre, which in 
 formation he had elicited from her on the 
 occasion of their pilgrimage to that shrine a 
 few days before, had not served to cool his 
 ardour. Indeed, the fact that his suit seemed 
 hopeless made him all the more anxious to 
 win her for his wife. 
 
 After he had been watching her for some 
 minutes, a subtle intuition seemed to tell her of 
 his presence, and he approached her as she 
 raised her face from the roses to greet 
 him. 
 
 " I came to see you " he began, and 
 paused, hardly knowing how to continue. 
 
 " Am I not then allowed even one holi 
 day? " she asked. 
 
 " Is my presence so much of a burden? " he 
 inquired, realising for the first time the full 
 force of what her statement implied, as a hur 
 ried mental review of the past fortnight 
 showed him that he had scarcely ever been
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 139 
 
 absent from her side. Indeed, it no longer 
 seemed natural not to be with her. 
 
 " Oh, I didn't mean to be rude," she said, 
 " but I do like a day out of the world occa 
 sionally. You know, when I come back here 
 I forget for the time that I've ever lived any 
 other life than that which is associated with 
 this dear old place." 
 
 He thought grimly that a young lady who 
 had been married four times before she was 
 twenty-five must have to undergo a consider 
 able amount of mental obliteration. 
 
 " I think you'd tire of it very soon if you 
 had to live here always," he said. 
 
 " I'm not sure," she replied. " I think 
 but of course you wouldn't understand that 
 only, life on the stage isn't all bright and amus 
 ing, and there are times when one simply longs 
 for a quiet, old-world place like this." 
 
 " I believe you'd like Blanford," he sug 
 gested. 
 
 " I should love it," she assured him. " But 
 what would your father say to me? I'd prob-
 
 140 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 ably shock him out of his gaiters if he wears 
 them. Does he? " 
 
 " I suppose so," said Cecil. The fact was 
 that the raiment of the Bishop of Blanford did 
 not particularly interest him at that moment. 
 He had more important things to talk about, 
 things that had no connection whatsoever with 
 the immediate future of the A. B. C. Com 
 pany. Yet the mention of his father caused 
 him to stop and think, and thought, in this 
 case, proved fatal to sentiment. He thrust his 
 hands into his pockets and addressed himself 
 to the more prosaic topics of life, saying: 
 
 " My excuse for intruding on you is that 
 our troubles are by no means over. The 
 authorities, not content with driving us out 
 of the United States, are preparing to order 
 us out of Canada as well, and the question of 
 where we are to go is decidedly perplexing." 
 
 " Oh, dear! " said the little woman, " I 
 think I'll go into the convent after all." 
 
 " That settles the difficulty as far as you're 
 concerned. Do you think they'd admit 
 me?"
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 141 
 
 " Don't talk nonsense. What do the others 
 say? " 
 
 " Oh, they say a good many things, but 
 nothing practical, so I came to you for ad 
 vice." 
 
 " Well, to speak frankly," she replied, " if 
 I were you, I'd drop us all and run away home. 
 It's much the easiest solution of the difficulty." 
 
 " Excuse me," he said. " I'm a gentleman, 
 and besides " 
 
 " Well, what? " 
 
 " Besides," he continued, thinking it better 
 to be discreet, " I doubt if I should be wel 
 come. I've a letter from the governor in my 
 pocket, which I haven't yet had courage to 
 open. I dare say it won't be pleasant reading; 
 besides which, it's been chasing me round the 
 country for the last five or six weeks, and must 
 be rather ancient history." 
 
 " Look at it and see," she advised. " They 
 may be ready to kill the fatted calf for you, 
 after all." 
 
 " I'm afraid they do regard me rather in the 
 light of a prodigal," he admitted. " However,
 
 142 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 here goes." And breaking the seal of the 
 envelope, he read the letter aloud: 
 
 " THE PALACE, BLANFORD. 
 " MY DEAR SON: 
 
 " Do you realise that it is nearly a year since 
 your Aunt Matilda and I have received news 
 of you? This has been a source of great grief 
 and pain to both of us, but it has not moved 
 me to anger. It has rather caused me to de 
 vote such hours as I could spare from the pre 
 paration of my series of sermons on the 
 miracle of Jonah to personal introspection, in 
 the endeavour to discover, if possible, whether 
 the cause of our estrangement lay in any de 
 fect of my own. 
 
 " It may be that you achieve a certain de 
 gree of spiritual enlightenment in producing 
 a book entitled ' The Purple Kangaroo.' I 
 hope so, though I have not read it. Nor do 
 I wholly agree with your good aunt, who con 
 tends that the title savours too much of the 
 Apocrypha, and I say nothing of the undesir 
 able popularity you seem to have attained in 
 the United States. I only ask you to come 
 home. 
 
 " As a proof of her reconciliation, your aunt
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 143 
 
 included a copy of your book in her last mis 
 sion box to the Ojibway Indians. I shall al 
 ways be glad to receive and make welcome 
 any of your friends at the palace, no matter 
 how different their tastes and principles may 
 be to my own well-defined course of action. 
 " In the hope of better things, 
 
 " YOUR AFFECTIONATE FATHER." 
 
 " Of course you'll go," Violet said softly. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know about that," he replied. 
 
 " I do," she returned. " It's your duty. 
 What a dear old chap he must be! so thor 
 oughly prosy and honest. I'm sure I should 
 love him. I know just the sort of man he is. 
 A downright Nonconformist minister of the 
 midland counties, who was consecrated a 
 Bishop by mistake." 
 
 Cecil paused a minute, thinking it over. 
 
 " How about the others? " he said. 
 
 " Ah, yes," she replied, " the others. But 
 perhaps you don't class them as your friends." 
 
 " Oh, it isn't that," he answered. " Only I 
 was wondering " 
 
 " What the Bishop would say? " she asked,
 
 144 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 looking at him with a roguish smile. " Well, 
 why not take him at his word and find out." 
 
 " By Jove! " he exclaimed. " I will! I be 
 lieve you've hit on the very best possible solu 
 tion of our difficulty. The episcopal palace 
 at Blanford is absolutely the last place in the 
 world where any one would think of looking 
 for a political conspirator, and, by some freak 
 of fortune, the police are entirely ignorant that 
 I'm in any way connected with your flight." 
 
 "Good! then it's settled!" she cried. 
 " And we'll all accompany you." 
 
 " Ye-es, only the governor wouldn't go 
 within a hundred yards of a theatre, and my 
 aunt calls actors children of I forget whom 
 some one in the Old Testament." 
 
 " Belial," suggested Miss Arminster. 
 
 " That's it. How did you know? " 
 
 " You forget," she said, " I was brought 
 up in a convent." 
 
 " It'll never do," he continued, " for them to 
 suspect who you really are." 
 
 " Are we not actors? " 
 
 " Of course. We must have a dress re-
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. MS 
 
 hearsal at once, and cast you for your parts. 
 But there's Friend Othniel " 
 
 " Ah, yes," she said. " He's impossible." 
 
 " We must drop him somehow." 
 
 " That's easily managed," she replied. 
 " Pay his hotel bill, and leave him a note with 
 a nice little cheque in it to be delivered after 
 we've gone." 
 
 " Then we must get away quickly, or he'll 
 suspect." 
 
 " The sooner the better." 
 
 " I noticed that there was a ship sailing 
 from Montreal for England this after 
 noon." 
 
 " That'll just suit our purpose," she said. 
 " Friend Othniel told me he was going to walk 
 up Mount Royal after lunch and wouldn't be 
 back before six." 
 
 " And you'll really come to Blanford? " he 
 asked, taking her hand. 
 
 " Of course," she said. " Why should you 
 doubt it? " 
 
 " Because," he replied, " it seems too good 
 to be true. I was thinking, hoping, that per-
 
 146 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 haps I might persuade you to come there for 
 good, and never go away." 
 
 " Ah," she interrupted him, " you're not 
 going to say that? " 
 
 "Why not? "he asked. 
 
 " Because we've been such friends," she an 
 swered, " and it's quite impossible." 
 
 " Are you sure? " 
 
 " Perfectly. And oh, I didn't want you to 
 say it." 
 
 " But can't we be friends still? " he insisted. 
 
 " With all my heart, if you'll forget this mad 
 dream. It would have been impossible, even 
 if I were free. Your people would never have 
 accepted me, and I would only have been a 
 drag on you." 
 
 " No, no! " he denied vehemently. 
 
 " There," she said, " we won't talk about it. 
 You've been one of the best friends I ever had, 
 and what's in that locket you wear? " 
 
 " That? " he replied, touching a little blue- 
 enamelled case that hung from his watch- 
 chain. " It has nothing more interesting in It
 
 A LOCKET AND A RING. 147 
 
 at present than a picture of myself. But I'd 
 hoped" 
 
 " Give it to me, will you," she asked, " in 
 remembrance of to-day? " 
 
 He detached it silently from his chain, and, 
 pressing it to his lips, placed it in her hand. 
 
 " I'll always wear it," she said. 
 
 There was an awkward silence for a mo 
 ment, and then, pulling himself together, he 
 remarked brusquely: 
 
 " I suppose we'd better be starting for 
 town." 
 
 " I'll join you later," she replied. " I want 
 to go to mid-day service in the little church 
 next to this convent. Such a pretty little 
 church. I was married there once." 
 
 " You were what? Are you really serious, 
 Miss Arminster? " 
 
 " Perfectly," she answered, giving him a 
 bewitching little smile as she tripped out of 
 the garden.
 
 PART II. 
 
 ENGLAND.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN WHICH MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 
 
 " I THINK, Matilda, that you must have 
 neglected to put any sugar in my tea," said the 
 Bishop of Blanford, pushing his cup towards 
 his sister, after tasting the first mouthful. 
 
 " You're quite right, Josephus, I did," she 
 replied. 
 
 " And," continued his Lordship, who, being 
 near-sighted, was poking about, after the man 
 ner of a mole, in the three-storied brass bird 
 cage which held the more substantial portion 
 of the repast, " there doesn't seem to be any 
 cake." 
 
 " You forget," said Miss Matilda sternly, 
 " that it's an ember-day." 
 
 Her brother said nothing, and took a 
 
 151
 
 152 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 mouthful of the tea, which, like the morality 
 of the palace, was strong and bitter. But his 
 ample chest expanded with just the slightest 
 sigh of regret, causing the massive episcopal 
 cross of gold filigree, set with a single sap 
 phire, which rested thereon, to rise and fall 
 gently. Miss Matilda's hawklike eye saw and 
 noted this as the first slight sign of rebellion, 
 and she hastened to mete out justice swift and 
 stern, saying: 
 
 " You remember, Josephus, that there's a 
 special service at the mission church at five, 
 at which I consider you ought to be pres 
 ent." 
 
 His Lordship had not forgotten it, or the 
 circumstance that the afternoon was exceed 
 ingly hot, and that the mission church, which 
 was situated in an outlying slum, was made 
 of corrugated tin. The palace garden would 
 have been infinitely preferable, and he knew 
 that had he accepted sugarless tea without a 
 murmur, his chaplain would have sweltered in 
 his place. As it was, he submitted meekly, 
 and his sister gazed at him with a satisfied ex-
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 153 
 
 pression of triumph across her bright green 
 tea-cloth. If Miss Matilda had a weakness, it 
 was for ecclesiastical tea-cloths. White was 
 reserved for Sundays and feast-days; on or 
 dinary occasions, at this time of the year, her 
 ritual prescribed green. 
 
 They were seated in the garden of the 
 palace, a peaceful Arcadia which it was diffi 
 cult to realise was only separated from a dusty 
 and concrete world by a battlemented wall 
 which formed the horizon. The sky overhead 
 was so blue and cloudless that it might have 
 formed the background for an Italian land 
 scape, and framed against it was the massive 
 tower of the cathedral, its silver-greys darken 
 ing almost to black, as a buttress here and 
 there brought it in shadow. Among its pin 
 nacles a few wise old rooks flapped lazily in 
 the still air, as much a part of their surround 
 ings as the stately swans that floated on the 
 stream which lapped the foot of the tower, 
 while on all sides there stretched away a great 
 sweep of that perfect verdure which only Eng 
 land knows.
 
 154 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " It's nearly two months since I last wrote 
 to Cecil," said the Bishop, judging it wise to 
 change the trend of the conversation, '' and 
 I've not heard a word." 
 
 " I'm sure I should be surprised if you had," 
 snapped Miss Matilda. " And what your 
 sainted Sarah would have felt, had she lived 
 to see her son's disgraceful career, makes me 
 shudder." 
 
 The Bishop started to sigh again. Then, 
 thinking better of it, stopped. He had re 
 turned to Blanford from his rest-cure a week 
 before, and apparently the air of Scotland had 
 not proved as beneficial as he had expected. 
 
 " I believe that Cecil will come back to us," 
 he said, ignoring his sister's last remark. " I 
 told him that his friends would be welcome 
 here in future, and I particularly mentioned 
 that you'd put a copy of his book in your last 
 missionary box." 
 
 " I hope you didn't neglect to say that I 
 tore out all the pictures. A more scandalous 
 collection " 
 
 But she never finished her denunciation of
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 155 
 
 the novel, for just at that moment the Bishop 
 sprang to hisjeet with a glad cry of " Cecil! " 
 
 The young man came running across the 
 lawn to meet his father, seizing him warmly 
 by the hand, and having administered a dutiful 
 peck to his aunt, turned to introduce the little 
 group of strangers who had accompanied him. 
 
 " Father," he said, " these are my friends. 
 On the strength of your letter I've taken the 
 liberty of asking them to be my guests as 
 well." 
 
 " They're very welcome to the palace," said 
 the Bishop. 
 
 Cecil turned, and leading the two ladies for 
 ward, presented them to his father and his 
 aunt. Miss Matilda swept them both with a 
 comprehensive glance, and addressing Mrs. 
 Mackintosh, remarked: 
 
 " Your daughter, I presume," indicating 
 Miss Arminster. Whereupon the good lady 
 coloured violently and denied the fact. 
 
 " Your niece? " insisted Miss Matilda, who 
 was an excellent catechist, as generations of 
 unfortunate children could bear witness.
 
 IS 6 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " A young lady whom I'm chaperoning in 
 Europe," replied Mrs. Mackintosh stiffly, in 
 an effort to be truthful, and at the same time 
 to furnish Violet with a desirable status in the 
 party. 
 
 The tragedian was now brought for 
 ward. 
 
 " Allow me," said Banborough, in pur 
 suance of a prearranged scheme of action 
 " allow me to introduce my friend Professor 
 Tybalt Smith. You, father, are of course ac 
 quainted with his scholarly work on monu 
 mental brasses." 
 
 The Bishop naturally was not conversant 
 with the book in question, because it had never 
 been written, but he was entirely too pedantic 
 to admit the fact; so he smiled, and con 
 gratulated the Professor most affably on what 
 he termed " his well-known attainments," as 
 suring him that he would find in the cathedral 
 a rich field of research in his particular line of 
 work. 
 
 Spotts was now brought up, and intro 
 duced as a rising young architect of ecclesias-
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 157 
 
 tical tendencies, which delighted his Lordship 
 immensely as there was nothing he liked bet 
 ter than to explain every detail of his cathe 
 dral to an appreciative listener. 
 
 " I've a bit of old dog-tooth I shall want 
 you to look at to-morrow," said his host, 
 " and there's some Roman tiling in the north 
 transept that absolutely demands your atten 
 tion." 
 
 Spotts smiled assent, but was evidently be 
 wildered, and seizing the first opportunity that 
 offered, asked Cecil in a low voice if his father 
 took him for a dentist or a mason. 
 
 " For a dentist or a mason? " queried Ban- 
 borough. " I don't understand." 
 
 " Well, anyway, he said something about 
 looking after his old dog's teeth and attend 
 ing to his tiles." 
 
 Cecil exploded in a burst of laughter, say 
 ing: 
 
 " That's only the architectural jargon, man. 
 You must play the game." 
 
 " Oh, I see," said the actor. " It's about his 
 ramshackle old church. Well, I'll do my
 
 158 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 best " But his assurances were cut short by 
 the flow of his Lordship's conversation. 
 
 " As I was saying, Mr. Spotts," he contin 
 ued, " I should be much interested to hear 
 your American views on the subject of a clere 
 story." 
 
 " Sure," replied the actor, plunging reck 
 lessly. " I always believe in having four clear 
 stories at least, and in New York and Chi 
 cago we run 'em up as high as " But here 
 a premonitory kick from Cecil brought his 
 speech to an abrupt termination. 
 
 " Most astonishing," commented his Lord 
 ship. " I've never heard of more than one." 
 
 " Oh, our Western churches are chock-full 
 of new wrinkles." 
 
 " Of new what? I don't understand. An 
 other cup of tea for you, Mrs. Mackintosh? 
 Certainly. We must pursue this subject at 
 leisure, Mr. Spotts." 
 
 The party now turned their attention to the 
 repast, and the Bishop proceeded to devote 
 himself to Mrs. Mackintosh. 
 
 " I'm afraid," he said, when he had seen her
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 159 
 
 sufficiently fortified with tea containing a due 
 allowance of sugar, and supplemented by a 
 plateful of cake which he had ordered to be 
 brought as a practical substitute for the 
 scriptural calf " I'm afraid you will find our 
 simple life at Blanford very dull." 
 
 " Dear sakes, no! " said that lady, hitching 
 her chair up closer to the Bishop for a confi 
 dential chat an action on her part which 
 elicited a flashing glance of disapproval from 
 Miss Matilda. 
 
 " I've heard all about you," she went on, 
 " from your son Cecil. You don't mind if I 
 call him Cecil, do you? for I'm almost old 
 enough to be his mother. Well, as I was say 
 ing, when he told me about the cathedral and 
 the beeches and the rooks and you, all being 
 here, hundreds of years old " 
 
 " Excuse me, madam," said his Lordship, 
 " I'm hardly as aged as that." 
 
 " Of course I didn't mean you, stupid! 
 How literal you English are! " 
 
 It is highly probable that in all the sixty 
 years of his well-ordered existence the Bishop
 
 160 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 of Blanford had never been called " stupid " 
 by anybody. He gasped, and the episcopal 
 cross, and even the heavy gold chain by which 
 it depended from his neck, were unduly agi 
 tated. Then he decided that he liked it, and 
 determined to continue the conversation. 
 
 "When I thought of all that," said Mrs. 
 Mackintosh, " I said to your son: ' Cecil,' said 
 I, ' your father's like that old board fence in 
 my back yard; he needs a coat of whitewash 
 to freshen him up, and I'm going over to put 
 it on.' " 
 
 "Cromwell," remarked the Bishop, "applied 
 enough whitewash to Blanford to last it for 
 several centuries. Indeed, we've not succeed 
 ed in restoring all the frescoes yet." 
 
 " Nonsense, man," said Mrs. Mackintosh, 
 " you don't see the point at all. Now what do 
 you take when your liver's out of order? " 
 
 " Really, madam," faltered the Bishop, 
 thoroughly aghast at this new turn in the con 
 versation, " I er generally consult my med 
 ical adviser." 
 
 "Well, you shouldn't!" said Mrs. Mackin-
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 161 
 
 tosh with determination. " You should take 
 what we call in my country a pick-me-up. 
 Now I said to your son: ' I'm going to be a 
 mental and moral pick-me-up for your father. 
 What he needs is a new point of view. If you 
 don't take care, he'll fossilise, and you'll have 
 to put him in the British Museum.' ' 
 
 The Bishop's reflections during this con 
 versation were many and varied. What he 
 was pleased to term his inner moral conscious 
 ness told him he ought to be shocked at its 
 flippancy; the rest of his mental make-up was 
 distinctly refreshed. Besides, a certain tension 
 in the social atmosphere suggested that Miss 
 Matilda was about to go forth to battle, so he 
 smiled graciously, saying: 
 
 " It's certainly very considerate of you to 
 undertake all this on my account, but I should 
 not like to be in any one's debt, and I hardly 
 see how I can repay my obligations." 
 
 " I'm just coming to that," said Mrs. Mack 
 intosh. " I don't say that I shouldn't be doing 
 a Christian act by taking you in hand, but I'm 
 free to admit that I've a personal interest in
 
 1 62 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 the matter, for you're the one man in England 
 I most wanted to meet." 
 
 " But what can there possibly be about 
 me " began the Bishop. 
 
 " It isn't about you," replied his guest. 
 " It's about Jonah." 
 
 " Josephus," broke in the harsh voice of his 
 sister, " the bell of the mission chapel has 
 been ringing for some time." 
 
 The Bishop drew a long breath and formed 
 a mighty resolve. At last he had met a person 
 who took an intelligent interest in Jonah, a 
 Biblical character to whose history he had de 
 voted exhaustive research. It was a golden 
 opportunity not to be let slip. So, turning to 
 his sister and looking her squarely in the eyes, 
 he replied boldly that he was quite aware of 
 the fact. 
 
 " If you do not go at once you'll be late," 
 remarked that lady. 
 
 " I've not the slightest intention of going 
 at all," said the Bishop. " I'm talking to Mrs. 
 Mackintosh, who is, it seems, much interested 
 in Jonah."
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 163 
 
 There came a sound as of spluttering from 
 the upraised tea-cup of Professor Tyba 1 t 
 Smith, and Miss Matilda gave a distinctly ag 
 gressive sniff. 
 
 " If you're not going, Josephus," she re 
 torted, " I must send word to one of the chap 
 lains, though after what you had said I natur 
 ally " But there she paused, arrested by the 
 incredible fact that for the first time in her 
 experience her brother was not listening to 
 what she was saying. Her silence command 
 ed his attention. 
 
 " Oh," he replied, looking up vacantly, " do 
 what you think proper," and turned again to 
 Mrs. Mackintosh, who proceeded placidly with 
 her theme. 
 
 " Of course/' she said,, " you hear a lot 
 about seeing with the eye of faith, but I like to 
 see with the eye of understanding, too, and I 
 never yet sat under a preacher who was what 
 I should call ' up to Jonah.' I read your book 
 when it came out. It was one of the prizes 
 they offered for selling on commission fifty 
 packets of Tinker's Tannin Tea, and I've been
 
 1 64 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 wild to meet you ever since. I have been 
 a-whaling, so to speak, for years, but I expect 
 you to carry me safely into port." 
 
 " Madam," said the Bishop, " you over 
 whelm me." He was immensely flattered by 
 her appreciative, if outspoken, commendation. 
 " I'm now," he continued, " at work on a set 
 of supplementary sermons on this very sub 
 ject; and if it wouldn't be imposing too much 
 on your good nature to let me read them to 
 you, or parts of them they embrace some 
 six hundred pages." 
 
 Mrs. Mackintosh looked at him regret 
 fully. 
 
 " Isn't there any more than that? " she said. 
 " I wanted three volumes at least." 
 
 The Bishop beamed with gratification. 
 
 " I trust," he replied, " that they'll be 
 worthy of your attention. But my treatment 
 of the subject is er slightly doctrinal, and 
 perhaps you're not a member of the Church 
 of England." 
 
 " Well, no," said Mrs. Mackintosh. " I 
 can't say as I am. I was baptised a Methodist,
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 165 
 
 brought up in a Roman Catholic convent, 
 finished at a Presbyterian boarding-school, 
 and married before a Justice of the Peace to a 
 Unitarian, and since I've been a widow I've 
 attended a Baptist church regularly; but I 
 don't believe I'd mind a few weeks of an 
 Episcopalian, specially seeing he's a Bishop, 
 which I haven't experienced before." 
 
 " I shall endeavour to do my best, madam," 
 said his Lordship. " Perhaps I may even 
 lead you in time " 
 
 " Well, I shouldn't be surprised but what 
 you might," replied Mrs. Mackintosh, " but 
 I mustn't take up all your time. I want you to 
 know my little friend Miss Arminster. She's 
 one of the nicest girls that ever was." 
 
 " I shall be delighted," said his Lordship. 
 "Arminster," he continued reflectively. " Does 
 she come from the Arminsters of Shrop 
 shire? " 
 
 Mrs. Mackintosh laughed. 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know," she replied, " but 
 from the way her friends speak of her, you'd 
 think she came from Noah's Ark."
 
 1 66 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 11 Dear me! " said the Bishop. " That's very 
 curious." 
 
 " They call her the Leopard," she went on, 
 " and I must say for my part that I'm 'most 
 as fond of the Leopard as I am of Jonah's 
 whale." And she rose and joined the group 
 about the tea-table, for she did not wish to 
 try Miss Matilda's patience too far. 
 
 " I don't know what you'll think of our quiet 
 life. I fear it'll seem very strange to you," 
 said his Lordship, addressing himself to Miss 
 Arminster. 
 
 " I think it'll be jolly," she replied promptly, 
 looking up at him playfully to see whether he 
 would bear chaffing, " and," she added, after 
 due deliberation, " I think you're a dear, and 
 your uniform is just sweet. I always did love 
 a uniform. I used to be awfully gone, as a 
 child, on a policeman at the corner of our 
 block, but you're much more nicely dressed 
 than he was." 
 
 His Lordship started to say something 
 crushing in regard to the sanctity of ecclesias 
 tical trappings, but another glance at the be-
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 167 
 
 witching little figure that confronted him 
 caused him to remark instead that he was glad 
 she approved of him, and that he would try 
 to take better care of her than even a guardian 
 of the law. 
 
 " Oh, I'm afraid I've said something shock 
 ing! " she exclaimed in a delightfully naive 
 manner, " and I did mean to be so good and 
 decorous. I'm sure I'll need a lot of teach- 
 ing." 
 
 " I shall be delighted to undertake the 
 task," he replied gallantly. " Suppose we be 
 gin by going to evensong. Would you like 
 to do so? " 
 
 " Rather," she returned; " but I'm afraid," 
 looking at her travelling-costume, " that I'm 
 hardly dressed for the part I mean the oc 
 casion." 
 
 "Dear me!" said the Bishop, scrutinizing 
 her keenly, " it seems to be a very pretty 
 gown." 
 
 " Oh, that's all right," she said. " Then 
 we'll go at once."
 
 1 68 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " So we shall," he replied, " and you shall 
 sit in the stalls." 
 
 " How jolly! " she exclaimed. " I almost 
 always have to sit in the balcony." 
 
 " Really? " said his Lordship. " You don't 
 say so. But from what Mr. Spotts says, I 
 should judge that the architecture of Ameri 
 can churches was novel." And they walked 
 across the lawn to the cathedral. 
 
 A few moments later, Miss Matilda, having 
 dismissed her guests to their rooms, found 
 herself alone with her nephew. 
 
 " Well," she said, turning on him sharply, 
 " perhaps at last you'll condescend to tell me 
 who these friends of yours are? " 
 
 " They're a party of ladies and gentlemen 
 with whom I've been travelling in America," 
 Cecil replied. " And as we'd agreed to join 
 forces for the rest of the summer, I'd no op 
 tion but to invite them here as my guests. 
 The gentlemen I've already introduced to 
 you" 
 
 "Oh, the gentlemen!" snapped his aunt.
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 169 
 
 " I've no concern about them. It's the women 
 I" 
 
 " The ladies, Aunt Matilda." 
 
 " The ladies, then. Your father, in what 
 he is pleased to call his wisdom, has seen fit 
 to allow you to introduce these persons into 
 his house. I'm sure I hope he won't regret it! 
 But I must insist on knowing something about 
 the people whom I'm entertaining." 
 
 " As I've told you already," he replied very 
 quietly, " they're ladies whom I've met in 
 America. I might also add that they've good 
 manners and are uniformly courteous." 
 
 Miss Matilda tilted her nose till its tip 
 pointed straight at the spire of the cathedral, 
 and, without any reply, swept past him into 
 the house. 
 
 Dinner, that night, in spite of his aunt's 
 efforts to 'the contrary, was an unqualified suc 
 cess. The Bishop hailed with joy any inter 
 ruption in the monotony of his daily life, and 
 made himself most agreeable, while his guests 
 seconded him to the best of their ability. 
 
 The meal being over, his Lordship proposed
 
 170 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 a rubber of whist, a relaxation of which he was 
 very fond, but which, in the reduced state of 
 his family, he was seldom able to enjoy. Mrs. 
 Mackintosh and Smith, as the two best play 
 ers of the party, expressed themselves as will 
 ing to take a hand, and Miss Matilda made up 
 the fourth. 
 
 " You'll excuse me," said his Lordship 
 apologetically to Mrs. Mackintosh, " if we 
 play only for threepenny points. Were I a 
 curate I could play for sixpence, but in my 
 position the stakes are necessarily limited." 
 
 " You don't ever mean to say," exclaimed 
 the old lady, " that you're a gambling 
 Bishop!" 
 
 " My brother," interrupted Miss Matilda, 
 " is a pattern of upright living to his day and 
 generation. But of course if you're incapable 
 of understanding the difference between a sin 
 ful wager of money and the few pence neces 
 sary to keep up the interest of the game " 
 
 " Gambling is gambling, to my mind," said 
 Mrs. Mackintosh, " whether you play for dol 
 lars or doughnuts! "
 
 MRS. MACKINTOSH ADMIRES JONAH. 171 
 
 " The point seems well taken," remarked 
 the Bishop meditatively. " It's certainly never 
 struck me in that light before; but if you 
 think" 
 
 " I think," said the old lady decidedly, " that 
 it's lucky for you that there are no whales in 
 Blanford!" 
 
 Miss Matilda threw down her cards. 
 
 " If I'm to be called a gambler under my 
 own brother's roof," she said, " I shall refuse 
 to play. Besides I've a headache." And she 
 rose majestically from the table. 
 
 " But, my dear," began the Bishop meekly, 
 " if we cannot find a fourth hand " 
 
 " If Miss Banborough doesn't feel up to 
 playing," came the sweet tones of Violet's 
 voice, " I'll be delighted to take her place." 
 And a moment later she was ensconced at the 
 table. 
 
 The Bishop's sister retired to a corner with 
 the largest and most aggressive volume of 
 sermons she could find, and sniffed loudly at 
 intervals all the evening. And when at ten 
 o'clock, in response to the summons of an
 
 1 72 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 impressive functionary clad in black and bear 
 ing a wand surmounted by a silver cross, the 
 little party filed out to evening devotions in 
 the chapel, Miss Matilda gathered her skirts 
 around her as if she feared contagion. 
 
 " I'm afraid of that old cat," Mrs. Mackin 
 tosh confided to Violet, when they had 
 reached the haven of their apartments. " I'm 
 sure she suspects us already; and if we're not 
 careful, she'll find us out."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN WHICH THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 
 
 " I SAY, boss," remarked the tramp, as he 
 paused for a moment in the process of stuff 
 ing himself to repletion with cold game-pie, 
 " this is a rum trip, and no mistake." 
 
 " What's that got to do with you? " retorted 
 Marchmont sharply, appropriating the re 
 maining fragments of the pasty to his own 
 use. 
 
 The two men were seated in the shady angle 
 of a ruined buttress, a porton of a stately ab 
 bey, which in pre-Norman days had flourished 
 at a spot some half-dozen miles from the site 
 of Blanford. 
 
 "Well," said the tramp, "if this ain't a 
 wild-goose chase I dunno what you calls it. 
 Here you've gone an' took me away from my 
 happy home, an' brought me across the ragin' 
 
 173
 
 174 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Atlantic, an' dumped me in a moth-eaten little 
 village where there ain't nothin' fit to drink, 
 all because I happened to chum with a 
 Bishop." 
 
 " You seem to forget," said Marchmont, 
 " that it was you who came to me, offering to 
 sell your friends and their secrets for a suffi 
 cient remuneration." 
 
 "So I did," said the tramp; " but it was 
 revenge, that's what it was revenge. I was 
 deserted in a furrin land, with just my board- 
 bill paid, and not a penny to bless myself 
 with." 
 
 " Ah," said Marchmont. " That's the rea 
 son, I suppose, why you came from Montreal 
 to New York in a parlour car." 
 
 The tramp sighed despondently, saying: 
 
 " Now whoever told you that, boss? " 
 
 " Nobody. I found the Pullman check in 
 your coat-pocket when I was looking for my 
 diamond ring, which you'd absent-mindedly 
 placed there." 
 
 "Humph!" replied the other. "There 
 ain't no foolin' you! "
 
 THE ENEMY AR.RIYES. 175 
 
 " I should be a pretty poor journalist if 
 there were," said his employer. " Now give 
 me the story again, and see if you can get it 
 straight." 
 
 " Well, there ain't nothin' much to tell, 
 'cept I was carried off by them Spanish con 
 spirators in mistake for a lady, which I in no 
 wise resembles, an' the bloke as was the head 
 of the gang was allus called the Bishop, and 
 a pretty rum Bishop he was." 
 
 " Never mind about his qualifications," in 
 terrupted Marchmont shortly; adding to him 
 self, " That explains his son's presence in 
 Montreal." 
 
 " Well, this Bishop," continued the tramp, 
 "used to talk about his palace at Blanford; 
 and when the party give me the go-by, I 
 gathered from the porter as took their traps 
 that they'd gone to England; and the ele 
 vator-boy, he heard the Bishop say to the little 
 actress as they'd be as safe at the palace as 
 they would anywhere. And then I come on 
 to New York and blew it into you." 
 
 " Yes," said Marchmont, " and I've given
 
 176 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 you a first-class passage to England, paid your 
 board and lodging, and kept you full for the 
 best part of three weeks; and what do I get 
 out of it? " 
 
 " I admit as we haven't had much results as 
 yet," said the tramp. " But now things is 
 goin' to hum. The Bishop and his whole 
 gang's coming over to these very ruins to 
 day." 
 
 " How did you find that out? " demanded 
 the journalist. 
 
 " Footman up to the palace told me. I give 
 him a little jamboree last night at the ' Three 
 Jolly Sailor-boys.'" 
 
 " Yes, and had to be carried home dead- 
 drunk. Nice one you are to keep a secret." 
 
 " Well, I was only a-doin' me duty," said 
 the tramp in an aggrieved tone of voice, " and 
 if they don't know you're after 'em, and you 
 should happen to be inspectin' the ruins at the 
 same time as they are, you could get chummy 
 with 'em without half tryin'." 
 
 " I'll attend to that," said the newspaper 
 man. " I've just had a cable from the Daily
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 177 
 
 Leader telling me to hustle if I want to get 
 that position, and I've got to do something, 
 and do it quick. But it'll never do for you to 
 be seen. Once they know we're together, the 
 game's up. I can't have you larking round 
 with the servants either. You'll spoil the 
 whole show. You've got to go back to Dull- 
 hampton this afternoon." 
 
 "What! that little one-horse fishing- 
 town? " 
 
 " Yes, that's where you're wanted. It's the 
 nearest port to Blanford, and it's where they'll 
 try and get out of the country if they're hard 
 pressed. You just stay there and keep your 
 eyes open till you hear from me." 
 
 The tramp growled surlily, and reluctantly 
 prepared to obey. 
 
 " Now, then," said Marchmont shortly, 
 " get a move on. Yes, you can take the prov 
 ender with you. It'll help to keep your mouth 
 shut." 
 
 As the tramp slouched round the corner and 
 out of sight, his master stretched himself com 
 fortably on the ground, and supporting his
 
 178 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 head on one arm, with his straw hat tilted over 
 his eyes to protect them from the sun, he pro 
 ceeded to go peacefully to sleep. 
 
 .Scarcely had the journalist composed him 
 self to slumber, when the ruins were invaded 
 by the party from the palace. It was now 
 about a month since Cecil and his friends had 
 arrived at Blanford, and though this expedi 
 tion to the old abbey had been often discussed, 
 one thing and another had intervened to pre 
 vent its being put into execution. 
 
 After her first burst of antagonism, Miss 
 Matilda had settled down to a formal hospital 
 ity which was, if anything, more disconcert 
 ing. Tybalt Smith alone had achieved a 
 favourable position in her eyes, and this only 
 as the result of a very considerable amount of 
 flattery and attention. At first his friends 
 were at a loss to account for his attitude, but 
 as time went on it appeared that the tragedian 
 had not exerted himself for nothing. " The 
 dear Professor " frequently had his breakfast 
 in bed when he was too lazy to get up, and 
 Miss Matilda considered the delicate state of
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 179 
 
 his health required the daily stimulus of a 
 pint of champagne. He also had the ex 
 clusive use of her victoria in the afternoon, and 
 even if this did necessitate an occasional at 
 tendance at missionary meetings and penny 
 readings, it was after all but a fair return for 
 value received. On this occasion he had 
 begged off going to the picnic, and was spend 
 ing a luxurious day at the palace, waited on 
 by the Bishop's sister. 
 
 The party, having arrived at the abbey, 
 promptly separated to explore the ruins, his 
 Lordship gallantly offering to play the part of 
 cicerone to the ladies. Miss Violet, however, 
 for reasons of her own, preferred seclusion 
 and a quiet chat with Spotts to any amount 
 of architectural antiquities, so her host was 
 enabled to devote his entire time to Mrs. 
 Mackintosh. 
 
 " Does it strike you," remarked the Bishop, 
 a few moments later, pausing in his wander 
 ings to inspect critically a fragment of Roman 
 brick " does it strike you how absolutely 
 peaceful this spot is? "
 
 i8o HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Well," returned Mrs. Mackintosh, " I 
 don't know as it does. I should have said 
 your palace was about as good a sample of 
 all-round peacefulness as there is going." 
 
 " Ha," said his Lordship, '*' it hadn't oc 
 curred to me." 
 
 " That's just like you men. You never 
 know when you're well off. Now with your 
 palace and Jonah you ought to be content." 
 
 The Bishop sighed. 
 
 " Dear lady," he said, " I admit my faults. 
 The palace I indeed possess temporarily, but 
 Jonah ah, what would Jonah be without you ! 
 If I have left my work once in the past month 
 to ask your advice, I have left it a hundred 
 times." 
 
 " You have," admitted Mrs. Mackintosh 
 with decision. 
 
 " Then it is to you that Jonah owes his debt 
 of gratitude, not to me. You have lightened 
 my labour in more senses of the word than 
 one." 
 
 " Well, I've had a very pleasant visit. Blan- 
 ford's a little paradise."
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 181 
 
 The Bishop sighed again, and remarked: 
 
 " Paradise I have always regarded as being 
 peaceful." 
 
 " Yes," acquiesced his companion reflect 
 ively, " with all that Jonah went through, I 
 don't remember as he had an unmarried sis 
 ter." 
 
 There was silence for a moment, and then 
 his Lordship abruptly changed the subject. 
 
 " What a charming, bright, fresh young life 
 is Miss Arminster's! She dances through the 
 world like like er " And he paused for 
 a simile. 
 
 " Like a grasshopper," suggested Mrs. 
 Mackintosh, with marked disapproval in her 
 tones. The Bishop had a trivial, not to say 
 frivolous, strain in his nature which seemed 
 to her hardly in accord with his exalted posi 
 tion. 
 
 " No, dear lady," objected his Lordship, 
 " not a grasshopper. Decidedly not a grass 
 hopper; say like a ray of sunshine." 
 
 " Violet's a good girl," remarked his com 
 panion, " a very good girl, but in most things
 
 1 82 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 she is still a child, and the serious side of life 
 doesn't appeal to her. I dare say she'd go to 
 sleep if you read to her about Jonah." 
 
 "She did," admitted the Bishop; "but 
 then of course," he added, wishing to palliate 
 the offence, " it was a very hot day. I sup 
 pose, however, you are right. Serious things 
 do not interest her and that is I should say 
 we are serious." 
 
 " I am," said Mrs. Mackintosh, " and at 
 your time of life you ought to be; and if we 
 stand here any longer looking at that chunk 
 of brick in the broiling sun, we'll both be as 
 red as a couple of beets." 
 
 No amount of sentiment could be proof 
 against a statement of this sort, and they 
 moved on. 
 
 Violet and Spotts had meantime sat them 
 selves down on a convenient tombstone to 
 while away the interval till luncheon was 
 served. 
 
 " There are lots of things I want to talk to 
 you about, Alvy," began the little actress, 
 " and I never get the chance."
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 183 
 
 " Well, fire away," he replied. " You've 
 got it now." 
 
 " In the first place," she said, " I don't like 
 the way things are going here." 
 
 " At the palace, you mean? " 
 
 " Yes. We're not aboveboard. We're 
 shamming all the while. Besides, we're doing 
 nothing in our profession." 
 
 " It's better than doing time in prison." 
 
 " It isn't straightforward, and I don't like 
 it," she went on. 
 
 "Neither do I," he returned; "but there 
 are other things I like less." 
 
 " Such as? " 
 
 " Well, people falling in love with you, for 
 instance." 
 
 " Oh, Cecil. He received his conge before 
 we left America." 
 
 " I said people" 
 
 " You don't mean the Bishop? " 
 
 Spotts nodded. 
 
 " But he's such a dear funny old thing! " 
 she cried.
 
 1 84 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " What's that got to do with it? " 
 
 " Why, he might be my grandfather." 
 
 " He's as frisky as a two-year-old," re 
 marked the actor. 
 
 " And finally," continued Violet, not notic 
 ing the interruption, " his old cat of a sister 
 wouldn't let him." 
 
 " Worms have turned, and straws have 
 broken camels' backs before now," persisted 
 Spotts. 
 
 " Don't you call me names, sir! Worms 
 and straws, indeed! What next, I should like 
 to know! " 
 
 " If you don't take care, you'll be called his 
 Lordship's ' leopard.' ' 
 
 She burst out laughing. 
 
 " Nonsense! " she cried. " Why, I actually 
 believe you're becoming jealous." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," he said. " I'd trust you, 
 little girl, through thick and thin." 
 
 " I know you would, Alvy, and I'd rather 
 marry you well, ten times, before I'd marry 
 a lord or a bishop once." 
 
 "I know it, old girl, I know it!" cried
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 185 
 
 Spotts ecstatically, and slipped his arm round 
 her waist. 
 
 " Oh, do be careful," she protested. " Just 
 think, if any one should see us! I'm sure I 
 heard a footstep behind us." 
 
 They looked up, and saw Cecil above them, 
 standing on the sill of an old ruined window. 
 
 He had not heard their words, but he had 
 seen Spotts's embrace, and realised bitterly 
 how little chance he stood against such a com 
 bination of Apollo and Roscius. 
 
 The month which had intervened since his 
 return to Blanford had not been an altogether 
 happy time for the Bishop's son. The pain of 
 Miss Arminster's refusal still rankled within 
 him, and that young lady's actions had not 
 done much to soothe it. Had she comported 
 herself with a resigned melancholy, he could 
 have borne his own sufferings with fortitude. 
 But, on the contrary, she had, he considered, 
 flirted most outrageously with Mr. Spotts. In 
 deed Cecil was already strongly of the opinion 
 that the actor was trying to succeed where 
 he had failed a course of action which he.
 
 1 86 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOP4RD. 
 
 thought quite justifiable on his, Banborough's, 
 part, but highly reprehensible on the part of 
 any one else. Matters had now culminated. 
 Fate had brought the three together at this 
 inopportune moment, and as it was manifestly 
 impossible not to say something, Cecil laid 
 himself out to be agreeable, and Miss Armin- 
 ster, who was naturally aware of the awkward 
 ness of his position, did her best to promote 
 conversation, while Spotts almost immedi 
 ately cut the Gordian knot by excusing him 
 self on the plea of looking after the lunch. 
 
 "Well," she said, "what's the latest news 
 from Spain? " 
 
 " It seems to me that the war must be al 
 most over," he replied. " Now that Santiago's 
 fallen, and Cervera's fleet's destroyed, Spain 
 has no alternative but to yield." 
 
 " Ah," she murmured, " then we'll be free 
 once more." 
 
 " Has your exile been so irksome to you? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Oh," she returned, " I didn't mean it that 
 way, really. Believe me, I'm not ungrateful.
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 187 
 
 Blanford's just sweet, and your father's an old 
 dear." 
 
 " Yes," he retorted, laughing. " I notice 
 you're doing your best to usurp Mrs. Mackin 
 tosh's place in his affections." 
 
 " That's not from pique, it's from charity," 
 she replied. " I've been trying to rescue her 
 from Jonah." 
 
 " I'm afraid my governor must be an awful 
 bore," he said. 
 
 " Oh, but he's so sweet and simple with it 
 all," she objected. " I'm really growing to be 
 awfully fond of him." 
 
 " I think he's growing to be awfully fond of 
 you," said his son. 
 
 Miss Arminster laughed merrily. 
 
 " Don't you fancy me as a step-mamma? " 
 she queried. " But, joking apart, I'm afraid 
 even Blanford would pall on me after a while. 
 It isn't my first visit here, you see. I was on a 
 tour through these counties three years ago." 
 
 " That's how you came to know about my 
 father, I suppose." 
 
 " Yes," she said. " I had him pointed out
 
 1 88 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 to me, and you look a good deal alike. Be 
 sides, the name's not common." 
 
 " I'm glad you liked Blanford well enough 
 to come back to it." 
 
 " Oh," she returned, looking up at him with 
 a roguish smile, " this section of the country 
 has other associations for me." 
 
 " I was waiting for that," he retorted. " In 
 which of the neighbouring towns were you 
 married? " 
 
 " The one nearest here," she replied. " I 
 think we can just see the spire of the church 
 over the trees. But how did you know? " 
 
 " I inferred it as a matter of course," he said 
 banteringly, " but I'm only joking." 
 
 " But I'm not," she returned. 
 
 " Do you really mean that you were married 
 over there? " he asked, pointing to the distant 
 church. 
 
 " Yes," she replied. " The third of June, 
 1895." 
 
 " I say, you know," he said, " I think you 
 might have married me once in a way, as I 
 had asked you."
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 189 
 
 " Mr. Banborough," she replied stiffly, 
 drawing herself up, " you forget your 
 self." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he returned humbly. 
 " Only as American divorce laws are so lax, 
 I thought" 
 
 " The divorce laws of my country are a dis 
 grace, and nothing would ever induce me to 
 avail myself of them. Besides, marriage, to 
 me, is a very serious and solemn matter, and 
 I can't permit you to speak about it flippantly, 
 even by way of a joke." 
 
 Cecil picked up a handful of pebbles and 
 began throwing them meditatively at the 
 fragment of an adjacent arch. The more he 
 saw of Miss Arminster, the greater mystery 
 she became. By her own admission, she had 
 been married at least half a dozen times, 
 which, were he to accept as real the high moral 
 standard which she always assumed, must im 
 ply a frightful mortality among her husbands. 
 But then she neither seemed flippant nor shal 
 low, and her serious attitude towards the sac 
 rament of marriage appeared wholly incom-
 
 19 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 patible with a matrimonial experience which 
 might have caused a Mormon to shudder. 
 Anyway, she wasn't going to marry him, and 
 he turned to the discussion of more fruitful 
 subjects. 
 
 " How's Spotts getting on with his studies 
 in architecture? " he asked. 
 
 " I should think he'd learned a good deal," 
 she replied. " Your father hasn't left a stone 
 of his own cathedral unexplained, and I im 
 agine he'll put him through his paces over this 
 abbey." 
 
 " Poor Spotts! I'm afraid he's had a hard 
 row to hoe," said Cecil; "but, anyway, it'll 
 keep him out of mischief." 
 
 " You must be very careful what you say 
 about him to me," she replied. " I won't hear 
 one word against him, for we're very old 
 friends." 
 
 " So I should infer," he retorted, " from 
 what I've just seen. 7 never was allowed to 
 put my arm " 
 
 " How dare you! " she cried, rising, really 
 angry this time. " I Then turning to the
 
 THE ENEMY ARR1YES. 19* 
 
 Bishop, who arrived very opportunely, she ex 
 claimed: 
 
 " Won't you rescue me, please? Your son's 
 becoming awfully impertinent! " 
 
 " Then," said his Lordship gallantly, " my 
 son must be taught better manners. If he 
 cannot show himself worthy of such a charm 
 ing companion, we'll punish him by leaving 
 him entirely alone." 
 
 Certainly his father was coming on, thought 
 Cecil. But if Miss Arminster tried to take ad 
 vantage of his dotage to forge another link 
 in her matrimonial chain, he, Banborough, 
 would have a word to say on the subject. 
 
 " I wish to tell you, my dear," began his 
 Lordship as they walked away, leaving Cecil 
 disconsolate, " of a very nice invitation I've 
 received for the rest of the week. Lord Down- 
 ton is to call for me in his yacht at Dullhamp- 
 ton to-morrow, and has asked me to join his 
 party and to bring some lady with me to make 
 the number even." 
 
 " Oh, how jolly that'll be for Miss Ma 
 tilda!" said the artful Violet.
 
 I9 2 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Humph! ye-es," replied the Bishop. " I 
 hardly think my sister could leave the palace 
 just at this time." 
 
 " Perhaps," suggested his guest, " yachting 
 doesn't agree with her. Has she ever tried it 
 before? " 
 
 " She has," replied the Bishop, with a cer 
 tain asperity. 
 
 " Ah, poor thing! " said Miss Arminster. 
 " It must have taken away from your pleasure 
 to feel that she was suffering such great dis 
 comfort on your account." 
 
 " Lord Downton didn't specify my sister. 
 He only said ' some lady '; and so I thought 
 if you" 
 
 " Oh, that's just sweet of you! " exclaimed 
 his companion. " I'm sure I should adore 
 yachting. It's something I've always wanted 
 to do." 
 
 ' Then we'll consider it settled," said the 
 Bishop. 
 
 " But Miss Matilda? " 
 
 " Ah, yes," admitted his Lordship. " That's 
 just the trouble. You see my dilemma."
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 193 
 
 ^ 
 
 "Of course!" Violet responded promptly, 
 understanding that he wished to be helped 
 out. " If your sister knew you were going, 
 she'd feel it her duty to accompany you, and 
 the trip would be spoilt for you by her suffer 
 ings. So, out of your affection for her, you 
 think it would be better if we were just quietly 
 to slip off to-morrow and send her a wire from 
 Dullhampton." 
 
 The Bishop was delighted. Miss Matilda 
 never accepted him at his own valuation. 
 
 " So, just on your account," continued his 
 companion demurely, " I won't say a word, 
 though I hate any form of concealment." 
 
 " H'm naturally," said the Bishop. 
 
 " But since it's for your dear sister's sake " 
 
 " We'll take the eleven-fifty train to-mor 
 row," replied his Lordship. 
 
 And here his remarks were cut short from 
 the fact that in suddenly rounding a corner he 
 had planted his foot on the recumbent form 
 of Marchmont. 
 
 "Hullo!" said that gentleman, sitting up, 
 and adding, as he rubbed his eyes to get them
 
 194 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 wider open, " permit me to inform you that 
 this part of the ground is strictly preserved." 
 
 " Who are you, sir? " demanded the Bishop. 
 
 " Come," said the stranger cheerfully, 
 " we'll make a bargain. I'll tell you who you 
 are, if you'll tell me who I am." 
 
 " I do not see how that is possible " began 
 his Lordship. 
 
 "Well, I'll begin," said Marchmont. 
 " You're the Bishop of Blanford and I'm your 
 son's greatest benefactor." 
 
 " Really, you surprise me. May I enquire 
 how you've benefited him? " 
 
 " I made the fame of his book, ' The Purple 
 Kangaroo.' I've been sending you my edi 
 torials on the subject for some weeks 
 past." 
 
 " Are you the person who wrote those 
 scandalous leaders which have been forwarded 
 to me from America? " demanded the Bishop. 
 
 " I thought you'd remember them," said 
 the journalist. " They're eye-openers, aren't 
 they?" 
 
 His Lordship drew himself up and put on
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 195 
 
 his most repressive manner, but Marchmont 
 babbled on serenely. 
 
 " The last time I saw Cecil he said to me: 
 ' Whenever you come to England, March 
 mont, you just drop round to the palace, and 
 we'll make things hum.' So, having a chance 
 for a little vacation, I jumped on board a 
 steamer, crossed to Southampton, and biked 
 up-country, doing these ruins on the way. I 
 meant to have presented myself at the palace 
 this afternoon in due form and a swallow- 
 tailed coat, but I'm just as much pleased to 
 see you as if I'd been regularly introduced." 
 
 " You're one of the most consummate liars 
 I ever knew," remarked Cecil, who, hearing 
 voices, had strolled over to see what it was all 
 about. 
 
 " Put it more mildly, my dear fellow," re 
 plied the American. " Call me a journalist, 
 and spare your father's feelings." 
 
 " Well, now you're here, what do you in 
 tend to do? " demanded Banborough. 
 
 "Do?" said Marchmont. "Why, I'm 
 going to put up for a week at your ' Pink Pig,'
 
 196 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 or your ' Azure Griffin,' or whatever kind of 
 nondescript-coloured animal your local hostel 
 ry boasts, and study your charming cathedral. 
 But, in the first place, I think we'd better 
 have some lunch. I'm as hungry as a bear." 
 
 " I fear we've scarcely provided for an extra 
 guest," returned Cecil frigidly. The journalist 
 was the very last person he wanted to see at 
 Blanford, and he did not take any pains to dis 
 guise the fact. 
 
 Marchmont, however, was not to be 
 snubbed, and remarking cheerfully that there 
 was always enough for one more, calmly pro 
 ceeded in the direction of the hampers. Once 
 there, he constituted himself chef and butler 
 forthwith, and moreover proved so efficient in 
 both capacities that, irritated as his friend was 
 at his self-assurance, he could not but express 
 his appreciation. 
 
 Marchmont, having started the rest of the 
 people on their lunch and made all feel at 
 their ease, turned on his journalistic tap for 
 the benefit of the Bishop, and plied the old 
 gentleman with such a judicious mixture of
 
 THE ENEMY ARRIVES. 19? 
 
 flattery and amusing anecdote that, by the 
 time the repast was over, his Lordship was 
 solemnly assuring his son, much to that young 
 gentleman's disgust, that he was indeed 
 fortunate in possessing such a delightful 
 friend, and that he might invite Mr. March- 
 mont to the palace if he liked. 
 
 " Quite so," said Cecil. " I suppose you re 
 member his article in the Daily Leader, in 
 which he alluded to you as a ' consecrated 
 fossil' ? " 
 
 " H'm! " said the Bishop. " Really, the ac 
 commodation at the inn is very good, and 
 perhaps, with so many guests, it would be ask 
 ing too much of your aunt." 
 
 "What does all this mean?" asked Spotts 
 of Banborough when a convenient opportun 
 ity offered. 
 
 The Bishop's son shrugged his shoulders, 
 replying: 
 
 " It means mischief."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN WHICH PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR 
 DECLARED. 
 
 MARCHMONT stood on the lawn before the 
 palace, on the morning after his arrival, 
 critically inspecting that structure; his feet 
 stretched wide apart, his hands in his pockets, 
 and his hat on the back of his head. 
 
 Cecil, emerging from breakfast, sighted his 
 enemy and made haste to join him. 
 
 " Jolly old rookery you've got," remarked 
 the reporter. 
 
 " Yes," said Banborough. " It was a mon 
 astery originally. They turned it into a 
 bishop's palace about the reign of Henry 
 VIII." 
 
 " I know that style," said the American. 
 " Nice rambling ark, two stories high, and no 
 two rooms on the same level. Architect built 
 
 right out into the country till he got tired, and 
 
 198
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND W 'AR DECLARED. 199 
 
 then turned round and came back. Obliged 
 to have a valet to show you to your room 
 whether you're sober or not." 
 
 " I didn't know," said Cecil drily, " that you 
 possessed an extensive acquaintance in ecclesi 
 astical circles in this country." 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Marchmont, " I served as 
 valet for six months to a bishop while I was 
 gathering materials for my articles on " ' Eng 
 lish Sees Seen from the Inside.' ' 
 
 " Was it a financial success? " queried Ban- 
 borough. 
 
 " No," admitted the reporter regretfully, " it 
 sold the paper splendidly, but was stopped at 
 the second article at the request of the Ameri 
 can ambassador." 
 
 " Did you favour us with a visit? " 
 
 " I hadn't that honour." 
 
 " If you had done so you would probably 
 have slept in the rooms we give to our Ameri 
 can guests in the new part of the house." 
 
 " How old is that? " queried the journalist. 
 
 " About eight hundred years," replied Cecil, 
 " and the walls are four feet thick."
 
 200 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I know," said the reporter. " It's appall 
 ing. That sort of thing always upsets me. It 
 seems so out of keeping with the Daily 
 Leader." 
 
 " Look here, Marchmont, why have you 
 come to Blanford? " demanded Banborough, 
 abruptly changing the conversation. 
 
 " To have the joy of your society," returned 
 the journalist. 
 
 " If that were really the case I'd be delight 
 ed to see you," said the Englishman. " But 
 you're on the track of these unfortunate peo 
 ple who are my guests; and if you make things 
 disagreeable for them I shan't have the 
 slightest compunction in forbidding you the 
 house." 
 
 The American, apparently ignoring the 
 other's frankness, remarked: 
 
 " So you admit they're conspirators? " 
 
 " I admit nothing of the kind. They're per 
 fectly innocent of the charge you bring against 
 them, and you've been making an awful ass 
 of yourself, if you only knew it." 
 
 " Ah, thank you. But if this is the case why
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 201 
 
 didn't you mention the fact to me in Mon 
 treal? " 
 
 " I had my reasons." 
 
 " And why are all these people received as 
 honoured guests in your father's palace? " 
 
 " That, if you'll permit me to say so, March- 
 mont, is a matter that doesn't concern you." 
 
 " Everything concerns me. Not that I ex 
 pect you to see that point of view. But to put 
 it another way. Considering all I've done to 
 increase the sale of your book, won't you do 
 me a good turn and tell me what you know 
 about this affair? " 
 
 " I wish the confounded book had never 
 sold a copy! " burst out Banborough. " And 
 I'll not say one word to the detriment of my 
 friends! " 
 
 " Then it is to be war? " queried the jour 
 nalist, rolling a cigarette. 
 
 " Not so far as I'm concerned," replied his 
 host. " Why don't you let bygones be by 
 gones? A truce between the United States 
 and Spain may be declared any day, and 
 then"
 
 202 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Then my great scoop will be lost for ever. 
 What would the public care about conspira 
 tors if there were no war? " 
 
 " Exactly what I say," said Cecil. " So let's 
 drop the whole matter." 
 
 "Not much!" cried the journalist. "It's 
 my last chance. And if you won't help me 
 why, I must help myself." 
 
 " What do you wish me to do? " 
 
 " Turn 'em out of Blanford." 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 " But your father? " 
 
 " How dare you mention my father's name 
 in this connection? I won't have him dragged 
 into publicity to sell your dirty rag of a news 
 paper! " Cecil exploded, thoroughly beside 
 himself at the thought of such a dreadful pos 
 sibility. 
 
 The journalist nodded his head gravely. 
 Banborough's fierce defence of the Bishop he 
 attributed to far other grounds than those on 
 which it was really based. It justified him to 
 the tramp's suspicions that his Lordship was 
 actually connected with the plot.
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 203 
 
 " Well," he said, with a fair pretence of 
 backing down, " there's no need of getting so 
 hot about it. Of course I don't want to make 
 myself disagreeable." 
 
 " Neither do I," replied his host. " Only 
 we may as well understand each other. You're 
 quite welcome to come to the palace as long 
 as you remember to be a gentleman before 
 you are a journalist. But if you forget it, I'll 
 be forced to treat you as you deserve," and 
 turning on his heel, he left Marchmont chew 
 ing the ends of his sandy moustache with a 
 grim avidity that boded ill for the peace of 
 the Bishop and his household. 
 
 The American told himself that he must 
 work carefully. Banborough would watch 
 him and probably put the others on their 
 guard. And moreover, he would not hesitate 
 to dismiss him from the palace, which, apart 
 from the unpleasantness of the operation, 
 would be well-nigh fatal to the success of the 
 scheme the journalist was maturing. De 
 cidedly the highest caution was essential, but 
 he must work quickly, for there was no time
 
 204 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 to be lost. Marchmont therefore proceeded 
 to pump the first member of the company he 
 came across. This happened to be Spotts, 
 who was in rather a bad humour, the result 
 of a morning spent with the Bishop in the 
 cobwebby heights of a neighbouring church- 
 tower. 
 
 " You're the very person I wanted to see," 
 cried the reporter. 
 
 " I'm afraid I've hardly time to be inter 
 viewed just now," replied the actor shortly. 
 
 " Oh, this isn't professional. I'm off duty 
 sometimes. I'm only human." 
 
 " Oh, are you? I supposed newspaper men 
 were neither the one nor the other." 
 
 " Well, I wanted to talk to you for your own 
 good." 
 
 " Is it as bad as all that? " 
 
 " Of course I know who you really are," 
 pursued the journalist, ignoring the interrup 
 tion. " And I may say confidentially that you 
 and Miss Arminster are not the people of this 
 party I'm after." 
 
 " Ah, that's very thoughtful of you."
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 205 
 
 " So, if I could help you two to slip off 
 quietly " 
 
 " Why include Miss Arminster? " queried 
 Spotts with well-affected surprise. 
 
 " Why? My dear fellow, you don't sup 
 pose I'm quite blind. Any one who follows 
 that lady about with his eyes as you do is 
 naturally Well you understand " 
 
 " I'm afraid your professional acumen is at 
 fault this time," said the actor, and added: 
 " I hope I may never come any nearer being 
 married than I am now." 
 
 " Oh, I say," returned Marchmont; " don't 
 you aspire to be her sixteenth, is it? " 
 
 " You're alluding to Miss Arminster's hus 
 bands? " asked Spotts drily. 
 
 " Oh, I'd a little bet up with a friend," said 
 Marchmont, " that she'd been married at least 
 a baker's dozen times. Ought I to hedge? " 
 
 " I think you're well inside the number," 
 replied the actor. 
 
 " Gad! she must be pretty well acquainted 
 with the divorce courts! " exclaimed the re 
 porter.
 
 206 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I'm quite sure she's never been divorced 
 in her life," returned Spotts. " So long. I'm 
 after a drink." And he left him, thus terminat 
 ing the conversation. 
 
 " Ah," said the journalist to himself, " I bet 
 you're the next in line, just the same." 
 
 Baffled in his first attempt, Marchmont 
 sought other means of information, for there 
 is always a weak spot in every defence, and 
 a man of far less keen perception than the 
 reporter would have had little difficulty in 
 finding the most favourable point of attack. 
 So it is not surprising that after a little cogita 
 tion he went in search of Miss Matilda, whom 
 he had met the day before when he had re 
 turned with the party from the abbey. He 
 found that lady on the lawn knitting socks 
 for the heathen, and deserted for the nonce by 
 the faithful Smith. 
 
 " Dear Miss Banborough," began the jour 
 nalist, sitting down beside her, " what a re 
 proach it is to idle men like myself to see such 
 industry! " 
 
 " It's very kind of you, I'm sure, to notice
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 207 
 
 my humble labours," replied the old lady, ex 
 panding at once under the first word of flat 
 tery. " My brother tells me you're connected 
 with a great newspaper. How ennobling that 
 must be! It gives you such a wide scope for 
 doing good." 
 
 Marchmont, who had hardly adopted jour 
 nalism for this purpose, and was conscious of 
 having done his fair share of mischief in the 
 world, made a desperate effort to look the part 
 assigned to him, and murmuring something 
 about the inspiration, to toilers like himself, 
 of such self-sacrificing lives as hers, abruptly 
 turned the conversation by alluding to the 
 pleasure which she must have felt at her 
 nephew's return. 
 
 " Of course we're very glad to have him 
 back," acceded Miss Matilda. " But then we 
 see little or nothing of him." 
 
 " Naturally," said the journalist, " his days 
 must be given up to his friends. How you 
 must be looking forward to the time when 
 you can have him quite to yourself ! " 
 
 The gleam that came into the old lady's eye
 
 2o8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 at this remark told him that he had not been 
 mistaken in fancying her hostile to the 
 strangers, and he hastened to continue such 
 a fruitful theme, saying: 
 
 " I suppose that, as they've been here a 
 month now, you'll be losing them soon." 
 
 " I can't say," she snapped. " They seem 
 to be staying for an indefinite period." 
 
 " Really? " he replied. " I shouldn't have 
 fancied that your nephew would have found 
 them very congenial. Indeed, if you'll pardon 
 my frankness, I was rather surprised to meet 
 them here." 
 
 Miss Matilda at once gave him her undi 
 vided attention. 
 
 " You knew them in America? " she asked. 
 
 " Of course I knew about them. I was 
 hardly acquainted personally." 
 
 It was his tone rather than his words that 
 lent an unfavourable colour to the remark, but 
 the implication was not lost on the Bishop's 
 sister. Here at last was a man who could 
 give her the information she was most anxious 
 to obtain.
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND IV AR DECLARED. 209 
 
 " I should have supposed," she ventured,, 
 " that you'd have known such very intimate 
 friends of Cecil's as these appear to be." 
 
 " Oh, no," he returned. " New York's a 
 big place. I dare say you know much more 
 about them than I do." 
 
 " I know nothing ! " she burst out. 
 " Strange as it may appear to you, my nephew 
 has never told me one word concerning his 
 guests, though I'm expected to receive them 
 under my his father's roof and introduce 
 them to my friends." 
 
 " I see," replied Marchmont cautiously. 
 " Cecil should have trusted to your excellent 
 discrimination and judgment, unless " and 
 here he paused. 
 
 The position required consideration. It was 
 easy enough to tell her about these people. 
 Merely to say that they were an itinerant com 
 pany of actors and actresses would be suf 
 ficient to ensure them a speedy conge from 
 Blanford. But was it wise to do this? Did 
 he want them to go? A hasty action is often 
 like a boomerang. It returns on the toes of
 
 210 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 the person who thoughtlessly launches it in 
 flight. No, on the whole they had better re 
 main, he told himself. The palace would form 
 an excellent background for the sensational 
 exposure he hoped to make. If he could only 
 get the Bishop into a corner, he would be 
 quite satisfied. 
 
 " Well, what? " she demanded sharply, im 
 patient at his unfinished sentence. 
 
 " Unless," he continued, hedging carefully 
 " unless your nephew felt that it was quite 
 sufficient to have explained things to his 
 father. Doubtless the Bishop knows all about 
 his son's friends." 
 
 " The Bishop knows a great deal too much 
 for a man in his position," snapped his sister. 
 
 " Quite so," thought the journalist, " and 
 doesn't confide it to you." Aloud he re 
 marked: 
 
 " Of course there's nothing particular to be 
 said against them, except that they're hardly 
 in Cecil's set." 
 
 " I didn't need you to tell me that. But 
 what about the ladies? "
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 211 
 
 " Ah, yes, the ladies. Well, really, you've 
 put me in an awkward position, Miss Banbor- 
 ough. One can't be uncomplimentary to the 
 fair sex, you know." 
 
 " Humph! Well, Josephus sees more of both 
 of them than is good for him. But of course 
 Mrs. Mackintosh has neither the youth nor 
 the good looks to cause me any anxiety." 
 
 " Mrs. Mackintosh is eminently respect 
 able," said Marchmont, who always spoke the 
 truth when it did not conflict with business. 
 
 " But Miss Arminster? " 
 
 The journalist did not answer. 
 
 "Well," she cried, "why don't you 
 speak? " 
 
 " Madam," he replied, " you place me in a 
 most embarrassing situation. My duty to you 
 and the natural gallantry of my nature draw 
 me in different directions." 
 
 " I insist." 
 
 " I put myself in your hands. In saying 
 what I do I'm laying myself open to serious 
 misconstruction." 
 
 " You may rely upon my silence."
 
 212 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Any indiscretion on your part would be 
 most unfortunate." 
 
 " I shall not forget the confidence you've 
 reposed in me." 
 
 " I shall hold you to that," he said. " If I 
 tell you what I have in mind, will you promise 
 not to use the information without my per 
 mission? " 
 
 " That I cannot say." 
 
 " Then I say nothing." 
 
 " But you've already implied " 
 
 " But implications, my dear Miss Banbor- 
 ough, are not evidence." 
 
 " You leave me no other course but to ac 
 cede to your request," she said. 
 
 " Ah, then you promise? " 
 
 " I promise." 
 
 " The word of a woman in your position 
 and of your high moral standard I know is 
 sacred." 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " Well, then," he continued, " please answer 
 me this question. Where was your brother the 
 first week in May? "
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND W 'AR DECLARED. 213 
 
 " In Scotland." 
 
 "Why did he go?" 
 
 " For absolute rest. He was worried and 
 run down." 
 
 " You heard from him frequently? " 
 
 " No, not once during the whole time. Sir 
 Joseph Westmoreland, the great London 
 nerve specialist, who advised the change, even 
 prohibited correspondence." 
 
 " You're sure he was in Scotland? " 
 
 " Really, Mr. Marchmont, why do you 
 ask? " 
 
 " Because I saw the Bishop of Blanford in 
 the United States in the first week of May on 
 his way to Montreal, Canada." 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 " I'm certain of it." 
 
 " I cannot credit what you tell me! " 
 
 " What I tell you is quite true. You say he 
 was absent for a month. Might he not have 
 gone to the States and returned in that time? " 
 
 His sister nodded. Then, as a sudden 
 thought occurred to her, she flushed red with 
 anger, exclaiming:
 
 214 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 "And this girl, this Miss Arminster! Was 
 she in Montreal also? " 
 
 " She was," replied Marchmont. " I saw 
 her." 
 
 "The hussy!" cried Miss Matilda, rising. 
 " She shan't remain in my house another 
 hour! " 
 
 "Hold on!" he exclaimed. "You forget 
 your promise! " 
 
 " But after what you've said! " 
 
 " I haven't said anything. Miss Armin- 
 ster's being in Montreal might have been 
 merely a coincidence." 
 
 " But do you know something about her? " 
 
 " I've investigated her career," he replied, 
 " and have found nothing objectionable in it, 
 beyond the fact that she's rather fond of get 
 ting married." 
 
 " Getting married! But surely she calls her 
 self Miss Arminster? " 
 
 "Ah, yes; but that's very common on the 
 I mean, not unusual in such cases." 
 
 " She has been married, then, more than 
 once? "
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED- 215 
 
 " I know of a dozen different occasions on 
 which she has had the service performed." 
 
 "Infamous!" 
 
 " Oh, no. There's no evidence of her ever 
 having been through the divorce court. In 
 deed, she may never have been married to 
 more than one man at the same time." 
 
 " But how to account " 
 
 " For the mortality in husbands? Well, 
 fortunately, we're not required to do that." 
 
 " I will not have my dear brother stricken 
 down in his prime! " gasped Miss Matilda. 
 
 " Oh, I don't suppose she's necessarily 
 fatal. Still, as mistress of Blanford " 
 
 The Bishop's sister arose in her wrath. For 
 the first time in her existence she wanted 
 to swear, but contented herself by remark 
 ing: 
 
 " That young woman leaves the palace to 
 day!" 
 
 " You forget your promise to me," he said. 
 
 " But is it possible, in the face of what 
 you've told me, that you can hold me to 
 it?"
 
 216 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Quite possible. In fact I mean to do so, 
 and as soon as your righteous indignation 
 cools down a bit you'll realise that we've 
 nothing whatsoever to go on. What I've said 
 could only be substantiated by evidence re 
 quiring some time to obtain. If you accused 
 her now, she'd merely deny my statement, and 
 her word's as good as mine, and probably bet 
 ter, in his Lordship's estimation." 
 
 " But is there no proof near at hand? " 
 
 " Yes. She was married several years ago 
 at a little church close by the ruined abbey 
 where I first met your party, and the fact is 
 recorded in the register." 
 
 " Then surely" 
 
 " There's no crime in being married once," 
 he objected. 
 
 " But what can we do? " she asked. 
 
 " Keep quiet for a little while longer. Miss 
 Arminster's certain to make some slip, and 
 then" 
 
 " It seems very difficult to wait." 
 
 " Believe me," he replied, " it's the only 
 way, and I shall rely on your promise."
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 217 
 
 Saying which, he left her, partly because he 
 had obtained all the information he wished, 
 and partly because he was certain that he 
 espied the well-known figure of the tramp 
 hovering behind the bushes on the opposite 
 side of the lawn. 
 
 A few moments later he had his hand on 
 that individual's collar, and was demanding 
 sternly what he meant by coming to Blanford 
 against his orders. 
 
 " 'Cause I've somethin' of importance to 
 tell yer," retorted that worthy. 
 
 " Well, out with it, quick! " said the journal 
 ist. " It's got to be pretty important to ex 
 cuse your disobedience." 
 
 " It is. The boss is going to bolt." 
 
 "Who? The Bishop?" 
 
 " That's it! Him and the lady." 
 
 "What lady?" 
 
 " The young 'un, I guess." 
 
 " What's all this stuff about? " demanded 
 Marchmont. 
 
 " It ain't stuff, as you'll soon see," replied 
 the tramp in an aggrieved tone. " There was
 
 2l8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 a yacht come into Dullhampton last night, a 
 nasty-lookin' boat and a quick steamer. The 
 second mate and me, we got to know each 
 other up to the inn he's a furriner, he is 
 a Don, more'n likely. But he let on, havin' 
 had some drink, as how he'd been sent there 
 with the yacht to wait for the Bishop o' Blan- 
 ford and a lady as was comin' down next day, 
 and the Bishop was to give the sailin' orders." 
 
 "Humph! What more?" 
 
 " This mornin' I seed 'em lookin' over a 
 lot of flags on the deck of the yacht, and one 
 of 'em was Spanish." 
 
 " So you came all the way up here to tell 
 me this cock-and-bull story! " - 
 
 " Not till I'd squared the crew." 
 
 " Squared the crew? " 
 
 " I let on to 'em as how they'd been shipped 
 under false orders to carry two Spanish spies 
 out of the country, an' how we was on to the 
 fact, and if they'd stay by us they'd not be 
 held responsible; and I promised 'em ten 
 shillin's apiece and give 'em all the drink they 
 wanted, and they're ours to a man."
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED. 219 
 
 " And that's where you've wasted good 
 money and good liquor. I tell you what you 
 say is impossible. If the Bishop had had any 
 idea of a move like that, I'd have got wind 
 of it. Besides, his old cat of a sister would 
 never let him leave Blanford again without 
 her." 
 
 " Hist! " said the tramp, pointing across the 
 lawn. " Look there, what did I say? My 
 eyesight ain't what it was, from breakin' 
 stones up to Sing Sing, and I can't see no faces 
 at this distance, but there's somethin' sneakin' 
 along there, in bishop's togs." 
 
 Marchmont followed the direction he indi 
 cated, and saw two figures stealing round the 
 corner of the palace, carrying hand-bags and 
 showing every sign of watchfulness and sus 
 picion. Having ascertained that the lawn was 
 clear, they slipped rapidly across it, and, put 
 ting themselves in the protecting shade of a 
 clump of bushes, turned into the high-road 
 and disappeared. It had needed no second 
 glance to identify them as his Lordship and 
 Miss Arminster.
 
 220 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " By Jove! " gasped the journalist. " It is 
 true, then! This will be a scoop of scoops! 
 Come, we've got to run for it. We must take 
 the same train, and they mustn't see us." 
 
 Some one else had witnessed the departure, 
 in spite of all the precautions of the fugitives, 
 and that person was Miss Matilda, who, from 
 the vantage of an upper window, caught a 
 glimpse of them just as they disappeared 
 through the gate. Unwilling at first to be 
 lieve her senses, she rushed to her brother's 
 room and then to Miss Arminster's. Alas! in 
 each apartment the traces of hasty packing 
 and missing hand-luggage gave damning evi 
 dence of the fact. She rushed downstairs, 
 bursting with her dreadful intelligence. In 
 the hall she met Cecil, delightedly waving a 
 telegram in his hand. 
 
 "Hurrah!, Aunt Matilda!" he shouted. 
 "Such news! 'The Purple Kangaroo' has 
 reached its twentieth edition, and a truce is 
 declared between the United States and 
 Spain! Where are the others? I must tell 
 them that the war is over."
 
 PEACE IS PROPOSED AND WAR DECLARED- 221 
 
 " Bother your war! " exclaimed his aunt. 
 
 " Do you know that your father and that 
 
 shameless minx, Miss Arminster, have just 
 eloped? "
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 
 
 ALL the way from Blanford to Dullhamp- 
 ton the Bishop was in the best of spirits, much 
 on the principle of a naughty boy who, having 
 played truant, means to enjoy his holiday to 
 the full, well knowing that he will be caned 
 when it is over. Indeed his Lordship became 
 positively skittish, and Miss Arminster was 
 obliged to squelch him a little, as that young 
 lady, for excellent reasons of her own, had 
 no more intention of becoming the mistress of 
 Blanford than she had of wedding the author 
 of " The Purple Kangaroo." On the other 
 hand, she realised that it was one of the old 
 gentleman's very rare treats, and she wanted 
 him to have as good a time as possible; be 
 sides which, she had always longed to take a 
 cruise on a steam-yacht, and now her ambi 
 tion was about to be gratified. 
 
 222
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 223 
 
 The shock of disappointment was therefore 
 all the greater when, on their arrival at Dull- 
 hampton, they were met by the captain, who 
 informed them that Lord Downton had had 
 a bad fall the day before and seriously sprained 
 his ankle, so that the party had been given up. 
 He had sent the yacht on, however, with the 
 request that the Bishop would consider it at 
 his disposal for the remainder of the week. 
 
 " Now that's exceedingly awkward," said 
 his Lordship. " I fear we can hardly go yacht 
 ing without a chaperon." 
 
 " Most certainly not," agreed Miss Armin- 
 ster. " But let's take a little sail this after 
 noon, and return to Blanford in time for din 
 ner." 
 
 "That's very well thought of," said the 
 Bishop, " and to-morrow we can bring down 
 some more of our party. It seems a pity we 
 shouldn't use the yacht, now we're here. Does 
 that arrangement meet with your approval, 
 captain? " 
 
 " Well, your Lordship," replied the captain, 
 " to be honest with you, I hadn't expected as
 
 224 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 how you'd be able to get away to-day, so I'd 
 arranged to see my sister, who lives here, this 
 afternoon, and the first mate's gone up to- 
 town to order some stores. But if you are 
 only to be out for a few hours, as you say, my 
 second mate's quite capable of taking the boat 
 for you. I wouldn't like to trust him on a 
 long cruise, for he's only joined a few weeks, 
 and I know nothing about his character. He 
 is a first-class navigator, however, and for an 
 afternoon in the Solent he'll do you very 
 well." 
 
 " I'm sure we would not want to interfere 
 with your plans, captain," said his Lordship, 
 " so if Miss Arminster agrees " 
 
 " Oh my, yes," acquiesced Violet. " I don't 
 care who takes the yacht out, so long as we 
 go." 
 
 " Right you are," said the captain. 
 " Steam's up, and I've ordered lunch on 
 board, as I thought you'd want that anyway. 
 I'll tell Funk, the second mate, to run out into 
 the Solent, and then you can give your own 
 orders. What time will you be back? "
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 225 
 
 " Oh, not later than six," replied the 
 Bishop, as they stepped on board Lord Down- 
 ton's beautiful craft, the " Homing Pigeon." 
 
 She was a large boat and thoroughly sea 
 worthy. Indeed her owner had made a voy 
 age in her to the Mediterranean, but she was 
 built for speed also, and decidedly rakish in 
 cut. 
 
 They were at once introduced to the second 
 mate, and Miss Arminster thought she had 
 seldom seen a more unprepossessing indi 
 vidual. He was surly and shifty-eyed, and she 
 confided to the Bishop, when they were alone, 
 that she was glad they were not going far 
 from land under that man's charge, for he 
 looked like a pirate. 
 
 After glancing round the deck, which 
 seemed charmingly arranged, they at once 
 descended to the cabin for lunch, for their 
 little journey had made them hungry. Here 
 the captain left them with a few courteous 
 words of excuse. A moment later, as he was 
 leaving the ship, he met two strangers coming 
 on board, laden with hand-baggage. They
 
 226 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 were, though unknown to him, the journalist 
 and the tramp. On asking them sharply what 
 their business was, Marchmont replied very 
 glibly that he was his Lordship's valet, and 
 that he had hired this man to bring down the 
 luggage from the station. 
 
 " I don't think your master'll need his traps, 
 as he's only going out for the afternoon," said 
 the captain. " But you'd better take them 
 down to the cabin, and see the porter gets off 
 before they start. I don't allow strangers 
 aboard." 
 
 The valet touched his hat respectfully, and 
 went up the gangway, followed by the obse 
 quious porter. A moment later they reached 
 the deck, and no sooner had the captain dis 
 appeared round a corner than both men ap 
 proached the second mate, with whom they 
 had a hurried and earnest conversation, fol 
 lowed by an interchange of something which 
 that officer transferred to his trousers-pocket 
 and jingled appreciatively. 
 
 The ropes were now cast off, and they got 
 under way, while Marchmont stole very
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 227 
 
 quietly to the door of the hatchway which led 
 down to the saloon where the Bishop and the 
 actress were unsuspectingly lunching, and 
 softly turned the key. 
 
 " Mayn't I cut you a slice of this cold ham, 
 my dear? " asked the Bishop in his most 
 fatherly tones. 
 
 " Not while the pigeon-pie lasts," said his 
 fair companion. " But you may give me a 
 glass of champagne, if you will. I see some 
 going to waste in an ice-cooler over there in 
 the corner." 
 
 " I was hoping the steward would come," 
 ventured his Lordship. 
 
 " Well, I hope he won't. Being tete-a-tete 
 is much more fun, don't you think? Give the 
 bottle to me, and I'll show you how to open it 
 and not spill a drop. In some respects your 
 education's been neglected." 
 
 " I'm afraid it has," admitted the Bishop, 
 assisting her with his pen-knife. 
 
 His Lordship felt recklessly jovial. To 
 lunch alone with a young lady who opened 
 champagne with a dexterity that bespoke con-
 
 228 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 siderable practice must be very wicked, he felt 
 certain, and he was shocked to realise that he 
 didn't care if it was. His years of repression 
 were beginning to find their outlet in a 
 natural reaction. 
 
 " Here, have a glass of champagne, and 
 don't think about your shortcomings," she 
 said. 
 
 " That's very nice," he replied, just tast 
 ing it. 
 
 "Nonsense!" she cried. "No heel-taps. 
 I'm no end thirsty." 
 
 " So am I," replied his Lordship, draining 
 his glass contentedly, and watching her fill it 
 up again. 
 
 " What are you so pensive about? " she de 
 manded. " There's another bottle." 
 
 He had been thinking that his sister always 
 confined him to two glasses, but he didn't say 
 so, and under her skilful lead he was soon de 
 scribing to her a Cowes regatta he had once 
 seen, in which she professed to be amazingly 
 interested. 
 
 " I tell you what it is," she remarked a little
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 229 
 
 later on. " If I had a gorgeous palace like 
 yours I'd have no end of a good time." 
 
 " Ah," said the Bishop, who was helping her 
 to unfasten the second bottle of champagne, 
 " I never thought of it in that light." 
 
 " No," returned his fair companion, " I sup 
 pose not But you're losing lots of fun in life, 
 and it does seem a shame, when you would so 
 enjoy it." 
 
 " It does," said the Bishop, sampling the 
 fresh bottle. " But then, you see, there's my 
 sister, Miss Matilda " 
 
 "Rats!" 
 
 " Excuse me, I didn't catch your meaning." 
 
 " Never mind my meaning. We're talking 
 about your sister. She's a most estimable 
 woman, my dear Bish Oh, pshaw! I can't 
 always call you by your title." 
 
 " Call me Josephus," he said. 
 
 " No, I couldn't call you that, either. It's 
 too dreadful. I'll call you Joe." 
 
 The Bishop beamed with joy. 
 
 "And I," he faltered, "may I call you 
 Violet? "
 
 230 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " No," she said, " I don't think it's proper 
 in a man of your position." 
 
 " But if you call me Joe " 
 
 "Well!" she cried, laughing, "we'll make 
 a compromise. Suppose you call me ' the 
 Leopard'?" 
 
 " To be sure," he said. " Mrs. Mackintosh 
 spoke of you as that er quadruped. But 
 what does it mean? " 
 
 " You want to know a great deal too much 
 for a man of your age. It's an animal that is 
 more than once mentioned in Scripture, and 
 that ought to be sufficient for your purposes. 
 So we'll have it understood that his Lord 
 ship's Leopard is quite at his Lordship's ser 
 vice, if his Lordship doesn't mind." 
 
 "Mind!" he cried ecstatically, eyeing the 
 other side of the table. But Miss Violet in 
 tended to have the board between them. 
 
 " Take another glass of champagne, and 
 keep quiet," she said sternly. " We're talking 
 about your estimable but impossible sister. 
 My dear Joe, you'll never have any sport till 
 you've got rid of her."
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 231 
 
 " But how shall I get rid of her? " he asked 
 despondently. Even champagne was not 
 proof against the depression induced by such 
 an appalling thought. 
 
 " Oh, send her to a course of mud-baths or 
 a water-cure! " 
 
 " I might try it if if you'd help me if 
 you'd take her place at the palace. I mean " 
 
 "Josephus!" she called, in such an exact 
 imitation of his sister's tone that it made him 
 sit right up. "Josephus! don't say another 
 word! I know what you mean and you're 
 an old dear and I'm not going to let you 
 make a fool of yourself. You're aged enough 
 to be my father, and if your son had had his 
 way you would have been my father-in-law. 
 I want to have a good time, and I want you to 
 have a good time; but that isn't the proper 
 manner in which to set about it. No, you send 
 the old lady packing, for the good of her 
 health, and Mrs. Mackintosh and I'll help you 
 and Cecil entertain, and we'll have a dance, 
 and a marquee, and lots of punch. I dare say 
 you've never been to a dance in your life,"
 
 232 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 she rattled on, not giving him a chance to 
 blunder out excuses. 
 
 " I'm not such an old fogey as you think 
 me," he began. " But I want to say er 
 Miss Leopard " 
 
 " Oh, no, you don't," she interrupted. 
 " You want to forget what you've said, and 
 so do I. We must talk about something else. 
 What were you saying about a dance? " 
 
 " No, no, not a dance," he replied, resigning 
 himself to his fate. " But once," lowering his 
 voice, " not long ago either, when I was in 
 town, I I'm sure you won't believe it- 5 I 
 went to a theatre." This last triumphantly. 
 
 "Oh, you sad dog!" she cried. "You 
 didn't!" 
 
 He nodded his head affirmatively. 
 
 " And what was the piece? " 
 
 " ' The Sign of the Cross.' " 
 
 " What, that gruesome show, where every 
 one's slaughtered or chewed up by lions! You 
 ought to have gone to the Empire." 
 
 " It wasn't far from Leicester Square," he 
 said deprecatingly.
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 233 
 
 " Not near enough to be very wicked," 
 she retorted. " But, say, I'll tell you some 
 thing if you'll promise never, never to re 
 veal it." 
 
 " The word of a bishop " he began. 
 
 " Oh, nonsense! You're not a bishop at 
 present, you're just Joe. Well, here it is: I'm 
 an actress! " 
 
 " You are an actress! " 
 
 "Fact! I'm quite harmless. If you keep 
 six feet from me there's not the slightest 
 danger of contamination." 
 
 Then, seeing his look of astonished bewil 
 derment, she burst into a peal of ringing 
 laughter, crying: 
 
 " Why, to look at you, one would think I'd 
 told you that I was a Gorgon! " 
 
 " No, no," he said, stammering. " I I'm 
 delighted. I always really wanted to meet an 
 actress but er I hardly know what to 
 say" 
 
 " Don't say anything. Just be your dear 
 unsophisticated self, or you'll be a bore. Cecil 
 didn't dare tell you who I was, for fear you'd
 
 234 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 be shocked. Come on, let's go up on deck. 
 It's close down here." 
 
 " It is," admitted his Lordship, whose tem 
 perature had risen with his consumption of 
 champagne, and added: 
 
 " We should be well out by this time, 
 for we seem to have been going at great 
 speed." 
 
 " Isn't it glorious! " she cried. " I wonder 
 what they're doing at Blanford. I guess your 
 telegram was an eye-opener." 
 
 "Bless my soul!" exclaimed the Bishop, 
 fishing a form out of his pocket. " I forgot 
 to send it." 
 
 " What, do you mean to say they don't 
 know what's become of us? " 
 
 " I never said a word." 
 
 " My hat! " she cried. " Won't you get a 
 wigging to-night? " 
 
 Then, seeing his evident discomfiture, she 
 added: 
 
 " Never mind, I'll take it with you; and if 
 she turns nasty we'll put a flea in her ear about 
 those mud-baths. Come, let's have our fun,
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 235 
 
 anyway." And she put her hand on the cabin 
 door. 
 
 "Why, it's stuck!" she exclaimed. "I 
 can't open it." 
 
 The Bishop grasped the handle. 
 
 " It isn't stuck! " he cried, shaking it. " It's 
 
 locked!" 
 
 ***** 
 
 While events had been progressing in the 
 cabin, others of no less importance were tak 
 ing place on deck. Once they were well off 
 the land, Funk lost no time in calling a meet 
 ing of the crew of the yacht, who formed a 
 circle around him. 
 
 " Now, my hearties," he said, introducing 
 Marchmont, " this gentleman's got a word to 
 say to you which it's worth your while to 
 hear." And he put him in the centre of the 
 ring. 
 
 " Mates," began the journalist, fitting his 
 speech to the audience he was addressing, 
 " I'm a plain man of few words, and I've come 
 to you about a plain matter. Mr. Funk will
 
 236 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 tell you I'm speaking the truth; and you know 
 this gentleman," indicating the tramp. 
 
 The crowd growled gutturally. They ap 
 preciated the tramp's generous offers of 
 liquor, but not his society. 
 
 " Well," continued Marchmont, ignoring 
 the unfavourable tone, " I suppose you'd all 
 like to see the Yankees lick the Dons." 
 
 " Ay, ay, you're right there," muttered a 
 burly tar. 
 
 "Good for you! We're all of the same 
 family, and blood's thicker than water. Of 
 course you want the boys in blue to win; and 
 that being the case, I rely on you to help me, 
 like true British tars, the nation's bul 
 warks ! " 
 
 " Hear, hear! " growled the crowd appre 
 ciatively. 
 
 " Now do you know whom you've aboard 
 to-day? " demanded the American. 
 
 " The Bishop o' Blanford, and a laidy," 
 came the tones of a voice whose owner evi 
 dently hailed from London. 
 
 " No, you haven't," cried the journalist ex-
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 237 
 
 citedly. " No, you haven't! You've got two 
 low-down Spanish spies! " 
 
 " What d'ye say, mate? " demanded the first 
 speaker among the crew. 
 
 " I'm telling you the truth," vociferated 
 Marchmont, lying boldly; for he feared that 
 the Bishop's conspiracies would go for 
 nothing if they suspected he was really a 
 churchman. 
 
 " I'm telling you the truth," he repeated. 
 "And these two gentlemen," referring to the 
 mate and the tramp, " will back me up. That 
 man's no more the Bishop of Blanford than 
 you are! And the lady well, she's on the 
 stage when she isn't in the pay of the Spanish 
 Government. I've tracked them from the 
 States to Canada, where I saw them both a 
 month ago, and then to England. I don't 
 say how they got hold of this yacht, but 
 I ask you, where's the captain and the first 
 mate? " 
 
 A growl of suspicion rewarded his efforts. 
 
 " They took pretty good care to get out of 
 the way, and leave Mr. Funk and you to bear
 
 238 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 the brunt of any breach of neutrality that these 
 conspirators might let you in for." 
 
 The sailors began to whisper to one an 
 other, and were evidently uneasy. 
 
 " Then look at the captain's parting 
 words!" cried the journalist. 'Go out into 
 the Solent,' says he, ' and the Bishop will give 
 you your sailing orders.' Sailing orders, in 
 deed ! What would a parson know about sail 
 ing a vessel of this sort? " 
 
 One of the men nudged another at this, 
 and he of the gruff voice gave it as his opin 
 ion that " there was summat in it." 
 
 " I'll tell you what the sailing orders will 
 be," shouted Marchmont. " They'll take you 
 round the Needles, and alongside of a Spanish 
 cruiser. And when you get ashore, you'll all 
 be clapped into prison for helping the Dons." 
 
 " Let's take 'em back now," came a chorus 
 of voices. 
 
 " And let 'em go scot-free? " demanded 
 Marchmont. 
 
 " Well, what would you do? " asked the 
 spokesman.
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 239 
 
 "I?" said the journalist. "I'd hand 'em 
 over to the first American ship we sight, and 
 send 'em to New York. That takes the bur 
 den off your shoulders. My man has prom 
 ised you ten shillings apiece. Put 'em on 
 board a Yankee ship, and I'll make it a 
 pound." And he brought up a handful of 
 gold from his pocket, and jingled it in their 
 faces. 
 
 It has been said that money talks, and it 
 undoubtedly did so in this case. Marchmont's 
 specious arguments sounded plausible 
 enough, and the mate, who was a thoroughly 
 bad lot and had plenty of the journalist's 
 money in his pocket, backed him up in every 
 particular. So the crew, after a little discus 
 sion, accepted the proposition to a man, and 
 the fact that the Bishop chose this unfortunate 
 time to make an attack on the cabin door 
 probably helped to decide them. 
 
 " You see," cried the journalist, as it rat 
 tled on its hinges, " they're trying to break 
 out now, and are probably armed to the 
 teeth."
 
 240 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " We're with you, mates. The Yankees 
 shall have 'em! " shouted the crowd. 
 
 " Good! " he replied. " I'll see if I can in 
 duce them to surrender quietly." And going 
 to the cabin door, he unlocked it and entered, 
 closing it behind him. 
 
 " Who has dared to lock us in in this un 
 warrantable manner? " spluttered the Bishop, 
 as the door opened. Then, seeing who it was, 
 he fell back a step, exclaiming: 
 
 " Why, Mr. Marchmont, how did you come 
 on board? " 
 
 " Never mind about that," said the journal 
 ist shortly. " I'm here, and I locked you in; 
 and when I tell you that I'm thoroughly on to 
 the whole show, you'll understand that this 
 high-and-mighty business doesn't go down. 
 Got any champagne left? I'm as dry as a 
 bone." 
 
 The Bishop was rapidly turning purple with 
 suppressed indignation, but Miss Arminster 
 scornfully indicated the location of the wine- 
 cooler. 
 
 " Ah, thanks," said the intruder, tossing off
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 241 
 
 a glass. " That's better." And he threw him 
 self comfortably down on a divan, saying, as 
 he did so: 
 
 " If you two have any weapons, you might 
 as well put them on the table. Resistance is 
 quite useless. I've plenty of men awaiting 
 my signal on deck." 
 
 Violet, who in the light of this last remark 
 suddenly understood the position, burst into 
 peals of laughter. 
 
 " You'll find it's no laughing matter," cried 
 the journalist angrily. 
 
 " I insist upon your instantly explain 
 ing your outrageous conduct," said the 
 Bishop. 
 
 " I can do that in a very few words," replied 
 Marchmont. " As an American representa 
 tive, and authorised agent of the Daily Leader, 
 the people's bulwark of defence, I arrest you 
 both as Spanish spies." 
 
 "He must be mad!" ejaculated his Lord 
 ship. 
 
 " Oh, no, he isn't. He actually believes it! " 
 cried Violet between her paroxysms of merri-
 
 242 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 ment. But her companion would not be con 
 vinced. 
 
 " My dear man," he said blandly, " you 
 must be suffering under some grievous de 
 lusion. I am, as you should know, having 
 been my guest, the Bishop of Blanford, and it 
 is quite impossible that either I or this lady 
 should have any connection with a political 
 crime. I must insist that you release us at 
 once, and go away quietly, or I shall be forced 
 to- use harsher measures." 
 
 " You do it very well, very well indeed," 
 commented the journalist. " But you can't 
 fool me, and so you'd better give up trying." 
 
 " I say," remarked Miss Arminster to 
 Marchmont, " you're making an awful fool of 
 yourself." 
 
 The representative of the Daily Leader 
 shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Won't you consent to let us go, without 
 threshing the whole thing out? " she asked. 
 
 " What do you take me for? " 
 
 " Well, as you please," she said resignedly. 
 " Put your questions; we'll answer them."
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 243 
 
 " Is it best to humour him? " enquired his 
 Lordship in a low voice. 
 
 " It's the only way," she replied. " Give 
 him string enough, and see the cat's-cradle 
 he'll weave out of it." 
 
 " Now," said the journalist cheerfully to 
 the Bishop, " perhaps you'll deny that you 
 spent a month or six weeks in the United 
 States this spring? " 
 
 " A month," acquiesced his Lordship. 
 
 " Just so. And during that time you were 
 supposed to be in Scotland taking a rest- 
 cure? " 
 
 " I admit that such is the case. But how 
 you obtained your information " 
 
 " I got it from your sister about the rest- 
 cure, I mean." 
 
 " Did you tell her er that I was er 
 in the United States? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the journalist. 
 
 His Lordship heaved a deep sigh. The 
 future, he thought, held worse things for him 
 than arrest and deportation.
 
 244 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " How did you know that I was in the 
 United States and Canada? " he demanded. 
 
 " I saw you." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " At a little station on the borders of the 
 two countries. You spent the night wrapped 
 up in a blanket, and slept under the bar." 
 
 " You never ! " broke in Miss Armin- 
 ster. 
 
 The Bishop nodded mournfully. So far the 
 facts were against him, and his interlocutor's 
 face shone with a gleam of triumph. 
 
 " But in that case " exclaimed Violet. 
 
 " Excuse me, I'll tell the story," said March- 
 mont, and continued the narration. 
 
 " You were roused about five in the morn 
 ing by a man breaking into the room." 
 
 " So I was," admitted the Bishop. " How 
 did you know? " 
 
 " I was asleep in the room overhead, and 
 gave the alarm." 
 
 " That's perfectly correct," acquiesced his 
 Lordship. " I remember the tones of your 
 voice. It's most astounding."
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED- 245 
 
 " And the man who broke into the bar," 
 continued Violet, " was your son." 
 
 It was now Marchmont's turn to be aston 
 ished. 
 
 " What! " he cried, while the Bishop ejacu 
 lated: 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 " But it was," she insisted. " He went to 
 get the coffee for me." 
 
 " Were you in the station, too? " demanded 
 his Lordship. 
 
 " No, I was out in a potato-patch." 
 
 " You a member of that party of political 
 criminals who jumped off the train! " cried the 
 Bishop. " I heard all about it the next morn 
 ing, but I can't believe " 
 
 " It's quite true," she assured him. 
 
 " But it's too remarkable," he went on. 
 " I'd gone to America on purpose to find my 
 son, of whom I'd heard nothing for a year. 
 And you say he was there, and er touched 
 me?" 
 
 "Why, didn't you see him in Montreal?" 
 asked Marchmont.
 
 246 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I sailed next day for England. I was on 
 my way to the steamer when the accident oc 
 curred which detained me overnight." 
 
 " Why then did you conceal the purpose of 
 your trip? " demanded his tormentor. 
 
 " My sister was much opposed to my seek 
 ing my son," said his Lordship, colouring 
 furiously. " And I in short, I had rea 
 sons." 
 
 The journalist laughed. 
 
 " The story's clever," he said. " But I can 
 tell a more interesting tale." And he pro 
 ceeded to relate the adventures of Cecil in the 
 person of " the Bishop," to which his Lord 
 ship listened with open-mouthed astonish 
 ment. 
 
 "There!" concluded his captor triumph 
 antly. " Have you anything to say to that? " 
 
 "I have," chimed in Miss Arminster, and 
 she gave the true version of the affair from 
 the time Banborough had first engaged them 
 at the Grand Central Station. 
 
 " It's a very plausible story," said March- 
 mont, when she had finished, " and does credit
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 247 
 
 to your invention. But fortunately I'm in 
 a condition to completely disprove it." 
 
 " Really? " she asked. " How so? " 
 
 " I can produce a witness of the whole 
 transaction." 
 
 " Who? " 
 
 " Friend Othniel." 
 
 " What! here, on board the yacht? " 
 
 " Yes," said Marchmont, " on board this 
 yacht. And he can prove that what I say is 
 true." 
 
 "What? About the Bishop?" she cried, 
 her voice quivering with suppressed merri 
 ment. 
 
 " Certainly," replied the journalist. " After 
 his release from the Black Maria he tells sub 
 stantially your story, but gives the Bishop the 
 part you have carefully assigned to his inno 
 cent son." 
 
 At this she once more broke into peals of 
 laughter, but at last, recovering her speech, 
 managed to gasp out: 
 
 " Bring him here, and see what he says." 
 
 " I will," said Marchmont, hurriedly leaving
 
 248 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 the cabin, for her marvellous self-possession 
 was beginning to arouse unpleasant suspicions 
 even in his mind. 
 
 " But what does it all mean? " queried the 
 Bishop helplessly, after the journalist's depart 
 ure. " How dare he say such things about 
 me! I drive.a prison-van, indeed! " 
 
 " I'll tell you," she replied, striving to con 
 trol her voice. " It's the greatest practical 
 joke that ever was. We called your son ' the 
 Bishop/ just as a nickname, you see, and of 
 course the tramp heard us, and, after we 
 dropped him in Montreal, must have blown 
 the whole thing to Marchmont out of spite, 
 and, not knowing any better, he thought your 
 son really was the Bishop." 
 
 Here his Lordship became speechless, as the 
 truth dawned upon him; and at that moment 
 Marchmont entered the cabin, with Friend 
 Othniel in tow. 
 
 "There!" he said, pointing to the ec 
 clesiastic. " Is that the Bishop of Blan- 
 ford? " 
 
 "Naw," replied the tramp. "He's old
 
 THE BISHOP IS ABDUCTED. 249 
 
 enough to be his father, he is. The Bishop I 
 means is a young 'un." 
 
 " Like this! " cried Violet, opening the 
 locket which Cecil had given her in Mon 
 treal, and handing it to the tramp. 
 
 " That's him to a T," said Friend Othniel. 
 " I'd know him among a thousand." 
 
 For a moment Marchmont said nothing as 
 he encountered the full force of the cruel dis 
 illusion, and then with painstaking precision 
 he turned and kicked the tramp up the entire 
 flight of cabin stairs. 
 
 " Now," remarked the Bishop, " perhaps 
 you'll allow us to go free." 
 
 "No!" cried the journalist, slamming the 
 door. " I've wasted heaps of cash and no end 
 of time over this wild-goose-chase, but the 
 Daily Leader shall have its scoop yet! If you 
 aren't conspirators, I'll make you so, in spite 
 of yourselves! You shall be Spanish spies! "
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN WHICH THE BISHOP EATS JAM TART, AND 
 MISS MATILDA HUMBLE-PIE. 
 
 " Now," remarked the Bishop to Miss Ar- 
 minster, as Marchmont quitted the cabin after 
 this last astounding remark, " Now I'm cer 
 tain he's mad." 
 
 " Oh, no," replied the lady, " it's merely 
 journalistic enterprise. I don't blame him for 
 being disappointed. It must be hard to find 
 that we're not conspirators, after all." 
 
 " But why should he wish to make us so? " 
 
 " You dear stupid old Joe! " she exclaimed. 
 " You haven't the remotest inkling of what 
 American journalism means. It's sensation 
 first, last, and altogether. Think of a bishop, 
 and an English bishop at that, posing as an 
 agent of the Spanish secret service, and elop 
 ing with an actress on somebody else's yacht. 
 
 250
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 251 
 
 Why, I can shut my eyes and see the head 
 lines. They're almost certain to print them in 
 red ink. There's fame for you! " 
 
 " But why should he wish to print it if it's 
 not the truth? " 
 
 "Truth! My dear Bishop, who said any 
 thing about truth? We were speaking of 
 news, and journalistic enterprise." 
 
 At this moment the door again burst open, 
 and Marchmont flung into the cabin. 
 
 " There! " he said, with a tone of triumph, 
 " we've sighted an American steamer down 
 channel, and have hoisted the Spanish flag. 
 We're pursuing her, and very presently we 
 shall be captured, and you'll be surrendered." 
 
 " I suppose," began the Bishop, " that, to a 
 man so devoid of moral consciousness as you 
 appear to be, no arguments of mine " 
 
 " Don't waste your breath," broke in Miss 
 Arminster. " They wouldn't." 
 
 " Why, I'm sorry to cause you any incon 
 venience," said the journalist amiably, " but 
 you see, my paper's simply panting for sensa 
 tion, and when they hear about this little
 
 252 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 racket they'll sell extras till they can't see 
 straight." 
 
 " And what, may I ask, will happen when 
 the truth comes out? " demanded his Lord 
 ship severely. 
 
 " Oh, the war'll probably be over by the 
 time you reach New York, and you'll cease to 
 be interesting," replied Marchmont. " Be 
 sides, we'll have had our scoop, and most 
 likely, when the Daily Leader finds there's no 
 case against you they'll give you a return 
 ticket. The management's generally pretty 
 liberal." 
 
 " Well, I must say," spluttered the Bishop, 
 " that of all the brazen unconscionable ! " 
 
 " Why did you raise the Spanish flag? " in 
 terrupted Miss Arminster. 
 
 " That was my idea," said the journalist, 
 " and I'm rather proud of it. You see, we 
 could hardly reverse the Union Jack as a sign 
 of distress, and then go full speed ahead, but 
 I don't think an American ship would resist 
 taking a Spanish prize; and as soon as they 
 get within firing range we'll run up a flag of
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 253 
 
 truce. By the way," he continued, becoming 
 quite courteous, now that he felt he had them 
 in his power, " why do you remain in this 
 stuffy cabin? I shall be very glad to have you 
 up on deck, provided you'll give me your 
 parole." 
 
 " What, not to escape? " asked Violet. 
 " Did you think we were going to jump over 
 board and swim ashore? " 
 
 " No. I mean that you should give your 
 parole not to be anything but Spaniards." 
 
 " I am afraid we couldn't manage that," she 
 replied. " The Bishop doesn't look nearly 
 ferocious enough." 
 
 " I absolutely refuse to become a party to 
 this deception! " said his Lordship. 
 
 " Oh, I don't ask you to do that," returned 
 Marchmont, " only to promise that you'll not 
 try and enlist the sympathies of the crew in 
 your behalf." 
 
 " I shall not promise anything," said the 
 Bishop, " nor shall I allow this lady to do so.. 
 I'm a man of peace, but if ever I get hold of 
 you on dry land I'll horsewhip you, if it costs
 
 254 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 me my see; and if you don't leave this cabin 
 at once I'll treat you as you treated your 
 friend. You are a thorough blackguard, and 
 not fit to associate with gentlemen! " 
 
 The journalist started to say something, 
 but, remembering that his accuser was mus 
 cular, thought better of it, shrugged his 
 shoulders, and went out silently, locking the 
 door behind him. 
 
 " There! " said his Lordship, " I can breathe 
 more freely now." 
 
 Miss Arminster made no reply, for the ex 
 cellent reason that her head was out of a port 
 hole, and she could not hear clearly what was 
 said. Presently she pulled it in again, crying, 
 as she did so: 
 
 "Oh, do look! This is great sport! The 
 American ship is running away from us! " 
 
 Such was indeed the case. The vessel they 
 were overhauling was a small tramp steamer, 
 which had evidently found courage, through 
 the general incapacity of the Spanish navy and 
 the fancied security of neutral waters, to flaunt 
 the Stars and Stripes. It was therefore most
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 255 
 
 disconcerting to find herself suddenly pursued 
 in the English Channel by a craft which had 
 every appearance of being a Spanish gunboat. 
 No sooner had she caught a glimpse of the 
 red and yellow flag of her enemy than she 
 crowded on to her yards every stitch of can 
 vass she possessed, in the hope of obtaining 
 some advantage from the light breeze that was 
 blowing, while the black clouds of smoke which 
 belched from her single funnel showed that 
 her engines were being driven to their utmost 
 capacity. She having a long lead and the 
 combined assistance of wind and steam, the 
 distance between the pursuer and the pursued 
 decreased slowly, and it soon became evident 
 that it was to be a stern chase, which is pro 
 verbially a long chase. The yacht, therefore, 
 turned about in search of some fresh enemy to 
 whom she might surrender, and in this fortune 
 favored her, for down the Channel came a 
 great liner, whose name, albeit she flew tem 
 porarily the flag of another nation, proclaimed 
 her to be an American ship, with an American 
 captain and crew. .
 
 25& HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Those on board the " Homing Pigeon " 
 now adopted different tactics, and an inverted 
 British ensign replaced the banner of the 
 Dons. 
 
 As the yacht stood directly in the path of 
 the oncoming ocean greyhound, and flew sig 
 nals of distress which she could not disregard, 
 the great ship was forced to heave to. March- 
 mont hastened to convey the news to his 
 prisoners in the cabin, saying that he consid 
 ered them very fortunate, as they had every 
 prospect of a speedy and pleasant voyage, 
 and cautioning them at the same time, as he 
 led the way up the cabin stairs, that resistance 
 was futile, and that any remarks of theirs to 
 the crew would only be so much waste of 
 breath. To all of which neither deigned to an 
 swer a word, realising that in their present 
 precarious position silence was not only the 
 most dignified but also the safest course. 
 
 As they reached the deck the great liner was 
 almost abreast of them, and gradually came to 
 a standstill with clouds of pent-up steam 
 pouring from her safety-valves.
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 257 
 
 "What do you want?" bawled her chief 
 officer through a megaphone, his voice sound 
 ing very large and clear from the great height 
 above them. 
 
 " We've two prisoners of war, Spanish spies, 
 and we wish to 'hand them over! " shouted the 
 mate in return. 
 
 " This isn't an American ship," came the 
 reply. 
 
 "Yes, it is," howled Marchmont; "we 
 know better! You belong to the ' Pink Star ' 
 line." 
 
 The chief officer conferred with the captain. 
 
 " It's Mason and Slidell the other way 
 round," he said. " I wouldn't touch 'em with 
 a ten-foot pole. Besides " and here he seized 
 the megaphone from his subordinate and 
 yelled through it: 
 
 "You infernal idiots! don't you know the 
 war with Spain is over? We've declared a 
 truce!" 
 
 " I don't believe it," cried Marchmont, 
 shaking his fist at the great steamship in a 
 paroxysm of disappointed rage. " It's only
 
 25 8 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 an excuse to shirk your duty! We've brought 
 them out to you, and you've got to take 
 them! I'll report you to the government! 
 I'll! " 
 
 The sharp ring of the engine-room bell from 
 the liner's bridge was the only reply vouch 
 safed him, and a moment later the big ship 
 forged ahead, her captain very red in the face 
 and swearing like a trooper : for the most 
 precious thing on board a racer of that class is 
 time, and the " Homing Pigeon " had been 
 wasting it. 
 
 The Bishop, noting the sheepish faces of the 
 mate and his two fellow conspirators, and the 
 lowering glances of the crew, turned to Miss 
 Arminster, saying: 
 
 " We'd better return to the cabin, my dear. 
 I think there's going to be trouble." 
 
 The little actress followed his Lordship's 
 gaze, and descended without a word of pro 
 test. She thought so, too. 
 
 They had hardly entered the saloon, when 
 there came a respectful knock at the door, and 
 an elderly seaman entered, ducking his head.
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 259 
 
 " Well, my good man," said his Lordship, 
 " what can I do for you? " 
 
 " Meanin' no disrespect, sir, be you really 
 the Bishop of Blanford? " 
 
 " Certainly I am," that gentleman replied. 
 " You see my dress, and," as a happy 
 thought struck him, " here's one of my cards 
 to prove my identity." And he handed the 
 sailor a bit of pasteboard with his title en 
 graved thereon. 
 
 " And the lady? " asked the seaman. 
 
 " The lady is no more connected with this 
 absurd charge than I am," pursued the Bishop. 
 '' You've been grievously misled by your mate 
 and these two strangers. But if you'll take 
 us safe to the nearest port, I'll speak a word 
 in your favour to your master, Lord Down- 
 ton, who's an intimate friend of mine. Can 
 you read? " 
 
 " Yes, your honour." 
 
 " Then here's a letter from his Lordship, 
 which I fortunately have by me, requesting 
 me to join his yacht. Read it yourself, and
 
 260 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 show it to your fellows as a proof of who I 
 am." And he handed him the missive. 
 
 The sailor took it, ducked again, and retired 
 silently, and there was presently a great shuf 
 fling of feet on the deck above. 
 
 " What do you think there're doing? " 
 asked Violet. 
 
 " I trust they're coming to their senses 
 and if " But his remarks were interrupted 
 by a most terrific row overhead, shouts, blows, 
 and curses. 
 
 "Bless my soul!" exclaimed the Bishop. 
 " What can be the matter? " 
 
 " They're squaring accounts with March- 
 mount, Friend Othniel, and the mate, I 
 guess," she replied, " and I hope they'll half 
 kill them." 
 
 " Fie, fie! my dear Leopard most un 
 christian. I must certainly go and " 
 
 " No, you mustn't do anything of the sort! 
 Stay right where you are. We're in hot 
 enough water already." And suiting the ac 
 tion to the word, she pushed him back on to 
 the divan.
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 261 
 
 " Well, really ! " remarked the Bishop, 
 and collapsed amiably. 
 
 Presently the sounds of commotion ceased, 
 and gave way to laughter, but laughter with a 
 certain grim note in it that boded ill for those 
 laughed at. After a little, there came another 
 knock at the cabin door, and this time quite a 
 deputation entered the saloon, the sailor 
 who had first visited them being the spokes 
 man. 
 
 " Having disposed of those gents as you 
 suggested " he began. 
 
 "No, no!" the Bishop hastened to dis 
 claim, " I suggested nothing." 
 
 " Well," said the seaman, " we've fixed 'em, 
 anyway. And now we're heading for the near 
 est port, which the same's Weymouth, and 
 we hopes you'll overlook what's gone before, 
 and come on deck and take command of this 
 yacht." 
 
 " I will certainly come on deck," replied the 
 Bishop. " But as to assuming command % of 
 the ship, I hardly feel qualified. Is there not 
 some one among you ? "
 
 262 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I'm bo'sn, please your honour," volun 
 teered the speaker. 
 
 " Ah," said the Bishop blandly, " then I ap 
 point you." And as the men fell back, he 
 escorted Miss Arminster upstairs. 
 
 As they appeared on deck, a striking scene 
 met their eyes. Three wretched figures were 
 triced up to the mainmast. They had only 
 such remnants of clothes remaining on their 
 persons as decency demanded, and they 'had 
 all evidently made a recent acquaintance with 
 the ship's tar-barrel and slush-bucket. 
 
 As his Lordship and Miss Arminster ap 
 peared, the crew approached, expecting a 
 speech. 
 
 " I hardly know what to say," began the 
 Bishop to Violet. 
 
 " Let me speak to them, will you? " she 
 asked, her eyes sparkling. " I understand hu 
 man nature pretty well. I have to, in my pro 
 fession." 
 
 His Lordship nodded assent, and a moment 
 later she had sprung on to the cabin hatch, 
 a most entrancing little figure, and instantly
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 263 
 
 commanded the attention and admiration of 
 her audience. 
 
 "Mates!" she cried, in her clear ringing 
 voice, " mates, I want a word with you." 
 
 " Speak up, and welcome! " called some one 
 in the crowd, while the boatswain, nudging a 
 comrade in the ribs, remarked under his 
 breath: 
 
 " My eye, but she's a stunner! " 
 
 Silence having been obtained, she con 
 tinued: 
 
 " I've only this to say. We've all been made 
 fools of. Those gentlemen tied up to the mast 
 made fools of you, and you've certainly made 
 fools of them." 
 
 A loud laugh greeted this sally. 
 
 " And," she resumed, " if it ever gets out 
 that his Lordship the Bishop of Blanford and 
 myself were carried off as Spanish spies, we'll 
 never hear the last of it. Now let's all keep 
 silence for the sake of the others. Put us 
 ashore at Weymouth, and we'll say to Lord 
 Downton that it was our wish to be landed 
 there. He won't know about the occurrences
 
 264 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 of this day, unless some of you tell him. You 
 might leave the journalist and the tramp at 
 Weymouth, too. I guess they'll have had 
 enough of the sea to last them for some time. 
 And oh, by the way, I suppose Mr. March- 
 mont intended to pay you for this. Perhaps 
 you'll see that the division is properly carried 
 out." 
 
 "Ay, ay!" came from twenty throats, fol 
 lowed by a rousing cheer. 
 
 And so it happened that they reached terra 
 firma about six in the afternoon. But Wey 
 mouth, while it is geographically not far dis 
 tant from Blanford, is miles away by the rail 
 road and its connections, and they did not 
 reach the palace till nearly midnight. 
 
 Everything was dark and still, and as they 
 stood shivering in the porch, the Bishop re 
 marked, producing his latch-key: 
 
 " Do you know I I'm really afraid to open 
 the door." 
 
 She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and 
 they entered softly. 
 
 " Is there anything I can get for the
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 265 
 
 Leopard, before she retires? " he asked apolo 
 getically, as they crossed the stone-paved floor 
 of the palace by the aid of a single bedroom 
 candle, which only served to accentuate the 
 surrounding darkness. 
 
 " No, thank you, I'm all right," she faltered, 
 putting her foot on the first step of the stairs. 
 And then, without the slightest warning, she 
 burst into tears. 
 
 His Lordship, completely bewildered at this 
 unexpected turn of affairs, patted her on the 
 head, saying: " Dear, dear! " much as he 
 would have done to obstreperous babies sus 
 picious of baptism. But the fair Violet wept 
 on. 
 
 "What is it?" said the Bishop. "What 
 have I done? " 
 
 " You haven't done anything," she replied 
 between her sobs, " but I I'm so dreadfully 
 hungry." 
 
 "Dear me!" exclaimed his Lordship, "I 
 forgot all about dinner." 
 
 It was quite true that, in his anxiety to 
 catch trains and make a series of bewildering
 
 266 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 connections, the question of food had entirely 
 escaped his memory, and, now he came to 
 think of it, he was ravenously hungry him 
 self. 
 
 " I'm so sorry," he said helplessly. " We 
 must see what we can find." 
 
 It was years since he had dared to investi 
 gate his own pantries; but under the spur of 
 Miss Arminster's necessities he achieved 
 prodigies of valour, even breaking into that 
 holy of holies, his sister's jam-closet. The 
 little actress aided and abetted him, creating 
 havoc among jars of sardines, olives, and 
 caviare. And then, while they were in the 
 midst of their midnight orgy, a figure ap 
 peared before them a figure clad in an in 
 describable dressing-gown and carrying a bed 
 room candle. 
 
 " Josephus," said the apparition, " is that 
 you? " 
 
 " Yes, my dear," replied the Bishop, with 
 his mouth full of jam tart, " it is." 
 
 " I wonder you've the face to enter the 
 house! " said his sister.
 
 JAM TARTS AND HUMBLE-PIE. 267 
 
 " His own house! That's good," com 
 mented Miss Arminster from the midst of sar 
 dines. 
 
 " I admit that the circumstances are un 
 usual," remarked the Bishop, cutting himself 
 another large slice of the pastry, " but the 
 train service is most irregular, and, as you can 
 see, it was necessary to bring the Leopard 
 home to-night, and so " 
 
 " Josephus! " broke in his sister, " there are 
 no leopards in this country, and I can see that 
 to the other sins you have undoubtedly com 
 mitted you have added the vice of " 
 
 But she got no further, for the Bishop, cast 
 ing a glance at each of the two women, de 
 cided that now or never was salvation at hand, 
 and said brusquely: 
 
 " Matilda, go to bed at once! " 
 
 It was the first time he had ever spoken to 
 her in tones of authority, and his sister, not be 
 lieving her ears, returned to the charge. 
 
 " And as for that shameless minx " she 
 continued; but his Lordship again inter 
 rupted, remarking severely:
 
 268 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOP4RD. 
 
 " Matilda, go to bed instantly! " 
 
 But the spinster was not yet defeated. 
 
 "Josephus!" she began, in her most ap 
 proved style. 
 
 " Go to bed! " repeated the Bishop sharply. 
 
 For one moment she wavered. Then, 
 realising that under the present conditions 
 resistance was worse than useless, she turned 
 slowly upon her heel, and marched upstairs 
 with the air of a martyr going to the stake. 
 
 " You were right," said his Lordship mood 
 ily, as he disposed of the last piece of pie 
 crust. 
 
 " Right about what? " asked Violet. 
 
 " Mud-baths," returned the Bishop.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN WHICH MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO 
 MARRY AGAIN. 
 
 CECIL and Miss Matilda breakfasted alone 
 the next morning. This was not by intention, 
 but by fate. Violet and the Bishop, for 
 obvious reasons, kept their respective rooms. 
 Mrs. Mackintosh had felt it her duty to break 
 fast with, and comfort, her friend in distress, 
 likewise to receive an early account of the 
 doings of the day before; while Smith and 
 Spotts, hearing that the fugitives had re 
 turned, took an early breakfast and adjourned 
 to the neighboring golf-links. Cecil, however, 
 who slept well, came down at the usual hour, 
 quite unconscious of what was impending, 
 and calmly walked into the trap. 
 
 After the ancient butler had passed the tea 
 
 269
 
 270 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 and toast, and then withdrawn, as was his 
 wont, leaving them to carve out their own 
 salvation, Miss Matilda lost no time in open 
 ing up the contest. She had been at swords' 
 points with her nephew ever since the evening 
 before, as a result of his stoutly maintaining 
 his father's innocence, and the manner in 
 which she reported her midnight meeting 
 would have made even Marchmont envious. 
 
 " And now of course he'll have to marry 
 her," she wound up her recital. 
 
 " Good heavens! I hope not! " ejaculated 
 Cecil. 
 
 " I'm glad," remarked his aunt stiffly, " that 
 we've at least one point of agreement." 
 
 " Oh, we are quite agreed on that," he re 
 turned. " It would never do at all; in fact 
 it's quite impossible." 
 
 " You know, then? " she demanded. 
 
 " Know what? " he asked cautiously. 
 
 " That she's been married dozens of times 
 already." 
 
 " I don't think I can subscribe to more than 
 half a dozen. But Miss Arminster certainly
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AGAIN. 271 
 
 does seem to have a fondness for that sort of 
 thing." 
 
 " And in the face of such scandalous pro 
 ceedings do you consider her a fit person to 
 marry your poor misguided father? " 
 
 " I've told you I don't approve," he said, 
 and added: " How did you come to know 
 about Miss Arminster's marriages? " 
 
 " Mr. Marchmont told me." 
 
 "Confound him!" 
 
 "Cecil! Mr. Marchmont's a gentleman." 
 
 " He's a mischief-maker of the first water." 
 
 " Do not let us waste time in discussing his 
 character. The important question is, what 
 are we to do about your father's marriage? " 
 
 " Stop it." 
 
 " But how? " she asked. " Shall I speak? " 
 
 "No, no; leave it to me," he said. " I'll un 
 dertake to settle the matter. If you saw the 
 Bishop, you'd only irritate him." 
 
 " He told me to go to bed, last night, after 
 that woman had insulted me." 
 
 " Insulted you? I thought you told me 
 she'd nothing to say for herself."
 
 272 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Her presence was an insult, and one of 
 us leaves this house to-day," replied his aunt, 
 and swept out of the room. 
 
 Cecil gulped down his tea, and, ringing the 
 bell, sent an urgent message to Miss Armin- 
 ster, requesting a meeting in his aunt's 
 boudoir, which, considering the purpose of 
 the interview, he was sure Miss Matilda would 
 not object to put at her disposal. 
 
 Violet received him in about twenty min 
 utes, apologising for her charming tea-gown, 
 on the ground of being somewhat seedy. 
 
 " Our supper last night was rather extra 
 ordinary, you know," she said. 
 
 " I've only heard one version," he replied. 
 
 " Miss Matilda's? " she asked, laughing. 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 " I fancy it was lurid enough," she went on; 
 " but your good father's out of leading-strings 
 this time, and no mistake." 
 
 " Tell me all about it," he said. " I'm most 
 anxious to know." 
 
 " Of course you are," she returned. " So 
 here goes."
 
 MISS ARM1NSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AG AM. 273 
 
 Banborough enjoyed the recital immensely, 
 and laughed immoderately at certain passages. 
 
 " So the governor knows all about our ad 
 ventures? " he said, when she had finished. 
 ; ' Did he seem much upset? " 
 
 " Only about not recognising you when you 
 blacked his eye under the bar." 
 
 " What a good old chap he is! Just think 
 of his coming all that way to hunt me up! I 
 wish he could have some fun out of life." 
 
 " We must try and help him to do so," she 
 said. 
 
 " Yes," he replied, suddenly recollecting the 
 object of his mission. " It's just that that I've 
 come about. You see he's awfully conscien 
 tious, and when he's thought things over a 
 bit, helped by my aunt's amiable suggestions, 
 he'll come to the conclusion that he ought to 
 marry you, you know and so well, he'll try 
 to do it," he ended lamely, hoping s'he would 
 see the point without further elucidation on 
 his part. 
 
 She was quick to take him up. 
 
 " And you don't think that's just the best
 
 274 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 way for him to have a good time? Sour 
 grapes eh, my son? " 
 
 " No, no; only he's certain to propose to 
 you." 
 
 " Supposing he has done so? " 
 
 " Well did you accept him? " 
 
 " What do you think? " she asked. 
 
 " I don't quite see how you could under 
 the circumstances." 
 
 " Oh, he'd only had two bottles of cham 
 pagne," she said, purposely misunderstanding 
 him from pure joy of seeing him flounder. 
 
 " I didn't mean that," he went on. " But, 
 anyway, his conscience will reassert itself, and 
 he'll probably propose again this morning 
 ponderously." 
 
 " And you're afraid I might accept? " 
 
 " I'm sure you'd make a most charming 
 step-mamma," he replied, " only " 
 
 " Only what? " 
 
 " Only the the others might object, 
 mightn't they? " 
 
 " The others? "
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AGAIN. 275 
 
 " All the men you've married," he blurted 
 out, " if you will have it." 
 
 " I see," she said meditatively. " And you 
 don't want to run the ' dear Bishop ' in for 
 another scandal." 
 
 " Of course, if you choose to put it that 
 way " 
 
 " It's the way you'd put it if you only had 
 the pluck," she retorted. 
 
 " Are you awfully angry with me? " he 
 asked, looking at her. 
 
 " Not a bit," she replied. " From your 
 point of view it's quite justifiable, I suppose, 
 and I'm only considering the best way out of 
 the dilemma." 
 
 " Are there several? " 
 
 " There's only one that I care to choose." 
 
 "And that is?" 
 
 " I shall marry again." 
 
 " Good heavens! not ! " 
 
 " Not your father, no; some one else." 
 
 " But surely!" 
 
 " You see," she continued calmly, ignoring 
 his interruption, " if I marry some one at once
 
 276 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 your father can't have any feeling of shall 
 we say responsibility? And it'll not be neces 
 sary for me to go into what Miss Matilda 
 would call ' my shameful past.' ' 
 
 " But I really couldn't allow" 
 
 " Oh, I'm not going to marry you either, 
 so you needn't be alarmed. Can't you make 
 some suggestions to help me out? " 
 
 " I am afraid you must excuse me," he said, 
 fast becoming scandalised at her matter-of-fact 
 way of approaching the subject. 
 
 " Well, of course," she went on thought 
 fully, " there are all your father's chaplains, 
 but they're young, and prone to take things 
 seriously. No, I don't think they'd do. And 
 there's the butler. No, he wouldn't answer, 
 either." 
 
 " Perhaps Miss Matilda would lend you 
 Professor Smith." 
 
 " No," she said, " I don't think I'd have the 
 heart to deprive her of him. On the whole, i 
 think I'll marry Mr. Spotts. He's nice and 
 handy."
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AGAIN. 277 
 
 " But mightn't he have something to say? " 
 began Banborough. 
 
 " Probably," admitted Violet; " but he gen 
 erally does what he's told, and as he isn't mar 
 ried to any one else, I dare say he'll prove 
 amenable when he understands the position. 
 I'll try and see him this morning, and," as a 
 brilliant idea struck her, " your father shall 
 perform the ceremony. I never was married 
 by a Bishop before. Won't it be jolly! " 
 
 " You surely can't seriously intend " 
 began Cecil. 
 
 " Yes, I do. Now don't be stupid, but run 
 along and let me finish my toilet." And she 
 ran out of the room. 
 
 Banborough walked away in a maze. He 
 had thought to straighten matters out, and he 
 had only got them into a far worse tangle. 
 That Miss Arminster had no conscientious 
 scruples about adding another husband to her 
 quota was bad enough, but that his innocent, 
 unsuspecting father should be allowed to dis 
 grace his cloth by solemnising such a marriage 
 was really more than he could stand. In his
 
 278 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 righteous wrath he determined that the 
 Bishop should know the whole truth, sooth 
 ing his conscience by the thought that if he 
 did not tell him, Miss Matilda would. 
 
 In the hall of the palace, however, he ran 
 across Spotts, laden with the implements of 
 golf, and all unconscious of his impending 
 fate. 
 
 " Look here, old man," said Cecil, " I want 
 to have five minutes' chat with you." 
 
 " I am quite at your service," replied his 
 friend. " In fact I was just coming to look 
 you up myself. Now that the war's over, I 
 must really be thinking of going away, as I've 
 imposed long enough already on your hos 
 pitality." 
 
 " Oh, it isn't about that I want to see you," 
 said Banborough. " It's about your getting 
 married." 
 
 " My getting married? " queried Spotts. 
 
 " Yes. It seems there's a lady who has 
 matrimonial designs on you. I thought it was 
 only the part of a friend to warn you in due 
 season."
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AG AW. 279 
 
 " If it's your aunt," returned the actor, 
 " I'm very much obliged. I think I could 
 manage to get packed up and leave by the 
 afternoon train." 
 
 " No, no; it isn't so bad as that," said his 
 host. " Or, rather, it's worse. Miss Armin- 
 ster has you under consideration." 
 
 " As a husband? " 
 
 " Yes. I think she means to marry you to 
 morrow or next day, and have my father per 
 form the ceremony." 
 
 " Oh, I see. And you've some feeling about 
 it." 
 
 " Well, yes," admitted Cecil, " I'm afraid I 
 have." 
 
 " I suppose you'd like to take my place? " 
 
 " No, it isn't that either. Yon don't seem 
 to see the point. Miss Arminster wants to 
 marry you." 
 
 " Well, isn't that a question between Miss 
 Arminster and myself ? " 
 
 " Naturally. But then she's married pretty 
 frequently, hasn't she? Of course, if all her 
 husbands are dead "
 
 280 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Oh, no," said Spotts. " I don't think she's 
 ever lost a husband." 
 
 " But you surely can't contemplate " 
 began Cecil. 
 
 " Well, you see," contended the actor, 
 " this is the first time she's ever asked me to 
 marry her, and one can't be so ungallant as to 
 refuse a lady." 
 
 " And you'll really add yourself to her list? " 
 
 Spotts shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " My dear fellow," he said, " I don't want to 
 appear rude, but this interference in my pros 
 pective matrimonial affairs seems to me ill- 
 timed. Miss Arminster hasn't as yet proposed 
 to me, and if she does, I'll probably consent 
 to oblige her. Anyway, it's doing you a 
 favour, as I suppose your father would wish 
 to marry her if I didn't." And turning on his 
 heel, he walked away. 
 
 As he ascended the stairs, he met Violet 
 coming down. They were standing on the 
 broad landing, and for the moment were quite 
 alone and out of earshot. 
 
 "I say!" burst out the actor. "Do you
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AG/tlN. 281 
 
 know I have just been warned against you by 
 your friend Banborough. A joke's a joke, but 
 this is going too far." 
 
 " I know, Alvy," she said, " I know, and I'm 
 awfully sorry. But it's almost over." 
 
 " I hope it is," he replied. " I have held 
 an equivocal position for months, and it isn't 
 pleasant. Why, I've practically seen nothing 
 of you." 
 
 " It hasn't been pleasant for me either, old 
 man. But, to speak frankly, you know as well 
 as I do that it's been largely a sentimental in 
 terest which has caused Cecil to get us all out 
 of this scrape. However, if he doesn't tell his 
 father to-day and I tried hard enough to 
 force him to do so this morning I shall." 
 
 " Good! Then his Lordship's Leopard will 
 be free," said Spotts. And pressing her hand, 
 he proceeded on his way upstairs. 
 
 In the face of his two interviews, Cecil felt 
 he had no option but to refer the whole matter 
 to the Bishop, whom he found in his study. 
 He received a somewhat grim reception from 
 the old gentleman, to whom a sleepless night
 
 282 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 had afforded ample opportunity for reflecting 
 on the vagaries of his son, to which he, not 
 altogether unjustly, attributed his adventures 
 of the preceding day. 
 
 After formal salutations had been ex 
 changed, the younger man, feeling that a dis 
 agreeable business was the better over, lost no 
 time in coming to the point. 
 
 " I don't know that there's anything to be 
 said about the past, father," he began. 
 
 " I should think there was a great deal to be 
 said," returned his Lordship brusquely. " But 
 this is perhaps not the best time to say it. I've 
 been told a very astonishing story by Miss 
 Arminster." 
 
 " About the Black Maria and the Spanish 
 plot?" 
 
 " About your wretched novel, sir! " 
 
 " Ah, yes. Well, I corroborate it all, word 
 for word. Miss Arminster told me about it 
 this morning." 
 
 " You've seen her, then? " 
 
 " Yes. We had a chat concerning a num 
 ber of things. But, as you suggest, we might
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AGAIN. 283 
 
 reserve the discussion of our joint American 
 experiences till another occasion, so I won't 
 mention them beyond apologising to you for 
 having blacked your eye under the bar; 
 though of course I could hardly have sup 
 posed that your ecclesiastical duties would 
 have placed you in just that position." 
 
 " Say, rather, the search for an unregener- 
 ate son," suggested the Bishop, with a twinkle 
 in his eye which showed him to be in better 
 humour. 
 
 " Well, anyway, you gave as good as you 
 got," said Cecil. " My ribs were sore for a 
 week afterwards." 
 
 " Ah," replied his Lordship. " I thought I 
 must have landed you one. I haven't quite 
 forgotten the athletics of my college days." 
 
 " Then we're quits," returned Cecil. " But 
 it was more than good of you to come out 
 there and look for me. A father who could 
 do all that deserves a somewhat better son 
 than I've been in the past; and in the fu 
 ture" 
 
 " Don't say it, Cecil. I know it." And the
 
 284 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Bishop gripped his hand in a way that caused 
 the mental and moral atmosphere to clear in 
 stantly. 
 
 " And now/' said his son, " I want to talk 
 about Miss Arminster." 
 
 " It's the subject nearest my heart," replied 
 his father. 
 
 " I asked her to marry me at Montreal," 
 Cecil remarked simply. 
 
 " So I inferred from what she said on the 
 yacht," said his Lordship. 
 
 " And you proposed to her yesterday." 
 
 "Did she tell you?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Well, the fact is she doesn't want to marry 
 either of us." 
 
 The Bishop nodded his head despondently. 
 
 " But," continued the younger man, " she 
 contemplates marrying some one else." 
 
 " Ah," said his Lordship, " I'm heartily glad 
 she proposes to marry after yesterday." 
 
 " Quite so, and she means to ask you to 
 perform the ceremony."
 
 MISS ARM1NSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AC AM. 285 
 
 " Isn't that rather " 
 
 " Rubbing it in? " suggested Cecil. " So it 
 seemed to me." 
 
 " Who is the er prospective bride 
 groom? " 
 
 " Spotts." 
 
 " He seems a good fellow." 
 
 " Yes, but will you forgive me if I speak 
 frankly? There can't be any feeling of jealousy 
 between us; we've both been worsted." 
 
 " What do you wish to say? " 
 
 " That I'm afraid this marriage must not 
 be permitted. You see, Miss Arminster isn't 
 quite what she seems." 
 
 " If you're going to say anything against 
 that young lady ! " began his Lordship 
 angrily. 
 
 " You forget," said his son, " I wanted to 
 marry her." 
 
 His father remembered; and remembering, 
 said: 
 
 " Proceed." 
 
 " Well, I found out, for myself I mean, that
 
 286 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Miss Arminster had been married a number 
 of times." 
 
 " A number of times! " 
 
 " Half a dozen at least. Perhaps more." 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 " She admitted as much to me." 
 
 " But surely! " 
 
 " As far as I know, none of her husbands 
 has died." 
 
 " In America," began the Bishop, " the 
 divorce laws are lax, and perhaps " 
 
 " Oh, no, I'm sure she hasn't been divorced. 
 I don't think she'd approve of it." 
 
 " But then it means " 
 
 " Yes, that's just the point. And so an 
 other marriage with this Mr. Spotts " 
 
 "Must be stopped at all costs!" cried his 
 Lordship, growing very red in the face with 
 agitation. 
 
 " I thought you'd feel so," said his son. 
 " And that's why I ventured " 
 
 At this moment Miss Matilda entered the 
 room. 
 
 " What are you talking about, Josephus? "
 
 MISS ARMINSTER PROPOSES TO MARRY AGAIN. 287 
 
 she demanded, assuming a domination of 
 which she felt by no means sure. " Did I hear 
 you mention that hussy's name? " 
 
 " I was speaking," said the Bishop, " of 
 Miss Arminster. Cecil tells me she's to marry 
 Mr. Spotts." 
 
 " That's impossible," snapped Miss Matilda. 
 
 " What do you mean? " asked her brother. 
 
 " I mean what I say. While you were 
 shamelessly gallivanting down the Channel, 
 I went over to the little church near the ruined 
 abbey which you visited the day you met Mr. 
 Marchmont, and there I found a record of the 
 marriage, in 1895, of this person who calls her 
 self Miss Arminster, and I say she can't marry 
 Mr. Spotts." 
 
 " Why not? " 
 
 " Because she's married to him already! "
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN WHICH MISS ARMINSTER VERIFIES THE 
 PROVERB. 
 
 THE Bishop was pacing his garden. He 
 was far from happy. It is true he had not 
 been worsted in his encounter with his sister. 
 There had been a drawn battle, and he had re 
 tired with dignity, conceding nothing but that 
 he would ask Miss Arminster to come to his 
 study at noon and explain her position. He 
 could not believe the charges against the 
 charming Violet, but nevertheless he felt de 
 cidedly uncomfortable: for even if she cleared 
 herself, she was still married, and the palace 
 lacked a mistress. 
 
 It was easy to say that Miss Matilda should 
 be deposed, but who should take her place? 
 
 Not another man's wife, certainly. For the 
 
 288
 
 MISS 4RMINSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 289 
 
 first time in all these years, his Lordship 
 realised how lonely he had been. He should 
 have remarried long before, and indeed even 
 so unworldly a person as he knew that more 
 than one young lady in Blanford would have 
 viewed with complacency the prospect of be 
 coming Mrs. Bishop. 
 
 A young wife, however, even as attractive 
 as the fair Violet, was not, he told himself, 
 exactly what he wanted. He had tried a 
 period of double rule in which his sister was 
 the power behind the throne, and it was in 
 finitely worse than the present regime. No; 
 if he took another helpmate, she must be a 
 person of strong will, some one who could 
 hold her own against all comers, some one 
 who should have an inexhaustible fund of 
 sympathy for his work, some one whose ap 
 preciation of the exalted position of the 
 Bishop of Blanford should be so great as to 
 blind her, occasionally at least, to those minor 
 faults to which, Scripture tells us, all flesh is 
 heir. 
 
 It was at just this point in his meditations
 
 290 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 that his Lordship, turning sharply round the 
 corner of a large gooseberry-bush, came sud 
 denly upon Mrs. Mackintosh. Their surprise 
 was mutual, for the good lady had evidently 
 been gardening, and was suffering from the 
 rigour of the game. 
 
 " That head man of yours is a duffer," she 
 said sharply, pointing a very earthy trowel at 
 the unconscious figure of the gardener, who 
 was busy in the middle distance digging po 
 tatoes. " A man," she continued, " who calls 
 a plain, every-day squash a vegetable marrow 
 isn't fit to run a well-ordered truck-patch; 
 though it's no more than might be expected 
 in a country where they sell bread by the yard, 
 and flour by the gallon. And what, I should 
 like to know, is a ' punnet '? " 
 
 " I'm afraid, madam, I must confess my ig 
 norance," replied the Bishop. 
 
 " I thought as much," she retorted. " And 
 yet they put you in command of a diocese. 
 Your gardener said to me this morning: ' I'll 
 pick a " punnet " of strawberries to-day.' 
 ' You'll do nothing of the kind,' I told him.
 
 MISS ARM1NSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 291 
 
 ' Pick them in a Christian basket, or not at 
 all.' " 
 
 His Lordship laughed. 
 
 " It's some sort of measure, I imagine," 
 he remarked. 
 
 " I shouldn't wonder. And your cook's 
 just as bad. She asked me yesterday if I 
 liked jugged hare. ' Let me see your jug/ 
 said I, ' and then I'll tell you.' And as sure's 
 I'm a sinner, she told me she never used one 
 for that dish! " 
 
 " Now you speak of it," said his Lordship, 
 " I don't think I ever saw one myself. But 
 what are you doing this morning? " 
 
 " Straightening the peas." 
 
 " Straightening the peas? " he asked, thor 
 oughly mystified. 
 
 " Yes, they're all waggly. When I plant 
 my garden I take a string and two pegs and 
 plant the seed along a line; but these just 
 seem to be put in anyhow." 
 
 " Is it good for the peas? " asked the Bishop 
 suspiciously, as he saw them being rooted up 
 and reset.
 
 292 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 " I can't say," she returned sharply. " But 
 things ought to be straight at an episcopal 
 palace, if they are anywhere." 
 
 " So they should," he admitted mournfully, 
 " but it's far from being the case. That's why 
 I came out to consult you." 
 
 " Go ahead, then. You talk, and I'll dig." 
 
 And while the plants were being arranged 
 to an ecclesiastical standard, he retailed to her 
 the charges against Violet. 
 
 " Do you believe them? " she asked, jam 
 ming her trowel up to its hilt in the soft earth. 
 
 " Of course I do not." 
 
 " Right you are," she said. " I know the 
 whole story, and it's nothing to be ashamed 
 of, I give you my word." 
 
 " You relieve me immensely." 
 
 " It's merely American enterprise," contin 
 ued the old lady. " That's why they call her 
 the Leopard." 
 
 " The Leopard I don't understand. She 
 asked me to call her that." 
 
 "Well, I won't steal her thunder. She'll 
 tell you herself."
 
 MISS 4RMINSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 293 
 
 " But she is married? " 
 
 " Oh, yes." 
 
 The Bishop sighed. 
 
 " That disappoints you? " said Mrs. Mack 
 intosh thoughtfully, balancing a pea-plant in 
 her hand. 
 
 " Yes; at least I'd hoped" 
 
 " I know. She told me. We haven't any 
 secrets from each other." 
 
 " You see," continued his Lordship, " if my 
 sister leaves me, I must have some one to 
 take her place; otherwise " 
 
 " She won't go." 
 
 " Yes," said the Bishop; " that's just the 
 point." 
 
 " You ought to marry at once." 
 
 " I feel that myself; but then, you see, 
 there's no one who would care to marry me 
 no one at least who " 
 
 " You don't want a young chit." 
 
 " No," said his Lordship. " Somebody 
 more like you." 
 
 Mrs. Mackintosh paused in her garden 
 ing.
 
 294 HIS LORDSHIP "S LEOPARD. 
 
 " Look here," she said. " Are you going 
 to propose to me next? " 
 
 " I was thinking of it," admitted the 
 Bishop. 
 
 " As a last resource? " 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Mackintosh! " 
 
 " I don't know as I ever could be a bishop- 
 ess," replied that lady, inadvertently resetting 
 a pea-plant upside down. 
 
 " There's Jonah," said the Bishop, resorting 
 to diplomacy. " I shall never be able to com 
 plete that last volume without the spur of your 
 appreciative criticism." 
 
 " Well," she replied, partially relenting, 
 " I'd do a good deal for Jonah." 
 
 " Then you will! " he cried. 
 
 " I've one row of those peas left," she re 
 turned, " and when I've reset them I'll give 
 you your answer. That'll be in fifteen min 
 utes. Now go away, or you'll fidget round, 
 and I sha'n't get 'em straight." And without 
 another word she resumed her digging. 
 
 Fifteen minutes later his Lordship was at 
 her side.
 
 MISS ARMINSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 295 
 
 " There's one more plant left," remarked 
 Mrs. Mackintosh, cleaning her trowel and ad 
 dressing herself to the task. 
 
 " And are you going to say Yes when you 
 have finished? " 
 
 " Yes," said the lady, " I am, but it's mostly 
 on account of Jonah." 
 
 The Bishop ruthlessly set his foot on the 
 tender shoot which intervened between him 
 and happiness, crushing it to the earth. 
 
 Some time later Mrs. Mackintosh re 
 marked: 
 
 " The cathedral clock is striking twelve, and 
 you're due in the study." 
 
 " You mean, my dear, that we are due," re 
 plied his Lordship. 
 
 On their arrival in the Bishop's sanctum, 
 they found the full force of the company as 
 sembled to receive them. 
 
 Miss Matilda looked on this gathering with 
 suspicion. 
 
 " I do not see," she said, " the need of so
 
 296 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 many witnesses to what must prove, I fear, 
 a humiliating confession." 
 
 " I've come," returned Mrs. Mackintosh, 
 " to lend moral support to " She glanced 
 at the Bishop, changed her mind, and supple 
 mented " Miss Arminster." 
 
 "Shall I speak?" asked Miss Matilda, 
 ignoring her remark. 
 
 " I will speak," said his Lordship. " It is 
 my house, and my place to do so." 
 
 His sister sat down hurriedly. 
 
 " I've sent for you, my dear," he continued, 
 turning to Violet, " because certain charges 
 have been made against you by Mr. March- 
 mont and others, and, as my son informs 
 me that you contemplate marrying Mr. Spotts, 
 and asking me to perform the ceremony, I feel 
 it is my duty " 
 
 " She's already " broke in his sister. 
 
 " I am speaking, Matilda," he said quietly, 
 and she collapsed. 
 
 " You mustn't think," he went on, " that 
 my asking you to explain your position im 
 plies any belief on my part in the charges made
 
 MISS ARMINSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 297 
 
 against you. I've only requested this inter 
 view because I thought you'd like an oppor 
 tunity to disprove idle gossip." 
 
 " It's very kind of you," she replied, " and 
 I shall avail myself of it gladly." 
 
 " Quite so. Now my sister tells me that 
 she's seen, in a neighbouring church, the 
 record of your marriage to Mr. Spotts. Is 
 this so? " 
 
 " Certainly," said Violet. " I married him 
 there in 1895." 
 
 Miss Matilda sniffed viciously. 
 
 " Mr. Marchmont," continued the Bishop, 
 " in whose statements, I need hardly say, I 
 place no reliance, informed my sister that you 
 had been married with unusual frequency; and 
 my son tells me, also, that you've admitted 
 to him a er a considerable number of er 
 matrimonial alliances. Would you er er 
 consider it an intrusion on my part if I asked 
 how many times you 'have been married? " 
 
 " I've had the marriage service performed 
 over me," she replied, " thirty-seven times in 
 four years."
 
 298 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 Miss Matilda threw up her hands in an ac 
 cess of horror. 
 
 " But your husbands " stammered his 
 Lordship. 
 
 " I never had but one husband," she said. 
 " And 'here he stands." And she took Spotts's 
 hand in hers. 
 
 " Bless my soul! " exclaimed the Bishop. 
 " You surely haven't married him thirty-seven 
 times? " 
 
 " Yes, that is exactly the case," she re 
 turned. 
 
 " But I don't understand." 
 
 " The explanation is very simple," she re 
 plied. " My husband and I are both actors. 
 He plays the part of the hero, and I the part 
 of the heroine. In the fifth act, after many 
 struggles and disappointments, we're at last 
 united. To have the marriage ceremony actu 
 ally performed on the stage, or the next day 
 at church, has always proved a great attrac 
 tion to our audiences. At first I objected. 
 But I've been informed by a competent 
 authority in my own country that there's no
 
 MISS 4RM1NSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 299 
 
 canonical rule against it, and in remarrying 
 my husband I merely renew my vows to him, 
 and I've never once gone through the cere 
 mony lightly or thoughtlessly. I do not de 
 fend the practice, or expect you to approve of 
 it, and, now that you know " the truth, I 
 shouldn't think of asking you to marry us 
 again; but I don't consider that I've done 
 anything of which I need be ashamed." 
 
 " Dear me! " said the Bishop. " In my ec 
 clesiastical position I can hardly approve of 
 the course you've taken; but as a man well, 
 it's a great relief to me." 
 
 " I consider it a sacrilege," exclaimed Miss 
 Matilda, " and, as I remarked to Cecil this 
 morning, that young person leaves the palace 
 to-day, or I do! " 
 
 " You'll naturally act as seems to you best," 
 said her brother. " But I beg you to remem 
 ber that I'm master of this house, and that 
 this lady is my guest." 
 
 " And who, pray, will keep your house for 
 you when I'm gone? " she snapped. 
 
 " I'm sure that Mrs. Spotts will attend to it
 
 300 HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD. 
 
 for me until Mrs. Mackintosh and I are mar 
 ried." 
 
 "Till you're married!" his sister repeated 
 after him, too astounded to grasp fully the 
 meaning of his words. 
 
 " It is an event which I hope will occur 
 shortly," her brother replied. 
 
 " That's enough! " she retorted. " I leave 
 Blanford this afternoon! " 
 
 % " I trust you'll not go in anger, Matilda," 
 he said. " I'm sure a change will do you good. 
 Miss Arminster I mean Mrs. Spotts sug 
 gests a course of mud-baths; and if you'll per 
 mit me to assume the expense " 
 
 " Josephus! " she returned shortly, " do not 
 add insult to injury." And she swept from the 
 room. 
 
 " I, too," said Professor Tybalt Smith, who 
 had hitherto remained silent " I, too, must 
 be permitted to excuse myself. It may be that 
 I can comfort that injured lady in her exile." 
 And he followed her out. 
 
 " Oh, I'm delighted! " cried Violet, seizing 
 Mrs. Mackintosh's hand.
 
 MISS 4RMINSTER VERIFIES THE PROVERB. 3i 
 
 " And I, too," said Cecil. 
 
 " Thank you," replied his stepmother-to- 
 be. " That pleases me more than anything 
 else. I hope you'll really make Blanford your 
 home." 
 
 " I shall indeed," he returned, " since no 
 one will have me as a husband." 
 
 " You've the great success of your book to 
 comfort you," suggested Violet. " What 
 more can you ask? " 
 
 " Well, as it seems a day of explanations," 
 he said,, " I should really like to know why 
 you're called 'the Leopard'?" 
 
 " It's a very trifling secret after all," she 
 replied, laughing. " But to have let you know 
 it would have given away our little plot. Now 
 it doesn't matter. Tell him, Alvy." 
 
 " It's merely this," said her husband gaily: 
 " that, as much as she may marry, His LORD 
 SHIP'S LEOPARD CAN NEVER CHANGE HER 
 SPOT(T)S." 
 
 THE END.
 
 "Tense with sustained power." 
 
 New York Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 FOLLY CORNER 
 
 BY MRS. HENRY DUDENEY 
 12mo. $1.25. 
 
 A novel of love against reason in conflict with love 
 conformable to reason, worked out with all the power 
 of the author's former novel, " The Maternity of Harriot 
 Wicken," but much more inviting in subject, characters, 
 and treatment. A distinct advance on that able work 
 and full of promise for the future of this rising author. 
 Scene, Sussex to-day. 
 
 ^V. y. Commercial Advertiser : "It shows the same deep 
 insight into the complications of the human soul [as did the 
 author's earlier novel]. . . . This story from the opening 
 page is tense with sustained power and is surely destined to be 
 one of the most important contributions to this season's 
 fiction." 
 
 N. Y. Mail and Express : "These pictures have the true 
 color, alive with the activity of nature or soothing in its quiet 
 ude. They form a distinct feature of the book, beautify its 
 pages and make them notable. ... It has the elements in it 
 of a wider popularity [than that of the author's earlier novel], 
 which it deserves in every sense." 
 
 Buffalo Commercial: "We find just the same originality in 
 plot, skill in character depiction, and the effective presentation 
 of events [which characterized 'The Maternity of Harriot Wic 
 ken']. . . In the story we see so artistic a description of the play 
 of character, the various phases of human goodness and badness 
 are so well drawn out, that the book deserves high praise. . . . 
 The description of the life of Folly Corner, and the men and 
 women seen there, is not surpassed by any work of any 
 contemporary novelist. The book is a notable one every way." 
 
 The Academy, London: " Really interesting; . . . the writ 
 ing is generally vigorous and even brilliant. The comedy is 
 first rate. ... It is in fact a successful novel." 
 
 HENRY HOLT & CO. 29 
 
 in, 1900
 
 POOR HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 By Miss ELIZABETH GODFREY. A Musical Novel, ad Im 
 pression. i2mo, $1.50. 
 
 The story of some Wagnerian singers at the Court Opera 
 of Blank enstadt. It has been said that this name thinly 
 veils Dresden, and that the book gives an intimate picture 
 of musical life at the Saxon capital. 
 
 Bookman : " It is curiously convincing- The characters, tot 
 are peculiarly real. . . Each and every one stands out with 
 vivid distinction, and is not soon to be forgotten. . . The 
 portrayal of local life, particularly that appertaining to 
 operatic circles, is full or freshness and interest. . . It is 
 well written, it is nobly felt, it is altogether an admirable 
 work." 
 
 New York Tribune: "One of the cleverest musical novels wa 
 know, and it is particularly creditable in that it holds nothing 
 of the hysterical gush with which the feminine writer usually 
 fills fiction of this kind. . . The study of the group of 
 singers at the Royal Opera in a minor German city is aston 
 ishingly wall done, and so is the portrait of the great tenor's 
 peasant wife ... so unmistakably true that she must have 
 been drawn from life ... an uncommonly attractive and 
 interesting novel." 
 
 Boston Transcript : " We have nothing but praise to say of 
 this fine, strong tale, and can recommend it heartily and 
 without qualification." 
 
 Literary World: "There is a distinctly original touch in thia 
 story. . . Full of interest." 
 
 The Academy (London) ; " Among the incidental figures are 
 some excellent studies. . . Miss Godfrey has given care to 
 every detail. Her literary skill is notable. The story is told 
 with grace and delicacy and no little strength." 
 
 Critic : "The numerous admirers of the earlier book ["The 
 First Violin"] will find pleasure in this one . . . she shows 
 a thorough knowledge of her subject . . . may be recom 
 mended to all interested in operatic life." 
 
 JUST PUBLISHED. 
 
 THE HARP OF LIFE. 
 
 By Miss ELIZABETH GODFREY. i2mo, $1.50. 
 Miss Godfrey's new novel may fitly be called a drama of 
 temperament, for seldom has the sensitive, high-strung 
 spirit of a musician been more movingly described than in 
 her portrayal of the first violin of the Pinecliff (England) 
 orchestra. Among the other characters are "Rose Alba" 
 the singer, and an irresponsible and dangerous Ibsenesque 
 woman novelist. Miss Godfrey has again been uncom 
 monly happy in creating a " Musical atmosphere." 
 
 HENRY HOLT & CO. 29 
 
 iv, 1900
 
 "Better than the Prisoner of Zenda. ' "CRITIC 
 
 10th Impression of the Sequel to 
 
 " The Prisoner of Zenda " 
 
 HOPE'S RUPERT OF HENTZAU 
 
 From the memoirs of Fritz von Tarlenheim. With eight full-page 
 
 illustrations by CHARLES DANA GIBSON. lamo, 1-50. 
 . A. Dithmnr in New York Times' Saturday Review: "Delight 
 fully stirring and irresponsible, ... a sequel . . . for a wonder a; 
 vigorous and powerful as its original. ... It seems to bring romance 
 to life again." 
 
 Life: "A sequel to 'Zenda' which does not let down one bit the 
 high standard of chivalrous love which was the charm of that romance. 
 . . . Mr. Hope's heroes are never dull. . . . These 'Zenda' stories 
 have added a distinctly modern value to what men and women mean 
 by the ' sense of honor.' . . . The closing chapters are simply written, 
 elevated in sentiment, and an ideal solution of the fate of Mavia and 
 Rudolf." 
 
 Geo. IV, Smalley in New York Herald : " A story which lays a spell 
 upon you. The animation is unceasing, and so, therefore, is the in 
 terest. . . . Mr. Hope has not lost his old deftness in dialogue. . . . 
 The scene between the two men [Sapt and James] after the murder 
 ... is a masterpiece." 
 
 New York Tribune : "Everything moves swiftly and naturally to 
 the climax, upon which, we may add, Mr. Hope has wreaked himself 
 with a tact that is perhaps the best thing in the book. ... It is absorb 
 ing, and especially is it an excellent sequel, which is more than can be 
 said of most books of its kind." 
 
 Springfield Republican : " It is a question whether it does not rival 
 'The Prisoner of Zenda' itself in excellence. . . . It strikes a stronger 
 and deeper note." 
 
 Brooklyn Eagle : " Has the ring of genuine humanity and true 
 romance." 
 
 Chicago Tribune : " Considered as a sequel, the book is surprisingly 
 good. It retains the spirit of 'Zenda,' is fertile in invention, swift in 
 movement, and is of a thrilling and absorbing nature." 
 
 6th Impression of the New Edition of 
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 With five full-page illustrations by CHARLES DANA GIBSON, and a 
 view and plan of the castle by HOWAKD INCH. iamo, $1.50. 
 
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 With frontispieces by RACKHAM, RUSSELL, and WKCHSLER. iSuio, 
 75 cents each. 
 
 INDISCRETION OF THE DUCHESS, i2th Impression, 
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 A MAN OF MARK, qth Impretsion. 
 
 SPORT ROYAL, ETC , ftk Impression. 
 
 HENRY HOLT & CO. 2e 
 
 xii '99
 
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 N. Y. Times Saturday Review : " The story is a good 
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 The Outlook: "Miss Elizabeth Barrow has done her 
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 Chicago Times-Herald : "(Another tale of the time of 
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 A little book for wayfarers, bicycle-wise and other 
 wise. Compiled by E. V. LUCAS, editor of " A Book 
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 Some 125 poems of out-door life and 25 prose pas 
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 HENRY HOLT & CO. 29 
 
 in, 1900
 
 18th Impression of a Remarkable Romance. 
 
 THE GADFLY. 
 
 By E. L. VOYNICH. 12010, cloth. $1.25. 
 
 New York Tribune : "It is nothing more or less than one of the 
 most powerful novels of the decade. . . . He shows us the veritable 
 conspirator of history, who plotted like a human being and not like an 
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 ' The Gadfly ' is an original and impressive being ; . . . a story to 
 remember." 
 
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 is the salient feature of ' The Gadfly '; . . . shows a wonderfully strong 
 hand, and descriptive powers which are rare; ... a very remarkable 
 romance." 
 
 The Dial : "One of the most interesting phases of the history of 
 Nineteenth Century Europe. The story of the Italian revolutionary 
 movement; ... is full of such incidents as the novelist most desires; 
 . . . this novel is one of the strongest of the year, vivid in conception, 
 and dramatic in execution, filled with intense human feeling, and 
 worked up to a tremendously impressive climax." 
 
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 . . . ' The Gadfly ' is a figure to live in the imagination." 
 
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 it consummately well. . . . The beaten track has not allured him, and 
 the characters to whom he introduces us are not such as we meet in 
 every-day novels. This is the crowning merit of this book." 
 
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 ... a powerful climax. Yet, however much the imagination be used, 
 the author will be found to rise beyond it; the scene at High Mass on 
 the feast of Corpus Christi being one of the most powerful in English 
 fiction." 
 
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 29
 
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