, to 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF 
 HARRY REVEL 
 
NOVELS, STORIES, SKETCHES AND 
 ESSAYS 
 
 The Adventures of Harry Revel . . 121110, 
 
 The White Wolf and other Fireside Tales 12010, 
 
 The Laird's Luck and other Fireside Tales 121110, 
 
 Old Fires and Profitable Ghosts . . 12010, 
 
 The Ship of Stars i2mo, 
 
 The Splendid Spur 12010, 
 
 The Blue Pavilions 12010, 
 
 Wandering Heath i2mo, 
 
 The Delectable Duchy .... 12010, 
 
 Dead Man's Rock ... . 12010, 
 
 Noughts and Crosses 12010, 
 
 Troy Town 12010, 
 
 I Saw Three Ships 12010, 
 
 Adventures in Criticism .... 12010, 
 
 Historical Tales from Shakespeare . . 12010, 
 
 la. A Love Story \Ivory Series} . . 12010, 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF 
 HARRY REVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 A. T. QUILLER-COUCH 
 
 (Q) 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 NEW YORK 1903 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Published, April, 1903 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. I FIND MYSELF A FOUNDLING ... 1 
 
 II. I START IN LIFE AS AN EMINENT PERSON . 11 
 
 III. I AM BOUND APPRENTICE . . . .22 
 
 IV. Miss PLINLIMMON 41 
 
 V. THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD . . 55 
 
 VI. I STUMBLE INTO HORROR .... 75 
 
 VII. I ESCAPE FROM THE JEW'S HOUSE . . 85 
 
 VIII. POOR TOM BOWLING . . 94 
 
 IX. SALTASH FERRY 112 
 
 X. I Go ON A HONEYMOON .... 128 
 
 XI. FLIGHT 140 
 
 XII. I FALL AMONG SMUGGLERS . . . 152 
 
 XIII. THE MAN ON THE VERANDAH . . 165 
 
 XIV. THE MOCK-ORANGE BUSH . . 182 
 
 XV. MINDEN COTTAGE ... . 194 
 
 XVI. MR. JACK ROGERS AS A MAN OF AFFAIRS . 215 
 
 438747 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XVII. LYDIA BELCHER INTERVENES . . . 231 
 
 XVIII. THE OWL'S CRY 246 
 
 XIX. CHECKMATE. ...... 256 
 
 XX. ISABEL'S REVENGE 267 
 
 XXI. I Go CAMPAIGNING WITH LORD WELLING- 
 TON 290 
 
 XXII. ON THE GREATER TESSON .... 304 
 
 XXIII. IN CIUDAD EODRIGO 321 
 
 XXIV. I EXCHANGE THE LAUREL FOR THE OLIVE. 337 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF 
 HARRY REVEL 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF 
 HARRY REVEL 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 I FIND MYSELF A FOUNDLING 
 
 MY earliest recollections are of a square court- 
 yard surrounded by high walls and paved with 
 blue and white pebbles in geometrical patterns 
 circles, parallelograms, and lozenges. Two of 
 these walls were blank, and had been coped with 
 broken bottles; a third, similarly coped, had 
 heavy folding-doors of timber, leaden-grey in 
 colour and studded with black bolt-heads. Be- 
 side them stood a leaden-grey sentry-box, and in 
 this sat a red-faced man with a wooden leg and 
 a pigtail, whose business was to attend to the 
 wicket and keep an eye on us small boys as we 
 played. He owned two books which he read 
 constantly: one was Foxe's Martyrs, and the 
 other (which had no title on the binding) I 
 1 
 
OF HAKRY REVEL 
 
 to be "The Devil on 
 
 Two Sticks." 
 
 The arch over these gates bore two gilt 
 legends. That facing the roadway ran "Train 
 up a Child in the Way he should Go" which 
 prepared the visitor to read on the inner side 
 "When he is Old he will not Depart from it." 
 But we twenty-five small foundlings, who sel- 
 dom evaded the wicket, and so passed our days 
 with the second half of the quotation, found in 
 it a particular and dreadful meaning. 
 
 The fourth and last wall was the front of the 
 hospital, a two-storeyed building of grey lime- 
 stone, with a clock and a small cupola of copper, 
 weather-greened, and a steeply-pitched roof of 
 slate pierced with dormer windows, behind one 
 of which (because of a tendency to walk in my 
 sleep) I slept in the charge of Miss Plinlimmon, 
 the matron. Below the eaves ran a line of eight 
 tall windows, the three on the extreme right be- 
 longing to the chapel ; and below these again a 
 low-browed colonnade, in the shelter of which 
 we played on rainy days, but never in fine 
 weather though its smooth limestone slabs 
 made an excellent pitch for marbles, whereas on 
 the pebbles in the yard expertness could only be 
 2 
 
I FIND MYSELF A FOUNDLING 
 
 obtained by heart-breaking practice. Yet we 
 preferred them. If it did nothing else, the 
 Genevan Hospital, by Plymouth Dock, taught 
 us to suit ourselves to the world as we found it. 
 
 I do not remember that we were unhappy or 
 nursed any sense of injury, except over the por- 
 ridge for breakfast. The Rev. Mr. Scougall, 
 our pastor, had founded the hospital some 
 twenty years before with the money subscribed 
 by certain Calvinistic ladies among whom he 
 ministered, and under the patronage of a com- 
 mander-in-chief of like belief, then occupying 
 Admiralty House. His purpose (to which we 
 had not the smallest objection) was to rescue us 
 from jetsam and save us from many dreadful 
 Christian heresies, more especially those of 
 Rome. But he came from the north of Britain 
 and argued (I suppose) that what porridge had 
 done for him in childhood it might well do for 
 us a conclusion against which our poor little 
 southern stomachs rebelled. It oppressed me 
 worse than any, for since the discovery of my 
 sleep-walking habit my supper (of plain bread 
 and water) had been docked, so that I came 
 ravenous to breakfast and yet could not eat. 
 
 Nevertheless I do not think we were unhappy. 
 3 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Perhaps we were too young, and at any rate we 
 had nothing with which to contrast our lot 
 Across the roadway outside lay blue water, and 
 of this and of roving ships and boats and free 
 passers-by glimpse came to us through the 
 wicket when Mr. George, the porter (we always 
 addressed him as "Mr." and supposed him to 
 resemble the King in features), admitted a vis- 
 itor, or the laundress, or the butcher's boy. And 
 sometimes we broke off a game to watch the top- 
 masts of a vessel gliding by silently, above the 
 wall's coping. But if at any time the world 
 called to us, we took second thoughts, remember- 
 ing our clothes. 
 
 We wore, I dare say, the most infernal cos- 
 tume ever devised by man a tightish snuff- 
 coloured jacket with diminutive tails, an orange 
 waistcoat, snuff-coloured breeches, grey-blue 
 worsted stockings, and square-toed shoes with 
 iron caps. Add a flat-topped cap with an im- 
 mense leathern brim ; add Genevan neck-bands ; 
 add, last of all, a leathern badge with "G.F.H." 
 (Genevan Foundling Hospital) depending from 
 the left breast-button; and you may imagine 
 with what diffidence we took our rare walks 
 abroad. The dock boys, of course, greeted us 
 4 
 
I FIND MYSELF A FOUNDLING 
 
 with cries of "Yellow Hammer !" The butcher- 
 boy had once even dared to fling that taunt at 
 us within our own yard ; and we left him in no 
 doubt about the hammering, gallant fellow 
 though he was and wore a spur on his left heel. 
 But no bodily deformity could have corroded us, 
 as did those accursed garments, with terror of 
 the world without and of its laughter. 
 
 Of a world yet more distant we were taught 
 the gloomiest views. Twice a week regularly, 
 and incidentally whenever he found occasion, 
 Mr. Scougall painted the flames of hell for us 
 in the liveliest colours. We never doubted his 
 word that our chances of escaping them were 
 small indeed; but somehow, as life did not al- 
 lure, so eternity did not greatly frighten us. 
 Meanwhile we played at our marbles. We 
 knew, in spite of the legend over the gateway, 
 that at the age of ten or so our elder companions 
 disappeared. They went, as a fact, into various 
 trades and callings, like ordinary parish appren- 
 tices. Perhaps we guessed this; if so, it must 
 have been vaguely, and I incline to believe that 
 we confused their disappearance with death in 
 our childish musings on the common lot. They 
 never came back to see us ; and I remember that 
 5 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAERY REVEL 
 
 we were curiously shy of speaking about them, 
 once gone. 
 
 From Miss Plinlimmon's window above the 
 eaves I could look over the front wall on to an 
 edge of roadway, a straight dock like a canal 
 crowded with shipping and a fort which fired 
 a gun in the early morning and again at sunset. 
 And every morning, too, drums would sound 
 from the hill at our back ; and be answered by 
 a soldier, who came steadily down the roadway 
 beside the dock, halted in front of our gates, and 
 blew a call on his bugle. Other bugle-calls 
 sounded all around us throughout the day and 
 far into our sleep-time: but this was the only 
 performer I ever saw. He wore a red coat, a 
 high japanned hat, and clean white pantaloons 
 with black gaiters: and I took it for granted 
 that he was always the same soldier. Yet I had 
 plenty of opportunities for observing him, for 
 Miss Plinlimmon made it a rule that I should 
 stand at the window and continue to gaze out of 
 it while she dressed. 
 
 One day she paused in the act of plaiting her 
 hair. "Harry," said she, "I shall always think 
 of you and that tune together. It is called the 
 Revelly, which is a French word." 
 6 
 
I FIND MYSELF A FOUNDLING 
 
 "But the soldier's English ?" said I. 
 
 "Oh, I truly trust so a heart of oak, I 
 should hope! England cannot have too many 
 of them in these days, when a weak woman can- 
 not lay herself down in her bed at night with 
 the certainty of getting up in the same position 
 in the morning." 
 
 (They were days when, as I afterwards 
 learnt, Napoleon's troops and flat-bottomed 
 boats were gathered at Boulogne and waiting 
 their opportunity to invade us. But of this 
 scarcely an echo penetrated to our courtyard, 
 although the streets outside were filled daily 
 with the tramping of troops and rolling of store- 
 waggons. We knew that our country whatever 
 that might mean was at war with France, and 
 we played in our yard a game called "French 
 and English." That was all: and Miss Plin- 
 limmon, good soul, if at times she awoke in 
 the night and shuddered and listened for the 
 yells of Frenchmen in the town, heroically kept 
 her fears to herself. This was as near as she 
 ever came to imparting them.) 
 
 "I have often thought of you, Harry," she 
 went on, "as embracing a military career. Mr. 
 Scougall very kindly allows me to choose sur- 
 7 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 names for you boys when you when you leave 
 us. He says (but I fear in flattery) that I 
 have more invention than he." And here, 
 though bound on my word of honour not to look, 
 I felt sure she was smiling to herself in the 
 glass. "What would you say if I christened 
 you Eevelly ?" 
 
 "Oh, please, no !" I entreated. "Let mine be 
 an English name. Why why couldn't I be 
 called Plinlimmon? I would rather have that 
 than any name in the world." 
 
 "You are a darling !" exclaimed she, much to 
 my surprise; and, the next moment, I felt a 
 little pecking kiss on the back of my neck. She 
 usually kissed me at night, after my prayers 
 were said : but somehow this was different, and 
 I felt the tears rising without knowing why, 
 for we were not given to tears at the Genevan 
 Hospital. "Plinlimmon is a mountain in 
 Wales, and that, I dare say, is what makes me 
 so romantic. Now you are not romantic in the 
 least: and, besides, it wouldn't do. No, in- 
 deed. But you shall be called by an English 
 name, if you wish, though to my mind there's a 
 j&ne sais quoi about the French. I once knew 
 a Frenchman, a writing and dancing master, 
 8 
 
I FIND MYSELF A FOUNDLING 
 
 called Duvelleroy, which always seemed the 
 beautifullest name." 
 
 "Was he beautiful himself ?" I asked. 
 
 "He used to play a kit which is a kind of 
 small fiddle holding it across his waist. It 
 made him look as if he were cutting himself in 
 half; which did not contribute to that result. 
 But suppose, now, we call you Revel Harry 
 Revel? That's English enough, and will re- 
 mind me just the same if Mr. Scougall will 
 not think it too Anacherontic." 
 
 I saw no reason to fear this : but then I had 
 no idea what she meant by it, or by calling her- 
 self romantic. She was certainly soft-hearted. 
 She possessed many books beside, an album in 
 her own handwriting, and encouraged me (dear, 
 sly soul) to read aloud to her on summer morn- 
 ings when the sun was up and ahead of us. And 
 once, in the story of "Maximilian, or Quite the 
 Gentleman: Founded on Fact and designed to 
 excite the Love of Virtue in the Rising Genera- 
 tion," at a point where the hero's small brother 
 Felix is carried away by an eagle, she dissolved 
 in tears. "In my native Wales," she explained 
 afterwards, "the wild sheep leap from rock to 
 rock so much as a matter of course that you 
 9 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 would, in time, be surprised if they didn't. And 
 that naturally gives me a sympathy with all 
 that is sublime on the one hand or piteous on 
 the other." 
 
 Yet later but I cannot separate these things 
 accurately in time I awoke in my cot one night 
 and heard Miss Plinlimmon sobbing. The 
 sound was dreadful to me and I longed to creep 
 across the room to her dark bedside and com- 
 fort her ; though I could tell she was trying to 
 suppress it for fear of disturbing me. In the 
 end her sobs ceased and, still wondering, I 
 dropped off to sleep, nor next day did I dare to 
 question her. 
 
 But it could not have been long after this 
 that we boys got wind of Mr. Scougall's ap- 
 proaching marriage with a wealthy lady of the 
 town. I must speak of this ceremony, because, 
 as the fates ordained, it gave me my first start 
 in life. 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 I START IN LIFE AS AN EMINENT PERSON 
 
 ME. SCOUGALL was a lean strident man who, if 
 he lectured us often, whipped us on the whole 
 with judgment and when we deserved it. So 
 we bore him no grudge. But neither did we 
 love him nor take any lively interest in him as a 
 bridegroom, and I was startled to find these 
 feelings shared by Mr. George in the porter's 
 box when I discussed the news with him. "I'm 
 to have a new suit of clothes," said Mr. George, 
 "but whoever gets Scougall, he's no catch." 
 This sounded blasphemous, while it gave me a 
 sort of fearful joy. I reported it, under seal 
 of secrecy, to Miss Plinlimmon. "Naval men, 
 my dear Harry," was her comment, "are no- 
 toriously blunt and outspoken, even when re- 
 tired upon a pension; perhaps, indeed, if any- 
 thing more so. It is in consequence of this 
 habit that they have sometimes performed their 
 grandest feats, as for instance when Horatio 
 11 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Nelson put his spy-glass up to his blind eye. I 
 advise you to do the same and treat Mr. George 
 as a chartered heart of oak, without remember- 
 ing his indiscretions to repeat them." She went 
 on to tell me that sailor-men were beloved in 
 Plymouth and allowed to do pretty much as 
 they pleased and how, quite recently, a Quaker 
 lady had been stopped in Bedford Street by a 
 Jack Tar who said he had sworn to kiss her. 
 "Thee must be quick about it, then," said the 
 Quaker lady. And he was. 
 
 I suppose this anecdote encouraged me to be 
 more familiar with Mr. George. At any rate, 
 I confided to him next day that I thought of 
 being a soldier. 
 
 "Do you know what we used to say in the 
 Navy?" he answered. "We used to say, 'A 
 messmate before a shipmate, a shipmate before 
 a dog, and a dog before a soldier.' ' 
 
 "You think," said I, somewhat discouraged, 
 "that the Navy would be a better opening for 
 me?" 
 
 "Ay," he answered again, eyeing me gloom- 
 ily : "that is, if so be ye can't contrive to get to 
 jail." He cast a glance down upon his jury-leg 
 and patted the straps of it with his open palm. 
 12 
 
I START IN LIFE 
 
 "The leg, now, that used to be here I left it 
 in a French prison called Jivvy, and often I 
 thinks to myself 'That there leg is having better 
 luck than the rest of me.' And here's another 
 curious thing. What d'ye think they call it in 
 France when you remember a person in your 
 will?" 
 
 I hadn't a notion, and said so. 
 
 "Why, 'legs/ " said he. "And they've got 
 one of mine. If a man was superstitious, you 
 might almost call it a coincidence, hey ?" 
 
 This was the longest conversation I ever had 
 with Mr. George. I have since found that sen- 
 timents very like his about the Navy have been 
 uttered by Dr. Samuel Johnson. But this must 
 be a real coincidence. Mr. George spoke them 
 out of his own experience, and I had cause to 
 recall them later on, as you will see. 
 
 Mr. Scougall's bride was the widow of a 
 Plymouth publican who had sold his business 
 and retired upon a small farm across the Ham- 
 oaze, near the Cornish village of Anthony. On 
 the wedding morning (which fell early in July) 
 she had, by agreement with her groom, prepared 
 a delightful surprise for us. We trooped after 
 13 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 r 
 
 prayers into the dining-hall to find, in place of 
 the hateful porridge, a feast laid out ham and 
 eggs, cold veal pies, gooseberry preserves, and 
 best of all plate upon plate of strawberries 
 with bowl upon bowl of cool clotted cream. Not 
 a child of us had ever tasted strawberries or 
 cream in his life, so you may guess if we ate 
 with prudence. At half-past ten Miss Plinlim- 
 mon (who had not found the heart to restrain 
 our appetites) marshalled and led us forth, 
 gorged and torpid, to the church where at eleven 
 o'clock the ceremony was to take place. Her 
 eyes were red-rimmed as she cast them up 
 towards the window behind which Mr. Scou- 
 gall, no doubt, was at that moment arraying 
 himself: but she commanded a firm step, and 
 even a firm voice to remark outside the wicket, 
 as she looked up at the chimney-pots, that 
 Nature had put on her fairest garb. 
 
 The day, to be sure, was monstrously hot and 
 stuffy. Not a breath of wind ruffled the waters 
 of the dock, around the head of which we 
 trudged to a recently erected church on the op- 
 posite shore. I remember observing, on our 
 way, the dazzling brilliance of its weathercock. 
 
 We found its interior spacious but warm, and 
 14 
 
I STAKT IN LIFE 
 
 the air heavy with the scent it comes back to 
 me as I write of a peculiar sweet oil used in 
 the lamps. Perhaps Mr. Scougall had calcu- 
 lated that a ceremony so interesting to him 
 would attract a throng of sight-seers; at any 
 rate, we were packed into a gallery at the ex- 
 treme western end of the church, and in due 
 time watched the proceedings from that respect- 
 ful distance and across a gulf of empty pews. 
 
 That is to say, some of us watched. I have 
 no doubt that Miss Plinlimmon did, for in- 
 stance; nay, that her attention was riveted. 
 Otherwise I cannot explain what followed. 
 
 On the previous night I had gone to bed al- 
 most supperless, as usual. I had come, as usual, 
 ravenous to breakfast, and for once I had sated, 
 and more than sated, desire. For years after, 
 though hungry often enough in the course of 
 them, I never thought with longing upon cold 
 veal or strawberries, nor have I ever recovered 
 a virgin appetite for either. 
 
 It is certain, then, that even before the cere- 
 mony began and the bride arrived several 
 minutes late I slumbered on the back bench of 
 the gallery. The evidence of six boys seated 
 near me agrees that, at the moment when Mr. 
 15 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Scougall produced the ring, I arose quietly, but 
 without warning, and made my exit by the bel- 
 fry door. They supposed that I was taken ill ; 
 they themselves were feeling more or less un- 
 comfortable. 
 
 The belfry stairway, by which we had reached 
 the door of our gallery, wound upwards beyond 
 it to the top of the tower, and gave issue by a 
 low doorway upon the dwarf battlements, from 
 which sprang a spire some eighty feet high. 
 This spire was, in fact, a narrow octohedron, its 
 sides hung with slate, its eight ridges faced with 
 Bath stone, and edged from top to bottom with 
 ornamental crockets. 
 
 The service over, bride and bridegroom with- 
 drew with their friends to the vestry for the 
 signing of the register; and there, while they 
 dallied and interchanged good wishes, were in- 
 terrupted by the beadle, a white-faced pew- 
 opener, and two draymen from the street, with 
 news (as one of the draymen put it, shouting 
 down the rest) that "one of Scougall's yellow 
 orphans was up a-clinging to the weathercock 
 by his blessed eyebrows; and was this a time 
 for joking, or for feeling ashamed of themselves 
 and sending for a constable ?" 
 16 
 
I START IN LIFE 
 
 The drayman shouted and gesticulated so 
 fiercely with a great hand flung upwards that 
 Mr. Scougall, almost before comprehending, 
 precipitated himself from the church. Outside 
 stood his hired carriage with its pair of greys, 
 but the driver was pointing with his whip and 
 craning his neck like the rest of the small crowd. 
 
 It may have been their outcries, but I believe 
 it was the ringing of the dockyard bell for the 
 dinner-hour, which awoke me. In my dreams 
 my arms had been about some kindly neck (and 
 of my dreams in those days, though but a 
 glimpse ever survived the waking, in those 
 glimpses dwelt the shade, if not the presence, 
 of my unknown mother). They were, in fact, 
 clasped around the leg of the weathercock. Un- 
 sympathetic support ! But I have known worse 
 friends. A mercy it was, at any rate, that I 
 kept my embrace during the moments when 
 sense returned to me, with visions of the won- 
 ders spread around and below. 
 
 Truly I enjoyed a wonderful view across 
 the roofs of Plymouth, quivering under the 
 noon sun, and away to the violet hills of Dart- 
 moor ; and, again, across the water and shipping 
 of the Hamoaze to the green slopes of Mount 
 17 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Edgcumbe and the massed trees slumbering in 
 the heat. Slumber, indeed, and a great quiet 
 seemed to rest over me, over the houses, the 
 ships, the whole wide land. By the blessing of 
 Heaven, not so much as the faintest breeze 
 played about the spire, or cooled the copper rod 
 burning my hand (and, again, it may have been 
 this that woke me). I sat astride the topmost 
 crocket, and glancing down between my boot 
 heels, spied the carriage with its pair of greys 
 flattened upon the roadway just beyond the 
 verge of the battlements, and Mr. Scougall him- 
 self dancing and waving his arms like a small 
 but very lively beetle. 
 
 Doubtless, I had ascended by the narrow 
 stairway of the crockets : but to descend by them 
 with a lot of useless sense about me would be a 
 very different matter. ~No giddiness attacked 
 me as yet; indeed I knew rather than felt my 
 position to be serious. For a moment I thought 
 of leaving my perch and letting myself slip 
 down the face of the slates, to be pulled up short 
 by the parapet; but the length of the slide 
 daunted me, and the parapet appeared danger- 
 ously shallow. I should shoot over it to a cer- 
 tainty and go whirling into air. On the other 
 18 
 
I START IN LIFE 
 
 hand, to drop from my present saddle into the 
 one below was no easy feat. For this I must 
 back myself over the edge of it, and cling with 
 body and legs in air while I judged my fall into 
 the next. To do this thirty times or so in suc- 
 cession without mistake was past hoping for 
 there were at least thirty crockets to be manoeu- 
 vred, and a single miscalculation would send me 
 spinning backwards to my fate. Above all, I 
 had not the strength for it. 
 
 So I sat considering for a while ; not terrified, 
 but with a brain exceedingly blank and hope- 
 less. It never occurred to me that, if I sat still 
 and held on, steeple-jacks would be summoned 
 and ladders brought to me ; and I am glad that 
 it did not, for this would have taken hours, and 
 I know now that I could not have held out for 
 half an hour inactive. But another thought 
 came. I saw the slates at the foot of the weath- 
 ercock, that they were thinly edged and of light 
 scantling. I knew that they must be nailed 
 upon a wooden framework not unlike a ladder. 
 And at the Genevan Hospital, as I have re- 
 corded, we wore stout plates on our shoes. 
 
 I am told that it was a bad few moments for 
 the lookers-on when they saw me lower myself 
 19 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 sideways from my crocket and begin to ham- 
 mer on the slates with my toes : for at first they 
 did not comprehend, and then they reasoned 
 that the slates were new, and if I failed to kick 
 through them, to pull myself back to the crocket 
 again would be a desperate job. 
 
 But they did not know our shoe leather. Mr. 
 Scougall, whatever his fault, usually contrived 
 to get value for his money, and at the tenth kick 
 or so my toes went clean through the slate and 
 rested on the woodwork within. Next came the 
 most delicate movement of all, for with a less 
 certain grip on the crocket I had to kick a second 
 hole lower down, and transfer my hand-hold 
 from the stone to the wooden lath laid bare by 
 my first kicks. 
 
 This, too, with a long poise and then a flying 
 clutch, I accomplished ; and with the rest of my 
 descent I will not weary the reader. It was in- 
 terminably slow, and it was laborious; but, to 
 speak comparatively, it was safe. My boots 
 lasted me to within twenty feet of the parapet, 
 and then, just as I had kicked my toes bare, a 
 steeple- jack appeared at the little doorway with 
 a ladder. Planting it in a jiffy, he scrambled 
 up, took me under his arm, bore me down and 
 20 
 
I START IN LIFE 
 
 laid me against the parapet, where I at first 
 began to cry and next emptied my small body 
 with throe after throe of sickness. 
 
 I recovered, to find Mr. Scougall and another 
 clergyman (the vicar) standing by the little 
 door and gazing up at my line of holes on the 
 face of the spire. Mr. Scougall was offering to 
 pay. 
 
 "But no," said the vicar, "we will set the 
 damage down against the lad's preservation; 
 that is, if I don't recover from the contractor, 
 who has undoubtedly swindled us over these 
 slates." 
 
 21 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 I AM BOUND APPRENTICE 
 
 ALTHOUGH holidays were a thing unknown at 
 the Genevan Hospital, yet discipline grew sensi- 
 bly lighter during Mr. Scougall's honeymoon, 
 being left to Miss Plinlimmon on the under- 
 standing that in emergency she might call in 
 the strong and secular arm of Mr. George. But 
 we all loved Miss Plinlimmon, and never drove 
 her beyond appealing to what she called our 
 "better instincts." 
 
 Her dearest aspiration (believe it if you can) 
 was to make gentlemen of us of us, doomed 
 to start in life as parish apprentices! And to 
 this her curriculum recurred whether it had 
 been divagating into history, geography, astron- 
 omy, English composition, or religious knowl- 
 edge. "The author of the book before me, a 
 B.A. otherwise a Bachelor of Arts, but not on 
 that account necessarily unmarried observes 
 that to believe the sun goes round the earth is 
 a vulgar error. For my part I should hardly 
 
I AM BOUND APPRENTICE 
 
 go so far: but it warns us how severely those 
 may be judged who obtrusively urge in society 
 that which the wise in their closets have con- 
 demned." "The refulgent orb another way, 
 my dears, of saying the sun is in the vicinity 
 of Persia an object of religious adoration. The 
 Christian nations, better instructed, content 
 themselves with esteeming it warmly, and as 
 they follow its course in the heavens, draw from 
 it the useful lesson to look always on the bright 
 side of things." Humble beneficent soul! I 
 never met another who had learned that lesson 
 so thoroughly. Once she pointed out to me at 
 the end of her dictation book a publisher's colo- 
 phon, of a sundial with the word Finis above 
 it, and, underneath, the words "Every Hour 
 Shortens Life." "Now I prefer to think that 
 every hour lengthens it," said she, with one of 
 her few smiles : for her cheerfulness was always 
 serious. 
 
 Best of all were the hours when she read to 
 us extracts from her album. "At least," she ex- 
 plained, "I call it an album. I ever longed to 
 possess one, adorned with remarks moral or 
 sprightly, as the case might be by the choicest 
 spirits of our age, and signed in their own illus- 
 23 
 
ADVENTURES OP HARRY REVEL 
 
 trious handwriting. But in my sphere of life 
 these were hard nay, impossible to come by, 
 so in my dilemma I had recourse to subterfuge, 
 and having studied the career of this or that 
 eminent man, I chose a subject and composed 
 what (as it seemed to me) he would most likely 
 have written upon it, signing his name below, 
 but in print, that the signatures may not pass 
 hereafter for real ones, should the book fall 
 into the hands of strangers. You must not 
 think, therefore, that the lines on Statesman- 
 ship which I am about to read you, beginning 
 'But why Statesmanship f Because, my lords 
 and gentlemen, the State is indeed a ship, and 
 demands a skilful helmsman' you must not 
 think that they were actually penned by the 
 Eight Honourable William Pitt. But I feel 
 sure the sentiments are such as he would have 
 approved, and perhaps might have uttered had 
 the occasion arisen." 
 
 This puzzled us, and I am not sure that we 
 took any trouble to discriminate Miss Plinlim- 
 mon's share in these compositions from that of 
 their signatories. Indeed, the first time I set 
 eyes on Lord Wellington (as he rode by us to 
 inspect the breaches in Ciudad Eodrigo) my 
 24 
 
I AM BOUND APPRENTICE 
 
 memory saluted him as the Honourable Arthur 
 Wellesley, author of the passage "Though edu- 
 cated at Eton, I have often caught myself envy- 
 ing the quaintly-expressed motto of the more 
 ancient seminary amid the Hampshire chalk- 
 hills, i.e. Manners makyth man"', and to this 
 day I associate General Paoli with an apos- 
 trophe "O Corsica! O my country, bleeding 
 and inanimate !" etc., and with Miss Plinlim- 
 mon's footnote, "N.B. The author of these af- 
 fecting lines, himself a blameless patriot, ac- 
 tually stood godfather to the babe who has since 
 become the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte. Oh, 
 irony ! What had been the feelings of the good 
 Paoli, could he have foreseen this denoument, 
 as he promised and vowed beside the font! (if 
 they have such things in Corsica: a point on 
 which I am uncertain)." 
 
 I dwell on these halcyon days with Miss Plin- 
 limmon because, as they were the last I spent at 
 the Genevan Hospital so they soften all my 
 recollections of it with their own gentle pris- 
 matic haze. In fact a bare fortnight had gone by 
 since my adventure on the spire when I was 
 summoned to Mr. ScougalPs parlour and there 
 25 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 found Miss Plinlimmon in conversation with a 
 tall and very stout man : and if her eyelids were 
 pink, I paid more attention to the stout man's, 
 which were rimmed with black a more un- 
 usual sight. His neck too was black up to a 
 well-defined line ; the rest of it, and his cheeks, 
 red with the red of prize beef. 
 
 "This is the boy hem Eevel, of whom we 
 were speaking." Miss Plinlimmon smiled at 
 me and blushed faintly as she uttered the name. 
 "Harry, shake hands with Mr. Trapp. He has 
 come expressly to make your acquaintance." 
 
 Somehow I gathered that this politeness took 
 Mr. Trapp aback ; but he held out his hand. It 
 was astonishingly black. 
 
 "Pray be seated, Mr. Trapp." 
 
 "The furniture, ma'am!" 
 
 "Ah, to be sure!" Mr. ScougaH's freshly 
 upholstered chairs had all been wrapped in 
 holland coverings pending his return. "Mr. 
 Trapp, Harry, is a a chimney-sweep." 
 
 "Oh!" said I, somewhat ruefully. 
 
 "And if I can answer for your character" 
 (as I believe I can), she said it with a wan, 
 almost wistful smile, "he is ready to make you 
 his apprentice." 
 
 26 
 
I AM BOUND APPKENTICE 
 
 "But I had rather be a soldier, Miss Plin- 
 limmon !" 
 
 She still kept her smile, but I could read in 
 it that my pleading was useless that the deci- 
 sion really lay beyond her. 
 
 "Boys will be boys, Mr. Trapp." She turned 
 to him with her air of gentility. "You will 
 forgive Harry for preferring a red coat to to 
 your calling." (I thought this treacherous of 
 Miss Plinlimmon. As if she did not prefer it 
 herself!) "No doubt he will learn in time that 
 all duty is alike noble whether it bids a man 
 mount the deadly breach or climb or do the 
 sort of climbing required in your profession." 
 
 "I climbed up that spire in my sleep," said 
 I sullenly. 
 
 "That's just it," Mr. Trapp agreed. "That's 
 what put me on the track of ye. 'Here's a 
 tacker,' I said, 'can climb up to the top of Em- 
 manuel's in his sleep, and I've been wasting 
 money and temper on them that won't go up an 
 ord'nary chimbley when they're wide awake 
 'ithout I lights a furze bush underneath to 
 hurry them.' ' 
 
 "I trust," put in Miss Plinlimmon, aghast, 
 "you are jesting, Mr. Trapp?" 
 27 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Jesting, ma'am?" 
 
 "You do not really employ that barbarous 
 method of acceleration ?" 
 
 "Meaning furze-bushes? Why, no, ma'am; 
 not often. Look ye here, young sir," he con- 
 tinued, dismissing (as of no account) this sub- 
 ject, so interesting to me ; "you was wide-awake, 
 anyway, when you came down, and that you 
 can't deny." 
 
 "Harry," persisted Miss Plinlimmon, "has 
 not been used to harsh treatment. You will 
 like his manners : he is a very gentlemanly boy." 
 
 Mr. Trapp stared at her, then at me, then 
 slowly around the room. "Gentlemanly?" he 
 echoed at length, in a wondering way, under his 
 breath. 
 
 "I have used my best endeavours. Yes, 
 though I say it to his face, you will really if 
 careful to appeal to his better instincts find 
 him one of Nature's gentlemen." 
 
 Mr. Trapp broke into a grin of relief; almost 
 you could say that he heaved a sigh. 
 
 "Oh, that's all ?" said he. "Why, Lord bless 
 ye, ma'am, I've been called that myself before 
 
 now." 
 
 So to Mr. Trapp I was bound, early next 
 28 
 
I AM BOUND APPEENTICE 
 
 week, before the magistrates sitting in petty 
 sessional division, to serve him and to receive 
 from him proper sustenance and clothing until 
 the age of twenty-one. And I (as nearly as 
 could be guessed, for I had no birthday) had 
 barely turned ten. Mr. Scougall arrived in 
 time to pilot me through these formalities and 
 hand me over to Mr. Trapp: but at a parting 
 interview, throughout which we both wept copi- 
 ously, Miss Plinlimmon gave me for souvenir a 
 small Testament with this inscription on the 
 
 fly-leaf: 
 
 H. REVEL, 
 
 from his affectionate friend, A. PLINLIMMON. 
 
 " O happy, happy days, when childhood's cares 
 
 Were soon forgotten I 
 But now, when dear ones all around are still the 
 
 same, 
 Where shall we be in ten years' time ? " 
 
 "They were my own composition," she ex- 
 plained. 
 
 Mr. George bade me a gloomier farewell. 
 "You might come to some good," he said con- 
 templatively ; "and then again you mightn't. I 
 ain't what they call a pessimist, but I thinks 
 poorly of most things. It's safer." 
 29 
 
ADVENTURES OP HARRY REVEL 
 
 Mr. Trapp was exceedingly jocose as he con- 
 veyed me home to his house beside the Barbican, 
 Plymouth; stopping on the way before every 
 building of exceptional height and asking me 
 quizzically how I would propose to set about 
 climbing it. At the time, in the soreness of my 
 heart, I resented this heavy pleasantry, and to 
 be sure after the tenth repetition or so the diver- 
 sity of the buildings to which he applied it but 
 poorly concealed its sameness. But in fact he 
 was doing his best to be kind, and succeeded in a 
 sort; for it roused a childish scorn in me and 
 so fetched back my heart, which at starting had 
 been somewhere in my boots. 
 
 I took it for granted that a sweep must in- 
 habit a dingy hovel, and certainly the crowded 
 filth of the Barbican promised nothing better 
 as we threaded our way among fishermen, fish- 
 jowters, blowzy women, and children playing 
 hop-scotch with the heads of decaying fish. At 
 the seaward end of it, and close beside the bow- 
 fronted Custom House, we turned aside into an 
 alley which led uphill between high blank walls 
 to the base of the Citadel : and here, stuck as it 
 were a martin's nest under the shadow of the 
 ramparts, a freshly whitewashed cottage over- 
 30 
 
I AM BOUND APPRENTICE 
 
 hung the slope, with a sweep's brush dangling 
 over its doorway and the sign "S. Trapp, Chim- 
 ney Sweep in Season." 
 
 While I wondered what might be the season 
 for chimney-sweeps, a small bead-eyed woman 
 emerged from the doorway and shook a duster 
 vigorously: in the which act catching sight of 
 us, she paused. 
 
 "I've a-got 'en, my dear," said Mr. Trapp, 
 much as a man might announce the capture of 
 a fish: and though he did not actually lift me 
 for inspection his hand seemed to waver over 
 my collar. 
 
 But it was Mrs. Trapp who, after a fleeting 
 glance at me, caught her husband by the collar. 
 
 "And you actilly went in that state, you nasty 
 keerless hulks ! O, you heart-breaker !" 
 
 Mr. Trapp in custody managed to send me 
 a sidelong, humorous grin. 
 
 "My dear, I thought 'twould be a surprise 
 for you business taking me that way, and the 
 magistrates being used to worse." 
 
 "You heart-breaker!" repeated Mrs. Trapp. 
 
 "And me slaving morn and night to catch up 
 
 with your messy ways! What did I tell you 
 
 the first time you came back from the Hospital 
 
 31 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 looking like a malkin, and with a clean shift of 
 clothes laid out for you and the water on the 
 boil, that I couldn't have taken more trouble, 
 no, not for a funeral ? Didn't I tell you 'twas 
 positively lowering?" 
 
 "I ha'n't a doubt you did, my dear." 
 
 "That's what you are. You're a lowering 
 man. And there by your own account you met 
 a lady, with your neck streaked like a ham- 
 rasher, and me not by thank goodness ! to see 
 what her feelings were ; and now 'tis magistrates. 
 But nothing warns you. I suppose you thought 
 that as 'twas only fondlings without any father 
 or mother it didn't matter how you dressed !" 
 
 Mrs. Trapp, though she might seem to talk 
 at random, had a wifely knack of dropping a 
 shaft home. Her husband protested. 
 
 "Come, come, Maria you know I'm not that 
 sort of man." 
 
 "How do I know what sort of man you are, 
 under all that dirt ? For my part, if I'd been 
 a magistrate, you shouldn't have walked off with 
 the boy till you'd washed yourself, not if you'd 
 gone down on your hands and knees for it ; and 
 him with his face shining all over like a little 
 Moses on the Mount, which does the lady credit 
 32 
 
I AM BOUND APPKENTICE 
 
 if it's the one you saw; though how they can 
 dress children up like pickle-herrings it beats 
 me. Your bed's at the top of the house, child, 
 and there you'll find a suit o' clothes that I've 
 washed and aired after the last boy. I only 
 hope you won't catch any of his nasty tricks in 
 ? em. Straight up the stairs and the little door 
 to the left at the top." 
 
 "Unless" Mr. Trapp picked up courage for 
 one more pleasantry "you'd like to make a 
 start to once, and go up by way of the chim- 
 bley." 
 
 He was rash. As a pugilist might eye a re- 
 covering opponent supposed to be stunned, so 
 Mrs. Trapp eyed Mr. Trapp. 
 
 "I thought I told you plain enough," she said, 
 "that you're a lowering man. What's worse, 
 you're an unconverted one. Oh, you nasty, fat, 
 plain-featured fellow go indoors and wash 
 yourself this instant !" 
 
 I spent close upon four years with this 
 couple, and good parents they were to me as well 
 as devoted to each other. Mrs. Trapp may have 
 been "cracked," as she certainly suffered from 
 a determination of words to the mouth: but, as 
 33 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 a child will, I took her and the rest of the world 
 as I found them. She began to mother me at 
 once, and on the very next morning took my 
 clothes in hand, snipped the ridiculous tails off 
 the jacket, and sent it, with the breeches, to the 
 dyer's. The yellow waistcoat she cut into pin- 
 cushions, two for upstairs and two for the par- 
 lour. 
 
 Having no children to save for, Mr. Trapp 
 could afford to feed and clothe an apprentice 
 and take life easily to boot. Mrs. Trapp would 
 never allow him to climb a ladder; had even 
 chained him to terra firma by a vow since, as 
 she explained to me once, "he's an unconverted 
 man. There's no harm in 'en, but I couldn't 
 bear to have him cut off in his sins. Besides, 
 with such a figure, he'd scatter." 
 
 I recollect it as a foretaste of his kindness 
 that on the first early morning as he led me 
 forth to my first experiment, we paused between 
 the blank walls of the alley that I might prac- 
 tise the sweep's call in comparative privacy. 
 The sound of my own voice, reverberated there, 
 covered me with shame, though it could scarcely 
 have been louder than the cheeping of the birds 
 
 on the Citadel rampart above. "Hark to that 
 34 
 
I AM BOUND APPRENTICE 
 
 fellow, now !" said my master, as the notes of a 
 bugle sang out clear and brave in the dawn. 
 "He's no bigger than you I warrant, and has no 
 more call to be proud of his business." In time 
 I grew bold enough and used to begin my 
 "Sweep, Swee eep !" at the mouth of the alley 
 to warn Mrs. Trapp of our return. 
 
 My first chimney daunted me, though it was 
 a wide one belonging to a cottage, short, well 
 fitted with climbing brackets, and so straight 
 that from the flat hearth-stone you could see 
 a patch of blue sky with the gulls sailing across 
 it. Mr. Trapp instructed me well and I lis- 
 tened, setting my small jaws to choke down the 
 terror : but, once started, with his voice guiding 
 me from below and growing hollower as I as- 
 cended, I found that all came easily enough. 
 "Bravo !" he shouted up from the far side of the 
 street, whither he had run out to see me wave 
 my brush from the summit. In a day or two 
 he began to boast of me, and I had to do my 
 young best to live up to a reputation; for the 
 fame of my feat on Emmanuel Church spire 
 was now all over the Barbican. Being reckoned 
 a bold fellow I had to justify myself in fighting 
 with the urchins of my age there; in which, 
 35 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 and in wrestling, I contrived to hold my own. 
 My shame was that I had never learnt to swim. 
 All my rivals could swim, and even in the win- 
 ter weather seemed to pass half their time in the 
 filthy water of Sutton Pool or in running races, 
 stark naked, along the quay's edge. 
 
 Our trade, steady and leisurable until the last 
 week of March, then went up with a rush and 
 continued at high pressure through April and 
 May, so that, dog-tired in every limh, I had 
 much ado to drag myself to bed up the garret 
 stairs after Mrs. Trapp had rubbed my ankles 
 with goose-fat where the climbing-irons galled 
 them. While this was doing Mr. Trapp would 
 smoke his pipe and watch and assure me that 
 mine were the "growing-pains" natural to 
 sweeps, and Mrs. Trapp (without meaning it 
 in the least) lamented the fate which had tied 
 her for life to one. "It being well known that 
 my birthday is the 15th of the month and its 
 rightful motto in Proverbs thirty-one, 'She ris- 
 eth also while it is yet night and giveth meat to 
 her household and a portion to her maidens;' 
 and me never able to hire a gel at eight pounds 
 a year even." 
 
 "If you did," retorted Mr. Trapp, "I don't 
 see you turning out at midnight to feed her." 
 
I AM BOUND APPEENTICE 
 
 Early in June this extreme business slack- 
 ened, and by the close of the second week we 
 were moderately idle. On Midsummer morn- 
 ing, to my vast astonishment, I descended to 
 find Mr. Trapp seated at table before a bowl of 
 bread and milk and wearing a thick blue 
 guernsey tucked inside his trousers, the waist 
 of which reached so high as to reduce his braces 
 to mere shoulder-straps. I could not imagine 
 why he, a man given to perspiration, should add 
 to his garments at this season. 
 
 Breakfast over, he beckoned me to the door 
 and jerked his thumb towards the lintel. The 
 usual sign had been replaced by a shorter one. 
 "S. Trapp. Gone Driving." 
 
 "If folks," said he, "ha'n't the foresight to 
 get swept afore Midsummer, I don't humour 
 'em. That's my rule." 
 
 "Are are you really going for a drive, sir ?" 
 I stammered. 
 
 "To be sure I am. I drive every day in the 
 summer. What do you suppose?" 
 
 "It won't be a chaise and pair, sir?" I haz- 
 arded, though even this would not have sur- 
 prised me. 
 
 "Not to-day. Lord knows what we may come 
 to, but to-day 'tis pilchards." 
 37 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAERY EEVEL 
 
 He took me down to the quay, and there, sure 
 enough, stepped on board a boat lying ready, 
 with two men in her, who fended off and began 
 to hoist sails at once. Mr. Trapp took the helm. 
 It turned out that he owned a share in the 
 vessel and worked her from Midsummer to 
 Michaelmas with a crew of two men and a boy. 
 The men were called Isaac and Morgan (I can- 
 not remember their other names), the one ex- 
 tremely old and surly, the other cheerful, curly- 
 haired and active, and both sparing of words. 
 I was to be the boy. 
 
 We baited our hooks and whiffed for mack- 
 erel as we tacked out of the Sound. And by 
 and by we came to what Isaac called the 
 "grounds" (though I could see nothing to dis- 
 tinguish it from the rest of the sea) and cast 
 anchor and weighted our lines differently and 
 caught a few whiting while we ate our dinner. 
 The wind had fallen to a flat calm. After din- 
 ner Mr. Trapp looked up and said to Isaac: 
 
 "Got a life-belt 011 board ?" 
 
 "What in thunder do 'ee want it for ?" asked 
 Isaac. 
 
 "That's my business," said Mr. Trapp. 
 
 So Isaac hunted up a belt made of pieces of 
 38 
 
I AM BOUND APPRENTICE 
 
 cork and then was ordered to lash one of the 
 sweeps so that it stuck well outboard. "Now, 
 my lad/' said Mr. Trapp, turning to me, "you 
 been a very good lad 'pon the whole, and I see 
 you fighting with the tackers down 'pon the 
 quay and holding your own. But they can 
 swim, and you can't, and it's wearing your 
 spirit. So here's a chance to larn. I can't larn 
 'ee myself, for the fashion's come up since I 
 was a youngster. Can you swim, Morgan ?" 
 
 Morgan could not; and old Isaac said he 
 couldn't see the use of it if you capsized, it 
 only lengthened out the trouble. 
 
 "Well, then, you must larn yourself," said 
 Mr. Trapp to me. "I've heard that pigs and 
 men are the only animals it don't come to by 
 nature. And that's a scandal however you look 
 at it." 
 
 So strip I did, and was girded with the belt 
 under my armpits, tied to a rope, and slipped 
 over the side in fear and trembling. I swal- 
 lowed a pint or two of salt water and wept (but 
 they could not see this, though they watched me 
 curiously) I dare say half a pint of it back in 
 tears of fright. I knew by observation how legs 
 and arms should be worked, but made disheart- 
 39 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 ening efforts to put it into practice. At length, 
 utterly ashamed, I was hauled out and congratu- 
 lated at which I stared. 
 
 "As for the swimming" said Isaac, "I can't 
 call to mind that I've seen worse : but for pluck, 
 considering the number of sharks about this 
 season, I couldn't ask better of his age." 
 
 I had not thought of sharks supposed them, 
 indeed, to inhabit the tropics only. We caught 
 one towards sunset, after it had fouled all our 
 lines, smashing its head with the unshipped 
 tiller as it came to the surface. It measured 
 five feet and a little over, and we lashed it along- 
 side the gunwale and carried it home in tri- 
 umph next morning (having shot the nets at 
 sundown and slept and hauled them up empty 
 at sunrise the pilchards being scarce as yet, 
 though a few had been caught off the Eddy- 
 stone). I don't suppose he would have inter- 
 fered with my bath, but I gave myself airs on 
 the strength of him. 
 
 40 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 MISS PLINLIMMON 
 
 LATE in August, and a week or two before Mr. 
 Trapp changed his sign-board and resumed his 
 proper business, I was idling by the edge of the 
 Barbican one evening when a boy, whose eye I 
 had blacked recently, charged up behind me and 
 pushed me over. I pretended to be drowning, 
 and sank theatrically as he and half a dozen 
 others, conveniently naked, plunged to the res- 
 cue. They dived for my body with great zeal, 
 while I, having slipped under the keel of a trad- 
 ing-ketch and climbed on board by her accom- 
 modation-ladder dangling on the far side, 
 watched them upon her deck from behind a 
 stack of flower-pots. When they desisted, and 
 I had seen the culprit first treated as a leper by 
 the crowd, then haled before two constables and 
 examined at length, finally led homeward by the 
 ear and cuffed at every two steps by his widowed 
 mother, I slipped back into the water, dived 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 back under the ketch, and, emerging, asked the 
 cause of the disturbance. This made a new 
 reputation for me, at the expense of some emo- 
 tion to Mrs. Trapp, to whom the news of my 
 decease had been born on the swiftest wings of 
 Rumour. 
 
 But I have tarried too long over those days 
 of my apprenticeship, and am yet only at the 
 beginning. Were there no story to be told I 
 might fill a chapter by fishing up recollections 
 of Plymouth in those days; of the women, for 
 instance, carried down in procession to the Bar- 
 bican and ducked for scolding. A husband had 
 but to go before the mayor (Mr. Trapp some- 
 times threatened it), and swear that his wife was 
 a common scold, and the mayor gave him an 
 order to hoist her on a horse and take her to the 
 ducking-stool to be dipped thrice in Button Pool. 
 At last a poor soul died of it, and that put an 
 end to the bad business. Then there were the 
 press-gangs. It seems incredible now; but we 
 scarcely stopped our bathing when the press, 
 having hunted from tavern to tavern, dragged a 
 man off screaming to the steps, the sailors often 
 manhandling him and the officer joking with 
 the crowd and behaving as cool and gentlemanly 
 42 
 
MISS PLINLIMMOtf 
 
 as you please. Mr. Trapp and I were by the 
 door one evening, measuring out the soot, when 
 a man came panting up the alley and rushed 
 past us into the back kitchen without so much 
 as "by your leave." Half a minute later up 
 came the press, and the young officer at the head 
 of them was for pushing past and into the 
 house; but Mr. Trapp blocked the doorway, 
 with Mrs. Trapp full of fight in the rear. 
 
 "Stand by," says the officer to his men. "And 
 you, sir, what the devil do you mean by setting 
 yourself in the way of his Majesty's service ?" 
 
 "An Englishman's house," said Mr. Trapp, 
 "is his castle." 
 
 "D'ye hear that ?" screamed Mrs. Trapp. 
 
 "An Englishman's house," repeated Mr. 
 Trapp slowly, "is his castle. The storms may 
 assail it, and the winds whistle round it, but the 
 King himself cannot do so." 
 
 The officer knew the law and drove off his 
 gang. When the coast was clear we went to 
 search for the man, and found he had vanished, 
 taking half a flitch of bacon with him off the 
 kitchen rack. 
 
 All those days, too, throb in my head to the 
 tramp of soldiers in the streets, and ring with 
 43 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 bugles blown almost incessantly from the ram- 
 parts high above my garret. On Sundays Mr. 
 Trapp and I used to take our walk together 
 around the ramparts, between church and din- 
 ner-time, after listening to the Koyal Marine 
 Band as they played down Bedford Street and 
 George Street after attending services in St. 
 Andrew's. If we met a soldier we had to stand 
 aside; indeed, even common privates in those 
 days (so proudly the army bore itself though 
 its triumphs were to come) would take the wall 
 of a woman a greater insult then than now, or 
 at least a more unusual one. A young officer 
 of the th Kegiment once put this indignity 
 upon Mrs. Trapp, in Southside Street: The 
 day was a wet one, and the gutter ran with 
 liquid mud. Mrs. Trapp recovered her balance, 
 slipped off her pattens, and stamped them on 
 the back of his scarlet coat two oval O's for 
 him to walk about with. 
 
 Those were days, too, which kept our Plym- 
 outh stones rattling. Besides the coaches the 
 "Quicksilver," which carried the mails and a 
 coachman and guard in scarlet liveries, the 
 humdrum "Defiance" and the dashing "Sub- 
 scription" or "Scrippy," post-chaises came and 
 44 
 
MISS PLINLIMMON 
 
 went continually, whisking naval officers be- 
 tween us and London with despatches: and 
 sometimes the whole populace turned out to 
 cheer as trains of artillery waggons, escorted by 
 armed seamen, marines, and soldiers, horse and 
 foot, rumbled up from Dock towards the Citadel 
 with treasure from some captured frigate. I 
 could tell too of the great November Fair in the 
 Market Place and the rejoicings of the King's 
 Jubilee when I paid a halfpenny to go inside 
 the huge bonfire built on the Hoe: but all this 
 would keep me from my story for which I 
 must go back to Miss Plinlimmon. 
 
 For many months I heard nothing of this 
 dear lady, and it semed that I had parted from 
 her for ever when one evening as I returned 
 from carrying a bag of soot out to Mutley Plain 
 (where a market-gardener wanted some for his 
 beds) Mrs. Trapp put into my hand a letter 
 addressed in the familiar Italian hand to "H. 
 Revel, residing with Mr. S. Trapp, House Reno- 
 vator, near the Barbican." It ran : 
 
 My dearest Harry. I wonder if, amid your 
 new avocations, you will take pleasure in the 
 handwriting of an old friend? I remember you 
 45 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 many times daily, and often when I wake in 
 the night, and commend you to God morning 
 and evening, kneeling on the place where your 
 cot used to stand, for I have no one now to care 
 for in my room. There is little change in our 
 life here ; though Mr. Scougall, as I foreboded, 
 takes less heart in his ministrations and I should 
 not wonder if he retired before long. But this 
 is between ourselves. Punctual as ever in his 
 duties, he rarely spends the night here but de- 
 parts at six p.m. for his wife's farm where Mrs. 
 S. very naturally prefers to reside. Indeed I 
 wish she would absent herself altogether; for 
 when she comes, it is to criticise the housekeep- 
 ing, in which I regret to say she does not main- 
 tain that generous spirit of which she gave 
 promise in the veal pies, etc., of that ever 
 memorable morning. I never condescended to 
 be a bride : yet I feel sure that had I done so, it 
 would have given me an extra compassion for 
 the fatherless. 
 
 But enough of myself. My object in writing 
 is to tell you that my birthday falls on Wednes- 
 day next (May 1st, dedicated by the Ancient 
 Romans to the Goddess of Flowers, as I was 
 vearly reminded in my happy youth. But how 
 46 
 
MISS PLINLIMMON 
 
 often Fate withholds from us her seeming 
 promises ! ) It might be a bond between us, my 
 dear boy, if you will take that day for your 
 birthday, too. Pray humour me in this; for 
 indeed your going has left a void which I can- 
 not fill, and perhaps do not wish to, except with 
 thoughts of you. I trust there used to be no 
 partiality: but for some reason you were dearer 
 to me than the others, and I feel as if God, in 
 His mysterious way, sent you into my life with 
 meaning. Do you think that Mr. Trapp, if you 
 asked him politely (and I trust you have for- 
 gotten none of your politeness), would permit 
 you to meet me at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, in Mr. 
 Tucker's Bun Shop, in Bedford Street, to cele- 
 bate your birthday with an affectionate friend ? 
 Such ever is, AMELIA PLINLIMMON. 
 
 a Oh, very well," said Mr. Trapp when I 
 showed him the letter and put my request ; "only 
 don't let her swell you out of shape. Chim- 
 bleys is narrower than they used to be. May- 
 day is Sweeps' Holiday, too, though we don't 
 keep it up in Plymouth: I dare say the lady 
 thought 'pon that. In my bachelor days I used 
 to be Jack in the Green reggilar." 
 47 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "It's just as well I never saw ye, then," said 
 his wife tartly. "And to imagine that a lady 
 like Miss Plinlimmon would concern herself 
 with your deboses ! But you'd lower the Queen 
 on her throne." 
 
 Indeed Mr. Trapp went on to give some colour 
 to this. "I wonder what she means, talking 
 about Koman goddesses?" he mused. "I seen 
 one, once, in a penny show ; and it was marked 
 outside 'Men only Admitted.' ' 
 
 Mrs. Trapp swept me from the room. 
 
 On May-day, then, I entered Mr. Tucker's 
 Bun Shop with a beating heart, a scrubbed face 
 and a sprig of southernwood in my button-hole, 
 and Miss Plinlimmon fell on my neck and kissed 
 me. All the formality of the Genevan Hospital 
 dropped away from her as a garment, and left 
 only the tender formality of her own nature, so 
 human that it amazed me. I had never really 
 known her until now. She had prepared a 
 feast, including Mr. Tucker's famous cheese- 
 cakes "as patronised by Queen Charlotte," and 
 cakes called "maids of honour." "To my 
 mind," said Miss Plinlimmon, taking one, 
 "there is always an air of refinement about this 
 shop." She praised my growth, and the clean- 
 48 
 
MISS PLINLIMMON 
 
 liness of my skin, and the care with which Mrs. 
 Trapp kept my clothes; and laughed when I 
 reported some of Mrs. Trapp's sayings but 
 tremulously: indeed more than once her eyes 
 brimmed as she gazed across the table. "You 
 cannot think how happy I am," she almost whis- 
 pered, and broke off to draw my attention to a 
 young officer who had entered the shop, with two 
 ladies in fresh summer gowns of sprigged mus- 
 lin, and who stood by the counter buying sweet- 
 meats. "If you can do so without staring, 
 Harry, always make a point of observing such 
 people as that : you will be surprised at the lit- 
 tle hints you pick up." I told her, growing bold, 
 that I knew no finer lady than she, and never 
 wanted to which I still think a happy and high- 
 ly creditable speech for a boy of ten. She 
 flushed with pleasure. "I have birth, I hope," 
 she said, and with that her colour deepened, per- 
 haps with a suspicion that this might hurt my 
 feelings. "But since our reverses," she went on 
 hurriedly, "we Plinlimmons have stood still; 
 and one should move with the times. I am not 
 with those who think good manners need be old- 
 fashioned ones." She recurred to Mrs. Trapp. 
 "I feel sure she must be an excellent woman. 
 49 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Your clothes are well-kept, and I read more in 
 needlework than you think. Also folks cannot 
 neglect their cleanliness and then furbish them- 
 selves up in a day. I see by your complexion 
 that she attends to you. I hope you are careful 
 not to laugh at her when she makes those ludi- 
 crous speeches ?" 
 
 But I shifted the talk from Mrs. Trapp. 
 
 "What did you mean, just now, by 'we/ Miss 
 Plinlimmon ?" I asked. 
 
 "Did I say 'we' ?" 
 
 "You talked about your reverses 'our re- 
 verses/ you said. I wish you would tell me 
 about it: I never heard, before, of anyone be- 
 longing to you." 
 
 " 'We' means 'my brother and I/ " she said, 
 and said no more until she had paid the bill and 
 we walked up to the Hoe together. There she 
 chose a seat overlooking the Sound and close 
 above the amphitheatre (in those days used as 
 a bull-ring) where Corineus the Trojan had 
 wrestled, ages before, with the giant Gogmagog 
 and defeated him. 
 
 "My brother Arthur Captain Arthur Plin- 
 limmon of the King's Own is the soul of hon- 
 our. I do not believe a nobler gentleman lives 
 50 
 
MISS PLINLIMMON 
 
 in the whole wide world: but then we are de- 
 scended from the great Glendower, King of 
 Wales (I will show you the pedigree, some day) 
 and have Tudor blood, too, in our veins. When 
 dear papa died and we discovered he had been 
 speculating unfortunately in East India Stock 
 'buying for a fall' was, I am told, his besetting 
 weakness, though I could never understand the 
 process Arthur offered me a home and mainte- 
 nance for life. Of course I refused: for the 
 blow reduced him too to bitter poverty, and he 
 was married. And besides I could never bear 
 his wife, who was a woman of fashion and ex- 
 travtigant. She is dead now, poor thing, so we 
 will not talk of her : but she could never be made 
 to understand that their circumstances were al- 
 tered, and died leaving some debts and one child, 
 a boy called Archibald, who is now close on 
 twenty years old. So there is my story, Harry ; 
 and a very ordinary one, is it not ?" 
 
 "Where does Captain Plinlimmon live?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "He is quartered in York just now, with his 
 
 regiment: and Archie lives with him. He had 
 
 hoped to buy the poor boy a commission before 
 
 this, but could not do so honourably until all the 
 
 51 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 debts were paid. 'The sins of the fathers ' " 
 
 She broke off and glanced at me nervously. 
 
 But I was not of an age to suspect why, or to 
 understand my own lot at all. "I suppose you 
 love this Archibald better than anybody," said I 
 with a twinge of jealousy. 
 
 "Oh, no," she exclaimed quickly, and at once 
 corrected herself. "Not so much as I ought. I 
 love him, of course, for his father's sake : but in 
 features he takes after his mother very strik- 
 ingly, and that on the few occasions I have 
 seen him chilled me. It is wrong, I know; 
 and no doubt with more opportunity I should 
 have grown very fond of him. Sometimes I tax 
 myself, Harry, with being frail in my affec- 
 tions : they require renewing with a sight of 
 of their object. That is why we are keeping our 
 birthdays together to-day." 
 
 She smiled at me, almost archly, putting out 
 a hand to rest it on mine, which lay on my knee ; 
 then suddenly the smile wavered, her mouse- 
 eyes began to brim, I saw in them, as in troubled 
 water, broken images of a hundred things I had 
 known in dreams; and her arm was about my 
 neck and I nestled against her. 
 
 "Dear Harry! Dear boy!" 
 62 
 
MISS PLINLIMMON 
 
 I cannot tell how long we sat there : certainly 
 until the ships hung out their riding-lights and 
 the May stars shone down on us. At whiles we 
 talked, and at whiles were silent : and both talk 
 and silences (if you will not laugh) held some 
 such meanings as they hold for lovers. More 
 than ever she was not the Miss Plinlimmon I 
 remembered, but a strange woman, coming 
 forth and revealing herself with the stars. She 
 actually confessed that she loathed porridge ! 
 "though for example's sake, you know, I force 
 myself to eat it. I think it unfair to compel 
 children to a discipline you cannot endure with 
 them." 
 
 She parted with me under the moonlit Cita- 
 del, at the head of a by-lane leading to the 
 Trapps' cottage. "I shall not write often, or see 
 you," she said. "It is seldom that I get a holi- 
 day or even an hour to myself, and we will not 
 unsettle ourselves" mark, if the child could 
 not, the noble condescension "in our duties 
 that are perhaps the more blessed for being 
 stern. But a year hence for certain, if spared, 
 we will meet. Until then be a gentleman al- 
 ways and I may ask it now for my sake." 
 
 So we parted, and for a whole year I saw 
 53 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 nothing of her, nor heard except 'at Christmas, 
 when she sent me a closely written letter of six 
 sheets, of which I will transcribe only the poeti- 
 cal conclusion : 
 
 " Christmas comes but once a year 
 
 And why ? we well may ask. 
 Repine not. We are probably unequal 
 Unto a heavier task. ' ' 
 
CHAPTEK V 
 
 THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 IT is not only children who, having once tasted 
 bliss, suppose fondly that one has only to pre- 
 pare a time and place for it again and it can be 
 renewed. But he must be a queer child who 
 starts with expecting any less. Certainly no 
 doubts assailed me when the anniversary came 
 round and I made my way to Mr. Tucker's Bun 
 Shop ; nor did Miss Plinlimmon's greeting lack 
 anything of tenderness. She began at once to 
 talk away merrily : but children are demons to 
 detect something amiss, and although I did not 
 understand it, there was a note in her gaiety 
 which I felt to be strange and in a vague way 
 uncomfortable. After a while she broke off in 
 the middle of a sentence and sat stirring her tea, 
 as with a mind withdrawn; recovered herself, 
 and catching at her last words, continued but 
 on a different subject ; then, reading some puz- 
 zlement in my eyes, broke off again and tried to 
 55 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 cover her confusion by exclaiming, "My dear 
 Harry, you have grown prodigiously I" 
 
 "Were you thinking of that 2" I asked, for I 
 had heard it twice already. 
 
 She answered one question with another. "Of 
 what were you thinking ?" 
 
 I hesitated, for the truth would not have been 
 polite that I was thinking how much older she 
 had grown. But she had, in appearance. A 
 year is a long time to a child, but it did not 
 account to me for a curious wanness in her 
 colour. Her hair had grown much greyer too, 
 and there were dark rings under her eyes. "You 
 seem different somehow, Miss Plinlimmon." 
 
 "Do I ? The Hospital has been wearing me 
 out, of late. I have thought sometimes of re- 
 signing and trying my fortune elsewhere: but 
 the thought of the children restrains me. I 
 make many mistakes with them perhaps more 
 as the years go on : they love me, however, for 
 they know that I mean well, and it would haunt 
 me if they fell into bad hands. Now I am not 
 sure that Mr. Scougall would choose the best 
 successor. Before he married I could have 
 trusted his judgment." She fell a-musing again, 
 "Archibald is here in Plymouth," she added in- 
 consequently. "My nephew, you know." 
 56 
 
THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 I nodded, and asked, "Is he quartered here ?" 
 
 "Why, how did you know he was in the 
 army 2" 
 
 "You told me Major Arthur was saving up 
 to buy him a commission." 
 
 "How well you remember!" She sighed. 
 "The debts were too heavy. Archibald is in the 
 army, but he has enlisted as a private, in the 
 105th, the North Wilts Eegiment. His father 
 advised it: he says that, in these days, com- 
 missions are to be won by young men content 
 to begin in the ranks, especially if they have 
 birth and good manners to recommend them." 
 
 "I should like to begin in that way," said I 
 enthusiastically. 
 
 "I suspect the path to a commission is harder 
 than you dream," she answered, "though in 
 Archibald's case he has his father's record to 
 help him, and (I believe) a good friend in Colo- 
 nel Festonhaugh, who commands the North 
 Wilts. He and Arthur are old comrades in 
 arms. But garrison life does not suit the poor 
 boy, or so he complains. He is a little sore with 
 his father for subjecting him to it, and cannot 
 take his stern view about paying the debts. That 
 is natural enough, perhaps." She heaved an- 
 other sigh. "His regiment or rather the sec- 
 57 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 ond battalion, to which he belongs was ordered 
 down to Plymouth last January, and since then 
 has been occupied .with drill and petty irritat- 
 ing duties of which he complains sorely 
 though I believe there is a prospect of their be- 
 ing ordered out to Portugal before long." 
 
 "You see him often?" I asked, still a trifle 
 jealous. 
 
 She seemed to pause a moment before an- 
 swering. "Yes; oh, yes to be sure, I see him 
 frequently. That is only natural, is it not?" 
 
 We left the shop and strolled towards the Hoe. 
 I felt that something was wrong, something in- 
 terfering to spoil our day; and felt unreason- 
 ably sure of it on finding our old seat occupied 
 by three soldiers two of them supporting a 
 drunken comrade. We made disconsolately for 
 an empty bench, some fifty yards away. 
 
 "They belong to Archibald's regiment," said 
 Miss Plinlimmon as we settled ourselves to talk. 
 I had noted that she scanned them narrowly. 
 "Why, here is Archibald !" she exclaimed, a 
 moment later : and I looked up and saw a young 
 red-coat sauntering towards us. 
 
 Her tone, I was foolishly glad to observe, had 
 not been entirely joyous. And Master Archi- 
 58 
 
THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 bald, as lie drew near, did not seem in the best 
 of tempers. He was beyond all doubt a hand- 
 some youth, and straight-limbed ; but apparent- 
 ly a sullen one. He kept his eyes on the ground 
 and only lifted them for a moment when close in 
 front of us. 
 
 "Good afternoon, aunt." 
 
 "Good afternoon, Archibald. This is Harry 
 my friend Harry, of whom you have heard 
 me speak." 
 
 He glanced at me and gave me a curt nod. 
 I could see at once that he considered me a nui- 
 sance. An awkward silence fell between the 
 three of us, broken at length by a start and 
 smothered exclamation from Miss Plinlimmon. 
 
 Archibald glanced over his shoulder careless- 
 ly. "Oh, yes," said he, "they are baiting a bull 
 down yonder." 
 
 The ridge hid the bull-ring from us. Dogs 
 had been barking there when we seated our- 
 selves, but the noise had no meaning for us. It 
 was the bull's roar which startled Miss Plin- 
 limmon. 
 
 "Pray let us go!" She gathered her shawl 
 about her in a twitter. "This is quite horri- 
 ble!" 
 
 59 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "There's nothing to be afraid of," he assured 
 her. "The brute's tied, fast enough. Don't go, 
 aunt: I was wanting a word with you." 
 
 He glowered at me again, and this time with 
 meaning. I saw that he wished me gone, and I 
 moved to go. 
 
 "This is Harry's birthday I am keeping with 
 him : his birthday as well as mine, Archibald." 
 
 "Gad, I forgot! I'm sorry, aunt Many 
 happy returns of the day !" 
 
 "Thank you," said she drily. "And now if 
 you particularly wish to speak to me, I will 
 walk a short way with you, but only a short way. 
 Harry meanwhile shall find another seat." 
 
 She rose and they walked away side by side. 
 I gazed after them and then turned my head to 
 look for a bench farther removed from the bull- 
 ring; and, in doing so, became aware of an- 
 other soldier, in uniform similar to Mr. Archi- 
 bald's, stretched prone on the turf a few paces 
 behind me. 
 
 When I stood up and turned to have a look at 
 him, his head had dropped on his arms and he 
 appeared to be sleeping. But I could have 
 sworn that when I first caught sight of him he 
 had been gazing after the pair. 
 60 
 
THE SHADOW OF AKCHIBALD 
 
 Well, there was nothing in this (you will say) 
 to disturb me ; yet for some reason it made me 
 alert if not uneasy. I chose another seat, but at 
 no great distance, and kept him in view. He 
 raised his head once, stared around like one con- 
 fused and not wholly awake, and dropped into 
 slumber again. Miss Plinlimmon and Archi- 
 bald turned and came pacing back; turned 
 again and repeated this quarter deck walk thrice 
 or four times. He was talking, and now and 
 then using a slight gesture. I could not see that 
 she responded: at any rate she did not turn to 
 him. But the man on the grass occupied most 
 of my attention, and I missed the parting. An 
 odd fancy took me to watch if he stirred again 
 while I counted a hundred. He did not, and I 
 shifted my gaze to find Miss Plinlimmon com- 
 ing towards me unescorted. Master Archibald 
 disappeared. 
 
 Her eyes were red, and her voice trembled a 
 little. "And now," said she, "that's enough of 
 my affairs, please God !" She began to put ques- 
 tions about the Trapps, and I told her that Mrs. 
 Trapp was spring-cleaning and described how 
 during this process Mr. Trapp and I took our 
 meals in the back-yard under the Citadel wall 
 61 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "all frisky," he called it and I could not think 
 why, for in fact while it lasted he wore a chas- 
 tened air, not to say a lugubrious. Perhaps, as 
 we sat sharing our bread and bacon under 
 the naked rock, the situation set him thinking. 
 "Here, but for the grace of God, sits Samuel 
 Trapp, a homeless outcast." His discourse (usu- 
 ally so cheerful) would at such times run on 
 war-prices, the scarcity of gold, the famine al- 
 ready gripping the very poor. He did not tell me 
 but I had learnt it from the boys on the Barbi- 
 can, fed themselves on "sky blue and sinkers" 
 that I was the luckiest apprentice in the par- 
 ish. Even the ropey smell of the bread they 
 munched, and its colour, often a bright green, 
 with mildew, used to turn my proud stomach. 
 There were few but would have given their "hon- 
 est" parentage and all it brought them except 
 perhaps their liberty for a mess of Mr. Scou- 
 galFs porridge. 
 
 Now, while I answered Miss Plinlimmon's 
 questions, I happened to look along the flat 
 stretch of turf to the right, in time to see, at per- 
 haps a hundred yards' distance, a soldier cross 
 it from behind and go hurrying down the slope 
 towards the bull-ring. I recognised him at a 
 62 
 
THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 glance. He was the black-avized man who had 
 pretended, just now, to be sleeping. 
 
 Almost at once, as I remember it but I dare 
 say some minutes had passed a furious hub- 
 bub arose below us, mixed with the yelling of 
 dogs and a few sharp screams. And before we 
 knew what it meant, at the point where the 
 black-avized man had disappeared he came 
 scrambling back into view, found his legs and 
 headed straight towards us, running desperately, 
 with a bull behind him in full chase. 
 
 I managed to drag Miss Plinlimmon off the 
 bench, thrust her like a bundle beneath it and 
 scrambled after her into skelter but a second or 
 two before the pair came thundering by; for 
 the bull's hooves shook the ground, and so small 
 a space eight or nine yards at the most di- 
 vided him from the man, that they passed in 
 one rush, and with them half a dozen bull-dogs 
 hanging at the brute's heels as if trailed along 
 by an invisible cord. Next after these pelted 
 Master Archibald, shouting and tugging at his 
 side-arm ; and after him again, but well in the 
 rear, a whole rabble of bull-baiters, butchers, sol- 
 diers, boys and mongrels, all yelping together 
 63 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 with excitement and terror, the men flourishing 
 swords and pitchforks. 
 
 To speak of the man first. I have since seen 
 soldiers crazed and running in battle, but never 
 such a face as passed me in that brief vision. 
 His lips were wide, his eyes strained and almost 
 starting from his head, the pupils turned a little 
 backward as if fascinated by the terror at his 
 heels, imploring help, seeking a chance to double 
 all three together and yet absolutely fixed 
 and rigid. 
 
 The bull made no account of us, though below 
 the seat I caught the light of his red eye as he 
 plunged past, head to ground and so close that 
 his hot breath shook in our faces and the broken 
 end of rope about the base of his horns whipped 
 the grass by my fingers. Perhaps the red coat 
 attracted his rage. But he seemed to nurse a 
 special rage against the man. 
 
 This appeared when, a stone's-throw beyond 
 our seat, the man sprang sideways to the left of 
 his course in the nick of time, too, for as he 
 sprang he seemed to clear the horns by a bare 
 foot. The bull's heavier rush carried him for- 
 ward for several yards before he swerved him- 
 self on to the new line of pursuit ; and this let 
 64 
 
THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 up Master Archibald, who by this time had his 
 side-arm loose. 
 
 "Hamstring 'en!" yelled a blue-shirted 
 butcher, pausing beside us and panting. 
 "Quick, you fool hamstring 'en!" 
 
 For some reason the young man seemed to 
 hesitate. Likely enough he did not hear; per- 
 haps had not the presence of mind to grasp on 
 the instant the one thing to be done. At any 
 rate, for a second or so his arm hung on the 
 stroke, and as the bull swerved again he jabbed 
 his bayonet feebly at the haunch. 
 
 The butcher swore furiously. "Murdered by 
 folly if ever man was! Ye bitter fool," he 
 shouted, "it's pricked him on, ye've done! 
 If ye must stab his rump, it's pity ye didn't 
 stab harder, and he'd have turned and skewered 
 ye!" 
 
 The black-faced man, having gained maybe 
 a dozen yards by his manoeuvre, was now head- 
 ing for the Citadel gate, beside which so far 
 away that we saw them as toys stood a sentry- 
 box and the figure of a sentry beside it. Could 
 he reach this gate ? His altered course had taken 
 him a little downhill, to the left of the ridge, and 
 to regain it by the Citadel he must fetch a slight 
 65 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 loop. Luckily the bull could not reason: he 
 followed his enemy. But there was just a 
 chance that by running along the ridge the chase 
 might be headed off. The crowd saw this and 
 set off anew, with Master Archibald still a little 
 in front and increasing his lead. I scrambled 
 from under the seat and followed. 
 
 Almost at once it became plain that we were 
 out-distanced. Alone of us Master Archibald 
 had a chance ; and if the man were to be saved, 
 it lay either with him or with the sentry at the 
 gate. 
 
 I can yet remember the look on the sentry's 
 face as we drew closer and his features grew 
 distinct. He stood in the middle of the short 
 roadway which led to the drawbridge, and clear- 
 ly it had within a few moments dawned upon 
 him that lie was the point upon which these fatal 
 forces were converging. A low wall fenced him 
 on either hand, and as he braced himself, grasp- 
 ing his Brown Bess a fine picture of Duty tri- 
 umphing over Irresolution into this narrow 
 passage poured the chase, rolled as it were in a 
 flying heap; the hunted man just perceptibly 
 first, the bull and Archibald Plinlimmon can- 
 noning against each other at the entrance. Mas- 
 66 
 
THE SHADOW OF AECHIBALD 
 
 ter Archibald was hurled aside by the impact of 
 the brute's hindquarters and shot, at first almost 
 on all-fours, then prone, alongside the base of 
 the wall ; but he had managed to get his thrust 
 home, and this time with effect. The bull tossed 
 his head with a mighty roar, ducked it again and 
 charged on his prey, who flung up both arms and 
 fell, spent, by the sentry-box. The sentry sprang 
 to the other side of the roadway and let fly his 
 charge at random as box, man, and bull crushed 
 to earth together, and a dreadful bellow mingled 
 with the sharper notes of splintered wood. 
 
 It was the end. The bullet had cut clean 
 through the bull's spine at the neck, and the 
 crowd dragged him lifeless, a board of the sen- 
 try-box still impaled on his horns, off the legs of 
 the black-avized man who, at first supposed to 
 be dead also, awoke out of his swoon to moan 
 and cry feebly for water. 
 
 While this was fetching, the butcher knelt and 
 lifted him into a sitting posture. He struck me 
 as ill-favoured enough not to say ghastly 
 with the dust and blood on his cheeks (for a 
 splinter had laid open his cheek) and his face 
 an unhealthy white against his matted hair. As 
 67 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 they lifted him, too, I saw for the first time that 
 he wore sergeant's stripes. 
 
 "What's the poor thing called ?" some one in- 
 quired of the sentry. 
 
 The sentry, being an Irishman, mistook the 
 idiom. "He's called a Bull," said he, stroking 
 the barrel of his rifle. "H'what the divvle else ? 
 I didn't have time to get the countersign." 
 "But 'tis the man we mean." 
 "Oh, he's called Letcher sergeant North 
 Wilts." 
 
 Letcher gulped down a mouthful of water and 
 managed to sit up, pushing the butcher's arm 
 aside. 
 
 "Where's Plinlimmon?" he asked hoarsely. 
 "Hurt?" 
 
 "Here I am, old fellow," answered Archibald, 
 reeling rather than stepping forward. "A crack 
 on the skull, that's all. Hope you're none the 
 worse?" His own face was bleeding from a 
 nasty graze on the right temple where he had 
 struck the base of the wall. 
 
 "H'm?" said Letcher. "Mean it? You'd 
 
 better mean it, by !" he snarled, suddenly, 
 
 his face twisted with pain or malice. "You 
 
 weren't too smart, the first go. Why the devil 
 
 68 
 
THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 didn't you hamstring the brute ? You heard 
 them shouting to you, hey ?" 
 
 "That's azackly what I told 'en," put in the 
 butcher. 
 
 "Oh, stow your fat talk, you silly Devon- 
 shireman!" The butcher's tongue was too big 
 for his mouth, and Letcher mimicked him fero- 
 ciously and with an accuracy quite wonderful, 
 his exhaustion considered. He leaned back and 
 panted. "The brute touched me under the 
 thigh, here. I doubt I'm bleeding." He closed 
 his eyes and fainted away. 
 
 They found, on lifting him, that he spoke 
 truth. The bull had gored him in the leg: a 
 nasty wound beginning at the back of the knee, 
 running upward and missing the main artery by 
 a bare inch. A squad of soldiers had run out, 
 hearing the shot, and these bore him into the 
 Citadel, Master Archibald limping behind. 
 
 The crowd began to disperse, and I made my 
 way back to Miss Plinlimmon. 
 
 "A providential escape !" said she on hearing 
 my report. "I am glad that Archibald acquitted 
 himself well." She went on to tell me of a 
 youthful adventure of her own with a mountain 
 bull, in her native Wales. 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Some days later she sent me a poem on the 
 occurrence : 
 
 " Lo, as he strides his native scene, 
 The bull how dignified his mien I 
 
 When tethered, otherwise I 
 Yet one his tether broke and ran 
 After a military man 
 
 Before these very eyes ! " 
 
 "I feel that I have been more successful with 
 the metre than usual," she added, "having been 
 guided by a little poem, a favourite of mine, 
 which, as it also inculcates kindness to the brute 
 creation, you will do well, Harry, to commit to 
 memory. It runs : 
 
 ' ' If men and women only knew 
 What sorrows little birds go through, A 
 
 I think that even boys 
 Would never deem it sport, or fun, 
 To stand and fire a frightful gun 
 
 For nothing but the noise." 
 
 The shadow of Mr. Archibald seemed doomed 
 to rest upon our anniversaries. This second one, 
 though more than exciting enough, had not an- 
 swered my expectations : and on the third when 
 
 I presented myself at the Bun Shop it was to 
 70 
 
THE SHADOW OF ARCHIBALD 
 
 learn with dismay that Miss Plinlimmon had 
 not arrived for remembering her accent of re- 
 proach in answer to her nephew's congratula- 
 tions last year, and fired with jealousy, I had 
 walked into the country towards Plympton early 
 that morning and raided an orchard under the 
 trees of which I had noted a fine crop of colum- 
 bines, seeded from a neighbouring garden but 
 then growing wild. Also I jingled together in 
 my pocket no less a sum than two bright shil- 
 lings Mr. Trapp having lately lost the donkey 
 (of old age) which used to carry his soot to mar- 
 ket and promised me a farthing on every sack if 
 I could save him the expense of a new animal. 
 This accounted for one shilling, and the other he 
 had magnificently handed over to me out of a 
 wager of five he had made with an East Country 
 skipper that I could dive and take the water, 
 hands first, off the jib-boom of any vessel se- 
 lected from the shipping then at anchor in Catte- 
 water. I knew that Miss Plinlimmon wanted a 
 box to hold her skeins, and I also knew the price 
 of one in a window in George Street, and had the 
 shopman's promise not to part with it before 
 five o'clock that evening. I wished Miss Plin- 
 limmon to admire it first, and then I meant to 
 71 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 enter the shop in a lordly fashion and, emerging, 
 to put the treasure in her hands. 
 
 So I paced the pavement in front of Mr. 
 Tucker's, the prey of a thousand misgivings. 
 But at length, and fully half an hour late, she 
 hove in sight. 
 
 "I have been detained, dear," she explained as 
 we kissed, " by Archibald/ 7 she added. 
 
 Always that accursed Archibald ! "Did he 
 wish you many happy returns?" I asked, 
 thrusting my bunch of columbines upon her with 
 a blush. 
 
 "You dear, dear boy!" she chirruped. But 
 she ignored my question. When we were seated, 
 too, she made the poorest attempt to eat, but kept 
 exclaiming on the beauty of my flowers. 
 
 The meal over, she drew out her purse to pay. 
 "We shan't be seeing Mr. Archibald to-day ?" I 
 asked wistfully, preparing to go. 
 
 "You may be certain ; With that she 
 
 paused, with a blank look which changed to one 
 of shame and utter confusion. The purse was 
 empty. 
 
 "O Harry what shall I do ? There were five 
 
 shillings in it when I counted them out and 
 
 laid the purse on the table beside my gloves. I 
 72 
 
THE SHADOW OF AKCHIBALD 
 
 was just picking them up when when Archi- 
 bald " Her voice failed again and she 
 
 turned to the shop-woman. " Some thing most 
 unfortunate has happened. Will you, please, 
 send for Mr. Tucker? He will know me by 
 face at least. I have been here on several pre- 
 vious occasions ' 
 
 I had not the smallest notion of the price of 
 eatables ; but I, too, turned on the shop-woman 
 with a bold face, albeit with a fluttering heart. 
 
 "How much ?" I demanded. 
 
 "One-and-ninepence, sir." 
 
 I know not which made me the happier re- 
 lief, or the glory of being addressed as "sir." I 
 paid, pocketed my threepence change, and in the 
 elation of it offered Miss Plinlimmon my arm. 
 We walked down George Street, past the work- 
 box in the window. I managed to pass without 
 wincing, though desperately afraid that the 
 shopman might pop out it seemed but natural 
 he should be lying in wait and hold me to my 
 bargain. 
 
 Our session upon the Hoe, though uninter- 
 rupted, did not recapture the dear abandonment 
 of our first blissful birthday. Miss Plinlimmon 
 could neither forget the mishap to her purse, nor 
 73 
 
ADVENTUEES OF HAKEY EEVEL 
 
 speak quite freely about it. A week later she 
 celebrated her redemption in the following 
 stanza : 
 
 " A friend in need is a friend indeed, 
 
 We have oft-times heard : 
 
 And King Richard the Third 
 Was reduced to crying, ' My kingdom for a horse ! ' 
 
 O, may we never want a friend ! 
 ' Or a bottle to give him,' I omit, as coarse. " 
 
 She enclosed one-and-ninepence in the mis- 
 sive : and so obtained her workbox after all it 
 being, by a miracle, still unsold. 
 
 74 
 
CHAPTEE VI 
 
 I STUMBLE INTO HORROR 
 
 IT was exactly seven weeks later that is to say 
 on the evening of June 18th, 1811 that as I 
 stood in the doorway whistling "Come, cheer up, 
 my lads," to Mrs. Trapp's tame blackbird, the 
 old Jew slop-dealer came shuffling up the alley 
 and demanded word with my master. 
 
 His name was Rodriguez "I. Rodriguez, 
 Marine Stores" and his shop stood at the cor- 
 ner of the Barbican as you turn into Southside 
 Street. He had an extraordinarily fine face, 
 narrow, emaciated, with a noble hook to his nose 
 (which was neither pendulous nor fleshy) and a 
 black pointed beard accurately divided by a line 
 of grey. We boys feared him, one and all : but 
 in a furred cloak and skull cap he would have 
 made a brave picture. The dirt of his person, 
 however, was a scandal. I told him that Mr. 
 Trapp had walked over and taken the ferry to 
 Cremyll, where his boat was fitting out for the 
 75 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 summer. "But Mrs. Trapp is washing up at the 
 back. Shall I call her ?" I asked. 
 
 "God forbid!" said he. "I am not come to 
 listen, but to speak." 
 
 I asked him then if I could take a message. 
 
 "As wine in a leaky vessel, so is a message 
 committed to a child. Two of my chimneys 
 need to be swept." 
 
 "I can remember that, sir," said I. 
 
 He eyed me in a way that made me feel un- 
 comfortable. "Yes; you will remember," he 
 said, as if somehow he had satisfied himself. 
 Yet his eyes continued to search me. "You have 
 not swept my chimneys before ?" 
 
 "I have been working for Mr. Trapp almost 
 three years," said I demurely. 
 
 "Yes, I have seen your face. But I do not 
 often have my chimneys swept: it is dreadful 
 waste of money. The soot, now your master 
 and I cannot agree about it. I say that the soot 
 is mine, that I made it, in my own chimney, with 
 my own fuel; therefore it should be my prop- 
 erty, but your master claims it. I say the same 
 to the barber, thus 'My hair is mine/ I tell 
 him, 'I pay you only to clip it.' But then hair 
 such as mine is unsaleable, whereas soot fetches 
 76 
 
I STUMBLE INTO HORROR 
 
 threepence the bag. To look at things in this 
 way is a principle with me. Five years ago I 
 left my chimneys unswept while I argued this ; 
 but one of them took fire, and so I lost my soot, 
 and the Corporation fined me five shillings. It 
 was terrible. What with the risk, too, it turned 
 my hair grey." He fell back a pace and studied 
 me again. "If my brother Aaron could see your 
 face, boy, he would want to paint it and you 
 might make money." 
 
 "Where does he live, sir ?" I asked. 
 
 "Eh? Good boy good boy! He lives in 
 Lisbon, in the Ghetto off the Street of the Four 
 Evangelists." He laughed, high up in his nose, 
 at my discomfiture. "If ever you meet him, 
 mention my name : but first of all tell your mas- 
 ter I shall expect him at five o'clock to-morrow 
 morning." He wished me good-night and shuf- 
 fled away down the alley, still laughing at his 
 joke. 
 
 At five o'clock next morning, or a little before, 
 Mr. Trapp and I started for the house. The 
 Barbican had not yet awaked to business. Its 
 frowsy blinds were down, and out on the Pool 
 nothing moved but a fishing-boat sweeping in 
 77 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 upon the first of the flood, for a flat calm outside 
 had delayed the night fleet. 
 
 At the entrance of Southside Street, however, 
 we almost overtook a soldier walking towards the 
 town on the opposite pavement. He walked 
 slowly and with a very slight limp, but seemed 
 to quicken his pace a little, and kept ahead of us. 
 The barracks being full, just then, many soldiers 
 had their billets about the town, and that one 
 should be abroad at such an hour was nothing 
 suspicious ; but something familiar in his back 
 attracted my attention and my eyes were still 
 following him when Mr. Trapp halted and 
 knocked at the Jew's door. As the sound reached 
 him, I saw the man start and hesitate for an in- 
 stant in his stride : and in that instant, though 
 he did not turn but held on his pace and was lost 
 to sight around the street-corner, I understood 
 the limp. He was the man of the bull-chase 
 Sergeant Letcher (as the sentry had named him) 
 of the North Wilts. 
 
 Nobody answered Mr. Trapp' s knock, though 
 he repeated it four or five times. He stepped 
 back into the roadway and scanned the unshut- 
 tered upper windows. They were uncurtained, 
 too, every one, and grimed with dust: and 
 78 
 
I STUMBLE INTO HORROR 
 
 through this dust we could see rows of cast-off 
 suits dangling within like limp suicides. 
 
 "Very odd/ 7 commented Mr. Trapp. "You're 
 sure he said five o'clock ?" 
 
 "Sure/ 7 said I. 
 
 "Besides five o'clock or six why can't the 
 old skin-flint answer ?" 
 
 He knocked again vigorously. A blind-cord 
 creaked above us, a window went up next door, 
 over a ship-chandler's, and a man thrust out his 
 head. 
 
 "What's wrong ?" he demanded. 
 
 "Sorry to disturb ye, Clemow, but old Rodri- 
 guez, here, bespoke us to sweep his chimneys at 
 five, and we can't get admittance." 
 
 "Why, I heard him unbolt for ye an hour 
 ago," said the ship-chandler. "He woke me up 
 with his noise, letting down the chain." 
 
 The door had a latch-handle, and Mr. Trapp 
 grasped it. "Drat me, but you're right !" he ex- 
 claimed, as he pressed his thumb and the door 
 at once yielded. "Huh!" He stared into the 
 empty passage out of which a room opened on 
 either hand, each hung with cast-off suits which 
 seemed to sway slightly in the scanty light ad- 
 mitted by the shutter-holes. "I don't stomach 
 79 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 moving among these at the best of times. Even 
 in broad daylight I'm never too sure there ain't 
 a man hidden in one of 'em. He might be dead, 
 too by the smell." 
 
 He stepped to the foot of the uncarpeted 
 stairs. "Mister Rodriguez !" he called. His 
 voice echoed up past the cobwebbed landing and 
 seemed to go wandering up and up among un- 
 clean mysteries to the very roof. Nobody an- 
 swered. 
 
 "Mister Rodriguez !" he called again, waited, 
 and for once the only time in our acquaintance 
 let slip an oath. "Let's try the kitchen," he 
 suggested. "We started with that, last time: 
 and, if my memory holds good, 'tis the only 
 chimney he uses. He beds in a small room 
 right over us, next the roof, and keeps a fire 
 going there, too, through the winter: but the 
 flue of it leads into the same shaft a pretty 
 wide shaft as I rec'llect. About the other I 
 don't know, nor if he uses it. Stuffs it full with 
 sulplus stock, maybe." 
 
 We groped our way by the foot of the stair- 
 case and a line of cupboards to the kitchen. The 
 window of this its blind had been drawn 
 looked out upon a backyard piled with refuse 
 80 
 
I STUMBLE INTO HORROR 
 
 timber, packing-cases, and plaster statuary 
 broken and black with soot. Within, the hearth 
 had been swept, after a fashion, as if in prepara- 
 tion for us. On the dirty table stood a milk- 
 jug with a news-sheet folded and laid across its 
 top, a half -loaf of bread and a plate of meat 
 but of what kind we did not pause to examine. 
 It looked nauseous enough. As we entered, a 
 brindled cat made a dash past us and upstairs. 
 Its unexpected charge greatly unsettled Mr. 
 Trapp. 
 
 "It daunts me I declare it do," he confided 
 hoarsely. "But he's been here, anyway; and 
 he expects us." He waved a hand towards the 
 hearth. "Shall I call again ? Or what d'ye say 
 to getting it over ?" 
 
 "I'm ready," said I. To tell the truth, the in- 
 side of the chimney seemed more inviting to me 
 than the rest of the house. I was accustomed 
 to chimneys. 
 
 "Up we go then!" Mr. Trapp began to 
 spread his bags. He always used the first per- 
 son plural on these occasions meaning, no 
 doubt, that I took with me his moral support. 
 "The shaft's easy enough, I mind two storeys 
 above this, and all the flues leadin' to your left. 
 81 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 I'll be out in the street by the time you 
 hail." 
 
 I hadn't a doubt he would. "One week to 
 Midsummer!" I cried, to hearten me for we 
 were both counting the days now between us and 
 the fishing. He grinned, and up I went. 
 
 The chimney was foul, to be sure, but beyond 
 this I found no trouble with it. Perhaps I put 
 more spirit than usual into the job, to get it 
 over: at any rate, once past the first ten or a 
 dozen feet I mounted quickly. Towards the top 
 the shaft narrowed so that for a while I had my 
 doubts if it could be squeezed through : but, as 
 had happened more than once to me, I found on 
 reaching it that the brickwork shelved inwards 
 very slightly, though furred or crusted with an 
 extra thick coating of soot below the vent. 
 Through this I broke in triumph, sweating from 
 my haste ; and brushing the filth from my eyes, 
 leaned both arms on the chimney-top while I 
 scanned the roofs around for a glimpse between 
 them, down to the street and Mr. Trapp. I did 
 so at ease, for a flue entered the main shaft im- 
 mediately below the stack, which was a decided- 
 ly dumpy one in fact less than five feet tall ; 
 so that I supported myself not by the arms alone 
 
I STUMBLE INTO HORROB 
 
 but by resting my toes on the ridge where flue 
 and shaft met. 
 
 Now, as the reader will remember, it was the 
 height of summer, and the day had brightened 
 considerably since we entered the house. The 
 sudden sunshine set me blinking, and while I 
 cleared my eyes it seemed to me that a man 
 a dark figure something, at any rate, a some- 
 thing a great deal too large to be mistaken for a 
 cat stole from under the gable above which my 
 chimney rose and swiftly crossing a patch of flat 
 leaded roof to the right, disappeared around a 
 chimney stack on the far side of it. 
 
 I stopped rubbing my eyes and stared at the 
 stack. It was a tall one, rising from a good fif- 
 teen feet below almost to a level with mine, 
 and I could not possibly look over it. Some- 
 thing, I felt sure, lurked behind it, and my ears 
 seemed to hold the sound of a soft footstep. I 
 forgot Mr. Trapp. By pulling myself a little 
 higher I could get a better view, not of the stack, 
 but of the stretch of roof beyond it; nobody 
 could break cover in that direction and escape 
 me. I took a firm grip on the corroded bricks 
 and heaved on them. 
 
 Next moment they had given way under my 
 83 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 hands, falling inwards : and I was falling with 
 them. 
 
 I kicked out, striving to find again with my 
 toes the ridge where the flue joined the shaft 
 missed it and went shooting down to the left 
 through a smother of soot. 
 
 The total fall or slide, rather was not a 
 severe one, after all; twenty feet, perhaps, 
 though uncomfortable enough for sixty. I 
 pulled myself up quite suddenly, my feet resting 
 on a ledge which, as I shook the soot off and re- 
 covered my wits, turned out to be the upper sill 
 of a grate. Then, growing suddenly cautious 
 when the need for caution was over, I descended 
 the next foot or two back foremost, as one goes 
 down a ladder, and jumped out into the room 
 clear of the hearthstone. 
 
 And with that, as I turned, a scream rose to 
 my throat and died there. I had almost jumped 
 upon the stretched-out body of a man. 
 
 84 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 I ESCAPE FROM THE JEW'S HOUSE 
 
 IT was Mr. Eodriguez. He lay face-downward 
 and slantwise across the front of the hearth, with 
 arms spread, fingers hooked, and his neck pro- 
 truding from the collar of his dingy dressing- 
 gown like a plucked fowl's. He had cast a slip- 
 per in falling and the flesh of one heel showed 
 through its rent stocking. For a moment I sup- 
 posed him in a fit; the next, I was recoiling 
 towards the wall, away from a dark moist line 
 which ran from under his left arm-pit and along 
 the uneven boards to the far corner by the win- 
 dow, and there, under a disordered truckle-bed, 
 spread itself in a pool. 
 
 With my eyes glued upon this horrid sight I 
 slowly straightened myself up having crouched 
 back until I felt the wall behind me and so 
 grew aware of a door beside the chimney breast, 
 and that it stood ajar upon the empty landing. 
 85 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 The dead man's heels pointed towards it, his 
 head towards the window at the foot of the bed. 
 
 And still my shaken wits could not grasp 
 could scarcely clutch at the meaning of what I 
 saw. I only felt that there was something hor- 
 rible, menacing, hideously malignant in the fig- 
 ure at my feet : only craved for strength of will 
 to dash by it, reach the door and fling myself 
 down the stairs anywhere away from it. 
 Had it stirred I believe it had then and there 
 destroyed my reason, and for life. 
 
 But it did not stir. And all the while I knew 
 that the thing lay with its breast in a bath of 
 blood ; that it had been stabbed in the back and 
 the blood welling down under the clothes had 
 gathered in a pool, ready to gush and spread on 
 all sides as soon as the body should be lifted or 
 its attitude interfered with. I cannot tell how 
 I found time to reason this out ; but I did. 
 
 I knew, too, that I could not scream aloud if 
 I tried: but I had no desire to try. It might 
 wake and lift up its head. I felt backwards 
 with my hand along the wall, groping uncon- 
 sciously for something to aid my spring towards 
 the door but desisted. For the moment I could 
 not move. 
 
I ESCAPE FEOM THE JEW'S HOUSE 
 
 With that either this was all a dream or I 
 heard footsteps on the flat roof outside; very 
 slow, soft footsteps, too, as of somebody walking 
 on tip-toe. But if on tip-toe, why was he com- 
 ing towards me ? Yet so it was ; my ear told me 
 distinctly. 
 
 As his feet crunched the leads close outside 
 the window I caught a gleam of scarlet; then 
 the frame grew dark between me and the day- 
 light, and through the pane a man peered cau- 
 tiously into the room. 
 
 It was Archie Plinlimmon. 
 
 He peered in, turning his face sideways for 
 a better view and shading it, after a moment, 
 with his hand. So shaded, and with the day- 
 light behind it, his face after that first instant 
 became an inscrutable blur. 
 
 But while he peered speech broke from me 
 words and a wild laugh. 
 
 "Look at it ! Look at it !" I cried, and 
 pointed. 
 
 He drew back instantly, and was gone. 
 
 "Don't leave me! Mr. Plinlimmon please 
 
 don't leave me !" I made a leap for the window 
 
 halted helplessly and fell back again from 
 
 the body. I was alone again. But power to 
 
 87 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 move had come back, and I must use it while it 
 lasted. If I could gain the stairs now . . . 
 
 Stealthily, and more stealthily as the fear re- 
 turned and grew, I reached the door, pushed it 
 open, and looked out on the landing. But for a 
 worm-eaten trunk and a line of old suits dan- 
 gling from pegs around the wall, it was bare. 
 The little light filtered through a cracked and 
 discoloured window high up in the slope of the 
 roof. The stairhead lay a short two yards from 
 me, to be reached by one bold leap. 
 
 This, however, was not what I first saw ; nay, 
 how or when I saw it is a wonder still. For, 
 across the landing, a door faced me; and, as I 
 pushed mine open, this door had moved was 
 moving yet, as if to shut. 
 
 It did not quite shut. It came to a standstill 
 when almost a foot ajar. Within I could see 
 yet other suits of clothes hanging: and among 
 these lurked someone, watching me perhaps 
 through the chink by the hinges. I was sure of 
 it was almost sure I had seen a hand on the 
 edge of the door ; a hand with a ring on one of 
 its fingers, and just the edge, and no more, of a 
 dark cuff. 
 
 For perhaps five seconds I endured it, my 
 88 
 
I ESCAPE FROM THE JEW'S HOUSE 
 
 hair lifting: then, with one sharp scream I 
 dashed back into the room and across the corpse, 
 struggled for a moment with the window-sash 
 and flinging it up, dropped out more dead than 
 alive upon the leads. 
 
 Out there, in the reviving sunshine, my first 
 thought was to crawl away as fast and as far as 
 possible; to reach some hiding-place where I 
 might lie down and pant unpursued by the hor- 
 rors of that house. The roofs on my right were 
 flat and I staggered along them, halting now and 
 again and leaning a hand for support against 
 one or other of the chimney-stacks, now growing 
 warm in the sunshine. 
 
 From the far side of one, as I leaned clinging, 
 a man sprang up, almost at my feet. It was 
 Archie Plinlimmon again. He had been flat- 
 tening himself against its shadow and at first 
 so white and fierce was his face I made sure 
 he meant to hurl me over and on to the street be- 
 low. 
 
 "What do you want ? What have you seen ?" 
 Though he spoke fiercely, his teeth chattered. 
 "Oh it's you !" he exclaimed, recognising me. 
 
 "Mr. Plinlimmon " I began. 
 
 "I didn't do it. I didn't " He broke off . 
 
 89 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "For God's sake, how are we to get down out of 
 this?" 
 
 He took me up short. "The street ? We can't 
 go that way it's as much as my neck's worth. 
 Yours, too." 
 
 "Mr. Trapp's waiting for me," I answered 
 stupidly. 
 
 "The devil knows who isn't waiting," he 
 snapped. "We'll have to cut out of this." He 
 pointed downwards on the side away from the 
 street. "I say, what happened ? Who did it, 
 eh?". 
 
 "I slipped in the chimney," I answered again. 
 "He wanted his chimneys swept this morning. 
 We knocked Mr. Trapp and I and no one an- 
 swered : then we tried the door, and it opened. 
 There was no one about, and no one in the street 
 but Sergeant Letcher." 
 
 He began to shake. "Sergeant Letcher? 
 What do you know about Sergeant Letcher ?" 
 
 "Nothing except that he was in the street 
 the man the bull chased, you know." 
 
 He was shaking yet. "I ought to kill you," 
 said he. "But I didn't do it. Look here, show 
 me a way down and I'll let you off. You're 
 used to this work, ain't you ?" 
 90 
 
I ESCAPE FKOM THE JEW'S HOUSE 
 
 "How did you come up ?" I asked, innocently 
 enough. 
 
 "By the Lord, if you ask questions I'll stran- 
 gle you ! You were in the room with with it. 
 I saw you : I'll swear I saw you. Get me down 
 out of this, and hide get on board some ship, 
 and clear. See ? If you breathe a word that 
 you've seen me, I'll cut your heart out. You 
 understand me ?" 
 
 I hadn't a doubt then that he was guilty, 
 somehow. His fear was too craven. "There's 
 a warehouse at the end here," said I, and led the 
 way to it. But when we reached it, its roof rose 
 in a sharp slope from the low parapet guarding 
 the leads where we stood. 
 
 "But I can't see," he objected; "and any- 
 way, I can't manage that." 
 
 I pointed to a louver skylight half way up 
 the roof. "We can prise that open, or break 
 it. It's easy enough to reach," I assured 
 him. 
 
 He was extraordinarily clumsy on the slates, 
 but obeyed my instructions like a child. I 
 wrenched at the wooden louvers. 
 
 "Got a knife?" I asked. 
 
 He produced one an ugly-looking weapon, 
 91 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 but clean. By good luck, we did not need it; 
 for as he passed it to me, the louver at which I 
 was tugging broke and came away in my hand. 
 We easily loosened another and, squeezing 
 through, dropped into the loft upon a sliding 
 pile of grain. 
 
 The loft was dark enough, but a glimmer of 
 light shone through the chinks of a door at the 
 far end. Unbolting it, we looked down, from 
 the height of thirty feet or so, into a deserted 
 lane. Or rather, / looked down: for while I 
 fumbled with the bolts, Master Archie had 
 banged his head into something hard and 
 dropped, rubbing the hurt and cursing. 
 
 It proved to be the timber cross-piece of a 
 derrick, used for hoisting sacks of grain into the 
 loft, working on axle, and now swung inboard 
 for the night. A double rope ran through the 
 pulley at its end and had been hitched back over 
 the iron winch which worked it. We pushed the 
 derrick out over the lane and I manned the 
 winch-handle, while Master Archie caught hold 
 of the hook and pulley at the end of the double 
 line. Checking the handle with all my strength 
 I lowered him as noiselessly as I could. As his 
 feet touched the cobbles below he let go and, 
 92 
 
I ESCAPE FROM THE JEW'S HOUSE 
 
 without a thought of my safety, made off down 
 the lane. 
 
 I tugged the derrick inboard and recapt- 
 ured the rope; cogged the winch, swung out, 
 dropped hand over hand into the lane, and 
 raced up it with all the terrors of the law at my 
 heels. 
 
 93 
 
CHAPTEK VIII 
 
 POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 MASTER ARCHIBALD'S advice to me to escape 
 down to the waterside and conceal myself on 
 shipboard though acute enough in its way, took 
 no account of certain difficulties none the less 
 real because a soldier would naturally overlook 
 them. To hide in a ship's hold may be easy ; but 
 you must first get on board of her unobserved, 
 which in broad daylight is next to impossible. 
 Moreover to reach Cattewater I must either fetch 
 a circuit through purlieus where every house- 
 holder knew me and every urchin was a nodding 
 acquaintance, or make a straight dash close by 
 the spot where by this time Mr. Trapp would be 
 getting anxious if indeed Southside Street and 
 the Barbican were not already resounding with 
 the hue and cry. ~No ; if friendly vessel were to 
 receive and hide me she lay far off across the 
 heart of the town amid the shipping of the Dock, 
 and in that direction I headed. Yonder, too, 
 94 
 
POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 Miss Plinlimmon resided. If you think it ab- 
 surd that my thoughts turned to her, whose weak 
 arms could certainly shield no one from the 
 clutch of the law, I beg you to remember my age 
 and that I had never known another protector. 
 
 She at least would hear me and never doubt 
 my innocence. She must hear, too, of Archie's 
 danger. 
 
 That to reach her, even if I eluded pursuit to 
 the Hospital gate, I must run the gauntlet of Mr. 
 George who would assuredly ask questions 
 and possibly of Mr. Scougall, scarcely occurred 
 to me. My head, as yet, was not clear enough for 
 this. To reach her to sob out my story in her 
 arms and hear her voice soothing me this only 
 I desired for the moment ; and it seemed that if 
 I could only hear her voice speaking I might 
 wake and feel these horrors dissolve like an evil 
 dream. Meanwhile, I ran. 
 
 But at the end of a lane leading into Treville 
 Street, and as I leapt aside to avoid colliding 
 with the hind wheels of a hackney coach, drawn 
 in there and at a standstill close by the kerb, to 
 my unspeakable fright, I felt myself gripped by 
 the jacket-collar. 
 
 "Hi ! Bring-to and Vast kicking, young coal- 
 95 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 dust ! Whe're ye bound, hey ? Answer me, and 
 take your black mop out of a gentleman's wes- 
 kit!" 
 
 "To to Dock, sir/' I stammered. "Let 
 me go, please. I'm in a hurry." 
 
 My captor held me out at arm's length and 
 eyed me. He was a sailor, and rigged out in his 
 best shore-going clothes tarpaulin hat, blue coat 
 and waistcoat, and a broad leathern belt to hold 
 up his duck trousers, on which my sooty head had 
 left its mark. He seemed to bear no malice, 
 however, but grinned at me good-naturedly. I 
 saw that he had been drinking. 
 
 "In a hurry ? There, now, if I hadn't a'most 
 guessed it! And what's your hurry about? 
 Business ?" 
 
 "Ye-es, sir." 
 
 "'Stonishing what spirit boys'll put into 
 work nowadays! I've seen boys run for a leg 
 o' mutton, and likewise I've seen 'em run when 
 they've broken ship ; but on the path o' duty, my 
 sonny, you've the legs of any boy in my ex-peri- 
 ence. Well, for once you'll put pleasure first; 
 I'm bound for Dock or thereabouts myself, and 
 under convoy." He waved his hand up the 
 street, where twelve or fifteen hackney coaches 
 96 
 
POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 stood in line ahead of the one into which I had 
 almost blundered. 
 
 "If you please, sir " 
 
 He threw open the coach door. "Jump in. 
 The frigate sets the rate o' sailing. That's 
 Bill." 
 
 I hesitated, rebellious, staring at him and not 
 in the least understanding. 
 
 "That's Bill. Messmate o' mine on the Bed- 
 ford, and afore that on the Vesuvius bomb. 
 There, sonny don't stand gaping at me like a 
 stuck pig; I never expected ye to know him! 
 And now the time's past, and ye'll go far afore 
 finding a better. Bill Adams his name was ; but 
 Bill to me, always, and in all weathers." Here 
 for a moment he became somewhat maudlin. 
 "Paid off but three days agone, same as myself, 
 and now cut down like a flower. All flesh is 
 grass. He's a corpse, ahead, in the first convey- 
 ance." 
 
 "Is this a funeral, sir ?" I managed to ask. 
 
 "Darn your eyes, don't it look like one ? And 
 after the expense I've been to He paused, 
 eyed me solemnly, opened his mouth, and 
 pointed down it with his forefinger. "Drink 
 done it." His voice was impressive. "Steer 
 97 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 you wide of the drink, my lad; or else drop 
 down on it gradual. If drink must be your 
 moorings, don't pick 'em up too rash. 'A boiled 
 leg o' mutton first/ says I, persuasive-like ; 'and 
 turnips,' and got him to Symonds's boarding- 
 house on purpose, Symonds being noted. Sy- 
 monds I'll do him that justice says the same. 
 Symonds says ' 
 
 But at this point a young woman and 
 pretty, too, but daubed with paint thrust her 
 hat and head out of a window, three carriages 
 away, and demanded to know what in the name 
 of Moses they were waiting for. 
 
 "Signals, my dear. The flagship's forrad, 
 and keep your eye lifting that way, if you 
 please ! I'm main glad you fell in with us," he 
 went on affably, turning to me; because you 
 round it up nicely. Barring the sharks in black 
 weepers, you're the only mourning-card in the 
 bunch, and I'll see you get a good position at the 
 grave." 
 
 "Thank you, sir," said I, feeling pretty des- 
 perate. 
 
 "Don't mention it. We're doin' our best. 
 When poor Bill dropped down in Symonds's" 
 he jerked his thumb towards the boarding-house 
 98 
 
POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 door "Symonds himself was for turning 
 everyone out. Very nice feeling he showed, I will 
 say. 'Damn it, here's a go !' he says ; 'and the 
 man looked healthy enough for another ten year, 
 with proper care !' and went off at once to stop 
 the fiddlers and put up the shutters. But of 
 course it meant a loss to him, the place being 
 full ; and I felt a sort of responsibility for hav- 
 ing introduced Bill. So I went after him and 
 says I: 'This is a most unforeseen occurrence/ 
 'Not a bit/ says he; 'accidents will happen.' I 
 told him that the corpse had never been a wet 
 blanket, it wasn't his nature ; and I felt sure he 
 wouldn't like the thought. 'If that's the case,' 
 says Symonds, 'I've a little room at the back 
 where he'd go very comfortable quite shut off, 
 as you might say. We must send for the doctor, 
 of course, and the coroner can sit on him to-mor- 
 row that is, if you feel sure deceased wouldn't 
 think it any disrespect.' 'Disrespect?' says I. 
 'You didn't know Bill. Why, it's what he'd 
 arsk for !' So then we carried him, and I sent 
 for the undertaker same time as the doctor and 
 ordered it of oak; and next morning down I 
 tramped to Dock and chose out a grave, brick- 
 lined, having heard him say often 'Plymouth 
 99 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 folk for wasting, but Dock folk for lasting.' I 
 won't say but what, between whiles, we've been 
 pretty lively at Symonds's; and I won't say 
 Hullo! here's more luck! Your servant, sir!" 
 
 He stepped forward leaving me shielded 
 and half-hidden by the coach door and ac- 
 costed a stranger walking briskly up the pave- 
 ment towards us with a small valise in his 
 hand; a gentlemanly person of about thirty- 
 five or forty in clerical suit and bands. 
 
 "Eh ? Good morning !" nodded the clergy- 
 man affably. 
 
 "Might I arsk where you're bound ?" Then, 
 after a pause, "My name's Jope, sir Benjamin 
 Jope, of the Bedford, seventy-four bo'sun's 
 mate now paid off." 
 
 The clergyman, at first taken aback as I 
 could see by the sudden question, recovered 
 his smile. "And mine, sir, is Whitmore the 
 Reverend John Whitmore bound just now in 
 the direction of the Dock. Can I serve you 
 thereabouts ?" 
 
 Mr. Jope waved his hand towards the coach 
 door. "Jump inside, and I'll take you along. 
 Oh, you needn't be ashamed to ride behind 
 Bill!" 
 
 100 
 
POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 "But who is Bill ?" The Eev. Mr. Whitmore 
 showed some natural hesitation and advanced 
 to the coach door like a man in two minds. "Ah, 
 I see a funeral!" he exclaimed, as a mute ad- 
 vanced assailed from each coach window, as he 
 passed, with indecorous obloquy to announce 
 that the cortege was ready to start. For the last 
 two minutes heads had been popping out at 
 these windows heads with dyed ringlets and 
 heads with artistically coloured noses and their 
 owners demanding, with brisk and various pro- 
 fanity, if Ben Jope meant to keep them there 
 all day, if the corpse was expected to lead off the 
 ball, and so on; and I, cowering by the coach 
 step, had shrunk from their gaze as I flinched 
 now under Mr. Whitmore's. 
 
 "Hullo!" said he, and gave me (as I 
 thought) a searching look. "What's this? A 
 chimney-sweep ?" 
 
 "If your reverence will not object to his com- 
 pany ?" 
 
 I turned my eyes away, but felt that this 
 clergyman was studying me. "Not at all," said 
 he quietly after a moment's pause. "Is he 
 bound for Dock, too ?" 
 
 "He said so." 
 
 101 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Eh ? Did he ? Then we'll see that he gets 
 there. After you, youngster jump in!" To 
 my terror the words seemed charged with mean- 
 ing, but I dared not look him in the face. I 
 clambered in and dropped into a seat with my 
 back to the driver. He placed himself opposite, 
 nursing the valise on his knees. Ben Jope came 
 last and slammed-to the door after him. "Way- 
 oh !" he shouted ; "easy canvas I" and with that 
 plunged down beside me, took off his tarpaulin 
 hat, extracted a handkerchief from its crown, 
 and carefully wiped his brow and the back of his 
 neck. 
 
 "Well!" he sighed. "Bill's launched, any- 
 how." 
 
 "Shipmate ?" asked the clergyman. 
 
 "Messmate," answered Mr. Jope ; and, being 
 hurried in his explanations, opened his mouth 
 and pointed down it with his forefinger. "Not 
 that a better fellow ever lived," he made haste 
 to explain. 
 
 "I can quite believe it," said Mr. Whitmore 
 sympathetically. He had a pleasant voice, but 
 somehow I did not want to catch his eye. In- 
 stead I kept my gaze fastened upon the knees of 
 his well-fitting pantaloons, and they gave me (I 
 102 
 
POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 cannot say why) a notion that he must be a 
 sportsman as well as a divine. No divine could 
 have been more correctly attired, and yet there 
 was a latent horsiness about his cut. I set him 
 down for a sporting parson from the country 
 and wondered why he wore clothes so much su- 
 perior to those of the Plymouth parsons known 
 to me by sight. 
 
 "Just listen to that, now!" exclaimed Mr. 
 Jope. A chorus in one of the coaches ahead had 
 struck up "Tom Bowling," and before we 
 reached the head of the street, from coach after 
 coach the funeral party broke into song: 
 
 " Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, 
 
 The darling of his crew-ew ; 
 No more he'll hear the te-empest how- wow-ling 
 
 For death has broach'd him to. 
 His form was of the-e ma-hanliest beau-eau-ty " 
 
 "I wouldn't say that, quite," observed Mr. 
 Jope pensively. "To begin with, he'd had the 
 small-pox." 
 
 "De gustibus nil nisi lonum" Mr. Whitmore 
 soothed him. 
 
 "What's that V 9 
 
 "Latin." 
 
 103 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAEEY REVEL 
 
 "Wonderful! Would ye mind saying it 
 again ?" 
 
 The words were obligingly repeated. 
 
 "Wonderful ! And what might be the mean- 
 ing of it, making so bold ?" 
 
 "It means ' Speak well of the dead.' ' 
 
 "Well, we're doing of it, anyway. Hark to 
 'em, ahead there !" 
 
 The cortege, in fact, was attracting general at- 
 tention. Folks on the pavement halted to watch 
 and grin as we went by; one or two, catching 
 sight of familiar faces within the coaches, 
 waved their handkerchiefs or shouted back salu- 
 tations; and as we crawled out of Old Town 
 Street and past St. Andrew's Church a small 
 crowd raised three cheers for us. And still 
 above it the chorus blared and the mourners' 
 voices rose uproarious: 
 
 " His friends were many and true-hearted, 
 
 His Poll was kind and fair ; 
 And then he'd sing so blithe and jolly, 
 
 Ah, many's the time and oft ! 
 But mirth is turned to melancholy 
 
 For Tom is gone aloft. " 
 
 "Bill couldn't sing a note," Mr. Jope mur- 
 mured ; "but as you say, sir would you oblige 
 104 
 
POOK TOM BOWLING 
 
 us again ?" Again the Latin was repeated, and 
 he swung round upon me. "Think of that, 
 now ! Be you a scholar, hey ? read, write, and 
 cipher ? How would you spell 'sojer,' for in- 
 stance ?" 
 
 The question knocked the wind out of me, 
 and I felt my face whitening under the clergy- 
 man's eyes. 
 
 "Soldier S-O-L-D-I-E-K," I managed to an- 
 swer, but scarcely above a whisper. 
 
 "Very good ; now make a rhyme to it." 
 "I please, sir, I don't know any rhymes." 
 "Well, that's honest, anyway. Now, I'll tell 
 you why I asked." He turned and addressed 
 Mr. Whitmore. "I'm Cornish born, sir from 
 Saltash, up across the river. Afore I went to 
 sea there was a maid livin' next door to us that 
 wanted to marry me. She didn't say it in so 
 many words, you understand, but she showed 
 herself conformable. Well, when she found I 
 wasn't to be had, she picked up with a fellow 
 from the Victualling Yard and married he, and 
 came down to Dock to live. Man's name was 
 Babbage, and they hadn't been married six 
 months afore he tumbled into a brine-vat and 
 was drowned. 'That's one narra escape to me,' 
 105 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 I said. Next news I had was a letter telling me 
 she'd a boy born, and please would I stand god- 
 father ? A bit too close sailing, thought I to my- 
 self, but I didn't like to say no, out of respect to 
 her family. So I wrote home from Gibraltar 
 that I was agreeable, only it must be done by 
 proxy and she mustn't make it no precedent. 
 That must be ten years back ; and what with one 
 thing and another I never set eyes 'pon mother 
 or child till yesterday, when having to run 
 down to Dock to order Bill's grave, and my 
 thoughts runnin' on the life o' the man, and how 
 we're here one moment and gone the next I 
 thought 'twould be neighbourly to drop 'em a 
 visit. I found the boy growed to be a terrible 
 plain child, about the size of this youngster. I 
 didn't like the boy at all. So I says to his 
 mother, 'I s'pose he's clever?' for, dang it! 
 thinks I, he must be clever to make up for being 
 so plain-featured as all that. 'Benjy' she'd 
 a-called him Benjamin after me 'Benjy's the 
 cleverest child for his age that ever you see,' she 
 says. 'Come, that's something!' says I, consol- 
 ing like. 'Why,' says she, 'he'll pitch to and 
 make up a rhyme 'pon anything !' 'Can he so ?' 
 I says, pulling a great crown-piece out of my 
 106 
 
POOE TOM BOWLING 
 
 pocket (not that I liked the cut of his jib, but 
 the woman had been hinting about my being his 
 godfather) : 'Now, my lad, let's see if you're 
 so gifted as your mother makes out.' 'Aw, 
 that's easy," says he: 
 
 ' Five shillin', 
 Benjy's willinV 
 
 " 'Here, hold hard !' I says ; 'if I'm to pay the 
 piper, leave me call the tune. Five shillin' it 
 is ; and likewise there's a sojer now passin' the 
 window. Make up a rhyme 'pon he, and you 
 shall have the money.' What d'ye think that 
 ghastly boy did? 'That's easier still,' he 
 says: 
 
 ' Sojer, sojer, 
 Diddy, Diddy, dodger ! 
 
 'Now hand me over the money,' he says. I 
 could have slapped his ear." 
 
 Almost as he ended his simple story the pro- 
 cession came to a halt; the strains of "Tom 
 Bowling" ceased abruptly and changed into 
 noisy and, on the part of the ladies, very un- 
 ladylike expostulations. "Hullo!" Mr. Jope 
 107 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 started forward and leaned out of the win- 
 dow. 
 
 "I think," said the Kev. Mr. Whitmore, "we 
 have arrived at the toll-gate." 
 
 "D'ye mean to say the sharks want to take toll 
 on Bill?" 
 
 "Likely enough." 
 
 "On him? And him a-going to his long 
 home? Here hold hard!" Mr. Jope leapt 
 out into the roadway and disappeared, slam- 
 ming the door behind him. 
 
 Upon us two, left alone in the coach, there 
 fell a dreadful silence. Mr. Whitmore leaned 
 forward and touched my knee; and, horribly 
 compelled by a stronger will, I met his eye. 
 
 The face I looked into was thin and refined ; 
 clean-shaven, and a trifle pale, as if with the 
 habit of study. A slight baldness by the tem- 
 ples gave the brow unusual height. About his 
 whole appearance there was a daintiness I 
 know not how otherwise to describe it which 
 expressed itself in his deliberate way of choos- 
 ing his words, as well as in his clean linen, and 
 hinted itself in the fine lines of the mouth, now 
 drawn back in a smile, and displaying a well- 
 kept cage of teeth. His eyes I did not like at 
 108 
 
POOK TOM BOWLING 
 
 all ; instead of soothing the terror in mine they 
 seemed to be drinking it in, and tasting it, and 
 calculating the while; and he kept them half- 
 closed, as a man might while sipping wine and 
 rolling it on his tongue before he comes to an 
 opinion on it. 
 
 "I passed by the Barbican just now," said he, 
 "and heard some inquiries about a small chim- 
 ney-sweep." 
 
 He paused, as if waiting. But I had no 
 speech in me. 
 
 "It was a strange story they were telling a 
 very dreadful and strange story; still, when I 
 came upon you I saw, of course, it was an in- 
 credible one. Boys of your size ' He hesi- 
 tated and left the sentence unfinished. "Still, 
 you may have seen something hey?" 
 
 Again I could not answer. 
 
 "At any rate," he went on, "putting two and 
 two together, I gave you the benefit of the doubt 
 and resolved to warn you. It was a mistake 
 to run away; but the mischief's done. How 
 were you proposing to make off ?" 
 
 "I hadn't thought, sir. You you won't give 
 me up?" 
 
 "No, for I think you must be innocent of 
 109 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 what they told me, at least. I feel so certain of 
 it that, as you see, my conscience allows me to 
 warn you. In the first place, avoid the Torpoint 
 Ferry. It will be watched, as sure's a gun ; that 
 is" he pulled up and corrected himself "it 
 will without doubt be watched. I should make 
 for the Docks, hide until night, and try to stow 
 myself away on shipboard. Secondly" he put 
 out a hand and softly unfastened the coach door 
 "I am going to leave you. Our friend, Mr. 
 Jope, is engaged, I see, in an altercation with 
 the toll-keeper. Your wisest course will be to 
 enlist his sympathies; he seems a good-natured 
 fellow. The driver (it may help you to know) 
 is drunk. Of course, if by ill-luck they trace me 
 out, to question me, I shall be obliged to tell 
 what I know. It amounts to very little ; still, I 
 have no wish to tell it. One word more : Get a 
 wash as soon as you can, and by some means ac- 
 quire a clean suit of clothes. I may then be un- 
 able to swear to you; may be able to say that 
 your face is as unfamiliar to me as it was or 
 as mine was to you when Mr. Jope introduced 
 us. Understand ?" 
 
 "Thank you, sir." 
 
 He picked up the valise, which had been rest- 
 110 
 
POOR TOM BOWLING 
 
 ing between his feet; nodded "good-day!" and 
 after a swift glance up the street and around at 
 the driver, to make sure that his head was 
 turned, stepped briskly out upon the pavement, 
 and disappeared around the hack of the coach. 
 
 Ill 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 SALTASH FERRY 
 
 APPARENTLY the hackney coachman was accus- 
 tomed to difficulties with the toll-gate, for he 
 rested on the box in profound slumber, recum- 
 bent, with his chin sunk on his chest, and only 
 woke up with a start which shook the vehicle 
 when a flat hearse, with plumes waving, went 
 rattling by us and back towards Plymouth. 
 
 A minute later Mr. Jope reappeared at the 
 coach door, perspiring copiously, but trium- 
 phant. 
 
 "Oh, it's been heavinly!" he announced. 
 "Why, hullo ! Where's his Reverence ?" 
 
 "He couldn't wait, sir. He he preferred 
 to walk." 
 
 "Eh? I didn't see en pass the toll-bar. 
 That's a pity, too, for I wanted to take his opin- 
 ion. Oh, my son, it's been heavinly ! First of 
 all, I tried argyment and called the toll-man a 
 son of a dog; and then he fetched up a con- 
 112 
 
SALTASH FERRY 
 
 stable, and, as luck would have it, Nan she's in 
 the second coach knew all about him; least- 
 ways, she talked as if she did. Well, the toll- 
 man stuck to his card of charges and said he 
 hadn't made the law, but it was threepence for 
 everything on four wheels. Tour wheels?' I 
 said. 'Don't talk so weak ! Faithful below Bill 
 done his duty, and he's been a blessed angel any 
 time these three days. We brought nothing into 
 the world and we can't take it out; but you'd 
 take the breeches off a Highlander,' I says. 
 'He's on four wheels,' says the fellow, stub- 
 born as ever. 'So was Elijah,' says I; 'but 
 if your so mighty particular, we try ye an- 
 other way.' I paid off the crew of the 
 hearse, gave the word to cast loose, and 
 down we dumped poor Bill slap in the mid- 
 dle of the roadway. 'Now,' says I, 'we'll 
 leave talking of wheels. What's your charge 
 for en on the flat ?' 'Eight bearers at a ha'penny 
 makes fourpence,' he says. 'No, no, my son/ I 
 says, 'there ain't a-going to be no bearers. He's 
 happy enough if he stops here all night. You 
 may charge en as a "covered conveyance," as I 
 see you've a right to ; but the card says nothing 
 about rate of drivin', except that it mustn't be 
 113 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 reckless ; and, you may lay to it, Bill won't be 
 that.' At first the constable talked big about ob- 
 structing the traffic, but Nan was telling the 
 crowd such terrible things about his past that 
 for very shame he grew quiet, and the pair 
 agreed that by lashing Bill a-top of the first 
 coach we might pass him through gratis as per- 
 sonal luggage. Why, what's the boy cryin' for ? 
 It's all over now, and a principle's a principle." 
 
 But still, as the squadron got under way 
 again and moved on amid the cheers of the popu- 
 lace, I sat speechless, dry-eyed, shaken with 
 dreadful sobs. 
 
 "Easy, my lad don't start the timbers. In 
 trouble hey ?" 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 "I thought as much when I shipped ye. Sit 
 up, and tell me; but first listen to this: All 
 trouble's big to a boy, but one o' your age don't 
 often do what's past mendin' if he takes it hon- 
 est. That's comfort, hey ? Very well ; now haul 
 up and inspect damages, and we'll see what's to 
 be done." 
 
 "It's about a Jew, sir," I stammered at 
 length. 
 
 He nodded. "Now we're making headway." 
 114 
 
SALTASH FERRY 
 
 "He he was murdered. I saw him " 
 
 "Look here," said Mr. Jope, very grave but 
 seemingly not astonished; "hadn't you best get 
 under the seat ?" 
 
 "I didn't do it, sir. Keally, I didn't !" 
 
 "I'm not suggestin' it," said Mr. Jope. 
 "Still, under the circumstances, I'd get under 
 the seat." 
 
 "If you wish it, sir." 
 
 "I wouldn't go so far as to say that; but 'tis 
 my advice." And under the seat I crawled obe- 
 diently. "Now, then," said he, with an absurd 
 air of one addressing vacancy, "if you didn't do 
 it, who did?" 
 
 "I don't know, sir." 
 
 "Then, where's your difficulty ?" 
 
 "But I saw a man staring in at the window 
 it was upstairs in a room close to the roof ; and 
 afterwards I found him on the roof, and he was 
 all of a tremble and in two minds, so he said, 
 about pitching me over. I showed him the way 
 down. If you please, sir," I broke off, "you're 
 not to tell anyone about this, whatever hap- 
 pens !" 
 
 "Eh? Why not?" 
 
 "Because " I hesitated. 
 
 115 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Friend of yours ?" 
 
 "Not a friend, sir. He's a young man in the 
 army, and his aunt she used to be very kind to 
 me. I ran away at first because I was afraid ; 
 but they can't do anything to me, can they ? for 
 I haven't done anything. I didn't find the the 
 Mr. Rodriguez, I mean until he was dead. 
 But if they catch me I shall have to give evi- 
 dence, and Mr. Archie though I don't believe 
 he did it " 
 
 "Belay there!" commanded Mr. Jope. 
 "Your beginning to see things clearer, though I 
 won't say 'tis altogether easy to follow ye yet. 
 Par as I can make out, you're not a bad boy. 
 You ran away because you were scared. Well, 
 I don't blame ye for that. I never seen a dead 
 Jew myself, though I often wanted to. You 
 won't go back if you can help it, ? cos why ? 'Cos 
 you don't want to tell on a man ; 'cos his aunt's 
 a friend o' yourn, and 'cos you don't believe he's 
 guilty. What's your name ?" 
 
 "Harry, sir Harry Revel." 
 
 "Well, then, my name's Ben Jope, and as 
 
 such you'll call me. I'm sorry, in a way, that it 
 
 rhymes with 'rope,' which it never struck me 
 
 before in all these years, and wouldn't now but 
 
 116 
 
SALTASH FERRY 
 
 for thinkin' 'pon that ghastly godson o' mine, 
 and how much better I stomach ye. I promise 
 nothing, mind; but if you'll keep quiet under 
 that seat, I'll think it over." 
 
 Certainly, having made my confession I felt 
 easier in mind as I lay huddled under the seat, 
 though it seemed to me that Mr. Jope took mat- 
 ters lightly. For the squadron ahead had re- 
 sumed the singing of "Tom Bowling," and he 
 sat humming a bar or two here and there with 
 evident pleasure, and pausing only to bow out of 
 the window and acknowledge the cheers of the 
 passers-by. 
 
 At the end of five minutes, however, he spoke 
 aloud again. 
 
 "The first thing," he announced, "is to stay 
 where you are. Let me think, now, who seen 
 you? There's the parson; he's gone. And 
 there's the jarvey; he's drunk as a lord. Any- 
 one else ?" 
 
 "There was one of the young ladies that 
 looked out of window." 
 
 "True; then 'tis too risky. When the com- 
 pany gets out you'll have to get out. Let the 
 jarvey see you do it ; the rest don't matter. You 
 can pretend to walk with us a little way, then 
 117 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 slip back and under the seat again takin' care 
 that this time the jarvey don't see you. That's 
 easy enough, eh ?" 
 
 I assured him I could manage it. 
 
 Then leave the rest to me, and bide still. I 
 got to think of Bill now; and more, by token, 
 here's the graveyard gate !" 
 
 He thrust the door open and motioned me to 
 tumble out ahead of him. As the rest of the fu- 
 neral guests alighted he worked me very skil- 
 fully before him into the driver's view, having 
 taken care to set the coach door wide on the off 
 side. 
 
 "It's understood that you wait, all o' ye ?" 
 said Mr. Jope to the driver. 
 
 The man lifted a lazy eye. "Take your 
 time," he said; "don't mind me. I hope" he 
 stiffened himself, suddenly relapsing, mur- 
 mured "I know a gentleman when I sees one." 
 
 Mr. Jope turned away, and from that mo- 
 ment ignored my existence. The coffin was un- 
 lashed and lowered from the leading coach ; the 
 clergyman at the gate began to recite the sacred 
 office, and the funeral train, reduced to decorum 
 by the sound, followed him as he turned and 
 trooped along the path toward the mortuary 
 118 
 
SALTASH FERRY 
 
 chapel. I moved with the crowd to its porch, 
 drew aside to make way for a lady in rouge and 
 sprigged muslin, and slipped behind the chapel 
 wall. The far end of it hid me from view of the 
 coachee, and from it a pretty direct path led to 
 a gap in the hedge and a stile. Reaching and 
 crossing this, I found myself in a by-lane lead- 
 ing back into the high-road. There were no 
 houses with windows to overlook me. I saun- 
 tered around at leisure, took the line of coaches 
 in the rear, and crawled back to my hiding- 
 place it astonished me with what ease. Every 
 driver sat on his box, and every driver slum- 
 bered. 
 
 The mystery of this was resolved when it 
 seemed an hour later, but actually, I dare say, 
 Bill's obsequies took but the normal twenty 
 minutes or so Mr. Jope shepherded his flock 
 back through the gates, and, red-eyed, addressed 
 them while he distributed largess along the line 
 of jarveys. 
 
 "I thank ye, friends," said he in a muffled 
 voice which at first I attributed to emotion. 
 "The fare home is paid to the foot of George 
 Street I arranged that with the job-master, 
 and this here little gift is private, between me 
 119 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 and the drivers, to drink Bill's health. And 
 now I'll shake hands." Here followed sounds 
 of coughing and choking, and he resumed in 
 feeble, gasping sentences, "Thank ye, my dear ; 
 I've brought up the two guineas, but you've a 
 made me swallow my quid o' baccy. Hows'ever, 
 you meant it for the best. And that's what I 
 had a mind to say to ye all" his voice grew 
 firmer "you're a pleasant lot, and we've spent 
 the time very lively and sociable, and you done 
 this here last service to Bill in a way that brings 
 tears to my eyes. Still, if you won't mind my 
 saying it, a little of ye lasts a long time, and 
 I'm going home to live clean. So here's wishing 
 all well, and good-bye." 
 
 Not one of the party seemed to resent this dis- 
 missal. The women laughed hilariously and 
 called him a darling. There was a smacking 
 exchange of kisses; and the coaches, having 
 been packed at length, started for home to the 
 strains of the cornet and amid round after 
 round of cheers. Mr. Jope sprang in beside me 
 and, leaning out of the farther window, waved 
 his neckerchief for a while, then pensively re- 
 adjusted it, and called to the driver: 
 
 "St. Budeaux!" 
 
 120 
 
SALTASH FEEEY 
 
 The driver, after a moment, turned heavily 
 in his seat and answered, "Nonsense!" 
 
 "I tell ye, I want to drive to St. Budeaux, by 
 Saltash Ferry." 
 
 "And I tell you, get out! St. Budeaux! 
 The idea!" 
 
 "Why, what's wrong with St. Budeaux ?" 
 
 "Oh, I'm not goin' to argue with you," said 
 the driver ; "I'm goin' home." 
 
 And he began to turn his horse's head. Mr. 
 Jope sprang out upon the roadway. The driver, 
 with sudden and unexpected agility, dropped 
 off on the other side. 
 
 "Look here, it's grindin' the faces of the 
 poor," he pleaded, breathing hard. 
 
 "It will be," assented Mr. Jope, grimly. 
 
 "I been up all night at a ball." 
 
 "If it comes to that, so've I at Sy- 
 monds's." 
 
 "Mine was at Admiralty House," said the 
 driver. "I wasn' dancin'." 
 
 "What about the horse ?" 
 
 "The horse? the ho Oh, I take your 
 
 meanin'! The horse is all right; he's a fresh 
 
 one. Poor I may be," he announced inconsecu- 
 
 tively, "but I wouldn' live the life of one of 
 
 121 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 them there women of fashion, not for a million 
 of money." He ruminated for a moment. 
 "Did I say a million 3" 
 
 "You did." 
 
 "Well, I don't wishaggerate. I don't, if you 
 understand me, wish to exaggerate. So we'll 
 put it at half a million." 
 
 "All right jump up!" 
 
 To my astonishment, no less than to Mr. 
 Jope's (who had scarcely time to skip back into 
 the coach), the man scrambled up to his seat 
 without more ado, flicked his whip, and began 
 to urge the horse forward. At the end of five 
 minutes or so, however, he pulled up just as 
 abruptly. 
 
 "Eh?" Mr. Jope put forth his head. "Ah, 
 I see ! public-house." 
 
 He alighted and entered ; returned with a pot 
 of porter in one hand and a glass of brandy in 
 the other; dexterously tipped half the brandy 
 into the porter, and handed up the mixture. 
 The driver took it down at one steady draught. 
 
 The pot and glass were returned and we 
 
 jogged on again. We were now well beyond the 
 
 outskirts of Stoke and between dusty hedges, 
 
 over which the honeysuckle trailed. Butterflies 
 
 122 
 
SALTASH FEKRY 
 
 poised themselves and flickered beside us, and 
 the sun, as it climbed, drew up from the land the 
 fragrance of freshly mown hay and mingled it 
 with the stuffy odour of the coach. By-and-by 
 we halted again, by another roadside inn, and 
 again Mr. Jope fetched forth and administered 
 insidious drink. 
 
 "If this is going to last," said the charioteer, 
 dreamily, "may I have strength to see the end 
 o't!" 
 
 I did not catch this prayer, but Mr. Jope re- 
 ported it to me as he resumed his seat, with an 
 ill-timed laugh. The fellow, who had been 
 gathering up his reins, lurched round suddenly 
 and gazed through the glass front. 
 
 "You was sayin' ?" he demanded. 
 
 "Nothing," answered Mr. Jope, hastily. "I 
 was talking to myself, that's all." 
 
 "The point is : Am I, or am I not, an objec' of 
 derision ?" 
 
 "If you don't drive on this moment I'll step 
 around and punch your head." 
 
 "Tha's all right. Tha's right as ninepence. 
 It's not much I arsk- only to have things clear." 
 He drove on. 
 
 We halted at yet another public-house I re- 
 123 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 member its name, the Half-a-Face and must 
 have journeyed a mile beyond it, or there- 
 abouts, when the end came. We had locked 
 wheels in the clumsiest fashion with a hay-wag- 
 gon; and the waggoner, who had quartered to 
 give us room and to spare, was pardonably 
 wrath. Mr. Jope descended, pacified him, and 
 stepped around to the back of the coach, the 
 hinder axle of which, a moment later, I felt 
 gently lifted beneath me and slewed clear of the 
 obstruction. 
 
 "My word, mister, but you've a tidy 
 strength!" exclaimed the waggoner. 
 
 "Not more than you, my son if so much; 
 'tain't the strength, but the application. That's 
 Nelson's touch. Ever heard of it ?" 
 
 "I've heard of him, I should hope ! Look'y 
 here, mister, did you ever know him ? Honour 
 bright, now!" 
 
 "Friends, my son dear, dear friends ! And 
 the gentleman 'pon the box, there, drunk some 
 of the very rum he was brought home in. He's 
 never recovered it." 
 
 "And to think of my meeting you !" 
 
 "Ay, 'tis a small world," agreed Mr. Jope, 
 cheerfully "like a cook's galley, small and 
 124 
 
SALTASH FEBBY 
 
 cosy, and no time to chat in it. Now, then, my 
 slumbering ogre !" 
 
 The driver, who, from the moment of the 
 mishap, had remained comatose, shook his reins 
 feebly, and we jogged forward. But this was 
 his last effort. At the next sharp bend in the road 
 he lurched suddenly, swayed for a moment, and 
 toppled to earth with a thud. The horse came 
 to a halt. 
 
 Mr. Jope was out in a moment. He glanced 
 up and down the road. 
 
 "Tumble out, youngster ! There's no one in 
 sight." 
 
 "I s _i s he hurt ?" 
 
 "Blest if I know !" He stooped over the pros- 
 trate body. "Hurt ?" he asked, and after a mo- 
 ment reported : "No, I reckon not ; talkin' in his 
 sleep, more like for the only word I can make 
 out is ' Jezebel.' That don't help us much, do 
 it ?" He scanned the road again. "There's only 
 one thing to do. I can't drive ye; I never 
 steered yet with the tiller-lines in front it 
 al'ays seemed to me unchristian. We must take 
 to the fields. I used to know these parts and by 
 the bearings we can't be half-a-mile above the 
 
 ferry. Here, through that gate to the left " 
 
 125 
 
ADVENTURES OP HARRY REVEL 
 
 We left the man lying, and his horse cropping 
 the hedge-row a few paces ahead ; and struck off 
 to the left, down across a field of young corn in- 
 terspersed with poppies. The broad estuary lay 
 at our feet, with its beaches uncovered for the 
 tide was low and across its crowded shipping 
 I marked and recognised (for Mr. Trapp had 
 often described them to me) a line of dismal 
 prison-hulks, now disused, moored head to stern 
 off a mudbank on the farther shore. 
 
 "Plain sailing, my lad," panted Mr. Jope, as 
 the cornfield threw up its heat in our faces; 
 "See, yonder' s Saltash!" He pointed up the 
 river to a small town which seemed to run top- 
 pling down a steep hill and spread itself like a 
 landslip at the base. "I got a sister living there, 
 if we can only fetch across a very powerful 
 woman ; widowed, and sells fish." 
 
 We took an oblique line down the hillside, 
 and descended, some two or three hundred yards 
 below the ferry, upon a foreshore, firm for the 
 most part, and strewn with flat stones, but melt- 
 ing into mud by the water's edge. A small trad- 
 ing ketch lay there, careened as the tide had left 
 it, but at no great angle, thanks to its flat-bot- 
 tomed build. A line of tattered flags, with no 
 126 
 
SALTASH FERRY 
 
 wind to stir them, led down from the truck of 
 either mast, and as we drew near I called Mr. 
 Jope's attention to an immense bunch of fox- 
 gloves and pink valerian on her bowsprit end. 
 
 "Looks like a wedding, don't it ?" said he, and 
 turning up his clean white trousers he strolled 
 down to the water's edge for a closer look. 
 "Scandalous," he added, examining her timbers. 
 
 "What's scandalous?" 
 
 He pointed with his finger. "Rotten as 
 touch," and he pensively drew out an enormous 
 clasp-knife. "A man ought to be fined for treat- 
 ing human life so careless. See here !" 
 
 He drove the knife at a selected spot, and the 
 blade sank into the hilt. 
 
 From the interior, prompt on the stroke, 
 arose a faint scream. 
 
 127 
 
CHAPTEE X 
 
 I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 "SURE-LY, I know that voice," said Mr. Jope. 
 
 He drew out the knife reflectively. It re- 
 lieved me to see that no blood dyed the blade. 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Jope, I was afraid you'd stabbed 
 him!" 
 
 " 'Tisn't a him, 'tis a her. I touched some- 
 body up, and that's the truth." 
 
 "Ahoy there !" said a voice immediately over- 
 head, and we looked up. A round-faced man 
 was gazing down on us from the tilted bulwarks. 
 "You might ha' given us notice," he grumbled. 
 
 "I knew 'twas soft, but not so soft as all that," 
 Mr. Jope explained. 
 
 "Got such a thing as a scrap o' chalk about 
 ye?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 The round-faced man felt in his pocket and 
 tossed down a piece. "Mark a bit of a line 
 around the place, will ye ? I'll give it a lick of 
 128 
 
I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 i* * 
 
 paint afore the tide rises. It's only right the 
 owner should have it pointed out to him." 
 
 "Belong to these parts ?" asked Mr. Jope af- 
 fably, having drawn the required circle. "I 
 don't seem to remember your face." 
 
 "No ?" The man seemed to think this out at 
 leisure. "I was married this morning," he said 
 at length, with an air of explanation. 
 
 "Wish ye joy ! Saltash maid ?" 
 
 "Widow. Name of Sarah Treleaven." 
 
 "Why, that's my sister !" exclaimed Mr. Jope. 
 
 "Is it ?" The round-faced man took the news 
 without apparent surprise or emotion. "Well, 
 I'm married to her, anyway." 
 
 "Monstrous fine woman," Mr. Jope observed, 
 cheerfully. 
 
 "Ay, she's all that. It seems like a dream. 
 You'd best step on board ; the ladder's on t'other 
 side." 
 
 As we passed under the vessel's stern I looked 
 up and read her name Glad Tidings. Port of 
 Fowey. 
 
 "I've a-broken it to her," our host announced, 
 meeting us at the top of the ladder. "She says 
 you're to come down." 
 
 Down the companion we followed him accord- 
 129 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 ingly, and so into a small cabin, occupied or. 
 let me rather say, filled by the stoutest woman 
 it has ever been my lot to meet. She reclined 
 in such a position as to display a pair of colos- 
 sal feet, shoeless, clothed in thick worsted 
 stockings upon a locker on the starboard side ; 
 and no one, regarding her, could wonder that 
 this also was the side toward which the vessel 
 listed. Her broad, recumbent back was sup- 
 ported by a pile of seaman's bags, almost as 
 plethoric as herself, and containing (if one 
 might judge from a number of miscellaneous ar- 
 ticles protruding from their distended mouths) 
 her bridal outfit. Unprepared as she was for a 
 second visitor in the form of a small chimney- 
 sweep, she betrayed no astonishment; but after 
 receiving her brother's kiss on either cheek bent 
 a composed gaze on me, and so eyed me for per- 
 haps half a minute. Her features were not un- 
 comely. 
 
 "O. P.," she addressed her husband "ask 
 him, who's his friend ?" 
 
 "Who's your friend?" asked the husband, 
 turning to Mr. Jope. 
 
 "Chimney-sweep," said Mr. Jope. "Least- 
 ways, so apprenticed, as I understand." 
 130 
 
I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 The pair gazed at me anew. 
 
 "I asked/' said the woman at length, "be- 
 cause this is a poor place for chimbleys." 
 
 "He's in trouble," Mr. Jope explained; "in 
 trouble along o' killing a Jew." 
 
 "Oh, no, Mr. Jope !" I cried. "I didn't " 
 
 "Couldn't," interrupted his sister, shortly, 
 and fell into a brown study. "Constables after 
 him ?" she asked. 
 
 Mr. Jope nodded. 
 
 Her next utterance seemed to me irrelevant, 
 to say the least of it. "Ben, 'tis high time you 
 followed O. P.'s example." 
 
 "Meaning?" queried Ben. 
 
 "O, Onesimus; P., Pengelly. Example, 
 marriage. There's the widow Babbage, down 
 to Dock; she always had a hankering for you. 
 You're neglecting your privileges." 
 
 "Ever seen that boy of hers ?" asked Ben, in 
 an aggrieved voice. "No, of course you haven't, 
 or you wouldn't suggest it. And why marry me 
 up to a widow ?" 
 
 "O. P.," said the lady, "tell him you prefer 
 it." 
 
 "I prefer it," said Mr. Pengelly. 
 131 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Oh," explained Ben, "present company al- 
 ways excepted, o' course. I wish you joy." 
 
 "Thank ye," the lady answered, graciously. 
 "You shall drink the same by-and-by in a dish 
 o' tea, which I reckon will suit ye best this 
 morning," she added, eyeing him. "O. P., put 
 on the kettle." 
 
 Ben Jope winced and attempted to turn the 
 subject. "What's your cargo this v'yage?" he 
 asked, cheerfully. 
 
 "I didn't write," she went on, ignoring the 
 question. "O. P. took me so sudden." 
 
 "Oh, Sarah !" Mr. Pengelly expostulated. 
 
 "You did ; you know you did, you rogue !" 
 
 Mr. Pengelly took her amorous glance and 
 turned to us. "It seems like a dream," he said, 
 and went out with the kettle. 
 
 The lady resumed her business-like air. "We 
 sail for Looe next tide. It's queer now, you're 
 turning up like this." 
 
 "Providential. I came o' purpose, though, to 
 look ye up." 
 
 "I might ha' been a limpet." 
 
 "Eh ?" 
 
 "By the way, you prised at me with that 
 knife o ? yours. And you call it Providence." 
 132 
 
I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 Ben grinned. "Providence or no, you'll get 
 this lad out o' the way, Sarah ?" 
 
 "H'm?" She considered me. "I can't take 
 him home to Looe." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Folks would talk," she said, modestly. 
 
 "'O'd rabbit it!" exclaimed Ben. "You 
 were saying just now that the man took ye sud- 
 den!" 
 
 "Well, I'll see what can be done ; but on con- 
 ditions." 
 
 "Conditions?" 
 
 "Ay, we'll talk that over while he's cleanin' 
 himself. She lifted her voice, and called, "O. 
 P., is that water warm ?" 
 
 "Middlin'," came O. P.'s voice from a small 
 cuddy outside. 
 
 "Then see to the child, and wash him. 
 Put him inside your foul-weather suit for the 
 time, and then take his clothes out on the beach 
 and burn 'em. That seam'll be the better for a 
 lick of pitch afore the tide rises, and you can use 
 the same fire for the caldron." 
 
 So she dismissed me ; and in the cuddy, hav- 
 ing washed myself clean of soot, I was helped 
 by Mr. Pengelly into a pair of trousers which 
 133 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 reached to my neck and a seaman's guernsey 
 which descended to my knees. My stockings I 
 soaped, scrubbed, wrung out, and laid across the 
 companion rail to dry; but, as it turned out, I 
 was never to use them or my shoes again. My 
 sweep's jumper, waistcoat, and breeches Mr. 
 Pengelly carried off, to burn them. 
 
 All this while Ben Jope and his sister had 
 been talking earnestly. I had heard at intervals 
 the murmur of their voices through the parti- 
 tion, but no distinct words save once, when Mrs. 
 Pengelly called out to her husband to keep an 
 eye along the beach and report the appearance 
 of constables. Now so ludicrous was the figure 
 I cut in my borrowed clothes that on returning 
 to the cabin I expected to be welcomed with 
 laughter. To my surprise, then, Ben Jope arose 
 at once with a serious face, and took me by the 
 hand. 
 
 "Good-bye, my lad," he said. "She makes it 
 a condition." 
 
 "You're not leaving me, Mr. Jope ?" 
 
 "Worse'n that. I'm a-going to marry the 
 Widow Babbage." 
 
 "Oh, ma'am!" I appealed. 
 
 "It'll do him good," said Mrs. Pengelly. 
 134 
 
I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 "I honestly think, Sarah/ 7 poor Ben pro- 
 tested, "that just now you're setting too much 
 store by wedlock altogether." 
 
 "It's my conditions with you; and you may 
 take it or leave it, Ben." His sister was ada- 
 mant, and he turned ruefully to go. 
 
 "And you're doing this for me, Mr. Jope!" 
 I caught his hand. 
 
 "Don't ee mention it. D n the child!" 
 
 He crammed his tarpaulin hat on his head. "I 
 don't mean you, my lad, but t'other one. If he 
 makes up a rhyme 'pon me, I'll I'll " 
 
 Speech failed him. He wrung my hand, stag- 
 gered up the companion, and was gone. 
 
 "It'll be the making of him," said Mrs. Pen- 
 gelly, with composure. "I don't like the woman 
 myself, but a better manager you wouldn't 
 meet." 
 
 She remembered presently that Ben had de- 
 parted without his promised dish of tea, and this 
 seemed to suggest to her that the time had ar- 
 rived for preparing a meal. With singular dex- 
 terity, and almost without shifting her posture, 
 she slipped one of the seaman's bags from some- 
 where beneath her shoulders, drew it upon her 
 lap, and produced a miscellaneous feast a 
 135 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 cheek of pork, a loaf, a saffron cake, a covered 
 jar, which, being opened, diffused the fragrance 
 of marinated pilchards, a bagful of periwinkles, 
 a bunch of enormous radishes, a dish of cream 
 wrapped about in cabbage leaves, a basket of 
 raspberries similarly wrapped finally, two bot- 
 tles of stout. 
 
 "To my mind," she explained, as she set these 
 forth on the table beside her, each accurately in 
 its place, and with such economy of exertion that 
 only one hand and wrist seemed to be moving, 
 "for my part, I think a widow-woman should 
 be married quiet. I don't know what your opin- 
 ion may be?" 
 
 I thought it wise to say that her opinion was 
 also mine. 
 
 "It took place at eight o'clock this morning." 
 She disengaged a pin from the front of her 
 bodice, extracted a periwinkle from its shell, 
 ate it, sighed, and said, "It seems years already. 
 I gathered these myself, so you may trust 'em." 
 She disengaged another pin and handed it to 
 me. "We meant to be alone, but there's plenty 
 for three. Now, you're here, you'll have to give 
 a toast, or a sentiment," she added. She made 
 this demand in form when O. P. appeared, 
 136 
 
I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 smelling strongly of pitch, and taking his seat 
 on the locker opposite, helped himself to mari- 
 nated pilchards. 
 
 "But I don't know any sentiments, ma'am." 
 
 "Nonsense. Didn't they learn you any 
 poetry at school ?" 
 
 Most happily I bethought me of Miss Plin- 
 limmon's verses in my Testament now, alas! 
 left in the Trapp's cottage, and lost to me and 
 recited them as bravely as I could. 
 
 "Ah !" sighed Mrs. Pengelly, "there's many a 
 true word spoken in jest. Where shall we be 
 in ten years' time ? Where, indeed ?" 
 
 "Here," her husband cheerfully suggested, 
 with his mouth full. 
 
 "Hush, O. P. You never buried a first." 
 
 She demanded more, and I gave her Wolfe's 
 last words before Quebec (signed by him in Miss 
 Plinlimmon's album) : 
 
 * ' ' They run ! ' ' but who ? The Frenchmen I ' Such 
 Was the report conveyed to the dying hero. 
 Thank Heaven 1 ' he cried, ' I thought as much. ' 
 In Canada the glass is often below zero. ' ' 
 
 On hearing the author's name and my de- 
 scription of Miss Plinlimmon, she fell into deep 
 thought. 
 
 137 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "I suppose now, she'd look higher than Ben ?" 
 
 I told her that, so far as I knew, Miss Plin- 
 limmon had no desire to marry. 
 
 "She'd look higher, you may take my word 
 for it." But a furrow lingered for some time on 
 Mrs. Pengelly's hrow, and (I think) a doubt in 
 her mind that she had been too precipitate. 
 
 The meal over, she composed herself to slum- 
 ber, and Mr. Pengelly and I spent the after- 
 noon together on deck, where he smoked many 
 pipes, while I scanned the shore for signs of pur- 
 suit. But no, the tide rose and still the fore- 
 shore remained deserted. Above us the ferry 
 plied lazily, and at whiles I could hear the voices 
 of the passengers. Nothing, even to my strained 
 ears, spoke of excitement, and yet, in the great 
 town beyond the hill, murder had been done and 
 men were searching for me. So the day dragged 
 
 by- 
 
 Toward evening, as the vessel beneath us 
 fleeted, and the deck recovered its level, Mr. Pen- 
 gelly began to uncover the mainsail. I asked 
 him if he expected any crew aboard ; for, surely, 
 thought I, he could not work this ketch of forty 
 tons or so single-handed. 
 
 He shook his head. "There was a boy, but I 
 133 
 
I GO ON A HONEYMOON 
 
 paid him off. Sarah takes the helm from this 
 night forth. You wouldn't believe it, but she 
 can swig upon a rope, too ; and as for pulling an 
 
 oar " He went on to tell me that she had 
 
 been rowing a pair of paddles when his eye first 
 lit on her ; and I gathered that the courtship had 
 been conducted on these waters under the gaze of 
 Saltash, the male in one boat pursuing, the fe- 
 male eluding him for long in another, but at 
 length gracefully surrendering. 
 
 My handiness with the ropes, when I volun- 
 teered to help in hoisting sail, surprised and 
 even perplexed him. "But I thought you was a 
 chimney-sweeper?" he insisted. I told him 
 then of my voyages with Mr. Trapp, yet without 
 completely reassuring him. Hitherto he had 
 taken me on my own warrant, and Ben's, with- 
 out a trace of suspicion ; but henceforth I caught 
 him eyeing me furtively from time to time, and 
 overheard him muttering as he went about his 
 preparations. 
 
 As he had promised, when the time came for 
 hauling up our small anchor, Mrs. Pengelly 
 emerged from the companion hatch like a genie 
 from a bottle. She bore two large hunches of 
 saffron cake and handed one to each of us before 
 moving aft to uncover the wheel. 
 139 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 FLIGHT 
 
 THE sails drew as we got the anchor on board, 
 and by the time O. P. and I had done sluicing 
 the hawser clean of the mud it brought with it, 
 we were working down the Hamoaze with a light 
 and baffling wind, but carrying a strong tide 
 under us. Evening fell with a warm yellow 
 haze ; the banks slipping past us grew dim and 
 dimmer ; here and there a light shone among the 
 'longshore houses. I grew more confident, and 
 no longer concealed myself as we tacked under 
 the sterns of the great ships at anchor, or put 
 about when close alongside. 
 
 As we cleared Devil's Point and had our first 
 glimpse of the grey line where night was fast 
 closing down on open sea, I noted a certain re- 
 laxation in Mr. Pengelly, as if he, too, had been 
 feeling the strain. He began to chat with me. 
 The wind, he said, was backing, and we might 
 look for this spell of weather to break up before 
 long. Once paet the Rams we should be right as 
 UO 
 
FLIGHT 
 
 ninepence and might run down the coast on a 
 soldier's wind ; it would stiffen a bit out yonder 
 unless he was mistaken. He pulled out his pipe 
 and lit it. Aft loomed the bulk of Mrs. Pengelly 
 at the wheel. Save for a call now and again to 
 warn us that the helm was down, to put about, 
 she steered in silence. And she steered ad- 
 mirably. 
 
 We had opened the lights of Cawsand and 
 were heading in towards it on the port tack 
 when, as O. P. smoked and chatted, and I 
 watched the spark of the Eddystone growing 
 and dying, her voice reached us, low but dis- 
 tinct. 
 
 "There's a boat coming. Get below, boy !" 
 
 Sure enough, as I scrambled for the hatchway 
 in a flutter, someone hailed us out of the dark- 
 ness. 
 
 "Ahoy, there !" 
 
 "Ahoy !" O. P. called back, after a moment, 
 into the darkness. 
 
 "What's your name ?" 
 
 "The Glad Tidings, o' Looe, and thither 
 bound. Who be you ?" 
 
 "Water-guard. Is that you speaking, Mr. 
 Pengelly?" 
 
 141 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Ay, sure. Anything the matter ?" 
 
 "Seen such a thing as a young chimney-sweep 
 on your way down age, ten or thereabouts 
 there's one missing?" 
 
 "You don't say so ! Drowned ?" 
 
 His wife having put about, Mr. Pengelly 
 obligingly hauled a sheet or two to windward, 
 and brought the Glad Tidings almost to a 
 standstill, allowing the boat to come close 
 alongside. 
 
 "Drowned ?" he asked again. 
 
 "Worse than that," said the officer's voice 
 (and it sounded dreadfully close) ; "there's been 
 murder committed, and the child was in the 
 house at the time. The belief is, he's been made 
 away with." 
 
 "Save us all ! Murder ? Where to ?" 
 
 "On the Barbican an old Jew there, called 
 Eodriguez. Who's that you've got at the 
 helm?" 
 
 "Missus." 
 
 "Never knew ye was married." 
 
 "Nor did I till this mornin'." 
 
 "Eh? Wish ye luck, I'm sure; and you, 
 ma'am, likewise." 
 
 "Thank ye, Mr. Tucker," answered the lady. 
 142 
 
FLIGHT 
 
 "The same to you, and many of 'em which by 
 that I don't mean wives." 
 
 "Good Lord, is that you, Sally? Well, I'm 
 jiggered ! And I owe you ninepence for that 
 last pair of flatfish you sold me !" 
 
 "Tenpence," said Mrs. Pengelly. "But I can 
 trust a gentleman. Where d'ye say this here 
 murder was committed ?" 
 
 "Barbican." 
 
 "I don't wonder at anything happening there. 
 They're a stinking lot. Why don't ye s'arch the 
 shipping there and in Catte water ?" 
 
 "We've been s'arching all day. And now the 
 constables are off toward Stoke it seems a child 
 answering all particulars was seen in that direc- 
 tions this morning. Well, I won't detain ye. 
 Good-night, friends !" 
 
 "Good-night!" 
 
 I heard the creak of thole-pins as the boat gave 
 way, and the wash of oars as it shot off into the 
 dark. Mr. Pengelly sent me a low whistle and I 
 crept forth. 
 
 "Hear what they said ?" he asked. 
 
 "They they didn't give much trouble." 
 
 "Depends what you call trouble." He seemed 
 slightly hurt in his feelings, and added with as- 
 143 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 perity and obvious truth : "Carry it off how you 
 will, a honeymoon's a honeymoon, and a man 
 don't expect to be interrupted with questions 
 about a sweep's apprentice." 
 
 "Stand by!" cautioned the voice aft, low 
 and firm as before. "By the sound of it they've 
 stopped rowing." 
 
 "If they come on us again we're done for. 
 That Tucker's a fool, but I noticed one or two 
 of the men muttering together." 
 
 "Sounds as if they were putting about. Can 
 the boy swim ?" asked Mrs. Pengelly anxiously. 
 
 "I'll bet he can't." 
 
 "But I can," said I. "If you'll put the helm 
 down, ma'am, and hold in, I think she'll almost 
 fetch Paulee Point. I don't want to get you 
 into trouble." 
 
 We all listened. And sure enough the sound 
 of oars was approaching again out of the dark- 
 ness. 
 
 "Mr. Pengelly can lower me overside," I 
 urged, "as soon as we're near shore. It's safest 
 in every way." 
 
 "So best," she answered shortly, and again 
 put the Glad Tidings about. I began to pluck 
 off my clothes. 
 
 144 
 
FLIGHT 
 
 The boat was evidently watching us: for, 
 dark as the evening had grown, almost as soon 
 as our helm went down, the sound of oars ceased 
 astern, to begin again a few seconds later, but 
 more gently, as if someone had given the order 
 for silence. O. P. peered under the slack of the 
 mainsail. 
 
 "There she is !" he muttered. "Tucker will 
 be trying to force her alongside under our lee." 
 
 He picked up and uncoiled a spare rope. 
 "You'd best take hold o' this and let me slip ye 
 over the starboard side forra'd there, as she goes 
 about. Bain't afeard, hey ?" 
 
 "I'm not afraid of anything but being caught, 
 sir." 
 
 "Sarah will take her in close; there's plenty 
 water." 
 
 "O. P.," said the voice aft. 
 
 "My angel." 
 
 "Tell en he's a good boy, and I wouldn' mind 
 having one like him." 
 
 "You're a good boy," said O. P., and covered 
 the remainder of the message with a discreet 
 cough. "Seems to me Tucker's holdin' off a 
 bit," he added, peering again under the sail. 
 "Wonder what his game is ?" 
 145 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 But I was already stripped, and already the 
 high land loomed over us. Down went the helm 
 again. "Now's your time," muttered O. P., as 
 we scrambled forward to cast off sheets. Amid 
 the flapping of her head sails as she hung for a 
 moment or two in stays, I slipped overside and 
 took the water easily, as the black mass of her 
 stern swung slowly round and covered me from 
 view of the boat. Then, as the tall side began 
 to gather way and slip by me I cast a glance 
 towards land and dived. 
 
 I came to the surface warily and trod water 
 whilst I spied for the boat, which as I reck- 
 oned must be more than a gunshot distant. 
 The sound of oars guided me, and I dived again 
 in a terror. For she had not turned about to 
 follow the ketch, but was heading almost di- 
 rectly towards me, as if to cut me off from the 
 shore. 
 
 My small body was almost bursting when I 
 rose for air and another look. The boat had not 
 altered her course, and I gasped with a new 
 hope. What if, after all, she were not pursuing 
 me ? I let my legs sink and floated upright with 
 my chin above water. 'No ; I had not been spied, 
 at any rate. She was pointing straight for the 
 146 
 
FLIGHT 
 
 shore. But what should take a long boat, 
 manned (as I made out) by a dark crowd of 
 rowers and passengers, at this hour to this de- 
 serted spot ? Why was she not putting in for 
 Cawsand, around the point ? And did she carry 
 the water-guard ? Was this Tucker's boat, after 
 all, or another? 
 
 Still floating, I heard her nose take the 
 ground, and presently the feet of men shuffling, 
 as they disembarked, over loose stones; then a 
 low curse following on a slip and a splash. 
 "Who's that talking ?" a voice inquired, low and 
 angry. "Sergeant ! Take that man's name." 
 Some muttering followed, and then the footfalls 
 grew more regular and seemed to be mounting 
 the cliff, along the base of which, perhaps a hun- 
 dred yards from shore, the tide was now sweep- 
 ing me. I gave myself to it, and noiselessly, 
 little by little, working towards land, was borne 
 out of hearing. 
 
 Another ten minutes and my feet touched bot- 
 tom. I pulled myself out upon a weed-covered 
 rock, and along it to a slate-strewn foreshore, 
 overhung by a low cliff of shale, grey, and glim- 
 mering in the darkness. But even in the dark- 
 ness a ridge of harder rock showed me a likely 
 147 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAERY REVEL 
 
 way. I remembered that the cliff hereabouts 
 was of no great height and scalable in a score 
 of places. Very cautiously, and sometimes sit- 
 ting and straddling the ridge while my fingers 
 found a new grip, I mounted to the edge of a 
 heathery down, and there, after pricking myself 
 sorely, among the furze bushes that guarded it, 
 found a passage through and cast myself at full 
 length on the short turf. 
 
 For awhile I lay and panted, flat on my back, 
 staring up at the stars; for the wind had 
 chopped about and was now drawing gently off 
 shore, clearing the sky. But, though gentle, it 
 had an edge of chill which by-and-by brought 
 me to my feet again. Far out on the dark waters 
 of the Sound glimmered the starboard light of 
 the Glad Tidings, and it seemed to me that she 
 was heading in for shore. Had the Pengellys, 
 too, discovered that the boat was not the water- 
 guard's ? And was O. P. working the ketch back 
 to give me a chance of rejoining her ! Else why 
 was she not slackening sheets and running? 
 Vain hope! I suppose that the new slant of 
 wind took some time in reaching her. At any 
 rate, just as I was preparing to creep back be- 
 tween the furze-whins and scramble down to the 
 148 
 
FLIGHT 
 
 foreshore again, the green light was quenched. 
 She had altered her helm and was clearing the 
 Sound. 
 
 I dared not hail her. Indeed, had I risked it, 
 the odds were against my voice carrying so far, 
 to be recognised. And while I stood and 
 searched the darkness into which she had disap- 
 peared, my ear caught again the muffled tramp 
 of the soldiers, this time advancing towards me. 
 I waited no longer, but started running for dear 
 life up the swelling shoulder of the down. 
 
 The swim and the chill breeze had numbed my 
 legs and arms. After a few hundred yards, 
 however, I felt life coming back to them, and I 
 ran like a hare. I was stark naked, and here 
 and there my feet struck a heather root poised 
 above the turf, or wounded themselves on low- 
 lying sprouts of furze, but as my eyes grew used 
 to the dark sward I learned to avoid these. So 
 close the night hung around me that even on the 
 sky line I had no fear of being spied. I crossed 
 the ridge and tore down the farther slope ; stum- 
 bled through a muddy brook, and mounted an- 
 other hillside. My heart was drumming now, 
 but terror held me to it over this second ridge 
 and down hill again. 
 
 149 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 I supposed myself but half-way down this 
 slope, or only a little more, when in springing 
 aside to avoid a low bush I missed footing al- 
 together, went hurling down into night, dropped 
 plumb upon another furze-bush a withered one 
 and heard and felt it snap under me, struck 
 the cliff-side, bruising my hip, and slid down on 
 loose stones for another few yards. As I 
 checked myself sprawling, and came to a stand- 
 still, some of these stones rolled on and splashed 
 into water far below. 
 
 For a minute or so, at full length on this 
 treacherous bed, I could pluck up no heart to 
 move. Then, inch by inch at first, I drew my- 
 self up to the broken bush and found beside it 
 a flat ledge, smooth, and grassy, which led in- 
 land and downwards. I think it must have been 
 a sheep-track. At any rate, I crept to it on 
 hands and knees, and it brought me down to the 
 head of a small cove where a faint line of 
 brimming showed the sea's edge rippling on a 
 beach of flat grey stones. 
 
 My hip was hurting me, and I could run no 
 
 farther. I groped along the base of the eastern 
 
 cliff, and crawled into a shallow cave close by a 
 
 pile of sea-weed which showed the high mark of 
 
 150 
 
FLIGHT 
 
 the tide now receding. With daylight I might 
 discover a better hiding-place. Meanwhile, I 
 snuggled down and drew a coverlet of sea-weed 
 over me for warmth. 
 
 151 
 
CHAPTEE XII 
 
 I FALL AMONG SMUGGLERS 
 
 I AWOKE to a most curious sensation. The 
 night was still black and only the ridge of the 
 cliff opposite showed, by the light of the many 
 stars, its dull outline above; yet I felt that the 
 whole beach had suddenly become crowded with 
 people that they were moving stealthily about 
 me, whispering, picking their way among the 
 loose stones, hunting me, and yet hushing their 
 voices as though themselves afraid. 
 
 At first, you may be sure awakened as I 
 was from sleep I had no doubt but that this 
 unseen band of folk was after me. All that fol- 
 lowed my awakening passed so quickly that I 
 cannot separate dreams now from guesses, nor 
 apprehensions from realities. I do remember, 
 however, that, whereas the soldiers from whom 
 I had run had been on foot, my first fears were 
 of a pursuit by cavalrymen, and therefore it 
 seemed likely that some sound of horses' tram- 
 152 
 
I FALL AMONG SMUGGLEKS 
 
 pling must have set them in train; but now, 
 though I strained my ears, they detected nothing 
 of the sort only a subdued murmur, as of hu- 
 man voices, down by the water's edge, and now 
 and again the cautious crunch of a footstep 
 upon shingle. Even this I had not heard but 
 for the extreme quiet of the sea under the off- 
 shore wind. 
 
 Gradually, by the light of the stars, I sep- 
 arated from the surrounding shadows that of a 
 whole mass of people inset and darkly crowded 
 there ; and then almost as I guessed their busi- 
 ness the cliff above me shot up a flame, and 
 their forms and their dismayed, upturned faces 
 stood out distinct in the glare of it. 
 
 "Loose the horses and clear !" yelled someone, 
 and another voice, deep and wrathful, began to 
 curse, but was drowned by a stampede of hoofs 
 upon the shingle. Straight forth from the sea 
 or so it looked to me some twenty or thirty 
 naked horses, without rider, bit, or bridle, broke 
 from the crowd and came plunging up the beach 
 at a gallop. They were met by a roar from the 
 cove-head, and with that a line of glittering hel- 
 mets and cuirasses sprang out of the night and 
 
 charged past me. 
 
 153 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAEKY EEVEL 
 
 "Dragoons ! Dragoons !" 
 
 As the yell reached me from the waterside 
 and the men there scattered and ran, I saw the 
 shock of the double charge, the flame overhead 
 lighting up every detail of it. The riderless 
 horses, though they broke and swerved, neither 
 turned tail nor checked their pace, but came 
 through the dragoons as water through a gate, 
 the men either vainly hacking at them with their 
 sabres, or as vainly leaning from their saddles 
 and attempting to grip the brutes. Grip there 
 was none to be had. These were smugglers' 
 horses, clipped to the skin, with houghed manes 
 and tails, and bodies sleek with soft soap. Nor 
 did the dragoons waste more trouble upon them, 
 but charged forward, and down upon the crowd 
 at the water's edge. 
 
 And as they charged I saw but could not be- 
 lieve that on a sudden the crowd had vanished. 
 A moment before they had been jostling, shout- 
 ing, cursing. They were gone now like ghosts. 
 The light still flared overhead. It showed no 
 boat beyond the cove, only the troopers reaching 
 right across it in an irregular line, as each man 
 had been able to check his horse, the most of 
 them on the verge of the shingle, but many 
 154 
 
I FALL AMONG SMUGGLEES 
 
 floundering girth-deep, and one or two even 
 swimming. The riding officer, who had fol- 
 lowed them, was bawling and pointing with 
 his whip towards the cliff at what, I could 
 not tell. 
 
 I had no time to wonder, for an unholy din 
 broke out, on the same instant, at the head of the 
 beach. A couple of the smugglers' horses had 
 been hurled over by the dragoons' impact, and 
 lay, hurt beyond recovery, lashing out across the 
 shingle with their heels. A third had gone down 
 under a sabre cut, but had staggered up and was 
 lobbing after his comrades at a painful canter. 
 They had traversed the heavy shingle, reached 
 the harder stones at the cove's head, and were 
 sailing away at stretched gallop when a volley 
 rang out from the shadow of the cliff there, and 
 the scream of more than one mingled with fresh 
 shouting. At that moment, and just before the 
 flame above me sank and died almost as swiftly 
 as it had first shot up, a soldier not a dragoon, 
 but a man in red coat and white breeches ran 
 forward, and sprang at the girth of the wounded 
 horse, which had stumbled again. He did the 
 wise thing for a single girth was this horse's 
 only harness ; but whether he caught it or not I 
 155 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 could not tell. Ten or a dozen soldiers followed 
 to help him. And the next instant total dark- 
 ness shut down on the whole scene. 
 
 It did not last long. The red-coats, it turned 
 out, had brought lanterns, and now, at a shouted 
 order from their commanding officer, answer- 
 ing the call of the dragoon officer below, began 
 to light them. They meant, I doubted not, to 
 make a strict search of the cove; and, if they 
 did my cave being but a shallow one there 
 was no hope for me. But just then a dis- 
 mounted trooper came running up the beach, his 
 scabbard scraping the shingle as he went by, and 
 his first words explained the mystery of the 
 crowd's disappearance. 
 
 "Where's your officer commanding?" he 
 panted. "The devils have got away into the next 
 cove through a kind of hole in the cliff a kind 
 of archway, so far as we make out. They've 
 blocked it with stones and posted three or 
 four men there, threatening sudden death. By 
 their own account they're armed. Major 
 Dilke's holding them to parley and wants the 
 loan of a lantern, while you, sir, march your 
 men round and take the gang in the rear. They 
 reckon they've none but us to deal with." 
 156 
 
I FALL AMONG SMUGGLEES 
 
 The infantry officer grunted that he under- 
 stood, sent the trooper back with a lantern, and 
 quietly formed up and marched off his company. 
 From my hiding-place I caught scraps of the 
 parley at the lower end of the beach, or rather 
 of Major Dilke's share in it, for the smugglers 
 answered him through a tunnel, and I could 
 only hear their voices mumbling in response to 
 the threats which he flung forth on the wide 
 night. He was in no sweet temper, having been 
 cheated of a rich haul, for the flare had, of 
 course, warned away the expected boat, and I 
 supposed that some of the red-coats had been 
 despatched at once to search the headland for the 
 man who lit it. Revenge was now the Major's 
 game, and, by his tone, he meant to have it. 
 
 But while I lay listening, a stone trickled 
 from the cliff overhead and plunged softly upon 
 the sea-weed at the mouth of my cave. It was 
 followed by a rush of small gravel (had the 
 Major not, at the moment, been declaiming at 
 his loudest his men must surely have heard it), 
 and this again by the plumb fall of a heavy 
 body, which lay still for a full five seconds after 
 alighting, and then emitted a groan so eloquent 
 that it raised the roots of my hair. 
 157 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 I held my breath. More seconds passed, 
 and the body groaned again, still more dole- 
 fully. 
 
 We were within three yards of one another, 
 and, friend or foe, if he continued to lie and 
 groan like this for long, flesh and blood could 
 not stand it. 
 
 "Are you hurt, sir ?" I summoned up voice to 
 ask. 
 
 "The devil!" I had feared that he would 
 scream. But he sat up I saw his shoulders fill 
 the mouth of the cave between me and the star- 
 light. By his attitude he was peering at me 
 through the darkness. "Who are you ?" 
 
 "If you please, sir, I'm a boy." 
 
 "Glad to hear it. I took you at first for one 
 of those cursed soldiers. Hiding, eh?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "So am I, but this is a mighty poor place for 
 it. They may be here any moment with their 
 lanterns; we had better cut across while every- 
 thing's dark. Gad !" he said, throwing his head 
 back, as if to stare upward, "I must have 
 dropped twenty feet. Wonder if I've broken 
 anything?" He stood up, and appeared to be 
 feeling his limbs carefully. "Sound as a bell 1" 
 158 
 
I FALL AMONG SMUGGLERS 
 
 he announced. "Come along, youngster; we'll 
 get out of this and talk afterwards." 
 
 He put out a hand, seeking for mine, but 
 missing it, touched my ribs with his open palm, 
 and drew it away sharply. 
 
 "Good Lord, the boy's naked!" 
 
 "I've been swimming," said I. 
 
 "All right. Get out of this first and talk 
 afterwards ; that's the order. There's a rug in 
 my tilbury, if we can only reach it. Now, then, 
 follow me close, and gently over the shingle." 
 
 Like shadows we stole forth and across the 
 cove. No one spied us, and, thanks perhaps to 
 Major Dilke's sustained oratory, no one heard. 
 
 "There's a track hereabouts," my new friend 
 whispered, as we gained the farther cliff. "This 
 looks like it no yes, here it is! Close after 
 me, sonny, and up we go. Damme, 'tis Robinson 
 Crusoe and Man Friday, with a touch of some- 
 thing else thrown in can't think what, for the 
 moment, unless 'tis the scaling of Platoea. Ever 
 read 'Thucydides' ?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "He's a nigger. He floored me at Brasenose, 
 but I bear the old cock no malice. Now, you 
 wouldn't think I was a university man, eh ?" 
 159 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "No, sir." I had not the least notion of his 
 meaning. 
 
 "I am, though ; and, what's more, I'm a Jus- 
 tice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the 
 County of Cornwall. Ever heard of Jack 
 Rogers, of Brynn?" 
 
 Once more I had to answer, "No, sir." 
 
 "Then, excuse me, but where in thunder do 
 you come from ?" He halted and confronted me 
 in the path. This was a facer, for the words 
 "Justice of the Peace" had already set me quak- 
 ing. 
 
 "If you please, sir, I'd rather not tell." 
 
 "No, I dare say not/' he replied, magisteri- 
 ally. "It's my fate to get into these false posi- 
 tions. Now, there was Josh Truscott, of Blow- 
 inghouse Justice of the Peace and owned two 
 thousand acres what you might call a neat lit- 
 tle property. He never allowed it to interfere, 
 and yet somehow he carried it off. Do I make 
 myself plain ?" 
 
 "Not very, sir." 
 
 "Well, for instance, one day he was expect- 
 ing company. There was a fountain in the mid- 
 dle of the lawn at Blowinghouse and a statue of 
 Hercules that his old father had brought home 
 160 
 
I FALL AMONG SMUGGLERS 
 
 from Italy and planted in the middle of it. 
 Josh couldn't bear that statue said the muscles 
 were all wrong. So, if you please, he takes it 
 down, dresses himself in nothing at all same as 
 you might be, bare as my palm and a Justice 
 of the Peace, mind you and stands himself in 
 the middle of the fountain, with all the guests 
 arriving. Not an easy thing to pass off, and it 
 caused a scandal. But folks didn't seem to 
 mind. 'It was Truscott's way/ they said ; 'after 
 all, he comes of a clever family, and we hope his 
 son will be better.' A man wants character to 
 carry off a thing like that." 
 
 I agreed that character must have been Mr. 
 Truscott's secret. 
 
 "Now I couldn't do that for the life of me," 
 Mr. Eogers sighed, and chuckled over another 
 reminiscence. "Josh had a shindy once with a 
 groom. The fellow asked for a rise in wages. 
 'You couldn't have said anything more hurtful 
 to my feelings,' Josh told him, and knocked him 
 down. There was a hole in one of his orchards, 
 where they'd been rooting up an old apple-tree. 
 He put the fellow in that, tilled him up to his 
 neck in earth, and kept him there till he apolo- 
 gised. Not at all an easy thing for a Justice of 
 161 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 the Peace to pass off ; but, bless you, folks didn't 
 mind said that he came of a clever family and 
 hoped his son would be better. The fellow 
 didn't even bring an action." Mr. Eogers broke 
 off suddenly, and seemed to meditate a new train 
 of thought. "Hang it!" he exclaimed, "I be- 
 lieve 'tis a hundred pounds. I must look it up 
 when I get back." 
 
 "What's a hundred pounds, sir ?" I asked. 
 
 "Penalty for showing a coast light without 
 authority. Lydia laid me ten pounds I hadn't 
 the pluck, though ; and that'll bring it down to 
 ninety at the worst. She'd thirty in this trip, 
 too, which she stood to lose; but, as it turns 
 out, I've saved that for her. Oh, she's a 
 treasure !" 
 
 "Did you light the flare ?" I began to see that 
 I had fallen in with an original, and that he 
 might be honoured. 
 
 "Eh ? to be sure I did. Slocked away the man 
 in charge by mimicking Pascoe's voice he's the 
 freighter, and talks like a man with no roof to 
 his mouth. I'm a pretty good mimic, though I 
 say it. Nothing easier, after that. You see, 
 Lydia had laid me ten pounds as a Justice of the 
 Peace that I hadn't wit nor pluck to spoil her 
 162 
 
I FALL AMONG SMUGGLERS 
 
 next run honestly, that is. She knows I 
 wouldn't blow on her for worlds. Oh, we un- 
 derstand one another ! Now, you and I'll go off 
 and call on her, and hear what she says about it. 
 For in a way I've won, and in a way I've not. 
 I stopped the run, but also I've saved the cargo 
 for her ; for the devil a notion had I that the sol- 
 diers had wind of it, and, but for the flare, the 
 boats would have run in and lost every tub. 
 Here we are, my lad !" 
 
 We had climbed the cliff and were crossing a 
 field of stubble grass, very painful to my feet. 
 I saw the shadow of a low hedge in front, but 
 these words of Mr. Rogers conveyed nothing to 
 me. "Soh, soli, my girl !" he called, softly, ad- 
 vancing towards the shadow; and at first I 
 supposed him to be addressing the mysterious 
 Lydia. But following I saw him smoothing the 
 neck of a small mare tethered beside the hedge, 
 and the next moment had almost blundered 
 against a light two-wheeled carriage resting on 
 its shafts a few yards away. 
 
 Mr. Rogers whispered to me to lift the shafts. 
 
 "And be quiet about it; there's a road t'other 
 
 side of the hedge. Soh, my girl sweetly, 
 
 sweetly !" He backed the mare between the 
 
 163 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 shafts, harnessed her, and led her along to a gate 
 opening on the road. 
 
 "Jump up, my lad," he commanded, as he 
 steered the tilbury through; and up I jumped. 
 "There's a rug somewhere by your feet and 
 Lydia'll do the rest for you. Cl'k, my darling 1" 
 
 And away we bowled. 
 
 164 
 
CHAPTEE XIII 
 
 THE MAN ON THE VERANDAH 
 
 THE mare settled down to a beautiful stride 
 and we spun along smoothly over a road which, 
 for a coast road, must have been exceptionally 
 well laid, or else Mr. Rogers' s tilbury was hung 
 on exceptionally good springs. We were travel- 
 ling inland, for the wind blew in our faces, and I 
 huddled myself up from it in the rug on which, 
 by the way, a heavy dew had fallen, making it 
 damp and sticky. For two miles or so we must 
 have held on at this pace without exchanging a 
 word, meeting neither vehicle nor pedestrian in 
 all that distance, nor passing any ; and so came 
 to a sign-post and swerved by it into a broader 
 road, which ran level for maybe half-a-mile and 
 then began to climb. At the foot of this rise Mr. 
 Rogers eased down the mare and handed me the 
 reins, bidding me hold them while he lit a cigar. 
 
 "We're safe enough now/' said he, pulling 
 165 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 out a pocket tinder-box, "and while I'm about it 
 we'd better light the lamps." He slipped them 
 from their sockets and lit them cleverly from the 
 same brimstone match. "The Highflyer's due 
 about this time/' he explained; "and Russell's 
 waggon's another nasty thing to hit in the dark. 
 We're on the main road, you know." 
 
 I did not know it, but wanted courage to tell 
 him that there were reasons which made the 
 main road extremely dangerous for me. Before 
 refixing the lamp beside him he held it up for a 
 good stare at me, and grinned. 
 
 "Well, you're a nice guest for a spinster at 
 this hour, I must say ! But there's no shyness 
 about Lydia." 
 
 I liked my glimpses of his good-natured face, 
 young, and none too wise-looking, but red with 
 honest weather the face of a gentleman, if of 
 a hawbuck. "Is she is Miss Lydia unmar- 
 ried ?" I made bold to ask. 
 
 "Lydia Belcher's a woman in a thousand. 
 Keep that in your mind if she scares you a bit 
 at first. There's no better fellow living, and 
 I've known worse ladies. Yes, she's unmar- 
 ried." 
 
 He took the reins from me and the mare 
 166 
 
THE MAN ON THE VEEANDAH 
 
 quickened her pace. After sucking at his cigar 
 for a while he chuckled aloud : "She's to be seen 
 to be believed; past forty and wears top-boots. 
 Shouldn't wonder, though, if she was a beauty 
 in her day; indeed, I've heard as much. Her 
 mother's looks were famous; she was daughter 
 to one of the Earl's cottagers on the edge of the 
 
 moors " Here Mr. Rogers jerked his 
 
 thumb significantly, but in what direction the 
 night hid from me. "Married old Jam Belcher, 
 one of his lordship's keepers, a fellow not fit to 
 black her boots, and had this one child, Lydia. 
 This was just about the time of the Earl's own 
 marriage. Folks talked, of course; and, sure 
 enough, when the Earl came to die 'twas found 
 he'd left Lydia a thousand a year in the funds. 
 That's the story ; and Lydia well, she's Lydia. 
 Couldn't marry where she would, I suppose, and 
 wouldn't where she could ; so she's a spinster to- 
 day, with a nice little house of her own and 
 stables; rides to hounds when she hasn't the 
 gout, and can throw a fly with any man living. 
 Some call her Lydia, others Dick 'Lydia, die 
 per omnes? you know an old joke of Parson 
 Doidge's, who (they say) made love to her when 
 he was turned sixty, and she but a slip of a girl. 
 167 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 I dare say she's been sorry enough since that she 
 didn't have him. But now she'll never marry 
 though they do say Whitmore's trimming sail 
 for her." 
 
 "Whitmore 3" I echoed. 
 
 "Ay, the curate ; monstrous clever fellow, and 
 a sportsman, too. Trinity College, Dublin, man. 
 Don't happen to know him, do you ?" 
 
 "Is he a thin-faced gentleman, very neatly 
 dressed ? Oh, but it can't be the gentleman I 
 mean, sir ! The one I mean has a slow way of 
 speaking, and the hair seems gone on each side 
 of his forehead " 
 
 "That's Whitmore, to a T. So you know 
 him? Well, you'll meet him at Lydia's, I 
 shouldn't wonder. He's there most nights." 
 
 "If you please, sir, will you set me down ? I 
 can shift for myself somehow indeed I can ! I 
 promised that is, I mean, Mr. Whitmore 
 won't like it if if " 
 
 While I stammered on Mr. Rogers pulled up 
 the mare, quartering at the same time to make 
 room for the mail coach as it thundered up the 
 road from westward and swept by at the gallop, 
 with lamps flashing and bits and swingles 
 shaken in chorus. 
 
 168 
 
THE MAN ON THE VERANDAH 
 
 "Look here, what's the matter?" he de- 
 manded. 
 
 "Please, sir, let me get down !" 
 
 "Why don't you want to meet Whitmore?" 
 Then as I would not answer, but continued to en- 
 treat him: "The devil take it!" he cried; 
 "you've a secret of mine that would cost me 
 a hundred pounds if you choose to inform " 
 
 "But I never thought of it !" I protested. 
 
 He seemed to consider, and ended by flicking 
 his whip and walking the mare forward slowly. 
 "No, I don't believe you're that sort of a boy, 
 somehow. I like your voice and I like your 
 manner, and yet there's something deuced fishy 
 about you. Here I find you, stark naked, hid- 
 ing from the soldiers; yet you can't be one of 
 the 'trade,' for you don't know the country or 
 the folks living hereabouts only Whitmore; 
 and Whitmore you won't meet, and your name 
 you won't tell, nor where you come from only 
 that you've been swimming. ' Swimming.' 
 Good Lord! You don't swim from France, I 
 take it." He broke off again and fell into a 
 muse. "And I'm a Justice of the Peace, and 
 the Lord knows what deviltry I'm compound- 
 ing with." He mused again. "Tell you what 
 169 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAKEY KEVEL 
 
 I'll do!" he exclaimed. "I'll take you up to 
 Lydia's, as I promised. If Whitmore's there 
 you sha'n't meet him if you don't want to ; and 
 if the house is full for I warn you it's likely ; 
 she sits late I'll drop you in the shrubbery 
 with the rug and get them to break up early. 
 Only I must have your solemn davey that you'll 
 stay there and not quit until I give you leave. 
 Is that a bargain?" 
 
 I gave that promise. 
 
 "Bright and shining? Send I may die if I 
 do. Very well. I'll tip the wink to Lydia, and 
 when we've cleared the company we'll have you 
 in and get the rights of this. Oh, you may trust 
 Lydia!" 
 
 As he said this we were passing a house the 
 long, whitewashed front of which abutted glim- 
 mering on the road. A light shone behind the 
 blind of one lower window and showed through 
 a chink under the door. "The Major's sitting 
 up late," observed Mr. Kogers, half to himself, 
 and again flicked up the mare. 
 
 It must have been ten minutes later, or, per- 
 haps, three, when, as the road rose under a black 
 arch of elm trees, he pulled the left rein, and we 
 swung suddenly through an open gateway and 
 170 
 
THE MAN ON THE VERANDAH 
 
 were rolling over soft gravel. Tall bushes of 
 laurel on either hand glinted back the lights of 
 the tilbury, and presently around a sweep of the 
 drive I saw a window shining. Mr. Rogers 
 pulled up once more. 
 
 "Jump out and take the path to the left. It'll 
 bring you out almost facing the front door. Get 
 among the laurels there, and wait." 
 
 I climbed down and drew the rug about me 
 as he drove on, and I heard the tilbury's wheels 
 come to a halt on the gravel before the house. 
 Then, following the path which wound about a 
 small shrubbery I came to the edge of the gravel 
 sweep before the porch just as a groom took the 
 mare and cart from him and led them around to 
 the left, toward the stables. I saw this dis- 
 tinctly, for on the right of the porch, where 
 there ran a pretty deep verandah, each window 
 on the ground floor flung a blaze of light across 
 the gravel to the laurels behind which I 
 crouched. There were, in all, five windows lit, 
 of which three seemed to belong to an empty 
 room, and two to another filled with people. 
 The windows of this one stood wide open, and 
 the racket within was prodigious. Also the com- 
 pany seemed to consist entirely of men. But 
 171 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAREY REVEL 
 
 what surprised me most was to see that the 
 tables at which these guests drank and supped 
 as the clatter of knives and plates told me, and 
 the shouting of toasts were drawn up in a 
 semi-circle about a tall bed-canopy reaching al- 
 most to the ceiling in the far right-hand corner. 
 The bed itself was hidden from me by the broad 
 backs of two sportsmen seated in line with 
 it and nursing a bottle a piece under their 
 chairs. 
 
 Now, while I wondered, Mr. Jack Eogers 
 having divested himself of his driving-coat in 
 the hall passed briskly through the room with 
 the closed windows towards this chamber of rev- 
 elry, preceded by an elderly woman with a smok- 
 ing dish in her hands. I could not see the door- 
 way between the two rooms, but the company an- 
 nounced his appearance there with an uproar- 
 ious shout, and, several guests pushing back 
 their chairs and rising to welcome him, in the 
 same instant were disclosed to me ; first, the pale 
 face of the Rev. Mr. Whitmore under a sporting 
 print by the wall opposite, and next, reclining 
 in the bed, the most extraordinary figure of a 
 woman. 
 
 So much of her as appeared above the bed- 
 172 
 
THE MAN ON THE VEKANDAH 
 
 clothes was arrayed in an orange-coloured dress- 
 ing-gown and a night-cap, the frills of which 
 towered over a face remarkable in many ways, 
 but chiefly for its broad masculine forehead and 
 the firm outline of its jaw and chin. Indeed, 
 though overspread for the moment by broad 
 hilarity, it asserted itself at once as too good for 
 this company of hawbucks ; although you might 
 not at once have perceived this, being occupied 
 with wondering how such a face came to belong 
 to a woman. A slight darkening of the upper 
 lip even suggested a moustache, but on a second 
 look I set this down to the shadow of the bed- 
 canopy. 
 
 A small round table stood at her elbow, with 
 a bottle and plate upon it; and in one hand she 
 lifted a steaming ummer to Mr. Rogers' s health, 
 crooking back the spoon in it with her forefinger 
 as she drank, that it might not incommode her 
 aquiline nose. 
 
 "Good health, Jack, and sit you down !" she 
 haled him, her voice ringing above the others' 
 like a bell. "Tripe and onions it is, and Plym- 
 outh gin the usual fare ; and while you're 
 helping yourself, tell me do I owe you ten 
 
 pounds, or no ?" 
 
 173 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "That depends," Mr. Kogers answered, 
 searching about for a clean plate and seating 
 himself amid the hush of the company. "All the 
 horses back?" 
 
 "Five of 'em. They came in together, nigh 
 on an hour ago, and not a tub between 'em. The 
 roan's missing." Her voice sank, and of her 
 next words I caught only the name "Jim," and 
 something which sounded like "own stable." 
 
 "Unless the red-coats have him," said Mr. 
 Rogers deliberately, holding out his tumbler of 
 Plymouth gin. "Here, pass the kettle, some- 
 body!" 
 
 "Red-coats ?" she cried, sharply. "You don't 
 
 tell me ." But the sentence was drowned by 
 
 a new and (to me) very horrible noise the fu- 
 rious barking of dogs from the stables or kennels 
 in the rear of the house. Here was a danger 
 which had not occurred to me ; and I liked it so 
 little the prospect of being bayed naked 
 through those pitch-dark shrubberies by a pack 
 of hounds that without waiting to consider it, 
 and prompted only by fear, I broke from my 
 covert of laurel, hurriedly skirted the broad 
 patch of light on the carriage-sweep, and 
 plumped down close to the windows, behind a 
 174 
 
THE MAN ON THE VERANDAH 
 
 bush of mock-orange at the end of the verandah. 
 Crouching there, I could not see into the room as 
 before, but a couple of leaps would land me with- 
 in it among Miss Belcher's guests, and I felt that 
 even Mr. Whitmore was less formidable than 
 Miss Belcher's dogs, of whose teeth my small 
 calves were distressfully presentient. 
 
 The noise of their barking died down after a 
 minute or so, and the company, at first discon- 
 certed by it (or so it appeared by their silence), 
 began to call again upon Jack Kogers for his ex- 
 planation. It now turned out that, quite unin- 
 tentionally, I had so posted myself as to hear 
 every word spoken; and, I regret to say, was 
 deep in Mr. Rogers's vivacious story from 
 which he considerately omitted all mention of 
 me when my eye caught a movement among 
 the shadows at the far end of the verandah. 
 
 A moment later a man came stealing along it 
 and towards me, moving noiselessly and hold- 
 ing himself close by the house wall. 
 
 He reached the first of the lighted windows 
 and paused, flattening himself and peering war- 
 ily around its angle. This room, as I have said, 
 was empty ; but while he assured himself of this 
 the light rested on his face, and through the 
 175 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 branches of the mock-orange bush I saw his feat- 
 ures distinctly. It was Sergeant Letcher. 
 
 He wore his red uniform and white panta- 
 loons, but had slipped off his boots, and as I 
 saw when he rapidly passed the next two panels 
 of light was carrying them in his hand. 
 Eeaching the first of the open windows, he stood 
 for a while in the shade beside it, listening, and 
 then, to my astonishment, turned and stole back 
 bly the way he had come. I watched him till he 
 disappeared at the far end in the darkness be- 
 yond the house-porch. 
 
 Now while this was happening outside within 
 the room Miss Belcher had been calling to clear 
 away the supper and set out the tables for cards. 
 
 "Nonsense, Lydia !" Mr. Eogers had objected. 
 "It's a good one-in-the-morning, and the com- 
 pany tired. Where's the sense, too, of keeping 
 the place ablaze on a night like this, with Ganger 
 Rosewarne scouring the country and the 
 dragoons, as like as not, behind him, and all in 
 the worst possible tempers?" 
 
 "My little Magistrate," Miss Belcher re 
 
 torted, "there's naught to hinder your trotting 
 
 home to bed if you list or if you're timorous 
 
 Jim's on his way to the moor by this time with 
 
 176 
 
THE MAN ON THE VERANDAH 
 
 the rest of the horses ; 'twas at his starting the 
 dogs gave tongue, a minute since, and I'll have 
 to teach them better manners. As for the roan, 
 if he's hurt, or Kosewarne happens on him, 
 there's evidence that I sold him to a gypsy fel- 
 low three weeks back, at St. Germain's Fair. 
 Here, Bethsheba, take the keys of my bureau 
 upstairs ; you'll find some odd notes in the left- 
 hand drawer by the fireplace. Bring Mr. 
 Rogers down his ten pounds and let him go. 
 We'll not compromise a Justice of the Peace if 
 we can help it." 
 
 "If you put it that I'm afraid, Lydia " 
 
 Mr. Eogers began, and added, ingenuously: 
 "The fact is, I wanted a word with you alone." 
 
 "Oh, you scandalous man ! and me tucked be- 
 tween the sheets !" she protested, while the com- 
 pany haw-haw'd with laughter. "You'll have to 
 put up with some more innocent amusement, my 
 dear. There's a badger somewhere round at the 
 back in a barrel ; we'll have him in with the dogs 
 if you wish unless you prefer a quiet round 
 with the cards." 
 
 "Oh, d n the badger at this hour !" swore 
 
 Mr. Rogers. "Cards let it be, if we must play 
 
 the fool ; they're quiet, at any rate. Here, Raby 
 
 177 
 
ADVENTUEES OF HAREY EEVEL 
 
 Penrose Tregaskis which of you'll cut in ? 
 Eh, Whitmore ? You'll take a hand, won't you ?" 
 
 I heard Mr. Whitmore's voice for the first 
 time. He was politely excusing himself. 
 
 "The Parson's tired to-night, and with better 
 excuse than you. He's ridden down from 
 Plymouth." 
 
 "Hullo, Whitmore what were you doing in 
 Plymouth ?" 
 
 Mr. Whitmore ignored the question. "I'm 
 ready for a hand, Miss Belcher," he announced, 
 quietly ; "only let it be something quiet a rub- 
 ber for choice." 
 
 "Half guinea points?" asked somebody. 
 
 "Yes, if you will." 
 
 I heard them settle to cards, and for a while 
 their voices sank to a murmur. Now and again 
 a few coins clinked, and one of the guests yawned 
 audibly. 
 
 "You're as melancholy as gib-cats," an- 
 nounced Miss Belcher. "The next man that 
 yawns I'll send him out to fetch in that badger. 
 Here, tell us a story, somebody." 
 
 "I heard the beginning of a queer one," said 
 Mr. Whitmore, in his deliberate voice; "the 
 folks were discussing it at Torpoint Ferry as I 
 178 
 
THE MAN ON THE VEKANDAH 
 
 crossed. It seems there's been a murder at 
 Plymouth, either last night or this morning." 
 
 "A murder? Who's the victim?" 
 
 "An old Jew, living on the Barbican or there- 
 abouts. Let me see my deal, is it not ?" 
 
 "What's his name I" 
 
 "His name ?" Mr. Whitmore seemed to be 
 considering. "Wait a moment, or I shall mis- 
 deal." After a pause he said. "A Spanish- 
 sounding one Eodriguez, I think ; yes, Rodri- 
 guez. They were all full of it at the Ferry." 
 
 "What, old Ike Rodriguez? The man who 
 was down in these parts buying up guineas the 
 other day ?" exclaimed Mr. Rogers. 
 
 "Was he?" asked Mr. Whitmore, carelessly. 
 
 "Why, hang it all, Whitmore," said a guest; 
 "you know he was ! More, by token, I pointed 
 him out to you myself on Looe Hill." 
 
 "Was that the man?" 
 
 "Of course it was. Don't you remember ad- 
 miring his face. It put you in mind of Caiaphas 
 those were your very words, and at the mo- 
 ment I didn't clearly recollect who Caiaphas 
 was. It can't be three weeks since." 
 
 "Three weeks less two days," said Miss 
 Belcher ; "for he called here and bought fifteen 
 179 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 off me said he'd just come from doing business 
 with Jack, here ; so, on the strength of his deal- 
 ing with other nobility and gentry, I traded, and 
 he gave me twenty-four shillings and sixpence 
 apiece for all but one, which he swore was light. 
 Wanted that one cheap, but I kept it back. 
 Who's murdered him?" 
 
 "There was talk of a boy," said Mr. Whit- 
 more, still very deliberately. "At least, a boy 
 was missing who had been seen in the house just 
 previously, or so I gathered, and that they were 
 watching the ferries for him. But nobody 
 seemed very clear about it. Why, surely, 
 Rogers, that's a revoke !" 
 
 "A revoke ?" stammered Mr. Rogers. "So it 
 
 is I beg your pardon, Tregaskis but, d n 
 
 the cards ! I'm too sleepy to tell one suit from 
 another." 
 
 "That makes our game, then, and the rubber. 
 Rub and rub shall we play the conqueror? 
 No ? As you please, then. How do we stand ?" 
 
 "We owe three guineas on points," growled 
 a voice which, to judge by its sulkiness, belonged 
 to Mr. Tregaskis. 
 
 "As good as a gift with the cards you held," 
 said Mr. Whitmore, and I thought I heard the 
 180 
 
THE MAN ON THE VEEANDAH 
 
 coins jingle in his hand, when from the shrub- 
 bery to my left, where the gravel-sweep nar- 
 rowed, there sounded the low hoot of an owl. 
 Being town-bred, and unused to owls, I shrank 
 closer against my mock-orange bush ; nay, as you 
 may suppose, I was in a state of mind which 
 needed less than an owl's hoot to scare me. 
 
 "Hullo, Whitmore you've dropped some of 
 your winnings. Here it is by the table leg a 
 guinea. Take twenty-four shilling for it, now 
 that old Rodriguez is gone ?" 
 
 "I beg your pardon." Mr. Whitmore thanked 
 the speaker, and the coin was restored to him. 
 "It's close here, as Mr. Rogers says, and I think 
 I'll step out for a mouthful of fresh air. 
 Phe-ew !" he drew a long breath as he appeared 
 at the window ; "it can't be long now before the 
 dawn." 
 
 He strolled carelessly out beneath the veran- 
 dah, and stood for a moment by one of its pil- 
 lars. And at that moment the owl's cry sounded 
 again, but more softly, from the shrubbery on 
 my left. I knew, then, that it came from no true 
 owl. With a swift glance back into the room 
 Mr. Whitmore stepped out upon the gravel and 
 followed it, almost brushing the mock-orange 
 bush as he passed. 
 
 181 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MOCK-ORANGE BUSH 
 
 To my worse dismay, he halted but five paces 
 from me. 
 
 "Is that you, Lethbridge ?" he asked in an 
 anxious whisper. 
 
 "Sergeant Letcher, if you please," answered 
 a quiet voice close by ; "unless you prefer to be 
 called Peacock." 
 
 "No so loud the windows are open. How 
 on earth did you come here ? You're not with 
 the van to-night ?" 
 
 "I came on a horse, and a lame one one of 
 your tub-carriers. The captain saw me mount 
 him down at the cove, and sent me off to scour 
 the country for evidence. I guessed pretty well 
 in what direction he'd take me. But you're a 
 careless lot, I will say. Look at this bit of rope." 
 
 "For God's sake, don't talk so loud ! Rope ? 
 What rope ?" 
 
 "Oh, you needn't be afraid of it yet. It's 
 182 
 
THE MOCK-ORANGE BUSH 
 
 not your sort and that's just the point. Here ; 
 if you can't see, take hold and feel it left- 
 handed, you'll notice French sling-stuff. And 
 that Belcher woman has no more sense of cau- 
 tion than to tie up her roses with it ! I got this 
 off a bush in her front porch. Now, see here, 
 my son" and his voice became a snarl "it 
 may do for her to play tricks she's licensed, in 
 a way. All the country know her, the magis- 
 trates included, and will give her leave to steal a 
 horse where another mayn't look over the gate. 
 But for the likes of you this dancing on the edge 
 of the law is unhealthy. I wonder you can't see 
 it ; you never used to be noted for pluck. Any- 
 way, I point it out to you it's risky, and I 
 can't afford it. Understand? Why the devil 
 you haunt the house as you do is more than I can 
 fathom, unless, maybe, you're making up to 
 marry the old fool." He paused, and added con- 
 templatively : " 'T would be something in your 
 line, to be sure. Women were always your 
 game." 
 
 "You didn't whistle me out to tell me this," 
 said Mr. Whitmore, stiffly ; but I could hear that 
 he stood in terror of the man. 
 
 "No, I did not. I want ten pounds." 
 183 
 
ADVENTUEES OF HAEEY EEVEL 
 
 Mr. Whitmore groaned. "Look here, 
 Leth " 
 
 "Be careful!" 
 
 "Well, but look here this makes twice in ten 
 days. It's too much, you know it's pushing 
 a man too hard altogether." 
 
 "Not a bit of it," Letcher assured him cheer- 
 fully. "You're too devilish fond of your own 
 neck, my lad, and I know it too devilish well to 
 be come over by that talk." He chuckled to him- 
 self. "Famous plan, this you do the work and 
 pay the wages, too. You don't do it too well, 
 though, I must warn you. How's the beauty 
 down at the cottage ?" 
 
 "I don't know," Mr. Whitmore answered, 
 sulkily. "Is Plinlimmon there?" 
 
 "No, he's not; and you ought to know he's 
 not. Where have you been, all day ?" 
 
 The curate was silent. 
 
 "He'll be down again on Saturday, though. 
 The Colonel's as sweet on him as ever ; but, for 
 that matter, leave of absence is going cheap, just 
 now. I've an idea that our marching orders 
 must be about due, and the old man knows it. 
 Maybe I'll be able to run down myself, though 
 my father hadn't the luck to be a friend of his. 
 184 
 
THE MOCK-OEANGE BUSH 
 
 If I don't, you're to keep your eye lifting and 
 report." 
 
 "Is there really a chance of the order com- 
 ing ?" asked Mr. Whitmore, with a shake in his 
 low voice. 
 
 "Dissemble your joy, my friend. When it 
 comes I shall call on you for fifty. Meanwhile 
 I tell you to keep your eye lifting. The bat- 
 talion's raw yet. About the order, it's only my 
 guesswork, and before we sail you may yet do 
 the christening." 
 
 "It's damnable!" broke out the clergyman, 
 suddenly. 
 
 "Hush, you fool! Gad, if somebody hasn't 
 heard you! Who's that?" 
 
 They held their breath, and I held mine, 
 pressing my body into the mock-orage bush until 
 the twigs cracked. Mr. Jack Kogers stepped out 
 upon the verandah, and stood by one of the pil- 
 lars, not a dozen yards from me, contemplating 
 the sky, where the dawn was now beginning to 
 break over the damp shrubberies. While he 
 stood there I heard the two men tip-toeing away 
 through the laurels. 
 
 He, too, seemed to catch a sound of it, for he 
 turned his head sharply in their direction. But 
 185 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 at that moment Miss Belcher's voice called 
 him from within, and he stepped hack into the 
 room. 
 
 A minute later he reappeared with a loaf of 
 bread in either hand and walked moodily past 
 my bush without turning his head or observing 
 me. 
 
 I faced about cautiously and looked after him. 
 From this end of the verandah the ground, shel- 
 tered on the right by a belt of evergreen trees, 
 fell away steeply to a valley, at the foot of which, 
 under the paling sky, a sheet of water glim- 
 mered. Toward this, down the grassy slope, Mr. 
 Rogers went with long strides. I broke cover 
 and ran after him. 
 
 I had still too much sense left to shout ; but I 
 ran as fast as my hurt hip and the trailing folds 
 of the rug allowed. The grass under foot was 
 grey with dew, and overhead the birds were 
 singing. An old horse that had been sleeping in 
 his pasture heaved himself up and gazed at me 
 as I went by, and I think the sound of this up- 
 heaval must have struck Mr. Eogers's ear. At 
 any rate he turned and allowed me to catch up 
 with him. 
 
 "It's you, eh ? Hanged if I hadn't forgotten 
 186 
 
THE MOCK-ORANGE BUSH 
 
 you; here, catch hold, if you're feeling peck- 
 ish." 
 
 He thrust a loaf into my hands, and I fell on it 
 ravenously, plucking off a crust and gnawing it 
 while I trotted beside him for he held on his 
 way down the slope. 
 
 "Got to feed her blessed swans now," he mut- 
 tered. "The deuce is in her for perversity to- 
 night." 
 
 He kept growling to himself, knitting his 
 brow and pausing once or twice for a moody 
 stare. He was not drunk, and his high com- 
 plexion showed no trace of his all-night sitting, 
 and yet something had changed him utterly from 
 the cheerful gentleman of a few hours back. 
 
 The water when we reached it proved to be 
 an artificial lake, very cunningly contrived to 
 resemble a wild one. At the head of it, where 
 we trod on asphodels and sweet-smelling mints 
 and brushed the young stalks of the goose-strife, 
 we found a rustic bridge partly screened by al- 
 ders. Here Mr. Rogers halted, and a couple of 
 fine swans came steering towards him out of the 
 shadows. 
 
 He broke his loaf into two pieces. "That's 
 for you," he exclaimed, hurling the first chunk 
 187 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 viciously at the male bird. The pair turned in 
 alarm at the splash and paddled away, hissing 
 in their flurry. "And that's for you!" The 
 second chunk caught the female full astern, and 
 Mr. Rogers leaned on the rail and laughed 
 grimly. After a while he stood erect, thrust his 
 hand into his breeches pocket and drew forth a 
 guinea. The young daylight touched its edge 
 as it lay in his palm. 
 
 "I'm a Justice of the Peace. What would 
 you say if I tossed that after the bread?" 
 
 "What's the matter with it, sir ?" 
 
 He turned it over gingerly with his forefinger. 
 "See it's marked," he said. "I put that mark 
 on it myself, for sport, three weeks ago, and this 
 very night I won it back." 
 
 "Was it one you sold to Mr. Rodriguez ?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "Hey ?" I thought he would have taken me 
 by the collar, so suddenly he faced upon me. 
 "What do you know of Rodriguez, boy ?" 
 
 "I I was listening in the verandah, sir. And 
 oh, but I've something to tell you, if I can 
 get it clear. I'm the boy, sir, that Mr. Whit- 
 more spoke about the boy that's being searched 
 
 for " 
 
 188 
 
THE MOCK-OBANGE BUSH 
 
 "Look here/' Mr. Kogers interrupted, "I'm 
 a Justice of the Peace, you know." 
 
 "I can't help it, sir begging your pardon. 
 But I was in the house, and I saw things ; and if 
 they catch me I must tell." 
 
 "Tell the truth and shame the devil," said Mr. 
 Rogers. 
 
 "That's easy to say, sir. But the more truth 
 I told the worse it would look for someone who's 
 innocent." 
 
 "Whitmore?" 
 
 "You won that guinea off Mr. Whitmore, 
 didn't you, sir f " 
 
 This confused him. "You've been using your 
 ears to some purpose," he growled, eyeing me 
 suspiciously. 
 
 "Mr. Whitmore isn't the man I meant; I 
 don't know yet how he comes to be mixed up in 
 it. But now listen to another thing. You re- 
 member that Mr. Whitmore walked out after the 
 game for fresh air, he said ?" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "And he didn't come back ?" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "He stepped out because he was whistled out. 
 There was a man waiting to talk with him." 
 189 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "What man ?" 
 
 "His name's Letcher Sergeant Letcher; at 
 least " 
 
 "I don't know the name." 
 
 "He was one of the soldiers on the beach this 
 evening." 
 
 "The devil !" Mr. Kogers jumped in his shoes. 
 
 "But he hadn't come about that business," I 
 made haste to add. 
 
 "About what, then ?" 
 
 "Well, now, sir, I must ask you a question. 
 They were talking about 'the beauty down at the 
 cottage.' Who would that be ?" 
 
 "That," said he, slowly, "would be Isabel 
 Brooks, for a certainty." 
 
 "And the cottage ?" 
 
 "Kemember the one we passed on the road ? 
 the one with the light downstairs? That's it. 
 She lives there with her father an old soldier, 
 and three parts blind. Case of cataract. 
 There's no mischief brewing against her, I 
 hope?" 
 
 "I don't know, sir," I went on, breathlessly. 
 "But, if you please, go on answering me. Do 
 you know a young man called Plinlimmon Ar- 
 
 chilbald Plinlimmon ?" 
 
 190 
 
THE MOCK-ORANGE BUSH 
 
 "Plinlimmon ? Ay, to be sure, I do. Met 
 him there once another soldier, youngish and 
 good-looking; private soldier, but seemed a gen- 
 tleman didn't catch his Christian name. The 
 Major introduced him as the son of an old 
 friend comrade-in-arms, he said, if I remem- 
 ber. He was then with a black-faced fellow 
 whose name I didn't catch, either." 
 
 "That was Letcher!" 
 
 "What ! The man you say Whitmore was 
 talking with ? What were they saying ?" 
 
 "They said something about a christening. 
 And Letcher asked Mr. Whitmore for money." 
 
 "A christening? What in thunder has a 
 christening to do with it?" 
 
 "That's what I don't know, sir. I thought 
 you might be able to tell me." 
 
 Mr. Rogers looked at me and rubbed his chin. 
 "I meant to take you to Lydia," he said, "but 
 now that Whitmore's mixed up in this, I'll be 
 shot if I do. That fellow has bewitched her 
 
 somehow, and where he's concerned " He 
 
 glanced up the slope and clutched me suddenly 
 by the shoulder for Whitmore himself was 
 there, walking alone, and coming straight tow- 
 ard us. "Talk of the devil here, hide, boy 
 191 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 cluck down, I tell you, there behind the bushes ! 
 No ? Through the hedge, then " 
 
 I burst through the hedge and dropped 
 though a mat of brambles, dragging my rug 
 after me. The fall landed me on all-fours upon 
 the sunken high road, along which I ran as one 
 demented stark naked, too a small Jack of 
 Bedlam under the broadening eye of day ; ran 
 past Miss Belcher's entrance gate with its sen- 
 tinel masses of tall laurels, and had reached the 
 bend of the road opening the low cottage into 
 view, when a sudden jingling of bells and 
 tramp of horses drove me aside through a gate 
 on the left, to cower behind a hedge there while 
 they passed. 
 
 There were two waggons, each drawn by six 
 horses and covered by a huge white tilt bearing 
 in great letters the words, "Russell & Co., Fal- 
 mouth to London." On the front of each a lan- 
 tern shone pale against the daylight. At the 
 head of each team rode a waggoner, mounted on 
 a separate horse and carrying a long whip. Be- 
 side each tramped a couple of soldiers with fixed 
 bayonets, and two followed behind; and these 
 soldiers wore the uniform of the North Wilts 
 Regiment. 
 
 192 
 
THE MOCK-ORANGE BUSH 
 
 I knew them well enough by repute these 
 famous waggons conveying untold treasure be- 
 tween London and the Falmouth Packets. As 
 they passed I pushed warily forward and then 
 crept into the road again, to stare after them. 
 
 And with that, turning my head, I was aware 
 of a young lady outside the cottage door. But 
 if she had come out to gaze after the waggons, 
 she was gazing now at me. It was too late to 
 hide, and, moreover, I had come almost to the 
 end of my powers. With a cry for pity I ran 
 towards her. 
 
 193 
 
CHAPTEE XV 
 
 MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 STARK naked though I was, she did not flinch 
 as I came ; only her eyes seemed to widen upon 
 me in wonder. And for all my desperate hurry 
 I had time to see, first, that they were wiser and 
 graver than other girls' eyes, and, next, that 
 they were exceedingly beautiful. 
 
 In those days I had small learning (I have 
 little enough even now), or I might have fancied 
 as I came near that some goddess stood awaiting 
 me between the night and the dawn. She stood, 
 tall and erect, in a loose white wrapper, the col- 
 lar of which had fallen open, revealing the bod- 
 ice-folds of her nightgown a cloud, as it were, 
 at the base of her firm throat. Her feet were 
 thrust into loose slippers, and her hair hung low 
 on her neck in dark masses as she had knotted 
 them for the night. 
 
 "Where do you come from, boy ?" she asked ; 
 but an instant later put the question aside as an 
 194 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 idle one. "Someone has been ill-treating you. 
 Come indoors !" 
 
 She put out a hand, and I clung to it, sobbing. 
 She led me to the door, but turned with her other 
 hand on the latch. "Is anyone following?" 
 
 I shook my head, for my agitation choked me. 
 She was attempting now, but gently, to draw 
 back the hand to which I clung, and in resisting 
 my fingers met and pulled against a ring a 
 single ring of plain gold. 
 
 Seeing that I had observed it, she made no 
 further effort, but let her hand lie, her eyes at 
 the same moment meeting mine and searching 
 them gravely and curiously. 
 
 "Come upstairs," she said ; "but tread softly. 
 My father is a light sleeper." 
 
 She took me to a room in the corner of which 
 stood a white bed with the sheets neatly turned 
 down, prepared and ready for a guest. The 
 room was filled with the scent of flowers fra- 
 grant scent of roses and clean aromatic scent of 
 carnations. There were fainter scents, too, of 
 jasmine and lavender ; the first wafted in from a 
 great bush beyond the open lattice, the second 
 (as I afterwards discovered) exhaled by the 
 white linen of the bed. But flowers were every- 
 195 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 where, in bowls and jars and glasses; and as 
 though other receptacles for them had failed, 
 one long spray of small roses climbed the dress- 
 ing-table from a brown pitcher at its foot. 
 
 She motioned me to a chair beside the bed, 
 and almost before I knew what was intended, she 
 had fetched a basin of water and was kneeling 
 to wash my feet. 
 
 "No please !" I protested. 
 
 "But I love children," she whispered, "and 
 you are but a child." 
 
 So I sat in a kind of dream while she washed 
 away the dust and blood, changing the water 
 twice, and afterward dried each foot in a towel, 
 pressing firmly but never once hurting me. 
 
 When this was done, she rose and stood mus- 
 ing, contemplating me seriously, and yet and 
 now, for the first time with a touch of mirth in 
 her eyes. 
 
 "You are such a little one/' she said, more 
 to herself than to me. "Father's would never 
 fit." And having poured out fresh water, and 
 bidding me wash my body, she stole out. 
 
 She returned with a fresh towel and a white 
 garment in her hands, and real mirth now in her 
 eyes. My toilet done, she slipped the garment 
 196 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 over me. It fell to my feet in long folds, yet so 
 lightly that I scarcely felt I was clothed; and 
 she clapped her hands in dumb-show. It was 
 one of her own nightgowns. 
 
 I glanced, uneasily, towards the bed. Its 
 daintiness frightened me, used as I was to the 
 housekeeping coarse if clean of Mrs. Trapp. 
 
 "Your prayers first," she whispered. "Don't 
 you know any ?" She eyed me anxiously again. 
 "But you are a good boy? Surely, you are a 
 good boy ; not a milksop, you know that's quite 
 another thing. Don't boys say their prayers ? 
 They ought to." 
 
 I am afraid that, since passing out of Miss 
 Plinlimmon's tutelage, I had sadly neglected 
 the habit ; but I knelt now beside the bed, obe- 
 diently and in silence. 
 
 She stepped close beside me. "But you're 
 not speaking," she murmured. "Father always 
 says his aloud, and so do I. You mustn't pre- 
 tend, if you don't really know any. I can teach 
 you." 
 
 She knelt down beside me, and began to say 
 the Lord's Prayer softly. I repeated it after 
 her, sentence by sentence; and this was really 
 shamming, for, of course, I knew it perfectly. 
 197 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAEKY REVEL 
 
 At the time I felt only that she this beauti- 
 ful creature beside me was in a strange state of 
 exaltation which I could not in the least under- 
 stand. I know now something of the springs I 
 had touched and loosened within her I, a 
 naked waif, coming to her out of the night and 
 catching her hand for protection, at that hour. 
 It was not I she taught, nor over me that she 
 yearned. She was reaching through me to a 
 child unknown, using me to press against a 
 strange love tearing at the roots of her body, and 
 to break the pain of it the roots of her body, I 
 say, for he who can separate a woman soul from 
 her body is a wiser man than I. 
 
 She arose from her knees and confronted me 
 with bright eyes and a lovely blush, born of soft 
 maternal secrets, threw back the sheets and 
 tucked them about me as I snuggled down. 
 
 "What is your name ?" 
 
 "Harry Harry Revel. Are you Miss Isabel 
 Brooks ?" 
 
 "I am Isabel." 
 
 "Why were you crying out there in the road ?" 
 
 "Was I crying ?" 
 
 "Well, not crying, exactly ; but you looked as 
 
 if you wanted to." 
 
 198 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 She smiled. "You have cheered me, you 
 see." But her eyes were moist. "We both have 
 our secrets, it seems, and you shall tell me yours 
 to-morrow. Will yours let you sleep?" 
 
 "I think so, Miss Isabel. I am so tired and 
 
 so clean and this bed is so soft " I 
 
 stretched out my arms luxuriously, and almost 
 before I knew it she was bending to kiss me, and 
 they were about her neck. Her hair fell over me 
 in a shower, and in the shade of it she laughed 
 happily, kissing me by the ear, and whispering : 
 
 "I have my happy secret, too !" 
 
 She straightened herself up, tossed back the 
 dark locks with a shake of the head, and moved 
 to the door. 
 
 "Good-night, and God bless you, Harry 
 Kevel!" 
 
 A bird was cheeping in the jasmine bush 
 when I dropped asleep, and when I awoke he 
 was cheeping there still. Of my dreams I only 
 remember that they ended in a vague sense of 
 discomfort, somehow arising from a vision of 
 Mr. Rogers in the act of throwing bread at 
 the swans and of the hen-bird's flurry as she 
 paddled away. But the sound which I took for 
 199 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 the splashing of water came in fact from the 
 rings of the window curtain, which Miss Isabel 
 was drawing to shut out the high morning sun. 
 
 She was dressed now in a plain print frock, 
 with her dusky hair braided yet not so as to 
 conceal its wealth ; and no rose could have looked 
 fresher. Do you know that one they call the 
 rose of Devon stately, very dark of leaf, excel- 
 lently fragrant, which contrives to be white, and 
 yet you cannot call it fair a gypsy-queen 
 among roses ? It has a warm tint, too, which is 
 not of the surface, but seems to be wrapped with- 
 in every petal too deep for a bloom, too sombre 
 for a flush. And it is my favourite among 
 roses, among all flowers; for I never meet it 
 but it speaks to me of Isabel. 
 
 She heard me stir and faced about, with her 
 hand yet on the curtain. "Awake ?" she cried, 
 and laughed a gayer creature altogether 
 while I stared, puzzled for the moment to think 
 where this room could be, and how I came in it. 
 
 "You shall have a basin of bread and milk, 
 presently, and after that you may get up and put 
 on these." She held out a suit of clothes which 
 lay across her arm. "I have borrowed them 
 from Miss Belcher, who distributes all sorts of 
 200 
 
MINDED COTTAGE 
 
 garments at Christmas among the youngsters 
 hereabouts, and has rummaged this out of her 
 stock. And after that I have told my father 
 about you, and he will be glad to make your ac- 
 quaintance. We shall find him in the garden. 
 And now I must go and see to preparing dinner ; 
 for it is past noon, though you may not know it, 
 and we keep no servant." 
 
 "They must surely keep a gardener/' thought 
 I, half an hour later, when clad in a blue 
 jacket very tight at the elbows and corduroy 
 breeches very tight at the knees and warm for 
 the time of year I descended with Isabel into 
 the walled garden at the back of the cottage. Its 
 whole area cannot have been half an acre, and 
 even so the half of it was taken up by a plot of 
 turf, smooth as a bowling green ; but beyond this 
 stretched a miniature orchard, and clean around 
 the walls ran a deep border crowded with mid- 
 summer flowers tall white lilies and Canter- 
 bury bells, stocks, sweet-williams, mignonette, 
 candytuft, and larkspurs ; bushes of lemon ver- 
 bena, myrtle, and the white everlasting pea. 
 Near the house all was kept in nicest order, with 
 trim ranks of standard roses marching level with 
 the turfed verges, and tall carnations staked and 
 201 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAKRY REVEL 
 
 bending towards them across the alley; but 
 around the orchard all grew riotous, and the or- 
 chard itself ended in a maze of currant bushes, 
 through which the path seemed to wander after 
 the sound of running water till it emerged upon 
 another clearing of turf, with a tall filbert tree 
 and a summer-house beneath it, and a row of 
 bee-hives set beside a stream. The stream, I af- 
 terwards learned, came down from Miss Belch- 
 er's park from the lake, in fact, where Mr. 
 Rogers and I had fed the swans and was the 
 real boundary of the garden ; but Miss Belcher 
 had allowed the Major to build a wall for pri- 
 vacy on the far side of it, yet not so high as to 
 shut off the sun from his bee-skeps; and had 
 granted him a private entrance through it to 
 the park a narrow wooden door approached by 
 a miniature bridge across the stream. 
 
 "Papa !" called Isabel, as we reached the edge 
 of this small clearing. 
 
 I heard a movement in the summer-house, and 
 her father appeared in the doorway. He was 
 old, but held himself so erect that his head al- 
 most touched the lintel of the summer-house 
 door, the posts of which he gripped, and so stood 
 framed, a giant of close upon six and a half feet 
 202 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 in stature. He wore a brown holland coat of an- 
 tique cut, very full in the skirts, with waistcoat 
 and breeches of the same, black stockings, and 
 square-toed shoes ; and at first I mistook him for 
 a Quaker. His snow-white hair, long and plen- 
 tiful, was gathered back from his temples, giv- 
 ing salience to a face of ineffable simplicity and 
 goodness the face of a man at peace with God 
 and all the world, yet touched about the clean- 
 shaven chin with lines in which an older ob- 
 server might have read the scars of by-gone pas- 
 sions, healed but not obliterated. 
 
 "Papa," said Isabel, "this is Harry Kevel." 
 
 Still holding by the door-posts he bowed with 
 ceremony, a little wide of me. I saw then that 
 his eyes were sightless. 
 
 "I am happy to make your acquaintance, 
 young sir. My daughter informs me that you 
 are in trouble." 
 
 "He has promised to tell me all about it," Isa- 
 bel put in. "We need not bother him with ques- 
 tions just now." 
 
 "Assuredly not," he agreed. "Well, if you 
 
 will, my lad, tell it to Isabel. What is your age ? 
 
 Barely fourteen ? Troubles at that age are not 
 
 often incurable. Only, whatever you do and 
 
 203 
 
ADVENTUEES OF HAEEY EEVEL 
 
 you will pardon an old man for suggesting it 
 tell the whole truth. When a man, though he 
 be much older than you and his case more seri- 
 ous than yours can possibly be when a man 
 once brings himself to make a clean breast of it, 
 the odds are on his salvation. Take my word for 
 that, and a wiser man's by the way, do you un- 
 derstand Latin ?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "I am sorry to hear it But perhaps you play 
 the drum ?" 
 
 "I I have never tried, sir." 
 
 "Dear, dear, this is unfortunate ; but at least 
 you can serve me by leading me around the gar- 
 den and telling me where the several flowers 
 grow, and how they come on. That will be some- 
 thing." His brow cleared and he spoke more 
 cheerfully. 
 
 "I will try, sir ; but indeed I can hardly tell 
 one flower from another." 
 
 At this his face fell again. "Do you, by 
 chance, know a bee when you see one ?" 
 
 "A bee ? Oh, yes, sir." 
 
 "Come, we have touched bottom at length ! 
 Do you understand bees? Can you handle 
 them?" 
 
 204 
 
MINHEff COTTAGE 
 
 Here Isabel, seeing my chap-fallen face, in- 
 terposed : 
 
 "And if he does not, papa, you will have the 
 pleasure of teaching him." 
 
 "Very true, my dear. You must excuse me" 
 here Major Brooks turned as if seeing me 
 with his sightless eyes. "They say that blind- 
 ness makes men patient, but I do not find it so." 
 He smiled. "It serves me right, after encour- 
 aging you to confession, to be dished in my own 
 sauce, eh ? But understand that I like you far 
 better for owning up. There are men there 
 is a clergyman in our neighbourhood for one 
 capable of pretending a knowledge of Latin 
 which they don't possess." 
 
 "Doesn't Mr. Whitmore know Latin?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "Hey? Who told you I was speaking of 
 Whitmore ?" 
 
 I glanced at Isabel, for her eyes drew me. 
 They were fixed on me almost in terror. 
 
 "I have heard him talk it, sir." 
 
 "Excuse me; you may have heard him pre- 
 tending." 
 
 "But, papa " Isabel put forth a hand as 
 
 if in protest ; and I noted that it trembled and 
 205 
 
ADVENTURES OE HARRY EEVEL 
 
 that the ring was missing which she had worn 
 overnight. "You never told me that he that 
 Mr. Whitmore " 
 
 "Was an impostor ? My dear, had you any 
 occasion to seek my opinion of him, or had I any 
 occasion to give it ? None, I think ; and but for 
 Master Revel's incomprehensible guess you had 
 not discovered it now. I have been betrayed 
 into gossip." 
 
 He turned abruptly and feeling with his hand 
 over the surface of the summer-house table, 
 found and picked up a small volume lying there. 
 It struck me that his temper for the moment was 
 not under perfect control. 
 
 Isabel cast at me a look which I could not in- 
 terpret and went slowly back to the house. 
 
 "The meaning of my catechism just now," 
 said her father, addressing me after listening 
 for a while to her retreating footsteps, "may be 
 the plainer when I tell you that I am translat- 
 ing the works of the Roman poet Virgil, line for 
 line, into English verse, and have just reached 
 the beginning of the Fourth Georgic. He is, I 
 may tell you, a poet, and the most marvellous 
 that ever lived ; so marvellous that the Middle 
 Ages mistook him for a magician. That any age 
 206 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 is likely to mistake me, his translator, for one I 
 think improbable. Nevertheless I do my best. 
 And while translating I hold this book in my 
 hand, not that I can see to read a line of it, but 
 because the mere touch of it, my companion on 
 many campaigns, seems to unloose my memory. 
 Except in handling this small volume I have 
 none of the delicate gift of divination by touch 
 with which blind men are usually credited. 
 But this is page one hundred and six, is it not ? 
 He held out the open book towards me, and 
 added, with sudden apprehension, "You can 
 read, I trust ?" 
 
 I assured him that I could. 
 
 "And write? Good again! Come in you 
 will find pen, ink and paper on the side-drum 
 in the corner. Bring them over to the table and 
 seat yourself. Eeady. Now, begin, and let me 
 know when you cannot spell a word. Twenty 
 lines a day is my average, but I have improved 
 on it this morning a usual experience when I 
 start upon a fresh poem." 
 
 I seated myself, silently wondering what 
 might be the use of the side-drum in the corner. 
 
 "Let me see let me see " He thumbed 
 
 the book for a while, murmuring words which I 
 207 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 could not catch ; then thrust it behind his back 
 with a finger between its pages, straightened 
 himself up, and declaimed: 
 
 " Next of aerial honey, gift divine, 
 I sing. Maecenas, be once more benign ! " 
 
 He paused and instructed me how to spell 
 "aerial" and "Maecenas." The orthography of 
 these having been settled, I asked his advice 
 upon "benign," which, as written down by me 
 (I forget how), did not seem convincing. 
 
 "You are indisputably an honest boy," said 
 he ; "but I have yet to acquire that degree of pa- 
 tience which, by all accounts, consorts with my 
 affliction. Continue, pray: 
 
 " Prepare the pomp of trifles to behold : 
 Proud peers a nation's polity unroll'd 
 Customs, pursuits its clans, and how they fight 
 Slight things I labour ; not for glory slight, 
 If Heaven attend and Phoebus hearken me 
 
 First then, for site. Seek and install your Bee 
 
 With a capital B, if you please. The poet says, 
 'bees'; but the singular, especially if written 
 with a capital, adds, in my opinion, that mock- 
 heroic touch which, as the translator must fre- 
 quently miss it for all his pains, he had better in- 
 208 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 sert where he can. By the way, how have you 
 spelt 'Phoebus' ?" 
 
 "F-e-b-u-s," I answered. 
 
 "I feared so," he sighed. "And 'site' 3" 
 
 a S-i-g-h-t." I felt pretty sure about this. 
 
 He smote his forehead. 
 
 "That is how Miss Plinlimmon taught me," I 
 urged, almost defiantly. 
 
 "I beg your pardon 'Plinlimmon/ did you 
 say ? An unusual name. Do you indeed know a 
 Miss Plinlimmon ?" 
 
 "It is the name of my dearest friend, sir." 
 
 "Most singular ! You cannot tell me, I dare 
 say, if she happens to be related to my old friend, 
 Arthur Plinlimmon ?" 
 
 "She is his sister." 
 
 "This is most interesting. I remember her, 
 then, as a girl. You must know that Arthur 
 Plinlimmon and I were comrades in the old 
 Fourth Eegiment, and dear friends are dear 
 friends yet, I trust, although time and circum- 
 stances have separated us. His sister used to 
 keep house for him before his marriage. A most 
 estimable person! And pray, where did you 
 make her acquaintance?" 
 
 "In the hospital, sir." 
 209 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "The hospital ? Not an eleemosynary institu- 
 tion, I hope ?" 
 
 I did not know what this meant. "It's a 
 place for foundlings, sir," I answered. 
 
 "But, excuse me, Miss Plinlimmon 
 Agatha ? Arabella ? I forget for the moment 
 her Christian name " 
 
 "Agatha, sir." 
 
 "To be sure, Agatha. It signifies good- 
 ness." 
 
 "Then it's the right name for her !" I cried. 
 
 "No doubt, my lad ; and I admire your enthu- 
 siasm. Still, it puzzles me to guess how she can 
 describe herself, or be described, as a found- 
 ling." 
 
 "Oh, no, sir ; she is the matron there." 
 
 "I see. And where is this hospital, as you 
 call it?" 
 
 "At Plymouth Dock." 
 
 "Hey ?" 
 
 "At Plymouth Dock. A Mr. Scougall keeps 
 it a sort of clergyman." 
 
 "This is most strange. My friend Arthur's 
 son, young Archibald Plinlimmon, is quartered 
 with his regiment there the North Wilts and 
 often pays us a visit, poor lad." 
 210 
 
MINDEN COTTAGE 
 
 "Indeed, sir ?" 
 
 "His circumstances are not prosperous. Fam- 
 ily troubles money losses, you understand 
 and then his father made an imprudent mar- 
 riage. Not that anything can be said against 
 the Leicesters there are few better families. 
 But the lady, I imagine, did not take kindly to 
 poverty ; never learnt to cut her coat according 
 to the cloth. Her uncle might have helped her 
 Sir Charles, that is the head of the family 
 a childless man with plenty of money; for 
 some reason, however, he had opposed her 
 match with Arthur. A sad story! And now, 
 when their lad is grown and the time come for 
 him to be a soldier, he must start in the ranks. 
 But why in the world, if she lives at Plymouth 
 Dock, has Archibald never mentioned his aunt 
 to us ?" 
 
 This was more than I could tell him. And 
 you may be sure that the name Leicester made 
 me want to ask questions, not to answer them. 
 But just now Isabel came across the lawn bear- 
 ing a tray with a plateful of biscuits, a decanter 
 of claret, and a glass. 
 
 "My dear," asked her father, "has. our friend 
 Archibald ever spoken to you of an aunt of his 
 211 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 a Miss Agatha Plinlimmon residing at 
 Plymouth Dock?" 
 
 "No, papa. 7 ' She turned on me, again with 
 that fear and appeal in her eyes, as if in some 
 way I was persecuting her, and the decanter 
 shook and tinkled on the rim of the glass as she 
 poured out the claret. 
 
 The old man lifted the wine, sipped it, and 
 held it between his sightless eyes and the sun- 
 shine. 
 
 "A sad story," he mused, "but, after all, the 
 lad is young and the world young for him. Re- 
 joice in your youth, Mr. Revel, and honour your 
 Creator in the days of it. For me, I enjoyed it 
 by God's grace, and it has not forsaken me ; no, 
 not when darkness overtook and shut me out of 
 the profession I loved. I cannot see the colour 
 of this wine, nor the face of this my daughter, 
 nor my garden, yonder, full of flowers 
 
 " Seasons return, but not to me returns 
 Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, 
 Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, 
 Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine 
 
 Yet memory returns and consoles my blind- 
 ness. The colour of the wine is there, the flow- 
 212 
 
MINDEN" COTTAGE 
 
 ers are about me, and Isabel I am told re- 
 sembles her mother. Yes, and away, on the 
 edge of Spain, the army I served is planting 
 fresh laurels my old regiment, too, the King's 
 Own, though James Brooks is by this time 
 scarcely a name in it. Here I sit, hale in wind 
 anl limb, and old age creeps on me kindly, tell- 
 ing me that no man is necessary. And yet, if 
 God should come and lay a command on me 
 some task that a blind man might undertake 
 I am at God's service. I sit with loins girt and 
 my soul, I hope, shriven. That is my sermon 
 to you, young sir a clean breast and no bag- 
 gage. Welcome to Minden Cottage!" He 
 drank to me. 
 
 "Is it named from the battle of Minden, sir ?" 
 I asked. 
 
 "It is, my lad." 
 
 "Were you there ?" 
 
 He laughed. "I am not so old as all that. 
 My father won his captaincy there in a regiment 
 that mistook orders, charged three lines of cav- 
 alry, and broke them one after another. It also 
 broke a sound maxim of war by charging flank- 
 ing batteries. The British Army has made half 
 its reputation by mistaking orders you will un- 
 213 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 derstand why if ever you have the honour to be- 
 long to it. Isabel, get me my drum." 
 
 She fetched it from its corner, with the drum- 
 sticks, hitched the sling over her beautiful neck, 
 tightened the straps carefully, and began to play 
 a soft tattoo. 
 
 The old man leaned back in his chair, felt in 
 his pocket, and having found a silk bandanna 
 handkerchief, unfolded it deliberately, cast it 
 over his head, and composed himself to slumber. 
 
 The tattoo ran on, peaceful as a brook. Isa- 
 bel's arms hung lax and motionless; only her 
 hands stirred from the wrists, and so slightly, or 
 else so rapidly without effort, that they, too, 
 scarcely seemed to move. Her eyes were averted. 
 
 My ear could not separate the short taps. 
 They ran on and on in a murmur as of bees or 
 of leaves rustling together in a wood ; grew im- 
 perceptibly gentler, and almost imperceptibly 
 ceased. Isabel glanced at her father, then at 
 me, and set the drum back in its corner. We 
 stole out of the summer-house together, and 
 across to the orchard. 
 
 But under the shade of the apple-boughs she 
 turned (as I knew she would) and faced me. 
 
 "Boy, what do you know ?" 
 214 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 MR. JACK ROGERS AS A MAN OF AFFAIRS 
 
 "I KNOW," said I, meeting her gaze sturdily, 
 "that you are in danger." 
 
 "How should I be in danger ?" 
 
 "That I cannot tell you, Miss Isabel, unless 
 first you tell me something." 
 
 She waited, her eyes searching mine. 
 
 "Last night," I went on, "in the road you 
 were expecting someone." 
 
 Her chin went up proudly, but a tide of red 
 rose with it, flushing her throat, and so creeping 
 up and colouring her face, while her look turned 
 to defiance. 
 
 "Were you expecting Archibald Plinlim- 
 
 Q}% 
 
 mon r 
 
 She put up a hand as if to push me aside dis- 
 dainfully, but on a sudden turned away with a 
 sob and hastened from me, with bowed head, 
 toward the cottage. 
 
 "Miss Isabel!" I cried, following her close. 
 215 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "I meant no harm ; you have been good to me 
 how could I mean you harm ? Miss Isabel !" 
 
 She paid no heed. And yet I would not let 
 her go, but followed her to the door, entreating, 
 even pushed after her into the small kitchen, 
 where at last she faced round on me. 
 
 "Why cannot you let me alone, boy ? Into 
 what have you come here to pry ? You are odi- 
 ous yes, odious !" She stamped her foot pas- 
 sionately. "And I thought, last night, that you 
 were in trouble. Was I not kind to you for that, 
 
 and that only? What have I done " she 
 
 broke off pitifully. "Oh, Harry, I am dread- 
 fully unhappy !" 
 
 She sank into a chair beside the white deal 
 table, across which she flung an arm and so 
 leaned her brow upon it and let the sobs shake 
 her. 
 
 I went to her and, kneeling, took the hand 
 which lay limply at her side. 
 
 "And I am here to help you, Miss Isabel. 
 Yes, surely, I could help; only so much is 
 puzzling me. Last night you said you had a 
 secret, and that it was a happy one. To-day 
 you are crying, and it is miserable to see." 
 
 "And why should I not be happy?" she 
 216 
 
MR. JACK ROGERS 
 
 asked, raising her head as my fingers closed on 
 hers. She lifted her other hand to the bosom 
 of her bodice, and a moment later gently dis- 
 engaged my clasp and slipped over her third 
 finger the ring she had worn overnight. 
 
 "Why should I not be expecting him ?" she 
 murmured. 
 
 For the moment I was slow in understanding. 
 But I suppose that at length she saw that in 
 my eyes which satisfied her, for she drew down 
 my head to her lap, and sat laughing and weep- 
 ing together, but very softly. 
 
 A kettle hanging from a crook in the chim- 
 ney-piece boiled over, hissing down upon the 
 hot wood ashes. She sprang up, lifted it down 
 to the hearth and faced me again, shamefaced, 
 and adorably confused. 
 
 "Oh, and I forgot !" Her hand went to her 
 bodice again. "Mr. Jack Rogers was here this 
 morning inquiring for you. He drove up in his 
 tilbury, and said he was on his way to 
 Plymouth ; but he left this note for you." 
 
 I took it, warm from her body, and deciphered 
 these words, scrawled in an abominable hand : 
 
 "Meet me to-night, nine o'clock) at the place 
 where we parted. Most important. J. R." 
 217 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Was Mr. Rogers going to Plymouth?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes, and in a hurry, by the pace he was 
 driving." 
 
 As you may guess, this news disconcerted me 
 not a little. Could Mr. Rogers be preparing a 
 trap ? No, certainly not for me. Whitmore, if 
 anyone, was his quarry. But I mistrusted that, 
 if he once started this game, it would lead him 
 on to another scent. I had little reason to be 
 confident in Archibald Plinlimmon I remem- 
 bered the episode of Miss Plinlimmon's purse 
 and my heart was sore for Isabel. But I had 
 now more reason than ever for hiding what I 
 knew. That he was innocent of the Jew's mur- 
 der I felt sure. Still, what had he been seeking 
 on the roof, by the Jew's house ? It would be an 
 ugly discovery, if Mr. Rogers blundered on it, 
 and in the way of honest blundering I felt Mr. 
 Rogers to be infinitely capable. If only, trust- 
 ing in his good-nature, I had made a clean 
 breast of it ! As it was I had let loose a blind 
 shaft to strike perhaps on Archibald Plinlim- 
 mon, and, through him, the heart of Isabel. 
 
 A clean breast ? She too, poor girl, was ach- 
 ing to make confession to her father, and know 
 218 
 
ME. JACK EOGEKS 
 
 the worst of his wrath. For weeks her secret 
 had been a sword within her, wearing the flesh, 
 and it eased her somewhat (as I saw) even to 
 have made confession to me. But she would not 
 speak to her father without first consulting 
 Archibald. It was he ; I gathered, who had en- 
 forced silence. Major Brooks (and small blame 
 to him) would assuredly have imposed a proba- 
 tion ; old men with lovely daughters do not sur- 
 render them at call to penniless youths even 
 when the penniless youth happens to be the son 
 of an old friend. In my heart I sent Master 
 Archibald to perdition for a selfish fool. 
 
 I talked long with Isabel, first in the kitchen, 
 and again on our way back to the summer-house, 
 where her father sat awake and expecting me, 
 book in hand. 
 
 There she left me, and he began to dictate at 
 once as I settled myself to write : 
 
 " First, then, for site Seek, and install your Bee T 
 Where nor may winds intrude (for winds forhid 
 His homeward load) : nor sheep, nor headstrong kid 
 Trample the flowers ; nor vagrant heifer pass, 
 Brush off the dew and bruise the budding grass ; 
 Nor lizard foe in painted armour prowl 
 Round the rich hive. Bee bird, yea, every fowl 
 219 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Be banned, with Procne of the bloodied breast. 
 For these waste all our hero with the rest, 
 Snapped on the wing and haled, a tit-bit, to the nest. 
 But welling springs and spongy moss supply 
 And through the grass a streamlet fleeting by " 
 
 So much, with interminable pauses, we accom- 
 plished before the light waned in the summer- 
 house and Isabel called us in to supper, which 
 we ate together in a low-ceiled parlour overlook- 
 ing the garden. At a quarter to nine, on pre- 
 tence that I had still to make up arrears of 
 sleep, she signed to me to wish her father good- 
 night and escorted me out into the passage. A 
 slip of the bolt and I was free of the road and 
 the night, to seek and learn the best, or the 
 worst, Mr. Rogers might have to tell. 
 
 I found the spot where I had dropped into the 
 road and cautiously mounted the hedge, putting 
 the brambles aside and passing through them in 
 the fast-falling twilight. A low whistle sounded, 
 and Mr. Rogers I had no difficulty in recognis- 
 ing him stepped into view on the foot-bridge. 
 But he left a companion behind him in the 
 shadow of the alders, and who this might be I 
 could not see or guess. 
 
 "Is that you, Master Revel ?" he whispered, 
 
 hoarsely. 
 
 220 
 
MR. JACK ROGERS 
 
 There was no help for it now; so over the 
 hedge I climbed and met him. 
 
 "How did you find out " 
 
 "Your name ? Well, as a matter of fact, Miss 
 Brooks told me this morning. But, for that 
 matter, it's placarded all over Plymouth and at 
 every public and forge and sign-post along the 
 road. You're a notorious character, my son." 
 
 I began to quake. 
 
 "Parson," he went on, turning and address- 
 ing the figure in the shadow, "here's the boy, 
 Better make haste if you have any questions to 
 ask him before we get to business." 
 
 There stepped forward, not Mr. Whitmore 
 (as I was fearfully expecting), but a figure un- 
 known to me an old shovel-hatted man lean- 
 ing on a stick, and buttoned to the chin in a 
 black Inverness cape. I felt his eyes peering 
 at me through the dusk. 
 
 "He seems very young to be a trustworthy 
 witness," croaked this old gentleman in a voice 
 which seemed to be affected by the night air. 
 
 "He's right enough," Mr. Eogers answered 
 cheerfully. 
 
 "He shall tell his tale, then, in Mr. Whit- 
 221 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 more's presence. I will not yet believe that a 
 gentleman and a minister of Christ's religion, 
 whose papers as I have proved to you are in 
 order, whose testimonials are unexceptionable, 
 who has the Bishop's licence " 
 
 "The Bishop's fiddlestick! Whitmore shall 
 explain how he manufactured it. The Bishop 
 didn't license him to carry marked guineas in his 
 pocket, and I don't wait for a licence to carry a 
 warrant in mine." 
 
 "You will at least afford him an opportunity 
 of explaining before you execute it. For, to be 
 plain with you, Mr. Eogers, this business is like 
 to be scandalous however you look at it ; scandal- 
 ous for many, if true, and scandalous for me if 
 it turn out that we make this descent, trusting 
 to the evidence of a child, and find our suspi- 
 cions baseless." 
 
 "The constables shall remain outside, and the 
 warrant I'll keep in my pocket until your rever- 
 ence's doubts are at rest." Mr. Eogers gave an- 
 other low whistle, and two men, hitherto con- 
 cealed at a little distance in the trees' shadow, 
 stepped silently forward and joined us. 
 "Ready, lads ? Quick march, then !" 
 222 
 
MR. JACK ROGERS 
 
 We took the path up the valley bottom, Mr. 
 Rogers leading, the old clergyman and I close 
 behind him ; the two constables bringing up the 
 rear. The path for a while kept alongside the 
 stream and parallel with the hedge of the high 
 road, but by-and-by trended to the left and 
 parted into two branches, the upper of which 
 Mr. Rogers chose. It led us uphill and across 
 a grassy shoulder of the park to a small gate in 
 the ring-fence. Beyond this gate a lane, or cart- 
 road, dipped steeply down hill to the right; 
 and, following it, we came on a high stone wall 
 overtopped by trees. 
 
 "Here's your post, Hodgson/' whispered Mr. 
 Rogers, after waiting for the constables to come 
 up. "You're to mount guard here, while Jim 
 takes the back of the house; and, understand, 
 that no one is to enter or to leave. If anyone 
 attempts it, signal to me ; one whistle from you, 
 Hodgson, and two from Jim. Off you go, my 
 lad. The signal's the same if I want you one 
 whistle or two, as the case may be." 
 
 The constable he called Jim crept away in the 
 darkness, while Mr. Rogers found and cau- 
 tiously opened a wicket-gate leading to a court- 
 lodge, across which a solitary window shone on 
 223 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 the ground-floor of a house lifting its gables and 
 heavy chimney against a sky only less black than 
 itself. 
 
 "Gad!" said Mr. Rogers, softly, "I wonder 
 what Whitmore's doing? The fun would be, 
 now, to find one of these windows unfastened 
 as like enough they'd be, this warm night and 
 slip in upon him without announcing ourselves. 
 'T wouldn't be the thing, though, for a Justice of 
 the Peace, let alone Mr. Doidge here. No ; we'll 
 have to do it in order and knock. The maid 
 knows me, and Whitmore won't smoke anything 
 suspicious. Only you two must keep back in the 
 shadow here while she opens the door." 
 
 He stepped forward and knocked boldly. 
 
 To the astonishment of us all the door opened 
 almost at once, and without any noise of unlock- 
 ing or drawing of bolts. 
 
 "For Heaven's sake, my dear unless you 
 want to wake the village" began a voice testily. 
 It was Mr. Whitmore's, and almost on the in- 
 stant by the light of a candle which he held, he 
 recognised the man on the doorstep. 
 
 "Mr. Eogers ? To what do I owe " 
 
 "Good evening, Whitmore ! May I come in ? 
 Won't detain you long especially since you 
 224 
 
MR. JACK ROGERS 
 
 seem to be expecting company female com- 
 pany, too, by the sound of it." 
 
 "It's the maid/' answered Mr. Whitmore, 
 coldly, though he seemed confused. "She has 
 stepped down to the village for an hour to her 
 mother's cottage, and I am alone in the house." 
 
 "So you call her 'my dear' ? That's a bit 
 pastoral, eh ?" 
 
 "Look here, Rogers: If you're drunk, I'd 
 rather you called at some other time. To tell 
 you the truth, I'm busy." 
 
 "Writing your sermon ? I thought Saturday 
 was the night for that. 'Pon my honour, now, 
 I wouldn't intrude, only the business is urgent." 
 He waited while Mr. Whitmore somewhat 
 grudgingly set the door wide to admit him. 
 "By the way, I've brought a couple of friends 
 with me." 
 
 "Confound it all, Rogers " 
 
 "Oh, you know them," Mr. Rogers, with his 
 foot planted over the threshold, airily waved us 
 forward out of the darkness. "Mr. Doidge, 
 your Rector," he announced ; "also Mr. Revel 
 a recent acquaintance of yours, as I under- 
 stand." 
 
 "Good evening, Whitmore," said the Rector, 
 225 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 stepping forward. "I owe you an apology (I 
 sincerely hope) for the circumstances of this 
 visit, as I certainly discommend Mr. Rogers's 
 method of introducing us." 
 
 Now, as we two slipped forward, Mr. Whit- 
 more had instantly shot out his right hand to 
 the door against which Mr. Rogers, however, 
 had planted his foot with a gesture as if to 
 slam it in our faces. But the sombre apparition 
 of the Rector seemed to freeze him where he 
 stood or all of him but his left hand, which, 
 grasping the candlestick, slowly and as if invol- 
 untarily lifted it above the level of his eyes. 
 Then before the Rector had concluded, he low- 
 ered it, turned, and walked hastily before us 
 down the passage. 
 
 Still without speaking he passed through a 
 door on his right, and we followed him into a 
 sparely furnished room almost completely lined 
 with empty book-shelves. A few books lay scat- 
 tered on the centre table, where, also, within the 
 shaded light of a reading-lamp, stood a tray with 
 a decanter and a couple of glasses. Beside this 
 lamp he set down the candle and faced us. In 
 those few paces down the passage I had noticed 
 that he wore riding-boots and spurs, and that 
 226 
 
MR. JACK ROGERS 
 
 they were spotlessly bright and clean. But from 
 this moment I had eyes only for his face, which 
 was ashen white and the more horrible because 
 he was essaying a painful smile. 
 
 a My dear Rector," he began and the smile 
 seemed to harden into a fixed grin "this is 
 indeed a a surprise. You said nothing of any 
 such intention when I had the honour to call 
 on you in Plymouth, two days ago." 
 
 "Good reason for why," interrupted Mr. 
 Rogers. "Look here, Whitmore with the Rec- 
 tor's leave, we'll get this over. Do you know 
 this coin ?" 
 
 He plunged a hand into his breech pocket, 
 drew forth the guinea, and held it forward in 
 his open palm under the lamp. 
 
 I could see the unhappy man pick up his 
 courage to fix his gaze on the coin and hold it 
 fixed. 
 
 "I don't understand you, Rogers," he an- 
 swered, firmly enough. "I have, of course, no 
 knowledge of that coin or what it means. To me 
 it looks like an ordinary guinea." 
 
 "I won it from you last night, Whitmore ; and 
 it is not an ordinary guinea, but a marked one. 
 What's more, I marked it myself see, with this 
 227 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 small cross behind the king's head. What's 
 more, I sold it, so marked, to Rodriguez, the 
 Jew." 
 
 "Who, I suppose, promptly put it into circu- 
 lation in Plymouth, where by chance it was 
 handed to me amid the change when I. paid my 
 hotel bill if, indeed, you are absolutely sure 
 you were given this coin by me." 
 
 "Come, Eogers, that's an explanation I my- 
 self suggested," put in the Rector. 
 
 It was indeed an easy explanation, though I 
 did not believe in it for a moment. Still, even 
 knowing what I knew, I was surprised at the 
 half-hearted tone in which he uttered it, and 
 still more at the look (of utter fright) which, 
 while uttering it, he cast on me. 
 
 "The folks at the Royal Hotel," answered Mr. 
 Rogers, curtly, "tell me that you paid your bill 
 in silver. I had though I did not tell him so 
 already discovered that when the Rector raised 
 the question." 
 
 Now, I might well have wondered as I won- 
 dered later, and before the answer was given me 
 what had changed the harum-scarum Jack 
 Rogers of a few hours ago into the cross-exam- 
 iner before me. This lighter of last night's bon- 
 228 
 
ME. JACK EOGERS 
 
 fire was not one would have supposed the 
 man to press hardly on anyone who happened to 
 find himself on the wrong side of the law, even 
 though the crime were murder. Yet he was 
 pressing Whitmore harshly, almost with a note 
 of private vindictiveness in his voice. But just 
 now my eyes fell on the curate's hand as it 
 played nervously with the base of the brass can- 
 dlestick. There was a ring on the little finger, 
 and in an instant I knew though I could not 
 have sworn to it in court, yet knew more cer- 
 tainly than many things to which I could have 
 testified on oath that this was the hand I had 
 seen closing the door in the Jew's house. 
 
 Through a buzzing of the brain I heard him 
 addressing the Rector, and protesting against 
 the absurdity, the monstrosity of the charge 
 yet still with that recurring agonised glance at 
 me. But my eyes now were on Mr. Rogers, and 
 the buzzing ceased and my brain cleared when 
 he swung round, inviting me to speak. I cannot 
 tell what question he put to me, but what I said 
 was: 
 
 "If you please, sirs, the runners are after me, 
 and it isn't fair to make me tell yet what hap- 
 pened in the Jew's house, or what I saw there j 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAKEY EEVEL 
 
 for what I told might be twisted and turned 
 against me." 
 
 "Nonsense !" interrupted Mr. Rogers. But 
 the Rector nodded his head. "The boy's right. 
 He's under suspicion himself, , and should have 
 a lawyer to advise him before he speaks. That's 
 only fair play." 
 
 "But," I went on, "there's another thing, if 
 you'll be pleased to ask Mr. Whitmore about it. 
 Why is he paying money to a soldier a man 
 who calls himself Letcher, but his real name is 
 Leicester? And what have they been plotting 
 against Miss Isabel down at the Cottage ?" 
 
 230 
 
CHAPTEE XVII 
 
 LYDIA BELCHER INTERVENES 
 
 THE effect of my words amazed me. As a 
 regiment holding itself bravely against an at- 
 tack in front will suddenly melt at an unex- 
 pected shout in its rear and collapses without 
 striking another blow, so Mr. Whitmore col- 
 lapsed. His jaw fell; his eyes wildly searched 
 the dim corners of the room; his two hands 
 gripped the edge of the table ; he dropped slowly 
 into the chair behind him, dragging the table- 
 cloth askew as he sank. 
 
 With that I felt Mr. Rogers's grip on my 
 shoulder no gentle one, I can assure you. He, 
 too, had been gazing at the curate, but now 
 stared down, searching my face. 
 
 "You've hit him, by George ! Quick, boy ! 
 have you learnt more than you told me last 
 night ? Or is it only guessing ?" 
 
 "Ask him," said I, "why he married Miss 
 Isabel?" 
 
 231 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "Married ? Isabel Brooks married ? and to 
 that hound 2" 
 
 "Not to him, but to Archibald Plinlimmon. 
 Mr. Whitmore married them privately. Ask 
 him why." 
 
 "Why ?" Mr. Kogers released me and spring- 
 ing on the curate, seized him by the collar. 
 "Why, you unhanged cur ? Why ? Or, better, 
 say it's not true say something, or, by the 
 Lord, I'll kill you here and now!" 
 
 Mr. Whitmore slid from the chair and, 
 grovelling on the floor, clasped Mr. Doidge's 
 knees. 
 
 "Take him off !" he gasped. "Have mercy 
 take him off! You shall hear everything, sir; 
 indeed you shall. Only have mercy, and take 
 him off!" 
 
 "Pah !" Mr. Kogers hurled him into a cor- 
 ner. 
 
 "Enough, Mr. Rogers !" commanded the Rec- 
 tor, quietly but sternly. The two stood eyeing 
 the culprit, who, crouching where he fell, gazed 
 up at them dumbly, pitifully, as a dog between 
 two thrashings. 
 
 "Now, sir," the Rector continued. "You 
 married this couple, it seems. At whose re- 
 quest ?" 
 
 232 
 
LYDIA BELCHER INTERVENES 
 
 "At their own/' came the answer in a whisper. 
 
 "Ay," said Mr. Rogers, "at their own request. 
 You not being a priest at all, or in orders, but 
 a swindler with a forged licence married that 
 lady at her own request." 
 
 "Is that true ?" the Eector demanded. 
 
 The poor wretch made as if to crawl towards 
 him, to clasp his knees again. "Mercy!" he 
 whined, between two sobs. 
 
 "One moment," Mr. Rogers insisted, as the 
 Eector held up a hand. "Did young Plinlim- 
 mon know of the fraud ?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Does he know now?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Thank the Lord for that small mercy ! For, 
 by the Lord, Fd have shot him without grace to 
 say his prayers." 
 
 "Mr. Rogers !" again the Rector lifted a re- 
 proving hand. 
 
 "You don't understand, sir. For this mar- 
 riage which isn't a marriage Isabel Brooks 
 gave the door to an honest man. I may be a 
 bit of a fool, sir, but since she wasn't for me I 
 prayed she might find a better fellow. That's 
 233 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 sound Christianity, hey ? I can tell you it came 
 
 tough enough. And now " He swung 
 
 round upon Whitmore. "Did this man Letcher 
 know?" he demanded. 
 
 "He did, Mr. Rogers. Oh, if you only knew 
 what agonies of mind " 
 
 "Stow your agonies of mind! We'll begin 
 with those you've caused. What was Letcher's 
 game ?" 
 
 "His right name is Leicester, sir. He is Mr. 
 Plinlimmon's cousin or second cousin, rather 
 though Mr. Plinlimmon don't know it." Mr. 
 Whitmore, with his gloss rubbed off, was fast 
 returning to his native style even in speech. You 
 could as little mistake him now for a gentleman 
 as for a priest. 
 
 "And how does that bear on this pretty plot ?" 
 
 "I can tell you that, gentlemen; for when 
 George Leicester forced me to it and it was 
 only under threats so terrible that you would 
 hardly believe " 
 
 "In other words, he knew enough to hang 
 you." 
 
 "It was terrorism, gentlemen ; I was his slave, 
 body and soul. But when he came and proposed 
 234 
 
LYDIA BELCHER INTERVENES 
 
 this, and never told me what he was to get by it 
 for the plan was all his and I stood to win 
 nothing, absolutely nothing I determined to 
 find out for myself, thinking (you see) that by 
 getting at his secret I might put myself on level 
 terms." 
 
 "That is to say, you might discover enough 
 to hang him. I hope you succeeded." 
 
 "To this extent, Mr. Rogers George Leices- 
 ter and Archibald Plinlimmon's mother were 
 first cousins. There were three Leicesters, to 
 begin with, as you might say Sir Charles, who 
 was head of the family, and is living yet, though 
 close on eighty, and two younger brothers, Ar- 
 chibald and Randall, both dead. Sir Charles 
 was a bachelor, and for years his brothers lived 
 with him in a sort of dependence. Toward mid- 
 dle-age they both married I was told, by his or- 
 ders and near about at the same time. At any 
 rate, each married, and each had a child Ar- 
 chibald a daughter, and Randall a son. Archi- 
 bald's daughter he died two years after her 
 birth was brought up by her uncle, Sir 
 Charles, who made a pet of her ; but she spoilt 
 her prospects by marrying a poor soldier, Cap- 
 tain Plinlimmon. I fancy she ran away with 
 235 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 him. At any rate, the old man would never 
 speak to her again, nor see her, and cut her out 
 of his will." 
 
 "I see. And she this daughter of Archibald 
 Leicester was Archibald Plinlimmon's mother. 
 Is she living? 77 
 
 "Mrs. Plinlimmon died some years ago," I 
 put in. 
 
 "Hey ? What do you know about all this ?" 
 asked Mr. Rogers. 
 
 "A little, sir," I answered. 
 
 "But what little you know does it bear this 
 man's story out? 7 ' 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Eight. It's as well to have some check on 
 it, for I'd trust him just so far as I could fling 
 him by the eyebrows." 
 
 "There was no profit for me in this business, 
 Mr. Eogers," protested Whitmore. "I'm telling 
 you the truth, sir I am indeed. 77 And indeed 
 the poor rogue, having for the moment another 7 s 
 sins to confess, rattled on with his story almost 
 glibly. "As I was saying, sir, the old man cut 
 her out of his will ; and not only this, but had a 
 Bible fetched and took his oath upon it that 
 no child of hers should ever touch a penny of his 
 236 
 
LYDIA BELCHEE INTERVENES 
 
 money. Be so good as to bear that in mind, sir, 
 for it's important." 
 
 "I see," Mr. Kogers nodded. "So that cuts 
 out Master Archibald. And the money, I sup- 
 pose, went to her brother's child the boy you 
 spoke of." 
 
 "Softly, sir, for now we come to it. That 
 boy Randall Leicester's son was George 
 Leicester, the man who calls himself Letcher. 
 Randall Leicester lived long enough to have his 
 heart broken by him. He started in the Navy, 
 wi^h plenty of pocket money and better pros- 
 pects, for Sir Charles turned all his affection 
 over to him and it was taken for granted 
 meant to make him his heir. But if you knew 
 George Leicester, gentlemen, as I do! That 
 man has a devil in him; and the devil showed 
 himself early. First, there was an ugly story 
 about a woman a planter's wife in one of the 
 West India islands, where he was serving un- 
 der Abercromby Santa Lucia, I think, or it 
 may have been St. Vincent. They say that after 
 getting her to run with him, he left her stranded 
 and bolted back to the ship with his pockets full 
 of her jewels. On top of that came a bad busi- 
 ness at Naples an affair of cards which cost 
 237 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 him his uniform. After that he disappeared, 
 and for years his uncle has believed him to be 
 dead. 77 
 
 "Then who gets the money ?" 
 
 "There's the villainy, sir" he spoke as if in- 
 deed he had taken no hand in it. "Sir Charles, 
 you see, was tied by his oath not to leave it to 
 young Plinlimmon ; but it seems he's persuaded 
 himself that the oath doesn't apply to young 
 Plinlimmon's children, should he marry and 
 have children. To whom else should it go ? 
 'Lawf ul heirs of his body' you may bet the w^ill 
 runs. I've a notion that George Leicester has 
 made certain of this ; but, anyway, that's how I 
 explain his game. If the inheritance is made 
 void by bastardy, you see, he turns up as the 
 legitimate heir and collars the best of the prop- 
 erty." 
 
 "My God!" shouted Mr. Rogers, and would 
 have leapt on him again to throttle him, had not 
 the Rector, with wonderful agility for his years, 
 flung himself between. "You dare to stand 
 there and tell me that, to aid this deviltry, you 
 pushed a woman into shame and that woman 
 Isabel Brooks." 
 
 "Mr. Rogers," the Rector implored, "control 
 238 
 
LYDIA BELCHEE INTERVENES 
 
 yourself. I know better than you every man 
 knows who has been a parish priest what vile- 
 ness a man can be guilty of to save his skin. Re- 
 serve your wrath for Leicester, but let this poor 
 creature be he has an awful expiation before 
 him and consider with me if the worst of this 
 evil cannot be remedied." He turned to the cu- 
 rate. "You have the registers the parish 
 papers ? Where are they ? Here ?" 
 
 Whitmore nodded towards a door in the cor- 
 ner not the door by which we had entered, but 
 one which, by its appearance, might open on a 
 large cupboard. 
 
 "Is the licence for this marriage among 
 them ? Give me the key." 
 
 The curate nodded and seemed to search in 
 his pocket for a moment; then jerked a hand 
 towards the door, as if meaning that no key was 
 necessary. The Rector strode across to search. 
 
 "By God, it shall be remedied !" Mr. Rogers 
 shouted. "Rector !" 
 
 The old man turned. 
 
 "Well?" he asked. 
 
 "You can marry them yet." 
 
 "To be sure I can. And if the licence is in 
 239 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 order, little time need be lost. Let me search 
 for it." 
 
 "Man, there's no time to lose! The North 
 Wilts Regiment sails to-morrow night for Portu- 
 gal. I heard the news as I left Plymouth." 
 
 "If that's so," I put in, "Mr. Plinlimmon will 
 be down at the Cottage to-night, or to-morrow 
 morning, to say good-bye." 
 
 "Are you sure of that ?" 
 
 "Sure," said I. "Miss Isabel told me that he 
 had his Colonel's promise." 
 
 Mr. Rogers slapped his thigh. "Egad, boy, 
 it seems to me you're the good angel in this 
 business. We'll send down to the Cottage at 
 once." 
 
 He pulled a dog-whistle from his pocket and 
 blew two shrill calls upon it. But above the sec- 
 ond sounded the Rector's voice in a sharp excla- 
 mation, and we spun round in time to see 
 him fling back the door and pass, not into a cup- 
 board as I had expected, but into a lighted room. 
 
 I was running towards the door to see what 
 
 his exclamation might mean, when at the other 
 
 appeared the constable whom Mr. Rogers called 
 
 "Jim" a youngish man, and tall, with a round 
 
 240 
 
LYDIA BELCHER INTERVENES 
 
 head set like a button on top of a massive pair 
 of shoulders. 
 
 "You whistled for me, sir ?" 
 
 "I did. You will not be wanted to keep watch 
 any longer. Step down to Minden Cottage and 
 give this note to Miss Brooks." He pulled out a 
 pencil, searched his pockets and found a scrap 
 of paper, and, leaning over the table, scrib- 
 bled a few lines. "If Miss Brooks has gone to 
 bed, you must knock her up." 
 
 "Very good, sir." Constable Jim touched his 
 hat and retired. 
 
 "And now what's the matter in there ? Come 
 along, you, Whitmore. Has he found the 
 licence?" 
 
 But this was not what the Rector's cry had an- 
 nounced. The room into which we passed had 
 apparently served Mr. Whitmore for a bed- 
 chamber and private study combined, for a bed 
 stood in the corner, and a book-case and bureau 
 on either side of the chimney-piece. In the mid- 
 dle of the floor lay an open valise, and all around 
 it a litter of books and clothes, tossed here and 
 there as their owner had dragged them out to 
 make a selection in his packing. 
 
 Mr. Rogers uttered a long whistle. "So you 
 241 
 
ADVENTUEES OF HAERY EEVEL 
 
 were in the act of bolting?" He stared around, 
 rubbing his chin and forehead, his eyes again on 
 Whitmore. "Now, why to-night, I wonder ?" 
 
 "My conscience, Mr. Rogers " 
 
 "Oh, the devil take your conscience! Your 
 conscience seems to have timed matters pretty 
 accurately, if not quite accurately enough. Say 
 that your nose smelt a rat. But why to-night ?" 
 
 I cannot say why, but, as he stared around, a 
 nausea seemed to take the unfortunate man. 
 Perhaps, the excitement of confession over, the 
 cold shadow of the end rose and thrust itself be- 
 fore him. He was, I feel sure, a coward in 
 grain. He swayed and caught at the ledge of 
 the chimney-piece, almost knocking over one of 
 the two candles which burned there. 
 
 With that there smote on our ears the sounds 
 of two voices in altercation outside one a 
 woman's high contralto. And, a moment later, 
 footsteps came bustling through the outer room 
 and there stood on the threshold Miss Belcher. 
 
 She was attired in a low-crowned beaver hat 
 and a riding-habit, the skirt of which, hitched 
 high in her left hand, disclosed a pair of tall 
 boots cut like hessians but without the hessian 
 tassel. On this hand blazed an enormous dia- 
 242 
 
LYDIA BELCHER INTERVENES 
 
 mond. The other, resting on her hip, held a 
 hunting-crop and a pair of gauntleted gloves. 
 
 "I bid ye be quiet, Sam Hodgson," she was 
 saying to the constable, who followed her, vainly 
 expostulating. a Man, if you dare to get in my 
 way, I'll take the whip to ye. To heel, I say ! 
 'Mr. Rogers's orders' ? Damn your impidence, 
 what do I care for Mr. Rogers? Why, hullo, 
 Jack " 
 
 As her gaze travelled round the room, Mr. 
 Rogers stepped up and addressed the constable 
 across her: 
 
 "It's all right, Hodgson ; you may go back to 
 your post. I wasn't expecting Miss Belcher. 
 And, begad, Lydia," he added, as the constable 
 withdrew, "this is a queer hour for a call." 
 
 But Miss Belcher's gaze moved slowly from 
 the Rector whose bow she answered with a curt 
 nod to me, and from me to the figure of Whit- 
 more by the fireplace. 
 
 "What's wrong?" she demanded. "Lord, if 
 he's not fainting!" and as she ran, the curate 
 swayed and almost fell into her arms. "Brandy, 
 Jack ! I saw a bottle in the next room, didn't 
 I ? No, thank ye, Rector I can manage him." 
 
 As Mr. Rogers hurried back for the brandy, 
 243 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 she lifted the man and carried him, rejecting our 
 help, to an arm-chair beside the window. There 
 for a moment, standing with her back to me, she 
 peered into his face and (as I think now) whis- 
 pered a word to him. 
 
 "Open the window, boy he wants air," she 
 called to me, over her shoulder. 
 
 While I fumbled to draw the curtains, she 
 reached an arm past me and flung them back; 
 and so, with a turn of the wrist unlatched the 
 casement and thrust the pane wide. In doing 
 so she leaned the weight of her body on mine, 
 pressing me back among the curtain-folds. 
 
 I heard a cry from the Eector. An oath from 
 Mr. Rogers answered it. But between the cry 
 and the answer Mr. Whitmore rushed past me 
 and, vaulting the sill, escaped into the night. 
 
 "Confound you, Lydia !" Mr. Rogers set down 
 the tray with a crash and leapt over it toward 
 the window, finding his whistle and blowing a 
 shrill call as he ran. "We'll have him yet ! Tell 
 Hodgson to take the lane. Oh, confound your 
 interference !" 
 
 Across the yard a clatter of hoofs sounded, 
 
 cutting short his speech. 
 244 
 
LYDIA BELCHEE INTERVENES 
 
 "The gate !" he shouted, clambering across the 
 sill. 
 
 But he was too late. As he dropped upon the 
 cobbles and pelted off to close it, I saw and heard 
 a horse and rider go hurling through the open 
 gate an indistinguishable mass. A shout a 
 jet or two of sparks a bang on the thin timbers 
 as on a drum and the hoofs were thudding 
 away farther and farther into darkness. 
 
 245 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 SILENCE and then Mr. Rogers's voice up- 
 lifted and shouting for Hodgson. 
 
 But Hodgson, it seemed, had found a way of 
 his own. For, a moment later, a fresh sound of 
 hoofs alarmed the night this time in the lane, 
 down which it swept in pursuit a tune pound- 
 ed out to the accompaniment of loose stones 
 volleyed and dropping between the beats. 
 
 "Drat the man's impidence," said Miss 
 Belcher, coolly; "he's taken my mare." 
 
 "What's that you say ?" demanded Mr. 
 Rogers's angry voice from the yard. 
 
 "You won't find another horse, Jack, unless 
 you brought him. Whitmore keeps but one." 
 
 "Confound it all, Lydia !" He came sullenly 
 back towards the window. 
 
 "You've said that before. The man's gone, 
 unless Hodgson can overtake him which I 
 doubt. He rides sixteen stone, if an ounce, 
 246 
 
THE OWL'S CRY 
 
 and the mare's used to something under eleven. 
 So give over, my boy, and come in and tell me 
 what it's all about." 
 
 "Look here," he growled, clambering back 
 into the room, " there's deviltry somewhere at 
 the bottom of this. The fellow's nag was ready 
 saddled I got near enough to see that ; and the 
 yard-gate posted open; and the devil take it, 
 Lydia, I believe you opened that window on pur- 
 pose ! Did you ?" 
 
 "That's telling, my dear. But, if you like, 
 we'll suppose that I did." 
 
 "Then," said Mr. Kogers, "it may interest 
 you to know that you've given him bail from the 
 gallows. He's no priest at all ; by his own con- 
 fession he's a forger, and I'll lay odds he's a 
 murderer, too, if that's enough. But perhaps 
 you knew this without my telling you ?" 
 
 Miss Belcher took a step or two towards the 
 fireplace and back. Her face, white for a mo- 
 ment, was composed when she turned it again 
 upon us. 
 
 "Don't be an ass, Jack. I knew nothing of 
 the sort." 
 
 "You knew enough, it seems," Mr. Rogers 
 persisted, sulkily, "to guess he was in a hurry. 
 247 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 And you'll excuse me, Lydia, but this is a seri- 
 ous business. Whether you knew it or not, 
 you've abetted a criminal in escaping from the 
 law, and I've my duty to do. What brought you 
 here to-night ?" 
 
 "Are you asking that as a Justice of the 
 Peace 2" 
 
 "I am," he answered, flushing angrily. 
 
 "Then I shall not answer you. Who is this 
 boy?" 
 
 "His name is Harry Kevel." 
 
 "What ? The youngster the hue-and-cry's 
 after ?" 
 
 "Quite so; and a youngster in a pretty bad 
 mess, now that you've opened the cage to the real 
 bird." 
 
 "Jack Eogers, you don't mean to tell me that 
 he that Mr. Whitmore " 
 
 "Killed the Jew, Eodriguez ? Well, Lydia, 
 I've no doubt of it in my own mind ; but when 
 you entered we were investigating another crime 
 of his, and a dirtier one." 
 
 She swept us all in a gaze, and I suppose that 
 our faces answered her. 
 
 "Very well," she said; "I will answer your 
 questions. You may put them to me as a magis- 
 248 
 
THE OWL'S CEY 
 
 trate later on, but just now you shall listen to 
 them as a friend and a gentleman." With her 
 hunting-crop she pointed towards the door. "In 
 the next room and alone, if you please. Thank 
 you. You will excuse us, Rector?" 
 
 She bowed to the old man. Mr. Rogers stood 
 aside to let her pass, then followed. The door 
 closed behind them. 
 
 Mr. Doidge fumbled in his pockets, found his 
 spectacles, adjusted them with a shaking hand, 
 and sat down before the bureau to search for the 
 licence. The pigeon-holes contained but a few 
 bundles of papers, all tied very neatly with red 
 tape and docketed. (Neatness, at any rate, was 
 one of Mr. Whitmore's virtues. Although the 
 carpet lay littered with books, boots, and articles 
 of clothing, which by their number proclaimed 
 the dandy, the few selected for the valise had 
 been deftly packed and with extreme economy of 
 space.) In the first drawer below the writing- 
 flap the Rector found the Register and parish ac- 
 count-books in an orderly pile. He seized on the 
 Register at once, opened it, and ran his eyes 
 down the later pages, muttering while he 
 read: 
 
 "There is no entry here of Miss Brooks's mar- 
 249 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAREY EEVEL 
 
 riage," he announced. "One, two, three five 
 marriages in all, entered in his handwriting ; but 
 no such name as Brooks or Plinlimmon. Stay ! 
 what is the meaning of this, I wonder ? a blank 
 line between two entries one of March 20th, 
 the other of the 25th both baptisms. Looks as 
 if he'd left room for a post-entry. Let's have a 
 look at the papers." 
 
 He tossed the bundles over and found one 
 labelled "Marriages" ; spread the papers out and 
 rubbed his head in perplexity. Isabel's licence 
 was not among them. Next he began to open the 
 books and shake them, pausing now and again 
 as a page of figures caught his eye. 
 
 "Accounts seem in order, down to the petty 
 cash." He stooped, picked up and opened a 
 small parcel of coin wrapped in paper, which 
 his elbow had brushed off the ledge. "Fifteen 
 and ninepence right, to a penny. But where 
 in the world can that licence be?" 
 
 There were drawers in the lower half of the 
 bookcase, and he directed me to search in these 
 while he hunted again through the bureau. And 
 while we were thus occupied the door opened 
 and Miss Belcher re-entered the room with Mr. 
 Eogers at her heels. Had it been possible to as- 
 250 
 
THE OWL'S CKY 
 
 sociate tears with Miss Belcher, I could have 
 sworn she had been weeping. Her first words, 
 and the ringing masculine tone of them, effaced 
 that half -formed impression. 
 
 "What the dickens are you two about?" 
 
 "We are searching for a licence," the Rector 
 answered. "I am right, Mr. Rogers am I 
 not ? in my recollection that Whitmore indi- 
 cated it to be here, in this room, and easily 
 found?" 
 
 "To be sure he did/' said Mr. Rogers. 
 
 "I cannot find it among his papers which, 
 for the rest, are in apple-pie order." 
 
 Thereupon we all fell to searching. In half 
 an hour we had ransacked the room, and all 
 to no purpose; and so, as if by signal, broke 
 off and eyed one another in dismay. 
 
 And as we did so Miss Belcher laughed 
 aloud and pointed at the valise lying in the 
 middle of the floor the only thing we had 
 left unexplored. 
 
 Mr. Rogers flung himself upon it, tossed its 
 contents right and left, dived his hand under a 
 flap, and held up a paper with a shout. 
 
 The Rector clutched it eagerly and, unfold- 
 ing it as he went, hurried to the bureau to ex- 
 251 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARKY REVEL 
 
 amine it by the light of the candles he had 
 taken from the chimney-piece and placed there 
 to assist his search. 
 
 "It's the licence !" he announced. 
 
 The two others pressed forward to assure 
 themselves. He put the paper into their hands 
 and stepped to the rifled valise, bent over it, 
 rubbing his chin meditatively. 
 
 "Now why/' he asked, "would he be taking 
 this particular paper with him ?" 
 
 "Because," Miss Belcher answered, with a 
 glance at Mr. Eogers, "he was a villain, but 
 not a complete one. He was a weak fool oh 
 yes, and I hate him for it ; but I won't believe 
 but that he loathed this business." 
 
 "I don't see how you get that out of his 
 packing the paper, to carry it off with him, 
 though it's queer, I'll allow," said Mr. Eogers. 
 
 "It's plain enough to me. He meant, if he 
 reached safety, to send the thing back to you, 
 Eector, and explain ; he meant to set this thing 
 right; I'll go bail he abominated what he'd 
 done, and abominated the man who compelled 
 him." 
 
 "He called it damnable," said I. "I heard 
 
 him." 
 
 252 
 
THE OWL'S CRY 
 
 The words were scarcely out of my mouth 
 when my ears and senses stiffened at a sound 
 from the night without, borne to us through 
 the open window the hoot of an owl. 
 
 The others heard it too. 
 
 "There he is I" I whispered. 
 
 "Who 3" asked Miss Belcher. But I nodded 
 at Mr. Rogers, who understood. 
 
 "Letcher; that's his call." 
 
 Mr. Rogers glanced at the window, and 
 grinned. 
 
 "Now here's a chance," he said, softly. 
 
 "Eh ?" 
 
 "He hasn't seen us. Stand close, everyone 
 oh, Moses, here's a game!" He seemed to be 
 considering. 
 
 "Let's have it, Jack," Miss Belcher urged. 
 "Don't be keeping all the fun to yourself." 
 
 "Whist a moment and don't bustle a man! 
 I was thinking what to do with you three. The 
 door's in line with the window, and he'll spot 
 anyone that crosses the room." 
 
 I pointed to the window-skirting. "Not if 
 one crossed close under the window, sir on 
 hands and knees." 
 
 "Good boy! Can you manage it, Lydia? 
 253 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Keep close by the wall, tuck in your tuppenny 
 and slip across." 
 
 She nodded. "And where, then?" 
 
 "Under the bed or behind the far curtain 
 which you will ; and no tricks, this time. The 
 near curtain will do for the Hector. Is that 
 your hat, sir there beside you, on the bu- 
 reau ?" 
 
 "!N"o ; I left mine in the next room. It must 
 belong to Whitmore." 
 
 "Better still! Pass it over thank you. 
 And now, if you please, we'll exchange coats." 
 Mr. Rogers began to strip. 
 
 The Rector hesitated, but after a moment 
 his eye twinkled and he comprehended. The 
 coats were exchanged, and he too began to steal 
 towards the window. 
 
 "This will do for me, sir," said I, pointing 
 to a cupboard under the bookcase. 
 
 "Plenty of room beneath the bed," he de- 
 cided, as Miss Belcher disappeared behind her 
 curtain. And so it happened that, better than 
 either she or the Rector, I saw what followed. 
 
 We were in hiding some while before the 
 owl's cry sounded again and (as it seemed to 
 me) from the same distance as before. Mr. 
 254 
 
THE OWL'S CRY 
 
 Bogers, in the Hector's coat and the curate's 
 hat, stepped hurriedly to the valise and began 
 to re-pack it, kneeling with his back to the win- 
 dow and full in the line of sight. I am fain 
 to say that he played his part admirably. The 
 suspense, which kept my heart knocking against 
 my ribs, either did not trouble him or threw 
 into his movements just the amount of agita- 
 tion to make them plausible. By-and-by he 
 scrambled up, collected a heap of garments and 
 flung them back into a wardrobe beside the 
 bed; stepped to the bureau still keeping his 
 face averted from the window picked up and 
 pocketed the licence which the Rector had left 
 there; returned to the valise, and, stooping 
 again, rammed its contents tighter I saw then 
 that he had disengaged the leather straps which 
 ran round it, pulling them clear of their loops. 
 
 It was then that I heard a light sound on 
 the cobbles outside, and knew it for a footstep. 
 
 "W'stl" said a voice. "W'st Whitmore !" 
 
 255 
 
CHAPTEK XIX 
 
 CHECKMATE ! 
 
 ME. ROGEES'S attitude stiffened with mock 
 terror. So natural was it that I cowered back 
 under the bed. He closed the valise with a 
 snap as a heel grated on the window ledge and 
 George Leicester dropped into the room. 
 
 "Wh-ew! So that's why you couldn't hear 
 an old friend's signal! Bolting, were you? 
 No, no, my pretty duck pay first, if you 
 please." 
 
 "Take it, then!" 
 
 Mr. Rogers swung round on him and smote 
 him full on the mouth a neat blow and beau- 
 tifully timed. The man went down like an ox, 
 his head striking the floor with a second thud 
 close beside my hiding-place. 
 
 Miss Belcher ran from her curtain, clapping 
 her hands. But Mr. Rogers had not finished 
 with his man. 
 
 256 
 
CHECKMATE ! 
 
 '''Shut the window!" he commanded, fling- 
 ing himself forward and gripping Leicester's 
 hands as they clutched at the carpet. "Here, 
 youngster pass the straps yonder and hold 
 on to his legs !" 
 
 The blow had so rattled Leicester had come 
 so very near to smiting him senseless that he 
 scarcely struggled whilst we bound him, truss- 
 ing him like a fowl, with the aid of Miss 
 Belcher's riding-crop, which she obligingly 
 handed. He was not a pretty object, with his 
 mouth full of blood and two of his teeth 
 knocked awry, and we made him a ludicrous 
 one. Towards the end of the operation he be- 
 gan to spit and curse. 
 
 "Gently, my lad/ 7 Mr. Kogers turned him 
 over. "You came here to settle up, and we 
 don't mean to disappoint you. Let's see what 
 you're worth." He plunged a hand into Leices- 
 ter's breeches pocket and drew forth a coin or 
 two. 
 
 "Let me alone, you thief !" roared Leices- 
 ter, his voice coming back to him in full 
 strength. 
 
 "Indeed, Mr. Kogers," the Hector protested, 
 "this is going too far, I doubt." 
 257 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "It's funny work for a Justice of the Peace, 
 I'll own," he answered, with a grin at Miss 
 Belcher. "Lydia, my dear, be so good as to 
 bring one of those candles; I want to have a 
 look at these coins . . . Ah, I thought so !" 
 
 "Put that money back where you found it !" 
 
 snarled Leicester. "By , I don't know 
 
 what you're after, but I'll have the law on you 
 for this evening's work !" 
 
 "All in good time, my friend ; you shall have 
 as much law as you like, and a trifle over. See, 
 Rector?" Mr. Rogers pointed to a scratch on 
 the face of one of the coins. 
 
 Leicester began to smell danger. "What's 
 wrong with the money ?" he demanded. Then 
 as no one answered, "There's nothing wrong 
 with it, is there?" he asked. 
 
 "Depends where you got it, and how," he 
 was answered. 
 
 "Look here you're not treating me fair," 
 urged the rogue, changing his tone. "If it's 
 over the money you're knocking me about like 
 this, you're maltreating an innocent man; for 
 I had it from Parson Whitmore every 
 penny." 
 
 "Ah, if you can prove that" Mr. Rogers's 
 258 
 
CHECKMATE ! 
 
 face was perfectly grave "you're a lucky 
 man, or else a very unlucky one indeed. The 
 Reverend Mr. Whitmore has disappeared." 
 
 The scoundrel's face was a study. Miss 
 Belcher turned to the window to hide a smile, 
 and even the Rector was forced to pull his lip. 
 
 "Disappeared/' Mr. Rogers repeated, "and 
 not mysteriously. The unfortunate part of 
 the business is that before leaving he made no 
 mention of any money actually paid to you. 
 On the contrary, we gathered that for some rea- 
 son or other he owed you a considerable sum 
 which he found a difficulty in paying. Let me 
 see " he looked around on us as if for con- 
 firmation "the sum was fifty pounds, if I 
 mistake not? We found it difficult to guess 
 how he, a priest in Holy Orders, came to owe 
 you this substantial amount. But perhaps 
 you met him on his way, and these guineas in 
 my hand were tendered as part payment?" 
 
 George Leicester blinked. Accustomed to 
 play with the fears of others, he understood 
 well enough the banter in Mr. Roger s's tone, 
 and that he was being sauced in his own sauce. 
 He read the menace in it too. But what could 
 he answer? 
 
 259 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 "I had the money from Whitmore," he re- 
 peated, doggedly. 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "That I'll leave you to find out." He laughed 
 a short laugh between rage and derision. 
 "Gad ! you've a fair stock of impudence among 
 you ! First you assault, half -kill me and tie 
 me up here without a penn'orth of reason 
 given, and now you're inviting me to walk into 
 another trap for all I can learn, merely be- 
 cause it amuses you. It won't do, my fine Jus- 
 tice-fellow; and that you'll discover as soon as 
 I get out of this." 
 
 "The question is important, nevertheless. I 
 may tell you that at one time or another these 
 coins were in the possession of the Jew, Rodri- 
 guez, who was found murdered in Southside 
 Street, Plymouth, yesterday morning. You 
 perceive therefore that something depends on 
 when and how you came by them. Still, since 
 you prefer and perhaps wisely to keep your 
 knowledge to yourself, I'll start by making out 
 the warrant and we'll have in the constables." 
 Mr. Rogers stepped towards the bureau. 
 
 "Wh " Leicester attempted a low whistle, 
 260 
 
CHECKMATE ! 
 
 but his mouth hurt him and he desisted. An 
 ugly grin of comprehension spread over his face 
 of comprehension and, at the same time, of 
 relief. "That explains," he muttered; "but 
 where did he find the pluck ?" 
 
 "Eh?" Mr. Eogers, in the act of seating 
 himself by the bureau, had caught the tone but 
 not the words. As he slewed round with the 
 query I heard another sound in the adjoining 
 room. 
 
 "Oh, go ahead with your warrant, my Jes- 
 samy Justice ! It tickles you and don't hurt 
 me. Shall I help you spell it ?" 
 
 "I was thinking to ask you that favour," Mr. 
 Rogers replied, demurely. "Your name, now ?" 
 
 "Letcher -- L-e-t-c-h-e-r Sergeant, North 
 Wilts Eegiment." 
 
 "Thank you 'Letcher,' you say? Now I 
 was on the point of writing 'Leicester.' ' 
 
 In the dead silence that followed he laid 
 down his pen, and with his hands behind him 
 came slowly across the room and stared into 
 Leicester's face. 
 
 "The game is up, my friend." 
 
 Leicester met the stare, but his jaw and 
 throat worked as though he were choking. I 
 261 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAEEY REVEL 
 
 thought he was trying to answer. If so, the 
 words refused to come. 
 
 Someone knocked at the door. 
 
 Mr. Eogers stepped to it quickly. "That 
 you, Jim 3" 
 
 "Yessir." 
 
 "Is Miss Brooks with you?" He held the 
 door a very little ajar not wide enough to give 
 sight of us behind him. 
 
 " Yessir. A gentleman too, sir ; leastways he 
 talks like one, though dressed like a private 
 soldier. He won't give his name." Jim's tone 
 was an aggrieved one. 
 
 "Thank you; that's, quite right. You may 
 go home to bed, if you wish; but be ready for 
 a call. I may want you, later on." 
 
 "Be this all you want of me ?" Jim was 
 evidently disappointed. 
 
 "I fear so." 
 
 "P'rhaps you don't know it, sir, but Hodg- 
 son's gone. There was nobody at the gate when 
 we came by." 
 
 "Hodgson has a little job on hand. It will 
 certainly occupy him all night, but I am afraid 
 you cannot help him. Now don't stay asking 
 262 
 
CHECKMATE ! 
 
 questions, my man, but be off to bed. I'll send 
 word if I want your services." 
 
 Jim grumbled and withdrew. "Best to get 
 him out of the way," Mr. Rogers explained to 
 the Rector. "You and I can take this fellow 
 back to Plymouth at daybreak." He listened 
 for a moment and announced, "He's gone. 
 Keep an eye on our friend, please, while I pre- 
 pare Isabel for it. My word !" and he heaved 
 a prodigious sigh "I'd give something to be 
 through with the next ten minutes !" 
 
 He opened the door and, passing through, 
 closed it as quickly behind him. He was absent 
 for half an hour perhaps. We could hear the 
 mutter of his voice in the next room and now 
 and again another masculine voice interrupting 
 never Isabel's. The Rector had found a seat 
 for Miss Belcher beside the bureau. He him- 
 self took his stand beside the chimney and fin- 
 gered a volume of the register, making pretence 
 to read but keeping his eye alert for any move- 
 ment of Leicester's. ~No one spoke; until the 
 prisoner, intercepting a glance from Miss 
 Belcher, broke into a sudden brutal laugh. 
 
 "Poor old lady!" he jeered, and his eyes 
 263 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAKEY REVEL 
 
 travelled wickedly across the disordered floor. 
 "Whitmore left a lot behind him, eh ?" 
 
 She rose and, turning her back on him, 
 walked to the window. Then she leaned out, 
 seeming to study the night ; but I saw that her 
 shoulders heaved. 
 
 The Rector looked across with a puzzled 
 frown. Leicester laughed again, and with that 
 Miss Belcher came back to him, slipped out the 
 riding-crop which trussed him, and held it 
 under his nose. Her face was white, but calm. 
 She lifted the stick slowly to bring it across his 
 face, paused, and flung it on the floor. 
 
 "You tempt me to be as dirty as yourself," 
 she said. "But one woman has shown you 
 mercy to-night, despising you. Think of that, 
 George Leicester." 
 
 The door opened again and Mr. Rogers 
 nodded to us. 
 
 "Hullo!" he exclaimed, perceiving the rid- 
 ing-crop on the floor. 
 
 "He can't run/' said Miss Belcher noncha- 
 lantly. "But he can stand now, I fancy and 
 walk, if you loosen his legs a bit. He'll be 
 wanted for a witness, won't he ?" 
 
 "You're all wanted." Mr. Rogers helped 
 264 
 
CHECKMATE ! 
 
 Leicester to stand and slackened the bond 
 about his ankles. "We'll tighten it again in 
 the next room, my friend. Stay a moment, 
 Sector!" 
 
 He pointed to the wardrobe. The Rector 
 went to it and unhitching a clean surplice laid 
 it across his arm. So we filed into the room 
 where Isabel and Archibald Plinlimmon await- 
 ed us. 
 
 They stood in the shadow of the window-cur- 
 tains, talking together in low tones, and by 
 their attitudes she was vehemently pleading 
 for a favour which he as vehemently rejected. 
 But when she caught him by both hands he 
 yielded, and they faced us together she with 
 her beautiful face irradiated. 
 
 Miss Belcher stepped to her at once and 
 kissed her, and across that good lady's shoulder 
 she cast one look at the prisoner, now being 
 shuffled into the room by Mr. Eogers. It was 
 neither vindictive nor recriminatory, but cheer- 
 ful and calm with an utter scorn. I looked 
 nervously at Archibald Plinlimmon. His face 
 was dusky red and sullen with rage, but I noted 
 with a leap of my heart that he too looked 
 Leicester squarely in the face, and from that 
 265 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 moment (if a boy may say so) I felt there was 
 hope for him. 
 
 The Rector unfolded and donned the sur- 
 plice. Isabel disengaged herself from Miss 
 Belcher's arms and ; drawing off her ring, 
 handed it to her lover. Their eyes met, and 
 hers were smiling bravely; but they brimmed 
 on a sudden as the tears sprang into his. And 
 now I felt that there was strong hope for him. 
 
 Thus I came to be present at their wedding. 
 Indeed, Mr. Rogers kept so close an eye on his 
 prisoner during the ceremony that you might 
 almost say I attended as groom's man. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 WHEN all was over, and the book signed, Isa- 
 bel walked across to Mr. Rogers and held out 
 her hand. 
 
 "You have been a good friend to me to-night. 
 God Avill surely bless you for what you have 
 done." She paused, with heightened colour. 
 
 Mr. Rogers awkwardly stammered that he 
 hoped she wouldn't mention it. But if the 
 speech was inadequate, his action made up for 
 it. He took her hand and kissed it respect- 
 fully. It seemed that she had more to say. 
 "I have still another favour to ask/' she went 
 on. "I have heard since that a good woman 
 always keeps some tenderness for an honest 
 man who has once wooed her, however decid- 
 edly she may have said 'no.' ' Isabel's smile 
 was at once tender and anxious, but it drew no 
 response from Mr. Rogers, who had let drop 
 her fingers and stood now with eyes uncom- 
 fortably averted. 
 
 267 
 
ADVENTUEES OF HAKEY EEVEL 
 
 "I want a wedding gift," said she. 
 
 "Eh?" He turned a flushed face and per- 
 ceived that she was pointing at Leicester. 
 
 "I want this man from you. Will you give 
 him to me ?" 
 
 "For what?" 
 
 "You shall see." She knelt at the prisoner's 
 feet and began to unbuckle the strap about his 
 ankles shrinking a little at first at the touch 
 of him, but more resolutely as she conquered 
 her disgust. 
 
 Mr. Rogers put down a hand to prevent her. 
 
 "You never mean to set him free ?" 
 
 "That is what I ask," answered she, desist- 
 ing, but with an upturned look of appeal. 
 
 "My dear Miss Brooks," he said, inadvert- 
 ently using her maiden name, "I am sorry 
 no, that's a lie I am jolly glad to say that it 
 can't be done." 
 
 "Why? Against whom else has he sinned, 
 to injure them?" 
 
 "Against a good many, even if we put in on 
 that ground only. Besides, he'll have to answer 
 another charge altogether." 
 
 "What charge ?" 
 
 "Of having murdered the Jew, Rodriguez. 
 268 
 
ISABEL'S KEVENGE 
 
 Did I not tell you that we found marked money 
 in his pocket ?" 
 
 a But he never took that money from Mr. 
 Rodriguez ?" 
 
 Mr. Rogers shrugged his shoulders. "That's 
 for him to prove." 
 
 "But we know he did not," Isabel insisted, 
 and turned to me. "He never took that money 
 from Mr. Rodriguez?" 
 
 "No," said I; "it was given him last night 
 by Mr. Whitmore, in Miss Belcher's shrub- 
 bery." 
 
 "He is not guilty of this murder?" 
 
 "No," said I again, "I think not; indeed 
 I am sure he did not." I glanced at Archibald 
 Plinlimmon, who had been standing with eyes 
 downcast and gloomy studying the dim pattern 
 of the carpet at his feet. He looked up now; 
 his face had grown resolute. 
 
 "No," he echoed, in a strained voice; "he 
 had nothing to do with the murder." 
 
 "Why, what on earth do you know ?" cried 
 Mr. Rogers, and Isabel too bent back on her 
 knees and gazed on him amazedly. 
 
 "I was there." 
 
 "Where, in Heaven's name?" 
 
AD VENTURES OF HAEEY REVEL 
 
 "On the roof, outside the garret. I looked in 
 and saw the body lying." 
 
 "You were on the roof you looked in and 
 saw the body " Mr. Rogers repeated the 
 words stupidly, automatically, searching for 
 speech of his own. "Man alive, how came you 
 on the roof ? What were you doing there ?" 
 
 "We were billeted three doors away " said 
 Archibald, and paused. "I can tell you no 
 more just now." 
 
 "We?" 
 
 "That man and I." He pointed at Leicester. 
 
 "And you looked in what else did you see ?" 
 Mr. Rogers's voice was sharp. 
 
 "That I cannot tell you." 
 
 "The murderer ?" 
 
 "No ; not the murderer," he answered, slowly. 
 
 "Then what? Whom?" 
 
 "I have said that I cannot tell you." 
 
 "But he can, sir !" I cried, recklessly. "He 
 saw me. I had just found the body and was 
 standing beside it when he looked in." I 
 stopped, panting. It seemed as if all the 
 breath in me had escaped for the moment with 
 my confession. 
 
 Mr. Rogers turned from me to Archibald. 
 270 
 
ISABEL'S KEVENGE 
 
 "I did not think him guilty. I did not know 
 what to think. And it was he who helped me 
 to get away." 
 
 "Why should he help you to get away ?" 
 
 "I will tell that but not to you. I will tell 
 it to my wife." 
 
 Isabel had risen from her knees. She went 
 to him and would have taken his hand. "Not 
 yet," he said. 
 
 Mr. Rogers eyed the Rector in despair. But 
 the Rector merely shook his head. 
 
 "But, confound it all ! Where's the murderer 
 in all this?" 
 
 "Sakes alive! Isn't that as clear as day- 
 light?" interjected Miss Belcher. "Didn't I 
 let him out of window more than an hour ago ? 
 And isn't Hodgson foundering my mare at this 
 moment in chase of him ? See here, Jack," she 
 went on, judicially, "you've played one or two 
 neat strokes to-night; but one or two neat 
 strokes don't make a professional. You'll have 
 to give up this justicing. You've no head for 
 it." 
 
 "Indeed?" retorted Mr. Rogers. "Then 
 since it seems you see deeper into this business 
 than most of us, perhaps you'll favour us with 
 
 your advice." 
 
 271 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAREY REVEL 
 
 "With all the pleasure in life, my son," said 
 the lady. "I can see holes in a ladder: but I 
 don't look deep into a brick wall, for the reason 
 I don't try. There's some secret between Mr. 
 Plinlimmon and this boy. What it is I don't 
 know and you don't know ; and I've yet to dis- 
 cover that 'tis any business of ours. All I care 
 to hear about it is that Mr. Plinlimmon means 
 to tell his wif e, for which I commend him. Now 
 you don't propose to make out a warrant against 
 him, I take it ? As for the boy, he's done us 
 more services to-night than we can count on our 
 fingers; he's saved more than one and more 
 than two of us here, let alone five couples mar- 
 ried by Whitmore in the four months he was 
 curate. Reckon them in, please, and their chil- 
 dren to come. Ah, my dear/' she laid a hand 
 on Isabel's shoulder, "I know what I'm speak- 
 ing of ! He has ended a scandal for the Rector 
 and in time for the mischief to be repaired. He 
 has even saved that dirty scoundrel there, if it 
 helps a man on judgment day that his villainies 
 have miscarried. Well then, what about the 
 boy ? There's a hue and cry after him, but you 
 can't give him up. Let alone the manner of 
 your meeting him that business of the bon- 
 272 
 
ISABEL'S REVENGE 
 
 fire and a pretty tale 'twould make against 
 a Justice of the Peace " 
 
 "I never gave that a thought, Lydia," Mr. 
 Rogers protested. 
 
 "I know you didn't, my lad; that's why I 
 mentioned it. Well, letting that alone, how are 
 you to give the child up? You can't. You 
 know you can't. We've to hide him now, 
 though it cost your commission. Eh? To be 
 sure we must. Give him up? Pretty grati- 
 tude indeed, and what next, I wonder !" 
 
 '"I never thought of giving him up." 
 
 "I know you didn't, again ; but I'm combing 
 out your brains for you, if you'll only stand 
 quiet and not interrupt. Keep your mind 
 fixed on Whitmore. Whitmore's your man. 
 If Hodgson catches him " 
 
 "If Hodgson catches him, he'll be charged 
 with the murder. I've the warrant in my 
 pocket. Then how are we to hide the boy, or 
 keep any silence on what has happened here to- 
 night?" 
 
 "Ye dunderhead!" Miss Belcher stamped 
 
 her foot. "What, in the name of fortune, have 
 
 we to do with the murder ? If Hodgson catches 
 
 him, he'll be charged with forging the Bishop's 
 
 273 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 licence ; that is to say with a crime he's already 
 confessed to you. If you want to hang him, 
 that'll do it. You don't want to hang him twice 
 over, do you ? And I don't reckon he'll be so 
 anxious to be hanged twice that he'll confess 
 to a murder for the fun of the thing. If you 
 say nothing, he'll say nothing. Upon my word, 
 you seem to have that Jew on the brain ! Who 
 made out the warrant?" 
 
 "I, of course." 
 
 "Then keep it in your pocket ; and when you 
 get home, burn it. It beats me to think why 
 you can't let that murder alone. Rodriguez 
 was no friend of yours, was he? You can't 
 bring him to life again, can you ? And what's 
 your evidence? A couple of marked coins. 
 Barring us few here, who knows of them? 
 ^Nobody. Barring us few here, who knows a 
 whisper beside, to connect Whitmore with the 
 murder ? Nobody again. Very well then ; you 
 came here to-night to expose Whitmore as a 
 false priest and a forger, on the evidence of 
 this boy and what he heard in my verandah. 
 You took the villain on the hop, and he con- 
 fessed; so the boy's evidence is not needed. 
 Having confessed, he made his escape. You 
 274 
 
ISABEL'S KEVENGE 
 
 can say, if you will, that I helped him. That's 
 all you need remember, and what more d'ye 
 want ? It's odds against Hodgson catching 
 him. It's all Lombard Street to a china orange 
 against his bothering you, if caught, with any 
 plea but guilty." 
 
 She ceased, panting with her flow of words. 
 
 "Well, but about this Leicester ?" Mr. Bogers 
 objected. 
 
 "What about him ? Let him go. Isabel was 
 right in begging him off though you did it, 
 my dear, for other reasons than mine ; but when 
 the heart's right, God bless you, it usually 
 speaks common sense. Let him go. D'ye want 
 to hang him? He's ugly enough, but I don't 
 see how you're to do it on any other grounds, 
 unless first of all you catch Whitmore and then 
 force him to turn cat-in-the-pan, at the risk 
 of his talking too much and with the certainty 
 of dragging Isabel into the exposure. Even so, 
 I doubt you'll get evidence. This man is a deal 
 too shrewd to have done any of the forging 
 himself. If Whitmore had known enough to 
 hang him, Whitmore wouldn't have gone in 
 awe of him. And what Whitmore don't know, 
 Whitmore can't tell." 
 
 275 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 All this while the prisoner had kept absolute 
 silence; had stood motionless, except that his 
 eyes turned from one speaker to another, and 
 now and then seemed to seek Archibald Plin- 
 limmon's who, however, refused to return the 
 look. But now he twisted his battered mouth 
 into something like an appreciative grin. 
 
 "Bravo, madam !" said he. "You've the wits 
 of the company, if you'll take my compli- 
 ments." 
 
 "I misdoubt they're interested ones," she 
 answered, drily, and so addressed herself again 
 to Mr. Rogers. "Let the man go ; you've drawn 
 his sting. If ever he opens his mouth on to- 
 night's work, we've a plum or two to pop into 
 it. If Mr. Plinlimmon chooses to take him at 
 the door and horsewhip him, I say nothing 
 against it. Indeed, he's welcome to the loan of 
 my hunting-crop." 
 
 "But no," put in Isabel, quickly, and knelt 
 again; "my husband will not hurt where I 
 have pardoned." Rapidly she unloosed the 
 strap about Leicester's ankles and stood up. 
 "Now hold out your hands," she said. 
 
 He held them out. She looked him in the 
 face, and a sudden tide of shame forced her to 
 276 
 
ISABEL'S KEVENGE 
 
 cover her own. In the silence her husband 
 stepped to her side. His eyes were steady upon 
 Leicester now. 
 
 "How could you ? How could you ?" she 
 murmured. 
 
 Then, dragging as it were her hands down 
 to the task, she unbuckled the strap around his 
 wrist, and pointed to the door. 
 
 Said Miss Belcher, "So two women have 
 shown you mercy to-night, George Leicester." 
 
 He went, without any swagger. His face was 
 white. Miss Belcher and the Rector drew back 
 as though he carried a disease, and let him pass. 
 At the door he turned and his eyes, with a kind 
 of miserable raillery in them, challenged Arch- 
 ibald Plinlimmon. 
 
 "Yes, you are right." The young man took 
 a step towards him. "Between us two there is 
 a word to be said." He turned on us abruptly. 
 "I have been afraid of that man yes, afraid. 
 To say this out, and before Isabel, costs me 
 more courage than to thrash him. Through fear 
 of him I have been a villain. Worse wrong 
 than I did to my wife worse in its conse- 
 quences I could not do; you know it, all of 
 you; and I must go now and tell it to her 
 277 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 father. I did it unknowingly, by this man's 
 contrivance ; but not in any fear of him. What 
 I did in fear, and knowingly, was worse in 
 another way worse in intention. I tell you 
 that but for an accident I might I might 
 have " He stammered and came to a halt. 
 "No, I cannot tell it yet/' he muttered, half 
 defiantly, with a shy look at the Rector. "But 
 this I can tell" and his voice rose "that no 
 fear of him stays me. You ? I have your se- 
 cret now. You have none of mine I dare not 
 meet. You may go; you have my wife's par- 
 don, it seems. I do not understand it, but you 
 have mine with this caution. You are my 
 superior officer. If to-morrow, outside of the 
 ranks, you dare to say a word to me, I promise 
 to strike you on the mouth before the regiment, 
 and afterwards to tell the whole truth of 
 us both, and take what punishment may be- 
 fall." 
 
 So he too pointed toward the door. Leicester 
 bowed and went from us into the night. 
 
 "That's all very well," groaned Mr. Eogers, 
 "but I'll have to resign my commission of the 
 peace." 
 
 "If it's retiring from active service you 
 278 
 
ISABEL'S EEVENGE 
 
 mean," said Miss Belcher, cheerfully, "that's 
 what I began by advising. But stick to the 
 title, Jack; you adorn it indeed you do. And 
 for my part," she wound up, "I think you've 
 done mighty well to-night, considering." 
 
 "I've let one villain escape, you mean, and 
 t'other go scot free." 
 
 "And the nuisance of it is," said she, with a 
 broadening smile, "I sha'n't be able to congrat- 
 ulate you in public." 
 
 "Well" Mr. Kogers regained his cheerful- 
 ness as he eyed his knuckles "we've let a deal 
 of villainy loose on the world, but I got in once 
 with the left, and that must be my consolation. 
 What are we to do with this boy ?" 
 
 "Hide him." 
 
 "Easier said than done." 
 
 "Not a bit." Miss Belcher turned to me. 
 "Have you any friends, boy, who will be worry- 
 ing if we keep you a few days ?" 
 
 "None, ma'am," said I, and thereby in my 
 haste did much injustice to the excellent Mr. 
 and Mrs. Trapp. 
 
 "Eh? You have the world before you? 
 Then maybe you're luckier than you think, my 
 lad. What would you like to be? A sailor, 
 279 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 now? I can get you shipped across to Guern- 
 sey to-morrow, if you say the word." 
 
 "That would do very well, ma'am; but if 
 you ask me to choose " 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "Then I'll choose to be a soldier," said I, 
 stoutly. 
 
 "IFm. You'll have to grow to it." 
 
 "I could start as a drummer, ma'am." The 
 drum in Major Brooks' s summer-house had put 
 that into my head. 
 
 "My father can manage it, I am sure !" cried 
 Isabel. "And meanwhile let him come back to 
 the cottage. No one will think of searching for 
 him there ; and to-night, when I have spoken to 
 my father " 
 
 "You will speak to your father to-night ?" 
 
 Isabel glanced at her bridegroom, who 
 nodded. "To-night," said he, firmly. "We 
 sail to-morrow." 
 
 Miss Belcher wagged her head at him. "I 
 had my doubts of you, young man. You've 
 been a fool; but I've a notion you'll do, yet." 
 
 "Good-night, then!" Isabel went to her and 
 held up her cheek to be kissed. 
 
 "Eh? Not a bit of it! I'm coming with 
 280 
 
ISABEL'S KEVENGE 
 
 you. Don't stare at me now I've a word to 
 say, and I think maybe 'twill help." 
 
 We left the Rector and Mr. Rogers to their 
 task of overhauling the house while they sat up 
 on the chance of Hodgson's returning with 
 Whitmore or with news of him; and trooped 
 up the lane and down across the park to Min- 
 den Cottage. 
 
 "Take the child to bed/' said Miss Belcher, 
 as we reached the door; and so to my room 
 Isabel conducted me ; the others waiting below. 
 
 She lit my candles and kissed me. "You 
 won't forget your prayers to-night, Harry? 
 And say a prayer for me; I shall need it, 
 though I have more call to thank God for 
 sending you." 
 
 A minute later I heard her tap on her 
 father's door. He was awake and dressed, ap- 
 parently for it seemed at any rate but a mo- 
 ment later that her voice was guiding his blind 
 footsteps by whispers down the stairs. Had I 
 guessed more of the ordeal before her, my eyes 
 had closed less easily than they did. As it was, 
 I tumbled into bed and slept almost as soon as 
 my head touched the pillow. 
 
 I had forgotten to blow out the candles, and 
 281 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 they were but half burnt, yet extinguished, 
 when I awoke from a dream that Isabel was 
 kneeling beside me in their dim light to find 
 her standing at the bed's foot in a fresh print 
 gown and the room filled again with sunshine. 
 Her eyes were red. Poor soul ! she had but an 
 hour before she said good-bye to Archibald; 
 and Spain and its battlefields lay before him, 
 and between their latest kiss and their next if 
 another there might be. Yet she smiled brave- 
 ly, telling me that all was well, and that her 
 father would be ready for me in the summer- 
 house. 
 
 Major Brooks, when I found him there, 
 made no allusion to the events of the night. 
 His face was mild and grave as at our first 
 meeting. At the sound of my footsteps he 
 picked up his Virgil and motioned me to be 
 seated. 
 
 "Let me see," he began; "liquidi fortes, 
 was it not ?" and forthwith began to dictate 
 at his accustomed pace. 
 
 " But willing springs and spongy moss supply, 
 And through the grass a streamlet fleeting by. 
 The porch with palm or oleaster shade 
 That when its gilded youth, in spring parade, 
 
 282 
 
ISABEL'S REVENGE 
 
 Follow their regents jollily and prank, 
 
 To cool their holiday heat a neighbour bank 
 
 May lean with branches hospitably cool. 
 
 And midway, by your water stream or pool, 
 
 Cross willow-twigs and massy pebbles fling 
 
 A line of stations for the halting wing 
 
 To dry in summer sunshine, has it shipped 
 
 A cap of the wave or deep in Neptune dipped. 
 
 Plant cursias green around, thyme redolent, 
 
 Full-flowering succory with heavy scent, 
 
 And violet-beds to drink the channeled stream. 
 
 And let your hives (sewn concave, seam to seam, 
 
 Of cork ; or of the supple osier twined) 
 
 Have narrow entrances ; for frosts will bind 
 
 Honey as hard as dog-days run it thin : 
 
 In bees' abhorrence each extreme's akin. 
 
 Not purposeless they vie with wax to paste 
 
 Their narrow cells and choke the crannies fast 
 
 With pollen or that gum specific which 
 
 Out-binds or birdlime or Idean pitch ' ' 
 
 and so on, and so on, until midday arrived, 
 and Isabel with the claret and biscuits. She 
 lingered while he ate; and when he had done 
 he shut his Virgil, saying (in a tone which, 
 though studiously kind, told me that she was 
 not wholly forgiven) 
 
 "Take the drum, Isabel, and give the lad his 
 first lesson. It will not disturb me." 
 
 She choked down a sob, passed the drum to 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAERY REVEL 
 
 me, and put the drumsticks into my hands. 
 And so by signs rather than by words, she be- 
 gan to teach me, scarcely letting me tap the 
 vellum but instructing me rather how to hold 
 the sticks and move my wrists. So quiet were 
 we that the old man by-and-by dropped asleep ; 
 and then, as she taught, her tears flowed. 
 
 This was the first of many lessons, for I 
 spent a full fortnight at Minden Cottage, free 
 of its ample walled garden, but never showing 
 my face in the high road or at the windows 
 looking upon it. I learned from Isabel that 
 Whitmore had not been found, and that Archi- 
 bald and his regiment had sailed for Lisbon. 
 Sometimes Miss Belcher or Mr. Rogers paid us 
 a visit, and once the two together; and always 
 they held long talks with the Major in his 
 summer-house. But they never invited me to 
 be present at these interviews. 
 
 So the days slipped away and I almost forgot 
 my fears, nor speculated how or when the end 
 would come. My elders were planning this for 
 me, and meanwhile life, if a trifle dull, was 
 pleasant enough. What vexed me was the old 
 man's obdurate politeness towards Isabel, and 
 her evident distress. It angered me the more 
 284 
 
ISABEL'S REVENGE 
 
 that, when she was not by, he gave never a sign 
 that he brooded on what had befallen, but went 
 on placidly polishing his petty and (to me) 
 quite uninteresting verses. 
 
 But there came an evening when we finished 
 the Fourth Georgic together 
 
 " Of tillage, timber, herds, and hives, thus far 
 My trivial lay while Caesar thunders war 
 To deep Euphrates, conquers, pacifies, 
 Twice wins the world and now attempts the skies. 
 Pardon thy Virgil, if Parthenope 
 Meantime entranced a lover who on thee 
 Whilom his boyish pastoral pipe essayed, 
 Thee, Tityrus, beneath the beeches' shade." 
 
 He closed the book. 
 
 "Lord Wellington is not a Caesar/ 7 he said, 
 and paused, musing; then, in a low voice, 
 "Parthenope Parthenope and to-morrow 
 'Arms and the Man.' Boy," said he, sharply, 
 "we do not translate the ^Eneid." 
 
 "No, sir?" 
 
 "Mr. Rogers calls for you to-night. A draft 
 of the 52nd Eegiment sails from Plymouth to- 
 morrow. You will find, when you join it in 
 Spain that that my son-in-law" he hesitated 
 and spoke the word with a certain prim delib- 
 285 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 erateness "has been gazetted to an ensigncy 
 in that gallant regiment. I may tell you that 
 he owes this to no intervention of mine, but 
 solely to the generosity of Miss Belcher. Be- 
 fore departing I will do him so much justice 
 he spoke to me very frankly of his past, and 
 for my daughter's sake and his father's I trust 
 that, as under Providence you were an instru- 
 ment in averting its consequences, so you may 
 sound him yet to some action which, whether 
 he lives or falls, may redeem it. Mr. Rogers 
 will sup with us to-night. If I mistake not, I 
 hear his wheels on the road." He drew him- 
 self up to his full height, and bowed. "You 
 have done a service, boy, to the honour of two 
 families. I thank you for it, and shall not 
 omit to remember you daily when I thank God. 
 Shall we go in ?" 
 
 I had, as I said just now, almost forgotten 
 my fears of the Law ; but that the Law had not 
 relaxed its interest in me was evident from my 
 friends' precautions. Night had fallen before 
 Mr. Rogers rose from table and gave the word 
 for departure, and after exchanging some 
 286 
 
ISABEL'S REVENGE 
 
 formal farewells with Major Brooks, and some 
 very tender ones with Isabel, I was packed in 
 the tilbury and driven off into darkness in 
 which the world seemed uncomfortably large 
 and vague and my prospects disconcertingly 
 ill-lit. 
 
 "D'ye know what that is ?" asked Mr. Bog- 
 ers, at the end of five minutes, pulling up his 
 mare and jerking his whip towards a splash of 
 white beside the road. 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 He pulled a rein, and brought the light of 
 the off-side lamp to bear on a milestone with a 
 bill pasted upon it. 
 
 A full, particular, and none too flattering 
 description of you, my lad, with an offer of 
 twenty pounds. And I'm a Justice of the 
 Peace! Cl'k, lass!" 
 
 On went the mare, and I, who had been feel- 
 ing like a needle in a bundle of hay, now shrank 
 down within my wraps as though the night had 
 a thousand eyes. 
 
 We reached the village of Anthony ; and here, 
 
 instead of holding on for Torpoint and the 
 
 Ferry, Mr. Rogers struck aside into a lane on 
 
 our right, so steep and narrow that he alighted 
 
 287 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 and led the mare down, holding one of the 
 lamps to guide her as she picked her steps. 
 
 The lane ended beside a sheet of water, 
 pitch-black under the shadow of a wooded 
 shore, and glimmering beyond it with the re- 
 flections of a few stars. Mr. Rogers gave a 
 whistle ; a soft whistle answered him. I heard 
 a boat's nose grate on the shingle and take 
 ground. 
 
 "All right, sergeant ?" 
 
 "Eight, sir. Got the boy?" 
 
 "Climb down, Harry," whispered Mr. Rog- 
 ers. "Shake hands, and good luck to you!" 
 
 I was given a hand over the bows by a man 
 whose face I could not see. The boat was full 
 of men, and one dark figure handed me to an- 
 other till I reached the stern-sheets. 
 
 "Give way, lads!" called a voice beside me, 
 as the bow-man pushed us off. 
 
 We were travelling fast when at a bend of 
 the creek a line of lights shot into view in- 
 numerable small sparks clustered low on the 
 water ahead and shining steadily across it. I 
 knew them at once. They were the lights of 
 
 Plymouth Dock. 
 
 288 
 
ISABEL'S EEVENGE 
 
 "Where are you taking me?" I cried. 
 
 "That's no question for a soldier," said a 
 voice which I recognised as the sergeant's. And 
 one or two of the crew laughed. 
 
 289 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 I GO CAMPAIGNING WITH LORD WELLINGTON 
 
 THE vessel to which they rowed me was the 
 Bute, transport bound for Portugal with one 
 hundred and fifty officers and men of the 52d 
 Regiment, one hundred and twenty of the third 
 battalion 95th Rifles, and a young cornet and 
 three farriers of the Tth Light Dragoons in 
 charge of fifty remounts for that regiment. 
 
 We weighed anchor at daybreak (the date, 
 I may mention, was July 28th), and cleared 
 the Sound. At ten o'clock or thereabouts the 
 wind fell, and for two days and nights we 
 drifted aimlessly about the Channel at the will 
 of the tides, while the Sergeant a veteran 
 named Henderson, who had started twenty-five 
 years before by blowing a bugle in the 52nd, 
 and therefore served me as index and example 
 of what by patience I might attain to filled 
 the most of my time between sleep and meals 
 with lessons upon that instrument. From a 
 hencoop abaft the mainmast (the Bute was a 
 290 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 brig, by the way) I blew back inarticulate tare- 
 wells to the shores receding from us imper- 
 ceptibly, if at all ; and so illustrated a profound 
 remark of the war's great historian, that the 
 English are a bellicose rather than a martial 
 race, and by consequence sometimes find them- 
 selves committed to military enterprises with- 
 out having counted the cost or made complete 
 preparation. 
 
 On the third day the wind freshened and 
 blew dead foul, decimating the horses with sea- 
 sickness (we lost five on the voyage), prostrat- 
 ing three-fourths of the men, and shaking the 
 two regiments down into a sociability which 
 outlasted their sufferings. To be sure my 
 comrades of the 52nd (as, with a fearful joy 
 I named them to myself in secret), being vete- 
 rans for the most part, recovered or recovering 
 from wounds taken in the land to which they 
 were returning with common memories of Sir 
 John Moore, of Benevente, Calcabelbos, and 
 Corunna, treated the riflemen with that affable 
 condescension which was all that could be 
 claimed by third battalion youngsters with all 
 their soldiering before them. But the 52nd 
 knew the 95th of old ; and, veterans and youths, 
 291 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 were they not bound to be enrolled together in 
 that noble Light Division, the glory of which 
 was already lifting above the horizon, soon to 
 blaze across heaven? 
 
 Sergeant Henderson did not suffer from sea- 
 sickness. For no reward unless it be the fierce 
 delight of tackling a difficulty for its own sake 
 he had sworn to make a bugler of me, given 
 moderately bad weather ; and when the evening 
 of September brought us off the coast of Portu- 
 gal, he allowed me to shake hands over his suc- 
 cess. Early next morning we began to disem- 
 bark at a place called Figueira, by the mouth 
 of the Mondego River. I stepped ashore with a 
 swelling heart. 
 
 But I carried also a portentously swollen 
 under lip, with a crack in it which showed 
 signs of festering. Now there was a base hos- 
 pital at Figueira, to the surgeon in charge of 
 which fell the duty of inspecting the men as 
 they landed and detaining those who were sick 
 or physically unfit. I need not say that his 
 eye was arrested at once by my unfortunate lip. 
 He examined it. 
 
 "Blood poisoning," he announced. "Nasty, 
 if not attended to. Detained for a week." 
 292 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 He saw my eyes fill with tears at this blow 
 the more cruel because quite unexpected, and 
 added, not unkindly 
 
 "Eh? What? In a hurry? Nevermind, 
 my lad you'll go up with the next draft, I 
 dare say. Jericho won't fall between this and 
 then." 
 
 I was young then, and never doubted that 
 even so slight a promise must be remembered. 
 
 Still, that my merit might leave him no ex- 
 cuse for forgetting, I determined that it should 
 not escape attention; and finding myself con- 
 signed to hospital with a trifling hurt which in 
 no way interfered with my activity, and being 
 at once pounced upon by an overworked and 
 red-eyed orderly and pressed into service as 
 emergency-man, nurse, and general bottle- 
 washer for three overcrowded tents, I flung 
 into my new duties a zeal which ended by un- 
 doing me. Drummers might be wanted at the 
 front, but meanwhile the hospital camp was un- 
 doubtedly short-handed. And my hopes faded 
 as, with the approach of Christmas, waggon 
 after waggon laden with sick soldiers crawled 
 back to us from the low-lying country over 
 which Lord Wellington had spread his forces 
 293 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 between the Agueda and the upper Mondego 
 men shuddering with ague or bent double with 
 rheumatism, and all bringing down the same 
 tales of short food, sodden quarters, and arrears 
 of pay. For three days, they told me, the army 
 had gone without bread, and the commissariat 
 crawled over unthreatened roads at the pace of 
 five miles a day. They cursed the war, the 
 Government at home, above all the Portuguese 
 and everything in Portugal; and yet their 
 hardships seemed to me heaven in comparison 
 with the hospital in which though its duties 
 were frequently disgusting I had plenty to 
 eat and nothing to complain of but overwork. 
 
 It was not until Christmas that I won my 
 release, and by a singular accident. 
 
 It happened that after nightfall on the 23rd 
 of December an ambulance train arrived of six 
 waggons, all full of sick demanding instant at- 
 tention; and close upon these four other wag- 
 gons laden with cavalry men, wounded more or 
 less severely in a foraging excursion beyond the 
 Agueda which had brought them into conflict 
 with a casual body of Marmont's dragoons. 
 The weather was bitterly cold; the men, to 
 begin with, were unfit for so long a journey 
 294 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 and should have been attended to promptly at 
 their own headquarters. To make matters 
 worse, one of the waggons had been overturned, 
 six miles back, on the frozen road, and the as- 
 sistant surgeon, who, owing to the seriousness 
 of the job, had been sent down in attendance, 
 lost his head completely. Three of the poor 
 fellows had succumbed as they lay, of cold, 
 wounds and exhaustion, and a dozen others 
 were in desperate case. 
 
 Our surgeons went to work at once, and until 
 midnight I attended on them, preparing the 
 lint, washing the blood-stained instruments, 
 changing the water in the pails, and performing 
 other necessary but more gruesome tasks which 
 I need not particularise. At midnight the 
 young cavalry-surgeon, who had been freely 
 dosed with brandy, professed himself ready to 
 take over the minor casualties. The two hos- 
 pital surgeons, by this time worn out, accepted 
 the offer and withdrew. ~No one thought of 
 me. 
 
 I understand that about an hour later, as I 
 sat waiting for orders on the edge of an unoc- 
 cupied bed (from which a dead man had been 
 carried out a little before midnight), I must 
 295 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAKEY BEVEL 
 
 have dropped across it in a sleep of utter ex- 
 haustion. It appears too that the young doctor, 
 finding me there a short while after, carried me 
 out and laid me on the ground with my head 
 against the hut. He never admitted this, for 
 I had been attending upon him, off and on, 
 since his arrival, and that he failed to recognise 
 me might have been awkwardly accounted for. 
 But I cannot believe (as certainly I do not re- 
 member) that of my own motion I crawled out- 
 side the hut and stretched myself on the frozen 
 ground, or that, exhausted as I was, I could 
 have walked ten yards in my sleep. 
 
 At all events the chill of the bitter dawn 
 awoke me there; and with a yawn I stretched 
 out both arms or rather, tried to stretch them. 
 At once I knew that a man was stretched be- 
 side me, and, still dazed with sleep, I rolled 
 over on to my right elbow, raised myself a little 
 and peered into his face. 
 
 It was pinched and cold. His eyes stared 
 straight up at the dawn. From it my gaze 
 travelled slowly over the faces of three other 
 men laid out accurately alongside of him, feet 
 to feet, head to head. 
 
 I sank back, not yet comprehending, gazed 
 296 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 up at the grey sky for a while, then slowly 
 raised myself on my left elbow. 
 
 On that side lay a score of sleepers,, all flat 
 on their backs, and all equally still. Then I 
 understood and leaped up with a scream. It 
 was a line of corpses, and I had been laid out 
 beside them for burial at dawn. 
 
 A sleepy orderly a friend of mine poked 
 his head out of the doorway of the next hut. 
 I pointed to the spot where I had been lying. 
 
 "They must ha' done it in the dark," he said, 
 slowly regarding the bodies. 
 
 I suppose that my story, getting about the 
 camp, must have penetrated to headquarters; 
 for on Christmas Day, a transport arriving and 
 landing some light guns and a detachment of 
 artillery, I was sent forward with them tow- 
 ards Villa del Ciervo on the left bank of the 
 Agueda; where, by all accounts, the 52nd were 
 posted. 
 
 Our battery was but six light six-pounders, 
 yet even with these we moved over the frozen 
 and slippery roads at a snail's pace, the men 
 tearing their boots to ribbons as they hung on 
 to the drag-ropes for the artillery captain was 
 a martinet and refused to lock the wheels, de- 
 297 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 claring that it would damage the carriages. Of 
 damage to his men he never seemed to think; 
 and I, being fool enough to volunteer though 
 my weight on the rope could have counted for 
 next to nothing found myself on the second 
 day without heels to my shoes and without 
 shoes at all on the third. Nor is it likely 
 that I had ever reached the Agueda in time for 
 the fighting had we not been met at Coimbra 
 by an order to leave our guns in the magazine 
 there and hurry forward to Ciudad Rodrigo, 
 where my comrades were required to work the 
 24-pounders which composed the bulk of Lord 
 Wellington's siege-train. 
 
 Having been supplied with new boots from 
 the stores in Coimbra^ we pushed on eastward 
 through torrents of rain which converted every 
 valley bottom into a quag, so that our march 
 was scarcely less arduous than before and the 
 men grumbled worse than they had when drag- 
 ging the guns over the frozen hill-roads. They 
 had been forced to leave their waggons behind 
 at Coimbra, and marched like infantry soldiers, 
 each man carrying a haversack with four days' 
 provisions, as well as an extra pair of boots. But 
 what semed to vex and deject them most was a 
 298 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 rumour that Quartermaster-General Murray 
 had been sent down from the front on leave of 
 absence for England. They argued positively 
 that, with Murray absent, the Commander-in- 
 Chief could not be intending any action of im- 
 portance; they doubted that he had twenty 
 siege-guns at his call even if he stripped Al- 
 meida and left that fortress defenceless. More- 
 over, who would open a siege in such a country 
 in the depth of such a winter as this ? 
 
 Nevertheless we had no sooner passed the 
 bridge of the Coa than we discovered our mis- 
 take, the roads below Almeida being choked 
 with a continuous train of mule transports, and 
 tumbrils, light carts and waggons heaped with 
 fascines, gabions, long balks of timber, sheaves 
 of spades, and siege implements all crawling 
 southward. My artillerymen were now halted 
 to await and take charge of three brass guns 
 said to be on their way down from Pintrel un- 
 der an escort of Portuguese militia; and, tak- 
 ing leave of them, I was handed over to a com- 
 pany of the 23rd Regiment hurrying in from 
 one of the outlying hamlets near Celorico 
 with whom I reached on the 7th of January 
 the squalid villages of Boden, in and around 
 299 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAEKY EEVEL 
 
 which the 52nd lay in face of the doomed for- 
 tress across the river. 
 
 "Here, then, is war at last/' thought I that 
 night as I curled myself to sleep in a loft where 
 Sergeant Henderson considerately found a cor- 
 ner for me under some pathetically empty fowl- 
 roosts. Sergeant Henderson had claimed me in 
 his captain's absence from a distracted adju- 
 tant who wanted to know where the devil I had 
 come from, and why, and if I would kindly 
 make myself scarce and leave him in peace a 
 display of temper pardonable in a man who 
 had just come in wet to his middle from 
 fording the river amid cannoning blocks of 
 ice. 
 
 Here was war at last, and I was not long in 
 making acquaintance with it. I awoke to find, 
 by the light of the lantern swung from the roost 
 overhead, the dozen men in the loft awake and 
 pulling on their boots. They had lain in their 
 sodden clothes all night; but of their boots, I 
 found, they were as careful as dandies, and to 
 grease them would hoard up a lump of fat even 
 while their stomachs craved for it. Sergeant 
 Henderson motioned me to pull on mine. From 
 my precious bugle I had never parted, even to 
 300 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 unsling it, since leaving Figueira. And so I 
 stood ready. 
 
 We bundled on our greatcoats, climbed down 
 the ladder, and filed out into the street It 
 was dark yet, though I could not guess the 
 hour, and bitter cold, with an east wind which 
 seemed to set the very stars shivering. The men 
 stamped their feet on the frozen road as we 
 hurried to the alarm post, and there I walked 
 into a crowd of dark figures which closed 
 around me at once. For a moment I supposed 
 the whole army to be massed there in the dark- 
 ness, and wondered foolishly if we were to as- 
 sault Ciudad Rodrigo at once. A terrible mur- 
 mur filled the night the more terrible be- 
 cause, while the few words spoken were idle 
 and jocular, it ran down the jostling crowd into 
 endless darkness, gathering menace as it went. 
 
 But the sergeant, gripping my shoulder, or- 
 dered me gruffly to keep close beside him, and 
 promised to find me my place. The jostling 
 grew regular, almost methodical, and by-and- 
 by an officer came down the road carrying a 
 lantern, spoke with Henderson for a moment, 
 and at a word from him the men began to num- 
 ber off. Far up the road other lanterns were 
 301 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 moving and voices calling. Then after a long 
 pause, on the reason for which the company 
 speculated in whispers, the troops ahead began 
 to move and the order came down to us "Or- 
 der arms Fix bayonets Shoulder arms!" 
 a pause "By the right, quick march 1" 
 
 An hour later., still in darkness^ we halted 
 beside the Agueda, while company after com- 
 pany marched down into the water. A body 
 of cavalry had been drawn across the upper 
 edge of the ford, four deep the horses' bodies 
 forming a barrier against the swirling blocks 
 of ice ; and under this shelter we crossed, the 
 water rising to my small ribs and touching my 
 heart with a shiver that I recall as I write. 
 But the sergeant's hand was on my collar and 
 steadied me over. 
 
 "How much farther ?" I made bold to whis- 
 per to him, as we groped our way up the bank. 
 
 "Three miles, maybe; that's as the crow 
 flies. But you mustn't talk." 
 
 And not another word did I say. We plodded 
 on not straight for the fortress, the distant 
 lights of which seemed to be waiting for us but 
 athwart and, for a mile or more, almost away 
 from it. By-and-by the road began to climb; 
 302 
 
I GO CAMPAIGNING 
 
 and, a little later, we had left it and were cross- 
 ing the shoulder of a grassy hill behind which 
 the lights of Ciudad Eodrigo disappeared from 
 view. 
 
 Here the dawn overtook us; and here at 
 length, along the northern slope of the hill and 
 close under its summit, we were halted. 
 
 Sergeant Henderson gave a satisfied grunt. 
 
 "Good for the Division the One and Only !" 
 he remarked. "Now, for my part, I'm ready 
 for breakfast." 
 
 303 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 ON THE GKEATEK TESSON 
 
 I TURNED for a look behind us and below. 
 At the foot of the slope, where daylight had 
 just begun to touch the dark shadows, stood a 
 line of mules animals scarcely taller than the 
 loads they carried, which a crowd of Portu- 
 guese had already begun to unpack; and al- 
 ready, on a plateau to the left of us, half a 
 dozen markers, with a quartermaster, were 
 mapping out a camp for the 52nd. They went 
 to work so deliberately, and took such careful 
 measurements with their long tapes, that even 
 a tyro could no longer mistake this for an ordi- 
 nary halt. 
 
 I looked at Sergeant Henderson. Word had 
 just been given to the ranks to "stand easy," 
 and he returned my look with a humorous 
 wink. 
 
 "That'll do, eh?" He nodded towards the 
 markers. 
 
 304 
 
ON THE GREATER TESSON 
 
 "What does it mean f ' I asked. 
 
 "It means that we've done with cold baths, 
 my son, and may leave 'em to the other divi- 
 sions. What else it means you'll discover be- 
 fore you sleep." He glanced up at the ridge, 
 towards which at a dozen different points our 
 sentries were creeping some of them escorted 
 by knots of officers and ducking low as they 
 neared the sky-line. 
 
 "May I go down and watch ?" I asked again, 
 pointing at the plateau; for I was young 
 enough to find all operations of war amusing. 
 
 "Ay if you won't get in the way and trip 
 over the pegs. I'll be down there myself by- 
 'n-by with a fatigue-party." 
 
 I left him and strolled down the hill. The 
 morning air was cold and the turf, here on the 
 north side of the hill, frozen under foot. But 
 I felt neither hunger nor weariness. Here was 
 war, and I was in it! 
 
 As I drew near the plateau a young officer 
 came walking across it and, halting beside the 
 quartermaster, held him in talk for a minute. 
 He wore the collar of his greatcoat turned up 
 high about his ears, but I recognised him at 
 once. It was Archibald Plinlimmon. 
 305 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 Leaving the quartermaster, he strolled tow- 
 ard the edge of the plateau, hard by where I 
 stood; halted again, and gazed down through 
 his field-glasses upon the muleteers unloading 
 beneath us; but by-and-by closed his glasses 
 with a snap and, facing round, was aware of 
 me. 
 
 "Hullo !" said he, as I saluted ; but his voice 
 was listless, and I thought him looking wretch- 
 edly ill. "You're in Number Four Company, 
 are you not ? I heard that you'd joined." 
 
 It struck me that at least he might have 
 smiled and seemed glad to welcome me. He 
 did indeed seem inclined to say something 
 more, but hesitated and fumbled as he slipped 
 back the glasses into their case. 
 
 "Are they looking after you?" he asked. 
 
 I told him of the sergeant. "But are you 
 well, sir ?" I made bold to ask. 
 
 He put the question aside. "Henderson's a 
 good man," he said; "I wish we had him in 
 our company. Ah," he broke off, "they won't 
 be long pitching tents now !" 
 
 He swung slowly on his heel and left me, 
 at a pace almost as listless as his voice. I felt 
 hurt, rebuffed. To be sure, he was an officer 
 306 
 
ON THE GREATER TESSON 
 
 now, and I a small bugler; still, without com- 
 promising himself, he might (I felt) have 
 spoken more kindly. 
 
 The fatigue-party descended, the tents were 
 brought up and distributed, and at a silent sig- 
 nal sprang up like lines of mushrooms and ex- 
 panded. The camp was formed; and the 52nd, 
 in high good humour, opened their haversacks 
 and fell to their breakfast. 
 
 The meal over, the men lit their pipes and 
 stretched themselves within the tents to make 
 up arrears of sleep. It does not take a boy 
 long to learn how to snatch a nap, even on half- 
 thawed turf packed with moisture, and to man- 
 age it without claiming much room. We were 
 eleven in our tent, not counting the sergeant 
 who had gone off on some errand which he did 
 riot explain, but which interested the men 
 enough to keep them awake for a while dis- 
 cussing it in low voices. 
 
 I was at once too shy to ask questions and 
 too sleepy to listen attentively. Here was war, 
 I told myself, and I was in it. To be sure, I 
 had not yet seen a shot fired and save for the 
 infrequent boom of a gun beyond the hill I 
 had heard none; and yet all my ideas of war 
 307 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 were undergoing a change. My uppermost 
 sense odd as it may seem was one of infinite 
 protection. It seemed impossible that, with all 
 these cheerful men about me, joking and swear- 
 ing, I could come to much harm. It surprised 
 me, after my months of yearning and weeks of 
 tramping to reach this army, to discover how 
 little my presence was regarded even in my 
 own regiment. The men took me for granted, 
 asking no questions. I might have strolled in 
 upon them out of nowhere, with my hands in 
 my pockets. And the officers, it appeared, 
 were equally incurious. Captain Lockhart, 
 commanding the company, had scarcely flung 
 me a look. The colonel I had not seen; the 
 adjutant had dismissed me to the devil; and 
 Archibald Plinlimmon had treated me as I 
 have told. All this indifference contained much 
 comfort. I began to understand the restfulness 
 of a great army a characteristic left clean out 
 of account in a boy's imaginings, who thinks 
 of war as a series of combats and brilliant per- 
 sonal efforts, at once far more glorious and 
 more terrifying than the reality. 
 
 So I dreamed, secure, until awakened by my 
 comrades' voices lifted all together and all ex- 
 308 
 
ON THE GKEATEK TESSON 
 
 citedly questioning Sergeant Henderson, whose 
 head and shoulders intruded through the flap- 
 way. 
 
 "Light Company and Number 3," he was 
 announcing. 
 
 "Blasted favouritism!" swore the man next 
 to me. "Ain't there no other battalion com- 
 pany in the regiment, that Number 3's been 
 picked for special twice now in four days ?" 
 
 "The Major's sweet on 'em, that's why," 
 snarled another. 
 
 "I ain't saying nothing against the bobs. 
 But what's the matter with us, I'd like to 
 know ? Why Number 3 again ? Ugh, it makes 
 me sick!" 
 
 "Our fun'll come later, lads/' said the ser- 
 geant, cheerfully. "When you reach my years 
 you'll have learned to wait. Now, if you'd 
 asked me, I'd have chosen the grenadiers; 
 they're every bit as good as a light company 
 for this work." 
 
 "Ay grenadiers and Number 4. Why not? 
 It's cruel hard." 
 
 I asked, in my ignorance, what was happen- 
 ing. My neighbour turned to me with a grin 
 
 "Happening? Why, you've a-lost your 
 309 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 chance of death or victory, that's all. Here 
 you are, company bugler for twenty-four hours 
 by the grace of Heaven and the sergeant's con- 
 trivance, and because everyone's forgot you and 
 because, as it happens, for twenty-four hours 
 there's no bugling wanted. To-morrow you'll 
 be found out and sent back to the band, where 
 there's five supernumeraries waiting for your 
 shoes. And the bandmaster'll cuff your head 
 every day for months before you get such an- 
 other chance. Whereas, if Number 4 Com- 
 pany had been chosen for to-night, by to-mor- 
 row you'd have blown the charge, and half the 
 drummers in the regiment would be blacking 
 your eyes out of envy. See ?" 
 
 I did not, very clearly. "Is there to be an 
 attack to-night ?" I asked. "And sha'n't we 
 even see it?" 
 
 "Oh yes, we'll see it fast enough. I reckon 
 they won't go so far as to grudge us free seats 
 for the show." 
 
 Sure enough, at eight o'clock, we formed up 
 by companies and were marched over the dark 
 crest of the hill and a short way down it in 
 face of the lights of Ciudad Rodrigo. Right 
 below us on our left shone a detached light. 
 310 
 
ON THE GREATER TESSON 
 
 We ourselves showed none. The word for si- 
 lence in the ranks had been given at starting, 
 and the captains spoke in the lowest of voices 
 as they drew their companies together in bat- 
 talions. The light cavalry having been with- 
 drawn, we found ourselves on the extreme left 
 flank, parted by a few yards only from another 
 dark mass of men the 43rd, as a tallish young 
 bugler whispered close beside me. 
 
 "But how the doose do you come here?" he 
 went on, mistaking me in the darkness, I sup- 
 pose, for one of the youngsters in the band. 
 
 "Shut your head, bugler," commanded a 
 corporal close on my right. 
 
 The men grounded arms and waited, their 
 breath rising like a fog on the frozen air. 
 Their two tall ranks made a wall before us, 
 shutting out all view of the lights in the valley. 
 The short or supernumerary line of non-com- 
 missioned officers on our right stood motionless 
 as a row of statues. 
 
 Suddenly a rocket shot up from below, 
 arched its trail of light, and exploded; and on 
 the instant the whole valley answered and ex- 
 ploded below us. Between the detonations a 
 cheer rang up the hillside and was drowned in 
 311 
 
ADVENTUKES OF HAEEY EEVEL 
 
 the noise of musketry as under a crackle of 
 laughter. Forgetting discipline, I crawled 
 forward three paces and tried to peer between 
 the legs of the rank in front, but was haled back 
 by the ear and soundly cursed. The musketry 
 crackled on without intermission. Away in 
 Ciudad Rodrigo the walls seemed to open and 
 vomit fireworks, shell after shell curving up 
 and dropping into the valley. 
 
 "Glory be !" cried someone, "the old man's 
 done it ! The Johnnies wouldn't be shelling 
 their own works." 
 
 "Ah, be quiet with ye," answered an Irish 
 voice ; "and the fun not ten minutes old !" 
 
 "He's done it, I say! Whist now, see yon- 
 der there's Elder going down with his Greas- 
 ers. Heh? What did I tell you?" 
 
 "Silence in the ranks !" commanded an offi- 
 cer, but his own voice shook with excitement, 
 and we read that he believed the news to be 
 true. 
 
 "Arrah now, sir," a man in the front rank 
 wheedled softly, "it's against flesh and blood 
 you're ordering us." 
 
 "Wait a moment, then. They've done it, I 
 believe but no cheering, mind !" 
 312 
 
ON THE GEEATEE TESSON 
 
 What had been done was this From the 
 summit of the hill where we stood we looked 
 into Ciudad Rodrigo over a lesser hill, and 
 between these two (called the Great and the 
 Lesser Tesson) the French had fortified and 
 palisaded a convent and built a lunette before 
 it, protecting that side of the tower where the 
 ground was least rocky, and could be worked 
 by the sappers. Upon the lunette before this 
 Convent of San Francisco, Colborne (our colo- 
 nel of the 52d) had now flung himself, with 
 two companies from each of the Light Division 
 regiments, and carried it with a rush ; and this 
 feat, made possible by our night march across 
 the Agueda and the negligence of the French 
 sentries, in its turn gave the signal for the siege 
 to open. The place was scarcely carried before 
 Elder had his Portuguese at work spading a 
 trench to the right of it and under what cover 
 its walls afforded from the artillery of the town, 
 which ceased not all night to pound away at the 
 lost redoubt. 
 
 The cagadores seven hundred in all toiled 
 
 with a will under shot and shell; and when 
 
 day broke a trench three feet deep and four 
 
 wide had been opened and pushed for no less 
 
 313 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 than six hundred yards toward the town ! Next 
 night, the Portuguese were replaced by the 
 First Division, which had been marched over 
 the Aguela. While the Light Division cooked 
 and enjoyed itself on Mount Tesson, the others 
 had to cross and recross the river between their 
 work and their quarters; and I fear that we 
 took their misfortunes philosophically, feeling 
 that our luck was deserved. To be sure I had 
 been taken from my company and relegated to 
 the band ; but during the twelve days the siege 
 lasted there was always a call for boys to watch 
 the explosions from the town and warn the 
 workmen when a shell was coming ; and, on the 
 whole, since Ciudad Rodrigo contained plenty 
 of ammunition and did not spare it, I enjoyed 
 myself amazingly. 
 
 On the night of the 9th, while the First Divi- 
 sion dug at the trenches, our men helped with 
 the building of three counter-batteries a little 
 ahead of the convent; and because the French 
 guns began to make our hill uncomfortable we 
 shifted camp and laid a shallow trench from it, 
 along which we could steal to work under fair 
 cover. On the 10th the Fourth Division took 
 314 
 
OX THE GREATER. TESSON 
 
 over the siege trenches, and on the llth the 
 Third Division relieved; on the 12th came our 
 turn. 
 
 The day breaking with a thick fog, Lord 
 Wellington determined to profit by it and 
 hurry on the digging, which the bitter frost was 
 now miserably impeding. To him, or to some- 
 one, it occurred that by scooping pits in front 
 of the trenches our riflemen (the 95th) might 
 give ease to the diggers by picking off the 
 enemy's gunners. And with this object we 
 were hurried down in force to take up the work 
 as the Third Division dropped it. 
 
 Now I knew the North Wilts to belong to 
 this Division, and it had occurred to me on the 
 way down that as likely as not I might run 
 across Leicester. And keeping a sharp look- 
 out as his regiment filed forth from the trench, 
 I spied him before he caught sight of me. He 
 recognised me at once; but instead of passing 
 with a scowl (as I had expected) he treated 
 me to a grin as nearly humorous as his sallow 
 face allowed, and came to a halt. 
 
 "D'ye know who's in there ?" he asked, jerk- 
 ing his thumb back towards Ciudad Rodrigo. 
 315 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAERY REVEL 
 
 "No, sir/' I answered, scarcely grasping the 
 question, but quaking as this man always made 
 me quake. 
 
 "Thought you mightn't. Well then, our 
 friend is in there." 
 
 "Our friend ?" I echoed. "Who ?" 
 
 "Whitmore." His grin became ferocious 
 now. "We have him, now have him sure 
 enough, this time eh ?" 
 
 But how on earth could Mr. Whitmore have 
 come in Ciudad Rodrigo? Leicester read the 
 question in my eyes, and answered it, pushing 
 his face close to mine in the fog: 
 
 "He's a deserter. If the river don't come 
 down in flood, we'll have him sure enough. 
 And it won't; you mark my words! Two or 
 three days of flood would let up Marmont upon 
 us and spoil everything. But this weather's 
 going to hold, and it's a bad death for desert- 
 ers," he wound up, with a snarling laugh. 
 
 "Mr. Whitmore a deserter ? But how ?" 
 
 "Ah, you've come to the right man to ask. 
 I bear you no grudge, boy; and as for Plin- 
 limmon how's he doing, by the way?" 
 
 "I've scarcely seen him since I joined. He 
 passed you just now, didn't he ?" 
 316 
 
ON THE GREATER TESSON 
 
 "Ay. I saw him. For a man in luck's way, 
 he carries a queer sort of face. What's wrong 
 with him?" 
 
 "Nothing wrong that I know of. The men 
 reckon him a good officer, too." 
 
 "Well, I'll be even with Master Archibald 
 yet. You hear ? But about Whitmore, now 
 I caught up with him in Lisbon. You see, 
 he'd got this money off the Jew and he counted 
 on another pocketful from that Belcher woman. 
 He always was a devil to get around women, 
 'specially the old ones. I don't know if you 
 guessed it, that night, but he'd persuaded the 
 old fool to run off and marry him. Yes, and 
 meantime he'd taken his passage in one of the 
 Falmouth packets, meaning to give her the 
 slip and give me the slip too as soon as he'd 
 laid hands on her purse. Well, you headed 
 him off that little plan, and to save his skin, 
 as you know, he rounded on me. Now what 
 puzzles me is, how you let him slip ?" 
 
 I did not answer this. 
 
 "The Belcher woman had a hand in it, I 
 
 reckon eh? Never mind don't answer if 
 
 you'd rather not. But when I caught up with 
 
 him, he didn't escape me; that's to say, he 
 
 317 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 won't; and it'll be a sight worse for him than 
 if he hadn't tried." 
 
 He paused again, and laughed to himself si- 
 lently a laugh unhealthy to watch. 
 
 "I came on him in Lisbon streets/' he went 
 on ; "came on him from behind and put a hand 
 on his shoulder. He's an almighty coward 
 that's his secret and the way he jumped did 
 me good. 'Recruit for the North Wilts/ said 
 I. He turned and his knees caved under him. 
 'Wha What do you mean by that?' says he" 
 and here Leicester burlesqued the poor, cold, 
 stammering knave to the life " 'Oh, for the 
 Lord's sake, Leicester, have mercy on me P 
 'You'll see the kind of mercy you're going to 
 get/ says I; 'but meantime you've a choice be- 
 tween hanging and coming along to join the 
 North Wilts.' 'But why should I join the 
 North Wilts ?' he asked. 'Well, to begin with/ 
 I said, 'you're a dreadful coward, and there 
 you'll have some chance to feel what it's really 
 like. And what's more,' I said, 'I'll take care 
 you're in my company, and I'm going to live 
 beside you and give you hell. I'm going to eat 
 beside you, sleep beside you, march beside you ; 
 and when things grow hot, and your lily-white 
 318 
 
ON THE GREATER TESSON 
 
 soul begins to shiver, I'll be beside you still 
 but a little behind/ So I promised him, and, 
 being a coward, he chose it. I tell you I kept 
 my word too ; it's lucky for you, boy, that I'm 
 a connoisseur in my grudges. But Whitmore 
 he's betrayed me, you see. Often and often 
 I had him alone and crying; and I promised 
 myself to be behind him on just such a job as 
 we're in for a night assault; oh, he'd have 
 enjoyed that! But he couldn't stand it. At 
 Celorico he gave me the slip and deserted ; and 
 now he's in Ciudad Rodrigo, yonder, and the 
 trap's closing, and what's he feeling like, 
 think you ? Eh ? I know him ; it'll get better 
 and better till the end, and it's a bad death 
 for deserters." 
 
 He paused, panting with hate and coughing 
 the fog out of his lungs. I shrank away against 
 the wall of the trench. 
 
 "When he's done with I won't say but what 
 I'll turn my attention to you or to Plinlim- 
 mon. You know what Plinlimmon was after 
 that morning on the roof? He was there 
 to steal." 
 
 He eyed me. 
 
 "Yes," said I, with sudden courage, "he was 
 319 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAREY REVEL 
 
 there, to steal. And you were waiting below, to 
 share the profits." 
 
 He fell back a pace, still eyeing me. 
 
 "Fll have to find another way with you than 
 with Whitmore that's evident/' he said, with 
 a short laugh, and was gone. 
 
 320 
 
CHAPTEK XXIII 
 
 IN CITJDAD EODKIGO 
 
 Two days later our breaching batteries 
 opened on the town. 
 
 It is not for me to describe this wonderful 
 siege, the operations of which, though witness- 
 ing them in part, I did not understand in the 
 least. I have read more than one book about 
 it since, and could draw you a map blindfold 
 and tell you where the counter-batteries stood, 
 and where the lunette which Colborne carried, 
 and how it stood with regard to the Convent of 
 San Francisco; where the parallels ran, where 
 the French brought down a howitzer, and where 
 by a sortie they came near to cutting up a divi- 
 sion. I could trace you the fausse braye and 
 the main walls and put my fingers on the angle 
 where our guns pierced the greater breach, and 
 carry it across to the tower where, by the lesser 
 breach, our own storming-party of the Light 
 Division climbed into the town. I saw a many 
 321 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 things shattered during the next five days to 
 lay the foundations of a fame which still is 
 proved the sounder the closer men examine it 
 I mean Lord Wellington's ; and in the end I, 
 Harry Revel, contributed my mite to it in a 
 splintered ankle. I understand now many 
 things which were then a mere confused hurly- 
 burly ; and even now having arrived at an age 
 when men take stock of themselves and, casting 
 up their accounts with life, cross out their van- 
 ities I am proud to remember that along with 
 the great Craufurd, Mackinnon, Vaudeleur, 
 Colborne, our colonel, and Napier, I took my 
 unconsidered hurt. To this day you cannot 
 speak the name of Ciudad Rodrigo to me 
 but I hear my own bugle chiming with the rest 
 below the breaches and swelling the notes of the 
 Advance, and my heart swells with it. But I 
 tell now strictly what I saw, and for this reason 
 only that the story to which you have been 
 listening points through those breaches, and 
 within them has its end. 
 
 To me, watching them day by day from the 
 
 hillside, they appeared but trifling gaps in the 
 
 fortifications. On the 19th I never dreamed 
 
 that they were capable of assault ; indeed in the 
 
 322 
 
IN CIUDAD RODKIGO 
 
 lesser breach to the left my inexpert eyes could 
 detect no gap at all. What chiefly impressed 
 at the time was our enemy's superiority in am- 
 munition. Their guns fired at least thrice to 
 our once. 
 
 Still holding myself strictly to what I said, 
 I can tell you even less of the assault itself. I 
 can tell, indeed, how on the evening of the 19th 
 when we were looking forward to another turn 
 at the trenches with the Third Division, Gen- 
 eral Craufurd paraded us unexpectedly; and 
 how, at a nod from him, Major Napier ad- 
 dressed us. "Men of the Light Division," he 
 said, "we assault to-night. I have the honour 
 to lead the storming-party, and I want a hun- 
 dred volunteers from each regiment. Those 
 who will go with me, step forward." 
 
 Instantly the battalions surged forward 
 the press of the volunteers carrying us with 
 them as if we would have marched on Ciudad 
 Rodrigo with one united front. 
 
 The Major flung up a hand and turned to 
 General Craufurd. Their eyes met, and they 
 both broke out laughing. 
 
 This much I saw and heard. And when, at 
 six o'clock, they marched us down under the 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAKRY REVEL 
 
 lee of San Francisco,, I saw Lord Wellington 
 ride up, dismount, give over his horse to an or- 
 derly, and walk past our column into the dark- 
 ness. He was going to give the last directions 
 to Major Napier and the storming-party ; but 
 they were drawn up behind an angle of the 
 convent wall, and we, the supporting columns, 
 massed in the darkness two hundred yards in 
 the rear, neither saw the conference nor caught 
 more than the low, clear tones of Craufurd ad- 
 dressing his men for the last time. 
 
 Then, after many minutes of silence, sud- 
 denly the sky over the convent wall opened with 
 a glare and shut again, and we heard the 
 French guns tearing the night. The attack of 
 the Third Division on our right had begun, and 
 the noise of it was taken up by the 95th Rifle- 
 men, spread wide in three companies to scour 
 the fausse braye between the two breaches and 
 keep the defenders busy along it. As the sound 
 of the assault spread down to us, interrupted 
 again and again by the explosions of shells, we 
 were marched forward for two or three hun- 
 dred yards and halted, put into motion and 
 halted again. We could see the city now, open- 
 ing and shutting upon us in fiery flashes; and, 
 324 
 
IN CIUDAD EODRIGO 
 
 in the intervals, jet after jet of fire streamed 
 from the rifles on our right. 
 
 Then someone shouted to us to advance at 
 the double, and I ran, blowing upon my bugle, 
 for now the calls were sounding all about me. 
 I had no thought of death in all this roar the 
 crowd seemed to close around and shut that out 
 until we came to the edge of the ditch facing 
 the fausse braye; and by that time the worst 
 of the danger had passed. The fausse braye 
 itself was dark, and the darker for a blaze of 
 light behind it. Our stormers had carried it 
 and swept the defenders back into the true 
 breach beside the tower. Some stray bullets 
 splashed among us as we toppled down the 
 ditch and mounted the glacis fired from 
 Heaven knows where, but probably from some 
 French retreating along the top of the fausse 
 braye. 
 
 While we were mounting the glacis Napier 
 and his men must have carried the inner breach. 
 At the top we thronged to press through the 
 narrow entrance, for all the world like a crowd 
 elbowing its way into a theatre, and as I pressed 
 into the skirts of the throng it seemed to suck 
 me in and choke me. My small ribs caved in- 
 325 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 wards as we were driven through by the weight 
 of men behind. The pressure eased and an ex- 
 plosion threw a dozen of us to earth between 
 the fausse braye and the slope of rubble by 
 which the stormers had climbed. 
 
 I picked myself up found my bugle and 
 ran for the slope, still blowing. A man of the 
 43rd gave me a hand and helped me up, for now 
 we were stumbling among corpses. What had 
 become of the stormers ? Some we were tram- 
 pling under foot ; the rest had swept on and into 
 the town. 
 
 "Fifty-second to the left/' said my friend, 
 as we gained the top of the rampart, catching 
 up a cry which now sounded everywhere in the 
 darkness. "Forty-third to the right Fifty-sec- 
 ond to the left !" I turned sharply to the left 
 and ran from him. 
 
 A rush of men overtook me. "This way!" 
 they shouted, swerving aside from the line of 
 the ramparts and sliding down the steep inner 
 slope towards the town. They were mad for 
 loot, but in my ignorance I supposed them to 
 be obeying orders, and I turned aside, and 
 clambered down after them. 
 
 We crossed a roadway and plunged into a 
 
IN CITJDAD RODRIGO 
 
 dark and deserted street at the foot of which 
 shone a solitary lamp. Then I learned what 
 my comrades were after. The first door they 
 came to they broke down with their musket- 
 butts. An old man was crouching behind it; 
 and, dragging him out, they tossed him from 
 one to another, jabbing at him with their bay- 
 onets. I ran on, shutting my ears to his 
 screams. 
 
 I was alone now ; and, as it seemed, in a for- 
 saken town. Here and there a light shone be- 
 neath a house-door or through the chinks of a 
 shutter. I felt that behind the windows I passed 
 Ciudad Rodrigo was awake and waiting for its 
 punishment. Behind me, along the ramparts, 
 the uproar still continued. But the town, here 
 and for the moment, I had to myself; and it 
 was waiting, trembling to know what my re- 
 venge would be. 
 
 I came next to a small, open square, and was 
 crossing it when in the corner on my right a 
 door opened softly, showing a lit passage with- 
 in, and a moment later was as gently shut. 
 Scarcely heeding, I ran on my feet sounding 
 sharply on the frozen cobbles; and with that a 
 jet of light leaped from under the door-sill 
 327 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 across the narrow pavement and almost be- 
 tween my feet,, and I pitched headlong, with a 
 shattered foot. 
 
 Doubtless I fainted with the pain, for it 
 could not have been as it seemed but a min- 
 ute later that I opened my eyes to find the 
 square crowded and bright with the glare of 
 two burning houses. A herd of bellowing oxen 
 came charging past the gutter where I lay, 
 pricked on by a score of red-coats yelling in 
 sheer drunkenness as they flourished their bay- 
 onets. Two or three of them wore monks' robes 
 flung over their uniforms, and danced idiot- 
 ically, holding their skirts wide. I supposed 
 it had been raining, for a flood ran through the 
 gutter and over my broken ankle, and in the 
 light of the conflagration it showed pitch-black, 
 and by-and-by I knew it for wine flowing down 
 from a whole cellarful of casks which a score 
 of madmen were broaching as they dragged 
 them forth from a house on the upper side of 
 the square. A child he could not have been 
 more than four years old ran screaming by 
 me. From a balcony right overhead a soldier 
 shot at him, missed, and laughed uproariously. 
 Then he reloaded and began firing among the 
 328 
 
IN CIUDAD KODRIGO 
 
 bullocks, now jammed and goring one another 
 at the entrance of a narrow alley. And his 
 shots seemed to be a signal for a general salvo 
 of random musketry. I saw a woman cross 
 the roadway with a rifleman close behind her; 
 he swung up his rifle, holding it by the muzzle, 
 and clubbed her between the shoulders with the 
 butt. 
 
 All night these scenes went by me these and 
 scenes of which I cannot write; unrolled in the 
 blaze of the houses which burnt on, as little re- 
 garded as I who lay in my gutter and watched 
 them to the savage, unending music of yells, 
 musketry and the roar of flames. 
 
 In the height of it my ear caught the regular 
 footfall of troops and a squad of infantry came 
 swinging round the corner. I supposed it to be 
 a patrol sent to clear the streets and restore 
 order. A small man in civilian dress a Por- 
 tuguese, by his dress walked gingerly beside 
 the sergeant in charge and as he walked 
 chattered and gesticulated. And, almost in the 
 same instant, I perceived that the men wore 
 the uniform of the RTorth Wilts and that 
 the sergeant he held in converse was George 
 Leicester. 
 
 329 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAERY REVEL 
 
 By the light of the flames he recognised me, 
 shook off his guide and stepped forward. 
 
 "Hurt ?" he asked. "Here, step out, a couple 
 of you, and take hold of this youngster. He's 
 a friend of mine, and I've something to show 
 him something that will amuse him, or I'm 
 mistaken." 
 
 They hoisted me, not meaning to be rough, 
 but hurting me cruelly, nevertheless ; and two of 
 them made a "chair" with crossed hands; but 
 they left my wounded foot dangling, and I 
 swooned again with pain. 
 
 When I came to, we were in a street, dark 
 but for their lanterns between a row of houses 
 and a blank wall ; and against this wall they 
 were laying me. The houses opposite were 
 superior to any I had yet seen in Ciudad Rod- 
 rigo, and had iron balconies before their first- 
 floor windows, broad and deep and overhanging 
 the house-doors. 
 
 On one of these doors Leicester was hammer- 
 ing with his side-arm ; the Portuguese standing 
 by on the step below. No one answering, he 
 called to two of his men, who advanced and, 
 setting the muzzles of their muskets close 
 against the keyhole, blew the door in. Leicester 
 330 
 
IN CITJDAD RODRIGO 
 
 snatched a lantern and sprang inside, the two 
 men after him. The Portuguese waited. The 
 rest of the soldiers waited too, grounding arms, 
 some in the roadway, others by the wall at 
 the foot of which they had laid me. 
 
 A minute passed two minutes and then 
 with a crash a man sprang through one of the 
 first-floor windows, flung a leg over the balcony 
 rail, and hung a moment in air between the 
 ledge and the street. The window through 
 which he had broken was flung up and Leicester 
 came running after, grabbing at him vainly as 
 he swung clear. 
 
 There were two figures now on the balcony. 
 A woman had run after Leicester, leant for a 
 moment with both hands on the balcony rail, 
 and turned as if to run back. Leicester caught 
 her around the waist and held her so while she 
 screamed shrilly, again and again. 
 
 The man dangled for a moment, dropped 
 with a horrible thud, and answered with one 
 scream only but it was worse even than hers 
 to hear. Then the soldiers ran forward and 
 flung themselves upon him. 
 
 "Hold the lantern higher, you fools!" 
 shouted Leicester, straining the woman to him 
 331 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 as she struggled and fought to get away. U 0ver 
 there, by the wall I want to see his face! 
 Steady now, my beauty!" 
 
 The woman sank in his arms as if fainting, 
 and her screams ceased. There was a stool on 
 the balcony and he seated himself upon it, 
 easing her down and seating her on his knee. 
 This brought his evil face level with the bal- 
 cony rail, and the lantern, held high, flared up 
 at it. 
 
 "Out of the way, youngster!" one of the 
 soldiers commanded, grimly. "That wall's 
 wanted." 
 
 He dragged me aside as they pulled Whit- 
 more across the roadway. I think his leg had 
 been broken by the fall. It trailed as they car- 
 ried him, and when they set him against the 
 wall it doubled under him and he fell in a 
 heap. 
 
 "Turn up his face, any way," commanded 
 Leicester, from the balcony. "I want to see 
 it ! And when you've done, you can leave me 
 with this beauty Hey, my lass ? the show's 
 waiting. Sit up and have a look at him !" 
 
 I saw Whitmore's face as they turned it up, 
 and the sight of it made me cover my eyes. I 
 
IN CIUDAD RODKIGO 
 
 heard the men step out into the roadway and 
 set back their triggers. Crouching against the 
 wall, I heard the volley. 
 
 As the echoes of it beat from side to side of 
 the narrow street I looked again not towards 
 the wall but upwards at the balcony, under 
 which the men waved their lanterns as they 
 dispersed, leaving the corpse where it lay. To 
 my surprise Leicester had released the woman. 
 She was stealing back through the open win- 
 dow and I caught but a glimpse of her black 
 head-veil in the wavering lights. But Leicester 
 still leaned forward with his chin on the bal- 
 cony rail, and grinned upon the street and the 
 wall opposite. 
 
 I dragged myself from the spot. How long 
 it took me I do not know, for I crawled on my 
 belly, and there were pauses in my progress of 
 which I remember nothing. But I remember 
 that at some point in it there dawned upon me 
 the certainty that this was the very street door 
 which I had struck on my way from the ram- 
 parts. If not the same street, it must have been 
 one close beside and running parallel with it; 
 for at daybreak, with no other guidance than 
 this certainty, I found myself back at the 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 breach, nursing my foot and staring stupidly 
 downwards at the bodies on the slope. 
 
 Across the foot of it a young officer was pick- 
 ing his way slowly in the dawn. A sergeant 
 followed him with a notebook and pencil, and 
 two men with lanterns. They were numbering 
 the corpses, halting now and again to turn one 
 over and hold a light to his face. Half way 
 down, between them and me, a stink-pot yet 
 smouldered, and the morning air carried a hor- 
 rible smell of singed flesh. 
 
 As the dawn widened, one of the men opened 
 his lantern and blew out the candle within it. 
 The young officer it was Archibald Plinlim- 
 mon paused in his search and scanned the sky 
 and the ramparts above. I sent down a feeble 
 hail. 
 
 He heard. His eyes searched along the 
 heaped ruins of gabions, fascines, and dead 
 bodies ; and, recognising me, he came slowly up 
 the slope. 
 
 "Hullo !" said he. "Not badly hurt, I hope ? 
 I thought we'd cleared all the wounded. Where 
 on earth have you come from ?" 
 
 "From the town, sir." 
 
 "We'll take you back to it then. They've 
 334 
 
IN CIUDAD KODRIGO 
 
 rigged up a couple of hospitals, and it's nearer 
 than camp. Besides, I doubt if there's an am- 
 bulance left to take you." 
 
 He knelt and examined my foot. "Hi, 
 there!" he called down. "You Vincent 
 come and help me with this boy ! Hurts badly, 
 does it? Never mind we'll get you to hos- 
 pital in ten minutes. But what on earth 
 brought you crawling back here ?" 
 
 "Mr. Archibald," I gasped, "I saw Urn!" 
 
 "Him?" 
 
 "Whitmore!" 
 
 He stared at me. "You're off your head a 
 bit, boy. You'll be all right when we get you 
 to hospital." 
 
 "But I saw him, sir! They shot him 
 against the wall. He was a deserter and they 
 hunted him out." 
 
 "Well, and what is that to me, if they did ?" 
 He turned his face away. "Isabel, my wife, is 
 dead," he said, slowly. 
 
 "Dead?" 
 
 "She is dead and the child." 
 
 He bowed his face, while I gazed at him, 
 incredulous, sick at heart. 
 
 "If what you say is true," he said, lifting 
 335 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 his eyes till, weary and desperate, they met 
 mine, "she has heen avenged to-night." 
 
 "You shall see/' I promised ; and as the .two 
 soldiers picked me up and laid me along a 
 plank I made signs that they were to carry me 
 as I directed. He nodded and fell into pace 
 beside my litter. 
 
 The body of Whitmore lay along the foot of 
 the wall where it had fallen. But when we drew 
 near it was not at the body that I stared, putting 
 out a hand and gripping Archibald Plinlim- 
 mon's arm. 
 
 On the balcony opposite George Leicester 
 still leaned forward and grinned down into the 
 street. 
 
 He did not move or glance aside even when 
 Archibald commanded the men to set me down ; 
 nor when he passed in at the open door and we 
 waited; nor again when he stepped out on the 
 balcony and called him by name. The corpse 
 stared down still. For it was a corpse, with a 
 woman's bodkin-dagger driven tight home be- 
 tween the shoulder blades. 
 
 And so, by an unknown woman's hand, Isa- 
 bel's wrongs had earthly vengeance. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIV 
 
 I EXCHANGE THE LAUEEL FOR THE OLIVE 
 
 THUS, in hospital at Ciudad Rodrigo, ended 
 mj campaigning ; and here in a few words may 
 end my story. The surgeons, having their 
 hands full and detecting no opportunities of 
 credit in a small bugler with a splintered ankle, 
 sent me down to Belem, splinters and all, to 
 recover ; and at Belem hospital, just as the sur- 
 geons were beginning to congratulate them- 
 selves that, although never likely to be fit again 
 for active service, I might in time make a 
 fairly active hospital orderly, the splinters be- 
 gan to work through the flesh; and for two 
 months I lay on my back in bed and suffered 
 more pain than has been packed into the rest 
 of my life. 
 
 The curious part of it was that, having ex- 
 tracted the final splinter, they promptly inva- 
 lided me home. From the day I limped on 
 board the Cumberland transport in the Tagus, 
 337 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 leaning on two crutches, I began to mend ; and 
 within twelve months as may hereafter be re- 
 counted, I was back again, hale and hearty, and 
 marching with no perceptible limp, on the soil 
 of Spain. 
 
 But I must not, after all, conclude in this 
 summary fashion. And why ? Because scarcely 
 had I set foot in the Cumberland when a voice 
 from somewhere amidships exclaimed 
 
 "My blessed Parliament !" 
 
 I looked up and found myself face to face 
 with Ben Jope! 
 
 "And you've grown !" he added, as we shook 
 hands. 
 
 "But, Ben, I thought you were married and 
 settled?" 
 
 He turned his eyes away uneasily. 
 
 "Whoever said so told you a thundering lie." 
 
 "Nobody told me," said I; "but when you 
 left me I understood " 
 
 "My lad," he interrupted, hoarsely, "I 
 couldn't do it. I went straight back, same as 
 you saw me start now don't say a word till 
 you've heard the end o't! I went straight 
 back, and up- to door without once looking 
 back. There was a nice brass knocker to the 
 338 
 
THE LAUREL FOR THE OLIVE 
 
 door (I never denied the woman had some good 
 qualities) ; so I fixed my eyes hard on it and 
 said to myself, if there's peace to be found in 
 this world which was a Bible text that came 
 into my head the heart that is humble, which 
 is the case with me, may look for it here. And 
 with that I shut my eyes and let fly at it though 
 every knock brought my heart into my mouth, 
 i^ow guess : who d'ye think answered the door ? 
 Why, that ghastly boy of hers! There he 
 stood, all freckles and pimples; and says he, 
 grinning, 
 
 ' Mr. Benjamin Jope, 
 Moderately well, I hope.' 
 
 I couldn't stand it. I turned tail and ran for 
 my life." 
 
 "But was that quite honourable ?" I asked. 
 
 "Ain't I tellin' you to wait till I've done? 
 You don't suppose it ended there, do you ? ~No ; 
 I'd passed my word to that sister of mine, and 
 my word I must keep. So I went back to 
 Symonds's who was that pleased to see me 
 again you'd have thought I'd been half round 
 the world and I ordered up three-penn'orth of 
 rum and pens and ink to the same amount ; and 
 339 
 
ADVENTURES OF HAEEY REVEL 
 
 this is what I wrote, and I hope you'll get it 
 by heart before you're in a hurry again to ae- 
 cuse Ben Jope of dishonourable conduct 
 'Kespected Madam/ I wrote, 'this is to inquire 
 if you'll marry me. Better late than never, 
 and please don't trouble to reply. I'll call for 
 an answer when I wants it. Yours to command, 
 B. Jope. ~N. B. We might board the boy out.' 
 Symonds found a messenger and I told him on 
 no account to wait for an answer. Now, I hope 
 you call that acting straight ?" 
 
 "Well, but what was the answer ?" I asked. 
 
 He hung his head. "To tell you the truth, 
 I ha'n't called for it yet. You notice I didn't 
 specify no time ; and being inclined for a v'yage 
 just then I tramped it down to Falmouth and 
 shipped aboard the Maryborough, Post Office 
 Packet, for Lisbon." 
 
 "And you've been dodging at sea ever since," 
 said I, severely. 
 
 "If you'd only seen that boy ' protested 
 Mr. Jope. 
 
 "I'll call with you and see him as soon as 
 ever we reach Plymouth," I said; "but you 
 passed your word, and your word you must 
 
 keep." 
 
 340 
 
THE LAUKEL FOR THE OLIVE 
 
 "You're sure 'twill be safe for you at Plym- 
 outh?" he asked, and (as I thought) a trifle 
 mischievously. "How about that Jew?" 
 
 "Oh, that's all cleared up." 
 
 He sighed. "Some folks has luck. To be 
 sure, he may be dead/' he added, with an at- 
 tempt at cheerfulness. 
 
 "The Jew?" 
 
 "No, the boy." 
 
 I could hold out no hope of this, and he con- 
 soled himself with anticipating the time we 
 would spend together at Symonds's. "For, if 
 you're invalided home, they'll discharge you on 
 leave as soon as we reach port." 
 
 "Unless they keep me in hospital," said I. 
 
 "Then you'll have to make a cure of it on the 
 voyage." 
 
 "I feel like that, already. But the mischief 
 is, I've no home to go to." 
 
 "There's Symonds's." 
 
 "I might give that as an address, to be sure/* 
 
 "Damme," cried Ben, as a bright thought 
 struck him, "why couldn't I adopt you ?" 
 
 "The lady might find that an inducement," 
 said I, modestly. 
 
 "I wasn't exactly looking on it in that light," 
 341 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 he confessed. "But with a boy apiece she and 
 I might start fair." 
 
 The Cumberland weighed anchor on the 2d 
 of May and dropped it again under Staddon 
 Heights on the 29th of that month. To my de- 
 light the garrison surgeon at Plymouth pro- 
 nounced me fit to travel; my foot only needed 
 rest, he said, and he asked me where my home 
 lay. 
 
 I had anticipated this and answered that a 
 letter addressed to me under care of Miss 
 Agatha Plinlimmon, at the Genevan Foundling 
 Hospital, would certainly find me. And so I 
 was granted two months' leave of absence to 
 recover from my wound. 
 
 "But you don't mean to tell me," said Mr. 
 Jope, as we strolled down Union Street to- 
 gether, "that you haven't a home or relations in 
 this world ?" 
 
 "Neither one nor the other/' said I; "but I 
 have picked up a few friends." 
 
 As we drew westward I noticed that he sensi- 
 bly retarded his pace ; but he had forsworn vis- 
 iting Symonds's until, as he put it, we knew the 
 worst; and I marched him relentlessly up to 
 342 
 
THE LAUREL FOE THE OLIVE 
 
 the door of doom with its immaculate brass 
 knocker. And, when, facing it, he shut his 
 eyes, I put out a hand and knocked for him. 
 
 But it was I who shrank back when the door 
 opened; for the person who opened it was 
 Mr. George ! in pigtail and wooden leg un- 
 changed, but in demeanour (so far as agitation 
 allowed me to remark it) more saturnine than 
 ever. 
 
 "Do the Widow Geake live here?" stam- 
 mered Mr. Jope. 
 
 a She do not," answered Mr. George, slowly, 
 and added, "Worse luck !" 
 
 "Is is she dead?" 
 
 "No, she ain't," answered Mr. George, and 
 pulled himself up. 
 
 "Then what's the matter with her ?" 
 
 "There ain't nothing the matter with her, 
 as I know by," answered Mr. George, once more 
 in a non-committal tone. "But I'm her ? us- 
 band." 
 
 "You Mr. George ?" I gasped. 
 
 Thereupon he recognised me, and his eyes 
 grew round, yet expressed no immoderate sur- 
 prise. 
 
 "A nice dance you've led everybody!" he 
 343 
 
ADVENTURES OF HARRY REVEL 
 
 said, slowly; a but I was never hopeful about 
 you, I'm thankful to say." 
 
 "Where is Miss Plinlimmon living?" I 
 asked. "Has she left the Hospital too ?" 
 
 "She didn't leave it/' he answered. "It left 
 her. The Hospital's scat." 
 
 "Eh?" 
 
 "Bust sold up come to an end. Scougall's 
 retired on the profits; he feathered his nest. 
 And Miss Plinlimmon's gone down into Corn- 
 wall to live with a Major Brooks a kind of 
 relation of hers, so far as I can make out. They 
 tell me she've come into money." 
 
 I had a question on my lips, but Mr. Jope 
 interrupted. 
 
 "I haven't the pleasure o' your acquaintance, 
 sir," he began politely, addressing Mr. George, 
 "and, by the look of 'ee, you must date from 
 before my time. But, speakin' as one man to 
 another, how do you get along with that boy ?" 
 
 The door was slammed in our faces. 
 
 Mr. Jope and I regarded one another. 
 "Ben," said I, "it's urgent, or I wouldn't 
 leave you; I must start at once for Minden 
 Cottage." 
 
 His face fell. "And I was planning a little 
 344 
 
THE LAUREL FOR THE OLIVE 
 
 kick-up at Symonds's," he said, ruefully; "a 
 fiddle or two to celebrate the occasion; noth- 
 ing out o' the way. The first time you dropped 
 on us, if you remember, we was not quite our- 
 selves owing to poor, dear Bill; and I'd ha' 
 liked you to form a brighter idea of the place. 
 But if 'tis duty, my lad, England expec's and 
 I'm not gainsaying. Duty, is it ?" 
 
 "Duty it is," said I. "You walked up to 
 yours nobly, and I must walk on to mine." 
 
 So we shook hands, and I turned my face 
 westward, for the ferry. 
 
 I had over-calculated my strength and limped 
 sorely the last mile or two before reaching 
 Minden Cottage. Miss Plinlimmon opened the 
 door to me, and I forgot my pain for an instant 
 and ran into her arms. But behind her lay an 
 empty house. 
 
 "The Major is in the garden," she said. 
 "You will find him greatly changed, I expect. 
 Ever since my coming I have noticed the alter- 
 ation." 
 
 I walked through to the summer-house. The 
 Major was fingering his Virgil, but laid it 
 down and shook hands gravely. I had much to 
 345 
 
ADVENTURES OP HARRY REVEL 
 
 tell him, and he seemed to listen; but I do not 
 think that he heard. 
 
 Miss Plinlimmon dear soul, unknowingly, 
 had prepared for me the very room to which 
 Isabel had led me on the night of my first ar- 
 rival, and in which she had knelt beside me. 
 Miss Plinlimmon had scarcely known Isabel, 
 and I found her cheerfulness almost distressing 
 when she came to wish me good-night. 
 
 "And I have composed a stanza upon you," 
 she whispered, "if you care for such things any 
 longer. But you must understand that it has 
 been so to speak improvised, and what 
 with the supper and one thing and another I 
 have had no time to polish it." 
 
 I said sleepily that, unpolished though it 
 were, I wished to hear it ; and here it is : 
 
 " Wounded hero, you were shattered 
 
 In the ankle do not start ! 
 Much, much more it would have mattered 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the heart. 
 The bullet sped comparatively wide; 
 
 And he survives to be Old England's pride." 
 
 THE END 
 
 346 
 
NOVELS AND STORIES BY "Q" 
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 
 
 ARTHUR T. QUILLER-COUCH was 
 chosen from among all the writers of the 
 day as best fitted to conclude ' ' St. Ives, ' ' the 
 late Robert Louis Stevenson's unfinished ro- 
 mance. That fact gives some idea of how he 
 is regarded by the foremost literary men of his 
 time. But notwithstanding this, and notwith- 
 standing his great reputation in England, where 
 he is as widely read by the public as he is highly 
 praised by critics and fellow -craftsmen espe- 
 cially by his early and discerning admirer, J. M. 
 Barrie there are many lovers of good books in 
 this country who have yet to realize the full 
 literary importance of this vigorous Cornish- 
 man. He has done for the rugged west coast 
 of England and its quaint characters and ro- 
 mantic history what Thomas Nelson Page has 
 done for Virginia and Miss Mary E. Wilkins 
 for New England. He has made for himself 
 an enviable reputation as the writer of " crisp, 
 strong stories in which no fog, moral or physi- 
 cal, finds any shelter;" and the uniform ex- 
 cellences and interest of his tales, the compres- 
 sion and the care for the story as the first 
 consideration, have made any book with his 
 now familiar nom de plume on the title page 
 " sure of a hearty welcome." 
 
 [OVER] 
 
NOVELS AND STORIES BY "Q" 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 HARRY REVEL 
 
 A STORY of plot and mystery in Mr. Quiller- 
 Couch's most fascinating manner. The 
 scene is laid on the coast of England many 
 years ago, and the picture of childhood shown 
 against a background of intrigue is one of 
 reality and charm. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 THE WHITE WOLF; and 
 Other Fireside Tales 
 
 Twenty-one Short Stories 
 
 " As a teller of short stories 'Q' is an author 
 of infinite variety and charm unfailing. His inven- 
 tion is fertile in surprises, and his conceits are 
 a perpetual delight." New York Evening Sun. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 THE LAIRD'S LUCK 
 
 Eight Stories 
 
 "They are ingenuous and original; they are 
 written with ' Q's ' most facile and descriptive 
 pen." The Nation. 
 
 $1.50 
 
NOVELS AND STORIES BY " Q " 
 
 OLD FIRES AND PROFIT- 
 ABLE GHOSTS 
 
 Fifteen Stories 
 
 "Whichever story makes the closest appeal to 
 the reader, he will hardly fail to find somewhere 
 the power, poetry, and dramatic instinct without 
 morbidness, of which a book by this author always 
 holds the promise." New York Evening Post. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 THE SHIP OF STARS: a 
 
 Novel of the Cornish Coast 
 
 *' Mr. Quiller-Couch is in all that he writes an 
 artist, and it is good to get a book as well written 
 as is 'The Ship of Stars.' A pleasant, wholesome 
 story this, full of the salt-bracing air of the Cornish 
 coast." New York Sun. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 HISTORICAL TALES FROM 
 SHAKESPEARE 
 
 " Mr. Quiller-Couch has done his work success- 
 fully, making entertaining and instructive narra- 
 tives, such as boys and girls will be sure to relish. 
 The book will promote a genuine interest in the 
 plays themselves. " Congregationalist. 
 
 $1.50 
 
NOVELS AND STORIES BY Q" 
 
 UNIFORM SERIES OF 
 
 EARLY NOVELS AND 
 
 STORIES BY "Q" 
 
 Uniform Edition, Nine Volumes, Each I2mo, 
 $1.23. The Set, in a Box, $11.00. 
 
 The Splendid Spur 
 I Saw Three Ships 
 Dead Man's Rock 
 
 The Delectable Duchy 
 The Blue Pavilions 
 
 Noughts and Crosses 
 Wandering Heath 
 Troy Town, and 
 
 Adventures in Criticism 
 
 IA: A Love Story 
 
 Published in the Ivory Series only, idmo, 75 cents. 
 
 " No story was ever more fearlessly and more 
 thoughtfully aimed at the very heart of life." 
 
 The Bookman. 
 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, Publishers 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 APR 7 1934 
 
 
 FEB 221935 
 
 
 
 
 FFR 18 1936 
 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY