8 ERKELEyN IBRARY DIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA , \ ' pip ipir L is* Jt iJ it . z^^&WJ ■Q)RGE CRUIK^ ROCHESTER, '"-■IT . FRANK FAIRLEGH; OS. icmes from % fifr of 3 grtfrafc |1upi(. BY FRANK E. SMEDLEY, AUT HOB OF " LEWIS ARUNDEL," " HARRY CCVBRDALE's COt.'STSHIP," ETC. ' Hour now ' good lack ! what present have we here? A Book that stood in peril of the press ; Eut now it's past those pikes, and doth appear To keep the lookers-on from heaviness. What stuff contains it ? " Davies of Hereford. LONDON GEQRGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS Broadway, Ludgate Hill NEW YORK: 9, LAFAYETTE PLACE BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Uniform with this Volume. LEWIS ARUNDEL ; or, The Railroad of Life. HARRY COVERDALE'S COURTSHIP, and All that Came of It. A. NUTTER, ROCHESTER, KFNT. f>g_ ^7 DEDICATION To M. V. S. and M. B. S. Mi Deab Cousins, As it is mainly owing to your joint advice and encouragement that this tale has been either written, or laid before the public, there can be none to whom I may with greater propriety dedicate it. When I add, that my satisfaction in making this slight acknowledgment of the countless acts of affectionate kind- ness I have received at your hands, is one, among the many agreeable results, of the advice which has eventually led me to adopt a literary career, you will not refuse to accept this assurance, that you have contributed to the hap- piness of one, whose sphere, both of duties and of pleasures, Providence has seen fit to limit. i That our friendship may continue uninterrupted through Time, is the hope, and through Eternity, is the prayer, of your affectionate friend and cousin, THE AUTHOR. 766 PREFACE. fL»VlNG, from causes of a physical nature, much leisure time upon my hands, I amused myself by working into a story, my recollections of certain boyish escapades at a private tutor's. My reason for selecting such a theme was twofold. Li the first place, it struck me, that while volume after volume had been devoted to " Schoolboy Days," and " College Life," the mysteries of that paradise of public-school-fearing mammas — a "Private Tutor's" — yet continued unrevealed ; and 1 resolved to enlighten these tender parents as to the precise nature of the rose- bed into which they were so anxious to transplant their darlings. In the second place, I wished to prove to the young Hopefuls themselves, that a lad, hitherto shielded from evil by the hallowing influences of home, may suc- cessfully resist the new trials and temptations to which, on this his first essay in life, he may be subjected; that the difficulties which surround him, will yield to a little firmness and decision ; and that such a course, steadily persisted in, will alike gain him the esteem of his com- panions, and lay the foundation of the character which it should be his aim to support through life — viz., that of a Christian and a gentleman. With such views, the earliei 71 PREFACE. *' Scenes from the Life of a Private Pupil" were written, and appeared originally in the pages of " Sharpe's Maga- zine." The tale proved popular, and was continued at the request of the then editor, till it attained its present limits. In the delineation of character, my desire has been to paint men as they are, rather than as they should be ; and the moral (if moral there be) is to be derived quite as much from their faults as from their virtues. To this design must also be traced all inconsistencies of character, — as, for ex- ample, when Frank Fairlegh, possessing sufficient religious principle to enable him to look upon duelling as a crime which no combination of circumstances can justify, yet be- comes involved in such an affair himself. These short- comings doubtless evince a lamentable contrast to the perfection of the stereotyped novel hero ; but as it has never been my good fortune to meet with that faultless monster, a perfectly consistent man, or woman, I prefer describing character as I find it. Should this, my first work, fall into the hands of my former Tutor, let me take this opportunity of thanking him for the trouble he bestowed upon a graceless boy, who even then possessed sufficient sense to perceive and appreciate his many high rud endearing qualities. If any of my fellow-pupils peruse these pages, and, recognizing certain incidents of their boyish days, seek to fit my ideal* sketches to living prototypes, let me beg them to bear in mind that the character of Richard Cumberland \& purely fictitious, and introduced, like that of WiLFORD, to satisfy the requirements of a tale writer, and enable me to work out the details of my story. In regard to the other dramatis j ersonce, although I have occasionally taken a hint from living models, and although certain incidents ( that's the way to do it," said Coleman, " in the shop-fel- low's style, you know — much obliged for past favours, and hope for a continuance of the same — more than you do, though, Fairlegh, I should fancy ; but there goes the bell — I am off," and away he scud- ded, followed by Lawless humming — " Brian O'Lynn had no breeches to wear, So he took an old catskin, and made him a pair." Here was a pretty state of things : the breakfast bell had rung, and I, who considered being too late a crime of the first magnitude, was unable even to begin dressing from the melancholy fact that every pair of trowsers I possessed in the world had disappeared ; while, to complete my misery, I was led to believe the delinquent who had abstracted them was no less a person than the tutor, whom I had come fully prepared to regard with feelings of the utmost re- spect and veneration. However, in such a situation, thinking over my miseries was worse than useless ; something must be done at once — but what ? Write the note, as Lawless had advised? No, it was useless to think of that ; I felt I could not do it. " All! a bright idea! — I'll try it." So, suiting the action to the word, I rang the bell, and then jumping into bed, muffled myself up in the bed-clothes. " Well, sir, have you found them?" asked Thomas, entering, " No, Thomas," replied I dolefully, u nor ever shall, I fear ; but will you go to Dr. Mildman, and tell him, with my respects, that I I cannot get up to breakfast this morning, and, if he asks what is the matter with me, say that I am prevented from coming down by severe cold. I am sure that is true enough," added I, shivering. " Well, sir, I will, if you wish it ; but I don't exactly see the good of it; you must get up some time or other." " I don't know," replied I, gloomily, " we shall see ; only do you take my message." And he accordingly left the room, muttering as he did so, " WelL FRANK FAIRLEG11. 17 I na\h 'his a great deal too bad, and I'll tell master of it in) self, if nobody else 'won't." " Tell master of it himself!" — he also suspected him then. This crushed my last faint hope that, after all, it might turn out to be only a trick of the pupils ; and, overpowered by the utter viieness and depravity of him -jrho was set in authority over me, I buried my face in the pillow, feeling a strong inclination to renew the lamentations of the preceding night. Not many minutes had elapsed, when the sound of a heavy footstep slowly ascending the stairs attracted my attention. I raised my head, and beheld the benevolent countenance (for even then it certainly did wear a bene- volent expression) of my wicked tutor, regarding me with a mingled look of scrutiny and pity. " Why, Fairlegh, what's all this? — Thomas tells me you are not able to come down to breakfast ; you are not ill, I hope ?" " No, sir," replied I, " I don't think I am very ill, but I can't come down to breakfast." " Not ill, and yet you can't come down to breakfast ! pray, what in the world prevents you?" " Perhaps," said I (tor I was becoming angry at what I considered his unparalleled effrontery, and thought I woidd give him a hint that he could not deceive me so easily as he seemed to expect). " perhaps you can tell that better than I can." " I, my boy ! — I am afraid not ; my pretensions to the title oi doctor are based on divinity, not physic : — however, put out your tongue — that's right enough ; let me feel your hand — a little cold or so, but nothing to signify ; did this kind of seizure ever happen to you at home ?" "Well, this was adding insuU to injury with a vengeance ; not content with stealing my clothes himself, but actually asking me whether such things did not happen at home ! The wretch ! thought I; does he suppose that everybody is as wicked as himself? "No," I answered, my voice trembling with the anger I was scarcely able to repress ; "no, sir, such a thing never could happen in my dear father's house." "There, don't agitate yourself ; you seem excited : perhaps you had better he in bed a little longer; I will send you up something warm, and after that you may feel more inclined to get up," said ii kirdly, adding to himself as he left the room, " Very si j ange boy —I can't make him out at all." The door closed, and I was once more alone. " h he guil^ oi 18 FRANK F4.IRLE.GR. not guilty?" thought I ; "if he really has taken the clothes, he is the most accomplished hypocrite I ever heard of; yet he must have done so, everything combines to prove it — Thomas's speech — nay, even his own offer of sending me ' something warm ;' something warm, indeed ! what do I want with anything warm, except my trowsers?" No! the fact >ras beyond dispute; they were gone, and he had stolen them, whilst I, unhappy youth, was entirely in his power, and had not therefore a chance of redress. " But I will not bear it," cried I, " I'll write to my father — I'll run away — I'll " " Hurra ! " shouted Thomas, rushing into the room with his arm full of clothes, " here they are, sir I I have found the whole kit of them at last." " Where?" exclaimed I eagerly. " Where? why in such a queer place !" replied he, "stuffed up the chimbley in master's study ; but I have given them a good brushing, and they are none the worse for it, except them blessed white ducks ; they are a'most black ducks now, though they will wash, so that don't signify none." " Up the chimney, in master's study ! " here was at last proof positive ; my clothes had been actually found in his possession — oh, the wickedness of this world ! " But how did you ever find them?" asked I. " Why ! I happened to go in to fetch something, and I see'd a little bit of the leg of one of them hanging down the chimbley, so 1 guessed how it all was, directly. I think I know how they got there, too ; they did not walk there by themselves, I should say." " I wish they had," muttered I. " I thought somebody was up too early this morning to be about any good," continued he ; " he is never out of bed till the last mo- ment, without there's some mischief in the wind." This was pretty plain speaking, however. Thomas was clearly as well aware of his master's nefariouj practices as the pu^ls them- selves, and Lawless's amiable desire to conceal Dr. Mildman's sin? from his servant's knowledge was no longer of any avail. I hast- ened, therefore (the only reason for silence being thus removed), to relieve my mind from the burden of just indignation which waa oppressing it. " And can you, Thomas," exclaimed I, with flashing eyes, ' re- main the servant of a man who dares thus to outrage every law, -unmn and divine? one who having taken upon himself the sacral rRANK FAIRLEGH. 19 office of a clergyman of the Church of England, and so made it his especial duty to set a good example to all around him, can take advantage of the situation in which he is placed in regard to his pupils, and actually demean himself by purloining the clothes of the young men (I felt five-and-twenty at the very least at that moment) committed to his charge ? — why, my father" What I imagined my father would have said or done under these circumstances, was fated to remain a mystery, as my eloquence was brought to a sudden conclusion by my consternation, when a series of remarkable phenomena, which had been developing themselves during my harangue in the countenance of Thomas, terminated abruptly in what appeared to me a fit of most unmitigated insanity. A look of extreme astonishment, which he had assumed at the beginning of my speech, had given place to an expression of mingled surprise and anger as I continued; which again in its turn had yielded to a grin of intense amusement, growing every moment broader and broader, accompanied by a spasmodic twitching of his whole person; and, as I mentioned his master's purloining my trowsers, he suddenly sprang up from the floor nearly a yard high, and commenced an extempore pas seul of a Jim Crow character, which he continued with unabated vigour during several minutes. This " Mazourha d'ecstase" or whatever a ballet-master would have called it, having at length, to my great joy, concluded, the per - former of it sank exhausted into a chair, and regarding me with a face still somewhat the worse for his late violent exertions, favoured me with the following geographical remark: — > " Well, I never did believe in the existence of sich a place as Greenland before, but there's nowhere else as you could have come from, sir, I am certain." " Eh ! why 1 what's the matter with you ? have I done anything particularly ' green,' as you call it ? what are you talking about ?'* said I, not feeling exactly pleased at the reception my virtuous in- dignation had met with. " Oh 1 don't be angry, sir ; I am sure I did not mean to offend you ; but really I could not help it, when I heard you say about master's having stole your things. Oh, lor !" he added, holding Ms sides with both hands, "how my precious sides do ache, sure-ly !" '' Do you consider that any laughing matter?" said I, still in the dark. " Oh ! don't, sir, don't say it again, or you will be the death of mo," replied Thomas, struggling against a relapse- " whv. bless you» 20 FRANK FAIRLEGH. innocence, what could ever make you think master would take your clothes?" " Make me think ? why, Lawless told me so," answered I, " and he also said it was not the first time such a thing had occurred either " " You'll have enough to do, sir, if you believe all our young gents tell you ; why, master would as soon think of flying as of stealing anything. It was Mr. Coleman as put them up the chim- bley ; he's always a playing some trick or another for everlasting." A pause ensued, dming which the whole affair in its true bear- ings became for the first time clear to my mind's eye ; the result of my cogitations may be gathered from the following remark, which escaped me as it were involuntarily — " What a confounded ass I have made of myself, to be sure /" Should any of my readers be rude enough to agree with me in this particular, let them reflect for a moment on the peculiar posi- tion in which I was placed. Having lived from childhood in a quiet country parsonage, -with my father and mother, and a sister younger than myself, as my sole companions, " mystification" — that is, telling deliberate falsehoods by way of a joke — was a perfectly novel idea to me ; and, when that joke involved the possibility of such serious consequences as offending the tutor under whose care we were placed, I (wholly ignorant of the impudence and reck- lessness of public school boys) considered such a solution of the mystery inconceivable. Moreover, everything around me was so 6trange, and so entirely different to the habits of life in which I had been hitherto brought up, that for the time my mind was completely bewildered. I appeared to have lost my powers of judgment, and to have relapsed, as far as intellect was concerned, into childhood again. My readers must excuse this digression, but it appeared to me necessary to explain how it was possible for a lad of fifteen to have been made the victim of such a palpably absurd deception, without its involving the necessity of Ins not being " so sharp as he should be." The promised "something warm" made its appearance ere long, in the shape of tea and toast, which, despite my alarming seizure, I demolished with great gusto in bed (for I did not dare to get up), feeling, from the fact of my having obtained it under false pretences, very like a culprit all the while. Having finished my breakfast, and allowed sufficient time to elapse for my recovery, I got up, and, j^i-^tma * nair of trowsers which appeared to have suffered Ipsa FRANK FATRLEUH. 21 from their sojourn in the chimney than the others, dressed myself and soon after eleven o'clock made my appearance in the pupils' room, where I found Dr. Mildman seated at his desk, and the pupils apparently very hard at work. " How do you find yourself now you are up, Fairlegh ? " inquired my tutor kindly. " Quite well, sir, thank you," I replied, feeling like an impostor. " Quite recovered?" continued he. " Everything — entirely, I mean," stammered I, thinking of my trowsers. " That's well, and now let us see what kind of a Latin and Greek lining you have got to your head." So saying, without appearing to notice the tittering of the pupils, he pointed to a seat by his side, and commenced what I considered a very formidable examination, with the view of eliciting the extent of my acquaintance with the writers of antiquity, which proved to be extremely select. When he had thoroughly satisfied (or dis- satisfied) himself upon this point, he recommended Horace and Xenophon to my particular notice, adding, that Coleman was also directing his attention to the sayings and doings of the same honour- able and learned gentlemen — and that, therefore, we were to work together. He then explained to me certain rules and regulations of his establishment, to which lie added a few moral remarks, con- veying the information, that, if I always did exactly what he con- sidered right, and scrupulously avoided everything he deemed wrong, I might relieve my mind from all fears of Ins displeasure which was, to say the least, satisfactory, if not particularly original. Exactly as the clock struck one, Dr. ilildman left the room (the morning's " study," as it was called, ending at that hour), leaving us our own masters till five, at which time we dined. Lest any kind reader should fancy we were starved, let me add, that at half- past one a substantial luncheon was provided, of which we might partake or not as we pleased. As well as I remember, we gene- rally did graciously incline towards the demolition of the viands, unless " metal more attractive" awaited us elsewhere — bus Iain expressing. FRANK FA1RLEGH. CHAPTER I1L , COLD-WATER CURE FOR THE IIEARTACH&, "Oh ! grief for words too deep, From all his loved ones parted, He could not choose but weep, He was so lonely-hearted." — ShortfelUno. " How dees the water come down at Lodoref Dashing and flashing, and splashing and clashing, All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar, And this way the water comes down at Lodore." — Soulhey. " Pray, Fairlegh, what did you mean by not coming down tiff eleven o'clock?" asked Cumberland in an angry tone. " Did its mamma say it was always to have its breakfast in bed, a dear?" sneered Lawless. " When she fastened that pretty square collar round its neck," chimed in Coleman. " Just like a great gal," added Mullins. " Mildman was exceedingly angry about it, I can tell you," con- tinued Cumberland, " and desired me to speak seriously to you on the subject ; such abominable idleness is not to be tolerated." " It was not idleness," answered I, warmly ; " you all know, very weM, why I could not come down, and I don't think it was at all right or kind of you to play me such a trick." " Eh — now don't say that — you will hurt my feelings ; I declare it is quite affecting," said Coleman, wiping his eyes with Mullins's handkerchief, of which he had just picked his pocket. " I'd have given five pounds to have seen old Sam's phiz, when he was trying to make out what ailed young stupid here, whether he was really ill, or only shamming," said Lawless ; " depend upon it, he thinks it was all pretence, and he can't bear anything of that sort ; that was why he began spinning him that long yarn about 1 meriting his approbation by upright and straightforward conduct,' this morning. I saw what the old boy was aiming at in a minute ; there's nothing puts him out so much as being deceived." FRANK. FA1KLKGH. 23 " Won't he set him all the hard lines to construe ? that's all," said Mullins. " It will be ' hard lines' upon him if he does," observed Cole- man. 14 Hold your tongue, Freddy ! your puns are enough to make , one ill," said Cumberland. " Well, I don't know whether you are going to stand here all day baiting young pinafore, Cumberland?" interrupted Lawless; " I'm not, for I've got a horse waiting for me down at Snaffles's, and I am going to ride over to Ilookley ; there's a pigeon-match coming off to-day between Clayton, of the lancers — (he was just above me at Eton, you know) — and Tom Horton, who won the great match at Finchley, and I have backed Clayton pretty heavily — shall you come ? " " Xo," replied Cumberland, " no, I am going down to F ■ Street." " As usual, the board of green cloth, eh ? you will go there one** too often, if you don't mind, old fellow." "That's my look out," replied Cumberland. And away they went to their different pursuits, each, a" he left the room, making me a very low obeisance ; Coleman taking the trouble to open the door again after he had gone out, to beg, "that, if I were going to write to my mother, I would tell her, with his love, that she need not make herself in the least uneasy, as he had quite got over his last little attack." In a few minutes they had all quitted the house, and I remained the sole tenant of the pupils' room. Many a long year has passed over my head since the day I am now describing, and each (though my life has been on the whole as free from care as that of most of the sons of Adam) has brought with it some po r tion of sorrow or suffering, to temper the happiness I have enjoyed, and teach me the much required lesson, that " here we have no abiding place." I have lived to see bright hopes fade — high and noble aspirations fell to the ground, checked by th• we the level of ordinary mortals. If he had a fault (I suppose. rilXSK. KAlilLEGH. merely for the sake of proving him human, I must allow him one,) it was a want of moral courage, which made it so disagreeable to him to find fault with any of us, that he would now and then allow evils to exist, which a little more firmness and decision might have prevented ; but, had it not been for this, ho would have been quite perfect, and perfection is a thing not to be met with in this life. Cumberland, after the eventful evening on which he acted as peacemaker between Lawless and Oaklands, had persevered steadily in his endeavour to ingratiate himself with the latter; and, by taking advantage of his weak point, his indolence and dislike of trouble, had, at length, succeeded in making Oaklands believe him essential to his comfort. Thus, though there was not the smallest sympathy between them, a sort of alliance was established, which gave Cumberland exactly the opportunities he required for putting into execution certain schemes which he had formed. Of what these schemes consisted, and how far they succeeded, will appear in the course of this veracious history. The winter months, after favouring us with rather more than our due allowance of frost and snow, had at length passed away, and March, having come in like a lion, appeared determined, after the fashion of Bottom the weaver, " to roar that it would do any man's heart good to hear him," and to kick up a thorough dust ere he would condescend to go out like a lamb, albeit, in the latter state, he might have made a shilling per pound of himself at any market, had he felt suicidally inclined. " This will never do," said Oaklands to me, as, for the third time, we were obliged to turn round and cover our eyes, to avoid being blinded by the cloud of dust which a strong east wind was driving directly in our faces ; " there is notliing in the world tires one like walking against a high wind. A quarter to three," added he, taking out his watch. " I have an appointment at three o'clock. Will you walk with me ? I must turn up here." I assented ; and, turning a corner, we proceeded up a narrow street, where the houses, in a great measure, protected us from the wind. After walking some little distance in silence, Oaklands again addressed me — " Frank, did you ever play at billiards ? " I replied in the negative. " It's a game I've rather a liking for," continued he , " we have a table at Ileathfield, and my father and I often played when the weather was too bad to get out ■ I used to beat the old gentlemav 58 FRANK FAIRLP.GH. easily though at last, till I found out one day he did not half like it, so then I was obliged to make shocking mistakes, every now and then, to give him a chance of winning ; anybody else would have found me out in a minute, for I am the worst hand in the world at playing the hypocrite, but my father is the most unsuspicious crea- ture breathing. Oh ' he is such a dear old man. You must come and stay with us, Frank, and learn to know him and love him — he'd delight in you — you are just the sort of fellow he likes." " There's nothing I should like better," answered I, " if I can get leave from head-quarters ; but why did you want to know if I played at billiards ? " " Oh, I have been playing a good deal lately with Cumberland, who seems very fond of the game, and I'm going to meet him at the rooms in F Street to-day ; so I thought, if you knew any- thing of the game, you might like to come with me." u Cumberland is a first-rate piayer, isn't he *?" asked I. "No, I do not think so; we play very evenly, I should say; bu' we are to have a regular match to-day, to decide which is the best player.' watch them, and that. FKAXK FA1RLEGH. 69 if he had no objection, 1 would go with him, to which proposition he willingly agreed. As we turned into F Street, we were joined by Cumberland, who, as I fancied, did not seem best pleased at seeing me, nor did the scowl which passed across his brow, oa hearing I was to accompany them, tend to lessen this impression. He did not, however, attempt to make any opposition to the plan, merely remarking that, as I did not play myself, he thought I should find it rather dull. After proceeding about half way down the street, Cumberland stopped in front of a small cigar-shop, and, turning towards a private door, on which was a brass pkte with the word "Billiards" engraved on it, knocked, and was admitted. Leading the way up a dark, narrow staircase, he opened a green baize door at the top, and ushered us into a tolerably large room, lighted by a sky-light, immediately under which stood the billiard- table. On one side was placed a rack, containing a formidable arrangement of cues, maces, &c, while at the farther end two small dials, with a brass hand in the centre for the purpose of marking the scores of the different players, were fixed against the wall As we entered, two persons w T ho were apparently performing certain intricate manoeuvres with the balls by way of practice, immediately left off playing, and came towards us. One of these, a little man, with small keen grey eyes, and a quick restless manner, which in- voluntarily reminded one of a hungry rat, rejoiced in the name of "Slipsey," and proved to be the billiard-marker; his companion was a tall stout personage, with a very red face, rather handsome features, large white teeth, and a profusion of bushy whiskers, moustaches, and imperial of a dark-brown colour. His dress con^ sisted of a blue military frock coat, which he wore open, to display a crimson plush waistcoat and thick gold watch-chain, while his costume was completed by a pair of black and white plaid trowsers, made in the extreme of the fashion, with a broad stripe down the outside of the leg. This personage swaggered up to Cumberland, and with a manner composed of impertinent familiarity and awk- wardness, addressed him as follows : — " How d'ye do, Mr. Cumberland ? hope I see you well, sir. Terrible bad day, gentlemen, don't you think ? dusty enough to pepper the devil, as w r e used to say in Spain, hey ? Going to have a touch at the rolley-polleys, I suppose." " "We shall be disturbing you, Captain Spicer," said Cumberland, who, I thought, had tact enough to perceive that his friend's freo and easy manner was the reverse of acceptable to Oakland* 70 TEANK FAIRLEGH. 11 Not at. all, not at all," was the reply ; "it was so terrible un- pleasant out of doors, that, as I happened to be going by, I thought I'd look in, to see if there was anything up ; and as the table was lying idle, I got knocking the balls about with little Slipsey here, just to keep one's hand in, you know." " Well, then, we had better begin at once," said Cumberland, to which Oaklands assented rather coldly. As he was pulling off his great-coat, he whispered to me, " If that man stays here long, I shall never be able to stand it : his familiarity is unbearable ; there is nothing tires me so much as **eing obliged to be civil to those kind of people." " How is it to be ?" said Cumberland, " whoever wins four gamea ">ut of seven is the conqueror, wasn't that it ? " " Yes, I believe so," was Oaklands' reply. " A very sporting match, 'pon my life," observed the Captain ; u are the stakes high ? " " Oh no ! a mere nothing : five, cr ten pounds, did we say ?" inquired Cumberland. " Just as you like," replied Oaklands, carelessly. " Ten pounds, by all means, I should say ; five pounds is sc shocking small, don't you think? not worth playing for?" said the Captain. " Ten let it be then," said Cumberland ; and after a few pre- liminaries they began playing. I did not understand the game sufficiently to be able to give a detailed account of the various chances of the match, nor would it probably greatly interest the reader were I to do so. Suffice it, then, to state, that, as far as I could judge, Oaklands, disgusted by the vulgar impertinence of the Captain, (if Captain he was,) thought. the whole thing a bore, and played carelessly. The consequence was, that Cumberland won the first two games. This put Oaklands upon his mettle, and he won the third and fourth ; the fifth was hardly contested, Oaklands evidently playing as well as he was able, Cumberland also taking pains ; but it struck me as singular that, in each game, his play seemed to depend upon that of his adversary. When Oaklands first began, Cumberland certainly beat him, but not by many ; and, as he became interested, and his play improved, so in the same ratio did Cumberland's keep pace with it. Of course, there might be nothing in this ; the same causes that affected the one might influence the other ; but the idea having once occurred to me, I determined to watch the proceedings stiU FRANK FAIKLEUBL. 71 more closely, in order, if possible, to make up my mind on the point After a very close contest Oaklands also won the fifth game; in the sixth he missed a difficult stroke, after which he played carelessly, apparently intending to reserve his strength for the final struggle, 50 that Cumberland won it easily. Each had now won three games, and on the event of the seventh depended the match. Again did Oaklands, who was evidently deeply interested, use his utmost skill, and his play, which certainly was very good, colled forth frequent eulogiums from the Captain, who offered to bet unheard-of sums on the certainty of his winning, (which, as there was no one in the room at all likely to accept his offer, was a very safe and innocent amusement,) and again , pari passu, did Cumberland's skill keep pace with his. After playing neck and neck, till nearly the end of the game, Cumberland gained a slight advantage, which produced the following state of affairs : — It was Oakland's turn to play, and the balls were placed in such a position, that by a brilliant stroke he might win the game, but it required great skill to do so. If he failed, the chances were so much in Cumberland's favour as to ren- der his success almost a certainty. It was an anxious moment : for my own part, I felt as if I scarcely dared breathe, and could dis- tinctly hear the throbbing of my own heart, while the Captain, after having most liberally offered to bet five hundred pounds to five pence that he did it, remained silent and motionless as a statue, watching the proceed ii/gs, with his eye-glass screwed after some mysterious fashion into the corner of his eye. And now, carefully and deliberately, Oaklands pointed his cuts. — his elbow was drawn back for the stroke, — for the last time Ids rye appeared to measure and calculate the precise spot he must strike to produce the desired effect, — when suddenly, and at the exact moment in which the cue struck the ball, a sonorous sneeze from the rat-like billiard-marker resounded through the room ; as a necessary consequence, Oaklands gave a slight start and missed his stroke. The confusion that ensued can " better be imagined than described," as the newspapers always say about the return from Epsom. AVith an exclamation of anger and disappointment Oaklands turned away from the table, while the Captain began storming at Slipsey, whom he declared himself ready to kick till all was blue, for the trifling remuneration of half a farthing. The marker himself apologized, with great contrition, for his delinquency, which he declared was quite involuntary, at the same time asserting that, to the best of Ids belief, the gentleman had made his stroke before he sneezed ; this Oaklands denied, and 72 Klt.VXK FAIULEGH. appealed to Cumberland for his opinion. After trying in various ways to avoid giving a direct answer, and appealing, in his turn, to Captain Spicer, (who was so intensely positive that the sneeze had preceded the stroke, that he was willing to back his opinion to any amount,) Cumberland very unwillingly owned that, if he was forced to say what he thought, he believed Oaklands had made his stroke before the sneeze caused him to start, but that it was a near thing, and he might very possibly be mistaken. This was quite enough for Oaklands, who declared that he was perfectly satisfied, and begged Cumberland to play, which, with some apparent reluctance, he did, and, as was almost a matter of certainty, proved the con- queror. " Ton my life, in all my experience, I never knew a gentleman lose a match in such a tremendously unfortunate way," observed the Captain. " I am certain that if you had not been flurried, Mr. Oaklands, sir, you could have done the trick as clean as a whistle. Allow me to place the balls as they were then — I know how they stood to a nicety — there, that's it to a demi-semi fraction ; oblige me, sir, just as a personal favour, by trying the stroke once more." Thus invoked, Oaklands approached the table, and, without a moment's deliberation, struck the ball, and succeeded in doing with perfect ease the very thing which a minute before would have won him ten pounds. " There ! I was super certain you could do it ; the match was yours, sir, as safe as the bank, if that wretched little abortion there hadn't made that disgusting noise. Play him again, sir ; play him again : Mr. Cumberland's a pretty player, a very pretty player; but you're too strong for him, Mr. Oaklands ; it's my firm conviction you're too strong for him." " What do you say to giving me my revenge, Cumberland ? " asked Oaklands. " Oh ! / can have no possible objection," replied Cumberland, with the slightest imaginable assumption of superiority in his tone, which annoyed my ear, and which I felt sure would produce the same effect upon Oaklands. The next game Oaklands won ; and they continued to play the rest of the afternoon with various suc- cess, and for what appeared to me very high stakes. I calculated that, by the time they left off, Oaklands must have lost more than thirty pounds ; and yet, in spite of this, to a superficial observer he appeared to be t^o better player of the two : h« certainly made the most brilliant strokes, but he also made blunders, and failed now FRAXK FAIKLEOH. 73 and then ; while Cumberland's 6Core mounted up without one'a exactly knowing how ; he never seemed to be playing particularly well, and yet there was always something easy for him to do; while, when Oaklands had to play, the balls got into such aAvkward posi- tions that it appeared as if they were leagued against him. Besides this, many things concurred to strengthen me in my pre- conceived idea, that Cumberland was accommodating his play to that of Oaklands, whom, I felt certain, he could have beaten easily, if he had been so inclined. If this were really the case, the only conclusion one could come to was, that the whole thing was a regu- larly arranged plot : the object of which was to win as much as he could of Oaklands' money. The marker's sneeze too occurring so very opportunely for Cumberland's interest ; and the presence of the Captain, who, by his eulogiums on Oaklands' skill, had excited him to continue playing, while, by his observations and advice, he had endeavoured (whenever it was possible) to raise the amount of the stakes ; all this favoured my view of the case. Still these were but suspicions, for I was utterly without proof: and could I on mere suspicion tell Oaklands that he was a dupe, and Cumberland a knave ? No, this would never do ; so I determined, as people generally do when they are at their wits' end, and can hit on nothing better, to wait and see what time would bring forth, and act accord- ing to circumstances. Should any of my readers think such penetration unnatural in a boy of my age, brought up in a quiet country parsonage, let them remember, that, though utterly ignorant of the ways of the world, I was what is called a quick, sharp boy ; that I had been informed Cumberland was not a person to be trusted, nay, that he was known to have cheated some young man before ; and that, more- over, my very unworldliness and ignorance increased my suspicions, inasmuch as it seemed to me, that playing billiards, at a public table, for what I considered large sums of money, was neither more nor less than gambling ; and gambling I viewed in the light of a patent twenty-devil-power man-trap, fresh baited, (in the present case with a billiard cue and balls,) by the claws of the evil One himself; consequently, I was prepared to view everything that passed with the greatest mistrust ; and, in such a frame of mind, I must have been blind, not to have perceived something of what wm going on. FRANK FAIBLXOH CHAPTER Vm GOOD RESOLUTION'S. Blest are those Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger To sound what stop she please. — Hamlet. There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft.— Naval Soug. As we were preparing to take our departure, I observed tba (iaptain exchange glances with Cumberland, who turned to Oak- lands, saying — " Don't wait for me ; I have one or two places to call at in my way back, and I shall only make you late ; — when you get home, sive Thomas a hint to keep back dinner five minutes or so, — old Mildman won't say anything about it, if he fancies it's the servant's fault." To this Oaklands replied, " that it was rather a shame, but he'd see what he could do for once ;" and, with a very distant bow to the Captain, we left the room. As scon as we were in the street, Oaklands accosted me with, •'Well, Frank, what do you think of billiards ? " " Why," replied I, after a moment's thought, " as to the game itself, it's a very pretty game, and when you can play well, I hav<. no doubt a very interesting one ; too much so, perhaps.' " Too interesting ! why, that's the beauty of it ; almost every other game is a bore, and tires one, because one does not get suffi- ciently interested to forget the trouble of it ; what can you mean by too interesting?" "You won't be angry at what I am going to say, will you?" said I, looking up in his face. " Angry with you, my dear boy ! no fear of that ; always say just what you think to me, and if it happens to be disagreeable, why it can't be helped ; I would rather hear a disagreeable truth from a friend any day, than have it left for some ill-natured person to bring out, when he wants to annoy me." "All I meant to say was this," I replied ; "it seems to me thai FRANK FAIllLEGH. you get so much excited by the game, that you go on playing longer, and for higher stakes, than you intended to do when you began, — surely," continued I, " it cannot be right to lose such sums of money merely for amusement ; is it not gambling ? " " I believe you are right, Frank," replied Oaklands, after a short pause, during which he had apparently been revolving the matter in his mind ; " when one comes to think seriously about it, it is a most unprofitable way of getting rid of one's money ; you will scarcely credit it," continued he, half smiling, "but I declare to you I have been playing almost every day for the last two months." " So long as that ? " interrupted I, aghast. " There or thereabouts," said Oaklands, laughing at the tone d horror in which I had spoken ; " but I was going to say," he con- tinued, " that till this moment, (looking upon it merely as an amusement, something to keep one from going to sleep over a news- paper in that vile reading-room,) I have never taken the trouble to consider whether there was any right or wrong in the matter. I am very much obliged to you for the hint, Frank ; I'll think it all over to-night, and see how much I owe Master Cumberland, and I'll tell you to-morrow what conclusion I have come to. I hate to do anything in a hurry — even to think ; one must take time to do that well." We had now reached home, and mindful of his promise, Oak- lands begged Thomas to use his interest with the cook, for the purpose of postponing dinner for a few minutes, in order to give Cumberland a chance of being ready — to which Thomas replied, " Very well, sir, anything to oblige you, Mr. Oaklands," mutter- ing to himself as he went off, "wonder what that chap Cumberland is up to now : no good, I'll be bound." In another minute we heard his voice in the lower regions, exclaiming — " I say, Cook, mustn't dish up for the next ten minutes ; Master ain't quite finished his next Sunday's sermon — he's got hitched just at thirdly and lastly, and mustn't be disturbed; not on no account ;" — which produced from that functionary the following pathetio rejoinder : — " Then, it's hall hup with the pigeon pie, for it will be burnt as black as my blessed shoe by that time !" As I was descending the stairs, ready to go out, the next day, Oaklands called me into his room, and closing the door, said, " Well, Fairlegh, I have thought over all you said yesterday, — » made up my mind — and acted upon it." 76 FRANK FA1RLEGH. "Bravo!" replied I, "I am so glad, for, whenever you will but rouse yourself, you are sure to act more rightly and sensibly than anybody else ; but what have you done now ? Let me hear all about it." " Oh, nothing very wonderful," answered Oaklands ; " when I came to look at my pocket-book, I found I had lost, from first to last, above £150." " Good gracious ! " cried I, aghast at the magnitude of the sum ; " what will you do ? " Oaklands smiled at my look of horror, and continued, — " About £100 of this I still owe Cumberland, for, after my ready money was gone, I merely set down on paper all I won or lost, as he said I could pay him at any time, just as it suited me best ; and I thought I would wait till I got my next quarter's allowance, pay him out of that, and be very economical ever after. Well, when I saw what the sums amounted to, I found this plan certainly would not answer, and that I was getting into a mess ; so I made up my mind to put an end to the tiling at once, — and sat down to write to my father, telling him I had been playing billiards every day for some time past with a friend, (of course I did not mention who,) and that, without being at all aware of it, my losses had mounted up till I owed him £100. I mentioned at the same time, that I had a pretty lon'g bill at Smithson's ; and then went on to say, that I saw the folly, if not worse than folly, of what I had been doing ; and that j applied to him, as the best friend I had in the world, (and I am sure he is too, Frank,) to save me from the consequences of my own imprudence." " I am very glad you did that ; it was much the wisest thing," interrupted I. " As soon as I had written my letter," continued Oaklands, " I went to Cumberland, and told him that I found I had been going on over fast, — that I owned he was too good a player for me, — and that I therefore did not mean to play any more — and would pay him as soon as I received my father's answer." " And what did he say to that ? " inquired I, " Why, he seemed surprised and a little annoyed, I fancied. He denied being the best player, and begged I would not think of paying him yet, saying that I had been unlucky of late, but that if I woult? go on boldly, luck was sure to change, and that I should most likely win it all back again." 1 "And you '" MiANK FAIKLEGH. 7" 64 Oh ! I told him that was the true spirit of gambling ; that I did not choose to owe so much to any man as I owed him, and that pay him I would. Well then, he said, that if I did not like to trouble my father about such a trifle, and yet was determined to pay him, it could be very easily managed. I asked, how ? He hummed and ha'd, and at last said that Smithson would advance me the money in a minute — that I should only have to sign a receipt for it, and need not pay him for years — not till I was of age, and not then if I did not like — that no one would be any the wiser — and he was going on with more in the same style, when I stopped him, by answering very abruptly, that such an arrangement was not to my taste, and that I wa3 not yet reduced to borrowing money of my tailor." " Quite right, I am so glad you told him that," interposed I ; " what did he say then?" " Something about not intending to offend me, and its being a tiling done every day." " By him perhaps," said I, recollecting the scene I had witnessed soon after my arrival. " Why ! what do you mean ? " said Oaklands. " I'll tell you when you have done," replied I ; " but I want to know how all this ended." " There was not much more. He tried to persuade me to go again to-day, and play another match. I told him I was engaged to ride with you. Then he looked as if he was going to be angry. I waited to see, and he wasn't, and so we parted." " And what think you of Cumberland now ?" inquired I. " I can't say I altogether like the way in which he has behaved about this," replied Oaklands ; " it certainly looks as if he would have had no objection to win as much as he could from me, for he must have known all along that he was the best player. It strikes me that I am well out of the mess, and I have to thank you fur being so, too, old fellow.' " Nay, you have to thank your own energy and decision ; I did nothing towards helping you out of your difficulties." " Indeed ! if a man is walking over a precipice with his eye* shut, is it nothing to cause him to open them, in order that he maj pee the dangers into which the path he is following will lead him ? " " Ah ! Harry, if you would but exert yourself, so as to keep your own eyes open" — "What a wide-awake fellow you would be!" interposed Coleman, 78 FRANK FA1KJLEGH. who, after having tapped twice, without succeeding in making my- self heard, (so engrossed were we by the conversation in which we were engaged,) had in despair opened the door in time to overbear my last remark : — " I say, Gents, as Thomas calls us," continued he, " what have you been doing to Cumberland, to put him into such a charming temper ?' " Is he out of humour then ?" inquired Oaklands. " I should say, rather j replied Coleman, winking ironically; " he came into our room just now, looking as black as thunder, and, as I know he hates to be spoken to when he is in the sulks, I asked him if you were going to play billiards with him to-day." Harry and I exchanged glances, and Coleman continued : " He fixed his eyes upon me, and stared as if he would have felt greatly relieved by cutting my throat, and at last growled out, ' No ; that you were going to ride with Fairlegh ; ' to which I re- plied, ' that it was quite delightful to see what great friends you had become ; whereupon he ground his teeth with rage, and told me, ' to go to the devil for a prating fool ; ' so I answered, that I was not in want of such an article just at present, and had not time to go so far to-day, and then I came here instead. Oh, he's in no end of a rage, I know." " And your remarks would not tend to soothe him much either," said I. " Oaklands has just been telling him, he does not mean to play billiards again." " Phew 1" whistled Coleman, " that was a lucky shot of mine; I fancied it must have been something about Oaklands and billiards that had gone wrong, when I saw how savage it made him . I like to rile Cumberland sometimes, because he's always so soft and silky ; he seems afraid of getting into a good honest rage, lest he shoidd let out something he does not want one to know. I hate such extreme caution ; it always makes me think there must be something very wrong to be concealed, when people are so mighty particular." "You are not quite a fool after all, Freddy," said Oaklands, encouragingly. " Thank ye for nothing, Harry Longlegs," replied Coleman, skip- ping beyond the reach of Oaklands' arm. A few mornings after this conversation took place, Oaklands, who was sitting in the recess of the window, (from which he had ejected Lawless on the memorable evening of his arrival,) called me to him, &' ,d asked in a low tone of voice, whether I should mind calling at FRASK FAiRLEGH. 79 (he billiard -rooms when I went out, and paying a month's subscrip- tion which he owed there. He added, that he did not like going himself, for fear of meeting Cumberland or the Captain, as, if they pressed him to play, and he refused, (which he certainly should do,) something disagreeable might occur, which it was quite as well to avoid. In this I quite agreed, and willingly undertook the commis- sion. Wliile we were talking, Thomas came into the room with a couple of letters, one of which he gave to Oaklands, saying, it had just come by the post, while he handed the other to Cumberland, infor min g him that the gentleman who brought it was waiting for an answer. I fancied that Cumberland changed colour slightly when his eye fell upon the writing. After rapidly perusing the note, he crushed it in his hand, and flung it into the fire, saying, — " My compliments to the gentleman, and I'll be with him at the time he mentions." " Well, this is kind of my father," exclaimed Oaklands, looking up with a face beaming with pleasure ; " after writing me the warmest and most affectionate letter possible, he sends me an order for three hundred pounds upon his banker, telling me always to apply to him when I want money, or get into difficulties of any kind ; and that if I will promise him that this shall be the case, I need never be afraid of asking for too much, as he should be really annoyed were I to stint myself." " What a pattern for fathers ! " exclaimed Coleman, rubbing lus hands. " I only wish my old dad would test my obedience in that sort of way ; — I'd take care \ would not annoy him by asking for too little ; he need not fret himself on that account. Ugh," con- tinued he, with a look of intense disgust, "it's quite dreadful to think what perverted ideas he has on the subject ; he actually fan- cies it his business to spend his money as well as to make it ; and as for sons, the less they have the better, lest they should get into extravagant habits, forsooth ! I declare it's quite aggravating to think of the difference between people : a cheque for three hun- dred pounds from a father, who'll be annoyed if one does not always apply to him for money enough ! Open the window there ! I'm getting faint !" " Don't you think there'3 a little difference between sons as well as fathers, Master Fred, eh?" inquired Lawless. "I should say 6ome sons might be safely trusted with £300 cheques ; while others are certain to waste two shillings, and misapplv sixpence, out of every half-crown they may get hold of." SO FRANK PA1RLEGH. " Sir, I scorn your insinuations ; sir, you're no gentleman," was the reply, producing (as was probably intended) an attack from Lawless, which Coleman avoided for some time, by dodging round chairs and under tables. After the chase had lasted for several minutes, Coleman, when on the point of being captured, contrived, by a master-stroke of policy, to substitute Mullins in his place, and the affair ended by that worthy being knocked down by Lawless, ' for always choosing to interfere with everything,' and being kicked up again by Coleman, ' for having prevented him from properly vindicating his wounded honour.' " Who's going near the Post Office, and will put a letter in for me ? " asked Oaklands. "I am," replied Cumberland ; " I've got one of my own to put in also." " Don't forget it or lose it, for it's rather important," added Oak- lands ; " but I need not caution you, you are not one of the hair- brained sort ; if it had been my friend Freddy now — " " I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Oaklands," said Coleman, putting on an air of offended dignity, in which, though very much exagger ■ ted, there was at the bottom the smallest possible spice of reality, ■ — a thing, by the way, one may often observe in people who have a very strong appreciation of the ridiculous, and who, however fond they may be of doing absurd things for the sake of being laughed at, do not approve of their buffooneries being taken for granted, — " I'll tell you what it is, sir, — you have formed a most mistaken estimate of my character ; I beg to say, that any affair I undertake is certain to be conducted in a very sedate and business-like man- ner. My prudence I consider unimpeachable ; and as to steadiness, I flatter myself I go considerably a-head of the Archbishop of Can- terbury in that article. If I hear you repeat such offensive remarks, I shall be under the painful necessity of elongating your already sufficiently prolonged proboscis." " Come and try," said Oaklands, folding his arms with an air of defiance. Coleman, reckoning on his adversary's dislike of exertion, and trusting to his own extreme quickness and activity to effect his escape scot-free, made a feint of turning away as if to avoid the contest, and then, with a sudden spring, leaped upon Oaklands, and succeeded in just touching his nose. The latter was however upon his guard, and while, by seizing his outstretched arm with one hand, he prevented him from attaining his object, he caught liim by the coat-collar with the other, and detained him prisoner FRAXK FAIKLKGfl. fll " I've got you this time, at all events, Master Freddy ; now what shall I do with you, to pay you off for all your impertinence ?" said Oaklands, looking round the room in search of something suitable to his purpose. " I have it," continued he, as his eyes encountered the bookcase, which was a large square-topped, old-fashioned affair, standing about eight feet high, and the upper part forming a sort of glass-fronted closet, in which the books were arranged on shelves. " Great men like you, who go ahead of Arch- bishops and bo on, should be seated in high places." So saying, he lifted Coleman in his arms, with as much ease as if he had been a kitten ; and stepping up on a chair which stood near, seated him on the top of the bookcase, with his head touching the ceding, and his feet dangling about six feet firm the ground. " What a horrid shame !" said Coleman ; "come help me don-n again, Harry, there's a good fellow." "I help you down!" rejoined Oaklands, "I've had trouble enough in putting you up I think ; I'm a great deal too much tired to help you down again." " Well, if you won't, there's nobody else can," said Coleman, " unless they get a ladder or a fire-escape, — don't call me proud, gentlemen, if I look down upon you all, for I assure you it's quite involuntary on my part." " A decided case of ' up aloft : ' he looks quite the cherub, does he not '?" said Lawless. "They are making game of you, Coleman." cried Mullins, grinning. " I hope not," was the reply, " fcr in that case I should be much too high to be pleasant." " They ought to keep you there for an hour longer for that vile pun," said Cumberland. " Is your letter ready, Oaklands, for I must be going ?" u It is up stairs, I'll fetch it," replied Oaklands, leaving the room. " Well, as it seems I am here for life, I may as well make myseli comfortable," said Coleman, and suiting the action to the word, he crossed his legs under him like a tador, and folding Ins arms, leaned his back against the wall, the picture of ease. At this moment thepf was a gentle tap at the door ; some one said, " Come in," and, without a word of preparation, Dr. Mildmao entered the apartment. Our suqwise and consternation at this ap- parition may easily be imagined. Cumberland and- Lawless tried OZ FRANK. FATRLEGH. to carry it off by assuming an easy, unembarrassed air, as if nothing particular was going on ; I felt strongly disposed to laugh ; while Mullins looked much more inclined to cry ; but the expression of Coleman's face, affording a regular series of " dissolving views," of varied emotions, was the " gem" of the whole affair. The uncon- scious cause of all this excitement, whose back was turned towards the bookcase, walked quietly up to his usual seat, saying as he did so, " Don't let me disturb you, — I only came to look for my eye- glass, which I think I must have dropped." ** I see it, sir," said I, springing forward, and picking it up 5 " how lucky none of us happened to tread on it and break it !" " Thank you, Fairlegh, it is an old friend, and I should have been sorry to have any harm happen to it," replied he, as he turned to leave the room, without having once raised his eyes from the ground. Coleman, who up to this moment had considered a dis- covery inevitable, gave me a sign to open the door, and, believing the danger over, was proceeding to relieve his feelings by making a hideous face at his retiring tutor, when the bookcase, affected no doubt by the additional weight placed upon it, suddenly gave a loud crack. "Bless my heart," said Dr. Mildman, looking up in alarm, "what's that? Gracious me!" continued he, starting back as his eyes encountered Coleman, " there's something alive up there! why it's — eh?" continued he, levelling his newly-restored eye-glass at the object of his alarm ; " yes, it certainly is Coleman ; pray, sir, is it usually your 'cut torn of an afternoon,' as Shakspeare has it, to sit pprched up there cicsv legged, like a Chinese mandarin? it's a vtry singular taste." "Why, sir,' replied Coleman, for once completely ttJcen aback, " you see I didn't — that is, I wasn't — I mean, if I hadn't — I shouldn't." "Hum," resumed Dr. Mildman, with whom he was rather a fivourite, and who, now that he had satisfied himself it was not ti,me wild animal he had to deal with, was evidently amused by Coleman's embarrassment, " that sentence of yours is not particu- larly clear or explanatory ; but," continued he, as a new idea occurred to him, " how in the world did you get up there ? you must have flown." " I didn't get up, I was — that is, he — " stammered Coleman, remembering just in time that he could not explain without invoh" «j£ Oaklands. M And how are you ever to get down again ?" said Dr. Mild man. "Has the pretty bird flown yet?" cried Oaklands, hastily enter- In g the room ; when, observing the addition the party had received during his absence, he started back, murmuring, in an under tone, "The old gentleman,' by Jove !" Quickly recovering himself, how- ever, he sprang upon a chair, and seizing Coleman in his arms, whisked him down with more haste than ceremony ; and going up to Dr. Mildrnan, said respectfully, " That was a bit of folly of mine, sir ; I put hi m up there ; I merely did it for a joke, and I hadn'r, an idea you would come in and find him." "Never mind," replied Dr. Mildrnan, good-naturedly, "as you have contrived to get him down again safely, there is no harm done;" adding, as he left the room, "that young man is as strong «is Hercules. I hope he'll never take it into his head to pop bji> up auyi\here, for i am sure he could do it if he cho»»-" JTiLA-NK. FAIHLKOH. CHAPTER IX A DENOUEMENT. " Play not for gain but sport; who plays for more Than he can lose witli pleasure, stakes his heart." Herbert. '''If yon are so bold as to venture a blowing-up, look closely to it! for the plot lies dcfi matter of assertion ; you choose to believe what they say, and, a I were to deny it, you would not believe me without proof, and how can I prove a negative ?" " But do you deny it?" inquired Dr. Mildman, r-garding him with a clear, scrutinizing look. Cumberland attempt ^d to speak, but, meeting Dr. Mildman's eye, was unable to get out a word, and turned away, concealing his face in his handkerchief. " This is a sad piece of business," said Dr. Mildman ; "I suppose you mean to prosecute, Oaklands ? " " I shall be most unwilling to do so," was the reply ; li nor will I, sir, unless you consider it my positive duty : I would rather lose the money ten times over than bring such a disgrace upon Cum- berland." " You are a kind-hearted fellow," replied the Doctor ; " it really is a very difficult case in which to know how to act. As a general principle, I am most averse to anything like hushing up evil." " For Heaven's sake have pity upon me, Dr. Mildman," cried Cumberland, throwing himself on his knees before him ; " I con- fess it all. I did allow Spicer to keep the cheque ; he threatened to expose me, and I did it to escape detection ; but promise you will not prosecute me, and I will tell you where he may be found, so that something may be done about it yet. I will pay anything you nlease. I shall conic into money wnen I am of age, and I can 94 FRANK. FAIRLEGH. make some arrangement. I don't care what I sacrifice, if I have to dig to earn my bread, only do not disgrace me publicly. Remem- ber, I am very young, and oh! if you knew what it is to be tempted as I have been 1 Oaklands, Fairlegh, intercede for me ; think how you should feel, either of you, if you were placed in my situa- tion r— " Get up, Mr. Cumberland," observed Dr. Mildman, in a grave impressive manner ; " it is equally needless and unbecoming to kneel to man for forgiveness — learn to consider that position as a thing set apart and sacred to the service of One greater than the sons of men, — One, whom you have indeed grievously oifended, and to whom, in the solitude of your chamber, you will do well to kneel, and pray that He who died to save sinners, may, in the fulness of His mercy, pardon you also." He paused, and then resumed — " We must decide what steps had better be taken to recover your cheque, Oaklands ; it is true we can send and stop the payment of it — but if you determine not to prosecute, for Cumberland's sake, you must let off this man Spicer also, in which case it would be advisable to prevent his presenting the cheque at all, as that might lead to inquiries which it would' be difficult to evade. You said just now, you knew where this bad man was to be found, Mr. Cumberland." " Yes, sir, if he is not at the billiard-rooms in F Street, his lodgings are at No. 14, Richmond Buildings," said Cumberland. " Ay, exactly," replied Dr. Mildman ; and resting his head upon his hand, he remained for some minutes buried in thought. Having at length apparently made up his mind, he turned to Cumberland, and said, " Considering all the circumstances of the case, Mr. Cum- berland, although I most strongly reprobate your conduct, which has grieved and surprised me more than I can express, I am un- willing to urge Oaklands to put the law in force against you, for more reasons than one. In the first place, I wish to spare your uncle the pain wluch such an exposure must occasion him ; and secondly, I cannot but hope that at your age, so severe a lesson as this may work a permanent change in you, and that at some future period you may regain that standing among honourable men, which you have now so justly forfeited, and I am anxious that this should not be prevented by the stigma which a public examination must attach to your name for ever. I will therefore at once go with yo« to the abode of this man Spicer, calling on my way at the house c\ a legal friend of mine, whom I shall try to get to accompany us. *' FlU-STC FAIKLEGH. 95 presume we shall have no great difficulty in procuring restitution at the stolen letter, when the culprit perceives that his schemes are found out, and that it is consequently valueless to him. Having succeeded in this, we shall endeavour to come to some equitable arrangement in regard to nis ciainis on you — do you agree to this?" Cumberland bowed his head in token of assent, and Dr. Mildnian continued — - " And you, Oaklands, do you approve of this plan ? " "It is like yourself, Doctor, the perfection of justice and kind ness," replied Oaklands, warmly. " That is well," resumed Dr. Mildman ; " I have one more pain ful duty to perform, which may as well be done at onoe — you are aware, Mr. Cumberland, that I must expel you?" "Will you not look over my fault this once?" entreated Cum- berland ; " believe me, I will never give you cause for complaint again." " No, sir," was the reply; in justice to your companions I cannot longer allow you to remain under the same roof with them : it is my duty to see that they associate only with persons fitted for the society of gentlemen, amongst whom, I am sorry to say, I can no longer class you I shall myself accompany you to town to morrow, and, if possible, see your uncle, to inform him of this unhappy affair. And now, sir, prepare to go with me to this Captain Spicer ; — on our return you will oblige me by remaining in your room during the evening. Oaklands, will you ask Lawless to take my place at the dinner table, and inform your companions that Cumberland has been engaged in an affair, of which I so strongly disapprove, that I have determined on expelling him, but that you are not at liberty to disclose the particulars. I need scarcely repeat this caution to you, Fairlegh ; you have shown so much good sense and right feel- ing throughout the whole business, that I am certain you will respect my wishes on this head." I murmured some words in assent, and so ended one of the moat painful and distressing scenes it has ever been my fate to witness. FGANII FAJHLEG3I. CHAK1ER X. THE COATING PARTY. u Fair laughs the mem. and soft the zephjr fclows, As proudly riding o'er the azure realm; lu gallant trim the gilded vessel goes, Youth on the prow, aud pleasure at the helm." — Gray's Bora. "Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?" — Henry IV. The dinner passed off heavily ; every attempt to keep up a con- tinued conversation failed entirely ; and a general feeling of relief was experienced when the time arrived for us to retire to the pupils' room. Even here, however, the state of things was not much better. Lawless and the others having in vain attempted to learn more of the affair from Oaklands and myself than we felt at liberty to teil them, lounged over a book, or dozed by the fire ; whilst we, unable to converse on the subject which alone engrossed our thoughts, and disinclined to do so upon any other, were fain to follow their example. About half-past eight, Dr. Mildman and Cumberland returned, and, after dinner, which was served to them in the Doc- tor's study, Cumberland retired to his room, where he remained during the rest of the evening. Oaklands then received a summons from the Doctor, and, on his return, informed us that (as we had already heard) Cumberland was to be expelled. He added that Dr. Mildman intended to take him to town himself the next morning, as he was anxious to see Cumberland's uncle, who was also his guardian : he would probably, therefore, not return till the follow- ing day, in consequence of which we should have a whole holiday, and he trusted to us to spend it in a proper manner, which, as Coleman remarked, proved that he was of a very confiding disposi- tion indeed, and no mistake. When we went up to bed, Oaklands beckoned me into his room, End, as soon as he had closed the door, gave me an account (having obtained Dr. Mildman's permission to do so) of the interview with Spicsr. They found him, it seemed, at his lodgings, preparing for FRANK FAKLEGH. g7 his departure. At first he took a very high tone, denied the whole thing, and was extremely blustering and impertinent ; but on being confronted with Cumberland, and threatened by Dr. Mildman's legal friend with the terrors of the law, he became thoroughly crest- fallen, restored the three hundred pound cheque, and consented, on the payment of fifty pounds, in addition to the fifty pounds he had already received, to give up all claims upon Cumberland, where- upon they paid him the money down, made him sign a paper to the abo"tffc effect, and left him. " And so, my dear Frank," said Oaklands, " there is an end c that affair, and, if it only produces as much effect upon Cumber land as it has produced upon me, it will read him a lesson he will not forget for many a long day. I blame myself excessively," he continued, " for my own share in this matter ; if it had not been for my easy, careless way of going on, this scheme would never have been thought of — nay, I might, perhaps, have been able to rescue Cumberland from the hands of this sharper ; but in this manner we neglect the opportunities afforded us of doing good, and — Frank," he continued, with a sudden burst of energy, " I will cure myself of this abominable indolence." He paused for some minutes in thought, and then added, " Well, I must not stand here raving at you any longer ; it is getting very late : good night, old fellow ! I shall be glad enough to tumble into bed, for I'm as tired as a dog: it really is astonishing how easily I am knocked up." The absurdity of tliis remark, following upon the resolution he had expressed with so much energy but a minute before, struck us both at the same instant, and occasioned a fit of laughter, which we did net check till we recollected with what dissonance any ap- proach to mirth must strike the ear of the prisoner (for such he was in fact, if not in name) in the adjoining apartment. "Now, sir; come, Mr. Fairlegh, you'll be late for breakfast," were the first sounds that reached my understanding on the follow- ing morning : — I say understanding, as I had heard, mixed up with my dreams, sundry noises produced by unclosing shutters, arranging water jugs, &c, which appeared to my sleep-bewildered senses tc have been going on for at least half an hour. My faculties not being sufficiently aroused to enable me to speak, Thomas continued, "You'll be late, Mr. Fairlegh;" then came an aside, "My wig, how he do sleep ! I hope he ain't been a-taking lauddelum, or mor- pheas, or ar - -iiing of a somnanabulous natur. I wouldn't be master, u 88 FRANK FAIELEGH. always to have six boys a weighing on my mind, for all the wealth of the Ingies. — Mr. Fairlegh, I say ! ' " There, don't make such a row," replied I, jumping out of bed and making a dash at my clothes ; " is it late ?" 44 Jest nine o'clock, sir ; Master and Mr. Cumberland's been gone these two hours. Shocking affair that, sir ; it always gives me quite a turn when any of our gents is expelled : it's like being thrown out of place at a minute's warning, as I said to Cook only this morn- ing. ' Cook,' says I, 'life's a curious thing,' there's " "The breakfast bell ringing, by all that's unlucky," exclaimed I; and down fitairs I ran, with one arm in, and one out of my jacket, leaving Thomas to conclude his speculations on the mutability of human affairs as he best might, solus. " How are we going to kill time to-day ? " inquired Oaklands, as soon as we had done breakfast. " We musn't do anything to outrage the proprieties," said Cole man ; " remember we are on parole d^honneur" " On a fiddlestick," interrupted Lawless ; " let's all ride over to the Duke of York, at Bradford, shoot some pigeons, have a cham- pagne breakfast, and be home again in time for the old woman's feed at five o'clock. I dare say I can pick up one or two fellows to go with us." " No," said Oaklands, " that sort of thing won't do to-day. I quite agree with Freddy, we ought not to do anything to annoy the Doctor upon this occasion ; come, Lawless, I am sure you'll say so too, if you give it a moment's thought." " Well, he's a good old fellow in his way, I know, but what are we to be at then ? something I must do, if it's only to keep me out of mischief.'* " It's a lovely day ; let us hire a boat, and have a row," suggested Coleman. " That's not against the laws, is it ? " asked Oaklands. " Not a bit," replied Coleman ; " we used to go pulling about like bricks last summer, and Mildman rather approved of it than otherwise, and said it was a very healthy exercise." " Yes, that will do," said Lawless ; " I feel savage this morning, and a good pull will take it out of me as well as anything. Now, don't go wasting time; let's get ready, and be off;" and accordingly in less than half an hour we were prepared, and on our way to the beach. " How are we goit\g to do it ?" inquired Lawless ; " you'll take on oar Oaklands?" FRA*TC FAISLEGH. 99 Oaklands replied In the affirmative. u Can you row, Fairlegh ?" I answered that I could a little. " That will do famously, then," said Lawless ; " well have a four-oar ; Wilson has a capital little boat that will be just the thing ; Freddy can steer, he's a very fair hand at it, and we four fellows will pull, so that ve need not be bothered with a boatman- I do abominate those chaps, they are such a set of humbugs." No objection was made to this plan. Lawless succeeded in get- ting the boat he wished for ; it was launched without any misad- venture, and we took our places, and began pulling away merrily, with the wind (what little there was) and tide both in our favour. The morning was beautiful ; it was one of those enjoyable days, which sometimes occur in early spring, in which nature, seeming to overleap, at a bound, the barrier between winter and summer, gives us a delightful foretaste of the good things she has in store for us. The clear bright sea, its surface just ruffled by a slight breeze from the south-west, sparkled in the sunshine, and fell in diamond showers from our oars, as we raised them out of the water, while the calm serenity of the deep blue sky above us appeared indeed a fitting emblem of that heaven, in which " the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." The peaceful beauty of the scene seemed to impress even the restless spirits of which our little party was composed, and, by com- mon consent, we ceased rowing, and suffered the boat to drift with the tide, merely pulling a stroke now and then to keep her head in the right direction. After drifting for some twenty minutes or so in the manner I have described, Lawless, who never could remain quiet long, dropped the blade of his oar into the water with a splash that made us all start, exclaiming, as he did so — " Well, this may be very sentimental and romantic, and all that sort of thing, but it doesn't strike me as particularly entertaining. • Why, you fellows were all asleep, I believe." " Heigho !" exclaimed Oaklands, rousing himself, with a deep sigh, " I was in such a delicious reverie ; what a barbarian you are, Lawless ! you seem utterly ignorant of the pleasures of the dolce- far-niente. n " Dolcc-far-devilskin /" was the reply, in tones of the greatest contempt. "I would not be as lazy as you are, Oaklands, for any money. You are fitter to lounge about in some old woman'." draw ing-room, than to handle an oar." 100 FKAXK. FAIHLEUQ. " Well, I don't know," answered Oaklands, quietly, " but I tliink I can pull as long as you can." u You do, do you?" rejoined Lawless, "it will be odd to me, if you can. I don't tliink I was stroke-oar in the crack boat at Eton for a year, without knowing how to row a little ; what do you say to having a try at once ? " " With all my heart," replied Oaklands, divesting himself of his waistcoat, braces, and neckcloth, — which latter article he braced rightly round his waist — an example speedily followed by Lawless, who exclaimed, as he completed his preparations — " Now, you young shavers, pull in your oars, and we'll give ycu a ride, all free, gratis, for nothing." Mullins and I hastened to comply with Lawless's directions, by placing the oars, and seating ourselves, so as not to interfere with the trim of the boat ; while he and Oaklands, each taking a firm grasp of his oar, commenced pulling away in real earnest. They were more evenly matched than may be at first imagined, for Lawless, though much shorter than Oaklands, was very square built, and broad about the shoulders, and his arms, which were unusually long in proportion to his height, presented a remarkable development of muscle, while it was evident, from the manner in which he handled his oar, that he was the more practised rower of the two. The boat, urged by their powerful strokes, appeared to fly through the water, while cliff and headland (we were rowing along shore about half a mile from the beach) came in view and disappeared again like scenes in some moving panorama. We must now have proceeded some miles, yet still the rival champions continued their exertions with unabated energy, and a degree of strength that seemed inexhaust- ible. Greatly interested in the event, I had at first watched the contending parties with anxious attention, but, perceiving that the efforts they were making did not produce any visible effects upon them, and that the struggle was likely to be a protracted one, I took advantage of the opportunity to open a letter from my sister, which I had received just as I was leaving the house. I was sorry to find, on perusing it, that my father had been suffering from an inflam- matory attack, brought on by a cold which he had caught in returning from a visit to a sick parishioner, through a pouring rain. A postscript from my mother, however, added, that I need not make myself in the least uneasy, as the apothecary assured her that my father was going on as well as possible, and would probably be quite restored in the course of a week or so. On observing the date of FKAXK. FAIRLEGH. 101 the letter, I found I ought to have received it the day before. ArguiDg from this (on the " no-news being good-news" system) that I should have heard again if anything had gone wrong, I dis- missed the subject from my mind, and was reading Fanny's account of a juvenile party she had been at in the neighbourhood. >vhen mj attention was roused by Coleman, who, laying Ids hand on my shoul- der, said — " Look out, Frank, it won't be long now before we shall see who's best man ; the work's beginning to tell." Thus invoked, I raised my eyes, and perceived that a change had come over the aspect of affairs, while I had been engaged with my letter. Oaklands and Lawless were still rowing with the greatest energy, but it appeared to me that their strokes were drawn with less and less vigour each succeeding time, while their flushed faces, and heavy breathing, proved that the severe labour they had under- gone, had not been without its effect. The only visible difference between them was, that Lawless, from his superior training, had not, as a jockey would say, " turned a hair," while the perspiration hung in big drops upon the brow of Oaklands, and the knotted, swollen veins of his hands stood out like tightly-strained cordage. " Hold hard," shouted Lawless. " I say, Harry," he continued, as soon as they had left off rowing, "how are you getting on?" " I have been cooler in my life," replied Oaklands, wiping his face with his handkerchief. " Well, I think it's about a drawn battle," said Lawless ; M though I am free to confess, that if you were in proper training, I should be no match for you, even with the oar." " What made you stop just then ?" inquired Oaklands ; " Fni sure I could have kept on for a quarter of an hour longer, it" not more." " So could I," replied Lawless, " ay, or for half an hour, if I had been put to it ; but I felt the work was beginning to tell, I saw you were getting used up, and I recollected that we should have to row back with the wind against us, which, as the breeze is freshening, will be no such easy matter ; so I thought if we went on, till we were both done up, we should be in a regular fix." " It's lucky you remembered it," said Oaklands ; " I was so ex- cited, I should have gone on pulling as long as I could have held an oar ; we must be some distance from Helmstone by this time. Have you any idea whereabouts we are ? " " Let's have a look," rejoined Lawless. " Yes, that tall cliff you see there is the Nags Head, and in the little bay beyond stands the 102 FRANK FAifOJEGH. village of Fisherton. I vote we go ashore there, have 6ome bread and cheese, and a draught of porter at the inn, and then we shall be able to pull back again twice as well." This proposal seemed to afford general satisfaction ; Mullins and I resumed our oars, and, in less than half an hour, we were safely ensconced in the sanded parlour of the " Dolphin," while the pretty bar-maid, upon whom also devolved the duties of waitress, hastened to place before us a smoking dish of eggs and bacon, which Ave had chosen in preference to red herrings, — the only other dainty the Dolphin had to offer us, — Coleman observing that a " hard roe" was the only part of a herring worth eating, and we had had thai already, as we came along. " I say, my dear, have you got any bottled porter ?" inquired Lawless. " Yes, sir, and very good it is," replied the smiling damsel. " That's a blessing," observed Coleman, piously. *' Bring us up a lot of it, my beauty." resumed Lawless, " and some pewter pots — porter's twice as good out ot its own native pewter." Thus exhorted, the blooming waitress tripped off, and soon re- turned with a basket containing six bottles of porter. " That's the time of day," said Lawless ; " now for a cork-screw, pretty one ; here you are, Oaklands." " I must own that is capital, after such hard work as we have been doing," observed Oaklands, as he emptied the pewter pot at a draught. " I say, Mary," asked Coleman, " what's gone of that young man, that used to keep company along with you, — that nice young chap, that had such insinivatin ways with him?" "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, sir; I've nothink to say to no young man whatsumever," replied the damsel addressed, shaking her curls coquettishly. " Ah !" sighed Coleman, " if I were but single now." " Why, you never mean to sr.y you've got a wife already, such a very young gentleman as you are ?" " Not only that, but a small family with a large appetite," con- tinued Coleman, pathetically. " "Well, I never," exclaimed the bar-maid, surprised, for once, out of her company manners ; then, observing a smile, at her expense, going the round of the party, she added, " I see how it is ; you are making fun of me, sir ; oh, fye, you're a wicked young gentle- man, I know you are." FRANK ^AIBLRUU. 105 "Never mind him, my dear," said Lawless, " but gire me another bottle of porter." In converse such as this, the meal and the half dozen of porter were finished ; in addition to which, Lawless chose to have a glass of brandy-and- water and a cigar. Having been rendered unusually hungry by the sea air and the unaccustomed exercise of rowing, I had both eaten and drunk more than I was in the habit of doing, to which cause may be attributed my falling into a doze ; an example which, I have every reason to believe, was followed by most of the others. I know not how long my nap had lasted, when I was aroused by hearing Coleman exclaim — " Why, I think it rains ! Lawless, wake up I I don't much like the look of the weather." "What's the row?" inquired Lawless, leisurely removing his legs from the table on which they had been resting, and walking to the window — a feat, by the way, he did not perform quite as steadily as usual. "By Jove!" he continued, "the wind's blowing great guns; we must look sharp, and be off — we shall have the sea getting up." Accordingly, the bill was rung for and paid ; Mary received haif-a-crown and a kiss from lawless, and down we ran to the beach, where dithcuJties we were little prepared for awaited us. 104 rRANK FAXRESOB. CHAPTER XI BREAKERS A-HEAP "Now wonld I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of ban en gromxL ••• • • Tfet cills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death." " I have great comfort from this fellow; methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him" — Tempest. The wind, which we had observed was rising when we landed, had increased during our stay at the inn, and was now blowing almost a gale from the south-west ; whilst the sea, which we had left smooth as a lake, was rolling in and breaking on the beach in somewhat formidable waves. " I tell you what," said Coleman, as soon as he had observed the state of affairs, " I won't attempt to steer in such a sea as that ; it requires great skill and judgment, besides a stronger hand than mine, to keep the boat's head right ; if I were to let her turn her broadside to one of those waves, it would be a case of ' Found drowned,' with some of us, before long." " What's to be done, then ?" inquired Oaklands. " I am sure I •an't do it ; it's a thing I'm quite ignorant of; all my boating having been on the river." " Let's hire one of those amphibious beggars out there to steer for us," proposed Lawless, pointing to a group of fishermen who were lounging round an old boat, not far from where we. stood; " they're up to all the right dodges, you may depend. Here, m^ jaen ! which of you will earn half-a-guinea, by steering our boat for us to Helmstone ?" "I wouldn't, master, for ten times the money," replied an old weather-beaten boatman, in a tarpaulin hat ; " and if you'll take an *»ld man's advice, gentlemen, you'll none of you venture out in that cockle-shell this afternoon ; the wind's getting- up every minute, and we shall have a rough night of it." rt Nonsense," replied Lawless ; " I've often been out in wcrsa weather than this. Are you, all of you, frightened by that old woman's crocking?" continued he, turning to the group of men. 1TKANK FAIFXEGH. 105 " He's no old woman," replied a sturdy fellow, in. a rough pea- jacket ; " he's been a better sailor than ever you'll be, and he's right now too," he added. " It's as much as a man's life is worth to go to sea in that bit of a thing, with the waves running in as they do now, — and with such a set of landlubbers as them for a crew," he m Jittered, turning away. " Suppose we try and get soiaething to take us home by land," suggested Oaklands ; " and leave the boat for some of these good fellows to bring home, as soon as the weather will allow." " You'll have to walk, sir," replied one of them, civilly; " I don't believe there's a cart or horse in the place ; they all went inland this morning with fish, and won't return till to-morrow." " There, you hear that !" said Lawless, who had just drunk enough to render him captious and obstinate. " I'm not going to walk to please anybody's fancy ; I see how it is, — I did not bid high enough. A couple of guineas for any one who will come with us," added he. " A couple of guineas is not to be got every day," observed a sullen, downcast-looking man, who had not yet spoken ; " and it is not much odds to me whether I sink or swim now ; those custom- house sharks," added he, with an oath, " look so close after one, that one can't do a stroke of work that will pay a fellow nowa- days. Money down, and I'm your man, sir," he added, turning to Lawless. " That's the ticket," said Lawless, handing him the money. "I'm glad to see one of you, at least, has got a little pluck about him. Come along." I could see that Oaklands did not at all approve of the plan, evi- dently considering we were running a foolish nsk>; but, as nothing short of a direct quarrel with Lawless could have prevented it, hi3 habitual indolence and easy temper prevailed, and he remained silent. I felt much inclined to object, in which case I had little doubt the majority of the party would have supported me ; but ? boyish dread, lest my refusal shotdd be attributed to cowardice, ; prevented my doing so. With the assistance of the bystanders, we contrived to launch our little bark, without further misadventure than a rather heavier sprinkling of salt-water than was agreeable. Rowing in such a sea, however, proved much harder work than I, for one, had any idea of ; we made scarcely any way against the waves, and I soon felt sure that it would be utterly impossible for us to reach Helmstone by any exertion we were capable of making- 106 FRANK FAIliLEGH. The weather too was becoming worse every minute: it ramed heavily, and it was with the greatest difficulty we were able to prevent tlie crests of some of the larger waves from dashing into our boat ; in fact, as it was, she was already half full of water, which poured in faster than Coleman (who was the only person not otherwise en- gaged) could bale it out. " Upon my word, Lawless, it's madness to attempt to go on," exclaimed Oaklands ; "we are throwing away our lives for nothing." " It certainly looks rather queerish," replied Lawless. " What do you say about it, my man ? " he asked of the person whom he had engaged to steer us. " I say," replied the fellow, in a surly tone, " that our only chance is to make for tne beach at once, and we shall have better luck than we deserve, if we reach it alive." As he spoke, a larger wave than usual broke against the bow of the boat, flinging in such a body of water, that we felt her stagger under it, and I believed, for a moment, that we were about to sink. This decided the question ; the boat's head was put about with some difficulty, and we were soon straining every nerve to reach the shore. As we neared the beach, we perceived that, even during the short time which had elapsed since we quitted it, the sea had become considerably rougher, and the line cf surf now presented anything but an encouraging appearance. As we approached the breakers, the steersman desired us to back with our oars, till he saw a favour- able opportunity ; and the moment he gave us the signal, to pull in as hard as we were able. After a short pause the signal was given, and we attempted to pull in as he had directed ; but, in doing this, we did not act exactly in concert — Lawless taking his stroke too soon, while Muffins did not make his soon enough ; consequently, we missed the precise moment, the boat turned broadside to the beach, a wave poured over us, and in another instant we were struggling in the breakers. For my own part, I succeeded in gain- ing my legs, only to be thrown off them again by the next wave, which hurried me along with it, and flung me on the shingle, when one of the group of fishermen, who had witnessed the catastrophe, ran in, and seizing me by the arm, in time to prevent my being washed back again by the under-tow, dragged me out of the reach of the waves. On recovering my feet, my first impulse was to look round for my companions. I at once perceived Lawless, Muffins, and Oak- lands, who were apparently uninjured, though the latter held his FRANK FAIRLEGI1. 107 hand pressed against his forehead, as if in pain ; but Coleman was nowhere to be seen. " Where is Coleman ? " exclaimed L "There is some one clinging to the boat still," observed a by- stander. I looked anxiously in the direction indicated, and perceived the boat floating bottom upwards, just beyond the line of breakers : while, clinging to the keel, was a figure which I instantly recog- nized to be that of Coleman. " Oh, save him, sa7e him ; he will be drowned," cried I, in an agony of fear. " Ten guineas for any one who will get him out," shouted Law- less ; but nobody seemed inclined to stir. " Give me a rope," cried I, seizing the end of a coil which one of the boatmen had over his shoulder, and tying it round my waist. "What are you going to do?" asked Lawless. While he spoke a large wave separated Coleman from the boat, and as it poured its huge volume upon the beach, bore him along with it With the swiftness of thought I sprang forward, and suc- ceeded in throwing my arms round him, ere the next advancing wave dashed over us. And now my foresight in fastening the rope around me, proved, under Providence, the means of saving both our lives. Though thrown to the ground by the force of the water, I contrived to retain my grasp of Coleman, and we were hauled up, and conveyed beyond the reach of the surf, by the strong arms of those on shore, ere another wave could approach to claim its victims. On recovering my consciousness, (I had been partially stunned by the violence of my last fall,) I found myself lying on the beach, with my head resting on the breast of Oaklands. " My dear, dear Frank, thank God that you are safe !" exclaimed he, pressing me more closely to him. "What of Coleman?" asked I, endeavouring to raise myself. " They are taking him to the inn," was the reply ; " I will go and see if I can be of any use, now I know you are unhurt ; but I could not leave you till I felt sure of that." " I fancied you seemed in pain just now," said I. " I struck my head against some part of the boat v, hen she cap- sized," returned Oaklands, " and the blow stunned me for a minute or two, so that I knew nothing of what was going on till I saw you rush into the water to save Coleman ; that roused me effectually, and I helped them to pull you both out. Frank, you have saved his life." " If it is saved," rejoined I. " Let us go and see how he is getting 108 J-KANK FAIKLKOB. on ; I think I can walk now, if you will let me 'can upon your arm." With the assistance of Oaklands, I contrived to reach the inn without much difficulty ; indeed, by the time I got there (the walk having served in great measure to restore my circulation), I scarcely felt any ill effects from my late exertions. The inn presented a rare scene of confusion : people were hurrying in and out, the messenger sent for the doctor had just returned, breathless, to say he was not to be found ; the fat landlady, in a state of the greatest excitement, was trotting about making impracticable suggestions, to which no one paid the slightest attention, while Coleman, still insensible, lay wrapped in blankets before a blazing fire in the parlour, with the pretty bar-maid on her knees beside him sobbing piteously, as she chafed his temples with some strong essence. " That's the time of day !" exclaimed Lawless, as his eye fell upon a printed card which the landlady had just thrust into his hand, headed, " The directions of the Humane Society for the restoration of persons apparently drowned." " We shall have it now, all right," added he, and then read as follows: — "The first observation we must make, which is most important, is, that rolling the body on a tub" — " Bring a tub," cried the landlady, eagerly, and off started several of the bystanders to follow her injunctions — " Is most injurious," continued Lawless ; " but holding up by the legs with the head downwards" — (a party of volunteers, commanded by the landlady, rushed forward to obtain possession of Coleman's legs) — « is certain death," shouted Lawless, concluding the sentence. While this was going on, I had been rubbing Coleman's hands between mv own, in the hope of restoring circulation ; and now, to my extreme delight, I perceived a slight pulsation at the wrist ; next came a deep sigh, followed by a tremulous motion of the limbs ; and, before five minutes were over, he was sufficiently restored to sit up, and recognize those about him. After this, his recovery pro- gressed with such rapidity, that ere half an hour had elapsed, he was able to listen with interest to Oaklands' account of the circumstances attending his rescue, when Lawless, hastily entering the room, ex- claimed — " Here's a slice of good luck, at all events ; there's a post- chaise just stopped, returning to Helmstone, and the boy agrees to take us all for a shilling a head, as soon as he has done watering hia horses. How is Freddy getting on? — will he be able to go?" " All right, old fellow," replied Coleman. " Thanks to Fairlegh FRANK FAKtLEGH. 109 in the first instance, and a stiff glass of brandy-and -water in the second, 'Richard's himself again!'" *' Well, you've had a near shave for it this time, however," said Lawless ; " there is more truth than I was aware of in the old pro- verb, ' If you are born to be hanged, you will never be drowned ; * though, if it had not been for Frank Fairlegh, you would not have lived to fulfil your destiny." In another ten minutes we were all packed in and about the post- chaise ; Coleman, Oaklands, and myself occupying the interior, while Lawless and Mullins rode outside. The promise of an extra half- crown induced the driver to use his best speed. At a quarter before five we were within a stone's throw of home ; and if that day at dinner Mrs. Mildroan observed the pale looks and jaded appearance of some of the party, I have every reason to believe ehe has remained up V) the present houi m total ignorance aw to their cause. .110 ITHJLNX KA1RLKOH CHAPTER XII. DEATH AND CHANGS. ■ The voice which I did more esteeia Than music on her sweetest key ; Those eyes which unto me did seen More comfortable than the day ; Those now by me, as they have beea. Shall never more be heard or seen , But what I once enjoyed in them, Shall seem hereafter as a dream. " All earthly comforts vanish th.ua * So little hold of them have wo; That -we from them, or they from ma, May In a moment ravished be. Yet we are neither just nor wise If present mercies we despise, Or mind not how these may be made A thankful use of what we had."— Wither " Up springs at every step to claim a tsar, Some youthful friendship form'd and cherish' d ham."— Bcgtn, " Time flies away fasti The while we never remember — How soon our life here Grows old with the year That dies with the next December." — Eerriek. As I was undressing that night, Coleman came into my room, and grasping my hand with his own, shook it warmly, saying, " I could not go to sleep, Frank, without coming to thank you for the noble way in which you risked your own life to save mine to-day. 1 laughed it off before Lawless and the rest of the fellows, for when I feel deeply, I hate to show it ; but indeed, (and the tears stood in his eyes while he spoke,) indeed I am not ungrateful." " My dear Freddy," returned I, " do not suppose I thought you bo for a moment ; there, say no more about it ; you would have done the same thing for me that I did for you, had our positions been reversed." " I am not so sure of that," was his reply; " I should have wished to do so ; but it is not every one who can act with such promptitude and decision in moments of dnwser.* FBANK KAIRI.EGH. Ill "There is one request I should Like to make," said I. "What is it?" replied he, quickly. " Do not forget to thank Him, whose instrument I was, for having bo mercifully preserved your life." A silent pressure of the hand was the only answer, and we parted for the night. Owing, probably, to over-fatigue, it was some little time before I went to sleep. As I lay courting the fickle goddess (or god as the case may be, for, mythologically speaking, I believe Somnus was a he), I could not help contrasting my present feelings with those which I experienced on the first night of my arrival. Then, over- come by the novelty of my situation, filled with a lively dread of my tutor, bullied and despised by my compaiaons, and separated for what I deemed an interminable period from all who were dear to me, my position was far from an enviable one. Now, how dif- ferent was the aspect of affairs ! With my tutor, who, from an object of dread, had become one of esteem and affection, I had every reason to believe myself a favourite ; I was on terms of the closest friendship with those of my companions whose intimacy was best worth cultivating ; while with the others I had gained a standing which would effectually prevent their ever venturing seriously to annoy me ; and, above all, I had acquired that degree of self- confidence, without which one is alike impotent to choose the good or to refuse the °viL And it was witn an honest pride that I re- flected, that this improvement in my position was mainly owing to a steady adherence to those principles, which it had been the con- stant aim of my dear parents to instil into me from my childhood. I fell asleep at last, endeavouring to picture to myself the delight of relating my adventures on my return home; how my mother and sister would shudder over the dangers I had escaped, while my father would applaud the spirit which had carried me through them. The vision was a bright and happy one : would it ever be realized ? To our surprise, we learned the next morning that Dr. Mildman had arrived by the last coach the previous evening, having fortu- nately met with Cumberland's uncle at his house of business in town, and delivered his nephew into his safe custody without further loss of time. The breakfast passed over without the Doctor making any inquiry how we had amused ourselves during his absence, nor, as may easily be believed, did we volunteer information on the sub- ject. On returning to the pupils' room, I found a letter, in my pister'8 hand-writing, lying on the table. With a fe~l>— ~ "*" d^^d- 1 1 2 FRANK FAIRLEGIL for which I could not account, I hastened to peruse it. Alas! the contents only served to realize my worst apprehensions. My father's illness had suddenly assumed a most alarming character, inflamma- tion having attacked the lungs with such violence, that the most active measures had failed to subdue it, and the physician, whom my mother had summoned on the first appearance of danger, scarcely held out the slightest hope of his recovery. Under these circum- stances, my mother wished me to return home without loss of time, >s good as a play. " " You're abominably undutiful master Fred," replied I, as I turned to follow him. On reaching the drawing-room we found Mr. Coleman standing with his arms folded with an air of dignified severity, so exactly in the centre of the hearth-rug, that he seemed to belong to the pat- tern. Seated in a low arm-chair on the right hand side of the fire- place was Mrs. Coleman, apparently absorbed in the manufacture of some mysterious article of knitting, which constantly required pro- pitiating by the repetition of a short arithmetical puzzle, without which it would by no means allow itself to be created. At her feet, engaged in the Sisyphian labour of remedying the effects of "a great fall" in worsteds, scissors, and other " articles for the work- table," knelt Lucy Markham, looking so piquante and pretty, that I could not help wondering how my friend Freddy contrived to keep himself heart-whole, if, as I imagined, he was thrown con- stantly into her society. The party was completed by a large, sleek, scrupulously white, cat, clearly a privileged individual, who sat bolt upright in the chair opposite Mrs. Coleman, regarding the company with an air of intense self-satisfaction, and evi- dently considering the whole thing got up for her express delec- tation. Mr. Coleman received me with pompous civility, hoping I felt nc ill effects from my exertions in the earlier part of the evening — taking care to lay a marked emphasis on the word earlier. Lucy acknowledged my presence by a smile, and a slight inclination of the head, but without altering her position. Worthy Mrs. Coleman, however, jumped up, and shook hands warmly with me, thereby providing Lucy with full employment for the next ten minutes in picking up the whole machinery of the knitting. KKANK FAIKLEGHi ] 45 a Very glad indeed to see you, Mr. Lawless," commenced Mrs. Coleman. " It's Fairlegh, mother," interposed Freddy. u Yes, my dear, yes, I knew it was Mr. Fairlegh, only I'm always making a mistake about names ; but I never forget a face I've once seen ; and I'm sure I'm not likely to forget Mr. Fairlegh s after the noble way in which he behaved last night" (here Mr. Coleman turned away with a kind of ironical growl, and began caressing the cat). " I declare when I saw him setting Clara Saville's dress on fire, so nicely made as it was too " " My dear aunt," remonstrated Lucy, " it was Mr. Lawless who threw down the candelabrum, and set Clara's frock alight." " Yes, my love, I know, I saw it all, my dear; and very kij:tl it was of him, I mean afterwards, in speaking to me of it ; he said he was so very sorry about it, — and he called it something funny, poci young man, — ' no end of a something or other' " " Sell," suggested Freddy. •' Oh yes, that was it, no end of a selh What did he mean by that, my dear ? " " I strongly disapprore," observed Mr. Coleman (who stili con- tinued stroking the cat as he spoke, which process he performed by passing his hand deliberately from her head, along her back, to the very tip of her tail, which he retained each time in his grasp for a moment, ere he recommenced operations), " I highly i prove of the absurd practice, so common with young men of the present day, of expressing their ideas in that low and incompre- hensible dialect, termed ' slang,' which, in my opinion, has neither wit nor refinement to redeem its vulgarity, and which effectually prevents their acquiring that easy yet dignified mode of expression, which should characterize the conversation of the true gentleman In my younger days we took Burke for our model ; the eloquence of Pitt and Fox gave the tone to society ; and during our hours of relaxation, we emulated the polished wit of Sheridan : but it is a symptom of that fearful levelling system which is one of the most alarming features of the present age ; instead of striving to raise and exalt " " Really, my dear Mr. Coleman, I beg your pardon for interrupt - ing you," cried his wife, " but this is the second time you've lifted my poor little cat off her hind legs by her tail ; and though she's as good -as gold, and let's you do just what you like to her, it can't be pleasant for her, I'm sure." 146 FRANK FATRi^EGH. The only reply to this, if reply it can be called, was an angry "Psha !" and, turning on his heel, Mr. Coleman strode with great dignity towards the window, though the effect was considerably marred by his stumbling against an ottoman which stood in the way, and hurting his shin to an extent which entailed rubbing, albeit a sublunary and un-Spartan operation, as a necessary con- sequence. A pause ensued, which at length became so awkward, that I was about to hazard some wretched commonplace or other, for the sake of breaking the silence, when Mrs. Coleman addressed me with — " You'll take some luncheon, Mr. Lawless, I'm sure. Freddy, ring the bell l x "He'll be ready enough to do that," growled Mr. Coleman; you could not have asked a fitter person." " Of course he will, a dear fellow," replied Mrs. Coleman ; "he's always ready to oblige anybody." " I disapprove greatly of such extreme faculty of disposition," observed Mr. Coleman; " it lays a young man open to every temp- tation that comes in his way; and for want of a proper degree of firmness and self-respect, he gets led into all kinds of follies and excesses." " Now, my dear Mr. Coleman," returned his wife, " I cannot bear to hear you talk in that way ; you are too hard upon poor Freddy and his young friends ; I'm certain they meant no harm ; — if they did ring the bells by way of a joke, I dare say they had drunk rather more champaigne than was prudent, and scarcely knew what they were about ; and really all they seem to have done was to make people get up a little sooner than usual, and that is rather a good thing than otherwise, for I'm sure if you did but know the trouble I have sometimes in getting the maids out of bed in a morning, — and that lazy fine gentleman of a foot- man too, he's just as bad. — Why, what's the matter now?" " I really am astonished at you, Mrs. Coleman," exclaimed her husband, walking hurriedly across the room, — although this time he took care to avoid the ottoman, " encouraging that boy of yours in such scandalous and ungentlemanly proceedings as those he wa j engaged in last night ! No harm, indeed ! I only hope (that is, 1 don't hope it at all, for he deserves to be punished, and I wish he may) that the laws of his country may think there's no harm in it. Mr Dullmug, the mayor, intends, very properly in my opinion, to appeal to those Jaws ; and that is a thing, I am proud to say, no FRANK rAUlLEGH. 147 En<* Ashman ever does in vain. You may smile, sir," he continued, detecting Freddy in the act of telegraphing to me his dissent from the last doctrine propounded. " You may ridicule your old father's opinion, but you'll find it no laughing matter to clear yourself, and justify your conduct, in a court of justice. They may bring it in conspiracy, for I dare say you plotted it all beforehand ; they may bring it in riot and illegal assembly, for there were three of you engaged in it; they may bring it in treason, for you incited his majesty's subjects to commit a breach of the peace, and interfered with the proper officers in the discharge of their duty : 'pon my word I don't know that they might not bring it in murder, for the poor child that had the measles in the town died between six and seven o'clock this morning, and no doubt the confusion had some- thing to do with accelerating its death. So, sir, if you're not hanged, you're certain to be transported ; and don't ask me to assist you ; I've lived by supporting the law for fifty years, and I'm not going in my old age to lend my countenance to those who break it, and set it at nought, though my own son be one of them. I have spoken my mind plainly, Sir. Fairlegh, more so perhaps than I should have done before a guest in my own house, but it is a mat- ter upon which I feel deeply. I wish you good morning sir." So saying, he turned away, and stalked majestically out of the room, closely followed, not to say imitated, by the cat, who held her tail erect, so as to form a right angle with the fine of her back, and walked with a hypocritical air of meek dignity and chastened self-approval. " That's what I call pleasant and satisfactory," exclaimed Freddy, after a pause, during which each member of the party exchanged glances of consternation with somebody else. " Who would ever have imagined the possibility of the governor's turning cantanker- ous — assuming the character of the Eoman father upon the shortest possible notice, and thirsting to sacrifice his son on the altar of the outraged laws of Ins country ! What an interesting victim I shall make to be sure ! Lucy must lend me that wreath of roses she looked so pretty in last night, to wear at the fatal ceremony. And my dear mother shall stand near, tearing out those revered locks of hers by handfuls." (The reader should perhaps be informed that Mrs. Coleman rejoiced in a false front of so open and ingenuous a nature, that from its youth upwards it never could have been guilty of deceiving any one.) " May I ring and tell John to have aii tni hands with him, 8X?d csSttsd thn Jions - FBAXK FAILILEGH. 151 CHAPTER XV1L THE INVISIBLE GIRL. Ay», that's a dolt Indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse.— Merchant of Vemc*. Yond young fellow swears he will speak with you. "What's to be said to him? He's fw tilled against any denial. — Twelfth Sight. Be subject to no sight but mine ; invisible To every eyeball else. — Tempest. On arriving at the inn, to which I was forced to return to order my horse, I perceived Lawless's tandem waiting at the door, sur- rounded by a crowd of admiring rustics, with Shrimp, his arms folded with an air of nonchalant defiance, which seemed to say, u Oh 1 run over me by all means if you choose," stationed directly in front of the leader's head. On entering the parlour, I found Lawless busily engaged in pulling on a pair of refractory boots, and looking very hot and red in the face from the exertion. " How are you, Fairlegh ? how are you ? That stupid fool has made 'em too tight for anybody but Tom Thumb, and be hanged to him. Ever read fairy tales, Fairlegh ? I did when I was a little shaver, and wore cock-tailed petticoats — all bare legs and bustle — ' a Highland lad my love was born ;' that style of thing, rather, you know ; never believed 'em, though : wasn't to be done even then ; eh ? Well, this is a puzzler ; I can't get 'em on. Where's the fel- low they call Boots ? Here, you sir, come and see if you can pull on these confounded namesakes of yours, and I'll tip you half-a- crown if you succeed ; cheaper than breaking one's back, eh !" " Where are you off to, supposing you should ever get those boots on ?" asked I. "Eh? I am going to call on the young woman I set alight at the hop last night, and tell her I'm quite down in the mouth about it ; explain that I didn't go to do it ; that it was quite a mistake, and all owing to the other young woman's being so fresh, in fact ; and then offer to rig her out again, start her in new harness from bridle to crupper, all at my own expense, and that will be finishing off the affair handsomely, won't it ?" 152 FRANK FAIRLEGH. " I ahould advise your leaving out that last piece of munificence," replied I, " she might think it an insult." " An tnsult, eh ? Oh, if she's so proud as all that comes to, Td better stay away altogether ; I shall be safe to put my foot into it there, a good deal faster than I have into these villainous boots— that's it, Sampson, another pull such as that, and the deed's done," added Lawless, patting the human Boots on the back encouragingly. " I was just going to ride over to inquire after Miss Saville my- self," said I. " That's the very tiling then," was the reply. " I'll drive you there instead ; it will be better for your scorched fin (pointing to my injured arm), than jolting about outside a horse, and you shall tell me what to say as we go along ; you seem to understand the sex, as they call the petticoats, better than I do, and can put a fel- low up to a few of the right dodges. I only wish they were all horses, and then I flatter myself I should not require any man's advice how to harness, drive, train, or physic them." " The ladies are infinitely indebted to you," replied I, as I ran up etairs to prepare for our expedition. A drive of rather less than an hour and a half, during which the thorough-breds performed in a way to delight every lover of horse- flesh, brought us to the park gate of Barstone Priory, where Mr. Vernor resided. After winding in and out for some half-mile amongst groups of magnificent forest-trees, their trunks partially concealed by plantations of rare and beautiful shrubs, a sudden turn of the road brought us in front of the priory — an ancient, venerable- looking pile of building, which had evidently, as its name implied, once lielonged to some religious community. The alterations it had undergone, in order to adapt it to its present purpose, had been canied out with more taste and skill than are usually met with in such cases. The garden, with its straight terrace-walks, and bril- liant (lower-beds, contrast?d well with the grey stone of which the build ing was composed, while the smooth-shaven lawn, with an old quaintly carved sun-dial in the centre, and above all, the absence of any living creature whatsoever, imparted an air of severe for- mality to the scene, which, as the eye rested upon it, seemed to realize all one had read of monastic discipline and seclusion ; and one half expected to see a train of dark-veiled nuns, or sandalled friars, winding slowly forth from the hall -door. " What a singular old shop !" exclaimed my companion, regard- ing the structure with a look of displeased criticism ; " wretched FRAKK FAIRLEGH. 153 (ittle windows, as ever I saw ; they must be all in the dark inside on a dull day, and every day would be dull if one lived there, I should think. It would puzzle a fellow to tell whether that build- ing was clerical or lay, fish or flesh ; a castle that had taken a seri- ous turn, or a church out for the day in plain clothes ; how people can like to live in such a mouldy, rusty, musty old barn, that looks as fall of ghosts as a cheese is of mites, I can't conceive." " Tli ere certainly is an appearance of gloom and loneliness about the place," replied I ; u but I think It is chiefly owing to the absence of any living object — a herd of deer in the park, a group of children and dogs playing on the lawn — anything to give animation to the picture, would be the greatest improvement." " I should just think it would," returned Lawless. " Fancy a pack of hounds under that jolly old oak yonder, the huntsman and whips in their bits of pink, and a field of about fifty of the right sort of fellows on thorough-breds, dawdling about, talking to one another, or taking a canter over the turf, just to settle themselves in the saddle ; that would be a sight to make old Vernor look a little better pleased than he did last night, sing out for his boots and buckskins, and clap his leg over the first foair-footed beast that came in his way, even if it should happen to be the old cow." " I hope I may be there to see if he does," replied I, laughing. On inquiring whether Mr. Vernor X _^ at home, we were an- swered in the affirmative by a tall gaunt-looking man-servant, with a stern, not to say surly, countenance, the expression of which w r as in some degree contradicted by a pair of quick restless lhtle grey eyes, which in any other face one should have said twinkled merrily beneath the large grizzled eyebrows which o'ershadowed them. Having, at Lawless's request, procured a nondescript hobblede- hoy, of indefinite character, to stand at the horses' heads (we had left Shrimp behind, by common consent, that he might be no re- straint on our conversation), he conducted us across the hall into a kind of morning room, fitted up with oak panels, and with a very handsome old carved oak chimney-piece reaching half-way to the ceiling. He was leaving the room to inform his master of ou; arrival, when Lawless stopped him by saying, — " Here, just wait a bit ; tell the young woman — that is to say, don't tell her anything ; but I mean, let Miss Saville be made awar« (I see you're awake, for all your Ions, face), put her up to our being hare : don't you know, eh?" M Tip him," whispered I- 154 FRANK FAIRLEGB. " Eh, stop a bit ; you're a very honest fellow, and it's right to reward faithful servants ; and — you understand all about it, eh ?" One portion of this somewhat incoherent address he did under- stand, evidently, for without altering a muscle of his face, he put out his hand, took the money, and left the room with the same un- conscious air of imperturbability which he had maintained through- out the whole conference. " Good move that, eh ?" exclaimed Lawless, as soon as the door was closed ; " that'll fetch her out of her hole, for a guinea. Mind I shall do my best to cut you out, Master Frank. I don't see why I haven't a right to quite as large a share of her gratitude as you have, for if I hadn't set her on fire, you'd never have put her out ; so, in fact, she owes it all to me — don't you see ?" " I'm afraid there's a little sophistry in that argument," replied I ; " but we had better wait till we find whether we shall have the op- portunity afforded us of trying our powers of fascination, before we quarrel about the effects to be produced by them. I cannot say I feel over sanguine as to the success of your somewhat original ne- gotiation with that raw-boned giant in the blue plush sine qua nons f as Coleman calls them." " Time will show," rejoined Lawless, turning towards the door, which opened at this moment to admit Mr. Vernor ; and, alas ! him only. His reception of us, though perfectly easy and well-bred, was anything but agreeable or encouraging. He answered our inquiries after Miss Saville's health, by informing us, cursorily, that no ill elfects had ensued from her alarm of the previous evening. He re- ceived Lawless's apologies with a calm half-ironical smile, and an assurance that they were not required ; and he slightly thanked me for my obliging assistance in words perfectly unexceptionable in themselves, but which, froia a peculiarity in the tone of voice more than anything else, impressed one with a sense of insult rather than of compliment. Still, in compliance with certain expressive looks from Lawless, who evidently was most unwilling to be convinced of the failure of his little bit of diplomacy, I used every means I could think ot to prolong the visit. I first admired, then criticised, the cai ving of the chimney-piece ; I dived into a book of prints which lay upon the table, and prosed about mezzo-tint and line engraving, and bored myself, and of course my hearers also, till our powers of endurance were taxed almost beyond their strength ; and, at last, having completely exhausted not only my small-talk, but my FKAXK fAIKLEGH. 155 entire stock of conversation of all sorts and sizes, I was regularly beaten to a stand-still, and obliged to take refuge in alternately teazing and caressing a beautiful black and tan setter, which seemed the only member of the party thoroughly sociable, and at his ease. At length it became apparent even to Lawless himself, that the visit could not be protracted longer, and we accordingly rose and took our leave, our host (I will not call him entertainer, for it would be a complete misnomer) preserving the same tone of cool and im- perturbable politeness to the very last. On reaching the hall, we encountered the surly old footman, whose features looked more than ever as if they had been carved out of some very hard species of wood. " I say, old boy, where's the young lady, eh ?" exclaimed Law- less, as soon as he caught sight of him ; " she never showed so much as the tip of her nose in the room ; how was that, eh ?" " If she com'd into the room when gentlemen was calling, master would eat her without salt," was the reply. " Which fact you were perfectly aware of when you took my tip so quietly just now ?" " In course I was, why should I not be?" " Done brown for once, by Jove !" muttered Lawless, as he lefi the hall — " a raw-boned old rogue, I'll be even with him some day, though , we shall see, eh ! " While Lawless was busily engaged in settling some of the harness which had become disarranged, the old footman came up to me and whispered, " Make use of your eyes as you drive through the park, and mayhap you'll spy some game worth looking after, young gen- tleman." Surprised at this unexpected address, I turned to question him as to its meaning, but in vain ; for no sooner had he finished speak- ing, than he re-entered the hall, and shut the door behind him. AVhat could he intend me to understand, thought I ; he evidently wished to imply something beyond the simple meaning of the words " game worth looking after ;" could he mean to no ! the thing is impossible, — " absurd !" exclaimed I, as a wild idea shot through my brain, and I felt myself colour like a girl. " What's absurd ?" exclaimed Lawless, gathering up the reins as he spoke ; " what are you talking about ? why, you're ranting and ptaring about you like a play-actor ; what's the matter with you, eh, Frank ?" 158 FRANK FAIRLEGEL "Nothing," replied I, taking my seat; " don't drive too fast through the park, I want to look at the view as we go along." In obedience to the gaunt domestic's mysterious injunction, I made the best use of my eyes as we retraced our way through the park, and for my pains had the satisfaction of beholding a solitary c&bbit. half bidden under a dock-leaf, and sundry carrion crows. WEAXZ FAJKLEGH. 157 CHAP. xvin. THE GAJCE IN BAR3T0XE PARK. ■TKe fric~3d curtains of thine eye advance and say what thou see st yond." — Temp**?, " Accost, Sir Andrew, accost." — Twelfth Xiy?u. " Let as go thank him and encourage hira My Guardian's rough and envious disposition Strikes me at heart— Sir you have well deserved." — A3 You Like It. We had arrived within a quarter of a- mile of the gate ; and I uad just settled, to my thorough dissatisfaction, that the old foot- man must be a humourist, and had diverted himself by making a kind of April-fool out of season of me, when, through the trees, which at that spot stretched their huge branches across the road so as to form a complete arch, I fancied I perceived the flutter of a woman's dress; and, in another moment, a turn in the drive dis- closed to my view a female form, which I instantly recognised as that of Clara Saville. Without a minute's hesitation, I sprang to the ground before Lawless had time to pull up, and, saying to him, " I shall be back again directly ; — wait for me — there's a good fellow," I hastily en- tered a winding path, which led through the trees to the spot where I had seen the young lady, leaving my companion mute from astonisnment. Up to this moment, acting solely from a sort of instinctive impulse, which made me wish to see and speak to Miss Saville, I had never considered the light in which my proceedings might appear to her. What right, I now asked myself, had I to intrude upon her privacy, and, as it were, force my company upon her, whether she wished it or not ? Might she not look upon it as an impertinent intrusion ? As these thoughts flitted through my brain, I slackened my pace ; and, had it not been for very shame, could have found in my heart to turn back again. This, however, I resolved not to do ; having committed myself so far, I determined to give her an opportunity of seeing me, and, if she should show any intention of avoiding me, it would then be time enough to re- trace my steps, and leave her unmolested. With this design I pro- 156 FRAKK PAIBLEOB. eeeded slowly up the path, stopping now and then as if to admire the view, until a turn of the walk brought me in sight of a rustic bench, on which was seated the young lady I had before observed. As soon as she perceived me, she rose and turned towards me, dis- closing, as she did so, the graceful form and lovely features of my partner of the preceding evening. The morning costume, including a most irresistible little cottage-bonnet lined with pink, was even more becoming to her than the ball-dress ; and when, instead of the cold air of constraint which had characterised her manner of the previous evening, she advanced to meet me with a slight blush and the most bewitching smile of welcome that ever set man's heart beating, I thought I had never seen anything so perfectly beautiful before. " I must ask your forgiveness for venturing thus to intrude upon you, Miss Saville, " began I, after we had exchanged salutations ; " but the temptation of learning from your own lips that you had sustained no injury, was too strong to be resisted, more particularly after the disappointment of finding you were from home, when I did myself the pleasure of calling on Mr. Vernor to inquire after you." " Nay, there is nothing to forgive," replied Miss Saville ; c ' on the contrary," she continued, blushing slightly, "I was anxiou? to see you, in order to thank you for the eminent service you ren- dered me yesterday evening." *' Really, it is not worth mentioning," returned I ; " it is only what any other gentleman in the room would have done had he been in my situation ; it was good Mrs. Trottle's shawl saved you ; I could have done nothing without that." u You shall not cheat me out of my gratitude in that way," re- plied she, smiling ; " the shawl would have been of little avail, had it not been so promptly and energetically applied ; and, as for the other gentlemen, they certainly were very ready with their offers of assistance after the danger was over. I am afraid," she con- tinued, looking down, " you must have repented th^. trouble you had taken, when you found what a thankless person you had exerted yourself to save." "Indeed, no such idea crossed my mind for an instant; the slight service I was able to render you was quite repaid by the pleasure of knowing that I had been fortunate enough to prevent you from sustaining injury," said I. " You are very kind," was the reply ; " but I can assure you I ft'JCAKK PAIKLfiGIL 1 f»9 h;iro been exceedingly annoyed by imagining how wholly destitute of gratitude you must have considered me !" " Lucy Markham told me such would be the case," replied I, smiling. " Did she ? — a dear warm-hearted girl, — she always does me justice!" exclaimed Miss Saville, as she raised her beautiful eyes, sparkling with animation, to my face. She then, for the first time, observed my injured arm, and added quickly, " but you wear youi arm in a sling ; I hope — that is — I am afraid — I trust it was not injured last night!" " It is a mere trifle," replied I ; " the wristband of my sleeve caught fire, and burnt my arm, but it is nothing of any consequence, I can assure you." "lam sure you must have thought me sadly ungrateful," re- turned my companion ; " you exerted yourself, and successfully, to save my life, receiving a painful injury in so doing, whilst I left the house without offering you the thanks due even to the commonest service imaginable." " You were not then aware that I had burnt my arm, remember; and forgive me for adding," returned I, (for I saw that she was really distressed at the idea of my considering her wanting in gra- titude,) " that it did not require any unusual degree of penetration to perceive that you were not altogether a free agent." " No, indeed," replied she, eagerly catching at the idea, " Mr. Vernor, my guardian, — he always means to be very kind I am sure ; but," she added, sinking her voice, " he is so very particular, and he speaks so sternly sometimes, that — I know it is very silly, — but I cannot help feeling afraid of him. I mention this, sir, to pre- vent your judging me too harshly, and I trust to your generosity not to take any unfair advantage of my openness ; and now," she added, fixing her large eyes upon me with an imploring look which would have melted the toughest old anchorite that ever chewed grey peas, " you will not think me so very ungrateful, will you?" " My dear Miss Saville," replied I, " let me beg you to believe I never dreamt of blaming you for a moment ; on the contrary, I pay you no compliment, but only mention the simple truth, when I tell you that I admired your behaviour throughout the whole affair exceedingly ; your presence of mind and self-control were greater than, under the circumstances, I cculd have supposed possible." As she made no reply to this, but remained looking stedi'astly on the ground, with her hwid turned so as to conceal 160 KKANK FAIKI.KGH. her face, I continued — " I hope it is unnecessary for me to add, that you need not entertain the slightest fear of my making any indiscreet use of the frankness with which you have done me the honour of speaking to me — but I am forgetting half my business," added I, wishing to set her at ease again, " I am charged with all sorts of kind messages to you from good Mrs* Coleman and Miss Markham ; I presume you would wish me to tell them I have had the pleasure of ascertaining that you have sus- tained no ill effects from your alarm." " Oh yes, by all means," replied Miss Saville, looking up with a pleased expression, " give my kind love to them both, and tell dear Lucy I shall come over to see her as soon as ever I can." " I will not intrude upon you longer, then, having delivered my message," said I ; "I have kept my companion, the gentleman who was so unfortunate as to overturn the candelabrum, waiting an un- conscionable time already ; he is very penitent for his offence ; may I venture to relieve his mind by telling him that you forgive him ? " " Pray do so," was the reply ; " I never bear inalice ; besides, it was entirely an accident, you know. How thoroughly wretched he seemed when he found what he had done ; frightened as I was, 1 couid scarcely help laughing when I caught a glimpse of his face, he looked so delightfully miserable," added she, with a merry laugh. After a moment's pause, she continued — " I'm afraid Mr. Verno? will think I am lost, if he should happen to inquire after me, and I'm not forthcoming." " Surely," said I, " he can never be so unreasonable as to blame you for snch a trifle as remaining five minutes too long. Does he expect you to be a nun because he lives in a priory?" " Almost, I really think," was the reply ; " and now, good bye, Mr. Fairlegh," she continued — " I shall feel happier since I have been able to explain to you that I am not quite a monster of ingra- titude." " If that is the case, I am bound to rejoice in it also," answered I, " though I would fain convince you that the explanation was not required." Her only reply to this was an incredulous shake of the head , and, once more wishing me good morning, she tripped along the path ; and, when I turned to look again, her graceful figure had disappeared among the trees. With a flushed brow and beating heart, (gentle reader, I was barely twenty,) I hastened to rejoin my companion, who, as might VKAXK FAIKLEGH. 161 be exp^ted, was not in the most amiable humour imaginable, hav- ing had to restrain the impatience of two fiery horses for a space of time nearly approaching a quarter of an hour. " Really, Lawless," I began, " I am quite ashamed." " Oh, you are, are you ? " was the rejoinder. " I should rather think you ought to be, too. But it's always the way with you fellows who pretend to be steady and moral, and all that sort of thing : when you do find a chance of getting into mischief, you're worse a great deal than a man like myself, for instance, who, with- out being bothered with any particular principles of any kind, has what I call a general sense of fitness and propriety, and does his dissipation sensibly and correctly. But to go tearing off like a lunatic after the first petticoat you see fluttering among the bushes in a gentleman's park, and leaving your friend to hold in two thorough-bred peppery devils, that are enough to pull a man's arms ofF, for above a quarter of an hour, it's too bad a great deal Why. just before you came, I fully expected when that mare was plung- ing about on her hmd legs " " How lovely she looked!" interrupted I, thinking aloud. "You thought so, did you?" rejoined Lawless ; "I wish you'd just had to hold her ; her mouth's as hard " " Her mouth is perfect," replied I, emphatically ; " quite perfect." " "Well, that's cool," muttered Lawless ; " he'll put me in a pas- sion directly ; — pray, sir, may I ask how on earth you come to know anything about her mouth ?" " How do I know anything about her mouth ! " exclaimed L " Did I not watch with delight its ever- varying expression ? — mark each movement of those beautiful lips, and drink in every syllable that fell from them ? — not observe her mouth ! Think you, when we have been conversing together for the last quarter of an hour, that I could fail to do so ?" "Oh, he's gone stark staring mad!" exclaimed Lawless; "strait waistcoats, Bedlam, and all that sort o'thing, you know; —conversing with my bay mare for the last quarter of an hour, and drinking in every syllable that fell from her beautiful lips — oh, he's raving !" "What do you mean?" said L, at length awaking to some n- sciousness of sublunary affairs — " Your mare ! — who ever thought of your mare ? it's Miss Saville I'm talking about." "MissSaville!" repeated Lawless ; giving vent to a long whistle. 162 CRANK KAiRLEGH. expressive of incredulity ; " why, you don't mean to say you*VB been talking to Miss Saville all this time, do you ? " " To be sure I have," rephed I ; " and a very interesting and agreeable conversation it was too." " Well," exclaimed Lawless, after a short pause ; " all the luck in this matter seems to fall to your share ; so the sooner I get out of it the better. It won't break my heart, that's one comfort ; — if the young woman has the bad taste to prefer you to me, why, it can't be helped, you know ; — but what did she say for herself, eh ?" " She sent you her forgiveness, for one thing," replied I ; and I then proceeded to relate such particulars of the interview a3 I con- sidered expedient ; which recital, and our remarks thereupon, fur- nished conversation during the remainder of our drive. FBANK. FAIRLEOH. CHATTER XIX. TURNING THE TABLES. **' you should also make no noise In the streets.' 'You may stay him. ' Nay, byne lady, that I think he cannot.' ' Five shillings to one on't with any man that knows the statutes, he may stay Min. Ills wits are not so blunt as, God help, I would desire they were. It is an offence to stay a ciai aipiinst his will. Dost thou not suspect my place? dust thou not suspect my years? O that he were here to write me down an ass! but, masters, remember that I am an ass: though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.' " — Much Ado About Koihing. About a week had elapsed after the events which I have just re- corded, when one morning, shortly before my return to Cambridge, I received a letter from Coleman, detailing the finale of the bell- zinging affair. It ran as follows : — My Dear Frank,-t— Doubtless you are, or ought to be, veiy anxious to hear how I contrived to get out of the scrape into which you and the Honourable George managed to inveigle me, having previously availed yourselves of my innocenee, and succeeded, through the seductive medium of oysters and porter, in corrupting my morals, then leaving me, poor victim ! to bear the blame, and suffer the consequences, of our common misdemeanor. How- ever, mine is no pitiful spirit to be quelled by misfortune, and, as dangers thickened around me, I bore up against them bravely, like — like — (was it Julius Cassar or Coriolanus who did that sort of thing ?) but never mind — like a Roman brick, we'll say ; the par- ticular brick is quite immaterial, but I must beg you to believe the likeness was something striking. To descend to particulars.—' Hostilities were commenced by that old ass, Mayor Dullmug, wha took out a summons against me for creating a riot and disturbance in the town, and, the first day the bench sat, I was marched off by two policemen, and locked up in a little dirty room, to keep cool till their worships were ready to discuss me. "Well, there I sat, kicking my heels, and chuckling over a heart-rending little scene I had just gone through with my mother, whose dread of the terrors of the law was greatly increased by the very vague ideas she possessed of the extent of its powers. The punishment she had settled in 164 FRAKK TAIRLEGH. own mind as likely to be awarded me was transportation, and hei farewell address was as follows : — " If they should be cruel enough to order you to be transported for fourteen years, Freddy, my dear, I shall try to persuade your father (though he's just like a savage North American Indian about you) to get it changed ' for life ' instead, for they always die of the yellow fever for the sharks to eat them, when they've been over there three or four years ; and four years are better than fourteen, though bad's the best, and I'm a miserable woman. I read all about it last week in one of Captain Marryatt's books, and very shocking I thought it." — Having ven- tured to hint that, if I was carried off by the yellow fever at the end of a year or two, the length of my sentence would not signify much to me when I was dead, I was rebuked with, " Don't talk in that shocking way, Frederick, as if you were a heathen, in your situation, and I hearing you your collect every Sunday, besides Mrs. Hannah More, who might have been a saint if ever there was one, or anything else she liked, with her talents, only she was too good for this wicked world, and so she went to a better, and wrote that charming book ' Crelebs in Search of a Wife.'" — Oh ! my poor dear mother's queer sentences ! I was becoming shockingly tired cf my own company, when it occurred to me that it would be the correct thing to carve my name on the Newgate stone, a la Jack Sheppard; and I was just putting a few finishing strokes to the N of Coleman, wherewith, in characters at least six inches long, I had embellished a very conspicuous spot over the chimney-piece, when I was surprised " with my chisel so fine, tra la," {i.e. with a red hot poker which I had been obliged to put up with instead, it being the only implement attainable,) by the officials, who came to summon me, and who did not appear in the slightest degree capable of appreciating the beauties of my performance. By them I was straightway conducted into the awful presence of sundry t elderly gentlemen, rejoicing in heads all more or less bald, and faces expressing various degrees of solemn stupidity, who in their proper persons constituted " the bench." Before these grave and reverend signiors did Master Dullmug and his satellites, " Then ar.d there, R^hentoe aud declare sll my heinous crimes, offences, and misdemeanours; whereupon the aforesaid signiors did solemnly shake their bald heads, and appear exceedingly shocked and particularly puzzled. Well, at la?* T was called upon for my defence, and, having made up my FRANK FAIRLEGH. 165 mind for some time what line I would take, I cut the matter verv short, by owning to have assisted in ringing the bells, which I confessed was an act of folly, but nothing more, and that the idea of its constituting an offence punishable by law was absurd in th-3 extreme. This sent them to book, and, after tnrning over sundry ponderous tomes, and consulting various statutes of all sorts and sizes, besides whispering together, and shaking their heads once and again, till I began to fear that their neck3 would be dislocated, they arrived at the conclusion that I was right, or thereabouts. This fact, the eldest, most bald, and most stupid of the party, chosen by common consent, doubtless in virtue of these attributes, as spokesman, proceeded to communicate to me, in a very prosy harangue, to which he appended a lecture — a sort of stock article, which he evidently kept constantly on hand, with blanks which could be filled up to suit any class of offenders. In this harangue he pointed out the dangers of juvenile tricks, and the evils of dissipation, winding up with the assurance that, as I seemed deeply sensible of the error of my ways, they, the magistrates, would, on my making a suitable apology to that excellent public functionary the Mayor of Hillingford, graciously deign to overlook my misconduct. During his long-winded address, a new idea struck me, and, when he had concluded, I inquired, with all due respect, whether " I was to understand that it was quite certain I had committed no offence punishable by law ?" To this he replied, " that I might set my mind completely at ease upon that point . that though, morally speaking, I had been guilty of a veiy serious misdemeanor, in the eye of the law I was perfectly innocent." "In that case, gentlemen," replied I, "the liberty of the subject has been infringed ; I have been kept in illegal confinement for some hours, and I believe I have my remedy in an action for false im- prisonment against Mr. Dullmug. Does not the law bear me out in what I state ? " Again they had recourse to their books, and were unwillingly forced to confess that I was right. " Then," continued I, "so far from making any apology to Mr. Dullmug, unless that gentleman consents to beg my pardon, and give me a written apology for the unjust and illegal prosecution to which he has subjected me, [ shall at once take the necessary steps to proceed against him." Oh ! Frank, I would have given something to have had you there, old boy ! when I announced this determination : there was such a shindy as I never before witnessed : old Dullmug was furious, and vowed he'd never apologize : I declared, if he didn't, nothing should 166 FRANK FAIUL£Gn. prevent me from bringing my action : the magistrates tried to per- suade me, but I was inflexible; and (by Jove! I was very near forgetting the best part of it all) my governor, who was in court, the moment he found the law was on my side, turned suddenly round, swore I had been shamefully used, and that, if it cost him every farthing he possessed in the world, he would see justice done me. So the end of it was, that old Dullmug was forced to write the apology ; it now lies in my writing-desk, and I look upon it as one of the proudest trophies man ever possessed. So, Master Frank, considering all things, I think I may reckon I got pretty well out of that scrape. Ever your affectionate, F. C. P.S. — What have you said or done to render old Vernor so bitter against you ? Clara Saville tells Lucy, that, when she informed him of her having met and conversed with you alone in the park that day, he flew into such a rage as she had never seen him in before, and abused you like a pickpocket; and she says she feels certain that, from some cause or other, he entertains a strong personal dislike to you. Entre nous, I don't think the fair Clara seems exactly to sympathize with him in this feeling. Considering that you had somewhat less than half an hour to make play in, from Lucy's ac- count you do not seem to have wasted much time. Ah ! Master Frank, you are a naughty boy ; I can't help sighing when I reflect, how anxious your poor dear mother must feel about you, when she knows you're out. " Still the same light-hearted merry fellow as ever," exclaimed I, as I closed the letter; "how long, I wonder, will those buoyant spirits of his resist the depressing effect which contact with the harsh realities of life appears always sooner or later to produce? Strange, what he says about that Mr. Vernor; I am not, conscious that I ever met the man till the evening of the ball, and yet I fancied there was something which seemed not utterly unfamiliar to me in the expression of his face. Vernor 1 Vernor 1 I don't believe I ever heard the name before — it's very odd. Of course, what he says about Miss Saville is all nonsense ; and yet there was something in her manner, which made me fancy, if I had time and opportunity —pshaw ! what absurdity — I shall have enough to do if I am to imagine myself in love with every nice girl who says, 'Thank you' prettily for any trifling service I may chance to render her. I am $ure she is not happy, poor thins! Seriously, I wish I were sufli- FRANK FXIKLEGH. 1(J7 ciently intimate with her to be able to afford her the advice and assistance of a friend, should such be ever required by her. I should take the liberty of asking old Vernor what he meant by his extra- ordinary behaviour towards me, were I to see much more of him ; there's nothing like a little plain speaking. But I need not trouble my brains about the matter ; I shall probably never meet either of them again, so what does it signify ? She certainly is the loveliest girl I ever saw, though ! heigho ! " and, with a sigh, for which I should have been somewhat puzzled rationally to account, I took up my gun, and set off for a day's shooting with Harry Oaklands. WANK FAIRLRttH. CHAPrES XX. ALMA. MATER. 'He's a £ood divine that follows his own instructions; I can easier tcacti twenty vuiu were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow my own teaching. — The brain nikj devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o'er a cold decree." — Merchant of Venice. Time, that venerable and much-vituperated individual, who, if he has to ' answer for some acts savouring of a taste for wanton destruction — if he now and then lunches on some noble old abbey, which had remained a memorial of the deep piety and marvellous skill of our forefathers — if he crops, by way of salad, some wide- spreading beech or hoary patriarchal oak, which had flung its shade over the tombs of countless generations, and, as it stood forming a link between the present and the past, won men's reverence by force of contrast with their own ephemeral existence — yet atones for his delinquencies by softening the bitterness of grief, blunt- ing the sharp edge of pain, and affording to the broken-hearted the rest, and to the slave the freedom, of the grave ; — old Time, I say, who should be praised at all events for his perseverance and steadiness, swept onward with his scythe, and cutting his way through the frost and snow of winter, once more beheld the dust of that " brother of the east wind," March, converted into mud by the showers of April, and the summer was again approaching. It was on a fine morning in May, that, as Oaklands and I were breakfasting together in my rooms at Trinity, we heard a tap at the door, and the redoubtable Shrimp made his appearance. This interesting youth had, under Lawless's able tuition, arrived at such a pitch of knowingness, that it was utterly impossible to make him credit anything; he had not the smallest particle of confidence remaining in the integrity of man, woman, or child; and, life, many another of the would-be wise in their generation, the only flaw in his scepticism was the bigoted nature of his faith in the false and hateful doctrine of the universal depravity of the human race. He was the bearer of a missive from his master, inviting Oakland* and myself to a wine party at his rooms that evening. '* I suppose we may as '■veil go," said Oaklands; "I like a positive PKAKK FAIKLEGH. 1 G5 engagement somewhere — it saves one the trouble of thinking what one shall do with oneself." " You can accept it," replied I, " but it would be a waste of time which I have no right to allow myself; not only does it make one idle while it lasts, but the next day also, for I defy a man to read to any purpose the morning after one of Lawless's symposia." " Call it supper, my dear boy," returned Oaklands, stretching himself; " why do you take the trouble to use a long word, when a 6hort one would do just as w r ell? If I could but get you to econo- mise your labour, and take things a little more easily, it would be of the greatest advantage to you ; — that everlasting reading too— I tell you what, Frank, yon are reading a great deal too hard ; you look quite pale and ill. I promised Mrs. Fairlegh I would not let yoix overwork yourself, and you shall not either. Come, you must and shall go to this party ; you want relaxation and amusement, and those fellows will contrive to rouse you up a bit, and do you good/' " To say the truth," I replied, "that is one of my chief objections to going. Lawless I like, for the sake of old recollections, and because he is at bottom a well-disposed good-hearted fellow ; but I cannot approve of the set of men one meets there. It is not merely their being what is termed "fast" that I object to; for, though I do not set up for a sporting character myself, I am rather amused than otherwise to mix occasionally with that style of men; but there is a tone of recklessness in the conversation of the set we meet there, a want of reverence for everything, human and divine, which, I confess, disgusts me — they seem to consider no object too high or too low to make a jest of." " I understand the kind of thing you refer to," answered Oak- lands, " but I think it's only one or two of them who offend in that w r ay ; there's one man who is my particular aversion ; I declare, if I thought he'd be there to-night, I would not go." " I think I know who you mean," replied I ; " Stephen Wilford, is it not ? the man they call ' butcher,' from some brutal thing he once did to a horse." " You're right, Frank ; i" can scarcely sit quietly by, and hear that man talk. I suppose he sees that I dislike him, for there is something in his manner to me which is almost offensive ; really at times I fancy ho wishes to pick a quarrel with me." " Not unlikely," said I ; " he has the reputation of being a dead 6hot with the pistol, and on the strength of it he presumes to bully every one." FRAlOi FAFRLEGn. u He hsd better not go too far with me," returned Oaklands, with flashing eyes; "men are not to be frightened like children; euch a character as that is a public nuisance." " He will not be there to-night, I am glad to say," replied I, "for I met him yesterday when I was walking with Lawless, and he. said he was engaged to Wentworth this evening ; but, my deal Harry, for Heaven's sake avoid any quarrel with this man ; should you not do so, you will only be hazarding your life unnecessarily, and it can lead to no good result." 11 My dear fellow, do I ever quarrel with any body? there is nothing worth the trouble of quarrelling about in this world ; besides, it would be an immense fatigue to be shot," observed Harry, smiling. " I have no great faith in your pacific sensations, for they are no- thing more," rejoined I ; " your indolence always fails you, where it might be of use in subduing (forgive me for using the term) your fiery temper; besides, in allowing a man of this kind to quarrel with you, you give him just the opportunity he wants ; in fact you are completely playing his game." " Well, I can't see that exactly ; suppose the worst comes to the worst, and you are obliged to fight him, he stands nearly as good a chance of being killed as you do." " Excuse me, he does nothing of the kind ; going out with a professed duellist is like playing cards with a skilful gambler ; the chances are very greatly in his favour : in the first place, nine men out often would lose their nerve entirely, when stationed opposite the pistol of a dead shot ; then again there are a thousand apparent trifles, of which the initiated are aware, and which make the greatest difference, such as securing a proper position with regard to the sun, taking care that your figure is not in a direct line with any upright object, a tree or post for instance, and lots of other things of a like nature which we know nothing about, all of which he is cer- tain to contrive to have arranged favourably for himself, and dis- advantageous^ for his opponent. Then, having as it were trained himself for the occasion, he is perfectly cool and collected, and ready to avail himself of every circumstance he might turn to his advantage — a moment's hesitation in pulling the trigger when the signal is given, and he fires first — many a man has received his death-wound before now, ere he had discharged his own pistol." " My dear boy," said Harry, "you really are exciting and alarm- ing yourself very unnecessarily ; I am not going to quarrel with Wilford or any body else; T detest active exertion of every kind FBAHK FAJKLEGH. 171 and consider duelling as a fashionable compound of iniquity, con- taining equal parts of murder and suicide — and we'll go to Lawless's this evening, that I'm determined upon — and — let me see — IV« got James's new novel in my pocket. I shall not disturb you if 1 6tay here, shall I ? I'm not going to talk." Then, without waiting for an answer, he stretched himself at full length on (and beyond) the sofa, and was soon buried in the pages of that best ot followers in the footsteps of the mighty Wizard of the North — Walter Scott — leaving me to the somewhat less n^reeabV ♦ask of reading matheuiatitx. J.72 FRANK FAJOULKaK. I I CHAP. XXL THE WINE PARTY. •This night I hold an old-accustom' d f*vx. Whereto I have Invited many a guea'- Buch as I love." M A fair assembly, whither should thev some ? Servant. — Up 1 Borneo.— Whither? Servant. — To supper." — Shakspeart. * All Is not false that seems at first a lie."— SoulMeg. •*Do you bite your thumo at us, Sir? I do bite my thumb, Sir! Do you quarrel, Sir? Quarrel, Sir! No, Sir! If you do, Sir, I am for you." — S/iakspeare. Let the reader imagine a long table covered with the remains of an excellent dessert, interspersed with a multitude of bottles of all shapes and sizes, containing every variety of wine that money could procure, or palate desire; whilst in the centre stood a glorious old China bowl of punch, which the guests were discuss- ino- in tumblers, — wine-glasses having been unanimously voted much too slow. Around this table let there be seated from fifteen to twenty men, whose ages might vary from nineteen to three or four and twenty ; some smoking cigars, some talking vociferously, some laughing, some, though they were decidedly the minority, listening: but all showing signs of being more or less elated by the wine they had taken. Let the reader imagine all this, and he will have formed a pretty correct idea of the supper party in Lawless's rooms, as it appeared about ten o'clock on the evening subsequent to the conversation I have just detailed. " Didn't I see you riding a black horse with one white stocking, yesterday, Oaklands ? " inquired a young man with a round jovial countenance, which might have been reckoned handsome, but for the extreme redness of the complexion, and the loss of a front tooth, occasioned by a fall received in the hunting field, whose name was Richard, or, as he was more commonly termed Dick, Curtis. niAXK tAIRLEGH- 173 " Yes," replied Oaklands, "I dare say you did; I was trying him 3 "Ah! I fancied he was not one of your own." "No: he belongs to Tom Barret, who wants me to buy him-, but I don't, think he's strong enough to carry my weight; there's not substance enough about him ; I ride nearly eleven stone." "Oh! he'll never do for you," exclaimed Lawless. "I know the horse well ; they call him Blacksmith, because the man who bred him was named Smith ; he lives down in Lincolnshire, and breeds lots of horses; but they are none of them, at least none that t have seen, what I call the right sort; don't you buy him, — he'; got too much daylight under him to suir, you." " Too long in the pasterns to carry weight," urged Curtis. " Rather inclined to be cow-hocked," chimed in Lawless. "Not ribbed home," remarked Curtis. "Too narrow across the loins," observed Lawless. " He'll never carry flesh," continued Curtis. "It's useless to think of his jumping; he'll never make a hunter," said Lawless. "Only hear them," interrupted a tall, fashionable-looking young man, with a high forehead, and a profusion of light curling hair ; "now those two fellows are once off, it's all up with anything like rational conversation for the rest of the evening." "That's right, Archer, put the curb on 'em; we might as well be in Tattersall's yard at once," observed another of the company, addressing the last speaker. "I fear it's beyond my power," replied Archer; "they've got such an incurable trick of talking equine scandal, and taking away the characters of their neighbour's horses, that nobody can stop them unless it is Stephen Wilford." The mention of this name seemed to have the effect of render- ing every one grave, and a pause ensued, during which Oaklands and I exchanged glances. At length the silence was broken by Curtis, who said, — "By the way, what's become of Wilford? I expected to meet him here to-night." "He was engaged to dine with "Wentworth," said Lawless; "but ne promised to look in upon us in the course of the evening ; I thought he would have been here before this." As he spoke, a tap was heard at the room-door. "Well, that's odd," continued Lawless; "that's Wilford for a oucat; titlk of the deviL — eh. don't .vou know? Come in." KRAKK FAIKLEGH. " Vou had better not repeat that in his hearing," observed Archer, "though I believe he'd take it as a compliment on the whole; it's my opinion he rather affects the satanic." "Hush," said Curtis, pressing his arm, "here he is." As he spoke, the door opened, and the subject of their remarks entered. lie was rather above the middle height, of a slight but unusually elegant figure, with remarkably small hands and feet, the former of which were white and smooth as those of a woman. His features were delicately formed and regular, and the shape of his face a perfect oval; strongly marked eyebrows overshadowed a pair of piercing black eyes; his lips were thin and compressed, and his mouth finely cut; his hair, which was unusually glossy and luxuriant, was jet black, as were his whiskers, affording a marked contrast to the death-like pallor of his countenance. The only fault that could be found in the drawing of his face was, that the eyes were placed too near together; but this imparted a char- acter of intensity to his glance, which added to, rather than de- tracted from, the general effect of his appearance. His features, when in repose, were usually marked by an expression of con- temptuous indifference; he seldom laughed, but his smile conveyed an indication of such bitter sarcasm, that I have seen men, whom he chose to make a butt for his ridicule, writhe under it as under the infliction of bodily torture. He was dressed, as was his wont, entirely in black; but his clothes, which were fashionably cut, fitted him without a wrinkle. He bowed slightly to the assembled company, and then seated himself in a chair, which had been re- served for him at the upper end of the table, nearly opposite Oak- lands and myself, saying, as he did so, — "I am afraid I'm rather late, Lawless, but Wentworth and I had a little business to transact, and I could not get away sooner." "What devil's deed have they been at now, I wonder?" whispered Oaklands to me. " Manslaughter, most likely, " replied Archer (who was seated next me, and had overheard the remark), "Wilford appears so thoroughly satisfied with himself; that was just the way in which he looked the morning he winged Sherringham, for I saw him myself." "Send me down the claret, will you, Curtis?" asked Wilford. "Punch is a beverage I don't patronize; it makes a man's hand shaky." 'If that is the case," returned Archer "you ought to make a KRANK FAIRLEGn. 175 point of drinking it for the good of society, my dear Wilford; let me help you to a glass." "Nonser.se, Archer, be quiet, man; here, taste this cool bottle, Wilford; claret's good for nothing if it's at all flat," exclaimed Law- less, drawing the cork of a fresh magnum as he spoke. " I differ from you in that opinion, Archer," returned Wilford, fixing his keen black eyes upon the person he addressed with a piercing glance ; " society is like the wine in this glass," and he filled a bumper to the brim with claret as he spoke: "it requires a steady hand to keep it within its proper bounds, and to compel it to preserve an unruffled surface;" and so saying he raised the glass to Ids lips without spilling a drop, still keeping his eyes fixed upon Archer's face with the same withering glance. "Well, I have often heard of looking daggers at a person," con- tinued Archer, who had been drinking somewhat deeply during the evening, and now appeared possessed by a spirit of mischief leading him to teaze and annoy Wilford in every way he could think of; "but Wilford does worse, he positively looks pistols — cocked and loaded pistols — at one. Fairlegh, I shall screen myself behind your broad shoulders ; I never could stand fire." So say- ing, he seized me by the elbows, and, urging me forward crouched down behind me, affecting the extremity of terror. The scowl on Wilford's brow deepened as he spoke, but, after a moment's hesitation, apparently considering the affair too absurd to take notice of, he turned away with a contemptuous smile, say- ing, " You make your punch too strong, Lawless." Archer instantly recovered his erect attitude, and with a flushed face seemed about to make some angry reply, when Lawless, who appeared nervously anxious that the evening should pass over harmoniously, interposed. " Archer, you're absolutely incorrigible; ke^p him m order, Fair- legh, eh? give him some more punch, and fill your own glass — it has been empty I don't know how long. I'll find a tcast that will make you drink — bumpers round, gentlemen, ' to the health of the prettiest girl in Hertfordshire.' Are you all charged? I beg to propose " " Excuse my interrupting you, Lawless," exclaimed I — for I felt certain who it was he was thinking of; and the idea of Miss Saville's name being mentioned and discussed with the tone of license common on such occasions, appeared to me such complete profanation, that I determined, be tiia consequences what they 17 FRAMK FAIRLEGM. might, to prevent it — " Excuse ray interrupting you, but I should feel greatly obliged by your substituting some other toast for the one you are about to propose." " Eh, what ! not drink the young woman's health ? why I thought you admired her more than I do: not drink her health? how's that, eh?" " I shall be most happy to explain to you the reasons for my request at some other time," replied I; "at present I can only add, that I shall consider it as a personal favour if you will accede to it." " It does not appear to me to require an (Edipus to discover Mr. Fairlegh's reasons for this request," observed Stephen Wilford; " he evidently does not consider the present company deserving of the high honour of drinking the health of a young lady, whom he dis- tinguishes by his admiration." "Not over-flattering, I must say," muttered Lawless, looking annoyed. " I suppose he's afraid of our hearing her name, lest some of us should go and cut him out," suggested Curtis in an under tone, which was, however, perfectly audible. " In the meanwhile, Lawless, I hope you're not going to indulge your friend's caprice, at the expense of the rest of the company," resumed Wilford; "having raised our expectations, you are bound to gratify them." Lawless, who evidently hesitated between his desire to assert his independence, and his wish to oblige me, was beginning with his usual, "eh? why, don't you see," — when I interrupted him by saying, " Allow me to set this matter at rest in a very few words. Lawless, I hope, knows me well enough to feel sure that I could not intend any disrespect, either to himself or to his guests — I believe it is not such an unheard-of thing for a gentleman to object to the name of any lady whom he respects, being commented upon with the freedom incidental to a convivial meeting like the present — however that may be, I have asked Lawless as a favour not to drink a certain toast in my presence ; should he be unwilling to comply with my request, as I would not wish to be the slightest restraint upon him at his own table, I shall request his permission to withdraw ; on this point I await his decision. I have only one more observation to make," continued I, looking at Wilford, who was evidently preparing to speak, " which is, that if, after what I have just said, any gentleman should continue to urge Lawle 3 " * n fawyl' CrwjKt?WvJp FRAtfK FA!ULEGH. 177 give the toast to which I object, I must perforce oousider that he wishes to insult me." As I concluded, there was a murmur of applause, and Archer and one or two others turned to Lawless, declaring it was quite impossible to press the matter further, after what I had said ; when Wilford, in a cold, sarcastic tone of voice, observed, " I am sorry Mr. Fairlegh's last argument should have failed in convincing me, as easily as it seems to have done some others of the party ; such, however, unfortunately being the case, I must repeat, even at the risk of incurring a thing so terrible as that gentleman's displeasure, my decided opinion that Lawless, having informed us he was going to drink a particular toast, should not allow himself to be bullied out of it, in compliance with any man's humour." This speech, as it might be expected, produced great excitement ; 1 sprang to my feet, (an example followed by several of the party,) and was about to make an angry reply, when Oaklands, who up to this moment had taken no part in the discussion, but sat sipping his wine with his usual air of listless contentment, apparently in- different to, if not wholly unconscious of, all that was going on, now rose from his seat, and having obtained silence said, " Really, gentlemen, all this confusion appears to me very unnecessary, whea a word from our host will end it. Fairlegh has asked you not to propose a certain toast; it only remains for you, Lawless, to say, whether you intend to do so or not." Thus urged, Lawless replied, " Eh ? no, certainly not ; Frank Fairlegh's a trump, and I would not do anything to annoy him for more than I can tell : besides, when I come to think of it, I believe he was right, and I was ■wrong — but you see women are a kind of cattle I don't clearly understand — if it was a horse now " A burst of laughter at this characteristic remark drowned the conclusion of the speech, but the announcement that the toast wa? given up appeared to produce general satisfaction ; for, since I had epoken, the popular opinion had been decidedly in my favour. "The cause of this little interruption to the harmony of the evening being removed," resumed Oaklands, " suppose we see whether its effects may not as easily be got rid of. Every man, I take it, has a right to express his own opinion, and I think Fair- legh must allow that he was a little hasty in presupposing, that by so doing, an insidt was intended. This being the case, he will, I anj gure, ag.ree with me that he ought not to take any notice of Mr. Wil ford's remark." 178 FRAKK FAJRLKGH. "Yes, to be sure, that's it — all right, eh?" exclaimed Lawless; u come Fairlegh, as a favour to me, let the matter end here." Thus urged, I could only reply, that " I was quite willing to defer to their judgment, and do whatever they considered right" — and as Wilford (though I could see that he was annoyed beyond measure at having failed in persuading Lawless to give the toast) remained silent, merely curling his lip contemptuously when I spoke, here the affair ended. As soon as the conversation became general, Oaklands turned to me with a mischievous smile, and asked, in an under tone, "Pray, Master Frank, what's become of all the wisdom and prudence re- commended to me this morning ? I am afraid you quite exhausted your stock, and have not reserved any for your own use. Who's the fire-eater now, I wonder ? " " Laugh away, Harry ; I may have acted foolishly, as is usually the case where one acts entirely from impulse ; but I could not have sat tamely by, and heard Clara Saville's name polluted by the remarks of such men as Curtis and "Wilford — I should have got into a row with them sooner or later, and it was better to check the thing at once." " My dear boy," returned Oaklands, " do not imagine for a moment that I am inclined to blame you ; the only thing that I could not help feeling rather amused at, was your throwing down the gauntlet to the gentleman opposite, when I recollected a certain lecture on prudence, with which I was victimized this morning." " As you are strong, be merciful," replied I ; " and, whenever I do a foolish thing, may I always have such a friend at hand to save me from the consequences." " That's a toast I will drink most willingly," said Oaklands smil- ing ; " the more so, as it reverses the position in which we generally itand with regard to each other, the alteration being decidedly in my favour; but — " he continued, interrupting himself, "what on earth are they laughing at, and making such a row about?" " Oh, it's merely Curtis romancing with the most unmitigated effrontery, about something that neither he, nor any one else, ever lid, out hunting," replied Archer ; u a tremendous leap, I fancy 'i was." " Do not be too sure that it is impossible," replied I ; "a horse once cleared the mouth of a chalk pit with me on its back, when I was a hoy ; Lawless remembers it." "Eh! what? Mad-Rtw"*" »-"*urned Lawless ; " I should think rKAXK FAIRLEGH, 179 I did too ; I rode there afterwards and examined the place — a regular break-neck looking hole as ever I saw in my life. Tell 'em about it, Frank." Thus called upon, no choice was left me but to commence the recital, which, although there are few things to which I have a greater objection than being the hero of my own story, I accord- ingly did. Several remarks were made as I concluded, but, owing either to my well-known dislike of exaggeration, or to the air of truthfulness with which I had told the tale, nobody seemed inclined to doubt that the adventure had occurred in the manner I related, although it was of a more incredible nature than the feat Curtis had recounted. This fact had just excited my attention, when Wilford, tiirning to the man on his right hand, observed, It's a great pity that some one hasn't taken notes of this evening's con- versation ; they would have afforded materials for a new volume of the adventures of Baron Munchausen." My only answer to this remark, which was evidently intended for my hearing, was a slight smile, for I had determined I would not again be betrayed into any altercation with him, and, being now on my guard, I felt pretty sure of being able to maintain my resolution. To my annoyance, Oaklands replied, " If your re- mark is intended to throw any discredit upon the truth of the anecdote my friend has related, I must be excused for observing that Lawless and I, though not actually eye-witnesses of the leap, are yet perfectly aware that it took place." "Was that observation addressed to me, Mr. Oaklands?" in- quired Wilford, regarding Oaklands with an insolent stare. " To you, sir, or to any other man who ventures to throw a doubt on what Fairlegh has just stated," replied Oaklands, his brow flushing with anger. " Really," observed Wilford, with a contemptuous sneer, " Mr. Fairlegh is most fortunate in possessing such a steady and useful ' friend : first, when he dictates to Lawless what toasts he is to pro- pose at his own table, and threatens the company generally with the weight of his displeasure should they venture to question the propriety of his so drfjing, Mr. Oaklands kindly saves him from the consequences of this warlike declaration, by advancing the some- what novel doctrine, that his friend, having spoken unadvisedly, ought not to act up to the tenor of his words. Again, Mr. Fairlegh relates a marvellous tale of his earlier days, and Mr. Oaklands is prepared to visit the most trifling indication of disbelief with the 180 FRANK FAIKLEGH. fire and fagots of his indignation. Gentlemen, I hope you are all ^ood and true Fairleghites, or you will assuredly be burned at the (rtake, to satisfy the bigotry of Pope Oaklands the First." During this speech, I could perceive by the veins on his fore- head, swollen almost to bursting, his firmly-set teeth, and his hands penciled till the blood was forced back from the nails, that Oak- «ands was striving to master his passion ; apparently he succeeded in a great measure, for, as Wilford concluded, he spoke calmly and deliberately: "The only reply, sir," he began, " that I shall deign to make to your elaborate insult is, that I consider it as such, and shall expect you to render me the satisfaction due to a gentleman " "No, Harry," exclaimed I, "I cannot permit this: the quarrel, if it be a quarrel, is mine ; on this point I cannot allow even you to interfere. Mr. Wilford shall hear from me." " No, no !" exclaimed Lawless; " I'm sure you must see, Wilford, t,hat this is not at all the sort of thing, eh? recollect Oaklands and Fairlegh are two of my oldest friends, and something is due to me at all events, eh ? — Archer — Curtis — this cannot be allowed to go on." By this time the party 1 -ad with one accord risen from their teats, and divided into groups, some collecting round Wilford and Lawless, others about Oaklands and myself, and the confusion of tongues was perfectly deafening. At length I heard Wilford's voice exclaim, " I consider it unfair in the extreme to lay all this quarrelling and disturbance to me, and, as it is not at all to my taste, I beg to wish you a very good evening, Lawless." "You will do no such thing," cried Oaklands, and, bursting through the cluster of men who surrounded him and endeavoured to detain him, he sprang to the door, double-locked it, and, placing his back against it, added, " no one leaves the room till this affair is settled one way or other." The action, the tone of voice, and the mannei which accompanied them, reminded me so forcibly of a deed of a somewhat similar nature at Dr. Mildman's, when Oaklands first heard of the loss of his letter containing the check, and began to suspect foul play — that for a moment the lapse of years was for- gotten, and it seemed as though we were boys together again. Whenever Oaklands was excited by strong emotion of any kind, there was a proud consciousness of power in his every look and motion, which possessed for me an irresistible attraction : and now, as he stood, his noble figui*e drawn up to its fullest height, his arm3 folded across his ample chest, in an attitude of defiance a sculptor would have rejoiced to imitate; his head thrown slightly back, and *KA>'K PAJULEUH. 131 his handsome features marked by an expression of haughty indigna- tion ; -when I reflected that it was a generous regard for my honour which excited that indignation, I felt that my affection for him was indeed "passing the love of women, " and that he was a friend for whom a man might resolve to lay down his life willingly "While these thoughts passed through my brain, Lawless and several of the more influential members of the party had been en- deavouring to persuade "Wilfcrd to own that he was in the wrong, and ought to apologize, but in vain ; the utmost concession they could get him to make was, that " he was not aware that he had offered any particular insult to Mr. Oaklands, but if that gentleman chose to put such a construction upon his words, he could not help it, and should be ready to answer for them, when and where he pleased." They were then, as a last resource, about to appeal to Oaklands, when I interfered by saying, " that the insult, if insult it was, had originated from the part I had taken in the proceedings of the evening, and was directed far more against me than Oaklands ; that, under these circumstances, it was impossible for me to allow him to involve himself further in the affair. If my veracity were im- pugned, I was the proper person to defend it ; there could be but one opinion on that subject." To this they all agreed, and at length Oaklands himself was forced reluctantly to confess he supposed I was right. "In this case, gentlemen," I continued, "my course is clear; 1 leave my honour in your hands, certain that, in so doing, I am taking the wisest course ; honourable men, and men of spirit like yourselves, will, I feel certain, never recommend anything incom- patible with the strictest regard for my reputation as a gentleman ; neither will you needlessly hurry me into an act, the consequences of which might possibly embitter the whole of my after life. In order that personal feeling may not interfere any more with the matter, my friend and I will withdraw ; Lawless will kindly con- vey to me your decision, on which, be it what it may, I pledge myself to act ; — I wish you a very good night." Then telling Lawless I should sit up for him, and taking leave of two or three members of the party, with whom I was most intimate, I drew Oaklands' arm within my own, and unlocking the door, left the room, Wilford's fierce black eyes glaring at us with a look of disappointed fury, such as I have witnessed in a caged tiger, being the last object I beheld £-aANIL ffAlULElfH. CHAP. xxn. TAMING A SHREW. "I remember a mass of things, but nothing distlnflflyt A quarrel.'' "I do repent; but Heaven hath pleased it so To punish me with this." " We will compound this quarrel." « What's that ?"— " Why, a horse u Tell thou the tale." " Nay I will win my wa^er better yet, And show more signs of her obedience." " Now go thy ways, thou hast tamed a curst shrew." — Shakspeare." * Why did you prevent me from giving that insolent scoundrel ire lesson he deserved?" was Oaklands' first observation as we left the quadrangle in which Lawless's rooms were situated ; " I do not thank you for it, Frank." " My dear Harry," replied I, " you are excited at present ; when you are a little more cool, you will see that I could not have acted otherwise than I did. Even supposing I could have borne such a thing myself, what would have been said of me, if I had allowed you to fight in my quarrel ? no honourable man would have per- mitted me to associate with him afterwards." " But I don't see that the quarrel was yours at all," returned Oaklands ; " your share of it was ended when the toast affair came to a conclusion ; the rest of the matter was purely personal between him and myself." " How can that be, when the origin of it was his doubting, or pretending to doubt, the truth of the anecdote which I related ? " inquired I. " No ; depend upon it, Harry, I have acted rightly, though I bitterly regret now having gone to the party, and so ex- posed myself to all this. I have always looked upon duelling, with the greatest abhorrence ; to run the risk of committing murder (for I can call it by no milder name,) when at the very moment in which the crime is consummated, you may fall yourself, and thus even the forlorn hope of living to repent be cut off from you, appears to mo FRANK FAIRLEGH. 183 little short of matin ass. On one point I am resolved, — if I do go out with him, nothing shall induce me to fire at him ; I will not die a murderer, at all events." " Should your fife indeed be sacrificed," said Oaklands, and hia deep voice trembled with emotion as he spoke, " I will follow this man as the avenger of blood, fix a mortal insult upon him wherever I meet him, and shoot him like a dog, convinced that I shall per- form a righteous act in so doing, by ridding the world of such a monster ! " I saw by his manner that it would be useless to attempt to reason with him at that moment, — his warm feelings, and the fiery though generous impulses of his impetuous nature, had so completely gained possession of him, that he was no longer a reasonable crea- ture, — we therefore walked in silence to my rooms, where we parted; I declining his offer to remain with me till I should learn the deci- sion of Lawless and his friends, on the plea of wishing to be alone, (which was, indeed, a true one,) although my chief reason for so doing, was to prevent the possibility of Oaklands saying anything in his present excited state of mind, which, if repeated, might in any way involve him with Wilford. My first act, when I found myself once more alone, was to sit down, and endeavour calmly to review the situation in which I was placed In the event of their deciding that the affair might be arranged amicably, my course was clear, — I had only to avoid "Wil- ford as much as possible during the time I should remain at Cam- bridge, and, if ever I were obliged to be in his company, to treat him with a cool and studied civility, which would leave him no pretext for forcing a quarrel upon me. On the other hand, if they should think it imperative upon me to go out with him, then indeed was the prospect a gloomy one. Wilford, whose ruthless disposition was so well known as to have become, as it were, a by-word among the set he mixed with, was not a man to be offended with impunity, and as, moreover, I had made up my mind not to return his fire, the chances were strongly against my escaping with life. I am no coward ; on the contrary, like most men whose physical energy is unimpaired, 1 am constitutionally fearless, and in moments of danger and excitement have never found myself wanting; still it would be affectation to deny that the prospect of a sudden and violent death, thus unexpectedly forced upon me, impressed my mind with a vague sensation of terror, minded with regret for the past, and sorrow for the futuie. To be thus cur oif in the bright spring-time 18 A FRA1IK PA1RLEUH. of vigorous manhood, when the warm blood of youth dances gladlj through the veins, and every pulse throbs with the instinct of high and noble daring, — to die with hopes unattained, wishes ungratified, duties unperformed, — to leave those we love, without one parting look or word, to struggle on through this cold unsympathizing world alone and unprotected, — and, above all, to lose one's life in an act the lawfulness of which was more than questionable, — all these things contributed to form a picture, which it required either a very steadfast, or an utterly callous heart, to enable one to gaze upon without blenching. I thought of the misery I shoidd entail upon my family ; how, instead of fulfilling my father's dying injunctions to take his place, and devote myself to comfort and protect them, I should wound my mother's heart anew, and spread the dark mist of sorrow over the fair prospect of my sister's young existence ; and I cursed my fastidious folly in objecting to the toast, to which, in my self-accusation, I traced all that had afterwards occurred. Then, with the inconsistency of human nature, I began to speculate upon what would be Clara Saville's feelings, were she to learn that it was to prevent the slightest breath of insult being coupled with her name that I was about to peril, not only my life, but, for aught I knew, my hopes of happiness here and hereafter. As the last awful possibility occurred to me, the burden of my misery became too great for me to bear, and, retiring to the privacy of my own cham- ber, I flung myself on my knees, and poured forth an earnest prayer for pardon for the past, and deliverance for the future. When I again returned to my sitting-room, my mind had nearly recovered its usual tone, and I felt prepared to meet and to go through whatever might be before me with calmness and determi- nation. As I w r as uncertain how long it might be before Lawles» w r ould arrive, I resolved, in order to avoid the horrors of suspense, to employ myself, and taking up the mathematical treatise upon which I was engaged, and by a vigorous effort of mind compelling my attention, I read steadily for about half an hour, at the end of which time the sound of hasty footsteps was heard ascending the Btairs, and in another minute the door was flung open, and Lawless and Archer entered the apartment. " Reading mathematics, as I'm a slightly inebriated Christian !" exclaimed Archer, taking the book out of my hands ; " well, if that isn't pretty cool for a man who may be going to be shot at sis o'clock to-morrow morning, for anything he knows to the contrary, I'm no judge of temperature." FRANK FAIRLEGH. 185 * Oh ! bother mathematics," rejoined Lawless, flinging the book which Archer held out to him, at a bust of Homer adorning the top of my book shelves, which it fortunately missed — " Frank, old boy ! it's all right — you're not to have a bullet through your lungs thig time — shake hands, old fellow ! I'm so glad about it that I've — " " Drunk punch enough to floor any two men of ordinary capa- city," interposed Archer. " Of course I have," continued Lawless, " and I consider I've performed a very meritorious act in so doing ; — there was the punch, all the other fellows were gone away, somebody must have drunk it, or that young reprobate Shrimp would have got hold of it ; and I promised the venerable fish-fag his mother to take especial care of his what do ye call 'urns — morals isn't it ? and instil by precept, and — and — " " Example," suggested Archer. " Yes, all that sort of thing," continued Lawless, " a taste for, that is, an unbounded admiration of, the sublime and beautiful, as exemplified under the form of — " " Eum punch, and lashings of it," chimed in Archer ; " but sup- ple you were to tell Fairlegh all that has passed since he came away, or let me do it for you, whichever you like best." " Oh ! you tell him, by all means, — I like to encourage ingenuous youth ; fire away, Archer, my boy !" Thus urged, Archer informed me, that upon my departure there had been a somewhat stormy discussion, in which the events of the evening w r ere freely canvassed ; and, at last, they came to a unani- mous decision, that any man was at liberty to withdraw, if a toast was proposed to winch he objected, and that, if the toastmaster pre- ferred giving it up rather than allow him to leave the party, he had a perfect right to do so. This being the case, they decided that Wilford, having been in the wrong, ought to confess he had spoken hastily, and that, if he would do so, and would add that he had meant nothing offensive either to me or Oaklands, there the matter might rest. This for a long time he positively refused to do ; at length, finding he could get no one to support him, he said that, as 1 had owned I was wrong in attempting to prevent his expressing his opinion, he considered that, in all other respects, I had behaved in a gentlemanly way ; therefore, if he had said anything which implied the contrary, he was willing to withdraw it. But, in regard to Mr. Oakbnds, he considered he had interfered in a very uncalled- fcr manner ; and he could only repeat, if that gentleman felt himself 186 rRANK. FA1IU/EGII. aggrieved by anything he had said, the remedy was in his own hands. As soon as he had spoken he withdrew. The question was again debated, and at length they came to the conclusion, that what Wilford had said amounted to an ample apo- logy as far as I was concerned, which I was bound to accept ; and that Oaklands, having agreed to consider the quarrel mine, could not take any farther notice of it; therefore, the affair was at an end. " Well," said I, as he finished his recital, " I must ever feel grateful to you both for the trouble you have taken on my account, w and the kind feeling you have shown towards me throughout I will not pretend to deny that I am very glad the matter has been amicably arranged, for, circumstanced as I am, with everything de- pending upon my own exertions, a duel would have been ruin to me ; but I must say, I think the whole business thoroughly unsa- tisfactory, and it is only my conviction that a duel would make matters worse, instead of mending them, which leads me to agree to the arrangement. I sincerely hope Oaklands will not hear what Wilford said about him, for he i3 fearfully irritated against him already." " I'll tell you what it is," interrupted Lawless ; " it's my belief that Wilford's behaviour to you to-night was only assumed for the sake of provoking Oaklands. Master Stephen hates him as he does the very devil himself, and would like nothing better than to pick a quarrel with him, have him out, and, putting a brace of slugs into him, leave him — " " Quivering on a daisy," said Archer, completing the sentence. " Really I think," he continued, " what Lawless says is very true ; you see Oaklands' careless, nonchalant manner, which is always exactly the same whether he is talking to a beggar or a lord, gives continual offence to Wilford, who has contrived somehow to exact a sort of deference and respect from all the men with whom he associates, till he actually seems to consider it his right. Then, Wilford's overbearing manner irritates Oaklands; and so, when- ever they have met, the breach has gone on widening, till now they positively hate one another." " How is it you are oo intimate with him ?" asked I, " for no- body seems really to like him." " Well, hang me if I can tell," replied Lawless ; " but you see he has some good points about him, after all ; for instance, I never saw him out with the hounds yet, that he didn't take a good place, aye, and keep it too, however Ions the run, and difficult the coiuv eitASTR kaii:legh. 187 try. 1 killed the best horse I had in my stables, trying to follow him one day in Leicestershire last season ; my horse fell with me going over the last fence, and never rose again. Wilford, and one of the whips, who was merely a feather-weight, were the only men m at the death. I offered him three hundred guineas for the horse he rode, but he only gave me one of his pleasant looks, and said i# wasn't for sale." " You've seen that jet-black mare he rides now, haven't you, Fairlegh?" asked Archer. " Yes; what a magnificent creature it is'" was my reply. " Did you ever hear how he came by it?" On my answering in the negative, Archer continued — c * "Well, I wonder at that, for it was in everybody's mouth at one time : it's worth hearing, if it were but to show the determined character of the man. The mare belonged to Lord Foxington, Lord Sellbo- rough's eldest son. I believe he gave five hundred guineas for her. She was a splendid animal, high couraged, but temperate. In fact, when you were on her, she hadn't a fault ; but in the stable she was a perfect devil ; there was only one man who dared go near her, and he had been with her from the time she was a filly : so that, when Foxington bought the mare, he was forced to hire the groom too. The most difficult thing of all was putting on the bridle ; it was generally half an hour's work before she would let even this groom do it. After dinner, one day, Foxington begar talking about this animal, saying what a brute she was to handle. and adding what I have just told you, as to the impossibility ol putting on the bridle, when Wilford, who was present, made some remark, which showed he did not believe in the impossibility. Upon which Foxington inquired whether he doubted the fact he had just heard? "Wilford replied, that he was sure his lordship fully believed in the truth of what he had just stated ; but, for his own part, he had so often found impossibilities of this nature yield to a little courage and determination, that he confessed he was somewhat sceptical. Now it so happened, that Foxington, soon after he bought the mare, had thought just as Wilford did, and determined that he would put the bridle on. Accordingly he attempted it, and the matter ended by his getting regularly driven out of the stable by the animal, with a tolerably severe bite in the deshy part of his shoulder. Wilford's remark, therefore, as may he imagined, rather nettled him, and he inquired, somewhat tartly, whether Wilford believed he could put the bridle on ? and if so, 188 FRANK FAIKLEGii. whether he were willing to try? Wilford replied, in his usual cool tone, that he had an idea he could do so, but that he had no particular inclination to try, as it would probably be some trouble, and the weather was too hot to render active exertion desirable. At this Foxington laughed derisively, saying, that it sounded very like a put off. ' Not at all,' returned Wilford ; ' and to show you that I never say a thing without being ready to act up to it, I am willing to stake five hundred guineas against the mare herself, that I go up to her and put the bridle on, without any assistance, and without a stick, or anything ■whatsoever in my hands.' Foxington accepted the bet gladly, reckoning himself safe to pocket the five hundred guineas. The affair was to come off the next morning at Foxington's stables, at eleven o'clock. His lordship had invited all the men who had been present when the bet was made, to come and witness the event, expecting a complete triumph over Wilford. While they were standing about, waiting, Foxington told them of his own attempt, and his conviction, from the experience he had then gained, that the thing could not be done; and the general opinion was that Wilford, under the influence of wine, had foolishly boasted of a thing which he would not be able to accomplish, and was certain to lose his money. As the time drew near, and he did not make his appearance, an idea began to gain ground that he meant to shirk the affair altogether; and Foxington was becom- ing exceedingly irate, when, just as the clock was on the stroke of eleven, the sound of a horse's feet was heard, and Wilford can- tered quietly up, looking as if he felt no personal interest whatever in the event. On his arrival they proceeded at once to the stable in which the mare stood. She was kept in a loose box, with her clothes on, but her head entirely free. " I ought, by-the-bye," said Archer, interrupting himself, " to have told you, that I had the account from a man who was there at the time, and saw the whole thing. " Well, as soon as they went into the stable, the mare left of? feeding, and turning round so as to face them, stood with her ears pricked up, gazing wildly at them. Wilford just glanced at her, and then leisurely divested himself of his coat, waistcoat, and neck- cloth, turned up the wristbands of his shirt, and taking the bridle from the groom, announced that he was ready. As soon as the door was open, Wilford fixed his eyes sternly on the mare, and walked towards her. To the surprise of every one, the animal allowed him to approaob quietly and pat her, without showing any FKAXK FAIRlEGH. 189 symptoms of vice. Men began to exchange inquiring glances with each other, and those who had betted heavily against him trembled for their money; but Foxington, who was better acquainted with the animal, exclaimed, ' Wait a minute, he has not tried to touch her head yet.' Wilford now moved his hand forward along the neck, patting her, and speaking soothingly to her as he advanced ; but, as he approached the head, she became impatient and fidgety, and when he attempted to take hold of the ear, in order to put on the bridle, she flung up her head, reared, and ran back a few stops, where she stood, shaking her mane, and pawing the ground. After remaining m this position a few seconds, she suddenly laid back her ears, and showing the whites of her eyes, ran at Wilford with her mouth wide open, and as soon as she got within distance made a ferocious bite at him. By springing on one side with great agility, he just contrived to avoid it; then, dropping the bridle, he threw himself into a sparring attitude, (you know he's a capital boxer,) and, as the mare again ran at him, hit out, and striking her just on a particular spot by the ear, brought her down like a bullock. As soon as she recovered her legs she renewed the attack, and Wil- ford received her as before, delivering his blow with the same coolness and precision. When the animal rose the second time, iihe s°emed partially stunned, and stood for a moment with her head hanging down, and her ears drooping; but on Wilford's making a step towards her, she again plunged forward, and at- tempted to seize him with her teeth. Once more did Wilford evade her bite, by springing on one side, and seizing his opportunity, succeeded in planting his hit, and, fcr the third time, felled her to the ground. When she again rose, however, she showed no dis- position to renew the attack, but stood trembling violently, with the perspiration running down her sides. She now allowed Wilford to approach her, to stroke her head, pull her ears, and finally to put the bridle on, and lead her out, completely conquered ; and so my Lord Foxington lost the best horse in his stables, and Wilford gained his bet, and added to his character for invincibihty, which, by the way, he cared about much the most." " It was a bold deed," returned I, as Archer concluded his story, " but one does not like a man the better for having done it ; ihere seems to me a degree of wanton cruelty in punishing an ani- rtiaJ so severely, unless he had been actually forced to do it. Publio executioners may be necessary for the prevention of crime ; but that i? no reason why one noeJ volunteer as an amateur hangman." 190 FltAVTII KAIBLEQU. •' Everybody thought it an uncommonly plucky thing at the time, and there was an immense fuss made with him afterwards," replied Archer. — " Why, Lawless, are you asleep ? rouse up, man — to bed — to bed. Good night, Fairlegh, you'll sleep all the better for knowing you are not to be shot at cock-crow." So saying, he took Lawless by the arm and marched bim oflj though, it must be confessed, his gait, as he descended the staira, was somewhat unsteady VS4JTB f-AfKLEGH. CHAP. XXIIL WHAT HAIUIY AND I FOUND WHEN WE LOST OUB WAX. " It is too true an evil— gone she is. > » • » • • Unhappy girl ! Ab ! who would be a father!" u Far in the lane a lonely hut he found, No tenant ventured on th' unwholesome ground. Here smokes his forge: he bares his sinewy arm, And early strokes the sounding anvil warm; Around his shop the steely sparkles flew, Aa for the steed he shaped the bending shoe."— Gay"* Trivia. * Be who thou wilt * * . • thou art In no danger from me, so thou tell me the mean tez of this practice, and why thou drivest thy trade in this mysterious fashion " "Your horse is 6hod, and yonr famer paid— what need you cumber yourself farther, than to mount, and pursue your journey ?" — Kenilworth. On the afternoon of the day after Lawless's wine-party, Oakland* and I were walking down to the stables where his horses were kept (he having, in pxirsuance of his plan for preventing my over-read- ing myself, beguiled me into a promise to ride with him), when we encountered Archer. " I suppose you have heard tlie news par excellence, 1 ' said he, after we had shaken hands. " No," replied I, " what may it happen to be?" u Only that Lizzie Maurice, the pastry-cook's daughter, disap peared last night, and old Maurice is going about like a distracted creature this morning, and can't learn any tidings of her." "What, that pretty girl with the long ringlets, who used to stand behind the counter?" asked L "What is supposed to have become of her?" " Yes, that's the identical young lady," returned Archer. " All that seems to be known about her is, that she waited till her father went out to smoke his pipe, as he usually does for an hour or so every evening, and then got the urchin who runs of errands to carry a bundle for her, and set out without saying a word to any one. After she had proceeded a little way, she was met by a man muffled up in a cloak, who took the bundle from the boy, threw him a shilling, and told him to go home directly. Instead of doing 192 FRAXK KA.IKLEGU. m, however, he let them proceed for a minute or two, and the lowed them. They went at a quick pace along one or two streets ; and at length turned down a lane, not far from the bottom of which a <£ig was waiting. Another man, also muffled up, was seated in the gig, into which the girl was handed by her companion, who said to the second man in a low tone, i All has gone well, and without attract- ing notice.' He then added, in a warning voice — 'Remember, honour bright, no nonsense, or' — and here he sunk his voice, so that the boy could not catch what he said ; but the other replied, : On my word, on my honour!' They then shook hands; the second man gathered up the reins, drew the whip across the horse, which sprang forward at speed, and they were out of sight in. a moment. The person who was left gazed after them for a minute or so, and then, turning briskly on his heel, walked away, without perceiving the boy, who stood under the shadow of a door-way. On being questioned as to what the men were like, he said that the first kept his face entirely concealed, but he was rather tall, and had black hair ; the second was a stout man, with light hair and a high colour — for a dark bntern which he had in the gig with him happened to throw its light on his face, as he was lighting it." " At what time in the evening did ail this take place ?" inquired Qaklands. " Between nine and ten," replied Archer. Oaklands and I exchanged glances ; the same idea had evidently struck us both. "Has any one seen Wilford this morning?" asked Oaklands. "Seen him!" returned Archer; "yes, to be sure, he and Went- worth have been parading about arm in arm all over the town; they were with me when I met poor old Maurice, and asked him all sorts of questions about the affair. Wilford seemed quite in- terested for him." " Strange!" observed Oaklands musing. "I don't make it out. I would not willingly wrong, even ir thought, an innocent man. Archer," he continued, "you have a 6. sewd keen wit, and sound judgment ; tell me, in confidence, man, who do you think has done this?" "Nay, I am no diviner, to guess other men's secrets," replied Archer ; " and these are subjects about which it is not over safe to hazard conjectures. I have told you all I can learn about it, and it is for you to draw your own conclusions. It is no use repeating things to you of which you are already aware ; I miaht FRANK FAIRLEGH. 193 ■a well tell you dogs bark and cats mew — that Wilford has black hair, and Wentworth is a stout man with a high colour— or any •other well-known truism. But I am detaining you — good morning.*" So saying, he shook hands with us, and left us. After walking some distance in silence, Oaklands exclaimed abruptly, " It must be so ! it is Wilford who has done this thing — you think as I do, do you not, Frank?" u I am sure we have not evidence enough to prove it," replied I ; u but I confess I am inclined, as a mere matter of opinion, to agree with you, though there are difficulties in the way, for which it is not easy to account. For instance, why should Wilford have gone to that party last night, and have incurred the risk of intrust- ing the execution of his schemes to another, instead of remaining to carry them out himself?" " That is true," said Oaklands thoughtfully, " I do not pretend to understand it all clearly ; but, somehow, I feel a conviction that Wilford is at the bottom of it." " You should recollect, Harry, that you greatly dislike this man, — axe, as I conceive, prejudiced against him, — and are therefore, of course} disposed to judge him harshly." " Yes, I know all that ; still, you'll see it will come out, sooner or later, that Wilford is the man. Her poor old father ! I have often observed how he appeared to doat upon that girl, and how proud he was of her : his pride will be converted into mourning now. It is fearful to think," continued Oaklands, " of what crimes men are guilty in their reckless selfishness ! Here is the fair promise of an innocent girl's life blighted, and an old man's grey hairs brought down with sorrow to the grave, in order to gratify the passing fancy of a heartless libertine." He paused, and then con- tinued, "I suppose one can do nothing in the matter, having no stronger grounds than mere suspicion to go upon?" " I should say, nothing likely to be of the slightest benefit," replied I. "Then the sooner we get to horse the better," returned Oak- lands ; " hearing of a thing of this kind alway annoys me, and I feel disposed to hate my species : a good gallop may shake me into a better humour." 'And the dolce-far-nieniel 1 " I inquired. u Oh ! don't imagine me inconsistent," was the reply. " Only Bomehow, just at present, in fact ever since the breeze last night, I've found it more trouble to remain quiet than to exert myself; o 194 FRANK FAIBLEGH. bo, if you would not tire me to death, walk a little faster; there's a good fellow." After a brisk ride of nearly two hours along eross roads, we came out upon a wild heath or common of considerable extent. " Here's a famous place for a gallop," exclaimed Oaklands ; " I never can make up my mind which is the fastest of these two horses ; let's have a race, and try their speed. Do you see that tall poplar tree, which seems poking its top into the sky, on the other side the common ? that shall be the winning-post. Now, are you ready?" "All right, go ahead," replied I, bending forward, and giving my horse the rein. Away we went merrily, the high-couraged animals bounding beneath us, and the fresh air whistling round our ears, as we seemed to cut our way through it. For some time we kept side by side. The horse Oaklands rode was, if anything, a finer, certainly a more powerful, animal than the one on which I was mounted ; but this advantage was fully compensated by the fact of his riding nearly a stone heavier than I did. We were, therefore, on the whole very fairly matched. After riding at speed, as well as I eould reckon, about two miles, Oaklands, to his great delight, had gained nearly a horse's length in advance of me — a space which it seemed beyond my powers of jockeyship to recover. Between us, however, and the tree he had fixed on as our goal, lay a small brook or water-course, near the banks of which the ground became soft and marshy. In crossing this, the greater weight of man and horse told against Oaklands, and gradually I began to creep up to him. As we neared the brook, it struck me that his horse appeared to labour heavily through the stiff clay. Now or never, then, was my opportunity ; and shouting gaily, " Over first, for a sovereign — good-bye, Harry," I gave my horse the spur, and putting him well at it, cleared the brook splen- didly, and alighted safely on the farther bank. Determined, if possible, not to be outdone, Harry selected a point, by crossing at which, he could contrive to cut off a corner, and thus gain upon me considerably. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary for him to take his leap at a spot where the brook was some feet wider than ordinary. Relying, however, on the known good qualities of the animal he rode, he resolved to attempt it. Settling himself firmly in his saddle, he got his horse well together, and then throwing up his whip hand, and (as Lawless would have termed it) "sticking in the persuaders," he charged the brook at speed FRANK FAUtLEGH. 195 It was a well-imagined and bold attempt, and had his horse bees fresher, would have succeeded in winning the race ; but we had kept up a fair pace during the whole of our ride, and now our gallop across the common, and more particularly the severe pace over the marshy ground, had tried his horse's wind considerably. Still, however, the noble animal strove to the utmost of its power to answer the call made upon it, and by a vigorous effort succeeded in clearing the brook ; but the ground on the other side was rugged and broken, and, apparently exhausted by the exertion he had made, he stumbled, and after a slight struggle to preserve his footing, fell heavily forward, pitching Harry over his head as he did so. Fortunately the ground was soft and clayey, and neither man nor horse seemed to have sustained any injury, for I had scarcely time to draw rein, ere they were on their legs again, and as Harry's first act was to spring lightly into the saddle, I determined to secure the race at once ; and cantering uj to the poplar tree, which was now within a hundred yards of me, I snapped off a bough in token of victory. As I turned back again, I observed that Harry had dis- mounted, and was examining his horse's foot "Nothing wrong, is there?" asked I, as I rejoined him. " Yes, everything's wrong," was the reply; "you've been and gone and won the race, you villain you, — I've tumbled nose and knees into a mud-hole, and spoiled my white cord oh-no-we-never-mention- ums, — and ' the Cid' has wrenched off one of his front shoes in the skrimmage." " And that's the worst of all the misfortunes," said I, " for here we are some ten or twelve miles from Cambridge at least, in a region utterly unknown, and apparently devoid of inhabitants ; so where we are to find a smith passes my poor skill to discover." " You're wrong about the inhabitants, I flatter myself," repl'ed Harry. "Do you see the faint white mist curling above those trees to the right ? I take that to be smoke ; where there's smoke there must be fire ; fire must have been kindled by some human being or other — through that individual we will endeavour to obtain an introduction to some blacksmith, conjointly with sufficient topo- graphical information to enable us to reach our destination in time for a certain meal called dinner, which has acquired an unusual de- gree of importance in my eyes within the last hour or so. I have spoken!" " Like a book," replied I; " and the next thing is to bring your lapient deductions to the test of experiment. Then* k a cart-track g ft iy6 FRANK FAIRLEGH. aere, which appears to lead towards the smoke you observed ; ler? us try that." So saying, I also dismounted, and throwing my horse's bridle over my arm, we proceeded together on foot, in the direction Oaklands had indicated. Ten minutes' walking brought us into a rough country lane, winding picturesquely between high banks and green hedges, affording an agreeable contrast to the flat unenclosed tracts of corn land so general throughout Cambridgeshire. After following this lane about a quarter of a mile, we came upon a small retired ale- house, surrounded by trees. As we approached the door, a stout vulgar-looking woman, dressed in rather tawdry finery, ran out to meet us; on coming nearer, however, she stopped short as if sur- prised, and then re-entered the house as quickly as she had left it, calling to some one within as she did so. After waiting for a minute or two she came back, accompanied by a tall disagreeable-looking man in a velveteen shooting-jacket, with a remarkably dirty face, and hands to match. "Is there a blacksmith living anywhere near here, my good man?" inquired Oaklands. " Mayhap there is," was the reply, in a surly tone. " Can you direct us how to find him ?" continued Oaklands. " What might you want with him when you've found him ?" was the rejoinder. " My horse has cast a shoe, and I want one put on immediately," replied Oaklands, who was getting impatient at the man's unsatis- factory, not to say insolent, manner. " Mayhap you won't get it done in quite such a hurry as you seems to expect ! There's a blacksmith lives at Stony End, about five miles further on. Go straight up the lane for about three miles, then turn to the right, then twice to the left, and then you'll see a finger-post that ain't got nothing on it: — when you come to that " " Which I never shall do, depend upon it," replied Oaklands. " My good man, you don't imagine I'm going to fatigue myself and lame my horse by walking five miles up this unlucky lane, do you? If things really are as bad as you would make them out to be, I shall despatch a messenger to summon the smith, and employ myself m the meanwhile in tasting your ale, and consuming whatever you may happen to have in the house fit to eat." I observed that the landlord and his wife, as I presumed her to be, exchanged very blank looks when Oaklands announced this de- lermination. When he ceased speaking, she wliispered a few wor^ MUNK FAIRLEGH 197 into the ear of the man, who gave a kind of surly grunt in raply, and then, turning to Harry, said, " Mayhap I'll shoe your horse for you myself, if you'll make it worth my while." " You will ? why, I thought you said there was not a smith within five miles ? " "No more there aint, only me.' " And you've been worrying me, and tiring my patience ali this time, merely to secure yourself a better bargain ? Oh, the needless trouble people give themselves in this world! Shoe the horse, man J and make your own charge ; be sure I'll not complain of it, only hi quick," replied Oaklands. "Pr'aps that wom't all," returned the fellow gruffly; "but if ye be in such a mighty hurry, bring 'un along here, and I'll clap a shoe on 'un for ye in a twinkling." So saying, he led the way through an old gate, and down a stable- yard behind the public-house, at the bottom of which, under a kind of half-barn half-shed, was a blacksmith's shop, fitted up with a forge, and other appliances for shoeing. Our conductor (who, having divested himself of the velveteen jacket, which he replaced with a leather apron, seemed now much more in his proper element) displayed greater quickness and skill in making and applying the shoe, than from his previous conduct I should have anticipated; and I began to flatter myself that our difficulties were in a fair way to be overcome. I was drawing up the girths of my horse's saddle, which had be- come somewhat loosened from our gallop, when Oaklands, who had been sitting on a gate near, industriously flogging his boot with his riding- whip, jumped down, saying, "If you'll keep an eye to the horses, Frank, I'll go and see if I can get some of the worst of this mud brushed off." " Better stay where you are ! I shall a done direcHy," observed the smith ; " you aint wanted at ther house, I tell yer." " You should stick to your original trade, for your manners aj an innkeeper are certainly not calculated to fascinate customers, my friend," replied Oaklands, walking towards the house. The man muttered an oath as he looked after him, and then ap plied himself to his work with redoubled energy. Above minutes had elapsed, the shoe was made, fitted to the hoof, and the process of nailing on nearly concluded, but still Oaklands did not return. I was tieing my horse's rein up to a hook in the wall, with the intention of ?cekingr hum. when I heard the noise of wheels 198 FRANK FAxautau. in the Ian*, followed immediately by the clatter of a horse's feet, ridden at speed — both sounds at the moment ceased, as if the parties had stopped at the inn-door The blacksmith also heard them, and appeared for a moment uncertain whether to continue his work or not ; then, uttering an impatient exclamation, he began twisting off and clenching the points of the nails as though his life depended on his haste. Perceiving that Oaklands' horse would be ready for him to mount directly, I turned to unfasten my own, when the sound of men's voices raised high in angry debate became audible ; then a confused noise as of blows and scuffling ensued, mingled with the screams of women ; and immediately the blacksmith's wife ran out, calling to her husband to hasten in, for that " they had come back and quarrelled with the strange gentleman, and now they were fighting, and there would be murder done in the house." Without waiting to hear more, I ran hastily up the yard, followed by the blacksmith and the woman. On reaching the front of the house, I perceived, waiting at the door, a gig, in which was seated a man, dressed in a suit of rusty black, while, under the shade of the trees, a boy was leading up and down a magnificent black mare, which I instantly recognised as the identical animal Wilford had become possessed of in the manner Archer had related to me. The sounds of blows and struggling still continued, and proceeded, as I now ascertained, from the parlour of the ale-house. As the readiest method of reaching the scene of action, I flung open the window, which was not far from the ground, end without a moment's hesita- tion leaped into the room. VBAKK FAIKLEGH. 199 CHAP. XXIV. ROW OAKLANDS BROKE HIS HORSEWHIP. " Away to heav'n, respective lenity, And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now." " Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping *" " He swore that he did hold me dear As precious eyesight, and did value me Above this world, adding thereto moreover That he would wed me." " Men's vows are women's traitors." u To promise is most courtly and fashionable ; performance is a kind of will or testaaient which ai-gues a great sickness in his judgment that makes it."— Shakspeare. The sight which met my eyes as I gazed around, was one which time can never efface from my memory. In the centre of the room, his brow darkened by the flush of concentrated indignation, stood Oaklands, his left hand clenching tightly the coat collar of a man, whom I at once perceived to be Wilford, while with his right hand he was administering such a horse-whipping as I hope never again to see a human being subjected to. Wilford, who actually writhed with mingled pain and fury, was making violent but inef- fectual struggles to free himself. Near the door stood Wentworth, the blood dropping from his nose, and his clothes dusty and disor- dered, as if from a fail. Crouching in a corner at the farther end of the room, the tears coursing down her fear-blanched cheeks, and her hands clasped in an agony of terror and despair, was a girl, about nineteen years of age, whom I had little difficulty in recog- nizing as Lizzie Maurice, the daughter of the old confectioner, of whose elopement we had been that morning informed. On per- ceiving me she sprang forward, and, clasping my knees, implored me to interfere and endeavour to separate them. I was not, how- ever, called upon to do so, for, as she spoke, his riding-whip broke short in Oaklands' hand, and dashing down the fragments with an exclamation of impatience, he flung Wilford from him with so much force, that he staggered forward a few paces, and would have fallen, had not Wentworth caught him in his arms, just in time to pre- vent it. 200 FRANK FAXRLEGH. Oaklands then turned to the girl, whom I had raised from th» ground and placed on a chair, and addressing her in a stern im- pressive manner, said, u I will now resume what I was saying to you when yonder beaten hound dared to lay hands upon me. For the last time the choice is offered to you — either return home, and endeavour, by devotux; yourself" to your broken-hearted old father, I to atone as best you may fcr the misery you have caused him ; or r by remaining here, commence a life of infamy which will end sooner or later in a miserable death." He paused ; then, as she made no reply, but sat with her face buried in her hands, sobbing as if her heart would break, he continued, " You tell me, the vile tempter who has lured you from your duty, promised to meet you here to- day, and, bringing a clergyman with him, to marry you privately; now if this is the truth " u It is, it is," she faltered. 11 If so," resumed Oaklands, " a knowledge of the real facts ol the case may yet save you. This scoundrel who has promised to marry you, and who belongs to a rank immeasurably above youi own, is already notorious fcr what are termed, by such as himself, affairs of gallantry ; while the wretched impostor whom he has brought with him, to act the part of clergyman, is the marker at a low bihiard-table, and no more a clergyman than I am." " Is this really so ?" exclaimed the girl, raising her eyes, whichr were swollen and red with weeping, to Wilford's face ; " would you have deceived me thus, Stephen — you, whom I have trusted so implicitly?" Wilford, who, since the severe discipline he had undergone, had remained seated, with his head resting on his hand, as if in pain r apparently unconscious of what was going on, glared at her fero- ciously with his flashing eyes, but made no reply. The girl waited' for a minute ; but, obtaining no answer, turned away with a halt shudder, murmuring, " Deceived, deceived !" Then addressing Oaklands, she said, " I will go home to my father, sir ; and if he will not forgive me, I can but he down and die at his feet — better «o, than live on, to trust, and be deceived again." " You have decided rightly, and will not repent it," remarked Oaklands in a milder tone of voice ; then, turning to the blacksmith, (who had made his appearance, accompanied by his wife, the mo- ment the affray had ended,) he continued; "you must procure gome conveyance immediately to take this young person back to Cambridge, and your wife must accompany her." Observing FRAjmK fairlegh 201 that the man hesitated, and cast an inquiring glance towards Wil- ford, he added sternly, " If you would not be compelled to answer for the share you have taken in this rascally business before the proper authorities, do as I have told you without loss of time." The man having again failed in an attempt to attract Wilford'a attention, asked in a surly tone, " Whether a spring-cart would do?" and, being answered in the affirmative, left the room. Lizzie Maurice withdrew to prepare for her return home , the woman accompanied her; Oaklands strode to the window, and remained watching the operation of harnessing the horse to the tax- cart. Wilford still retained the same attitude, and neither spoke nor moved. Wentworth having glanced towards him once or twice, as if to divine his wishes, receiving no sign, lit a cigar, and leaning his back against the chimney-piece began to smoke furiously, whilst I devoted myself to the pages of an old sporting magazine. Thus passed five minutes, which seemed as if they would never come to an end, at the expiration of which time the tax-cart, driven by a stout country lad, drew up to the door, and the two women making their appearance at the same moment, Oak- lands turned to leave the room. As he did so, Wilford, for the first time, raised his head, thereby disclosing a countenance which, pale as death, was characterized by an expression of such intense ma- lignity, as one might conceive would be discernible in that of a corpse reanimated by some evil spirit. After regarding Oaklands fixedly for a moment, he said, in a low grating tone of voice, " You have foiled me once and again — when next we meet, it will be my turn!" Oaklands merely smiled contemptuously, and quitted the house. Having mounted our horses, we ordered the lad who drove the spring-cart to proceed at his fastest pace, while we followed at a sufficient distance to keep it in sight, so as to guard against any attempt which might be made by Wilford to repossess himself oi his victim, without positively identiiying ourselves with the party it contained. We rode in silence for the first two or three miles , at length I tould refrain no longer, and, half uttering my thoughts aloud, half addressing my companion, I exclaimed, " Oh, Harry, Harry, what is all this that you have done?" " Done 1 " replied Oaklands, with a heightened colour, and flash- ing eyes, " rescued an innocent girl from a villain who would have bfttrayed her, and punished the scoundrd about half so severely as 202 FRANK FAIRLEGH. he deserved ; but that was my misfortune, not my ult. Had not the whip broken — " " You know that is not what I mean," returned I ; " but this man wiH challenge you, will — you are aware of his accursed skill —will murder you. Oh I that fiendish look of his, as you left the toom, — it will haunt me to my dying day." " And would you have had me leave the poor gill to her fate, from a coward fear of personal danger ? You are strangly altered since you defied a room full of men last night, rather than allow Clara Saville's name to be uttered by their profane lips ; or, which is nearer the truth," he continued with a kind smile, " your affection for me blinds you." " Not so, Harry," replied I ; " but it is the recollection of my own feelings, when, while waiting for Lawless's report last night, I believed I should be forced to meet this Wilford — it is the misery, the self-reproach, the bitter penitence of that moment, when, for the first time I was able to reflect on the fearful situation in which by my own rashness I had placed myself, a situation in which crime seemed forced upon me, and it appeared impossible to act rightly — it is the remembrance of all these things which causes me to lament that you, my more than brother, should have involved yourself in similar difficulties." " But, Frank," he began, — then, interrupting himself, he seized my hand, and, pressing it warmly between his own, exclaimed, "My dear old fellow, forgive me if I have spoken unkindly to you ; but this man has maddened me, I believe." He paused, and then con- tinued in a calmer voice, " Let me tell you how it occurred, and you will see I could scarcely have acted otherwise than I have done. You know I went into the public-house to brush off the mud after my tumble. The instant my step sounded in the passage, a girl tripped lightly down the stairs, and ran towards me, exclaiming joyfully, ' You have come at last, then ! ' On finding that it was not the person she expected, she stopped in alarm, and I perceived to my astonishment that it was Lizzie Maurice. She recognized me at the same moment, and appaiently a new idea struck her, for she again approached me, saying, ' Mr. Oaklands, tell me, sir, for heaven's sake, has anything happened to Wilford?' Then, with woman's tact perceiving her mistake, she blushed deeply, adding in a timid voice, * I fancied you might have been riding with that gentleman; and seeing you alone, I was afraid some accident might have befallen your companion.' All this convinced me that my ifKANK FAIRLEGH. 203 suspicions had not been misplaced; and the thought occurred to me, that possibly it might not yet be too late to endeavour to restore her to her father, while the recollection of Archer's account of the old man's distress determined me to make the attempt. " Talcing her, therefore, by the hand, I led her into the parlour, and, begging her to listen to me for five minutes, told her I was aware of her elopement, and entreated her to return home again, adding that her father was broken-hearted at her loss. She shed tears when I mentioned the old man's grief, but positively refused to return home. " Finding persuasion to be of no avail, I thought I would appeal to her fears : so I informed her that I was aware of the name of the villain who had enticed her away ; that I would seek him out and expose him, and that I should instantly acquaint her father with her place of refuge, and advise him to come provided with proper powers to reclaim her. This produced more effect, and, after some hesitation, she told me proudly, that I had done her foul wrong by my doubts ; that Mr. Wilford meant to make her his lawful wife ; but that, in order to prevent his great relations hearing of it till he could break it to them cautiously, it was advisable to keep the affair quiet — (the old story, in short, private marriage and all the rest of it) — a friend of Wilford's, therefore, to avoid exciting suspicion, had kindly driven her over there the night before, and she was now expecting her lover to come, and bring a clergyman with him, who would marry them by license on the spot ; when she heard my step, she thought they had arrived. The air of truth with which she told her tale carried conviction with it. 41 1 was about to represent to her the improbability of Wilford's intentions being as honourable as she fondly imagined them, when a gig drove up to the door, containing Wentworth, and a fellow whom I recognized as one of the billiard-markers in street, dressed in a seedy suit of black for the occasion ; immediately after- wards, Wilford arrived on horseback. The whole thing was now perfectly clear. Wilford, having made the girl believe he intended to marry her, persuaded Wentworth, who is completely his tool, to carry her off for him ; after which he went to Lawless's wine party, in order to show himself, and thereby avert suspicion. He then bribed the billiard-marker to play parson, got Wentworth to bring him, and going out as if merely for a ride, had joined them here. 1 was considering what would be the best course to pursue, and was just coming out to consult you, when the door was flung open, 204 FRANK FAIRLEGH. and Wilford and Wentworth entered hastily. The moment Wil- ford's eyes fell upon me, he started as if a serpent had stung him, and his brow became black as night. 11 Advancing a step or two towards me, he inquired, in a voice hoarse with rage, what I was doing there. I replied, ' Endeavour- ing to prevent some of his evil designs from succeeding.' He tried to answer me, but his utterance was literally choked by passion ; and turning away, he strode up and down the room, gnashing and grinding his teeth like a maniac. Having in some degree recovered his self-control, he again approached me, drew himself up to his full height, and pointing to the door, desired me to leave the room. " I replied, I should not do so, until I had given the young lady a piece of information respecting the character of one of the party — and I pointed to the billiard-marker, who had not yet alighted — I should then, I added, learn from her own lips whether she still wished to remain there, or would take my advice, and return to her father. " Again Wilford ground his teeth with rage, and desired me, in a voice of thunder, to ' leave the room instantly;' to which I replied flatly, that I would not. " He then made a sign to Wentworth, and they both approached me, with the intention of forcing me out. Fearing that their com- bined eiforts might overpower me, (for Wentworth, though short, is a broad-shouldered, strong man, and Wilford's muscles are like iron,) I avoided their grasp by stepping backwards, and hitting ou* with my right hand as I did so, caught Wentworth full on the nose, tapping his claret for him, as the pugilists call it, and sending him down like a shot. At the same moment Wilford sprang upon me with a bound like a tiger, and seizing me by the throat, a short but severe struggle took place between us. I was too strong for him, however; and finding this, he would gladly have ceased hostilities and quitted i ne, kindly postponing my annihilation till some future day, when it could be more conveniently accomplished by means of a pistol-bullet. But, as you may imagine, my blood was pretty well up by this time, and I determined he should not get off quite so easily. Seizing, therefore, my whip in one hand, I detained him without much trouble with the other — his strength being tho- roughly exhausted by his previous exertions — and administered such a threshing as will keep him out of mischief for a week to come, at all events. It was while this was going on that you made your appearance. I think ; *o now you are au fait to the whole afFaii FEA.NK FARLE1GH. 205 . — and pray, what else could I possibly have done under the cir- cumstances?'' " It is not easy to say," replied I. " I think the horse-whipping might have been omitted, though I suppose the result would have been the same at all events, and it certainly was a great tempta- tion. The brightest side of the business is your having saved the poor girl, who I really beiieve is more to be pitied than blamed, having only followed the dictates of her woman's nature, by allow- ing her feelings to overrule her judgment." " You have used exactly the right expression th?r2," said Oak- lands ; " in such cases as the present, it is not that the woman is weak enough to be gulled by every plausible tale which may be told her, but that she has such entire confidence, such piue and child-like faith in the man she loves, that she will believe anything rather than admit the possibility of his deceiving her." " The deeper villain he, who can betray such simple trust," re- plied I. "Villain, indeed!" returned Oaklands. "I would not have been in Wilford's place, to have witnessed that girl's look when the conviction of his baseness was forced upon her, for worlds ; it was not a look of anger nor of sorrow, but it seemed as if the blow had literally crushed her heart within her — as if the brightness of her young spirit had fled for ever, and that to live would only be to prolong the duration of her misery. No ; I would rather have faced death in its most horrible form, than have met that look, knowing that my own treachery had called it forth." "We rode for some little distance in silence. At length I inquired, how he meant to arrange for Lizzie Maurice's return to her home, as it would net do for us, unless he wished the part we had taken in the affair to be known all over Cambridge, to escort her to her father's door, in the order of procession in which we were then ad- vancing. " No, I was just thinking of that," replied Oaklands. n It ap- pears to me, that the quietest way of managing the affair will be, to pay the boy for the horse and cart at once, telling him to set Lizzie. Maurice down within a short distance of her father's shop> and then to drive back with the woman. Lizzie can proceed on foot, and will probably at this time of the evening (it was nearly seven o'clock) be able to enter the house without attracting atten- tion : we will, however, keep her in sight, so as to be at hand to render her assistance should she require it. I do not myself fo^J 20 & FRANK frAIRLEGH. the slightest doubt but that her father will believe her tale, and treat her kindly. I shall, however, leave her my direction, and should she require my testimony in support of her veracity, or should the old man be unwilling to receive her, she must inform me of it, and I will call upon him, and try to bring him to reason." " That will not be necessary, depend upon it," returned I ; "he will be only too glad to recover her." " So I think," replied Oaklands. "What course shall you take with regard to Wilford?" in- quired L " I shall never mention the affair to any one, if he does not," answered Oaklands ; " neither shall I take any step whatever in the matter. I am perfectly satisfied with the position in which I stand at present, and if he should not enjoy an equal share of content- ment, it is for him to declare it — the next move must be his, and it will be time enough for me to decide how to act, when we see what it may be. I shall now tell Lizzie Maurice of my plan for her, and inform her, that as long as I hear she is living quietly at home, and leading a respectable life, my lips will be sealed with regard to the occurrences of to-day." So saying, he put his horse into a canter, and riding up to the side of the cart, conversed with the girl in a low tone of voice for several minutes ; then, drawing out his purse, handed some money to the driver, and rejoined me. " She is extremely grateful to me for my promise of silence," ho commenced ; " seems very penitent for her fault, and declares that this is a lesson she shall never forget. She agrees to my plan of walking, and tells me there is a side door to the house, by which she can enter unobserved. She promises to confess everything to her father, and hopes to obtain his forgiveness ; and appears alto- gether in ' a very proper frame of mind,' as the good books say." " Long may she remain so," returned I ; " and now I am happy to say, there are some of the towers of Cambridge visible, for, like you, I am becoming fearfully hungry." " And for the first time during the last twenty-four hours I am actually beginning to feel as tired as a dog," rejoined Harry, shrug- ging his shoulders with an air of intense satisfaction, FRANK FAIBLEGH. 207 CHAPTER XXV. THE CHALLENGE. " Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw ; but this intrusion shall, Now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall." " More matter for a May morning." " Here's the challenge, read it." " If this letter move him not, his legs cannot." " O ominous 1 he comes to kill my heart." Shakspeare. Old Maurice, the pastry-coot, had -welcomed his daughti i gladly, as one returned from the grave, and had learned from hev own lips, with mingled tears of joy and gratitude, how, thanks to noble Harry Oaklands, she had escaped unscathed from the perils and temptations to which she had been exposed ; many days had elapsed, the Long Vacation had commenced, and the ancient town of Cambridge, no longer animated by the countless throngs of gowns- men, frowned in its unaccustomed solitude, like some City of the Dean, and still no hostile message came from Wilford. Various reports were circulated concerning the reappearance of Lizzie Maurice ; but none of them bore the faintest resemblance to the truth, and to no one had the possibility of Oaklands' interference in the matter oc- curred, ss--e, as it afterwards appeared, to Charles Archer. For above a week Wilford was confined to his room, seeing oni • "Wentworth ; and it was given out that he had met with a sevei 3 fail from his horse, and was ordered to keep perfectly quiet. A: the expiration of that period he quitted Cambridge suddenly, lea\ - big no clue to his whereabouts. This strange conduct scarce excited any surprise amongst the set he moved in, as it was usua' . his habit to shroud all his proceedings under a veil of secrecy, a sumed, as some imagined, for the purpose of enhancing the my>- rious and unaccountable influence he delighted to exercise over i. minds of men. FRANK FAIRLEGH. Oaklands remained a few days at Cambridge after Wilford's de- parture, as he said, to pack up, but, as I felt certain, to prevent the possibility of Wilford's imagining that he was anxious in any way to avoid him. Finding at length that his rooms were dismantled, and that he would not, in all probability, return till the end of the Long Vacation, Harry ceased to trouble his head any further about the matter, and we set off for Heathfield, accompanied by Archer, whom Harry had invited to pay him a visit. We found all well at our respective homes ; my mother appeared much stronger, and was actually growing quite stout, for her ; and Fanny looked so pretty, that I was not surprised at the very parti- cular attentions paid her from the first moment of his introduction by the volatile Archer, (who, by the way, was a regular male flirt,) attentions which I was pleased to perceive she appreciated exactly at their proper value. We soon fell into our old habits again, Oak- lands and Archer setting out after breakfast for a stroll, or on a fish- ing expedition, which usually ended in Harry's coming to an anchor under some spreading oak or beech, where he remained " doing a bit of the dolce" as Archer called it, till luncheon time ; whilst I, who could not afford to be idle, read hard till about three o'clock, and then joined in whatever amusement was the order of the day. il Frank, may I come in?" exclaimed Fanny's silvery voice out- side my study door, one morning during my working hours, when I had been at home about a fortnight. " To be sure you may, you little torment," replied I ; " are you coming to learn mathematics, or to teach me crochet ? for I see you are armed with that vicious little hook with which you delight to torture the wool of innocent lambs into strange shapes, for the pur- pose of providing your friends with innumerable small anomalous absurdities, which they had much rather be without." " No such thing, Mr. Impudence, I never make any article which is not particularly useful as well as ornamental. But Frank, dear," she continued, " I should not have interrupted you, only I wanted to tell you something — it may be nothing to signify, and yet I cannot help feeling alarmed about it." " What is it, darling ? " said I, putting m y arm round her taper little waist, and drawing her towards me. ""Why, Mr. Oaklands has been here this morning; he came to bring mamma a message from Sir John, inviting us all to dine with him to-morrow." " Nothing very alarming so far," observed I ; " go on." FUA2JK fairlegh. 209 u Mamma said we should be extremely happy to do so, and quitted the room to find a recipe she had promised to the housekeeper at the HalL" " And you were left alone with Harry, — that was alarming cer- tainly," said I. "Nonsense," returned Fanny, while a very becoming blush glowed on her cheek ; u how you do interrupt me ! Mr. Oakland's had kindly offered to explain a difficult passage in Dante for me, and I was standing on a chair to get down the book," — " Which he could have reached by merely stretching out his arm, I dare say, only he was too idle," interposed I. " Indeed he could not," replied Fanny quickly, " for he was sitting in the low easy chair, and trying to fasten mamma's specta- cles on Donald's nose." (Donald being a favourite Scotch terrier belonging to Harry, and a great character in his way.) " "Well, I had just found the book," she continued, " and we were going to begin, when a note was given to Mr. Oaklands, which had been brought by a groom from the Hall, with a message that the gentle- man who had left it, was waiting at the inn in the village for an answer. Mr. Oaklands began to read it in his usual quiet way, cut no sooner had he thrown his eye over the first few lines, than his cheeks flushed, his brow grew dark, and his face assumed that fearfully stern expression which I have heard you describe, but had never before seen myself. As soon as he had finished reading it, he crushed the paper in his hand, and sprung up, saying hur- riedly, ' Is Frank ? ' He then took two or three steps towards the door, and I thought he was coming to consult you. Suddenly, however, some new idea seemed to cross his mind, and, stopping abruptly, he strode towards the window, where he remained for a few moments, apparently buried in thought. At length he mut- tered, ' Yes, that will be better, better in all respects ;' and turning on his heel, he was about to quit the room, leaving his hat on the table, when I ventured to hand it to him, saying, ' You are going ivithout your hat, Mr. Oaklands.' He started at the sound of my voice, and seeming for the first time to recollect that I was in the room, he took the hat from me, begging pardon for his inattention, and adding, * You must allow me to postpone our Italian lesson till ! till to-morrow, shall we say ? I find there is a gentle- man waiting to see me. 1 He paused as if he wished to say more, but scarcely knew how to express himself ' You saw,' he con- tinued, ' that is — you may have observed that — that in fact there 210 FRANK FAIRLEGR. was something in that note which annoyed me — you need not &ay anything about it to Mrs. Fairlegh ; she is rather given to alarming herself unnecessarily, I fancy,' he added with a faint smile ; ' tell Frank I shall not be at home till dinner-time, but that I shall see him in the evening.' He then shook my hand warmly, and holding it for a moment in his own, fixed his eyes on my face with a strange half-melancholy expression that frightened me, and once more saying 'good-bye,' he pressed his hat over his brows, and bound- ing across the lawn, was out of sight in an instant. His manner was so very odd, so unlike what it generally is. Dear Frank, what is the meaning of all this ? I am sure there is something going to happen, something" — " You silly child," replied I, affecting a careless composure I "ras far from feeling, " how you frighten yourself about nothing. Harry has probably received a threatening letter from a Cambridge dun, and your lively imagination magnifies it into a — (challenge, I W5£ going to add, but I substituted) — into something dreadful." " Is that what you really think?" questioned Fanny, fixing her large blue eyes upon my face inquiringly. I am the worst hand in the world at playing the hypocrite, and with ready tact she perceived at once that I was attempting to de- ceive her. " Frank," she resumed, " you have seen but little of me since we were children together, and deem, possibly, that I am a weak, silly girl, unfit to be trusted with evil tidings; but indeed, dear brother, you do me injustice ; the sorrows we have gone through," (and her eves filled with tears as she spoke,) " the necessity for exertion in order to save mamma as much as possible, have given me more strength of character, and firmness of purpose, than girls of my age in general possess ; tell me the truth, and fear not but that power will be given me to bear it, be it what it may ; but, if I think you are trying to hide it from me, (and do not hope to deceive me, — your face proves that you are as much alarmed at what you have heard as I am myself, and probably with far better reason,) I shall be unable to forget it, and it will make me miserable." " Well then," replied I, " thus far I will trust you. I do fear from what you have told me, that Oaklands has received some evil tidings relative to a disagreeable affair in which he was engaged at Cambridge, the results of which are not fully known at present, and which, I am afraid, may ye£ occasion him much care and anxiety." FKANK FAJKLEGH. 211 M And I had fancied him so light-hearted and happy," said Fanny, thoughtfully; " and is this all I am to know about it then?" " All that I feel myself at liberty to tell at present," replied I ; " recollect, darling, it is my friend's secret, not my own, or you should hear everything." " Then you will tell me all your secrets, if I ask you?" inquired Fanny, archly. " Whom should I trust or confide in, if not my own dear little Rster ?" said I, stroking her golden locks caressingly. " And now," continued I, rising, " I will go and see whether I can do any good in this affair ; but when blaster Harry is in one of his impetuouj moods, he gets quite beyond my management." " Oh ! but you can influence him," exclaimed Fanny, her bright eyes sparkling with animation ; " you can calm his impetuosity with your own quiet good sense and clear judgment, — you can appeal to his high and generous nature, — you can tell him how dear he is to you, how you love him with more than a brother's love: you can and will do all this, — will you not, dear Frank?" " Of course I shall do everything that I am able, my dear child," replied I, somewhat astonished at this sudden outburst ; " and now go, and be quiet, this business seems rather to have excited you. If my mother asks for me, tell her I am gone up to the Hall." " What warm-hearted creatures women are ! " thought I, as I ran, rather than walked, through the park ; " that little sister of mine, now — no sooner does she hear that my friend has got into a scrape, of the very nature of which she is ignorant, (a pretty fuss she would be in if she were aware that it was a duel, of which I am afraid,) than she becomes quite excited, and implores me, as if she were pleading for her life, to use my influence with Harry to pre- vent his doing — something, she has not the most remote notion what. I wish she did not act quite so much from impulse. It's lucky she has got a brother to take care of her ; though it does not become me to find fault with her, i*jr it all proceeds from her affection for me ; she knows how wretched I should be if anything were to go wrong with Harry," — and then I fell into a train of thought as to what it could be which had so suddenly excited him : something connected with Wilford, no doubt ; but what ? — my fears pointed to a challenge, and my blood ran cold at the thought. He must ac- cept it ; neither my influence, were it increased a hundredfold, nor that of any one else, could make him apologize ; besides, it is not very easy to irnaginn •? satisfactory apolosxy for horse-whipping a 212 FRANK FAIItr.EGH. man till he cannot stand. And what course likely to be of any use could I take ? On one point I was resolved — nothing should induce me to become his second. What would be my feelings in case oi a fatal result, were I to reflect that I had made all the arrangements for the murder of the friend I loved best in the world — that I had actually stationed him opposite the never-failing pistol of his most bitter enemy, and placed in his hand a deadly weapon, where- with to attempt the life of a fellow-creature, when the next moment he might be called upon to answer before the Judge of all mankind for the deeds which he had done in the flesh? No ! I could not be his second. As my meditations reached this point, I overtook the groom who had brought the eventful note, and who was leisurely proceeding on foot towards the Hall, with that peculiar gait obser- vable in men who spend much of their time on horseback, which consists of a compromise between walking and riding, and is strongly suggestive of their inability to realize the fact, that they have not at all times and seasons a perpetual horse between their legs. " Have you seen Mr. Oaklands, Harris ?" inquired I, as the man touched his hat respectfully. " Yes, sir, I may say I've seen him, and that's all," was the reply. " I brought him a note to the cottage, and was awaiting for orders, when he came tearing out, ordered me to get off, sprang into my eaddle, and without stopping for me to let down the stirrups, drove his heels into ' Tom Trot,' (that's the new grey horse, sir, if you please,) and was out of sight like old boots." Not having time to institute an inquiry into the amount of velo- city with which the ancient articles referred to by Mr. Harris were accustomed to vanish, I asked if he knew who brought the note. " A groom in a dark claret-coloured livery, mounted on a splen- did coal-black mare, nearly thorough-bred, but with more bone and substance about her than you generaDy see in them sort, and as clean on her pins as an unbroke colt. Sir John aint got such a horse in his stables, nor Mr. Harry neither," Avas the reply. This was conclusive evidence ; the livery and the mare were alike Wilford's. Leaving the groom to conjecture what he pleased, I hurried on, and reaching the Hall, inquired of the old butler whether Harry was at home. " No, sir," was the reply, " they aint any of them at home. Mr. Harry came home a horseback about a quarter of an hour ago, and called Mr. Archer into his own room, and they had a co~*H*. FRAP'S FAIRLEGH. 213 and then Mr. Archer went out a riding on the same horse Mr. Harry came back upon, and would not take any o' the grooms with him—* and afore that, Sir John had ordered the phaeton, and Mr. Henry being come home, he asked him to go with him; so you see, Mr. Fairlegh, they're none of 'em at home, sir." " I'll go into the library and write a note, Edmonds," said I, as a new idea entered my head. " You know Sir John is kind enough to let me order a horse whenever I require one, — will you tell Harris to have one saddled for me in ten minutes' time?" " Certainly, Mr. Fairlegh ; we all of us have Sir John's orders to attend to you, sir, the same as to Mr. Henry, and you're a young gent as it's a pleasure to serve too, if you'll excuse me taking the liberty of telling you so," replied the good old man, as he showed me into the library. The idea which had come into my head, (and it was more for the sake of doing something that I determined on it, than from any great hope I entertained of its proving of much avail,) was to ride over to Hillingford, and consult Freddy Coleman on the subject. Perhaps his clear head and quick wit might enable him to devise some scheme by which, without betraying Harry's confidence, or bringing the slightest imputation on his honour, this duel might be prevented. "What else could I do ? It was quite clear to me, that the note Harry had received was a challenge from Wilford, and that the gentleman waiting at the inn was some one whom he had prevailed upon to act as his second, probably Wentworth. Harry's first impulse had evidently been to come to me, and ask me to be his second ; but, doubtless, guessing the distaste I should have to the office, and reflecting on the difficulties in which, if anything serious were to ensue, I might be involved, he had determined on asking Archer instead. Archer, by instantly setting off on horse- back alone, had clearly agreed to his request, and was gone to make the necessary arrangements ; and Harry had gladly accompanied Sir John, in order to be out of the way, and so avoid my questions, and any attempts I might have made to induce him to alter his purpose. Were I to inform Sir John on his return, it would be an unpardonable breach of confidence towards Harry : were I to give notice to the authorities, so as to enable them to take measures for preventing the duel, it would always be said by Wilford, that I did so with Harry's connivance, because he was afraid to meet him : thus my hands were tied in every way, and, as I said before, I oould think of nothing better than t^ ride over and consult Coleman. 214 FRAXK FAXSLEOH. whose powers of getting out of a scrape I had seen pretty weli tested in the affair of the bell-ringing. I, therefore, scrawled a hasty note to my mother, telling her that I was going to take a tang ride, and she had better not wait dinner for me ; and leaving a message for Oaklands, with the servant who announced the horse, that I should see him in the evening, flung myself into the saddle, rode quietly till I was out of sight of the house, and then started at a gallop for Hillingford. Unwilling to meet any of the Coleman family, I left my horse at the inn, and, pulling my hat over my brows, to avoid, if possible, being recognised by their servant, rang the bell, and desired liim to tell Mr. Frederic that a gentleman wanted to speak with him on particular business. FRANK FAIRLEGH. 215 CHAP XXVL * COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE. " If you think your mystery in stratagem can bring this instrument of honour again inw his native quarter, be magnanimous in the enterprise, and go on; I trill grace the attempt fcr a worthy exploit if you speed well in it." " Now I see the bottom of your purpose." u Yen see it lawful then " " I love him, sir, Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, Beyond what can be valued rich or rare, No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable — " ''Adieu! these foolish drope do somewhat drown my manly spirit" Shaksptare, " Freddy, can I have half an hour's private conversation with you ?" asked I, as soon as we had exchanged salutations. " To be sure you can ; but," he added, catching a glimpse of the anxious expression of my face, " there is nothing wrong, is there ?" I made a gesture indicative of silence, and he opened a door into a sort of lawyer's office, saying, in a low voice — •' Come in here, we shall not be interrupted ; the governor's in London, and the women are out walking." " So much the better," replied I, " for the business I am codip upon is strictly private, and will not brook delay." I then told him as concisely as possible the whole affair from be- ginning to end ; he listened attentively to my recital, merely asking a question now and then to elucidate any particular point he did not clearly understand. I fancied he made a gesture of surprise when I first mentioned Wilford's name, and when I had concluded, he asked, " TVilford, you say, this man's name is ? What is his christian name?" " Stephen." u And he's a young fellow ?" "About three or four-and- twenty.' 216 FRANK FAIRLEGH. " And you want to prevent his being able to shoot Harry Oak- lands at five o'clock to-morrow morning ?" " I do not know the hour, but I conclude the meeting will prob- ably take place to-morrow morning. Wilford would not wish to remain in the neighbourhood longer than necessary, lest he should attract attention." Coleman mused for some minutes, and then muttering as though he were thinking aloud — " It might be done, so ; yes, that would do. I suppose," he said, at length addressing me, " if Master Wilford were taken into custody on a magistrate's warrant at half-past four a.m., that would suit your ideas very nicely ? I can so arrange the matter that Wilford will never be able to trace the laying the information to our door." " But how can you avoid that ?" inquired I. " Why, if you must know," replied Freddy, " I am acquainted with a man who would give a hundred pounds any day to stop our friend Stephen from fighting a duel." " What, do you know Wilford then ?" asked L " Ray-ther" was the reply, accompanied by a very significant wink — "just a very few, — I should say we're not entire strangers, though I have never enjoyed the honour of much personal inter- course with him ; but I do not so deeply regret that, as, from your account, it seems rather a dangerous privilege." " How in the world do you know anything about him ?" " Oh ! it's a long story, but the chief points of it are these : — The aforesaid Mr. Wilford, if he can continue to exist till he is five- and-twenty, comes into £5000 a-year ; but if we don't interfere, and Harry Oaklands has the luck to send a bullet into him to-morrow morning, away it all goes to the next heir. Wilford is now three- and-twenty, and the trustees make him a liberal allowance of £800 per annum, on the strength of which he spends between £2000 And £3000 : of course, in order to do this, he has to raise money on his expectancies. About two months ago he wanted to sell the con- tingent reversion of a large estate in Yorkshire, from which the greater part of his future income is to be derived ; and a client of outs thought of buying it — ergo, we were set to work upon the matter : whilst we were investigating his right, title, and all that sort of thing, lo and behold ! a heavy claim, amounting to some thousands, is made upon the property, — by whom, do you think, of all people in the world ? — none other than our old acquaintance, Richard Cumberland '" FBANK FAIRLEGH. 217 u Good Leavens!" exclaimed I, " how strange!" u Cumberland," continued Freddy, " lias become somehow con- nected with a lot of bill-brokers, — low stock-jobbers, — in fact, a \-ery shady set of people, with whom, however, in our profession, we cannot avoid being sometimes brought into contact ; he appears, Indeed, himself to be a sort of cross between black-leg and money- lender, improved by a considerable dash of the gambler, and pre- senting altogether a very choice specimen of the thorough and com- plete blackguird. Somehow or other he contrives to have cash at command, an d, instead of being pigeoned, has now taken to pigeon- ing others; and to give the devil his due, I fancy he does a very pretty stroke of business in that line. He is a good deal improved in manner a ad appearance since you remember him ; and among people who don't know him very intimately, he affects the man about town : in short, he is quite at the top of his profession. Wil- ford became acquainted with him at one of the Newmarket meetings, lost money to him, and borrowed money of him, giving him as secu- ritya contingent charge upon the estate of double the amount, — ergo, don't you see, if Wilford should by any chance get his quietus from Harry's pistol, he won't live to come into his property, in which case Master Dicky Cumberland is minus some thousands. Now, if I con- trive to give him a hint, depend upon it he stops the duel. I will caution him not to let my name appear, — he will not hear yours ; so in this way I think we may manage the affair, and defy the old gentleman himself, though he's a very cunning lawyer, to trace it to us." " Well," said I, " as I see no other means of saving Oaklands' life, — for this Wilford is a noted duellist, and no doubt thirsts to wash out the insult he has received in blood, — I suppose we must do it ; but it is an underhand proceeding which I do not at all like." " Tliere you go with your chivalric, high-flown, romantic notions, you would stand coolly by, and see the best friend you have in trri world butchered before your eyes, rather than avail yourself of n splendid chance of saving him-, which Fortune has thrown in your way, because, forsooth, it involves a little innocent manoeuvring ; — for Heaven's sake, my dear boy, get off your stilts, and give common sense fair play.' 11 1 can only repeat what I have just said," replied I ; " I will do it, because I believe it is the only thing to save Harry; but I do not like it, and never shall." " I cry you mercy, Signer Francisco de Fairlegh, the veritable 218 FRANK FAIRLEGH. Don Quixote of the nineteenth century," laughed Freddy ; " and now, most chivalrous sir, where do you imagine it probable that this evil faiteur, this man of powder and pistols, hangs out ?" " He is most likely at the inn at Carsley, a village on the London road, about four miles from us," replied I ; " I don't know of any other place in the neighbourhood where he could be lodged. But I'll tell you what 111 do — the name of the inn is the White Horse, — if I should prove wrong in fancying that he is there, I will send a message to that inn to say where he may be found." " Exactly," returned Freddy, entering the White Horse, Carsley, in Ins tablets ; " now I think I know all about it, and it shall not be my fault if this duel comes off to-morrow morning. Good-bye, old fellow ! I wish you did not look quite so grumpy about it, but it's all those mediaeval prejudices of yours. I dare say you'd think it a much more manly way of stopping the business, to electrotype yourself in brass and steel, throw yourself across a cart-horse plated to match, and shouting, ' Fairlegh to the rescue !' run a long pole pointed with iron thr.v.igh Wilford's jugular. Now, I consider mine much the most philosophical way of doing the trick ; in fact, con- ducting a dodge of this kind always affords me intense satisfaction, and puts me into the highest possible spirits. Have you ever seen the war dance, in which the Hotto-potto-cum-from-the-wash-ki Indians usually indulge before they set out on an expedition ? — A quarter to three," he continued, pulling out his watch, " the coach to London passes in five minutes, I shan't have time to show it you, — it begins so." Thus saying, he flung himself into a perfectly inde- scribable attitude, and commenced a series of evolutions, more nearly resembling the contortions of a dancing bear, than any other Terpsichorean exhibition with which I was acquainted. Having continued this until he had made himself very unnecessarily hoi, he wound up the performance by flinging a summerset, in doing which he overturned himself and the coal-scuttle into a box of deeds ; whereby becoming embarrassed, he experienced much dif- ficulty in getting right end upwards again. " There," he exclaimed, throwing himself into an arm-chair, commonly occupied by his fa- ther's portly form — " There ! talk of accomplishments, — show me a fashionable young lady who can do that, and I'll say she t3 ac- complished. It's rather warm work, though," he continued, Aviping his brow, " unless one wears the appropriate costume, which, I believe, consists of a judicious mixture of red and yellow paint, three feathers, and the scalp of your opposite neighbour. Pleasant FRA>*X FALRLEGH. 219 that," he added, pointing to the reversed coal-scuttle — "that's a new edition, not of ' Coke upon Littleton,' but of Coal upon — what's the suit ? aye, Buffer versus Stoker. I shall have to make out a case of circumstantial evidence against the cat, or I'm safe for a rowing from the governor. Good-bye, old boy ! don't fancy I'm mad , I'm not the fool I seem, though I confess appearances are against me just at present. There's the coach, by Jingo, three bays and a grey — no chance of the box — is this a hat? off we go." So say- ing, he shook my hand warmly, bounded down the steps, and the next moment was rattling away towards London as fast as four horses could hurry him. It was with a heavy heart, and a foreboding of coming evil, that I mounted my horse, and slowly retraced my way towards Heath- field. Coleman's exuberant spirits, which, I believe, were partly assumed, with a view to cheer me by diverting my attention from the painful subject which engrossed it, had produced an effect dia- metrically opposite to that which he had intended, and I felt dis- satisfied with the step 1 had taken, doubtful of the success of his mission, anxious to a degree, which was absolutely painful, about the fate of Harry, and altogether thoroughly miserable. I reached home in time for dinner, during which meal my abstracted manner and low spirits were so apparent, as to set my mother speculating on the chances of my having over-heated myself and " got a chill," whilst Fanny's anxious questioning glances, to which I was well aware I could furnish no satisfactory reply, produced in me a de- gree of nervous excitement which was unbearable, and, the moment the cloth was withdrawn, I left the room, and rambled forth into the wildest parts of the park. The quiet peaceful beauty of the scene, and the refreshing coolness of the evening air, had, in a great measure, calmed the excitement under which I laboured, and I was turning my steps towards the Hall, when I met Oaklands and Archer, who, finding I was not at the cottage, had come in search of me. Half an hour's conversation served to render all my pre- vious conjectures matters of certainty. The challenge had been given and accepted, Wentworth was to be Wilford's second, and he and his principal were staying at the inn at Carsley. The spot chosen for the scene of action was a plot of grass-land situated about half-way between Carsley and Heathfield, so as to be equally accessible to both parties ; the time appointed was five o'clock the following morning. Archer was to act as Oaklands 1 second ; everything had been managed with the greatest caution. 220 FRAJfK FAIRLEGH. and they did not believe a single creature, excepting themselves, had the slightest suspicion that such an event was likely to take place. They had resolved not to tell me till everything was settled, as they feared my opposition. Having thus taken me into their confidence, Archer left us, saying, that " probably Oaklands might like to have some private conversation with me, and he would i join us again in half an hour." Rejoiced at this opportunity, I '. entered at once upon the subject which most interested me, and used every argument I could think of to induce Harry not to return ' Wilford's fire. Oaklands heard me for some time in silence, and I began to fear my efforts would be fruitless, when suddenly he turned towards me, and said — his fine eyes beaming with an almost womanly ex- pression of tenderness as he spoke, — " Would this thing make you happier in case T fall ?" A silent pressure of the hand was my only answer, and he added in a low voice, " then it shall be as you wish." A pause ensued, — for my own part, the thought that this might be our last meeting, completely overpowered me ; I did not know till that moment the strength and intensity of my affection for him. The silence was at length interrupted by Oaklands him- self, and the low tones of his deep rich voice trembled with emotion, as they fell mournfully on the stillness of the evening air. " My father ! " he said, " that kind old man, whose happiness is wrapped up in my welfare — it will break his heart, for he has only me to iove. Frank, my brother!" he added, passing his arm round my neck, as he had used to do when we were boys together, " you are young ; your mind is strong and vigorous, and will enable you to meet sorrow as a man should confront and overcome whatever is opposed to him in his path through life. I will not disguise from you that, locking rationally and calmly at the matter, I have but little hope of quitting the field to-morrow alive. My antagonist, naturally a man of vindictive disposition, is incensed against me beyond all power of forgiveness, and his skill is fully equal to his malice : should I fall, I leave my father to your care ; be a son to him in the place of the one he will have lost. This is not a fight thing which I ask of you, Frank ! I ask you to give up your inde- pendence, your high hopes of gaining name and fortune by the exercise of your own talents and industry, and to devote some of the best years of your life to the weary task of complying with the caprices, and bearing the sorrows, of a grief-stricken old man. Will you do this for me, Frank ?" FRANK FAIRLEGH. 221 " I will," replied I ; " and may God help me, as I execute this trust faithfully!" " You have relieved my mind of half its burden," returned Oak- lands warmly. " I have only one thing more to mention : — When I came of age last year, my father's liberality made over to me an ample income for a single man to live on : excepting a few legacies to old servants, I have divided this between your good little sister and yourself, which I thought you would prefer to my leaving it to you alone." " Harry ! indeed, I cannot allow you to do this ; others must curely have claims upon you." " There is not a being in the world who has a right to expect a farthing at my death," answered he ; " the next heir to the entailed estates is a distant relation in Scotland, already wealthy. My fathe* has always been a careful man, and, should he lose me, will have a larger income than he can possibly be able to spend ; besides, as the duties I have led you to undertake must necessarily prevent you from engaging actively in any profession, I am bound in common fairness to provide for you." " Be it so, then," replied I, — inwardly breathing a prayer that I never might possess a sixpence of the promised fortune. " One thing more," added Harry. " When you return to Tri- nity — poor old Trinity, shall I ever visit you again ! — find out how Lizzie Maurice is going on, and if she should marry respectably in her own rank, ask my father to give you £100 as a wedding pre- sent for her ; only hint that it was my wish, and he would give twenty times the sum. And now good — pshaw!" — he continued, drawing his hand across his eyes, " I shall play the woman if I talk to you much more — good night, Frank, — do you accompany us to the ground to-morrow morning ?" " I will go Avith you," returned I, with difficulty overcoming a choking sensation in my throat; " I may be able to be of some use." " Here comes Archer," said Oaklands, " so once more good night ; I must get home, or my father will wonder what is become cfme." My heart was too full to speak, and pressing his hand I turned abruptly away, and walked quickly in the opposite direction. 222 FRAHK FATQLEOH. CHATTER XXVXL TUE DUEL. " The s-in begins to gild the western sky, And now it is about the very hour. • * * * They will not fail, Unless it be to come before their time ; So much they spur their expedition." — SJuxksp&vrv- u Now go thy way : faintness constraineth me To measure out my length on thia cold bed."— ShaUpcarv. " And me they bore * • • * • To one deep chamber shut from sound, and due To lamguid limbs and sickness." — Tennisorie Princess. I did not return to the cottage until the usual hour for going to bed, as I did not dare subject myself to Fanny's penetrating glance, in my present state of excitement. The moment family prayers were concluded, I took my candle, and, pleading fatigue, retired to my room. Knowing that sleep was out of the question in my then frame of mind, I merely substituted the clothes I in- tended to wear in the morning for those I had on, and, wrapping my dressing-gown round me, flung myself on the bed. Here I lay, tossing about, and unable to compose myself for an hour or two, the one idea constantly recurring to me, "What if Coleman should fail!" At length, feverish and excited, I sprang up, and throwing open the window, which was near the ground, enjoyed the fresh breeze, as it played around my heated temples. It was a lovely night ; the stars, those calm eyes of Heaven, gazed down in their bright- ness on this world of sin arid sorrow, seeming to reproach the stormy passions and restless strife of men, by contrast with their own impassive grandeur. After remaining motionless for several minutes, I was about to close the window, when the sound of a footstep on the turf beneath caught my ear, and a form, which I recognized in the moonlight as that of Archer, approached. "Up and dressed already, Fairlegh?" he commenced, in a low tone, as he perceived me; "may I come in?" FUAWK FAIRLEGH. 223 In silence I held out my hand to him, and assisted him to enter. f Like me," he resumed, " I suppose, you could not sleep." " Utterly impossible," replied I ; " but what brings you here— has anything occurred ? " " Nothing," returned Archer ; " Oaldands retired early, as he said he wished to be alone, and I followed his example, but could not contrive to sleep. I don't know how it is, I was engaged in an affair of this nature once before, and never cared a pin about the matter ; but somehow I have got what they call a presentiment that harm will come of to-morrow's business. I saw that man, Wilford, for a minute yesterday, and I know by the expression of his eye that he means mischief; there was such a look of fiendish triumph in his face, when he found the challenge was accepted — if ever there was a devil incarnate, he is one." A sigh was my only answer, for his words were but the echo of my forebodings. " Now I will tell you what brought me here,* he continued ; " don't you think that we ought to have a surgeon on the ground, in case of anything going wrong?" " To be sure," replied I ; "I must have been mad to have for- gotten that it was necessary — what can be done ? — it is not every man that would choose to be mixed up with such an affair. Where is it that William Ellis's brother (Ellis of Trinity Hall, you know) has settled ? — he told me he had purchased a practice somewhere in our neighbourhood." " The very man, if we could but get him," replied Archer ; " the name of the village is Harley End : do you know such a place ?" " Yes," returned I, " I know it well ; it is a favourite meet of the hounds, about twelve miles hence. I'll find him, and bring him here — what time is it ? just two — if I could get a horse, I would do it easily." " My tilbury and horse are up at the village," said Archer ; l<< now Harry's horses are at home, they could not take mine in at the Hall." " The very thing," said I, " we gJijJI not lose a moment in that > Ks^iAiK-^-^^ FRANK FAIRLKGH. 221 my room, by which Archer and I had quitted it the previous night, would be imfastened, I determined I "would enter there, and, pro- ceeding to my mother's door, call her up, and break the n< ws as gently as the exigency of the case -would permit, leaving ric-r to act by Fanny as she should think best. Accordingly, I flung up the window, sprang in, and, throwing myself on the nearest chair, sat for a moment, panting from the speed at which I had come. As I did so, a timid knock was heard at the door. I instinctively cried, " Come in !" and Fanny entered. " I have been so anxious all night about what you told me yes- terday, that I could not sleep, so I thought I would come to see if you were up," she commenced ; then, for the first time remarking my breathless condition and disordered dress, she exclaimed, " Good Heavens ! are you ill ? you pant for breath, and your hands and the sleeves of your coat are saturated with water — with — oh ! it is blood; you are wounded!" she cried, sinking into a chair, and turning as pale as ashes. " Indeed, darling, you are alarming yourself unnecessarily ; I am perfectly uninjured," replied I, soothingly. "Something dreadful has happened!" she continued, fixing her eyes upon me ; " I read it in your face." " An accident has occurred," I began ; " Oaklands " " Stop !" she exclaimed, interrupting me, " the two shots I heard but now — his agitation — his strange manner yesterday — oh ! I see it all ; he has been fighting a duel." She paused, pressed her hands upon her eyes, as if to shut out some dreadful vision, and then asked, in a low, broken voice, " Is he killed?" " No," replied I, " on my word, on my honour, I assure you he is not ; the bleeding had ceased when 1 leu him, which is a very favourable symptom." Fanny sighed heavily, as if relieved from some unbearable weight, and, after remaining silent for about a minute, she removed hei hands from her face, and said, in a cairn tone of voice — " And now, what is to be done ? can I be of any use ?" Astonished at the rapidity with which she had regained her self- control and presence of mind after the violent emotion she had so recently displayed, I replied — " Yes, love, you can , the Hall is too far off, and they are bricg- ing him here." As I spoke these words, she shuddered slightly, but seeing I wat doubtful whether to proceed. sW said. " Go on, pray." 230 FRANK FAIttLEOH. " Would you," I continued, " break this to my mother, and tell her I believe — that is, I tmsi— there hi no great danger — and — and — do that first." With a sad shake of the head, as if she mistrusted my attempt to reassure her, she quitted the room, whilst I obeyed Ellis's instruc- tions by preparing the bed ; after which I unclosed the hall-door, and despatching the gardener's boy to fetch the surgeon, stood anxiously awaiting the arrival of the party. I had not done so many minutes, when the measured tramp of feet gave notice of their approach, and ; p Sfrtber inFtam th^v csir.r in &vh* mtATSS. FAIRLSOH. 231 CHAP XXVF1 THE SUBSTANCE OF THE SI3AIXr.V. ^Ssoovery, where art thou? Daughter of Heaven, where shall we seek tfcy boJji 'J* * Come thou and chase away Borrow and Pain, the persecuting Powers, T c ^ K c Tiiakc the melancholy day so Icnffc So long the anxious night" 1 " I lock for thy approach, O life-preserving Power! as one whe» str^y* Alone in darkness o'er the pathless marsh. Watches the dawn of day." Soitihey. "All well so far," replied Ellis, in answer to my look of iuqrary ; u the bleeding has ceased, and he is fast recovering consciousness. Where is the room ? We must get him into bed at once." When we had placed him in the bed, Oaklands lay tor a short 6pace with his eyelids closed, uttering a low groan at intervals ; at length the quiet appeared in seme measure to restore him, and, slowly opening his eyes, he gazed languidly around, asking in a low voice, "Where ami?" " Let me beg yoa not to speak, Mr. Oaklands," said Ellis ; "youi safety depends upon your keeping silence ; you are at the cottage of your friead Fairlegh." As he heard these words, Harry perceived me standing near the bed, and smiled faintly in token of recognition ; then, making a sign for me to stoop down to him, he whispered " My father, — you must break this to him — go, Frank." " This instant," replied I ; and I turned to leave :he room, beckoning to Ellis, as I did so, to follow me. "Tell me the truth," exclaimed L, as he closed the door behind him, " will he live or die?" 282 FRANK FAIRLEQH. " It is too eariy in the business to pronounce a decided opinion," was the answer ; " nor can I venture as yet to do so, — everything depends upon the course the ball may have taken, and that, as soon as the other surgeon arrives, we must endeavour to ascertain ; all I can say at present is, that I have seen worse cases recover. There is u&3 thing," he added, " which may be a satisfaction to you to know, — if you had not brought me, or some one in my profession, to the ground, he would have bled to death where he fell j no one but a surgeon could have stopped that bleeding." " If we had been too late, I should never have forgiven myself, and we very nearly were so," returned I, " I cannot understand how it was." " I can explain it," said Archer, who now joined us. "You left me up at the village, you remember, Fairlegh, when you started to fetch Mr Ellis ; well, just as x was leaving it to return to the Hall, a boy ran past me at the top of bis speed, and began knocking at one of the cottage doors hard by; surprised to see any one abou at so early an hour in the morning, I inquired what was the matter. ' Master's just had word brought him that some gem'men is a going to fight a jewel at five o'clock, and I be come to call the constable, for master to give him a warrant to take 'em hup.' • And who is your master?' questioned I. 'Justice Bumbleby,' was the answer. This was enough for me ; I made the best of my way to the Hall, woke Oaklands, who was sleeping as calmly as a child, poor fellow ! and he immediately sent his own croom, the lad who went with ua to the field, to inform Wilford and his second of what I had heard, and to propose that the meeting should take place a quarter of an hovir earlier than the time originally agreed on, to which they will- ingly consented." "This, then," thought I, "is the reason why Coleman's scheme failed, and Cumberland arrived too late ; — well, one good thing is, it will clearly prove that neither Archer nor Oaklajads connived at the intended interruption." The deep, the agonizing grief of Sir John Oaklands, on receiving from my lips the account of his son's danger, was most painful to witness, and I was obliged to yield to his desire to return with me to the cottage, although Ellis had strictly forbidden his being al- lowed to see Harry, lest the excitement should prove injurious to the patient, in the precarious state in which he lay. On my return, I found the surgeon of the neighbourhood, Mr. (or as he was more commonly styled Dr.} Probehurt, had arrived and that they were FRANK FAIRLEGn. 233 endeavouring to extract the ball, which, after a long and painful operation, they succeeded in doing. From the marks on the coat and waistcoat, it appeared that Wilford had aimed straight for the heart ; but his deadly intentions had been providentially frustrated by the accident of Oaklands having a half-crown piece in a small pocket in his waistcoat, against which the ball had struck, and glancing off, passed between two of the ribs, finally lodging amongst the muscles immediately under the shoulder-blade. The great effusion of blood had been occasioned by its having divided one of the smaller arteries, which Ellis had succeeded in securing on the spot. The wound was, therefore, a very severe one ; but it was impossible to pronounce upon the exact amount of danger at pre- sent, as the course which the ball had taken trenched closely on so many important organs, that time alone could show the extent of the injury sustained. With this opinion, in which (strange to say) both doctors agreed, we were fain to content ourselves, and we passed the rest of the day in alternately watching by the wounded man, and attempting to comfort and support Sir John, whom we had the greatest difficulty in keeping out of Harry's room, till Ellis asked him abruptly, "whether he wanted to murder his son?" after which nothing short of force could have induced him to enter it. One of his first acts, having consulted with Dr. Probehurt, who graciously approved of the measure, was to enter into an arrange- ment with Ellis, to induce him to remain constantly with Harry, till his health should be perfectly re-established, if, indeed, that happy event was ever destined to occur. As Sir John's liberality was un- bounded, and Ellis's professional prospects rather hazy — his practice at Harley End being chiefly confined to the very poor, who went on the advice gratis system, and expected to have medicine given them into the bargain — the negotiation was soon concluded to the satisfaction of both parties. Towards evening, Harry became more restless ; the pain of his wound increased, and feverish symptoms began to make their ap- pearance. As the night advanced he grew delirious, and before morning was in a high state of fever. For many days his life was despaired of. Ellis never left his bedside, save to snatch an occa- sional hour's sleep on a sofa, when I took his place. Sir Benjamin Brodie was summoned from town, and held a consiiltation with Dr. Probelmrt and Ellis. Sir John's grief was something fearful to witness. Although naturally a strong-minded man* this unlooked-for blow and the 234 FRANK FAIRLEGH. subsequent anxiety had completely unnerved him. At times he would cry like a child ; at others he would sit for hours without opening his lips, his head resting dejectedly on his hands, the image of despair ; he could with difficulty be prevailed upon to take suffi- cient nourishment for his support, and appeared scarcely to notice anything that was going «on. On these occasions, Fanny was the only person whose influence was of the slightest avail ; with her own hands she would prepare some delicacy of which she knew he was fond, and when with a melancholy shake of the head he rejected it, she would sett herself at his feet, and, taking his hand within her own, whisper kind words of hope and consolation to him, till the old man's heart was softened, and he could refuse her nothing. Sometimes even this failed, and then she would begin singing in a low sweet voice some plaintive simple air that he loved to hear, till the tears would steal down his grief-worn cheeks, and, laying his hand upon her fair young brow, he would bless her, and say, that the God who was about to take his noble son from him, had sent an angel to be a daughter to him in his stead. And so the weary days wore on — still vibrating between life and death, the strong man, his matchless powers now reduced to the weakness of infancy, lay stretched upon the couch of suffering, whence it appeared too prob- able he might never be removed, save to the last sad resting-place of frail humanity — the grave. About the eighth day, the ligature with which Ellis had tied thf artery came away, and the wound assumed a rather more favour- able appearance, but the fever remained unsubdued, and the de- lirium continued. Each day which passed without improvement added to the length of Dr. Probehurt's solemn visage, and I could see that in his own mind he had little or no hope of the patient's recovery. Ellis was by far the most sanguine of the party, and, whenever we urged our gloomy forebodings upon him, invariably replied — "Yes, I know all that — it would have killed any other man, but it won't kill him. "Wait a bit, and you'll see." A fortnight had now elapsed, and the continued burden of his grief began to tell visibly upon Sir John. The ruddy hue of health faded from his cheeks ; his eyes grew dim with weeping, his hands shook, and his firm manly step became feeble and uncertain; it seemed as if in that short space of time he had grown ten years older. My mother also began to look ill and harassed, and Fanny, though she still kept up wonderfully, and was the life and soul of as all, waxed paler and thinner every day, while, for my own part, FBANK FAIRLEGH. 235 I could neither eat, drink, nor sleep to ^y efficient purpose, and divided my time between watching in the sick room, and pacing up and down the garden, beyond th? precincts of which I never ven- tured, from a nervous dread lest anything might go wrong in my absence. On one occasion, Ellis, completely wearied out, had thrown him - self on a sofa, to snatch an hour's repose, while I took his place by Harry's bedside. It was between two and three o'clock in the morning, and the first rays of early dawn, stealing in through the partially closed shutters, and mingling with the faint glimmer of the night-lamp, threw a pale and ghastly light over the surround- ing objects, when I fancied that I heard my name prcnounced in a low, scarcely audible voice. I glanced at Ellis, but his hard and regular breathing proved him to be sound asleep. I next turned towards the bed where Harry lay, and, carefully shading the lamp with my hand, advanced with noiseless step towards it. As 3 approached, I perceived the patient's eyes were open, and, oh, happiness ! once more animated by the mild light of reason. " Harry," whispered I, " did you call ? Do you know me ?" A faint smile passed across his pallid features, as he replied in a voice so weak and low, that I was obliged to stoop my head almost to a level -with his lips ere I could catch his words — " Know you, dear Frank I why not?" " Thank heaven,"„murmured I, " he is no longer delirious ! " As I again turned towards him, he endeavoured to stretch out his hand to me, but his strength was unequal even to that slight exertion, and his arm dropped heavily by his side ; as it did so, he spoke again — " Frank, what is all this ? I cannot — I am very weak » — very tired." " Lie still, dear Harry, and do not try to talk — it may do you harm. You have been very ill, but God in his mercy will soon, I trust, restore you to health." I then crossed over to Ellis's sofa, and laid my hand lightly upon his shoulder. " Oaklands is no longer delirious," said I, as he started up ; " he knows me, and has spoken to me." "Is he? — does he? — has he?" exclaimed Ellis, in an eager whisper. " I told you it would never kill him. Why didn't yoiv call me before ? but it's always the way ; if I do by any chance fall asleep once in a week, there isn't another head properly so called in the whole house, they might as well be chair nobs — Yes, I know." he continued, as I attenmted to get in a word of explana- 236 FRANK FAIRLEGH. tiom " if you couldn't wake me before it happened, that doesn't prevent youi giving me the medicine-chest now, does it?" I may as well take this opportunity of mentioning, that Ellis, though in the main one of the best-tempered fellows in the world, whenever he was particularly interested or excited, became ex- tremely cross and snappish, and was certain at such times to scold every one who fell in his way, without the slightest regard to age, sex, or station. However, it was always over in two or three min - utes, and I have seen him laugh till the tears ran down his face, when the rude things he had said were repeated to him afterwards. AVhile he was staying with his brother at Cambridge, it used to be a favourite amusement with some of the men to start a subject which they knew would excite him, for the sake of " getting a rise out of the doctor," as they termed it. But I am digressing. The medicine Ellis gave Harry threw him into a heavy sleep, from which he did not awake until late in the morning, when he appeared perfectly conscious. The fever had in great measure abated, and on Dr. Probehurt's arrival he was fain to confess a sur- prising improvement had taken place, and that, if not positively out of danger, the patient was in a fair way to become so. As for Ellis, he was exactly like one beside himself. He ran all over the house — into bedrooms and all sorts of places where he had not the slightest business, shaking hands with every one, and repeating, "I knew it — I knew it — I always told you so — it would have killed any other man, but it couldn't kill him !" Let us pass in silence over the first interview between Sir John Oaklands and his son. There are some of the deeper feelings of our nature, planted in our bosoms by the hand of God himself, which, when called forth to their fullest extent by the chances of life, re- veal so clearly their divine origin, that those who witness their dis- play stand reverently by, and, with throbbing hearts and averted eyes, bow the head as in presence of some holy thing ; and if such pure and sacred influences shed their lustre over that meeting, and the old man wept tears of deep and fervent thankfulness on the neck of the son whom he had, as it were, received from the dead, far be it from us, with sacrilegious hand, to remove the veil which shrouds the hallowed mysteries of feeling. From that day Oaklands began to amend slowly, and, at the end of another week, even the cautious Dr. Probehurt declared all im- mediate danger was over; for which admission, however, he took care fully to indemnify himself, by detailing at length every possible FRAXB. FAIRI.F.GH. 237 evil which might accrue lor the future. The state of weakness, to which Harry's once herculean frame was reduced, was melancholy to witness ; for many days he was unable to turn in his bed with- out assistance, and even when he began to recover his strength, it was by very slow and lingering degrees. Utterly unable to support himself, he was lifted from his bed to a sofa, and wheeled into the drawing-room, where all our powers of entertainment were called into requisition to relieve the monotony of such a state of exist- ence. In doing this, Fanny made herself pre-eminently useful ; by a sort of intuition she appeared to divine everything he could pos- sibly want before he asked for it, and contrived to have it waiting his pleasure as if by magic ; and yet it was done so quietly, that I believe Harry had net a notion to whom he was indebted for the forestalment of his every wish. Did his lips appear parched and dry from the low fever which still hung about him — unobserved by any one, Fanny would glide out of the room, and in another minute his servant would enter with a tray, containing jelly, lemon- ade, or some refreshment of a like nature ; and Harry would say, with a languid smile, that the fairies must have been at work, for that Wilson had brought him the very thing he was wishing for. As he grew stronger, and required less attention, I yielded to his request, and once more resumed my studies, reading doubly hard in order to make up for lost time. The duel had taken place early in June, but it was not until the latter end of August that the sur- geons woidd allow of their patient's removal to the Hall. Under Ellis's directions a kind of litter was prepared, drawn by a stout Shetland pony, and hung upon a complicated arrangement of springs, by which means all possibility of jolting was avoided. With the assistance of this vehicle, Harry was enabled to take snort airings in the park, and, when it was found that no ill effects ensued, a fin.2 day was chosen, and Heathfield Hall flung wide its ample gates to receive once more within its walls the heir of that noble property. It was a glad day for every one — the old servants shed mingled tears of joy and sorrow ; of joy that their young master had been spared to come among them again, and of sorrow when they gazed on his pallid cheeks and long thin hands, and thought of the amount of suffering that manly frame must have undergone, ere it could have become such a wreck of its former self. After his return home, Oaklands progressed very slowly; he 6o far recovered as to walk about the house and garden with the assistance of Ellis's arm ; but the wound in lus side still presented 236 FRANK FAIKLJiGH. an unsatisfactory appearance, and obstinately refused to heal. Ellis's skill and attention were unparalleled ; he took the greatest interest in the case, and though he pretended that his zeal was entirely pro- fessional, yet it was clear the fascination which Harry seemed un- consciously to exercise over every one who became intimate with him, had subdued even the sturdy doctor, and that he had conceived the strongest affection for his patient. The only one of the party on whom the fatigue and anxiety ap- peared to have produced any lasting effect, was dear little Fanny, and she continued to look much more pale and thin than I liked to see her. Her spirits, also, seemed less gay and buoyant than usual, and when Sir John and Harry left us, and she had no longer any motive for exertion, a kind of languor came over her, producing a listless distaste for all her former employments ; and she would sit for hours poring over one of the Italian poets, without exchanging a word with any one. In order, if possible, to rouse her from this state of apathy, I used every means in my power to interest and amuse her ; but unfortunately my time was now so fully occupied that I had little leisure to bestow upon her. I was to take my de- gree at the commencement of the new year ; and as I had mado up my mind to try for honours, I had not a moment to lose, and read eight hours a day. The rest of my time was devoted to Sir John and Harry, (save an odd hour or two for a constitutional scamper with my gun through the preserves to keep down the rabbits, or a gallop across country, to prevent the hunters from getting too fat,) and our kind friends were never so well pleased as when they could persuade us all to come to them. My sister, how- ever, seemed to prefer dreaming over her book to the exertion of accompanying us to the Hall, and even when she did so, appeared unequal to the labour of amusing Harry, and devoted herself to the more easy task of pleasing Sir John, who, happy beyond expression in the prospect of his son's recovery, was in the highest good hum- our with everybody and everything. Becoming at length far from satisfied about Fanny, I mentioned my uneasiness to my mother, who comforted me by the assurance, that she considered it merely the natural consequences of the fatigue and anxiety she had under- gone, a sort of reaction of the spirits, for which time and rest would prove the most effectual cure. And once again the leaves upon the trees grew brown, present- ing in their varied richness those exquisite shades of colouring that gladden a painter's eye, — and the shallows, those summer parasites, FHA2JK. FATKUEGH. U3S taking alarm at the first sharp blast from the north, had departed to prosecute their annual pursuit of sunshine under difficulties, leav- ing the honest robin redbreast to renew his friendship with the race of men, — when I, dissatisfied and anxious about those I was having behind me, and nervous in the Inchest degree as to the result of the struggle for distinction in which I was about to enp.o^e, oac-e mors took up ray abode et Trinity. FRANK. FAXOLBOK. CHAFfER XXIX. T2E ST3UGGLE IN CHESTERTON WS.A30VP. " Men Pnt forth their sons to seek preferment out. Some to the studious universities, For any or for all these exercises." "Stand, sir, and throw us that yon have about yon; If not, we'll make you sit, and rifle you." " A rescue! a rescue ! Good people bring a rescue or two!" " Cccsrrue me, art thou a gentleman ? What is thy name ? Discuss ! " — Shakspain Havtng now no one to interfere with me, I determined to read as hard as my powers, mental and bodily, would allow, so as tc erive my talents, be they great or small, full scope, and endeavour to evince my gratitude to my unknown benefactor in the only man- ner that lay open to me, i. e. by proving to him that his liberality had not been thrown away. As the men began to come up, I took care to let it be generally known among my friends that I was read- ing steadily and in earnest, with a view of going out in honours ; and when they became convinced that this was the case, and that whenever I " sported oak," there was positively " no admittance," they left me to my fate, as one who, in the words of Lawless, " having strayed from the paths of virtue and — eh ! — what do you call it? — jolhty — had fallen a victim to the vice of mathematics— not a hope of recovery — a regular case of hydrostatics on the brain — eh! don't you see?' Besides the regular college tutor, I secured the assistance of what, in the slang of the day, we irreverently termed " a coach," which vehicle, for the conveyance of heavy learning (from himself to his pupils), consisted of a gentleman who, but feAV years older than those whom he taught, possessed more practical knowledge, and a greater aptitude for the highest scientific research, than it had ever before been my fate tc meet with cc" ^ined in any one individual FKAUK FA1RLEGH. 241 Under his able tuition I advanced rapidly, and reading men began to look upon me as a somewhat formidable rival. Several of my opponents, however, were men of first-rate talent, whose powers of mind, as I could not for a moment disguise from myself, were infi- nitely superior to my own, and with whom my only chance cf com- peting successfully would be, by the exercise of indefatigable per- severance and industry. Daylight, therefore, (which at this season did not make its appearance over early) found me book in hand, and midnight saw* me still seated at my desk — sometimes with a wet towel bound round my head, to cool the throbbing of my heated brow ; at others, with a tea-pot of strong green tea by my side, to arouse and stimulate my wearied faculties; conventional specifics, of which, by the way, I very quickly discovered the fallacy. A fear of completely knocking up, however, induced me to pre- serve some little method in my madness. I laid down a rule to walk for a couple of hours every day, and thus, although I grew pale and thin, no very dangerous effects appeared likely to ensue from my exertions. One evening, about a week before the examinations were to be- gin, I was taking my usual constitutional after Hall ; and, careless which way I turned my steps, crossed the river at Moore's, and followed the foot-path which led over the fields to the village of Chesterton. There had been a cattle fair at some place in the neighbourhood, which had drawn together a number of disreput- able characters, and, in the course of my walk, 1 passed two or three parties of rather suspicious-looking men. Having nothing valuable about me, how r ever, I continued my walk. I had advanced some half mile or more, when I was roused from my meditations by a cry of " Thieves 1 thieves ! help ! hoy ! thieves, I say !" accom- panied by the noise of blows. When these sounds first reached me, I was close to a hedge and stile^ across which the foot-path led, and from the farther side of which the cries proceeded. It was growing dark, but there still remained fight enough to distinguish objects at a moderate distance. To bound over the stile, and cast my eyes around, was the work of a moment, nor was I much longer in taking part in an affray which was going on. The person whose cries I had heard was a stout little man, re- spectably dressed, who was defending himself vigorously with what seemed in the twilight a club, but which turned out eventually to te an umbrella, against the attacks of a tall strapping fellow, in a B 242 FRANK FAIRLEGH. rough frieze coat, who was endeavouring to wrest his weapon from him. A still more formidable adversary was, however, approaching, in the shape of a second ruffian, who had armed himself with a thick stake out of the hedge, and was creeping cautiously up be- hind the shorter man, with the evident intention of knocking him on the head. I instantly determined to frustrate his benevolent design, nor was there much time to lose, if I wished my assist- ance to prove of much avail. Shouting, therefore, as well to inti- midate the scoundrels as to let the person attacked know that there was succour at hand, I sprang upon the man who held the cudgel, and seizing his uplifted arm, succeeded in averting the coming blow from the head of the intended victim, who, ignorant of the impend- ing danger, was making most furious thrusts at his assailant with the point of his umbrella, a novel mode of attack, winch seemed to perplex and annoy that individual in no small degree. I had, however, but little time allowed me to make observations, as the fellow with whom I had interfered, as soon as he perceived that he had only an unarmed man to deal with, appeared deter- mined not to give up his hopes of plunder without a struggle, and freeing his wrist by a powerful jerk, he aimed a blow at me with the bludgeon, which, had it taken effect, would at once have ended all my anxieties, and brought this veracious history to an abrupt and untimely conclusion. Fortunately, however, for " my gentle public," and their humble servant, I was able, by dodging on one side, to avoid the stroke ; and seeing that matters had now become serious, I closed with him, and, after a short but severe struggle, had the satisfaction of depositing him flat on his back on the green sward. As he fell, he dropped his stick, of which I immediately possessed myself, and planting my foot upon his chest to prevent his rising, I turned to see how the other combatants were getting on. Dame Fortune had not, in this instance, acted up to her usual principle of favouring the brave, for the hero of the umbrella, hav- ing struggled gallantly for the preservation of his property and person, had apparently at length been overpowered, and, when I turned towards him, was lying on the ground, while his assailant was endeavouring to rifle his pockets, a matter which was rendered anything but easy of accomplishment, by reason of the energetic kicks and struggles of the fallen warrior. It was clear, that if I "vould not have the unfortunate little man robbed before my very eyes, I must go to his assistance. Giving, therefore, my prostrate foe a -' ~> on the head with the stake, bv way of a hint to he still, FRAXK FAIRLF.GH. 24« I advanced to the rescue with uplifted weapon. No sooner did the rascal perceive my approach, than, quitting the fallen man, he sprang up, and, without waiting to be attacked, took to his heels, and ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, an example which his companion, seeing the coast clear, hastened to emulate. My first act, as soon as the thieves had departed, was to assis; the oid gentleman to rise. As soon as he was on his legs again, he shook himself, as if to ascertain that he was uninjured, and ex claimed — " Umph ! they're gone, are they ? the scoundrels, high time they should, I think; where's my umbrella? umph! second IVe lost this year — just like me." The voice, the manner, but, above all, the emphatic grunts, and the final self-accusing soliloquy, "just like me," could proceed but from one person, my old Helmstone acquaintance, !Mr. Frampton ; though by what strange chance he should be found wandering by owl-light in a meadow near Cambridge, passed my comprehension to conceive. Feeling secure, from the alteration which had taken place in me since I had last seen him — an alteration rendered still more complete by my academical costume — that he would be unable to recognize me, I determined to amuse myself a little at his expense before I made myself known to him. In pursuance of this plan, I picked up his umbrella, and handed it to u im, saying in an assumed voice as I did so, " Here is your umbrella, sir." " Thank ye, young man, thank ye, cost five-and-twenty shillings last Friday week ; umph ! might have got a cotton one for less than one quarter the money, that would have done just as well to thump tlueves with — a fool and his money — just like me, umph !" " I hope you are not injured by your full, or by the rough treat- ment you have been subjected to?" inquired I. "Umph! injured?" was the reply — " I've got a great bump on the back of my head, and burst all the buttons off my waistcoat — v don't know whether you call that being injured ; but I can tell you, I got away from the Thugs at Strangleabad withou; any such injuries : umph !" •' It was fortunate that I happened to come up just when 1 did," observed I. " Umph ! glad you think so," was the answer ; " if that stick had come down upon your skull, as the blackguard meant it to do, you would not have found it quite so fortunate, I've a notion. Umph ! — all the same, I'm much obliged to you; I might have been 244 FRANK FAIRLEGH. robbed and murdered too, if it had not been for you, young man, and if you'll walk home with me to the ' Hoop' (there's a name for an inn !), I'll give you a couple of sovereigns, and that's more than you've earned before to-day, I'll be bound — umph ! " " I shall be delighted to see you safe home, sir, but you will ex- cuse my declining your pecuniary offer, though I must plead guilty to the charge of not having earned as much — I believe I might say, i a my whole life, before." " Umph ! I see — a gentleman, eh ? and I to offer him money — just like me — a lord, or a duke, I shouldn't wonder — there are all sorts and sizes of 'em here, they tell me — ask him to dinner. Umph ! perhaps you'll do me the honour of dining with me, young man — my lord, I mean — mulligatawny — cat smothered im rice, which they call curry — kibobs, and kickshaws — the cook is not so bad for a white ; but you should go to India, if you care about eat- ing — that's the place for cookery, sir." " I shall have much pleasure in accepting your invitation," re- plied I, " if you will allow me to run away directly after dinner : I am reading for my degree, and time is precious with me just now." " Umph ! so it should be aiways. I see, now I come to look at you, you are one of the cap and gown gentlemen." (Then came an aside — " Cap, indeed ! it's a fool's cap would fit one half of 'em best !") " Pray, may I ask what college you belong to, Mr. ?" " Legh is my name, sir — Legh of Trinity." " Umph ! Trinity ; just the man I wanted to get hold of. My name's Frampton, Mr. Lee : they know me well at the India House, sir. "When we've had a bit of dinner, and washed this horrid fog out of our throats with a few glasses of wine, I shall be glad to ask you a question or two. Umph ! " " Any infornaatioi'i it may be in my power to afford you," I be- gan " That'll do, sir, that'll do," was the reply. " Perhaps you won't be quite so ready when you hear what it is I want." Then, in an under tone — " Tell me a parcel of lies, most likely ; I know how these young scamps hang by one another, and think it high fun ' to do the governor,' as they call it. Umph ! " On our arrival at the Hoop, we were ushered into one of the best sitting-rooms the inn afforded, where a blazing fire soon effaced all traces of the wet-blanket-like fog in which we had been so lately Rnveloped. I was shown into a comfortable dressing-room to get FRANK FA*3I.EGH. 245 eesdy for dinner, an opportunity of which I availed myself to render my appearance as unlike what it had been in former days, as cir- cumstances would allow, before again subjecting myself to Mr. Frampton's scrutiny. For this purpose, I combed my hair back from my face as far as possible, and brushed my whiskers — an acquisition of which I had only lately become possessed — as promi- nently forward as the growth of the crop permitted. I poked my sliirt-collar entirely out of sight, and tied my black neckcloth stiffly up under my chin, and finally buttoned my coat, so as to show off the breadth of my chest and shoulders to the greatest advantage. Thus accoutred, and drawing myself up to my full height, I hastened to rejoin Mr. Frampton. My arrangements seemed thoroughly to have answered their purpose, for he gazed at me without evincing the slightest symptom of recognition. He shook me by the hand, however, and thanked me more cordially than he had yet done for ihe assistance rendered him, and then rang for dinner. The bill of fare embraced all the Asiatic luxuries he had enumerated, to which, in the strength of having invited a guest, sundry European dishes were added ; and, with appetites sharpened by our recent adven- fure*v we did fu^I justice to the good cheer tua: was set before u». FRANK FAHtLEGR. CHAPTER XXX. MB. FRAMPTOX'S INTRODUCTION TO A TIGEH. * Had I been seized by a hungry tiger, I would have been t breakfast to the beast," — Shakspeare. " He started Like one who sees a spectre, ard exclaimed, Blind that I was to know him not till now! " — Soulhey. ■* " Oo to, yon are a counterfeit knave ! " — Sliakspiare. " I hope you feel no ill effects from your adventure, Sir : y\j$ resisted the fellow's attack most spiritedly, and would have beaten him off, I believe, if you had possessed a more serviceable weapon than an umbrella," observed I to Mr. Frampton, as we drew our chairs to the fire after dinner. " Umph ! ail right, Sir, all right : a little stiff or so across the back, but not so bad as the tiger at Bundleapoor. I'm not as young as I used to be, and there's a difference between young men and old ones. Young men are all whalebone and whipcord, and it's nothing but hopping, skipping, and jumping with them all day long ; when you're turned of sixty-five, Sir, the whalebone gets stiff, the whip- cord wears out, the skip and jump take their departure, and the hop becomes an involuntary accompaniment to the rheumatism,—* confound it ! Umph !" " You have been in India, I presume ; I think I heard you refer to some adventure with a tiger," returned I. " I've been everywhere, Sir — north, south, east, and west I ran away from school at twelve years old, because the master chose to believe one of the ushers rather than me, and flogged me for lying; when I had spoken the truth. I ran away, Sir, and got aboard a ship that was bound for the East Indies, and for five-and-forty years I never saw the white cliffs of old England ; and, when I did return, I might as well have left it alone, for all who knew and cared for me wer**- dead and gone — all dead and gone, dead and gone !" h*» FRANK FAIRLEGH. 24? repeated, in a tone of sorrowful earnestness. Then came an aside : " Umph ! wouder what I told him that for ; something for him to go and make fun of with the other young scapegraces, instead of minding their books : — just like me !" " You must have seen many strange things, and met with various adventures worthy of note, in the course of your wanderings," re- marked L " I must have been a fool, if I hadn't," was the answer. " P'rhaps you think I was — umph ' Young folks always think old ones fools, they say." " Finish the adage, Sir, that old folks know young ones to be so r and then agree with me that it is a saying founded on prejudice, and at variance with truth." " Umph ! strong words, young gentleman, strong words. I will agree with you so far, that there are old fools as well as young oneu — old fools, who, in their worldly wisdom, stigmatise the generous impulses and warm affections of youth as folly, who may yet Live to regret the feelings they have crushed, and the affections they have alienated, and find out that the things which they deemed folly, may prove in the end the truest wisdom." Then came the soliloquy : " There I go again — just like me ! something else for him to laugh at ; don't think he will, though — seems a good lad — wish t'other boy may be like him — umph !" He paused for a minute, and then observed abruptly, " Umph! about the tiger at Bundleapoor. You call to-night's an adventure, Sir : wonder what you'd have said it you'd been there !" " As I was not, would it be asking too great a favour, if I request you to relate the anecdote ?" " Aye, boy, boy, I see you know how to come round an eld traveller : set him gossiping about all the fine things he has seeu and done in his younger days, and you win his heart at once. Well, fill your glass, Sir, and we'll see about it," was the reply. I obeyed, Mr. Frampton followed my example, and after sipping his wine, and grunting several times to clear his throat, began the following recital : — " Umph ! ha ! let me recollect. When I was a young shaver, having lived in the world some twenty years or so, I was engaged as a sort of supernumerary clerk in the house of Wilson and Brown at Calcutta ; and, having no one else who could be so easily spared, they determined to despatch me on a business negotiation to one of the native princes, about eight hundred miles up the country. I 218 FRAXK FAIRLEGIT. travellecl with a party of the dragoons, commanded by a Clap- tain Slingsby, a man about five years older than myself, and as good a fellow as ever lived. TVell, somehow or other, he took a great fancy to me, and nothing would do but that I should accom- pany him in all his sporting expeditions, — for I should tell ycu that he was a thorough sportsman, and, I believe, entertained some wild notion that he should be able to make one of me. One unfortunate morning, he came into my tent, and woke ine out cf a 3cund slee into which I had fallen, after being kept awake half the night by the most diabolical howls and screams that ever were heard out of bedlam, expecting every minute to see some of the performers step in to sup, not with, but upon me. " 'Come, Frampton, wake up man,' cried Slingsby, 'here's great and glorious news.' " 'What is it?' said I, — 'have they found another hamper of ale among the baggage ?' " ' Ale ! nonsense,' was the reply. ' A shikkaree (native hunter) has just come into camp to say, that a young bullock was carried off yesterday, and is lying half eaten in the jungle about a mile from this place ; so at last, my boy, I shall have the pleasure 01 introducing you to a real live tiger.' " ' Thank ye,' said I, ' you're very kind ; but if it's at all incon- venient to you this morning, you can put it off: another day will do quite as well for me — I'm not in the least hurry.' " It was of no use, however ; all I got for my pains was a poke in the ribs, and an injunction to lose no time in getting ready. " Before we had done breakfast, the great man of the neighbour- hood, Rajah somebody or other, made his appearance on his elephant, attended by a train of tawnies, who were to undertake the agreeable duty of beating. Not being considered fit to take care of myself — a melancholy fact of which I was only too conscious — it was decreed that Slingsby and I should occupy the same howdah. Accordingly, at the time appointed, we mounted our elephant ; and having a formidable array of guns handed up to us, we started. " As my companion, and, indeed, every one else concerned in the matter, evidently considered it completely as a party of pleasure, and seemed prepared to enjoy themselves to the utmost, I endea- voured to persuade myself that I did so too ; and, consoled by the reflection that if the tiger had positively eaten half a bullock yesterday afternoon, it never could be worth his while to scale our elephant, and ruu the risk of being shot, for the ?ake cf devouring me, I felt rather FUANK FAIRLEGH. 249 bold than otherwise. After proceeding for some distance through ths junsrle, and rousing, as it seemed to me, every beast that had come oat of Noah's Ark, except a tiger, our elephant, who had hitherto con- ducted himself in a very quiet and gentlemanly manner, suddenly raised his trunk, and trumpeted several times, — a sure sign as the mahout informed us, that a tiger "was somewhere close at hand. M 'Now then, Frampton,' cried my companion, cocking his double- barrel, 'look out !' " ' For squalls,' returned I, finishing the sentence For him. — 'Pray is there any particular part they like to be shot in ? whereabouts shall J aim ?' " ' Wherever you can,' replied Slingsby, ' be ready ; there he is, by Jupiter !' and, as he spoke, the long grass ai>out a hundred yards in front of us was gently agitated, and I caught a glimpse of what appeared a yellow and black streak, moving swiftly away in an opposite direction — ' Tally ho I' shouted Slingsby, saluting the tiger with both barrels. An angry roar proved that the shots had taken effect, and in another moment, a large tiger, lashing his sides wiub his tail, and his eyes glaring with rage, came bounding towards us. " ' Now what's to be done ?' exclaimed I, — ' if you had but left him alone, he was going away as quietly as possible.' " Slingsby's only reply was a smile, and seizing another gun. he fired again. On receiving this shot, the tiger stopped for a moment, and then, with a tremendous bound, sprang towards us, alighting at the foot of a small tree, not a yard from the elephant's head. " ' That last shot crippled him,' said my companion, ' or we should have had the pleasure of his nearer acquaintance — now for the coup de grace, fire away ! ' and as he spoke he leaned forward to take a deliberate aim, when suddenly the front of the howdah gave way, and to my horror, Slingsby was precipitated over the elephant's head, into, as it seemed to me, the very jaws of the tiger. A fierce growl, and a suppressed cry of agony, proved that the monster had seized his prey; and I had completely given my friend up for lost, when the elephant, although greatly alarmed, being urged on by the mahout, took a step forward, and twisting his trunk round the top of the young tree, bent it down across the loins of the tiger, thus forcing the tortured animal to quit its hold, and affording Slingsby an opportunity of crawling beyond the reach of its teeth and claws. Forgetting my own fears in the imminence of my friend's danger, I only waited till I could get a shot at the tiger, without running the risk of hurting Slinasby, and then fired both 250 FRANK FAIRLKGH barrels at ite head, and was lucky enough to wound it morially. The other sportsmen coming up at the moment, the brute received bis quietus, but poor Slingsby's arm was broken where the tiger dad seized it with his teeth, and his shoulders and chest were teverely lacerated by its claws, nor did he entirely recover the shock for many months.* And this was my first introduction to a royal tiger, Sir. I saw many of 'em afterwards, during the time I spent in India, but I can't say I ever had much liking for their society — umph ! " This anecdote brought others in its train — minutes flew by apace, the wine grew low in the decanters, and it became apparent to me that if I would not lose the whole evening, and go home with my brains muddled beyond all possibility of reading, I must take my departure. Accordingly, pulling out my watch, I reminded Mr. Framptcn of my previous stipulation to be allowed to run away as soon as dinner was concluded, adding that I had already stayed longer than was altogether prudent. The reply to this announce- ment was, "Umph! sit still, Sir, sit still; I'm going to ring for another bottle of port." Finding, however, that I was determined, he gave up the point, adding, — " Umph ! well, if you must go, you must, I suppose — though you might refuse a worse offer; — but, if you really are anxious about your studies, and wish to distinguish yourself, I won't be the man to hinder you — it's few enough of 'em are like you here, I expect;" then, sotto voce, "wish t'other young monkey might be." " You hinted before dinner at some information I might be able *o give you?" said I, interrogatively. "Umph! did I? — aye, so I did — you see, Mr. Lee, there's a young fellow at Trinity, about your age, I should fancy, whom I used to know as a boy, — and — he was a very good boy — and — and — his mother's a widow ; poor thing — a very nice boy, I may say, hs was — and as I feel a sort of interest about him, I thought that yia might, perhaps, give one an idea of how he's going on — just a notion — you understand — umph ! " " Exactly, Sir," returned I, " and what may be the name of your friend?" " Frank Fairlegh," was the answer. " You could not have applied to a better person," replied L "Frank Fairlegh! — why, he was one of my most intimate friends. " * The main facts of the foregoing anecdote mre taken from Capt. Mundy's very interest" lug "Pen and Pencil Sketches" T&ASK FAillLEUH. 25) " "Why, yes, it's more was than is, certainly — for since I've been reading hard, it's a positive fact that I've scarcely seen his face." " That looks as if he wasn't over fond of reading, then, eh— umph ?" " You may put that interpretation upon it, certainly," replied I, " but mind, I don't say it's the true one. I consider it would not be right in me to tell tales out of school ; besides there's nothing to tell — everybody knows Frank Fairlegh's a good fellow — ask Lawless — ask Curtis." "Umph! Lawless? what? that wild young scamp who goes tear- ing about the country in a tandem, as it * trig with one horse wasn't dangerous enough, without putting on a second to make the tiling positively terrific ? he must be badly off for something to do, if he can find no better amusement than trying how nearly he can break a fool's neck, without doing it quite ; — umph! Curtis — why, that's the name of the young gentleman — very gentle — who, the landlord tells me, has just been rusticated for insulting Dr. Doublechin, and fastening a muzzle and chain on one of the men they call ' br" dogs,' saying, forsooth, that it wasn't safe to let such ferocious animals go about loose — nice acquaintance Mr. Frank Fairlegh seems to choose, and you know the quotation, 'Xoscitur a sociis.'" " Oh," replied I, " but he has others ; I have seen him in com- pany with Mr. YVilford." " Wilford? the noted duellist, that scoundrel who has lately shot the son of Sir John Oaklands, as fine a young man as ever I set eyes upon ? — for I have often seen him when I was living at Helm- stone ; if I thought, Sir, that Fairlegh was a friend of that man — pd — I'd — well, Sir," he exclaimed, seeing my eyes fixed upon him with a degree of interest I could not conceal, " it's nothing to you, I suppose, what I may intend to do by Mr. Frank Fairlegh! I may be his grandfather for anything you can tell to the contrary ; and I may choose to cut him off with a shilling, I imagine, without its affecting you in any way — umph?" " Scarcely so, Mr. Frampton," replied I, turning away to hide an irrepressible smile, " if it is in consequence of what I have told you, that you are angry with poor Frank." "Angry, Sir, angry, — was the answer, — "I'm never angry — there's nothing worth being angry about in this world. Do you take snuff, Sir? I've some that came from — Umph! eh!" he con- tinued, fumbling in all his pockets — "hope I haven't lost my box — given me by the Begrum of Cuddleakee — splendid woman— only 252 VRANK FAIRI.EGH. complexion too strong of the tawny — Umph! left it in the other room I suppose — back in a moment, Sir — Umph! Umph!" and suiting the action to the word, he went out, slamming the door behind him. As the reader may suppose, I was equally surprised and pleased to find that my old friend not only remembered our former inti- macy, but felt so warm an interest in my welfare, as to have put himself quite in a rage on hearing of my supposed delinquencies. Although it had been the means of eliciting such strong indications of his continued regard for me, I felt half sorry for the deception I had practised upon him — the only thing that could be done now, however, was to make myself known to him without delay, and his absence from the room enabled me to put in practice a plan for doing so, which I had had in my mind all along. Accordingly, going up to the chimney-glass, I shook my hair forward, so that it fell in waving curls about my face and forehead — took the stiffener out of my neckcloth, and, knotting the latter loosely round my throat, turned down my shirt collars, so as to resemble as nearly as possible the Byron-tie of my boyhood — then unbuttoning end throwing open my coat, I resumed my seat, arranging the candles so as to throw their light full upon my face as I did so. I had scarcely completed my arrangements, when I heard Mr. Framptcn's footstep in the passage, and in another moment he entered the room. "All light, Mr. Lee, all right, Sir; I found the box in my other coat-pocket ; I was afraid the thieves might have forstalled me ; but — Umph! — eh! why? who?" Catching sight of me as he spoke, he stopped short, and shading his eyes with his hand, gazed earnestly at me, with a look half-bewildered, half-incredulous. Taking advantage of his silence, I inquired in my natural tone and manner, whether he had seen Dr. Mildman lately. " Umph ! Eh ! Dr. Mildman ?" was the reply — " why it can't be > — and yet it is — the boy Frank Fairlegh himself 1 Oh ! you young villain!" and completely overcome by the sudden and unexpected nature of the surprise, he sank back into a chair, looking the pic- ture of astonishment. Springing to his side, and pressing his hand warmly between my own, I exclaimed, " Forgive me for the trick I have played you, Sir. I knew you the moment I heard your voice, when I was helping you up to-night, and, finding you did not recognise me, I coidd not re- sist the temptation of preserving my incognito a little longer, and introducing myself as a stranger." FRA.NK FAIRLEGH 253 " Oh ! you young scapegrace," was the rejoinder, '* if ever I for- give you, I'll — umph ! — that I will" — then changing his tone to one of much feeling, he continued, " So you hadn't forgotten the old man then, Frank ? good boy, good boy." I had seated myself on a stool at his feet, and, as he spoke, he patted my head with his hand, as if I had been a favourite dog. " And all the things you said against yourself were so many lies, I suppose ? Umph ! you are no friend to the homicide Wilford ?* " True to the ear, but false to the sense, Sir," replied I. Harry Oaklands is the dearest friend I have on earth ; we love each other as brothers, — between the man whose hand was so lately raised to shed that brother's blood, and myself, there can be little friendship — if I do not positively hate him, it is only because I would net willingly hate any one. Lawless was an old fellow-pupil of mine, and, though he has many follies about him, is at bottom more kind- hearted and well-disposed than people give him credit for ; we still continue friends, therefore, but our habits and pursuits being essen- tially different, I see very little of him — with Curtis I never ex- changed half a dozen words in my life." " Umph ! I understand, I understand ; and how is Harry Oak- lands? better again, eh?" The reply to this query led to my being obliged to give Mr Frampton a succinct account of the duel, and it ws^ not till I ex- plained my intention of trying fcr honours, and made him compre- hend the necessity of my being fully prepared for the ensuing examination, that he would hear of my departure ; and, when at last he did allow me to go, he insisted on accompanying me to the gate of Trinity, and made me promise to let him see me as often ad I was able during his stay in Cambridge, where, he informed me, he proposed remaining till after the degrees were conferred. 254 FRANK FAIIUJSGii. CHAPTER XXXL HOW I RISE A DEGREE, AND MR. FRAMPTON GETS EV&VA ISO IN MORE "WAYS THAN ONE. "This is as strange a thing as ere I looked on." — 7%e Tempest. " These news, my lords, may cheer our drooping spirits." — King Henry VI. " And liquor, likewise, will I give to thee, And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood." — King Henry V. The week passed away like a dream, and with a beating heart and throbbing pulse, I went through the various examinations, and engaged with my competitors in the struggle for honours. Anxious in the highest degree as to the result of my labours, I scarcely ate, drank, or slept, and, had the necessity for exertion been protracted much longer, my mind could not have borne the continued strain, and I should probably have had a brain fever. It was the eventful Friday morning on which the list was to come out, and in the course of an hour or two my fate would be known. Utterly worn out bv a night wliich anxiety had rendered sleepless, I had hastily swal- lowed a cup of tea, and, turning away from the \mtasted eatables, flung myself, wrapped in a dressing-gown, on the sofa. I had not, however, lain there above a quarter of an hour, when a tap was heard at the. door, and Mr. Frampton made his appearance, attired as usual in the well-remembered blue coat, with brass buttons, drah shorts, and gaiters, with the broad-brimmed hat, lined with green, fixed sturdily on his head, as if it was not made to take off at any time. " Umph ! found my way up, you see 1 Fellow you call the gyp wanted to make me believe you were out — thought I looked too like n governor to be let in, I suppose ; but it wouldn't do, Sir ; oki birds are not to be caught with chaff; and he spoke with an air of such intense honesty that I felt sure he was lying, and told him so. -—Don't get up, boy, don't get up; you look as jaded as a hunted FRANK FAIKLEGH. 255 antelope. Why, you've never touched your breakfast ; youll kill yourself if you go on at this rate." "It will not last much longer, Sir," said I; "in about foiathey hour or so my fate will be known. The list comes out this morn- ing. Some of my friends were to call for me, and we were to make a party to go down to the Senate House together, for there is sure to be a crowd ; but I shall let them go without me, for I'm in such a state of nervous anxiety that I feel fit for nothing." " Umph ! I'll go with them, if they've no objection," returned Mr. Frampton. "If I should happen to get knocked over in the scuffle, I shall want somebody to pick me up again. I shall like to see how near the tail of the list they stick your name, Frank — umph!" At this moment the door was flung open, and Lawless, Archer, and one or two more men of my acquaintance, came tumbling over one another into the room, laughing vociferously at some unknown jest. Owing to the shape of the apartment, the place where Mr. Frampton had seated himself was not easily to be seen as you en- tered, consequently none of them observed him. "Fairlegh, old boyl" began Archer — " Eh! here's such a tremendous go ! " broke in Lawless. " Where's the smelling-bottle ? Archer swears he has just seen the ghost of Noah's great-grandfather, as he appeared when dressed in his Sun- day clothes ! " " Ton my word, it's true, and what will you lay it's a he ?" sang Archer. " Oh ! if you had but seen him, Fairlegh ; he looked like — hang me if I know any thing ugly enough to compare him to." "Was he at all like me, Sir? — umph!" inquired Mr. Frampton in his gruffest tone, putting on the broad-brimmed hat, and rising slowly from his seat as he spoke. "The very apparition itself, by Jingo!" exclaimed Archer, start- ing back in alarm, half real, half affected, thereby nearly over- turning Lawless, who was just behind him. " Hold hard there, young fellow ; where are you jibbing to ? You'll smash my panels in a minute, if you don't look out^-eh? — why surely it's the old boy from Helmstone," continued Lawlesi tside; "Mr. Frampton — Sir, your most obedient." " Same to you, Sir," was the reply ; " glad to see your spirits don't seem likely to fail you, Mr. Lawless — laughing at me, all of 'em, impudent young dogs — what's t'other one's name, Frank ? the one that took me for a ghost — umph !" 256 MiAHK FA/KLEGH M Allow nie to introduce you, Mr. Frampton, Mr. Archer, Mr Green, Mr. Lacy, Mr. Richards." The individuals named delivered themselves of a series of nods and jerks as I pronounced their various patronymics, and Mr. Frampton took off his hat, and made a polite bow to each man separately; then turning to Archer, he said, " Pray, Sir, may I inquire when and how you became so intimate with Noah's great-grandfather as to mistake me foi him? — urnph!" " Well, Sir," said Archer, who was evidently taken somewhat aback by this direct appeal, " it is an affair — that is, a circumstance — what I mean to say is — the thing, as you must see, was com- pletely — in fact it was quite by accident, and promiscuously, so to speak, that I mistook you for the respectable antediluvian — I should say, for his ghost." "Urnph! don't think I look much like a ghost, either. Not that there are such things in reality ; all humbug, Sir. A man goes and eats beef and pudding enough for two, has the nightmare, fancies next morning he has seen a ghost, and the first fool he tells it to. believes him. Well, Mr. Lawless, not made a ghost of your- self by breaking your neck out of that Infernal Machine of yours yet. Get his ex-majesty Louis Philippe to go out for a ride with you in that, and his life would be in greater danger than all the Fieschis in France could ever put it in. Umph ! " " The horses are in first-rate condition," returned Lawless, "enough to pull a fellow's arms off till they've done about ten miles ; that takes the steel out of them a bit, and then a child may guide them. Happy to take you a drive, Mr. Frampton, any time that suits you, — eh?" " Thank ye, Sir, when that time comes I'll let you know ; but I hope to five a few years longer yet, and therefore you'll excuse my not accepting your kind offer. Besides, if Mr. Archer was to see the ghost of Noah's great-grandfather in a tandem, he'd never get over it." Then came the aside; — "Umph! had him there, the young jackanapes." " Well, Fairlegh, are you coming with us ?" asked Lacy : " the list must be out by this time." " No ; 'pon my word I can't," replied L " Tm good for nothing this morning." 11 Serve you right, too," said Lawless, " for refusing the second bowl of punch last night. I told you no good wculd come of it, eh?" FRANK FAIKLEGH. 257 " Positively, we ought to be going," interpesed Richards ; " well bring you some news presently, Fairlegh, that will set you all right again in no time." " I only wish you may prove a true prophet," replied I. " Umph ; if you'll allow me, I'll accompany you, gentlemen," said Mr. Frampton ; " make one of your party, umph!" Several of those thus appealed to exchanged glances of horror, and at last Archer, who was rather an exclusive, and particularly sensitive to ridicule, began — "Why, really, Sir, you must excuse — " "Umph! excuse? no excuses are required, Sir; when you've lived as long as I have, you'll learn not to care in what company you sail, so as it's honest company. Noah's great-grandfather found out the truth of that, Sir, when he had to be hail-fellow-well-met with tiger-cats and hippopotamuses in the ark — hippopota?w, I suppose you classical men call it — though, now I come to think of it, he never was there at ail. But you will let an old man go with you, there's good boys," continued Mr. Frampton, in a tone of en- treaty ; " not one of you feels more interest in Frank Fairlegh'a success than I do." " Come along, Governor," exclaimed Lawless, taking him by the win, "you and I will go together, and if anybody gets in your way, down he goes if he were as big as Goliath of Gath. Yoa shall see the list as soon as any one of them, for you're a trump, — a regular brick !" " With a very odd tile on the top of it," whispered Archer, pointing to the broad brim. " Xow, then," continued Lawless, " fall in there. Follow the Governor. To the right about face ! March !" So saying, he flung open the door, and arm-in-arm with Mr. Frampton hurried down the stairs, followed by the others in double quick time. When they were all gone, I maJ.? an effort to rouse myself from the state of lassitude and depression into which I had fallen, and succeeded so far rs to recover sufficient energy to attempt the labour of dressing, though my hands trembled to such a degree that I could scarcely accomplish it, and was forced to postpone the operation of shaving to some more favourable opportunity. Having made my outer-man respectable, I re-entered the sitting- room, and waited with impatience for the return of my friends. Oh! the horrors of suspense ! that toothache of the mind, in which each moment of anxiety, stretched on the rack of expectation, appears s 25& FRANK FAIKLEGii. to the overwrought senses an eternity of gnawing anguish! — of all the mental tortures with which I am acquainted, defend me from suspense ! I had worked myself up into a thorough fever, and was becoming so excited that I was on the point of rusliing out to learn the worst at once, when sundry shouts, mingled with peals of laughter, reached my ear, — sounds which assured me that news was at hand. And now, with the inconsistency of human nature, I trembled at, and would willingly have delayed my friends' arrival, lest it might bring me the certainty of failure, to which even the doubt and suspense I had been so lately chafing at, appeared preferable. The sounds grew louder and louder — they were approaching. Oh! how my heart beat! in another moment they would be here. Sinking into a chair, for my knees trembled so that I could scarcely stand, Z remained with my eyes fixed upon the door in a state of breathless anxiety. More shouting ! surely that was a cheer — "Hurrah! hurrah! out of the way there! room for the Governor!" — a rush of many feet up the stairs — more cheering — the door is thrown open, and a party of from fifteen to twenty under-graduates come pouring in, with Mr. Frampton in the midst of them, carried in triumph on the shoulders of Lawless and another man, and waving a list in one hand, and the broad-brimmed hat in the other. " Bravo, Fairlegh! all right, old fellow! never say die ! hurrah!'' exclaimed half a score voices, all at once, while both my hands were seized and nearly shaken off, and I was almost annihilated by congratulatory slaps on the back from my zealous and excited friends. " "Well," exclaimed I, as soon as I could make myself audible amidst the clamour, " I suppose by your congratulations I'm not plucked, but how high do I stand ?" "Silence there!" shouted Lawless. "Order! order! hear the Governor; he's got the list. Fire away, Sir." Thus appealed to, Mr. Frampton, who was still mounted on the shoulders of his supporters, having cleared his throat and grunted proudly, with an air of majesty read as follows:— " Eushbrooke, Senior "Wrangler, — Crosby, second, — Barham, third, — Fairlegh, fourth!" "Nonsense," exclaimed I, springing up, " the thing's impossible!" " What an unbelieving Jew it is," said Archer ; " hand him the ^j and let him read it himself! Seeing is believing, they say." F1UJNK FAIRLEGH. 259 Yes, there it was, beyond all possibility of doubt ; with my own eyes did I behold it. "Fairlegh, fourth Wrangler!" Why, even in my wildest moments of hope, my imagination had never taken so high a flight. Fourth Wrangler ! oh ! it was too delight- ful to be real. So overcome was I by this unexpected stroke of good fortune, that for a minute or two I was scarcely conscious of what was going on around me, and returned rambling and inco- herent answers to the congratulations which were showered upon me The first thing that roused my attention was a shout from Lawless, demanding a hearing, for that "tho Governor," as he persisted in calling Mr. Frampton, was going to make a speech. The cry was immediately taken up by the others, who for some moments defeated their own purpose by calling vociferously for " silence for the Governor's speech !" Having at length, from sheer want of breath, obtained the required boon, Mr. Frampton, waving his hand with a dignified gesture, began as follows : — " Umph ! on this happy occasion, gentlemen — set of noisy young scamps! — on this happy occasion, I say" — (shouts of encore! bravo! &c.) — "what I was going to say was — umph !" (a cry of "you have said it," from a man near the door, who thought he could not be seen, but was. N " Much obliged to you, Sir, for your observation," continued Mr. Frampton, fixing his glance unmistakeably on the Detected One, " but I have not said it, nor does it seem very likely I ever shall say it, if you continue to interrupt me with your wretched attempts at wit." (Cries of " hear! hear ' don't interrupt the Governor! Shame! shame!" and an aside from Mr. Frampton, " had him there, umph !" during all of which the detected individual was striving to open the door, which several men, who had per- ceived his design, held firmly against him.) "What I was going to say," resumed the speaker, " when that gentleman who is trying to leave the room interrupted me," (more cries of "shame!") "was, that I beg, in the name of my friend, Frank Fairlegh, to invite you all to a champagne breakfast in his rooms to-morrow," (tremendous cheering, and a cry of "Bravo, Governor! you area, brick!" from Lawless,) " and in my own name to thank you all, except the gen- tleman near the door, who has not yet, I see, had the grace to leave the room, for the patience with which you've listened to me," (laughter, and cries of "it was a shame to interrupt him," at which the Detected One, with a frantic gesture, gives up the door, and turning very pale, glances insanely towards the window,) *and for the very flattering attentions which you has* KJ ^ycu 260 FRANK FAIKLBGH. generally, and Mr. Archer in particular, done me the honour cA paying me." A perfect tornado of cheers and laughter followed Mr. FramptonY speech, after which I thanked them all for the kind interest the) had expressed in my success, and begged to second Mr. Frampton'f invitation for the following day. This matter being satisfactorily arranged, certain of the party laid violent hands on the Detected One, who was a very shy freshman of the name of Pilkington, and. despite his struggles, made him go down on his knees, and apologize in set phrase to Mr. Frampton for his late unjust>iable conduct ; whereupon that gentleman, who enjoyed the joke, and entered into it with as much zest as the veriest pickle among them, sternly, and with many grunts, rebuked and then pardoned him. The champagne breakfast on the following morning who shall describe! What pen, albeit accustomed to the highest flights imaginable, may venture to depict the humours of that memorable entertainment I How, when the company were assembled, it was discovered Mr. Pilkington was missing, and a party, headed by Lawless, proceeded to his rooms, which were on the same staircase, and brought him down, vi et armis, in a state of mind bordering on distraction, picturesquely attired in a dressing-gown, slippers, and smoking-cap of a decidedly oriental character; and how, when they had forced him Into a seat of honour at Mr. Frampton's right hand, that gentleman discovered in him a striking likeness to his particular friend the Rajah of Bundleoragbag, which name being instantly adopted by the company, he was invariably addressed by ever after. How, as the champagne circulated, the various mem- bers of the party began to come out strong, according to their several idiosyncrasies, every man who had a peculiarity exhibiting it for the benefit of the others ; while those who had not, were even more amusing, either from their aping the manners of somebody else, or from the sheer absurdity of uttering insipid common-places in such an atmosphere of fun and frolic. How, later in the day, after healths had been drunk, and thanks returned, till every one, save Pilkington, was hoarse with shouting, that individual was partly coaxed, partly coerced into attempting to sing the only song he knew, which proved to be, " TVe met ;" in which performance, after makinp tour false starts, and causing a great many more meetings to take place than the author of the song ever contemplated, he contrived, in a voice suggestive of a sudden attack of cholera, to get as far a* the words " For thou art the cause of this anguish, my mother. FRAJJK 1AIRLEGH. 261 when he was interrupted by such a chorus of laughter as completely annihilated him for the. rest of the day. How Mr. Frampton, with- out giving the slightest warning of his intention, or there being any- thing in the subject of the conversation generally to lead thereunto, began to relate his adventure with the tiger of Bundleapoor ; while Lawless favoured the company with a full, true, and particular ao ' count of a surprising run with the royal stag-hounds ; and Archer, who had grown sentimental, with tears in his eyes, entered into a minute detail of certain passages in a romantic attachment he had conceived for a youthful female branch of the aristocracy, whom ne designated as Lady Barbara B. ; and how these three gentlemen continued their various recitals all at one and the same time, edify- ing the company by some such composite style of dialogue as the following : " So, Sir, Slingsby roused me by a kick in the ribs, saying, — umph J" — » Fairest, loveliest of thy sex," — " Shove on your boott and buckskins, stick a cigar in your mouth, and clap your leg over," — " An elephant half as high again as this room ; take a couple of double-barrelled rifles, and" — "Slap at everything that comes in your way ; no craning, ram in the persuaders, and if you do get a purl"^-" Look upon it as the purest, brightest gem in your noble father's coronet, for true affection" — "Flung him clean into the tiger's jaws, Sir, and the beast" — "Drew her handkerchief across her eyes, and said, in a voice which quivered with emotion, ' Love between two young creatures, situated as we are, would be utter madness, Charles.' To which I replied, ' Barbara, my own sweet girl,' " — " Mind your eye, and look out for squalls, for that's a rasper, and no mistake." How all this took place, together witn nmcL more notable merri- ment, not many degrees removed from " tipsy mirth and jollity," we will leave to the fertile imagination of the reader to depict. Suffice it to say, that, ere trc broke up, Mr. Frampton had dis- tinctly pledged himself to ride one of Lawless's horses the next hunting-day, and to accompany Archer on a three weeks' visit to the country-seat of Lady Barbara B.'s noble father, with some ulterior views on bis owa account in regard to a younger sister. 262 FRASTK l